Two's Company, Four's a Party(IC)

[Ari]

"Done" came Archer's voice, all jocularity gone and replaced with grim intensity. In a flash of light that receded in a downright trippy fashion, the lair, Expiostinot, and the crashing boulders all vanished. The Doom Room appeared once again, a hospital trolly rolling up, a pincer of force fields reaching out to place him on the bed. "If you're in a bad way Marcus, plop on down and we'll get you to the infirmary and try to find out what the matter is"

[GranspearZX]

He wanted to lie and say he was okay, but there was no way anyone was buying that--especially not Archer. Marcus sank to his knees, palms on the ground as he tried to will back the Beast rune's influence. He was only vaguely aware of what was going on around him, but he could tell parts of him were physically changing under the stress of the primal magic coursing through him. His fingernails were distinctly more clawed than before, so much so that they were leaving scratches on the floor. He really did feel as if he was about to lose it...

Kristin's voice and touch were the first to break the haze buzzing at his mind, and his left arm shot upward to grab her wrist. It wasn't forceful--or at least, not as much as it could have been. Somewhere amidst it all, he realized the holograms had disappeared, and the danger, such as it was, had passed, and the Beast rune's hold over his emotional and physical state started to recede. Suddenly, he felt nauseous. He didn't even react as the force field picked him up, putting him on the bed.

"Sorry guys..."

[Vahnyu]

For a long time, Serge lied unmoving from his spot, his battle stance unchanged. To his great shame, his mind registered the call for a break, but his body was still not ready to give up. Perhaps it understood that if it let the andrenaline that sustained it, it would collapse on the spot. One hit! We were so close... One hit... Serge repeated in his mind again and again, as if his thoughts were running on a loop.

Managing to find the strength and move again, Serge put his fists down, though, he noted, the wouldn't unclench. Moving slowly, he reached Marcus, and putting a hand on his shoulder, he said "... it... it couldn't be helped, senior. We should have taken him down before that. We all failed." He said, his face full of sweat and tears behind his mask. "That's the point of the practice; to know our limits, and learn to work around them" But if that's so, then why does it hurt so much? "Let's just catch our breaths, for now."

[Ari]

Subito slowly got to his feet, the world a haze of variable colors that slid into each other as it spun on its axis at that degree that made it neither a perfect sphere nor shaped it like a egg. He observed that the holographic enemy had vanished, that the program had been cancelled, and that apparently somethe had happened to Marcus. With a groan he floated into the infirmary, hoping the solid-light punch hadn't done any permanent damage to his throat, a fear quickly revealed by the A.I. of the facility to be groundless. After a shot to help repair the damage done, he returned to the other two roughly as downcast as they. "So..what comes after the combat again? Or do we need to do that bit over?"

[Scuffles]

Kristin headed over to Serge to offer him some support on the way out of the simulator room. With Marcus seemingly ill, Subito beaten and battered and Serge looking completely shattered she was the only member of the team who wasn't suffering too badly after the simulated fight. She almost felt guilty about it.

Hopefully the medical gear back there is as good for more serious injuries as it was for my little burn..

As she waited for her friends to get some medical attention she replayed the fight in her head. They'd thrown everything at the holographic professor and it didn't really seem like they had done all that much damage.

Still, they sent the Freedom league to get the guy for a reason. We're nowhere near that kind of weight class. Guess we just work on it and take another crack at him once we have a bit more experience under our belts!

"I don't know what comes next." she replied to Heraldo. "I guess we wait and see how Marcus is, then wait to hear from Mister Archer?"

