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Post by Talon on Jul 3, 2008 20:55:30 GMT -5
It'd only been 6 hours since Fort Machinima was destroyed, and yet the residents of the base already had the main structure 20% repaired. The battle droids raced back and forth for materials as the other various mecha all set to repairing the outer structure of the base, while the few assault mecha that remained stationed themselves around the base, forming a defensive perimeter should an attack come onto the base. However, the base's current owner, Spite, was to be found stalking the rooftops of buildings in the Abandoned District, clearly not in a favorable mood.
The quadruped did so with a heavy mind, recalling those last few moments before his creator and self-proclaimed brother was vaporized. He couldn't stop replaying the damned last few words he and his brother exchanged before O'Malley was no more...
* * * * * *
As Spite watched his brother make a dead-run for the base, O'Malley suddenly activated the AI link the two shared.
"Spite... before I go, I want to tell you something... I... I have to thank you. And the others, but you can tell them later, if you wish. You opened my metaphorical eyes, Spite. I've been a goddamn fool in the last week, brother. I was so focused on blocking out true logic with what I wanted it to be, and by doing so, I destroyed the trust of those around me, the only trust I ever really had in a while... And by doing that, I know I can't ever get it back. I know you're willing to forgive me, but... I just can't accept it. I've hurt you most of all, Spite. You were my brother, and in my last few deranged ays I forced you away to achieve my own distorted perspective on what the cosmos should be."
"But, O'Malley! All of us are willing to forget what you've done! Chronos will just fix the damage like he's always done, and-"
"And then what?! Go about our artificial lives like nothing ever happened?! Just wait for this to happen again?! I can't do that, brother! Nightshade and everyone in it are better off without me having to f*ck things up around here!" O'Malley interjected.
"O'Malley..." Spite pleaded once more.
"Now, before I go, I'm sending you some schematics I was working on for you before I went all batsh*t-crazy. Do me a favor... and do a better job with Fort Machinima and its resident bots... than I did."
Spite received the files, and directly after, O'Malley was enveloped in the base's explosion.
* * * * * *
Spite immediately stopped, and lowered his head to the point it was touching the roof he was on.
"You goddamn fool... why?! I know you explained yourself, but WHY?! Self-destruction wasn't the answer!" Spite growled to himself.
He threw his head back, and let loose a mournful cry that caused a flock of nearby pigeons to take wing into the clouding-over sky.
"WHHYYYYYYY?!?!?!?!"
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Post by Azure_Ghidorah on Jul 3, 2008 22:29:01 GMT -5
Kisara cringed as she heard the roar. Mentally beckoning Onyste to her side, she mounted the False dragon and went out to investigate. It took her ten minutes to find Spite, and when she did, after checking to see if the anti-gravity boots were on Onyste's feet, Kisara urged the giant lizard to jump to the roof, giving herself just enough of a boost with a mag stream.
She looked at Spite, clearly understanding that the droid was sad. She frowned, wondering what made him so mournful.
"Hey..." She tenitively began, "... what happened?"
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Post by Talon on Jul 3, 2008 22:52:13 GMT -5
Spite looked balefully over his shoulder, almost glaring at Kisara as his crimson optics narrowed. He turned his head back, and muttered,
"I assume Solranous hasn't told you yet... hmph. Well, I suppose it's someone else's turn to be the bearer of bad news. You know why Solranous and the other robots went to the desert, don't you? Why there were machines stormig the city? Sure, the corpses are restored, thanks to Chronos, but..."
Spite's iron claws started to dig into the pavement, sending cracks running away from the point of pressure.
"That... was before Machinima self-destructed..." He added quietly.
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Post by Azure_Ghidorah on Jul 3, 2008 23:13:17 GMT -5
Kisara's eyes widened. The base was destroyed? She had heard about it from Solranous earlier on, but hadn't heard anything about it since... And if this 'O'Malley' that she heard about was where she thought he was...
"My god..." Kisara began, her shoulders slumping, "Then... He's gone, isn't he?" she continued, knowing the Spite knew who she was talking about.
"I... I don't understand... Why would..." She stopped, knowing she couldn't put together a complete sentence to save her life right now...
