Oooh! Looking forward to the story unfolding. Only problem is, I'm reading these things rather than playing 
.
�How do I like my MMOs? I like them the way Paragon Studios used to make them.� - a fitting tribute from kiasa.org
EU, Union mostly.
Its a bit of a slow burner. Should hopefully be worth it tho!
Should post most of it tomorrow.... 
Relax E, the story is great! Keep it coming.
G-Force
'And that, ladies and gentlemen, is pretty much all we know.' Sarah Langton ended the full briefing to the assembled heroes. It had been, for the most part, the same briefing Electrify had been given earlier. They had been provided with additional information about where the barrels were due to be delivered, and the last known whereabouts of the Vanguard.
'Are there any questions?' She asked.
Doulos spoke up. 'Wouldn't it be a good idea to evacuate Skyway? Just in case there are more of these bombs?'
'We did consider this,' the answer came, 'but we believe they are extremely expensive to manufacture. The chances of more than one existing are slim. Plus,' she continued, 'it would be extremely difficult to evacuate so many people, it could cause panic and an uproar if its all for nothing.'
'It seems very risky to me,' Doulos replied. 'If they do have another, they may panic and decide to blow the place up if we are detected.'
'I understand your concern, but at this time it is deemed unnecessary. Any other questions?' Doulos shifted uneasily in his seat, obviously annoyed.
'Electrify, do you have anything to add?'
Electrify stood up. 'I'm certainly no expert in these chemicals, or what to do with them if we do find some. However, unlike you,' she looked over to the woman, 'I am thinking worst case and we find one or more. My understanding is that the water is the catalyst for the Rubidium, which in turn is the catalyst for the second barrel?'
'You are basically correct, yes,' the briefer replied.
'I brought in Aero and Gen to help disable any bombs that we discover, I don't want to leave them in the hands of whoever's involved in this. I'd like you to show them the mechanism, if we remove that it will at least make it more difficult to use.'
'I'm not sending you in there to disable anything. You are to reconnaissance, discover the fate of The Vanguard and report back there will be no.....' Electrify cut her off.
'I want us to have the best chance possible to stop them using them, if its required. We need to know exactly what we're dealing with, and I want them to see the bomb.'
'Okay, but it'll have to be quick. Don't forget that even if you do remove the water, if the room gets too hot it can still combust, which will still cause the reaction with the mystery substance. It would make no difference what you did with the water.'
Electrify smiled. 'Frozen Rogue, its feeling a little warm in here.'
Rogue looked up and grinned 'No problem!' The temperature in the room dropped rapidly. 'That better? I can make it colder!'
The woman was shivering, 'I think thats a fair example, thankyou. However, I want to make it absolutely clear that you are not there to disarm any bombs, or arrest anyone. You are to investigate and return to give a full report. We will then decide what the best course of action is.' She looked over at Electrify. 'We also think worst-case. Statesman himself is aware of the situation, he has supported us fully and believes this course of action is best. I'm sure none of you would disagree with Statesman.' She looked at the eight heroes, almost daring them to prove her wrong. 'Now, this team is larger than I was expecting you to bring Electrify. Why did you fell it was necessary for a team of seven to....'
Electrify interrupted. 'Each of these heroes brings something to this team, something that could save our lives, and the lives of those in Sky. I have already explained why Genergy, Aeronaught and Frozen Rogue are here. Tufty has some interesting ways to extract information should it be required,' Tufty smiled,
'Want a demonstration of that as well?!' She asked?
The woman kept quiet, Electrify continued. 'As we are on a fact-finding mission, that may well be useful. Hot-Plate was a member of the Vanguard. He knows how they worked, what they would have done in different situations. And Doulos, well, he has a big gun. You can never underestimate how useful a man with a big gun can be.' Electrify looked directly in her eye's. 'You told me to form a team. The info in your brief is vague at best, I have chosen a team that could take on almost anything.'
The woman glared back at Electrify. 'You know exactly what is expected of you, nothing more nothing less. Do not disappoint me more than you have already. Now go prepare, the two who need to see the bomb may come with me and I will have it arranged.'
'Its getting dark already,' Rogue said. 'I take it we'll be leaving quite soon?'
'Yeah, pretty soon I should think. I imagine it'll be an hour or so till Aero and Gen get back. I'm going to go to the base and get ready. I'll meet you back at Rangers HQ.'
'Same here. I'll go get changed quickly.' Said Hot-Plate.
'See you later.'
Twenty minutes later, Electrify was prepared and about to leave.
'Hey, Tuft. You ready yet?'
'Two secs!' Tufty replied from the next room. As she walked through the door, she asked, 'That Hot-Plate guy. He was a member of the Vanguard then?'
'For a while, yes. In fact, he was a founding member.'
'But he's not any more?'
'No,' Electrify replied. 'He's been a member of the Justice Society European for a long time now. But they've disbanded.'
'Aww, he's not having a lot of luck! Why did he leave the Vanguard?' Tufty asked.
'Its a long story, but it was mainly down to them becoming experts in this kind of mission. They weren't that well known as most of their work was done in the middle of the night, reporting back on different groups activities.'
'And that wasn't 'Plates kind of work?'
'Not really, when you're trying to break into a base in the middle of the night to steal files from a computer without anyone noticing, having a guy who can set himself on fire and light up an entire room isn't the best of ideas!'
'I guess not!' Tufty replied, laughing. 'But he's taking it quite well, them going missing I mean'
Electrify looked over at Tufty, 'He's hiding it, he's taking it badly I'd say'.
'How do you know that?'
'Well,' said Electrify, 'He hasn't tried to hit on you yet.'
'Hey guys! Rogue greeted Electrify and Tufty. 'Come in, take a seat. We've not heard from Aero or Gen yet, so we may have some time to burn.' Doulos entered from another room.
'Elec, I need a quick word with you.' Electrify looked over to him,
'Sure thing,' she said and followed him through to the next room. 'Whats up?' she asked after Doulos had closed the door.
'Its about your friend, Hot-Plate. I'm sure he's good at his job, and I'm not doubting your judgement. However, wouldn't one of the Armoured Core be a better choice? We all know them, we've worked together before.'
'I'd say,' Electrify began, 'you are doubting my judgement. I can vouch for him, I wouldn't bring him along if I didn't trust him. He's saved my life more times than I'd like to remember. Anyway,' she continued, voice raised, 'how would you feel if old friends and team mates had disappeared, wouldn't you want to help find them?!'
'That's exactly my point', Doulos raised his voice, 'don't you think he's too involved? What if he lets his emotions get the better of him? What about Frostro, we've both teamed with him recently. We know he can get the job done.'
'He won't do anything to harm the mission. Anyway, if all goes to plan it will be quick in, out and report back.'
'You really think it'll be like that? This is a big mess waiting to happen.' Doulos replied angrily.
'I know,' Electrify began to shout. 'And in a fight, there's not many others I'd rather have by my side.' Electrify lowered her voice. 'I'm sorry Doulos, but I want him with us. If you don't like that, I understand if you don't want a part of this.'
Doulos sighed, 'of course I'm coming.'
'What do you think they're arguing about?' Tufty asked Rogue in the next room.
'God knows,' Rogue replied. 'Maybe she's jealous that our base is nicer than your SNHS base?'
The buzzer went, 'Hey guys. You'll be glad to know the mighty Hot-Plate has arrived! Can someone let me in?'
Rogue stood up and went to the computer terminal, 'Hey Hot. Access granted, come on in!'
Hot-Plate entered into the base. 'Cheers dude. What's happening?'
'Well,' Tufty began. 'We're still waiting on Gen and Aero to return. Elec and Doulos are having a....um' she hesitated, 'executive meeting. Though by the sounds of it, they're all done now.'
Electrify and Doulos walked back through the door, both looking grim.
'Hi Hot,' Electrify said.
'Alright Elec? Hi Doulos,' Hot-Plate said smiling at the Ranger. Doulos grunted and nodded a greeting to Hot-Plate. Electrify went to a desk and sat down, studying the map of Skyway.
'Need a hand there?' Hot-Plate asked.
Electrify looked up, 'Yeah, can do. This is the building the Vanguard were investigating. Its not that big, according to City Hall records, its been derelict for the past three years. It used to be offices, but since the last company that used it went bankrupt after a fire, no ones taken it over. Can't say I blame them, the fire must have done a fair bit of damage. Its actually owned by a leasing company called Chan-Soar. We think the Vanguard entered here,' she said pointing to an area of the rooftop. 'A ventilation shaft that should run all the way down to the basement. As soon as they entered, comms was lost. So I'm assuming there is some kind of device there that muffles comms systems.'
