Hymn of Harmony (Worm/Ar Tonelico Crossover Alt Trigger Taylor) (Complete)
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Fourth Arc 4.8
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Hymn of Harmony
or Melody of Escalation
Fourth Arc 4.8
-The Docks-
"Whatever idiot got the bright idea to point Mush at the junkyard is gonna fuckin' die. I'm not lying. They're gonna fuckin' die." Shadow Stalker swore angrily at the sight of the enormous Merchant cape. He wasn't normally so big, but the idea that he went to the junkyard first wasn't a stupid one. Mush had the ability to extend his nerves and tendons into trash to create a golem of garbage. Somebody had the brilliant thought that even broken down cars and trucks counted as garbage. Now the cape was enormous and covered in far more durable materials than normal. Tattletale couldn't blame Stalker for being pissed. Super Mush was bad enough, but the other Merchant capes were here as well. Her and SS were watching the mobilization at the Docks from a concealed vantage point. A set of cheap walkie talkies kept them in touch with the rest of the team who were also hidden.
"I know this looks bad. We're just going to observe them for awhile and decide how to proceed." Tattletale soothed the angry girl. Stalker sighed exasperatedly, but subsided. The blonde was busy looking over the enemy forces. Inwardly she grimaced at the phrasing, but it was apt. Someone had taken the time to train the Merchants. They weren't Special Forces, or even Hogan's Heroes, but they were generally more competent. Skidmark was identifiable by his armor missing a helmet, but the mask was replaced by a black visor. His complexion was better than she was used to seeing and he held himself better, but the foul cape was still as crass as ever. Whoever gave the Merchants a makeover apparently skipped his language skills.
Squealer looked cleaner and healthier overall as well. She was wearing a skintight bodysuit with armored plating over critical points and was astride some nightmare machine. It looked like a Magitek Armor from Final Fantasy VI in the promotion art. The thing was bigger than one of Bitch's dogs at full size with suspiciously familiar weapon systems. Tattletale grimaced as she recognized the unmistakable sight of Aria's own sonic blasters, but many times larger. Squealer apparently could plagiarize quite nicely.
"TT? What's the plan?" Grue asked. He could see the same thing that she did and knew this was not a fight they could win. Their chances dropped even further when Trainwreck arrived. Merchants in Tinker power armor, Tinker super weapons, and competence? This had disaster written all over.
"We have to withdraw." Tattletale felt terrible saying it, but their safety had to take precedence. Fighting the Merchants with the odds as they were was suicide. She knew the team wouldn't be happy about that, but there was nothing else they could do. The choice not to act was taken from them however as Skidmark answered his phone. They weren't close enough to listen in, but with his mouth exposed Tattletale could read his lips.
"What's going on?" Stalker asked her quietly. The blonde cape grimaced at what she was seeing. His posture was eager. He just heard something that sounded good to him. Readiness. From what he was saying it was clear they were just given the go ahead for whatever it was they were doing. Wait. Given the go ahead? Suddenly it made sense why Coil wouldn't want them to harass the Merchants anymore. He was using them. All of that Tinker gear would have been a big tip off, but with how good they looked? It was just as logical that they had made quite a haul with the ABB territory up for grabs. She knew differently, however.
"They've been given the go ahead. This isn't independent action. Our employer is having the Merchants cause a ruckus." It grated at her that she was here and not out looking for Aria. She knew that everyone with a pulse at the PRT was looking for her, but Tattletale felt like doing more. The last message she heard from her friend was Coil's true identity. Unfortunately hunting down that lead would have to wait. If what she suspected was true than it explained how he was getting away with so much. This diversion was just to keep people from looking for the Tinker.
"It looks like there are dockworkers leaving work today." Regent said from his vantage point. Her and Shadow Stalker were on a building away from the immediate fray. Regent, Imp, and Bitch were holding position closer to the Dockworkers' Association offices. Grue and Browbeat were waiting at a point equidistant to the other two positions. It was deemed a good idea at the time as the ability to harass the Merchants on three fronts was solid reasoning. Bitch had her dogs here, but had only grown them enough to warm up her power.
"Let's do this then. Bitch? Forget stealth. Make your dogs grow. I'll lay down my darkness then Browbeat charges straight up the middle to take out Skidmark. Regent and Imp? Evacuate the civilians. Tattletale and Shadow Stalker hold your position. Stalker? Try to take out Squealer since she's sitting right on top of that thing." Grue sketched out the plan with an air of professionalism. He was in his element as their leader and commander.
"Got it." Regent confirmed while Bitch snarled in the background 'About fuckin' time.' That got a couple laughs from them and took away some of the tension.
"I'm contacting the PRT now." Tattletale informed them. She called the PRT and told them to trace her call. The agent on the line took her seriously which cut down the time spent. She had another idea that just might work. Better than just sitting on her ass at any rate.
"What are you doing?" Stalker asked impatiently. She was keeping watch as the Merchants finished psyching themselves up and started their haphazard march on the goal. Their own team was out there getting into position. They would need the element of surprise to make it through this fight until the PRT arrived.
"A little insurance. Hopefully it works." She didn't want to elaborate on what was done. Tattletale sent a private message to Uber and Leet with footage of the situation. If they were responsible for Dragonzord then this was the best way to get some added firepower. She had no reason to believe the guess was wrong either. Once the action down below had started they would move into position themselves. They just had to wait for the right time.
"Here we go..." Shadow Stalker was using the binoculars to keep an eye on the action. "Okay, Bitch moved the dogs behind a storage container. Regent's heading for the yard and..." She groaned. "Whatever...I can't think of who else was with them. I think they were headed for the offices." Imp's ability didn't work as well on Tattletale anymore, but it was still effective on her. She at least could remember Imp, but telling where she had gone was a different story.
"Okay...Grue's on the fire escape. Very good...he's letting the smoke build up in the alleyway first..." The blonde hummed thoughtfully as she kept watch and waited for the signal. Their plan called for Shock and Awe. Hit them from multiple fronts and hopefully cause their troops to panic. They would start to move once Bitch's dogs were the right size. She was cautiously optimistic about their chances. The Merchants were almost to the building, their armored thugs leading the way. There was no hesitation or wariness in their steps. She bit her lip lightly. The people hadn't been evacuated yet from what could be seen. Suddenly the sounds of furious barking could be heard and it never sounded so beautiful as creatures from a nightmare bounded towards the flat-footed gang members.
"Let's move." Shadow Stalker put the binoculars away as she hustled off to get a better vantage point with Tattletale right behind her. Squealer was still in the back of the gathering with Skidmark riding on the shoulder of the mech. If he stayed up there then Browbeat would have to actually fight the thing and the plan didn't call for that. Hopefully by taking out Squealer it would stop the machine. The Merchant Tinker's body language was cocky and prideful. She was hot shit and she knew it from atop her machine. Tattletale was practically willing the leader of the Merchants to hop down.
"The smoke is moving in. The Merchants are still in disarray." Tattletale noted with relief. The swiftly moving Hellhounds were hard to pin down as the suits were too responsive. They were taking the weight of armor into account, but with enhanced musculature it just meant that they were firing wildly. Mush and Trainwreck had already taken several shots to the limbs before the withdrew from the main battle.
"What the fuck are you asslickers even doin'!? Stop tryin' to shoot the fuckers and just shoot 'em!" Skidmark yelled loud enough for them to hear from their vantage point. Apparently yelling doesn't make your men shoot better when they're freaking out. Who knew? Unfortunately that state wouldn't last long once they realized that even though the dogs were bowling them over it just wasn't hurting them. The smoke wafted out far enough as to completely obscure the mouth of the alley, but the Merchants had moved too far away for it to cover an approach.
"Shit...that's not good. Skidmark's aiming his gun that way." Shadow Stalker noted tensely. She turned back to her own target, but the stiffness in her shoulders betrayed her worry. The issue was solved by a hurled dumpster that sailed in blatant defiance of gravity. Skidmark simply shot at it with his rifle, but didn't take into account the size of the object he was aiming at. It burst into heated fragments and chunks. Browbeat used the distraction from the smoke and garbage to charge straight for the leader of the Merchants.
"There he goes." Tattletale said tersely. The fake out was a good one. Squealer was even turning in her seat to see what was going on, torn between watching the literal dog fight and her boyfriend. Stalker lined up her shot and let fly. The powerful Tinker made crossbow firing it's bolt straight and true right through a holographic projection.
"Shit!" Stalker snarled. The projection vanished as the machine turned in the direction of the rooftop observers. Tattletale suddenly grabbed Shadow Stalker and started yanking her frantically for the fire escape. The former Ward didn't need to be told twice as a horrific sound started up. A bass toned note was swelling gradually with dark purpose. They made it to the fire escape just as the sound suddenly went from bass to the screeching wail of an air raid siren. The sonic emitters in her mech were magnitudes stronger than Aria's as it effortlessly pounded the building they were on into rubble. Stalker held Tattletale close and leaped from the fire escape. By some miracle the blast wave carried them both to the next rooftop over, but neither of them were in a position to appreciate their good fortune.
The howling weapon had robbed her of all hearing. Tattletale rolled over painfully as the worst headache she had ever experienced pounded away in her skull. She checked on Shadow Stalker who was already starting to move and with greater ease. Her Breaker state must have saved her from the sound waves. She managed to gather from Stalker's posture that something bad had just happened. The currently reeling cape was helped up to look at the scene and nearly recoiled at the sight. That wasn't a weapon. It was a disaster. The Merchant armors were blown about like matchsticks, Mush and Trainwreck were on their backs with pieces missing, and Skidmark was nowhere to be seen. Bitch's dogs were laying in motionless heaps. If she hadn't seen them twitch Tattletale would have thought them killed, but their enhancements saved their lives probably. Browbeat was also down for the count. The Brute was already starting to move, but he was clearly injured. Her eyes swept to the building full of people they had tried to protect, but couldn't tell if everyone had been evacuated. Shadow Stalker waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention.
"Regent, Imp, and Bitch are two streets over. Grue's with them." She had her mask up and mouthed it very carefully. "The Dockworkers are shaken up, but alive." The blonde sagged against the other girl in relief. Stalker stiffened briefly, but returned the hug. This wasn't a safe place, but it was safer than down there. Now they just had to find a way to get Browbeat and the dogs out of there. Her hearing was coming back slowly, but the terrible ringing wasn't going away. She heard as if from a great distance Stalker's exclamation that the PRT had arrived. About damn time was the uncharitable thought. Browbeat was there one moment and the next gone before reappearing some distance from the battlefield with Velocity beside him. The armored agents were moving the dogs to a safer distance. There were three active Merchant capes. Squealer in her mech, Robo Mush, and Trainwreck. Well two and a half. The cyborg cape was clearly punch drunk from the sonic attack and with Mush how could you tell?
"There's Assault going toe-to-toe with Mush with Battery handling Trainwreck. Dauntless is attacking the mech directly. Velocity is helping to round up the Merchants with the PRT armors." Tattletale looked the scene over. The missing Skidmark was bothering her. He could have escaped, but that blast hit everything. She could see the devastation down below. If you weren't a Brute or enhanced then it would be impossible to walk away from that. The PRT agents were providing fire support as Assault recklessly attacked the trash cape. With each hit the Merchant cape staggered back, but refused to fall. The beams were more trouble for him, but they were being careful to not accidentally kill him. Battery was having a much easier time as she simply grabbed Trainwreck by one massive arm and tossed him bodily at Mush. The impact sending both capes to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Dauntless was knocking the mech back with his Arclance with audible zaps on contact, but the machine was still standing. A thin shimmering force field was blunting the attacks. The barrier flared brightly with each hit, but refused to fall.
"Let's get out of here. We've done what we could. The PRT will take in Browbeat and the dogs for treatment. We can get them later." Shadow Stalker made sure that Tattletale was facing her as she spoke. The blonde hated leaving anyone behind, but their part in this was over. The civilians were evacuated and the Merchants were about to be taken down as well. That menacing sound suddenly started up again.
"Dammit no!" She spun to look in horror as the mech started to build up for another sound blast. There was no way the PRT or the Protectorate could get away from the epicenter. Squealer clearly didn't even care who she hurt. Stalker tried to get her to run, but sick fear had stuck her feet to the ground. The emitters vibrated ominously. Dauntless, Assault, and Battery were throwing everything they had at the mech as the agents attempted to withdraw. Just the memory of a near miss was making her weak in the knees. A sound, however, rode over the hateful noise. The sound of an iconic flute and a world shattering roar.
"You called in the fuckin' Dragonzord!?" Stalker cried out in amazement. The saurian mech moved quickly despite it's size and brought it's massive claws down on the similarly sized mech. There was a distressed snap as the field collapsed from the force of the combined blows of the heroes and the titanic machine. Dauntless jammed the Arclance into one of the emitters before flying into the air rapidly. The Dragonzord grabbed the remaining heroes and used his body to shield them as they hurried away from ground zero. Shadow Stalker was hustling us to the fire escape down. As much as she wanted to see the remainder of the action, self preservation trumped curiousity. The emitters gave off a subsonic whine before a titanic explosion rocked the area.
"Couldn't have happened to nicer people." Tattletale remarked in the shocked silence.
"Mush and Trainwreck were right there. Squealer was inside of that thing. Skidmark got blown away by his own girlfriend. Think the Dragonzord's okay?" It was telling that the girls were more worried about the fate of a thirty foot tall engine of destruction. Granted it saved the city twice.
"It stood up to Super Lung." That was all that needed to be said. They would have to get Browbeat out of the hospital and find Bitch's dogs at whatever kennel they were taken to, but that was a minor issue. It wasn't like the PRT was going to be holding their teammates that securely. That was for tomorrow though. Today they would go home and nurse their wounds. Especially the ache in their skulls.
Damn Tinkers couldn't even make a better painkiller.
-Coil's Base-
Squealer grit her teeth, but said nothing as the last image the mech's camera caught was the inside of the cockpit just before it exploded. You don't just turn off feelings of love for someone even if it was based on chemical dependency. It wasn't Coil's idea to use a cybernetic body double of Skidmark or use a hologram of herself projected from the base. With the drugs cleared from her system she was free to actually think. Did she know that the mech would be destroyed? Of course not. It was built sturdier than anything else she had ever built because Skidmark was in the machine. She didn't want to be with him anymore, but she didn't want him dead either. Though the mech had done very well. Through the eyes of the security cameras that LiveWire was patched into she could see the devastation it caused. Buildings were destroyed in an instant by turning that little girl's own sonic emitters into real weapons. Even the explosion was huge. Mush and Trainwreck were a loss she would feel later, but right now collecting data was more important.
Coil was funding a rather large lab for her work. Nothing was cut rate. Everything was top of the line and in the best shape. The Merchants had more money than most realized, but being stoned out of your mind most of the time was a bad state to buy tools. These armors and mechs were what she could build with a clear head and actual funding. The girl whose tech she was having fun with was now in the base. A recent acquisition as the guy called her. If she was smart then she'd get with the program. You either worked for Coil or ended up dead. Frankly she wasn't worried about winding up dead since the work agreed with her.
The sight of the Dragonzord sent shivers down her spine, but also pissed her off. It was obviously Leet's. The reject liked his games and toys. What would be the biggest toy on the playground? Dragonzord. For a pair of goof offs like Uber and Leet the continued success of the Power Ranger inspired thing was unheard of. Normally Leet's shit blew up long before now.
"You want to build something great? Pfft...I'll show you greatness, dumbass." She approached the hangar where her own mighty creation was taking shape. It wasn't the most original design, but those assholes wanted to bring a dragon to the Bay? She would bring a saurian nightmare to the field. The smooth head of polished bluish silver metal with bright yellow optics stared out of the darkness. A familiar body matched the coloration of the head. There was no part of this killer machine that wasn't weaponized. She sneered wickedly.
"Wait until they meet Mecha Godzilla."
AN: Another chapter down and I'm rather satisfied with it. Next chapter is an interlude before moving on to the next day of Aria's imprisonment. I'm all fired up!
or Melody of Escalation
Fourth Arc 4.8
-The Docks-
"Whatever idiot got the bright idea to point Mush at the junkyard is gonna fuckin' die. I'm not lying. They're gonna fuckin' die." Shadow Stalker swore angrily at the sight of the enormous Merchant cape. He wasn't normally so big, but the idea that he went to the junkyard first wasn't a stupid one. Mush had the ability to extend his nerves and tendons into trash to create a golem of garbage. Somebody had the brilliant thought that even broken down cars and trucks counted as garbage. Now the cape was enormous and covered in far more durable materials than normal. Tattletale couldn't blame Stalker for being pissed. Super Mush was bad enough, but the other Merchant capes were here as well. Her and SS were watching the mobilization at the Docks from a concealed vantage point. A set of cheap walkie talkies kept them in touch with the rest of the team who were also hidden.
"I know this looks bad. We're just going to observe them for awhile and decide how to proceed." Tattletale soothed the angry girl. Stalker sighed exasperatedly, but subsided. The blonde was busy looking over the enemy forces. Inwardly she grimaced at the phrasing, but it was apt. Someone had taken the time to train the Merchants. They weren't Special Forces, or even Hogan's Heroes, but they were generally more competent. Skidmark was identifiable by his armor missing a helmet, but the mask was replaced by a black visor. His complexion was better than she was used to seeing and he held himself better, but the foul cape was still as crass as ever. Whoever gave the Merchants a makeover apparently skipped his language skills.
Squealer looked cleaner and healthier overall as well. She was wearing a skintight bodysuit with armored plating over critical points and was astride some nightmare machine. It looked like a Magitek Armor from Final Fantasy VI in the promotion art. The thing was bigger than one of Bitch's dogs at full size with suspiciously familiar weapon systems. Tattletale grimaced as she recognized the unmistakable sight of Aria's own sonic blasters, but many times larger. Squealer apparently could plagiarize quite nicely.
"TT? What's the plan?" Grue asked. He could see the same thing that she did and knew this was not a fight they could win. Their chances dropped even further when Trainwreck arrived. Merchants in Tinker power armor, Tinker super weapons, and competence? This had disaster written all over.
"We have to withdraw." Tattletale felt terrible saying it, but their safety had to take precedence. Fighting the Merchants with the odds as they were was suicide. She knew the team wouldn't be happy about that, but there was nothing else they could do. The choice not to act was taken from them however as Skidmark answered his phone. They weren't close enough to listen in, but with his mouth exposed Tattletale could read his lips.
"What's going on?" Stalker asked her quietly. The blonde cape grimaced at what she was seeing. His posture was eager. He just heard something that sounded good to him. Readiness. From what he was saying it was clear they were just given the go ahead for whatever it was they were doing. Wait. Given the go ahead? Suddenly it made sense why Coil wouldn't want them to harass the Merchants anymore. He was using them. All of that Tinker gear would have been a big tip off, but with how good they looked? It was just as logical that they had made quite a haul with the ABB territory up for grabs. She knew differently, however.
