Manhattan, 38-9th Area quarantined by military "Sir, I don't think you know the gravity of the situation," the soldier said. "Oh I know damn well what this is about. And I am NOT coming with you." "Please, you don't know what you're doing! You pose a major threat to lives everywhere! If you don't come along, we WILL have to take you with us by force," The soldier's gaze was starting to break. Cold, dark eyes stared back. "No." The soldier flew back, as if hit by an explosion. Below his flailing body, the road erupted into a billion little pieces, spraying chunks of asphalt in all directions. As the unseen wave of destruction continue through the barricades cluttering the road, and the panicking troops behind them, the man turned and walked away. -Hephaestus Containment Facility- Around the same time "Subject DN3102 containment chamber - Access Granted." The General stood back as the first door opened. He entered the second door, feeling oddly perturbed by an invisible presence. In the middle of the giant metal sphere stood a girl. She was clad in a childish shade of purple, but her eyes held an intense expression. "Jennifer. Do you know why I am here?" Stronsburg asked, stoic. "I take it you're going to tell me?" A brief smirk showed on Jennifer's face when the lights on the General's suit blinked erratically. "What are you doing!?" The fear in the General's voice had become obvious. "Oh, I'm sure you know." She disappeared. "ALERT. Subject DN3102 has escaped." Sirens instantly began blaring. Strobe lights lit up the entire facility, and the sound of thousands of soldier's footsteps echoed throughout. But Jennifer was nowhere in sight. "Damnit!"
-New York City, Central Park- Three days later A sudden flash lit up the sky above Central Park as a storm brewed overhead. Tourists and native New Yorkers alike ran to the nearest canopy, some under hot dog stands, others to large, leafy oaks for protection from the imminent rain. One girl, oddly enough, decided to keep walking, just as she had been for hours. She didn't raise an umbrella, nor lift her hood. Instead, she just walked, watching everything from a distance. Then the rain began. A titanic explosion in the sky signaled the arrival of a torrential downpour. The girl just kept walking, as if oblivious to the sheets of icy water. Only one person noticed that the girl didn't have a single drop on her. The rain was there, but it was clear that neither her hair nor her black leather coat were wet. Stargorey saw, and he went to investigate this anomaly. Grabbing his umbrella, he stepped out from the cover of Big Bill's Hot Dogs and Beefcakes, and went to follow her. Approaching her, he asked over the storm, "It's raining hard! Do you want an umbrella?" She gave a shy little smile, and Stargorey suddenly felt he shouldn't be around her. Something was really strange about that girl... -Novi Sad, Serbia- The Same Day "Lilith," A whisper came through her earpiece, "are you in position?" "Yes. Where is the target?" "He is standing just outside the cafe. Dark grey coat, red tie." "I see him." Across the wide busy road, Sergei Brasnicovich a tall, respectably dressed man, not over 40, was sipping a warm cup of coffee. He'd just come back from an exhausting business trip to the U.N. Headquarters, negotiating terms for biological weapons testing. It was good to have a cup of coffee again, much stronger and more enjoyable than in America. What he didn't see as a welcome-home was a crossbow bolt to the neck. Nor did he see the girl on the roof across the streets fade away, throwing something to the ground. "Lilith? Is the task completed? Lilith? Lilith!? Damn, we lost her!"
