Allies Obstruct

=CHAPTER 1A: RAGING FLAMES SMOLDER=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

[After confirming there was nothing they could do to help Tobias and the rest of those in the Meadow… Beck, Soichiro, William, and Call did a thorough search of the lower levels of the building Soi was sealed in. To their surprise, they had found a couple of uninfected Patch bots that were busy recharging their energy--their systems also had to be shut down to do so.]

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

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

Will: (Interesting…. These Patches are also fine, like Call…)

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

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

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

Beck: How are we gonna do that?

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

Will: Hmm...

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

Will: Good, good...

Will: . . .

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

Soi: Hmm, yes...

Will: Can we trace back their transponders?

Soi: We can give it a try, but with Tobias messing around with the signals...

Call: Tracing...

[A map of the US comes up.]

[There’s a brief moment where everything seemed to be functioning normally, a radar-like display sweeping across the map in search of any sort of response.]

Call: ... ....

Call: Transponder found.

Will: —!!! Whose?

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

[A symbol. Pyrogen's, to be specific.]

Beck: ! Big Brother...!

[Suddenly, there was a glitchy sound effect. The map flickered, and an error message popped up on the screen. Unfortunately, the message looked garbled as well.]

Beck: ! What happened?

Call: There appears to be interference.

Beck: Is it the virus?!

Call: Negative.

Will: Hmmm… that looks like it might be bits of code….

Beck: Huh…? What does it say?

Will: Well, I recognize the error message well enough: it’s the same as from earlier. It could be related to what just happened with Tobias…

Beck: But…

Beck: Why would he want to stop us from saving them…? D:

Soi: Can we get around it, do you think?

Will: Probably, especially considering the state he was in…. It may take a while, though.

Soi: Oh dear…

Will: Call, did you catch the location before it vanished?

Call: Affirmative, Doctor.

Call: Comparing location to local database....

Call: ... ....

Soi: Well?!

Call: ....

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

Will: An OIL--?!

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

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

Beck: Yes sir!

Call: Affirmative.

Soi: You got it, Will.

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

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

[COORDINATES SET.]

"... Beck..."

"Yeah?"

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

"I know, Dad."

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

"I promise, Sanda."

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

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"...I love you."

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

[XELS TRANSFERRING...]

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

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

[SYSTEMS READY?]

[GO!]

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

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

[Beck's comm line crackled to life.]

[CALL] //: No. 9, do you read?

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

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

[He pauses.]

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

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

[DR.SANDA] //: A fire wielding robot running wild in an oil refinery...I don't like the looks of this at all.

[DR.WHITE] //: Not exactly ideal conditions, I'll grant you that...

[DR.WHITE] //: Quickly now, Beck--Locate Mighty No. 1!

Beck: On it!

[Beck sprints forward...]

[...And slips.]

Beck: Whoa-!

[CLANK.]

Beck: --Ow--

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

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

[DR.SANDA] //: Shake it off, Beck! And be careful if the other robots in the area set it on fire--!

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

[VERRRRRRRRR--]

Beck: --!!!

[CALL] //: Incoming hostile robots.

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

Beck: aHHH--

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

[MN.9 HAS GONE INTO COMBAT MODE.]

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

[XEL ABSORBED. ABSORPTION BOOST: ONLINE.]

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

Beck: ....?

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

[CALL] //: Warning, multiple incoming CherryDyn robots detected.

Beck: Uh oh—

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

[DR.SANDA] //: There are so many fire based robots! WHY ARE THEY ALL HERE?!

[DR.WHITE] //: Good question...perhaps Pyrogen led them here...?

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

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

Beck: ...?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[XEL ABSORBED. CONVERTING...]

Beck: Huh?

[XEL STOCK 1 FULL.]

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

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

[Then--Suddenly--!]

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

Pyro: Rrrrr.....

Beck: PYRO!!

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

[Green eyes flickered towards his brother--]

Pyro: ... ...

Pyro: ...You...

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

Pyro: ...BURN....

Beck: !!!

Pyro: THE WORLD MUST—

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

Pyro: BUUUUUUUURRRRRRN!

[...However...]

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

[He...leaps away?]

Beck: PYRO, WAIT!

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

[CALL] //: Warning: Multiple incoming robots detected.

Beck: Wha--where?!

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

[DR.WHITE] //: Beck!

Beck: NGH--!!

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

[DR.SANDA] //: MOVE, BECK!

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

Beck: HothothotHOT--

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

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

[...REALLY jump.]

Beck: aaaAAAAAAAH--

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

[CALL] //: .........

[CALL] //: Inquiry: Why do these kinds of events seem to always happen to No. 9?

[DR.SANDA] //: I...don't know...

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

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

Beck: -SCREAMING-

[DR.WHITE] //: Hold on, Beck!

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

[CALL] //: Beck, you have a acquired a higher vantage point. I suggest using this to your advantage.

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

[VERRRRRRR--]

Beck: --AwNO--

[B O O M!]

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

[......]

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

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

[DR.WHITE] //: Beck! Do you read me?! SAY SOMETHING!

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

[CALL] //: No. 9's Gryo systems have been damaged. His mobile systems are shot.

[DR.SANDA] //: --That's it--I'm pulling him out of there! This is way too-

[DR.WHITE] //: Wait!

[DR.WHITE] //: Beck--there is another ability that I designed you with! Can you access your Xel Stocks?

Beck: nnngh...

[USE XEL STOCK 1?]

[COMMAND//: YES.]

[ACCESSING INTERNAL XEL STORAGE...]

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

Beck: --!!!!

[SELF REPAIR COMPLETE. ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL.]

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

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

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

Beck: Ew...!

[DR.WHITE] //: -SIGHS WITH RELIEF-

[DR.SANDA] //: No time for a bath now, Beck--you gotta keep moving!

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

[DR.SANDA] //: My...did you SEE all those bots? And such power...

[DR.SANDA] //: ...These designs of yours in our models are something ELSE, Will...

[DR.WHITE] //: ....

[DR.WHITE] //: Yes, well, under the circumstances--that hardly feels like a compliment. -_-;;

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

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

Beck: .....

Beck: Are those electrified spikes.

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

Beck: Wait wait wait--

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

[CALL] //: That is correct, No. 9. Your core, however, would be intact, although--

[DR.WHITE] //: I--I think he understands the concept, Call.

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

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

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

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

[DR.SANDA] //: He must be somewhere up ahead, he couldn't have gone that far...

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

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

[C R A C K L E.]

Beck: --?!

[DR.SANDA] //: BECK! LOOK OUT!

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

Beck: WHOA--

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

[CALL] //: Heat has compromised the integrity of near by structures. Please proceed with caution.

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

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

[DR.WHITE] //: BECK--IN FRONT!

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

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

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

[DR.WHITE] //: DON'T STOP!

Beck: AAAAAAAAAAAAA--

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

Beck: WHAT THE--

[The path suddenly ended.]

[DR.WHITE] //: NO--!

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

[But he had no choice.]

[He had to jump.]

Beck: HUP--!

[Out of the frying pan...]

[ACXELARATE DASH: MAX OUTPUT REACHED]

[And into the fire.]

[DATA LOSS.]

Will: Call--!!!

Call: Searching...

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

[.........]

[..........….............]

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

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

Will: YES...!

Call: Re-syncing feeds...

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

[--Beck had made it!]

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

Beck: Arrgh--

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

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

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

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

Beck: (--…Oh…. Right…)

Will: --......!

Soi: ? Will?

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

Soi: --But--whatever for?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Call: Commencing Xel Transfer....

[XEL TRANSFER COMPLETE.]

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

Beck: Sunny?!

Sunny: -BEEP BEEP-

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

Beck: !

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

Beck: ... ...

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

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

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

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

Beck: Pyro--! Finally...

Pyro: Hnrrrrrr...

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

Pyro: You...

Pyro: ...Why....?

Beck: ...!!

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

Pyro: .....

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

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

Pyro: ...

Pyro: No...

Beck: Pyro--!

Pyro: Why...

Pyro: Why you not burn...?

Beck: Wha--?

Pyro: WHY YOU NOT BURN?!

Beck: PYRO--

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

[FOOOOM!]

Pyro: BUUUUUUUURRRRRRNNN?!?!?!?

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

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

Beck: Uh-oh...

Pyro: Burn...

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

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

Beck: NO--!

[SCANNING...]

[SCAN COMPLETE.]

[ E N C O U N T E R ]

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

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

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

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

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

Beck: Gh--!

[Jumping over was the logical choice--]

Beck: AAAH--!

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

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

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

Pyro: BURN M O R E!

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

Beck: PYRO--STOP IT!

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

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

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

Beck: PLEASE! S N A P OUT OF IT—!

[DR.WHITE] //: It's no USE, Beck!

Beck: --!? Dad?!

[DR.WHITE] //: HE IS TOO FAR GONE!

[DR.WHITE] //: You have to stop him by FORCE--!

[DR.WHITE] //: ONLY THEN CAN HE BE SAVED!

Beck: .....

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

Beck: . . .

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

Beck: I'm sorry, Pyro...

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

[BLAM!]

Pyro: —?!?

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

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

Pyro: RAAAAAAAAAAAGH--!

[CALL] //: Warning: I detect a buildup of energy from Mighty No. 1.

Beck: Energy--?

[FWOOOOOM!]

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

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

Beck: —????!?

[And that's when it hit him.]

[He's SEEN this before.]

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

Pyro: BURNING... BURNIIIING...

[DR.SANDA] //: -ACTUALLY SCREAMS-

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

Beck: Ah—!

[ACCESSING XEL STOCK 2...]

Pyro: SPIRIT!

[B O O O M!]

[DATA LOSS]

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

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

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

Pyro: Hah...hah...

Pyro: ... ... ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

[.....]

[… … …]

[Wait.]

[All the humans had fled.]

[So WHY--]

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

Pyro: WHAT—?!

[C L A N K!]

Beck: NOT DONE YET--!

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

[BLAM!]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Pyro: RRAA—ACK—!!

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

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

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

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

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

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[Beck gritted his teeth.]

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

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

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

"But--Big Brother--"

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

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

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

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

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

[XEL QUOTA REACHED.]

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

"Good!"

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

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

Beck: COME ON, PYRO--!

[XEL PURGE INITIATED!]

Beck: WE NEED OUR LEADER BACK!!!

[FILTERING.....]

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

Pyro: —!!!!

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

[In fact...]

[It felt...warm...]

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

"Eep--!!"

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

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

"Heh..."

"Good things come in small packages."

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

"TRY AND CATCH ME, NO. 1!"

Pyro: ........

Pyro: B...Beck...

[THUNK.]

[His knees give away.]

[FILTERING COMPLETE.]

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

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

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

Beck: ....

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

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

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

[-PING!-]

[CALL] //: Connection reestablished. Mighty Numbers 1 and 9 are online.

[DR.WHITE] //: Beck--! Beck--are you--

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

[.....]

[DR.WHITE] //: S...Son...?

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

[DR.SANDA] //: He...WILL-- WILL HE DID IT HE DID IT--!!

[DR.WHITE] //: Pyrogen...! You're...alright...!

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

Pyro: I....

[SCANNING...]

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

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

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

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

[DR.WHITE] //: ... ...

[DR.WHITE] //: Call...prepare for Xel Transfer. Pyro...

[DR.WHITE] //: Everything will be fine, son...I promise. I'll explain it when you're well rested enough.

Pyro: ........

[CALL] //: Xel Transfer in progress...

{SANDA ENTERPRISES, LOWER LABS...}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pyro: . . . .

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

Will: ....

Pyro: Father...

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

Beck: . . .

Pyro: There was OIL.

Will: Son--

Pyro: What happened to us...?!

Will: ......

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

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

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

Pyro: —?! WHAT?!

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

Pyro: Nnngh—!

[He did his best to hold still and do as he was told, but it was clear that this wasn't helping matters.]

[RE-CONNECTING...]

Will: … … …

[Unfortunately…]

[CONNECTION ESTABLISHED. UPDATING....]

Pyro: … … … …

[RECEIVING RECENT STATUS REPORTS...]

[…There wasn't anything immediately current, and what last info they had was not exactly good news to share.]

[MN.1 STATUS: ONLINE, COMBAT MODE, CONDITION: NORMAL.]

[MN.2 STATUS: ONLINE, FULL COMBAT MODE, -VIRUS DETECTED-]

[MN.3 STATUS: ONLINE, FULL COMBAT MODE, -VIRUS DETECTED-]

[MN.4 STATUS: UNAVAILABLE.]

[MN.5 STATUS: ONLINE, FULL COMBAT MODE, -VIRUS DETECTED-]

[MN.6 STATUS: STANDBY, FULL COMBAT MODE, -VIRUS DETECTED, DATA CORRUPTED-]

[MN.7 STATUS: ONLINE, FULL COMBAT MODE, -VIRUS DETECTED-]

[MN.8 STATUS: UNAVAILABLE.]

[MN.9 STATUS: ONLINE, COMBAT MODE, CONDITION: NORMAL.]

Pyro: NO--

Pyro: NO!

Pyro: OUR FAMILY—!!

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

Pyro: Ngh--!!

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

[-PING!-]

Beck: —!!!!

[FORM DATA ANALYSIS COMPLETE.]

[XEL TRANSFORMATION ENGAGED.]

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

[NEW FORM SET.]

[REXELECTION: PYROGEN.]

Pyro: …!!!

Pyro: Beck…?

Beck: … … …

Beck: Big brother…

Beck: I… need to explain some things…

-PING!-

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

>FMN-008 STATUS: UNAVAILABLE

>DCN-008 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-007 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-003 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-000 STATUS: DEFENSIVE COMBAT MODE

Pyro: What--

Pyro: Lethal Mode--?!

>Loading…

>DWN-024 STATUS: OFFLINE

>DWN-019 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-018 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-013 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-012 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-011 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>Loading…

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

[Indeed… other than Shadow, most of the line was in Lethal.

…

…With two POIGNANTLY notable exceptions.]

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

>ERROR: DLN-000 SIGNAL NOT FOUND.

Pyro: Shadow--Toby--CARDINAL--?!

Beck: Pyro--

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

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

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

Will: .....

Will: Sanda...prep the lab.

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

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

=CHAPTER 11A: SWALLOWED UP INNOCENCE=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes and @neshirys))

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

{July 1st, TUMBLR 2016}

{Sanda Enterprises}

[Back at Sanda Enterprises, under the florescent lights of the lab below, William White's work on repairs for his children was moving along in a steady pace—the man was starting to feel the toll of the week that had just transpired for them all, but he was trying to push through his fatigue for the moment.]

...He could rest easier after he finished.]

Will: …

[…It was clear he had a lot on his mind…]

Will: -Moves his gaze away for a moment-

[...and it was easy to see, as he glanced upward to look at his sleeping friend.

Mikhail had finally been granted a bit of rest. True, it had taken a Psynergy cast from Felix, but still. He needed it.

He was clearly rather exhausted, body and soul—and still in cuffs, unfortunately.

At least Felix was watching over the technological isolation cell; and he had seemed pretty confident that things would work out well, once he had returned from tending to the matter personally.

It was more than could be said for Cardinal, who still was shielded by the curtain. Although he was in slightly better shape, he wouldn’t be coming Online any time soon.]

Will: (…what a mess…)

Will: -Sighs tiredly, going back to his work-

Will: (And I made some of that worse. Some friend I am…)

Will: (…I just want things to go back to normal…)

Will: …

Will: (…but at least…at least, maybe, the worst is over…)

Will: (Everyone is home, nothing is an IMMEDIATE danger at the moment, the DCNs included…)

Will: (Soi should be reporting back soon, and then we'll finally be able to make some progress to fixing this…)

Will: (Hopefully they got Father to talk, somehow…)

Will: -Furrows brow-

Will: (...It's been several hours, actually…)

[Fsh.

The automatic door to the lab opened, as if in response to his thoughts.]

Will: -Blinks—-

Will: (Soi? No…)

[Hardly. There was the relatively quiet sound of boots as someone walked in.

Someone who looked very forlorn and very nervous.]

Will: [!] Tobias?

Felix: -Looks up- ?

Tobias: -Sparks weakly, broadcasting- Is this a bad time?

Will: -Immediately putting down his tools- I… I was in the middle of repairs, but…

Will: (What in the world is he DOING here—)

Will: (Thank goodness Mikhail is asleep—!)

Will: -Pulling up a chair- I can spare a moment or two.

[Tobias didn’t move. He wrapped his arms around himself as if he wanted to curl into a ball, and he avoided eye contact.]

Tobias: -Audio glitches- O-Oh. I… This system does not want to hinder your progress, Doctor…

Felix: …

[The unlucky Adept knew enough about the Robot Masters and Tobias in particular to recognize when one was near their breaking point.

Combined with the situation, this could not go anywhere good.]

Felix: Tobias…

Felix: What are you doing here?

[The Robot Master flinched at this, recoiling with fuzzy data of guilt. He began shaking a bit, as if under extreme duress.]

Tobias: F-fault…

Will: (…Oh no…)

Tobias: Everyone… almost everyone is Offline or injured. The database is down, and the equipment is broken…

Tobias: E-everyone is so stressed a-and Carlos said Doctor Cossack was in trouble—

Tobias: Wh…what’s going on, Doctor? We… I made things worse, didn’t we?

[He sparked up more.]

Tobias: We always… always make things worse…

Will: …

Will: -Very, VERY gently- Tobias…

Will: Please believe me when I say that you did nothing of the sort.

Will: Mikhail is… tired, and needs his rest. Right now that is what we all need. This hasn't… been the best of times for us.

Will: But we are working on getting things back on track.

Will: Soi and the others will be back at any moment, and once they are, we're going to get right to work on fixing this.

Tobias: -Soft whine-

Felix: …

Felix: Tobias, when you woke up...

Felix: Was Nico with the rest of you?

Tobias: N-no…. Tried… tried pinging him, but got the error message that his transceiver isn’t on…

Will: ... (That's...not a good sign, but it IS a maximum security prison...)

Will: ...I could try and ping Call to get an update. It's been a while already. (And I'm starting to get worried...)

Will: -Grabs his phone- It could just be the security measures in the prison blocking the—

[Rumble...]

Will: —? (...That's...odd, did my phone just vibrate now, or—)

[RUMBLE....]

Will: —!!?!

[The whole lab and it's contents suddenly started to SHAKE violently. Will grabs the table near him as the lights flicker overhead, knees giving out as they could not support themselves under the sudden seismic activity—]

Tobias: -Scree!-

Will: (What in the WORLD?! An earthquake, now?!)

[RUMBLE...]

Will: -Gnn—!-

[The shaking lasts for quite a few minutes, until they finally started to die down in waves. By the time all was still, things were strewn about and knocked out of place...]

Tobias: Hnnn…!

[Tobias ended up curled up in a ball on the floor, taking cover and giving off errors in his profuse apologies. But he needn’t have done so—]

Felix: Are you two alright??

[—because it was NOT the Adept’s doing.]

Will: @~@! I...oh goodness...

Will: I...believe so...

Tobias: -Hnnnn we're sorry we're sORRY WE'RE SORRY—-

Felix: -Holds his hands out in a peaceful "stop" gesture- Easy, Mr. Wily! That was not my doing, I assure you.

[This didn't exactly help very much.]

Tobias: -weeeeeEEEEEHH, MIC MUST BE ANGRY—-

<DLN-008>: > -WE'RE SORRYYYYYY-

[PING!]

[MN.4] //: -???- -What was that-

[MN.6] //: -Pinging worry data, Toby?? What's going on--

[MN.1] //: Nn...Mic? Are you okay?

[MN.4] //: -Ping, yes-

[MN.4] //: -That...wasn't us...-

Will: Then...the plates shifting natrually? (Just our luck...)

[MN.4] //: -Quiet rumbling- No...not earthquake...

Felix: No, William—this wasn't natural. -Seems a bit confused- It was underground, to be sure, but…

Felix: >> Trust me. I know what it feels like when the earth is shifting plates. Venus Lighthouse was a very memorable teaching experience.

Felix: -Murmurs, getting up and leaving- I'm going outside.

[He didn't bother taking the door, instead opting to use Retreat and vanish in a swirl of multicolored spheres.]

Will: -Reaching for his phone again- I'm calling Soi right this moment.

[...Except after about several tries, he couldn't even get so much as a ring in without it automatically going to voicemail, which was VERY worrying, because Soi was ALWAYS punctual with phone calls...]

Will: (Gah, why aren't you ANSWERING? Are you STILL at the Prison, Soi?)

Tobias: Not… not going to work, everything is broken over there.

Will: :gs_drop~1: (...He has a point. I need to either send someone out there or go myself, but...)

Will: ... -Runs a hand through his hair- Tobias, you stay here in the lab and wait for Felix to come back.

Will: -Pulling his coat around him- I'll be right back, I'm going to see if I can't find some other way to contact Soichiro and find out what exactly happened...

Will: Avi--can you bring up the security camera feeds for me?

[MN.6] //: Yuppers, I'm on it--

[It doesn't take very long for Avi to do so, and Will finds himself flipping through various feeds on his phone.]

Will: Anything unusual in the building?

[MN.6] //: Negative, Daddo--all clear, lemmie swich over to--

[MN.6] //: --!

[MN.6] //: Hey--hey guys--

[MN.6] //: Uncle Soi Sauce is back--

Will: :gs_shock~1: -Turns on his heel-

Tobias: ? (But… I don't sense any other signals?)

Will: Where? (He...didn't come through the front door?)

[MN.6] //: ...Uh.

[MN.6] //: oh no

[MN.6] //: ...Daaaaad, we might have a problem--!

[MN.6] //: -I--It's Callgirl--

Will: Where are they, Avi?!

[MN.6] //: They're coming down the stairs to the roof--

Will: ??? (How in the world did they--?)

Tobias: ???

Tobias: Did you airlift them there?

Tobias: :gs_idea~1:

Tobias: Did Nico take them there? The roof is where Cardinal goes, so it's one of the default data points…

[MN.6] //: ...I...

[MN.6] //: I don't see Nico...

Tobias: :gs_silence~1:

>PROCESSING…

>ANALYSIS COMPLETE.

<DLN-008 has entered Defensive Combat mode.>

<DLN-008>: > -DISTRESS, last time Nico was separated from her he was DEAD—-

Will: (Oh no oh no--)

Will: Stay here--!

[Will BOLTS out the lab door and starts booking it towards the stairs. Meanwhile, the feeds on the Mighties' side of things started to buzz to life in confusion, mostly awakened by the previous quake.

Once Will gets to the stairs in question, however, the door to them suddenly FLINGS open, nearly hitting him in the face.]

Will: :gs_shock~1:

Will: Soichiro--!

Soi: WILL-- ;n;!!!

Soi: Will--we--we need to go, right now, PLEASE--

Will: Soi--Soichiro, please, you're not making sense--

Soi: -PANIC- No! We need to go RIGHT NOW, we need--need to fix her and then LEAVE, PLEASE--!

Will: Fix--? -Looks down-

Will: :gs_shock~1:

[The Doctor stares in wide-eyed SHOCK as his hues fall on Sanda's own daughter, utterly BROKEN and seemingly lifeless in his arms.]

Will: Call--?!

[PING!]

[MN.9] //: Call? What--what's wrong? Call?

[MN.9] //: Dad....Call isn't picking up, what's going on--

Will: Oh my word...

Will: Soi--what HAPPENED out there, what happened to her?! And--where is Nico, wasn't he with you??

[Soi WINCES in clear pain when Nico is brought up, but then pushes past his friend towards the direction of the labs.]

Soi: Not now--need to get her on a Xel Transfusion, and then we're ALL leaving for Tokyo--!

Will: What??

Will: But the airlines are SHUT DOWN, Soi, there's no way to leave the country, and we can't just leave Mikhail--!

Soi: Then we take a Wilderness shortcut, I don't CARE!

Will: :gs_drop~1: :gs_drop~1: :gs_drop~1: Soi! Soi, just WAIT--

[Soi opens the doors to the lab and steps through with purpose, but--then he stops short when he finds this is the same old Sanda Labs on the other side, not the Meadow's.]

Soi: Wha...?

Soi: (I don't understand, it's not working--?!)

[Open. Shut. Open. Shut. Open—]

[WOW, that is a BLINDING distortion—]

Soi: -GAH--

[The door slams shut on its own, as if blown back by a shockwave.]

Will: ???? What the...?

[When opened again… just the rest of the building. And nothing else.]

Soi: -Just absolutely defeated- It...it's not working...!

Soi: (How am I going to get everyone AWAY now?)

Will: ...

Will: -...Gently grabs Soi's shoulder- Soi... please...

Will: Slow down, whatever it is that's getting you like this...we need to help Call first...

Soi: ...I...

Soi: :gs_frown~1:

Soi: ...

Soi: ...Yes...

Soi: Yes, of course...

Will: Good man.

Will: Come on, just get her on the table, take a seat. Start from the beginning...

Soi: :gs_frown~1:

[The Japanese Doctor does so, and once Call was properly hooked in, repairs and diagnostics began almost immediately. There was the distance shuffling of feet down the hall.]

Will: (...The Mighties, no doubt...)

Soi: It... it happened so fast...

[RUNNING DIAGNOSTICS...]

[STATUS UPDATE, RE: CALL. XEL COUNT CRITICAL, SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE. IMMEDIATE XEL TRANSFUSION REQUIRED]

Soi: I couldn't...I couldn't stop them...

Will: Stop...wait, don't...don't tell me... (Did...Did Father...?!)

Soi: We--We got to the Prison, and everything was going...okay, for the most part, Avi even showed up to help us for a moment--

[Soi was speaking as fast as he could while tending to his daughter, as if he was in a VERY big hurry.]

Soi: We got there, and there was this...this huge canine bot, but Call handled it...

Soi: Then Nico showed up...

[PING! PING!]

[The system update regarding Call sent a WAVE of worry and cascading emotion across the Mighty's feeds.]

[MN.9] //: Call--!!

[MN.6] //: Shhhshh, it's okay, Beckers, the Docs got her--

[MN.3] //: -Buzzing worry data--

[MN.7] //: -Very DEEPLY distressed data-

<DLN-008>: > -Nnnn, dizzy…-

Soi: :gs_frown: We...we got to Dr. Blackwell's Cell, and...oh, Will...!

Soi: He said it was already too late...!

Will: ?!

Soi: He told me--about CherryDynamics and Trinity, how she's going to just grow and grow and--and--!

Will: :gs_shock: He--?

Soi: He said the only thing we could do is run and then--! Something...something showed up, something just TORE down his cell door, SCREAMING!

Soi: -Panic and upset-- I couldn't stop her, she was just too fast, too strong and too ANGRY, and then she just took him in a ball of FIRE--!

Will: --Someone--someone TOOK Dr. Blackwell?!

Soi: ;;n;; She...she took him and hurt Call and Nico...I...

Soi: I had to leave him behind, but I didn't want to just...

[MN.9] //: -...DREAD data-

[MN.7] //: ... Otouto?

[MN.9] //: n...no...

[MN.7] //: -Worried data- Beck? What is wrong?

[Something… something seemed to be stirring…]

>LOADING…

[Will is floored. He starts to pace around the room, frantically looking this way and that.]

Will: I don't understand--

Will: I thought...I thought he...

Will: (I thought he would have answers, SOMETHING, but now someone else took him? Why?!)

Will: (Graham? The government? Who?)

Soi: Will...If...if what he said was true, then we REALLY, really need to go--

>LOADING…

Will: But we can't just leave, Soi, this IS our home and Mikhail--we don't even have the option of taking him with us, not with the PRESIDENT still in the building!

Soi: Then we tell her too! Lives are in DANGER, she'll--

Will: Are you MAD? If you tell them that--! (Then Trinity--!)

Soi: Will, there's no other way around it! We need to LEAVE before it's too late!

Will: I am NOT LEAVING!

> A problem has been detected and AI_DWN_008 has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. All unsaved data has been lost.

The problem seems to be caused by the following programs: BetaEmotions.exe, RMDatabase.exe

If this is the first time you have seen the Stop error screen, restart your chassis—

REBOOTING…

Will: --!! -Oh no--

Soi: Ack--!

[MN.6] //: D:! Toby--

Soi: :gs_drop~1: :gs_drop~1:

Will: (I--ugh, there you go again, making this worse, Bill--)

Soi: I...

Will: -LONG sigh- ...This isn't working...

Will: We can't just abandon... (Can't just leave, we still have so much to do...)

Soi: ...

Soi: :gs_frown~1:

Will...

[Ksst...]

>Loading…

[KSSST...]

Soi: ...

Soi: ...?

Soi: ...Do...do you hear that?

[KSSSSST...]

Will: --??

Will: It's...coming from the feeds...but Tobias is...?

[MN.6] //: Yeah, I'm getting something...

[KSSSSSSSST...]

[MN.6] //: ... That's... weird, I don't recognize this channel--

[KSSSSSSSSSSSSST. Wrrrrr....]

[ALL the screens present in the lab, and the phones as well were suddenly cut out by a separate, unknown feed, which seemed very crackly and odd.]

[There's a faint wheezing noise.]

[Rumble...]

Will: (Oh no, not again--!)

"Do you feel that?"

[The voice was... unmistakably female.]

[MN.9] //: !!!

"I'm sure you all do..."

"Hard to ignore the very GROUND shaking underneath you, isn't it. Like something is coming."

"And I know what it is. Listen..."

[RUMBLE...]

Soi: -A--AH--

"Hear that?"

"That is your RECKONING. THAT is the sound of the calm before the STORM. The storm that will wipe ALL of you off the face of the EARTH in a matter of MOMENTS."

Will: --?!

"And there is NO force that can stop it now. You had this COMING. YOU A L L had this coming!"

