marionut247: I'm glad you like it! :) This chapter will have the end of the fight, though not of the arc.
And, no, it's just been that, in my head, Penny has a bit of an angel motif with her wardrobe. It's kind of as a light and dark balance, since I give Talon a demon motif in my head, and they are counterparts of each other. I've had it that way in my head since January, but it's hard to convey in a literary medium when I can't draw. So it was just a lucky coincidence.
systemcat: I'm glad you liked it! In truth, Talon was the first to volunteer for M.A.D.'s cyber program. That's how he climbed the ladder so fast. Since he was early, though, he didn't get any theme, only typical strength and endurance. That's why he was able to hide it. But I digress.
I hope you all like this chapter!
Assignment 3.4: Order and Chaos
Monday, March 10, 2087
P.S. 246 High School, Metro City
"That's right!" After-Shock shouted out. "Run, all you weaklings! Run before my power! There's nothing you can do to stop me!" He laughed out loud, thoroughly enjoying the havoc he was wreaking. "Nothing!"
He was startled when he was struck from behind by something large and solid. Confused as to what might have been able to hit him while he was in full force, the cyber spun around. He saw before him two robots, one modeled on a large dog with the number nine painted on it and one based on a small bear with the number ten on it.
Seeing them, he laughed. "Well, I was wondering when some of you would come out to stop me. Didn't have the backbone to come in person, though. Figures."
G-10 let out a roar and lunged at the cyber, while G-9 ran around, attempting to get in a good shot from behind. After-Shock was ready for them, however. Reaching up, he landed a heavy pile driver hit to the bear's torso. He wasn't however, ready to dodge the robot dog, and was thus knocked over once G-9 could get in a good shock.
Compensating for this, After-Shock reached down and struck a blow to the ground, sending out an earthshaking quake. The sudden shake up was enough to cause both bots to lose their footing.
They recovered quickly, however, and sprang back up. Soon, they were back up and prepared to launch another attack.
That attack never came. The robots had picked up a strange signal, and suddenly, they could no longer function.
Looking at the defunct robots, After-Shock laughed. "We'll, it looks like part one worked." For the amusement of it, he smashed in the head of the bear robot and tore off the dog 'bot's. "Time to head home, I guess," he said, looking into the camera, hoping whoever was controlling it could still see. "Not that it's over. Oh, no, our fun has just begun."
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Metro City Pier, Metro City
Joltwave laughed as she watched the people at the pier scatter. She lowered one of her recharged electrical knives into a long puddle, which began sparking with electricity. One unfortunate fisherman got caught in the jolt and tossed back.
He got up, though, to the cyber's disappointment. He let out a scream and rushed away at the first given opportunity.
She prepared to take up the chase when she felt herself covered in a mesh-wire net. Turning in shock, she saw that the net had been launched by a robotic dolphin with the number two painted on it. Nearby, another robot, this time an otter with the number three, was climbing out, prepared to deal with any hostility.
She smiled. "Well, I was wondering when anyone was going to attempt to stop me. It's fun seeing them run, but not nearly as much as when they put up a fight!" Using the supercharged dagger, she cut through the net and lunged at the bots.
The otter responded in turn, jumping up with teeth bared. It latched on to her right arm and bit down, pulling as much of the electrical charge out as it could. At the same time, Joltwave cut down as hard as she could on G-3's back. The metal was tough, but she was breaking through.
G-2 shot out another cable, this one wrapping around the cyber's legs, and attempted to pull her to the shoreline. There wouldn't be enough water to drown in there, but if they could get her wet, then maybe they could get rid of the charge that was making her so dangerous.
The plan was solid, but interrupted. A signal went out, and suddenly, both bots went limp and released their grips. Seeing the dead robots, Joltwave grinned. "Well, Doc Freymore's plan worked. Looks like this city is ours." She kicked the limp G-3 into the water, where it sank, joining G-2 at the bottom
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Metro City Subway Lines, Metro City
Bits of rubble and dirt flew everywhere as Drillbit tore through as much of the subway line as possible. The security guards there did what they could in an attempt to stop the maniacal cyber from wreaking his havoc. Their attempts, however, were in vein. They soon found that their standard issue Tasers did little against his armored body, and thus were little more than an annoyance.
Realizing their error, they took off running, desperate to get away from the psychopath. He laughed as he heard them flee and prepared to tear into more of the rail line.
Before he could have his fun, however, he was struck by something, not from behind, but from right ahead. He was knocked back by an unexpected sonic bolt, which sent him flying backward.
