"Dude!" Cedric pointed at the orange-skinned guy across the cargo bay from him, "I've seen you before! You were one of the Outcasts!"
"Yeah," Ashen Roast replied, "I've seen you more recently, man. When that helicopter attacked the Park... Blizzard, here, and I, we were the guys you pushed out of the way of its crash."
"Oh, really? Cool!"
"Solo!" Randy barked into the comm system, "Aren't we there yet? I thought you said this thing was fast!"
"I did, Randy," Daren's voice came back through the speaker, "We're just carrying more weight than I ever expected to..."
Randy looked about them. There was himself, Zeke, Charlene, Nester, Kip, Cobalt Black, Cedric, Matt, Cory, Joe, Roland, the Ryat androids, 66 and 99, the afore mentioned Ashen Roast and Blizzard Front (who volunteered when they heard about the event from Freedom Corps), and even the Caid brothers, Gregory and Mider, and Martin Sanders (who were assigned by their Freedom Corps superiors). They were even being assisted by the Hero element of the BWO, Draven Erickson, King Slater, Psycho13 and Project Whirlwind. The Referee couldn't help, because he was helping maintain the dropship (like "Scotty" from sci-fi space show). In the center of the cargo bay was what made up most of the weight gain on the dropship, however.
Sitting like a useless lump, the modified Zeus Titan, with its weaponry locked inside its arms, its two "halves" (Every Zeus Titan was formed by merging two Hercules Titans) bolted and welded together, and massive ammunition drums fitted onto its back, it had to weigh nearly as much as a fuel truck. Randy was surprised they'd even got off the ground.
"Sheldon," he rumbled into his communicator, "Are you there?"
"Yes, sir," came the reply.
"Is Sarah in the driver's seat?"
"We're almost ready, yeah... I'm running my last diagnostic and your daughter's itchin' to fight."
"How's it looking?"
"Everything's ship-shape, sir."
"Solo!" Randy got back to the internal comm, "How much longer?"
"ETA two minutes," the pilot replied with a laugh, "These bastards won't know we're coming either. I couldn't have gotten to radar range if I tried! We'll be landing on the furthest beach from their base, though... I want to be sure we're good and ready by the time we deal with anything."
----
The Council fortress was a massive, square block of concrete and steel. The walls surrounding it were reminiscent of the Striga Isle fortifications, complete with the turrets and patrolling guards. The only entrance, however, was a gigantic steel door, rusted brown from salty mist and an inability to keep it clean.
One guard looked out to the horizon and noticed a lone figure. From this distance, it appeared big, so it had to be massive. He gestured to one of his partners and pointed it out.
"What the Hell is that?" the one guard muttered.
"It looks like," his partner produced some binoculars and took a look, "Yeah... A Zeus Titan... Only... That's odd..."
"What?"
"It looks modified."
"How?"
"Bigger arms... It's heading this way, too."
"Why?"
The other put the binoculars away and started walking to summon more guards to the wall. The first to notice the hulking machine kept pestering him.
"I don't get it, why would the Malta Group attack us? How would they know we're here?"
"Look, Bill, I don't know. But what I do know is that we have trouble headed this way, and we better have a credible force to drive it off. Now get out of my way..."
He reached a phone box and called in a security code. Within seconds, the fortress was on Red Alert status and guards moved in to cover the threatened wall.
"I don't get it," Bill murmured as more troops shouldered next to him, "The door's over there... The easiest way in would be over there..."
"Maybe it's just a probe," an Adjutant muttered, "Standby!"
The soldiers took hold of their weapons and sighted in on the slowly approaching mech.
----
"They see me, Sheldon..." Sarah murmured inside the control grid.
A helmet was wrapped around her head, wires and cables trailed from it into the ceiling. She was walking on a peculiar treadmill, her hands resting on a pair of control sticks built into a control deck mounted on the handrails.
Sheldon was observing everything she saw on a monitor in front of her while he checked the running diagnostics on his own control panel.
"Don't worry, Snuffy," he intoned, "Everything's fine. That armor is Kevlar, laminated with titanium... And it's several inches thick for both of them. It's going to take a lot of firepower to actually get through your hull, more than they can get by the time you're done with what you have to do."
"I see rocket launchers!"
"You'll be fine..."
"Okay, I'm in position... Five hundred feet... The wall is a thousand feet to either corner... Are you sure you want me to use this targeting program?"
"Sarah, I love you to bits, and I'm certain you could pick off every one of those bastards on that wall with the guns on that mech... But I really need you to trust me on this and follow the targeting program I have loaded in there... When you're done here, you can have yourself a ball after Ryat99 reloads you."
----
"Aim!" an Archon had taken charge and delayed the guarding soldiers slightly.
"Look!" a trooper shouted and pointed.
The Zeus Titan's arms popped open, revealing twin rotating minigun batteries mounted on each limb.
"Get down!" the Archon shouted, his command echoed by speakers and Adjutants all along the line.
The Council troopers required no further prodding. The Titan started firing, all four guns blazing fire and spitting metal. The loud, whirring buzz seemed to go on forever. A thick cloud of concrete dust rose up, obscuring the soldiers' vision, and the firing continued for another few minutes. The whirring stopped suddenly, and they heard the machine make some motions, but otherwise, everything was still.
"Get me a report," the Archon, Krieger, ordered his nearest Adjutant, "I want to know what just happened..."
The dust was being carried away by a mid-sea wind. Krieger bit off a curse. He'd never heard of a Malta Titan built like that. It seemed so bizarre... So...
"Sir," the Adjutant returned, his tone somewhat cheerful, "No casualties. What few troopers can see the mech saw it's knelt down, and the arms have closed back up."
"I don't like this... Have the men get ready to..."
"There's someone out there!" a soldier shouted.
Cory Simmons stood on the kneeling machine, his eyes blazing bright yellow fire. He smiled as the incantations for this next trick sprang to mind, the same as he had practiced in the days since Sheldon had proposed the radical plan. Mr. Grey had been concerned, but Cortland knew he would get this right. He was, after all, a professional Warlock.
As the Council soldiers armed themselves and tried to regain some order to their chaos, the wizard floated into the air, waving his arms about. It was no mere show of force on his part. Cory's actions had a well-defined purpose. For this next trick, he would require energy, and on this bright spring day, surrounded by salt crystals, there was plenty of energy to spare.
The temperature in the local area lowered significantly. Frost appeared across the Titan's armor plating. Two yellow orbs appeared in Cory's hands. One of the Council soldiers looked down at the wall and gasped.
The attack, by itself, had been foolish. The Titan had just fired several thousand rounds into a six-foot thick concrete wall. Despite the superficial damage, it would have done very little. Even utilizing the peculiar "Jazt" ammunition, as it was now called (what few remaining stockpiles that could be found of the stuff, anyway), the damage was only a half of a percent worse than it could have been. The titan would have done far worse damage if it had concentrated its attack. It might have put a pinhole in the wall, then.
Instead, it had fired all across the wall, leaving little holes across it. Little holes that were close together, sometimes overlapped, and made slightly bigger, but still little holes. However, if one were to look into arcane arts, they'd recognize the little holes for what they were. Cory could read the massive spell they had jsut scrawled across the concrete like a billboard, and it was time to empower it. Good thing the "Jazt" ammunition carried a magic charge. That made this all the easier.
Cortland hurled the orbs at the wall, each one exploding halfway across the distance, and scattering sparks and flame all across the inhumanly precise drilled lettering. He shouted in a language unknown to most, yet understood by all. It was a language that spelled doom for those on the wrong end of it, salvation for those who believed in it, and provided a spectacular light show for those on the side of its speaker.
The motes of flame settled into the runes as the echoes of the Warlock's voice reached them. A moment later, the bullets started to glow. Starting softly, the various pinpoints started to gain in power and intensity, eventually glowing brighter than the sun. The runes they dwelled within and had helped make soon glowed the same, charged with energy of nearly limitless supply pulled directly from the Astral plane.
"This is bad," Archon Krieger whispered as a low hum reverberated through the wall, "We should get out of here..."
Cory watched his handiwork appreciatively. Several thousand tiny stars speckled the concrete, growing brighter and brighter, crackling energy between them. The runes flashed various colors briefly, indicating the powers of the "Jazt" ammunition they originally held, but it all eventually faded to a pure white light.
Lightning arced from the wall. The hum was getting louder now, and the whole reaction was getting faster. The wall visibly shook, dust fell from the "uninfected" side. The soldiers tried to push their way off the wall, but the stairwells and ramps only allowed for limited egress. Some simply hopped over the side. Archon Krieger, however, stood his ground. He should have realized they were dealing with heroes. It was too odd a situation to have allowed for anything else.
The wall shook violently, suddenly. From Cory's view, a great, bright rift had opened in the center of the wall. He smiled. He could hear Ryat99 walk up behind him and the Titan, and start reloading the ammunition drums.
"That's pretty neat," the android intoned, "Think you could show me or Sixty-six how to do that?"
Cory just started laughing as the wall exploded into a shower of a million bright motes of light. It looked like fairy dust out of a cartoon. While that may have been somewhat anti-climactic for the build-up, it was by no means ineffective.
The entire west wall of the fortress was gone. Whatever soldiers couldn't get off it in time suddenly found they were falling five hundred feet to the ground below. Knowing the Council, they all had a derivative of "Super Soldier Serum" in them, so they'd be fine.
"Alright," Randy growled as he reached the attack point, "Let's get this show on the road!"
He led the way. Oddly, he didn't have his "Granite" on, but then, Randy always seemed to hold off on using it as much as possible. The rest of Grey's Army and their allies followed closely behind, minus the wizard, who was recovering his energy, and Ryat99, who wasnt quite finished with the reload. Cory kept chuckling to himself.
"Damn thing is jammed," Ryat99 gave the ammunition drum a few pounds with his fist and it suddenly fit into place, "Ah, there we go... Okay, Snuffy! You're good to go!"
"Yay!"
The Titan hopped up, causing Simmons to lose his balance and he sprang off the top, floating harmlessly next to Ryat99. Dusting off his hands, he turned to the massive, frosty machine next to him.
"You asked if I could teach you magic?"
"Can you?" Ryat99 asked back.
"I don't know..." Simmons rubbed his jaw as he pondered, "It's an intriguing concept... Teaching an android mystic arts... I don't think it's ever been done before."
"I'm sure it has," Ryat99 started lumbering after the Titan as it walked off, "The world's too strange a place for it to not have happened once by now."
"Indeed..." Cory followed as well, "I guess now's not the time to be considering it... There's Council to stomp!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
The Council's ranks were slow to recover. They'd never trained for an assault like this, and now an entire wall was broken open. Worse, it was vaporized. They struggled to retrieve their weapons, but Grey's Army and various allies were already upon them.
Randall smashed into the thickest of their ranks. He still refused to utilize his granite armor. It was harder to move when he used it, harder to swing his arms, and he barely did any damage when he did manage to swing at a decent speed.
"Raaaaaaaaaugh!" he bellowed as his fists smashed into and broke the body armor of his foes, "Is that the best you've got!?"
'Yeeeeeeeeee-haaaaaaaaaaah!" Cedric whooped as he leapt into the fray, chopping his axe this way and that.
Matt McGinty hung left, taking Ashen, Blizzard, Sanders and the Caid brothers with him, heading for the logistics centers. Roland stuck with his mother, Zeke, and Nester, and carved down the center after the rampaging Randall. The BWO heroes ducked right, hammering into the barracks with Cobalt Black in tow. Kip and Cedric carved their own paths all across the fight, lending support where they were needed.
A group of Council troopers regrouped behind them. They were the soldiers who'd survived the initial onslaught, as well as Randy's rampage. They tried to prepare for a counterattack to the rear ranks of Grey's Army when they heard something pounding up behind them.
Ryat66 sat on Ryat99's shoulders, his arms focusing electricity into plasma beams he launched into the troopers. Behind them, the Modified Zeus Titan stomped in pursuit, the arms locked up into melee positions, and Cory Simmons riding its shoulder, throwing fireballs all about.
The counterattack failed before it even started.
----
"What the Hell is this?" the Nictus Nova shouted at Archon Jerod, "How did they find us!?"
"This is impossible!" Jerod screamed, "Go! Bolster the ranks, don't let them get to the labs!"
The Nova made for the window and peered outside.
"I don't believe this... Androm'Geizzer!"
"I thought you dealt with him!"
"I thought the Void Hunters did..." the Nova hissed, "I guess it's up to me..."
"Don't fail, Shadowstorm... We're so close..."
"Just rally the guards in the lab," the Nova replied, "Don't let them get to the crystal... It can't be destroyed... Our success in this war hinges on it!"
----
Matt carved into the troopers with his blade. He was making his way for the trucks, and from there, he could do untold damage. Behind him, he heard Ashen and Blizzard roaring into the battle, their fire and ice powers complementing each other perfectly. A War Wolf stormed in from Matt's side, only to be tackled to the ground by Martin.
"Gotta watch yourself," Greg Caid chuckled as he stomped into the wolf's jaw, "Sometimes they get back up, meaner and stronger than before!"
"That ever happen to you?" Matt rasped back.
"Nope," Greg smiled, "the FC gave me a silver-based serum to purge that possibility. Left me sick for a few days..."
A series of bullet holes tore into Caid's arm.
"Argh! Dammit!" he glared back at the troopers headed their way, "Good thing I still heal real fast!"
Mider Caid came up behind them, radiating healing energies.
"What is our objective, here?" he shouted at McGinty.
"Get one of those trucks moving," he pointed with his katana, "smash it into the warehouse there, and cause the munitions to detonate."
"Does it matter if the truck's on fire?" Ashen Roast gasped as he and Blizzard Front caught up.
"Nope. Might help, even."
----
Draven Erickson slashed and sliced his broadsword through the Council troopers. He was flanked by Psycho13 and King Slater, with Project Whirlwind and Cobalt Black bringing up the rear. They were fighting the Vortex Cor Leonis... Some of the most dangerous Council soldiers in the field. Fortunately, these were the barracks, and weapons weren't typically stored here.
Most of the fighting was melee style, and that was exactly where the BWO shined. Troopers fell against their bunks, lockers, and various objects throughout the facility. They tried fighting back, but the enthusiastic heroes simply carved a swath through their ranks.
----
Randy smashed a hole through the main building and started hammering his way through. Before Charlene, Zeke, Nester and Roland could follow, however, a dark Kheldian materialized before them.
"Geizzer!" it shouted at Zeke before firing an explosive blast into their midst.
Thrown in different directions, the heroes found themselves sluggish, and slightly disoriented. They had to pick themselves back up, and they each shared the fear that they wouldn't make it to their feet.
"Hedou'K'Ngar..." Zeke growled in a deep, inhuman voice, "I remember you... You ordered me killed, didn't you?"
"Wasn't my choice," K'Ngar replied, "Arakhn wanted you out fo the picture. Said you'd gone soft."
"Soft..." the voice sounded more like Zeke, but still tinged with the alien presence, "Looks like I made a good choice, then..."
Durj's body radiated with the dark energies of the Warshade. A black-purple orb wrapped about his body before completely obscuring it, save the cold, bright eyes that pierced the cloudy night.
"Let's see how soft this feels!"
A thick bolt of dark energy launched from the dark orb and collided with the Nova. The energy being screamed in pain, but started hammering Durj and Geizzer with it's own dark energies.
This was exactly what Ezekiel had hoped for.
Two bright beams erupted from Charlene's eyes and burned a hole straight through Hedou's form. This was followed up with another set of energy beams, this time fired from Nester's visor. His defenses sufficiently withered, Roland followed up the attack with a volley of arrows, one of which designed to burn, another designed to freeze.
The Dark Nova resisted the chilling effects of the arrow, but couldn't stop burning. Again, Zeke launched a volley into the offending monster, capping it with an explosive blast similar to the one K'Ngar had used on them earlier, blasting him out of the air and collapsing to the ground.
A human lied there, gasping for breath. He was dressed in the form-fitting neoprene outfit of the Galaxy unit.
"Shadowstorm," Zeke explained, "One of Arakhn's trusted agents."
He punched into the Galaxy soldier's chest and left a shadowy imprint there. The gravity around Shadowstorm suddenly increased in strength and held the offender in place.
"Can he move?" Charlene asked dubiously.
"Not for a short while," Zeke started making his way for the damage Randall was doing, "I suggest finishing him off. He's responsible for a lot of the stuff Androm's accused of."
Roland planted a fist in the Galaxy's face. Charlene shook her head.
"No, no, no, Roland.." her right fist suddenly started to glow brightly, "This is how you punch a guy..."
There was an audible crack as her glowing fist connected with Shadowstorm's jaw guard. Nester kind of nudged the prone, moaning body with his foot as he passed by. The Nictus wouldn't be moving around any time soon.
----
Kipland leapt into the hole Randall had left in the wall of the main chamber of the fort. The lab. All around, Council troopers of the Vortex Cor Leonis fired round after useless round into Randall Grey's armor. Rounds literally bounced off his skin, and Randall responded by wrenching pieces of concrete and steel from around himself and bombarding the soldiers right back.
Kip chose a group and leapt into them, slamming his knees into a pair and casting them over the rail of the catwalk. From there, he drove deeper into the facility. At one point, he kicked a lens off the goggles of a trooper. Everything seemed to go in slow motion, the soldier falling over the side, and the next batch approaching, but Kip kept his eye on the red lens as it sailed, twirling, through the air.
"Coolness," he muttered before heading back into the fray.
Cedric Grey burst through a window and fell into the soldiers on the other side of the warehouse. His axe sang loudly as he chopped through their armor and sent them screaming to the concrete below. Rounds pinged and panged off his armor, and Cedric whooped with glee. Another crew started heading up the ramp, and Cedric met them at the top.
"Hi boys," he was pointing a Nemesis rifle at their faces, "This is going to really hurt..."
The gasses inside the explosive shell corroded their armor, weapons, clothes, and even the ramp. Ced hopped over the side as the catwalk started to sway dangerously. The stairwell collapsed, sending troops hurtling to the ground.
"Looks like you're having fun..." Randall told his son.
"Two rounds left," Ced patted the rifle, "Think I should save 'em?"
"Nah, use 'em when you feel is right. Kip! We're headed down!"
A resounding "Klong" answered him. Kip smashed the Adjutant's head into the rail again and rolled him over the side before hopping down to join them.
Nester, Roland, Charlene, and Zeke came up from behind. An explosion to their left signaled that Matt and his crew were successful, and were actually headed in through the doors there.
"Wonder what's keeping the Warriors," Randall intoned when he looked to see they weren't coming from the barracks to the north.
----
Archon Krieger had survived the initial attack. In fact, he came out of it better than his troops. A massive, white War Wolf had emerged from the wreckage and headed for the barracks. The Brutal Warriors found him in the office of the main floor, and it was rumbling time.
They had fought their way outside, and Psycho13 was down for the count. Draven Erickson hacked and slashed into Krieger's arms as the War Wolf deflected the attacks. Blood sprayed all about, but the Archon didn't seem to be dropping.
"You smell like a vampire..." Krieger growled as they slowed the assault and started to circle each other, "Slightly different... But still..."
"Funny, you smell like you rolled in cow [censored]," Draven replied, his blade held low, but the point never deviated from its target.
In the background, he could see Slater and Whirlwind fending off the other troops. A little further, and there was Cobalt Black...
He was leaping down onto Krieger with a deadly kick aimed for his neck.
"Argh..." the Archon Wolf fell and rolled over the ground, turning back to them and gripping his scruff in pain, "I should have known you wouldn't face me in a fair fight!"
"This is war," Cobalt replied, "All's fair here."
The Wolf released his grip on himself and lunged angrily at them with a roar, teeth bared and claws outstretched. Draven swung his blade at the wolf, trying to stab into his gut. Cobalt aimed a sharp, driving kick at Krieger's jaw.
----
"We can't wait any longer," Randall started heading for the cargo lift in the back of the main facility, which appeared to be some form of lab, "We gotta press the advantage while we still have them off balance."
The Modified Zeus Mech walked in through the massive hole and started closing the distance to the lift.
"Daddy!" Sarah's high, squeaky voice chirped through the somewhat silent building, "Wait for me!"
"No Sarah," Randall held up his hand, "You gotta stay here. I'd love to have ya down there with us... That mech would be a welcome addition to the fight... Definitely make things easier. But we don't know if the elevator can take the weight."
"Aw..." the machine slumped visibly, "Okay..."
"Head over there and see what's taking those boys... Help 'em if you can. Once done, send 'em our way and cover the exit."
"Okay!" the mech started walking off to the north, "Rawr!"
"Alright..." Randall gathered his forces into the lift, "Grey's Army... Going down."
----
"Did you hear something?" Sheldon asked as he looked to the main chambers of the base.
Sarah shrugged.
"I'm here, I'm there, and more's happening there, Shel. Sorry if I missed it."
"Well..." Sheldon left the diagnostic panel, "I'm still going to check it out... You should be fine, Sarah, there hasn't been any kind of spike in the system... Even still... If there is, the buffers should keep you safe."
"Way to blow my ego, Sheldon..." Sarah replied in mock fear, "I think I'll just run screaming now, let the Grey Titan run amok a few minutes... How's that sound?"
...
"Sheldon?"
Sheldon was already in the main sectors of the base. There was a crashing sound out near the workshop. Sprinting, he made his way across the meeting room to the opening and peeked around the corner.
A Fake Nemesis was thrashing around.
"DURRRRRRRRRRRJ!" it shouted, it's voice making a rattling, metallic echo inside the brass, "Where the Hell are you!?"
"Oh crap..." Sheldon hissed to himself.
He had to...
"Mrah!"
FELIX!
The massive machine whirled around and there was a momentary pause. Sheldon knew the monster was planning to hurt the defenseless furball. He couldn't let that happen. But how could he stand against something that outweighed him by nearly a ton, and outclassed his gravity control nanites by nearly thirty ranks?
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Sarah Grey thought she heard something, but she was focused on saving her friends. She knew Joe and Nester knew the guys more, but the Brutal Warriors seemed to be decent guys, and they had some nifty toys.
Her mech tore through the wall and she beheld a large wolf fighting Draven and Cobalt Black. Draven's sword was stuck in its belly, and it seemed it had a distinct advantage over the two at this point.
A barrage of ammunition changed that, however. The wolf picked itself back up and glared at Sarah.
"You think that can stop me!? I'll tear you limb from limb!"
The wolf started charging at her, when the back of its head suddenly exploded. It didn't die from the blast, but it was definitely down. The wound was already closing up.
Joe Durnan dropped to the ground next to the writhing body. As Archon Krieger struggled to stand again, he jammed a tazer into the wolf's back and didn't remove it until Krieger stopped trying to stand and just lied on the ground, twitching back to his human form.
"Where the Hell have you been?" Draven shouted as he removed his weapon from the Archon's belly, "We got to the hole and you just disappeared..."
"I took out the guys up on the walls," Durnan replied, "Lots of goons up there who weren't on the wall we took down... Lots of guys trying to outflank you guys, too. Bullets and patience put a lot of them out. Grenades took care of the rest."
"Woah, dude, you're hardcore," Cobalt acknowledged, "I had you pegged for a ninny..."
"He is a ninny..." Draven smirked, "Just a ninny with a gun."
"I'm the one getting married and doing something with my life, Jared," Joe slung his rifle over his shoulder, "Not screwing around with my friends and trying to rebuild some old waste of time..."
"Hey! Ours is a legitimate business!"
"With a recruitment and promotion policy akin to a pro-wrestling system..."
Psycho13 suddenly showed up, his wounds closing. King Slater and Project Whirlwind walked up behind him.
"I thought you got taken out," Joe barked at him.
"I got better!" Psycho13 replied happily, "We gonna get on with this? Where's Randy and the others?"
----
The fighting in the basement levels, a bizarre facility that seemed to be a processing plant for Shadow Cyst crystals, was intense. Every corridor was brimming with Council troops. Several times, Randall found himself "going Granite," and cleaning house.
Nearly twenty heroes were enough to devastate the Council forces, all the way back to the main chamber they were protecting. A force of Ascendant Archons stood in their path, however. Five heavily armored soldiers, each armed with massive sonic cannons. One was trouble enough, five would be damn near impossible to beat.
Randy didn't give it a second thought. He just charged down the hall and punched the first one in the chest, smashing him against the door and stomped a small tremor into the floor, knocking the rest to the ground.
Nester lobbed a radiation bomb into their midst, and Cedric leapt up to come smashing his axe down on the face of the Ascendant furthest left. Roland filled the air with arrows, taking care not to shoot where his friends and family were, and the hall filled with combat after that.
One Archon Ascendant found himself smashed against the walls by Randall himself, eventually tossed down a side corridor and smashed in the face by a piece of hurled steel before he could recover and get his shield up. Another, Cedric, Ryat99 and Blizzard Front pummeled to submission. In the end, Cedric was punching the Ascendant's head while he was encased in a solid block of ice.
The third was taken down by Zeke, Charlene, Nester, Ryat66 and Kipland. At one point, they backed him up to the door and the four "living" heroes fired eye beam blasts, shredding his armor and Ryat66 let loose a blast of condensed energy, slamming the Ascendant through the door. There was still another door to get through, but at least this Ascendant was down.
The other two were taken care of by the remaining forces.
Martin, Gregory and Mider Caid slowly dealt with their Ascendant. Gregory used to be in awe of them, even feared them, and here they were. The Council tended to whisper about them... Wherever they were, the Center's interests lay.
Mider's spells weakened the Ascendant's armor while the three melee combatants dealt with him on a personal level. The Ascendant Archon tried to fend them off with his sonic cannon, but all it really seemed to do was make Martin angry. A flurry to the chest later, capped off by a kick to the face and the Ascendant dropped to his knees. A line of fire burned into his chest plate, and dropped him.
Cory, standing at Rolands side, blew some smoke off his fingertips.
The last Ascendant Archon was dove for the doorway. Drawing his shield, he stood in their way. He was severely beaten and bruised by the assault he'd suffered at the hands of Matt McGinty and Ashen Roast. His armor was singed, nicked, and pockmarked. He looked desperate.
"You shall not pass," he gasped, "I cannot let you get through..."
Roland fired an explosive arrow at the Archon. The shaft hit the top of the shield and caused the projectile to bounce into the door, and fall back behind the Ascendant's feet. The explosion launched the guard over their heads and down the hall, just behind the smirking Roland.
"Nice shot," Randall chuckled, "Here... Allow me..."
He plodded over to the Ascendant, popping his knuckles as he went. The soldier crawled on his back, confused as to what had just happened. As he struggled to stand, his face connected with a rapidly approaching fist, and the Ascendant tumbled down the hall.
"You sure hit him pretty hard, dad." Roland chuckled, "Think he'll be okay?"
"Nah," Randy grinned, "Let's go."
As the heroes moved to break through the remaining door, the Ascendant just knocked down the hall stirred. He hit himself with a turquoise crystal and picked himself back up to watch them go. He started chuckling when they were gone, then gripped his side.
Removing his mask, the Center took in a breath of fresh air.
"Ow..." he breathed, "I gotta remember... I'm getting too old for this..."
He chuckled again.
"But it's fun..."
----
"Oh my god..." Zeke shouted in that inhuman voice he'd used when they were fighting the Dark Nova, "It's... It's... I don't know..."
"I know what it is," Kipland muttered...
But it wasn't Kipland, either. His armor seemed to be hovering over his body, flickering in and out of reality. His eyes were glowing with that peculiar light that was similar, yet not the same to, the Kheldian energy tendrils.
They were staring at what appeared to be a gigantic Shadow Cyst Crystal. Normally, they were about the size of any person. That was more than enough to transport and store hordes of free-floating Nictus, providing a "host" of sorts until more suitable, mobile ones can be found. This one was several times that, roughly the size of a Kronos Class Titan... Maybe smaller, but maybe far more dangerous.
"If that thing is anything like the smaller ones..." Zeke muttered.
"We gotta break it," Randall rumbled, then leapt over the side of the catwalk, "Come on, let's go!"
There weren't any guards. Just one Archon, and one Void Hunter. They stood at the base of the crystal, but they didnt attack.
"What is this?" Randall barked at them, "What do you think you're doing!?"
"Hunter Zachariah..." Archon Jerod gestured to the crystal, "If you will?"
The Hunter placed a small dark crystal against the larger one. Whatever it was, whatever it did, the massive block started to hum.
"It's charged," Zachariah replied, "Now, I'm going to check on the anomaly..."
The Hunter disappeared, and was suddenly next to Kipland Durj.
"Gah!" the scrapper shouted, then got into a combat stance.
"At ease, boy," the Hunter looked him over, "I just wanted to take a look... I heard you were similar to ones like him... Not so much her..."
"What are you talking about?" Kip shouted at him.
"You're the Obsidian Blight, right? You were infected with Nictus crystals, correct?"
"Something like that..."
"You should be dead."
"I'm aware," Kip's eyes narrowed, and the armor started to materialize on his body as if it were made of smoke, "Life has a funny way of changing."
"I see... I wanted to get a good look at you... I would stick around, but it seems my role here is completed..."
He turned to Zeke and Charlene.
"Your time will come... It would be wise to surrender now, you understand. Well, perhaps not now, but soon. We'll cut every one of you beings out of this city, and usher in the true Nictus superiority. You cannot stand against this.
"Take this message back to your bosses," Ezekiel and Androm'Geizzer said at the same time, then blasted Zachariah off the side of the catwalk.
"That was a message?" Roland laughed.
"Yeah!" Cedric hopped over the rail, caught it, and looked back at his brother, "The message is, 'Don't [censored] with us!'"
"Sounds good, heeyah!"
Randall was joined shortly by the rest of the crew. Archon Jerod simply smirked at them.
"You can't stop me, now," he laughed, "Our plans have come to fruition! There's nothing you can do to stop the Nictus from taking this world, now! You've seen what a small Shadow Cyst can do... Imagine one of this size! Imagine the power behind it! Nothing can stop us! You will either serve the will of the Council, or be destroyed! You will serve the Nictus, or you will be food!"
"I see one problem..." Randall growled as he walked up to the Archon.
"What's that?" Jerod ripped off his mask and got right in the tank's face, "Look, hero, you lost! You can beat the [censored] out of me, but in the end, you'll be burned out of here by a torrential wave of dark energy, and that blast will tear its way out of this island... It will sweep across the city, tearing away all you heroes and replacing you with Nictus slaves! You'll-"
Randall delivered a savage uppercut to Archon Jerod's jaw. The Council commander went flipping through the air and landed against the crystal.
Then started sinking into it.
"What..." the Archon screamed shrilly through his broken jaw, "What's going on!? What's happening!?"
"It's not a transport device," Androm answered, "It's a transmogrifier..."
Randall turned back to Zeke, and then looked up to the Council Archon being devoured.
"It's too late for him, Randall," Zeke placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, "But we have to find a way to break this thing down. Otherwise, Paragon City is in for the fight of its life."
The Crystal swallowed the Archon, the last of his screams being cut off abruptly, and his body became a blob of flailing limbs before disappearing into the distance. Charlene was the only one to look in and hold her hands to her mouth in shock, horror, and disgust. Roland pulled her away so they could hammer out a plan to crack the crystal.
"I say we hit it with everything we've got. Get Sarah down here, have her pummel it with a million rounds of ammunition, my rocks, everything."
Randall really didn't have much else.
"How can we be sure that will work?" Nester whispered, "It could just soak all the energy we pump into it and send out that energy that guy was talking about!"
"We don't know if it can do that!" Cedric laughed, "Also, why are we whispering? It's not like a crystal can really hear us! I mean, what's it gonna do?"
"No..." Kip breathed, and then pointed into the crystal, "This can't be..."
The group turned to see what had startled him. A mass was emerging from the shard. It was a monster unlike anything they'd ever seen.
Except Kip.
Large, misshapen, and dotted with black-purple crystals of varying size, the creature of the scrapper's nightmares emerged, and bellowed out a pained roar from Archon Jerod's face. The face sat on its left "pect," and was stretched out painfully. An ear rested uselessly on the shoulder. Its legs were thick as tree trunks, and ended as splay-toed feet. It's left arm ended in a three-clawed hand, two fingers hung limply and uselessly underneath. The right arm was completely deformed, with massive crystal spikes jutting from it and an even larger one extending out of the forearm like a sword.
Each shoulder had a large crystal jutting out of it, one on the right shoulder small and resting across the flesh, the one on the left jutting diagonally out of the base of its neck. Another crystal rested prominently on the right side of its chest, like some form of perverse heart. The final gem was sunk into a thick neck resting on the monsters shoulders.
"It's the thing from my nightmare..." Kip gasped, "Oh my God... They can make more..."
The monster roared, and aimed its arm at them. A blast of negative energy arced through the air from the "sword," and exploded when it hit Roland. The group, save for Kip, Randall, Cedric and Ryat99 was scattered.
----
"I'll start with this..." Nemesix aimed his staff at the cage sitting next to the computer in the workshop, "This... What the Hell? Ah well, this thing dies first!"
"NO!"
Sheldon leapt into the room, reached out, and pulled the staff his way. A torrent of concussive force smashed through the room, barely missing Wallace.
"Ah, so there is someone here..." Nemesix laughed, "Prepare to suffer, Hero... Make sure you tell Kipland Durj what happens when you interfere with my plans!"
He smashed the controller across the floor, sending him sliding into the Control Room. Sheldon could feel his body armor smoldering... There was a faint scent of ozone.
"You still live?" Nemesix chuckled, "Very well... I'll take my time with this!"
Behind Nemesix, inside his cage, Felix gripped his cage. He was shouting his little fur ball head off, but couldn't do anything from there. So, he decided to stop being there.
One quick body check into the opposite wall of the cage, and the container was on the floor. In the next instant, the little mutant animal was out of the cage and rushing up Nemesix's leg.
The Fake Nemesis, however, was busy trying to smash into Sheldon. He kept bringing his staff up and crashing it down, trying to break the inventor's leg. Sheldon kept rolling and backing away, but knew he was running out of room.
Finally, the tiny bear was on Nemesix's face, and pounding on it with his tiny fist.
"Nrah!" he shouted, "Mraaah!"
dink-dink-dink-dink-dink-dink-dink
"What the Hell is this!?" Nemesix reached up with his free hand and grabbed a hold of Felix. He tugged at the critter, but Felix refused to let go. He tugged harder and there was a popping sound.
