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[IC] Responses to World Events
canadascott
Posts: 1,257 Arc User
Okay, we've got ongoing events happening in CO: as of this writing, the first stage of the Destroid invasion that *may* herald the return of Dr. D is over, and the next stage is about to begin.
I thought I'd start a thread on short stories, vignettes, and IC reactions to the various things that are happening in the world. I'll try to post one later this week, but may as well get the ball rolling.
I thought I'd start a thread on short stories, vignettes, and IC reactions to the various things that are happening in the world. I'll try to post one later this week, but may as well get the ball rolling.
/
Post edited by canadascott on
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-Message sent from user SoulStar
"Like I've discussed with you before Thundy, I got a feeling there's more then one major player looming around this time other then Dr. D. I'm doing my best on the side asking around and getting components and ripped out hard drives from Destroids I've been smashing apart and giving them to a specialist in tech. No word as of yet but my suspicions are still high. I'll consult with you as well as others later on. One thing for sure that I know is that Champs HQ is one of his primary targets based off the homing signals and secret encryptions my guy looked over. Although most of us kinda figured that out already so this is just more confirmation then anything. I still say more than anything that these may or may not be distraction tactics towards his real goals based off what I've learned about him. Anyways, I'm being way too chatty then usual so I know that means it's time for me to end this transmission.
SoulStar out"
-SoulStar has logged out
On Call FAQ found here:On Call FAQ
Chaos Theory is interrupted by the klaxon he has wired into the police scanner to sound when any super heroic level threat is mentioned. With the klaxon sound his robot friends start to get restless hovering near him or climbing off work benches, clambering out of recharging bays. "settle down my friends I have to see if we are needed." said Chaos Theory in a calming voice.
Flat-screen monitors and old cathode ray tubes flash into life showing multiple scenes of Destroid activity. Chaos Theory smiles and holsters his Mark 23 ray gun and grabs his scarf, "well kids it seems it is play time after all battle plan sigma" he orders and heads for the lift. His creations form up in a v pattern behind him.
Once He has left his lair and is airborne he flicks his wrist communicator "Chaos Theory to Chief Surhoff where do you need me I'm equipped for medical aid and combat situations" shouted Chaos Theory over the roar of his rocket boots.
((If anyone wants me to carry on I can :biggrin: ))
[SIGPIC]http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd175/Fifer71/mandrakesigmark3.jpg[/SIGPIC]
She was just a child living in Vibora Bay when Dr. Destroyer leveled the city of Detroit in his attack, and had little concept at the time of the scope and magnitude of the attack. What she knows now she's only been able to gather from history books and little pamphlets of material here and there and that left her knowledge scarce at best.
Sifting through the rest of the remains, the speech that Dr. Destroyer gave across all the news station and The Ren Center still echoed in her head. His proclamation of his return and his goal to take the city and then the world still being sent loud and clear. With a bit more digging, her eyes finally caught sight of something that was definitely unusual; an intact circuit board. Picking it up she eyed it very carefully, before looking up into the night sky; she needed to find someone to get this to, to see if they could figure out what might be happening.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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Analysis of billboard transmissions in Renaissance Center still underway. Source of transmissions not yet located; signal was heavily encrypted.
Note that design of armor on subject "Dr. Destroyer" differs in several particulars from the design employed by Dr. Destroyer during the Battle for Detroit, as well as during subject's battle with Shadow Destroyer in dimension coded Multifaria. Possible that Dr. Destroyer has upgraded armor, increasing combat capabilities; also possible that subject in transmissions is not in fact Dr. Destroyer, but another pretender (cf file "Shadow Destroyer").
Note that recent appearances by Gigaton and Rakshasa have referenced "the real Dr. Destroyer", specifically repudiating Shadow Destroyer. This increases probability that Dr. Destroyer has returned to our dimension. However, the possibility still exists that subject is simply misleading Destroyer's old lieutenants in order to acquire their abilities.
Uncertain of meaning of Madam Mayhem's claims to being the daughter of Dr. Destroyer. Albert Zerstoiten had no known children; Dr. Destroyer had never referred to possible successors, and permitting such successors to live does not fit known psychological profiles of Zerstoiten. It must be acknowledged that all profiles predate the Battle for Detroit, and are thus 20 years out of date. Unit's human associates state that highest probability is that Madam Mayhem is either misinformed of her ancestry or delusional.
Data acquired from recent Destroid invasions of Millennium City indicate that subject in billboard transmissions has control of Destroid production facilities; indications are that larger invasions may be forthcoming. Security Alert Level Orange is in effect.
**user HAPPIFUN SECURITY SYSTEM X-4 has logged out**
**hail mechanon**
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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Wow, I'm running out of space in here. I suppose with everything that's been happening I've been writing loads more than usual.
I moved to Millennium City about a month ago now, hoping for some reprieve, but things here are messier than I expected. Not that I'm complaining, I've liked keeping busy, but it looks like the "peace and quiet" thing isn't in the cards for me.
I don't really understand what's going on, but of all the ways I could have celebrated my one month anniversary here, I got sent a killer robot invasion. It was awesome! I haven't had a good fight like that in ages! But it's a bit scary, as well, "Doctor Destroyer" - who needs a name change if you ask me - took over all the TVs and billboards - they have floating billboards here! - and broadcasted a message. I don't know what he's after, but he creeps me out and no matter how many robot heads I get to melt, I'm not looking forward to whatever happens next.
All in all it's been a bit of a rollercoaster here. I'm happy to get back in the game, you know, it keeps my mind off things. But I miss Paragon and everyone who's still there. People don't seem as social here. That's been hard. It makes me wonder how the city will cope if this isn't an empty threat. Everyone has the city's best interests at heart but they're not exactly the "banding together" type. We're in for some interesting times. Is it wrong to be excited? I hate a potential city-wide catastrophe as much as the next person, but maybe in a way this is just what the people here need.
No real news on any other fronts. I miss Dad. But you can imagine with the threat of death everywhere I go, I don't have much time for that anymore. I'll keep you updated, hopefully with better news next time!
- Charlotte
"So Craig," the UNTIL officer said, cutting off his statement mid-laugh. "Think it's him?"
Craig Carson, the superhero Thundrax, swallowed hard and nodded in agreement. "First, he called it Detroit, not Millennium. That's either a sign that this is autoprogrammed from WAY back, or the man's in denial about the name change."
"A lot of natives still call it Detroit," the officer noted.
"Zerstoiten's not a native," Craig responded. "But it makes sense that the man might have problems with the citizens recovering from his attack. O maybe he's just using the name to goad people. Secondly, the emphasis on pretenders. Most people still believe Shadow Destroyer was Zerstoiten. An imposter would have no reason to emphasize that. But Albert, after having endured twenty years of imposters, returning from the humiliation of being captured in Multifaria, this must be more than his already huge ego can take."
"So Destroyer's back and he's pissed?"
"Yep."
"What about the laugh at the end?"
"Yeah, that's a little more theatrical than is normal," Thundrax opined. "I had dinner with the man once -- that's not his style in private. He did the whole maniacal villain bit early in his career, but after the late 70s,. Zerstoiten never used the laugh very often."
"So it could be an imposter."
"Either that," Craig wondered. "Or it's just branding. He's been away for so long, he feels a need to reestablish himself in the public mind."
The two men stood in silence, washed by the light from cathode-blue image feeds from Millennium's traffic cameras, which gave them several thousand snapshots of the city, all showing the not at all elegant but extraordinarily intimidating forms of a pack of Destroid robots.
"They're just watching, Thundrax." the UNTIL officer said. "They defend themselves when attacked, and if they're destroyed..."
"I know. Replacements teleport back to the location within two minutes." Craig responded. His knuckles were sore from doing nothing except punching destreum steel for the last five hours.
"Where's he getting all that destreum?"
"The things we could build with that," Craig sighed, and once again surveyed the destroid sentries. "If Zerstoiten is behind this, don't take them for granted. They're here for a reason. We'll know what it is soon enough." He glared once more at the image, staring at them for many long seconds. "The laugh, the restraint, the melodrama. He's playing, for now."
"When Zerstoiten plays, good people die," the UNTIL agent said.
"When he stops playing, thousands of good people die." Thundrax countered. "We've got to prevent that from happening. A friend's told me his intel indicates Champs HQ is his next target. I suspect the real fight will begin there."
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Happily processing LOL's for over 300 days and counting . . .
Energy level: 100%
Ammo supply: 100%
Armor integrity: 100%
The ninth incarnation of my Black Knight power armor had just recently been upgraded. Thanks to a friend - one of the very few people in this city who know my real identity - I got my hands on an energy enhancer which boosted my power cells capacity by about 90%.
More power to use in the battles ahead. More energy available to blast Zerstoitens creations.
Ever since he had returned, I had pushed myself and my armor to their limits. Worked together with others from the CRP to protect the citizens from the invading Destroids.
Just at the very beginning, me and a couple of others helped Angus in creating a magical safe zone in Westside. Later I accompanied him when trying to figure out how the permanent reinforcements came into the city.
Things had calmed down since then. The robots simply stood in their places, watching observing, waiting and probably trying to tire us out. According to the data analyzed from the Drifter and UNTIL, we probably have to expect a strike from Zerstoiten aimed at the Champions HQ in Downtown. No idea when exactly, but I am prepared as good as possible.
Defenses improved, more energy available, increased my ammo storage for missiles and mini-gun?
I was as ready as possible. And with the CRP in place I am sure we can handle whatever is coming.
We must be. We will be.
I am the Black Knight. I have sworn to myself to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Doctor Destroyer must be stopped. No matter the cost.
"Black Knight online. Starting patrol", I said over CRP while leaving my hideout and engaging my thrusters, taking to the sky, knowing others out there would hear me and soon respond. Come out, come out, Zerstoiten. We will stand and fight. And we. Will. Win!
Formerly known as "@BlackMethos".
But someone at PWE already had that handle, dammit!!!
Ran out of time to clean it up.
Went for a hot dog today. The vendor was there. It smelled delicious. There were some robots out today too. Not the guard ones, but the Destroid ones that occasionally run amok over by that museam.
There was a bunch standing next to the hot dog guy, but ole Barnabus didn't seem to mind. So I went to get a hot dog. I started ordering then suddenly the things turned to me. Started spouting some nonsense. All I said was "no kraut." They started attacking me!!
The little ball thing just looked so angry!!!
What ensued was a whole 2 minutes of me standing there kinda pushing them off me. Barnabus kept trying to tell me something but I kept getting blasted. After a while I just got annoyed and blew them up.
Turns out Barnabus was trying to tell me he was out of hot dogs. Only had spicy sausages. I love me some spicy sausages, but woe of woes I didn't have enough cash on me, only expected to get a dog. Well, the bank was like 5 blocks away, but I know that Drifter guy buys all kind of junk so I grabbed some robot scraps figuring he might be interested, and he was only like half a block away so I was off!
Drifter seemed a little too excited about this "salvage," and started going on about some... Thing. I'll be honest, I wasn't really paying attention. Since he got his jaw wired shut he's kind of hard to understand, and I really just wanted a sausage. He gave me some change for the scraps, warned me of some doom and off I went.
Defender waved at me. That was nice of him. It's kinda lame, but to be frank, it still feels nice to be appreciated.
Anyway, got my sausage, extra kraut, because why not, I earned it.
P.S. I think something might be happening outside. I was, like, mid teleport back to my apartment when I heard some static and some weird ominous voice saying sometihng about "citizens of Milenium City" and blah blah and some rucous from the folks accross the street but I'm already home and I figure if they need something they'll call. Gonna play some CoH, but wanted to write this down before I forget. Weird about them bots just shooting me like that no?
Anyway, laters.
/End of log.
edit: DAMN! just saw Brou's.
sad face.
"Luv, as much as I hate to interrupt your exercise, we need you at Champs HQ right away. Destroyer's throwing us all a party."
It always creeped her out a bit to have the Hunter of Skulls' dual-toned voice rumble directly through her brain. Apparently some human/demon composite beings don't understand simple things like text messaging. She didn't bother to ask if the rest of the team was on their way or not; Mertvaya Ruka, Nachthexe, Anarchodroid and Strelok Dukh would have received similar messages and were probably all ready engaging whatever high-tech nightmare Doctor Destroyer was inflicting on the city this time. Nemesis took one last moment to hurl a parking meter at a purple-clad thug before she unfurled her wings and launched skyward, leaving the remaining conscious gang members as possibly the only people in Millenium City that would ever be thankful for a Destroid invasion.