[Ari]

GM

"Skill-testing!" rang the voice of Archer over the speakers, heralding the re-arrival of Marcus from the infirmary "Couldn't find anything wrong enough with Ol' Irons here to keep him from coming back, so he's back. Needed a little rest, and some meditation to ease that Rune of his out of gear is all. To be totally honest with you guys: That was quite a stunning effort. I didn't know you had it in you to fight someone like Prof. E on any kind of keel, and the kinds of hits you pulled off are quite frankly phenomenal! But that said, we're not going to give you a second crack at him, at least for a while"

"Now," he said briskly "the way this works is as follows: the Doom Room is going to make four rooms, one for each of you, where you cannot assist one another. This is very important, by the way. In the room will be a challenge that you must complete if you want to leave the room, and trust me" he added with utter seriousness "I'd hate to spend an hour in any of them. The computer will give a thorough explanation of the rules for each room, good luck to you!" the familiar noise of his voice cutting out sounded, and four doors arose from out of the floor next to each of the students, each clearly marked with the name of whoever was to go inside.

[Ari]

Subito started as the doors rose from seemingly nowhere, whistling at the illusion with evident glee "That's a sight to see" he commented to Serge "Good luck to you guys, with any luck I won't screw this up!" he called over his shoulder as he stepped quickly through the large wrought-iron door bearing his name. He gazed about the space he found himself in with unfeigned interest, wondering how the illusions needed for everyone's tests was maintained at the same time?

[GranspearZX]

Coming down from an adrenaline rush was always a process. For Marcus, however, it was a genuine struggle. Lying down made it a lot easier and more bearable, and though he was exhausted from the effort of fighting and suddenly reining himself in, he was beginning to, slowly bus surely, regain his composure.

He would never admit it, but it was easily the most scared he'd been of the Beast rune since his father's arrest and his subsequent discovery of his magical heritage. He felt like he was on the edge of a vast chasm, looking in and being prodded towards the fall. Marcus had 'episodes' like that before, but there was something distinctly different about this one. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, until he sat up to get out of the bed he'd been placed on.

"Agh! Son of a... !" He grimaced, accidentally biting his tongue. Marcus paused, then reached up to examine his teeth with his fingers--his canines and incisors hadn't gone back to normal like they usually did when he wasn't actively using the Beast rune. He couldn't feel its magic actively influencing the change either... ...oh God. I think it's... permanent.

Nah, it's just... maybe I haven't come down yet. If not... I'm sure I'll be able to figure it out later. The young shapeshifter shook his head, forcing himself to focus as he stood up, stumbling a little bit before regaining his footing. If nothing else, the episode had strengthened his resolve to control the Beast rune, rather than the other way around. Marcus even tried to smile as he rejoined the group--a faint grin, not wanting to freak the others out with a fully fanged smile.

"I think I'll live," he quipped, rubbing at the back of his neck. He still had something of a headache, though. It was a faint buzzing at the back of his mind, the kind he usually got when he was tired and spent too much time in front of a television or computer screen. He looked at the doors as they appeared, an eyebrow raised at the one with his name on it. "...mm. Lovely."

[Scuffles]

Kristin had been pacing while she waited for Marcus to re-emerge from the medical rooms. She hadn't known the senior for more than an hour or two, but after entering the Doom room together she already considered him a teammate, and seeing him so ill after third fight had left her very concerned.

When Marcus returned she greeted him with a quirky smile and a quick "You alright?", but Archer's voice interrupted before she could press the issue. She listened to the instructions and then turned towards the door with her name on it. A moment later she planted her hands on her hips. "Kristin is spelled with an 'i' not an 'e' Mister Archer!" she complained.

"I guess it was nice knowing you guys" she chuckled as she looked at the door, then each of her friends in turn. "Good luck!"

[Vahnyu]

In the time that it took for the medical staff to examine Marcus, Serge finally got his breath under control, and while he could feel the pounding of his heart all the way up to his neck, he felt more relaxed, overall, and ready to tackle any new challenge sent on his way. After hearing Archer's explanation, Serge got up, pulled his mask(and with that, his 'game-face') back on, and headed towards the room that was assigned for him. "Keep your cool, everyone. I'm sure that we can make it." he stated matter-o-factly to the others. "Just make sure to keep your reactions ready, and everything will go smoothly." Hopefully...