"Did he..." Nemesix glared down at Sheldon.
He could clearly see the circuitry inside the Nemesis head. It was a fake, and now Wallace knew it. It must have been the one Kip had warned them about, the Fake that thought it really was Nemesis... The one that had tried to assassinate Statesman a couple weeks back.
"It ripped off my mask!?" Nemesix screamed, "I'm exposed!"
The staff fell to the ground, and the machine tried to pull the armor piece from Felix. It was peculiar. Despite out-sizing the living teddy bear nearly a hundred times, Nemesix was having trouble getting his mask back.
"Hng... Grgh... Urrrrrrgh!"
"M-nah... Mrah... G'naaaaah!"
"Let go, damn you!"
"Naaaaaaaaah!"
Finally, Nemesix relaxed a moment, and then exerted some extra force on Felix, plucking the little bear off and launching him into the wall. Sheldon was horrified when the bear turned into a small brown disk of fur and slid to the ground, but Felix got right back up on his feet and started trotting up to the brass-armored villain.
"I'm going to get this back on..." Nemesix growled, "Then I'm going to cleave that little critter right in two! Your little pet is gonna die, hero, and there's nothing you can do about it!"
"Felix," Sheldon called to his pet, his friend, "I've taken a lot from you over the past year..."
He adjusted a control on his glove.
"It's time to give something back..."
He fired off a beam of energy. Kinetic energy. It was a speed boost.
Wreathed in a green aura, there was a slight popping sound as Felix's bones fitted back into place and he bolted up Nemesix's leg. The machine instinctively smashed at the animal, smashing his own knee joint to pieces in the process. The blur of green energy and brown fur circled around the torso a couple times before finally bolting under the mask jsut as Nemesix refitted it.
The Brass King's impostor fell to the ground, his knee smashed to oblivion and unable to support him, but he was more concerned with his lack of vision.
"Your pet just crawled inside my head," his head turned to where he remembered Sheldon being, "Didn't he?"
"Yeah," the controller replied.
"Nyeh-hah!" the bear chortled a laugh from inside the head.
Immediately, Nemesix shook violently, ripping at his own head, trying to fit his hands around the edges of his mask, into the eye holes, something, anything to get the bear out. But they were just... too... large.
"Get-it-out-get-it-out-get-it-out-get-it-out-GET-IT-OUT-GET-IT-OUT-GET-IT-*K-ZRRT!*"
The body shook violently with the electric sound of the brain shorting out, dropped with a crash, and laid still. The base was silent, save the low hum of the generator's elsewhere.
"Oh my God..." Sheldon's voice cracked, "Fe-Felix?"
The body was still for several moments. Sheldon approached slowly. Then, there was a shuffling sound, a tapping accompanied by "neh! NEH!" and finally, the mask popped off, with Felix's tiny fist emerging from the center of the hole right after it.
"FELIX!" Sheldon pulled the little bear out of the head and hugged him close.
Felix blinked a couple times, made a small whine, and shivered. Lots of his hair fell off. It was almost immediately replaced by a type of short-hair fuzz.
"How?" Wallace glared at him for a moment, but the animal seemed fine.
Felix crawled around in his arms, finally getting to a position where he could lick Sheldon happily. They sat on the floor like that for a long while.
----
Randall smashed his fist into the gem on the monster's chest. It had laid them low for long enough. Roland was crumpled on the ground, Nester trying to revive him. Kipland had been knocked into the crystal, and Cedric was trying to keep him from being sucked in. The rest of the group was busy hammering this thing that was far more powerful than Kip described from what he remembered of his dream.
In fact, a dark energy field surrounded the monster, not unlike the one that kept Zeke safe from most kinds of harm.
But enough was enough, and Randall Grey was [censored]! It had tried to kill his son, and it was payback time. His fist smashed into the chest again, this time cracking the gem. It took a swing at him with the massive "sword" and followed up with a shotgun blast of dark energy from its "head." The beams scattered about, but nailed Randy, Nester, Charlene and Zeke.
"Oh my God!" she yelled, "It burns... It BURNS!"
"It'll be okay," Zeke called to her, "You'll be alright..."
Randy, however, was far from alright. He was in a mad rage, and his next punch, smashing through the gem completely and taking a few of the monster's ribs with it, exemplified the fact. Sometimes, there was a benefit to having your family in danger, and that benefit was that it brought out untold amounts of potential in you.
For Randy, that potential was rage. He was no longer fighting to win. Well, yes, he was fighting to win, but there was something more. He was fighting to protect his family. Sure, he knew they could all take care of themselves. But he was tired... Tired of watching them get hurt. Tired of letting them suffer, and, most of all, tired of the Enemy thinking they could hurt them without reprisal.
Randall's fist crashed through the gem on the monster's head. He picked it up, and threw it back at the crystal that spawned it. His face was a mask of rage, his eyes had gone completely white, save the pupils.
With a final pull, Cedric wrenched Kip free of the crystal, and the younger scrapper wound up next to Charlene, Zeke, and Nester. Cedric bounded behind them, and they unleashed a torrent of energy beam attacks from their eyes, all of which were directed right at the monster.
Screaming, Jerod fell backwards, into the crystal. Randall threw a rock at it, further compacting him into the impromptu prison.
Roland stood and looked at the situation. The crystal was glowing brightly from its contained energy. Whatever it was designed to do, there was obviously a serious side effect. Perhaps the Archon wasn't all that wrong, and the crystal would launch a torrent into the world...
He searched through his arrow heads and retrieved one he figured would help in this situation. A sonic vibrations arrow, it was designed to weaken foes utilizing acoustic frequencies...
He turned a dial.
Now, it would do some damage to physical objects. It wasn't supposed to... But there weren't innocent civilians here.
He ran for the stairs.
"Come on!" he shouted over the hum of the vibrating crystal, "Let's get out of here!"
The others had to drag Randall away, who was busy beating the tar out of Jerod's fading body, but he came to with a quick application of mind clearing energies from Nester's gloves. The group made haste for the exit, and Roland left a parting gift.
His arrow sailed into the ceiling, struck home, and started to vibrate. The ceiling started to crumble, and they hit the "up" button on the elevator.
When they got to the top, the whole facility was shaking. Randall ushered everyone out of the building as machinery popped and exploded. Steam and water erupted from pipes, the ground started to shake. In the air was the BWO dropship. Daren brought the vehicle to the ground, hovering inches from it. Everyone climbed aboard, including the mech, and the dropship took off like a rocket.
An explosion rocked the island. A dark, black-purple mushroom cloud rose up, then dissipated. The heroes stared at it from the open rear cargo door of the dropship. They watched the island fade from view.
It was over. A major Council threat had been averted, and Grey's Army had finally done something that made an actual difference. There was nothing personal about it. There were no civilians getting hurt. Hell, they may have even saved the world...
"So that's what it feels like..." Kip mumbled as Cedric brought up the point, "It's over rated..."
"Oh, come on!" Cedric shouted, "We kicked some major [censored]! What's to complain about?"
----
"Archon White..."
The Archon awoke with a start. He'd fallen asleep at his desk again.
"I'd expected you in your quarters."
It was the Center. White's heart skipped a beat. He'd done as he was ordered. Did something go wrong? Wait... Everything was meant to go wrong... Randall Grey and Greys Army destroy a Council base with nefarious intent toward the Council, or they get captured trying to do it. Win/win, right? What was wrong?
"Uh, yes sir..."
"Sit down," the Center smiled at him, "You're much too uptight..."
"Sir, the last time I met you... It was right after you had most of the other Archons in the room summarily executed."
"Oh yes," the Center chuckled, "I did do that. Nasty business that. You're afraid I'll do that to you, now?"
White looked down at his desk.
"Relax. I just came by to tell you that it all went perfectly. Randall Grey and his forces demolished the base... Arakhn and Requiem are scratching their heads, and my powerbase within the Council is further consolidated. All because of you."
"Uh... You're welcome, sir."
"Indeed. Now, I'm certain you won't be telling anyone about this little transgression of ours, correct?"
"Yes sir."
"If I start to hear rumors about this, White, I'm coming straight for you."
"I understand."
"Good."
And Archon White awoke with a start. He was in his office, just like before. Only it was morning. Had the Center been talking to him in his dream?
"Sir?" Adjutant Jordan walked into the room, a stack of files in his hand.
"I... Just... Busy day..."
"Oh..." Jordan looked about the room, but eventually set the papers on his boss's desk, "Sir... If you need the day off, I can take command... For now! I mean, temporarily..."
"Relax, Jordan," White rubbed his left temple, "I trust you. Besides, I'm not leaving for the next few weeks..."
"Come on, sir, you've been beating yourself up since your last command got thrashed. It happens to a lot of Archons, and they still get assigned posts and cells throughout the city. Adjutants, too. You never know when a hero's just gonna stumble in..."
"Like now.." White muttered.
"What!?" Adjutant Jones looked out the window, but nothing was going on.
"Oh... Oh Jebus..."
"You know what?" Archon White leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the desk, "Tell everybody to go home and take the day off. I don't feel like going through a day of this right now."
"Uh..." Jones was hesitant, but a free day was a free day, "Aye, sir!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Nice place you have here," Sheldon gestured to the walls of the Brutal Warriors Order facility, "You just get it?"
"Yeah," Dale Simms smiled with pride, "Jared and Dustin got the deed to this place... Now we just gotta fix it up."
"You having any luck?"
"Some of the Arachnos equipment left behind by Longbow is coming in handy. You'd be amazed what you can build out of spare parts... Or even just how many tool sets the LB left behind."
"Probably only took what they thought was relevant... Also intended to demo the place, but red tape got in the way..."
"Yeah... That's what we figured. I found a few generators that didn't work... Cannibalized a couple, now we got three. We had to buy our computers and a satellite uplink... Hoo, that was costly."
"Maybe we can help each other..." Sheldon smiled, "You guys still need a good security system and structural improvements, right?"
Dale grinned back.
"What have you got in mind?"
--
"Have you considered mystical intrusions?" Cory asked Daren "Solo Stryker" Simms.
"Yeah, but we don't have the know-how to set up an effective defence..."
"Well... A friend of mine may be able to help set up some reasonable wards..."
--
The rest of the group was divided into little private clusters. Joe was talking to Sarah over his communciator...
"What do you mean, Felix killed Nemesis?"
"No... No... Kip told us about this thing... It's called NemeSIX... NemeSIX, like the number six, Joe! Let Kip know what happened!"
"Okay, okay... I got it," Joe rolled his eyes.
"And don't roll your eyes at me!"
"I didn't!"
"Don't you lie to me! Don't make me hit you! I'll telepunch you! I can do that, Joe! I'm psychic!"
"I thought you said psychic phone lines don't work..."
His head suddenly snapped to the side.
"Ow!"
--
Randy and Charlene were holed up together in a private room. She was a little leery of oil derricks, and when she learned that this was the same place that ahd caused her fear, Randy figured she needed some comforting really quick.
--
Cedric was taking advantage of the wrestling ring they'd set up.
"You guys fight each other?"
"Yeah..."
"For real this time!?"
"Yeah."
"Aw... I have got to try that! James! You and me, man!"
"You're on Cedric!"
The two were putting on quite the show, pummeling and beating each other. Cedric had forgone his axe, and was focusing an brawling with James. James, however, was utilizing his super strength to its fullest potential.
Good thing Cedric knew how to fight.
"This is funny," Roland chuckled, "I'm gonna miss moments like this."
"Whaddaya mean?" Jared "Draven Erickson" asked the portly defender.
"I can't keep doing this... It's just too crazy..."
The red-coated scrapper nodded.
"You're not gonna try to convince me otherwise?"
"Not my place," Draven replied, "I don't think it's anyone's, man. We all gotta make our own decisions."
"Thanks... I just don't know how I'm gonna break the news to everyone."
"Don't worry about it, man... Your family's cool."
"Not just them..." Round pressed his lips together and grimaced at the ground, "Jared... I figure you're the guy to ask this... You ever tell a girl bad news?"
Simms stared at Roland for a few seconds. Then started laughing. Hard.
"It's not funny!"
"Yes it is!" Jared choked out, "You got a girlfriend? You!?"
"She... I..." Roland pressed his palm into his face, "Frickin' Hell... It's not like that..."
--
Cobalt sat at the edge, talking angrily into his communicator.
"It's not like that... Mist... Look... It's just... I don't think they have your best interests at heart! Of course I don't trust them! I... My friends and I... My... Brothers... and I... We've fought them enough times to know... Misty! MISTY!"
He started slamming the communicator against the edge.
"What's wrong, man?"
Kip.
"It's... It's Misty... She and Mindy... They're getting promoted... Finally being made Attendants..."
Kip was silent.
"Something's really wrong there, Kip... I don't know what they do to those girls... But I've heard... Rumors... Y'know... The Carnies we put in prison... They're all put in the psych ward..."
"I know."
"What if that happens to them?"
"It won't."
"How do you know?"
Kip walked around and knelt until he was staring into his double's eyes. His eyes weren't glowing, revealing their deep green irises. His face was set to a cold, serious stare.
"We won't let that happen!"
Aaron nodded.
"The ceremony's tomorrow... Can we get there in time?"
"Oh yeah..." Kip stood and started heading for the main building, "Pick who you want on the team... I'll arrange for transport."
"Kip!"
"What?"
"We gotta go to Freedom Corps first, though..."
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to be doing this... And I need everything I'm familiar with. Everything I know."
He stood and straightened his uniform.
"I need my guns."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Back Alley Brawler was a little weirded out when the BWO dropship was suddenly hovering overhead...
"A dropship? What the Hell?"
Then, Cobalt Black dropped to the ground next to him...
"A Malta Agent, what the Hell?"
"Leave him alone, Brawler," Randall shouted down, "He's a good guy!"
Back Alley Brawler looked back up at Randall.
"What the Hell!?"
A cable lowered and suddenly, Cobalt was grabbing it, his body bedecked in straps, ammo clips, magazines, pistols and a rifle across his back. Back Alley brawler stared at him a moment.
"Good day..." Aaron quipped as he gave a couple tugs to the cable and started to get dragged away, "What? No more W.T.H.?"
"Oh... Go to Hell, boy."
----
"Okay," Solo Stryker informed the Grey's Army crew over the intercom, "Because of our little mid-city stunt, we've got a pair of Longbow helicopters on our butt... I'm gonna need to lose them, so we can't be there when you're raiding the Carnies, 'kay?"
"S'alright," Randall replied, "We almost there?"
"Hotel in Brickstown," the dropship started descending, "And Cobalt's hit the ground running... He's through the door..."
"Come on, boys and girls..." Randall rumbled, "Let's get him some help!"
----
The front door blew off its hinges, and crashed into a Strongman inside. The Strongmen standing next to him only got in enough time to turn and stare, dumbfounded, at the small man clad in dark blue who threw a pair of grenades into the ceiling (that started raining fire on the Strongmen) and dove into the fray.
In an instant, a pair of automatic pistols were in Cobalt Black's hands. Ammunition barked from them like a river, a torrent of hot metal filling the air between the Maltese Resistance freedom fighter and the legs of his opponents.
I can't kill them, he reminded himself, I can only stop them...
The girls were another matter. He had no idea if he was early or late... He didn't know if any of the Carnival girls were Misty and Mindy... He didnt want to risk hurting them, so he ran until he could think of something better.
He saw a few Seneschals directing them. Apparently, they were all newly raised from simple recruits to fully-fledged Carnival Attendants and Strongmen. Probably explained the stretch marks on the big guys...
"I'm sorry," he gasped when he could run from them no longer, and smashed the butt of his pistol into the forehead of the nearest girl's mask.
It exploded in a shower of purple radiating energy and porcelain. The girl fell backwards, screaming, but it turned into a low moan, then a gasp.
She looked around confusedly for a while as her friends continued their relentless assault. Cobalt noted she seemed surprised, shocked in fact. Like she didn't know what she'd been doing...
The next girl got close enough, and Cobalt popped her mask just like the last. He got the same result. Panic turned to a sort of manic elation. Even if they had raised Misty and Mindy to Attendants as opposed to just initiates, he could bring them back...
He hammered into the girls surrounding him. Trying not to actually hurt them, he was breaking those accursed masks from their faces. The girls were not appreciative beforehand, and quite mystified afterward.
"Whuh... What?" one girl stuttered, "What happened? Last thing I remember was going to a show..."
"You're better now, if dirt poor," Cobalt muttered as he started making his way to the elevators, "But you're free."
Kipland and the Ryats showed up at the front door as Cobalt passed them. Cedric followed shortly after that.
"Dude! You shot their kneecaps!"
"Not so strong now, are they?"
"Aaron!" Kip shouted as he rushed to catch up to his double, "Aaron, look at me!"
Kipland "Aaron, Cobalt Black" Durj rounded on this world's original. His face was grim. His eyes were wide open, but his demeanor was stone cold.
The original Kip knew the feeling well. He and this other were sometimes far too similar.
"Don't lose yourself..." he breathed, "Remember why you're here..."
"I gotta save her, Kip..." Cobalt replied, his voice half-cracked, "I... I... I never... Never felt..."
"Go..." Kip replied, "I know what you mean. But watch yourself... You don't want to cross over..."
He indicated the bodies getting zapped to the Ziggurat.
"That was a bit much."
"Gotcha," Cobalt's face seemed to soften a little, "I'll... I'll lay off a little..."
They got to the elevator and he turned to the rest of the group.
"Break the masks... Everybody else pummels them into submission... And something happens... Break the mask? They look like they get a whanging headache, but they're otherwise fine."
Nester zipped up behind them.
"What I miss?"
"Not enough to keep you from keeping us alive in this..." Kip muttered as they made their way into the elevators.
----
The fighting was intense. Cedric swinging his axe around like a frying pan, the two Kips rampaging through the halls with flurries of punches and kicks, the Ryats covered the floor in ice and filled the air with energy, and Nester kept them ticking all the while.
As they worked their way through the floors, Kipland wondered if they'd be able to utilize this method in the future, or if the Carnival would come up with a failsafe for it. It was sad, that the defeated Carnies invariably wound up in the nut house... Especially with how they got recruited. It was a nice change of pace that this group would avoid that circumstance, but there was no guarantee the solution would work in the future.
As they got closer, hey could hear the Ring mistress yelling at her congregation...
"How dare they interrupt the ceremony!"
"Oh... dear..." Mindy intoned, "You told him what was going on, huh?"
"Yeah..." Misty replied.
"WHAT!?" the Ring mistress shouted, then screamed an incoherent string of gibberish before settling herself and pointing at the two girls.
"You brought them here, you take care of them!"
"Uh..." Mindy turned to her best friend, "Do you really think we can do this (This isn't much fun anymore, is it)?"
"We don't have a choice (No, it's not. Let's quit)," Misty replied.
They started making their way for the exit before the Ring Mistress stopped them.
"Wait!" she commanded, and the girls could have sworn they heard the voice in their heads, too, "You plan on running? Girls! Take them!"
The door burst open and Cobalt Black was there. His pistol raised up, leveled on the Ring Mistress, and he squeezed the trigger. The bullet grazed the mask, but the damage had been done. Hairline cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, and the woman screamed.
A Steel Strongman suddenly stepped into view, but Cobalt was ready for him, too. A series of loud explosions later, echoed by the pinging sound of bullets bouncing off metal, and Cobalt stopped. The Strongman took a step forward and his mask came apart, the latches and levers holding it in place were broken.
He stared blankly at the hero before wobbling on his feet and sitting down. He was muttering something, just like the others.
Cobalt pulled the clips from his pistols and holstered them. He turned to the Ring Mistress. Her attendants had Misty and Mindy, still unmasked, surrounded in a ring of blades and boobs.
"Lady... I suggest you give me my friends, no questions asked."
"Destroy him!" she screamed, pieces of her mask dropping from the stress of her face moving.
Cobalt pitched one of the clips through the air, nailing the Ring Mistress's mask square in the nose and turned his efforts to the other girls. The pistols twirled back out, but now they were hammers, bopping the girls on their foreheads and cracking through. The air was awash with porcelain flakes and psychic energy. The girls all stumbled to the floor.
It was over. The fight, the threat... Cobalt ran over to Misty and held her for a long time.
There was nothing else but that moment. She was in his arms, she was safe. She was... Kissing him...
Everything else was lost to a rushing sound.
Eventually, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Kip and the others had arrived and were ushering in the former Carnies from the previous floors. There was a faint... Sobbing?
"Bad news, man," Kip indicated the tear-streaked faces, "Turns out they remember pretty much everything after a while... These girls have done terrible things... At least, the ones that have been doing this a while."
"What about us?" one of the former Strongmen intoned, "I used to have money... I used to have a career... Now it's all gone..."
"We'll try to figure this out, man..." Kip assured him, "Just bear with us for a moment..."
"Oh my God!" one of the former Carnie girls suddenly shouted, "Look at this sexist outfit!"
Kip turned to her and noticed she was a bit more "toned" than the other girls.
"Ma'am?" he asked slowly, a sudden feeling of dread creeping into his mind, "Everything will be alright..."
"Don't you look at me!" she shouted as she grabbed one of the swords, "You filthy man!"
"Lady," Kip whispered to her, "You're not with the Knives of Artemis, and you don't have your toys... Calm down."
"Don't you tell me what to do!" she lunged at him.
Kip reflected for a moment that maybe the Knives let go of a few of their more "overzealous" members before the blade stopped an inch from his chest, wrapped in a black-purple cloud. Too much zealotry could lead to recklessness, which could lead to discovery. Perhaps this girl wasn't a Knife, and it may have been a mistake to remind her of the fact.
Ryat99 picked her off of Kip and flung her against the wall.
"Ma'am, I strongly suggest you stand down..."
"You may be a machine, but you're still a man!"
Ryat99 sighed. He actually sighed.
"So be it," he rumbled emotionlessly before spraying her with an icy mist, "There are more direct ways to cool you down."
She dropped the sword and curled up into a ball, shivering. She started muttering something about being too weak and unworthy.
"Poor girl," Ryat99 intoned as he peered closer, "She seems to have a self-depreciative personality."
Ryat66 approached her from behind and started rubbing her shoulders.
"It's okay," he said cheerfully, "You'll be alright... There ya go, the coolant's worn off... Just relax..."
"Okay," Kip turned to the rest of the crowd, "That wasn't the least bit creepy, no sir... Alright, everybody... We better get you all to the nearest Freedom Corps facility so we can start processing your complaints, maybe get you reimbursed... Maybe get to work on prosecuting the Carnival for what is obviously a kidnapping..."
"For some of us!" one girl sobbed, "Others joined willingly! What about them!?"
They didn't have any answers. Kip didn't even know what to say about the crimes the Carnies committed under the sway of the Carnival's masks. He had no clue how to deal with it all.
----
Outside, it was another problem.
"You have our brothers and sisters," the Dark Ring Mistress called out to them, "Return them at once or we'll take them by force!"
"I don't want to go back!" one former Strongman hollered back, "I know what you did to me! I remember!"
An electrified ring slammed into the wall next to him and stuck there, crackling.
"How..." the Mistress hissed, "...Unfortunate... For you."
A large army of Carnies suddenly materialized out of thin air. Several ranks of Strongmen brought up the forefront, while multitudes of attendants and Seneschals clustered behind them.
Cobalt rubbed his girlfriend's shoulder. Misty took her foil and pointed it at the Ring mistress.
"We're not going back!" she shouted in her high-pitched voice, "You can't make us!"
"No matter how many thugs you send at us!" Ryat66 reinforced.
He was still rubbing that one woman's shoulders. It was having a decidedly sedative effect.
"Then we'll just kill you," The Dark Ring Mistress intoned, "Gentlemen? Take them."
"Hold on there, little missy..."
Randall Grey stood behind their army. He counted about fifty. Good odds.
"You think you can threaten me?" she replied coldly.
"No..." Randy pulled a large rock from behind his back, "I know I can stop you. Threats don't mean anything. Now... If anybody doesn't know the fundamentals of Dodge Rock... I suggest they clear out promptly..."
They were unwise. They didn't know the fundamentals, they didnt clear out, and they failed terribly at the new game. They didnt seem to like playing, either, which Randy found to be quite odd...
Not willing to let his boss have all the fun, Kip dove into the fray. He was followed by Cobalt and Cedric, and then the Ryats followed after bonding together as a rampaging battle tower. The former Carnies looked on in awe as the heroes fought for their safety.
More heroes arrived suddenly. Everyone involved with the Council strike just a day earlier, in fact. Draven Erickson led the charge, followed by Psycho13 and flanked by Mad Matt McGinty. The Carnies had no idea what hit them, and when Freedom Corps troops and SWAT police arrived to help end the madness, the Carnies fled.
All that was left was the Dark Ring Mistress and her Steel Strongman. Randall walked up to them, the Strongman trying to stand in his way. Randall took a hold of the mask and tore it apart with his bare hands.
"Woah!" the Ballista leading the Freedom Corps troops shouted, "Might wanna go easy there, Mr. Grey..."
"Okay..." he flicked the mask off the Ring Mistress with his index finger, who fell backwards and gazed about confusedly, just like all the others previously.
Police Drones mopped up the ones that didn't have their masks removed previously.
"Great job everyone," Randy cheered, "Drinks on me!"
Aaron pulled Misty aside and kissed her. She snuggled against him and sighed.
"I'm still freaked out by how all of this turned out today..." he muttered as they dimly followed Randall, "I feel like this all breezed by like a dream..."
"It happens like that sometimes..." Misty squeaked happily.
"Yeah... I guess it does..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Kip dragged himself out of his room and glared into the living room of the apartment. There lay his brother, with what appeared to be another, human-sized lump lying on top of him. Kip lurched over and thumped Nester on the head.
"Ugh..." the defender grunted as he woke, "Oh! Hey, man... What's up?"
"Who's that under the covers with you?"
"Oh, it's Min. She said she has trouble sleeping alone..."
"She usually sticks close to her friend."
"Yeah," Nester gave a lopsided grin, "She said she wanted to let them have some time alone."
"Nester..."
"Yeah, Kip?"
"Are those your pants on my coffee table?"
There was a moment's silence.
"Well..." his older brother finally answered, "They're not NOT my pants..."
"Nester," Kip pressed his thumb and forefinger into the bridge of his nose, "I didn't sleep well last night... And now I have this horrible vision in my head... Tell me... Tell me you didn't do what I think you did last night... On my couch."
"I'm not gonna lie to you, Kip."
And Nester snuggled his nose into Mindy's hair. Needless to say, this didn't appease his younger brother, who slammed his fist into the armrest next to Nester's head.
"Don't you-"
"Relax," Nester chuckled back, "We just cuddled. It would have helped if there were somewhere else to sleep, but this couch is the only other place... That, or your bed, but she didn't want to bother ya..."
Kip nodded, then indicated the pants on the coffee table again.
"Oh, well, I'm still wearing my boxers..." Nester shrugged, "It's not like we're naked in here..."
----
Cedric found Matt in Lou's Body Shop. Lou was a favorite among Paragon's heroes... Poor guy always seemed to run into Clockwork trouble every couple of weeks or months, depending on whether the King was bored or not. The past couple weeks hadn't been very eventful, but apparently Synapse had recruited a band of heroes to hunt the guy down and that was keeping him busy.
So, Lou and Matt were free to work on a project together. It was a motorcycle, but completely unlike any on the streets today.
"You really expect this armor plating to help you?"
"Hey, Ced," Matt stood up from the engine and started wiping grease from his hands, "Lou, this is Cedric, my boss's son and my best friend."
"Hi there," Lou reached over and shook the tanker's hand, "Matt says you were a Marine during the War."
"Righto," Cedric said with a smile, "Got a burn scar on my lower back as proof."
"Cripes," Lou shook his head and looked Cedric up and down, "You're okay?"
"Well, yeah, for the most part. Sometimes I can remember what it felt like, the plasma burning a hole to my spine, but I try not to think about it. So, what kind street-illegal contraption are you guys trying to construct here?"
"We're trying to build a motorcycle that will help me run down bad guys."
"I can see that."
"But this one's gonna come with all sorts of crazy gadgets, like a net launcher, a grenade launcher..." Matt scratched the back of his head as he knelt back to the engine, "A mi-nr-gh..."
"A what?" Cedric arched an eyebrow at Matt, but Lou seemed to know exactly what he'd said.
"No, dammit! We're not putting a minigun on this thing! For one thing, to hold the ammunition, you'd need a sidecar, which you don't have..."
"I could use ammo boxes... It's supposed to be something I only use in emergencies anyway..."
"It's still impractical! You're already overloading this chassis... Too much more and you're gonna wind up just dragging on the asphalt..."
"I'd agree with the mechanic," Cedric concurred, "I mean, this is his job..."
"Look," Matt threw up his hands in exasperation, "I'm inspired, okay?"
"By a dumb movie," Cedric agreed, "You have any idea how much kick a minigun has? Those Cor Leonis Force troopers have gotta have some tough forearms to handle those weapons... And I don't even want to think about how they got 'em!"
Lou and Matt stared at him in a sort of shocked silence.
"Your wife and daughter are behind me, aren't they?" Cedric chuckled nervously.
"No," Lou intoned, "But I'd prefer if you keep from making such insinuations in the future. 'Kay?"
"'Kay."
"Well, in any case, I want a minigun, I'm throwing in a minigun!"
"Fine," Lou sighed as he knelt down to help work on the engine, "No skin off my nose if you become a red skid mark on the Skyway overpass..."
--
Sheldon walked about the Grey's Army base confusedly. He spotted Ryat66 and called to him.
"Yeah, Boss?" the android chirped happily.
"Sixty-six... The leftover gene-mod kibble... Did you ever do anything with it?"
"No, Boss," Ryat66's head kinked to one side, a sign of confusion, "Why do you ask?"
"Well... It's gone..."
"That's not good. Wait! Maybe Ryat99 did something with it!"
"No, I already asked him..."
Randy walked through the workshop. It looked like he'd just raided the fridge in the Control Room and was making his way to the main chamber of the base.
"Look," Sheldon hissed worriedly, "If that stuff gets out in public, we could wind up dealing with some severely crazy critters... I never simulated what the effects of that stuff would be on other creatures! If stray dogs or cats, or even rats got a hold of it..."
"The Lost will wind up with new pets..." Ryat66 sounded like that was a positive thing.
"To say the least," Sheldon puffed out his cheeks as he blew the air out of his lungs.
"Wallace!"
He jumped at the bellow. Randy sounded... Well, not mad, but definitely not happy.
"Get in here!" the tanker roared again.
Sheldon and Ryat66 approached cautiously, Randy kept his back to them. He stood before a green couch, a couch Cory Simmons had been trying to replicate the spells and enchantments as the ones on Roland Grey's. The results had been decent. The couch was actually quite comfortable, which was probably why Randy was about to sit on it to enjoy a good book along with his lunch.
However, he wasn't sitting on it. He was staring at it, or rather, something on it.
A tiny white furball was curled up in the center of the couch's cushion. Two smaller furballs jutted from one side of it, another one from the other side.
"What," Randy pointed down at it, "Is this?"
"I... I don't know," Sheldon stammered.
"It looks like a tiny white Felix..." Ryat66 offered.
The little white furball suddenly sprang up. It stood on four tiny legs, with equally tiny paws. Two itty-bitty back eyes popped open above a tiny snout (previously covered by one of the tiny paws) and it looked up at the gathered heroes with curiosity. Then it rolled over on its back and squeaked.
"If I find out it turned our couch into a toilet, I'm going to have fun chasing it down with a shotgun, Sheldon," Randy wheeled around on him, "You never cleared this little experiment with me!"
"I haven't cleared a lot of things with you," Sheldon replied, "Which... I realize... Isn't the best thing to say right now... But, uh.... This... thing, cute as it may be, isn't one of mine..."
"What do you mean?"
"The last of the gene altering kibble I used to make Felix into the little beast he is now? It's all gone..."
Randall turned to the little critter again. It was rolling around on its back, trying to find a position where it wasn't comfortable. It was unbearably adorable.
"Cute as it may be," he grumbled, "I don't think we can keep it."
"Her," Ryat66 blurted, "She's a teeny-tiny female Felix."
"How can you tell?" Sheldon arched an eyebrow at the android.
"Mammalian biology is startlingly similar across the board," the blaster replied, "There's not much difference, thematically, from one red-blooded creature to the next."
The two stared at him for a moment. Even the little critter seemed interested in what he said.
"Don't anthropomorphize this," Sheldon finally stated, "Look, we have to figure out where she came from, then we can be sure of whether or not there's more."
"Sir?"
"What?"
"When Ryat99 and myself were feeding Felix, it was during that tumultuous time when he lost his teeth..."
Sheldon stared at the android, then they turned to the tiny white critter. She smiled at them, displaying a full set of shiny, white, sharp teeth. Somehow, it was still cute.
"But how?" Sheldon asked, then he turned to Randy, "She couldn't have survived without food! The alteration speeds up their metabolism for that period of time! She couldn't have fed herself, not without teeth... The only way she could have survived would have been if... If..."
"Muh'hu'h!" they heard at the foot of the couch.
Felix crawled up the leg, then across the cushion to the little critter. She did, in fact, look like a tiny version of him, and white. She seemed to smile when she saw him, squeaked and gave his neck a hug.
"I don't think they're the same," Ryat66 mentioned, "She seems to be fully mature, just as Felix was when we altered him... She may have been a lab mouse... Which would explain the fur."
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
They turned to see Sarah with her hands curled up under her chin. Her eyes were twinkling as she beheld the little animals cuddled together on the couch. In an instant, she was curled up next to them on the couch, cuddling them to her face.
"Aw! She's so soft!" she squeaked as the tiny "bear" snuggled into her cheek, "And Felix... You little stinker! Ni told me you had something up your sleeve!"
The cat walked in and stared up at the group. He looked as perplexed as he could.
"Oh, relax," Sarah squeaked at him, "I'm not gonna forget about you... I just need to love another cute and cuddly thing, yes I do! Yes I do!"
She was nuzzling her nose against the tiny bear's nose.
"I guess that settles it," Randy rumbled, "I guess the little thing stays."
"What do we call her?"
"How about Fluffy?" Ryat66 offered.
