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+--- Thread: [00] Now Entering Kill Town... (/showthread.php?tid=15348)
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[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Kill Town - 03-01-2010
In a galaxy filled with an innumerable amount of greedy beings, each trying to get a leg up on the competition in pretty much any field, spoiled rich kids are a dime-a-dozen. And if you really get down to the heart of the matter, they all act the same. They all have a sense of entitlement, like they had earned the things that their ancestors, recent or otherwise, had worked so hard to earn. Privileged lifestyles had a funny way of doing that to people. To add to the problem, their parents remained oblivious to just how rotten their kids had become, still catering to their every desire, still beckoning at their every whim, still stifling them with every kind of attention except for the kind that actually mattered—spending time with them personally.
Richard Summers was a billionaire, reaching ever-so-steadily into the coveted right of being a trillionaire. This was the natural course of events for a businessman such as he—being one of the first human businessmen to branch out into space was just icing on the cake. Everything that he had he had earned through hard labor and by the fruits of his golden tongue, one that he used often. After all, what self-respecting “alien” would pay attention to some idiot human who couldn’t string together a sentence, much less a business deal? And like any other businessman, Richard grew tired of the bachelor lifestyle and tried to build his own family. His wife, Karen, birthed him two wonderful children, Keith and Julia, and to him, he could not have been happier.
He carried that sentiment to his grave.
The doctors couldn’t determine the cause of death. There were no external wounds, and the check-up he had just completed two months earlier suggested that he still had a few more decades to go before he could even consider kicking the bucket. The official word was that he died in his sleep, and that a blood clot in his brain that they had failed to see earlier had suddenly burst. To add to the tragedy, Karen Summers followed her husband to the afterlife a week later, succumbing to an unknown disease that, again, the doctors had failed to notice. There was definitely something fishy about it, but nobody really paid attention to it. Nobody had a reason to suspect foul play, because the true spectacle ensued immediately afterward—there was still the question of how this massive fortune would be split up.
The common consensus was that everything was to go to their kids, and although it was technically true, there was a distinction that had to be made during the hearing: everything, all the money, every possession, went to Keith. Julia was not even mentioned in the will. Again, nobody paid any attention to it because…well, any ill word would have seemed mistimed in the wake of such a horrific accident. Besides, Keith had taken his sister in, and she was still a beneficiary of that massive accumulation of wealth. It was just in a surprisingly indirect way.
“So…here it is,” Keith muttered as his friend, Lance, inspected the massive door standing in front of them. “This is the product of two thousand, five hundred, and fifty-two hours of my time and billions of dollars worth of resources.”
“…what is it, again?” Lance couldn’t even pry his eyes away from it. “You weren’t very specific in the chat.”
“This is what I call a ‘graphic simulator,’” Keith could feel his glasses fogging up just at the thought of it. “This is cutting edge technology right here, my friend. No, this is more. This is our future.”
“What does it do?”
“It artificially creates any sort of environment that I choose. There’s a pretty complex control panel in a secluded room within the system. A friend of mine helped me set this up,” the boy explained, pride welling up from deep inside. “I remember you saying one time that you wished you could have been a character in Swordwalker. This is pretty much as close as you can get, right here.”
“Bladerunner,” Lance corrected him. “And there was pretty much just that one time. I only remember ever having met you at one of my dad’s parties. Come to think of it, I was pretty surprised when you asked me to come over.”
“How was it getting onto the grounds, by the way?” Keith inquired.
“It was simple enough. Your house is the only thing within a three-mile radius, or so it seems,” the dark-skinned boy shrugged. “It was harder just making it to Earth. Not a whole lot of shuttles coming out here anymore.”
“What can I say,” Keith smirked. “I like being secluded.”
“I’d say so,” his friend began to scratch his head. “Where’s your sister, by the way? Isn’t she supposed to be living with you?”
“Jules? She’s, uh…” Summers looked around, suddenly nervous, though Lance didn’t pick up on it. “She’s inside, playing the game.”
“Oh, it’s already on?” Lance’s demeanor brightened. “Mind if I take a look inside?”
“Of course, I’ve already made you part of the administration. You should have everything you need to sign in—Mixie will assist you,” Keith ushered him inside the door, brushing aside the questions that he spouted. Smiling and nodding his head politely, the trillionaire closed the door shut, and sighed when it was closed, rolling his eyes. “Stupid tool. Always with the questions…”
He shook his head and stepped to the side, knocking on the wall in all the right places to reveal the edges of a hidden door beside the main one. Inside was the control room he spoke of—many of the machines housed inside required no attention whatsoever, they just powered the machine with their various parts and pieces. The only machine that he needed to be at was the control panel, where he would spend most of his time manipulating the events that would follow. In the furthest region of the room sat his mechanical creations, which he had built on the side along with his friend. All of which were programmed with an extensive list of names and places that Keith had acquired after bribing the right officials and doing months of research. Some of them were participants in different shows of interest—the main ones being Dante’s Abyss and Friend or Foe—and others were named as potential figures of interests by those shadowy figures that were “in-the-know.” He even had to strike up a deal with some pretty suspect people in order to get secret access to the afterlife, as some of his prospects had died some time ago. Keith didn’t particularly care about how the names were compiled, or even who they were; he just needed for them to be obtained for his own personal use.
Clicking a few buttons, the robots sprang to life, and went about their business—just as they were programmed to do. Upon thinking of all the possibilities to come, Keith couldn’t help but creep a smile upon his face.
The Gamer had just invented the perfect game.
Quote:Oooookay. Kill Town. Glad you guys could make it.
Basically, your first task is to lose a fight. Roleplay that in this thread. Minimum 300 words. You know the drill. Whether you fight one robot or twenty, I’ll need you to roleplay losing to these machines and being taken away to Kill Town. The robots can look like anything you want, and when you get to Kill Town, your characters will wake up inside the program and unable to get out. The area that you will be starting in and play the game in is the theme park/carnival, which is described in the “Things You Need to Know” thread.
As you will be stolen, transportation costs are…well, nothing. It’s free, so there you go.
Sign-ups extend from now until Friday, March 5th at 11:59 PM EST (all times from now on will be EST). I’ll allow some late entries, but only for outstanding and unavoidable reasons.
Thank you guys for joining, and I hope you’ll have fun.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Orion - 03-01-2010
That went surprisingly well. Maya just handed over the Emblem of Ice to him. He certainly wasn't expecting that, considering the hoops he jumped through to obtain Anitan's approval, and the near fatal battle with the fiendish lava demon to receive Kagu's thumbs up. It almost smelt a little fishy, as if Talia led him to a false temple in order to deceive him and throw him off his quest; Orion shook off the thought, though. That was way too paranoid. No one that he ever knew would have made it to Heaven, much less known about his holy pilgrimage. Besides, Maya seemed like the real deal. Even without his trusty scouter handy, he couldn't help but sense an unreal ambiance that surrounded her, and by extension, her temple. Her command over ice was impressive also; submerging an entire sanctuary beneath the tundra that was more reminiscent of a white stoned castle than a dedicated shrine for defense training and then causing it to erupt from the frozen ground like a jack-in-the-box was nothing to scoff at. There was no real reason to doubt, other than Orion's overactive concerns. They'd been playing up ever since he arrived in Heaven.
How did a murderous, genocidal saiyan make it to the blessed lands of the afterlife, anyhow? What had he done in his life that permitted entry to paradise? Sure, he could spot instances here and there, and perhaps his inner character was less barbaric than the rest of his brethren, but surely a few charitable acts sprinkled sparsely amongst a violent history of conquest and professional slaughter wasn't enough to prevent an eternity in the fiery Hells? Apparently not, it seemed. Unless his admission was a clerical error, his logic dictated that he wasn't supposed to be there.
Of course, he wasn't about to pass up the chance of resurrection, especially in the manner set out by the Dojo of Light's keeper. Train with the four great Masters of the Heavenly realms, learning disciplines and techniques honed from expert knowledge and countless years of practice, plus a free return to the mortal plane? It was perfect for the battle hardened saiyan, and when opportunity threw him this bone, there was nothing that would stop him from gnawing through to the marrow.
Unfortunately, the journey to his next destination, the final temple and home of Benton, was interrupted. A stray bolt of energy skimmed Orion's arm, instantly putting him on the defensive. His aura abruptly scattered as he searched for the origin of the attack. It didn't take him long to find it.
From his airborne vantage point, he observed a collection of sleek humanoids, glistening in silver suits. They all gazed upwards, their red eyes locking onto him. What they wanted with him was uncertain, but their intention was clear. Orion knew that weak shot was simply a warning, and to get his undivided attention. In that sense, it completed its objective with flying colours.
They seemed undisturbed by the frigid temperatures of northern Heaven. Orion had traveled a good distance away from the Temple of Ice but there was still a short voyage before he would see a climate change. With what appeared to be minimal clothing, they stood staunchly against the battering winds, unaffected in the slightest.
Orion narrowed his eye. "What?"
They didn't speak. One of the gang aimed an open hand at the floating veteran. In unison, the others imitated the movement. A faint glow immersed their palms. Orion didn't need foresight to tell what was about to happen.
A volley of energy blasts streaked through the sky and straight for the agitated warrior. Like spears of light flying to impale him, they stayed bunched together, resisting the influence of the powerful gales that whisked through the lands.
Orion yelled, raising his power level to a feasible point. His trademark navy aura engulfed him, visually representing the channeled ki in his veins. These fools had no idea what they were in for.
The first beam heading the pack sailed directly at Orion. With a smirk, his body dissipated in a flash, leaving a wide margin between him and the attack. It spiraled into the distance harmlessly. Anitan's training at work had finally manifested in an ability to move with such speed that he left behind a mirage of himself. It had taken a while, but ultimately the platinum haired deity's obscure tutelage had awoken this technique inside him.
An army of After-Images filled the space of the ki bolts. Soon the attackers halted, allowing Orion a moment of rest. As much as he enjoyed utilising it, it was still new to him and a little more draining than he would've liked. In any case, he needed to bring down his aggressors swiftly so that he could continue in his pursuit of new life.
His navy aura gave way to a sphere of brightening cyan, which quickly absorbed him. Orion plummeted like a swooping eagle on a field mouse, his chosen impact point the direct centre of the enemy army. He collided with the ground expertly, and before the assassins could react, the saiyan released his Shockwave. Silver skinned killers were tossed in all directions as the cyan sphere expanded forcefully, launching anything that it came into contact with.
Orion grinned, standing around the dispersed foes. They weren't going to stay down from a basic Shockwave, but at least it asserted his dominance over them.
That was the last thought he had before a swift acting robot sprung back to its feet and clobbered Orion in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Ashe - 03-01-2010
"You know, I think 'Fuck you for what you did to us' would have been exactly what I'd have said to those military guys too, if I were in that situation," the outspoken girl at Ashe's side laughed as they stepped outside of the theater.
"Yeah, pretty much," agreed the younger of the two sisters, pulling her refreshed pink hair out of her way to drape over her shoulders. "Still, though, what was up with the guy? I mean, we've all seen enough zombie movies to know that he would have been infected! Come on, he had a freakin' knife sticking through his hand while he's choke slamming that chick. If doing that blood sister crap can spread a virus, then I'd think the ability to become Zombie Jesus would pass through a mixed bloodstream as well."
"No shit, right?" the older girl agreed, moving her own dirty blond hair out of her face as she lifted up her hand, placing a cigarette into her mouth before a spark of flame erupted from the tips of her fingers to ignite the end. At first it had startled Ashe to actually watch her sister create fire with no external source, but their discussions had revealed that Terra had been imbued with a relic of great power herself as a child - the Frozen Flame. As Ashe had put it, she was like Sage and the Human Torch put together.
Ashe glanced over at Kristanna, who seemed lost in her own thoughts as Terra withdrew her hand and blew out a stream of smoke. Glancing back at her sister, her eyes followed the wispy smoke through the air. "You should really quit that," she prodded, knowing the inevitable response.
"Tch, hypocrite," her sister snorted, inhaling once more before glancing at her watch. "Like you've never done it."
The student's arms went up immediately to her defense, warding off the accusing words. "There's a total difference in doing something with some friends at a party or concert or something and doing it on an hourly basis!"
At this, her sister just scoffed, giving her a look. "Oh c'mon Ashe, that's bullshit reasoning and you fucking know it. You can't keep rationalizing shit as being ok when done on your own personal terms."
"Things aren't always black and white, Terra," the younger girl glared.
The third wheel of the group chose that moment to speak up. "When it comes to the law, they are," she pointed out. Ashe turned to Kristanna with full intentions of pointing out how that example had nothing to do with what they were discussing, but she never found that perfect moment to cut in. "I might add that you are either living or dead, as well. You are either a virgin or you are not. There's no such thing as-"
The moment had presented itself.
"-a butt virgin? An undead? You are totally glossing over the fact that we all exist in a shade of grey here!" the girl argued. "It's entirely up to perception as to whether something is immoral or not, or else we wouldn't have people actually breaking the law! Do you guys really think that bad guys are out there stealing princesses while cackling with glee about how diabolical they are?"
Her sister looked up from her cell phone for a moment to chime in. "I know you aren't about to rationalize a gorilla or dinosaur king trying to rape some chick. I refuse to believe that my sister is that naive." She watched Ashe grumble something under her breath while thrusting her arms irritably into the front pocket of her jacket. "Yeah, ok, you go on pouting, Ashe. Anyway, I've got to cut out for the day. Mom just texted me from the lab and wants my opinion on some things, so looks like my day off just got wrecked."
"'K, sis," Ashe sighed, withdrawing her hands long enough to hug her older relative. "I'll try to get home sometime near dinner tonight, if you guys are gonna be home in time."
Terra grimaced a bit. "I highly doubt it, given the project, but who knows. I don't want to be out all fuckin' night. I kinda don't think calling in twice in one week is going to go over to well at the bar. That shit doesn't fly when your parents aren't the one's signing the checks, but Mom and Dad don't seem to really care," she added, changing her tone to a more suitable one of mockery. "'You are working your way up a bio-genetics degree, who cares what happens at a bar job!'" She spat to the ground at the last words before throwing her cigarette into the trash bin nearby. "Anyway, I'm out! Catch ya' later!" she waved, turning to catch a nearby bus headed in her direction.
Ashe waved at her sister before turning back to her quieter companion. "I'm so glad that she lets other people get a word in, know what I mean?"
Her android companion smiled at the sarcasm in the girl's voice. "Some more than others," she pointed out. "Also, I agree with both of you about the binary logic thing." At the human's blank stare, Kristanna reworded herself. "That whole A or B thought process. For example, yes, legally I must pursue suspects or not pursue suspects based on whether their actions are right or wrong. This is a concept that we use to label things that will either prove beneficial or destructive to society as a whole. However, the human side of me understands that the world does not exist entirely as a series of 1s and 0s. There are varying degrees of what someone's actions can do that are beneficial or destructive before they pass the threshold of legality. Someone may choose to destroy their own body with harmful chemicals, but depending on many different factors, this may be legal or illegal on a substance by substance basis."
"Huh?"
"I'm an Android. Therefore, am I robot or human? I would argue that I am both because the sum of the parts does not directly define the whole."
"Yes, that!"
"However, your sister is correct in some terms as well, Ashe," Kristanna continued.
"With what?" she laughed.
The girl with brown and blond highlights considered a variety of possible options. "The human genetic makeup, for example, is naturally either male or female. Barring a mutation or possible defect, you will not be both at the same time."
"That totally falls apart! I think my friend Jack wasn't able to get it up for months after he saw this video where this chick that he thought was so hot got on stage, dancing around like the bimbo that she was, and then boom, headshot, her little brother comes out to join the party!" What made this statement all the stranger was how Ashe felt the need to emphasize every step of it with her arms, to include the final motions of cocking a gun before lifting an imaginary skirt.
