He sat there, at the edge of the platform, letting his legs dangle listlessly over the abyss of steam below. Things had gotten quieter again. For that, he was glad. Still...a part of him held such peace in no high regard. Whenever he had nothing to do, he had time to think...and sometimes, like right now...thinking hurt.
"So..." he heard a voice beside him, cause a few meters away and to his rear, "This seat taken?"
He turned his head to the man that was not a man. To the lifeform that stood composed of what most considered but dead matter. And he smiled.
"Not at all." he told Toy Dispenser, the mechanical mastermind moving to sit alongside him after a sharp 'glance' at his entourage; particularly the large Combat Toy, who retorted with a wordless nod, a certain struggling battle drone locked securely in the his metal arms. Even Mini Bot's excited chatter didn't make it past as more than muffles, barely audible against the hiss of steam below. Indeed, for quite some time, it was the only sound about, for not a word emerged.
Finally, the colorful mercenary turned a faceless head to him, almost seeming to draw a breath before he spoke, "...there never was any corruption, was there?"
"No." Acid answered with a long blink and single chuckle, slitted pupils wandering to Toy, "What gave me away?"
"You just did." the robotic mastermind almost seemed to smirk a moment, "I didn't think that one would get you. You're usually not that easy to trick."
Seconds passed in silence.
"So..." Toy turned his sights to the caldera's rim, "...he's really gone then."
Acid only gave a solemn nod, "Yeah."
"Sorry." the mechanoid's voice had become a tad sheepish, "I thought it was all part of the scheme..."
"Not this time." the Khelari shook his head, "This time, things went completely out of control...or maybe I should say went into it."
"What do you mean?" Toy wanted to know, turning curiously back to the reptilian. Behind them, even Mini Bot had now ceased his antics, wanting to hear this. Combat Toy let down the battle drone.
"There was a prophecy." Acid explained, imitating the mastermind's earlier, seeking look to the caldera's rim, "About Ken...the Dark Dragon. He was supposed to die today. By the hands of Armand Thysthe. That was what fate...what destiny said. And it almost happened. In one day, somehow, some way, he crossed half a galaxy and a crossworld barrier, and ended up right next to him before any of us even knew what was going on."
"Didn't Mnemonyev...?"
"Ken's mentastabilized." the reptilian interrupted Toy's interjection with one of his own, "No, to a telepath the guy's practically invisible - and until he blew his cover, none of you guys thought about him either. Yeah, it was a pretty big shock. Heck, I was ready to just drop in and grab him then and there."
"But then we would've figured it out."
"Then you would've figured it out." the Khelari confirmed with a somber nod, "And to Kerat...well, that just wasn't acceptable. So he locked me in a medbay and went in instead, wanting to make it look like everything really was the way we'd made it to appear. And he died for it. He died for the plan...and I know I shouldn't feel this way...because he died for what he believed in...but I just can't help it..."
Had he had a throat, Toy could've sworn there sat a lump in it now. This was it. This was the point he'd been waiting for.
"What did he believe in?"
"Change." Acid told him with a direct look into his technically nonexistent eyes, "Changing people. Changing fate. That we have the power, not some predetermined cosmic order. That's what he died for. That's what he died doing: changing things that people say cannot be changed."
"Evidently they can." the robotic mastermind retorted, almost feeling a chill at that, "That's...that's pretty heavy. But if this was all about change...what was the point? Almost everybody lost their memory, Nemesis is still at large, probably plotting to take over again already, and Vanguard...why did you make it look like you were betraying them?"
"Because they didn't need me to be there anymore..." the Khelari chuckled darkly, "...actually, I should say because they needed me not to be there anymore. See, they probably still don't even realize it, but I had about as much to do with vanguard getting to where they are today as the guy who lights the fuse in a quarry. All those other people, geologists, engineers, blasting technicians, they do the real work - but the guy who pushes the button gets the credit. They felt like that. They felt I was controlling stuff, even though I...well, I just lit the fuse. Everything else was already there. I just gave it a little...push. But they couldn't see that."