"No..." Sarah petted the little one on the head, eliciting a small purr of sorts, "She says her name is Katie, though she'll go by Cutie..."
"Katie Cutie," Randy chuckled, "Like a cartoon character."
"Makes sense," Sheldon smirked as he poked Felix in the belly, "This your way of telling me you're feeling lonely?"
The fat little bear let out a low moan. Finally, it sat back on its rear and pressed into the back cushion. Sarah gave him a small pat on the head.
Dammit," Randy grunted, "Now I gotta use the normal couch..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Hours passed into days, days into weeks. Nearly a month after the raid on the Council base, Greys Army prepared to say goodbye to a young man who had become one of their own. Kipland Cobalt Black Durj was going home.
It had been a long month for all of them. Roland was busy trying to get his life in order and quit the hero-work so he could go back to being a normal guy. Cedric, Matt, Cory and the Ryats busied themselves with raiding criminal cells and hideouts. Nester found himself entertaining Mindy Jakobson more often, and sometimes took her along with him to fight bad guys with the others. Most everyone else wrapped themselves up in private concerns. Not being celebrities, they had the freedom to take the time off.
It seemed Cobalt Black and Misty were trying to keep as close together as they could for as long as possible. Kip said he heard them arguing a lot, but it seemed they were largely in agreement most of the time, except when Misty said she wanted Cobalt to stay, and he said he had to leave.
He never said he wanted to.
Eventually, the young woman relented. She understood it wasnt just a matter of ill-conceived honor, but a strong sense of duty that was driving Aaron. He had to go to his home and inform at least his own cell that there were allies to be had on this side of the dimensional barrier. He had to help them fight to the bitter end, too.
Are you ready?
Agent Wild was a peculiarly dressed Freedom Corps Agent, but apparently, theyd upgraded his status to Field Agent. For all intents and purposes, he was a Hero. Cedric actually recognized the guy. Apparently theyd been in the same unit during the Rikti War.
Craziest thing Id ever seen! he explained to Matt, This skinny little guy was able to take on three guys, twice his size! Boom! Boom! Boom! Three guys on the floor, clutching at their broken noses... Then he bought em drinks!
Do you mind? Agent Wild got everybodys attention back on the subject at hand.
Greys Army stood before an inactive portal in the sublevels of Portal Corp. These particular rooms were reserved for special projects, not like the more public portals in the floors above that led to Firebase Zulu and the others that could be keyed to various locations throughout the multiverse. This portal was reserved for one location... The island on Praetorian Earth that Cobalt Black called home before coming to Primal Earth.
The plan was that he would be taking a Freedom Corps Agent, not Wild, but a woman named Keller who was skilled with diplomacy (and not a small amount of combat skills) to see his commander on the other side. The Agent would have a one-use emergency teleporter that would return her if it turned out the island had been overrun. Cobalt accepted that he would be left in a hostile environment in that case, and had no qualms about it. He was confident in his abilities.
Misty Harrison, however, was not so confident. As he approached the portal, she suddenly ran forward and glomped onto his back. Tears were streaming out of her eyes.
Maam, Wild growled at her, Maam, he needs to be on his way.
No! she sobbed.
Cobalt started hanging his head glumly. His sunglasses were hiding the tears clouding his vision.
I wont let you leave me! Misty cried into his back.
Misty...
Mindy walked up to her friend and started rubbing her shoulder, trying to comfort her. The girl was inconsolable, however, and wouldnt let go.
Guards, Wild shouted.
Call em off! Cobalt hissed at him, and a tear dropped out of the bottom of his right lens, Well settle this between us, dammit!
Agent Wild waved the guards back.
We dont have time for this, he muttered.
We have time for anything, Randall countered, Trust me. Itll be better this way.
I cant stay... Aaron choked out, Misty...
I love you, she squeezed him tighter, And you love me! You cant just walk away from this!
Weve been over this...
I know... she whispered.
I... I wish I could...
The room was silent for a moment. Misty turned to her best friend and gave her a quick hug. The tan girl suddenly looked very sad, and stumbled back to the others, sobbing into Nesters shoulder.
Take me with you.
Cobalt rounded on Misty in astonishment. This was an option that they just didnt consider. He still wasnt about to hear it.
No, for once, he looked scared, but not for himself, Absolutely not.
Why not?
Its too dangerous.
She punched him in the mouth.
The people in the room stared in astonishment. Misty stared angrily into Aarons eyes. He stared back in astonishment.
I know how to handle myself in a fight, Aaron. I love you... And I will fight tooth and nail to keep you.
He stared into her eyes sullenly.
Guard, Agent Wild called to one of the Freedom Corps troopers near the entrance, Bring me a stealth suit.
What? Cobalt turned to him, What are you doing?
Recognizing a situation when I see it, the agent replied, Agent Keller... Youll make sure shes properly instructed in its use?
Yes, sir, the Agent replied briskly.
As the guard returned with a red colored uniform, he was followed by Sheldon Wallace. The inventor was pulling a large, hovering crate behind himself.
Oh good! he shouted when he saw Cobalt was still on Primal Earth, I have a gift for you!
Aside from the Freedom Corps soldiers, nobody in the room had to guess what was inside the crate.
There goes our Titan, Ryat99 muttered.
Good riddance, Ryat66 chirped, Not that I hated the thing, mind you, but I thought it made things just a little too easy.
Sheldon opened the crate with a flick of his wrist. The sides of the wooden cube popped apart and revealed the heavily modified Grey Titan. It still had the same build as when it was unveiled for the raid, but now the ammo bins had been largely replaced for a fusion reactor and a missile rack. The head was also different, now looking similar to Ryat99s head.
Meet Dreadnought Ryat, Sheldon explained, I think hell help you out immensely out there...
Doesnt that thing need a human brain controlling it? Nester asked.
Sixty-six and Ninety-nine dont, Sheldon replied calmly, And I ran Dreadnought through a series of mobility tests... Hell handle as well as any Zeus Titan. Better, even.
How does the AI know how to handle all that uneven weight?
Very carefully, Dreadnought Ryat replied, Sir, Im all loaded up and ready to go. Jsut give the word.
This should prove interesting, Cobalt gasped as he looked the machine over.
Okay! Im ready!
Misty stepped out of the shadows and showed off the new outfit. It seemed she had been taking full advantage of Sheldons demonstration of the new machine to get changed.
Hows the fit? Agent Keller asked.
Snug!
Okay, Keller turned to Cobalt, Ready?
Just... Just one second... he turned to Misty and took a hold of her shoulders, Are you sure about this? Are you sure youre ready for my world?
Id follow you to the heart of Hell, she replied, And I have the fury to match whatever comes our way.
Cobalt smiled, then kissed her. Sarah made a little aw sound.
See, even from across dimensions, someone can find their soul mate, she squeaked.
Does that mean she was supposed to wind up with Kip? Cedric intoned, You know... If he hadnt shown up?
No, Kip replied calmly, It wouldnt have worked between us. Id have pushed her away. I almost considered pushing those two apart, too, until I figured Aaron can live his own life.
The group made their way to the portal, pausing only at the top of the ramp to wave goodbye. The members of Greys Army waved back, much to the surprise of the Freedom Corps officers. The only person to say anything was Mindy.
Ill miss you, she called to the girl who had been like a sister to her, Goodbye.
Well see each other again, Misty called back, Im sure of it!
And they walked through the portal, disappearing into a blue orb that swallowed them whole. Agent Wild gave the portal five minutes, then ordered it to be shut down.
Good luck, Randall grunted as the rest of the group made for the exit, And God speed.
----
There was battle everywhere. Cobalt Black crawled up the ridge to see that a group of Praetorian soldiers, led by what appeared to be one of Marauders cronies, were attacking the fort. It looked like it must have been a training exercise that had stumbled into the base.
What do we do? Agent Keller asked, a slight note of fear touching her voice.
Let me handle it, Dreadnought Ryat offered, I could use the practice.
Let me think... Cobalt unslung his rifle and handed it to Keller, You can handle one of these, right?
Of course!
Alright... Ryats right... We let him handle the situation, but we pelt that anti-tank and get him to bring his army to us!
Got it, Keller started moving for the ridge.
What do I do? Misty pulled a thin rapier from the back of her belt and a rather hefty looking combat knife, Just stand around and look pretty?
Sure, you can do that, Dreadnought Ryat replied, Wont prove much, but at least youll look nice.
Were mop-up, Cobalt arched an eyebrow at the machine, Once Keller gets back her from-
The Agent fired and a loud boom erupted from the rifle. She hopped off the ridge and started bounding for the massive robot.
Keller! Were mop-up. Anyone and anything Dreadnought doesnt get, we take down. Youre fire support, kay?
Got it.
Alright... Ryat chuckled, Tremor sensors indicate theyre hopping mad for us... This ought to be good.
The first heads appeared at the top of the ridge and the machines left arm popped open, revealing what appeared to be a large cannon mounted on top of a minigun. The rotating cylinders whirred to life and barked out a spray of bullets that cut down the first line. The next group wound up on the wrong end of the cannon, and the next group fell to minigun fire again. Cobalt Black would have been worried about the frightening efficiency of the machine, but Dreadnought Ryat had stopped laughing. This fight was serious business.
The boss showed up shortly after that. Cobalt recognized him, now. Pickaxe Pete... Similar to the man known as Scrapyard, Pickaxe was not a man known for standing up for the little guy. He was known for digging a quick grave for said little guy, often with the little guy spiked to one of his pneumatic pickaxes.
Cobalt Black had fought him once before, when Marauder got the idea of dropping captured meta-types onto suspected cells and letting them thrash the place. Apparently, Pickaxe had garnered a promotion from living weapon to Commanding Officer.
At least, thats what the rank insignia looked like before a bright blue beam erupted from the top cannon on Dreadnought Ryats right arm and impacted on the anti-tanks chest. Pickaxe Pete dropped to the ground, howling, his strength to wield his customized weaponry temporarily displaced. Dreadnought Ryat wasnt about to let him regain that strength, though, and a gout of flame erupted from the bottom right cannon. Minigun fire accompanied it and a rocket to the face spelled the end for the raid leader. The corpse disappeared, just like the emergency teleportations in Paragon City.
At this point, the other members of the Maltese Resistance had regrouped, and had begun an offensive push into the suddenly disorganized Praetorian unit. When they reached Cobalt Black and his crew, they paused. A Gunslinger clad entirely in scarlet crested the ridge and regarded him.
Oh my God, the young man gasped, Red Renegade 9-1-1.
Who? Agent Keller asked breathily, Who is he?
Nobody knows, Cobalt replied, But wherever he goes, Hell follows with him. Hes done some pretty nasty hits since I joined...
Whats your callsign? the Gunslinger yelled down to them, And shut down your robot!
Hey! Dreadnought Ryat yelled back, I aint getting shut down. Not by you, not by them, not by anybody!
His arms clamped shut.
But I will holster my weapons. Im not here to fight you...
Im Cobalt Black 3-8-9, Sir!
Cobalt Black... I read the report on you... Disappeared a few months back, right?
Fact finding mission, sir. We have much to discuss.
Indeed we do... the red-dressed Gunslinger looked the machine up and down, Indeed we do. Black Purple, please relieve them of their weapons and escort them to my office... Leave the machine in the garage.
Thatll be fine, Dreadnought rumbled, You wouldnt happen to have any oil I could drink, would you? I have to stay properly lubed...
A woman resembling a Knife of Artemis, only clad entirely in a dark purple uniform materialized between Agent Keller and Cobalt Black. The two handed over their weapons and Misty followed suit.
Your command was worried about you, Black Purple commented as they made their way to the base, They feared the worst.
Well, we better let Cobra Gold know Im okay, then.
Im sorry, Agent... Cobra Gold is dead. He lost his life in a munitions raid.
Damn... What about Iron Falcon, or Desert Fortress?
Theyre gone, too. Your cell has been known as something of a suicide squad...
Great...
Dont worry... Red and I are here. Well show the world just what youre made of!
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Hi Kip!"
Durj turned to see his old acquaintance, Genevieve Daniels, or "Wrathfire" to the public. Kip had the misfortune of learning her secret identity when he introduced himself, and she forgot she was in costume while reciprocating. She was an invulnerable super strong tanker, and a chief member of her super group. Kip still didn't remember the name of it.
"How you been, Wrath?"
"Going to codenames, now?" she arched an eyebrow at him.
"May as well, we are in public."
"Ah... Well, I'm helping some lowbies rack up some popularity... They're having a little trouble with the missions I've been getting, though."
"Yeah?" Kip looked behind her and smiled, "Oh, hey, I know these guys! Ashen, Blizzard! What's up?"
Ashen Roast and Blizzard Front shook Kip's hand and gave the usual nonsensical replies. Kip already knew what was going on. Behind them, a short green-skinned (and green-haired) girl in a tight-fitting green spandex outfit waved curtly. Kip pointed at her and looked to Wrathfire for an explanation.
"New to our group," she said, "Meet Aloe. She's providing the healing for our little excursions against the Rikti."
"Pitching in for Vanguard, huh?" Kip nodded casually, "That's cool."
"You wanna come with?" Genevieve smiled as she offered, "Maybe show these guys how a real man kicks butt?"
"Actually, I've seen those two in action. They should be doin' quite alright..."
"Every little bit helps," Aloe squeaked.
Do it.
"What?" Kip thought back, "You again! Let me take a wild stab at this... My 'errant soul,' right? Why're you telling me to help these guys? They've got a fine team here..."
Correct, I'm you, or an aspect of you. Trust me on this, though... You want to go with them.
"Alright," the conversation inside Kipland's head hadn't even lasted a second, "Sounds like fun..."
----
"So... I met Cedric," Genevieve explained during a rest period after tearing through a Rikti base, "He's... Fun..."
"What kind of fun?" Kip arched his eyebrow at her, "You have to understand, this is a guy who spent his childhood jumping off bridges for the thrill of it. He joined the Marines because he thought he'd get a few laughs out of boot camp. This is a guy who built a wooden ramp at the bottom of a small (but steep) valley because he thought he could pull off a landing on the other hill... So..."
"I meant more... personal... experiences..." she smirked knowingly at the small scrapper.
"Ah... You two gonna try to make any more of it?"
"We'll see... He seems to be enthusiastic about it."
"I don't think that's entirely appropriate," Ashen muttered as he turned to Aloe, "What do you think?"
"I think it's sweet," she replied with her high-pitched squeak, "Wrath's finally got a man in her life she really likes. Not like her last boyfriend..."
"What happened to her last boyfriend?" Blizzard Front finished the question before he realized just how bad the answer could be, then winced.
"Let's just say Wrath knows how to make balloon animals... All kinds of balloon animals."
"Eh... the hospitals can fix that," Kip shrugged, "It's just a matter of explaining the why of it..."
Ashen started laughing but Blizzard just looked mortified and blew air out of his lungs.
"Man," he muttered once he regained his composure, "Note to self... No super strong girls..."
"Oh, you don't have to be super strong to do that," Genevieve laughed and pushed Blizzard's shoulder roughly (but playfully).
They tore through the rest of the base in short order. With two tanks and a scrapper at the point, the fights were decidedly one-sided. With the whole group keeping close (at least within Aloe's healing range), they were able to easily tear through the Rikti's ranks.
Finally, they took out the base's boss. Despite their logical mindsets, the Restructurist Rikti could be very foul-mouthed when defeated. While Genevieve started talking on her cell to her contact to get another mission location, the team started taking a look around.
For one thing, they didn't know if they'd cleared the base. Bringing in more Rikti to fill the Zig would only help prove that Ashen and Blizzard had what it took to be brought up in Security level faster. For another thing, they were all curious about what the Rikti had been up to lately that warranted such heavy attention.
One chamber had a peculiar find...
"What the Hell are these?" Blizzard breathed as he walked up to a large tank, "It's like something out of a movie..."
"It looks like cryogenic storage," Ashen explained, "For people, organs, and so forth... Looks like this is for people."
Kip approached one of the tanks.
Be careful.
"Why? What did you want me to find here?"
He wiped the fog from the face of the tank. Inside was a Rikti, frozen, staring blankly. He looked down at the name.
Brace yourself.
Amyta'lor.
Amy Taylor.
Kip's girlfriend.
The girl who had been lost when the Rikti leveled Fort Drum and scoured the local regions for conscripts
He didn't know what happened next, he just knew that the world had gone white and he'd flailed about wildly inside of it. When he came to, he was holding a Rikti soldier's head and was beating it bloody with one hand. The group filled him in later.
He started mumbling something, something about finding her and hoping for something better. Then, they were ambushed. There was an electric sound and several lines of Rikti Riflemen teleported in. Ashen fought hard trying to hold them off long enough for Wrathfire to reach them, but they were hopelessly outnumbered.
Or so it seemed.
Kip suddenly yelled angrily and violently stormed into the midst of the Rikti soldiers. Savagely tearing into them, ripping their armor off and shooting them with their own weapons, Kip was fighting like a man possessed. In a sense, he was, but it was more that he was fighting without any senses at all.
Sometimes, he would be fighting one Rifleman, and a cloud of dark purple smoke would fight another. It would never be for very long, but it would be enough to inflict some hurt.
Kipland Durj single-handedly thrashed the entire ambush. When he was done, he just occupied the last of his rage on wailing on one last soldier. If he'd kept at it, he'd have killed the man.
"Kip?" Aloe asked in a frightened whimper, "Kip... It's over."
The scrapper held his fist back, ready to strike. One good, hard thrust, and this creature's sickening, perverted life would be over.
No. You must stop.
"They... They took her away... They destroyed her..."
I know... But there's a chance she can be brought back... You know this. You know they've been studying how to fix this. But if you kill this Rikti, you know where you'll wind up.
Reluctantly, Kip relaxed his arm. Wrathfire pulled him away from the body as the Police Drones came in to confiscate the broken bodies. The containers, however, were another matter entirely.
----
The rehabilitation center was built into the basement of the Aquarius Medical Center of Peregrine Island. It was a secret establishment, and wouldn't have been built there if it weren't for the portal that led directly to the Rikti Crash Site.
Really, there were facilities like this all over the city, but they were mostly equipped to handle rehabilitating the Lost. Most heroic efforts against the Rikti were restricted to keeping them from terrorizing the populace and keeping their numbers in check. Not many heroes got to the bottom of who and what they were.
"This is incredible," the rehab technician breathed through his surgical mask, "So many Rikti just past the Lost stages... There's probably much of their human minds left."
"Does that mean I can talk to them?" Kip resisted the urge to kick the tech through the wall.
It wasn't that he disliked the guy, it's just that he looked like a Crey scientist.
"Anyone in particular?"
"Amyta'lor," Kip explained.
It had been a couple days. Kip needed the time to calm down, and Genevieve wouldn't let him know until she'd seen he'd improved. She was a little surprised how quickly he'd recomposed himself, and not a little wary. She sat solemnly behind him as he discussed his request with the technician.
"Sure..." he said after a nod from Wrathfire.
The tech called into an intercom that fed directly into a chamber. The techs inside working with the Rikti-fied humans talked to some of their patients and finally, a couple brought one of them to the interview chamber.
"Amyta'lor?" the tech asked.
The Rikti nodded.
Kip approached the intercom.
"Amy?"
"Kip?" he heard in his mind, "Kip, is that you?"
"Yeah... Yeah, it's me..."
"Oh my god, Kip... I thought I'd never... I..."
They stood there silently for a few moments.
"I'm not very pretty anymore..."
"You're still the girl I love."
"Kip..." a tear started rolling down her cheek, "I'm so sorry... but... It needs to be over."
"What are you talking about?" he shouted, "What do you mean? We found you! It's over now! We can make you better!"
"No... No you can't. Nobody can. Not yet. The doctors... They don't know that I know... There's no cure yet..."
Kip remembered working with Angus McQueen. Poor guy still looked like one of the Lost.
"Amy..."
"Kip... Please... I can feel the process taking away the old me... I can feel it turning my love for you into hate. Tiny bit by tiny bit..." she wiped the tear from her malformed face, "Kip... Please... Don't come back here... Never come back. Let your last memory of me be one of love."
----
"Are you going to be okay?" Genevieve asked when they were outside.
A passing hero probably thought it was a question about the usual debt owed to the hospital, and made a derogatory comment about scrappers. Kip shrugged it off and turned to Genevieve.
"I'm not happy, if that's what you mean."
"Breakups are usually not supposed to be like this," she replied.
"I know..."
"Is there anything I can do for you? Anything you need?"
"Nah," Kip started walking in the direction of the ferry, "I'm just gonna go for a really long walk to help clear my head about this."
"Be safe," she called to him, "Not all hope is lost..."
"I know..." the short hero wiped a tear from his eye, "It's all I'm running on lately."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Well, Dad, I'm just about all packed."
Roland had been spending quite a while dragging his feet on this. With his mom and dad, he was just about done with his goodbyes. Just about...
"I know, son," Randy's voice carried no judgment in it, "We all know. I don't blame ya, to be honest. You're right, this is a crazy world, and these are crazy situations. Nobody should have to go through any of this on a daily basis."
"That's not all of it," Roland sighed, "I did leave a good job back at home, not to mention the house and then there's all of our friends who've headed home to rebuild their shattered lives..."
"They're gonna need a bar," Randy chuckled.
"A bar with a good bartender," Roland replied with a similar chuckle.
"But this isn't the first time you told your mother and me 'goodbye.'"
"I know."
"So, what's keeping ya here?"
Roland didn't say anything.
"It's a girl, isn't it?"
"At it's most basic level, yes," Roland finally admitted, "But it's nothing so deep as love..."
"And I figured Kip was the one who locked all that stuff away..." Charlene sighed sadly.
"He did," Roland nodded, "And look at him now..."
Kip had been a mess the past few days. They found out from the former Outcasts, Ashen Roast and Blizzard Front, what had happened. Cedric also knew before mostly everybody, but he had different reasons.
Since the enthusiastic tanker and Kip's father, Zeke, had a heart-to-heart with him, though, Randy's lieutenant in the super group had started seeming better. At least, he was going back out to fight villains with gusto again.
"You expect the same to happen to you?" Charlene intoned.
"No..." Roland muttered in his constant, impassive monotone, "My circumstances aren't Kip's. Girls didn't find me attractive in high school, and I didn't seek them out..."
"Much to my dismay..."
"Randy!" Charlene chastised, "Roland... We understand..."
"No..." he shook his head, "I don't think you do. It's not so simple as having an alternate preference. I like girls. But look at our lives right now! This isn't the time to be thinking about that sort of thing. This isn't the time to throw my life into even more turmoil by trying to wrap my mind around what a woman could possibly be thinking..."
"So you just ignore it..."
"Suppress, repress, deny, abstain," Roland rattled, "Yeah... My happy thoughts..."
"But you're not happy."
----
((The following may be a bit graphic...))
He wasn't happy. The closest he ever came to being happy was on the football field, smashing the guy in front of him to bits and getting ready to do the same thing in a few short moments. Psychologists would have had a field day picking that apart, but it wasn't anything about the crash, the humans he was destroying (as far as football pads allow anyway), or anything so... latent.
He knew he wasn't a homosexual. He didn't understand it. It didn't make sense to him. And men were ugly... Like his dad, though Randy was an extreme example of it.
He was lying on a water tower just outside Randy's apartment building. Usually, Clockwork robots tinkered and toiled around here, but some low-level night-stalking heroes had come by recently and smashed them to bits. Roland was glad for that. The peace and quiet was something he needed right now.
He liked simple things. His position in football was simple. Wait for the hike, surge forward, smash, and prepare to reset. Trying for a tackle was a tertiary goal, and, for his first couple years, would likely have been accomplished by somebody closer to the center of the line. However, in Roland's last two years, he was moved to Center, and his rate of QB sacks increased dramatically.
Most people didn't know how to properly use their weight to their advantage. It also helped that most of the people who would've given Roland a really hard time instead opted to work on farms in afternoons instead of engaging in high school sports. Maybe they were the smarter ones. They worked on a set of skills that would carry them through their lives. Roland still didn't know what he wanted out of life.
Somehow, he felt behind on that.
"How am I gonna tell her goodbye?" he asked the breeze that passed overhead.
Clouds obscured his vision of the sky. It wasn't like he'd be able to see the stars anyway. Well, he'd have seen the brighter ones, but the only sky that truly shut his mind up was the sky back home in Kingdale. There were a lot more stars out there than people normally realized. In Kingdale, so many stars shone through you didn't need the moon to navigate your way at night...
There was a clanging sound and Roland looked over to see a female in spandex(?) land on the water tower with him. She must have been a high level hero patrolling for a Paladin construction site. In a few moments, she'd go away and leave him back to his thoughts, but that was no reason not to be courteous.
He rolled over a little and said "Hi."
She walked up to him and stepped on his neck.
Roland's hand came up out of reflex. He'd fought Cedric plenty of times growing up, and his older brother had instilled plenty of fighter instincts into the rotund archer because of it. One thing, was recognizing life-threatening danger and knowing how to protect yourself from it. His hand caught the toe of the woman's boot and barely kept her from crushing the life out of him.
"Well, if it isn't my double's boy-toy?" the girl purred, "You're a flabby little thing, aren't you?"
A few things suddenly snapped into place in Roland's mind, but he still gurgled out, "What the Hell are you talking about? What do you think you're doing?"
She increased the pressure on his neck. Roland braced his elbow against the tower and tried to push back. How was this little girl so freaking strong?
"No no..." she muttered as she pulled a whip from her hip, "That won't do at all... You're supposed to be an obedient little whelp..."
Roland chuckled, a sickening, choked gurgle, "Yeah? Nobody told me that rule..."
"Well," Dominatrix raised the whip, "Allow me to enlighten you..."
----
"Hey guys," Kip muttered as he lurched into the central room of the Grey's Army base, "What's new tonight?"
"Slow night," Cedric muttered, "Nothing's on TV, and the news channel keeps going on and on about Portal Corporation issuing an urgent call to all heroes, levels forty five and up..."
"Hm... You call your dad about it?"
"He said there's plenty of heroes already working with Portal Corporation. I think he just wants to spend the night with mom with no interruptions, y'know?"
"Hi Kip," Genevieve waved to the scrapper, "You look a little better."
"Had a heart-to-heart with Nester a little while ago. He told me he's dating that Mindy chick... Apparently she kept going to his apartment to-"
The phone rang.
"Hang on..." Kip muttered before answering, "Hello?"
"Mr. Grey?" came an elderly female voice on the other end.
"No, this is his Colonel, er... lieutenant, Kipland Durj."
"Maybe you can help... I am Maria Jenkins... I have some troubling news..."
As Kip listened, his skin suddenly felt very cold. A chill went through his spine and refused to disappear.
"Where?" he finally asked, "Tell me where I need to go."
He heard two words.
King's Row.
----
Roland was laughing. It was a maniacal laugh of defiance. Whatever this crazy lady was trying to do, it wasn't particularly effective in their current position. Dominatrix had refused to release her foot from his throat, and it really hampered her assault on him with that massive circus whip.
Wrong.
It was a slaver's whip...
And it hurt more than it should have... It left an odd sting in his belly and thigh whenever it lashed him. It felt like he was on fire...
"[censored] this," he gurgled incoherently and started fishing along his belt with his right hand.
He flicked open a pouch and a broadhead popped into his hand. He could feel a slight sting as it cut his hand, but he had to ignore it for the moment. Gripping the arrowhead between his knuckles, he jammed the weapon into Dominatrix's ankle.
As she howled in pain, he used the distraction to push her off of himself and she fell on her back. So far so good, now for something else...
Sheldon had given him something as a going away present. An arrowhead that unleashed a volatile, yet exceptionally slick substance that covered a wide area. Once armed, the arrowhead became fragile (Roland had no clue how THAT process worked), so he hit the button and tossed the canister at Dominatrix.
It didn't have to hit her, but it did. She was covered from head to toe in a black, oily substance, and instantly was having trouble keeping her footing.
"This won't stop me!" she shouted at him, stumbling to maintain her footing.
"It's not supposed to," Roland pulled another arrowhead from his belt and activated it.
A small flame was suddenly in his hand. Dominatrix noticed it and stared perplexedly at him.
"Does anybody ever tell you that you're a lot like Manticore?" she breathed.
"Nope," Roland's voice was still hoarse and gurgly, "And I never met the guy..."
He flicked the burning arrowhead at her and the oil ignited. As the flames chased him off the dome, he leaped off and found himself falling into a dumpster. Dominatrix was howling with pain, but the defender had a bad feeling that she was far from beaten...
----
Randall looked out the window as he dried off his mane of hair. What he saw drew a grunt of surprise, anger, and perplexity. Charlene looked up from her book and noticed the glow coming from the window and shining on her husband.
"What's wrong?"
"Roland just got into a fight," Randy replied, "With... Someone dangerous..."
"What? How dangerous?"
"Let me put it this way," Randall sighed, "Most heroes have to be a very high security rating with exceptional clearance before they can take her on..."
"Her?" Charlene balked, "My little Roland's fighting a girl?"
"No... I wouldn't really call Dominatrix a girl... Even if she has the figure for it."
Charlene glared at her husband. Setting her book down, she walked over and looked outside to see the problem.
The fire was fading from the water tower, leaving a red glow. A lone figure stood below it, still smoldering and swinging a whip about. Roland was picking himself out of a dumpster and she was lashing the walls behind him, boxing him in...
"What are you doing just standing here" Charlene shouted at Randy.
She grabbed him by the shoulder and whipped him around, "Our son is out there, getting attacked by some [censored], and you're just gonna let it happen!?"
Randy shrugged.
"The hospital teleporters will get him... It's not like the debt will really hurt him, he quit being a Hero, remember?"
Charlene's face told him she was not placated, nor was she amused by the attempt at humor, and she was probably a couple seconds from punching a few teeth out of his head. She could probably still do that last one, too.
"Alright, I'm going," Randall started heading out the door.
"Stop!" Charlene shouted.
"What?"
"Put some pants on, at least..."
----
"Oh, baby..." Dominatrix seethed.
Roland guessed it was still supposed to sound seductive, dangerously seductive, but the effect was severely hampered by the fact she'd just been badly singed.
Singed... That was all his efforts amounted to. He picked himself off the ground, dusted himself off, and started marching toward her.
"What're you going to do?" she stopped, confused by this whelp's audacity, "Surely you don't intend to-"
Roland landed a right cross to her chin. He didn't like fighting girls. It seemed beneath him. However, he did believe the Law of Combat overruled the Laws of Gentlemanly Conduct. She wanted a fight? She was getting one.
Roland followed up the right cross with a left hook, then two right jabs, and a left uppercut... He threw every punch he knew. He'd tried some boxing in high school, too, but not much of it stuck with him in the years since. This was more or less flailing with what were really quarter-remembered maneuvers.
He was hopelessly outclassed. Most of his attacks missed. Of the ones that made contact, only half did any damage, and none were as stunning as that first right cross.
He took a step back, and fortunately missed a trip she had aimed at him with her closest foot. Looking her up and down, he made a mental note, and consigned himself to a speedy trip to the hospital.
Well, the trip would be speedy... Actually getting to the condition where the "Red Cross Express" teleported you to the nearest medical center was another matter.
"I'm going to enjoy this," the villainess purred, "You have no idea..."
"Just get it over with, [censored]," Roland replied in a low growl, "I got better things to be doing, and you can't hurt me enough to scare me."
The whip glowed a little.
"Soon, you'll see how wrong you are," Dominatrix giggled, "And you'll beg for mercy... You'll beg me to give you this delight again, too... This mixture of pleasure and pain... You'll beg to be my slave..."
The defender rolled his hand around in a circle rapidly.
"Come on!" he shouted, "I don't have all night!"
----
"nnnneeeeeeeeeEEEEEYEEAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Cedric Grey seemed to fly in out of nowhere and smash into Dominatrix with a swing of his axe that sent her hurtling through the air and landing with an unceremonious thump under the water tower.
"Whoooooooo!" he shouted as he got into an attack position, "Everybody ready? Here we go!"
What the Hell was that!? What the [censored] did you just make me hit!? Do you have any idea what that felt like?
Cedric the Gray. Cedric's Praetorian. It was kind of fitting that he be used to fight Dominatrix, the Princess of the Praetorians. Kip had filled Cedric in a little... Odd that Gray had kept quiet... Maybe he hadn't heard, hadn't believed it, or maybe was lost in his own thoughts. That seemed to be happening a lo-
Dominatrix was on her feet and swinging her whip around. It made a beautiful arc and, with a flick of her delicate wrist, snapped back hard. Cedric deflected the cord with his axe.
"That was easy," he laughed.
Then his eyes went wide.
Gray was screaming.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Cedric felt a burning sensation crawl up his arm and work its way through his body. As it clutched at his belly and refused to let go, he crumpled to the ground. It was like he'd been kicked in the groin. Twice.
----
"We should really help them," the red clad figure muttered to his star-spangled companion, "This really is quite a distance above their rank..."
"I don't know..." the other said, "This seems... odd... Like it has to play out..."
"See, this is one of the reasons a lot of people hate you... You look at all of this as a 'character building exercise,' I see it as a group of young heroes getting their butts handed to them by a threat they were never warned about and never prepared for."
"This isn't a lesson..." the caped figure sighed, "Something important is happening here... I'm not sure entirely what, but we have to let it play out."
"Now you're starting to sound like Numina..."
"If only I could be so sure..."
----
"Oh, I get all these new toys to play with!" Dominatrix started clapping and giggling happily.
Oddly, her outfit had restitched itself together (it seemed everybody's did that nowadays... What were those Icon and interdimensional Icon equivalent stores putting into those materials?), and her wounds had mostly healed up. Roland was still standing next to his brother, who had just rolfed onto the ground.
"Oh man..." he muttered, "I don't remember eating that..."
"I don't get it," Roland barked at the woman, "why is it, when you were wailing on me with that thing, I barely felt a tap... You didn't even hit this guy, and he's doubled over, hurling up things that should be long since digested..."
"Simple, darling," Dominatrix started slinking toward them, "I didn't put much power into it... But now I know you can take it..."
She patted the portly defender on the cheek. It was a little surprising. His expression never changed. He really wasn't afraid of her. She'd change that soon enough...
"Hey!"