"So this is not considered a mutation or possible defect?" Kristanna questioned.
"What's not considered a mutation or possible defect? Jack not being able to get it up?"
The human side of Kristanna wanted to bury her face in the palm of her hands at the moment, but she changed subjects instead. "I want to remind you that the time that you've been given off will have an expiration to it. While it's understandable that you desire what you would consider an extended summer break, all good things must come to an end, as the saying goes. As I've told you, we will soon begin your training to help you learn how to focus and strengthen your innate abilities so that they will not be uncontrollable to you."
"Yeah..."
"There's one more thing coming up that is a bit similar to a few past experiences that you've had, but this game is a bit more legit."
Ashe's interest was piqued. "Legit? I love how you are picking up on slang lately."
Her companion raised her brow. "Is there another definition for legitimate to which I am unaware?"
The student shrugged, continuing. "So what's this game going to be? And how'd you find out about it?"
Kristanna's expression moved into an unreadable placidity as she lead Ashe around another corner, mentioning that it was a short cut. "I have to apologize, but I can't really explain any further. I really shouldn't have given you even the slightest information, so I'll have to hope that you can accept that. But just remember that there are many tests that you will be put through. In some ways, your training has already begun a long time ago, although not in the form that was expected. Every step you take, everything that you do, is an experience that will add more and more information to the memory banks of your brain and muscles."
Ashe stared at her strangely. "Kristanna, girl, you are freakin' me out here. What's with the apologetic tone? You aren't about to shoot me again, are you?" she joked.
"We're here," the android announced, stopping suddenly in the center of a soccer field.
The pink haired teen looked around. "Where's here?" When she glanced back at the teenage police officer, she found a modular ki rifle pointing directly at her temples. She jumped, moving to take a step back and finding Kristanna stepping in perfect synchronization with her. "Uh, I was joking," she began, attempting to move the gun from her face but finding that the android's arm was completely rigid. "Hey-"
"I'm sorry, Ashe. This is the next step. I can't really give you a choice here, because this is one of those situations where your sister is correct. You are either going to go or stay, but you can't go halfway," she explained from the butt of the rifle.
"Whoa, I'm not going anywhere!" Ashe declared, digging her heals into the ground in a gesture of defiance. "Not until you tell me what's going on," she added, trusting her friend despite the situation.
She received a quick shake of the other girl's head in response. "I can tell you nothing more." Without another word, she burst forward, moving quickly behind the girl and sticking a small needle into the vein along her neck, injecting Ashe with a liquid that immediately made her feel lightheaded. "Just trust me," she whispered as the pink haired girl went limp, her own focus fading in and out and just barely catching her friend's words.
The teenager sank to the ground, unable to hold herself up any longer as her sedated lips attempted to mumble in conflict of her situation. Kristanna watched quietly as Ashe's emerald eyes finally glazed over from the tranquilizer and then pulled out her own phone. "The mission is completed as requested."
She lowered the phone from her ear without waiting for a response, closing the phone and staring down at Ashe's crumpled form. There were times when Kristanna was thankful for the dominance of her cybernetic side in place of her emotional human side. The upcoming game had required a robot abduction, and Kristanna's robotic status had complied with that. There were things that were required of her due to her job and status on Kajin Rala. Her cybernetics allowed her to accomplish the hardest of tasks with very little human interference, to include assisting in the abduction of her own friend. It was logical, given that Ashe needed to go through the situations in order to grow.
That didn't mean that the human side of Kristanna had to like it.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Juno - 03-02-2010
It was eerie, sometimes, how bright the moon was. This was the half-Saiyan’s first thought as the elevator doors opened on the top floor of the parking garage, allowing full view of the night sky and the fluorescently luminous full moon above. He gazed up at it for a minute; no matter whether or not the doctor sent his cretin nurses or security guards after him now, he’d be able to escape—he was in a medium that he could control that they had no power over. He could defy gravity, he could fly forth and escape… they had no such talent.
It would eventually become apparent that scrub-wearing lackeys and taser-wielding brutes were the least of his worries.
For the moment, though, he enjoyed the view. He leaned up against the railing, gazing first up at the fully rounded silhouette of the moon which lit up the sky, and then down at the millions of lights that traveled below, in the streets of Central City. They enchanted him, the headlights and taillights of cars, the streetlights, the lamps hanging just inside apartment windows—every form of light on this crystalline night mystified him, hypnotized him. He felt his body grow numb, and suddenly realized that these distracting thoughts were destroying him from the inside out. He collected himself, leaning against the rail now for support instead of comfort, and clutched his forehead, fighting back unconsciousness.
If he was dying, he was not going to let it overtake him so easily. He would fight, and he would win. If there was one thing that Juno was, it was spiteful, and he would not let this thing just walk over him like a rag doll. He wasn’t the most tenacious person, but he was a Saiyan, and he was a warrior, and he would grapple with this illness until it forced him beneath the earth into his own grave. And he would find a way to defeat it once and for all—there was no other way. There was so much that he had unfinished, so much time he had left—he wasn’t about to waste it dying.
He regained his composure, finally being able to stand up straight but still clutching his head. He blinked, saw a flurry of movement, and then blinked again, attempting to get back what little focus he’d been able to hold on to—wait. What had that movement been?
He looked up, finally finding something else to distract him. Something had been there, just now, in front of him, but he had missed it. He moved forward to where the thing had been, swiping the air, attempting to see if it had activated some sort of cloaking device—no such luck, unfortunately, but as the half-Saiyan spun around dizzily, he caught something else, crouching on the railing opposite him. Slowly, the moon’s light illuminated the newcomer, which wasn’t, in fact, that human at all, from what Juno could tell.
His vision faded in and out of focus—damn it. Why couldn’t he get his head on straight, for Shenlong’s sakes? He squinted, faltering in his step, attempting to catch a clear picture of the gargoyle-like creature that crouched in front of him, staring intently, not letting its blood red eyes move from the half-Saiyan’s countenance.
The two stared at one another for over a minute, Juno finally regaining some semblance of vision but still breathing heavily from a strange sense of exhaustion. The robotic creation, as he’d surmised that it was, indeed, mechanical, from the blood-red eyes and sleek, silver skin, cocked its head after a little while, the first movement that the machine had done since the quick flurry past his vision a few minutes before. Juno caught his breath, slowly lowering himself into a wobbly fighting stance, just in case the creature was hostile and it just hadn’t revealed its hostile tendencies as of yet. Juno gazed at the thing; it seemed to be studying him, as if it was relating his appearance to some codex of information, confirming that this was, in fact, what he was looking for.
This reminded him eerily of Friend or Foe 3; he just hoped, for the love of God, that this thing didn’t try to stuff his head in a bag. If it did, there would be some problems.
Ha, Friend or Foe 3—good times. That had been the last time that he’d slept with a random Earth woman. Well, not the last time, but most definitely the last time he’d let one of them shove wine that could possibly be poisoned down his throat. Never again, he chuckled inwardly, never again. His thoughts returned to the moment at hand—this thing was here, to do something with him, he supposed, but what, he didn’t know, and at the moment, he didn’t really care. As long as it didn’t expect to carry him off to some other freaky game show, he was perfectly content at letting it stare luridly at him.
That was, however, before it began to sprint toward him. It happened suddenly; one of its feet lifted from the rail and landed solidly on the ground, and as it did, the robot began to run forward, stretching its arms outwards. Juno dove out of the way, rolling behind a sedan as the robot continued to run past its target, like a bull in a bullfight.
“Is that the best you’ve got, you hunk of junk?” Juno yelled, laughing. Suddenly, however, a robotic hand was coming at his face, and he moved away a split second before it collided with his face; the fist instead dented the metal of the sedan, and the car alarm went blaring. Juno stood up, raising his hands and backing up as not one, but two humanoid robots now approached him, one shaking a kink out of its wrist from the impact. “Come on, now, guys, we can talk this out, can’t we? I’m a smooth talker, you guys are—uh, smooth armored… we can work something out, I’m sure of it.”
“We are programmed to seek out the specimen and capture it,” one of the robots said in an almost creepy, mechanical monotone. Juno bit his lip.
“I’m guessing that means no negotiations?” Juno asked, and without waiting for a response, he turned, tripping over his own two feet as he went, and sprinted as fast as his crippled body could toward the railing, meaning to launch himself off of it and into the air. He could move faster in flight, he knew. The robots were too fast, however, and just as his hands began to vault him over the rail, he felt a cold syringe sink into his neck, and then slip out of the wound it had created.
Instead of being enveloped in a violet aura and flying away, he tumbled over the side of the building, falling headlong down towards the traffic of Central City below. He looked up to see the two robots looking over the side of the balcony, and laughed as he saw what he looked to be the biggest expression of disappointment they could muster cross their faces—he had escaped them, even though he was going to die to do it. Well, he supposed, this was definitely the way to go out—in the heat of battle, fighting for his life with an unknown enemy. His Saiyan ancestry would be proud, he thought. Not the most glorious battle, but hey, someone thought him important enough to kidnap, right? Dying escaping those people would be honorable—he knew it.
He’d see them all in the Afterlife—mom, dad, Sophia, Ares, maybe even that taxi driver that’d killed himself just to hurt Juno earlier in the evening. He cocked his head back and caught the time on the clock tower—seven minutes to midnight. Eleven fifty-three, on a day like any other, Juno Profeta fought for his life and died trying. That’s how they would tell it.
No such luck.
A cold, metal hand encroached upon his wrist, and slowly he felt himself jerk to a stop. Another hand grasped his leg, and he felt himself being pulled up onto a nearby floor of the parking garage. Juno cursed, looking up at the robots. He supposed he would have to be content with living another day, and if this was anything like when he’d been captured by the Friend or Foe people, fighting for his life in some weird game of chance designed by some even weirder evil mastermind. This was going to be some rollercoaster, he thought, chuckling. Ouch, it hurt to laugh. The robots stood over him, recording information into some mini-computer on their wrists.
“Hey,” Juno muttered, “Whatever you do, just don’t put some freaking bag on my head, alright?” Those were the last words he got out before he blacked out completely.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Mr. Zhu - 03-02-2010
The car pulled up at the street right in front of the opium den. Two men jumped out of the hovercraft and opened the door to the backseat. Inside sat a man dark in color and dressed in a white suit. The plump black man came out of the car, looking around aimlessly while brushing off his tuxedo. After a couple of seconds of speculation, he put his hand on top of the hood of the car as another man came out from inside the car. This man was much leaner and was dressed much more casually as opposed to the former. The two of them, followed by the bodyguards, entered the opium den with the plump man in the lead. Smoke entangled the curtains of the entrance of the opium den, a rich scent of crack and weed drifted out from the door. The duo was soon stopped by a man standing in the front of the crack house.
"Sir," the man began. "I'm gonna have to ask you to show me a membership"
"Ahh, the membership!" the plump man exclaimed with a deep accent as he put his hand into his pockets searching for the membership card. But it was to no avail, he couldn't find it anywhere and looked back up at the usher with a sheepish smile.
"Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."
"Wait," the black man continued. "We're here to talk to Mr. Zhu, can you please call on him for us? It's urgent."
The usher measured the fat man up and down and finally backed away. "Please don't cause any type of commotion, my life literally depends on it." The bouncer waved for an escort to lead the men to Zhu Zhi.
The two continued on with their posse and walked towards the smoke shroud. The team of men walked forward and was slowly engulfed by the smoke. After entering the den, the two walked straight into the depths of the crack house without even giving so much a shit about the other people that are having fun doping themselves up. The escort stopped at the front of a room, the label on it said "CEO" and lightly tapped the door. "Umm, sir? There are people outside wanting to see you."
"Send them in please," a voice came from inside the room.
The escourt left the men be and went on about her business. The bodyguards acted fast and pushed the door open, letting the two men walk in. The two sat themselves down immediately before asking Zhu Zhi, who was toying with his Feng-Shui fish tank at the moment.
"Zhu Zhi."
Zhu turned his head and saw that the man dressed casually was in fact Black and the fat man was the new leader of the Norca clan, Yankee. Zhu Zhi set his fish food down and walked towards his leaders. "What brings you guys here?"
"Zhu," Yankee began. "have you heard of Richard Summers?"
Zhu nodded slowly. "The rich guy right?"
"Yes, and I'm sure you've heard about his death," Yankee continued. "Well, his son Lance has sent a representative to East City and wanted to talk to the mafia. Apparently the Central City Triad is also part of this project that his son is setting up. He named you and called you to be the representative for us."
"Why would he pick me all of a sudden?"
"Dunno," Yankee answered in a serious tone. "Maybe because of your confrontation with the police a month ago? It doesn't matter, you have to be there."
Zhu nodded again, he had to take orders from this guy. He had heard from his peers that Yankee was a distant relative of Black's and was why he received the job. However, Yankee had no previous experience in the field and so Zhu Zhi is basically acting as the leader of the clan, but not in name. "Where do I have to go?"
"No idea," Yankee replied. "However, you do have to go to the fields right on the outskirts of East City to meet this mystery man."
"When do I have to do this?"
"As soon as possible," Yankee said with a stone hard voice.
Zhu nodded in fatigue, not that he was really tired, but he was tired of being the go-to guy in the Norca Clan, and not being the leader of it. He was tired of taking orders but not being able to give orders, he swore it, one day he was going to take control and maybe even take Black's place in the mafia. Just one day, he'll become head of the operation of the mafia.
"I see," Zhu Zhi replied after awhile. "Well, I guess I should get going then. Would you mind getting Maso to cover my shift here, he's just outside I think."
Zhu Zhi quickly draped on his signature blue robe and started briskly out the door and directly to the parking lot. It seems that this assignment was going to be something big, after all, why else would they come to him? He was the number 1 killer in the East City Mafia and everybody wanted him to carry out a hit job. But what does a trillionaire want to do with the East City Mafia when his operations are based in Central City.
He passed the East City sign and hung a quick left to the bare outskirts of the city. Weird place to meet up, but I guess if it were all to stay ambiguous then this would be a good meeting place. Thing is, what did they have to stay ambiguous for?
Before Zhu can finish that thought, a speeding hovercraft could be seen proceeding towards him, evidently the representative for Lance Summers. The vehicle stopped in front of Zhu's, a man small in stature got out of the car. The man was wearing the "Terminator" outfit, matching leather jacket and trousers and along with the classic sunglasses. Zhu stifled a giggle and look lazily towards the man.
The humanoid walked up to Zhu and was concise and to the point, "You Zhu?"
"Um, yea-"
"You come with me."
Before Zhu could react, the humanoid had wrapped his hands around Zhu's wrist and dragged him towards the hovercraft. Zhu, out of instinct, flinged his arm away and snapped out of the tiny man's grip.
"Sir," said the thing. "We could do this the hard way. But I'm not sure either of us would want that."
Zhu smirked, who did this little man think he was? He was going to take on the Cat of Nine Lives? That's blasphemous. Zhu planted himself deeper into the earth of the outskirts and tucked his hands into his pocket where he felt his iron claws, and readied himself for combat. Little did he know it wasn't going to be much of a fight.
The man shook his head, and with light steps approached Zhu disarmingly. The eunuch was confused, this man didn't seem like he was calling for a fight, but nor did he appear friendly enough to trust. Soon the man grabbed onto Zhu's wrist again, except this time, a sharp jolt pierced into Zhu's pale skin and immediately he was out.
"I told you, you wouldn't want that," the man said to Zhu who flopped lifelessly as he dragged the dummy into the backseat of his hovercraft.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - James - 03-02-2010
In the background to his midnight drive the sound of an atmospheric melody played, the thunderous bass beating like a drum of some tribal fury warming up to the wailing drag of some stringed instrument ripping across the frets. His warm saliva had pooled beneath his cheek and began to cool out on the leather upholstery of the seat. A bump in the road caused his head to roll face down powerless with his muscles still sensitive to the sedative still coursing through his veins. Outside his territory of consciousness there was an exchanging of gruff words and the touch of a rough finger against his neck, just slightly under his chin.
