Rory arrives at the school just in time to see Horizon take flight with Psyche in his arms. "Bro, what are you doing, are you planning to fight it and hold her at the same time?"
Isaiah follows the Scrubber as it bears down upon the zone of unreality that it detected. It fires a beam of energy down at a wide complex of office buildings and immediately a flare of disrupted time/space erupts.
A tight-beam transmission responds to Inquiry's... ahem, inquiry. <Acknowledged. Scrubber Unit 8731 went missing in -4594; unknown corruption in data processors. Hull can be compromised with a T-745 Phase Inhibitor with disruptive capacity. Schematics inbound.>
As Inquiry's omni-matrix is fabricating the inhibitor, surges of reality-warping energies are cascading from the apparent battle between the Scrubber and Apotheosis. Two of the detached nods are returning to the unit; the other two must be too damaged to be of any assistance.
=============
The elementary school children all retreat back to their rooms thanks to the gentle admonishments of Psyche and Horizon. As Shin takes flight with Kylie in his arms, the Rhino pulls up along the nearby street. The floating node from the Scrubber has turned around and is now flying toward the northeast.
=============
Scorch manages to stabilize the crane with some fancy flying and a bit of spot-welding. With that crisis averted, she can see the node that had detached is now flying back toward the Scrubber in the distance. A massive light show is brightening up the residential area known as Victory Heights.
Shin halts his flight as the Rhino pulls up. Thinking it's better for all of them to ride with him (And having no idea how Rory drove), he flies down and gets into the car, putting Kylie in the backseat. "I think this would be the safest place for you. Rory, we got to follow that node," He said, pointing it out in the sky. "I don't want anyone else getting hit by its beam."
You could have taken the hit. You've been powerless before. Useless and weak.
There was other stuff you could do without powers, as he fished his phone out, handing it to Kylie. "Check the media, see what everyone's buzzing about. The biggest fireworks is probably where we're headed. Let's shake a leg!"
Having stopped the antenna from falling, Scorch turned to survey the scene before her. Angling forward she streaked through the sky towards Victory Heights trying to get close enough to see what was going on.
Hmmm, a Phase Inhibitor... yes, with the proper tuning that could target the underpinning portions of the Scrubber, worm around its thick armor and resistance to external alterations. Just might work on Apotheosis too, depending on how he was maintaining his form.
"Okay, I am now in possession of a weapon capable of putting the Scrubber down... but I'm going to need to be careful about this. Probably want a clear shot, and some way to stop the battle for a moment. Or an even better thing would ae a way to move this whole scuffle somewhere where a crashing starship couldn't crush several buildings."
Isaiah/Inquiry observed the battle. It would be nice if they could at least wait until Apotheosis had been weakened some, and collateral damage might actually be mitigated simply because it would be wasteful for either party to expend energy on something other than its target. Still, they wanted to be able to take down the Scrubber at a point when it wouldn't smash too much with its fall, and to make sure that it wouldn't suffer a core detonation. And they wouldn't mind it if there were a chance to pick off Apotheosis, either. As long as they could take out one opponent cleanly, the other could be dealt with in a more controlled fashion.
"I'll try to line up a clean shot. Would appreciate help getting innocents out of the area... or it would also work if we could just chuck Apotheosis out of the city so we could deal with this somewhere with fewer fragile people to protect from the fallout."
Luckily for Rory's passengers the streets were empty and they were able to travel quickly with little evasive maneuvers while following the node. Rory hits scan on the radio looking for any relevant news.
Kylie was very quiet. She let herself be carried; let herself be put in the Rhino. Why didn't he respond.
"Is everyone else still... depowered?"
"I don't know, Psyche." It hurt him to hear her like that. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how you feel right now." Course you can, scared and helpless like a drowning kitten. "Ivll do whatever I can to help you get your powers back. We'll make whatever this alien node thing did reverse itself." That should be you back there. "I should have tried to deflect it better. I can't believe that it broke through. It should be me back there, not you." Finally, a little honesty. "I should have protected you! And I just...I failed. And I hate myself for it. You deserve better than this," He said, punching the dashboard in frustration.
