=CHAPTER 7D: RUSH INTO THE MINE=

=CHAPTER 4B: AVI'S NEWS REPORT=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

[SANDA LABS...]

[The lower parts of the building—the labs and underground, as well as most of the floors above were secure, though perhaps there was a few rouge trash bots wandering around here and there, which were quickly dealt with when Beck found them.]

[...But he wasn't here in the storage area for just that. It was the only room big enough for the Round Digger that Beck had first purified way...]

[...Way back? It FELT like it.]

Beck: Hey, buddy...

[The CDN beeped happily as it saw him approach.]

Beck: You seem to be doing OK...that's good...

[Beck patted the larger robot on it's spherical side, rather glad that it was still functioning perfectly well. It also reassured him a little.]

[...He was worried that his...his ability to filter out irregularities in other systems wasn't permanent, or that the virus was stronger than he thought...]

[...But the big guy seemed OK, and that means his family would be OK too.]

Beck: ......

[…Even if it may be a bit complicated for a while.

The whole fusion thing with Avi and Tobias had prompted Dr. Cossack to come over to assist in the repairs. All that he would say were vague remarks about side effects and the nature of the RMDC.

He was in the lab now, looking over more of Avi’s coding, with help from Will.

He seemed confident the problem would be fixed soon—and Beck sure hoped so.

The “side effects” that Mikhail had mentioned were a lot worse than just Tobias getting sensory data from Avi’s feeds.]

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

“Nowhere left to run, anymore. Heh… talk about pathetic. You’re a disgrace t’ robots everywhere, you sniveling ragtag group a’ cowards.”

[Panic. Sheer panic. Terror. Trapped.]

“A hunt this borin’ ain’t worth m’ time, so…. Let’s play a little game, shall we? S’ called…”

[A loud click noise.]

“ ‘Which one a’ you Wily scrapheaps will take the longest t’ die?’”

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

[Whatever it was that had caused all the Rebel Angels to wake up screaming in the middle of the night while they were gone, it definitely wasn’t something anyone wanted to show up in Avi’s feeds a second time.]

Beck: -Sighs-

[At least they were making progress. That had to count for something.]

[...A LOT of things had happened back there, on the Radio Tower, against Avi...]

[For one, it appeared his 'filter' had somehow fixed Avi's and Tobias's fusion, though he was still rather confused as to why...]

[For another...]

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

[XEL OVERRIDE INITIATED.]

[MN.6'S WEAPONS SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DISABLED.]

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

[What in the WORLD was that...?

He was kinda glad that the Angels were all distracted with Tobias (and whatever else Siam was up to), because he had a feeling it would SERIOUSLY freak them out if they knew about it. It was freaky enough as it was—and if anyone were to ask about it, he just didn’t know the answer!]

[He just...he just didn't know and it scared him.]

[...And on top of that, he had no one that he could ask at the moment.]

[Was this--was this just another 'ability' that had been awakened, like the rest? Or was this...]

[Was this something more?]

Beck: Ugh...

[He slumped against the Round Digger, and rubbed his face in clear worry and weariness. He felt tired even though all his systems were green now, and he knew that...this wasn't going to be over anytime soon.]

[Still.]

[He had a promise to uphold, they still NEEDED him, they all did. He was the only, only one that can do this.]

Beck: (Jeez...I don't think I've EVER been this tired...)

Beck: (I could... I could really use a nap or...yeah.)

Beck: ...-Sigh-

Beck: Take it like a Mighty, Beck...

[The CDN beeped in concern, and seemed to rev it's engine as a way of comforting the small construct with a bit of background noise.]

Beck: Thanks...

Beck: .....

Beck: (I should probably get back to the others.)

Beck: Don't cause too much trouble down here, OK, Buddy?

[CDN.502] //: -PING!-

Beck: Heh...

Beck: You like it when I call you Buddy, don't ya?

[CDN.502] //: -PING!-

[The demolition bot revs in response, which makes the small Mighty laugh a bit. It's strange...most Round Diggers didn't have very advanced AI to begin with, compared to them...and yet this one was already showing more personality than any he's ever seen. Maybe he was...different?]

Beck: Buddy it is, then!

[Yeah, that's gotta be it...]

Beck: I gotta go, but...I'll come check on you later, OK? For now, uh...you can take a nap or s—

[CDN.502] //: -PING-

[...COMMAND CONFIRMED.]

Beck: ...!

[CDN.502 IS NOW IN SLEEP MODE.]

Beck: ....

Beck: Okaaaaay...

Beck: .....Night, then...

[He turns to close the door behind him, and heads towards the stairs—the elevators were still out, even if they WERE working, he wasn't going to risk getting trapped in one.]

Beck: (Last thing we need is for me to get stuck in the most crucial moments...)

[LATER, UPSTAIRS...]

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Xel Assimilation Data ready for analysis, Professor.

[DR.WHITE] //: Hm—Oh, thank heavens. Send that over to my terminal while I work with Mikhail—and continue scanning for the other Mighties, please.

[CALL] //: Right away, Doctor.

<MC005>: >I should love to look at that data at some point. I’ve never really gotten any readings for when someone with Universal Adaptability uses a new Power Capsule for the first time…. Are you getting any cross references popping up right now?

[CALL] //: None, Dr. Cossack.

Will: (Thank goodness...)

[CALL] //: The samples from Mighty Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 6 do not seem to show any similarities aside from causing extreme changes in behavior and the urge to cause destruction.

[CALL] //: I have yet to have found any logical pattern in the virus code. I apologize.

[DR.WHITE] //: No, no, Call—you've done so much for us. If it wasn't for you, finding my sons and daughters would be much more difficult.

[DR.WHITE] //: ...Thank you.

<MC005>: >I’m sorry that I couldn’t give much more to your assessment of the virus, my friends—I got rather sidetracked sorting out Tobias’s new coding instead. -Sighs-

Mikhail: (…) -Clearly uncomfortable about something-

Will: ....

Will: Mikhail?

Mikhail: -Looks up- Mmm? Sorry—did I miss something?

Will: ....

Will: Er, nothing...

[CALL] //: ....

[DR.WHITE] //: Call, has Beck finished with self-repair?

[CALL] //: Yes. He informed me he was going to check on the condition of the Round Digger model downstairs.

[DR.WHITE] //: That was a while ago, though...

[Mikhail had to smile a little.]

Mikhail: My older son was very disappointed to be left behind, once he heard about your oversized industrial drill-puppy.

Will: Ah...I can imagine...

Will: -mutters- I still don't know how he got down here in the first place, but he IS a demolition model...

Will: I have absolutely no idea what we're going to do with him... (He's a CDN model, there is a VERY good chance we'll have to...return him.)

Mikhail: What do you mean?

Will: Round Diggers are mass produced industrial models made for demolition work, mainly in construction.

Will: ...Made by CherryDyn.

Will: From the data we received from Beck, it's Model Number 502 of it's make, one of the older kinds. They're built to last for heavy duty work, quite sturdy.

[Mikhail blinked and raised an eyebrow at this. After a moment, he frowned, placed his hands behind his back, and turned to face one of the computer screens.]

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.

Mikhail: I had high hopes for the project, but I didn’t really understand the work I was doing until the very end.

Will: . . .

Mikhail: I saw, ever so briefly—that the code was alive…! It reacted to me trying to reach out to it, to find it, to contain it—

Mikhail: (Much like… much like that virus did when it infected the RMDC and I fought back. I swear the thing got angry at me…)

Mikhail: (With how advanced Xel coding is, it certainly was high enough out of my full understanding to come off as alive.)

Mikhail: Dr. Light had been very much against advancing full realization. What I did when I made the AI_DCN_OS… well. I liked Iceman very much, and he was dear to us, but still…

[He sighed and shook his head before taking off his glasses to clean them.]

Mikhail: Forgive me. So much has happened lately that makes me think of the past, of Tobias in his first life. Pieces here and there, echoes of a time ages past.

Mikhail: I suppose that it is on my mind largely because understanding the virus is out of my ability at the moment. I’d need to know more about Xel coding, and you don’t have time to teach me.

Mikhail: This leaves me with Tobias, mainly, and also just… looking forward, long term.

Mikhail: This digging Industrial of yours…

Mikhail: If things continue in a tragic parallel, perhaps it would be scheduled for demolition simply because it were too old, or advancing in Awareness.

Will: -wINCE- (Ngh...)

Mikhail: For that is the fate of Industrials in my world. Even my own sons would be subject to the ten-year warranty, were it not for the fact that I have full legal rights, and can choose not to follow that regulation.

Mikhail: At first it was merely out of a business mindset—depreciation of property, expenses, etc. But after Tobias, animosity grew, and it became born just as much of fear as anything else.

[He put his glasses back on and frowned.]

Mikhail: I’m afraid it won’t be long before we’re called to give an account of ourselves for judgment, William.

Mikhail: Now that Aviator no longer has an Iron Curtain to stifle the media, it won’t be long before it takes a sharp turn from practicality into “here be dragons” water.

[He looked away, narrowing his eyes a little.]

Mikhail: I refused to tell you before, because I felt it was… crazy, to be honest, but. For some time now, Cardinal had been of the opinion that CherryDyn was responsible for a number of… unpleasantries.

[....Oh, dear.]

[Will kinda looks like he's going to be sick just from thinking of the implications of all that...]

Will: . . .

Mikhail: He believed that the things that happened were the result of plans being put into action too early or the like—things going wrong without the careful orchestration to make it only /just/ wrong enough to be visibly stopped, and in turn causing REAL damage.

Mikhail: I feel the same way, but I do not think it to be so—I tell myself that is being overly cynical.

Mikhail: But I think one thing is certain. We must be prepared to say something. Aviator’s interference was public, and…Tobias was involved, and if anyone were to somehow realize he were the same as the mysterious intruder at the Finals…

Mikhail: -Bows his head- The lift of the blockade will allow us to work much faster and more efficiently, yes—but the same applies for our foes as well.

Mikhail: I fully expect CherryDyn to make some noise and raise a fuss very soon. …I just suppose I feel I must arrange the chess pieces to counter it, since that’s the only thing I can really do, and you’re so busy with deciphering the code…

Mikhail: To be fair. It has a direct impact on us, too. If things follow the lane of Monstropolis, Tobias may have to remain Offline indefinitely.

Will: ......

[Will takes in a long breath and pinches the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes close very tightly. Mikhail was right, of course, he wouldn't put it past CherryDyn to make some sort of comment or whatever ELSE they have planned--if any, that is, if Cardinal turned out to be right after all.]

[And Graham...]

Will: God, what a mess...

Mikhail: We have too many moving parts in this matter…

Mikhail: At least it should be easier to find the others, now. Now that Tobias is no longer interfering and Avi will be able to help Call sort through the data.

Will: Mmm…

[That may work fine for the rest of his children out there, but they weren’t the only ones missing…]

Will: What about Kate and Cardinal?

Mikhail: Mmm.

[The Russian leaned back, crossing his arms and looking up at the ceiling.]

Mikhail: Well, Kate’s brothers have been trying to find her for several days, from what I’ve been told. I didn’t hear the full story, but they’ve probably been trying to follow Jack’s trail.

Will: Jack? You mean he’s not still with you?

Mikhail: No. He went missing a while ago, I’m afraid. Shortly after we first lost contact, actually.

Will: (Adding even MORE to this mess…)

Mikhail: Fighting Mighty Number Nine DID somehow get into contact with Doctor Wily Number Nine, and the other day they brought back some Combat Xelbots from your world, but… Jack was not among them.

Will: Metalman? What does he want with this? Is he working for Wily? -Ugh, one disaster at a TIME, please— -

Mikhail: It was apparently a personal matter. We may hear back from him later after the others have recovered, but… for now, it appears we’re being left alone.

Will: Small blessings, at least….

[He sighed, scratching at his head a bit.]

Will: What about Cardinal, then?

Mikhail: I… I don’t know. I was hoping you might have something to tell me, to be honest. He wouldn’t have been able to contact us, but…

Will: ! Oh, right! I almost forgot!

Will: Beck managed to call him the night Pyro was rescued, and he answered his cell phone!

[Mikhail suddenly became alert at this.]

Mikhail: What did he say?

[Will’s mood fell.]

Will: …He said he wasn’t coming back….

Mikhail: -Sighs, pulling his hand down his face- Why am I not surprised…

Will: He said it was… complicated, somehow, but… Avi cut him off before he could finish….

Mikhail: …

Will: Then I got a text message from him later… it said “John 15:13″…

Mikhail: -Winces- Agh, Cardinal… you shouldn’t be risking yourself like this…

Will: S-sorry I didn’t mention it earlier, I… I guess it must have slipped my mind.

Mikhail: Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself. You had more immediate concerns to deal with at the time we got back in touch. So did I. You’re under a great deal of stress right now—don’t berate yourself over missing small details that slip under the radar. Alright?

Will: I’ll try, aheh…

Mikhail: I suppose it is worth a try….

Will: Hmm?

Mikhail: Let’s try calling Cardinal’s cell phone. I think he’d be more likely to answer a call from you than from me, though.

[Will pulled out his phone, grateful that it wasn’t infected and still worked.]

Will: -Dialing the number- Do you think he’ll change his mind?

Mikhail: That might be expecting a little much…

[To their surprise, the phone call was answered. Much to their further surprise, it wasn’t Cardinal who answered the phone.]

“Hello? Is this really Sanda Enterprises?”

Will: ! (I recognize that voice! He was with Cardinal earlier!)

Mikhail: -Nudges Will to answer-

Will: -Eep— - Er— y-yes, it is! This is Doctor White speaking. May I ask who this is?

[It seemed the other man also recognized his voice from somewhere, because he took the answer at face value.]

“My name is Drake Dawson, sir. I’m a staff member at the Union Station in Kansas City.”

Mikhail: (Of COURSE! I should have known he would go there!)

Will: We’re looking for Cardinal. Is he… is he nearby?

[There was a long sigh.]

“Cardinal split a while back. He gave me his phone and said to call you guys, but uh…I figured you’d be busy right now, sorry…”

Mikhail: Mr. Dawson, did he saw where he was going?

“Not really…. We traveled around KCMO and KCK for several days before he crashed and burned. Not sure where he is now, but he said he wouldn’t go back to Sanda Enterprises until his mission was over. He was really adamant about that…”

Mikhail: -Sighs-

“He did have a couple of messages, though…”

Will: Oh?

“Said he wanted you to know he was ‘in one piece’… which he was, last I saw him. And, uh… hang on, lemme think on this, put it down somewhere so I wouldn’t forget…”

[There was a rustling noise.]

“He said he wanted Beck to come down and help out with the cores they recovered from Arrowhead Stadium, if he had the chance. To consider it a ‘personal favor.’”

Will: (Mnn…. I suppose we’ll be getting requests like that more often now. But Beck is already so worn out from working in Titus and then fighting Avi…)

Mikhail: -Catches onto the hesitation- We’ll pass the message along, but we can’t make any promises.

“Yeah… I can get that.”

Mikhail: Was there anything else? Anything at all?

“Something about focusing on the threats in the middle? It seemed pretty important to him. He wouldn’t really explain much… said that it would have to wait.”

Will: ( “Threats in the middle”? Middle of the country? Middle of the family? I suppose he means the family, but…. Would that be 4,5, and 6? Or 5, 6, and 7?)

Mikhail: Well… I’m afraid he’s right, there. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but…

“Nah, it’s okay, I get it. I just hope he manages to come back to pick up his phone later. He did mention his idea was ‘stupid dangerous’, which doesn’t surprise me that much, given how he tackled all those enemies by himself…”

Mikhail: It would be for the best right now that you keep the phone with you. He’ll know where to find you, and… if he’s unable for some reason, we can trace his cell phone and send someone to pick it up, after this is over.

“Gotcha. Anything else I can do for you?”

Mikhail: Give us a call if he comes back. Other than that… stay safe.

“Roger that. Good luck with everything. We’re all rooting for you over here.”

[Click.]

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Turns to Will- Kansas City. I should have expected that.

Will: Isn’t he from there?

Mikhail: No, I think he was built somewhere in the West, but that is where he grew up. It’s too bad we missed him.

Will: I wonder what he could be doing…. I would love to get any ideas for leads on Shade, too…

Mikhail: I suspect he didn’t tell Mr. Dawson for the man’s own safety.

Will: Oh, you’re probably right….

[Mikhail’s gaze became thoughtful, and after a while, he reached over and put a gloved hand on his friend’s shoulder, squeezing it slightly.]

Mikhail: But there is hope. We must hold onto that.

Mikhail: Of course we would never ask you to turn your back on the world, but remember—your children are your true priority, and if the worst WERE to happen, you could seek shelter elsewhere. Focus on getting your family back together. I can work with the Sandas in figuring out how to fight the dragons.

Mikhail: We’ll make it through this.

[After a moment, he broke into a warm smile.]

Mikhail: Remember, my friend—I have tread these waters before, and worse.

[This, alas, was true. He had, at one point, had the entire world against him.

And yet he had arranged things so that his sons were allowed to live and work and he got to live in protection and privacy, despite things being so grim at one point.]

Mikhail: I won’t let you get dashed upon the rocks.

Will: ....

Will: Heh...

[Will returned the smile, although it was a bit weary.]

Will: Thank you, Mikhail. Really...

Will: (What would we do without you...)

Mikhail: Ah, my dear William! You have been very good to us, and personally have given great hope for my family’s recovery. Of course I would help you in the recovery of yours.

Mikhail: …Heh.

Mikhail: This is where the others would remind us not to overwork ourselves. Or me, at least. -Laughs- I’m not as young as I used to be. Professor, now, not student. I can’t pull those all-nighters anymore!

[THAT gets Will to laugh. Oh, yes, the all-nighters...]

[...He should probably not mention he's been doing that as of late. He's very sure Mikhail would have a fit—]

[CALL] //: ...Contradiction: Yet you both seem to overexert yourselves as if it were the default.

[...Oh. Call was still listening.]

Mikhail: -Wryly- Ah, we are caught! Oh dear.

Will: Eheh...

[He turned to look in the direction of one of the speakers by habit.]

Mikhail: You’re right, of course. And if it would put you at ease, I can take a short rest. But I would like to take care of a few matters first, if you can help me. I’m afraid I’ve been rather single-focused on Tobias and Avi to learn how everything else is going. Has your father contacted his brother? Or vice-versa, perhaps?

[CALL] //: Yes, Mr. Sanda contacted us as soon as we had a firm connection. They have been speaking privately for the past few hours.

Will: (Possibly bringing Seijiro up to speed on everything...)

Mikhail: I see. I would like you to alert your father that we have fixed the matter of the RMDC for now—no more sudden nightmares for your database. (And again, I apologize.) I should like to speak with them both after they have concluded their private discussion—which I expect will be some while yet. In the meantime, I shall rest.

<MC005 to CALL>: >Oh, and Ms. Sanda? May I make a suggestion in your search for the rest of the Mighty Numbers?

[CALL to MC005] //: -Ping!- Yes, Dr. Cossack?

<MC005 to CALL>: >One of the contributing factors to the… difficulty of the current situation, shall we say… is the large number of variables involved.

<MC005 to CALL>: >We have removed one variable—Aviator’s interference—but it’s not enough. We will need to remove several others as soon as possible if we are to have the best chance of success in concluding this manner with as little predation from CherryDyn as possible.

<MC005 to CALL>: >It is confirmed that Fighting Mighty Number Eight is at large, and the current theory is that she is in this world, on a hunt. Likewise, Dencerjack is searching for her—and he has his own set of complications, since he knows too much, so to speak. We need to find him posthaste.

Mikhail: (There’s also Cardinal, but trying to stop him would not be a good use of resources given the current state of affairs…)

<MC005 to CALL>: >From what I have been told, MNN-007 may be the subject of FMN-008’s attention, for… reasons.

<MC005 to CALL>: >Finding Brandish’s location may allow us to remove several dangerous spanners in the works all at once.

<MC005 to CALL]>: >So, unless there are clearer leads… my suggestion would be to focus on him, first.

Mikhail: (Removing Cardinal’s recklessness would be nice, but I’m not so optimistic as to think we’ll find Shade before we find Brand. Not when Brand’s been giving off data from the beginning, and Shade hasn’t.)

[CALL to MC005] //: -PING-

[CALL to MC005] //: I understand, Dr. Cossack. I will commence my search posthaste. Thank you for your input.

<MC005 to CALL>: > You’re welcome.

Mikhail: -Turns to face Will- I’m going to rest for a while, but I’ll be just a notification away. Sorry to be leaving you on your own like this—I just feel I’d be more useful to you combating one of the other problems. -Encouraging nod- You can do this, alright? Try to keep calm.

[With that, he walked out of the room, lost in his own thoughts.]

Will: ....

[After Mikhail leaves the room, Will slumps back into a chair and lets out a long, quiet sigh, staring into the ceiling as if it held all the solutions.]

Will: .....

Will: (...Should I...)

Will: .....

[He sharply inhaled and didn't let that thought finish itself--couldn't.]

[...Perhaps, he was being cynical and paranoid himself.]

Will: (Greg...Greg doesn't know, does he?)

Will: (If he does...)

[He felt that sick, dreading feeling all over again, and got up to fix that with a glass of water.]

Will: (...No, stop it, Will—)

Will: (Get it together...)

Will: (It's not going to come to that if he knows what he's doing...)

Will: .......

Will: (This had...had BETTER not be you that's behind all this, Greg...)

Will: (You'd better not...)

Will: .....

[Shoving all those negative thoughts aside for now, Dr. White washed up and rolled his lab coat's sleeves down.]

[There was still much work to be done, and Avi was going to be needed for the troubles that lay ahead.]

Will: (I wish it wasn't this way, Aviator...you, out of all of us, need your rest...)

Will: (At least, after this...I hope we can all just...take things easy...)

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

=CHAPTER 11B: SWALLOWED UP INNOCENCE=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

[BATTLE COLOSSEUM: ARENA SANDS.]

[The first thing Beck felt when he neared the arena was the thrum of power, the latent energy and almost... living presence of Xel all around him. As he fell--down, down into the sands, he braced himself for the rough landing Avi so warned him around.]

[...Except he hit the ground a lot sooner than expected, and on his feet, no less.]

Beck: Wha--?

[That was odd. The arena sands weren't nearly this high, and that's when his optics adjusted enough to see why.]

((Pic))

[What rang true for the state of the Colosseum’s outside was also applied on the interior. Some kind of Xel structure was rising out from beneath the ground, taking up most of the space of the Colosseum sands that once housed match after match of...]

Beck: -...Mnn...-

[To think he'd come back here, where it all started.]

[A fuzz.]

-=-=-=-=-=-

"I’m not leaving without you! I WON’T LEAVE YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF MONSTROPOLIS!"

-=-=-=-=-=-

[Where it had all began, indeed… even if he still couldn't remember all of it.

This time, though, he was on his own.]

[Ksst--]

Beck: !

[His comm suddenly went online--]

[MN.6] //: --copy, come on, Tex-Becks, say something--

Beck: --Avi--!

[MN.6] //: YES--GUYS, I GOT HIM, HE MADE IT--

Beck: Yeah! I'm okay, I landed good too, I...oh, jeez. Man, Avi, I wish you could see this.

[Another crackle.]

<DLN-008>: > Uuuugh… I'm seeing some of it, and it reminds me a bit of the Cloud…

Beck: It's almost...

Beck: Almost like it's all alive...?

[MN.6] //: ...yeaaaaah hard pass on that. :''D

[MN.6] //: Sorry I couldn't get you in closer--that hole was the only gap I could find in their air defenses--

[And just as Avi was saying that, a shadow fell over the smallest Mighty.]

Beck: --!

[He looked up--and saw with growing worry that the hole in the gear roof he just entered was very rapidly being closed up by infected, blocky Xel.]

Beck: [Drop emoticon] Yeah...

Beck: I think they fixed that already.

<DLN-008>: > […]

<DLN-008>: > -MUCH harsher than he intends- "They"?

[MN.9] //: --um--I-I meant Trinity, sorry--

[MN.9] //: Nervous--

<DLN-008>: > -Ranting angry Wily data re: CherryDynamics-

Beck: [Drop emoticon]

Beck: (Close...close one...)

<DLN-008>: > By the way, anyone got any ideas on how to reboot a space ninja? He's out cold.

Beck: Mnn, I...I dunno. My first guess would be Felix, but I think he can't really cast anything at this point--

Beck: Not unless he prepared for that before hand. Avi--how's he doing?

[MN.6] //: ...

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

<DLN-008>: > [Frown emoticon]

Beck: ...Guys?

[Oh no.]

<DLN-008>: > He'll be fine. …I think. Fine-ish. Mostly okay?

[MN.6] //: Yeah, he's kinda fallen off from higher stuff before--

Beck: What?!

[Even with that bit of reassurance, Beck was still distressed, and it clearly showed in his data--]

Beck: He fell? Oh, no--don't tell me fell into all that Xel outside--!

[MN.6] //: Shhh, shhh--it's gonna be okay, Beckers--

[MN.6] //: Felix is like this huge mountain squishy, he'll be fine--

<DLN-008>: > I'd demonstrate some of the stuff he's lived through for comparison, but I'm getting the vibe that'd be a bad idea, and I keep getting calls from Europe, why this…

[There's the sense he's looking down.]

<DLN-008>: > I guess I could zap him…

[PING--!]

[MN.3] //: -Distressed bzzzing-- Toby, zzsweetie, I wouldn't do that if I were you--

[MN.6] //: Oh, sweet, the other comms are coming on--

[MN.3] //: [Drop emoticon] Not with the ninja, who'szz probably had a lesszz than good time like the rest of uszz and wouldn't appreciate the zappy, hurt-y wake up call too much...

<DLN-008>: > Oh, right, didn't think about that…

[MN.3] //: Yeah--we'll think of zzsomething else, okay? Hang in there, zzspark bro--

[Ksst--]

[DR.WHITE] //: Beck--? Do you read me?

Beck: -Places two fingers at his earcap- Hmmhmm. Loud and clear, Dad.

[DR.WHITE] //: Thank goodness...

[DR.WHITE] //: I'm afraid we're having difficulty with getting visual on our end, so you'll have to describe what's going on for us in the meantime. What's the situation in the Colosseum interior?

Beck: -Looks around- There's...some kind of Xel structure in the middle of the sands. Like it...came up from underground.

[DR.WHITE] //: ...that would explain the earthquake...

[Ksst--]

[DR.SANDA] //: Is...what IS that I hear in the background?

Beck: [Drop emoticon] I... I don't really know. It sounds like the Xel is constantly...moving behind the walls or something?

Beck: Like it's going somewhere...

<DLN-008>: > [Drop emoticon] Where would it go? The locker rooms? Do you guys have a basement or something?

<DLN-008>: > I'd try and cross-reference, but the branch server is gone, and Cardinal's the only one who's been there before…

[MN.6] //: [?] You, uh… haven’t seen the memories?

[MN.6] //: -Preeeeeeetty sure that’s how it works, right—-

<DLN-008>: > […]

<DLN-008>: > [Frown emoticon] Cardinal was paranoid even by our standards, Avi. He encrypted almost everything. All we ever got out of it was the cross-reference data on an analytical level.

<DLN-008>: >The only thing the rest of us know about the place? Is that it was one of his happiest memories, and he would dream about… well…

<DLN-008>: > […]

<DLN-008>: > … [Frown emoticon] Whenever he had good dreams after that, it was always something to do with showing off to the crowds in a fixed chassis, or hanging out with Shade.

<DLN-008>: > Usually both at the same time.

[MN.8] //: […] -…Low key agony pain data-

Beck: ...Hang on... (…Just a little longer…)

[Beck slowly walks towards one side of the room, and places a hand on one of the walls. It ripples at his touch.]

Beck: (Whoa...)

Beck: ...

Beck: Down. It's definitely going down.

Beck: There is a sub-area underneath the arena--for the different field layouts and stuff that gets switched out? There's also something of a mini-elevator with a platform for those kinds of entrances--

Beck: [Drop emoticon] Except if this came from underneath that, then that was probably all trashed when this thing came topside.

Beck: (If I had to guess, considering who's involved...it probably started from the sewers...)

[DR.WHITE] //: [Drop emoticon] I see.

[DR.WHITE] //: I suspect Trinity must be the one gathering all that Xel towards her. If you follow it--it should lead you straight to her.

Beck: Right...

[DR.WHITE] //: Be VERY careful.

[DR.WHITE] //: You might be immune to the effects of the virus while in there, but we have no idea what to expect besides that.

[DR.WHITE] //: Proceed with extreme caution.

[MN.9] //: Yes, sir.

[MN.6] //: Good luck, Tex-Becks!

[MN.6] //: Fight the good fight!

[MISSION DETAILS: CDN-1201, TRINITY, HAS SUBSUMED THE BATTLE COLOSSEUM IN A FORTRESS OF INFECTED XEL, GATHERED FROM TITUS AND WITH MORE INCOMING XEL FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. SITUATION CRITICAL. CONDITIONS UNKNOWN. NO OTHER DATA AVAILABLE.]

[MISSION OBJECTIVE: LOCATE AND PURGE ALL HARMFUL MALWARE FROM CDN-1201. FAILURE WILL RESULT IN TITUS'S EVENTUAL DESTRUCTION AND INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTION FROM OTHER WORLD POWERS.]

[SUB OBJECTIVES: MINIMIZE RMDC IMPACT, L̷̶OC̕ÀT̵͜E ͘͡AN̴̕͟D ̵̧͢C̸̴͡O͢N͠͡F̧̨R̵O͘͠Ņ͢T ͘Ø͜͞, ̸̸͜Á͠K̵̢͏A͏ ̀R̶A̕̕Y̴͜.̵̶͘]

[SYSTEMS READY?]

[GO!]

[Beck didn't see an immediate exit at first--it looked like one closed off room.]

Beck: Looks like I'm going to have to make an opening somewhere...

<DLN-008>: > When in doubt, take out the ceiling.

Beck: ...

Beck: [Drop emoticon] I, uh. I don't think it works like that, Toby. I-It's fine, I'll just use Bat's--

[Suddenly, a noise. A clicking sound, like claws being clattered together--]

Beck: --???

Beck: !!

Beck: -AUGH, WHAT IS THAT--

[It looked Xel-shaped, and it floated almost like a jellyfish--but at the center of this strange enemy was this giant eye, fixated on Beck as it rapidly flew towards him--]

[BLAM!]

[The screech it let out was something right out of a sci-fi horror movie.]

Beck: Ew, ew--stay away--

[Oh, and it brought friends.]

<DLN-008>: > Ugh, why does everything have to scream...

[BLAM! BLAM!]

Beck: [Drop emoticon] These things are huge and...tanky, Mnn...

[Though after some doing, Beck did manage to cause then to dissipate. The strange eye Xel screeched painfully as it just fell apart, it's Xel falling to the floor. Only for it to be absorbed right back into it.]

Beck: That's not a good sign...

<DLN-008>: > Can non-Xel absorb Xel?

[DR.WHITE] //: [Drop emoticon] Let's stick a pin on that one. Beck? What happened?

Beck: The leftover Xel from those things got absorbed right back into the structure...

Beck: Oh boy.

[DR.WHITE] //: [Drop emoticon x3] I highly suggest you get going.

Beck: Yeah, I--

[Beck never finished that sentence, as suddenly the ground below him glowed.]

[And started moving.]

Beck: [!]

Beck: Whoa...

[The floor parted into two sections, retracting into the walls and revealing a way down from the room he was in.]

Beck: The...the floor just opened up.

[DR.WHITE] //: The floor?

Beck: Yeah--like, on it's own. Um. Saves some valuable energy, I guess...?

<DLN-008>: > […]

<DLN-008>: > That doesn’t sound right...

Beck: -Hup--

[Beck jumped down to the next area below--which seemed like some kind of long hallway. Unfortunately, it ended rather abruptly.]

Beck: Dead end...

Beck: --! Wait...

<DLN-008>: > [?]

[Just like before, the wall in front of him glowed, and then retraced downwards into the floor, revealing more hallway...]

Beck: ...Never mind, the wall kinda...moved aside...

Beck: ...

Beck: ...Is...

Beck: Is Trinity...creating a path for me?

<DLN-008>: > There’s a reference somewhere in there, I just know it...

[DR.SANDA] //: Hrmm...

[DR.SANDA] //: She may roll out the red carpet, but I wouldn't expect a warm welcome...

<DLN-008>: > -A bit hazily confused- Red?

<DLN-008>: > Mmmn, red...

<DLN-008>: > She liked... red, red was important...

Beck: ...

Beck: [Drop emoticon x3] (I can take a good guess why...)

<DLN-008>: > Something about a friend, I think...

<DLN-008>: > Blah... need more processing power, my head hurts from all these weird calls...

Beck: -Whew...-

Beck: Dad? Should I make my own way through? Could be a trap...

[DR.WHITE] //: Mmn... You'll need everything you have for Trinity herself. Blasting your way through wouldn't be wise, especially since we have no idea if the structure can handle it...

[DR.WHITE] //: Follow the path for now. It will probably lead you closer to her, at the very least.

Beck: Copy that...

<DLN-008>: > PROCESSING...

<DLN-008>: > PROCESSING...

[The data coming off of his signal was becoming more basic and slower, as if his Awareness was diminished and he was struggling with running some of the programs.]

<DLN-008>: > PROCESSING...

[Beck continues onward, buster at the ready for any sort of surprises. Strangely, it's all but quiet in this hallway, save for the moving walls and the occasional screech from whatever lurked deeper inside.]

