Mr_Grey

Hallo there, Ex Libris. I must apologize for not providing a greeting earlier when I first saw this thread.

I can't wait to see what else you come up with for this story.

After what seemed an eternity of cannon fire, the Ork army finally paused for a brief moment to check the damage they had done. Peering as ponderously as the quite non-ponderous Orks could manage into the dust cloud, they waited for the air to clear.

A silvery orb, almsot like an egg rested in the center of a massive crater. As a few Orks scratched their heads in wonder, the egg started to change form and was morphed back into a humanoid shape before much longer. A massive, silvery pool seemed to extend from where its legs and feet should have been however. Little did the Orks know, that all their insane assault did was fuel Dross's energy reserves and feed him more materials. They were making more progress destroying his lenses...

"I've suffered some minor structural damage," Dross's impassive, tin-echoed voice issued from his featureless face, "I'll not be making that mistake again."

The Orks aimed their weapons at him, prepared to put him down for the count.

"No no..."

Dross's body suddenly sprouted blades, lots of blades, in varying lengths, widths, and forms. Two blades each extended from his forearms, curving forward well past his hands, and continuously sharpening and vibrating. From his back, spikes protruded, forming a tight little shell of pain. Finally, the pool shrivelled back to Dross, reforming into his legs and feet, the calves bearing bladed fins that curved much like the forearm blades, only upward.

"It's my turn now!"

And like a bullet from one of their war cannons, he smashed through the Ork ranks in a straight line for their Rok. Bodies, limbs, armor and weapons tore away like butter. Before the Rok, Dross stopped. Without turning, he simply launched the spikes on his back. Silvery bars of metal drove through the Ork ranks. Some of the armored soldiers were spared as the spikes lacked enough punch to drive through much more than flesh and bone. After extending back a half mile, Dross pulled back his spikes, leaving gaping holes in a fan of Ork soldiers.

Dross turned back to face them, spikes growing from his shoulders.

"I'm going to have to keep the fighting here... Where it's too close for you to use your ship's weapons."

Lord Diov: 21
Khellendrosiic: 22
Hallucinogen: 20
Essex: 24
Prodiguy: 19
The Soviet: 22
Lazarus: CRY MOAR'D
Devious Me: 20
Burning Brawler: 18
Arashi: 19
Halo Inc: 13
Billy Boy: 16
Leo Gunner: ARROW'D
Pheonyx: 20
Mithral Zeta: 19
Cowman: TROLL'D
Moiread Scott: 20
Seikon: MENTAL BLAST HEAD EXPLODE'D
Coldfire Kaiser: HEAD SHOTT'D
Mr Grey: 20
Ozell One: 21

Healed Halo...

Hurt Burning.

Lord Diov: 21
Khellendrosiic: 21
Hallucinogen: 20
Essex: 24
Prodiguy: 21
The Soviet: 21
Lazarus: IRRADIATED
Devious Me: 20
Burning Brawler: 19
Arashi: 19
Halo Inc: 13
Billy Boy: 15
Leo Gunner: ARROW'D
Pheonyx: 20
Mithral Zeta: 19
Cowman: TROLL'D
Moiread Scott: 19
Seikon: MENTAL BLAST HEAD EXPLODE'D
Coldfire Kaiser: HEAD SHOTT'D
Mr Grey: 21
Ozell One: 21

Gave Ozell a bonk.

Healed Pheonyx.

"Well, Mr. Breaker," Nurse Tara checked off her clipboard after finishing the physical examination, "Despite your body's..."

"Gross deformity," Harris shrugged, "Yeah, I know."

"You seem phsyically fit. However... I have to inject you with this..."

She held up a syringe filled with a white fluid.

"That the power inhibiting stuff?" Power Breaker arched an eyebrow at it, "I haven't even felt a change... Other than... You know."

"Yes, I have to. It's a techno-magical serum designed to inhibit any extraneous super powers you may have. All prisoners on their way to South Block get it."

"So I am being reassigned... Hope I like my cellmates."

Nurse Tara sighed, "I wish all of my patients were as polite as you. What's a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"I was convicted of murder," Breaker replied as he pulled his orange shirt back on (it had a much wider neck hole to accomodate the shoulder spikes), "I didn't do it, but the twelve man and woman jury said I did."

"So, you feel you don't belong in here?"

"Oh, I belong in here, as in I belong in this prison. There's a whole butt-load of things I did that were more than enough to keep me in here most of my life. Not the least of which was being a member of the Superadine Trade... However... Where I'm about to go? No. I should never have wound up there. Now, I'm a part of all the madness this place is reknowned for."

Nurse Tara injected the needle into his arm before he pulled the right half of his shirt on. The serum felt like water going in. Before he knew it, the little numbers in his vision dissipated.

"Wow... I wasn't even noticing those things..."

"What things?"

"Uh... Nothing..." Power pulled the shirt on fully and buttoned it as far as he could.

"Officer Taylor, he's ready to go."

Dan led Power Breaker to the South Block. The cells were barred, not like in solitary. Since anything like super strength was inhibited here, the reinforced doors and walls in solitary confinement weren't quite necessary. Power Breaker looked to his fellow prisoners with an impassive glance.

He had to make sure they knew he knew they were there. It was like dealing with wild animals... You had to show the right mix of contempt, respect, and balance it with your own inner turmoil. What was worse... Power Breaker was new to this particular spice in the game.

He'd never partaken in Superadine. He'd never had super powers. While this had to be his twelfth time in the Zig, this was his first time through South Block. Despite this, he felt he had enough prior experience to deal with his new peers.

"Most of the other prisoners are at breakfast, newbie," a new Guard grunted.

His name tag said "Lanphear."

"You're gonna be in here. You'll be a nasty litle surprise for when the guys come back."

Power Breaker entered silently and Dan handed him his blanket and sheets. There were no words of goodbye between them. Any sign of respect or even derision would be too suspicious. It was a paranoid army, this particular cell block. Power Breaker just being there was going to make the other inmates think he might be a rat or a mole. He had to avoid attention until the next big thing hit, whatever it may be.

When the door closed and Power Breaker was alone with his cell, he simply made his rack (bed) and sat on the thin mattress until his cellmates arrived to try to make his life a living Hell.

Laz, we meant no disrespect. I'd have figured a thread called "Hurt and Heal the Role Players" would have piqued your itnerest...

Still, considering the mechanics, it's kind of worrying as to the chances that the same result may have happened...

When you saw that, Pheo, I was in the middle of fixing it. It should be clear, now.

