New Beginning 23: One for the Record Books

[The Narrator]

Sparks flew from the dragonzord, as the Gros-Virrilex Vermipede began to constrict it.  Lights and sirens went off in the cockpit, as the Narrator overexaggeratedly staggered and shook from side to side.

Seeing the beast priming itself to bite the zord's neck, he pushed a couple of buttons.  

The tail of the Dragonzord began to spin, prepping to launch into the side of the mechanical menace.

"You know the drill!"  Narrator's eyes glowed, "Who's watching me?"

Somewhere off in the distance, the scene of the Narrator, the Dragonzord, and the Gros-Virrilex Vermipede was being viewed on a crystal ball.

[The Mediocre Gatsby]

Nano stood there, feeling Backspace pushing against his brain, trying to enter his mind. Nano pushed back again and again. Being connected to Backspace, he could feel the Robot's frustration and anger. But beneith that, he could feel another emotion. Somethin far more carnal and downright human..fear.

 "You're scared" Nano said to the robot. "You can't overpower me like everything else you've taken over. I'm the one thing you've met that you can't outgun. You've never met something like me before." Nano said calmly, feeling the robot push against him once more. "You can't just step on me, squash me like the bug you think I am. And it eats you up inside. Don't tell me it doesn't, I'm connected with you, I can FEEL your frustration." Nano continued.

 Nano felt another push, stronger than before, and he felt a pain in his head. Like a branding iron against the inside of his skull. Nano had made the mistake of telling his robotic for that they were connected. In doing so, he provided a way for him to enter and manipulate his mind.

 "You cannot handle my Nanocytes, you can't handle me. You may be able to take my memory, or leave behind some choice phrases and curses in Binary, but you won't win. No matter how hard you try to fight, no matter how hard you try, it is impossible. Your goal was to convert me, to make me a part of the hive, but you didn't do that. You've only been able to begin deleting my memories, even the backups I may have been subconsciously keeping, but that wasn't your goal. You failed." Nano said, his consciousness slowly fading. He could no longer remember the names or faces of the people in the group that how found him.

 "I think I've only got a few minutes left of remembering anything after this, but I want you to remember Backspace. Remember this day, your fear. Your anger, you helplessness against me. Remember me, Nano... No, Aaron, the one thing in this entire universe, to have bested you. The one man who beat you!" Nano shouted, pushing an all out attack on Backspace's mind. He wouldn't be able to change anything, but he was able to leave those words, this day, these memories, BURNED into Backspace's mind.

He suddenly felt weak. As the vastness of space began to fade, Nano felt a voice in his head. "You may have won this fight, but know this, half-man, I will win the war."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Stratego cracks the irritating little smile of someone who knows more than you. "Well, I suppose you could think of this man as a vault. Yes, it's quite an apt metaphor for what I've done with him. Though it is your talk the 'The Vault' that I find intriguing, because this sort of epic destiny hogwash is exactly what I've been steering him away from all this time. I will do anything to avoid that which threatens our peaceful existence here, and to that end you will tell me exactly what that insane robot believes us to be."

[Tsubasa & Wen Tien]

 

Celadon's Penultimate wrote

Treble continues to dart back and forth, with lightning reflexes; and Bass continues a blunt attack, fortified with thunderous sonic force. The cloud above seems intent on keeping them from taking fatal damage. For every attack they receive, it allows them to return, a bit more powerful than the time previous.

Suzue, Edelweiss, and the other two look at each other quickly before moving back to disengage from direct combat as they move into the buildings, Suzue and Artemisia together with Edelweiss and Kiku grabbing the maids who had appeared in front of Treble and Bass. The four would be using the buildings to engage in a slightly different meaning of urban combat.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The Vermipede writhed as the drill pierced its side. It hadn't taken into account the Megazord's anatomy and weapons capabilities. Defenses were wearing. It'd have to resort to emergency measures soon, or else the Zord would take it down. In the meantime, the Vermipede clamped down harder on its foe's neck.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

As the maids took off amid the buildings, Treble and Bass follow, and the cloud trails off behind them.

[The Narrator]

*As Narrator continues to struggle against Skrillex, he travels mentally to the being watching him*

"Ahhhh!!  This worm monster is coming closer than we ever had to getting them power punks!" she screamed in a screeched voice. 

