Reticence Saga
Iron Seed
Author's Note:
Between this story and 'World of Grey', two smaller stories happened concurrently that will be posted eventually. The events of those stories are largely unimportant to this story except for a few details. Those details will be revealed in their relevant chapter, but what is most significant for most of the story is that Megan, Gary, and Weirdwolf will not be present as they are busy on a separate mission to find a cure for the Virk Virus.
Chapter 1: A Treasure Map
After an unexpectedly exciting time with Hannah's 'getaway', it was nice to do something relatively normal. It was time to get more supplies for the Bladestorm and since Matt and Chloe still weren't back yet, it was the experiments' turn to go shopping.
"Ok, now you need to be careful. This place is full of scam artists so don't believe the labels," said Kala, who was leading this little away team.
"So why did we bring Morph along?" asked Draco.
"Because sometimes they're fatal too," said Kala, adding, "And I don't think anything can kill him."
"There are two methods that I know of," said Chip, "Though it's not a good idea to speak of them here."
"I'm sure you'll find something. Maybe even a pet?" said Kala.
"NO!" yelled all the other experiments.
"Morph has...unsafe choices for pets," said Contrinus.
"Besides, our ship is enough of a zoo already with the inclusion of Snowbell," said Chip.
"True, true. Maybe a souvenir. This place is famous for its Atlantean trinkets," said Kala.
"Oh please," said NegaMorph, "Like they'd have anything besides knickknacks."
"They sometimes sell maps and weaponry...and most Atlantean knickknacks were made of gold," said Kala.
"Well, I suppose it's worth a look," said NegaMorph.
"You just want the gold, don't you," said Kala bluntly.
"Only if it's the good stuff," said NegaMorph, "I'm not gonna grab the tacky stuff."
"You are looking for...a deal?" said a voice behind the group at that, causing them all to scream in terror and turn to see an elderly vulture Avianos.
"Er...maybe...what have you got?" asked Kala.
"Only the finest can be found in my shop," said the Avianos with an evil laugh.
"The finest what?" asked Draco bluntly.
"The finest that the old star gods had to give. Come, come," said the Avianos, grabbing Draco and pulling him along.
"You sure going into the lair of a scavenger-based alien is wise?" asked Contrinus.
"Just be glad she's a vulture and not a magpie," said Chip.
"I assure you, everything here is fairly priced. Take this for example," said the Avianos, grabbing an orb off a shelf, "This is a map to one of the star gods' homes."
"Let me see that," said Chip before grabbing the orb. An orange spark went off as he touched it. "Ouch, stupid static," said Chip.
"It is, of course, requiring the touch of their kind or their warriors," said the Avianos smugly, before saying "20,000 credits."
"For this used old thing?" asked Chip, "I wouldn't pay over 1000."
"It leads to one of the ancient technology vaults. 20,000 is a pittance compared to what lies within," snapped the Avianos.
"That is a pretty good deal," said NegaMorph.
"Where did you get this from?" asked Chip, examining the orb.
"Like I would tell my suppliers. Then nobody would buy from me," said the Avianos smugly.
"So you wouldn't know who else has held this thing," said Chip.
"I used to have a second one...but someone else brought that," said the Avianos.
"Who was that?" asked Chip.
"I don't know. I don't ask who my customers are," snapped the Avianos.
"Can you describe him?" asked Chip.
"He wore a cloak, though he must have been a cyborg. His hand that gave me the cash was robotic...had a weird eye symbol on it," said the Avianos.
"This symbol?" asked Chip, projecting a hologram of the Eye of XANA.
"Exactly that. You know him? Tell him 'no refunds'," snapped the Avianos.
"We are interested in purchasing its twin...for 15,000 credits," said Chip.
"20,000 or nothing..." snapped the Avianos.
"Ma'am, we really need that map," said Kala, "It could a matter of life or death, potentially saving or dooming countless rides. It would be really kind if you could let us have it for a smaller price."
"Well...if you need it no matter what...30,000 credits," snapped the Avianos.
"What?! That's robbery, you half-molted scavenger!" snapped Kala.
"Half...molted?" said the Avianos nastily.
"Oh boy..." muttered Chip.
"Yeah, I said half-" began Kala before a kick to her chest sent her flying out the door.
"Are you going to pay for this and buy something or are you leaving?" said the Avianos nastily, the remaining group peering past her to see a special forces medal in a personal cabinet on the wall.
Chip sighed and said, "Can we please try to bargain like civilized beings?"
"Then do not insult me!" snapped the Avianos, adding "Or I make it 400,000."
"Ok, let's start over from the beginning," said Chip.
"Fine, 40,000 credits and the map is yours. I can tell your dark friend has the cash by the way he flinches," said the Avianos simply.
"Isn't there a smaller price?" whined NegaMorph.
"No...but there are larger ones," said the Avianos smugly.
"NegaMorph, just pay the lady already," said Chip.
"Fine," said NegaMorph through gritted teeth, a bound leather bag overflowing with coins appearing, Draco noticing they appeared to be from Skyrim.
"A pleasure doing business," said the Avianos, taking the bag.
"I hate you," growled NegaMorph, snatching the orb before the group walked out to see Kala embedded in the far wall, gigging the giggle of the concussed.
"Did we win?" she managed
"Yeah, barely," said NegaMorph.
"Good, I wanna see the bauble," said Kala happily, pulling herself free and snatching it.
"Hang on, it's gonna take me a while to decode it and get the data downloaded," said Chip.
At that, a holographic Earth appeared, rotating slowly and showing a glowing dot where the Himalayas were. "Not sure which is more surprising, that Kala manages to get it to work in one try or that the only place of interest on that planet is in the Himalayas," said Draco.
"Best thing is, it's in the middle of nowhe...is that dot moving?" said Chip.
"Erm...guys?" said Draco, more dots appearing, some moving and others static in their position.
"Wow, that place is a real bonanza," said NegaMorph.
His techpack however said, "Warning...dimension noted on imperial records...under imperial quarantine due to infectious nano swarms."
"Eh, what's the big deal? We've already got medical nanites in us," said NegaMorph.
"Yeah...but I doubt Matt's gonna let us go off on a treasure hunt," said Draco.
"Hey, if Mantichrome has an interest in that planet, it's important that we check it out," said Chip.
Kala said, "Name one successful plot he's carried out," which caused the others to pause, before NegaMorph said "That's not the point."
"Right, he could still cause a lot of damage without us there to stop him," said Draco.
"Yeah, I'm sure Matt'll listen," said Kala.
"Absolutely not." said Matt, overseeing his gear offload.
"But Mantichrome could be digging up weapons of mass destruction," said Chip.
"On that planet? If the stories I've heard are right, he's in for big trouble," laughed Matt.
"That tech couldn't end up in worse hands," said Draco.
"The answer's no. We have enough on our plate without treasure hunts," said Matt.
"There could be something we could really use on that world," said Contrinus.
"I said NO! It's too far out our way anyway," snapped Matt.
"Besides, shouldn't you be waiting for Megan and Gary to get back from their search?" asked Chloe.
"She reported in a few days ago...reported some time dilation in their latest search location but everything's fine. We're gonna meet up with them," said Matt.
"Well, I suppose we ought to wait around for-" started NegaMorph before Chip zapped him. "Ow! I mean, she's a big girl, I can't keep her under my wing all the time."