Little do you realize we have a single use nuke deflector. It's usable only once, but protects a thread from all forms of stanard poster nuking (no matter how many posts they've made!). A cool side effect of the deflector shield, it doesn't just detonate the nukes, it sends them bouncing back at their launch pads (or back to the orbital strike satellite, as the case may be). Having said all that...

Lord Diov: 21
Khellendrosiic: 22
Hallucinogen: 20
Essex: 22
Prodiguy: 21
The Soviet: 21
Lazarus: IRRADIATED, REFLECT-A-NUKED (Just would not stay down!)
Devious Me: 21
Burning Brawler: 18
Arashi: 17
Halo Inc: 16
Billy Boy: 16
Leo Gunner: ARROW'D
Pheonyx: 19
Mithral Zeta: 18
Cowman: TROLL'D
Moiread Scott: 19
Seikon: MENTAL BLAST HEAD EXPLODE'D
Coldfire Kaiser: HEAD SHOTT'D
Mr Grey: 20
Ozell One: 22

Erected the Nuke Deflector.

Healed Devious Me.

Shot Arashi.

No reasons. Just tired and felt it had to be done.

Speaking of nukes, can we start carpet bombing our fellows, or how long do we intend this thread to last?

Edited to reflect Burning Brawler's post.

My last post took up ten pages on Word. Single spaced. Now, granted, I divided my paragraphs with a double space, and often did the same for single frames of dialogue... But still!

3,622 words. Sweet!

To further progress my stories, though, I can't condense that down.

Cedric Grey caught Cobalt Black coming out of Icon while on patrol through Steel Canyon.

“Hey man!” he said as he hopped nearby, “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just asking the opinions of some of Icon’s tailors.”

“For that date, huh?” Cedric nudged Cobalt in the ribs with his elbow and followed him leaping through the city zone.

“Yeah…” Cobalt replied at intervals, “I’m so used to my uniform, I kinda needed a reminder of how normal people dress…”

“Uh…” Cedric gazed at the citizens they passed, “Well, there’s shining examples of what to wear all around you, man…”

“I mean for a social occasion…”

Cedric pointed out a couple people in appropriate attire.

“That’s nothing like the tailor suggested…”

“Of course not…” Cedric started chuckling, “Those guys go into conniptions whenever Dad, me, Matt, or Kip hop in there for a wardrobe change. We aren’t conducive to the idea of crazy, outlandish apparel. We like to wear stuff that feels comfortable.”

“Hm…”

“Look man, I’ve been to Cuco’s, it’s a decent restaurant. Try the fried ice cream… It’s some tasty stuff.”

“Fried…” Cobalt’s face seemed to register disgust, “Ice cream…”

“Trust me, man.”

They leapt to a building at the north end of the city and determined there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Or, rather, there was nothing that the other lower security level heroes couldn’t handle. There wasn’t even a fire that the Hellions typically started every so often.

“Well, I’m gonna move on to I.P.,” Cedric shrugged, “Later man, later.”

“Yeah,” Cobalt’s hat blew off his head from a sudden gust of wind, “I… Uh… Hey, why’d it get so windy all of a sudden?”

The sound of a helicopter flying around caused them to look to the horizon. Nothing there... nothing that could explain the sound or the wind, anyway. Then, Cedric looked to the ledge of the building, and swatted Cobalt’s chest to get his attention.

A black helicopter hovered just off the side of the building. It was a troop carrying type, like a Black Hawk, only it had a pair of “wings” loaded down with rocket and missile launchers. It also had a sharper nose, as if it were a cross between an Apache’s and a Black Hawk’s, and the nose was dotted with four symmetrically placed machine guns. Barely discernable through the canopy, the pilot seemed to be wearing a hat similar to what had just blown off Cobalt’s head.

“The Malta Group!” the scrapper shouted before trying to push Cedric away.

“Move!” Cedric returned the shove and they broke away from each other just in time to avoid the rocket that passed between, detonating on the wall behind them.

Cobalt leapt from the edge and threw a grappling hook to the next building. Cheering with a whoop as it hooked one of the many protrusions, he swung through the air, machine gun fire following him. He could hear windows smashing and concrete getting broken apart. Landing on the wall, he started running as fast and as hard as he could, using the grappling hook’s cable to keep him “upright,” flicked on the kinetic thruster exo-frame that enabled him to “super leap” and made a desperate jump to the next building. The seemingly never-ending stream of bullets continued to pursue him.

Cedric had a different course of action. He leapt off the opposite side as Cobalt, but he threw his axe into the ledge and used the chain that trailed him from it to come right back up. After leaping off the side, he heard a Malta trooper take a few pot shots at him with an assault rifle, but they didn’t seem to be too interested in him.

“Big mistake,” Cedric laughed as he ran around the ledge to the other side of the building.

He saw the Black Helicopter chasing his friend. He gave a sharp whistle to Cobalt and set his wristguard to loosen the chain. The Praetorian scrapper leapt past and Cedric hopped off the ledge, hurling his axe at the helicopter as it flew after its target. The blade stuck into the tail, and Cedric hit the “retract” button. Unfortunately, the chain didn’t retract nearly fast enough, and Cedric was bounced off the side of the first building’s wall.

“Aaaaaaaaah-Oof!”

----

The pilot hit the comm-system and told his troopers to “check what the Hell happened.” One Malta operative looked to the tail and saw Cedric’s axe with a limp-hanging meta-human hanging from a chain by his wrist. Chuckling, he took a few pot shots, but again missed.

“Tell me you didn’t just shoot at the tail!” the pilot screamed into the comm-system, “Tell me you didn’t just try to knock this very expensive piece of equipment out of the sky!”

“Sorry boss...”

“Don’t let it happen again, Jenkins,” the pilot shouted, “Or I swear to God... In any case... He’s not our target. He’s just an insect compared to the betrayal we’ve suffered at the hands of this [censored] we’re hunting. His weapon may be stuck in the tail’s armor plating, but that’s as far as he’ll get.”

“Aye, boss...”

----

Cobalt hit the dirt outside the tunnel through the War Wall leading to the neighborhoods between Steel Canyon and Atlas Park. With a mad dash, he just happened to make it through the tunnel entrance as a series of missiles decimated it.

----

“Blast!” the pilot started cursing into the comm-system, then wheeled the helicopter at the Yellow Line, “I gotta let off some steam... Bye, bye lowbie metas!”

----

Cedric watched in horror as a series of missiles decimated the entrance and exit of the Steel Canyon Yellow Line train station.

