"Ah reckon tha' makes's much sense as any oth'r Praetorian yap." Curtis shrugged. "But wha'd ya mean 'bout mah Praetorian, what's up wit--"
Curtis staggered forward as a massive Katana pierced his chest, poking out of his front. He glared down at it. He hadn't even winced.
He still had a moment before he realized the pain he was in.
Using this to full effect, he swung his pistol around his head, smashing his invisible assailant squarely in the face. The stealth faded.
And there before them stood a Curtis that looked like a Ninja.
"Are yew [censored] me?" Curtis groaned, holding his hand over his gaping wound while his armor administered regenerative drugs to his system. The Gunslinger brought up his other pistol and fired point-blank at the Ninja. In a fraction of a second, however, the flat of the blade had been brought to the bullet, and it pinged off into the distance.
Curtis wasn't going to let his opponent take the advantage just because of that. "Shoot 'em!" He roared.
The Gunslinger immediately emptied both of his clips into his assailant as the Malta Operatives present began to hose him with a stream of deadly accurate fire. The Ninja seemed to be able to stave off pain even better than he could. Throwing his .44 Magnums off to the side and drawing a twin set of Colt Pythons, Curtis fired two beautifully aimed shots at his target's kneecaps, but those were just as easily deflected.
Curtis took a step back and snarled in disgust at his Praetorian. "Yew're a frickin' joke, ya knows that?"
The TacOps silently circled around the clearing. The Ninja seemed to lower his sword as Curtis insulted him.
"Yer a yeller-bellied two-bit coward punk who couldn' 'old 'is own in a straight fight if'n 'e 'ad 'is 'ole [censored] army wit 'em."
The Ninja stood straight, frowning severely. He began to speak.
"Y-"
Curtis, two Tactical Operators, a Tactical Engineer, and an Operations Officer filled him with holes.
"Suckers fall fer it ev'ry time, heh heh. S' tell me 'bout th' wimp ah just shot dead."
((Oh. I feel nervous posting here... As if I don't belong. Meep!))
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Destiny Rewritten winced as her footsteps echoed audibly in the silence. A loud crack could be heard in the distance. Pausing momentarily to reassure herself she had not been seen, she continued to walk, concentrating her powers to bend the light around her further still, cloaking herself to even the most perceptive enemies. Staying close to the shadows, she kept her eyes fixed ahead, hardly acknowledging the dilapidated surroundings of Boomtown as she neared her destination.
Approaching her destination, a place in the far reaches of the hazard zone known only as the Pit of Despair, Destiny couldn't help but shiver, feeling not only the freezing temperatures that came with nightfall, but the spirits that remained trapped in the area, their deaths in terrible agony... Shaking her head to clear off the negative thoughts, she approached the door ahead slowly, all of her senses fully awake. She grabbed hold of the doorknob, and turned.
It didn't budge at all. Raising her eyebrow, she twisted the other way. Still nothing. Behind her, she could hear a faint fluttering noise.
"Weird... This is the place." She knocked on the door, then retracted her hand instantly. "Geez, nice move, Kylie. Just let them know you're here, why don'tcha?" She muttered under her breath.
"Yes, why don't you let them know you're here?" A smooth, cultured voice behind her spoke. Destiny spun around, startled. The moon had momentarily passed behind clouds, and her eyes, straining against the dark backdrop of the sky, eventually made out of the outline of a crouched figure above, barely visible save two faintly glowing eyes. The two examined each other, one hidden in shadows and the other hidden with invisibilty.
Destiny opened her mouth to speak, but found herself interrupted as the other figure leapt down from the wall, landing gracefully in front of her. Light illuminated them both once more as the clouds overhead parted, and with that, she could see exactly who this stranger was.
It was like looking in a mirror. Destiny gasped.
The stranger was an exact copy of her, down to the X-shaped scar above her right brow. Long raven hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, with a few rebellious strands hanging limply in front of a youthful, elegant face. Brown eyes stared into hers with an intensity that bordered madness. And to top if off, they even wore the same spandex costume, billowing black cape in similar fashion as well. Kylie dropped her invisibility as the other stepped closer, forcing her to step back.
"Who are you?" Destiny murmured, as she felt her back hit the wall behind her. The other remained silent, still watching her. Analyzing her.
"You." The other breathed. "Kylie..."
Destiny, although shocked, nodded slowly. As strange as the situation was, she kept her calm. Having been in the hero business for years, she had encountered many a magical beings, friends and foe alike. This being in front of her now, could just be another one. Destiny let out of a long sigh and watched with curiousity as the other tilted its head, still watching her every move.
"Listen, this is going to sound weird, but there's only one of me. So, whatever you are, maybe you should stop goofing around and-"
"My name is Destiny Deceived. I'm going to kill you." The other spoke. Destiny froze. A large grin broke over Deceived's face.
"And I'm going to enjoy it."
Greta looked comically startled at the sound of dozens - no, hundreds - of bullets peppering Praetorian Curtis. Afterwards, she cleared her throat, adjusting her labcoat a bit to regain her composure.
"Well, cowboy..." she said with a moment of thought, "That person whom you so ...efficiently dispatched, was the premier assassin of a small cell of heroic supremacists. They claimed to fight for metahuman rights, but were actually trying to subjugate the non-metahuman population, citing 'survival of the fittest' and using their superhuman abilities as excuses to act below the ranks of the foul."
Carefully nudging the corpse with the toe of her boot, she raised a blonde eyebrow.
"Ja, I suppose it takes one with as swift of reflexes to accomplish this, yes? As far as I recall, he was not himself a biological metahuman, but was considered strong enough to be among their ranks."
Glancing upwards, she took pause.
Essex was finished being repaired, and gave the Engineer a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek before hurrying over to Curtis, giving him a quick burst of nanites, and promptly beginning to worry over his chest wound.
"We don't know if he had any sort of chemical on his sword..." Essex mused in worry. "Let me run a few detoxifying sequences on the wound just in case. In the meantime....what should we do?"
Greta shuffled her feet.
"...I would...very much like to go to Daniel's laboratory." she spoke up meekly. "I may be able to be of some use..."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
Nester Durj was flying through Independence Port when the truth of the day's craziness struck him.
Literally.
A pair of radioactive beams hammered into his back and he started feeling nauseas. Spinning around in the air, he looked up to see what had hit him.
It looked like an android... Like something out of a movie. It's eyes glowing green, over a shiny steel frame, the figure approached slowly, its hands glowing menacingly.
"Can I help you?" Nester shouted at him, "Or am I to just assume you're an enemy?"
"Oh, I am the epitome of your enemy," it replied in a similar, yet mechanical voice, "I am Jrud Retsen!"
Nester's sweat went cold. Cobalt Black had warned the Grey's Army heroes about what Praetorians he knew of. On Praetorian Earth, Kingdale was destroyed and another territory of Shadowhunter. However, some, like Kipland "Cobalt Black" Durj, Nester "Jrud Retsen" Durj, and Sheldon "Dross" Wallace, were able to escape and toady up to the Praetorian generals.
Apparently, Jrud was one of Antimatter's apprentices. A machine, except (maybe) the brain. Purportedly, he was also a walking, talking, flying and thinking bomb, much like his cherished patron. Apparently, Antimatter liked inflicting his condition in whatever way, shape or form he could into his underlings. Nester wasn't too sure of the idea.
Of course, maybe that's why "Dross" joined up with Neuron. The opposite of Synapse seemed to merely demand insane genius. Both this world's and that one's seemed to have ample amounts of it.
"What do you want, Jrud?" Nester didn't bother arguing names with his double, it just wasn't pertinent.
"I've come to warn you," the machine didn't smile, but Nester could hear it in the voice, "Your city has three days..."
"Three days until what?"
"I level it."
