((Thanks gdn and Matt! (Yes, I already replied outside of the thread but thought that I might as well do so here also.) Good luck with what you guys still have planned. :arg:))
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((Thanks gdn and Matt! (Yes, I already replied outside of the thread but thought that I might as well do so here also.) Good luck with what you guys still have planned. :arg:))
In the time Alexander took to make his explanations, Mathias had been able to recover himself to a degree. Again, he had to offer perverse thanks to the source of his increased abilities, Alexander himself as it were. Though he was still not strong enough to take on the madman himself. He needed Noel to get her head in the game.
He shouldn’t have worried.
“How do you want to go about this?”
Mathias had taken Noel’s change in demeanor to be the result of Alexander’s revelations, but he should have remembered that her power required intense concentration on what she was summoning, especially if it was something big. Noel had her head bowed, did not speak, and kept her fists clenched until the very moment she was ready.
A shotgun materialized and her fist unclenched just enough to grab it. It was the same weapon she had used against Serivax. She raised it, already poised to fire by the time Alexander had time to look at her in reaction.
Noel unleashed round after round, ignoring their ineffectiveness against his shield. Despite his increased durability, Alexander was pressed back by the force of the blows as Noel drew closer, loosing the final rounds at point black range. When the clip emptied, Alexander lashed out with a backhand, his arm fully extended. Noel ducked beneath it and brought the stock of the shotgun up to strike him in the face. His head barely turned in response to the pressure on his cheek. He grabbed and the gun and made to force it back into Noel. She was already moving again, letting go of the gun as she sidestepped and flicking another object toward his chest. At the same time it bounced off of him, she kicked off of his body, using his immobility as a launching pad to drive herself toward Mathias, tackling him to the ground.
Alexander caught the object she had thrown by reflex. He tossed the useless shotgun away and looked into his hand. An active explosive charge made it’s final piercing beeps.
“You think this will be-” And the explosion drowned out anything else he had to say. The concussive force was relatively contained, but Noel still had to make sure she and Mathias were out of harm’s way. Alexander would not be held at bay for long, so they had to be ready to move. When she tackled Mathias, momentum took them to another desk. She kicked it down to help shield them from the exterior of the blast.
“We need to get out of here, now.” she told him, “We’ll be better off on the move than staying here.”
Mathias was not trained the way she was. He did not think like the sort of pseudo-soldier she had become over the years. But to his credit, he caught on quickly and made his way to the door. Noel followed behind more slowly, once again focusing on the summoning symbol,
The explosion died down and Alexander waved smoke from his face. He scanned the room and saw Noel standing at the doorway.
“You need to try harder than that if you want to stop me,” he called out. Noel’s response was to raise a submachinegun. She had time to fire three bursts before diving to the side, avoiding Alexander’s retaliatory blast of expanding light. Alexander marched across the room, tossing a chair in his path aside and making the turn out of the door to follow Mathias and Noel.
Left in the room, ignored in the final moments, were Abigail and Albert. As the sound of battle faded into the distance, all that was left was Abigail’s controlled breathing, and the sound of Albert’s racing heartbeat that only he could hear.
Spoiler - Summary
((I wasn't planning on posting anything tonight, but I got to this point really quickly and I was just so excited. Maybe it's the fact that I'm half asleep or from a minor sugar rush from this poop Trader Joe's cranberry juice that I'm drinking (they may have some good stuff, but this juice is not among them). Or admittedly it could be the Belvedere I added to the juice about half an hour ago (to help with the taste, which it did by the way). Mostly it's because, while this was originally going to be the beginning of a longer post detailing the majority of this fight, I felt no reason to make long entries since the chances of any crossovers has long since been thrown out the window, bounced on the pavement, landed in the back of a pickup truck and is halfway across the country by now. No reason to not do a series of smaller posts rather than fewer huge ones. So rather than bog down a part that I'm currently very excited about with stuff that I know I'll be hyper critical of almost immediately, I'll just post it now and let Matt of Tomorrow be hyper critical of this part later.))
"Do you have a plan?” Mathias called out as they turned another corner to a corridor nearly identical to the one they had just traversed.
Noel answered, “Keep him occupied and don’t get killed.” A small orb of light emitted to her left, a result of Alexander’s missed attack. He lagged behind them as they ran, slowed by using his shield the same way Serivax was.
“He can’t keep this up forever,” Mathias panted as he checked over his shoulder, “Eventually he’ll use up all of his energy.”
“We don’t have a lot power to wear him down. I’m almost out of weapons to summon and the only reason you’re able to move at all is because those drugs improved your recovery rate. It looks like he’s had plenty of access to those and more.”
“But he doesn’t know how to use his abilities,” Mathias countered as they ducked their heads. Another blast shot past them, “He hasn’t had them for as long as we’ve had ours. He’ll waste more energy than if they were natural. Maybe he’ll even hurt himself, like he did with that fire breath.”
“We can only hope.” Noel finished. They reached a door that did not slide open automatically due to the inactive security system. Mathias quickly made to push it manually while Noel turned and fired her submachine gun at Alexander. She backed through the opening after Mathias, the bursts of clatter repeating until the clip emptied and she tossed the gun aside. Alexander continued unabated.
Mathias pushed the door shut again and they continued to run, “We can’t keep this up. We need a strategy now.”
Noel did not respond, partially because she was focusing on summoning one of the few remaining guns she had left, but also because she had no idea how the two of them could hope to overcome Bastion.
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Abigail slowly opened her eyes and blinked away the fogginess. Clarity revealed Albert looking over her.
“Take it easy,” he motioned to her freshly bound elbow and knee, “The bleeding has stopped but you still shouldn’t move around too much yet.”
“Alexander,” she coughed.
“He went after Noel and Mathias,” Albert said.
“You have to leave, before it’s too late.”
Albert hesitated. She saw his eyes dart between her and the door. “No, I can’t leave you behind. In case you haven’t figured it out, Bastion has decided he doesn’t have use for you anymore. Besides, I also came here to help them stop him. We’re not finished yet.”
“You can’t beat him,” Abigail stated, “He’s too strong now. His power is practically limitless.”
“Practically limitless? Then we’ll all just have to see what that limit actually is, “Albert smiled weakly, “And you don’t get to say what can and can’t be done. We’ve established that I’m the better sibling, so until you can undo what I did to the…” his voice trailed as his face lit up.
“Oh,” he exclaimed and dove for his fallen computer. He rebooted it, happy to find that it had not been damaged in the prior commotion. Within seconds, his fingers clacked over the keys and touchpad. Abigail lifted her heavy head a few inches off the ground to watch him. Albert stopped momentarily and said to her, “Time to see if I can prove you wrong. That is, so long as my battery holds up. You don’t happen to have a spare charger do you?”