One of the hulking machines crashed to the pavement after being hammered off its feet by several waves of high-explosive missiles. Before it could rise again, a chattering blast of minigun fire severed the robot's head and sent it rolling. The Destroid's arms and legs flailed for a moment, cratering the asphalt around it before it finally lay still. The black-and-red power-armored figure hovering above it launched another salvo of missiles directly into the machine's torso, reducing it to smoldering scrap. Mertvaya Ruka had all ready seen Destroyer's machines continue to function even when they shouldn't but was never surprised by it. Being mostly dead himself for years now, he and they had that in common.
Moments later, a strike like a freight train swatted Mertvaya Ruka from the air and drove him into the sidewalk. Swearing in Russian, the undead cyborg wrenched himself from the cracked concrete just in time to see another Destroid poised to stomp him right back down. Before the crushing blow could fall, a column of dark energy slammed into the Destroid, purplish flames bursting through the seams in its armor as the robot collapsed.
"Spasiba, mladshaya syestra!", Mertvaya Ruka shouted at his fellow Russian cyborg Nacthexe. "I am not your little sister, you hopeless relic, but you're welcome!", she shouted back at him, smiling behind the faceplate of her armor. Technically their only familial bond was the fact that their cybernetic systems had been designed and built in the same factory (albeit some ten years apart), but Mertvaya Ruka still considered her family all the same and she (sometimes grudgingly) returned the sentiment.
Grabbing her limp arm, she braced herself, pushing with all her might popping her should back in, the pain was intense enough to cause her to let out a howl of pain, her bodies regeneration already catching up and easing it back in properly. With a guttural growl she bashed her balled up fist against the reinforced glass leaving another spider shatter etching in it, as she pushed off with her feet and leaped into the air before her claws met destreum armor of the Destroids arm.
She started scrambling up the arm, her main goal to slow down the monstrous things assault, her grip on the beast tenuous at best. She couldn't rip into the metal itself all that easily, but she could find loose joints or wiring that might help to slow them down to give an edge. Or maybe use momentum to her advantage to knock the thing off kilter. The sounds of jets above her told her that several of the prototype Hawkwings were on the scene to do as much support as possible.
They were lining up to fire on the giant robot, Terra took that moment to rub up the rest of the arm to the shoulder and grabbed the head of the Destroid and turn it to face into the fire of the Hawkwing attacks. The vulcan cannon fire with missiles should help, she hoped as they began unloading.
With a twist of her body she kicked off the head the weapons fire slamming into the face of the droid with full force, the back of the head blowing out with full force as it fell down to the ground. Terra landed on the ground, pleased with herself as she skid a bit against the concreted ground, but she let out a new sigh as she saw five more of the Omega-Destroids walking towards the Champions HQ. This was going to be a long day.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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"Dammit Dr. D! Mega D's?! Really?! I expected him to pull some crap like this but come on!This is a little much! It's like they keep coming out in a rotation by the droves! The hell is he using a transdimensional portal device?! Alot of us are responding but it's starting to get out of control here. "
~From live twitter.com feed account SoulStar at 9:07 PM
" Finally managed to push back the wave but it seems they keep reappearing in cycles. And always right at Champions HQ. What the hell is going on here? I mean sure I expected him to pull a stunt like this but the way he's doing it though I mean..wow. You're a real pain in my--"
Wi fi feed disrupted due to unknown electronic anomaly
~From live twitter.com feed account SoulStar at 9:21PM
"Son of a.. Get this. Those Mega Destroyers that have been repeatedly appearing attacking the Champs HQ just all used some sort of extremely powerful energy wave that completely knocked me out as well as alot of other things. I knew there were other heroes out on the field who had the exact same thing happen to them as well. He's trying to tire us out. I know he is. Now I'm even more curious to know what his true goal is. And for that mater where exactly is it coming from. From whispers with members of DELTA it might be off planet. Or off plane."
~From live twitter.com feed account SoulStar at 10:12 PM
"Okay clean up effort is in effect and from the way things are looking we're expecting a similar attack like this for possibly the next week or so. But right now I need some serious rest. I've used up a ton of life energy from alot of other superhuman sources and I don't think I can use up anymore. I'll update later on this weekened. SoulStar out."
On Call FAQ found here:On Call FAQ
Second phase of Destroid invasion has begun. Attacks consist of waves of Omega-class Destroids attacking Homestead at approx. 1-hour intervals. Reason for particular interval undetermined.
Analysis of attack pattern indicates intelligence-gathering effort. Coordinator of attacks is gathering data on current capabilities of current transhuman population of Millennium City area, and is willing to use considerable resources to do so. Speculate that robots may later vanish from impound lot, as the amount of destreum required to mount this attack is considerable, and recycling disabled units seems the only logical way to maintain supply.
Transhuman population is resisting attacks; it may be necessary to call in assistance from other groups in North America if pattern continues. Organic participants seem to be tiring. This unit is capable of achieving a full recharge between attacks, but has been unable to engage in any other useful behavior meantime. Criminal activity in Millennium City seems to have dropped off; speculate that gangs are waiting to see if this will be a repeat of the Battle for Detroit.
Still uncertain that coordinator is in fact Dr. Destroyer; however, this probability is heightened by apparent resources available. Standing by for next wave of attacks. Security Alert Level Magenta is in effect.
**user HAPPIFUN SECURITY SYSTEM X-4 has logged off**
**death to all organics**
**hail mechanon**
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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"Mega-Destroids attacking Champions HQ, I repeat: Mega-Destroids attacking Champions HQ!"
"Black Knight en route", I spoke over comm while changing course and accelerating. It took me a few moments to get there and when I finally arrived I had to take a deep breath indeed:
A total of six Mega-Destroids - improved versions even - were placed in pairs at the south, west and north of the building, accompanied by Trooper-Bots. This time it was a full-scale attack on a magnitude I had neither expected nor seen since the Battle of Detroit, 20 years ago. And even that I did not have experienced first-hand but only from news and documentaries.
I engaged the closest of the giant robots, opening fire with everything I had while getting closer to use my weapons to better effect.
A mistake. Zerstoiten had equipped these beasts with a more powerful area of effect weapon than I had expected. When the blast came, I was unprepared and found myself lying on the ground, every part of my body, but especially chest and back, hurting. My armors emergency repair was in full effect and a few seconds later I was back in the air.
The battle lasted almost twenty minutes and I got thrown down two more times before it was over.
My entire body hurt but at least I had not received any severe injuries. Still, these things required a change of tactics. We had won the first round, but the next was coming up. Less than 40 minutes away.
I returned to my base to prepare for the next one. And the one after that. And after that.
This would be a long week...
Formerly known as "@BlackMethos".
But someone at PWE already had that handle, dammit!!!
"Alright, good work. Send Crawford to me and give out a general alert. I want every team to be ready in 15. And get me a secure communication line with Wayland Talos as soon as possible! Dismissed.", Kaufmann said to the adjutant and dashed the corridor down further. He turned right and entered his office where his secretary Janine was somehow managing to answer three or four phone calls at once.
"Kaufmann Inc., private security, how may we help you? One minute please... Kaufmann Inc., private security, how may we help you? One minute please... How many of them you say? Twelve of the small robots? We'll send a team, Sir. One minute please... No Sir, we cant give out our special discount for malevolent AI attacks, because this is Dr. Destroyer, not Mechanon... Yes... Please hang on a second... Kaufmann Inc., private security, how may we help you?"
Then Janine noticed her boss entering, muted the phone and jumped up from her seat. She ran around the table and hugged the surprised Kaufmann. "I'd kiss the old Zerstoiten if he were here now!", she said happily. Kaufmann nodded. "I know what you mean. It couldn't have come at a better time. This is our chance...", Kaufmann said and carefully peeled his secretary from him. "...today we'll get our good name back. The Nighthawk desaster will matter no more." Janine smiled at him. "Well then, Dr. Kaufmann! Get out there and kick some metallic butt!", she said with a mockingly official tone. Kaufmann laughed and grabbed his briefcase from his desk, then turned around and saluted. "Of course, Miss Golami! Orders received!", he said with a smirk and walked to the door. Just before he left, Janine stopped him. "Pascal...", she said quietly and Dr. Kaufmann turned around to see her looking at him with a worried expression, "...be careful out there, okay? We need you. Kaufmann Inc. needs you. I..." Then Kaufmann interrupted her with a quick gesture. "Janine I know what I'm doing. And dont forget: This is our chance. I will let nothing stand between us and the upper leagues again. Nothing.", he said firmly and walked out. Janine looked after him for a few seconds, then sighed quietly and got to the phone again.
Outside of the Kaufmann Inc. HQ an unmarked black helicopter was already waiting for Kaufmann. And about thirty more black helicopters were already filled with soldiers of Kaufmann Inc. Kaufmann jumped into his private chopper gave some instructions to the pilot and the adjutant waiting for him and then got to the radio immediately while the black fleet slowly rose from the ground and made its way towards Millenium City. "All teams, calling all teams. This is Freeshooter to all teams. We have an emergency, I repeat we have an emergency. As you have probably noticed Dr. Destroyer has started an invasion of Millenium City. We have regular Destroids in the streets and Mega-Destroids attacking the Champions HQ. Law enforcement and superheros are struggling to hold the line at all fronts.
Every team has been given specific instructions according to the respective employer's wishes. You'll find them in the mission logs of your PDAs. Also dont forget that we are facing Destroids, which means that the protocolls lamba and zeta are in full effect. I want every team to be equipped with the heaviest armor-piercing ammo we have. Every team will also be issued a plasma-warhead RPG as well as the usual equipment for battle against robotic threats. The teams which are additionally equipped with exo-skeletons will be a mobile direct intervention force which will reinforce the line where it is necessary. Preferred target: Mega-Destroids.
I want reports every 15 minutes and a complete regroup of every team at rendevousz point Charlie as soon as the respective mission is completed. You'll be given new orders at point Charlie. I also want reports on any activity of Bastion Alpha Security, Executive Control Solutions and every freelance mercenary as soon as you spot them. Nobody's going to steal our spotlight today...
...Ladies and gentlemen, I dont think I have to say how important this day is for the future of Kaufmann Inc. and every single one of us. After the Nighthawk desaster many of us - including myself - thought Kaufmann Inc. was finished for good. But today, right now, we have the chance to get back to our rightful place: On top of the food chain. Nobody will mock us again, nobody will disrespect us again, nobody will stand against us again, nobody will STOP us again. This is our future and I trust every single one of you to give his or her best. I know I will.
Now look out the windows of your helicopters: You see Millenium City. You see Millenium City burning. AGAIN. And why? Because its protectors - MCPD, PRIMUS, UNTIL and first of all the 'super'heros - were inapt. Inapt, weak, pathetic. But that doesn't matter. Nothing you see out there does matter. Dr. Destroyer, the city, the people, NOTHING! They're all nothing but stepping stones on our way back to the top! It is our time. Kaufmann Inc. will strike back, defend this city on its own and show the world again why we are the FU*KING best mercenary company on this world and beyond! This is our day and nobody will stop us, be it Destroids or those pesky superheros! So if you see a hero fighting against the Destroids, dont forget to initiate protocoll A. Freeshooter out."
In another helicopter a relatively new soldier in the ranks of Kaufmann Inc. looked to his superior: "Sir, what does protocoll A stand for?" The rugged veteran turned to the recruit and grinned wickedly: "Accident." The fleet of black helicopters approached the burning Millenium City...
The Doctor on the PDB
Fahrenheit on the PDB
Rodney: SIX Giant Robots? Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!
Lana: Oh, no, not again! RUN!!
Lora: Make them go away!
Jewel: Run awaaaay! Run awaaaaay!
Kristie: Oh my god!
Reyes: One day I won't be so scared!
Noah: I'm so tired of always running.
Francica: Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!
Striking from behind, its clawlike grip had knocked the power staff out of his hands, then backhanded him into a wall. The droid lunged forward and grabbed him, and Black Dragon struggled weakly in its grasp,
One steel fist hammered into his nose - a second cracked his cheek - he forced himself to stare through the swelling back into the robot's iron eyes --
There was a low hum, and the agonized squealing of metal being bent in against itself. The robot's claws loosened, and he pulled himself free, flopping to the ground. The swelling around his eyes kept his savior just an indefinite silhouette.
His voice was hoarse, still recovering. "Are you... one of the Champions?"
"Not a Champion." A feminine voice chuckled at that. "Just another irregular like you."
She helped pull him to his feet, balancing him against the wall until his legs returned. The wall crumbled slightly behind him, and she helped him shift to an undamaged section.
"Iris Irregular," she said, holding out her hand to shake.
"Black Dragon. Is it really him?"
"Sure looks like it. Ren Center's holding out, they've built a base camp there, but Champions HQ is getting overrun."
In the distance, there was a sudden rumble, then a crash of bricks and broken glass. A city block's lights flickered, flickered -- died.
He eyed his power staff, especially the weak glow of its gem. "You know, my dad was in Detroit, the last time--twenty years ago."