"Good, delete that damn map. I already have a copy," said Matt.
"Fine..." said Chip with resignation.
"Good, now if there's nothing else...besides with whatever Morph is hiding in his mouth," said Matt flatly.
The group watched as Matt left before NegaMorph clapped his hands together, rubbing them. "Ok, I reckon I could hotwire that ship," he said, pointing to the Skyraid.
"I dunno, Matt just got it back and he's awfully clingy to his old ships," said Kala.
"We'll be careful with it," said NegaMorph.
"Yeah, I've heard that a hundred times," said Contrinus dryly.
"Got a better idea?" said NegaMorph, before after a pause, said "Thought so", his tentacles shooting out and attaching to a hatch port, the door sliding open to allow access to the ship.
"Ok, if we're hijacking one of Matt's ships, we're going to do this the smart way,' said Chip, "First of all, Morph, spit out whatever you got at that market."
Morphs cheeks bulged and a reptilian...thing with insect wings popped out and rolled across the floor to end up next to NegaMorph. "Morph, were you trying to smuggle aboard another pet or is this just lunch?" asked NegaMorph, poking at the thing.
The creature looked at him, cocking its head puppy style and its wings fluttering before it opened its mouth to reveal row upon row of shark like teeth before it leapt at NegaMorph's face.
"Bad Ziko! Down boy!" snapped Morph as NegaMorph struggled to get it off his face.
After a minute chewing on NegaMorph, Ziko seemed to give up, leaving a gibbering NegaMorph and bounding over, jumping around to look at everyone, two 'spine arms' coming out from its shoulders and making happy pants as it looked at everyone. "Aw...he likes you," said Morph, petting the creature, a creature Draco recognized from a file he'd read.
"You...brought...a ZERGLING?" he snapped.
"What's a zergling?" asked Morph.
"The sort of monster Darkrift deal with!" snapped Draco before screaming as Ziko pounced on him, the dog-sized monster knocking him down...before licking his face, his wings 'wagging' happily.
"Morph, that thing has to go before it causes a major infestation," said Chip.
"No...anyway, zerglings can't infest anyone," said Morph, hugging Ziko which went bug-eyed and a bit blue in the face.
"Then again, Morph could just end up killing it like he did with his other pets," said Draco.
"Let's just get going," said NegaMorph gloomily before screaming as Ziko tackled him again.
"Aria...do you know where the gang are? I wanna check their map," said Matt, checking a few readouts
"I thought you already had a copy of that map," said Aria.
"I want to compare the two, see if all the dots line up," said Matt.
"Very well, sir...oh dear. Sir, I want you to remain nice and calm," said Aria.
Matt paused and asked, "What is it?"
"Your ship is no longer aboard. The hanger scanners were disabled by one of Chip's viruses. They are also no longer aboard," said Aria calmly.
"All of them...took my ship?" asked Matt, his tone an eerie calm.
"Erm...yes sir. And with the modifications you made at that...theme park in your log...well, there is little hope of intercepting them before they reach wherever they are going," said Aria.
"And who authorized this?" asked Matt.
"Well, technically Kala did," said Aria.
"Tell helm...to set a pursuit course...right NOW!" snapped Matt.
"We won't be able to get to their destination as fast as them," pointed out Aria.
"Then we should get moving NOOOOOOW!" snapped Matt.
When the experiments' ship reached their destination, Chip started scanning the place, looking for ways it differentiated from other Earths.
"Scan complete...alert...this planet is under Level 12 quarantine...airborne nanovirus detected...multiple mutations detected in all locations," said the computer calmly.
"Whoa, that place is swimming with nanites," said NegaMorph.
"Every organic being on the planet has them as far as I can tell," said Chip.
"Nanites detected in atmosphere...contamination risk: Omega," said the computer warningly, "I do not recommend landing without a class 12 hazardous material suit."
"It's really that dangerous down there?" asked Contrinus.
"I wouldn't be that concerned," said Chip, "This ship is really dated. It was made before medi-nanites were the heal-all they're known as today."
Draco nodded, "Heh, yeah, it's not like we all don't have nanites, right?"
"I got a hive of them living in my back," said Morph cheerfully.
"Yeaaah...look, where do we go first?" said Draco.
"Hmm...there are quite a few places we could go to," said Kala as she looked at the map, "I think we ought to check Berlin first, to make sure no one has gotten in there yet."
"Ok, well, remember the roles: the experiments are pets...veeeery exotic ones," said NegaMorph, shifting to a human disguise as the ship landed.
"Please be aware of local-" began the computer before NegaMorph turned it off, saying "Blah blah blah."
"Getting the cloaking field on the ship ready," said Chip as he worked at a console, "That ought to keep out the looky-loos."
"Good. Ok, is everyone got their collars on?" teased NegaMorph.
"This is demeaning," complained Draco.
"It's better than ending up in Area 51," said NegaMorph.
"Fine," said Draco, "I suppose we probably aren't the oddest things that they've seen."
"You had to land us 30 miles away," growled Draco, the group walking along the side of a road towards the city.
"Well, we couldn't land in the zoo," said Kala.
"Yeah...but there are perfectly good forests to land in WHILE WE'RE CLOAKED!" snapped Draco, before twitching.
"You ok?" asked Contrinus.
"Yeah...I dunno...just felt weird for a moment," said Draco.
"So, where exactly is this vault or whatever it is?" asked NegaMorph.
"It'll have to be very well-hidden to keep unwanted people from finding it," said Chip.
"The underground? Or under the underground." said Morph in a rare show of brainpower
"That would be the first place to look for it, but it's probably very deep down," said Chip.
"So? We're experiments. We can dig down to China if we have to," said Draco.
"Let's try looking for the main entrance before we do an extremely noticeable excavation," said Chip.
"It's probably been millennia. Bet you anything it's been built over," said NegaMorph darkly.
"True, but it'll probably be easier to find where it's located so we don't end up leaving tunnels all over the place," said Chip.
"Ok, so, you have an idea where to start looking?" said Kala before hiccupping.
"A vague idea, but I think I can narrow it down," said Chip.
"First, let's get a lift into town. I can hear a truck coming," said Kala.
Chip looked around and said, "I don't hear anything."
"Oh, I hear it, still a while away thought," said Draco.
"What?" said Kala, looking around before a truck was seen...in the far distance. "Oh...coulda sworn it was closer," she said.
"Well, it's not a quiet truck," said Draco.
"Stop talking. You're supposed to be a large lizard now," said Chip.
"Huh," muttered Draco as the truck finally got closer, Kala walking into view on the curb and flagging it down.
The truck slowed down and stopped besides Kala, revealing the driver was a large round man with an impressive handlebar mustache. "Hallo, brauchen Sie einen Aufzug?" he asked.
"Erm...hi...I...want...to...get...to...cityyyyy…" said Kala, using the 'tourist' method of speaking to a local The trucker gave an annoyed sigh before pointing a thumb at the seat besides him. "Thanks...hey guys...we got a ride," called Kala.
The experiments started around the front of the truck, but as soon as the trucker saw them, he yelled "EVOs!" before flooring it and speeding down the road.
"Hey! He nearly ran us over!" snapped Contrinus.