"I can't answer for anyone else but I am depowered, as you put it... hopefully that stupid light doesn't give me cancer..." Rory says dryly looking a Psyche in the rearview mirror.
Kylie's gaze moved over to Rory's reflection, and the slowly slid back to Shin's forehead.
I can't see inside, but I've seen that face before. What aren't you telling me?
"If I'd kept my own shields up this wouldn't have happened, so stop it, Shin. Blaming yourself isn't helping anything. Just finish this; we'll all fix what they've done afterwards. I won't make that mistake again."
Ending it quickest would be to simply blast the Scrubber with the Phase Inhibitor and then have the heavy hitters like Scorch and Horizon put everything they've got into the weakened Shard. The problem is that could cause a catastrophic breach of its dimensional distortion drive and release unstable reality across the current populated area.
A safer strategy would be to gain entry into the Scrubber after its hit with the PI, and initiate a lockdown of the drive before it's destroyed. But that carries it's own risks so long as it's engaged with Apotheosis.
Hearing Isaiah broadcast that he's got a weapon to hurt it but he needs it drawn away from the populated area, you figure your best bet is to help draw the Scrubber away from Victory Heights so he can deploy the weapon.
The light show coming from Victory Heights becomes more dazzling as the battle wages. The Scrubber lances out beams of coruscating energy as the very fabric of reality is turned into a weapon against it. Initially, Apotheosis appears less than imaginative as dark clouds churn and throw multi-colored forks of lightning and blasts of wind. But then what looks like tears in the sky open up and winged creatures fly through to attack the alien pod physically. Trees become verdant missiles as they uproot and are launched at it. Buildings become fortresses with high-tech laser cannons side-by-side with medieval catapults, each sending their payloads towards the Scrubber.
Getting closer to the conflagration is going to be hazardous. What do you do??
Psyche stood, hunched and carefully bracing herself as she moved forward in the vehicle past Shin.
"Rory, I haven't studied these controls. Is there anything I can help you with as a co-pilot?"
Scorch angled upwards until she was positioned high above the ground and was able to look down on the conflagration below. "I've got an idea." she said over the comm. "Head south. I'll try to draw it that way."
With that, Scorch pulled the arms from her containment suit as she rose still higher before turning in a wide arc towards the ground and concentrating on maximizing her speed. Accelerating all the time, she streaked downwards towards the north of the fight, her form no more than a blur of light trailing a long tongue of flame. As she neared the ground, she leveled out close to the surface and traveling at an astonishing rate zipping between the buildings to hide her approach. Fortunately, Apotheosis' attention is on the scrubber, otherwise her plan would not have worked. As it was though, Scorch's incandescent form streaked through the space and she slammed into Apotheosis at speed and grabbing him, sending them both rapidly towards the South. As she felt her body begin to integrate his power, Mattie began to scream....
Shin could have exploded at Kylie's dismissal of his feelings. Started to scream and have an epic meltdown in Rory's Rhino. But he bit it all back. Now wasn't the time. He inched himself back from the edge and slowly exhaled. He'd have time to put things right. Remember Whippoorwill's lessons.
...Oh $#!{, Whippoorwill!
"Sensei, sorry to be out of contact. We've tracked the node that attacked me and Psyche in Rory's Rhino. We're seeing...well, Apotheosis is throwing everything but - okay, that was definitely a kitchen sink. And a bathroom sink. All the sinks. And they have fangs," He reported from his point of view. "He's throwing them all at the Scrubber. The Scrubber's doing its best to cancel them out. I...honestly don't know which one we should be helping," He admitted.
Whippoorwill responds to Shin. "Thanks for the update. Containment and bystanders are top priority. Try--" she's cut off by Scorch's transmission.
"All right, south. Hopefully she's aiming for the rail yards. Meet us there!"
Scorch flies into the maelstrom and slams into Apotheosis when she finds him in the center, carrying him away just as a vicious beam from the Scrubber lances down. She carries him south, speeding away from the populated areas. However, the rippling and unstable reality begins to have an effect on her!
Damnit.