She didn’t know how she found the energy for it, but Abigail rolled her eyes.
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“We need to split up,” Noel said. She pointed to a passage that cut to the right, “You go that way and try to circle around, I’ll lead him this way.”
Mathias nodded his assent and pumped his legs harder, increasing his speed as he made the turn. Noel continued forward, taking one quick look back to check Bastion’s progress. He reached the junction just seconds behind them. He came to a halt and looked in each direction.
“You want to see the power I had when I left the Resurrectionists?” Alexander called out. Noel turned her head back. Then she felt herself slow. Despite her best attempts, she came to a halt, unable to continue. Looking down, she saw her feet rise several inches off of the ground and pivot behind her. Then she was pulled back, as if falling sideways. Noel rotated herself and saw Alexander holding his arms at his side, elbows tucked against his ribs, palms facing toward her. A dark mass writhed and bubbled before his chest. Noel brought her arms up to shield herself as she fell towards him, legs forward, body parallel to the ground. Alexander moved his arms and the mass disappeared. Gravity realigned itself and Noel started to drop, but momentum kept her moving forward. Alexander wound his right arm and brought it down against her. He struck metal that would have broken the bones in his hand were it not for the aura shield.
The blow slammed Noel to the ground, violently forcing her arms apart. She was incapacitated and completely exposed. Bastion prepared to deliver the final blow. Then he gasped for breath as the air around his head thinned. He turned to see Mathias standing before him, focusing on maintaining the technique he had used against Serivax, removing air from the space. Alexander stumbled backward, trying to escape, but Mathias reoriented the attack, keeping his enemy from taking a solid breath.
Alexander fell out of sight beyond a corner. Mathias made to follow him when another dark mass materialized, this time over Noel. Without further warning, she was flung toward Mathias, striking his legs and causing him to tumble. He was just able to catch himself with his arms and landed with his head exposed to the adjoining corridor. Alexander was rising from his back, his face red, still trying to regain his composure. He had recovered enough that, upon seeing Mathias, he raised one arm and pointed. Mathias pushed himself to roll away just out of line with Alexanders attack. He made his way towards Noel, who was slowly rising to her knees.
Alexander stumbled back into view. He opened his mouth with a roar, letting loose a stream of fire. Mathias reached Noel and brought his hands up to manipulate the flames, redirecting them to the sides, creating a boiling tunnel.
“I could use a hand here!” Mathias called out. Noel nodded. Mathias pushed his energy to the limit and forced the fire back toward Alexander, who’s head snapped up as the attack buffeted him. With a snarl, he forced his body through it.
“Get down,” Noel ordered. She tossed a modified flashbang toward Alexander and pulled Mathias to the ground before diving over him, covering both of their faces. The explosive detonated right in front of Alexander’s eyes. It was weaker than a normal flashbang, but it still blinded and forced him to fall against a wall, his shield being little use against it.
Noel and Mathias pulled each other up into retreat.
“I don’t know if I have another one of those in me,” Mathias panted as they ran.
Noel pulled a knife from her vest. The blades were her final weapons. “I bought us some time, but unless we can actually do some damage, it won’t mean much.
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“I’ve almost got this, I just need to know what you use as the tag for the sensory targeting system. Biometrics?”
“Yes,” Abigail said.
“Great! Of course Alexander’s data won’t be on this same system,” Albert looked to his sister, “I might ask you for some pointers to help speed up the process of finding it.”
“Or you can just let me do it.”
Albert hesitated and Abigail added with a hint of impatience, “Just set the computer down for me.” He did so. Abigail took a deep breath and released her hold on her injured elbow. Pain radiated with the release of pressure. She shuddered, but with another breath, controlled herself. “Help me up.”
Albert did so, doing his best to avoid aggravating her wounds until she was leaning against a nearby desk. Then he brought the laptop for her to use. With only her good hand, Abigail began to type. She was slow at first, but then built up to her practiced speed, fingers a blur over the keys. It took almost no time at all for her to begin accessing the databases they needed. Alexander had never bothered to have her deauthorized.
In the meantime, Albert placed his comlink back in his ear, “I hope you still have your’s on,” he muttered as he turned it on.
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“Noel. Mathias. Can you hear me?”
Both of them heard Albert’s call. Noel answered, “Al, we need a weakness, anything you have on him.”
“Make the left up ahead,” he said.
“What?”
“We’re working on something over here. There’s a room I need you to get to, follow my directions.”
“Let’s just do it,” Mathias said. He removed a stone from each of his pockets and used his powers to shoot them toward Alexander. They shattered upon striking him, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.
“Alright lead the way,” Noel said. Then after a moment, “So both of you are doing this?”
“Yes, Abigail is helping too.”
Mathias added, “Feel free to actually tell us what the plan is. We’re in trouble out here.”
“Now that would ruin the surprise. Trust me, we’ve got this.”
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Albert continued to give instructions as Abigail finished off the preparations.
“They’re in position,” Albert said, “Whenever you’re ready.”
Abby nodded and completed a sequence. Upon finishing, she hit the enter key without hesitation.
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Albert had led the two of them to a large room with various equipment scattered about. It reminded Noel of her training area at Microsoft. They stopped running and faced Alexander as he came into view.
“Ah, so now the chase ends,” he said, “I look forward to trying out your powers.” He stepped toward them. Mathias and Noel held their ground.
Suddenly, with a steady hum, the lights in the facility brightened, and the sound of machinery reactivating reverberated. The three of them froze and looked around. Then a high pitched whine escaped the walls, and a half dozen turrets revealed themselves, all pointing directly at Alexander.
Nobody said a word, Alexander’s smile faltered. The turrets fired.
((It took longer than I expected, but here it is. I actually had part of it written a long time ago and then wrote the rest of it recently. See if you can guess where the break is.))
((I just threw in some explanations for stuff here, the main one being why doesn't Mathias just use the suffocation ability again. Well, there you go.))
((Almost done.))
Multiple autoturrets opened fire all at once, obscuring Alexander in a cloud of gunfire. He instinctively raised a hand to shield his face against the oncoming fire. He stepped forward and two small flamethrowers emerged from the floor in front of him. They activated and sprayed orange fire to engulf him.
“I’d like to see Bastion hold that off,” Albert said with satisfaction. Mathias and Noel backed further away to avoid any fragments or ricochets off of Alexander’s shield. For despite the heavy attacks against him, his shield still held, the aura flashing indistinctly with every movement he made.
Then he started his counterattack. Flames of his own overpowered that of the machines before him, engulfing them in small explosions. Then he turned and repeated the attack against the nearby wall turrets. For ones farther away, he used his gravity based attack, pulling the guns away from the wall toward him before letting them fall, completely useless.
Albert swore and they could hear him typing commands. More turrets emerged and unleashed miniature rockets against Alexander.