"Well, he didn't get the majority," said Chip, looking down at a flattened and tire-marked Morph.
"I lost weight," said Morph happily.
NegaMorph sighed. "Would anyone object?" he said, aiming a finger at the retreating truck's trailer.
"Not just yet," said Kala, "I want to know why he freaked out."
"Didn't you hear him call us evil?" asked Contrinus. "No, I think he said 'EVOs', whatever that is," said Chip.
"So...can I blow his trailer up or not?" snapped NegaMorph.
"Not this time. If we see him again and he drives off, then you can blast his trailer," said Kala.
"Good...well, looks like we're walkin...eaaaugh…" said NegaMorph.
"Oh, what now?" asked Chip with annoyance.
"Erm...I learned that asshat just called the cops on us," said NegaMorph, slapping the side of his head.
"How did you know that?" asked Contrinus.
"I think my teckpack tuned in to them," said NegaMorph.
"I didn't know your techpack was that sensitive," said Chip.
"Neither did I," said NegaMorph.
"In any case, I think we need to get moving before the cops come," said Draco.
"Yeah, like they can hold us!" said NegaMorph.
"Let's try to break Matt's pattern and not get in trouble with the authorities when we first arrive," said Kala.
"Fine, we can head over the fields. Cop cars won't follow us there," said NegaMorph.
"That actually might be a good place to start digging," said Chip as he checked his readings.
"Patrol 6 to Keep. Approaching where the truck driver called in the EVO sighting," said the agent, he and his pal on combat bikes as they headed down the road.
"Don't just look down the road. They're likely to have left it," came the response.
"Wow, you don't say," said the agent, seeing clumps of dirt shooting high into the sky at regular intervals off to the right. The two bikes stopped and the two agents got out, wearing white armor with black balaclavas before grabbing rifles and binoculars. The two leaned down to look to see a rather large hole in the distance.
"Wow," said his partner, what sounded like angry Americans heard from the holes.
"Control, these EVOs might be sentient...or really good at doing an impression of arguing," the lead agent said.
"Are they saying anything intelligent?" asked Keep's response.
"Looks like they're arguing over...WOW!" said one of the agents as a geyser of water shot skyward, "Keep, if they're sentient they aren't smart. They just dug into the Berlin water mains."
A voice on top of the water spout snapped, "You idiots! Don't you know a pipe when you see one?"
"I thought it was a power cable," said a white...blob that peered out the hole.
"And how would that have made it better to break?" snapped the voice from the water spout.
"We get electrocuted all the time," said the blob happily.
"Will someone patch up that pipe already?!" snapped the voice. Just then, the water stopped shooting upwards and a metallic creature with cylindrical body, six tentacle-like arms, four crab-like legs, and a large eye fell down.
A winged reptilian woman clambered out, her hand glowing. "All fixed," she said cheerfully. The blob and the metal creature gave the reptile woman an odd look. "What? Do I have something on my face?" she asked.
"Well, yes, you've gotten awfully muddy down there," said the metal creature, "But I wouldn't worry about it right now."
"Yes...definitely...in fact...I'd say we do not have time to wash it off till we get back," said the blob in a deliberate tone.
"Ugh, it's gonna be such a pain to get it all out of my hair," said the reptile woman.
"Yeah, I don't that's a pro-mmmph!" said the blob before the metal creature crushed it, the two agents jumping.
Just then, a voice called up from the hole, "Hey, I think we found something that's definitely not a pipe or power line!"
"Keep, we got a problem. These EVO's are looking for something specific. How long till backup?" said the agent.
"20 minutes ETA," came Keep's response.
"Tell them to hurry. Whatever these things want, I think they found it," said the agent nervously.
The EVOs jumped back into the hole, but the blob stayed above ground long enough to wave at them.
"Oh shit, they know we're here..." said the lead agent's partner nervously.
"We'll be there as soon as we can," said Keep's response.
"Dammit..." swore the lead agent, readying his EVO blaster. "We have to distract them till the containment and cure team arrives," he said to his partner
"Well, at least one of them seems easy to distract," said the other trooper.
"Let's go..." said the lead agent, the two sliding down the bank, weapons up and charging towards the hole, firing.
"Hey! This is an excavation site! No ranged weapons!" snapped a voice. The metal creature peered up before a shot knocked him back into the hole...
"Guys, I think the Germans really don't like having their water cut off," said Chip dizzily, a dent above his eye in the plating.
"Ok, looks like we'll be blowing up that wall after all," said Draco.
The group scrambled back up to meet a hail of yellow blasts, two white-armored troopers firing some form of machinegun at them.
"Ok, this seems rather excessive," said Draco.
"Maybe the Chancellor's shower was interrupted," said Morph.
"Ow! OW! That actually hurt me!" said Draco in surprise.
"Just freeze them already," said Contrinus.
"Fine," said Draco, jumping up and sending a blast of icy breath at the troopers. The troopers doubled back, but not fast enough to prevent the ends of their guns from being frozen.
"They'll be going for backup," snapped NegaMorph, looking around and spotting two large bike-like vehicles, which he sent a hail of fangs at, blasting them apart.
"Chances are they've already called for it," said Chip.
"Oh please..." Said Draco before seeing the frowns and turning to see several truck-shaped tanks, if the guns were any evidence, pulling up.
"Ok, this is overkill. We didn't even do anything to warrant this," said Contrinus.
"Maybe everyone in Berlin wanted to take a shower," said Morph.
"What are they waiting for?" said Draco, confused. One blast had bruised him...all those rifles, to say the least of those heavy guns would turn them into chum.
"Maybe they're getting the really big guns," said Morph.
A jet shot overhead, pulling into a hover. "Like that? That's a troop transport or I'm Mr. Stenchy," said NegaMorph
"Can't you change into Mr. Stenchy if you want?" pointed out Contrinus.
"Doesn't mean I want to," said NegaMorph.
Just then, something leapt from the jet and fell a while before it extended rather large turbine wings. As the figure got closer, they could see it was a teenaged boy wearing a red and orange jacket over a white and blue shirt with black jeans. He slowed his descent before landing on the ground. "Wow, these EVOS are muy feyo. Especially that guy," said the teen, pointing at NegaMorph.
NegaMorph's eyes narrowed "Watch it," he snarled before readying some fangs to fire.
One of the jetpack's turbines flipped around before four balls on chains shot out of it, sending NegaMorph flying back.
The others jumped back, Draco glaring. "Hey...that wasn't called for!" he snapped before taking a deep breath and sending a column of orange flames out. The teenager jumped to one side, but the fire blast broke the wing off his jetpack, which caused the rest of it to fall apart. "Not so tough without your tech, are you?" taunted Draco.
"I'm never without my tech," said the teen before his right arm suddenly extended into a huge cannon that he was somehow able to lift over his shoulder.
"Mummy," whimpered Draco before the cannon fired a compacted clump of rock into his chest, Kala glaring and igniting her ion blade.
"Nice sword, lady," said the teen before turning his arm into a huge orange blade, "Mine's bigger."
"The name is Kala, not 'lady'," snapped Kala, before lunging at the kid.
The teen managed block her with the flat of his sword. "Nice try, but I'm stronger than I look, Señorita Serpiente," he said.
Kala paused and asked, "What did you call me?"
"Uh, he was calling you a pretty lady," said Chip.
