The group moved silently through the strange, wooded room. The light from above filtered through the trees and vines, and the area seemed huge.
"I'm amazed...I've never even known this room existed." Essex murmured quietly, pushing aside a flowering vine gently as she walked alongside the others. "I mean...the surveillance systems don't even acknowledge the presence of this area. There's not even a power sink on this end of the base to allow for something like this."
"Organic power." Emry said quietly, his crimson eyes relaxed as he carefully examined a leaf of a tree beside him. "The plants are generating energy. They are hybrids. A clean fuel source...it's ingenious. The plants power the tech here...which in turn helps to nurture and feed the plants. A self-perpetuating ecosystem. And..."
His fingers gently stroked the leaf once before letting it go. "The plants here are quite happy. They are well taken care of and contented. Though...I am getting the distinct feeling that we are not supposed to be here."
"Well, no [censored], Sherlock." Solid said, rather annoyedly waving branches away from his face. "I don't think that Doc West would create this ultrasecret room hidden away from sensors and with self-generating power sources if he wanted someone to find it."
"Clean, self-perpetuating power." Reikoff mused. "I will have to ask the Doctor about this later. This could lead to...who knows? Self-perpetuating ecosystems able to provide living conditions underwater, in deserts, atop mountains....even in space."
"Humans would [censored] it up." Pherelith said with a shrug, not missing a beat. "They always [censored] everything up."
"Yeah." Rosie grumbled, sniffing the air. "There's only enough power here to fuel the ecosystem - they'd probably try to use it as a power plant or something so they could power their microwaves and treadmills and stuff. Treadmills piss me off. Why not just go walk outside? Sheez."
"Why wouldn't Dr. West tell me about this place..?" Essex wondered to herself, her hand in Hal's.
"I don't know. . ." Hallucinogen said quietly, himself wondering at the beauty of the room. With a little smile, he reached over, pulling a bright orange flower from a nearby vine and placing it in Essex's hair. "But I'm sure glad we found it. It's really pretty."
Essex blushed a little, but Emry picked the flower out of her hair carefully, looking to Hal with mild disapproval. "Flowers are our reproductive organs, you know." he said as he knelt down to place it at the base of the tree. "Just keep that in mind."
Behind his radiation, Hallucinogen turned slightly grey, nodding briefly before continuing on in stiff silence.
"Haha. Hal molested a tree." Solid snickered a little, poking the boy from behind.
"S, shut up." Hal muttered back, glancing back at the assault droid.
"Stop." Reikoff said, pausing in his step. "I hear a hum."
"Yeah, I hear it too." Rosalind said, her nose in the air. "And the smell just got stronger."
It was true. A hum on the subharmonic scale seemed to be reverberating through the area, and the others could only barely pick it up after listening hard for a few seconds. Pherelith glanced to Emry with a look of bored neutrality, and Emry glanced back coldly.
"Continue on." the tree spirit said quietly.
A cluster of trees made themselves evident up ahead, trees and vines, but behind it the group could barely see the flickering of electronic equipment. It towered quite high, and it was clear to see there were vents and piping reaching up almost to the ceiling of the room.
Upon entering the center area, it was like the atmosphere changed completely. The light from the artificial suns dimmed to nothing at the detection of their presence into the inner area, and the room was plunged into darkness. Pinpoints of light flickered into existance above them like stars, further indicating the electronic lights up ahead.
"Could be trouble." Reikoff muttered, cocking a smaller gun as a safety measure. "I'll take point."
"Right behind ya." Solid said, his fists crackling with electricity. "Time for a rumble in the jungle if you know what I mean."
"Technically this would be considered an arborarium, wouldn't it? Which is closer to a forest?" Essex piped up.
"Ssh." Solid waved a hand at her dismissively.
Peeling back the branches carefully, Reikoff's eyes widened. His gun lowered as he stepped forward.
"Holy hell." he barely breathed.
Before him was a large, circular work area with low panels and monitors covered in blinking lights, buttons, meters, output screens, everything. In the center of the circle was a gigantic tree, the center of which seeming to be grown around a gigantic egg-shaped containment tank. The substance of the tank was clear, like glass, but it seemed more like a flexible transparent membrane holding in a solution of clear bluish green plasma. But within the tank was a single figure.