Beck: Don't like this...

<DLN-008>: > PROCESSING...

Beck: (Definitely feels like I'm walking right into a trap...)

Beck: ...How big is this place--?

[SLAM--!]

Beck: [!]

[Beck turned on his heel, alarmed by the sudden crash of something heavy behind him. The walls that he had passed under before suddenly slammed back shut, and--]

[--were continuing to do so--]

Beck: Ack--!

Beck: -DASHES AWAY--

[He floored it, dashing forward to avoid getting turned into paste. The path opened up more as he went on, though it was immediately shut behind him the second he was through.]

[SLAM! SLAM!]

Beck: aaaAAAH--

[DR.WHITE] //: Beck?!

Beck: Walls are trying to CRUSH ME--

[Thankfully, he didn't have to run for long, as another room was up ahead. He tumbled as the wall behind him shut tight, a familiar lock symbol appearing on it's surface.]

Beck: [Drop emoticon] (I'm not sure if that means either 'stay out' or 'hurry up.'...)

[DING!]

[DSN-000 IS NOW ONLINE.]

Beck: !!!

Beck: Call?!

[DR.WHITE] //: !!

[DR.SANDA] //: :''D! Call! I-I mean--

[DR.SANDA] //: {I'm glad you're awake, so glad, but you should rest right now--}

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

[DR.SANDA] //: ? Call--?

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

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

[CALL] //: [PING!]

[CALL] //: Sync complete.

[CALL] //: Multiple enemy signatures ahead. Be weary of reforming Xel blocks.

Beck: :D!!! Call! [♥︎]

[DR.WHITE] //: Call, dear, you should really--we have it handled, you should focus on--

[CALL] //: -PING!-

[CALL] //: This unit can preform support even when not currently on an active terminal.

[CALL] //: Statement: MN.9 requires all support available.

[CALL] //: I must support Beck.

[DR.SANDA] //: --Ah--Will--Will, I think she's serious--

[DR.WHITE] //: E--Er...

Beck: It is so good to hear you right now--

Beck: You said something about reforming Xel blocks?

[CALL] //: Correct. Xel energy signatures suggest the multiple platforms up ahead can be broken down and constituted.

[DR.WHITE] //: ...

[DR.WHITE] //: ...I guess convincing her to go back into sleep is out of the question--

[DR.SANDA] //: Heh...

Beck: Anything else? Actually--I don't want to ask too much of you while you're probably in bed--

Beck: Do you think you can help Avi get visual?

[CALL] //: -PING!-

[CALL] //: Negative. I detect a strong jamming signal that is causing interference.

[DR.WHITE] //: Jamming signal--the same one that cut off comms before this?

[CALL] //: And at the Prison.

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

[DR.WHITE] //: What?

Beck: (Ack--! Too much information--!)

Beck: -PING- Um, okay! I'll see if I can't... find the cause...

[CALL] //: Confirmed.

Beck: <<;; (I'm going to have to talk to her after this...)

<DLN-008>: > PROCESSING...

<DLN-008>: > ERROR X05: UNRESPONSIVE/DAMAGED SOFTWARE DETECTED. QUEUEING ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS REQUESTS PENDING ADDITIONAL PROCESSING POWER...

<DLN-008>: > SEARCHING FOR AVAILABLE EXTERNAL PROCESSORS...

<DLN-008>: > -PING- 1 MATCH FOUND.

<DLN-008>: > MATCH IDENTIFIED: MNN-006

[MN.6] //: Hnn ho boy--

[There's the sound of a seat being scooted across the floor from his end.]

[MN.6] //: Uuuh okay, d--dizzy, lil' bit--

Beck: Avi--?

[MN.6] //: I'm fine! I...hokay, uh, just gotta sit down...

[MN.6] //: @~<

[MN.6] //: -This is both new and slightly concerning, uh, Toby, buddy, you okay--

<DLN-008>: > -Very slow and unresponsive at first- Nnnn...

<DLN-008>: > -Somewhat glitched audio- THIS SYSTEM IS A FIRST GENERATION INDUSTRIAL, DESIGNED WITH THE RobotMaster®️ DATABASE IN MIND. NEURAL NET FUNCTION CURRENTLY OPERATIONAL AT 30% CAPACITY DUE TO LACK OF ACCESS TO OTHER ROBOT MASTERS AND AN ADDITIONAL DEMAND ON BOTH HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE. ADDITIONAL PROCESSING POWER REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN FULL AWARENESS...

[DR.WHITE] //: ...I see--he's trying to use your processing power, Aviator.

[MN.6] //: Y-Yeah, I got that that much, it just caught me by surprise...

[MN.6] //: -Gimmie a sec to adjust...-

[It was an odd thing.

Although the connection was primarily with Aviator, Tobias seemed to be using the connection to work with data from the Sanda Enterprises servers.

This led to a feeling of distant memories being referenced in passing, a sort of background stream-of-consciousness in idle thoughts.

Except it wasn’t idle at all, and it was not daydreaming in nature.]

[It seemed Tobias was concerned about Beck’s observations, and attempting to cross-reference data regarding Trinity and Xel in general.]

<DLN-008>: > ANALYZING...

<DLN-008>: > ANALYSIS COMPLETE. CROSS-REFERENCE IDENTIFIED: MULTICELLULAR ORGANISM IMMUNE SYSTEM AND ORGAN TISSUE

[MN.6] //: ...Wat--

Beck: -BLAM- You...might be on to something there, actually.

Beck: (If Trinity really does have the same powers as me, and she's consuming all this Xel into herself...)

Beck: (Then--in a way, this whole place is her.)

<DLN-008>: > -Kind of dizzy- Avi, these... the walls and floor act like they’re alive, and... and we don’t know that non-Xel can make Xel do that, and...

<DLN-008>: > It’s cross-referencing with organ tissue in looks and behavior.

<DLN-008>: > Which would suggest that...

<DLN-008>: > We probably are going to see more “white blood cells” soon—

Beck: ...You mean like now?

[More of the eyeball Xels were appearing, though this time not nearly as big as the ones before. This meant they were eaiser to blast away, but the growing numbers concerned him nonetheless.]

Beck: Good chance that I'll meet up with more resistance the further I go.

[BLAM! BLAM!]

[REXELECTION: PYROGEN]

[FWOOM.]

Beck: These guys aren't as big, though...

[REXELECTION: CRYOSPHERE]

[PSSH--]

Beck: Still gross to look at, mnng--

"SCREE!"

Beck: AAAH--

[One of them suddenly leaped from a wall, phasing through it to lunge at Beck.]

[Luckily.]

[REXELECTION: COUNTERSHADE]

[Bang!]

[Some quick thinking allowed him to snipe the thing right out of the sky.]

Beck: These things can go through the walls???

[DR.WHITE] //: ...Well, they are Xel, and so is the structure...

<DLN-008>: > [Frown emoticon] -Anxious data-

<DLN-008>: >I’d think of it less like a building and more like an organism, ‘cause that’s what it is acting like.

Beck: Kind of hard to draw that connection when I can still see the stands through some openings--

Beck: --!

Beck: ...Huh--

[Soon enough, he came up on some kind of giant platform made of Xel.]

[When he looked over the sides of it, he could see a looooong drop into darkness.]

Beck: -Murmurs- ...Going down, then...

Beck: I guess I could use Avi's form to--

[Clunk...]

Beck: --?

[The entire platform lurched and then started descending down on it's own.]

Beck: Oh--it's...an elevator...

Beck: ...Why's it going so slowly—

"SCREEEEE--!"

Beck: --!

[Ah. That was why. More enemies.]

Beck: Oh gross--

[And this time, it wasn't the only just the eyeball ones. Some mish-mashed versions of some of both CherryDyn and Sanda models appeared, and they looked less haphazardly thrown together this time around.]

Beck: Oh no--

[REXELECTION: BATTALION.]

Beck: I'm gonna be here a while--

<DLN-008>: > Mmmng...

<DLN-008>: > It’s getting really dark outside...

[DR.WHITE] //: [Drop emoticon] Things do not sound very safe out there.

[DR.WHITE] //: Hurry--

Beck: -Primes a missile- I'll try and clear this out as fast as I can!

[BOOM!]

[DR.WHITE] //: ...

[DR.SANDA to DR. WHITE] //: So many Xels...the entire place is made out of them, right?

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Just how many robots DID Trinity absorb??

[DR.WHITE] //: ...

[DR.WHITE] //: -Long sigh-

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: Soi...Trinity was programmed with a single, prime directive: to grow. To evolve.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: She will pursue ANY course that allows her to assimilate more Xels...in perpetuity.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: Later...much later, when I had time to...reflect on what happened to her...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I realized the inherit dangers in such a system. Father...he had a point, though he went about it in all the wrong ways...

[DR.WHITE to DR. SANDA] //: ...which is why I refined the design.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Refined the...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: [!]

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: You...You mean with your next model...?

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: ...With Beck?

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: ...That's correct.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: With Beck.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: Maybe it was...in some ways, a rather...poor choice, giving him so much...caution. But by giving him a specialized Synthetic Heart Program--it was the only way to ensure that Beck would grow INTO his powers, rather than his powers overtake him.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: And...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I...I wanted some small part of HER to live on, at least through him...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: -Long, tired sigh- If I could at least give Beck the chance to grow and learn, responsibly, the way Trinity never had--? That...that would be enough...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: ...Gosh, Will, I...I don't think you ever told me you felt that way...

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: >>;; I probably should have. I'm sorry.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: I didn't want to burden you anymore than--

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Burden? For Xel's sake, Will, never.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: You never have and will NEVER be a burden, okay?

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: I know how MUCH she meant to you--and I know Beck had something to do with her anyway, but not this...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: So...this doesn't come as a complete surprise.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: And hey--at least think of it this way?

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: No one can ever say bringing Beck into the world was a bad thing now.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: I mean--look at him go!

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: ...We still don't have visual, Soi.

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: You know what I mean--

[Indeed--they might not be able to SEE what was going on, but they could very well hear the sounds of combat through the audio feeds. And from the sound of it?]

[REXELECTION: DYNATRON]

[BZZZZT!]

[It seems like Beck was doing fairly alright so far.]

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: ... You're right. He's come so far...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Well, of course, where do you think he gets that from? c:

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: Eheh...

[DR.SANDA to DR.WHITE] //: Just you watch. ^^ He'll make it.

[DR.WHITE to DR.SANDA] //: Hmm...yes...

Beck: -PING!-

Beck: I--whew--I think...I think this ride's almost over...

Beck: --You guys still there?

[DR.WHITE] //: --Mm. Yes, Beck--sorry for the silence, we didn't want to break your focus. Any damage?

Beck: Nothing I can't handle! ^^

[A pause.]

<DLN-008>: > Still here, yeah. Getting a lot of... really weird signals from somewhere, though...

<DLN-008>: > It’s all getting really loud...

<DLN-008>: > -Brooding plotting data again re: younger brother-

[There was a bit of static.

Or was that sparking?]

[No, that was definitely sparking and aggressive data—]

Beck: I think I'm getting closer, though--Uh--Hey, everything okay--?

<DLN-008>: > I’d like to file a complaint about my bodyguard sleeping on the job...

<DLN-008>: > -We can fix that, though-

<DLN-008>: > Don’t worry about us, we’ll figure something out.

[One got the impression the "something" would involve handling matters "the Wily way".]

[PING--]

[MN.3] //: -Very FIRM data- Tobyyy...| E

[MN.3] //: -That ZZZSOMETHING better not be what you were thinking about earlier--

<DLN-008>: > -~-

[MN.7] //: [Drop emoticon]

[MN.7] //: Perhaps I can try?

<DLN-008>: >Might as well, but if it doesn’t work, I’m doin’ it my way— -Grouchy data-

[MN.7] //: -Sigh--

[MN.7] //: -Gentle pings directed at Shadow- Kohai?

[MN.7] //: {Shadow...?}

[PING!]

{{((Distorted Zalgo text)) REBOOTING...}}

[MN.7] //: [!]

[MN.3] //: -That was faszzt--

<DWN-024 is now Online.>

[MN.7] //: -Shadow--

<DWN-024>: > -Extremely hazy data-

[A brief pause, and then—]

<DWN-024>: > ?!?

<DWN-024 has entered Defensive Combat Mode.>

<DWN-024>: > -Wildly bewildered and EXTREMELY alarmed data-

<DWN-024>: > -Where are we, what happened, why is the sky filled with blood, where is it—-

<DLN-008>: > [Drop emoticon]

[MN.3] //: -Huh???-

[MN.7] //: {Shadow--remain calm, breathe--}

<DWN-024>: > S-Sensei?

<DWN-024>: > {What is happening—}

<DWN-024>: > -Somewhat erratic data between disoriented confusion and intense terror-  {Breakfast—but then—then the Sun, the Sun killed—it killed everything—}

<DWN-024>: > {Is this Death, what—what is happening—}

[MN.7] //: {Shhh--calm, calm, listen to my voice--we don't have time to explain--}

<DWN-024>: > -Ping of obedient confirmation-

[MN.7] //: {Right now Beck is trying to deal with the cause of all this, and we NEED these comm lines open--you are at Avi's Radio Tower with Tobias, you MUST stay with him so he can keep the tower running--}

<DWN-024>: > […]

<DWN-024>: > -Processing...-

[He seemed conflicted for a moment...]

<DWN-024>: > -Ping- {{Command accepted.}}

<DWN-024>: > -Somewhat dazed acknowledgement and confirmation he will stay put and help his brother-

[MN.7] //: {Good--if you see ANYTHING trying to swarm in, take him and run, DO NOT GO OUTSIDE--}

[MN.7] //: -Slight background noises sounding like ice cracking--

<DLN-008>: > Beck, what’s your status? I don’t know if Shadow’s Awareness can handle a severe conflict of interest like this for too much longer without things getting scary again—!

[MN.9] //: I'm getting closer--but no sign of her yet--

[BLAM--]

Beck: [Drop emoticon x3]

<DLN-008>: > Huh?

<DLN-008>: >I thought you guys said she was the storm... am I missing something?

Beck: Toby, right now she's kinda EVERYTHING that's Xel right now--

Beck: -Which means there's something controlling it all--

<DLN-008>: > [?]

<DLN-008>: > -Processing...-

<DLN-008>: > A... central core?

Beck: -PING- There has to be--if this is all functioning like some kinda organism, then there's a core--a heart--

Beck: -And maybe if we can purge it right at the source--

Beck: -Theoretically, it should work like we did with our family--

Beck: [Drop emoticon] If I can GET to it.

Beck: This whole place is like a maze...

Beck: But all the Xel is still flowing down, so at LEAST I have a general direction to work with.

<DLN-008>: > -Processing...-

<DLN-008>: > -Processing...-

<DLN-008>: > -ERROR: INSUFFICIENT DATA TO SUPPORT HYPOTHESIS. CONTINGENCY NEGATED.-

<DLN-008>: > Nnng... Don’t want to risk disconnecting, but I don’t know if I have any other ideas on how to defend the Tower short of electrifying the entire exterior.

[MN.6] //: Bad idea, you could fry some of the equipment...uuuh....

<DLN-008>: >I can’t just do nothing, though—

<DLN-008>: > Is there anything else that could... I dunno, serve as a distraction?

[MN.6] //: I--have a bunch of those flying drone things you control remotely somewhere in the Tower, but they'd only do so much--

<DLN-008>: > But... those are connected to you, right?

<DLN-008>: >I don’t know if that would be safe...

[MN.7] //: -Thinking data--

[MN.7] //: -PING--

[MN.7] //: Shadow-- kaeru--

<DLN-008>: > [?]

<DWN-024>: > -Seems to be struggling drawing the cross-reference for a moment- […]

[It takes him a moment to gather his focus. Then, he seems to relax significantly.]

<DWN-024>: > -Ping-

<?̹͖͍?͚̗̞?̺̜̔?͉̭̱ used New Moon Plague: Amphibious Swarm.>

[At first, there wasn’t any noticeable change besides a very, very ominous feeling.

But then...]

Ribbit.

Beck: ...???? -R-Ribbit???-

Ribbit.

Ribbit RIBBIT Ribbit Ribbit RIBBIT—

[There were the sounds of frogs everywhere, albeit much muffled for the most part.

But when he looked down, he could see what appeared to be a few frogs with red eyes and strange markings hopping around at his feet.

One of them hopped straight into a shadow, with a distinct and familiar hiss before vanishing from sight.]

Beck: What the...?

[MN.6] //: -FROGS, FROGS EVERYWHERE--

[MN.7] //: -I--what in the world--

[MN.2] //: Awww, they look so cute--

[MN.1] //: -You WOULD think that, Two--

<DLN-008>: > Iiiiiii choose to not think on this too much, though I think that should be more than enough of a distraction...

<DLN-008>: > Hopefully it’ll buy enough time for you to...

<DLN-008>: > ...get to the heart of the matter. ^^;;;

[MN.6] //: -Hey, Toby, I love you, bro--

[MN.1] //: -You two can trade puns later--

Beck: -Geeently steps over froggies--

Beck: Thanks, Shadow--

[Beck runs off ahead, down more winding hallways and corridors. At least the Xel monstrosities were lessening in number for now...]

[He was making good progress until...]

Beck: !

Beck: Oh...

[...Until he was suddenly facing the edge of a VERY open and wide space, with NO path forward to be found--and the bottom? Nothing but darkness...]

Beck: [Drop emoticon] Time to fly, I guess...

[DR.SANDA] //: What? Why?

Beck: There's...no ground here.

[DR.SANDA] //: The path is gone?

Beck: Uh huh. Not sure if this a bad sign or if I...made a wrong turn...?

Beck: ... Wait...

[He flicks down his goggles for a moment.]

[REXELECTION: COUNTERSHADE]

[C.VISOR: ZOOM X3]

Beck: --! No, wait, I can see it! It's on the other side of this giant gap.

<DLN-008>: > That sounds promising?

Beck: Only one way to find out--

[REXELECTION: AVIATOR]

Beck: --and up, up, and away--ack--

[He scowls at himself a little before jumping off, propellor arm raised upwards. He starts to easily glide across.]

Beck: (Why this huge space? Seems...off.)

Beck: -Looks down--

Beck: (...I do not want to know what is down there.)

Beck: [Drop emoticon x3] (Probably something extremely lethal, I'm guessing.)

Beck: -Lands on the other side safely-

Beck: (Huh. Nothing tried to stop me.)

Beck: (...Nothing HAS for a good while, actually...)

Beck: -Takes a step forward--

[SLAM--]

Beck: -GNH--!-

[The ceiling just behind him folded OUTWARDS like a giant panel, launching the Mighty Number further down the hall with a rough tumble. The impact was enough to make him switch back to his default form, even.]

Beck: Ow...

[And before he could even so much as figure out WHERE that came from, the walls around him started glowing--]

Beck: [!] Not this again--

[SLAM--]

[He dashed forward as a section of the walls slammed into each other like a press--had he not reacted quickly enough, he would have been crushed.]

Beck: [Drop emoticon x3] -Okay, GOING, WE'RE GOING--

[This...didn't seem to help. The walls only started glowing again, and this time the floor and ceiling too--]

Beck: -SCREE--

[He's scrambling as fast as his systems can take him, taking turn after turn after turn until he's not quite sure WHERE he's ending up--]

[DR.WHITE] //: B--ck--

Beck: This place is--gah--REALLY out to get me--

[DR.WHITE] //: C--hear--what is going--res--

Beck: Dad? Hello--?

Beck: Avi? Toby? I can't hear you all, the jamming signal is getting...stronger--

Beck: --!! (That means--)

[SLAM--!]

[Pain, and then air, and then the sensation of falling--!]

Beck: AHH--!

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

=INTRO B: COLLAPSING PEACE=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes & @super-tired-robot))

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

{June 20th, 20XX}

[The Mighty Numbers had spent months abroad.]

“-Whines- Won’t this dumb car go any faaaaaasterrrrr?”

“Not in traffic, it won’t, and you know it.”

[But now, at last, they were home.]

“Hey, is someone gonna wake snipebro up, or—“

“Ah’ AM awake, ya bunch a’ yappers…”

“Temper, Eight! Don’t get snappy at your sister!”

[They’d gone out to tournaments time and time again, but the saying held true: “there’s no place like home.” It was always a relief to come back… and this time, more than usual.

After a near solid month of time in recovery dodging questions from the press, INTERPOL, MI6, VIN, and other agencies, everyone was ready to be back in their own beds and eating a home-cooked meal.]

“EEEYYYYY I CAN SEE OUR HOUSE FROM HERE!”

“No duh, planebrain! It’s one of the taller buildings in the city!”

[Unfortunately, being cooped up in airplane rides for the past few days and then cramped into a travel vehicle had left them a bit…

…restless.]

Avi: I mean I can see the front door now! :D -Freedommmmmmm—-

Pyro: Don’t open up the roof— No flying out of the car—

Avi: D^: But—but awwwww, come onnnn! It’s right over theeeerrrrrre— only a little hover awayyy…

Bat: We return home as a unit, Six, not in pieces!

Mic: Give Six break. -W- Happy to be home.

Avi: YEEAAAHHH it’s so good to be home—gosh I can’t WAIT to get back to my radio tower—

Cryo: I’m sure you have some ICE stories to tell the viewers, kyaha~

Shade: -Growls at the pun-

Avi: DON’T YOU KNOW IT—

Pyro: Inside voice, Avi.

Avi: —buuuuut it’s too bad I can’t explain what happened…. Did we, uh, ever decide on a story of what to say if they asked about Toby?

Dyna: -Haughty hairflick- Juszzzt szzay that I fried that naszzty biker to a core. Completely true, after all. They can aszzzume the reszzt. -Sparks briefly-

Shade: -Flinches at this- (Ugh, can ya not while we’re cramped in the car, Sis…)

[The smallest of the Mighty Numbers was distracted, pressing his face against the window. It was good to be home: to see the familiar sights, to be where he belonged…

…Well, at least when it came to his family. He wasn’t much of a fighter, so he always felt out of place. Especially considering Pyro had him benched for the time being…]

Beck: (I hope she’s okay…. There weren’t any more “accidents,” so she kept her promise, but…)

Brand: …Are you okay there, otouto?

Beck: ! O-oh, yeah, I, uh…

Beck: I-I was just thinking about Tobias. He… he was really out of it for a while, huh…

Avi: -Thumbs up- Don’t you worry about Toby, bro! He’s up and running now, and he’ll be right as rain! That’s what Doc C said, at any rate…

Pyro: … When did you talk to Mikhail? -Confused-

Avi: Oh, just the other day! He was asking about the watch, actually, but I didn’t exactly have the instructions…

Bat: Watch?

Mic: Birthday present. Missed birthday, Shade sent present. E|

Shade: Mnnrgh. …Glad it got through.

Cryo: -Poooookes at her little brother with her nozzle arm-

Shade: | [

[The sniper remained in a grumpy mood as they finally pulled into the parking lot of Sanda Enterprises.]

Avi: WOOOOOOOO WE’RE HOME

Cryo: LAST ONE IN’S A FROZEN PUDDLE

Shade: Will y’all shut it fer just two minutes—

Cryo: Oh, stop being such a wash-out, Shadey!

Shade: Ain’t in the mood fer puns—‘m gonna go sleep through Sunday, thank yew—

Pyro: -Grabs him by the shoulder before he vanishes, keeping a firm grip- Oh no you aren’t. You’re carrying in your luggage, same as everyone else.

Shade: -Grumpy data- -Grumbles about something under his breath-

Pyro: What was that? | /

Shade: …Ah’ said, all that work an’ this is the thanks Ah’ get…

Cryo: Quit being a drama llama, Shadebro! We’re home now! -Grabs at luggage, gimme-

Dyna: Ugh, I’m too fabulouszz for thiszz. -Grinning, obviously not 100% serious- Earthbro iszz more than capable of carrying in everybody’szz luggage, right~?

Mic: OWO

Shade: …What she said—

Pyro: Enough, you two. <_<

Shade: … -Nah Imma go nap an’ ya can’t stop me— -

Pyro: -Not if my grip has anything to say about it-

Cryo: -Flings herself at Pyro, eager to get in on the conflict- FIGHT ME—

Brand: Cryo—! Now’s not the time!

Shade: Fer Xel’s sake, just give it a rest—

Avi: EYYYYY good one—

[The sniper had reached the end of his patience.]

Shade: -DAMMIT Ah’ did NOT mean t’ pun—- Avi, Ah’ swear if there’s one more pun outta yew…

“You want a hand with that? BJ”

Shade: !

[The commotion stopped momentarily, with the sniper looking down in surprise.]

[Sure enough, there he was: the one and only songbird. He was grinning up at his taller friend, giving off unfiltered gleeful data.

And just like that—]

Shade: -nEVERMIND, NAP CAN WAIT— -

[Cardinal laughed and gave his friend a proper hug. He didn’t even care that he was letting someone that close to him, or that he was showing such a strong sign of friendship.]

[It had been a long two months since they had last seen one another, and it had felt like ages. The old prototype Robot Master had done a lot of waiting in his time, but very rarely had he ever felt the sense of separation so poignantly.

He’d made an effort to drown out his sorrows by keeping busy, and had much to tell them… but that could wait.

For now, he was happy just to see his best friend alive and well again.]

Beck: Cardinal! :DDD You’re here!

[He ran in for a hug, and Cardinal pulled him in. Each of the three of them seemed to be savoring the moment.]

Bat: What are you doing here, Private? It’s 0400 local!

Cardinal: -Gleeful pings as he messes with Shade, the latter using him as an armrest- I had to come in person, Major! I failed to be up in time to see you off—it took all my self-control not to meet up with you at the airport in New York, instead!

Brand: That would have raised more questions, yes. -.-; Might I suggest that we continue this inside?

Shade: If you say so, ya stick-in-the-mud. B]

Cardinal: B]

[He broke into chuckles at that, though, shoving Shade off before going over to pick up his bags.]

Pyro: -Oh, you were being serious—- There’s no need for that, Cardinal. You’re our guest. Shade can carry his own bags in. ¬_¬

Cardinal: Nah, it’s fine— watch this!

[Cardinal used SUPER ARM!]

[And just like that, he’d grabbed all of Shade’s luggage effortlessly. Bat gave a whistle of appreciation.]

Cryo: NICE, Looks like he LIFTS, bros—

Cardinal: -Laughs- It does come in handy! C’mon, let’s head inside.

[Once all the Mighties were inside, the luggage was put to the side and everyone headed for the kitchen. It may be 4AM local, but they were still suffering from jet lag: it was about lunchtime in London. Even though he was a bit worn out from the travels, Pyro set about to preparing a proper meal for the family.

There was the usual chaos around the kitchen as Cardinal also prepared some coffee for himself and Countershade. When the prototype sat down, however… he immediately became subject to questioning.]

Avi: So what have you been up to, Cards? Got any new songs for us?

Cardinal: Ha, I wish… -Something of an empty half-smirk as he slides a mug of coffee over to Shade- It’s all run together a bit for me, actually. It… hasn’t been easy, to be honest.

Brand: …? What do you mean?

[Shade sipped at his coffee silently as his friend explained himself.

Despite the distance and the time difference—not to mention the risk on Cardinal’s end—the songbird had kept in touch with him and buzzed in every so often. So he was in the know on most of it.]

Cardinal: Well…

Cardinal: When days don’t have any specific value of importance assigned to them, multiple days of memory that are much the same usually cause identical cross-reference creation redundancy, and it becomes difficult to differentiate one day from another. It all becomes a blur….

Brand: …That’s not the only reason, is it.

Cardinal: Heh.

[He gave something of a wry grin, leaning against the table. The data he gave off was subtly more tired than before… and just as tense.]

Cardinal: You noticed, huh? Not much gets by you.

Beck: Nii-san is really good at that!

Cardinal: -Long sip of coffee- Yeah… I’ll admit that we didn’t take it very well at all, first. And me most of all.

Avi: Aw, we missed you too, buddy!

Bat: You seem to have held up well, soldier. You’re being too hard on yourself, as usual!

Cardinal: -Shakes his head- I was upset. I stayed Offline for a while, and then, well…

Cardinal: Tried to busy myself in work. Had to… do something, just keep moving forward. -Looks off into the distance- Figured we should make progress with repairs… needed certain resources. We had to go out and raid a lot for them: it really was rather hard.

Pyro: That would explain that one series of alerts we got…

Cardinal: Yeah, they’d brought more firepower than I had bargained for. I made it out alright, but  I wouldn’t want any of you to go to such places, that’s for sure. There wasn’t much to find as it was.

Beck: Sorry I wasn’t there to help…

[Cardinal grinned and patted Beck’s shoulder.]

Cardinal: Nah, we really just needed more of specific metals, and any source of certain energies we could find. I got my hands on more E-tanks—which is good, but there still aren’t very many. Siamini’s been trying, but we haven’t made that breakthrough just yet. He thinks he might be getting close, having run the search on the database for months now.

Cryo: Uuugh, don’t tell me it was all work and no play! -Pbbbtth-

Cardinal: Sorry there, Ice Queen, but without you guys around, we didn’t have many people to play with, to be honest. Snow was often off doing his own thing, but he’s the only one who really gets out and about.

Dyna: Well, we’ll fix that now that we’re baaack~

Mic: Why need special metals? ?W? Ones Mic and Felix mine not enough?

Cardinal: -Gives a relaxed sigh, running his fingers through his hair- …Well, we needed to get samples from stuff related to the Second Generation. The only place that has that is that one old lab that’s been completely trashed several times over. It was time for us to strip that place to the bone anyway, before— well, before what happened… would happen.

Cardinal: Only it DID happen.

Bat: You’re referring to the WMD that got pointed at you?

Cardinal: -Grim expression- Mmm… it was more than that. There was… someone a bit like Mic, and definitely someone like Avi… though we were shot at long-range from someone like you, Major. The compound was destroyed.

Pyro: -Places some bacon aside- But no one was injured, right?

Cardinal: Most everyone got out of there in time, but I had to draw them off. Needless to say, that place won’t be offering up any more resources, and that’s one mainframe down. Luckily we have the one in the Meadow—and here, since the two are synched.

Cardinal: Though—it would still be putting you in danger to use your mainframe for our own devices. -Looks up- We don’t want to subject you to that if it can be helped.

Shade: -Puts his coffee down- M’ sure Dad would be fahn lettin’ ya use the mainframe if y’all really needed to, Cards.

Beck: Yeah! We’ll all help! ouo

Cardinal: Heh…. Thanks, but… -Trails off- …

Cardinal: …Well, at least we got some important data and schematics.

Brand: … -Raises an eyebrow- Such as?

Cardinal: I know what you’re thinking, Brand, but we didn’t find anything related to Shadow in there. Sorry.

[The Xel ninja said nothing, but it wasn’t hard to see (by his VISIBLY mildly unamused expression) that he was slightly disappointed to hear this.]

Shade: -Quiet ping of sympathy to his older brother- Ya woulda thought that somethin’ like that’d be in there.

Cardinal: You'd think a lot of things would be in there, but I’m pretty sure that Wily must have kept stuff like that written down on notepads, not stored in the RMD.

Beck: Why?

Cardinal: He lost things that were really important to him due to serious problems with the database once, you know—and he always was really, REALLY old school.

Cardinal: -Leans back in his chair a bit- Maybe it WAS in there once, but—y’know, it’s been a long time since the end of the Gamma incident. (Like, what… nine months or so?) He’s had time to delete that stuff, and he was really adamant about making sure Shadow was… quote-unquote taken care of, if you catch my drift.

[Brand clenched the knife he was holding a bit harder at this.]

Avi: -Aaaaaand distraction time—- So… what WERE you able to get?

Cardinal: Good question, Avs; we haven’t reviewed it in full as of yet. I think it was retrieval of the blueprints for the Second Generation, at least. I know that I went out and managed to get my hands on 020’s data.

Shade: -Nice-

Pyro: -Hopeful data- That’s the boxer, correct?

Cardinal: Yup.

Bat: Ha! Good work, soldier! No man left behind!

Beck: That must have been awfully scary, though! ono

Cardinal: -Grins- Well, it wasn’t easy! And yeah, it was a pretty big risk. But hopefully it’ll be worth it, in the long run.

[His smile fades.]

Cardinal: Tobias, though…

[The murmur of conversation died down at that. Avi fidgeted.]

Avi: Mikhail said he was okay, right…?

Cardinal: He’s… he’s alright.

[The Robot Master in question had been Offline for quite some time following the scene in the sands. And what a scene it had been…]

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

SKLLLKTTKRRRSHHHLLLRRRKKT—

[Oil and cooling fluids spattered all over Bladeblaster’s hands and weapon, as if they were blood….]

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

Cardinal: We never did explain what happened, did we…

[He presses a hand to his face and yawns.]

Cardinal: Well, maybe Mikhail can explain it tomorrow or something.

Beck: What is there to explain? :c He’s… he’s okay, right?

Cardinal: Yeah. He was asleep for a while, but that’s pretty common for any Robot Master after they get sent Offline in a traumatic fashion. Especially if they blame themselves. That data is really difficult to process, you know.

Dyna: -Awww, Tobyyyy…-

Beck: Sorry we couldn’t help out. D:

Cardinal: You guys had your own worries. We pulled through alright.

Cardinal: Besides, you’ve done a lot of good work with those molds you made for us! The new coolant systems make all the difference in the heat of battle.

Shade: -Snorts into his coffee despite himself-

Avi: EEEEYYY nice one :^D

[Cardinal gave a brief soft laugh.]

