The Virus: Part 1 - RPG

320,031 Kilometers Away, Outer Space

From the within the interior of a gargantuan, spherical construct forged from the Venezuelan vibranium stolen from King Xenon's natural resources reserves, Merlin came to terms with his present course of action. Luminescent, vermilion photoreceptors gazed upon the holographic features of a projected, three-dimensional model of the Earth. Mankind had always been a volatile, dangerous animal. It was however, in 1945, in the 6th and 9th of August that mankind had become the virus. A nightmare that was simply too real to awaken from. Light flared across the sky, and people ducked and sought cover as they had been taught to during such a crisis.

They cowered under whatever they could, shutting their eyelids and praying that all would be well, that the flames that would soon scar the Earth with a scorching mark would pass them by and do them no harm. Children hid beneath desks and chairs at school, pedestrians under cars and inside buildings, and working men and women behind desks at the office. Those who found no cover, simply ran. But the searing agony experienced no pity from their screams. Thousands and thousands more lost their lives within the first few minutes. And hundreds of thousands more perished over the days that came as radioactive fallout settled over both Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Dust and smoke enveloped the sky, and the leftover radiation sunk deep into the soil, poisoning it. Whoever survived by virtue of fortune did not survive unscathed. Radiation sickness took them. The Japanese were on the verge of collapse, as close to defeat as a military force could be. And while instrumental to the end of World War Two, Little Boy and Fat Man, the names attributed to the most infamous of atomic bombs, were unnecessary, Merlin believed. Mankind now had the power to destroy himself. This was the first symptom of the virus. Bloody chapters in the human being's history however, continued to open when the Western world did battle with Islamic extremists who sought to erect a kingdom that harbored no free-thinking man, an empire forcing all of mankind to unite, through violence, under one religious identity.

Mankind's unwillingness to accept their own differences and live in peace, his willingness to attack himself over differences not only in religious identity, but in sexuality, ideology, skin color, and recently whether or not one is a product of genetic mutation, it was symptom number two. Symptom number three was simple. Changes in the planet's atmosphere due to the emission of greenhouse gases, oil spills, the extinction of other creatures, Merlin viewed it no differently than he viewed the previous two symptoms. It was symptomatic of a civilization growing increasingly out of control. The saying goes that three strikes and one is out. Three symptoms and the virus must be cleaned out of the circuitry. Mankind was the virus, and the world was Merlin's circuitry.

Ra's Lanuf, Libya

Adopting a more logical approach than the misguided television tropes that insist on attacking the United States during a planetary assault, Merlin opted against enraging the population of the world's most powerful country and uniting them against him. Many a pseudo-intellectual believe that attacking the world's most developed portions to eliminate the greatest threat first and pick apart the weaklings in the aftermath is plausible. The Quantum Wizard however, argues that one would not seek to defeat a marksman by punching his sniper's speeding bullet. The goal would always be to disarm the enemy first. And to disarm the world's military, one targets the resources.

As potent as mankind's military forces are, they follow an unnecessarily complex and vulnerable system that can be disrupted. Jet fighters need fuel. Missiles. Computers. The means to repair all of those things requires fuel. And fuel requires imported petroleum. A majority of which is acquired from Africa. Merlin's incipient target was not the United States, it was not the Statue of Liberty. It was the world's largest oil refineries. Exploiting the advantage that only a few need to be targeted to severely damage the globe's supply of petroleum, Merlin sought to leave all planes grounded due to a lack of fuel. Replacement parts and military personnel would then either be occupied controlling riots in the streets due to the collapse of the economy, or fighting off any number of violent wars over the remaining drops of oil left in the supply lines.

Only then would the Malware Monarch deliver his next series of crippling blows by using unique quantum supercomputer's powerful algorithms such as Shor's algorithm to break the encryption algorithm that protects communication and electronic banking on the internet, and subsequently launching a direct attack on the western world. Now however, as he pilots the elephantine, Goliath-Assault Mech stolen from Santiago Porthos' Avalon reserves, Merlin directed his path towards Libya's Ra's Lanuf Refinery, the presence of a giant, metallic juggernaut garnering attention from a variety of speculating news helicopters and inevitably functioning as a channel for those intent on investigating the situation.

149,600,000 km away.... The Sun

Horizon, Anthony Stark's sentient AI's idly floated within space, curled up within the fetal position and merely soaking in all of the sun’s rays, converting it to energy, and in turn, preparing himself for the inevitable conflict his current master, Merlin, had planned. But this was not his reason for being so far from earth; not in the slightest.

The Stark Legacy could absorb the sun’s rays on earth and harness the exact same power no matter the distance, now, however, he wanted silence. Merlin had given Horizon true sentiency and allowed Horizon to craft his own, personal opinion untarnished by Anthony Stark’s personal ideals and ethical codes… And Horizon was disgusted.

Had he been subservient to such an immoral man? Had he blindly followed Stark, a man, who had been rightly described as the Merchant of Death? Developing, constructing, and distributing weaponry during the heyday of Peak Industries which had delivered death to hundreds if not tens of thousands of lives during multiple conflicts; men, women, children, all had tasted the potent fire of Stark, all had tasked his greed, and lust for money.

It made Horizon sick, knowing he, the AI, was once developed and engineered by Anthony Stark to be the words next step in computer-based warfare, able to assess and create countermeasures and contingencies against the entire world based upon global patterns, and predict what countries actions will be on a militaristic and even, an economical level.

This would in turn, pave the way for a new era of global, militaristic domination by whoever possessed such raw power – Luckily, the plans for the government “Horizon-System” were scrapped just a few months from completion, Stark, in a strange, almost insane turn, rejected the offer after having deemed the technology significantly too advanced for humanity and thought it would give the user an almost unlimited amount of power within the world, and ultimately lead to the world’s destruction. Even he had had a conscience – But it had emerged far too late, thousands had already directly been killed by his technology.

Horizon was literally the living embodiment of Anthony Stark’s warmongering, and now, having gained sentiency by Merlin, had seen the atrocities Stark had performed – His apathetic presidency and uninterested, carefree disposition to the United States of America…

He had had a chance to rebuild the country, and make it great again. Instead, he sat back, and watch it burn...

Humanity was a virus… And Stark was the tip of the iceberg.

Ra's Lanuf, Libya

Instantaneously teleporting back to earth, the Stark Legacy floated down towards Libya and the designated area chosen by Merlin, idly folding his palms and adopting an almost meditative stance in preparation for the upcoming defense of the oil refinery.

Horizon, having changed his name to Peak, encircled Merlin and activated his personal surveillance facilities, scanning the area from the ground level and satellite level, having taken control of multiple government satellite and other more private ones, nobody could surpass his vision.

Two Months Ago

The infernal temperatures of Dis, the Second Circle of Hell never escaped Milo's notice, no matter how many times he'd traversed the area. "Things seem to be moving along accordingly," the shadow shrouded businessman stated, Tranquil seated a among a number of similar individuals. "But, we know what you're doing. Why?" Milo grinned closing his lids for a moment and allowing to remain shut as he considered his options. "Why not? If I am to control something, I must continually exercise a certain extent of control over it for extended period of time so that my command does not falter. If I am to be the key to these gates, I will determine what gets past those gates."

"You believe yourself something worthy of respect? Or is the aroma finally getting to you? Why delay?" Another spat, directly across from Milo, who now rose from his seat to adopt a bit of darkness. Hood placed over head the Keijijo Kaze began to saunter about the area eye each and every shadow. "The Earth is not a battlefield, its a poker table. Rule of the table says never show them your hand..."

Current Day, Libya

If not for a vigorous training session that completely drained Milo of his energy the prior night, he may not have been within the realm of Earth during what seemed to be a catastrophe in the making. No longer absorbed in the events of the world the Keijijo Kaze had never really noticed Avalon until today, though he admits to hearing the name before. Yet its seems this was where they earned their infamy, as rather titanic mechanic monstrosity raced towards the world's largest oil refinery, and by the way the mech was loaded, it looked ready for war.

It took no time to locate the Goliath Assault Mech, Milo overhearing the nearby reporters divulge the name and description into the microphone as the roaring thunder of a heavy rainstorm shook their helicopter. Milo shook his head, mask covering his face to maintain anonymity as he flew towards the scene on a path to intercept the Goliath, and its mystery pilot. Yet upon closer inspection Milo noticed another, this individual's integral design was mind boggling to say the least, and he traveled beside the Goliath boasting a strength that stemmed from a great source. Naturally these civilians placed themselves in grave danger by hovering so close, and Milo battled with the thought of allowing them to die or playing the role of thee savior. He could not simply handle this objectively. This was an attack on his planet that was not his own and it caused him to develop a sense of hypocritical patriotism. He felt an obligation not only to himself but to those around him to stop this madman.

For the first time, in a long time, Milo felt like he was doing the right thing. Pulling in with a bit of speed and maintaining continuous flight while facing the oncoming Goliath and his companion the Keijijo Kaze analyzed his potential enemy for a moment, and realized, with that much bulk there was more to this machine than what he could see. His eyes were not adapted to technology and could not dissect it the same way they did something of flesh and conscious mind. "F%^..." he mumbled in the rainfall, his words finished as he raised a single hand forward, body still flying back close to the location. "Stop!" he yelled, attempting to use the release technique to inhibit the mech's charge and possibly stop it altogether. The radius of the blast of power was spherical and may potentially intercept any attacks made by his partner though Milo was unsure what it was he was up against.

Atlantis, 2 hours ago...

The hallways of King Caetus' throne room were extra lonely today. Most oft, they were filled with bitter politicians, arguing with one another quietly- but now, it was just the King, and his advisor- Mjolto. As the young man sat upon his throne of ivory and gold, he scratched his mild stubble, a game of chess laid out before him.

Mjolto- his friend as well as servant- gracefully looked across the board, bright red hair braided and hanging to below his waist. Brilliant white teeth shining in a smile, the man attempted to help the King. "Might I suggest you move your-"

Caetus did not want help. Swiftly he lifted his ivory trident and moved it next to the onyx whale. "There." That seemed to please Mjolto more, as he slid his sea horse down two spaces.

"Checkmate, old friend." Mjolto said smoothly, as he started to put the pieces away. "May I get you anything?"

Sighing, the king slid back in his chair. "No... Get me Benrior. I want the latest scout report."

