Paradigm_Shift

[ QUOTE ]
"You ready, uhhh....Teammate guy?" He questioned the gray haired man, pulling the bolt on a Steyr TMP Machine Pistol.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Name's Grey Masque. Let's give em some scratches that don't heal fast." The grey suited man said with a pleasent forgettable grin.

***

Danny was half-way through his first arrow-poke. The narrartor froze time to share a humerous event with the audiance.

Robots have a reaction time almost infinitely greater than a humans, since they have no concept of time and usually possess advanced processors that can think at normally unthinkable rates. Here's what crossed Prodigy's mind as the arrow neared his exterior:

'Oh god. He's going to poke me in one of my diodes with an arrow. Is he INSANE? Doesn't he understand that Famine is not looking to start a real fight unless absolutely necessary? Does he realize that he is the one stirring up trouble?

But all that aside, oh god! He's going to jab me in the eye with that arrow! I mean, it could be worse. I remember that gag arrow from Atlas Park. I don't think that would work. Are these gag arrows? They are glowing. Flash animation? Well, easily made with inner glow green and some blurring-Waitwait, reality. Ok, glowing arrows...

Oh freaking god, he's going to stab me with one of his filthy glowing arrows. I need to escape! I want to go and watch Tim Burton movies until my eyes malfunction and corrode. So...DISTRACTION!

Oh god, he's going to stab me. What can I do to distract him and still divert the blow in the point one four six seven two seconds remaining before estimated impact?

He's really going to stab me.

Tell him a joke about ducks! Make fun of his accent! Accessing humor module-No time! Wait-oh. Well, I could try giving him some flowers-

Ok, so I can go to the flower boutique-somewhere...Where would one be on this ship? Well, somewhere convenient...So for me that would be in the rafters! But there are no rafters here.

Waitaminute.

HE'SGOINGTOSTABME.

Activating combat schematic Bravo, Lambda, Alpha, Romeo, Golf.'

"Blarg." Prodigy blurted out, and suddenly Danny felt the tell-tale pre-signs of a mental attack about to smash into the defenses of his mind.

"Ey, I'm also lookin for a fight." Said a voice. A man wearing a grey suit, with a curiously forgettable face and long grey hair with strands of black and white in it introduced himself into the fold while leaning against the cage.

"But I have a suggestion. Why not do a two on two? I'll pair with this sturdy lookin fella-" He smiled a forgettable smile at Famine and made a small wave. "-if everyone is ok with it?"

***

"Your assistance is appreciated." Prodigy told Dune. Danny had no luck with his arrows. While they were built to penetrate force fields, he was not trapped in a force field. He was trapped in a field purposely designed to be perfectly indestructable. That was rendered moot when Prodigy dismissed the field and let Danny drop to the ground.

"Let lethargic demons lie." He said, gesturing at the retreating Dune. "There is no situation unless you make one. Do you understand what I'm trying to say here, boy?"

***

"Deck." White Masque agreed. "Let's find a steward or something. Tell him about a possible gas leak and maybe trick him into telling us where the cargo hold is."

[ QUOTE ]
"'Scuse." Famine told 'Dune' and the others, making his way out of the casino nonchalantly. "We'll finish this later."

[/ QUOTE ]

Prodigy went through the entire scene speaking on a lecture about the English language when the fire alarms went off and knocked some sense back into him.

Of course, Famine was now gone. The drone shrugged, opened a hatch on its left arm, and pulled out a simply envelope. He then approached 'Dune.'

"Hello there, Dune, was it? Could you make sure this gets to Mr. Famine?" He asked in a monotone voice, extending a robotic hand with the envelope in it.

As far as the detention field went, Prodigy could maintain it forever as long as he didn't cast another one or as long as it didn't get out of range. The latter would probably happen first, since Prodigy could only project and maintain energy fields from 100 yards away.

***

[ QUOTE ]
John raised an eyebrow as the girl left, turning a negative look to White. "I don't know if threatening to KILL her was very good- She's probably just doing her job, whatever it is."

He leaned against the closest wall, sighing.