“You bastards!” he shouted, then grabbed a hold of his axe and wrenched it out of the tail, “I swear, whatever it costs me, I’ll be the one who takes you down for that!”

The agents inside the helicopter didn’t reply. The noise canceling stealth technology must have kept them from hearing him. Regardless, Cedric started making his plan.

----

“Command, we need a War Wall section shut down,” the pilot muttered calmly, “Transmitting coordinates, now.”

“That’ll take you into Atlas Park...” Command replied, “Are you certain you can take that machine in there?”

“We’ve got two Sappers, and plenty of ammunition,” the pilot grinned, “Not to mention the Matrix Inhibitor... I’m sure we can handle it. Trust me, the city could use a few less MH’s.”

“Alright... Iron Eagle 0-0-4, authority to shut down War Wall has been granted...”

----

Cedric watched in horror as a single blue section of the Steel Canyon’s War Wall faded out of existence. The Black Helicopter wasted no time flying through the hole. Cedric started punching into his communicator a broadcast S.O.S. Hopefully, other heroes saw it. Hopefully, they could get some support to Atlas Park before all Hell broke loose.

“Get a hold of yer SG's 50s,” the message read, “And anybody you know who can whomp the Malta Group! Get em over to Atlas Park, and FAST!”

----

Cobalt Black emerged from the tunnel and started booking for the Yellow Line. A hail of machine gun fire pelted into his back. Crumpling to the ground, he coughed and hacked as he struggled to regain his breath. It wasn’t that they’d hit something vital. In fact, they hadn’t even hit skin. The Maltese Resistance supplied their troopers with the very best in physical protection.

Cobalt Black’s body armor was so far beyond military grade, it was frightening. First, a layer of padding akin to a gym mat made up the interior of the armor, which was fitted inside a ballistic/impact resistant plastic polymer (as “Kevlar” was never developed on Praetorian Earth) molded to form the main body of the combat armor. This plastic, it was determined in clandestine labs throughout Praetorian Earth, was five times stronger than an equivalent weight of steel. Layered upon the polymer shell was a set of armor plates composed of ballistic/impact resistant ceramic plates. These were each, in turn, layered with carbon fiber and then had molten diamond poured upon them. Left to dry and thrown together with a distinctive “black shirt” appearance, it made for a potent body armor that allowed the Maltese Resistance to stand up to some of the greatest threats the Praetorians can throw at them.

Unfortunately, it did little in the way of stopping a series of high caliber rounds from knocking the wind out of its wearer if the individual wasn’t adequately prepared for it. Cobalt Black was left coughing and hacking as a pair of Malta Group Agents rappelled down to him from the helicopter and signaled to the helicopter to continue to Atlas Park and the low-level heroes and few high-levels there.

One of the agents pulled a pistol and put the muzzle to Cobalt’s head.

“This is how we deal with traitors,” he spat moment’s before his wrist was snatched by Cobalt Black and he fired into the pavement.

“How’s that?” Cobalt coughed as he rammed his right elbow into the Agent’s inner thigh, “Poorly?”

Then, slamming his shoulder into the Agent’s belly, and rewarded with what felt like ballistic armor (what is commonly known as a flack jacket), he hoisted the Agent into the air and up into a fireman’s carry. When he saw the other trying to draw his weapon, he whirled around and launched his victim into the new target.

As they collapsed into a heap, Cobalt wasted no time in pressing the advantage. He leapt at them and caught a hold of the jacket collar of the one he threw. The other, he locked his legs around his neck and just started to squeeze. The collar, he cinched tighter and tighter and waited for the two to stop struggling. It didn’t take much longer than six seconds.

“That’s a blood choke for you,” he grumbled as he placed a tag on the first, and to the second, “And just a simple lack of heart for you. I can think of at least six different ways to get out of a leg-lock around the neck, many of which involve destroying the obstruction...”

Cobalt took their weapons and started walking away as the police drones swooped in to take teleport them to the Zig.

“I guess you were just afraid you’d shoot yourself.”

----

Cedric could do nothing as the Sappers started hovering next to the helicopter. Indeed, he had no idea what was about to happen. Then, the weird weapons they wielded started to glow more intensely and he got a bad feeling.

----

Mad Mat McGinty walked away from yet another Costume Contest in the middle of Atlas Park. He was headed for the train station and he didn’t get why his fellow heroes continued to waste their time with such vain activities.

Suddenly, his communicator started blaring a warning klaxon. Looking at it, he saw in big red letters “WARNING! THIS ZONE HAS BEEN DECLARED HAZARDOUS BY THE FREEDOM PHALANX! ALL HEROES NOT OF SECURITY LEVEL FORTY CLEARANCE, PLEASE VACATE IMMEDIATELY!”

“That’s new,” Matt looked around to see what could have caused it and saw above the City Hall the Black Helicopter with Cedric hanging from it.

“Like Hell I’m gonna just walk away from this fight!”

Drawing his katana, he started heading back.

----

The Sappers fired and filled the square under the statue of Atlas with bright, white, incandescent light. Every hero with any kind of powers active suddenly reverted to their base costumes and looked about confusedly. When they saw the Black Helicopter, what few high level heroes that knew what was going on were too late to do anything about it.

Cedric stared at the helicopter’s rotors and determined the only thing he could do. Taking careful aim with his axe, he tried to ignore the sound of gunfire as the helicopter started pumping rounds into the suddenly de-powered heroes. Missiles flew, and his aim was distorted by smoke. The helicopter moved around the globe, and Cedric had to compensate for the momentum. Finally, with everything in mind, and everything on the line, he reared back with the axe.

“All or nothing,” he licked his lips, “I miss, and those gunners cut me down... I hit...”

He threw as hard as he could, the chain trailing behind the axe. It seemed to go in slow motion, and Cedric felt he had indeed failed. The blade hit the blur of the rotor and exploded in a shower of sparks and steel.

The effect was instantaneous. The helicopter started losing what little altitude it had and the two Sappers grabbed a hold of the open doorways to avoid getting clipped by the still spinning propeller blades and pull themselves back in. The machine was descending slowly and was out of control.

Cedric retracted what was left of his chain, which surprisingly went all the way to the broken shaft of his axe, and leapt from the helicopter tail. Spinning about, he threw the handle into the rotor, further destroying what control the helicopter had, and guided himself safely, albeit roughly, to the ground.

Running as hard as he could, he found the nearest leg of Atlas and wrapped the chain around it. It was the more forward right leg, and many heroes were clearing any and all civilians out of the region. With the helicopter tethered as it was, there was very little damage it could do to the surrounding buildings, even if the pilot could have steered it. Still, Cedric felt it was safer to keep the wreckage nearby...