"Still out." the voice said apparently recognizing the rhythm of his heartbeat before extracting the cold digit from the youngster's throat.
Their vehicle turned sharply and they were soon traveling on a fairly smoother stretch of road that ran on through an assortment of tunnels winding around a mountain pass.
Wolfgang had counted laying there leaned up against the vibrating speaker about seventeen songs and about four or five commercial breaks separating the blocks; for one reason or another he judged roughly an hour had passed since he began to stir. That didn't make much of a difference considering the sheer number of variables involved with attempting to clock his distance but then again that wasn't something he would necessarily know to do anyhow.
By now his wrists had started to sweat beneath the restraints and provided him ample room to maneuver- a luxury the child sought to keep from his captures. With the fog of the tranquilizer wearing from his body Wolfgang could now make out the suit-wearing lackeys that had picked him from out of the city.
The one sitting in the back seat with him was a larger bald man with a thick midsection and a contrasting thin neck while the driver was a scrawny darker skinned man with a strange towel wrapped about his head. With the work of a steady wriggling, the boy had managed to slide the rope down into the palms of his hands; a welcomed relief from the sweltering heat from about his wrists. Below he could feel the straps bounding his legs together were wrapped a bit more complex than the work about his hands but maybe...
"Hey!" shouted the suit from the backseat, his large arms lifting him from his chair and hoisting him practically into the lap of the driver. "I'll be damned- a diner! Way the hell out in the middle of shit no where, what are the odds?"
"Assuming most of the clientele would be truckers?" the other man said plainly without any real interest in the conversation.
"No," he readjusted himself to sit back still easily within arm's reach of the seat from his size. "the fact that our course out of a dirt road would turn us towards a small place has to mean something."
"You're assuming that, because of coincidence, we're entitled to a table that has been preordained by destiny to be ours if we turn in and eat at that very diner?" the driver cocked an eyebrow making a fold in his turban to shift with it, shooting a glance back at the other. "And what if this is true and we do stop and the waitress does have a table prepared for us? What then? Does coincidence have a menu for us to order from?"
The bulky man slumped with a dejected grunt. "Ain't got to be like that. Assume the next thirty miles we don't see nothing but trees, at least let's grab something for the road, you know?"
Gradually the vehicle slowed as the driver huffed to his dismay, turning into a place beside a larger red semi.
"Ten minutes then we leave, understood?" his accent quivered his words. To this his accomplice merely smirked with a brief nod of the head. "What about the boy?" motioning towards the car while fixing his towel, the other agent waved it off.
"Unconscious and tied. He'll be fine unless you want to roll down a window." he chuckled as the door slammed shut, Wolf's eyes opening wide awake and making quick work of the restraints still holding him. Getting on his hands and knees he crawled towards the door farthest from him and jiggled the handle, opening it ever so slightly before sliding out onto the dirt road that had turned off of the paved two-lane highway running in only two directions.
Carefully he began glancing about, the more he saw the more distraught his expression became as this completely unfamiliar territory stood massive before his small size. Groaning, Wolfgang walked slowly about the large front end of a truck, spotting a payphone not far from the restaurant vending machines.
Although not completely sure how to operate such a device, he had seen enough movies to know that whenever someone stepped inside the payphone box and closed the door something good usually happened. A grin spread from ear to ear at the thought of being a superhero- capes and powers to bend heavy things with your hands... maybe? Wolf hurried over, slipping inside and reaching up to grab the phone half expecting anything to happen almost immediate after closing the door.
"Huh." examining the black receiver with a crossed expression, he reached up and replaced the phone on the hook thinking that perhaps the buttons with the numbers printed on them had something to do with it.
Glass shattered as a hail of shards plummeted down over the top of the child, a metallic grip tightening around his neck brought him to his knees before forcing him out into yet another ensnarement. A mechanical beast, now possessing its prey, hissed with a fury of hydraulics catapulted its weight from the gravel road into the sky, initiating some type of jet-like propulsion system to send it spiraling through the sky.
Now outside seeking the source of the commotion, the two agents stood side by side looking up at the smoke trail left behind the bizarre machine.
Looking to his Arabian partner, he muttered. "Uh... coincidence?"
"Go screw yourself." he snapped back.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Sullivan - 03-02-2010
The sky was amber with morning sunlight that splashed across the horizon like paint on a midnight blue canvas, still emerging from the clutches of night. There was a chill hanging in the air that dripped silence across the Earth beneath it. On a stretch of well traveled dirt road, a single female figure walked with a lope to her step that displayed both intelligence and poise.
She was a sight to see, wearing robes of a royal purple, cut in the arms to reveal extravagant ruby colored fabric. The midsection was wrapped with an elegantly woven sash that held to her feminine figure just enough to make it distinguishable, yet reveal nothing. A carrying bag full of books hung at her hip. Combined with her complex knotted hair, she looked a scholarly part, yet, she walked the roads of travelers without cease, drifting to a purpose.
It was a dawn that would be unlike others, however. Tranquility was interrupted quietly at first by a low humming that drew Mirabelle's attention. She stopped walking the road and turned her head skywards, where the sunlight was glinting off of something shiny and moving. It dropped into view quickly, apparently flying, and at an alarming speed. Mira's deep blue eyes followed the light as it revealed itself. When the sunlight's disruptive angle left the object, its form became clear. It was a person just like Mira, and headed straight for her too. She took a startled step back as dust kicked up and the being hit the ground boots first.
The earth flew into the air, then descended in a dusty haze. When it cleared, a tall man with thick dark hair stood in view. He had an angular jaw, almost unnatural in structure. His skin was waxy and surreal looking, but he looked strong and healthy otherwise, standing with a proud posture that towered over Mirabelle's own. He looked down on her and smirked.
"You are a person of interest," the man stated suavely. "To this end, I must extend to you my master's hospitality."
"Hospitality?" Mirabelle asked, taken aback. "You must have mistaken me for someone else. I do not recognize you," she said politely, then turned to leave.
The man smiled a white grin and continued talking. "My master is a man hosting a study of sorts, and your name has come up as a person of interest. Might I show you more, Mirabelle Calliope?"
Mirabelle stopped mid-step. She could feel unfamiliar eyes resting on the back of her head uncomfortably. There were questions to be answered.
"Might I ask exactly how it is you have come to know my name?" Mira asked quietly.
"Because you're about to be involved in a study...whether you like it or not."
A sharp pain alerted Mirabelle to a sharp object sinking into her back. The feeling of fluid flowing into the wound left the tactician with a sinking sensation in her body and mind. The world in front of her slid out of focus momentarily, then back in, at the same instance as Mira's legs started to lose feeling.
"You...you have..."
"Tranquilized you, yes," answered the man. "I'm an Android, sent to collect you. You're about to, like I said, be involved in a study. All will become clear as -"
He was cut off as Mira fell to the ground face-down suddenly - she was unconcious. With a sigh, the kidnapper stooped over and picked up the body. "Weak bitch," he murmured.
---
Mirabelle's cool blue eyes fluttered open faintly, groggily syncing to her surroundings. She felt wind beating viciously against her face, as if she was thousands of feet in the air. In confusion, her eyes opened fully.
"Oh. Oh, no. No, no, no..."
Perched atop the largest hump of a roller coaster, a red cart held Mira snugly behind its guardrail. The wind howled like a hungry dog in her ears as the drugged blonde came to her senses and the situation grew obvious.
"I hate heights..."
Click.
Mirabelle looked around frantically. "What was that!?"
The cart lurched, consequently urging Mira to grip the guardrail with white knuckles. Then, it dropped suddenly down the enormous hill of the coaster. A piercing scream followed in its wake, following behind the petrified tactician in her ride of terror.
Mirabelle had arrived, and was a captive of the program.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Kaden - 03-02-2010
A cacophonous boom resonated through the ruined district of Central City. At the epicenter of the explosion stood three figures. Well… only one figure was standing, the other two having fallen to a knee, their breath coming in short, tired bursts. Amidst the ruined streets, abandoned cars, broken glass, and crumbling buildings, it would have been difficult to see signs of the battle that had just taken place.
“Oh man, I’m tired,” said Sophia as she dropped to a knee.
“Hey,” came Kaden’s concerned voice in response. He set a hand on her shoulder as he approached. “Don’t push yourself. You’ve been alive for, what? A few hours?”
“Heh. Maybe less.” Sophia shot Kaden a quick smile as she reached up. Her hand hesitated for a moment before gripping the courier’s and gently pulling it from his shoulder. “I’m fine, though. I can handle this much,” she assured Kaden with feigned bravado.
“So,” Kaden continued, though he was slow to take his eyes off of the priestess, “what should we do with him?”
A couple yards off, Vad had fallen to both knees and hunched onto his hands for support. Though it was a rather submissive posture it belied the fire that still burned in his eyes as he met Kaden’s gaze with a glare. If Kaden ever had to give someone points for persistence, it would be that saiyan, no question. Regardless, though, the courier had gone after him for a reason, and Sophia’s appearance hadn’t changed that.
“Why were you chasing after him, anyway?” Sophia asked as she slowly climbed back to her feet.
“He’s a wanted criminal and sociopathic, bloodthirsty murderer.” As Kaden heard his own words, he thought they were better reasons to not follow someone. “It’s not like I was tracking him down or anything, but if he’s standing right in front of me, what am I supposed to do?”
“Look at Mr. Big-Shot, hunting down the bad guys,” Vad growled. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“Oh really?” Kaden was the one glaring as their eyes met once again. “Have you killed people? Is it against the law? That makes you a criminal. Most criminals aren’t exactly ‘good.’ You can sit there and waste your time with masturbatory excuses all you want, but it’s not going to change anything. You killed people and you want to just get away with it.”
“Ha! You think things are that clear cut? If someone tries to kill me, I’m going to try and kill them right back. Sometimes, that’s the only way to do it.”
“There’s always another way to do it,” Kaden’s voice grew louder as he continued talking. “Killing someone doesn’t make you strong, or powerful, or… anything. It makes you a coward. It’s easy to just take someone’s life, and only someone too weak to do anything else would think that that’s ok! Each person is free to live their life, you don’t get to decide who lives and who dies.”
“Apparently I do,” Vad snarled back.
Any response Kaden thought he had was reduced to a frustrated series of incoherent fuming in the face of Vad’s unrelenting, unapologetic sneer. It wasn’t until Sophia stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder that the courier took a deep breath and began to calm himself. Vad was hardly the first person he had encountered that challenged his views, but he was unequivocally the most frustrating. Something about the saiyan’s demeanor got under his skin with such effortlessness that it only served to incense the courier even more.
“Just drag him to a police station or something,” the priestess offered. “No reason to ge—“
“Shut up!” Vad barked.
“What?! That’s pretty ru—“
Instead of repeating himself, the saiyan simple shot the most murderous, psychotic expression he had within him. That effectively cut Sophia off. The two humans exchanged confused glances as Vad’s eyes darted about the landscape, ruined as it was. Something about the concern on his face didn’t really put Kaden at ease. Finally the mercenary broke the silence.
“Fuuuuck,” the saiyan groaned. “… we’re surrounded.”
Both Kaden and Sophia exclaimed their surprise at such a proclamation, but it was confirmed shortly. Unbeknownst to either human, a veritable army of robots had circled their makeshift battlefield. Even Vad, a seasoned warrior, had failed to notice their presence until Kaden had stepped off of his soapbox. The courier’s sixth sense, of course, was useless against machines.
With both Sophia and Vad still feeling the effects of their previous fight, Kaden was left to cast nervous glances from one to the other to the robots that peeked out from debris or the rooftops or the alleyways. Everywhere Kaden looked, there seemed to be at least two machines stepping into view. It was not a pretty sight. Sophia was in decent enough shape, but it was clear she was trying to look readier than she was. Vad, on the other hand, had barely made it up to his feet. As the courier inspected the nearest robot, his fears redoubled.
Where ever these things had come from, they didn’t look friendly. They stood roughly six feet tall, and were basically humanoid in construction. Attached to either forearm was some kind of device that looked like it could be extended or retracted at will. From where he was positioned, the courier was unable to determine what the device did. There was nothing to cover their metallic exterior, leaving only polished steel to greet Kaden’s eye. Fixed into their head was a single lens, presumably some kind of camera, the rest of the head was otherwise bare. The courier couldn’t help but wonder why they had even been constructed that way to begin with. Seemed a little superfluous to him.
The most concerning thing of all, though, was printed on their chest. Though the meaning of the engraving was escaped Kaden, the fact that it read “Kill Town: U.R.K.L.E. mk II” didn’t seem like a good thing. Whatever Kill Town was, it didn’t sound like a place he wanted to be. The fact that URKLE stood for Un-intelligent Remote Kill-town Logistical Enforcer wouldn’t have made the situation any better.
“Do you think they’re… friendly?” Sophia asked no one in particular. Her tone made it clear that she was expecting a certain answer.
“Not sure.” Kaden replied slowly.
Letting his eyes dance from robot to robot, the courier came to the curious discovery that they seemed to be watching all three of them. He had hoped, in the back of his mind, that they had just come for Vad. Sadly, it seemed like all three of the people present were of interest to these mysterious… URKLEs. Taking several steps sideways, Kaden tried to keep an eye on as many as possible, hoping to gauge how many were “locked on” to him.
“A third of ‘em,” Vad spoke to the courier, guessing what he was figuring out. Kaden made a mental note of Vad’s tactical acuity.
“Yeah,” Kaden said, running a hand through his hair. “That’s probably not a good thing.”
“So they’re after all of us?” Sophia asked, putting the pieces together.
“Looks like it. I guess there’s any easy way to find out.”
Given that they were completely robotic constructions, it was with a clear conscious that Kaden raised and hand expelled a stream of cerulean energy. The nearest robot was thrown backwards as the courier’s attack tore straight through it. Sophia jumped at the suddenness of the strike while Vad simply watched with a careful eye. All three of them shrank back at the results of Kaden poking the proverbial bees’ nest.
Where the first robot fell, three more stepped forward into its place. At the same time, all the robots began creeping forward, creating an ever-closing ring around their targets. Within moments, Kaden and Sophia stood back-to-back with the man they had just been fighting. Taking stock of the situation, the courier frowned and cursed himself inwardly for what he was about to do.
Both Vad and Sophia were low of strength. Even if their bodies were in fighting condition, both had expended a good deal of their energy. Sophia was a little better off, since she had been the one siphoning Vad’s strength, but that wasn’t very comforting to Kaden. Grasping the priestess’ hand in his and placing a hand on Vad’s exposed bicep, the courier ignored their confused glances and closed his eyes.
Forcing open the seal on his chest seemed to become easier every time he did it, which was fortunate, because he needed to Unlock some of his strength as quickly as possible. As the energy flowed into his body, Kaden pushed it through his hands and into the bodies of his companions. Both Sophia and Vad immediately felt the Surge of ki as Kaden’s ki blended with their own. Unfortunately, the courier had underestimated the speed at which his energy would deplete. Before he knew it, his seal closed off once again, without enough energy to keep it held open.
“Why?” was all Vad said in response to Kaden’s actions.
“They don’t get to decide who lives or dies, either,” Kaden replied. As he spoke to Vad, he let his hand fall from the saiyan. “Call me crazy, but I don’t trust anything that says ‘Kill Town’ to respect the sanctity of life.”
Vad was silent for several moments as he considered the courier words. As Kaden was bracing himself to launch an offensive against the robots, the saiyan surprised him. Vad took three steps towards the robots, shot a glance over his shoulder at Sophia and Kaden, then shot into the air like a rocket. A third of the robots craned their “necks” to follow the saiyan’s ascension, hesitating for only a second before lifting into the air after him. As Kaden watched them, he realized a panel had slid open on their backs to reveal some kind of… jetpack.
“Kaden,” Sophia tugged on the courier’s hand, which still clasped hers. “Any good idea?”
“I wouldn’t call them ‘good,’ but they’re probably better than nothing.” Kaden hastily released Sophia’s hand as he cast a look around. “They’re thin over there, on your left. I’ll punch a hole and you can get the hell away from them.”
“Yeah right,” the priestess shot back. “You think I’d just leave you to deal with something like this? Besides, you saw what just happened, a bunch of them are going to follow me anyway. We’re better off together.”
“Yeah… you’re right.” Taking a deep breath, Kaden paused just long enough to run a hand through his hair. “Ok. Let’s go.”
Shooting forward in the direction he had indicated, Kaden raised a hand a dropped the closest robot with a small burst of energy. Even a small attack took more effort than it should have for the ki manipulator. He cast a sideways glance at Sophia, who had followed quit and fired off a ball of blue ki to down another robot. As he had allowed ki to Surge into her, it had been as though her body began pulling in whatever the courier had to offer. He assumed her ability to absorb ki had… accelerated the process. Whatever had actually happened, Kaden was almost running on empty.
With his thoughts turned inward, trying to figure out how he was going to help push back the army of robots that had been beset upon them, Kaden’s foot caught a rock and he was thrown to the ground by his own momentum. Skidding to a stop, Sophia rushed back to help, dispatching a robot that moved in on the courier.
Flustered by his turn of ridiculously bad luck, Kaden scrambled to his feet, half-running and half-crawling in the direction that had the fewest robots. Unfortunately, that had been in the exact opposite direction of his priestess companion. By the time he regained his composure and realized what had happened, Kaden found himself and Sophia separated by a street full of robots.
Before he could so much as call out to Sophia, Kaden was forced to retreat into an alley as metallic hands swung at him. Ducking under the hands grabbing at him, Kaden summoned forth as much energy as he could, throwing a Salvo of ki in the face of the first robots to enter the alley after him. As he backed into the alley, Kaden waved another hand, and conjured forth a barrier that spanned almost the width of the small space.
Much to the courier’s dismay, the alley ran straight into the back of another building, effectively boxing him in. Normally, blowing down a wall that was already half-destroyed would have been a fairly simple task. His breath coming in short bursts, there was absolutely nothing Kaden could do as he turned back to face the barrier he had created.
Instead of leaping or flying over the courier’s construction robots simply pounded their fists against it. With each dull thud of metal on the courier’s shimmering curtain of ki, Kaden winced. It took only a dozen strikes before the barrier crumbled, fading away to allow the robots to continue their march. A second barrier lasted only a single blow before succumbing to the same fate as the first.
Entirely drained of his energy, Kaden fell to his knees, unable to fend off his attackers. All he could do was watch as an URKLE closed in. The device on its forearm extended, revealing an almost comically over-sized needle. At the base of it, Kaden could make out a vial filled with some kind of green fluid. Crying out in pain, Kaden’s shoulder was pierced by the needle. Fortunately, he would not have to endure it for long. Within seconds, he could feel his consciousness fade.
As he fell to the ground, unable to even keep his eyes open, all Kaden could do was hope that at least Sophia had managed to escape. Even his thoughts, though, faded as a robot hoisted him onto its shoulder and began marching away.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Jesper - 03-03-2010
Conventional methods required complete selfishness from a person who was in the kind of situation that Sophia had found herself in. After all, seemingly bloodthirsty robots were out to kill her, in all likelihood, and since she had just invested so many of her emotions into actually coming back from the dead, it was her preference that she didn’t lose her newfound life within the time span of probably only a few hours. However, as she was being separated by a fresh wave of her mechanical foes, she couldn’t help but directed her worried thoughts towards the courier, who had just stumbled onto his face mere moments before. Dying twice was one thing, but watching her best friend die right before her eyes was something else entirely.
Her fears were compounded as the courier vanished from her sight, leaving the priestess with nothing but her own problems, which, upon looking towards the faces of her robotic enemies, seemed extremely real. Kaden had just recharged her from his own abundant source of energy, but even that had faded by the time she was ready to face the robots. She felt weak inside, empty, and that was a horrible feeling upon the realization that she had made efforts towards the wrong opponent. Fleeting thoughts of concern shot out to Vad, but they faded just as quickly as they had come when they sprang forward and extended their metallic arms with as much malice as one could expect from a machine.
Sophia raised a forearm to block one attack, and succeeded, but when she kicked out to parry another blow from another attacking robot, her foot missed its mark. It was a sort of blessing in disguise, as it hit another mark in its chestplate, denting it in significantly and causing all sorts of sparks to arc from inside. However, as a result from her accidental fortune, the URKLE unit’s attack found its original mark in the area between her shoulder blades before it completely malfunctioned.
Normal robot behavior, from what very little she knew about it from reading various science fiction novels, was that they always attacked mindlessly, in droves because they knew no emotion. These particular enemies, these peculiar foes, took a step backward upon witnessing a fellow unit crumble after one solid strike from the slightly-built woman. Their eyes scanned her countenance carefully; had they underestimated her to the point where they had to completely rehash their plans? Sophia didn’t know the answer, and if it had been up to her, she wouldn’t have given the situation enough time for her to figure things out.
However, in her current condition, she knew that just blindly rushing a wave of opponents was simply foolish. Talking to machines, while equally foolish in the long run, seemed like a better idea, if not only to give herself more time to devise a more suitable tactic. “What is it that you…you things want from me!?”
Simple, direct, and to-the-point. Perfect.
“Our designer has told us to obtain you,” one of them replied coldly.
“Obtain, huh? Figures,” Sophia began to cross her arms, but withdrew them once the searing pain in her injured shoulder returned. Instead, she pointed an index finger intensely with the other arm. “Listen, I just got back to this frickin’ rock. I’m not going to let you kill me so soon!”
“Would you prefer us to wait?”
“Funny.”
“Our intent is simply to capture you. Nothing else,” the robot shook its head, completely ruining the mood created by her dramatic statement. “A prison full of corpses is as useful as an aquarium full of dead fish.”
“How poetic,” Sophia narrowed her gaze into a glare. She knew that the odds were against her, but the healer couldn’t allow herself to be captured again. The irony of the situation, compounded by the toaster-like appearance of the robots themselves, was stifling, to say the least. The thought of using her Kaio Ken technique had crossed her mind at several points during her observation, but she was tired enough as it was. Amplifying her abilities put too much of a strain on her body, and at the rate that her stamina was dropping, the technique would have completely torn her apart. Instead, she resolved to perform within the abilities that she had possessed all along, and pray hard that they were enough. “Come and capture me, if you can.”
“Very well,” was the reply, and just like that, they all sprang into action simultaneously, as if they were all connected to the same brain. Sophia back peddled as quickly as she could, swinging out punches and kicks as she did so. The intent was not to damage the enemy—although she would have accepted such an outcome readily—but to keep them at bay. If they had the capacity for fear, then she sought to make sure that they felt it. However, their tactic hadn’t been so reckless as she had hoped—they did keep their distance as Sophia preferred, but they quickly attempted to round alongside her as the rest performed a simple bull rush. The healer’s speed was sufficient enough to stop them from flanking her, but eventually, she ran out of room to back up into. When her back hit the wall, she almost gave up.
“Surrender,” came a simple demand, and although Sophia considered it, she eventually resorted to floating upward into the sky, planting her feet on the wall behind her, and flipping forward towards the ground behind the curtain of metal and bolts. She was elated when she hit the ground, finally seeing enough of an expanse of empty, broken pavement to make a dash for it. She looked behind her shoulder, however, likely a subconscious effort, a reflex that she had developed. That slight moment of hesitation proved costly, as the nearest URKLE unit jabbed a needle of some sort into her neck.
“…ow,” she breathed, the fatiguing effects of the drug that had been shot into her system had taken an immediate effect.
“An inevitable outcome,” the robot spoke as the healer sank to her knees. “Go, and join your friend.”
Upon hearing that, Sophia used a type of language that she rarely resorted to, speaking just seconds before she passed out completely. “Oh, damn it all…”
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Belle Hibiki - 03-03-2010
"Are you sure that the target is correctly identified?"
"Yes, sir."
"So it is, without a doubt, the lil‘ varmint?"
"Yes, sir."
"Alright then." W35 turned to his subordinates. They had been waiting a long time for their prey to return, but their efforts and patience had, at last, borne fruit.
Not that they didn't have an endless supply of patience, being robots.
"Initiate protocol 541Y4N," W35 growled, his synthesized voice carrying over the glade. Reaching up with three metal fingers, he tucked the lip of his cowboy hat lower over his single red, glowing eye. "Let's go catch us a monkey."
~+~+~+~+~
Meditation wasn't as easy as most people believed, and clearing his mind of thought had been excruciatingly difficult for Belle, at least at first
It was much easier now, though; probably because he didn't need to worry about people trying to murder him anymore.
Finding a good spot close to Coast City, the world's greatest tourist trap, had been difficult. He had eventually settled on a flat rock that sat by a small waterfall in a tiny clearing a couple of miles into the forest. The spray felt good against his chest and back, and the only indication he was anywhere close to civilization was the occasional roar of a plane passing overhead.
He breathed easily, feeling every shift of his body as his chest rose and fell. His pulse, slow and throbbing, sounded in his ears above the gentle splash of the waterfall. A breeze played across the dewed skin of his back, chilling his muscles. He slowly delved deeper, and as he did, his senses began to widen. He could hear the movement of air across the grass and smell on it the pregnant pause of pollen ready for spring. Somewhere across the clearing, a bee buzzed over some stubbornly shut flower petals before zipping further into the tree line in search of more promising fare. A fish stirred in the water, the ripples caused by its movement contrasting oddly with the waterfall's.
He was about half an hour in when he noticed that something was wrong.
He frowned, trying to figure out what it was. Movement, he decided. Maybe half a mile away?
Eyes closed, he tried to get a better picture without pulling too far out of his trance. More than one person - a dozen at least, moving purposefully towards his position. A flock of birds leapt into the air, disturbed from their perches over a nest of undergrowth. They were coming quick.
So much for peace and quiet.
~+~+~+~+~
The scout robot ahead of W35 burst through the final tangle of bushes and emerged into the clearing where the saiyan hybrid was supposed to be. Several more assault droids followed, their shining, chrome bodies glinting in the sudden sunlight that broke through the tree canopy as another broke off from the main group and started circling around, a large rifle slung across its back. W35 stepped out last, and looked around.
Birds chirped and the waterfall hissed and burbled, but no red-headed fighter was to be seen. "You said he was here," W35 said, looking at the scout.
The sleeker model droid froze in the mechanical equivalent of a shrug. "He was," it burbled.
"Looking for me?"
Twelve silver heads turned in unison towards the top of the waterfall. A young man stood over them, naked from the waist up, his wild red hair tossing in the wind. It compared to the photos W35 had on file - it was Belle Hibiki, though with some minor differences. No tail. Older than indicated by the data.
"Yes," W35 acknowledged. "You're Belle Hibiki, right?"
"That's right," Belle answered, folding his arms and turning his eyes to each of them in turn. "And you guys are...?"
"My designation is W35, but you may call me Wess," the cowboy-hatted droid supplied.
"Hmph. Okay, 'Wess,'" Belle grunted, "what do you want with me? Spit it out and then buzz off - you're interrupting my training."
"My creator has taken a shining to ya. Your abilities have not gone unnoticed. My boss is recruitin' some o' the best fighters he can find for a competition. A game, if you wanna call it that, for the strongest warriors on the planet." Wess's eye whizzed as it zoomed in, lining up Belle in his targeting reticle. "He would like ya to be there."
Belle frowned. "Strongest, huh?" He seemed to consider it, then shook his head. He straightened. "Sorry, but I can't go fight in another Dante's Abyss thing. Sounds interesting, but I've got shit I need to do around here now, so I'm gonna have to say no."
A tone sounded inside Wess' skull casing. As if on cue, the sniper was in position. "Sorry for giving you the wrong impression," he said, raising a three-fingered hand. "It wasn't a question."
He brought his hand down.
The sharp report of a rifle cracked across the clearing, shattering the tranquility. Belle stood stock still as the sniper's dart whipped through the air towards the back of his neck. He didn't even twitch as the projectile passed right through his skin as if he were a phantom and kept on going.
The dart thudded into the trunk of a nearby tree, vibrating slightly. "If that's the best you can do, you'd better give up now," Belle continued, apparently unbothered by the fact that something shooting through his neck should have ventilated his throat instead of leaving him unmarked.
Wess stared at the dart, trying to puzzle out what had just happened. A moment later his memory pinged and pulled up the appropriate response: the afterimage technique. It had been mentioned in the files on Dante's Abyss. However, Belle Hibiki didn't have the reported presence of mind to use something like that to counter a sneak attack.
And how did he even know the attack was coming in the first place?
Belle placed his foot on one of the large rocks that formed the spout of the waterfall, tensed, and then suddenly gave a stupendous heave. There was a deafening snapping of roots as the small boulder came free and sailed towards the congregation below. Wess dived for cover, the compartment in his leg popping open and the mechanism inside shoving his prized sync-enhanced Smith and Wesson into his hand.
His fingers closed firmly around the specially modified grip as the rock slammed into the ground. Skidding along the ground on his side, he brought his weapon around to bear on the hybrid as he came to a stop.
But Belle was gone.
There was a sudden crackling of static from his internal comm followed by a garbled yell. The status symbol the sniper droid that had been glowing green on his visor suddenly went red. "Well now," he whistled electronically, "that's one quick bronco." He stood up and made a circular motion with his free hand. "Form up! Don't no one get parted from the herd!"
They pressed together, back to back in a tight circle. "Will he come?" one of the assault robots asked.
"He's got that thick saiyan blood," Wess answered. "'course he will."
"I see something," another one snapped, motioning towards the sky. Wess turned his head to look.
An irregularly shaped blob arced lazily through the air above them. Wess raised his gun and snapped off a shot, the round smacking off the object before it came down in a clatter at his feet. It was the severed arm of the sniper droid, still clutching the rifle in its iron grip. A fresh bullet hole sizzled in its forearm.
Something heavy landed in the center of the defensive ring. "Gotcha," Belle whispered behind him.
Two of the robots were down before Wess had time to react. They went spinning off in opposite directions and slammed into a pair of trees as Wess's wrist and elbow twisted around in a gruesome display of robotic flexibility, pointing his weapon at the saiyan and pulling the trigger.
Belle ducked. There was a loud THUNK as the round slammed into the robot that had been directly behind him. His powerful leg swept out, knocking Wess and another robot to the ground.
The rest were beginning to make their moves. Two swung in tandem towards the lowered saiyan's skull, but Belle was already moving to counter. Slipping his head under the path of their fists, he lunged upward, clamping his big hands around their mouthpieces and lifting them off the ground. He spun, hurled one at a robot that was midway through converting its hand into a blaster, and then heaved the next at the scout who was trying to put some distance between itself and the melee.
Wess lost track after that. The demi-saiyan was a whirlwind, tearing into the his team like a miniature hurricane bred with an atom bomb. By the time Wess could leap to his feet, only three of his compadres were still intact, and even they were scattered around the clearing on their back and chest plates.
"Whooo-eee, somehow ya gotta lot stronger, didn't ya, ya varmint?" Wess whistled, spinning his gun once on his finger and sliding it back into its leg holster. His fingers twitched in the air above it.
Belle, standing like an Olympian in the center of the grisly mechanical atrocity, slowly turned to face him. "You guys remiind me a lot of how Adam looked inside." He met his eye. "All robot, right? I didn't break any of their heads or bodies, so they should be fine." He glared, jaw set "Like I said, I'm not going anywhere."
Belle lifted his hand and made a dismissive gesture. "So go away."