'Either that, or they were captured as soon as they entered,' Hot-Plate said.
Electrify looked up at him, and could see the worry etched on his face. 'Lets hope not,' she smiled reassuringly.
Genergy and Aeronaught entered the base. Doulos looked up, 'Report?' he asked.
'Well,' Aeronaught began. 'We've got a bit of good news, and a whole lot of bad news. The good news is if we find any, we can remove the device that causes the barrels to mix. That will stop the water from causing the chain reaction with the Rubidium. There was no anti-tampering device, nothing to stop us from simply taking it off.'
Electrify stood up. 'And the bad news?'
Aero sighed and looked over to Genergy.
'The bad news is, unless we remove the barrel of Rubidium and take it far away from the second barrel, it could still go off without any warning.'
'We knew this,' Doulos said. 'Is there any more bad news?'
'Yes. Since the scientists carried out the test that blew up the lab, the one's that survived the blast have been somewhat hesitant about playing with the unknown substance.' Genergy said. 'This means that although it appears to be stable, we have no idea what it may react with. We don't even know what will happen if it does have a reaction. If we cool the room, to stabilise the Rubidium, that could have an bad effect, although that is unlikely.'
The assembled heroes stood in silence for a minute before Doulos spoke up. 'Well, we aint getting paid overtime for this. One last thing before we go,' he picked up some canisters from the table and passed them out. 'Blacken up your armour, I don't want us to get spotted.'
'We're going through the sewers,' said Electrify.
Below Skyway city, a troll was stumbling through the sewers, muttering to himself.
'Do's Outcast will pay for dat. How dare dey, 'itting me over the 'ead, frowing me down hole in der ground. Could've 'ad em if I din't take so much 'dine. I could do wiv some 'dine now though.'
As he walked down the passageway, he saw a hole where the tunnel had partially collapsed. 'Hm, mebbe theres some 'dine in dere,' he said. He walked through the hole and climbed up into the room above. His eyes widened with surprise. 'Ooooh, I fink dey use dem things to take der 'dine about places! Dis is my day lucky!'
good work matey.
i'll start addin it onto the site 
'It really does stink down here,' Frozen Rogue complained. 'Remind me again why you brought us down here Elec?'
'I didn't want to go through the roof access,' Electrify said. 'It was either that or we knock on the door and ask if we could come in for a look around.'
'Yeah, well right now I'd have been happier to do that,' Rogue replied.
'He has a point though,' Tufty said. 'It does smell worse than normal down here.'
'What concerns me more, is its too quiet down here. We've seen nothing,' said Doulos. 'Keep a clear eye,' he advised. 'I don't like this.'
They walked on, Electrify keeping an eye on the map. The sewers twisted and turned. 'We're almost there,' she finally declared. 'Hopefully there may be an entrance up into the basement.'
'I hope so, that smells getting worse,' Rogue said.
'Keep quiet, we don't know if they'll have anyone patrolling here.' Doulos ordered.
They rounded the next corner, all covering their mouths in a fruitless attempt to hide the smell. Aeronaught, in the lead and unaffected by the smell, his helmet keeping it at bay suddenly stopped and turned to the others.
'I think,' he whispered, 'we've found the source of the smell.'
Electrify walked around the corner, and gasped. 'My God,' she said. Dozens of rotting bodies were piled up in a corner. Rikti, Vhaz, Trolls, Outcast, Circle. All thrown together in a mass, stinking heap. Electrify approached, almost gagging at the smell. She walked back to the group, and said quietly, 'they've been there a long time, though some of the ones on top are....' she searched for an appropriate word, 'fresher.'
Hot-Plate walked over to where Electrify stood. 'Elec. The Vanguard, they aren't,' he began
'No, they aren't there,' replied Electrify. 'There's still hope.'
'Gen,' she looked over to the Ranger. 'Can you scout ahead, there should be some kind of entrance near here, we're pretty much right below the building now.'
'No problem,' he replied. He flicked a device on his suit, a glow appeared around him and he vanished. 'Back in a sec,'
Genergy sped around the corner, watching for anything that may pose a threat, as well as looking for a doorway or an opening. As he ran into a large opening, he saw a tunnel leading upwards. 'Hmm,' he said to himself, 'that could be what we're looking for.' He opened up his comms. 'Guys, I think I've found it. A tunnel, leading upwards. Its gonna be a bit of a squeeze.'
'We're on our way,' Elec replied. 'Any clue as to what the tunnel was used for?'
'None,' Genergy replied. 'Though it smells a bit fruity.'
'We aren't ever getting up there!' said Aeronaught. 'Even if we can get in the tunnel, its pretty much vertical!'
Electrify looked around that the assembled team and looked back up the tunnel. Even herself and Tufty, the smallest in the group would struggle to fit, and Tufty didn't look too pleased about the idea. The Rangers, if they removed armour, may just about fit, but would more than likely get stuck before they'd gone a meter. Hot-Plate stood no chance.
'I was counting on this working. I take it you didn't see anything else?' She asked Genergy.
'No, but I'll look further afield if you want?' He replied.
'I think you'll have to. If you can't find anything, I'm out of ideas. We'll have to go through the roof.'
'I'll go check,' Genergy replied speeding off.
Doulos approached Electrify. 'You think we should go through the roof?' He asked.
'No,' she replied. 'But if you have any other ideas, I'd be happy to listen.'
Genergy's voice came through the communicator, 'Guys, I've found something.'
'On our way,' Doulos replied.
As they approached Genergy, he was crouched peering around a corner. He turned and saw the team and raised a finger to his lips, motioning them to keep quiet. He silently walked over to the team and whispered, 'there's a troll around the corner. He's alive, but groaning. For a troll he's pretty puny, I'm not sure what he's doing here.'
'Could be a bad guy?' Frozen Rogue asked.
'Could be, but I wouldn't have thought even Trolls would kill their own and pile them with other nasties.' Genergy replied.
'I doubt he's what we're looking for,' Electrify said. 'I can't imagine the Trolls would be able to make bombs like we saw earlier. Could be a survivor from an ambush?'
'If any survived,' Genergy replied, 'it'd probably be one of the tougher ones, perhaps a Brick. This one'd struggle to fight his way out of a paper bag.'
'We'd better find out what he knows. Doulos,' she looked over at the Ranger. 'you do the honours?'
He grinned, 'with pleasure.'
Doulos ghosted to where the Troll lay, raised his rifle and said '2 yards, one shot you'll never see coming.'
The Troll looked up at Doulos, 'Jus' kill me hero.' He groaned in agony.
'As much as I'd enjoy killing you, Doulos said, 'and I would.' He added, 'I have a few questions for you.'
The rest of the team joined him. Electrify looked down at the troll.
'He's sick. I'd say his stomach has been ruptured, he's got internal bleeding and blood poisoning. What the hell has happened to you?' she asked the Troll.
'It was der 'dine. Bad dine, hurt bad. Jus' kill me.'
'This things no use to us,' Doulos growled. 'He's so out of it I doubt he knows his own name, let alone anything of use to us.' He raised his rifle to take the deadly shot.
'No!' Electrify snapped. 'You aren't killing him.' She looked back to the Troll. 'Where did you get the superadine?'
'Der's a hole, over dere.' He pointed over to a large machine. 'Dere was some 'dine, I fought it was good stuff. Fizzed nicely. But den it hurt.' He groaned again.
Aeronaught ran to the machine. Behind it he saw a hole in the wall. He looked back over to Doulos and nodded.
Electrify placed her hands over the Troll and drew some of his pain away. She looked at him in the eyes, 'without the proper facilities, thats the best I can do. Tell us everything you know and I'll help you.'
Doulos growled. The troll spoke again, 'I told you everyfink I know.'
'What about the room the dine was in?' she asked.
'It was big and lots of light.' He said. 'Der was some of dem barrels like wot I told you.'
'Were there any people in there?
'No. Der was no one dat I saw.'
Electrify stood up. 'Well, we have a lead. We'd better get this guy out of here and get him some help.'
Doulos walked up to her, 'there is no way I'm taking the word of a Troll. I'm not risking the lives of my men by sending them in there,' he motioned to the hole in the wall. 'For all we know, it could be a trap.
'Why would he lie to us? He's dying! We're the only one who can help him!'
'We aint helping him, nor are we believing what he says. We'll have a better chance going through the roof.'
'And risking the same fate as the Vanguard?' Electrify responded angrily.
'We're better than them.'