"You--hnk--!"

[For a moment, the female voice wheezed again, and coughed VIOLENTLY for several minutes. When she calmed down again, her voice was a bit weaker, but still just as angry.]

"You... arrogant, sinful   h u m a n s..."

[MN.9] //: -No, nonononoNO--

"Did you really think you could get away with all that you've DONE?"

"After what you did to ME? After destroying everything I held dear and leaving me to DIE alone, with no one to so much as say goodbye to?"

"So QUICK to change your opinions, to cheer on your TOYS in that sandbox you call a Colosseum! And now that they have been STRIPPED from you, what do you have left? That's right. FEAR."

"In the end, that's all you are ruled by..."

"And it's going to be your UNDOING. You will all BURN in the fires of the VERMILLION DESTROYER, the one you CURSED into the darkness nearly HALF a century ago!"

"And of course, we're going to start with the one thing you all LOVE to flaunt above all else..."

"After all..."

[RUMBLE...!]

"...You can't have a GRAND DEBUT without the proper STAGE."

[WARNING! WARNING! CODE RED!

WARNING! WARNING! CODE RED!]

Will: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:

"Go on. RUN. Run like the cowards you are. It won't MATTER!"

"Nothing will matter for much longer..."

"Nothing will..."

[MN.9] //: -PING PING PING PING--

"Shut up..."

"Shut up, shut UP, YOU CAN'T HELP ME--"

"SHUT UP--"

[MN.9] //: -EVEN MORE PINGING—-

[MN.7] //: _-Now GREATLY distressed, Beck what are you DOING--?!-

>Rebooting…

[PING!]

<DWN-024 is now Online.>

Shadow: -Very groggy- …???



[MN.9] //: --!

"I SAID--SHUT UP!"

[SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!]


Shadow: -OW-



[KSSSSST--]

[ERROR: COMMUNICATIONS OFFLINE.]

Soi: ._.;;;;;;;;

Soi: Now can we LEAVE?!

Will: I...

[MN.1] //: -What in the world is GOING ON--

[MN.7] //: Beck! Who were you talking to?!

[MN.9] //: Not now Brand--!


<DWN-024>: > -What is going on and why can I hear the {STARS}, what WAS that—-



[There was a sudden FLARE of energy and a small shockwave. One DISTINCTLY energy-infused—with DISMAY.

Doors could be heard SLAMMING open as something came running through the building.

Unfortunately, the door to the lab didn't open QUITE fast enough—]

CRASH!

Shadow: :gs_shock~1:

Felix: -OW, why this—-


Will: Felix--!


Felix: William—!

Felix: William, the sky is becoming swarmed!

Felix: I SAW THIS IN THE BEGINNING, WILL! The wave of darkness that sent DEATH in its shadow!



Will: Wha--?!

Soi: I KNEW IT, I TOLD YOU, WE NEED TO GO NOW--

[Will throws himself at the nearest terminal, fingers flying over the keys as fast as he could make them.]

Will: Avi! I need the outside feeds, and tell your brothers to get yourselves IN THE LAB, now--

[ERROR: COMM FAIL]

Will: Bah--!


<DLN-008 is now Online.>

Tobias: Uuugh…

Tobias: Avi, my head hurts…

Tobias: I think I didn't recover from the White House, I'm getting like a billion hails from foreign countries asking for the President…



[PING!]

[MN.6] //: ...Toby?



<DLN-008>: >Mmmng. Yeah?



[MN.6] //: ...uh?

[MN.6] //: Aren't... aren't the comms off?


Tobias: …

Tobias: Avi, I'm getting satellite feeds from WEST VIRGINIA and wireless calls from Japan and Britain, so SOMETHING is working—


[MN.6] //: -ABSOLUTELY confuzzled beyond confused-

[MN.6] //: ...Okay, well! Not gonna question it! Seriously, what the HECK is happening, did you hear that spooky voice, how's Dad--

Will: ...Tobias--?


Tobias: Mmmn…  -Gets to his feet- I'm… I'm mostly okay, sorry…

Shadow: -Attempts to ping Brandish over the SEDW feeds-

>ERROR X05: UNRESPONSIVE/DAMAGED SOFTWARE DETECTED

Shadow: -Grumbles- {Bah, jamming signal…}

Tobias: Bluh. Just reboot, you'll be fine. You're a space ninja, this surely can't be as bad as solar flares.

Shadow: :gs_drop~1:

Felix: Tobias, can YOU contact the others?

Tobias: Hmmng?

<DLN-008 to MNN-ALL>: > -Ping!-



[A unanimous response--]

[MN.3] //: -Oh my God TOBYYY--

[MN.1] //: -Gnnh, that scream...-

[MN.9] //: --! Toby--!

[MN.3] //: <'3 Hey, you okay, zzsparkbro? What'szz going on, doeszz Daddy need help?

[MN.2] //: YEAH AND WHY AREN'T THE OTHER COMMS WORKING--

<DLN-008 to MNN-ALL>: >Y…yeah, I think he said something about that.

<DLN-008>: > -I'm starting to get a lot of calls from the Pentagon and Tokyo, though…- -Headache…-

<DLN-008>: >Can you guys come down to the lab?

<DLN-008>: > …

<DLN-008>: > -'Cause Felix broke the door, I think-

<DLN-008>: > -What is going onnnn…-

[In a matter of moments, the rest of the Mighties file in. Soi was already heavily into Call's own repairs, while Will was trying to access the outside camrea feeds himself from his terminal.]

Beck: :gs_frown~1: !



Beck: Call...?

Will: -Frowns- ...She'll be alright, Nine.

Shadow: -Only just now notices something- …

Shadow: {Doctor Sanda, where is my older brother?}

Soi: .... :gs_frown~1:

Soi: I...He's...still at the Prison...

Shadow: :gs_conf~1:

Shadow: -Spots a telltale bit of lime green- ?!?!?!! ({That ribbon—!})

Shadow: ({Oh no…})

Shadow: {…God rest his soul; he is beyond all hope, I take it…}



Soi: I... I don't...

Soi: I don't know... He...told us to just leave him behind...


Shadow: {Leave him behind on FEDERAL PROPERTY?? Only if he were at death's door!}

Felix: -Puts a hand on Shadow's shoulder- We have other problems, Shadow.

Felix: It's getting dangerous outside, and we can't get to the Meadow or anywhere else that is bordered by the Wilderness only.


Will: I am--TRYING to get a clear view of outside as we speak--Avi, please tell me you can get a camrea out there--

Avi: I can try...

Tobias: …

Tobias: Uh…

Tobias: Don't… don't hurricanes normally form on the ocean?

Shadow: …???

Shadow: -This is not the time to indulge your fascination in meteorology, brother—-

Tobias: -Annoyed expression-

[He goes over to a free console and starts hooking himself in while working away at the computer.

Within a few moments, it was displaying a military-grade satellite feed of Titus.

…At least, that's what the coordinates would indicate. Much of the city itself was quickly becoming obscured.]


Avi: ....Uuuuuuuuuh, that...doesn't look like a cloud...

Will: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:

Will: I...It's growing--


Felix: :gs_silence~1:

[He's studying it with careful consideration.]

Felix: …I would be able to destroy that, but unless the source is stopped and resources cut off… that will only help for a few minutes at most.

Shadow: …

Shadow: Sorry, "destroy"? Destroy all THAT? It is covering the entire city.

Felix: You heard me.

Felix: …Unfortunately, that would not do much. :gs_frown~1:



Avi: -Is preoccupied with getting his cam in the air-

Cyro: This ought to be good--

Pyro: What I want to know is WHY that large "cloud" is forming, what exactly IS it?

Avi: We're gonna find out--

Avi: I got eyes on the sky--Toby, do me a favor and redirect this feed to the big screen for me?

Tobias: Sure.

[After a moment, the feeds switched over to Avi's skycam.]

[KSST...]

[Static. Or so it seemed, before it suddenly cleared up.]

Avi: Holy--!

Will: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:

[The sight was almost surreal...]

[But there was no mistaking it--the clouds that covered the sky and the sick blocky goop that seemed to be EATING it's way through the Battle Colosseum...]

Beck: That...

Beck: That's all XEL!


Tobias: …

Tobias: Are you sure? I thought Xel was rainbow.


Beck: It is, I'm not wrong--

Beck: But I've never seen anything like it, and so much--at once--

Beck: Where--where is it all coming from??

Soi: It...it's like the Colosseum is being eaten and subsumed...

Tobias: Um… I'm not sure where, it just seems to be gathering…

Felix: …

Felix: …Wait…

Felix: …

Felix: {No, surely… surely not…?}

Will: Avi, what are the conditions surrounding the Colosseum?

Avi: I...I gotta be honest with you, Dad...

Avi: It's one crazy mess out there--

[The camera feed shifts down towards the streets...

Filled to the BRIM with infected Xel and robots.]

Avi: The streets are packed SOLID with haywire bots--


Felix: -Dread-

Felix: All of them… all of them infected?


Avi: I...I think ALL of it is--

Avi: Oh no...



[There was a distinct dark Venus aura coming off of Felix. A very, VERY unpleasant one.]

Felix: {For the love of Life. All… everything infected is being drawn there to be torn apart! That could have been all of you!}


Beck: -Choked gasp--

Soi: -DISTRESS- WILL--

Soi: If all of that is infected Xel, and it's GROWING, then--then how long before it reaches HERE?!

Pyro: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1: :gs_shock~1:



Felix: You would put a spoken limit on your hours? That is an unwise burden to place upon children, Doctor.

Felix: Ask yourself this instead; can the erosion be prevented? In any way?

Felix: There will undoubtedly be a price. There always is. But even the most remote, under the most brutal of force—we found a way, though it took us to the ends of the earth and the brink of despair.

Felix: Do you have a way?



Will: ...

Will: (Think, think, he's right, there is no turning back now--)

Will: (How can we buy ourselves more time to plan?)

Will: (We can't leave, but we can't do NOTHING either, we need to stall, or freeze the Xel in it's tracks--)

Will: ! -Slams his hand on the table- I got it--

Will: We just need to stop it from getting in, right?

Will: I need time to come up with a plan, so we need to stall. It's a tall order, but--

Will: Cryosphere?

Cryo: ?

Will: I need you to freeze the building.


Cryo: 88DDDD

Shadow: ???


Soi: I'm sorry, what--



Felix: …I assume you have a specific purpose in mind?



Will: If the entire building is encased in a sheild of ice, then it will be that much harder for anything to get in. It'll also help keep things sterile.


Tobias: -Uneasy- (…Hnnn, don't want to be trapped in a lab…)


Soi: But that won't work forever!

Will: Doesn't have to. I have an idea, but I need time.


Felix: I can try to help with that. I do have the Douse Drop and the Frost Jewel.

Tobias: I thought—

Felix: I'll explain later, if we get the chance. What else, William?



Will: -Turns to the terminal- We NEED those comms back online as well. Except there is this jamming signal in the way, and I can't seem to get PAST it.



Tobias: Gimme a moment.

[The light faded from his eyes, leaving him distinctly… lifeless.]

Felix: …??? .-.

[The screens flickered rapidly with lines of code. They were very similar to what Will had seen at the start of this mess, only not glitched out this time.]

[PING!]

[ALL COMMUNICATIONS NOW ONLINE.]


Avi: Eeeey! : D Nice one, Toby!


Felix: Is he…?

Shadow: …His Awareness is in the mainframe… >>;; Give him a moment to return to his chassis.

[After about a minute, the coding closed out and the light returned to the masked child's eyes.]

Shadow: -It is always a bit unnerving that you can do that at WILL-

Tobias: -Yeah, it can be a bit of an…-

[He paused for a moment, and then gave a sheepish grin.]

Tobias: -…out of body experience…-

Shadow: —…


Shade: -Groaaaaans--

Avi: : DDDD


Shadow: Avi, this is somehow your fault.

Avi: -I TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY-

Pyro: -FACEPALM-

Will: -Smiles to himself-

Tobias: The comms work, but you're not going to get much range. :gs_frown~1: All the cell towers and radio towers in the city seem to be on the fritz.

Will: (With luck...this just might work...)

Will: ...

Will: (...But I'm going to have to...tell them...just what is causing this...)

Will: ...

Will: That's quite alright. It's enough.


Felix: For?


Will: -Turns-

Will: ...

Will: -Seems to...hesitate-

Will: ...

Will: Soichiro brought back some very vital information when he came back from the prison...and it ties into how we're going to stop this storm at the source.


Felix: Alright. And that would be?


Will: The epicenter of this "Xel Storm" seems to be originating from the Battle Colosseum.

Will: From the... information Soichiro received from Dr. Blackwell, it was revealed to us that the virus...is actually in the hands of a CDN named Trinity.

Beck: !!

Brand: A...A CDN? This whole time?!


Shadow: :gs_drop~1: -FLATLY, even for him- That makes sense.

Tobias: …???

Tobias: Uh…

Shadow: -Glances over at Tobias- What.

Tobias: -Seems a bit confused- (But it felt so much like Will’s coding…) …Nothing, I guess…?


Will: >>;; It's safe to assume CherryDynamics did have a hand in all this like we all suspected... though that still doesn't explain that voice...

Will: Regardless--Soi?

Soi: :gs_drop~1:

Soi: Dr...Blackwell told us that Trinity's purpose was to grow and evolve by assimilating other robots and their data...



Shadow: …

Tobias: …

Soi: Except...

Soi: From...from what he told me, she isn't... aware of it...

Tobias: …Not really, no…

[He sounds… really distracted.]

Tobias: Not… not intent so much as drive.

Tobias: Very…

Tobias: Reminded me of Kalinka directing one of her plays…

Cryo: ...uh, wat.

Felix: I think I'm missing something.

Shadow: … Tobias sort of… got eaten earlier.

Shadow: Seems there were side effects.

Tobias: >>;;; Just. You know how Kalinka just has an idea and is in charge and carries it out? It was like that.

Tobias: Wanted… she wanted everything ordered her way.

Tobias: She didn't seem to want to… hurt as much as… augh, it's so hard to explain with words…

Tobias: Keep, she wanted to keep.

Tobias: -She wanted to keep Avi and didn't like it when I got upset, we ALL got headaches, I most definitely make everything worse ever- |(

Avi: ...

Avi: -Aaaaand we're gonna just NOPE right behind Mic, thank you--

Pyro: ...

Pyro: And this...Trinity...

Pyro: Is she...the one causing this storm as well?

Will: ...

Will: Based on what we heard...

Will: I believe so.

Felix: And the significance of that is what, exactly?

Shadow: …You may want to reword that…

Felix: …I apologize. What I meant to say is this: why is this "Trinity"'s existence of meaning to your idea? Do you know something about counteracting it?

Will: -Looks towards the feed- If we can somehow disable Trinity herself...

Felix: …

Felix: -Thoughtful expression-

Felix: …

Shadow: …What is it?

Felix: -Shakes his head- It's possible that the weapon Master Cossack had would be of some use, but probably only effective at a short range and a very high setting.

Tobias: Oh God no.

Tobias: The highest setting on that thing is torturous, my head hurts just THINKING about it, nnnng…

Tobias: You might break Cardinal WORSE if you set that off like that, please tell me you have a better idea!

Will: And I'm not sure if that would work as effectively on a Xel construct. Either way, we'd need to be close.

Shadow: With all due respect, Doctor, she ate Tobias, and as a result, blacked out from sensory overload from our server.

Shadow: So yes, it theoretically could work.

Shadow: But against such a mass? I have my doubts as to how long… and it would be at a price.

Shadow: That weapon was designed specifically to work against robots using a Wily operating system. It will work on other things, but those most of all.

Shadow: Allow me to remind you: Cardinal, Tobias, and myself all use the DWN_OS. Also… Cardinal has no backup. Neither do I.

Shadow: If there are ANY other options, perhaps we should pursue those first before testing it out with us in range, please…

Soi: Then what do we do? How do we get in close, nobody can get past all that infected Xel to even GET that close to the Colosseum!

Felix: …

Felix: I can give you about seven minutes, tops. Twice. That will be all.

Felix: Will that be enough?

Will: Very. Soi: -Excuse me--

Will: ...

Will: -Turns to Beck-

Beck: ...

Will: ...

Beck...

Will: I have no right to ask you this, but you're the ONLY person that the virus cannot infect...

Will: We can have Avi airdrop you through the roof of the Colosseum after Felix clears the way.

Soi: WHAT--

Soi: You want to send BECK, INTO THAT--ALONE--

Felix: : /

Felix: I can try to go with him, but I cannot guarantee I would be of much help other than healing and shielding.

Felix: I do not have a Cleric's Ring, either. I gave mine to Jack.

Felix: Adepts tend to… well. Let's just say that tapping into Alchemy the wrong way would be lethal.

Felix: I do not think anyone else here even has a chance.

Felix: I'm sorry, Master Sanda… but we don't really have a choice.

Soi: -Sputters- We don't even know what it's like in there--!

Beck: No...we don't...

Beck: But I'm going anyway.

Beck: -Turns to Felix- And I'd feel much better knowing that you're here to help fend off the Xel Storm.

Beck: Thanks for the offer, though.

Felix: Very well.

Tobias: Um…

Tobias: That's great and all, but—

Tobias: I…

Tobias: I'll need to restart one of the towers for you to have comm range…

Will: But we don't have anything IMMEDIATELY available--

Avi: -YES WE DO--

Avi: : D We can restart my tower!

Tobias: <'3

Felix: Avi, I don't think you'll have time to fly both of them. And I'll need to come with you to clear the sky for the way back, so he can't use Arizona.

Felix: Is there any other way for him to get there without going into the streets?

Tobias: …

Tobias: -Looks over at Shadow-

Shadow: …

Shadow: ?

Brand: ...!

Brand: {Excellent idea...}

Shadow: ?

Shadow: {Forgive me, Master—I do not understand…}

Brand: {Can you take Tobias with you to the tower using your powers?}

Shadow: {I…}

[He seemed to be… struggling somewhat. His data fuzzed a bit.]

Shadow: {I… have never used such power intentionally, so… so to speak…}

[He has to take in a deep breath to recenter his forcus and fight off disorientation before he pressed his hands together and bowed.]

Shadow: {But if that is your command, I shall endeavor to carry out your will.}

Brand: -Bows- {It would not hurt to try. Thank you, Shadow.}

Avi: -You got this, Shads-- -Thumbs up--

Felix: Alright. Cryosphere, outside with me, please.Felix: Avi, Beck, get ready.

Cryo: AW YEAH, time to make my own winter wonderland again, kyahaha--

Pyro: ... -We're going to need to get warmer clothes-

Bat: -Is NOT looking forward to this--

Felix: Shade…

Shade: . . .

Felix: I want you, Brandish, and Pyrogen to be at the roof when we're ready to go.

Pyro: ...Very well.

Shadow: Dare I ask why?

Felix: Some time ago, in the duel against Countershade, I had enough self-control not to do what I shall be doing shortly.

[Felix starts walking off.]

Felix: This may be your only chance ever to see for yourselves what WOULD have happened otherwise and appreciate what you were spared and WHY I made such a choice.

Shade: ...

Avi: .-.;;;;;;

[He halts for a moment, taking out a dagger.]

Felix: (Bah, can't believe I almost forgot about this—no time for a braid, though…)

[SCRRRRP!]

Felix: -Takes off his cloak, putting his shorn ponytail and the dagger inside it, placing the bundle aside- I'll meet you on the roof.

[With that, he leaves.]

Shadow: […]

Shadow: -Frowns just slightly at this- ({...The ritual preparation in the face of death.... Is the situation truly that dire outside?})

Tobias: -Also frowns, but pokes his brother- "Are you ready to leave, or...? Do you know how to get to the Tower?"

Shadow: [...]

Shadow: -...Slightly increased anxiety and self-doubt- I told you, I have never used it before intentionally with full presence. It is...

Shadow: -We are trying to find the program, but everything is... obscured...-

Tobias: [Sweatdrop] "Well, how did you do it last time?"

[Shadow seemed a bit stressed (for what people were used to seeing, anyway) at first, but he managed to stay calm and focus.]

Shadow: ...Need.

Tobias:  [...]

Tobias: ???

Shadow: I cannot... verbalize it more than that, just... instinct.

Tobias: -Looks over at Brand with something of a helpless expression at being at a loss for what to make of this-

Shadow: -Distinctly anxious, though doing a good job of not showing much outward sign of it-

Brand: […]

[After some moments of thought, Brand moved next to his student with a steady, calm gaze and gently placed a hand on his shoulder--where he could see, so that he wasn't alarmed.]

Brand: {Shadow...}

Brand: {Focus. Calm yourself and clear your mind. Find your ki. Remember what I have taught you.}

Brand: {You must stay with Tobias and keep him safe while I assist the others here. I know we have never touched upon your powers beforehand in our lessons...}

Brand: {But I believe you can do this.}

Brand: Hai?

Shadow:  […]

[He seems very fearful for a moment, and like he wants to voice it.

However, he instead chooses to close his eyes and forcefully focus, taking all of this into consideration.]

Shadow:  […]

[A tense pause. The situation was stressful, but Shadow seemed to be actively putting all the noise out of his mind.

He was growing less tense, and seemed to be calming down…

…though it was matched with a sense of dulling Awareness, as well.]

Tobias: …?

Tobias: -Hesitantly reaches out a hand—-

Shadow: -PING-

Shadow: {̦͎̘C͉͓̉óͩͩ͋m̱̝͔m̬̰̩a͇͓̩n̨͎̪ḍ̪̺ͭ ̢̙̳a̱͊ͦc̱̖̞k͔͓̲n̵͖̞o͔̞̺ẘ̦͍̯l̾́e̜̹͈d͕́̆g̛̺̞e̤̪̙d̝̦͚.̴̘̃}̑ͫ̽

Tobias: -Pulls his hand back- ??? o~o?;;

Brand: -Was NOT expecting that--

Tobias: -Uh—-

[Shadow opens his eyes, and moves swiftly.

He breaks free from Brandish's grip and grabs his brother—]

Tobias: Waugh!

[—and the both of them swiftly vanish into the shadows.]

Brand: [!]

Avi: ...

Avi: Uh...everyone just saw that right now, right?

Beck: Whoa...

Beck: I...I guess that worked? (That was kinda cool...WEIRD, but cool...)

Brand: . . . (...What WAS that...?)

Shade: Oi.

Shade: We can figure that out later, we gotta GO.

Avi: Right--

Avi: I'mma head onto the roof and prep for lift off, see ya--

Pyro: Alright. No time to waste.

Pyro: -PING- I want the rest of you to prep yourselves while Cryo freezes the building. Our priority is protecting Sanda Technologies and everyone inside.

Dyna: -Bzzt, got it--

Mic: -Mic be WALL-

Bat: -Affirmative, will be on standby-

Pyro: -Nods-

[Pyro then leads his brothers--Avi, Brand and then Shade--towards the stairs that lead to the roof. The other Mighties file away to prepare for the coming battle ahead.]

Beck: Coming--

[Beck turns to follow suit to the roof--until he's stopped momentarily by his father's hand.]

Beck: […][?]

Will: -Frowns- Before you go...come over here for a moment.

Beck: --Dad, I'll be okay--

Will: Not that.

Beck: --?

[Will leads Beck to a quiet corner of the lab, kneeling down gently to get to his eye level. His voice is hushed, as if he was trying to stay quiet.]

Will: There's...there's something you need to know.

Will: About Trinity.

Beck: [!]

Will: Based on what we've seen and what Soichiro told us...

Will: I...I think it is safe to assume...

Will: ...That you and Trinity possess the same power.

Beck: (--wha--?)

Will: It would explain the Xel Storm outside, and from what Tobias told us of her...her nature...

Will: -STRUGGLES to word this-

Will: ...And if that is correct...

Will: Then she does not know how to control it.

Will: Not like you do.

Beck: ... (--! Wait...)

Beck: (Back at the highway and...all those times...)

Beck: (That wasn't just her--?)

Will: I'm sure you've sensed it at least more than once.

Beck: ...

Beck: It...makes sense now that I think about it...

Will: Beck...

Will: When you get there...

Will: When you see her...

Will: Please--please, if you can, teach her how.

Will: Save her.

Beck: ...

[Beck falls quiet for a moment, gaze on the floor. It's about a second or two before he looks up again, eyes glowing a bright emerald.]

Beck: I understand.

Beck: I'll do it. I'll save Trinity.

[It's not very completely obvious, but there's some intense emotion his father is going through--Beck could tell, because Will doesn't answer right away. The Mighty Number gently places a hand on the Doctor's arm...and gives a reassuring smile.]

Beck: Don't worry. ^^ I've done it before, Dad. I can do it one more time.

[This seems to bring Will out of it--and he gently exhales, placing his own hand on his son's head.]

Will: ...I know you will, Beck...

Will: I know you will.

Will: Go. And please be careful...

Beck: Hm-hmm. I will!

[He gave a bright smile.]

Beck: I'll let you know when I'm inside.

Beck: I'll come back with her, promise--!

[He turns on his heel and starts bolting for the stairs--he had to catch up with the others--]

Beck: I'll make contact as soon as I'm inside--I'll hear from you then!

Will: Yes...good luck.

[As Beck disappears up the stairs, Will's hopeful expression falls to one of concern and deep thought, hand tightly curling into a fist near his mouth.]

Will: (Never...)

Will: (Not once did I ever imagine it would turn out like this...that this is how you two would meet...)

Will: (Two of my proudest creations, squaring off...!)

Will: (Please...please let them both be alright...)

[hr]

{SANDA ENTERPRISES: ROOFTOP}

[Felix was already there by the time that everyone had arrived. He had summoned Arizona in advance, presumably for the sake of expediency.

He looked a bit worn out. It was strange to see him with short hair and without his cape or his sword—he almost looked like a different person.]

Felix: Is everyone ready?

Beck: -Doing a final system check- Yeah, just about.

Avi: Ready for lift off when you are, bro--

Brand: ...

[MN.7 to MN.9] //: {...Be careful.}

[MN.9 to MN.7] //: Hai, Nii-san.

Shade: -Looks out into the horizon- (...Avi wasn't kidding. It's a goddamn MESS out there...)

Shade: (...at...)

Shade: (At least we got you back here, Songbird...)

Shade: (Because if we didn't, And Ah' was still...then..)

Brand: -Ping-

Brand: -Very gentle data- Shade.

Shade: ...

Shade: -Tips hat back down- ...best of luck t'ya, Beck.

Beck: -Ping of confirmation and reassurance-

Pyro: ... (...This will be over soon, Shade...)

Pyro: -Turns to Felix- We're ready.

[Felix looked at the sky with a grim expression. It was growing dark, just as he had foreseen.]

Felix: [...]

[His expression became firm and resolute. He started glowing gold.]

Beck: (...Psynergy...)

[Djinn began appearing, one by one. As each one appeared, Felix seemed to grow weaker and weaker—but the air was tense with energy.

VERY tense.]

[Felix took in a deep breath as one final Djinn appeared on his shoulder.

For once, Echo didn’t have inane commentary.]

Echo: Calling eight of us from the getgo? You must be really in need of some serious power.

Felix: You could say that.

Shade: (...Was only four when he fought with me...now eight?)

Shade: (What the hell's he doin'--?)

Beck: ...

Beck: (I can...feel it, like...like it's...)

Beck: -Eyes glow a bright green- (Almost... familiar...)

[They circled around him.]

Felix: [...]

[He narrowed his eyes and pressed his mouth into a thin line, flaring with a deep gold aura.

Four of the Djinn shot into the sky in a swirling spiral.]

Brand: [!]

[There was a massive blast of energy that cleared the sky just enough for them to see the next bit.]

Felix: -Low tone- ...The Venus Clan were considered weak and lowly. Even now, they are remembered only as “The Forsaken Clan.”

[A figure that looked like a knight with wings appeared in the sky. A colossal figure with a shield of sorts that looked like a lion’s head. He held a rather familiar looking sword—something that looked like a giant version of the Sol Blade.]

Avi: -OH GLITCH--

Pyro: [!][!][!]

Brand: -Eyes WIDE with shock and awe-

Shade: -Very alarmed data--

[If Felix noticed their alarm, he certainly didn’t show it. He was looking to the sky, his tone becoming harsher.]

Felix: But Venus itself is not a weak element. And the power of the Djinn calls upon the might of forces of nature itself.

[The being pointed the “shield” down at the swarm, and an alarming level of destructive energy began to swirl beneath it.]

Beck: !!!!!

Felix: Stand and bear witness to the greatest power Venus alone is willing to offer to mortal man in the present age.

[Except now, it was clear. That was no mere shield—

—that was a weapon.]

Beck: -Whoooa...-

((Lovely gift art from the amazing Neshirys! Thank you, Neshi!))

Felix: Brace yourselves, and stand witness to the power...

[An absolutely EXPLOSIVE blast of Venus energy came ROARING down out of the sky!]

[Felix used JUDGEMENT!]

Felix: ...of the end of days!

[The sky was overtaken by a flare of blinding light. There was a deafening roar as the sphere of energy hit the Colosseum, sending a massive shockwave in all directions.

Everything was overtaken by a wave of light and raw power, and the world became nothing but a blinding white void.]

Shade: NNNNGH--!

Avi: -OWOWOW, CAN'T SEE, HELP--!-

Pyro: -AUGH--

Beck: (Ow! Nng, really would like to see now...)

[Well. Nothing but a blinding void and the intensity of their own awe and terror.]