Wess moved so fast that he was sure Belle didn't have time to dodge. His draw was the fastest in the west, east, north, south, or any damn place in the universe.
He pulled the trigger just as Belle vanished, and his round whizzed through the air where the saiyan had been just as Belle's leg connected with his head. There was a screech of electronics as Wess' neck joints snapped, and suddenly the world was spinning like a pig in mud.
Wess's severed head bounced across the grass before coming to rest against the foot of a bush. "Dammit," he wheezed.
His sensors were functional, though badly damaged. The auditory suite picked up the muffled sound of someone moving closer, and a moment later Belle stood over him, blocking out the sun.
The saiyan bent down and picked him up. A flare of sunlight made Wess's ocular retract - his hat had come loose during the tumble and lay on the ground next to Belle's foot, exposing his smooth, metallic face to sunlight.
"You still alive in there?" Belle demanded. He paused. "Or, well, still working, I guess?"
Wess moaned mock pitifully, his switches were going ten thousand miles a minute. Not a good situation. Belle might not terminate him, but there was a good chance if he came back empty handed that the boss would do anyway. The fact that it was clear that his information was wildly inaccurate probably didn't amount to much.
He went over a list of possible strategies he could use with the weapon he still had at his disposal. Only one seemed like it would work.
"So, you going to leave me alone?" Belle asked. "Or do I have to keep beating you guys up?"
"Alright, alright. You win, pardner," Wess sighed, then faked an electronic cough. "We'll mosey on outta here and leave ya in peace."
"Good," Belle muttered.
"One thing, though?" Wess asked tentatively. "Could ya get my hat? It's right there by your foot, and I got terrible skin."
"You're made of metal."
"Still."
Belle glowered at him. For a second, Wess didn't think the saiyan was going to do it. "Yeah, alright. Whatever. It's just a hat." Belle's eyes shifted to the side. One hand released Wess' head as he bent down, reaching out and exposing his throat.
A hidden compartment in the center of Wess' face sprung open. There was a sharp hiss of compressed air, and Belle yelped as a colorfully feathered dart smacked into his neck. "Hey!" he snapped, ripping the pointed tip out and quickly covering the small bead of blood that had immediately blossomed from the wound. "That's it - I'm gonna kick your - ! ... Your..."
Belle's eyelids drooped. He staggered, then shook his head. "I'm gonna getcha-...yeu..." He trailed off and swayed again, blinking. "Ashhole," he murmured abruptly, apparently remembering that he was in the middle of a sentence.
The halfbreed collapsed to the ground, his calloused hand rolling open and letting Wess' head bounce a few feet away. "Heh," Wess snorted as he settled on the grass. "Amateur."
One of the remaining robots lumbered over. "Hey," Wess barked. "Hey, you."
The robot looked up.
"Get me my hat, would ya?"
The assault droid complied, picking up the straw-woven apparel and coming over to put it back in its proper place, tucking the brim around the back of his head so that it wouldn't pop off.
"How long will he be unconscious?" the other asked.
"Long enough," Wess assured. "That's the same stuff they used on him in Central City, just about a hundred times stronger." He did some mental calculations. "That boy'll be out for another twelve hours, which is more than enough time. Get the boys together: we're heading back to the ol' cattle ranch to put this bronco to pasture."
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Cain - 03-03-2010
Sven and Cain played a game of bouncing ki back and forth for the better part of the day. It was a simple game compared to what was about to befall the cyborg. Sven spoke of what was to come before it did, somehow aware of what was going on. The red haired, fiery spirited man was aware of many strange things, most of which the cyborg was not privy to.
Sven's red hair seemed to reflect in his eyes for a moment. Perhaps it was just the sun above, seemingly ever burning on Mercy-Sei. They stood in the open in the wasteland that was dome 111 of Mercy-Sei. They had decided to break from the training they'd done. The red haired man looked taken by something, as sometimes he was, and spoke. "Such a game as the one we've played is nothing compared to what you'll experience. Your ever loving senses will be twanged and prodded in every way you can imagine."
"Hold on, you're not really making sense here," Cain pleaded. He could feel the change coming already though. It was inevitable as of late, that everyone ended up leaving. So many times had it happened that the cyborg had grown accustomed to how it felt just before things changed.
Sven laughed. "It'll probably take two of them to get you, but you'll grow from it boy," he remarked absurdly, waved at Cain, and vanished.
The cyborg was suddenly aware of his aloneness and then aware of his company. "I can hear you," Cain said. The cyborg felt his shirt ripple. His ki lay dormant for a moment, and as sound approached he breathed. One breath, two. His senses refined. The breaths had sound and that sound returned to him as an ever faint echo off of the forms around him. On the third breath they moved.
A bellow reverberated within dome 111, a metropolitan wasteland. Ki exploded in a swirl sending bits of stone flying from beneath the cyborg's feet. He kicked from the side, stomping outward and felt his blow land on an invisible body. As he struck the form rippled with a shock and appeared, a mesh of steel and drab clothes. Sparks flew.
A whorl of ki erupted and two more forms came into view, each of similar features to the fallen man, each steel or something harder. The machine the cyborg had kicked at vanished as an after-image, caught the cyborg beneath his leg in the extent of his kick, and threw him back into the other machine's grasp.
"Come on guys," Cain grinned, wriggling and working the chest carriage of the machine with elbows. His elbows bruised on the metal. He rippled in the grasp of the suit. His immediate assumption was Sven himself, perhaps as some training exercise. He struggled in the grasp a moment longer, the locked arms of the machine not budging. The only noise was elbows panging in a dull thud on metal. The cyborg reached out with his telepathy, probing.
His scalp tingled. Do not terminate. . . he caught, and his head rocked back. Blood welled up in his mouth, teeth cutting lips that were already swelling from a metal fist that was drawing back again. He kicked at the figure which flashed, predicting the move. A fist shifted his head to the right, his cheekbone began to the swell too, and his nose began to water. He struggled once more then two cold fingers set on Cain's neck and all faded.
The holding robot hoisted the unconscious cyborg onto it's shoulder, the other joined it in clinking step, and the two vanished with a whip pop of ki.
***
Cain came to during the transition phase of teleporting. Because of the horribly swimming visions of the in-between the cyborg did not struggle. He lay strung over the robot's shoulder, his stomach all but comfortable as his abdominal passively supported his body weight. There was a flare of white-blue energy and the four parties emerged in a new landscape.
Cain looked around from the shoulder and then feeling a shift beneath him, popped up, bouncing off of the machine's shoulder.
"Ehm," the first thing pronounced, with an electrical squiggle of a mouth. "Welcome to the Kill Town carnival. Feel free to look around and ride the rides, but your stay will be temporarily permanent." It's voice was wavery and somehow sounded electrical. One peering lense starred vacantly at Cain, almost as if awaiting a response. After a moment the robot continued.
"Any further details will be revealed to you as events progress. There will be food, drink, and necessities here. Enjoy your stay," it warbled, and disappeared.
"Kill town Carnival?" Cain grumbled. "Temporarily permanent, he says. . . Might as well make the best of it."
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Vad - 03-03-2010
"Roll left!" The mistress aided.
Her voice was loud and crisp within his mind. Pulling himself to the left, Vad barrled himself left out of the path of his attackers. Two URKLE ground units collided with each other not being able to keep up with the Saiyan's course correction. Opening his arms and legs into a large 'X' shape, Vad came to a stand still almost immediately above the ruined portion of Central City.
"That went bad rather quickly." The Saiyan growled.
"I know they were attacking you, but was it wise to-"
"No! Just...please woman. Kaden had no intention of looking past my exterior and that girl was falling heads over heels to impress him." He barked at his wife aloud while dodging down and to the left.
He wasn't happy he had lost. Trixie knew this.
A metal shield formed over his left forearm as he swung it toward an oncoming robot. This one was different than the model from on the ground. It looked specifically designed to be airbourne for it had no legs. Vad grimaced as the impact of his shield against the frame of his assailant collided. Sweat flew from his hair as he drove his free hand into it's head, removing whatever he could. In this case it happened to be a memory core.
Tossing the useless machinery aside, Vad removed the URKLE's head from the indent in his shield. Dropping the appendage to the ground he reformed the metal around his forearm and sighed, whiping his forehead with the back of his right hand.
"I'm sorry I snapped, Trixie I-"
He was cut off by a faint whistle flying past both of his ears. The heads up display on his scouter went nuts with circles as it began tracking tiny projectiles flying at him. The piece of equipment was certainly worth the money he had put into it. It was displaying targets that had passed him in orange and those inbound in red, each with their own distance meter. The scouter had been fashioned into the form of a contact lens long ago, but the technology was so advanced that it made his entire right eye display information about everything he saw. His vision was the monitor, instead of a monitor being provided.
"What-the-fuck!" Vad shouted as he ducked, dodged, and blocked incoming...syringes.
In a matter of a few seconds the barrage stopped, a voicing coming from no where.
"Stop it you idiots! WIth that many you'll surely kill him! Subdue and inject this one!"
Before the warrior could react he was choking on his own blood as a pair of fasioned metal hands found themselves to his face and abdomen. He could feel the warm crimson liquid run down his chin from his nose. With his free hand, the man covered his face and with his shield, rammed the robot assailant away.
"Nothing serious. Surprisingly enough the nose didn't break. They just hit you in a spot that contained a high number of blood vessels. I'll work on clotting it."
Emptying his mouth of blood onto the ruined streets below him, Vad wiped his lips on the back of his right forearm.
"Okay. You want to subdue me? You're going to have to ask..." He sliced upwards with his right hand, now a blade, into two oncoming robots. "Nicely!"
As he was recovering his breath slowly he was suddenly thrust forward through the air as two airbourne machines smashed into his spine. They immediately latched onto him and turned him around.
"Subject Alpha Omega, you are being asked to come peacefully. We have been instructed to forcefully take you in if required. Our creator demands your presence!" They shouted in an archaic form of computer generated english.
The Saiyan wasn't paying attention. He was eyeing the new design of these robots. They were designed like a jet of some sort with arms coming down underneath the engine vents. Their legs were very accustomed to something you saw in a Gundam Wing show. Imprinted on both sides of the F-15 head design was the name "Top Gun."
Taking hold of their metal hands with his binding, Vad drove katchin spikes through their arms and straight out their chest. The two units exploded in his face, tearing most of his chest armor off and sending the Saiyan careening downward toward the ruined earth beneath him. Zulenka was about to recover when another Top Gun model jammed it's knee into the Saiyans gut. Wrapping it's arms around the man's throat, it effectively held Vad still as they plumetted to the ground. From within one of the machine's hands was a syringe that the soldier felt pierce his neck. A cool liquid made it's way into his arterie and before long he was out cold. Saiyan and Machine crashed into a dumpster at the end of an alley way and came to a rest.
"GET UP HONEY!" Trixie screamed as hundreds of robots descended upon the location.
The demonic mistress emerged from her lovers body in a puff of pink smoke. Taking hold of his body she held him close, whispering his name. Letting him drop to the bottom of the dumpster, Beatrix hopped out and burst into the sky like a bullet; a streak of pink energy all that remained.
She perched herself on a ruined tower above where she and Vad had encountered Sophia and Kaden. They too had been taken. With tears flowing from her eyes she pulled a cellphone from her pocket. Dialing a series of numbers it began to ring.
"It's done. I let them take him." She said through heavy sobs.
Within seconds a blue haired man dressed in exquisite plate armor stood before her. As the particles of his teleportation dissappated he knelt down and placed a curled finger under Trixie's chin. Lifting her face to his, Felix smiled.
"You'll see him again. I promise."
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Ander - 03-04-2010
Although Sage had promised to pay for lunch, she was really in no condition to do so; Ander simply had the waiter box up the remnants of their meals and took care of the lunch tab as well as the drink tab. Typically, he had several routines in his repertoire of dine-and-ditch, but there was no way he could slip out quietly with his completely and utterly drunken companion. Really, it was his own fault; he was the one who bought her all those appletinis. The thief hefted her up off her chair, leftover bag slung over one shoulder, and he half-carried, half-walked her out to the car, praying that her half-eaten sandwich didn’t decide to make a second appearance. He leaned her up against the side of the SUV, opening the passenger side door and tipping the seat back so she could lie down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her sway woozily to the side, and he just barely managed to catch her before she stumbled onto the parking lot pavement. Somehow, getting her drunk for information was turning out to be more trouble than it was worth.
“You really are a lightweight,” he chuckled.
“No I’m not,” she slurred defiantly. “I’m just… tired… and I don’t feel good…”
“We still have a couple of hours until West City. You can sleep it off in the car,” Ander assured. He picked her up and deposited her in the seat, where she immediately curled up in a sleeping position while he clicked the safety belt in place.
“Mmm… thank you,” she murmured.
Don’t thank me… don’t ever thank me…
“Sure thing,” he smiled.
Within seconds, he took behind the wheel and started rolling out of the restaurant’s lot and back onto the main freeway.
“Ander?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t tell anybody… please…”
“Secrets are my life. I won’t say a word,” he promised. After a few minutes, a thought occurred to him. “Hey Sage. What’s Vegeta-sei like?”
A minute or so passed with no response. He looked over, and saw her fast asleep. Oh well. He turned on the heat—it was still too cold for his taste—and pulled the iPod cord out of the stereo, letting the girl rest in complete silence. Alone with his thoughts, curiosity eventually got the better of the desert dweller, and more questions popped into his mind that he could have asked her while he still had the opportunity: about her sister, why Sage specifically was kidnapped, why she needed to hide who she was… an endless line of inquiry presented itself, and how typical that he thought of it after it was already too late. Even intoxicated, however, she had presented a stubborn means of resistance to his questioning, showing him just how deeply guarded she was, likely even more so when completely sober.
Still, the most important question of all remained: why does this matter?
After West City, all of his careful machinations would mean nothing, and ultimately, she didn’t affect his life at all. Or at least, she wasn’t supposed to. The more he got attached now, the harder it would be to say good-bye later, and he didn’t want to have to deal with that again. His blue eyes glazed over with burning memories, about a best friend who thought him little more than deadweight, only to turn right around and make another best friend who manipulated him to achieve his own ends. That’s ultimately what “friendship” amounted to: use you and lose you. And Ander would be damned if he was going to let that happen again. No, he wasn’t going to be on the losing end. Not this time.
He glanced over at his passenger. But she was so much like him, a kindred spirit, similar in so many ways…
Before he knew it, their car passed under a sign that read: ‘West City Exit 142A, 1 mile.’
End of the line.
“Hey, Sage,” Ander said softly. He tore his eyes briefly away from the road and took a hand off the wheel to give her a light shake. “Sage, wake up.”
Her placid face scrunched up into an expression of discomfort, and she roused with more than a little reluctance. She hesitantly opened her rosy eyes, the daylight burning painfully. Her head pounded, as if a hammer and an anvil waged war inside her skull.
“Ugh…” she groaned, placing a palm to her forehead. “Where are we?”
“We’ll be at West City in a couple of minutes. You have to tell me where your mom’s family lives, ’cause I don’t know where to go,” the thief replied. He grabbed a water bottle from the cup holder on the center console. “Here, I got this for you at a gas station. It’s probably not cold anymore, but it’ll help.”
The cryomancer grabbed it gratefully, but relapsed into a half-dozing state. Ander looked at her, and could barely suppress a smile.
When he looked back to the road, however, he saw a giant figure standing in the middle of their lane. His blue eyes widened.
OH SHIT.
He sharply turned the wheel to the right, away from traffic, but the sudden maneuver caused the SUV to spin in a 180 motion and jerk so harshly, that coupled with his high speed, the top-heavy vehicle started to flip. Ander squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself as they toppled and rolled off the freeway and into a ditch beside the shoulder. Loose objects flew askew everywhere, and glass shattered from the impact. The car landed upside down, crumpling in a surprisingly still-intact heap.