As the machine neared the end of its descent (read: crash), the tanker noticed a pair of heroes suddenly port in from the training zone commonly referred to as the Outbreak. Ripping off his glove and kicking on the super leap system, he sprang forward with a heroic yell. He was just in time and shoved them out of the way when the Black Helicopter landed on his back.

“Ah...” Cedric stayed standing for nearly a second, his super leap system screaming and he fell forward, the weight of the helicopter crushing into his armor.

“Aha... This had to be one of those wheeled helicopters, huh?”

He could hear the kinetic impact resistance system Sheldon had thrown into the armor screaming for mercy. So far, he couldn’t feel a thing, but the armor wouldn’t last forever. Apparently, though, it seemed that Cedric wouldn’t be alive long enough for that to matter.

“You must think you’re hot [censored],” the Pilot stepped out and put a pistol muzzle to Cedric’s head, “That machine cost a couple billion. How do you expect to pay that back?”

The others must have piled out the other side to fight the other heroes.

“I’m gonna take a wild guess here and say we can’t handle this in installments,” Cedric croaked out a chuckle as he started to feel the machine’s weight.

He wished he could have looked up so the Malta Agent could see the complete lack of concern in his eyes. Nothing... Absolutely nothing fazed Cedric. Not even his impending death.

“No...” Iron Eagle replied, “All at once, right now...”

He thumbed the hammer back.

“Don’t expect a light on the other side... The medical can’t bring you back while this thing’s engine is still running.”

A flash of steel later and the pistol was in the air. Mad Matt McGinty held the edge of his katana to the Agent’s throat. The Agent held his hands up.

“You okay, Ced?” Matt asked over the cacophony of heroes trying to regain order.

“I’m doin’ as good as a guy getting slowly crushed can do, man.”

“That’s nice,” Iron Eagle flicked his right wrist and a small hold-out pistol popped out of his cuff.

He then aimed and blew a hole into Matt’s left shoulder. McGinty fell back with a yell and Eagle turned back to Cedric.

Before he could pull the trigger, however, his chest exploded in flames. Screaming, Iron Eagle backed into an iron wrought fence, got hung up a little on it, and the two heroes that Cedric had saved proceeded to freeze and pummel the snot out of him. Cobalt Black stepped through the helicopter and stared at the controls for a moment. Finally locating the ignition controls, he shut the machine down and any heroes who had been incapacitated were teleported to Chiron Medical Center.

A Malta Agent was sent hurtling through the air over the helicopter and Cedric watched him fall with a thump. Suddenly, there were a pair of boots flanking his head. Stiletto heeled boots...

“Uh...” Matt croaked to Ms. Liberty, “Ma’am, you might want to move...”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“Relax, Matt,” Cedric said, much to the Vindicator leader’s mortification, “I can’t look up.”

“Oh, good, then.”

Ms. Liberty stepped away from the machine and inspected Cedric’s situation. A couple super strength heroes approached and started lifting the wreckage off his body. A few other heroes helped pull him out and Cedric realized he was hurt worse than he thought.

“I might never eat hamburger again...” he said as he looked at the damage, “Oh! Hey! Cobalt! Could you get me a burger from Hero Burger! What?”

Cobalt exited the machine with his hero I.D. clear to see. It almost didn’t save him from Ms. Liberty’s wrath, but she stopped when she saw the name on it.

“Kipland... Durj?” her face screwed up in confusion, she glared at the other scrapper as he pulled off his mask, “What is this, undercover?”

“Look up Cobalt Black in your Freedom Corps files,” Cobalt replied, “That’ll tell you who I am. I hate to say it, but it looks like this was a huge misunderstanding. These agents think I’m a traitor to their cause when I’ve never been associated with them.”

“But... the uniform...”

“It’s my uniform in the dimension most here commonly call ‘Praetorian Earth,’” he lowered his eyes at that, “Make of that what you will... I know your history with the place...”

Healer heroes restored what others didn’t need to go to the hospital, including Cedric’s smashed legs. He thanked the female healer profusely, even offering to take her out to dinner in payment. She replied by saying that she already had a girlfriend.

“Sonova!” Cedric grinned, “Figures... Now, how is it a guy as ugly as you gets a pair of cute girls, and a guy as handsome as me... with my winning smile... can’t even get one?”

“Maybe because the girls can smell how much of a loser you are,” Matt laughed as the healer hit his shoulder with her magic.

“But I’m not a loser,” Cedric grinned, “Maybe I’m just asking the wrong people. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get me a weapon...”

Cedric made for the MAGI offices under the City Hall. Cobalt and Matt followed him, trying to dissuade him as soon as Matt realized what they were after.

“Cedric, this is a notoriously bad idea!”

Matt.

“That weapon needs to stay in that vault!”

Cobalt Black.

“Why, so some Circle of Thorns mystic can just steal it?” Cedric strode into the office and grinned at Azuria, who smiled warmly back, “Sorry, but I don’t think so.”

“Don’t think so, what?” Azuria asked, “Am I missing something? I’m confused. There hasn’t been a break-in today...”

“Where’s Mider Caid?” Cedric asked, “That guy owes me an axe.”

“Oh, we promoted Mider once his brother was cleared of his charges. He’s a field agent, now.”

“WHAT!?” Cedric barked, “We arrested that guy! This guy’s double, Kip! He’s the one who made the arrest! What the Hell?”

“Well, it was discovered Mider’s brother, Gregory, was actually a Freedom Corps secret agent.”

Cedric’s jaw hung agape for a moment. He was joined by Matt and Cobalt simply stroked his chin. Finally, grumbling to himself, Cedric shook off his discomfort.

“Alright... Fine... It’s not important. Ma’am... I am here for my axe.”

Azuria tilted her head to one side, then arched her eyebrow at him.

“It seems we already gave you an artifact like that.”

“Well, yeah,” Cedric bit his lip, “And maybe if I had the one I want now not twenty minutes ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”

Azuria glowered at him. She knew what eh was asking for, but was loathe to grant his request. By all rights, she had to give him the weapon, as it was his. But it still seemed to be a tremendous risk.

“Mr. Grey,” she began, “This is a dark and wicked thing you’re asking for...”

“I know,” Cedric replied, “But I know that, now. And as long as I know that it’s Cedric the Gray, I can fight him. When I took that other axe from Mider Caid... I was in effect saying I didn’t have what it took to fight back. If that’s how I feel, what am I doing here? I’m not afraid... Hell, I don’t even know how fear feels... Except when I accidentally looked up when hacking at Jack in Irons’s feet last Halloween... But still! I owe it to myself to master that weapon. If I want to be one of the greatest heroes in this city... I need that axe.”

