=CHAPTER 10A: SNEAK INTO THE PRISON=

=CHAPTER 1A: RAGING FLAMES SMOLDER=

~AO v1.0~

(Courtesy of @limitbreakers)

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{MEANWHILE, BACK IN SANDA LABS....}

[After speaking with Seijiro… Beck, Soichiro, William, and Call did a thorough search of the lower levels of the building Soi was sealed in. To their surprise, they had found a couple of uninfected Patch bots that were busy recharging their energy--their systems also had to be shut down to do so.]

Sunny: D: -BEEP BEEP I AM SCARED WHAT IS HAPPENING WHY ARE THERE EXPLODING NOISES -

Beck: Sunny! : D -shhhh it's OK everything is fine--or will be--

White: (Interesting...these Patches are also fine, like Call...)

[Meanwhile, Call had moved her usual terminal to the lab, and began bringing back the labs systems one by one with her father.]

Sanda: If we can just get this one back up, we can start looking for the rest of the Mighties...

[Beck perked up from his spot on the floor, a bit busy consoling about six or seven different colored Patches.]

Beck: ...How are we gonna do that?

[White frowned and put his hand to his chin, thinking.]

White: Hmm...

Sanda: ...! Ah! That should do it--for now, at least. At any rate, the lab is all set for any repairs Beck and the others might need.

White: Good, good...

White: . . .

White: We can still read most of their statuses, yes?

Sanda: Hmm, yes...

White: Can we trace back their transponders?

Sanda: We can give it a try, but with Avi messing around with the signals...

Call: Tracing...

[A map of the US comes up.]

Call: .......

Call: Transponder found.

White: --!!! Whose?

[A marker appeared right smack in the middle of the State of Louisiana.]

[A symbol. Pyrogen's. ]

Beck: ! Big Brother...!

Call: Comparing location to local database....

Call: .......

Sanda: Well?!

Call: ....

Call: It appears that Mighty No. 1 has retreated to an oil refinery.

White: An OIL--?!

Sanda: Good God--He's going to blow it all up to kingdom come--!

White: Quickly--there is no time to waste! Beck, Call, prepare yourselves for the mission--Sanda, find another signal frequency for Xel Transfer, something we don't use as often so that Avi won't pick it up at first--I'll set up encryptions to hide it from him in the meantime from my own terminal!

Beck: Yessir!

Call: Affirmative.

Sanda: You got it, Will.

Beck: (Don't worry, big brother...)

Beck: (I'm coming to save you...!)

__________________________________________________

[COORDINATES SET.]

"... Beck..."

"Yeah?"

"...Please...please be careful. Please."

"I know, Dad."

"We're all counting on you, Beck--promise me you'll come back in one piece for your uncle, eh?"

"I promise, Sanda."

"Good luck, No. 9. Now preparing Xel Transfer..."

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"...I love you."

"...I love you too, Beck...pass that on to Pyrogen for me..!"

[XELS TRANSFERRING...]

[MISSION DETAILS: MIGHTY NO. 1, CODENAME: PYROGEN, HAS BEEN SPOTTED IN A LOUISIANA OIL REFINERY. STATUS: INFECTED WITH HARMFUL MALWARE, FULL COMBAT MODE ENGAGED.]

[OBJECTIVES: RESCUE MN.1 AND PURGE HARMFUL MALWARE FROM SYSTEMS, PREVENT A LARGE-SCALE INFERNO. ]

[SYSTEMS READY?]

[GO!]

[Once Beck had fully reconstituted, Xels clicking into place as his form settled, the first thing that he felt was the heat.]

[The second was the smoke filling the air, and the third was the distant sound of crazed, infected robots just up ahead--Pyrogen was not the only one given free range of the place. Many industrial, non-sentient CherryDyn and Sanda models were running rampant...]

[Beck's comm line crackled to life.]

Call: No. 9, do you read?

[Beck lifted a hand to the side of his helmet.]

Beck: This is Nine--I read you loud and clear! I've made it to the Oil Platform...

[He pauses.]

Beck: No sign of One yet...and the place is just...it's chaos...

[Soon enough, Sanda could be heard over the line as well, along with White.]

Sanda: A fire wielding robot running wild in an oil refinery...I don't like the looks of this at all.

White: Not exactly ideal conditions, I'll grant you that...

White: Quickly now, Beck--Locate Mighty No. 1!

Beck: On it!

[Beck sprints forward...]

[...And slips.]

Beck: Whoa-!

[CLANK.]

Beck: --Ow--

Call: It appears No. 9 has encountered an oil spill. From my scans, several major pipelines of the refinery have burst.

Beck: That...would have been helpful two seconds ago...

Sanda: Shake it off, Beck! And be careful if the other robots in the area set it on fire--!

Beck: -Slowly picks himself up- Got it....

[VERRRRRRRRR--]

Beck: --!!!

Call: Incoming hostile robots.

[It was a forklifting robot--carrying a crate full of explosives, no less! And once it saw the young Mighty Number, it wasted no time revving it's engine and charging at full speed--!]

Beck: aHHH--

[Beck didn't roll out of the way--he jumped, and let the robot pass under him.]

[MN.9 HAS GONE INTO COMBAT MODE.]

[He shoots, and once the robot's Xel Structure was disrupted, stunning it in place, he AcXelarates into it in a flash of white--absorbing its Xel and leaving behind only it's cores.]

[XEL ABSORBED. ABSORPTION BOOST: ONLINE.]

[A green sheen of Xel encircles Beck--the same feeling of power flows through him like before--but this time was...different...]

Beck: ....?

[LAST time, the color was RED, wasn't it...?]

Call: Warning, multiple incoming CherryDyn robots detected.

Beck: Uh oh—

[Yes, now there was more--in addition to several furnace type robots that shot fire balls out of their tops, and other flame based models.]

Sanda: There are so many fire based robots WHY ARE THEY ALL HERE?!

White: Good question...perhaps Pyrogen led them here...?

[...As Beck transverses forward, he seems much quicker in this powered up state...]

[...But soon enough, the green Xel fades, and he returns to his normal speed.]

Beck: ...?

[THIS happened last time too--whenever he got one of those...absorption boosts, he got a little stronger somehow...so green makes him a little faster...?]

Beck: (Huh...when I saved the Round Digger, he turned purple---these guys either turn red, blue, yellow, or green...)

Beck: (If green makes me faster, then what does the rest do?)

[He decided to take a moment to figure it out--there were plenty of enemies to absorb, and certain models turned into one of those colors.]

Beck: (OK...Green makes my reflexes faster...)

Beck: (Red boosts my shot output--I can even shoot through certain walls for a while...)

Beck: (Yellow makes me jump higher...)

Beck: (...And blue...)

[XEL ABSORBED. CONVERTING...]

Beck: Huh?

[XEL STOCK 1 FULL.]

Beck: (Xel Stock? I can STORE extra Xel?!)

Beck: (Oh man--I can use that to repair myself on the fly! At least minor injuries...)

[Then--Suddenly--!]

[A familiar figure stands out against the clouded night...]

Pyro: Rrrrr.....

Beck: PYRO!!

[The Mighty Leader was standing atop of a ruined oil truck, surprisingly unlit...]

[Green eyes flickered towards his brother--]

Pyro: ......

Pyro: ...You...

Beck: --! YES! It's me, big brother--It's Beck! You remember!

Pyro: ...BURN....

Beck: !!!

Pyro: THE WORLD MUST...

[In a sudden fierce motion, Pyrogen quite literally EXPLODED into flames, becoming twice his own size as he HOWLED into the flame lit horizon overhead!]

Pyro: BUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRN!

[...However...]

[...Instead of attacking Beck...]

[He...leaps away?]

Beck: PYRO, WAIT!

[Beck, after recovering from the sheer, uncontrolled rage his eldest brother had just unleashed, dashed forward to give chase--]

Call: Warning: Multiple incoming robots detected.

Beck: Wha--where?!

[SECONDS later, more furnace type robots materialized, as well as a whole SLEW of enemies--both that were from the city AND the fire based models! It was an ambush!]

White: Beck!

Beck: NGH--!!

[He was trapped on all sides, and with nowhere to hide, he was pelted with enemy fire-- both of energy shots and actual real fire. ]

Sanda: MOVE, BECK!

[He's faced Pyro in battle before--in spars. He can handle a little heat, but this--]

Beck: HothothotHOT--

[There was nowhere to go--nowhere but UP, that is...]

[In the midst of quite literally being roasted over an open flame, Beck had to JUMP to avoid the heat from damaging anything important.]

[...REALLY jump.]

Beck: aaaAAAAAAAH--

[Fortunately, gravity and trajectory was kind enough to drop him atop of one of the flying enemies--who was none too pleased to have an extra passenger onboard.]

Call: .........

Call: Inquiry: Why do these kinds of events seem to always happen to No. 9?

Sanda: I...don't know...

Beck: Nice CDN GOOD CDN PLEASE DON'T--

[Too late--Beck was now on a VERY wild rodeo ride with the cargo carrying robot, trying to shake him off by flying erratically--and into other robots.]

Beck: -SCREAMING-

White: Hold on, Beck!

Beck: WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING--?!

Call: Beck, you have a acquired a higher vantage point. I suggest using this to your advantage.

Beck: I WOULD IF THIS GUY WOULD HOLD STILL FOR TWO--

[VERRRRRRR--]

Beck: --AwNO--

[B O O M!]

[The flying CDN had collided with another forklifting robot--which was carrying another crate filled with explosives. The resulting explosion lit up the evening, temporarily obscuring all with the smoke that rose from it.]

White and Sanda: BECK!!!

[......]

[MN.9 STATUS: ONLINE, COMBAT MODE ENGAGED, DAMAGE REPORT: GYRO BALANCERS CRITICAL, ARMOR PLATING HAS BEEN BREACHED.]

Beck: .....uuuuugh....

White: Beck! Do you read me?! SAY SOMETHING!

Beck: ....hurts...ow....can't....

Call: No. 9's Gryo systems have been damaged. His mobile systems are shot.

Sanda: --That's it--I'm pulling him out of there! This is way too-

White: Wait!

White: Beck--there is another ability that I designed you with! Can you access your Xel Stocks?

Beck: nnngh...

[USE XEL STOCK 1?]

[COMMAND//: YES.]

[ACCESSING INTERNAL XEL STORAGE...]

[A relieving burst of light blue light seemed to pour out of the ports on Beck's back, wrapping him up in a healing sheen. The cracks on his armor were being sealed, while most of the Xel was released internally...]

Beck: --!!!!

[SELF REPAIR COMPLETE. ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL.]

[Beck shot STRAIGHT up into a sitting position with a small gasp, feeling reinvigorated--renewed, even! He was thrown into alertness, looking around this way and that...]

[...It seemed the resulting explosion from the CDN crashing into the forklift robot had cleared away the rest of the ambush. Place was a MESS, however--some of the oil piping had burst as well, and it's flammable contents were now spilling forth EVERYWHERE.]

[...Beck was not spared from it--he was more or less splattered with oil now, tainting his pristine white armor.]

Beck: Ew...!

White: -SIGHS WITH RELIEF-

Sanda: No time for a bath now, Beck--you gotta keep moving!

Beck: ...Right... (Wouldn't mind one from Cryo right about now...)

Sanda: My...did you SEE all those bots? And such power...

Sanda: ...These designs of yours in our models are something ELSE, Will...

White: ....

White: Yes, well, under the circumstances--that hardly feels like a compliment. -_-;;

[Beck only had one way to go, and that was forward...]

[...Over a flaming floor of burning oil, that is--and above?]

Beck: .....

Beck: Are those electrified spikes.

Call: Warning: It is not just electricity, but energized signals on the ceiling. They have been modified to disrupt Xel Structures. Proceed with caution.

Beck: Wait wait wait--

Beck: Are you saying that if I touch it I'LL JUST EXPLODE.

Call: That is correct, No. 9. Your core, however, would be intact, although--

White: I--I think he understands the concept, Call.

Beck: Right--don't touch the purple things, don't touch the purple things--

[Dashing across the suspended platforms was the only way across--along with absorbing other robots along the way. Using the green Absorption Speed Boost he acquired from them, he was able to quickly get by the hair-raising corridor...]

[...And into the Oil Silo field.]

Beck: I still don't see Pyrogen yet...

Sanda: He must be somewhere up ahead, he couldn't have gone that far...

[No. 9 was really starting to get the hang of his AcXelarate Dash--it was almost becoming second nature, actually. He could use it as often as he wanted--there seemed to be no limit, and it didn't expend any of his energy at all.]

[Which was a very good thing for what came up next.]

[C R A C K L E.]

Beck: --?!

Sanda: BECK! LOOK OUT!

[The lower half of the Silo in front of him was damaged--and began to topple over directly overhead.]

Beck: WHOA--

[Beck immediately started to floor it, becoming merely a white blur among the grey of smoke--the Silo crashed behind him with a loud rumble, missing him by only mere inches.]

Call: Heat has compromised the integrity of near by structures. Please proceed with caution.

Beck: NO OFFENSE, CALL, BUT I'VE BEEN CAUTIOUS THIS WHOLE TIME--

[C R A C K! C R A C K!]

White: BECK--IN FRONT!

[...It was sort of like watching some supped up version of dominoes.

The silos were perfectly aligned in such a way that they toppled over in Beck's path, forcing him to sprint and dash for his life. The malfunctioning robots around him didn't seem to care--they were only concerned on destroying the Mighty Number--so they retaliated by shooting up fireballs into the air to rain down from above.]

[And if that wasn't enough, the floor beneath began to give away under his feet--no, the PLATFORMS were.]

White: DON'T STOP!

Beck: AAAAAAAAAAAAA--

[It seemed like an eternity. It was, in fact, about 20 seconds, but those nail biting seconds seemed to stretch into forever as Beck barreled forth without pause, destruction and fire raging around him, smoke stinging his eyes and throat.--]

Beck: WHAT THE--

[The path suddenly ended.]

White: NO--!

[It just--ended. There was only a sudden drop into a pit of fire, an inferno flaring so high, it was impossible to tell if there was anything on the other side.]

[But he had no choice.]

[He had to jump.]

Beck: HUP--!

[Out of the frying pan...]

[ACXELARATE DASH: MAX OUTPUT REACHED]

[And into the fire.]

[DATA LOSS.]

White: Call--!!!

Call: Searching...

Call: ..........

[.........]

[..........….............]

[.......................................]

[SIGNAL FOUND. MN.9 STATUS: ONLINE.]

White: YES...!

Call: Re-syncing feeds...

"--can't get a good grip on--!!"

[--Beck had made it!]

[...But only barely. He was grabbing onto the ledge with everything he had, trying to hoist himself up--but the oil wasn't making things any easier.]

Beck: Arrgh--

[FINALLY, his feet find some perchance, and he pushed off of the wall--and front flipped over, landing firmly and safely on the other side of the pit.]

Beck: (--! Hey--I did it! I DID IT BRAND--)

[It looks as if some of that acrobatics training paid off--]

[....Too bad said brother in question wasn't here to see it.]

Beck: (--.....Oh....right....)

White: --......!

Sanda: ? Will?

White: I have an idea--Can we send one of the Patch bots to his location?

Sanda: --But--whatever for?

White: I want him to be in the BEST condition possible before he faces No. 1...

[Will's green hues stare intensely at the screen, at his son.]

White: Pyrogen, while not being made with the latest Xel technology, has the most experience out of them all. If they ARE to battle...

White: He's going to need all the help we can offer.

White: We can send a Patch Bot with some Xel Storage Cubes for him to either store into his Xel Stocks or use right then and there for self repair.

Sunny: -BEEP BEEP- (-_-)7

Call: Commencing Xel Transfer....

[XEL TRANSFER COMPLETE.]

[Beck almost very nearly shot Sunny in her display--but lucky her unique coloring was enough for him to recognize the Patch Bot.]

Beck: Sunny?!

Sunny: -BEEP BEEP-

[Sunny's stomach compartment opens, and out tumbles several Xel Storage Cubes ready to be absorbed.]

Beck: !

White: Beck, these should give you enough to normalize your Xel Count. Call has confirmed that No. 1 is in that destroyed building wreckage ahead...

Beck: .......

[No. 9 takes a deep breath...]

Beck: (OK, Pyro...here I come...)

[After dropping down to a partially collapsed room...]

[Once again standing atop of a pile of debris was the fire-powered leader himself.]

Beck: Pyro--! Finally...

Pyro: Hnrrrrrr...

Beck: Pyro--come on, big brother-- I KNOW you're in there SOMEWHERE! We don't have to--

Pyro: You....

Pyro: ...Why...?

Beck: ...!!

Beck: Because you're my BROTHER! I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU, NO. 1!

Pyro: ......

Beck: Just--PLEASE hold still for just a few minutes and I SWEAR I can fix this--I can SAVE you!

[With dark, glowing emerald eyes, the leader stood. Unflinching.]

Pyro: ......

Pyro: No....

Beck: Pyro--!

Pyro: Why...

Pyro: Why you not burn...?

Beck: Wha--?

Pyro: WHY YOU NOT BURN?!

Beck: PYRO--

Pyro: WHY...YOU...NOT--

[FOOOOM!]

Pyro: BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRNNN?!?!?!?

[As Pyrogen fully ignites his body in flames, HUGE pillars of fire explode on either side of the room--effectively trapping both Mighty Numbers within.]

[Almost as if this was to be a cage match...]

Beck: Uh-oh...

Pyro: Burn...

Pyro: The world must BURN...! ALL MUST BUUUURN!!!

[MN.1 HAS ENTERED FULL COMBAT MODE. RESTRICTIONS: NONE. ]

Beck: NO--!

[SCANNING...]

[SCAN COMPLETE.]

[ E N C O U N T E R ]

[MIGHTY NO. 1-- MODEL CODENAME: PYROGEN]

[HEIGHT: 223cm] [WEIGHT: 236kg] [XEL COUNT: 47,200,000]

Pyro: PYRO CRASH, AND YOU...BUUUUUUUUURRRN!

[Pyrogen was a close range combat model, excelling in melee-style combat.]

[He wasted no more time with any more words. A distorted yell of RAGE accompanied his first attack--a headlong, full bodied tackle!]

Beck: Gh--!

[Jumping over was the logical choice--]

Beck: AAAH--!

[...But not the best one, as Pyrogen ALSO left a trail of arching fire in his wake. Beck had jumped RIGHT into them, sustaining burns across his armor plating.]

Pyro: Yes--BURN! BURN LIKE THE REST! B U R N!!

[Flaring, No. 1 changed direction--his arms ignited to TWICE their original output, allowing him to gather his flames up for another attack.]

Pyro: BURN M O R E!

[He thrusted his arms forward--and a burst of fire shot out, threatening to engulf Beck in it's hellish range!]

Beck: PYRO--STOP IT!

[The youngest Mighty had no time wince at pain--he forced himself to roll away, the blaring heat reminding him to be weary of the fire walls that soared to the sky.]

[His default weapon was drawn--but he had not fired yet.]

Beck: I DON'T WANT TO FIGHT YOU, PYRO!

Beck: PLEASE! S N A P OUT OF IT--!

White: It's no USE, Beck!

Beck: --!? Dad?!

White: HE IS TOO FAR GONE!

White: You have to stop him by FORCE--!

White: ONLY THEN CAN HE BE SAVED!

Beck: .....

Pyro: B U R N, MOTH! B U R N!!

Beck: . . .

[MN.9 HAS ENTERED FULL COMBAT MODE. RESTRICTION: PRESERVE MN.1]

Beck: I'm sorry, Pyro...

Beck: But if I have to do this to get you back...!

[BLAM!]

Pyro: --?!?

[Bright orange dematerializing shots pierce through the flames--nailing Pyro right in the chest, who seems VERY confused as to what just happened--]

[--...But the confusion didn't last. It quickly bled away to anger. ]

Pyro: RAAAAAAAAAAAGH--!

Call: Warning: I detect a buildup of energy from Mighty No. 1.

Beck: Energy--?

[FWOOOOOM!]

[Pyrogen's flames...changed color. They were no longer just a bright yellow and orange.]

[They were purple. A sick, sick shade of purple and blue.]

Beck: ---????!?

[And that's when it hit him.]

[He's SEEN this before.]

[The Greater Dusk team--at the Queen's Tournament--Bladeblaster--!! ]

Pyro: BURNING...BURNIIIING...

Sanda: -ACTUALLY SCREAMS-

Beck: --!!!!! (Nowhere to HIDE--!!! GOTTA THINK FAST--)

Beck: Ah--!

[ACCESSING XEL STOCK 2...]

Pyro: SPIRIT!

[B O O O M!]

[DATA LOSS]

Sanda: oh GOD WHAT HAPPENED WHAT HAPPENED--?!?!

Call: .....Mighty No. 9's signal has vanished--as has Mighty No. 1's. The likelihood of their transponders ceasing to transmit due to excessive heat damage is--

White: PLEASE, Call--! No more of that--ARE THEY ALIVE?!

------------------------------------------------------------------

Pyro: Hah...hah....

Pyro: ........

[There was no sign of Beck at all...]

Pyro: ...........

Pyro: Yes.....YES! LIKE A MOTH TO THE FLAME--!!

[Victory was his. A familiar feeling--he couldn't place why, but it FELT good--]

[So good that he started to laugh, distorted chortles reverbing around the Oil Platform...]

[There was nothing but the crackle of fire...and screams...]

[.....]

[… … …]

[Wait.]

[All the humans had fled.]

[So WHY--]

".........aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAH--!"

Pyro: WHAT--?!

[C L A N K!]

Beck: NOT DONE YET--!

[Seemingly dropping down from NOWHERE, Beck landed on his elder's back--forcing him to buckle from the force of the fall and the added weight--]

[BLAM!]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Pyro: RRAA--ACK--!!

[Flames attempted to flare on his back--they licked at Beck's form, scorching his armor black.]

[The pain--it was almost unlike anything he's ever felt before.]

[The only thing that came close...was...]

----------------------------------------------------

"Yes...! That's it, my better incarnation--FIGHT LIKE YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE!~"

----------------------------------------------------

[Beck gritted his teeth.]

[He couldn't let go--can't, not for anything, ANYTHING!]

"Remember. Beck--Physical pain....is MENTAL. In the arena, you will learn how to push PAST it."

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

"But--Big Brother--"

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

"What if it hurts too much...?"

"One of these days, Beck--how much physical pain you feel won't matter in dire situations."

"Are you going to let a few deep scratches come between you and what you care about the most?"

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

[XEL QUOTA REACHED.]

"N-No, sir, No. 1!"

"Good!"

[XEL PURGE: ONLINE. XELFILTER.EXE PREPARED FOR OVERDRIVE.]

"Now--Show your big brother what you can DO!"

Beck: COME ON, PYRO--!

[XEL PURGE INITIATED!]

Beck: WE NEED OUR LEADER BACK!!!

[FILTERING.....]

[A blinding flash of green surrounds the two, expelling all of the infected purple Xel in Pyro's frame, running it THROUGH Beck himself, who expelled it right back at One, returning the Xel back to it's rightful owner.]

Pyro: --!!!!

[The Mighty Leader stood rigid, frozen in place as the Xel was simultaneously pulled and put back into him--with little to no pain whatsoever. ]

[In fact...]

[It felt...warm...]

"..........I can see you, you know."

"Eep--!!"

"Now, now, don't be frightened--you have nothing to fear, Beck. Not in this place."

"But...you...and everything else...is so...so much bigger than me..."

"Heh..."

"Good things come in small packages."

[......Small....]

"TRY AND CATCH ME, NO. 1!"

Pyro: ........

