Futuristic Arcadia: Heroes World Brave

[PiePillager]

"Ah, tis shame!" Cryojet shook his head as he diverted himself higher into the air. "All the same, I suppose the mission is to stop you, not to have glorious battle..." he sighed in a dull tone as if he were repeating words first spoken to him. His turbines activated again, sending massive gusts of wind in Albert's direction that were as cold as the Siberian tundra. "Even so!" he shouted, even the wind not enough to mask his bellowing voice. "Do not be discouraged, boy! Fight with all your might! Even in harshest of circumstances!" he shouted as the chilling cold dropped the temperature even further. "Such is the mark of true hero! To overcome tremendous odds! Like legends of old!"

***
Macroman landed on an asteroid.in alien cosmos and stared back at the strange golem. After what seemed like a minute or two of staring, Macroman reached his hand above himself and caught a smaller asteroid floating in the midst of space before lobbing it at the golem.

***

The drone, which was flying back and forth almost as if it was pacing, suddenly turned and sharply towards Lynne, focusing its camera on her. "Ah, yes. The intruder. I'm not privy to sharing classified information. It is good that you stopped by as I understand there were two of you in the room, but now one has vanished in the blink of an eye. My security footage couldn'tcatchitandIsupposeitwouldbepointlesstoaskyouifyouhadanyknowledgeofwhathadoccuredasIassumeyouwouldn'tbesocallousastoreevealyourfriendsabilitiestoanunknownpartythatsofarhasbeenactingasyouroppositionthathassofarsentanexperimentalsubjectafteryouralliesand-," the voice came to a sudden stop.

"My apologies. I often keep to myself. I often forget my manners among those moving at normal speeds. I am glad you are here though. I do not believe we have as much data on you compared to your comrades. And what data we have on them is frustratingly sparse," the voice commented. "What do you say to a fitness test?" the voice asked as suddenly, a metal wall slid between Lynne and Akiko and Klaus' unconscious bodies as the floor Lynne stood on shifted as if she had suddenly found herself on a rapidly moving conveyor belt.

"The question was rhetorical," the voice added in monotone as Lynne was suddenly pushed out in midair to another room, lower in the facility. She had arrived in what appeared to be a biosphere of sorts. A vast variety of plant life could be found as far as the eye could see from multiple climates across a variety of time periods, so extinct species were in abundance.

 

[druidquest]

Lynne stumbled to keep her balance as the floor slid out from under her, before finding herself in freefall. Greenery rushed toward her as she tumbled head over rear into a large vivarium, lit by an artificial sun in the ceiling above. Her descent slowed at the last second until she hung in the air, just a couple of feet from the leaf-strewn soil, and Lynne oriented herself upright before gingerly setting foot on the ground.

"Jerk," Lynne grumbled as she dusted herself off. She raised her eyes to take in the room around her, and breathed in a soft gasp.

Lepidodendrons, seed ferns, cycadeoids, ginkgos. This place was a veritable treasure trove of prehistoric plant life - Lynne reached a tentative hand toward a broad-leafed plant nearby, but caught herself and drew it back. If only she had a camera or a notebook, some way to record what she was seeing. She couldn't understand how this could all be here - what purpose it could serve to what was supposed to be a secret gang of villains. Were they part of the experiments the drone had mentioned? But if so, in what capacity? There were too many missing pieces for her to finish the puzzle in her mind.

"Why are you growing all these?" she called out, certain the drone had followed her in to monitor the "fitness test". "How? The fossils for some of these species - you couldn't have gotten useable dna to clone them from those alone."

 

[obscured_light]

SHINIGAMI FIRE WITCH, WITCH FIRE, WE'RE ON FIIIIIIIRE, BUAHAHA

"We get fired up!" Shinigami yelled over the roar of flames that erupted from the lantern in her hand. The golem seemed unbothered as it continued to barrel towards her like a linebacker. Akiko relented and moved out of the way at the last minute. When the golem turned towards her, she could see a layer of soot where her flames had touched it. She gritted her teeth and tried again with her red flames turning orange. The golem paused but more soot built upon it, forcing Akiko to duck again except this tie it caught her arm with its own and sent her tumbling a few steps.