"So, any idea where the hold is? Because I have absolutely no idea where I'm going."

[/ QUOTE ]

"I was hoping we could find our way to the upper decks and just ask someone. And hey, threatening to kill is still a step down from TRYING to kill. Least I gave a warning. She tried to assault us twice without so much as a good one-liner."

The fire alarm went off.

"You're kidding me. How much do ya bet it goes off again today?" White Masque said conversationally.

***

Two bloody streams of tears looked in an impressed manner at the decoy before them.

"It wasn't me." The automaton said.

"It should have been." Replied the bloody tears. "Go."

[ QUOTE ]
Danny didn't move, simply glancing over at the security guard, although he was sweating perhaps a touch more than even the heat of the tropical day, seeping through the air conditioning of the casino, would account for. A muffled, subdued mumbling, two words repeated over and over, almost a chant, could maybe be heard from behind his hands. "Boredom... sanity... boredom... sanity... boredom... sanity."

Then his head snapped up, and he returned Famine's crazy grin with a bright, happy smile wildly at odds with the slightly crazed look in his eye and snapped "Boredom wins!", leaping across the table in a flat trajectory with his hands trailing blue-white lightning in a coruscating arc of fire, intending to shock the terrorist helpless, at least briefly. As he was about to slap into Famine, he added, loud enough for the guard to hear, although probably not loud enough for it to carry beyond the immediate, mostly-empty vicinity, "An' what're ye're policies regardin' crazy terrorists packin' enough explosives to gut th'ship 'round their bellies?"
((Oh, and don't go underestimating Danny's abilities 'cos he's a kid. He's got a respectable level of firepower for any meta. His self-control and/or forethought, on the other hand...))

[/ QUOTE ]

Danny found himself inside a detention field before he even cleared his seat.

"I, unlike you, have business with these fine upstanding men." Prodigy said to Danny. "Please do not do this. I have no wish to try and convince you using other methods, and furthmore-"

The drone launched into a gigantic, incomprehensible lecture about something or other, completely oblivious to everything happening or that had happened since he had cast the detention field.

[ QUOTE ]
...Wait....

...

...People actually PLAY the game that comes with the forums?

[/ QUOTE ]

IKNOAMIRITE?

[ QUOTE ]
Danny gave a sort of horizontal shrug. "'m a bit young f'r a lotta things." he responded blandly, not moving. The two at the centre of the goons didn't look especially familiar, but the one seemed to know him, or at least recognize him.

Danny thought back a little, seeing if he could remember being on the news or anything lately, but... he frowned a bit. Wonder wha' this git knows? he thought. He had checked the stats for these two and their retinue, but hadn't noted anything terribly exciting... he double-checked the data his reticle displayed whenever he happened to glance over a meta.

[/ QUOTE ]

Danny heard extremely quiet footfalls before a metalic, slightly masculine voice spoke. A protecter bot-Or in this case, an S.U.D. *Scientific Utility Drone.* Painted white, and with purple ocular diodes rather than the regulation red, stood slightly behind him and to his left.

Designation: Prodigy offered Danny some advice.

"Respect your elders and mind your own business." Prodigy said in a monotone. "These gentlemen obviously don't appreciate the subtle joys of your tactful company. Make them happy. Find other muses to entertain your wiles with."

If Danny was looking at the white S.U. Drone with his eyepiece, it would turn up as nothing but a drone-shaped storm of static.

[ QUOTE ]
The Green veined lady stood frozen in furious disbelief as the dime bounced off her face. Suddenly she straightens her posture and tries to compose herself, she says not expecting to be heard, “fine, I do hope you two enjoy the rest of the cruise, because neither of you will even get to see what’s in that little box and unfortunately, both of you are going to be incredibly seasick for the remainder of this cruise” on both hands she delicately blows on each nail, staining the keratin a deep green. She attempts to push past them in a fake huff and scrape them the infected nails. ((they are sharp so a tiny slit in fabric is not out of the question but the cut itself is not really threatening.))