'How do you know that? They were specialists, they knew what they were doing!'
'Obviously not,' he retorted. 'Else they wouldn't have got into this trouble!'
Hot-Plate walked over, 'Don't even think it,' he said, towering over Doulos.
Doulos looked angrily at Hot-Plate. 'Either way, my point stands. I don't trust Trolls and I aint helping one.'
Electrify sighed, 'I'll go in a check it out. One of you guys help the Troll back to the surface and call in help to get him to the hospital.
Tufty, knelt down next to the Troll, looked back at Electrify. 'We don't have time,' she said quietly.
'She's right, we've got too much to do to waste time helping a Troll'.
'No,' said Tufty. 'We don't have time because he's dead.'
The group stood in silence, waiting for a decision.
Doulos decided to take charge. 'We go through the roof, lets roll.'
'No,' said Electrify. We're going through the hole.'
'I am not taking the word of a Troll,' Doulos said firmly.
'Yeah,' Frozen Rogue spoke up. 'I'm not happy with that either. No such thing as a good Troll, they're all lying, thieving
.'
Electrify interrupted. 'He was dying. He had no reason to lie to us, don't you understand?'
'Don't you understand that he probably died happy in the knowledge that he's sent a group of heroes to their deaths?!' Rogue said.
Electrify looked at the group. 'I'm going in there, I'll check it out and let you know if its safe.'
'I'm coming too,' Hot-Plate said defiantly.
'Me too,' said Tufty.
Aeronaught and Genergy were about to speak, but were cut short by Doulos. 'Stand down guys. You aren't going in there, thats an order.'
'I'm going alone,' Electrify said. Hot-Plate was about to argue, 'I'll just have a quick look, don't worry. Wait here, I'll be right back.
'You'd better listen to her,' Doulos said. 'She's the boss.'
Electrify turned and walked to the opening. Genergy turned to Doulos and whispered, 'D, she has no offensive powers. If she gets into trouble, she's got no way to get out of it!'
Doulos looked to Genergy, 'don't you think I know that? You know what to do.'
Electrify made her way past the rubble into the tunnel. She began to pull herself up towards the hole above. A shaft of light beamed down towards her. She pulled herself up through the gap and looked around. Silently, she moved to the corner of the room, before surveying her surroundings. As the Troll had said, it was a large bright room. The walls were decaying, the damage from the fire still evident. All along the ceiling were long thin lights that flooded the room, not many places to stay hidden here. Electrify gasped, at the end of the room were two large barrels, identical to the one's she'd seen during the briefing. She slowly made her way down to where the barrels were sat. The tops had been removed. As she looked into the barrels, she discovered they were empty.
'Well,' she thought, 'at least its safe.' She clicked on her communicator, 'Guys, make your way up.' The communicator crackled with static. 'Dammit, I'll have to go back.'
She slowly began to make her way back towards the hole in the floor.
'Halt!' she heard. 'Turn around, no sudden movements else we shoot.' Electrify slowly turned to see her captors.
'Ahh, a hero!' one commented. 'Mistress will be pleased! She's been looking for a new toy since she broke her last one's'
VERY COOL STORY BUDDY!!!
aye keep em comin part 3 added to site
And part 4! Spaced it out a bit so should hopefully be slightly easier reading!
'Go and check for others,' the guard told his colleague. 'There's bound to be more. Check in the sewer, they're probably hiding down there like the rest of the scum we've put to rest.'
The second guard nodded and walked over to the hole Electrify had entered through.
The first guard walked over the Electrify. 'Now, now missy,' he said. 'You're in a spot of bother. My boss will have lots of fun with you.'
'You realise what that helmet makes you look like?' Electrify replied.
'This is a badge of honour!' The guard was visibly annoyed. 'Do you know what it means?'
'Arachnos,' Electrify said, without question. 'No doubt you're as cowardly as he his.'
'You should watch your mouth,' the guard replied. He walked close to Electrify. 'Hmm, you're quite the looker.' He leered at her. 'I think before the boss has her fun, I'll have mine.'
As quick as a flash he threw Electrify against a wall. Her head bounced off the hard concrete. He threw himself against her, one hand closed around her mouth the other ripping at her top. Dazed, and struggling to think straight, she bit into his hand. The guard screamed in pain, and brought his free hand up to punch her hard below her left temple. She kept biting into his hand, as he punched again and again. Electrify could feel the warm blood pour out of the deep wound in her head. With a final, huge swing of his fist, Electrify let go of the guards hand. Immediately he closed his hand around her throat, choking her. '[censored]!' He yelled. 'I will kill you myself!'
Electrify fought for breath, her lungs burning. He punched again with his left fist, opening the wound further. The world seemed to swirl around her as her grasp with conciousness became weak. With the last of her strength, she brought her knee up as hard as she could and caught the guard. He grunted and fell to his knees in pain. Electrify knew she had to follow up, but didn't have the strength. Her legs gave way, and she collapsed next to the guard. She struggled to her knees and looked at him. He pulled out a knife, which glinted evilly in the light and got to his feet. Electrify, still gasping for breath, knelt back and rested her hands on her knees. In her minds eye she saw an awful premonition. Hot-Plate, refusing to accept she was missing following her, to his death. The team, without any news from her, entering the roof, to be caught and murdered by an Arachnos trap. An explosion ripping through the city, devastating Skyway, killing thousands. With steely determination she pulled herself to her feet.
'You've got some fight in you, I'll give you that much,' the guard said. 'Its not done you any good, mind.'
Electrify threw a wild punch, the guard sidestepped it, and kicked out her legs from under her. She fell to a heap on the floor. He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back. 'Time to die!' He growled in her ear.
Electrify closed her eyes, waiting for the knife to slit her throat. 'Click-Click'
Doulos materialised behind the Guard, and with an almighty swing hit the guard with his rifle. The guard fell to the floor unconscious.
'Are you ok?' Doulos asked, concerned. Electrify nodded, slowly and painfully getting to her feet. 'I had Gen keep an eye on you.'
Genergy appeared by her side, 'I'm sorry.' He said. 'When I realised we couldn't contact the others, I ran back to them. When we were on our way back we got held up by the other guard.'
'Yeah,' Doulos said. 'Hot-Plate did a good job on him. Practically cremated the guy.'
'Thank you,' Electrify said. 'I need to sit for a second,' she almost whispered.
Hot-Plate joined Electrify and steadied her as Tufty approached them. She looked at Electrify's bloody face. 'Ouch,' she said. 'Let me take a look.'
'I'll be fine. Electrify said. 'I can sort it.' She walked to the wall where she had been attacked so violently, looked at the puddle of her own blood on the floor, walked a couple of meters to the left of it and sat down.
'What shall we do with this guy?' Frozen Rogue asked.
'We'll find out what he knows.' Doulos replied nodding toward the guard. 'Gen, Aero. Take a look at the barrels over there. Tufty.' He looked over to the Defender. 'Hurt him.'
Tufty looked at the guard coldly. 'Gladly,' she said. With a raise of her arms, solid black tentacles rose from the ground. They engulfed the guard, and pulled at his arms and legs. The guard slowly came too.
'Get them off me, what are you doing?!'
'They won't kill you,' Doulos said. 'They're just to make you feel uncomfortable. This however,' he raised his rifle, 'will kill you. Now tell us everything.'
The guard was terrified. He quickly told them everything he knew, which wasn't much. He had recently been assigned to the base. They were to accept any arrivals of the barrels, however they didn't know what they were. They were then put into the hands of Arachnos scientists who prepared them. The scientists had recently left, the guard had expected a posting of a month or more, however a security slip and the arrival of the Vanguard had caused the programme to be sped up. They were due to leave the next night. The barrels were taken up to the room above, but he hadn't been given access to that, only a few people had access; mainly scientists. A woman was in charge of the operation. She had taken great interest in the capture of the Vanguard, however there was only a skeleton staff remaining at the base now.
'Thats all I know!' He pleaded. 'I promise!'
'Tufty,' Doulos said. 'Let him go.' The tentacles fell away and the guard dropped to the floor. 'Thank you!'
'Don't thank me.' Doulos replied, 'we can't leave you here to warn the others, we can't take you back.'
'Please! No!' He looked into Doulos' eyes, hoping to find mercy. There was none.
The guard desperately tried to reason with them. 'If you shoot me, it'll warn the whole base! They'll be on you, you won't stand a chance! If I'm with you, I can help you!'
'No chance. Aero over there,' he glanced to the Ranger, 'is pretty damn good when it comes to making gadgets. I have a useful silencer attached. No one will hear a thing.'