[Ari]

GM

Net Fly:

Serge found himself on the bridge of a starship, a sleek, well-light and tasteful affair that was denied its full splendor only by the approaching sight of Earth careening directly for him! The voice of the computer spoke "keep the spacecraft from impacting the Earth and releasing contaminants into the air that would totally destroy any and all unprotected life forms. you have seven minutes" and with that it cut out, leaving the vast array of controls totally unexplained.

Glow:

Kristin found herself stepping into a blank white room with an exit at the end marked "DO NOT ENTER". With a sharp hissing, a forest of blue laser rays sprouted from the walls, floor and ceiling, leaving only a perilously thin and constantly(though slowly) moving avenue to the other side. The computer spoke "make your way to the other side without using your powers, disrupting one of the rays will alert the OVERTHROW operatives whose base you have infiltrated of your presence, and they shall seal you in here and flood the room with carbon monoxide. good luck"

Arcturus:

Marcus stepped through the door onto a pine forest, a soft chill putting the quiet of the natural setting in a rather sinister tone. Before him was a wizard's tower, with a wyvern curled around the base, an evil green smoke coming from one of the upper windows, and a richly-dressed young man languishing on the top of the turret surmounting the original stone house. The computer spoke "rescue the prince from the wizard by whatever means you see fit, short of killing anyone"

Heraldo:

Subito walked through the door and into a scene all-too familiar to Freedonians: a strangely-dressed flying man throwing a car at the head of some poor soul. Thankfully, Subito was strong enough and quick enough to catch it easily. Tossing it aside, he realized to his horror that now he would probably have to fight the man, who sent him through a bus with a single punch! The computer spoke as he groggily got to his feet "convince the supervillain to surrender. good luck" the light from the sun was abruptly blocked by the body of the man, who's eyes glowed with a light that didn't argue anything good...

[GranspearZX]

"...wow."

Marcus frowned. He really was most comfortable in a natural setting, but the wyvern and tower reminded him vaguely of his time on War-Earth. It wasn't an entirely pleasant memory, and the wyvern itself was going to prove to be a real challenge. He took several deep breaths, his heart rate still a little elevated from his earlier episode. Doing a quiet inventory of himself, he clenched his right fist and then opened it again, a short fiery puff of smoke and flame expelling from his palm.

Well, I guess at least that's in working order. Now what...

This didn't seem like the sort of thing that he should brawl his way through. He was actually going to have to think a little bit this time. He nodded slowly and first looked around for entrances, keeping to the trees as he started to circle the tower. The more information he had, the better... especially since he had no clue as to what this wizard or his pet were capable of doing.

Even without trying, the Beast rune was giving him plenty if ideas. Though his bear form was his 'default' form, he'd used Primal elements to transform into different things before. Just a few months ago, he'd used the Water rune to change into a reptile. He was too worried about having another episode of atavism--something that he'd been warned about long before and was beginning to see a lot more often. He flicked his tongue against his thickened, sharpened teeth and sighed, shaking his head to clear it.

One crisis at a time, Marcus.

[Scuffles]

Kristin tilted her head to the side as she listened to the instructions for her challenge. "Carbon monoxide huh? I'm going to be very upset if you gas me to death in here!" she said to the Doom room in general as her eyes started to follow the movement of the blue laser array.

I wonder if there's a pattern to that? she thought as she sank into a crouch, the fingertips of her right hand brushing the floor as she studied the ever shifting forest of lights. After a few minutes she was convinced she had it down, and stood looking down at her tight fitting jumpsuit. Glad this thing is so slinky, this is going to be hard enough without loose clothes getting in the way.

With a deep breath she approached the set of beams and stepped over the first. With a twist of her hips she slipped inside the next beam and then ducked under the last in the set. The movements needed to slip through the security became more complicated as she made her way deeper, and at one point she had to literally throw herself into a no-hands cartwheel to avoid setting off the trap, but eventually she made it to the door unscathed.

With a triumphant little fist pump she looked back at the conquered security system, then turned to push open the exit door.

[Ari]

GM

Glow:

With a *THUD* the doors(entirely unchecked by hydraulics) crashed into the walls, which got Glow the undivided attention of every black-clad, gun-toting OVERTHROW guard in the room.