“We have to get in there,” Mathias said. Noel nodded.
“Hey, no way,” Albert argued, “It’s too risky, you could get caught by those shots too. Let me handle this. He can’t hold out forever.”
“Al, he’s taking those turrets down like they’re nothing,” Noel countered. As if to prove her point, Alexander destroyed two more, showing a new power in the process. Pink energy lit his fist. He extended into a punch and the energy shot out, breaking into four smaller shots, two of which curved to strike each turret apiece. “If we leave him to this, he’ll destroy them all, and then we’ll be back where we started.”
Albert knew they were right. “Then I can’t use them all at once. I’ll manually activate each turret as best I can to help you two.”
“Perfect,” Noel said. She looked to Mathias, who nodded to her, his face set with determination. Then she looked back to Alexander who still spun back and forth to use powers against turrets in all directions. The onslaught against him diminished, but did not cease entirely. In that moment, Noel and Mathias entered the fray.
((Felt like I needed something of a reset/palette cleanser sort of thing so just a quick one this time.))
The turrets focus shifted to Alexander’s right, so Noel dashed to his left side while flinging her knives toward his ribs. She was not even sure he had noticed them bounce off of his shield until his face turned to her. His eyes narrowed and he raised a hand, pointing toward her. She rolled to dodge his attack.
At the same time, Mathias struck from the front. He held a silver lighter. Upon igniting it, he funneled the flame upward, expanding it into a rolling ball that shot at Alexander’s face. It blinded him momentarily, allowing Mathias and Noel to reposition themselves out of his sight. They kept in constant motion, never striking for longer than a second, keeping from presenting open targets for Alexander to retaliate against. Even the turrets under Albert’s control rose and fell into the walls. Only one or two were active at any given time. They kept Alexander constantly guessing, unsure of where the next attack would come from, and using his powers all the more erratically.
Noel soon emptied her vest of knives and was forced to summon ones she had already thrown back to her grasp. Over and over, she repeated the cycle of throws and reloads as she wove in and out of Alexander’s attack range. The image of the four squares symbolizing Microsoft etched into each of her weapons was a constant companion in her thoughts. Mathias pounced with fire blasts before sidestepping those that returned, sometimes using gusts of air to propel himself out of harms way.
With a bellow of rage, Alexander blasted a turret with the full force of an energy nimbus and then, with unexpected speed, jumped to Noel as she prepared to summon another knife. She flinched and tried to back away, but was moving too slowly. Mathias was behind Alexander. He fired a blast of air that bypassed their foe and swept over Noel, forcing her away from Alexander as he closed the distance between them. Still, she had not moved far enough to completely evade him. He grabbed at the top of her vest, pulling against the force of the wind. The resulting pressure ripped the vest off of her, and Noel was flung back off balance.
Alexander stood in place, holding the vest in one hand. Then he backed up, ignoring the continuous gunfire that assailed him, until he stood over the pile of knives Noel had used against him. With force of will, he manipulated the gravity around himself, drawing the objects toward the same dark mass he had created before. Noel’s vest and knives smashed into each other and continued to condense into an irregular block. Alexander allowed the material to drop to the floor.
Noel summoned a knife from within the pile. To her dismay, the object appeared in her grasp completely warped beyond use as a weapon. With a single move, Alexander had removed her ability to feasibly fight against him.
Mathias arrived and helped Noel to her feet and away from the battle. Then he called on Albert to bring back the full force of the turrets. Another half dozen guns emerged and added their firepower to the assault.
“I-I don’t have anything else. He destroyed the last of my weapons,” Noel tossed her mangled knife to the floor. She looked at Mathias and saw that he too was on his last legs. His face was pale and haggard, his eyes sunken, body unable to maintain a fully upright posture. It was only after seeing the full extent of his fatigue that she realized just how tired she was. Too many summons in too short a time. Even with her weapons, her ability to use her power was limited. “It wasn’t enough,” she dropped to the floor, defeated.
Mathias gave a grim smile and pointed, “I don’t know about that.”
Noel followed his direction to look at Alexander, who continued a flurry of counterattacks against the auto-turrets. At first she did not know what to look for, but then she saw it. His movements were slower and less precise. His attacks seemed to carry less force. Noel could almost see spittle flying from his mouth and nose as he grunted with each exertion.
“He’s barely in better condition than we are,” Mathias said, “From the looks of it, it’s all he can do just to attack and maintain the shield at the same time.”
He was right. Bastion’s powers emerged less and less. A spurt of fire, the pink energy, the same powers, but with greater intervals between them.
“He’s not using his fingers,” Noel said. Then, in acknowledgement of Mathias’ questioning look, “The move where he points and the light appears at the target. He’s not using it on the turrets. He’s only tried it against us. In fact, we’ve only seen it work on Abigail.”
“So it only works on people,” said Mathias.
“Maybe anything organic,” Noel responded. Then after a second she asked Albert over the comlink, “How many more turrets do you have access to?”
“Not enough,” was the response, “At this rate, he’ll have destroyed the last of them in minutes. That is unless he runs out of energy first. You need to fall back.”
“No, I have an idea.” Noel shifted herself to a more comfortable sitting position to think. Mathias awaited her plan. Just audible over the gunfire on the other side of the room, Noel said, “Do you remember what we were learning, back at the temple?”
Puzzled, Mathias crouched beside her and answered, “We learned a lot of things.”
“True. But right before the end, I think we were practicing combinations.”
“If you say so.”
Noel smiled as they reminisced, just for a moment. “What do you say we give something a try.”
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Alexander felt the increased strain every time he used his powers. Soon, he would have to cut back on his offense and focus what he could into maintaining his protective aura. Despite all of the studies he had done concerning each power he absorbed, it still came as a surprise to him that their cost was so high.
But it was of little consequence. There were only a handful of machines left to destroy. Then it would be a simple matter to overpower Noel and Mathias. Soon, he would become even stronger. His omnipotence would be assured.
So with a final blast, he demolished the last turret. No more rose to challenge him. Alexander stood in place, steadying himself. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Now, to business.
He opened his eyes and scanned to the back of the room in time to see Noel and Mathias charging him. Mathia came from the front while Noel lagged slightly behind and curved as if in preparation to flank him as before. Alexander would not be fooled. Mathias was the only one with any remaining ability to resist him. Alexander clenched a fist, the veins in his arm bulged, and a pink nimbus played over the space surrounding from his knuckles to his wrist. With a grunt, he punched the air and the energy shot toward Mathias. It was weaker than earlier attacks, but that played directly to Alexander’s wants. He needed them incapacitated, not killed.
Mathias launched a fireball from his lighter that clashed with the energy blast. The forces met in a cloud of smoke that billowed outward, obscuring Alexander’s targets from him. Before he could move, he saw Mathias jump through the smoke, extending his arms outward.