Shaking his head, he looked up to see the large metal bat with the number seven painted on it. On the ground underneath the bat stood a robotic porcupine with the number four clear to see.
Unlike his teammates, Drillbit had not been amused by the robots' sudden appearance. He was annoyed, since his fun had been interrupted. Sneering, he launched himself at the bat.
G-7 responded fast, letting off another sonic pulse. The rogue responded by pulling his drills up and together to defend from the blast.
This, however, gave G-4 the opportunity it needed. It launched off several quills from its tail, pinning the two drills together and keeping them from being used.
Not that this hindered Drillbit all that much. Lunging again, he swung the pinned drills like a club, attempting to knock the robotic bat out of the sky.
G-7 returned the charge, gripping the weapon with its claws. Pulling hard, it attempted to pull the M.A.D. cyber out of the tunnels. Before it could get far, however, it suddenly jolted out, losing its power and falling to the ground.
As he pushed himself up, Drillbit saw that both robots were lying limp and still. "Huh, the signal must have gone out. Guess that means it's time for more fun." Tearing the quills apart and turning back to the subway, he continued his destructive amusement.
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Nuke Bunker, Metro City
"What's the heck just happened?!" Linc cried in surprise. "I had that guy, and suddenly I lose contact! What's going on?"
"I lost contact, too," Rheeci said in dismay.
"Me too," Eli responded. "In fact, nothing's responding. It's like the whole computer system isn't working anymore."
Right after he said that, the screens flickered black before coming back online. However, on each monitor, there was a single image that was most certainly not comforting. It was the image of a demonic cat.
"Oh, crud," Eli murmured. "We're all doomed."
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Metro City Square, Metro City
At the moment, Penny could only look on in horror. Her uncle had never laid rough hands on her before, so she wasn't quite sure what to do when he pushed her heavily aside. She knew he wasn't doing any of this by choice, but that knowledge didn't make the shock any less severe.
As for Gadget himself, he could only helplessly sense what he was doing. Since the film still covered his eyes, he couldn't see anything of what was happening, and he could only hope and pray that whatever it was, it wasn't too bad.
It didn't take too long for the other fighters to notice what was going on either. Smirking at Heather, Syreen jumped back. "Well, looks like it's time for me to beat it. Have fun, red."
"Wha-come back here!" Heather exclaimed. She attempted to take up the chase after the female cyber, but her charge was halted when something wrapped around her waist. She was jerked back, and she soon realized she had been caught and pulled back by Gadget.
"Brown, are you nuts?!" she exclaimed. "They're getting away!"
"I'm so sorry!" he called back. "I can't stop!" With another sharp movement, he tossed Heather aside, causing her to collide with Brain, knocking the both of them over.
While the chaos was going on, Talon's face appeared on every screen, all over the city. "Breaking news, folks," he said with a grin. "The city is ours. Try to do anything against M.A.D., and, well, you can see for yourself what will happen." With that, he vanished from the screen. There was no need for their presence now. W.O.M.P. would be busy dealing with the rogue Gadget.
This had been time enough for Penny to recover from her own shock. She sprang up to her feet and lunged ahead, jumping onto Gadget's back. Locking her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, she hoped this would give her the position to try to reason with him.
"Please, Uncle Gadget, you can fight this!" she exclaimed. "You're not just a machine! You can stop them!"
"Penny?!" Gadget's heart stopped. He had hoped she had run away when she was pushed aside. It seemed he had no such luck. "Penny, please, don't try to fight me!" he called out, helpless to stop himself as he was forced to reach back to try to wrench her off. "I don't know what he'll have me do to you!"
While this struggle was going on, Brain and Heather both recovered from the blow that had knocked the two of them back. Seeing his two pack-mates in a desperate struggle, the dog leaped up and bit hard on Gadget's right arm. This forced the controller to split attention between both the girl and dog, but Gadget's sheer strength was more than a match for Penny and Brain put together. They were both soon tossed away. Neither was hurt too badly, but it was clear the situation was getting worse and worse.
Meanwhile, Heather looked around for something, anything, that she might be able to use to at least stall the controlled Gadget. Seeing his hat laying abandoned, she decided to see if that might be able to do something. "Alright," she said as she snatched the fedora up, "how do I turning this thing on? Oh, yeah. Go-go Gadget…uh…laser?"
The hat responded, but not the expected manner. As soon as the trigger words had been said, it sprang to life, going crazy and spitting just about everything out in a random, haphazard manner. This forced the agent to drop the hat and duck for cover as everything shot out everywhere.
Thankfully, this did help somewhat. One of the items shot out was a heavy wooden mallet, which barreled right into Gadget's torso, knocking him back off his feet.