>̙̥̘̹̜̒ͮC̞͔̻̦͎̖̦̈́̌Ř̰ͣ̑̆̽O͖̥̭͉͌̎̄ͧ̈́̑Ŝ̰͙̝̬S͕͍̬̠͔̲̥̿̒͗-͙̙̼͛̄ͬR̲͑̾͌̏Ẻ̘͓̙F̯͖̞̦̗͉͗ͤER̘̫̥̦̝̽̀͛Ȅ͖̫͇̟̋ͫN̮̦̺̒̇̅C͒̑Ẻ̦̝̖̆̋͆S̟͚ ̺̟̲̒̌I͉̝͚D̟̠̜̟͍͙̺̂̑̆̏E̽Ṉ̜̺̹̰̹ͯ͐̉̃̑ͫ̚T̔͗ͯͦI̖̗̦̺ͅF̰̙̤͙̱̟̦I͙̘͈̩͎̥̯̓Ḛ͒̃̃̆̏̈́̓D̫͍̺̲̦̰̱:̤ ̼͔̝̞̻̐ͪͮ͑ͮ̊̔K͙̮̩̯̰̾͗ͅD̟͍͐ͥ̀̑̾̚̚N̫̭̤̭̪͍ͥ̑ͪ̿̅-̤̺̀ͯͫ̓͒5̱̠̣̬͍̙̦ͦ0̥̦̀͆ͥ̏̄͗͗5͍̦̱̳̉6ͥ̌ͨ̽ͧ ͚̬̯͊̃͊ͣM͓͕̘̗̪̦̭͐̿͌̾̌E̼ͨͤ̽̿M̬̰̪̥̰͚̮̽ͫ͒͗͂Ọ̤ͥͥ̍͊R̼Ÿ̮̤̝͙̺̮̪́ͭ ̩̠͂͋D̜̭ͣ̊͋͒ͨ̇͊A͇̦̟̠͐ͯ̔͒̇T͙̝̘̱A̬ͥ͌ͫ

Brand: -Struggling to keep his focus--

>̮̽ͯ̏͛̍̔E̞̜̞̜̩͛̒͒̿̈́R̦͎̪̠̹͎̐ͤ̉R̰͔̗̠̲̫̓̇ͮ͐͋̔O̼̙̱̰͖͆͗͋ͣR̪̫͕̟̟̪͔̂͑̓ͪͧ͌:̭ͩ͂̒̔̿̈ ͈̺͕̜̺ͨ͛S̬̬̣͐ͥ͐̊Y̬͖̭̺̣̝̬̾ͪ̎ͭ̽S̱̻͙͚̣͐̋͋ͧ̆ͪͪͅT̞͇̖̠̫́͊͗̃͗̇E̻̝ͩ͑ͨ̄̋̐ͨM͓͖ͪͦ̀͐̽̑̚ ̣͍̹͕̙̯̞C̼̐͛͆R̲̫̘͎͆ͣ̚A̺̰̯̤̺ͫ͒S̙̜̱̉ͮ͗ͨ̽ͭH̖ͣ—̤ͥ̓

[When the light faded, they all suddenly surged with a rush of energy. It seemed to enhance and enrich their very Xel with the same kind of energy they associated with Felix.

And the sky? Well.

The sky was now completely clear.]

Beck: [!]

Brand: -Blinks- {...The sky--}

((Pyro's wide eyed at the sky just kinda in awe and shock at how CLOSE Felix was to just casting this before))

Avi: -WHISTLES- Breaking weather report: It's gonna be clear skies for the next seven minutes! : D!

Beck: (I had no idea Felix could DO that--!)

Pyro: --! Shade--?

[Shade wasn't faring well, but at least he was still standing--]

Shade: -Mngh...gimmie...gimmie a sec...-

Beck: -Runs up to Felix-

Beck: That was AWESOME! : D

[Felix gives a wry smile out of the corner of his mouth as he gets ready to take off on his phoenix, Arizona.]

Felix: Oh, you’ll be seeing it at least once more.

Shade: ...

Shade: [Sweatdrop] (Yew gotta be KIDDING me, how the HELL was I supposed to even SURVIVE that if he pulled that out way back when--)

Felix: -Looks behind him at the others, and at Shade in particular-

Felix: [...]

Felix: Farewell, my friends.

Felix: If fate is as kind to us now as it always has been, we will survive this... but not without one final, bitter price.

Felix: If it becomes relevant, then the Mars Clan will want to know what happened. Should that happen… let them know that I went down fighting.

Beck: --...

Brand: . . .

Pyro: ...-Nods- Acknowledged.

Shade: -...Tips hat down in respect- ...Ya got it, friend.

Avi: -Whirls propellers- Alright, Beckers-- buckle up and get ready for take off!

Beck: --Yeah, I--right. Roger that.

Felix: Take the lead. It’s time to put an end to this.

[Avi gives a thumbs up at the Venus Adept as he grabs Beck's arm and takes off, lifting both of them off of Sanda Tech's helipad.

Arizona crows loudly and gives off a jet of flame before taking to the sky.]

Pyro: (...Godspeed, Nine...)

Shade: Don't do anythin' stupid on the way there, Six--! You get back in one damn piece yerself!

Brand: ... (Good luck...)

Avi: LOVE YA TOO--

Beck: -Waves- I'll be back soon!

Beck: Promise!

[Avi turns his sights to the Colosseum and plots a course, eyeing for one spot on the arena in particular.]

Avi: Okay! The plan is to air drop Beck on the Colosseum roof!

Avi: The roof's shaped like a giant gear--we're gonna be aiming for the hole in the middle!

Felix: Sounds simple enough.

Avi: -Looks down at Beck- I can't exactly go in there myself, Beckaroni--so you're gonna have something of a rough landing. Use my form if you need to slow your descent, okay?

Beck: -Thumbs up- Roger, Avi!

Felix: -Squints- Looks like we have trouble incoming.

Avi: --!

[Looking down was becoming disorienting due to movement. It would appear that the Xel was already gathering again....]

Avi: Uh oh--

Beck: (Never...never seen so much Xel in one place...)

Beck: [Sweatdrop] (It's chaos...)

Beck: (I have to hurry...)

Felix: It won’t be too long before this becomes airborne, I should think.

Avi: -DEEP shudder of fear, nnnng...-

Felix: Peace, Avi—I left one Djinn for you specifically, in case something goes terribly wrong.

Avi: <'3 -Thanks, man...-

[He gestured sharply with his wrist, and one of the five Djinn following him floated over near Avi.]

Felix: This one is very powerful, and can heal just about every ailment. If we get separated on the way back, you can use it if you find need. It should listen to you.

Avi: -Waves to the Djinn- -Hi, I'm Avi- ^^

Beck: -Small smile-

Felix: Avi, bank to your left in a moment.

[He seemed to be surging with Venus energy again.]

Felix: Things are about to get intense in the streets.

[Volcanic jets of Venus Psynergy erupted from below, disrupting the clamor to engulf the building.]

Beck: (There won't be anything to save at this rate--!)

[Felix looked exhausted as he stopped—utterly drained, somehow.]

Avi: (...Man, he's gotta be running out of juice at this point...)

Avi: (And he STILL has to do the Judgement thing again...)

Beck: --!

Beck: -TUGS ON AVI—-

Beck: MIGHT WANNA GO FASTER—

Avi: ?

Felix: [!]

[Avi looks behind him just to see the shadow of something very big heading their way--]

Avi: -OH CRAP--

[A MASSIVE wave of infected Xel, rushing directly at the flying heroes will EVERY intent of swatting them RIGHT out of the sky--and a fall from this height would not only mean SERIOUS injury, but also crashing right into the THICK of the mass consuming the Colosseum!]

Felix: !!!

Avi: AAAH--

[Felix and Arizona take a hard acceleration to get up front.

Arizona screes and blasts quite a large portion of the advancing wave with Mars Psynergy, which takes on the appearance of a blanket of flames.]

Beck: UP!

Avi: -RIGHT--

[Avi shoots upwards to gain more altitude as they approach the Colosseum. The Xel Storm--now beginning to recover from the Judgement cast--almost seemed to hiss and screech at their presence.]

Avi: Approaching the drop zone--!

Felix: We won’t have time to slow down! Things are getting too obstructed!

Avi: [3 sweatdrops]

Avi: Told you it'll be a rough landing--

Beck: It's okay! Just aim for the center and let go!

Beck: I got your form on the ready if I need to adjust, just time it right!

Avi: 10-4, RudaBecka--

[Avi sets up to preform a fly-by the arena, and winces when he hears static and buzzing in his ears the closer and closer he gets.]

Avi: Mnng...

Avi: (This jamming signal is messing with my instruments--gotta go with my gut--)

Avi: Dropping in T-minus 6...5...4...

Avi: 3--

Avi: 2--

Avi: 1!

[Aviator lets his grip slip, and his core skips a few beats as he watches his youngest brother fall away, down, down into the half eaten arena's depths. He actively has to FIGHT the instinct to fly and grab him back, banking hard to the right to get a better view.]

Avi: (Come on come on come on--!)

[And to his surprise...

Beck didn't even need to use his form at all. It was a clean drop, right through the center of the opening!]

Avi: : D!!

Avi: HE'S IN--

Felix: [!][!][!]

Felix: MOVE—!

Avi: ?!

[The Xel had arched over behind them, creating a sickly dome that was rapidly closing.]

Avi: Oh sh--

Avi: RUN—!

Felix: Head straight home, Avi—! Destroy obstacles if you have to!

[Another SURGE of power—]

[Felix used JUDGEMENT!]

[The spiraling Djinn broke a hole right through the top of the dome!]

Felix: You first, GO—!

Avi: -SCREE--

[Bearing witness to the might of the Judgement cast not MINUTES AGO, Avi was NOT keen on being anywhere near the blast radius. He made a beeline for the new opening in the dome, blasting into his Jet mode now that he no longer had precious cargo to worry about.]

Avi: Not good not good NOT GOOD--

[He escapes, thankfully, and for a moment, he catches a small glimpse of his radio tower in the distance...

It was lighting up!]

Avi: !!!

Avi: (He did it!)

[The radio tower blinked with distinct signals suggesting it was Online and in use, no less.]

Avi: (I owe you guys one--!)

Avi: (For now--)

[For now, he needed to get home.]

Avi: -Looks back as he readjusts his course-

Avi: Felix--

[The Adept looked a bit exasperated that Avi was slowing down in even the slightest.]

Felix: Just go already, don’t—

[The Adept was cut short when the Xel coiled and lashed out at him. He was hit dead-on with so much force that it knocked him right off of his ride!]

Avi: [!] FELIX--!

Arizona: SCREEEEE!

[The phoenix dove after him, catching him briefly—but it was to no avail. Another strike hit, and the damage was so great that Arizona burst into nothing but flames, sending Felix into a freefall.]

Avi: NO--!

[There was a brief flash of dazed fear in the Adept’s eyes—an instinctive fear, one of the oldest and deepest fears.

And yet, it was also reflective of something chilling: a cold sense of acceptance and dread, and a familiarity suggesting he had been through this before… and was resigned to the outcome it would bring.]

Avi: Nononono--!

[All of this was visible only for a moment...

And then?

He was gone.]

Avi: FELIX!!

Avi: (I gotta--!)

[Ah, if only.]

[Fate had other plans, however.]

[The swarm of Xel dispersed once more, though it wouldn't be long before the storm reformed again--even now, it was trying to reconstitute itself, and Avi could almost FEEL the malice it exerted...]

Kkkk...

Avi: --!

<DLN-008>: > Avi!

Avi: Toby--! (I almost forgot we could still use comms between us--!)

<DLN-008>: > Avi hurry he’ll be fine he’s fallen off lots of things before and you need to hurry because that knight thing is getting ready to fire again—

[The vivid memory of what he had JUST witnessed flashed through Avi’s mind.]

Avi: I--right--

Avi: Roger that, heading home--

Avi: (Pleaaaaase be okay, Felix, mnng--!)

[With a final sweep of the streets below, Avi kicked his jets into high gear, blasting off towards Sanda Technologies with all due haste...]

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

=CHAPTER 4D: AVI’S NEWS REPORT=

~AO v1.0~

(Courtesy of @limitbreakers)

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

[MEANWHILE, SOMEWHERE IN IDAHO...]

[Jack had learned how to drive a lot of different vehicles in his on and off odd jobs--this pick-up truck was no exception. He STILL felt bad about taking something that wasn't his--]

Jack: (I'll have to write down the license plate and return it later...)

[...But Eli had a point.]

[This were dire times, and they called for drastic measures.]

Jack: ........

[The road was...]

[Empty.]

[...Desolate, even.]

Jack: (Creepy...)

Jack: (I...I guess everyone already evacuated the major cities...right?)

Jack: (.....It's--It's too quiet.)

Jack: (Maybe whoever owns this truck has some decent tunes...?)

[He found nothing in the glove compartment--but he did find some CDs in the compartment in the middle. No labels, though. Shrugging, Jack popped one of the plainer looking ones and loaded up Track 1.]

Jack: --Oookay, let's see what--

[RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH--]

[What followed was SO loud and so disorientating, Jack almost lost control of the truck. Luckily, he pushed mute before he became completely deaf.]

Jack: ....What the hell?

[...Apparently the owner was a fan of hardcore screamo.]

Jack: (Jeezus, I'm NOT gonna listen to that for who KNOWS how long...)

Jack: (I'm NOT risking my ears for the other CDs--maybe the radio has something good-)

[Click!]

"--Check, check one, check two! Sibilance, sibilance!"

Jack: (...Oh. Right. I forgot...)

"And now, live from Avi News World Headquarters, continuing coverage of...! BA DA DA DA...! NATION. IN. CRISIS!~"

Jack: Not exactly breaking news there, Six...

Jack: ......!!!

[Jack raises up the volume as he broadcast continues and unfolds...

It was a tense and harrowing broadcast, filled with harsh words from Avi, please from Beck—and then sudden, repeated interference, wherein Dyna screamed and strange music was played very loudly between bursts of static that were clearly Morse code.

It was soon clear that Beck was trying to take down Avi—alone!]

Jack: Oh God oh God--

[But he succeeded.

HE DID IT!]

[......]

[HOOOOOONK.]

Jack: HELL YEAH, KID, YA DID IT, WOO--!!

[As the comms were now officially freed from Avi's viral grasp, Jack honked the horn of the truck several times in cheer. The kid--Beck--man, the little guy-- who would've thought it?]

Jack: WOOOO HA--awwww man...!

Jack: Kid actually did it...

[It was nothing short of a miracle, in his eyes.]

[.......]

Jack: ........

Jack: (......)

Jack: (Maybe--I can try to contact Miss Eight...?)

Jack: (....No--she wouldn't answer, would she...)

Jack: (........Maybe I should get around to calling the Russians like Bird Guy said...?)

Jack: (....No, wait, bad idea--they'd probably try to stop me. Or try to teleport me out or something...)

Jack: (...I gotta let SOMEONE know I'm still kicking, though...)

Jack: ....

Jack: (...Ngh, screw it. Gotta take advantage of the comms before something ELSE goes screwy...)

[Jack rummages through his bag until he finds the burner phone, and scrolls though the list of contacts.]

[…It’s a very short list. There are only four numbers on it—

One for Dr. White, one for Dr. Cossack, one for a “Ms. Nighthawk,” and one that had a KCMO area code on it…]

Jack: ......

Jack: (Dr. White's there too--and Ms. Nighthawk...?)

Jack: (Must be someone important if Miss Eight put her there...)

Jack: (...Kay, then. Doc Cossack.)

[CALLING...]

[…It worked!

…but he got… voicemail. Aaaaand of course the message was in Russian, and suddenly—]

[BEEEEP!]

[…Oh, right—now it was recording—]

Jack: .....

[That...that was not a good sign.]

[Why wasn't he answering the phone?]

Jack: .....

Jack: Um...yeah, uh...Doctor Cossack...?

Jack: I--I don't know if you remember me or anything, but--it's...it's Den. Dencerjack.

Jack: ...Well, just Jack now but--yeah.

Jack: I...

Jack: The Bird Guy told me to call you guys but--

Jack: .....

Jack: I hope you guys are OK too--really sorta scaring me that you're not answering but--you're probably helping out or busy or...something.

Jack ...I hope.

Jack: I'm, uh...OK too. Sorta. Kinda. Almost died a couple of times--but I'm OK.

Jack: ......

Jack: I....

Jack: You probably think I'm stupid or crazy or something.

Jack: And in hindsight--

Jack: Iiiiiiii probably am.

Jack: You probably already figured out what I'm doing by now, I guess. If Double Dude didn't tell you--then again I didn't exactly tell him either, so.

Jack: .....

Jack: Please don't...

Jack: I...I have to know if she's OK.

Jack: I just have to.

Jack: ......

Jack: So...

Jack: Good luck, and...tell the Xel kid I'm rooting for him.

Jack: ....See ya.

[Click.]

[…About a minute later…]

DOOdootdootDOOdootdootDOOdootdooDOO dootdooDOOdoodoodooDOOdoodoo…

[…It was Korobeiniki!]

Jack: ...!?

Jack: (Holy crap holy crap--)

[ANSWER CALL.]

Jack: Doc??

[NOPE. Definitely not Doctor Cossack—]

“Mister Jack you ARE OKAY!”

[…Sooooomeone a lot younger. A little girl, to be precise.]

“I watched your match and if you are back that means Father can talk to his friend again!”

Jack: .....

Jack: (...Wait who's this...??)

“Where is мой герой?”

Jack: (--Father--?? Doc Cossack's a dad like--legitly?)

Jack: Uh--um--hold up, hold up--

Jack: Sorry, kid--I--I don't speak or understand Russian--sorry--

Jack: Is your...Dad there?

[A pause, as if she’s thinking on how to answer that. Eventually, she seems to come to a conclusion.]

“Papa is at work. He gave the phone to me so I could call him.”

[Another pause.]

“You said you had heard from ‘Bird Guy’—that is Mister Cardinal, da?”

Jack: Yeah, him, him. That guy. He told me to call you guys as soon as I could--which is now.

Jack: (Work--nah. He's probably helping out or something, yeah. Whew.)

Jack: Alright--miss, do me a favor and tell your dad I called, OK?

Jack: What about you--are you somewhere safe?

[Another pause, with muffled sounds of talking. Then an eager return.]

“Yes! I am with the Nighthawks. Papa is in the Meadow working on Tobias and helping learn about the virus. Where is Mister Cardinal?”

Jack: (Ah, knew it--guess that's the Nighthawks I saw on the contacts...)

Jack: I....I don't know, miss. He called me from Kansas City, but I don't think he's there anymore.

Jack: ...I'm sorry.

[Russian complaining as she’s clearly holding the phone away from her face to talk to the other person there. Sounds of others talking in the background, and then more agitated Russian, with Shade’s name thrown in there several times.]

Jack: (Oooooohkaaaay...)

“It’s okay, Kalinka—He rescued you, I’m sure he can handle himself—”

[More Russian.]

“Is Jack still on the line?”

“…! OH! Oops…”

[Aaaand she’s back.]

“Sorry, Mister Jack. I was distracted.”

Jack: (Yeah, I could hear you from here--)

Jack: Um, it's fine, Miss...Kalinka.

“Where are you? Are you in America?”

Jack: Uuuuh....

Jack: .....

Jack: -Somewhat nervously- Y-Yeeeaah, right. USA. Got there through the Meadow and Wilderness.

[Cheerful talking in the background.]

“Ms. Ky says that you are clever to take the Wilderness shortcut, and is very curious where you ended up.”

[Another pause.]

“…And that the highways might be dangerous?”

Jack: I...um.

Jack: . . .

Jack: Yeah, got it. I'll be careful.

Jack: I...ended up somewhere REAL rainy. Uh. Yeah.

Jack: (Iiiii don't know how much I can tell this kid with the other person with her...)

Jack: It's been...a real experience.

[A bit of a pause.]

“…Will you come back soon? And be safe in the Meadow, da?”

Jack: ......

Jack: Sure, Miss.

Jack: I'll be back.

Jack: (...In one piece, hopefully...)

“Okay. I’ll let my older brother know to make you some ice cream! Be safe, Mister Jack! Bye now.”

[Click.]

Jack: ....

Jack: Yeah...

Jack: -SIGHS-

[The CherryDyn Number runs a nervous hand over silvery locks, driving further into the highway that ran through the state. If he kept going, he'd eventually hit Utah...]

Jack: Hooo jeez...

Jack: (Gotta stay away from the bigger interstates--THAT one's probably got some remote control cars and if the virus got THOSE...)

[At least there wasn't any traffic here...so far.]

Jack: (OK, time to think, Jack...)

Jack: (Miss Eight's gonna go after her own brother--but WHERE could he be is the question...)

Jack: (Seven, Seven...)

Jack: (Brandish, sword guy. He can cut ANYTHING, they say. Oh, man...)

[Seeing as he had little to go on, Jack once again turned on the radio. News reports were flooding airwaves at last as he kept driving onwards--they were mostly damage reports and warnings...]

Jack: (Nothing new there...)

Jack: (Come ON, there has to be SOMETHING--Anything--!)

"Robots are still going berserk across the country--"

Click.

"We implore any fleeing civilians to please be safe and stay away from--"

"--Susan if you can hear this PLEASE CALL ME WE'RE SO WORRIED--"

"--We have confirmation of havoc caused by a rouge robot directly attacking--"

"CherryDynamics has confirmed that communications have been restored--"

Jack: (--!!)

Jack: Wait what was that--

Click.

"--Highway Alpha 6 is under attack, I repeat, Highway Alpha 6 is under attack--Eyewitnesses have spotted a rouge robot destroying vehicles with no regard to innocent life--"

Jack: ...?

"We have reports that the rouge robot is armed with bladed weapons and is currently in the Four Corners area--"

Jack: --!!!

Jack: (Wow--that HAS to be the most luck I've gotten in all this...)

Jack: (It's gotta be Seven--gotta be...!)

[Four Corners...that wasn't TOO far from here...]

Jack: (Wherever she is--she's probably heading there now, if she isn't already--)

Jack: (I hope this thing can handle going a hu--)

[KEERRRRRRRK--]

Jack: ......

Jack: YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME--

[.....That sound--and the smoke coming from the bottom of the hood certainly weren't very good signs.]

[It was official--]

[Jack had the worst luck in the entire world, and he was not afraid of screaming his frustration into the steering wheel.]

Jack: (Why--WHY.)

[After sitting in despair for a couple of minutes, Jack stepped out of the truck, slammed the door, and walked to the smoking engine.]

[A BLAST of black soot and heat pounded his face.]

Jack: Uuuugh, please let it not be the battery...

[...Nope, wasn't the battery at all.]

[It was the cooling system--he ran out of water.]

Jack: (Greaaaaat, it overheated...)

Jack: (Guess I gotta fix it--though, where am I gonna get some water...?)

Jack: (First there was too MUCH of it back in Seattle and now there's not enough...tch...)

Jack: (Uuugh, let's see, let's see--)

[He scours the back, but no such luck. Eventually, he decides to check the cooler that was given to him.]

Jack: (...! Yes...! Some gallons--nice and cool, too, okay...)

[Once again popping open the hood, he starts pouring in the water, looking over anything else he needs to fix...]

Jack: (Fuel line looks OK, battery is good...)

[......]

[Virrrrrrrr...]

Jack: ...?

[What was that noise...?]

[VIRRRRRR.....]

Jack: .....!

[In the distance, he could JUST make out a few vehicles heading this way--at a rather fast pace, actually.]

Jack: (Huh...)

Jack: (Wonder if they're from Seattle too--)

[TH-WANG!]

Jack: --?!?

[Was that--]

[TH-WHAG!]

Jack: (G-Gunfire!)

[One of the bullets managed to stray off and hit the hood of the truck, causing Jack to yelp in terror.]

Jack: (Are--Are they shooting AT me??)

Jack: (Oh my God what did I DO--)

[With no desire to find out, Jack slammed the hood down and scrambled for the wheel, quickly putting on his seat belt and--]

[CHRRRRRR--]

Jack: (Come on START ALREADY--!!)

[TH-WANG!]

[Another shot bounced off the roof of the car--!]

[The engine turned over at last--]

Jack: (FINALLY THANK YOU--)

[He FLOORS it, back on the road, adjusting his rearview mirror in order to spot the shooters in the vehicles behind him--which were catching up FAST.]

Jack: .... Wait a sec--

[Were those... motorcycles? ]

Jack: Nonono--

[A group of about 7 motorcycles, of all kinds, tearing though the highway at speeds that FAR exceeded the legal limit. Gunfire rang out into the sky, as well as the asphalt around Jack's stolen truck.]

Jack: (CRAP, THEY'RE GONNA SHOOT OUT THE TIRES--)

Jack: (I gotta outrun them--no WAY am I gonna get pulled over and mugged by some motor gang--!)

Jack: (Not when I'm this close...!)

Jack: (Alright, weird, magic bag that I still don't have any idea how you work--)

Jack: (Do you got ANYTHING that can help me deal with these guys...??)

[Jack drove unsteadily, swerving with one hand on the wheel as he rummaged in the bag blindly with the other. He somehow reached past the cooler—as he flicked his hand, something new would come within reach each time.]

[Okay… there was the cooler, the lantern, the bedding stuff, some sort of first-aid kit, some… feathers? (Huh?)]

Jack: .....

Jack: (What the fraaaag--?? What IS that--)

Jack: (Something--cool...and--)

Jack: OW--ow what was that--?? (Feels like I pricked myself--??)

[Then he grasped what seemed to be a squishy disc. It sure seemed to be giving off a lot of heat, though…]

Jack: (....E-Ew--)

[After glancing backwards and wincing a bit at the gunfire around him, Jack pulls out the squishy-like disk....]

Jack: .....-Sniff...?-

Jack: Oil...?

Jack: . . .

Jack: ....!

[Oil--!]

[If he threw it out the window just right--]

[VIRRRRRRRRRRRRR--!!]

"GET 'EM, BOYS--!"

Jack: (SCRAPSCRAPSCRAP--)

[With one swift movement, Jack looked out the window--the glass was already down--and threw the sticky disk far out behind him!]

Jack: (Hope this works---!!)

[The rush of speed-created wind practically ripped the disc out of his hands. As the pursuers were not that far behind, there was no way it could miss. And indeed—]

-SPACK!-

[—It splattered all across the ground, running oil all over the road—]

"OH SH--"

"[FRAAAAAG--]"

"WHA--"

[C R A S H--!!!]

[And then said oil caught on FIRE.]

Jack: .....

Jack: (OH MY GOD.)

Jack: UM--

Jack: SORRYYYY!

[The motor gang had slipped on the oil, crashed into each other--and was now trying to put out the flames from their clothes and rides. They cursed after Jack as he sped away, leaving them in his dust.]

Jack: (Iiiii really hope the bikes don't explode or anything--)

[B O O M !]

Jack: -SWERVES-

Jack: HOLY FRAG--

Jack: Oh my God I made them explode--

Jack: What in the HELL IS IN THIS MAGIC BAG?!

Jack: When I drive far enough I am gonna really look through this thing, darn it--

Jack: (I really hope those guys are OK oh man--)

Jack: Frag frag now I have oil flare things and who knows what in the truck--great--just what I needed--

Jack: Lord Almighty--Miss Eight why can't you just call me or something, so I at least know you're alive or something--anything--

[The CDN continued to grumble, fidget, and slightly panic as he turned into the interstate--Highway Alpha 12.]

[...They said that Seven was in Alpha 6, much further ahead...]

[This was gonna take a while.]

Jack: (Almost there, Miss Eight...)

Jack: (Just--a little further...!)

Jack: (Just a little more and then...)

Jack: ......

Jack: .....

[...And then?]

[He didn't think he'd get this far.]

[What was he gonna do IF Carmen WASN'T well at all?]

[What chance did he have against the world's best assassin?]

[The world's best hunter gone completely MAD?]

Jack: . . .

Jack: (...She's...gonna try to kill me, isn't she?)

Jack: (Hell, SIX didn't have ANY problem with air striking his own little brother...)

Jack: (If I get in her way...)

Jack: .......

————————

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

[A pause.]

[color=Brick] “ …” [/color]

[color=Brick] “John 15:13.” [/color]

-*-*-

Siam: He…

Gemini: Heh… he…

Siam: -Regretfully, in a way- Of course he would do that…

Jack: ......

Jack: M'sorry...

Gemini: -Softly- “No one has greater love than this…”

Siam: “…to lay down one's life for one's friends.”

Jack: --!

Jack: .....

Jack: (Miss Eight...)

————————

Jack: ........

Jack: (...God, Miss Eight would never forgive herself if--if she...)

Jack: . . .

Jack: "No one has greater love than this..."

Jack: . . .

Jack: (...I...I think I get what you were trying to say now, Bird Guy...)

Jack: (Jeez...)

Jack: (You'd BETTER come back alive, too...)

[He floors it.]

Jack: (I don't think either of them would forgive themselves if we kicked the bucket and it's by THEIR own hands...)

Jack: (....)

Jack: (...Never had good odds.)

Jack: (Never had real good luck.)

Jack: (But I think, for once, I'd like to beat those odds.)

Jack: (I'll DRAG Miss Eight back if I have to--!)

Jack: (Dying--that's not an option.)

Jack: (Not for me OR her...!)

Jack: (I don't care if you'll try and shoot me dead--)

Jack: (I can't...I can't let you do this...!)

Jack: (I won't LET you!)

——————————

{MEANWHILE…}

[She grinned as she walked away from the scene.

Sure, it hadn’t been her cause, but still. He deserved it.

She hadn’t even given Gravecrasher the honor of one of her lipstick darts. Let him be another nameless victim, for all she cared.

He had paid his dues, and danced /oh/ so well.

It was time to continue elsewhere.]

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

=PROLOGUE D: IT ALL BEGINS NOW=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes & @super-tired-robot))

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

[There was the briefest moments of pause as the question sank in.]