"They've been given the go ahead. This isn't independent action. Our employer is having the Merchants cause a ruckus." It grated at her that she was here and not out looking for Aria. She knew that everyone with a pulse at the PRT was looking for her, but Tattletale felt like doing more. The last message she heard from her friend was Coil's true identity. Unfortunately hunting down that lead would have to wait. If what she suspected was true than it explained how he was getting away with so much. This diversion was just to keep people from looking for the Tinker.
"It looks like there are dockworkers leaving work today." Regent said from his vantage point. Her and Shadow Stalker were on a building away from the immediate fray. Regent, Imp, and Bitch were holding position closer to the Dockworkers' Association offices. Grue and Browbeat were waiting at a point equidistant to the other two positions. It was deemed a good idea at the time as the ability to harass the Merchants on three fronts was solid reasoning. Bitch had her dogs here, but had only grown them enough to warm up her power.
"Let's do this then. Bitch? Forget stealth. Make your dogs grow. I'll lay down my darkness then Browbeat charges straight up the middle to take out Skidmark. Regent and Imp? Evacuate the civilians. Tattletale and Shadow Stalker hold your position. Stalker? Try to take out Squealer since she's sitting right on top of that thing." Grue sketched out the plan with an air of professionalism. He was in his element as their leader and commander.
"Got it." Regent confirmed while Bitch snarled in the background 'About fuckin' time.' That got a couple laughs from them and took away some of the tension.
"I'm contacting the PRT now." Tattletale informed them. She called the PRT and told them to trace her call. The agent on the line took her seriously which cut down the time spent. She had another idea that just might work. Better than just sitting on her ass at any rate.
"What are you doing?" Stalker asked impatiently. She was keeping watch as the Merchants finished psyching themselves up and started their haphazard march on the goal. Their own team was out there getting into position. They would need the element of surprise to make it through this fight until the PRT arrived.
"A little insurance. Hopefully it works." She didn't want to elaborate on what was done. Tattletale sent a private message to Uber and Leet with footage of the situation. If they were responsible for Dragonzord then this was the best way to get some added firepower. She had no reason to believe the guess was wrong either. Once the action down below had started they would move into position themselves. They just had to wait for the right time.
"Here we go..." Shadow Stalker was using the binoculars to keep an eye on the action. "Okay, Bitch moved the dogs behind a storage container. Regent's heading for the yard and..." She groaned. "Whatever...I can't think of who else was with them. I think they were headed for the offices." Imp's ability didn't work as well on Tattletale anymore, but it was still effective on her. She at least could remember Imp, but telling where she had gone was a different story.
"Okay...Grue's on the fire escape. Very good...he's letting the smoke build up in the alleyway first..." The blonde hummed thoughtfully as she kept watch and waited for the signal. Their plan called for Shock and Awe. Hit them from multiple fronts and hopefully cause their troops to panic. They would start to move once Bitch's dogs were the right size. She was cautiously optimistic about their chances. The Merchants were almost to the building, their armored thugs leading the way. There was no hesitation or wariness in their steps. She bit her lip lightly. The people hadn't been evacuated yet from what could be seen. Suddenly the sounds of furious barking could be heard and it never sounded so beautiful as creatures from a nightmare bounded towards the flat-footed gang members.
"Let's move." Shadow Stalker put the binoculars away as she hustled off to get a better vantage point with Tattletale right behind her. Squealer was still in the back of the gathering with Skidmark riding on the shoulder of the mech. If he stayed up there then Browbeat would have to actually fight the thing and the plan didn't call for that. Hopefully by taking out Squealer it would stop the machine. The Merchant Tinker's body language was cocky and prideful. She was hot shit and she knew it from atop her machine. Tattletale was practically willing the leader of the Merchants to hop down.
"The smoke is moving in. The Merchants are still in disarray." Tattletale noted with relief. The swiftly moving Hellhounds were hard to pin down as the suits were too responsive. They were taking the weight of armor into account, but with enhanced musculature it just meant that they were firing wildly. Mush and Trainwreck had already taken several shots to the limbs before the withdrew from the main battle.
"What the fuck are you asslickers even doin'!? Stop tryin' to shoot the fuckers and just shoot 'em!" Skidmark yelled loud enough for them to hear from their vantage point. Apparently yelling doesn't make your men shoot better when they're freaking out. Who knew? Unfortunately that state wouldn't last long once they realized that even though the dogs were bowling them over it just wasn't hurting them. The smoke wafted out far enough as to completely obscure the mouth of the alley, but the Merchants had moved too far away for it to cover an approach.
"Shit...that's not good. Skidmark's aiming his gun that way." Shadow Stalker noted tensely. She turned back to her own target, but the stiffness in her shoulders betrayed her worry. The issue was solved by a hurled dumpster that sailed in blatant defiance of gravity. Skidmark simply shot at it with his rifle, but didn't take into account the size of the object he was aiming at. It burst into heated fragments and chunks. Browbeat used the distraction from the smoke and garbage to charge straight for the leader of the Merchants.
"There he goes." Tattletale said tersely. The fake out was a good one. Squealer was even turning in her seat to see what was going on, torn between watching the literal dog fight and her boyfriend. Stalker lined up her shot and let fly. The powerful Tinker made crossbow firing it's bolt straight and true right through a holographic projection.
"Shit!" Stalker snarled. The projection vanished as the machine turned in the direction of the rooftop observers. Tattletale suddenly grabbed Shadow Stalker and started yanking her frantically for the fire escape. The former Ward didn't need to be told twice as a horrific sound started up. A bass toned note was swelling gradually with dark purpose. They made it to the fire escape just as the sound suddenly went from bass to the screeching wail of an air raid siren. The sonic emitters in her mech were magnitudes stronger than Aria's as it effortlessly pounded the building they were on into rubble. Stalker held Tattletale close and leaped from the fire escape. By some miracle the blast wave carried them both to the next rooftop over, but neither of them were in a position to appreciate their good fortune.
The howling weapon had robbed her of all hearing. Tattletale rolled over painfully as the worst headache she had ever experienced pounded away in her skull. She checked on Shadow Stalker who was already starting to move and with greater ease. Her Breaker state must have saved her from the sound waves. She managed to gather from Stalker's posture that something bad had just happened. The currently reeling cape was helped up to look at the scene and nearly recoiled at the sight. That wasn't a weapon. It was a disaster. The Merchant armors were blown about like matchsticks, Mush and Trainwreck were on their backs with pieces missing, and Skidmark was nowhere to be seen. Bitch's dogs were laying in motionless heaps. If she hadn't seen them twitch Tattletale would have thought them killed, but their enhancements saved their lives probably. Browbeat was also down for the count. The Brute was already starting to move, but he was clearly injured. Her eyes swept to the building full of people they had tried to protect, but couldn't tell if everyone had been evacuated. Shadow Stalker waved a hand in front of her face to get her attention.
"Regent, Imp, and Bitch are two streets over. Grue's with them." She had her mask up and mouthed it very carefully. "The Dockworkers are shaken up, but alive." The blonde sagged against the other girl in relief. Stalker stiffened briefly, but returned the hug. This wasn't a safe place, but it was safer than down there. Now they just had to find a way to get Browbeat and the dogs out of there. Her hearing was coming back slowly, but the terrible ringing wasn't going away. She heard as if from a great distance Stalker's exclamation that the PRT had arrived. About damn time was the uncharitable thought. Browbeat was there one moment and the next gone before reappearing some distance from the battlefield with Velocity beside him. The armored agents were moving the dogs to a safer distance. There were three active Merchant capes. Squealer in her mech, Robo Mush, and Trainwreck. Well two and a half. The cyborg cape was clearly punch drunk from the sonic attack and with Mush how could you tell?
"There's Assault going toe-to-toe with Mush with Battery handling Trainwreck. Dauntless is attacking the mech directly. Velocity is helping to round up the Merchants with the PRT armors." Tattletale looked the scene over. The missing Skidmark was bothering her. He could have escaped, but that blast hit everything. She could see the devastation down below. If you weren't a Brute or enhanced then it would be impossible to walk away from that. The PRT agents were providing fire support as Assault recklessly attacked the trash cape. With each hit the Merchant cape staggered back, but refused to fall. The beams were more trouble for him, but they were being careful to not accidentally kill him. Battery was having a much easier time as she simply grabbed Trainwreck by one massive arm and tossed him bodily at Mush. The impact sending both capes to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Dauntless was knocking the mech back with his Arclance with audible zaps on contact, but the machine was still standing. A thin shimmering force field was blunting the attacks. The barrier flared brightly with each hit, but refused to fall.
"Let's get out of here. We've done what we could. The PRT will take in Browbeat and the dogs for treatment. We can get them later." Shadow Stalker made sure that Tattletale was facing her as she spoke. The blonde hated leaving anyone behind, but their part in this was over. The civilians were evacuated and the Merchants were about to be taken down as well. That menacing sound suddenly started up again.
"Dammit no!" She spun to look in horror as the mech started to build up for another sound blast. There was no way the PRT or the Protectorate could get away from the epicenter. Squealer clearly didn't even care who she hurt. Stalker tried to get her to run, but sick fear had stuck her feet to the ground. The emitters vibrated ominously. Dauntless, Assault, and Battery were throwing everything they had at the mech as the agents attempted to withdraw. Just the memory of a near miss was making her weak in the knees. A sound, however, rode over the hateful noise. The sound of an iconic flute and a world shattering roar.
"You called in the fuckin' Dragonzord!?" Stalker cried out in amazement. The saurian mech moved quickly despite it's size and brought it's massive claws down on the similarly sized mech. There was a distressed snap as the field collapsed from the force of the combined blows of the heroes and the titanic machine. Dauntless jammed the Arclance into one of the emitters before flying into the air rapidly. The Dragonzord grabbed the remaining heroes and used his body to shield them as they hurried away from ground zero. Shadow Stalker was hustling us to the fire escape down. As much as she wanted to see the remainder of the action, self preservation trumped curiousity. The emitters gave off a subsonic whine before a titanic explosion rocked the area.
"Couldn't have happened to nicer people." Tattletale remarked in the shocked silence.
"Mush and Trainwreck were right there. Squealer was inside of that thing. Skidmark got blown away by his own girlfriend. Think the Dragonzord's okay?" It was telling that the girls were more worried about the fate of a thirty foot tall engine of destruction. Granted it saved the city twice.
"It stood up to Super Lung." That was all that needed to be said. They would have to get Browbeat out of the hospital and find Bitch's dogs at whatever kennel they were taken to, but that was a minor issue. It wasn't like the PRT was going to be holding their teammates that securely. That was for tomorrow though. Today they would go home and nurse their wounds. Especially the ache in their skulls.
Damn Tinkers couldn't even make a better painkiller.
-Coil's Base-
Squealer grit her teeth, but said nothing as the last image the mech's camera caught was the inside of the cockpit just before it exploded. You don't just turn off feelings of love for someone even if it was based on chemical dependency. It wasn't Coil's idea to use a cybernetic body double of Skidmark or use a hologram of herself projected from the base. With the drugs cleared from her system she was free to actually think. Did she know that the mech would be destroyed? Of course not. It was built sturdier than anything else she had ever built because Skidmark was in the machine. She didn't want to be with him anymore, but she didn't want him dead either. Though the mech had done very well. Through the eyes of the security cameras that LiveWire was patched into she could see the devastation it caused. Buildings were destroyed in an instant by turning that little girl's own sonic emitters into real weapons. Even the explosion was huge. Mush and Trainwreck were a loss she would feel later, but right now collecting data was more important.
Coil was funding a rather large lab for her work. Nothing was cut rate. Everything was top of the line and in the best shape. The Merchants had more money than most realized, but being stoned out of your mind most of the time was a bad state to buy tools. These armors and mechs were what she could build with a clear head and actual funding. The girl whose tech she was having fun with was now in the base. A recent acquisition as the guy called her. If she was smart then she'd get with the program. You either worked for Coil or ended up dead. Frankly she wasn't worried about winding up dead since the work agreed with her.
The sight of the Dragonzord sent shivers down her spine, but also pissed her off. It was obviously Leet's. The reject liked his games and toys. What would be the biggest toy on the playground? Dragonzord. For a pair of goof offs like Uber and Leet the continued success of the Power Ranger inspired thing was unheard of. Normally Leet's shit blew up long before now.
"You want to build something great? Pfft...I'll show you greatness, dumbass." She approached the hangar where her own mighty creation was taking shape. It wasn't the most original design, but those assholes wanted to bring a dragon to the Bay? She would bring a saurian nightmare to the field. The smooth head of polished bluish silver metal with bright yellow optics stared out of the darkness. A familiar body matched the coloration of the head. There was no part of this killer machine that wasn't weaponized. She sneered wickedly.
"Wait until they meet Mecha Godzilla."
AN: Another chapter down and I'm rather satisfied with it. Next chapter is an interlude before moving on to the next day of Aria's imprisonment. I'm all fired up!
Gee, Coil really loves his "you work for me or you don't work for anyone" plans, doesn't he?
Let's see, I think Aria's sonic emitters are going to get looked over after this whole mess, I know the Undersiders end up basically defecting, and... Oh yeah, targeting the workplace of a recently kidnapped ward? I would be suspicious of the Merchants' motives for that.
Let's see, I think Aria's sonic emitters are going to get looked over after this whole mess, I know the Undersiders end up basically defecting, and... Oh yeah, targeting the workplace of a recently kidnapped ward? I would be suspicious of the Merchants' motives for that.
Considering that this line is a character's thoughts, I'm not sure if referring to that game by its proper name is actually correct.
Despite VI being the true title of that game, the English version, the version that these characters would be familiar with, was originally released with III in its title, and was only given its proper title of VI in the less famous GBA version released years later.
Unless someone is actually a fan of the series, an American is much more likely to think of the game as Final Fantasy III.
Eh, at this point IRL, you could go either way and be correct; although it's been called 6 instead of 3 internationally ever since the Playstation 1 collections in the late 90's. Now, on Bet... Well, FF6A was released stateside in 2007, and in Japan a year earlier. So, remind me: what significant event happened in 2003, in-universe? One that would likely lead to FF6A not getting made or published? On the flip side, assuming no change from the real life timeline, we still have the PS1 version labeled as 6, so that could explain it.
Fourth Arc 4.9
- Location
- PA
Hymn of Harmony
or Melody of Escalation
Fourth Arc 4.9
-Coil's Base: Locked Room-
Waking up in a strange bed is never a pleasant feeling that's for sure. There's always the little things going through your head like asking why are you there. The bed that I woke up on was lumpy and the mattress smelled a bit stale. The weird smell wasn't helping the splitting headache I currently sported from being drugged twice in one day. My internal clock was telling me that it was very late at night, but not quite the next day yet. I finally sat up to stake a proper stock of my surroundings. The bed was a metal prison bed set in a concrete bunker chamber. There was a table that had clearly seen better days and a wooden chair sat by the wall. I attempted to extend my senses to try and find any networks in the immediate vicinity, but hit a dead end. There was nothing in my room and nothing around me that was electronic. That was worrying. There wasn't even a camera to watch me. I checked myself over and was pleased to discover that even being knocked unconscious hadn't dropped the clothing field. It had held up the first time, but I wasn't sure how it would do the second. The bastards had, however, taken my visor. Well the joke's on them since the visor's biometric scanner wouldn't allow anyone but me access. They probably pulled it open and watched the systems fry themselves. I always made sure to wear a mask under my visor to protect my identity. It wouldn't prevent the determined from figuring out who I was, but it was a nod towards the unwritten rules. Though judging by the fact Coil, or Thomas Calvert, had kidnapped me I would have to say he doesn't care about those.
"Aria? Are you awake yet?" Despedia's voice came across the chat channel. I grinned evilly. No one knew about the chat channel so they couldn't figure out a way to block the connection.
"I'm awake and my head is killing me. Can you feel where I am?" I asked and hoped the answer was yes.
"Yeah. I just need to get Granspear, Sonata, and Tattletale. She wanted to come with us as soon as we found out where you were." She informed me. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"You know where I am so why not call in more people?" If they were going to come why not get the Protectorate?
"Sonata's already calling the Rig. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, Dragon, and Mouse Protector have been waiting on stand by. Everyone else is dealing with the general insanity the Merchants created." Des sounded annoyed. I face palmed. Great. Just great.
"The Merchants huh? Awesome." I groaned.
"Naw, it's not them anymore. They just kicked over the hornet's nest. The gangs are scrambling to cover their borders. The Empire is out there trying to find Kaiser and it's making them testy. We're getting ready to head out. Don't do anything crazy." She warned.
"I have to get out of this room. As long as I'm here then they'll know right where to go to get a hostage. I have an idea for pulling that off too." The chat channel went quiet after that. I paced the room as everything was calculated and taken into consideration. The lock on the door was fairly complicated. If I did have a lock pick it wouldn't do me any good. Using my power was out given the grounding wire I could see. Since my blaster power is electrical it only makes sense that he made this door as resistant to electricity as possible. I tapped the door with my fingertips to get an idea of the composition. Okay so going straight through was clearly out.
I walked back to the bed purposefully. My power was fine, but it made a lot of noise. I had an idea that would handle the finesse required quite nicely. A search of the bed frame provided me with what I was looking for. The damp that had seeped into this room had not only mildewed some things, but rusted others. I changed the texture of the index finger on my glove using the clothing field and started filing at the rust, using my mask to catch the shavings. The things I needed were easily found from the rusty bed and the pipes. There was even a discarded aluminum foil wrapper stuffed in a corner. I wasn't MacGyver, but then again this had more in common with Burn Notice. The wrapper made a packet of shavings that I carefully set to the lock. I wouldn't get more than one chance at this. The Song Thrash Beat would be too much for this and really the energy didn't have to be shaped. I mentally tagged the packet. The power came to me eager and ready to be set free so I did. Arcs of electricity shot from my fingers towards the target. There was a fierce sizzling noise as the packet caught fire and began it's work eating through the lock.
I waited several minutes for the heat to die off before checking my handiwork. The lock was gone and now just needed to cool before touching. It wasn't terribly heavy and I was able to move the door out of the portal. Freedom was at hand. I couldn't hear the melodies of anyone in the immediate vicinity. That was sloppy thinking, but it worked in my favor. The thought had crossed my mind that this might be a test of my abilities or some scheme to get my hopes up only to crush them. If that had been the case then this was a well thought out plan, but I sincerely doubted it was that complex. More and more I appeared to be just a target of convenience. My ability to tell who Coil actually was is what had me captured. If I had a better poker face for suppressing pain? He still would have taken me.
The corridors were well spaced and well lit. Cameras dotted the corners with few blind spots. I wasn't Solid Snake enough to avoid the cameras, but cheating was well within my power. The network for the cameras was closed off from the main network of the base, but not from each other. They couldn't exist in a vacuum from one another as that would probably be too much work. Too great a cost for too little value. I had a choice of two directions, left or right, but no way to tell which way was the one I wanted. Mentally I reached out to the cameras to see if I could actually get control and found that it was easy. Relatively speaking. The cameras reset their connections on a staggered timer to prevent tampering. If one turned off for any reason it would send an alert to the main terminal. The door to my cell was set into the wall and not directly visible by the cameras, but I would be made the moment a foot stepped out. Think Aria. I can't stop the cameras. I can't turn them off. Could I slow their scan arc? It was doable and possibly seen as a hardware malfunction.