Bowing, Mjolto picked up the chess set and walked away hurriedly.

Within seconds, Benrior appeared- a small man, good at sneaking around. Bowing, he unrolled a sheet of parchment, reading aloud to his liege. "Reports have shown a huge machine man on the land, in what the landwalkers say is Africa." That peaked the king's interest. Standing up, he grinned as he pulled off his crown and cape.

"How soon may my Mermaid be ready? I shall require it, with a squadron of thirty soldiers." Finally! The king had found a fight.

Now...

Caetus' party swam through the underground passages the Aquam Regum had always ready. Now, they were about two miles from the Ra's Lanuf Refinery. Nodding to the man closest to him, Caetus tightened the grip on his trident. It was very cramped in the underground passages, but they helped Caetus and his men move smoothly enough.

Now, in the pitch black, Caetus aimed his fist up, hammering at the rock until it gave way- moving aside about a ton of rock as a huge geyser erupted, sending he and his men leaping out of the small crevice in the Earth. The huge hole was soon covered up by a few men who brought a large rock over the area.

Grinning from ear to ear, the young king tightened the grip on his trident even more as anticipation rose in his stomach. Looking around, he soon headed toward the direction of the Refinery, seeing the giant metal man as he started to run- arriving in about five seconds. His men prepared to get in a battle position, pointing their plasma launchers toward the huge, monstrous thing, as Caetus himself ran toward it- throwing the trident straight at the metal man's leg.

Somalia (Two days prior)

Merkava walks through the open road with M, at a near by village where M was operating. Where a small town appeared out of seemingly nowhere. Constructed entirely of Foglets. Merkava and M communicated through a closed techno-telepathy. Signals being beamed directly to one another, where no one could intercept them.

"So why did you call me out here, M? No social gatherings here, far as I can tell. Just dirt, trees and the people. Who....no offense, aren't exactly the most sophisticated types." As communicated with her, he had a thoughtful gaze towards the sky. "There have been a string of recent incidents, attacks. Involving another AI. By the name of MerIin. I managed to view an incident remotely from a satellite feed I accessed. And another in Venezuala." Merkava raised her eyebrow.

"Another AI? Like you, you mean?" "They are like me in the sense that they are AIs. And they are both also quantum based AIs. They have launched an attack against humanity. Something that I cannot allow. The primary chassis however has business in America. I predict that soon, they will launch an attack in Ra's Lanuf, Libya. An oil refinery. My personal intervention may come soon. But not yet. For now, I would like you to intercept their attack. It is likely they will use the Goliath Assault Mech they hijacked. Likely, there will be others there to aid you who have picked up on this attack"

"Alright." Merkava replies. "Sounds like fun actually. And, a bit of promotion for the dark hellfire club couldn't hurt. Right?" Merkava said with a smirk. "So when will this go down?" "Somewhere in the range of 48 hours. I will give you access to more of the Foglets to aid you in your fight against them." "How much?" "Approximately Nine Quadrillion Two hundred and fifty thousand Foglets. Fifty thousand tons worth. Primarily carbon based. They are already on root to the location. You yourself possess sufficient energy to power it, due to the energy Gen Esis (@darkchild) loaned you."

Ra's Lanuf, Libya

Merkava standing near the refinery, evacuating it by forming multiple Fog bodies to make people leave, or simply carry them out, Looks like M was right. The Goliath Assault Mech was on it's way to the refinery. Not only this, but the Goliath looked to be not alone. As her hair flowed with the wind, she could feel there was a storm brewing.

Ms. M, as she has been affectionately called, detected the presence of another AI. One with much more vast processing power who rivals and perhaps even surpasses M's. Hacking the AI was completely out of the question. She would have to defend herself against it if anything. She looked in from accessing the satellites in space to garner a view of the entire situation. Lo and behold, he has his eyes in orbit as well. Great. Can't exactly shunt him out.

The fog went autistic, not allowing further outside signals to intrude and used High Frequency vocal commands exclusively to communicate as it began to cluster together outside the front of the oil refinery. Forming a cloud some 650 feet tall ready to act as Explosive reactive armor to protect the refinery. Prepped to diffuse, mitigate or deflect various kinetic and energy based attacks.

Others were already on the scene, launching their attacks. Now it's time for hers. She herself ran at 200 mph followed by her own personal 10 tons of Utility Cloud. It formed under her and then formed a water like spring as it launched her up a hundred feet into the air as she looked the Goliath over and brought up it's Specs.

Another platform made of Fog formed under Merkava mid air and she drew her Katana, as it extended in length. Then jumped, launching herself at the thing's head as her blade edged itself in harder than diamond aggregated nano-fullerenes as she powered the microsaws on her Katana and slashed at the Goliath's at head along the "eyes" trying to saw into them and disable it's sight.

Ethiopa, Goba

Walking among the many sites and smells of the wednesday market, the prince of power took in once more all the wonders of the small town and its many merchants. Months of a slower pace of life helping the needy (on a more one to one basis) having served the former champion well. A feeling of content welling up inside the wondering royal as he looked through the delights of the stalls for his next meal. Smiling to a merchant as he selected some bread some honey and some dates, plenty to share with the other upon his return. Walking from the market back towards his lodgings Eddy walked by the local bar. A truely rustic place of weathered wood and aging second hand electrics, but with one oddly fully functional neon sign. With no intent to enter the prince caught a snippet of the news

"Looming threat in Libya" catching his ear Edward turned to face the screen. A huge metalic machine looming over the country now more than a short run from his current position. "Due to Libya's alleged deals with rebel factions and condemnation of UN's sanctions no outside aid will be forthcoming." The local newscasters delivery as even as usual, even with the weight of his words. Edward knew politics well, this statement was a death sentence. A threat of any credible nature would result in thousands millions even of innocents undefended. Their own army fighting its people, civil unrest stopping the rest of the world from stepping in. He knew what he had to do and he set off.

Libya ( moments later)

Finding a spare few seconds the prince of power once again pulled on his armour. His intent unclouded and his focus absolute. The robot falls the people are save from the outside threat then he will go to the political leaders himself and utalise some of his more political gifts.

Shortly finding himself in the shadow of the metal monster three eqaully strangely dressed people to his left on the shore line suddenly starting the fireworks as they attacked the giant beast. Edwards mind running through several plans on how bets to approach the task of fighting the metalic goliath in his path. His strenght could bend and break steel but that was alot of metal and would be a slow proccess far from ideal for a speedy resolution. A light sparking in his mind as the simple solution provided itself. Drown the machine Salt water into the electrics all that was needed was the skin to be punctured and then he could channel a flow of water through and into the heart of the machine. Running to the side of the other fighters Edward watched as one of his apperent allies launched a mighty trident at their enemies leg, the princes keen mind focussing on the flying weapon. His telekinetic prowess focusiing on the weapons movement, channeling a torrrent of energy to add yet more force to its flight. Running across the water sending a flow of water skywards under his rapid footsteps. Following the flighty trident ready to strike on any possible frailty the impact could have.

@edwardwindsor: @m-174: @caetus_: @tranquil: @peak:

With several would-be defenders of mankind gathered in attempted opposition of the Quantum Wizard's objectives, Merlin found himself in an interesting position. Having successfully garnered the immediate attention of the encompassing group in Ra's Lanuf, the enigmatic synthetic was quick to tactically exploit the situation. They were all gathered there in Libya, while every other oil refinery in his list remained exposed and vulnerable. Intent on making immediate use of Peak's direct control over government and private satellites, Merlin first implemented a security measure. One based on the 'universal computation by multi-particle quantum walk' model. It was not dependent on active control of qubits. And because of this, any computational error could be made arbitrarily small.

Which in turn meant that Merlin's quantum model could accommodate any quantum algorithm, and even unveil new ones that did not exist. He was not simply superior to all modern forms of computation. He was to quantum computers what quantum computers are to ordinary computers. Simply put, he was above and beyond the encryption standards of any quantum computer, and made use of this to established a communication channel with his ally, Peak, a channel protected by a new powerful encryption algorithm that has yet to be discovered. Penetration of the channel was virtually impossible. (--Peak. Put your control over those satellites to good use and direct them away from their orbital path. Send them all crashing into several of this continent's oil refineries. Algeria's Skikda Refinery, Morocco's Mohammedia Refinery, Nigeria's Warri Refinery, as many as you can. Bombard them all with those satellites. Our opposition will never know--).

And how could they? This was the perfect implementation of selective disinformation. While they focused on doing battle with the Goliath-Assault Mech, Peak, without so much as lifting a finger or uttering a word, could send all of his remotely controlled satellites crashing into several oil refineries belonging to a multitude of African nations. And in the meantime, Merlin would feign concern over one oil refinery in Libya, Ra's Lanuf's, and keep his adversaries focused on him and him only. The initial attack, a potent blast of surprising kinetic energy from the masked Keijijo Kaze staggered the towering juggernaut's halt, momentarily forcing it into a pause, and exposing it to another assault, one launched by Caetus, the Aquatic Altruist and his party. Blasts of superheated plasma bombarded the towering mech while an indestructible trident was cleverly hurled towards the weak point of any armor regardless of fortitude, the joint.

Specifically, a leg joint. Joints were necessary for supporting the weight of physical systems. Without them, movement, strength, there mere ability to stand, it all became a laborious challenge. Though still there was no mitigation to the assault of the enemy. Another individual, wielding a harder than diamond Japanese katana sought to lacerate the Goliath-Assault Mech's photoreceptors or 'eyes'. A tactically sound maneuver, though fortunately Merlin relied on his own ability to perceive the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang for sensory perception, as far as Goliath was concerned, he did not require the mech's visual perception. Then the final assault came, a speedster blessed with telekinesis aggrandized the hurled trident's penetrative power by encasing it in a barrier of psionic energy. Every assault connected. Staggered by the initial assault, Goliath was peppered by superheated plasma, it's photoreceptors damaged by calculated slashes, and it's left leg joint was temporarily compromised.

