The doctors that worked for Tharomar were quite good.
They found that the bullets had gone straight through Jack's body.
"Why, why why, can't I just go and get a drink?"
"We need to make sure that nasty bullet wound is taken care of sir."
"Miss, I've been through worse, heck I'm lucky I still have the arm."
With that the doctor quickly finished up applying a proper bandage.
"Hey, those guys that brought me in, you should really let them in here so they can get the stuff on the clipboard right."
"I'll let one of them in."
"Make sure it's one of the girls, the janitor, well, he's not that fluent in English."
With that Jack rested in the bed, but found that like all hospitals in the world, the beds there are too uncomfortable to sleep in.
((Hey all. Thought I'd join ya on this one.))
His plane had arrived late and after a lengthy ride in the back of a limmo, William Van Watt was ready to have a nightcap and turn in.
The car came to a stop in front of the hotel and after a moment, the driver opened the door on William's right. He gave a courteous nod and stepped out, smoothing a crease in his black, pinstriped suit as the chauffeur fetched his luggage from the trunk.
His dark hair was smoothed back perfectly and his blue eyes helped him retain an image of youth even at thirty-five. In all he gave off charisma and class, underscored by his vanity.
Van Watt was greeted by the hotel liason and a bellhop took the bags from the driver and disappeared into a service elevator as the two men sauntered casually towards another lift. With a quick flick of his wrist, the liason pressed the button for the top floor and led the other to his room.
In an almost grandiose display, he opened the large doors and Van Watt nodded, reaching for his wallet. He slid a crisp bill into the other man's hand and gave a curt nod, stepping inside and closing the door.
The room was large, with crisp lines and modern appeal. Floor-to-ceiling windows cradled the main living area and William removed his jacket, gently laying it across a chair as he walked over and drew back the curtains.
The city was alive far below him, blanketted in white. He smiled lightly and turned, loosening his tie and stepping over to an elegantly set up bar. He scanned the many bottles and snatched a snifter, pouring a dash of fragrant brandy which he unconciously swirled before taking a sip.
He gracefully moved towards the bedroom and saw that his bags had been neatly placed at the foot of his bed. He set his glass down and retreaved his briefcase, setting it on the luxerious bedding before unlocking it. He removed a laptop and retrieved his glass, retreating back into the living room where he sunk down onto the couch, laying the computer on the coffee table.
The battery had just recently been charged and he flipped open the notebook, the screen blinking to life. After numerous password prompts, icons filled the screen and Van Watt clicked a peticular one while sipping his drink. Diagrams filled the screen and each one was emblazonned with the Aeon corporate logo.
For years, William had been a corporate headhunter, but a recent offer sparked new possibilities for him. Finally his greatest works could be realized... even if it technically was industrial espionage.
((At least things have finally slowed down enough to help me to get a sense of what was going on.))
Aimee was making her rounds as usual after the chaos that ensued in the hospital. She was thankful that it was over as she mostly hid under one of the desks during the entire time. As she was making her rounds, she had thought to check up on her nurses to see how they were doing.
She greeted each one of them making sure that they were all right and happy there but later on, she had heard a very unusual sound coming from one of the wards. It was a sound that she had not heard before but it was muffled.. like someone singing a death-metal song with no music behind the voice.
As she looked inside the room, she had seen this "Angel" figure holding a priest in her arms. The only thing that she did recognize out of this setting was Mina singing. Aimee stood there ar the doorway, almost petrified as she was able to only do one thing... and that was move one of her arms like she was drawing a cross over her heart and hope that her daughter was going to be all right.
Is this the end as we know it? Aimee thought to herself as she was witnessing the sight before her eyes.
(OOC: Death metal? It's more like a hymn)
Kara tossed Dr. McMahon out the window. He landed on a car below.
He'd have a difficult time explaining this to his superiors.
Then Kara turned to face Aimee. Mina had stopped singing by this time as Kara began to look more and more feral.
As Aimee was watching Dr.McMahon getting thrown out of the window, she had let out a scream of shock. The scream got the attention of the creature as it turned to face Aimee.
Aimee was petrified by this time. She couldn't move anything... just hope to God that this thing wouldn't attack her. She mouthed off the words "Please don't kill me" in French before realizing one thing... The creature was looking more feral than ever now.