"No time to dilly dally shilly shally..." I murmured softly. The left was looking like the best option with shorter turns. I wanted to avoid long halls to minimize my chance of exposure. Okay, just slow the cameras down a couple seconds on the sweep. Once it was no long aimed down the hallway I sprinted down the hall to the left, cornered quickly, and sprinted down the next section of hall. My view through the cameras was feeding me a steady stream of information from around the corners. The issue I suddenly had was that the hall chosen lead straight to a keypad locked door. I threw my will at the keypad and tore through its programming. The door slammed open as if the force of my urgency was behind it and slammed shut again once I was inside.
"What the hell?" A voice said. Four men sat around a table playing cards. Their rifles were resting on gun racks by the wall and the smell of cigar smoke was thick. Each man was built hard with tough faces and the kind of presence professionals gave off. They stood up quickly, but we were obviously startled by the sudden confrontation.
"Shit...how'd she get out of her cell?" The one man asked as he pulled out his sidearm. I had moments before someone got their presence of mind back. The melody filled me and I went with the flow. My first step closed the distance between the armed mercenary and myself followed by a swift strike to the throat. Inwardly I winced at the choking sound, but forced it down in favor of facing the other three. Apparently the sudden violence galvanized them as a stun baton was brandished with normal batons in the hands of the other two.
"Okay kid...I don't wanna hurt ya so why don't ya go back to your cell?" The leader said reasonably, but there was a hard edge in his eyes that said he didn't care if I went quietly or not. I spread my hands and backed off. They eased down fractionally, but they were well trained. He nodded once and started to reach for his comm, but a quick jolt of electricity to the solar plexus took the fight out of him. The other two had started to look for exits when they realized they were alone in a room with a cape that forgot her PR provided happy pills. I let out a shrill scream at the very edge of my voice range to disorient them before charging the one closest to the rifles. There was no way he was getting a weapon in hand. The man was well trained and reacted to my sudden movement by jabbing his baton forward. Unfortunately for him I was in full command of my faculties while he could barely swing straight. A sudden series of blows to his abdomen, just above his groin, left him out of the fight. The last man made it to the door while grabbing for his walkie talkie. Another blast of electricity to his lower back, however, caused his legs to buckle. I struck a pressure point in each man's neck to ensure that he stayed down.
"Damn...not exactly...a good plan, but it worked..." I picked up a bottle of water from the table and took a deep pull. My throat was telling me that an unprepared scream was a bad idea, but too bad. My stomach was also telling me that I was hungry and the pizza boxes still held their treasures. I made sure that the men were secure and somewhat comfortable before adding insult to injury by raiding their pizza. They were thankfully still unconscious as I divested them of their weapons and communication devices. A search of the room as I ate revealed that it was a security center for this floor with controls for the cameras. Nothing was connected to the outside, but I could make a few changes from here. Putting a continuous loop of empty hallways was the best that I could do at the moment, but it wouldn't last forever. According to a countdown I had fifteen minutes before the camera reset fixed the systems. I altered my costume to include a holster for the sidearm and a holster for the stun baton. The rifle was tempting, but shooting someone with a rifle was rather permanent.
"Forget it." It was easy to make the argument that I was in danger now, but that could be a slippery slope. I shook my head before hurrying back out into the hall and locking the door thoroughly. A nice sixty-eight digit passcode should do the trick. Now to find my way out. There was a door at the far end of this hallway that hopefully lead me out. The keypad was even more sophisticated than the one I cracked before, but again throwing my will at it caused it to fold shortly. When I got out of here there was a hot bath and painkillers waiting for me.
The room beyond was quite a bit larger than the guard room. It was the size of my cell and the guard room put together. There were strange apparatuses along the walls holding bald and nude men in harnesses. Several conveyor belts ran about the chamber in front of each restrained man that was apparently collecting metal. Wait a minute. These men were generating metal that was being sent somewhere else. Were they parahumans? I walked slowly through the room in a daze. My mind had shut out the nudity to focus on the inhuman cruelty of whatever these devices were doing. They appeared to be suffering as electrical shocks ran through their bodies in a steady rhythm that caused the metal to form.
"Like what you see?" A man's voice intruded on her disturbed thoughts. She turned to see a well dressed man in a business suit. There was nothing unusual about him, but his visage seemed to carry a magnetic charm. A charisma that would make others stop to listen. She straightened up, but said nothing. He was trapped inside of a force bubble that obscured very little of his appearance. She recognized him as Max Anders the CEO of Medhall. The men looked like distorted versions of him.
"Interesting to see you here." I couldn't think of anything better to say. Seeing him made me suddenly glad that I was using the costume field to give me a mask. My old one was too full of rust shavings. I had an idea of who Mr. Anders was now, but I didn't even dare think it. There was no time to worry about that now.
"He just couldn't help himself. Considering the measures he took it isn't a terrible plan." The imprisoned man remarked easily as if he wasn't trapped and at another man's questionable mercy. I looked the figures over before looking back to him.
"I can get you out of here. The only thing I ask is help in escaping." There was a peculiar calm that had settled over me. I could feel Mir in the back of my mind soothing me and keeping me settled.
"If anything tampers with the system then it will release my clones. That would be a very bad thing considering they all have my power." He was a pragmatist. There was no point to playing the cops and robbers game when you were already screwed. I walked over to the main terminal.
"There should be a way to crack the system. Just give me a few minutes and I'll have you out of there. That is if you'll help me." I was already plumbing the depths of the production center's systems to isolate his containment from the fail safe. If he said no then I would still release him anyway, give him a five minute head start, and follow. It was a mercenary way of doing things, but better he trips the traps than me.
"If you can manage it then fine. Just until we are out of here." He agreed grudgingly. His melody had already told me that he was willing, but he had to rationalize it first. I finished isolating his force cage by looping the signal feed back in on itself before lowering the shimmering field. He covered himself from head to toe in steel as he strode from his prison.
"Let's go. I know the way to the elevator." I made sure to keep my tone to the same one used with Armsmaster. Polite and respectful. Best not to piss off the already annoyed ferrokinetic. He didn't deign to respond. There was a sudden spike of killing intent in his melody and faster than I could account for spikes of steel shot out from the floor to kill all of the clones. The alarms immediately began to wail.
"Which way to the elevator?" He demanded imperiously as we hurried out of the room. The gun had found it's way into my hand and it was only my self control that kept me from shooting him. The imperialistic dumbass!
"Just follow me. We won't have much time now." I managed to keep my frustration from my tone, barely, but he seemed to get that I was pissed. He didn't seem to care, but it was nice that he noticed. "Despedia? ETA?" I shot over the chat channel.
"Uh...five minutes. We're waiting on the Protectorate before going in. We are right outside." She assured me.
"You've gotta come in now. I just sprung Kaiser and he did a stupid as fuck thing that set the whole base off." Okay my language was bad. So sue me.
"Shit...okay. We're coming in." She promised before cutting the connection.
"Which way now?" He asked. Apparently the flashing lights and sirens finally convinced him that what he did was stupid. Probably not, but one could hope.
"Up ahead there's a stairwell. I just tried to access the elevator and it's locked down." I informed him. At this point it didn't matter if he became aware that I was a technopath. We had to at least get closer to surface level to meet with the rescue team.
"Let me go first. I can handle bullets better than you can." He sounded resigned to the job of meat shield, but probably liked the idea of being cloned and captured even less. The metal cape slammed into the door with surprising force, bursting through it, and continuing right for the stairs. I tapped into my awareness of the stairway cameras and melodies to predict what was ahead of us. Almost immediately we came under fire from above. Without my superhuman grace this would have been dicier and Kaiser was surprisingly durable against lasers. I noticed a black sheen to his steel and realized he must have coated it somehow. Clever. He was simply creating a steel forest up top that skewered the mercenaries that weren't smart enough to realize a pissed off cape is a dangerous one. I hadn't had to fire a single shot, but that didn't mean I wasn't watching his back. Good thing too since a guy with a bazooka was taking aim. A shot from the pistol right into the barrel of his weapon rendered that issue moot. Just grit your teeth and keep on going.
"Up one more floor!" I shouted over the commotion. With the amount of rearranging he had done to the stairwell it would have taken a miracle for anyone to follow us up. He grunted an affirmative. That much steel could not be easy to run around with even if his power did give him control over the stuff. My respect for his ability went up a few notches as he simply charged through another door and out into a larger area. I stayed back by the door even as my senses expanded.
"Where do we go now?" Kaiser demanded. There was no hint of tiredness, but plenty of fury and resolve. I checked the cameras on this floor before emerging to join him.
"We go left if we want to get out of here." I wasn't going to mention that a rescue party was coming in from that direction. That was stupid. The chat channel was the best secret weapon I had. He grunted before heading in the direction indicated. We had gone no more than ten steps before a voice came over the intercom.
"I must congratulate you on escaping your prisons. Very resourceful indeed. Kaiser? I don't need you anymore, but if you go back quietly I won't kill you." Coil said in a conversational tone. I was already back tracing where the signal came from. Shit. The message was coming from the right and it was more heavily fortified than the left. He would have plenty of time to escape if we went towards him.
"Oh believe me this isn't the end of our business, Coil. We will see each other again very soon." Kaiser shouted furiously.
"Save the posturing for when we're out of his stronghold, okay?" I didn't even hide my exasperation now. Okay macho man. We get it. You're the supreme alpha master race. The look the Nazi leader shot me was full of pure venom. Keep it up and maybe it will frighten me. Maybe.
"Dear Aria...you are far too valuable to kill. I would not harm a single hair on your head. Come to work for me and you will be treated as a queen. If you don't...well...I know that you have a soft spot for your family." Coil spoke in a sibilant tone with underlying menace. I didn't even respond just kept right on walking. He wanted to threaten my family? He was dumber than a sack of rocks. I didn't have to posture. If he came for them I would leave him a quadriplegic on a hill of soldier ants. The part that worried me was the lack of horror I felt at that threat. Even in my own mind that was vicious.
"I think that her answer is no chance." Kaiser seemed more amused at my refusal to be baited than angry at my tone with him. Well good for him. I'll even give him a Funbun when we get out of here. Good behavior should be encouraged after all.
"That really is too bad. Oh well. I'll make sure that there is enough left of both of you for my plans." Coil warned ominously. A large something was approaching from the rear. The sound of thrusters was plain as day. We both spun to look and took a wary step backwards. It was a large pitch black warmech with a gold V on the forehead. The machine was humanoid in appearance and held a rifle sized appropriately. There were a pair of missile pods on it's shoulders and on the hips. Twin machine guns were perched by the neck.
"This might actually be a challenge." Kaiser admitted grimly.
"The only easy day is yesterday." I sighed, but prepared myself to Sing. This was not going to be easy, but who said life ever was?
or Melody of Escalation
Fourth Arc 4.9
-Coil's Base: Locked Room-
Waking up in a strange bed is never a pleasant feeling that's for sure. There's always the little things going through your head like asking why are you there. The bed that I woke up on was lumpy and the mattress smelled a bit stale. The weird smell wasn't helping the splitting headache I currently sported from being drugged twice in one day. My internal clock was telling me that it was very late at night, but not quite the next day yet. I finally sat up to stake a proper stock of my surroundings. The bed was a metal prison bed set in a concrete bunker chamber. There was a table that had clearly seen better days and a wooden chair sat by the wall. I attempted to extend my senses to try and find any networks in the immediate vicinity, but hit a dead end. There was nothing in my room and nothing around me that was electronic. That was worrying. There wasn't even a camera to watch me. I checked myself over and was pleased to discover that even being knocked unconscious hadn't dropped the clothing field. It had held up the first time, but I wasn't sure how it would do the second. The bastards had, however, taken my visor. Well the joke's on them since the visor's biometric scanner wouldn't allow anyone but me access. They probably pulled it open and watched the systems fry themselves. I always made sure to wear a mask under my visor to protect my identity. It wouldn't prevent the determined from figuring out who I was, but it was a nod towards the unwritten rules. Though judging by the fact Coil, or Thomas Calvert, had kidnapped me I would have to say he doesn't care about those.
"Aria? Are you awake yet?" Despedia's voice came across the chat channel. I grinned evilly. No one knew about the chat channel so they couldn't figure out a way to block the connection.
"I'm awake and my head is killing me. Can you feel where I am?" I asked and hoped the answer was yes.
"Yeah. I just need to get Granspear, Sonata, and Tattletale. She wanted to come with us as soon as we found out where you were." She informed me. I breathed a sigh of relief.
"You know where I am so why not call in more people?" If they were going to come why not get the Protectorate?
"Sonata's already calling the Rig. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, Dragon, and Mouse Protector have been waiting on stand by. Everyone else is dealing with the general insanity the Merchants created." Des sounded annoyed. I face palmed. Great. Just great.
"The Merchants huh? Awesome." I groaned.
"Naw, it's not them anymore. They just kicked over the hornet's nest. The gangs are scrambling to cover their borders. The Empire is out there trying to find Kaiser and it's making them testy. We're getting ready to head out. Don't do anything crazy." She warned.
"I have to get out of this room. As long as I'm here then they'll know right where to go to get a hostage. I have an idea for pulling that off too." The chat channel went quiet after that. I paced the room as everything was calculated and taken into consideration. The lock on the door was fairly complicated. If I did have a lock pick it wouldn't do me any good. Using my power was out given the grounding wire I could see. Since my blaster power is electrical it only makes sense that he made this door as resistant to electricity as possible. I tapped the door with my fingertips to get an idea of the composition. Okay so going straight through was clearly out.
I walked back to the bed purposefully. My power was fine, but it made a lot of noise. I had an idea that would handle the finesse required quite nicely. A search of the bed frame provided me with what I was looking for. The damp that had seeped into this room had not only mildewed some things, but rusted others. I changed the texture of the index finger on my glove using the clothing field and started filing at the rust, using my mask to catch the shavings. The things I needed were easily found from the rusty bed and the pipes. There was even a discarded aluminum foil wrapper stuffed in a corner. I wasn't MacGyver, but then again this had more in common with Burn Notice. The wrapper made a packet of shavings that I carefully set to the lock. I wouldn't get more than one chance at this. The Song Thrash Beat would be too much for this and really the energy didn't have to be shaped. I mentally tagged the packet. The power came to me eager and ready to be set free so I did. Arcs of electricity shot from my fingers towards the target. There was a fierce sizzling noise as the packet caught fire and began it's work eating through the lock.
I waited several minutes for the heat to die off before checking my handiwork. The lock was gone and now just needed to cool before touching. It wasn't terribly heavy and I was able to move the door out of the portal. Freedom was at hand. I couldn't hear the melodies of anyone in the immediate vicinity. That was sloppy thinking, but it worked in my favor. The thought had crossed my mind that this might be a test of my abilities or some scheme to get my hopes up only to crush them. If that had been the case then this was a well thought out plan, but I sincerely doubted it was that complex. More and more I appeared to be just a target of convenience. My ability to tell who Coil actually was is what had me captured. If I had a better poker face for suppressing pain? He still would have taken me.
The corridors were well spaced and well lit. Cameras dotted the corners with few blind spots. I wasn't Solid Snake enough to avoid the cameras, but cheating was well within my power. The network for the cameras was closed off from the main network of the base, but not from each other. They couldn't exist in a vacuum from one another as that would probably be too much work. Too great a cost for too little value. I had a choice of two directions, left or right, but no way to tell which way was the one I wanted. Mentally I reached out to the cameras to see if I could actually get control and found that it was easy. Relatively speaking. The cameras reset their connections on a staggered timer to prevent tampering. If one turned off for any reason it would send an alert to the main terminal. The door to my cell was set into the wall and not directly visible by the cameras, but I would be made the moment a foot stepped out. Think Aria. I can't stop the cameras. I can't turn them off. Could I slow their scan arc? It was doable and possibly seen as a hardware malfunction.
"No time to dilly dally shilly shally..." I murmured softly. The left was looking like the best option with shorter turns. I wanted to avoid long halls to minimize my chance of exposure. Okay, just slow the cameras down a couple seconds on the sweep. Once it was no long aimed down the hallway I sprinted down the hall to the left, cornered quickly, and sprinted down the next section of hall. My view through the cameras was feeding me a steady stream of information from around the corners. The issue I suddenly had was that the hall chosen lead straight to a keypad locked door. I threw my will at the keypad and tore through its programming. The door slammed open as if the force of my urgency was behind it and slammed shut again once I was inside.
"What the hell?" A voice said. Four men sat around a table playing cards. Their rifles were resting on gun racks by the wall and the smell of cigar smoke was thick. Each man was built hard with tough faces and the kind of presence professionals gave off. They stood up quickly, but we were obviously startled by the sudden confrontation.
"Shit...how'd she get out of her cell?" The one man asked as he pulled out his sidearm. I had moments before someone got their presence of mind back. The melody filled me and I went with the flow. My first step closed the distance between the armed mercenary and myself followed by a swift strike to the throat. Inwardly I winced at the choking sound, but forced it down in favor of facing the other three. Apparently the sudden violence galvanized them as a stun baton was brandished with normal batons in the hands of the other two.
"Okay kid...I don't wanna hurt ya so why don't ya go back to your cell?" The leader said reasonably, but there was a hard edge in his eyes that said he didn't care if I went quietly or not. I spread my hands and backed off. They eased down fractionally, but they were well trained. He nodded once and started to reach for his comm, but a quick jolt of electricity to the solar plexus took the fight out of him. The other two had started to look for exits when they realized they were alone in a room with a cape that forgot her PR provided happy pills. I let out a shrill scream at the very edge of my voice range to disorient them before charging the one closest to the rifles. There was no way he was getting a weapon in hand. The man was well trained and reacted to my sudden movement by jabbing his baton forward. Unfortunately for him I was in full command of my faculties while he could barely swing straight. A sudden series of blows to his abdomen, just above his groin, left him out of the fight. The last man made it to the door while grabbing for his walkie talkie. Another blast of electricity to his lower back, however, caused his legs to buckle. I struck a pressure point in each man's neck to ensure that he stayed down.
"Damn...not exactly...a good plan, but it worked..." I picked up a bottle of water from the table and took a deep pull. My throat was telling me that an unprepared scream was a bad idea, but too bad. My stomach was also telling me that I was hungry and the pizza boxes still held their treasures. I made sure that the men were secure and somewhat comfortable before adding insult to injury by raiding their pizza. They were thankfully still unconscious as I divested them of their weapons and communication devices. A search of the room as I ate revealed that it was a security center for this floor with controls for the cameras. Nothing was connected to the outside, but I could make a few changes from here. Putting a continuous loop of empty hallways was the best that I could do at the moment, but it wouldn't last forever. According to a countdown I had fifteen minutes before the camera reset fixed the systems. I altered my costume to include a holster for the sidearm and a holster for the stun baton. The rifle was tempting, but shooting someone with a rifle was rather permanent.