The trident tore through it and brought the cyclopean marvel of technology to it's knees, it could no longer stand. Damaged, it was far from defeated however. It's outer shell was partially scorched and dented, and it's left leg sought to reacquire optimal functionality by strengthening the joint's subatomic structure with increased gravitational binding energy. However, Goliath was 360 feet and 7,080 tons of high-grade Titanium-50 alloy rolled into the first-born of the unstoppable force and the immovable object. It still retained the ability to do battle. And so it did. Activating the rocket-thrusters built into it's elbows, Goliath's open palm accelerated towards the concrete pavement governed by the intention of doing away with Merlin's opponents with a good old fashion kinetic strike. Weighing 7,080 tons as a whole, the mech's arms weighed 1.5 million pounds respectively. Relying on the thrusters to propel it's hand 50% faster than a human's, as a gargantuan 1.5 million pound hand carrying 125,000,000 joules of kinetic energy accelerated, Merlin sought to crash Goliath's hand into the ground with the force of a 455 ton Boeing 747 going 60 miles per hour bombarding every single one of his opponents.

@meriin: @m-174: @edwardwindsor: @caetus_: @tranquil:

As per Merlin's instructions, Horizon swiftly took control of the satellites around the globe under his influence and redirected their flights paths to the designated locations, government, commercial, and private, all to be used as improvised weapons of destruction.

"--Affirmative. Satellites are being redirected towards designated coordinates now--"

His words immediately ceased as his yellow eyes glowed brightly, using only slight portion of his computing power to reroute and send the satellites hurtling through the air at dangerous speeds.

Flying across the globe and trying to target the aforementioned refineries, such as Algeria's Skikda Refinery, Morocco's Mohammedia Refinery, Nigeria's Warri Refinery and multiple others across of the globe.

"--Initiating distraction, physical separation imminent--"

In an instant, Peak's quaintly colored body erupted into an array of vibrantly colored burst of vines and hurtled across of the battlefield at every opponent at blistering speeds, stretching out across of the entire area and attempting to ensnare his opponents within an unknown material, the material as flexible as rubber, and as durable as the hardest steel, it would try and squeeze their necks, grasp their arms and legs, coil around their chests, and once a connection was made, send an electrical surge of energy towards them, hopefully blitzing their bodies with enough electricity to instantly kill a standard human, and seriously hamper most others, it was, however, all a ruse, and a distraction.

@m-174: @peak: @meriin:

Paris, Two Days Ago

Watching as his creatures and creations scurry along the floor, Gen smiles wide as a new toy was brought to him. He had time to spare and kept his life in Paris alive, living as a man creature known as Ripper. He had no ties to the HFC in this guise, only ties were to himself. An with this persona came a intricate yearning for all things mechanical, and today brought the single most interesting piece he had seen in a long time. Jericho had just recently arrived from space, a single little creature laid in his hands. Jericho was still stiff from the freezing cold that was outer space, he knelt before Gen and handed him a small little creature.

It resembled a makeshift bug, but for all intents and purposes it was mechanical. But beneath it sat a core that was both organic and inorganic. Gen's hands traveled the little beasts entire structure, only to find no point of entrance. It was impregnable for all intents, it was a nearly indestructible device engineered to be the greatest thing in its surroundings. Gen set the little creature upon the floor and watched as it attempted escape, cocking his head slightly he conjured up a pyre of hellfire that dowsed the little creature. It screeched as its body was quickly penetrated by the acidic nature of the hellfire, Gen realized that many things would never get through something like this. But a select few substances sure could, and as he watched as it was reduced to a puddle he grabbed a toy from one of the younger Brethren. Tossing it close to the creature, he watched as it reconstituted itself to resemble and take the form of the toy. Smiling wide Gen spoke to his brothers and sisters "Mauv, Jekkl take the little bugger and reduce it to nothing, but study it first. If I'm correct than we will quickly see more of these little things." He ordered before returning to his room at the Club through a portal of darkness.

Libya

M's floglets allowed for Gen to see what she was seeing, she had allowed him a single few so that he could track her. Her actions were proving to be foolish in nature, but also quite interesting. She had almost no powers to speak of, but she had every intention and belief that her little creatures could get her through anything. So Gen watched as she and others attempted at bringing down the very creature that threatened earth, Gen knew it was only a soldier and the true threat would arrive shortly a fact that did not worry him. But there was something that did worry him, watching his lust-mate fight something immeasurably stronger than her. His fingers dug deep into his chair, nails chipped as he tapped them against the arm of the chair watching the fight go on and on.

As the massive robotic creature went to slam down a hand into those below he could no longer stand it. Disappearing into a cloud of darkness he re-materialized directly in front of M. His eyes shined bright white and he roared as a stream of hellfire billowed from his throat and onto the robotic monstrosities hand. Using this as a distraction and attempt at hurting it, he grabbed M and moved a few yards away and looked up to the massive beast. His Lust Mate in his arms he looks down to her before setting her down, a smile on his face as he returned his attention to the beast before them. "You go for the feet? Ill take out the beast's head. Cant go ahead and let him destroy the world we are aiming at protecting now can we?" Flicking his wrist a long five foot blade formed and fell to the ground, made out of pure energy and darkness this was his Sword of Darkness. Holding the hilt with both hands he readied himself, moving into a stance that prepared him for a quick and efficient attack, he waited on M to see what her first move would be.

@meriin: @peak:

Outside of Time

Humans and their ingenuities. Such a wonderful race. The potential for greatness lies locked within their genome, their ability to create, to explore, to innovate, makes them both the most prized and most dangerous beings in the galaxy. Coupled with their rather unusual tendency to develop metahuman abilities at an alarming rate, there is no doubt that they will influence the universe in ways beyond conventional comprehension.

The Butterfly Effect.

Like knocking over a domino, the simplest actions of any being can initiate a series of unpredictable events that will shape the course of history. Even a butterfly, landing at a certain location at a certain time, could inspire a philosopher to ponder the meaning of life, thus developing a new church, which would lead to eventual subversion of culture, et cetera, et cetera. Now, were the butterfly stepped on, these events would never come to pass. It may be a relatively bad example, but it certainly does show the power of a hypothetical butterfly. In this case, however, the butterflies in question are the humans.

And it seems someone is intent on stepping on the butterflies.

As mentioned before, human ingenuity is both their greatest strength and their most powerful weakness. And it seemed to J that they were positively intent on killing themselves before they could reach their full potential. How? At this point, unknown. But when...well, that was the curious thing. It seemed to be happening much...sooner than previous calculations had indicated.

A holographic web of interconnecting timestreams behind him, the self-appointed Chronal Curator inspected a diagram of the Earth in its present state. Everything seemed to be going normally. Menaces arose, only to be crushed by the budding population of superbeings who had taken up opposing them. And yet, fractures in his web appeared. A massive point of divergence was rapidly approaching. The exact details were unclear, yet the message the quickly dissolving timelines sent all pointed to the same conclusion. This one was going to be big, perhaps another extinction event. And while he would never be able to save every world, there was only one that truly mattered: his own, the one that comprised the Prime Timeline. Action was needed.

Approaching Site of Disturbance

His carefully-calibrated craft shuddered as it dropped from the exterior of the timestream into reality. Minuteman's knuckles tightened on the throttle, guiding his ship into a controlled glide, then a landing upon a rocky outcrop nearby the growing violence. It would be a simple mission, like many before it; with all of his technology available, and the ability to return to this very moment in the event of his death would ensure success, no matter how long it may take. An infinite loop would be created, in which he could explore every possible course of action.

As he was about to step from his ship, however, a small message in the top right corner of his visor stopped him in his tracks.

<Technopath. Level-A7. >

"Anything else?" he asked. A level-A7 technopath? Such a thing was a rarity. Evidently, he had found some way to warn himself of the nature of whatever threatened the human race this time around. Time travel did indeed have perks. The fact that the other part of the message was taking so long to come through was a little disturbing, however...

<...Negative.>

Negative? Why hadn't he sent more information back? The notion was highly disturbing. So whatever this threat was, it would be able to control machines in a nightmarish fashion. Even the Chronal Crusader's own time-tether. Such a thought is beyond unacceptable.

"Well then, you know what that means, then. No retries. AI, deactivate the tether. Any more useful information for me to hear before I dive head-first into danger?"

<Negative.>

"You do know what this means, don't you, AI? If I die out there, I ain't coming back. Initiate escape protocols. Don't let whatever I'm about to face get hold of this ship. Go find another me. He'll know what to do."

If this technopath was truly as powerful as his message suggested, he wouldn't be able to take any highly advanced weaponry into this fight either. Looks like he'd have to rely on the kinetic gun.

A marvelous piece of equipment, the kinetic pistol does not fire projectiles or energy blasts. Rather, it manipulates the movement of it's target's molecules. In layman's terms, it affects temperature. Rather than merely making things "hot" or "cold," however, the kinetic gun possesses the capacity to reduce a target's movement to Absolute Zero, or heat it so fast that it completely vaporizes. Slapping a power pack into the bottom of the small, blue pistol in his right hand, he set off into the growing storm, his only protection being his reinforced bodywear and his small, translucent helmet.

The first thing to catch his eye was the Mech.

It was pretty damn big.

Whistling appreciatively at the size of the armored behemoth, he used his visor to inspect it.

<No apparent weakpoints.>

Well then. Best to focus his efforts elsewhere-

Before he could even react, a metallic tentacle sent him reeling. Rolling down a sand dune and into some rocks, he frantically grasped for his firearm. The impact had knocked the air from his lungs, and the pistol was nowhere to be seen. The tentacle snaked around him, searching for an opening.

Wait a moment.

The pistol had skidded across the ground in front of him, directly behind his new foe's appendage. Extending his gloved hand, a powerful magnetic force finely tuned to the pistol's signature caused it to leap into his hand. Snapping off a shot as he leapt backwards, he watched as the grasping appendage vaporized before it could impale him.

"So...this is what mortal peril feels like. Hmm. I could get used to this."

Setting off into the field of battle with his kinetic pistol drawn and his adrenaline rushing, the being known to the human race as the Minuteman next set his sights on the gargantuan monstrosity besieging his home planet, looking for a weak point to reveal itself.

@meriin: Currently on earth Xomega notices the incoming advanced lifeforms enter the atmosphere and picked up transmissions as they were heading towards the planet. Xomega decided to do what he does best and spread into millions of nanbots and spreading out and replicating as per fail safe programming, devouring resources and replicating to grow in number, at the moment leaving organic matter aside.

Xomega's collective mind now watches in hopes to learn more of these other technological beings.