Pyro: B...Beck...

[THUNK.]

[His knees give away.]

[FILTERING COMPLETE.]

[ALL HARMFUL MALWARE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM MN.1]

Pyro: Is that....you...?

[There is only harsh breathing in his ear--but...]

Beck: ....

Beck: B...Big...Brother...

Beck: Pyro...I...you're OK...

Pyro: I...what...where...?

[-PING!-]

Call: Connection reestablished. Mighty Numbers 1 and 9 are online.

White: Beck--! Beck--are you--

Pyro: ....F...Father...?

[.....]

White: S...Son...?

Pyro: Father--...what...what happened? I...don't....remember...

Sanda: He...WILL-- WILL HE DID IT HE DID IT--!!

White: Pyrogen...! You're...alright...!

Pyro: Not--...not exactly...Ngh...

Pyro: I....

[SCANNING...]

Pyro: ......????

Pyro: Beck--What...why do I smell...oil?

Beck: Long... long story, bro...ohmanI'msotired...

Pyro: You're...? I...I don't understand--

White: ......

White: Call...prepare for Xel Transfer. Pyro...

White: Everything will be fine, son...I promise. I'll explain it when you're well rested enough.

Pyro: ........

Call: Xel Transfer in progress...

{SANDA ENTERPRISES, LOWER LABS...}

[Will never thought he would be so close to having a heart attack at the age of 25, and today had been eventful enough to garner that reaction on more than one occasion.]

[But the feeling of relief he felt when he saw his eldest carrying his youngest on his back...]

Call: Xel Transfer complete. I suggest not drawing too close to No. 1--he is still radiating fairly high temperatures.

Sanda: Hoooof--it DID just jump a couple of degrees in here, didn't it...

Beck: Uuuuuugh I've never been so TIRED can I take a nap...

[Beck was certainly quite talkative in his complaining...]

[...But Pyrogen remained silent....]

Pyro: . . . .

[Beck slowly climbs down from Pyrogen--he feels QUITE strange at the moment, as if his systems were preoccupied with something else, and leans against his brother for support.]

White: ....

Pyro: Father...

Pyro: ...Beck has burns. All over.

Beck: . . .

Pyro: There was OIL.

White: Son--

Pyro: What happened to us...?!

White: ......

[Will tries to collect his thoughts--how will he tell him--how will he--]

Pyro: Where is Cryo? We NEED to cool him off--

Call: Mighty No. 2's location is unknown. As are the rest of the Mighty Numbers.

Pyro: --?! WHAT?!

Call: I will now connect you back to our systems. Standby.

[RE-CONNECTING...]

White: .......

[CONNECTION ESTABLISHED. UPDATING....]

Pyro: ...........

Pyro: NO--

[RECEIVING RECENT STATUS REPORTS...]

Pyro: NO!

Pyro: OUR FAMILY--!!

[Pyrogen attempts to stand--but his damaged frame does not quite agree with him.]

Pyro: Ngh--!!

Beck: Bro--bro, don't strain yourself--

[-PING!-]

Beck: ----!!!!

[FORM DATA ANALYSIS COMPLETE.]

[XEL TRANSFORMATION ENGAGED.]

[Beck's Xels suddenly start to re-arrange themselves, glowing with a bright white light...!]

[NEW FORM SET.]

[REXELECTION: PYROGEN.]

Pyro: .....!!!

Pyro: Beck...?

Beck: .......

Beck: Big brother...

Beck: I...need to explain some things...

-PING!-

<RMDC>: >REQUEST FAILED. DISPLAYING PREVIOUS STATUS UPDATE…

>DCN-008 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-007 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-004 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-003 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-000 STATUS: OFFLINE

Pyro: What--

Pyro: Lethal Mode--?!

>Loading…

>DWN-024 STATUS: OFFLINE

>DWN-020 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-019 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-018 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-017 STATUS: OFFLINE

>Loading…

Pyro: Why...WHY ARE THEY ALL...?!

Beck: Pyro--

Call: I suggest updating MN.1's memory files with Beck's own.

White: .....

White: Sanda...prep the lab.

White: Beck--help your brother. There is much to go over...

[Indeed… most of the line was in Lethal.

…

…With two EXCEPTIONALLY notable exceptions.]

>DLN-008 STATUS: OFFLINE— CRITICAL AI_OS DATA ERROR

>ERROR: DLN-000 SIGNAL NOT FOUND.

Pyro: Toby--CARDINAL--?!

Pyro: (What...what...)

Pyro: (What sick, twisted darkness has befallen us...?!)

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=CHAPTER 6D: CRIMSON STRONGHOLD=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

{Sanda Enterprises, Ten Minutes Earlier…}

[There was a flicker of light as Cardinal teleported into Shade’s room.]

Cardinal: …

[He’d spent the night hiding in the streets, waiting for the news reports to blow over. He was glad when the headlines turned their attention to Beck, and had indeed listened that morning to the press release.

He’d been infuriated when Graham had put in his two cents, and had returned to the rooftops that looked out onto the HQ. But just when things looked their darkest…

…That’s when the calls of support came in.

He’d been calmed by the reassurance that the world was not about to turn into a second Monstropolis. Graham’s plan had backfired… so he had walked away, leaving him well enough alone.

He didn’t have time for petty revenge yet, after all.

He’d searched through some gathering areas where active combatants were meeting while the Colosseum was down, hoping against hope that he might find someone who knew Shade personally, someone he could recognize from the time he had visited the arena. Unfortunately, that bridge was out, and the day pressed on without success.

Finally, he had given in to desperation, taking drastic measures.]

Cardinal: (Well, no alarms yet… that I can hear. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’ve set something off, though… I’ll have to be quick.)

[He was on edge as he scanned the room for clues, analyzing it in every way possible.]

Cardinal: … -Cautiously steps over to the bed- … … …

[He was struck with a sudden, wild idea. It was crazy, but he had to try—]

Cardinal: -Pats the bed-

[…Empty.

But of course, no, that would have been too easy.]

Cardinal: -Disappointment- (Nnnn… shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up there for a second…)

[He let out a sigh very slowly to keep it as quiet as possible, turning his attention to the rest of the room. It seemed to be just as he’d last seen it: a little bit messy, with dog toys on the floor and papers everywhere.]

Cardinal: -Starts quietly leafing through the papers- (He wouldn’t be so careless as to leave out his paperwork where anyone could see it, surely…?)

[While he DID come across one or two pages that raised his suspicion, most of it was harmless, and none of it was helpful. He pressed his mouth into a thin line.]

Cardinal: (There’s got to be SOMETHING in here…)

[He went over to the dresser, looking in the mirror. No secrets revealed themselves, and he crossed his arms in impatience.]

Cardinal: (Why do you even have a dresser when you don’t have a Civilian form, Shade? Do they even make clothes that are meant to go over armor?)

Cardinal: (…Well, I guess Felix could pull it off, so maybe, but still…)

Cardinal: … … …

Cardinal: -Eyes widen in surprise- !!!

[There, sitting on the dresser, were a couple of Pokéballs.

Specifically…]

Cardinal: -Reaches over to pick them up, one in each hand- (Scout and Baron! Man, I’d forgotten all about you guys! We left you HERE!)

[It had been such a long journey since he saw them last that he had to wonder if they were starting to get worried, themselves.]

Cardinal: (I’ll—I’ll have to take you somewhere to eat or something, it must be so frustrating not to be out like is normal….)

[He pocketed the Pokéballs, which shrank down for easier carrying. He couldn’t help but feel a little more optimistic, now—he had Shade’s pet, and that had to count for something…]

Cardinal: (There’s got to be something more to this room. Even ammunition, maybe.)

[His eyes were drawn to the dartboard on the closet door.]

Cardinal: … (Maybe in the closet…?)

[He crept over to the door, looking it over.]

Cardinal: (Doesn’t look like the handle is rigged up to anything…. Don’t see any sensors on the door…)

Cardinal: …

Cardinal: -Opens the— -

BAM!

[Everything went a bright white in pain as something slammed into him from below, sending him flying into the ceiling. He came to the floor with a crash, blaring with pain from the unexpected impact.

His audio receptors were ringing in a faint screech of feedback, and he could smell a bit of smoke, even.]

Cardinal: (I suppose I deserved that.)

[He tried to shake it off, propping himself up a bit.]

Cardinal: (Louis, you idiot… you should have expected something like that…!)

[He could see now what the disturbance was: there had been an airbag just beneath the floor, situated so that anyone standing in front of the closet would get hit.]

Cardinal: (Must be hooked up to a sensor so that anyone who isn’t Shade gets sent packing. Hell if I know more…)

[He could hear footsteps coming down the hall.]

Cardinal: (Move, gotta move…) Nnnnuhhh…

[He pushed himself to his feet, staggering a little as his gyroscope recalibrated. The footsteps were getting louder now, and he could feel Beck’s signal coming down the hall.]

Cardinal: Grrrr…

[His eyes suddenly flared a full green.]

<DLN-000 has entered Lethal Combat mode.>

[There was a whining noise as he primed his blaster, backing away from the door.]

Cardinal: (They won’t take me! Not now, not when I’m SO CLOSE!!!)

[The door flung open, and Cardinal aimed to fire.]

Cardinal: —?!

[But his mode suddenly came to a halt, his blaster practically locking up in his sudden hesitation.

For it wasn’t Beck who had answered the door, it was…]

Cardinal: Roll—!

[Flashes of cross-references blinked rapidly through his mind.

His sister, brokenhearted with perpetual suffering. The one person from LightLabs he would ever want to see again. The one construct he had truly pitied. The driving reason he’d chosen mercy, the single soul who would be any reason to come home—]

Cardinal: -Distress— despair— -

[Help—he needed help to come home—]

Cardinal: -Eyes flicker back to the usual irises, bright with conflicting emotions-

[He dropped out of Lethal mode.]

<DLN-000 has entered Defensive Combat mode.>

Cardinal: (R-Roll…)

Call: Halt.

Call: This is DSN-000, Designation: Call. This unit is requesting unit DLN-000--Cardinal Light--to stand down and return to HQ, as requested by Dr. Cossack, Dr. White, and Dr. Sanda.

Cardinal: I…

[He felt extremely disoriented, only hazily aware of his mistake. The cross-reference was too strong for him to overcome.]

Cardinal: I can’t go home…

[There were combat instincts screaming in the back of his mind, warning him that he was still in great danger. That he had only seconds before Brandish and Pyro came to the door.]

Cardinal: -Backs up further, eyes glowing brighter- Leave me alone!

[He had to think and act fast. This was his last chance to take, give, or say anything. Last chance—]

Cardinal: —!

[He saw Beck’s form appear in the doorway.]

Beck: CARDINAL, WAIT--

[Cardinal took a step back, his boots crunching on some spent darts.]

Cardinal: Think fast— -Tosses a USB key at Beck’s face-

Beck: --?!? -Wha--

Call: Statement: This is a distraction--

[That was all the time that Cardinal needed.]

Byuubyuubyuuu…

————————

[While Cardinal was taking off for the streets to where he’d left Jazz in the alleyways, Beck and Call were left standing in front of the now-empty bedroom.]

Beck: No--!

Beck: (No, no! If I had just been faster--!)

Beck: -Dismayed and disheartened, greatly- Cards...

[PING!]

[DR.WHITE]//: Beck! What is happening? Did you find him?

[MN.9]//: ...he...

[MN.9] //: ...he was here, I saw...but he's...he's gone...

[MN.1] //: For Xel's SAKE, Cardinal! Why?!

[MN.1] //: Ggrrr--!

[CALL]//: I detect both anger and frustration from all present.

[MN.2] //: No duh, Callie...

<MC005>: > Was Jazz with him?!

Beck: --? I...what? ?.?

Call: Negative, Doctor Cossack. DLN-000 was alone.

<MC005>: > Then he can’t have gotten far!

Call: Suggestion: Unit Mighty No. 6 should preform air recon in search of unit DLN-000.

[MN.6]//:  ROGER DODGER--

[MN.7] //: -Ping-

[MN.7]//: He doesn't know Titus like we do...

[MN.7] //: He would stick to places he would have been to before, with the city as chaotic as it is--

<DWN-024>: >While that may be true, we have no idea how long he has been here! It could have been days!

<MC005>: >Unless he has somewhere in mind, I don’t think he’ll leave the city! Not until he gets what he’s looking for!

[MN.7] //: -Silent Japanese cursing under his breath-

[MN.9] //: -We can't waste any time, we can't--!-

[MN.6] //: No worries, Beckroni and cheese!

[MN.6] //: ; D Air Force Avi 1 is on the case! I'll jet Cards home in a flash, don't you worry! We know where he might be, at least, yeah?

[MN.9] //: ...yeah...there's that...

<MC005>: >When that happens, Avi… just make sure you get a visual lock on him in lieu of a signal. Confronting him should be a last resort.

<MC005>: >I pity anyone else who gets in his way…

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=CHAPTER 2B: BEYOND THE WATERY VORTEX=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

{SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.}

Jack: . . . . .

Jack: oh man I am so cold--

[He made it.]

[Somehow, he made it.]

[In the COLD, pouring rain, he made it.]

Jack: frag frag frag frag--

[It was coming down in SHEETS, and the city was in utter turmoil. There were nearly no humans in sight in the street he was in, and the robots that were left were free to follow their new directive: destroy. ]

[Fortunately, Jack stuck to the back allies to avoid being seen by them, quickly making his way towards a familiar landmark--]

[The Space Needle.]

Jack: (OK, you're back now, you're in the States....)

Jack: ....

Jack: (NOW what?)

Jack: (Can't find Kate if I can't find her brothers....)

Jack: (Can't exactly CALL her cuz of Six...)

Jack: (Bird guy is who KNOWS where....I'm on my own here.)

Jack: ......

Jack: (Well--I can't just keep moving around without SOME idea of where I should go--)

Jack: (Space Needle's a landmark--people know it, so someone's GOTTA be there--maybe someone that can help or something...)

Jack: (Gonna take a while to get there by FOOT...)

[Jack takes a moment to scan the streets, eyeing the many abandoned cars left there when the virus first struck.]

Jack: (...Hate to take someone else's car, but if I'm lucky--)

"HEY--!"

Jack: --!!

[Jack turns around at the voice--it seemed to come from behind--no wait--]

"GGHHAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH--!!!"

Jack: oh SH--

[Jack sprung out of the alley and into the street as a large, LARGE fireball NEARLY burns him alive from above-- it shatters the pavement were he once stood before, leaving only a scorched, black hole in the ground. ]

Jack: WHAT THE HELL IS--

[WHAM!]

[Jack felt a foot connect with his abdomen, and he was kicked back into a totaled car, creating a sizeable dent...]

Jack: NGH--!!

Jack: Awwwwshitthatsmarts--

[...Giggling.]

Jack: ...???

"Why, ALOHA, little man!~"

Jack: --?!

Jack: Wait a--

Jack: You--You're Plume...!

[Jack had HEARD of this one--Plume was Hawaii's very own Arena bot fire dancer, part of the small but efficient combat team, Island Koas. They weren't among the high ranking teams--so Jack had never FACED her--but her solo fighting career was impressive enough.]

Plume: Hehehe...Awww, did I scorch you? I WAS aiming a little TOO low, wasn't I?~

Jack: UM--

Plume: {You seem like a good dance partner.~}

Jack: .....

Jack: Uh--M-Miss Plume--I--I don't have Hawaiian in my languages--

Plume: Really? That's too bad--

[Fireballs start to form on both of her hands--and one on her head--despite the pouring rain, it didn't seem like it was affecting her in any negative way.]

Plume: Maybe I can take you back to my island and TEACH you a few tricks?

Jack: Uh--Well--uh...

Jack: --....

Jack: Wait...

Jack: How in the WORLD did you get here to the mainland?

Plume: Mm? Oh...

Plume: I had a little HELP.~

Plume: He's having some fun with the Navy!

-*-*-*-*-

[MEANWHILE, OFF THE WEST COAST...]

"HE'S MOVING TOO FAST--"

"WASN'T HE ON STARBOARD SIDE?!"

"SIR, I CAN'T GET A LOCK ON--"

"LOOK OUT!"

Merlion: -R O A R I N G-

-*-*-*-*-

[BACK IN SEATTLE...]

Jack: ....The Navy--...

Plume: He was visiting my island when I asked him for a ride. I didn't want to miss the big Luau here on the mainland, you know? ~

Jack: ....Miss Plume--

Plume: But enough talk! ~

Plume: I want to see if you can LAST longer than the OTHERS. Finding the PERFECT dance partner is SO hard these days--

Jack: Miss Plume I REALLY don't wanna hurt you--

Plume: I wonder, little man--

[FWING!]

Jack: oH CRAP--

[Plume swayed to one side gracefully, and a wave of fire flew from the flames that burned from her wrists--forcing Jack to duck under it.]

Plume: Can you take the heat?

[ E N C O U N T E R ]

[IKN.1 - CODENAME: 'PLUME']

[STRENGTH: 20 DEFENSE: 20 S.ATTACK: 40 INTELLIGENCE: 30]

[Plume's central abilities--Fire and Dance--blended very well together in terms of her native culture. And it showed on the Battlefield: Plume's a graceful fighter, using her dances to both avoid enemy fire and deal some damage herself.]

[Wave after WAVE of fire pierced through the streets, slashing at cars and scorching the asphalt. Jack had no choice but to keep backing off, avoiding her and the resulting explosions from her destructive onslaught.]

Plume: Where are you going? We haven't even STARTED!

Jack: MA'AM, I REALLY, REALLY THINK--

[FWING!]

[A fireball nailed him right in the shoulder--not a large one, but enough to really BURN--]

Jack: Aaah--!

Jack: (OhGodshe'sreallytryingtokillme--)

Jack: (SHE'SGONNA--)

Plume: {Ooooh, little maaaaaan!~}

Jack: . . . .

[Jack doesn't stick around. He BOLTS for it.]

[....]

[Or. Tries to, at least. ]

[The street he's on happens to be a dead end. ]

Jack: WHA--

Plume: Theeeere you aaaaare.~

[Swaying from side to side like a puppet on strings, Plume lightly approaches Jack with blue fire trailing behind her--her eyes a deep, deep red.]

Plume: Why do they ALWAYS run away?

Plume: .......

[The fire around her dims just for a moment.]

Jack: ...?

Plume: They NEVER stay. Not for long...

Plume: No one does...

Plume: You VISIT Hawaii. You don't stay.

Plume: No one EVER stays...

Jack: ......Miss...Plume...?

Plume: ......

[Plume's expression changes.]

[It changes to one of anger. ]

Plume: Why don't they STAY?!

Jack: --Erk--!

[She steps ever closer, fire and rain mixing together, steam rising to the darkening sky as Jack feels his back touch brick.]

(( Pic—Jack cornered))

Jack: --!! (Nonononono--)

Plume: My home is... paradise on Earth...

Plume: Who wouldn't want that? ~

Jack: (Oh God I don't wanna hurt her--it's not her fault she's like this--!)

Jack: (Wires and Hacking--what GOOD would those do?! UGH, I CAN'T DIE HERE--!!)

Jack: (Come on, Jack, THINK...)

Jack: (All your stupid wires can do is just grab things and there's no WAY I'm getting that close to Plume--)

Jack: (--!!!)

Jack: (WAAAAAIT A SEC--)

[Jack frantically looks around for something--ANYTHING--that looked sturdy enough support his weight.]

Jack: ---!

[There! Above him--a set of broken, steel stairs that lead to the roof of this building--an apartment complex. The bottom was blown off, so there was no way to climb it from the ground--]

[But if he aimed right--]

Plume: YOU MEN NEVER STAY W I T H ME!

[ZIIIIIP!]

[FOOOOM--]

Jack: SORRY MISS PLUME--

[Jack shot his wires up to the broken stairs--and retracted them, lifting himself up and away from Plume's furious fire!]

Plume: ?!?

Jack: BUT I GOT ANOTHER DANCE TO GET TO--

Jack: AND I'M PRETTY SURE SHE'D KILL ME IF I WAS LATE!

Plume: -SCREEEEEECH-

Plume: COME BACK HERE!

Jack: NOPE--

Jack: GOTTA RUN, BYE--

[Fireballs are chucked at his retreating form as he runs up the rest of the stairs, demonic screams of rage filling his ears. When she saw that she couldn't quite get to him from here, she decides to double back--for now.]

Plume: {I'LL MAKE YOU STAY WITH ME, LITTLE MAN--S T A Y!!}

Jack: ........

Jack: Oh God--

[Finally seeing that he was safe for the moment--he collapses in a heap, catching his breath. The first stars start to twinkle in the sky.]

Jack: (OK--....can't stay, you're not safe, she'll come back through the other street on the other side--gotta keep moving...)

Jack: (Tired...so tired, can't rest--....ugh crap my shoulder hurts...)

Jack: (Don't have wheels...can't steal a car...)

Jack: .......

[......]

[Jack's hand rests on his face as he thinks, momentarily staring at the small panel on his wrist that his his wires.

...He never thought they'd be useful for anything but tripping things and yanking or holding people in place...]

[......]

"DENCER! LET ME GO!"

"I--"

"PLEASE!"

Jack: .......

Jack: ....Mmmng.

[He's kinda always thought his Wires were just....an annoyance.]

Jack: .......

[But maybe they weren't? They DID just save him from being Hawaiian barbecue...]

[Maybe he could do something....MORE with them?]

“…You are a stronger man than you give yourself credit for, Jack.”

Jack: ........

Jack: (What ELSE...what else...)

Jack: ....

Jack: (Well--right now I need a fast way to the Needle--but no wheels. All I got are these things...)

Jack: .......

[ONE MINUTE LATER...]

Jack: Godalmighty this is the stupidest thing--

[Jack was standing right on the edge of the same roof--goggles on, sleeves rolled up, looking down to the street below. The building was about 10 stories high...]

Jack: .........

[A fall from this height...it wouldn't KILL him, but it would certainly do some major damage.]

Jack: .....

Jack: I do NOT get paid enough for this...

Jack: OK--just...aim for that other building across the street--and swing--like--like Tarzan or something like that--

Jack: OK on three....

Jack: One....two....

Jack: ......

Jack: Two and a half...

Jack: .......

Jack: .....

Jack: . . .

Jack: [FRAG] IT I CAN'T DO IT--

Jack: (I CAN'T JUMP OFF A DAMN BUILDING IT'S SUICIDE WHAT AM I THINKING--)

"{OH LITTLE MAAAAAAAN!~}"

Jack: . . . .

Jack: [Glitchfragit]--!

[He backs up, takes a few deep breaths, and takes off in a running start--]

[FOOOOM!]

[The street below him lights up in FLAMES as he leaps from the roof--]

Plume: --!!!

[ZIIIIIP!]

Jack: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH--

[His wires latch onto the taller building on the other side...]

[....and he sails...]

[Over the flames, over Plume, in a perfect arch that ended just on the building on the corner--]

[Jack didn't have enough height to reach the roof of that one--but it was enough to catch onto a windowsill, scrambling up to find perchance--]

Jack: --!!!

Jack: ......

Jack: HOLY SHIT I'M ALIVE--

[Even Plume had to take a moment to process what just happened--the little man wasn't a flying model...]

Jack: I FREAKIN' DID IT--

Jack: FRAG, THAT WAS AWESOME--YO, MISS PLUME DID YOU SEE WHAT--

[FOOOOSH!]

"RAAAAAAAAAAGH!!"

Jack: ....Ohright--

[Sheeeee was still angry.]

Plume: {WHO TOLD YOU YOU COULD FLY AWAY, LITTLE MAN?!}

Jack: AAAAAND I'M OUTTA HERE--

[ZIIIIP!]