"Okay, well I may need you to buy me some time!" Akiko called out as the golem chased her down. "I need time to build up my flames!"

~*~

The golem didn't even move. It let the asteroid hit it and it shattered into pieces... only for it to reform itself with not all the pieces quite in the right place. It zoomed closer to Macroman and began to get smaller and smaller as it got closer to his head.

The clock began to move again.

 

[DarKnight36]

Albert took a deep breath and activated his power. The winds that hit him instantly lost all power. The air stopped moving. But it wasn't enough. The chill continued, dropping the temperature around him quickly.

Two thoughts occurred to Albert simultaneously.

The first - what did engines use to keep themselves functioning in cold temperatures? The answer: antifreeze. Albert's Backlash engine could theoretically utilize an antifreeze of its own to avoid being affected by cold temperatures, but would he have time to develop such a tool in the midst of battle?

The second thought - his power affected what he touched, but what if he could extend his influence further? He could halt Cryojet's movement completely, leaving him vulnerable to a solid hit. But... how?

The answers didn't come, but luckily enough for Albert, a new solution did arise - the cold temperatures caused him to begin shivering. His concentration on keeping his powers active caused an unintended side effect as heat literally began to radiate from Albert's skin. But what would come of this stalemate?

 

[PiePillager]

Macroman flew up higher as the small golem approached. Noticing the clock spin he stareda moment before suddenly looking up. He spun around and flew behind the asteroid that floated beneath him and the golem. He dove underneath the asteroid and quickly pushed it upward into the golem as he flew at top speed, away from the rest of the asteroid belt and into a seemingly endless sea of stars. The further Macroman went the more the golem was exposed to the frigid temperatures of space

***

Cryojet looked around in amazement. "Oh, very unexpected!" he nodded, as if in approval, almost. "It seems we are evenly matched, da? Did not expect such a technique but it is good. Forces one to improvise. Not much I can do, though." he began to pace, one hand behind his back while the other held his chin in thought. "Any kind of energy you absorb so I can't be fighting hand to hand. Is bad idea for me. And I'm supposed to be stopping you..."

Crtyojet snapped his fingers. "Just have to see how long you can keep up this," he smiled as compartments in his vents opened up, each of them blasting a torrent of frigid air trying to overtake Albert's energy wave of heat.

 

[Wing06]

Klaus nodded, "Time is the one thing I may be able to buy you!" He tossed his tech, waiting for it to latch to the golem. Activating it, he took point. "You'll have to get through me if you want her!" The creature's movements began to slow to a crawl. Its inorganic nature made it impossible for Klaus' tech to freeze the golem's time particles precisely, but slowing the monster down gave them a chance. With the power of his nanotech suit behind him, Klaus slammed a hard left hook into what could be the golem's chest, knocking it back a few inches before readying a right hook. "One step forward, three steps back!" He chuckled.


*****

"Why are you growing all these?" Lynne called out, "How? The fossils for some of these species - you couldn't have gotten useable dna to clone them from those alone."

"You're not the only team with access to a Time Traveler, love," An Australian-accented voice began from behind Lynne. "Though he doesn't come 'round very often anymore," The voice said with a sigh. "Anyway, time for your test!"

Before Lynne could turn around, a curved weapon flew past her head, and half a second later, a second weapon flew past her on the opposite side. The two curved projectiles hung in the air momentarily before making an arc and rounding back to their target. "Let's see how quick you are, little sheila!"

 

[druidquest]

A time traveler? Oh.

Lynne stepped to the side as the twin boomerangs whizzed past her, wind tugging at her hair in their wake.

