DeviousMe

((It's a ladder. ))

Acid sneered as the light almost blinded him, thorwing his hand up in front of his eyes. Still, he couln't avoid seeing spots for a few seconds.

Sheesh, you IDIOT! They weren't even all inside yet! And didn't I just tell you to GET MOVING?! What sort of moron are you?!

He almost screamd this out, but since he figured Midas would yell the exact same thing - unlike him, very vocally - within the next three seconds, Acid decided to save it.

They were dealing with professionals here. The blast goggles and gasmasks kind. A simple flash of light wasn't going to stop them for long, and with only a few of them in the flash radius, it was doubtful it would even slow them down.

[ QUOTE ]
“Get down!”
“Stand up with your hands on your head!”

[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, so maybe I overestimated the opposition here.

Acid waited until they stopped coming down the ladder, and then a wall of force suddenly rushed towards the soldiers, repelling them and smashing them to the wall. If any of them were quick enough to fire, their bullets would experience the same fate.

[ QUOTE ]
“Move around the building! I want you to make sure no one gets out of here alive!”

[/ QUOTE ]
Okay, so I definetely overestimated 'em. My bad. Yeah, please do shout out your plans for all to hear.

"Didn't I ask you guys to move?" Acid sneered at Keegan and the others as he prepared for the soldiers' next move. In a whisper, he added, "SENECA, be ready..."

((And now I'm gonna shut up and give other people a chance to react. ))

"Power or not, I hope you're ready." Acid growled as he looked in the direction of the hatch, "'Cause here they come."

A second later, a sound of thunder racked the room as the hatch blew. The soldiers hadn't bothered to pound on it - a shape charge got the job done much quicker.

"Halt in the name of the great and powerful Overmagus!" the Commander bellowed into the hatch, "You are to give yourselves up immediately! We know you have metahumans in there! Hiding metahumans is a crime against the State and punishable by death! We are authorized to use lethal force at any time! Don't even try fleeing, the area is locked down and damped! Surrender NOW!"

The soldiers didn't wait, dropping tear gas grenades through the hole in the ceiling, under which rested the ladder against the wall that formed the actual entrance.

"Get going." Acid whispered to the others, loud enough for them to hear, but quiet enough for none of the soldiers to get wise, "I've suddnely got the urge to make a scene here."

He pointed at the rear of the bunker, another ladder sitting against the wall with another hatch above it. This one sat inside the warehouse above, hidden in a pile of crates. Midas may have been depressive, but he was no fool - there was most certainly a back door...

Acid's eyes snapped open, but he still didn't move, sitting on the rock. He calculated. Chances, odds, probabailities...and then decided to heck with it.

Eenie meenie miney mo...

Each eg had about the same chance of exploding the next time. Could be one, could be three, but worst-case there would only be on left.

So he picked at random. The egss weren't hard to keep track of, and using Vern's method made it even easier. with the flick of a wrist, Acid focused in on egg 11 and called it across space and time - a really grandiose description for a few meters and zero seconds - teleporting it into the claws of his hand.

Morkso, meanwhile, had been quite disappointed as he sensed the signal, stuffing the egg into his mouth before it exploded.

A second later, he hacked a huge loogie at anyone blow the palmtree as he decided that was about the vilest thing he'd ever tasted. He also made a mental note of the same caliber that Acid had made earlier.

In less than a second, Morkso was down the tree, spiraling towards the ground like some deranged squirrel...

((CptCommie, you mind if we take control of the pursuing soldiers? We've been waiting for them to find us a long time now. ))

"Oh boy." Acid rubbed his eyes as Keegan went off again. Dammit, this guy was almost as bad as Tam...well, the Tam he knew. This one didn't seem to be so hyper.

Acid squinted at Experiment for a moment before starting to laugh.

"Of course! I can't believe I didn't recognize ya earlier. Geez, I'm scatterbrained sometimes. I swear one day I'll forget my own head somewhere. But wait...why haven't you changed that much then...?"

