1x1?

[shadow_claw]

"Why. Why did you take me away? Why did you do this to me?" Derek was, without a doubt, unhappy. Who wouldn't be? Storm had created him an entirely fake past! A fake life! Everything he had known was false! How could somebody do that? "She didn't kidnap me. You did. Don't you even accuse her of doing such a thing." He hissed. Although angry, he forced himself to calm down. For Scanal's sake. As soon as he began to settle himself down, the air cooled yet again. Instead of fire this time, shadow snaked around the man. "You...you're the evil one! Get out of here! Leave us alone!"

 

((Meh. Short post.))

[RavenWolf1010]

"She was going to use you." Storm spread her hands. "To destroy the world. I couldn't let that happen." She sighed, running her hand through her hair. "I'm sorry I never told you. I'm sorry that I messed with your memories." She shook her head. "I wish I could let you two stay together." The woman flexed her hand slowly. "But we'd be put in the same position as before." The bot tittered behind her nervously. "What are you doing, Storm?" A glare silenced it, and it slunk back into the shadows.

 

Jake frowned, emerging from his apartment with a coffee in hand. Cars were aflame and firemen were struggling to put them out. "Where'd your hero now?" He muttered, heading to his own car. He unlocked it and climbed inside, sipping at his hot drink. He'd recently moved from the other side of the state to the little town. Already, he was unimpressed. A buzz filled the small space and he reached into his pocket, producing a phone. "Hallo?" The line was silent, but someone was listening. Movement in the rear view mirror caught his eye, and he whirled around in his seat. He threw a punch, but it was easily deflected by the assailant. A cloth covered his mouth and instinctively, he held his breath. Yet, he began to fall limp. Slowly, the attacker removed the cloth, then made a call. "I got him. He's out now. Ready for extraction?" So they didn't speak with a German accent. That means it wasn't them. Shifting silently, he reached for his gun. In one fluid movement, he had it trained on the man behind him. "Who are you?"

[pudding]

The robots that had appeared gradually disbanded at a wave from Scandal. Following the cooling of the room, she slowly stood and turned to look at Storm. Her head still ached but she couldn't do anything about that. "So what, then?" She asked, looking at Storm. "I can't let you leave. This is my home, my place. I'm at an advantage but you won't be allowed to leave here alive. I can't risk that." Even if she did have everything in her home at her disposal, she was still weaker than Storm. Derek was there but did he know how to fight without wrecking everything?

[shadow_claw]

Seemingly displeased by this answer, Derek curled back his upper lip. Instead of attacking, however, he did the exact opposite. In a flash, he had darted off the way Storm had entered. He needed time to think by himself. Having to choose between two sides wasn't what he wanted to do. And fighting would destroy the place. So, he ran. It was his only good option. "Fine. Have it your way. Nobody can have me but myself." These last words echoed through the hideout as he sprinted further and further away.

 

---

 

Surprisingly high in endurance, Derek finally settled to a stop once far into the city's limits. He was exhausted, but it would take a while for anyone to find him. Sinking down in the alleyway, he panted. But, as soon as he sat down, he was informed of a disturbance. Once on his feet, the apparently gagged man's assailants were dragged back by seemingly nothing. In all reality, it was Derek and his darkness. There. That would grant him some quiet for a little while.

[RavenWolf1010]

Storm watched him go silently. She faced Scandal again. "I hate to inform you, but I will be leaving here. Alive." Electricity crackled around her. "Your own fate might not be the same. It's up to you at this point." Roxanne felt a light tap on her shoulder. "I'm busy." She whispered, aggravated.

 

 

The man seemed unsurprised. "They warned me about you. The names Erik. I'm with the CIA. We could use someone like you."

"Not interested." Jake holstered his gun, popped open the door, grabbed his phone, and his coffee. He then steeped out of the car and slammed the door shut, sipping his drink again. "Wait!" Erik struggled to exit the car. "Just listen!"

"I said I'm not interested." He kept walking, uncaring of the shouting man behind him. "Jake!" Jake spun around, producing a knife from almost no where. He brought it to the man's throat. "Never. Do. That. Again." His eyes flitted to the nearby alleyway. Jake grabbed collar of his shirt and dragged him into the dark. "Never call my name out."

"We know you're not on Germany's good side. We can fix that." His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How?"

"You came to the states back in 2008; under the alias of Ronald Fergonsen. We've been watching you since Germany had a fit about one of their spies gone missing." He lowered the knife slowly. "We want to offer you a spot with the US Government. Your job is local."

"How much?"

"What?"

"How much would it pay?"

"Whatever you need." Jake nodded slowly. "Here's your information." He slipped him a manila envelope. He took it slowly, them shoved the man away. He tripped and fell backwards. Without another word, Jake headed back up into his apartment and locked the door.

[pudding]

Scandal held her cape, ready to leap away if need be. Close combat was not her expertise to be sure. "Shoot the compromised bot," she ordered and, immediately, several guns dropped from the roof above. The futuristic-looking weapons glowed brightly as Scandal held up a hand. "No, you won't. You're going to die here and now and then I'll track down whoever compromised my bit. That kind of technology isn't for hands other than mine, you hear?"