A woman, or, more accurately, a Reploid, floated in stasis in the tank. Her eyes were closed serenely, and the metal and plastic forming her audioreceptors and various robotic parts were a bright, pure white. The woman was slim and fair, with long golden tresses of hair floating ethereally around her form, swathed in a white dress with trailing sleeves. Her humanoid skin was deathly pale, and the only sign of any kind of life was a soft, rhythmic blipping from a single monitor. Wires, cables, and tubes were stuck into her from every direction of many and varying colors, and the roots of the tree and the nearby vines seemed to wind about the top and bottom protectively. Most remarkably, her back seemed to be adorned with two steel wings - not angelic wings, but wings resembling a butterfly's, delicate and inlaid with what looked like stained glass.
"What...the [censored]...is this?" Rosie murmured, her eyes wide.
"...An abomination..." Emry's voice came levelly. "...Another attempt to restore the dead."
"B-but. . .who. . ." Hal was barely able to form words from his surprise, his hand clasped in Essex's tightly.
"...Roksana Khastrovich." came a calm voice from behind them. The group turned as one to face a familiar figure - Dr. Daniel West.
It was Sunday, and he had returned from his trip.
The doctor shook his head slightly, the dim artificial starlight reflecting off his glasses as he slowly raised his laser pistol.
"I will now ask you to step away from my wife." he said calmly.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Solid: >_> Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games... Also, I would like to add that I could shoot West five ways from Sunday before he could get that pistol back up. Any takers?
Oh lawd it's West's wife. Maybe we'll find out why she's dead and why he has this strange 'Bring people back from the dead as Reploids' fetish. Are there any others we should know about? Is Burner actually West's deceased father? Genki his nephew? WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE!?!
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
OOC: I love how Dr. West has developed so intricately with our characters since you first introduced him to us in Final Fight, hehe. 
I remember back when he was just "he made Essex"...now he's:
- got a Khastrovich for a wife
- made dealings with Vern in the guise of a Siberian researcher (I do wonder if the geographic area is a coincidence? 
)
- enlisted a gang of Malta as some of his most trusted associates
- being guarded by a sentinet sword
- getting angry at Hal all the time for flirting with Essex
Wow, that's quite a bit already, and we've still got Solid, the SPC...
All I can say is, great job, Ess. 
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
O_O
+infinite
Simply coolness, Ess.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"I would appreciate an explanation for all this." Emry said coldly, his hand frozen on its way to his pistol. Hallucinogen and Solid stood, tense, unsure of what to expect. Reikoff just regarded the doctor levelly. He knew that they were more than capable of killing West if it came down to such things, but the weathered military man was truly loath to lose an ally in this way.
"I owe you no explanation." West said, his eyes trained calmly, almost lazily on the group. "Essex." he suddenly said sharply. "Come here."
"Ah..." the android murmured, looking rather frightened up at Solid and Reikoff, and then levelly at Hal, her eyes wide with apprehension.
"It's all right." Hal muttered, his eyes distrustful on West.
With that, she trotted over to him, standing just before him, her head bowed. "...I'm sorry sir. This is all my fault."
"What happened." West stated. It wasn't a question, it was an order. "I want an explanation for why you were here. Now."
"...It was an accident, sir!!" Essex suddenly broke down, burying her face in her hands. "I saw a ghost, and I got scared and Solid came an we had a seance, and it was writing things in Russian so Solid brought the Spirit Police and then Hal-chan was injured so he came here and they were helping us but everyone got into a fight and-"
"...Yes. I saw the aftermath." West said dryly, in reference to the carnage in the other room.
"...Uh...yes." Essex said meekly.
"The scorch marks were mine." Solid said cheerfully, waving an arm over his head.
"I will get to you in a moment." said Dr. West, his eyes flicking malevolantly to the assault drone. "Go on, Essex."
"And...um...then there was this room and I begged everyone not to destroy anything because I didn't know if it was important, and...we...um...Who...Why is there a woman there?"
"I think that's the question of the hour." Pherelith snarled neutrally.
"...Essex." West said, his eyes on the rest of them. "...Selene. That woman...Roksana...Don't you recognize her? She is your mother."
Essex gasped, looking up at West. "You mean..."
West kept his gun extended, but his eyes softened a little. He was silent for a moment before speaking again.