"Forget it." It was easy to make the argument that I was in danger now, but that could be a slippery slope. I shook my head before hurrying back out into the hall and locking the door thoroughly. A nice sixty-eight digit passcode should do the trick. Now to find my way out. There was a door at the far end of this hallway that hopefully lead me out. The keypad was even more sophisticated than the one I cracked before, but again throwing my will at it caused it to fold shortly. When I got out of here there was a hot bath and painkillers waiting for me.
The room beyond was quite a bit larger than the guard room. It was the size of my cell and the guard room put together. There were strange apparatuses along the walls holding bald and nude men in harnesses. Several conveyor belts ran about the chamber in front of each restrained man that was apparently collecting metal. Wait a minute. These men were generating metal that was being sent somewhere else. Were they parahumans? I walked slowly through the room in a daze. My mind had shut out the nudity to focus on the inhuman cruelty of whatever these devices were doing. They appeared to be suffering as electrical shocks ran through their bodies in a steady rhythm that caused the metal to form.
"Like what you see?" A man's voice intruded on her disturbed thoughts. She turned to see a well dressed man in a business suit. There was nothing unusual about him, but his visage seemed to carry a magnetic charm. A charisma that would make others stop to listen. She straightened up, but said nothing. He was trapped inside of a force bubble that obscured very little of his appearance. She recognized him as Max Anders the CEO of Medhall. The men looked like distorted versions of him.
"Interesting to see you here." I couldn't think of anything better to say. Seeing him made me suddenly glad that I was using the costume field to give me a mask. My old one was too full of rust shavings. I had an idea of who Mr. Anders was now, but I didn't even dare think it. There was no time to worry about that now.
"He just couldn't help himself. Considering the measures he took it isn't a terrible plan." The imprisoned man remarked easily as if he wasn't trapped and at another man's questionable mercy. I looked the figures over before looking back to him.
"I can get you out of here. The only thing I ask is help in escaping." There was a peculiar calm that had settled over me. I could feel Mir in the back of my mind soothing me and keeping me settled.
"If anything tampers with the system then it will release my clones. That would be a very bad thing considering they all have my power." He was a pragmatist. There was no point to playing the cops and robbers game when you were already screwed. I walked over to the main terminal.
"There should be a way to crack the system. Just give me a few minutes and I'll have you out of there. That is if you'll help me." I was already plumbing the depths of the production center's systems to isolate his containment from the fail safe. If he said no then I would still release him anyway, give him a five minute head start, and follow. It was a mercenary way of doing things, but better he trips the traps than me.
"If you can manage it then fine. Just until we are out of here." He agreed grudgingly. His melody had already told me that he was willing, but he had to rationalize it first. I finished isolating his force cage by looping the signal feed back in on itself before lowering the shimmering field. He covered himself from head to toe in steel as he strode from his prison.
"Let's go. I know the way to the elevator." I made sure to keep my tone to the same one used with Armsmaster. Polite and respectful. Best not to piss off the already annoyed ferrokinetic. He didn't deign to respond. There was a sudden spike of killing intent in his melody and faster than I could account for spikes of steel shot out from the floor to kill all of the clones. The alarms immediately began to wail.
"Which way to the elevator?" He demanded imperiously as we hurried out of the room. The gun had found it's way into my hand and it was only my self control that kept me from shooting him. The imperialistic dumbass!
"Just follow me. We won't have much time now." I managed to keep my frustration from my tone, barely, but he seemed to get that I was pissed. He didn't seem to care, but it was nice that he noticed. "Despedia? ETA?" I shot over the chat channel.
"Uh...five minutes. We're waiting on the Protectorate before going in. We are right outside." She assured me.
"You've gotta come in now. I just sprung Kaiser and he did a stupid as fuck thing that set the whole base off." Okay my language was bad. So sue me.
"Shit...okay. We're coming in." She promised before cutting the connection.
"Which way now?" He asked. Apparently the flashing lights and sirens finally convinced him that what he did was stupid. Probably not, but one could hope.
"Up ahead there's a stairwell. I just tried to access the elevator and it's locked down." I informed him. At this point it didn't matter if he became aware that I was a technopath. We had to at least get closer to surface level to meet with the rescue team.
"Let me go first. I can handle bullets better than you can." He sounded resigned to the job of meat shield, but probably liked the idea of being cloned and captured even less. The metal cape slammed into the door with surprising force, bursting through it, and continuing right for the stairs. I tapped into my awareness of the stairway cameras and melodies to predict what was ahead of us. Almost immediately we came under fire from above. Without my superhuman grace this would have been dicier and Kaiser was surprisingly durable against lasers. I noticed a black sheen to his steel and realized he must have coated it somehow. Clever. He was simply creating a steel forest up top that skewered the mercenaries that weren't smart enough to realize a pissed off cape is a dangerous one. I hadn't had to fire a single shot, but that didn't mean I wasn't watching his back. Good thing too since a guy with a bazooka was taking aim. A shot from the pistol right into the barrel of his weapon rendered that issue moot. Just grit your teeth and keep on going.
"Up one more floor!" I shouted over the commotion. With the amount of rearranging he had done to the stairwell it would have taken a miracle for anyone to follow us up. He grunted an affirmative. That much steel could not be easy to run around with even if his power did give him control over the stuff. My respect for his ability went up a few notches as he simply charged through another door and out into a larger area. I stayed back by the door even as my senses expanded.
"Where do we go now?" Kaiser demanded. There was no hint of tiredness, but plenty of fury and resolve. I checked the cameras on this floor before emerging to join him.
"We go left if we want to get out of here." I wasn't going to mention that a rescue party was coming in from that direction. That was stupid. The chat channel was the best secret weapon I had. He grunted before heading in the direction indicated. We had gone no more than ten steps before a voice came over the intercom.
"I must congratulate you on escaping your prisons. Very resourceful indeed. Kaiser? I don't need you anymore, but if you go back quietly I won't kill you." Coil said in a conversational tone. I was already back tracing where the signal came from. Shit. The message was coming from the right and it was more heavily fortified than the left. He would have plenty of time to escape if we went towards him.
"Oh believe me this isn't the end of our business, Coil. We will see each other again very soon." Kaiser shouted furiously.
"Save the posturing for when we're out of his stronghold, okay?" I didn't even hide my exasperation now. Okay macho man. We get it. You're the supreme alpha master race. The look the Nazi leader shot me was full of pure venom. Keep it up and maybe it will frighten me. Maybe.
"Dear Aria...you are far too valuable to kill. I would not harm a single hair on your head. Come to work for me and you will be treated as a queen. If you don't...well...I know that you have a soft spot for your family." Coil spoke in a sibilant tone with underlying menace. I didn't even respond just kept right on walking. He wanted to threaten my family? He was dumber than a sack of rocks. I didn't have to posture. If he came for them I would leave him a quadriplegic on a hill of soldier ants. The part that worried me was the lack of horror I felt at that threat. Even in my own mind that was vicious.
"I think that her answer is no chance." Kaiser seemed more amused at my refusal to be baited than angry at my tone with him. Well good for him. I'll even give him a Funbun when we get out of here. Good behavior should be encouraged after all.
"That really is too bad. Oh well. I'll make sure that there is enough left of both of you for my plans." Coil warned ominously. A large something was approaching from the rear. The sound of thrusters was plain as day. We both spun to look and took a wary step backwards. It was a large pitch black warmech with a gold V on the forehead. The machine was humanoid in appearance and held a rifle sized appropriately. There were a pair of missile pods on it's shoulders and on the hips. Twin machine guns were perched by the neck.
"This might actually be a challenge." Kaiser admitted grimly.
"The only easy day is yesterday." I sighed, but prepared myself to Sing. This was not going to be easy, but who said life ever was?
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Oh good, we're moving closer to the climax of this arc.
Although I'm surprised Coil didn't tell his troops to simply take down Aria if she gets out, and not try to bargain or negotiate with her. I'm pretty sure that's one of the Evil Overlord Rules, but given the rest of his actions, I doubt he's read them.
Although I'm surprised Coil didn't tell his troops to simply take down Aria if she gets out, and not try to bargain or negotiate with her. I'm pretty sure that's one of the Evil Overlord Rules, but given the rest of his actions, I doubt he's read them.
Fourth Arc 4.10
- Location
- PA
Hymn of Harmony
or Melody of Escalation
Fourth Arc 4.10
-Outside of Coil's Base: After Speaking to Aria-
I could tell that Despedia was mad. We came as fast as possible, but still too late. Mom was pissed off in a way that I had never heard before. At least she didn't sound injured or in pain. No. My dear mother just sounded like she wanted to rip Kaiser's head off and use it as a candy dish. I checked my buster rifle again in preparation for the breach. The darkness worked to our advantage in this instance. Coil couldn't afford to have this place lit up too brightly or it might attract unwanted attention. Granspear was standing off to one side twirling her spear. She was on edge as badly as Despedia was, but the surprise was Tattletale. Her own demeanor was cool as ice. I embraced her calmer melody and let it soothe me. This wasn't the time for all of us to lose our minds.
"Where are the other Undersiders?" Granspear asked.
"Bitch had to get some of her other dogs and is on the other side of the building with Regent and Imp. I managed to get a tentative layout of the base. Hopefully where I placed them is the actual back door to this hideout." It wasn't perfect, but it was a chance that if Coil tried to leave he would be dogpiled. Pun intended.
"Right. Uh huh. We'll be careful." Despedia assured Miss Militia over the comm. She rolled her eyes, but kept her tone respectful. It probably would have helped if they had Mouse Protector talk to her or it might have been worse. All it would have taken was one Huzzah and we would have lost Des. She would have probably burst into the base already.
"Sneak or just break in?" Granspear asked curiously. She was eager to get moving which was a sentiment we all shared. Tattletale approached the wall and opened up the hidden keypad. She stared at it for several long moments before her fingers flickered over the keys and the elevator appeared out of the wall.
"Sneaking is probably a better idea. Anything we need to watch out for, Sonata?" She asked me. I had my terminal out to check ahead. The camera in the elevator was easy enough to fool. We got in the spacious elevator and started downward.
"There doesn't seem to be anything to worry about which just makes me more concerned." I confided. Judging by their reactions hearing that nothing was visibly wrong just made them more on edge. If they were aware that Mom had escaped then shouldn't they be more alert?
"Shouldn't they be more alert?" Granspear asked as if echoing my thoughts.
"You have Aria and Kaiser loose in your base doing who knows what. Guarding a door to the outside to a base as secret as this is probably not the first thing on your mind." Tattletale commented. We were all a bit nervous as the doors opened. Nothing was coming up on my visor. There just didn't seem to be anyone down here. Despedia suddenly stared to the right.
"Someone is here. Stealth or fight?" She asked our nominal leader. Granspear thought about it before nodding decisively.
"Fight. Forget sneaking around. We need to get Aria and get out of here. Let the Protectorate handle the details." She said. It was the right thing to do. We were mad at Coil, but we would rather my Mom come home even more. I tossed Tattletale a three barreled gauntlet.
"What's this do?" She asked curiously as she fastened it on.
"I modified one of Mom's photon dart launchers. The middle one launches tranq darts." I informed her. Despedia vaulted up suddenly and came down like a bird of prey on her target. We hurried over to where she went only to find that Des had squashed a mech suit.
"Empty shells. Smart. He gets more forces and doesn't have to provide for them all. Coil's smart so we won't know what suits have people in them and what ones don't." Tattletale warned.
"Operate under the assumption that someone is in there unless your life is in danger." Granspear said as she continued heading in the direction that Mom's signal was coming from. "Despedia? Use your senses to warn us. Sonata? Keep us patched into the camera network." Des briefly looked mutinous, but a quelling glance from Tattletale calmed her down. Our hierarchy was a bit strange, but we've never had to test it out without Mom before. Ostensibly Granspear leads up if she's not available and Tattletale isn't around. Des will listen to her then.
"We need to come up with a better system for leadership in a crisis." I muttered. Three amused looks were sent my way as I had forgotten that everyone here has enhanced hearing of a sort. The tension fell off so go me.
"I smell...plasma. It's faint...but definitely here...hmmm...something else...definitely not human." Despedia muttered as her claws manifested.
"I'm getting an image of a woman in a black bodysuit with suns and a beast looking thing. Lots of spikes and a hard shell." According to the database the one on the left was Sundancer, but I couldn't identify the one on the right.
"The beast is probably Genesis. Keep a sharp eye out for Ballistic and Trickster." Tattletale warned. They were waiting for us up ahead. The maze of boxes that we were forced to wind through made an ambush entirely possible. Despedia continued to use her senses while Granspear relied on her ears.
"I'll keep a look out for the other two. Let's give you ladies a boost." I executed the program for 2Fast4U. The amplifiers didn't even hum as they ramped up. Their feelings were with me and each other boosting the Harmonics gauge. An inherent flaw in the system was that if I wanted to use it then it required me to stay in one spot. Despedia let out a whoop of surprise as her speed carried her across the chamber and into the room with the startled villains. Granspear vaulted after her. Sundancer had started to create a smallish sphere. Getting clobbered in the head by the flat of a shock spear caused her to not only recoil, but lose cause her power to wink out as she went unconscious. Despedia fell on the beast with her claws slashing viciously until the projection fell apart in generic organic matter.
"Behind you!" Tattletale called out as she opened fire with the dart launchers. Glowing blue sticks of photon energy sped out and through Ballistic's projectiles before a tranq dart caught him in the neck. The villain stared stupidly at the blonde before falling backwards. Dead to the world.
"Thanks...somehow he didn't come up on the cameras..." I panted at the close call. The projectiles that he was using were iron rivets. Fired at the speed his power was capable of they would have gone through us like sniper bullets.
"That's why they picked these crates for the ambush...lots of places to hide and objects to switch places with..." The former villainess concluded grimly. As long as we were here he had absolute control. She suddenly vanished only to be replaced by Trickster himself.
"You'll do nicely." He was already jamming a stunner at me. I let the stun gun hit my armor and watched with dark amusement as the Tinker enhanced device was drained dry by my force field generator. He didn't stop before vanishing again just as Despedia arrived. The box he traded places with didn't deserve to have her fury.
"Shit...he's a pain in the ass..." She growled just before catching Granspear out of the air. The crane over their heads had the crate replaced with the orange clad heroine.
"Teleporters...I hate teleporters..." Granspear groaned. She was less hearty than Despedia so I guess getting jostled around by teleport wouldn't be comfortable. Suddenly it was my turn to get forcibly relocated. By the melody I could tell that Trickster had replaced me with Tattletale and that we were a good distance away. Unfortunately the teleport disrupted the Song.
"What a pain, but worth it." He sounded like a man possessed. Not in a crazy sort of way, but in a gradually more unhinged fashion. "Come here!" He grabbed me by the upper arm. Sorry, but we weren't playing out the standard female grab area. Sound dampeners were a standard part of my communications set up for just such an occasion. He was point blank for an explosive burst of high pitched sound from my sonic emitter. I didn't have multiples, just the one, but sometimes one is more than enough. He stumbled back with both hands glued tight to his skull. It was just a quick burst for any more would deafen and cause more harm to my friends. However I did attack his weak point for massive damage with my force field reinforced leg three times. That decisively ended the encounter. When Tattletale fired the tranq dart into him it was a mercy.
"Geez kid...good going." Despedia ruffled my hair.
"You're definitely your mother's daughter." Granspear joked.
"I felt that and the equipment just isn't there on girls." Tattletale just had to read his body language. We hurried past the unconscious villains. Granspear gave the PRT a status update to let them know the Travelers were subdued. That was a kind way of putting it.
"Where is the Protectorate?" Despedia queried with frustration in her tone.
"Securing the scene. They have agents circling the building and setting up in the sewers." Granspear reported. The only way out was up and none of us were foolish enough to believe that he didn't have a secret helicopter or flying device.
"Grab Aria and get the hell out of here. Let Kaiser make his own way out." Des said.
"We'll help him get out too. He's arrogant enough to hate the idea of owing anyone a favor, but he'll acknowledge the debt." Tattletale said. We were rapidly approaching the location only to hear the sounds of explosions up ahead. The sight that greeted us was dire enough. There was a fifteen foot tall black war machine opening fire on the smaller figures standing before it. A wall of thick steel was between the machine and it's targets, but a blast from the thing's rifle melted straight through. Mom was recognizable in her white uniform weaving a Song whose words were well known to anyone that saw the fight on the Boardwalk.
"The wall won't hold and she's not charged up enough. Let's go!" Granspear shouted as she lunged into the fray followed closely by Despedia. Tattletale stayed back with me as I got 2Fast4U started again. Well that was unusual sensation.
"Shall we share this Song?" Mom asked in my mind. Her melody coiling around mine as mine coiled around hers. I could feel the Synchronicity building as Tattletale's melody joined. Granspear and Despedia were sending their own feelings that increased the Harmonics. Strangely enough there was even a connection to Kaiser.
"Let us Sing..." I acknowledged the request and felt my awareness grow...
-With Aria-
I didn't even realize just how important my suit was until this giant machine attempted to kill us. It wasn't because of the force fields, armor, or weapons, but because it let me stay mobile. The suit took a great deal of the pressure off of me. I could move and Sing at the same time without losing my place. Now any distraction made it hard to keep my Song growing. Dodge and it stopped, run and it stopped, now I realized exactly why the other Reyvateils thought my armor was so great. Kaiser set me up in a well fortified area. The machine wasn't aiming for the support columns and we were taking advantage of that fact. Either someone was piloting the mech or the combat system was just programmed well. What that meant for the Nazi cape, however, was he had to try and fight this thing off while I charged.
"Are you finished yet?" He demanded as his steel walls took another hit. This time the rifle punched through without hardly stopping. If he hadn't already been moving to dodge it would have been messy. I'd love to answer you, but y'know, I'm SINGING. It made me feel a bit unclean to know that we actually had some fight chemistry if the Harmonics reading was anything to go by. We weren't going to last much longer. I might just have to chance the Song as it is now. Wait, several melodies I was familiar with were inbound.
"Let's go!" Granspear shouted as she charged in on her spear turned V Board. The tip slamming into the mech's head with little effect, but it did get the machine's attention. Despedia followed shortly thereafter with her claws raking down the front. That got a more energetic response as those claws sliced into the reinforced steel like it was butter. I heard the first notes of 2Fast4U begin playing and embraced the feelings they brought.
"Shall we share this Song?" I asked my daughter. It was a strange and wonderful feeling as we connected. The sense of our melodies resonating with one another. I could feel everyone joining the harmony as even Kaiser was welcomed.
"Let us Sing." She accepted the request. I was hunkered down by the support pillar while she was crouched in a doorway. Tattletale was standing watch over her as Granspear, Despedia, and Kaiser fought the machine. The rifle was able to punch through the steel, but it's footing was instead being compromised by the ferrokinetic putting jagged chunks of steel underneath it's boots. The spear wielder was flying around his head while unleashing short bursts of Song Magic. The purplish spheres impacting the back and shoulders with appreciable force.