Kala paused before seeing a glimpse grabbing the blade and pulling it close, peering at the reflection. NegaMorph whimpered, "You know...if we start running, we might make the treeline in time." as his senses picked up the growing rage from Kala.
"What about these guys?" asked Contrinus.
"They obviously handle EVOs all the time, whatever they are. They can handle this," said Draco before he flew off."
"Good place. BO NEEGA LA DEEKA!" yelled NegaMorph, roughly translating as tantalog for 'RUN FOR THE HILLS!"
The experiments ran as the teen looked after them in confusion. Just then, his comm said, "Rex, I'm picking up unusual energy readings where you're at. What's going on?"
"Well, the dragon lady's just staring at her reflection on my sword and it's getting kinda warm," said Rex.
At that Kala said in a deepening voice, "What...did...you...DO?" an aura of flame igniting around her, which caused the agents to start firing again, sparks seen as the aura's heat vaporized the bullets before they could hit.
"Wait a sec, I just found you like this. Uh, I think I might be able to deactivate your nanites," said Rex.
"Oh piss off!" snapped Kala, using the sword to send Rex flying and glaring at the retreating experiments. "I wasn't talking to you. GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PESTS!" she snapped, taking off after the experiments.
"RUN AWAY!" yelled the experiments.
Kala, with a bird's eye view, glared, locking onto Draco before yelping as something landed on her back, sending her into the dirt.
The experiments glanced to see some guy in a green suit with sunglasses and two swords in each hand on Kala's back. As they watched, Rex went up to the guy and said, "Six, nice landing. But I think you might wanna get back. Pretty sure this EVO has fire powers."
Kala glared, her eyes turning red and a nasty smirk appearing. "Ow," she said levelly, before sending a fire blast out.
However, Six had already jumped back. "Rex, did you try to cure her yet?" he asked.
"Well, she kinda lost her temper before I could try," said Rex.
"I'm ill? I haven't even sneezed...oh...wait..." said Kala with a mad grin, Rex realizing what she was about to do.
"Get down!" yelled Rex before changing both of his hands into gauntlets that projected a force field. However, Kala's 'sneeze' produced a larger fireball than Rex had expected and it went mostly over his shields and hit one of the APCs. "Oopsie...ah, darn, I didn't get anyone," said 'Kala' snapping her talons as she saw the APC crew pulling themselves free.
"Rex, we need to take her down quickly," said Six.
"I'm on it," said Rex before remaking his huge cannon and sending a huge clod of earth at Kala.
Kala glared, her eyes glowing and the fire field flaring up again. The ball of earth flew through the fire, though it burned as it got closer to Kala before disintegrating into ash just at it touched her. "Is it my turn yet?" sneered Kala, the fire vanishing before she lunged at Rex, blade in one hand and shining claws on the other.
Rex tried to block her with his cannon, only for her to slice through it. "You know...I expected more," laughed Kala, lifting her blade up before there was a blur and her blade went out...before the handle fell in half. "Hey! Those are rare!" snapped Kala, glaring at Six.
"You strike me as the type that doesn't normally need a sword," said Six.
"True but it's so hard to get blood out of scales," said Kala before lunging at Six...and then wondering what the hell happened as she found herself on her back, the world spinning a few seconds later and her claws literally trimmed.
"I suggest you quiet down and let Rex cure you," said Six.
"Don't...need...CURE...!" snapped Kala before trying to get up again.
Just then, a blast of lightning nearly hit Six. "Hey, leave her alone!" snapped Draco as the experiments came charging back.
"Treat her. I'll deal with them," said Six before dashing at the experiments.
NegaMorph glared before saying, "I'll deal with Agent Smith. You get Kala." readying his Lockblade. "Ok, one chance: drop the blade or get fanged," he snapped.
"You'd have to be a very quick shot to hit me," said Six.
"Oh please, you're only human," said NegaMorph.
Six raised an eyebrow before making a slash at NegaMorph. "Hah...barely felt that," laughed NegaMorph before his arm holding the blade fell off. "Oh, you gotta be kidding. You're taking 'disarmed' very literally, aren't you?"
"You look like the type of EVO that can regenerate," said Six.
"I am, but what the heck is- You could have let me finish," said NegaMorph, Six chopping off his head midsentence.
"Erm...maybe we're outgunned here?" said Chip nervously at that as NegaMorph made several complaints including a few ridiculous threats to bite Six's ankles.
"But Kala is in mortal peril!" cried Contrinus. Just then, they heard a loud bout of laughter and they turned to see Rex had his hands on Kala's stomach, with glowing circuit lines spreading out from his hands. Whatever was supposed to be happening, didn't appear to work. But the way Kala laughed and squirmed indicated it tickled like crazy.
"Yeah, unless it's Alaxian laughing flu, I doubt it's anything," said Chip before Contrinus yelped as a net hit her.
"Hey, what do you think you're-" snapped Draco before a net was thrown over him.
Chip and Morph looked at each other before they raised their hands. "We surrender," they said in unison.
Matt would have gone immediately to the alternate Earth immediately. However, there were certain things a small ship could get around that a much larger ship could not. Namely a sizeable blockade.
He was currently on his bridge. The ships were a mix, ranging from advanced warships to converted trade cruisers of some sort. Something on Earth had panicked this entire quadrant and he was having to wait for them to decide who to send to talk to him. It didn't help that a little voice in his head was gleefully reminding him that the Bladestorm and its integrated fleet could tear through them.
The representative and his bodyguards made it clear that at least two species were involved in maintaining the blockade. The representative was a large crab with a large head situated on top of its body, clearly the local variety of Cerebrocrustacean. The bodyguards were large yeti-like aliens that had white and blue with metal bolts on their lower jaws and the backs of their hands.
"Gentlemen..." said Matt, a bit surprised to see a few races he'd seen before, if only on file, and sometimes in person. "My name is Commander Lynch of the NSR. I assume you can guess what I am about to ask next," he said, before sitting in the command chair and glaring at them over his hands.
"You wish to go to the nanite-saturated Terra," said the crab alien, "There's no other reason for you to approach our blockade. It doesn't take a brain my size to figure that out."
"And I'm sure you scanned my ship and know that only my rapidly-depleting patience stopped me simply swatting this blockade aside," said Matt icily, instantly taking a dislike to the crab alien.
"We didn't set up this blockade out of idleness," said the crab alien, "The terrans there have tampered with technology and forces beyond their abilities to comprehend and control. They could cause great damage to the galaxy if their nanotechnology was allowed to spread beyond their solar system."
"My tactical computer actually laughed at your biggest warship here when I asked for a threat assessment. I'm going to that planet because several of my crew are down there," said Matt icily, glaring harder at the crab.
"How'd they slip through our defenses?" asked one of the bodyguards.
"You'd think we would have noticed them," said the other. The representative gave them an annoyed look before zapping both with an electric shock.
"Really? I don't shoot my crew for arguing," said Matt, glaring at one of the bridge crew who made a cough that sounded suspiciously like 'bullshit'.
"He didn't hurt us. He just told us to be quiet," said one of the bodyguards.
"Is that how he usually does it?" asked Matt.
"Sure, we can talk with electricity," said the other bodyguard before shocking Matt.
