New Beginning 23: One for the Record Books

[Philote]

Wulf: I'm assuming "Brace for impact" is your permission for me to make the first move. Just so you know for later, the Guardians, while able to use Philotic manipulation in some situations, do not necessarily use that as their prime source of power since they draw from the dimension they are guarding. Also: Not trying to auto hit just didn't know a better way to describe the effects so you can still counter.

Magic surged and puffed out of the Guardian's hand to shoot out towards and enclose the tiny spec that the diminutive ship resided in.

The impact was strangely......soft, and.....Celadonian?

Hardly a scratch was placed upon the ship, but this is not to say that the power had no effect. The residents inside would find themselves lulled, lethargic, and dangerously on the verge of falling into a sleep that would not easily be woken from. Organic beings alone did not find themselves the target of this magic as even those robotic and the ship itself began to display the same results.

Those observing the Guardian would see the marbled statue of a man wrapped in the light of the avatar of Hypnos.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Wretched and hateful, the voice of the Vaultboy reverberated through the strange psychic spaces to which Darkess was now attuned with odd and particular power. She was just about to lift her hands from Prime's console, when his invocation pulled her hands back to it. Veins of black power began to flow backward from the console, into her body, and it took the Sorceress tremendous effort to force the flux back in the opposite direction.

"T̨́͜h̸͡e ͠V͟au̷̷͠l͞͝t͡͏b͡ó͟y ̷̛́v̸è̢͏x͏̀͜e͘͡s̨̧̀<̴̡/͡͏i҉͞>̶́̕ m̡͠é͜.̨̢̕.͏̛́.͏̨͝͝" ["The Vaultboy vexes me..."] she growled, her voice sounding like three simultaneous voices; with a mighty effort, she sent the backed-up energy to whence it was intended, adding with it now a little extra something special.

Where life had begun to re-emerge within the tortured bodies of Prime's hordes, their bodies would be changed, in little more than a moment, back to the hideous monstrosities the sorceress had willed them to be. And then some.

Not only would they be put back together more hideous than before, but now each of them was fitted with a small 'magocyte', a magical nanocyte attuned to The Vault's bodily, psychic and spiritual energy signatures. If the Vault directed any ability in his arsenal in the mutants' direction (or even attempted to touch them), they would be partially shifted out of phase with reality, where he couldn't reach them.

Darkess recoiled from the console, glad she could let go at last. Turning, she pointed at Sister Siren, her eyes narrowed with agitated menace, "You. Siren. Next time this jerk or any of his friends gets some big idea to eff with Prime's forces, you take the wheel. I'm going to go meditate. Any one of you, disturb me at your peril."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Vaulboy looked on as the energy he had plunged into the zombie brought it's life back for a moment. There, in that hopeful second, he saw something in its eyes. Something like wonder, and perhaps gratitude. Then that light was abruptly extinguished, and the monster reemerged. Bigger.

Well what did he expect was going to happen? What possible ending could there have been other than this? What, did he think he was the mythical Right Man in the Right Place?

The new monster swung at his head before, in a bizarre coincidence, it's internal magic glitched out and it was phased out of reality just enough for its claw to pass right through him. He didn't notice.

It was that Three guy, and all the other stupid time bull, he decided. It had put weird thoughts in his head. But what had he actually dove since he got here? Called a cab for a kid and helped him unleash an ancient, unfathomable evil. Went hunting for a bunch of foxes, only to not accept the prize. Set up a fight between a freak, another freak, and a yeti. Caused a lot of people to be born, then immediately killed. Trapped himself in a stadium filled with zombies on some far-flung hope that he might be able to, maybe, make a difference. Made the zombies more powerful.

The zombies, for there part, just kept attacking him only either phase out before reaching him, experience weapon malfunctions, cramp up, or trip in the many holes scattered around. As he made his way toward on of the supports for the machine there was literally nothing they could do to stop him.

"Superpowers!" he said bitterly as he sat down in the dirt against the leg. "Useless. Absolutely useless."