Azuria stared at him. Her posture hadn’t changed and she seemed to be resolute in her determination to keep Cedric from wielding the weapon of his Praetorian. Finally, muttering to herself, she shrugged.

“Fine. It’s done.”

Cedric felt a weight in his hand. He looked down to see the gleaming axe.

“Alright!” he shouted.

“I’ve been waiting,” he heard in the back of his head.

“I know,” he thought back, “We’re gonna have us some fun!”

“What!?” Cedric the Gray sounded confused.

Good, that’s just how I want him.

He essentially wants to turn the world into a gigantic ant colony. Yes, we'd all be individuals in his version of an ant colony world, but every one of our thoughts is processed, censored, edited, and regurgitated back into our heads by a central consciousness, i.e. Facade.

Such a thing is tyranny, and is quite dangerous. Nevermind the fact that most tyrannies never last much longer than their progenitors, how long would it take for him to start experimenting with his capabilities? How long before even he abuses that power? How long until someone outside the planet discovers what is going on and starts manipulating him?

Worse, yet, what happens if he starts to discover what he'd call "aberrant behavior," people who don't submit to his will because of natural resistance (they could be psychic mutants themselves) or physical oddities (perhaps their brains are wrinkled in such a way that neural pathways are blocked that allow for psychic intervention). In an ant colony or bee hive, such individuals are simply executed. Such individuals are a threat to the good of the community... the same would just as easily go for a human society treated the same way. Would Facade deal with them the same way as an insect Queen?

I won't argue that there can't be such a thing as a beneficial tyranny, as throughout our history, the reasons why such governments have taken power is largely because they did something right. Whether it was better education, health care, ample employment... I consider these moments to be glimmers of the dream of a perfect government, one that doesn't need to change because it worked from the start. This is probably what Facade is trying to make, a ruling process that works off the successes of the past and learns from history's failures right from the beginning. However, even with such lofty goals in mind, one must remember that a plan will change when the first brick is laid down, the first nail driven in, and the first wall is erected. The plan keeps changing for every accomplishment and the consequences thereof. Multiply the fact that he's altering the minds of over six billion people... Do you think this character is capable of working out the compensations?

"Come on, Ray..." Dan stopped and remembered their previous conversation, "Power Breaker... Time for breakfast."

"You feeding me through the slot or am I going to the cafeteria?"

"Slot today," the guard replied, "Then I gotta escort you to the med-bay for a check-up."

"Hm... Maybe after that I get transferred to a new cell..." Power Breaker gazed about his solitary confinement, "I never understood why inmates hated this... It's quite peaceful in here."

"Yeah, but you can't be hogging it all for yourself."

"True... So, what's for breakfast? Filet mignon? Lobster? Maybe a rack of lamb?"

"If by all of that," Dan fit the tray of food under the door, "you mean oatmeal, scrambled eggs and toast, then yes. Also, some water to wash it down."

Power Breaker gazed disinterestedly at the tray.

"That's that cheap, mix-with-water powdered scrambled eggs, isn't it?"

"Oh yeah," was the reply.

"Gourmet, fantastic," Breaker picked up the tray from the slot at the bottom of his door and started shovelling the food into his mouth mechanically, "Cripes, it has less flavor than it looks..."

He gave the food another glance.

"Maybe that's a good thing..."

((*Sees above post. Cringes.* "I'm afraid of THAT guy!"))

With the momentary distraction of a red lightning barrage ended, Dross turned to the Flash Gitz. Many had simply stared, dumbstruck and drooling, into the sky. The few who turned their attention back to the "tin man" noticed that it's main central eye had sunk back into its face.

"Huh... That's strange..." one grumbled.

Then, dotting all around his body, tiny versions of the original red eye protruded from Dross's mass. A couple Flash Gitz Orks moved from side to side.

"Eerie... one seemz to go where ah go..."

"Yoo, too?"

A red laser beam suddenly erupted from Dross's hip. It burned a hole through one Gitz's arm.

"Calibration sequence," the android's metallic voice seemed to echo from within its form, "Initiated."

And red lasers seemed to pour from his body in every conceivably necessary direction.

"All RIGHT!" Power Breaker roared with a happy laugh, then he proceeded to chug it down in one swig.

He finished with a happy belch, set the glass on a passing serving tray, and proceeded to dance.

"Poison detected," the nanites gave their (by now) routine warning for the alcohol he consumed, "Liver attempting to oxidize... Succeeding... Will process current total toxin levels in three hours. Seek restroom and replenishing fluids."

Holding his hands over his head, bobbing and swaying in place to the beat, Power Breaker grumbled "Okay, Mom..."

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

Nester appeared from out of the sky, nearly screaming is head off. Cobalt shook his head from side to side slowly as the thinner young man stopped sharply only a few inches from the ground, then rotated himself right-side up with a flourish of his hands.

"Gentlemen, this is Nester Durj..." the Gunslinger introduced, "Kip's brother and a practicioner of healing technology in our little group."

"Howdy," Nester tapped his hat with his right index finger and turned to Allen, "Oh dear... I think I should help you, first..."

"No..." Cobalt waved him off, "He just said he's got somebody for that... Just wake up Kip so we can see how he feels about these guys compensating for the pizza..."

"But he won't..." Nester got a look at Cobalt Black's pointed stare and shrugged, "Alright. Okay, Kip... Come on, man... Wake up!"

First, he kicked his brother. Then he kicked him a little harder.

"Nester... He's got tranquilizer in him... If I thought all I had to do was kick him, I wouldn't have called ya."

"Pfft..." Nester leaned in to his brother's face and grasped the back of his head with his left hand, "You just don't do it right, is all."

Laughing, he proceeded to slap his brother awake, at the same time running his mind clearing and healing programs simultaneously. Kip woke up sputtering and coughing, his armor dissipated as if it were nothing more than smoke, and he finally caught Nester's wrist. Balsk and Allen nodded as Cobalt pointed out the near mirror similarities in their faces.

"Ah, dammit!" he spat, then, seeing his brother, "Oh! Jebus! Nester! You won't believe the dream I just had! There was a dragon and a werewolf and... and..."

He noticed their present company.

"Oh... Man, I need more daily sleep..."