'I see."Her calm tone chilled the air around her. Her hair shimmered with moonlight as she removed her glasses, tucking them carefully into her pocket. "This isn't an observation room." She turned toward the Australian, eyes filled with contempt. "It's a treasure horde."

Her transformation came on in an instant, blasting air away from her. The leaves shuddered on the plants around her, gravel hovering off the ground as she radiated raw lunar power. "I try not to get angry often," she growled, clenching her fists at her sides. "But to gather so many lives, with so much to be learned from them, just to sell them off for collectors? That just pisses me off."

The Australian didn't even have time to register her movement before Lynne was grabbing him by his shirt and hurling him across the vivarium. "You want to see what I can do?!" she roared. "Then you better get ready to take some notes!!"

 

[obscured_light]

"Wait Klaus!" Akiko cried out, catching his arm as he was about to take another swing. "I got this!"

She made sure he was a few steps back before she began to focus, her lantern out in front of her. The flames inside were dull red before brightening into a cherry red and then a bright orange. The temperature inside the suit began to rise into uncomfortable territory but Akiko gritted her teeth and continued. As the flames grew inside the lantern and turned white, a distinct crack could be heard and her flames receded.

The drone flew up as the other golem Klaus had been fighting backed off as well, having cracked one of Klaus' devices that held the original golem in place. It swung its arms tentatively, testing its growing freedom.

"If we can wrangle them together, I can melt them down," Shinigami said as she debating switching to Earthshaker. "Or I can take one down but you need to hold them off..."

She held the lantern up once more, "What do you want to do?"

~*~

Ice crept in and cracks came out. Like The golem slowed and began to freeze up even as its body began to crack apart. It seemed to twist slightly as though to shake off the cold of the depths of space.

The second hand ticked slower.

Frozen in space, the golem floated.

 

[Wing06]

"You've got some bite, mate! I like it!" He said, his voice dropping to a low growl. "Name's, Apex, I'm going to enjoy besting you!" He charged at Lynne, jumping over her at the last second to recover his curved weapons as they sailed through the air, completing their arc. "This vivarium is my sanctuary, where I can attune myself to nature and let myself run wild." He smirked, "You're in my territory sheila. Apex doesn't take too kindly to interlopers." Apex threw the two curved weapons toward the ground, each attaching to his boots' toe. "In the Cretaceous period, the Velociraptor was one hell of a predator. Respected and feared, just like me." He chuckled and rushed at Lynne, pulling his left leg back for a kick, the claw on the end of his boot shining in the artificial sunlight. "Let's go, girlie!"


***

Klaus cocked his head to the side, allowing his helmet to dematerialize, "We need to end them both as quickly as possible. If Earthshaker can do it, I'll buy you as much time as you need!" He smirked, and his helmet materialized again.

He tossed another disc onto the Gollem that had begun breaking its sudo-stasis. "Now, now, no cheating," He chuckled, kicking the Gollem in what he could assume was the back of its knee. The construct faltered for a second, Klaus's tech taking hold, the second Gollem raised its arms and brought them crashing down on Klaus, pressing him into the concrete floor and cracking the slab. "Okay...I'm getting sick of being knocked down...A short electrical pulse ran over his suit, arcing into the cables of the Gollem pressing down on Klaus in an attempt to create a temporal paste. The create reeled as the electricity flowed into it, giving the Cobalt Clock just enough time to roll out of the small indentation he'd been used to make and catch his breath. "Yep, take all the time you need, Shinigami. I've got this handled." He stated, rising shakly to his feet.

 

[druidquest]

Lynne ducked back, Apex's claw sailing over her. She weaved to one side and then the other, avoiding further kicks from the Prehistoric Predator before blasting the earth at Apex's feet, obscuring his vision with a cloud of dirt and distancing herself from Apex, retreating into the foliage around him.

She felt kind of bad now. Her grandpa had always told her not to jump to conclusions about people, but she'd let her temper get the better of her, and it was irresponsible.