Tufty whispered to Doulos, 'Are you really going to kill him?'
'No,' Doulos replied. 'But he doesn't know that.'
Electrify rose from the floor and walked to Doulos. Without word she took hold of his rifle, and pulled it from his grasp. Doulos looked into Electrify's eyes, and saw a look he'd never seen before. He released his grip on the rifle as she took it and turned to the guard.
'Thank you!' The guard said, relieved.
Electrify raised the rifle, aimed it at the guards head and pulled the trigger.
She sighed as the lifeless body of the guard slumped to the floor. She released her grip on the butt of the rifle, and it swung down by her side. Doulos rushed over to her and took the gun. He looked around at the rest of the team all in a state of shock.
'Gen, Aero? Anything in the barrels?'
Aero collected his thoughts. 'Er
nothing, they're empty. The uh
. Device has already been removed.'
'Gen?' Doulos asked, 'anything you want to add?'
Genergy was staring open mouthed at the body. His attention snapped to Doulos. 'Nothing to add here,' he said.
'Well,' said Doulos. 'Lets move out. We need to get to the next floor, and quick. Rogue, our communicators work inside, and work outside the building. However they don't work from inside, to the outside and vice-versa. Go report what we've found and get back here quick.'
It should be Electrify who reported in, Doulos thought. He looked at her. She hadn't moved a muscle since shooting the guard. She was still staring at the body.
'Gen, scout ahead. We need as clear a path as possible to the floor above.' Genergy activated his Invisibility cloak and sped away.
Doulos approached Electrify. 'Hey,' he said. 'If you hadn't done it, I would. So don't worry.' He placed a hand reassuringly on her shoulder.
Electrify turned to Doulos, her face like thunder. 'That ******* deserved worse.'
'That may be, but you have a team to lead, and a mission to complete. Now, whats the plan?'
Electrify's features softened, a smile flickered briefly on her face.
Frozen Rogue returned. 'Hey, I spoke to that woman. She's pretty [censored]. She wants us out and she wants to speak to you Elec.'
Doulos answered for her, 'I think that can wait.'
'Guys, its Gen. I'm in position,' he said.
'Can you teleport us up?' Electrify asked.
'I can, give me one sec.' He replied.
'Did you meet any resistance?' Doulos asked.
'A bit, but nothing to worry about. I managed to obtain a security pass. Beginning Teleportation now.'
The next thing Electrify knew, she was in a different room on the next floor. The room was a stark contrast to the basement. Where that had been dilapidated, this was state of the art. She was in a corner of a small entrance room.
Genergy finished teleporting the rest of the group.
'You sure we're in the same building?' Aero asked quietly. Genergy nodded, and pointed to the other side of the room where there were two doors.
'I think we need to go in there, but I can't see whats behind the doors.' he whispered.
'We'll go in together,' Doulos replied. The rest of you wait here until I give the signal.
The two Rangers disappeared from sight. Silently they approached the door and opened it. The others listened closely, expecting to hear a gunshot or a shout.
'Its clear,' Doulos called back. The team entered the room, which turned out to be a thin corridor, with one door either side. 'Left or right door?' He asked Electrify.
'Left,' she said. The team moved forward, up to the door.
'I'll go in first,' Hot-Plate said. 'In case of ambush.'
Doulos nodded in agreement. Hot-Plate opened the door and looked inside.
'Its dark, but empty, I think.' He said as he entered. Electrify followed him in. The room was much smaller than the others. The floor made a squelching sounds as the walked in.
'Whats that on the floor?' Frozen Rogue asked. Electrify walked to the far side of the room, in the gloom she could make out a shape.
'Oh God,' she said, and looked away.
'What is it?' Doulos walked up to her. 'Oh,' he said.
'What? What is it?' Hot-Plate asked, 'let me see.'
'No, Hot!' Electrify began, but before she could stop him, Hot-Plate had seen the mangled remains.
'What
. What is that?' He said. A flame lit up his arm, and he held it close to light up the end of the room.
He gasped in horror. The mangled remains of the Vanguard lay thrown in the corner. Identifying them would be impossible. They had obviously been tortured, the flesh hanging, flayed from the bones. Their costumes in tatters, the green and black of their livery visible behind the blood, which had saturated the entire floor of the room.
'I will kill whoever did this,' Hot-Plate growled.
Flames began to build up around him, Electrify grabbed him and pulled his face close to her own.
'We will get them,' she said through gritted teeth. 'You need to control yourself, I promise we will get revenge. Focus on the mission.'
'Who would do something like that?!' Rogue asked.
'I don't know, but we need to get out of here. We'll come back for the bodies when this is over.' Doulos decided. 'Out, now.'
As the team re-assembled outside the room, Doulos looked around. The entire team was looking for revenge for what they had just seen, although they hadn't known the Vanguard, even the Rangers and Tufty were seething with rage. They needed to keep a cool head.
'Focus,' Doulos said. 'Remember why we're here. Next room,' he pointed to the door opposite. 'Gen, have a look.'
Genergy slowly opened the door to see inside.
He looked back, 'big room. Stay here.' He slowly moved into the room, whilst the others waited. Doulos looked at Hot-Plate, struggling to come to turns with what he'd just seen.
Genergy's voice came through 'Teleporting.'
As Doulos reappeared, Genergy pointed towards the other side of the room. Doulos followed his hand as stared in disbelief. Two huge vats were stored there.
'Half full,' Genergy whispered.
'How much do you reckon is there?!' Doulos asked
Genergy looked incredulous and shrugged, 'a hundred of gallons of each, maybe more!'
'Okay,' Doulos said. 'Here's the plan. Gen, ghost to the vats, teleport Aero over. Aero, you need to work out how they work, and how to stop them working.' Aero nodded. 'Gen, get back here as soon as he's there. Once you've done what you can let me know. Now go, and be quick.'
Genergy reactivated his cloaking device and sped away. A few seconds later, Aero disappeared as he was teleported to the vats.
'Okay,' Aeronaut thought to himself. 'What do we have here.' He looked over the vats. Its was all pretty basic, in essence the same design as the smaller barrels. He worked quickly, his fingers moving over the different wires and breakers, discovering what each did. He identified the Power Supply Unit that drove the vat's mixing arms. The whole device could be made relatively safe. If it was simply shut down it shouldn't cause any reaction. He opened up his comm's and spoke as quietly as he could.
'Doulos, I can shut this thing down, but from what I can tell it is alarmed They'll know as soon as I do anything.'
'Stand fast,' ordered Doulos. 'Okay, part two of the plan. The computer over there, there's four guards and two scientists. Thats all the security I can see. We need to take them out, and the scientists. Gen, you get to the computer and work your magic. Find out what you can, anything may help but shut down the alarms.' Genergy nodded. 'Okay, I'll go in first, and create a diversion. Back me up.'
Doulos activated his invisibility cloak, and silently made his way to the front of the room where the guards stood. 'Full Auto,' he growled. His rifle exploded into life, shooting from his hip the bullets took the six Arachnos men, the intense rate of fire making them dance in the air like mannequins.
As soon as they heard the first shot, the rest of the team were up and running towards Doulos to assist him. By the time they approached him, Doulos was done. The bodies fell to the floor.
'Nice diversion!' Tufty commented as she walked up to him.
'Heh,' Doulos chuckled. 'I'll never get tired of that. Gen, get started.'
Genergy moved to the computer terminal. He began to create his mental link with the computer and the systems it ran. 'Doulos,' he said, almost in a trance, only vaguely aware of what was around him. 'Our communications to outside are being suppressed by an antenna on the roof.'
'Shut it down,' Doulos ordered.
Hot-Plate's attention snapped to the door.
'What's up?' Doulos asked.
'I'm not sure,' Hot-Plate replied. 'I think I saw movement.'
'Hurry up with that Gen,' Doulos said. 'I think its about to get messy.'
'Okay,' Genergy said. 'Alarms de-activated. I'll see what else I can find.'
'Aero,' Doulos said into his communicator. From the otherside of the room, he could see Aeronaut stand up and look at him. 'We're set. Switch that thing off.'
'Roger that,' the Ranger replied.
Aeronaught quickly worked on the machine, toggling off switches, cutting wires to make sure it couldn't be reactivated. Just to be sure he removed the Power Supply Unit. 'All done,' he radioed in.
The wall closest them exploded. Charges placed by Arachnos men blew through the wall. Doulos shielded his face as brick, mortar and steel wall covering showered over him. He looked back up, and through the smoke and dust could make out the shapes of Arachnos soldiers, pouring through the hole. All their weapons trained on Genergy, still at the computer terminal.