-Yukon, Oklahoma- Two weeks prior All was peaceful in the tiny pub on at the end of Elm Avenue, birds chirping happily, and a light wind flowing through the area. Behind the bar, a portly old man dozed off, bubbling quietly. A soft country tune gave the pub some life, entertaining the four visitors enjoying their drinks. To complete the cozy feel, the smell of oak filled the air. All was perfect... Until the door flew open. "Trinity Somerhalder! We know you're here!" The little old man behind the bar fell over backwards, sending bottles flying. Three of the visitors ran blindly towards anything that looked like a way out, only to be blocked by several men in heavy-looking armor, holding a rifle to their faces and blocking all exits. "There she is! We got her!" Trinity knew what they thought: they'd captured a potential superweapon, and were going to take her in for "use." She also knew that the soldiers would be distracted by 30 liters of whiskey flying right at them. And the fire that came with it. "Oh, sh-! Help! What's going on!?" All of them were hit by flaming drinks at once, flailing around in their last seconds. Except for one that had come in through the roof, completely unnoticed. A single dart was enough to send the girl to the floor. The Elite had done his job. -Hephaestus Experimental Facility- Six Hours, Twelve Minutes Later "Sir, you realize that-" "Shut up and do it! I know damn well what happened before, the last time Zeus tried the amplifier!" "Their whole space station disappeared!" "Do it." "Yessir." Trinity awoke to a rather painful needle in her wrist. Unable to talk or move from her restraints, she couldn't resist. It felt deathly cold, but then quickly became warm. "Primer Injection Complete. Beginning Amplifier Injection." The General watched closely as the impossible occurred. Almost immediately after the second, tiny glowing needle emptied, the sedative tank underneath the operating table burst open. Solid-looking globs of purple liquid flew at the windows of the observation chamber, instantly shattering the glass. Little streams of sedative turned into little razors, cutting apart the restraints. "Initiating scan..." "SCAN INCOMPLETE. No subject available. Results inconclusive." The results: a destroyed Injection Chamber, an escaped telepathic girl with a supercharged ability to freeze things and summon fire, a dead advisor, and a ballistic General. -Wayne, New Jersey- Stop
-Wayne, New Jersey- St0p-and-Shop, Preakness shopping center 'Cleanup in aisle 4. Repeat, cleanup in aisle 4 ' The usual lazy janitor walked over to the aisle, slouched over, holding a mop and bucket. Seconds before he arrived at the fallen pile of gingerale bottles, he saw a butterfly knife flipping around in midair. He'd seen the Kid so many times before, but nobody listened to him. Karzok smiled, and walked away, still twirling the "knife in midair." He had everything: friends, free stuff, no trouble. All he needed was a little more excitement in his life. He got exactly that as he left the glass gates of the store, when he saw a huge column of water obliterate the IHOP across the street.
-New York City, Central Park- The storm had started about a minute ago, and already some cute guy was offering her an umbrella. Ariel knew she didn't need it, but she was going to accept it anyway. But then the guy had turned away. How could she have forgotten about her power? Noone wanted to be around her, not of their own free will, she herself subconsciously repelled everyone and everything around her. Seconds after she'd accidentally denied ANOTHER person, she heard the whirring of helicopter blades, and frantic screaming over the sounds of the storm. She looked to the dark skies above, and saw what looked like a flaming military gunship gliding down towards the ground. As it flew overhead, she heard radio chatter: 'It's her!' 'Evacuate! Go! Go! Go!' The gunship crashed with a violent explosion, spraying misshapen chunks of metal and dirt clods in every direction, and lighting up the park with a brilliant red flash for a moment. 'There's another one here!' 'Delta Squad, South. Alpha Squad, North!' To the North (Ariel could see from the Central Park map behind her), the rain seemed to be changing directions at impossible angles. In the middle of the mind-blowing anomaly, a girl walked forward, taking tiny steps as if concentrating, holding what looked like two clear pistols. She also saw the team of five armed black-clad soldiers trying to sneak up behind. They didn't get far, as a flash of lightning illuminated them for just long enough to be noticed and knocked out by a solid wall of water. 'We just lost Alpha squad!' 'Continue as planned! We don't have time!' Ariel couldn't run. She knew she was being surrounded, and repelling them wouldn't stop bullets. She couldn't do anything at this point. Her life of unintended solitude seemed like it had finally reached an end... Until Stargorey intervened. What the hell did these soldiers want with an innocent girl!? And why come at her with heavy weapons!? So many questions raced through his head, as he tried to help out the damsel in distress. He'd never actually used his "special talent" for anything, but now he was being forced to. 'Spiders! Spiders!!! HEEEELP!!!!' 'I don't wanna die!' 'Nancy? Bill? M..mom!?' Without a single physical action or spoken word, he'd done two things: 1) Save the life of a really cute-looking girl, and 2) Send 13 fully grown men into the darkest depths of insanity. He then remembered why he didn't use his talent often, as he fainted. -Pocono mountains, Pennsylvania- Two days before In the dark pine forests of the Pocono Mountain Range, life was in the air. Sparrows and Jays of every kind hopped and flew between the trees, looking for worms and beetles. Tiny mice and chipmunks scurried about, gathering nuts for the incoming winter. And each one had a story to tell. The squirrel Luna was conversing with was complaining about 'big people killing his home'. Luna wondered, what would it feel like, to be watching a girl in the middle of the forest, having an unintelligible conversation with a squirrel. She laughed to herself. Noone could find her here.
-Belgrade, Serbia- One day after Ambassador's Death The first snows of winter fell heavily upon the Capital, awkwardly complimenting the Ambassador's death with their own air of blank emptiness. A lone few walked the streets, wether to get home or to a store, no one knew. The occasional stray dog did bark, breaking the deathly silence, only for a second. In the cold alleyways between the streets, the beggars and the homeless gathered around flaming barrels, trying to keep warm. At a lonely park bench in Manjež Park, one unsuspecting man was taking a picture. He took note of the unusual bird's bright red wing and tail feathers, and the exploding tuft of white on the head. "I'm sick of working for you." The photographer didn't look up, didn't say a word. Instead, he just took the picture. "That's a keeper." The girl behind the bench raised her knife, ready to slash down. "Well, you don't have to work for me. You've served your purpose." With that, the photographer got up, capped his camera, and walked away. Lilith simply stared, puzzled, completely oblivious to the Elite behind her. -Hephaestus Containment Facility- -Main Control Room- "Artemis. It's been so long. How are you?" The General welcomed his old friend with warmth. "Not well. HE showed up again." The visitor rubbed the machine that had replaced his arm so long ago. "Has he progressed to Phase 3?" The room went silent, every worker staring at the General. "Yes." [/size=10] Sorry to make this one so short >.<
-Central Park, New York- The storm raged on, darkening the Park even more. Sheets of rain drenched the bodies of 26 armored men, and three innocent-looking kids. "Can either of you two explain to me what the hell just happened!?" Stargorey screamed over deafening lightning, face streaked with rain. Neither of the girls answered, only stared with confused expressions. Above them, they could hear a second gunship approaching, along with the whir of some heavy weaponry being revved up... A minigun. Stargorey couldn't think of anything to do besides run, beckoning to the two stranger girls to come with him. The sound of the weapons helped his argument. The trio reached the roof of a nearby shop with the help of the water-girl creating a lift of water. There was no time to doubt the durability of a floor made of water, so they just went along with it. "Names. Explanations. Now," Stargorey whispered hurriedly under the water tower they'd arrived at. The strange girl mumbled something indiscernible, and the girl who killed Alpha Squad with water alone said "Melanie." -Death Valley, California- Four weeks prior A deathly hot sun fried the ground, and a dry wind blew softly through the valley. In the most remote corner, a strange man in a trench coat stood, clicking away at a strange device. Artemis Cuilis gently tapped the capsule against a rock, releasing a puff of smoke and causing the lights along the side to glow. A few button clicks, and a spike came out the thinner end. As soon as the beacon was properly stuck into the rock wall, Artemis ran like hell to the nearest cave. He could only wait in stifling heat, while the beacon did its job. As he waited, he did a brief overview of what he needed to know. How to sedate the subject, what the subject was capable, and, most importantly, the four stages. Stage One: Realization of powers, minimal control and danger level. Stage Two: Better control of abilities, occasional bursts of extreme power under stress. Stage Three, the most important, and the most dangerous: Extremely unstable, no control of powers, and worst of all; Insanity. Few subjects Stage Four: Extremely powerful, full control over powers, stable mental state. Artemis loaded his revolver, and noted the message engraved on the barrel: "Do No Harm"