After a brief introduction period, they brought him up to speed on what had happened. He wasn't happy. He bit off a curse that the Malta Agents had escaped. He was a little more than ticked that the people responsible for ruining his food weren't forced to pay for it. When Balsk asked about whether or not he and Allen should help pay for it, though, he waved it off.

"Nah... It's not your fault. I want those dastards that decided today was the right day to start shooting at us to pay for it. Ah well... I guess I'm out fifty bucks. Hero work pays well enough to cover it."

He saw the approaching lights, and Allen again explained he should be leaving.

"I guess I'll tell the cops what happened here if you guys have better things to do."
-------------------------

You only just get here? Hm... That's rough.

Power Breaker grinned, and planting one hand on the floor and grasping Toy Dispenser's extended hand, he started pulling and pushing himself up.

"Lean back, man... Use leverage to your advantage... there we go."

When he was fully upright, he thanked the robotic mastermind and introduced himself. He introduced himself by his "work name," but he felt this would be appropriate for the moment. Afterward, P.B. looked about the club to see the people still suffering from the effects of the gas.

"Hoo boy... You wouldn't happen to know of any way to clear this up, would you?"

Lord Diov: 21
Khellendrosiic: 22
Hallucinogen: 20
Essex: 22
Prodiguy: 21
The Soviet: 20
Lazarus: IRRADIATED
Devious Me: 20
Burning Brawler: 18
Arashi: 18
Halo Inc: 17
Billy Boy: 17
Leo Gunner: ARROW'D
Pheonyx: 18
Mithral Zeta: 18
Cowman: TROLL'D
Moiread Scott: 19
Seikon: MENTAL BLAST HEAD EXPLODE'D
Coldfire Kaiser: HEAD SHOTT'D
Mr Grey: 20
Ozell One: 22

Shot Billy, Healed Halo.

Power Breaker coughed as the smoke cleared. It wasn't the dust that had worked its way to his lungs or the concussive effects of the mine blast. For one thing, the nanites filtered the air in his alveoli, and he'd suffered plenty enough explosions like that in his relatively brief career of being "Brutish" in the Etoile Isles.

It was the seeming were-wolf that barreled into him from the force of the explosion and caught his diaphragm off guard. Struggling to catch his breath he coughed out an apology to it (her?). Rosie promptly returned a reply that he "broke her fall, albeit in a spikey way."

"Heh heh," he fingered one of the weird protrusions from his shoulders, "Yeah... Good thing they're blunt, though... Well, not the ones in my head, but you get the idea. In any case, you landed on just about the only part of me left that's soft... My belly!"

He struggled back to his feet, still coughing a little.

"Oh, geez, are you guys alright?" Cobalt pulled a pair of green jet-spring syringe cylinders from his back belt pouch and tossed them to the pair of meta-humans on his approach, "Press the button into the meaty part of your thigh, a hypodermic needle pops out and fills your bloodstream with healing nanites and microbes... It's got a painkiller, but only for the injection site."

He turned to his friend and muttered a quick curse to himself.

"Kip!" he kicked his double over, "KIP!"

"Look guys," he pulled the mask completely down, "I'm sorry if this is confusing... Just let me make a phone call, and I can get Kip's brother over here lickety-split to fix any extra damage those devidces can't handle..."

He stared at Kipland's prone form for a couple more seconds. The slight rise and fall of his double's chest, along with what sounded like a snore, signaled that the young scrapper was alright.

"And me without a Break Free brand serum injector..."

He dialed into his communicator and pulled it to his ear.

"Nester... Yeah, man. Catastrophic failure. No, we couldn't get any money back. The guys took off. Yeah. Well, it seems somebody hit 'im wiht a tranq dart. Yeah, I know, but he had been shrugging off sniper bullets and a hail of pistol fire... Judging by the casings... .45s and .357s... Anyway, he's down, but not out, and I haven't got the gear to wake him up. Uh huh... See you later, man."

He turned to the other two, "Okay, look, his brother's on the way, he'll corroborate my whole story. I'm Cobalt Black three-eight-nine, Gunslinger Agent for the Maltese Resistance. I'm from what is commonly known as Praetorian Earth, and I'm him..." he gave Kipland a kick in the boot, "in that world."

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

Power Breaker strolled over to the acid mortar and gave a strong "BOP" over the top, casuing it to fold back up on itself. He then picked it back up and gave a good hard shake until yellow acid started dripping out of the bottom.

"There we go," he said with a quiet chuckled, "Crazy weapon crisis averted. Alright, who's they guy responsible for this whole mess?"

He looked to the local clientelle and saw them all pointing to where a werewolf was making out with some guy holding a landmine. He scratched his scalp and shrugged.

"Okay... This makes even less sense..."

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

"Sorry, Ced, gotta go."

"Aw," Cedric frowned as he hugged his girlfriend closer to his side, "Well, tell them to hurry over if they can. I ordered some pizzas a couple minutes ago..."

"Ced! That's what we asked Kip to do!"

"Well, yeah, but Matt said Kip was in trouble!"

Nester shook his head as he strapped on his chestplate and threw his jacket on over it. Tossing his duster hat on his head he took off for the teleporter room.

"See you guys later," he hollered.

A cacophony of "Goodbyes," "Byes," and "Later, man laters" replied as he disappeared into the teleporter.

Lord Diov: 20
Khellendrosiic: 22
Hallucinogen: 20
Essex: 22
Prodiguy: 21
The Soviet: 19
Lazarus: 3
Devious Me: 20
Burning Brawler: 18
Arashi: 19
Halo Inc: 16
Billy Boy: 18
Leo Gunner: ARROW'D
Pheonyx: 18
Mithral Zeta: 18
Cowman: TROLL'D
Moiread Scott: 18
Seikon: MENTAL BLAST HEAD EXPLODE'D
Coldfire Kaiser: HEAD SHOTT'D
Mr Grey: 20
Ozell One: 21

No doom... Not just yet, anyway.

Oh, yeah, Sov... I put one in your foot.

Pheonyx is up to 18 now.

((I'm also figuring it's not a hard wooden floor gymnasium. It's likely a carpeted one (that really thin carpet you can still bounce a basketball off of). It's got just enough give to keep you from cracking your head on it, just thick enough for blood stains to be a pain in the butt to clean up, and just coarse enough that you get rug-burn every time you fall down. Man, I'm starting to hate this place already... :P))

Lord Diov: 20
Khellendrosiic: 20
Hallucinogen: 20
Essex: 21
Prodiguy: 21
The Soviet: 20
Lazarus: 7
Devious Me: 20
Burning Brawler: 18
Arashi: 19
Halo Inc: 16
Billy Boy: 18
Leo Gunner: ARROW'D
Pheonyx: 17
Mithral Zeta: 18
Cowman: TROLL'D
Moiread Scott: 18
Seikon: MENTAL BLAST HEAD EXPLODE'D
Coldfire Kaiser: HEAD SHOTT'D
Mr Grey: 19
Ozell One: 21

Hurt Lazarus. We'll put him down for the count soon, now.