"Sorry for calling you a thief," her voice called from within the tangle of ancient trees. "I shouldn't have been so impulsive. You have a lovely sanctuary."

 

[DarKnight36]

A thought occurred to Albert. He let the cold air wash over him as he cut down the output of his energy.

"Hey," he said to Cryojet. "Can you do me a favor? Hit me with one of those missile things. I want to try something."

 

[PiePillager]

Cryojet folded his arms, and gave as much of a quizzical look as he could with most of his face covered by his helmet. "You want try something? Some sort of trick, yes? It will not work..."

"..."

"..."

"...That being said. Standstill is boring,, yes? Far too boring. Alright, you've convinced Cryojet. What trick you'll be pulling, will be better than simply standing still!" the cyborg mused before he flew up into the air, opened the missile compartments on his shoulder and fired a salvo of ice missiles at Albert.

***

Macroman continued to push the asteroid until the golem began to feel a blistering sun break through the icy chill. An immense heat. That of a sun. Macroman continued to push forward, letting the golem floattowards the massive star in the hopes that it would be obliterated.

 

[DarKnight36]

The missiles struck on and near Albert, exploding and coating the hero with ice. Combined with the frigid air, Albert froze completely solid.

 

[obscured_light]

"I won't need Earthshaker then," Akiko said as she brought the lantern forward once more. The heat from it grew, the fire licking at the glass that contained it as it changed hues and colors, its intensity threatening to destroy its physical prison. Beads of sweat ran down Akiko's forehead as the suit began to grow hot as well. The fire grew smaller as it changed to white and finally, blue. It was hard to breathe in the suit.

The blue flames burst forward and consumed the golem in front of her. A high pitched, grating sound escaped from it as it melted at a rate faster than it could escape its fiery encasement. Stepping forward, Shinigami then directed the fire towards the other two golems, unable to give Klaus a warning but hoping the heat and brightness of the blaze would be more than enough to get him to move.

~*~

As the golem disintegrated in the intensity of the sun, so too did the clock begin to melt. Klaus and Akiko could hear ticking as clearly as the roar of the flames that surged around the golems. Tick, tock, ti-

The lantern shattered as it collapsed on the ground between Akiko and Klaus. The two were now back in their bodies, dust no longer on them. Fire began to spread out but Shinigami wasn't moving.

 

[Wing06]

"Oi! We aren't done yet!" Apex shouted, wiping the dust from his eyes as best he could. "Little devil, couldn't have gone far! I'm gonna find you, lass, and when I do, oh, when I do..." He narrowed his eyes and smiled a cold smile. These heroes weren't going to get Sasha back so quickly. No, Apex and the others had been given a job, and he knew they'd all give it their best shot, even if it meant eliminating the members of The Brave.

Small sensors tracked Lynne as she ran through the replicated Prehistoric forest. Every sensor she tripped sent data to Apex's wrist-mounted communicator. Apex scowled at how close he'd been to getting cloned Raptors to run around, but he'd been out-voted. "They'd certainly come in handy right about now!" He shouted to no one. Apex would have to manage on his own; he'd been bred for combat and tracking. His military career taught him most of what he needed; fighting Supers was just another Tuesday for him, and Lynne was just that, another Super. She couldn't elude him forever. The system they'd built wouldn't allow her to penetrate any deeper into the facility.

Apex typed a string of commands into a small data pad, and the artificial sun went dark. A cacophony of insect songs filled the forest, "You can't hide forever, sheila. You can't hide from APEX!"


***

Klaus's suit's sensors detected the rising heat, and he managed to dive to the side in time for Shinigami's attack to consume the golems. He watched through polarized lenses as the golems melted into slag.