"Wait...get away from there!" Tattletale yelled in concern. Our friends listened and vaulted away, but Kaiser finished caging the machine in steel. He dramatically closed his fist as the metal curled inwards to crush the mech.
"Good idea. Let an adult handle this, children." Kaiser said as the cage grew tighter. My friend must have had a reason to order them to scatter. Unfortunately she was proven right. The machine let out an audible hum from exertion as it broke free from the prison before hurling riot canisters from the chest plate. Each canister unloaded tear gas in a large cloud. Granspear and Despedia were out of range, but Kaiser was caught right in the blast. Since he wasn't screaming about his eyes it must mean that the eye slits in his metal helmet were closed. The worst part of the gas was that it obscured the mech's form. The machine didn't waste any time in opening fire in all directions with it's armaments.
"Get down!" Granspear shouted as she knocked Kaiser off his feet and behind a pillar before crouching down with him. Des was standing in front of Tattletale and Sonata since her unidirectional barrier could withstand a lot of punishment. Beams and bullets careened wildly from the smoke chipping and blasting everything haphazardly. It wasn't even trying to avoid hitting the support pillars now.
"Ready yet, Aria? I hate to rush you." Tattletale said over the chat channel. This was as good as I was going to get it without putting everyone at greater risk. Thrash Beat upgraded to Thrash Beatle as the Song was released. All the potential power that had been collected emerged as the beetle projection. The might and will of five people was bound up inside of this image as it roared it's battle cry "Boom for the Boom Goddess!" At least he was gender accurate this time. Kaiser had managed to sit up in time to watch as the projection opened fire on the mech. Plasma bullets slammed into the armored form with enough force that the machine skidded backwards. The shielded steel held, but the heat conferred by the attack melted it to slag in moments. I collapsed to one knee dazedly. This was my first time trying to build the attack up on my own without a support in place. No amplifiers or battery support. It was exhausting, but also felt more rewarding.
"Come on...up up up..." Despedia scooped me up into her arms, "We have to get out of here."
"Move it people!" Granspear helped up Kaiser, "Tattletale? You're riding with me. Sonata? Slap a couple hover disks on Kaiser." She looked at the Nazi cape, "We're not leaving you behind."
"I appreciate that." He said magnanimously. There was genuine gratitude in his melody which was nice to note. Sonata placed a few anti grav disks on his armor and held his hand to tow him through the air. Tattletale was behind Granspear on the V Board while holding onto the shorter girl for dear life. Apparently she wasn't actually good with flying. We were hurrying as fast as possible to the elevator shaft to escape. It was such a relief to have my friends around me after all of this. Des held me closer as she hurtled along fast enough to keep up with the others. More melodies were felt up ahead that were familiar to me. It wasn't the Travelers.
"Excellent work girls!" Mouse Protector caroled in greeting as we approached. Well that was more than a little surreal. Armsmaster was sticking a syringe from the tip of his halberd into each Traveler. I hope there was some medical tech on that needle to sterilize it after each use. Ick. Miss Militia was gesturing to a group of armored PRT agents.
"Fan out and secure the base. Leave no stone unturned. He kidnapped one of our own? Make him regret that decision." She told them. The agents saluted before setting off to their duties. The patriotic cape made her way over to us. Her eyes and melody showing how relieved she was. "Good to have you back, Aria."
"It's good to be back." The nightmare was over. I was going home. Des still hadn't put me down which was fine.
"Kaiser." Armsmaster said neutrally. Neither welcoming or caring about the other man.
"Armsmaster." Kaiser responded. Sonata removed the anti grav disks.
"He helped save Aria." Granspear interjected, "When we found them he was protecting her from a war machine." It didn't cause the tension to drop.
"Okay how 'bout I get the kiddies out of here and checked over?" Mouse Protector barged in on the stand off and diffused the situation. There were some squawks of indignation from my own friends, but I was perfectly okay with getting out of here. She lead us to the elevator with Kaiser trailing behind. As much as it probably rankled they were going to let him go. Sometimes you had to do things that you didn't want to for the greater good. I hated that term, but in this case it fit.
"How do we know the elevator won't suddenly just fall?" Granspear asked as we rode in the car.
"Dragon's got this whole place locked down. She's definitely someone good to know." Mouse Protector replied.
"So...Coil might be trapped in here?" Tattletale asked. She didn't sound like she believed it, but the hope was there. For her sake I hoped that he didn't escape.
"We waited until Dragon had the base under her control before coming in. There's also a ton of agents in the sewers and around the building. He kinda made a lot of people angry." She shrugged her shoulders in a 'What can you do?' kind of way. The elevator doors opened and I was whisked off to be checked out. It didn't actually hit me until that moment that I was actually free. I wouldn't take freedom for granted again.
-With Coil-
He rubbed his forehead tiredly. This was not going as planned. At all. It was his own decision to make the best out of the hand the Travelers had dealt him. He couldn't afford for Aria to go back to the PRT with the knowledge that he was Thomas Calvert. It was a calculated risk. Whether it was forced on him or not was irrelevant. The rewards had outweighed the risks. Now he was further backed into a corner by this latest debacle. It was bad enough that she had somehow managed to escape her room. A Tinker/'Thinker on the loose in his base was nightmare fuel enough. The fact that she managed to release Kaiser and get his cooperation had ratcheted up the concern. The mercenaries failed spectacularly. He groaned before taking more painkillers. At the rate he was going through them the bottle would be empty soon. The war machine had been Squealer's idea. Convince them of the futile nature of their escape and what happened? They decided to fight. It was only a matter of time before the machine defeated them, but then her friends arrived to turn the tide.
"Time to cut my losses." Coil sighed as he stood. With the push of a button he engaged the base's self destruct and opened the escape tunnel. His eyes bulged behind the mask at what he saw. An armored gauntlet gripped him by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Hello Thomas. We have much to discuss." The Dragon growled menacingly.
-With Squealer-
She looked around the lab that had been given to her with a sigh. This was going to be a bitch to replace, but she could do it. At least her project had been evacuated in time. There was no way that she was going to try and face the Protectorate for Coil. Screw that. She was done fighting for idiots and madmen. The war machine was a nice touch. It wouldn't succeed, but it would buy her the time she needed to make good on her escape. She looked at the monitors that showed the sewer access. It was always good to have things on a closed circuit. Something that Coil had taught her. Unfortunately his base was still too automated. It gave Dragon too much to latch onto. The number of agents in the sewers was worrying. That is if she intended to fight them.
"Come to momma..." She tapped a few buttons on the sleek machine that was angled on a ramp leading into the sewers. The access door wasn't open yet. The neural suit let her connect with the machine that resembled a formula one racer as a black canopy slid over the cockpit. She leaned back into the luge like seat and hit the button to open the path. Thrusters whined as the machine revved up. Another button was pushed to launch. Her baby burst from the access door and hit the sewers at an angle. The PRT agents were too late to stop the high speed craft.
"Sorry Coil, but I've still got too much to do and getting caught isn't in the cards." Uber, Leet, and Dragonzord were her targets now. Aria? Please. Kid was so busy plugging away for World Peace that it was embarrassing. She grimaced at the fact her former employer had actually kidnapped the girl. There was still something of a conscience inside of her. So when it came to her attention that somehow the doors and systems were being hacked on the lower levels she just didn't see it. She shook her head. There were more important things to do now.
AN: End Fourth Arc. PHO Interlude and a few regular interludes are up next.
or Melody of Escalation
Fourth Arc 4.10
-Outside of Coil's Base: After Speaking to Aria-
I could tell that Despedia was mad. We came as fast as possible, but still too late. Mom was pissed off in a way that I had never heard before. At least she didn't sound injured or in pain. No. My dear mother just sounded like she wanted to rip Kaiser's head off and use it as a candy dish. I checked my buster rifle again in preparation for the breach. The darkness worked to our advantage in this instance. Coil couldn't afford to have this place lit up too brightly or it might attract unwanted attention. Granspear was standing off to one side twirling her spear. She was on edge as badly as Despedia was, but the surprise was Tattletale. Her own demeanor was cool as ice. I embraced her calmer melody and let it soothe me. This wasn't the time for all of us to lose our minds.
"Where are the other Undersiders?" Granspear asked.
"Bitch had to get some of her other dogs and is on the other side of the building with Regent and Imp. I managed to get a tentative layout of the base. Hopefully where I placed them is the actual back door to this hideout." It wasn't perfect, but it was a chance that if Coil tried to leave he would be dogpiled. Pun intended.
"Right. Uh huh. We'll be careful." Despedia assured Miss Militia over the comm. She rolled her eyes, but kept her tone respectful. It probably would have helped if they had Mouse Protector talk to her or it might have been worse. All it would have taken was one Huzzah and we would have lost Des. She would have probably burst into the base already.
"Sneak or just break in?" Granspear asked curiously. She was eager to get moving which was a sentiment we all shared. Tattletale approached the wall and opened up the hidden keypad. She stared at it for several long moments before her fingers flickered over the keys and the elevator appeared out of the wall.
"Sneaking is probably a better idea. Anything we need to watch out for, Sonata?" She asked me. I had my terminal out to check ahead. The camera in the elevator was easy enough to fool. We got in the spacious elevator and started downward.
"There doesn't seem to be anything to worry about which just makes me more concerned." I confided. Judging by their reactions hearing that nothing was visibly wrong just made them more on edge. If they were aware that Mom had escaped then shouldn't they be more alert?
"Shouldn't they be more alert?" Granspear asked as if echoing my thoughts.
"You have Aria and Kaiser loose in your base doing who knows what. Guarding a door to the outside to a base as secret as this is probably not the first thing on your mind." Tattletale commented. We were all a bit nervous as the doors opened. Nothing was coming up on my visor. There just didn't seem to be anyone down here. Despedia suddenly stared to the right.
"Someone is here. Stealth or fight?" She asked our nominal leader. Granspear thought about it before nodding decisively.
"Fight. Forget sneaking around. We need to get Aria and get out of here. Let the Protectorate handle the details." She said. It was the right thing to do. We were mad at Coil, but we would rather my Mom come home even more. I tossed Tattletale a three barreled gauntlet.
"What's this do?" She asked curiously as she fastened it on.
"I modified one of Mom's photon dart launchers. The middle one launches tranq darts." I informed her. Despedia vaulted up suddenly and came down like a bird of prey on her target. We hurried over to where she went only to find that Des had squashed a mech suit.
"Empty shells. Smart. He gets more forces and doesn't have to provide for them all. Coil's smart so we won't know what suits have people in them and what ones don't." Tattletale warned.
"Operate under the assumption that someone is in there unless your life is in danger." Granspear said as she continued heading in the direction that Mom's signal was coming from. "Despedia? Use your senses to warn us. Sonata? Keep us patched into the camera network." Des briefly looked mutinous, but a quelling glance from Tattletale calmed her down. Our hierarchy was a bit strange, but we've never had to test it out without Mom before. Ostensibly Granspear leads up if she's not available and Tattletale isn't around. Des will listen to her then.
"We need to come up with a better system for leadership in a crisis." I muttered. Three amused looks were sent my way as I had forgotten that everyone here has enhanced hearing of a sort. The tension fell off so go me.
"I smell...plasma. It's faint...but definitely here...hmmm...something else...definitely not human." Despedia muttered as her claws manifested.
"I'm getting an image of a woman in a black bodysuit with suns and a beast looking thing. Lots of spikes and a hard shell." According to the database the one on the left was Sundancer, but I couldn't identify the one on the right.
"The beast is probably Genesis. Keep a sharp eye out for Ballistic and Trickster." Tattletale warned. They were waiting for us up ahead. The maze of boxes that we were forced to wind through made an ambush entirely possible. Despedia continued to use her senses while Granspear relied on her ears.
"I'll keep a look out for the other two. Let's give you ladies a boost." I executed the program for 2Fast4U. The amplifiers didn't even hum as they ramped up. Their feelings were with me and each other boosting the Harmonics gauge. An inherent flaw in the system was that if I wanted to use it then it required me to stay in one spot. Despedia let out a whoop of surprise as her speed carried her across the chamber and into the room with the startled villains. Granspear vaulted after her. Sundancer had started to create a smallish sphere. Getting clobbered in the head by the flat of a shock spear caused her to not only recoil, but lose cause her power to wink out as she went unconscious. Despedia fell on the beast with her claws slashing viciously until the projection fell apart in generic organic matter.
"Behind you!" Tattletale called out as she opened fire with the dart launchers. Glowing blue sticks of photon energy sped out and through Ballistic's projectiles before a tranq dart caught him in the neck. The villain stared stupidly at the blonde before falling backwards. Dead to the world.
"Thanks...somehow he didn't come up on the cameras..." I panted at the close call. The projectiles that he was using were iron rivets. Fired at the speed his power was capable of they would have gone through us like sniper bullets.
"That's why they picked these crates for the ambush...lots of places to hide and objects to switch places with..." The former villainess concluded grimly. As long as we were here he had absolute control. She suddenly vanished only to be replaced by Trickster himself.
"You'll do nicely." He was already jamming a stunner at me. I let the stun gun hit my armor and watched with dark amusement as the Tinker enhanced device was drained dry by my force field generator. He didn't stop before vanishing again just as Despedia arrived. The box he traded places with didn't deserve to have her fury.
"Shit...he's a pain in the ass..." She growled just before catching Granspear out of the air. The crane over their heads had the crate replaced with the orange clad heroine.
"Teleporters...I hate teleporters..." Granspear groaned. She was less hearty than Despedia so I guess getting jostled around by teleport wouldn't be comfortable. Suddenly it was my turn to get forcibly relocated. By the melody I could tell that Trickster had replaced me with Tattletale and that we were a good distance away. Unfortunately the teleport disrupted the Song.
"What a pain, but worth it." He sounded like a man possessed. Not in a crazy sort of way, but in a gradually more unhinged fashion. "Come here!" He grabbed me by the upper arm. Sorry, but we weren't playing out the standard female grab area. Sound dampeners were a standard part of my communications set up for just such an occasion. He was point blank for an explosive burst of high pitched sound from my sonic emitter. I didn't have multiples, just the one, but sometimes one is more than enough. He stumbled back with both hands glued tight to his skull. It was just a quick burst for any more would deafen and cause more harm to my friends. However I did attack his weak point for massive damage with my force field reinforced leg three times. That decisively ended the encounter. When Tattletale fired the tranq dart into him it was a mercy.
"Geez kid...good going." Despedia ruffled my hair.
"You're definitely your mother's daughter." Granspear joked.
"I felt that and the equipment just isn't there on girls." Tattletale just had to read his body language. We hurried past the unconscious villains. Granspear gave the PRT a status update to let them know the Travelers were subdued. That was a kind way of putting it.
"Where is the Protectorate?" Despedia queried with frustration in her tone.
"Securing the scene. They have agents circling the building and setting up in the sewers." Granspear reported. The only way out was up and none of us were foolish enough to believe that he didn't have a secret helicopter or flying device.
"Grab Aria and get the hell out of here. Let Kaiser make his own way out." Des said.
"We'll help him get out too. He's arrogant enough to hate the idea of owing anyone a favor, but he'll acknowledge the debt." Tattletale said. We were rapidly approaching the location only to hear the sounds of explosions up ahead. The sight that greeted us was dire enough. There was a fifteen foot tall black war machine opening fire on the smaller figures standing before it. A wall of thick steel was between the machine and it's targets, but a blast from the thing's rifle melted straight through. Mom was recognizable in her white uniform weaving a Song whose words were well known to anyone that saw the fight on the Boardwalk.
"The wall won't hold and she's not charged up enough. Let's go!" Granspear shouted as she lunged into the fray followed closely by Despedia. Tattletale stayed back with me as I got 2Fast4U started again. Well that was unusual sensation.
"Shall we share this Song?" Mom asked in my mind. Her melody coiling around mine as mine coiled around hers. I could feel the Synchronicity building as Tattletale's melody joined. Granspear and Despedia were sending their own feelings that increased the Harmonics. Strangely enough there was even a connection to Kaiser.
"Let us Sing..." I acknowledged the request and felt my awareness grow...
-With Aria-
I didn't even realize just how important my suit was until this giant machine attempted to kill us. It wasn't because of the force fields, armor, or weapons, but because it let me stay mobile. The suit took a great deal of the pressure off of me. I could move and Sing at the same time without losing my place. Now any distraction made it hard to keep my Song growing. Dodge and it stopped, run and it stopped, now I realized exactly why the other Reyvateils thought my armor was so great. Kaiser set me up in a well fortified area. The machine wasn't aiming for the support columns and we were taking advantage of that fact. Either someone was piloting the mech or the combat system was just programmed well. What that meant for the Nazi cape, however, was he had to try and fight this thing off while I charged.
"Are you finished yet?" He demanded as his steel walls took another hit. This time the rifle punched through without hardly stopping. If he hadn't already been moving to dodge it would have been messy. I'd love to answer you, but y'know, I'm SINGING. It made me feel a bit unclean to know that we actually had some fight chemistry if the Harmonics reading was anything to go by. We weren't going to last much longer. I might just have to chance the Song as it is now. Wait, several melodies I was familiar with were inbound.
"Let's go!" Granspear shouted as she charged in on her spear turned V Board. The tip slamming into the mech's head with little effect, but it did get the machine's attention. Despedia followed shortly thereafter with her claws raking down the front. That got a more energetic response as those claws sliced into the reinforced steel like it was butter. I heard the first notes of 2Fast4U begin playing and embraced the feelings they brought.
"Shall we share this Song?" I asked my daughter. It was a strange and wonderful feeling as we connected. The sense of our melodies resonating with one another. I could feel everyone joining the harmony as even Kaiser was welcomed.
"Let us Sing." She accepted the request. I was hunkered down by the support pillar while she was crouched in a doorway. Tattletale was standing watch over her as Granspear, Despedia, and Kaiser fought the machine. The rifle was able to punch through the steel, but it's footing was instead being compromised by the ferrokinetic putting jagged chunks of steel underneath it's boots. The spear wielder was flying around his head while unleashing short bursts of Song Magic. The purplish spheres impacting the back and shoulders with appreciable force.
"Wait...get away from there!" Tattletale yelled in concern. Our friends listened and vaulted away, but Kaiser finished caging the machine in steel. He dramatically closed his fist as the metal curled inwards to crush the mech.
"Good idea. Let an adult handle this, children." Kaiser said as the cage grew tighter. My friend must have had a reason to order them to scatter. Unfortunately she was proven right. The machine let out an audible hum from exertion as it broke free from the prison before hurling riot canisters from the chest plate. Each canister unloaded tear gas in a large cloud. Granspear and Despedia were out of range, but Kaiser was caught right in the blast. Since he wasn't screaming about his eyes it must mean that the eye slits in his metal helmet were closed. The worst part of the gas was that it obscured the mech's form. The machine didn't waste any time in opening fire in all directions with it's armaments.