"What?" Nester gestured to the walls surrounding them, "This city's been hit by nuclear blasts before, Jrud! The walls do a pretty handy job of keeping everybody outside the blast zone pretty safe! Even if you could initiate an atomic detonation within your person, you certainly can't level the city!"
The machine started laughing and extended its hands at the defender. Nester braced for another blast, but it never came. A dark black purple cloud connected with Jrud and sent him careening through the air to crash land on a warehouse roof.
"Nobody messes with my son!" Ezekiel Durj shouted from a rooftop, "You okay, Nester?"
"Doin' good, Dad!" the healer shouted back, "Come on! We gotta detain him before-"
A group of Antimatter's clockwork hordes, Nuons, Mesons, and apparently there was a Baryon among them as well, were storming to the warehouse. Jrud recovered and glared up at them.
"Three days!" he shouted, "You have that long to stop me!"
"Come on!" Nester started flying toward his double and his father simply disappeared.
A dark cloud appeared in front of the fleeing android and wrapped a portion of itself around the offender. It didn't stop Jrud (Nester wished he could ignore "hold" effects like that), but it did slow him down significantly. A flurry to the chest and a hard, dark-energy charged punch later, and the machine fell back.
"You cannot stop me!" Jrud shouted, his eyes blazing angrily at the cloud in front of him.
"Sounds to me you need a round taken out of you," Zeke's voice came from the cloud.
"What?" Jrud's head shook a little inhumanly, "How? No! You're dead! You're dead!"
A blast of radiation slammed into Zeke and he stumbled a little.
"You can't be him! You can't be!"
The android fired radioactive eye beams and was trying to burn a hole into Zeke's armor. The warshade responded with a dark eye beam of his own. Nester was suddenly behind his double and launching his own assault of radiation.
"We might just get him!" Nester cheered, his defensive and focusing matrices keeping him and Zeke safe and hitting more often, "Keep it up, dad!"
"I see..." Retsen almost hissed, "Your father. Not mine... NRAH!"
A torrent of radioactive particles slammed into Zeke and caused him to stumble. Jrud started making for one of the windows on the roof and a group of the Praetorian machines suddenly burst through to protect their charge.
"Damn it!" Nester shouted and fired off his eye beams as a swarm of energy bombarded the two heroes, "Run away!"
Zeke teleported away and Nester tried to fly as hard as he could. Unfortunately, the beams traveled faster than him. Nester kicked on his Healing Wave generator, hoping the burst of nanites reconstructing his flesh would keep him alive just long enough...
Suddenly, he was wrapped in a dark cloud and several hundred feet away from where he'd just been. Stopping just short of hitting a wall, he turned back to see his father disappearing again. The warehouse was still in view, and a wall of a neighboring building had been so heavily irradiated it was glowing green. The Antimatter Clockwork were charging in his direction.
"Oh ma-"
Nester disappeared again. Zeke repeated this until he was able to route the two of them back to the Universal Supergroup Base Teleporter.
"We gotta get back to the base and coordinate a plan of attack!" Zeke shouted, "This is insane! Who was that? Why was he screaming about me being dead and not his father?"
"That was me, dad," Nester gasped, "the anti-me... That was Jrud Retsen... Like Cobalt warned us about."
"Well," Zeke sighed, "Where's Cobalt? Where's my third son?"
"That's a good question."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
"Ah reckon tha'd be feasible. Y'all gather 'round..." Curtis beckoned for the group to assemble, the Malta Operatives pointing their guns into the heavy brush around the perimeter. Curtis took something from his pocket and held it above his head.
"Teleport incomin' ta Romeo Foxtrot Papa!" Curtis radioed in. There was a buildup of light, and a crackling mass of energy covered the group.
"'Ere we go!" Curtis yelled, and suddenly they were all standing in Repliforce Paragon.
((*plays FF7 Mako Reactor bombing music*))
Essex clung close to Curtis during the teleport, and Greta glanced around wide-eyed once they were in the laboratory.
"Mein Gott." she whispered. "What a grand facility this --"
The next moment, the teleport chamber erupted in lights and sirens. The sound of swiftly moving machinery and failsafes sliding into place.
"Oh no!" Essex shrieked. "Something set off the security system!"
The little android practically flew out of Curtis' arms and towards a nearby control panel, where she began typing furiously. Red lights flashed around her, and she looked as though she was about to panic.
"I can't disable it!" she cried. "Only Papa can disable a K Sequence - it's the highest security clearance! We need to make our way to the inner laboratory!"
Working frantically, she tossed her helmet back onto her head, and her eyes began glowing green as she attempted to hack into the system.
"Oh, jeez..." she fretted. "I'm going to set off all sorts of firewalls here, but -- I think I can hack the security measures just enough to give us a little time...!"
She glanced behind her at the Malta with a stressed, yet elated little grin.
"Just don't leave me behind!" she teased.
Greta lowered her goggles and quickly tied her hair back and out of her face.
"Ja, we must hurry..." she said, holding her labcoat sleeve over her face. "There are fumes coming from those vents which look terribly caustic...And I do not know my way around here, so..."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((Zis?))
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
(Ahh what the hell, might as well join into the action)
Doctor Victor Von Kaos smiled as he looked out the window of his attack gunship. The day's chaos had allowed hundreds of villains to enter Paragon City. Normally he would have taken advantage of this, except for what had happened about half an hour ago.
His own Praetorian self contacted him, apparently trying to form some sort of alliance. Kaos was of course skeptical, but the chance to meet his praetorian in and of itself seemed worth it. Besides, if his Preatorian self was anything like him, he would try to interfere with Kaos' plans, and that was unacceptable.
The gunship was about a mile from the target coordinates in the Talos area when the alarm went off.
"Missile lock" the pilot shouted back to Kaos. Kaos' eyes widended.
He'd been such a fool, thinking that his alternate self would have been honorable and played fair.
The missile was coming in from the ground and because of all the superheroes flying around and all the gunfire there was no room to maneuver. Kaos braced himself for the explosion he knew would come...
Seconds later the gunship came crashing down on the roof of the same building that the freaks had been fighting the bobcat in.
Kaos was shocked the gunship hadn't exploded. Still, the crash had shook the building like an earthquake and the gunship had actulally gone thorugh the roof, leaving the front end poking throught hte ceiling of the top floor. Kaos slowly got up and checked on the pilot.
Dead. Kaos cursed as he and the small squad of soldiers he had with him crawled onto the roof of the building.
Most of the Grey's Army heroes were holed up in the supergroup base. Zeke looked over the ones who'd made it and sighed.
Sheldon Wallace and Ryat66 were busy fighting at the North Wall of Steel Canyon along with a large force of military, Freedom Corps, Police, and other heroes. Apparently, one of the hardest pushes the Praetorians made had been into Boomtown, and the forces were having trouble holding them back.
Ryat99 was off doing God knew what.
Randy had disappeared. It was like he went to Peregrine Island and just dropped off the face of the map.
Kipland kept calling in with reports on what he was seeing, and none of it was any good.
Cory could have been dead, for all they knew.
Random portals and dimensional tears were popping up across the city. They didn't always spit out invaders, but they were enough of a threat that heroes hopped to to lock them down. That was usually when the trouble started, and the heroes would find themselves ambushed.
All across Paragon City, Praetorians were warring with their counterpart heroes. Apparently, in the opening hours of the conflict, Infernal (the Praetorian) had ambushed the hero version of himself and stolen his axe. Another hero (with some help from unknown sources) had apparently recovered the weapon and returned it to the Vindicator's classic location, but there hadn't been any word on the heroic Infernal's condition. There were also reports of Citadel duking it out with Siege on the roof of the Green Line in Talos Island and Ms. Liberty dueling with Dominatrix on top of the Atlas Globe.
Now, Grey's Army had Matt McGinty, Nester and Ezekiel Durj, Charlene, Cedric, Roland and Sarah "Snuffy" Grey all holed up in the base, licking their wounds and preparing for another push into the city to help out as best as they could.