"Interesting." Acid commented, turning to Experiment, "Alright, so we've established I recognize everyone but you and Mr. Overdrive on the floor there. Care to fill me in...?"

((Eggs destroyed: 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, 23.))

Acid wasn't even flinching, taking a seat on a nearby rock and sittind down in a medatative position. He closed his eyes, concentrating, focusing.

Alright so far. That meant thirteen left...

((I'm getting tempted to have Schwarzherz go in on the side of the Oranbegans here. ))

"Uh...huh..." Acid strtched as he nodded once to the gem, "Ya know, you could've said that in a few less words."

Sheesh, why did techno-monging robotists almost always think they had to go monologuing to explain anything? Vern never did that...

"Alright, so basic gist is you're trapped in there and the alternate you won't let you out. Frankly, with you being so demanding about it, I can understand."

He looked at the alternate Phillis rummaging about for a moment.

"I'll admit he's paranoid, but you should really give him credit for what he's managed to do. Heck, you shoudl thank him for not getting blown up, enslaved, turned into a babbling idiot, or any number of things - none of them pretty - I can think of off the top of my head..."

Acid hadn't ben surprised as his egg exploded. He'd expected it, it was just how the odds were. He'd also figured the same thing - an egg now would only be cause for trouble.

Still, he was disgusted. Bioengineered eggs! That was just a crime! What, were normal eggs not good enough anymore? Damn humans, always had to mess with stuff they didn't understand.

Note to self: pay a visit to Greensyre Reserach sometime.

Morsko seemed just as nondescript, climbing up a palmtree to gain a better view of things. His sharp claws made this seem like the easiest thing in the world, even though palms were notoriously slippery.

His egg cradled in the loop of his tail tip, he observed the situation as Acid teleported a coconut to himself and started gnawing on it.

A thunderously loud CRUNCH! echoed across the beach as he bit it open...

"You seem to have built up a lot of grump." Acid smirked at the stone, "So what's what? It's news to me that a power source can contain a person, so I'm guessing either something went wrong or you've just been using it for that purpose without really knowing its true potential."

Another growl from Tam made him sigh.

"Would you two simmer down for five minutes? Sheesh, it's like I'm surrounded by freakin' kids! Tam, plase calm down...you are Tam, right...?"

Aw hell, he's one of THOSE guys - can't see a good think 'till it bites him in the rear. Hm, maybe I should...on second thought, yuck!

Acid had learned a bit from Mnemonyev and Vyachslav. while coming nowhere near true telepathy just yet, he'd gotten into the fringes of it, and Phillis' mental picture appeared clear as crystal.

With a flash of light and the sound of air suddenly collapsing into the resulting vacuum, Midas, Essex, John, Tam, Acid, and even the three downed bots vanished, reappearing in the Doctor's bunker.

"Make it fast." Acid nodded to Phillis, hearing rummaging above. Apparently, the soldiers were combing the entire district...

((Just a quick note, Open - for a character who just discovered his new powers, that might be a little much. ))

"Alright." Acid nodded to Phillis, extending his hand, "Grab on and think about your bunker as hard as you can. And quickly."

Acid could swear he already heard a beating sound on the door, hoping it was just his imagination...

((Aww. But the people hiding in the warehouse attic were getting all apprehensive about your soldiers from the trucks busting the door down. Open's the only one who wanted to go after the choppers so badly. ))

Phillis' last statment grabbed Acid's attention.

"It's a calculated risk." Acid told the Doctor, looking at the tiny hologram that opped from his watch, "Our pursuers aren't stupid. It looks like they've got the whole sector locked down, and I'm fairly sure they've got the means to track us even through teleport. If we hit your bunker now, it's likely it'll be discovered. You willing to that...?"

((I think you're confused. Weve only got 1 chopper and it's at very high altitude. Hal and Schizo are somewhere else entirely. India? No, that's where Kefetasura was...urg, I can't remember right now...

He mentioned a 'wasteland', though, so I'd imagine it'd be the north american midwest, where the supposed front is.))

((Tarnation, I can't help myself! And by the way, the detention field wore off a long time ago.))