The representative sighed and said, "How many times must I tell you, not all species are receptive to that form of communication?"
"I've been zapped before," said Matt dizzily before shaking his head, "Ok, so...I'm going through this blockade..."
"At what point did you perceive that I gave you permission?!" snapped the crab alien.
"This wasn't a negotiation. You will provide me access to my mate or I will destroy every ship in this blockade and, if I'm especially angry, any escape pods," snapped Matt angrily, shooting to his feet.
"I understand you may be worried about your mate. But you should have kept a closer eye on her and not allow her to slip away. There are proper channels to go through for even being considered permission to enter the quarantine zone," said the representative.
"Wrong answer," said Matt in a low voice, clicking his fingers and a comm officer talking into his headset.
"Your ship is large, but you cannot expect to simply push your way through," said the crab alien smugly.
"No...but this is a flagship," said Matt, flashes of light seen outside the viewports, FTL points opening and a good dozen frigates cruisers, and even a small battlecruiser, along with swarms of fighters appearing. "I say again; we're going through. You can get in our way if you want and explain to the public why so many crews are dead or you can grant us access," Matt said coldly, his fingers apparently ready to click, leaving little to the imagination of what would happen if he did so.
"Oh, you want to apply for a passport. Why didn't you say so?" asked the crab alien nervously, "I'll be processing it just a moment."
"I'm glad to see we can agree. Now get the hell off my ship. You have 20 minutes to make a hole or we make one ourselves," said Matt coldly.
Chris frowned as the representative and his bodyguards left. Matt's been known to threaten annoying guys before, but he usually kept it contained to just the annoyance in question, not threatening to massacre many other people.
Matt seemed to sense the question. "You've read the files on this world's little infestation, what it does. These idiots could have helped cure it but instead they block the planet off. If their idiocy got Kala...if...I'll smegging nuke their planets," said Matt, shaking and unable to find the words.
"Matt, calm down. Kala's not reckless. I'm sure she's not in any big trouble," said Chris.
"She has Draco, Chip and the Morphs with her..." said Matt simply before the navigation officer said "They're clearing a hole."
Matt nodded, "Dock up the fleet and proceed...full stealth. I want us in orbit in 10 minutes."
"She has Contrinus and she's usually the voice of reason," said Chris.
"Good point," said Matt.
"Besides, Kala already has her own nanites. What would a few more do?" asked Chris.
"Offline nanites," reminded Matt, before pressing a button, causing an image of an NSC recon team's helmet cam appearing. The cam's HUD told them the city being recorded was Kiev, Ukraine, 8th most populated city on the planet.
"So what am I looking at?" said Chris a little nastily as the recording played, the troopers running down a panicking street and into a building, to see a girl hunched over, crying. Chris watched in confusion before suddenly the girl started changing. Her body elongated as her clothes seem to melt into her skin before it became covered in fur. In a matter of moments, she had become a huge weasel-like creatures with oversized claws, lots of teeth, and too many beady eyes. The creature roared before darting off.
"Oh my God," said Chris weakly before the camera span, falling to the ground to show the troopers firing at a larger creature that was gnawing on the now-headless camera's owner before it ended.
"That was an EVO. Apparently, every infected person has about...10% chance of mutating spontaneously," said Matt, "There are a lot of variations of course. And there aren't many ways to determine how something will mutate. But you can imagine the havoc Kala and the experiments could cause if they were mutated."
"What about us?" said Chris.
"NSC medical nanites eat these things for lunch. The worst that might happen to me is that they reboot my Shar nanites. The plan is we go into orbit, find the gang, get them offworld and decontaminated and come back later for whatever this map us with proper teams," said Matt.
"Let's hurry on then. Those aliens will get annoyed if they see us delay going through when we've went to so much trouble to get access," said Chris.
"They won't do zilch," said Matt icily.
Dr. Rebecca Holiday found these new EVOs completely fascinating. They were quite unlike any other mutations she had seen before. And yet, Rex's attempts to cure them only resulted in a tickling sensation to the two blob-like creatures and the reptilian woman. According to him, it didn't feel like they had many nanites in them at all, let alone active ones. These creatures obviously demanded a lot of study. She decided to start with the reptilian woman, who was obviously the most human of the bunch.
"So...what are we talking about today?" said the reptilian in a subdued voice.
"Well, let's start with who you are," said Dr. Holiday.
"Kai Triseptus," said the woman smugly.
"Our agents heard your companions call you 'Kala'," said Dr. Holiday.
"Her? She's sleeping now," said Kai sweetly with a toothy grin that caused the guards to aim at her.
"I see. It's not uncommon for an EVO to have a massive shift in personality when their nanites activate," said Holiday.
"Yet I bet my blood tests are allll weird. So if you let me go, I might leave you the only survivor," said Kai happily, as if she was talking about a ball game and not casually talking about committing a massacre.
"We have the means of limiting your nanite abilities," said Holiday, suddenly a lot less warm.
"Aw...that's cute. You think you have the tech to stop the height of the Ancients' bioweapon technology," sneered Kai, before straining on her restraints, only to find them stuck. "Though kudos to using adamantium offshoots for these cuffs. That said, I bet Kala's boyfriend will be really upset when he gets here," she added before beginning to chuckle insanely.
"You show a lot of dissociation with your previous identity," observed Holiday.
"Doesn't mean I don't like our choice of mate," laughed kai, before adding, "He'll probably turn this entire state into a radioactive crater to get me back."
"And who is this boyfriend?" asked Holiday?
"Oh, a girl doesn't tell, honey. But he's practically got his own private army. If he wasn't such a goody two shoes, I wouldn't have to slit his throat when he finally rescued dear Kala," said Kai, her tone changing to what was probably a mocking impression of Kala.
Holiday frowned. This EVO's personality was a lot more twisted that she had expected it to be. Kai just continued laughing before stopping as if a switch had been flipped and she said in a deadly serious tone, "You're going to die."
Holiday turned to a trooper and said, "Increase the nanite dampener."
"It's...already at full. Her nanites are adapting to it," said the trooper at his console nervously.
"That's impossible. Nanites don't change like that," said Holiday.
"They're not your nanites. They're mine!" laughed Kala.
"I think we've heard enough from her for now," said Dr. Holiday, "Take her back to her cell."
"He's coming to get yoooou…" said Kai as she was marched out.
A minute later, Six walked in. "You think there's anything to her rambling?" he asked.
"I don't know. She seems to exist in exact opposition with what we know about activated nanites," said Dr. Holiday.
"That doesn't mean her warning isn't a mistake. If her location here presents a threat..." began Six.
"There's so much we can learn from her," said Holiday.
Six walked over to a console that showed Kai silently laughing hysterically as she was led to her cell. "I'm sure," he said to himself.
Meanwhile, a pair of jumpjets were flying out across the desert. There were reports of some kind of meteorological disturbance. It wasn't likely to be an EVO-related event, but you could never be sure what kind of powers an EVO could have.
"Headquarters, this is Rapier, approaching phenomenon," said the lead fighter pilot, what looked like a wall of inky black cloud over the desert.
"Confirmed, any signs of what's causing it?" came the reply.
"Negative, thermal is off the charts though. Whatever's in that clouds hot enough to melt metal," said Rapier, the jets peeling off and heading along the bottom of the cloud, the heat from the object inside was causing repeated lightning bolts to the sand below.