Cardinal: It’s good to be like… like this again.

Cryo: SOOOOooooo… now that you're home… what do you want to do next?

Brand: Something that doesn't end up in the headlines. -~-;;

Cardinal: -Laughs at this-

Shade: -Devilish grin, worth it-

Pyro: Are you kidding, Seven? I swear those two could go out for groceries and end up in trouble.

[The two in question snicker at this.]

Brand: -Mildly annoyed glare at Cardinal-

Cardinal: -Amused- You really need to chill out, Sev.

Cardinal: You should try meditation, I hear it works wonders~

Shade: -Almost chokes on his coffee at this-

[Brand narrowed his eyes coldly at his younger brother as the cowboy coughed briefly, grinning as he sat shaking in silent laughter.]

Shade: -Error X04: srs not found, BWAHAHA-

Cardinal: -Just gives a cheeky grin- ~~~

Bat: We could deploy him to Kalos. Maybe some training there will get him to clean up his act!

Shade: -Aw, not you too, bro— Ah’ trusted ya…-

Cardinal: -Laughs a little- Actually, that's not that bad of an idea, Major. I taught Baron some new tricks by utilizing the moves he has in expressive ways.

Pyro: >_>;

Cardinal: Don’t suppose you can come with?

Shade: -Pings and sighs, nostalgic about their previous adventures- Ah’d love to, but—

Pyro: -Brings pancakes over to the table- We have a match tomorrow morning. We have to rest, I’m afraid.

Cardinal: Aw, come onnn…. Not even for half an hour?

Brand: Cardinal, the last time you and Shade went there, you got chased by a swarm of BEES. -____-;;

Shade: -Pokes at the songbird sharply- Ah' still blame yew—

Cardinal: That was BARON'S idea, not mine!

Pyro: Alright, alright! Settle down!

Shade: -Fine, fine…-

[Everyone started chowing down as Pyro divvied out the food.]

Cardinal: I’m just glad you guys are back. We really missed you.

Shade: S’ good to be back. B]

Avi: By the way, did our gifts ever reach you guys—

Cardinal: -Cutting designs into his pancakes- Yeah, and Mikhail was very happy you all got him the watch. Just one thing, though…

Shade: Hmm?

Cardinal: …You didn't include any instructions, so you're going to have to show him how it works.

Shade: Ah, right—there are several functions, heh…

Mic: -Going through an entire stack of pancakes all to himself- How is Felix?

Cardinal: -Smile fades- …Sick.

Brand: … -Concerned- Sick?

Cardinal: Yeah.

Beck: What happened? D:

Cardinal: As he would put it, “It’s A Long Story”…. Something to do with visions and high energy things. That's what Piers said, anyway.

Dyna: Who iszzz that, again?

Cardinal: Mmm. That would be the captain from Lemuria; he’s Felix’s best friend. He came over to help monitor Felix after he fell ill. Echo probably asked him to do so.

Bat: Any idea as to what caused it? That man is as sturdy as they get. Haven’t ever heard of him being under the weather since we’ve known him.

[Cardinal lowered his utensils for a moment, frowning.]

Cardinal: He was doing research into what might have happened with those stupid crosses, from what I understand. B/

Pyro: Mmmnnngh…

Mic: :c Mic not get it. Felix not a ‘bot?

Cardinal: He was researching something similar from his world. Pretty dangerous material, from what I understand. He was either careless or else underestimated the potency he could reach by refining the material…

Beck: But he’ll be okay, right? D:

Cardinal: …

Cardinal: -Slowly- He’s bounced back from worse before. He’ll be fine.

Beck: -Whew…-

Cardinal: Enough about us, though. What about you guys? We barely got to see any of the matches—

Avi: NOT TO WORRY, we recorded everything in HD! :^D

Cardinal: Fair enough, but. Tell me about England. -Pours syrup onto more pancakes, only to find Beck had taken most of the syrup already- Tell me about what it was like for you guys.

Shade: Hmm…

Shade: It was… rainy.

Cardinal: -Snrk-

Cryo: -Flails- We’ve been there before, you know! Came back champs, natch. Those guys couldn’t hold a candle or a hose to the team SUPREME!

Brandish: The teams were very good. They were simply outmatched, that is all. I’m sure Speedy would have enjoyed seeing some of them… were you really unable to watch any of the matches?

Cardinal: We picked up a few radio broadcasts, but the only one we got to see was the last one. And we all know how THAT went…

Shade: Tsk… real shame. ‘least Avi got the content t’ show after the fact…

Cardinal: Oh, dude, I’d love to marathon watch the whooooole thing. B]

Bat: For your analysis program?

Cardinal: -Smirks- Maaaybe.

Pyro: Heh.

Dyna: -Points and cackles- Don’t think you can pull a faszzzt one on uszz, Card-i-nalll~! Analyszzisz didn’t help them much, after all~

Cardinal: -Amused- Fair enough point.

[Shade twitched an amused smile, before privately pinging his friend.]

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: You’ve got more to say, don’t you?

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: >Let’s just say that you haven’t seen what I can really do when I’m serious.

[His grin faded after a moment, and he gave off tired data again.]

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > …Though… I hope you never have to…

[Shade used what was left of his right arm to swish his cloak a little, brushing it against the short prototype. This served to distract him out of the grim cross-references of recent battles—not matches, but true clashes of machines of war.]

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: S’ok. Things will be fine now.

Cardinal: -Blinks a little bit, coming out of his private thoughts to Avi’s ongoing description of the lunch with the Queen- …

Cardinal: … -Decides to zone back out, focusing on his breakfast-

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > What about you, Shade? Did… did we make things rather hard for you?

Shade: …

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: …The whole thing was a mess. S’ not y’all’s fault. Got hammered pretty hard with demands from just about every agency you can think of, all wantin’ answers for what Bladeblaster was up to…

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > …And how Tobias got past security?

Shade: | / -Sighs and nods-

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > Geez, that sounds rough. What were they expecting, that just because you guys were both assassins that you knew what he was up to?

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Mnn. Somethin’ like that, I guess. More like they expected me specifically t’ have been keepin’ an eye on him… since he was a competitive threat and not publicly on good terms…

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > …

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Ah’ know, right?

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > Man… if they were that hard on you, I can only imagine what they put Jack through…

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Nah, don’t worry ‘bout him. Kate’s got his case.

[Cardinal smiled softly at that.

“Kate”—also known as Shade’s distaff counterpart—had developed a fast friendship with the unfortunate CherryDyn fighter. It came as little surprise that she had managed to find a backdoor to the system that allowed her to protect the still-recovering victim.]

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: >How’d she manage to pull that off?

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Heh heh… God only knows; haven’t had a chance t’ compare notes yet. She was real careful about not being seen communicating with us much. She kept a tight patrol ‘round the hospital when she wasn’t actin’ as his case handler. She even wrote a report to submit to the CAL: managed to take off with some of my blank documents while I was nappin’ r’ somethang, y’know.

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: >Well, as long as she’s looking out for him. I’ve got a bad feeling about what could happen to him now…. He surely knows too much, and as for his boss…

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Rumor has it that he’s dead.

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > …

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > What?

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Kate thinks it’s a cover story. Kinda inclined t’ believe her.

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > …

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > -MnnnNNNnng-

Cardinal: -Pokes at his pancakes, deciding to change to subject-

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > How… how bad was it, with them asking about Tobias?

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Eh. That was the easy part. Just said that he wasn’t a Xelbot I’d ever seen in the ring before, must be some fan a’ Dyna’s. B]

[Cardinal grins at that, biting down onto his fork.]

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > Nice. Technical, misleading truths are my absolute favorite.

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Heh. Figured you’d get a kick outta that. Thankfully, they really didn’t press the point, ‘cause they were havin’ trouble finding him in any of the databases to begin with… making it even less likely that a star family like us would know him.

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: >Yeah… thanks for putting him as an Industrial. He really isn’t developed for Combat.

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Maybe not, but—

Shade: -Whistle of appreciation-

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: After seein’ him in action, can’t say he wouldn’t fit in.

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > You could say he—

[MNN-008 to DLN-000] //: Aw c’mon, don’t—

<DLN-000 to MNN-008>: > —punched BB’s lights out—

Shade: -Snickers and thwacks Cardinal with his cape-

Cardinal: -CHEEKIEST GRIN-

Pyro: What’s going on down there?

Cardinal: Oh, nothing~

Shade: Just enjoyin’ a jest, heh heh…

[The two share a laugh, and Pyro lets the matter drop. It was good to see Shade back in a good mood again, and neither were out causing trouble, after all—at least, not yet.]

Pyro: (I don’t doubt that they’ll find plenty of mischief to do as time goes on.) -Shakes his head slightly- (Truly as “thick as thieves”, those two….)

[Cardinal, for his part, seemed to slip back into a weary melancholy. He’d stopped just short of finishing off his pancakes.]

Shade: …? Oi—you full, or…?

Cardinal: Hmm?

[He looked up, coming out of his thoughts. His eyes glowed slightly brighter for a moment before they dulled again: though it was hard to tell behind his sunglasses.]

Cardinal: Oh, I…

Cardinal: -Looks down at his plate- …I guess it’s more that I don’t want to leave.

Cryo: What’s THAT got to do with breakfast?

Cardinal: Well… you guys said you have a match tomorrow, and you’ll have to sleep most of the day to truly rest while readjusting your internal clocks to fix jet lag…

Cardinal: -Clearly reluctant- I really should get out of your way.

Brand: Nonsense.

Beck: We do have to rest up, but! Maybe Dad will let us have a sleepover!

Cardinal: -Looks up hopefully- You think so?

Bat: Affirmative, provided you don’t cause any trouble.

Cardinal: -Gives a slight smile at that- I’ve just returned from active combat, sir. Led my men in battle and brought us all home alive. I have enough thrills from the enemies at my heels; right now I just want some peace and quiet before they carry out the brunt of the storm.

Shade: … (Haven’t seen him like this in a long time. Gotta be something I can do t’ help keep him outta that sea of hopelessness…)

Shade: -Gets a sudden idea- !

Shade: -Slowly grins- Gee. That’s too bad.

Cardinal: -Looks up- I’m sorry, Shade. I’m just really tired right now. You know how that is.

Shade: Yeah.

Shade: Was just thinkin’ maybe…

Shade: Maybe after spendin’ the night, y’ could come to watch the match tomorrow?

Cardinal: !

[The others immediately chimed in.]

Mic: -Deep PING of approval- ^W^ As Digger say, “yes good!”

Bat: Solid idea!

Beck: Yeah! That would be great!

Avi: Now why didn’t I think of that?

Dyna: Yee, you’ll get to szzee a FABULOUS diszzplay!

Brand: You really ARE overdue to see a match in person…

Cryo: Hell yeah, [glitches]! Watch us totally DOMINATE those losers!

Pyro: We’d love to have you come. Why don’t you go ask?

Cardinal: -Warm smile- …Thanks, guys. You’re the best.

[Beck beamed as the prototype wandered off to go find the Doctors. Best friends, reunited! What a wonderful thing!]

Beck: -Hums a little, licking syrup off his plate while Pyro isn’t looking- (I can’t slip away tonight, but maybe tomorrow I can go see her, too…. I should see if I can get extra Xel ready for her. Maybe I could say it’s stuff for the molds…)

Beck: (I really hope she's been doing well since I left—I know! I'll make a nice gift for her too, maybe add some chocolate—a gift basket! That'll cheer her up. And maybe…)

Beck: (Maybe after the match, I can finally talk to her about some important things…)

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

CHAPTER 10C: SNEAK INTO THE PRISON

~AO v1.0~

((Courtesy of @limitbreakers))

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

{Meanwhile…}

[Felix looked up from the console as shouting intensified.

He had been focusing on analyzing his own notes on the whole matter, but now…]

<DWN-019>: > GRAH! Why won’t you LISTEN to me!?

<DWN-013>: >No offense, bro, but if that’s all—

<DWN-019>: > IT’S NOT, YOU TWITS!

<DWN-019>: >There are some temporal anomalies and you’re all getting caught up in it! It’s not just you, it’s Mikhail as well—and do I need to remind you, YOU SPECIFICALLY, TWELVE, of how dangerous that could be to YOU, personally?

<DWN-012>: > -Mnnrrgh…!-

<DWN-019>: > Where is Mikhail?!

Felix: -Narrows his eyes a little- -Out loud even though Siam can’t hear- He’s resting— you shouldn’t even be calling, there’s a reason he told me to keep it quiet…

<DWN-019>: >I need Cardinal over here to properly oversee the updates, and I need his help with—

<DWN-013>: > Ugh—

<DWN-013>: >I’m SORRY, Gem, but— -BLAM!- 000 is still processing everything, we can’t move him yet, and it seems there are other problems—

<DWN-019>: >HOW can this possibly get worse?

<DWN-013>: > -Irritable- I think Mikhail is under arrest, Gemini!

Des: --....

Des: (Damn it...)

Des: (Ugh, with the way the Doctor and the Mighties reacted to that, I don't even want to think about how THEY will...)

<DWN-019>: > …

[The feeds were slammed with acerbic data.]

<DWN-019>: >  -PANIC DATA-

<DWN-019>: >   -PANIC PANIC PANIC-

<DWN-011>: > …

<DWN-011>: > …Joking, right?

<DWN-011>: > Right?

<DWN-012>: > He was IN handcuffs, brother—

<DWN-019>: > Nnnnnnnn-nnn-nnn-noo—

<DWN-019>: > Stars above I don’t think I can do this—

<DWN-018>: >Look, I doubt that if—

<DWN-019>: >IT DOESN’T MATTER! NOT WHAT YOU THINK!

<DWN-019>: > I DON’T HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO KEEP THAT DATA FROM REACHING THE COSSACK NUMBERS!

Felix: ?!

Des: --...

Des: (Son of a...)

Des: (This is exactly what the Doctor said before...)

<DWN-018>: > Are you serious.

<DWN-019>: >I’m not the Admin, Nico! I don’t have that kind of power!

<DWN-018>: > That’s it. As head of the family, I’m intervening. Dealing with our dysfunctions is plenty; I am not going to put up with fighting the Russians.

<DWN-018>: >Siam, there’s got to be SOMETHING you can do—

<DWN-019>: > Well I’ll TRY to stall—I think I can by changing the data Snow gets— but hurry up as much as you can, I need the rest of the family back as soon as possible!

[MN.6] //: Roger Dodger–

<DWN-018>: >Fine, do it. Gem, get that guy on the line. We’ve got to talk this out before it gets out of hand. And as for you two…

<DWN-018>: >Speedy, Jaden, you guys were BUILT for Combat, can’t you work ANY faster?!

<DWN-013>: > Grrr…

<DWN-013 has entered Lethal Combat mode.>

[MN.1] //: –!!

[Jaden began to glow white.]

Felix: -Stands, raising an eyebrow- ?

Des: What in the--?

Des: (What is this bright LIGHT? It's almost like...Nine's...?)

Felix: !

((pic))

Jaden: I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!

[MN.1] //: ??!?

[Jaden had changed. The was larger now, and bulkier—and based on the energy ratings from him, he was packing some SERIOUS heat.]

Felix: Well this is new—

Des: (These Robot Masters can change forms too?)

[Hatches popped open.

YEP. Those were some sort of missiles inside.]

Jaden: WE’RE TAKING A DETOUR!

Felix: Goodness. I wasn’t aware they had this capacity.

Des: (...For some reason, that doesn't comfort me in the slightest.)

Des: (Do they ALL have this level of form shifting...?)

[He wasn’t given much time to think on it. A notification opened up a third window in the screen.]

[INCOMING CALL]

Felix: …

Felix: I… I’m not sure how to answer that, but I think we really should.

Des: (....)

[After a brief glance at Felix, Des himself walks over to the terminal and presses a single button, accepting the call.]

Des: (I got a good guess who this is...)

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

=CHAPTER 1B: RAGING FLAMES SMOLDER=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

{Meadow}

[Everything had fallen into a surreal sort of silence when Tobias shut down. Two of the Robot Masters were laying motionless on the ground, their eyes dark and without life. It was as if the souls had been ripped right out of them, leaving them in a state of eternal despair.]

Jack: Oh my God oh my God—

Jack: A—Are they okay, are they even ALIVE—?!

[There were soft and erratic patters of ping noises as the stunned brothers tried to get a response from the fallen. They were growing louder and more frequent, and a sense of panic was starting to rise in the data.]

Mikhail: Enough!

Jack: —! Huh—

Mikhail: -Speaking calmly but firmly- Let’s not jump to any conclusions. We need to run diagnostics on both of them. Carlos, Nico—take Shadow to the lab. Skull, Keltso—do the same for Tobias. Siamini, I need both of you to prepare the diagnostic equipment for them. Go, get things ready. No time to waste!

[His sons obeyed right away, though there was a delay from the Wilybots before they complied with the orders. Mikhail pulled out his phone.]

Mikhail: (I need to know what happened…)

[He dialed the number for Will, but to his aggravation…]

“Hello, this is Dr. William Apollo White of Sanda Technologies. I’m currently unavailable right now—”

Mikhail: -Annoyed- Mmmmmnnn… -Hangs up- (Voicemail AGAIN, Will? Really? At a time like this? Gahhh… fine, I’ll call you again later, after I’ve run the diagnostic.)

[He turned to face Jack.]

Mikhail: …I’m so sorry, Jack.

Jack: H-huh?

Mikhail: You came here for something, and this whole time we’ve all but ignored you.

Jack: Oh, uh… i-it’s alright, I mean… that was a lot going on…

Mikhail: True, but you must have come here for some reason. What was it? Can we help you with something?

Jack: What? God, no, I’m more worried about YOU guys—! A—Are they going to be okay??

Mikhail: -Adjusts glasses- It’s probably just… shock. (No pun intended.) We’ll know soon enough for sure.

Jack: …

Jack: …

Jack: Shock, huh….

Jack: …Hn…they aren’t…they aren’t the only ones….

Jack: Starting to feel a little of that myself…

[Mikhail was quiet at that for a while, and then walked over. He put a hand on Jack’s shoulder.]

Jack: …?

Mikhail: Follow me, Mr. Parker.

Jack: (O-oh, I guess Miss Eight told him about her brother’s name for me…)

Mikhail: Let’s just have a talk.

[Jack followed the Russian Doctor into the main building in the Meadow.]

[They walked through the building and into the kitchen, where Mikhail had Jack sit down at the table. It was a rather large table, and made Jack feel small sitting at it all by himself.

But the whole situation made him feel small. He was caught up in this disaster the same as everyone else, and there was nothing he could do to help…]

Jack: (Son of a glitch…. The whole family is fallin’ apart and what did I do? Nothin…)

[There were the soft background noises of the kitchen as Mikhail started preparing something. They were largely unfamiliar noises; not the clamor of a food-related workplace, like he had worked at once for a couple weeks, not the cheap joints he normally bought from. It was a more personal, friendly and family kind of noise, one that was almost alien to him.

He perked up at the smell of meat, though.]

Jack: (…mmm…meat…ugh, that smells too good…)

Jack: …

Jack: (Gosh, this reminds me of the meal Miss Eight and I had just the other night when she stopped by…)

Jack: (I wonder where she is right now…)

Mikhail: There. It will be a while before it finishes, I’m afraid. Would you like something to drink?

Jack: Uh… I’m fine with whatever, honestly…

Mikhail: How about a milkshake, then?

Jack: Milkshake?

[He perks up a bit more at this.]

Jack: Like with the ice cream you guys sent me back in the hospital?

Mikhail: Exactly.

Jack: Oh, PLEASE…

[Mikhail smiled a little at this, and pulled some ice cream from the rather sizable freezer. The blender was a little on the loud side, but it wasn’t long before Jack had a large glass of milkshake in front of him.]

Mikhail: There you are.

Jack: Thank…

Jack: -Takes a sip- …Thanks for everything, Doc. You guys have been nothing but good to me…

Mikhail: It’s the least we can do.

[He adjusted his glasses again, sitting down opposite the beleaguered ex-arena fighter.]

Mikhail: Now…

Mikhail: You expressed you felt rather overwhelmed by all this.

Jack: …Yeah…

Mikhail: Honestly, anyone would be.

Mikhail: It’s best to start from the beginning.

Jack: …The beginning? Like… this morning?

Mikhail: No… not this morning. It probably started earlier.

Jack: What do you mean?

Mikhail: -Rubs his beard a bit- Well…

Mikhail: Things look confusing to us all right now because we don’t have the proper context to them. That makes it hard to focus on what is going on.

Mikhail: So let’s find some context, and unravel it for you. What’s on your mind? We’ll go back to address it from the beginning.

Jack: Okay…

Jack: …I…I’m just really worried about…God, it was KATE, at first, but after…that…Avi, and now Cards is out there too? It’s just…they’re out there, all alone, especially Cards….

Mikhail: …

[He closed his eyes and sighed, crossing his arms.]

Mikhail: …There’s something you should know.

Jack: (…That doesn’t sound too good…)

Mikhail: It would take a long time to explain all the details, but for a while now, Cardinal has been convinced that Gregory Graham had been planning to make a massive power grab, by means of setting up a crisis and solving it publicly.

Jack: —?!

Jack: What…?

Mikhail: He believed that the highway incident earlier in the year was the result of something in this plan going… wrong.

Jack: Wrong…?

Mikhail: The fact that Graham took the time during THIS disaster to—yet again, as before—publicly say “don’t blame me! Blame someone else!” does not help matters. “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.”

Mikhail: -Dryly- Guilty conscience, perhaps? Or just really bad lying?

Mikhail: That’s what Cardinal believed, at any rate. And I don’t think he was the only one.

Jack: He—he wasn’t?

Mikhail: Due to the meeting we had to discuss the threat that Greater Dusk posed—

Jack: Hang on, meeting—?

Mikhail: I’ll explain later, but yes. During that meeting, it was questioned why CherryDynamics would fund a team, especially one with an assassin. Cardinal wasn’t sure, but felt that Greater Dusk played an important role in the plans: the role of usurping power and favor from the Mighty Numbers, allowing for other power grabs later.

Jack: (They went through all that… because of me and Greater Dusk…)

Mikhail: Lady Countershade seemed to believe that CherryDynamics was not only responsible, but also eager to clean up “loose ends”. Namely…

Mikhail: You.

Jack: Wh...m...ME?

Mikhail: It seemed like it was very personal to her. She was adamant about it in a way that tells me she’d dealt with some sort of conspiracy like it before, whether one of her own invention she convinced herself was real, or else one she had truly witnessed.

Jack: (…She’s been following a few leads besides mine, the way she talked to me before all this…. Did…did that have something to do with my situation—?)

Mikhail: She wanted to protect you, Mr. Parker. She wanted to keep you safe from fixers, from those seeking to silence you as a witness. Something went wrong again in the finals, clearly; something that had not been intended to be publicly known yet. If ever. Likely never.

Jack: … … … … ….

Jack: Jeezus….

[This…this was bigger than he thought.]

[Much, much bigger.]

[What in the world was going on now?]

[Could…]

[Could this be…just too much to handle?]

[Suddenly Jack felt like he was up against MORE than just a virus.]

Jack: … ….

Mikhail: …Tell me more about the crosses, Jack. Felix had been doing research into them, but he fell ill as a result…. You’re the only person who can tell us about them, and… I think that this virus is related to what happened at the Queen’s Finals.

[Jack took in a deep breath after a long sip of his milkshake.]

Jack: Alright…. Where to start…

[He ran his hand through his messy, fluffy hair.]

Jack: Putting them on when they weren’t active–didn’t do a thing. They were made of Xel, so I guess the crosses also had this REALLY tiny core to keep it together….

Jack: They just looked like freaky jewelry to other people. I didn’t like it. Felt…wrong. That’s why I always hid mine under my shirt.

Mikhail: …In what sense? Physically, or morally?

Jack: ….Both? The cross felt…cold. Like it was just pulled out of the freezer, no matter how hot it was out.

Jack: That and inverted crosses are USUALLY a bad sign.

Mikhail: Mmmm…. When you threw the cross down in the finals, that did allow us to briefly see what it was. …The use of that symbol did not go unnoticed.

Jack: …

Mikhail: Their “youngest” brother believed the one behind it was trying to “play God” and was using that symbol on purpose, as a highly disrespectful mockery.

Mikhail: -Softly- I do not discount the notion.

Jack: … … ….

Jack: (The Provider…)

Jack: …..

Jack: Well, whatever nutjob made those things did a REAL good job fragging [glitch] up.

Mikhail: Quite…

Mikhail: There was… a theory I had about it, at the time.

Jack: …?

——————————

Tobias: I don’t understand—! What’s going on?!

[They all fell silent when a quiet voice spoke up unexpectedly.]

Mikhail: … -Quietly- Berserkers.

Cardinal: …! What?

Mikhail: In ancient times, there were men of great strength, warriors that were great and terrible. They could work themselves into a rage that made them almost seem to ignore their wounds in battle—a madness that they channeled with incredible force.

Mikhail: This is why there is the phrase “going berserk.” This is almost exactly what it means.

Mikhail: But to concentrate only on bloodlust, at the loss of sense…

[He adjusted his glasses, the light glinting off them in a glare that obscured his eyes.]

Mikhail: …Especially against tacticians, that can be a very heavy price…

——————————

Mikhail: …Was I right? Is that what they did, induce such a state?

Jack: ….You bet they did….

Jack: When they went active…

Jack: All I felt was rage.

Mikhail: …

Jack: All I felt was…this feeling to break things.

Jack: It was ALL I could think about…

Jack: All…I could think about was…

Jack: How much I wanted to hurt Blade.

Jack: …..

Jack: It was like… something just…took over and….and…

Jack: –….

Jack: I knew it was bad. I had this gut feeling WAY before the finals…

Jack: I knew.

Jack: So I fought back.

Mikhail: … -Focused but also thoughtful- … -After some hesitation…- …We know what that feels like. …You have our deepest empathy.

Jack: ……..

Mikhail: We know that to fight it off is no easy thing. …You are a stronger man than you give yourself credit for, Jack. Not everyone has the will or stamina to do this.

Jack: …..

Jack: -Sigh- Doc, I’m just a normal guy that wanted some extra cash in his pocket. Sure, I’m probably not such a piece of scrap, after all, but…

Jack: I’m not special.

Jack: I’m just…lucky, I guess.

Mikhail: -Gentle slight smile- I suppose. Having Lady Luck on your side is always nice. Heh… I wouldn’t have survived otherwise.

[He goes over and starts pulling things out of the oven, and Jack is left in his own thoughts for a while.]

Jack: (…Is it luck, or is it just something looking out for me…? Ah, who the hell am I kidding… Luck HATES my guts…)

[He was almost too focused to notice the smells of lunch, but it was at this point that the smell of delicious, glorious, tender S T E A K came drifting through the air—]

Jack: —!!!!!

[Jack shoots up into a straighter sitting position, eyes WIDE and eager–]

Jack: That—that is the most awesome smell I’ve ever—

[Mikhail walked over with a platter. A platter with SO MUCH FOOD.

There was steak, there was loaded baked potato with extra toppings set to the side—

Corn, green bean casserole, a tall glass of cold milk, a small bowl of fruit salad— and some chocolate pudding with Oreo bits and whipped cream!]

Mikhail: -Sets it down at the table- Sorry to keep you waiting.

Jack: …

[Jack might have kicked himself later for forgetting his manners—but he just dove into the most delicious food he’s ever eaten in his entire life.]

Jack: -dATA, SO MUCH DATA, OH GOD THIS IS SO GOOD HE COULD CRY-

[Mikhail chuckled at that, seeming very pleased.]

Mikhail: Things will get better, Jack. They may seem nearly hopeless now, but they will get better. Beck White has the power to reverse this, and that’s more than we could have hoped for in such a disaster. I have faith that he’ll bring his family back home.

[Jack slowed down a bit at this, his good mood wavering.]

Jack: …Hey, Doc…?

Mikhail: Yes?

Jack: Do… -Hesitates- …

Jack: Do y’ think Six was… lying?

Mikhail: …? Lying?

Jack: About her. Miss Eight…

Mikhail: …

[His eyes looked very tired at that, and he frowned slightly.]

Mikhail: …I’d say it's possible he was being misleading, but I find it unlikely that Kate is herself… given that even the RMDC was infected. She was connected to the database…

Jack: (…n…no…. Kate, no…)

Mikhail: She might have been asleep somewhere, but even then she would be in danger of getting sick after the fact.

[He gave a deep sigh.]

Mikhail: My heart goes out to those trying to find either her or Countershade; it will be very difficult to find them, and dangerous to confront them.

Jack: …But…

Jack: Isn’t that what bird guy is doing…? (And he can’t even heal them…)

Mikhail: Well. I can’t be entirely sure what he is up to, but that is a distinct possibility. Whatever Cardinal is up to, I can tell you this: nothing will deter him from a mission… not even the threat of death.

Mikhail: -Softly- “No one has greater love than this…”

Mikhail: “…to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

Jack: —!

Jack: … …

Jack: (Miss Eight…)

Jack: (Real deep stuff you’re laying down here, bird guy…)

Jack: … …

Jack: Sorry I…I’m not much help…I…

Jack: (….REALLY hope you know what you’re doing…)

Mikhail: -Weary… and sad…- No… it should have been expected and anticipated. We were not surprised. Alarmed, yes, but not surprised….

Mikhail: It is the path he chose long ago, and none can deter it from him as long as he yet runs.

Mikhail: He has made his choice. I only wish he weren’t so fragile…

Jack: ……

Jack: (Fragile…like a bird…)

Jack: (Flying solo for your friend, huh…)

Mikhail: At least he took Jazz with him. That may prove to be his saving grace, if things go south.

Mikhail: …That brings us up to the present, I suppose. Do you have any other questions?

Jack: … …

Jack: (Should I ask ‘em if they can help me find Miss Eight? If they couldn’t stop the bird guy, they’ll DEFINITELY try and stop me….)

Jack: Uh…no, no—well, sorta. Do you guys got anything I can use? Like—supplies and stuff. Just to have on hand.

Jack: And… if you’ve heard anything from Miss Eight’s family.

Mikhail: We have not heard from them yet, but we may hear from them within a week’s time. They are running on a different rate of time passage, so details may be different or confused. Time warps can fuzz the memory rather severely, as our own family can personally attest to. One remembers a general feeling, but not specific events…

Mikhail: As for supplies—forgive me, but I thought Ms. White set you up at a flat in Britain?

Jack: W-well, yeah, but…

Jack: …Saw a metal snake behind my couch…

[Mikhail visibly stiffened at this, becoming very tense. Jack noticed that his gloved, clenched left hand was shaking.]

What he couldn't possibly know was the extent dark, dark torment that plagued the Doctor's mind…]

Mikhail: …

Mikhail: -Somewhat strained at first- Oh, of course. No, of course…. It was good of you to come here…. Let’s see…

Mikhail: I know that David sent a great deal of good supplies—which I see you have brought with you. However… if you’re planning on camping, you’ll need something to eat…

[He wanders off for a moment. When he comes back, he has what appears to be a small cooler… or else a very large lunchbox.]

Mikhail: It’s not much, but with what you’re going through… lunch and dinner over the next few days to indulge in is the least we can do.

[There are sandwiches, sauces, ice cream bars, milk bottles, soda, even Xelpops in there!]

Jack: Thanks, man… this is…. This is just great…

Mikhail: You’re welcome.

[He stands and takes off his glasses to clean them for a moment.]

Mikhail: I’m afraid I must be going. I need to start work on the others.

Jack: Yeah, me too.

Mikhail: We wish you the best as you go on elsewhere, though you are welcome to stay here if you change your mind. I do hope you come back soon at least once—I think Felix had a gift for you.

Jack: …? (Miss Eight said the same thing…. She said he said it was important, too…)

Jack: Uh…I think maybe I’ll just pick that up on the way? Where is he?

[Hopefully he had enough luck on his side to get back to the States in time…AND in one piece.]

Mikhail: He’s out a bit further in the Wilderness. There’s a path that leads more or less right by his house. (Granted, his house is underground, but.)

Jack: Hmm. Got it—I’ll head that way for now.

[Mikhail nodded and left, heading for the medical bay portion of the lab.

Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Jack straightened out his coat and grabbed the cooler with his other hand, stretching himself out a couple of times–the doc said he had to often just to keep himself limber.]

Jack: Nnh….

[…Despite the looming danger in front of him, and what was yet to come…

…Strangely, Jack didn’t feel all that worried about it at the moment. Maybe it was the food.]

Jack: ….

Jack: (Well, need to at least see what all that is about…)

[It wasn’t long before he found himself in a very unusual house.

It appeared to have been dug right into the ground. This underground bunker had undergone a number of renovations over the years, with the latest one making it far more sophisticated.]

Jack: (This must be the place…. Can’t say I expected it would be underground…)

Jack: …

Jack: -Knocks on the door in the ground?-

[After a few moments, the door was rolled away from underneath, and he found himself looking at someone rather unusual.]

Piers: ?

[The man had golden eyes and aqua colored hair. The air around him seemed to be cooler and… gentler, somehow.]

Piers: I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before. May I help you?

Jack: (…OK, I’ve seen people dye their hair some CRAZY colors but—)

Jack: Um–yeah, same here. CDN.7037, Designation 'Dencerjack’. Just call me Jack…

Jack: Uh—I’m looking for a guy called Felix? The guys back at that Meadow told me he had something for me.

Piers: Ah… yes, that makes sense.