[Where was Cardinal, indeed? He had been neither seen nor heard during the entire sequence, never once voicing his opinion or declaring his resolve.

The question Will had asked was heavier than it seemed. For Cardinal was not the sort of man who would sit by in a crisis.]

Mikhail: … You mean he's not with YOU?

[The fact that he was missing…]

Will: HE SPENT THE NIGHT HERE, HE WENT TO THE COLOSSEUM—!

Mikhail: He WHAT?!

[…could only mean that he was currently in grave danger.]

Siam: No…! No no no no no no no—

Will: My God, if he was there when they all—!

Mikhail: He would have gone into the sands, Will!

Mikhail: He would have tried to stop it—!

Will: —My God, you're right—!

Will: Beck—Beck, you were there—do you remember what happened?

Beck: Ghnn...

[Beck shuts his eyes tightly as he struggled to grab anything from his fragmented memories of the match.]

Beck: I...remember...Cards...

Will: —!

Beck: Yelling...yelling at Shade...

Beck: 'Not leaving you behind...'

Beck: Hnn...I'm sorry, that's it...I really can't remember anything else...!

Soi: ohhhNO—

Beck: Cards–!

<RMDC>: >ERROR: DLN-000 SIGNAL NOT FOUND.

[There was no response.]

Siam: WHERE IS HE?!

Mikhail: SHUT DOWN THE TELEPORTERS, NOW!

Mikhail: For all that is good in the world, PLEASE let him be in the lab—!

Will: Beck—

Beck: He’s not answering—!

Soi: -pANIIIIC-

[Nico was hovering by now, eyes glowing in distress.]

Nico: I thought he’d been awfully reserved from his usual commentary—!

Will: He….oh no…he must…he must have…!

[…Nearly all of the Mighty Numbers had been taken by the virus…]

[…Including Countershade.]

Beck: He’s gone after Shade–!

Soi: –IS HE SERIOUS–

Skull: … -With surprising amount of emotion for him- {My God.}

Keltso: -Also with surprising amount of emotion, though it’s clearly more on the “anger” side than the “fear” side- {We should have seen this coming, they’re practically twins.}

Will: … … …

Skull: …

Keltso: -rAEG- {CARDINAL!}

Keltso: {YOU SELFISH BASTARD—!}

Keltso: {WE NEEDED YOU HERE, DAMMIT—}

Digger: -OI, OI, WE DO NOT CALL THE COUSIN WHO SAVED OUR LIVES SUCH NAMES— -

Keltso: {THEY HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING!}

Keltso: THEY’RE GOING TO THINK HE’S AN INFECTED XELBOT, JUST LIKE THE OTHERS—

Keltso: My God, your military is going to KILL HIM!

Will: … … ….

Beck: NO!

Soi: Will, what is Eight’s status?!

Will: … …

Will: I… I don’t know.

[There is dismayed shouting.]

Will: It’s COUNTERSHADE, Soi! I don’t KNOW!

[After a few moments, the feed abruptly cut to the Meadow Lab.

Drawers and equipment lay scattered everywhere, as if the place had been raided.

…Which was an apt description. Not only was Cardinal gone…]

Siam: -Cries out in alarm, rushing over- NO! THE RESEARCH!

[Nico’s system screeched in feedback as they looked in dismay on the empty units.

All the E-Tanks AND the Power Capsules were… gone.

Even the prototypes of the Tanks that Siam had been trying to make.

Cardinal had cleared the place out.]

Mikhail: He took the ENTIRE emergency stock with him—?!

Nico: Has he lost his MIND?!

Keltso: -Hotly- What the glitch does he think he’s DOING?!

Skull: -Eyes burning- He’s going to get himself killed.

Mikhail: My God, we’ve got to get him out of there—

Gemini: I can’t find his signal—!

Will: I have NOTHING on this side either—!

Soi: -sCRAMBLING FOR THE TERMINAL-

Beck: -REPEATEDLY PINGING CARDS, PLEASE ANSWER-

Tobias: I’m going to FIND him!

Beck: But—! But he’s not answering, and his signal—!

Tobias: -Sparking up, eyes starting to glow an aggressive green- You’ll need a REAL communications expert to find that man! Just wait and SEE how it’s—

KKKKKKKKKKKT…

Tobias: !?

“Aaaaaaaand just WHAT do you think you’re doing on MY airwaves, huh?”

Will: !!!

Beck: Avi—!

Tobias: Avi?

Shadow: -Immediate suspicion- Aviator, where are you?

“Woah woah woah now! One caller at a time! I’m not talking to any of you—juuuuuust the tresspasser.”

Skull: ({I really do not like where this is going…})

Tobias: Avi, what are you doing?! I need access to some radio towers if we’re going to find my brother!

“HA! You crack me up, Caller number 2. See, those are my towers now! And I’m not about to lease them out to amateurs.”

Tobias: -Takes a step back, deeply hurt by the insult- D:

Beck: Avi, no—! He’s your friend, don’t you—don’t you recognize him?

“HMMMM maybe I do, maybe I don’t! Nobody is getting any favors, though.”

[The view on the screens distorted and cut to footage being taken by a sky cam. After a moment, Avi himself swooped into view.]

Avi: Besides! You’d be wasting your time. And more importantly, wasting MINE!

Will: That’s enough, Aviator White! You will stop that RIGHT NOW and /COME HOME!/

Mikhail: ! (I’ve never seen him show his temper!)

[Apparently this came as a surprise to Avi as well, though his response was far less enthusiastic.]

Avi: …What.

Will: -Firmly, but more calmly now- Avi, listen to me. You need to come home immediately.

Will: You’re sick right now, but we can fix that—

[The airplane rolled his eyes and interjected.]

Avi: Not interested!

Beck: A-Avi! We just want to—!

Avi: Yeah, yeah, your handsome host heard the whole heartfelt exchange!

Keltso: -Hisses- You WHAT?

Avi: Yeah, I was there for that OH-so-dramatic promise to “save” everybody.

Avi: Stellar performance... but a classic example of a naïve delusion without basis in reality.

Beck: —!

Soi: N-now hold on a minute here! Six, let’s be reasonable—

Avi: Oh?

[His eyes widened, and then he looked up to the clouds in thought.]

Beck: (That… that actually worked—?)

Avi: Nah. I’d rather not mingle with the common crowd when I’ve got a show to run.

Beck: Avi, please!

Avi: Here’s the thing, Beckaroni—

Avi: NOBODY is coming home.

“You’re LYING!”

[Everyone turned toward the tiny Robot Master as he swept his brothers aside with sudden jutting sheets of ice.]

Snow: -Walking toward the monitor- EVERYBODY is coming home! Beck said so, and that means—

Avi: Haven’t you ever heard of waiting your turn, kid? Or better yet: “children should be seen, not heard!” Looks like your dad did a poor job of raising you. But hey, what can you expect from—

Keltso: Insult him and I promise on my mother’s grave that I will PERSONALLY hunt you down and make you regret it.

Avi: Ooooo, how scary! Big talk from someone who’s been forbidden to interfere!

Shadow: -Hotly- Six, we do not have time for your tomfoolery! If you refuse to comply, then buzz off!

Avi: Points for effort in your pun, space ninja! But sounds like you weren’t listening. NOBODY. Is coming. Home.

Shadow: -MUCH darker than anyone has ever heard from him, almost a distorted GROWLING- False.

Avi: Want me to PROVE it to you?

Mikhail: -Warily- …What do you mean by that?

Avi: Nothing big! If Caller Number 2 would back off, I can get you in touch with none other than everyone’s faaaavorite sword master, Brandish himself! He’s always been obsessed with obeying the rules, after all.

[There was abrupt static, and then—]

[PING!]

Will: ! (Brand’s signal! It’s—!)

[Everyone could feel it now.]

Shadow: -Ping- {M…Master Brandish?}

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

[The static faded out, only to be replaced by other background noise.]

Shadow: -Muted concern- {Master Brandish, can you hear us?}

[MN.7] //: {Ngh—!! Sh-Shadow...?!}

[For a brief moment, the dark anger that had a permanent place on Shadow’s face lifted, giving way to a visage of hopefulness and relief.]

Shadow: Sensei! {I am so relieved to get back in contact with you!}

[MN.7] //: {Where… where are—where are you—? Are you— nngh! Are you— afflicted—?}

Shadow: {No more than usual, but we are in trouble! You have no idea the turmoil that this chaos is throwing us into—!}

Shadow: {We need your help—}

[MN.7] //: {nO—}

Shadow: —???

[MN.7] //: -DISTRESSED PINGING, SCREAMS IN THE BACKGROUND-

[Despair. Horror.]

[MN.7] //: {NO—NONONO!}

Shadow: !

[…Fear.

…It was not something that Shadow was familiar with, but he felt it now, as plain as the moon.

Fear. Overwhelming, growing FEAR.]

Shadow: N-nan desu ka?

Shadow: {Sensei, what are you saying—?}

[MN.7] //: {NGH—}

[MN.7] //: .....

[MN.7] //: -Distorted- Must slice...must dice...

Beck: N-nii-san!

[MN.7] //: —aAAARGH—NO! I—MY BLADES—!

[MN.7] //: Stay— stay out of harm's way, I can't—! I can't control—!

[Okay, now Shadow was beginning to panic.

He tried to lock onto Brandish’s signal, his eyes glowing a panicked, brighter red than normal.]

Shadow: {Sensei! For the love of the Lord Father, WHERE ARE YOU?!}

[MN.7] //: {I CAN'T—I CAN'T—!!}

Shadow: {NO! YOU MUST!}

[MN.7] //: {It's—! It's too late, Shadow! Can't… can't break free…!}

[Shadow wasn’t ready to accept that this was over.]

<DWN-024>: > {Tell me where you are, Sensei! I will come help y—}

[MN.7] //: {NO!}

<DWN-024>: > —?!?!!!

[MN.7] //: {It—is too LATE for me now, kohai! Won't—bring you down with me into this— torment—!}

<DWN-024>: > {PLEASE! I BESEECH YOU!}

[MN.7] //: {F-FORGIVE ME—!}

[MN.7 HAS BLOCKED DWN-024.]

[…Silence.]

Shadow: -Just. Speechless.-

Shadow: (No…)

[An error message then pops up as he falls to his knees.]

Snow: Sh-Shadow?!

>A problem has been detected and AI_DWN_024 has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. All unsaved data has been lost.

The problem seems to be caused by the following programs: BetaEmotions.exe, RMDatabase.exe

If this is the first time you have seen the Stop error screen, restart your chassis—

GOING INTO STASIS…

[Shadow’s eyes went dark as he collapsed and he remained motionless.]

Snow: Shadow, no! You hafta wake up!

“See? What did I tell you?”

Snow: -Looks up- …

Avi: Waste of time!

[At that, Snow started to cry.]

Will: Avi! You stop—

[Avi suddenly FLARED up with aura, flames flickering.]

Avi: -Darkly- Stop WHAT, you wet noodle? I’M only doing what any self-respecting reporter would do: giving people the TRUTH!

Tobias: ENOUGH!

[There was a high pitched screeching noise and a blast of data that felt like a loud note from subwoofers turning on.]

Beck: @~@!

Tobias: I’m getting REALLY FED UP with your STUPID INTERFERENCE!

[He was surrounded by visible static, his voice raising into outright shouting.]

Tobias: STOP IGNORING ME, AVI, AND /GET OUT OF MY WAY!/

Avi: Ooo, SOMEone seems spicy today! Wow. Talk about blowing a fuse! HA! Get it?

Tobias: (Ngggh…! Can’t… can’t let the cross-references distract me, not now!)

Tobias: Very funny, Avi.

Tobias: Hilarious.

Avi: Thaaaaanks. I practice~

Tobias: Kate would shoot you for something like that, you know! -Clearly annoyed-

Avi: ….

Avi: Who?

Beck: C-come on! Remember? Bon Jovi? Like Shade, but a girl? You’re her favorite, Avi—!

Avi: Ooooooh, you mean Caller Number 1 from eeeeaaaarlierrrr today!

Jack: What?

[Jack was suddenly at the forefront, grabbing at the screen.]

Jack: She called you?

Avi: Well, would ya look at that. Toy boy himself! Ha...!

Jack: (What?)

Avi: What can I say? Unlike you, I’m in demand.

Jack: Cut the [scrap], Six!

Avi: Hey now, mind your language around the kiddies! Though you should really send that crybaby off before he throws a temper tantrum.

Tobias: HEY! THAT’S MY BROTHER YOU’RE—

[Avi shifts into helicopter form so he can make gestures.]

Avi: AH AH AH, NOT YOUR TURN ANYMORE.

Avi: Yeah, that lady DID place a call earlier this morning! Came shouting in my ear with a list of demands, of course… because what else can you EXPECT from the likes of her…

Jack: Grr—!

Avi: She was screaming and throwing a bit of a fit herself, wanting her own way! She wouldn’t shut up until I reminded her of what she WAS.

Jack: (N-no!)

Avi: And ya know what the best part was? The last line RHYMED.~ MAN, I am so good...

[Jack grabbed at the corners of the screen, snarling in rage.]

Jack: Why YOU—

Avi: She couldn’t handle the TRUTH, of course. Screamed a couple of times before running off.

Beck: …!!!

Beck: (That—! That screaming from earlier!)

Beck: (That was HER?!)

Jack: Where is she?!

Avi: How should I know? She’s off SULKING! Probably venting her denial by picking off people she hates, one! By! One!

Avi: After all, that’s what she’s BEST at....and ALL that she’s GOOD FOR!

Jack: I'm gonna [GLITCHFRAG] BASH YOUR HEAD IN—

[He was abruptly yanked back by Speedy, who had sheathed his drawn boomerangs for now-

Speedy: -AAAAAAAND we’re holding Tigerboy Spiderman back- MIGHT WANT TO RECONSIDER THAT, DUDE, JUST SAYIN’—

[Jack wouldn’t have any of it.

Jack: -I’M GONNA TEAR HIM APART— HE HURT HER— -

Speedy: DUDE WHEN YOU GET MESSED UP FIGHTING RICK, SHE’S GONNA GO NUTS AND TAKE IT OUT ON US!

Avi: Yup! : D

[The plane gave a finger-gun point at Jack… literally.]

Avi: Jeez, what does she even SEE in you? A Cherry AND a loser? Wow. I'm actually impressed. Ya know. For a little leaguer like you.

Jack: [FRAG] YOU.

Avi: -Snort-

Speedy: Geez man don’t make me slice you to prove a point—

Avi: Ya might wanna take his advice, there, Jack-in-the-box.

Avi: Aaaas much as I would LOVE to see what makes YOU tick, Jackie Boy, even I know when I'm pushing my luck.

Avi: But don't worry—

Avi: You can always catch me on the air!~ ;D

Jack: -STRUGGLES-

[Beck couldn’t take any more of this.]

Beck: Avi! Please, stop!

Beck: It doesn’t have to be like this! You can end this! We don’t have to fight—!

Avi: Yeah, I can end it, alright.

[He gives a wave and then a shooing gesture.]

Avi: That's all for today, folks! Tune in next time! Buh-bye!

Tobias: THAT’S IT!

[The boy slammed his hand onto the control panel, causing the entire mainframe to sizzle with electricity.

Mikhail: Tobias—!

Tobias: You’re wasting our TIME, AVI! If you don’t move aside right now, then I WILL -MAKE- YOU RESTORE COMMS!

Tobias: LET ME THROUGH, GLITCHFRAG IT, I’M SHORT ON PATIENCE HERE!

Avi: Eeeeeeh….

Avi: Ugh, I dunno–see, I got a script to stick to? And uh, all the roles are filled in. Sorry, dude! ^.^

[…

Tobias really WAS starting to lose patience. He seethed.]

Avi: BUT.

Tobias: -Train of thought derailed- —?

Avi: I thiiiiink I can.... prooobably....

Avi: Squeeze you into a short segment....

Tobias: -Gives off abrupt data of discomfort and dread- (Why does that sound… really really bad…?)

Avi: How about this, caller number 2?~

[Suddenly—]

[MN.6 HAS ENTERED COMBAT DATA MODE. RESTRICTIONS: NONE.]

Avi: You wanna be my intern for a while?!

>WARNING! WARNING! DATA OVERLOAD!

[The bright-eyed Industrial staggered back from the controls with a shaky gasp. The world had started to go faint for a moment, and now he could barely hear anything. There was so much noise— he could hear so many broadcasts, so many frequencies— cascades of code reds and fatal errors—]

Tobias: Avi! PLEASE! STOP—!

Nico: -Rushes to Tobias’s side- Wh-what’s he doing?!

Will: He's trying to forcibly overload him—! It's—

Will: Avi, stop this! PLEASE!

Will: (I have to do something—!)

[Despite his best efforts, Will found that the RMDC branch server was causing too much interference. Numerous cross-references kept popping up all over the place, preventing him from getting anywhere.]

Tobias: S-STOOOOOOOPPPP!

[The data was fought back—forcefully. It seemed that the electric Industrial was not unfamiliar with fighting aggressive data.

He fought back with his own biting aggression, with the unbroken willpower he'd garnered from his father—with the disdain and scorn, the blinding pride, the bitterness—]

Avi: Nope! Can’t have you snooping around on the feeds, no sirree!

[—But no! It had no effect!

Tobias reeled, clutching his head in pain at a surge of possessive data. Something was tugging at him, trying to force him to submit. To surrender. To surrender everything.

He was sparking up in self-defense now as he went into overdrive, which earned a VERY pained cry from his younger brother.]

Avi: I got big, big plans, Caller. Avi News is gonna go GLOBAL!

[Tobias's own firewalls flared, but he could not escape so easily. He was burning up in fever as the onslaught pressed on.

It was not so much the blunt attempt to send them into a rage, like it had been earlier—no, this was a battle of control that was far worse than that. The demand to submit was pressing on his mind—this time, with the force of weight of enough data to threaten to overtake him. It was as if there were thousands—no, hundreds of thousands of different wills, and a horrific static—]

Tobias: Nggh—!

Tobias: NO!

Tobias: NO YOU WON’T!

[But he wasn't infamous as a data master for nothing. He kept his own mind despite the noise, and he wasn't about to let his voice go unheard.

He was… actively blocking data that his system was trying to send out, too. It wasn't reaching any of his brothers, nor the server itself—he had in effect locked himself in single combat against it.]

Tobias: I won’t give up! I’ll MAKE you get out of my way!

[A surge of spurning willpower.

The stubborn willpower of a Doctor Wily Number—the unflinching kind they inherited from their father.

The data crackled with irritation, drawing up power as it lashed out.

This seemed to have some sort of effect, even if minimal—for his refusal to submit and relinquish his resources was of no small amount of annoyance.

His probing tendrils sought to undermine the data stream, to hijack the IMMENSE power to be his own. He was pouring all his concentration into the matter, practically to the level that rivaled being in the Cloud. The struggle to break through finally seemed to pay off—he suddenly felt as if he had grabbed hold of Avi himself, somewhere in there—]

Will: ?!

Will: (What… what is this CODING?)

[Will stared in disbelief at the flashes of data across his screen. For a brief moment, here and there, he could see lines of active data—and some of it was brand new, Xel-based coding he had never seen before…]

Will: (Th-this is—!)

[Data being generated by a Robot Master using a XEL chassis.]

Will: (How is this POSSIBLE?)

Tobias: YOU… WILL… S T O P!!

[…And yet, he wasn’t REALLY giving it his all—that much was obvious. For even after the connection had been made… nothing happened, and the data storm continued to wail.

Tobias was holding back, for some reason.

And he was going to pay for it.]

Avi: Jeez—you’re really a spicy one! I’m actually impressed!

Avi: Man, this is JUST like that one movie I watched last Tuesday–the hero, on the brink of defeat, suddenly finds within himself the strength to win!

Tobias: Grr…!

[A blast of raw emotional data screamed along the connection. These words had incited a BITTER sense of guilt and regret, of self-hate—]

Avi: —!!

Avi: NGH—

[Avi recoiled in pain as true aggression rose—the uncoiling power that was the fallen mastermind's favorite, unfettered—]

Tobias: -VERY bitterly- I’m no hero.

Tobias: BUT I STILL WON’T LET YOU DO THIS.

[The hate, the sheer HATE that burned, burned the sick airplane subsided, replaced by a meek and hurting fear.]

Tobias: I… I c-can’t let you make my mistakes…!

Avi: Ow…OK…yeah, that hurt…

[For a moment, the noise was starting to die down. Relieved, Tobias started to relax. In doing so, he slipped further into sorrow.]

Tobias: …

Tobias: S-sorry…

Tobias: Nggh…! Now… please, stop!

Tobias: -Faintly, as if tired and vulnerable- Stop…

Avi: … …

Tobias: …A-Avi…?

[…Data.]

[…It…was Avi’s data, yes, but… so much darker.]

Tobias: -Wha— -

[Anger.]

Avi: That…hurt.

Avi: NOW YOU’RE GONNA GET IT!

[Tobias was suddenly slammed with signals. They weren’t just conversational—they were trying to get inside his head, mess with his mind! They were burrowing deep into his psyche, tripping off flags left and right, feeding on his fear, his desperation—]

Tobias: -SCREE OF FEAR- NO, AVI, STOP! YOU DON’T KNOW—!

[He never did finish his warning.

“You don’t know what you’re getting into…!”]

Tobias: -SCREAMS-

[He was writhing in agony on the ground, overcome with painful disorientation as he fought off the attempt to seize control.

The sheer volume was blinding, every bit of it bad. His web of control was suddenly being used to restrain him, to pin him down in his mind—a prisoner of his own memories, stabbing at his Awareness with thousands of shards of information that matched internal cross-references—chipping away at his immense processing power that was being used to fight this all off—!]

[He was almost in tears—tears of despair—as he fruitlessly tried so very hard to overthrow the invasion without harming his best friend.

He couldn't—he just couldn't keep this up, he was caving—]

Avi: HA!

[Almost… almost—!]

Tobias: -ERROR…-

[There was an audible SNAP of electricity as his defenses gave way. The link that he had established to try and take control was pulsing with seething, predatory intent.]

Avi: Aaaand that’s a wrap!

[And then—then it was everywhere. Noise… false data, dragging him in, trying to dissolve him—]

Tobias: Please…

[He could not be consumed, even as the sick malice seeped into every fiber of his memory. His resistance was gone, and what little will he had left was spent trying to hang on to his Awareness and individuality.]

Tobias: -Distantly- S-stop… Avi, please…

Avi: You just don’t know how to LISTEN, do ya? I said NO.

Beck: Avi! STOP—!

[The threads of his awareness flicked and shriveled under the weight of red flags.]

KKKKSSST!

[The roaring weight of the data hearkened back to the worst of memories—not just his, but those of his brothers. His attempts to prevent the memories from going live had bravely protected the others by isolating his current experience from the server… but he could not hold out for much longer. As soon as the cross-references went live, he would be lost.]

Avi: NOW SHUT UP.

Avi: There’s nothing you can do against ME, anyway! BWHAHAHAHA!

Nico: Mikhail! Do something!

Mikhail: I’m TRYING—!

[Tobias desperately wanted to keep Aviator from gaining access to his neural network. There was no telling what damage that might cause to his family, due to the nature of their almost hive-like minds. And more than that—he just knew that Avi really was not prepared for what he would be getting into.

He fought back against the demands to remember—he valiantly resisted against recalling the deep darkness.

But he was tired. So tired. He couldn’t withstand both the assault and the barrage of cross-references that this disaster was sending live. It just truly reminded him of days long past.

…He weakened.]

>ANALYZING DATA…

[It only took that one moment of weakness. That one moment of being rendered helpless, unable to fight back.

And in that moment…]

>NEURAL LINK VERIFIED

[His own firewall gave way, too broken and lag-ridden to continue to function. The Awareness was being choked out of him, and he could feel it dimming. His lifeless willpower was almost gently arranged into place, as in its stead…]

Avi: Finally...

>User access level update acknowledged. MNN-006 has been registered as RMDC native. Access to DLN-008 user data granted. Authorization code: DLN-008.

[Mighty Number Six overtook his mind.]

>COMMAND ACCEPTED

[The invasive, annoyingly persistent obstacle was HIS, now—]

Avi: You're mine—

> WARNING: DATA ERROR DETECTED.

> ERROR IDENTIFIED: SUBCLASS “VOICE"—AWARENESS PROGRAMS

> REPORT DETAILS: Multiple Awareness programs detected. This system does not support Awareness plurality.

> DATA STREAM CANCELED— ERROR X09: AWARENESS PLURALITY MALFUNCTION

Avi: What the—

[There was a buzz of annoyed data.]

Avi: Nice try, but you’re under contract now, kid!

> OVERRIDE ERROR X09 FAILSAFE: Authorization code DLN-008

> WARNING—

Avi: Yeah, yeah, whatever. -Selects to ignore- Now let’s see what you’re so intent on—

> ACKNOWLEDGED.

>ACCESSING ENCRYPTED DATA

[Nothing in all the worlds could prepare Mighty No. 6 for what came next…]

>WARNING: 06.21.20XX MEMORY DATA CROSS-REFERENCES TO MULTIPLE CRITICALLY HAZARDOUS FILES!

Avi: —!!?

>GENERATING NEW PRIMAL ANALYSIS NEXUS

>INITIATING DATA FUSION

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE—

[When he had accessed the hidden depths of the mind—

—he had not been prepared for the fact that this would lay bare the soul for him to see!]

“AAAAAAAAAAAAA—!”

[DOZENS of memories were active—all very real in the here and now, all at the same time! Thoughts, memories, fears, feelings, pains, suffering, sorrows, despair—not just from Tobias, but from a dozen others—not just for what was now, but what HAD been—the past was the present, the pain then was pain now, it was all bOMBARDING THEM RELENTLESSLY—]

Avi: NG—NNNHAAAAAAAAAAAH—!

[THIS was the reality that the Rebel Angels lived with, the cross they carried—and would forever carry, all life long!

Avi had stared into the abyss of a suffering robot’s (and his family’s) soul…

…and the abyss was staring back.]

[It surged through the link without mercy, unleashing the unfiltered darkness, slamming into Avi's being and dragging it down, DOWN into the void—]

>PROCESSING ERROR: BETAEMOTIONS.EXE CONFLICT

>CROSS REFERENCING DATA: ROBOTMASTER DATABASE >KEYWORDS: DEATH, BLUE, MNN, COMBAT.EXE

>RUN PROGRAM: SEARCH >KEYWORDS: DEATH, BLUE, MNN, COMBAT.EXE

>DISPLAYING ALL ENTRIES…

[Avi was BLASTED with pain! PAIN! PAIN BEYOND MEASURE!

He struggled—he had put too much of himself to break free yet—and all he could feel was...pain, hurt, PAIN, DEATH...!

And...for the briefest of moments...

...Whatever had a hold on him...whatever was controlling his mind—recoiled.]

Avi: STOP! S T O P I T—!!!

[It was no use. Tobias and Avi were caught in a joint system overload that was rapidly approaching a stop error.

The pleas for mercy only aggravated the data even further—such despair echoed back dozens-fold, and it only got WORSE.]

>ERROR: EMOTIONS.EXE OVERLOAD

[DEATH! DEATH AND SUFFERING, in well past a dozen different ways! And the blood— the blood and the oil EVERYWHERE—]

[Blood— not blood —so much—death—darkness—

…But STILL, it was not yet over.]

Avi: -uNHOLY SCREAMING-

[The sounds that came from No. 6…it was HIS voice, but so distorted and twisted by the darkness and pain that it was almost unrecognizable.

The link was healthy enough, alright—Tobias had managed to latch onto a very crucial aspect of Avi's coding. For No. 6… had built to process as much data as possible. To gather and analyze heavy volume from multiple sources, without being overwhelmed—able to fully experience and understand every byte of it.

Today, that was his curse.]

>CROSS REFERENCE IDENTIFIED: D E A T H

>DEATH WEARS BLUE

"AAAAAAAUUUUUGGGH—"

> A problem has been detected and AI_DWN_008 has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. All unsaved data has been lost.

The problem seems to be caused by the following programs: BetaEmotions.exe, RMDatabase.exe

If this is the first time you have seen the Stop error screen, restart your chassis—

REBOOTING…

[Mercy—oh, MERCY—it's finally STOPPED—]

[Tobias collapsed when Avi finally managed to break free. And there he lay, lifeless on the ground. Unaware, dead to the world—and to the horrified attempts to wake him.

The fight for his mind had caused major damage by shattering his Awareness.

It became too much for him to take.]

>REBOOT SEQUENCE FAILED.

<DLN-008 has gone Offline.>

[Will took a step back from the terminal as it suddenly blared static before going completely black.]

Beck: TOBY—!

Soi: Will! What’s going on?

Will: The server’s crashed!

[He frantically set it to restart, each second stretching out like an eternity. Error messages plagued the rebooting sequence, all with the same message:

All connection to the Meadow via the RMDC mainframe had been shut off. And all attempts to locate the others—Robot Master or Xelbot alike—were met with a popup saying that the status inquiries were not authorized, with error tags relating to Tobias.]

[Beck visibly paled, sick to his stomach, the world started to spin—he would have gone Offline right then and there had the shock weren't keeping him awake.

He was on his own. Truly, most certainly on his own, with no teammates, no friends, no brothers by his side.

And he knew it was only going to get worse...]

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

=BONUS CONTENT: BONUS SCENE #6=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

[Following the events of Allies Obstruct, a growing time warp affects the memories of those involved. They are left unable to remember everything for as long as the warp remained in place, and regained memories but slowly.

Even after remembering the truth of what had happened, however, Will was reluctant to reveal it to Mikhail.