"But my'lady, you could use this as a chance to destory the Zord and show that Zordan what for...." Finister interjected before the she jumped at him. 

"If you think that Rita Repulsa will allow those Rangers to win..."

"Or her get another headache...." Goldie whispered as he and Squatt and Baboo giggled. 

She threw a bolt of magic barely missing the three. 

*a mental image of the Narrator appeared, out of sight of all.*

"You could always get the other Rangers there to beat the Verimpede, and hey, you may one day even find that working with the Rangers is the best for you...."

"That's a great idea!" she said apparently not hearing the last part of his sentence, "I'll show that monster what it's like to think you're gonna win against them Rangers!"

She grabbed her wand and aimed for somewhere in California. 

"Aye yi yi yi yi!"

"What is it Alpha?

"Zordan, it appears that someone sent us an alert that the DragonZord is in trouble!"

"Alert the Rangers!"

*two minutes later*

"It's morphin time!"

--

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Stratego. That name was even more strange than Vaultboy. Yet, here Optimus was, speaking somewhat free, having already disclosed precious intelligence to him, unaware. It was hard to discern whether this confrontation boded well, but he was leaning toward 'no'. Regardless, he had made his bed; he would have to sleep in it, for better or worse.

Optimus knelt down.

"Motherboard Prime believes you to be a threat to the utmost, along with The Penultimate and his allies." he started, "Whether or not you believe it, whether or not you intended it to be so, you are on Prime's black list, after the Penultimate, after his allies, after you, comes every other sentient being not subverted to her cause. I don't know what it is you have against the concept of destiny, but I would think that now is as good a time as any to rethink your sentiment."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

A final angry whisper from Backspace, "Until next we meet, young half-man..." and all sight and sound diminished, and Nano lost grip on the final frayed strands with which he clung to consciousness. The darkness of his drifting mind indistinguishable from the darkness of space, Nano would feel a strange sense of ease. Airless outer space yielded no sounds of chaos, other than those audible across radio bands, and his radio sensors had been set to turn off when he was asleep or unconscious. His body seemed to blend in with the countless other heroes and horrors tossed this way and that, whether living, dead or some place in between. Few noticed, and perhaps fewer still cared. None disturbed his backward drift toward his home planet's inevitable pull.

For a brief instance, he would wake up, his senses sharp again. The drifting he felt was now distinct as a pull. He craned his neck a bit, and Earth drew nearer in his vision. The sight was just enough to elicit the appropriate horror of impending doom, before it registered in his mind that something had to be done. By then, though, it was too late. Full presence of mind eluded him, and his power source was worse for the wear, besides.

The outer cold of space gave way to a warm rubbing pressure, and finally a thick rough aura which would push back as Earth pulled him. The atmosphere of his homeworld would be hostile as any Technari assault. True enough, his body had been fortified against many dangers, but re-entry would still feel, at it weakest, like airplane turbulence. And here he was, drawing a blank for how to orient himself against it.

Before long, terminal velocity was imminent. A crown of particulate matter formed about Nano's body, like a meteor's incoming. The sky seemed to fall away into a wide and dissonant skyscape. He was dreaming, perhaps, or in the throes of a weird hallucination. No way was he plummeting to his doom. That just did not compute.

Compute?

His senses were rocked yet again as a great yellow mass hurtled across his path, knocking into him full speed. A final blow to his fleeting mental state, and he was out for the count. No sound, no sight, no sensation would penetrate his sensors or the impregnable wall of his unconscious psyche.

Nano just descended.

Down.

Down.

Lower.

Lower.

Until...

K-KRAAAAAAASSSHHH...BOOM!!!...

[The Mediocre Gatsby]

"Aaron... Aaron wake up. You have to wake up. Please!"

 Nano awoke with a jolt. He had no idea what was going on. He felt a sense of panic flow over him. He looked and saw what appeared to be a female figure with a gigantic black skull as opposed to a human face staring at him.

 "Aaron! Oh my gosh! You're alive!" it said, as it moved closer towards him. The figure held him an a tight embrace but Nano quickly broke free and moved away from it. Not like there was much place for him to go, as they were in a small windowless room.