[/ QUOTE ]

White Mask whipped around when he heard the word 'enjoy.' He'd learned to watch out for that after having read "Interesting Times." Just in time, matter of fact, to stop the lady in her tracks by placing a hand on her head and holding her back.

And his palm was nice and cold.

"The first time you tried to hurt us, it was funny. Now I'm just getting annoyed. Turn back, or I. WILL. KILL YOU."

"Ah!" White Masque said to John, holding up a finger as politely as possible. "One second while I have a word with this lass here who wants to kill us. Again."

And with that, White Masque flicked the green veign woman across the nose, blew her a ridiculously forgettable raspberry, and walked away with John.

"From what I've seen of the metas here, most everybody knows about it. Some are guarding it. Some are seeking it. Whoever owns it isn't picky about their employment methods. So SOMEBODY must know where it is."

Then he said something about tall and short people.

"There's this hilariously bad midget performer on deck three, I think." He mused.

OOC:

Psst! Tempting! Both White Masque and John are in the upper hallways right now! And did you even READ my latest page 13 post? If she works for Crey, she should already know exactly who started the fire.

I went to that site once.

I spent over six hours browsing it.

But I can imagine this being hella fun. ^.^ BRB in six hours or something.

[ QUOTE ]
"Yes, a dramatic chase," John said, his good humor returning in full force, "As you sped into a stairway, dashing down the steps, I will have slipped under the banisters, landing mere inches behind you."

He proceeded to walk down a hallway, glancing around for someone to inform of the gassed room, while still chattering, mostly to himself, "You wheeled around, barely missing me with a spinning kick, while I attempted to trip you. You leaped over my leg, falling a few floors, and landing on your feet.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Nah, that'd be my brother, Grey Masque. He's a super strength ninja. I'd just fall on my [censored]." White Masque said conversationally.

[ QUOTE ]
"As we entered a ballroom, I lost you. I felt your presence, and leaped up onto a chandelier. You were on an opposite one, and we had an epic sword fight as we swung at each other. Then, for humor, both our bars broke, and the chandeliers began rolling down a hallway. We struck at each other, almost falling off each one. As we..."

[/ QUOTE ]

It was impossible for White Masque to be serious for more than two phrases. He lost it and joined in.

"Took the chase into one of the guest rooms where I took a beautiful female hostage and we had a talk about morality before started running with her and you get her back when you get my teddy bear and hold IT ransom for a trade-off, completely forgetting what it was I had stolen from you! So then that happens, but then my teddy bear kills the girl and attacks you with its rocket propelled chainsaw launcher!"

And then of course, the fire alarm went off.

OOC:

Kekeke, people are supposed to squirm OUT of the woodworks, not into them.

[ QUOTE ]
A look of mock hurt crossed John's face, before he turned away from White, and crossed his arms like a six year old. "Well... Well... You look... Like a dummy-head! So... So there!"

However, he then sighed and his arms fell. "That sounded funnier in my head. Isn't it weird how it always seems to turn out that way?"

He turned around, but both his smile and his mock-hurt were gone. "Seriously though, I'm actually a bit worried. A room on this yacht had poison gas as a safety measure. Sure, it's to be expected from Crey, but that means more DANGEROUS stuff might be aboard." He scratched his chin, sighing. "...And I'm risking my life to find out what's in a box. Is that sad or what?"

[/ QUOTE ]

"It is very sad. Cry me a river." White Masque said, although not unkindly. "Since that lady isn't coming out from the looks of it, Ima gonna seal up the entrance so the gas doesn't get out."

And the white suited man did just that, sealing the doorway completely up with thick and solid ice. Fairly strongly solid, actually. Importantly, it was at the very least, solid enough to be opaque instead of translucent.

"I suggest we go inform a steward or something about this. The crew should be able to handle this whole gas mess. We'll say I stole something from you and we wound up down here in a dramatic chase."

***

Meanwhile, the Odette inside the gas-flooded storage chamber sighed, and then spoke to no-one.

Although the Crey security camera in one of the corners would be very interested in what she said.

"It feels good to use these powers after years and years of hiding them." She sighed. "And now to put them to use..."

