DeviousMe

Acid only grinned toothily, raising a hand to his shoulder. Then he snapped his fingers.

"Maximilian."

The truck behind him gave a rumble as it rose, chassis plates shifting to and fro in favor of first legs, then arms, complete with alien-looking, four-pronged feet and hands of solid metal, wheels sliding together up its calves and locking there. A diminutive head carrying but a single, red-glowing optic lens sprang from between the wide shoulders of what by the second looked more and more like some demented Knightmare Frame.

It didn't take long for the final elements of plated armor to take position, and even less time for very visible weapon systems to deploy, the most obvious indicated by the tiny, bluish pilot flames that danced above the armored behemoth's wrists. It didn't hesitate to use them either, stretching its arms toward Pious and roaring twin gouts of flame at the hero...

((*huffs up* Why, I never...! I dare say I take exception to that! I've not eaten anyone for a week, and you know it! As for you, my dear Spanky, welcome, welcome, do come in.))

That's so awesome.

That's some very neat stuff you've got there, Scooter. I'm not sure how much of your work you base on screenshots, so this might be a little tougher, but I never did manage to get a full body shot of Jade Blackwind, so if you'd like to go for that, I'd certainly appreciate it.

He's a 400-year-old Dragon-turned-machine from a world upon which Judgment Day has come and gone, leaving little more than ashes, ruins, and bones scattered across the decrepit wasteland that was once such a life-filled land. Whether you call him a survivor is up to you, the ripped-up remains of his original body having long since decayed, just like the rest of his world, across whose lands now prowl solely the mechanical nightmares whose original purpose was to protect the very people they so relentlessly slaughtered. Few pockets of survivors remain, the machines having hunted nearly all sentient organics to extinction, asserting dominion of cold iron over a burning world.

Dang, that almost ran away again. Anyway, the important part for a sketch is just that his head still looks like it used to before he got sliced up, while the rest of his body is now just cold metal. Don't get me wrong now, he's not a cyborg. Hair, skin, it's all synthetic, it just looks like it's still flesh. I did manage to sneak a head shot a while back, but like I said a full one is what I'd be most thankful for. I'll of course appreciate anything, so no worries if that's not what you'd like. Oh, and before I forget again, he sometimes wears a full helm when he wants to hide what he is, like in the small picture in the first link. Up to you which way you prefer, though.

"Hey, don't leave!" Acid exclaimed, digging a sharpie out of his pants' pockets and quickly drawing a few jagged lines on the robot's torso. Despite clearly intended to be a roaring beast's visage, it didn't come out to look even remotely threatening, especially as he stepped aside to allow view and indicated it, "See? He's menacing. He's menacing, right?"

If there had been any crickets around, they would've chirped.

"Okay, fine." the reptilian huffed, glaring sideways at the mechanoid and commanded, "You. Out."

The robot obeyed, jumping from the bed and onto the ferry deck.

"You're dismissed." the Khelari told it, "Meet me back in northwest Baumton."

With a click and a clack, the machine assumed a more straightened position, then ignited a pair of thrusters in the soles of its feet, preparing for takeoff. Realizing what he'd just done, Acid's eyes went wide.

"Wai-!" he tried to stop the mechanoid, but it was already too late. With a powerful lurch, it zoomed straight up, crashing right through the ceiling of the vehicle deck, and of course all the floors and ceilings that lay above before rocketing off into the sky.

"Right." the reptilian growled, looking grumpily at the hole, "Note to self: remember to program ceilings as objects to avoid. Fine. Back to business. Mr. Fruit Loop, I'm afraid you're going to have to die now..."

Y'know, someone should really go and gather up the requirements and underlying parameters of the Mission Architect that the devs have stated are expected of authors.

Just look for normally written arcs. Generally, people who don't write farm missions will use the full complement of elements in a custom group, as well as give their custom critters a decent amoun of powers. So just keep an eye out for stuff that either has no description on an incomprehensibly garbled one and stay away from that.