***

The brightness of the flames filled Klaus's vision until he was shooting up from the ground surrounded by fire. He barely had a second to get his bearings before shaking Akiko. "We have to move now!" He pleaded with her, but she remained unconscious. He fought back a wave of nausea as his head spun. He wanted answers, but he needed to get Akiko out first. "We phased in; phasing out isn't an option..." The sounds of a battle nearby filled the spaces between the roaring flames. The room they'd entered wasn't so contained any longer. "Henry? Henry?" Klaus called over his comms, throwing Akiko over his shoulder. "Anyone?" He trudged through the office furniture and concrete debris, trying to find some semblance of an exit in all the smoke.

 

[PiePillager]

Cryojet glanced and sighed at the frozen Albert, before offering a shrug. "That's it? That's your big plan? Bit disappointing eh, but hey! Fight was fun while it lasted!" He moved to pick up Albert. "Let us be getting you to interrogation room now, yes? Superiors may prefer you dead, but is pointless. Better to interrogate, yes?"

***
Noting the Golem's disappearance, Macroma felt and heard the telltale sign that he had been spending too long in this form and with a flash of light, returned to the room he had left Akiko and Klaus in and resumed his human form....only to find it ablaze! "What the hell happened while I was gone?!" Henry asked, looking around for Klaus, Akiko, or Lynne. Using his jacket to shield himself from the flames, Henry saw Klaus, drawing Akiko out of the room.

"Cobalt! Shinigami!" I'm-"

"Too late..." a voice interrupted. The same voice that had once emitted from the small drone. The room once again began to shift. Walls realigning and jutting out, which quickly smothered the fire....but pushed Klaus and Akiko apart and sectioned off Henry. Each of them felt the floor move around them as they were hauled off to a different part of the facility.

***

Klaus would find himself falling through to a darkened room but before he hit the ground, a beam emerged that kept him suspended in midair. In a darkened room, a man with a chrome helmet sat, hundreds of wires hooked to the back end of the helmet and onto a large computer mainframe. There appeared to be no visible eyes but still he looked at Klaus directly, it appeared.

He wore a black suit with green lines of blue and green light coursing through it as he typed on a console....far too fast for the human eye to catch. "It appears introductions are in order, Cobalt Clock. I am Fang's resident technician and data analyst, Turbomind. You and your friends appear to be more trouble than you're worth, but that's fine. Plans can be adjusted. Problems can be dealt with," he spoke slowly. He was the same man who had spoken through the drone earlier.

"But you and your friends are quite a difficult problem indeed. You've eradicated Experiment 57. Not many can achieve such an outcome. So you're going to tell me how that came to be and furthermore...You're going to tell me exactly what this tech of yours works. This isn't the first time I've witnessed the equipment of a time traveler, but this is by far more advanced than anything I've witnessed. And that's not something I often say..." Turbomind glanced at his monitor.

"Biometric scans read human," he stood up to get a better look at the results as he put a hand to his chin. "Hmm...disappointing. I thought I'd finally be able to get my hands onsomealientechbutlaswouldithavebeensoeasyandtothinkitissohardtocomebyyetwestillknowsolittleaboutthemsuchashowmanyareamongusoriftheycomefromotherplanetsasopposedto...." Turbomind's manner of speech increased rapidly, the words quickly blurring together as he paced back and forth becoming a miniature blur before Klaus' eyes, before suddenly stopping and taking a look back at his captive. "Hmm. Apologies. Even one proficient in time travel surely cannot keep up with my thought processes. Most cannot. Now before I begin the less savory methods, I'll ask again. What is the nature of your tech? I'd study it myself, but I know better than to be foolish and assume you do not have any failsafes installed."

 

[DarKnight36]

Albert's frozen hands moved like lightning, grasping Cryojet's suit. Just as quickly, in a move reminiscent to judo, Albert slammed Cryojet into the ground and quickly pinned his opponent.

"I have to thank you," he said, the words slightly slurred due to how cold Albert was. "You see, the absence of warmth is cold. When I absorb warmth, I create cold. So it's only natural that cold can't hurt me either, wouldn't you agree? It was only thanks to you that I realized this."