-bleep- Artemis watched with baited breath as another dry wind swept across the valley. -bleep- A couple of rocks cascaded down the rock wall. -bleep- The air grew thick with energy. The subject was closing in -bleebleebleebleebleebleebleeblee- Artemis raised his revolver and detonator. This was a rare occasion indeed, he couldn't screw it up. Suddenly, the sound of a thousand boulders rumbling reached his ears. -three hours later- Artemis awoke in the midst of ruin, surrounded by a mess of broken rocks. He couldn't move, he couldn't speak, and he couldn't feel his left arm. Above, through blurred and blood-stained vision, he saw a black mass descending towards him. Before he blacked out, he saw his good friend the General take his arm, and with a worried expression, lay him onto a medical bed. Two days afterwards, Artemis eyed his new arm. Thirty pounds of metal and oil, a new part of his life. "Try it out." the bio-engineer smiled encouragingly. With a simple thought, the arm transformed into a cannon. "There's one thing I have to do." Artemis etched the words in the cannon-ized arm: "Do no harm" That quote no longer applied to him.
-Pocono mountains, Pennsylvania- Two days before Central Park Cold unblinking eyes stared through a mask of darkened glass. As it moved, no footsteps could be heard. No breathing either, for the Elite did not breath. It did not live. It simply did it's job. Luna never saw it coming. None of the animals noticed it, looming behind her, casting no shadow and making no noise. It was as if death had arrived, not to claim a life, but a body. -Wayne, New Jersey- Preakness shopping center Karzok watched as the pillar of water gave way to a figure. A large mass of lights and metal, suspended on two legs. He tried to put the pieces together, but to no avail. A walking tank didn't just jump out of an exploding IHOP. *whirrrrrrr...* Karzok ran. He'd played his fair share of stolen games, and he knew what that meant. That thing was out to get him. A volley of bullets almost taking off his head assured him of that. He checked himself over. How could he have been seen? 'Theres no time for questions!' he thought. He started running to hell-knows-where, lucky enough to have a 100-foot lead on the metal monster. It took exactly six seconds for the scouting drone to catch up, knock him to the ground, unconscious, and leave the scene, carrying him away. -Central Park- 3:00 P.M. The dark skies lightened just a little as five rocks fell from the sky around the area. Stargorey had seen meteorites land before, but never up close. And he was pretty sure they didn't normally make glowing red fences between eachother when they landed. The storm raged on, it's roars interrupted only by the sounds of radio chatter and helicopters. The lonesome trio could see soldiers in all directions. They looked almost alien in their actions, showing no real emotion through their bug-eyed helmets. -"I see them!"- One soldier, on the ground, had spotted Melanie's shivering, barely visible under the shadow of a water tower. As if on queue, they ran as a pack, straight to a fire escape ladder. Anything seemed like an escape from whatever these guys wanted. After many a story ascended and many a bullet dodged, they finally reached the roof of the next building... And tripped the gas trap. When they were all collapsed on the roof, drugged unconscious, three men in particularly heavy suits carried them to the gunship. -Hephaestus Headquarters- Two minutes later Gloved fingers tapped the edge of a desk melodically as the news rolled in. Sitting at the desk, a man smiled to himself. "Good, good. You can proceed to the final step. Take them ALL to the Arbiter." He then threw back his head and laughed. His lifelong dream had finally been achieved. He was complete. 'Now, where are my dominoes? Dominoes dominoes dominoes...'