The thief groaned as he hung from the driver’s seat, secured by his safety belt. He looked over towards Sage.
“Hey… hey! Y’all right?” he asked woozily. He reached out to jostle her, but she remained unresponsive to his touch. Then his fingers traced along her neck as he felt for a pulse, and found one, beating strongly as a beacon of life. The thief then allowed himself a minute to gather the wind that the sudden crash had knocked out of him. Upon sufficient recovery, the dune dweller steadily unbuckled his safety belt and lowered his body to the ceiling of the partially mangled car. Fortunately, the vehicle wasn’t even his. Besides, he was certain ‘Maxwell Van de Velde’ could probably afford a million of them anyway.
Ander crawled out, trying to avoid the broken glass as best he could. He rose to his feet, shakily. Had he not possessed a physicality above that of an average human, he would likely have been rendered unconscious and suffered much more grievous injury. As it stood, he’d taken a lot worse damage than this and walked away with nothing more than a couple of bruises. The thief brushed his shoulder-length black hair away from his face and surveyed the car. He’d never attempted to move something as big as this, and he wasn’t sure he was in the best condition to try. Instead, he groggily stumbled over to the passenger side, intending to simply bend the metal and excavate his unconscious companion. After all, he was responsible for her current state of alcohol recovery, and he was responsible for the crash…
…no, wait. Some jackass had been standing out in the middle of the freeway.
Assuring himself that Sage could hold on a minute longer, he went out to check and see if some remarkably stupid idiot had been flattened by the steadily accumulating rush hour traffic. Instead, he found a large… thing, standing on the shoulder, as if it waited patiently just for him.
“Hey!” Ander called out in indignation. “Who the hell are you?”
“Mission Objective: subjugate and retrieve,” it stated in a mechanical voice.
“What are you, some kind of robot?” the thief scoffed, although the smooth, metallic, bionic appearance should have made that obvious enough.
“Resistance is futile.”
Then, with calm, measured steps, the robot started walking towards the blue-eyed bandit. Ander merely smirked, and brought up a hand.
“You don’t know who you’re fuckin’ with, Tin Man!”
Then he thrust the arm out, exerting the influence of his binding against the robot’s metallic frame. Sadly, nothing happened. Confusion replaced confidence, and Ander tried again, and failed just as surely as the first time. Panic started to settle in, and despite the obvious lack of success at previous attempts, the thief just tried harder. The robot closed in.
Aw, great.
“Not the face,” Ander said sternly, raising a pointed finger.
The robot backhanded him across the cheek, sending the thief flying backwards into the uncultivated field beyond the ditch. He landed with a magnificent bounce, rolling over a couple of times before coming to an unceremonious stop.
Robot 1, Ander 0.
“I said NOT the face,” he growled in pain. He struggled to pull himself up, his hazy mind pointlessly attempting to formulate a strategy. How do you defeat a killer robot immune to metal binding? Ander fumbled through his capsule pouch, his fingers frantically feeling out the right symbol. Maybe if he heated up one of his weapons, he could penetrate the armor and…
No such luck. The robot was behind him in an instant, and held him tightly in an inescapable hold, one cybernetic arm wrapped tightly around the thief’s throat. The mysterious attacker applied heavy pressure, cutting off oxygen flow and slowly suffocating the youth. It was a bit ironic, really, a move Ander favored so much being used against him. Ander already knew his strength fell woefully insufficient to overcome the maniacal machine, and any thought he could summon to the contrary dulled over in a foggy transition to unconsciousness.
Helplessly, he reached out towards the car, his sight losing sharpness and clarity.
“S-sage…” he gasped, until finally, his body slackened.
Robot 2, Ander 0.
Game, set, match.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Piper Juunanagou - 03-04-2010
In a dingy apartment only a few blocks from what had once been Bruce’s Bar n’ Grill, Sergeant Piper Juunanagou of the 101st Sentinel’s shimmered into existence amidst her normal panache. Realizing full well that her failure to apprehend the Pizza Boy Killer would relegate her back to desk work, the blond medic tossed her large bag of supplies onto the nearby bed and let out a heavy sigh.
“Sumbitch,” the soldier groaned as she trudged across the miniscule apartment and entered the dingy, undersized bathroom. Placing her palms on the sides of the stained sink, the woman took a long, hard look at her reflection before reaching over to grab a nearby rag. After splashing some water onto the coarse cloth, Piper began to rather unpleasant task of cleaning away the grim and dried blood that had managed to cake itself across her face. The fact that there was no soap in the skanky little apartment only served to further irritate the woman and dash her hopes of ever feeling clean.
Maybe I can tell them I accidentally dropped the anomaly into a vat of acid? [i] The thought brought a smile to Piper’s face as she pulled away the rag and stared down at all the nasty red, brown, and black stains that now saturated the formerly tan-colored cloth. [I] Well that was really effective. The woman thought as she looked up to see that she still looked like the victim of some gangbangers.
Discarding the stained rag, Piper yanked the apartment’s only towel off its rusted rack and used it to hastily clear away the rest of the grim from her face. Unfortunately, what was underneath the dried blood, dust, and dirt was a lovely patchwork of bruises that would certainly prevent the woman from getting a prom date anytime soon. As she stared at her bruising, a little voice of madness in the back of the woman’s head wished that she had been fighting the Pizza Boy Killer. After all, at least then someone could be paying for the number done to her face.
“Oh well,” Piper groaned as she balled up the towel and tossed it over her shoulder. “Spilt milk,” she added beneath her breath as she flicked off the bathroom light and moved back into the main room of the scant apartment. After summoning her other bag from across the room, the blond unzipped the large backpack and fished out her medication. Once she’d popped her dosage, Piper snapped the lid back onto the orange container and let it roll off her palm and back into the bag.
“Guess I should report back…” she muttered as she looked down into her bag and tried to see if her phone was visible. When she couldn’t see it, Piper plunged her hand down passed the change of clothes and the other assorted supplies before her fingers bumped into her phone’s protective rubber sheath. A few seconds later, the woman’s hand emerged from the bag with cell phone in tow.
Sliding the front panel up to reveal the number pad, Piper quickly dialed the number for the other Sentinel stationed in the vicinity. His job was to serve as the woman’s liason back to headquarters. That way, if Piper was being tracked or traced by anyone, they wouldn’t be able to connect her back to the Sentinels—just one of the irritating ‘hush-hush’ aspects involved with being in a semi-secret organization.
“Hello, Private Gertrand? … Hello?” Despite having dialed the correct number and having full service, Piper was hearing nothing but white noise through the line. “Damn it,” the medic said with a groan as she slid the phone shut. Before she had much to stew in her frustration, the door to her apartment was ripped off its hinges.
Turning sharply, Piper pocketed her phone and clenched her fists as a pair of human-sized robots marched into her apartment. The automatons were comprised of a shimmering silver alloy and walked with a robotic gait. Their heads were dominated by a red disc that probably functioned as their sensory apparatus. What got most of Piper’s attention, however, were the needles extending from devices beneath the robot’s forearms.
“You will come with us now, Sergeant Juunanagou” one of the robots said—its ‘voice’ broadcasting from somewhere inside of its head. With a frown, Piper glanced at the words etched into both of the robots’ chests—U.R.K.L.E. mk I. Perhaps it was some type of acronym or model designation? Either way, the woman wasn’t going to stand around and wait for the response.
Glancing down to her backpack, Piper plunged a slender hand down into the main compartment as the robots began to slowly advance across the small room. Behind the pair of automatons, the woman could hear a chorus of heavy, clomping footsteps approaching her room. Understanding that she was about to have more company, the soldier drew the Derringer from her backpack and put one of its bullets through both the robot’s crimson ‘faces.’
Sparks, shards of glass, and a few bits of broken machinery erupted out from the shattered faceplates as the two Urkles collapsed into twitching heaps of metal. Wishing she hadn’t lost her regulation handgun during her scuffle earlier in the day, Piper discarded the pocket pistol and proceeded to telekinetically flip her mattress off the box spring and up against the wall where her door had been.
Glancing down at the weapon she had stashed under her mattress, the woman summoned the shotgun into her outstretched hand. With one hand, Piper pumped the weapon and proceeded to level it with the mattress that now stood as her makeshift barricade. The footsteps in the hallway suddenly came to a stop in front of her apartment, and suddenly—without much of a forewarning—a circular saw erupted through the cloth and quickly cleaved down the length of the mattress.
Frowning heavily, Piper waited for the sundered mattress to topple inward before she opened fire on the robots standing behind it. The buckshot obliterated the automaton’s faceplate and sent it careening forward—its gleaming, metallic limbs locking up as affected by some robot form of rigor mortis. Behind the foremost robots, its compatriots marched in over its broken husk, and despite their best efforts, none were able to get through the doorway without suffering a fatal dosage of buckshot.
As more robots were trying to force their way through the front door of the apartment, Piper noticed that the room had suddenly grown a little darker. Frowning, the woman pivoted and fired at the Urkle hovering outside her window. The floating robot twitched violently before it plunged out of sight. From her bathroom, Piper suddenly heard the whirl of saw blades, and with a quick glimpse, she verified that she’d be having company on both sides within a few moments.
Think, think, think, think!
Dashing toward her window, the soldier snatched her bag of supplies and proceeded to leap out her second-story apartment. With an explosion of light particles, the woman popped out of existence mid-plunge and rematerialized on the roof of the complex. Dropping her pack of supplies, Piper quickly pulled out all of the clothes until she reached the ammunition cases at the bottom.
As the soldier rushed to reload her firearm, she listened as several of the robots took to the air. The small propulsion units on the bottom of their feet whirled loudly as the relentless automatons pursued the elusive Sentinel. Discarding an empty box, Piper scooped up another handful of shotgun shells and stuffed them into the front pocket of her jacket. With a smug smirk, the blond pumped the first round into the barrel and waited for the next wave of her attackers to come floating up into view.
Unfortunately, all her preparation wasn’t enough to prepare the woman for the giant, electrified net that enveloped her from behind and sent her hurtling to the ground. With a dull thud, Piper slammed into the concrete and immediately felt the air driven out of her lungs. A beat after her impact, the net surged with enough electricity to pacify the woman’s frantic struggles.
“…Shit,” the blond groaned weakly as one of the robots casually walked over to her and stabbed her in the neck with one of its forearm needles. Almost instantaneously, she lost all feeling in her extremities and proceeded to lapse into complete unconsciousness.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Celena - 03-05-2010
Quote:Continued from here: http://cdbzrpg.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27066
As the super saiyan made her way towards the western entrance of West City’s Capsule Corp, the premier of all Capsule Corp’s around the world, suspicion entered her mind. Perhaps it was not right to feel the way she did but why had Phoebe been overdressed for someone who was indoors with her son? Maybe Xenia was just exaggerating. Maybe Phoebe planned on going out on a date later.
With dad?
She cancelled the thought although she had sighted an obvious connection between Kirano and Phoebe through the love of their child.
From Capsule Corp’s space station sector she planned on renting a ship to transport her to planet Namek. Xenia’s mind on the Kirano/Phoebe subject should have settled but the suspicion remerged as she entered the building. Since it was still on her mind, did that mean that Phoebe was trying to get her claws into her father? On the other hand Whitelighters were supposed to be pure hearted so why doubt Phoebe’s agenda? Her thoughts were interrupted by a silver blur that caught the corner of her right eye. She spun towards the source to see a familiar type of gateway, one that was supernatural, a silver portal. It could only mean one thing, someone or some people were about to come out, but who? Had the wizards from her dimension come to bring her more news about the Vegeta-sei royal family? Would it be more horrifying news?
The portal quickly attracted attention. Many halted their destinations while others put their plans on hold to witness what they believed to be mysterious, so mysterious gasps filled Capsule Corp, and so mysterious that crowds gathered around it, some even trying to push their way past Xenia.
“Stand back,” said the hybrid to a meaty bodied man with brown hair and a bushy brown beard, using her hand to restrain him from going any further forward. She used her other hand to restrain a teenage boy. “I’m pretty sure this has nothing to do with any of you.” Xenia knew the emergence of the portal involved her and nobody else.
The Saiyan of royalty was bombarded with retorts.
“Who the hell are you?”
“Who do you think you are?
“Yeah,” someone agreed.
“Just shut up, Blondie.”
Xenia closed her eyes, exhaling simultaneously and then reopened them. She believed part of the reason why earth had a history of being in crises was down to its pitiless inhabitants, too ignorant to realise signs of danger in enough time to prevent them from being harmed.
The spectator’s anticipation reached a climax when a figure emerged from the portal, and then another, and another, and another, four in total. They all appeared to be human, three muscular men and a very athletic looking blonde haired woman with a ponytail, wearing a beige cap that read ‘Kill Town’ which prompted signs of worry from the majority of the members of the audience. Suddenly the excitement the crowd had displayed turned into fear. To make matters worse the foursome had stern looks on their faces that came off to the audience as unfriendly.
“You have been chosen to join a game known as Kill Town,” said a man next to her whose black hair was also in a ponytail. He was pointing at the super saiyan. “Please come with us now.”
“Well tell whoever sent you that I’m not interested,” she replied as the audience began to gossip with one another.
“We have been ordered to take you with us.”
“Too bad.”
Capsule Corp security dressed in blue shirts, grey trousers and black police hats rushed towards the scene, six in total. They did not come alone; all had nightsticks strapped to their left hand sides. They quickly asserted their authority by forcing their way through the crowd.
“Back away from them, all of you,” shouted one of them and then blew his whistle constantly, waving his hands in order to get the people as far away from the mysterious portal users as possible.
“That includes you ma’am,” said another softly, standing by the princess’ left hand side. Xenia could have told them all that this matter had nothing to do with them but she had a strong feeling that the three henchmen and henchwoman were no pushovers so she wanted to see how tough they were against Capsule Corp’s security guards, therefore she retreated.
“We have been ordered to take you with us,” said the ponytail haired man, who she gathered was the captain of the foursome. The fact that they all maintained their eyes on her instead of the security guards allowed the princess to conclude that the guards would be no match for them, either that or they were an arrogant bunch.
The guards followed their gaze. “Her?” said the one with the whistle.
“Over our dead bodies,” said Officer Jetson, as printed on a badge attached to the top right hand side of his shirt. “She’s not going anywhere with you freaks.”
“Go back to wherever you came from. We’ve had enough of your kind,” said the only woman among the security guards, Officer Jenny, who had green hair.
“If you do not come with us willingly, we will be forced to take you.”
Officer Jetson took out his nightstick which led the others to follow suit. “You have to the count of five to step back through that…”
“Portal,” finished Officer Winston.
“You watch way too much sci-fi,” said Officer Harris.
“That’s what she said,” replied Officer Winston.
The other officers chucked, even some of the spectators. Xenia on the other hand did not get the joke. Officer Jetson put on a straight face.
“Five…”
There were no signs of movement from the foursome.
“Four…”
The captain of the travellers turned towards the woman next to him and nodded.
“Three…”
The blonde haired woman bolted forwards towards her target but was intercepted by Officer Jenny who swung her nightstick; however the mysterious woman caught the stick with her left hand.
“What?” officer Winston uttered in disbelief, and then a thunderous right hook found its way to the forehead of Officer Jenny who collapsed to the floor.
“She’s out cold!” said a spectator while others continued to film the scene with their phones.
The other officers rushed towards the foursome, two of them targeting the captain who dodged their nightsticks and with two movements, dropped both of them to the concrete floor. His two other comrades also effortlessly took care of the remaining guards. Their course of actions left the spectators in panic, most of them running away frantically. Xenia did not move a muscle, seeming to be the only one who showed no fear.
“Come,” said the captain to Xenia. “We must leave.”
