World of Heroes -- Reboot

"I dunno, probably the station, they don't look like they need a hospital," Wildcard said, then spoke louder, "RIGHT?! None of you need a hospital?" He lowered his voice again, "Don't you get it man? This guy was working with Uncle Dmitri, or rather, it sounded like Dmitri was working for him. Not only that, of all the places in all the universes, we know the place where he'll be. We could off him here nice and quick before he even figures out what's wrong. Boom, evil mastermind off the books, and we can be back at the station in no time."

[I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE SAYING.] Arguma said. [AND I SYMPATHIZE WITH YOUR ARGUMENT. BUT I MUST INSIST THAT WE MAKE A STRATEGIC RETREAT FROM THIS BATTLE AND FOCUS ON A VICTORY WE ALREADY HAVE.]

He indicated to the supposed victims he had loaded into his ship.

[BELIEVE ME, I WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY AS WELL. BUT I AM NOT SAYING WE SHOULD PASS UP ON IT JUST BECAUSE OF THESE PEOPLE. WE KNOW WHERE HE IS GOING TO BE AND ROUGHLY WHEN HE WILL BE HERE, BUT WE KNOW LITTLE ELSE BEYOND THAT. WE DO NOT KNOW IF HE WILL BE COMING BY HIMSELF OR WITH REINFORCEMENTS. WE ALSO HAVE NO IDEA JUST HOW POWERFUL HE REALLY IS. IF THIS IS THE VERSION OF SCIO THAT CAME FROM THE UNIVERSE WE ARE FIGHTING, THEN HE IS NOT SOMEONE WE WANT TO GO UP AGAINST THIS UNPREPARED.]

He began he head to his ship. He couldn't force Wildcard to come with him, but he hoped that by suggesting he was ready to leave the other hero behind if he didn't follow, that Wildcard would change his mind and be willing to let go of this fight.

[I AM MAKING THIS CALL AS A STRATEGIC DECISION. IF WE HAD MORE PEOPLE HERE, IF WE KNEW HOW TO BEAT HIM, I WOULD BE WILLING TO TAKE THAT RISK. BUT I DO NOT THINK THERE IS ENOUGH OF A GUARANTEE OF VICTORY IN THIS SCENARIO TO RISK WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.]

"What're you talking about, Arguma?" Wildcard asked. "We've already got all the reinforcements we need on the way - Robert."

[YOU EXPECT HIM TO BE ENOUGH BY HIMSELF?]

"No," Wildcard said, "But he's all I've got at the moment if you bail. Well, unless you wanted to turn these guys loose. But I still don't trust 'em enough to give them any of my Uzis."

[YOU ARE GOING TO STAY BEHIND REGARDLESS?] Arguma asked. [I AM ALMOST TEMPTED TO ZAP YOU AND THROW YOU IN THE BACK OF MY SHIP.]

"Go ahead," Wildcard said, stepping back very slowly, leaving Dmitri crumpled up at Arguma's feet, though holding on tight to his bag of Uzis. "It's the only way I'd pass up this chance."

edited 18th Sep '12 7:54:31 PM by nman

As Wildcard continued to act like a suicidal maniac, Robert was still on the way over. He was about 20 minutes away now, but after Wildcard suddenly hung up on him like that, he figured it'd be best to call Wildcard ASAP. And so, Wildcard's cellphone rang once more...

Yakety Sax began to play as Wildcard stared down Arguma.

"Hold off on the zapping a second," Wildcard said, balancing his Uzi sack and cell phone in his right hand. "What, Bobby?"

"Uh," said Robert, "yeah, you see, whenever you rudely hang up in the middle of a call — that usually means you're doing something I don't approve of. (And often something that would make lesser men hurl...) So, Wildcard, if I have to ask — what is it this time?"

"Oh, not much," said Wildcard. "Right now I'm daring Arguma to stun me because I'm planning up an ambush with the intent of killing an alternate version of Scio who's secretly behind Uncle Dmitri's human experimentation projects." He looked up, "I think that's all, right, Arguma?"

"Robert, Reich is planning on altering Nuclo's suit!" Isaac said as he left the laboratory and prepared to take off with a burst of blood.

"One atom is all he needs to change, and Nuclo will come back wrong! We have to find him!"

"Wait, hold on," said Robert to Wildcard, "... I have an emergency on the other line. Of course, your situation doesn't sound too good either. Just wait a bit, and I'll get back to you, alright?"

Robert then switched back fully to Isacc. "Wait, did I hear that right? So Dr.Reich is planning it after all? ...We don't stop him, then our universe becomes like theirs. They've won. ...Thanks Isacc; I'll get everyone on it ASAP. Speaking of which, Wildcard's on the other line. I'll see if I can send him to help; Arguma too, since he's with him. Just keep searchin' for the Doc in the meantime, and I'll get back to you." With that, Robert switched back to Wildcard.

"Sorry, but we've got more important things to deal with anyway. Isacc just found out that we were right; Dr.Reich is planning on changing one atom of Nuclo's suit; we don't find him, then that other universe has as good as won. ...Well, maybe..." Something particular had just creeped into Robert's mind, but now was not the time for that. "Look, I doubt you'd spend much of a chance against this guy anyway, so, I'm havin' you and Arguma take everyone you can back to the Station, and then, we're going to get right to searching for the good doctor. 'Course, we know where the suit is — or I do, at any rate, and I'll let you know too when we meet up again at the Station — but finding Dr.Reich takes priority. He succeeds, and our enemies might as well win by default. You got that?"

"You got Isaac there with you?" Wildcard said into the phone. "Perfect. He just makes a quick stop flying over here and eats Scio, sucks all info on secret passwords, dead drops, portals and labs out of his head, and then just waltzes right up to Reich looking like him and eats him too. Hell, I'm feeling a bit left out since he can pretty much save the universe on his lunch break."

"Wildcard," said Robert harshly, "we need to find Dr.Reich. Not risk getting ourselves killed. Just listen to me here; this isn't a matter of being scared, it's a matter of priorities. While we go taking on this incredibly dangerous menace, that one little atom in Nuclo's could be getting changed as we speak. So, if don't get your ass out of the ground, I'll call Arguma, and then we'll see what he has to say. You probably won't like it. So, Wildcard, are we clear?"

"Fine," Wildcard said. "Let's piss away this chance to kill him," as he walked towards the ship, "but after will kill Dr. Reich, the hunt's on."

"I'm searching right now." Isaac stated before hanging up. Flying up to the rooftop of a nearby building, Isaac used the noses of dogs he'd eaten before to try to find Dr. Reich's scent in the city.

As Wildcard walked back to the ship, Isacc was busy searching for Dr.Reich within the city. Using his doggy-senses, he was able to get a whiff of the Doctor's trail, though while he would get to the Doc eventually, it would take him some time to fully sort out the trail, and find the Doctor.

Meanwhile, in a yet another laboratory, one differnt then Dr.Reich's or Uncle Dimitri's, in a small white building, was a small team of scientists — with one of the scientists being Dr.Reich. And smackdab in the middle of a small table was Nuclo's suit. The team was just in the middle of the finishing touches, with the suit nearly complete. However, one of the scientists — a young brunette — was looking at the statistics, and had seemingly noticed something somewhat... off.

"Uh... Dr.Reich?", she said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Yes, Frederica?", said the good doctor, a strangely relaxed smile on his face.

"Uh... well, I was looking over the final plans for Nuclo's suit on the computer over there, and well..."

"Go on..."

"Uh, yeah, well... It seems that there's an atom in the design that's... out of place, I guess. And if it isn't changed..."

"...What?", said the doctor. His eyes had widened, and his voice had raised; he was honestly surprised at this development — and wondered if the mysterious player who began the events in his place, was at work.

"Yeah...", continued the female scientist. "If it isn't changed, Nuclo... he could be freakin' crazy!"

NO!, Dr.Reich suddenly shouted at the top of his lungs; the young female scientist was abruptly taken aback. The doctor, noticing this, took a moment to calm himself down. "...Do not vorry, Fraulein Fredrica. I shall handle it. You... just continue with your other duties."

"...Uh, okay, doc," said Fredrica. The doctor then rushed over to the computer, giving the schematics a good look over. And as for Fredrica, she started to slowly, ever slowly, inch out the door, until —

''HALT!"

Fredrica stood stone-cold in her tracks; the doctor was standing straight and tall, glaring at her with an intensity that could only match Hades himself. The other scientists had now looked up, or turned away from their own duties, unsure of what was now occurring.

"Fredrica... this schematic... It's ve same as before! Nothing's changed; No atoms have been touched. Unless... you vanted me to touch them. You wanted to me vhink they were changed, and then I vould try to turn it back to normal — unless of course, I am absolutely jumping to conclusions, in which case, I am sorry. ...Fredica?"

Fredrica was still dead in her tracks, staring right at Dr.Reich — but there was a fear in her eyes now, one that gave Dr.Reich all he needed to know. And so, Fredrica bolted out the door.

"After her!", yelled Dr.Reich after the scientists. "She vanted Nuclo to go insane in head! Call the police! Do something!"

And the rest of the staff hurried out the room, desperate to either catch Fredrica, or get to the nearest phone to call the police in. However, Dr.Reich had plans of his own. He did not want Nuclo to go that crazy, but in order for his plans to succeed, just a little would be needed — and with everyone else gone, this gave him the perfect opportunity to enact the little operation that was required....

Finally getting a lock on the doctor's scent, Isaac took another running start and jumped off the building. Falling with his limbs spread out, Isaac pointed them behind his body as he fired bursts of high-pressure blood from his body. The Devourer began his hunt for Dr. Reich, flying wherever the scent led him.

Scio - or rather, Josh - had been hitting it off fairly well with the trans-dimensional refugees, doing his best to distract them from the inevitable wait that came while the bureaucracy was processing their paperwork. They were more or less like normal people (always a good sign), and above all else seemed incredibly relieved at the possibility of finally living somewhere other than a police state.

In the last minute or so, they had lapsed into a comfortable silence, and Josh steepled his fingers as he contemplated how to start out asking them all about the world they had just come from, a topic he'd been careful to skirt around the entire time. Just as he thought he had a good opening line, however, Alex and Kara's unmistakable presences appeared outside the station. Crap!

"Glory, there's a telepathic and telekinetic girl about to come in," he informed the receptionist, "She's with these people, but I'm pretty sure she came into her powers recently, and I'd wager that she doesn't want them to know about it. And... well, you'll probably find out when you meet her in a second, anyway. Please don't let on to the whole room that she's a super, if you can help it. I mean, I know you wouldn't, but just be careful about it."

Switching gears, he turned his psychic attention over to Alex herself. "Hi again, Kid. I happen to be 'in' my civilian identity right now, so don't let on that we've met, alright? I thought your friends might be more comfortable talking with a 'normal' person after living under years of superhuman-enforced oppression. Just to make sure you know, since the ghost haunting you apparently doesn't, revealing other people's secret identities is a major dick move."

edited 21st Sep '12 8:00:01 PM by darksidevoid

"Ignore him," Alex thought at Kara before she could do anything. At this point, she was starting to think that Scio's behavior had to be intentional; it wasn't like the guy was a villain or such, after all.

Marching past Scio, she walked over to the refugees, who were all sitting around. Most of them looked half-asleep, and Alex couldn't blame them. She yawned, hoping she could get this over with soon enough.

"Hey, guys," she spoke up, "How's it going?"

Eventually, Isacc found himself right above a small white building — with Dr.Reich's scent coming straight from it. However, he could also see a young brunette practically racing straight out of the building — and with a couple of scientists chasing straight after her. If Isacc also had enhanced hearing in addition to his enhanced senses, he might have also heard police sirens, headed straight in the building's direction...

One woman or the future? The Devourer thought as he saw the woman being chased down. She can wait. he concluded.

The Devourer aimed himself towards the building, faced himself at the area where Dr. Reich's scent was strongest, and fired another boost of blood. He would crash straight through the wall, and hopefully he would be confronting the doctor on the other side.

As Frederica ran down the street, her only thought just to reach the next block, help had come in a most unexpected form.

It was true that sirens were headed in the building's direction, but closer attention to the scanners showed that some of those police cars were gunning for a location just at the other block, responding to a call about a shootout within a bus between a group of killers who had disguised themselves as nuns from the Saint Maxine's Home for Criminally Maladjusted Orphans located in the inner city and one unknown.

One of those who'd played part in the aforementioned gun battle, the unknown individual who'd killed or disabled those smiling ladies with the dead eyes and tattoos of seasoned murderers from various Eastern European countries, was walking down the street, just opposite the young scientist's line of escape.

He looked like a musician, clad in his tie, vest and long-sleeved shirt. Added to that perception was the battered leather guitar case clasped in his gloved left hand. A closer look would've put paid to that illusion, as a holstered pistol could be seen peeking out from his left bicep and the red crosses on his mask, the front and back of his vest.

This was Saltire. And he was not having a good day, being shot at by nuns and what-not.

Currently, he was mentally railing at the powers who had seen fit to welcome him with angelic hymns and the crash of G36c fire when he perked up and saw a young brunette in a white coat being chased by a pair of gentlemen also in white coats. Given what he'd just figured in, Saltire had enough of surprises for this day (and every day that preceded it), but there was a fear not even the finest actor could imitate in Frederica's eyes.

His mind made up, he waited. Waited until Frederica had breezed past him before making his move. With a lazy toss, he threw his guitar case at the legs of one gentleman while charging at his partner and leaping to drive a knee into his chest. Taken by surprise, both couldn't help but fall. Saltire stood over them both and whipped out the pistol, a Webley Mk. VI in beautiful condition, and sighted down the barrel between the eyes of the man he'd kneed. He didn't cock the hammer just yet.

"I wouldn't move if I were you, friend. I've had one hell of a day."

edited 23rd Sep '12 7:48:45 PM by mantlemask

Dax was pissed turns out the good professor had fudged up his calculations,forcing the ragtag crew right into the portal. It wasn't a pleasant ride he could tell. After what seemed like an eternity in the shadowy time vortex. Dax and the team were dropped off right into the ruins of Mr.T's lab

"Everyone alright?" Dax shouted half-blind and flat on the floor from temporal backlash.

edited 14th Oct '12 12:37:26 PM by zam