The most he could do was keep the Lockdown active until someone competent showed up to put these things out of their misery.

(The Fool Complete Lockdown)

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Thoughts and ideas lolled about, lazy and lackadaisical, in Titannus' mind. His hand landed heavy on the console, and he slurred to the computer, "So...this guy's got some tricks up his sleep--er, sleeve. You, uh, you wanna do somethin' about that?"

Negative, sir.

"Oh, you're useless." came Titannus' grumpy reply; he hit a button on the console, "Hey, Mamaboard?"

"--are you drunk on the job? Again?"

"Um, nope. Er, well, maybe." Titannus chuckled, "But, um, whatever I am right now, it's so totally not my fault. Wanna send something mean and nasty this guy's way, and help me out a bit?"

Motherboard Prime menaced Titannus' face on the console, and backed away, letting Sister Siren face the cyborg. In a manner much more pleasant than Prime, she bade Titannus touch his hand to the console, and she touched her hand to Prime's. On the count of three, the two of them would hum at the same time, the same note, allowing the Songstress to sense him on a quantum-physical level. His state was not brought about by drunkenness. Not even by poisons or fatigue. The same state that struck him, had also struck his computer.

It was the work of MythPower: Hypnos' Lullaby.

And she knew just how to remedy such a powerful attack. Clearing her throat a bit, she bade Titannus turn up the volume on his sound systems. When he had, the Songstress drew nearer, and with the clearest voice the Microverse's Titan had ever heard, his ears would be filled with Sister Siren's simple entreaty: "♪MythPower: Electryone's Alaaarm!♫"

The veil of sleep about his vessel cleared away like so much fog on an early morning. Though, she figured that would only be a temporary fix. In addition to the one MythPower, another had to be invoked, just to be on the safe side: "♫MythPower: Eumolpus' Meeeelody!♪"

As the vectors of her voice carried through to Titannus' console, ambient sounds formed about the cyborg's vessel, into a formidable forcefield, combining powerful sonic force and raw divine power.

[The Narrator]

Thunder and lighting and various attacks flew at Narrator, him teleporting and dodging the attacks. 

He erected a shield to belay the magical affronts. While the heroes of Run O'Mill assaulted the shield. 

*I have to find a way to stop the effects of this gas.  I have the power to really stop them all but there has to be another way. He thought to himself*

The ground beneath him shook as Shade caused a fault to rupture. He teleported a couple of miles away. 

He closed his eyes and mentally viewed the others from NB reality benders. 

*All are busy, and I can't seem to teleport anywhere but between Run O'Mill and Gude.* he thought.  *I'll to have to get to Sheldon out. His genius can hopefully make a fix for this dilemma. I just need a way to unlock him out of that hallucination.*

Areson appears: 'you could always let me at him, overload his mind with me.'

"But there's a chance he could go brain dead. Not too many can handle that level of mental affront." Narrator responded. 

He could hear the heroes getting closer to his location. His logo. Then appeared. 

"Well kid you don't have much of a choice. Plus that Nerd has a higher mental intellect than most. His mind could snap back to 'normal' with a little help."

The mental forms of Narrator disappeared followed by the Narrator getting an intense migraine. As his nose bled, he looked up grabbing his head in pain he seem the Nerd holding a machine. 

"We knew we had to use both magic and science to limit your powers further, just try and hurt us now!" The Nerd shrilled. 

"Ugh.....the pains.......too much.....can barely focus"

The heroes surrounded him ready to attack.

"Things look bleak." Narrator smiled still wincing in pain, "what else could go wrong?"

--

[Celadon's Penultimate]

As he woke up, Nano would find his mind in a turbulent jumble, and returning to clarity would not be easy going. For starters, it would be quite a task finding out just where he had ended up. It was blinding-bright, had no smell he could detect with ease, and and as best he could tell he was lying on a metal table.

Correction. He was strapped to a metal table.