Heather looked on in confusion, wondering how a mallet would fit into a hat, but she decided not to question her fortune. Instead, she snatched up the mallet and prepared to land a hit before he could get back on his feet.
Before she could land the hit, though, she was interrupted. "No, please!" Penny called out, running between the two. "Don't hurt him! He's not choosing this!"
"I'm sorry kid," Heather responded, pushing past the younger girl, "whether he's choosing this or not, he's putting a lot of a people in danger." She thus resumed her attempt at a strike.
The attempt, however, did not go as well as hoped. Before the agent could land a hit, Gadget had already sprang to his feet. Wrapping one arm around her waist and tearing away the mallet with the other, he hauled her up into the air, both his arms and legs extending out.
Heather wasn't about to just give up, though. Lashing out, she punched at his face, hoping that might force him to release her. That did not succeed, but she did tear through the film that was encircling his face. Through the rip, she could see a single, terrified brown eye.
"I'm sorry," he said, sounding even more frightened and distress than she felt. "I don't want to do this. He won't let me stop. Please, stop me."
"Gladly," she said, struggling to escape the constricting arm. "If you'd only tell me how."
"I don't-wait!" A look of realization came into his eyes. "The NSA chip!"
"The whaty-what chip?" Heather asked.
"It was in my old cybernetics, so it might be in the newer one," he said again. "It's in my chest, and is responsible for all of my cybernetics. If you could somehow short circuit it, I'd be paralyzed."
"Alright, how do I-whoa!" She was interrupted in her questioning, since something happened to knock the cyber off his feet.
It was Brain, who after recovering from his own blow, began looking for something to do to help. This came in the form of the large banner than had been set up for the rally. Taking one end of the banner, he wrapped it around the elongated legs, which knocked the cyber off balance and sent him crashing to the ground, trapping one arm beneath him.
This blow loosened the grip that Gadget had on Heather. Now freed, she grabbed the free arm and pulled it back, racing to a nearby truck and pulling the limb under the tire. She hoped that might hold him still for a bit.
Meanwhile, Penny had been watching the whole event. She had even heard what went down between her uncle and the agent. She realized what she had to do, though she hated it, and almost hated herself for having to do it.
Plucking one of the charms off of her bracelet, she scanned it with watch. The watch then sparked as the center rose up, revealing a small EMP generator. "Okay, not what I wanted, but this will work," she muttered under her breath. She raced over to where her uncle was still trapped. "Please, forgive me, Uncle Gadget," she said, tears streaming down her face. She moved as fast as possible, slamming the watch down hard on his chest. There was an intense burst of power, and Gadget let out a tremor before calming down.
It took him a minute to understand what had happened, but when he did, he smiled up at her. "You did well," he said with a smile, before leaning back and becoming horribly still.
Penny didn't halt in her movement, though. As soon as he went still, she moved as fast as she could, tearing open the front of his shirt. Touching a few panels that would have been hidden from those who did not know how to look for them, she opened up the shielding on his chest, revealing an amount of delicate technologies. The control system now exposed, she set to working on the wiring.
As she worked, Heather came up to her. "Kid, are you-"
"Not right now, please," the girl said, never diverting her eyes from her work. "If he's going to make it, I need to focus."
Brain limped over and, realizing that his girl was busy with important work, laid down near Heather.
"Make it?" the agent asked.
Penny nodded. "The NSA chip is important for all voluntary movement, as well as for some vitals. However, if I can rewire some of his more vital life support, it should be enough to keep him alive until Dr. Bradford can fix whatever it was that was to done to him." It was then that the girl finished her work, and she leaned back. "There, that should hold him.
The eye of the hurricane had arrived, but it was clear that the storm itself was far from over.
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Duboir Towers, Metro City
"I lost the connection!" Freymore snapped. He tossed away the microphone and processor that was supposed to be giving him control of the Inspector's movements. "What happened to the connection? Kramer, answer me!"
"We-well, sir," the assistant said, scanning over the computer screens for the information his boss was demanding, "it really can't be said for certain, but it looks like he's no longer online. He's either dead or in a coma, or something similar."
"They wouldn't have either the guts or ability to kill him," the scientist mused, "so something must have happened to short him out. This is a setback, but at the least, we have the guarantee we won't have any cyborg problems. If he is dead, then the problem has been solved permanently, and if he lives, he won't be able to take a step out of a concrete bunker without us being able to take control again."
There was the sound of a door opening and closing, which announced the arrival of their benefactor. "Well, gentlemen," Deboir said, "I have just seen the reports on the television. It seems our little experiment was a success."