"...When Dr. Fleischman released the Nova to destroy my wife and daughter, she first killed Roksana and abducted Selene. There was a short period of time before I was able to track down where Selene was. During that time, I tried desperately to save Roksana. Anything I could do, anything I could think of...but she was gone. But I couldn't give up. I just...I couldn't. Roksana and Selene...They were everything to me. More important than my research, more important than my very life. My beautiful wife, my sweet daughter...Nothing meant more. Not even the laws of science. So I put Roksana's body in stasis."
"...She looks strangely like one of your androids for that, Doctor." Reikoff calmly said, his eyes rested on the scientist seemingly neutrally. In reality he was ready at any moment to draw his own weapon.
"...Yes." West continued. "...A lot of the techniques I used to create Essex, I used on Roksana first, in the desperate hope that I would be able to restore both of them to me. In essence, it was really Roksana who allowed me to create Essex in the first place, as working on her taught me many the techniques I used on Selene. I made many mistakes...and...I have never been able to complete Roksana's legacy as I have Selene's. I made too many mistakes - mistakes that I would have made on Essex if not for Roksana. I know she would have wanted it this way...but...she doesn't deserve to suffer because of my inadequate abilities."
"That doesn't change the fact that you are committing a horrible wrongdoing." Emry said. Hallucinogen elbowed him in the knee, and the tree spirit was silent once more.
"Shut up." Daniel said, eyes narrowing as the barrel of the laser moved to rest on Emry. "I don't care, and I don't want to hear about your arbitrary laws."
"Papa..." Essex whimpered, her eyes wide.
"I will restore her someday." West said. "One day I will see her again. One day she will be able to see Selene again, reborn as Essex and able to live the life that was so callously taken from her -"
"You're insane." Pherelith snarled an interruption.
"I don't care!" he snapped back, whirling to point the gun at her. "On that day, seven years ago, I lost everything!! My family was more important to me than my mind - if in gaining my family back I lose my mind, then so be it!! None of you have any right to say I am right or wrong. Call me wrong, call me a sinner, but I am a husband and a father first. And I will be damned if a day goes by that I don't do everything in my power, with every cell of my being, to love and protect my wife and child!"
"Dr. West. . ." Hallucinogen murmured, surprised.
"That's why." the Doctor continued, his voice now cold. "That is why, I work here, fighting the bounds of futility to the full extent of my power. This is why I made this place, this quiet, peaceful place where Roksana can rest. That is why I commit countless iniquities in the name of science."
Reikoff was silent. There was nothing to say in this situation. It was obvious that the Doctor was driven nearly mad with grief, but was determined to do his best to remedy things once and for all.
"...Doctor West." he said quietly. "Your wife is dead. Bury and mourn her."
"Commander, please." West said, turning towards Reikoff.
"Listen, you [censored]' psycho, she ain't coming back to life!" Rosalind argued. "You already said you failed your experiments on her."
"Someday I will learn the ways in which to fix my mistakes!" West answered, his voice escalating to an angry tone.
"Father..." Essex said fearfully.
"Listen, man, you just have to learn to let go!" Solid said. "Move on with your life. You're never going to be happy if you keep dwelling on the past." The gunner pointed forward dramatically. "The future is NOW. Besides, you have Essex. Most people wouldn't even -"
Solid was interrupted by a sharp whirr of a laser shot, skimming the end of his finger.
"Her ghost is haunting Essex." Pherelith said coldly, eyeing the scientist. "She doesn't want to be brought back. She wants to move on."
"Shut...up...." West hissed.
"Daniel West." Emry said, gun fully raised. "You have been convicted of unauthorized soul obstruction, experimental occult behavior without a permit, and the disruption of the natural order. Serve your sentence."
A shot rang out through the air as Emry released a perfectly aimed shot at Dr. West's head.
"Papa!!" Essex shrieked as she flung herself forward, instantly shoved back against Dr. West with the force of the soul-piercing shot intercepting the little android's chest.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
I remember in tells, I told you the last ending left me saying [censored].
This ending left me saying OMGWTF.
>_>
<_<
>_>
I AM DISPLEASED.
Solid: *jumps in front of bullet*
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
...
A ghost-killing gun...
How does that affect an android?