Roland pointed in the direction of the voice that was yet another interruption of Dominatrix's fun. She slumped in annoyance. Throwing her head back and letting out a roar that sounded like an angry cat, she rounded on Kipland Durj.
Kipland Durj in his Nictus Armor.
"Ooh... Sexy black purple," she cooed, "You boys are going to be my favorite pets of the month..."
She started walking toward Kip.
When she got a safe distance from Roland and Cedric, Kip attacked. He just charged at her, screaming a wordless battlecry, and preceded any normal contact with an eye beam blast to the chest.
Dominatrix was taken by surprise and Kip slammed into her with his torso. She fell backwards, and as she scrambled back to her feet, he kicked her knees out from under her, crumpling the Praetorian to the ground again.
Kip kept his stance solid, but flexible. She could kick the back of his nearest leg, but he'd be able to either kneel down, pin her in the crook of his knee and start wailing on her with his fists, or he could simply kick and stay standing. She, instead, rolled away, and brought her whip to bare.
Kip leaned back as the weapon arced toward him and barely avoided getting lashed like Cedric. He then charged at her again and kicked her into the leg of the water tower.
Sputtering curses at him, she scrambled to her feet and lashed out quickly with her whip. This time it caught him in the chest, but Kip was able to fight the pain back. It was a nasty thing, this relic she wielded as her signature weapon. It was like a weapon forged from pain. Perhaps it was... And Kip didn't like the light tone of the leather...
She lashed at him again and again, this time keeping the length she used quite short, the rest of the whip she bunched up in her other hand. It was a lightning quick fight, but she didn't have much power behind it. She was mostly just probing Durj's defenses.
Kip, in the meantime, was deflecting every attack. With a deft arm movement here, a raise of the leg there, sometimes a bob or a weave, he was able to keep her from seriously harming him and he grew rather used to the pain that lash dealt out.
So, again, she was taken by surprise when he drove his foot into her chest and sent the evil little woman sprawling across the ground. Again, Dominatrix scrambled to her feet and screamed at him. Kip marched forward confidently and wordlessly.
Now, there were no battlecries.
Dominatrix seemed to notice the sudden change in the tone of the fight. This guy was not amused or amusing, and was certainly not playful. His eyes glowed that dangerous crimson again and she ducked the energy blast just in time. Seizing the opportunity, she lashed out with her whip and accomplished a different tactic.
Before, she'd been trying to hurt Kip. Now, she merely ensnared him. Kip looked down at his caught thigh and muttered out a curse.
An instant later, he was hurtling through the air like some sort of crazy, purple, human-sized yo-yo. Dominatrix took full advantage of the situation and slammed Kipland into the legs of the water tower, into the walls, into the dumpster Roland had landed in and bounced him off the ground whenever there wasn't a suitable obstacle. Kip caught hold of the dumpster and tried to laser the whip off his leg, but the material held fast.
So he had to actually work with the odd magical knot on his leg. Letting go of the dumpster, he tucked his head and set to work. Meanwhile, Dominatrix was laughing happily as she smashed her surroundings with glee.
Finally, the knot came undone and Kip rolled over to his friends. The armor faded away as whispy smoke, a quiet I'm sorry touched Kip's mind and he realized he was in a heap more trouble than he originally believed.
"Aw... No more power?" Dominatrix panted, "You almost had me worried there, puppy... I almost felt like I wouldn't win..."
She ran up and kicked Kip in the face. He didn't make a sound, but he did roll over, clutching at his head.
"I always win!"
"That's not how I hear it!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAW!" she hopped up and down like she was a small child throwing a tantrum, "What the [censored] is it now!?"
Randall Grey emerged from the alley. He was clad in the Granite Armor that was the pride and joy of most Stone Tanks. Dominatrix wasn't impressed, and her stance signified it.
"I already piled these three boys up..." she smiled a sexy predator smile, "You think you can beat me, Stone Tank?"
"Excuse me," Roland raised his hand, "But all you did was step on my neck a little..."
Cedric pulled his brother down and the whip lashed over their heads.
"Now is not the best time to be a wise-[censored], brother..."
"I see what you've done," Randall muttered grimly, "Of course, if my boys had a better chance to prepare for this, I'm sure they could have handled you better. The purple guy? I can't say anything about his performance... He does his best, but when you're out-gunned, sometimes your best just isn't enough."
"You didn't answer my question..." Dominatrix got a strange chill up her spine.
"Oh yeah... I know I can beat you, Dominatrix. I've beaten Praetorian generals before... And I'm not the only one in this city to pull such a thing off... But I'm gonna break you in record time, and not just because you might be softened up right now..."
"I'm not soft!" she shouted and she hurled her whip at Randall.
Randall's armor crumbled away before the whip got to him and he caught it in his massive right fist. He scowled coldly at her and started wrapping the weapon around his hand and wrist.
"I'm gonna beat ya in record time because I'm motivated. Those are my boys you just roughed up, neither of whom have anything to do with ya. Ya done gone [censored] me off, and now you're gonna find out what it's like to be on the wrong end of the punishment."
Dominatrix let out a small "Eep" before Randall yanked her toward him and stopped her flight with the same fist holding the whip. For some reason, the weapon didn't simply come out of her hand, and Randall was taking full advantage.
With another yank, he hoisted her up into the air and jerked her back down. Before she hit the dirt, he railed her with another heavy right punch that sent her sprawling away.
Randy started wrapping more of the whip around his hand and forearm, and finally settled on a length. He hoisted her up, hurled her into the distance and started pulling and spinning, forcing her to orbit him with her whip.
As Dominatrix hurtled around and around in the air, she suddenly whined, "Oh no... Why don't I just let go?"
"Because ya' can't!" Randy barked in reply, "But I can!"
The whip unraveled from his arm a little. Then a little more. And a little more. By this time, they were n the middle of the street, and Randy was taking great pains not to hit anything with the Praetorian Princess. He had a special target in mind, and he didn't want anything messing up the trajectory.
He reached the end of the rope and the three boys started placing their bets.
"I bet he throws her into the war wall," Kip muttered, "It's 'sticky,' you know? Like flypaper."
"I bet it's the water tower," Cedric was regaining his strength and lurching back to his feet, "That, or maybe this dumpster here..."
"It's Statesman," Roland growled matter-of-factly.
"What? No way," Cedric turned to where Roland was pointing, "In order to do that, he'd have... to be... here. [censored] you, Round..."
Randy indeed released Dominatrix and she went hurtling through the air toward Paragon City's Great. The patriot-themed hero deftly caught her in mid-flight and held her out as if he had a cat by the scruff of the neck. When she tried to claw or kick at him, he simply shook her a little hard, she got dizzy and nauseas, and slumped in his grip like a marionette with the strings cut.
----
"I'm truly sorry for the trouble," Statesman told Randall and Roland, "By the time we realized there was a problem, it was too late..."
"Well, thanks for letting us handle it," Randy replied gruffly.
"Your disposition seems to have improved, "Statesman noted cheerfully, "I trust your conditions have improved?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Randy shrugged, "Look, I'm sorry for what I was saying that one time... But if you ever want to make even, I understand... Just let me know..."
"I don't think it will come to that," Statesman offered Randall a brief handshake, which the massive tanker accepted, "Good luck to you. I need to get Dominatrix back to the Freedom Phalanx base."
"M'kay..."
When Statesman had flown off with his charge, Manticore stepped into view and pointed at Roland.
"You..."
"Me?" the portly archer rasped.
"Yes, you. Do you have any idea why she attacked you?"
"Yeah," Roland rubbed his throat, "But it's a personal matter... Between me and someone else..."
Manticore stared silently at the young man for a few seconds. He wanted to grill the kid some more, but with the man who was obviously the boy's father standing right there and that cold-eyed scrapper not far behind, Manticore felt it would probably be best to just let it slide.
"Look... We're not going to let the city know about this... incident... As far as anybody knows, you were defending yourselves from a Rogue Isles villain, okay?"
"Fine, fine," Roland waved him off, "I get it..."
"What's going on?" Randall whispered to Manticore, "Come on, tell me... Portal Corp's in an uproar, calling for all sorts of high-end help... This... This girl attacks my son for some crazy reason... What the Hell is happening?"
"I'm not at liberty to say," Manticore sighed, "I'm sorry, but I really can't tell you anything."
"See, it's stuff like this that wiped out the Heroes when the Rikti attacked!" Cedric shouted.
"You watch yourself, boy." Manticore snapped.
"No! I fought in that War, too! I have as much right to say anything as anybody! And I didn't have super powers protecting me!" Cedric hollered back, "If we can't work together and trust each other with what's going on, how the Hell are we supposed to do it when it really matters?"
"Look, I don't agree with it, but if I'm to be there when it really matters, I have to follow this order..." Manticore sighed, "I'm sorry. I really am. I wish I could tell you what's going on, but it's not so simple. We have to think about the people of this city... Of this nation... And they don't handle bad news well... Suffice it to say... Trouble's brewing. You all better start getting ready for a storm, because it's coming, and it's going to be violent."
----
"Come on in," Roland rasped as he heard the knock at the door, "It's open..."
Jessica Starburst walked in with a smile across her face, but she but it melted away and she stopped in her tracks when she saw Roland's neck brace. Roland nodded and she asked the fateful question he knew she would.
"What happened?"
"Dominatrix stomped on my throat," he answered simply.
Her face went pale.
"Strikes a chord, does it?" he arched an eyebrow at her.
Starburst was still composed. She didn't tremble... No... This was not the reaction of somebody who was a novice to bad news...
"Mind telling me a story about that?" he grumbled.
"Where would I begin?" her voice was a little choked, but still controlled.
"How about you start with the fact that you're Ms. Liberty..."
She just stood there silently.
"Your silence... it's not heartening," he muttered as he sat down in a chair and held his forehead in his palms, "If I were wrong, you'd have probably started laughing at me..."
"I'm sorry."
"For what?" Roland looked up at her, perplexed, then pointed at the neck brace, "For this?"
"Well, yeah..."
"Pft... A couple more days, the docs say I'll be fine..."
"Yeah... but..."
"Yeah, I know, she targeted me because of you..." Roland's eyes rolled and he sighed in disgust, "We're not talking about the behavior of a balanced individual. Any normal person would go up to the person they dislike and punch them in the face."
"So... What do you want?" she fumbled at the question.
It seemed awkward. She didn't know why, but Roland pegged the reason immediately.
"Isn't that what I'm supposed to ask you?"
Jessica Starburst, Ms. Liberty, blinked at Roland in confusion. What did he mean by that? What did she want from him?
What did she want from him?
"I don't know..." she breathed as she sat down on his couch, "I've been trying to figure this whole thing out since we started..."
"Chilling? Hanging out?"
"Yeah."
Roland leaned back and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't that he expected to find answers there, but for some reason, every author tends to write something like that in a situation like this. Sometimes, when you're thinking, you're truly in another place.
When Roland came back from his reverie, he looked at her and she had just come out of a similar moment of introspection. Unfortunately, all he had was speculation. He hoped she had some answers for him.
"I don't know..." she muttered at first, a most unwelcome phrase at the moment, but typical as well, "I guess... I guess I really like this couch..."
Round sighed through his nostrils.
"You're stalling."
"Yes... Yes..." she looked to the door, "Cripes... It's easy for me to mouth off to Statesman... But it's hard for me to talk to you about this..."
"Why?"
"Because it's personal!" she turned back to him.
For an instant, Roland saw her for who she was. Not the "Princess of Paragon," not the scrapper heroine who led one of the premiere super groups in the city. She wasn't even the woman teaching all the new heroes the different powers they were alloted per security level and the tips and pointers of how to get through the city.
She was just the girl behind the mask now. And Roland suddenly realized he didn't know who she was. An epiphany struck him.
"You don't know who you are?"
"What?"
"Is that what this has all been about?" he leaned forward and looked into her eyes, "You didn't know who you were behind the mask?"
They sat in silence for a few minutes and Roland realized he must have hit at least close to the heart of the matter. Most people would still have assumed there was something more emotional involved, but it turned out Roland was being more of a mentor than the Freedom Corps system actually gave credit for.
"I've been under a lot of pressure," she finally said, "Things are... crazy in my life... I can't even begin to explain any of it, because it's all tightly wound together, but it's too much to get into... And it's really personal..."
"Too personal," Roland agreed.
"All my life... I've been raised to be..." she gestured toward her usual platform in the Atlas Plaza, "That... Well, not just that... I'm a heroine this city looks up to, and it wasn't like there was ever any choice in the matter for me... I spent my teenage years pretty much always training to be... To be Ms. Liberty..."
"That's not very conducive to having a real life," Roland felt a pang in his soul, and realized a very uncomfortable truth about himself, but he filed it away in the back of his mind.
It was better to analyze self-awareness when alone, or with the people who knew you, in Roland's opinion.
"I've really always been this, you know?" she whispered.
"I know what you're saying, but I'm not the person who can even begin to help you with this..."
"But that's what this has all been about!" she leaned back on the couch in exasperation, "Or at least, it's what this became... You wound up being a window, Roland... A window to the kinds of people I fight to protect every day."
"Wow..." he almost choked out a laugh, "You really need a window with a better view..."
"Why?"
"Look at me! Look at this place! I'm not stylish, I don't decorate my apartment with fancy things... I don't even own a great entertainment setup... I own a bunch of DVDs and video games... If I don't feel like being cooped up in this apartment, I just go to whatever bar or pub my family and friends are staying at and drink the night away with them!"
"I've never done that," she murmured.
"Yeah, well, that's one thing. Only one thing. Why do you envy me that?"
"Because, for even that short time, you can have a normal life."
Roland blinked at her. He wasn't about to get into his and Nester's philosophy about "normality." Especially since he suddenly saw her point.
Not entirely all this time, but a lot of it, he'd been a crutch for her. His stories about his family and friends... When she met Nester or Kip in his apartment... Maybe even his brother, she got to see how a person's alter ego normally behaved. What was more, they weren't rich, and they didn't pretend to be anything more than who they were.
What's more, he finally understood what she meant by him being a window. Sometimes, heroes got lost. They started to realize they couldn't save everyone, and they would get a poisonous thought in their heads.
Why even bother?
Sometimes, the hero came up with an answer. Usually, it was because they had a normal, human life to go back to, to protect. But the ones who didn't? The alien heroes? The heroes who were raised to be nothing but, like Ms. Liberty? Maybe even ones whose parents were tragically taken away...
This was some heavy stuff, and Roland really hadn't considered how deep this really went. He bet Cory or Kip would have a much better idea of what she was taking about. The rotten luck was that she met him. She met him when he froze the Hellion she was poised to kick in half.
And that had spiraled into this, him with a neck brace, and her unburdening her soul about her very own existential crisis. It was a crisis that was, in some important ways, a mirror to his own problem. He couldn't reconcile being a hero anymore, so he had prepared to just bound out of town.
It wasn't that he was bad at the job, it just made absolutely no sense to him. Normal life made no sense to her.
Somehow, meeting him helped her fix that.
He frowned to himself. She looked to him to see if he understood anything about what she was saying, but got perplexed when she saw him head for his bedroom. She saw the packed suitcases and guessed at what it was that he had to tell her that day.
She was a bit relieved. To say that she was concerned that he was really falling for her would be an understatement. If that had been the case, this conversation would still have happened, and Roland would have wound up with a broken heart. Instead, Dominatrix ruined everything, he put two and three together, and they had a brief discussion on what it takes to be a hero in this world. Not necessarily a great alternative, but it was better in the long run.
Then Roland unzipped his suitcase.
"What are you doing?" she asked quietly.
"I was going home," Roland replied, then declared, "Now, I'm staying."
"Why?"
"I don't entirely know," he replied, then he looked into her eyes, "Reciprocation, I guess. I inspired you to understand what it is you're trying to protect in people, I figure the least I can do is be inspired by you to stay and try to find something here worth helping fight the good fight for!"
"While I appreciate the enthusiasm," she scratched the back of her neck, "Don't you think that's a bit... Silly?"
"And stupid," Roland pointed up at the ceiling with a flourish, "But, dammit, I was all set to just pack my things and run! Why? The fight wasn't too hard! I have good friends here, my FAMILY'S here! Where am I running to?"
"Roland..."
He looked at her and sighed.
"Even if you stay, we can't hang out anymore."
"I know," he said matter-of-factly, then tapped the neck brace, "I understand entirely."
A few minutes later she prepared to leave. There was nothing more to say, not even "goodbye." Roland, however, had one last question.
"Jessica?"
She turned at the door and raised her eyebrows quizzically.
"Is that really your name? Your real name, I mean..."
"That's personal," she replied, "Unlike you, I can't go around with a revealed identity... Like your friend, Kip, said... I'm a celebrity. You and him, you're not. You two are mostly safe from any and all reprisals, surrounded by a mob of spandex."
"I understand," he sighed, "Good luck, Starburst."
"Good luck," she smiled, "Roly-poly."
((I'm not good with legal jargon... Since this is fan fiction, and on the official forums, plus I kind of got lost in the storyline, I just wrote the whole thing out. I had this part planned out pretty much when I first introduced "Ms. Starburst." However, I feel I should say this: I'm not trying to make a fantasy here about my character and the Cryptic character getting involved. That's absolutely not what this is.
This more stems from the research I've done into Ms. Liberty's character, who seems more and more to have stemmed from a scenario as I detailed above. It's a disturbing thing to see a hero protecting humans who isn't really human at all (look at how silly a certain red and blue DC property is pretty much all the time). It's even worse when they're supposed to be human. Sometimes, I have to wonder how these characters can even sleep at night knowing that their hero identity has totally consumed their existence, barely leaving even a scrap of the person that remains.
Positron is an extreme example of this.
Manticore's just about the only one capable of living a different life. I know many consider the character to be a blend of various other, more popular, characters, but how many of us can claim they haven't truly done the same thing?
And then there's Statesman... According to what everybody takes to be his history, he was the type of character that started as a somewhat rather scary individual, got his powers, and was struck with the epiphany that he had to lead a new life... One to atone for his past misdeeds as a mercenary (at least, that's what I get from reading about Marcus Cole and the Well of Furies). But now, he's like Positron, completely consumed by his costume.
And most of the people that play this game think of the character as a jerk. I see him more as a troubled soul, struggling hard to do what's right, and to avoid as many mistakes as possible, takes the most professional route he can. I guess that often makes him come off as impersonal.
I think that's really sad.
I think it's hard to be human in this world... The game world, I mean. It's especially difficult if a character can't really take the chance to be human, or never gets the opportunity.
So, simply put, I wanted to add some humanity to one of the in-game characters. In the game, we all wind up having to interact with them anyway, it would be nice to have some soul behind it.
It wasn't until I was nearing the end that I realized somebody might actually have a problem with it. If it's a violation of anything, let me know and I'll take it down, but please, let me know what the problem is so I don't feel too bad about it.
If I have to take this down, though, that will make me kind of sad. I feel this is actually a somewhat powerful piece of the total story (toward the end, anyway). I thank you for taking the time to read it. This one's been rattling around in my head for a few months now, struggling to get out.))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((The storyline prior to this was detailed in the thread called WAR! (Praetorians Attack!). It was a pseudo RP that was supposed to be compiled stories about various characters fighting their Praetorian counterparts. As of the writing of this, the conflict is over, but life continues unabated in the City of Heroes...
----------
It took a couple weeks to actually stop the fighting, for even after Tyrant had been batted around by the Brutal Warriors' dropship, he was able to pick himself up on his way to the Zig and take a few Freedom Corps helicopters down before Statesman started chasing him across the city. Numerous times, various heroes found themselves face-to-face with the major Praetorian generals when not in conflict with their own inner demons. The Zig even now had a large, scorched hole where Infernal escaped repeatedly after being felled numerous times by varying groups of heroes. Most of the other escaping Praetorians (and not a few other, unaffiliated rogues) used the same large hole...
But that issue was over now. The Praetorian portals had been smashed, their forces rounded up, and the dimensional tears sealed. Through counter strikes engaged from Portal Corp and some assistance from resistance groups on Praetorian Earth, the facilities for the Praetorians to maintain their raids and reiterate their assaults were severely crippled, barely leaving enough power and utilities for their average citizens to go about their lives as normal. Whether or not Tyrant leaves his citizenry to live in peace was another matter, but Statesman had delivered a rather grim message as to what would happen if he learned of his opposite abusing his people again.
Life went back to normal in Paragon City. Roving gangs of thugs continued their crime sprees, heroes fought with and arrested them. Arachnos cells popped up and were often splintered apart by even more heroes.
---------
With the city in as good hands it was ever going to be in, Randall decided it was time to have a barbecue for his family, friends, and anybody who happened to want in on it. Unfortunately, due to the interference from the dimensional ruptures as well as the measures taken to seal them, the base portals located throughout the city were acting a tad wonky.
Randall had to tell his super group where the base was.
"That's lazy, Dad," Cedric remarked, "Real lazy."
"I should've known," Kip muttered.
"Makes sense to me," Zeke chuckled.
They were staring at a large metal door in the basement of the building Randy lived in and supervised. Grey had excavated a disused section of the city sewers and had taken great pains to connect the complex to his apartment building. Since it was a small complex, the city didn't seem to mind, especially since Randall had done some pretty decent things for them.
"I had to promise to reshingle a bunch of roofs over the summer," he grunted, "Cedric, Zeke... Don't make plans."
"But I..." Cedric gestured to his axe, "I do this, now! What if I get hung up!"
"Then I'm gonna be disappointed," Randy glowered at his son, "And you know how I deal with disappointment."
"I'll be there!"
----------
"Nester," Fire-Shield got the young defender's attention as the party was just getting underway, "Can we talk?"
"Sure," he replied, "What's up?"
"Well," she sighed as she tried to compose herself, "This is a tad embarrassing... I... I wanted to talk about when we were fighting your opposite..."
She had been the one to connect the final blow against Jrud Retsen. Her Detention Field had prevented the walking timebomb from irradiating a small section of Independence Port, but in order to do that, she had to place herself in a somewhat compromising position as she grabbed a hold of Nester to detain the floating villain.
"What about it?"
"Well, as you know, I'm a little new to the whole... teleporting thing..."
"Right..."
"I just wanted you to know, the way I caught a hold of you... I didn't mean to seem so..."
"I see..." Nester chuckled a little and set his glass down, "'Unprofessional?' Don't worry about it. I know why you did it..."
"Well, it's just that throwing up that Detention Field is a little intensive, and I couldn't just leave it to random chance that I might miss..."
She seemed frustrated and a little embarrassed.
"I understand," Nester reassured her, "Let me guess, the rest of those knuckleheads kept giving you a hard time of it?"
"All except Eisenheartz. But he's all cold and mission oriented..."
"Well, that's Germans for you," Nester chuckled.
A big hand clamped on his shoulder.
"What was that?" the large man asked.
It was odd hearing Eisenheartz's voice without the metallic echo of his armor.
"Huh-hey!" Nester waved uneasily to the smiling man, "Good to see you! With a beer in hand?"
Nester was a little surprised to see the guy had red hair.
"Indeed," Eisenheartz wasn't even in any form of armor, just his civvies, "I like to cut loose like anybody else. I just take my hero work seriously. I must if I am to negate this horrible image people have about we Germans... This one movie I saw, about a beer drinking contest..."
He sighed, leaving much of his thought unfinished.
Mindy Jakobsen ran up and nearly tackled Nester with a glomp.
"I have great news!" she shouted, "Misty just told me she's pregnant!"
Misty had gone to Praetorian Earth to keep being with her boyfriend, the Praetorian of his brother, Kipland , Kip "Aaron, Cobalt Black 3-8-9" Durj. During their short time there, they'd gotten married.
Shortly after securing the Portal Corp. courtyard, the Maltese Resistance, under the leadership of an alternate Crimson (it was later determined that Red Renegade was actually an alternate from another alternate dimension, not Praetorian Earth, where their Crimson, called yet another shade of red, worked as Tyrant's "counter-terrorism" expert; the same went for Black Purple, as she'd come from the same dimension as Red) had their families and other "non-combatants" transported over. Now, the Maltese Resistance soldiers worked for Crimson (pending the review of their conduct while on probation).
Misty had been among the non-combatants, along with a Freedom Corps Agent sent with her and Cobalt Black named Agent Keller. Keller was a little freaked out after running into her opposite (oddly enough, a psychic in the thrall of Mother Mayhem), but she was composed enough to help negotiate the terms of the Maltese Resistance's amnesty.
Now, a couple weeks alter, Misty was letting her friends know the good news. She and the alternate Kip (called "Aaron" as it is his and Prime Kip's middle name, and Prime Kip was here first) were expecting a wonderful bundle of joy.
"That's great!" Nester swung his roommate around and set her on her feet, "So... I guess that means you're not moving back in with her..."
"Of course I wasn't moving back in with her, silly!" Mindy smiled with the tip of her tongue licking her lower lip as it flicked under her teeth, "I'm staying with you!"
Fire-Shield smiled lightly at Nester and waved goodbye as she and Eisenheartz walked over to the table where Roland and Cedric were setting food. Nester looked to ehr for a moment, but she didn't seem to have the posture of somebody who felt dejected...
"You're not her type," Mindy explained as she looked at the confusion written on his face, "Her type's probably more like that big guy, Cedric... Maybe even Kip..."
"Oh..."
---------
"So, what are you guys going to do?" Sheldon asked.
"We gotta wait until we have a new flyer," Daren Simms ("Solo Stryker"), "And Psych's been going nuts about giving it a name."
"We could try to transport people on the Runtime Exception," Dale Simms ("the Kingdale Referee") offered, "Maybe convert it into some kind of hover car..."
"No," Levi Baker ("Psycho13") muttered, "We don't have an engine with enough power. Man, we got lucky there, didn't we? Statesman himself standing right there!"
Statesman had noticed how Daren and James had been acting and later determined their status as "villains" within Paragon City's limited parameters.
However, in a surprising show of moral flexibility, he let them go. After all, they had just sacrificed a major component of their endeavors and risked their own lives in defense of the city. Apparently, he figured their efforts at least warranted a head start...
"That head start is now four weeks, five days, twenty-one hours and counting," Dale looked at his watch and smirked, "Y'know, he's a lot cooler than he's portrayed most of the time."
"Has dad talked to you guys about what he intends to do with your next flyer?" Sheldon continued.
"He said something about using miniguns and a chaingun main turret," Daren shrugged, "Frankly, all I'm hearing is 'Hey! Money! Bye-bye! Wave bye-bye!'"
"That sucks, man..."
"Eh, we do what we can..."
----------
"Congratulations, man," Kip sighed as he handed a beer to his new brother.
"Thanks," Aaron replied, "Things are finally looking up for me. Maybe they'll pick up for you, too."
"Not likely," the scrapper replied, "Mine isn't a fate for good luck. I need to stay enraged, a victim of the system of life, in order to be effective against the criminality of the world..."
"Do you really believe that?"
"No, but it sounded cool."
Kip sighed and took a swig of his beer. He didn't really like the taste of the stuff, but it helped to dull the edge of his days.
"Good thing I've got my alternate ego," Aaron chuckled, "I actually have something to protect."
"Pft, Misty can take care of herself. She was a Carnie, after all."
"You didn't see her in action back home..." Cobalt Black smiled, "I have no doubts about her ability to defend herself. Still, she shouldn't have to."
"If you ever need help, bro..."
"Goes without saying."
---------
"Party's doing pretty well, Randy," Zeke muttered, "Any clue as to what's on the horizon?"
"No clue... Hopefully, it's nothing world-breaking or crazy like we've been dealing with..."
"Aw," Androm'Geizzer's voice suddenly issued from Zeke's nostrils, "It's not so bad, is it?"
"Don't do that, Androm," Zeke muttered, "Ask to use my mouth, like always."
"Sorry... I'm just a little new to being this drunk... On victory, on alcohol... On life! I never knew anybody could be so happy living so simply..."
"Welcome to Earth," Zeke muttered, "And now, to drown you in more alcohol."
----------
On the roof, Cory Simmons helped Roland and Charlene Cook.
"It isn't necessarily the most proper use for magic," he chuckled as he kept the barbecue hot, "But I don't think anybody will mind."
"You're doing a great job, man," Round gave him a thumbs-up as he flipped a steak, "Ma? What do you think?"
"Fantastic," she chirped, "Just great..."
"Well, I'm glad to be of service."
A couple Clockwork robots appeared nearby. Rather than attack, they just seemed to sit back and watch. Cory smiled to them. They'd been a lot more... well... friendly... since the quick war. Though everybody knew the peace wouldn't last, and that the Clockwork King would soon go back to his ravenous scavenging ways, nobody here intended to disturb things.
"Why didn't your little girlfriend come by, Roland?" his mother suddenly asked.
Roland looked at her with a simple frown.
"She wasn't who she seemed to be. Let's just leave it at that."
"Bad?"
"No..." he grinned, "Nothing bad. Just... She's not really in the best position in life to be my friend."
Charlene arched an inquiring eye, but Roland's stoic demeanor as he went back to work at the grill ended the conversation. Cedric showing up to snag more food for the party didn't help matters.
"Yo! Stay frosty, people! Our guests are hungry!"
"Of course they're hungry. This is damn good food!"
Charlene handed a plate of steaks to her eldest son, who proceeded to balance it on his head. She hen handed him a plate of burgers and another of chicken.
"You better not crash that stuff!"
"Yeah, Dad'll kill me!"
----------
"So," Randall grunted to his daughter, "When's the wedding, again?"
We're aiming for October," Sarah replied as she hugged herself closer to her fiance, Joe, "Multi-colored leaves, outdoor setting..."
"Sounds pretty," Joe patted Sarah's hand and smiled.
"You having the wedding out here?" Randy's voice rumbled.
"No... No. Back home," Sarah chirped, "In Kingdale. That meadow out behind the old house, you know?"
"Is it being taken care of?"
"Roland said he hired a guy to take care of it," Joe shrugged, "Mike Flechette... I think you've met him."
"He said it's part of his wedding gift," Sarah bubbled, "He was hinting at deciding on what cake to get for us, too."
"Isn't that supposed to be your decision?"
"Wouldn't you trust Round's judgment on this?"
"Touche..."
----------
And so the night continued, with each of the heroes engaging in various inconsequential conversations and patching up old faux pas and controversies that may have occurred in their past. Good friends showed up, and even Freedom Corps's Agent Wild arrived to check in on their festivities.
"You guys all seem to be doing well for yourselves," he observed, "Almost makes me feel bad to bring you this news..."
Everybody stopped partying almsot instantly and glared at the guy.
"Nah, I'm kidding. Have fun, folks. Nothing major's on the docket as far as I'm concerned."
"I'm gonna wind up killing that guy," Randall muttered, "Seriously... Fricking dead."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
It was time to get back to business.
Kipland Durj opened his assault on crime with a classic raid on a "rogue" Crey research facility. He'd gotten information that the warehouse he was raiding had been housing Rikti technology, but when he arrived there was nothing but security guards and researchers.
"Sonova..." he grumbled after cleaning up the mess that used to be a Paragon protector, "Just idiots... What the Hell were they doing here?"
He started dialing Agent Wild's number. There had to have been some kind of development while he was fighting...
"Come on, come on," he grumbled as the phone rang on the other end.
He didn't notice the researcher who wasn't unconscious. He barely started to react when he felt a sudden motion in the air and heard his soul screaming "Watch out!"
There was what felt initially like a punch, then his thigh tightened a little. When Durj batted the researcher aside, he noticed that something felt lodged in his thigh. A syringe? He glared at the frail-seeming man, who was starting to stand.
"What did you just hit me with?" he slurred a little.
A bad sign.
The researcher removed his mask. Kip had the glaring suspicion that it was so the scrapper could see the wicked-looking man's creepy smile.
"It's a cocktail that should put even the most ardent Stone Tank into a deep sleep..." the researcher chuckled.
"Dammit," Kip grunted as he dropped to his knees, everything turning gray and fuzzy, "Why is this crap happening to me all of a sudden?"
----------
Kipland awoke in his own apartment to the sound of his ringing phone.
"Ah, man," he grunted as he tried to answer it, "What the?"
His left arm was pinned down by a... well... not heavy weight, but a weight that shouldn't have been there. It was a lithe woman with bright red hair and...
Kip's eyes narrowed at the cat ears.
"No fricking way!" he shouted as he rolled Mynx off of himself.
She fell off the bed and gave a loud, shrill shout. Kip leaped for the other side of the bed and got into a defensive stance. She picked herself up by crawling up the side of the bed, peeked her head over the edge and glared angrily at the young man.
"Well, that was a Hell of a wake up call!" she shouted at him, "What the Hell, Kip?"
"What the [frick] are you doing in my apartment?" Kip shouted back.
"Uh... I think it's fairly obvious..."
Kip's mind raced through a check-up to determine what that could mean. Most obvious answers didn't measure up.
It didn't help that there was now a huge gap in his memory.
"You have got to answer that fricking phone!" she shouted, "It's driving me nuts!"
Kip reached down and picked up the receiver.
"DUDE!"
It was Cedric.
"What?" Kip asked.
"I just saw a tabloid of you out last night with-"
"I'll call you back," Kip interrupted.
"No man!" Cedric's voice was still clear on the way to getting hung up, "I want details! DETAILS!"
*click*
"Okay..." Durj intoned as he relaxed his stance, "I'm... I'ma little freaked out right now... Last time we met, you weren't by any means interested in me, frankly, I didn't care. Now, I find myself lying next to you, in my apartment... What the Hell is going on?"
Mynx blinked at him and shook her head. Pressing her face into the mattress, she seemed to be trying to stifle a giggle. When she looked up again, she was clearly smiling.
"We met a couple nights ago, Kip. I remembered you from the past couple times we met, but something was different... We were in Pocket D, you seemed to just be chilling out and we got to talking. Then dancing... Then... Well... Dinner last night."
"Nothing else, I hope," Kip narrowed his eyes at her.
"You... You're a vir-"
"Yeah," Kip replied, "And, frankly, I'm of a rare philosophy... You know, first time should be with someone special and all that."
"I'm not special?" she batted her eyes at him.
Something seemed odd about that.
"I don't know you," Kip replied, "We weren't friends... Not even good acquaintances. And now we suddenly move on to sleeping with each other? Suffice it to say, that [dung] don't fly."