'Gen!' Doulos shouted a warning. Genergy, trying to keep track of what was happening, looked over, his eyes wide with surprise.
The soldiers opened fire simultaneously. Genergy braced himself for the impact.
'No!' Shouted Doulos, bringing his rifle up to fire buckshot at the soldiers. Hot-Plate, aware of the danger threw himself at Genergy, fire and plasma covering his body with a protective shield as he flew through the air to pull Genergy down to safety. The blasts flew harmlessly overhead, though some hit the computer terminal which exploded in a shower of sparks. Doulos' buckshot hit the middle of the closest group of soldiers, throwing them back at the men following.
Genergy nodded a thanks to Hot-Plate, who stood up to look around. Doulos, relieved to see Genergy safe, fell back to get behind cover. Tufty and Frozen Rogue, ran to him, Rogue firing bolts of ice as he ran. Tufty raised her arms, and the tentacles once again rose from the floor to grab at a soldier. Electrify joined them and began to use her powers to improve their endurance, their aim and their defence.
Most of the soldiers had now entered the room, spreading out and crouching behind cover. Behind them entered a huge man, almost as tall as Hot-Plate. He was clad in a dark purple, trimmed with gold. Around his arms was barbed wire, he carried an enormous stone hammer. Hanging from his belt was a dark green patch of fabric, with a motive printed on it in black. Hot-Plate roared in anger, as he realised this was the man that murdered the Vanguard. He pulled himself to his full height, bullets and blasts flying around him. He was torn, desperate to kill this man, but his loyalty to his team stopped him.
'Hot-Plate,' Doulos' thoughts returned to the Vanguard. His own anger swelling inside of him. 'He's all yours. Make it quick, we need you here.'
With another roar, Hot-Plate leapt towards his enemy. 'I will kill you!' he shouted. The giant man stood, and smiled at him.
'Who the hell is that?' Frozen Rogue asked.
'I'm not sure,' replied Doulos. 'I think its Dire, a small time villain we've got on our files.'
'Not so small time now,' Frozen Rogue said.
'Aero,' Doulos spoke into his communicator. 'How's it look from your end?'
'Messy,' he replied. 'I don't think they've spotted me yet, so I'm sniping when I can get a shot'
To prove his point, a bolt of pure energy flew from the other end of the room and hit a soldier full on his mask, shattering it.
'Good work,' Doulos said impressed.
Hot-Plate ran full speed towards Dire, bullets from the soldiers flying around him. A shot hit him in the chest and he stumbled, his anger keeping him going.
'Leave him to me,' Dire ordered the soldiers. He raised his stone hammer, ready to strike Hot-Plate. With surprising speed, Hot-Plate leaped at him, before Dire could strike his blow Hot-Plate thumped into his chest. The force of the blow taking them through the wall. Dire was the first to his feet, and swung at Hot-Plate's head. The blow dazed Hot-Plate, he struggled to his feet and looked at Dire. With another mighty swing, Dire aimed to shatter Hot-Plates skull, this time Hot-Plate was ready, and dodged the blow. He rained punches down onto Dire's face, the flames around his hands and arms burning into Dire's flesh as they struck. Losing his grip on his hammer, Dire grasped at Hot-Plates face, trying to blind him. Hot-Plate effortlessly lifted him, and through him through the wall opposite, into the next room. He picked up Dire's fallen hammer and threw it to one side before following through the wall.
'It's getting a bit hot in here, Rogue!' Electrify exclaimed as a bullet flew past her head. The explosions and continued firing had warmed the room considerably.
'We'll cover you,' Doulos said. 'get closer to the vat's and freeze them.'
Rogue looked at the distance he had to run. 'Easy,' he grinned.
'Aero, you ready to give fire?' Doulos asked.
'No problem,' he replied.
Doulos looked over to Genergy, still crouched behind the shattered computer terminal. He nodded and gave a thumbs up.
'Okay, on my mark,' Doulos began. He waited, waiting for the fire from the soldiers to die down. 'Fire!'
Doulos stood, firing his rifle at the soldiers. Not to kill, but to scare the soldiers enough to duck down. Blasts of energy flew as Gen and Aero joined him, Tufty threw dark blasts towards the enemy.
'Go!' Doulos shouted.
Frozen Rogue jumped up and ran towards the vats. He threw himself down behind cover and concentrated. Ice appeared around the base of the vats, and slowly worked its way up to the rims. By the time he was finished, the vats looked like two ice bergs. 'thats the best I can do!' He radioed back to Doulos.
'Good work,' Doulos replied. 'That should keep us safe for a while.' He added.
Dire had pulled himself back to his feet when Hot-Plate entered the room. He was stood leaning with one hand against the wall, the other hand holding his neck in pain. He looked over at Hot-Plate. 'That the best you got?' He asked.
'I was just playing with you,' Hot-Plate replied.
'Funny,' Dire replied. 'thats what I was doing with your friends!' He pulled out the piece of ripped Vanguard costume and used it to wipe away some of the blood from his face.
'You murdered them,'
'Actually,' Dire replied. 'I only tortured them a little bit. I killed one of them, but that was an accident.,' he shrugged. 'She wasn't best pleased with me. But I got a little momento of the occasion!' He grinned at Hot-Plate.
Hot-Plate lunged towards the defenceless Dire. The stone around the hand Dire had been using to support himself shifted, in his hand appeared another hammer which he swung with incredible strengh at the approaching Hot-Plate. As he was caught under the chin, Hot-Plates head snapped back, and he flew back through the wall to their right, into another corridor where he lay motionless.
'Hot-Plates hurt!' Electrify gasped. 'I have to help him!'
'Its too dangerous!' Doulos said. 'I can't spare anyone to help you get to him!'
'I have to go,' Electrify pleaded. 'I'm not doing anything here anyway!'
Doulos looked around. 'Okay, get to him, help him and get back. You have to be quick.' He grabbed her arm. 'I'm counting on you, this is stalemate - it could go bad at any minuite. Go back through that door,' he pointed at the door they'd entered through. 'If you follow the corridor it should take you to where they went,' he pointed at the hole in the wall. 'Keep quiet, we don't know whats lot in the corridor.' He added.
'Right, covering fire on my mark.'
'I'll be back,' Electrify whispered to Doulos.
'You'd better be,' he replied. 'Covering fire!' he shouted.
Electrify ran, faster than she ever had. She burst through the door, out into the corridor and fell heavily on the floor. She looked opposite, where the door to the Vanguard had been left was. The handle turned, and she heard a woman's voice.
'Hello Amy. Its been a while.'
Electrify clutched her head as intense pain flooded through her mind.
'Electrify,' Doulos yelled over the sound of gunfire. 'What the hell's going on out there?' He waited a moment. 'Dammit,' he said to no one in particular. 'I shouldn't have let her go alone.'
Aeronaut, still next to the frozen vats glanced over his cover. More men were streaming through the wall into the room. He was about to warn Doulos when he heard a sound behind him. He turned to look, as his whole world turned to orange. The wall exploded, more soldiers flooded through the new opening. He looked back to the rest of the team. 'Incoming!' He shouted, as the soldiers opened fire and the bullets tore through his armour.
Great story. Just one small niggly comment... It's 'Aeronaut' not 'Aeronaught'...
heh heh
bloody loving this...
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Great story. Just one small niggly comment... It's 'Aeronaut' not 'Aeronaught'...
heh heh
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dont say that.. i'll have to go and edit every web page again 
keep them comin Elec
[ QUOTE ]
Great story. Just one small niggly comment... It's 'Aeronaut' not 'Aeronaught'...
heh heh
[/ QUOTE ]
Bugger. I knew I should just stick to Aero. It shall be amended!
Loving it so far, keep em comin please .
Doulos saw Aeronaut fall from the other side of the room. 'Aero!' he shouted. 'Dammit, Aero come in! I have to check on him.' Tufty grabbed him.
'You'll die before you get even half way.'
Doulos cursed. He looked around, the team was fragmented. Electrify and Hot-Plate gone, Aero down. Genergy was close, but Frozen Rogue was near the vats, a good distance from him. The soldiers were moving in from the front and to the right, looking to cut off any escape route. He cursed again.
'Elec, Hot-Plate. Get back here now!'
Electrify opened her eyes, her head still throbbing. She was back in the room the Vanguard had been left in. She looked to the corner and saw the mangled bodies. Pulling herself up, she realised she was covered in their blood. Horrified, she began to retch.