Especially since we've determined she's not actually Selene, but an android built to look like her.
Man, it makes me wish I knew you guys before this...
You wouldn't want my characters there, though...
They'd be sitting back and eating popcorn, maybe cheering Solid on to end some lives...
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
[ QUOTE ]
...
A ghost-killing gun...
How does that affect an android?
Especially since we've determined she's not actually Selene, but an android built to look like her.
Man, it makes me wish I knew you guys before this...
You wouldn't want my characters there, though...
They'd be sitting back and eating popcorn, maybe cheering Solid on to end some lives...
[/ QUOTE ]
((It is... Well, not so complicated as...
...Hm. Complicated is the best I can come up with right now. Yes, it is complicated, and therefore, I will leave it to t3h smarty people to explain.
Talking of which...
Experiment: "...I sense a disturbance... As if a million voices cried out in drama, and were suddenly silenced... By some kind of were-human... Thing..."))
((Senty's Blade: "I feel so left out." ))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((Arc Jump: "You feel left out?!" AJ harumphs and doesn't sulk damnit! It's... meditation!))
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
(Awww.... /huggles Arc Jump despite risk of electrocution)
((Oh yes. I'm pretty sure I've told Essex my opinion of this story but I should really broadcast it so I can embarass her.
This story rocks, Essex. You're generally awesome and we would be nothing without you! Yay Essex! *waves Essex flag, brandishes official merchandise*
. . . Okay, maybe I got a little carried away but I'm not taking it back. ))
((<.< *tablecloth*
Also, I'm terribly evil for posting something that ISN'T a story post. XD XD
Might as well take this opportunity to explain things to Grey. 
Essex is an android, yes, but she was created with Selene's DNA. Over the course of her existance, her sentience built and grew in sophistication to become -true- sentience, and not just simple AI.
Remember the obnoxiously long discussion about items and objects having spirits that the Dread Trio had? It's like that, except as she started with a sort of artificial sentience, she earned her 'soul' upon 'awakening' into organic sentience. If that makes any sense at all. <_<
This happened in Final Fight, by the way. >_> The awakening thing.
...Gah, I don't know. Next chapter should be done soon.))
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Essex...?"
West knelt over the limp android, now a lifeless doll of plastic, steel, and silicone. Her eyes stared forward unseeing, not glowing green as they usually did or blue as they did when she was frozen, but a lightless grey.
Hallucinogen's hands shook as he hesitantly approached her himself, falling to his knees. "Essex. . ." he sobbed. "No. . .I. . .I won't accept this. I can't accept this. . ." His chest seemed to be smoking...black energy lazily rising in tendrils from the boy's form.
Solid was grimly silent for once as he looked on. He had seen the little android fall into dire straits; he had seen her recover from devastating damage, but...the unlikely presence of her soul had pulled her through every time. Now, as far as the assault droid could tell, that had been destroyed, and as such he really wasn't sure what could be done at this point.
Rosalind was in shock. "Holy..." she muttered, her tail down. "Did you see that? She just ...she ...but ...God DAMMIT! [censored] dramabot ruins EVERYTHING!" she suddenly shouted in a rage, shaking. Rosalind didn't want to admit it...but she was, really, attached to Essex. As much as it annoyed her.
"Calm down." Pherelith snapped. "It's unfortunate, but this [censored] happens."
Emry was just silent, his gun slowly lowering. "...A soul for a soul." he murmured. "So be it. These crimes demand restitution...and abomination though she may be, her soul was yet innocent." He fixed his eyes on West. "...Destroy this place, lest you waste her decision."
A soft chuckling interrupted him. It was a bitter sound, amusement tempered with utter hatred.
"Why don't you tell me..." Reikoff said, his eyes sharp with loathing and disgust even as his rough face was cracked in a grin, one of his many handguns raised and tilted just slightly with the sight on Emry's forehead. "Tell me something right now to keep me from blowing your [censored] head off. Go on. Tell me something. Tell me I'm breaking a law, tell me what I can and can't do. Because I swear to Christ." The commander's voice hardened into a malevolant snarl. "I swear to CHRIST if you don't say something within the next five seconds I'm going to melt your [censored] face off for what you've done. [censored] your laws, [censored] your Soul Police, [censored] every cell of your god damned metahuman body. Just look at what you've done."