Madness Unleashed Part 2 - the Arbiter's Travels -Arbiter Launch Pad- Seventeen hours later Stargorey awoke in a daze. His head hurt and his ears were being assaulted by a buzzing noise. Everything around him looked grey and red, and through blurry vision, he could see hundreds of figures, maybe people, staring at him. As his eyes re-adjusted and his ears stopped ringing, he came to realize that he was in fact surrounded by people, soldiers atop a huge balcony over them, and that he was on a platform, along with Melanie, the strange girl, and several other kids around his age. But the weirdest thing, he noticed, was that they weren't bound to anything. There wasn't even a wall around the platform. "May I have your attention please." All heads, kid and soldier alike, turned to a small opening in the balcony. Everyone watched quietly as a bulky middle-height man stepped out. He wore a pair of semi-dark glasses, and a heavy-looking black formal suit. In his left hand, he turned the prices on a Rubix cube. "I am Theodore Rewman. You are here because you pose a threat to yourselves and society. Don't worry, we won't kill you. We're just going to send you somewhere... Safer." He fell silent for just long enough to induce an extremely awkward moment, in which the captive kids murmured to each other about what was going on. One boy, who looked about 18, with tousled black hair and a tough-guy jacket, said under his breath: "This guy's a loon." "I ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF MY INSANITY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH," The man bellowed. With that said, he twisted one last piece on his cube and threw it down to the boy. It was fully solved.
"Any other comments?" Rewman roared, clenching his fists. No one spoke. Karzok waited impatiently as the loon on the balcony stood there. Was he going to say anything? After a long pause, he spoke. "In about two minutes, you will be forced to enter the vessel behind you. You should be thanking me for the honest warning." The sound of a hundred rifles cocking echoed in the silence. No one spoke. Suddenly, the group of soldier broke to allow a colossus to step forward, next to Rewman. It stood six and a half feet, and was unusually thin, covered in some kind of dark grey material. It's arms and legs were covered by alien-looking gauntlets and boots, and the head of the beast was a pitch-black fish bowl-gas mask combination. The whole thing looked like an alien invader. Melanie saw tiny gears shift on the underside of the gas mask, and sharp clicking noises echoed throughout the room. The room went deathly silent afterwards. "And if any of you try to escape?" Rewman chuckled menacingly, "you won't make it. *click-click-click*
-Alert. The Arbiter is fully fueled and ready. Preparing launch pad- Mechanical whirring noises echoed throughout the chamber, accompanied with a shaking feeling, as titanic machines raised the platform. "Well? What are you waiting for?" Rewman asked, seemingly calm. Karzok mumbled something violently. As if on queue, the creature jumped down, taking the thirty foot fall a little too easily, and extended a long shiny blade from underneath it's left gauntlet. *click-click-click, bzzzzzzt* This thing was definitely not human. It didn't take long before the kids were inside the entry chamber of the ship. Was this the Arbiter? It looked more like a 5-star cruise ship than anything. "Oh I'm sorry. This is the captain's quarters. Your chambers are over there." Mr. Rewman had somehow appeared behind them. Their real rooms were like a country cabin. A bed, a table, and a separate bathroom had all been provided. Luckily, the furniture had been screwed to the floor. "You'd best be getting ready. It's going to be quite the ride," Rewman's voice rang throughout the ship, "and I'd HATE to see any of you gone." Everyone went to make themselves comfortable. Stargorey took careful note of everything around him. Brown walls, red seats and table, black floor, and in the window facing outside... That THING was there. A long staring session ensued, and eventually, a deep rumbling shook the Arbiter. As the rumbling grew more intense, Stargorey noticed that the thing was gone. -Arbiter launch sequence initiating. Launch in T-minus one minute-