Aside from that, he blinked through blurry eyes, and there stood a group of figures--two redheads (maybe twins), two brunettes, a short and grumpy-looking ginger boy, another boy in a white-striped stocking cap, another in shades and a final boy with brown Elvis hair and a red leather jacket.

The brunette in the green jacket leaned in closest, and on seeing Nano's slow return to consciousness, a little smile peeked at the corners of her mouth, "He's live, ladies and gentlemen. Now, let's see how long he'll remain that way."

The ginger boy stepped up and brandished a small gun; as it transformed into a much larger gun, he barked, in an awkward and angry accent, "Identify your name and status within the Technari rank, cybernetic scum!"

[The Mediocre Gatsby]

Nano shook his head, which was still pounding from the fall. He didn't know too much about what was going on, but he knew one thing for sure. He was being insulted.

"Woah there, who're you calling scum, pipsqueak? Last time I checked, I wasn't the one STRAPPING PEOPLE TO EXAMINATION TABLES!!!!" Nano yelled.

[The Narrator]

It echoed from his mouth.  As he passed out, the ground underneath the dazed heroes. 

"What's happening?" Average-Man asked. 

"I don't know Uncle!" Sheldon responded. 

"I'll tell ya what's wrong!  When da Narrator here spoke of that knock out phrase--"what else could go wrong"--he caused an quantum level algamation of improbable events, or as i trademarked as bad juju" the guy said in a typical olden radio newscaster voice. 

"When da kid speaks that phrase, or 'what else could happen?', and similar phrases, whatever could happen will folks!  Now I gotta get far away from here."

The olden newscaster ran away as the ground shook violently. A sound as if the rustling of  thousands papers was heard from beneath the ground when it ruptured knocking the heroes and the Narrator back. Wave of black erupted from the rupture as millions of sentient cockroaches began to attack the confused heroes. 

"Only we shall have venegance on this one for the injustices he's done to our people!  For this, we shall take you down!" One of the Commander roaches screamed. 

"Oh god, this can't be re....." Songstress began before being overtaken by the terrible swarm.

The heroes tried to fight but the sheet numbers of roaches overwhelmed them. 

The Narrator, still unconscious, was moved to another location in the backs of flying wood roaches, and the Nerd was dropped near him after being slammed into a wall, also laying unconscious.

"Should we help him?" One of the roaches asked another.

"We should as it will help him defeat whomever is after him and help us later kill this foolish human! Now scatter, he's awaking."

The cockroaches flew away leaving no trace of their being there. 

The Narrator awoke, grabbing his head....

"Ugh where am I?  I must have passed out from that machine, but I wonder how Sheldon here was knocked out...."  He looked around, "I guess I better not ask."

He caught his breath, hoping to regain Areson before Sheldon awoke. 

--

[Celadon's Penultimate]

"PIPSQUEAK?" the short boy cocked back the hammer on his subquantum destabilizer ray, and drew closer with menace. He would be stopped with a nonchalant hand over his face. The girl in green excused herself past him with a scoff, and turned back to Nano.

"Okay, let's cut to the chase, shall we?" she gestured to herself, "My name is Daria. These fine young ladies and gentlemen are Edd, Jimmy, Susan, Mary, Velma, Nigel, and Dexter. Professor Utonium should be arriving back any moment. See? Introductions aren't so bad. Now, how about you?"

Though Daria is relatively more pleasant, her smile seems to hide something that the others are much more willing to make plain. Susan and Mary glare with arms crossed, Velma adjusts her glasses with menace, Jimmy snaps his fingers and summons his robot dog Goddard to his side and Edd turns from the sight of Nano to resume typing at his laptop. Dexter kept his gun trained.

From her chair, even Velma's got a spark of menace in her expression; she corrects her glasses, and adds, "And just so you know, that over there is our examination table. The one on which you've been strapped is for dismantling and reprogramming. Now...what'd you say your name was again?"