"Get down!" Granspear shouted as she knocked Kaiser off his feet and behind a pillar before crouching down with him. Des was standing in front of Tattletale and Sonata since her unidirectional barrier could withstand a lot of punishment. Beams and bullets careened wildly from the smoke chipping and blasting everything haphazardly. It wasn't even trying to avoid hitting the support pillars now.
"Ready yet, Aria? I hate to rush you." Tattletale said over the chat channel. This was as good as I was going to get it without putting everyone at greater risk. Thrash Beat upgraded to Thrash Beatle as the Song was released. All the potential power that had been collected emerged as the beetle projection. The might and will of five people was bound up inside of this image as it roared it's battle cry "Boom for the Boom Goddess!" At least he was gender accurate this time. Kaiser had managed to sit up in time to watch as the projection opened fire on the mech. Plasma bullets slammed into the armored form with enough force that the machine skidded backwards. The shielded steel held, but the heat conferred by the attack melted it to slag in moments. I collapsed to one knee dazedly. This was my first time trying to build the attack up on my own without a support in place. No amplifiers or battery support. It was exhausting, but also felt more rewarding.
"Come on...up up up..." Despedia scooped me up into her arms, "We have to get out of here."
"Move it people!" Granspear helped up Kaiser, "Tattletale? You're riding with me. Sonata? Slap a couple hover disks on Kaiser." She looked at the Nazi cape, "We're not leaving you behind."
"I appreciate that." He said magnanimously. There was genuine gratitude in his melody which was nice to note. Sonata placed a few anti grav disks on his armor and held his hand to tow him through the air. Tattletale was behind Granspear on the V Board while holding onto the shorter girl for dear life. Apparently she wasn't actually good with flying. We were hurrying as fast as possible to the elevator shaft to escape. It was such a relief to have my friends around me after all of this. Des held me closer as she hurtled along fast enough to keep up with the others. More melodies were felt up ahead that were familiar to me. It wasn't the Travelers.
"Excellent work girls!" Mouse Protector caroled in greeting as we approached. Well that was more than a little surreal. Armsmaster was sticking a syringe from the tip of his halberd into each Traveler. I hope there was some medical tech on that needle to sterilize it after each use. Ick. Miss Militia was gesturing to a group of armored PRT agents.
"Fan out and secure the base. Leave no stone unturned. He kidnapped one of our own? Make him regret that decision." She told them. The agents saluted before setting off to their duties. The patriotic cape made her way over to us. Her eyes and melody showing how relieved she was. "Good to have you back, Aria."
"It's good to be back." The nightmare was over. I was going home. Des still hadn't put me down which was fine.
"Kaiser." Armsmaster said neutrally. Neither welcoming or caring about the other man.
"Armsmaster." Kaiser responded. Sonata removed the anti grav disks.
"He helped save Aria." Granspear interjected, "When we found them he was protecting her from a war machine." It didn't cause the tension to drop.
"Okay how 'bout I get the kiddies out of here and checked over?" Mouse Protector barged in on the stand off and diffused the situation. There were some squawks of indignation from my own friends, but I was perfectly okay with getting out of here. She lead us to the elevator with Kaiser trailing behind. As much as it probably rankled they were going to let him go. Sometimes you had to do things that you didn't want to for the greater good. I hated that term, but in this case it fit.
"How do we know the elevator won't suddenly just fall?" Granspear asked as we rode in the car.
"Dragon's got this whole place locked down. She's definitely someone good to know." Mouse Protector replied.
"So...Coil might be trapped in here?" Tattletale asked. She didn't sound like she believed it, but the hope was there. For her sake I hoped that he didn't escape.
"We waited until Dragon had the base under her control before coming in. There's also a ton of agents in the sewers and around the building. He kinda made a lot of people angry." She shrugged her shoulders in a 'What can you do?' kind of way. The elevator doors opened and I was whisked off to be checked out. It didn't actually hit me until that moment that I was actually free. I wouldn't take freedom for granted again.
-With Coil-
He rubbed his forehead tiredly. This was not going as planned. At all. It was his own decision to make the best out of the hand the Travelers had dealt him. He couldn't afford for Aria to go back to the PRT with the knowledge that he was Thomas Calvert. It was a calculated risk. Whether it was forced on him or not was irrelevant. The rewards had outweighed the risks. Now he was further backed into a corner by this latest debacle. It was bad enough that she had somehow managed to escape her room. A Tinker/'Thinker on the loose in his base was nightmare fuel enough. The fact that she managed to release Kaiser and get his cooperation had ratcheted up the concern. The mercenaries failed spectacularly. He groaned before taking more painkillers. At the rate he was going through them the bottle would be empty soon. The war machine had been Squealer's idea. Convince them of the futile nature of their escape and what happened? They decided to fight. It was only a matter of time before the machine defeated them, but then her friends arrived to turn the tide.
"Time to cut my losses." Coil sighed as he stood. With the push of a button he engaged the base's self destruct and opened the escape tunnel. His eyes bulged behind the mask at what he saw. An armored gauntlet gripped him by the throat and lifted him into the air.
"Hello Thomas. We have much to discuss." The Dragon growled menacingly.
-With Squealer-
She looked around the lab that had been given to her with a sigh. This was going to be a bitch to replace, but she could do it. At least her project had been evacuated in time. There was no way that she was going to try and face the Protectorate for Coil. Screw that. She was done fighting for idiots and madmen. The war machine was a nice touch. It wouldn't succeed, but it would buy her the time she needed to make good on her escape. She looked at the monitors that showed the sewer access. It was always good to have things on a closed circuit. Something that Coil had taught her. Unfortunately his base was still too automated. It gave Dragon too much to latch onto. The number of agents in the sewers was worrying. That is if she intended to fight them.
"Come to momma..." She tapped a few buttons on the sleek machine that was angled on a ramp leading into the sewers. The access door wasn't open yet. The neural suit let her connect with the machine that resembled a formula one racer as a black canopy slid over the cockpit. She leaned back into the luge like seat and hit the button to open the path. Thrusters whined as the machine revved up. Another button was pushed to launch. Her baby burst from the access door and hit the sewers at an angle. The PRT agents were too late to stop the high speed craft.
"Sorry Coil, but I've still got too much to do and getting caught isn't in the cards." Uber, Leet, and Dragonzord were her targets now. Aria? Please. Kid was so busy plugging away for World Peace that it was embarrassing. She grimaced at the fact her former employer had actually kidnapped the girl. There was still something of a conscience inside of her. So when it came to her attention that somehow the doors and systems were being hacked on the lower levels she just didn't see it. She shook her head. There were more important things to do now.
AN: End Fourth Arc. PHO Interlude and a few regular interludes are up next.
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This post is not threadmarked. Just thought you should know
The Unlamented
- Location
- PA
Hymn of Harmony
or Melody of Escalation
Interlude The Unlamented
-May 6, 2011-
It was a nondescript van traveling down a lonesome highway in the middle of nowhere. The sun was setting and the passengers were contemplating where to bed down for the night. They weren't what anyone would call friends, but they had a close working relationship. They had a mission that often kept them on the road for months out of the year. There was no time for vacations or holiday visits, but that was okay because the work was satisfying. They loved their job. The van pulled up to an out of the way truck stop. There were several eighteen wheelers already there and a restaurant with tinted privacy windows. For a dive in the middle of nowhere it tried to be fancier than it had to be.
"Hey Mr. Jack? Do you think they have pie?" A precious tween with blonde hair asked. She would have looked adorable if not for the manic look in her eyes and smile. The man, "Mr. Jack", patted her on the head.
"I'm sure they have lovely pies my dear. So lovely that we'll want to thank the chef personally." He assured her. He was a dignified looking man that had aged well. His blue eyes twinkling with merriment and a dark hunger.
"It will be nice to stretch my legs." A rather attractive young woman with a faint Canadian accent said before stretching. The older gentleman driving the van said nothing, but the faint smile on his face foretold ill things to come. A strange collection of sleek rounded parts in the shape of a person shifted where it was resting. It cared not for whatever was being served, but would not turn down the pleasures afterward.
"Pie..." A hideous brute of a man said with a voice loaded with disdain. For all of the disdain he was showing it didn't mean he wouldn't have a few slices for himself.
"Now now...dear Riley deserves a treat. She has been such a good girl on this long trek." Mr. Jack chided gently. "Why don't we go and see what they have to offer?" He opened the back of the van and stepped outside.
"Spoils that girl rotten..." A disfigured woman complained, but there was little ire. Jack wasn't known for kindness if you ruined his games.
"Better to keep the little one happy than allow her to entertain herself." The final person commented. She was rather beautiful herself with a voice that one couldn't help but notice. Riley hopped out of the van behind her Mr. Jack.
The atmosphere outside of the van was far less jovial. There was a strange foreboding in the air. Years of risky and dangerous lifestyle choices had honed his danger sense to a fine edge. As keen and sharp as his mind and blade. He stepped cautiously around the van and the problem suddenly entered his mind. A bullet heading at supersonic velocity that was followed immediately by the sharp crack of the rifle that sent the package. The young blonde that had come out after Mr. Jack looked to the spot where he had been standing at the moment the bullet had turned his entire head to a mash of bone bits and gore. She let out a shriek of pure terror and despair.
The others emerged from the van at her scream. The brutish man jumped out with his weapon, a blood stained monster of a thing, brandished. He was the next to fall as a sniper's bullet defied his might and caused his head to erupt in a fountain of gore. The next to emerge immediately took to the sky while the disfigured woman stayed inside of the van with the Canadian. There was an angry furor as the man that was more machine than human leaped out to do battle. Riley was staggering back at the sight of two of their number dead in so many moments.
Tracers lit over the flying woman and riddled her full of bullets. She fell to the ground without even a despairing cry as her mangled body smacked into the asphalt. The young blonde fled towards the diner to get out from immediate danger only for something spherical to hurtle at her. She tried to dodge the grenade shaped projectile only to be suddenly captured in a blue force field ball. Her fingers scrabbled at the smooth interior of her prison, but there was no way to gain purchase. She could only watch helplessly as men in suits of that PRT power armor jumped out of the trailers with their weapons trained on the van and opened fire with a virtual hailstorm of bullets. The vehicle that had been their home was torn to shreds as hundreds of AP rounds tore through the reinforced plating.
"Bravo team keep watching for Crawler. Charlie team look for the Siberian. Alpha team let's check for survivors." The leader gave his orders and the other units went off to their assigned tasks. "Will the girl be okay in there?" He gestured with his head towards Riley's prison.
"The field is air permeable. The only reason she's not screaming is probably from shock." Another man said. The first man grunted something.
"Kid's got years of therapy. Shit." He shook his head. "Any survivors?" One of his men had a portable medical scanner out.
"No sir. Zero life signs." Came the report and there was a general feeling of ease that vanished when the agent said, "This person..." They had started to come through the wreckage and came across the man in the front seat. "My database is reading this is William Manton."
"The guy that gave us the Manton Effect?" The leader asked in disbelief.
"The same one, sir." The agent reported. A message came over the comms and the leader nodded in relief.
"That was Bravo team. They have Crawler trapped in a force bubble. Let's get the hell out of here." The leader gestured to one of the trucks. The loading of the prisoners went easily enough until Riley rediscovered her voice.
"How...how did you find us...?" Riley asked timidly. This was not Bonesaw of the Slaughterhouse 9. This was a terrified little girl that suddenly found that in the grand scheme of things villains do get what's coming to them.
"You shouldn't have hit that last police station." The leader said with a certain amount of satisfaction. "They told us which way you were going. We had some help getting here ahead of you though." He gestured and the truck flickered before revealing itself as a Dragon transport ship.
She slumped to the bottom of her prison. Dead. They were all dead. Even Crawler couldn't escape. She looked over at where he was fruitlessly spinning and twirling in the large force bubble. Her Tinker's intellect rapidly dissected how they would keep a beast like Crawler from simply shoving his way out. The near frictionless surface inside of her own sphere would keep even him from gaining purchase. There also seemed to be a disorientation effect that was confusing him couple with a null gravity field. She shook her head in disbelief.
The Slaughterhouse 9 ended not in a blaze of glory, but on their knees.
AN: To satisfy the conflict drive we all share here is an interlude! You wondered what I was going to do to them...mwa ha ha ha ha ha!
Fixed a couple threadmarks and putting this interlude in the Arc that it belongs with.
or Melody of Escalation
Interlude The Unlamented
-May 6, 2011-
It was a nondescript van traveling down a lonesome highway in the middle of nowhere. The sun was setting and the passengers were contemplating where to bed down for the night. They weren't what anyone would call friends, but they had a close working relationship. They had a mission that often kept them on the road for months out of the year. There was no time for vacations or holiday visits, but that was okay because the work was satisfying. They loved their job. The van pulled up to an out of the way truck stop. There were several eighteen wheelers already there and a restaurant with tinted privacy windows. For a dive in the middle of nowhere it tried to be fancier than it had to be.
"Hey Mr. Jack? Do you think they have pie?" A precious tween with blonde hair asked. She would have looked adorable if not for the manic look in her eyes and smile. The man, "Mr. Jack", patted her on the head.
"I'm sure they have lovely pies my dear. So lovely that we'll want to thank the chef personally." He assured her. He was a dignified looking man that had aged well. His blue eyes twinkling with merriment and a dark hunger.
"It will be nice to stretch my legs." A rather attractive young woman with a faint Canadian accent said before stretching. The older gentleman driving the van said nothing, but the faint smile on his face foretold ill things to come. A strange collection of sleek rounded parts in the shape of a person shifted where it was resting. It cared not for whatever was being served, but would not turn down the pleasures afterward.
"Pie..." A hideous brute of a man said with a voice loaded with disdain. For all of the disdain he was showing it didn't mean he wouldn't have a few slices for himself.
"Now now...dear Riley deserves a treat. She has been such a good girl on this long trek." Mr. Jack chided gently. "Why don't we go and see what they have to offer?" He opened the back of the van and stepped outside.
"Spoils that girl rotten..." A disfigured woman complained, but there was little ire. Jack wasn't known for kindness if you ruined his games.
"Better to keep the little one happy than allow her to entertain herself." The final person commented. She was rather beautiful herself with a voice that one couldn't help but notice. Riley hopped out of the van behind her Mr. Jack.
The atmosphere outside of the van was far less jovial. There was a strange foreboding in the air. Years of risky and dangerous lifestyle choices had honed his danger sense to a fine edge. As keen and sharp as his mind and blade. He stepped cautiously around the van and the problem suddenly entered his mind. A bullet heading at supersonic velocity that was followed immediately by the sharp crack of the rifle that sent the package. The young blonde that had come out after Mr. Jack looked to the spot where he had been standing at the moment the bullet had turned his entire head to a mash of bone bits and gore. She let out a shriek of pure terror and despair.
The others emerged from the van at her scream. The brutish man jumped out with his weapon, a blood stained monster of a thing, brandished. He was the next to fall as a sniper's bullet defied his might and caused his head to erupt in a fountain of gore. The next to emerge immediately took to the sky while the disfigured woman stayed inside of the van with the Canadian. There was an angry furor as the man that was more machine than human leaped out to do battle. Riley was staggering back at the sight of two of their number dead in so many moments.
Tracers lit over the flying woman and riddled her full of bullets. She fell to the ground without even a despairing cry as her mangled body smacked into the asphalt. The young blonde fled towards the diner to get out from immediate danger only for something spherical to hurtle at her. She tried to dodge the grenade shaped projectile only to be suddenly captured in a blue force field ball. Her fingers scrabbled at the smooth interior of her prison, but there was no way to gain purchase. She could only watch helplessly as men in suits of that PRT power armor jumped out of the trailers with their weapons trained on the van and opened fire with a virtual hailstorm of bullets. The vehicle that had been their home was torn to shreds as hundreds of AP rounds tore through the reinforced plating.
"Bravo team keep watching for Crawler. Charlie team look for the Siberian. Alpha team let's check for survivors." The leader gave his orders and the other units went off to their assigned tasks. "Will the girl be okay in there?" He gestured with his head towards Riley's prison.
"The field is air permeable. The only reason she's not screaming is probably from shock." Another man said. The first man grunted something.
"Kid's got years of therapy. Shit." He shook his head. "Any survivors?" One of his men had a portable medical scanner out.
"No sir. Zero life signs." Came the report and there was a general feeling of ease that vanished when the agent said, "This person..." They had started to come through the wreckage and came across the man in the front seat. "My database is reading this is William Manton."
"The guy that gave us the Manton Effect?" The leader asked in disbelief.
"The same one, sir." The agent reported. A message came over the comms and the leader nodded in relief.
"That was Bravo team. They have Crawler trapped in a force bubble. Let's get the hell out of here." The leader gestured to one of the trucks. The loading of the prisoners went easily enough until Riley rediscovered her voice.
"How...how did you find us...?" Riley asked timidly. This was not Bonesaw of the Slaughterhouse 9. This was a terrified little girl that suddenly found that in the grand scheme of things villains do get what's coming to them.
"You shouldn't have hit that last police station." The leader said with a certain amount of satisfaction. "They told us which way you were going. We had some help getting here ahead of you though." He gestured and the truck flickered before revealing itself as a Dragon transport ship.
She slumped to the bottom of her prison. Dead. They were all dead. Even Crawler couldn't escape. She looked over at where he was fruitlessly spinning and twirling in the large force bubble. Her Tinker's intellect rapidly dissected how they would keep a beast like Crawler from simply shoving his way out. The near frictionless surface inside of her own sphere would keep even him from gaining purchase. There also seemed to be a disorientation effect that was confusing him couple with a null gravity field. She shook her head in disbelief.
The Slaughterhouse 9 ended not in a blaze of glory, but on their knees.
AN: To satisfy the conflict drive we all share here is an interlude! You wondered what I was going to do to them...mwa ha ha ha ha ha!
Fixed a couple threadmarks and putting this interlude in the Arc that it belongs with.
- Location
- PA
No change since frankly I think it's excellent as is. Just wanted to get the chapter up here.
Interlude The Birth of Nyamo Mask!
- Location
- PA
Hymn of Harmony
or Melody of Escalation
Interlude The Birth of Nyamo Mask!
-The Market-
It was just supposed to be a normal Saturday. Get up, have cereal, deal with the cold shoulder from her parents, and head out until late afternoon. Madison sighed as she realized that somewhere along the way this had become a normal day for her. It wasn't that her parents didn't love her, but they were still disappointed with her actions. They were in limbo. She didn't know how to make it up to them and they didn't know how to relate to her anymore. Their precious princess had shown that she was a toad. A warty and disgusting toad. Why should they just magically let her off the hook anymore? She screwed up badly. What else was there to say? So it was a cold house where there once was a home. The worst part of it all was they just weren't talking to her. It was generic things like asking how her day was or about class, but they didn't seem to hear her. She tried to tell them about talking to Taylor and ended up in the bedroom with her ears ringing. They didn't want to hear about her and Taylor. They didn't want to hear about her and Emma. They didn't want to hear that they had become friends and that it was healthy now.