Alexander took a half step back and allowed the man to approach. He would undoubtedly use another fire based attack, and it would be easier to allow it to hit and take advantage of their close proximity to finish him off up close. But Mathias did not use fire. Instead, he came right up to Alexander and brought his hands together. His fingers extended outward, his thumbs and pinky fingers met respectively, and air rushed toward his palms, forming a dense, spiraling cocoon.
The air struck Alexander with the force of a miniature twister. Despite his shield, he was flung back, barely able to to keep his footing as he rose into air and back down again. Mathias was forced away as well, falling and sliding along the floor toward the dust cloud. His arms fell apart in the process, allowing the wind to dissipate. Alexander took the opening while he could. The ray attack would be fastest, and naturally did not kill, so long as he aimed somewhere nonvital. Alexander brought his index and middle fingers together and pointed to Mathias shoulder. He released the energy.
Noel appeared, diving over Mathias from the thinning dust cloud behind him. Only then did Alexander realize how long the debris from their attacks had been in the air. Too long. It was enough that it obscured Noel from his view for the few seconds his and Mathias’ clash had lasted.
Now she reached with her mechanical arm extended, blocking the path Alexander had set for his attack. An orb of light expanded at her palm, having no effect on the metal surface. Alexander cursed inwardly. He saw Mathias already moving his arms for another technique. Without thought, Alexander used his first power. A dark mass materialized some distance beyond them all. He needed to create more space, and flinging them back would allow him the chance to prepare one finishing blow.
At the same moment, two streams of water emerged from canteens Mathias carried at his hip. They extended outward and shot toward Alexander. At the same time Alexander released the energy needed to force Mathias and Noel toward the focal point he had created, the water engulfed his head. Once covering him, it froze into a jagged block of ice.
Everything became dark. Alexander’s shield protected him even from this, but it was still necessary to remove the ice that encased his head immediately. He brought his arms up against the jagged pieces while at the same time, using his fire breath to blow the ice that clung to his face away. The entire block fragmented against the force of his blows. As the shards of ice fell away, Alexander found Noel standing directly before him.
He did not see the imprint in the floor where Noel had pinned her mechanical arm in order to resist the force of gravity against her. The same force had flung Mathias back, causing him to spiral and land heavily onto his chest. He was still conscious, but the fight was over for him. On the other hand, Noel was able to keep herself in place by digging her metal fingers into that of the floor, and then springing forward when the pressure exerted against her disappeared. She had been able to close the gap between herself and Alexander. Now she stood before him, her hand on his chest.
Amusement overcame his exhaustion as a memory sprang to Alexander’s mind. “Now this is familiar,” he said, allowing the corners of his mouth to rise. He extended his arms to his sides in a posture of invitation. Noel stared at him with blank determination. Only one thing was on her mind. The summoning symbol, the first one she had ever used.
Two wide crescents over two flat circles.
Alexander said, “Go ahead. Try to move anything faster than-”
He stopped, unable to speak further. Great pain racked his chest when he tried. He gurgled and blood spurt from his mouth. Noel backed away to avoid the spray. Alexander fell to his knees. The aura surrounding him flared and went out.
“So all it took to shut you up was a knife in your heart and lungs,” Noel said. Alexander tried to rise. His body spasmed, increasing the damage to his internal organs. Noel had summoned the only weapons she still could, the blades she had first learned to use when training years ago. Though they had not been used in all the time she had been with Microsoft, the symbol was still be on many of them, ready to answer her call.
“It’s over Bastion!”
Alexander glared at her with as much hatred as he could muster. He tried and failed once again to climb to his feet. He doubled over and coughed more blood. A lesser man would have already succumbed. But not him. She was wrong, just as they were.
Strage, he could not recall their faces.
Alexander brought his arms over his chest and grabbed at his shoulder. A tiny globe of energy formed over him. Noel tensed and prepared to resist whatever final attack Alexander could muster. But the globe faded as Alexander’s struggling came to an end. Suddenly, a great outpouring of energy rushed from his entire body. It swept over Noel like a wave, carrying her several feet behind where she had stood. Her vision darkened as she slid against the floor, overcome by the last vestiges of power Alexander could no longer control.
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She did not know how long she had her eyes closed, or whether or not she had even lost consciousness. It could have been seconds or it could have been hours. With effort, Noel opened them and the ceiling lights appeared in a haze. Her vision focused. She heard the door to the room slide open. Albert stumbled in, helping to support Abigail as well. Their eyes met and she saw relief spread over his face. She turned her head as Mathias let out a soft groan. He was lying where he had fallen earlier, his head now turned sideways to look at her.
He coughed, “Is it done?”
With effort, Noel lifted herself with her elbows enough to see Alexander. Blood seeped out from beneath his motionless body, adding to the pool that already surrounded him.
Noel said, “Yes, it’s done,” and lowered her head back down.
((There it is. Whoo!))
((I might have mentioned before that one of the problems with how I went about writing this story is that I did so without an outlined path of where it was going (which is a bad idea no matter what me from middle and high school says). Instead, I had specific scenes in mind and would write as needed to bridge the gap between those scenes, making things up as I went along. Well, Alexander's death was one of those scenes. I set that bad boy up about...sixteen months ago in my second official Noel post. You might recall this scene.
((Yeah, that's what the kill was a callback to. It's something that I'm a fan of doing, bookending stories, or pretty much anything, like that. And later in what amounts to the commentary of that post, I actually mention that I wanted to set that scene up ever since I first wrote her character biography, which I treat as Issue #0 because comic book logic. So yeah, this sequence is something I have wanted to do since day 1. I ended up not going along with a lot of scenes that I originally envisioned, but this is one I'm glad I never sacrificed.))Quote:
Originally Posted by xxMATEOSxx
((To bookend it correctly, I suppose Noel should have transported his body to kill him as she threatened to originally. But that was something I knew she couldn't do. Not only did she not have the physical growth in power that she would need, but all of the fighting would have left her without the energy to do it anyway. However, I did want to make sure that it was established that she could do it in theory, which is why I had her use the ability to save herself in #0. Will she ever use it again? We'll have to wait and see what the future holds.))
((That being said, despite the title on this one, this isn't going to be the last entry in this series. It almost was. In fact, I'm still kind of tempted to make this the final one. But I think for neatness sake, I should wrap it up with a single entry epilogue. So I'll see you all then.))
((...))
((...))
((Ok fine, here's my real summary.))
((And so it ends...))
((Or does it? Terra is safe, Alexander is dead, Trevor was sacrificed for a greater good... But what about Camille? Did she just explode in a burst of lightning from the sacrifice? Was she killed? Transported? Transmuted? The answers shall come, in this quick extra chapter: The Console Wars: Infinity))
((Holy carp.))