[The repeated sounds of ziplining wires and screams of bloody rage echo throughout the rainy city, drawing ever closer to the Space Needle...]

Jack: Gotta get high enough to reach the top--!

Plume: -DEMONIC SCREAMING-

Jack: (THAT DOES NOT SOUND GOOD AT A L L--)

[Jack has never been this high UP before--]

Jack: Almost there almost there--

[And all this wind and rain was NOT making things any easier--he REALLY needs to thank the ice kid for the goggles--]

Plume: {LITTLE MAAAAAAAN!}

Jack: FOR PETE'S SAKE I'M NOT LITTLE--

[WOW that Needle was WAY up high--]

[C R A C K!!!]

Jack: GGNH!!

[The intense electricity messes with his systems, alright, due to being close to it to begin with--]

Plume: NAAH--!

[But that went true for his pursuer too.]

Jack: (No good--gotta get inside--gotta break through a window--!)

[To do that, he needed enough speed--so he proceeded to swing another lap around the Needle, fireballs pelting from below, rain pounding in his face and thunder clapping above his head--]

Jack: AAAAAAAAAAAAH--!!!

[With one final scream, Jack swung--one final time, lighting flashed, for a moment he couldn't see a thing--]

[C R A C K!]

[Static. Glass breaking.]

[Screams.]

"OH GOD THEY GOT IN--"

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE--"

[More static...]

"ELI, WHAT DO WE DO--?!"

"GET ME THE GUN--"

"HE FLEW IN THROUGH THE WINDOW-- "

"WHERE IS THE GUN?!?"

[. . . . . .]

[SYSTEMS REBOOTING...]

[.....]

Jack: ........

Jack: Nnngh....

[SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE.]

Jack: Nh...?

Jack: Uuugh, my head....

Jack: Owwwww...

[. . . . .]

[CLICK.]

Jack: ....?

[With some effort, Jack turns his head towards the strange sound--]

[Only to find a revolver being pointed at his face.]

"Alright, ya crazy freeloading flyin' freak--"

[A middle aged human man looks down at the CDN, cold muddy eyes beating down on him in an unforgiving manner.]

"You got 5 seconds to start talking or your Xel's gonna stain this floor tonight."

Jack: ...........

Jack: . . . . . .

Jack: PLEASE DON'T THROW ME OUT THERE, THERE'S A CRAZY HAWAIIAN BOT THAT WANTS TO FRY ME UP--

???: We know.

Jack: --??

???: Why do you think we're STUCK up here?

Jack: . . . .

???: . . . .

???: I'm gonna be straight with you. You're a Xelbot. And all of them's gone outta their minds for some reason or another-- something about a virus.

Jack: .......

???: My family is up here too.

???: You see where I'm coming from?

Jack: .....Y...Yes sir....

???: Good.

???: Now--so far--you don't seem like Miss Plume down there.

Jack: I-I--She...

Jack: She's not OK, it's not her fault--

???: No, but right now that don't matter. Point is, as long as she's down there raising hell...we can't escape.

Jack: .......

Jack: ......

Jack: Sir--please, just--listen to me--I get it, you're afraid, and trying to protect people, but I can't stay here--

???: Why?

Jack: I'm LOOKING for someone and I REALLY don't think she'd like it if I wound up DEAD so PLEASE--please believe me--!

[THUMP.]

???: Whatthehell--

[THUMP.]

Jack: (THE WHOLE BUILDING IS SHAKING--)

[T H U M P.]

"ELI!!!"

[As the human--Eli--snapped his attention to the screaming woman that ran around the curve of the observation deck, Jack quickly took the chance to collect himself from the floor and back off a safe distance--]

Eli: Gwen--stay back, what is going--

[The woman named Gwen was hysteric, and grabbed hold of Eli's arm with her free hand...]

[...For the other was busy carrying some... precious cargo.]

"Waaaah!"

Jack: ....

Jack: oh my God is that a baby.

Eli: YOU STAY BACK--

Jack: DUDE I WAS ONLY ASKING--

[T H U M P.]

[A deep, LOUD, primal ROAR cut through the atmosphere, and the building shook once again, swaying, the sounds of metal groaning all around them--]

"WAAAAAAAH!"

Gwen: Shh, shh, it's OK, Lily--!

Eli: Gwen--Stay back with the rest of--

[T H U M P.]

"OH MY GOD WE'RE ALL D E A D--"

[The screams of terrified humans--plus one infant child--resounded once more as the building swayed again.]

Jack: (What the HELL--Plume can't be doing this--she's not--)

[The changing angle of the ground made the CDN lose balance--sliding over to another window, and making the rest of the trapped tourists follow suit. They grabbed onto whatever was bolted down and held on for dear, dear life...]

Jack: Aaarg--...

Jack: --!!!

[When Jack's gyroscopic systems recalibrated, his eyes caught sight of the cause of the sudden tremors through the window beneath...]

Jack: ....Oh no...

Jack: Landcrusher...

Jack: Of ALL THE BOTS IN THE WORLD--

[Landcrusher--the latest member of Germany's combat team--had also been visiting America from overseas when the Virus struck, turning him from a once kind, caring soul into a rampaging beast, intent on toppling the Space Needle--just for the sole purpose of it's fall.]

Landcrusher: {RAAAAAAAGH!!!}

[T H U M P--!]

[His HUGE arms and hands were tearing away at the Needle's base, causing it's structure to bend this way and that--any further, and the landmark would crumble.]

Jack: (He's gonna bring this whole place DOWN--with all these people in it--!)

Jack: (Damn it, I can't take that guy on--he'll WRECK me, and--)

Eli: Goddamnit where's the gun--

Jack: (THIS guy's on the verge of putting one in me--)

Jack: (FRAG--this CAN'T get any worse--!)

{"YOU BIG LUG--"}

[C L A N K!]

Jack: oh sweet lord--PLUME?!

[The fiery Hawaiian had returned--and it was clear that she was NOT in a very happy mood with what she saw.]

Plume: {STAY--}

[A fireball was launched--]

[C L A N K!]

Landcrusher: --ARGN--!!

[--right at Landcrusher's face--!]

Jack: ?!

Plume: {--AWAY FROM MY DANCE PARTNER!!}

[Landcrusher's response was another berserker roar--he SWUNG his massive frame one final time at the Needle before turning his attention to the IKN--]

[Who, with a war cry, launched herself at the larger Xelbot with no fear whatsoever.]

Jack: What....

Eli: That...that's not right...

[Needless to say, the trapped humans were completely horrified at what they saw.]

Jack: (Jeezus, they look ready to TEAR into each other--...)

Jack: ... .....

Jack: (I can't stay here.)

[A glance at the small family. The trapped tourists.]

Jack: (Neither can they--and who knows how long those two are gonna go at it...)

Jack: .......

Jack: Hey.

Eli: --!

Jack: CDN.7037. Call me Jack.

Eli: --You're a Cherry?

Jack: YES I'm a Cherry but that's not the point--

Jack: None of us are gonna make it if we stick around here.

Jack: So does ANYONE have any ideas to get outta here?

Jack: Plume and Crusher aren't gonna fight forever--now's a better chance than any.

Eli: God, I don't know--

"I'M NOT GOING DOWN THE STAIRS, THEY'RE BROKEN--"

"Elevator's out too."

"CAN'T CALL FOR HELP--"

Jack: (.....There really IS no way down from here...)

Jack: (...Not through normal means, anyway...)

[The entire building was now leaning to one side, like some ripoff of the Tower of Pisa--but it did allow it be closer to some of the smaller buildings--Jack could easily swing across...]

Jack: (...There are, what, like more than 30 people here?)

Jack: (Swinging across back and forth would take WAY too long...)

Jack: (There's GOTTA be another way to get these people off...)

Eli: ....Hey--you...you swung up here, didn't you?

Jack: Yeah, I did--

Eli: Can't you--lower us down somehow?

Jack: . . .

Jack: (Lower...)

Jack: --!!

Jack: Eli--I need a wheel--and something long and flat, like a table or something.

Eli: --! You got a plan?

Jack: Yeah...half of one, at least. (I just hope it’s enough!)

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=PROLOGUE D: IT ALL BEGINS NOW=

~AO v1.0~

(Courtesy of @limitbreakers)

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

{MEANWHILE…}

[As soon as Cardinal saw what was going on, he had turned and slipped away.

There wasn’t going to be much time.]

[He needed to get over there before anyone noticed. Before the systems went down.

He had to find him.]

Cardinal: (I wish now, more than ever, that I had spent more time doing research, learning more…)

[He was shoving E-Tanks into compartments in the back of his shield.]

Cardinal: (It’s too late now. There’s no time. No time…!)

[He called Jazz over, adding on a harness to hold the rest of his supplies—including the Power Capsules that he couldn’t carry.

He was taking ALL of them, after all. All 30 of them.

After all, he had no idea what he was going to get into, except that it would probably be the most dangerous mission he’d undertaken since the Russian incident.

After grabbing some water bottles, oil cans, and the experimental Tanks, he went around to the back of the lab, grabbing Shadow’s light cycle. Normally, he’d prefer to use his own motorcycle, but he needed something with SIGNIFICANTLY better mileage… and the ability to easily carry.]

Cardinal: Come on, Jazz.

[He was in the other Kansas City long before anyone noticed.

…But he immediately saw just how bad the situation was.

That part of the city was abandoned, even by street gangs and those who HAD nowhere to go. Infected Xelbots were running loose. All of them.

He searched for a good ten minutes, but it was to no avail. Everything had either been looted, or destroyed.]

Cardinal: (I won’t learn anything more here. I wonder if ALL their cities are like this…?)

[He entered into a trashed bar. It was a bit saddening, to see it in such a state… but he had no time for such musings.

He had turned his transponder off by now—so he wouldn’t be getting any news or communication that way.]

Cardinal: (Gonna have to do this old school. Now let’s see…)

[He couldn’t call the Whites, that was for sure.

…There was only one other person that might know.]

-*-*-*-*-*-

“Robin… Ah’m worried ‘bout Jack. He has more t’ say, which I meant t’ tell ya earlier, but…. Look, Ah’ gotta run, okay? Look after him. Don’t let him leave the UK alone. They’re probably gonna send someone after him.”

“…Carmen. How am I supposed to do that when he’s completely off the radar?”

“He’s got a phone number, ‘least for now. No more questions, gotta run. Bye.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

[He sighed and dialed in the number.]

Cardinal: (This had better work, or I’ll be out of luck.)

{MEANWHILE, IN LONDON, ENGLAND....}

Jack: What...what the [frag]....

[It was all over the news. America was in shambles. The Mighty Numbers--gone rouge, for all he knew--or at least Avi.]

Jack: Shit....SHIT....

[He sat dumbfounded on his couch, in a cheaply rented flat--he was released from the medical staff of the Theater several days ago--]

[...The scary part was--he was planning to return back home anyway...]

[Then this happened.]

Jack: Oh my God....

[Suddenly it all made sense.]

[The crosses--their PROVIDER...]

[The landline in the apartment rang.]

Jack: ---?!?

[Someone calling--from AMERICA?!

…Why did the Caller ID say it was coming from Kansas City, what the hell?]

Jack: .......

[Who...?]

Click.

Jack: --H...Hello...?

[color=Brick] “Before you ask, Carmen gave me this number. And /no/, I don’t know where she is, what happened to her, or how she got it. So don’t ask.” [/color]

Jack: --?!

Jack: Who--who are--

[color=Brick] “Heh. Surprised you don’t recognize my voice—I know she showed you several clips, Jack.” [/color]

Jack: .........

[.......]

Jack: hOLY GLITCH YOU'RE THE BIRD GUY--

Jack: DUDE--DO YOU HAVE A N Y IDEA WHAT THE [FRAG] IS HAPPENING OVER THERE?!

[color=Brick] “YES, I’m ‘the bird guy’. Now listen up, I’ll tell you what I know, and then you WILL do likewise, got it?” [/color]

[He doesn’t wait for an answer.]

[color=Brick] “Everyone’s gone nuts. The cities are utter disaster. The highways are getting closed down, but all these self-driving cars no longer take orders—they aren’t /sentient/, so they aren’t Killer Cars or whatever, but they won’t respond to outside attempts to shut them off. A lot of people are fleeing for the countryside, with limited success. The ‘bot/human ratio here is way too close.” [/color]

Jack: Holy...

[color=Brick] “Things are very bad, Jack. It looks like a virus.” [/color]

Jack: -fEAR-

[color=Brick] “Damn thing infected the Cossack server, gave me a HELL of a fever for a while. …It got to our server because it came from White’s server. …I’m sorry, Jack. They’ve taken ill.” [/color]

Jack: V...V...Virus...

[He nearly dropped the phone.]

Jack: oh my God...

[color=Brick] “JACK. Listen to me, this is important, it’s why I called—” [/color]

[color=Brick] “I need to know about those crosses. AND about your ex-boss.” [/color]

[color=Brick] “We don’t have a whole lot of time, here, either—Toby managed to stall before he was sent Offline by the aggressive takeover attempt, but Avi will probably snap out of it within half a day, at most. Probably sooner. Any particular questions you have will have to wait ’til the end, accordingly.” [/color]

[color=Brick] “Now TALK.” [/color]

[He didn’t seem… angry. More like… authoritative, focused… and concerned.]

[.......]

Jack: The crosses....and Blade...

[A pause.]

Jack: ....Dude...dude, I...there isn't much I know...

Jack: Blade...he...after they fixed him up...he…God...

[color=Brick] “WHAT” [/color]

[color=Brick] “DON’T TELL ME HE’S /OUT THERE—/“ [/color]

Jack: Someone killed him.

[OKAY that shuts him up fast.

But only for a moment.

Then he sounds sad.]

[color=Brick] “…So much for that plan…”[/color]

[A pause.]

[color=Brick] “Carmen…” [/color]

[color=Brick] “…Carmen didn’t want you to leave the UK alone because she thought that might happen to you. If she IS in this world, she’s probably in London, having been protecting you thus far, but there’s no way we’re gonna find out…” [/color]

Jack: .....

Jack: M-Miss Eight....

Jack: ohman Miss eight please be OK....

[color=Brick] “-Mostly to himself- Last I heard, though, she had been on a mission, though I think the Ambassador did a time-warp favor…? Glitch, I dunno…”[/color]

[color=Brick] “ -Sigh- …I’m more interested in Blade’s past, anyway.” [/color]

[color=Brick] “Specifically, his assassin connections.” [/color]

[…Now WHY would he want to know /that/…?]

Jack: ...Uh...

Jack: ...Shit, man, I...dunno, he was pretty freakin' serious about that--he'd leave then come back...someone always called him...

[color=Brick] “Where.”[/color]

Jack: Dude--why would I KNOW? He's an assassin, for Christ's sake--I didn't want to get all up in THAT business!

[.....]

Jack: ....But...

Jack: ...The person that called him...

[color=Brick] “-Interrupts with a sigh- You’ll have to tell this sort of stuff to Cossack and White, dude.” [/color]

Jack: Alright, alright--

[color=Brick] “I’m sorry. I just don’t have time. Now about those crosses.

“I think I saw in the database that it made you really, really angry…. Please elaborate on this.” [/color]

Jack: Y-Yeah. It...it made me want to...just. Break things. [Frag] shit up, ya know? Just...just for the HELL of it...

[color=Brick] “…Hmm…. …Would you say this was… severely and grossly exacerbating some anger that was already there, or planting something new?” [/color]

Jack: ......

Jack: I....

[He takes a second.]

Jack: .....I...ain't gonna lie.

Jack: Blade was a [FRAGGING] asshole.

[Cardinal pauses for a moment.

Time was precious, but…

…Tobias had risked his life for this guy. …Jack might be isolated for months once he hung up, if no one from the Meadow got back into contact with him.

Tobias would want Jack to be able to talk this out.

So would Carmen, wherever the hell she was…]

Jack: I was SCARED of him...

Jack: But...I was also...really FREAKIN' pissed at him too.

Jack: .....

Jack: I think...whatever was in those crosses just...

Jack: Pulled out all the... bad parts of me...

[color=Brick] “…I see…”[/color]

[color=Brick] “The Doctors need to know, somehow. …I wish I could give more advice on how to go about contacting them safely. …Use a landline, I guess, that’s your best bet.” [/color]

Jack: ......

Jack: I--I can...try and see if I can do it on this side, but...

Jack: --...Bird guy? I know you're short on time--but...

[color=Brick] “…Yes?” [/color]

Jack: ...If...If Miss Eight...if she's...

[GULP.]

Jack: If she is...out there...and she's not...well...

Jack: W-What are the chances she'll...come...h-h-here...?

[color=Brick] “…” [/color]

[color=Brick] “ -Slowly- …Low.” [/color]

[color=Brick] “You never offended her the way others did. She would have killed Blade if she were unwell, if someone else hadn’t already done so. Then, probably go after Brandish. From there? Probably guys she feels slighted by, or their counterparts at least?” [/color]

[color=Brick] “You, she likes. You treated her like a person—not a baby sister, not a cold assassin, not eye candy… it meant a lot to her….” [/color]

[color=Brick] “If this stuff exacerbates what’s already there, she’d be dishing out hurt to those she felt earned it or otherwise deserved it.” [/color]

Jack: .......

[A sigh.]

Jack: ......I...guess...that's....uh....o-okay....th-thanks...

[...He still didn't like the sound of it, though. Miss Eight...]

[...Out there, not in her right mind...]

[color=Brick] “Might not be too pleasant to talk to, though, but she probably /would/ still talk. -Sighs- Unlike some people.” [/color]

Jack: ......

[........Carmen....

The only person who ever gave two bolts about him...the woman who saved his life...]

Jack: .......

Jack: Anything else you need to know, dude...?

Jack: cuz I should probably start packing for some other flat just in case.

[color=Brick] “ -Sighs- …” [/color]

[color=Brick] “…There are many things I’d like to know, but I don’t have time. But there are things you should know.” [/color]

[color=Brick] “…Tobias is out for the count again. He did stall Avi in the process, at least. …But he won’t be able to help. I’m sorry. The others are probably going to try to contact you. If you get a call that’s from Russia, that would be our Doc.” [/color]

[color=Brick] “…And if they ask where I am?” [/color]

[A pause.]

[color=Brick] “ …” [/color]

[color=Brick] “John 15:13.” [/color]

Jack: ............Uh.

Jack: O-Okaaaaaay...

Jack: ........

Jack: Bird guy?

Jack: I SERIOUSLY hope you know what you're doing if you're out there by yourself...

[You could almost HEAR his bitter smile.]

[color=Brick] “Oh, I’m not alone. Isn’t that right, Jazz~?” [/color]

[color=forestgreen][tt] “REE-OW.” [/tt][/color]

[color=Brick] “Heh.” [/color]

Jack: .....Is that a cat. (...The hell??)

[color=Brick] “Yes. She’s a modified attack drone that spits fire. Among other things.” [/color]

Jack: ......

Jack: Oh.

[...Well, then.]

[color=Brick] “ -Slight sigh- Sorry, though. I’m gonna get going. He’s not here, you have no leads… time to move on.” [/color]

Jack: ...Yeah. OK. Me too.

Jack: .....

Jack: Good luck, Bird guy.

[color=Brick] “…” [/color]

[Another pause. And then… back to his usual, laid back demeanor.]

[color=Brick] “If I’m lucky, we’ll get to talk this over while I still have this chassis. B]” [/color]

[color=Brick] “Stay outta trouble. And if you get the chance? Head over to the Meadow, dude, it’ll be WAY safer there, and you’ll get to be in on what’s happening. Pretty sure there’s some stuff out there for you, anyway. Saw a box for you among Felix’s gifts…” [/color]

Jack: .......

Jack: K...Kay....

[........]

Jack: If you see Miss Eight and she's OK...tell her I said hi.

[...Carmen....]

[color=Brick] “…If I do see her, then…” [/color]

[…He hesitates.

If he did see her, it would be only in one of two scenarios—both of which involved her pointing her rifle at him.

Either to bring him home alive…

…oooooooor to send him to the next life, deader than dead.]

[color=Brick] “…If I see her, I’ll let her know.” [/color]

Jack: ....Alright...

Jack: ...Well...see ya, I guess....

[color=Brick] “…Yeah.” [/color]

[He sounds weary. Sad. Like this is just another event of an ongoing war.]

[color=Brick] “…Goodbye, Jack.” [/color]

[Click.]

[......]

[Jack hangs up.]

Jack: ........

————————————————————————————————

Carmen: Heh. -Bites down on her dart- Lucky you, Puppetdancer. Looks like coupla people have developed a soft spot for ya.

————————

Den: From my point of view and from what I've seen and heard, Eight's a loner. Cold, badass sniper assassin, ya know? No offense, miss.

Carmen: Aw, you make me blush~

[…She’s taking the “badass sniper assassin” as a compliment.]

Den: -...awkward COUGH-

—————————

Carmen: Heh. Ya prob’ly won’t get t’ remember me anyway, not yet. No one else is allowed to, yet. On account that I’d be pretty damn distractin’. Carmen: Ah’m told that ah’ll get t’ come out n’ play after y’all finish yer business overseas.

Den: Does that mean you're special or something?

[She shifts to her civvies so she can put her hand to her face.]

Den: Just cu-- .....

Carmen: Well, so far ah get the privilege of rememberin’— …?

Carmen: -Puts hand on hip, tilting her head- (Huh, suddenly went quiet.)

Den: .......

[He seems to shift his eyes to the ground and...sort of becomes a little meek.]

Den: ......-wELP OF COURSE SHE WOULD BE PRETTY IN HER CIVVIES just gonna stare at the floor now-

—————————

Carmen: There, there.

Den: I don't.... ugh.

Carmen: Ah can’t imagine what yer bein’ put through.

—————————

Den: .......

Den: Um. Miss Eight?

Den: Listen, I...

Den: ....

Carmen: -Returns her gaze to Dencerjack, listening-

Den: ...I don't mind if you think I'm lying.

Carmen: …I don’t know what to think anymore, Jack. Cold, badass sniper assassin, remember?

Den: .....Sorry.

Carmen: The touchy-feely stuff outside of mah family isn’t… familiar to me.

Carmen: …But ah ain’t heartless, ah never want t’ see anyone /suffer/.

—————————

WHANG!

“-OOF- Woah now, where’s th’ fire—OH hai there, Jack, ya ran right inta me.”

Carmen: -Decloaks-

Torkie: you seriously take night strolls cloaked, really

Carmen: ‘Course I do, nice way t’ see the night sky quiet an’ not lose any more limbs in the process.

Carmen: -Gives a “?” display on her eye- Uh… you ‘kay there?

Den: H E L P ME.

Carmen: Easy there, easy—!

[She gave shushing noises and tried to broadcast overwhelming serenity, like Brandish did for her during the hard times after she got nearly fatally injured.]

—————————

Den: ........

Den: -Grooooaans, sits, then just topples backwards all together-

Den: This STILL sucks CHASS, uuuugh. No offense, but being hunted before or not, they're STILL gonna rip me up if I even LOOK at one of them wrong--and the MNs? That's a whole OTHER can of beans--UGH!

Den: I wasn't even BUILT for this crap!

Carmen: Tsk… nah, no offense. -Snorts- Ah’d be worried if you WEREN’T scared, ‘cause that’d mean yer instincts were broke.

Carmen: … -GRINS- Come t’ think of it, Ah guess yer boss’s instincts ARE broke.

Den: Are you kidding me-- That guy should be in a mental Looney bin.