Things would get very ugly inside the building and very quickly because there was no way she was going back with them to participate in the game known as Kill Town. She had promised herself that Dante’s Abyss would be the last time she ever participated in a game show or competition. She refused to be a means for a rich man or woman’s entertainment ever again.
A grin accompanied her optimism as she placed her hands on her hips and then with a wave from her left hand, she uttered “bye.” The captain leapt forward but stopped when she vanished from sight.
Xenia reappeared inside her room, lying on her bed. “Teh,” she laughed, resting her arms at the back of her head which lay on her comfy pillow. Amateurs. Thanks to her awesome dark orbing ability they would not be bothering her anymore. What a pity for them. Their boss would be pissed off.
A chill suddenly ran down Xenia’s spine as she gazed up at the chandeliers in her bedroom. A familiar sound encased the room, causing her to quickly sit up, unable to come to terms with what she saw. Her eyes widened as a silver portal appeared in her room.
How…?, she asked herself. Out of the portal came a familiar black boot followed by a body. “There is no escape,” said the captain of the Kill Town squad. They obviously had ki sense.
As another emerged from the portal it became clear to Xenia that she could not avoid them. She had to fight for her freedom. “Not here,” she replied before orbing out of her room. She reappeared at a canyon she always did her intense training which was not that often. She wasted no time preparing for battle, hoping to ambush them when they would inevitably arrive through their portal. She disappeared and then reappeared high above the ground and as she raised her left hand, ki began to swerve quickly inside of it. She had no idea how strong each of them were let alone all of them combined so therefore she planned on killing them all with one shot.
The silver portal opened up once more and out came the ponytail haired captain who looked upwards to see a ki ball the size of six basketballs formed and growing by the second. He was not going to give the Super Saiyan the opportunity to strike. He extended his arms towards her, brought his hands together and created ki in them. Meanwhile, as the ki ball continued to grow, the princess began to feel a strain in the arm that held the circular destructive force. She timed her next course of action to perfection, disappearing along with her attack, causing his ki wave to sail through the air, quickly travelling past the position she had formerly been in.
Xenia reappeared in the air but on the left hand side of the portal. She groaned as a painful tingle surged throughout her entire body. She had teleported too many times today and now she was feeling the effects. The ball of ki just happened to be large enough to her satisfaction but the problem was that all four of them had come out of the portal and had spread out. As a matter of fact they had formed a square around her and then taken flight towards her. It was a good strategy. Her ki ball could only strike one of them. It did not take her long to figure out her intended target. With a moan of agony she launched the ball towards the captain.
Move, she told herself as orbs of ki travelled towards her from three directions while the captain struggled to overpower the ki ball she had launched at him. Her only cause of action was to teleport once more, an opportunity which did not pass her by, however she did not manage to get far, reappearing thirty-five centimeters from where she had orbed, only to receive a barrage of ki orbs slam into her body from three directions.
With a mighty roar the captain finally launched the ki ball he had been preoccupied with back into the sky before falling to both knees. “Cease fire,” he said as he gazed at his hands and arms. His hands up to half of his wrists had lost its skin, revealing a metal skeletal structure.
“CEASE FIIIIIIRE!” he shouted, frustrated that she had damaged him to this extent.
A lifeless body sailed through the smoke in the air and swiftly descended towards the ground. The blonde haired robotic woman dived towards the body in time to catch it, and then she rolled with the unconscious hybrid twice across the floor, stopping with Xenia on top of her, in her grasp.
“Objective complete,” said the captain known as Q-1000.
The blonde haired robot used one hand to scratch her hair while she stood still with Xenia on her shoulder.
“What is it, R one thousand?”
“Are we getting paid?”
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Tamsin - 03-05-2010
Having arrived from the Land Before Time, Tamsin and Maleficus found themselves roaming the streets of the city in which they arrived just after Dante`s Abyss. Once again, time seemed to cheat them as they had the feeling that they had been away longer then they really were. But that was not the only feeling they had....their insides felt nauseous as their bodies readjusted to their powers no longer being amplified by the land of the Mystics. Although they wondered whether their telepathic link remained, they did not dare test it out of fear of ending up feeling worse. As such, they spent some time quietly overcoming their temporary illness, contemplating on what they had experienced.
Suzaku recalled the inspection of the Delishea temple she had conducted with the now deceased Frozen. In retrospect, it made perfect sense that Andu Hondo was the responsible party in the initial killings. Afterall, all the official guests of the families were accounted for and only someone of such a high stature as Hondo could have gained access to the palace otherwise. The fact that one of the two nobles was killed with a throwing knife made the girl wonder if Hondo had some skill in throwing knives like her. Of course, she would never find out. His plan to create a powerful army of Mystics backfired, since it weakened him as well, sealing his demise when facing up against an empowered Nova.
"We have a new assignment," the namek suddenly broke the silence after recovering from his sickness, although he still felt somewhat grated from being subject to Gelidus`s merchant-like voice while in an ill state. "We are supposed to either capture or kill two members of a smuggling ring. Apparently, they have been exporting a lot of...."unwanted" items and it is causing chaos on the market." Of course, while that was the limit of their employer`s explanation, it was obvious to the rogue that the truth was probably that someone simply did not like the serious competition and wanted them out of the picture. The adolescent did not preoccupy herself with that, however, wondering instead if the two will wind up dead like their previous two targets or if they will decide to peacefully surrender.
After another extended period of silence, the New Evil decided to talk about the issue that had been nagging him since their encounter with Hondo: "Tamsin, about the first golem....."
The servant did not immediatelly respond, her head slightly tilting from the embarrassement she felt and her face forming a sad expression: "I am sorry, Mas-....Maleficus. It is not that I wanted to keep it a secret from you. But a good servant never troubles his master with her own conce-."
"You aren't just my servant, Tamsin!" the mercenary interrupted her. "Remember what I told you back during Dante`s Abyss? I need someone I can trust, I need....a friend. And friends should be able to entrust their problems to each other, no matter who has them."
"I....I understand," the maid responded meekly.
"Good. Now...do you want to tell me how you managed to do that?" The Namek suprised even himself with how kind he was being, which went completely against his otherwise volatile nature. Remembering how he politely adressed the Furli king, he wondered if the genial nature of his female companion was starting to rub off on him.
Nodding in agreement, the silver-haired human began to explain her situation: "I...do not understand it myself yet. But....during my training at Servus, I would sometimes desire to get an item, like a knife, or broom, and that item would already be in my hand. And then, during Dante`s Abyss, when I was in trouble....I sometimes was able to call the Ki Knives that I was carrying to myself. And....well, you know what happened in the Land Before Time. But I...I still do not know what it is or how to fully use it willingly."
The rogue carefully listened to every word, being very curious regarding Tamsin`s hidden power. But as she continued her explanation, the Namek saw something that nearly made his jaw drop. Standing merely a few meters away from them were two individuals, a man and a woman with dark hair and a brownish tan. Both of them wore fairly fashionable attire, the female wrapped in a long and elegant green coat while the male wore a suit of a similar colour with a white tie. The two observed Tamsin and Maleficus, the man wearing a wide grin above his carefully trimmed goatee while the woman`s glossed lips remained sealed.
"Maleficus, what is wrong?" the teenager asked as she finally realised that her master was not paying attention to her.
"Those two.....They are our targets!" he responded, remembering quite clearly the two pictures that Gelidus showed him over the video transmission. But before he could act upon it, the pair he was looking for ran into a nearby dark alley. Not wasting any time, the mercenary ran after them. Slightly perplexed from how sudden everything was occuring, the maid followed suit.
Suddenly, after a short chase, both of them found themselves at an intersection between alleys with the two targets staring at them at the end.... of each of the four directions. Incredibly flustered by this, Nova and Suzaku moved in circles, not able to comprehend what is going on.
"Wha....what trickery is this?!?!" came the agitated response, but none of the four pairs facing them said anything. Suddenly, the skin and clothing began to melt away, revealing metallic parts beneath them. Even as a person who was a partial android, the rogue could not hide his disgust from what was happening.
"M-Maleficus..." the female servant said weakly, drawing her blades and facing her master back-to-back. As the gruesome transformation continued and more metal appeared beneath their facade, the unknown beings began to slowly encroach on them from all sides.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Sage - 03-05-2010
“Unh... oh God what’s wrong with my heeeaaaaad?” a drowsy and incredibly hungover Sage groaned, lethargically squirming about in her seat. Finally, she brought her palms to her eyes, and pressed down on them, trying desperately to block out the unrelenting light from the sun.
Finally, realizing the sun would win their battle of wills, Sage let her arms drop, and immediately noticed something wrong. Little slits opened in front of her eyes, and the girl released a furious moan of protest. Shading her eyes with one hand and pulling her hair out of the way with the other, the girl realized she was upside down. Her massive pigtails spilled down onto the ceiling below her.
Litter and debris from inside the SUV had been scattered all around, and there was broken glass everywhere. The windshield was an imperceptible fog of scratches and cracks, and every other window had been blown out.
And she was upside down.
The girl suddenly realized that Ander wasn’t there to be upside down with her, and that, in fact, she was upside down by herself. Shaking, unsteady hands therefore resolved to unbuckle her seatbelt, causing a whoop of surprise to escape the quarter saiyan as she crashed onto the ceiling of the car. A head-splitting wave of agony surged through her cranium.
Frustrated, confused, angry, and scared for the fate of the thief, Sage fought herself up onto all fours and simply crawled through one of the broken windows. Pushing herself up to her feet turned out to be quite the task, and she found herself leaning hard against the overturned vehicle, one hand still shading her eyes from the afternoon sun.
The SUV had taken quite the beating. It was viciously crumpled, two wheels were missing entirely, all the lights were smashed, and smoke billowed up from the engine bay. A faint hissing sound emanated from somewhere, but Sage couldn’t place what it was, much less where it came from.
“Oh,” the girl winced, rubbing her head with her thumb and forefinger. “A-An-” she growled. She raised her voice, despite the pain it caused her. “Ander!” she demanded. “Where are you?!”
The hybrid looked a lot worse for wear. Her hair drooped down her back, rather than bobbed and floated around her like it usually did, its silky texture replaced with a tangled and nodded, sweat-matted mass. Heavy bags ringed the underside of Sage’s eyes, and she looked a deathly pale, her skin sullied with old sweat. She felt about as bad as she looked.
“J-Just-” her hand reflexively went for the capsule in her hair ribbon, before she stopped herself, realizing that her Valium supply had just run out. She closed her eyes and cringed. As if things could get any worse. The girl stumbled ahead of the wreckage, painfully aware of the sound each step made.
In fact, she was painfully aware of a lot of stuff. Light, wind, the sound cars made as they drove by, ignoring the fact that a clearly roughed-up girl was staggering away from an SUV that had rolled at least a half dozen times, judging from the trail of car bits that led from the road down through the ditch. At least nobody honked their horn. Oh, Lord, that would hurt.
“Target acquired.”
“What?” the girl asked, half-turning to her left. She looked around for a moment, peering as much as her pained squint would let her. “...What?”
“It’s time to come with meee. You can’t stay here any longeerrr. You’re confused; we can explain everythiiinng. Wesleeeyyy.”
The azure haired heiress rubbed her eyes. Was she still drunk? No, alcohol didn’t make you hallucinate. Did Ander drug her?
“You have been invited to a game. It’s taking place at a caarnivaaal. I’m here to take you there. We have something to help you with your hangoverrrr.”
“Who’s out there?” Sage whined. “Who’s talking?”
Suddenly, out from behind... well, from behind something, Sage wasn’t really sure. It was bright and everything was mostly just shapes and a couple of colors. But, a strange, metal contraption on wheels appeared, and it appeared to be wearing a red sweater vest. And it had a moustache. And eyes. The doctor stared at it for a moment. It almost looked like a mini fridge.
“It would be much easier if you just followed me to the transport,” the mini fridge declared, motioning with one of its vacuum tube arms for her to follow. It started for the road, but stopped and turned around upon realization that the disoriented girl wasn’t going anywhere. “This is your last chance, Wesleeeyyy.”
“But... m-my name is Sage-”
“Does Mr B have to choke a biiiitch?”
“Uh, what?”
“What country are you from?” the robot demanded, trying in earnest to sound menacing. It didn’t work. It was just... weird.
“What?”
“What is not a country I have on file. Do they speak English in What?” the robot further pressed, its eyebrows angled down into a caricature of anger.
“...What?” Sage cocked her head, at this point, her hangover was killing her, and she was thoroughly convinced that she had completely lost her mind. Where the hell was Ander, and what the hell did he put in her drinks?!
“English, motherfucker,” the robot continued in its jovial monotone. “Do you speak it?”
At this point, Sage just giggled. She shook her head and grasped it with both hands. “What? I don-”
“Say what agaaaain,” Mr B demanded. “Wesleeeyyy.”
The girl wiped her face with her hands and exhaled. What the hell is going on? “Look, robot... thing?” the cryomancer closed her eyes. This was just way too much. “I don’t know what you want, but I don’t feel good and I have to find my friend. Can you please just... go away? I really need to be alone.”
“You’re coming with me, Wesleeeyyy.”
“My name isn’t Wesley!” an irate, hungover, crystal haired addict in the beginning stages of Valium withdrawal shouted.
Her protest didn’t seem to do much for the robot, though, as it began to move nearer her. “I try to listen with compassion, instead of killing you. But you’re making it very difficult.”
The machine continued to approach the girl, who responded by throwing her arms out to her sides as ice encased her hands. Huge spears of ice extended out from where her fingers ended, granting her oversized, demonic claws easily capable of rending Mr B to pieces.
“Just try it, and I’ll cut you apart,” Sage hissed, trying to look as mean as she could through droopy eyelids. Her slouching posture did little to help her case, and her wavering fighting stance seemed to instill almost anything but fear.
Mr B moved in and the girl went to slash him to bits, as promised, but she went so wide that the robot didn’t even have to dodge, and instead let Sage send herself reeling from her own momentum before pushing her over.
All it would take was one pill and she would’ve been fine.
“This is it,”
Just one fucking pill. She wasn’t asking for much.
“Goodnight, Wesley,” Mr B said, before injecting her with a syringe.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Szar - 03-05-2010
Szar pushed himself harder, the muscles in his legs burning more painfully with each footfall. Just ahead of him was Solo, the ogre he'd first met upon arriving in Hell. Purgatory Szar corrected, reminding himself that Hell was just below him. He'd seen the staircase leading down on his second day, and had immediately elected to stay where he was. Besides, it wasn't bad here, a little humid but still tolerable. The blood fountains were a bit unsightly, too, now that Szar thought about it. And there wasn't much to do other than run laps and exercise. Then there was the fact that most of the denizens here were clouds, so he couldn't have intelligent conversation either.
Szar did a mental double take. How had he let himself adjust to "life" here? When he was alive, he'd always had the drive to succeed and push himself to his limits. Now he was content to spending his entire day running races with Solo. Races he couldn't win, no matter how hard he tried. Letting his pace slow, Szar waved to Solo's back as he surged further ahead, solely focused on winning. It was time for Szar to conquer his fears: it was time for him to go down into Hell. Solo had told the Icer that there were seven lavels, or "planes" to Hell, and that he would have to traverse them all before he made it to Dabura, the Overlord of Hell. Dabura alone had the power to return Szar to the living realm, and it was not a gift that he gave away easily. Only through a show of force or a sliver-tongued plea would the Demon King restore Szar to his mortal self.
He'd almost made it to the stairs, when he got the strangest feeling that he was being followed. Turning around, Szar was surprised to find a humanoid figure staring blankly at him. Aside from the ogres, he hadn't seen any other bipedal creatures down here, only the bodyless souls that fluttered around as clouds. The man looked odd, his face had sharp features but his eyes were dead, his expression blank. The Changeling didn't like this man, having been around long enough to know that he had bad intentions in mind.
"Szar. Race: Changeling. Greeting protocolls activated. Hello, my name is Ril and I come bearing an invitation.