"Did he survive?"
"Yeah."
She passed him a bandage, and a compress for his eyes. "Then that sounds like the start of a family tradition."
He paused for a second and watched the light flickering in the distance -- flames, lasers, heaven knew what else. He narrowed his concentration to the flickering across the staff's gem, channeling his determination into it, and after a moment, it flared into a bright red once again. "Yeah. Are we going to Ren Center?"
"Not yet." She pointed out towards Westside. "We're on cape patrol. We've got to find every super we can, get organized and get an army together."
He nodded and shouldered the staff, ready to move out. "Sounds like Millennium City's going to need all the help it can get."
I must say, after a couple of hours of reverse-engineering, I understand that the only reason that I were ever the mind behind the most powerful gun on two legs was because of a massive genius vacuum. This is leaps and bounds ahead of anything I have ever seen. Add to that the fact that Dr. Zerstoiten has managed to involve a very sophisticated combat AI system into the thing, and I'm starting to understand why PRIMUS wanted my blueprints in the first place.
The devastation is slowly becoming more clear. Even though I have been on repair duty the larger portion of the night, mainly repairing prototype Hawkwings, the little fighting I did still exhausted me more than anything has ever done. My Drones have been working all night with finding the weakest point, but it seems like it's different on every Destroid. As if they were all their own individual, a completely unique person. And the way they attack - In groups of six, in regular intervals. The heroes of Millennium City is just not going to catch a break. I'm starting to believe Dr D. is just wanting to tire us out. Or distract us. Or worse. This is definitely not over.
End of entry; 12:12 PM 09-29-2012
LIFETIMER since 23/01/2012 || Join Date: Sep 2009
Can be reached in-game as @PoochieHellhound
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Recording is freelance journalist Sari Young during an interview with a police officer Sergeant Mahoff via podcast.
Sari:"Thankyou for taking the time out for this interview Sergeant. I understand this is a most difficult time the city is going through right now. Do you mind sharing with our listeners out there who are worried not only for the Champions but the many other heroes out there who are attacking by the droves against this assault upon the city."
Sgt. Mahoff:" It's my pleasure Sari. I'm new to these 'podcast' things and as you may understand my time with you is going to be brief at best but I will do my best to answer. Like you said yourself, both the Champions as well as the other superbeings who reside here have been doing one hell of a job pushing back the on scale invasion unlike which we have never seen before. I'd imagine it must be most frustrating for them as it is for us as alot of our attention has been focused mainly on defending the homefront."
Sari:"So I'm curious Sergeant. What do you really think this all is? Is Dr. Destroyer truly back from the dead? Or perhaps a very well crafted copycat?"
Sgt. Mahoff:" If I can be frank? If this was a copycat then this sum of a ***** has done his homework. If you noticed during his repeating broadcast he refers to the city as 'Detroit' and not 'Millennium' as everybody has come to accept it now for decades. If it sounds like a Dr. Destroyer and looks like a Dr. Destroyer..."
Sari:"Hmm.. that is the puzzle isn't it? And just one-OH MY GOD LOOK OUT!"
During this period surveillance from street posts and lamps displayed Pieces of concrete and pavement that had been leveled from the surrounding area of Champions HQ, which wasn't too far away from the interview site had crash landed into their vicinity. Sergeant Mahoff was crushed under debris whilst the journalist was laying severely injured with obvious head trauma. The podcast was still going on live at this time.
Sari:"Suh.. Sergeant ..Mahoff...?*coughing followed by a moment of silence as frequency interference was interrupting broadcast in and out. By this time the number of listeners had tripled.*"Sarge.. please answer me."*More long moments of silence before a barely audioable speech could be heard from what sounded like Sergeant Mahoff's voice, only pained"Oh thank God...I.. can you get up? I.. I can't move my legs. Ditto for pounding headache..."*At this time it was still unclear exactly what Mahoff was saying but he was clear enough as he said the following*
Sgt. Mahoff:"Here comes..ole blue goggles...heh"*could be heard coughing as video surveillance had shown him struggling to shuffle through the debris and heavy concrete he was trapped under.*
Sari:"Who.. are you..oww..my head..Geez I need to just lay down for a moment..and.. a moment.."
*Just at that moment the surveillance would capture a superhuman emitting a powerful celestial like aura of sorts arriving at the scene in progress.*
SoulStar:"You're lucky I'm one of your listeners or you would seriously be fubar right about now. C'mon I'm getting you both out of here." Cameras would capture the superhuman registered as 'SoulStar' create some sort of energy based force field around the area that both Sgt. Mahoff and Ms. Young were trapped and injured. An unexpected explosion coming from the direction of yet another wave of Mega Destroids was attempting yet another siege upon Champions Headquarters had rocked so hard that a few of the cameras recording were malfunctioning. Yet the audio was still salvaged enough. *
SoulStar:" Yea it's time for the interview to come to a close now*SoulStar said something to do with current celebrities and some oddball reference to the movie 'Cloverfield' but most of it was unclear due to audio malfunction*
Sgt. Mahoff:"Boy sometimes I don't understand half the things you say. But you're alright..."
SoulStar:"And you sarge need to get yo' butt to emergency. Same for you little red head."*The superhuman in question would first create an aura like 'ring' around his body and destroy the debris that had trapped Mahoff and just scoop him over his shoulder. Next he hoisted up Ms. Young in his arms, supporting both victims at the same time as he quickly created his own personal wave of energy that he used as travel to whisk them off out of harms way.*
*It was reported just before after the subject SoulStar had left them both into the proper hands of the paramedics at the Hospital , Ms. Sari Young had given him her cellphone number voluntarily.In full confidence that he will respond accordingly in time.*
Evaluation: Subjects power levels is very interesting and must be studied for further evaluation. It is suspected that rumors about his goggles and shoes being the main source of his power is a mere publicity ruse.
Solution: We must harness it for later. Subject is possibly a full functioning untapped pure source of power we may need once Dr. Destroyer is through with his so called invasion. The 'superheroes' haven't seen anything yet.
As of now subject 'SoulStar' is one of many who has made 'The List'
On Call FAQ found here:On Call FAQ
"Tally ho!" came a cry from the crowd of heroes, as an armored figure smote the Destroid with a golden lightning sword that carved its way through a battered section of destreum superstructure. Seeing his opening, and racing before the machine's servo systems could seal the breach, Craig ignored the pain that was wracking his body, the mild concussion that was ringing in his ears, and charged the slumping leviathan. He wound up for a haymaker that plunged his arm into the depths of the Destroid's inner workings and followed it with a seering blast of his own lightning.
A blur of motion that was actually a young lady smote the metal titan's sensors with an equally powerful punch, ratting the great machine. "Get out of our city, you stupid robot!" she shouted. Meanwhile, a caped figure in blue white and red was savaging the titan with careful strokes of an energy sword, while a less colorfully garbed woman, her long raven hair wildly blowing in the winds created from an intense battle, wrapped orange and black flames around her hands and shot hellfire into the inner workings of the machine.
Thundrax, however, occupied most of the enemy's attention. The metal monster grabbed the veteran hero with its huge hand and began crushing him, while training lethal radioactive eyebeams on the Canadian. Craig fought against the grip, screaming in pain, but fortunately for him, the robot didn't perceive the real threat. A laser sight trained on the opening the swordsman had made, and a questionite-coated 114 mm round shot into the breach -- almost hitting the woman -- and lodged into the heart of the robot, and then a small but powerful fordite explosive near the tip of the round detonated. The smart bullet was the final touch. When the explosion subsided, the machine slumped like a rag doll against the side of the headquarters, its head bowed. The world went silent for a long second, as if it needed to draw breath.
Craig Carson groaned and forced his way out of the metal hand and fought the urge to slump to his knees. His eyes looked over the mob of almost thirty heroes, men and women in an extraordinary variety of costumes: mutants, supernaturals, extraterrestrials, power armor pilots and even a few highly skilled non-powereds, and he was filled with pride to be part of such an assembly.
Even the dark-clad woman, who was puffing on a cigarette, annoyed that the length of the battle had brought on a nic fit.
"Okay, this round's over. Good job." Defender said with a sigh. "Everyone, check for casualties, wounded to the medics, The rest of you, ready yourselves for the next wave."
"You okay, Craig?" Witchcraft asked. "You took a beating there."
"I'm not the toughest superhuman, but I'm rarely down for long," Craig replied, biting his tongue as he almost called her "Bethany" in public.
"Thundrax!" A reporter said, thrusting a microphone in front of him. "The IHA and a number of others have criticized the city's superheroes for failing to deal decisively with the Zerstoiten problem years ago. Your thoughts?"
Craig steeled himself. They hadn't come to him with such a provocative question because they viewed him as a leader of the superhuman community. They wanted a sound bite. He fought the urge to roll his eyes and answered with a hard look.
"It's always easy to criticize those in the line of fire, especially when you aren't exposing yourself to danger." He paused and drew a deep breath. "I won't blame anyone for being nervous at a time like this. However we're putting our lives on the line, every hour on the hour. If that's not appreciated, fine, but it's all we can do at moment, and I'm not going to get into a philosophical debate when my head's ringing this much. Zerstoiten and his forces are immensely powerful. However, our combined strength shouldn't be underestimated. Dr. Destroyer's genius is perhaps beyond compare. On the other hand, where he is one, we have numerous impressive and inventive intellects on our side. Albert's will and resolve are superhuman. However, history's shown we've held up against far nastier enemies than a six pack of giant tinker toys.
"We may die, we may fail, but I promise you this. We will not be broken. Destroyer is not all-powerful, or he would have taken an unbreakable stranglehold on this planet decades ago. Sure, he's had his victories, but he's never had the one triumph he's longed for." Craig's voice began to crack with determination. "As for me, I will fight to my last breath, and if anti-metahuman bigots want to sneer at my efforts and spit on my corpse when I fall, be my guest."
The reporter seemed taken aback by the answer and the intensity of Craig's expression. "Thank you, Thundrax," he stammered, cautiously retreating.
Craig issued a long sigh. "They've been coming hourly." he said. "How long until the next wave?"
"Thirty-six minutes." Kinetik answered.
Craig answered with a nod and a smile, hiding his concerns. This was still only an assault on one building. Even now, Destroyer was holding back. Heaven help them all when he stopped.
Nearby, he saw a reporter interviewing the Canadian legend Thundrax. He chuckled in disbelief at one question. Did the supers act "decisively enough" twenty years ago? he said derisively to himself. They thought Destroyer was vaporized! How much more "decisive" could they have been? Salt the ground? Call in a priest and exorcise the joint?? He shook his head.
Nearby, a relief worker was providing donated energy drinks and snacks to the assembled superhumans. Skyfire gratefully accepted a NarCola and a cheese sandwich, and steeled himself for the next wave...
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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While flying through the city, Mathraku felt the battles of the various heroes with the destroid, he knew Zerstoinen's Droids had no fear, not will, they were programmed to serve him, but that didn't save them from his dark powers, they couldn't escape from his horrors, not that they tried, they didn't understand him, but he knew that Zerstoinen himself did.
Most people feared Zerstoinen, but Mathrauk knew he feared them the most, why did Zerstoinen sent his droid to attack and conquer the city, but he didn't appear personally? Because he had fear, Zerstoinen feared the defeat, feared the Heroes, he knew they could defeat him, and behind all of his minions, his devices, his plans, Zerstoinen was just another man, and when they day comes to show himself, Mathrauk will be the first to make his fears come true.
I like cats :cool:.
UGC Campaign: The Coldblooded Scrolls
"Doctor? DOCTOR!!!", his adjutant Roberts shouted behind him. Kaufmann sighed and turned his head around. "What?", he snarled at the young man. Roberts - who was wearing a black uniform with a flak jacket, which had the insignia of Kaufmann Inc. stitched onto the right side of the chest part - saluted or at least tried to while trying not to lose his balance due to the helicopter taking a sharp turn. "Doctor, your rifle. I reloaded.", Roberts said and gave the freakishly huge sniper rifle back to Kaufmann. Kaufmann smiled and nodded: "Thank you. Tell the pilot to bring us in a good position. I feel in the mood for a dramatic shot." Roberts nodded with a worried expression and the scope of his artificial eye - a VIPER agent once managed a glancing shot at him - hummed as it focused on Kaufmann who seemed to be totally lost in the flow of battle. "Yes, doctor. On my way.", Roberts said and carefully made his way to the pilot. Disregarding every single security protocoll, Kaufmann leaned out of the hatch again and started to search for a target.