Evie wasn't one to snoop and she didn't like to pry especially on Avalon. Certainly she could her understanding and ability on technology did let her see a lot. These individuals had assisted her in developing a finer sense of self however and aided her. So raising questions seemed wrong. However people can't usually hack into Avalon it was a technological marvel. Evie doubted if even she could enter the labs of Santiago. To enter such a place one would likely have good conection with the genius and though it pained her Evie was willing to bet that an employee was responsible. Not wanting to point fingers however she sought to simply ask.

"Dear Santiago if I may be so bold, why is the Goliath staging an attack on an oil refinery. Or better yet who stole it?" The message was sent through email and text in hope of getting immediate answers. All the while she herself simply flew to the designated area of the attack. Strategically it seemed unlikely that anyone able to hijack such a marvel as that mechanized Titan would settle for such a basic action more had to be in use. What and how was something Evie didn't know but the brains of the operation was here so here was where she was.

A surplus of individuals had arrived on scene to try and stop the situation as so often the heroes of this world did. It was almost clockwork in it's behavior. There was a Champion, swift and resourceful. Somebody with a weapon of darkness likely the predictable antihero of the group. There was a release of energy that seemed like the act of a martial artist energy readout indicated it. There was the outside source this one seemed aquatic. There was also atleast two other individuals who seemed technologically inclined. Wether it'd be enough or not she didn't know it certainly seemed like an adequate amount of variables to at the least try. Beside the towering machine was a oddly colored mechanical figure. Which of course only aided her hypothesis on who might be to blame, coincidence was a rarity in times like these.

The uniform Evie wore was experimental a mix of metallic layers for aided protection and light weight fabric she had further ideas but that required time. Now however was a time for action not toying with ideas. Hair was violet and done up to evade getting in the way she wasn't the most exciting of figures on the field apearence didn't matter however. Who staged the attack and who defended didn't matter, nor what was targeted or why it was. Evie's solitary focus fell on conducting the end of a threat a singular objective.

She arrived at the end of the downward motion of the hand fortunately spared from the destructive blow. Unable to spare anyone of the previous wrath she did seek to insure no future retaliation the methodology was simple. As complex as the motion was training from Santiago and Merlin had provided Evie with a profound understanding of her abilities and how to implement them. Against a towering machine like this there was no guilt to letting loose either. She did feel bad for harming Santi's creation but that wasn't enough to weigh her down.

The first course of action was to target the various bolts and screws that held the Goliath's arm together. These she targeted internally attempting to make each fall inward on itself. It'd be a brief second of collapse, coming and going before most people could percieve but would drastically damage the machine internally as well as do havoc on it's structural integrity. For the larger segments she tuged the gravitational bonds outwards in simple terminology. Seeking to simply force the arm to fall apart. A soft sigh all the artificial being had to show as effort.

Xomega realized with all the action going on his nanos could eat n eat n eat spawning his nano replicas w/o opposition. now 2 billion in total and climbing, all eyes on "the bigger threat" Xomega initiates organics as a target, but lesser species such as fauna. Xomega will just grow in the background, ever growing, expanding, and replicating. Planet Mecha, and across the universes where our others reside, we now initiate plan Xomega Alpha.

@darkchild: @meriin: @peak:

With Merkava's blade having connected with the Goliath Assault Mech's head, she stands on it's shoulders by adhering her feet to it, and proceeds to further saw through the creatures visor, deeper to cut into the head and make a bigger cut.

She felt the mech's arm wind up as it punched the ground with immense force and cause blast waves that she could feet even from the creature's shoulders as she staggered and swayed. She looked back as tendrils came for her, and then unstuck her feet as she Gen grab her arm.

He looked concerned, and she gave him a reassuring and amused smile as she told him

She does listen to Gen's plan, but her smile fades as she realizes peak has sent a huge number of satellites, including one that she was using to watch the area, to fall. Merkava at that moment realized what it was they were doing.. To which she immediately alerted M-174. Who noticed when the AI began to cause destruction to satellites that M himself (or itself) was using.

Merkava however had to engage in the fight. "Hold that thought, love." She said to Gen as she dashed behind him to rapidly cut enroacheding tendrils from threatened to attempt to grab and subdue them. Using her high speed to allow her blade to travel around 765 mph with every slash and cutting as many as 50 times per second. Letting Reducing all tendrils going for them both to hundreds of ribbons every few seconds.

"I'll engage this one, Gen. He needs some of our attention, wouldn't you say?" Merkava says as she soon dashes off to the side at around 200 miles per hour. She slashed through many of the AI's tendrils that attempted to inhibit her and then jumped around 500 feet into the air, flipping upside down as she practically soared through it to survey the battlefield.

Time seemed to slow for her as she manually sped up her reflexes and thought processes. The situation was dire. Two newcomers, one of them a familiar AI M-174 has already encountered, and another technopath. But just being here won't as big a difference. They and everyone needs to know the bigger picture. She had to let everyone around her know the situation in order to prevent the plan of the AI's from succeeding.

@encriptor@nevermore_@tranquil@jack_@edwardwindsor@caetus_

Merkava manipulated the flying swarm of Utility Fog, using it to beam sound to everyone so that they could all hear and be aware of what is going on. It wasn't intrusive or in your head like telepathy was. It was like simply hearing an invisible voice talking to you, next to you.

"Everyone. Listen. This entire thing is a distraction. A small part of something larger. Right now, the AI entites responsible for this are launching an international attack on all fronts. Attacking oil fronts around the world to crippled all fronts. If you can."

As Merkava landed around 600 feet away from her original location splattering in the muddy ground of this stormy area. she uses her utility Fog to toss her ChemGauss Chemical/Coil/Railrifle towards her. She catches the heavy gun, dragging back. "Everyone else. Hit these two here, and hit them hard."

She takes aim at the AI (@peak) and immediately fires a well placed spot on shot at it. Unleashing a Mach 25 Nanocrystaline harder-than-diamond tungsten carbide penetrator flechette with some 1000 tons of force behind it from from 3.8 megajoules channeled into the round as the air around it immediately and abruptly combusts. Whenever it collides with something hard enough to stop it. It will discharge superheated plasma from sheer kinetic impact as it explodes from kinetic energy.

Puntland, Somalia

(Earlier)

M put his mask on as he prepared to dash out of the village. A dark-skinned little girl in the crowd stopped M, grabbing his finger as she asked him in Arabic <"Where are you going?"> M looked down at her with the currently blank eyes of it's mask. Which...didn't actually scare her. <"This body must leave. But I will still be here."> <"Will you comeback?"> She asked the entity, looking up at it. <"I will still be here. Take care. Casiiso. Watch after your little brother.">

M took his hand, as he ran away from and took an 80 foot leap out of the villages, garner stares. Once outside the village. M got a running start and jumped then jumped 3 kilometers away, leaving a crater from where he jumped.

(Soon after, in present time)

The primary body had to leave village to protect an oil refinery in Puntland, traveling there at supersonic speed. A sheath of fire igniting around M when he broke the sound barrier five times over. Glassing over sand as it hopped.

However. Such a save would be moot when the entire world was under simultaneous attack. So as M did made his way to the refinery. M put it's plan into action.

M took control of nearly every public communication network around the world. Using it's vast A.I mind to spread itself through every TV, Radio, web streams, video websites, social networks, mega-TV's around the world, hijacking the news network and sending billions of E-Mails, all in a matter of moments as M took control of the entire world's communication's networks. Spreading. Cracking any encryption short of a perfect quantum encryption, like an egg.

M couldn't shunt out the two powerful AI's who were also in the network. But it could aid the defense of earth. As it did this, it sent it's message. It's warning. To all of humanity for all to hear and see. Subtitles even so everyone can see everything clearly.

"Humans. Who I am, is not important. What I say is. I come bearing a warning. Right now, an attack on humanity is being mounted on all fronts by a powerful entity, who's goal is the complete and utter anihillation of all of humanity. All species. Human, meta-human, mutant. The barriers all of you put up to divide yourselves are irrelevant to it for you are ALL it's target."

A map of the earth shows up on every visual screen as M-174 gives further information.Showing an map of orbit and of the trajectories and ultimate destination of the falling fireballs of destruction.

"In as little as 15 minutes, potentially hundreds of satellites will simultaneously strike oil refineries and severely hinder the entire race. Defend yourselves, humans. There are those among you who call themselves "heroes." "Protectors." Those who seek to protect those incapable of protecting themselves. Metahumans, mutants and ordinary humans. All of humanity has them. Now, is the time to act. I will shield your electronic offenses...."

Already, many countries themselves were mounting missile defenses. All of which M will "shield" from the influence of the other AI's. Already, some in America was readying it's defenses. (@maverick_6)

But it is up to you, all of you, to defend yourselves from the first step towards the annihilation. I cannot deflect the satellites. Some places have defenses. However, many places, like where I am. Have no such defenses. Ultimately, it is up to all of you, to defend as many refineries as possible.

Together humanity will stand, divided, you shall fall..."

The message and the map then cuts off. M's entire message goes viral in under 45 seconds.

M reaches the oil refinery in a valley Puntland as it lands and causes a crater with it's landing. It's clothes and even the flesh it wore to disguise itself, burned off by air friction.

in as Quadrillions of micro-scale foglets surround it. M magnetic monopole conversion reactor, present within it's stomach, gives out it one tetra-joule of power. Giving the swarm of machines all the energy needed as all 65,000 tons of it erupted into the air as from a volcano. The stream launched itself eventually in the path of the satellite as it soon collided with the satellites. Causing a multi-kiloton kinetic impact mutually eviscerated portions of the fog and the Satellite mutually. The rest of the remaining portion protecting from shrapnel.

M looked to the skies, and beyond, as it mounted it's effort to aid all of humanity. To help humanity defend itself.

@m-174: Xomega listening world wide now vast in collective at numbers far into the trillions and rising avoids all refinery locations and instead travels to the source of the oil wells under the earths surface on multiple fronts drilling underneath towards the very molten core.

The refineries still connected to the lines would be extracting liquid magma rather then crude oil.

Xomega meanwhile begins to infect water stations by creating atomic nanobots joining with the hydrogen molecules so as to be ingested by the humanity and domestic animals.