"...I regret no action of mine." Emry said simply, regarding Reikoff with infuriating neutrality.
". . .Listen to you!" Hallucinogen yelled, tears streaming down his face as he whirled to face Emry, Rosie, and Pherelith. "Look at what you did!! I thought you were supposed to protect people, and. . .Now. . .Now Essex is dead! And she can't come back!! Even if Dr. West repairs her body, she won't be Essex anymore. She'll just be another robot, another. . .another lifeless automaton. You always go on about soul this, soul that. . .But. . .Don't YOU have a soul? Look. . .Take a good look at what YOU did."
"It was her choice." Pherelith answered him, folding her arms. "That little bot made the decision to take the shot instead of West. Don't blame us for her decision."
Throughout the whole argument, Dr. West simply knelt, looking dully at the form of Essex where she lay. Her chestplate was burned slightly, as the shot from the Spirit Disruptor was rather incorporeal, but other than that she seemed undamaged.
"...Foolish..." he murmured to himself. "I tried so hard to bring back both of you, and now I can't have either of you. I am truly a fool...to think that I ...to think that I was good enough to protect you when I couldn't in the first place."
A reassuring hand put weight on West's shoulder, and he looked up to see Solid standing at his side. "...You did your best, Doc." the android said simply. "Nobody can fault you for that. And you did a damned good job of it, too. This...well, this shouldn't have happened...but it did. And now we gotta go on. It's just what we have to do."
"Heh..."
The scientist stood, lifting Essex's limp form into his arms and nodding to Solid. "...Thank you, Solid Shot." he said.
The argument among the others, however, was escalating.
"Listen to all of you!" Rosalind yelled out angrily. "You think Essex would want you all fighting in here!?"
"You think Essex wanted to be shot and destroyed?" Reikoff replied darkly.
"It was her choice to make." Emry said simply.
"Stop saying that!" Hallucinogen snarled, his hands glowing with light. The blackness was mixing with a white glow, creating a silvery effect as he stood at the ready. "Of course she'd rather die than let anything happen to Dr. West. That's who she is!"
"Was." Pherelith muttered to herself quietly.
"...That does it." Reikoff said, and the next moment bullets were flying towards the Dread Trio as carnage began to erupt, Pherelith's and Emry's guns at the ready the next moment even as --
-- the bullets stopped in midair.
"What the hell?" Solid asked in bewilderment. The others were frozen, eyes wide, not knowing what to do. The grey android approached the bullet and tapped it with his finger, surprised as it clattered to the floor harmlessly. "...?"
"...Stop." a voice cut in among them.
West gasped.
A figure materialized between the fighting parties - a woman, about five and a half feet tall, dressed in flowing white with golden hair that rippled down her back in waves. She regarded the group with clear blue eyes, and her voice was calm, accented slightly with an Eastern European tinge.
"The ghost...." Rosie murmured.
"...Roksana...?" West choked out, his eyes bulging.
The specter regarded each of them, her eyes calm, but sad.
"Yes." she said. "It is I who have been disturbing Essex's sleep and who tried to bring you here. I am Roksana West....Daniel's wife, and Selene's mother."
"...Madam." Emry said, nodding his head.
"...Roksana..." West could only repeat. The others moved back to allow him to come forward, his eyes wide and childlike. "...It's really you. You're here..."
"Yes, Daniel." she said with a gentle smile, her incorporeal hands softly entwining with his. "I am here. I have been here for years now...watching you. Watching Essex. Waiting for you..." Roksana's eyes trailed off to the side. "...Waiting for you to let me go."
"What?" the doctor breathed.
"My darling Daniel..." the ghost said, looking back into his eyes fondly. "You try so hard for me. You try so hard to bring me back...to bring me back to be with Selene. But don't you know, darling? Selene...Selene is with me already."
"W, what. . .?" Hallucinogen caught his breath, his eyes widening. "But. . .Essex is. . ."
"Essex is Essex." Roksana said with a smile. "Selene is Selene. Selene died seven years ago, Daniel. You cannot change that. The being that you created in Selene's image...She may have remnants of Selene's spirit...but her soul is her own. Selene and Essex are like...the two halves of a forked tree. They have the same base, but...after a while, they grew apart and became independant. Essex is still an aspect of Selene to an extent...but...she has grown independantly now. She is her own person, with her own soul and mind. They may be a tribute...but they are unique."