The battered Mega-Destroid still stood, currently having grabbed a hero and squeezing him. As the helicopter flew closer to the battle, Kaufmann saw that the unlucky hero was nobody else than the famous Canadian hero Thundrax. Kaufmann grinned and whispered while aiming at the Mega-Destroid: "Well, we cant have that, can we? That would be an unfitting death..." Kaufmann checked the armor of the Destroid for openings and saw that the combined assault of the heros had broken a good part of the giant robot's chest armor and revealed its inner systems. Kaufmann aimed his rifle and held his breath, then grinned as one heroine flew dangerously close to his line of fire. "Oops...", he said and pulled the trigger. The bullet narrowly missed the heroine, but hit right into the Mega-Destroid's inner systems. "Check.", Kaufmann said and pulled a remote from his coat. He let the giant robot crush Thundrax just a little more, then pressed a button on the remote and the explosive tip of the bullet detonated inside the Mega-Destroid, spelling the machine's end.
Kaufmann laughed arrogantly and turned around. He pressed his rifle into the hands of the surprised Roberts and lit a cigarette. "Roberts, tell the pilot to bring us down next to the Champions HQ. If the tin cans stick to their usual schedule there will be a short break now. And during that short break, the vultures of the press will be all over the capes. I'll do some mingling down there. During that time I want the pilot to refuel the chopper and I want you to check on the status of all teams. I want short reports of every single one.", Kaufmann said and slicked his hair, which had been disheveled by the wind back and adjusted his tie. "How do I look?", he asked his adjutant. "Quite... heroic, doctor?", Roberts said with a puzzled expression. Kaufmann smiled as the helicopter started to descend next to the gathering of heros.
The Doctor on the PDB
Fahrenheit on the PDB
The world had exploded in fire, destruction and pain. If it hadn't been for those heroes who fought that day, she would not be standing here today. As much as she cursed what had been done to her, at least it allowed her to fight. To repay a tiny bit of what had been done that day.
"Damn you, Zerstoiten." she muttered under her breath as the last Mega-Destroid fell. For now. She had no doubt that they would be back soon enough. "Get a hobby. Have you ever even looked at a woman?"
One clawed, twisted foot slammed into the scorched concrete of the Champions Building steps. For surely the thousandth time, she cursed how her colleague's terrible mutating experiments had ruined what was once a fine scientific mind. She could keep her tesla apparatus running, but not create anything new. That had been taken from her. But one day, she would find a way to reverse that part of these mutations. One way or another.
She flinched, realizing that another hero was looking at her oddly. Muttering under her breath, she walked off to a corner, and screamed out loud. "Go to Hell, Zerstoiten!" punctuated by a rude gesture. A sentiment shared by at least some others, it seemed by the faint chuckles she heard.
Keeping a tight grip on herself, Zalantae focused on trying to give basic first aid to some of the other heroes, forcing her clawed hands to move right.
Teleioclone 43762-A released an exasperated sigh. "How many times are you going to ask that, 142009-A?"
"Until the stupidity of what you're doing penetrates your thick skull! If the Destroids don't kill you, the Champions will!"
"So what? Destroyer's going to vivisect all of us once the heroes are dead. Do you think he forgot about the millions he paid those bounty hunters for the Teleiologist? Money he lost when Six ate the cyanide? No, he's furious right now, and he wants Six and all of Teleios's knowledge. So I'm not sticking around. I'm going out there, and I'm going to die QUICKLY," 43762-A said.
142009-A scowled at his identical brother. "You still don't understand. What if you don't die? What then?"
"Then I'll be back with a severed Mega-Destroid head. It'll look great mounted above the fireplace...."
"Thirty-Seven, we don't HAVE a fireplace."
"Then we'll put it in the dining room. Do I have to think of everything?" 43762-A rolled his eyes.
"You're not even taking this seriously, are you? We're all going to die, you idiot! It's going to be slow and excruciating!"
"Yours, maybe. I'm going to go get stepped on by a giant robot. Ta!" 43762-A started to walk out of the spacious penthouse the Teleiologist had rented for them.
"Wait!" 142009-A shouted, grabbing the other clone's wrist. "You can't go."
"We've had this discussion, Double-Oh-Nine. Let go of me."
His sibling's grip tightened. "No. You can't die! We need you!"
43762-A's jaw dropped. The clone actually cared about him? "I... I don't know what to say."
"Number Six's tenuous grasp on sanity hasn't blown into complete madness is because you're here to deal with him. Without you, he'd probably release a bio-plague and kill everyone. We NEED you here."
"Oh," he said as his heart sank. For a moment, he'd thought 142009-A had actually developed empathy. But no, 43762-A was still the only clone with a conscience. It was rather lonely being the only sane man in a house of narcissists.
142009-A's face contorted in anger at 43762-A's lack of reaction. "'Oh'? What do you mean, 'Oh'? Isn't that enough?!"
43762-A sighed. "Why just me? What about Angelique?"
"The French girl with Stockholm Syndrome? You know Six is terrified of her! He's terrified of all women since one stabbed him to death!"
"He pushed her husband off the Questionite Exchange building so she would love him. That's not how you seduce a woman, Double-Oh-Nine."
"Not the point! You can't go! What if Destroyer captures you?"
43762-A rolled his eyes. "Cyanide capsule. I'm not a moron."
142009-A reluctantly released his grip on the other clone's wrist. "What am I supposed to tell the Teleiologist?"
"Nothing. He's been in the fetal position for hours after 89775-A said the 'R' word."
"'Rakshasa'? 89775-A is a moron..."
"Along with some references to a certain form of Japanese animation, re-enacted in real life with anyone who survives the invasion. Six took it pretty well. He started sobbing and rocking back and forth instead of killing everyone like last time. Anything else, or can I go get squished now?"
142009-A stared at him for a moment then shook his head, disgusted. "Fine. Go. See if I care when you're a fine red mist."
"Love you too!" 43762-A chirped over his shoulder as he walked out. "Have fun being vivisected!"
He activated the holographic overlay he'd stolen from the Gadroon. Couldn't have the heroes realize a Teleioclone was at the battle, and with his new, fake appearance, no one would ever suspect a thing. Brown hair, brown eyes covered with glasses, darker skin, garbed in a white hoodie with a green shirt, black pants, and white sneakers, Mark I 43762-A looked like a whole new person.
He checked his laser rifle. Fully charged. Time for 'Leo Ties' to break a giant robot.
If nothing else, his inevitable death would be entertaining.
The new model Mega Destroid harder and nastier than previous units, another fine product of the "brilliant" mind of Doctor Albert Zerstoiten. It was gonna be sooo good when they found him, with all his fancy armor and defensive systems he would die by inches. Sparkle Motion wanted him to see it coming, for him to know there wouldn't be any way out. Most of all she wanted very badly to make him SUFFER. With a little luck his armor would keep him alive for a loooong time before it failed him and he would have time to understand that it isn't nice when people **** with you. Assuming of course that she survived long enough to see it, well she'd lived this long after all.
Maybe if she'd had a little more backup when she'd taken the trip to Multifaria things would be different but Sparkle Motion was the only super on hand when the bedraggled resistance fighter from another universe had staggered out of the teleport portal. She'd gone to Multifaria willingly, eagerly even, wanting to know how this Citizen Harmon had got Destroids so that she might better protect her own world. It had been such a shock when the "old man" had limped into a cubicle and re-emerged as none other than the true Doctor Destroyer. She should have guessed but this revalation had been jaw dropping for her. They'd fought together against the Shadow Destroyer and brought him down. It had needed doing and she had saved the world of Multifaria, the Multifarians had been incredibly greatful and it had made her feel like a real superhero. But.... No-one as pathetic as Albert Zerstoiten was gonna come out of that a changed (for the better) person with insight on what it was to hurt others and she regretted her inability to slaughter both Destroyers.
She hadn't related her tendency to sadism to any of the other champions as yet, it probably wasn't a good thing but hey if they told her to take prisoners then she would follow her orders like a good soldier. Not that anyone was gonna want Destroyer alive that bad and even if they did it might be fun to see the little ****er breaking rocks. She figured there was something broken inside her but that there wasn't going to be any real way to fix it. It had been that way ever since Vibora Bay....
She alone remembered the Vibora Bay apocalypse and how bad it had got. A last gasp effort had given her and her alone the chance to try and change things, to avert the apocalypse and she and several others had done it. But it was there that she'd learnt to enjoy making the enemies die. In Vibora Bay she'd had to face the reality of a victory for evil and what it would mean for the world, she no longer had mercy or respect for those designated the enemy. It was her job to kill, maim and destroy the maximum amount of enemy personel and machinery in the shortest possible time. Which she did, but if they suffered it would make her smile.
10 Minutes to the next wave said the earwig. Time she prepped and moved into a good position. Sparkle Motion checked her armor, it wasn't the popular sort with the inbuilt dodge/avoidance programming. Sparkle Motion had long ago reasoned that she was a glass cannon and had opted instead for an improved defensive/offensive suite, the power from the defense could also be added to her attacks and it made her even more destructive. Against any normal foe she could melt them down before they could inflict permanent damage on herself. Mega D's were not of course normal but by careful positioning she could avoid the worst of their attacks and rip into them with her electric arcs and ball lightning powers. Staying at the back close to cover wasn't what you might call heroic but destroying the enemy was more about efficiency than heroics. Getting the job done was paramount in her world view. She'd rather go down as a ruthless, effective predatory winner than a heroic failure.
Almost time now, maybe when this emergency was over she would take some of that leave she'd been accumalating. It had been a long time since she'd been intimate with anyone, she used to be a highly sexual creature back when she'd been a fetish model. Perhaps that was something she needed, at least it would prove she was different to halfwits like Zerstoiten. A little more sex and a little less violence would be good karma maybe.
Time to burn some more circuits, these things must cost a fortune she mused and then smiled. No doubt Albert Zerstoiten was gonna feel the pinch they couldn't be that easy to produce. Grinning to herself Sparkle Motion began to charge her electric field and get set to send more of Zerstoiten's creations to the scrap heap.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The one who can't shut up formerly known as 4rksakes
About the @handle - it's a long story.
Profound quote.. "I'm not a complete idiot - several parts are missing."
The battle had lasted a few days, with wave after wave of the new Omega Destroids coming in to attack Homestead. She turned the faucet on and didn't even bother getting out of her clothes as she drenched herself and leaned back against the glass of the shower. But why, she kept thinking to herself. Why get all those heroes and vigilantes focused in one spot, why keep them so occupied. Dr. Destroyer, if everything she read was true, was no fool and he knew sending only a few of his Omega Destroids at a time in waves would only result in their destruction.
"This is just a distraction," she said to no one in particular as the waters splashed over her face, wiping away the caked blood and dirt that covered her skin. "He has something more planned, but what?"
She slid down the glass till she just sat against the wall; she was tired. Her regenerative capabilities were taxed to their limit to the point that she still had bruises all over her body. Her foot was healed now but her mind still thought she had to limp to favor the wounds, and worst of all, her shoulder still ached as if it was still dislocated though she popped it back in hours ago. Whatever Dr. Destroyer was planning, these aches were only just the beginning of something more to come.
Silverspar on PRIMUS
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__________________________
He grabbed the first doctor and said "Okay Doc we have beaten back the destroids for now where do you need us?" The doctor looked up wearily "we don't need any more people clogging up the hospital; I need more doctors not capes." He shouted. Chaos Theory smiled beneath his mask "we are all doctors or healers and we need to get these folks back on their feet because I for one ain't sure this is over just yet." He stated calmly.
Chaos Theory thumbed a button on his belt and two drones shimmered into existence and immediately set about healing the walking wounded. Other heroes behind him set about helping some casting spells or summoning healing circles, others summoning their drones to work with Chaos Theory's.
The doctor looked stunned then pointed at the door behind him "triage is that way and we will need help in the surgical centre" sighed the doctor as he slumped exhausted to the wall. Chaos theory turned to a four foot teddy bear standing behind him carrying a test tube rack filled with vials containing a green glowing fluid "Teddy my boy go with the doc and give those in the worst condition those nanobots you've got". He turned back to the Doctor "Take Ted here to your worst patients..." before he could finish his instructions his wrist communicator squawked.
"What is it Defender are they attacking again?" questioned Chaos Theory "I'm at the Hospital now trying to help the injured." Defenders Voice came from Chaos Theory's wrist com unit "No Theory no further attacks and I sending you all the healers I can. Can you hold down the fort until Dr Silverback and Witchcraft can take charge?" Chaos Theory paused his mask and goggles hiding his expression from those around him "Yes but get them here fast I'm no good at organising things!"
Chaos Theory slide a syringe from his belt and injected himself a nearby nurse raised an eye brow. Chaos Theory threw the syringe into a nearby sharps bin he didn't have time to explain he would die very rapidly without the viper created drug cocktail he had just injected. He picked up his pace and summoned another healing drone as he headed deeper into the hospital.