-Arbiter launch in T-minus 30 seconds- Two hundred guards watched like eagles as smoke began billowing out from under the Arbiter. All of them, as one, knew that if even one screw in the wall was out of place, their lives would be taken. Mr. Rewman was not the most... "stable" employer. Beneath them, surrounded by another fifty guards, a titanic armored door sealed them off from the outside world. -Arbiter launch in T-minus fifteen seconds- Suddenly, a low-pitched grinding started to echo throughout the Arbiter's chamber. -T-minus TEN- A low boom stopped all other noise. All eyes turned towards the door, watching as the completely unexpected happened. Like a pebble thrown by a catapult, two hundred tons of titanium alloy simply hurtled through the air. It was as if the behemoth door had become a piece of paper and gale winds blew it forward. Twenty three guards were instantly crushed by the flying block of metal, and seventy four fell from the balcony, collapsing upon contact with the door. -T-minus FIVE- Mr. Rewman turned to face the chaos. -FOUR- The door made contact with the thrusters of the Arbiter, suddenly igniting the gas within. -THREE- Flames began to devour the ship, completely obscuring it with a blaze. -TWO- The balcony collapsed completely, sending sixty four more to their deaths. The glass in the cockpit of the Arbiter finally collapsed under the heat, allowing the captives to jump for safety. Mr. Rewman paid no heed to his prisoners. He just laughed, standing inside the burning captain's quarters. -ONE- The smoke from the explosion started to lift, revealing the demonic force that had caused this. -LIFTOFF-
Karzok landed hard, collapsing onto a shattered glass panel. Above him, glowing chunks of the steel fell like meteors. As his vision finally adjusted and he regained balance, he became aware of the chaos that had formed itself in the past ten seconds. Huge pieces of the walls around him had fallen off, completely wrecking various mechanical parts throughout the chamber. The platform that they had stood on just moments ago had fallen into the pit below the Arbiter, which was now leaning perilously against the side of the chamber. As he looked on, he saw the others climbing out onto the remains of the balcony. And in the middle of it all, standing where a colossal metal plate door should have been, was a boy. He looked to be about 17, a little tall for his age, with sleeked good-kid hair. His clothes were completely torn apart, leaving nothing but a scrap of a white polo, and a pair of punk-looking jeans. He had an otherworldly look in his eye, as if he saw something that wasn't there; and to make it all worse, he wore some kind of gauntlet. It covered his entire lower left arm, and looked like it had a tank of glowing blue gel around the elbow, connected to two thin tubes running along it to his wrist. The veins in his arm around the gauntlet glowed bright blue; not the healthiest looking boy. ---- Stargorey and the girls finally reached the escape hatch, barely escaping before the inner staircase collapsed. Once on the balcony, they were introduced to a full panoramic view of something like robot hell. Below him, the kid who'd called Rewman a loon looked pretty beaten up, clutching his hand after a hard fall on glass. Mr. Rewman himself was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the Thing. At the door, some scary-looking kid stood silently. "Great Scott! Darren," Rewman's voice suddenly came from somewhere below, "is it really you?" As if by some command, the machine around the kid's arm glowed neon blue, and something flashed in the boy's eyes. The next thing Stargorey saw was the entire first layer of the wall around the door go flying at Mr. Rewman. After a chaotic crash and the unnervingly loud creaking of the now-leaning Arbiter, Mr. Rewman started laughing. "It's so good to see you again!" Somewhere off in the distance, a faint sound could be heard in the background. *click-click-click*