'You always were weak,' she heard the woman's voice. Electrify pulled herself to her feet.
'Who are you,' she managed to say. 'How do you know my name?'
'I've watched you for a long time, Amy. I know everything about you.'
Suddenly, the lights were flicked on. Electrify shielded her eyes, unaccustomed to the light. As she squinted, she could see the bodies of the Vanguard, even more horrific in the light. Next to them stood a woman, dressed all in black with pure white hair.
'Don't you recognise me?'
'L
.Laurie?!' Electrify gasped in disbelief. 'Is that you? Did you do this?'
'For the most part,' she replied. 'Aren't you impressed?'
'But how could you? What happened to you?!'.
''How could I?! It was quite easy.' Suddenly, Electrify's mind was filled with images of the torture and murder of the Vanguard.
'Stop!' Electrify pleaded.
'Ten years I carried the guilt around with me for what happened.' She walked close to Electrify. 'Ten years!' She shouted. 'Waking every night with the same nightmare.'
'What are you talking about? Electrify asked quietly.
'I killed our Father! I was the one who blew that factory up! I was just a child, a small child. I didn't know what I was doing! How could they blame me for it?'
Electrify stared, in shock. 'But I got better.' Laurie continued, smiling. 'I fell in with the right crowd. I was shown the way. They taught me everything that had happened was because of a greater power, it was inevitable that the factory would be destroyed, that we would be there to witness and benefit from it. I have the power of the Gods!' She yelled. To prove her point, she glared at Electrify. The pain in Electrify's head returned, Electrify screamed in agony. Laurie released her mental grasp and Electrify fell to her knees.
She continued. 'You have it too, you just need to unlock that power. I can help you.' She knelt down next to Electrify and stroked her hair. 'Let me help you.'
'Arachnos?' Electrify panted. 'Where does he fit in to all of this?'
'dont be so blind,' Laurie replied. 'Arachnos is a nothing. He's too obsessed with Statesman and this dump of a city. Though he does pay very well.'
'All this?' Electrify looked at Laurie in disbelief. 'All this for money? Murdering the Vanguard? The bombs? Just to fill your purse?'
'Not everything is black and white, Amy.' She stood up, and looked down at Electrify. 'I tried to explain that to Jen, but she failed to understand.'
'Genergy, can you 'port Rogue over?' Doulos asked.
Genergy sneaked a look over the computer terminal to where Frozen Rogue was knelt, firing to stem the tide of soldiers.
'No problem,' he replied, as he teleported Rogue to the terminal.
Doulos looked over his cover. Fortunately the ground between them and the soldiers had little or no cover. The few attacks they had made had been cut short, the ground between them becoming littered with the bodies of lifeless soldiers. He looked down to the other end of the room. More soldiers were pouring through the new opening.
Doulos cursed. 'Gen, did you get that antenna deactivated?'
'I think so,' Genergy replied.
Doulos switched his comms, 'Emergency! I have one man down, two missing. Require assistance as soon as possible.' He gave out the co-ordinates of the building, then listened hoping for a reply.
'Anything?!' Tufty asked.
'Static,' Doulos replied.
'We can't hold out much longer!'
Dire walked through to the corridor and looked at Hot-Plate, still motionless on the floor. He smiled to himself, and kicked him. Hot-Plate didn't move. Dire raised his hammer above his head, as flames rose from the floor. He shouted in pain, as Hot-Plate quickly jumped to his feet.
Two quick blows to his chest knocked Dire off balance. Hot-Plate was unrelenting, he followed up quickly, pounding at his face again and again. Dire pushed Hot-Plate off and thrust his hammer forwards, winding Hot-Plate.
Dire screamed with rage, and threw himself at Hot-Plate, who grabbed Dire as he flew at him, using his own momentum against him and spinning him towards the wall.
Electrify's mind filled with memories that were not her own. A small house outside the city. Bright sunshine, the perfect day. Laurie entering the house, and killing all the occupants except one. A young woman, Jen. Laurie was trying to convince Jen to join her, to become as powerful as she was. Jen refusing, to Laurie's disgust. She could hear the screams of Jen, trapped in the house as the flames tore though, room by room. The roof collapsing in on top of her.
'It was her own fault,' Laurie told Electrify of their other sister. 'I tried to help her, told her she had to join me. The Gods don't like it when they don't get their way.'
'What are you talking about?' Electrify asked, stunned. 'You murdered her. It was all your own doing!'
'They told me she had to die! The Gods, they talk to me all the time. They tell me what I must do. They're talking to me now, telling me I must kill you as well if you don't join me.'
'This was hers,' She removed a silver tiara from her head and threw it to Electrify. 'I took it from her before she died.'
Electrify picked up the tiara and looked at it, before placing it on her own head.
Laurie laughed at Electrify's show of defiance.
Electrify could hear Doulos trying to communicate with her.
'They'll be dead soon.' Laurie said, referring to the stranded team. Your mission has failed. The rest of my troops will soon be attacking your friends. They stand no chance. Our little toy will go bang, and my mission will be complete.'
Electrify surreptitiously switched on her communicator.
'Once The Vanguard were captured, we knew a second attack would be made. I didn't count on you of all people being sent. The city you love so much has sent all you to your deaths.'
Dire crashed through the wall. 'Ah, my bodyguard has joined us,' Laurie spoke.
Hot-Plate walked through the new opening, and looked around. 'And he's brought a friend!'
Seeing Laurie stood in front of the kneeling Electrify, in the same room as the fallen Vanguard, he leapt towards Laurie.
'Electrify?' Doulos shouted into his comms. 'Come in!' He had one hand clasped over his ear, trying to listen over the noise of the battle. 'Could any of you make that out?'
'It was too quiet,' Frozen Rogue responded. 'I heard something about the rest of her troops?'
'I don't think that was Elec's voice,' Tufty said.
Doulos surveyed the battlefield as he fired at the opposing soldiers. 'Gen, Rogue.' He ordered. 'Fall back and find cover behind us. We'll have a better chance if we're together.' He looked over at Aero, who still hadn't moved. 'Both go together, on my mark.' This would be risky.
'Now!' He shouted, standing up. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Genergy and Frozen Rogue begin to run.
'Full Auto.' The rifle again burst into life, Doulos sweeping it around the room at the dozens of Arachnos soldiers.
'Tufty!' He shouted. 'Go!'
Tufty jumped up, and ran towards Genergy and Rogue, crouching behind several metal boxes, before Doulos ran to join them. 'Cover me!' He shouted. Genergy, Rogue and Tufty rose as one, firing. Doulos was counting down the yards as he ran, before throwing himself down next to his team mates.
He looked back over the boxes, to see more men flooding in the room. 'This is one hell of a skeleton staff,' he thought to himself.
He looked at what was left of the team. 'We make our stand here,' he said grimly.
'I like him,' Laurie said. 'I think I'll keep him!' Laurie had mentally raised Hot-Plate up off the floor, him writhing in agony.
'Leave him alone!' Electrify shouted as she stood up.
'Why should I? I think he likes me!' She giggled to herself. 'I need a new bodyguard, this one's been,' she looked at Dire. 'Disappointing.'
'He would never join you,' Electrify said.
'Don't be so sure,' Laurie replied. 'You'd be surprised what I can do if I just play with his mind.'
'No!' Electrify shouted. She concentrated and raised her arm towards Hot-Plate, fighting against Laurie's mental link.
Hot-Plate fell to the floor, the agony in his mind clearing.
Laurie laughed, 'Your powers are nothing!' Hot-Plate again raised from the floor.
A furious tug of war began with Hot-Plates mind.
'Doulos,' Frozen Rogue began. 'the ice is melting.' The firing from the soldiers had all but ceased.
'I think they're about to attack,' Doulos said. 'When it comes, we'll have to hold them off for as long as possible. Rogue, try and get to the vats and freeze them again.' Doulos doubted they'd have a chance to hold off the attack, let alone have time to get any of them near the barrels. They needed a miracle.
'Guys,' he looked around the team and smiled. 'Its been fun.'
'Incoming!' Genergy shouted. The team stood as the soldiers charged towards them. One by one, the soldiers were taken down by blasts. But for every one they killed, more followed. Frozen Rogue started forward, hoping to surprise them enough to get to the vats at the other end of the room. Before he had a chance to move past his cover, he was flung back, hit on the shoulder. As the soldiers closed, Doulos threw caltrops ahead of the barrels. From the front of his rifle, liquid poured out onto the floor ahead of their cover. When the soldiers were close, he released his flame thrower, burning the closest soldiers and setting alight to the fuel on the floor. Some of the soldiers tried to back away from the flames. Black tentacles rose from the ground to block them.