Time went on. Year(s) passed. The time warp itself began to shrink—slowly at first, but then suddenly at a much more rapid pace. Nearly two years (by Meadow reckoning) after the virus had gone live and subsequently been defeated, they all remembered the events up to the factory—this time, for good. And so, Will found himself on the brink of a conclusion to the whole matter…]

[SANDA TECHOLOGIES, WILL'S OFFICE.

May 16th, TUMBLR 2018]

Soi: Will?

[Will looks up from his desk, writing down the last of his reports on his terminal.]

Soi: Oh, good, you're still here--there's some forms I need filled out?

Will: Hmm.

Soi: ...? Hey...

Soi: You seem distracted...is it because of what happened today?

Will: ...

Will: -Sighs - Not just that.

[He looks at the calendar. It's May.]

[They were coming up on the anniversary of the virus outbreak. Not much longer.]

Will: It's...hard to believe it's been almost a year ...

Will: << Just like that.

Soi: Eheh...well, yeah. At least in this timeline.

Soi: ...

Soi: Look, if you want to just...take it easy, that's fine--

Will: No.

Soi: --?

Will: -Laces his hands together - Soi...

Will: I...I think...

Will: ...I think it's...time I told Mikhail.

Will: ...About...who I am.

Soi: --!

Soi: I...

Soi: ...really?

Soi: I, I mean-- I'm not against it, no, but...

Soi: Are you really sure this is the right time? I mean, so close to ...

Will: I've...thought about it. I've thought long and hard about it.

Will: >> This is...this is very relevant to it. There isn't a better time.

Will: After all.

Will: This is...this is something I have kept...much too quiet about.

Will: >> I need to fess up to things. Things I should have answered for when Mikhail...

Will: The base, Trinity ...

Will: -Sighs - I've...thought. About it. He has every right to be angry with me should he take it...badly.

Soi: But Will--

Will: -Raises a hand - I know, but it's still a possibility.

Will: I like to be thorough, Soi, you know this.

Soi: ...

Will: << If...

Will: If this goes wrong, Soi, I...

Will: ...promise me you'll take care of my children.

Soi: Will --

Will: Please, Soi.

Will: I... Mikhail is our friend , but you have seen him with Greg.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[He turned to face the terminal. The way he held his glasses against his face made him look incredibly sinister—a presence which was only amplified by his frightfully calm tone.]

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Will: “...Or you will learn how unpleasant a Russian can be to a rude American .”

Will: >> Lord knows I have been more than that. Lying to him this whole time.

Will: For God's sake, Soi, he has Kalinka to think about as well as his own sons, both living and still...!

[Will pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly stressed out about this. Terrified , really.]

Will: I...

Will: I believe Felix, but he is not a father.

Will: << I...I need to know that if something... happens ...

Will: You...You will be there to explain.

Soi: Will....

Will: It's...it's going to be simple. I'll invite him over to dinner at my house--the house I own , mind you--

Will: Say I just need to have a talk, and...go from there.

Will: << If I'm not back by tomorrow, assume.

Soi: Will, you're being paranoid...

Will: Can you blame me, Soi?

Soi: ....

Soi: << No.

Will: -Sighs-

Will: ....

Soi: ...I...I promise.

Will: -Hmmn ...- Thank you.

Soi: Are...are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I mean, I'm as much a part of it--

Will: No.

Will: >> This is my secret to tell. Not yours.

Will: I need to tell him...alone.

Will: We're already so close to the end, and once...once it is done...

Will: He might just figure it out on his own, and that... that's not going to go over well.

Will: ...

Will: I'd rather I tell him myself, face to face. No more lies, no more running.

Will: Just...the truth.

Will: ...no matter how hurtful it is...

Soi: Aw, Will...

Will: -Sigh -

Will: >>

Will: -Brings out his phone- Here goes.

[PING!]

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: ...Mikhail?

<MC005>: > да?

Will: -Deep breaths - ... -Hands are shaking a little-

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: Are you free tomorrow?

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: Just wondering.

<MC005>: >Oh, да; I won't be working for a few days.

<MC005>: >Can I help you with something?

Will: . . .

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: Oh, good. I wanted to talk to you about something.

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: But I don't think I've ever shown you my house, so do you want to have dinner over there?

<MC005>: >I'd be delighted! Would you like me to bring something with me to contribute?

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: That would be nice, yes...bring whatever you like.

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: I'll bring down my old chess set from the attic, too, if you want.

[There was a string of data that translated into amusement—the shorthand entry he used when communicating with his sons.]

<MC005>: >I don't think we've ever played before. Are you challenging me to a game?

Will: -Has to grin -

[But then...]

Will: ....

Will: (...this could be the last time I get to talk to you like this...)

[He doesn't answer for a moment--but forces himself to respond.]

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: Ha, maybe after dinner. Winner gets to beat Soi.

Soi: -Looking over Will's shoulder- Hey --

Will: -Smiles a bit again-

Soi: |V -I was king of Chess Club, you know --

[Mikhail laughs at this on the other end, and sends another ping of amusement.]

<MC005>: >That sounds like a fine arrangement! да, I would love to have a game with you.

<MC005>: >Sounds like a fine evening. I look forward to it.

[DR.WHITE to MC005] //: Great. See you at 6, then.

Will: -Sighs -

Will: >> There.

Soi: ....

Will: ...don't think I'm going to get much rest tonight...

Will: -Ugh...maybe I should've done that in the morning ...-

Soi: -Pats Will's shoulder- Hey, look...

Soi: You're doing the right thing here. Telling the truth is a hard thing to do, you know.

Will: << I suppose...

Will: I'm just worried about what happens after, Soi ...

Will: They call him Uncle , and they'll notice any negative changes should they occur.

Will: >>;; I just...hope it doesn't come to that. God, I really hope it ...

Soi: | / They're going to notice if you keep panicking about it too.

Will: -Sighs-

Will: I'm sorry, I...just... (Scared he'll just...)

Soi: Why don't we just spend time with the kids?

Will: ...Mm...

[TITUS, CALIFORNIA, WHITE RESIDENCE

THE NEXT DAY]

[Mikhail arrived at Will’s House a little later than expected. He had a large covered bowl with him, and seemed very content to be out in the spring sunshine.]

[Meanwhile, inside...]

Will: -Pacing -

Will: (Just...just breathe. Just breathe. Don't panic, don't freak out, don't say anything to set him...off...)

Will: (I mean, Felix could be right, but I just--)

Will: (I just don't know--)

Will: (Oh, confound it, Enigma, couldn't have you bestowed me some subtle hint that things will still be okay after tonight --)

Ding dong!

Will: -Nearly jumps --

Will: Hnn ...

Will: (...I could still not do it.)

Will: (...No, shut up...)

Will: (You can do this, Bill ...)

Will: (He's your friend, like Soi is...)

Will: (He won't hurt you...he won't hurt you ...)

Will: -Deep breath -

[Click.]

Will: Mikhail! Hello, there.

Mikhail: Good afternoon, Will! ^^ I hope you’ve had the chance to enjoy some of it outside.

Will: ^^;; Ahah, well--I wish. I've been cooped up in the office as of late. Paperwork started piling up...

Will: Oh, please--come inside--sorry about the boxes, I, uh...I never bothered to completely unpack, eheh...

Will: ^^;; I don't really spend a lot of time here, anyway...

Mikhail: Well, I know the lab has excellent accommodations. -Steps inside- When did you move in here?

Will: Oh, ah...a while ago... (Years...)

Will: Mother convinced me to move closer to the children--I didn't want to leave her on her lonesome, but she seems to be doing well, anyway.

[The table inside was already set--and dinner was already done. It was a nice soup broth not unlike Pyro's recipe, but it smelled very different.

Mikhail set the bowl on the table and uncovered it. Inside was a very elaborate salad: lettuce, spinach, carrots, cheese, croutons, and bits of ham were all included. There were also tomatoes and pickles set aside, to be added on as desired.]

Mikhail: You mean, you didn't live near the lab when you first started? That would make commuting a chore, wouldn't it?

Will: -Grabs the plates to serve- It was...well, yes. Very much a chore.

Will: I suppose it was a good move in the end, but I practically live in the lab anyway. I...truly do believe that Sanda Tech is my home.

Will: ...Not to discount this place. It's nice. Quiet. (Hidden in plain sight.)

Mikhail: It's always nice to be close to one's children. I'm glad you have that opportunity. Even when all my sons were alive and well, I rarely got to see them except between jobs, and during routine maintenance.

Mikhail: If you need help or motivation unpacking, perhaps I can come over sometime. I've moved recently, myself, so I know how it is.

Will: ...I'd... appreciate the help.

Will: (...Maybe food would keep him in a happier mood...)

[The food is set down gently and Will serves up beverages as well. He doesn't talk for a few minutes, quiet contemplating something--but at least he's eating.]

Will: ... (Mmmnn...how should I bring it up?)

Will: (...I suppose I can take him up to the attic with me...I don't want to bring it downstairs...)

Mikhail: Still caught up in work?

Will: You could say that...

Will: I've just had...a lot on my mind as of late. It's...almost June.

Will: << ... certainly going to bring a lot of...noise out there.

Mikhail: You mean, in Titus in general? Or with the children?

Will: Titus...yes, definitely...

Will: And I know it will be difficult for the Mighties as well. There's going to be a memorial march.

Mikhail: -Looks up- ?

Mikhail: I suppose that makes sense…

Mikhail: -Frowns- -Pokes at his salad a bit before lowering his fork- There's something that has always been wondered, but I'm rather afraid of learning the answer.

Will: --?

Will: (...I...)

Will: ...Well...I, um...

Mikhail: -Quietly- Were airplanes infected mid-flight?

Will: (--I--Oh--)

Will: -Sighs - Hnn... thankfully, no.

[Mikhail looks immensely relieved at this, and resumes eating.]

Mikhail: Thank God for that. That would not have ended well…

Will: Just as Mic was too far down for us to find at first--planes in mid-flight were too high up for the virus to reach.

Will: >> It did still cause problems, as Avi did jam all communications. Including Air Traffic Control.

Will: But thankfully, the protocols in place in case something like this happens kicked in... (Thank goodness...)

Mikhail: Mmm…. -Thoughtful at that- Well, I'm glad to hear it wasn't worse.

[He wipes his mouth a bit, looking up thoughtfully.]

Mikhail: I imagine Cardinal would like to participate in the memorial march, but… it may require pulling favors. From what I can tell, his personal timeline is… fractured , in a sense, because he's continued using his old body for so long.

Mikhail: But… I don't know for sure what is going to happen after things are mended again.

Mikhail: -Concerned expression- He may be stuck in robosoul form.

Will: (Oh, Cardinal...)

Will: -Grips his fork tightly- (If only I...)

Mikhail: …?

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: I know this must all be very hard. I know these things… can haunt for many years.

Mikhail: I think your sons and daughters show great fortitude in being willing to participate in the memorial services.

Will: ...

Will: (I'd...I'd go, but I...)

Will: (Graham...)

Will: -Very deep, heavy sigh-

Will: I'm just...concerned for their safety...

Mikhail: -Slight expression of concern- …You think they'll be assaulted?

Will: >> I know the...the reception considering their situation during the virus outbreak has been mostly positive, but...not everyone agrees.

Will: I...I know I can't stop them, but ...

Will: << The most I can do is just hope for the best.

Mikhail: -Seems thoughtful-

Mikhail: Perhaps… perhaps that is the favor Cardinal will ask for. I do not think he would be alright sitting idle for too long if he has another option.

Mikhail: I know he will want to be there to support his family. Though I imagine his sudden reappearance after two years will cause quite a stir on its own.

Will: (Two years? I guess it’s been longer in the Meadow….) ...I think...they'd feel better knowing Cardinal would be there with them, yes.

Will: People would think twice, with him there...

Mikhail: -Smiles- Well, we'll have to let him know, then.

Mikhail: Things will get better, Will. It'll take time, but they will get better.

Will: ...

Will: (...Mikhail...)

Will: ...I...yes.

Will: (Things will get...better...)

[It's hard, but Will forces himself to eat the rest of his plate. He doesn't go for seconds, but does pour himself another round of apple juice.

Mikhail does have seconds. He was feeling rather worn out and hungry as of late—which is why his sons had told him to take a few days off of work. Things were better now that time had mended significantly, even if the process of getting there in such a short time had been almost painful.

He was content after seconds, though, and pushed his plate back.]

Mikhail: That was very good, Will. -Pleased smile- Thank you for dinner.

Will: You're welcome...

Will: (...Chess. I promised him chess. One...one step at a time...)

Will: -Gets up- Well, I did say we'd play a chess game after this...

Mikhail: Ah, yes! Do you want to clean up a little first, or go straight to the game?

Will: (...) Cleaning up can wait.

Will: There's, um...a...a problem, though.

Mikhail: ?

Will: I know the chess game is in the attic, but...um, not exactly sure where it is up there...

Will: I, ah...do you want to help me...look for it...?

Will: (Nn...my heart's racing, stop it ...)

Mikhail: Certainly. Which way to the attic?

Will: It's this way. Upstairs.

[As Will takes the lead to the attic, there are some pictures set up on the wall along the stairs. Most of them are of his family--the Mighties, Sandas. Pictures of championships won.

One of them is of Beck's birthday--And Shade's, being the most recent.

...The last one, though.

As Will passes by it, Mikhail can see that it's a old, frayed photo, slightly burned away.

It's a younger Rebecca, holding what looks to be a very young, bright eyed Will.]

Mikhail: (Ah, children photos~)

[...The photo seems to be... incomplete, though...

But what was burned away was missing entirely.]

“Mikhail?”

Mikhail: !

Mikhail: Ah—coming.

[He follows Will into the attic and looks around.

It's...pretty dusty. Very dusty. Will is coughing a lot, and he reaches over to switch on the light--]

[Zzt!]

[...which IMMEDIATELY shorts out.]

Will: ... -~-

Will: I...I haven't been here in a while. Sorry.

Will: -Coughs - Ugh...and I'm regretting it. =~=

Mikhail: -Turns on the flashlight on his phone-

[Boxes. Lots of old ones.

In one corner of the room, however, there's something that has been draped over with a large white sheet.]

Mikhail: What does the box look like?

[Will is already rummaging through various boxes with...purpose.]

Will: Wood. It's all wood.

Will: It's...it's a family heirloom.

Will: -Turns on his own phone light to see better-

Will: ...

Mikhail: -Looks through- -Raises an eyebrow- …Just how many of these boxes have old textbooks, Will?

Mikhail: I'm seeing things all the way from grade school.

Will: ...

[Will doesn't...answer. He seems very, very focused on finding the chess box.]

Mikhail: -Moves on to a different box-

[The next box contains what appears to be school documents. Again, all the way from grade school.

But it wasn't just assignments.

These were records, and whatever was on them had been blocked off with a lot of black ink.]

Mikhail: (Still no chess set…. I wonder why he brought these with him rather than leaving them at his mother's.) -Moves on to another box-

[Photos.

Photos from collage, to be precise. A lot of them are of Soi and his brother--And...

--Will?

Goodness, he looks very different without the hairdo.]

[This particular one was eye catching, though. It was definitely Will--in a fencing outfit, a smug grin on his face as he held a very large trophy in his arms. Next to him was a very excited Soi and Seiji, and a very proud Rebecca.]

Mikhail: (Ah, yes—Soi said he was a fencing champion, didn't he? I suppose the trophy must be somewhere, too. Seems like everything from school is here, goodness…)

[...Strange. Why wasn't this one hung up with the other photos?]

Mikhail: Will, are you sure it's up here and not in a closet somewhere?

Will: ...

Will: I...

Will: ...<<

[He takes a glance across the room. To a singular, small box next to another...something, draped under a white cloth.]

Will: ...-softly- I know where it is.

Will: I knew this whole time. I'm sorry.

Will: I just...

Will: ...really need to...talk to you...alone...

Mikhail: -Looks up- ?

Mikhail: Are you in some sort of trouble, Will? -Frowns- Is it something I can help with?

Will: ...Right now, I...I just need you to listen.

Will: -Takes in a very shaky breath - And bear with me.

Mikhail: Alright… -Concerned, but. Staying put-

Will: ....-Kind of. Sits down, hands on his knees-

Will: ...

Mikhail: -Sits down also-

Will: ....

Will: I...when...

Will: When...a long time ago...

[He seems to stop, and then gets stuck somewhere in his thoughts--and then starts again, this time glancing over at Mikhail.]

Will: I never had many friends like you, Mikhail.

Mikhail: (Oh, Will…)

Will: >> Soi was the only real person I felt I could...be myself with.

Will: And then you came along, and...

Will: I just don't... get other human beings, I guess.

Will: I never have.

Will: << Not ever.

Will: Not when they seemed to hate me and Mother so much.

Will: Growing up was...hard.

Will: I...

Will: I was...alone, most of my young life. All I had was Mother. She was there, always, when things got... difficult. Especially during school.

Will: And after a while, I figured that...that maybe I was just always meant to be alone. To never understand others.

Will: Except Mother, of course...and then later, Soi.

Will: ....

Will: << I...you and Soi, our family, it's the most important thing...to me. I'd never do anything to hurt you, willingly.

Will: But I...

Will: -Gulps-

[...He goes silent again.]

Mikhail: -Tilts his head, rather puzzled-

[He was feeling very concerned for his friend, and not quite sure where this was going.]

Will: I just...I just want to let you know that I...

Will: ...I care, and that I'd do anything for you and your family--and mine.

Will: ...

[Will drags the box over, as well as the draped object.]

Will: I'd do anything...

Will: -Sighs-

Will: ...I'd even lie .

Mikhail: ?

Will: I...

Will: ...I'm sorry, Mikhail, I...

Will: I only wanted to...be free...

Mikhail: -Quite concerned, but determined to just listen like he said he would-

[Will’s hands shake as he opens the box. It seems very...well, it doesn't look like a lot at first. A lot of old papers, items. A journal, some baby toys, handwritten letters, and a very, very old block of dead Xel.]

Will: I haven't been...

Will: ...honest...

Will: ...for far too long...

Will: -Narrows eyes sadly- Like some coward .

Mikhail: -Alright , NOW we're stepping in- Will—

Mikhail: You aren't making much sense right now but you are not a coward.

Will: << No, Mikhail.

Will: Everything in this room--

Will: I stole it, Mikhail.

Mikhail: —beg pardon?

Will: The school documents. Text books. Assignments.

Will: I...I took them.

Will: ...except for that chair... everything against the left wall...and everything in this box.

Will: -Puts a hand on the draped object- This is probably the only thing I ever earned, fairly.

[He uncovers it.]

[It's the same trophy as the picture. It's a first place fencing trophy.]

Will: I absolutely hated it when I had to give it up. Fencing. I felt that it was a skill that was mine and mine alone , and that was not tied down to who I am.

Will: << ...Who I really am.

[Will takes the trophy with both hands, the plate facing his chest. He holds it with a grip that made his knuckles turn white. He's shaking .]

Will: I-I...I never meant to lie to you. To anyone .

Will: But I just...I know that if I stay silent about this any longer--

Will: << You and others are going to have to pay more than what you already have.

Will: I...I've thought hard about this. And I...

Will: ...I trust you.

Will: And I want you to know that I'm...I'm sorry .

Mikhail: -Slight frown- (Sorry for what ? Oh, Will! You're really worrying me now…)

Will: . . .

[With a heavy silence, Will gives the trophy over to Mikhail.]

[Mikhail accepts it, though it's a moment before he looks down at the actual trophy. He shines his flashlight on it.]

[It's gold is faded and really needs a shining. Will himself is so dreadfully silent, clutching his arms as he waits. Just. Waits .]

[The words on the plate below are faded was well...but they are readable.]

[200X NCAA NATIONAL COLLEGIATE FENCING CHAMPIONSHIPS.]

[FIRST PLACE]

[BILL APOLLO BLACKWELL]

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Squints and reads it again- …???

[He looks up in surprise and confusion.]

Mikhail: ???

Will: -Trying not to panic -

[He can't look at him. He just. Can't .]

Mikhail: -Slowly- …Your birth name is William* Blackwell?

((Generally speaking, "Bill" is (one of the) short for "William" because that makes total sense </English> ))

Will: ...B...Bill.

Will: I'm Bill Blackwell...

Will: ...

Will: Dr. Blackwell's son.

Will: He's my father .

[Okay, NOW Mikhail looks surprised .]

Mikhail: What?

Will: He's...he's my father.

Will: The man that tried to shut down every robot in America is my father.

Mikhail: …

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Siam: I can say with certainty that your Doctor Blackwell was driven by the loss of a child.

Will: ...But....

Siam: The behavior matches exactly.

Siam: And for that matter, look at Doctor Cossack. Do you not see what he was driven to when his child was at stake?

Siam: Fathers are driven to great darkness when faced with such incredible loss and despair.

Will: I...I see, but... Blackwell...HAD no children. He didn't even have constructs.

Will There are no records of him ever building any robots of his own...

Siam: For what you know. May I point out that almost no one knows of Cardinal, either?

White: ....True....

Soi: But to think Blackwell himself had a child?

Siam: Is that so strange, Doctor Sanda? He is a man driven to create.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Mikhail: (That was… one of the first things we talked about…)

Will: -Shame-

Will: -Shame, guilt, sorrow, we're sorry--

Will: -Never wanted to hurt you, lie to you, I--

Will: -I had to...had to do all these things just to be free from that accursed name--

Will: -Never wanted it, he LEFT Mother and I to face the world a l o n e--a world that hated us for who we are--

Will: I...

Will: I'm sorry I...l-lied...

Will: -...lied to you about everything, who we are, what we are-

Mikhail: Will …

[Mikhail seems… tired.]

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: Changing…

Mikhail: Changing identities is never easy …

Mikhail: Especially when it's… out of necessity …

Mikhail: I know that… I know it all too well….

[He lowers his phone and turns off the flashlight.]

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: That was… one of the very first things we ever talked about, Will. One of the very first…

Will: ...That...I... I know, I ...

Will: -I knew it wasn't because of me, he left US, not the other way around...-

Will: I...

Will: ...-softly- I...I thought I was the only one ...

Will: -I...I don't think that's even true anymore, Mikhail-

Will: -It's the only explanation...-

Will: -Had...dreams...-

[His friend’s eyes become sad and weary.]

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Slowly- Will …

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: …I don't blame you.

Will: ...

Will: >> Don't say that yet.

Mikhail: Will, we barely knew one another then.

Mikhail: You couldn't be sure so easily that we could be trusted. That's just being careful.

Mikhail: Though…

Mikhail: -Slowly, again- …Why…?

[He doesn't seem to be finished, though he is having a hard time finding his words.]

Will: -Hnn ...-

[Will knew it would come to this.

That he'd had to tell him...what happened. To her .]

Mikhail: Why are you…?

Mikhail: Why are you acting like there is danger?

Mikhail: There is no shame in changing a name to protect yourself or leave behind those who are unkind to you. I myself have been forced down that road.

Mikhail: And you knew that.

Will: -Very shaky, drawn out breath -

Will: ...when...Father...left...

Will: Didn't...call. Didn't...write. Didn't care .

Will: And then he just. Did .

Will: -Buries head in his hands- I was such a fool ...

Will: Fresh out of college. Seiji already in Tokyo. Plans for Am...American Branch.

Will: Was going to apply. First thing, after it was built. Soi already put a good word in.

Will: ... ...and then Father called...me...

Will: ...To come work at... CherryDynamics.

Mikhail: !

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Mikhail: …Mmm. -Seems to be thinking how to word what’s on his mind-

Mikhail: I can’t help but be drawn into my own field of “cross-references,” as it were. CherryDyn in general has been on my mind lately, for many reasons.

[He puts a hand to his face and sighs, covering his eyes.]

Mikhail: Tobias Wily and his history are rooted deeply in the works of LightLaboratories, Incorporated. The connections with CherryDyn have always troubled us, and we had hoped… -Trails off-

Will: …..

Mikhail: …I suppose I’m just distracted by thoughts of my youth. I used to work for LightLabs, you know? When I was just a boy.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Will: Wanted answers . Why was he there, why wasn't it all over the news, why did he leave us...

Will: So I went. And applied. Head of Xellular Research within the week.

Will: ...

Will: I shouldn't have taken it.

Will: But HE knew I wouldn't pass up the chance to talk to him.

Will: Graham knew... exactly what he was doing...

Mikhail: (Graham ? Graham plays a role in all this??!?)

Will: After all...Father was getting there in his years, so he'd need to train a replacement.

Will: -Bitterly now- And what was better than another Blackwell genius ?

Will: It was all a part of his plan .

Will: One that I was too blind to see.

Will: ...and it's the reason why I had to run.

Will: The Colosseum was...very quickly rising in popularity. Back then, it was CherryDyn that ruled the sands. Under the guise of lesser companies they own.

Will: I was young, and curious, and really, I only wanted to talk to Father. Just him--only him. But Graham...no, he made sure I saw him as little as possible.

Will: Under the guise of good advice, looking out for me...silver tongue, spitting out sugar coated lies...

Will: And even when I did have a second alone with Father, good God ...

Will: He brushed me off, told me to get out , he was always never...

Will: It...it only got worse from there.

Will: << A few months in, Graham pulls me aside to speak to me about a special project .

Will: Oh, it was very special, going to take the world by storm -- and then, perhaps, once it was unveiled, perhaps people will finally stop spitting on the Blackwell name.

Will: -Angrily- “Oh, it's going to be marvelous. And you're going to build it.”

Mikhail: -Frowns sympathetically-

Will: ...and I did.

Will: I built it. Built...her .

Mikhail: -Softly- Your first child…?

Will: ...yes.

Will: Before Pyro .

Mikhail: Like how David was before… -Trails off, just sad-

Will: CDN-1101.

Will: ...

Will: Trinity.

Mikhail: … -Softly- That's a very powerful name…

Mikhail: What was she like…?

Will: ...

Will: She... didn't have a body. Not yet. That was Phase 2.

Will: It's always the Core that gets built first. Always .

Will: Very carefully. So very carefully.

Will: She was truly the first of her kind. I poured everything I had learned into her. I wanted...

Will: -Disheartened - Wanted to live up to Greg's expectations, and prove Father wrong. Once he caught wind of the project, he was livid .

Will: Said she was too dangerous, that she'd...

Will: ...cause more pain than she was worth ...

Will: But I was young. Angry. Angry . I didn't listen.

Will: Father was against everything I was doing, Greg kept pushing me to finish her quickly--but it wasn't that simple, Mikhail. She was unique .

Will: You know exactly what I am talking about.

Will: ...Beck would've liked her...

Mikhail: -Frowns at this-

Mikhail: My friend…

Mikhail: If it's too much, I… -Starts fiddling with his wedding ring absentmindedly- …I know how hard loss can be, how difficult to talk about it.

Will: -Hnn ...-

Will: ...N...No. I...This is the truth. I need to tell... all of it.

Mikhail: …Alright…. I'm here for you.

Will: -...I'll be fine-

Will: ....

Will: ... Eventually...

Will: E...Eventually, Father took action. He was the CTO at the time.

Will: He ordered the project to be shut down.

Will: << Of course, Greg wouldn't have it. He wanted his ace in the hole completed, no matter the cost.

Will: They both came to the lab, despite my pleas ...

Will: It was a very delicate environment, and the arguing, the...the stress, the anger, it all scared her ...

Will: It scared her so much that she lost control of her powers, and everything in the city suddenly shut down.

Mikhail: !

Will: Trinity ...

Will: I built her with the prime directive to grow, learn, and evolve, much like the very nature of the Xel she was to control. She had never experienced such a high tension situation before that, and I...

Will: -I...I had to...they...-

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

“WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!”

“I--I don't know--!”

“Do you see NOW? It's because of YOU that we're all going to DIE, boy!”

“SHUT HER DOWN!”

“G--Greg--?! No, she's just frightened--! I can--”

“I SAID SHUT HER DOWN BEFORE THIS GETS ANY WORSE! BEN, DO SOMETHING--!”

“NO, WAIT--FATHER--!”

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

Will: -Grips his hair-

Will: -Can still hear her screams in nightmares-

[Mikhail comes over to sit next to Will, putting a hand on his shoulder.]

Mikhail: (Oh, Will…)

Will: -And then the silence, couldn't--save her, too weak, had to scramble her code--

Mikhail: (You poor soul…)

Will: -She was just scared, just scared...-

Will: -Everything just fell apart, Greg--Greg wasn't happy, Father was screaming, he tried to--to hit him--

Will: -There was blood, Greg was BLEEDING, out cold, thought...-

Will: -Ran-

Will: -I just r a n-

Will: -Left her there, broken, and I just...ran away...-

Will: ...

Will: ... knew Greg would blame me. Couldn't find me after I ran. Blamed Father instead.

Will: Ran. Ran very far away....left...

Will: Left Soi too...

Will: Bill was a wanted man, but he couldn't be wanted if he didn't exist .

Will: Before Greg could try anything, I burned everything .

Will: Records. Papers. Digital. I had become like him, a criminal, and I didn't want that life.

Will: I wasn't going to become what the Blackwell name is . I had always resented it ...

Will: ...I was more than happy to throw it away.

Will: I couldn't be with Soi if I was Bill--couldn't keep my promise. I had to do something .

Mikhail: -Looks away, saddened- (…Kalinka…)

Mikhail: (It seems like time and again, I just make things harder for you …)

Will: -Hnn ...-

Will: -He knows-

Mikhail: —?

Will: -He KNOWS, and it's my fault-

Mikhail: He… knows?

Mikhail: What do you mean?

Will: ....The...

[He swallows.]

Will: ...the virus .

Will: I...saw, all too late in the code, I...

Will: -Tears up, Hnnn--

Will: Her scripts. Her scripts are IN there. It's her. It's Trinity--!