The room was divided int two levels, with a a relatively bare upper level containing doors at the opposite and (Glow's)left-hand side, and a lower level reached by a gentle slope filled with large computer banks that gave every indication of being connected to some kind of surveillance system, at which were five black-clad agents, all of whom had previously been extremely busy.

The four positioned at the edges of the upper level took one glance at Glow, and with one accord raised their weapons at her.

"SURRENDER!" they all shouted at once, glancing at each other in slight confusion when they heard it said by someone else.

The computer spoke again "new assignment: free the captured students from the OVERTHROW base. stealth advised" and with its customary ring it cut out.

[Vahnyu]

As soon as he heard the computer voice giving the instructions, Net Fly immediately leapt to action. Locating the controls, he examined them first to see if everything is in order. Most of them seemed to operate just fine, although the auto-pilot seemed to be shot. Looking more carefully, Net Fly realised that the wirings were damaged, and he noted that had they been left unchecked, they could cause trouble. He attempted to repair them using anything he could find on hand, and once he succeeded, he felt ready to look at the controls.

The controls seemed complicated, but Serge felt confident that he could figure them out. After examining them carefully, he figured them out, and attempted to steer the plane and change it's course. "Dammit! Steering this thing is harder than it looks." he comments, to no-one in particular, and then proceeds to think about his situation. Well, this is bad. I can fix the damages, sure enough, but I'm don't know jack about piloting. Looking more carefully, an idea started forming on Net Fly's mind. Then again, the controls seem more electronic than mechanic in nature. It seems that they are handled through a computer system of some sort... Say... If I can manipulate the computer, perhaps I would be able to directly give orders to the plane, foregoing the use of the buttons.

Pushing a button on his mask, near his right temple, Net Fly activated a device in his suit that enabled him to establish a connection with the computer of the aircraft via radio. Combining this with his knowledge on programming, he was finally able to redirect the plane away from collision course. "Oh, yes! It worked! HAHAHAAAAA!" He shouted thriumphantly, pumping his fists on the air, and temporally losing control of the plane, which rocked a bit, prompting him to reestablish connection and focus completely on the task at hand. Whoops. Rookie mistake. At the very least, it seems like this exercise has been successfully completed.

[GranspearZX]

Marcus had played enough video games to know that sneaking up on a dragon was probably the worst idea a person could come up with. It certainly wasn't the dumbest thing HE'D ever done, though, and it seemed like a fairly good idea at the time. Crouched low, Marcus moved forward; while the thought of using the Beast rune came to mind, he didn't want to attempt it so soon--especially if he didn't need to.

The beast seemed to be sound asleep--definitely a good thing. He only hoped his luck would hold out in sneaking his way to the top; the last thing he wanted was for the wyvern to wake up mid-rescue and decide to make him lunch. He cautiously stepped around the beast's massive tail, trying to get to the front door.

[Ari]

GM

Net Fly:

The young mutant's relief and exhilaration was short-lived, for as he swung the deadly craft away from Earth he found himself staring at a distinctly bird-like ship cruising placidly towards him and his small craft. The main screen of the vessel was suddenly filled with an image of a robotic head, which declared flatly "who are you? why have you stopped that ship? we wish to perform a Cleansing on that planet, filled as it is with the pestilence of organic life" the world froze and the Doom Room's computer spoke "convince the robot cult to cease their attempted destruction of organic life. no means are closed to you, up to and including reprogramming" the laast word was almost ejected from the sound system.

Arcturus:

The sleeping dragon didn't even twitch as the young mystic crept past and over it, not even shifting its tail as Marcus stepped around it. The metal-reinforced wooden door was ajar, blown by the gentle breeze that waved the deciduous forest around him in a slow rhythm. Inside was surprisingly well-lit for a pre-industrial dwelling far from any observable civilization. The interior was a mass of magical nick-knacks and multi-hued lights, tomes on some forgotten lore on well-kempt wooden pedestals crammed everywhere they could fit. Talismans, rings gleaming with magical power, and even a flaming sword hanging point-first from the ceiling were in evidence. This and the cleanliness of the room argued for a supremely diligent and ordered mind.