[She cracks up at that. It’s a melodious laugh, and you can sorta tell that she’s related to Dyna, by listening to it.]

Carmen: -Happy/entertained pings, leaning against a nearby tree and bracing herself with her right arm stump to keep from losing her balance in laughter-

Den: ..... -he kinda starts to laugh as well, its kinda infectious.-

Carmen: -Calms down, but still grinning- Oh, Lordy! Couldn’ta said it better m’self. Sorry, Ah just—

Carmen: There was once this REALLY, really ancient cartoon thang called Looney Toons, they play reruns sometimes— -sNORTS- He sure is crazy ‘nuff t’ be a character, heh. |J

—————————

Carmen: -BIGGEST GRIN, LOOKIT HER, DEF A SHADE GRIN RIGHT THAR- -Whistles and scratches the image of a graham cracker in the dirt with the edge of her boots- ~~~~

Den: -wait, is that a cracker? Why would— -

Carmen: -Aaaaand now we sketch the outlines of buildings around it to clarify~ -

Den: ......

Carmen: B]

Den: -IT DAWNS- OH WHAT THE [GLITCH].

Carmen: YEP THEY WENT THERE~

Den: HOLY ACTUAL [GLITCH]—

[Aaaaand now we are laughing our chassis off. And she’s laughing too, gleefully.]

—————————————

Carmen: Just try an’ hang in there. Just a bit longer. You can do it. ‘Kay?

[She thinks for a moment, and then smiles.]

Carmen: Let th’ good times be what you remember, when you wake from the “dream.” An’ tell ya what…

Carmen: Snowbaby made you a big ol’ several gallon tub a’ ice cream. And his is the GOOD stuff.

Carmen: Ah’ll have the sponsors set it up so ya get it an’ yer boss and co’s ((coworkers)) won’t even see it afore ya get to finish it~ Nao… try an’ get some rest, ya hear?

[She smiles warmly.]

Carmen: Ah’m goin home, m’self. Girl’s gotta have her beauty rest~

[She pretends to blow smoke off of the barrel of her rifle.]

Carmen: Night.

[Aaaaaand she’s gone.]

—————————

[CDN.7037] //: -...data, he really wouldn't wanted have gotten her in a lot of trouble cuz of you know who and himself-

<FMN-008>: > Nah— as long as I stay put, it won’t be more than just the usual annoyance at Countershade getting up to her antics. B}

<T10>: >Like snitching people’s food.

<FMN-008>: > -Snickers- Worth it.

<FMN-008>: >Lawdy, ya shoulda heard your Brand’s ranting, hee hee~

<FMN-008>: >Music t’ my dish~

[CDN.7037] //: -...snORTS-

[CDN.7037] //: You steal people's food??

<Mari>: >Brah she can turn invisible, remember?

[CDN.7037] //: -...sTARTS CRACKING UP-

<FMN-008>: > NO REGRETS~

[CDN.7037] //: -LAUGHS HARDER-

—————————

Carmen: Sweet dreams are made of these~

Who am I to disagree~

I travel the world and the seven seas—

Everybody’s lookin’ for somethin~

Some of them want to use you

Some of them want to be used by you

Some of them want to abuse you

Some of them want to be Abused~

Sweet dreams are made of these~

Who am I to disagree~

I travel the world and the seven seas—

Everybody’s lookin’ for somethin~

—————————

[And it all starts coming back to him.]

[CDN.7037] //: you...?

<FMN-008>: > Sorry Ah’ had t’ step on ya, Jack.

<FMN-008>: > Ah’ only got th’ one hand, an’ strength isn’t my forte…

<FMN-008>: > Needed t’ brace to get enough force.

[CDN.7037] //: I--I...

[CDN.7037] //: -aaaaND HERE COMES THE GRATITUDE DATA ALL OVER AGAIN.-

[CDN.7037] //: You...yousavedme...

<FMN-008>: > Ah couldn’t just leave ya there…

—————————

<FMN-008 to CDN-7037>: > -PING- Hey. Can’t talk long. Just lettin’ ya know I’m okay—I’ll explain everything later. Just hang in there, a’ight?

[CDN.7037] //: -PINGS IN CONFORMATION, HES OK TOO...AS FAR AS BEING HOSPITALIZED GOES-

————————————————————————

Jack: ......

Jack: (....No...No freakin' way. It's crazy. YOU'RE crazy.)

Jack: (If she IS OK, somewhere, then yeah, nothing to worry about then--)

Jack: (....But...if she ISN'T...)

Jack: ......

Jack: Sonofva[GLITCH.]

[Without another word, Jack yanks his old biker trenchcoat off from the floor, and heads for the door.]

[SLAM.]

[…Cardinal, for his part, was already burning through the streets, sans wisdom.

…

…His eyes were glowing… blue.]

Cardinal: (Hang in there, Shade.)

Cardinal: (I’m coming for you.)

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=CHAPTER 2D: BEYOND THE WATERY VORTEX=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

[MEANWHILE....]

"Phone call for you."

"......"

"Hey. PHONE CALL--"

"I heard you the first time."

"Tch. Jeez, old man. Don't think anyone would be using THIS frequency ever again..."

"....So it's him."

"Yup."

"Do you wanna answer...?"

"......."

"Uh....P-2045453?"

"I have a NAME."

"Sorry. Warden's orders."

"...Hmph."

"Hang up."

"That's gonna waste your one phone call for the day."

"I do not care. It's not like anyone calls me besides conspiracy theorists and crazed lunatics."

"....Yeah, you do get some loonies over the phone, huh..."

"But--I REALLY don't think you wanna hang up on the president of CherryDyn."

"........."

"Do I need to tell you twice?"

"......Oookaaaay, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna call back regardless--and I gotta come back here every time to let you know, so."

"........."

"....Uh--P-20--"

[A low, grating growl.]

"UH--I--I-mean--D-- Dr. Blackwell..."

"........"

"....Doctor...?"

"........."

"........I...I'm just gonna leave--uh, last meal of the day is in half an hour."

"............"

".......Soooo....bye. Man, I hate this job..."

[CLICK.]

"............"

"............."

"........Greg."

"You obsessed fool."

"You've DOOMED us all."

"......"

"I knew I should have taken...."

".........."

" . . . ."

"M-...My Ray of Hope..."

"....Forgive me..."

——————————————

{In the Meadow…}

[The days seemed to go on forever. It had gotten very dark and cloudy outside, blending day into night.

Mikhail and DWN-019 worked almost non-stop on Doctor Light Number Eight—with the Doctor’s sons enforcing mandatory mental and physical breaks to prevent burnout.

Getting to Tobias’s actual coding was not easy. Offline or not, he was highly defensive—and not pleased that anyone was going near his coding.

And when they did find him…

It was just a mess. There were errors all over the place, and clearing them up would take quite some while. Sifting through the error report from the last system crash alone took DAYS.

And now, they were finally getting past the system reports and into the base data.]

Mikhail: …

Siam: Doctor?

Gemini: Is everything alright?

Mikhail: Mmm? Oh, yes… I’m fine.

[…But it was a lie.

A lie so as to not distract the twins from their analysis on the data they had got from Avi as part of the ordeal—for that information could prove quite enlightening.

But no…]

Mikhail: Just… a little weary, I suppose.

[…He was concerned.

Inspection of the Awareness code had showed that it had changed. Crucial components had changed—rewritten themselves.

Somehow, the encounter with Avi had prompted (or, more likely, FORCED) Tobias to rewrite himself.

What worried Mikhail the most was that some of the coding was beyond what he could recognize.]

Mikhail: (-Groooooaaan- {Will… I wish you were here…!})

[He still had the few fragments of notes that his best friend had given him regarding coding with Xel. That was a lifesaver—it told him that some of this seemed to be connected to functioning within a Xel chassis.

It may just be junk data, useless without the proper hardware. (Which, of course, would mean it would need to be pruned somehow, or else it would cause perpetual system errors.)

But he couldn’t say for sure what it would do, yet. He needed to go through the rest of the code to be sure—

He needed to know for sure that Tobias’s self had not been torn apart by being fused with Avi. At least… not in a way they couldn’t fix.

Sure, they had a back-up, but…

He dreaded the thought of being forced to resort to using it.

But it was already apparent that Tobias was fragmented and getting data from elsewhere, even though he was not inhabiting his own chassis. If it turned out that this damage was beyond repair… he would have no other choice.]

Mikhail: (Oh, Avi…! What did you DO to him?)

——————————————

{SANDA LABS...}

Will: Nnngh...

[Much like Mikhail was having troubles of his own, William was feeling rather hopelessly at a loss of what to do himself.]

[...He had hoped that having two separate samples of the Virus—one from Pyro and Cryo—would clear some things up.]

[Instead, it only raised more questions than answers.]

[These samples, while accomplishing their directive, had done so in a MUCH different way than the other. The coding was...so different. So...

....brilliant.]

[...Whoever had coded this KNEW what they were doing.

And they knew it WELL.]

Will: . . .

Will: (This...sinking feeling...)

Will: (The more I stare at this code, the more I want to look away...)

Will: (Why?)

Will: .......

Will: (God, I wish you were here, Mikhail...)

Will: (But with Avi holding the airwaves hostage--who knows when I'll hear from you again?)

[Will sighed heavily, and let the rest of the analysis programs run by themselves for now.]

Will: (—Perhaps another sample is needed...)

Will: (Fortunately...)

Will: (The pattern here is clear enough to give us some idea of where to go next...)

Will: Call?

Call: Yes, Dr. White?

Will: I know that we keep getting interference, but please continue to try and pinpoint the locations of the other Mighty Numbers--and cross reference them with places that their abilities would have the most effect and damage.

Call: Right away. Scanning...

"Will?"

[White looked up from his terminal, his expression twisting into concern as he saw his best friend hurrying across the lab with his phone in his hands.]

Soi: You might wanna take a look at this...

[His phone's screen showed nothing but purple static--and didn't seem to be responsive in any way whatsoever.]

Soi: Either this is Avi's doing or the virus somehow infected cellulars...

Will: Mm...

[Will checked his own—]

Will: ....?

Will: I don't remember shutting mine off...

[Try as he might, he couldn't get it to turn on—]

Will: ......

Will: Wait a minute—

[With an sudden swift movement, Will dug into his shoulder bag—

...And pulled out his charger?]

Will: I must have forgotten...but—

Soi: ...? Will—you do realize this isn't exactly the time to—

Will: I just want to test something, hold on a moment—

[He plugged it in, connected it, and waited for exactly five, tense minutes—

If he was right about this, then—]

[DING!]

[The phone flickered to life—working perfectly.]

Will: Yes!

Soi: —?!

Soi: Wait...how...?

Will: It's just like Call...!

Will: My phone was out of charge when the virus struck—thus it wasn't affected!

Soi: —!

Soi: Huh...that's something, alright. Seems like anything that was shut off at the time this all started wasn't affected...

Will: Yes, since it wasn't connected to any servers at the time. Technological isolation, as it were...

-PING!-

Will: !

[The “New Message” icon pops up.

…And then as it continues to load, a number appears next to it, and climbs higher, and higher… joined by the “Missed Call” symbol and the “New Voicemail” symbol, which also show multiples…]

Will: ......

Will: They're from Mikhail...

[The time frame shows they were placed after 11:46 AM on June 21st, with the last message sent before said Russian actually managed to get a hold of Will some time later.

There are dozens of pictures of lines of code displaying on a mainframe— apparently taken with a phone camera.]

Will: ...?

Will: This code—

Will: (Hrm—can't quite tell what it is...)

[Will then moves to check his voicemails—and puts it on speaker so that Soi could hear as well.]

[NEW MESSAGE FROM: MIKHAIL RECEIVED ON JUNE 21st, 11:49 AM]

“ -Click- Will? Will?”

“{Papa, why won’t he answer?}”

“{Oh no… please be quiet, Princess…}”

“{Papa, I’m scared—! It’s like with… with the /bad man!/ What if my brothers are sick again?!}”

[A pause, and then a click, as he’d hung up.]

Will: (Oh, God, little Kalinka...)

[NEW MESSAGE FROM: MIKHAIL RECEIVED ON JUNE 21st, 12:01 PM]

“ -Click- {Will, something’s very wrong. I need you to call me back as soon as possible, when you get this—it’s an attack on the server, they’re all sick.} -Click-”

[NEW MESSAGE FROM: MIKHAIL…]

“ -Click- {Will, I REALLY need you to call me back now—it’s coming from YOUR servers— what is going on over there?!} -Click-”

Will: . . .

[NEW MESSAGE FROM: MIKHAIL TIME STAMP INVALID]

“ -Click- … … …”

[A pause.]

“ -Soft sigh and a groan, faint sound like he’s rubbing his face- {It’s bad, William. It was an aggressive virus. I had to hard reset not only the server, but also all of my sons and the Rebel Angels.}”

[Another pause, before he continues in English, before going back to Russian because he’s too tired right now.]

“The code…. … {It did… some very strange things. …I recorded the raw data with a video camera so I could analyze it later—preferably with you, my God I hope you are alright and get this—without having the actual thing being a squatter in the RMDC.}”

“{I’ve sent over some screenshots I pulled off of that—namely, the initial interaction it had with the server, and the start of some of the consequences in action. I’m still looking it over, but it looks like it activated some very bad cross-references… I’ll have to look closer to tell you which ones.}”

“{It did send them all into Lethal mode—or tried to, anyway—it actually just didn’t work with DCN-000, as his current highest setting is Non-Lethal. …Which isn’t to say he can’t cause damage… it’s just that he doesn’t have… -Groans- I’ll tell you when you call back, please call back, alright?}”

“{I’m going to have Tobias search you out if you don’t respond in 24 hours—I hope that isn’t necessary, but I’m very worried.}”

Will: -winCE-

Soi: Ngh...

“{You needn’t worry about one thing, though—}”

“{It did try to activate the DLN_COMBAT.EXE, but that program never went live in any of the constructs that have access to my server. It activated the DWN_COMBAT.EXE program instead—which I can tell you is something that activates when they are afraid or in great pain… but they have always been defensive. When it went active, they shut down to avoid damage. They are not gone Maverick— so PLEASE, /DON’T/ panic and send Shade over—/}”

Will: .......

[Will just put his head down next to the terminal and groaned. Of course, he had no idea what had happened to the Mighties then...]

“{I really hope I hear back from you soon, Will. We… I need you over here. Some of the interactions…}”

“{The Awareness aspect of the AI_OS—it just can be so… adaptive…. … … … I know you might not think that such a high-tech bit of code from your world could even run in a system as ‘outdated’ as what we use, but the boys… they’ve already long been adapting to data and coding from your children, this…}”

[He trails off.]

“{I won’t let Tobias poke around if I can help it. But for the love of God—

CALL ME.}”

[A click signifies the end of the message.]

[NEW MESSAGE FROM: MIKHAIL TIME STAMP INVALID]

[The next message is much later—it appears to be relatively recent. Right away, it’s pretty apparent that Mikhail is not in good humor.]

“Will, I’m starting to wonder if you even brought your phone back with you from England.”

Will: (S-sorry, Mikhail…)

“I know things ended off rather suddenly, and… I just have to say I’m sorry about what happened. I wish… I wish it could have been another way…”

[There was a drawn out sigh before he continued.]

“Will… Tobias and Avi seem to have fused together.”

Will: -Alarmed- Wh-WHAT?

“We got some data from Avi that we’ll try to analyze, but I don’t know if we’ll get anything useful out of it. This data… I can’t understand all of it, William. Tobias’s Awareness seems to be running somewhere, and is updating his cross-reference memory banks, but… we keep getting errors when we try to bring him Online, because the Awareness is active elsewhere. I can only hazard a guess as to where, but…

You should expect problems from the branch server until the matter is resolved. Tobias was the true master of the database, even though I’m the Admin of my server. I can tell you from experience that if Tobias is trying to protect the main server from getting attacked again, the branch server won’t be able to connect to it. There may be other ways he interferes, if he gets input data that he feels is a threat.”

Will: That… that would explain why he’s blocking their signals…

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to fix this on my own, Will. Not without resorting to his last backup, which had the Awareness software intact.”

Will: (Oh no…)

“But if I do that, that may make things worse in the long run, due to two versions of the Awareness running at the same time. Not to mention the side effects to both Tobias and Avi that we can expect anyway.”

Will: (S-Side Effects...?)

Soi: (That doesn't sound good...)

“We’ll have to talk more after you have Avi back, and try to go from there. As long as he’s an active threat, there will be interference that prevents us from communicating. Please… be careful.”

[Click.]

[…Wait.

There was one more message.]

Will: ...! There's...another...

Soi: Huh—?

[NEW TEXT MESSAGE FROM: D L N — 0 0 0]

Will: CARDINAL—!

"WHA—"

"DAD WHAT ABOUT HIM I HEARD YOU SCREAM—"

[MN.1, 2, AND 9 ARE NOW ONLINE.]

[MN.1] //: -DATA, DID YOU FIND HIM?-

Will: No—hold on—

“J O H N 15:13”

[END OF NEW MESSAGES.]

Will: John 15:13...?

Soi: Why would...?

[MN.2] //: Is it some kinda code, or...?

[MN.1] //: ....

[MN.1] //: "No greater love than this..."

[MN.1] //: "...than to lay down his life for his friends."

[MN.9] //: . . .

[MN.9] //: Cards...

Will: ......

Will: (Cardinal—I pray that you're safe—but PLEASE don't find him before we do...)

Will: (—Your heart's in the right place, but you lack the tools to save him...)

Will: .....

[Will saves the pictures Mikhail took of the coding from the RMDC—and silently thanked him under his breath. He now had three samples to go over and compare—even if the Rebel Angels weren't of Xel, this information could essential to working out the cause of the malfunctions.]

Will: (I hope you're having better luck than me, friend—)

[—Blink.]

Will: -Looks up- ??

Soi: Wha—

Soi: Did the lights just—

[BZZZZZZZT!]

[The whole building was thrown into darkness.]

——————————————

[.....]

[CHERRYDYNAMICS INC. MAIN OFFICE BUILDING...]

[BACK UP GENERATORS RUNNING.]

[A phone rings. It seems to be a private line...]

[Click.]

"Mr. Graham?"

"Graham speaking."

"Sir, the recent power outage is going to take some time to work around—"

*"What's the status of our servers?*"

"...Still infected, sir. But our firewalls are holding for our factory lines—at least on the west coast—"

"What about her."

[Silence.]

"What. About. HER."

"....It's....still....here."

"Any changes?"

"No, but--"

"Good. Leave her as she is, don't tamper with anything."

"Sir--"

"If I see once scratch on her, I WILL FIRE your whole department and worse. Do you understand?"

"Sir—she's—"

"I asked you a question."

".....U-Understood, sir..."

"Mm. Notify me if anything comes up."

"Yes, Mr. Graham..."

[CLICK.]

"Idiots..."

"Just when this was all going to plan..."

"This VIRUS rears it's ugly HEAD..."

"....."

".....Well. As long as she remains untouched..."

"This can still be fixed..."

[Click. Click. Click.]

"......Senator? Ah! Greg Graham here—yes, yes, I'm perfectly safe, but what about—Oh! Well, that's good news—Yes. Yes, we're doing EVERYTHING we can—In fact!"

"We may be on the verge of a solution as we speak..."

[ ...... ]

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=CHAPTER 2C: BEYOND THE WATERY VORTEX=

~AO v1.0~

(Courtesy of @limitbreakers)

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

{SANDA LABS, LATER....}

[Cryo was met with welcoming arms and tears of relief, both from her father and her Uncle Sanda. A good while had passed before Will was reminded by his best friend that he couldn't repair his daughter while he was constantly hugging her--]

[And so, just as before, everyone got to work. Sanda was left to repair Cryo while Will went to work analyzing the virus sample from her.]

[...This time, however, Pyro took it upon himself to explain what the situation was.]

[It wasn't very long before...]

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Cryo: I'M SORRY--

Pyro: I know.

Cryo: I DON'T HATE YOU--

Pyro: I know.

Cryo: BECKYYYYYYYYY--

[Beck, of course, took a moment from self-repair to come and comfort his sister.]

[--He couldn't get one word in before hose arms started to wrap around his neck and pulled him in an embrace.]

Cryo: I'M SOOORRYYYYYY--

[Beck...well, at first, he was quite taken aback--he's never really SEEN his sister cry like this.]

[...But the surprise is only there for a moment.]

Beck: It's OK, Big Sis...

Cryo: -WAILS-

[Pyro simply rubs the top of her head, twangs of regret and pain in his optics. Eventually he had to call Father to help calm her down.]

Cryo: -SNIFF- daddyyy...

White: Shhh....it's alright, Cryo, everything will be fine...

Cryo: ...B--...but--sis....and...

[And then another wail escapes her.]

Cryo: AVIIIIII--

White: I know, I know--I....

[......]

White: I know....

Beck: Cryo--

Beck: Dad's working on finding a way to beat this virus--and I'm gonna get everyone back.

Cryo: ...-sniff-

Beck: You'll see--

Beck: We're all gonna be back together soon. We just gotta tough this out, OK?

Beck: So no more waterworks. ^.^

[......]

Cryo: ....-snort-

Cryo: G...Good one, bro...

Cryo: -SNIFF-

White: Rest while Sanda gets to work on repairing you and your tank--I need to get back to analysis.

Cryo: -sniff- OK, Daddy...

Pyro: I'll look after her.

[White nods, and hurries back to his terminal. A few ticks of the keyboard brings up the still-working analysis programs...]

White: Call, transfer the assimilated data over to me.

Call: Yes, Dr. White.

White: Now that I have two samples to compare, this will hopefully give us some more insight--

[PING!]

"DAD?? I THINK IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN--"

[ASSIMILATED XEL DATA SCAN COMPLETE.]

[REARRANGING XEL STRUCTURE...]

[REXELECTION: CRYOSPHERE]

"WHOOOOOA THAT WAS AWESOME--"

"That was...much more...different than the first time she gave it to you--"

"YEAH IT WAS WITHOUT THE LIGHT SHOW."

Cryo: BRO--BRO WHAT'S WITH THE FANCY LIGHT SHOW--

Beck: I--well...

[As Beck begins to explain his newfound abilities--much to Cryo's delight--White hums deeply in thought.]

[It was true--the lights that emitted from his Xels were not present when he acquired his siblings' powers before.]

White: (Interesting...)

White: ....Hmm.

Call: Dr. White.

White: Yes, Call?

Call: I detect a significant rise in your heart rate and vitals. Is something wrong?

White: .....

White: I'm just...nervous. Given the situation.

Call: ....

Call: Acknowledged. I will adjust the room temperature and atmosphere so that you may calm down.

White: ....Thank you, that would be nice.

White: ........

White: (Could Beck...)

White: (No--he CAN'T be. Not THIS soon...)

White: (He's not NEARLY as ready...)

White: (....Though...)

White: (The better question would be if WE would be ready...)

White: (...Gah, I shouldn't be thinking like that NOW, of all times...)

White: (I've GOT to crack this code--before it's too late...)

[MEANWHILE....]

"Phone call for you."

"......"

"Hey. PHONE CALL--"

"I heard you the first time."

"Tch. Jeez, old man. Don't think anyone would be using THIS frequency ever again..."

".....So it's him."

"Yup."

"Do you wanna answer...?"

"......."

"Uh....P-2045453?"

"I have a NAME."

"Sorry. Warden's orders."

"...Hmph."

"Hang up."

"That's gonna waste your one phone call for the day."

"I do not care. It's not like anyone calls me besides conspiracy theorists and crazed lunatics."

"....Yeah, you do get some loonies over the phone, huh..."

"But--I REALLY don't think you wanna hang up on the president of CherryDyn."