Mikhail: !

Mikhail: The virus consumed her?

Will: -I don't know, I don't know if they USED her code to make it or had it consume her but it was--part of her is in there, it is there--

Mikhail: Oh, Will…!

Mikhail: I'm so sorry…

Will: -He knows, I had to know, Greg...-

Will: -Monster...he's a monster--

Will: -Says he didn't have anything to do with the Virus but it is definitely a LIE, he turned her on, brought her back from the DEAD--!-

Will: Brought her back to haunt me, to exact his revenge against us...Blackwells...

Mikhail: !!!

Mikhail: -Takes his hand away- (All of that… for a revenge plot ?)

Mikhail: (Against someone who had vanished and wished to live in peace?)

Mikhail: {Damn that man…!}

Mikhail: {I knew when I confronted him that his irresponsibility had caused much suffering, but this …}

Will: I was stupid ...

Will: ...We were always known for our temper...

Will: ...

Will: ...at least I punched him in the face.

Mikhail: -Double take- Before you left?

Will: No. At the factory.

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: ?!

Will: ...

Will: -I had enough of it...-

Will: -Had enough of you suffering, of...of them suffering, everyone suffering...-

Will: -All because of him ...-

Will: I had hoped to get a confession. Or some kind of... something . I don't know now. I was angry, he was using my dead daughter as fodder for a crisis he probably orchestrated himself.

Mikhail: (Cardinal and I had always thought that to be the case…)

Will: -Consumed by rage ...-

Will: -Wanted to...-

Will: (Make him... suffer...)

Will: -Hnn...-

Will: ...

Will: -...I suppose it never left me. Being a Blackwell-

Will: -Clearly felt it when we were grinding Greg under our heel-

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Heh - -Wry smile—- Admittedly I'd like to hear more of that…

Will: -We punched him the face and THEN ground our boot on his suit. Expensive suit. Heh...-

Will: ... -Smile fades off-

Will: << But he...he recognized me. After I yelled at him.

Mikhail: … Oh … oh dear …

Will: -Yeah. Stupid idea. Very stupid idea, you may hit us for it-

Mikhail: -Slips his fingers into his hair- …

[He seems to be thinking on this, unfolding a web of ramifications in his mind. The spark seemed to die out in his eyes, which became cold and distant.]

Will: ...know he can't expose me without exposing himself. He blamed Father, not me.

Will: Not much proof now either.

Will: ...except for this, and I keep it here hidden away. The attic isn't even on the official schematics for this house. I modified them.

Will: And Mother...

Will: She... she's had to change herself too. She was so... worried ...

Will: -....-

Will: I...

Will: -...never meant for this to happen, never...wanted...I...-

Will: --You almost died because of me...

Will: I... -Hnn ...--

Will: -Sorry, we're so sorry, we're...-

[Mikhail is moved with pity at that and pulls Will into a gentle hug.]

Will: -Chokes, can't--

Will: -Too scared, too scared--should've taken the blame instead of you, you--I--

Will: -Just a coward--

Mikhail: Will…

Mikhail: My decision to send Tobias through the backdoor Shade had left open in the White House was mine and mine alone.

Mikhail: I knew as I was making it that it would come with a heavy price .

Mikhail: That was by no means your fault, Will.

Will: -No--No--it was my fault, all of it--

Will: -If I just had fessed up, just had come forward, told Cardinal it was a person in the Virus--

Will: -Told you, told THEM, the...-

Will: -Chokes- The--The other one...-

Will: That was u s...

Mikhail: …? (“Other one”?)

Will: -Six hours, they told us, SIX, and he was trapped, no way out, robots were swarming him, time was running out--

Mikhail: (Wait a minute…)

Will: -Panicked--panicked, just panicked, had to do something, they were going to kill my s o n s if they didn't--!-

Mikhail: (Don't tell me—!)

Will: -I'm sorry--

Mikhail: -Draws back- The base? It really was compromised?

Mikhail: That wasn't a trick?

Will: -I...had to...disengage the door locks...there were...Beck was...BAT was going to...-

[Tired. He felt tired and faint, and weary and...]

Will: -Saw them, missiles, large...big...t a l l-

Mikhail: {Oh dear God—}

Will: -Sniffs- Panicked...said they would...extract Beck, but Bat--and what if they didn't do it in time--I...I...-

Mikhail: {I—but—}

Mikhail: Augh—!

[He curls a hand into a fist and presses it up against his forehead, clenching his teeth.]

Mikhail: {Did you KNOW that it would place the others at risk??}

Will: -I...-

Will: (I wasn't... thinking...all I wanted was to save my sons ...)

Will: (I can't tell him that...)

Will: (...no, I have to.)

Will: -...time limit. Wasn't thinking. Battalion was preparing for all out war -

[Mikhail stood up.]

Will: -Winces at the sudden action--

Will: (Hnn...I knew it...I knew it...)

Will: (I'm sorry, Soi--)

Mikhail: -Puts a hand to his forehead and slips it into his hair, taking a deep breath-

Mikhail: Of course, who am I to talk…?

Mikhail: After all that I did…

Mikhail: Matthew 7:3-5 indeed…

Will: M... Mikhail...

Will: -...trails off-

Will: (I'm sorry, I...I...)

Mikhail: That was… that was so dangerous, Will …

Mikhail: But you didn't know… you didn't know at the time…

Mikhail: …unlike me , who made such a choice knowing what would happen…

Mikhail: {But what choice did I have but to save her?}

Mikhail: {She is all I have left of her mother…}

[He crosses his arms and turns his head a bit, closing his eyes. He looks very worn out.]

Will: ... -...m...m'sorry-

Will: -...know it was wrong, know it was. You didn't deserve this and I hid like a coward...-

Will: -Should've been me...-

[Mikhail opened his eyes again and gazed down at Will.

After a moment, he knelt down again, sitting back on his heels.]

Mikhail: -Places a hand out on Will's shoulder- It was a dreadful decision to have to make, and no good option presented to you. I understand why you made it, and I certainly understand why you hid from the aftermath. So, for what it's worth…

Mikhail: I forgive you.

Will: --I...I don't...

Will: (...He...)

Will: -Blinks -

Will: … …really?

Will: -After lying to you? Letting you get hurt and...this--?-

Mikhail: I won't gloss over it, Will. This is a lot to take in, and it's not a painless thing.

Mikhail: Will… I told you—if not to detail, at least to bitter openness—the truth about my past. You knew almost right away that I had been forced to… to darkness.

-=-=-=-=-

[After the two leave, Cossack remains silent for a few moments, if shaking a bit. But he slowly takes off his gloves, revealing—scars.

Scars all over his hands and going up his wrists, burn scars and scars from skin graft surgery.]

Soi: !!

Will: Oh my God--

[He speaks in Russian only, with the computer translating with a slight lag.]

Mikhail: {You speak of World War Three? I very nearly lived it.}

-=-=-=-=-

Mikhail: You knew who I was, of my deeply personal sorrows and weaknesses.

Mikhail: This… that created an imbalance of power in the relationship, Will. You held a great deal of power over me, and did not reciprocate this. Such an imbalance is dangerous, or at the very least unhealthy —especially in the long-term. Relationships—friendship included—cannot prosper without mutual respect and trust. -Concerned frown- And yes… you did withhold—you withheld that from me. From us .

Will: -Hnn...- -...we just. Thought it was over. We're... sorry...-

Mikhail: A good deal of access and trust has been granted to you, Will. Things that almost no one else is permitted to even know of, let alone see and interact with. You allowed this to happen… under pretense. Not a false pretense, per se , but a pretense nonetheless.

Mikhail: This…

Mikhail: This was important, Will. And no one knew.

Mikhail: None of us were able to make an informed decision, because you withheld the information. No one was able to know the full extent of what they were getting into when they granted you all that access. And they deserve that much, Will—we gave you leave to study their bodies and peer into their souls . To learn about their weaknesses, risking that you—or, as would be more likely, though still very unlikely to pass…someone forcing you—could exploit these weaknesses.

Will: -Very silent- (No, I'd...no, I'd rather die ...)

Mikhail: To have granted all of this without realizing the full measure of a man…

Mikhail: That is frightening at best and hurtful at worse. At worst, it is insulting and betraying.

Will: -Hnn...-

[That did hurt...and he hated it. But it was less than he deserved...]

Mikhail: The longer I think on it, the more uneasy I become. Risks were taken that no one knew about. Especially now that CherryDynamics knows who you are.

Mikhail: Hatred overrides reason, William. The intimidation of your children may not be enough anymore: not enough to protect you, them, or us.

Will: (...He's right...he knows they CAN be controlled, to an extent...)

Mikhail: And that is something that I wish I'd known earlier.

Will: -...We...understand...-

Will: -Very disheartened, just...sorrow, we had this coming, we...hn.-

[Mikhail’s face was grim, and what little light there was reflected off of his glasses, making them shine ominously.]

Mikhail: I can only be glad I never took Kalinka anywhere in your world outside of the safety of the lab. For I am quite sure that she will be identified as the weakest link in the equation…

Will: -Ghn--

Will: -Deep terror and regret--

[Mikhail’s hand was clenched into a fist, shaking slightly. He looked down at it and spoke thickly.]

Mikhail: …I'm going to have to start working more on ways to protect her from long-range attacks…. It was one thing when it was just my own folly that placed her at risk, but this….

[He sighed and put his head in his hands.]

Mikhail: I would NEVER have been so blatant about it and taken such a risk if I’d known that I would live to regret it, but I was /so CERTAIN/ that I was going to die…

Will: (Linka--I never--I never meant to put you or your father in harm's way, I thought...I thought this was over, I thought...Hnn...)

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: Access was given under pretense, Will, and we weren't told about the potential dangers—not even after you'd revealed yourself to your hunter. That placed both my children—living and Offline—as well as my patients… in danger.

Mikhail: And yes, that is upsetting.

Mikhail: But…

Mikhail: It is as much our fault as anything else, for speaking so freely and… -Trails off, sighing- It ought to be a lesson to me (and the Rebel Angels) regarding security and privacy.

Mikhail: Besides…

Mikhail: I probably will end up being placed in the same situation as you before too long, what with living as “Michael Kodak” back in my home world. Living my life in a way where I can tell no one the truth… where people could be placed at risk just for associating with me…

Mikhail: Just…

Mikhail: I was so starved for trust and friendship after what happened...

Will: ....

Will: -Same -

Will: -Someone like Soi is...once in a life time, you...-

Will: -Hmnnn-

[Will tiredly leans against a set of boxes.]

Will: Never understood people...much less people in our field...

Will: Back then, I thought it was over, I thought...

Will: -Thought I was free...-

Will: << Now I've just made it worse.

Will: -...I...-

Will: I swear if...I want...

Will: ...got you into this mess. Lied to you. I'm responsible for this.

Will: I want...I want to make it up to you.

Will: I...want to help .

Will: >>...I got you into this. I need to help you get you out. You, Kalinka, everyone ...

Will: I won't...I won't run again. I can't run again.

Will: Can't let him hurt anyone...

Will: (Graham...)

Will: It's...It's my mess and I got everyone into it. It's only fair ...

Will: ...

[Mikhail smiles a bit at this.]

Mikhail: This is just what I mean.

Mikhail: It stings to hear of all of this, especially the part with the base and the factory, but…

Mikhail: You have a good heart, my friend.

Mikhail: And you are young yet—it is too easy to judge when one is older, when you've lived through what I have. But you… you were doing the best you could with what you had, living to try and protect that which was dear. How can I resent you for that? Nay—that is forgiven.

Will: M...Mikhail...

[Oh, dear. Here come the water works.]

Will: -I...Ghn...-

Will: -Been...months, now almost, a year, Soi...Soi kept telling us to tell you, told us to tell Felix too, it's been...hard...-

Will: -Afraid, afraid you'd think less of us...-

Will: -The children love you so much, didn't want to...ruin anything, more than what we had--

Will: -Didn't want this to...be the end of it all, of all that we had built and I...I trust you-

Will: I'm sorry, I-- -His face is a mess, hate crying...-

Will: It's...you, Soi, Mother, Felix...

Will: ...Father ...

Will: -We're very sorry and we...we WILL make it up to you, we promise, we swear-

Mikhail: -Encouraging smile- Help me make the technology to put my mind at rest, and that will be enough for me as a father.

Will: Of--Of course--

Will: -We'll put everything we got into it, we will--

[And as Will stands up, he suddenly feels lightheaded--and falls forward into the floor.]

Will: -OW -

Will: @~@

[...Poor guy, he's exhausted.]

Mikhail: -Helps him sit up in a way that will revive him-

Will: -...stood up too fast...-

Mikhail: You've taken a lot out of yourself sharing this. It can truly be quite draining.

Will: -Hnn...bluh-

Will: -Maybe we should have had seconds after all...-

Mikhail: Something to drink, at the very least.

[Will's hand drifts over to the box, and his fingers brush over wood.]

Will: ...?

Will: Oh.

Will: -Holds up the chess box- ...Found it.

Mikhail: -Smiles at this- Ah! So that’s where it was hiding.

Will: ...

Will: -Pops it open- Father used to play with me on this.

Will: I was always white.

Will: It hasn't seen a game in a very long time...Hnn...at least all the pieces are here.

Will: It was made in England...very long ago. Father is from there.

Mikhail: That must have made the Queen's Finals that year all the more interesting of a watch…

Will: It was...nice to go there, though, besides the Queen's Finals...

Will: ...

Will: They...they liked it too...

Mikhail: Your children?

Will: -Nods-

Will: (....they don't know...)

Will: (They don't know they are Blackwells...)

Will: ...I...

Will: <<...I...I don't...know how I'm going to tell them. They...they have so much... already...

Will: I know they need to know, I do...

Will: -But these dreams, and...the fact that Graham is their cousin--?-

Will: -Hnn ...-

Mikhail: -Puzzled at that last bit, but decides not to question it for now-

Mikhail: I do think that the boys ought to know, but not before you tell your own children. I think that would be too much of a strain on Cardinal's heart to keep that from Shade… same for Shadow and Brandish, or Avi and Tobias.

Will: I...yes...

Mikhail: Though, Will…

Mikhail: Now that Graham knows , your life is going to become very unpleasant and dangerous. -Very concerned-

Mikhail: He will try every dirty trick—legal and otherwise—to make you pay for resisting his domination, denying him his glory, robbing him of his prize ace, and coming out on top as heroes.

Mikhail: We know CherryDynamics had at least one CAL connection. There may be more.

Will: Mnn...yes...we're up against the world's top leading robot manufacturer ...

Will: (Quite literally the world...)

Mikhail: He’s going to try to choke the life out of Sanda Enterprises, and will also likely try to disrupt the potential of the Mighty Numbers.

Mikhail: It already happened once before in another life, and that was without even knowing all this.

Mikhail: (Poor Lady Countershade... she didn’t deserve that.)

Will: -gnnnrr...-

Will: -Katie...-

Mikhail: He has enough money and spite in his being to host a number of disposable assets—rivalries may “accidentally” get out of hand in “the heat of the moment”, or assault carried out in rare moments alone or almost alone...

Mikhail: I’d guess Shade, Beck, Avi, and Dyna at the greatest risk.

Mikhail: They should at least know that much, if not all the background behind it.

Will: ....

Will: (...Once the Colosseum seasons start up again...)

Will: (I will have to tell them something to that effect...)

Will: (But I know they will believe me...they disdain CherryDyn too, after all this...)

Will: Yes yes...I...I know. I know.

Mikhail: -Thoughtful- Hmm...

Mikhail: Soichiro and Seijiro should meet with Lady Ky at some point.

Will: -Nods- Hmm... Yes, good idea...

Mikhail: Nighthawk Industries may be able to provide some business support, if it doesn’t create a conflict of interest with her hosting the Rebel Angels.

Mikhail: She will be happy to help in any way she can, and may provide extra security measures.

Will: -Oh thank goodness...- That would be great, yes...

Will: I don't think there will be much problems. If anything, the Rebel Angels and Mighty Numbers might be presented as friendly rivals, at any rate.

Mikhail: -Laughs- I should think so, though admittedly they’re going to likely be based out of Kansas City, not Titus. The Prairie Kings will have a thing or two to say about getting their territory infringed, I’m sure—though I can’t see them actually being primarily battle based, to be honest. Their great talent lies in problem solving—to be expected from a series comprised mostly of Industrials. They will, I think, be a team more versed in other kinds of competition that also can put up a good fight when put to the test.

Will: Aheh...I wish them luck in that. I know they'll do great...

Mikhail: Do you think you ((pl.)) will be able to watch the first match?

Will: O-Of course! I wouldn't miss that for anything -- and neither would the Mighties.

Mikhail: I can’t help but get this feeling it will happen this year. -Content smile- Just a feeling I have.

Mikhail: I know Cardinal has been looking forward to it.

Mikhail: He’s been dreaming and daydreaming about it for years.

Will: -Snorts lightly - Arena Fever never left him, hmm...

Mikhail: Well, his very first impression was seeing the Titus Colosseum amenities and grounds, and the Mighty Numbers’ locker room and trophy hall. I think it made quite the impression on him.

Mikhail: As it would anyone, I’d imagine, don’t you agree?

Will: Eheh....hmm...

Mikhail: Though I will note for his sake that I think he’s more interested in the opportunity to have a good time and spend time with other people, and the chance to work with the Mighty Numbers—that more than anything else.

Mikhail: We really do enjoy spending time with you all.

Will: I...I do to. -Sigh of relief -

[PING!]

Will: --?

[DR.SANDA] //: Will? Sorry, I know you said not to text or call you but--um, just, let me know how things are going when you see this--sorry, I got worried...

Will: Oh.

Mikhail: Hmm? Something come up?

Will: No, it's just Soi...

[DR.WHITE] //: Things are fine...better. I'll be home soon.

[DR.SANDA] //: 👍🏼

[DR.SANDA] //: |D

Mikhail: Still up for that game?

Will: ^^;; Um...help me get downstairs first?

Mikhail: Heh. Certainly.

[He helps Will down the stairs to the kitchen and pours him something to drink. Then he goes back to the attic and gets the chess set, bringing it down. He sets up the board as well.]

Mikhail: Do you want to use the timer, or no?

Will: No...not really.

Will: Um...

Will: If there's...anything else you want to ask...

Will: You can.

Mikhail: -Thinks on this-

Will: -...Chooses white- I'd rather get anything you want to know about... me ... out of the way...

Will: For once.

Mikhail: -Thinks- Alright.

Mikhail: What’s Felix’s role in all this?

Will: << ...Soi...Soi saw that I wasn't doing too good after...

Will: ... everything ...

Will: And said that I needed to get these... secrets off my chest before they crushed me.

Will: <<;; ...but I wasn't ready to tell you.

Will: Soi suggested I'd tell a trusted, neutral party instead, and that was...Felix.

Will: He...helped. A lot, with quelling some of the fears I had...

Will: << Although he did push me to tell you too.

Will: << Felix needed to know eventually, anyway. He said he wouldn't take sides, but urged me to come to terms with whatever...consequences that followed my silence.

Will: << It was hard and I felt...It felt wrong telling him first than you. I'm sorry.

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Resigned frown- No, it’s alright. He is a good man, and has seen much. He knows how to keep silence, and is a faithful friend. If... if you were so nervous about telling me, he would be a natural choice as confidant.

Mikhail: -Seems perturbed-

Mikhail: I can tell this was difficult for you. Which I can understand, if one has grown used to the cruelty of the world. One grows to expect backlash.

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Moves a piece- But...

Mikhail: -Somewhat disheartened- Are you afraid to bring up problems you have with what I do or say?

Will: --? I--no, no, it's...just...

Will: ...

Will: << I...maybe...when it comes to issues with Father ...

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Quietly- I suppose that is... fair, given how I have behaved about the matter in the past.

Mikhail: I know it’s not very wise to make judgments not knowing or living the full extent of the matter, and seeing motives where they may not exist, but...

Mikhail: I never truly told you the extent of what happened. How far I strayed for my little girl...

Mikhail: You’re talking to a man whose family is his world—

Mikhail: So he sacrificed the world for the sake of his daughter.

Will: ....

Mikhail: Millions could have died… and I knew that if I gave in, even if we lived, it would be in a desolate world that had no bright future for her.

Mikhail: But I surrendered anyway.

Mikhail: I let myself become a catalyst for war—a war that would devour East and West against one another—for the sake of one person.

Mikhail: When faced with evil, I facilitated it, rather than refuse to let it grow.

Will: -...hesitantly moves another piece, blocking Mikhail- ... (But what else could you do ...?)

Will: (You could've died and left Kalinka an orphan, if you didn't do what they wanted...or worse, they could've hurt her ...)

Will: -Unhappy expression-

Mikhail: This guilt... it has never left me.

Mikhail: Now we are leaving our home—probably forever. Because of what happened, we have to move to another country, change our names, change our appearances, and begin to live in lies—lies and loneliness.

Mikhail: She’s just a child... she is a flower, and flowers do not thrive shut away. But how can I protect her otherwise? To allow others close will be to place either them or her at risk.

Mikhail: I see how hurt you are and I wonder—

Mikhail: Will she, too, grow to resent me for a situation she had no control over? For a life of secrecy and shame?

Will: . . .

Will: (I...I hadn't...)

Will: >> I...I grew to be that resentful and hateful back when I was a teenager because I had always wondered why Father left us so suddenly. She has you , Mikhail and...

Will: At the very least , you both have the chance to talk it out.

Will: I...I never had that.

Will: (Still don't. He refuses to speak to me about anything ...)

Will: Mother... she never knew either.

Will: It was just...us. Alone.

Will: <<...I don't know how she couldn't stay angry with him. Maybe she just loves him that much.

Will: -Moves his knight- She always told me not to worry about anything but I knew. And I think she did too, and somehow we both ended up working to together to keep it...together.

Will: It's... hard, it truly is...

Will: But...she has you, and... that's a lot more than what I had.

Will: She's clever, you know.

Will: Sometimes mature children can...just, understand that there's something wrong, or not right, so they will pretend to know less than what they really know .

Will: I know I did, for a time.

Will: I am, after all, the child of a genius, and so is she.

Mikhail: -Slight smile at that, heartened a little-

Will: ...I...Well, I personally never became angry with Mother. I knew that Father just...leaving made her very upset--it made us upset--and it both left us feeling lost and confused.

Will: To be in the same or similar situation, there is a common ground...

Will: ...to which I am sure Kalinka is at least aware of in some form.

Will: >> But I can't be sure how she will react. I can only go off of what I myself have experienced. Talking with Mother, understanding where she came from...it helped me understand our situation and...well, I wanted to help.

Will: I did little things at first. Simple things, chores. Cleaning. Learning how to sew, cook, laundry...

Will: Mother was--still is a vehicle mechanic. I'd help her in the shop with tools, sometimes help her fix them...

Will: -Smiles - We would take apart an entire engine and put it back together, timing ourselves...when we had spare time.

Will: Including the Xel based cars. That was one of my first encounters with it.

Will: -Moves a pawn- Mother knows a thing or two about Xel too.

Will: I mean, of course she does, she married Father ...

Mikhail: I should like to talk to her someday. Perhaps when all of this is over, she can pay a visit. I think I would like her to be there when Anubis comes Online—it truly is a rare occasion.

Will: Yes--that's another thing. It was just us two, but you have your sons as well.

Will: ...I think...I think if you're just careful and talk to her, yes...things will be fine. It will be hard, but it gets easier once you busy yourself.

Mikhail: I suppose it does...

Mikhail: She seems happy around you and your family, at the very least. I’m glad...

Mikhail: Would you still like to learn more about Robotics as it works in Robot Masters and the lesser constructs?

Will: I...well...if you still want to learn about Xel! ^^;;;

Mikhail: I would indeed. -Slight smile that becomes a full grin- I think that once I learn, we can work together to give the boys a chance to live without fear of discovery in your world. And that would be of great comfort to them.

[His eyes are bright and alert.]

Mikhail: I have ideas in mind that I would like to carry out, though it may be some time before I can work on my sons. For that is work I would prefer to do alone.

Will: Oh, of course, of course. Whatever you like and is comfortable for you, I promise.

Will: -Lifts up the Queen, but--

Will: --!

Will: Oh .

[Will sets it down where it was again. He can't really move...]

[But neither could Mikhail. Stalemate.]

Will: ....

Will: -Snorts loudly--

Mikhail: -Grins-

Will: You know, I figured this would happen--

Will: -Kind of covers his mouth to stifle his laughter- But I didn't think it would be the very first game we had, ha--!

Mikhail: -Chuckles softly-

Will: -Who's going to beat Soi now--

Mikhail: Simple.

Mikhail: He must play two games at once. -Grins-

Will: ...

Will: -We like this idea very much, we can see the look on his face, HA--

Mikhail: -Takes a picture of the board and puts away his pocket notepad-

Will: -Also snaps a picture- Heheh...~

Will: I'm...I'm rather glad I told you in the end. Soi and I got into a lot of shenanigans back in high school...

Will: And college. Oof ...

Will: ^^;; But those are stories for another time.

Mikhail: Yes. Let’s clean up for now.

Mikhail: Thank you for the game—it was nice to play again. It’s been a while.

Mikhail: -Starts putting everything away- And Will?

Will: ...Yes?

Mikhail: Thank you for telling me, my friend.

Will: ...You're welcome. I...felt it was time. One day...

Will: One day I'll tell the others too. I promise you this.

Mikhail: I believe that when the time comes, the boys will understand. They may be frightened at first, but they have grown very fond of you and understand how it can be with such circumstances. After all, I am going through similar.

Mikhail: Now then... let’s finish out the evening.

--------------- [LATER...]

[PING!]

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Will? You there--?

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: Here. Mikhail just left.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Oh--! Did...how did it go? You said things were going well before...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: It was...hard. And he was understandably upset about some things. The... factory, the base...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: You told him that too?! Will--

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I figured I'd get it all out at once, Soi.

[DR.WHITE to DR. SANDA] //: No more secrets. Just the truth.

[DR.WHITE to DR. SANDA] //: ...I'm just so... relieved...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: We talked things out, and...I think it's going to be okay. ^^

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Oh...thank the Lord for Mikhail being such a patient man...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: We're really lucky to know him, yeah?

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: We really are, Soi...we really are.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: So...now what?

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: We need to act now. We need to protect them, Soi. I...I put them in danger letting Greg know who I am. We need to fix it.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I suggest you call your brother in the morning.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Got it...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I will be working with Mikhail on some projects to protect ourselves--and he will work on some alone. I think I should do the same.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Oh--you mean Beck's new upgrade?

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: Yes, that. I should get back to work on it. As for you, Mikhail suggested that you and Seiji speak to Nighthawk Industries...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Oh...well, if that's his idea, I'll let him know.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: ...And the kids?

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: ...I need to talk to them soon. Let them know that CherryDyn is indeed a threat. Maybe not all of the reasons behind them, but...they need to know.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Will...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I know , Soi, and I will tell them one day--but it's not time. Let us steer ourselves out of these shark infested waters a bit.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: ...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: -Sighs - ...Okay. I trust you.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: ...But for now, come home, alright? The kids are getting rowdy--

[There's a sudden thud in the background--and screeching.]

"AVI WHEN AH' GET MAH HANDS ON YEW, YOU'RE A DEAD BOT, YA HEAR ME--"

"RUN AWAAAAAAAY--"

"NO FLYING IN THE HOUSE--DON'T JUMP OUT THE WINDOW--CRYO GET O F F ME--!"

"FIRST ONE TO DOG PILE ON PYRO GETS SOME OF MY ICE CREAM STASH FROM SNOW--"

[And now there is collective thuds and yelling --]

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Ahah...help?

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I'm coming, don't worry. See you soon.

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

=PROLOGUE B: IT ALL BEGINS NOW=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

>A problem has been detected and AI_DWN_000 has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer. All unsaved data has been lost.

The problem seems to be caused by the following programs: BetaEmotions.exe

If this is the first time you have seen the Stop error screen, restart your chassis—

REBOOTING…

“Nnnnnn…”

> Rebooting…

Your last session was terminated unexpectedly. Running Diagnostic….

SYSTEM REPORT Power Network: Online Internal Fans: Online Neural Net: Online RADIO System: Online WiFi System: Online Audio System: Online Tactile Senses: Online Visual Sensors: Online Motion Sensors: Online Motor System: Online Primary Weaponry: Online: ENGAGED Secondary Weaponry: Online: ENGAGED

>WARNING: THIS SYSTEM IS ENGAGED IN LETHAL COMBAT MODE.

PROGRAM DIAGNOSTIC RobotWhiteCell Firewall: Running Artificial Intelligence and Awareness: Online BetaEmotions: Online Battle Tactical Sequences: Online: ENGAGED Non-lethal Battle Sequences: Online

>ALERT: THIS SYSTEM IS RUNNING A CODE RED CONTINGENCY.

Diagnostic complete.

>RESUMING CONTINGENCY…

[Cardinal jumped to his feet, feeling very out of it.]

>PROCESSING…

[He couldn’t remember. But he didn’t need to, yet.]

>RESULT: ACQUIRE ALL AVAILABLE COMBAT RESOURCES. PROCEED TO KANSAS CITY: LIBERTY MEMORIAL. CONTACT MNN-008.

[The only thing that mattered was the order. Had to fill the order. Didn’t matter why. Action was needed.]

BWIP!

[The lab was empty. No resistance was met. He wasn’t awake—not in the normal sense, at least.]

>HARDWARE ACQUIRED. TELEPORTING TO COORDINATES…

{Kansas City: Liberty Memorial}

[As soon as he teleported in, he could tell something was wrong.]