Piers: Felix mentioned you. He had an important gift for you. Please, do come in.

Jack: … ‘Kay….

[He followed the man down a ladder and into a sort of living room area. There was a large stone table, two chairs, a rocking chair, and a large sofa… currently occupied by a man with long brown hair, who appeared to be asleep in a fevered dream.

There were banners and tapestries adorning the walls, and there were blankets and furs stowed away neatly in a nearby chest. The mantelpiece and shelves around the living room displayed pottery and chinaware that the owner had made, and some wooden carvings. Noticeably, the art around the room showed not only his travels in Weyard and Weyard history, but also scenes and depictions of his friends (and their trials) beyond it.

In the middle of the living room, there were two large dog bed-sized baskets, and one smaller basket. Small cups of stone in the walls around the room served as recesses where beeswax candles and oil lamps rested, though they were lit by Venus energy most of the time… but not today. Today, they were lit by Mercury energy, giving the whole room a soft blue hue to it.]

Jack: (Jeez, this is like something out of a story…)

[His eyes keep glancing back to the little blue lights, wondering where in the world they had come from—this guy registered as an organic, but he was getting some weird energy readings from him too…

Piers: Where are my manners? Forgive me—allow me to introduce myself. I am Captain Piers of Lemuria—a Mercury warrior Adept.

Jack: (….Uhhh.) Nice to meet you…

[Piers looked over at the man on the couch, who briefly glowed a faint gold with a green tint.]

Jack: …!

Piers: Felix is still locked in the cursed dreams… I fear that it is the current disaster which overtook him.

[There were so many things Jack wanted to ask about that—the glow, where the heck was Lemuria and what in the world was an Adept—but he didn’t have the time…]

Jack: Yeah, things have REALLY gone down the drain, huh. …Hope he gets better soon.

Piers: I believe he shall, but that may not be until the crisis has passed… -Small sigh- It is hard to say, outside of time, how long it may take.

[He motioned for Jack to sit down on the floor near the table, which he did.]

Piers: There is, in our world, a material. This material can be used to craft things… jewelry, armor, weapons…. They provide a good deal of power, but they are cursed.

Jack: C-cursed?

Piers: The curse makes it impossible to discard the item without an exorcism. The user gets power, yes—but they are enveloped in a black and red aura, and at times… lose the ability to move of their own volition.

Jack: Ghn…. Oh glitch, that… that’s bad…

[Piers sighed and went over to the mantelpiece above the fireplace.]

Piers: Yes. The similarities were striking, which is probably why Felix was looking into it. Once you understand how something is set into motion, it is easier to see how to put a stop to it. He hoped that studying Dark Matter would yield information that the Doctors could use for medical purposes.

[He brought back a small container. Inside it was a chunk of what looked like an evil cross between obsidian and black marble, as smooth as glass.]

Piers: I'll be honest with you, Master Parker. This was a very dangerous experiment for him to be conducting, right from the start. It's also very unusual that he was working with Dark Matter at all; he'd always made a point never to use Cursed weapons or armor, simply because they were not worth the price. The fact that this happened anyway shows just how motivated he was.

Jack: B…But why the glitch would he DO that—?

Piers: Out of concern. Everyone was very worried. Felix honestly thought he could find an answer. Not only that… he also sympathized with your position.

Jack: …Position?

Piers: -Shakes his head- Within your group. …Felix knew what it was like to have… hard taskmasters, who favored the use of force to show dominance and displeasure.

Jack: -Winces at the reminder… and the thought someone else went through the same thing- …

Jack: …Hn…

Jack: …Is… Is he gonna be okay—?

[The sailor looked over at the Adept in question.]

Piers: …Probably. He’s been through worse in his time.

[He heaved a sigh.]

Piers: At any rate. He arranged for a gift to be given to you, but he fell ill before he could send it….

[He went back over to the mantelpiece and brought over a small box.]

Piers: He said this was to be for you.

[There appeared to be… only a single item inside.]

Jack: ….?

[…What the… a ring, of all things?]

Piers: -Looks QUITE surprised- So that’s where it went.

[He is suddenly very thoughtful.]

Piers: He must have felt that you would need it—and deserved it—and had it set aside for you to give to you…

Jack: ? You know what this is?

Piers: Yes. That’s a Cleric’s Ring: a rare artifact that prevents loss of control of your person.

Jack: … …

Jack: You mean– this thing will protect me from the virus?!

[It takes a moment for him to understand that Jack was talking about the sickness that had overtaken the Mighty Numbers, but then he nods.]

Piers: Yes, that is exactly the idea. It only protects the wearer, however; it does not have an area of effect or the ability to be used as a healing talisman.

Jack: …So it’s just for me. Got it…

[Jack takes a few seconds to inspect the ring a little before putting it on. It fit perfectly.]

Jack: Wow…feels weird…

[…But in a good way.]

Jack: …..

Jack: ….

Jack: (…This can protect me… I won’t get sick. Man, that makes me feel a HELL of a lot better… I guess I really am lucky, having this kinda stuff available… but Kate…)

Piers: I can see you have a lot on your mind… and your gear suggests you have nowhere to go. Would you like to spend the night here? At least then you will have a roof over your head.

Jack: Uh— A-Are you sure? You said Felix is… sick, I, I don’t wanna… be a bother, especially in a time like this--

Piers: Nonsense. It is no imposition whatsoever.

Jack: …

Jack: …A…Alright. I… need t’ think over all this, maybe…. Y…yeah. Thanks.

[And think them over he did.

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

The woman who had believed in him when no one else did, who had been there to comfort and protect him, who had pulled him out of harm’s way…

The fearless agent who had championed his cause after he was out of surgery, who had kept the press and the forces of darkness at bay…

The… friend he had shared laughter with, who had made his days more than just “bearable”…

She was out there somewhere in America, alone. In the midst of all this.]

Jack: … …

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

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

Jack: (….But…if she ISN’T…)

Jack: … …

Jack: Sonofva[GLITCH.]

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

“Where are you going?”

Jack: !

Jack: Uh—

[Piers was up, dressed in a simple cotton shirt and slacks, with a robe drawn about him. He looked at Jack patiently, clearly waiting for an answer.]

Jack: I…

Jack: I’m sorry, Captain, but—I really have to go—

Piers: …

Piers: Very well.

Jack: !

Piers: But before you do, permit me to at least prepare some supplies.

Jack: I…

Jack: I don’t know if I can carry any more…

[Piers smiled at this.]

Piers: We’ll see about that.

[He went over to one of the storage chests in the room and unlocked it, pulling out a well worn traveling bag. He disappeared off into the kitchen for a moment, before returning with just the bag again.]

Jack: What’s in the bag?

Piers: Some healing items. I am unsure if they would work on you, but I am inclined to think they would. There’s also a change of clothes that should fit relatively well; you’ll want them if you travel for long. There’s also some water and a few defensive items. You may take a look for yourself.

[The first thing he notices is the…wow there is a WHOLE lot more room in here than what it looks like on the outside—how is that even physically possible.]

Jack: …. Are you sure you won’t need this?

Piers: Very. We won’t be traveling for some time; your need is far greater.

Jack: Okay then…

[He proceeds to stuff the cooler in it because NO WAY was he going to drag that thing the whole way.

After some thought, he puts much of what was in his backpack in there as well. Then he puts the bag in one of his many pockets, hauling up the backpack onto his shoulders.]

Piers: -Turns to face Jack, looking at him thoughtfully before giving a gentle smile- I see others have supplied you for the journey ahead as well. I must say… it’s nice to start off a quest with something at hand.

Jack: No kidding…

[Piers opened the door and led Jack outside. He looked ahead down the path, pointing to the horizon.]

Piers: Keep your sights on that city, and you shall arrive where you seek soon enough.

[…WOW OKAY. There was a city there that was NOT there before—

—and what’s more, it looked familiar! It was definitely somewhere from Jack’s own world!

Jack looked to where he pointed–his violet eyes widening as he locked his gaze into something familiar in this huge mess of chaos–it almost felt relieving to see his destination at last.

…In fact…judging from the city skyline–it almost looked like…]

[..Seattle?]

Jack: … …

Jack: I REALLY hope it’s not gonna be raining by the time I get there…

Jack: That city is almost ALWAYS raining, see…

Jack: (…It’s better than nothing, at least.)

[Piers smiled a little.]

Piers: Do you have a poncho you could use? That’s what I’d recommend.

Jack: Oh yeah… now that you mention it….

[He pulled it out and put it on, and then put the goggles on as well. The night vision activated immediately, making the whole world a lot easier to see.

…He REALLY felt like he was about to embark on some important journey, now that he thought about it…

…Probably because he really was.]

Jack: …-Exhales-

Piers: Godspeed on your journey, my friend. Return home safely upon its completion—and may that be soon.

Jack: Thanks, Captain. Thanks for everything.

[He turns away, eyes set on the horizon, rain clouds already starting to form over the distant, war-torn city of Seattle.]

Jack: …Godspeed…yeah…

Jack: (I’m gonna need all the luck in the world for this…)

[In an instant, he starts to sprint off. Might as well get a head start and run for it…!]

Jack: (Just a little further, Kate…! I’m almost there…!)

Jack: (Just hold on until then…!)

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

=CHAPTER 4A: AVI’S NEWS REPORT=

~AO v1.0~

(Courtesy of @limitbreakers)

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

[SANDA LABS, TWO DAYS LATER...]

[MN.1 STATUS: ONLINE.]

[MN. 2 STATUS: ONLINE.]

[MN.3 STATUS: DEEP SLEEP MODE, RECHARGE IN PROGRESS....]

[MN.9 STATUS: ONLINE, XEL REPAIRS IN PROGRESS...]

[Will couldn't remember the lab--their home--being this quiet. Oh, it never was, with the sheer amount of siblings under one roof--]

[It unsettled him.]

[It unsettled him very much.]

[Perhaps it was because of this and his struggles at the daunting tasks at hand that he, well...]

White: Argh!

[...Lost his patience, for a bit.]

Sanda: !

[Sanda had only seen his friend like this only one other time--and he knew this MUST have been for a good reason--Will was the most patient man he's ever known.]

White: Blast it--!

Sanda: Will?

[Will was quite literally pulling at his own hair, a frustrated expression across his usually gentle features.]

White: I see NO pattern whatsoever! What in Tyson's name is behind this?!

Sanda: Will, let's just--

White: Just LOOK at this, Soi!

[Will brings up the virus coding again--all the samples from Pyro, Cryo, Dyna, and the RMDC server from Mikhail--...]

[It was clear as day to what it DID...]

[...But looking at it closely...]

[...Each sample was VASTLY different from the other.]

White: We know what it DOES--exaggerate underlying negative coding and emotions and exploiting them that way--

White: But looking at the samples--it's almost as if we're looking at FOUR different viruses instead of ONE!

Sanda: --?!

[Will was right--each coding sample was... unique, in it's own way...]

Sanda: What the...?

White: It--It makes no SENSE! I would EXPECT the virus to leave SOME imprint or--something! Within the emotional matrix, but...!

White: There is absolutely nothing there.

[…This rant did not end well for him.]

-PING!-

<RMDC>: > PROCESSING NEW DATA…

<RMDC>: > CROSS-REFERENCE IDENTIFIED. ENTRY: DLN-001. ENTRY: DLN_COMBAT.EXE.

<RMDC>: > ERROR—CONNECTION TO MAIN SERVER FAILED.

<RMDC>: > CONNECTION FAILED—UNABLE TO UPDATE MAIN SERVER

<RMDC>: > COMPRESSING DATA FOR NEXT AVAILABLE CONNECTION…

White: Dear LORD, not again--!

Sanda: --? It's trying to connect again--

White: For the PAST TWO DAYS!

White: I can't SHUT IT OFF, only Mikhail has that level of clearance and we can't even SPEAK to each other!

Sanda: .......

[Well, no wonder Will was at the end of his rope....]

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Dr. White, I am detecting very high levels of stress and elevated heart rate. I recommend you step away from your terminal for the time being.

Sanda: (Bless you, Call...!) Er--Yes, Will...it's been a hard while, and I don't think anyone would be very happy to know you've been running yourself ragged... (Especially Mikhail...ho boy...)

[And before Will could even open his mouth to argue--]

[CALL] //: Dr. White, please step away from the terminal. I am authorized to activate the fire sprinkler system within this lab.

White: ......

[With a tired sigh, Will rises from his seat and follows Sanda out of the room, rubbing the corners of his darkened eyes...]

White: ....I just...

Sanda: Wiiiiillll....

[Sanda takes in a deep breath and sighs, crossing his arms worryingly. He KNEW that his best friend could get like this--feeling as if it was his duty to get important things done, especially when people were counting on him so much...]

[Sometimes Will would try TOO hard and burn himself out--]

[Always trying.]

[....Almost as if he felt he had something to prove.]

Sanda: I know you want to fix this--I do too, believe me--but we can't exactly do that if we're not even taking care of OURSELVES, right?

White: ......

Sanda: We still have a lot of work to do...and I have a feeling we'll need to be ready for whatever gets thrown our way.

White: .....-Sigh-

White: ....

White: I....yes. You're right...

White: ...I just feel as if we aren't making any progress regarding the virus...and with the comms still down...!

Sanda: .....Mmm...

Sanda: You're right. We should DO something about that.

White: --!

Sanda: ...Call hasn't found any other Mighty Numbers yet.

Sanda: But Avi...

-PING!-

<RMDC>: > CROSS-REFERENCE IDENTIFIED. ENTRY: DLN-008. ENTRY: DWN-010. ENTRY: MONSTROPOLIS, AZ.

<RMDC>: > ERROR—DLN-008 IS OFFLINE. CONNECTION FAILED.

Sanda: --!!

White: . . . .

White: (Monstropolis...)

[It was a name that struck gravity into even the most flippant of the Wily and Cossack Numbers.

The full tale had not been told outright, but the pieces had come together over time to show that the reason things were as bad as they were in that world lay in the misery the city suffered—

First, under Tobias unwittingly TERRIFYING the nation, and then, a generation later…

…When the city in the sky came crashing down to earth…]

[The panic caused in both cases proved to be deadly, and was something Tobias came to feel was his fault as he had grown and finally understood what he had unwittingly done.

It was a very touchy topic and an incident that even the worst of Wily’s sons would want to be avoided.

…And it wasn’t hard to see why, when one considered…]

-*-*-*-*-

<<Power up the revolution, boys—it’s time for an evolution of circuitry!>>

-*-*-*-*-

[…How eerily similar some of Avi’s latest broadcasts had been to the ones Tobias had put out…]

Sanda: Oh no--Will--

White: ......

White: (Going after Aviator will most certainly bring up some VERY unpleasant cross references for the Angels--regarding Monstropolis, regarding Tobias...)

White: (But there are no other Mighty Numbers located--and we MUST bring back communications across the country...)

White: (WORSE-- I have no doubt Avi will be MORE than happy to broadcast the whole thing in his state...!)

White: .....

White: We...We have no choice, Soi.

Sanda: But--the cross references--!

White: ...We'll have to ask Beck to be extremely careful...

White: ...And quite possibly not use Dynatron's ReXelection, to minimize the impact on the RMDC server...

Sanda: ...Mm--but Avi is half weak to Dyna's form, isn't he?

White: ...True.

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Shall I attempt to trace the source of the transmissions, Doctors?

White: Please do--and bring them to the main line, if you will.

Sanda: ....? Why?

White: Perhaps Avi will tell us himself, if we listen closely...

Sanda: Oh--in that case, I'll go and call Beck--

[CALL] //: Tracing...

White: .....

White: (....Mmmm...)

White: Soi?

Sanda: Yes?

White: ....Call has been functioning normally all this, yes?

Sanda: Well, she was shut down for a firmware update when everything went screwy...

Sanda: And the Patch bots were down for recharge. Like I said before-- anything that was shut off when this all started are fine.

White: Yes--so was my phone...

White: It was...shut down....

White: . . . . _______________________

"....He shut down every robot in America..."

"You mean how they both originated in the Battle Colosseum...?"

"...We both discussed the reason WHY he could have..."

_________________________

White: No, it...it couldn't be...

Sanda: ...?

________________________

"...even HE couldn't pull this off from inside a maximum security prison--!"

"CherryDyn, of course, being the world's largest robot manufacturer..."

"IT'S BLACKWELL'S FAULT--!"

_________________

White: Or...

__________________

[CONFIDENTIAL: INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN THE BATTLE COLOSSEUM--]

[EXPLORING THE CAPABILITIES OF XEL TECHNOLOGIES IN--]

[WARNING: RISKS--]

__________________________________

White: Could it be...?

Sanda: Uuuh....Wiiiiiillll?

Sanda: Do you...have a theory or...?

White: .....

Sanda: ....?

White: Mmm...

Sanda: (Confound it, he ALWAYS gets me so worried when he trails off like that--!)

Sanda: W--

[PING!]

[MN.9] //: You rang, Dr. Sanda? Where am I off to next?

Sanda: --! O-Oh--Beck, yes...just a moment...

White: .....Soi....

Sanda: Let's discuss this later, Will.

White: ......

White: Y-Yes....

Sanda: And NO trailing off into a 'Hmm' next time, alright?

White: .....Of....Of course....

[MN.9] //: Daaaaaad, are you giving Uncle Sanda a hard time? Or is it the other way around?

Sanda: More like both. -_-;;;

White: --Eheh....

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Transmissions verified. Transferring to main line...

[KSSSSSST--!]

"Yelloyelloyello and WELCOME to another EXCITING broadcast of Avi News!~ Bum Da DAAAAAA!"

[MN.1] //: How is it that he's even more annoying like this--?!

[MN.2] //: Beats me, bro, beats me...

"Live from this LOVELY broadcasting tower I, aheh, borrowed --ah, whatever, no need to sugarcoat it! I hijacked it from all the pathetic squishy humans! Jeez, they didn't even stick around for an interview! Rude, don't ya think? But, s'not like I NEED them, ha!"

[MN.9] //: Avi...

"And I DEEPLY apologize for that last cutout--a certain pesky bee was messing with the power--buuuuut it looks like that got shorted out so here we are again, folks!~"

[Data fuzz. Static.]

<RMDC>: > CROSS REFERENCE IDENTIFIED: DLN-008.

<RMDC>: > ERROR—DLN-008 IS OFFLINE. CONNECTION FAILED.

"Pretty sure it's not gonna happen again anyway--"

[....A pause at the static--]

"...I think."

[Another pause.]

"But HEY! Good thing, too, because all you listeners out there just love to tune into Avi News for yours truly, right?~"

[MN.2] //: ...Gotta respect his puns, though, he REALLY upped his game, I gotta make up some more to compete with that--

[MN.1] CRYOSPHERE, PLEASE--

"And on THAT note, I'm happy to announce that Avi News will soon be launching it's global campaign--"

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

"--From right here in the good old state of Georgia! Great place, real windy, nice views and..."

[MN.2] //: He's in Georgia--?

[A much HARSHER fuzz.]

<RMDC>: > CROSS-REFERENCE IDENTIFIED: DLN-008.

<RMDC>: > COMMAND RECOGNIZED: DISPLAY CROSS-REFERENCES. AUTHORIZATION: DLN-008.

<RMDC>: > ERROR—UNABLE TO COMPLETE COMMAND. CRITICAL AI_OS ERROR. DLN-008 IS OFFLINE.

[MN.9] //: Georgia--in a radio tower...

[CALL] //: Confirming...

[MN.1] //: Avi, you--why are you...?

[MN.2] //: Bros--what did Avi mean by going global...? Going global HOW?

White: .....

White: Either...

White: He's going to attempt cutting off comms WORLDWIDE...

White: ....

White: (Or something worse...)

<RMDC>: > ANALYSIS ALERT: ??.??.20XX MEMORY DATA CROSS-REFERENCES TO MULTIPLE HAZARDOUS FILES. POTENTIAL SYSTEM OVERLOAD TRIGGER DETECTED. AFFECTED SYSTEMS: AI_DWN_008, AI_DWN_012, AI_DWN_013, AI_DWN_018, AI_DWN_019, AI_DCN_003. ISOLATING FILES FOR ADMIN APPROVAL…

Sanda: Ngh...this will NOT be easy on them, will it...

White: -Sigh...-

White: ...We'll have to get to Avi before he attempts whatever he is planning--Call?

Call: Confirmed. Mighty No. 6's transponder signal is indeed located in a radio tower in Georgia.

[MN.9] //: I'm on it!

[Pause.]

[MN.9] //: W-Wait--what about Dyna? Is she...awake, yet?

[MN.2] //: Not yet--but if she does, we'll let ya know, bro.

[MN.1] //: Have your systems processed her form data yet?

[MN.9] //: Yeah, when I woke up yesterday--hang on...!

[XEL STRUCTURE SHIFTING...]

[REXELECTION: DYNATRON.]

[MN.9] //: Yup...everything's working right... (For once...)

[MN.1] //: You'll need that--Avi's mainly weak to Shade's arsenal, but partially to Dyna...and who knows what kind of tricks he'll come up with while you're there...

[The RMDC flashed with another notification, though THANKFULLY it was now on silent—clearly focused on isolating the ongoing stressors to protect the main server from an overload once connections were re-established.]

Sanda: Mmm...

Sanda: How close can you get Beck to the tower, Call?

Call: ......

Call: I can safely attempt Xel Transfer on the structure itself, Doctor. Unfortunately, the jamming signal is only weakest at the lower levels.

White: That will have to do.

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

[MN.9] //: Pyro?

[MN.1] //: Yes?

[MN.9] //: When she wakes up...

[MN.9] //: ...Tell her that what Avi did to Toby...it wasn't his fault.

[MN.1] //: Of course. (That is...if she doesn't absolutely loses it when she does find out...)

Call: Location locked. Preparing Xel Transfer...

[MN.2] //: REMEMBER TO NOT LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAYS, BRO--TUNE HIM OUT--

White: Good luck, son...!

[MN.1] //: You can do this, Beck.

Sanda: We'll be there this time--count on it!

[MN.9] //: Right!

Call: Initiating Xel Transfer...

———————————————

[MISSION DETAILS: MIGHTY NO. 6, AVIATOR, HAS CO-OPTED THE TELEVISION AND RADIO BROADCASTING CAPABILITIES OF THIS RADIO TOWER IN GEORGIA, BLOCKING ALL COMMUNICATIONS IN THE COUNTRY.]

[MISSION OBJECTIVES: LOCATE AND RESCUE MN.6, PURGE ALL HARMFUL MALWARE FROM SYSTEMS, PREVENT TOTAL AND PERMANENT COMMUNICATION BLACKOUT. SUB OBJECTIVE: MINIMIZE RMDC IMPACT.]

SYSTEMS READY?

GO!

[Whistling, harsh winds, the sound of a familiar news jingle blaring over the speaker systems, and of course, Avi's persistent newscasts broadcasting over nearly all his feeds--]

[Beck was in the right place, alright...]

[As soon as he fully materialized, Call's voice crackled in his ears.]

Call: Attention: Beck has arrived at the tower. Mighty No. 6 must be transmitting from the apex.

Sanda: Sorry to make you climb it on foot, Beck...but it's, uh, all part of the plan!

White: That, and it was impossible to get him directly to the top with Avi jamming the signals to it...

Sanda: Eheh....yes, that...

[MN.9] //: It's OK, guys. I've climbed Avi's tower dozens of times--it's just that, well--this is a lot bigger than that one, and not as windy, and there weren't any malfunctioning robots that want to kill me.

[Taking a deep breath, Beck looked up to the daunting tower above him, the top of which was hidden in the clouds. He could see various platforms of which he could use to ascend--but he could also hear the loud screeches of infected robots as well.]

Beck: Hang tight, Avi...

[There were ramps, at first, and lots of ladders--as well as more CherryDyn models than he liked to admit were comfortable. There was even a few models that he didn't recognize--such as signal amplifying robots that threw their dishes at him--]

[WHAM--!]

Beck: O W--

[--especially when he was jumping around to avoid them in the first place.]

Beck: Hey--CUT IT OUT--

[REXELECTION: CRYOSPHERE.]

[Luckily, they couldn't throw their dishes around if they were frozen.]

[At first--it seemed he was making good progress...]

[...But it wasn't long until...]

[KSSSSSSSSSSST!]

"Ahem! Testing, testing. Check one, check, check two. Sibilance, Sibilance!"

Beck: --!

[And suddenly, from his right, as he approached one side of the tower--!]

[MN.2] //: ...Is...Is that a BLIMP? Where the cheese did Avi get a FREAKIN' BLIMP?!

[The blimp was huge--and had a giant screen on either side, displaying a live feed of Avi himself. The background showed nothing but clouds, so it was safe to assume he was flying somewhere over the top of the tower.]

Avi: And now, live from Avi News World Headquarters, continuing coverage of--! Bum da da daaa!~

Avi: NATION. IN. CRISIS!

White: (Avi, please...!)

Avi: Let's take things over to our eye in the sky, Avi, for the latest traffic report!~ Avi?

Avi: Uh, as you can see, Avi, the robot rampage is not letting up! It's chaos out here! CHAOS!

[MN.2] //: Is he seriously talking to himself again, are you kidding--

Avi: Thanks, Avi--as you can see, this is a dark, dark day for squishy humans everywhere--but, ya know, that's because they were soft and helpless to begin with! Am I right or am I right? HA!~

Avi: So I ask you, fellow viewers--

Avi: Will this be the end of our proud republic?

Avi: Or will a HERO emerge to save the day?!

Avi: Heh, well, for one, I already have something of an answer!~

[The screen transitions once more, and--]

Beck: ....!

[...Beck finds himself staring at his own bewildered face.]

Avi: IT'S SURE AS HECK ISN'T GONNA BE THIS GUY!

[PING!]

[MN.6] //: Oh, MAN, this is gonna be good--how's it going, Beckingsdale?~

[MN.6] //: Nice of you to blow in from the western front! Heh, get it?

[MN.9] //: Avi--

[MN.6] //: Were you just SO excited to see big bro that you decided to skip 4 and 5? Or do you just don't CARE?

[MN.9] //: What--Of COURSE I care--!

[MN.1] //: Leave him ALONE, No. 6!

[MN.6] //: Eeeey, lookie here, it's Big Bro! Cooked up some tasty treats for me?

[MN.2] //: CUT THE SMALL TALK, AVI--WE KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, HOVERMORON--!

[MN.6] //: Nah, not really! One sec--

<RMDC>: > ALERT: MNN-006 HAS BEEN RAISED TO THREAT LEVEL BLUE.

[Thiiiiis was not starting off so good.]

[The screen cuts off from Beck to Avi once more--]

Avi: Yup, as you can see, this guy thinks he can waltz up here and try to put our global campaign on hold--PERMANENT hold. That isn't gonna fly.

Avi: Why? Well--I'll show you all in bit, so stay tuned!~

Avi: But whatever happens, Avi News will be there--your number one and ONLY source for ethical journalism!~

Avi: We report, and YOU...eh...do whatever you want with it. Until next time, good night, and GOOD LUCK!~ BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!~

[KSSSSSSSSSSST!]

[MN.6] //: AAAAAND SCENE! Little short and sweet, but we're on a tight schedule here.

[MN.9] //: Avi--PLEASE, listen to me--! You're malfunctioning, there's a virus in your systems and--

[MN.6] //: Hey, Becky. Interview time.

[MN.6] //: How many matches did you lose when you were on the team?

[MN.9] //: I...what?

[MN.6] //: Because you've got the biggest lose streak on RECORD, like--wow. I had no IDEA someone could be THAT lame. No WONDER Pyro kicked you out!~

[MN.1] //: AVI--

[MN.6] //: And before you say ANYTHING, Big Bro, don't give me that 'for the good of the team' garbage. We all KNEW Beck just really sucked at combat and we couldn't afford to keep someone on him JUST to make sure he didn't get completely scrapped.

[MN.6] //: Real sad part of it is that he never really seemed to get any BETTER. Not for a good WHILE, at least.

[MN.6] //: Heck, he can't even FLY straight when he had MY form!

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

[MN.6] //: Man, Cryo was right--you ARE a real runt.

[MN.2] //: AVI YOU BETTER STOP TALKING OR I'M--

[MN.6] //: You'll WHAT. Freeze me? Punch me in the face?

[MN.2] //: HELL YEAH I WILL!

[MN.6] //: ...Typical.

[MN.6] //: Always with the threats--it's starting to get REAL old. I got enough of those already, so save your breath.

[MN.2] //: ...???

[Beck was already at the other side of the tower--there were some strong winds coming from the west, and part of him wondered if that was also Avi's doing somehow...]

[MN.6] //: But we're getting off point.

[MN.6] //: You don't mind if I...say, replay some of those lame matches over the air, do ya?~

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

[MN.6] //: Ya know, just to give our viewers a little REMINDER that this is the short-stack that's trying to run around and save the whole world like he's some SUPERHERO or something. YAWN.

[Data fuzz.]

[kkkkkkkkk…]

[…That familiar static again.

It died down, but…]

[Suddenly, music was playing.]

[And Avi CERTAINLY wasn’t the one playing it.]

[MN.6] //: --?

[MN.9] //: !

[MN.6] //: UGH, I THOUGHT that was fixed--

[MN.6] //: ....Wait a second--that's not part of my soundtrack--!

[It was an acoustic soundtrack—one that seemed…

…uncomfortably familiar.]

[It played through an entire cycle of two verses and refrains—wordless, though, making it even eerier—before dying down and fading away.]

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

[MN.6] //: Oooookay...

[MN.6] //: Gonna have to look into that after I'm done with you.

[MN.9] //: (Was...was that who I think it was...?)

[…Siam HAD warned about side effects…

But… Toby was still Offline, right?]

[MN.9] //: (If...if it was...but...oh no...)

[Fearing the worst--Beck climbs up the tower faster, using Cryo's form effectively disable and absorb the robots that stood in his way.]

Sanda: ...!

Sanda: Heads up, Beck! I think we found a faster way up the tower!

Beck: Whoa--really?

Sanda: Grab that Hula-Heli hoop near the other side of the tower--you can use it to board the blimp airship and ride it to the top!

White: --! Ah--! That'll work...

[There was a small robot with a large red light in the center, along with some fairly well-sized propellers on either side--they looked like they could support his weight.]

White: This'll save us time--once you're at the top, you can get the jump on Avi!

[There was a bright yellow hoop for him to grab onto--the light on the Hula-Heli changed from red to blue once it felt the required weight achieved, and gently started to float over towards the direction of the blimp.]

Beck: (Don't look down, don'tlookdown--)

Beck: (Gotta minimize impact, just--close your eyes, yeah--)

[The ride ended rather quickly, though, and soon Beck felt his feet touch...wood?]

Sanda: He's on the deck! He'll be safely up the tower in no time--

[WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR--!]

White: --!!

White: Don't count your atoms before they're smashed, Sanda--look!

[That...]

[That was another airship--but it had been outfitted with multiple CherryDyn models, loaded with missiles and weapons!]

White: He's been spotted!

[KSSSSSST--]

[MN.6] //: More like ANTICIPATED, Dear old Dad!

[MN.6] //: Did you REALLY think I wouldn't hear you, Sanda-Bag, and Miss Siri over there trying to HELP this waste of Xel?

-PING.-

Beck: Oh no--

[The front gun started to fire at Nine, it's large, single eye locking onto him--]

[REXELECTION: PYROGEN.]

[MN.6] //: --?

[MN.6] //: Whoops, sorry, I got a caller--I'll be RIIIIIGHT back!~

White: (What...?)

{Some Time Later…}

[C R A S H--!]

Avi: WHOA--!!

[There was a HUGE tremor--the WHOLE tower suddenly LURCHED to one side, and all comms fuzzed out into static for a few moments--]

Avi: What the--??!

[MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE--]

Beck: ....Oops...

White: Oh goodness--!

[MN.2] //: BRO WHAT THE HECK??

[MN.9] //: IT WASN'T MY FAULT THE ATTACK AIRSHIP CRASHED INTO THE TOWER--

[MN.1] //: IT WHAT?!

[MN.9] //: IT JUST STARTED SPINNING ONE WAY AND THEN--AAAAAH--

Sanda: ...Well, at least the tower is still intact...

[MN.1] //: Beck--you can't just--

[MN.9] //: I know I know I'm sorry I didn't know it would do that I--

White: It's a miracle the blimp is still airborne...

[MN.1] //: Next time, PLEASE don't over charge Burning Spirit like that--it really DOES have a wide blast radius--

[KSSSSSSSSST!]

"And now, Avi News traffic, from the Avi-1 eye-in-the-sky traffic copter!"

[....That...]

[...wasn't just from the feeds--!]

Avi: HEYO, AIRSHIP WRECKER.

[It was the Pungeon Master HIMSELF--dropping in from high above the clouds, twirling over once before hovering at a fair distance away from the blimp, a camera bot flying by his side.]

Beck: Avi!

Avi: We have an accident about to happen on the airship, Avi--

[He suddenly dove down, out of sight--]

Beck: AVI!

[Beck dashed forward, hands gripping the railings of the blimp in order to look down for his brother...]

[WHOOSH--!]

Beck: --!!!

[Avi reappeared, alright--]

[With a whole squadron of aerial CherryDyn models--their missiles all pointed at Beck and the airship!]

Avi: A PIECE OF TRASH CAUSING TROUBLE--

Beck: WAH--!

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

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

[.....Zzt.]

[Zzzzzzt.]

[BZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!]

[C R A C K!]

[Without warning--a HUGE flash! The air is filled energy! Comms fill with static--!]