With that, she conjured a blade of roaring flames and went bezerk, setting every object in the room ablaze, the camera itself exploding in a shower of sparks and fire half-way through Odette's rampage. Embers and sparks cascaded and flitted all about, catching and sustaining flame. Finally, there was naught but billowing smoke to cover the flames as they roared.

By that time though, the decoy had already dismissed itself, counting on the fire alarm and Crey to do the rest of the work.

[ QUOTE ]
Deciding he had enough breath that he could waste some, John smiled, and said "Are you kidding? It's like a nice, warm sauna!"

...Of course, then he dashed out, because he had quickly run out of oxygen. He berated himself in his mind, reminding himself that he could joke AFTER leaving the room-o'-gas. He went around the corner of the door, breathed in heavily, then coughed, then began breathing normally again.

"Pfft, gas. I would have punched that gas in the face if you gave me more time. Totally."

[/ QUOTE ]

"I'm thinkin some of it was yours." White Masque chuckled. "I am told biological bodies produce several variations of the stuff. Shall we leave before a crey security team arrives? We can come back later, methinks."

The 'scary woman' had vanished inside the gas-filled room.

OOC:

You're Mistah Pink 'cause I say you're Mistah Pink.

BIC:

The door finally melted all the way, to reveal the savior of both John and White Masque:

It was Odette. Or more importantly, someone who looked a great deal LIKE Odette.

"Who are you two?" She hissed. "Get out. I'll take care of this."

"Obeying scary broth-I mean woman!" White Masque shouted, rushing past her and out into the hall beyond.

[ QUOTE ]
Glancing back at the burning door, John nodded, sighing. "Alright, cool, so, room filling with gas, and now somebody is burning a hole in the door. My only problem with that, since, y'know, I like the whole 'not being in a gas-filled room' part, is that I want to know how much gas this place pumps out. Citizens on the boat and all."

He backed toward the door, away from the closest vent to him, a spike jutting out from his right arm. "Also- I don't know if the guy burning a hole in a door is on our side or not. So, really, everything's about as safe as usual. Wouldn't you say... Uh, Mr. White?"

((Dude! I just remembered Reservior Dogs! XD God, I'm a dork.))

[/ QUOTE ]

OOC:

Yes you are...Mistah Pink.

BIC:

"Name is White Masque...And you just gave me an idea. Stupid, stupid me, can't believe I didn't spot this immediately." White Masque turned, thrust a palm up at the vent in the ceiling, and shot out a stream of ice that clogged into the opening and froze it completely shut.

While that was enough to stop the gas from filling other sections of the ship, it did not take care of the gas already in the room, which was barely seconds away from reaching head-level. The door being burned open was dripping on their side now, and it would be open in moments. But the timing wasn't good enough, the gas would be at around torso level by the time the door was open.

[ QUOTE ]
((Bear? What bear? Did I mention a bear? ...Even if I DID, you can't prove it now! See? Suit! SUIT!

...Restart the stopwatch.))

John raised an eyebrow at the man in the suit. "You want to go through the vents making the gas flow into the room? I-- ...You know what? I don't think that's unbelievable at this point."

He glanced back at the door, his spike still firmly lodged inside it. "If you can find a way out through the vents, then that would be terrific. But that girl, she said that what we were looking for wasn't in here... How would she know that?"

He looked back up at the gas, now quite a fair bit lower, and sighed. "Okay, less talky, more avoid-dying...y. How do you plan I get out of here? I can't hold my breath for immeasurably long, and I need oxygen to live. And gas doesn't help my whole 'being healthy' requirement of life."

[/ QUOTE ]

OOC

Lol stealth edit

BIC:

"Look I already told you: Last resort teleport outa here." The white suited man said. "It's not like I can just wave some magic wand-"

He waved his hand at the door for dramatic effect.

"-and save us."

A section of the door started to glow orange as intense heat was applied to it. It would melt open soon, but it was going to be close-John may have found the need to hold his breath for a few seconds.

"Uh. Ok. That wasn't me. NOT THAT I AM COMPLAINING POWERS THAT BE." The man in the white suit said, stating the second sentence extra loud with added emphasis.