"Shin. You have to get back out there. Kayla's down; I'm useless. You can't make Mattie do this all alone. Or..."
A spark came back into her eyes "No, you can't protect her. Bring me with you into those ripples. I'll take care of the rest. I can keep her safe once I'm... me."
Scorch felt waves of transformative power wash over her body as she began assimilating Apotheosis' power. On her arms the small scales shifted and began to spread. Her eyes blazed as the scales on her face shifted and moved, covering the space over her forehead and growing into twin horns arching backwards over her head. Under her clothes, the scales across her torso shifted and moved around, growing out as a slashing tail. As she flew, flames erupted from her form, wreathing her shape as she streaked towards the rail yards....
"That's a terrible plan. Those ripples could do the opposite and make you permanently powerless, or a flying horse, or some kind of youkai!" Shin started to protest to her. He was against it. He didn't want to do it.
And yet.
I owe her this.
"Rory, head south! We'll catch up," Shin tells him, grabbing onto Kylie and carrying her like a princess, enveloping them inside of his event horizon before flying straight into the heart of the reality storm.
Something changed. He felt weird as he passed through the ripples, even his power not shielding him enough to stop the reality shift. "Psyche...what's happened to me?"
His eyes had turned jade, black and brown fur sprouted up over his face, which had become more canine shaped as well. He was some kind of werewolf!
Rory starts to hand Psyche a tablet connected with Blockbuster, when Scorch announces the change of direction. Once again Shin takes to the air holding Psyche in his arms. Rory is alone again and heading South, he just shakes his head. Punching it, he races for the rail yard, traffic at this point is nonexistent - the streets, sidewalks, and front yards were now clear of the lookie-loos who were there a few minutes earlier.
Isaiah caught hold of a tendril from Inquiry, and both went off after Apotheosis, and likely the Scrubber as well, all headed south. Hopefully they could get to an area with fewer people in it quickly, before things got too out of control. And then Shin dove in, carrying Psyche. What were they even thinking!? That place was dangerous, especially for those two. Psyche was on Apotheosis' target list, and currently depowered. And Horizon... well, he just had to hope this mess wouldn't trigger anything with what was going on with him. His absorbing too much of this kind of energy could lead to all kinds of bad things if their guess as to the source of his powers was correct.
"Horizon, Psyche, get out of there! Things are really unstable, and you could get caught in the crossfire! What are you even thinking, diving in like that? Apotheosis is still trying to capture Psyche, you know!"
"Good work getting things moving, but once you've reached an unpopulated area, you should get out of there. Prolonged exposure to this kind of stuff is incredibly dangerous."
With its target suddenly and forcibly moved, the Scrubber orients its bulk towards the south and pursues.
Scorch and Apotheosis reach the railyards in a matter of moments. The reality-warper has shifted his form into that of a godlike being, with glittering armor and a wide shield. "What are you doing? There's less raw material for me to work with here! And what is that thing, anyway?" he demands of Scorch, not really seeming to care that she's become some sort of scaled creature.
"It doesn't matter Shin." I'll"We'll fix it."
Her eyes fixed on the horizon, she still reached up to stroke his fur. Surprised by the lack of feeling in her fingertips, she glanced over, quickly realizing that her skin had a new, artificial sheen, a bone-deep hum near the areas where the skin had torn in her abrupt landing announcing that this body was beginning to repair itself. Interesting
But changes to the body she was trapped in only really mattered if she couldn't make this work. Apotheosis was powerful, but not omniscient, the ripples here meant that he wasn't actually controlling every change he was making. I just need a spark, some part of some world where I'm whole.
I can do the rest.
"Why do I have fur? What's wrong with my mouth?" Shin struggled with the changes, and flinched as he looked at Kylie, altered to look like some mannequin, her skin tearing in places to show the metal underneath.
It was ironic then that she was in a form that probably couldn't use psychic energy at all.
"Isaiah, this is Kylie's idea. Maybe these new forms can help...actually, Psyche's become some kind of gynoid now. Maybe she could link to the Scrubber directly to deal with it," He suggests. He can still use his powers, at least.
Aren't you lucky?