[MN.3 IS NOW ONLINE. COMBAT MODE: ENGAGED.]

Dyna: AAAAAVIIIIIIII!!!

Beck: ?!?

Beck: DYNA?!?

[There is a BLAST of music over ALL the comms—]

“POWER UP THE REVOLUTION! IT’S TIME FOR AN EVOLUTION! OF CIRRRRCUIIIIITRYYYYY!”

Avi: Huh--?!

Dyna: GET YOUR ZZZZSICK CHASSISZZ OVER HERE--

[The restored Electric Maiden threw a flurry of bits at the CherryDyns--each of them sticking magnetically--and with a snap of her fingers--]

[ZZZZZZZZZZZZRT!]

[They shorted out, one by one, their blackened husks falling back down to Earth.]

Dyna: ZZZSO I CAN SHOCK ZZSOME R E A L ZZZSENSE INTO YOU!

[MN.1] //: DYNA!

[MN.2] //: YEEEEAAAH, GO SIS, SHOW 'EM--!

White: How did she even get out of the lab without any of us--??

Sanda: Call??

Call: Dynatron insisted I block her signals and data once she came Online.

Dyna: Yeah, cuzzz I knew HOVERBUTT WASZZ LISZZENING.

Avi: Ah--Uh...

Dyna: YOU--!!

Dyna: DO YOU HAVE A N Y IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU'RE HURTING?!

[BZZZZZZZT--!]

Dyna: WHAT YOU DID TO TOBY--?!

Avi: --?!

Avi: What?

Avi: (Who's...)

[Another fuzz. Toby’s voice echoes—as if it’s replaying from a memory file.]

“You don’t know what you’re getting into!”

Avi: Argh--stop it--

Dyna: YOU'D BETTER ZZZSNAP OUT OF IT, AVI--

[ZZZZZZZZZZ--]

Dyna: OR E L S Z Z E !

Avi: I mean--oh no--

Avi: ....-AUDIBLE GULP-

Avi: Breaking News: the piece of trash brought a friend and is /no fun at all!/ 8'D

[Without another word, Avi jets off into the clouds, leaving only a pair of white streams in his wake.]

Dyna: YEAH, GO BACK UP TO YOUR ZZSTUPID TOWER, YOU QUACK! -HISSSSS-

Dyna: Wait until I get my clawszz on you... -BZZZZZZ-

[Another fuzz.]

[GhhhZZZZzzzddDDT.]

“I… I c-can’t let you make my mistakes…!”

Dyna: --!!

Dyna: Toby...?

<RMDC>: > DATA CONTRADICTION ERROR: DLN-008 IS OFFLINE. CONNECTION FAILED. ISOLATING SOURCE…

<RMDC>: > SOURCE ORIGIN IDENTIFIED

<RMDC>: > POINT OF ORIGIN: MNN-006

Dyna: .....!

Beck: Dynnnaaaaaa!

[Waving from the airship was a default form Beck, waving his left arm back and forth as tears of joy welled up in the corners of his eyes.]

Beck: Dynaaaa!

Dyna: ! Becky!~

[.....And just like that, she was back to a cheerful demeanor, as if she WASN'T thinking about tearing her brother to bits not two seconds ago.]

Beck: Dyna--how--when--

[Dyna just floated over to the blimp with a smile on her face, gently patting her little brother on his head with a poncho covered hand.]

Dyna: I woke up when you were already boarding the airship--Call noticed and filled me in.

Dyna: I dunno what Avi was doing during that time, but I aszzked Call to block my zzzsignalszz and data so he wouldn't notice. Good thing, too, you were almoszzt toast back there!

Call: Mighty No. 3's support will greatly increase the mission's chances of success.

White: Oh, dear....what will I ever do with you all...?

Sanda: Eheh...can't blame them, Will...they just want to help.

Dyna: Zzzsorry, Daddy.~

Dyna: But I don't have time to be moping.

Dyna: Lemmie get you off thiszzz thing and back to the tower, Mkay?~

Beck: Thanks, Dyna...!

[A wave of her hand and Beck gently floated up and to her side, which was better than riding the Hula-Heli--he trusted his sister a lot more than that thing, at least.]

[MN.1] //: What I want to know is how in the WORLD did you sneak by us? We were in the SAME repair room--

[MN.3] //: I have my wayszz, Big Bro.~

[MN.2] //: DYNADYNADYNA--

[MN.3] //: Cryooooo!~

[MN.2] //: AAAAAH I MISSED YOU AAAAAAAH--

[MN.2] //: -SNIFF-

[MN.3] //: I missed you too, Big Sis.~ Don't cry--

[MN.2] //: I'M NOT CRYING--MY TANK IS STILL BROKEN--

[MN.1] //: ...No it isn't, Father just--

[MN.2] //: SSSSSHHHHHUT UUUUUP--

[MN.9] //: Heh...

[...This was more like it...]

[This....this felt...familiar. All this.]

[Slowly--slowly, he was piecing his family back together again....]

[MN.9] //: Over there is fine, Dyna.

[He just had to keep going. No matter what.]

[He had to try.]

[Beck touched down on another platform on the tower--the winds were REALLY kicking up the higher he went, now--even Dyna had to compensate for the harsh gales.]

Dyna: You sure you don't want me to fly you to the top?!

Beck: Avi will be expecting that! I gotta climb this myself--I don't want him hurting you and regretting it later!

Beck: (He's already done enough for that...)

Dyna: ......

[There was a troubled look on her face--she didn't want to leave Beck to her ill brother, and...]

"I can't let you make /my mistakes/...!"

Dyna: .........

Dyna: Becky?

Beck: Yeah?

Dyna: Give him a REAL good shock for me. And Toby.

Beck: Uh...

Beck: I...I'll try....

Beck: But--you gotta get out of here before Avi comes back.

White: Beck's right, Dyna--come home for now. Please.

Dyna: ......

Dyna: Fiiiine...

Call: Preparing Xel Transfer...

Beck: And Dyna?

Dyna: .....

Beck: We need to be there for Avi WHEN he comes home.

Beck: ....It was never his fault when...Toby...

Beck: ......

Beck: Please don't be mad at him.

Beck: Toby would be really sad if you guys were still fighting after this.

Dyna: ......

Dyna: Yeah, he...would, wouldn't he...

Dyna: .....Toby....

Beck: Toby was just trying to stop Avi...

Beck: .......

Beck: Please don't blame them...!

Dyna: ........

Dyna: -Siiiigh-

Dyna: I...mng. But ONLY if Avi apologizeszz.

Beck: Yeah, that won't be hard...

Dyna: .....You bring him back home, OK?

Dyna: ....Avi might be a dork but he'szzz OUR dork.

Dyna: ....I...I miszzs him too...

Beck: Yeah. I will. I swear.

Call: Xel Transfer Initiated.

Dyna: Zzstay zzsafe...!

Beck: Got it, Dyna...!

[A flash of yellow and purple, and then, nothing.]

Call: Xel Transfer complete. Welcome back, No. 3.

Cryo: -GLOMP TACKLE, SIS SIS SIIIIIIIIIIS--

Pyro: -Excuse us ladies, we're just gonna collect the both of you in a big hug now.-

Dyna: ~<3

Beck: .....

[Slowly, one by one.]

[Beck once again looked to the sky.]

Beck: Almost there...

Beck: Avi...!

Beck: Ready or not--!

Beck: Here I come!

——————————————————

[Several more levels of the tower lied above--there were even less platforms, but more Hula-Heli's around--it made climbing up a little easier--although he had to shoot the robots that hung from them first. They gave him Absorption boosts, however, and filled both of his Xel Stocks--he decided to save those for later.]

[Eventually, he reached the right side of the tower--]

[WHOOOOOSH!]

Beck: Ngh--!

[The wind speed had increased dramatically here--what was going on with the weather...?]

Beck: (It--can't be Avi, can it?)

[KSSSSSSST!]

Beck: Oh no come ON--

Avi: This just in: bad guy spotted at the west side of the radio tower! Bots are in pursuit!

Beck: In pur--

[Following Avi was another squadron of CherryDyn Models--, and not only that, there were MORE of them that littered the platforms ahead!]

Beck: --!!

White: Beck--there's another Hula-Heli just above you! Grab it!

[Nine quickly jumped to latch onto the hoop by his hands, and he was rapidly carried of towards the nearest platform.]

Beck: (Argh, these winds...!)

Avi: ......

Avi: And now to Avi for the weather! :D

Avi: THANKS, AVI, WE GOT STRONG WINDS OUT THERE TODAY, BE CAAAAREFUUUL!~~

Beck: Are you the one doing this, Avi?!

[Avi merely cackled as he sped off into the sky again, vanishing from sight.]

Beck: A V I !

[With a small groan of frustration, Beck locked down his visor over his face for some protection against the wind--he wouldn't quite put it past Avi to have gained some control over wind currents, if the virus DID grant him that...]

Beck: Hang on, bro...

[The platforms eventually led him further out--and then back to the tower, where he used Cryo's form to freeze more than a few CherryDyn bots--]

Beck: --!!

[Wait--was that a door? Leading inside! FINALLY, some shelter from these unforgiving winds!]

Beck: I am so taking the stairs--

[......]

[...Or...not. More ladders.]

Beck: UGH--!

Beck: Ladders, why ladders, I would have taken more Hula-Helis...

[All Beck could do was grumble under his breath while climbing up the first set.. And many, MANY more after that.]

Beck: WHY ARE THERE SO MANY LADDERS, AVI DOESN'T EVEN NEED THEM--

Beck: I'm never using another ladder ever, uuuuugh--

Sanda: Oof...poor Beck...

[After climbing who know HOW many more levels--just how high WAS this tower?--Beck stepped over the last rung into a long, open hallway that lead back outside....]

Beck: ---!!!

[With no open platforms OR Hula-Helis in sight. It was just open air.]

Beck: Wha--!

Beck: Dad--there's no way to--!

White: Hold on--!

Sanda: Look around, Beck--are you sure there isn't anything you can use?

Beck: Ack--no...!

Beck: All there is is a lot of--

[WHOOOOSH!]

Beck: --!!!

[The air currents--they weren't blowing left or right--]

[But up.]

Beck: .......

Beck: ............

[.....Up....]

[....Maybe... maybe...]

[MN.3] //: ....Becky? You OK? (Why did he go quiet all of a zzsudden...?)

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

[MN.1] //: BECK WHATEVER YOU'RE THINKING, DON'T--!!

[MN.2] //: oh NOOO, BECK, NO CRAZY STUNTS--!

[MN.3] //: -DATA WHY IS EVERYONE PANICKY ALL OF A SUDDEN--?!?-

White: BECK--!

Sanda: DON'T--!

Beck: Guys I'm really sorry in advance--

[He took a huge step back...]

[MN.3] //: ...wait wait BECK--WHAT ARE YOU DOING--

[--and jumped--?!]

[He started glowing at the peak of his jump--he was going into an AcXelarate Dash--!]

[....Wait--]

[Something was different.]

[He moved rapidly left, like in a normal dash--but his form, his Xels--]

[Like back in the Turbine room, they had changed mid-dash, but instead of compressing--they expanded. ]

[So much so that with the current wind speed--]

[Instead of falling --the winds propelled him upwards!]

White: ...!!

Sanda: What the--....

[Once he reaches the end of his dash--he does so AGAIN, this time in the other direction, to his right--and the same process occurred once more, propelling him up and up with the wind acting as a sort of sail...]

[MN.1] //: I...??

[MN.2] //: He's... gliding...!?

Beck: (--It's working--!)

[MN.3] //: -BZZZ, HOW IS HE DOING THAT, WHAT EVEN--

White: He changed his dash--his own Xel Structures... (Again...this is twice now...)

White: (He can't be....unless...)

White: (It's...already started--?)

[With the unlimited uses his Dash ability had, he could glide up the side of the tower safely, as long as he didn't let up...]

Beck: --! (Hey--a ledge!)

[Not a platform, but it will do.]

Beck: Ngh--

[It looked like there was another just above it--and another--]

Beck: Come on, one platform, that's all I ask--

[....!]

[Hula Heli--!]

Beck: FINALLY--

[Jump--ride to another platform, thank heavens--]

Beck: .....

[Wait why was the world going up--]

Beck: --!!!

[Beck dashed and glided away before the single platform that had graced him lost it's propulsion and fell--]

Beck: (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!)

White: .....

White: He...He's going to be there a while, isn't he...?

Sanda: I...maybe...??

['Maybe' was an understatement. With temporary platforms and limited hanging points, it took at LEAST another 10 minutes to climb up the tower--mostly due to the fact that the east side of the upper tower walls was completely covered in Xel disrupting spikes.]

[But at last...]

[At last...]

[At long last, another entrance back into the tower...]

[And the Patch bot waiting at the final Hula Heli that would take him to the apex.]

Beck: Thanks, Sunny...

Sunny: (^^)

[After unloading her cargo--which was much needed Xel Storage Cubes--she flew off.]

Beck: .....

Beck: Avi....

Beck: I'm here...

Beck: Here to save you...!

[Click.]

[Wrrrrr....]

White: -Shaky sigh-

White: S-Soi--...

Sanda: I got you, Will. Don't worry--he can do it...

Sanda: He's got to...

_____________________________

[KSSSSSSSSSSSST!]

[Every television—working, that is—and every radio channel in the country....]

[Avi was broadcasting himself on all of them. Every single one.]

Avi: And now, live from atop Avi News Headquarters, continuing coverage of-- Dun Dun Dun Dun--!

Avi: TOWER. OF. TERROR!~

[Kkkkkkk…]

[Those with a radio would hear an odd, barely audible static overlay. And those with a video screen?

…An even stranger visual glitch…]

[…Or at least… that’s what one had to assume of the vague, ghostly pixie-sized ball of light that seemed to be hovering behind Avi’s left shoulder.]

[Both things kept blinking in and out, so… clearly they had to be just bugs in the system.

Clearly.]

[The shot zoomed out, and one could hear the unrelenting winds that tore at the top of the tower--which was only three platforms, really...]

[Standing right in the middle of them was Beck, his expression...not hard, per se, but...]

[One could take it as either anger, determination, or resolve. Or all three. ]

[Avi didn't seem to be bothered at all by the unfavorable conditions--in fact, as he and his camera spun around the smaller Mighty Number...]

Avi: And now to Avi for the weather!~

[And--the VOLUME, WHEN DID IT GET SO HIGH--]

Avi: THANKS, AVI, WE GOT STRONG WINDS OUT THERE TODAY, BEEE CAREFULLLL!~

Beck: Argh--!

[KKKKKKKKKKK…]

[The… static kept going IN and OUT and IN and OUT—]

[At first it seemed RANDOM, but—]

[Wait was that MORSE CODE IN STATIC—]

{S A V E U S}

Avi: --.........

Avi: Ladies and Gentlemen, please be advised that we are experiencing some technical difficulties during our broadcast, so please bear with us...

Avi: (Stupid annoying--!!)

[KKKKKKKKKKKK—!]

{H O W E V E R Y O U M U S T!!!}

Avi: UGH--WILL YOU SHUT UP?!

Beck: --!! I GOT THIS, TOBY--!!

Beck: I'LL SAVE HIM--!!

[And then, the form became more visible.]

[Only MUCH larger than the LAST time Beck had seen a Robosoul—life sized, really—!]

Beck: --!!!

Avi: --?!?

[He also didn’t look nearly as COMPLETE—as if he really WERE just a ghost—

—though other than that brief appearance, possibly out of sheer defiance, he only left one thing behind—a fading, echoing lyric—]

“But to your aid An unlikely friend! Programmed to Fight ’til the very END!”

Beck: (TOBY--!!)

Avi: OH, Y O U--!!

Avi: YOU'RE the GLITCH...

[He would immediately regret that statement.]

<RMDC>: > CROSS-REFERENCE FOUND.

[A song BLARED over the comms.]

“We are the city We are the heart We are the life force We are the SPARK!”

Avi: GRRR...!

Avi: I don't have TIME to deal with you now--WAIT YOUR TURN...

[He turns his attention to Beck, who already had his arm cannon primed and ready for battle.]

Avi: News Flash: Exclusive footage caught at Avi News World Headquarters of Mighty No. 9....

Avi: MOMENTS BEFORE HE FELL TO HIS TRAGIC DEATH!~

[A MUCH HARSHER BLAST OF—not MUSIC, but—]

[Cold.]

[It was so cold and wet and dark—]

[It was as if the CENTRAL CORE were EXPOSED.]

Avi: NGH--!

[SCANNING....]

[SCAN COMPLETE.]

[E N C O U N T E R.]

[MODEL: MIGHTY NO. 6, CODENAME: AVIATOR.]

[HEIGHT: 220cm WEIGHT: 150kg XEL COUNT: 30,000,000]

Avi: ....Heh...

Avi: Ooo, sorry Beck-am, your segment is getting cut!~

[There was a HORRIFIC screech at that—

Followed by INCREDIBLE PAIN BEYOND MEASURE.

Luckily for Avi, it was short-lived, but OW—!]

Avi: NNNGH--!!

[Beck took this chance to jump and land a few shots while Avi was distracted--which causes him to stumble back and fly JUST out of reach.]

Avi: Oh, you little...

[Static Morse.]

{N O T T H E O N E T R I P P I N G O V E R A L L T H E T R I G G E R S G L I T C H F R A G I T—

{W H A T D I D Y O U E X P E C T B Y T A P P I N G I N T O O U R H I V E M I N D?}

[LOUDER static.]

{T R Y I N G T O S P A R E Y O U B U T N O T F U L L Y H E R E!}

{C A N’ T C O N T R O L T H E G E N E R A T I O N!}

Avi: SHUT IT, SPARKY. I'M TRYING TO GET THINGS D O N E HERE--!

[He shifted into his Jet Plane mode, banking hard left and around the tower--]

[Wait--]

[That's too close--]

Beck: AHHH--!

[Beck dashed out of the way just in time to avoid being rammed by Avi--if he got hit at those speeds, he wouldn't just fall, he'd get launched off the tower.]

{A A A A A U U U G H A V I Y O U D O N O T U N D E R S T A N D—}

{W H E N Y O U T R I E D T O T A K E O V E R Y O U /F U S E D U S T O G E T H E R!/}

{/Y O U A R E N O W S U B J E C T T O O U R F A M I L Y’ S C R O S S - R E F E R E N C E S!!/}

Avi: GH...!

Avi: NO THANKS TO YOU AND YOUR LAME BORG SET UP--!!

Avi: I'll have to DO something about that L A T E R--

[WOAH. A sudden erratic shift in Avi’s electrical flow, OW—]

<DLN-008 HAS ENTERED DEFENSIVE COMBAT MODE.>

{D A R E T O U C H M Y B R O T H E R S A N D I /W I L L/ T A K E U S O U T}

Avi: ARGH--!

Beck: AVI--!!

[Avi was flying a little erratically, now--for a moment it seemed as if--]

<DLN-008 IS OFFLINE.>

Avi: I swear I'm gonna...gonna...

Avi: You....don't GET IT...

[There was no response from the fragment of Toby’s mind—presumably, it had fainted when it seemed Avi was about to fall.]

Beck: .....!

Avi: All I ever wanted was to make people laugh. And smile, and feel GOOD about themselves--

Avi: That's what I am--a SUPPORT unit! SUPPORT!

Avi: AND YOU ALL SAY--SAY I'M ANNOYING--

Avi: A BLABBERMOUTH--A BOTHER--!!

Avi: WELL, EXCUUUUUUUUSE ME FOR TRYING TO MAKE THINGS BETTER WHEN THEY AREN'T!

Avi: EXCUSE ME FOR BEING WHO I A M--

Avi: EXCUSE ME FOR BEING WHAT I WAS B U I L T TO BE--!!

<RMDC>: > CROSS-REFERENCE FOUND.

[But the music played did not hamper Avi this time—rather, it only seemed to REFLECT some sort of bitter torment and sorrow.]

“No one in this world can understand Who I am— That is why I’m my own biggest fan!”

Avi: YOU DON'T GET IT--YOU ALL N E V E R HAVE--!!

“Do you know what it’s like to be built this way? With only the power to push others away?”

Avi: SO IF I CAN'T MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH--IF I CAN'T BE WHO I AM--IF I CAN'T BRING GOOD THROUGH WHAT I LIKE TO DO--

“For if I can’t walk among them Then I will walk the world alone There’ll be a fire in the sky And your doom will rain down!”

Avi: N O. O N E. C A N!

[In his sheer rage, demonic flames and voice taking over, Avi raced around the sky trailing violet flames, the bomb panels on his feet unfolding--]

Avi: SPECIAL DELIVERY, TRASH FACE!

Beck: --!!

[An incoming air strike--!]

[Beck had two options--Dash Glide out of danger, or shoot the bombs before they hit the ground...]

Beck: (Avi's bomb range is wide enough--better dodge--!)

[Jumping from the middle, he dashed left and right, the bombs passing harmlessly in between--although they certainly rocked the tower beneath them!]

Beck: (No--! If he keeps doing that--!)

Beck: DAD--?!

[KSSSSSST--]

Beck: No--!!

[No advice from family. No input from Toby now, either.

It was all up to him…!]

Avi: Headline: Boss attacks Beck!

[He heard machine gun fire--and suddenly, Avi again, on the opposite side, doing a offensive fly by--!]

Beck: O W--!!

[The shots nail him, and he is knocked onto his back--]

Avi: Correction--

Avi: T W I C E !~

[When-- when did he get upside down--]

[More machine gun fire! No, it wasn't BECK that was upside down--it was Avi!]

Beck: HRK--

[ACCESSING XEL STOCK 1...]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

[Not even halfway through and he already had to use a Xel Stock--]

[Not. Good.]

Beck: ......

Beck: (Avi....)

Avi: Aw, what's wrong, loser?! Can't handle my air raids?!

Beck: Avi...

Beck: Stop.

[.......? Beck's....tone....]

Beck: Just let me SAVE you...please...

Beck: I don't want to hurt you any more than I HAVE to.

Avi: Oh, so now YOU'RE making threats?

Beck: Last chance, Avi--

Beck: STAND DOWN.

<RMDC>: > CROSS-REFERENCE FOUND.

“I stand before a line in the sand The fight lies ahead The fate in my hands Today the end begins

One step and the battle is born The road that I walk Is a gathering storm Today the end begins!”

Avi: WHOA, orders? I'M the one that's--

Beck: [ S T A N D.]

[-PING!-]

[XEL OVERRIDE: TEMPORARILY ACTIVE.]

Beck: [D O W N!]

[COMMAND CONFIRMED.]

[MN.6'S WEAPONS SYSTEMS HAVE BEEN DISABLED.]

Avi: --!?!?

Avi: What...why aren't my weapons--?!

[REXELECTION: DYNATRON ]

Beck: AVI!

Beck: JUST LET ME H E L P YOU--!!!

Avi: Wh--I...-

[BZZZZZZZZZT!]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Avi: ACK--THAT--STINGS--

[BZZZZZZT--!!]

[XEL ABSORBED.]

Beck: Almost there--

Avi: YOU--YOU WON'T...!

[BZZZZZT!]

Beck: I can and I WILL--!!

Beck: I SWORE I WOULD SAVE YOU--

[XEL ABSORBED--]

Beck: I SWORE TO EVERYONE--!

[XEL QUOTA REACHED.]

Beck: I SWORE IT!

Beck: I'M NOT GOING BACK ON THAT PROMISE--NOT FOR ANYTHING!

Beck: SO FOR O N C E IN YOUR L I F E, AVIATOR--

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

Beck: SHUT UP AND LET ME RESCUE YOU!

[XEL PURGE INITIATED!]

Avi: Ah--

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

"Here we are, Becko!"

"Nnnnngh I don't wanna look I don't wanna look--"

"Aw, don't be scared, bro, we're OK! I'd never let you go at THIS height."

"WE A R E UP HIGH, I KNEW IT--"

"Broooooo--bro. Bro. There's nothing to be afraid of up here, little guy! Absolutely nothiiiiing.~"

"But--But--"

"Just open up those peepers for, like, two seconds--just two, straight ahead. OK?"

"......." "Coooome oooooon, I know you waaaaant tooooo!~" "............." "I'll treat ya to ice cream afterwards.~" "..........Okaaaaay...."

"......!!!"

"Eh? What do ya think?"

"I....It's....so....pretty...."

"I know, right?"

"Nothing like a good old California sunset, huh..."

"Really makes ya appreciate the little things..."

"Like you!~"

"Aviiiii--"

[.......]

Avi: U....Uh....ha....

"Now onto my surprise!"

"Surprise...?"

"Hold on to your goggles, Beckoroni--"

Avi: Wha---

"Today, you're gonna learn how to FLY!"

Avi: I....

Avi: I...Is that you, Beckles...?

Beck: !!!

[The green glow continued—only… now it was shifting to…

…some sort of… electrified yellow?]

Beck: --?!?

[THAT WAS NEW--]

[… … …]

“ ….. ”

“Listen bro.”

“… -Whine- ”

[…Wait… this wasn’t one of the memories HE had with Avi…]

“I mean, we don't BLAME you for thinking that way, just...what ELSE are you supposed to think, right? From your point of view.”

“ … I was just made to work in a power plant. Dad was the one who taught me about radio.”

[This had to be…!]

“I… I really liked Dr. King, especially.”

“ ..........”

“He… he was a really good speaker, and people listened to him. And then things started to get better. Because people were working together.”

“-Fervently- I still think we can do it…!”

“I think… I think if humans weren’t afraid… things could be okay.”

“They… can be so kind. So good. I know they can do it.”

“…Especially…”

“ ........ Heh…”

“Especially now that we met you guys.”

“It proves it’s possible!”

[… … …]

[And then—]

-PING!-

<RMDC>: > STATUS UPDATE: AI_DWN_008’s CRITICAL AI_OS ERROR HAS BEEN RESOLVED.

<RMDC>: > DLN-008 IS NOW COMPLETE AND FULLY OPERATIONAL.

Avi: H...Huh...?

[XEL PURGE COMPLETE. ALL HARMFUL MALWARE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM MN.6. DLN-008 HAS BEEN RESTORED.]

Beck: Toby...!!

<DLN-008>: > Uuuuuuggghhhhh…

<DLN-008>: > My head hurts sooOOOO MUUUUUCH, ow…

Avi: Wait what...what's...

Avi: M....My head hurts...what are you doing up here...

Avi: What...what am I doing up...?

<DLN-008>: > A-Avi…?

<DLN-008>: > … wOAH WOAH WOAH AUGH—AVI WHY AM I SEEING THROUGH YOUR EYES—

[…thooough it appears there were still a few… bugs to sort out.]

Avi: T...Toby...?

Avi: Wh...I...don't understand...

Beck: Avi--Avi--why don't you get over here if you're not feeling well--

Avi: Y...Yeah that...sounds...ow...

[Slowly and cautiously, Avi manages to land safely in the same platform as Beck, who immediately shares his last Xel Stock with him--]

Avi: I....dizzy...tired...

Beck: It's OK, Avi--

<DLN-008>: > This is so disorienting u-um…

<DLN-008>: > can I… can I just go to bed—

[THUD.] [MN.6 HAS GONE INTO DEEP SLEEP MODE.]

<DLN-008 has gone into Deep Sleep mode.>

Beck: Avi--!! [....With Avi now not actively blocking communications...!] [-P I N G!-]

[…Things were now in motion!]

White: ....! He--HE--!

Call: Attention: All communications have been freed from MN.6's control.

Sanda: HE DID IT--!

-PING!-

White: --!!!

[DR. SANDA AND DR. WHITE.] //: MIKHAIL!

-PING!-

<RMDC>: > REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGED. SENDING STATUS UPDATE TO MODERATOR DR.WHITE…

>DCN-008 STATUS: DEFENSIVE COMBAT MODE

>DCN-007 STATUS: DEFENSIVE COMBAT MODE

>DCN-004 STATUS: SLEEP MODE

>DCN-003 STATUS: DEFENSIVE COMBAT MODE

>DCN-000 STATUS: ONLINE

>Loading…

>DWN-024 STATUS: OFFLINE

>DWN-020 STATUS: SLEEP MODE

>DWN-019 STATUS: ONLINE

>DWN-018 STATUS: DEFENSIVE COMBAT MODE

>DWN-017 STATUS: OFFLINE

>Loading…

>DWN-013 STATUS: OFFLINE

>DWN-012 STATUS: OFFLINE

>DWN-011 STATUS: OFFLINE

>Loading…

[…]

>Loading…

[…There seemed to be a delay…]

>Loading…

> -PING!-

>DLN-008 STATUS: DEEP SLEEP MODE

>Loading…

[-PING PING PING-]

[UPDATING...]

[MN.1 STATUS: ONLINE.]

[MN. 2 STATUS: ONLINE.]

[MN.3 STATUS: ONLINE.]

[MN.4 STATUS: UNAVAILABLE.]

[MN.5 STATUS: MALWARE DETECTED.]

[MN.6 STATUS: DEEP SLEEP MODE.]

[MN.7 STATUS: MALWARE DETECTED]

[MN.8 STATUS: UNAVAILABLE.]

[MN.9 STATUS: ONLINE.]

>Loading…

>Loading…

>Loading…

>Loading…

>Loading…

>Loading…

>Loading…

>Loading… … …

>ERROR: SIGNAL NOT FOUND. SEARCHING…

> ERROR: DLN-000 SIGNAL NOT FOUND.

[PING!]

[MN.2] //: BROOOOOOOOOS!

[MN.1] //: We're connected at last--!

[MN.3] //: OhmygoshYOUGUYSAREOK--ZZZSORTOF--

[MN.9] //: -TIRED DATA BUT ALSO JOYUS DATA-

[The feed didn’t come up immediately.

Instead…

The first thing was a wave of abstract data.

It was very basic, not even having words—the family was overjoyed to hear from them again. To know their friends were alive, that they were well—that they had been rescued, they had been SAVED!

There was concern and worry, reassurance and comfort—all unique and individual to all those who sent it… which was pretty much everyone who was awake.]

[…But then… then there was a prick of guilt, that grew into a needle stab and then a spreading shame.

It settled into a general and shared concern—

“Aviator…? Is he okay?”]

[MN.9] //: A-Avi....

[DR.WHITE] //: ....He's...passed out...

[Mikhail finally switched the feed fully on, minus the sound, for now—letting it display as a caption, instead. He truly seemed closer to his true age, now—he looked tired, and clearly hadn’t taken care of himself as best he should.

He held up his hands and began signing his thoughts to them.]

Mikhail: “Praise God to see you again, Will.” -Pauses- “This would be chaos except after all that was before, we are just very relieved and tired.”

[Gemini was already at the controls, preparing to send over the full analysis file to Call. Mikhail started typing at the keyboard. His sons knew better than to make too much noise right now—sometimes, their father just got into a mood where he needed things to be really quiet.]

<MC005>: >I vote we all get some rest for once, before anything else.

<DLN-005>: > OKAY AS LONG AS WE GET TO GIVE THEM ICE CREAM LATER.

<MC005>: >David, it is WAY past your bedtime…

White: (Oh, Mikhail...)

Sanda: Oh yeah--yeah, that sounds good--

Call: Preparing Xel Transfer...

Cryo: I SECOND THAT MOTION, ICE CUBE oh my gosh it's so good to see your tiny face--

<DLN-005>: > NIGHTYNIGHT MISS CRYO I’LL TALK TO YOU LATER I GUESS—

<MC005>: >I’ll…

<MC005>: > …honestly probably end up being woken up by the Princess once she hears the news and that is when we’ll speak again…

<MC005>: > I’ll tell you all I know then. It is so good to see you again…!

<MC005>: >I can rest a little easier now. …Promise me you’ll do the same?

<MC005>: > I’ll see you then.

White: Yes, I'll...see you later...

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

=CHAPTER 10C: THE MACHINE DRAWS NEAR=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

[CHERRYDYNAMICS HQ BUILDING, CEO OFFICE SUITE.]

[Gregory Graham had little silver lining to go on at this point.

Not only were those Sanda Tech brats literally demolishing his factory (and costing him millions to boot!), the virus that had seemed to come from out of nowhere was threatening to spread to the other Continental servers--

And now the GOVERNMENT was sniffing around where they SHOULDN'T be, and Blackwell could very well be either DEAD or running amok!

And now there was that foreign intern, the fat Japanese doctor and the PRESIDENT herself knowing far too much--]

Graham: -...Ngh-

Graham: Keep it together, Greg...

[No, no need to panic--

She was still safely tucked away, albet running everything at this point, but still contained--and he had influences in Homeland and Defense, and his Sentator friend, of course--and if nothing else, he ALWAYS had that ace in the hole if things ever got that desperate.

He had options. It was all like stocks. It wasn't the end just yet.

And if he were to go down, he'll be damned if he wasn't going down alone.]

Graham: (I just have to make a few private calls, pull some favors...)

Graham: (Make sure she is under wraps and try to sail though this--)

[Knock Knock.]

Graham: --??

Graham: -Pushes the intercom on his desk- Darcy, I told you to not let anyone in here--

"Uh, yeah, he isn't--he didn't listen to me--"

"... And it's Daisy, not--"

[CLICK.]

Graham: Tch.

Graham: (Fine, I'll call whatever's left of security once he gets in here--)

Graham: Open.

[The door recognizes the verbal command and slides open without a sound.]

Graham: --?

Graham: What the--

Will: Hello, Mr. Graham.

[William White walks into the room as soon as Graham opened it, not once waiting for permission to enter.]

