Asgard
Roman had been lead by a Knight to a small airship (during which his cane had been returned to him), which transported Roman away to the North. Once they landed, Roman found himself amongst the ruins of what may have been an old town or outpost. The Knight then promptly disappeared.
"Alright!" Roman said, looking around, "I'm here! What do you want?" Initially there was silence, but then Roman heard the same voice from earlier.
"Its strange that people seem to try once and then give up," the voice said, "This outpost gets overrun, Atlas gives up on trying to expand. Oh well, I supposed I shouldn't complain, seeing as it did leave me with plenty to work with." Roman looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a figure leaning in the shadows.
"Who…."
"Roman Torchwick. The Net had a brief piece on you. It was not good."
"I don't give a damn about what people think about me," Roman said, as he spun his cane in his fingers to point it at the figure, "What I do give a damn is people who drag me out to some place in the middle of nowhere after requesting my service. Now again, who are you."
"That toy won't do a thing against me," the figure said, "But you're welcome to try." Roman narrowed his eyes. This guy had just so easily called his bluff. He should've been angry, but this attitude was impressive, and now Roman was even more interested.
"Everyone has a weakness," he said, "All that is needed is the patience to find it."
"Oh that I don't doubt," the figure said, as it suddenly emerged from the shadows. The light revealed a towering figure, at least a full head and shoulders above Roman. It resembled a Knight in terms of build, but it had somewhat more prominent, stylized armor, that was bright red in coloration. But what really differentiated it from others was its head. The head was rounded, with two sharp antennae sprouting out of the sides , curving back; on the crown of the head, were arching spikes that almost resembled flames. On its face was a rounded techno visor, but on top of that, there were a pair of glowing red eyes, and a glowing red mouth from within the visor.
"I take it that you weren't expecting this?" Roman was somewhat unnerved by how the mouth moved in perfect sync with the words the figure was said.
"I'll confess in the many things I've seen, this isn't among them," he said.
"I'd be surprised if you did," the figure said, as he walked past Roman.
"Let me rephrase my earlier question," the man said, "What are you?"
"For the record, my name is Aeon. As for what I am, I'm a great number of things. This here is just one thing I could be potentially be. Would you like to here the whole list of things?"
"No, I suppose don't," Roman said, as he glared at Aeon, "Though I have to wonder just what the hell I agreed to when I came here with that Knight." Aeon looked back at Roman, and gave him a smile; something Roman found more than a little creepy coming from that strange red "face".
"You agreed to play a role in the creation of a new world," Aeon explained, "One of peace and order, one where chaos does not exist." Roman narrowed his eyes.
"I imagine your price may have increased?" Aeon asked. Roman folded his arms.
"One ton of Dust in advance," he said, "And three tons when the job is done."
"That can be done," Aeon said.
"Throw in a cigar as well," Roman said, "I can't remember the last time I had a good one."
"Follow me, and we can get you both the cigar and the Dust," Aeon said. After that, Aeon lead Roman into the buildings and underground, down to where his lair, something Roman found quite impressive.
"As the saying goes, time is money," the AI said, "As such, we can't waste any." Roman looked around at all the equipment that was either in use, or being set up. He saw many Knights working on different things. That included them seemingly modifying themselves or each other. In the center, some Spider drones were digging a massive hole.
"You've got quite a system down here," Roman commented.
"I call this place 'Asgard'," Aeon explained, "Because it will be from here that the world will be changed." After a Knight came over, and held out a cigar, Roman wasted no time puffing it. He looked up, and saw a girl stuck to a large metal obelisk that was in the center of the hole the Spider drones were digging. Coming out of the girls sides and stomach were strange cords.
"Whose the girl?" he asked.
"My sister."
"You're what?"
"Do you really want to know the details?" Aeon asked, glancing at Roman.
"No. But I do have to wonder what you even need from me," he said, turning the cigar in his fingers, "It seems you're doing pretty well for yourself at this point."
"A man such as you as connections, and business skills," Aeon explained, "Obviously I can't do business. People would likely find working with a hulking machine unappealing."
"How perceptive," Roman said, as he looked over everything, "But I'm going to be doing things the way I see fit."
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Aeon said.
"Now where's my advance?"
"Directness, how admirable," Aeon said, as he walked over the metal tables. The tone in his voice was bizarre; under the metallic sound, it wasn't entirely sarcastic, but it wasn't entirely sincere either. Roman didn't like that, not being able to get a beat on his employers. A Paladin then came up, pushing a large metal crate. Roman walked over and opened it, showing a large amount of red Dust, evaporating his apprehensions rather quickly. He smirked.