Healed Halo Inc. He looked like he needed it.

Lord Diov: 20
Khellendrosiic: 20
Hallucinogen: 20
Essex: 21
Prodiguy: 21
The Soviet: 20
Lazarus: 11
Devious Me: 20
Burning Brawler: 19
Arashi: 19
Halo Inc: 15
Billy Boy: 17
Leo Gunner: ARROW'D
Pheonyx: 17
Mithral Zeta: 17
Cowman: TROLL'D
Moiread Scott: 16
Seikon: MENTAL BLAST HEAD EXPLODE'D
Coldfire Kaiser: HEAD SHOTT'D
Mr Grey: 19
Ozell One: 21

Fixed my name.

Healed Diov.

Shot Ozell.

((I'm figuring there's a secret Arena in here somewhere, too. And of course, a Cafeteria, an indoor Gymnasium area (complete with basketball hoops, dividers, bleachers, like a high-school gymnasium), a Weight Room, and even an Education Center (prisons are, after all, rehabilitation centers officially). They'll just lack an outdoor exercise yard, as there isn't one in the game. Despite the moat, multiply redundant fences and security towers every few hudnred feet, they just will not let the prisoners outside to play. So... Do we call the Super side "South Block?"))

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Dee-do-dee-do-dee-do-ding-dong!

Cobalt Black lurched out of the bathroom, pulling on a pair of shorts and ruffling a towel through his damp hair. He didn’t know who could be showing up at this hour of the afternoon, but he figured it must have been important.

“Jebus, Kipland, where are you?”

He opened the door quickly and violently with a shouted “WHAT!?”

And promptly choked on his attitude. Two young ladies in the outfits of the Carnival of Shadows were waiting for him. Despite the fact that his pulse-rate quickened in anticipation of a fight, he quickly noticed that neither of the girls were in a stance that exuded violence. Oddly enough, they seemed friendly.

“Hi!” the one in orange to his right shouted in a cheery, squeaky voice, “How are you today, fine sir?”

“Oh dear,” the other, dressed in blue, “It seems we caught this one when he was in the shower…”

“Actually, I had just got done when you started ringing my doorbell off the wall…”

“Oh, we’re sorry,” the orange one sounded sincere, “But we’ve been at this all day, and we really want to get this building done by six!”

“What?” Cobalt smirked at the pair, “Are you casing the joint?”

“No! No-no-no-no-no-no-no!” they pleaded in unison, then the blue one explained, “You see sir, I’m Misty, and this is Mindy…”

“Hello!” Mindy closed her eyes, smiled, waved and stuck out her tongue like a cat cheerfully (you know, the way cat’s sometimes leave their tongue hanging out after licking their paw and stare at you looking so adorable and cute).

“Uh…” Cobalt pointed at her, a question on his mind, but he promptly forgot it.

“…And we’re here to present a very special offer for you,” Misty finished.

“We’re here, for you!” Mindy chirped.

“That’s awesome,” Cobalt started reaching for the pistol he left on the counter next to the door. Cursing in his head, he realized he had taken it to his room to clean it.

“As you know, the Carnival of Shadows has been receiving a lot of negative press,” Mindy explained.

“And our efforts at the Carnival haven’t been effective at generating enough income…”

“To pay off your mounting legal fees,” Cobalt smirked at them, “Funny how that works… I’d have figured that with all the robberies you girls and boys do, you’d be rolling in the dough… Oh… That’s right… It all gets seized when your little troupes get arrested.”

“That’s not fair,” the girls said in unison, finishing with a puppy-dog pout.

“What the Hell?” Cobalt noticed they weren’t wearing masks, “What is that, face paint?”

“Yeah,” Mindy shrugged, “We’re just initiates. The Carnival Mistresses won’t issue us our masks until we’ve proven we’re worthy of them.”

“We bend over backwards for those [censored]!” Misty nearly screeched, “Literally!”

“That’s nice,” Cobalt smiled and stared into the far wall as a thought occurred to him.

“I’m serious!” Misty shouted him back into focus, “Now they’ve got us here, doing this… Being insulted by one of the thugs this city calls a hero. People like you have hurt a lot of my friends… I…”

“Misty,” Mindy patted her partner’s shoulder and ushered her out of Cobalt’s view down the hallway.

Cobalt leaned out his door to watch her go and noticed her getting something out of a medium sized cardboard box. He turned to Mindy, his brow furrowed in confusion.

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, sir,” Mindy answered with a wink, “I’m glad you asked!”

“Oh god!” he rubbed his temples, “Please… I thought they didn’t let you magazine salesmen in here anymore…”

“Oh, no sir!” Misty handed a box to Mindy as the orange-clad girl clearly explained her derision, “We don’t sell anything so useless and bothersome as magazines! Ugh… Trust me, sir, I’ve been plagued by those monsters myself. Too bad the heroes of this city can’t go after them!”

“I hear that.”

“We sell something much better than magazines! Something you’ll derive much more pleasure from!”

“I don’t know,” Cobalt scratched his chin, “Some of those magazines…”

“Grr…” Misty gritted her teeth and balled her fists at her hips.

Mindy, however, laughed off his comment and thrust the box into his chest. She lightly caught his diaphragm, causing him to cough a little.

“Cookies!” she shouted happily as he looked at the box.

“You’re selling cookies,” Cobalt frowned at the box as he examined the bright colors and looked back to the matching girls, “You heist these from a group of Little Lady Green Berets? That’s really… really low.”

“NO!” Mindy again laughed it off and punched him hard in the arm.

Cobalt was starting to see a pattern to the behavior.

“We acquired these perfectly legally. We bought one of the baking plants nearby, and now we’re making Carnival of Shadows brand cookies! When the Girl Scouts don’t sell them, we do! And, might I say, they’re quite tasty!”

“Right…” Cobalt laughed as he popped open the box and looked at the chocolate chip cookies inside.

“Uh…” Mindy bit her lower lip, “Sir… You’re not allowed to…”

“Tell you what,” Cobalt sniffed one of the cookies and put it back in the box, “I’ll buy these… and the rest of that box out there.”