"Pull back if your jet is in danger," came the command.
"Roger," said the pilot before looking down at his radar to see three dots heading towards them, before three fighters flew past them, their bellies purposely displayed to show off futuristic missiles.
"Providence, are there supposed to be any other jets in the area?" asked the pilot.
"Negative Rapie-" began the com before it was overridden. "Unidentified aircraft. This is restricted airspace. Proceed on heading 120 by 311 out of the area," said an accented but deadly serious voice.
"Who is this?" demanded the pilot, "Identify yourself."
The reply was the fighters flying past again, two taking up station behind the jumpjets. "This is your last warning," said the unidentified pilot, the smoke above leaching away to show a...huge starship slowly flying forward.
"Sweet Providence," said one pilot in disbelief.
"Let's get outta here, man," yelped Rapier One's wingman, hatches opening in the side and bottom of the ship, what looked like smaller capital ships launching.
"Yeah, I don't get paid to fight space battles," said the pilot.
Needless to say, Providence was in uproar, including angry calls from the local government. An alien warship tended to get the attention due, more so as it was on a slow steady beeline for Providence. Every trooper was scrambling to get their APCs and jets ready, not that they're likely to do much good against an alien warship.
Providence had also called in every aircruiser and the Keep. The experiments naturally noticed. "Hey, what's going on?" called Draco, as Rex ran by with...a monkey with laser blasters?
"We're facing an alien invasion," said Rex offhandedly.
"Hmm...it's not a biiiig ship with the words 'touch it and die' painted above the starboard launch bay, is it?" asked Chip carefully.
"Uh...maybe, I haven't seen it," said Rex.
"It's Matt," said Draco and Chip in a deadpan tone before Draco said "Look, you gotta let us out."
"Why should I?" asked Rex.
"Because Kala's his girlfriend and the last person to touch her ended up as a headless body...as did 3/4 of her crew," said Chip calmly.
"Wait, Kala's an alien?" asked Rex.
"We're all aliens. What did you think we were?" asked NegaMorph.
"A couple of weird mutants," said the chimp.
"Holy smeg, a talking monkey!" said Morph excitedly.
"Talking ape," corrected Chip, "Chimpanzees are apes, no tails."
"I don't care. Can I keep him?" said Morph happily.
"I ain't nobody's pet," said the chimp.
"Bobo, not now," said Rex before looking at the experiments, "So, you guys aren't EVOs?"
"Will someone please tell me what an EVO is?" snapped Contrinus.
"Exponentially Variegated Organism," said Rex, "Basically, it's someone who's mutated because the nanites in their bodies have gone active."
There was a gulp at that, except for the Morphs who just smirked. "Just as well we have our own, right guys? Right?" NegaMorph said, smirking at the experiments, his smile slowly vanishing as the others sweatdropped. "You gotta be joking," he muttered.
"I don't wanna mutate," gibbered Chip.
"What are you freaked out over? You're already half-machine," said NegaMorph.
Chip paused and said, "That's true."
"What about us?" yelped Contrinus
"Oh, no, I can feel it! The change is starting!" yelped Draco, "I'm mutating!" The others backed away from Draco only for him to let out a small burp. "Never mind, it was just gas," said Draco.
NegaMorph glared before saying, "Look, let us out and we're out your hair. Lynch is just here for us...and maybe the Skyraid which we stole to get here."
"Sounds good to me," said Bobo.
"Good, just open the cell and we'll be on our way," said NegaMorph happily.
"Wait a minute," said Rex, "As much as I'd like to stop this invasion thing, how do we know you're not scouts or something?"
"Scouts are supposed to be intelligent. Behold, our counterargument," said Chip, holding up Morph, who had stuck his tongue in one ear and out the other, saying "My brain tastes like licorice."
"Good point, though my boss will be super-mad if finds out I let you out," said Rex, leaning a hand against the wall. Circuit lines extended from where he touched the wall, going over to the door control. In a few seconds, the cell door opened up.
"Let's book, we need to find a comm," said Chip, the group heading out, before asking "Wait...who is your boss?"
Providence's boss was perhaps unique on the entire planet in that he was nanite-free. To that end, his room was also sealed off from the rest of the base. It was also where he gave all his orders and took all his calls.
"White Knight, you're supposed to be prepared for this. How did a bunch of EVO's make a warship that big?" snapped a shadowy figure, a side window showing a muted CNN report on the approaching fleet.
"By our witnesses' testaments, these are not EVOs we're dealing with," said White Knight.
"That doesn't matter. The public thinks they are, that means they're something you need to deal with. We don't care how but remember, if you fail, you're not irreplaceable."
'I assure you, my top agents are on this," said White Knight.
"They'd better be..." said the figure before the line went dead for a second, before an incoming transmission came in.
"How did you get this channel?" asked White Knight.
"I have all the channels," said the voice on the other end before the image changed to a metal dragonic mask, two glowing optics in view. "You have my crew. I'd like them back," said the figure, the voice distorted.
"I might have known they were the cause of this," said White Knight.
"They weren't here with my consent but that's beside the point. I want them back and I will get them back, one way or another," said the figure.
"And what are your intentions?" asked White Knight.
"Retrieval of my team. Simple as that. If your men try to stop me, I will kill everyone in your building to get them back. You have 10 minutes then I send my men in," said the figure darkly before the line went dead.
White Knight thought this over. On one hand, this situation could be simply resolved and rid him of a few irritations. However, as far as he knew, whoever this commander was could attack Earth even after he gets his crew back. He pushed a button on his console. "Captain Calen, prepare for attack," he said, frowning at the approaching ships on the screen.
"Their ships are moving into defensive formation," said a tech.
"Matt, you don't have to do this," said Chris, "If you just ask a bit more politely and show you don't mean ill intentions, I'm sure they'll just let them go."
Matt glared before saying, "All wings, open fire."
"Matt, this is not gonna get Kala back!" snapped Chris.
Matt stood up at that, "Yes it will. I've had enough of playing nice. All it's gotten me is more problems. This time I end this decisively."
"You can't do this!" snapped Chris.
"I just did," said Matt darkly.
The experiments, Rex and Bobo were running past a window when they saw a dozen of the Providence warships blown apart by mac rounds, the jumpjet squadrons engaging the Bladestorm's fighters. "Oh good lord, he's gone off the rails," said Contrinus weakly.
"It was only a matter of time," said NegaMorph, "Though I thought he'd keep the psychosis to himself and not make everyone else flip out with him."
"He'll rip this place apart to get us..." said Contrinus in horror, a Bladestorm fighter spiraling towards them in flames, a gap where the cockpit should be.
"We need to get to him first," said Chip.
Draco nodded, "How do I talk to your boss?"
"Shouldn't be hard to get White Knight's attention," said Rex, "Though he might be a little preoccupied right now."
The command center was in uproar, views showing the engagement between the attackers and the Providence defenders. As such the agents were on edge when Rex and the experiments came in.
"Gentleman, we have a crisis to deal with that can only be done with cooperation" said Chip.
White Knight's face appeared on a screen at that. "What are those things doing in my command center?" he demanded angrily, only for Chip to say "That depends, do you want these people outside to open this place up like a can of beans?"
"This whole invasion thing isn't gonna stop until these guys get back to their ship," said Rex.