"Indeed," Freymore said with a nod. "The signal is working better than we could have ever expected. Anything with any sort of internet connection is now under our control. Computers, televisions, personal devices, even automobiles!" He laughed. "You'd need to be miles beneath the surface of the earth to even dream of getting away from us."
"And Gadget?" the businessman asked.
"I'm afraid we lost contact," Freymore said, "though it was because something happened to him. The rewiring Malware did in the detective's head made him more than susceptible to the signal's influence. If he's dead, then we're done, and if he's alive, he won't be able to do so much as take a walk without us finding out about it. All we have to worry about now is finding a host for the DElPHI unit, and the whole world will be ours."
"Well, get it done," Deboir said, a tone of impatience in his voice, "but be discreet. I can't be seen by anyone when you're setting it up. If this don't work, then my campaign is plan B. There can't be any connection between me and M.A.D."
"Which is exactly why we're broadcasting the signal from my lab, and not your tower. Not that it matters, really." Freymore shrugged. "Without the ability to utilize their tech, there wouldn't be anyone who'd be able to trace the signal, anyways. Not the police, not W.O.M.P., heck, even if any government tried to get in, there'd be nothing that they could do, once DElPHI is running. Only those who are linked up with M.A.D. would have hope of doing anything."
"Speaking of, I'd better go send out our errand boy to get the next component," Deboir commented, turning to a communication device. "Talon, come in, do you read me?"
A picture of the cyber flickered on the screen. He was now dressed in more casual cloths, and was holding his arm still as Malware repaired the damage that Penny's attack had done. "Reading you loud and clear, bossy man," he responded. "Everything went just as planned."
"Good," the businessman replied. "Has your team reassembled? We'll need you all to be ready for stage two."
"Just about," the boy responded. "The only one we're waiting on is Drillbit, who's probably out having a good time. Can't blame him; it's been ages since we've been able to actually do anything fun."
"Well, get him back here soon!" Deboir was in no mood to be kept waiting. "W.O.M.P. is on the ropes. If we want to keep them that way, then we need to launch the attack now, and to do that, we'll need you to pick up the next instrument for the doctor's machine. If someone find out what you are doing-"
"Chillax, man," Talon laughed. "With Gadget-1 down for the count, there's not a whole lot Chief Mustache can do. As for Gadget-2, well, she's gonna have a lot on her plate, no doubt." He gave a sly smile. "I almost hope she tries something while I go on your shopping spree."
Suddenly, Talon's phone began to buzz. "Oops, got another call," he said. "See ya later, Dicky-boy."
"Don't you hang up on-" Deboir tried to insist, but it was too late. Talon had already hung up, and answered the incoming call.
"Saw the work you did today, kid," Montan said as he appeared on the screen. "Well done. Looks like trusting you with that mission was the right idea."
"It worked alright," the boy responded. "Freymore and Deboir still think we're on their side."
"How far along have you come on the mission we gave you?" the lieutenant asked.
"Pretty far," Talon answered. "We've already gotten the troops ready and the weapons in place. Now all we need to the location of The Cistern."
"That was always going to be the hard part," Montan mused. "That secret's been locked up tighter than a crazy, one-eyed mustang."
"Once we have DElPHI, we can hack into W.O.M.P.'s files. From there, it will be easy as pie." Talon shrugged. "Only problem is, from the info I got on what, or more accurately, who I need to get for Doc's part two. It seems he's going to need a smart non-cyber volunteer for a special procedure."
"You've got plenty of recruits, don't you?" the superior asked.
"Yeah, but most of 'em don't have the history with tech and computers that would be necessary to hacking into the databases. Thing is, while consent isn't necessary to get results, the actual knowledge of computers and what they're being ordered to do is. No computer knowledge means even forced orders wouldn't get results, only jumbled up bits of garbage. And that's if we're lucky. Unfortunately, of the people I know, only I and Malware have the skills in those areas, and we're already excluded due to our prior advancements." Talon gave a snort. "Maybe if my brother hadn't been so spineless, he'd could have volunteered."
Suddenly, the genius of the idea hit him. "That's…actually not a bad idea. Maybe I should pay little Billy a visit." He then turned back to the screen. "Don't worry, sir," he said. "We'll get the volunteer and the data we need real soon. You can tell the other to be ready for the true return of M.A.D."
"We'll be waiting," Montan answered before hanging up.
To be continued…
Author's Note: So, phase one is over, but things have gotten worse for our heroes. What will phase two bring? Log in next week to find out! Hope to hear from you.-SilverWarriorWolf.