“Um…”

“Oh, take the deal!” Misty crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, “Its not like we’re gonna sell anymore in this building.”

“What!?” Praetorian Kip looked to each of the girls, “Nobody bought cookies from you? You’ve been at this all day!?”

“We keep running into you… heroes,” Misty explained, “They tell people to ignore us…”

“Well, how much for that box?”

“A hundred and twenty dollars,” Mindy’s eyes gleamed and she smirked at him happily, she looked like a tan kitty, “Of course, since you’re ordering in bulk, I’ll make it an even hundred!”

“Sounds good, I’ll be right back.”

Cobalt walked back into the apartment and got his wallet from his room. Although he couldn’t believe he was shelling out his hard-earned cash for this, it had to be the easiest way to get a sample of whatever scheme the Carnival was cooking up. He got back to the door and heard the girls talking.

“I don’t care…”

Misty.

“But you haven’t had a guy since Bobby!”

Mindy.

“Ugh… Why do you think I don’t want to talk about this? Bobby was a jerk in the end. This guy’s a jerk, now!”

“But he’s cute!”

Cobalt smirked to himself. Cute. Nobody applied that adjective to him. He figured Kipland didn’t hear it a lot either.

“Look, just ask him out…” Mindy prodded her friend, “I know you like him. You love the small, muscly guys…”

“We graduated from high school a long time ago, Min. I don’t act like I hate a guy and secretly crush on him anymore.”

“Yes you do! You practically ignore the Strongmen we work with! Why? Because they’re not your type! But those guys who deliver our water… The cops you see patrolling the street… I see you swoon.”

“Oh shut the Hell up,” Misty grumbled in a high-pitched voice, “I don’t like him.”

“Do so, do so, do so!” Mindy laughed.

“Okay,” Cobalt opened the door with the money in hand, “Here you go, a hundred dollars and a twenty dollar tip…”

“Yay!” Mindy took the money with a laugh, jumped up and kissed Cobalt on the cheek.

She left a small black kiss mark there.

“Aw…” Mindy smiled at him, “Misty! Give him a quick peck on the other cheek to even him out…”

“No!”

“My friend likes you,” Mindy grinned at the young scrapper.

“So I heard,” Cobalt muttered, “You know, I came off rude, earlier. I’m sorry about that… Uh…”

“What the Hell is this!?” Kipland shouted from the elevator door.

“Oh my God!” Misty covered her mouth with her fingertips, “There’s two of them!”

“Kip, knock it off, I’ll explain later,” Cobalt shouted back.

“Uh… We should get going…” Mindy frowned a little, “Thanks for buying the cookies.”

“Now you’ve dug a garden spade worth of dirt out of the hole you’re in with your lawyers,” Cobalt replied, “Congratulations.”

“Remember what you said about being mean?” Misty hissed, “That was mean.”

“Sorry. It’s your uniforms… They inspire me to banter.”

Kipland passed them, glaring at the girls and his double respectively before entering the apartment. He headed for the bathroom and Cobalt laughed when Kip turned on the shower to find nothing but cold water. The girls giggled.

“Hey, look…” Cobalt snagged the box and pulled it into the apartment, “I’m sorry, girls. You seem nice… You really do. It’s just… I’ve gotten to a point where I’m wired to distrust you when you’re in those… outfits.”

“You want to know us without the outfits?” Mindy giggled as Misty suddenly pursed her lips in embarrassment.

“Right now?”

“No, silly,” Mindy laughed, “A date! You and us! Dinner!”

“Hm… I don’t know…”

“Yeah,” Misty started sidling away, “I mean, we don’t quite know our plans…”

“Nonsense!” Mindy pulled Misty back and gave her a hearty hug around the shoulders, “We’ll see you at that restaurant… Cuco’s… You like Mexican, right?”

“I’ve got no problem with it…”

“Great! Tomorrow at seven! And don’t be late! We know where you live…”

She finished with a mischievous smile that set both Cobalt and Misty a little on edge.

“Is, this place, uh… high class?” Cobalt scratched the back of his head.

“Well… You can’t come wearing rags,” Mindy explained, “If that’s what you’re asking. No work clothes, stuff like that…”

“Like your costume,” Misty seemed to smile as she narrowed her eyes.

“Ah, no problem then,” Cobalt smiled, “I’ve got civvies to spare.”

“Cool!” Midny chirped, “So… What’s tour name?”

“Oh… I’m… Aaron… Aaron Durj,” Cobalt used his middle name instead of “Kip,” it felt right for this world.

“Well, night, night Aaron,” Mindy started prancing down the hall to the elevator.

“Um…” Misty watched her friend go, then turned to Aaron.

She suddenly pointed behind him and to his right.

“What’s that!?”

“Huh?” Cobalt turned and she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “Hey!”

“HaHA!” Mindy called as the elevator door opened, “I told you, you like him!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” Misty squeaked as she ran back to the elevator.

Cobalt Black missed the rest of the conversation and walked back into the apartment. Kip was standing in the living room in sweat pants, drying his hair. He used his free hand to maneuver through the channels on the TV with the remote. He laughed when he turned to his double.

"You know you've got two black kiss marks on your face?"

"Yeah," Cobalt chuckled.

“So… What is all of that about?”

“They were selling cookies,” Cobalt shrugged, “I bought a case.”

“A case…” Kipland growled, “From one problem, straight into another… Cobalt…”

“Aaron…”

Kip turned and regarded his double for a moment.

“You were named the exact same as me, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Freaky…” Kip turned back to the television and tried to find a decent program, “Anyway, you really think the Carnies are gonna sell you a straight up box of cookies? Dude! The Girls Scout cookies are suspect as it is! You and I have both put down plenty of Carnie cells that are easily not innocent… What makes you think anything that has to do with them is anything not evil?”

“A really good feeling,” Cobalt replied with a grin and a slap to his double’s shoulder, “’Sides, I didn’t buy the cookies to eat them.”

“Then why’d you buy them?”

“So when Shel gets back, we can have him scan them for their brain altering chemicals…”

Kipland stared at “Aaron” for a few seconds.

“What?” Cobalt shrugged.

“Nothing,” Kipland turned back to the TV, “It’s just that what you said took me back to high school… I remember doing the exact same thing to the Kingdale Girl Scouts troop… Granted, it was a few of them, and they were androids seeded into the group by an evil alien… thing… Just…”

Cobalt Black smiled.

“Okay, you’ve got a plan,” Kip turned it to the news channel and let the day’s events of heroes kicking butt prattle on, “Dammit, if it isn’t one thing, it’s another, isn’t it?”