"Correct. Matt and some of the command staff have...unique DNA. I'm thinking that some subconscious instincts have carried over, including hording. He sees us as part of his horde and you as thieves...and sadly the species that the DNA come from tend to kill horde thieves unless the items returned," said Chip.
"Eh...what?" asked Bobo.
"Let's just say that Matt has serious sharing issues," said Contrinus.
Draco nodded, "He'll soften you up and then send in ground teams, probably from your heliport, hangers and the ground entrance...and he'll throw everything at you."
"So to cut to the chase, you need to get us and Kala back onto his ship," said NegaMorph.
"You're on the other side of the world from Berlin, where your ship is presumably..." said White Knight.
Chip glared and ran over to a communication panel and trying it, only to get a jamming signal...Matt apparently wasn't listening. "Matt can be so stubborn sometimes," he muttered, "Ok, looks like Matt's gone completely bonkers. Soooo...he'll probably send his men via the closest drop point to Kala. Where is she?" asked Chip.
"I'm willing to bet big money she's not in her cell either," said NegaMorph.
"You'd be surprised. They contained you," said White Knight.
"Yeah, we didn't put any effort into getting out yet," said Morph.
An agent called up a view to show an open cell and the agents out cold. "Told you," said Draco smugly
"Well, we better go find her before Matt tears this base asunder," said Chip.
Kai blew a door apart, looking around to see rows of captured EVOs awaiting cures. "Well, I never," she said mockingly, "Now what have you lot done to get locked up? Do they prejudge based on your hideous appearances? Or are you guys just vicious monsters?"
She looked over to see the far door opening to show a force of troopers. "Let's find out," she said, smashing the door release and causing the cell doors to open. "Sic em," she said. The EVOs roared loudly as they stormed towards the troopers. ""Oh, mommy's so proud," said Kai mockingly, "Now let's see, what else should I mess with before leaving?"
She looked around and saw a sign. "Petting Zoo...oooh, sounds lovely," she said happily, walking calmly past the melee, an EVO lunging at her pausing mid lunge and backing off with a whimper from her. "Yeah, you better respect me," said Kai. She walked around the corner to see the experiments. "Oh...you," she said dully.
"Kala, we need to get to Matt before he brings this place to the ground," said Chip.
"So?" said Kai dully.
Draco sighed and said, "Your alter ego's woken up, hasn't she?"
"I prefer to think of myself as the more fun side. I even found a pet," said Kai, an EVO hound coming out next to her.
"Yeah, you didn't exactly go for the best model," said Rex as he built up his Smack Hands.
"But he brought friends," said Kai happily as more hounds came out of the hatch behind her. "Grubs up, boys," sneered Kai.
"We don't have time for this," grumbled NegaMorph.
"Relax, these guys will be easy," said Rex. Kai just smirked as the hounds lunged at the group Her smirk soon vanished when she saw how easily Rex and the experiments batted the hounds around. And to add insult to injury, Rex cured each hound, turning them back into regular boxers.
"Ok, that's just annoying. I wonder if he can cure people without arms," wondered Kai, before lunging at Rex and being knocked to the side by Draco,
"Kai, we don't have times for your games," snapped Draco, "Matt's raining fire down on this place and we need to stop him."
"Why would I want to stop that idiot's little self-destruction? He locked me in this weakling's head," snapped Kai, slashing Draco twice across the chest before pushing him back.
"Gee, and I wonder what he didn't find appealing about your personality," said NegaMorph before zapping her with a few eye lasers.
Kai glared, dodging the blasts before shooting past NegaMorph, her claws extended. However, NegaMorph grabbed her legs as she passed, causing her to trip up.
"Oh, you sure you seem fine? You seem like you're about to go to pieces," laughed Kai.
"Oh please, like I'm going to get- Oh, there it is," said NegaMorph as his upper body and lower body separated.
Kai smirked, getting up and straightening her armor collar before swatting Contrinus into Morph as she lunged, resulted in a surprised Contrinus visible, suspended inside Morph.
Kai turned to look at Chip and said, "It's just you left. And you know you don't stand a chance against me."
"Physically, no, but I know one thing that you don't," said Chip.
"And what's that?" asked Kai.
"How to engage your armor's lockdown mode," said Chip before extending his arm and grabbing Kai's arm. Indigo energy sparked from where he put his hand. Kai glared before trying to grab Chip, her moves getting slower before she was stuck. "Ok, we better get her to Matt before he gets too carried away," said Chip.
On cue, a far door exploded outward, a quartet of NSC troopers heading in, turning and aiming. "Target sighted," one of them said, the other three also aiming.
"Wait, she's unharmed, just temporarily paralyzed!" called Chip.
A hail of blue bolts shot around them at that. "I don't think they care. LEG IT!" yelled NegaMorph.
Draco picked up the immobile Kai and the experiments and Rex ran for it. "Hey, you guys ready to go or what?" snapped Bobo, who was in the pilot seat of one of the jump jets.
Draco paused at that. "Wait a minute...they can't even dent us," he said, a few laser bolts bouncing off him before he turned and lunged at the pursuing troopers.
"Draco, they're still our guys, don't rough them up too much," called Contrinus.
A trooper flew over her head at that, its com saying, "All field teams...commander has taken the field."
"I hope that means a shorter trip," said Morph.
"Morph, how soon before I can get out?" asked Contrinus.
"I dunno, is it lunchtime yet?" asked Morph.
At that, a plasma blast shot out, an armored figure on a walkway, surrounded by a few of the ships elite troopers. "Hey, Matt, we got Kala here but we parked in Germany," said Morph, blissfully unaware of the trouble coming. The figure's helmet turned to look revealing the optics were red. "Oh...nice look," said Morph before his eyes crossed and he popped
Contrinus stood shivering in the middle of the mess that was Morph. "That...was horrible..." she said in a haunted voice.
The lead said, "Take them." the troopers stepping off the balcony, jet packs activating to lower them neatly as they fired.
"Matt, this is completely unnecessary!" snapped Chip.
'Matt' turned and aimed a plasma blaster at him.
Just then, the jumpjet's engines roared to life and everyone watched as the jet lifted into the air and turned around. "Bobo wants to play," said Boob before firing the jet's chaingun at Matt and his troopers.
Kai's red eyes turned to normal as she screamed "NO!" as the entire squad were gunned down. However, instead the walls being painted with blood, the downed troopers just twitched and sparked. "What the?" muttered Draco before walking over and pulling off Matt's helmet. However, there wasn't anything underneath of it except for some exposed wiring and stuff. 'Matt's' hand shot out at that, grabbing Draco by the throat.
"I've got this," said Rex calmly before placing one finger on 'Matt's' stump of a neck. Circuit lines extending across 'Matt' who twitched and writhed for a while before it went still.
"Ok...I know these bots," snapped Chip angrily, using a tentacle to tear a panel off to show a XANA eye, "Urgh...of course."
"So where's the real Matt?" asked NegaMorph.
On cue, a voice over the intercom said "All anti-armor teams to the main doors. Goddamn, this guy's insa-" snapped the voice before yelping "OH SHIT NOT AGA-" before being cut off.
"He's there," said Contrinus scathingly.
"Kala, you ok with seeing Matt now?" asked Chip.