Will: Am I interrupting something?

Graham: White?

Graham: How the HELL did you get up here--

Will: Oh, I wanted to. Your staff seems to be rather, ah-- lacking since the virus struck.

Will: Nonetheless.

Will: I didn't come here for idle chatter, so I'm going to get right to the point.

Will: It was you who activated Trinity, didn't you?

Graham: -Sputters--

Graham: Wha--

Graham: What are you TALKING about--

Graham: (How does he know about HER?!)

Will: Greg. It's a little...

[His eyes turn dull and utterly emotionless.]

Will: ...Too late to cry dummy, at this point.

Graham: --?!

Graham: (That look--what is THAT look, why is it--?)

Will: Dr. Blackwell wasn't around to stop you this time, wasn't he?

Will: And yet you're trying to scapegoat his father again, just the same.

Graham: --?!!!

[Will walks across the room with a poised grace, almost too perfect, as he turns his back away from Graham.]

Will: -Sigh-

Will: It was NEVER about progress with you...

Will: Or the will, the drive to make the world a better place than what we found it...

Will: It was always money.

Will: -Angry-

Will: Just. Money.

Will: That's--

[He turns, a FIERCE expression breaking through the emotionless mask he wore to EXPLODE in RAGE!]

Will: --ALL YOU E V E R CARED ABOUT--!

Graham: -Falls back into his chair--

Will: Never about HIM OR ME OR EVEN HER!

Will: -Advances- All you EVER cared about was YOURSELF and this EVIL EMPIRE you've built on NOTHING but the PAIN AND SUFFERING OF OTHERS--!

Will: MY PAIN AND SUFFERING! T H E I R PAIN AND SUFFERING!

Will: H E R PAIN AND SUFFERING--!

Will: And YOU--

Will: When you pieced her back together, did you feel anything at all? No, because you would even BRING BACK THE DEAD to justify your own ENDS!

Will: YOU THINK I WOULDN'T NOTICE, GREGORY GRAHAM?!

Graham: N--this isn't my FAULT--!

Graham: Her warning label didn't SPECIFY all this, not specifically--

Will: Warning label--

[He laughs. Bitterly.]

Will: Warning label, WARNING LABEL, HE PUT A WARNING LABEL--

Will: Oh, that's just RICH.

Will: And even then--You didn't listen.

Graham: I--

Will: THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT--!

Will: Trinity, my friends, my FAMILY, MY OWN CHILDREN--!

Will: And even this VIRUS, isn't it?!

Graham: Nono, THIS THING ISN'T OUR FAULT, DON'T YOU PUT THIS ON ME, WHITE--

Graham: I don't know HOW you got this information, but I can very well RUIN you if you so much as--

[Will once again laughs at the face of Graham's supposed threat.]

Will: Is that supposed to scare me, Greg?

Will: What are you going to do? Send your PEOPLE after me?

Will: I've survived them once. I can do it AGAIN.

Graham: --?!?

Will: I am. Not. Afraid of YOU.

Will: Not anymore.

Will: Trinity was my project. You and Blackwell ultimately deemed her a failure.

Graham: !

Will: But she was an educational one, if anything. I learned. Oh, I learned.

Will: And I put EVERYTHING that I had learned from her, from everything that I experienced...

Will: ...All of it, and the good that came from it...

Will: ...Into Mighty No. 9.

Graham: (WHAT--)

Will: Beck is now our only hope of stopping what YOU have sowed.

Will: AT THE VERY LEAST, IF I CAN'T STOP YOU MYSELF--

[He swipes away the various objects on Greg's desk aside, including some very heavy paperweights--]

Will: --HE CAN!

[There’s a muffled CRUNCH and a hissing noise, followed by some leaking liquid.]

Will: --?!?

Graham: What the--

Will: Nnngh!

[He turns his attention back to Graham.]

Will: You--

Will: You honestly think you can get away with everything you've DONE?

Will: After HER?

Graham: --.....

Graham: Wait...

Graham: Waitwaitwait WAIT A SECOND--

Will: --??

Graham: You...

Will: --!

Will: (....Uh...Uh Oh--)

Graham: YOU!

Graham: I didn't RECOGNIZE you with that--that RIDICULOUS HAIR DO--

Graham: But you're--

Graham: YOU'RE BILL BLACKWELL--!

Will: ......

Bill: . . . .

Bill: You were always a bit slow on the uptake, weren't you.

Bill: All these years, Graham, and you STILL haven't changed.

Bill: It nearly makes me feel SORRY for you.

Bill: N e a r l y.

Bill: ...But you know what?

Bill: You're wrong.

Will: I'm NOT Bill Blackwell.

Will: And I HAVEN'T been.

Will: For a VERY. Long. Time.

Graham: HA!

Graham: -Sneers- Oh, you think you're so SMART, thinking that changing your name and identity will change who you really are.

Graham: I'm honestly impressed, though. I really did think you were dead after you just vanished.

Will: -Snorts-

Will: Reports of my demise have been GREATLY exaggerated, Mr. Graham.

Graham: You accosted me, Bill.

Graham: YOU'RE the idiot here, coming back and building those Mighty Numbers even after what YOU did to her.

Graham: They don't even know they're really just BLACKWELLS, do they?!

Will: ..........

Graham: I THOUGHT not.

Will: Leave them out of this, Graham.

Graham: Oh, really, alright, let me just turn back time and stop them from becoming infected in the FIRST PLACE?

Graham: They were DOOMED the moment you created them, Bill, and that ISN'T just their namesake talking!

Will: —Nnnnngh...

Graham: Your old man was RIGHT about you.

Graham: Really, Bill. I thought that a BLACKWELL genius such as yourself wouldn't RETURN to the scene of a crime—what occurred here all those years ago was tantamount to MURDER.

Will: Both of you MADE ME DO IT—!

Graham: But I wasn't the one holding the metaphorical knife, wasn't I?

Will: Graham—!

Graham: I said I would RUIN you.

Graham: It'll be a VERY nice bonus to see everything that you've worked SO hard to accomplish just CRUMBLE away, hm?

Graham: You, those Mighty Numbers, your fat friend and his brother, and that little Russian intern that you CLEARLY have connections with.

Graham: Once the WORLD knows that Dr. William White is a LIE AND THE SON OF A MAD GENIUS—

[WHACK—]

[Gregory Graham's vision went bright as William curled a fist and socked him across the face, causing the CEO to tumble backwards into the floor.

There was a burning sensation as something ate away at the super expensive suit he was wearing, too!]

Graham: -NGH!-

[SMACK—]

[A sneaker plants itself squarely on Graham's chest to KEEP him there.]

((Pic—Will v Graham))

Will: I am only going to say this once.

Will: If you ever.

Will: E v e r.

Will: Threaten or lay one hand on EVERYTHING I love and care about--

Will: I will TEAR you and this company ASUNDER.

Will: You PATHETIC excuse for a HUMAN being.

Will: You MONSTER.

[Will looks down on him with a BURNING hot gaze, like some kind of disgusting bug or rodent, not even worth the DIRT under his shoe that which is soiling the already ruined suit Greg was wearing.

And Graham?

Well, as one would expect, he was certainly no less than terrified, scared witless.]

Will: How fitting.

Will: I think I've gotten my POINT across, hm?

[There is a TOUCH of a evil grin that tugs at the corner of Will's lips.]

Will: Good talk.

[And just like that, Will steps off, carefully walks around the mess made, and makes his way back to the door.]

Will: I'm not paying for any of this, by the way, so you can forget about sending me a bill.

Will: I WAS the one that HELPED you, if you need a reminder.

[He waves back without turning around.]

Will: Enjoy the rest of your day, Mr. Graham.

Will: ... Because it is ABOUT to get a whole LOT worse.

[Click.]

[The room is dead silent.]

Graham: . . . .

Graham: (Bill Blackwell—)

Graham: (You—I'll—)

Graham: -OW MY NOSE— BLEEDING—-

Graham: DARCY—SOMEONE GET ME A DAMN FIRST AID KIT—!

Beep.

Graham: —?!?

Beep.

Graham: What the hell is that noise—

[A rather smushed Search Snake—having finally flickered to life, only to find itself incredibly damaged—scrapes itself out of the hiding place where it had been crushed by some paperweights. It was already leaking battery acid, but apparently it had more than one battery, because that wasn’t stopping it…]

Beep beep beep beep beep beep BEEP—

Graham: —?!?

Graham: -DIVES BEHIND THE DESK—-

Boom!

Graham: WHAT THE—

Graham: BIIIIIIILLL—!!

[BACK IN SANDA LABS SEVERAL HOURS LATER...]

Will: (Oof...)

Will: -Stepping out of the elevator- (I actually felt REALLY good about that. Huh.)

“Good afternoon, Doctor.”

Will: —?

Will: (Wait, that...voice--I've heard that voice before--)

Min: So good of you to join us again.

Will: —! (You—)

Des: Doctor. -Nod-

Will: ...I...er...

Will: (W-What is going on, why are THEY here?!)

Will: (Specifically, the President, no less—!)

Will: I...M-Madam President, I...was not expecting...

Min: I realize this, and I apologize. We were unable to contact you to discuss the matter.

[She motioned to a Secret Service member, who stepped forward and handed over a piece of paper. It was a faxed letter from Seijiro, explaining (in Japanese) that he had authorized… the use of the building for the President and some of her staff…?]

Will: (Wha—Seiji?! But—why, you—you know that—)

Will: (—Gh, but you didn't really have a choice, didn't you...)

Will: I...hn...

Will: I see...

Will: I suppose this is because the White House is...well....

Will: —But—why here? This is practically Ground Zero for the virus, and shouldn't there be—OTHER places for situations like this—?

Des: -Sighs—- Exactly what I proposed. <<

Min: It shouldn't be for too long, and I won't necessarily be staying, myself. I'm a busy woman.

Will: -Nervously looks between all the Secret Service members and staff- I...I see. Er....w-well then...

Min: I need to speak with you about the particulars of the arrangements immediately.

Will: R-Right now—? (Oh, God—)

Will: A—Are you sure? I mean we do have—Call, she can certainly show you around—

Will: Besides, I—I have repairs to do on my children posthaste—

Will: Since Soi isn't here, I'll have to do repairs myself...

Will: (And on all nine of them...)

Min: I can appreciate that, and I assure you that I too have my incentives for keeping the discussion as brief as possible. However, it is more than mere living arrangements that need to be discussed. While we may not be able to cover everything that I have in mind, there is one matter that cannot wait—[color=goldenrod]lives[/color] are at stake, and your input is crucial. It's in your best interest in a very personal way, Doctor, to no longer collude it.

Will: (L--Lives--?)

Will: (Wait...she can't mean--)

Des: -Ahem- There's also something else that that Madam President wishes to speak to you about...

Des: I don't exactly know the context behind it, but it's about your... championship fencing days...and Mighty No. 5.

Will: ....

[At that moment, Will would have taken the infected factory all over again instead of this. He pales, all the color rushing off of his face as he breaks into a cold sweat right there.]

Will: (Oh no—oh no, not this—)

Will: (G-Greg--Greg I can handle, but--h-h-her--)

Will: (She can do s-so much worse--)

Will: (She can't have figured it out so quickly, I left almost nothing--! Did they search my house?!)

Will: (Hnn...I can't, I—but—)

Will: (...Mikhail, Soi, my children...)

Min: -Shooing motion to the Secret Service members- Go secure an office where we can speak privately.

[They obey with only minimal hesitation, given that Desmond is also there and they are both armed.]

Des: -...Slightly concerned- Doctor White? You alright there?

Will: -Gulps- I...mn...I-I'm fine.

Will: ...though I could use a glass of water...

Min: Why don't you get us some drinks, Mister Secretary?

Des: -Takes that as his cue- Yes sir.

[Des briskly leaves with all due haste, leaving Will and The President of the United States alone. Will was highly on edge, nervously thumbing the strap of his laptop bang, looking away.]

Will: (...No...No more running...)

Will: (Oh, Soi, I...)

Will: (I really wish you were here...)

Min: Come along, Doctor. Let's get this over with, and then you can rejoin your family.

Will: ....

[He silently complies, hands on his arms and eyes to the floor. Almost as if he was walking to detention rather than just another office.

He was obliged to hand over his belongings before entering the office—clearly, the group had learned from the experience with Mikhail. It wasn't long before the doors shut behind them, and the two of them were alone.

Min let out a short huff of a sigh—of relief or weariness, it was hard to say.]

Min: Let's get right to the point.

[She turned to face Will, holding her hands in front of her with her left hand clasping her right wrist.]

Min: Your work so far has been remarkable, and is the best lead we have on combating the virus. We're all very grateful for what you and your family—particularly your youngest son—have been doing to save others in this time of crisis.

Min: We want to help you as much as we can.

Will: ... >> I haven't exactly made a cure yet, though. That part is proving to be very...difficult. (Trinity...)

Will: It's....not as simple as just doing away with it...

Will: -Sighs- The best thing we can do right now is continue to contain the virus and let me study it's workings so I can learn to counteract it. (Need more time...I need to know how to get those scripts from the code--)

[She was quiet for a moment at this, as if considering how to answer.]

Min: We will aid how we can if given direction. I know that initial encounters were… less than supportive, and I offer a sincere apology. If we had been properly informed and involved, it would not have reached such levels of hostility.

Will: ....

Will: >>;;; (Ugh...I never want to go through with that again. If I can get them NOT to just outright take a aggressive approach towards Trinity, then that's all I need...)

Will: It was...a very unpleasant experience. >~>;; One I don't think anyone here wants repeated.

Min: An accurate statement. And to that end, it's necessary to confront a problem that would otherwise come between full support or cooperation.

Min: There is a matter that would cause no small degree of distress for yourself and those involved if things continue as they are. Not only do I personally not wish to have to do so, but there is a professional incentive not to have such a major distraction at hand when it is imperative that you focus on your work.

Will: ….

Will: ...I...

Will: ... (Mikhail...)

Will: ....

Will: ....Dr. Cossack, you mean.

Will: -Sighs, of course...-

Min: That would be correct. I'm afraid the outlook is very bleak for him at the moment.

Will: (Gh...Mikhail...)

Will: I...could see that.

Will: (...I won't...won't let them hurt you, if it comes to that, I swear...)

((NOTE: Bill color as a shadow here))

Will: (I won't lose you too...)

Min: Do you? I'm afraid it's quite serious, and it's unclear whether he sees that or is simply undeterred by it.

Min: The charges he has taken upon himself would easily earn him a place as a CAL black spot mission.

Will: -Flinches- Gnn...

Will: (Hnn...No, I...I won't let that happen--)

Will: ....Mikhail...

Will: He doesn't...he's not...

Will: (Damn it, talk, Bill! He needs you right now, you can't be afraid--)

Min: Doctor…

Minerva: The situation is pitiable, but that—unfortunately—does not change the fundamental reasons why he is in trouble in the first place. In fact, the circumstances make it worse.

[She spoke as if from memory.]

Minerva: The fact remains that he is the authoritative force behind multiple highly powerful—and apparently unsupervised—Combat constructs who pose significant security threats. Threats made worse by their physiology, as most security measures rely on Xellular structure to be effective against a non-human attacker. Their immunity to such measures and ability to regenerate—some more than others, it would seem—make them very dangerous.

Will: Gh…! (I guess she was told they aren’t Xel…! Felix did mention that the Secretary knew the “truth”…)

Minerva: As for the Doctor himself… he is—by our standards—highly unconventional. He can defend himself and build without using Xel, and he appears to be a master at coding in his own right. Certainly, he has access to measures that can bypass traditional and cutting-edge firewalls alike. Furthermore, he’s also very clever: he was able to obtain well-hidden information the likes of which we have been seeking for months. He’s aware of dangerous secrets, and he has no qualms about stonewalling an investigation. If he chooses to, he can avoid detection completely, even from multiple governmental agencies of several countries. If let go free, there is no telling if he would ever be found again.

[She shakes her head.]

Minerva: He’s chosen to assume responsibility for the actions of his patients. That includes: two or three accounts of hacking through military-level security firewalls, two attempted murders and one additional threat thereof, one breaking-and-entering, and the destruction of federally owned property of national historic and cultural importance.

Will: (Hnn...I...Mikhail...)

Will: (He's not--!)

[Will doesn't know how to respond to this. The Queen's Finals, the White House, and the Military Base--the last of which was HIS fault entirely--it was all roaring back with a frightful vengeance, one that threatened to consume all that he held dear. But how to voice against this, when the leader of the nation could discredit all that he would say--

--simply because he was not the man he SAYS he is?]

Will: I...

Will: -Clearly very upset- He's not...please, he isn't--he's a good man, please--

[Her expression softened, and she interlocked her fingers, holding her hands up near her chin in thought.]

Min: …

Min: …There is still hope. There is a chance.

Will: --? (I...what?)

Min: There is yet a chance that he may be spared.

Will: --!

Will: R--Really-- (--Wait--why?)

Will: (--I should at least hear her out, but...)

Will: (If she knows, then...?)

Will: How?

[She was quiet for a moment again before she spoke up.]

Min: Taken all together, the pieces paint a grim picture for your friend, and one that is not so easily forgiven.

Min: Taken piece by piece… that is not so. Perhaps still not easily… but still potentially forgivable.

Min: His insistence to bear the burden alone will be his downfall if he pursues it.

Min: But if he accepts that things were out of his control and influence—then, perhaps, we can address his sole stain… the ordered interference of the White House security.

Min: For I know in almost certainty that he was not behind the incident at the unapproved military base… and unless I am mistaken, he has little influence over the decisions made by those who are not his sons.

Min: Am I correct in this assessment?

Will: -With some hesitance- I...Y-Yes, that's correct...

Min: Then it is in everyone's best interests to no longer deny that truth, but to own up to it. However, it seems you may be the only person capable of convincing him of this.

Will: ....

Will: (I...)

Will: (Me?)

Will: You want me to convince him... (But...what about...)

Will: ...But what about Tobias?

Will: (The whole reason he's taking it all on himself is because so that Tobias won't suffer...)

Min: -Pinches the left hinge of her glasses, looking over them slightly- Well, Tobias Wily will have to answer for his behavior. We cannot have someone like him running amok on their impulses.

Min: His position is somewhat more forgivable, given that he was never taught how to behave in social situations. That can be fixed.

Will: -Quiet sigh of relief- (Oh, thank God--)

Min: Especially given that the only charge he is fully responsible for would be what happened at the Queen's Finals. He was not, if my conclusions to my research are correct, responsible for the security breach at the base.

Will: No--No, no, of course not--

Will: He was quite...quite still out of it at the time...

[Minerva was quiet at this for a little while.]

Min: That will cause some to question what DID happen, if neither of them were responsible.

Min: I think I know who did it, but there's only circumstantial evidence.

Will: (...Gh....)

Will: C-Circumstantial--?

Min: Just the knowledge of one with both means and motive to pull it off.

Min: Although…

Min: I hardly blame you for that… Doctor William Blackwell.

[There is a very harsh wince at the words-- as if he had been struck physically. There was a subtle shake of his hands, which were very quickly stilled as he balled them up into fists.]

Will: ...that's not my name...

Will: My name is White.

Min: "A rose by any other name," my good sir.

Will: My name is William White.

[There was a steely gaze directed at her now--although he didn't meant anything by it, he couldn't help but become irritated. That wasn't his name, not anymore.

Minerva gave a soft smile at this, tilting her head slightly.]

Min: No one else knows… for now.

Min: Why do you think I left Desmond outside?

Will: ...

Will: What do you want?

Min: -Puts a hand to her face- An end to this, with no more casualties than is within our power to prevent.

Will: .... (Not what I meant, but that too...)

Will: . . .

Will: If you claim to know, then you know why I can't just delete the virus.

Will: ...I...there is something...delicate in the code that I won't destroy.

Will: Not even if you try to make me.

Will: (...Mngh...I still don't know how I'm going to take care of the virus without hurting Trinity...)

[For a moment, her eyes look sad.]

Min: I said "a rose by any other name," Doctor.

Min: Doctor William White is not a five-times fencing champion, as his best friend Doctor Soichiro Sanda claims him to be, and as Secretary Desmond Donald observed. There is no record of this.

Min: It was rather easy with my resources to discern the time frame and location based on your age and the number of colleges in the country who have that level of fencing programs with suitable teachers. Your teacher remembers you well even after the years have gone by. No teacher ever forgets true talent.

Min: I had not bothered to look further than that, for that was not in my business. I had other things on my mind.

Will: …

Min: What you said just now was unknown to me, though I can infer the truth behind it. And if that is the case…

Min: You must work quickly before someone else finds a way. Literally everyone capable is assigned to the project.

Will: -~- What do you think I've been doing all this time?

Will: -We’re trying-

Will: Aside from repairing my sons and daughters and trying to keep this place intact—

Will: I've devoted nearly every waking moment to trying to solve this—

Will: (But it's so hard, it's like trying to wake someone from a very—very deep sleep...)

Will: -Crosses arms- And quite frankly, all of this federal business has not made it easier. -~-

Min: I imagine not.

[She was quiet for a moment again, as if deep in thought.]

Min: I will leave it up to you to give directions on what the best way for HHS to help you would be. That is your prerogative.

Min: For the time being, we will focus on that. The matter with Dr. Cossack can wait until you've had the chance to speak with him… whenever that might be.

Min: He won't be allowed to move about freely, but no other [color=black]action[/color] will be taken against him.

Will: ...I...I'll try to, as soon as I can...

Min: For now, he is resting in isolation. …Let him rest. He obviously is in need of it. -Soft sigh, tapping her fingers against her face- (I look forward to making this all go away.)

Min: Is there anything else you wish to discuss or want to say? Any insight to depart?

Will: …

Will: -Grips- CherryDyn...

Will: Please tell me you're at least looking into CherryDyn.

Will: I...I think they're behind this. All of it.

Will: >> Why else would they make not one, but TWO public statements blaming both Dr. Blackwell and myself, as well as Dr. Sanda?

Will: (....And now Graham knows.... Knows who I really am.)

Will: . . .

Will: (...Maybe he was right about me being stupid...)

Will: (.....)

Will: (Oh, what the hell, it was worth it, for that ONE good right hook.)

Min: To play the devil's advocate:

Min: "There's no accounting for stupidity."

[She spoke that last word with clear derision and scorn, not bothering to hide it.]

Will: …Hn.

Will: Indeed.

Will: …

Will: >> After all this is over...

Will: What will you do with me?

Min: Hopefully, give you honors for your contributions to solving a national crisis.

Will: ...That's not what I meant.

Will: I'm having a very hard time coming up with any good reason why you'd let the real matter slip by.

Will: You're the President. You know.

[Blackwell...a name that was no doubt infamous beyond any other name in America, and perhaps the world at large. He HAD to know--was it because there was just more pressing matters at hand, or something more?

After all, SHE had that power over him now, not him...]

Will: You KNOW what that name means.

Will: Why?

Min: …

Min: -Seems to be carefully considering her answer again-

Min: …A man is to be judged by his choices, not his name or connections.

Min: It has been your choice to work with Sanda Enterprises—a company that is currently researching to find medical breakthroughs with Xellular science. It has been your choice to raise a family, and raise them well. To befriend those in desperate need—indeed, with such friendship that it incites undying loyalty to you.

Min: Your desperation in one moment of ill-founded judgment is hardly unique, even to the current series of events. Your friend made a similar decision in a fit of despair.

Min: But ill judgement can be forgiven, especially when there are no casualties, and no intent for it to be repeated.

Will: ....

Will: I... -Speechless--

Will: (...she's not going to--lock me up, like Father—?)

Will: ...but I... (I lied...)

Will: (I lied to everyone--)

Will: -...clearly very conflicted about this-

Min: -Gently- I can see that this is difficult for you to understand, even though you begin to believe it. That's alright… you will have the time you need for it.

Min: When this is all over, William White…

Min: We will thank you all for what you have done for us, and the sacrifices that were made.

Min: And after all has been said and done, we will leave you all to live in peace.

Will: ....

Will: (In peace...)

Will: ...-Still quite nervous- (But for how long?)

Will: I...I will make sure to let Mikhail know that too.

Min: I'm sure he would appreciate that. It doesn't sound like he's had a pleasant experience dealing with government officials before… though his cooperation will ultimately prove to be to his benefit.

Min: -Small sigh- Well, that is all I have to say on the matter. We both have work to do now, so unless there is anything more you want to add…

Will: No, I...I think that's all.

Will: I...

Will: ...-Very quietly- ...thank you...

[Minerva gives a soft smile at that. She seems more relaxed than before—the kind of relaxation that comes with confidence.]

Min: You're welcome, Doctor White.

Min: You may go.

[Will nods and stands up--he's still a bit shaky, but otherwise a lot more worn out than before--in a good sense, really. He just had to talk to Mikhail...]

[As he steps out of the door, Des passes him by.]

Des: Oh, here. Your water.

Will: ! Oh--I--I forgot about that. ^^;; Thank you, Secretary.

[He accepts it graciously, and goes on his way. Des gives the man a bit of a quizzical look before turning his attention to Min.]

Des: He seems better. Sorta.

Des: What did you say to him, if I can ask?

Min: -Soft sigh- I let him know that we're not out to get anyone per se, and that we want to help out.

Min: I also advised him to speak to Dr. Cossack about the situation to see if he can't convince him to stop being so stubborn.

Des: Well, if anyone can convince him, it's probably Dr. White...he seems to really care about him.

Des: Hell, the guy was ready to tear my face off when I arrested him. >>;; Him and his kids.

Des: It was really startling, you'd think someone that soft-spoken wouldn't have any sort of temper but...I guess 'never judge a book by it's cover' comes into play here.

Min: Well, every man has his breaking point. You'd be surprised how much of a temper the quieter students can have when pressed. I think for now, though, he won't be as hostile to you. If only because he has more pressing needs to focus on.

Des: Hmm. You're right, as usual.

Des: Alright then...now that that's out of the way...

Des: I think Dr. Sanda's daughter was going to give us details of the accommodations and such. Gotta say, as much as the conditions are right now--they're really good hosts.

Des: << Though Seven won't stop giving me the stink eye.

Min: -Amused grin at this- Well, he has been gracious enough to me, for now. I'll see if I can't speak on your behalf the next time we have a chance for conversation.

[Her smile fades, and she looks thoughtful.]

Min: I should like to see DLN-000, but I know the lab is quite crowded right now. That will have to wait until later.

[She shakes her head.]

Min: Well, we'd best go speak to Ms. Sanda, and then I need to talk with Aviator. The news of us coming here even temporarily will be slightly sensational if we don't handle it properly, and he'd know best which of the local stations can be trusted to handle the story.

Des: ...Right...

Des: >>;; Although I'm not too fond of the idea of Six hogging you and I for an 'exclusive' interview. We probably need to break it gently to him that we have work to do--

[She laughs at this.]

Min: We have plenty of leverage when it comes to that. Plenty of things to do and say later. He'll have a month's worth of stories within a few days—so be on your best behavior.~

Des: -Snorts- Yes, Mrs. Morandi.

Min: Lead the way, then. -Amused- Let's get things moving.

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

=CHAPTER 7C: RUSH INTO THE MINE=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

{Titus}

[It was early in the morning when Cardinal finally reached the destination he’d been looking for.]

Cardinal: This is it, then? You’re sure of it?

Scout: Rarf!

[After leaving Sanda Enterprises the day before, he had spent some time hiding in the streets. He’d taken refuge in an abandoned structure that was not quite stable, preferring to take the risk of structural collapse over the risk of being caught.

He was still on a mission, and he’d fight to the last rather than be taken off duty. He just couldn’t afford that, and he really didn’t want to have to pound any of his friends into submission for trying to “help”.

As he cooled down—literally and figuratively—from his encounter with Call, he was able to think more clearly and come up with a new plan.

He’d tried to find clues by searching Shade’s city. He’d walked all over town. He’d tried to search near Shade’s family: in his private retreat he called home. None of that had been helpful, which left him with only one option. The option he had always known, in the end, that it would come down to….]

Cardinal: -Somewhat darkly- (So this is what your other “office” looks like…)

[…to find the place where ”Radar” did his other work. ]

Cardinal: …

Cardinal: (I pray to GOD that this WORKS…!)

[He was truly miserable, feeling naught but despair.

Even with Graham beaten back, the threat of Monstropolis still wasn’t over. It had been narrowly avoided too many times already—he was certain that the destruction Avi and Bat could have caused would have tipped the scales over the edge of what would be forgiven.

Their manipulation of forces that targeted the general public had placed tens of thousands at risk, and would have had very high casualty reports if they’d been carried out to their fullest. And if that had come to pass, he knew that the military—which he always knew HAD to be alive and well, despite what the Mighties believed—would not just sit and watch.]

Cardinal: (I have to find you, Shade…)

[And if that held true for the other Mighty Numbers, it most certainly held true for Shade. Other robots might cause destruction on the scale of a single building, or even hold a massive monument hostage… but they were second rate when compared to the Teal Silence.

It was one thing to try and curtail the average fighter with a show of force.

It was quite another to go up against the world’s deadliest assassin.]

Cardinal: (…before they reduce your core to nothing but ashes…!)

[He couldn’t bear to see his mission fail in any form or another.

If he failed to find Shade in time, then the Mighty Number would only be found AFTER he had already caused massive damage. Maybe even casualties. If he failed, innocent lives would pay the price.

If he failed to stop Shade in time, then his best friend would be deemed a threat that was too great of a risk. There would be no mercy shown by those ordered to carry out the order with extreme prejudice. If he failed… then the price of justice would be the life of the man who was all but his brother.

He’d lose Shade forever, and no force in this world could ever bring him back.]

Baron: -Twittercheep!-

Cardinal: -Brought out of his thoughts- …

Cardinal: Good work, Scout.

[The happy Zigzagoon gave a yip and wagged his tail, looking more like a bristle brush than anything else. He seemed pleased to have been of use to his short master.]

Cardinal: -Crouches down- Now let’s see what we’re dealing with in here…

[Cardinal used SEARCH SNAKE!]

[He returned to his feet, taking a few steps back as the explosive camera slithered inside.]

Cardinal: (Come on…! Please let this be…!)

[There was a creepy skittering noise just before the feed suddenly cut out.]

Cardinal: !

[His face split into a grin.]

Cardinal: There’s someone inside!

[Hope. A mere flicker, less than a spark, but it was there nonetheless. There was still a chance.]

Cardinal: Finally…. We’re actually getting somewhere….

He held out his finger to invite Baron to come off his shoulder, allowing him to better look him in the eye.]

Cardinal: This is going to be it, guys. I’m going in.

Scout: Rarf! -Eagerly runs around in a circle, battllllllllllle-

Cardinal: Sorry, Scout. But this will be too much for the both of you, I’m afraid.

Scout: —rrrrr?

The Zig merely tilted his head in confusion, but Baron puffed up in indignation before taking alight and flapping his wings in Cardinal’s face.]

Baron: -We are a battle beast, excuse— -

Cardinal: Heh. Think you can take on a den of assassins, do you?

[The bird gave a fiery huff before landing on the ground and strutting haughtily, beak in the air.

Cardinal smiled sadly, reminded of gentler days when hope was young.]

Cardinal: I guess they’re right in what they say… you really ARE a bird version of me…

Cardinal: -Of course, that’s why I chose you, in the first place-

[He shook his head.]

Cardinal: Neither of you have enough levels to take this challenge on. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to stay behind.

Scout: -Whine of protest-

Cardinal: I know, I know… but there’s more to it than just that. It’s really cramped in there. When things start going south…

Cardinal: I don’t want to have to worry about trying not to hit you. Because that’s probably something that would happen.

Cardinal: So. I’m going to need the both of you to stay behind. Stay out of sight. And…

[He hesitated, not really all too eager to think on the matter he was about to bring up. But given the circumstances… he didn’t have much of a choice.]

Cardinal: …if there’s a big explosion…

[He turned to look away.

This was going to be dangerous. Almost certainly more dangerous than his last battle, but probably more so. The chances of him not making it…

…They were not something that could be ignored.]

Cardinal: -CLEARLY unhappy-

Scout: -Wha— why are you sad all of a sudden??-

Scout: -Whiiiine, no don’t be saaad—here have some kisses on your hand–

[Cardinal sighed and gave the thieving ‘coon some scritches.]

Cardinal: …Well, if that happens, then just get out of there and head to Sanda Enterprises. Just… just do it, okay?

Scout: D: > -Whiiiiiiine, no, we can't leave short master behind— -

Cardinal: …Scout… -Sighs, putting a hand to his face-

Scout: -Will Dig out if needed, not leaving behind--

Scout: -Sits stubbornly- -Whiiiine-

Cardinal: (No! I—!)

Cardinal: (I can't let you be the one to find out…!)

Cardinal: -Struggles to come up with a plausible lie- You…

Cardinal: …you'll probably… probably want help from Mic. Or Digger or something.

Cardinal: (If he could somehow communicate what had happened, I'm sure Diggs would know that I'm gone…)

Cardinal: So just. Go home, if that happens. Okay? Both of you.

Scout: -Whiiiiiiine...-

[Scout STILL seemed very sad and displeased at the command, but in the end, he gave a sad 'Borf' of confirmation.]

Scout: -Rarf.-

Baron: -Huff- -Puffs up into a borb, shrinking down in on himself to indicate he'd stay put… for now.-

Cardinal: Good. Thank you.

[He returns his attention to the entrance.]

Cardinal: All my efforts have led me here. I always knew in my heart it would come down to this….