"Maybe we just fell for each other really hard," she smirked at him mischievously, "You know? Passions ignite, pheromones and hormones do their work and two people find themselves inextricably entangled for a long, intense moment..."
"Is that what happened?" Kip's narrowed eyes and the way he tapped the belt on his shorts indicated his skepticism.
She looked around the room for a moment. Her posture was playful, not shy. She was enjoying messing with Kip's head like this.
"No," she finally replied curtly, "You are, for as loud, abrasive and blunt as you've been, a gentlemen at heart."
Kip relaxed again and sat down on the bed, cradling his head in his hands. Mynx crawled back under the covers and looked to him calmly. His slumped shoulders were a bit of a let-down, however.
"What's wrong?"
"I..." Kip turned and looked to her, his face grim, "I haven't been myself these past... I don't know how many days. The last thing I remember is getting injected with some weird stuff... Now... I don't know what's going on..."
"So what are you saying?" she asked, her tone full of worry.
"I'm saying... I'm saying I can't be sure if this is real or not. I'm saying I need a few days to collect myself and figure out if this is just a Crey plot to get me to reveal hero secrets, if this is all a dream, or if that shot just altered the way I think about things... I've got this gap in my memory, and it's already driving me bat-[dung] crazy..."
"I understand," Mynx sighed, "I... I have my own problems with Crey. They made me what I am. They made me a monster..."
"Come on," Kip turned around so she could see he was looking into her eyes, "You and I both know that's not true. A monster is defined by its actions. The people we put behind bars have no qualms about harming or subjugating innocent people. They seek to throw the system into upheaval just for their own selfish ends. You and I... We fight against that. We have gifts that Fate saw fit to grant us, and we've made the choice to serve and protect the people who can't do the same for themselves."
He felt odd saying these things. It was a cleaner and lighter version of the philosophy he used to reconcile the terrible violence he visited upon the criminal elements he encountered on a regular basis. However, what he found odd was that he was reassuring one of the major heroes of the city.
"I know the speeches," she murmured, "I know... It's just... I sometimes wish I had my normal life."
"Well, you have your alter ego..." Kip shrugged, "It's not like anybody knows who you are without your kitty-ears."
She hummed at that.
"What?" Kip asked.
"It's just... Maybe you should know who I am without the kitty ears before we go any further..."
"Give me a few more days before we talk about that again," Kip rolled his eyes, pushed himself off the bed and started heading for the door, "Alright, look, I'm gonna start breakfast. Is there anything in particular you'd like?"
She took a moment to consider before answering with a question, "How good are your eggs?"
"I make some mean eggs over easy," he replied with a grin, "Is that cool?"
"Yeah."
----------
"Soul?" he asked to his empty apartment after she'd left, "Hello, Me?"
"...Yes?"
"Is something the matter?"
"Quite. But I don't know what it is."
"So..." Kip started pacing in his living room, "Am I awake?"
"Yes. I'm certain of it."
"More certain than that last time?"
"I wasn't a cognizant entity back then... You mistrusted your gut instinct that day and ignored the evidence. That wasn't my fault."
"Oh yeah..."
"Much the same applies here."
"With Mynx?"
"Yes."
"Figures."
"Be very careful around her. And that's not some aspect of your natural paranoia rubbing off on me. f anything I'd much prefer you to be social. However, something stinks to Hell about this situation (we zonk out and wake up with a celebrity? Sorry, but no), and it just isn't safe to pursue any kind of romantic liaison until we figure out what's going on. Besides... You aren't ready to forget Amy yet."
"How the [frick] am I supposed to even begin doing that!? She's in some secret facility in the Aquarius Medical Center! She may have even been moved or kidnapped and subsumed back into the Rikti ranks!"
"And ignoring the problem these past years has really helped. You realize this is a form of insanity, right? Arguing with yourself..."
"Yeah, yeah..." Kip walked over to his apartment door, yanked it open and stepped outside, "Okay, we can stop now. I've got work to do."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
The next few days proved to be as terrible as Kip expected. Apparently, the city was buzzing about the first boy-toy of one of the most celebrated heroines in the past five years. Frankly, a lot of people were worried she preferred ladies.
Apparently, the fact that she even showed an interest in somebody was a relief to the Vindicators, but they were, of course, suspicious. Kip was a little bothered with Swan and Ms. Liberty's probing (they, for good reasons, badgered him until his eyes flared red and he was shouting with entirely a different voice to leave him alone; which Swan explained was actually his soul shouting), and Infernal's dark mood was a little worrisome, but Luminary was happy for her friend. The female android's attitude was infectious. Kip had to get out of there.
He was still unsure about the whole situation. He knew he wouldn't feel better about any of it until he was able to fill the blank space in his recent memory. So, he asked around his contacts for information on Crey facilities that weren't so "up-and-up," and Agent Wild let him know about a facility housing some of the same chemicals and materials as the last place.
"Dammit!" Kip shouted as a flash signaled another paparazzi as he walked through Skyway City, "Come here!"
He charged after the guy as he bolted into the bushes. Unfortunately for the celebrity leech, Kip was the faster. Or, rather, his eye beams were. A glancing blow caught the camera in the photographer's outstretched hand, melting the plastic and ruining the circuitry.
"With any luck," Kip muttered, "The hard drive got toasted."
He said it to Ms. Liberty before. He didn't like celebrity. It hindered him. It bothered him. On top of that, the paparazzi that hounded him risked life and limb that he had to protect if any of the villainous elements caught a hold of them.
"How do the celebrities deal with this crap?" Kip muttered as he went back to his original path, "And how the Hell do those guys keep finding me? I'm able to clear a few city blocks with a single bound..."
"Hey there, Kip-bird," a familiar voice laughed behind him, "What's it like as the latest flavor of the month?"
"Bitter," Kip replied to Psycho13, "And don't call me Kip-bird. I'll kick out your teeth. Good luck growing those back."
"Hey," the other scrapper zipped in front of the aggravated one with a grin on his face and his arms spread open, "Come on, man! Cheer up! The sun is shining!"
"So, this is manic?"
"I'm not that kind of lunatic," Baker replied.
Psycho13 was dressed different from the last time Kip had seen him. Last time, the knife-wielding maniacal hero was seen publicly, he had just got done wiping out the last of Bobcat's crew (with some help from the Freakshow goons already fighting them) and even fighting Mynx's evil double from Praetorian Earth. He didn't win, and the police drones got lots of footage of his tan hoodie getting torn to shreds by Bobcat moments before Mynx showed up to finish the job.
Psycho13 was then seen bursting out of a nearby hospital, whooping and cheering as he hopped on a Praetorian Heavy and rode it like a bucking bronco while other heroes cut him down. He was wearing his war kilt then.
Today, it was a T-shirt and torn jeans. He looked almost like anybody on the street, save the war paint on his face.
"Out of money for costumes?" Kip asked with a smirk.
"No, the Icon boys and girls are busy patching my hoodie back together. It'll cost me a pretty penny, since they're charging me for doing something they loathe, but I would rather wear my own outfit instead of whatever ridiculous abomination they came up with."
"Good philosophy."
"So," Levi grinned, "Where's your girlfriend?"
"She's busy with her super group," Kip growled, "And don't give me any of that 'you admit it' crap. This whole thing reeks to High Hell, and I gotta get to the bottom of it."
"Any leads?"
"Crey."
Baker's face scrunched to one side as he winced.
"Oh yeah, you don't know they're an evil corporation yet..."
"Of course they're an evil corporation!" Psycho13 boisterously yelled, "They're rich! I haven't yet seen the mega corp that's been able to get to its position without doing some truly evil things. Have you?"
"No," Kip admitted, "But these guys are quite a bit different. Super-villain different."
"Cool."
"So, I'm gonna go thrash a few facilities of their's, see if I can rustle up any information."
Levi pursed his lips to one side as Kip started to leave. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed Kip's shoulder.
"Hey! Need a sidekick for the day? I got nothing better to do!"
Kip glared at the other for a short while. He knew Baker back in high school. The guy was a bit of a lunatic back then, too. His very presence sent chills down a lot of people's spines.
"Sure," he replied against every fiber of his common sense screaming for the opposite.
-----
"Know what's wrong with the youth of today? Wandering lost, it's true what they say," Psycho13 chanted as he bobbed and wove through the ranks of Crey Security the two of them were dealing with; he punctuated his sentences with knife stabs and slashes, "And who is to blame? Teevee and magazines that have you believe every day is Halloween!"
He cut equipment, arms, legs, tendons... Anything to make the security guards and suited agents drop to the ground faster and not want to get back up.
"What is that?" Kip asked as he kicked a Power Tank into the wall.
"Buck Sixtyfive," the other scrapper replied, "Talkin' Jonkey Blues, Four Six Three. Numbers are actually numbers."
"Excuse me," the Power Tank groaned as he pulled himself from the wall, "I think you guys should be a little more focused on-"
Kip kicked him back into the wall, "Shut up! We're busy here!"
The tank fell down from his dent and groaned. He didn't get back up. sycho13 tagged him, and he was about to find himself teleported to the Zig instead of a nearby hospital.
"Man, this job rocks," he chuckled as they moved on, "Slicin', stabbin', jabbin', blowing things up!"
"We haven't blown anything up," Kip shook his head at his sidekick disapprovingly, "And it'll be difficult for us to do that."
"Yeah, maybe..."
"Psych, hang on a sec..."
Kip looked his friend over. Psycho13 was regenerating his damage from the last fight, and it enabled the more experienced scrapper to notice something.
"That scar on your arm, man... Where did you get that?"
"Oh this?"
Baker hefted his arm and looked at it. It looked almost like the scarring found on the Vahzilok zombies, only still alive and not a mark of where one corpse piece was grafted to another. It msut have been a really nasty cut...
"Oh yeah, it was bad," Levi said nonchalantly, "My older brother freaked when he did this to me. He thought our dad was gonna beat the ever-living be-Jebus outta him... He just took me to the hospital to get me stitched up. Heh, he joked that they might have to amputate when I asked if they'd need to give me a shot."
"Did you freak when they did?"
"Oddly enough, no..." Levi shrugged as he turned to continue down the hall, "Somehow, I equated to having my arm torn halfway through as much worse."
"So... Why did it leave a scar when those wounds you just got from pistols, knives, and whatever else those security guards were using against you are disappearing without a trace?"
Baker grinned.
"A common misconception about regeneration is that it doesn't leave scars, or that it repairs your body to pristine condition... Well, maybe that's true for some people, but for most, it leaves you as you were the moment you got it. Me? I didn't get this stuff until the Committee gave it to me to survive their torture. By then, enough of life's damage had been done to mark me."
"So?" Kip arched an eyebrow, "You've got a scar because you had the scar?"
"Right."
"How common is that?"
"Most forms of acquired regeneration work like that. Something about how the damage has already been done and the body NEVER fixes the scarring. Scars only really fade if something causes them to, like sunburns or treatment (cosmetic or otherwise). Left alone, they remain. What's odd about mine is that it seemed to grow in proportion to my body. I got this thing when I was like, ten!"
"I see..."
"Ope!" Psycho13 suddenly shouted, "We's gots company!"
"Halt!" an agent shouted at them, "Intruders! Intruders!"
"Isn't that ironic for an Infiltrator to say?" a security guard asked moments before getting tackled by Psycho13.
"Yee-ha!"
-----
The Paragon Protector in the last chamber of the facility was similar in style to Bull-Thistle. He wasn't plant-based, but he did have spines and regeneration.
Which really sucked when he "MOGged" on them.
"I keep stabbing and stabbing and stabbing and he won't go down!" Psycho13 shouted before getting impaled and thrown across the room, "AUGH-NN! Sonova... That really hurts!"
"Don't I know it," Kip shouted back to him, "Pull yourself off the wall and get down here to help me! Come on! Be a sidekick!"
"[Frig] you!" Psycho13 shouted as he pushed himself off the wall to fall on the ground, "How do you do this every day?"
"I have a rhythm," Durj grunted as he caught a fist to the gut, "Normally... I also have my soul protecting me..."
"That's odd..."
"It's complicated."
"Well..." Psycho13 pulled the spikes out of himself and approached the maddened, ravening Protector, "Here goes... Now I'm here for all to see... Every-THING torn out of me! Too late to drown in all my doubt... Too much to LATE to sort things out!"
As he continued to sing song lyrics, he continued to move and fight. Bobbing and dancing to music only he could hear (he'd found the old apparatus Draven had cooked up to remotely put Psycho13 into "kill mode," and now used it for his own personal MP3 player), he cut, slashed, stabbed, strifed and tormented the Protector.
"Cut! I'm never gonna get a-WAY! If I never make this CHANGE! CUT THE WAY and [FRIG] all the human WASTE! CUT! They're never gonna take a-WAY! The vision that I por-TRAY! NO TIME TO WASTE! I CUT ALL THAT'S IN MY WAY!"
With each shouted word, he drove his blades into the cookie-cutter quasi-hero. Finally, Kipland jumped over his head and smashed his knee through the visor on the Protector's helmet, crushing the cadaver's nose and crumpling him.
"Whoah..."
"Dude," Kip breathed as he made for the computer, "You gotta let me borrow some of your music... You sound like you really live through that stuff..."
"It gives me a Quickening," Psycho13 replied as he knelt by the prone form, "You know? That chill in your spine you get charged? It's just... URGH! You feel like you gotta do something, break something, ANYTHING!"
"I know the feeling..." Kip replied glumly, "Just... Don't feel that way every time you get it, okay? It'll really suck when you finally kiss a girl and you still react like that."
Psycho13 didn't respond. He'd never had the opportunity. Rather than think about it, though, he turned to the body.
"Hey, this guy isn't breathing..."
"They don't," Kip replied from the computer, "At least, not after they're beaten. I think it's a security measure Crey installs in 'em. A killswitch upon defeat. Since there's no record of them as a normal person, nobody really asks any questions. Of course, nobody ever knows the real reason for a Crey Sweeper Team to go rushing into a building like a hero does... In a little while, they'll be here to burn the evidence to Hell, and I need to hurry before this data gets corrupted..."
Baker wasn't satisfied with the answer, however. As his friend continued to study the information at the terminal, he pulled the helmet off the body. The head was all gray, the face... Perfectly neutral.
"What the? How?"
"They're clones," Kip said without looking back, "Not exact copies... More like recombined DNA fed into corpses and shocked back into life. The body winds up gaining some of the abilities of the heroes... And Crey puts it through a rigorous loyalty training, or brainwashing, class. I haven't yet seen one that has been able to shake it."
"Crazy..."
"You don't know the half of it, and I don't think you want to... Alright... Here's some data on that last facility I raided before my blackout... Project Invader? Who's the invader? Am I the invader?"
"I think the first mistake people make when considering what the enemy is doing is they think the target's them," Baker commented, "I thought you were better than that."
"Yeah," Kip replied, "But it doesn't add up. I mean... I know I'm me... It's... It's a little hard to clone me."
"You got that right," he soul rasped in the back of his head.
"So? Who's the invader?"
"Maybe I'll find out more at this other facility..." Kip replied, "I'll have to try tomorrow. What'll you be up to?"
"Interviewing our next client," Psycho13 shrugged, "Some guy who wants to try to raid the Rogue Isles to get his son back. I don't know if we can handle it, what with the dropship lacking its main guns..."
"You guys will find a way," Kip tapped Psycho13 with his datapad, "Come on, we'll thrash the Sweeper Team when they arrive. It'll be fun!"
"Cool!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"You."
Kip looked up from his lunch to Infernal. It was a little hard not to recognize the demonic man's clefted chin and burly features. It was a little unsettling to see him out of armor, though.
"Can I help you?" the scrapper replied, his fatigue clear in his sigh, "Let me guess... This is about... Kat..."
"Yes..." the large tank of a man took the seat in front of him.
A lot of the patrons in the Up N' Away burger joint were staring at them. They knew these two were heroes, but had no clue who exactly they were.
"Papers are still calling me Apex," Kip grumbled, "He... He had a few choice words to share with me a couple days ago. So what's your beef?"
"What's your angle?"
"My angle?"
"...Kat disappears for a few weeks after the Praetorian Invasion and suddenly appears with you in the D. At first, we thought it was... her sister... but she's far more in control of herself than that wildcat ever was, so that's not the case."
"You're about as subtle as a Mac truck right now," Kip grunted as he gestured toward the paparazzo behind Infernal, "Not too wise for somebody who wants to keep his personal life a secret."
"Like you?"
"I never wanted this!" Kip hissed, "I already told you guys what the past week has been like for me!"
"I still think you're trying something," the demonic man pushed himself from the table and started walking away, "I don't have anything yet, but I've got my eye on you."
"Yeah, good luck with that."
"Mr. Durj?"
Kip turned to a little kid with the notepad in his hand. This was a first.
"Yeah?" he asked, his tone suddenly lighter.
"Can I have your autograph?"
Definitely a first.
"Sure, kid," Kip took the pad and the pen and started writing, "Who am I making this out to?"
"Timmy Kincaid."
Kip's eyebrow arched at that name. Definitely one of those people with a destiny ahead of him. Maybe with this one act of kindness, he could inspire the kid toward the cause of justice.
"There ya go," he barked happily as he handed over the pad with his name in it, "Have a good one, man."
"Is that all?" another voice asked him from the side, somebody in a business suit, "Shouldn't you have said something like 'Stay in school,' or 'Don't do drugs?'"
"I think the kid's smart enough," Kip replied with a little anger after Tim had run back happily to his mother, "Besides, I always hated those condescending messages when I was a kid. You want a kid to stay off Superadine, you tell him how it turns you into a brain-dead troll with no regard for his family or friends, whom he'll gladly tear apart to get his next fix. Just telling him to stay away is enough reason for a kid to want to know what it's like for himself."
The man shrugged.
"Still... It tends to go with the territory."
"And who the Hell are you to tell me how to be a hero?" Kip was getting agitated again.
"Well... My friends call me Steve..."
"Well, I'm not your friend, Steve," Kip got up and threw away the remains of his lunch (he'd lost his appetite) before addressing the other patrons of the restaurant, "You want my endorsement? Kids, stop eating this processed crap and go get yourself a real meal! I haven't had a decent burger that I didn't cook myself nor a quality sub that, again, I didn't have to throw together on my own! I am so sick and tired of these burgers that taste like pressed newspaper pulp flavored with a little soy sauce!"
With that, he bolted out the door. He was angry. Really angry. And the next Crey facility on his list was going to feel it.
The Paragon Protector pacing inside the entrance thought he could take the little upstart he'd been warned about. He thought wrong. Kip hit him with a flying knee that smashed out his visor and followed up the attack with a double-foot stomp to the chest. Bits of plastic sputtered out of the hole in the Protector's helmet as he expelled the air in his lungs in a fit of coughs that weren't going to end any time soon.
"Woah!" the security guard watching from the monitor room grunted, "He looks serious!"
"That's too bad," the red-headed Infiltrator replied as she got a hold of an assault rifle and started to head out, "Kick on the alert klaxons! Get the facility on alert and start shredding evidence!"
"Yes ma'am, Agent Ross!"
When the agent found herself in the main chamber of the first floor, Kip had already arrived. The Protector who'd been at the door had apparently recovered, briefly, and promptly got his head kicked in when he tried to continue his fight with Kip. There were some spiderweb cracks in the wall where the scrapper had made his head bounce off it.
A small horde of security guards and agents were also trying to stop Kip, but they couldn't seem to actually hit him with a bullet. A dark cloud of what looked to be a similar energy to the Kheldians was intercepting the bullets and robbing them of their kinetic power. This gave Agent Ross an idea.
"Hunter Zachariah," she whispered into her wrist microphone, "Engage the target."
"No," came the answer from the Void Hunter assigned to their facility, "I've dealt with this individual before. The source of his power is unaffected by my weaponry. I'm moving on to my next assignment. Good luck."
"Oh, come on! You have to try!"
"I did once, and I nearly got my spine broken for it. You have all you need to really put him down, but I don't have a lot of confidence in your chances. Good day."
Agent Ross cursed and looked back tot eh fight. Or rather, she looked at the top of Kip's head (he was a bit short, after all). Before she could level her weapon at him, he caught the scruff of her neck.
"Ah! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Agent Ross shouted.
"Yeah, I know," Kip growled, "It hurts. Now, get walking. Take me to the computer that will tell me where I can find out what the Hell happened to me that night!"
"Agh! There's no need to be so -ow!- mean!"
"Sure there is," Kip muttered, "March."
He squeezed a little more and she started moving. She led him to a security room where a guy trying desperately to throw on his Power Tank Armor looked at them sheepishly.
"Stop," Kip ordered, "And I won't have to send you on a short, painful trip to the Zig."
He tossed Agent Ross over to the Security Chief and turned to the terminal that was halfway through a standard backup before the information was deleted. Grumbling he started running through the process of stopping the backup and rooting through the system for anything he thought would help him.
"What are you looking for?" Agent Ross suddenly asked, "We're just a chemical plant!"
"That alone is reason to raid this place," Kip muttered, "But you guys are on a list that has something to do with Project Invader. I want to... Here we go..."
He found a chemical formula advertised to cause severe drowsiness as well as a small bout of amnesia. It apparently had started life as an insomnia medication.
"Fricking figures."
It was something of a dead end, but now he knew what had been injected into him. he catalogued the evidence, then ripped the ethernet cable out of the wall.
"Why'd you do that?" the Security Chief shouted.
"So the system automatically locks up when I let it resume it's backup to wherever..." he answered, "Now... I'm going to take this freaking thing apart and have my tech root through the hard drive... Tell me where this thing was set to send information to..."
The two Crey agents stared at him in confusion.
"You've been doing this a long time, huh?"
"Long enough to be efficient at it," Kip replied as he tore the hard drive out of the machine, "Ow. There was some electricity still in that..."
"It was still plugged in!" his soul shouted at him, "Holy freaking bejegus! That hurt! They've got enough juice to function as one-shot electric chairs! Dammit, I'm starting to think I should just merge back into the mind!"
"But I like the banter..." Kip replied, "Plus... There's the fact that you're somewhat helpful..."
"Oh yeah, like warning about when the Crey Agent is halfway out the door to get reinforcements."
"What?" Kip asked out loud as he turned to see Agent Ross running out the door, "Ah, dammit!"
He started to run after her, stopped at the door, and turned back to teh Security Chief.
"Don't you, ah forget it. You're gonna suit up and come after me regardless."
"Oh yeah," the Chief was already trying to pull the boot on he wasn't able to finish donning earlier.
"Well, I guess it'll break the tedium..." Kip muttered as he went back to his pursuit.
A slide tackle later and he was staring down the barrel of a pistol Agent Ross pointed at him from the floor.
"Can we not do this?" Kip shouted, "You and I both know what's going to happen when you pull that trigger! It's gonna bounce off this energy field protecting me and I'm going to mop the floor with you! It's the same for every hero throughout this damn city!"
"I still have to try," Ross shouted as she squeezed the trigger.
The bullet bounced off Kip's forehead, leaving a nasty welt there. He gave an angry shout and punted Ross down the hall.
"What the freaking Hell!? I told you what was going to happen!"
Ross, however, was clutching her belly in the corner of the hallway. Kip walked over and rapped a Police Drone tag on her.
"Don't worry, the Zig has top-notch medical."
"You... You didn't even hesitate..."
"You shot me," Kip replied sternly, "I warned you what would happen. What did you expect?"
"I'm a woman!"
"And?"
Kip turned away, muttering something about equality and double standards. He was taken out of his reverie by an energy blast that caught him on the side of his head.
"Ow! Godammit!"
"Ha!" the Security Chief shouted, now fully equipped in his Power Tank Armor, "You never thought it would come to thi-"
Kip kicked him in the voice emitter and followed up with an elbow to the throat. The Chief coughed a little but started to get back to the fight at hand in short order.
A decent Power Tank was usually able to handle most heroes. With their energy assaults and powered up melee strikes, they were almost more dangerous than Paragon Protectors through sheer damage output. However, since they often lacked the advantage of surprise, as well as some of the resilience the hero clones usually sported, they had to chiefly rely on the hero being distracted by minions or some such. Very few Power Tanks could truly go toe-to-toe with a scrapper, much less a tank.
The Security Chief here wasn't about to get any advantage, either, especially against an angry scrapper like Kipland Durj. For all the energy brawling and blasts the Power Tank leveled at the young hero, Kip was either too quick or the energy field protecting him was too resilient to the assaults. Then there was the fact that Kip knew how to fight, too.
"Kee-" the scrapper shouted as he leaped into the air, twirled and brought his foot crashing into the tank's helmet, "-Raaaaaaaah!"
The Security Chief crumpled, his helmet dented rather sharpl inward. From the muffled metallic cursing, it sounded as if the Chief was a little aggravated by his loss. Kip pegged him with a Police Drone tag and left the facility.
"Okay, time to get this thing to Sheldon or one of the Ryats and find out where they were sending all of this information to..."
He felt a quick tap on his shoulder and whirled around. He almost grunted when he saw it was Mynx.
"What is it?" she asked, "Why are you being so difficult all of a sudden?"
"Because I wasn't me when this started!" Kip shouted, "We've been over this!"
"We thrashed a Nemesis cell together!" she shouted back, "How do you do that in a coma?"
She showed him her communicator and the video footage. He chuckled a little at the scene of a familiar Tirailleur getting his rifle snapped over Kip's knee.
"I remember that guy. Man, he really hates me and my friends."
"See, I like that," Mynx chuckled, "I want to share more moments like that with you! Come on! You and me, we should go and thrash some place together, while you're like this!"
"Why?"
"So you can see that I'm not just dating the guy who was... drunk."
"I wasn't drunk, I was drugged."
"Whatever," Mynx rolled her eyes, "Listen, you and me, we go kick the tar out of some bad guys..."
She flicked a bit of dirt off Kip's collar, "Then we get some dinner... And see where the night takes us."
Kip sighed. This was insane. He was never this lucky.
"Maybe it's just your unwillingness to let Amy go."
It was plausible. Still, he couldn't shake how uneasy this whole situation made him.
"I guess," he muttered, "I have here a hard drive set to do a file dump to a remote location. I was planning to have some of my friends find out where that is and go thrash it tonight. Sound good?"
"Sounds great!" she grabbed his arm and snuggled close, "See? We can make this work."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
At first, it looked like another dead-end. It looked to be the same kind of facility as any other clandestine Crey facility. It was the same kind of place that the Crey corporation could attribute plausible deniability to.
At first, Kip was unimpressed. Not with Mynx's fighting skills. Indeed, she was still one of the best. She still tore into the security guards like a woman possessed. No, he was largely unimpressed with the mundaneness of the facility, how it was the same cold steel as most others. Then they got a few levels down.
It looked like a Revenant Project facility. Kip was aware of what the Paragon Protectors were, just as a large number of heroes did (and others suspected). However, he'd never actually seen a facility where the process took place.
This particular facility seemed to fit the bill, all the way up to the moment when Kip kicked a security guard into a glass tube and caused it to shatter. A body rolled out. A familiar body.
"What the Hell?" Kip muttered as he looked down at his own corpse, "A clone? Of me?"
Mynx was shocked as well.
"Oh, Kippers... That's just... That's just wrong..."
"It's dead," Durj replied glumly, then turned to the tube's monitoring system, "According to this, it died long before I shattered the tube... In testing... Something was missing."
"Missing?" Mynx asked quizzically.
"Yeah... I wonder what was missing." his soul half-chuckled in the back of Kip's head, "It must be hard to clone gusto and gumption like mine. According to the readout, this thing says that it met with the same failure the first one did. They all lack what makes me unique..."
"My soul," Kip muttered gravely, "They can't copy my soul."
"What are you talking about?" Mynx intoned as she looked over his shoulder, "It looks like they all died during... Structural Integrity tests... Ew..."
"Essentially, they shot them. All of them. Physically, they were exact duplicates of me. Ninety eight percent accuracy or above, a couple even made a hundred. Spiritually, however..."
"Does that matter?"
"Magic does play a role in this world, Mynx," Kip replied, "I know that well. On top of that, there's what defines a hero, and it's not just their powers. I used to get the tar kicked out of me in this city... But I never gave up."
He looked into her eyes, determination forcing the tendrils wafting from his eyelids to glow brighter.
"Not once."
"Some would argue otherwise," she replied, "I read your report on that... Obsidian Blight..."
"What an odd thing to say..." his soul mused.
"Falling asleep to physical fatigue is hardly giving up."
Mynx bit her lower lip, realizing she had insulted him, and turned down the hall. Her fur bristled suddenly, and she whirled back to Kip.
"What if you're not the only one they cloned? What if there are more heroes being copied here?"
The other scrapper nodded once and they were running down the corridors, kicking the tar out of anything that got in their way. All the while, Kip was left with one burning question.
Why did they clone me?
He understood why they sent him back out among the heroes. They couldn't get a working clone in... Days? Had they really gotten that far in their research?
He figured it had something to do with Rikti technology. Perhaps that and a blend of Doctor Vahzilok's twisted surgical procedures and Nemesis's mind transfer technology. Heck, maybe they were able to get all the memories they needed from an MRI.
Everywhere they went, they found the clones of other heroes. Some were malformed, as they were developed from the trace DNA Crey operatives were able to recover. Others were near-exact duplicates (if not spot-on copies), complete with powers. At least, they would have been nearly perfect, if it weren't for the injuries they'd sustained. Broken or missing limbs, scarring, wounds that would never heal... Nearly all of them were dead. The kinds of tests the readouts described were bonechilling to say the least.
Still curious as to the full nature of the crime, Kip and Mynx pressed on. Eventually, they found a room that was different from the others. It was circular, and wide open. In the center was a column of stasis tubes, many of which were occupied. A Paragon Protector defended it (or rather, tried to destroy the evidence), but Kip's foot to the back of its head smashed the visor open on the railing and broke the Protector's nose. The system that monitored Protector behavior registered the defeat and activated the Protector's killswitch.
Mynx winced at the Protector's sudden spasm and collapse. Kip was already examining the tubes. The catgirl made a derisive snort at the other hero's uncompromising efficiency.
"Hey, the faster we get this figured out and get word to the populace, the faster we can put this crazy ordeal behind us..." Durj winced suddenly, "...And... Maybe move on with our lives..."
Mynx smiled at that and her tail twitched a little. Outwardly, kip grinned, but inside, he shuddered a little. A part of him still felt something was wrong.
"Maybe you just never thought you'd like a catgirl." his soul chided.
"I'll tell ya what I never thought would happen before," Kip replied, "I never thought I'd have to listen to you sound like Cedric..."
Not wanting to deal with the thoughts in the back of his head anymore, Kip turned himself to the task at hand, the Stasis Tubes. Each tube had a monitor attached to it, just like the clone tubes, and Kip could get a clear story about each hero, and even a few rogues (Interesting...), inside. There were a couple Praetorians, some Rikti, but mostly just low-key heroes and rogues...
Just like him.
Most of them were types that could be classified as "lite" versions of more prominent heroes. Some would even argue that Kip was "Ms. Liberty lite," though that would tick him off something fierce, but it would explain why Crey tried to put him in this facility... If they could get to the core of what stopped the lesser heroes, they could use the knowledge to stop the major ones.
Of course, Kip realized such a notion was ludicrous. No two heroes were actually alike. Nobody got their powers from the same source. Even Randall, whom Kip suspected got his powers from a similar source as himself, had different circumstances from his fellow "Kingdale Warden."
So far, all the villain groups had to work with was pouring drums of bullets and pumping energy blasts at them. That, or their own inherent powers, which were largely lax unless it was one of the mystical groups like the Circle of Thorns or the Carnival of Shadows.
Kip found one that made his skin crawl, however. It wasn't his tube. He'd seen his, and it was empty. This one... This one he activated and opened upon finding.
"Well... There's your answer," he soul chuckled again.
Mynx walked up behind him as the body fell out and Kip told her to get a Protector uniform for her.
"Who is she?"
"Evidence," Kip replied, "Perfect evidence."
The Vindicator quirked an eyebrow at him, but left to comply.
"Don't you fall in love on me!" she shouted back at him.
Kip narrowed his eyes at her back, but got straight back to work. Placing the young girl's arms for modesty, Kip examined the body. There was still a chance that this was all a trick.
Until he saw the scars.
Almost every hero and rogue on the planet had a modicum of regenerative capability. It was what kept them in "pristine" condition and able to go on from fight to fight. Some damage left scars, but they often faded fast from the Regenerator cartridges that supplemented anybody who wasn't a regenerator.
Old scars, like Psycho13 mentioned, scars from before being a hero, scars like this woman's appendectomy scar and the tiny one on her chin that could have come from any number of childhood accidents... Those weren't fixed by Regenerator or Regeneration super powers.
Kip even had a few nicks and tears on his body. He'd have never thought about it before, though...
The girl coughed, then looked up at him. Katherine Stevens' eyes narrowed and she let loose a hiss.
"It's a pleasure to see you, too," Kip intoned back, "Don't move just yet, some clothes are on the... She's behind me, isn't she?"
Project Invader. Placing cloned heroes in positions to keep an eye on other heroes. Sometimes, those clones would wind up being used to commit atrocious acts. All they needed was the right trigger. Discovery of their duplicity often worked.
Of course, such a problem was usually handled by keeping the original under wraps. Normally, all Crey would have to do is kill the original subject, but if they're conducting experiments on the clones, or need them for leverage, then they're more likely to keep them around in a clandestine facility like this.
It would all work so well except for one thing. It took days to clone a subject... It took time that needed to be explained.
"That's what I was," Kip intoned as he stood and turned to the Mynx clone that had been calling herself his girlfriend for the past week, "A cover."
"It didn't have to be this way," she hissed back, "You could've been a good little boy... It could've been fun."
Not like Bobcat, that's for sure. Bobcat cut first, made offers later. No... This clone was definitely a byproduct of an offshoot of the Revenant Hero project, complete with its own indoctrination program.
"Well, I guess now it's time to fight," Kip growled as he started to sidestep away from the real Mynx, "I'm warning you now, this is going to hurt. Badly."
"You'd hit a woman?" the clone asked dubiously.
"It wouldn't be the first time, and once again, we come to my definition of a hero. Only now, you get the unabridged version. A simple [frick]ing rule... Don't [frig] with me! When you do, I [frig] with you! Simple as that! You [frig] with the people I care about, I [frig] with you! Again, simple!"