"I gotta get my axe back," Cedric growled, "I know the other 'me' has something to do with it being gone... Maybe he's got something to do with all of this."
"Maybe Cobalt has something to do with all of this," Matt hissed, "We trusted that guy, fought beside him... Hell, we even partied with him! Look at this mess... If he was a spy... He could have been using all that time to be gathering intel on us!"
"I don't know," Ezekiel muttered, "Something about the kid... Something about his eyes..."
"Look," Nester held his hands up to his companions to calm them down, "We have no idea what's going on, here. This is only the beginning, and it's not even noon yet! Look, we know where the trouble areas are, let's get to them and help out as we can. Matt! You should get to the Hollows... Your fighting prowess will probably be a real benefit there. Sarah, you go with him, make sure he doesn't wind up killed. The rest of you are heading to Steel Canyon, where you'll help the efforts to hold the zone. Dad and I have another mission we have to take care of."
"Not me," Cedric raised his hand, "I gotta square things with my Praetorian before I go trying to fight anybody."
"What mission are you two doing?" Roland arched an eyebrow at his friend, "And why can't any of us help?"
"Look, it's personal," Nester sighed, "It involves my Praetorian..."
"So? We're all probably gonna run into our opposites out there. Well, maybe not me, because Cobalt said he was probably dead, but still! What's the big freaking deal?"
"Jrud Retsen may have put a plot to destroy Paragon into action..." Zeke explained, "I don't think it's anything so simple as a big nuclear explosion... And we have to locate him and stop him before his plan goes into effect. He gave us three days."
"Jebus," Cedric intoned, "How are we supposed to stop that?"
"Bombs," Roland suddenly barked, "The random portals... The Praetorians everywhere... They're planting bombs! Maybe Jrud is the remote!"
"One of the remotes, anyway," Nester shrugged, "But if we stop him, we'll probably have access to a way to stop the rest. Jrud's a machine, and we'll probably be able to hack that machine..."
"How about this..." Roland started heading for the base teleporter, "I'll get in contact with the heroes of the various zones... Let them know what to look for..."
"Nester and I will look for Jrud," Zeke offered.
"Sarah and I will help try to take out the Hollows portal," Matt stated.
"Mom and I are going to Steel, then," Cedric shrugged, "But I won't be helping at the wall, Ma. Not at first, anyway... Cedric the Gray is there. I gotta fight him... I gotta get my axe back."
"I understand, honey," Charlene hugged her son, "All I ask is that you give me grandchildren..."
The group looked quizzically at the Grey matriarch. Cedric's face screwed up in perturbation.
"Uh... That's a Helluva long way off, Ma..."
"Then get through the day, son, so you don't disappoint my request," Charlene smiled wickedly at her son, "I want grandchildren in my lifetime, Cedric..."
She turned to Sarah and Roland.
"From all of you."
The three siblings glanced uneasily to each other. Roland made a side comment about the sister having the best shot so far, what with her wedding coming up, and Cedric muttered that he'd do what he could. Ezekiel just started chuckling.
"Do you want grandchildren, Dad?" Nester asked as they reached the teleporter.
"From you and Kip?" Zeke shuddered, "Hell no! I think our bloodline's tainted the world as much as it should."
"Life has a funny way of telling ya different, huh?"
Zeke stared at Nester.
"You didn't get that crazy Carnie girl pregnant, did you?"
"No!" Nester's eyes darted back and forth, "I think..."
----
Cory Simmons floated above Brickstown and surveyed the damage. Fires had sprouted up where Praetorians had overturned cars or started fighting with the local denizens. He thought it was kind of comical how the Freakshow didn't differentiate between Praetorians and normal heroes. A number of costumed leaders and infiltrators met quite terrible ends at the hands of the cybernetic monsters.
"I've been waiting," he heard a voice in his head, "Come, and we shall duel."
"That's the plan, Cory," he thought back and started flying in the direction of the prison.
Hovering over Ziggursky's moat, the two glared at each other. The Praetorian Cortland Simmons was a demon-human hybrid, with flapping wings, hooves for feet, and even a wicked looking tail. Fire wrapped about the body and wafted from his form. Oddly, it appeared as if ice was dribbling from his fingertips. Another odd thing about the Praetorian, his wings were feathered. They were black, to be certain, but they were still feathered.
Cory figured it would only be proper if he met his foe in a similar form. His skin tensed and he felt his whole being shudder. The transformation wasn't painful, as one would expect, but felt more like a "flexing" all over his body. He, too, was suddenly wrapped in flames, but these were more for show than anything else. A pair of great demonic wings extended from his back and horns to match the Praetorian's sprouted from his head and shoulders. Most of his body (like his legs) stayed human, and his skin retained its human feel, as opposed to the Praetorian's demonic scales.
"Well..." Praetorian Cory Simmons hissed, "It seems you're ready to fight... Are you ready to die?"
"We must all be ready," Prime Cory mused, "For one never knows when Death will take us."
A fireball appeared in his hand, and he hurled it at his enemy. Formalities were over, it was time to get on with the war.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
The reploid code-named Arc-Jump E-3-B, informally known as AJ to her friends and 'family', was lounging in her room in a low-power state. She wasn't in her pod, but there was next to nothing happening in the base and she was so board that she put herself into a power save mode, just to pass the time.
The alarm jolted her out of her nap with such force, the electric generating tombot fell out of the chair with a startled cry.
"Oww... ok, someones getting an impeadence test for that." She grumbled as she got up, rubbing at the brused synthskin on her hip.
What the toast is going on here?
Essex, she knew was out in the park playing with her flowers, where the others were, she wasn't as sure of. Deciding that her 'little' sister would most likely be able to find out what was wrong, or at least shut the alarms off, AJ began making her way to the teleport chamber.
------
In Steel Canyon, the Paragon City University was a den of frantic motion and confusion with students running every which way and screaming.
The arrival of the Preatorians didn't help much.
The lumbering clockwork-like machines soon made their presence felt howerver, and the normal tone of the campus took on a paniced edge as the normal students made for cover.
On the second floor of the west wing, in her Applied Writting class, Vironica Halie looked out the window with a raised eye-brow.
"Huh, I know I said I'd give anything to get out of that Trig test today, but this is a bit much."
Tapping a sequence on her wristwatch, the young woman burst into flame even as the black nanoweave undersuit she wore at all times shifted and changed her normal skirt and blouse into the red padded armor, thigh-high boots, gray biker's jacket with matching fingerless gloves and the red lower face mask with gold trimming of her 'work clothes'.
"Time to earn next months tution fees." Vironica Blaze murrmured as she opened the window. With a jaunty wave to her classmates, she stepped on to the air and blasted toward the closest machine in a trail of flame.
A quickly lanched blast of flame burst against the silver armored machine as Blaze closed in with a scimitar of fire manifasting in her hand.
Across the quad, another young woman leaned against the side of one of the lion statues marking the enterence to tha tmain admin building. Vironica Halie was tasked with passifying the collage but she felt no need to do anything herself. The toys Neuron provided were doing well enough.
She moved the sleave of her black leather jacket to look at her watch when the sound of one of the machine's exploding got her attention. Looking over, Blaze saw herself, the reds and blacks of her costume were reveresed, but it was her.
"Oh.. this'll be fun!" She charged to woman even as orange and blue flames licked around her.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
"Mad Matt McGinty?" the guard at the Atlas Park Hollows entrance almost shouted incredulously, "And you're not one of... Them?"
"Yeah, I know," Mattock started chuckling, "If I were, I probably wouldn't have that card. I mean, you guys know how to spot a fake, right?"
"Right," the guard handed back the identification, "Well, you and your friend are clear to enter. Be careful, though. It's a lot worse in there."