"So you decided to separate yourself from them." Toy concluded, quite correctly, "To take away that belief. Hm. Couldn't you have just told them 'I quit'?"
"No." Acid smiled genuinely for the first time in a good while now, "I did look at the idea. Sadly, there was a good chance the feeling would persist...among other less than desirable possibilities. No, to truly get back to its old self, Vanguard needs an enemy. An enemy who knows the organization inside and out, who is a constant threat that needs to be watched for. An enemy..."
"...like you."
"...like me, yes."
"Well, okay - but did you really need to kill Lady Grey?"
This time, Acid laughed, for a few seconds not even managing to get out in words, "Oh, Toy...sometimes, you confound me. You really do. No, she's not going to die. She never was. That serum I kept giving her? No such thing. Now yes, originally she had a condition - but that was more from 'eating some bad years' than anything else. Probably tried to drain some undead villain or something, I don't know. It was just really convenient to abuse. So I did."
"Sometimes, I don't know whether to be ashamed or scared of you." Toy already had the palm of a hand on his faceplate, shaking his head, "So, aside from that, what else changed? Unless you're telling me this was Nemesis' first step toward becoming Si-?"
"No speculation." Acid stopped Toy with a raised finger, "Speculation never leads to any good. But no, Nemmy wasn't my primary target. Humans were. See, I've got plans for them. I can't say much more just yet, other than it's a pretty long-term plan - well, for them; not so much for you and me - and that it had reached one of its critical points. At this point, I needed to know something. I needed to know if they were ready for the next stage...and thanks to Kerat, now I do."
"Can you tell me?" the mechanoid's faceplate almost seemed to be waggling eyebrows that weren't there, "I promise I'll keep it a secret."
"Yeah, the boss never tells us anything!" Mini Bot burst into the conversation, only to receive Combat Toy's arm on the head in response. Acid couldn't help but chuckle again...then gave Toy his answer.
"Remember, now." he told the robotic mastermind, "You promised."
"I know." Toy nodded, raising his hands, "Don't worry, I won't. But...where's this leave Nemesis and the Dar-I mean Ken then?"
Acid looked to the caldera's rim once more, then turned slowly back to Toy.
"You really want to know?"
One sat on a throne, amidst a hundred churning gears. Machines they were, and so much more, and all for him they worked, all for him their toil. The Prussian Prince of Automatons they called him, and this image he certainly conveyed. Yet as he sat there, at the center of so much creation for the purpose of destruction, he could not help but return once more from whence he'd come, once upon a time.
The toy maker.
The other had no throne, at least not in the physical sense. Most of the time, he didn't even occupy the command chair of the ship whose corridors he wandered now, alone and undisturbed, the reflection of his scarred body staring back at him from so many a surface. The Dark Dragon they called him, evil and without a conscience, and this he had no doubt become. Hate had taken hold, hate had forged him, turned him into what stood this day from as what he had so humbly started.
The freedom fighter.
Fighter and maker, prince and rebel, this they were and thus they wondered. They wanted to remake, to change, to create what should have been but wasn't. But time and again, the obstacles in their way bore down with weight monstrous, requiring sacrifice after sacrifice, compromise upon compromise.
But did they really?
At least one of them set to find out. And maybe, just maybe, they weren't really worlds apart...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
After Action Report H19
Final Assessment Complete
File Report Form FORMS 0227-B
_
_
<List Personnel>
Writing Contributors:
DogmaoftheBwerp (Paradigm Shift)
General Fang
Jennifer8
Khellendrosiic
Mnemonyev
Mr. Grey
MrKrAzY
Sabre Vern
SENECA
Soviet Strike (TheSoviet)
The Dark Dragon
The Doc
Vyachslav
'Liberi Fatali' by Nobuo Uematsu
'What I've Done' by LinkinPark
Thanks for the use of their faces:
DogmaoftheBwerp (Paradigm Shift)
- Aether Pilot Trigen
- Captain Salvius
- Commander Cynic
_Essex_
- Rosalind
Jennifer8
- Penny Arcade
Khellendrosiic
- Archlich
- Balsk
- Solid Shot
- Toy Dispenser
- Warmaster Cher'tak
Mr. Grey
- Cory Simmons
- Randall Grey
- Ryat66
- Sheldon Wallace
MrKrAzY
- Jake Walsh
Soviet Strike (TheSoviet)
- Samuel Reikoff
- Gunslinger Curtis
- Many More Malta Men
City of Heroes/Villains original characters:
- Borea
- C'Kelkah
- Gaussian
- Incandescent
- Levantera
- Lk'Onik
- Sah'Teece
- Serpent Drummer
- The Lady Grey
Special thanks to our developers for this game, these boards, and all the creativity they inspire, my loyal crew and all my other friends who helped me with this project and allowed me use of their characters, and all those who provided feedback during its development.