[The Mediocre Gatsby]

"Dismantleing? Well, sister, that's going to be a bloody problem. Before you ask, no I did not mean bloody as in the British slang. I meant it in the literal sense, Red Cells, White Cells, Platelets, Plasma, the whole pie. But why am I explaining that to all of you. You're all geniuses. Basic biology is child's play to all of you."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

"He isn't wrong, you know." comes a familiar voice, as the doors to the room slide open.

The white lab coat and jet-black hair were unmistakeable, even without his Girls by his side. Professor Utonium's presence is greeted with simultaneous greeting, and then just reverent silence. Clutching his clipboard, he makes his way across the lab, up to the table to which Nano is strapped, and leans in, and speaks.

"His physiology combines human anatomy with technology."

"No offense, but that much we'd figured, Professor." Jimmy cocked an eyebrow, "He's an android. Like SHIELD's LMDs."

"No, not a thing like SHIELD's LMDs, if you look closer." Utonium bade his young colleagues draw nearer, and he pulled a visor out of his coat pocket; donning the eyewear, he continued, "He isn't an artificial thing made with synthetic parts, to emulate humanity. The fluid sample? It was actual blood. All of his body--bones, muscle, blood, skin--it's all quite real. Just interwoven with nanocytes, that's all. Best of all, his brainscan came back. The electronic part isn't even on the same frequency as the Technari. Why, he's no more a Technari emissary than my own friend, Inspector Gadget."

[The Mediocre Gatsby]

"Professor Utonium? Woah, one minute I'm fighting robot assholes in space, the next minute I've got one of the most brilliant scientific minds in the World defending me from a bunch of geniuses and pretty girls." Nano said, shooting a look over to Susan and Mary

 "I mean, uh respected scientists." He said, laughing it off hoping that they didn't hear the last part of his initial statement.

 They did.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The twins exchanged entertained glances. Their response was a laugh--perhaps of flattery, perhaps of dismissal. Either way, the others wouldn't give Nano the time to ask for clarification.

"So, he's a half-android. Capable of interfacing with technology, but not himself technologically based?" Velma blinked, "Jenkies..."

A purple glove slid under Nano's table, and the straps restraining him came loose, retracting back into the table. Dexter grumbled, and as he walked away, gestured two fingers to his own eyes, then back to Nano, "I'm still watching you..."

Professor Utonium helped Nano up off the table, and onto his feet, "Well, at any rate, the gist is this. The way I see it, you've got two options at this point. Either you join up with us and our rank--work alongside us, and under our defense--or go back out into the chaos of the world outside this lab without us, and get mistaken for Technari. That could mean you get killed by robot-resistance forces, or worse--snatched up, actually reprogrammed to work for the Technari menace, and then killed. So, which will it be?"

Jimmy, Nigel and Dexter all looked at one another, revving up their own customized blasters in unison, in anticipation of Nano's answer.

[The Mediocre Gatsby]

Nano saw the three men draw their guns, and just as quickly began forming a gun out of his right arm. It was silver and black with blue sparks coming out the end of it. It was an energy based weapon that could lift things off of the ground, throw them places, or even fire plasma bolts. Plasma as in the form of energy, not the component of blood. The three gunmen took aim.

 "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought this was a dick measuring contest between us guys as to who has the cooler gun. I think I won. But back to your question. I choose to either have sanctuary, friends.... or at least, people that won't try to kill me, and a chance to help the world? My answer is yes."  

[Celadon's Penultimate]

As usual, the three of them found themselves being eyed by the disappointed double-judging stare of Professor Utonium, and Edd right at his side.

"For shame", came Edd's chastising tone, "We're men of science. We should be above that sort of primitive display."

Reluctant though they were, the three of them retracted their weapons. Not that either of them would acknowledge that Edd was right--yet again. Nigel scoffed, and pushed him back, before heading back to the table console. He had far better things to do than be condescended to, especially by the likes of a teacher's pet with a fetish for wearing pantyhose on his head. Nigel's fingers beeped with impressive speed across the table's digital keyboard, and a hologram arose from the table's display.