[RavenWolf1010]

"Get down." The bot glided forward, a red light flashing now.

 

Zeke grinned, looking at the monitor. He pressed a button beside him labeled SD. The bot exploded, throwing Storm back. Her head clacked agaisnt the concrete, knocking her out cold. Sharpel impaled walls and other bots, as well as the unconcious Storm.

 

" ." Zeke tapped away frantically at his computer. He had to hack into the cameras around her base. A message popped up, flashing red. There was none to be found.

 

 

Jake opened the file slowly. He pulled out a grainy picture. It was of a woman with... Green skin? "What the hell?" A paper stuck to the back dropped into his lap. It was scribbled almost incoherently.

Name; Scandal

Species; Unknown

Gender; Female?

Base; Unknown

"Well that's useful."

[pudding]

Scandal recognized the sign immediately and managed to throw herself to the side before the bit exploded in her face. She swore loudly and covered her head as the guns were quickly pulled back away in favor of robotic hands that quickly lifted up the limp alien. A blue light shone down as a quick scan was preformed before she was drawn up into the ceiling and swept towards the core of the base to patch her wounds. Scandal had found very early on that giving the core a personality was the best way to go. It didn't have a name or anything like that but it had enough of a personality to panic when she was injured.

Oh dear... I mean, ! Don't touch those! the core was quick to respond to the threat by blocking the cameras off, then removing the entire base from the city's grid. The lighting changed to red as the backup generators were kicked on as the core tried to turn the entire base on airplane mode to stop the hacker.

[shadow_claw]

He had nearly been spotted. Thank goodness he hadn't been. Wrestling with one of the extra CIA members he had snagged, Derek dragged him along as he headed towards the entrance of the apartment. A hesitation, and then his knuckled rapped against the solid wood. What am I supposed to do with a kidnapped man? Give him back? All I wanted was a little quiet and this happens... The very least he could do is explain himself. Ask for help, maybe. Oh, he didn't know what to do! It was all so hard to think of!

[RavenWolf1010]

Jake rolled his eyes and rose to his feet. He threw open the door. "What- oh. Uh, what are you doing there?" He was confused, seeing a man holding one of the agents from earlier. "Did they try and rope you in too?"

 

Zeke watched with surprise as his computer screen cut out, replaced with blue. "Come on!" He smacked the tower angrily. "God dammit!" He had to see if Roxanne was ok.

 

Storm was unmoving. Metal bits had impailed themselves in her forehead, abdomen, and arms. The wounds couldn't heal with the shrapnel still lodged within the skin. Blood bubbled through the open skin slowly; As well as the spilt skin in the back of her head.

 

[pudding]

The core very carefully manipulated its metal limbs to guide Scandal to the sick bay before turning its cameras on Storm. She wasn't getting up? Was she dead? It hesitated clearly, trying to decide what Scandal would want in such a situation. Sure she had claimed to want to kill Storm but she had never really made drastic attempts to do so. It was just like with Derek; everything was more of a game than something to be taken seriously. It was Scandal's own way of trying to get people to look at her so she could pretend she had people who cared about her. Sure it got out of hand but if Scandal had really been trying, she could have easily wiped the city off the map by this point. But she couldn't know that the core of her very base had gone against her if he picked wrongly. So, silently, he turned the cameras back on so they were accessible again. Whomever was controlling the bot had to be able to help and if only the cameras were on, he wouldn't be in danger. It would be a minor price to pay for the game to continue.

[RavenWolf1010]

The computer flashed, and then another pop-up replaced the red one. This time, green. "What?" Zeke looked up. "Yes!" He began typing madly, the screen flashed, showing a grainy image of the base. "Oh... No..." Pieces of metal, small and large, were embedded in walls. He moved the camera so it centered on Storm. "No!" He typed again, his eyes never leaving the screen. There had to be a way to overide the system and get her out of there. But... Was she even alive? The icy hand of fear rested it's hand on the nape of his neck. Zooming in, he watched for any signs of life. There. Her chest rose and fell quickly. Her breathing was shallow. That wasn't good. If one of the shards had pierced her lung, that means it could collapse.

[pudding]

The cameras quickly fell out of the core's control but, being composed of code himself, he did not fight to take them back. Anything like that could open himself up to attack. He had to be careful around those types of things. Turning his gaze away from Storm, he focused instead on Scandal. She had reached the base's emergency care room and, with a quick gesture from him, the bots began a more complex scan. It looked like she had been frazzled quite a bit but compared to Storm, her injuries were less severe. He'd have to watch out for brain trauma, though.