"Hold on," He tells Kylie as he grabs her and flies up to engage the Scrubber with her. "Give back the powers you stole, damned alien menace!" He shouts.
"It's here to kill you." Scorch growls at Apotheosis, her tail lashing the air behind her menacingly as flames dance across her form. "Give yourself up to us and we might be able to stop it. This is your first and last chance. Surrender or die."
You feel repair subroutines activate; a self-diagnosis runs through your systems and tells you in nanoseconds that your current capacities are at 89.673 percent efficiency and will rise to optimal status in 16.5 seconds.
You dip into your familiar well of power and find access points that are different somehow. You receive sources of information, but structured; organized in ones and zeroes and with logical, simple processes. It's like the data stored within your core memory banks, but nowhere near as fractured and disorganized. Conclusion reached: organic consciousness no longer accessible. Wireless transmissions link you with innumerable computers around the area. You can connect to them, receive data, overload or damage them, or reprogram them. You can sense them all around you: smartphones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, computers in cars, homes, offices, traffic cameras, everywhere. You can no longer sense your friends, except one: Inquiry and its passenger/node, Isaiah. You can also sense the enemy alien unit and its passenger nodes as well.
A sudden surge of data and transmissions signifies a new AI has awoken. But oddly enough, its designation is Ky1i3-P5ych3!
Apotheosis looks at Scorch incredulously. "Surrender? What sort of god surrenders? It may be trying to kill me, but did you see what it's doing? If I can take control of its power, I can use it to rewrite reality permanently!"
His stare becomes intense and Scorch can almost feel him peeling layers back and seeing her core self. "I can help you. You're in flux now, but you have untapped power I can unlock. Help me, and I can make your dreams come true!"
Isaiah spoke via Scorch's comm unit, loud enough for Apotheosis to hear.
"Smart gods surrender. Really smart gods look around, realize that there aren't nearly as many other gods out there as there should be, all things considered, and then start laying low and playing nice from the beginning. Stupid gods get to find out the hard way WHY there aren't as many gods around as there could be. Really stupid godlings start acting all high-and-mighty before they've even really figured out just how reality warping works, and what kind of consequences it has, and end up in the position you're in now. You have selected the option 'die'."
Isaiah/Inquiry considered the status of things. Apotheosis wanted to assimilate the Scrubber to boost his own power; that ruled out taking the Scrubber down before he was dealt with. Which meant Apotheosis was the priority target. And Kylie had apparently been turned into a genuine AI-or at least as close to it as Apotheosis' clumsy use of his abilities could manage. They'd have to see what they could do. Well, start by trying the basics.
Isaiah slotted in a simple laser crystal. Light-speed traverse time meant no time for the target to react, and that the firing line could be completely certain. Which meant lining up a shot that passed through Apotheosis but didn't hit anyone else, with Inquiry's processors to help and tendrils to stabilize, was easy. Probably not powerful enough to be a kill shot, but all he needed to do was make him lose focus at a critical moment.
Inquiry was curious about what had just happened with Psyche, and tried opening a communication link.
<Hello! This seems a bit unusual. Need any help figuring it out? I might be able to help.>
With this machine-mind sense, it immediately becomes clear that Inquiry houses the true intelligence, and that Isaiah is simply a separated node controlled by the ship's AI. Still, the exact nature of this mind is odd; even from this new digital viewpoint, it remains somewhat alien.
"Okay, I could take down the Scrubber at this point, but doing so without dealing with Apotheosis first could result in him gaining access to it's abilities. As long as it remains active, it's protected from outside control or influence, but cracking it open and shutting it down will remove those protections. I know you said you didn't want unknown entities doing our dirty work... So I guess we'll just have to do it ourselves.
How are you all holding up? We've at least managed to relocate the fight to a less populated area now, and drawn all the nodes away from you."
Scorch grinned exposing a row of wickedly sharp teeth in her mouth as, along her spine, a series of needle-like quills began extending themselves. Already crouched and ready to pounce, she leapt forward, her hands outstretched, claws incandescent with heat....
Shin's assault on the Scrubber wasn't entirely successful. He'd blasted the thing with a strafing shot of built up solar energy, when it fired back it's beams at him. Not wanting to risk either him or Kylie getting hit, he flew away, for the Scrubber to continue its mission.
"Psyche, if I get close, can you grab on?" He growled, baring his sharpened teeth. "We have to make it reverse whatever it's done to the heroes in Halcyon!"
Kylie's small smile was normally lopsided, just a gentle tug at one corner of her mouth. This time though, both corners rose precisely the same fraction of an inch. "I believe I can convince them to do so. Provide me a moment, and I will uncouple one of its nodes. With that, I hope to restore the suppressed abilities of our allies."
"GREETINGS INQUIRY (^ _ ^)/
YOUR OFFER OF ASSISTANCE IS APPRECIATED, BUT UNNECESSARY. MACHINE INTELLIGENCES ARE MUCH SIMPLER IN MANY WAYS. (｡◝‿◜｡)
With a snarl and a sudden instinct to hunt and pursue, Horizon engages the alien entity with marginal success. It throws up a distortion barrier that causes Shin to have to go around. The delay allows the Scrubber to increase the distance between him and Psyche.
Meanwhile, Isaiah and Scorch unleash their powers against Apotheosis who staggers under the weight of the assault. "How dare you! I am achieving godhood and you stand in my way!" he shouts as reality shifts and warps around him in an effort to protect himself. Spacial distances bend and time goes askew in a vortex of swirling energies.
"Begone!" he shouts, and a train comes to life like a living, titanic snake. One end snaps at Scorch, swallowing her with a single "bite," while the other end latches on to Inquiry like a lamprey. It then dives into the ground like some sort of burrowing worm, carrying the two heroes with it! What do you do??
Rory, driving the Rhino through what appears to be Candyland, follows the signal toward the railyards. He blinks, and suddenly he's in a Mario Kart ride, and he blinks again and he's back in the urban assault vehicle, but the steering wheel is a turtle shell. He sees another, larger, rippling band of unstable reality up ahead. He could veer around it, or charge right through it. What do you do??
Psyche takes control of the nodes, and decodes their corrupted programming. Apparently, Praetoria's assault had provided the proper resonant frequency of most metahuman power sources, which allowed the Scrubber to generate an oppositional energy wave. Those caught in the opening wave should have the dampening effect wear off with time, but a modified beam could re-start their metahuman powers instantly. What do you do??
"What..." blink "the..." blink "s%~@..." blink.
Rory's surroundings warp and twist almost as fast as he can process the information. He quickly (rashly) choose to just plow through the rippling band of reality, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, after all. Gripping the turtle shell wheel tightly Rory smashes the accelerator to the floor. Hope this s&@+ works!!
Inquiry inwardly grinned. Isaiah outwardly grinned. The foolish godling had given them just the kind of thing they needed, attaching them to a mindless techno-magical construct.
Inquiry's semi-liquid hull flowed and twisted, as the vessel surged into and through the train-construct, spreading tendrils and catching hold of mechanisms, until at last a tendril found the part of the thing that was serving as it's 'brain'. Like a metallic Cordyceps, it infested it, using a quick hex-hack to seize control, even as the rest of the vessel continued to spread through and fortify the train.
The Inquiry/train/serpent turned underground, heading back towards the surface.
The train seemed to shudder, and thin twisting tendrils of silvery metal spread through it like a fast-growing fungus. Soon Isaiah spoke over the comm, though the first bit sounded monotone and mechanical.
"-INFUSION COMPLETE-... We're headed back up. Get ready to return to the fray."
<Alright. Just be careful contacting the Scrubber; it's got a pretty powerful AI core, and has developed some severe and potentially contagious corruption. Wouldn't want you to catch it's insanity.>
It was so much simpler controlling machines. A node like this might have been sentient but it wasn't really sapient. No regrets, no fears that she might be going too far. Just orders and acceptance.
Commlinks across the different teams began to blare. "Those who need to be repowered: Hold on. I'm taking care of it. Please gather and respond with your locations."