"That, my cybernetic friend, is a emissary of Motherboard Prime, the Technari Queen." Nigel pointed to the image of the tall, strongly-built bot, "His name is 84CK5P4C3--but that's a mouthful, so we call him Backspace."

The twins stepped up to either side of Nigel, and added their own input.

"He went for the robot superheroes first. XJ-9, the Transformers--" Susan replied.

Mary continued, "Then they sent their own forces. It's like Terminator out there."

Jimmy volunteered, "Without the added bonus of being fictional."

[Marvelous Miscreant]

Daramos's smile widened, "Blight is dead! Consumed by our master! Sacrificed so that his Red Eyes might see a new future for this world! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Daramos continued to laugh hysterically, no longer focused on Billy. Something was wrong with him. He had been so composed before, but now. Now he was insane, unhinged.

[Marvelous Miscreant]

The dark cloud that was the Red Eyes roared as the flames engulfed it. Deep within the inky blackness, the flames illuminated the emaciated frame of its true form for an instant. Then the Eyes snapped open!

The flames were pushed outwards in a massive ripple, smashing into the wards. The wards glowed brightly

...and cracked

Dark laughter filled the air.

[The Mediocre Gatsby]

"How did he go after them? If they're heroes, surely they wouldn't have just, up and joined him just because he's a robot." Nano said, unable to take his eyes off of Mary. When the hologram of the robot girl who nearly killed him. He pointed and said.

 "Her, right there. the robot girl. That's who shot me out of the sky. She's powerful, somehow she knew that setting off an EMP would screw around with the nanocytes in my body. My heart and other vitals nearly shut down."

 Nano realized that after seeing the ground, he couldn't remember a thing about how he had gotten to this secret lab.

 "Speaking about my little 'accident' I think that now we're all friends and partners, I have a right to know how exactly you all found me." Nano said, crossing his arms.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

"Well, I can say for myself, he took the sneaky route." Velma volunteered, "For months, we all saw weird traces of bots all across the internet. Seemingly automated, having no discernible source, but able to carry on conversations just as easy as you or me. We took a look at the various outputs, tried to trace them down to their source, and hit nothing but dead-ends."

Daria added, "I called in technopaths. Even they couldn't trace a single locus."

The lot of them shook their heads in unison, embarrassed by the thought even now.

"Turns out, we were looking in all the wrong places, all along." Jimmy said, "Never thought to check that the transmissions might be direct feeds from outer space."

Given, the transmission was intermingled with harmless transmissions from Mars, passing overhead, but it didn't stop a single one of them from feeling at least a tad guilty for their logical shortcomings. Dexter sighed, and took off his glasses to clean them.

"The first reports came from New York, Japan and Russia." he started, putting his glasses back on, "We assumed they might be isolated incidents, but the Technari were quick to crush such high hopes. The effort was coordinated, and culminating into something far more deadly than we could have imagined. Realizing that people were getting suspicious, they decided to drop the veil and come out, guns blazing."

"Most fortuitous we found you when we did." Mary adjusted her lab coat.

Susan concurred, "Indeed. You landed in a most favorable position, conducive to our finding you."

The lot of them were quick to collaborate on a quick retelling of how he'd crash-landed, among the robotic conflict, confused them as to whether he was human or Technari, and was taken back to the lab, for further analysis.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

A rocky crash, and Gir was pinned under the slab of ceiling Marv had pulled down on him. Yet, the little bot was determined not to let that stop him. Rotating his head backward, he focused his sights on the rock pinning his body, and blasted it with a laser of astonishing power. His body freed from the large bit of ceiling, he scrambled from beneath Marv's body, and his body charged again with that strange red energy.

"That all you got, Rocky?" he taunted, "Cause, it's gonna take a lot more than that to keep me down, Mr. Balboa!"

Without another second's hesitation, a second beam fired from his eyes.