Albert grinned. "So, there's an interrogation room, huh? Sasha said this place was an old abandoned base but I guess you guys re-opened..."

 

[druidquest]

Lynne darted between the trees, dropping her powered form as soon as Apex was out of sight. The brief skirmish had gotten her turned around a little, but she still had a vague idea of which direction the exit should be in, assuming it was opposite the wall she'd been dumped in from. It wasn't that she didn't want to fight Captain Raptor - he seemed nice enough - but she'd embarrassed herself a little by jumping to conclusions so quickly, and it didn't feel right to beat some one up who hadn't actually done anything wrong that she knew of. Besides, her priority should be finding the others' friend first, right?

Lynne vaulted over a tangle of roots, smacking into the wall of the vivarium and bouncing off to find herself staring at the door. There were no actual locks on the door itself, just a pad next to it with a blank red screen. She hummed at it, dissatisfied with what it suggested to her. Lynne placed her hands on the door, beginning to glow as she pushed against it, but it refused to budge. She stepped back, gathering energy in her hand to blast it open.

Then the lights went out.

Lynne was the only light source in the darkness of the vivarium, the air filled with the screams and buzzing wings of insects, and she released the energy from her hand as those nearby started to flit around her, drawn by her moonlit glow. She sighed; this guy wasn't gonna just let her leave, was he?

"I already apologized for my misunderstanding! We really don't have to do this," she called through the darkness, waving away a mosquito hovering by her face. "You seem like a friendly guy, it would make me feel bad now."

---

Akiko would find herself pulled into a dark room of her own, unable to make out the walls or ceiling through the murk. A single ball of blue flame appeared in front of her, then another to its side, then another, and another, until there were twelve forming a circle around her, placing her at the center of the room. Small circles appeared on the floor under each, lines tracing from them and running toward her before forming a central circle beneath her feet.

"Shinigami-tantei," a voice spoke from somewhere above her. Looking up, she would see a hall on top of one of the walls, the air shimmering in front of it to suggest a barrier denying her entrance. Smoke gathered behind it, condensing into a man in a black kimono, worn with one sleeve hanging off his shoulder. The man's long silver hair hung past his waist, and in one hand he held a Buddhist khakkhara staff. "Youkoso," he greeted, bowing slightly. "You may call me Abe no Hideyoshi, master of twelve great demon spirits."

"I have heard you are something of a spirit medium as well," he said, raising his head. "If that is so, consider this a game to see which of our techniques is superior. I shall take the first move." With that, he struck the base of his staff against the ground, the sound of the rings echoing across the chamber. One of the flames pulsed in time with it, then with a single word from its master, burst and formed into a giant rat, its face covered by an oni mask. It chittered and hissed, lashing its long tail.

"Begin!"

 

[obscured_light]

Akiko's sight slowly adjusted, perceiving the limitations of her new arena. There was a familiar weariness and the events of before where had pushed the Witchfinder came back rapidly, the belt announcing Shinigami Gray in response to Abe no Hideyoshi's introduction. She cracked her knuckles but as the flame pulsed, a smirk came to her lips. Perhaps his introduction was more important than she had originally thought, eyeing the other lit flames. But as she reached out, palm up, the detective froze.

Her body reacted quicker than her mind as she lept back, clutching something to her chest. A moment, she just needed a moment, as she slowly pried her hands away from her chest. The sound of glass scraping reached her ears before she could fully comprehend the sight of the broken lantern in her hands. Smoldering ashes with tiny pieces of glass lay inside. Shinigami stood there, dumbfounded, vulnerable.

 

[druidquest]

The Demon Rat spun, slamming its tail into Akiko's side and sending her sprawling across the room.

"Hoooh? Is this all you can muster?" Abe no Hideyoshi lamented. "Surely you won't leave me so unsatisfied, to be defeated by only the first and weakest of my servants?"