-Hephaestus Containment Facility- Around the same time It had been four hours since Jenny had escaped. She'd waited forty minutes, trying to hold on while the General made his way to her cell. She'd had to time everything perfectly, pulling the rope of time at just the right moment. -4 hours earlier- At the sound of the General's footsteps signaling his daily visit, Jenny frantically started to look through her mind's eye, desperate for an out-of-place strand from the rope that wasn't there. She still didn't know how her powers worked, but she hoped this would. Off in the distance, she heard the faint sound of her cell door opening. Luck found her then, as she took hold of a lone outlying string and quickly pulled at it. "Jennifer," the General's voice echoed through, "do you know why I am here?" Still trying to tug at the strand, she replied, "I take it you're going to tell me?" In her mind, the strand started to give way. With the last of her concentration, she yanked at it, suddenly unraveling the entire rope. When she came to, the General was panicking. "What are you doing!?" "I'm sure you know," Jenny grinned. Almost immediately afterward, the world around her froze. The air became like a thin gel, and the surfaces around her turned impossibly solid. All she had to do now was escape. -Present (4 hours after escape)- After four hours of trying to keep everything frozen, Jenny's hold on time slipped. The air felt normal again, and the sound of footsteps reached her ears. As far as she knew, she'd made it through a few hundred feet of hallways and entered the facility's dump. Huge piles of rusting grey and red surrounded her, ambient sound adding a graveyard-like effect. Off on the distance, she heard alarms. Nearby, she heard a voice. "I walk a lonely road, the only one that I have ever known..." A song was playing from around the nearest junk pile. Jenny ran towards the sound, because it seemed like someone was there. If they were in this dump, they obviously didn't have anything to do for Hephaestus. "Don't know where it goes, but it's home to me and I walk alone..." Jenny rounded the corner of the junk pile, and saw the source of the noise. It was a ball. With a robotic eye. And it was singing Green Day. Suddenly, the ball stopped singing and spoke, in a much too familiar voice: "Hey little girl," Michael Jackson. Jenny started to back away, when the ball spoke again, this time in a tutorial-esque voice. "I am an artificial personality module. I am -unable," The voice crackled a little, "-to speak by myself, but I have been connected to an endless stream of recordings from around the world to express my personality and emotions. I hope you enjoy the use of your new Artificial Personality Module." After an awkward silence, Jenny decided to ask, "Do you know a way out of here?" The APM replied, "Turn - right - and proceed forward - one - quarter - mile... -Oh! Ohohohohohoh! And take me with you!"
-Arbiter Chamber- The 'Darren' kid stood in the center of the doorway. Surrounded by flames and completely disheveled, one could have mistaken him for one of Death's many forms. "How long has it been? Three years, four years? Tell me everything that's happened in that time!" Rewman had gone completely bonkers, Melanie noticed. That one guy, the level-headed blonde, he usually seemed like he knew what to do. Strangely enough, she saw a distinct look of distress on his face. A colossal chamber full of strangers, covered in fire and wreckage, and slowly falling apart. Good chances of... Nothing. If they were to escape, they'd need a distraction. As Melanie thought, she observed the flames. Flames that were still going, something had to be leaking to keep it going... OIL. Melanie reached out with her mind's hand, looking for some liquid. Almost immediately, she struck oil. One thought later, she'd created the distraction. Pipes all over the walls of the chamber suddenly burst, bending the plates at unusual angles. Black rain fell upon everything below, igniting as it went. And to make the scenario a little more apocalyptic, an earsplitting creaking was resonating throughout the chamber. From below, she saw that Karzok boy sprint faster than she thought possible to a door she hadn't noticed. Rewman had frozen in place, maybe of fear or shock, and the Darren kid paid no attention to what was happening. Assuming the role of the leader, she pulled Stargorey and the girl's hands and jumped. ------------ "Hey, hey lady. Lady, you wanna know something?" The APM hadn't shut up since they left. Now it was on a completely mindless rant about space. Before it had been about a really tasty burger, and before that, a campfire song. "Space, space, gotta go to space. So much space, gotta see it all. SPACE. Are you in space? I wanna go to - Hold on, I found something," The APM suddenly shook, and started looking to the upcoming left turn in the tunnel. "Honey, where is my," The metal ball got