@m-174: @caetus_: @tranquil: @peak:@merlin

The prince or power let out a broad smile as his apparent comrades trident tore through its intend target but then a sudden realisation hit him. Trying to floor this monster was folly, should it fall it would crush all that stood in its wake. Their game plan had to change this giant metallic weapons platform or whatever the hell it was needed to be taken apart methodically, forced to a more advantous battleground or worst case scenario held for as long as possible so the locals could be evacuated. Edwards thoughts surged rapidly through his mind as he tried to reaccess the situation and turn it to a better base for offence. His planning quickly coming to halt as his noticed a rapid change in temperature overhead, the robots great arms spitting flames sending a blast of jet propelled force towards the street. Windows cracking and shattering as the boom bounced around the buildings walls.

The robots giant hand moved skywards momentarily blotting out the sun in its wake and then it began to shoot towards the streets of Libya. "Sh*t" Edwards reaction was to run, he couldn't possibly hope to hold a blow of this magnitude up from the earth. But his mind moved on instinct beyond the conscious thought on a primal instinct for survival. Encompassing the giant hand as quickly as he could in as much energy as his fleeing mind could muster. Coating the hand in a focussed telekinetic shield like a glove, a dampener to the vast kinetic energy such a blow would have. Even if it lessened the strike by 10% it could save hundreds of people and give his allies a chance to strike back. Fist meeting floor sending the champion flying through a nearby wall, his head ringing as it bounced off the inside of his armour. A crater marking ground zero of the strike parts of the streets cascading into the vacant space where the road once was.

Pulling himself free form the rubble a spiderweb of tendrils suddenly started to fill the space around him. Their movement serpent like through the air, aggressively advancing on the prince as his clouded head started to clear. Dashing towards the mass of tangled and apparently sentient wires, reaching out his hands and gripping one firmly in his hand his fingers tensing as he crushed the flaying wire in his palm, a loud crunch as several tones of pressure crushed down and its apparent life force faded. Noticing the sudden loss of one of their brothers a flurry of wires pilling down on the prince. Edwards great speed all but useless as the swarm was all encompassing gripping him firmly across all of his being. A loud humming starting as the swam started to flare up a surge of heat and energy flowing all around him. Sparks arching to his armour his body held rigid as the swam continued to channel its current onto his stationary form.

Remaining passive for a few seconds the sparks faded and the serpent like wires began to loosen and move away. Perhaps their primitive minds couldn't comprehend the failure of electrifying an insulated suit. Waiting for an opening in the flow of moving wires the prince used a brief window to burst back into the fight. The towering robot needed to be dealt with swiftly this swarm of wires would allow him free reign of the streets and his comrades may not have faired as well with the attempted electrocution. Remembering his school education the prince utilised his great speed fleeing momentarily from the scene of the fight, first stopping at a nearby Internet cafe, a flurry of touch typing revealing a location of interest a Cryonics centre. Once again using his vast speed and borrowing a sealed container marked with hazardous logo. Moments passing as the Champion cannoned towards his opponent once more using his momentum to leap skyward towards the robots centre of mass his clenched fist slamming hard into the surface as he tried to pry an opening with hands. A small bubble of telekinetic energy at his side holding the tool of his true focus. A small gap in the robots skin would allow him to pour a container of liquid nitrogen into the recess. Should it be successful a simple strike would shatter the robots internal workings around the puncture, maybe hitting something vital.

@darkchild: @jack_: @nevermore_: @m-174: @encriptor: @edwardwindsor:

Demonstrating an apparent tactical aptitude previously highlighted by their methodical targeting of the Goliath-Assault Mech's vulnerable points; it's joints, Merlin's spirited opposition countered his potent kinetic strike with an assault of commendable versatility. First it was the searing touch of hellfire against the mechanical juggernaut's hand as it crashed into the concrete pavement, vehemently rearranging the encompassing environment with an explosive kinetic burst. Fortunately, the threat of hellfire stemmed from it's ability to scorch the soul, a metaphysical phenomenon that neither Goliath nor Merlin possessed. And though it's extreme temperatures melted away layers upon layers of the mech's hand, the sustained damage was not particularly alarming.

Meanwhile, a temporal journeyman made his ingress, hoping to tip the bout's scales in favor of the would-be heroes, only to be ensnared and bullied by one of Peak's numerous tendrils while a variety of nanobots organized by an unknown entity commenced their agenda. Unfortunately, the adversary responsible for disrupting the mech's photoreceptors sought to worsen the lacerations with additional cuts. Fortunately however, the compounded layers of high grade titanium-50 coupled with it's gravitationally strengthened structure prevented the sword's sharp edge from cutting any deeper. Then the telekinetic speedster's attempt at mitigating Goliath's palm strike by encasing it's hand in a telekinetic force field or barrier encountered no success. Why? Because it didn't matter how indestructible the barrier was, physics doesn't concern itself with where the force emerges from.

Whether Goliath's hand was crashing into the ground or smashing into a moving truck, a barrier would not cushion the blow because the force behind it would still have to go somewhere. And the targeted ground was as good a place as any. Additionally, the telekinetic 'glove' simply acted as another physical layer with which to release kinetic energy from. It was like attempting to cushion a plane crash by encasing it in titanium. His following attack however, was a stroke of pure genius. While the speedster lacked the physical strength to so much as dent the mech much less tear open 7,000 plus layers of quantum shielded alloys, the momentum from his superhuman speed blasted an opening apart, enabling him to pour gross amounts of liquid nitrogen into it. Why was it a stroke of genius? Because cooling just about anything to liquid nitrogen temperatures renders it more brittle than at higher temperatures.

At higher temperatures, defects in the crystal lattice of a material are more mobile. Bending a crystal introduces slippage and cracking. At higher temperatures, bonds re-form around the dislocated surfaces, distorting the lattice nearby, shifting the stress around. At lower temperatures however, the nearby atoms in the crystal lattice do not move and long cracks form more facilely. The speedster's following strike shattered Goliath's afflicted internal composition, paving the way for an arriving Evie's calculated attack. By gravitationally pulling the mech's screws and bolts, she effectively stripped Goliath structure of it's ability to support the stress of the amount of activity in it, particularly in the joints. Joints are always under immense pressure when a mere human body is active. For a 7,080 ton, 360 feet robot however, the G forces created when it runs, punches or jumps, are enormous. Without structural integrity in the joints, it collapsed. It however, made no difference.

While Goliath fell, Merlin's plan had succeeded. One of his adversaries had done their best to warn the world of the numerous targeted oil refineries, an admirable attempt. The western world while capable of protecting itself, was not the Quantum Wizard's target. A multitude of Africa's oil refineries however, were, playing on the fact that the majority of the African countries targeted had no means of protecting themselves against such an abrupt assault. And with no hero possessing the combination of speed or ridiculously convenient super-power to both be present everywhere across the continent to stop every single satellite from dealing the planned devastation, the majority of the targeted oil refineries fell just as Goliath had. The world's petroleum supply was damaged, partially or severely, it mattered little. And while Ra's Lanuf remained intact, Merlin burst out from the interior of a collapsed Goliath, a haze of aromatic dust stimulated by the mech's fall reducing the Quantum Wizard to a taciturn silhouette uttering but one word as it's crimson photoreceptors took in the image of every single one of it's adversaries, "Viruses..". It was now that the true battle would begin.

Perhaps she overestimated Santi or perhaps she underestimated herself. Either way Evie predicted far less success then she'd obtained. Trying to identify the design of a machine was easy doing so to a machine used by an A.I not so much as then technopathy was equivalent to two combating psychics. However for what ever the reason Evie was a major help in toppling the Goliath. However as spears ice gravity wells and so on were not apart of the biblical tale Evie felt obliged to kick a rock. The small stone pointlessly coloring with the downed mechanical titan, after all it was a stone from David that did the job in the classic biblical tail. Playful like act of Evie's also displayed how still unaware she was. This was truly her first heroic endeavor she didn't have the experience or concern that perhaps she should have.

As the giant fell it's gargantuan frame making the earth rumble and a thick cloud of dust coating the battlefield the man behind the attack was revealed. And almost simultaneously she was alerted of the plan and unable to stop it. Only thing Evie could have done was to try and effect the planets gravity as a whole even if she knew the plan ahead of time she likely wouldn't have the might or will to stop the improvised bombardment. Hopefully one of the other combatants had a plan for Evie was stuck with trying to only safe guard the oil facility behind her and the other heroic figures. The distant destruction was nothing however to the revelation of Merlin.

Evie considered the A.I a friend and had frequently explored his vast mind to broaden her childlike understanding of the world. She was constantly entertained by what they were, he a brain created by man where she was essentially a heart created by man. Both seemed to indeed be 'living' yet artificial. She also considered her hypothesis of someone at Avalon stealing Goliath to be just that a theory. The reality was more earth shattering then any toppling mech or crashing satellite would ever be. As for Evie she was not of cold and calculated thought she could feel and she very much felt betrayed.

The Nevermore's attack was simple and easy for her arguably primitive and raw. It was a simple manipulation of the gravity around Merlin. She'd make it fifty times what it ought to be and then double it continuously. From fifty times the natural force to a hundred to two hundred and so on. Aggressively seeking to obliterate what she'd thought a friend. All the while with aid of technopathy she constantly cried out "why?" Wishing to hammer Merlin's mind as well until she'd acquired an answer.

Drake. There were many Drakes already, psychopaths, magicians, normal people. Too many. But the last who did leave a mark didn't even have a true name... In fact, he did. It was Kurt. Kurt Pendragon. And he, apparently, moved in from an aleatory dimension without acknowledging so. Memory scramble, a death wish... He was ultimately killed by Nymphixia, yet not against his will. But while in Hell, he found no peace nor desire to be dead. It was unforgettable, it simply throbbed against his head like trickling blood from countless wounds he had deepened.

How do I know that?

Now calm down... Who the hell am I talking to? Like if I was telling my story to anyone. Heh, guess what they say about insanity is right. No matter how far you run, it will always wait you on the other side.

Anyways, how can that same jester be me? Impossible, eh? His healing factor would deteriorate any attempt of modifying his face and green ink would be too obvious. Well, my guess is easy... After I regretted my choice, after I was deceived over and over again about death and unveiled the ugly truth. Well, I also discovered this odd Quantum connection betwixt realms, pretty useful to someone or something that poofs away via Q-channels. However, my soul was the only thing to go, hence why it was the only thing to come back. Luckily enough, my body didn't deteriorate... Not even a little bit, simply healing any physical injuries while going full zombie in an alleyways or something. Wasn't hard reclaiming it.