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Post by Talon on Jul 3, 2008 23:23:32 GMT -5
Spite's claws then punched small craters in the roof as he swiveled around and roared,
"BECAUSE HE COULDN'T LIVE WITH WHAT HE DID! HE COULDN'T STAND TO FACE THOSE WHO CALLED HIM A FRIEND, ONLY TO STEP ON THEIR TRUST! HE COULDN'T BEAR THE WEIGHT OF SUCH A GUILTY CONSCIOUS!"
Spite's heat-vents issued blasts of hot air as he started regaining control of himself. He closed his eyes and turned away, tail swishing.
"He was unstable.... very unstable.... in his last few days... this just... pushed him over the edge..."
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Post by Azure_Ghidorah on Jul 4, 2008 13:32:16 GMT -5
Kisara frowned, wondering just what started this, but she didn't press for answers.
"I... I can understand now... why some one wouldn't want to face a person after betraying their trust..." she trailed off after that. "Um... Should I go home, or do you want me to stay?" she asked the mecha dragon.
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Post by Talon on Jul 4, 2008 16:41:33 GMT -5
"Do what you want... I'm just here because I needed to be somewhere else..." He muttered huskily, slumping onto the ground.
The sky was roughly 75% clouds, most of which were gray. Spite assumed this to be the cause of the tiny debris and smoke from the explosion, but he didn't care at the moment. Above all else at the moment, he just wanted relief. The kind of relief like the fact that O'Malley hadn't blown himself up, that his brother still existed in some shape or form, but... such a relief could never come.
"Hey Alt? Is the upgrade ready yet?" He muttered aloud, though talking through a com link.
"Almost, sir. A few more mintes and I'll have it over." A familiar voice replied.
"Good... thanks." Spite muttered back.
The link was cut, and Spite looked skyward in despair.
"Stupid b*stard..." He growled silently.
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Post by Azure_Ghidorah on Jul 4, 2008 16:59:01 GMT -5
Kisara was prepped to leave... but thought differently. She dismounted Onyste, and before the False dragon could ask, she was given a mental signal to head back on her own, and explain what she was doing to Solranous. Onyste nodded, and bounded off to the house. Kisara then approached the mecha dragon, sitting down next to him and wrapping her arm around his shoulder.
"I know we can't replace him... but maybe we can help ease the pain... If only a little bit..." Kisara explained to Spite before he could ask.
((Solranous: I think we all get why I fell for her now. Being so caring and understanding of another's situation, and I think Myrr get's her gentle heart from Kisara.))
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Post by Talon on Jul 4, 2008 17:23:45 GMT -5
Spite closed his eyes, bowing his head.
"He was the first person I ever knew... I learned everything from him..." He muttered.
His tail unknowingly smashed into the pavement, carving a gouge in the rooftop as it ground deeper into the structure.
"He always trusted me, and I trusted him... we became brothers in such short time... we never fought seperately... very few times did our views conflict..."
His chest suddenly opened around the green hemisphere on his chest, and he slowly pulled it out using a pair of thin arms that had sprung out of his shoulders. He set it down before him as the green glow vanished, revealing what appeared to be a chrome-colored sphere with multiple vents (each emitting a faint, green glow), encased in a transparent globe. His eyes opened, and he stared at the globe as he continued,
"His Tempest mode was both of our ideas... we thought, 'we fight pretty-damn-well together already, so, why not go a step further?'. We never went anywhere without the other, even if one of us was in a foul mood."
His eyes narrowed a bit, and he continued,
"No matter what he's done, whatever he did, I can and could always forgive him. He was my creator, my brother... my best friend..."
His eyes clamped shut again, and he sat there, silent.
"I wish the pain could be eased... we machines have perfect memory... the only way we can forget is if we delete the memory..."
He suddenly snapped his eyes open, and the optics shifted towards Kisara.
"So, tell me... how do I ease this 'pain'... without doing anything short of wiping clean over 80% of my memory banks?!" He asked, losing his temper again.
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Post by Azure_Ghidorah on Jul 8, 2008 1:05:13 GMT -5
Kisara cringed and backed away, fearful of the mecha dragon's anger in this state.