impossibly louder, "SUPER SUIT?" Jenny had no other ideas. She went to the left, and found herself staring at a door. Above it, a sign read: Artificial Personality Module Protective Exo-Suits "Ooh! Oohoohooh! Plug me in there!" Jenny stuck it into an outlet in the wall. "I'm sorry to say, but.. Im a little self-conscious. Could you.. Turn around for a sec?" She turned. "Done! It's open!" ------------- *creeeeeeeeAAAAAKKKK* The trio made it into the hall before heavy doors rolled in to seal it, and a massive explosion rocked the chamber. At thus point, Stargorey had regathered his bearings, and led the group to the other guy. "So," he gasped, after running to catch up to him, "what do we do now?" "No idea. Lets keep moving." They walked for what seemed like hours, through dead silence in a clean white hallway. After the 3,748th light, they saw a sign: Escape Pod Bay Eager at the chance of escape, Stargorey ran to the door and pried it open. What met them was not what he'd hoped for. At least a hundred men armed with machine guns all aimed directly at them. No amount of mind tricks would take care of all of them, so... They were screwed. But then, off in the distance, "Alright let's do this," and then increasingly louder,"LEEEEEEEERROOOOOOYYYYY," out of nowhere, the wall right next to 20 of the soldiers burst open, and something hurtled through,"JEEEEEEEEEENNNKKIIIIIINS!!!!!" More soldiers flew in random directions, as the behemoth charged through the crowd. After a very brief battle, the colossus stood victorious. Their savior wasn't a soldier, or a man at all. It was a ball with an eye, in a giant robot suit, followed by a girl in purple. What a day this had turned out to be.
Madness Unleashed Part 3 Out of the pan and into the fire -ALERT. The Arbiter has been destroyed! Repeat - the Arbiter has been destroyed! Full lockdown in progress - FIRE AT WILL- The five kids frantically looked around for an escape route, knowing they had only minutes to leave. The room was gigantic, and almost completely empty, except for... "Over there!" Melanie shouted, pointing at the farthest corner of the hangar. A lone cargo ship sat there, part of the engines exposed. Without any argument or hesitation, they started to sprint to it. About a quarter of the way to the ship, their luck turned against them. The open side of the hangar was suddenly lit up in red, and two huge slabs of metal started sliding in. The hangar was locking down. "Take my hand!" The machine shouted, playing a recording from an old superhero movie. Stargorey was the first to do it, and grabbed onto the goliath's hand. A second later, he was hurled two hundred feet towards the cargo ship. The four others followed, and the robot sprinted to them. Ten seconds later, they'd all gotten into the cargo ship, Karzok had taken the cockpit, and the hangar doors were half-closed. "Alright guys, we can make it! Just let me figure out how to start this thing..."
"God dammit, where the hell did you learn to fly!?" Stargorey yelled over the sound of screeching turbines, grinding doors and blaring alarms. "I DIDN'T!!!" Suddenly, the cargo ship lurched forward, doing a neck-breakingly fast barrel roll. Just as the massive doors clicked shut, the last of the ship went through. And lost the rear engines. Suddenly, the lights in the cockpit went dim and the engines stopped going. "Karzok... You IDIOT!!!" -Unknown Location- -30 minutes later- "God damnit, Karzok, why'd you have to be the one flying that thing?" Melanie yelled, pushing a metal block off her leg. "Nobody else took the wheel," a shrugged answer. From a few feet away, one of the cargo hold's doors opened, and Stargorey called, "Guys, I think I found something that'll help us out!" he stuck out his arm and waved the little PDA he'd found. -Hephaestus HQ- -Hephaestus Chamber- ~It appears as though the third module has left the vicinity of the facility. What are your orders, General?~ The mechanical voice echoed through the room. "Nothing. It's defective, we already sent it a self-destruct signal." ~COMMAND OVERRIDDEN~ The General stepped back, shocked. "Override protocol 3X6, take no action." ~OVERRIDE DENIED. Deploying Arrificial Personality Module, Combat Class Leviathan. Estimated Time of Arrival at Target: 3 Hours and 14 Minutes~ "What are you doing!? Override protocol Z21A! CANCEL ALL ACTIONS!" ~Override Denied. Proceeding with operation~