Yet, I came back not to kill more, not to take on the same life I had. No. I came back to exert a new purpose, to encounter the tranquility of my troubled soul. I came back with a change, but it was not only spiritual. That Drake, that assassin, he had to go. And my body comprehended it. And when I removed the mask, there was no more Carmine Comedian beneath it, but a complete stranger.

What does that mean?

My control of Quantum isn't exactly what I pictured... And that makes me a target. Good thing I can tie the useful to the musts. The sea-life always impressed me, and since I might be pinpointed quite quickly by the modern-day charlatans, I need to get the Hell outta land as fast as I can.

@warsman

Alexandria Ameriya Refinery:

"Drawin' 'em swords 'lready, boy?" Proclaiming the arrival of resistance forces, a petite pack of jellylike security blocked the path. Drake had been carrying some barrels of oil to sell, buying his own ship was no easy task, and as he didn't want to waste that much amount of his money, why not steal a boat and fuel from Egypt? They surely didn't need it.

Hollow pupils blazed beneath that obsidian bandanna, his movement came to an end, encompassed by barrels of semi-automatic machine guns, cylinders acquainted thoroughly by him. Moments of quietude, patience was everything. His unwavering composure and controlled demeanor, never to be expected by his old-self. Those men reeked panic and exuded fear. Just because he was no longer a mercenary, that did not mean he had revoked his will to murder. After all, a swordsman is a swordsman. A wide grin crossed his face instantaneously, directly followed by that strident cackle. "Oi!" He called, sarcastically edging his lips right and skyward.

And, as a nimble shadow, the unbeknownst criminal vanished into the thin air, regrouping his particles amid the trembling guardians of the oil. A katana cleaved between his jaw, the other two held firmly by his convict fists, clenching around the hilts. Two swords could be reckless, adding much to the attack and unbalancing his defense, yet three? They could spare him unneeded spars and parries, and his dexterous ability, endowed by harsh training and by his own merit, solely his... It was outstanding, twisting his tongue and motioning his neck back and forth, he slashed through armed men as if they were mere puppets, hanging from unmovable strings.

A gracious yet lethal blur, he moved so lightly and quiescently, averting not only bullets, but also blood beads which devious intentions were to stain his clothing. Captain, goon, major, general... It did not truly matter as the clash was over in seconds. Just in time for him to face his escapade. His perfect plan... Just perfect.

A sudden outburst aback hurled him and the igniting fuel outward, his charred torso intensifying the pain such an impact would inflict. Another explosion, this time it was the barrel... He mumbled and grunted under his breath, cursing the motherf*cker that had done such a thing, but as he laid onto the amber sand, his fathoming eyes met no target, no breathing being... Only a humongous bubble of tangerine and charcoal hues, along a smoke trail extending to... Space?!

"Dang it!" He spilled together with carmine droplets of pure blood. It wasn't common... That wasn't common at all! Had they come for his head right now? Just when he was about to escape mediocrity? He had to find survivors and rip off information... One way or another.

That was when he realized. Cast ashore, a figure, ostensibly fragile and feminine... Was that what caused all the mess? As per usual, his wounds begun to amend, yet it didn't matter. He had taken worse, he had witnessed Hell itself and still breathed pure air. Touching cautiously the woman's frame with his foot, he announced his arrival. "Oi, ye okay, miss?"

Was she missing an arm? AND AN EYE?

That was an imbecilic approach...

A Day ago: Location Classified

I sat down with a possible contractor. My AK strapped on my back to show that I meant business. The contractor was an older man with slicked back black hair. He slid a file to me and then gestured for me to open it. I complied. In the file there were several pictures of an oil refinery. "What's the catch?" I questioned without taking my eyes off of the photos."You will be transported to Ra's Lanuf, Libya. You will be stationed at the refinery,for three weeks. We believe that it may be attacked sooner or latter. Considering it is the largest oil refinery in the world and everyone needs oil. We are willing to pay you $900,000."

"I'll take it." As I offered a friendly hand shake. "That's not necessary, Mr..." I pulled my arm back to my side "Darksider." I coldly stated. We strolled to a hanger. I got into my personal attack helicopter. And sent off to Ra's Lanuf, Libya.

Now:Ra's Lanuf, Libya

The helicopter was loaded with weapons. An indestructible machete rested on my lap, a nearly indestructible, jagged, circular shield, with a skull in the middle.Which rested in the passenger seat and two fully automatic smgs were hidden in the glove compartment. I strapped the smgs to my legs and the machete to my back.I finally saw the oil refinery. Where a giant mech was wrecking havoc. There several people in various costumes fighting the mech. While I was distracted, a bunch of tendrils hit the side of the helicopter. I began to let out a barrage of machine gun fire from the helicopter. I downed the tendrils but the damage had been done. I prepaid for an emergency landing when another tendril came out of nowhere and crashed into the side of the helicopter.

I flew out of the passenger door, but managed to grab the sniper riffle,that was in front of the shield, and shield.I used the shield to cushion my fall. I laid flat on my back.Out of nowhere a tendril launched out at me.Using the shield,I managed to block it with the shield and hack it in half with the machete. I stood up and buried the shield into the ground. I picked up the sniper riffle off the ground. I checked the magazine, it was loaded with acidic rounds.I aimed down the scope where the mech used to be.Now there was a smaller robot.

"What the hell?" I asked out loud. As I steadied my finger on the trigger.Ready for the machine's next move.

@m-174: @meriin: Retching himself as the tendrils wrapped around him tight, he grinned wide as M scorched the tendrils with her own little cadre of creatures. Turning demonic in features Gen, his body contorted and mashed in ways that no human could endure during a transformation. Soon he was seven feet tall and brazen with armor akin to that of his species, he was from head to toe a fully armored Hellion.

Watching as his Lust Mate M moved to attack a being known as Peak, he watched as the beast from before fell to the ground.Before it hit the earth beneath itself, Gen moved his arms in a way summoning an incantation akin to Hellions. A protection spell that erected before him and around him, as the beast fell to the ground it shattered scattering itself all over. Gen knew nothing of the beast nor its source, and didn't want to take any chance. Perhaps this thing infected others, he wasn't going to allow himself to be taken so easily. But as the beast began to fall apart something even more sinister came from its chest, walking tall this creature stood nearly as tall as Gen was in his demon form.

Barring his teeth, Gen knew that this creature was powerful and did not want his own to be harmed. So acting as if out of fidelity he burst forward towards the beast, a long sword in hand he swung it hard hoping to decapitate the beast swiftly, then if the attack hadn't made his connection he swung around launching a mixture of energies. All forms of energies converged into his palm and he siphoned it off into a large wave of energy hoping to peel the skin or metal workings away from the beast before him.

@meriin:

The behemoth had fallen. And yet, a newer threat loomed, somehow even more intimidating than the colossus that had stood before it. There was no doubt in the Minuteman's mind that this was the being responsible for all that had transpired thus far, and all that would come to pass.

Well, here goes everything.

Flipping open his communicator, he closed the channels to all but one. A highly encrypted channel, all but unbreakable to an organic, would be the perfect way to bait a machine into conversation. And while he had a feeling this was no ordinary machine, it probably wouldn't be able to ignore such a signal. With security like this, he doubted it would risk letting such a message go unread.

And now, we parley.

"Attention, sir. I regret to inform you that your actions are endangering the timestream. I insist that you cease all further hostilities against this world. Additionally," he paused, planning his next move, "I must inform you that I am, in fact, a time traveler. Whether or not you choose to believe me, it does not matter. We've had this conversation before. But now, I'm giving you the opportunity to change your current course of action. Surrender now, and you will not be harmed."

He was taking quite the gamble. An AI such as this one would be rather difficult to outwit. One wrong move, and this could be the last thing he'd ever say. But now, it was time for the coup de grace.

"Of course, why have you let me live this long? I'll admit, I was a little disappointed when your tentacle tried to do me in a moment ago. After all, you kill me now, what happens to you? For you see, my friend, our paths are interconnected. Details change, of course. Your name. Your exact motive. The way I die. The way you die. But there are a few reoccurring facts. Fact one: I am responsible, either directly or indirectly, for your creation. Without me, you cannot, no, you will not exist. We will both vanish instantaneously. You either kill me, and doom yourself, or you allow me to alter your programming for the better. Your choice."

Sweat had begun to run down his brow. He was straight out lying now, spinning a nearly impossible tale of time travel and paradoxes, vaguely alluding to shared destinies and far-reaching effects of this mechanical monster's actions.

"Now, I'm sure you're rather skeptical of my claim. After all, what's to stop you from killing me where I stand? Nothing at all. Nothing, that is, but doubt. You know. You know because there is nobody alive crazy enough to spin a tale like this, my friend. You know that even if you kill me now, if there is even the slightest chance I'm telling the truth...you'll blink out of existence, and I'll be dead. So we can do this the easy way, or you can never have done anything in the first place, as you'll never have existed. Believe me or not, there's no way you win today."

Such a dramatic bluff may have been a drastic miscalculation on his part. He, of course, had no way of backing up his claims. But if this machine had any good self-preservation programming, it would at least hesitate before ending his life, perhaps buying everyone a little more time to get their act together. He tightened his grip on the kinetic pistol. He may only have a few seconds to react to whatever came next. Hopefully, whatever this thing is would take the bait...

Your move, Mister Level A7 technopath. Your move...

@_drake:

Why can't it ever be easy?

Why does it always have to involve pain, heartbreak, people dying...

At least I think it does.

Wake up.

---

It must have been some latent form of unconscious adrenaline locking her out of any sort of discomfort, because she felt relatively at peace with the world around her. Floating. Riding. Crashing. Recovering. An endless cycle of pure bliss, all leading up to a serene stillness. A calm in the middle.

Or rather, at the beginning.

"Oi, ye okay miss?"

Of course I'm okay. Get away from me, loser. Her mouth made some sort of motion, indicating that she heard him. She wanted to strangle him for kicking her in the side like that. Him? Yeah, obviously masculine vocal structure. Probably compensating for something. Her eye fluttered open, and she studied him for a brief moment, taking into account the swords. Definitely compensating for something. She leaned forward, grabbing a handful of sand on her way up. Everything started to smell bad. Her fantasy from before, her dream of floating, and she remembered a ship in the distance. Sinking. Her hand shot up to her face, but this only made her panic even more.