The police had established a small fortification where they'd initially placed their sand bag walls and guard towers after the Hollowing. Now there was a makeshift palisade composed of wooden walls, fencing, steel roofing and overturned cars. Riot Police guards, a few military personnel and some Freedom Corps soldiers conducted patrols. There were also a couple of those heavy duty enforcement drones.
"It's not going to help us," David Wincott sighed, "There's too many of them building for a concerted effort, and too few of us."
He gestured to the clusters of heroes gathered around.
"And most of them are still wet behind the ears... They came here to help with the Outcasts and the Trolls, not Praetorians..."
"Maybe the Outcasts and the Trolls can help us," Sarah chirped, "I mean, we could get in contact with Frostfire, or Atta... They broke outta prison again, right?"
"Yeah, but it looks like they've all got their crews lying low until this whole thing blows over. Then they'll probably try to curry favor with the Praets..." Wincott paused to sigh, "Or worse, they'll join the Praetorians, and give them current info on the city, or they might try to sabotage-"
"Okay, okay!" Matt held up his hand for David to calm down, "Look, man... Don't get freaked out just yet. I know life's been rough on ya for a while, now."
"You have no idea..."
"Well, look, there's gotta be some more veteran heroes organizing here..."
"Yeah, they're all holed up over there," the officer pointed to a corner where caped and glowing heroes seemed to be hammering out a plan.
There were less than ten of them.
"Great," Matt muttered, "Well, Sarah, let's get over there and introduce ourselves."
----
Cedric was bounding through a back alley in the eastern portion of Steel Canyon. Suddenly, he noticed a familiar face.
"Well well," he muttered, "Look who we have here..."
Dominatrix stopped in her tracks and almost did a double take.
"Small world," she muttered at the tanker, "You here to submit to being my plaything?"
"No... Shouldn't you be fighting your better on top of the Atlas globe?"
"That's a good idea..." the Praetorian Princess mused, "But before I do that, I'll need an appetizer..."
Cedric popped the chains out of his wristguards.
"Ooh," Dominatrix giggled a little, "I didn't know you were into that!"
"I'm not into whips and chains," Cedric growled, "I'm just here to dish out pain... You hurt my brother, little missy, and that deserves to get a beatdown!"
"That chubby little fart was your brother!"
"Rah!" Cedric arced the right chain hard at the Praetorian, causing the metal links to spark when they hit the concrete. Unfortunately, they didn't hit her, and she was running up the wall, flipping through the air, and casting her whip (that dreaded, evil thing) at Cedric. The left chain worked well enough to deflect it, though.
"So, you're not just some thug with an axe," she giggled, "There's some elegance to you after all?"
"Not elegant," Cedric cinched up the chains a little around his hands, leaving meter-long trails of links while wrapping his fists in chains, "Quite brutal, actually!"
Cedric launched an insane whirlwind attack with this last phrase, whipping his chains about and filling the alley with steel, sparks, pain and destruction. Trashcans exploded with the impact, barrels tipped and the dumpster Dominatrix hopped onto to get away from the flailing mess had it's cover cleaved off at the hinges.
Panting, Cedric looked up to the roof to see Dominatrix looking down smugly at him.
"Where do you think you're going?" the tanker shouted, "Get back down here and take your whoopins!"
"I think not," she replied, "You've got much to learn before you get the... pleasure... of dealing with me again..."
She snapped her fingers and a group of black-leather bodysuit-clad individuals appeared on the rooftop with her. Cedric's face dropped as he looked them over.
"Gimps?"
"Pre- What?" Dominatrix glared down at him, now, "Insolent cur... Katie... Do to him what you do best..."
"Yes, mistress," a girl with pink pig tails poking out of her mask replied happily, "We live to serve your will!"
"Good... Now, I have a date with my sister... I hope you boys and girls can stay entertained with this little morsel."
"He looks positively scrumptious!" Katie purred.
"Aw, come on!" Cedric barked, "You're just gonna leave?"
"Like I said, you're not worthy..." Dominatrix started walking away, "Maybe when my playthings have made you into their plaything... But that's when the hard work begins..."
With that, the fetish-wear-clad goons of Dominatrix hopped into the alley with Cedric. Katie ignited what looked like a torch and the others revealed an assortment of studded clubs. If they'd expected him to be scared, they were in for disappointment.
"Okay... Okay, gimps..." Cedric wrapped the chains around his forearms, "You ever see the movie, Rough Paper Stories?"
The group stopped simultaneously. The minions turned to their pink-haired leader.
"No..." she trailed off a little, "What's so special about that?"
"Nothing," Cedric's smile broadened and his eyes glittered with a dangerous light, "It's just that this is going to be a whole new experience for you!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Dr. Kaos looked up at the sky. In the distance was what looked like someone with a cape and a jetpack.
He turned to his second in command.
"When he comes in range I want you to open fire, show him no mercy." With that Kaos backed up to allow his men to get in position. No one shot him down and lived to tell anyone about it.
"Les' move it, troops!" Curtis barked, the infantry in tow sheparding Greta through the base towards its inner labs. Curtis' Gunslinger Cowl was useful for more than accenting his ruggedness, as a chemical treatment in the cloth neutralized the gasses passing through it as the noxious fumes enveloped the group. The Malta Operatives, being highly trained in dealing with Chemical attacks, almost instantly produced and secured powerful gas-masks.
That only left Greta in danger.
Curtis led the group down the hall double-time, the synchronized boots of the Malta Operatives and the clanking of their gear echoing down the corridors. The thick clouds of gas now covering the area hampered his vision severely, and only his intuition and reflexes saved him from slamming into AJ as he quickly rounded a corner.
These same reflexes, however, involved bringing both Colt .45s up and pulling back the hammers in a fraction of a second, and he only realized who it was after completing his entire motion.
"Er, howdy AJ." He grinned, awkwardly lowering his pistols. "We was jus' passin' through with some Praetorian cargo..."
((Why must they censor the proper word for pulling back the hammer...))
Essex skidded around the corner with the rest of them, very nearly bowling over AJ even as Curtis readied his weapons.
"AJ!" she cried out over the sirens. "Something's set off the security and we're going into lockdown! We have to get to the inner lab..."
Greta, in the middle of the cluster of Malta, was looking around wide-eyed. "Amazing...!" she could only utter at the technology, even as she hurried along. When her eyes fell on Arc Jump, she recoiled slightly. "The fission module!" she gasped. "We are all doomed!"
With a quick glance back, Essex sighed, and then turned back to AJ. "This is Praetorian Zealstorm; she's on our side and she probably thinks you're evil, but I promise she's really nice!"
Pausing for a moment after that statement, she blushed a little.
"And I mean not nice like I usually mean, but, like...really nice. Actually nice, you know? But anyway...We're going to get killed if we don't get Papa to shut down the K sequence!"
With that, she zipped forward through some doors and began working on another control console, calling back. "Make your way through the workshop and head to the lockdown chamber near Mom's garden! It's the most secure area in the base, Papa HAS to be there!"
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"Nester..." Ezekiel radioed his son, "I just had a terrible thought... What if Retsen knows about Mindy?"
"Oh crap!" was the reply.
Nester tore off through Steel Canyon, searching desperately for his apartment. Spotting it, he flew up to the window and started tapping on it.
"Yeah?" Mindy Jakobson chirped as she opened the window, "What's wrong, hun?"
"Mindy, I need you to come with me!"
"Why?"
"It's too dangerous for you to be here!"
"Does it have something to do with that robot back there?" she pointed behind Nester and he spun around.
His father was busy having a fist fight with the gray and green machine that had issued the challenge not two hours ago.
"Wow, Dad still fights like he's twenty-five..." Nester intoned.
"Looks like he's got things well in hand," Mindy pulled her floating boyfriend back into the apartment, "What's going on out there? I saw tanks driving through the streets heading north!"
"Simply put, the Praetorians are attacking..."
"Oh my God!"