OOC:

Teddy bear got left on the deck. >.<

So sad because he could kill people with popcorn vomit.

BIC:

[ QUOTE ]
"...Ah, that's... That's bad." He turned back to the door, grabbing the remnants of his spike. He pulled on it hard... And it didn't budge. Apparently, he'd lodged it in there respectably good. He glared at it for a second, before chuckling and stepping away from it.

"...Hehe... So... Your turn?"

[/ QUOTE ]

"Eh." The white suited man said. "No dice unless the lock is still functional...which this one isn't. If we can find another door I can have it open in a jiffy though. Or I could go through the vent spewing that gas stuff, might lead somewhere. I could probably get my mas...employer to teleport us out as a last resort."

***

Meanwhile, the grey suited man went to a very specific clerk's closet. One that had been strangely unused for over a day now. Inside were several packaged items, each one with a data and time written on them with a permanent marker. The grey suited man made sure no one was watching, then slipped inside and grabbed the package with the closest time on it. A single card with additional instructions was taped onto it, reading:

Crew's Quarters

The grey suited man left the scene, carrying his package and heading down the hallway.

[ QUOTE ]
After a few more minutes after finding the Engine Room, John Ballard had begun walking up and down every hallway to make sure he hadn't missed any doors, and apparently, he had.

He eventually found himself in front of a different style of door, a little larger, and no windows inward. He guessed that this was a place most visitors weren't meant to go into, and since he'd already found the engine room, it was his line of thinking that this would be the cargo hold.

He tried pulling it and pushing it, but it was locked. That made sense, he supposed. So, instead, he looked around the hall, ensuring nobody was looking in his direction, slid his arm toward the side of the door, and ejected an organic spike into where he supposed the lock holding it in place was. A resounding snap, both metallic and organic, made him jump- It was louder than he thought it would be, for sure.

He moved back, pulling the door open, and slipped inside, shutting it behind him. He then stuck the remains of his spike in the corner of the hinge to keep the door closed. Then he turned toward the cargo, breathing out in slight relief.

"Alright, worst case scenario, some employee heard that and will try and find out what it was, won't be able to open the door, think it was locked, leave. Simple. Hell, whatever is in this thing shouldn't need metas guarding it, so it's fine..." He thought for a few moments, and facepalmed. "I bet this thing has metas guarding it."

[/ QUOTE ]

"Actually..."

A certain man with an innocently forgettable face and wearing a white tux stood rather sheepishly behind him.

"I kinda already had a tiny look around. Uh. Perhaps we can help each other? I'm looking for something down here, and I have a feeling you are as well."

***

"I'm off, then. I have work to do." The grey suited man said to the gathered before walking away and heading inside.

[u]Three hours ago[u]

"And what if the illusionist should be there?" The dark suited man asked. A pair of giant bloody red tears answered him.

"She is an illusionist. You are a decoy. The plan will not need to be altered in the least should she be present. It would actually be a good thing. Once you are finished, regardless of the outcome, you will dismiss yourself and I shall resummon you later so you may begin your next asignment. Please remember that you will not have any help from your brothers, as they have their own tasks as well."

***

[u]Present[u]

Back outside, Nail felt like he had hit a giant slab of titanium. The grey man didn't even flinch-and that was to be expected, since at least one of his companions was a decoy. The attempt to throw the grey suited man-or thing-into the air failed. He just stood there with a curiously forgettable smile on his face, as if he was laughing at some private joke only he got.

"Now now, we shouldn't all fight." He said rather loudly. "I think we should all band together and play parcheesi. Except for that guy who just kicked me. We should rip his head off and play kickball with it."

The man in the white tux was gone. The teddy bear he had been holding was still falling to the deck, and anyone with a quick eye would see the white figure dashing through the crowds and heading back inside.