"I wish life was easier." She muttered dejectedly. Taylor didn't go to Winslow anymore. She made sure that Madison knew it wasn't her fault. To her senses it felt like an Eldritch Location. Some kind of Mouth of Hell. At least she still had Des and Aisha. She was still getting used to Cocona, but the shorter girl was a trip. Her and Aisha were merry practical jokers while Emma held herself aloof. Right up until she sprung one of her pranks on them. She smiled at the thought of what school was like for her now.
They still had the gangs, but they were much quieter. It wasn't the calm before the storm, but a full on ceasefire. In some ways the silence was worse than the noise. For awhile it felt unnatural. Then it came to light that the ABB was falling apart and the E88 were scrambling. No one was sure what was up with that, but it explained why frictions had died off. The Merchants were still loose around the school, but not as visible as before. Winslow was starting to feel like a real school. She was doing better in her classes. Real friends that were there for her. If she could get her home life straight then everything would be golden.
She noticed up ahead Despedia, Granspear, and Sonata making a patrol through the Market. That was strange since the normal patrols weren't scheduled to go through here until later. It wasn't actually a secret what routes and times the Wards had their patrol. They were also looking way more serious than she was used to seeing. They suddenly looked at each other before taking off. Each using their own way to fly. That was just so bizarre.
"Do you think they found her?" A woman asked the man standing next to her.
"I hope so. What the hell is this place coming to when a Ward can get kidnapped right out of a hospital?" The thickset man sounded frustrated. Similar exclamations and comments were being made around her. How out of it had she been not to know a Ward had been kidnapped? No wonder her friends were looking so serious.
"Which Ward? Did they say?" Madison asked. Since they were being such fonts of information. They gave her a strange look that made her flush in embarrassment.
"It was the Tinker girl, Aria. That sweet thing who was all protective over her daughter. Nabbed in broad daylight." The woman fussed. Madison's heart dropped like a stone. Taylor was kidnapped? No one knew where she was? She didn't hear what was being said as vague excuses were made. She had to get away. Madison couldn't imagine the hell that her family was going through. Her heart was clenched tight in her chest. She had to find a place to sit down.
Her head was swimming as everything just came roaring back to the fore. If someone had said in January that she would be having a full blown panic attack over Taylor Hebert she would have laughed. The girl had become a part of her life, but in the sense that she was a victim and that was where Madison was helping to keep her. Then the locker happened. The most fucked up thing they had ever done to the girl. She wasn't excluding herself. She had become a part of the very system that was beating her down. Taylor cries for help were agonizing. She Triggered in that locker and gained super powers. A whole slew of civil suits followed the locker and her relationship with her parents deteriorated. She screwed up so bad, but the worst part was Taylor forgiving her. Madison was prepared for scorn and anger. She knew that she deserved all of it, but Taylor had to ruin it by forgiving her.
"No...calm down...have to...calm down..." She clutched at her chest. The sensation of a hand gripping her heart was growing and there was a fire in her mind. She became dimly aware of something happening and managed to force her eyes open.
"No no no...put those cell phones away. Just throw your money over here and nothing bad will happen." An unclean looking man was waving a gun bigger than Madison's forearm at the crowd. They were several other people in ratty blue outfits. They looked like trash. Merchants? Here?
"What do you want with us?" A frightened woman asked.
"Nothing much. Just toss your valuables over here and we'll be out of your hair. I promise." He smiled with blackened and rotting teeth. Yeah that was the face of trustworthiness. "Got the jammer?" He shouted at one of the women Merchants.
"Yeah yeah...all done. Just flick a switch, y'know?" She made it sound like it was nothing. It probably was. Flick a switch was probably all the drug addled bimbo could manage.
Madison slid from the bench as her heart started to hammer. She wasn't a brave person, but what she was tiny. No one paid any attention to her as she slipped into a mom and pop store that had the front door open. The people inside were frantically trying to get their phones to work. Not even the land line was working. The Merchants were going through the shops and hustling people out. She tucked herself securely in an alcove and prayed no one would find her.
"Coward. You're pathetic. Gonna just keep hiding when the bigger kids aren't around to protect you? You can't do a damn thing for yourself." The voice sounded like an amalgamation of everything she had heard. The voices that having real friends hadn't silenced. The voices of her heart. She cried, but there was nothing else she could do. Just huddle in a ball of misery. Suddenly there was a gunshot. A lone gunshot that pierced her mind. She uncoiled from her position and frantically crawled to the window. Dreading what she would see, but helpless before the urge to know.
"Awww...so scared, but you wanna see? That's why you never helped Taylor. Too scared of being picked on. Too scared of being singled out. Better her than me. Right? All you did was trade Sophia for Taylor. Now you can feel good about yourself. Didn't even have to lose Emma, right?" The voices were growing more insistent. She was like that, but not anymore. Her eyes fell on the man holding a gun to a woman's face. Just like that day with Aisha when that punk was about to strike her. The look in her eyes haunted Madison.
"I'm not scared. Not now...not ever again..." There might not be anything that she could do, but seeing that fear caused something inside of her to snap.
[Destination]
[Agreement]
[Harmony]
[Song Load: EXEC_EP=Nova]
A ridiculously catchy tune started to play. It broke through the voices and washed her mind clean of self doubt. Her lips curled into a smile as she snatched a white cat mask with black ears from a rack. The simple mask had a rubber band that she slipped over her head. The tune that played demanded action and she was ready to go. Just go with the flow and let the magic happen. She bounded out the door in a single leap startled everyone. Madison could hardly blame them. Here was this tiny girl in a dime store mask pointing dramatically at a man holding a gun. It was actually kind of hilarious.
"Halt! Cease and desist! Your actions have consequences and it falls to me to deliver them!" Was she channeling too much Mouse Protector? Naw. There was no such thing!
"What the fuck...?" The goon had let the woman go in his confusion. Step one of her master plan was complete. Baffle them with bullshit so they ignore the people until help arrives. Step two was not get shot. So was step three for that matter. Step four? Profit!
"That's not a cape." Another mook stated. "Listen kid if you go over there I don't have to get rough. Unless you like it like that?" He leered at her. She drew herself up indignantly.
"Oh that is not PC sir. I have half a mind to teach you some manners!" Her tail bristled angrily. The Merchants were suddenly staring at her butt. Why were they staring at her butt? Seriously! She couldn't help being flat! Her ears laid back in annoyance.
"Uhhh...she's got a tail..." One of them pointed at her rear. Another looked bewildered, "Why does she have ears on her head...?" Did he seriously just ask that?
"Of course I have ears on my head! Where else would they be? Stop staring at my behind!" Her claws emerged from her fingertips. The man with the gun suddenly aimed and pulled the trigger. It happened in slow motion as she twisted her torso just slightly to the left without the bullet even grazing her shirt. Three more bullets followed which were avoided by the simple expedient of back flipping onto the awning above the store she exited. Madison didn't give herself time to think about the bizarre acrobatics as she tumbled forward in the air and dropped her heels on the gun man's skull.
"Shit! She's a cape! Fuck my life!" One of the Merchants yanked a hostage in front of them. "Don't come any closer or I'll blow this bitch's brains out!" He was pointing a gun at the woman she spoke to earlier. The kind woman that was worried about Taylor. She pointed at him dramatically and traced a circle in the air with her fingertip as she spoke.
"This won't get you very far. You seem a little tense. Why don't we all get happy?" She beamed. The mask showing her smiling face to the suddenly more nervous thugs. To be fair even the crowd was nervous. They seemed to think she was going to shoot lightning out of her eyes. Nope. She was just going to dance for them. The song that wouldn't stop playing, that filled her with peace and cheer, came to the forefront in a rush as she started to sing the lyrics in English. Sure the song didn't make any sense, but it was still great. Her hips swayed and she bopped along to the beat. Strangely enough the Merchants started bopping right along with her!
"Why are we dancing!?" The thug sounded panicked. She laughed merrily at the sight of these strung out druggies dancing like hyperactive children. When the song came to an end everything stopped. The people were treated to the sight of those affected falling to the ground in a sound sleep.
"Let this be a lesson to evildoers everywhere! This day marks the beginning of Nyamo Mask! Away!" She triangle jumped from wall to awning and finally to the roof of the building before tearing off at full speed. With the adrenaline starting to crash she was able to think again.
"Wait...tail...ears...? Nyaooooooooo!" The life of a rogue hero was a hard one. Especially at the beginning.
or Melody of Escalation
Interlude The Birth of Nyamo Mask!
-The Market-
It was just supposed to be a normal Saturday. Get up, have cereal, deal with the cold shoulder from her parents, and head out until late afternoon. Madison sighed as she realized that somewhere along the way this had become a normal day for her. It wasn't that her parents didn't love her, but they were still disappointed with her actions. They were in limbo. She didn't know how to make it up to them and they didn't know how to relate to her anymore. Their precious princess had shown that she was a toad. A warty and disgusting toad. Why should they just magically let her off the hook anymore? She screwed up badly. What else was there to say? So it was a cold house where there once was a home. The worst part of it all was they just weren't talking to her. It was generic things like asking how her day was or about class, but they didn't seem to hear her. She tried to tell them about talking to Taylor and ended up in the bedroom with her ears ringing. They didn't want to hear about her and Taylor. They didn't want to hear about her and Emma. They didn't want to hear that they had become friends and that it was healthy now.
"I wish life was easier." She muttered dejectedly. Taylor didn't go to Winslow anymore. She made sure that Madison knew it wasn't her fault. To her senses it felt like an Eldritch Location. Some kind of Mouth of Hell. At least she still had Des and Aisha. She was still getting used to Cocona, but the shorter girl was a trip. Her and Aisha were merry practical jokers while Emma held herself aloof. Right up until she sprung one of her pranks on them. She smiled at the thought of what school was like for her now.
They still had the gangs, but they were much quieter. It wasn't the calm before the storm, but a full on ceasefire. In some ways the silence was worse than the noise. For awhile it felt unnatural. Then it came to light that the ABB was falling apart and the E88 were scrambling. No one was sure what was up with that, but it explained why frictions had died off. The Merchants were still loose around the school, but not as visible as before. Winslow was starting to feel like a real school. She was doing better in her classes. Real friends that were there for her. If she could get her home life straight then everything would be golden.
She noticed up ahead Despedia, Granspear, and Sonata making a patrol through the Market. That was strange since the normal patrols weren't scheduled to go through here until later. It wasn't actually a secret what routes and times the Wards had their patrol. They were also looking way more serious than she was used to seeing. They suddenly looked at each other before taking off. Each using their own way to fly. That was just so bizarre.
"Do you think they found her?" A woman asked the man standing next to her.
"I hope so. What the hell is this place coming to when a Ward can get kidnapped right out of a hospital?" The thickset man sounded frustrated. Similar exclamations and comments were being made around her. How out of it had she been not to know a Ward had been kidnapped? No wonder her friends were looking so serious.
"Which Ward? Did they say?" Madison asked. Since they were being such fonts of information. They gave her a strange look that made her flush in embarrassment.
"It was the Tinker girl, Aria. That sweet thing who was all protective over her daughter. Nabbed in broad daylight." The woman fussed. Madison's heart dropped like a stone. Taylor was kidnapped? No one knew where she was? She didn't hear what was being said as vague excuses were made. She had to get away. Madison couldn't imagine the hell that her family was going through. Her heart was clenched tight in her chest. She had to find a place to sit down.
Her head was swimming as everything just came roaring back to the fore. If someone had said in January that she would be having a full blown panic attack over Taylor Hebert she would have laughed. The girl had become a part of her life, but in the sense that she was a victim and that was where Madison was helping to keep her. Then the locker happened. The most fucked up thing they had ever done to the girl. She wasn't excluding herself. She had become a part of the very system that was beating her down. Taylor cries for help were agonizing. She Triggered in that locker and gained super powers. A whole slew of civil suits followed the locker and her relationship with her parents deteriorated. She screwed up so bad, but the worst part was Taylor forgiving her. Madison was prepared for scorn and anger. She knew that she deserved all of it, but Taylor had to ruin it by forgiving her.
"No...calm down...have to...calm down..." She clutched at her chest. The sensation of a hand gripping her heart was growing and there was a fire in her mind. She became dimly aware of something happening and managed to force her eyes open.
"No no no...put those cell phones away. Just throw your money over here and nothing bad will happen." An unclean looking man was waving a gun bigger than Madison's forearm at the crowd. They were several other people in ratty blue outfits. They looked like trash. Merchants? Here?
"What do you want with us?" A frightened woman asked.
"Nothing much. Just toss your valuables over here and we'll be out of your hair. I promise." He smiled with blackened and rotting teeth. Yeah that was the face of trustworthiness. "Got the jammer?" He shouted at one of the women Merchants.
"Yeah yeah...all done. Just flick a switch, y'know?" She made it sound like it was nothing. It probably was. Flick a switch was probably all the drug addled bimbo could manage.
Madison slid from the bench as her heart started to hammer. She wasn't a brave person, but what she was tiny. No one paid any attention to her as she slipped into a mom and pop store that had the front door open. The people inside were frantically trying to get their phones to work. Not even the land line was working. The Merchants were going through the shops and hustling people out. She tucked herself securely in an alcove and prayed no one would find her.
"Coward. You're pathetic. Gonna just keep hiding when the bigger kids aren't around to protect you? You can't do a damn thing for yourself." The voice sounded like an amalgamation of everything she had heard. The voices that having real friends hadn't silenced. The voices of her heart. She cried, but there was nothing else she could do. Just huddle in a ball of misery. Suddenly there was a gunshot. A lone gunshot that pierced her mind. She uncoiled from her position and frantically crawled to the window. Dreading what she would see, but helpless before the urge to know.
"Awww...so scared, but you wanna see? That's why you never helped Taylor. Too scared of being picked on. Too scared of being singled out. Better her than me. Right? All you did was trade Sophia for Taylor. Now you can feel good about yourself. Didn't even have to lose Emma, right?" The voices were growing more insistent. She was like that, but not anymore. Her eyes fell on the man holding a gun to a woman's face. Just like that day with Aisha when that punk was about to strike her. The look in her eyes haunted Madison.
"I'm not scared. Not now...not ever again..." There might not be anything that she could do, but seeing that fear caused something inside of her to snap.
[Destination]
[Agreement]
[Harmony]
[Song Load: EXEC_EP=Nova]
A ridiculously catchy tune started to play. It broke through the voices and washed her mind clean of self doubt. Her lips curled into a smile as she snatched a white cat mask with black ears from a rack. The simple mask had a rubber band that she slipped over her head. The tune that played demanded action and she was ready to go. Just go with the flow and let the magic happen. She bounded out the door in a single leap startled everyone. Madison could hardly blame them. Here was this tiny girl in a dime store mask pointing dramatically at a man holding a gun. It was actually kind of hilarious.
"Halt! Cease and desist! Your actions have consequences and it falls to me to deliver them!" Was she channeling too much Mouse Protector? Naw. There was no such thing!
"What the fuck...?" The goon had let the woman go in his confusion. Step one of her master plan was complete. Baffle them with bullshit so they ignore the people until help arrives. Step two was not get shot. So was step three for that matter. Step four? Profit!
"That's not a cape." Another mook stated. "Listen kid if you go over there I don't have to get rough. Unless you like it like that?" He leered at her. She drew herself up indignantly.
"Oh that is not PC sir. I have half a mind to teach you some manners!" Her tail bristled angrily. The Merchants were suddenly staring at her butt. Why were they staring at her butt? Seriously! She couldn't help being flat! Her ears laid back in annoyance.
"Uhhh...she's got a tail..." One of them pointed at her rear. Another looked bewildered, "Why does she have ears on her head...?" Did he seriously just ask that?
"Of course I have ears on my head! Where else would they be? Stop staring at my behind!" Her claws emerged from her fingertips. The man with the gun suddenly aimed and pulled the trigger. It happened in slow motion as she twisted her torso just slightly to the left without the bullet even grazing her shirt. Three more bullets followed which were avoided by the simple expedient of back flipping onto the awning above the store she exited. Madison didn't give herself time to think about the bizarre acrobatics as she tumbled forward in the air and dropped her heels on the gun man's skull.
"Shit! She's a cape! Fuck my life!" One of the Merchants yanked a hostage in front of them. "Don't come any closer or I'll blow this bitch's brains out!" He was pointing a gun at the woman she spoke to earlier. The kind woman that was worried about Taylor. She pointed at him dramatically and traced a circle in the air with her fingertip as she spoke.
"This won't get you very far. You seem a little tense. Why don't we all get happy?" She beamed. The mask showing her smiling face to the suddenly more nervous thugs. To be fair even the crowd was nervous. They seemed to think she was going to shoot lightning out of her eyes. Nope. She was just going to dance for them. The song that wouldn't stop playing, that filled her with peace and cheer, came to the forefront in a rush as she started to sing the lyrics in English. Sure the song didn't make any sense, but it was still great. Her hips swayed and she bopped along to the beat. Strangely enough the Merchants started bopping right along with her!
"Why are we dancing!?" The thug sounded panicked. She laughed merrily at the sight of these strung out druggies dancing like hyperactive children. When the song came to an end everything stopped. The people were treated to the sight of those affected falling to the ground in a sound sleep.
"Let this be a lesson to evildoers everywhere! This day marks the beginning of Nyamo Mask! Away!" She triangle jumped from wall to awning and finally to the roof of the building before tearing off at full speed. With the adrenaline starting to crash she was able to think again.
"Wait...tail...ears...? Nyaooooooooo!" The life of a rogue hero was a hard one. Especially at the beginning.
Somewhere out there Mouse Protector had the sudden urge to laugh for no reason.
Pretty sure that "somewhere" is Brockton Bay; I think she was transferred in as extra security for Aria not too long before this whole mess with Coil began.
I meant on the imagery not on facts
PHO Interlude 3
- Location
- PA
Hymn of Harmony
or Melody of Escalation
PHO Interlude 3
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♦Topic: Merchant Madness?
In: Boards ► News ► Capes ► Brockton Bay
Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Posted on April 23, 2011:
Today was absolutely insane. Details are scare at this time, but for some reason the Merchants came out in force. There are a few things that we do know, but it doesn't make this any easier to understand.
The first is that someone kidnapped the Ward, Aria, from the hospital during a PR function with New Wave. The kidnappers haven't been confirmed yet, but not long after the Merchants made their move. They hit several places simultaneously including the hospital where Aria was taken.
Several Merchant capes have been confirmed as KIA. The fight down at the Docks was probably heard all over the city due to one of Squealer's machines actually blowing down a building with a confirmed sonic weapon. The quality of the video is terrible and the noise is deafening so I'm not posting it here. Dauntless, Assault, Battery, and Velocity with the brave agents of the PRT were able to hold off the Merchants. The BB Dragonzord also played a part in the take down. We're still waiting for more details on what capes died.