"We don't know what they're here for, we don't know what this is about, and we don't know how long this is going to last or just how many forces they're going to throw at us..."
"So..." Mindy's eyes darted back and forth from right to left, "I get the feeling you have a request to make..."
"Mindy..." Nester gripped her shoulders, "I want you to get to the Grey's Army base and hide out in there until this is all over."
"What about my friends?"
"I..." Nester's voice got stuck in his throat, "I don't know..."
"If I told you who to look for, would you get them for me?"
"I... Maybe..."
"Please?"
Nester bit his lower lip and stared at the floor. Mindy walked up and hugged him before looking up into his eyes.
"Please?"
Nester nodded.
"Hope you know what you're doing, son," Zeke's voice crackled through the communicator, "Retsen got away again. I got lucky though, his entourage got torn to shreds by another group of heroes."
"Alright, Dad," Nester replied, "I'm taking Mindy to the Universal Base Portal."
"Alright, I'm letting these guys know what's up... Sounds like there's a lot of other nasty plots and plans in the works."
"Makes sense," Nester breathed, "Maybe there's a plot or plan for every anti-group in the Praetorian Army..."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
AJ blinked at Curtis, her own hand had clenched in preperation of releasing an electric bolt, of course, seeing Curtis, the tombot doubted she would've gotten her arm halfway up before her optics were turned into vents. She really wondered sometimes if the Maltan gunslinger had cybernetics or something, organics couldn't be that fast.... right?
"Pre-a-what?" She stammered at him as Essex came around with a full squad of Malta and... "Whoa!" Her arm snapped back up with a visibly crackling electric charge.
"The fission module!" Zealstorm gasped. "We are all doomed!"
"Nope jus... wait... what?" AJ wasn't to proud to admit she was lost at the moment. That had not been the response she would've expected from the assassin reploid. Essex's hurried explanation didn't help matters, but the gap in sudden appearances had given AJ time to reassert her personality.
"Uh huh, so by nice you mean this one is not a psychotic witch seeking to examine you internals by the most direct route? Forgive me if I remain doubtful." The silver-haired reploid gave Greta a very dubious, if not out-right hostile look before addressing the remainder of her 'little' sister's words. "Yeah, Doc should be back there, I'll check."
Activating her linear accelerators, AJ was off like a shot, though not nearly at full speed. No way she was leaving Essex in the same hall as Zealstorm, Preatorian or not.
----------
Ronnie had a bare seconds warning to lift her arm to absorb most of the impact of the black and red clad woman. Recoiling slightly, she turned her full attention to her assailant, trusting her flame pulses to deal with the weakened byron.
"Vironica Halie I presume." Her own voice sneered at her.
Ronnie was at a loss for words for a brief second. Sure she had dealt with Preatorian Earth before, even smacked Nuron and Anti-Matter around a bit, but for some reason, the idea that there was an evil version of her just never entered her mind. Her second of hesitation cost her as Blaze launched a fist wrapped in black flames into her stomach. The impact drove the breath out of her and pushed her back, but one didn't get to the point of running jobs at Portal Corps without learning how to take a hit. She hadn't even gotten a foot back before she stopped and hovered.
"Yeah, that me. Nice to meet you. Shame it'll be a short one though. Can't let you be late for your meeting in the Zig." A wave of flame cascaded from her hands to wash over her burning double to her amused laugh.
"Oh please, I know you're smarter then that." The flames cleared, Blaze showing almost no sign that she had even felt it. She smirked at her heroic twin, only to see empty air. "What?" She whirled in circles trying to find Ronnie.
"You're right, I am." Blaze looked up in time to see a burst of black flames impact with her face, blinding her for a few breaths. Above, Ronnie smiled under her mask, the other didn't seem to have much more then a remedial grasp of aerial combat tactics. Point home team, she thought. She was keenly aware she'd need it. It looked like her twin had turned their natural flame mutation totally inward, sheathing her body in a barrier of flame far superior then the one Ronnie herself had only recently managed. Her time to gain her barrings ended when, with an angry cry, Blaze launched at her airborne sister.
Just as she had thought, unlike her own merging with the thermal currents, Blaze rammed through the air under an explosive burst with a hand clawing toward her. Grabbing the preceding appendage, wincing as the intense flames quickly began to overcome her innate resistance, Ronnie spun, redirecting Blaze's momentum to send her crashing into the hollowed globe in the center of the campus courtyard.
She's even more reckless then I am. Never thought that was possible. Still, it's a good sign, I might actually win this after all.
Pinnacle
Heroes
When in danger, or in doubt; Run in circles, scream and shout.
"Ugh...Erg...Guh!"
Cedric pulled himself onto the roof of the apartment building. Behind him, the unmoving bodies of Dominatrix's personal troops lay, moaning and getting zapped up by the police drones attracted to the tags the young tanker left on them.
"Lousy punks," he muttered as he made it to the top, "Whoo! I am invincible!"
"You got that wrong," a familiar voice muttered, "And... You do realize there was a fire escape on the next wall, right?"
Cedric whirled around to see the metal staircase and cursed.
"Aw, geez! Come on!"
His axe hovered in the middle of the rooftop. Cedric licked his lips and approached it. As his hands closed around the hilt, he was struck by lightning.
"Augh!" he choked out as he was knocked into the low wall, "What the Hell!?"
"You're such an idiot," Cedric the Gray's voice echoed around him, "All that time, hunting down all those villains... Especially the Banished Pantheon Cult and the Circle of Thorns... You may not understand the significance of the Red Dust Tome or the Obsidian Librum, but I do!"
The axe was still floating in the center of the rooftop. A few more lightning bolts flashed, striking the weapon and after a moment, the blade started to glow an eldritch shade of green. The glow became like a mist that floated off the weapon and coalesced into a shape...
It looked like Cedric, only with longer hair and leather armor. His pants were patchwork leathers and he wore what looked to be a severely outdated Viking helmet. To top it all off, he was merely a ghostly image of the thing he should have been. Cedric the Gray, Chief of the Kingdale Tribe, Champion of the New England region, slain by Battle Maiden when he "got too big for his britches."
"Hello, Cedric," he muttered as he took the hilt of his axe and hefted it into the air, "Welcome to your doom."
A final bolt of lightning struck the axe and electricity cascaded around the two of them. The arcs and sparks coalesced and reformed into a sort of cage of lightning that encased the two of them on the roof. Gray even went so far as to hurl his axe at the access door, which collapsed the structure it contained and cut the only other stairway off. The axe floated back to its owner, almost calmly.
"So, this is like a literal thunderdome..." Cedric Grey muttered.
"Precisely, two men enter..."
"One man leaves."
"You know the rules?" Gray arched an eyebrow at the aloof tanker, "Intriguing."
"What's this about, Gray?" Cedric pushed himself to his feet, "You had a pretty decent life being my weapon... Cutting through robots, bad guys, losers... I didn't disparage you..."
"I deserve to be the one walking and breathing!" Gray shouted, "I at least cared what happened to my people!"
"No you didn't! If you did, you wouldn't have gotten yourself killed trying to take Battle Maiden as a bride! Come on, man, ego is cool and all, but there are plenty of moments where you have to sit down for a moment and tell yourself 'I think I'm getting a swollen head here...'"
"Shut it!" Gray shouted and threw the axe at Cedric.
The Prime tanker ducked and the weapon bounced off the lightning cage with an electric burst before floating back to its owner.
"You may have been content just towing the line," Gray continued, "But I was NOT going to remain trapped within my weapon for any longer than I had to! When I saw Dominatrix running freely in this city, I knew my chance had come!"
"So, you were gonna' leave today anyway," Cedric rolled his eyes at that, "Granted, this would probably have been a lot easier without all of the crazy Praets running around, but you chose the worst possible moment..."