This was more in Aimee's domain as she had two cats of her own at her home. She looked over to a nearby table as she grabbed a bowl and filled it with water, hoping that this creature would calm down a bit so she could approach it without getting harmed.
Dr. McCourd narrowed his eyes, "Why not go up to your office? It's more private there. With the cameras and all down in R&D, wouldn't you be worried about people listening in to our conversation?"
"My boy, if you hadn't noticed," Clarence stifled a laugh, "there was an altercation in the upper levels of this building. For investigational purposes, which we just allow the law enforcement to do as simple protocol, there will be no one allowed into the any of the offices higher up. "
A strong wind blew fiercely for seconds before it was just the low evening temperatures that made him mentally kick himself for neglecting to bring his coat. The gorund was still laden with remnants of snow from that day. The moonlight illuminated the few clouds that covered it in the night sky. The star count was scarce, but the ones that were there shined brightly.
Clarence alloted for some distance before he joined up next to Ethan as they walked back toward the building.
"Besides," Clarence continued in a low, but clear voice, "We go where the action is... or was. Your interest and my interests are down in that basement. You came here to do a job and upon completion of that job, you are expected to deliver. I am expected to collect. This is how business is run," Clarence smiled at a passing officer as he neared the front doors of Tharomar Enterprise once more.
He placed his hand on the handle of one of the large glass doors and stopped to look back at the young prodigy to see that he was still following when Clarence opened the door.
"What you must realize, Doctor McCourd," Clarence walked in behind Ethan, "is that life is nothing but give and take."
Both men entered the elevator that took them down into the lower levels of the building. Clarence pressed the one button on the keypad, initiating the doors to close and their descent.
"What you must decide is where you want to be - on the giving end," the CEO held one hand out as if he had something in it, "or the taking end," he held out his other hand and fluctuated the two like a balance.
Clarence placed his hands behind his back, "Although the choice is not always up to you, it is always best to find where you can invest a little giving in order to do alot of taking," he smiled as he thought of several "taking" moments in his mind.
The elevator came to a jolting stop and the doors gave free access to the R&D department.
"Ah, here we are," Clarence stepped out, hands still behind his back, "shall we?"
As Dr. McCourd stepped out of the elevator, his jaw dropped, "Holy Jesus! It looked like World War 3 started down here. Were the upper floors just a smoke screen for something down..." he stopped himself and looked towards his office.
The glass around it was shattered, and the door had been ripped from the hinges, thrown into the room. He sprinted around the debris, and made his way into the wrecked room. Luckily the fire didn't do too much damage. He began opening drawers in his desk, the 2nd one, the one with his personal hidden safe.
He looked towards Clarence and then closed the drawer. Then he walked over to the bookcase. Some of the books had fallen off the shelf, except for a select few. He watched Clarence go to the main vault which he (Dr. McCourd) and a few others down in R&D had access to, which wasn't a part of his office.
"What are you goin' over there for? Your pet project is in here. You think I'd keep it in a community vault?"
(OOC: McMahon is a psychotic Catholic Priest, not a doctor)
Aimee's idea didn't seem to work, and Kara smashed the bowl across the room.
"KARA STOP NOW!" came Mina's scream, resonating on the very walls of the hospital. All at once, anyone on the second floor within earshot that was doing anything of any sort, suddenly stopped what they were doing.
Kara, too, seemed to snap out of it.
"Wha-What happened?" she said, looking at herself, "What am I? Why am I...? Did I...?"
"Calm down," Mina said, "It's my fault."
"H-how?!"
"It's...complicated. First we'll have to trust that our little 'intruder' keeps this quiet. For her sake more than ours," Mina looked at Aimee, but Aimee would be unable to move, being still under the shock of Mina's command.
"I...don't know why you changed. I don't know why that song changes people. But I know what you are," Mina explained, "Everyone, everything, has a balance of good and evil within them. Chaos and order, savage and civilized. What you are now is what humans really are: neither evil, nor good. You are both, and my song...increased...the two. It made your dark, savage side and your bright, civilized side stronger. I've only done it once before, and you probably saw the result when you got this."
Mina held up the teddy bear.
"We MUST keep this quiet, not only for our own sakes, but for Kara's sake as well. The last person this happened to is being held somewhere. Studied. Dissected. They are in a living hell, and have probably been completely taken over..." Mina said to Aimee, but was interrupted by Kara.
"Wait, taken over?! What do you mean?" Kara cut in.