[ QUOTE ]
“You and I both know illusions are worthless if sight is the only sense they affect, don’t insult me, but that’s beside the point” The French woman dispels her army and stands wither arms folded. “We’ve already set off the fire alarm and I’m sure that every super ad their mother is probably on their way right now. Continuing this fight any further is just going to complicate things. So if you don’t mind, remove yourself, or the clone I am talking to, from in front of my room because I do need to change.” The woman looks slightly annoyed as she waits for a response from the dark suited man.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Don't you get it, fool?" The decoy asked the woman. "YOU started this fire! You'll be starting the next one too!"

And then the decoy vanished as it was dismissed remotely, just in time for the Man in the T-shirt to find the woman, and consequently, the only person in the hallway who could have started the fire.

***

"You almost killed the teddy. FIGHTFIGHTFIGHT!!!" The white tux man said, jumping up and down in excitement.

"I'm not at all sorry for this. I don't like your face." The grey suited man said, right before bringing both fists together and bringing them down in a superstrength haymaker on Nail's head as he was attacked by Shioh.

"I like teddy bears. ^.^" The man in the white tux said, thrusting his own teddy bear into Shioh's face where its beady eyes stared into her own.

***

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
He didn't even let the woman respond before he threw a blast of fire in her face, charging forward and conjuring a fire sword with the intent of impaling and incerating the woman who would hopefully be too preoccupied dodging the fire blast.

[/ QUOTE ]

“Neat trick” The fireball passes right through the woman revealing it to be an illusion “but obviously you don’t know who you’re dealing with” The woman vanishes and in her place three white figures carrying various weapons appear. “lights out!” the woman appears behind the three figures and from her sparkling green eyes, a flash of light attempts to blind the dark suited man, leaving him at the mercy of her illusionary warriors.

[/ QUOTE ]

The dark suited man stood there, dispelling his fire sword and folding his hands behind his back while the flash of light enveloped him and the three decoys beat on him. When the flash of light faded, he looked extremely bored.

"That makes two of us." The dark suited man said, his own illusionary disguise washing away to reveal...drumroll...A fourth decoy.

"The only difference between your little toys and myself is that you appear to be using hard light illusions in their crafting. My own manifestation is much more sophisticated than your pathetic third rate circus tricks."

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Downstairs in the hallway of suites, the dark suited man had slowed down his work. He had accidentally begun to scorch the wood-work. It would take a minute to melt the metal precisely to the correct specifications without causing further damage to the door.

[/ QUOTE ]

The French woman turned the corner into the hallway where the dark-suited man was working on the lock. "What are you doing to my room?!"

[/ QUOTE ]

The dark suited man stopped, and gave her a painfully forgettable look.

"Oh, so this is your room?"

He didn't even let the woman respond before he threw a blast of fire in her face, charging forward and conjuring a fire sword with the intent of impaling and incerating the woman who would hopefully be too preoccupied dodging the fire blast.

"We don't care." An apathetic voice answered Nail. "Go and cry in a closet. Remember to leave only when you have thrown away the key."

A man wearing a grey suit, with colorful long grey hair with wisps of blond and dark strands within, and a curiously forgettable face finally reached the scene.

"AIEEEE, Don'tkillmeforlaughingatyourhorriblejokeprettylady demonthing!" The man in the white tux cowered at Shioh.

***

Downstairs in the hallway of suites, the dark suited man had slowed down his work. He had accidentally begun to scorch the wood-work. It would take a minute to melt the metal precisely to the correct specifications without causing further damage to the door.

What looked like a man wearing a midnight black tux, with messy curly black hair and a painfully forgettable face made his way down the hallways of the ship, passing by door after door of luxery suites. The suite he had left not a few minutes ago was No. 5257. He had no intention of entering it again unless there was a teddy bear for him. But aside from that one insolent boy, it had been a quiet day.

And he was certainly NOT going to be playing tennis. He HATED civilized sports. And he wasn't allowed to do anthing naughty.

Well. Except for this. He didn't give a goat's [censored] about relaxing, he needed something MEANINGFUL to occupy himself. So, as per his own instructions, he stopped at the door for room No.5256.

Wondering for only a brief moment if anybody was in te room currently, he remembered he didn't care either way, and pressed a palm against the lock. The fine polished metal began to blacken and sizzle as intense heat was applied to it.