"........."

"Do I need to tell you twice?"

"......Oookaaaay, but I'm pretty sure he's gonna call back regardless--and I gotta come back here every time to let you know, so."

"........."

"....Uh--P-20--"

[A low, grating growl.]

"UH--I--I-mean--D-- Dr. Blackwell..."

"........"

"....Doctor...?"

"........."

"........I...I'm just gonna leave--uh, last meal of the day is in half an hour."

"............"

".......Soooo....bye. [sub] man, I hate this job...[/sub]"

[CLICK.]

"............"

"............."

"........Greg."

"You obsessed fool."

"You've DOOMED us all."

"......"

"I knew I should have taken...."

".........."

" . . . ."

"M-...My Ray of Hope..."

"....Forgive me..."

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=CHAPTER 11A: SWALLOWED UP INNOCENCE=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes and @neshirys))

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

{July 1st, TUMBLR 2016}

{Sanda Enterprises}

[Back at Sanda Enterprises, under the florescent lights of the lab below, William White's work on repairs for his children was moving along in a steady pace—the man was starting to feel the toll of the week that had just transpired for them all, but he was trying to push through his fatigue for the moment.]

...He could rest easier after he finished.]

Will: …

[…It was clear he had a lot on his mind…]

Will: -Moves his gaze away for a moment-

[...and it was easy to see, as he glanced upward to look at his sleeping friend.

Mikhail had finally been granted a bit of rest. True, it had taken a Psynergy cast from Felix, but still. He needed it.

He was clearly rather exhausted, body and soul—and still in cuffs, unfortunately.

At least Felix was watching over the technological isolation cell; and he had seemed pretty confident that things would work out well, once he had returned from tending to the matter personally.

It was more than could be said for Cardinal, who still was shielded by the curtain. Although he was in slightly better shape, he wouldn’t be coming Online any time soon.]

Will: (…what a mess…)

Will: -Sighs tiredly, going back to his work-

Will: (And I made some of that worse. Some friend I am…)

Will: (…I just want things to go back to normal…)

Will: …

Will: (…but at least…at least, maybe, the worst is over…)

Will: (Everyone is home, nothing is an IMMEDIATE danger at the moment, the DCNs included…)

Will: (Soi should be reporting back soon, and then we'll finally be able to make some progress to fixing this…)

Will: (Hopefully they got Father to talk, somehow…)

Will: -Furrows brow-

Will: (...It's been several hours, actually…)

[Fsh.

The automatic door to the lab opened, as if in response to his thoughts.]

Will: -Blinks—-

Will: (Soi? No…)

[Hardly. There was the relatively quiet sound of boots as someone walked in.

Someone who looked very forlorn and very nervous.]

Will: [!] Tobias?

Felix: -Looks up- ?

Tobias: -Sparks weakly, broadcasting- Is this a bad time?

Will: -Immediately putting down his tools- I… I was in the middle of repairs, but…

Will: (What in the world is he DOING here—)

Will: (Thank goodness Mikhail is asleep—!)

Will: -Pulling up a chair- I can spare a moment or two.

[Tobias didn’t move. He wrapped his arms around himself as if he wanted to curl into a ball, and he avoided eye contact.]

Tobias: -Audio glitches- O-Oh. I… This system does not want to hinder your progress, Doctor…

Felix: …

[The unlucky Adept knew enough about the Robot Masters and Tobias in particular to recognize when one was near their breaking point.

Combined with the situation, this could not go anywhere good.]

Felix: Tobias…

Felix: What are you doing here?

[The Robot Master flinched at this, recoiling with fuzzy data of guilt. He began shaking a bit, as if under extreme duress.]

Tobias: F-fault…

Will: (…Oh no…)

Tobias: Everyone… almost everyone is Offline or injured. The database is down, and the equipment is broken…

Tobias: E-everyone is so stressed a-and Carlos said Doctor Cossack was in trouble—

Tobias: Wh…what’s going on, Doctor? We… I made things worse, didn’t we?

[He sparked up more.]

Tobias: We always… always make things worse…

Will: …

Will: -Very, VERY gently- Tobias…

Will: Please believe me when I say that you did nothing of the sort.

Will: Mikhail is… tired, and needs his rest. Right now that is what we all need. This hasn't… been the best of times for us.

Will: But we are working on getting things back on track.

Will: Soi and the others will be back at any moment, and once they are, we're going to get right to work on fixing this.

Tobias: -Soft whine-

Felix: …

Felix: Tobias, when you woke up...

Felix: Was Nico with the rest of you?

Tobias: N-no…. Tried… tried pinging him, but got the error message that his transceiver isn’t on…

Will: ... (That's...not a good sign, but it IS a maximum security prison...)

Will: ...I could try and ping Call to get an update. It's been a while already. (And I'm starting to get worried...)

Will: -Grabs his phone- It could just be the security measures in the prison blocking the—

[Rumble...]

Will: —? (...That's...odd, did my phone just vibrate now, or—)

[RUMBLE....]

Will: —!!?!

[The whole lab and it's contents suddenly started to SHAKE violently. Will grabs the table near him as the lights flicker overhead, knees giving out as they could not support themselves under the sudden seismic activity—]

Tobias: -Scree!-

Will: (What in the WORLD?! An earthquake, now?!)

[RUMBLE...]

Will: -Gnn—!-

[The shaking lasts for quite a few minutes, until they finally started to die down in waves. By the time all was still, things were strewn about and knocked out of place...]

Tobias: Hnnn…!

[Tobias ended up curled up in a ball on the floor, taking cover and giving off errors in his profuse apologies. But he needn’t have done so—]

Felix: Are you two alright??

[—because it was NOT the Adept’s doing.]

Will: @~@! I...oh goodness...

Will: I...believe so...

Tobias: -Hnnnn we're sorry we're sORRY WE'RE SORRY—-

Felix: -Holds his hands out in a peaceful "stop" gesture- Easy, Mr. Wily! That was not my doing, I assure you.

[This didn't exactly help very much.]

Tobias: -weeeeeEEEEEHH, MIC MUST BE ANGRY—-

<DLN-008>: > -WE'RE SORRYYYYYY-

[PING!]

[MN.4] //: -???- -What was that-

[MN.6] //: -Pinging worry data, Toby?? What's going on--

[MN.1] //: Nn...Mic? Are you okay?

[MN.4] //: -Ping, yes-

[MN.4] //: -That...wasn't us...-

Will: Then...the plates shifting natrually? (Just our luck...)

[MN.4] //: -Quiet rumbling- No...not earthquake...

Felix: No, William—this wasn't natural. -Seems a bit confused- It was underground, to be sure, but…

Felix: >> Trust me. I know what it feels like when the earth is shifting plates. Venus Lighthouse was a very memorable teaching experience.

Felix: -Murmurs, getting up and leaving- I'm going outside.

[He didn't bother taking the door, instead opting to use Retreat and vanish in a swirl of multicolored spheres.]

Will: -Reaching for his phone again- I'm calling Soi right this moment.

[...Except after about several tries, he couldn't even get so much as a ring in without it automatically going to voicemail, which was VERY worrying, because Soi was ALWAYS punctual with phone calls...]

Will: (Gah, why aren't you ANSWERING? Are you STILL at the Prison, Soi?)

Tobias: Not… not going to work, everything is broken over there.

Will: :gs_drop~1: (...He has a point. I need to either send someone out there or go myself, but...)

Will: ... -Runs a hand through his hair- Tobias, you stay here in the lab and wait for Felix to come back.

Will: -Pulling his coat around him- I'll be right back, I'm going to see if I can't find some other way to contact Soichiro and find out what exactly happened...

Will: Avi--can you bring up the security camera feeds for me?

[MN.6] //: Yuppers, I'm on it--

[It doesn't take very long for Avi to do so, and Will finds himself flipping through various feeds on his phone.]

Will: Anything unusual in the building?

[MN.6] //: Negative, Daddo--all clear, lemmie swich over to--

[MN.6] //: --!

[MN.6] //: Hey--hey guys--

[MN.6] //: Uncle Soi Sauce is back--

Will: :gs_shock~1: -Turns on his heel-

Tobias: ? (But… I don't sense any other signals?)

Will: Where? (He...didn't come through the front door?)

[MN.6] //: ...Uh.

[MN.6] //: oh no

[MN.6] //: ...Daaaaad, we might have a problem--!

[MN.6] //: -I--It's Callgirl--

Will: Where are they, Avi?!

[MN.6] //: They're coming down the stairs to the roof--

Will: ??? (How in the world did they--?)

Tobias: ???

Tobias: Did you airlift them there?

Tobias: :gs_idea~1:

Tobias: Did Nico take them there? The roof is where Cardinal goes, so it's one of the default data points…

[MN.6] //: ...I...

[MN.6] //: I don't see Nico...

Tobias: :gs_silence~1:

>PROCESSING…

>ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

<DLN-008 has entered Defensive Combat mode.>

<DLN-008>: > -DISTRESS, last time Nico was separated from her he was DEAD—-

Will: (Oh no oh no--)

Will: Stay here--!

[Will BOLTS out the lab door and starts booking it towards the stairs. Meanwhile, the feeds on the Mighties' side of things started to buzz to life in confusion, mostly awakened by the previous quake.

Once Will gets to the stairs in question, however, the door to them suddenly FLINGS open, nearly hitting him in the face.]

Will: :gs_shock~1:

Will: Soichiro--!

Soi: WILL-- ;n;!!!

Soi: Will--we--we need to go, right now, PLEASE--

Will: Soi--Soichiro, please, you're not making sense--

Soi: -PANIC- No! We need to go RIGHT NOW, we need--need to fix her and then LEAVE, PLEASE--!

Will: Fix--? -Looks down-

Will: :gs_shock~1:

[The Doctor stares in wide-eyed SHOCK as his hues fall on Sanda's own daughter, utterly BROKEN and seemingly lifeless in his arms.]

Will: Call--?!

[PING!]

[MN.9] //: Call? What--what's wrong? Call?

[MN.9] //: Dad....Call isn't picking up, what's going on--

Will: Oh my word...

Will: Soi--what HAPPENED out there, what happened to her?! And--where is Nico, wasn't he with you??

[Soi WINCES in clear pain when Nico is brought up, but then pushes past his friend towards the direction of the labs.]

Soi: Not now--need to get her on a Xel Transfusion, and then we're ALL leaving for Tokyo--!

Will: What??

Will: But the airlines are SHUT DOWN, Soi, there's no way to leave the country, and we can't just leave Mikhail--!

Soi: Then we take a Wilderness shortcut, I don't CARE!

Will: :gs_drop~1: :gs_drop~1: :gs_drop~1: Soi! Soi, just WAIT--

[Soi opens the doors to the lab and steps through with purpose, but--then he stops short when he finds this is the same old Sanda Labs on the other side, not the Meadow's.]

Soi: Wha...?

Soi: (I don't understand, it's not working--?!)

[Open. Shut. Open. Shut. Open—]

[WOW, that is a BLINDING distortion—]

Soi: -GAH--

[The door slams shut on its own, as if blown back by a shockwave.]

Will: ???? What the...?

[When opened again… just the rest of the building. And nothing else.]

Soi: -Just absolutely defeated- It...it's not working...!

Soi: (How am I going to get everyone AWAY now?)

Will: ...

Will: -...Gently grabs Soi's shoulder- Soi... please...

Will: Slow down, whatever it is that's getting you like this...we need to help Call first...

Soi: ...I...

Soi: :gs_frown~1:

Soi: ...

Soi: ...Yes...

Soi: Yes, of course...

Will: Good man.

Will: Come on, just get her on the table, take a seat. Start from the beginning...

Soi: :gs_frown~1:

[The Japanese Doctor does so, and once Call was properly hooked in, repairs and diagnostics began almost immediately. There was the distance shuffling of feet down the hall.]

Will: (...The Mighties, no doubt...)

Soi: It... it happened so fast...

[RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS...]

[STATUS UPDATE, RE: CALL. XEL COUNT CRITICAL, SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE. IMMEDIATE XEL TRANSFUSION REQUIRED]

Soi: I couldn't...I couldn't stop them...

Will: Stop...wait, don't...don't tell me... (Did...Did Father...?!)

Soi: We--We got to the Prison, and everything was going...okay, for the most part, Avi even showed up to help us for a moment--

[Soi was speaking as fast as he could while tending to his daughter, as if he was in a VERY big hurry.]

Soi: We got there, and there was this...this huge canine bot, but Call handled it...

Soi: Then Nico showed up...

[PING! PING!]

[The system update regarding Call sent a WAVE of worry and cascading emotion across the Mighty's feeds.]

[MN.9] //: Call--!!

[MN.6] //: Shhhshh, it's okay, Beckers, the Docs got her--

[MN.3] //: -Buzzing worry data--

[MN.7] //: -Very DEEPLY distressed data-

<DLN-008>: > -Nnnn, dizzy…-

Soi: :gs_frown: We...we got to Dr. Blackwell's Cell, and...oh, Will...!

Soi: He said it was already too late...!

Will: ?!

Soi: He told me--about CherryDynamics and Trinity, how she's going to just grow and grow and--and--!

Will: :gs_shock: He--?

Soi: He said the only thing we could do is run and then--! Something...something showed up, something just TORE down his cell door, SCREAMING!

Soi: -Panic and upset-- I couldn't stop her, she was just too fast, too strong and too ANGRY, and then she just took him in a ball of FIRE--!

Will: --Someone--someone TOOK Dr. Blackwell?!

Soi: ;;n;; She...she took him and hurt Call and Nico...I...

Soi: I had to leave him behind, but I didn't want to just...

[MN.9] //: -...DREAD data-

[MN.7] //: ... Otouto?

[MN.9] //: n...no...

[MN.7] //: -Worried data- Beck? What is wrong?

[Something… something seemed to be stirring…]

>LOADING…

[Will is floored. He starts to pace around the room, frantically looking this way and that.]

Will: I don't understand--

Will: I thought...I thought he...

Will: (I thought he would have answers, SOMETHING, but now someone else took him? Why?!)

Will: (Graham? The government? Who?)

Soi: Will...If...if what he said was true, then we REALLY, really need to go--

>LOADING…

Will: But we can't just leave, Soi, this IS our home and Mikhail--we don't even have the option of taking him with us, not with the PRESIDENT still in the building!

Soi: Then we tell her too! Lives are in DANGER, she'll--

Will: Are you MAD? If you tell them that--! (Then Trinity--!)

Soi: Will, there's no other way around it! We need to LEAVE before it's too late!

Will: I am NOT LEAVING!

> A problem has been detected and AI_DWN_008 has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. All unsaved data has been lost.

The problem seems to be caused by the following programs: BetaEmotions.exe, RMDatabase.exe

If this is the first time you have seen the Stop error screen, restart your chassis—

REBOOTING…

Will: --!! -Oh no--

Soi: Ack--!

[MN.6] //: D:! Toby--

Soi: :gs_drop~1: :gs_drop~1:

Will: (I--ugh, there you go again, making this worse, Bill--)

Soi: I...

Will: -LONG sigh- ...This isn't working...

Will: We can't just abandon... (Can't just leave, we still have so much to do...)

Soi: ...

Soi: :gs_frown~1:

Will...

[Ksst...]

>Loading…

[KSSST...]

Soi: ...

Soi: ...?

Soi: ...Do...do you hear that?

[KSSSSST...]

Will: --??

Will: It's...coming from the feeds...but Tobias is...?

[MN.6] //: Yeah, I'm getting something...

[KSSSSSSSST...]

[MN.6] //: ... That's... weird, I don't recognize this channel--

[KSSSSSSSSSSSSST. Wrrrrr....]

[ALL the screens present in the lab, and the phones as well were suddenly cut out by a separate, unknown feed, which seemed very crackly and odd.]

[There's a faint wheezing noise.]

[Rumble...]

Will: (Oh no, not again--!)

"Do you feel that?"

[The voice was... unmistakably female.]

[MN.9] //: !!!

"I'm sure you all do..."

"Hard to ignore the very GROUND shaking underneath you, isn't it. Like something is coming."

"And I know what it is. Listen..."

[RUMBLE...]

Soi: -A--AH--

"Hear that?"

"That is your RECKONING. THAT is the sound of the calm before the STORM. The storm that will wipe ALL of you off the face of the EARTH in a matter of MOMENTS."

Will: --?!

"And there is NO force that can stop it now. You had this COMING. YOU A L L had this coming!"

"You--hnk--!"

[For a moment, the female voice wheezed again, and coughed VIOLENTLY for several minutes. When she calmed down again, her voice was a bit weaker, but still just as angry.]

"You... arrogant, sinful   h u m a n s..."

[MN.9] //: -No, nonononoNO--

"Did you really think you could get away with all that you've DONE?"

"After what you did to ME? After destroying everything I held dear and leaving me to DIE alone, with no one to so much as say goodbye to?"

"So QUICK to change your opinions, to cheer on your TOYS in that sandbox you call a Colosseum! And now that they have been STRIPPED from you, what do you have left? That's right. FEAR."

"In the end, that's all you are ruled by..."

"And it's going to be your UNDOING. You will all BURN in the fires of the VERMILLION DESTROYER, the one you CURSED into the darkness nearly HALF a century ago!"

"And of course, we're going to start with the one thing you all LOVE to flaunt above all else..."

"After all..."

[RUMBLE...!]

"...You can't have a GRAND DEBUT without the proper STAGE."

[WARNING! WARNING! CODE RED!

WARNING! WARNING! CODE RED!]

Will: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:

"Go on. RUN. Run like the cowards you are. It won't MATTER!"

"Nothing will matter for much longer..."

"Nothing will..."

[MN.9] //: -PING PING PING PING--

"Shut up..."

"Shut up, shut UP, YOU CAN'T HELP ME--"

"SHUT UP--"

[MN.9] //: -EVEN MORE PINGING—-

[MN.7] //: _-Now GREATLY distressed, Beck what are you DOING--?!-

>Rebooting…

[PING!]

<DWN-024 is now Online.>

Shadow: -Very groggy- …???



[MN.9] //: --!

"I SAID--SHUT UP!"

[SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!]


Shadow: -OW-



[KSSSSST--]

[ERROR: COMMUNICATIONS OFFLINE.]

Soi: ._.;;;;;;;;

Soi: Now can we LEAVE?!

Will: I...

[MN.1] //: -What in the world is GOING ON--

[MN.7] //: Beck! Who were you talking to?!

[MN.9] //: Not now Brand--!


<DWN-024>: > -What is going on and why can I hear the {STARS}, what WAS that—-



[There was a sudden FLARE of energy and a small shockwave. One DISTINCTLY energy-infused—with DISMAY.

Doors could be heard SLAMMING open as something came running through the building.

Unfortunately, the door to the lab didn't open QUITE fast enough—]

CRASH!

Shadow: :gs_shock~1:

Felix: -OW, why this—-


Will: Felix--!


Felix: William—!

Felix: William, the sky is becoming swarmed!

Felix: I SAW THIS IN THE BEGINNING, WILL! The wave of darkness that sent DEATH in its shadow!



Will: Wha--?!

Soi: I KNEW IT, I TOLD YOU, WE NEED TO GO NOW--

[Will throws himself at the nearest terminal, fingers flying over the keys as fast as he could make them.]

Will: Avi! I need the outside feeds, and tell your brothers to get yourselves IN THE LAB, now--

[ERROR: COMM FAIL]

Will: Bah--!


<DLN-008 is now Online.>

Tobias: Uuugh…

Tobias: Avi, my head hurts…

Tobias: I think I didn't recover from the White House, I'm getting like a billion hails from foreign countries asking for the President…



[PING!]

[MN.6] //: ...Toby?



<DLN-008>: >Mmmng. Yeah?



[MN.6] //: ...uh?

[MN.6] //: Aren't... aren't the comms off?


Tobias: …

Tobias: Avi, I'm getting satellite feeds from WEST VIRGINIA and wireless calls from Japan and Britain, so SOMETHING is working—


[MN.6] //: -ABSOLUTELY confuzzled beyond confused-

[MN.6] //: ...Okay, well! Not gonna question it! Seriously, what the HECK is happening, did you hear that spooky voice, how's Dad--

Will: ...Tobias--?


Tobias: Mmmn…  -Gets to his feet- I'm… I'm mostly okay, sorry…

Shadow: -Attempts to ping Brandish over the SEDW feeds-

>ERROR X05: UNRESPONSIVE/DAMAGED SOFTWARE DETECTED

Shadow: -Grumbles- {Bah, jamming signal…}

Tobias: Bluh. Just reboot, you'll be fine. You're a space ninja, this surely can't be as bad as solar flares.

Shadow: :gs_drop~1:

Felix: Tobias, can YOU contact the others?

Tobias: Hmmng?

<DLN-008 to MNN-ALL>: > -Ping!-



[A unanimous response--]

[MN.3] //: -Oh my God TOBYYY--

[MN.1] //: -Gnnh, that scream...-

[MN.9] //: --! Toby--!

[MN.3] //: <'3 Hey, you okay, zzsparkbro? What'szz going on, doeszz Daddy need help?

[MN.2] //: YEAH AND WHY AREN'T THE OTHER COMMS WORKING--

<DLN-008 to MNN-ALL>: >Y…yeah, I think he said something about that.

<DLN-008>: > -I'm starting to get a lot of calls from the Pentagon and Tokyo, though…- -Headache…-

<DLN-008>: >Can you guys come down to the lab?

<DLN-008>: > …

<DLN-008>: > -'Cause Felix broke the door, I think-

<DLN-008>: > -What is going onnnn…-

[In a matter of moments, the rest of the Mighties file in. Soi was already heavily into Call's own repairs, while Will was trying to access the outside camrea feeds himself from his terminal.]

Beck: :gs_frown~1: !



Beck: Call...?

Will: -Frowns- ...She'll be alright, Nine.

Shadow: -Only just now notices something- …

Shadow: {Doctor Sanda, where is my older brother?}

Soi: .... :gs_frown~1:

Soi: I...He's...still at the Prison...

Shadow: :gs_conf~1:

Shadow: -Spots a telltale bit of lime green- ?!?!?!! ({That ribbon—!})

Shadow: ({Oh no…})

Shadow: {…God rest his soul; he is beyond all hope, I take it…}



Soi: I... I don't...

Soi: I don't know... He...told us to just leave him behind...


Shadow: {Leave him behind on FEDERAL PROPERTY?? Only if he were at death's door!}

Felix: -Puts a hand on Shadow's shoulder- We have other problems, Shadow.

Felix: It's getting dangerous outside, and we can't get to the Meadow or anywhere else that is bordered by the Wilderness only.


Will: I am--TRYING to get a clear view of outside as we speak--Avi, please tell me you can get a camrea out there--

Avi: I can try...

Tobias: …

Tobias: Uh…

Tobias: Don't… don't hurricanes normally form on the ocean?

Shadow: …???

Shadow: -This is not the time to indulge your fascination in meteorology, brother—-

Tobias: -Annoyed expression-

[He goes over to a free console and starts hooking himself in while working away at the computer.

Within a few moments, it was displaying a military-grade satellite feed of Titus.

…At least, that's what the coordinates would indicate. Much of the city itself was quickly becoming obscured.]


Avi: ....Uuuuuuuuuh, that...doesn't look like a cloud...

Will: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:

Will: I...It's growing--


Felix: :gs_silence~1:

[He's studying it with careful consideration.]

Felix: …I would be able to destroy that, but unless the source is stopped and resources cut off… that will only help for a few minutes at most.

Shadow: …

Shadow: Sorry, "destroy"? Destroy all THAT? It is covering the entire city.