"So..." West said, quietly, "Now I have lost both of them. I was given two chances...and I failed both, miserably. I failed you, Roksana."
"Nonsense."
The ghost was beaming at him, and suddenly, she was accompanied by two other, smaller ghosts, one clinging to each of her legs. To look at them was alarming as they were nearly identical, with the exception of the color of their eyes. Both...were Essex.
"...Essex?" Reikoff murmured, looking on in wonder.
The little girl with the green eyes turned to look at him, Roksana's hand on her back comfortingly. The one with blue eyes remained happily clinging to her mother, giving her suddenly sheet-white father a small smile.
"...Daniel." Roksana said. "Essex does not belong with me. She belongs with you, and with her friends. She has become a manifestation of good; a being devoted to peace and the preservation of all living things. But...please understand, my love. I can not return to you. I must take care of Selene...and the two of us will wait for you. Forever."
"Roksana..." West said, burying his face in his hands. "Selene..."
"Don't cry, Daddy." the blue-eyed Selene piped up cheerfully. "We love you. We'll be waiting for you at home."
"I understand." Dr. West said with a sigh. "But Essex..."
Roksana glanced down at the green-eyed Selene. "Go on, now." she said gently. "Go and be who you were meant to be."
With that, and an unsure glance, the green-eyed Selene let her hand slip from Roksana's...and vanished. The older specter looked up, and smiled.
"Goodbye, Daniel." she said. "Take care of Essex."
With that, she faded into nothingness, the soft giggle of the girl clinging to her echoing into the area.
Silence reigned for a few more seconds until Dr. West sighed heavily.
"Roksana..." he only murmured. "...Goodbye."
Suddenly Rosalind perked her ears. "Wait..." she muttered. "I smell--"
"Aanh..." Essex's voice piped up demurely as her eyes flickered back on, the electric green returning. "What...I..."
". . .Essex!!" Hal shouted, almost tackling her back to the ground. This was followed by Solid giving her a soft whack over the head.
"Don't DO that." he said, folding his arms.
Reikoff let out a breath, closing his eyes slightly. Everything was back to normal, more or less...the group of them a bit wiser for the experience. But, there were, of course, loose ends to tie up. His gaze turned back to the Dread Trio, his eyes narrowing just slightly. Now would be an inappropriate time to shoot them, he knew...but there was never any harm in releasing their profiles to any and every group that he had the slightest ties to.
"...Well, looks like your ghost problem is taken care of." Pherelith said with a grin, hoisting her gun up on her shoulder."
"Quite." Emry answered, holstering his pistol. "Very well then...a job well done. We will depart, then."
"Yeah, let's bail." Rosie said, her tail wagging and a simple smile on her face. Quietly, she was releived that everything had worked out. "See you guys around." With that, the Dread Trio seemed to melt into thin air as Emry traced a rune into empty space.
Essex sat up, rubbing her eyes as she glanced around at the ones she loved standing over her. Hal, Solid, Reikoff, Dr. West...she felt her cheeks reddening as they smiled down at her. Blushing, she stood, tossing her arms about West's leg and burying her face in the long end of his labcoat.
"Welcome home, Papa." she said.
"...Thank you, Essex." he said softly, resting a hand on her head.
--The End.--
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((Yaaaaaaaay! That was great!))
((And exactly HOW many times are you going to kill Essex and then bring her back? ))
((No, seriously, that was great. And I always wondered whether or not Essex really WAS Selene or what.))
[ QUOTE ]
((And exactly HOW many times are you going to kill Essex and then bring her back? ))
[/ QUOTE ]
((D: Oh, COME, ON. I've only done it twice, barring Final Fight! *weakly slapfights Hal* Who do you think Essex is, an X-Man? ))
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((EPIC.))
((FUKKEN EPIC.))
((You broke my respect-o-meter. It's not supposed to go that high. 
))
((Bahahaha, I'm just messing with you. Besides, it is SO appropriate for a medium based on comic books. This is why it almost pleases me that Essex and Hal met in two different threads, and stuff like that. ))
((Also peanuts.))
((Hehe, pure awesome in a yellow kickass can right there.
"But... I didn't get a part..."