((First off,long live the self-deprecating summariesawesome awesome ending Matt. The use of Noel's hand was great, and the buildup I think worked just as it should have. Clear enough and yet it still came as a nice surprise to me when Noel's plan was revealed... or perhaps I'm just too slow and should have figured out about it beforehand, hm. But yes, nice callbacks, it was great to look back at one of your earlier posts, and I'm most definitely looking forward to the epilogue! It also helped matters that I had a bit of catchup to do, so I got to see Bastion's whole chase down the hallways and into the climactic room play out at once.))
((Next, a response to gdn. That name is slick and I almost wish it was the name for the next war, actually (although the possibility of it having a direct correlation to the content of the chapter would make sense why its limited to it). Which reminds me.. how shall the naming process go for the rebooted series? Hmm.. Oh, and good luck with the bonus chapter, of course! I'll try bugging Shooter by the way to see if he still wants to wrap up his story also.))
(( THREAD HIJACK ))
http://i.imgur.com/c5uYjlk.png
THE CONSOLE WARS: INFINITY
Sentience. An anomaly inside this material universe, yet so required for its own existence. A rock is not a rock without something to define it as a rock. And yet, it exists, regardless of whether there is something that can define it as a rock.
A computer is not aware that it is a computer inside a greater universe. Likewise, a sentient being is not aware that it is a flow of information trapped inside a universe of sterile matter. Besides, how could this universe of sterile matter not only support, but create sentience?
A game. Whose rules I'm just starting to fully understand. Universal law says that matter can't be created or destroyed, only changed. So applies to sentience, and even entire universes. Which means that sacrifices must be made. When an universe reaches its end, a guardian arises from within, causing it to collapse and bring life to a new world. I know that, because I'm one of these guardians.
However, my situation is different. By stretching the rules to their limit, I have doomed not only my universe, but every other universe in existence. I'm afraid that it is too late for me to do anything about it, but my mistakes are also a hope, for I could recruit another guardian to undo my mistakes in the material world, before ascending to the spiritual world. After timeless attempts to rearrange the alpha timelines, I have managed to extract a potential guardian.
But I'm afraid my actions have left her scarred for life.
LIST OF PLAYERS:
((I really hope this actually bumps the thread instead of merging into the last post))
"My contact will be explaining what your purpose is, as soon as she picks you up. Do not disappoint me, Camille. I already know you won't."
The feeling of nothingness engulfed Camille. Was this really how death was like? If it was, it would be a boring way to spend all of eternity.
But that feeling was replaced with a slight discomfort, as if something was out of place. The discomfort gradually increased, until it became unbearable. Camille then realized that she had to breathe.
It was with a loud gasp that suddenly all of her senses came back. She shielded her eyes, like a blind man seeing for the first time, and tried to get a knowledge of her surroundings. The blurry images and sounds slowly became what seemed like a hospital room. An young woman came bursting through the door worried.
- What happened? What...
- I... I woke up... From a bad dream?
- Bad dream?
- I don't know, it was all so real and detailed, and yet so surreal...
The woman looked concerned. As Camille had the time to think, she noticed that the woman was a sackgirl, not unlike the ones she and Trevor had seen in Europe. Not just that, she was actually a familiar sackgirl.
- It is good to see that you are well... I think. I was thinking you were never going to wake up. Anyway, my name is...
- Zim?
- I'm sorry?
- You... You are Zim right? From the...
- How do you know my name?
- Well, plenty of people know, your comic book is pretty popular, at least in Vita City.
- No, no, no, you must be mistaking me for someone else. There is no way...
Camille remembered that she had the comic back when she was in captivity. She searched her pockets for it, and found some crumpled remains, just enough to get a glimpse of what it was about. She handed it to Zim.
- That's... Me, alright? Where did you get this?
- Well, like I said, it is very popular. Everybody knows something about Zim, the drifter girl, or GDN, the...
- GDN? You know GDN?
- Yes... Well, from the comic, at least...
- No, no, no, I'm sorry, but that's impossible... Unless...
Zim headed out of the room. Camille tried to follow, but was still to weak to stand up, falling out of the bed. Zim noticed it and came back to help her up.
- By the way, you were bleeding severely when you... Were brought here. I... I treated you with a serum, should make up for the blood loss...
- Thank you.
- Do you remember what caused it in the first place?
- A blood sacrifice... I was meant to partake in... But... Oh my God, Trevor...
Camille shed out a few tears, after remembering what happened to Trevor. Zim tried to comfort her.
- I'm sorry for your... Loss. I did my best to save you.
- I'm grateful for it.
The two walked out of the room, and into a large area, filled with machinery. Camille sat on a wooden chair, while Zim searched through some books and annotations.
- Okay, so it seems that GDN and I are stars of some comic book series... Either this could be one of the theoretical artifacts, or....
She opened some notebooks, quickly skipping through the pages, before stopping at one.
- He could be alive, lost anywhere, but still having some sort of influence over...
- Sorry, Zim, but what is it that you seem so concerned about?
Zim walked towards Camille, holding up the comic book page.
- You see...
- Camille.
- You see, Camille, this here, is impossible to exist, from a probabilistic point of view.
- What? If you don't like it...
- Not that I don't like it, but... I guess I'll have to tell you the truth in order for you to understand. What's the last thing you remember?
- Well, the blood sacrifice, the pain, then light and darkness... And to be honest, nothing else.
- Nothing, nothing in between?
- No...
Zim walked towards the machinery, sweeping her hand over it.
- Not long ago, me and GDN were working on a new scientific breakthrough. We discovered that every object in the universe has some kind of internal energy, like a battery of some sort. With this equipment, we were able to get readings not only on visible objects, but also objects invisible to us, objects that exist in another dimensions, parallel to ours.
- Okay...
- But, during the latest experiment, the machine began not only to read, but to affect these energies. In an attempt to shut it down, GDN was... Vaporized right before my eyes.
Camille cringed at the thought, then felt briefly sorry for Zim.
- Well, when did that happen?
- About an hour ago... Precisely, 1.3 seconds after you were materialized at his place.
- I didn't know what to do... He told me to stay at the console and keep the machine stabilized... I, I don't know what I did... I thought for a second that I had killed him... And then you showed up, bleeding...
Camille noticed the now dried up pool of blood in the middle of the room.
- You better not look at it. Even I can't bring myself to do it.
- You are saying that GDN disappeared seconds before I appeared? Doesn't that seem like some kind of...
- ...Teleportation?
Zim scampered back towards the notebook, skimming over the pages.
- GDN had a theory about how the fundamental energies interact with the fourth dimension... He said it was like electrons spinning around the atomic nucleus... God I wish I hadn't skipped chemistry in high school right now!