Dedicated in loving memory of our good friend Mark, a.k.a. Kerat-Kalom Adrussan (1986-2007)
- "There is no fate but what we make; and if fate has a problem with that, tell it to come talk to me."
Thank you for participating in this exercise of the literary arts. We all dearly hope you have enjoyed your reading. You have expanded your horizons. Well done. Goodbye.
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
Well, I liked it. Compelling, intriguing, and...creepy. 
This makes me wonder if Vanguard isn't really hiding some deep, dark secret under all their mystery. Also liked that one of his plots FINALLY backfired on Nemesis - but in a good way. Maybe the start of the events that got him to become Mender Silos?
I know, speculation, but I really like character evolution like this. 
Very interested in this Dark Dragon guy too now. "At least one of them", huh? Sounds ominous. In any case, liked it a lot. Eerily plausible.
Only plausible?
It happened, just nobody remembers.
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.
Oh wow, I got a comment. Yay. 
From what appears to be a lurker, no less. And yes, speculation. Not telling. Well, not yet. May come in the future.
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
"Heeey! Sam, what'cha do that fer?"
The index finger of a black, fingerless glove released the key it had depressed, hovering briefly above the keyboard and in front of the Operation Engineer before returning its owner's side. Then the TacOps Commander gradually turned to the Special Qualification Marksman who had voiced his protest, and even in the gloomy, murky shadows of this room his eyes seemed visibly alight with an unearthly fire.
"Sourpuss." the Gunslinger complained with a scowl beneath his mask, crossing his arms and looking back to the table he'd been sitting on, "Jes' when i'was gettin' good, too..."
"You think so, hm?" the TacCom queried, tone low and solemn. He for one had heard enough. They'd been played. They'd all been played.
"Well yeh." the Gunslinger spread his arms, not giving the impression that he cared much at all, "I mean sure, we got fleeced...but Sam, ya gotta admit: i'was cool."
'Sam' found himself cocking a light smirk at this, taking a long blink with a curt sigh, "Curtis...you know, when you're right...you're right. At least we weren't the only ones. Soldier."
"Sir?" the Operation Engineer at the terminal came to attention.
"I want this thing wiped. It's none of the Directors' business. Are we clear?"
"Yes Sir, Commander Reikoff." the man gave a nod and immediately set to work. The TacCom smiled again. It was good to have people one could trust. In today's world, they were an asset far too precious...something he knew only all too well. For a moment, he didn't even notice the tremble of his fist.
Marcus...one day, you're going to pay.
"Done and done, Sir." the Engineer's words returned him to the real world as he handed his superior a mini CD, "All that's left."
"Thank you, soldier." Reikoff nodded, then crushed the data carrier with one swift contraction of his hand, letting the thing grind to pieces in the fist of his armored glove. Silence hovered for a good few seconds, until he was satisfied, and then he let the remaining fragments rain gently to the floor.
"We're done here." the TacCom told the other Malta Operatives as he stepped toward the door, turning back once more, specifically upon the soles of his boots making contact with the heavy door they'd blasted out of its frame.
He sighed again, feeling very much like that - a tough and sturdy piece of hardware foreigned for purposes it had never been meant to carry out. He didn't like that feeling. But he liked not knowing even less. Well, at the very least, now he knew the most part. The rest he could piece together on his own. After all...the fact that the Lady Grey didn't lie six feet under right now was a pretty damn decent clue...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters