THE SLORG!
Whatever Tick thought he saw was not Xan, because Xan was not in sight. That didn't remain the case for long though, as a window on an upper floor of the building Rick had launched him into broke outward, Xan leaping over the conversing group gathered in the middle of the street. He had switched weapons again, this time to a small weapon with a canister attached to the underside,
◊ which was vibrating in his hands. When he fired it, a large glob of green goo went straight down to the ground right between Tick, Shiara, Rex, and Ben. When it hit the ground, it exploded outwards into several smaller globs of the goo, threatening to shower all four of them in it.
Also, the green goo was caustic acid.
Whatever happened with the four of them, as Xan hit the ground a moment later he was already running towards Rick, firing out smaller globs and sending them towards the drunken scientist in an arc; though they would not explode outwards like the larger glob, they were firing in a semi-rapid rate.
The group still at the food court deciding what to do were thankfully still not being approached or confronted by anyone else; they would however hear the sound of a jump jet firing and if they cared to look, see Brother Marcus jumping from rooftop to rooftop outside.
After a bit of searching, Garrett would spot a pair of Ruckus members; two women in punk rocker getup, each with a red X on their shirt which meant they were rank two members. They were in the middle of a conversation when Garrett saw them come around an alley corner.
"And then we can set up some speaker systems and it'll really be a party" Maria said to Rose.
"You think we can find some good beats in this city?" Rose asked in return.
"If not, we could just make some; actually I think Jackson has some. I bet he'd like to get in on the party anyway, so let's talk to him about it" Maria answered.
Rose nodded and they continued onward, rounding another corner. "Ah finally, there's home base" Maria muttered, and the two of them headed down the street towards a factory building; painted on the front double doors of the building was the four intersecting red lines of Ruckus' symbol.
"Oh, I'm not worried" Kelsey admitted sincerely, glancing to Mary after she made her offer about doing something that Kelsey wanted to do. "That'd be really nice" she said, grinning especially widely, "you're a good little sister."
After a little bit of walking and looking around, the combat sounds continually switching which direction and distance they were in thanks to the city shifting, Kelsey stopped and pointed down a street as they came to an intersection. "Look Mary, I think that's the place" Kelsey told her, looking towards a small pastry shop. As she started making her way towards it, she tilted her head a bit. "Is there someone in there?" she wondered out loud; as a matter of fact, a group of goblins were currently in there scavenging the place for food.
edited 3rd May '16 3:57:54 PM by FirockFinion
You are reading this.
someone
Middle Layer- The Storm after the Calm
Shiara's plan worked well, and she got patted! like a kitten! Small madam?! Heroes. Ugh. This guy was definitely your average hero. Then, of all people, Rex and Ben arrived. She shot Rex a look, and gestured for him to play along.
He was going to help us out with the guys who shot at us. Thank you, Mr Hero.
Then the green guy reemerged and shot something at them. In response, Shiara sent out a wide arc of fire, attempting to burn the projectile.
Caustic Acid is inflammable, but hey! Shiara doesn't know that
edited 3rd May '16 4:05:39 PM by secretlyasuperhero
[TOP SECRET]
I think I'm a sofa
Karkat stood by for a bit, watching, before the acid erupted from the...thing. He stepped back, even though he was far enough for it to miss him. What the hell should he do? He could go pull out his sickle—which he had captchalogued before he ended up here, thank God—and help these guys fight...or he could run away like a scared meowbeast to safety. The question was almost stupidly biased. He backed away quietly, as to not draw attention to himself, then quickly absconded back to the elevator.
Oh wait. That's not how it works.
...FUCK!
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
Akuma Shogun
For giving Plague Knight some simple advice, Lune got a caustic thanks and a correction in return. Well, Lune did deserve that for not paying attention to the “expert of explosives”. Plague Knight took his new phone and explained who Brother Marcus was to Caro. In Plague Knight’s own words, Brother Marcus was a “monstrous behemoth of blue armor armed with a sword powered by an internal combustion engine and murderously zealous xenophobe towards anyone not human”. He also gave his new number to his phone, and Lune memorized it.
“Alright… My number is 555-5863. Got it?”
After saying that, Lune saw Brother Marcus doing parkour across the buildings. A second or two passed before Lune had to process that line of thought. He was pretty nimble from the time she fought him during the fourth day, but to see him do that is bonkers.
I just want to help!
Cole offered a bit of a reassuring smile to the group, nodding slightly. "I'm glad you're all okay...um...I promised I would go back to the library after I told all you what was happening downstairs...everyone thinks I would be safer there than out in the open again..."
He turned his head at a sound outside, and a look of some alarm came to his face at the sight of Brother Marcus outside. "...oh...he...he might...be looking for me."
Aigis was abou to nod and leave to find Cole when Cole suddenly showed up at the group, causing her to smile as she walked over to him.
"Cole-San! I am glad to see you are ok now. You are ok, right? I am not completely sure what happened to you, but I want you to know, I am sorry I was not there to protect you from whatever did that to you. I will make sure to do better next time. Please forgive me."
But it appeared next time might be approaching sooner then Aigis expected, as Marcus started leaping on rooftops. Aigis quickly took a defensive position in front of Cole.
"Don't worry, Cole-San. I will not allow him to harm you."
Screw the Lion!
After recording Lune's number and retyping the previous phone numbers, Plague Knight looked up to see Marcus himself jumping from building to building, leaping through the use of that aerial engine of him to bound across the rooftops. Man's surprisingly nimble, he thought. He was about to tell the others to just ignore him, but then Cole mentioned the Space Marine might be looking for him.
The mention of Cole being briefly a demon came crashing back to him.
"We all should leave for the floor below," he said with quiet urgency, "now."
edited 3rd May '16 5:18:37 PM by UdtheImp
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
A giant greenish guy in what Rex assumed was a power armor jumped out of a building. He shot a green goo to the group near Ben. Rex immediately prepared to get out of the way and to do so built his techno-boots. He grabbed Ben to take him out of the way and tried to jump several feet away from the caustic acid.
As he was jumping, he told Ben "Do you have anything useful against acid?"
edited 3rd May '16 6:03:46 PM by DeisTheAlcano
For the Horde!
Ben grinned at the Tick. "The Tick, huh? I'm a hero too! I'm Ben Tennyson!" he exclaimed. He then saw the acid flying in the direction of the group. He gasped, frozen with shock, but then he was yanked out of the way of the acid alongside Rex. He looked back towards the acid that was spit out, and he checked his Omnitrix. Thank goodness, it was now off cooldown. Ben readied his Omnitrix. "Thanks for the quick save. Well, it looks like it's Hero time! I think Diamondhead wouldn't be melted by it. Let's try that!" Ben shouted, adjusting the watch and then slamming the face of the watch. The area was bathed in green light, and Ben stood in a certain amorphous black-and-white shape nearby Rex.
"Upgrade?!" he exclaimed in confusion, his voice resembling human Ben's but modulated. "Aww, man!" He then saw Xan approach, then start running after Rick. He looked at Rex. "I have an idea!" he exclaimed to the EVO. "This form can power up machines! And you're made of 'em, right? Looks like it's time for an Upgrade!" With that, Upgrade leaped at Rex. He would try to merge with Rex: if successful, Rex's suit would be covered in black, white and green patterned like a computer chip, and the Omnitrix symbol would show up on Rex's chest.
edited 3rd May '16 6:35:59 PM by AllHailThrall
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.
feeling blue
"yeah you should probably go back to the library, you've had a rough day as is," said Sans, to Cole, figuring the guy could probably spend the rest of the day without people trying to kill him.
Of course, all of sudden there was a guy doing parkour on rooftops while covered in giant armor and judging from what flamingo face had said, it seemed that this guy was the xenophobic dude who's hostile to any non-humans, great fun for a skeleton. Not only that but Cole said that he might go after him as well.
"so that's the big dude in armor who doesn't like non-humans?" he then looked to Cole as he said that the armored guy was after him too. "well, he's definitely gonna come for you and me then."
I just want to help!
"It...I..." Cole wrung his hands a little. "I...attacked him when I was...bad. He saw me as a monster and then Ben...took me away from him before he could stop me. He was angry." Cole looked to the others. "I...I don't know what we should do. If he attacks he'll hurt all of you. He doesn't understand what's happened..."
Screw the Lion!
"And I fully believe that any attempt to try to explain to him right now would be entirely futile and, most likely, fatal," Plague Knight said to Cole. "It is imperative right now that we should head to the middle floor and help the others, because dealing with Marcus at the moment would be a colossal waste of time and there would be an actual reward for dealing with the day's challenge, so we should move," the alchemist said.
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
Top Layer - Food Court - Desperately fleeing the scene
Cole appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to explain what the group already knew about what was going on the middle layer. He also said that he would be going back to the library, since he had decided that it would better to stay there after what had happened to him. Given the horrifying things she had heard, she couldn't blame him.
Plague Knight explained that Marcus was someone in a huge armor that would murder anything non-human on sight. That got Caro really worried. Obviously that would make Fried a target. But no matter how powerful this person was, she would not let her cherished companion get hurt because of this guy's prejudice. She definitely wouldn't be picking a fight with him if she didn't have to, but he attacked Fried, she would have to stop him. Hopefully if that ever happened, she would have the help of her friends, because it sounded like she definitely couldn't hanle such on her own.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Cole had spotted precisely this person passing over the building nearby. Cole and Sans were worried that Marcus would attack on sight due to being non-human. Also, apparently Cole had confronted him once, seemingly in this demon form she had heard about.
Plague Knight urged them to leave immediately and go to the middle layer, since Marcus apparently could not be reasoned with and it would be pointless to fight him. Instead, they should go help others fight the boss located in the middle layer, since at least there would be a reward for defeating him.
" In that case, I have to agree. That sounds like someone we definitely don't want to confront unless we absolutely have to. And if targets non-humans, then it's not Sans and Cole he will have a problem with . He will try to kill Fried too and that is definitely not something that I will allow to happen. So if we can't argue with him and can't fight him either, then we really should go! The only thing I'm worried about is that he will see us anyway while we are fleeing. Supposely there is way down to the middle layer nearby."
Caro and Fried then began to quickly move back to the mall's entrance. However, they briefly stopped and hid behind the doorway, peeking out to see if the way was clear and if there were any stairs or elevators anywhere remotely near to their location.
Jedi of the Old Republic
Top Layer
The trio arrived at the elevator. Sadness couldn't reach the button, and Zelda didn't seem to know how it worked. But Twilight knew.
"Yes. Press it."
What is this "signature" of which people speak?
I mean it when I say I'm an RPG nut
Grimlock; Dino mode
The City, Middle Tier; Battle with Day 7's Boss
He looked to Sawyer at her shout. Hol Horse was pulling her away from the fight. That was good, that meant she wouldn't be in danger. But he was hesitant on following Sawyer and Hol. Sure, it might be good to retreat but...what about the others? Ben and Rex were here and they were going to fight the sick green robot. And if the sick green robot could be toe-to-toe with blue guy, they'll need all the help they could get.
To Sawyer, he shouted with a determined grin, "I'll see ya in the library! I'm gonna help 'em with this!"
He then turned back to the scene. Sick green robot was shooting at something in one of the buildings. Grimlock charged straight at him and attempted to shoulder him.
edited 3rd May '16 11:04:02 PM by ShoutmonZ
"You said you had a dream... That dream... Make it come true! ... If anyone can, it's you!" - N (shortened) Oh, and I'm a girl.
Last he saw, the blue one was fleeing himself, and the green one was knocked into a building. If there was any one time these people could escape, it would be at this exact time. They have legs, right? Use them!
He waited on the platform as the elevator came down, looking all around and hoping that Sawyer at least would find her way there soon. Despite his minor worries about something going awry, it would defeat the purpose of a retreat if he ran back to check on them, no? He doubted it would carry far here, but he shouted out loud, "Oi! Sawyer! Ranma!" and fired off a single bullet. The best signal he could think of in this instance.
feeling blue
"armor guy is coming after you right? so how about i bring you back to the library real quick?" Sans suggested to Cole, then looking at the group as a whole "then you guys can make it through to the floor below without getting in a fight for no good reason while we stay safe there."
Getting Cole and himself out of the way seemed like a good plan, although Caro's mention of Fried makes thing a little more complicated. Still, minimizing the chance of an attack was probably the best they could hope for, plus it gave Sans an excuse to avoid getting into other fights, at least for a little while.
edited 4th May '16 10:05:11 AM by FullMoon
I just want to help!
Upper Floor - Time to evacuate
"...you can do that?" Cole paused for a second after responding to Sans, as though listening to something. "Oh, I see. Well...that...might be for the best. Hold on."
Cole looked to Aigis, offering the robot girl a smile. "Thank you for being concerned about me, but I am all right. You didn't do anything wrong...we didn't know what was coming, now we do. And...the others need your help more than I do now. They're our friends and they're in danger...and I can't offer help right now. You're strong enough to help everyone by fighting with them down below."
He then looked after Caro, calling out. "Your friend should be okay. I...don't know if Marcus looks at...'animals' the same way he looks at people who he doesn't think are people. Be careful, either way."
He blew out a breath, clearly not entirely pleased with the decision he was making, but nodded to Sans. "All right. I'm...ready to get back if you are."
edited 4th May '16 11:18:46 AM by ColeMinor
Akuma Shogun
Now everything was in a state of panic. Brother Marcus was on the hunt for Cole, but everyone was willing to help him out. Guess that's the power of friendship, huh? Aigis offered to be Cole's bodyguard and Sans offered to teleport Coleback to the library. That's one problem solved, so now they have to help the others fight in the middle layer!
After doing a couple of warm-up stretches, Lune was hyped to help the others out in the middle layer. This was going to be so awesome! After Caro headed out, Lune dashed out and followed her outside of the food court.
edited 4th May '16 11:27:46 AM by josh6243
Screw the Lion!
"Now that's that settled, let us abscond!" Plague Knight said after Cole agreed to head back to the library. He ran after Caro, hoping to quickly get to the middle floor.
"Well before, I did it with reckless abandon. Now I can't control myself!" ~ Jesse Cox, 2014
Top Layer - Streets -> Middle Layer - Finally moving along!
Before she finally move out of the mall, Caro heard that Sans and Cole would be going back to the library through Sans' shortcut, in order to keep Marcus from attacking the rest of the group on sight. She was also reassured by Cole saying that Marcus wouldn't as much about what he thought as a animal as opposed to actual people who he deemed as non-human.
Caro, Fried and those who followed them quickly move through the streets of the top layer, before coming up to a elevator. They then proceeded to ride down to the middle layer and go off there. If nothing happened that could stop them, they would keep moving until they had spotted either Mary or the fight that was currently happening down there.
Bottom layer — in front of the Ruckus base
And here we are. Impressive place they've found for themselves...
Still hiding himself in the shadows, Garrett tried to assess the situation, his zoom-in artificial eye providing indispensable assistance. Were there any alternative entrances — visible from where he stood, or from any points of vantage he could reach undetected? Any guards on patrol?
Garrett also checked to see if the factory was perhaps built of stone or brick — as this would provide an opportunity to use his climbing gloves.
edited 4th May '16 1:39:13 PM by Korodzik
Top Layer -> Middle Layer
Zelda pressed the button before again making sure that nobody else besides the three of them wanted to get on first.
For being her first experience with an elevator, she didn't think much of it. It did feel an awful lot more convenient to use than stairs, however. If she ever got back to Skyloft once all this was said and done, maybe it'd be worth proposing a mechanism like this to Gondo or anyone else who could build it.
They reached the middle layer soon afterwards. Upon arrival Zelda stepped out of the elevator and took a look around. This certainly felt a little different from the upper layer, and from previous days for that matter. This level of technology was far beyond Skyloft's, and she wasn't sure if she liked the feel of it. There wasn't much time to ruminate on the scenery, however; they had a girl to find.
She then turned back to the other two. "It's probably going to be a little difficult to find Mary down here, if she's down here. But all the more reason to get started now, yes?"
Assuming neither Sadness nor Twilight had any objections, she would then start walking straight forwards, keeping an eye out for any place that Mary could possibly enjoy from what little she knew of the girl.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
feeling blue
Sans waited until Cole was done talking with Aigis and nodded once he said he was done.
"welp, guess you're stuck with me again," he said jokingly.
After that, he quickly took a shortcut to the library and took Cole alongside him
And in the blink of an eye they were both right outside the library, Sans then proceeded to stretch out a little bit
"man, taking a break now sounds real good," said Sans as he started making his way inside
"Indeed I am! And you might you be, brave young lad?"
Before he could get an answer, Grimlock and Sawyer turned the Tick's attention to the green robot currently resting in a crumpled building across the street.
"Green robot; bad guy. Message received! Engine of destruction, you face the Tick!"