Camille tried to follow her thoughts.
- "When an electron gains a certain charge of energy, it bounces into the inner orbits of the atom"... Or was it the outer cores... Anyway, he theorized how matter could jump between dimensions, or rather "swap".
- Zim...
- The machine could have overloaded his internal energy, causing him to swap between planes...
- Zim.
- But if he was swapped...
- ZIM!!!
Zim looked at Camille for a long while, and then grabbed her by the shoulders.
- You... You are GDN's swap.
- I'm WHAT???
Zim reached for the comic she had left on the table.
- Did you know the author of this comic, by any means?
- Actually, now that you ask about it, he or she had always been a mystery to the whole fandom... What are you suggesting?
- If you and GDN were swapped, this means he could have been the one to write this comic, as an way to reach out to me...
- Zim, you are delusional. Didn't you say that he and I were "swapped" in a second? I have known this comic for my whole life, there's no way...
- How old is the comic?
- Uh? Almost six years now, I guess...
Zim pulled a pencil and paper, and started doing some calculations.
- Six years divided by 1.3 seconds... That's a generous error margin there...
She pulled the calculator to aid with the now complicated operation. Camille tried to understand what she was aiming for.
- That makes one second equal to four years. Give and take a few months.
- What does that mean?
- Every second that passes here is equal to five years in your dimension. Another of GDN's observations, as the planes expand, so does time.
- ...
- I know what you are thinking. I'll answer right away: You were out for about two hours and a half, plus the time we have spent since then. Which means that your home is almost fifty thousand years older than when you left right now.
While scientists have deemed the particles of the blue space cloud to be harmless, they have been unable to conclusively identify its cause. However, several ametuer astronomers have come forward with claims that the cloud originated from objects launched from Earth itself. Of the hundreds of videos posted online over the past two weeks showing the cloud’s formation, none have been able to adequately validate these claims.
Data gathered from military or government satellites might paint a clearer picture, but as one independent official said,
“Unfortunately, the only satellites in position to catch everything that went on belong to the factions and, for various reasons, they’re keeping quiet on the issue.”
There has been a distinct lack of official response from the Big Three Factions, possibly due to the persisting domestic concerns they now face following the Console War. Nintendo must deal with several issues involving its corporate leadership, most notably the loss of Chairman Virgil Lee. Microsoft is still scrambling to restructure its online communications network, while Sony is attempting to finance repairs for major cities damaged during the fighting. All three factions appear to be in some form of disarray.
Only Microsoft has issued a formal statement concerning the cloud in the form of this invitation.
“We understand that the people are fascinated by the phenomenon, as well they should be. This is one of those once in a lifetime experiences that will make great stories for future generations. To that end, on behalf of Microsoft World Corporation, I invite everyone with footage, images, audio logs: anything from sensory data spreadsheets to selfies with the cloud, to contact our cultural archival division so that they might collect it to form a historical display for all to witness. This is the sort of event that transcends human divisions, and should be made available for all in the future to see as well.”
You can contact Microsoft’s Cultural Division at the number and email address in the description below. Even though I got to see the cloud myself, I for one am looking forward to seeing the collection’s release, so don’t be shy about those submissions folks.
We’ll be taking a quick break now, but when we return, Have journalistic trends gone too far in the past decade? The answer may shock you.
And as usual, don’t forget to like, follow, share, subscribe, wuphf, worship, and swear fealty to us on your favorite social media platforms if you haven’t done so already.
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There was nothing else they could do.
“That’s everything. You should get out of there,” Albert said quietly through the comlink.
Noel fiddled with the user terminal, removing the storage drive she had hooked up to hold files downloaded from the mainframe. It had also released a program that infected the system, erasing everything after it was scanned.
She joined Mathias just past the door. He nodded to her and they set off. By unspoken consent, they avoided the main parts of the facility, instead opting to take side passages to the exit. It would take longer to navigate, but it would also allow them to bypass the majority of the damage, blood, and bodies left in the aftermath of a massive struggle.
At the very least, these prisoners seemed to have had a chance to fight back. It was the fourth of Alexander’s hidden laboratories that they had investigated. At two others, the scene was less chaotic, but no less frightening. Instead of corpses strewn where they had fallen in battle, most had been burned. Evidently, Alexander’s followers had orders to act in the event of his absence, possibly via some sort of dead man's switch. It required the destruction of all evidence of their workings, including computer data, lab specimens, and the human subjects Alexander had captured in order to cultivate new powers.
Mathias and Noel met the first of such scenes with a sense of dread. Their mission could have been a failure before it even began. They had hoped to free as many prisoners as they could, but the swiftness of the protocols against them made it seem like an impossible dream.
Yet at the second base they reached, things were different. Many prisoners had been able to escape and use their powers to fight off the guards and scientists. Instead of falling to organized genocide, they had killed their captors. Most left the base to parts unknown, but three stayed behind. When they arrived, Mathias and Noel were still taking in the sight when the remaining prisoners attacked them. The two tried to end things peacefully, but it was clear that the prisoners had no interest in negotiations. Mathias had seen it before with those in the lab where he was held. Though they could have left, many of them felt that revenge against everyone they could get their hands on was justified for the suffering they had experienced. They had been forced to subdue vast amounts of power within themselves and had no interest in doing so anymore.
So three of them attacked while Mathias and Noel defended themselves. One formed sickly green vapor clouds that clung to and dissolved whatever they touched like acid. He used them in a barrage and, when Noel dodged one in particular, accidentally formed a cloud surrounding one of the others. Though it dissipated after only a few seconds, it had enough strength to completely eat away at flesh where it touched. The remains of one of the prisoners dropped to the ground.
Mathias swooped toward the man, intending to incapacitate him. The man moved with unexpected speed and was able to knock Mathias to the ground with the strength of his rage. He prepared another attack. Noel drew her pistol and fired two shots into his head, He dropped just as a faint, pale green gas began to erupt around Mathias’ shoulders.
The third prisoner wailed. Her body was hunched forward, her arms crossed over her chest, her fists clenched. Then she let loose a deep, continuous scream as she leaned her head and shoulders back, tearing her arms away from each other to extend off to the sides. The world began to vibrate with sudden intensity. Both Noel and Mathias lost control as every sense fell into chaotic turmoil. They were completely at the mercy of whatever was to come.
But then the woman faltered. Her voice broke and her body sagged slightly. The power receded, crawling back toward her. It took Noel and Mathias some minutes to recover from the attack on their senses. By the time they did, the woman was already lying on the floor, dead from the energy loss inherent in using her powers.
The three of them had been the only surviving prisoners Noel and Mathias encountered.
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This time, they returned to the plane without incident. Amaterasu gamboled down the ramp to greet the two. She lept on them with excitement and then trotted ahead as they entered the plane.