"Silence, you fool!" lightning flashed and struck a few places of the roof, "I bided my time! I memorized choice portions of the Obsidian Librum and the Red Dust Tome! Now, having invoked the proper incantations and rituals, which you're too stupid to do, I might add (or the world would be in your hands!), I have set this contest in motion! Soon, your soul will strengthen my axe, and I will be the one who wanders the worlds in flesh! I will return to War Earth a triumphant conqueror! I will restore my people! I will..."
"Shut up!" Cedric hurled a chain at his twin, "Let's just get this over with!"
"Such wit," Gray replied as he leaped into the air and hurled his axe at Cedric, "Watch yourself, brother, the axe is a Soul Drinker yet again!"
"Woah!" the Prime tanker barely dodged the weapon and rolled across the ground, the chain retracting into his wrist guard.
Gray landed and the axe came back to his hand. He was hardly unsporting, though, and gave the Prime Earth version a chance to stand again.
"You can clearly see, you're outmatched," he chuckled.
"That's a matter of opinion," Cedric replied, then started running at his enemy, "Here, catch!"
He threw the left chain out, that Gray deftly deflected, then threw the right in a side arc. Gray caught the attack on his arm, but hurled his axe at Cedric again. All he needed was one hit, one hit that broke skin, and it was all over.
Cedric ducked the weapon and tackled his double. On the ground, he pinned him and started wailing on Gray's face.
"How does that feel?" he shouted over the popping sounds, "Huh!? Does it feel good? You enjoying this? I hope so!"
Gray suddenly disappeared into the rooftop and Cedric punched the concrete once. Screaming, he got back up on his knees and turned to see if the axe was headed back to him.
It seemed a modicum of concentration was required for the weapon to return to its owner, because it was lying flat on the roof surface. Cedric stood to try to run over and grab it, but suddenly, Gray was floating out of the ground to stand in his way.
"Oh no," he raised one hand and snapped his fingers, "I can't be having that."
There was no way Cedric could have moved fast enough. Maybe if he was a superspeed hero, there was a chance, but it's rather hard to outrun lightning. The cage suddenly shuddered and arcs leaped out for the Prime tanker, struck him, grabbed a hold, and refused to let go. Cedric screamed and dropped to his knees, shaking uncontrollably, the chains that were his weapons of the day shaking and twitching along with him.
"It is unfortunate I had to do that," Gray sighed, "But this fight already bores me. We both knew you were never going to, indeed, you were never meant to win. I am clearly the one meant to exist corporeally. Do you know why, Cedric?"
"I-I," Cedric struggled to speak, but the shocks were making it extremely difficult, "B-because-zz-zz-zz you're a di-di-"
"Please, cease the vulgarities..." Cedric the Gray smiled, "The simple reason is because I have goals, and am willing to do everything and anything I have to to achieve them. Yes, I miscalculated once, and that cost me much of my life... But I see here an opportunity to reverse that mistake and I am not going to pass it up."
He turned around and started crouching down to retrieve hsi weapon. Cedric knew what would happen next.
This was it. Final hand. Unfortunately, the advantage was entirely with the dealer. This was Gray's match, his rules, and he obviously skewed them so Cedric wouldn't walk off this rooftop alive.
Too bad Cedric didn't accept that, and didn't play by those rules. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he willed his left arm to move. He had to act fast, so as soon as he noticed that the arm was responding, he hurled his left chain at Cedric the Gray. The weapon made contact, and suddenly, an arc of lightning was coursing through both of them.
Cedric the Gray screamed as the conflicting energy threatened to disrupt his incorporeal form. Holding himself together through sheer will alone, he reached down for the axe, gripped it, and started to lift it. His body still flickered a little.
The right chain arced down and wrapped around the hilt, just above Gray's grip. The Praetorian glared at it for a moment before Cedric dove and yanked hard to the left. Somehow, that happened to be the moment much of Gray's body went incorporeal, and his face (one of the few parts remaining visible) registered shock.
All Grey had to do was make contact.
Cedric the Gray stopped trying to grasp the weapon as the blade nicked his left wrist. It was a small cut. Any normal cut like that, anybody would pretty much shrug off. However, the effects of a Soul Drinker were not to be ignored. Especially this Soul Drinker.
The lightning dissipated. The fight was over. A trail of what appeared to be colored smoke wafted from Cedric the Gray. He stared, horrified, at Cedric Grey.
"You... You beat me," he whispered hollowly, "Cedric... Brother... I don't know what's going to happen..."
"What?" the Prime Earth champion croaked out, "What do you mean?"
"Through sheer force of will, I stayed in that weapon," Gray's arm was now formless, and had become more of the trail leading to the axe, feeding its insatiable hunger for souls, "It never digested me, and was constantly fed by my anger..."
"So?" Cedric started pushing himself back up, "Get angry again!"
"You wish for me to remain? After all I've done to you?"
"All you've tried to do to me," Cedric corrected, "Last I checked, I'm not dead and I'm still here."
He hefted the axe and slid one of the hooks into the pommel ring. Looking back to his twin, he saw that the effect was getting worse, and that most of Gray's torso was being drawn into the blade.
"Cedric," Gray whispered, "You were a worthy opponent..."
"Come on," Cedric shouted as he looked over the edge of the roof, "Don't be like that! You and me, we're tougH! You've got enough fight in ya to beat this thing!"
"It's a void," Gray's voice was growing fainter, "nothing can fill it, and it will sap my will forever..."
"Well, then how about this," there was a roaring in the streets below that worried Cedric, "Say I help you to beat Battle Maiden... Will that help?"
Gray was silent. Cedric turned to see that the last of his opponent had been consumed by the axe. Now, he had to figure out a way to keep it from doing that to villains.
He'd have to do that, later, though. A small army of heavily armored thugs was heading up the fire escape. They looked liek medieval warriors...
"Hey, Gray," he muttered to the weapon.
"Yeah?"
"Good, you're still here... What do you say we go say hello to your killer?"
"What's the point?"
"The point is," Cedric stretched his arms out and grinned as the first "knight" reached the landing below him, "You get some much needed vengeance in, and don't fade out to wherever it is you go feeling like a complete failure."
There was a pause. Cedric smashed the knight off the fire escape and waited for the next moron.
"Alright," Cedric the Gray almost hissed, "I'll hold on that long, at least. If you can grant me vengeance, I can fade away happy."
"Deal!" Cedric leaped off the side of the building and crashed into the middle of the crowd of medieval-seeming soldiers, "Who wants some!?"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((. . . Gah, I can't help myself. T_T Fine. XD I'm here. <_<;; Hope this thread's still going. . .))
((Hi! XD))
"Gah! What's going on!?" exclaimed a frantic voice as the Maltans ran through the Repliforce Paragon base. The voice seemed to come out of nowhere, but it was no surprise to any of them that a little figure covered in green smoke and wearing a gas mask, though it was all an illusion that many of them could see through to an extent, appeared next to Arc Jump out of thin air. It was Hallucinogen, having been invisible again. . . "Essex? Curtis? Wh, wha, ZEALSTORM WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH HER?!"
Hal raised now glowing hands at Praetorian Zealstorm. "Give me a reason not to blast you!"
* * * * * *
"Mooncipher. . . come in. Are you prepared to aid us on the invasion of Earth? FINALLY?!"
"Do not shout, please," the cold, handsome young man with a cruel smile returned into his comm. "Yes, my Lord, I am fully prepared. . . I am, then, to seek out and eradicate my pathetic half-wit of a clone, Moonscribe?"
"Don't use that tone with me, or Tyrant'll have your head!" Marauder's voice returned. "Yes, you're tasked with destroying your other self. . . but he has friends in great number, and much like yourself, is difficult to track. You may need to reduce their number somewhat so as to draw him out. . . and as it happens, there is a hero there without a replica on our world. . . well, there was. But he took his own life, long ago."