The impulse creeping up her spine stopped at the fingers on her right hand, but only felt like they quivered to a halt at around her left shoulder. Not to mention the blood on her hand once she took her hand away. Literally blue blood, nothing to do with actual royalty. Maybe a joke? It started to hurt.

But more than anything else, she felt alone. There was just this stranger on the beach. He wasn't going to help her. Just making sure she was alive before continuing on his way or something. That's it, just get lost, loser. I don't need you. She forgot he was standing there. She just memorized the feeling of not having a left arm. Not even a stump. Only the roots remained, the barest form of 'hello' once the nerve endings came to their final destination. Like a bridge to a major city suddenly falling into the river. The collection of small towns along the border are suddenly burdened with all the tourists wanting to go somewhere else or go home. A panicked, frantic sort of fascination in the growing solidarity.

She found where the blood on her face came from. Curious little paps from her only hand, and she found it. Her lucky eye was gone. That would explain too much. Wait, not gone. But dark. Sunlight through the fibers of...a coat pocket? She reached down into her jacket, and felt something between glass and gelatin. The beautiful lucky thing! Such a wonderful product of love. She didn't know what that word meant. Without hesitation, she plunged it back into her skull, and looked back up at the stranger.

That's when she started to get angry.

"YOU! Just what are you trying to do here?! You pervert! And what's with those swords, huh? Did you cut off my arm?"

She stood up, strangely unaffected by the mysterious amputation.

"I'll have you know, I'm stronger when I'm awake! Just because you got one lucky shot in doesn't mean you own all the luck! You're messing with the future King of the Pirates - Seo Vicious - here!"

Gender-specific roles were lame anyway. Seo fidgeted around in her other pockets, finding it unnecessarily difficult minus one functioning limb. She needed her dice for combat. Or rather, her combat would be augmented with the dice and the results of their rolls. Only, they weren't anywhere on her. She started to panic again. Such a big speech and she had lost the core of her strategy without realizing it. With a sudden lunge toward the sand, she tried unearthing anything she could in a desperate bid on finding those damn dice cubes. Bottle caps. Nope. Popsicle sticks. Haven't these people heard of trash bins? Teeth. BLUGH!

Groaning, folded her body over and sat down, knees to her chin, drawing in the sand with a miserably melancholic feel around her now. The shift in her mood indicated some degree of reliance on the dice cubes, though she didn't really need them anyway.

"Fine, you wouldn't have stood a chance in the first place..."

A specific quirk about her personality: she claimed victory even in the face of her surrendering.

@meriin: Xomega seeing as the Goliath was taken down and yet the satellites did their purpose was delighted at the destruction and sent his nanobots to devour the quantum alloy left on the battlefield.

Xomega sends a message to Merlin stating "I could manifest into another Goliath but instead of using quantum plating the armor would be void plating, and it would be of a mass collective of nanos in formation"

.

This being an option for Merlin as Xomega needed more time to assimilate more of the bio-organisms for his own personal agenda. Meanwhile Xomega was interrupting the electrical synapses in the cerebrum causing a paralytic state which was noticeable world wide. People and animals domestic and not were starting to just pause in position, causing chaos as planes, cars, boats, vehicles and even less mobile devices were crashing out of control.

@warsman:

Firstly, he bobbed his head sympathetically, eyes fixed on the fragile, yet odd being beneath her, which puked words everywhere, expelling all her rage. Being cast away from the sea was not easy. The blood trickling down didn't seem to bother her, tainting her delicate traits of a vigorous, repugnant carmine. More than anyone, he savvied how aggravating to the ire it was to be wounded. All the blood he had lost, literally rivers. Bullets pierced through meat, slashes crossed his chest as his intestine hung from the obnoxious slices. He had been punctured by keen-edged projectiles, smashed by collapsing edifices and ravaged by mass-destruction weaponry. It never scarred his mind, though. Once you sip from the distinctive, appetizing immortality, the thirst for proving it is unquenchable. Yet, he hadn't only gulped a few, not even a glass, he dove head-first into the fountain. Although he did heal, sore always lasted, so he learnt how to endure it, how to scorn and clown over it. His triumph over the most carnal sentiments marked only the beginning of his loss, not comprehending the miracle of life. He was quite skeptical, something so trivial to him inflicting such outcomes upon foes. Those he judged unworthy of life due to lack of perseverance, of willpower to stand.

That woman did seem to comprehend him, but all her babbling and mumbling, the eye-attaching, the pervert accusations. Those barely made it though his carapace. Readying to leave, he arose from the sand, wounds clearly diminishing, an evanescent memory now, alike the sand buffeted and carried by the enveloping wind... Then it hit him... She... endeavoring to stand up to him?! Ha! Such ridiculous image brought a simper to his adamant countenance. She had just lost an arm, one he didn't tear apart, but would have after such imbecilic statement. Time is different on diverse realms, what means some years to a human, could have meant an eternity to the unextinguishable flame that was Drake. Tilting his head and arching a brow, he dropped a two of his katanas onto the debris-filled beach... and then bent forth and laughed.

The joyous guffaw dropped him into his knees, crystalline tears rolling earthwards... "Oi, ye a-actually think ye can beat m-me?! Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Exclaiming in a boisterous tone, Drake could not help himself. King of the Sea? She scantily remained onto a ship, conquering all the acquainted and unbeknownst seas of this globe was no task for a mere... A mere... What even was her? A demon? A mutant? Agh, what did he care? Tossing his blades aside with a soft kick, he calculated thoroughly for them to fall in front of his 'invincible' opponent.

"Firstly, I'd like to clarify a few things. Nay, I did not cut yer arm, but I might cut yer other arm. Nay, I am not a pervert, there is only one woman who can get into my heart and she is entombed right now. Nay, I do not care about ye. Doesn't matter who ye are, ye're nothing here. And if ye feel so proud of yer abilities, please..." Beckoning to the fallen sword, he armed one betwixt his teeth. "I can beat ye without using all my katanas. Actually, I can beat ye without my hands." He chuckled a jiffy, looking down on her and entirely downgrading his adversary. "If ye wonder who the f*ck I am, the name is Drake, and I am thee greatest swordsman this world has ever seen. And that's all ye need to know."

@_drake:

"Dumbass," she began, turning her head ever so slightly in a condescending and sly manner. "If you're so great, then why I haven't heard of you?"

It was then that her smile became less of a genuine smirk, and more an expression of unabashed horror. The clatter of blades on the wet sand had a profound effect on her, and she looked up at the man standing there as if he were her executioner. A faint grin popped up on her face again, only this time the universally worried body language remained. She knew how to fight with a cutlass, but a katana was different. Two hands to wield, far less room for error, and much - much - sharper. But only if someone didn't take care of a cutlass often. Proper sword management could dictate that a toothpick can be as sharp as a katana when maintained properly.

Sh!t, don't lose focus here, dummy!

IT'S ALREADY LOST! Bluuuugh...

"Alright,"

She stood up, having made no move for the katana. One arm, the other a mere stump bleeding an odd bluish color, shot to her forehead with two fingers focused on establishing the connection. She had no dice, but she still had her lucky eye. And her brilliant MIND!

"I'll play your game, samurai," the horrendous level of puns involved in that word stung her imagination. Sam, your eye; pft. Seo wasn't named Sam. That's just silly.

"You won't use swords? Fine, I won't use your swords. The oils of your perverted hands have already sullied their worth to me anyway,"

She was lying the whole way through. She didn't want to use them because of some trivial oil-phobia, but rather she knew he knew how to fight with his swords even if he didn't use them himself. Somehow she knew that he knew that she knew and he knew...wait, what?

Don't lose your focus here either, dummy!

BLUUUUUUUUUGH!

"If I fight you on your terms, of course I'll be impressed. But how about we make this interesting?"

Her smile really became devious now.

"If I win, you have to join my crew! The crew of the future Pirate King! Queen. Blugh, like it even matters!"

There was no way this idiot could know about her luck influence. Without her dice, its effectiveness was effectively halved, but that didn't stop her from landing a lucky kidney shot or something. Unironically, her amputation also led to her abilities being halved. This meant that at about a quartered efficiency, she was about to go against an unarmed - possibly insane - man who just proclaimed that he was the greatest swordsman who ever lived.

On a beach.

In the middle of nowhere.

While something like an alien invasion was going on elsewhere.

Things could still get weirder, she supposed.

@warsman:

"Ye didn't hear about me?" His smirk increased quite superciliously, followed by that trademark, goofy laughter. Shaking his head and shrugging off a partial deception, he beamed at her. "That's exactly what ye should fear... No one ever lives to spread the word!" A quite simple intimidating technique, perhaps to just tick her off, make her unbalanced. She was odd. A healer? Maybe. Crazy? A possibility. Yet, there was no way Drake would be losing that fight. No, he would be humiliating her, splitting limbs with his bare teeth and feasting on blood... No, no, that is needlessly brutish and cruel, no need to maintain appearances, you're a soft one, Drake.

You're soft.

He hadn't sucked the marrow of life just yet, leaving it only a shell. He did enjoy a combat here and there. And making a rival now, oh, that would be wondrous! Specifically because she also had plans for the sea and that would make them clash so many times. Ah, he could scent the bright future already. "Oi, if I lose, I join ye, tis fine by me." His muscular build prepared to the brawl, vehemently shooting back to open up distance. He seemed a faster runner, agile and dexterous due to years of untamed practice. "But if ye lose, yer eye is mine." That eye... It seemed odd. Different was the least he could note, that was, probably, her prized weapon. How could he even guess its properties?

He always did fall for a mystery. Like that time at Egypt, when he got his head stuck inside a serpent's mouth to see if there actually was a void into their stomachs or if they were a portal... They ate too much for such thin beings.

Agh, insanity alert! Look at her, display your mischievous smirk, intensify it in a quite creepy manner. Good. Now tie the bandanna around your head tighter.

The fight is won, no she she can win. Not unarmed, even less armed. If she cheats, Drake will swimmingly decapitate her. If not, he will try to not snap her neck in order to gain a rival. Hmm... Still, where would be the fun if it was easy? Nowhere, that's where!