Kala snarled at them at that. "If he has so much as a scale out of place..." she growled.
"I don't know if he even has scales right now," said Chip.
A minute later, the hanger doors blew inwards, carrying in a few now out-cold agents and allowing some of the real marines in and another 'Matt'.
Morph had regenerated at that point and looked at the incoming Matt. "So, thought you could pull the old psycho copy trick, eh? Not on my watch!" With a battle cry, Morph charged at Matt and started kicking at his shin.
The figure looked down before saying "Morph...you're in enough trouble as it is. Stop it or I do to you what I used to do to NegaMorph when he was a general."
"Hmm, this robot is very convincing," said Morph.
The figure sighed before clicking its fingers, Morph inflating, managing "It's Matt." before he popped...all over Contrinus who glared.
"Well, Morph asides, everyone is here and unharmed. Can you please call off the attack now?" asked Draco.
Matt glared before taking into an earpiece. "All ships, switch to defensive stance, cease aggressive actions."
The experiments gave a sigh of relief at that. "Glad that's over," said Contrinus.
"Not quite," said Rex, "I'm betting White Knight will be wanting a word. Or should I say a lot of angry words?"
"He can say all he wants. We're leaving," said Matt.
"But Mantichrome's on this world," said Chip, showing the panel with Mantichrome's symbol on it, "We can't just leave it to him."
"He won't find it without your end of the map. Let him end up in a cell like you did," snapped Matt, turning to see a row of agents, led by Six, blocking the way, "Ah."
"I can't let you leave without answering for what you've done," said Six.
"Then this will get messy," said Matt, clicking his fingers and his men aiming.
"Oh for God's sake, you can cut the testosterone with a chainsaw!" snapped Contrinus, sending a wall of weak flames between them. "Enough! This idiocy is OVER!" She snapped, flaring white.
"Wow, didn't know she could do that," said Rex.
"That's my girlfriend," said Draco boastfully.
Contrinus, her eyes glowing white snapped, "Ok, item one: We are here to retrieve some dangerous stuff. We're not EVO's! Item two, Matt, GET A DAMN GRIP OR I'LL SET YOUR HAIR ON FIRE!"
Matt just stared at her, though his helmet made it hard to judge his expression. "I'd do what she says," said NegaMorph, "She's an inferno of anger right now."
Matt glared, or at least his optics narrowed before he waved to his men, his troopers lowering them. "That goes for you lot too," snarled Contrinus, glaring at the Providence teams.
Six considered Contrinus for a moment before turning to the troopers and saying, "Stand down. I think we can trust her to keep the peace."
"Damn straight," said Contrinus, fading back to her bird form.
"Can someone unlock my armor already?" griped Kala, "I'm getting a cramp."
Chip said smugly, "Not till you prove it's you."
Kala rolled her eyes and asked, "And how am I supposed to do that?" Chip thought about it before zapping her. "Ow! What was that for?" snapped Kala.
"It unlocked you," said Chip.
Kala looked confused before she said, "But my limbs are numb..." before she slumped in a heap.
"Kala!" yelled Matt before rushing to her, "Kala, say something, anything!"
"You're kneeling on my tail," said Kala.
Matt nodded. "Oh, sorry-wait, you shouldn't have a tail," he said.
Kala rolled her eyes and said, "Didn't you notice my lips moving?"
Matt gave an air of annoyance at that before he looked at Six. "Is there a reason my girlfriend has a tail?"
"She's gone EVO," said Six simply.
"Ok...now we are leaving." said Matt, pulling Kala to her feet carefully.
"But Matt, Mantichrome-" started Chip.
"Is not important until I figure out how to cure Kala," snapped Matt.
"I don't need curing. I can actually help," snapped Kala.
"You've turned into a dragon against your will. You think this is something I can just overlook?" snapped Matt.
"You can and you will..." said Kala, whispering in his ear, "We've met our future family after all."
"Well...I want a proper explanation of what's happened," said Matt.
"Maybe this is how we got our abilities back?" said Kala.
"I...I don't know. This just doesn't seem like the way it's supposed to be," said Matt.
"Look...what's going on?" asked Rex.
"It's a long story, kid. Not certain if we're gonna be sticking around long enough to tell it," said NegaMorph.
"What do you mean we can't leave?!" snapped Matt.
The alien crab on the viewscreen said in a smug tone, "Well, you've obviously been on that planet long enough to be infected to the nanites. We can't allow you to go spreading them about the rest of the galaxy."
"Give me a reason," snapped Matt.
The crab alien smirked, "No, give me. If you attempt to leave the system I am sure I will have no problem convincing my superiors that we need to cleanse the entire system."
"You don't have the firepower to take on us," snarled Matt.
"Don't we? What you saw back there was a cursory blockade flotilla. We can bring in a lot more, more than enough to overwhelm even your ship," said the crab alien.
Matt glared, saying, "My ship's equipped for on-site decon of my infected crew and as for me, everyone currently on my ship is immune."
"Oh, we have no way of knowing that for certain," said the crab alien, "It could only be a matter of time before one of your crew turns into a twisted freak. But, I suppose I can arrange a screening after a set time period."
Matt glared before saying, "Fine...call me then." before cutting the line.
Just then, Aria spoke on the intercom, "Captain, I do have good news. Kala is technically not an EVO."
"Define 'technically," said Matt.
"Well, her altered state is because she's currently experiencing a nanite saturation that makes up for not having a control nanite. I suspect the surplus nanites will eventually flush out of her system once she's removed from her current environment," said Aria.
"Good...any other infections? The experiments?" said Matt.
"Well, the Morphs already have their own nanites, but I don't see a problem with their saturation. Chip may not be affected to his electric blood. Draco and Contrinus might be transformed eventually, but their nanite count is stable at the moment," said Aria.
"Ok...and finally, that...fake. I don't like it. It's too advanced even for him," said Matt.
"If the Atlanteans do have caches here, they probably contain advanced technology. Like a cache with Shar-Khan armor for instance," said Aria.
"Shit...then that means..." said Matt gloomily, Aria finishing "We need to locate all tech caches before Mantichrome or some idiot local does."
Matt sighed and said, "I know, I just wanted to have a little more preparation before this started."
"Preparation was never your strong point," said Aria.
"I was hoping I could get a chance this time," said Matt in an annoyed tone.
"Well, I suggest you start. We will soon have to explain to Providence why we are still in orbit without exposing the blockade," said Aria
Mantichrome glared as he shut down the feed. "They had to be here. I was this close to using that attack to hack Providence surveillance," he said angrily.
"It matters little," said Deathgrip, "We already knew where the coordinates are."
"It's not about finding the caches; it's making sure we're the first ones to them!" snapped Mantichrome.
"We've still got more of a head start than them," said Deathgrip.
"That had better be enough," growled Mantichrome.
And we're finally back with a new story. Sorry it took so long to get this one posted. There were two short stories that were supposed to appear before this one but those had hit a bit of a snag. Anyways, their relevance to this story will be brought up when needed.
With this story, it's supposed to take place between "A Family Holiday" and "Six Minus Six". I think that gives us more than enough room to work with. The updates for this story are going to be much more often than the last one. I'm not sure if it can happen every Friday, but there is going to be at least one chapter up every week. There's more coming so keep an eye out and please review.