The Rat stalked around the room, hissing as it circled Akiko's prone frame, waiting for her to stand, waiting for her to fight.

 

[obscured_light]

Akiko didn't get up immediately.

She continued to lay there for a minute or two, the gears in her head spinning frantically to the point that you could almost see the steam coming out of her ears. Well, one ear seeing as her other ear was currently pressed to the floor, still lying prone as she was. Gray's form had broken and for a moment, it seemed like Akiko had too.

"...doesn't hurt."

She whispered it ever so faintly to herself, palms flat on the ground, eyes fixed on the broken lantern beside her.

"It didn't hurt."

In one smooth motion, Akiko pushed herself off the ground.

"BADABADA, BA TSS BAM, SHINIGAMI VIOLET DANCE, NOW ON STAGE."

The whip in her hand cracked in the air. She did a small twirl, showing off the suit that looked like a suit of armor made out of amethyst. Shinigami Violet Dance pointed at the giant rat, winking underneath the helmet.

"My apologies! Seems I had a bit of lag and needed a reset. If it's a show you want, I'm the director now!"

Shinigami pretended to reach into her suit and little purple balls appeared in her hand. She tossed out most of them onto the ground between her and the rat except for one. That last one she tossed into the air and widened her stance slightly, moving her weight onto her back right heel. She cracked the whip again, the amethyst at the end of it colliding with the purple ball.

It exploded into smoke. In that same instant, Shinigami dashed forward and each ball she stepped on, set off another cloud. Using the smoke for cover, she swung the whip out, hoping to deliver a blow to its side just as it had done.

Revenge.

 

[druidquest]

The Rat recoiled from the smoke, chittering angrily as it confused its senses. It stood on two legs, scenting the air to find its quarry. Right- no, left! It rounded on Shinigami, too late. Her whip slammed into its side, throwing the demon across the room and crashing into the wall. It burst back into flame, vanishing from the field of battle.

"Hohoh! There is the warrior I have heard of," Abe no Hideyoshi congratulated her turnaround with light applause, his staff hanging in the air by itself. "Come then, Shinigami-tantei. Let us see how you handle this next one." He gripped the staff once more, striking its base against the ground and filling the room with the sharp bell of its rings. "Tù!"

Another of the blue spirit-fires burst, resolving itself into a demon-masked rabbit dancing on two feet. It grooved by itself for a moment, enjoying music only it could hear, then waved at Shinigami and vanished.

Bak-bak-bak-bak! The sound of feet striking against the walls and ceiling came in rapid succession, bouncing around the room too fast to see, and then- BAM! A furry leg slammed into Shinigami’s back, launching her across the floor. The Rabbit flipped away with the strike, landing with a flourish and beginning to dance again before vanishing once more.

 

[Wing06]

Klaus floated in the beam of light TurboMind had him suspended in. He wasn't a fan of weightlessness, but his suits and gyros did their best to keep him even. "Look, you seem like a nice enough guy," He began, "I think I can help you. You want your mind to stop racing, don't you? I can help you with that; I can slow your thoughts down with my tech, and together, we can develop a version that doesn't burn out after the subject strains itself; you can be normal like you've always wanted. Right?" Klaus smirked under his helmet. He'd hoped he had struck a chord with the man, who would wish to be normal with his level of genius? He knew TurboMind would refuse.

****

Apex slipped through the trees in silence, hunting his prey. She made it easy enough once she became the only glowing object in the forest. "You know, this test wasn't my idea," He began, stepping out from the trees behind Lynne. He shook his head, seeing the keypad, "The passcode was 65645." He typed it in on a small pad on his wrist, and the door in front of Lynne opened with a whoosh. "Your team has done nothing wrong. I can respect you all and what you're trying to do; now go, and if anyone asks, Apex did not send you."