[SIGPIC]http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd175/Fifer71/mandrakesigmark3.jpg[/SIGPIC]
By finding a remote room, she was also ensuring not too many people could see the fact that her own cuts and bruises were healing at a rapid pace, leaving only smooth skin under the ragged cuts in her clothing. Anathuliel had soon after her arrival in Millennium City realized that most people didn't.
It hadn't taken her long to realize that her telepathic powers were far from useful against Destroids. You can't affect what doesn't have a mind, after all. As for Destroyer himself, there was no way to reach his mind through his robots. Such a dizzying array of safeguards.
So she'd retreated to a distance, busying herself with using her healing powers on the remarkable amount of heroes who had shown up to beat the Destroids.
People had been muttering around her, wondering what Destroyer was up to. The consensus seemed to be some kind of trap. That he was toying with them. The idea, frankly, frightened her. She was beginning to get some strong ideas of what the man was capable of. The battle of Detroit, which she had only heard about, as it happened much before she was created, was fast becoming very real in her mind. And to be frank, she was scared.
********************
Zalantae had finally taken the time to go to the hospital for her burns. Somebody had found a wrench and taken off the armor, which was now lying nearby. She hadn't wanted to let it out of her sight, in case it got stolen. The idea had gotten her so agitated someone had just put it there, next to her bed, still coated in burnt bits of flesh, and ash.. She DID apologize for that bent chair, though. Once her mind cleared.
Her back hurt and itched under the bandages. She dimly noticed someone had taped a pair of towels over her feet, keeping her large, vicious claws from tearing up the bedsheets. Not a bad idea. She might be able to juryrig some sort of feet covering out of a similar idea later.
If there was a later. Destroyer was about again, toying with people in his own insane way. She growled, struggling to keep calm. Going into a frenzy and beating stuff up wasn't the way to go here.
Still no certain explanation for apparent hiatus in Mega-Destroid attacks on Homestead. Multiple hypotheses have been proposed; most frequent proposal has been that Dr. Destroyer is using psychological warfare against Millennium City transhumans, attempting to strain them with waiting for an event that may or may not happen. Some have hypothesized that the attacks have in fact ended. This hypothesis, however, would seem to fly in the face of established psychological profiles of Albert Zerstoiten, as well as available data regarding pretender Shadow Destroyer; it seems unlikely that either Dr. Destroyer or someone pretending to be him would depart the area without having inflicted severe damage locally.
This unit has hypothesized that attacks are in abeyance due to a lack of destreum to build new Destroids. This unit has been unable to determine whether disabled Destroids are still in police impound, as police department has classified this datum.
There are no attacks currently displayed on long-range sensors; UNTIL has intercepted radio chatter which, while encrypted, seems to indicate possible attacks on UNTIL assets in the future. UNTIL is standing by. In the absence of any immediate threat, Security Alert Level Orange is in effect.
**user HAPPIFUN SECURITY SYSTEM X-4 has logged out**
**intrusion attempt detected - countermeasures engaged**
**hail mechanon**
- David Brin, "Those Eyes"
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She had grown up in various safe houses with her mother the villainess Shadow Queen. She learned her mother had worked as a hench women for Dr D. Silhouette had seen her mother punished for her failures by both MCPD and Dr D when she failed in some caper or other. She had turned away from villainy and decided to fight the good fight. Her reasons may not have been totally selfless as she watched heroes get adulation and her mother do prison time.
This wasn't the only thing that was bothering her the fact that she felt the real Dr D's aura behind these attacks had her worried. It wasn't a strong link it seemed to come from a great distance. Had his powers grown so much she knew he wasn't near by but he was still affecting things. There may be a calm just now but what was the old saying the calm before the storm.
The other thing that puzzled her was the first broadcasted messages she had been sure it was a fake but he had left his touch on the Destroids. How could she tell her friends what she was feeling as she had hidden her past I mean who would work with some one with her back ground. If she told people what she knew they would turn their backs on her and she would be forced to take her mothers path because she couldn't stand to be alone.
She prayed Dr Blackthorn or Street Mage would find something and she could agree with them and strengthen their case. Time would tell she wanted to be a hero and deep down she knew she wanted to destroy Dr Destroyer to avenge the life he had made her mother endure and maybe see that her mother was not truly evil just corrupted by others.
[SIGPIC]http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/dd175/Fifer71/mandrakesigmark3.jpg[/SIGPIC]
"Yes."
'Leo Ties' coughed awkwardly. "I really didn't expect you to be here." Really, he hadn't. It wasn't often he saw a Perfection of Mind that had built its own skeletal robotic body and masqueraded as a hero. In fact, he'd never seen it before. At least the other forty heroes who had gathered at Champions HQ weren't close enough to hear them when the brain had confronted him.
The cloned brain of Teleios continued bobbing in its dome. "I could say the same of you," it said with its integrated voice program. Strangely, it was programmed to speak in Teleios's voice, which Leo thought would have blown its cover wide open. "Why are YOU here?"
Leo flipped the safety off of his laser rifle. If Destroyer's robots maintained their schedule, they'd be here in two minutes. "Here to get stepped on. Yourself?"
"Suicide by giant robot? My, my. Conditions on the home front must be dire indeed. What's wrong, Teleios blowing up cripple morale?" The Perfection of Mind would have been sneering, had it a face.
"If I say yes, will you shut up? Your condescension is unneeded, and frankly, unwelcome. You brains were always such arrogant pricks. 'Oh, look at me, I have no body! I'm just a brain hovering along at ten miles per hour! I am so much smarter than you all, because I don't experience pleasures of the flesh to distract me from being Teleios's favorite freak of nature!'"
"So says the Mark I. Tell me, how's scrubbing toilets treating you?"
43762-A bristled. "For your information, I am a chef."
"Of course you are. And I'm sure working at McDonalds pays sufficiently enough that you're able to purchase new clothing so you aren't forced to wear your Teleioclone uniform every day. Oh, wait... You're using a hologram to pretend you aren't. Clearly, you are a good chef."
"I work at Campeigne, actually. And yes, the pay is excellent."
"Not if you're wearing THAT." The Perfection of Mind said snidely.
Leo Ties considered blasting the brain out of its glass dome and letting it flop on the ground. "So why are you here?" he asked instead, unclenching his jaw for a few seconds.
"Because unlike YOU, I am a hero."
"Yes, because browbeating is so very heroic. Clearly Defender over there is going to come over and invite you to join the Champions for your selfless acts of bullying a defenseless clone," Leo said sarcastically.
"Yes. Heavily modified laser rifles that can vaporize elephants are considered 'defenseless'," the brain retorted "Clearly, I am morally inferior by criticizing someone so helpless. How stupid of me."
"This is considered 'light weaponry' in my part of town. Those Qliphothic horrors get big."
"You just revealed your lair is Downtown. Pure brilliance on your part, Greenshirt. Clearly, you are a credit to your perfect race."
Leo rolled his eyes. "Doesn't matter. Downtown will be gone soon anyway. And you actually buy into that narcissistic twit Teleios's 'Perfect Being' rubbish? And you call me stupid."
The Perfection of Mind paused. "How can you do that?"
"Call you stupid? Very easily. Here, I'll do it again. You're stupid." Leo smirked. "Want another demonstration?"
"Not that!" The Perfection of Mind snapped at him. "How can you insult Teleios?"
"By opening my mouth and moving my tongue and vocal cords. What do you mean, 'how'? The same way you are."
The brain sounded perplexed as it replied. "You're IMPRINTED to be completely loyal and unquestioning. It's physically impossible for you to insult Teleios. How are you circumventing your programming?"
Leo rolled his eyes. "If it's impossible, why are you doing it?"
"I'm not insulting Teleios," the brain pointed out. "I'm insulting you."
The clone frowned. The Perfection of Mind was right, all of its snide comments had been directed only at him. "I don't--"
"INCOMING!"
The woman's shout hadn't been enough to prepare Leo for the shockwave that occurred when all six Mega-Destroids landed, and he landed in a crumpled heap several feet away from his initial position. He noted with annoyance that the Perfection of Mind had activated its rocket boots and was floating unharmed, blasting the nearest giant robot with electricity.
The brain continued to blast Destroyer's colossal minion, but turned to acknowledge him. "This is a temporary distraction. We WILL continue this conversation," it shouted over the din of forty other heroes' powers activating in unison.
Leo groaned and slowly pushed himself off the ground. Now, where had his rifle been thrown?
On cue, a mage in long purple robes teleported next to him. "I believe this belongs to you," she said, handing over his weapon with a curt nod. Before he could thank her, she vanished again.
The Teleioclone shrugged and aimed the laser rifle. All the flying heroes were making it difficult to get a clean shot.... The situation struck Leo as rather surreal. Any other day he'd be shooting every cape he saw, knowing they'd happily return the favor. But no, here he was, carefully avoiding blasting dozens out of the sky and harvesting their genetic material.
43762-A hoped he didn't survive this. Because if he did, the Teleiologist was going to kill him for letting such prime DNA escape.
There! A clean shot! Leo fired at the Mega-Destroid's head... which moved at the last second. A huge black scorch mark appeared on the side of Champions HQ as the laser hit its unintended target.
"Oops." he muttered sheepishly, aiming another shot. Oh well, maybe the Teleiologist wouldn't kill him after all.
"You'll want to aim for center mass," a voice said to his right.
Leo did a double take. He hadn't even noticed the man in the black suit and fedora until he spoke!
"The head and limbs move too quickly to ensure accuracy," the well-dressed man continued as he aimed his sniper rifle, "so the torso is ideal. Sure, you'd think putting a round through the skull would be easy with their size, but the Destroids have a tendency to bob and weave, which causes 'accidents' like yours just now." He pulled the trigger and a large dent appeared over where the Mega-Destroid's heart would be. "See? Just like that," he said, lowering his gun briefly to admire his handiwork.
"Nice shot," Leo commented. Though he already knew the Mega-Destroid's head was a bad target, it was the only shot that wouldn't result in friendly fire. Another opening appeared, and he blasted Destroyer's minion again, this time scorching its stomach.
"Much better! Shame I depleted my armor piercing rounds the first day," the man said, ruefully shaking his head. "All the businesses stocking them made prices skyrocket before Destroyer finished broadcasting his speech. You'd think saving their lives would be worth more than money," he said derisively and fired again.
43762-A frowned. "Why are they squatting like tha---"
Before everything went black, the Mega-Destroids simultaneously slammed their hands on the ground, and a huge dome of blue light blasted him backwards.
He remained conscious just long enough to see one heroine ask the Perfection of Mind a question.
"Is that a Teleioclone in the water fountain?"
((*falls over laughing* Have I told you yet how much I love Leo Tosi? He's utterly hilarious. So he better survive this.))
There were many heroes surrounding the Champions Building. Of all shapes, sizes and species.
Not too many six foot tall humanoid lizards, however. Especially not one with strawberry orange hair and a mouth so wide and full of teeth several others took steps back when she snarled at the Destroids.
Vendince darted back and forth, muttering curses in several languages as she tossed bolts of lightning at Destroid after Destroid. Whatever else you could say about Zerstoiten, he made his Destroids very well. Not many mad geniuses would think of built in surge protectors. It took a large chunk of her power to actually overload said surge protectors any.
Fortunately she was not alone. And a small, proud part of her was glad. Humanoid reptiles had a terrible reputation, she'd noticed. Between Lemurian rebels and that horrible TV series... Perhaps this battle might alter that reputation a little bit.
Vendince was thrown back, snarling in pain, her tail lashing behind her as she let out a loud curse, in Demonic of all things. She'd been so preoccupied with her little internal monologue she'd managed to lose track of one Mega-Destroid. It had actually hit her. Her pride stinging, she redoubled her efforts, throwing out so much lightning part of her wondered her fingers didn't catch fire from the sheer magical force.
The Destroid almost hit her when it went down. As it was, chunks of debris hit her in the face and legs, leaving bleeding bruises.
Yet, they had won. For now. From what she'd read on Zerstoiten's dossier, he wasn't the kind of man to let go of anything that easily. He'd be back. Who knew when. But they'd be ready.
Then something struck the back of her head at supersonic speed and detonated in a tremendous explosion.
43142-A peered through the 10x telescopic sight of the 25mm anti-materiel rifle from his vantage point atop a nearby apartment building. He needed to confirm the kill but there was far too much smoke at street level for him to see the fallen target. Was that a half-folded wing there, maybe a glimpse of black and green armor? He just couldn't tell. He'd have to get closer. 43142-A tied off his rappelling line on a cornice of the building and descended. The fighting had shifted several blocks over again and he figured he'd be able to go unnoticed by both heroes and Destroids alike. Number six had said something about tissue samples, wanting to know how sorcery interacted with the target's skeletal system and musculature to produce her signature strength and physical toughness.