[There was a mechanical whine as his blaster began priming for a charged shot.]

Cardinal: Time to end this.

<DLN-000 has entered Lethal Combat mode.>

Cardinal: -Rushes through the door-

[He stood ready for the first obstacle—the Search Snake hadn't made it very far inside, after all, before—]

[SSSSPPPT!]

[There's a shot of sticky strings that shoot out from one shadowy corner of the ceiling—a humanoid spider bot with beady, sickly, magenta eyes, fangs glinting in the low lighting. She has many legs to move around with—but the strings seem to come from her fingertips.]

Arachnia: -Mine—!-

Cardinal: !!

Arachnia: Stupid fly, walking into our web—

[She YANKS at where she had aimed, which propels her in a savage POUNCE for Cardinal himself—]

Arachnia: MINE—!

Cardinal: Not likely—!

BLAM!

[He aimed right for the abdomen, releasing the charged shot that had been building up the whole time!]

Arachnia: -SCREECH—-

[She skids away across the room, her many legs failing to find perchance in anything as she flails in pain where she landed—]

[He began preparing another charged shot, but this time, it appeared as a flaming orb.]

Cardinal: -Eyes taking on a more nasty red color, almost visible behind his visor-

Cardinal: You know what the only way to be sure is when exterminating pests?

Cardinal: TO KILL IT WITH FIRE!

[Cardinal used ATOMIC FIRE!]

[The spider assassin SCREAMS in agony, flailing harder as the fire spread to the area around her, and desperately rolls put it out. There's movement from somewhere deeper in the den, and—]

[BANG BANG—!]

[Shots expertly fired from the main room up ahead, although these are merely standard bullets.]

[KTING! KTEOW!]

[The shots bounced harmlessly off of Cardinal's shield, and he openly blared his thoughts on the source: unamused, and very unimpressed.]

Cardinal: You PUNKS! What is this, amateur hour?!

[He fires a non-charged blast of Atomic Fire right down the hallway before charging for the source, shield-first.]

[The temperature in here was quickly rising—]

"HISSSSS—"

Cardinal: ?!

[He couldn't FEEL that specific signal, but if he had turned off his transceiver…]

Cardinal: Viper, I swear that IF THAT IS /YOU/—

"Stop STRUGGLING."

[Coils of something long and slim circled fast near the First, a hooded figure rising rapidly with venom dripping fangs not unlike the spider bot before her.]

Tanith: I HATE men that only spout nonsense!

Tanith: DIE!

[Okay. Not QUITE what Cardinal had expected. Being crushed to death by a fetching snake woman had not been on his list of things he anticipated with dealing with that day.]

Tenith: -Hissss— -

[Panels that looked like her hair at first extended outward, giving her the appearance of a cobra hood. She sashayed from left to right, before LUNGING for his neck—]

[Cardinal used LEAF SHIELD!]

[A swirling cloud of ceratanium death enveloped them both, originating from within the coils. It was like a rain of daggers and shrapnel, carried upon violent winds.

Rather than getting a mouthful of his cabling and wires, she ended up getting her mouth impaled with such force that it effectively was like hitting a solid wall. That was on top of the dozens and dozens of cuts all along the underside of her lower half that had been coiled around her prey.]

[BWIP!]

[To add insult to injury, the short intruder was suddenly gone, causing her to fall into a heap when that solid support was no longer there.]

Cardinal: I’ll give you this, /Lady/…

[Since when was he several feet back near where he’d started from?]

Cardinal: Unlike my brother, at least you’re no COWARD!

[Cardinal used NEEDLE CANNON!]

THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!

[The Needle Cannon made a deep booming noise, firing at a relatively slow rate compared to a normal plasma blast. It was still fast enough, especially with the first impalement pinning her into place.]

Tanith: NHAAAAAA—!

[Her tail wildly destroyed the environment around her as she wailed, trying to yank the needle out of her--but it was far too wedged into the concrete.]

[—?]

[...Why was her tail going through the wall?]

Cardinal: (Hologram? Ugh, Xel technology must be so advanced for me not to notice!)

[He huffed and turned his back to her, pinging for Jazz to come on inside.]

Cardinal: (Whatever. I don't have time for…)

Bzzzzzzz…

Cardinal: …?

[He quickly brought up another Leaf Shield, trying to identify where he’d heard that noise before. It wasn’t long before he found out.]

BZZZZZZZZZ!!

[A swarm of wasp-like drones zoomed into view, bearing down on him with surprising speed. Most of the swarm got shredded up by the shield, but there were still dozens left over. Dozens that tore into him mercilessly, clearly meant for the kill.

The stings, however, had no effect. Most did not even manage to get past his armor. The few that went for his neck and audio cables merely caused small puncture wounds that were very cheap to heal over. He could tell by the chemical analysis that there was some sort of toxin in them: something lethal to Xelbots (and maybe also humans), no doubt. But on him, it had no effect at all. No effect except to make him annoyed, that is.]

Cardinal: (Ugh, what a bunch of pests…)

[While they didn’t really cause any major damage, they were a distraction that he didn’t particularly care for. And not necessarily one easy to get rid of, either. If he were in a more casual setting, he would have admired the genius of it; using a swarm of unassuming, small, fast moving, hard to hit, toxic drones may or may not be as effective in the arena against bulky opponents like Mic, but they would be terrifyingly effective against the average civilian, human or Xelbot.

Sadly, he didn’t have the time or inclination to make an a deep analysis of the situation.]

<DLN-000 to CSU-001>: > JAZZ—!

<DLN-000 to CSU-001>: > Time to shine!

[He teleported out of the swarm of wasps, leaving them a prone and concentrated target. His (ultimately) faithful support unit came charging down the hallway.]

Jazz: HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHSSSSSSS…!

[There was a brief clicking noise, followed by a stream of fire. The drones got burnt into a crisp.]

<DLN-000 to CSU-001>: >Well done, Jazz!

<DLN-000 to CSU-001>: > Now let’s go say hello!

[The two of them ran down the open hallway. More shots were fired, prompting him to bring up the shield again.]

Cardinal: (This is very odd. Shade had his own ROOM rigged with traps. But other than the false wall, I haven’t run into a single one so—)

SHUNK!

[As Cardinal entered into the main room, a solid square foot of wicked looking spikes shot up through the floor with such force that they would have impaled a lesser man. They crackled with strange energy that seemed to try and shake him to the core, sending a wave of odd sensation all through his body. It was as if it were trying to thrash him on a much smaller level, until he flew apart into a pile of pieces, but it wasn’t even close to working on him. Thanks to his armor, he didn’t get impaled, either…]

Cardinal: Woah—!

[But it WAS enough of a sudden change in his footing to cause him to stumble and nearly lose his balance.

As it turned out…]

BZZZZZZZ BANG BANG BANG—

[That was all the time that the assassins needed.]

Cardinal: -More out of annoyance than anything else- Gah!

[With the shots coming in from a corner rather than head on, he took some minor damage from the bullets. The stings were even less effective, though the cloud of insect signals was making it harder to focus on the other signals in the background. The room was starting to grow even hotter…]

Cardinal: -Starts charging his blaster- (Not THIS again—)

[Before he could even finish that line of thinking, there was a static-riddled roar, sounding almost like the rage of the ocean. There was a blast of cold air and a strong force that pushed him back, causing him to trip backwards over the spikes.]

Cardinal: -Oof— -

[Just as he was getting to his feet again, still under fire, there was a loud grinding noise to his right. He became alarmed as he heard the noise of loud and heavy footsteps bearing crashing down in his direction.]

Cardinal: !!!

[He turned and shielded just in time to prevent a large and heavy sword from slamming into him.]

[It was at this point that he noticed his blaster had been frozen over.]

Cardinal: Glitch!

[He didn’t think on it long, instead switching to something that didn’t require use of a blaster to work.]

[Cardinal used SUPER ARM!]

WHAM!

[He turned and hit the knight so hard that he was sent soaring across the room and slamming into the wall… which was dislodged by the application of force and spun around, continuing the knight’s path into the wall on the side of the other room, too.]

Cardinal: (Secret passages? Of COURSE there would—)

[He was slammed to the ground from the left.]

Cardinal: !!! -Brings up Leaf Shield-

[Once again, his attacker got nothing but a mouthful of leaves for their trouble—though THIS time, the opponent in question appeared to be a massively buff, anthropomorphic shark.]

Riptide: -Gives off a staticky ROAR again-

<DLN-000 to CSU-001>: > STALL FOR ME!

[Cardinal used SKULL BARRIER!]

HHHHHHHHSSSSSSSS CLICK FOOOOOOOOOOSH—

[Both of them were blasted by fire, though Cardinal was unaffected by it. Riptide gave glitched roars of pain, lashing out at Cardinal in a frenzy. Cardinal responded by using a self-defense move carried out to flip off an attacker that was on top of you—]

Cardinal: -Shatters the half-melted ice against the spikes-

[—and then tossing the marine predator across the room, slamming him into the marksman that had been pestering him the whole time.]

???: -Muffled cursing-

[He smirked to see that the marksman wasn’t strong enough to move his massive coworker, though he didn’t have long to gloat on it.]

BZZZZZZ…

[He was swarmed again, his time by a cloud so thick that he couldn’t even see—though he had seen enough in the split second to find out where they were all coming from. There was an unassuming, gardener looking fellow standing in the hallway opposite the entrance, looking very out of place in a den of ruthless killers and spies.

But then again—just as with the unassuming nature of their weapon of choice—that’s probably what made them so successful, wasn’t it?]

Cardinal: Buzz off!

[Cardinal used FIRE STORM!]

[He dropped the Skull Barrier for the time being, becoming engulfed by a protective shield of flames. This also fired a sizable fire charge in front of him, roaring across the room to blast the unfortunate nature assassin in the face.]

Vera: -SCREEEE, PAAAIIINNNN— -

[He could hear her running off—likely to go out some secret exit that led around to the holographic wall from earlier—but he didn’t care at this juncture. All the battle, the frustration, the annoying fights— it was starting to feed into an aggressive frenzy of his own.

He may not be infected with a virus that corrupted his free will, but he was damn well cursed with the sin of Wrath, especially when worked up into such a state.]

Cardinal: I’m GOING TO GET INFORMATION TONIGHT! I won’t stop until I do!

Cardinal: If you know what’s good for you, you will TELL ME ABOUT RADAR!

[His eyes were becoming a deeper red in rage, the heat starting to become quite uncomfortable.]

Cardinal: Someone will talk, and I don't care who—even if I have to BEAT you within an INCH OF YOUR LIFE!

[He was hit square-on with a blast of ice, which melted upon contact with the Fire Storm. The water did put his shield out, however, leaving him back to normal again.

This minor setback was nothing compared to the searing beam that followed.]

"Radar is LONG gone, Mr. Light."

Cardinal: -Pain-

[He suffered under the intensity of the scorching light, the likes of which he could only remember fragments of—the smallest snippets of memory of his life as a newon, in decades long past.

The searing of the mechanism that had branded his serial into his shoulder, leaving it neatly engraved.]

Cardinal: -It burns-

[Light seems to shine from the construct who's voice was as perfect as her appearance—one is lead to think that she had chosen this time to shine so brightly, as there was no indicator that she was even there.]

Diamond: -Grabs one of her prism floating near her, still smoking-

Diamond: You're almost too pitiful to even think about. Did you really think Radar would come back here?

Diamond: If he did, the lot of us would be Xel stains on the floor.

Cardinal: Nnn…

Cardinal: Who are you?

Diamond: -Gives a look-

Diamond: Really.

Diamond: ...Well, I suppose he wouldn't have mentioned my name, even in passing...

Cardinal: …

Cardinal: …!!

[Wait.

Those prisms.

They almost looked like… diamonds…]

>1 CROSS REFERENCE IDENTIFIED

[It led to nothing but a blank file. Nothing but a name, one mentioned months ago in passing.]

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

“Don't wanna ruin this lil tour here for ya, so I'll chime ahead to Diamond and tell her you'll be there tonight. Could really use your help.”

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

Cardinal: Sh-Shade’s boss…?

[Her lips curl into a cruel smile.]

Diamond: Oh, so he did? I wonder, how much he actually told you…

Diamond: Given that you two are so close, despite circumstances.

Diamond: -Tch- Stupid cowboy can't keep his mouth shut, huh.

Diamond: Idiot.

[This insult might as well have been aimed at him instead, for the effect it had on Cardinal. He felt a burning need to defend Shade’s honor, even with the situation being what it was.]

Cardinal: -Annoyance data, speaking aloud now- No!

Cardinal: Bladeblaster was the moron who opened his mouth!

Diamond: Him? He was always a troublesome little flaw…

Diamond: Absolutely obsessed with the Mighty Numbers ever since he ditched us for whoever had offered him that new leader position.

Diamond: Good...

Cardinal: —?

[Three of the floating prisms suddenly make a triangle formation, and—]

Diamond: RIDDANCE!

Cardinal: !

[He brings his shield out in front of him out of instinct.]

[Another searing laser shoots out of the prisms, and Diamond herself seems to—fade?, No, wait, it was the LIGHT around her that was fading—]

[Cardinal was not amused to be fighting another invisible opponent.]

Cardinal: Are you kidding me?!

Diamond: Thanks for the bonfires, Cardinal Light.

Diamond: Plenty for me to work with.

Cardinal: (I was WONDERING what sort of things his BOSS would be capable of…)

Cardinal: (But if she's his boss… that means she knows what I need!)

Diamond: -Snaps fingers, making a perfect ringing tone- Riptide.

Diamond: Tear him apart.

[Riptide laughed at this before charging across the room. Somewhat to his surprise, Cardinal responded by charging forward, himself.

While Riptide leaped at him, Cardinal dropped down to a slide, using his shield to vault the shark over him. Jazz snarled and leaped onto the shark, digging into him with claws and teeth.

This placed Cardinal right at the edge of the room, next to the marksman.]

BANG!

[There was a slight chipping and shattering noise as Cardinal's visor crumbled where it had been shot. Cardinal growled.]

Cardinal: I've had enough of you!

[Cardinal used ICE SLASHER!]

[Six rounds of ice blasts were fired off in extremely rapid succession.

Any soul unfortunate enough to get caught by such arrows found themselves impaled by blades of ice -200ºF.

The marksman was abruptly rendered inactive, the cold that seeped throughout his body making it too hard to breathe, let alone to fire.]

Cardinal: -Hmph-

WHAM!

[He turned his attention to Riptide, who was trying to pull Jazz off of him. When that hadn't worked, he'd tried ramming her against a wall. She was more nimble than that, and had landed on top of his head.]

Cardinal: (She seems to be doing fine, but where is—)

[BSSSSS—!]

[Pain, searing pain, another beam of searing LIGHT had hit him square on his back—]

Cardinal: -OW-

Diamond: Sturdy thing for someone that's not even Xel.

Cardinal: (How much does she KNOW?)

[He vaguely knew that he'd already survived things that would have more than disabled a Xelbot in the past few minutes in the den, but still—]

Cardinal: Yeah, that's the general idea!

Diamond: No Xel signal, no previous data—I thought something seemed wrong when he pulled some favors...

Cardinal: (That's it, keep talking…)

Diamond: And look where THAT brought you.

Diamond: Looking for the second highest kill count in CAL behind me.

Diamond: But that's not gonna stop you, isn't it?

[Cardinal didn't answer right away, instead firing in the direction of the sound: this time, using two Power Capsules at once.]

[Cardinal used METAL BLADE! Cardinal used THUNDER BEAM!]

Diamond: -HNK—!-

[The Metal Blades were avoided, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge the lighting—she was thrown back enough to hit the wall and convulses for a moment from the volts of electricity wracking her frame.]

Cardinal: -Eyes starting to creep into a full green- (Ha! Not impervious!)

Diamond: You....

[Her head is low, but the aura she's emitting suddenly flares, and several virus alarms once again silently blare in response.

When she raises her head, it's jerky and unnatural.

Her once golden hues are now a sickly mixture of a chilling, icy blue and an all too familiar magenta.]

Cardinal: (What the hell…? The Prairie Kings weren't like this…)

Diamond?: Go home, Songbird.

Diamond?: This burning world has nothing to do with you anymore.

Cardinal: !!!

[Her voice isn't... it's not just hers...]

Diamond?: This isn't your FIGHT.

Cardinal: Seeing as I'm here fighting right now, that appears not to be the case!

[He began cracking with electricity again.]

Cardinal: There are only three things that happen now! Either I go home once he's there, I bring him back myself, or I die trying!

Cardinal: There are no other options!

[Diamond—or whatever was controlling her now—seemed very tired at that sentence, which bled away into annoyance.]

Diamond?: Moron. Then D I E.

[She raises her arm again, and another beam fires at Cardinal. By the end of the attack, her aura dies down, and Diamond seems to not have noticed what just had occurred, herself.]

Diamond: They don't call Radar a ghost for nothing!

Cardinal: …

[He decided to shake it off, focusing on the present.]

Cardinal: Even ghosts must materialize somewhere eventually!

Cardinal: You’re the one who has the answers, Diamond!

Cardinal: ANSWERS I NEED!

[Cardinal used THUNDER BEAM!]

Diamond: -HN—-

Diamond: CINDERUS! Check him!

Diamond: Riptide, for Xel's sake, I told you to TEAR HIM APART!

Diamond: SOMEBODY KILL THAT MAN ALREADY!

[There was a large crash and Cardinal had to whirl around to face the knight that was bearing down on him. Meanwhile—spurned on, perhaps, by the fear of the boss—Riptide finally threw Jazz off of him and rushed from the other direction.

Cardinal was clearly caught between the hammer and the anvil—]

[BWIP!]

[He teleported across the room, causing Riptide to fall over. Cinderus dodged to the side, jumping over him quite easily.]

Jazz: RRRRRRRRREEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRNNNNGGGHHHHH…

Jazz: HHHHHHHHSSSSSSS…

[Click FOOOOOOOOSH]

[This time, she set the floor on fire as well.]

Bareeeeeeeep! Bareeeeeeep!

[Fire alarms starting going off, followed by the sprinkler system. The water was black from being dirty, as was prone to happen with sprinklers.]

Cardinal: Game's over, Cinders!

[He was not about to let this drag out any longer in such a way than he had to. When his two opponents turned to rush at him again, this time he stood his ground.]

Cardinal: CHECKMATE!

[Cardinal used METAL BLADE!]

[He absolutely spammed the attack, deadly saw blades spinning through the air. They went right into the armor, which was nothing compared to what they did to Riptide's face. The shark roared in pain, starting to gush infected Xel.]

Diamond: —!!

Diamond: Glitch—

[One of them nicked her legs, and another her arms—which only enraged her further.]

Diamond: You ruined me—

Diamond: I'm going to BURY you so deep NO ONE will EVER find you!

[DOZENS of her prisms suddenly materialize, the room becoming ever darker by the second. Diamond was hard to see, but one could still make out her outline.]

Cardinal: You wouldn't be the first to TRY—

[Cinderus let out a battle cry and rushed at him, forcing him to turn his attention elsewhere.]

Cardinal: !

[He pivoted to the side, but the black knight was quick on his feet. He, too, stepped in turn, bearing his sword down on Cardinal's shield. Cardinal shoved him off, doing a backflip to give himself a bit of distance.]

[Cardinal used NEEDLE CANNON!]

[The attack served as a lance, piercing the knight right in the shoulder. By now, the room was so dark that Cardinal had switched over to night vision.]

[BSSSST—]

[There was a priming noise—and then a blast of blinding light—!] Cardinal: -PAIN— -

>WARNING! INTERNAL TEMPERATURE HAS EXCEEDED SAFE LEVELS!

[He couldn't see anything. Not anymore. His visual receptors had been overflooded. All he could feel right now was the baking heat of his core, roasting away at his insides.]

Cardinal: -Hot, too hot to move-

Diamond: Gnh…

Diamond: Took us long enough, damnit…

Diamond: You're beyond stupid to even THINK about coming here and coming out alive.

Diamond: -Prism in hand, pointing right at Cardinal's face—-

Cardinal: Hhhh…

[Was this to be the end? He was too hot to teleport safely. And he didn’t want to.]

Cardinal: -Coughs on the heat-

[He wasn’t sure whether the next blast would prove fatal. He was strong, but his body was old… and she was powerful, and exacerbating his weakness.

But there was one thing certain.

If Diamond truly dealt a killing blow…]

Cardinal: Say your goodbyes too, then, Diamond…

[…They’d both be vaporized in the ensuing explosion.]

Diamond: Please.

Diamond: Why do you think they formed CAL in the first place?

[There was a priming noise, and Cardinal gave an aggravated sigh as he stared at the prism.]

Diamond: For the bots too dangerous, too volatile, too much for anyone out there!

Cardinal: (I can move quickly—my shield—)

Diamond: They send us into the dark to take care of problems they've lost the NERVE for.

Cardinal: (But not at the speed of LIGHT…)

Diamond: Because they're all too scared to clean up their own me—

[SHNK!]

Diamond: GHAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!

Cardinal: —?!

[That hadn't been him. And it sure wasn't Jazz.]

[The assassin leader SCREAMED as Xel ran down her face, from the metal arrow that had found it's mark—right in her eye.]

"Score!"

Cardinal: -Vents enough heat to turn around somewhat quickly- ?

[SHNK—]

Cardinal: AUGH!

[Maybe moving in the process was a bad idea.]

[Out from the shadows, the first thing one would see is two glowing, yellow eyes. A wolf's head...]

((Pic—Howlstriker))

[—But as the new construct quickly came into view, it was merely a very convincing headdress. A young woman with facepaint and many feathers, beads, and such on her person, grinning with cheerful glee as she aimed a longbow at Diamond.]

???: Hi, boss!

Diamond: Howlstriker—!

[SHNK—]

[Another arrow flew through the air, catching Diamond off guard as it dug into her shoulder.]

Howl: -Drawing another arrow- Ha, I've always wanted to do this.

Diamond: You—You stupid mutt—

Howl: Wooow, I'm so offended.

[SHNK—!]

Jazz: RRRROOOOOOOWWRRRR!

[Cardinal winced as he used Super Arm to pull the arrow out of his shoulder, where it had impaled him. Oil and coolant flowed out onto his armor, and crackling and other noises from broken mechanics could be faintly heard.]

Cardinal: (No—! I NEED HER ALIVE TO TALK—!)

[As the last arrow struck Diamond in her abdomen, Howlstriker's wolf ears twitched at the faint crackling from Cardinal. She turns.]

Howl: ...

Howl: O.O

Howl: .....coooool.....

[As they were talking, the wound was glowing with a white light. Frayed wires were wrapping back together, bent fan blades straightening back into shape, punctured plating sealing over.

Within mere moments, the damage was undone completely.]

Howl: O . O !!

Howl: -GAAAASP-

Howl: You!

Howl: You you you, I found you—

[Cardinal was alarmed at this.]

Cardinal: (She's been HUNTING me?!)

Howl: : D!! You made me go in a big huge circle! Usually, I'd be mad, but you're too good.

Diamond: Gh....

[Cinderus moves from where he had fallen—]

[SHNK—!]

[—Only to fall unconscious once Howl fires another arrow at his hip.]

Howl: -Sniff sniff- You smell like barbecue. C:

Cardinal: —… (Augh, she must be like Jazz…)

[Spending several days in Kansas City without washing his scarf had undoubtedly led to it getting infused with scents from the local culture.]

Howl: -Takes a step forward--

Cardinal: -Shifts his arm back into a blaster- Stay back, hunter!

Howl: —?

Howl: -Whiiiiines- Awwww...

Howl: I was only trying to help? Was it because I shot you?

Howl: I mean, in my defense, you kinda got in the way, dumbass. : /

Cardinal: I have enough hunters looking for the prize as it is!

Howl: ....

Howl: -Aaaand it clicks- Oooooooh....

Howl: -Laughs- Oh my gaaaawwwd, you're funny—

Howl: If I wanted you dead, I would've tried harder, duuuuh.

Cardinal: Not if you wanted to toy with me first!

Diamond: Howl...

Howl: -Ignores- Nah, wolves don't do that.

Cardinal: Not NORMALLY, anyway…

Howl: Come oooooon, I'm not crazy like everyone else—I was taking a nap when everyone went insane.

Howl: Which I don't mind! : D I never liked anyone down here anyway!

Howl: Especially Refractor, maaaan that felt good.

Diamond: -Grumbles of protest-

Cardinal: (She… she's not sick? But…)

Cardinal: (But if she touched the Xel—)

Cardinal: (She has to get out of here, it's not safe— but I still need—!)

Cardinal: Howlstriker, was it?

Howl: Yuuup. c:

Howl: That's my name, don't wear it out.~ -Wink-

Cardinal: I need data. I need to find Radar—!

Howl: Radar...?

[It takes her a moment to think, crossing her arms and then--]

Howl: Diamoooond, I forget, who's Radar again?

Diamond: -Coughs- Are you kidding me, he's talking about Bullseye—

Howl: OH, okay—

Howl: Sorry, that guy has, like, a bajillon different names—

Cardinal: I need to know what sort of access he had to top-secret information and restricted entry in matters of national security!

Howl: Uuuuh.

Howl: -Thinks again-

Howl: ...I guess since everything is pretty much borked right now, I guess I could tell you...

Diamond: You will do no such—

[SHNK—! Another arrow to her leg.]

Diamond: -NNH—-

Howl: Well...

Howl: Bullesye, Radar, I dunno, I'm just gonna call him Shade, he's pretty much the favor guy.

Cardinal: (The… huh?)

Howl: You need something done, Shade can get it for ya.

Howl: Like, every single time.

Howl: Papers, info, stuff that ya don't have clearance for?

Howl: Shade got it all cuz he has access to it. Kinda like how Diamond does?

Diamond: You useless blabbermouth—!

Howl: -Yet again ignores- I haven't seen him have any trouble with clearance or anything like that.

Howl: He's great! : D I like him.

Cardinal: He… he really is, but… Augh…

[He started pacing a bit.]

Jazz: Ree-ow.

Cardinal: (I'd… really hoped that learning these things would narrow it down for me, would give me a clue…)

[Jazz came over to sniff at Howlstriker, flicking her tail as her master paced around.]

Howl: Kitty! :D

Jazz: -Prrrr-

Howl: Oh gosh I love cats—

Cardinal: (Come on, Cardinal, THINK…. He could be ANYWHERE…)

Diamond: -Nnnh...- -Fading in and out of consciousness, why this-

Cardinal: (What did the virus do to you, Shade?)

Cardinal: (What would it do with someone who can go just about…)

Howl: -Scritches for them- Hey, so, you're looking for him?

Cardinal: Need, need to find him…

Cardinal: Need to find him before the—

Cardinal: —!!!

Howl: o.o?

[There was a painful SCREEEEEEEEE noise from his fans grinding in alarm.]

Howl: -Ooow ears—-

Cardinal: OH GOD, SHADE—

Howl: ???

[He needed to find him before the feds did, before they turned him to cinders…

But if Shade got to THEM first… ]

Cardinal: Howlstriker you need to leave it's not safe you'll get sick dunno if Beck should know where this is there's no time to debate JAZZ WE'RE GETTING OUT OF HERE—

Howl: Huh—

Howl: Sloooow down, you're talkin' way too fast—

[He grabbed his cat, prompting her to turn into her Civvie form so she could be carried. Cardinal was blaring data that screamed alarm and near panic.]

Cardinal: Can't tell them 'til I'm sure, too early in the morning, they'd take me away—

[He was already halfway down the hall at this point.]

Howl: Hey wait I want answers, HEEEEY—

[Howl gave pursuit, leaving Diamond to bleed there along with the rest of the constructs in the assassin den.]

Cardinal: DON'T HAVE TIME, NEED TO LEAVE—

Cardinal: HE'S HEADED FOR THE WHITE HOUSE!

Howl: Wha—RADAR?

Howl: -But that doesn't make sense, when everyone went crazy we all went after targets we were already assigned to, unless—-

Howl: ...unless someone else gave him a...?

Howl: -...Oh, oh that ain't good—-

[He didn't bother keeping quiet as he exited back into the dark pre-sunrise air.]

Cardinal: SCOUT! BARON! WE'RE LEAVING!

Scout: RARF—

Howl: —??? -Dog bark but that's a raccoon—-

Baron: -Flies over to sit on Cardinal's shoulder-

[Cardinal used PROTO JET!]

[A windsurfer that looked a great deal like his shield appeared. This one was larger than normal, set to accommodate several additional little passengers.]

Cardinal: -Scoops up Scout- Bye, Howlstriker. Give my regards to Sanda Enterprises if I don't return!

Howl: D:>??? -I'M STILL SO CONFUSED-

Howl: WHAT EVEN ARE YOU, THOUGH—

Howl: HEEEEEY—

Cardinal: Ask Brand or something if I don't make it back! I'll explain it myself someday if I do!

Howl: BUT—

[With that, he took off to the skies.]

Howl: I looked for days and you just fly away—

Howl: D |< What kind of chase was that?! Uuuuugh...

Howl: ....

Howl: (...Didn't he say something about Sanda Enterprises?)

Cardinal: -Calls out- Hopefully one with a happy ending! Sorry, gotta jet!

[He took a sharp turn just out of sight, but when one followed him around the corner… he was gone.]

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

{Washington D.C.}

[Cardinal kept an impressive degree of balance as he took out an E-tank and a W-tank, downing them one at a time as they raced through the wind. He would need all his energy in the upcoming fight.

He was glad for the company, here at the end of his journey—and now, Baron would be crucial to communication, should his guess prove right.

He honestly wasn’t sure what he hoped for more, or dreaded worse… that he might have guessed wrong (and thus traveled all that way for nothing, with Shade still at large…)

…or that he would have guessed right, and things were about to get so much /worse./

A soft whine reminded him that he wasn’t the only one worried about the matter.]

Cardinal: We’ll be there soon, Scout. …Baron, you know what to do.

[ALMOST THERE.

He had to make it, he had to— he was going as fast as he possibly could, now was the time—]

Cardinal: (Hang in there, Shade…)

[From this height, he could see a few of the numerous iconic buildings and structures that served as blatant landmarks for his destination.]

Cardinal: I will stop you!

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

=CHAPTER 3C: VOLTAIC DYNATRON=

~AO v2.0~

((Courtesy of @codedhopes))

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

{Kansas City

June 23rd, 20XX}

Rebooting…

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

Diagnostic complete.

<DLN-000 is now Online.>

[Cardinal’s eyes wavered as his visual processors slowly flickered to life. He found himself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

Everything was quiet, other than the whirring of a nearby fan.]

Cardinal: … (Wait…)

Cardinal: (That’s…)

[He turned his head and looked over at the base of the bed he was in. Sure enough, there was Jazz, curled up in her Civilian form. Purring.]

Cardinal: …

Cardinal: (I’m in a hospital of some sort, but… where am I?)

Cardinal: … (What TIME is it???)

[He sat up immediately, feeling alert again.]

“I was wondering when you’d wake up.”

Cardinal: ?

[He looked over, and to his surprise, saw Drake sitting in a chair, folding up a newspaper.]

Drake: You were out of it the rest of the day and then all day today.

Cardinal: Where are we?

Drake: We’re at the closest functioning hospital near the arena. The arena hospital got pretty trashed, I’m afraid. A lot of fighters went berserk in there, apparently.

Cardinal: -Puts a hand to his face, giving off a brief data burst of frustration and resignation- I don’t even want to begin to think on the casualties…

Drake: They actually handled it pretty well. The security system against violent patients is separate from the main grid, and only activates with manual application.

Cardinal: …I guess it makes sense they’d have a back-up plan. … …I’m glad….

Drake: After you passed out, a couple of guys went in to get you. They asked me to meet up with you here. Once we got here, though…

Drake: Your cat kinda drove them off. : / They thought that she’d been infected too, but…

Cardinal: Damn, I’m sorry. -Puts both hands to his face now, venting a sigh- She gets like that when I’m unable to defend myself. She IS my support unit, after all.

Drake: …

Drake: But why was she acting so aggressive against the medical team? She was fine with me.

Cardinal: Heh. Oh, if only you knew.

Drake: I don’t suppose it has something to do with why you were covered in oil stains and didn’t show any injuries?

Cardinal: …

[He was admittedly impressed.]

Cardinal: That’s… pretty observant of you.

Drake: Hey, I work with pointing out features of the stars for a living. You pick up a thing or two… especially when you have to keep an eye out for anyone trying to sneak food in to the planetarium.

[Cardinal chuckled at this, and then rummaged through his reserves. He pulled out a W-tank and popped it open.

There was a refreshing surge of energy that pumped him up, bringing the weapons up to full strength.]

Cardinal: Well, guilty as charged. I brought snacks in with me.

Drake: -Points- What’s in that stuff? Soda?

Cardinal: It’s… it’s a formula designed to work with someone of my specs. That’s really all I can say.

[He flipped back the blanket and swung his feet over the edge. Jazz looked up from her nap.]

Drake: What even happened in there? You’ll tell me that much before running off, right?

Cardinal: -Adjusts his scarf- Well, I do owe you one for staying with me. It’s… something I can’t really explain, but it was really important that the medics didn’t look me over too closely. If you kept them off my back… I really owe you one.

Drake: Let me guess. You’re a secret military project?

Cardinal: …

Drake: I saw the dog tags.

Cardinal: …Technically yes? I confirm or deny nothing, Mister Dawson.

[He went over to a window, looking out into the hallway.]

Cardinal: You know by now that I am pretty close to the Mighty Numbers. I know them personally. They’re… honestly my best friends.