"What the-?" the reptilian gave a start as Pious actually pulled his phone, his visage a mask of surprise and disbelief, "No. No, no, no, no, no. You're doing it all wrong. You're not supposed to do what I say."

Motioning a supporting gesture with a hand, he walked back toward the truck, "C'mere. Right over here on the X. Oh wait, no X. Nevermind. Okay fine, stay where you are. You, lady whose name I don't know, stand behind him. Yes, now. Back him up. Neither of you have any idea if a monster might jump outta there when ya lift that tarp, so you're supposed to be prepared."

He didn't seem to actually care though, flinging the flap that hid the truck bed's contents aside regardless of whether the heroine had actually moved or not. However, what he revealed was hardly a monster, the only contents of the bed being a single mechanoid; a type generally termed a 'protector bot'.

"What're you doing there?" Acid seemed surprised at this, questioning the machine, which didn't seem to be doing anything to provide answers aside from staring blankly back at the Khelari with its red-glowing lenses, "Where's my wolfman? Whaddaya mean 'day off'? Contract? What contract? I don't remember signing a contract. Why is nothing going according to plan today...?!"

Oh, that's nice. That's very nice.

Nice chompers.

Sweet, haha.

Villains are superior because evil is sexy.

"That's a pretty serious accusation, my dear." Acid grinned to the heroine in a toothily seductive manner, "I hope you've got some proof to back that up."

He didn't really expect her to reply to that though, being gone the next instant, the soft clap of air rushing into a suddenly appeared vacuum the only telltale side-effect of his teleportation.

"And you." he told Pious, his destination having been the rear of the truck - more specifically, roughly three meters behind it, which strangely enough meant he wasn't physically blocking the hero in any way, "I really hope you've got a search warrant. Y'see, she's right. He's not mine. He's Cerosian. And Cerosians are pretty big on privacy. So, got a warrant to show me...?"

The tires blew with thunderous report, flinging a few small bits of tread against the deck of the ferry. The bulk of the material stayed intact of course, but the truck nevertheless sagged spontaneously to one side a bit.

"Nice." Acid regarded the heroine with a somewhat disgusted expression, "You're gonna pay for that, right? Those tires aren't cheap, you know..."

Yes, it's back!

"With that pathetic excuse for a singularity?" Acid flicked a finger toward the thing in a dismissive fashion, "I'd like to see you try."

With both the heroes' attention now on the Khelari, his 'help' sprang into action. Barely noticeable to even the keenest of observers, a ripple in the air appeared over the tires the woman had driven her spikes into earlier. Just for a moment. The next, they were already gone - both the ripples as well as the spines. In fact, the tires were gone as well, but this was even harder to tell since the new ones looked virtually identical.

"So Miss," the reptilian turned to speak to the heroine again, apparently having chosen to completely ignore Pious' presence, "you were saying something about your spines in the tires? Mind pointing out exactly where...?"

First color change? Blue pom-poms for my /EM blaster.

First change using the new system? No FX for my willpower character, whee!

*Squee*

<_<

>_>

No one heard that...

I would, yeah.

"Stolen Rikti technology?" Acid grinned smugly in return, "Why, I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking a-"

A sudden thump of thunder cut him off there, redirecting his attention to the new arrival. The benevolent warmth in the reptilian's face vanished in tandem with the man's words, narrowed eyes and a disappointed frown appearing in their place.

"You wanna run that by me again, Fruit Loop?" he grumbled back, jaw muscles keeping his teeth together while only his lips moved - a distinct mannerism of a Khelari when upset, "Because I don't take kindly to random yahoos comin' outta nowhere and insultin' me..."

"Why?" Acid leaned a little out the open driver's side window, regarding the heroine nonchalantly, "Is loitering a crime now...?"

Yes. Yes they are.

Bwahahahaha!

And careful there, AK. You keep doing that and I might just curl up around you.