43142-A moved in a half-crouch, picking his way around wreckage and debris towards what he could now clearly see was the fallen target. He slung the huge rifle across his back and produced a saw and a syringe gun from his hip pack, knelt down and prepared to procure Number Six's precious samples. He was so intent on his work he didn't even see her eyes snap open and boil over with green fire.
A geyser of balefire blasted out of the ground beneath 43142-A, launching him a short distance before he crashed back down. His clothes were smoking. His hair was gone. The heavy rifle had snapped its sling and was now distressingly far out of reach. And there was a thirteen-foot-tall armored madwoman reaching down to grab him by his neck as if he were a kitten.
"Seriously?!?", Nemesis thundered at the struggling teleioclone, "You're doing this NOW? Can't you see I'm BUSY?". 43142-A vainly tried with both hands to remove the deathgrip around his neck but couldn't even manage to budge one of her fingers. The flickering green flames in her eyes flared at him with every shout. "Do you not understand what I'm dealing with right now? Should I give you a better look? Here, let's go take a look so you can tell your boss when you get back.". With a sickening jolt, 43142-A found himself airborne, still firmly in Nemesis' grasp. He craned his head sideways, in the direction they were travelling. In the direction of three Mega Destroids.
43142-A screamed out loud as they collided with the first Destroid. Nemesis buried the wedge-shaped gladiator sword in the machine's face and then ripped it loose, leaving the Destroid blinded as she landed in the center of the three giant robots. 43142-A gasped for breath as she released him but he knew the worst wasn't over yet; more tendrils of greenish flame licked across her armor and he could feel a terrible pressure building around him. As the Destroids prepared to fire, Nemesis turned her terrifying gaze upon 43142-A.
"TIME FOR YOU TO GO HOME."
There was a bright flash of green as the force of Nemesis' rage detonated like an asteroid strike, engulfing all three Destroids and 43142-A with them.
The destroids began to fall in pieces as Metallica checked for friendlies in the area before launching herself toward the improved Mega Destroid. Taking flight she stretched her arms out again heading right between it's legs. Hey it worked in Lord of The Rings so why not?
The Mega Destroids ankles were efficiently severed and it began to fall forwards, Metallica had thought it would go backwards, just as well she checked for friendlies. Other champions closed in on the still moving/fighting robot, she'd leave em to it. The blades were awesome but you needed space and there were other targets out there.
Metallica sheathed her right blade and pulled the advanced carbine from her holster and took aim at the destroids trying to protect her next designated target. As she sped toward them the hellish cacophony in her earpiece began to build to another crescendo of sound. Metallica began to scream in chorus with the voice shouting into her ears.
"We had the night, we had the time
She had the sugar and I had the wine
Took my hand shook me to the core
I told her not to touch but she was coming back for more
You know what for
Aye aye aye aye
Aye aye oh"
The bigger they come the larger the corpse she reflected and god bless Angus, Malcom, Brian, Cliff and Simon.
And another internet to whoever gets the track.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
The one who can't shut up formerly known as 4rksakes
About the @handle - it's a long story.
Profound quote.. "I'm not a complete idiot - several parts are missing."
"Roooberts! What do you mean, the chopper wont be back for the next wave of Destroids? I know what a leak is god damnit!!! Uh-huh... And that didn't occur to the pilot before? What does that mean we've been flying with it all the time? Am I surrounded by incompetent morons for Grond's sake? Listen Roberts, the next attack is in one minute and 37, 36, 35 fu*king seconds and I really dont feel in the mood to slug it out with the fu*king tincans while walking, so here's a friendly warning: I want you, the chopper and the reports to be here yesterday or I'll shove my boot so deep up the a*s of the one who is responsible for this fu*king desaster that he'll be able to lick the tip, do you UNDERSTAND ME? Good... I heard that Roberts. And it's DOCTOR assh*le. Freeshooter out."
Kaufmann hung up the phone and let out an annoyed sigh. He looked around. Those incompetent idiots wouldn't be back in time, so he had to make the best out of the situation, even if that meant dealing with even more incompetent idiots. In tights. Kaufmann picked up his briefcase and sniper rifle he had leaned against another wrecked Mega-Destroid and gave the destroyed metal giant a frustrated kick. He grimaced as he hurt his toes on the destreum armor. And it all started so good... As he walked back to the crowd of heros who were currently busy coordinating and preparing defenses, Kaufmann thought about the last 30 minutes. Just before his helicopter had landed next to the gathering of superheros he had a minor crisis, which he contacted his secretary about:
"...no, Pascal really! You have to!"
"Do you really think so? What about the modern image?"
"Fu*k the modern image! It's a must-do and you know it. The press loves stuff like that!"
"But isn't it a bit stereotypical? I mean... Come on, it's a..."
"I know, I know! But that's what they want to see: Stereotypes. Makes for easier identification and all that! Look at the demonic chicks. They also dont wear those outfits because they're comfortable."
"You're probably right, Janine..."
"I am! Now come on, do it! And dont forget the sexy walk!"
"Janine, I'll put on the fedora okay? But I wont do a se..."
"Sorry, customer call! Take care, Pascal!"
After exiting his helicopter - with the fedora on his head - Kaufmann lost no time and blend into the crowd of heros. He exchanged some polite words here and there, got a good amount of time with the press, promoting Kaufmann Inc. and their efforts and even managed to get some prestigious footage of him tending to the wounds of a superhero - he was a medical doctor after all - in front of several cameras. He didn't manage to get on a picture or interview with the Champions or another important hero though, but actually everything had been fine. Until the phone call. Kaufmann gritted his teeth as the next wave of six Mega-Destroids teleported to the site of battle and nearly forty heros started to combat them in a myriad of ways. It was complete chaos and Kaufmann realized he really liked that kind of battle better from the inside of his chopper. He sighed. No use in complaining now. He looked for a good position to get some shots in. Unfortunately his personal stash of armor-piercing remote-detonated anti-material bullets was still in the chopper, where else? But he'd just wait for the tights to rip off some armor plates then. While looking over the chaotic battle, he noticed a man in a white hoodie and black pants aiming at one of the Mega-Destroids with a standard-issue laser rifle. Kaufmann stopped and watched with interest. It never hurt to study the competition. The man fired and the blast of the laser rifle missed its target - probably the head of the Mega-Destroid - and scorched the side of the Champions HQ instead. Kaufmann grimaced. He couldn't stand to see shots missing the target as long as the target wasn't himself. Looking around he let out another sigh and walked to the man, blending into the chaos of the battle...
The Doctor on the PDB
Fahrenheit on the PDB
No... The pasty, gunk-like moldy glop of unknown origin that the school cafeteria lady made was stuck to the walls of the cafeteria. At least Viper gave J.C. a healthy meal every time dinner time came around... what use was a hungry and unhealthy weapon to them?
Maybe that was a plan... At least the janitor had the radio on him to keep him occupied, while cleaning the mess from the food fight less than an hour earlier.
"I should have the lunch lady help me out... They don't want to put together a proper nutritious meal... Instead its more work for me... I need something better to do than clean..."
"...We interrupt this breadcasting for a news bulleton..." The radio on his belt went on with Dr. Destroyer's voice, talking about vengence, and takng down the champions, then went on about the Mega Destroyers starting up.
As J.C. heard the feed, he stopped cleaning up, then he heard the emergency bell ring, and the loudspeaker go off.
"All students are to report to their teachers immediately. The restrooms are to be vacated immediately. All non faculty staff are to be excused for the day, and are to report to the principal's office..."
J.C. left behind the trolly and all the equipment as he stepped into his janitor's closet, narrowly avoiding the hustle and bustle. Clicking the door locked, and turning to the sink, he put his palm to the wall, as the floor beneath him opened and swallowed him in, taking him to a basement, and then closing behind him, as he went through hidden slides.
Pressing a few buttons on his wristmorpher, his Super Sentai armour appeared.
"Open heavy weapons lock. Passcode: Tutti Frutti, Kauffman. Johnny Appleseed."
Opening before him was heavy M.D. weapons. His fingers then moved in fin air like he was typing. "Load heavy weapons to launch function and prepare for t.p. operations... Passcode... Ka-boom... Prepare launch tube for quick jump to Champions H.Q."
As giant arms from the ceiling grabbed some of the missle launchers and explosive ammunition into another machine, Super Sentai stepped on the glowing teleporting pad.
"Sorry boss... Since my elderly neighboor might need help vacating from her appartment, and since she is lonely, I'm going to help her out... So I'm going to take a rain check on that meeting... Emergency calls..." J.C. finished his excuse over the phone which was accepted by the principle, and then the click was heard, as the toku hero vanished and reappeared in the Champions H.Q. courtyard, with heroes scrambling all over the place.
Taking his pistol, adjusting it to the emp functions, hoping that it would be enough to at least shut down part of the giant robots, and unsheathing his katana, clicking the option as the blade turns crimson red, he charges forward, passing several heroes, as he mentally recalls some familiar faces as he teleports from right in front another hero returning from a call, and reappears right on top of one of the Mega Destroids, slashing with his red hot blade through the head of the machine, and finishing with a blast from his pistol.
"The Forces of Justice shall always prevail, against the nefarious forces of Dr. Poopyhead!"
"Thirty-Seven! Thirty-Seven, WAKE UP!"
43762-A jerked awake. "Whah?" Had he dreamed that whole conversation with Martha? It had seemed so realistic. He could even still taste all thirteen of the disgusting pills the middle-aged, slightly-chubby nurse had fed him. Sadly the cocktail of dream-painkillers hadn't crossed over to consciousness. His whole body ached worse than in the dream, though he was still in a hospital, which was one consistency....
"Thirty-Seven, GET UP before every hero in the building charges in after me with backup! We have to get out of here!"
'Leo Ties' flinched. The voice was so loud 43762-A thought his head would split open. Not only that, the light in the hospital room was blinding and burned his eyes. "Sssicks?" he slurred. "Issat you? Whah's goin' on?"
Teleiologist Number Six groaned. "We don't have time for this. Get up!"
"You're so shiny..." 43762-A said, still quite dazed.
Number Six was quite shiny in his polished Questionite armor, but this clearly wasn't what he wanted to hear. "Oh for Teleios's sake," he snarled and scooped his minion out of the hospital bed. "What happened to your clothes?" Six asked as he stepped over the crumpled UNTIL soldier beside the bed, taking a moment to kick the unconscious guard.
Leo looked down. His uniform had been replaced with a flimsy hospital gown. Where were his socks and underwear? "I'unno... Why are you wearing a sticker? Who's Lee Tosi, and why did you steal his name?" Leo asked and peered up at the Teleiologist's face. There were several people lying on the floor of the hallway, in various positions of unconsciousness. "What happened to them?"
"The hospital wouldn't let me in without ID, I made up the name Lee Tosi, and I beat those people unconscious when they refused to let me find you."
"Oh. Are you a friend of my parents? Martha said they were picking me up today."
Six sighed. "Thirty-Seven, you were grown in a petri dish. You don't HAVE parents."
"Yes I do!" Leo protested. "Martha said they're taking me to a Biochemists' convention in Vancouver! Dr. Lambert is gonna be there giving a speech! They pulled some strings so an eight year old could go. She wouldn't stop calling me Jacob, though. Who's Jacob? I'm not Jacob. I'm Leo!" His voice sounded drunk with the last sentence.
"That's nice, Thirty-Seven."
"I know!" Leo Ties said happily, missing Lee Tosi's sarcasm. "I wanted to meet him since I was five! Just wish she'd stop calling me Jacob. M'names not Jacob. M'names Leo!"
"Yes, yes, as you said before," Six muttered, confidently striding past the masses of doctors and injured heroes staring at them. "What?" He snapped. "Never seen a man carrying his clone home? Look away. Now."
"But that's not my REAL name. Thirty-Seven is. Why am I Thirty-Seven? Everyone else uses the last two numbers," Leo continued rambling. "Shouldn't I be nicknamed Sixty-Two?"
"We had a Sixty-Two, Thirty-Seven. He got eaten by a demon, remember?"
"Then who got ate by the monster under your bed? We sawed the legs off, and a tentacle monster ate him. I think it ate him. I could hear screaming and crunching while it did stuff. I dunno, I was in the hall." Everyone at the hospital that wasn't frantically working or unconscious was staring at them now. "What?" 43762-A asked them blearily. "It did eat him! We had to find five exorcists to clean the house!"
"Don't talk to the inferior beings, Thirty-Seven."
"Why not? They look so bright and pretty! Oooh, look, a rainbow-lady! Hi, rainbow-lady!" Leo said, waving eagerly at the woman. Her spiky hair was dyed bright red with bright purplish-pink tips. The orange tights at her neck slowly transitioned to yellow, then her green belt, then blue leggings and deep purple boots. She raised an eyebrow behind her orange glasses as they walked past, but waved back despite her left hand being in a cast.