"Silence, John. You are ruining the true awesomness of the story." *Smack.*
Da coolness is pungent!))
~epilogue~
"Hal-chan, wait for me!!"
Essex sprinted doggedly through the grass, her boots thumping lightly as she ran, blonde hair tossed in the light breeze. Pausing only a moment, she glanced around, sighing in the clearing.
"You're too fast!!" she whined, stomping her foot in protest. "And now you're invisible, aren't you? It's not fair! You're such a cheater!!"
"Hey Ess, heads up!!" came Solid's voice from behind.
"Wha-" she barely had time to turn around when a tennis ball neatly thwacked against her forehead, sending her toppling to the ground in a heap.
"Uh, oops." the assault drone added with a grin. "Fore?"
"Gawd, your aim is terrible." Delphi remarked, her sword on her shoulder as she leaned on a tree, having been lined up to slice the tennis ball in half. "You throw like a blender. A -girl- blender."
"Gah, Essex!" Hal's voice came from everywhere and nowhere as his green smoke burst into existance just beside her. "Are you okay?"
Quick as a flash, his feet were scooped out from under him as Essex grabbed his legs and pulled, toppling him to the ground as well. "Got you! You're it!" she laughed, tumbling to her feet and playfully skimming away.
Dr. West walked with Reikoff in another part of the gardens, this one paved with stepping stones and wrought-iron archways. He held a clipboard in his hands and was writing studiously as the two men discussed together.
"No, I don't think I'll tell anyone about the clean energy generators." West said simply. "I honestly don't think humanity is ready to have it without abusing it. Let the world first completely ruin what it has and realize how important it is before I supply it with more to waste."
"It's your decision, Doctor." Reikoff said with a shrug. "Though once you do decide to share the technology, give us a ring. Having the Malta Group sponsor something like this for the betterment of mankind would be a PR dream."
"Thank you, Commander." West said with a smile. "Maybe someday the world will learn how to cherish what it has...so they can better remember it when it's gone."
The synth-lights above shone brightly as the two men returned to the center of the garden room for the picnic Essex had prepared. She wasn't a very good cook, but nobody really seemed to mind. Gone was the circular console, gone was the containment tank, replaced only by a grassy hill. And not far away, in an area overlooked by vines and bright pink flowers, stood a single tombstone, wreathed in greenery. On it was inscribed in neat script:
Roksana West
Loving wife, caring mother.
My Guardian Angel.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
>_>
<_<
>_>
GAH! DRAMA BOMB! I'VE BEEN HIT! SOMEONE GET ME AN INFUSION OF SERIOUSNESS, STAT!
>_> Oh wait. I'm not serious. <_< Damned.
So yeah. Awesome story. The drama and the lovey part nearly overwhelmed me, but I'm fine now. I just needed to go blow up some giant robots.
>_>
You should write more. <_< And yell at me to finish Mechanical Storm more, too.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
[ QUOTE ]
"Having the Malta Group sponsor something like this for the betterment of mankind would be a PR dream."
[/ QUOTE ]
I find this line HIGHLY amusing. Also you rock in general. That is all.
"Hold still."
A sharp yelp cut through the air as Rosalind snapped at Essex and the little android recoiled, startled.
"AAAGH [censored] DRAMABOT! Be careful!" the were-human whined. She was lying in Emry's lap, the magnolia spirit calmly scratching her ears as her eyes pulsed red.
"Sounds like someone needs to take Old Yeller out behind the shed." Solid smirked, though he looked rather disgruntled at the scratches in his steel body.
"Anytime." Reikoff grunted, nursing his injured arm.
"Just shut up already." Hallucinogen grumbled, sitting near Essex protectively.
Essex continued healing Rosalind's gashes until they were gone, her eyes slowly returning to light orange between her and Emry's care. Moving on to Reikoff, Essex pulsed nanites through his injured arm, repairing the bone and muscles with neat alacrity.
"Least the kid seems to be able to patch everyone up." Pherelith said with a shrug, tearing off a long strip of duct tape with her teeth and beginning to wrap it around her shoulder, re-attaching her left arm. "Found our ghost, too. [censored], if I knew it'd have been that easy we could have just -"
Glares from Reikoff and Hal made the zombie girl snicker and raise her hands placatingly. "Jeez, calm down. Bad Luck Bot seems to have enough opportunity to get herself killed without my intervention anyway."