 

[DarKnight36]

"Once again, we face each other." The Fang member who had spoken turned to face Henry. His suit seemed to be made of a thousand tiny mirrors, creating a strange demented reflection of Henry's own form. The room itself had several dozen lights imbedded in the walls, floor and ceiling, all of them bright but not blinding. "I am called Krith."

"I must confess, this is not the position we wanted to be in," the mirror-man continued. "I knew from the moment I laid eyes on you in Atlas City, I had no wish to battle with any of you. And before you ask, I truly believe Jacques' actions were out of line, reprehensible and psychotic. His slaughter of civilians goes against everything Fang stands for."

***

"Is TurboMind insane?" Torpor hissed, pacing back and forth. His cloak smoldered constantly, his hands scratching at the gas mask that covered most of his face. "He could have let the Brave continue on their wild goose chase! We never needed to fight them. Does he really think we have a chance against them? Even with Jacques..."

"You'd better watch what you say," interrupted Srin, her long, dirty hair not concealing enough of her wide-eyed glare that she gave her companion. "You never know when Jacques is listening. Although, I don't think Jacques would have wanted this outcome either. Still, it's foolish to consider TurboMind making any decisions like this for himself."

"You're saying he was ordered to let the Brave in then," Torpor wheezed. "It would have to be the General then. For what purpose would the General order that?"

"It's foolish to wonder why," Srin said, her cracked teeth finding cracked nails. "Just accept it and prepare. I'm sure we'll be fighting soon enough."

Torpor's pacing didn't slow, nor did his breathing become less strained. And despite Srin's advice on patience, she couldn't help the shivers of fear running down her spine.

 

[PiePillager]

"Trite. Attempting to buy time, to talk. I'd administer a shock that would briefly send jolts of immeasurable pain throughout your nervous system, were it not for the fact that it could possibly damage your equipment," TurboMind, spoke, keeping his tone even as his hand rapidly moved across his keyboard faster than the human eye can see. "My mind moves faster than any computer. Attempting to outsmart me is a futile effort, however I am aware you are the kind of caped operative who will attempt to and succeed in pullingoffsomethingunexpected,caseinpointthestuntsyouandyourfriendshavemanagedalready..." he turned to glance at the monitor.

"Apex's better nature has appealed to him as expected..." Turbomind muttered to himself. "I could shunt her off into another room. I haven't finished my studies of her abilities after all, but she's getting closer to the others." He noted, pulling a lever as four drones entered the beam of light that Klaus was suspended in. "It's time we hasten this interrogation. I have seen you and your cohorts before. Footage on Atlas Beach. You all battled the beast. Most of you, anyway."

TurboMind quickly looked at the monitor as it displayed a line descending downward before it split off into many branching pathways before his head darted back to Klaus. "Your chronometry data has come in. You are indeed from a future, as I'm sure you're aware. But I can't pinpoint it to a specific point. I have simulated many possible futures ever since the attack on the beach, and in order to best study exactly what occurred, I've found it best to ask anomalies such as yourself for answers. With every kernel of knowledge, I gain, I get one step closer to piecing it all together...."

His hand rapidly picked up a remote and clicked it. The four drones began to whirr. "I've devised a more creative way to kill you," TurboMind couldn't help but smile a bit. " Tell me what information you know before you die. Know that the information you reveal is going towards a worthy cause."

***

Henry looked around the room warily. "Then you and I are both in agreement. Only problem is, he DID do what he did. And people died. People who had nothing to do with whatever your deal with Koschei is. Having someone like that in your employ doesn't exactly bode well for my trust in you people."

Henry glanced around the room, squinting slightly due to the light as he tried to pinpoint the direction Krith's voice was coming from. "And because of him, there's likely gonna be some sort of retaliation. As much as I want to, I don't know how to stop that from happening. Not yet, anyway. But if you're so inclined to help, then maybe you can help us. You know why we're here. Our mutual friend was taken here against his will. Let him go and we'll be out of your hair. And maybe we can somehow help your team prevent any further loss of life."