When they reached the common area, Mathias fell heavily into a seat. Amaterasu circled once and then lay at his feet. Mathias absentmindedly scratch at her ears. Noel made her way to the cockpit, where Albert would be readying the automatic piloting system to have them take off. When they were in the air, Noel and Albert joined Mathias. Nobody spoke right away. They all knew the trip had been another failure.
After a time, Albert sighed and said, “I’ll check the data you were able to send over. With luck, the security feed wasn’t cut right away and we’ll be able to see exactly what happened.”
Mathias added, “See if you can find some kind of inventory list. It looked like a lot of supplies were missing. Maybe they were taken by survivors.”
Albert nodded. Then they continued to talk about matters and plan their next move. At the end of their discussion, Albert said, “I’ll see if Abby has anything else to add this time.”
Mathia and Noel hesitated. This was something of a sore point in the group. After the battle with Alexander, they departed, bringing Abigail along with them. She was injured, alone, and, if found by the wrong people, could have been imprisoned or killed.
Yet Abigail was a major reason Alexander had been able to gain as much power as he had in the first place. She had willingly helped him behind the backs of everyone, especially during the years she had been a member of Noel’s team, escalating to the point where Roger had been killed. She had worked against her friends, family, and the world at large. She deserved punishment for her actions. However, Abigail had also been the reason Albert and Noel were able to escape from New Natal. In the end, she was also a large help in bringing down Alexander for good. Albert, in particular, argued that she had done enough to earn back at least some trust.
So Abigail remained. She was kept away from any computers, a restriction even Albert agreed with. While the plane did not have the means to completely imprison anyone within it, the group made to keep her under guard as best they could. For her part, Abigail helped matters by isolating herself further, keeping to the one room they left her in.
Albert spent a good deal of time talking with her, trying to keep her from wallowing in depression. Additionally, she would also provide him with information. It was with her help that the group was able to find a secure landing point to resupply and obtain new fuel cells for the plane. Additionally, she had access to a vast amount of information concerning Alexander’s network of hideouts and informants, though no one subordinate had all of it. Her help was invaluable in getting them mobile in the aftermath of the battle.
Mathias made a few short visits as well. The first were met with silence. For Abigail's part, there was not much she could say. An apology? It seemed so inadequate, almost trivial. Yet she felt she owed him something, an explanation, weak as it would be. So they exchanged words where she hid nothing, excused nothing, apologized for what she could, but expected nothing in return. In the end, Mathias left with understanding, if not outright forgiveness. He was willing to move on.
Noel was not. Mathias did not know Abigail in the long term. Albert was her brother, and their connection as fraternal twins, in Noel’s opinion, clouded his judgement in this regard. But Noel did know her and did not have such a connection, so she was able to see the simple truth. Helpful as her contributions had been, Abigail could never really be trusted. Alexander’s network was still too extensive and the damage she could cause was too great. While Abigail chose to work against Alexander in the end, it was not because she fully disagreed with his rationale. Ultimately, Abigail had betrayed them extensively for years and there was no evidence that she would not do so again, given the chance.
There was little hope of her opinion changing. Despite insistence from Albert, Noel had chosen not to communicate with Abigail after they initially boarded and resupplied. Her presence was something to be tolerated, not sought out. Had it been up to her alone, Noel would have probably left Abigail to fend for herself. The only reason she didn’t press for it was because she knew that Albert would leave as well. It could splinter the group. This was something they could not afford.
Abigail was not the only one who would be arrested if the factions caught her. Noel and Albert were both still wanted by Microsoft. Likewise, Noel was still considered the Shadow of Microsoft, a spy who could be executed without a trial in Nintendo and Sony territories. Mathias had hoped their names could be cleared by stopping Alexander, one of the greatest threats to the entire world. The problem was that he was only one threat. If their victory had gone public, it would have been overshadowed by the downfall of The Resurrectionists, as well as every other issue the Big Three faced. Noel and Albert would still face charges, as well as Mathias for his affiliation with them.
So they had to stay in hiding, remaining in the sky for as long as possible, only landing in safe locations. Albert was devising some long term solutions for them to hide their identities, but that still left the matter of what they could hope to accomplish. Cutting down Alexander’s network was a start, but Noel now knew that he was never the root of their problems.
“There’s more news,” Albert said after searching the web for some time, “It’s just a small university journal, but someone is claiming to have discovered signs of life on Terra.”
Mathias and Noel looked to each other. Then Mathias said, “So that’s it then, just like Alexander told us. The Resurrectionists somehow terraformed the planet.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Albert said, “It’s still early. More scientists will have to study it before confirming-”
“It’s real,” Noel interrupted, “It fits too well. The timing and that cloud, whatever it is. The Resurrectionists are still out there and whatever plan they might have could still be going.”
Albert responded carefully, “Still, there’s nothing we can do about it. Abigail didn’t have much more to offer about them than what I had already stolen.”
It was true. Alexander knew much about the Resurrectionists, but he had left their ranks long before, while still young. He did not know everything and he told Abigail even less.
“It’s not as if we have anything to gain going against them,” Mathias added, “The factions already oppose them, but we’re the only ones with a real chance of freeing any of Alexander’s prisoners.”
Noel almost laughed. A real chance. It was becoming more obvious that they were accomplishing nothing on that front. The more she thought about it, the less it appealed to her to cling to the remnants of a fallen foe. There was still an active threat. The Resurrectionists were still out there.
Janus was out there.
Mathias might not feel it was worth hunting the Resurrectionists. Though he had spent years searching for them, he found that the time that passed, their recent trials, and most importantly, finding Noel alive, had quelled his need for vengeance. In this regard, he was content. But as with Abigail, Noel silently disagreed with him. She had every reason to track them down, to carry out the task she had begun years before. Janus and the others had a debt to pay. Noel subconsciously clenched her robotic fist. Progressively more often, she felt the old hatred, the old bloodlust that she had vowed to leave behind, creep back within her.
She did not indulge them. She could not. Their safety was still too precarious, their future uncertain. However, she would not forget how she once lost sight of her goal. She had been complacent. In her eyes, it was what allowed everything else to happen. So while she mostly kept silent on issues concerning Janus, she did not allow herself to forget. She knew that, in time, an opportunity would present itself. Janus had slipped once and allowed her to get the better of him. Even if it took years, he would do so again. She just had to be patient and help ensure the groups survival.
The time would come.
They had to be ready.
((Phew. Almost thought I might have to say I needed three years to finish this thing. Stumbled over the finish line there, but... eh.))
((Really not much to say, just yeah. That's it. Was a heck of a lot of fun to work on. :) The main story for this thing is done for me.))
((Bye.))
...
((Good to see someone else on the limbo))
- FIFTY THOUSAND???