"It's...a bit like those good and evil games. The more good you do, the stronger the 'light' side becomes. Your wings are the most obvious 'light' trait, but there are others. Conversely, the more savage or chaotic things you do, the more beast-like you become. Or at least that's what I assume from what I've seen," Mina explained.
"Can I become human again? Or am I stuck like this?"
"Only if you want to," Mina said, "Think hard about yourself. But...the last person said that...your human body is only a disguise."
Kara closed her eyes and thought hard about herself. After another moment that seemed like an eternity of blinding pain, she was human once more. With a torn uniform.
After a moment she stood back up.
"So is that all your singing does? Turn people into...whatever the hell I turned into?" Kara asked, a bit flustered at this point.
Mina giggled, "No, if that were true, this nurse and all the people on this floor would be killing each other. I can sing other songs...like this one."
Mina began singing a blissful hymn. All at once both nurses were caught in a state of bliss themselves. Any doctor that examined them would know the song triggered a release of endorphins.
Meanwhile, Father McMahon's cellphone rang. No surprise the ringtone was 'Amazing Grace'.
"Yes?" he answered after pulling himself off the car he had landed on, alarming the balding, middle-aged school principal who merely yelled 'MY CRESTA!!!!' before passing out.
"Have you taken care of the heretic?" came the voice on the other end.
"No. She's awakened another," McMahon replied, "I'll make another attempt after the dust has settled."
"No I don't believe that will be possible," came the voice of another figure. (OOC: NO THIS IS NOT THE GUY ON THE PRIEST'S PHONE.)
Father McMahon turned to face the voice, only to come face to face with the business end of a modified desert eagle.
"Goodbye, priest," the blonde haired man said, and pulled the trigger.
((OOC: And Aimee is actually a doctor, not a nurse.))
As Aimee had heard the explanation, at first she was unable to move due to Mina's shock command. This forced her to listen and try to understand... but deep inside, she had soo many questions that she couldn't speak in order to ask them.
But a little later on before she could ask those questions, Aimee had heard another hymn. This time it wasn't muffled sounding as Aimee had heard the full effects of this hymn and felt herself feeling happy... and very... well... blissful. By this time, her endorphins in her body released and they made her body start to glow in a green color and in this state, she was healing most of the physical superficial wounds that everyone in the immediate area near Aimee was at... just enough to heal cuts and bruises but nothing more than that at the moment. Even though Aimee was feeling this bliss, she couldn't understand what she was doing on the outside.
Is that what this song does? Its like... I am truly a healer! How am I doing this? Where did this come from? Was I actually able to do this from the beginning? She thought to herself, still unable to speak and hoping that she could find a way to control this new found healing process in the future.
((OOC: Wow... I like the way that you triggered one of Aimee's hidden powers that she didn't know she had. Maybe she might understand more in the future. *Smiles*))
(OOC: Well that should be it for the action at the hospital 
)
Milly smiled slightly as she looked at the form, several of the more generic, employee-wide answers she knew. Her wonderings in the building and conversations also good. She pointed to the sections she knew and told Ernesto the information. Some line items pretained to Jack himself and would have to remain blank until they counld either get the man to tell them or call the Records Department back in Tharomar Tower.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
The docs were shocked when they came back in and saw that the wound on Jack's arm were mostly healed.
"What?"
"There's no way your arm should have healed like that."
"Oh, is that all."
"Yup."
"Good, now I'm gonna go find those guys that came in with me."
Jack then walked past the speechless nurses and to the waiting room.
"Ernesto, tell me, should my arm have healed itslef that fast?"
Ernesto stared at Jack for a moment.
"¿Las balas...?," he said in an utterly confused voice. "I... I mean, the bullets. No, Mister Jack! This is impossible!"
Ernesto examined his shoulder, front and back. Nothing. "¡Un milagro!" he exclaimed, "¡Elogien Jesús!" The night janitor quickly kneeled in front of Jack, making the sign of the cross and offering thanks and prayers to the Lord.
Penny curled up on the hospital's couch, her face creasing with the noise.
"[censored]." she muttered in her sleep.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Ernesto please." Jack looked at the janitor strangely. He then looked at Penny. "Maybe we should just nudge her, cause I doubt anyone here wants to stay all night."
He looked at his arm.
"[censored] cool."
There wasn't even a scar.