 "Who the hell is Aaron?" Nano asked. "Who, or what the hell are you?!"
 The figure looked at him. "Aaron... do you really not remember me?" the figure said. "He said that from your brain scans, that there might be some memory loss. But I wouldn't think... wait, am I still wearing this stupid thing?! I am aren't I." The figure said, talking to herself. Nano looked on in surprise as the figure took off the black skull, which was nothing more than a silicone mask, and a beautiful face appeared underneath. Fiery red hair flowed down to the mid back of this girl as she looked in to Nano, or Aaron's, eyes with her own green eyes.

 "Aaron. It's me, Sasha, your girlfriend? Your Mistress of Disguise? You don't remember any of this?" the girl said, with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't remember you. I wish I could though." Nano replied. Sasha threw her arms around him and began to cry.

 "Please! Tell me this is a joke! You're just kidding right? This is you getting back at me for all the jokes I pulled on you, right?! Right!?" She sobbed.

  Suddenly, a doorway appeared in the windowless room as two girls, twins, walked in. "Nano! Nano, that was amazing what you did in space! You've got to tell Utonium and the rest of  us how you did it!" The twins said in unison.

 "Woah woah woah! Nano? Aaron? Can someone just please tell me who I am?!"

 The twins looked on in horror as the look of seriousness on Nano's face remained after a long pause. This was no trick, no temporary scramble like the brain charts implied. Backspace really did something to his brain. Nano's memory was gone. All of it.

[Zaleramancer]

Meanwhile, In Kethencia.

Red was feeling incredibly confused. He glanced once more at the wrist-watches that covered most of his lower arms.

He'd only meant to spend a few minutes going over a design for an astral-symbiote to help proof people of mind control and next thing he knew the guy he was looking after had gone.

Well, this was getting irritating. Red shrugged and took a step.. then promptly fell flat on his face.

What the hell was th-
    What the hell w-
         What the he-

He smack himself in the side of the head. He. Was. Lagging. This was intolerable.

Four must be pulling half the fucking power they had available for whatever the hell she was- was up to.  

Red growled, "I'm going to k-kill her." He doubted he could even walk in this condition. Stupid stupid stupid.

He looked around, and saw he way lying next to a building. The area looked unsurprisingly deserted. People had more sense than to stay around when robots were attacking. Bits of deserted costumes and party favors littered the ground. Here and there were signs of the fight- broken robots and burned walls, the occasional lamp post that had been bent into a Mandelbrot set.  Red's eyes flashed over a bident, a two-pronged trident, that had been left propped against a nearby wall.

He held a hand up towards it. Come on this was basic, you can do this. Just focus and pull.

The bident twitched and slowly drifted over towards his hand, dragging slightly across the ground as it did. He grabbed it and sighed. This was going to be a really hard day, he could feel it.

Ever so slowly, he rose to a stand, using the bident as a makeshift walking stick. He was so going to petition for minimum energy budgets after this. After punching Four in the face several times.

Is this how normal people felt all the time? Fuck this sucked.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

"Oh no sir, you misunderstand me." Stratego says, pulling out a long peacock feather fan and waving himself with it. "There is nothing about destiny that I find distasteful in the slightest, provided that this body's is to live out his life in peace and obscurity." He points the fan at him. "In fact I would welcome Motherboard Primes complete control, and the stability that would come with it, were it still an option."

With that he kicks a black trunk lying next to his desk, the force of the strike conveying an anger that his voice held no hint of. There's a croak from inside, and a voice squeaks. "It's not my fault, I'm passive, there's nothing I can do."

"But as that avenue is no longer open to us then something will have to be done about this Prime if me and my fellows are to resume our peaceful isolation. I will sway this body to the completion of your goal, but you must accept my terms. The main body, where we all really reside, is currently crushed in spirit and safely isolated. You will not involve this body unnecessarily. This offshoot body through which we are currently communicating is already infested with ideas above its station, so you may do with it what you wish provided that it does not meet the main body and risk contamination. In particular you should see to it that this body is....indisposed before business is concluded so as not to risk the main body. Finally, the you will transport the main body back to his home and tell it nothing of anything you have seen and tell it nothing of what you just told me or the offshoot body. In particular, there is a man named Red."