"I'm sorry... I don't know... I wish I could help, but I can't..." She sniffed, knowing that the anger wasn't specifically aimed at her, but still feeling hurt by the machine's out burst. She looked down, and then turned away, jumping off the roof and using her mag energy reserves to avoid a painful landing, before walking back towards her house.
--------------------------------------------------------
Solranous was honestly puzzled, he had just got back, having opted to not use Flash Step to avoid using up too much reiatsu in the 'jumps' and was looking over Xeno-Myrr's condition.
"Well... I know I've never encountered this kind of substance before. What was it called again? Phazon?" Solranous asked, glancing to Myrr.
"Yeah... its my first encounter with it too. Shive's healing flames, the ones I told you about, could purge small amounts of it, but the sheer amount Xeno-Myrr has absorbed is so great that Shive couldn't do a thing about it. We're hoping you can extract it with telekinesis and safely dispose of it." Myrr spoke, not looking at him, only focusing her eyes on her dark half.
Solranous sighed, "I'll... I'll see what I can do..." The dragon then held his hand out to Xeno-Myrr, using all of his will power in an attempt to remove the plauge from her body. Ten minutes passed agonizingly slow, and there was no progress at all. The dragon clenched his other hand in frustration.
"The substance is already too thoroughly bonded to her... To remove it, the removal of ones own DNA would normally be required, or one would need to see a specialist on Phazon, which we don't have available, or find some way to stunt the mind altering effects mentioned." Solranous muttered in a defeated tone.
Myrr looked at Solranous for the first time since he came home, panic in her eyes, "And how will this effect me when Xeno turns back into my shadow?"
Solranous clenched his eyes shut, he didn't want to break to her what she probably already theorized, "Since the two of you technically share one body in that state, there is a 90% chance that the Phazon will duplicate and infect you as well, or just transfer over to you until Xeno retakes her own body."
Myrr visibly drooped at that, "So basically we've got to talk to Spite about this, and hope he can do something about it, right?"
"Precisely... but not now... not so soon after losing O'Malley..."
Xeno-Myrr frowned, "I'm so sorry Myrr... I didn't-"
Solranous cut her off, "You have nothing to apologize for, you had no prior knowledge that 'Ridley' was infected with Phazon. What matters is finding or creating an antidote, or making the device required to regulate the substance."
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Post by Talon on Jul 9, 2008 22:37:04 GMT -5
Spite 'scowled' as Kisara retreated, and he shook his head before becoming silent. He then suddenly screamed angrily as his tail smashed through the side-railing of the roof, smashing it into small gray splinters. His claws were now embedded into the roof as the sound of jets came to his attention. He turned to see a 9-foot tall, red mecha land on the roof rather 'roughly', which was a face-plant into the roof.
"goddamn shoulders throwing off my landing trajectory..." The bot muttered as it rose to its feet.
It did indeed have large shoulders, the frontside of which were composed of two overlapping white plates. Its right forearm bore what looked like a revolver's ammo storage ((can't remember name at moment)), with what appeared to be a silver spike jutting out of the front. Its left forearm bore three thick gun barrels, and a curving horn emerged from its forehead.
"Hey Alt...." Spite muttered depressedly.
'Alt' shifted from foot to foot before unslinging his cargo, what appeared to be another Spite. However, this body was shaped much more like an actual dragon’s would be, though it still retained angular and rounded edges in the appropriate places. It still retained the glowing green hemisphere on the chest (though covered up a bit more), and the wings were shaped almost exactly the same as before, albeit rounder. The tail was definitely thinner, and was lacking the diamond-shaped club at the tip. The back bore two cylindrical weapons ending in three thick gun barrels. The head was definitely a bit thinner, and if possible, somehow even more angular, and the ‘horns’ all had jagged edges now. The forelegs were shaped more like cylinders instead of ovals, that thinned inwards a bit as they reached the feet. Said feet were tipped with flexible claws instead of the old digitigrade ones (though the back leg’s claws were still rather thick, and not as flexible as the front’s). Small blades shaped much like right triangles ran down from the back of the neck to the start of the tail, and two ‘blades’ ran down the back of both hind-legs.