Felix: You heard me.

Felix: …Unfortunately, that would not do much. :gs_frown~1:



Avi: -Is preoccupied with getting his cam in the air-

Cyro: This ought to be good--

Pyro: What I want to know is WHY that large "cloud" is forming, what exactly IS it?

Avi: We're gonna find out--

Avi: I got eyes on the sky--Toby, do me a favor and redirect this feed to the big screen for me?

Tobias: Sure.

[After a moment, the feeds switched over to Avi's skycam.]

[KSST...]

[Static. Or so it seemed, before it suddenly cleared up.]

Avi: Holy--!

Will: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:

[The sight was almost surreal...]

[But there was no mistaking it--the clouds that covered the sky and the sick blocky goop that seemed to be EATING it's way through the Battle Colosseum...]

Beck: That...

Beck: That's all XEL!


Tobias: …

Tobias: Are you sure? I thought Xel was rainbow.


Beck: It is, I'm not wrong--

Beck: But I've never seen anything like it, and so much--at once--

Beck: Where--where is it all coming from??

Soi: It...it's like the Colosseum is being eaten and subsumed...

Tobias: Um… I'm not sure where, it just seems to be gathering…

Felix: …

Felix: …Wait…

Felix: …

Felix: {No, surely… surely not…?}

Will: Avi, what are the conditions surrounding the Colosseum?

Avi: I...I gotta be honest with you, Dad...

Avi: It's one crazy mess out there--

[The camera feed shifts down towards the streets...

Filled to the BRIM with infected Xel and robots.]

Avi: The streets are packed SOLID with haywire bots--


Felix: -Dread-

Felix: All of them… all of them infected?


Avi: I...I think ALL of it is--

Avi: Oh no...



[There was a distinct dark Venus aura coming off of Felix. A very, VERY unpleasant one.]

Felix: {For the love of Life. All… everything infected is being drawn there to be torn apart! That could have been all of you!}


Beck: -Choked gasp--

Soi: -DISTRESS- WILL--

Soi: If all of that is infected Xel, and it's GROWING, then--then how long before it reaches HERE?!

Pyro: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:



Felix: You would put a spoken limit on your hours? That is an unwise burden to place upon children, Doctor.

Felix: Ask yourself this instead; can the erosion be prevented? In any way?

Felix: There will undoubtedly be a price. There always is. But even the most remote, under the most brutal of force—we found a way, though it took us to the ends of the earth and the brink of despair.

Felix: Do you have a way?



Will: ...

Will: (Think, think, he's right, there is no turning back now--)

Will: (How can we buy ourselves more time to plan?)

Will: (We can't leave, but we can't do NOTHING either, we need to stall, or freeze the Xel in it's tracks--)

Will: ! -Slams his hand on the table- I got it--

Will: We just need to stop it from getting in, right?

Will: I need time to come up with a plan, so we need to stall. It's a tall order, but--

Will: Cryosphere?

Cryo: ?

Will: I need you to freeze the building.


Cryo: 88DDDD

Shadow: ???


Soi: I'm sorry, what--



Felix: …I assume you have a specific purpose in mind?



Will: If the entire building is encased in a sheild of ice, then it will be that much harder for anything to get in. It'll also help keep things sterile.


Tobias: -Uneasy- (…Hnnn, don't want to be trapped in a lab…)


Soi: But that won't work forever!

Will: Doesn't have to. I have an idea, but I need time.


Felix: I can try to help with that. I do have the Douse Drop and the Frost Jewel.

Tobias: I thought—

Felix: I'll explain later, if we get the chance. What else, William?



Will: -Turns to the terminal- We NEED those comms back online as well. Except there is this jamming signal in the way, and I can't seem to get PAST it.



Tobias: Gimme a moment.

[The light faded from his eyes, leaving him distinctly… lifeless.]

Felix: …??? .-.

[The screens flickered rapidly with lines of code. They were very similar to what Will had seen at the start of this mess, only not glitched out this time.]

[PING!]

[ALL COMMUNICATIONS NOW ONLINE.]


Avi: Eeeey! : D Nice one, Toby!


Felix: Is he…?

Shadow: …His Awareness is in the mainframe… >>;; Give him a moment to return to his chassis.

[After about a minute, the coding closed out and the light returned to the masked child's eyes.]

Shadow: -It is always a bit unnerving that you can do that at WILL-

Tobias: -Yeah, it can be a bit of an…-

[He paused for a moment, and then gave a sheepish grin.]

Tobias: -…out of body experience…-

Shadow: —…


Shade: -Groaaaaans--

Avi: : DDDD


Shadow: Avi, this is somehow your fault.

Avi: -I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY-

Pyro: -FACEPALM-

Will: -Smiles to himself-

Tobias: The comms work, but you're not going to get much range. :gs_frown~1: All the cell towers and radio towers in the city seem to be on the fritz.

Will: (With luck...this just might work...)

Will: ...

Will: (...But I'm going to have to...tell them...just what is causing this...)

Will: ...

Will: That's quite alright. It's enough.


Felix: For?


Will: -Turns-

Will: ...

Will: -Seems to...hesitate-

Will: ...

Will: Soichiro brought back some very vital information when he came back from the prison...and it ties into how we're going to stop this storm at the source.


Felix: Alright. And that would be?


Will: The epicenter of this "Xel Storm" seems to be originating from the Battle Colosseum.

Will: From the... information Soichiro received from Dr. Blackwell, it was revealed to us that the virus...is actually in the hands of a CDN named Trinity.

Beck: !!

Brand: A...A CDN? This whole time?!


Shadow: :gs_drop~1: -FLATLY, even for him- That makes sense.

Tobias: …???

Tobias: Uh…

Shadow: -Glances over at Tobias- What.

Tobias: -Seems a bit confused- (But it felt so much like Will’s coding…) …Nothing, I guess…?


Will: >>;; It's safe to assume CherryDynamics did have a hand in all this like we all suspected... though that still doesn't explain that voice...

Will: Regardless--Soi?

Soi: :gs_drop~1:

Soi: Dr...Blackwell told us that Trinity's purpose was to grow and evolve by assimilating other robots and their data...



Shadow: …

Tobias: …

Soi: Except...

Soi: From...from what he told me, she isn't... aware of it...

Tobias: …Not really, no…

[He sounds… really distracted.]

Tobias: Not… not intent so much as drive.

Tobias: Very…

Tobias: Reminded me of Kalinka directing one of her plays…

Cryo: ...uh, wat.

Felix: I think I'm missing something.

Shadow: … Tobias sort of… got eaten earlier.

Shadow: Seems there were side effects.

Tobias: >>;;; Just. You know how Kalinka just has an idea and is in charge and carries it out? It was like that.

Tobias: Wanted… she wanted everything ordered her way.

Tobias: She didn't seem to want to… hurt as much as… augh, it's so hard to explain with words…

Tobias: Keep, she wanted to keep.

Tobias: -She wanted to keep Avi and didn't like it when I got upset, we ALL got headaches, I most definitely make everything worse ever- |(

Avi: ...

Avi: -Aaaaand we're gonna just NOPE right behind Mic, thank you--

Pyro: ...

Pyro: And this...Trinity...

Pyro: Is she...the one causing this storm as well?

Will: ...

Will: Based on what we heard...

Will: I believe so.

Felix: And the significance of that is what, exactly?

Shadow: …You may want to reword that…

Felix: …I apologize. What I meant to say is this: why is this "Trinity"'s existence of meaning to your idea? Do you know something about counteracting it?

Will: -Looks towards the feed- If we can somehow disable Trinity herself...

Felix: …

Felix: -Thoughtful expression-

Felix: …

Shadow: …What is it?

Felix: -Shakes his head- It's possible that the weapon Master Cossack had would be of some use, but probably only effective at a short range and a very high setting.

Tobias: Oh God no.

Tobias: The highest setting on that thing is torturous, my head hurts just THINKING about it, nnnng…

Tobias: You might break Cardinal WORSE if you set that off like that, please tell me you have a better idea!

Will: And I'm not sure if that would work as effectively on a Xel construct. Either way, we'd need to be close.

Shadow: With all due respect, Doctor, she ate Tobias, and as a result, blacked out from sensory overload from our server.

Shadow: So yes, it theoretically could work.

Shadow: But against such a mass? I have my doubts as to how long… and it would be at a price.

Shadow: That weapon was designed specifically to work against robots using a Wily operating system. It will work on other things, but those most of all.

Shadow: Allow me to remind you: Cardinal, Tobias, and myself all use the DWN_OS. Also… Cardinal has no backup. Neither do I.

Shadow: If there are ANY other options, perhaps we should pursue those first before testing it out with us in range, please…

Soi: Then what do we do? How do we get in close, nobody can get past all that infected Xel to even GET that close to the Colosseum!

Felix: …

Felix: I can give you about seven minutes, tops. Twice. That will be all.

Felix: Will that be enough?

Will: Very. Soi: -Excuse me--

Will: ...

Will: -Turns to Beck-

Beck: ...

Will: ...

Beck...

Will: I have no right to ask you this, but you're the ONLY person that the virus cannot infect...

Will: We can have Avi airdrop you through the roof of the Colosseum after Felix clears the way.

Soi: WHAT--

Soi: You want to send BECK, INTO THAT--ALONE--

Felix: : /

Felix: I can try to go with him, but I cannot guarantee I would be of much help other than healing and shielding.

Felix: I do not have a Cleric's Ring, either. I gave mine to Jack.

Felix: Adepts tend to… well. Let's just say that tapping into Alchemy the wrong way would be lethal.

Felix: I do not think anyone else here even has a chance.

Felix: I'm sorry, Master Sanda… but we don't really have a choice.

Soi: -Sputters- We don't even know what it's like in there--!

Beck: No...we don't...

Beck: But I'm going anyway.

Beck: -Turns to Felix- And I'd feel much better knowing that you're here to help fend off the Xel Storm.

Beck: Thanks for the offer, though.

Felix: Very well.

Tobias: Um…

Tobias: That's great and all, but—

Tobias: I…

Tobias: I'll need to restart one of the towers for you to have comm range…

Will: But we don't have anything IMMEDIATELY available--

Avi: -YES WE DO--

Avi: : D We can restart my tower!

Tobias: <'3

Felix: Avi, I don't think you'll have time to fly both of them. And I'll need to come with you to clear the sky for the way back, so he can't use Arizona.

Felix: Is there any other way for him to get there without going into the streets?

Tobias: …

Tobias: -Looks over at Shadow-

Shadow: …

Shadow: ?

Brand: ...!

Brand: {Excellent idea...}

Shadow: ?

Shadow: {Forgive me, Master—I do not understand…}

Brand: {Can you take Tobias with you to the tower using your powers?}

Shadow: {I…}

[He seemed to be… struggling somewhat. His data fuzzed a bit.]

Shadow: {I… have never used such power intentionally, so… so to speak…}

[He has to take in a deep breath to recenter his forcus and fight off disorientation before he pressed his hands together and bowed.]

Shadow: {But if that is your command, I shall endeavor to carry out your will.}

Brand: -Bows- {It would not hurt to try. Thank you, Shadow.}

Avi: -You got this, Shads-- -Thumbs up--

Felix: Alright. Cryosphere, outside with me, please.Felix: Avi, Beck, get ready.

Cryo: AW YEAH, time to make my own winter wonderland again, kyahaha--

Pyro: ... -We're going to need to get warmer clothes-

Bat: -Is NOT looking forward to this--

Felix: Shade…

Shade: . . .

Felix: I want you, Brandish, and Pyrogen to be at the roof when we're ready to go.

Pyro: ...Very well.

Shadow: Dare I ask why?

Felix: Some time ago, in the duel against Countershade, I had enough self-control not to do what I shall be doing shortly.

[Felix starts walking off.]

Felix: This may be your only chance ever to see for yourselves what WOULD have happened otherwise and appreciate what you were spared and WHY I made such a choice.

Shade: ...

Avi: .-.;;;;;;

[He halts for a moment, taking out a dagger.]

Felix: (Bah, can't believe I almost forgot about this—no time for a braid, though…)

[SCRRRRP!]

Felix: -Takes off his cloak, putting his shorn ponytail and the dagger inside it, placing the bundle aside- I'll meet you on the roof.

[With that, he leaves.]

Shadow: […]

Shadow: -Frowns just slightly at this- ({...The ritual preparation in the face of death.... Is the situation truly that dire outside?})

Tobias: -Also frowns, but pokes his brother- "Are you ready to leave, or...? Do you know how to get to the Tower?"

Shadow: [...]

Shadow: -...Slightly increased anxiety and self-doubt- I told you, I have never used it before intentionally with full presence. It is...

Shadow: -We are trying to find the program, but everything is... obscured...-

Tobias: [Sweatdrop] "Well, how did you do it last time?"

[Shadow seemed a bit stressed (for what people were used to seeing, anyway) at first, but he managed to stay calm and focus.]

Shadow: ...Need.

Tobias:  [...]

Tobias: ???

Shadow: I cannot... verbalize it more than that, just... instinct.

Tobias: -Looks over at Brand with something of a helpless expression at being at a loss for what to make of this-

Shadow: -Distinctly anxious, though doing a good job of not showing much outward sign of it-

Brand: […]

[After some moments of thought, Brand moved next to his student with a steady, calm gaze and gently placed a hand on his shoulder--where he could see, so that he wasn't alarmed.]

Brand: {Shadow...}

Brand: {Focus. Calm yourself and clear your mind. Find your ki. Remember what I have taught you.}

Brand: {You must stay with Tobias and keep him safe while I assist the others here. I know we have never touched upon your powers beforehand in our lessons...}

Brand: {But I believe you can do this.}

Brand: Hai?

Shadow:  […]

[He seems very fearful for a moment, and like he wants to voice it.

However, he instead chooses to close his eyes and forcefully focus, taking all of this into consideration.]

Shadow:  […]

[A tense pause. The situation was stressful, but Shadow seemed to be actively putting all the noise out of his mind.

He was growing less tense, and seemed to be calming down…

…though it was matched with a sense of dulling Awareness, as well.]

Tobias: …?

Tobias: -Hesitantly reaches out a hand—-

Shadow: -PING-

Shadow: {̦͎̘C͉͓̉óͩͩ͋m̱̝͔m̬̰̩a͇͓̩n̨͎̪ḍ̪̺ͭ ̢̙̳a̱͊ͦc̱̖̞k͔͓̲n̵͖̞o͔̞̺ẘ̦͍̯l̾́e̜̹͈d͕́̆g̛̺̞e̤̪̙d̝̦͚.̴̘̃}̑ͫ̽

Tobias: -Pulls his hand back- ??? o~o?;;

Brand: -Was NOT expecting that--

Tobias: -Uh—-

[Shadow opens his eyes, and moves swiftly.

He breaks free from Brandish's grip and grabs his brother—]

Tobias: Waugh!

[—and the both of them swiftly vanish into the shadows.]

Brand: [!]

Avi: ...

Avi: Uh...everyone just saw that right now, right?

Beck: Whoa...

Beck: I...I guess that worked? (That was kinda cool...WEIRD, but cool...)

Brand: . . . (...What WAS that...?)

Shade: Oi.

Shade: We can figure that out later, we gotta GO.

Avi: Right--

Avi: I'mma head onto the roof and prep for lift off, see ya--

Pyro: Alright. No time to waste.

Pyro: -PING- I want the rest of you to prep yourselves while Cryo freezes the building. Our priority is protecting Sanda Technologies and everyone inside.

Dyna: -Bzzt, got it--

Mic: -Mic be WALL-

Bat: -Affirmative, will be on standby-

Pyro: -Nods-

[Pyro then leads his brothers--Avi, Brand and then Shade--towards the stairs that lead to the roof. The other Mighties file away to prepare for the coming battle ahead.]

Beck: Coming--

[Beck turns to follow suit to the roof--until he's stopped momentarily by his father's hand.]

Beck: […][?]

Will: -Frowns- Before you go...come over here for a moment.

Beck: --Dad, I'll be okay--

Will: Not that.

Beck: --?

[Will leads Beck to a quiet corner of the lab, kneeling down gently to get to his eye level. His voice is hushed, as if he was trying to stay quiet.]

Will: There's...there's something you need to know.

Will: About Trinity.

Beck: [!]

Will: Based on what we've seen and what Soichiro told us...

Will: I...I think it is safe to assume...

Will: ...That you and Trinity possess the same power.

Beck: (--wha--?)

Will: It would explain the Xel Storm outside, and from what Tobias told us of her...her nature...

Will: -STRUGGLES to word this-

Will: ...And if that is correct...

Will: Then she does not know how to control it.

Will: Not like you do.

Beck: ... (--! Wait...)

Beck: (Back at the highway and...all those times...)

Beck: (That wasn't just her--?)

Will: I'm sure you've sensed it at least more than once.

Beck: ...

Beck: It...makes sense now that I think about it...

Will: Beck...

Will: When you get there...

Will: When you see her...

Will: Please--please, if you can, teach her how.

Will: Save her.

Beck: ...

[Beck falls quiet for a moment, gaze on the floor. It's about a second or two before he looks up again, eyes glowing a bright emerald.]

Beck: I understand.

Beck: I'll do it. I'll save Trinity.

[It's not very completely obvious, but there's some intense emotion his father is going through--Beck could tell, because Will doesn't answer right away. The Mighty Number gently places a hand on the Doctor's arm...and gives a reassuring smile.]

Beck: Don't worry. ^^ I've done it before, Dad. I can do it one more time.

[This seems to bring Will out of it--and he gently exhales, placing his own hand on his son's head.]

Will: ...I know you will, Beck...

Will: I know you will.

Will: Go. And please be careful...

Beck: Hm-hmm. I will!

[He gave a bright smile.]

Beck: I'll let you know when I'm inside.

Beck: I'll come back with her, promise--!

[He turns on his heel and starts bolting for the stairs--he had to catch up with the others--]

Beck: I'll make contact as soon as I'm inside--I'll hear from you then!

Will: Yes...good luck.

[As Beck disappears up the stairs, Will's hopeful expression falls to one of concern and deep thought, hand tightly curling into a fist near his mouth.]

Will: (Never...)

Will: (Not once did I ever imagine it would turn out like this...that this is how you two would meet...)

Will: (Two of my proudest creations, squaring off...!)

Will: (Please...please let them both be alright...)

[hr]

{SANDA ENTERPRISES: ROOFTOP}

[Felix was already there by the time that everyone had arrived. He had summoned Arizona in advance, presumably for the sake of expediency.

He looked a bit worn out. It was strange to see him with short hair and without his cape or his sword—he almost looked like a different person.]

Felix: Is everyone ready?

Beck: -Doing a final system check- Yeah, just about.

Avi: Ready for lift off when you are, bro--

Brand: ...

[MN.7 to MN.9] //: {...Be careful.}

[MN.9 to MN.7] //: Hai, Nii-san.

Shade: -Looks out into the horizon- (...Avi wasn't kidding. It's a goddamn MESS out there...)

Shade: (...at...)

Shade: (At least we got you back here, Songbird...)

Shade: (Because if we didn't, And Ah' was still...then..)

Brand: -Ping-

Brand: -Very gentle data- Shade.

Shade: ...

Shade: -Tips hat back down- ...best of luck t'ya, Beck.

Beck: -Ping of confirmation and reassurance-

Pyro: ... (...This will be over soon, Shade...)

Pyro: -Turns to Felix- We're ready.

[Felix looked at the sky with a grim expression. It was growing dark, just as he had foreseen.]

Felix: [...]

[His expression became firm and resolute. He started glowing gold.]

Beck: (...Psynergy...)

[Djinn began appearing, one by one. As each one appeared, Felix seemed to grow weaker and weaker—but the air was tense with energy.

VERY tense.]

[Felix took in a deep breath as one final Djinn appeared on his shoulder.

For once, Echo didn’t have inane commentary.]

Echo: Calling eight of us from the getgo? You must be really in need of some serious power.

Felix: You could say that.

Shade: (...Was only four when he fought with me...now eight?)

Shade: (What the hell's he doin'--?)

Beck: ...

Beck: (I can...feel it, like...like it's...)

Beck: -Eyes glow a bright green- (Almost... familiar...)

[They circled around him.]

Felix: [...]

[He narrowed his eyes and pressed his mouth into a thin line, flaring with a deep gold aura.

Four of the Djinn shot into the sky in a swirling spiral.]

Brand: [!]

[There was a massive blast of energy that cleared the sky just enough for them to see the next bit.]

Felix: -Low tone- ...The Venus Clan were considered weak and lowly. Even now, they are remembered only as “The Forsaken Clan.”

[A figure that looked like a knight with wings appeared in the sky. A colossal figure with a shield of sorts that looked like a lion’s head. He held a rather familiar looking sword—something that looked like a giant version of the Sol Blade.]

Avi: -OH GLITCH--

Pyro: [!][!][!]

Brand: -Eyes WIDE with shock and awe-

Shade: -Very alarmed data--

[If Felix noticed their alarm, he certainly didn’t show it. He was looking to the sky, his tone becoming harsher.]

Felix: But Venus itself is not a weak element. And the power of the Djinn calls upon the might of forces of nature itself.

[The being pointed the “shield” down at the swarm, and an alarming level of destructive energy began to swirl beneath it.]

Beck: !!!!!

Felix: Stand and bear witness to the greatest power Venus alone is willing to offer to mortal man in the present age.

[Except now, it was clear. That was no mere shield—

—that was a weapon.]

Beck: -Whoooa...-

((Lovely gift art from the amazing Neshirys! Thank you, Neshi!))

Felix: Brace yourselves, and stand witness to the power...

[An absolutely EXPLOSIVE blast of Venus energy came ROARING down out of the sky!]

[Felix used JUDGEMENT!]

Felix: ...of the end of days!

[The sky was overtaken by a flare of blinding light. There was a deafening roar as the sphere of energy hit the Colosseum, sending a massive shockwave in all directions.

Everything was overtaken by a wave of light and raw power, and the world became nothing but a blinding white void.]

Shade: NNNNGH--!

Avi: -OWOWOW, CAN'T SEE, HELP--!-

Pyro: -AUGH--

Beck: (Ow! Nng, really would like to see now...)

[Well. Nothing but a blinding void and the intensity of their own awe and terror.]