"Move move move! We've got Malta all over the complex! Emergency lock down repeat lockdown! Code red!" The sergeant shouted orders to the other troops as the same group that had attacked Tharomar now braced for an attack from the Maltans.
Having once beeen a part of Malta they retained many top secret Maltan projects. Still, they were no much under a direct attack on their base. The base was actually far above the city, hovering. The base was a giant floating palace. The commanods had stolen it from the Maltans and now used it as their base. Incredibly the base's defesnses were still online.
Suddenly a dropship flew by the base, buzzing by. The turrets fired, but a Hercules class Titan suddenly put an end to that.
Suddenly the Titan was hit by a massive energy bolt. An even larger robot stood there behidn the Titan.
"I call it the Titan Supa suit. Hopy you like!" The Spec ops troop in the suit fired the cannons and fried the Titan. Several more Titans landed nearby, but the suit made quick work of them. The suit fired the equivelant of an EMP at the Titans, quickly disabling them.
As the Titans fell soldiers ran out of the base and quickly secured the area.
The dropship suddenly took off, flying away from the base. The Maltans had other things to worry about.
"Base secure boss."
Back inside the base, which was in essence a sphere with a grav field around it that allowed objects to land on it, buzzed with activity. "Good work Titan smasher."
The leader of them sighed. He turned to the computer monitor and pushed a button.
"Sir?"
"Get the next candidate for mutation testing now."
"Rodger."
The commander smiled.
"Evac proceedure now."
"Rodger that."
Suddenly the sphere's anti grav generators died. Dropships burst out of the hangar bays just in time to see the shpere begin it's plumit down to the city.
At 500 feet above the tallest skyscraper the sphere exploded.
The brilliant blast in the night sky would sure as heck alert the city that something was about to happen.
Back in the city, in an office there was the commandos' target.
He looked like your average Joe, with a t-shirt and blue jeans. He left his office and walked out onto the street. Trudging through the streets he walked on towards the nearby night club. He walked in and immediately was blasted by a burst of loud music.
As he worked his way through the club he failed to notice a figure in a dark trenchcoat i nthe corner. The figure whispred something into a radio before pulling out his dual Uzis.
"Hola amigos!!!"
He suddenly started firing on people in the club. The target stopped in his tracks.
"Target aquired."
The killer grabbed the target and immediately they were teleported away.
((Why do I feel like Soviet right now with my Maltan dudes?))
Jet lag kept William from being able to sleep and so the scientist worked instead on the laptop in his lap, the blinds closed.
His smooth features were accentuated by the glow from the screen and he suddenly looked up, struck with inspiration.
Quickly he saved his progress and closed the computer and stood, reaching for the phone on a nearby table. With a slight gesture, he rang the front desk. "I'd like a car waiting for me downstairs."
With an absent-minded nod, he hung up the phone and grabbed his suit jacket, carefully fastening two of the three buttons. He sauntered to the bedroom and retrieved an overcoat and took one final look at his computer before leaving his suite.
The Tharomar building towered above the rest and as the car rolled up in front, Van Watt couldn't help but snear at the comotion. It looked as though a bomb went off.
The driver opened the car door for him and he stepped out into the snow, walking briskly inside to the security desk. He was greeted with a scowl from the man sitting there and casually removed an envelope from his coat pocket. From that he extracted a letter, neatly folded and passed it to the security guard, next removing an ID card and passing that as well. "I am expected, though indeed I am early." He said, motionning to the letter.
"Feel free to retain the letter. My name is Dr. William Van Watt and I am the new Director of Reasearch and Development."
After a moment, the guard had cleared the ID card and gave it back to Van Watt. With a smile the Director clipped the card to his coat and proceeded to the elevator, not even acknowledging the state of the facility.
The lift took him to the executive levels and William marched to his new office, keying in a code into the security override. The door unlocked and the lights hummed to life; and he slipped inside. He walked through the empty reception area and over to his office door entering his newly acquired sanctuary.
On the large, black and silver desk sat a computer terminal and Dr. Van Watt took a seat in front of it, booting up the drive. His interest was primarily in equipment manifests and he took the information in as he read through it.
Part of his salary included full use of the company's resources and William indeed had plans.
His attention turned next to order status and receivings, where he added a few needed components to the large list before signing off.
He was far from tired and so he stood, inspecting the nearby bookshelf for something to read.