More soldiers flanked them, coming in from the right.
The doors exploded inwards, and an animalistic roar could be heard from the corridor. 'Form up on my wing,' an unknown voice was heard. The Arachnos soldiers, surprised by the latest turn of events slowed their attack unsure of what to do. A group charged out into the corridor. Through the smoke and haze, he could make out frozen fists, battering the soldiers and sending them flying back into the room.
'Frostro?' Doulos asked in disbelief.
'Sorry we're late,' a voice replied as Jetstream flew through the door. Frostro followed, as Burning Fist, Fire Blossom and Cowl of the No Such Agency joined them.
'I didn't think my message got through!'
'The Coalition has been informed, they're on their way.'
'Thank God,' Doulos said. Still massively outnumbered, they at least had a fighting chance now.
'Your plan has failed,' Electrify told Laurie as she struggled to keep control of Hot-Plate's mind. 'Reinforcements are here, more are on their way.'
'Never!' Laurie shouted angrily. She released her grip on Hot-Plate, who fell to the floor. Electrify rose as Laurie concentrated on her.
'She's right,' Dire said. 'Latest report is unknown heroes have attacked. Our men are losing.'
'Then send in more men,' Laurie yelled.
'We have no more men to send it,' Dire replied.
'Begin the countdown for the bomb.' Laurie ordered.
'It has been disabled,' Dire replied. 'We have no way to set it off.'
'There is always a way!' Laurie began to laugh. 'I will do it myself!'
'You'll die,' Electrify managed to say.
'Do you still not understand? The Gods will protect me! My spirit will be given a new body. I will be reborn!' She shouted.
Electrify arched her back as pain racked through her body .
The team, with the help of the No Such Agency, were slowly turning the tide. Aeronaut, still lying next to the vats slowly opened his eyes. He looked up to the ceiling, and tried to make sense of what was happening. Warning lights flashed, his suit low on power. His breath was shallow. He could hear Electrify's voice through the comms. They could still use the bomb. 'How can that be?' He asked himself, trying to look around.
'Doulos,' he said. 'I'm sorry. The bomb
.. they can still use it.'
'Aero?' Doulos shouted. 'I thought we'd lost you! Hang in there buddy, we'll get to you!'
'It will be your friend who causes the bomb to explode!' She giggled. 'The irony of it all!'
Soundlessly, Hot-Plate rose from the floor. His arm slowly raised as he moved closer to the ceiling, completely unaware of his actions. Flames rose from his hand closer to the ceiling, closer to the fire alarm.
Aeronaut rested his head back, the pain from the bullet wounds shooting through his chest. He though back to disabling the bomb. He'd done everything he could, the mechanism shouldn't work. There must be something else he'd forgotten.
He looked up at the ceiling, and saw pipes running over the vat. 'The sprinkler system!' He shouted, painfully pulling himself to his feet. His eyes followed the pipes, across the ceiling, down the wall to
. The distributor. He activated his suit, 20% power left. It should be enough. He flew, just above the ground towards the wall. Arachnos soldiers had seen his movement and began firing at him.
Aeronaut winced as shots tore through his armour, thumping into his flesh. He could feel himself getting weaker. He was willing his body on. A halo of pure energy formed around his fists as he approached the water distributor. 5%, 4%, 3%. His power failing, he slammed into the wall and the distributor.
'No!' Electrify screamed as the fire alarms sounded. The light bulbs exploded, as a shock of electricity flared through the room. Blue light flickered around Electrify and lit the room as electricity twisted around her body to form a protective shield. A bright white glow began to surround Electrify. The electricity flowing around her, its heat draining the colour from her uniform, the blood from the floor turning to a bright gold, the darkened uniform becoming pure white.
Laurie's hold on her and Hot-Plate failed. Powers Electrify never knew she had became second nature. She looked at Laurie and fired a burst of pure electricity at her, catching her on a chest. Dire jumped up to protect his mistress, only to be held back by electricity twisting around him.
Laurie laughed, 'I told you I could show you your true power! Its such a shame you only discover it now, as you die!' She laughed again as the water from the sprinklers began to drench her. She raised her arms, welcoming the explosion. 'Now it begins!'
Water poured out of the pipes, drenching Aeronaut as he fell back, his blood mixing with the water as more bullets thumped into the wall around him.
'Aero!' Doulos shouted. 'We must get to him!' He shouted as he tried to push forward to where Aeronaut lay.
'Its not worked' Dire growled as he threw his stone hammer at Electrify. The hammer took Electrify on her shoulder and spun her around, the electricity glowing around her cushioning the blow. Dire grabbed Laurie and smashed the window behind, before throwing himself out.
Electrify knelt down to Hot-Plate. His vital signs were fine. She stood back up and ran to the window.
'Can anyone get to him?' She heard Doulos' voice, turned and raced back into the main room.
She ran through the doors they had first entered. 'Electrify,' Doulos shouted in disbelief. 'Where the hell have you been?!'
Without a word she jumped, high into the air and flew over her comrades heads, over the soldiers to land next to Aeronaut. Kneeling down beside him, she whispered into his ear, 'Come back.' She flooded his body with electricity. Kick-starting his heart and brain. The power of the electricity made him rise into the air. She heard a sigh as his life force returned to his body. She slowly lowered him to the floor and turned around. A group of soldiers were stood behind her, weapons raised and ready to fire.
'Hello, boys!' She said smiling, as every last volt of electricity flowed to her fists. Her body convulsed as she tried to control the power before unleashing it towards the group of soldiers.
A third team of heroes entered the room, most of the Arachnos soldiers realised the game was up and began to surrender, the few that refused fought to their deaths. Doulos walked to where the No Such Agency were stood. 'Thank you,' he began. 'If you hadn't turned up when you did
.'
Jetstream cut him short. 'We weren't here, we didn't help you, you haven't seen us,' she said.
Cowl walked over. 'But you're welcome.' He grinned. Burning Fist bowed to Doulos respectfully.
Frozen Rogue was being tended to as Doulos walked to where Aeronaut was stood. 'How're you feeling?' Doulos asked.
'I've been better,' Aero replied. 'But I'm fine. My suit will need some serious work though. Where's Elec gone?' He asked.
'She's gone to the next room. The one with the Vanguard.' Tufty said.
Doulos entered the room, and saw Electrify knelt next to Hot-Plates body. 'Elec, are you ok? Is he
..' he trailed off.
Electrify looked at him, tears streaming down her face. 'He's gone, I can't find him!'
'He's dead?'
'No, he's alive but
. He's not there!'
Doulos walked into the hospital ward. Electrify was sat down next to Hot-Plate's bed. 'Any change?' He asked.
'None,' Electrify replied. 'They don't know what's wrong with him.'
'Well,' Doulos said. 'Its only been a few hours.' He sat down on a seat next to Electrify. 'They've finished removing the Vanguard. They think they should have the vats emptied by tomorrow morning. The building will be pulled down, too much structual damage from the fight. They will rebuild it, and put up a plaque dedicated to the Vanguard.'
'A plaque? After everything they did?'
'You said it yourself,' Doulos said softly. 'Everything they did was covert. Most of it will be classified for the next fifty years. They will hold a small ceremony when they are laid to rest. The rest of the team want to go, I said you'd probably be there.'
Electrify nodded.
'But how about you? How are you feeling?'
'I'm ok, I think. I feel,' she hesitated. 'Different.'
'You gonna tell me what happened in that room?' Doulos asked.
'Eventually,' Electrify replied.
There was a knock on the door, an older man with greying hair entered.
'Good morning, Electrify,' he said with a smile.
Electrify looked up, surprised.
'Who are you?' Doulos asked.
'This is the Doctor who helped me. He was the one who told me to come here!'
'Indeed I did, and you have been busy!' The older Doctor replied. 'Could I have a few moments with you alone?' He asked.
Doulos nodded. 'I'll be just outside. Nice to meet you,' he said as he walked past the doctor, and out the door.
As the door shut, Electrify asked, 'What are you doing here?'
'I was in the area,' he replied. Thought I'd come check on you.'
'Can you help my friend?' She asked.
'I can try, but it will take a while. I'd also like to talk to you about what happened, is that ok?' Electrify nodded.
'In that case,' he continued, 'go and get some rest. It looks like its been a while since you slept. I will stay with your friend and see if I can help him. I will contact you later.'
Electrify left the Hospital, and walked into into the early morning sun.