He holds up a sketched picture of Red, perfectly captured in black ink. "The main body must not meet with this man again. Follow these conditions and you will have our full cooperation and power. Do we have an agreement, Mr. Prime?"

[Philote]

(I was waiting for Marv, but I'm going to go ahead and post Zauber's plan)

The protection wing was a nostalgic sight as Zauber rushed into his old home. With a quick wave to his old friend the fairy, Zauber sets to work as there was no doubt little time until the Red Eye broke past the previous wards. Taking out a magic mote, he begins to write some new runes overlaying the wards already packed onto the walls. Writing one and then rushing to another location within the large dorm. This was the protection wing's legacy, wards written by every student that had passed through these halls. Wards and defensive spells for every harm imaginable written into every possible space of the once pristine white halls. If the Red Eye won, this legacy would be lost anyways, at least with Zauber's work it would be put to a good purpose before students would have to begin the process of refilling the walls yet again.

The last rune is written as Zauber fills in the last wall of the protection wing's third floor. All of the collected runes begin to pull from the wall, the words of the many inscribed spells sticking with them until the air above the fairy's hold was filled with writing. The words begin to rain down and sink through the floor, falling towards the Red Eye as a magic rain.

"No sealing away this time" Zauber taunts from the third floor. "Let's see your fate once I've stripped all your power from you."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

Optimus eyes the picture for a moment, before offering reply at last, "Shall we disengage the mental communique, then? I have business with those who need my help, and those who want to help me. No others concern me. To that end, you've got yourself a deal; your terms sound reasonable enough."

 (You realize in-game GV is still totally gonna end up involved in these shenanigans, right?) 

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(Oh yes, but Stratego is going to be pissed)

"Then we have an accords." He says happily, and bows. "I leave our safety in your capable hands, Optimus Prime. Use as as you see fit. Enemy Skill?"

The words seem to echo down the dark hallways of wherever this was, seemingly carried off into the darkness and crushed, but nevertheless there's seems to come the impression of a reply. The old man seats himself in his chair again. "Business is concluded. Cut the connection."

The dark world seems to fall away from Optimus.

--------

The Vaultboy Shadow shakes his head as Optimus is suddenly thrust back inside his body. "Sorry. Sorry man. Did you get anything out of that, because I got noting."

[Celadon's Penultimate]

"You are going to lend your help to our cause, and we, in return, will keep you...safe."

Optimus gets up and turns to Megatron, "Ah, when did you get back? Have you found anything?"

"Have I--you nearly--if I had a heart, I'm fairly certain that sight would have attacked it!" Megatron replied, "You and the Vaultboy--but--erghh, never mind, follow me. The robots-turned-undead are mounted with some very unusual tech."

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The shadow looks at Optimus strangely before shrugging "Well duh man, I was gonna do that already. But what about that living vault stuff, did you find what you were..."

Then Megatron interrupts him, and the shadow quickly leaves the subject behind follows him to deal with the bigger problem.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Then he stops short. "Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait, maybe we can solve this all in one go. If you're willing to gamble" The Shadow says to the two of them. "I got something, it's sort of like a lottery you can play. How fast can you guys make wishes? Seriously, like, pretend it's Christmas and you can ask Santa for anything you want, but you only have a minute to tell him so you have to be fast. How fast can you make Christmas wishes?" He says to Optimus and Megatron.

[Celadon's Penultimate]

The two Transformers exchange glances, and Megatron replied, "Our minds can process thousands of thoughts a minute. I think we can manage a good, long wish list for this hypothetical Santa."

Optimus piped up, "On that note, what is this gamble you're referring to?"

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

The Shadow claps his hands and suddenly a blast of smoke is released, twirling upward and upward, becoming more and more solid, until what extend via trail of smoke from his back is a large imposing Jinni. He looks over the pair of them, and solemnly bows.

"I didn't even know I had this one until a few seconds ago." The Shadow says. "The gamble is this: this Genie will grant only one wish to each of you. But that single wish is chosen at random from one thousand wishes you give him. So each of you have to quickly give this guy one thousand wishes, and if we're lucky the ones it grands will be really helpful."