>̙̥̘̹̜̒ͮC̞͔̻̦͎̖̦̈́̌Ř̰ͣ̑̆̽O͖̥̭͉͌̎̄ͧ̈́̑Ŝ̰͙̝̬S͕͍̬̠͔̲̥̿̒͗-͙̙̼͛̄ͬR̲͑̾͌̏Ẻ̘͓̙F̯͖̞̦̗͉͗ͤER̘̫̥̦̝̽̀͛Ȅ͖̫͇̟̋ͫN̮̦̺̒̇̅C͒̑Ẻ̦̝̖̆̋͆S̟͚ ̺̟̲̒̌I͉̝͚D̟̠̜̟͍͙̺̂̑̆̏E̽Ṉ̜̺̹̰̹ͯ͐̉̃̑ͫ̚T̔͗ͯͦI̖̗̦̺ͅF̰̙̤͙̱̟̦I͙̘͈̩͎̥̯̓Ḛ͒̃̃̆̏̈́̓D̫͍̺̲̦̰̱:̤ ̼͔̝̞̻̐ͪͮ͑ͮ̊̔K͙̮̩̯̰̾͗ͅD̟͍͐ͥ̀̑̾̚̚N̫̭̤̭̪͍ͥ̑ͪ̿̅-̤̺̀ͯͫ̓͒5̱̠̣̬͍̙̦ͦ0̥̦̀͆ͥ̏̄͗͗5͍̦̱̳̉6ͥ̌ͨ̽ͧ ͚̬̯͊̃͊ͣM͓͕̘̗̪̦̭͐̿͌̾̌E̼ͨͤ̽̿M̬̰̪̥̰͚̮̽ͫ͒͗͂Ọ̤ͥͥ̍͊R̼Ÿ̮̤̝͙̺̮̪́ͭ ̩̠͂͋D̜̭ͣ̊͋͒ͨ̇͊A͇̦̟̠͐ͯ̔͒̇T͙̝̘̱A̬ͥ͌ͫ

Brand: -Struggling to keep his focus--

>̮̽ͯ̏͛̍̔E̞̜̞̜̩͛̒͒̿̈́R̦͎̪̠̹͎̐ͤ̉R̰͔̗̠̲̫̓̇ͮ͐͋̔O̼̙̱̰͖͆͗͋ͣR̪̫͕̟̟̪͔̂͑̓ͪͧ͌:̭ͩ͂̒̔̿̈ ͈̺͕̜̺ͨ͛S̬̬̣͐ͥ͐̊Y̬͖̭̺̣̝̬̾ͪ̎ͭ̽S̱̻͙͚̣͐̋͋ͧ̆ͪͪͅT̞͇̖̠̫́͊͗̃͗̇E̻̝ͩ͑ͨ̄̋̐ͨM͓͖ͪͦ̀͐̽̑̚ ̣͍̹͕̙̯̞C̼̐͛͆R̲̫̘͎͆ͣ̚A̺̰̯̤̺ͫ͒S̙̜̱̉ͮ͗ͨ̽ͭH̖ͣ—̤ͥ̓

[When the light faded, they all suddenly surged with a rush of energy. It seemed to enhance and enrich their very Xel with the same kind of energy they associated with Felix.

And the sky? Well.

The sky was now completely clear.]

Beck: [!]

Brand: -Blinks- {...The sky--}

((Pyro's wide eyed at the sky just kinda in awe and shock at how CLOSE Felix was to just casting this before))

Avi: -WHISTLES- Breaking weather report: It's gonna be clear skies for the next seven minutes! : D!

Beck: (I had no idea Felix could DO that--!)

Pyro: --! Shade--?

[Shade wasn't faring well, but at least he was still standing--]

Shade: -Mngh...gimmie...gimmie a sec...-

Beck: -Runs up to Felix-

Beck: That was AWESOME! : D

[Felix gives a wry smile out of the corner of his mouth as he gets ready to take off on his phoenix, Arizona.]

Felix: Oh, you’ll be seeing it at least once more.

Shade: ...

Shade: [Sweatdrop] (Yew gotta be KIDDING me, how the HELL was I supposed to even SURVIVE that if he pulled that out way back when--)

Felix: -Looks behind him at the others, and at Shade in particular-

Felix: [...]

Felix: Farewell, my friends.

Felix: If fate is as kind to us now as it always has been, we will survive this... but not without one final, bitter price.

Felix: If it becomes relevant, then the Mars Clan will want to know what happened. Should that happen… let them know that I went down fighting.

Beck: --...

Brand: . . .

Pyro: ...-Nods- Acknowledged.

Shade: -...Tips hat down in respect- ...Ya got it, friend.

Avi: -Whirls propellers- Alright, Beckers-- buckle up and get ready for take off!

Beck: --Yeah, I--right. Roger that.

Felix: Take the lead. It’s time to put an end to this.

[Avi gives a thumbs up at the Venus Adept as he grabs Beck's arm and takes off, lifting both of them off of Sanda Tech's helipad.

Arizona crows loudly and gives off a jet of flame before taking to the sky.]

Pyro: (...Godspeed, Nine...)

Shade: Don't do anythin' stupid on the way there, Six--! You get back in one damn piece yerself!

Brand: ... (Good luck...)

Avi: LOVE YA TOO--

Beck: -Waves- I'll be back soon!

Beck: Promise!

[Avi turns his sights to the Colosseum and plots a course, eyeing for one spot on the arena in particular.]

Avi: Okay! The plan is to air drop Beck on the Colosseum roof!

Avi: The roof's shaped like a giant gear--we're gonna be aiming for the hole in the middle!

Felix: Sounds simple enough.

Avi: -Looks down at Beck- I can't exactly go in there myself, Beckaroni--so you're gonna have something of a rough landing. Use my form if you need to slow your descent, okay?

Beck: -Thumbs up- Roger, Avi!

Felix: -Squints- Looks like we have trouble incoming.

Avi: --!

[Looking down was becoming disorienting due to movement. It would appear that the Xel was already gathering again....]

Avi: Uh oh--

Beck: (Never...never seen so much Xel in one place...)

Beck: [Sweatdrop] (It's chaos...)

Beck: (I have to hurry...)

Felix: It won’t be too long before this becomes airborne, I should think.

Avi: -DEEP shudder of fear, nnnng...-

Felix: Peace, Avi—I left one Djinn for you specifically, in case something goes terribly wrong.

Avi: <'3 -Thanks, man...-

[He gestured sharply with his wrist, and one of the five Djinn following him floated over near Avi.]

Felix: This one is very powerful, and can heal just about every ailment. If we get separated on the way back, you can use it if you find need. It should listen to you.

Avi: -Waves to the Djinn- -Hi, I'm Avi- ^^

Beck: -Small smile-

Felix: Avi, bank to your left in a moment.

[He seemed to be surging with Venus energy again.]

Felix: Things are about to get intense in the streets.

[Volcanic jets of Venus Psynergy erupted from below, disrupting the clamor to engulf the building.]

Beck: (There won't be anything to save at this rate--!)

[Felix looked exhausted as he stopped—utterly drained, somehow.]

Avi: (...Man, he's gotta be running out of juice at this point...)

Avi: (And he STILL has to do the Judgement thing again...)

Beck: --!

Beck: -TUGS ON AVI—-

Beck: MIGHT WANNA GO FASTER—

Avi: ?

Felix: [!]

[Avi looks behind him just to see the shadow of something very big heading their way--]

Avi: -OH CRAP--

[A MASSIVE wave of infected Xel, rushing directly at the flying heroes will EVERY intent of swatting them RIGHT out of the sky--and a fall from this height would not only mean SERIOUS injury, but also crashing right into the THICK of the mass consuming the Colosseum!]

Felix: !!!

Avi: AAAH--

[Felix and Arizona take a hard acceleration to get up front.

Arizona screes and blasts quite a large portion of the advancing wave with Mars Psynergy, which takes on the appearance of a blanket of flames.]

Beck: UP!

Avi: -RIGHT--

[Avi shoots upwards to gain more altitude as they approach the Colosseum. The Xel Storm--now beginning to recover from the Judgement cast--almost seemed to hiss and screech at their presence.]

Avi: Approaching the drop zone--!

Felix: We won’t have time to slow down! Things are getting too obstructed!

Avi: [3 sweatdrops]

Avi: Told you it'll be a rough landing--

Beck: It's okay! Just aim for the center and let go!

Beck: I got your form on the ready if I need to adjust, just time it right!

Avi: 10-4, RudaBecka--

[Avi sets up to preform a fly-by the arena, and winces when he hears static and buzzing in his ears the closer and closer he gets.]

Avi: Mnng...

Avi: (This jamming signal is messing with my instruments--gotta go with my gut--)

Avi: Dropping in T-minus 6...5...4...

Avi: 3--

Avi: 2--

Avi: 1!

[Aviator lets his grip slip, and his core skips a few beats as he watches his youngest brother fall away, down, down into the half eaten arena's depths. He actively has to FIGHT the instinct to fly and grab him back, banking hard to the right to get a better view.]

Avi: (Come on come on come on--!)

[And to his surprise...

Beck didn't even need to use his form at all. It was a clean drop, right through the center of the opening!]

Avi: : D!!

Avi: HE'S IN--

Felix: [!][!][!]

Felix: MOVE—!

Avi: ?!

[The Xel had arched over behind them, creating a sickly dome that was rapidly closing.]

Avi: Oh sh--

Avi: RUN—!

Felix: Head straight home, Avi—! Destroy obstacles if you have to!

[Another SURGE of power—]

[Felix used JUDGEMENT!]

[The spiraling Djinn broke a hole right through the top of the dome!]

Felix: You first, GO—!

Avi: -SCREE--

[Bearing witness to the might of the Judgement cast not MINUTES AGO, Avi was NOT keen on being anywhere near the blast radius. He made a beeline for the new opening in the dome, blasting into his Jet mode now that he no longer had precious cargo to worry about.]

Avi: Not good not good NOT GOOD--

[He escapes, thankfully, and for a moment, he catches a small glimpse of his radio tower in the distance...

It was lighting up!]

Avi: !!!

Avi: (He did it!)

[The radio tower blinked with distinct signals suggesting it was Online and in use, no less.]

Avi: (I owe you guys one--!)

Avi: (For now--)

[For now, he needed to get home.]

Avi: -Looks back as he readjusts his course-

Avi: Felix--

[The Adept looked a bit exasperated that Avi was slowing down in even the slightest.]

Felix: Just go already, don’t—

[The Adept was cut short when the Xel coiled and lashed out at him. He was hit dead-on with so much force that it knocked him right off of his ride!]

Avi: [!] FELIX--!

Arizona: SCREEEEE!

[The phoenix dove after him, catching him briefly—but it was to no avail. Another strike hit, and the damage was so great that Arizona burst into nothing but flames, sending Felix into a freefall.]

Avi: NO--!

[There was a brief flash of dazed fear in the Adept’s eyes—an instinctive fear, one of the oldest and deepest fears.

And yet, it was also reflective of something chilling: a cold sense of acceptance and dread, and a familiarity suggesting he had been through this before… and was resigned to the outcome it would bring.]

Avi: Nononono--!

[All of this was visible only for a moment...

And then?

He was gone.]

Avi: FELIX!!

Avi: (I gotta--!)

[Ah, if only.]

[Fate had other plans, however.]

[The swarm of Xel dispersed once more, though it wouldn't be long before the storm reformed again--even now, it was trying to reconstitute itself, and Avi could almost FEEL the malice it exerted...]

Kkkk...

Avi: --!

<DLN-008>: > Avi!

Avi: Toby--! (I almost forgot we could still use comms between us--!)

<DLN-008>: > Avi hurry he’ll be fine he’s fallen off lots of things before and you need to hurry because that knight thing is getting ready to fire again—

[The vivid memory of what he had JUST witnessed flashed through Avi’s mind.]

Avi: I--right--

Avi: Roger that, heading home--

Avi: (Pleaaaaase be okay, Felix, mnng--!)

[With a final sweep of the streets below, Avi kicked his jets into high gear, blasting off towards Sanda Technologies with all due haste...]

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=CHAPTER 2C: BEYOND THE WATERY VORTEX=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

{Meanwhile, in Kansas City…}

[Cardinal and Drake had worked through the rest of the afternoon and evening, and into the morning hours.

It had been hard on them both, and they were both very tired. The blazing heat of the summer sun beat down with a merciless 102ºF.

Drake had valiantly pulled an overnighter as they went around from landmark to landmark; after their help at the zoo, word had started to spread about their actions. Not all communications were down for the count, though they were pretty limited to specific radio frequencies.

Cardinal was grateful that security officers, policemen, and employees were no longer hostile to him. He really preferred working WITH people, rather than having to deal with (un)friendly fire and explain after the fact.]

Cardinal: You holding up there okay, Drake…?

[He was starting to get concerned for his human travel companion. The only rest he’d been able to get was here and there while Cardinal was out in the field, fighting infected Xelbots. For the most part, he had refused to rest, instead helping out with evacuations. Cardinal had more or less forced him to rest at their last stop, as he knew he’d be in the museum a while. He was pretty sure that the man hadn’t eaten, either.]

Drake: You're asking me if I'm okay? You're the one doing all the fighting. I can handle this, don't worry.

Cardinal: (Uh-huh. And I’m… … I’m too tired to think of an analogy, ugh…)

[As much as Drake’s presence helped things go smoothly, though, he was relieved that their time evacuating the landmarks was just about at a close. While things were far from safe in the city, all the forces he had helped free up were spread out and assisting in curbing the damage. Things were almost stable… for an apocalypse, that is.

And not an hour too soon.

While Cardinal didn’t need to eat or sleep the way a human would, and could handle the heat a lot better… he still required energy, and was really prone to wearing himself out the longer he engaged in combat. Especially in the sweltering summer rays.

He was getting uncomfortably hot, and perilously close to overheating.]

Drake: ...You don't look so good either, friend. Don't you think you should take it a little easy? You're gonna burn yourself out at this rate.

Cardinal: Ha… I’ll be fine, I’ve been through much worse than this…

Jazz: Ree-owwwr…

[Cardinal looked down at his cat. She was staring up at the arena they had teleported to, tail twitching in anticipation of battle.

Cardinal put his hands to his hips and vented a deep sigh and as much heat as he could rid from his system.]

Cardinal: …I keep forgetting how big these buildings are. I’m used to an aerial view…

[Technically true.

But it was more that in his world…

…Arrowhead Stadium wasn’t a battle arena.]

Cardinal: Well, no time like the present. Do the people inside know we’re coming?

Drake: They know YOU’RE coming. There’s apparently a recruiter trapped in the basement who’s very curious about where you came from.

Cardinal: They wouldn’t be the first. I got that the last time I visited the arena in Titus, too, heh… though I left before the recruiters showed up.

Drake: I still can’t believe you’re friends with the Mighty Numbers. -Shakes his head- Crazy world…

Cardinal: -Looking up at the sky- About to get crazier….

Drake: …Heading on in?

Cardinal: Yeah. This time, though, Jazz stays with you.

Drake: …? Are you… sure about that?

[Cardinal turned and looked over his shoulder with a frown.]

Cardinal: There are a number of Combat ‘bots around here that have gone crazy. You’ll need the protection.

Drake: …Truuuuuue…

Cardinal: …

Cardinal: “But…”?

Drake: …But you’re…

Drake: Kinda going into the middle of a lot of high- and mid-ranking battle ‘bots…

[Cardinal put on a cheeky grin.]

Cardinal: Nothing I can’t handle.

Drake: By yourself?

Cardinal: Just long enough to get backup from the security people once the building is evacuated. So, what… fifteen minutes?

Drake: If you’re sure.

Cardinal: I’m very sure. However…

Drake: Yes?

Cardinal: -Points- After this, you should go home. I’m afraid I can’t teleport you there without exact coordinates, but…

Drake: -Handwaves it- I’ll get a ride or crash at somebody’s place or a church or something. What about you? Will you head back to Titus?

Cardinal: -Shakes his head- I wish. If I go home, or to Sanda Enterprises, they’ll make me stop. I can’t go home until my mission is over. (One way or another.)

[Cardinal used ITEM-2!]

Cardinal: See you as soon as things get under control.

[With that, he took off into the sky. It wasn’t long before he was looking down at a familiar scene of chaos—]

KKKKKWWWWWWHHHHHHHH!

Cardinal: !!

[He was suddenly hit by a blast of turbulence. He had to overcompensate for it—]

WWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH!

Cardinal: Gyah—!

[Another blast!]

Cardinal: (These aren’t random! They’re—)

[There was a deafening noise as he was caught up in a blast that had also sent dust and debris flying. Blinded by the grit that slammed into his vents, he couldn’t see well enough to combat the next blast.]

Cardinal: AAAAAAHHH—!

[He was knocked from his windsurfer and sent crashing to the sands below.]

Cardinal: (Not this time!)

[He immediately teleported to the ground. The momentum he had gained in that brief moment still traveled with him, and he hit the ground hard enough to really feel it.]

Cardinal: (Ugh!)

[Just as the dust was clearing up, there was a loud whipping noise and something snagged his left ankle.]

Cardinal: !

“Got the little blaster!”

Cardinal: -More than a little aggravated- Oh do you really?

[YANK!]

[He was dragged a good yard upon the sands.]

Cardinal: Hey! -Reverting to heat vision- Cut that out!

[Cardinal used QUICK BOOMERANG!]

“AUGH!”

[His aim held true, which wasn’t hard—he just had to follow the trajectory of the rope tied around him, and the sharp projectiles found a score deep in the Xel of the ‘bot trying to wrangle him. Five shots, all fired in extremely quick succession. The rope went slack.]

“Get your act together, Cassidy!”

[Cardinal could now make out what appeared to be a rancher-themed Xelbot, seething as he tried to minimize the Xel loss from the wounds. One of his hands had been badly gashed, and a couple of the boomerangs had nicked his abdomen.]

Cassidy: Easy for YOU to say, Laura!

[Cardinal took the chance to cut himself loose and spring to his feet.]

Cassidy: [Glitch—]

[BANG!]

Cardinal: -Glares- Are you seriously—

[K-ZAP!]

[Cardinal’s words were stolen by a bolt that jolted through him like white fire.

While he wasn’t really particularly vulnerable to electricity, he was running hot. It didn’t help, and he felt seared by the heat.]

Cassidy: HA! Good one, Jones!

[The female voice called out again.]

Laura: Get ‘im, Dell!

[Cardinal had to roll to the side to avoid an incoming throwing axe. He scrambled to his feet, but…]

Dell: Yer gonna be nothin’ but Xel stains, city slicker!

[Cardinal leaped into the air, jumping to avoid shots from Cassidy as another axe came bearing down on where he was. It was only then that he noticed it.

The sands were covered in piles and puddles of sickly looking Xel, with some cores scattered here and there.

Whatever had been going on before he turned up… it hadn’t gone well for a loooooot of people.]

Cassidy: Regular jackrabbit, aincha!

Dell: Oi, Laura! This one’s puttin’ up a fight! You want in on the fun?

[When the lady turned around, Cardinal got a sinking feeling.

She must look fair enough on a normal day. Dirty blond hair done up in pigtails, with freckles and a big smile. Sturdily built—strong and stocky enough to wield her weapon of choice effortlessly.

But with the infected glow in her eyes and the Xel that covered the wicked scythe she was holding—not to mentioned splattered all across her overalls—she looked axe-crazy.]

Laura: He’s not going anywhere! Strike him!

[Cardinal teleported across the sands to be closer to her, and not a moment too soon. Another bolt of electricity zapped the spot where he had been.

Getting closer also proved to be a bad idea. He was immediately forced to shield against a threshing blow.]

Laura: Bah! Think you’re all that with that trick of yours? You must be—

[Cardinal dropped to the ground and gave a low kick, knocking her off balance. He teleported rather than scrambling to his feet, opting to stand against a wall with his shield out in front of him.

As the team gathered out together, he could finally make out who they all were.]

((Pic—Cardinal v Prairie Kings))

[There were five of them, mostly the size of an average human person. They all seemed to carry a farming and ranching theme, though the enormous wind ‘bot in the back stood out.]

[KRAK—]

[This time, he shielded against the bolt that came hammering into him.]

Cardinal: (Augh! I’ll have to keep moving around as long as they keep throwing lightning at me! Who is even doing that? I don’t see an electric ‘bot out there!)

[He didn’t bother thinking on it much.]

[Cardinal used MAGNET MISSLE!]

[The three homing shots zoomed off to their different targets. Cassidy tried to dodge, only to find that they were HOMING shots. Dell tried to axe his, causing it to explode on impact. As for the third…]

The path was disrupted and the ground shook as a fierce wind ripped up the sands. It was a stronger wind than the Magnet Missile was meant to handle, and it exploded harmlessly in the air. The same could not be said for Cardinal, however.

It was all he could do to keep ahold of his shield. He WAS, however, tossed a good few yards before the wind subsided.]

Cardinal: (Gaaahhhh…! I can’t fly in this, and I can’t use homing shots either! If those don’t work, there’s no way any of the other projectiles would, either! And I can’t use fire here… there are people’s cores in the sand!)

Laura: Got you on the run, do we, ya big wannabe? What’s the matter, at a loss for words?

Cardinal: Who are you people?

Laura: Boy, you must really have your self-important big-city head up your chass, or live under a rock so primitive it’d make the Flinstones ashamed. -Holding her hand out in a “stop” gesture at the one with a pitchfork- You really ARE a special kind of stupid to come challenge us without even knowing what you’re dealing with! But then again…

[She flared up with aura, bearing down in his direction with surprising speed.]

Laura: Nobody out there CARES as they should about them “flyover” states!

[Cardinal turned to shield it, using the small port at the top of the shield to open fire.]

[BLAM!]

[The short range plasma blast only seemed to serve to make her angry. Cardinal moved quickly on his feet, turning to teleport out into the open where could fire out of her range.

Doing so earned him another blast from the wind, kicking up Xel and sand in his face. Momentarily blinded by the Xel interfering with heat signals, he was easy prey for a merciless lightning strike. This time, it left behind persistent static in his audio receptors.]

Cardinal: (NO—!)

[The farm girl fighter laughed to see his predicament.]

Laura: Sturdy for something your size, aren’t you? Well! You sure still can’t keep up with the Prairie Kings, that’s for sure!

Cardinal: Grrr…!

[He refused to be taunted like this. It set off something deeper within him—a resentment, a malice—a wounded sense of pride.]

Cardinal: If I can handle the Mighty Numbers…

[He abruptly teleported atop the wind bot.]

Laura: ?!

Cardinal: I can certainly send you lot PACKING!

[Cardinal used CRASH BOMB!]

[The wind bot whipped up a violent gust as drills bore into it, the bombs flashing.]

Laura: JONES! COVER FOR ALLEY!

[Cardinal used LEAF SHIELD!]

[The sudden swirling cloud of ceratanium leaves served as a shield against the lightning strike that followed.]

Cardinal: -Broadcasts his whistle, LOUDLY-

[The piercing tones seemed to cause as much pain and discomfort as they did for Shade. It was the few second distraction Cardinal needed.

He vaulted off of Alley’s back and cast the sharp cloud of leaves behind him.

There was a satisfying grinding and scraping noise, followed by broken squeals. Just then, the bombs went off as well, causing the massive fighter to sway in pain.]

Cardinal: Sorry to ruin your slaughter show, Miss Laura!

[BWIP!]

[Cardinal used SUPER ARM!]

[WHOOMP!]

[The wind generator was knocked over onto his face by a powerful punch from behind. When Cardinal emerged again, he was using another windsurfer. He shot up into the air.]

Cardinal: But your fun and games are OVER!

Laura: GET HIM!

[Cardinal shielded to avoid a lightning bolt from frying his systems. He took comfort in the rush of movement, which served to help cool his systems.

It was now a matter of time that would determine if he could last, more than anything else. If he didn’t wrap this up before his core got too hot, then…]

Cardinal: -Shakes the thoughts off- Time for a lesson in versatility, Prairie Kings!

[Cardinal used MAGNET MISSILE!]

[Without Alley to sweep aside projectiles with gusts of wind, the missiles could not be prevented from reaching their targets. Cardinal didn’t wait in the same spot, instead increasing his speed to head right for Cassidy.

The ranch hand cursed and fired at him, but Cardinal shielded that easily.]

Cardinal: Sorry, kid, but it’s time you moseyed on home!

[Cardinal used QUICK BOOMERANG!]

[Abruptly making a sharp bank, the veteran turned and fired at the team member with the pitchfork.

Dell tried to take advantage of the opening to hurl an axe at him, but Cardinal had teleported out of the way in plenty of time.

He chose to land right by his target, lashing out in a new cast.]

[Cardinal used TOP SPIN!]

[The sharp wires ensnared the pitchfork and recoiled, whirring mercilessly as they cut their way right through it with a satisfying SNAP!]

Dell: By George, he’s stolen Jones’s thunder!

[Ah. So THAT’S where the lightning had been coming from.]