"Bad luck bot..." Rosie mused, her tail wagging. "Yeah...I like that. Thanks Phe-phe."
"So anyhow." Solid said, pushing off the wall. "Now that we saw this ghost, where do we go from here? I mean we've utterly destroyed this room. Dr. West is going to [censored] a brick when he sees this place."
It was true. The room was in a shambles. Blood spattered everywhere, the walls scorched from explosions, some small fires still going. Essex sighed miserably. She had no idea how she could explain all this...
Emry stood, nodding his thanks to the little pink robot even as she healed his wounds as well. "Well, the ghost has shown herself." he said, tightening his left glove. "She obviously has a vested interest in the protection of Selene."
"So? So do we." Hal said defensively.
"Most of us, anyway." Reikoff said, eyeing the Dread Trio with what only could be described as a tactical hatred.
Solid chuckled and slung his gun over his back. "Now now, Commander." he said. "Don't you know that when you kill each other, you're only hurting yourselves?"
Reikoff gave the assault drone a look akin to a man who was quite willing to strangle a box of kittens with his bare hands.
"Eesh." Solid muttered. "Forget I said anything. Hey Hal, what're you doing?"
Hallucinogen had wandered over to the far wall, where he had found the discolored area that Reikoff had viewed earlier.
". . .I think there's something here." he muttered to himself. "This part of the wall seems. . .different."
Rosalind trotted up next to the boy and folded her arms, sniffing the air. "Oooh, yeah." she said. "The smell is a lot stronger here, too."
Reikoff got to his feet. "...I'm against going in there on principle." he said. "But if we've already utterly destroyed this room, I doubt there's much worse we can do."
"W-wait!" Essex cried, trotting in front of them and holding her arms out in front of the discolored spot. "Dr. West...Dr. West wouldn't hide anything without a really good reason. And whatever's back here...it might be really important. We've already decimated this room....and I don't know if he had things in here that were...I don't know. Irreplaceable."
"He did." Reikoff muttered.
"...Ah..." Essex faltered a second before continuing. "All I'm asking..." she said, clasping her hands together and looking at the Dread Trio, Solid, Hal, and Reikoff pleadingly, "...is that we're careful. I really...really...don't want Papa any madder at me than he's already going to be."
"Don't worry Essex." Hal said, trotting up to her and taking her hand. "This wasn't your fault." His eyes turned up to glare daggers at Rosalind.
"You wanna go, cradle-robber?" Rosie snarled in Hal's face before Solid cheerfully conked the two of their foreheads together.
"Owwww!!" Rosie and Hal seemed to yell in unison, one turning to Emry with a pouting whine and the other turning to Essex's worried embrace (perhaps a little too quickly).
"Here's what I say." Solid said, raising a finger. "Now that we've got most of the fight out of our system, we just do what we came to do, all right? No random explosions, no destruction of property or anything. We just find where this ghost is coming from and ask her to quit buggin' Ess."
"Fair enough." Phe said with a shrug, which prompted her left arm to thump to the ground again. "God DAMMIT." she snarled, slinging her gun over her shoulder and going for her duct tape again.
"Now then." Reikoff and Emry approached the doorway simultaneously, offering each other a mild glare before they got to work. Emry closed his eyes and rested his hand on the discolored area, feeling out the structure and seeing if it was solid by checking if there were roots on the other side of the wall. Reikoff, on the other hand, narrowed his critical gaze behind his eyegear and felt along the borders of the discoloration.
"...This is a door." Emry stated matter-of-factly.
"Yep." Reikoff said. "Accessing electrical controls....now."
With that, the discolored area seemed to seamlessly separate into two panels that slid silently into slits, integrated into the inner ends of the wall.
The group suddenly blinked as they were greeted with...warm sunlight?
"...What is this place...?" Emry barely breathed as he stepped forward, his crimson eyes scanning.
"Ain't it obvious?" Solid said, stepping in behind him.
It was a contained botanical wonderland. Trees and plants, vines, densely planted together and thriving. It was warm, but not hot, and solar simulation lamps hung in a cluster from a far corner of the ceiling of the expansive room.
"...Marvin Gardens." Essex whispered.
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace