Poe wagged a finger.
".....No.....I don't think so.....Well then, I had best be off. Feel free to take a look around. Just keep in mind that unless you've suddenly become a virus, it's impossible to escape."
Poe dematerialized.
In a storm of blue ones and zeroes.
Then, the table Kip had snapped in half suddenly picked itself up, and completely repaired itself as a stream of glowing blue teeny tiny ones and zeroes rushed over every damaged surface.
Kipland rolled his eyes.
"Oh... A virtual world," he was clearly unimpressed, "Or something pretending to be one. Whoop-dee-fricking-doo."
Grumbling about originality, he headed for the corner of Pocket D where normally there was a pinball machine.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
((... y'know, I haven't putzed around enough in the D in-game long enough to be sure how some stuff works, so forgive me if I get some details wrong))
Energon X took the apple from Inky, nodded in thanks, and watched her wander off. He raised an eyebrow at Kheldragon. "The way my life's been going lately, a more likely result is you'd drain me about halfway and then explode. Trust me, it's nasty when that happens." He didn't provide any details as to how he knew that.
The blaster tilted his head and looked at Kheldragon. "I'm curious about something... hang on a sec." He held up the hand that still contained the apple, holding it flat on his outstretched palm, and concentrated. Brilliant purple energy extended from his hand, coalescing around the apple, then intensifying until it was painful to look at, briefly obliterating the shifting shadows of the dancefloor strobes. Then it faded a little, and a vaguely apple-shaped cloud of greenish-purple energy was hovering above his hand, wreathed in the same purple energy that glowed in his eyes.
"I have no idea if this will actually work, but... well, flavoured energy snacks, neh?", the sound of his synthetic voice managing to suggest a small grin as he held it out towards Kheldragon.
As he did, he turned to Fraenir. "I believe that at least some of the arenas here allow for the various superpowered patrons of the D to bash on one another in a 'safe' environment- one where we won't sustain any permanent injury. It's actually kind of fun, and I would be more than willing to cross swords... or energy blasts, whatever... with you, should you so desire."
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
She thought a moment. "...I doubt I'd explode...I can do just fine if...I siphon off Terra Volta--" she coughed. "...And black out a few...city zones..."
Kheldragon didn't even bother taking the apple, just poked it. It seemed to be sucked into her finger, very quickly, and then it was gone.
She made a face. "...Hm...That apple was sour...Not your fault, though..."
Her mind drifted back to the strange waiter. The most unusual energy she'd ever felt -- she still had quite a bit of it stored up -- and what the hell was he doing? Apparently, there remained a spark of her close-to-insatiable curiosity (once something got enough interest) somewhere inside her.
"...Uh-hm...Wonder if I can find...him through dimensional...travel..." she muttered under her breath, the words laced with shadow? Something like that.
"...Excuse me..." she said to everyone nearby, and headed for the ladies' room, making her way to the largest stall. Her talons made a click-click noise on the tile. God, it reeked in here.
She gathered Nictus energy in her claws, then slashed an invisible enemy from top to bottom. There was a slight groan as the dimensional fabric shifted, then a hole opened in the air itself.
Kheldragon stepped through the hole, closed it behind her, and was gone.
She floated through the void, searching for energy like Poe's.
@Dragonistic
Unless I'm quoting someone, EVERY SINGLE post above is QR.
<----Female
Dragonistic, Kheldragon, Ink Dyne, KheIdragon, Squiddy Attack
Total level is about 149.
EVILCAT
SEZ YOUR COMPU-TAR TASTE LIKE CHIKIN
Marcus tilted his head toward Khells dissappearing energy signature. Something's building little bro, you think it's that dude from earlier? Possibly another member of the DWC lookin' for us without checking in with Shaakti?
Only person I know that's stupid enough not to follow protcol is Dax, or possibly Morin. My bets on Poe, he seemed pissed enough to pull something. Jonas
Well if the freaky little waiter wants some I'll be happy to ablige with a fist to his gut. Marcus
Are we gonna die again because of this? Jonas
Probably, if it goes according to plan. So how do you think its gonna happen this time, slow and painfull or fast and painfull? Marcus
If I had a choice I'd say neither. I don't have a choice do I?
'Cause you're going to tell everyone here you gotta step out for awhile and see what kinda trouble you can get into. Jonas
'Course not, what would give you that idea? Marcus stood from his stool and layed a hand on the bar.
Sorry folks, delay of game I should be back before long. If I'm not, order a pizza. Marcus removed a hand and began walking toward the villain side elevator.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
((Uhm... is anyone NOT going after Poe? I don't want to end up alone at the D >.o ))
"A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head." Seven Habits of Highly Effective Pirates
MA Arcs: #12285, "Small Fears", #106553, "Trollbane", #12669, "How to Survive a Robot Uprising"
((I doubt it. 
Khel's not going to give up the best meal she's ever had that easily. ))
@Dragonistic
Unless I'm quoting someone, EVERY SINGLE post above is QR.
<----Female
Dragonistic, Kheldragon, Ink Dyne, KheIdragon, Squiddy Attack
Total level is about 149.
EVILCAT
SEZ YOUR COMPU-TAR TASTE LIKE CHIKIN
Khelly was simply amazed.
If she was truely looking across Dimensions...
She saw Poe EVERYWHERE.
And if she could peer through time, she would also see him everywhere, at everytime.
But only if she was SPECIFICALLY looking for Poe in question.
This either meant that Poe was a god or multidimensional. Probably the latter, otherwise he wouldn't have let DJ Zero bully him back in the D.
She also came across a slight problem. Using her current means of sense, she couldn't track down Poe. Since his dimensional trails were temporal as well as spacial, he kept popping and reappearing in scattered and random places in time. Trying to track him down via his most recent trail would send her to the future. His oldest would send her to nthe past. Following his present trails could land her absolutely anywhere at all, which would not guarentee success, because Poe was everywhere...
At everytime.
Eventually, anyway.
Maybe she should look for somebody else? Maybe she should search for the people Poe ws interested in. While his trail was infinitely long and complex, a normal villain or hero he had recently interacted with would probably have a much more mundane trail. Even the average meta didn't get much time travel these days.
((She can't see through time, and isn't very good at tracking peoples' trails, but whatever ))
"...Holy whatever..." she looked around, seriously startled. Poe's energies were EVERYWHERE. What's with this guy? She couldn't tell where he was at all. It was too confusing.
She ripped a hole back to Pocket D, stepped through it, and landed with a heavy THUMP on top of the bar, slightly dizzy. She quickly pulled the edges of the hole together.
The Nictus energy around her claws faded.
Now, let's see...Who was he looking for?
Ppoowweerr Bbrreeaakkeerr, ssiillllyy lliizzaarrdd. Bbuutt hhee ttooookk tthhaatt ootthheerr ppeerrssoonn.
Whoever the other person was.. Right. His energy, she might be able to follow. She didn't travel to other dimensions much, though, just to other places in Paragon by using the void. ((Teleportation. ))
Well, people had already seen her stepping out of one hole. No use disguising her dimensional rending now.
She made a fresh hole where the other one was just been, and fell backwards through it, using her talons to pull it closed.
LEt's see...Where is he?
She searched through the void, looking for Kip. His energy was incredibly faint, but it was still there.
Slicing at the place there was the most of it, she pulled herself through the hole and went tumbling onto the floor.
Khel looked around. It was still the Pocket D. Kip was there, but she was back in the D.
"...Hmm...I'm back here...Have I gotten this wrong?..."
@Dragonistic
Unless I'm quoting someone, EVERY SINGLE post above is QR.
<----Female
Dragonistic, Kheldragon, Ink Dyne, KheIdragon, Squiddy Attack
Total level is about 149.
EVILCAT
SEZ YOUR COMPU-TAR TASTE LIKE CHIKIN
*Bing! Bing-bing-bing-bing-bing!*
Kip rattled away at the pinball machine. Any time it told him he was out of plays, he just gave it a swift kick and it caused something inside to click, giving him another try.
"Yep..." he muttered as he went from nearly beating a high score to draining three to four of the little weighted silver spheres, "Bored and extremely dangerous..."
The phrase fit the odd guy responsible for him being here, too. In fact, it fit him better.
"Ah, cripes," Kip muttered as he kicked the machine again, "That's the kind of person I'm dealing with?"
He considered briefly trying to find a way out of here. A villain like that? Kip would probably wind up being forgotten here as easily as murdered for no good reason.
Neither was appealing.
"Eh, one more game."
----------
Power Breaker slammed the contents of the shot glass into his mouth and grunted as it burned the back of his throat. He had a bad feeling all of a sudden, and it only started after Kip left the club.
"I hope that kid's alright," he muttered, "Kip's a tough little bird, but Poe does some weird..."
He grunted as he realized what kind of logic was at play here.
"Bartender! Pitcher!"
The abrtender glared at him dubiously.
"Pitcher!" Breaker repeated.
"You're gonna drink the whole thing, aren't you?"
"Oh yeah," the brute replied, "You guys don't make the drink that can knock me out anymore... So, I gotta do this the hard way."
"Whatever," the bartender set the large glass container in front of Power Breaker, "It's not my funeral."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
Throughout the virtual D, there was a suddenly blarring noise.
*Foreign Force detected. Accessing Anti_Virus_Security*
There was a loud Pop.
Standing before Khelly was DJ Zero.
Only he had no face. Just smoothed-over flat skin where it should have been.
"You are going to have to leave." He said menacingly to Khelly.
"Indeed." Said another voice behind her as a faceless raver appeared.
"Verilly." Growled a faceless sound technician.
"I'm solid here, so let's see if we can make YOU transparent." Said a blank-faced War Witch.
Khelly was drawing quite the crowd.
-----
Poe was searching through his sources when the Energy Melding Device binged.
He frowned as he checked the monitor.
"DAMNIT. I HAD to use cyber-space, didn't I? Essence Modules were too good for me, wern't they? DAMNIT! Thinkthinkthink..."
After activating the anti-virus software for Kip's virtual prison, he double checked the firewalls as well.
Then triple checked them.
As they were set up now...Anything could get INTO the Virtual D. The firewall only stopped passage OUT from it, otherwise Kip would have fallen through the floor by now.
Poe dropped looking through his sources and started to reprogram the firewall so nobody else could teleport in.
Kheldragon met each of their faceless gazes in turn without flinching, stopping on DJ Zero.
"...You're not real..." she rasped. "...For starters, Zero has...a face, and in fact..." she frowned, reaching out her hand slighty. "...Your energy is...different...You're all virtual..." her eyes widened slightly.
Khel turned around and walked away nonchalantly, as if she'd just been talking to an ordinary person. Not much startled her any more.
What she didn't show, though, was that she was getting ready to drain the faceless people if they attacked.
@Dragonistic
Unless I'm quoting someone, EVERY SINGLE post above is QR.
<----Female
Dragonistic, Kheldragon, Ink Dyne, KheIdragon, Squiddy Attack
Total level is about 149.
EVILCAT
SEZ YOUR COMPU-TAR TASTE LIKE CHIKIN
Khelly reached inward to draw upon her power.
And found that she had none.
Whatever had happened when she had teleported into this virtual D, she had been robbed of all her powers while doing so. Almost as if this place had been constructed as a prison...
Which it was.
Khelly had tranmutted her own matter while teleporting into cyber space. Now SHE was an application inside of it. However, since her own self did not copy over from reality to virtual very well...
And it appeared that the "people" here were anti-virus applications...
She had forced her way in.
They couldn't force her out due to the firewall, but that left them two options.
A: Deletion.
B: Containment.
They couldn't perform A because there already a foreign application inside. However, containment was more than possible.
Khelly felt a strange sensation as the manifested anti-virus applications advanced on her...
"...Scoot..." she rasped at them, realizing her powers were gone. She'd have to resort to cheap claw-fighting and something she did very well: Freaking people out. It probably wouldn't work on these virtual people, but it was worth a try. And her altered genetic structure was still intact, so she'd still regenerate.
It's a good thing she'd stored so much of Poe's energy before, because now that she couldn't absorb any more, she'd DIE if she ran out of energy.
For good.
She made several choking, rasping noised, then coughed, and spat blood right onto Zero's face.
First line of defense. Would it work?
@Dragonistic
Unless I'm quoting someone, EVERY SINGLE post above is QR.
<----Female
Dragonistic, Kheldragon, Ink Dyne, KheIdragon, Squiddy Attack
Total level is about 149.
EVILCAT
SEZ YOUR COMPU-TAR TASTE LIKE CHIKIN
A foot slammed into the back of the head of the DJ Zero copy. It it had eyes, they would probably have crossed for a moment.
Kipland watched the body slump to the ground and turned to the next one. Considering how things were working here, it would probably get back up in a little bit.
"You okay?" he asked as he got closer to Kheldragon, "Sorry it took me a second to notice something changed..."
His foot exploded into another replicant's gut shortly before hiking up and catching the faux-waiter in the chin with his toe.
"This looks like more fun than pinball," he chuckled.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
She shrugged and raked her claws across the sound technician's mask. Then Khel leaped up like a raptor, slashing at his gut with her large talons. Those claws were hardly just for show.
The movement, however, was a bit much. She coughed into her hand. It appeared that nothing was there, but upon closer inspection, the spot would have ben unusually shiny.
Coated with blood.
"...Well, more fun than...pinball, sure..." she said, spitting blood at a few more of the faceless people. She put one talon on the Zero clone's stomach, keeping him pinned to the ground.
Inside, she was consuming the smallest bit of the energy she'd stored. Khel had no idea how long she'd be trapped here, and she needed to keep her life support as long as possible.
@Dragonistic
Unless I'm quoting someone, EVERY SINGLE post above is QR.
<----Female
Dragonistic, Kheldragon, Ink Dyne, KheIdragon, Squiddy Attack
Total level is about 149.
EVILCAT
SEZ YOUR COMPU-TAR TASTE LIKE CHIKIN
The Anti-Viruses crumpled to the ground.They all vanished in a stream of blue ones and zeroes.
Containment Protocols Initiated
The floor underneath Kip and Khelly suddenly revolved, and slingshotted itself back to the hero-side area of the club.
-----
Poe breathed a sigh of relief as he finished programing the fire-wall.
Then he noticed something.
Why di the left side of his vest feel lighter?
He checked it. The speciially modified gas-traps he had used in the D were gone. Not to worry, he had expected...
Wait.
He had used ONE trap in the D itself, and he had two modifided ones, so...
He had left his other trap in the real D!
This wasn't good, if a hero got ahold of it, they could potentially use it to track him down.
And, if luck ever did hate him, now was the time it did. It's kill-rig was deactivated.
Poe swore, and headed for the door...
-----
Back in the real Pocket D, by a certain storage door, there was a tiny silver capsule on the floor for anyone who cared...
Marcus headed out the Cap door on villainside. He shivered when the night air hit his skin. Damn its cold. Marcus headed toward a street vendor. "Hey bud, pack a smokes and a can of dip."
Dude don't put that crap in my body! Jonas
Chill. Any damage will heal faster than you can believe.
The vendor looked up at him. "Sure, strong stuff or weak?"
Marcus grinned, "Stronger the better bud." The vendor reached into his cart and pulled out the can and the pack. Marcus quickly scooped them off the cart top.
"Later bud." Marcus dissappeared before the vendor even told him the price.
"Damn villains, they get cheaper every year." The vendor murmured under his breath.
Marcus walked back to the door to the D and grabbed the handle. You sure you wanna go back in there? I'm pretty sure Poe is still planning something.
Don't worry little bro. We can wait by the door, that way we can have an 'out' as soon as something happens. Marcus
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
KHeldragon suddenly found herself flying to the other side of the D backwards, towards the blue wall. She closed her eyes, relaxed, and braced for the impact.
She hit the wall with something like a cross between a clunk and a splat, really aggravating her injuries. She tried to raise herself off the ground, shuddered, and vomited blood.
With a great effort, Kheldragon pushed herself to her feet and staggered forward.
@Dragonistic
Unless I'm quoting someone, EVERY SINGLE post above is QR.
<----Female
Dragonistic, Kheldragon, Ink Dyne, KheIdragon, Squiddy Attack
Total level is about 149.
EVILCAT
SEZ YOUR COMPU-TAR TASTE LIKE CHIKIN
Marcus walked through the elevator doors back into the villainside. He posted up with a wall lean to the right side of the elevator door. He grabbed a glass off a passing waiters tray and roughly knocked it back feeling the burn as the bourbon hit the back of his throat. Not bad! He placed the empty glass back on the tray and reached for another one when his cell phone started to play his ring tone, Enter Sandman by Mettalica, Least my brother still has good taste in music
He roughly flipped the phone open, "It's me. Shoot."
"Yo Jonas, it's me Morin. Shaakti just called and said there was some major power fluctuation going on in your area. She wanted me to make sure everything was copacetic." Morin's dark whiskey voice said over the phone in that way a woman wouldn't be able to resist.
"Yo Mo. Everything's fine, a waiter got uppity, it's Husk flavored. . ." Marcus said into the phone waiting for Morin to realize the implication.
"Who was the waiter?" Morin asked with a slight touch of apprehension
"Said his name was Poe." Marcus said simply
"Yeah, I know who you're talking about. He's a crazy little freak, has a pentient for explosions and fire. If things start up again get the hell out of there. Husk beat us out of a few dimensions already and if we lose Terran we might as well pack up and go home." Morin
"Yeah I know. It'll get crazy when, not if, he shows back up. Tell Shaakti I found Power Breaker and gave him the card." Marcus
"Oh, good. If we keep helping out the enemies Husk has made we may have a chance if we have to fight them. I'm gonna repeat this one more time; he shows, you leave!" Morin
"Don't worry Mo, Jonas is out for the night. Marcus on the other hand is in and is looking for some fun." Marcus flipped the phone closed and smiled.
A glint by the storage door caught his eye. He moved across to the door and knelt down. He saw a tiny silver capsule with an engraved H on one end. Things are looking up. He musta dropped it during the scuffle, and knowing how anal Husk is about their tech he's gonna come back for it. Jonas palmed the capsule and slipped it into his breast pocket.
---------------------------------
Morin stared at the phone after Jonas (Marcus?) had hung up.
"Great, Marcus is outa his cage and Poe has shown up. I'm amazed Husk hasn't found out about us yet, but knowing the Boss Man he'll make sure we stay in the shadows a little while longer. I'm calling Shaakti." Morin said to himself as he started to draw a rune on the back of his phone and began to dial Shaakti.
"D, Husk, Poe, Jonas/Marcus, Priority Blue. Members need notification." Was all that he said knowing that the point would get across and that Shaakti would alert the other DWC members.
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
"Oh, my head..."
Kipland picked himself up off the floor. On his way over here, he'd bonked it off one of the stanchions that supported the section of the dance club above. Fortunately, he was able to absorb some of the impact with his arms.
He'd also smashed through a table and a couple other chairs. In a short moment, the whole mess was likely to revert back to normal.
"Ugh," he grunted as he got back to his feet, wobbled a little, then grabbed a chair to steady himself, then he saw Kheldragon, "Hey... You look like you're in a bad way..."
He lurched over to where she was, dragging the chair with him. If another group of "bots" showed up, he didn't want to be caught off-guard.
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.
The various smashed furniture reassembled itself in respective small storms of glowing blue ones and zeroes.
And in more storms of this, the anti-virus applications reappeared.
They were all standing right at the boundry between the dance floor and the hero bar. The hero side must have been the 'trash' folder. So to speak. Either that or some sort of containment program.
-----
And just then, Jonas saw the elevator doors opening.
Nobody came out. The doors then closed.
Marcus heard a ding as the elevator doors opened. He dropped to the ground and brought his right arm up in a classic firing position. What now!? The doors opened all the way, but no one was inside. "That's weird. When someone like Poe is involved weird is synonymous with trap. Well I guess I better not disappoint him," Marcus made his way to the elevator doors and pressed the down button.
Well Poe, better make this interesting you pyromaniacal psycho
I do not know my reasons for posting, but post I must. ~~Build
"We can't stop here, this is bat country."
--Johnny Depp
"I ain't bi-curious, I'm a man. Why do you think I'm wearing this tight spandex and got all these muscles?" Meatwad
Poe watched as Marcus stepped right into the elevator, which went back up.
".....Idiot....." He said, invisible behind his cloaking device. "Now where DID I leave it...?"
"You're not the first person to do crap like this to me," Kip muttered, "So, no, that's not what I was thinking. It was why I tossed that chair into the center of the dance floor, testing to see if there was any weird junk out there. Now... Let me guess... The next chair I grab is going to try to bite me..."
He considered doing a bicycle kick to peg Poe in the back of the head, but thought better on it. Last time he tried that on a leprechaun, and the little bugger just disappeared on him, leaving Kip with a headache. He didn't need that right now.
So, he kicked the table instead, sending its contents flying. The table itself was split down the center.
Somewhat satisfied, he turned and walked away from Poe.
"Wretched waste, just like all the others. Sense of self-entitlement makes them think that their scat's more important than everybody else's."
He wheeled around back at Poe.
"Listen up, numb-nuts. Let me out of here, and I'll tell Breaker to get his [butt] out here to you. I don't feel like having to go through this crap every day again."
My Stories
Look at that. A full-grown woman pulling off pigtails. Her crazy is off the charts.