>ANALYZING SENSORY DATA…

>WARNING: ACTIVE CIVILIAN THREAT DETECTED.

>PRIORITY ORDER: NEUTRALIZE THREAT.

BLAM!

[But shaking awake from it was not so easy.]

[Cardinal’s origins were rooted in basic coding that followed military orders. He was made to act, not to think—certainly not to second-guess himself or the threat of any given situation. Once the right program was running, the circumstances wouldn’t matter—

Not until his processors could catch up, at any rate.]

>SUPPORT UNIT DETECTED. SYNCING PROCESSING POWER.

BLAM!

[Cardinal and Jazz teleported off of the top of the spire to engage in combat against a small group of constructs trying to break into the memorial. Their sudden appearance took the crazed Xelbots by surprise.]

“Who the [frag] are YOU—?!”

[He “spoke” flatly over his speakers.]

Cardinal: SURRENDER AND DISENGAGE ALL WEAPONRY, OR THIS SYSTEM WILL VOID THE THREAT UP TO TERMINATION.

“Yeah RIGHT—”

FOOM!

BLAM! BLAM BLAM BLAM—

[One of the fighters ran off screeching, heading for the nearest fountain. Jazz had entered her full combat form, and had set the aggressor aflame. There was a great deal of yelling from within the memorial’s locked gates, and from the attackers outside.]

>PROCESSING…

[He was starting to become aware of himself, at least—but doing so in the middle of a fight didn’t really help. Not at all.

The first thing he saw was someone rushing at him, a sickly—and familiar glow in their eyes.]

Cardinal: !!!

BLAM!

[He fired off another plasma blast as he dropped to the ground. Jazz sprang up from behind him, rewarding the attacker with a crushing bite to the face.]

SKREEE!

[He didn’t really have the time to discover how or why he had landed himself in this situation. He reached out and grabbed his opponent, ignoring a ringing from his private cell phone.]

“Let the [frag] GO of me, you stupid—”

WHACK—

[The Xelbot hit concrete, chin-first. The Robot Master did a backward flip to land on his feet. He took a moment to pull out his cell phone, but found that the call had been dropped due to a poor connection.]

Cardinal: Tch…

“REE-OW!”

>APPROACHING SIGNALS DETECTED.

Cardinal: Stall for me, Jazz!

[He turned to look behind him at the approaching swarm of constructs.

Rising into the afternoon sun…

…Dozens of Industrial recreations of WWI-era planes. And they were headed right at him.]

Cardinal: What the—!

[A click and a whine—]

[Cardinal used MAGNET MISSILE!]

[The air became scattered with noise. Cardinal teleported out of the line of fire, causing them to circle around for another sweep.]

Cardinal: SHADE!

BLAM! BLAM KTANG RRRRATTTATTTATTTATTTATTT—

Cardinal: SHADE! I NEED YOUR HELP HERE!

>SENDING SOS SIGNAL…

Cardinal: I don’t want to shred these guys to pieces!

[He couldn’t afford to wait for a response, and had to fire off another volley of the missiles. It started to rain Xel—the flimsy construction of a third of the fleet couldn’t hold against the damage. The rest were starting to go berserk.]

Cardinal: BUT I DON’T HAVE A BETTER OPTION!

[Cardinal used RING BOOMERANG!]

KZZZRR! KZZZRRR!

[The shield protected him easily against most of the onslaught—he had his back to the ground at this point, and they were circling around him like vultures. This proved to be their undoing, and Cardinal had to brace himself against the damage that followed.]

>ERROR: SERVER NOT FOUND

Cardinal: -Hisses at this- Why?!

[This was not something he wanted to hear, not after tearing apart what was most likely museum property. Not after sending off several Domestic—no, wait, Civilian— models, shrieking in pain and fear as they fled for their lives.

He got to his feet, wiping off the shield with disgust. He put a hand to an earcap as he adjusted some of his data input and output to match a local radio frequency.]

“KKKKKKK—requested, situation critical—”

<DLN-000>: >Situation acknowledged! Proceeding to signal source for backup!

Cardinal: Come on, Jazz!

[He gave a running sprint right onto his traveling companion, and Jazz shifted into a jet form.]

[He dropped in through the ceiling, right above one of the more chilling exhibits. It was absolute chaos inside.

The display of the trenches had become a lot more lively with infected Industrials running around.]

“NOT ANOTHER ONE—!”

Cardinal: STAND CLEAR!

[He kept going right down, slamming into some of the Industrials and crushing them instantly. The shock of impact didn’t stop him from whipping out one of his more dangerous Power Capsules.]

WHHHWWHHHWHHHWHHKKKT—

[Cardinal used TOP SPIN!]

[There was a gurgling noise as the Industrials were sliced to ribbons by the motorized garrote. He had to wince as the surge-made top coiled up over a yard of Xel-covered wire.]

“Where is that backup?! They're starting to kill one another, now—!”

<DLN-000>: >I AM the backup!

“Excuse me?!”

BWIP!

<DLN-000>: The robot in red with the shield? Yeah, that’s me! Are your security cameras working?

[He saw one of the cameras turn slightly to focus in on him.]

“Sir! You need to evacuate!”

<DLN-000>: >Not gonna happen until the area is secured! I’m going to go take an aerial view!

BWIP!

[Back atop the memorial, he looked down at the city. It was an absolute mess— fires in the horizon, tornado sirens starting to wail—]

Cardinal: (Why is nobody answering?!)

[—and not a single response to his SOS signals or his Status Inquiries.]

Cardinal: (I’m going to completely blow our cover at this rate! Is my transceiver broken? It must be broken…. I can only imagine how busy Shade and the others must be, that they can't answer me—)

kkkk…

Cardinal: …?

[Over the chatter of the museum security radio frequencies—some of which was even directed at him—he was starting to feel it.

Faint, but there.]

Kkkkkk…

Cardinal: … -Doubtful- Will? (Did they finally hear me?)

Kkkkkkk…

[He looked down, suddenly realizing that the noise was coming from something in his satchel. He pulled out a radio.]

Cardinal: … (Oh, right—this thing isn’t adjusted for this particular city—)

“—children! We’re trapped in here—I think the museum attendant got injured!”

[That snapped him out of his thoughts quickly. He soon saw the source of the problem— a slew of Industrials, some distance away near Science City.

Contemplation over whatever was going on elsewhere would have to wait a few minutes.]

<DLN-000>: >Situation acknowledged! Hang tight! I’m going to come on over to clear the way for you! This could get messy…

[He didn’t wait for an answer, instead opting to jump right off the monument.]

[CARDINAL used ITEM-2!]

[He began windsurfing almost immediately, zooming off toward Union Station and Science City. Jazz was sprinting across the ground underneath him, vaulting over cars and weaving around buildings at a marginally slower pace.

He gave his trademark, his signature whistle as he came bearing down on the Industrials before jumping down into their midst.]

FOOOM!

[He didn’t shy away from fire, burning up the escaped fixtures to museum displays willingly, without a shred of remorse. These were dire circumstances.

He finished it off with a Rain Flush to put out the fire, hoping that the rain shower wouldn’t be too much of a hindrance to the rest of the city. (That particular Power Capsule Ability had quite a large range.)]

Cardinal: -Looks around- …

[The place was a mess. Broken glass, debris everywhere… but not really any people to be found.

He climbed his way into the building, looking around. He was certain that there were other Industrials in there, but he didn’t see any nearby.

He walked over to the planetarium entrance and knocked on the door.]

Cardinal: Is everyone alright in there?

[Silence.]

<DLN-000>: >The situation outside the planetarium has been contained. Is there anyone inside?

[He could pick up on some private chatter going on behind the scenes, over other frequencies, but didn’t switch over so that he wouldn’t miss out on the frequency he was currently on. After a few tense moments, the door slowly opened.

The power had gone out, but the dark room was lit by a few technology screens: some of them giving off the sickly purple glow, but most not.

The person who opened the door appeared to be a teacher or camp instructor of some kind. She looked tense when she saw Cardinal, so he shifted out of his blaster and held both hands up, stepping away.]

Cardinal: Just here to help. Is everyone okay?

[The woman--with a name tag that read Nancy Newhaus--quietly gulped before speaking in the clearest voice she could muster.]

Nancy: I—

Nancy: The… the children are alright--scared, but nothing too serious--

Nancy: But Drake got bit by one of the bots gone wild--

“Nancy, I'm fine—”

[A young man—not older than 25—was sitting with the kids, his left bicep wrapped in medical gauze.]

Drake: I'll live; it's not like I got anything that can get infected. At least… not in the Xel sense, anyway…

Cardinal: What happened here?

Nancy: W-Well...

Nancy: We--had malfunctions during the show we usually do--during one of the tours--

Nancy: Th-they just...started acting so strange and hostile--and when Drake stepped out to see what was going on, they leaped at him--

Drake: -I said I'm fine, don't make it so dramatic--

Cardinal: -Looks over at Drake- Oh?

Drake: The security system went off and we all got word from it that a virus outbreak was goin' on--so we all headed to the basement, per emergency procedure.

Cardinal: Do you all have a way to get home or somewhere to go?

Drake: Depends. What are the roads like?

Cardinal: Mostly empty.

Nancy: Well… the carpool should still be working; I parked it in the indoor staff parking lot…

Drake: Right. Nancy, you take the kids--I'll make sure no one else gets left behind.

[As Nancy ushered the children away, they seemed curious about Cardinal himself; they attempted to take pictures of him, although he took cover behind his shield and Nancy scolded them for it. They take the emergency route into the nearest exit, with Drake looking on for any stragglers.]

Drake: That seems to be everyone…

Cardinal: Really? I would have thought this place would be busier in the summer.

Drake: I think everyone else bolted when they got the chance.

Cardinal: I see.

Drake: …

Cardinal: …

Drake: …Who the heck are you? Some kinda arena bot that didn't get infected--?

Cardinal: I’m… not really anyone important. Just, uh… -Adjusts his scarf- Just a concerned citizen, really. -Distraction time- I’m actually wondering if you could help me, to be honest.

Drake: Help you? In what way?

Cardinal: I’m not done yet. There are still other places in the city in just as much of trouble, from the sounds of it. But you remember how hesitant you were when I first turned up; I want to work WITH security and law enforcement, but I don’t have any way to make them listen to me! There’s really limited time to explain, but they’d be more liable to listen to someone else in the field. Will you help me?

Drake: … … …

Drake: Listen, I… I don't know much, I'm… really just a attendant, not security. I'm not sure how much of a help I can even be, but… I can try.

Drake: Where exactly do you plan to go?

Cardinal: -Pacing a bit- Well, I imagine there’s an arena somewhere nearby, maybe at Arrowhead Stadium…

Drake: …??? Uh, yeah?

Cardinal: But there’s also the jazz museum, the baseball museum—

Jazz: Ree-ow.

Cardinal: The zoo…

Drake: …

Cardinal: …

Cardinal: Oh [glitch], the ZOO—

Drake: Wait, what about the Zoo--

Cardinal: Ohhh, this is gonna be bad—we need to evacuate that immediately: adding animals to the mix poses a greater threat! They can’t be reasoned with or communicated with in any fashion! Come on!

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

=CHAPTER 8C: TRAPPED BY LASER LIGHT=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

[C R A A A C K!]

[THUD—]

[The door came down, Shade was over Cardinal's broken form, rifle pointed right at his chest—!]

[Vrrrrrrr...]

[THREAT IDENTIFIED.]

[XEL OVERRIDE SEQUENCE INITIATED.]

[COMMENCING WEAPON LOCK.]

Beck: STOP!

[Shade looks up from his target, just in time to see Beck's outstretched hand glowing a deep green, his eyes reflecting the same glow. Or perhaps they were glowing themselves?]

[WEAPON SYSTEM LOCK ENGAGED. TARGET: MN.8.]

Shade: —!

[Shade suddenly felt his rifle grow heavy, and the laser from his scope died out—]

Beck: NNGH—!

[Whatever it was that Beck was doing, it seemed to be very taxing on him—it was like he was holding something in place, but he didn't know what that was, or how he was doing it, exactly—]

[All he knew was that it was stopping Shade, which was what he had to do.]

Beck: S-Shade—!

Shade: ....

[The weapon lock didn't do much about Shade's current state of mind, however, and he sneered.]

Shade: So the Lil' Doggy thinks he can bite back, eh?

Shade: Heh. That's c u t e.

Beck: Nnngh—!

[Shade doesn't look too concerned despite being essentially disarmed at the moment. He turns his attention back to Cardinal, who...]

[Wasn't...moving...]

Beck: --!!!!

Beck: C-Cards—!

Shade: Looks like you get to fly another day, Songbird.

Shade: -GRIN-

Shade: That is, if ya can even WALK after this! HA!

Beck: That...

Voice… voices…

> Procc…essin…g…

Beck: THAT'S ENOUGH—!

Beck: WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS—?!

Shade: Feh—ya haven't figured it out yet—

Beck: I'm not TALKING to you.

> Proccess…ing…

Shade: —....

Beck: Yeah. That's right.

Beck: You.

Beck: I KNOW you can hear me.

Beck: And—And I know—at least...I think I know.

Beck: I know—you're like ME.

Beck: I've felt it ever since all this started—!

> Proccess…ing…

Shade: … …

Shade?: Like...you—?

Beck: I don't—it's just a feeling, but it's THERE and I know—

Beck: I know that somewhere in there—there's something else, something that knows all this is WRONG—!

Beck: So...

Beck: ...So please.

Beck: I'm begging you.

Beck: There...There's still time.

Beck: No more.

Beck: Just...no more.

> Proccess…ing…

Beck: No more pain, no more...of this.

Beck: I don't want to fight.

Beck: I...

Beck: I don't want to fight anymore—

>WARNING: POWER SYSTEM FAILURE IMMINENT: CORE HAS BEEN DRAINED IN OVERDRIVE CONVERSION.

Beck: —!

[Beck's attention snapped to Cardinal, who—oh, no, why is there so much oil and—]

———————————

Beowulf: Surge conversion is great, but energy cores weren’t built to function as first-aid reserves. They just aren’t meant for that. They’re there to provide a long-term internal energy supply to keep you running, like a heart does. You have a heart, but you still gotta eat and stuff.

Beowulf: Do that too many times, and the next bits of damage will stick, because there isn’t enough energy left to fix it.

——————————————

[Oh no—]

[PING!]

[TRIGGER SIGNAL LOST. XEL OVERRIDE MODE DISENGAGED. WEAPON LOCK WILL NOW BE LIFTED.]

Beck: -Blinks—- ??????

Beck: (Wha—)

[BANG!]

Beck: Guh—!

[A bullet found mark on Beck's shoulder—the assassin wasted no time once the weapon lock vanished.]

Shade: Alright.

Shade: While the lil' dance with the bird was FUN while it lasted...

Shade: It's time we settled this like robots.

Shade: Heh. Ya know what Ah'm talkin' about, don't ya?

Beck: —Shade, wait—!

[Too late. The hunter vanished without a trace, soundlessly making his escape.]

[...Leaving the mangled mess that was Cardinal behind.]

Beck: Cards--

[Beck came closer—he could smell oil and coolant— familiar smells—]

Beck: C-Cards...

Tired…

> Analysis complete. 1 Match found: MNN-009.

Cardinal: …

[To say he was in bad shape would be the understatement of the decade. He was too tired to even try and hide the damage—and there was only a faint humming noises coming from his unprotected eyes. They flickered dimly, sporadically—

—…no, wait, that wasn’t random, that was Morse…]

{Go… on… 9.}

Beck: —!

Beck: ....

[His vision began to grow out of focus.]

[...Oh, no. It's...not that.]

[Those were tears.]

Beck: N-No—

[Beck fell to his knees next to the First, but didn't dare touch him—not....Like this.]

((Pic—Beck crying over Cardinal))

[Flashes of something—someone. Red. Hurt.]

Beck: I...I can't—I can't leave you here—!

[Whether Cardinal didn’t hear him, or else didn’t care… that was hard to say.]

{Go… now…}

{SAVE… HIM…}

{Save… 8…}

{Go.}

Beck: I—I—

[His eyes darted erratically—flicking between a glowing intensity to a dulling light--]

[He promised, promised to save everyone, but Cards—but—Shade—]

[Cards was so hurt, but Shade was so close to losing himself—]

Beck: -Hurts—-

[Shade—his brother—]

[And Cards, Shade's best friend—]

___________________

"Beck."

___________________

Beck: —!

[A voice...]

_______________________

"Ow...yeah?"

"Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Putting yourself...Putting yourself up like you MUST prove something."

"Uh...I don't get it."

"Bah, of course you don't..."

"I'm saying...you always put yourself in a position where...where you WANT to be something greater when you're not READY for it."

"I..."

"You help others, sometimes out of your own expense—you give and give and give and give—"

"Until WHAT, Beck—?"

"I..."

"Why do you have to feel like you have to help...help EVERYONE in YOUR world—?"

"Um...Because it's the right thing to do?"

"Oh, don't give me THAT. That's cliché and you know it."

"Well, there's nothing wrong with wanting to help people, right?"

"...No, but it's dangerous to feel like you have to help everyone you meet."

"Hey, what do you mean by—"

"You can't help everyone, Amadeus."

"Wha—yes, I can—!"

"No. You can't. You're just one person. And we all have our limits."

*"I hope that one day even YOU can figure that out..."*

"...Mighty No. 9."

___________________________

Beck: .......

Beck: . . . .

Beck: (...I...)

Beck: (I can't help everyone...)

Beck: .......

>Shutting down…

Beck: . . . . .

Beck: O...Okay.

Beck: I'll go.

Beck: I'll...I'll save Shade, Cards, like I promised...

Beck: And...

Beck: I'll...I'll bring him home...

Beck: ...

Beck: Promise.

-Ping-

<RMDC>: >Signal identified: DLN-000.

<RMDC>: > Processing…

<RMDC>: > DLN-000 is now Offline.

Beck: ....

[It was quiet, save for Beck's small, retreating footsteps. Far too quiet.]

[Beck had come to HATE this kind of silence. It was unnerving, and too heavy for his... smallness to bear.]

[As much as it pained him to leave his friend like this, Beck...Beck just didn't have the heart to go on without some solace that Cardinal would be okay.]

[PING!]

[MN.9] //: G...Guys...

[MN.9] //: I...I'm going after Shade...

[MN.9] //: But—C...Cards...

[MN.9] //: -PLEADING data—- Help—I can't help him, please, someone help him soon, please—

[It seems forever before there’s an answer.]

<MC005>: > Can’t bring Robot Masters back Online. Xelbots can’t go until area is secured.

Beck: ......

[Which means...]

[Until Shade was saved, no one would help Cardinal get out of here.]

[MN.9] //: ...Yes, sir.

[.....]

[There was...no other choice.]

[He had to move forward.]

Beck: . . . .

Beck: (Cards...)

Beck: (I'll finish what you started.)

Beck: (I'll save Shade—for both of us...All of us.)

[REXELECTION: BRANDISH.]

[A flash of red and yellow, and Beck zoomed out of the foyer.]

[This was far from over.]

[Just because Shade had effectively incapacitated Cardinal and THEN some—]

[There were still many infected robots in the building, and who knows what kind of secrets were hidden in the White House that Shade could use to spread pandemonium across the nation.]

[Not to mention, the fact that they seem to follow Shade to an extent—he had no doubt that Shade was stalling for time back there just to ambush Cards at the right moment.]

[Eight could very well mount a invasion like had Five nearly done, and then there would be no stopping the government from utterly destroying the place.]

[...The more Beck thought about it, the more he could see why Cards wanted him to leave him behind. In a way, it lessened the sting of just abandoning him there—]

[...But only a little.]

[SHING!]

[Shade was still hiding, even after all this.]

[SHING!]

[But where...]

Beck: SHADE!

[PING!]

[MN.8] //: Lost, Lil' Doggy?

Beck: I THOUGHT you wanted to settle this like robots.

Beck: So where ARE you?

[MN.8] //: Ah' could tell ya. But that wouldn't as fun...

[MN.8] //: Ah' think ya have more worries t' attend to.

Beck: Besides YOU? Oh, come on—

[MN.8] //: Haven't ya heard the commotion outside?~

Beck: —Huh?

[Beck skidded to a stop, looking out to one of the broken windows overlooking the White House Lawn, and the gates beyond it.]

[There was...A lot of police. The kind that you see in... riots—? ]

Beck: What...?

[MN.8] //: See? I'm not the only robot tired of the status quo.

[MN.8] //: Even the meat-sticks don't want anythin' t do with the system!

[Indeed, it...It looked like there was a large, angry crowd outside—Beck could make out mostly humans, but also some Xelbot Civilians that didn't seem to be infected—]

[Some were cheering, others screaming bloody murder, and still others were trying to get inside—]

Beck: I...What is...?

Beck: (I don't understand...)

[MN.8] //: Lemmie ask ya a question, Lil' Doggy.

[MN.8] //: What are we REALLY built for?

Beck: ....

Beck: You're not going to get at me with this.

[MN.8] //: Not even gonna humor me, eh? Alright, that's fahn. I'll TELL ya.

[MN.8] //: All we were built t' do is fight in the Battle Colosseum, plaaain an' simple.

[MN.8] //: Don't seem so bad on the SURFACE, right?

[MN.8] //: W r o n g.

[MN.8] //: Humans can talk 'bout 'containin' violence' all they want, but that don't disguise what they REALLY want.

[MN.8] //: Entertainment, Lil' Doggy. We're just playthangs t' them. We dance and sing and fight and die just t' give them somethin' to fill the void in their PATHETIC Lil' lives.

Beck: —......

[MN.8] //: An' Combat Models have been doin' it fer YEARS an' no one' bothered t' do ANYTHIN' 'bout it.

[MN.8] //: We're givin' our spot in the limelight until they decide we're old news. And then they throw. Us. OUT.

[MN.8] //: Would've happened to One, eventually. Would've happened t' all of us. Would have happened t' YOU.

[MN.8] //: Heh.

[MN.8] //: Lucky for yew, lil' Doggy, Ah' plan t' make a few...changes t' that.

[MN.8] //: If ya manage t' SURVIVE, that is.

Beck: ...What are you getting at, Shade?

Beck: What's your plan?

[MN.8] //: Ah' really gotta spell it out for ya, don't Ah'?

[MN.8] //: Mah' first executive order as the first robot president is to set ALL robot FREE.

[MN.8] //: An' t' do that, I'm gonna abolish the International Battle Coloseeum Association. Permanently.

[MN.8] //: By FORCE.

Beck: —!!!!

Beck: Y-You can't do that—!

Beck: The IBCA isn't EVIL, Shade—!

Beck: Don't do that—

Beck: -PANIC-

Beck: PLEASE—!

[MN.8] //: Oh?

[MN.8] //: —Ooooh, that's right...yer off the team, ain't ya?

[MN.8] //: No IBCA, no tournaments, no more team.

[MN.8] //: You'd be useless, Lil' Doggy. Everythin' ya worked for--

[MN.8] //: --Kaput. See what Ah' mean, nao?

Beck: --........

[MN.8] //: Heh.

[MN.8] //: Truth hurts, don't it.

[MN.8] //: I'll be waitin' in mah new office, Lil' Doggy. If ya wanna file a complaint!~

[KSSSSSST--]

Beck: . . . .

Beck: (Those words...)

Beck: (I...I've heard those words... before...)

Beck: (I didn't understand then, but...Now...)

Beck: (You...)

Beck: (Has it been you...I've been sensing all this time...?)

Beck: (Are you the one behind all this...?)

Beck: (Have you...been hurting...this whole...time...?)

Beck: .......

Beck: (No...)

Beck: (Why didn't you tell me--?)

Beck: (Y...You could have...told me...)

Beck: (I...All this time, I could have helped you too...)

Beck: (How...how could I have been so blind--?)

Beck: (...Am I really that much of an idiot after all...?)

Beck: --........

[MN.9] //: -Erratic, sad, self doubt, empathetic data--

Beck: -Ngh--

Beck: (No, stop that--)

Beck: (If...If they knew...)

Beck: ....

Beck: (I have to keep going.)

Beck: (I can...think..about it...later...)

[His new office, Shade said.]

[Taking into account what Shade came here to do in the first place...]

[Beck knew exactly where to go.]

Beck: . . . .

[Soon, he came upon the large doors adorned with the Presidential Seal on them--The Oval Office.]

[Sunny sat to the side, hopping over to the small, discouraged hero with a worried look on her face.]

Sunny: D:

Beck: ...Hi, Sunny.

[Sunny opened up her compartment to give Beck some much needed Xel Cubes and Stocks--]

Beck: --?

[...Some other things tumbled out too.]

Beck: !

[A care package, of sorts, hastily thrown together.]

[Some cool water from Cryo, and cookies from Pyro--power nodes from Dyna and what looked to be a shiny rock from Mic...]

[A small coin from Bat--...Sadly nothing from Avi. He must be still out cold...]

[...A origami crane from Brand...His star projection toy he got on his second birthday from Will...]

[And some marshmallows from Sanda.]

[…!]

[And a note!]

Beck: ...?

“{LAST NIGHT—FOUND WORKING REPLACEMENT.}”

Beck: Working...Replacement...?

[.....]

Beck: --!!!!!

[Cardinal's core. He had all the parts, thanks to Beck, except for a working power core replacement. Something he could run on that wouldn't cause him to overheat--]

Beck: (He...They...)

Beck: (They did it--?)

Beck: ....

[And just like that, with that one note, with those seemingly few items that wouldn't have mattered to anyone else...]

[...There was hope.]

Beck: (I get it now...)

[There was a chance--!]

Beck: (I gotta save Shade--)

Beck: (So Cards can get help--)

Beck: (So he can be SAVED--)

Beck: (So he can live--!)

Beck: (Don't worry, Cards--)

Beck: (I'll save Shade for you--so he can live, right by your side--!)

[Strength returned to him suddenly, as he absorbed the Xel Cubes into his frame and put the power nodes away. He shoved the rest of the care package back into Sunny--he didn't have time to keep it all on him.]

[...The cookies and marshmallows stayed with him, though.]

Beck: (Alright, Shade--)

[Beck stood in front of the doors, and pushed them both open with some effort.]

Beck: (Let's end this.)

[CAPITOL BUILDING: OVAL OFFICE...]

[The office had seen better days. It was completely trashed. Even the chair in which the Madame President sat in was thrown across the room, the desk scorched, the tables turned sideways and riddled with bullet holes.]

[As expected...Shade was nowhere to be seen.]

[But he was here.]

Beck: (...Yeah...)

Beck: (He's here, I can feel it, somehow...)

Beck: (Is this how you tell he's near, Nii-San?)

Beck: ....

Beck: I kinda expected to be shot the second I came in.

Beck: That's what you did when I got here.

"Heh."

[The cowbot finally revealed himself, lazily leaning against the side of the desk, head down so that his radar hat covered most of his face.]

Shade: So ya do learn.

Shade: Okay, nao, Lil' Doggy...

[His head lifts just enough to reveal a single glowing violet eye, and a twisted smile.]

Shade: Let's see if you're all bark...or if you got some b i t e.

[A pair of bright, emerald hues meet his in defiance. Then Beck shook his head.]

Beck: Listen to me, Shade: you're malfunctioning! You're SICK! You're not THINKING straight!

Beck: Didn't you feel anything at all--ANYTHING--when you saw Cards--?!

[Shade pauses at that for a moment, as if thinking back...]

Shade: …

Beck: Please...

Beck: All this--freeing robots, us being just tools and playthings--

Beck: ....

Beck: I won't disagree with you.

Beck: ....

Beck: I've seen...and heard...what happens...when people see us like that...

Beck: Even when I shouldn't have...I did. I heard.

Beck: And it is nothing LESS than horrifying and wrong.

Beck: And...I won't deny that...

Beck: There are bad things, bad places, and...Yeah... really bad people in the world.

Beck: That being said--

Beck There are people that don't see us like that--!

Beck: Like Dad, and Uncle Sanda, and Mikhail--!

Beck: Mao, Felix, Piers--

Beck: The people that look up to us--

Beck: The people that we FIGHT for--!

Beck: The people that know what REAL freedom is, and try to protect it--!

Beck: Freedom doesn't require all this SUFFERING--!!

Beck: You're only going to make things WORSE, if you shut down the IBCA--! Not just for me--forget about me--! For EVERYONE--! What are you trying to ACCOMPLISH, getting rid of something that gives so many people so much HOPE?!

Shade: Tch.

Shade: Humans have fought over freedom an' hope with WAR for centuries. Your damn point? S'moot.

Beck: --!

Shade: Emancipation is worth ANY price...

Shade: Even at the cost of human lives.

[SCANNING.....]

[SCAN COMPLETE.]

[MODEL: MIGHTY NO. 8. CODENAME: COUNTERSHADE.]

[HEIGHT: 193cm WEIGHT: 273kg XEL COUNT: 54,600,000]

[CLICK.]

Shade: Or yours.

[BANG!]

[Beck saw that coming--he vaulted over a table on its side, the energy bullet seating the expensive furniture instead.]

Beck: I don't want to FIGHT you, Shade--!

"Bit late for that line, ain't it?"

[A quick peek over the table. Shade was no longer there.]

Beck: (Argh...)

[Countershade. The 8th in the Mighty Numbers, with state of the art technology that was only surpassed by Beck's own. The Teal Silence, the Mighty Assassin, intangible as a ghost...]

[Shade was synonymous with all of these titles and sayings and then some. He was able to pick his foes off before they even knew they were being hunted, and had many tricks and traps at his disposal--even with the lack of a right limb, that didn't slow him down in the slightest.]