"An invitation to what?" Szar inquired, paranoia settling into the back of his mind.
"Let's call it...a carnival." Ril said, pausing momentarily as it tried to decern the best word to describe what his master had planned.
"I have more important things to do that go to a carnival, I have to get out of here!"
Ril's lips turned into a smile, one that didn't look right on his face. "My master isn't holding the festivities here, they're taking place on the planet Earth."
Szar felt a wave of hope crash over him, but the feeling didn't last. It was impossible for him to attend, he had no means of returning to the real world. "How do you expect me to get there? I can't just walk out of here and come back with you."
"We have made the necessary arrangements. You are allowed temporary leave of this place to participate in my master's Carnival. He would very much like you to come."
Something clicked in Szar's brain. 'Participate'. "What do you mean by participate?"
"You will be made to take part in a series of events." Ril answered simply.
Szar wasn't convinced. "That's not enough to convince me, sorry but..."
"Make no mistake, participation is not optional. My master requests your presence, and he will have it." Szar noted a flash of anger playing across Ril's countenance, but it faded just as quickly as it appeared, his stoic expression falling back into place. The Changeling didn't like being forced into anything without proper intelligence on what he was getting into, but it didn't appear that he would get that from Ril. By cooperating, it meant that Szar would be allowed temporary leave from this place, and that offer sounded too good to pass up.
"Fine." the Icer folded, not having the energy or motivation to resist. "Let's get this over with."
"Excellent. Just close your eyes and relax."
Szar did as he was told, and in seconds they were gone, already on their way to Kill Town. What awaited Szar there, the Icer never could have anticipated...
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Victoria - 03-05-2010
The sunlight streamed into his office, although the blinds had been pulled down, it still filled the room with more natural light. Jeremy poured a cup of orange juice, and carried it over to the couch. He placed it into Victoria’s hands and she thanked him.
“Did you sleep well?” he asked, he sat on the couch facing her and leaned on his elbow.
“Yes, I went to bed as soon as I got to my room. I’m ready to do this, if you are?” she smirked at him.
“Finish your drink, and then we can start.” He nodded at the glass in her hands. “Orange juice is good for you in the morning.”
Victoria drank the juice, she downed it in one go, and found that she actually quite liked it. She licked her lips and set the glass down on the table. “You’d make a good party host, always getting me drinks.” She commented.
“What can I say? I was raised well.” He shifted and folded his hands in his lap. “We’re going to do your training here, in my office.”
“You said that I’m going to bleed out, which would cause a mess, wouldn’t it?” she asked, glancing around his office.
“I can have it cleaned. Trust me; this place has had plenty of spills in it.” He ran a hand along the seat of the couch between them, remembering what he and Olivia had done.
“Let’s start, then,” she stood up and stretched her arms and rotated her head from one side to the other. “Explain to me the process.”
She held out her hand and Jeremy grasped it, he stood up and walked towards his desk. “You’re going to feel a tingling sensation in your hand, and it will move along your arm. This will be from the blood flowing out of your limb. You need to focus on the flow of blood, follow it from inside, and use your electricity at that point. Super charge the cells, they’ll multiply and form the necessary tissues required to staunch the cut vein.” He returned from his desk with a box full of medical supplies. “Just in case.” He put the box on the table and motioned to the couch. “You’ll want to be sitting.”
Victoria sat down and Jeremy knelt on both knees in front of her. He placed a hand on each side of her, leaning forward, he looked up at her. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” she moved her wrist between them. Jeremy straightened and held her hand, palm up. She watched him, and began to breathe as she had been instructed to under certain situations. It would help her stay calm and focus.
“If you can’t do it in five minutes I’ll have to take over. We’ll do this until you can figure it out.” He pressed his index finger against her wrist. She clenched her other hand tightly, and closed her eyes. Jeremy’s finger dragged across her soft skin, and the smooth flesh sliced cleanly as if his finger were a knife. Victoria gasped audibly, the pain was intense, but she took in a deep breath and focused on the flow of blood. She opened her eyes and watched the crimson lifeblood flow out from the cut. Jeremy held her hand steady, but the blood followed gravity and slid down the side of her arm, and dripped like a leaky tap onto the floor between them. “Don’t lose focus, you only have five minutes.” He locked eyes with her, holding her alarmed gaze.
Victoria swallowed, and closed her eyes. She could feel her hand tingle, the blood sliding against her skin. She could hear Jeremy licking his lips nervously, and feel him looking at her. She diverted her thoughts to the flow of blood in her arm. It moved quickly, pumped by the force of her heart. She could feel it flowing into the open air; the cut had severed the flow. She grunted, beginning to feel light headed. She had to do something now, before the loss of blood made her pass out. She formed energy inside of her arm, directing the flow as if it were the blood in her veins. Her electric energy fused with her ki, joining the flow through her body. It latched onto the blood cells, charging them with energy, making them stronger. The electric ki bonded with the severed vein and began to repair it.
Jeremy watched her wrist, and would glance at her face eagerly. Nearly five minutes had passed. She had ten, or more, but he didn’t want to risk her fainting. He could feel the pool of blood at his knees, soaking into his pants, but none of it mattered. He wanted her to succeed in this, so he would do whatever it took, including hurting her. He reached for the box, pulling out some of the gauze.
“Don’t,” Victoria said, and he looked to see that her eyes were open. “I’ve done it.” She looked down at her bloody arm; the oozing wound has beginning to clot over, but was no longer leaking profusely. “It was like I sutured the cut with my energy. I…” she paused and held her other hand to her forehead. “I feel weak.” She muttered.
“You just lost a lot of blood, but you did well.” He began cleaning her arm with the supplies he had. He cleaned the wound, and watched closely at the flesh, it was carefully knitting itself back together. It was slow, but her ability to staunch her critical wounds would help her. “You’ll need to practice so that you can get the hang of doing it, you’ll want to be able to do it in seconds, and while fighting.” He wrapped her wrist with a bandage, knowing that she would no longer have a wound in a matter of hours. He still felt the need to take care of her.
“Maybe once I recover.” She said, leaning back and away from him.
“It shouldn’t take you long, your blood is effected by your ability, you can recover from blood loss.” He stood up from the pool of blood, and carried the supplies away to his desk.
Jeremy knew that the best way to help Victoria get back on her feet was to get her another drink. He was about to pour her one when his office door opened. “Can I help you?” he turned to the door, setting the orange juice down.
“Jeremy, we’ve come for Victoria.” A gruff voice spoke from the door. The man stepped into the room so that Jeremy could see who he was.
“Lucas,” Jeremy stated, and looked toward Victoria. “What do you mean you’ve come for her? I hand out the missions here.” His eyes wandered behind Lucas to the strange figures behind him. “Are those robots?” he asked.
“Yes, and this isn’t necessarily a mission.” He walked past Jeremy and into the office, he spotted Victoria sitting on the couch, and the blood pooled at her feet. “Training?” he looked at Jeremy with his wizened eyes.
“Yes, if you need to know.” He waved a hand nonchalantly. “Where are you taking her?” he asked, stepping between Victoria and his superior. Lucas was as tall as Jeremy, but his body was larger and more muscled. He had dark grey hair, showing his age, but he had a face that showed his hard skill and leadership.
“She’s going to Kill Town.” Lucas replied, looking Jeremy in the eye. “You have no say in it, and although I could deny the bounty on her head-
“What, Kill Town? And there’s a bounty on her head? Who would dare put a bounty on one of our own?” Jeremy snapped, nearly grabbing Lucas by the shirt.
“Calm down. They don’t want to kill her; they want her to go with them to take part in the project. Either we hand her over, or we get into a big fight. I can’t afford to renovate this facility.” He explained gruffly. “This will be good for her, Jeremy.” He added, grabbing his long time friend by the shoulder. “She’ll come back to us; this is why I want you to promote her before she leaves.”
Victoria watched the two talking quietly together across the room. She had regained enough energy to stand. She side stepped the puddle of blood and walked towards the two superiors. “What’s going on?” she asked, and noticed the hulking robots just outside of the door. There were letters imprinted on their metallic bodies, but she couldn’t make them out.
“You’ve got a bounty on your head, and as such, we have to hand you over.” Lucas looked down at Vic.
“A bounty on my head? Who is it?” she asked and her voice went high.
“We don’t know the details, but if we decline there will be a fight that I just can’t have. You’re going, whether by force or willingly.” He glanced at the robots to prove his point.
“Jeremy, you have to stop them.” She turned to him, pleading in her eyes.
“I can’t stop him.” He looked away. “Hold on,” he held up a hand and went to his desk. He pulled out a two devices, and motioned for her to come to him. “I was holding onto these for when you become a Hunter, it looks like that time is now.” He passed her the two items. “This headset is similar in design as your old one, but it’s synced with the cell phone.” She looked at the two items. “The headset generates a hologram in front of your eyes, displaying information from other Super’s and people around you. We can upgrade it when you come back.” He took the headset from her and placed it on her head.
“When I come back, Jeremy, what if I don’t?” she looked stricken, afraid. He held her shoulders and looked right back down at her.
“You’ll treat this as a mission, you’ll come back, and you’ll fight to come back.” He told her sternly.
“No, I’m not ready, I’m not doing this.” She pushed away from him, and threw the cell phone back at him. He caught it, but looked gravely at her in turn. “I’ll fight now, if I have to. I don’t care what you say, I’m not going.Take the promotion back, I'm not doing this.” She looked over at Lucas, who was watching her keenly.
“You’re feisty, just like when we brought you in.” he remarked. “If we thought you were weak we would not have considered handing you over. You need this, think of it as training, that way we divert a messy fight here, and you get something out of it.” He said, and pulled a piece of gum out of his pocket.
“You don’t give a shit about me, you tell me that I’m special, and you just toss me aside the moment your Company might be in danger.” She cried out, and stepped back, towards the window.
The two robots moved into the room, ready to attack if she decided not to come quietly. “They’ll kill me,” she looked at Jeremy again, but he looked away in pain. He couldn’t risk his job, not yet.
If I have to, I’ll come for you, I can’t defend you with Lucas here. He wished she could hear his thoughts, but she raised her fists in defiance and took another step away. The robots edged closer. Lucas sighed and made to wave a hand, they would take her, and couldn't stop them.
“Wait, Lucas, let me.” Jeremy said, stepping in front of the robots.
“Make it quick.” He said, and turned to walk away.
Jeremy approached Victoria, and she raised her fists in fear. “I thought you loved me, you aren’t supposed to do this.” She cried, and backed up again, only to slip on her own blood and land on the couch. Jeremy swooped above her and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close to his body as he pinned her against the couch.
“Don’t you understand,” he whispered into her ear. “He’s my boss, unlike you; I can’t do anything or say anything against what he wants. I’ll come after you, I swear it, and I’ll get you back. If anyone can get you out of this mess, it’s me, you just have to trust me, because I do love you.” He held a hand on the back of her head and she ceased struggling. She stared up at him, her words caught in her throat, and her eyes rolled backwards. He used his ability to make her unconscious, as much as he didn’t want to, he preferred it this way so that he could assure her that she would not be alone. He tucked the cell phone into her pocket and lifted her into his arms.
“Take her,” he held her out, and one of the robots grabbed her with its arms. They left the room, and Lucas waited outside, a cigar in his mouth. “How could you?” he turned on his superior, his face stricken.
“How could I not? You only saw two of them. Outside there are more. Our entire facility wouldn’t be enough to hold them off, we would have been destroyed. Whoever this guy is, he was not playing around. I didn’t intend on sitting here and letting her figure it out on her own, we’ll be putting together a team to get her back.” He puffed on his cigar and blew smoke around them. “Really, Jeremy, you know she’s more important to us than anything else.” He shook his head and walked down the hall. “Get ready, and inform Joal, we’re leaving as soon as they take off.” He added.
[00] Now Entering Kill Town... - Alura - 03-06-2010
It had been a year. A year since the namekian mafia known as Bjorken had stormed the Temple of Guru in Ur. A year since a circus runaway had escaped to Namek-Sei, learned to teleport between planets, and discovered she was the princess of an almost-dead race. A year...since she had joined the monks and settled down with a family.
She had almost entirely forgotten the horrors that came with being the main attraction in a circus titled "Freakz." Since then, she had settled in and become a warrior monk, protecting the villages and the lower quarters of the city of Ur, populated primarily by namekians. She had been happy to just know she had a place somewhere, and a choice to leave if she wanted it. Which she didn't.
"I can't believe it's been that long," Alura murmured out loud. She had her elbow on the bar with her chin resting on the palm. The other hand was holding a glass of water as she gazed at her friend behind the counter. "I've been on this planet for a year."
"Yea," Chuck agreed as he washed the bar-top down with a rag. "You put Bjorken in their place, became the protector of a village dedicated to Burter himself, and become a monk. Not too bad for a lizard-girl."
Alura giggled at the pale android and nodded in agreement. "Not too bad," she echoed. "I can still remember old life. The carnival was hell. The circus was a nightmare. But thinking about it now...it makes me think that it was all in my head, like it's somebody else's life and I'm just watching it on TV. This life, what I've got now, I don't want it to end."
"Doesn't have to," Chuck assured, which got him another smile from his favorite patron.
The lizard heiress had been told that eventually, the man called Burter would find her and try to bring her to Reptilia, the homeworld of her ancestors. But she had no intention of following that prophecy, no matter how convincing the storyteller was. Alura had found a home and she was quite happy dealing with petty thugs and criminals with her teleportation. The last thing she needed was fighting ultra-powerful bad guys like she saw on the news-vids all the time. That was Burter's thing, but one trait the two Reptilians did not share.
Chuck made a nod towards the street. His bar, which was actually just a stand in the market district, over-looked one of the main business streets in the slums. "Machine," he warned, "Hostile."
Alura looked back over her shoulder. Chuck had been a good friend thus far for the last year; it helped that Alura had saved him from a loan shark and in return, he gave her free food and information, as well as a good ear to talk into. Being an Android, it also gave him the advantage of sensing other robotic programming in the air...a very broad version of hacking. Stealing information. "Where they going? The Temple of Guru?"
"Can't read them. Too well protected," Chuck explained. The robotics was clearly just that...obvious robots with no sign of humanoid parts. They weren't hybrid, it was all mechanic. In a crowd of mostly green aliens, they stood out pretty strongly in the middle of the business district. "They look like they're scanning for something."
Alura looked around for anything particularly menacing. While she was an expert in hand-to-hand combat and could teleport out of a sticky situation, she had no real experience in fighting robots. Not to mention, there was absolutely no logical reason for them to be scanning for anything with hostile intentions in the middle of some innocent slums in a random Namekian port-city.
One of the two large mechs gazed it's leering red eyes towards Chuck's bar-shack and stopped scanning. Chuck immediately tensed, which caused Alura to raise up off of her stool, as if being prepared to run for it. The robot that had caught her in it's crosshairs made some kind of gesture to it's partner, which caused both of the drones to look her way. Nobody else in the market seemed to care that these two giant mechs were glaring right at Chuck's shack, or at the only blue alien in the area.
"Look out!" Chuck warned, but it was a second too late. The bright red laser blasted from the front of the single circular eye, completely shattering the bottom of the market-stand. Alura managed to dive sideways as the entire wooden bar crumbled into itself, the ensuing explosion hurling Chuck backwards into his kitchen.
Without thinking, Alura thought about Earth, intending to teleport away as quickly as possible. A sharp electrical shock zapped that idea, causing her to spasm and fall from her knees to her side, trembling. When she looked up, one of those massive hulking droids was standing over it, once again scanning her scaly body with it's red eye.
She was confused, to say the least. She could hear Chuck in the background after recovering from the blast, but she never did see what had happened to the humble android. About a moment after trying to teleport, one of the robotic arms came down and cracked her in the face.
All went black.