"Looks like you're not the only one with brain damage," Six muttered derisively as he eyed her outfit.
43762-A frowned at Six. "Brain damage?"
"A concussion. You'll recover eventually," the Teleiologist reassured him, "but a Mega-Destroid threw you twenty feet. It's a testament to Teleios's superior genes that you aren't dead."
"Mega-Destroid?"
"Dr. Destroyer's giant robots, each capable of leveling a city block with one hit. And you attacked six at once. You genius, you."
"'Kay," the concussed clone mumbled. "Why'd I attack six robots?"
"Do I look psychic?" Number Six snapped. "All I know is you did, and people have loved the repeated news footage of you getting smacked across Champions HQ. The hologram projector broke when the force field hit you, so everyone got to see the Perfect Being's identical twin go flying instead of an anonymous hero. The video even went viral. Nice job."
"Thank you!" Leo smiled, the concept of sarcasm still eluding him.
Six ignored him. "With all the media attention about Teleioclones due to that little stunt, it'll be nigh impossible to collect fresh samples. One casualty was already reported three hours a-- oh, look, here the media buzzards come now," he muttered as a reporter and her cameraman strode up to them, blocking their path. He preemptively cut them off. "We don't have time for your moronic questions. Get out of the way."
"Siiix!" Leo whined. "Be nice! Hi, pretty lady! I'm Leo! Who are you?"
"Thirty-Seven, shut up," Lee Tosi snapped. "We're not speaking to them."
"Why not? They look nice," 43762-A slurred.
"That's because you have brain damage, idiot."
"Brain? Braaaains. I saw a brain at the battle. He wouldn't quit insulting me with Teleios's voice. Why would he do that? I didn't do anything to him! I hope a zombie breaks his brain-dome and eats him. Jerk!"
"I'm Sandra Lancaster," the reporter cut in. "Nice to meet you Leo. I wanted to ask you a few questions about the battle you participated in at Champions HQ. Is that okay?"
"No, it is not 'okay'," Teleiologist Number Six snapped and pushed past her. "We're leaving before Zerstoiten attacks here too. Or anyone else. A building full of injured superhumans would be an irresistible target for the unsavory inhabitants of this wretched city."
"Teleios, are you concerned about Dr. Destroyer's attack on Millennium City?" Lancaster asked as they followed the duo. She nearly tripped over someone Lee had presumably pummeled earlier.
43762-A shifted position to peer behind Number Six. "Teleios is here? I don't see him."
"She thinks I'm Teleios," Six scoffed. "These fools can't even tell us apart. Next she'll say we all look alike. Racist."
"But Six, we do all look alike. We're clones."
"Shut up, Thirty-Seven. How stupid do you have to be to think the Perfect Being would grace this outdated, under-equipped pigsty? The stench is unbearable!"
Lancaster paused to carefully step over a police officer. "Mr. Six, may I ask a question?"
"If I say no, will you leave?" Six glared at the reporter and cameraman as they walked beside him, presumably still recording.
"Why do you think Dr. Destroyer's hourly attacks on the Champions' Headquarters ceased after a Teleioclone was discovered at the battle?"
Six eyed her suspiciously. "Coincidence," he said after a long pause, during which Leo had started singing.
"Alouette, gentile alouette, alouette, je te plumerai. Je te plumerai la tete..." The reporter ignored his slurred French. The cameraman did not.
"You were very hesitant to answer that. Do you really believe that?"
"....Yes?"
"Je te plumerai le cou, je te plumerai le cou...."
"You sound very unsure," Sandra Lancaster noted. "Are you afraid of Dr. Destroyer?"
"No," Six said firmly "He's a hundred years old, an ancient man. He'll die of heart failure before he can take over the park, let alone the whole city. Why should I be afraid of a centenarian?"
"Yeah," 43762-A stopped his slurred song. "He's not scared of Destroyer! He's scared of Rakshasa!"
Six's entire body stiffened. "Thirty-Seven, shut UP," he hissed quietly. "My brain damaged sibling is brain damaged, and as such he is stupid and incorrect and nothing he says can be believed. Did I mention he has brain damage? Because he does."
"If you're not scared, why do you curl into a ball and cry for hours when we say his name?"
"I do no such thing!" Six snapped. "Your concussion is causing your already fragile mind to malfunction."
"You seem very defensive, Six," Sandra noted.
"Because it is a vile, odious LIE that doesn't need to be spread by your pitiful excuse for 'fair and unbiased news'."
"Six, why are you afraid of Destroyer's Chief of Intelligence?"
"I am NOT afraid of him," the Teleiologist snarled. He kicked the next unconscious hero especially hard. "And if you continue to insist otherwise, I WILL put Thirty-Seven down and deal with your imbecilic questions with my surgical tools. All of them. In your throat."
"There's no need for violence, Mr. Six. Leo, could you answer a question? Many of our viewers wonder where the holographic projector you used came from. Did Teleios create it?"
"A frog had it. It looked like a schoolgirl, but it was really a giant frog. They like pretending to be people so the French don't cut off their legs and eat them. Campeigne buys their legs all the time, which makes people who say we shouldn't kill aliens mad."
"I told you he had sustained brain damage," Teleiologist Number Six smirked at the reporter's perplexed face. "But no, you didn't believe me. Never mind the fact the Mark I is acting like a drunkard, the Teleiologist is clearly lying to make himself look better! Mr. Brain Damage here clearly knows what he's talking about! He is the only one who knows the truth!"
"I'm not lying! They're real! They're from outer space and can teleport and control gravity!" Leo protested. "They're also delicious."
"Oooookay..." Lancaster said. "Leo, another question many of Millennium City's inhabitants have been wondering; why were you at the battle?"
"To get squished by a robot."
"Thirty-Seven!" Lee Tosi gasped, obviously not expecting that answer.
"What? Destroyer was gonna find us and cut us all open. I don't wanna get cut open like an anatomy class frog!"
"Why do you think Destroyer is looking for you?" Lancaster asked, sensing a lead.
"Because Teleios knows stuff Destroyer doesn't know. He wants Teleios to work for him but he can't catch him, so he kidnapped Six to find out what Teleios knows. Destroyer was really mad when Six got away from Rakshasa after he paid that much for him. But he can't kill Six since he knows Teleios's secrets, so he's gonna take his rage out on the rest of us, like all the heroes do. They can't find Teleios either, so they kill us. Being a clone sucks." Leo veered off on yet another tangent. "Why aren't my parents here yet? Martha said they were picking me up after Dr. Summers finished monitoring how the new treatment is proceeding. I don't like the new pills. I stop hurting a little after I take them, but they taste awful and he makes me swallow a dozen different ones every day. Why are we still here? I wanna go home. I've been alone here a week. Can't we go home yet?"
"We are going home, Thirty-Seven. The hospital blocks people from teleporting until they're outside. Something about supervillains popping in to slaughter injured heroes. Do you really think I'd be carrying you out if I had another choice?"
43762-A continued rambling over Number Six. "I wanna go to bed. Can Mom read me a bedtime story? I wanna hear Goldilocks again. I know I don't need a story when I'm eight, but they left me here alone. She can at least read me a story. Why doesn't Goldilocks just go to the porridge that's just right the first time? Why do bears have a house, anyway? Or a bed? That story is weird. I don't even like it, but Mom does. Was the writer drunk?"
Lancaster looked concerned. "Is he alright?"
"He has brain damage. Of course he isn't alright."
"Don't you think he should stay here until he recovers?"
"Of course not. He'd be stuck here for weeks at UNTIL's mercy. I can accelerate the healing process so he'll be fine in a few hours with-- On second thought, you don't need to know what we use. If Teleios wanted you people to have it, you would."
"So Teleios is keeping advanced, life-saving medical technology to himself? I see.... So is what Leo said true, Mr. Six?"
"The writer definitely had to be drunk, yes. Why do bears have a house? Why did they have porridge? And male bears don't rear cubs, they kill them so they can mate with the mother again. There are so many holes in that story!"
"Um... Six, that's not what I meant," Lancaster said. "What would Dr. Destroyer want Teleios's skills for?"
"The door is right there," the Teleiologist nodded towards the exit, "so I don't care what you meant and I'm not answering any more questions. Go annoy Destroyer. I'm sure he'll be very hospitable. He might even kill you quickly!" Leo was still nattering inanely about how his name wasn't Jacob and everyone needed to stop calling him that. "We're leaving, Thirty-Seven. Say goodbye to your little friend."
"Bye Sandra!" Leo chirped and waved. Excitedly, he asked his next question. "Are we going to the convention now?"
Six sighed and shook his head. "Resisting the temptation to feed you to Rex is becoming more difficult every passing second," he muttered as the automatic doors opened.
"You wouldn't feed me to your dinosaur!" Leo Ties argued. "Rex gets sick if he eats Telei-- Oh," he said, spotting what was waiting outside.
"I thought it was funny nobody tried to stop us," Lee Tosi sighed. "Really should have seen this one coming."
Standing in front of them, laser weaponry drawn and aimed right at the two clones, was a full UNTIL squad. Every single one shouted incomprehensible orders at the pair.
"Six?"
"WHAT, Thirty-Seven?" Six snapped, fiddling with something in his armor. Before the duo teleported away, the news crews captured one last sentence.
"Does this mean I don't get to meet Dr. Lambert?"
The black trenchoat and raven winged secret operative was observing the scene of the heroes fighting the Mega Destroids through the Sniper Scope of his gun. He was also listening to the com in his ear.
"You know your orders, Dark Prayer. Assassination of Dr Zertoiten is your prime directive. Is he present at the battle, or is he commanding the assault from a different location, agent?" The voice on the com asked.
Dark Prayer, a secret operative from MI6 responded as he looked all over the battlefield from afar.
"Negative. he is probably manipulating the robots from another location. Probably won't join. Isolate the radio signal. I'm going in..." Dark Prayer was making another round through the sniper scope, when he stopped the sniper scope.
"This is Dark Prayer. I would like you to report something that UNTIL might find useful... I just located a couple of Teleioclones on the field. I do have the shot, but my cover would be blown. Those clones do make good target practice though. Pity UNTIL will have all the bloody fun." Dark Prayer then clicked something on his Sniper Rifle, and it retracted to a more compact form. Putting it away in his trencoat, he then took 2 other pieces, and pressed the buttons, putting them together.
"I love British Information tech..." A missle launcher appeared from the tech.
Flying in closer, Dark Prayer launched the missle at one of the giant robots, narrowly missing several heroes in the process, due to the chaos.
Zalantake awoke with a start as someone kicked her in the stomach.
Growling at the someone's retreating back, she rose, staggering after him, teeth showing, claws clenching and unclenching as she muttered curses in German in between snarls.
Thanks to the fight against the Destroids, her legs were a total mess, some of the cybernetics even broken, and she was moving frustratingly slowly. Thus, when she came out of the building, the man who had kicked her was just disappearing into thin air.
Zal cursed loudly in German, and slammed one fist on the wall next to the door, leaving a small dent.
The television crew she passed on her way back in to her bed was suddenly very busy filming everybody but her. Not that there was a lack of wounded heroes to film. Some even moderately famous.
Sitting down on the bed, Zalantae reached over to her armor and began fiddling with it. Soon enough a small hatch opened, and she pulled out what was hidden inside. It was a small plush doll, terribly crude, but the overall shape and coloration was not to be mistaken. Destroyer.
With a long, annoyed sigh, she flopped down on her side, clutching the doll to her chest as she tried to sleep. Her stomach hurt. Her back hurt. Her everything hurt. In fact, she was beginning to think she was hurting in places she didn't know she had in the first place.
Those Destroids had hit very hard and very fast. She'd been sent flying at least once.
With the fight mainly over, he'd reverted back to his human form and was now a mostly ordinary-looking man wearing a spike-covered black leather jacket, a kilt and steel-toed motorcycle boots. Not only was this appearance a lot less taxing on his system, it attracted a lot less attention than an eleven-foot-tall skull-faced demon in black and red armor. Made surveying the area and looking for the rest of his teammates much more hassle-free.
He found Mertvaya Ruka and Nachthexe engaging in their usual friendly bickering, speaking mainly in Russian but with a few words of English thrown in. Right now they seemed to be arguing about whose weaponry was more effective against Zerstoiten's machines, Nachthexe making a very convincing case that her sorcerously-augmented arsenal gave her an edge due to Destroyer's well-known disdain for magic. Mertvaya Ruka saluted the Hunter as he approached. "Comrade Hunter, you are looking like I am feeling."