Acid performed the equivalent of cocking an eyebrow, "Awhodawhadda?"

Holy geez, who IS this guy? I swear I've never heard anyone...well, maybe not never but still...speak in one giant sentence like that!

"Uhh," he turned back to the others, "Anybody understand what Grammar Man here just said...? Hey, wait a tick, you, get back here...!"

((Essex, get over to Crown of Thorns, we're all waiting for you.

And yeah, I'm gonna shut up now until CptCommie gets back. We already threw 2 1/2 pages at the poor guy. ))

I...can't...freakin'...BELIEVE I'm doing this!

A quick look from Morsko said it all. He had promised.

Curse me keeping my word.

"Anytime you're ready." Acid nodded, nodding over to Morsko as he added, "So's he..."

((*Ahem*))

[ QUOTE ]
And in a flash, all of them were gone, teleported - the boy, the bots, the people on the roof, and Acid himself...

[/ QUOTE ]
((Yeah, Experiment's in the attic too. ))

[ QUOTE ]
“For the last time, tell me what the hell you are and what your intentions are!” Midas demanded furiously, sounding as though he could actually back up his angry tone, though it was obvious he couldn’t.

[/ QUOTE ]
Acid sighed, confing off on his fingers as he answered, "Alright, in this order: first, I'm not an assassin. I don't do that kind'a work anymore. As to exactly who I am, depends on which rumor you believe. They call me Acid, so I've stuck with it. My intentions..."

He paused for a moment, not fiding the right words right away, "Uh, let's see...find Overhead, make a mess of him or her, take Malleus Mundi, return world to the way it was before all this mess happened."

That this'll end you and every other alternate version of everyone else you don't need to know. But your origonals were here first, so they've got priority.

[ QUOTE ]
"Please..." she whispered, barely audibly with her face pressed in Midas' labcoat. "Please be quiet, both of you. They'll find us..."

[/ QUOTE ]
"They'll find us anyway." Acid pointed out the obscured window with a thumb, "there's a whirly out there. Since it spotted us really fast the first time, I'm gonna assume it can track us too. That means your flight, Ess. I'm sorry, but you really messed up there. If I was the enemy, I'd be storming this building already."

Acid trned to the trench-coated man, the cat-lady, and rune-boy, "Alright, you three - can I rely on ya to not start anything for about ten seconds? Answer quickly, I don't think we've got much time...?"

((Bah, edited. And next time don't say they were just gone please. That generally implies invisiblity or teleportation. ))

"Ace, we got a problem." suddenly sounded from Acid's 'watch'. The voice was quiet, but he could hear it with no problems at all.

"Go ahead." Acid raised his free left hand, speaking into the instrument.

"There are four ground vehicles advancing on your position. A helo'sw guiding 'em in, and from the looks of 'em, they wanna cause trouble."

Well, that wasn't good. Apparently, security here was tighter than they'd thought - a blatant contradiction seeing how no one seemed to have even bothered to track the data flow to and from the former communciations tower.

This brought up a question of interest: was it better to show Mr. Overhead that there was a new player in town or should he opt to stay hidden for now until he knew more?

Acid decided on the second. As the boy fired off his EMP, the flickering streetlights nearby went out, coating the entire area in thick shadows - perfect for a getaway. Acid's own tech wasn't electronically based for the most part, however, and continued to work just fine.

"Alright guys, we're gonna git now, and..."

Suddenly, Essex and Phillis took off and headed for a warehouse.

Dammit! MORONS! There's a freakin' CHOPPER overhead, it's gonna find you in no time flat!

Well, this had turned into a mess real fast! He couldn't just leave the robots here - according to the files on those approaching soldiers, they were sure to track them to their maker...not to mention 'Hallucinogen?' was still here as well.

And then there were the guys on the roof. Sheesh, any way you twisted it, it all sounded bad!

"Okay, I've had enough." Acid's eyes narrowed at the boy and the bots as he placed a detention field over the magic user. He didn't really care if the robots were still working after that EMP, this needed to be done fast. Acid threw down a smoke grenade.