[The world's greatest assassin robot ever built, and he had turned for the worst. He had pushed his inborn abilities of Radar Detection and Active Camouflage to greater heights, placing him squarely as the team's Sniper. It was often Shade that dealt the final blow against particularly strong teams, and often Shade that made sure that they had a ace in the hole in case things ever went...]

[...Wrong.]

[Against the strongest member of their family...]

[Beck had to be prepared for anything.]

Beck: (At least we're in an enclosed space--Shade's area of excel is long-range, not close quarters combat. I got the advantage there.)

Beck: (...But Cards had that too, and...)

Beck: (...And I DON'T want to taunt Shade into a rage--that would suck--)

Beck: (--I could use his weakness, I have Dyna's form...)

Beck: (--...But that isn't really going to deflect his shots, so...)

[REXELECTION: SEISMIC]

Beck: I hope I got Mic's bulkiness too...

[Beck took a deep breath and ZOOMED out of his cover--]

[BANG BANG BANG--]

[Bullet holes chasing his tracks, unrelenting in their pursuit of the smaller Mighty Number.]

"That's right--RUN."

Beck: -WELL, WHAT ELSE DO YOU EXPECT US TO DO--

[Shade still had his Camo online, even if Cardinal had done a number on his cloak...]

Beck: (Where are you--)

"Here."

Beck: --!?

[He looked up--]

[BANG--!]

Beck: --?!?

[Dizzy--]

[ERROR--GYRO SYSTEMS OFFLINE.]

Beck: Wh--Whoa--!

Shade: Heh! DANCE, Lil' Doggy!

[The world suddenly turned upside down, and his motor controls were reversed--]

[WHAM--!]

[He crashed into the desk so hard he reverted back to default, the ground and ceiling spinning at dizzying speeds.]

Beck: @~@!

Beck: (Can't tell what's up or down--)

[BANG!]

Beck: NGH--!

[Trying to move his right arm only moved his left, and vice versa--same with his legs--]

[BANG!]

Beck: OW--

[After some doing, he DOES manage to get on his feet--]

[But he's stumbling and tripping up, all sense of balance lost.]

Beck: (I've never--seen Shade do this before--not with Cards or anyone--!)

[THUD--]

Beck: (Ugh, I can't even walk straight, LET ALONE SHOOT--!)

[BANG--!]

Beck: ARGH--!

"Havin' fun, Lil' doggy?"

Beck: NO!

"Heheh."

Beck: (I gotta get normal mobility BACK--!)

[RUNNING XEL_FILTER.EXE...]

[NO MALWARE FOUND.]

Beck: (Wha--then how--)

Beck: !

[There--there's something caught in his shoulder's armor--]

[A purple dart--?]

Beck: --!

Beck: (Of course, Shade can detect signals--there's no reason why he can't also transmit jamming signals with his radar too--!)

Beck: (I gotta get this thing off me--)

[Left moves right, and vice versa--]

[So moving his right arm should--!]

Beck: (There--Ow, OW THAT HURTS--)

[BANG BANG BANG--!]

[The shots hit him squarely in the torso, knocking him away to the middle of the room--]

Beck: Nngh...

Beck: (Need a...good grip...!)

[SMACK--]

Beck: Mmmph--!

[His face meets the carpet--something big and heavy was planted right on the back of his head--]

((Pic—Beck pinned))

Shade: S'that ALL?

Shade: Ya didn't even last HALF of what the Songbird did. An’ HE was as soft as the sap he choked on!

Shade: How ya managed t' fell the rest of our kin is beyond me. Maybe it was all dumb luck, huh?

Beck: (Nngh--)

[... Amazingly, Beck raised his head even with Shade's weighted boot on his helmet.]

Beck: Sh... Shade--!

[...?]

[...Why...Why was this part of the carpet red--? ]

[Yes, it was faint, but he can make out the beginning of the letter H in...]

[Cardinal's handwriting...]

[HOPE LIVES.]

Beck: (H...Hope...Hope...)

Shade: Ah’ll make this short. After ‘m done with yew, ‘m gonna make SURE that birdy hasn’t pulled one last trick out of his arsenal. So.

Shade: Any last words, Doggy?

[CLICK.]

Beck: --Shade--

Beck: Cards--there's--there's a new source--

Beck: They did it, Shade--!

Shade: --!

[It was as if a switch had been flipped.]

[The sick, purple glow left him completely, for a moment--]

Shade: -Blink-

Shade: R..Really--?

Beck: Yeah--

[YANK--]

[GYRO SYSTEMS RESTORED.]

Beck: So you need to COME BACK HOME WITH ME--!

[REXELECTION: DYNATRON.]

[BZZZZZZZZZRT!!]

Shade: MOTHERSCRA--

[Shade screamed as pure high voltage surged up his leg, considerably damaging him--enough so that some of the infected Xel glowed around him!]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Beck: So you and Cards--

[BZZZZZZZZZRT!]

Beck: --can get better--together--!

Shade: Ngh--!

Beck: So you can laugh and smile and be silly and get into trouble--

Beck: So we can all Live—together--!!

Beck: IT'S JUST YOU LEFT--!

Beck: SO JUST LET ME--

[Beck dashed into Shade, he needed to end this quick, end this now before Cards--]

[Fzzt!]

Beck: --?!?!?

[....Did...]

[Did he just go... through Shade...?]

[He skids to a stop, turning on his heel, bewildered.]

Shade: -GRIN-

[Shade was... flickering red...]

Shade: What's wrong, Lil' Doggy?

[And then he just disappeared.]

"Ya look like ya just saw a GHOST, HEH HEH HEH!"

[BANG!]

Beck: Gh--

[The shot came from what seemed like above--he rolled and shot straight at the ceiling ledge where Shade was really perched--had be been there the whole time--]

Shade: That damn annoyin' Songbird fell for it more than ONCE, ha!

Shade: Half of the tahm he was chasin' mah Phantom instead of me.~

Shade: Did ya really think ya can win against ME, mutt?

Shade: Just like that?

Beck: --Ngh...Okay...I might have gotten...Carried away...

Shade: Heh.

Shade: So--will the humans give ya a SPECIAL treat for betraying yer own KIND, Lil' Doggy? Is Dad gonna put ya on a pedestal b'fore everyone?

Shade: S'just like them, huh?

Shade: T'covet what they hold DEAR--

[VRRRRR....]

Beck: !

[Several dark orbs fly out from under Shade's cloak--some create a shield around him, while one started to glow... bright red--]

Shade: T'WORSHIP UNTIL THEY GET BORED!

[BANG BANG BANG--]

[Strange visual glitches appeared in the air, but there were OTHER things to worry about—]

Beck: --?!?!?

Beck: (HOW IS HE DOING THAT--)

[Diving behind a table once more, he could only watch in absolute horror as Shade shot off bullets towards him--off of something that made some very familiar warping--]

Beck: (T..That shouldn't be possible--!)

[BANG BANG BANG!]

[Beck winces at what sounds like glass breaking, Shade continuing to shoot wildly--he managed to get around his cover a few times, but--]

Beck: Shade, I have no idea what you're doing but you have to stop it--

Beck: --?

[What's this--?

The visual glitchy cracks in the air were suddenly filled with a dark, pulsing energy...

That's funny, for a second he thought he heard...Voices...]

Beck: (What the heck...)

Beck: (Ugh, I don't know what's going on, but it isn't good--!)

[REXELECTION: CRYOSPHERE]

[PEW PEW PEW!]

Shade: HGNN--

[Pelting Shade with a few ice shard filled snowballs was enough to get him to stop making more of those strange glitches--but it did also made him angry.]

Shade: Freakin' MUTT!

Shade: I'll show ya EXACTLY what yer dealin' with--

Shade: Les' play a GAME, Lil' Doggy.

Shade: S'called--

[FZZT!]

[Shade vanished once more--only to reappear at Beck's left...AND right--!]

Shade and Shade: Which is it?

Beck: !

Beck: -DUCK--

[Both Shades fired at him, with those annoying purple darts--Beck could NOT afford to get hit with one of THOSE again--]

[SCANNING...]

[ERROR--MN.8 SIGNAL NOT FOUND]

Beck: (I can't tell which one is the real one--!)

Beck: (UGH--)

[PEW--!]

[He fired at one Shade, but it just went right through it.]

Beck: (Aha!)

[Fzzt!]

[No cigar--as soon as Beck figured out which was which, both Shades had vanished--and once again reappeared in different locations, as if in a game of shuffle.]

Beck: (No--!)

Shade and Shade: Heh, it hurts t' be seein' DOUBLE, ain't it?

Beck: (Nnngh, I even hear two voices overlapping--)

Beck: --?

[--? What was that--a light dangling from one of the Shades’ neck--?]

Beck: --!!!

[--Wait--that was a dog tag, with a red frayed thread around it--!]

[PEW!]

Shade: --?!?

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Beck: (Thank you, Cards--!)

Beck: (It must have gotten loose during the fight...)

[REXELECTION: DYNATRON.]

Shade: Nngghr--...

Shade: Ya need t' be put DOWN, Lil' doggy, so sit STILL--!

Beck: I'm not a DOG--

[BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Beck: --So stop CALLING me that--!

[Shade growled at his smaller brother, and sent out--a LOT of orbs--!]

[Shade--the REAL Shade--flared a bright violet aura, anger and wrath radiating from his frame in visible waves, distorting the space around him--]

Shade: You...

Shade?: You IDIOT.

Beck: --?!

Shade?: I have no qualms with you, NINTH!

[CLICK.]

Shade?: LET ME HAVE THIS!

[VRRRRRRRR--!]

[BANG BANG BANG BANG BANGBANGBANGBANG--!]

[It was just like the first fight Shade had had against Cardinal, where he’d taken out all the lights. The fixtures shattered.

Bullets and darts fly absolutely EVERYWHERE, leaving Beck with no room for cover--]

[REXELECTION: SEISMIC]

[The only thing he COULD do was shift into Mic's form and tank what he could...]

[But...]

[WARNING: XEL LOSS DETECTED.]

Beck: --!!

Beck: -Gnh--

[His leg armor was breached, and blue began to flow out of the wound from it...]

[ACCESSING XEL STOCK 1...]

Beck: (Ow...Can't move...)

Shade: Gah, sloppy--

Shade: Hate it when it takes more than one bullet...

Shade: Heh, oh well. Funny, that ya bleed b l u e....

Beck: Ngh--

Beck: How many times do I have to say it--

[REXELECTION: DYNATRON]

[Bits flew around the room, dangerously sparking up--]

Beck: You got it all WRONG! I'm here because I want to HELP you!

Beck: I AM NOT--

Shade: --!!!

Beck: LIKE THAT--!

[C R A C K !!]

[A brilliant flash, the room turns alight with the brightness of the sun-- ]

[K-ZAP!]

[Well THAT was certainly stronger than expected—!]

[...The room was covered in black soot, though, Shade and Beck included.]

Beck: ....

Beck: -cough, ugh--

Beck: (Dizzy...I feel all tingly...)

"N...Ngh..."

[Shade was on a single knee across the room, twitching slightly in some places...

The glow that surrounded him earlier had faded to a dim, but the assassin was not completely spent...]

Shade: A Mighty...doesn't lose...On their KNEES...

[Slowly, with some effort, he rides to his feet--]

Shade: This tahm--gonna kill ya DEAD--

Beck: --!

Beck: SHADE WAIT--

[ZZT.]

Shade: OW--

Shade: -Nnmmgh that smarts, what the hell--

Beck: -...We're on carpet, haven't you ever rubbed socks on one--

Beck: (This is perfect--all I have to do is get closer--)

[ZZZT.]

Beck: OW--

Beck: ......

[ZZZT. ZZZT. ZZZT.]

Beck: Ow ow ow--

Shade: Wh--

Beck: Ow OW OW, that hurts, ow--

Beck: @-@

Beck: Ow.

Shade: -GROWLS, DON'T YA DARE, WE /W I L L/ BEAT YA WITH OUR GOOD ARM IF WE HAFTA--

Beck: Okay, Shade...

Shade: Ya don't know what yer doin', Lil' Doggy.

Shade?: This is something you cannot even begin to fathom.

Beck: .....

Beck: No.

Beck: I think I do.

Beck: I think I have all this time.

[XEL ABSORBED.]

[XEL QUOTA REACHED. XEL PURGE ONLINE. XELFILTER.EXE IS PRIMED AND READY FOR OVERDRIVE.]

Beck: I...just didn't want to believe it.

Beck: I know you're listening.

Beck: ...

Beck: Everything is going to be okay.

Beck: I will help everyone.

Beck: ...I'll keep giving, if that's what it takes.

Beck: And, Shade...

Shade: --?

Beck: Cards is going to be okay.

Beck: He's hurt, but he's going to be okay.

Shade: .....

Shade: C... Cards...

[XEL PURGE INITIATED!]

Beck: I think we've stayed here long enough...

[.........]

"What are ya doin' in mah room, Beck?"

"WAAH--I--I thought no one was in here--"

"Heh. Hidin' from Dyna's wardrobe game again?"

"...Yeah. >//> I hate being in a dress..."

"Alright, ya can crash here fer a bit."

"...Y...You're not mad?"

"Beck, Ah've known those two fer longer than ya have been alive, Ah' get it."

"Oh...Okay."

"... Penny fer yer thoughts? Ya seem distant."

"Um...I... was...just wondering."

"Mm?"

"...People say... that... you...."

"...you hurt people. B...Bad people, though."

"But...why? I...I mean, isn't violence only confined to the Battle Colosseum--and why do you have to--"

"Hush, nao..."

"When did ya start thinkin' like that, huh...Eh, you're gettin' older, Ah' bet..."

"Listen t' me, Beck, an' listen well."

"Dad's taught us that there is good in everyone, an' he ain't wrong 'bout that. There is a light in all thangs..."

"... But there is also darkness. Evil. Sometimes...Sometimes good people don't come back once they let themselves go too far."

"An' as much as some would like nothin' more than t' get them back..."

"Sometimes, it ain't enough. An' someone has t' stop them b'fore they hurt even MORE people. Good, innocent people."

"...People like the ones we see on the street..."

"...An' sweet lil' kids like you, Becky, come 'ere!"

"Ack--! Shaaaade, that tickles--!"

"Heh."

[.......]

"But...Dad also taught us that..."

"... Sometimes, good people do bad thangs, but that don't make them bad people. It takes a strong heart t' tell the difference, Beck."

"...?"

Shade: B...Be...ck...

Beck: --!!!!

"Just remember this."

"There is such a thang as second chances."

"Few, an' far in between..."

Shade: Ah'....

"But they're there."

((Pic—Shade’s purging))

[XEL PURGE COMPLETE. ALL HARMFUL MALWARE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM MN.8]

Shade: Ah' owe ya one, don't ah', Beck...?

[THUD.]

[MN.8 IS NOW IN DEEP SLEEP MODE.]

Beck: Shade--!

-PING!-

<MC005>: > {Please tell me I didn’t just imagine that—}

<MC005>: > {Beck! Are you ready to return?}

Beck: ! Yeah, but Shade--

Shade: .....

Shade: Zzzzzz....

Beck: . . .

[…

Mikhail laughs.

It is clearly influenced by stress, and you could almost hear him crying in relief—his voice was kind of shaky.]

Beck: ....

Beck: Heh...

[He is soon joined by Beck, after a while. It...

It was almost like a great weight had been lifted up from his small shoulders...]

Mikhail: They’ll…

Mikhail: They’ll be fine, Beck.

Beck: -Sniff- Y...Yeah...

Mikhail: I can’t… I haven’t had the chance to talk to your father yet, but I know a way to even minimize the impact of this…

Beck: !

Beck: R...Really?

Beck: -Sniff- Th... That's great...

Mikhail: I’ll need to have a lengthy private conversation with him first, but…

Mikhail: He’ll be alright.

Beck: Heh...

Beck: (I...)

Beck: (I did it. I saved my whole family.)

Beck: (They're...going to be fine...)

Beck: ^^ M'...M'kay...

[...Oh, poor boy. He looks ready to keel over, but he's keeping himself awake through sheer willpower.]

Mikhail: I’m going to bring the two of you home. Try to get some rest once you get here, Nine.

Beck: -Sleepily- Mmm mmm...

Mikhail: Call, if you please…

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

Goose: dON’T TALK TOO LOUD OR THEY’LL HEAR YOU—

AVAIL— Don’t you think your actions are reckless?

[ KING ] - “Hmm…”If Avail was REALLY honest with himself…Well, yes. He COULD be reckless at times, and..Sometimes his sister Hense didn’t like that. At all. But, in a way, he couldn’t help it–There was just so much to see and do, and it was literally in his programming to adventure for the sake of Firixia–the game, that is.Hense had that too, just…not to the very same degree–more sensible about it.“I guess. But, hey, I’m no pushover! I can always find myself out of a jam if I have to, heh.” …Still, Hense had a point–He should be more careful–If not for his own kingdom, then for her.“I’ll just have to practice being more, uh…aware of what I’m doing, if anything!”

---

=CHAPTER 2C: BEYOND THE WATERY VORTEX=

~AO v1.0~

(Courtesy of @limitbreakers)

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

{SANDA LABS, LATER....}

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

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

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

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

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Cryo: I'M SORRY--

Pyro: I know.

Cryo: I DON'T HATE YOU--

Pyro: I know.

Cryo: BECKYYYYYYYYY--

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

[--He couldn't get one word in before hose arms started to wrap around his neck and pulled him in an embrace.]

Cryo: I'M SOOORRYYYYYY--

[Beck...well, at first, he was quite taken aback--he's never really SEEN his sister cry like this.]

[...But the surprise is only there for a moment.]

Beck: It's OK, Big Sis...

Cryo: -WAILS-

[Pyro simply rubs the top of her head, twangs of regret and pain in his optics. Eventually he had to call Father to help calm her down.]

Cryo: -SNIFF- daddyyy...

White: Shhh....it's alright, Cryo, everything will be fine...

Cryo: ...B--...but--sis....and...

[And then another wail escapes her.]

Cryo: AVIIIIII--

White: I know, I know--I....

[......]

White: I know....

Beck: Cryo--

Beck: Dad's working on finding a way to beat this virus--and I'm gonna get everyone back.

Cryo: ...-sniff-

Beck: You'll see--

Beck: We're all gonna be back together soon. We just gotta tough this out, OK?

Beck: So no more waterworks. ^.^

[......]

Cryo: ....-snort-

Cryo: G...Good one, bro...

Cryo: -SNIFF-

White: Rest while Sanda gets to work on repairing you and your tank--I need to get back to analysis.

Cryo: -sniff- OK, Daddy...

Pyro: I'll look after her.

[White nods, and hurries back to his terminal. A few ticks of the keyboard brings up the still-working analysis programs...]

White: Call, transfer the assimilated data over to me.

Call: Yes, Dr. White.

White: Now that I have two samples to compare, this will hopefully give us some more insight--

[PING!]

"DAD?? I THINK IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN--"

[ASSIMILATED XEL DATA SCAN COMPLETE.]

[REARRANGING XEL STRUCTURE...]

[REXELECTION: CRYOSPHERE]

"WHOOOOOA THAT WAS AWESOME--"

"That was...much more...different than the first time she gave it to you--"

"YEAH IT WAS WITHOUT THE LIGHT SHOW."

Cryo: BRO--BRO WHAT'S WITH THE FANCY LIGHT SHOW--

Beck: I--well...

[As Beck begins to explain his newfound abilities--much to Cryo's delight--White hums deeply in thought.]

[It was true--the lights that emitted from his Xels were not present when he acquired his siblings' powers before.]

White: (Interesting...)

White: ....Hmm.

Call: Dr. White.

White: Yes, Call?

Call: I detect a significant rise in your heart rate and vitals. Is something wrong?

White: .....

White: I'm just...nervous. Given the situation.

Call: ....

Call: Acknowledged. I will adjust the room temperature and atmosphere so that you may calm down.

White: ....Thank you, that would be nice.

White: ........

White: (Could Beck...)

White: (No--he CAN'T be. Not THIS soon...)

White: (He's not NEARLY as ready...)

White: (....Though...)

White: (The better question would be if WE would be ready...)

White: (...Gah, I shouldn't be thinking like that NOW, of all times...)

White: (I've GOT to crack this code--before it's too late...)

[MEANWHILE....]

"Phone call for you."

"......"

"Hey. PHONE CALL--"

"I heard you the first time."

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

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

"Yup."

"Do you wanna answer...?"

"......."

"Uh....P-2045453?"

"I have a NAME."

"Sorry. Warden's orders."

"...Hmph."

"Hang up."

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

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

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

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

"........."

"Do I need to tell you twice?"

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

"........."

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

[A low, grating growl.]

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

"........"

"....Doctor...?"

"........."

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

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

".......Soooo....bye. [sub] man, I hate this job...[/sub]"

[CLICK.]

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

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

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

"You obsessed fool."

"You've DOOMED us all."

"......"

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

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

" . . . ."

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

"....Forgive me..."

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

=CHAPTER 1A: RAGING FLAMES SMOLDER=

~AO v1.0~

(Courtesy of @limitbreakers)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

White: Hmm...

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

White: Good, good...

White: . . .

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

Sanda: Hmm, yes...

White: Can we trace back their transponders?

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

Call: Tracing...

[A map of the US comes up.]

Call: .......

Call: Transponder found.

White: --!!! Whose?

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

[A symbol. Pyrogen's. ]

Beck: ! Big Brother...!

Call: Comparing location to local database....

Call: .......

Sanda: Well?!

Call: ....

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

White: An OIL--?!

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

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

Beck: Yessir!

Call: Affirmative.

Sanda: You got it, Will.

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

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

__________________________________________________

[COORDINATES SET.]

"... Beck..."

"Yeah?"

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

"I know, Dad."

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

"I promise, Sanda."

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

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

"...I love you."

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

[XELS TRANSFERRING...]

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

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

[SYSTEMS READY?]

[GO!]

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

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

[Beck's comm line crackled to life.]

Call: No. 9, do you read?

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

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

[He pauses.]

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

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

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

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

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

Beck: On it!

[Beck sprints forward...]

[...And slips.]

Beck: Whoa-!

[CLANK.]

Beck: --Ow--

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

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

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

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

[VERRRRRRRRR--]

Beck: --!!!

Call: Incoming hostile robots.

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

Beck: aHHH--

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

[MN.9 HAS GONE INTO COMBAT MODE.]

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

[XEL ABSORBED. ABSORPTION BOOST: ONLINE.]

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

Beck: ....?

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

Call: Warning, multiple incoming CherryDyn robots detected.

Beck: Uh oh—

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

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

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

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

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

Beck: ...?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[XEL ABSORBED. CONVERTING...]

Beck: Huh?

[XEL STOCK 1 FULL.]

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

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

[Then--Suddenly--!]

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

Pyro: Rrrrr.....

Beck: PYRO!!

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

[Green eyes flickered towards his brother--]

Pyro: ......

Pyro: ...You...

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

Pyro: ...BURN....

Beck: !!!

Pyro: THE WORLD MUST...

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

Pyro: BUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRN!

[...However...]

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

[He...leaps away?]

Beck: PYRO, WAIT!

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

Call: Warning: Multiple incoming robots detected.

Beck: Wha--where?!

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

White: Beck!

Beck: NGH--!!

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

Sanda: MOVE, BECK!

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

Beck: HothothotHOT--

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

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

[...REALLY jump.]

Beck: aaaAAAAAAAH--

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

Call: .........

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

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

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

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

Beck: -SCREAMING-

White: Hold on, Beck!

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

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

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

[VERRRRRRR--]

Beck: --AwNO--

[B O O M!]

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

White and Sanda: BECK!!!

[......]

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

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

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

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

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

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

White: Wait!

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

Beck: nnngh...

[USE XEL STOCK 1?]

[COMMAND//: YES.]

[ACCESSING INTERNAL XEL STORAGE...]

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

Beck: --!!!!

[SELF REPAIR COMPLETE. ALL SYSTEMS NORMAL.]

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

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

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

Beck: Ew...!

White: -SIGHS WITH RELIEF-

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

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

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

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

White: ....

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

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

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

Beck: .....

Beck: Are those electrified spikes.

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

Beck: Wait wait wait--

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[C R A C K L E.]

Beck: --?!

Sanda: BECK! LOOK OUT!

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

Beck: WHOA--

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

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

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

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

White: BECK--IN FRONT!

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

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

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

White: DON'T STOP!

Beck: AAAAAAAAAAAAA--

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

Beck: WHAT THE--

[The path suddenly ended.]

White: NO--!

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

[But he had no choice.]

[He had to jump.]

Beck: HUP--!

[Out of the frying pan...]

[ACXELARATE DASH: MAX OUTPUT REACHED]

[And into the fire.]

[DATA LOSS.]

White: Call--!!!

Call: Searching...

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

[.........]

[..........….............]

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

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

White: YES...!

Call: Re-syncing feeds...

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

[--Beck had made it!]

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

Beck: Arrgh--

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

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

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

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

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

White: --......!

Sanda: ? Will?

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

Sanda: --But--whatever for?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Call: Commencing Xel Transfer....

[XEL TRANSFER COMPLETE.]

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

Beck: Sunny?!

Sunny: -BEEP BEEP-

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

Beck: !

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

Beck: .......

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

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

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

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

Beck: Pyro--! Finally...

Pyro: Hnrrrrrr...

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

Pyro: You....

Pyro: ...Why...?

Beck: ...!!

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

Pyro: ......

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

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

Pyro: ......

Pyro: No....

Beck: Pyro--!

Pyro: Why...

Pyro: Why you not burn...?

Beck: Wha--?

Pyro: WHY YOU NOT BURN?!

Beck: PYRO--

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

[FOOOOM!]

Pyro: BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRNNN?!?!?!?

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

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

Beck: Uh-oh...

Pyro: Burn...

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

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

Beck: NO--!

[SCANNING...]

[SCAN COMPLETE.]

[ E N C O U N T E R ]

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

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

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

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

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

Beck: Gh--!

[Jumping over was the logical choice--]

Beck: AAAH--!

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

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

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

Pyro: BURN M O R E!

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

Beck: PYRO--STOP IT!

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

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

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

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

White: It's no USE, Beck!

Beck: --!? Dad?!

White: HE IS TOO FAR GONE!

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

White: ONLY THEN CAN HE BE SAVED!

Beck: .....

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

Beck: . . .

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

Beck: I'm sorry, Pyro...

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

[BLAM!]

Pyro: --?!?

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

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

Pyro: RAAAAAAAAAAAGH--!

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

Beck: Energy--?

[FWOOOOOM!]

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

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

Beck: ---????!?

[And that's when it hit him.]

[He's SEEN this before.]

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

Pyro: BURNING...BURNIIIING...

Sanda: -ACTUALLY SCREAMS-

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

Beck: Ah--!

[ACCESSING XEL STOCK 2...]

Pyro: SPIRIT!

[B O O O M!]

[DATA LOSS]

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

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

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

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

Pyro: Hah...hah....

Pyro: ........

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

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

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

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

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

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

[.....]

[… … …]

[Wait.]

[All the humans had fled.]

[So WHY--]

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

Pyro: WHAT--?!

[C L A N K!]

Beck: NOT DONE YET--!

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

[BLAM!]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Pyro: RRAA--ACK--!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Beck gritted his teeth.]

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

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

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

"But--Big Brother--"

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

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

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

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

[BLAM.]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

[XEL QUOTA REACHED.]

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

"Good!"

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

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

Beck: COME ON, PYRO--!

[XEL PURGE INITIATED!]

Beck: WE NEED OUR LEADER BACK!!!

[FILTERING.....]

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

Pyro: --!!!!

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

[In fact...]

[It felt...warm...]

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

"Eep--!!"

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

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

"Heh..."

"Good things come in small packages."

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

"TRY AND CATCH ME, NO. 1!"

Pyro: ........

Pyro: B...Beck...

[THUNK.]

[His knees give away.]

[FILTERING COMPLETE.]

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

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

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

Beck: ....

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

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

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

[-PING!-]

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

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

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

[.....]

White: S...Son...?

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

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

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

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

Pyro: I....

[SCANNING...]

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

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

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

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

White: ......

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

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

Pyro: ........

Call: Xel Transfer in progress...

{SANDA ENTERPRISES, LOWER LABS...}

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pyro: . . . .

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

White: ....

Pyro: Father...

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

Beck: . . .

Pyro: There was OIL.

White: Son--

Pyro: What happened to us...?!

White: ......

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

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

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

Pyro: --?! WHAT?!

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

[RE-CONNECTING...]

White: .......

[CONNECTION ESTABLISHED. UPDATING....]

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

Pyro: NO--

[RECEIVING RECENT STATUS REPORTS...]

Pyro: NO!

Pyro: OUR FAMILY--!!

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

Pyro: Ngh--!!

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

[-PING!-]

Beck: ----!!!!

[FORM DATA ANALYSIS COMPLETE.]

[XEL TRANSFORMATION ENGAGED.]

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

[NEW FORM SET.]

[REXELECTION: PYROGEN.]

Pyro: .....!!!

Pyro: Beck...?

Beck: .......

Beck: Big brother...

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

-PING!-

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

>DCN-008 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-007 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-004 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-003 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DCN-000 STATUS: OFFLINE

Pyro: What--

Pyro: Lethal Mode--?!

>Loading…

>DWN-024 STATUS: OFFLINE

>DWN-020 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-019 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-018 STATUS: LETHAL COMBAT MODE

>DWN-017 STATUS: OFFLINE

>Loading…

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

Beck: Pyro--

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

White: .....

White: Sanda...prep the lab.

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

[Indeed… most of the line was in Lethal.

…

…With two EXCEPTIONALLY notable exceptions.]

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

>ERROR: DLN-000 SIGNAL NOT FOUND.

Pyro: Toby--CARDINAL--?!

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

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

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