Great stuff mate.
Very good .
So when are you starting your next project (looks at both Doulos and Harps)
Doulos has one underway and underwraps.
God knows, should really clear my in-tray first!
There may be an epilogue added, there's still a few loose ends I need to tie
great stuff
all uploaded to snhs site. look forward to the next one.
may try doing one myself in the next few weeks.. just need to finalise a good idea
Cheers mate, good to see you got the other story on there. I forgot to copy it when the boards were wiped!
First part of the continuation of Electrify's Origin.
Big thanks to the guy's who graciously allowed me to use their characters, I hope you're happy with what I've done with them!
__________________________________________________ _____
'You'll never win,' Electrify heard through her comms. 'I'm more powerful than the three of you combined. You shouldn't have come here.'
'Quit yapping already,' Genergy replied. 'Come out here and take it like a man.'
In a flash, their enemy was upon them, his clawed hands flying through the air, looking to strike his prey. Frozen Rogue dropped back, firing frantically as he did. Their assailant dodged his efforts with ease. Genergy took aim and let off a shot, it took him just below his shoulder, but didn't slow him much. 'Man, you guys are wimps!' he said, as he fell upon Frozen Rogue. Two quick swipes opened up a wound on Rogue's cheek, and tore through his costume. Electrify felt his pain, and reacted quickly, healing the wound. The scrapper stopped for a moment, and looked up.
'Back,' shouted Genergy. Falling back, he continued, 'we need to regroup,' Frozen Rogue took the opportunity to jump up, and sped away, grateful to put some distance between himself and his assailant.
'So you've brought yourselves a little healer?' Electrify heard. 'This will be more fun than I thought!' He chuckled menacingly. With lightning speed he ran at Electrify. She looked around, only one way to run, she was cut off from her companions. She turned and ran, away from the scrapper, but away from her teammates and safety.
In a maze of tight alleyways, her enemy behind her closing she ran, turning left and right as the alleyways became thinner, struggling to maintain her speed, desperate to put some distance between them. Suddenly, there was nowhere left to run. A blind alley. No escape. Behind her, she could hear the heavy breathing of her enemy. He walked slowly, stalking his prey. His claws slowly extended menacingly. Wide eyed with fear, Electrify stumbled back, and fell to the floor. She pulled herself back, until she felt the cold hard concrete of the wall behind here. 'Nowhere left to run,' he said with a grin. 'Shame your friends couldn't be trusted to help you. But I'll make sure they pay.'
'No, please no!' Electrify said, her voice trembling with fear. You don't need to....' she heard a double-click on her intercom. She looked back up at her assailant and smiled sweetly, 'Bye bye!' Suddenly, two blasts hit him, the first took his legs away and threw him to her left, the second took him high on the chest, spinning him through the air until he fell crumpled against the wall. Frozen Rogue encased him in ice, a few more shots from Genergy and he was limp. 'Victory!' flashed up as the scenery melted away.
'Dammit! I want a re-match!' The scrapper demanded. 'You were lucky, I can take you!'
'I'm sorry, I really have to go.' Electrify said.
'Yeah, I've got a few things to sort out too,' Genergy replied.
'Thanks for the game though,' Electrify said as she sped off.
She was ten minuites late when she entered the bar. As she walked through the door she could see a few familiar faces. It was a popular bar with some heroes. The barman was friendly, the food cheap if you showed ID and there were plenty of quiet dark corners if you wanted to stay hidden. The jukebox kicked into life, 'Burn baby, burn! Disco Inferno!'. Electrify rolled her eyes and sighed. It always had to be this way.
'Do you have....' A deep voice behind her started, 'any idea on how many women in this city would love to be invited out on a date with me? I can promise you, they would be on time!'
Electrify turned and looked at man behind her. 'Ahhh Hot-Plate, is the music really necessary? And do I need to remind you this isn't a date?'
'Look babe, I gotta make an entrance!' he replied. 'Anyway, he seems to like it,' he said pointing to a spandex clad hero, showing off some moves on the dance floor.
'He's Disco King Jr. Its his thing. I think he has to like it,' Electrify replied, smiling. She looked back at Hot-Plate. He was tall, lean but incredibly muscular. Since her move to Paragon City, he'd become the closest thing she'd had to family.
It had been 8 months since she'd seen the doctor. As soon as she'd arrived in the City she spoke to the men the Doctor had told her to. They had been nice, providing her with a flat in Steel Canyon, and setting her on her way. Since then she'd had next to no contact with them, an occasional fleeting visit or a phone call to check she was ok, and could they provide anything. When she applied for SuperHero ID, she'd taken the name Electrify, though she now felt the name was a lie. She'd met Hot-Plate purely by chance. He'd been taking a beating in the Hollows when she'd stopped by and helped out. According to him, of course, he never needed any help thank you very much, he was handling them fine. Plus there had been another group who'd run off when they'd seen how powerful he really was. When he invited her to help him for a few missions, a strong bond began to form between them and together they'd grown strong. They rarely teamed together these days, the disbanding of Hot-Plate's Super Group had hit him hard. He still wore the spandex, occasionally pounded some heads but his spirit had gone, he wasn't the hero he once was. But he hid it well.
Electrify's phone rang, 'dammit. Sorry 'Plate, I'd better take this.'
As she answered the phone, a womans voice came through. 'Electrify, we need you to join us in Atlas Plaza as soon as possible. Its urgent.'
Electrify sighed, 'I'm on my way.' She looked back to Hot-Plate, 'I'm sorry, I have to run.'
'Hey, no worries, I've got a lot on at the moment anyway,' he replied with a smile.
'I'll see you soon then,' Electrify said 'take care!'
Electrify arrived at the Plaza, and was ushered into a small briefing room. The door at the back of the room opened and a slim, professional looking woman walked through.
'Good afternoon, Electrify,' she said. 'I am Sarah Langton. We have a situation, and we need your help. A short while ago, we detected a...' she hesitated for a moment, 'disturbance in Skyway. We don't know who they are, or what they're doing but they've got the Trolls scared.'
'Are we ment to be concerned about the well-being of Trolls?' Electrify asked
'No, but it is unusual. Almost all of them have left the city. What really concerns us is this,' she swiched on a projector, 'Its a fairly non-descript box, but inside we found something concerning,' she pressed a button, a new image appeared on the wall. It showed two large barrels, with some electronic equipment attached between them. 'I wont go into details, and this is to be kept quiet. The barrel on the left contains Rubidium. A particularly nasty metal. Low melting point, ignites spontaniously and explosive with the hydrogen in water. That barrel would cause a pretty big bang. The equipment between the two barrels holds a small amount of water and mixing apparatus to mix the water, Rubidium and the other barrel.'
'And whats in that barrel?' enquired Electrify.'
Sarah sighed. 'That, I'm afraid is a mystery. It's a liquid, it has a very high boiling point. We ran tests on it, the Rubidium acts as we'd expect, but whatever is in the second barrel seems stable until they are all mixed together. We mixed trace amounts of the Rubidium, the water and the mystery substance together. It took out the entire lab. Goodness knows what kind of explosion that contraption would cause. Our top scientists cannot explain how the mystery substance can exist, let alone how it works.'
'This is all sounding pretty awful, but where do I fit in?'
'We need you to take a team to Skyway, and investigate this.'
'But why me? This isn't really in my usual area of work.'
'Your team will be the second to investigate. We have lost track of the first, and it is possible that they may be being held against their will. If that is the case, any group thats willing to smuggle this,' she pointed at the board, 'is probably willing to get information out of someone in any way possible. Your skills may be required if that is the case.'
Electrify looked shocked as the implications dawned on her. 'Of course, I'll do it. You think they want to blow up Skyway?' She asked.
'If they do, Faultine, Hollows and Boomtown will look like paradise in comparison. We don't know how much they have; it could be enough to take out the whole of Paragon City, on the other hand this could be all they had and in which case we've been lucky. You must choose your team wisely. The group that disappeared was made up of twenty heroes. This time, we hope a small group may have a better chance.'
'Who has disappeared?'
'The Vanguard. Have you heard of them?'
Electrify gasped,' yes. I know someone who was a member once. But they didn't have much more than twenty members?'
'They had exactly twenty members,' Sarah replied.
'The entire Super Group gone?' Electrify asked, horrified.
'We hope not, but it isn't looking good.'
'When do you want us to go in?'
'Tonight, under cover of darkness,' the reply came. 'Form your team as soon as possible, and meet back here. I will prepare a full brief. Time is of the essence.'