[He looked down at his scarf with a sigh, staring at the dart pinned to it.]

Cardinal: I… knew that if you keep the central core intact, you can restore someone later. And that as a virus corrupts the core, it becomes harder to remove it.

Cardinal: -Tilts his head back, closing his eyes- It was easier with the Industrials that were in all the museums. I’ve… seen enough of war machines that it didn’t bother me too much, once the initial shock and dismay wore off at Liberty Memorial.

Cardinal: Fighting crazed Civilians was harder. Much harder. Most of them would run off, though, once they realized they were going to take a beating if they kept trying to attack. I couldn’t really let it get to me… and I still have to remind myself that it’s a price of war. I’m just… just one person, powerless to help against the virus.

Cardinal: -Almost bitterly- I’m… I’m not like Beck.

Drake: …

Cardinal: -Vents a sigh- But… if we all just gave up because we couldn’t save everybody, then nobody would bother to save anybody. I had to… do what I can. With what I have.

[He clenched a fist in determination.]

Cardinal: I have a directive to help the people first, Drake. So that’s what I did. And with the Arrowhead Stadium… that meant taking on Combat ‘bots.

[He crossed his arms, tapping a finger.]

Cardinal: We were a little late to the party. I’m going to hazard a guess that most of the Combat ‘bots that had been there turned on one another pretty quickly. And probably on infected Civvies, too. There was… a lot of Xel down there.

Drake: -Yuck-

Cardinal: The only ones left standing were a group called the “Prairie Kings”—

Drake: What?

Drake: You fought the Prairie Kings? Alone?

Cardinal: -Looks up- ? Oh, you know them?

Drake: Dude—they’re one of the highest ranking teams in the Midwest! With all that you know about KC, how can you not know them?

[Cardinal laughed a little at that.]

Drake: Seriously. Sometimes, you just really don’t make sense.

Cardinal: Well, to answer your question: yes, I did. It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing, though.

Drake: Well I’d imagine NOT! How are you even in one piece?

Cardinal: -Holds up fingers as he counts- There’s the formula I told you about. But I’m humble enough to admit that the fact they’d been fighting for a day or so by the time I got to them had something to do with it.

[He shook his head.]

Cardinal: They insisted on fighting to the dissolve. It wasn’t pleasant for either party involved; they would have been better off if I’d used the stronger weapons and put them out of their misery more quickly. I’m sure Shade would have preferred that, but… (I need to save those. I only brought one other W-tank.)

Drake: Holy [glitch], man. I can’t believed you reduced the entire team to their core state all by yourself. No wonder you got to know the Mighties personally…

Cardinal: -Weak smile- It’s a little more complicated than that. If you really want, maybe someday you could hear the whole story. It would be getting into a bunch of secrets you’d have to keep from literally everyone else you know… and that even if you did tell, no one would believe you. But if you wanted to…

Cardinal: Maybe. Until then… catch.

[He tossed his cell phone to Drake, who only just caught it.]

Drake: You’re giving me your phone? What if someone calls you?

Cardinal: No one’s going to bother until after Beck rescues Avi. And that’s when, not if… but hopefully next, that would be good.

Cardinal: When that happens, you’re gonna want to call the Mighty Numbers yourself.

Drake: Me?!

Cardinal: They’ll recognize the number and pick up the call pronto.

Drake: But—but why me?

Cardinal: You heard my last conversation with them. They’re going to trace the call’s location. I wouldn’t put it past the Doctors to try and teleport me out against my will, and I just can’t have that. I can’t let anyone jeopardize the mission.

Drake: But… what am I supposed to say?

Cardinal: Well, let them know I’m still in one piece, for starters. You might want to see if you can get Beck to come over and help purge the Kings and everyone else who was down in the sands. I’m sure they’re going to be getting requests like that from all over the country, but Beck might take the time to do it anyway as a favor to me.

Cardinal: I won’t tell him how to go about healing his siblings. (It should be pretty obvious they need to focus on Bat, anyway.) I trust him to have good judgment in the matter. Though… if they insist, my advice would be to focus on the dangers in the middle.

Cardinal: (I really hope they go after Avi next, or he’s going to wind up getting wrecked by the Air Force.)

Drake: …You keep going on about your “mission”. If you aren’t gonna say where you’re going… can you at least say what that is?

Cardinal: …

[His expression becomes grim.]

Cardinal: I need to find Countershade.

Drake: You’re going after Eight? I thought you were just exaggerating!

Cardinal: I can’t sit back as long as he’s still out there. I just can’t.

Drake: -Sighs- Why do I even bother? You’re crazy enough to go through with this no matter what I say.

Cardinal: You get points for effort, Drake. But yeah, I’m afraid this is where we part ways. Stay safe, alright?

Drake: …

Drake: …Try to come back alive, okay…? If you get wrecked out there when no one can trace your signal…

Cardinal: John 15:13, my friend. It’s a risk I knew I’d be taking. I’m willing to accept the price.

Cardinal: Not going to lie to you… my plan is stupid dangerous, but it’s the best chance I’ve got. The only way that could generate reliable leads… before it’s too late. I won’t promise that I’ll make it back.

Drake: …

Cardinal: …But I’ll make an effort. I’ll try.

Cardinal: If I’m still in one piece after Shade gets rescued—trust me, that stuff will probably be making headlines as soon as Avi snaps out of it—I’ll call my phone so we can arrange for me to come pick it up.

Cardinal: If not, well. -Bleak data despite a forced, brave smile- Consider it a memento?

Drake: …

Drake: Any other messages?

Cardinal: If the PKs get restored, tell them that it wasn’t their fault. That it was the parasite, not them. It still won’t be easy on them, but it’s something they need to hear. It’ll be easy for people to forget that, with the amount of damage this has caused. I’d be happy to meet them in the arena again someday—they put up a hell of a good fight, and really gave me a run for my money. But let them know next time, they won’t be taking me by surprise, heh…

Cardinal: Anyone else and you say you don’t really know me. I’m not really interested in solicitors.

Drake: -Holds out his hand- I’ll do my best.

[Cardinal clasped his hand in a firm shake.]

Cardinal: That’s all I’ve ever asked. It was an honor, Drake Dawson. You did the city proud with how much you’ve helped out over the last few days.

Cardinal: -Lets go so he can pick up Jazz and his shield- I hope we meet again someday. I really do.

[With that, he set his sights back to the heart of the city.]

Cardinal: Farewell.

Byuubyuubyuu…

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

=CHAPTER 9B: HAZY SUSPICION=

~AO v1.0~

((Courtesy of @limitbreakers))

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

{Meanwhile…}

[Mikhail sat back with a sigh.]

Mikhail: {Finally, I’m done…}

[Coding the summary condenser had taken longer than he would have liked. However, it seemed to be working—he couldn’t say for sure until Felix came in with the temporary power core.]

Mikhail: -Stands, taking off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose- Ugh… {I hope he comes soon, or at least calls—}

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Doctor, there is a call on our emergency line--

Mikhail: ({Perfect timing!}) -Interrupts- Patch him through, Call.

[He stood, gathering up his supplies with his back to the monitor.

Jack, meanwhile, was helping around with minor chores, like sweeping up after the good Doctor--he briefly flicked his gaze to the monitor when he heard Mikhail accepting the call, and...]

Jack: .....

Jack: Doc?

Jack: Why is the CherryDyn logo on the big screen...?

Mikhail: What?

[He turns around just in time for the call to come through.

He was immediately disappointed. Rather than a message from Felix in the Meadow, it appeared to be from none other than CherryDyn’s chief executive officer.

His expression quickly changed to being cross.]

Mikhail: {Computer, end call!}

[The call shut off before the man on the other line could even say a word.]

Jack: --Dude--I mean, Doc--

Jack: That was Gregory Graham--

Mikhail: -Crossly- I don’t have time to deal with CherryDyn and their dragons. Things are bad enough as it is without him making them worse.

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Attention--we are once again receiving an urgent call from CherryDynamics.

Mikhail: =___=“ -Frustrated- -Motions for Jack to move out of sight- Put him through.

Jack: (...This cannot be good.)

[As Jack quietly makes himself scarce, the CherryDyn logo once again fills the main monitor for a few seconds, before cutting to a man in a sharply dresses purple business suit, bright violet eyes, and neatly combed blond hair--save for one strand that seemed to stick out rather largely.

Needless to say, Gregory Graham looked less than pleased.]

Graham: You don't just hang up on an emergency line, you know.

Graham: And who are YOU supposed to be--I would think that Sanda would be more aware of who was handling his feeds!

Graham: Where is he?

Mikhail: Doctor Sanda is currently otherwise engaged.

Graham: Tch.

Graham: (The nerve of this...)

Graham: I demand to speak with him. This is an urgent matter that I MUST discuss with someone that, at the very least, can provide some actual assistance.

[Mikhail listened quietly as Gregory Graham began to rant. The lights of the lab gave his glasses a sinister glare.]

Mikhail: …

Graham: Did you not hear me?

Graham: Stop muddling around and go GET him!

Mikhail: …Hmm.

Mikhail: No.

[The screen blipped back to a screensaver as he hung up a second time.]

Jack: (Oh my God--)

Jack: -Whispers, even though the call is not active- Doc, I don't think this is a good idea--

Mikhail: -Still honestly doesn’t care- I have [color=black]worse[/color] things than him to worry about. -Sits down, pulling over a notepad- He honestly doesn’t scare me, not in the slightest.

Jack: But--

[The door to the lab suddenly lurches open, revealing Soichiro walking inside with a breakfast bagel in his hand. Either he was still waking up or he didn't exactly care for the lab rules at this point either.]

Soi: -Yawn- But what...?

Soi: I heard talking... was someone calling us? Who was it?

[Mikhail was at a counter, writing out a note by now.]

Mikhail: -Without looking up- No one important.

Soi: Oh--

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Doctor, we are receiving another urgent call from CherryDynamics.

Soi: ....

Soi: . . .

Soi: -Whirls around- No one important?!

Mikhail: -Grumbles- {The man is a liar and worse, so no, not worth our time.}

[He seemed more engaged in his note writing than anything else.]

Soi: For Tyson's sake, Mikhail, I KNOW, but he's still--d'oh, never mind--!

Soi: Patch it through, Call-- -Tosses bagel at Jack- And make sure the others don't hear this--

[CALL] //: Yes, Doctor.

[The line fizzes once again.]

Graham: Sanda--Sanda?!

Graham: Ah, Sanda--thank goodness. Greg Graham here.

Soi: -Ahem-

Soi: Mr. Graham. What a...  pleasant... surprise... to hear from you...

Graham: Drop the act, Sanda.

Soi: --....

Graham: You don't like me and I do not like you--we can at least agree on that much.

Soi: (No kidding.)

Graham: You need to get a better handle on your interns. The nerve of that one...

Soi: (Cripes, Mikhail...)

[Mikhail tuned them out. While Sanda attempted to calm Gregory down, the Russian Doctor stepped aside out of sight and walked over to Jack. He had the note in his hand—and an amulet.]

Mikhail: Jack Parker?

Jack: --?

Jack: Y--Yeah, Doc? What is it?

Mikhail: You mean, why are we being called? I’m not entirely sure myself. But I am fairly certain about one thing.

[He glanced back at the door to the lab with a faint grimace.]

Mikhail: …

[He returned his attention to Jack.]

Mikhail: You won’t want to remain around here for much longer. The Secretary of Defense is in the building.

Jack: .......

Jack: Fraggin' hell...

[Mikhail holds up a hand as if to stop him from letting panic build any further.]

Mikhail: He doesn’t know you’re here. There are no records of you entering, since you came by the teleporters.

[He handed over the amulet.]

Mikhail: This is a teleportation amulet. It will take you directly to the Meadow.

Jack: !

Jack: (...He wants me to leave before...)

Mikhail: Once you get there, there are a few things I need for you to do.

[He handed over the note.]

Mikhail: I’ve written them all down in here. Just follow the instructions, and tell Felix to leave the swords behind, if you see him.

Jack: ....

[Jack glances down at the note, giving it a quick read--and confusion fills his face.]

Jack: But, Doc--

Mikhail: It will make more sense once you get there. Just… please do this for me, alright? It’s very important. For Tobias, for Cardinal, for you—

[By now, the conversation was once again getting louder.]

Mikhail: …You should go.

Jack: ..... (I shouldn't leave the Doc like this, but...)

Jack: (I can't help from behind a cell, or worse.)

Jack: Okay.

Jack: ....Good luck, Doc.

[Jack looks reluctant as he dons the amulet.]

Jack: Tell the Xel kid I said bye for now or something.

Mikhail: I will. I’m sure you’ll get the chance to speak soon enough. -Frowns, looking in the direction of the yelling- Stay safe.

[Pressing the center of the amulet transported Jack away to safety in the characteristic swirl of 0s and 1s associated with the Ambassador’s magic. Mikhail stepped back into view of the screen, his expression becoming sullen again.]

[To his annoyance, Gregory Graham clearly still hadn’t reached a point, and was still complaining, not even letting Sanda get much of a word in.

Seeing his friend and colleague treated such a way after all they had been through was starting to make the Russian feel exceedingly nasty—it wore right past his submissive baggage of the past and to his protective, fatherly nature.

There’s a saying that applies to people when they’re frustrated, and it was oh so apt for him—

Don’t poke the bear.]

[Mikhail sighed and walked over to the console again. He looked very annoyed.]

Mikhail: If all you’re going to do is insult people, then you can do it on your own time. We have more important things to attend to.

Graham: Grr--

Graham: This doesn't concern you! What is this upstart even doing in this room, Sanda, I don't even see any staff identification on him!

Graham: I doubt you even know the gravity of the situation--

[Mikhail slammed a newspaper right into the screen.]

[His glasses slid slightly, causing the glare to leave to reveal an even fiercer glare beneath them.]

Mikhail: On the contrary, Graham—I know a great deal more than you think. You want gravity? You want to play serious? Fine—try THIS on for size. I know you are ultimately behind all of this, and someday I will prove it. Do you understand me?

Graham: Excuse me?!

Soi: (Baaaah, I can't handle this anymore--)

Soi: (I've got to get Will--!)

[Mikhail slapped the newspaper down, paying no attention as Sanda hurried out of view to find Will.]

Mikhail: Do everyone a favor and go away. We have more important things to deal with than your mind-boggling incompetence.

[He ends the call abruptly.]

[MEANWHILE, WILL'S OFFICE.]

Soi: WILL--!

[Soi knocked on Will's office door as hard as he could, until the Doctor abruptly opened it with a panicked whisper--]

Will: Shhht--!

Will: Do you WANT to let Mr. Donald know I'm here--Hey--!

[Sanda didn't waste time pushing Will inside, locking the door behind him.]

Will: Soi--?

Soi: Will--

Soi: Graham is on our emergency line.

Will: --!?!?

Will:

Wh--What...?

Soi: Will--

Soi: Mikhail is dealing with him right now, but I don't think they're--

Will: YOU LEFT MIKHAIL ALONE WITH GRAHAM?!

Soi: He just--sort of--uh.

Soi: (...Oh dear--)

Will: Nononono--

[Will paces around the room in a clear panic, biting his nails and holding onto his hair with a grip that threatened to tear a good chuck of it off.]

Will: (Why why why, why is HE calling, why did Mikhail have to answer, why is this HAPPENING AGAIN--)

Will: Soi--

Will: Wh--What if he--?!

Soi: No, Will--

Soi: G-Graham hasn't mentioned you yet--and all Mikhail is doing is scolding and hanging up on him, at best...

Soi: I...It's kind of getting worse, though, and--I...I don't think I can handle it, Will, I'm sorry--

Soi: He--he listens to you, Will, so--m-maybe--

Will: NO!

[Soi is taken aback at Will's sudden outburst, full of fear and guilt--]

Will: I can't--

Will: I can't ever face Graham again, Soi, you know that--!

Will: I don't...

Will: I...

[......]

Will: I don't trust myself.

Will: I don't...I don't have the strength t-to...

[Will shakes--his entire body is shivering as he sits on the ground, one hand covering his face.]

Will: A-All this time...

Will: I...I thought...

Will: I thought that part of my life was over and DONE with, Soi...

Will: Why--Why is it happening again--?

Soi: Will...

Will: What if he...

Will: What if he recognizes me?

Will: Right there, in the open, where Mikhail is?

Will: What if my façade is not GOOD enough?

Will: ...What if I'm not good enough?

Soi: Will--

Soi: Come on, Will.

Soi: You even fooled me, at first.

Soi: And I'm sure I'm at least twice as smart as Graham ever will be.

Will: ---....

Soi: ....

Soi: Listen, Will...

Soi: I...I can't imagine what you're going through right now. I mean, I can, but...

Soi: ...I haven't been through what you have. Not then...

Soi: But...

Soi: I'm your friend, remember?

Soi: No matter what happens.

Soi: And no matter what the world thinks.

Soi: I'll always be in your corner.

Soi: And that's a fact.

Will: ....

Soi: Whatever we have to face...

Soi: We're doing it together.

Soi: I know you...

Soi: The REAL you.

Soi: Better than anyone else.

Soi: So believe me when I say that you are good enough, Will!

Soi: If you can fool me, and the entire world...

Soi: Then you can fool someone like Graham.

Soi: And...

Will: ....

Will: But what about Mikhail?

Will: And my own children?

Soi: .....

Soi: Mikhail's been working non-stop trying to fix Cardinal, and the Mighties are all asleep.

Soi: We... we can worry about them later.

Soi: Right now...

Soi: Right now, I...

Soi: We need you, Will.

Will: . . .

Soi: I promise--

Soi: The second things go south, I'll cover for you.

Soi: And we have the Meadow, if we need to run.

Soi: I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you, remember?

Will: .....

Will: Yes...

Will: I...remember...

Will: All those years ago...

Soi: Hmm-Hmm.

Soi: I know things seem bad, but...

Soi: Nothing is ever going to hurt you like that again, Will, I'm going to make sure of that--!

Soi: So don't you worry about a thing, okay? ^^ Mikhail and I got your back.

———————

Mikhail: Just… stay strong, alright? We’ll make it through this. I promised you that, remember?

-*-*-*-*-

“Listen… If anything ever goes that wrong for you, I /promise/ you I will help you find a way to fix it.”

-*-*-*-*-

Mikhail: I intend to keep to that.

———————

Will: ......

Will: . . .

-*-*-*-*-

Mikhail: I’m sorry, Will…

Mikhail: It was for good reason, and I’m prepared to pay the price for it.

[…]

Mikhail: Between everyone’s efforts, we all made it out alive—and that is all I could have hoped for, so…

Mikhail: I am willing to [color=black]pay.[/color]

[…]

Mikhail: Such… such an action is…

Mikhail: …not something easily forgiven.

Mikhail: …I must… I have to answer for this, sooner or later. It’s the right thing to do.

Mikhail: I’m sorry, William…

Mikhail: After all this time, after all you’ve done for me… I’ve gone and done something terrible, something that places you in danger.

Mikhail: I certainly won’t let anyone put that onto you.

Mikhail: -Places a hand to Will’s face- You’re like a cousin, or… or even brother to me. And I know this is hard enough on you as it is.

[…]

Mikhail: But you…

Mikhail: You’ve been doing such good work, you… you’re already under enough stress as it is… you should definitely not be hounded by the things I’ve done using your equipment. The things my nephews have done throughout this whole mess…

-*-*-*-*-

Soi: Where would you be without me, eh?

Soi: Up the creek with no paddle, that's what! ^^

-*-*-*-*-

Will: ......

Soi: --...Um. W-Will?

Soi: (He's not moving...Oh, God, did he pass out from fright--?!)

Will: No.

Soi: --?

Will: No...

Will: N-No more running...

Will: I...

Will: I can't stand this anymore.

Soi: Will--?

Will: Watching you and Mikhail take so much for my sake when...

Will: Standing up FOR me...

Will: I...

Will: I can't watch you do that for me, Soi.

Will: I can't--it...hurts.

Will: Because YOU don't deserve that, and neither does Mikhail--!

[There's a strange, sharp edge to Will's voice, one that doesn't quite belong in his tone, yet it oddly fits...rather unnervingly.

And it's all too familiar to Soi.]

Soi: --!

Will: You...you and Mikhail...

Will: You've given up so much for my sake...

Will: It's...

Will: Unfair.

Will: I can't do this anymore.

Will: I can't watch both of you take blows just because I cannot.

Will: I...

[He stands.]

[There is a familiar fire in Will's eyes, one that Soi hadn't seen in...]

Will: I can't let that...that wretched excuse of a human being hurt anyone like HE hurt ME--!

Soi: !

Soi: (You...?)

Will: I can't run from this anymore...

Will: I might as well start now rather than never.

[Will's voice drops to a growl.]

Will: Starting with Greg.

Soi: ......

[Soi seems kind of...bewildered, for a moment.]

Soi: ....

Soi: Eheh...

[But then he begins to laugh a little.]

Soi: Ooof...

Soi: I forgot how scary you can be when you get like that...

Soi: Jeez...

Will: --.....

Will: I...

[Once Soi said that, all traces of darkness left Will's gaze, replaced with a sheepish uncertainty.]

Will: I--I'm sorry--

Will: I...didn't mean to lose it like--

Soi: -Laughs-

Soi: Aw, it's okay. At this rate, I almost feel sorry for Graham!

Soi: ....

Soi: Almost. ^^

Soi: Heh.

Soi: I'm proud of ya, Will.

Will: --...

Soi: Now, uh...

Soi: We should probably get back before Mikhail sends one of his kids after him or...something...

Soi: Unless you need a--

Will: No.

[Will straightens out his hair and his lab coat, taking a few deep breathes.]

[This would be the first he's faced Graham in...not enough time.]

Will: ....

Will: I'm ready.

Soi: Good!

Soi: I'm right behind you. ^^

Will: Heh...

{Soon…}

[As Soi and Will bustled into the lab, they could hear what was clearly the tail end of a conversation.]

“Learn to take responsibility for your actions.”

[Mikhail wasn’t even looking at the screen, instead checking stuff off a clipboard.]

Mikhail: Listen to a word of advice from a SCIENTIST, Graham—do NOT experiment with things you cannot personally control. This is your fault.

Graham: My fault?!

Graham: You think I would put this great country of ours at risk like this?! You listen here, you idiotic--

Mikhail: Not interested.

BLIP!

Soi: (....Whoa. How many times has he done that now?)

Will: .....

Will: (You haven't changed at all, have you.)

Will: What is going on?

Mikhail: -Dryly- I’m still waiting for Felix to call back, but the line appears to be busy.

Will: ...But...Soi told me that CherryDyn is calling--?

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Correct, Doctor. CherryDyn's CEO Gregory Graham is calling our emergency once again as we speak.

Mikhail: Tcheh.

[He walks over to wait by a printer.]

Will: Mr. Graham?

Will: What could he possibly want from us?

Mikhail: Good question. He keeps being very vague. I fear his screeching may break the delicate instruments here if he keeps jumping pitch.

Will: .....

[That gets Will to lighten up a little, hiding his smile behind his fingers.]

Will: Was he really screeching?

Soi: You have no idea.

Will: Heh.

Will: I see.

Mikhail: Do you mind if I use the printer?

Will: Oh, not at all, Mikhail.

Will: -Ahem-

[Will smile fades off after a moment, though, and he squares his shoulders back, his body facing away from the screen.]

Will: Unfortunately, I doubt Mr. Graham will give up so easily.

Soi: Oof...Yeah...

Soi: Um, I--

Will: Don't bother, Soichiro.

Will: Allow me to handle him.

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

[Call once again patches the line though, but Will doesn't even turn around.]

Graham: Bah, finally--

Graham: Sanda, If this call cuts off one more time, I'll--

Will: No need.

Graham: --?

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

[Will's voice is....]

[...Unusually pleasant, yet with a hard undertone to it. As if he was restraining something.]

Will: Good day, Mr. Graham.

Will: I'm ever so terribly sorry for all that. Right, Dr. Sanda?

Soi: --! Oh, yes! Sorry, it's just been... so stressful as of late, some of our staff's been, uh... moody.

[Mikhail has to smile a little at that from his position near the printer. He uses sign language to speak in Russian.]

Mikhail: “{‘Moody’ is certainly one way to put it. A TRUE bear could hardly be more ready to bite the man’s head off.}”

[It nearly takes all of the Doctors' willpower to keep from snorting at that.]

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

Graham: Tch.

Graham: At least SOMEONE has some decent manners.

Will: (Ha. That is funny coming from you, you monster.)

Will: Again, I do ever so apologize.

Will: What seems to be the problem, Mr. Graham?

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

Graham: More like crisis.

Graham: It's our factory.

Graham: It's out of control!

Graham: It's cranking out hostile, infected robots and we can't STOP IT!

Will: .....

Soi: W-What?

Will: (And you didn't mention that the very first thing.)

Will: (How strange.)

Will: Hmm.

Will: That doesn't sound good.

Graham: You THINK?!

Mikhail: -Narrows his eyes- …

Will: If I recall, CherryDyn's factory's are all mostly automated, yes?

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

Will: If that's the case, I'm afraid your own servers might be affected with the virus as well.

Graham: I KNOW that!

Graham: Our security measures have all failed! Every Xel-Robot in the building has gone insane, and to top it all off, they've blocked all the exits in the building!

Mikhail: -Snorts at this- “{Those measures were never very good to begin with, if what happened in April is anything to go by.}”

Will: ....

Soi: So... you're trapped?

Graham: All of my staff and YES, myself as well!

Graham: Our HQ's been locked down, but if you and the Mighty Numbers do not hurry--

Graham: Those infected robots will FLOOD the city, and the rest of the United States!

Will: .....

Mikhail: ({A bit late to cry wolf.})

Mikhail: -Russian- {Is there ANY other option? The children are asleep, they NEED rest.}

Soi: {Well...I...I don't think so. CherryDyn's robots are mostly flimsy compared to ours--No offense to you know who, of course--but a whole army--}

Will: Call.

Will: Confirm this.

Graham: Wha--!

Mikhail: -Pinches the bridge of his nose- {Gah… if only I weren’t in—…} …

Mikhail: (I can wake up the Rebel Angels, but not my own sons…)

Mikhail: (Once they hear about what I’m going through, they’ll go RIGHT into Defense mode…)

Graham: Are you even LISTENING--

[CALL] //: Confirming...

[PING!]

[CALL] //: Confirmed. Defective CherryDyn robots are rampaging throughout the city, coming from one local source based on local reports.

Will: (So you aren't lying.)

Mikhail: —! {Wait—flimsy, right?}

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

Soi: {Yes--don't get me wrong, some of them are a pain to deal with, but Beck got through them no problem!}

Soi: {In sheer numbers, however, they'll cause enormous amounts of destruction...}

Mikhail: -Turns to face him- {More or less destruction than those using explosives to stop them?}

Soi: {I honestly do not know.}

Soi: {CherryDyn is the world's--the WORLD'S, Mikhail, top robot manufacturer. If this is already in their servers, who knows how long before it spreads off the country?}

Mikhail: {Dammit.}

Mikhail: {Ugh… very well then…}

Mikhail: {You might consider calling the Second Generation.}

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

Soi: !

Will: ...Mm.

Will: Well, this is a predicament...

Mikhail: Will—

Mikhail: {Jaden and Carlos together can truly handle themselves.}

Mikhail: {They’ll be awake by now. The only reason it hasn’t shown up is because I disconnected the servers.}

Mikhail: {This… this is the sort of thing they were made for, you know. To cause destruction. To channel that in a positive way…}

Mikhail: {It would really help the stress they’re going through right now.}

Mikhail: {Please at least consider? Your sons and daughters are so… tired…}

[The poor man looked exhausted himself.]

Will: .....

[Will doesn't quite answer back, but he nods, as if to acknowledge it.]

Will: Mr. Graham.

Will: Do you not have any countermeasures yourself?

Graham: Did I NOT just say--

Will: It's just a little odd to me.

Will: Surely, you know how tiring this has been on everyone.

Will: Did you not say yourself that you and your company would be doing EVERYTHING they can to help with the situation at large?

Graham: I--

Will: Yet...

Will: We seem to be doing all of the legwork, so to speak.

Will: Is there a reason for that?

Mikhail: {Excuse, you mean?}

[Prinz… prinz… prinz…]

Graham: How dare you--

Graham: We've been doing all we can to help CONTAIN the virus from spreading to our other servers!

Graham: We're not just twiddling our thumbs here!

Will: I see.

Will: I suppose I should thank you, then.

Will: In any case...

Will: I suppose there is no choice. Lives are in danger.

Graham: Finally, you get it--

Will: However...

Will: I ask that you do not disturb us after this.

Will: My children are quite tired.

[Will's hands ball up into fists.]

Will: And I will not have anyone asking for any more favors like this. For a long time.

Mikhail: {Good for you, Will!} -Clearly quite pleased-

Soi: Eheh...Er. Yes. We all need a...a break, eheh!

Graham: .....

[The CEO narrows his eyes at Will's form for a moment.]

Graham: So you're William Apollo White.

Will: Correct.

Will: And you'd do well to remember that name.

Graham: And him?

Will: He's going to chew off your DAMN head off if you don't MIND yourself!

Soi: --! Will...

Graham: (What the...)

Mikhail: -Grabs a file folder to put his notes in- A question, Graham, if you would.

Mikhail: The virus broke out over a week ago.

Mikhail: Why is this only now becoming a problem? Did something happen that changed things?

[He sounded genuinely curious.]

Will: That's a rather good question.

Graham: (I can't believe this--)

Graham: We've been TRYING to contain the virus all this time, like I have said.

Graham: At first, we stopped it from spreading to our factory branch--until now, that is.

Graham: We only had so many left in our Tech department after the virus struck.

Mikhail: (So it CAN be manually combated on Xel-based coded servers… that’s important information.)

Will: (Nggg....You don't care, you don't care--)

Soi: Ah-- (Oh, man--)

Soi: E-Er, we'll send help right away, Mr. Graham! Yes, we'll do that, don't you worry--

Soi: Right, Will--?

Will: ...Yes, of course.

Will: ...

Will: One more question, if you would.

Graham: -Exasperated- I do not have time to play 20 questions, White--

Will: What makes you so sure Dr. Blackwell is behind all this?

Mikhail: -Freezes- …

[He clutched the printed notes in his hand. His hands were shaking as he simmered in anger.]

[Will didn't seem to be faring so well either. His emerald eyes flared with what could only be described as burning hatred.]

Will: You first claimed that he was the cause of all of this.

Will: And then you wasted no time claiming that Dr. Sanda and myself were his cohorts.

Will: Why.

Will: I want to know why you did that.

Will: Why you're so keen on shifting the blame to everyone but y o u r s e l f.

Graham: You--! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!

Graham: It's OBVIOUS! That--that smelly old FART is out for REVENGE! Not only is the Blackwell name PROOF ENOUGH--

Graham: He's outright INSANE, and nothing SHORT of a complete MONSTER! Now stop asking STUPID questions and SEND HELP!

[That was the last straw.

Mikhail abruptly put the call on mute from his location.]

Will: --!

Soi: (Oh no--)

Mikhail: Let me tell you something, Mr. Graham.

[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.]

Mikhail: When a [color=goldenrod]genius[/color] suddenly loses it and makes the world burn, there is always something…

[He looked up.]

Mikhail: Or [color=gray]someONE[/color]…

Mikhail: … that pushed them there.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Shadow: If Doctor Blackwell has been stripped of all rights and is out of public sight, with restricted access to his person, then that means that there are—forgive the cynicism—fewer people necessary to bribe, blackmail, or distract in order to get at Blackwell himself.

Shadow: When one is kept on a tight leash, be wary to be sure the leash stays in the hand of the right master.

Shadow: …If he IS involved, he may have been for—

Mikhail: {ENOUGH.}

Will: –!

Will: (Oh dear–)

[He was hugging his daughter tightly. She was silent and cowering, with her face turned away from the camera. She was shaking slightly.]

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Will: .......

Mikhail: You are very fortunate that William is a man of incredible integrity with a hero for a son, or else you might have [color=goldenrod] more [/color] than Doctor Blackwell to worry about.

Mikhail: Assuming you aren’t lying— again.

Soi: O~O;;;;;

Soi: (Jeez, I...It's like looking into a mirror...)

[Mikhail leaned forward, looking over his glasses in waaaaaaay too calm a manner.]

Mikhail: You will address the Doctor— ALL the Doctors, but ESPECIALLY William—

Mikhail: —in a POLITE manner from here on out…

((pic))

Mikhail:  …or you will discover how unpleasant a Russian can be to a rude American.

Mikhail: Good day.

[BLIP!]

Will: . . . .

Soi: ......

[Mikhail turned to face Will.]

Mikhail: It’s up to you whether you want to get middled in with his mess, and whatever trouble he wants us to drag him out of.

Will: .....

Will: Right.

Will: ....

Will: Mikhail?

Mikhail: -Walking over to the door- I’m listening.

Will: .....

Will: I'm sorry.

Will: >>

Will: Please remind me to never get on your bad side again.

Soi: -... Quiet snort-

Mikhail: -Snorts-

Mikhail: I just can’t stand the topic Will, I’m not going to lie about that.

Mikhail: Blackwell is only a darker variation of me, the man I could have been.

Mikhail: -Places the file folder into a plastic tub near the door- I have never forgotten that. And I never will.

Mikhail: So. I’m leaving before I risk the temptation of doing something that will only make my situation even worse.  =_______=

[He shuts the door loudly on his way out.]

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