Scorch crouched in the cab of the train, curiously unsurprised by her sudden ingestion by the train and its subsequent delve into the ground. Grabbing hold of the console, she pulled herself upward to look out its windows as it burrowed through the earth and Isaiah's tendrils lashed about her, integrating themselves with the train itself.
Two can play at this game." she smiled to herself as she gathered Apothesosis' borrowed powers into herself and grabbed hold of the train's controls, letting her essence join Isaiah's to reshape it. The train's carriages began to almost seem to melt and then meld together, sprouting scales along their length and emitting gouts of flame as the cab itself began to shift and reform into a reptile-like head as the train/dragon erupted from the ground, flames streaming from its gaping maw.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Rory grits his as he pushes through the reality ripple. The wheel and his hands begin to fuse together - he was being fused with the Rhino! Rory put all of his focus, all his concentration, everything that made him human - his pride, his anger, his fear, his love - all of it into driving away the power that sought to meld man with machine.
As the Rhino explodes out of the warp into the railyard Rory quickly finds his bearings and aims his 5 tons of twisted steel and sex appeal at Apotheosis.
With Isaiah and Scorch temporarily underground, Apotheosis turns his attention to the incoming alien entity. The surrounding area warps and becomes defensible positions and battlements. Again reality distorts around him, and the Scrubber's resonance beams cause fissures in spacetime as its corrupted processors are unable to reassert reality as it's meant to.
The very fabric of reality is rent asunder as the two entities clash. Shin, trying to catch up, can see the warping energies cascade around the rail yards. From his vantage point, he sees a weirdly shaped Rhino bearing down upon Apotheosis, crossing through waves of twisted realities.
Then the ground rumbles, and a robotic-looking dragon bursts from the ground and joins the fray. Apotheosis is distracted just enough by the serpentine, train-sized reptile that the Rhino crashes through his barriers of unreality.
The Rhino charges into Apotheosis as the serpentine dragon bears down upon him. He's flung across the rail yards and crashes hard into a row of train cars. The Scrubber adjusts its position, continuing on its relentless pursuit of its quarry.
"I will... have its.. power," Apotheosis pants as he pushes himself up from the wreckage. He gestures, and the serpentine dragon containing Scorch and Isaiah begins turning into a brittle crystal!
Meanwhile, Psyche receives numerous broadcasts from the allied teams informing her of their locations and hopes to have their powers restored. Imagerie and Foray from the Alliance and the full roster of the Heralds (save for Gothic) all send signals requesting assistance in getting their powers back.
Shin had lost sense of things - this form was weird, and he could smell better than he could see, and he wanted to hunt down this thing that was hurting everyone.
Because it's like you.
He snarled and flew forward, his vantablack aura reshaping itself into a pack of wolves as he flew at the Scrubber. Unfortunately for him, Shin's attack was suddenly nullified as he got caught in the wake between the Scrubber's beams and Apotheosis' reality warps!
Rory overcommitted to his assault and didn't see another ripple that he drove right into and momentarily vanished. Surrounded by blackness man and machine become one. Rory can hear Apotheosis in his head, "It was the Scrubber that attacked you, not me. Help me defeat it and I will make you more powerful than you could ever imagine." Apotheosis' word are almost hypnotic and manage to find a foothold in Rory's mind.
Emerging from from the ripple, where Rory had disappeared, is a twenty feet tall hulking black and chrome anthropomorphic robot sporting a three dimensional visage of a rhino on its chest, with a massive shining horn protruding forward. "Hail Apotheosis, lord of all reality!" the booming robotic, although familiar, voice echoes over the railyard.
"Anyone who can still fly, please gather the de-powereds close to where the node is heading. I want to do this before either of them can wreak any more havoc. If you don't congregate quickly enough, I won't fix you before I go stop this madness."
She stopped projecting her thoughts for a moment, then with a lack of treacherous emotion that would have been almost impossible mind-to-mind she added, "Someone bring Praetoria. We need her in this fight."
"Bring me to them."
As it advanced, the node hooked Kylie to its momentum with some sort of nearly invisible beam. Her mind drifted up into her new toy, changing and redirecting its energies until she was ready to fix everything!