There was a hostage situation on the Boardwalk again perpetrated by the Merchants. They were certainly busy today. The entirety of New Wave's front line showed up with armored PRT troops to deal with the problem. Thanks to their efforts there were no civilian causalities. The reports get a little vague on what exactly happened, but Brandish and Lady Photon are recovering at the hospital. It has been confirmed that Smack is in PRT custody after being treated for a life threatening injury.
There was another hostage situation at the Market. Thankfully there were no Merchant capes present or armors, but plenty of thugs. It looks more like a target of opportunity with everyone spread so thin. According to eyewitness reports a young girl in a hoody and a cat mask made the Merchants dance until they fell asleep. I'm not making this up. They danced until they dropped. No one was injured.
The attack on the hospital was stopped by the brave men and women of the police. This was the first full mobilization of their armor division and they certainly proved themselves. The armor in Merchant's colors were many, but they were held back until the PRT arrived.
It certainly seems like we know a lot, but the big question is: Why was Aria taken? Hopefully someone can answer that.
(Showing Page 1 of 16)
► whaddya say
Replied on January 1, 2000:
Those Merchants better not get loose. If they do then there's some seriously fucked up shit goin' on. I was at the fuckin' Boardwalk and that shit was intense. Hope New Wave is alright.
► Kay Win
Replied on April 23, 2011:
I have no idea what happened. At all. I thought they were going to shoot me and then there was a cat girl. God I wish I was making this up, but there was a singing cat girl. I'm grateful she saved my life, but...there was a singing cat girl.
► monkeybone (Temp-banned)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Touch Fluffy Tail
► Shulda (Moderator)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
I don't care if that's a meme, but the girl is definitely underage. Have some time to think about it.
► justincal
Replied on April 23, 2011:
So a bunch of druggies blew themselves up? Cool. Less filth on the streets.
► hit_me
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Yeah fuck you! People died and you don't care? Fucking fuck!
► justincal
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Hmmm...nope. Not really.
► fightenthusiast
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Whoa...come at me, bro! rofl!
► Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Okay guys settle down. The Mods have already been in here and this just the first page.
► that_one_lady (Mother)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Every life is special, but sometimes the wrong decisions are made. They chose a life of crime and it ended badly for them. My thoughts go out to Aria's parents.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 14 , 15, 16
(Showing Page 6 of 16)
► Cog (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Good news! Aria has been found and is currently being checked over. She should be in her own home by tomorrow.
► IndolentMinx (The Minx in the Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Well that's great to hear. We needed more good news. Do they know who kidnapped her?
► crazyinbrockton
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Probably won't tell us. They never tell us anything except their sanitized garbage.
► CryoTech51
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Why is this guy still here? Seriously? SuperMod take him away!
► Cog (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Coil was working with the Travelers and the Merchants. He was the one that took Aria. A formal press release will be made, but the concerned citizens of Brockton Bay deserved to know.
► the bay
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Weird. Someone actually told it to us straight. I'm not sure how to feel.
► CarbuncleLoki (Experimental Subject)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
And no crazyinbrockton to whine about our machine overlords or something. I'm scared.
► the bay
Replied on April 23, 2011:
@ CarbuncleLoki How did you even get that tag?
► CarbuncleLoki (Experimental Subject)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
That is a tale for another day.
► steel_workin_man (Dock Worker)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Don't know what we're gonna do. The Docks were never the prettiest sight, but now they're completely torn up. At least that girl is home with her family.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ... 14 , 15, 16
(Showing Page 16 of 16)
► Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
At least we know more than earlier. Aria is home safe and the Merchants have basically been dealt with. Here's hoping that we get some peace and quiet before the next storm hits.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 14, 15, 16
♦Topic: Nyamo?
In: Boards ► News ► Capes ► Brockton Bay
Kay Win (Original Poster)
Posted on April 23, 2011:
She's cute, fluffy, and apparently can sing and dance you to sleep. She's Nyamo Mask. Cat-like agility and reflexes with twitchy ears and a tail. Even without a costume she's PR bait. The plastic cat mask was cute though. I will admit this has to have been one of the stranger things I've witnessed and for a Brockton Bay resident that says a lot.
I was at the Market and had just struck up a conversation with someone. We were talking about the news of Aria being kidnapped. Terrible news. It was at that point that all hell broke loose. The Merchants showed up and made us crowd together. It's easy to order someone around when you have a gun after all. We were hoping that someone had managed to call the PRT or the police before our phones were fried. Whatever the Merchants were using fried our phones. There was a woman loudly screaming and carrying on to the point one of our captors was going to make an example out of her.
I don't think he planned on a surprise cat girl. I was there and I'm still mystified. The girl sounded like she went to Mouse Protector for lessons. It was that kind of crazy. Then she dodged bullets, drop kicked the gun man, and ended with a song and dance number.
I'm grateful to Nyamo Mask for saving us, but I'm still not sure what happened.
(Showing Page 1 of 22)
► Knight2254
Replied on April 24, 2011:
There's nothing wrong with fluffy tails and cuteness. Though a suitcase with a gattling gun would be useful for her.
► creepypony
Replied on April 24, 2011:
I have to agree with Kay. What the hell was that? Singing and dancing as powers? That was some weird Master stuff.
► justincal
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Oh no. Let's not start talking about Master stuff. Then there would be calls to throw her in the Birdcage.
► The Grey Rider
Replied on April 24, 2011:
But didn't Canary do that stuff? Make people do as she wants by singing? Just what we need. Another out of control Master.
► MirAnalyst
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Oh great. Here comes another wonderful derail. If you have a beef with Masters then this probably isn't the right thread for you. Is she a Master? Probably, yeah. It doesn't change the fact that she saved a bunch of people. Just go back to your hole with your tinfoil hat.
► Kay Win (Original Poster)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Master or not she was definitely serving up enough HAM and CHEESE for everybody. I can't get that song out of my head either. It was just that catchy. If anyone suggests I've been Mastered I will hurt you.
► Mouse Protector (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE) (Huzzah!)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Another noble defender of the Bay? If you are reading this then please come to the PRT building! I hope to meet you soon, Nyamo Mask! Let us unite our efforts for the good of the people.
► DicePaste (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Does anyone want to see the film of Miss Militia chasing Mouse Protector? I'm planning a live stream [here].
► VanishingSong (Protectorate Employee)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
He won't have a job at this rate.
We would like to have you come down and at least tour the facilities, Nyamo Mask.
► GiftZwerg
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Weird cape, weird thread. At least the theme makes sense. Seemed like a nice kid though. It was pretty funny watching the Merchants dancing uncontrollably.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 20 , 21, 22
♦ Private message from Jakuri is Watching:
CrazyComputerGuy: Aria is safe. I know that the two of you share emails from time to time. The thing is that she needs help in another way that you can provide. There are things going on in your world that you aren't aware of and have been deliberately left in the dark. Your world is not going to survive what is coming if action isn't taken soon. I have already secured the assistance of Dragon and Armsmaster in this task, but we need you as well.
I have enclosed a clip to prove that what I'm saying is true. Aria and I are from the same race. She wasn't always like this, but I digress. We are a race of gynoids from the world of Ar Ciel. Aria was born on Earth, but with her permission has become one of us. This is a lot to take in, but the thrust of all of this is that we want to help Earth. Not just Earth Bet, but all of the Earths. I don't expect you to believe me right away, but your assistance would prove invaluable.
Please look the clip and accompanying data packet over. If you decide to help then just contact Dragon. If not then that's fine as well. This is, and will always be, your choice.
He watched the entire clip in silence. The young boy that dreamed of other worlds and the marvels of space was clamoring for his attention. If this was an evil AI overlord then she had just bought his soul with sweeping vistas and a beautiful sky on a far off planet. A world that he would have never seen if not for the strange moderator that showed up on PHO one day and never left. The data packet that he received explained the situation in horrific detail. Other dimensions were known to the people of Earth Bet, but interstellar beings that wished to destroy their world? Alien conspiracies designed to keep people silent? The truly sad thing was that he believed. Sometimes he almost wished that his curiousity had never lead him to this point, but then he remembers what he gained. His companions were his friends again. He was no longer a slave to a mad man's goals.
This wouldn't have even come to his attention if Dragon hadn't sent him a message to check the PHO boards. Aria had been kidnapped, but rescued. That was a relief. He did enjoy his talks with her. Then curiousity once more got the better of him and he started looking at other posts. Due to the very nature of the boards anyone could post. It didn't stop a trend from surfacing. A strange trend that pointed to someone manipulating things just a bit. He rubbed his forehead. Being able to put conspiracy theories together like this was either the work of a deranged mind or something else. He was done with being deranged, but here he was again planning to do something crazy. A message to Dragon was sent off to say that he was in.
"Let's see how far down this rabbit hole goes."
or Melody of Escalation
PHO Interlude 3
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■
♦Topic: Merchant Madness?
In: Boards ► News ► Capes ► Brockton Bay
Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Posted on April 23, 2011:
Today was absolutely insane. Details are scare at this time, but for some reason the Merchants came out in force. There are a few things that we do know, but it doesn't make this any easier to understand.
The first is that someone kidnapped the Ward, Aria, from the hospital during a PR function with New Wave. The kidnappers haven't been confirmed yet, but not long after the Merchants made their move. They hit several places simultaneously including the hospital where Aria was taken.
Several Merchant capes have been confirmed as KIA. The fight down at the Docks was probably heard all over the city due to one of Squealer's machines actually blowing down a building with a confirmed sonic weapon. The quality of the video is terrible and the noise is deafening so I'm not posting it here. Dauntless, Assault, Battery, and Velocity with the brave agents of the PRT were able to hold off the Merchants. The BB Dragonzord also played a part in the take down. We're still waiting for more details on what capes died.
There was a hostage situation on the Boardwalk again perpetrated by the Merchants. They were certainly busy today. The entirety of New Wave's front line showed up with armored PRT troops to deal with the problem. Thanks to their efforts there were no civilian causalities. The reports get a little vague on what exactly happened, but Brandish and Lady Photon are recovering at the hospital. It has been confirmed that Smack is in PRT custody after being treated for a life threatening injury.
There was another hostage situation at the Market. Thankfully there were no Merchant capes present or armors, but plenty of thugs. It looks more like a target of opportunity with everyone spread so thin. According to eyewitness reports a young girl in a hoody and a cat mask made the Merchants dance until they fell asleep. I'm not making this up. They danced until they dropped. No one was injured.
The attack on the hospital was stopped by the brave men and women of the police. This was the first full mobilization of their armor division and they certainly proved themselves. The armor in Merchant's colors were many, but they were held back until the PRT arrived.
It certainly seems like we know a lot, but the big question is: Why was Aria taken? Hopefully someone can answer that.
(Showing Page 1 of 16)
► whaddya say
Replied on January 1, 2000:
Those Merchants better not get loose. If they do then there's some seriously fucked up shit goin' on. I was at the fuckin' Boardwalk and that shit was intense. Hope New Wave is alright.
► Kay Win
Replied on April 23, 2011:
I have no idea what happened. At all. I thought they were going to shoot me and then there was a cat girl. God I wish I was making this up, but there was a singing cat girl. I'm grateful she saved my life, but...there was a singing cat girl.
► monkeybone (Temp-banned)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Touch Fluffy Tail
► Shulda (Moderator)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
I don't care if that's a meme, but the girl is definitely underage. Have some time to think about it.
► justincal
Replied on April 23, 2011:
So a bunch of druggies blew themselves up? Cool. Less filth on the streets.
► hit_me
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Yeah fuck you! People died and you don't care? Fucking fuck!
► justincal
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Hmmm...nope. Not really.
► fightenthusiast
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Whoa...come at me, bro! rofl!
► Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Okay guys settle down. The Mods have already been in here and this just the first page.
► that_one_lady (Mother)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Every life is special, but sometimes the wrong decisions are made. They chose a life of crime and it ended badly for them. My thoughts go out to Aria's parents.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 14 , 15, 16
(Showing Page 6 of 16)
► Cog (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Good news! Aria has been found and is currently being checked over. She should be in her own home by tomorrow.
► IndolentMinx (The Minx in the Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Well that's great to hear. We needed more good news. Do they know who kidnapped her?
► crazyinbrockton
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Probably won't tell us. They never tell us anything except their sanitized garbage.
► CryoTech51
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Why is this guy still here? Seriously? SuperMod take him away!
► Cog (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Coil was working with the Travelers and the Merchants. He was the one that took Aria. A formal press release will be made, but the concerned citizens of Brockton Bay deserved to know.
► the bay
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Weird. Someone actually told it to us straight. I'm not sure how to feel.
► CarbuncleLoki (Experimental Subject)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
And no crazyinbrockton to whine about our machine overlords or something. I'm scared.
► the bay
Replied on April 23, 2011:
@ CarbuncleLoki How did you even get that tag?
► CarbuncleLoki (Experimental Subject)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
That is a tale for another day.
► steel_workin_man (Dock Worker)
Replied on April 23, 2011:
Don't know what we're gonna do. The Docks were never the prettiest sight, but now they're completely torn up. At least that girl is home with her family.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ... 14 , 15, 16
(Showing Page 16 of 16)
► Bagrat (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know) (Veteran Member)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
At least we know more than earlier. Aria is home safe and the Merchants have basically been dealt with. Here's hoping that we get some peace and quiet before the next storm hits.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 14, 15, 16
■
♦Topic: Nyamo?
In: Boards ► News ► Capes ► Brockton Bay
Kay Win (Original Poster)
Posted on April 23, 2011:
She's cute, fluffy, and apparently can sing and dance you to sleep. She's Nyamo Mask. Cat-like agility and reflexes with twitchy ears and a tail. Even without a costume she's PR bait. The plastic cat mask was cute though. I will admit this has to have been one of the stranger things I've witnessed and for a Brockton Bay resident that says a lot.
I was at the Market and had just struck up a conversation with someone. We were talking about the news of Aria being kidnapped. Terrible news. It was at that point that all hell broke loose. The Merchants showed up and made us crowd together. It's easy to order someone around when you have a gun after all. We were hoping that someone had managed to call the PRT or the police before our phones were fried. Whatever the Merchants were using fried our phones. There was a woman loudly screaming and carrying on to the point one of our captors was going to make an example out of her.
I don't think he planned on a surprise cat girl. I was there and I'm still mystified. The girl sounded like she went to Mouse Protector for lessons. It was that kind of crazy. Then she dodged bullets, drop kicked the gun man, and ended with a song and dance number.
I'm grateful to Nyamo Mask for saving us, but I'm still not sure what happened.
(Showing Page 1 of 22)
► Knight2254
Replied on April 24, 2011:
There's nothing wrong with fluffy tails and cuteness. Though a suitcase with a gattling gun would be useful for her.
► creepypony
Replied on April 24, 2011:
I have to agree with Kay. What the hell was that? Singing and dancing as powers? That was some weird Master stuff.
► justincal
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Oh no. Let's not start talking about Master stuff. Then there would be calls to throw her in the Birdcage.
► The Grey Rider
Replied on April 24, 2011:
But didn't Canary do that stuff? Make people do as she wants by singing? Just what we need. Another out of control Master.
► MirAnalyst
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Oh great. Here comes another wonderful derail. If you have a beef with Masters then this probably isn't the right thread for you. Is she a Master? Probably, yeah. It doesn't change the fact that she saved a bunch of people. Just go back to your hole with your tinfoil hat.
► Kay Win (Original Poster)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Master or not she was definitely serving up enough HAM and CHEESE for everybody. I can't get that song out of my head either. It was just that catchy. If anyone suggests I've been Mastered I will hurt you.
► Mouse Protector (Verified Cape) (Protectorate ENE) (Huzzah!)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Another noble defender of the Bay? If you are reading this then please come to the PRT building! I hope to meet you soon, Nyamo Mask! Let us unite our efforts for the good of the people.
► DicePaste (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Does anyone want to see the film of Miss Militia chasing Mouse Protector? I'm planning a live stream [here].
► VanishingSong (Protectorate Employee)
Replied on April 24, 2011:
He won't have a job at this rate.
We would like to have you come down and at least tour the facilities, Nyamo Mask.
► GiftZwerg
Replied on April 24, 2011:
Weird cape, weird thread. At least the theme makes sense. Seemed like a nice kid though. It was pretty funny watching the Merchants dancing uncontrollably.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 20 , 21, 22
■
♦ Private message from Jakuri is Watching:
CrazyComputerGuy: Aria is safe. I know that the two of you share emails from time to time. The thing is that she needs help in another way that you can provide. There are things going on in your world that you aren't aware of and have been deliberately left in the dark. Your world is not going to survive what is coming if action isn't taken soon. I have already secured the assistance of Dragon and Armsmaster in this task, but we need you as well.
I have enclosed a clip to prove that what I'm saying is true. Aria and I are from the same race. She wasn't always like this, but I digress. We are a race of gynoids from the world of Ar Ciel. Aria was born on Earth, but with her permission has become one of us. This is a lot to take in, but the thrust of all of this is that we want to help Earth. Not just Earth Bet, but all of the Earths. I don't expect you to believe me right away, but your assistance would prove invaluable.
Please look the clip and accompanying data packet over. If you decide to help then just contact Dragon. If not then that's fine as well. This is, and will always be, your choice.
He watched the entire clip in silence. The young boy that dreamed of other worlds and the marvels of space was clamoring for his attention. If this was an evil AI overlord then she had just bought his soul with sweeping vistas and a beautiful sky on a far off planet. A world that he would have never seen if not for the strange moderator that showed up on PHO one day and never left. The data packet that he received explained the situation in horrific detail. Other dimensions were known to the people of Earth Bet, but interstellar beings that wished to destroy their world? Alien conspiracies designed to keep people silent? The truly sad thing was that he believed. Sometimes he almost wished that his curiousity had never lead him to this point, but then he remembers what he gained. His companions were his friends again. He was no longer a slave to a mad man's goals.
This wouldn't have even come to his attention if Dragon hadn't sent him a message to check the PHO boards. Aria had been kidnapped, but rescued. That was a relief. He did enjoy his talks with her. Then curiousity once more got the better of him and he started looking at other posts. Due to the very nature of the boards anyone could post. It didn't stop a trend from surfacing. A strange trend that pointed to someone manipulating things just a bit. He rubbed his forehead. Being able to put conspiracy theories together like this was either the work of a deranged mind or something else. He was done with being deranged, but here he was again planning to do something crazy. A message to Dragon was sent off to say that he was in.
"Let's see how far down this rabbit hole goes."
Last edited:
The planet is Ar Ciel. Sol Ciel is the region of Ar Ciel in which the First Tower is located.
- Location
- PA
Fixed. Man I can't believe that mistake got made. Thanks for catching that @justinkal
Dark Mage
Sanity is really overrated...
- Location
- Out of My Mind
Realized this has updated and . . . 
RIVERDANCE!!!
No gang will want to face Nyamo Mask!
RIVERDANCE!!!
No gang will want to face Nyamo Mask!
- Location
- PA
Her cape name is Nyamo Mask, but her friends just call her Nyamo.
- Status