The clone lunged at him. He caught her in the air and used her momentum to toss her over his head. C-Mynx vaulted herself over a rail and landed on her feet. Whirling around at him, she popped out her claws and charged again. This time, Kip met her with a driving kick to the solar plexus.
C-Mynx twirled around his foot, deflecting most of the impact and raked her claws across his face. Or she would have, had Kip's ghostly aura not intervened. Not allowing for any time to make a mistake, Kip caught C-Mynx by her shoudlers and pulled her body into his knee (again, aimed for her solar plexus).
The impact caused the clone to go sprawling, and she rolled across the floor with a yelp. Kip followed her with laser beams from his eyes, but they just heated the floor. C-Mynx, in the meantime, caught a hold of another rail, hoisted herself up on it (further avoiding Kip's energy assault) and leaped at Kip again. The young hero was committed to his attack though, and as the energy beams powered down, she dove behind him, raking his back with her claws.
"Agh!" Kip grunted as he rolled away and rounded on C-Mynx, "That freaking hurt!"
"I thought you were invincible," the girl chuckled back.
"No... his soul suddenly emerged from his body and spoke to her, "I just think I'm ugly enough."
"What the?" was all C-Mynx could get out before Kip redoubled his efforts with a flying double knee.
She avoided it, but Kip's landing was surprisingly sturdy, and he came back with a low spin kick to take her legs out from under her. C-Mynx caught herself and was in the hand-stand portion of vaulting herself away when Kip hopped back up, spinning, and kicked her in the spine.
The clone crumpled to the floor and he marched after it. As C-Mynx started to push herself up, Kip wrapped his arm around her neck and put her in a sleeper hold. He held it for a count of ten and relaxed his grip.
"That was brutal," Mynx muttered at him, "Do you mind finding me something to wear, now?"
Kip stood and started heading toward her, "Well, I've got my jacket... That could help."
He heard C-Mynx scrambling to attack him. As decent as his aura was at protecting him, it likely wouldn't help too much if he got skewered in the spine, so he whirled around. C-Mynx was closer than he thought, so he was left with one option. Catching her outstretched wrists, he rolled backwards and planted his foot in her belly. A slight push, and she was sent hurtling through the air where she crashed into an empty Stasis Tube.
Ironically, it was Kip's former Stasis Tube.
The clone rolled out, unconscious. It was finally over. When Kip went to tag the clone, however, C-Mynx did something unexpected. She spasmed violently, arched her back, and let out a small whimper. Her eyes searched for him, found him, and he saw the hate reflected there.
"You..." she hissed, "Wretched... Fool..."
Gurgling, C-Mynx died from the killswitch command. Kip shook his head dismissively as he put the tag back in its dispenser.
"Shoulda' told me you loved me," he grumbled, "Woulda' hurt more."
"Who the Hell was she? Why, the [frig], was she wearing my outfit?" Mynx asked derisively, "And what's going on?"
"I'll explain later..." Kip grunted as he stepped over to her, his eyes downcast, "For now, let's get you something to wear..."
----------
It was over. Kip and Mynx (wearing a Crey security guard's outfit) arrived at the Vindicators headquarters around midnight. Mynx almost immediately disappeared (presumably to find a more comfortable outfit), and Kip again explained what happened to Malaise (the only Vindicator on duty at that moment).
The psychic nodded to the whole story. He never questioned the scrapper once and smiled when Kip explained when he figured the whole thing out.
"It's difficult for anybody to seed spies within our ranks," Malaise finally commented as Kip finished, "What with all the psychics we have around..."
Kip glared at the former villain.
"You knew, didn't you?" he shouted.
"Not so loud," Malaise replied, "Luminary may be like a computer and shut herself down, but she still has alert systems to 'wake up' in an emergency... And she needs her rest after what we had to do today."
"Which was?"
"Costume contest in Pocket D," Malaise replied happily, then looked worried, like he shouldn't have said that, "I mean... Mech Men... Breaking lots and lots of Mech Men."
Kip just shook his head.
"Look," Malaise pulled Kip outside and spoke in hushed tones, "I respect my fellow heroes and heroines, I really do. It's also against the law for any psychic to invade somebody's mind... But..."
"But you did it to Mynx," Kip finished.
"Well, yeah... She'd been gone for so long, and there was just something about her story... Plus..." Malaise rolled his eyes and frowned, "I... I care about her."
"I see..." Kip replied, "You were looking to see if the relationship was real."
"It was a lapse in judgment and restraint," Malaise admitted, "But I knew the reality of the situation afterward. I was trying to figure out how to tell somebody, and was about to wake up Lumie when you two arrived."
"She wouldn't have judged you too harshly, huh?"
"Right."
"Well... I need sleep," Kip grumbled, "Tell Mynx I said goodbye... I just can't stick around anymore, my adrenaline's wearing out and my eyelids are heavy."
"You could stay here," Malaise offered, "tell the others what happened."
"Nah, I'll just write it up in my report tomorrow. Inquiring minds can read about it then."
Malaise frowned, but nodded. He could feel Kipland's displeasure at even being near the Vindicator base.
"Well, thank you," Malaise replied, "From her. I could feel her relief at being home. While I don't doubt that she'd eventually find her way here anyway, it helps that you made it all the more expedient."
"Cool, whatever..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
It had started innocently enough. Sheldon was busy strolling through Steel Canyon. He had some business to conduct in the Wentworth's Consigmment House, and he wasn't really paying attention as he scribbled furiously on his datapad.
Freedom Corps had OK'd the Ryat program for public use, but he had to sign all of the release forms. Each form required multiple signatures, too.
Fortunately, he didn't need to scribble anything for Ryat84. The android had gone rogue toward the end of the Praetorian Invasion. During the sweep of Skyway City, it became readily apparent as the android utilized a nanite gravity control similar to Wallace's and an energy assault similar to Ryat66's to actually kill some Praetorians. Not only that, but he was obviously torturing the organic Praetorian forces, too.
Somehow, the android had developed an intolerance to humans and other biological lifeforms. After the conflict, he somehow escaped to the Rogue Isles by hopping on a helicopter to Bloody Bay using his temporary Hero ID. From there, the Gods knew what his plans were.
"Probably build an army and work to eradicate all of humanity," Sheldon muttered as he scrawled across another form that blipped up on his datapad.
That was when the first Clockwork Cog started following him. He didn't notice at first, but when he emerged from Wentworth's grumbling about the prices of salvage on the market, he saw it. It was peculiar to see, the little machine looking up at him.
Most Clockwork machines were deceptively small. Many were actually roughly the size of an average human being. But because they were so thing, and so many of them were hip-tall or even knee-tall, most people thought of them all as small. Nobody made that mistake about the Prince-class robots, but they were another story anyway.
"Can I help you?" Shel asked after he realized the robot was following him.
It just followed silently while he continued on his way. He wasn't worried. The Clockwork had stopped being a serious threat to the Grey's Army inventor a long time ago. He'd deciphered the secrets behind their electricity generation, but not their actual working parts.
Frankly, there was more than enough power actually being generated to actually run the little automatons, but their heads had virtually no circuitry. Most people assumed that the Clockwork King was such a genius, he'd learned how to make an alternate form of Artifical Intelligence. Sheldon, as well as other heroes, had learned the truth of the matter was that he was just a powerful psychic, and that he simply willed his machines to work.
"Doesn't stop you guys from holding together after the link is broken, huh?" he asked as a couple more joined the first that had been following him.
Sheldon had found a park bench overlooking the Silver Lake, and tossing aside the Tsoo ninjas in his way, he sat down to relax while he worked. The Clockwork didn't leave. They just sat there, watching Wallace while he worked.
As he neared the end of the list, the inventor realized something was off. There was a kind of white noise permeating the environment. When he looked up to see what it was, he would have jumped from surprise if a part of him weren't saying how he should have realized it beforehand.
Hundreds of Clockwork were standing in the street. Citizens were running away, terrified. Police were trying to reroute traffic. Heroes were trying to figure out how to handle the situation.
Sheldon looked at his datapad and keyed it to analyze the robots. He cursed because he should have done it earlier. The Clockwork, all of them, even the first one he saw, were all rated as level fifty.
"Oh..." he said calmly, "Damn."
"Mr. Wallace," the first Cog suddenly said in a tinny mechanical voice, "It would behoove you to come along with us, quietly and without struggle."
"Why for?" he asked, "I believe I'm entitled to knowing the reason why I'm being incarcerated. I mean, we heroes offer the same courtesy to the thugs we arrest every day... Or, we would if they didn't tell us up front what they're doing against the law..."
"You have been invited to the King's Court, at the behest of His Highness Himself."
"I see," Sheldon turned to his datapad, then looked up at the Clockwork, "Well, I have some work I need to finish up here... It won't take me anymore than five minutes. In that time, you can clear out the entourage. I only need one of you to lead me to your King."
"That is unacceptable," the Cog said mechanically, but oddly sounded menacing, "The King was quite insistent..."
"No," Sheldon replied, "And don't test me. Most of my own creations are now free to roam as they please, and if they learn that you harmed even one hair on my head, I can assure you that they are more than a match for even this powerful lot you've assembled here. I'm certain your King can utilize some degree of patience when compared to the time it will take to rebuild all of you and the forces my androids are sure to decimate in their search for me. Lord knows, a lot of them have been itching for a rematch."
The robots looked to each other as Sheldon continued scribbling into his datapad. After a couple minutes, the collection started walking north to Boomtown. The first Cog waited patiently and jsut as Sheldon said, not five minutes had passed since he had started getting back to writing before he stood, shut down the datapad, and shook his hand of the slight cramp it had developed.
"Red tape," he sighed, "It is some nasty stuff. Lead the way, young Cog."
"How do you know my age?"
"You still have scratches from new construction."
"Interesting."
As they walked into and through Boomtown, Sheldon explained how he had worked hard since arriving in the city to understand the intricacies of the city's robotic minions. One of the first he dealt with was the Clockwork, to which he actually applied some of their electric power systems into his own androids.
"We know," the Cog replied, "The King was very distressed that you'd utilized something he designed in your work."
"I know. It took me a couple weeks to repair the damage he'd done to my androids. So... What makes him want to talk to me now?"
"That is not for me to say."
Sheldon kept from mentioning how the Cog actually was the Clockwork King. Such a concept was beyond the self-appointed monarch, as he was under the delusional belief that he had successfully built autonomous robots. They should have all died when he did before.
It made Sheldon wonder at who had put the King's brain in that machine he walked around in. Of course, maybe they only had to put it in the jar of fluid...
The Cog brought Sheldon to a small building buried in the rubble. The inventor knew this was just a cover. Underneath the debris would be a massive warren, complete with a small factory for the King to build his court. There would be wreckage everywhere, and at any moment, it could all rise up and attack him.
Of course, that was true of just about everywhere in this City, especially in Boomtown.
"Well, no time to waste. May as well see what your King wants..."
-----------
The Court didn't disappoint the inventor. It was just like the time he raided one. Of course, the Zig couldn't hold the King for some odd reason... There were plenty of times where he'd been arrested multiple times in the same day by lots of different heroes.
Heck, Ryat66 had helped arrest him an hour after Sheldon did.
Of course, as of late, the King had been quiet. Some of his plans were still running, but they mostly lacked the "oomph" that caused heroes to go chasing after him.
"Greetings, sir," Sheldon bowed to the Clockwork King, a simple bow from the waist, much in keeping with Japanese fashion, "For now, my lord, as I am a guest within you house."
"Uh..." the Clockwork King's eyes actually shifted from side to side as he tried to decipher what Sheldon was on about, "Right..."
"To what do I owe this honor?" Wallace was chuckling inwardly.
Despite calling himself the Clockwork King, the psychic hardly fit the billet of a royal monarch. Like most of the lesser villains of the city, he was pretty much just playing at mastermind, not really taking his role seriously. His efforts also strongly indicated he'd much rather just be building more robots.
How unfortunate that eh often just let them run amok like Paladin or Babbage.
"Sheldon Wallace," the twisted hulk bent forward so as the eyes could get closer to the hero, "I have a task for you."
"You? Have a task for me?"
"Yes. But I know it is one you will outright refuse unless I tell you the circumstances behind the request."
"I see..." Sheldon arched an eyebrow at the brain, "Well, time is money, experience, and influence. I suppose you should get talking."
"Ah..." the Clockwork King was glad Sheldon was being so prompt, "Well, to begin, let me tell you about a young girl named Penelope Yin..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"...She's the only one to see me... As I wish I was..."
Sheldon quirked an eyebrow at that. The Clockwork King was obviously delusional.
"You... You have a crush?"
"Something like that," the King sighed, which was a horrible, grating sound from his voice emitters, "It's just so hard to have a real... Friend. You know, one that you didn't build yourself?"
Sheldon nodded. Sometimes, social inadequacy made for some of the worst deviant behavior. In this case, it had driven the King to make his bizarre machinations. He would have continued in his work, day in, day out, if he hadn't met the young girl psychic.
If he hadn't fallen in some sort of love.
"I still don't see what this has to do with me," Wallace intoned as he cleared a pile of wreckage with a wave of his hand so he could sit down, "All you've said is you want to have a girlfriend."
"You need to see? Look at me, inventor. Look at the abomination I have become."
"I see it," Sheldon was cross-legged; he pulled a stick of gum from a package in his coat pocket and started to chew, "But you've looked like this for a long time. Now, Cee Kay, if I were to put two and two together and take a wild stab at this, I'd say you want me to help you build a new body."
"Exactly. I knew you wouldn't disappoint me, Sheldon."
"One so you could be more... Refined... For her."
"Indeed."
Sheldon pulled the wad of gum out of his mouth and packed it back into its paper. He then pulled his shades off and wiped them clean before putting them back on.
"I can't," he finally answered.
"You won't," the Clockwork King corrected, "You refuse to help me and I will have to find another to construct my new body."
"You can't kill me," Sheldon replied with a shrug, "And you know that if I report this, it will bring more heroes down on your head."
"Indeed... And there's no possible way I can properly keep you imprisoned... However..."
"What?" Sheldon didn't like the tone in the King's voice, "What have you got for me?"
"Well, for one, it's a challenge. The body I want will have to be powerful enough to stand up to any hero or villain, much like a tanker hero. Plus, I want it to still be decidedly Clockwork. I must still look reasonably human, and... I want to fly..."
"That explains why you haven't just made a deal with Nemesis to use one of his automatons..."
"I would never deal with that lunatic!" the King was definitely angry at that, "Despite what you capes believe, we rogues don't work well together..."
"Conflicting ideologies and all that," Sheldon smirked, "Not to mention that you all seem to want it all for yourselves..."
"Again, you presume to know more than you actually do."
"Regardless of the challenge, your highness, I simply cannot help you. Freedom Corps is already investigating me in a number of different ways to determine whether or not I'm a mad scientist... They think I'm like Aeon or something..."
"I know. That was part of why I chose you... I thought you'd be up to the challenge."
"It is intriguing," Sheldon started to pick himself up to walk away, "But I simply have no choice but to refuse."
"Then I have no choice but to cut off your hands," the King replied just as calmly, but there were still hints of anger, indicating he was mocking the young hero.
"Cut off my hands..." Sheldon wasn't asking about it, he knew the why.
The Clockwork King, however, misunderstood, "You'd be stuck here, handless, and worry not, for my minions will cauterize your stumps so you don't die... And they can never be replaced."
"That's a serious promise," Wallace muttered.
"Promise?"
"The difference between a threat and a promise is that most people don't carry out their threats. They opt for something lesser instead of visiting the harm they implied would happen if the subject refused. You, however, you have no such qualms. What remains of your humanity isn't reserved for ones like me."
"Indeed."
"So when you said you'd cut my hands off, you were making a promise.""
"Right. I get it, now," the Clockwork King's eyes rocked from side to side, "How strange that you grasped it so quickly... You're an exacting man..."
"I try," Sheldon sighed, "Alright... You've sufficiently intrigued and promised me grave bodily harm. There is no doubt that cutting off my hands will hinder me for some time."
"Hinder?" the King asked incredulously.
"Only a dead man can truly do nothing in this world, and the mediporters keep that from happening for the most part. Heck, look at you, and you're just a brain in a jar."
"Hm... Touche..."
"In any case, I'm rather attached to my hands. I'm familiar with them, happy with them... They do good work. So... I'll help you build this new body. To avoid losing my hands, of course."
"Excellent," the King laughed happily, another grating sound no better than the sigh from earlier.
The laugh was echoed by his machines. His elation had caused his delusion of their autonomous nature to slip. Sheldon frowned at that. the sound didn't get any better from all those little stereo speakers laughing. He sighed.
"I'm in an exceptional amount of trouble."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Mr. Wallace..." Positron said as he walked into the dark interrogation room.
Sheldon sat quietly. Agent Wild had secured his ankles to the chair and one of his wrists. The other was on a chain that allowed for writing in case the inventor had to sign anything.
Like a confession or a notice of dismissal.
Despite all of this, despite all of the hot water he was in, Sheldon remained calm. He had to. His future depended on it.
"I told you before that we needed to talk," the legendary hero intoned as he took the seat across the table, "Of course, what with the attack and the reconstruction effort, our discussion had to be put on the wayside... I hope you don't mind my forgoing an introduction... I trust you already know who I am."
"I know what I need to know," Wallace said calmly.
"Our conversation is being recorded... Anything you say will be on record and could be used in a trial... Would you like a lawyer?"
"I should get one..."
Positron started to press buttons on his wrist communicator.
"...But I won't," Sheldon finished, causing the legend to stop mid-way to the last button press, "I would rather we discuss this, sir, without the influence of an individual whose job it is to simply twist and bend another's words or just simply drag his or her client away from the situation. That's not conflict resolution... And it drags out the issue, maybe takes it public. I don't need a media spin thrown on me. I just want this over with here."
Positron clapped the lid back on his wrist pad and rested his elbows on the table.
"Alright then," he intoned, "What's your story?"
-------
"What the hell are you doing?" the Clockwork King nearly shouted over Sheldon's shoulder.
Hovering in front of the inventor was what looked roughly like a human torso. It was still in pieces, and small bits were being added every moment as Sheldon twitched his fingers and rotated the machine to better see where he was fitting parts in.
"It's like that puzzle game," Sheldon replied, "Fitting the parts in without exceeding the line... I'm packing a great many parts into this new body for you... But I can't go outside certain physical parameters... I believe you wanted an athletic build, correct?"
The Clockwork King stared for a moment, admiring the new form for a moment. Finally, he noticed the extended left arm.
"What is with that protrusion?"
"Propellers, much like your oscillators... Only heavily altered for structural integrity and versatility."
The King stared silently at Sheldon.
"Well, you're the one who said he wanted to fly..."
----
When the machine was finished, the King was definitely pleased. It stood six feet tall and was the same dark brown as its fellow Clockwork. Winder keys across the body twisted and turned, gears within clicking and grinding. Electricity sparked and and crackled across the body, focusing mostly around the machine's right hand. From the left wrist, where there should have been a hand was a set of three blades extending from a rotor on hinges, but extended not with gravity, but with hydraulic pistons.
It still lacked a face, though. The Clockwork King stared at it in consternation. Two green eyes, vacant of life, stared back.
"How does it work?" the brain in a jar asked gruffly.
"Simple," Sheldon replied, "You just have to get inside."
The Clcokwork King looked to him. The body posture indicated he was incredulous.
"Yes, it's complicated, but there's very little difference between this machine and your robhots, save for the fact that all of the pieces actually fit..."
The King leaned closer, obviously irritated with the hero.
"Watch your words, boy."
"There is a massive catch," Sheldon continued, unconcerned because he was in the middle of the explanation, "When you're utilizing this body, you have a choice... You cna either utilize both this and your current body, or you can utilize one and your Clockwork army. Not all three."
"Why not, boy? I have under my command massive machinations, whom in turn build their own machinations..."
"Regardless, they're still roughly the same design as your smaller ones, and just as complicated. now, i need you to understand something... These things move largely because of this..."
He pointed at the brain in the jar.
"And I don't mean your intelligence. It doesn't take much brain power, mind you, hence the reason you control so very many. However, this body... Your own body... They're far too complicated to run them both and the entirety of your army across the city. Maybe you'll lose your giants, maybe a large portion of the smaller ones... But do you really want to risk that?"
The king immediately considered the possibility of losing his guards around the girl he-
"No," he answered, "That would be unacceptable... Except in the most dire circumstances... I understand, boy. I understand... Sheldon."
Wallace opened a hatch in the back of its head.
"There is space in here for that," he said as he pointed at the King's brain, "I suggest you give it a go with that inside, first..."
----------
"And he accepted?" Positron asked in disbelief, "he accepted to have his brain put inside that head?"
"Of course," Sheldon replied calmly, "He wanted to learn how to pilot it as fast as possible, and he practically dove inside."
"And he let you go immediately after?"
"Our business was concluded as far as he was concerned. I did an exemplary job and he figured leaving me with my hands and my life was payment enough."
"He threatened to cut off your hands?"
"Indeed."
"Well... What happened then?"
Sheldon sighed, "I knew it was going to get bad, but I didn't have what it took to take down the Inevitable."
"The... inevitable?" Positron was definitely confused.
"My name for the construct," Wallace didn't even wave for his dismissal of the term, "I got it from a non-player character concept in a roleplaying game."
"Interesting..."
----------
"Sheldon."
Kip was sitting at the central table of the Grey's Army base, looking more glum than usual. He was shuffling a deck of cards, trying to get a bridge to work. It never did.
"I don't get how Cedric and Roland do that," he sighed.
"How goes your life?" Sheldon asked as he sat at his computer and started typing a command to his two premiere androids.
"Heh... My 'girlfriend' dumped me... Didn't you read the tabloids?"
"You had a girlfriend? I lost touch for the past week or so..."
"Where have you been, man?"
"I... I've been in a hole, actually..."
Kip considered what he said, but went back to his cards. his work for the day done, Sheldon sat back in his chair and started to contemplate his defense.
----
Blue Steel flew through the wall and crashed to the floor. He didn't know what this new villain was or what it had to do with him, but it seemed ticked. Standing back up, he assumed a natural defensive pose and prepared to fight back.
"Look, son, I don't know who sent you or where you came from, but if you stand down now, I can guarantee you a fair trial..."
The sound of whirling blades answered him. The Inevitable smashed a larger hole into the wall and held the spinning weapons in front of itself like a shield.
"You don't recognize me, Steel?" the machine asked through refined voice emitters, "Not after what you did to me, I guess... Nobody would recognize me after what you did..."
It started walking forward, intent on simply chopping the hero to pieces and being done with his vengeance. Unfortunately for the arch-villain, his plan relied on sure footing, and Blue Steel was tough enough that he could stand falling a few floors. Raising his hands over his head, Steel hammered the boards and smashed through, causing the floor to drop out from underneath him and the machine that was much heavier than it looked due to the density of its chassis.
They fell through many floors, eventually winding up in the basement of the Steel's apartment building. He hadn't broken anything (he never broke anything), but he wasn't a rookie, and knew he hadn't done much damage, if any, to his strange assailant.
"Until tonight, I never did anything to you," Steel grunted as he pushed himself back up through the debris that had settled on him, "You're confused, son... We can work this out..."
"Smashed under debris..." the voice muttered, "Just how you left me last time... before the machines that make the city safe."
"What?"
"Maybe if they were here," the Inevitable pushed the debris away and stood, "When you went on your rampage, slaughtering an innocent boy who was only trying to help... I would still have my body... My face... My..."
The Inevitable looked at itself. It caused the rotor blades to stop suddenly and extended them into a three-edged sword.
"My heart."
Blue Steel's pulse quickened.
"Clockwork King," he breathed.
"Yes..." the machine nearly hissed as it approached menacingly, "Once you're dead, I can move on with my life... Well, you won't die, but you'll be so badly damaged, you'll be gone for a long, long time... Then a simple matter of sending one of my Gears to pull your plug... But that'll be a mercy after what I do to you tonight."
The Inevitable swung the blade at Blue Steel, who caught the arm and tried to hold him off. Unfortunately, the machine was true to its namesake, inching slowly closer.
"Give it up, cape," the Inevitable nearly laughed, "I am the superior model!"
The King got a notion into his head to simply extend the rotor blades and start chopping up the hero, but before he could act on it, a heavy blast slammed into his right shoulder from above. Looking up, he saw Ryat66 crouching on a ledge, his hand aimed down. A glow was fading from his three fingertips.
"Stop, Cee-Kay," the android shouted, "Killing him won't make her love you. In fact... She'll hate you for it."
"She'll never know..." the Inevitable sounded worried.
"She will..."
The android tapped the antenna on the side of his head.
"All of us Ryats... We're a tight-knit family."
"NO!" the Inevitable swung violently, throwing Blue Steel aside.
As the hero struggled to stand, the machine raised its left arm and extended the rotating blades. With a leap, it took to the sky, flying past Ryat66 and smashing right through the roof.
"Are you alright sir?" the android shouted down to the hero.
"No!" Blue Steel shouted back, "We need to stop him!"
"Already on it, sir..." Ryat66 saluted, "In the meantime... Might I suggest a good contractor?"
----------
"And that is what led to Ryat99 fighting the Inevitable over Steel Canyon?" Positron asked calmly.
"Yes," Sheldon answered, "But before I get into that part, may I get a glass of water? My throat is getting scratchy."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"I can't believe it... What I'd almost done..." the Inevitable was cursing himself as he rushed across Steel Canyon, trying desperately to plan his next move, "I could... I could put my brain back inside my old body... Then stage a conflict where I fight and destroy the Inevitable... Or maybe stay in this one and-"
"Heads up!" Ryat99 shouted as he dove and tackled the Inevitable out of the sky.
The two crashed into one of the flat rooftops, tumbled, and stopped just shy of the edge. The Inevitable pushed himself back up and glared at the android tanker doing the same.
"Who are you?"
"Ryat99," the deep voice rumbled back, "And I'm here to repossess your body."
"What?"
"You violated the terms of service," Ryat99 chuckled, "So, it's my duty to take from you that which you attempted to exploit."
The Inevitable stared at the android for a short while. The massive hulk of steel and polymers must have been insane. Still, it didn't show any signs of leaving without a fight.
"It's time to go, brother," Ryat99 finally rumbled as ice spikes started to form across his armor, "make this quick, give me the body, you keep the head."
A swarm of Oscillators suddenly arrived. The Inevitable chuckled at the large android.
"It seems I can just leave if I want."
"I've got no problem wiping out your minions. All you'd acomplish then is make me angry, and then I take you apart slow. Just surrender, and you keep the head."
"Why do I keep the head?"
"Boss's orders," Ryat99 shrugged, "I don't know if it's to remind you that there could be a better way, or of what you lost. Maybe it's just so you can get your brain back in it's normal body. Whatever, just make with the surrender, or let's throw down."
An ice blade appeared in Ryat99's right hand. He started spinning his hand at the wrist, causing the blade to rotate as well.
"And I'm plenty ready for either."
The Inevitable looked to his minions and nodded. With a wave of his right hand, the Clockwork King gestured for his Oscillators to stand aside. Closing his propellers into the three-bladed sword, he took a stance to prepare for his attack.
"Damn," Ryat99 rumbled, "Nobody ever wants to do this the easy way."
"Where's the fun in that?"
They squared off, circled each other in a counter-clockwise direction on the rooftop. They were making for the center, though falling off the roof would do little to affect either of them. With each revolution, they got a little closer.
Suddenly, the Inevitable dove for Ryat99, attempting to stab the larger android with his powerful bladed spike. The hero responded with a swift deflection with his sword and caught the Inevitable in the shoulder with a second sword that formed in his left hand. They separated, and the Inevitable took stock of its damage.
Not much, just a scratch, really, but it was more damage than what should have been. It was, after all, just a sword made of ice. There was no mystical augmentation or...
"The ice makes for the body, cushions the blow, and provides a brace for the nanotechs," Ryat99 explained, "They're the true damage dealers, making for a blade that's never dull and is sharp down to the molecule."
"Intriguing..." the Inevitable was clearly unimpressed.
"Right," Ryat99 agreed, "Too little, too flashy, and enough talk. Let's get this over with."
They dove for each other again, Ryat99 now wielding two ice blades to keep the Inevitable at bay. They would have continued in this fashion for a long while until they either ran out of power (which wasn't going to happen, the Inevitable's winders would be psychically wound back every minute and a half and Ryat99's power core was an advanced miniature atomic plant similar to a Zenith Mech Man's, only much more sophisticated), or one of them worked to tip the balance. Unfortunately for the hero, the Clockwork King's new body had a few other nasty surprises in store for Sheldon's premiere heavy android.
An arc of lightning erupted from the Inevitable's extended right hand. At first, Ryat99 had figured it was a balance stance, much like any fencer. Now he saw it was a safety precaution, to keep the King from hitting himself.
"Excellent," the King's voice chuckled from the voice emitters as Ryat99 grew some more ice armor to replace what had been melted, "And the cranial area is carefully insulated! Oh... you will suffer now, hero."
"Shut up and fight me like a robot," Ryat99 rumbled back, "Or is this the line to Reno?"
"What?"
Ryat99 took the momentary distraction to dive forward and get in real close to the King. His pistons hissing loudly, the android punched the King's chest plate hard and without mercy. The ice on his arms sublimated a little, the steam dissipating almost as rapidly as it came. Before the King could land another strike, however, Ryat99 ducked down and came back up with a double-hammerfist to the Inevitable's jawline (as the Inevitable didn't really have a jaw).
The King was sent tumbling backward. The propeller blades had been extended, apparently he had plans to chop into Ryat99 while the android tank was so close. Not wanting to lose his advantage, the tank stomped after the arch villain.
However, where the old Clockwork King's body was bulky and clunky, this one was nimble and spry. The extended blades landed flat against the surface of the rooftop, bracing the Inevitable's body like some sort of massive claw. As Ryat99 got closer, the Inevitable engaged it's rotor, and the body went spinning around to kick the approaching android. Ryat99 fell back, sprawling, as the king hopped back up.
"Good thing I don't have ears right now," the King chuckled, "Or internal organs... I'd probably be very dizzy."
"One revolution?" Ryat99 replied, "Hardly. That was a hard kick, though. Definitely not underestimating you again."
"But you are," the Inevitable reared back with his left arm and pitched it forward.
The propellers and their rotor disengaged form their mount and whirled through the air at Ryat99 with a buzz. The android hefted his right arm up and caught the brunt of the blow, but it tore through the forearm and the shoulder. As the ice armor replenished itself, there were some visible electric sparks that caused the ice to hiss and pop.
"Ow," the hero grunted, "Why was I programmed to feel pain again?"
The propeller inexplicably found its way back to the Inevitable. As the King looked over the renewed arm, he decided to provide the explanation. He began with tapping his cranium.
"Psychic."
"Ah," Ryat99 grunted, "And here I was expected something complicated, like magnetics control... No... We've got magic on our side."
"Shut up!"
"Make me!"
The Inevitable attacked again, this time sending an arc of lighting at Ryat99 while he ran. The android deflected the arc and cuffed his enemy a couple times in the head. back and forth they went like this, trading blows, deflecting each other, and otherwise getting nowhere. Suffice it to say, the straight up brawl did little more than wear each other down.
Finally, the Inevitable backed away and did the "ninja Star Propeller" trick again. Only this time, Ryat99 was ready for it. Catching it in the air, he threw it over the side. He started running at the King before he could bring the bladed weapon back, but C.K. got a different plan in his head.
Leaping over the side, the Inevitable brought the propeller back to his wrist through sheer will. Upon contact, the weapon started spinning and the Clockwork King was flying away. he didn't make it far.
There was a whirring sound from Ryat99. Suddenly, his body was covering itself in a different armor plating, one smoother and sleeker. The major advantage of this armor, however, was the sudden access the rockets built into his feet had to the open air (as opposed to being circulated through vents in his body).
His rockets exposed, Ryat99 leaped from the side of the building and charged for his target. The collision went much like their first, only they fell much farther and spent their decent wailing away on each other.
Positron pulled off his helmet and took a deep breath of fresh air. Valkyrie, by his side, shook her head with a worried expression.
"What?" the legend asked with a hint of humor.
"Sir... You really shouldn't be exposing yourself like that..."
"I spent so much time doing official business as Positron, it doesn't really matter what the face under here is anymore," he replied, "Besides, Val, every time I put the damn thing on now, I feel a little claustrophobic."
"Really?" Valkyrie arched an eyebrow to her mentor, "You'd think the opposite would be true. You know, that you'd be so used to the suit that you'd feel... well... naked without it."
"And we have yet another moment where we're both glad I'm not Synapse," Positron declared a second before Ryat99 and the Inevitable crashed in front of the two of them.
"What the-?" Valkyrie shouted as she drew her sword.
"Which one do we help," the legend asked as he pulled his helmet back on, "Why am I getting a weird feeling?"
"The blue icy one is a hero named Ryat99..." Valkyrie stated as she scanned the two.
"There's that weird feeling again."
"And the other... The other is unregistered..."
"Well, we can't be having that now," Positron muttered, "You two! Cease and desist!"
"Sorry, old timer," the Inevitable rasped through one working emitter and started to rear back its left arm, "But at least when this hits it won't level half the city..."
A panel opened in Ryat99's chest (roughly where a human has a pectoral muscle) and a pair of taser cables launched forward and wrapped around one of the blades. Yanking the launched propeller off course, he caught it in his hand and wagged a finger at the Inevitable.
"No-no, See-Kay," the android intoned, "No outsiders. This is between you and me."
"Wait," Positron put a hand on Valkyrie's shoulder, "I think we should watch how this turns out."
"Sir?"
"Are you sure you don't need help, son?" Positron called to the blue and white android.
"Nah, I'm doin' good," Ryat99 muttered as he untangled his taser lines from the propeller before tossing it back to the Inevitable, "Besides, you guys get involved, then they get involved."
The whirring sound of hundreds, if not thousands, of Clockwork caught the attention of the two legendary heroes. They looked warily to the robots, but the swarm seemed to be focused entirely on the two combatants.
"Come on, Cee-Kay," Ryat99 beckoned to the Inevitable, "Let's finish this. No more running."