[GranspearZX]

Wow. That's... impressive detail.

Now definitely wasn't the time for sightseeing. Still, it was pretty impressive. He certainly wasn't about to touch anything. There was no way of telling if the objects were cursed or not--so he cautiously assumed everything was dangerous and not to be messed with. Navigating his way around the room as quietly as he could, Marcus couldn't help but wonder how this prince ended up a captive, and what this wizard really wanted. There was always the possibility that he could reason with the guy... a slim one, but a possibility all the same.

His next order of business was looking for a way up. Stairs, a ladder... anything.

[Scuffles]

Kristin paused in the doorway as she was confronted by the black clad OVERTHROW agents. "Ahh dammit!" she gasped, then flinched a little as they opened fire. Both hands came up in front of her as she threw her hands up in front of her, green light flaring off them as she bolstered her telekinetic shielding.

The holographic bullets bounced off her defenses and ricocheted in all directions. Gaining confidence, she waved away the last of the shots. "Stealth recommended huh?" she asked the air as she gathered her concentration and then lashed out at her assailants, sending five of them crumpling to the ground with green fists of telekinetic energy.

The computer gear looked important, so she moved towards it, intending to keep the rest of the guards away. After all, she was supposed to be stealthy, and that wouldn't be easy if someone set off all the alarms.

[Ari]

GM

Glow:

"yes" intoned the voice of the Doom Room.

The four left took one look at her and began a disorderly retreat, firing pot-shots that flattened harmlessly against her shield. Her next attack slammed them about with equal vigor as the last, and the flurry of green telekinetic power send three of them crashing to the ground in unconsciousness. The fourth had managed to evade the worst of the blow directed at him, and thus saved from defeat for the present moment took off running at an incredible pace to the large red and white handle marked "ALARM". His desperation evident from even a casual glance.

Arcturus:

The tower had the requisite stone spiral staircase in the upper left-hand corner of the room, carefully swept and devoid of cobwebs, leaves or other debris. A constant play of lights filtered down from the room above, most likely whatever the wizard was doing was the source of the illumination. There were no handrails, the stairs were stone and just a little on the slippery side, and a gentle force resisted even mounting the first step.

[Vahnyu]

"Cleansing? Uh..." Net Fly said uneasily, as he processed this new information. Great! Smashing robots beyond recognition is one thing, but negotiating with them...? "Is that really necessary? I mean, in the granded scheme of things? Why can't we all just..." Serge tried, rather unconvincingly, even to himself, before leaving a sigh and saying. "Alright, let me perfectly honest with you. I have no idea who you are, what it is you hope to accomplish here, and why you want to do so. All I know is that one moment I'm just minding my own busyness, and the next moment, I find myself trapped in a vessel heading on collision course, with no way out."

Taking a deep breath, and hoping against hope that his plea gets heard, Net Fly continues "And really, why is it that you wish to destroy organic life? What is it about it, that you find pestillent, and unwanted? An organic being, any organic being, once you really think about it, is really not that different from a robotic one; They both perceive the world through the interpretation of signals, they both learn and evolve, they both require energy to function(energy which they then return to the world at large, conservation of energy and all that), and they're both, technically speaking, machines, in that there are limits to what their bodies can accomplish, without modifications(and even then, really), as well as that they both are the sum of smaller machines, each one doing it's part towards accomplishing simple and complex tasks, on the behalf of the greater machine."