"Hallucinogen, that pathetic, emotionally absorbed freak of nature," Mooncipher returned. "Very well, then. He shall be culled in due time. I am heading for Perez as we speak. . . I believe this world may be harboring their version of West there. It is likely that Hallucinogen and Selene are near each other in this world. . . that pathetic moron never did let her out of his sight until he killed himself out of despair she would never notice him. Worthless."
His short black hair slicked back, his glasses gleaming with cold moonlight despite the moon's absence in the sky, and his long deep blue coat flowing in the wind, Mooncipher struck keys on the air as though typing on an unseen keyboard before vanishing without a trace, his coat swishing around him as he disappeared. Another, to fall by his hand. . . he almost regretting having killed his old friend, Brightblaze, and his old rival Silver Eclipse, who dared to challenge his supremacy as the greatest of the lineage of Ancient Egypt. It was sad that so many had to fall for peace to be established. . . an ultimate peace, under the watchful eye of Tyrant.
"Leave her ALONE, Hal!" Essex screamed at him from where she banged frantically on a panel. "It's not Zealstorm! It's her evil twin -- er...her good twin!"
Greta just raised an eyebrow at Hal in nonrecognition. "Is this one the cause of the caustic vapors?" she asked as she sprinted through the base with the Maltans.
"No!" Essex cried. "Now come on! This way!"
The little reploid skimmed at top speed, leading the group of the Malta, Greta, AJ and Hal through the base, barely under sliding-shut doors, over and under rows of laser and machine-gun fire, and finally between a group of massively thick siege doors, just as they crushed closed.
The room they now found themselves in was perfectly dark. The siege doors had closed with a hiss, the room hermetically sealed.
One by one, monitor lights and meters began to light up in all sorts of electric colors, illuminating what had to be the control center of the entire base.
Multiple soft clicks broke the silence.
All at once, a dim floor-based blue light illuminated the room.
"Greetings, Gretchen." West spat from his command seat. Wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted, floor-mounted, even console-mounted automatic weaponry bristled from the command center, all aimed with flawless mechanical accuracy at Greta.
"...I am uncertain how you got this far. But I will not allow you to continue."
He turned about in his chair, facing the group, and paused. Standing tall, he took in the people.
".....Commander Curtis? ....Hal? Essex, Arc Jump...Did you two --"
He hesitated, taking a few steps down.
"...You aren't Zealstorm." he murmured at Greta with some astonishment. "You're...You're just Gretchen."
Greta only stared at the Doctor, a faint pink tinge painting her cheeks.
----------------------------------------------------
Somewhere, outside a courthouse not yet touched by the Praetorians, Evangeline DiBella was eating lunch.
Suddenly, she paused, looking out towards the horizon.
"....What is this?" she murmured to herself, lowering her sandwich in her left hand and raising her right to rest upon her chest. "...Why do I suddenly feel so....sick..."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
((Even if this one loses speed, I still intened to finish at least Grey's Army's and the BWO's involvement.))
Kipland Durj stared out across Peregrine Island. It was chaos. Civvies were holed up inside their homes, terrified of the battle being waged across their neighborhoods.
Hell, even msts of the other villain groups were nowhere to be found, like the Rikti, Malta Group, and even the Nemesis Army. Too bad for that Crey sniper Kip watched faceplant in front of the Recluse's Victory Warzone recruiter. The Ballista started a bit, but otherwise did little to finish the criminal off. A nearby police drone did that.
"Hooooooo-boy! Did you see the distance I got on that!?" an energy blaster hero shouted as he got into Ghost Falcon's face, "I just kept hitting him as he sailed through the air! They should give me a badge for so much distance!"
"Good for you," Ghost Falcon muttered, "Have a cookie..."
"Pft..." the blaster moved on, muttering obscenities before getting sideswiped by a mess of Praetorian clockwork robots. Kip, Ghost Falcon, and a few other heroes rushed in to help the guy, but by the time they cleared the scrap metal away, the blaster was teleporting to the hospital with a lewd gesture for them all.
"I wish they'd screen them for some form of maturity before promoting their security levels," Ghost Falcon sighed, "I'm going back to my station if anybody is in need of my services."
A couple heroes followed him to make deals and dump off extra spells and devices and whatever else other heroes might find useful that they currently didn't. Kip, however, started making his way to Portal Corp.
With all of the insanity going on, they had to know something. A large contingent of Freedom Corps troops and U.S. military soldiers of all types currently had the Portal Corp courtyard blockaded and defended. Sandbag walls and collapsible aluminum towers were being set up wherever the eye could see, and Kip walked up tot he Ballista in charge of the preparations.
"Kipland Durj, Sec level-"
"Forget it, son," the Ballista interrupted him, "We've already sent our counter attack... We'll know soon enough whether or not they succeeded."
"Is that why I can't reach my boss?" the scrapper asked as he tried to shake off his red-tinged vision, "Was Randall Grey among the heroes sent?"
"I don't know, you'd have to talk to the Portal techs. Look, if you want to help out, help put up some walls or something, okay? Otherwise, just get out of the way."
"I can't blame him for being curt," Kip muttered as he made his way for Tina Macintyre, "But what an a-"
"Mr. Durj!" Tina called to him as he approached.
"You recognize me? I thought..."
"Communicator," she held up the device which showed his name to her, "I feel it usually saves time."
"So, what's going on here?"
"Simply put, the Praetorians are attacking. Just a few groups in the city proper, a couple massive armies in the danger zones except the Rikti Crash Site, Striga Isle, and Perez Park... The fairly obvious conflict in the first two is explanation enough, but we're still scratching our heads on why they haven't been able to push into Perez... Maybe it's the same reason they can't get through the southern region of Eastgate..."
"Makes sense," Kip shrugged, "The Circle always did try to lock down their territories, especially interdimensionally."
"Well, in any case, we've already launched our counterattack... Several groups of heroes have pushed to Praetorian Earth, and are currently working to shut down their 'portal tech,' which seems to be knock-off technology from us..."
"Lord knows how they got it," Kip just shook his head, "Think any of them out there need help? There's gotta be a few more heroes out here looking for more work to do..."
Suddenly, there was a deep bass sound. It was like a zipper being opened, followed by a rush of wind. Kip didn't have to turn around. He knew a dimensional vortex when he heard one.
"Let me guess... Somebody failed?"
Praetorians started falling out of the sky in the Portal Corp courtyard. Across the city, more of the same. A much alrger invasion had just started, and some of the city's most powerful heroes were nowhere to be found.
"Bloody... Bloody Hell..." Kip muttered before turning to the chaos in the middle of the courtyard, "Looks like it's time to start busting heads!"
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Curtis looked back at his now slightly-singed troops before turning back to the group.
"Awright y'all, ya know I gots the utmost respect fer y'alls interests an' such, but this ain't no time fer starin an' blushin' an' th' like. Ah reckon this here's time ter 'splain jus' what th' [censored] is goin' on here. Why's this goin' down now? If'n yer not on their team-" He said, turning to Gretchen, "Then why're yew here? What's all this 'bout caust'c vap'rs 'n fishin' modules? Ah want answers, an' I want 'em real quick-like."
"Gah! Okay, sorry. . ." Hal exclaimed at Essex's outburst, muttering something about "some welcome" under his breath.
"Uh. . . hello, Dr. West," Hal muttered, once West had shown himself and realized who Gretchen really was. "I guess 'how's it going' would probably be the wrong thing to say here. . . um. . ."
* * * * * *
"The Circle. They have no idea how to do anything." Mooncipher smirked to himself; the wards the Circle had erected keeping the Praetorians out of Perez worked well enough for large groups, but he numbered only one, and had a rather considerable understanding of the nature of magic. Creating a temporary gateway through which to teleport had been easy enough for him, and now he was surveying the lands beneath him, his hands typing, scanning for any sign of West's base in this dimension.