Two ice blades appeared in his hands again and the android took a defensive stance. The Inevitable took an aggressive stance. Without speaking, they assaulted each other again. The Inevitable got the first swing in, after letting his arm hang back during the advance and swiping it around on the attack. Ryat99 actually ducked the attack, but didn't expect the Inevitable to swing around his torso like a top (his eyes staying locked with Ryat99 as he rose up to meet the Inevitable with a counterattack), and lopping off the android's right arm with the built up speed and force.
"Again with the pain," Ryat99 muttered as he backed away.
"We have to help him!" Valkyrie shouted, "If you won't I will!"
"No!" the android shouted at her, waving his good arm to stave off the assistance, "You stay right where you are! If you're so desperate for this fight, wait until I'm down for the count!"
"So, you know how this is going to end?" the Inevitable chuckled.
"What is the phrase you humans have?" Ryat99 turned back to his opponent, "Something about counting chickens before they hatch?"
A trickle of silvery fluid escaped from the hole in the android's shoulder where there used to be an arm. Instead of dignifying the question with a response, the Inevitable pressed his assault. Ryat99 ducked backwards twice before body blocking the bladed arm (at the forearm) and backhanding the archvillain away. there was a whirring sound and a spray of icy mist escaped from various ports on Ryat99's torso.
"Augh!"
"Yeah, that brainfreeze'll learn ya," the android grumbled, "Never attack an android before he's grown back his arm..."
Ice extended from Ryat99's shoulder and formed a new arm. That wasn't so much the surprise. What was surprising was the complexity of it, the function of it. Testing the individual ice fingers, the android turned to the Inevitable.
"Surprised? So am I. I just learned I could do that!"
The Inevitable attacked again with a roar of rage. Ryat99 parried and feinted with his swords again. The Inevitable brought his fist up, wrapped in electricity, while he brought the sword arm around. Ryat99 caught the blade with his ice arm, getting half his hand cleaved through and his forearm sheared, but his torso was unharmed. His left hand caught the wrist of the electrified hand and held it in place he stabbed his ice arm into the forearm.
The electricity fizzled and died and the King screamed.
"What have you done?" the single emitter crackled and nearly broke from the volume.
"I broke the circuitry leading to the Tesla coils," Ryat99 rumbled as he walked back over to his arm and picked it up, "Good luck using that again, but I strongly advise against it. The generator will explode if you do it."
"Wallace built this thing with a weakness?" the Inevitable hissed, "He will pay for this!"
"Weakness? Brother, have you got any idea what it just cost me to do that to you?"
He waved his arm at the Inevitable.
"However... There is a major flaw, and I'm rather amazed you haven't caught on to it yet. Notice that crackle in your voice? How about maybe you can only hear it on one side? Can you hear at all? That was quite a fall we shared, after all..."
"What are you getting at?" the Clockwork King sounded almost worried.
"I'm saying your the inferior model," Ryat99 pressed the sliced end of his arm back to his stump, "See?"
The silvery fluid flowed back up Ryat99's arm and started fusing the limb back onto the torso. As the ice armor started working its way back around the arm, the fingers flexed back into a fist.
"That's... That's..." the Inevitable was at a loss for words.
"That's what happens when you have nanotechnology style robots as your blood," Ryat99 chuckled, "Each one designed to make sure the host body survives. Doesn't work too well for biologicals yet... At least, nothing that's been extensively published. But for machines, whose compositions are relatively simple and have a zero chance for mutation, they work like a charm. Just follow the schematic and go. And that's how I'm superior..."
Ryat99 produced two more swords of ice.
"I can fix myself... Where you... Well... All the King's horses and all the King's men..."
He rushed forward. The Inevitable stabbed his sword into Ryat99's torso, puncturing through to the back and out. Ryat99's blades caught and cleaved through the Inevitable's neck. The arch villain slumped as the head twirled through the air. The ice blade in the android's left hand turned to vapor and Ryat99 sidestepped to catch the head.
"... Can't put Humpty Dumpty together again."
"That's not funny," the head muttered, "And I can still control the body from here!"
The sword started to twist, but Ryat99 put a stop to that real quick by jamming his sword into the neck hole, smashing gears and causing other terrible grinding noises.
"No! What are you doing?" the Clockwork King shouted.
"I really wish I didn't have to do that," Ryat99 muttered, "It's like that logic puzzle... Which way will the arrow at the top be pointing when the one at the bottom points down. Well, it doesn't work if there's a cluster of gears somewhere in the line, they lock up. This... This is locking it up, and the body's just too complex for it to work... Even with you forcing it, Cee-Kay."
There was a moment's pause.
"So what happens now?' the King finally asked, all the fight taken out of him.
"Now, I toss your head to the Oscillators," Ryat99 replied as he put words to action.
One of the Oscillators caught the head like a football.
"And I take the body back to its builder... Maybe if you learn how to control yourself... Maybe if you prove you're worthy of it... He'll have it waiting for you. Just bring back the head for the query. Oh! One more thing..."
He pointed at his chest.
"Next time, aim for here. It probably won't work, it's got a lot heavier plating in there, but at least you'll have a better chance at actually stopping me. You just busted a couple pistons and coolant emitters."
----------
"And that's when the Clockwork left and your android carried off the chassis," Positron placed the folder down on the table and looked pointedly at Sheldon, "Much to Valkyrie's and my dismay."
Sheldon waited patiently. He knew better than to say anything at this point, it would only smack of attitude.
"Mr. Wallace... I'm sorry, but... Your behavior is best categorized as..."
"It's most definitely not villainous," Sheldon intoned, "I do what I do for a purpose... A purpose I like to think is altruistic."
"People were put at risk, Sheldon, including a friend of mine. A guy that should never be at risk!"
He steepled his fingers over the table and glared at Sheldon. the inventor gazed back impassively into the reflection in the visor.
"I'm sorry Sheldon, but you're suspended pending an investigation."
"I expected nothing less," Sheldon replied calmly, "I understand, and accept."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Not much longer now..."
Sarah Grey and Joe Durnan were sharing a peaceful moment overlooking one of the multitudinous cliffs in the Overbrook region of the city.
"It's a bit of a chilly day to be having a picnic," Joe chuckled, "We should have brought a couple sweaters or a jacket or something..."
"Oh toughen up," Sarah giggled between bites of her sandwich, "It's a beautiful day!"
They were admiring the colors the sky was changing into as the sun descended during their dinner. They would have done this at lunch time, but it had been a really busy day for Joe in the Hero Division. His friend, Jones, had been demoted earlier that day. It was because of some sort of paperwork snafu, and the other officer didn't get into it, but a lot of the former sergeant's responsibilities had suddenly become Joe's.
"I don't think Smythe orchestrated it," Joe sighed, "He's got his gold bars, and he's just too busy nowadays..."
"Not to mention he's actually a pretty nice guy, even if he is a jerk," Sarah murmured as she cuddled closer to her fiance, "Let's not talk about this, hun... Let's talk about something happier."
"Like?"
"Well... You remember Aaron, right?"
"Kip's Praetorian?"
"That's the one. He and Misty wanted to know if they could share their wedding with us."
"What?" Joe looked askance at Sarah for a few moments, "Who ever heard of that?"
"Well, it's not like we're doing a traditional wedding anyway..."
"Yeah, but... It's our wedding!"
Sarah sighed as she gazed into Joe's eyes.
"They only have a few friends here... And they don't really have the money to throw a wedding..."
"Yeah, but... They should wait..."
"Misty's pregnant, though... They want their child to have a family from the get-go."
"Oh."
Joe rubbed Sarah's shoulder a little.
"You know, we don't talk about having kids..." Sarah murmured.
"I know... It just... It seems too dangerous to try right now..."
They sat quietly for a few more minutes. The sky was darkening. It wouldn't be long before a Vahzilok zombie stumbled their way and wound up ruining what was left of their picnic. That, or a member of the Lost preaching about "the coming Revelation."
As they started packing up their blanket and what was left of their food, however, they were visited by the duo of androids Ryat66 and Ryat99.
"Hi guys!" the smaller Ryat66 warbled as they approached, "Everything going well for you tonight?"
"We're doing okay," Sarah squeaked, "You guys?"
"Sheldon got suspended," Ryat99 rumbled, "They're running an investigation and having him take tests to determine whether or not he's a mad scientist."
"Oh man," Joe gasped, "How are you guys holding up?"
"They're having everyone in the Ryat series they can get a hold of take tests to determine sentience an general alignment standing," Ryat99's tone sounded derisive, "As if we have to take an aptitude test to live. I don't see your kind doing the same to your children."
"I'm sure it won't be like that..."
"It's not," Ryat66 shook his head at his larger brother, "Ninety-nine just exaggerates. It's much the same examination they give Citadel, Luminary, or Mark IV..."
"I'd like to see what happens if Eighty-four ever takes that test," Ryat99 was still grumbling, "Guaranteed, there'll be a killing."
"Well, Eighty-four already showed that he doesn't hold humans, or any living thing for that matter, in high regard."
"True..."
"Well guys," Sarah patted Ryat66's head as she hefted her backpack, "We're gonna head back for our apartment in Steel. What're you guys up to?"
"Well..." Ryat99 shrugged, "We're here for you. Kip sent us a message saying you might be in trouble..."
"What?" Joe almost shouted, "From what? From who?"
There was a sudden bustling of activity. Sarah rubbed the bridge of her nose as Freedom Corps and Longbow troops seemingly appeared out of nowhere and took positions along the cliff's edge.
There was a humming sound in the air as a large black vehicle that resembled a wasp of some sort crested the edge and looked down on the assembled heroes and soldiers. A bright, wide-angle spotlight mounted on the vessel's main turret highlighted Sarah and Joe.
"From that, I believe," Ryat99 rumbled as Joe shouted an expletive.
The Freedom Corps and Longbow troops fired ineffectually at the machine. It returned fire with a few bursts from its turret, putting down a few of the red-and-white-clad (lite) heroes. Sarah couldn't let this travesty continue. While Ryat99 and Ryat66 put up an alert to any and all other heroes in the zone that they were under attack and the very location to find them, Sarah reached into her backpack and pulled out her sonic support gauntlets.
Kicking on a few tunes she figured fit the moment, she broadcast a dome of sonic energy to support the surviving troops and started casting sonic shields about. Joe picked up the fallen assault rifle of a Nullifier and started helping directly in the fight, Ryat66 and Ryat99 weren't far behind.
However, just as the tank was preparing to launch himself at the vessel directly, the Arachnos Flyer launched soemthing at them. The resulting explosion devastated the assembled heroes.
"Excellent," a smooth voice issued from the white-armor-clad man who stood over Sarah Grey, "Just like the surveilance indicated. A powerful psychic. Take her."
A pair of Arachnos troops picked the unconscious girl up and took her into the vessel. The Arbiter, however, leaned close to Joe.
"You can take this message back to her father, hero. This is his fault. All he had to do was let me conduct my tests on that Kheldian [censored], and I would've seen a promotion that would have placed me under Arbiter Daos... I never would have had to do something like this again, and I certainly wouldn't have taken his insult so personally..."
"Ugh..." Joe could only reply in gasps and whimpers, "...Uh..."
"Heroes..." Arbiter Taylor snorted, "How can you hope to protect anybody when you can't even protect yourselves..."
With that, he turned away and boarded the Flyer. The Longbow troops teleported away and the world went back to normal.
Except Sarah Grey was now kidnapped. Except for the three bodies still on the cliff side. Except for the total wrongness of the situation.
Joe Durnan was normally a passive man. He rather hated conflict. Usually, there were multiple sides to every story, so it proved difficult to get into a righteous rage in any issue. That was part of why Joe had become a cop in the first place. He was an authority whose job was to sort out the disputes impassively and swiftly. He kept his cool, was never directly involved, he settled the disputes that he came across and could just move on from day to day.
Except today.
Gripping a fistful of grass, Durnan fought through the pain wracking his body as he pushed himself up. Screaming angrily, he glared darkly at the black speck disappearing into the distance.
"Dammit!" he shouted as he gathered up some of the scattered weapons left behind from the battle, "Those bastards!"
As he started salvaging what he could from the weapons, packing a pistol here, dropping an assault rifle there, he heard a pop. Turning to Ryat66, he noticed that the android's back had popped open. He walked over and looked into the open cavity and noticed a small wind-up key inside. On the panel interior was a message.
"DO NOT TURN THIS"
Then, in smaller letters...
"Heroes, please disregard."
Ryat99 then popped open, similar to his brother.
Joe, not really knowing what to do, turned the key on Ryat66. He turned it as far as it would go then released it. There was a popping, whirring and clicking sound shortly before an electrical discharge picked the android back up off the ground.
"Whoo!" Ryat66 shouted, "Oh! Thank you Joe!"
The diminutive android then hopped over to his brother and proceeded to bring him back to life.
"What the Hell is this?" Joe shouted.
"Sheldon was able to figure out how the Clockwork make those electric discharges..." Ryat66 explained as his brother came back to his senses, "He couldn't figure his way around the machines, how they could possibly work, but he could figure out the Tesla coil electric generators. So... That's what each of the Ryats got. A purely mechanical version of the resurrection system the Freakshow tend to use."
"Oh," Joe muttered, "Look, guys, we have got to get moving! They took Snuffy!"
"What?" Ryat99 was on his feet immediately, "We will chase those bastards to the end of the Earth!"
"How?" Ryat66 asked, "You're not fast enough to track down an Arachnos Flyer."
"Not like this, no..." Ryat99 switched to his flight armor, a sleek, rounded version of his normal armor, "However..."
A set of panels popped open on his shoulders.
"If we merge and combine the power of our plants..."
"It sounds dangerous," Ryat66 muttered as he looked up at his younger brother, "I'm in."
The smaller android converted to his red and gold combat armor and hopped up onto Ryat99's shoulders. There was a blue flash as they connected and Ryat99's ice armor started wrapping around Ryat66.
"Come on," Ryat99 extended an arm to Joe, "The faster we get started, the faster we get to rescuing her."
Joe didn't hesitate. Despite his earlier dismay at the cold, his blood was pumping so hard throughout his body, there wasn't anything that could chill him out now. As soon as Ryat99 had a good grip on the second blaster, he took two heavy steps toward the cliff edge and leaped off.
They fell for about two seconds before Ryat99 kicked on the rockets in his feet and the after burners in his back and applied the energy from his smaller brother. Suddenly, they were a rocket, blasting off toward the horizon after the black machine that had kidnapped their friend.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Sarah Grey awoke with a peculiar humming in her head. She looked around to find that she was in the passenger bay of the Flyer, surrounded by black-and-red armored troops. Next to her, Arbiter Taylor chuckled.
"I'm not shackled?" she asked drowsily.
"Of course not," Taylor replied smugly, "I've been watching you and your pesky family for a few months, now..."
"Pesky?" Sarah's face screwed up in consternation, "They... They really have you guys talk like that, huh?"
"I-" Arbiter Taylor rubbed his chin and glanced off to one of his snickering troops, "I suppose it does hinder my credibili- Shut up!"
"Pft, I don't see you kidnapped for no reason."
"Oh, there's a reason," Arbiter Taylor sat back down in his seat, "Operative Grillo said he wanted psychics, and I decided to go and get the psychic I'm most familiar with."
"Why?"
"Why else? For promotion opportunities! You think I enjoy wreaking havoc on your pathetic little burg? I hate plaguing normal people with piddly-crap squabbles... I want to move on to bigger and better things, I want to spread my influence in Arachnos, maybe get myself a small island under my jurisdiction..."
"And kidnapping me accomplishes that?" Sarah rubbed her temple and noticed a piece of metal there.
Taylor drew a pistol and aimed it at her.
"I strongly suggest you don't do that. That device is what is inhibiting you from getting in here," he tapped his temple with his free hand, "And I sure as Hell don't want it coming off."
Sarah pulled her hand away from her head and pouted a little.
"In any case, 'Snuffy...'" Taylor continued, but got interrupted by the young psychic.
"Only my friends and family can call me that, [censored]."
"Regardless, my success in this endeavor provides me with promotion opportunities, the chance to be free of the daily doldrums of Arachnos and this petty little war between my Lord Recluse and your 'Champion of Freedom,' Statesman..."
"I guess," Sarah rolled her eyes and grumbled something unintelligible before turning to the other topic that was bothering her, "Why didn't you shackle me? Isn't that, you know, kinda necessary?"
"Pft... You don't have your psychic powers, you're not a threat."
Then, Arbiter Taylor made his third mistake. The first was not shackling Sarah, the second was insulting her to her face. The third was holstering his pistol in his moment of illusory superiority. Oddly enough, he recognized the moment. Just as he prepared to redraw his pistol, knowing that the tables were about to be turned on him, Sarah dove forward and smashed her fist into his jaw, knocking out a tooth and tumbling the Arbiter to the floor.
The other Arachnos troops couldn't help themselves, and they started laughing. They weren't able to help their boss before Snuffy had bounced his face off the floor a couple times. They eventually had to hit her with a tranquilizer dart.
"Fricking... wussies..." she whispered as she drifted off to sleep.
"Urgh!" Taylor gurgled as the troops helped him back up, then pulled his pistol, "I'm gonna kill her!"
"No, sir!" one of the troops grabbed his shooting arm and pulled it back, "You need her!"
"I'm sure they won't mind if she's a little dead!" Taylor shouted back.
"A little... What does that even mean!?"
"Sir!" the pilot's voice came over the intercom, "There's a blip showing up on sonar... It's about to..."
-----
There was a clanging sound as Ryat99's hand clamped onto the back of the Flyer. Ryat66 was off his shoulders almost immediately, crawling like a bug to the front of the vessel. Joe, however, didn't get the chance to do the same.
"No you don't, hang on," Ryat99 grunted as he tossed the police officer onto his back and started pulling himself, hand-to-hand, along the exterior of the ship.
Joe noticed that the android's hands were flashing with each grasp, and little burns were left in the armor.
"What are you doing?"
"Given a week, I could render one of these things to base components," the big machine replied, "But we don't have a week, and they're usually not obliging enough to give me the time otherwise."
Ryat99 pulled to the front of the port hover pod of the Flyer, dangling off of it just as the door on the side popped open. The Arachnos Wolf Spider trooper there shouted, but before anything could be done, the android reached back, yanked Joe around and the cop acted like the blaster he was, firing a blast of buckshot into the trooper, knocking the Wolf Spider off his feet and sucking him out the doorway.
The trooper disappeared in a flash of red lightning, but Joe still blinked. Ryat99 reared back to throw him into the open hatch, and the officer started to protest.
"Relax, I've got this calculated..." the android shouted as he threw.
Durnan screamed a little, but he landed just like the tanker promised. Lying in the prone position and planting his feet at the edge of the hatch so he wouldn't get yanked out like the unfortunate Wolf Spider, he cocked the shotgun and blasted the nearest Wolf Spider attempting to yank a weapon off the wall. He threw the weapon at the next guy, turning to the rifle he had strapped to his back.
----
On the front of the Flyer, Ryat66 was wailing away. Inside, the pilot was freaking out. Every hit was wrapped in electricity, and all that distortion was really hampering his controls. It also didn't help that every hit caused him to feel a small jolt.
"Somebody get that thing off the hull!" he shouted.
-----
"You must think you're pretty tough, boy," Arbiter Taylor shouted as his wrist guards snapped open, depositing his hold-out pistols in his hands, "But you've obviously forgotten the blaster's lot in life..."
Joe threw the rifle at Taylor's feet, it wasn't working, and the white-armored man stumbled a little. Durnan pushed himself off the floor and caught the Arbiter in the face with the "Old One-Two" before body-checking him to the floor. One of the holdout pistols fired when they crashed into the deck and caught Joe in the shoulder, causing him to curse while rolling away.
Taylor wasted no time. He rolled over, blood trickling out of his mouth, his eyes blazing the fire he intended to put into the blaster's face. Joe pulled a pistol from his shirt, but he wasn't going to be in time. As Taylor fired, however, a sword of ice caught the round and shattered. The Arbiter looked to the sword's owner, and Ryat99 was glaring down at him. When Taylor turned back to Joe, the blaster was firing. The bullet struck the interior of his opened wrist guard and ricocheted into his wrist. Durnan then rolled over and smashed his elbow into the bridge of Taylor's nose, ending the fight.
"Nicely done," Ryat99 rumbled, "I'll take care of the rest."
As the big android started advancing on the remaining Wolf Spiders, however, they threw their hands up.
"Oh no!" one of them shouted, "We give up!"
"Where's something to wake her?" Joe growled at them as he removed the device from Sarah's head.
"There! The medical kit!" another pointed to a white box on the bulkhead, "There's a couple cartridges of Nega-Doze..."
Joe applied the cartridge, the little device making a small hiss as he pressed it against his fiance's neck. Ryat99 caught a hold of the two of them as he approached the hatch to exit.
"Wait, she's not awake yet!" Joe shouted.
"She'll wake up before you two hit the waves," Ryat99 chuckled as he opened the hatch and tossed them out.
The Wolf Spiders hadn't been true to their word, and the big android had read the stress indicators in their words. They were just buying time. Surrender was considered disloyalty in Arachnos, especially when there were emergency medical teleporters in just about every facet of the organization, especially the Flyers. The trooper that had been sucked out the side emerged from the medical bay and aimed in on the android's back. There was a metallic clicking and clacking as the other troopers followed their partner's lead.
"You do realize this is over, right?" Ryat99 asked, his voice also emitting a sigh, "I could tear you open six ways from Sunday... But that's not going to be very necessary..."
-----
"Augh!" the pilot screamed as another jolt came through the sensor array and got him in the ear, "Why isn't -AH!- Anybody -OOH!- Helping!?"
Ryat66 received the signal from Ryat99 that his work was effective, and that it was time to end the game. Gripping the sensor array, he channeled all of his weaponry reserves into the array, sending a powerful jolt through the system with the power of a lightning bolt. The pilot was practically blasted out of his chair.
As the vehicle's lights flickered and the machine started to shudder, Ryat99 chuckled at the hapless Wolf Spiders.
"I hope at least one of you knows how to fly one of these things."
With that, he leaped from the hatch, diving to catch his brother, who was currently free-falling. As he reached Ryat66 and hooked the smaller android into his shoulders, he turned to Sarah and Joe, the latter was being held in the air by Sarah's mental capabilities.
"That was a mean thing to do, Ryat Ninety-nine," she half-scolded, half-giggled.
"It woke ya up, didn't it?" the android chuckled back, "You know, if you want, you can get some revenge on the machine..."
-----
Arbiter Taylor broke into the pilot's module and assumed control. Gritting his teeth as he interfaced with the falling vessel, he kicked on the hover pods and threw them into overdrive. The Wolf Spiders cheered him on as they felt their descent slow.
Suddenly, there was a shuddering, and their descent quickened. Taylor slumped in the control chair. Sarah had bounced his forehead off the inside of the Heads-up Display helmet. The force of the device's shoulder pads pressing into his collar also broke his clavicle.
The troops screamed and unceremoniously yanked their boss out of the control chair. Arbiter Taylor landed in a very compromising position on top of the vessel's pilot. They had just got done with the third round of Rock-Paper-Scissors when the machine crashed into the water. It floated, but it would never fly again.
The heroes watching cheered loudly and turned to begin the long journey home. Fortunately, a Longbow helicopter on its way to the Bloody Bay intercepted them and provided them a ride to the base in the Rogue Isles before they headed back to Paragon City.
"Well," Sarah sighed as she snuggled softly into Joe's bandaged arm, "I guess we could use the break."
"This was tremendous work," the Warden chirped as she looked over Joe's report, "Have you considered working with Freedom Corps or Longbow?"
"Sorry ma'am," Durnan replied hoarsely, "I'm a cop."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Sheldon Wallace awoke to a cold steel cell. For a moment, he wondered at his position, but those few blissful seconds were gone all too quickly. In a rush, he remembered it. The sleek, black, insect-like Arachnos Flyer, the missile blast that sent other nearby heroes rushing to stop the fire, but nobody noticed the troops coming after Sheldon. That strange, balding man...
"You're awake," a voice crackled through a speaker to him, "Good."
"Who are you?" Wallace asked hoarsely.
"They call me Operative Grillo," the voice replied, "When we meet, you'll probably remember me."
"I remember your voice," Wallace cleared his throat, "I've got a near-idytic memory..."
"Good! Good. That will serve us well."
"Us? Oh... Yeah..."
There was a pause.
"You intend to torture me, don't you?" Sheldon asked, "To ensure my loyalty."
"If I have to, Wallace."
"You know my name?" something about Grillo's voice struck Sheldon as being a bit off.
"I put the word out to Arachnos to give me a number of different things... Lo-and-behold, Arbiter Taylor sends me word about a small super group with a wizard, a psychic, and, important to me, a recently outed mad scientist."
"Only by the definition of a pathological need to invent, Grillo."
"That's all I need right now. However... Semantics aside, there's one thing you need to consider right now..."
"Whether or not I want to be tortured?"
"Bingo."
Sheldon took only three seconds to make his decision and his plan. He even had a few nifty ideas he wanted to try with the Arachnos troops.
"I'll do it," he said crisply.
"That's what i like to hear!" Grillo shouted, causing the speaker to crackle again, "Oh, you're going to love it here, Wallace. The food is better, there's a sense of accomplishment like no other... Don't worry, I won't be shunting you off to work for Black Scorpion... That's usually where we send the guys who are at their breaking point, anyway. No... I've got a whole lab set up for people like you..."
-----
The lab was like a blend of a chemistry facility and a tinker shop. Machinery lay littered across an entire half of the room, on and off the tables. The other half, neatly ordered liquids and compounds, all in glass jars, tubes, beakers and vials were placed and sat bubbling and reacting. A number of scientists were already in the room, cataloging results and experimenting with different combinations.
"Stop!" Sheldon shouted as the troops released their grip on his shoulders and he ran over to another scientist about to poor two chemicals together.
"Sulfur dichloride and ethylene! Mustard Gas! Just because it's not bleach and ammonia doesn't mean you're going to be fine!"
"You've been in here two seconds and you're already running things," Grillo chuckled, "Yep, you're your father's son."
"Like you knew him..."
"I did," Grillo grunted, "Here, let me take you to your table..."
The table was littered with unimaginable amounts of junk. Sheldon was already taking note of what he could and couldn't use as Grillo spoke.
"Initially, I tried to recruit your father," Grillo explained, "but for some reason, our recruiters-"
"Kidnappers," Sheldon corrected as he started working, "Don't be coy. I can face the truth about myself, the least you can do is face the truth about yourself."
"It is the truth, son. The methods may be different, but at least I can promise you a future here. Where you're from? Look at what yer dad does, son. Is he rich for it? Is he powerful? Is he respected? No. He lives in an old farm house next to a barn he converted into a garage. He's a military consultant, now. Paid little more than a teacher... And God forbid he tries to put anything he's made on the private market..."
"God forbid i do the same here," Sheldon muttered as he fit a last piece into the device he was working on, "Hm... that went quicker than i thought..."
"That looks like a bomb."
"It is, sort of... I call it a Vortex Grenade. It doesn't really hurt the target, but it does wind up sucking them through a dimensional singularity and depositing them somewhere random."
"Interesting," Grillo rasped as he looked the weapon over, "We don't have anything like this, yet..."
"It'll take some time to work out manufacturing them," Sheldon sighed, "I lack proper materials here... I was lucky to have found some diapson crystal..."
"Some what?"
"Nothing... Just... Here... Keep this one, as a show of good faith," Sheldon pressed the weapon into Operative Grillo's hand.
"You certainly are taking to this fast..."
"Well, I wasn't likely to get reinstated as a hero," the inventor shrugged, "And I would probably have been facing some serious jail time for my involvement in the Inevitable incident... Maybe you're right, sir. Maybe I have a chance to start over here."
"Well, good..." Grillo was obviously having some conflict trying to reconcile what the young manw as saying, though, he had definitely expected the former hero to put up at least some kind of struggle, "That sounds most excellent, Mr. Wallace."
"Just, one thing..." Sheldon almost didn't want to ask, but he figured it would be fair, "My Gravitic Manipulation Gauntlets..."
"You ain't gettin' 'em," Grillo shook his head and folded his hands over hsi chest, "No way, no how."
"I don't want them... I just want something to approximate the tertiary effects of my gravity control... Stuff like being able to just reach for a distant tool or fit things together as they hover in front of me would make me vastly more efficient if I didn't have to be walking all over the place or picking things up, fumbling around with them, and... Well, you get the idea."
Operative Grillo considered this might be it. This might be the tactic the former hero was trying.
"You build them, then we do a few stress tests. You won't know what I'm testing for. If you fail, I'm putting you through indoctrination. Is that fair? Otherwise, you'll have to do without."
"That's fair," Sheldon replied confidently, "I'm certain you will be pleased with what I have in mind."
But Operative Grillo couldn't shake the sudden feeling of unease.
----------
Randall sat his crew around the table. He had everybody assembled, everybody they'd ever worked with, from the BWO to Martin Sanders, Gregory Caid and the former Outcasts, Blizzard Front and Ashen Roast. Nester had even brought a couple other people in on the job, an armored tanker named Eisenheartz and a young, orange-skinned lady named Fire-Shield.
"Ladies and gentlemen," he rumbled through the room as everybody settled down, "You should all know by now why I called you here. We all have different reasons to be heroes... We all have different reasons to stay, different reasons to fight, and different reasons to keep on going on. However, now I'm asking you to help me with something personal."
He paused to take a sip from his flask. A young catgirl standing next to Agent Wild scrunched up her nose and arched an eyebrow at the massive tanker, but said nothing.
"Now look..." Randall went on, "We all know Sheldon is missing... they busted up Ryat Ten something fierce in order to get to him. And we salute you your effort, boy..."
He gestured to the green torso and head sitting in the back of the room, getting silently repaired by the Ryats designated 41 and 22. It nodded a little, its voice emitters had been shot through with silenced pistols.
"But I'm asking you all to execute this rescue mission with extreme prejudice," the 50-year-old stone tanker grunted, "I mean break bones, smash equipment... Make the enemy pay. I want Arachnos to know the hornets nest they keep stepping in when they mess with me and my own..."
"Is this just because they went after your daughter?" Blizzard Front asked, clearly oblivious to how fond of the young lady the group was.
He didn't remain uneducated for long.
"Ow! My shoulder!" the ice blaster shouted, then turned back to Sarah, "What the Hell? How can anybody stand being around you for- OW!"
"Enough! Joe, knock it off!" Randall shouted.
Of course, when everything was quiet again, he chuckled a little at the former Outcast's pain.
"Now, look... This isn't just about my family. I would go this nuts for any one of you. I would. This is about making sure Arachnos and their 'Lord Recluse' know not to [frig] with the heroes outside his little war with Statesman... We've got nothing to do with that war, but when Arachnos [frigs] with us, we [frig] with them! You got me!?"
"Sounds like a lot of-" Blizzard half-whined, but stopped, "Never mind. I gotcha."
"Good... Then let's get to planning."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Sheldon spent the next day working on a pair of gloves to replicate the effect his Gravity Gauntlets were able to produce. Operative Grillo met with him while he worked.
"That doesn't look like a new weapon for Recluse's men."
"It's... It's a set of gloves to help me work, Grillo. Not nearly the same magnitude of power as my gauntlets, but..."
Sheldon put one on, it was little more than a wire mesh wrapped around his right hand with nodes to register nervous response. Reaching out in a grasp, the glove sent a small gravity wave out to catch a hold on a box of tools. The effect wasn't satisfactory. Instead of grasping the box's handle, it repelled the item, sending it crashing to the floor.
"Hm," Sheldon hummed under the chuckles of the troops flanking Grillo.
The Arachnos mad scientist, however, shut his own troops up quickly.
"A man can learn a lot from his mistakes... And this was hardly a mistake..."
"Just a miscalculation," Wallace agreed, "Here..."
He took a screwdriver and popped open a few of the nodes. With a pin-sized soldering iron, he made a few adjustments.
"Now we try this again," he reached out for the box again, which had been fortunately locked shut.
This time he was successful. Hefting the box in the air, he brought it to his side. This actually netted a round of applause from the gathered troops and guards.
"Man, I wish my science class had stuff like that," one of Grillo's troops said, "Maybe then I'd have taken more interest in it than the blond cutie sittin' next to me."
"You'd have still oggled the pretty girl," Grillo chuckled, "Excellent, Sheldon... Your father would have taken hours to correct his mistake, even though he knew what the problem was."
"My dad just likes to be careful," Sheldon replied as he set to work on the other glove, "He said he's seen others make enough mistakes."
"No doubt he considers me one of those others..."
"How do you know my father?"
The Arachnos Operative gazed at the inventor for a few minutes before finally waving his men outside. Once they had complied, he ushered the other technicians to work elsewhere, out of earshot of the low tones he intended to use.
"Your father and met in college... We were assistants to the professors there."
"Dad doesn't talk much about his college days..."
"Well... He always did believe that it was something to be experienced, not explained. Don't be fooled by his prim-and-proper demeanor... He actually lived it up in those days."
"But that's it? You guys were just lab assistants?"
"Yes, but to a particular lab..."
Grillo chuckled at his little in-joke. Sheldon could only assume he meant they worked for mad scientists. It would make sense, his dad had made a few crazy things, and he had to learn how to construct the odd little nick-nacks somewhere.
"So... Now you just want me building things in your labs?"
"Until you reach your threshold, yes..." Grillo shrugged, "Perhaps you will demonstrate your true potential for mad science much more quickly than Vernon did... He had a few... Self-image problems. You don't."
"Some of the greatest mad scientists actually believed they were making something better for the world," Sheldon stated as he worked on the last few parts of the second glove, "I had that going for me on the Blue side. Here? Here I know everything I make is an instrument of war."
"Why is it everybody only sees that part of Arachnos?"
"Because your machines are ugly."
Grillo chuckled.
"I'm serious," Sheldon clicked the panels of the nodes shut and examined his work, "Plus, Recluse is scary."
"Careful, son."
"I'm not your kid. I may be compliant with your efforts, but I'm not one of your troops. I'll say what I damn well please, and don't think breaking my jaw will stop me. Recluse is a terrifying man, and he makes no bones about it. Why should you?"
The operative nodded at that thoughtfully.