[shadow_claw]

Crinkling his nose slightly, Derek shook his head. His scrawny arms trembled as he tried to keep the unconscious man in his grasp. "I...uh...I think I need some help. I know I'm just some guy on the street, but, I have a serious problem that could easily affect the whole city." He began. With a wave of his hand, the unconscious man suddenly vanished from sight. There. He'd just have him set down in the alley. "It sounds weird...but I'm running from both Scandal and Storm. One wants to take care of me and the other wants to take me away...I'll leave the guessing on who wants what to you. It's just...really confusing. And from what I overheard, you used to be neck-deep in this sort of thing." That, and he sort or knocked out a federal agent and wasn't sure why to do from there. With the realization that he was only a few years old, he knew that he could probably still be influenced. He needed outside advise.

 

((Petition to have Derek lose it and slaughter half the town?))

[pudding]

His hopes were quite high, actually. Despite being quite low on the rankings of reporters, this was the legendary city where superhuman battles took place. He was no Lois Lane but if he could just get himself kidnapped once, it would be great. He'd have a great story to tell. Or even just being in on the action would be great, actually. Maybe then he'd be able to actually go on air instead of just writing news. That would be even better! All he had to do was find the story. With a slight bounce in his step, he hurried off down the street.

[shadow_claw]

((A NEW CHALLENGER ARISES. God I bet Derek's a legend in the media just because he keeps getting kidnapped.))

[pudding]

((You bet he is. Carlos is going to follow him around like a little puppy.))

[shadow_claw]

((Derek's just..

 

cOULD YOU NOT I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF AN IDENTITY CRISIS))

[pudding]

((And Carlos will be like

 

YES I KNOW I'M TAKING NOTES PLEASE CONTINUE))

[shadow_claw]

((LOLOLOL OMFG IS THIS HILARIOUS

THEY NEED TO MEET UP))

[RavenWolf1010]

(( ))

 

Zeke couldn't do a whole lot from where he was at. With an agrivated sigh, he began punching in numbers. Hopefully, this would get the system to do a diagnostics scan on Storm and reveal what was wrong.

 

 

Jake frowned. Did everyone know his past? "Where'd that... Nevermind." He shook his head. "Listen, kid, I'm fairly new around here. You're going to have to explain-" Scandal. That was his target. He leaned agaisnt the the door frame, a new glint of interest in his eyes. "So you got two women on your tail? Go on." He didn't want to invite him inside. His apartment was rather a mess, with 'secret' stuff strewn all of over.

[shadow_claw]

((MORE ART YAYY))

 

Suddenly uneasy as the stranger's demeanor changed, Derek chewed on his lip. He shouldn't have ran his mouth. This was making him leery of his original plan. "You know, I really shouldn't have bothered you. I'm just gonna..." In a flash, he was sprinting away. The first noted thing when running away was to look where one was going. Because if not... With a yelp, Derek smashed into his co-worker and staggered backwards. "C-Carlos?" He stammered. Oh, this was a strange reunion. Here Derek was, in an armored suit with a cloak on in front of a friend/co-worker. "Look, this isn't what it looks like. I-it's a long story, and I don't really have time to talk."

[pudding]

The core felt… unusual. Despite attempts to barricade the cameras off, he was starting to misbehave. With a gesture that was certainly not his own, he caused the bots to scan over Storm and send the data… somewhere else. Confused and quite a bit alarmed, he quickly backtracked and sent a message over the line to whomever was fiddling around. It was nothing big like hacking but more like sending an attachment with the data.

Back off, kid the core warned, not wanting to have to shut down again to prevent some hacker from making him go haywire. Honestly, the nerve.

 

Carlos fell to the ground , having lost his balance completely in the collision. But the voice… it was very familiar! He looked upwards, picking his glasses up off the ground and hurriedly putting them back on so he could see. "Derek!" He yelled, glee taking over as he bounced to his feet and wrapped his arms around the other man. "Oh man, I was hoping to meet you here! I heard you got kidnapped again. What happened? You gotta tell me everything!"

[shadow_claw]

Stiffening upon being hugged, Derek remained perfectly still. Carlos was always so bouncy and happy. Usually, he didn't mind. But it wasn't helping this situation at the moment. "I...Uh...I dunno if I should. It's really personal and I don't want you getting into it all." There was a pause, and then a heavy sigh. "Fine. What if...what if i told you my entire life was a lie?" There. He felt somewhat better with it off his chest. But Carlos wouldn't settle for just that. After all, Carlos was a journalist. It was in the man's blood to dig out good stories. "Look, we can talk more once we get back to my place. I don't really want others to hear it."

[RavenWolf1010]

The voice carried through, along with the data. "Sorry, just making sure she isn't going to die." The data returned was much less gloom than he'd expected. "Alright, concussion, fractured rib, and lots of metal." He sighed, relieved. "Thank you. I need you to do one more thing though." He wasn't sure if his own voice was carrying back through. His keyboard clacked away, sending a code. "I need you to pull the shrapnel out." He was truly grateful to whoever was on the other end. Seeing as how they'd shut him out before, he knew they could do it again, if they wanted.

 

Jake shrugged and slammed the door shut. He could easily track him down later, using the microchip he'd stuck onto his back. It wasn't really noticeable, and could very well fall off. Either way, he could find him. The city wasn't too big after all.