"Curses. . . the entire thing is in lockdown. . . I shall not ever get in at this rate, not without time we do not have." Mooncipher glared at his calculations, though they were invisible to all but him, and continued to type. He could place sleeper functions on the outskirts of the base, beyond his protection, ready to redirect any incoming signals to him. Radio waves, electric signals. . . teleporting. . . if no one was going to get in, at the very least, he would ensure that no one got out, either. Not without dealing with him first. . .
"I am, I must say, fairly confident of my personal abilities. . . " he said to himself as he worked, his visual data currently erased from the world, so that he was completely invisible. . . ". . . in that respect."
"I can explain about the security measures." West said calmly, turning back towards his control consoles. "My security system is engineered to go into complete lockdown upon detection of Gretchen's DNA within the boundaries. My apologies for the inconvenience."
"...So that's why it was a Sequence K..." Essex murmured.
"Quite." West said. "And now for you, madame. You may be the Praetorian version of the Zealstorm we know of, but I still do not trust you." It was true, the guns still pointed directly at the woman from all directions.
Greta swallowed uneasily.
"....I saw Selene come through the rift..." she murmured. "And I have always been sure to follow her, and try to fix whatever it is she selfishly destroys in her wake. I suppose this was no different..."
Japancakes.
Art - Theme 005 - Seeking Solace
"SUBJECT MOONCIPHER," bellowed a deep voice from above the hovering Praetorian.
A black hunk of metal trailing a streamer of red shot past the god from above, hurtling toward the park below at incredible speeds. If looked at closely, the hunk would appear to be a massive man curled into a tight ball. The falling object hit the ground with tremendous force, landing coincidentally right where Praetorian Selene had been killed by the Magus.
The ground exploded out in a huge dust cloud as a crater was blasted into the ground. Anyone within the vicinity of the park would figure that someone had dropped a high-yield artillery shell rather than a man-sized object.
Uncurling itself and standing upright, the machine, for it was without a doubt an android of some sort, stood about nine feet tall. Artificial muscles seemed to be barely contained by pitch black high grade armor plating. Thick bolts of red electricity crackled up and down its form and a blank face studded with multiple red glowing eyes glowered at the ruined pastoral scene around it.
"Subject Mooncipher," shouted the robot as it turned it's gaze skyward, looking directly at the villain despite his concealment. "By direct order of Marauder, I have been assigned to your unit. The destruction of Hero Subject Hallucinogen and allied Hero Subjects is deemed of suitable priority to warrent my deployment. I await orders."
After finishing it's speech, the robot lowered it's gaze back down level with the ground and remained standing as still as a statue while the dust of its entry settled down around it.
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.
((Meh heh... Considering the fact I already stated that the Medporters are still running hard, I'm sure Infernal will be fine... In a couple hours... He might even be appreciative that his axe was put somewhere he could get to more easily, instead of having to chase his double across the city.))
"How the Hell did I get up here?"
Matt stared out across Skyway City. Somehow, he had gotten his motorcycle up on the roof of one of the tallest northern buildings. Down on the highway, he could see a truck filled with Marauder cronies being chased by an armored SWAT van.
"Whelp," he grunted as he cinched himself to the cruiser's seat, "YEEEEEEEE-"
His words were drowned out by the sound of his motorcycle's engine roaring to life. The rear tire squealed and he was launched off the side of the roof.
"This was a notoriously bad idea," his mind stated calmly as he descended, "Whoooooooooooooooooo!"
He hit a switch next to his right wrist and a whizzing sound could be heard. Rappel ropes were being fed out the back of the motorcycle, now much slower than before. Matt had spiked them into the wall above... he was crazy (maybe even a little stupid), but he was still going to take some precautions.
As he was about to hit the dirt, Matt yanked on the handlebars and wheeled the bike up just enough to pull off the perfect landing. Hissing hydraulics, the clattering of a discarded rappelling device and squealing wheels signaled his departure and he made for the nearest street, bowling over a Supa Troll in the way. Upon hitting the street, he made for the highway and the overpass after that.
----
The Rampagers were firing into random vehicles. The SWAT driver didn't know how to stop them.
"Guys, I don't know where they got that truck, but I haven't got the speed to catch up to them! They're firing into random civilian cars and trucks, how're we gonna stop 'em?"
"Make do, sergeant," the captain in the back shouted in reply, "Lieutenant! Use that damn sidearm of yours and try to take out their tires!"
"I'm out of bullets, sir," the lieutenant replied, "Sarge's, too."
"Dammit!"
"Sir!" one of the SWAT troopers shouted as he looked out the back window, "Look!"
Mad Matt McGinty was speeding up behind them, his face pulled back in a nasty grimace. In short order, he was past the van and gaining on the Praetorians' "Technical."
"Did that thing have a minigun on it?" the captain asked his troops perplexedly.
----
The Praetorians were not going to take Mad Matt's intrusion on the situation well. Immediately, they started assaulting him with small arms fire. Matt deftly streaked and strafed across the highway, and eventually pulled up behind the technical.
"Mr. Thundermaker!" he yelled as he leaned forward and squeezed a trigger under his left index finger, "Start barking fire!"
The minigun barrels started spinning and whining, and Matt thought the look on the Rampagers' faces was priceless. One pointed and mouthed "No way!"
The minigun belched out hot metal and tore out the tailgate. Four bodies rolled out (not dead, but they would NOT be happy) and the others were struggling with the injuries sustained on their own persons'. One proffered a lewd gesture to Matt, who was busy trying to regain the speed he'd lost on that minuscule burst.
"Damn! I shoulda' packed more ammo," the Scrapper cursed himself, "Oh well, Plan B..."
His left hand dropped to his hip and he pulled the katana he had in the sheath he'd installed into the chassis. It seemed the Rampagers had stopped groaning, whining, and cursing and stared worriedly at the odd lunatic gunning their way...
Matt pulled himself up to the driver's side door and looked at the Wrecker there. The masked man roared incoherently through the glass, but accomplished little. One of the Rampagers took control of the machine gun, but he was far too late...
Matt slid the katana into the driver's side window and skewered the Wrecker's right hand to the steering wheel (actually hitting the wheel first, and then the hand). With a slight yank and a shove, the truck went careening to the right and spilled over. Matt was a little bothered by that, it'd have been more spectacular if they'd hit the guardrail and gone hurtling over the side, but this worked, too...
He whirled the bike back around and when he returned, the SWAT officers were busy "detaining" the Rampagers and their leader.
"You're lucky they didn't hit you with this," the captain chuckled as he gestured to the machine gun, "Fifty cal... It would've torn you in half."
"Makes ya wonder what they were sent to hit, huh?" Matt grinned, "Can I have my, uh, sword back?"
The lieutenant pulled the weapon from the broken glass and tossed it to the scrapper. Matt saluted them with it and headed back off to the north.
"That was downright crazy," one of the SWAT troopers gasped, "How much worse is this going to get?"
"According to the reports," the Sarge grumbled as he listened to the radio, "Much... Much worse."
"Aw man..."
"Tag the bad guys and lets roll out," the Captain shouted.
The officers slapped little beeping dots to each of the Rampagers and their boss.
"What're these supposed to do?" the Wrecker barked.
"They call our little helpers in to haul you off to the Zig," the Captain explained as he inspected each of his troops boarding the van, "Here they are now..."
A pair of police drones showed up, each one blaring its tiny siren and flashing its bright blue and red lights. They made little beeps and boops as they locked onto the tiny beeping dots on the Praetorian soldiers.
"What?" the Wrecker shouted, "How the Hell is this supposed to-"
The police drones started firing their little teleporter beams and each of the invaders found themselves on the fast track to prison. Beeping happily, they headed off to other regions of the city where they might be needed. Chuckling, the SWAT Captain got into the van last and slammed shut the doors. Shortly afterward, the vehicle was speeding down the road, heading for a warehouse that the Praetorians had holed up inside. It was going to be a long day...
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.