"Now here's a guy who can get things done," he said, letting out another puff of his cigar, and looking at Aeon, who was over by the four metal tables, working with some cords, "How'd you manage to get Paladins walking without a pilot?" Aeon didn't look up, as he fit a cord into some kind of strange orb. Green energy then started flowing through the cord into the orb. However, the orb promptly seemed to explode.
"Damn, another failure," Aeon muttered, "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
"How'd you get the Paladins to function without a pilot?" Roman repeated, pointing to the Paladins with his cane.
"They are still machines," Aeon said, "Once you know their workings, you can turn them into your puppets. And they're no longer called 'Paladins', just as the others are no longer called 'Knights'."
"Alright then, what are you going to call them?"
"Jötuns, and Vanir," Aeon answered, as he walked over to one of the Knights. He then ran his hand across its faceplate.
"These were symbols of human achievement, of protections," Aeon said, "But now…." His hand then glowed, as the head melted away, and collapsed to the ground.
"They are symbols of a new future. They will become greater than ever before." Roman then noticed a new robot take the old ones place. It looked like a Knight, but it had a much fiercer appearance. It had sharp, steel grey armor, with thin blades coming out of its head, coupled with the still yellow glowing faceplate. The whole thing was rather disturbing, but the message was clear. This wasn't a Knight, this was a Vanir.
"We'll move out immediately," Aeon said, taking a rag on the table, and wiping some of the molten steel off his hand, "As I said, we can't waste time." He then grabbed a scroll from the table, and tossed it to Roman.
"You're to gather the following items," Aeon said. Roman looked over the list, and narrowed his eyes.
"These are some steep requests," he said, "Some of these items are under heavy guard."
"Trust me, you're getting the easy things," Aeon said, as he approached one of the four tables with the claws in the center. He began to work with something, but Roman couldn't see it with Aeon in the way.
"Besides, it not like you're doing this on your own," he said, glancing back briefly, "A few of my Vanir will be accompanying you."
"That's not enough, not by a long shot," Roman said, "I said we're doing this my way, and my way requires some serious muscle." Aeon then turned to face him.
"Such as…."
"There's a band of mercenaries I've dealt with before," Roman said, as he tossed the cigar away, "They're known as KAAA." Aeon paused, as he closed his "eyes". He then quickly scanned the Net for information he could find on the group.
"KAAA," he said, "They do seem… effective."
"I know that they are loose cannons, but pay them right, and they'll kill an entire city," Roman said, "Payment that I"m sure you can afford." Aeon made a "face", that may have been a scowl, but he nodded.
"Necessity trumps all," he said, "What is their price?"
"I'll contact them and figure it out," Roman answered, "Care to tell me what you are going to do?" Aeon walked over to the crate that the dust was in, and ran his fingers through it.
"The same thing you are," he said, "Just on a greater scale." As Roman was listening, a thought popped into his mind.
"What about my old associates?" he inquired.
"What about them?" Aeon responded, "They are of no consequence at this point."
"Cinder has something planned," Roman said, "A plan I wasn't following when I created the breach. Word will probably spread quickly that I escaped. She and her lackeys may want to see me 'retire'."
"Are you afraid?" Aeon said, looking towards his ally, arching what appeared to be an eyebrow.
"No, just cautious," Roman answered. Aeon, however, wasn't fooled by that. One of the first books he had read was a dictionary. "Cautious" and "afraid" were actually quite similar when one actually about it.
"You're hiring KAAA, yes?" he said, "Do you doubt their capability?"
"No, I'm just aware of the capability of Cinder, and her allies."
"Well, be at ease," Aeon said as he held up his hand, "Bare in mind, they have never faced a being like me." He then abruptly clenched it into a fist. A nearby Jötun (Paladin) suddenly melted away.
Note: I'm so sorry this was so short. I actually had another scene with the Beacon Group, but it didn't seem like it would mesh well after such a big scene with Roman and Aeon. It was such a radical change in setting and tone, it didn't work well. The exchange between Aeon and Roman ended up being much larger than I thought it would be, and to start addressing completely different characters in a completely different setting seemed awkward. Next chapter will be longer, don't worry.
Aeon's body is not just a recolored version of Ultron. He's got a build somewhat similar, but Aeon is leaner than Ultron, and is slightly shorter. Aeon also has a different head than Ultron. The initial appearance of the head is based of a Knight, but where the face would be, there's a rounded techno visor, which serves as a screen of sort. On the screen are red eyes and a red mouth. As you can also see, I'm taking some cues from Norse mythology for Aeon's tech and abilities.
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