- Yeah... I'm afraid that, by now, any memories of you have been erased by history... God, I am not making this any better...
Camille sat down and held her head in angst.
- As if losing Trevor was enough... Now I lost all my friends, family...
Zim tried to comfort her.
- Listen, I would do anything I could to help you. I know how you feel, I lost a friend too...
- That places an entire civilization between our losses then...
- Uhh... I wish I could do something, but GDN was the one who could fully comprehend the science of plane-swapping...
Zim turned around, as if she was going to pick something up from the shelves, but then stopped midway, staring into thin air.
- Zim? Are you alright?
- Come here.
Camille stood up and walked towards her.
- What is it?
- Come closer. Can you see it?
Camille squinted her eyes trying to see what got Zim so suddenly concerned. She spotted a tiny black dot floating in midair. Zim dashed for the light switch and turned it off, making the room become dimly lit. She then pointed a flashlight into the black dot. The particles of dust, illuminated by the beam, could be seen getting sucked into the dot.
- This is bad news all over.
- Is that...
Zim turned the lights back on, and went for the shelves again, this time frenetically throwing books around, in search for anything that would explain the anomaly. Trying to be helpful, Camille looked around as well, finding a lone cardboard box standing by the corner, inconspicuously. She picked it up, and saw a note attached to it.
- Zim... I think this might be of your interest...
Zim took the box from Camille and read the note:
"Dear Zim, if you are reading this, it means things might have taken a turn for worse. Inside this box is a device that I have built with this situation in mind. I'm sorry about all of this, and I want to let you know that I would never have dragged you into this if I could foresee the consequences. I have faith in you, Zim, and I know that you will understand what to do."
-GDN- It's from GDN...
Suddenly, the lights started to flicker, and the room began to shake. The black hole was gaining strength. Zim opened the box, finding a spherical device about the size of an apple.
- It's a... Thing. And spherical shape has not point whatsoever! Doesn't look like GDN would have built something like this...
Lightning began to crackle outside, as the clouds started to gather over the epicenter.
- It'll have to do, Zim!
- It has no buttons or levers or anything! It's just... A device!
- So you do what? Crush it? Throw it into the hole?
- It looks too hard to crush... Could be throwing...
Camille looked to the black hole. It was becoming strong, and she could feel a slight pull already, but it was still small.
- Do it, Zim!!!
Zim threw the device on the hole, but it just bounced back, unaffected by the pull, or the general purpose of the black hole. The little sphere, however, lit up as it stayed near the hole.
- Well, would you look at that...
- We're gonna have to wait until the hole becomes bigger before doing that...
- By then, we're all going to get sucked into it!
Zim held onto a desk, as the pull became stronger. She then got a sudden breakthrough.
- This hole... It is a multidimensional hole...
- Is a what???
- It exist across all planes... Which means...
- How the hell do you know that right now???
- I... Just understand what to do now...
- ...
- Camille, I'm sending you back with the device.
- WHAT???
- If your universe's time is expanded, its space must be as well... Which means that the hole is expanded also!
- Are you going to send me to black hole land???
- You will be safe. I know it.
- ...
Zim dashed for the controls, turning the machine back on.
- Okay, Camille, I need you to stay right where you appeared. And don't forget the ball!
Camille stood over her now dried-up blood, not before picking up the device.
- Okay, quick briefing: You are going back to your home universe. No, I don't know what it looks like now. Once there, you need to find the black hole and throw the ball at it. Then pray...
- I'm not quite fond of that plan, but ok!
- Prepare to be swapped!
Camille's body lit up, and she disappeared in a flash of light. 1.3 seconds later, the remains of a desk table spawned right where she was.
"Good luck, Camille."
END OF PART 1
((Okay, these were plenty of posts, so a summary would be dandy right now))
((I'm going to have to step the posting up if I want to finish this before 2015 :p ))
((Great ending Matt great new post gdn it's all really great.))
((Also post to make it easier for gdn if he wants to post again real soon.))
((..So yeah.))
((Umm..))
((Hello!)
((What should I say...))
((.....))
((Oh!))
((Heather's fancy black car from 'The Console Wars: Blackout' (the one that Ivon crashed outside of Sao Paolo) was intended to be brought back and repaired for 'The Console Wars 5' and serve as some of her and Agent Drago's transportation in the latter half of the story.))
((IF WE HAD ONE!))
((......))
((...))
((The name "Marcus J. Taylor" is a reference to Jackson Taylor, one of the big bads of the previous Console Wars universe.))
((Or did I already say that one...))
((Hm..))
((The name of the planet Terra was intended to be an homage to the planet of what I believe the first couple of Console War games took place on, before moving towards Earth for the rest of the series. This was based off of something random I think I heard about it though, as I had never read through any of the initial wars. However, after having read the first few posts of the first war, I believe I saw that it was called LittleBigEarth. So.. I can't really verify if the name Terra was ever actually brought up... but oh well!))
((.....))
((The reason Nintendo and Microsoft ended up with robot army prototypes that will lead into the next game wasn't just due to their alliance in this war (although that was the main cause), but also since we had Xbots and Nintendrones, two existing mechanical derogatory terms for fanboys/fangirls of said factions (blindly devoted to attack and attend, just like war machines in a sense), it worked greatly. I can't think of a particularly iconic name attached to those who worship Sony and Playstation, nor one that directly relates to robots.))
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-I8ALlYxdY
Camille regained existence. Her first reaction was to look around and try to identify her bearings. Zion's corridors. The place immediately brought her painful memories, muffled by the device starting to glow and taking her attention.
- Well, that is something right...
Camille started to search for an exit. The place was dark and empty, and in ruins as well. But the most standing out characteristic was the various devices and metal structures placed around the place, like some sort of technological skeleton to the fortress.
As she walked through the corridors, she felt eerily alone. Not a single live being, corpse or even remains could be seen.
- ...
At last, she found a source of outside light. An unstable wall of rocks, which she had almost no problem pushing outside. As her eyes adapted from the sudden light, she saw a wasteland, littered with immense abandoned buildings, as far as the eye could see.
- What happened here?
She carefully made her way through the ledges of the fort, reaching higher and higher, to the very top of the structure. As she could see the other side, the answer to her answer was clear.
A large structure in the distance stood aside from the other buildings, guarded by gigantic robot sentinels. In the center of the structure, floated an immense void, not unlike the dark spot she saw back at Zim's room.
- Zim did say that space was relative between the dimensions... Still...
Camille sat on the edge of the fortress, trying to guess the distance between her and the void.
- No, better not think about it too much. I got work to do...
She slowly started to descend the structure, towards the desert below.
(( Yes, I kiinda need to finish this, right? ))
((Robot sentinels and another void. Interesting.))
((Good to see you back for Infinity by the way.))