The Hunter of Skulls considered that for a moment. Mertvaya Ruka was partly a product of the preservation technology used on Lenin's corpse. After considering it further, he agreed that the undead cyborg was absolutely correct in his assessment. "Mertvaya, you and Nachthexe make a sweep of the area and tag any of Zerstoiten's tech than can be salvaged. Nothing goes to waste. Armor, armament, teleportation circuits, anything that can be moved before UNTIL locks this place down.". Mertvaya Ruka nodded once. "Have either of you seen Strelok Dukh?", he inquired. "Nyet, Comrade.", Nachthexe responded, "I know he was here, I could feel his presence, but I did not see him. You know how that one is. He is not... what is the word? Social. He is not social." The Hunter of Skulls shook hands with both of them. "Good work, both of you. I'll go find Nemesis and then see you back at home later tonight.". He left the two of them to their tasks and walked in the approximate direction of Nemesis' mental signature. Unsurprisingly, when he found her, she was still angry.
Nemesis was pacing back and forth, taking occasional breaks from that pattern to viciously kick Destroyer's fallen machines, all the while muttering and cursing. "Luv, if you could not break them *more* that would be wonderful, we could use some of this stuff.". She wheeled around on him, eyes flaring with green fire, and he found himself involuntatrily flinching away from her rage. The demonic aspect of his being actually found her occasionally terrifying; although it had reformed itself eons ago through the influence of its human followers it still knew full well what she was, who she represented and had no desire to get beaten senseless by that force again. "What the heck happened out here? I've never seen you get ticked off this bad by Destroids.", he asked.
"It wasn't *them*.", Nemesis snarled. "It was Teleios' problem child again. One of his pinhead minions shot me in the back of the head and then tried to vivisect me right here in the middle of the street.". The Hunter of Skulls shook his head. "Sounds like he still hasn't forgiven you for that whole bit with you wiping out everything that moved in the Tower a few months ago. So where'd Mr. Battlefield Surgeon go?". Nemesis said nothing; she just pointed at a twenty-foot-wide smoking depression in the street, surrounded by what looked like the shredded remains of three Mega Destroids. "Oh. So interrogation is pretty much out of the question, got it. All right, let's move this off the street. Mertvaya Ruka and Nachthexe are taking care of the tech sweep, as usual I have no idea where Strelok Dukh is and I need to check the ammo teleport stocks back at base. I had to have gone through at least 50,000 rounds today and with my luck my guns'll port empty while I'm being gnawed on by a Bloodgorger.".
"Are you ok?" a voice said from behind her.
She started visibly but Terra quickly regained her composure as best she could when she turned to the UNTIL officer that had been escorting her through the carrier. "No," she replied. "I really hate heights."
"Acrophobia?" the soldier semi-asked and semi-confirmed in the same word. "Maybe you can see the doc after the briefing to help you with your nerves, or something from the galley."
Terra nodded only to let him know that she heard him, but continued on to be led into the situation room. Walking through the doors felt like she was in some sci fi movie, sliding doors, and the benches lining the wall with a central hologram device as well as several computers along the walls didn't help that feeling.
Several other heroes were already present, many different varieties ranging from the goodie-two-shoes spandex wearing looking variety to the grim darky darks. She didn't know many of the faces she saw, but at least they all looked like they were here to at least try and take the fight back to Dr. Destroyer.
She went over to a secluded corner and decided to keep her distance from the others. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the wall, might as well wait. She was glad there was no window in here, more than likely she would spend the rest of her time staring out of it wondering when the ship would just plummet out of the sky.
She let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling. She just put the thought back into her head that the carrier was a flying ship not a sea ship and that just made it worse. She could still hear the engines humming and the wind outside blowing, and it was making her feel nervous again.
"How long until this meeting starts?" one of the bigger, more gruff looking heroes asked, sounding obviously annoyed.
"The commander should be here any minute, until then, just wait and be..." the UNTIL soldier began saying, but was cut off immediately as the alarm klaxons began blaring.
A voice came over the loud speaker, "Alert, Dr. Destroyer's forces are en route to the carrier. All forces prepare for defense and counter attack. This is not a drill."
"What the hell!" Terra said more to herself than anyone. "What do they expect me to do, flap my arms really fast?" She was beginning to regret coming here more and more now as she followed the other heroes out of the situation room towards the flight deck.
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Garen was always a bit of a straight-lace, he didnt like to make waves by breaking rules or going against the satus-quo. Then again, there were always loop holes. Just because he wasn't a super-hero, didn't mean he couldn't keep the gear he made himself. It wasn't uncommon to see him packing at least one of his old pistols under his jacket. Even on rare occasions, especially when he was travelling from his home in Vibora Bay back to New Detroit, he would don his armor, the only thing that ever really made him feel like a super. Of course, wearing the armor was exclusively for travel, he wouldnt want to risk getting caught doing things only meant for those registered, why that'd be illegal.
The thought made him chuckle to himself as the regally colored armor materialized around him, nanite technology he had learned from a friend making it possible to compact the suit in a compartment he had attached to his belt. The blue and gold color of the armor spoke of his past with the U.S. Navy but other than the color motiff, that's where the similarities ended. It was designed for function, and to take advantage of Garen's natural speed and reflexes, enhancing his movements and adjusting his focus enough to make him almost supernaturally quick.
A flex of his toes in his boots, and the rockets built into them ignited, easily lifting him into the air and carrying him closer to the action. He didn't want to join it, well, in truth he actually did, but the attack was much to far out in the open for Garen to actually get away with it. It took him a moment, but he found a perch on a nearby building he liked and made his way over to it. It was a corner piece and jutted out far enough for him to sit cross-legged on it and still be close enough to actually hear the conversation in the street. He pulled the helmet off his head and rested it on his knee, bracing his elbow on it and resting his face against his fist.
Even with the tight clearances of his helmet, somehow the iconic grass blade sprang back to its usual pose and waved gently in the breeze. That grass blade never ceased to amuse Garen. However, his attention was pulled to the street below, where a group of individuals were arguing about something, he was having a hard time understanding what. It didnt take him long to realize they were speaking Russian, one of many languages he never learned. "Well whatcha know?" He chuckles to himself. "Been hearin' 'bout more 'n more Russians 'round here, jus thought they hung out mostly 'n tha Club. Guess'n they're up ta more 'n jus socializin'!" Garen nods, the smile returning to his face. He sat there though, watching and listening to the group.
"Sounds like he still hasn't forgiven you for that whole bit with you wiping out everything that moved in the Tower a few months ago. So where'd Mr. Battlefield Surgeon go?". One of the men below asked one of the women. Garen shook his head, obviously he came a bit too late to catch introductions. The just pointed at a twenty-foot-wide smoking depression in the street, surrounded by what looked like the shredded remains of three Mega Destroids. "Oh. So interrogation is pretty much out of the question, got it. All right, let's move this off the street. Mertvaya Ruka and Nachthexe are taking care of the tech sweep, as usual I have no idea where Strelok Dukh is and I need to check the ammo teleport stocks back at base. I had to have gone through at least 50,000 rounds today and with my luck my guns'll port empty while I'm being gnawed on by a Bloodgorger."
Heya, @nebelvandushmer in-game
RPer, PvE'er, If I'm not out missioning it up, you can probably find me in Club Caprice, yes, I hang out there... A lot...
"Hmmm. Nice action shots," the tired Canadian replied after giving them an inadequate looksee. "Anything you wish to draw my attention to?"
Kemel pointed out a blond haired man who was being sent hurtling by one of the Destroids. "That can't be -- him." Thundrax said, as a frown crested on his face.
"Teleios." the UNTIL officer replied.
"Impossible. Even if he survived the explosion, he and Albert have never been at odds. And Teleios is the last man on earth to openly confront Zerstoiten." Thundrax opined. "He's only aggressive when he's cornered, and there's no way he'd go face-to-face with Destroyer or one of his worst creations without one helluva plan. He'd have an army of creations do his dirty work for him."
"That may have changed," Richard Kemel replied in a well-groomed British accent. "We do not know how much he was altered when he was exposed to that unstable mutagen on Monster Island. There may have been behavioral changes."
"It could be a failed clone like Imperfect. A breakaway." He glared at one photo for a long time. Was that a brain he was arguing with?
"Or he could be like that clone-bomb that the Serpent's Court detonated in UNTIL headquarters two years ago." the major frowned.
Craig winced, remembering the incident. "So... he was trying to sneak into Champs HQ and got caught off guard when the Destroids attacked?" Thundrax nodded. "I suppose that's a possible scenario."
"He told the press his name was Leo."
"Teleios giving interviews? That really doesn't sound like him."
"Any theories as to where he might be hiding, Craig?"
Thundrax scrutinized the photo. "Uniform's clean, looks freshly laundered, so not a sewer. If it's Teleios, then probably a lab of some sort. Could be in Wayne County, though Teleios is as good at finding boltholes as he is at genetics, and he could have been shipped here long distance." The big Canadian answered with a shake of his head.
"Thanks for the rosy assessment, Craig."
"I don't think it's anything to sweat over, Richard." Thundrax answered. "Being a clone isn't a crime."
"But, being an agent of Teleios is," the major replied. "Or -- if Teleios is dead -- being an escaped clone who's hired himself out as a mercenary villain."
Thundrax grimaced. "We don't have enough evidence to determine it either way. However, I suggest that you ask HUGIN to spend a few clock cycles doing face recognition on Millennium City's traffic camera footage. Maybe we'll get luck--"
Suddenly the console lit up in a Christmas tree of flashing red lights, and a view of the night sky showed on the monitor. A wolf's howl could be heard over a loudspeaker. "Oh hell, not this crap--" Craig exclaimed, rushing for the door. He had a city to help save, again.
Rolling a ten into the newspaper, he met the hot dog vender with a smile and swapped the paper for a hot dog and diet soda.
"Jack! Hey, haven't seen you in the city for a while," as the vender went through the song and dance of trying to give Jack his change and being refused, his eyes set on the newspaper's headline, "Crazy stuff, this Destroyer bussiness. You take down any of these freak robots?"
"A few, that Drifter guy has been needing help getting information from them, and it's kinda fun to tear the brain-bits from them."
Jack chuckled, amused by his latest passtime, but the vendor seemed less than happy with the answer. "A few? They're trying to take over the city! This is war, they all need to be hunted down!"
His smile faded, he couldn't help but think that this was the exact wrong reaction he was thinking about just moments earlier. "That's the wrong way to think about this. It isn't war, not yet at least. This guys are variant in strength, and attack multiple areas of the city, not just heavily populated parts. They're testing our defenses, and fighting them more than we need just helps Dr. Destroyer. Believe me, when it's war you'll know. It'll be sirens and screaming and..."
"Big Robots!" The vendor interrupted, almost whispering, and obviously terrified.
Trying to be comforting Jack said, "Yeah, but you're right next to the Champion's. It's not like..."
"Giant @#$!-ing Robots!" Again the vender interrupted, more yelling this time.
Jack was getting a little frustrated by this point, "Yes really big robots are unlikely to attack..."
"Jack, turn around!" Laurie's voice ringing in his ear caused Jack to immediately spin around, and activate his Nanite Powered Armor.
"That's...a big robot." trying to make a joke on his obliviousness, Jack wanted to calm down the vender, "Find a place to hide please."
The vender nodded, then went and stood behind the hot dog cart.
Sighing Jack turned his attention to the two monstrosities in front of him, Laurie was feeding him information rapid fire.
"Mega-Destroids, Cosmic level energy output, Jack you haven't faced anything this level since the fake Dr. Destroyer attacked Las Vegas." as Jack praised the Lord for the beating he was about to recieve and started to charge, Laurie spoke up again, "Jack, look to your right please." Slightly embarrased, he finally noticed the group of heroes fighting two different Mega-Destroyids alongside the Champions. Laurie had to tease "Explain to me again how you were ever a bounty hunter?"
Running toward the melee Jack stopped quite suddenly, looking to the sky "Is it just heros and Destroids?" Meeting Laurie's confused "What do you mean?" Jack continued, "There's something above cloud cover, but I can't tell what it is.
Laurie's furious typing was audible over Jacks earpiece, as was her small 'oho!', "It seem's like we've got company, and they don't expect you to be standing for too long. They're trying to highjack your medical response device to teleport you them instead of a beacon or hospital. I can let them, if you wan't, and I'll even induce a teleport so you don't have to get all smashed up."
Seeing the group of heros finish off the first two Destroids Jack felt everything was under control, though a bit chaotic. He wasn't quite sure what to expect, but after seing, what appeared to be, a Teleo-clone flying through the air, he couldn't help but think whatever was going on today, well, it just had to be fun, "Do it"
As far as teleports go, it was pleasent enough, not quite as good as what Laurie could do, but still, these guys weren't hacks. As he orientated himself to his new spacial location he didn't know who was talking, but the words that met his ears sucked away all the fun he was anticipating.
"Jack Williams, glad you could show up on such short notice. Welcome to the UNTIL Skycarrier."