And in a flash, all of them were gone, teleported - the boy, the bots, the people on the roof, and Acid himself...

--------------------

Midas and Essex found themselves face to face with Acid once more, his natural affinity for all matters molecular having carried everyone else with him as well.

"Oh sure, just fly away as I start to figure things out." he complained, brushing imaginary dirt off his cloak, "Now if you're all done doing random crud, how about we go somewhere that's actually not patrolled three ways to Sunday...?"

Acid took this quite well. Few things could surprise him, though a mechanoid turning boilogical was something new.

Wait a second! If that was Essex, was the runed boy...Hallucinogen?

Damn it, I really wish the brothers were here now.

Regardless, an assassin wouldn't bother announcing his presence, so if that wasn't Hal, he was certainly no backstabber of the Overhead. A spy, maybe, but appearing out of teleport at just this random instant...the odds were astronomical.

"Sheesh, calm down." Acid sighed as he stretched a hand toward the boy and the robotic weapons slammed into nothing but a barrier around him, the shield flaring up pale blue with each strike, "You're paranoid as hell. Would an assassin really announce his presence like that?"

Voices from above too...was this random back alley turning into some sort of convention center? It sure was dang popular...

"Sheesh, you guys are a handful." Acid chuckled, trying to find a recycler for hus plate. After about a minute he remembered that humans put their dirty plates in a dishwasher instead of disintigrating them and set about to find that machine, opening the oven for a moment.

"Nope." he commented, moving to the next thing that looked fold-outable, which just happened to be the dishwasher.

"Damn it," he grumbled, trying to make ense of the many poking rods, "How the hell do you use this thing?"

After someone finally gave him a hand, the challenge was announced.

'Immunity challenge?' Aw hell no! Forget this, I've got no intention of humiliating myself for a TV show, and...

He never got to finsih that thought as he backed out of the kitchen, bumping into Morsko. The sleek black creature nudged at his leg, driving Acid back into the room.

"Oh no you don't!" Acid turned to Morsko, trying to stare him down, but all he seemed to get in return was one long unblinking stare, "Listen, I know I said...do you even know what the heck this is?...I'm not making excuses...!"

Finally, Acid threw up his hands in defeat, "Oh fine, I'll do it. Stop arguing with me!"

Morsko seemed satsfied at this as he licked a few spots of clood off his lips, then curled the ip of his long, slender tail about egg 24 while Acid took hold of 23...

Acid seemed ignorant of the weaponry currenlty poised to stike at him. He only grinned a very toothy grin.

"My kind?" he said in thought, "I can assure you my people aren't into abducting cows and humans for probing if that's what you mean. We don't fly in saucers either. In fact, the last time I recall a saucer was in the Eastside, and ever since the guys there started a civil war...damn it, I'm going off on a tangent again, aren't I?"

[ QUOTE ]
"...Acid..." Essex barely breathed.

[/ QUOTE ]
Acid instantly locked eyes with the pale child. Something seemed familiar about her - but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Ma'am, do I know you? I've got the oddest feeling..."

"Well, I hadn't planned to reveal myself so soon," the figure spoke as his hands slipped from the cloak's sleeves - clawed hands covered in a deep-green hide, "but then I hadn't figured on meeting anyone I knew here."

Without further ado, the figure brought his hands to the sides of his hood and threw it back over a very raptor-like head, though not quite as scaly as one would have imagined. Instead, it was skinned in the same deep-green hide as the hands, framing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth and piercing yellow reptilian eyes.

"Though I'm not going to take it any of you remember me." Acid continued, "Doctor Midas Phillis..."

"Please, don't shoot." the gray-cloaked figure responded to the robot's demands, though his voice was significanly calmer than one might expect.

In fact, his tone seemed almost...smug, and as his raised his hands a little a flickering steetlight reflected off something in the face hidden under the hood.

Only for a moment, but the thing that glinted seemed to be a tooth - a very sharp tooth.

"I'm here to help..."