((Sorry DV, but we're trying to turn DOWN the random acts of violence in this thread, remember? Your attack on TE and Plague's psychotic holy man vs. Legion of Science devil was already enough. We don't need any more for now.
Also, Malta + floating base...as anyone will tell you (especially Soviet 
), that don't mix. Malta are sneaky, covert, blackmailing, kidnapping kind of villains. They only fight when they absolutely have to.))
Tharmoar yawned as he stepped from his car, slowly waking to his house overlooking a good amopunt of Rockwell's nighttime ambience.
Yes, the hill was nice, and though the house wasn't a mansion - it didn't need to be, as far as Howard was concerned - almost everyone in town knew that Tharomar's Hill was a very scenic spot...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((sorry, was trying to keep the violence isolated to my character at that point. As for the base, the Maltans have more than enough reason to wanna kill the commandos.
But that'll all get explained really soon, after the interrogation. I'll post it soon.))
((. . .I think you missed Devious's point. If the Malta want to kill someone, they find out where he lives, go there in the middle of the night, and kill him in his sleep. And no one ever finds out about it. Or at any rate, that's more like their style.
And yes. . . I am really only posting because I'm tired of waiting for the next freakin' day.))
((lol.
The commandos posed a more immediate threat to the Malta.
I understand how Malta operates, mostly from facing the wrath of Soviet.
That said, I understand that they don't normally do all out assaults.
But still, these commandos were a bigger threat. The Maltans tried to attack while a team was out attacking Tharomar, but they were slowed down and then exterminated.
((I think beyond that, Devious' point was that there isn't supposed to be so much overt battle... period. This is supposed to be a drama thread, not action with a side of drama. The whole thing about Malta is moot.
By the way... I'm waiting for the next day, myself.))
((Time moves in circles - hence why clocks are round. 
And if everyone's OK with it, I'm gonna let go of that second hand now and let it tick to tomorrow. 
))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((Cool with me, I can't get Jack moving again without Essex replying.))
((We're STILL not up to the next day? I've had some RL stuff to deal with, and I thought we'd be halfway into the next day when I came back, but... come on! This has to be the longest night ever.
Oh, and DM...
1) It's not "The Legion of Science" it's "The Science Coalition"
and
2) B.L.Z. Bub isn't a "devil", he's 100% human, and a reasonably attractive one, at that
I still have to wait until the next day before continuing my characters' stories, so I'll re-join once the next day FINALLY starts ))
Supplemental Galactic Protectorate Fanfic
"He's here," Mina said, hearing heavy booted feet amonst the tumult of activity outside.
"Who's he-" Kara was cut off by the door being kicked off its hinges.
Wielding both his swords and a look of cold fury, Father Christopher McMahon finally stood before his target.
"Mina Leslios, you have been deemed a heretic by the Catholic church, and a witch. Do you have anything to say in your defense?" Father McMahon recited.
Silence.
"I did not think so," he said, adjusting his glasses, "Very well, it's time for you to be judged."
Mina closed her eyes...and began to sing. Instinctively, Father McMahon threw his arms up to cover his ears.
"Foul demon! Siren! Temptress! Your song will have no effect on a man of god!" Father McMahon yelled as much to 'inform' Mina as to drown out her song. When he finished spewing insults, he began reciting the Lord's Prayer repeatedly.
All this time, everyone outside fell silent, entranced by her song, sedated. What they heard was merely a muffled version however, and with Father McMahon, the only person who heard her song completely...
...was Kara.
Kara was not experiencing the serenity of those outside, instead she felt her whole body grow intensely hot.
The pain spread throughout her body, and began to focus on her back and bones. She reached back to feel her back or cover it, only to feel her fingers grow hotter. Even her eyes and, oddly enough, her teeth began to feel extreme pain.
Then, it happened.
At the height of her pain, her finger were altered slightly, her nails becoming more like talons, but still vaguely human. From her back, excrutiating pain erupted as a pair of white, feathered wings exploded from her back, filling the room. Several of her teeth elongated and became sharper, and the pain in her eyes subsided completely. Most of all, she felt stronger, lighter.
There wasn't a real name for what she was. Angel? No, she was too beast-like. Devil? No, she wasn't evil.
What stood before Father McMahon was something different, something...better.
Kara easily hefted Father McMahon, pulling him out of his stupor to look directly at her.