[Ari]

GM

Net Fly:

There was a pregnant silence as the robots in the ship considered what Net Fly had said, their spokesbot's eyes dimmed, presumably from the energy it was using to calculate the new information. After several seconds its eyes returned to their default luminosity and it spoke again, as tonelessly as before "we had not comprehended that previously. we had thought high-functioning organics to simply be anathema to us, devouring both organic resources to feed themselves and the inorganic for their civilizations" it stared at Net Fly "but if what you say is so, that means that they could be upgraded, to remove their dependency on organic resources. we thank you for this revelation, we shall pause our destructive efforts and collect your people for this beneficent adjustment" the ship began to slide smoothly through space towards Earth "if you would assist us in making certain we do not kill your race by accident, we would welcome your aid. if you do wish this please come aboard, we will experiment on you to hone our technique" the spokesbot looked at Serge without any malice at all "it will be quite painless"

[Scuffles]

The last guard went down in a heap as Kristin's telekinetic hammerfist pounded him squarely in the chest. After a brief pause the young woman took a deep breath and chuckled "I'm good at this stealth thing" as she looked around the room, then assumed a thoughtful pose.

Okay, so I'm infiltrating a base to rescue someone. I guess I need to find out where they are. Wonder if that computer has a layout of the base or something?

She headed over to the consoles and looked them over carefully, then pulled out one of the keyboards. Tentatively she started tapping keys in an attempt to bring up a schema of the building.

[Vahnyu]

Oh, joy. Serge thought sarcastically. Deciding that pushing his luck and trying to convince the robots through his rather lacking oratory skills wouldn't be a smart idea, the young hero decided that playing along would prove far more fortuitous in order to carry out his mission, and avert the mass-conversion of the population. I mean, don't get me wrong, self, there's nothing inherently evil or abhorent about performing modifications on ones body, in and of itself, but these robots seem to have a certain... fanatical flair on them. Not the kind of AIs to care much about an individual's rights or whatnot. On the comm, he replied. "... affirmative. However, I will require some assistance on docking this ship. I had little problem making wide turns with it, but landing, especially inside another ship, would require fine manipulation, and I'm not that familiar with the controls. I hope it won't be much trouble for you to send me some safety instructions on boarding, if remotely controling the ship is impossible." He said sincerely. I mean, last thing I want is to incure this robot's wrath. I'm in enough trouble walking on a thin thread as is.

[Ari]

GM

Glow:

The layout of the base was easily found, with multiple available camera angles granting Glow an easy understanding of the base's defense placement and where the students were. Two cells across the hall from where she was, with four rather more intimidating guards and a lean robot that looked like it had bazookas for arms lying between her and the captives. They didn't look like anyone Glow had met at the school yet, but that could be easily explained by the simple fact that she hadn't been around there for very long. Two rather more indirect routes were open to her, a ventilation duct network that would let her right into each cell, and a secret passageway that exited right next to them. The only problem with those paths were the cameras that would see her right off the bat once she exited them. Her attempt to deactivate them however was..unsuccessful. A single misplaced keystroke alerted the base's security to the intrusion, and a chorus of alarums rang throughout the compound. The sound of hurrying booted feet and concerned shouts for the agents within to answer them a warning itself.

Net Fly:

The spokesbot looked surprised..somehow. "if you do not wish to fly the ship into our docking bay, we will gladly steer you in with the docking ray, it is wholly harmless to you" it added unnecessarily "nor will it adversely affect your vessel. you may move about as you wish, we are adept at its use, and will not need your assistance in maneuvering" it glanced around the slightly disheveled bridge Net Fly had partially deconstructed to make needed repairs "also we will gladly repair the ship, it is not of our make but we have sufficient resources to grant it for your use once the modification is done. you may go where you wish once the experiments are concluded" a slender blue ray emanated from the two 'arms' of the robot ship, which carried Net Fly's craft smoothly into a vast hanger filled with meticulously-arranged small ships. The ship that had been sent towards Earth was like a barbed pancake next to the sleek glory that was the robot's vessels of choice, which matched the sterile beauty of the interiors perfectly. Three robots had come down to meet him, bearing no obvious weapons and overseeing the removal of the hazardous materials the ship had been filled with. A fourth approached Net Fly directly "this part of the Whole has been sent to give you this" it handed the young hero a map of the ship "and this key to your room" it added a small metal tube among its gifts "please make yourself familiar with our vessel, we will await your specification for the medical experiment to begin" it turned and walked back through the cavernous space to a small glowing pad on the floor that with a soft hum and a greenish glow dematerialized it, presumably a transporter.