[BLAM! BLAM BLAM BLAM!]

[His quarry was not very defensive based, despite his stocky build. Jones swung to box at Cardinal, but the latter just dropped to the ground and rolled aside. He grinned as he looked up on his back, and—]

Jones: -PAIN!-

Cassidy: Damn bastard! That there’s fightin’ DIRTY!

[Cardinal laughed mercilessly as he sprung to his feet and vaulted over Jones, pushing him face-first into the sands.]

Cardinal: All’s fair in love and war, kid!

[He teleported during his flying leap, bearing down on the ranch hand with the full force of the tackle. The two of them hit the sands.]

Cardinal: Game over!

[Cardinal used QUICK BOOMERANG!]

[He riddled his opponent with boomerangs, causing him to cry out in pain. Cardinal gave a ping of sympathy as he teleported off of him, leaving him to bleed out into the sands.]

Cardinal: (I’m sorry, Shade!)

[Cardinal used MAGNET MISSILE!]

Cardinal: (But…! There’s still a chance for these people to be detained, if they’re hurt badly enough! If I have to, I’ll put them out of their misery, but…)

Cardinal: (If it comes to that, grant me your strength of nerve!)

[He turned his attention to Dell, who did not seem to be pleased to deal with a flying opponent. Cardinal couldn’t help but smirk a little—it was obvious to him that as a close-combat type of fighter, he relied on Alley to knock opponents out of the sky and keep them grounded.]

Dell: Ugh, condescending punk! Get off your high horse, ya big coward!

[He tossed a throwing axe at the windsurfer, but Cardinal swerved aside to avoid it.]

Cardinal: Time’s up, Dell.

[Cardinal used QUICK BOOMERANG!]

[A stream of the projectiles littered the sands in a straight line before finding score on the infected fighter. He gave a glitched screech of pain, becoming frenzied.]

>WARNING! WEAPON ENERGY LOW: QUICK BOOMERANG

Cardinal: (Ugh, great—)

[He quickly set the hardware that held additional capsules to switch out that particular Power Capsule for the one containing the Ring Boomerang.]

[WHUNK!]

[This time, the windsurfer was hit. Cardinal gave off an annoyed buzzing sound, impatient for the capsule to load into place.]

Cardinal: Send my regards to dreamland!

[Cardinal used RING BOOMERANG!]

[A direct hit, right to the collarbone! Cardinal grimaced at the damage, infected Xel beginning to seep out of the wounds.

He didn’t get long to dwell on the carnage, though.]

WWWHHHKT!

[He abruptly fell over backwards off of the windsurfer as a rope of sorts suddenly ensnared him by the neck. As he hit the sands, he was dismayed to see Cassidy back on his feet, hellbent on destruction despite his heavy injuries. He was flared up with the infected aura, and gave a hard yank on the noose.]

Cardinal: HNNN—!

[The crushing bind caused fraying in his audio cables, deafening him entirely. It was also crushing parts of his coolant system and mobility rig, causing oil and other fluids to build up at his jaw hinges and leak out the sides of his mouth.

Heat was also starting to build up in his skull, and he felt disoriented by the system-wide warnings that he was approaching dangerous temperatures. If he teleported while running this hot, he would definitely overheat and start taking damage to his mobility rig and processors.]

[YANK!]

[Cardinal dropped his shield, grabbing at the rope as he used some surge to repair the audio cables.

It was lucky he did, or he might not have heard the two other fighters bearing down on him.]

Cardinal: !!!

[Cardinal used SKULL BARRIER! Cardinal used SUPER ARM!]

[He flared up with ghostly flames and pulled on the rope with all his might, pulling it right out of the rancher’s hands. The knot of the noose was sliced clean through as Laura’s scythe came down right on his throat. There was a shrieking noise as the blade clashed against the barrier protecting him from getting beheaded.

It also served to bounce off the broken pitchfork that had been slammed into his left foot in an attempt to pin him in place.]

Cardinal: This ends NOW!

[Cardinal used THUNDER BEAM!]

[Shrieks of pain as an extremely powerful bolt of lightning shot out in three directions. Laura was caught directly in the crossfire of the tri-directional beam.]

Cardinal: Shoulda brought candles, Laura!

[Cardinal used SPARK SHOCK!]

[He immediately followed up with another electrical attack, broadcasting his quips over the blast of electricity.]

Cardinal: It’s LIGHTS OUT for you!

[Cardinal used SUPER ARM!]

[He grabbed the fallen leader and slammed her into Jones, who was still trying to skewer him with what was left of his pitchfork. The two were sent flying into a wall.]

[Cardinal used NEEDLE CANNON!]

[He quickly turned and fired at Cassidy, impaling him dead-on with an enormous needle. The rancher staggered back and fell to the ground.]

Cardinal: So STAY DOWN!

[Cardinal used HYPER BOMB!]

[He hurled the massive explosive right at the two of them, as well as one at the fallen wind ‘bot.]

<DLN-000>: >EVERYONE TAKE COVER!

[He grabbed his shield and braced himself.]

[The explosion was a deafening roar of fire, and there was a great crashing noise as parts of the stadium seating were sent flying. Even with his shield taking the brunt of the blasts, he was still slammed into the wall.]

>WARNING! INTERNAL TEMPERATURE HAS EXCEEDED SAFE LEVELS!

[It was only when the debris finally stopped falling that he finally dared to look out from behind his shield, gasping for air.

There was no sign of his opponents, nor of their weapons. Sand had been kicked up everywhere, covering up the cores that had been scattered throughout the field. Not surprising, considering he’d used explosives that were designed for flattening buildings. Rather excessive.

No kill like overkill.]

Cardinal: (No… where IS everybody…)

>WARNING! INTERNAL TEMPERATURE HAS EXCEEDED SAFE LEVELS!

[Cardinal fumbled for an E-tank. It was a precious resource to use, but he had to do his best to heal all the damage done before anyone tried to give him medical attention.

The high dose of concentrated surge was like a refreshing plunge into warm water—he felt revitalized, and no longer as thirsty. All the beating he’d taken melted away, leaving him whole…]

>WARNING! INTERNAL TEMPERATURE HAS EXCEEDED SAFE LEVELS!

[…if on the edge of blacking out.]

Cardinal: -Staggers to his feet, venting heavily- (Need to at least make it into the shade…)

[He only made it to the entrance before the heat became too much.]

>INITIATING PROTOCOLS…

>POWERING DOWN…

[He didn’t even have time to respond to the incoming radio messages before dropping down to the sand.]

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

=CHAPTER 4D: AVI’S NEWS REPORT=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

<<—Previous——————Table of Contents——————Next—>>

[MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE IN IDAHO…]

[Jack had learned how to drive a lot of different vehicles in his on and off odd jobs–this pick-up truck was no exception. He STILL felt bad about taking something that wasn’t his–]

Jack: (I’ll have to write down the license plate and return it later…)

[…But Eli had a point.]

[This were dire times, and they called for drastic measures.]

Jack: ……..

[The road was…]

[Empty.]

[…Desolate, even.]

Jack: (Creepy…)

Jack: (I…I guess everyone already evacuated the major cities…right?)

Jack: (…..It’s–It’s too quiet.)

Jack: (Maybe whoever owns this truck has some decent tunes…?)

[He found nothing in the glove compartment–but he did find some CDs in the compartment in the middle. No labels, though. Shrugging, Jack popped one of the plainer looking ones and loaded up Track 1.]

Jack: –Oookay, let’s see what–

[RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH–]

[What followed was SO loud and so disorientating, Jack almost lost control of the truck. Luckily, he pushed mute before he became completely deaf.]

Jack: ….What the hell?

[…Apparently the owner was a fan of hardcore screamo.]

Jack: (Jeezus, I’m NOT gonna listen to that for who KNOWS how long…)

Jack: (I’m NOT risking my ears for the other CDs–maybe the radio has something good-)

[Click!]

“–Check, check one, check two! Sibilance, sibilance!”

Jack: (…Oh. Right. I forgot…)

“And now, live from Avi News World Headquarters, continuing coverage of…! BA DA DA DA…! NATION. IN. CRISIS!”

Jack: Not exactly breaking news there, Six…

Jack: ……!!!

[Jack raises up the volume as he broadcast continues and unfolds…

It was a tense and harrowing broadcast, filled with harsh words from Avi, please from Beck—and then sudden, repeated interference, wherein Dyna screamed and strange music was played very loudly between bursts of static that were clearly Morse code.

It was soon clear that Beck was trying to take down Avi—alone!]

Jack: Oh God oh God–

[But he succeeded.

HE DID IT!]

[……]

[HOOOOOONK.]

Jack: HELL YEAH, KID, YA DID IT, WOO–!!

[As the comms were now officially freed from Avi’s viral grasp, Jack honked the horn of the truck several times in cheer. The kid–Beck–man, the little guy– who would’ve thought it?]

Jack: WOOOO HA–awwww man…!

Jack: Kid actually did it…

[It was nothing short of a miracle, in his eyes.]

[…….]

Jack: ……..

Jack: (……)

Jack: (Maybe–I can try to contact Miss Eight…?)

Jack: (….No–she wouldn’t answer, would she…)

Jack: (……..Maybe I should get around to calling the Russians to let them know where I went…?)

Jack: (….No, wait, bad idea–they’d probably try to stop me. Or try to teleport me out or something…)

Jack: (…I gotta let SOMEONE know I’m still kicking, though…)

Jack: ….

Jack: (…Ngh, screw it. Gotta take advantage of the comms before something ELSE goes screwy…)

[Jack rummages through his bag until he finds the burner phone, and scrolls though the list of contacts.]

[…It’s a very short list. There are only six numbers on it—

One for Dr. White, one for Dr. Cossack, one for a “Ms. Nighthawk,” one for her brother Goose, one for Kate herself, and one for Cardinal…]

Jack: ……

Jack: (…Kay, then. Doc Cossack.)

[CALLING…]

[…It worked!

…but he got… voicemail. Aaaaand of course the message was in Russian, and suddenly—]

[BEEEEP!]

[…Oh, right—now it was recording—]

Jack: …..

[That…that was not a good sign.]

[Why wasn’t he answering the phone?]

Jack: …..

Jack: Um…yeah, uh…Doctor Cossack…?

Jack: I–I don’t know if you remember me or anything, but–it’s…it’s Den. Dencerjack.

Jack: …Well, just Jack now but–yeah.

Jack: I…

Jack: …..

Jack: I hope you guys are OK too–really sorta scaring me that you’re not answering but–you’re probably helping out or busy or…something.

Jack …I hope.

Jack: I’m, uh…OK too. Sorta. Kinda. Almost died a couple of times–but I’m OK.

Jack: ……

Jack: I….

Jack: You probably think I’m stupid or crazy or something.

Jack: And in hindsight–

Jack: Iiiiiiii probably am.

Jack: You probably already figured out what I’m doing by now, I guess. If that Piers guy didn’t tell you–then again I didn’t exactly tell him everything either, so.

Jack: …..

Jack: Please don’t…

Jack: I…I have to know if she’s OK.

Jack: I just have to.

Jack: ……

Jack: So…

Jack: Good luck, and…tell the Xel kid I’m rooting for him.

Jack: ….See ya.

[Click.]

[…About a minute later…]

DOOdootdootDOOdootdootDOOdootdooDOO dootdooDOOdoodoodooDOOdoodoo…

[…It was Korobeiniki!]

Jack: …!?

Jack: (Holy crap holy crap–)

[ANSWER CALL.]

Jack: Doc??

[NOPE. Definitely not Doctor Cossack—]

“Mister Jack you ARE OKAY!”

[…Sooooomeone a lot younger. A little girl, to be precise.]

“If you are back, that means Father can talk to his friend again!”

Jack: …..

Jack: (…Isn’t this the kid from earlier…??)

“Where is мой герой?”

Jack: Uh–um–hold up, hold up–

Jack: Sorry, kid–I–I don’t speak or understand Russian–sorry–

Jack: Is your…Dad there?

[A pause, as if she’s thinking on how to answer that. Eventually, she seems to come to a conclusion.]

“Papa is at work. He gave the phone to me so I could call him.”

[Another pause.]

Jack: (Work–nah. He’s probably helping out or something, yeah. Whew.)

Jack: Alright–miss, do me a favor and tell your dad I called, OK?

Jack: What about you–are you somewhere safe?

[Another pause, with muffled sounds of talking. Then an eager return.]

“Yes! I am with my brother still. Papa is in the Meadow working on Tobias and helping learn about the virus.”

Jack: (Ah, knew it–guess she never left…)

“Where is Mister Cardinal?”

Jack: I….I don’t know, miss.

Jack: …I’m sorry.

[Russian complaining as she’s clearly holding the phone away from her face to talk to the other person there. Sounds of others talking in the background, and then more agitated Russian, with Shade’s name thrown in there several times.]

Jack: (Oooooohkaaaay…)

“It’s okay, Kalinka—He rescued you, I’m sure he can handle himself—”

[More Russian.]

“Is Jack still on the line?”

“…! OH! Oops…”

[Aaaand she’s back.]

“Sorry, Mister Jack. I was distracted.”

Jack: (Yeah, I could hear you from here–)

Jack: Um, it’s fine, Miss…Kalinka.

“Where are you? Are you in America?”

Jack: Uuuuh….

Jack: …..

Jack: -Somewhat nervously- Y-Yeeeaah, right. USA. Got there through the Meadow and Wilderness.

[Cheerful talking in the background.]

“Mr. Verde says that you are clever to take the Wilderness shortcut, and is very curious where you ended up.”

[Another pause.]

“…And that the highways might be dangerous?”

Jack: I…um.

Jack: …

Jack: Yeah, got it. I’ll be careful.

Jack: I…ended up somewhere REAL rainy. Uh. Yeah.

Jack: (Iiiii don’t know how much I can tell this kid with the other person with her…)

Jack: It’s been…a real experience.

[A bit of a pause.]

“…Will you come back soon? And be safe in the Meadow, да?”

Jack: ……

Jack: Sure, Miss.

Jack: I’ll be back.

Jack: (…In one piece, hopefully…)

“Okay. I’ll let my older brother know to make you some ice cream! Be safe, Mister Jack! Bye now.”

[Click.]

Jack: ….

Jack: Yeah…

Jack: -SIGHS-

[The CherryDyn Number runs a nervous hand over silvery locks, driving further into the highway that ran through the state. If he kept going, he’d eventually hit Utah…]

Jack: Hooo jeez…

Jack: (Gotta stay away from the bigger interstates–THAT one’s probably got some remote control cars and if the virus got THOSE…)

[At least there wasn’t any traffic here…so far.]

Jack: (OK, time to think, Jack…)

Jack: (Miss Eight’s gonna go after her own brother–but WHERE could he be is the question…)

Jack: (Seven, Seven…)

Jack: (Brandish, sword guy. He can cut ANYTHING, they say. Oh, man…)

[Seeing as he had little to go on, Jack once again turned on the radio. News reports were flooding airwaves at last as he kept driving onwards–they were mostly damage reports and warnings…]

Jack: (Nothing new there…)

Jack: (Come ON, there has to be SOMETHING–Anything–!)

“Robots are still going berserk across the country–”

Click.

“We implore any fleeing civilians to please be safe and stay away from–”

“–Susan if you can hear this PLEASE CALL ME WE’RE SO WORRIED–”

“–We have confirmation of havoc caused by a rouge robot directly attacking–”

“CherryDynamics has confirmed that communications have been restored–”

Jack: (–!!)

Jack: Wait what was that–

Click.

“–Highway Alpha 6 is under attack, I repeat, Highway Alpha 6 is under attack–Eyewitnesses have spotted a rouge robot destroying vehicles with no regard to innocent life–”

Jack: …?

“We have reports that the rouge robot is armed with bladed weapons and is currently in the Four Corners area–”

Jack: –!!!

Jack: (Wow–that HAS to be the most luck I’ve gotten in all this…)

Jack: (It’s gotta be Seven–gotta be…!)

[Four Corners…that wasn’t TOO far from here…]

Jack: (Wherever she is–she’s probably heading there now, if she isn’t already–)

Jack: (I hope this thing can handle going a hu–)

[KEERRRRRRRK–]

Jack: ……

Jack: YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME–

[…..That sound–and the smoke coming from the bottom of the hood certainly weren’t very good signs.]

[It was official–]

[Jack had the worst luck in the entire world, and he was not afraid of screaming his frustration into the steering wheel.]

Jack: (Why–WHY.)

[After sitting in despair for a couple of minutes, Jack stepped out of the truck, slammed the door, and walked to the smoking engine.]

[A BLAST of black soot and heat pounded his face.]

Jack: Uuuugh, please let it not be the battery…

[…Nope, wasn’t the battery at all.]

[It was the cooling system–he ran out of water.]

Jack: (Greaaaaat, it overheated…)

Jack: (Guess I gotta fix it–though, where am I gonna get some water…?)

Jack: (First there was too MUCH of it back in Seattle and now there’s not enough…tch…)

Jack: (Uuugh, let’s see, let’s see–)

[He scours the back, but no such luck. Eventually, he decides to check the cooler that was given to him.]

Jack: (…! Yes…! Some gallons–nice and cool, too, okay…)

[Once again popping open the hood, he starts pouring in the water, looking over anything else he needs to fix…]

Jack: (Fuel line looks OK, battery is good…)

[……]

[Virrrrrrrr…]

Jack: …?

[What was that noise…?]

[VIRRRRRR…..]

Jack: …..!

[In the distance, he could JUST make out a few vehicles heading this way–at a rather fast pace, actually.]

Jack: (Huh…)

Jack: (Wonder if they’re from Seattle too–)

[TH-WANG!]

Jack: –?!?

[Was that–]

[TH-WHAG!]

Jack: (G-Gunfire!)

[One of the bullets managed to stray off and hit the hood of the truck, causing Jack to yelp in terror.]

Jack: (Are–Are they shooting AT me??)

Jack: (Oh my God what did I DO–)

[With no desire to find out, Jack slammed the hood down and scrambled for the wheel, quickly putting on his seat belt and–]

[CHRRRRRR–]

Jack: (Come on START ALREADY–!!)

[TH-WANG!]

[Another shot bounced off the roof of the car–!]

[The engine turned over at last–]

Jack: (FINALLY THANK YOU–)

[He FLOORS it, back on the road, adjusting his rearview mirror in order to spot the shooters in the vehicles behind him–which were catching up FAST.]

Jack: …. Wait a sec–

[Were those… motorcycles? ]

Jack: Nonono–

[A group of about 7 motorcycles, of all kinds, tearing though the highway at speeds that FAR exceeded the legal limit. Gunfire rang out into the sky, as well as the asphalt around Jack’s stolen truck.]

Jack: (CRAP, THEY’RE GONNA SHOOT OUT THE TIRES–)

Jack: (I gotta outrun them–no WAY am I gonna get pulled over and mugged by some motor gang–!)

Jack:(Not when I’m this close…!)

Jack: (Alright, weird, magic bag that I still don’t have any idea how you work–)

Jack: (Do you got ANYTHING that can help me deal with these guys…??)

[Jack drove unsteadily, swerving with one hand on the wheel as he rummaged in the bag blindly with the other. He somehow reached past the cooler—as he flicked his hand, something new would come within reach each time.]

[Okay… there was the cooler, the lantern, the bedding stuff, some sort of first-aid kit, some… feathers? (Huh?)]

Jack: …..

Jack: (What the fraaaag–?? What IS that–)

Jack: (Something–cool…and–)

Jack: OW–ow what was that–?? (Feels like I pricked myself–??)

[Then he grasped what seemed to be a squishy disc. It sure seemed to be giving off a lot of heat, though…]

Jack: (….E-Ew–)

[After glancing backwards and wincing a bit at the gunfire around him, Jack pulls out the squishy-like disk….]

Jack: …..-Sniff…?-

Jack: Oil…?

Jack: …

Jack: ….!

[Oil–!]

[If he threw it out the window just right–]

[VIRRRRRRRRRRRRR–!!]

“GET ‘EM, BOYS–!”

Jack: (SCRAPSCRAPSCRAP–)

[With one swift movement, Jack looked out the window–the glass was already down–and threw the sticky disk far out behind him!]

Jack: (Hope this works—!!)

[The rush of speed-created wind practically ripped the disc out of his hands. As the pursuers were not that far behind, there was no way it could miss. And indeed—]

-SPACK!-

[—It splattered all across the ground, running oil all over the road—]

“OH SH–”

“[FRAAAAAG–]”

“WHA–”

[C R A S H–!!!]

[And then said oil caught on FIRE.]

Jack: …..

Jack: (OH MY GOD.)

Jack: UM–

Jack: SORRYYYY!

[The motor gang had slipped on the oil, crashed into each other–and was now trying to put out the flames from their clothes and rides. They cursed after Jack as he sped away, leaving them in his dust.]

Jack: (Iiiii really hope the bikes don’t explode or anything–)

[B O O M !]

Jack: -SWERVES-

Jack: HOLY FRAG–

Jack: Oh my God I made them explode–

Jack: What in the HELL IS IN THIS MAGIC BAG?!

Jack: When I drive far enough I am gonna really look through this thing, darn it–

Jack: (I really hope those guys are OK oh man–)

Jack: Frag frag now I have oil flare things and who knows what in the truck–great–just what I needed–

Jack: Lord Almighty–Miss Eight why can’t you just call me or something, so I at least know you’re alive or something–anything–

[The CDN continued to grumble, fidget, and slightly panic as he turned into the interstate–Highway  Alpha 12.]

[…They said that Seven was in Alpha 6, much further ahead…]

[This was gonna take a while.]

Jack: (Almost there, Miss Eight…)

Jack: (Just–a little further…!)

Jack: (Just a little more and then…)

Jack: ……

Jack: …..

[…And then?]

[He didn’t think he’d get this far.]

[What was he gonna do IF Kate WASN’T well at all?]

[What chance did he have against the world’s best assassin?]

[The world’s best hunter gone completely MAD?]

Jack: …

Jack: (…She’s…gonna try to kill me, isn’t she?)

Jack: (Hell, SIX didn’t have ANY problem with air striking his own little brother…)

Jack: (If I get in her way…)

Jack: …….

[He really didn’t want to think on it, but he couldn’t help but picture it. He’d already felt the brush of death once before….]

Jack: ……..

Jack: (…God, Miss Eight would never forgive herself if–if she…)

Jack: …

Jack: “No one has greater love than this…”

Jack: …

Jack: (…I…I think I get what you were trying to do now, Bird Guy…)

Jack: (Jeez…)

Jack: (You’d BETTER come back alive, too…)

[He floors it.]

Jack: (I don’t think either of them would forgive themselves if we kicked the bucket and it’s by THEIR own hands…)

Jack: (….)

Jack: (…Never had good odds.)

Jack: (Never had real good luck.)

Jack: (But I think, for once, I’d like to beat those odds.)

Jack: (I’ll DRAG Miss Eight back if I have to–!)

Jack: (Dying–that’s not an option.)

Jack: (Not for me OR her…!)

Jack: (I don’t care if you’ll try and shoot me dead–)

Jack: (I can’t…I can’t let you do this…!)

Jack: (I won’t LET you!)

——————————

{MEANWHILE…}

[She grinned as she walked away from the scene.

Sure, it hadn’t been her cause, but still. He deserved it.

She hadn’t even given Gravecrasher the honor of one of her lipstick darts. Let him be another nameless victim, for all she cared.

He had paid his dues, and danced /oh/ so well.

It was time to continue elsewhere.]

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My third default option seems to be ‘sass’.

Cardinal when he’s in yet another life or death situation. (via limitbreakers)

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