"Alright, I see your point."
"In any case... I know Arachnos does some things right... That they do some things that actually wind up helping a lot of people... Albeit the people they help are the ones with money..."
Grillo smiled.
"And they didn't get that money from doing nice things..."
Grillo's teeth actually showed this time.
"But there are still some honest people who benefit from that work. Too bad you guys work more exclusively for hardline followers of 'Survival of the Fittest,' whether or not the Fittest got that way by hamstringing their competition. That is why people only see the dark in you. There's no arbitrary line between 'right-and-wrong.' You simply hurt too many people with your work."
"And you're going to stop it?"
"I can't," Sheldon sighed as he pulled his glove back on, "I'm here, in the belly of the beast, giving it claws and teeth so it won't eat me. I can't honestly expect it not to use them on the helpless villagers."
"So, what? You rebuilt your gloves to fight your way out?"
Grillo's left hand hovered over a pistol at his hip.
"No," Sheldon replied, gesturing his hand over to the operative.
Grillo barely felt a grip on his wrist.
"Like I said, they're not powerful enough to present a threat. Just enough to help me work."
"Good... Good," the operative turned and started walking away, "I'll have some technicians bring you some parts for one of Black Scorpion's blasters... I know I promised you wouldn't be doing that, but he said he wanted me to put one of my best on it, and promised he wouldn't bother the guy. I want to see what you can do."
"I'm not necessarily one of your best..."
"But you're nowhere near my worst, and that's better than anybody I ever let that brute have."
Sheldon nodded and set to work with the limited parts he had on the table. Grillo smiled as he walked away from the viewing monitor outside the hatch. It looked like the Wallace boy was settling into his role just fine.
He wondered how Hector would feel about that.
----------
"It's too bad Wild had to decline," Cedric said as they looked over the ocean to the light that indicated the Rogue Isles, "Wonder what the F.C. has him doing."
He and his companion stood on the beach of Brother Mauthe's island. The place had a strange feel to it, but it was comfortable enough. The next island over had a Circle of Thorns camp, but the Circle seemed to be obsessed with whatever was over there instead, and never bothered Mauthe's crew.
"It's not for us to know," Draven answered between sips of beer, "Perhaps it'll make work in the future a lot easier."
They were joined by an android that clapped a hand on Cedric's shoulder. This one wasn't like the Ryats... Randy and Kip had called it in. He had a snide, abrasive personality.
Cedric had taken an instant liking to him.
"Hey there, Solid, what's up?"
"What are you guys doing over here? The party's over there!"
"I know, man, I know," Cedric sighed, "I was just... Visualizing... How I'm gonna be ripping heads off Arachnos troops who think they can mess with my friends..."
"I was just handing Ced a beer," Draven chuckled.
"Sure..." Solid mused before turning away, "I see how it is."
Draven shook his head before following the combat android. Cedric sat on the beach until joined by his brother.
"How you doing, Ced?"
"Not good, man. I just... I feel like I should have been there."
"He had two Ryats by his side, both with combat mods... Well... Ryat Ten was a healbot, but still..."
"I could have been there, for him, man."
"We all could have been. We're all here for him, now."
Cedric shook his head sadly.
"I just feel like I messed up bad this time."
Roland hated it when his brother got like this. It had to happen every so often. Cedric's "Devil may care" attitude tended to have a massive fallback. When his older brother felt guilty, it could debilitate him emotionally. The sad part was he could never see reason.
Not until their father bonked him over the head, which happened at that moment.
"What the hell are you feeling sorry for yourself for?" he grunted at the white-blond tanker.
"Ah, jeez, how do you know that?"
"I hear things, boy. Rumblin's in the earth. I was hopin' you'd have gotten the thick outta yer head after that war so you could finally listen when your brother's talkin' sense."
"But, dad..."
"No, listen... I know how you beat yourself up. I know the limits you push yourself to. I know you really care, but to do the things you do, you force yourself not to."
"Yeah..."
"But you're gonna wind up failing at some point. Everybody does. We may be exceptional, but we're still human. Mistakes get made, people suffer."
"What do we do then?" Cedric shouted, "How do we keep going on, knowing we failed?"
"We fix the consequences and hope we don't make the same mistakes. All we can do is keep going on."
Cedric nodded. He gripped his axe and stared at it a moment.
"You gonna come back to the party?"
Cedric pushed himself up and dusted the sand off his pants.
"Yeah. I'm on my way."
((*Solid Shot is property of Khellendrosiic. He was kind enough to inform me ahead of time I could use him.*))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Lord Recluse was looking through the datapad detailing the latest information related to his Web Device when the alarm klaxons rang. Perturbed, he gazed up to Black Scorpion and Scirocco.
"What is that?"
"Ah," Scirocco turned to a nearby monitor, "It seems to be Sharkhead Isle, sir..."
One of Black Scorpion's technicians examined the monitors at Captain Mako's station. For some odd reason, the Arachnos "Troubleshooter" wasn't available. They soon found out why.
"Sir, it seems he was already in Sharkhead, trying to stop an attempt to damage some information..." the technician scratched his head, "It seems he ran into other trouble..."
Lord Recluse rubbed his chin as he sat back in his throne and asked "Scrapyard's Ghost again?"
"No..."
----------
"I tore apart that blue-collar fool, Scrapyard!" the shark man shouted at Randall, "I can do the same to you!"
"I don't see ya doin' it," Randall replied gruffly before backhanding the lunging villain across the street, "All I see is a fish with arms and legs that doesn't know it's proper place is on my dinner plate!"
"I'll kill you!"
Captain Mako wrapped sunk his teeth into Randall's right wrist. The big tanker hefted the shark-man in the air and turned him about so he could see that Grey's facial expression hadn't changed. It turned out his skin was exceptionally tough, only a small trickle of blood escaped into Mako's mouth. He emitted a chuckle as he savored the flavor, but the tank still wasn't impressed.
"Clamp down as hard as you want, punk," Randall turned him around again and grabbed his foe by the throat, "It's not gonna help ya."
As he pulled the stalker from his hand, Mako released his grip before he lost some teeth. The villain then took a swipe at Randall but it was batted aside with the same hand he'd just been chewing on.
"I tore Scrapyard apart!"
"Yeah, but you can't keep livin' in old successes," Randall grunted back as he delivered a punch into the freak's stomach, "Now, get outta my sight!"
He tossed the Captain down the street, and the shark-man fled into the shadows. Randall harumphed that "he'll be back," before turning around to the thirty-odd heroes and rogues gathered behind him.
The Brutal Warriors Order, Brother Mauthe's Dregs, some of the heroes that worked with Agent Wild, the few "hero-modded" Ryats (Prime, 10, 24, 66, and 99) and a few of the heroes they'd worked with over the couple years they'd been in Paragon City all stared at the tank in open-mouthed awe. Then Mako attacked again, chomping into Randall's shoulder, jsut below the neck. As Solid Shot leveled his rifle on the shark-man's head, the tanker reached up and caught the monster by the back of it.
"Too soon?" Mako asked as he was wrenched off.
"Much too soon," Randall pitched him through a nearby wall, "You had an advantage last time, Mako... That's not here. I don't see myself as another Reverend King. I'm a big, powerful, ugly and angry man here to get what belongs to him. You go back to your goons and tell them to deliver or Gaia help me..."
He reached into the ground and pulled a massive boulder out of it. Nobody would have known the earth itself had actually delivered the stone to him.
"I will tear these islands apart looking for him," the tank grunted as he hurled the stone after Mako. It didn't hit, but the point had been made. At least, Randall hoped the point had been made.
"Are you alright, Randy?" Nester asked as he applied some healing nanites.
"Yeah... Just keep than green [scat] coming."
"Here," Nester applied another burst of nanites, "This should help in your next couple fights..."
Randall could feel his skin harden and his vision focus. He nodded at the results.
"I almost wish I could keep you with me," he grumbled, "But you're gonna be needed on Ced's team. Cedric, you take the Ryats, your brother-"
"Wait, Ryat10 can handle their healing needs," Nester interrupted, "I can still keep with your team, Boss."
"And it would be best if I simply acted alone," Ryat Prime explained, "That way, I can maintain plausible deniability with Arachnos and my mission for Longbow can remain secret."
"I don't know, brother," Ryat99 murmured, "It seems somebody out there is gonna notice you look like us."
Ryat Prime opened a panel in his wrist and an image of another android appeared. It looked a lot like Ryat Prime, only thicker and red.
"It's not me. It's just another one of those robot apocalypse types... Like Eighty-four. It controls prefab robots like I do, though, and emits shields. This is just one of the various androids that matches my description running around these islands. I'll be fine, so long as Arachnos doesn't get a solid description of me."
"Alright," Randall grunted, "Prime, you do what you do best. If I find out you've been [frigging] with us, though, I will personally dismantle you."
"I can assure you, there will be no [frigging] with you."
"Kip!"
"We should have done this yesterday," Kip grumbled, "Instead of getting wasted..."
"We still would have gotten wasted," the tanker replied with a chuckle, "and we'd need to do this aga-AUGH!"
Mako had a hold of Randall's root covered leg.
"That dirt taste good?"
"Mmph!" Mako pulled his mouth off the tanker's roots and spat out some soil, "P'too! P'too! Agh!"
"Yeah, there's magma deeper down there..."
"Ugh... That explains why my gums hurt through my teeth," the stalker started rubbing his mouth, "Um... I'm gonna walk away now..."
"Get lost, Fish Bait!" Solid Shot shouted, then hefted his rifle again, "Before I make you get lost!"
"Solid!" Randall cheered, "I want you to lead the general mayhem team... That'll be you, Mauthe and his crew, Cory, those two former Outcasts... I know you've got problems with villain-types, but these guys are all good, I'm tellin' ya."
"I look forward to the experience," Ashen Roast extended a hand to the combat android to shake.
"Whatever, punk, just don't slow me down."
"I'll go with them, too," Mark Shadow volunteered, "Like my dad always said, you can never have enough guns."
"Didn't they lock your dad away?" Randy arched an eyebrow at the younger man who now looked like a rip-off of a video game character.
"Yeah, but he was stupid."
Randall furrowed his brow at the hitman, then turned to the gray android.
"I can't say too much about him, Solid. If he acts up, you have my permission to castrate him electrically."
"Alright!" the combat droid cheered, "Wow, this job keeps getting better and better. Uh, Randall, Mako's on your arm again."
The tanker pulled his arm up and glared down at the shark-man.
"You see me rooted here, right?"
"Mreah..."
"And you've already busted and chipped a few teeth doing this, right?
"Mruh-huh."
"I don't show any signs of slowing down or even getting bothered, huh?"
"Mreah."
"Maybe you should stop."
"Mm-mm!"
"Alright..." Randall swung his arm about and wound up tossing Mako through a nearby window.
"Alright then... Back to business... Kip! Your team?"
"I'm taking Wrathfire, here," Kip indicated the lady in the blue armor-padded outfit next to him, "And the other heroes Wild lent us from his roster... Snuggle Purr, the catgirl; Eisenheartz, the armored tank; and Fire-Shield, the magician..."
"Hi, Nester," the orange-skinned girl waved to the medical defender, "I guess I'll be working with your brother this time..."
"He's good people," Nester assured her, "Trust me, he'll show the enemy a thing or two."
"Alright... I'll be taking Zeke, Char, Sarah and..." Randall turned to the blue-uniformed assault rifle blaster, "You."
"Everybody else, he says their name," Officer Joe Durnan growled, "He still just calls me 'you.'"
"Oh, he just doesn't like you!" Sarah hugged her fiance's arm, "Don't take it so personally. You could be anybody, do anything, and he'd still think of you as the guy taking his little girl away."
Randy loomed over the two of them. Somehow, his shadow only fell on Joe.
"I'm trusting you to keep my daughter safe, boy. Now's your chance to make sure I see it!"
"You're the tank!" Joe shouted back, "You! your job is to keep the bad guys off... I... I shoot them! Besides, I feel sorry for the nimrods that think they can corner Sarah... Didn't you hear what happened to that Arbiter that kidnapped her a couple days ago?"
"Yeah..." The ugly face moved closer to Joe's, "I hard about how she got kidnapped..."
"Daddy, stop," Snuffy pushed Joe aside so she was in her father's ugly face, "Joe does a fantastic job as a hero, and is a great guy for me. I really wish you could see that."
Randy grinned at his daughter.
"I know honey," he whispered, "I jsut like giving him a hard time."
"Wait," Joe started, "So that means-"
"It means shut yer trap!" the stone tanker shouted, causing Joe to take a few steps back.
"I'll be acting advisor," came a voice from down the street, "Mako! Get lost."
Captain Mako turned back to Power Breaker and hissed.
"You! The traitor!"
"Not until I raise a hand against Arachnos," the brute replied, "And as you and I both know, that can even be ignored, if not forgiven. Drawback of following chaos."
Randall turned and glowered down at the shark-man. The stalker turned back to see the tanker had noticed him and hissed again.
"Your campaign is doomed! No hero has ever raided the Isles like this..." Mako's eyes widened, "Not in such an organized fashion..."
"Right," Randall grunted, "So how do you know it won't work?"
Captain Mako didn't have an answer. The last time heroes had raided the Rogue Isles, it had been a controlled, minor effort. It was more of a probe to see what Arachnos and the Destined Ones were capable of, not a full-scale assault.
They also didn't have the dropship that was sighting in an anti-tank rocket on the single target that was the bad Captain.
"Pike off," Solo Stryker's voice emitted from the gray-armored vessel, "Or get toasted... The bad way."
Mako's eyes bugged out as he saw the laser sight on his left pect. He cursed something about "not being what Viridian told him about," and bounded away. He almost came back for one more taste of Randall, but figured that would be one too many before the big man started really doing something about it, and fled for the Flier in his base in Port Recluse.
"Alright everybody!" Randall shouted, "You've got your teams! On my word, unleash Hell!"
----------
"How can you be certain they do not want anything to do with me and my plans?" Recluse asked Scirocco, "They're heroes... And a few treacherous possible Destined Ones... Their whole existence is mired in making things difficult for me."
"It's just that... One of my students... A man named Power Breaker... He's been telling me they just want one of their friends back..."
"And how has he been doing that?"
Scirocco scratched the back of his head, "I... I do not know... I can hear his voice in the back of my head... I did not think he had access to the Aether..."
"Regardless," the spider king screwed his face up at his mystic adviser in consternation, "A show of force is necessary. I want all troops that can be mustered to defend our interests across the Isles. Now."
"Yes, M'Lord..."
((*Again: Solid Shot: Property: Khellendrosiic. Permission: Granted.*))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Randall, there's only one place they would have taken him," Power Breaker grunted, "But if we go there, we have to be very careful."
"G-ville, huh?"
"Yeah..."
"Well, we'll do enough damage here to get them looking this way, then hit 'em where it hurts..."
Power Breaker shook his head.
"I can't imagine what they've got around here that Arachnos would consider important. Still, we make enough noise anywhere and..."
The brute stared off into space for a moment.
"Oh... It seems we have made enough noise..."
"What do you mean?" the stone tank asked, his voice taking a note of genuine concern.
"There's a large force of Arachnos troops being mobilized... Plus anybody Arachnos can tap..."
"Which is?"
"Well, nobody right now..."
"How do you know this?" Charlene asked Power Breaker.
The brute tapped the spikes on his head.
"I've got access to the Internet, a telephone, and a few other things I like not to think about..."
"We better get moving, then," Randall waved to the other teams to move out, "Get me to Grandville, Ray."
The Brute nodded and proceeded to lead the tanker and his group to the Ferry. As they reached the ship, the first of the Arachnos Fliers had arrived.
----------
"Alright," Solid Shot peeked around the corner to determine the positions of the Arachnos troopers, "They've got the streets filled..."
The android pointed at Mark Shadow.
"Your friends took off to the other side of the island, that mine they've got running over there... And your friends," he pointed at Brother Mauthe, "Are... Wherever..."
"Relax," the Dreg leader drew his pistols and checked them as his mobile shield generator charged up, "When we need them, they will make their presence known."
"Grey may trust you, but I don't!" Solid almost shouted and leveled his rifle at the Mastermind-type rogue, "Why don't you give me a damn good reason why I should!"
Brother Mauthe clucked his tongue before reaching into his left breast pocket. He opened the wallet he retrieved to the combat android and allowed him to read it.
"Do you understand yet?"
"That could be fake..."
"But you know it's not. All the necessary holograms and watermarks are present."
The android stared at the Mastermind for a moment until Mark tapped him on the shoulder.
"Uh... Solid? Those troops are headed this way..."
The Arachnos troops had been dropping into Sharkhead Isle at an alarming rate. Hundreds of black-uniformed soldiers were porting out of the Fliers, led by a few Crabs, Longfangs and Webmasters. Huntsmen directed the small squad deployments, and the entire force was combing the island for the hero force that had just sent Captain Mako in retreat.
There was just one problem with Arachnos tactics. Unless they were herded into a location, they never truly attacked in force. Often, the en mass tactics didn't help them either (the Nemesis Army being much more effective at utilizing an "Organized Horde" ethic), as they often wound up being cannon fodder for tankers, blasters and controllers before they would even get a shot off.
Solid Shot didn't have a controller in his corner. But he did have a lot of guns.
"Screw this," he muttered and marched out into the street.
"There's one!" a Wolf Spider shouted.
The Android didn't even turn to look at the man he shot through the shoulder. The trooper screamed a lot, then disappeared in a burst of red lightning that signified his teleportation to the Port Recluse Reclaimators.
"Oh..." the gray android chuckled, "This is gonna be fun..."
Turning to the advancing troops, he waited for the others in his group to form up next to him. Mark Shadow wound up to his left, allowing enough room for the Warlock behind them to have a wide enough field of fire. Blizzard Front was to his right, with brother Mauthe and his shield generator bringing up the rear next to Simmons, creating a trapezoidal formation.
On the roof, Ashen Roast made for the nearest troop formation, hoping to dive into their center and cause enough damage that they would focus on him more than his "squishy" compatriots.
Solid didn't give him a chance. Flipping his personal rifle to Automatic, he let loose a stream of tungsten alloy ammunition that tore through the tightly packed squad and dropped the troopers in half a second. Their Huntsman dropped to his knees, gurgling a little as he disappeared in a brilliant, electric shade of red.
"Forward," Solid ordered as he and his companions started marching.
Now the Arachnos troops were playing somewhat smart. They would pop up left and right, up and down, always trying to take pot-shots at the gathered meta-humans and their android leader. Ashen Roast was able to intercept a couple, but the majority found themselves gunned and blasted down.
"Keep your rifle in your shoulder, like this," Solid explained to Shadow after he saw the Rogue miss for the fifth time, "Just like this! It minimizes the impact, and puts most of the support on your bones, not on your muscles... Plus, you can see down the sights more easily!"
"This really hurts my muscles, though..."
"You just have to do it more."
"Well, that's easy for you to say, you're a machine!"
"He's right, Marcus," Mauthe patted the Corrupter-class Rogue on the shoulder, "With practice, you'll get used to it and your shooting will improve."
A ball of fire fell behind the wall where the trooper was hiding. There was as scream as flames erupted from the alley and Cory returned to the ground.
"It is now safe to continue..."
After clearing a few streets, Ashen emerged from another alley and staggered next to the group.
"Bigger guys... Spider legs on their backs..."
"Crab Spiders," Solid Shot explained, "Get behind us..."
"Perhaps it would be best to set a trap for our foes," Mauthe explained, "Perhaps you have access to the devices many blaster-types-"
"No... Electricity..."
"Then we will have to make do..." Mauthe handed a device to Shadow, "Set this up at that corner, I'll set mine at this one. And Mark, it would be best if you placed your beacon before I did mine. Ashen, please keep with him..."
The tanker followed and Mark placed a peculiar triangular device on the ground. A green aura flowed from the device and Ashen could feel his body regenerating. Then the Mastermind and the Corrupter placed their acid mortars on the ground.
"Alright," Solid sounded if he had eyes, he'd be rolling them, "How do we get them over here?"
"That's being handled by another fellow," Mauthe replied as he pointed down the street, "I told you they would reveal their worth..."
"Whoo!" Brother Ringo shouted as he threw another Molotov cocktail behind himself, "Bring it!"
The large man in the trench coat behind him pushed the arsonist further along, taking a burst of energy in the back for his trouble.
"Move!" brother War grunted, "We've got to get them to Mauthe's beacon!"
Another burst of energy tore into his coat, revealing a plate of metal he had stitched in there to deflect such attacks. The metal heated and seared into his flesh, but the big man was able to take the pain.
Ringo, however, spun around out of the brute's path and took a side alley. War didn't have the time to come back and catch him, instead running on to the impromptu fortress the shooters had erected.
Unfortunately, the Crab Spiders stopped at the corner. Ringo, watching from the shadows, cursed silently to himself. It was why he'd done this, on the off chance the enemy would "lose interest."
"What do we do, sir?" one of the Crabs asked the Longfang squad leader.
"I would say we should continue pursuit... But he didn't match the description of the guys we're here for... Let's move on to-"
Brother Ringo charged out of the shadows, blowing fire through their ranks to cover his rush. Bullets fired around, some impacting on Crab Spider armor, other bullets whizzing by, almost all of them zinged around the Corrupter's head.
Slightly freaked out and with Crab Spider soldiers in hot pursuit, the arsonist charged for the ambush zone. Sliding into "safe" legs first, he looked back at the approaching troopers from the ground and extended his hand in a lewd gesture at them as the trap was sprung.
Acid mortars exploded in the air, coating the soldiers in an adhesive, armor eroding fluid. The gathered Heroes and Rogues proceeded to blast and brutalize the villainous minions. the figth was almost over before it began.
The Longfang hadn't followed his troops into the fray, however. He was too smart to fall for such an obvious trap. It was unfortunate that anarchy often ruled on the battlefield. As he turned to return to the main troop body and started radioing the location of these individuals who were causing him such a headache, a form emerged from the ground in front of him.
It looked like the earth was standing. Thinking it may be Devouring Earth, the Longfang fired a few rounds at it to deter it with pain for a moment. Unfortunately, it wasn't Devouring Earth.
King Slater's body emerged from the soil, shrugging off the dirt like it was a protective shell. He whipped his Black Mauler around and smashed the Longfang in the face as he tried to rush past. It bounced the massive man off the wall and Slater proceeded to pummel the squad leader into submission.
"Draven figured you guys needed some more close-range support," he said as he joined the group, "So, where to next?"
Solid pointed down the street.
"This way. Our job is just to keep the troops distracted and disorganized."
King Slater nodded and sank into the earth.
"No matter how many times he does that, it still freaks me out," Mark Shadow shuddered.
"Hey!" Solid shoved the Corrupter in the shoulder, "I'm the one who gets the last word in this one!"
((Solid Shot: Permission: Granted: Khellendrosiic))
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Are you sure, Sarah?"
It was the night before the big raid. Randy had worked out a plan with the Brutal Warriors to coordinate an attack on the Council base, and everybody else had gathered their equipment and settled their affairs. Everything was set. Now was just the exceptionally long night.
Sarah was worried about it. They'd never been involved in something so massive before. They were just a bunch of "country folk," with no real place in the big city. In fact, if it weren't for the Rikti War, none of them would likely be doing something like this.
"You're not normally so worried," Joe reassured his fiancé, "You're usually the spunky one. Roland's the one always doubting these things."
"Joe, this is important."
"We're going to be okay, Sarah... We'll have the emergency transporter systems with us..."
"But something could go wrong!" Sarah hugged herself closer to him, "Joe... I love you... I don't want to lose you."
"Sarah..."
"Joe..."
"I still think we should wait," he murmured as he looked into her adorable, bright blue eyes.
She snuggled against him and sighed.
"If you die on me, Joe," she started.
"I know, I know... You'll kill me"
He tousled her hair.
"Why is your hair white?"
"No..." she replied as she pushed herself back up to glare playfully into his face, "I'll kill you if you keep messing with my hair. If you die on me, I'm gonna go back in time, say I told you so, and kick you in the groin."
"That's not nice."
"It's not as if you're going to use anything there. You'd be dead."
"But Sarah... You know I'm not dead, then."
"How?"
"Because you never came back in time."
She smirked, made a sharp motion that shook the bed slightly and Joseph's eyes got really wide.
"Scared ya, didn't I?" she giggled.
"Aw... I'm gonna tickle torture you..." he joined in the laughter and started playing his fingers along her ribs.
----
"I'm gonna kill him..."
Cedric, Matt, Kipland, Cobalt, Roland, Nester and Sheldon were chilling out in the Grey's Army base. They were spending their (quite possibly last) night playing cards and getting royally hammered.
"Joe..." Cedric grunted, "If he dies tomorrow and breaks Snuffy's heart... I'm gonna kill him."
"We'll all kill him," Sheldon raised a glass in cheers as he looked on; he wasn't one for drinking games.
"So... My Freedom Corps and Portal Corp contacts say... They say I might be going home soon," Cobalt murmured, "Ugh... I haven't figured out how I'm gonna tell Misty..."
"She's the one you're dating, right?" Cedric frowned a little, "Her sister still available?"
"Friend," Cobalt gave Cedric a light punch on the arm, "And no... I asked. You're not her type."
"Damn... Even Evil Kip is getting play... How's your girlfriend, Round? Why isn't she coming with us tomorrow?"
"I never thought to ask," Roland growled back, "Call... And she's not my girlfriend. Why is this so hard to understand?"
"Call," Kip thumbed his cards and tapped them thoughtfully, "Why didn't you ask her, Rounder? That's a sign you really care about her."
Roland rolled his eyes, then pulled his datapad from his belt. After flipping through a few options, he handed it to Kip to look at.
"I've been having a sneaking suspicion the past couple weeks..." he grumbled, "You think she'd be able to help us tomorrow."
Kip stared at the image on the screen for a few seconds, then glanced to his portly friend. Roland's eyes told him what to say, and he simply muttered out a "no" before handing back the datapad.
"What?" Nester shouted, "Why not!? Kip! How can you say something like that from a picture!? Round! You said she's a scrapper! We need all the fighting force we can get!"
"Most people slow down when they get drunk," Roland sighed.
"Let it go, brother," Kip intoned to his brother, "Round's got something he has to deal with and it's not going to be fun."
"Something's up and you won't tell me?" Nester leaned toward Roland, "What the Hell, man? We used to be like brothers! You used to come to me about any problems you were having!"
"I never had problems," Roland arched his eyebrow to Nester, "You were the one getting bullied by Simon Sampson and Chuck Reynolds. Simon stopped messing with me after I put his head through that locker... Chuck? I was his center on the field. He knew not to [censored] with me."
"Didn't stop him from being a [censored]," Kip muttered, "Wonder what he's doing now."
"I know Simon's in Boston," Nester shrugged, "He joined a bodyguard service... I think it's a super-powered bodyguard service."
"Stupidity's a super power now?" Matt barked, "Call... Okay, guys, show me whatchagot."
They showed their hands and Nester wound up winning a pass at the drinks, or would have...
"Woo!"
"What're you cheering for, man?" Cedric's head bobbed around as he grinned mischievously, "This hand, the winner drinks."
"Bull!"
"Drink!"
"Go to Hell!"
"No man," Kip stared seriously at Nester, "He's right. This hand, winner drinks."
"We never called it!"
"Yeah we did," Cobalt chimed in.
"Just now," Cedric added.
"Aw..." Nester moaned, "Just now? Aw, geez... Everything's getting wobbly..."
"Cedric! Kip! Cobalt! Drink!" Roland barked, "See, Nest? Still lookin' out for you."
"Thanks man..." Nester sloppily pointed at his friend, first to the left of Roland, then to the right, then grabbed his hand and pulled it back slowly to the left until it was pointing at his friend.
"Hokay," Matt barked a laugh, "I think it's time for water. Nester, you can't point yourself at something that big..."
Ryat99 showed up with a big pitcher of water. He broke off a few chunks of his ice armor and plunked them into the assorted cups on the table before doling out water rations.
Sheldon nodded as Ryat66 handed him a brightly colored drink with an umbrella in it.
"Sheldon thinks he's better than us," Cedric murmured to the table, "Sipping that fruity foo-foo drink, having his robots serve us ice water..."
"I could carry a couple kegs on my back," Ryat99 offered, "Maybe a modified tap system..."
"I'll get right on that," Sheldon added, "Sounds like a fun idea."
----
"Randy... Come back to bed."
The Grey's Army leader stared out the window into the King's Row night sky. He saw a patch of Clockwork running down the alley below. Another Paladin must be getting built somewhere. He knew none of their gathering sites were nearby, and Pally made a big fuss, but never actually did anything. Eventually a batch of lowbie Heroes would take him down.
"Randy?"
"Am I doing the right thing?" he suddenly asked.
Charlene, his wife, didn't answer. It was the first time she'd ever actually heard her husband ask something so contrary to himself. He never seemed insecure before, never seemed to worry.
"Everybody's here..." he went on, "My family... My friends... Their family... A hero becomes a hero to protect his family and friends... To serve his community..."
"Randy..."
"Did I ever tell you how I got this scar on my face?"
She'd heard the story. It was a tale that sent chills down the spine of everyone who heard it.
"Yes... The chainsaw..."
"That was a lie..." Randy murmured, "The truth... the truth was far worse."
"Randy?"
"I was cutting logs on the wood lot with Bob and Mark... I went to wipe some sweat from my brow, and I stopped. It was like the whole world had stopped and stood still for a moment, just to watch me. At first, I couldn't hear anything. The sudden silence... It was deafening..."
"Randy?" Charlene pulled the blankets closer, it suddenly seemed the shadows were deepening.
"Then I heard it... A rhythmic thumping... Like something walking through the woods. It was headed my way."
He rubbed the area where the scar used to sit prominently on his face. Now, it was worn away with windburns, sunburns, and other ravages of time. The most of it left was a small wrinkle on his chin.
Despite being fifty, he still felt like he was thirty. Time still wasn't kind to him. His face still betrayed his age, not that he was that good looking to begin with.
"By now, I'm sure you've seen the Devouring Earth," Randy got back to the story, "And I'm sure you remember my hate of the Pale Swallow-wort that's been encroaching most of northern New York."
"Yeah..."
"Well... This thing... This thing was the Swallow-wort. It was a giant walking mass of twisted together plant, built just like any Bladegrass or Blackrose, but a bright pale green instead of the deep greens more common to the native species..."
"What are you talking about?"
"It attacked me in the Stilling... It was headed my way, and the world chose for me to fight it. I don't know how, I don't know why... I just know that in that moment, my destiny had been forged."
He turned to Charlene and sat next to her on the bed. She gasped. For as much as he towered over her, he never seemed so small before. His eyes gazed over her face, and he sighed.
"Look... You're worried about tomorrow, that's okay... It's okay..."
"No..." he grumbled, "It's not. I've brought people who were never meant to be involved in this sort of thing with me..."
"No," she took one of his paws in her tiny hands, "Randy, you inspired them. If you did anything, you made them believe in themselves. You brought out the best in them just by being who you are, as bad as that can be sometimes..."
"I guess..."
"It's true," she got up on her knees, hugged his head and started petting his hair, "Cedric's crazy, but still a good boy. Roland's just as grim and methodical as you... And Sarah has the same zest for life you encouraged her to have."
They sat silently like that for a few moments. They could hear Paladin thunder by, and Randy gave a short salute to a Hero who flitted by their window. They lied down as the sound of the monster's footsteps receded and pulled their covers up and over themselves.
"So..." she murmured into his ear, "What happened to the monster?"
"See... The thing about things like the Devouring Earth is that... well, they're weak against anything like fire or blades..."
Randy chuckled.
"...And I had my chainsaw. Fire and blades... I cut off one of its arms before it knew what was happening. But the damn things are strong... So strong..."
"It cut you?"
"You know how I say the saw kicked back into my face? The opposite happened. It caught hold of my wrist, started forcing it back on me, and I was leaning back to avoid getting cut. As soon as the teeth bit into me, though, the tip hit the crook of a tree behind me, and bounced into its torso. I don't know how, or why, but suddenly there was this roaring little motor sticking out of the Swallow-wort's chest, and the monster was thrashing around, falling apart..."
He sighed.
"When reality went back to normal, my face was still bleeding. But that wasn't the end of it. Over time, I got better. I fought wolves and vampires... I fought fey... I fought all sorts of monsters that never should have been. I protected that town... Often without anybody knowing."
"Wow..."
"I thought I was done when Kip took my place. He was the only one who could take on the things attacking the high school, trying to rebuild their strength on the fears of the kids there, and still look like he belonged."
"But then the War happened..."
"And I was in Hell... Char... I don't think I tell you I love you enough."
"That's okay," she sighed as she hugged closer to him, resting her head on his chest, "I understand."
"I went too long without your cooking," he rumbled out a chuckle.
"Uh-huh...."
----
"It's a crazy theory, Cortland," Gertrude Youngs was reviewing the plan, "You said this Sheldon is a scientist? And he conceived this?"
"I know," Cory handed her a glass of wine and eased himself to her side, resting one arm across her shoulders, "Techies don't follow magic. Shel is... practical. He's of a belief that he's been shown plenty of evidence that points to the extraordinary being possible, whether through the divine, the mystical, or the technological, and he just runs with it. The fact that his talents lie in the technological doesn't make the arcane any less plausible."
"An intriguing fellow..." Raven snuggled closer to Cory and sighed, "You have enough of this special ammunition to make it work?"
"Sheldon says he reacquired a whole bunch of the ammunition from the Cube Incident and has been keeping it in quantum stasis since. Tomorrow... Tomorrow is going to be a Hell of a fight."
"I think I'll come by and watch," Raven smiled as she set aside the page and rested her head on Cory's shoulder, "I'm glad we met. You make me happy."
"I'm glad for that," he replied, "Maybe someday, when things are a little more even-keeled, we can settle down... Maybe think about a family of our own."
"You do realize I'm a couple centuries older than you, right?"
"You spent most of that time learning mystic arts in a form of limbo," Simmons shrugged, "That's hardly living."
"Hm..." she tapped her chin thoughtfully, and then gave him a kiss on the lips.
They sat locked like that for a passionate few minutes.
"I think it's time we made up for lost time," she declared as they broke from their embrace.
"I agree," Cory replied with a sly little smile.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.