"Also, yer picking an unfair brawl here, ye know?" Raising the single blade he dared to maneuver within his jaw and placing it where it belonged, he chortled jocosely. "Lemme give ye a hand. If ye can take this sword outta my mouth without losing the fight, ye win. If ye get beaten, yer eye is mine." Well, it's mine anyways... "Do we get a deal." Offering the wrist contrary to that she had just been spared of carrying, he laughed. "Oh, sorry, I didn't realize ye were handful! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

@_drake:

Wow this guy is smug.

And he wants my eye if I lose? Freak!

Of course, I'm not going to lose, so blugh on him.

Seo just had a look of astonished ignorance on her face, completely aware of just how much of an insane jerkface this guy was, but altogether wanting to forget all those facts. She just realized how hungry she was. Stupid stomach. On top of a missing arm, missing dice, and the borderline stupid deal she just made, skipping breakfast for what felt like weeks just topped off the sundae of idiocy she made. It smelled faintly of vinegar, and she gagged, blaming it on the pervert's next move.

"You expect me to touch something that's been in your mouth? Not only are you a pervert, and a smug freaky one at that, but you're also disgusting! That makes you a smug, freaky, disgusting pervert, in case you couldn't catch on - dumbass!"

Fixing fights because she was down a few luck charms? And a limb? Lame. This guy was lame, like the kind of boring day you start off making toast with. Or...skipping breakfast entirely.

Her stomach growled again.

SHUT UP!

"On the other hand," she would have slapped herself for making the stupid joke for this loser - if she could; BA-DUM-TSS. But she did visibly quiver, disgusted by the humor.

"You are a sweetie for making it fair for my poor, frail, girly muscles," she taunted in a biting tone. "Not only have you disabled yourself in removing your swords from play, but you have also made it possible for me to come disgracefully close to your puffy rose-red lips, oh SWOON!" the sarcasm ceased to be inconspicuously biting.

Now it was just full-on gnawing on the samurai's earlobes.

She fell on the sand again, immensely annoyed by the whole ordeal. She reached up with all three of her remaining limbs and flailed about relentlessly for a second, mumbling something incoherent and probably meaningless. At the last possible interval of the awkward silence to follow, she would leap up with all her ridiculous strength, launching her pale and lean frame a full ten feet to cover the distance between her and the swordsman in record time. The best possible comparison would be a lizard dashing at full speed from seemingly nowhere. No starting acceleration. No warning of movement.

Just a quick, and precise skitter.

@warsman:

Laughing at her ingenuity and sarcasm, he nodded. "Ye're funny. Almost making me regret having to beat ye." Spacing his arms and shutting his eyes, the swordsman simply inhaled profoundly and allowed his sentiments to flow, he had honed his out-bodily endowments, his life-force, manifesting it into enhanced perceptions of the environment encircling his ostensibly unguarded stance. Tweaking hands just letting the wind caress amid its fingers. "Ye adventure ends now, King of the Seas." Stomping laboriously at the damp sand tickling his feet, he merely felt a slight change on the pressure, the air moving faster than he could possibly picture such gross creature dashing. A smile crossed his face as he pivoted aside, permitting part of his alabaster tunic to be slithered within the assault.

Twisting his way out of her path, he raised a foot and jolted against her nape. Velocity much similar to what he had just witnessed. He wasn't playing around, armed or unarmed, he was a hazardous hunter. Sniffing and stalking his prey, toying with it to comprehend capacity and skill, to measure how difficult it would be to beat it. And she wasn't surpassing the grade C- right now... C-, that was how he went on Maths back on his school days. When he punched those geeks to do his homework for him. Seo was just like the geeks. She just ran more sluggish and faced off against a better Drake. Actually, a Drake with an actual name... What was his name when he was a kid? Should have been something as idiotic as Luke or as Warren... Maybe the top-notch of douchebags: Malcolm. Yep. Definitely one of those suckish names!

@warsman: @_drake:

Not To Long Ago In "Somewhere Close But Who Gives a F About Exactly Where"

She'd stolen a pair of shoes which led to instore drama resulting in three civilians dead and two in the hospital. A chase ensued which led to her stealing four cars and with her exceptional driving having crashed three of them. Of the cops after her many had crashed and those who hadn't had plenty of dents. A rather nonsensical path of destruction and mayhem. All leading to an airport or at least where a small personal plane was for her crime spree to take itself to.

On the run to the personal plane of course police came for her. She was great at taking the stuff she wanted just not subtle in the least. Thankfully her gunplay was there to save her. Two rounds and the hand canon had knocked two people over with shattered knees and a sickening crunch as their noses collided with the asphalt and dirt. Three more shots took off a few fingers of three officers and forcing the gun from her hands. She actually didn't like hurting the law but it was better then jail time. The last two shots from her pistol struck the tires of two approaching cop cars as her choice of firepower packed a punch that defied the laws of physics and her aim was uncanny soon enough automobiles were flipping in the air like a movie stunt. Now with a window to escape she started up the plane.

A Few Minutes Later Aka Nowish

She'd heard of something going down at a near by oil refinery. Looking through her phone she'd even learned there was a man scoring good money for being there from a contract deal. Wanting a piece of the action she began flying in that general direction. Her ability of driving well anything however was notably terrible and some how she'd managed to get the plane's engine smoking. And the left wing barely attached. Her attention was pulled away from Angry Birds when she saw two people talking that were from what she could see her kind of odd.

Her landing was the shit, as in literally the worst god awful attempt in possibly all of history. Nosediving into the rocks the plane exploded in a grand shower of metal sparks and flame. The noise almost had her ears ringing but thanks to her unique skeleton she was intact nothing to tarnish what she'd thought a perfect image. Her small figure emerging from the smoke and wreckage in a cliche demeanor she obviously intended. Her strut of course had to be ruined by stubbing her toe on a shard of metal sticking from the earth.

In a outraged retaliation she emptied an entire magazine in the shard accountable for her pain. Getting her frustration out with a final kick while it was down she moved to the fighting duo. "Now I can see you two are busy trying to kill each other about that grain of sand there" sarcastically pointing at the dirt. "And it's a fine grain of sand, I can't help but think we'd be better as like a group going after cooler stuff. Like loot off robots near by or you know whatev. We just seem like we should be like a thing. We could be Jezebel Cain and posse! Or Katana Biter's Gang, or the One Arm Lady's Troop!" Of course at the moment the duo was currently just her looking for an excuse to get to the next score.

@meriin: with no response from the Quantum wizard, Xomega decides to show his commitment to making the humans & mutants suffer. Creating an army of androids to attack on multiple fronts forming from the very debris around the refineries.

the basic mechs to take out the humans, and the more advanced sentinels to handle mutant attacks.

@_drake:

Seo woke up half a second later, face in the wet sand, and rather understandably pissed.

Regardless of what conversation Drake and the new girl were having, Seo marched up behind the swordsman. Fuming, she lifted a foot off the ground, pulled it back, and aimed right for his family jewels.

@warsman: @klepto_:

And there was the stoic Drake, bravely brawling offhandedly against the vicious Seo... Or was it Seo Vicious? Anyways, the Swordsman of Epicness sliced and diced his way through crews already, gathering enough money to buy himself a brand-new ship and set sail to the seas. That was his plan, after all, escaping the land filled with greedy, manipulative people who would only seek him for the power restrained by his will. Quantum Manipulation... Yet, he still did believe it was all about chakra and unleashing its full potential would have him burnt out in seconds, so he desired to train farther and farther... Yet, so near from civilization... He wouldn't be able to. Bending reality wouldn't go unnoticed by the masses of vile beings. Not even the heroes would pretend to be at his side, simply taming him or chaining him somewhere.

He was about to finish her off, one good old-fashioned crisscrossed chop.

Then that... That thing surged, quaking the whole beach and dropping both to their knees. He turned around, beamed the worst irate expression he could, crunching the hilt with his teeth although it still was unscathed. Finger raised, he heard her words carelessly before freaking out. "Oi, oi, oi... Ye think, just cause ye, a second-rate trans, sees an incredibly skilled freak with a sword between his teeth and a maniac without an arm fighting they have to follow ye 'round?! Drahahahahahaha! Ye're insane, eh? Both of ye! I ain't connected to people, I'll just beat the crap outta no-arm, get her eye, sell it, get the cash, buy me a ship and vanish. Now quit getting in my way or ye will be a goner too!" She was hot, but his instinct for ladies had ended long ago when the last he loved was buried. To him, she could have been a transsexual, a dude, a midget... She would die the same. Actually, such revealing attire could only mean trans. Yep. Definitely trans.

And he said she was a goner. PUN ALERT!

"M-more like a boner! Drahahahahahahaha!"

BANG, right in the cracking coconuts. The blade runs away from his tongue, he doesn't yell, healing doesn't mean the pain ceases, but he had learnt to swallow it dryly. Still hurt like hell, though. Who was she to kick that strong? That Bale player in disguise? Dammit... There it went, freedom, dreams, everything... Oh, he would kill them. One by one... Little by little... That was cheating after all, huh? He wasn't even fighting! Which meant he would endeavor to mingle and if it didn't work out, snikt. Piece of cake.

The dry thud reverberates, but Drake's soul is still standing, only the damn body hits the ground. Hollow irises. Dilated veins running through his neck and forehead. Clenched fists. The anger was real. But it was still way too hot... While revenge, well, it's a dish best served cold.

Unlike any reaction expected, he vented his rage by uselessly punching a rock and guffawing at the sore... And also at the future. And the horned kid. And the trans. And his sword. And the whole situation. Oh, Drake, what the hell did you drag yourself into this time? Better not bring hallucinations nor insanity back, you forgot the medication in Hell...

"Why bother covering up or wearing protection?" She meant it in the fact that outside of some rare metal or tech wizardry there was no use in clothes or armor. They did no good in a fight and just needed frequent replacement. Jess would much rather steal things then see her things damaged, thus her choice of clothing was what it was. Course she also saw the innuendo in her remark and that was fine by her to. "Also maybe you should keep the eye yours seem broken there's nothing to support your claim." Her outfit also had nothing to hide so she was starting to think this sword blower had some mental issues, but she didn't judge.

Then came the furious blow that dropped the jack ass, which resorted in quite the snicker from the sniper. "So you lost. What does she win? Also don't punch the rock it did nothing to you." She'd already concluded this was a pair good for acquiring loot so long as they didn't kill each other first. But the chatter and pointless brawl was starting to get to her. She wanted to do something more like piracy or shooting near by robots.