Spite's head lifted a bit as Alt crouched down, and Spite's head popped open, revealing his AI. Alt carefully detached all wires, then took the softball-sized sphere and placed it in the new body's head. Reattaching all wires, Alt then closed the head shut, and all of Spite's bodily lights lit up. His head swiveled from side to side, and he nodded in approval.
"Works like a dream. Thanks, Alt." Spite stated gratefully, though still retaining his husky tone.
Alt stood up as he rested a hand on Spite's shoulder, stating,
"You can get through this, sir. Remember, we at the Fort all need you."
Spite nodded, tail swaying. Alt turned around, then paused, stating,
"Oh, by the way: I don't want to trouble you with this, but... some of 'his' old experiments got loose. We're not sure where they are, but they're definately alive. We have visuals."
Spite's eyes widened, and he mutteredd,
"Any idea on their location?"
"Though they scattered, I'd say on the outskirts of town."
Spite grumbled something, then nodded for Alt to take his leave. He glanced back at Solranous's house, his scanners telling him the dragon had returned. But that wasn't all...
"PHAZON?! HERE?! HOW?!" Spite roared in confusion.
He bounded over onto their roof, then jumped down and shoved open the doorway, rushing over to Xeno-Myrr.
"WHAT... HAPPENED?" He asked in a strong, demanding tone.
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Post by Azure_Ghidorah on Jul 9, 2008 22:55:46 GMT -5
"YA!" Solranous cried out in shock, jumping up...
And slamming his head against the ceiling with a disgruntled 'Oomph!' before falling down as his back. He quickly recovered, shaking the stars from his head. This all happened in the course of of about three seconds after Spite charged in.
Myrr was wide-eyed with shock to, but didn't respond quite as actively as Solranous did, she sighed, and recounted what happened at the Sandstone Cliffs as quickly as she could, including the parts where Shive and managed to remove the infections from her and himself, at the cost of his own health, but couldn't heal Xeno-Myrr.
"And... basically that's what happened, and Ridley's dead now." Myrr concluded, she hadn't said anything that would suggest that she was going to ask Spite to help. She knew Solranous was right, it was too soon, none of them wanted to dump their problems on his shoulders.
Xeno-Myrr once again looked morbidly depressed, "I'm so sorry..."
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Post by Talon on Jul 9, 2008 23:19:35 GMT -5
Bursts of hot air issued from his various vents, and the mech's head dipped, eyes closing.
"It's not your fault, Xeno. You had no idea of what the compound was, and you just wanted to help someone in need." He muttered.
There was a silence, during which Spite's tail slowly swept from side to side.
"Well, if Ridley's dead, then the only source of Phazon in the area would be that in Xeno-Myrr. And you're clearly worried that Phazon will transfer over to Myrr when you become her shadow. Not neccesarily, unless you two somehow share genes during that time."
He glanced from side to side, seeming particularly interested in the corners and ceiling.
"I'll work on a PED in the meantime... would you prefer a suit or a chip-implant?" He asked Xeno-Myrr in a flat tone.
His eyes flashed for a moment, but was hardly noticeable.
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Post by Azure_Ghidorah on Jul 9, 2008 23:32:34 GMT -5
"Well... two-thirds, or just half, of her body is technically my DNA replicated, so yes, we do share genetics when she turns back into my shadow." Myrr told Spite.
Xeno-Myrr thought for a few seconds, then replied, "Which ever is faster to make."
Solranous sighed, but even though it was barely detectable, he picked up on the flash, but said nothing about it. 'I wish I could have done something to keep Xeno-Myrr from becoming infected... And Myrr at the same time...' the dragon thought, glancing at the two Myrrs with noticable pity.
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Post by Talon on Jul 9, 2008 23:40:15 GMT -5
"Chip, then." He muttered.
He took a few steps backwards, turning as he did so. He stopped in the doorway, then glanced behind him, stating,
"Xeno, meet me at the Cliffs in three hours. As for you, Solranous, I sugget you keep a close lookout for any suspicious-looking humans. If you can't read their mind, KILL THEM IMMEDEATLY."
With that, he stepped outside before his wings fully opened, and he rocketed off into the air at break-neck speeds. His AI was weighted with what might happen if he didn't get that PED into Xeno soon...
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