Reticence Saga
Iron Seed
Chapter 11: Summit
Providence Headquarters may seem oddly-designed from the outside, a tall building built on one side of a desert canyon. But there was one thing to be said for it: the view from the very top of it was spectacular.
Matt was looking at that view now, with a sigh. For some reason it reminded him of Avalar, flying up in the clouds, before remembering that his current state meant no wings. That was the one major downside of his kaiju-inspired form. For nearly all other intents and purposes, he was still a dragon. But a land-based flightless dragon, which made him long for his wings even more.
He tensed up as he heard footsteps behind him before calming down. It was just Rex. "This your spot?" he asked, settling back down.
"Sometimes," said Rex, "I like to come up here to clear my head." He sat beside Matt, looking out at the desert landscape. After a while, he said, "Kala's doing better."
"Good...good...you know, it's hard to not miss flying. Hell, I spent a year on a planet of dragons," said Matt, apparently aimlessly.
"I can see that," said Rex, "You know, I'm pretty sure there are some jetpacks that can carry you."
"It's not quite the same as flying with your own wings," said Matt, "I wouldn't expect you to understand. The machines you make aren't actually a part of you." Rex seemed a bit surprised at that before Matt said in explanation, "It's...different from cybernetics, flying with your own wings. And when you do it for a year...and it's taken away suddenly..."
"From what I heard, one of your wings got really badly damaged before you got kaijuiced," said Rex, "You might not be able to fly even if you change back."
Matt gave him an annoyed look and said, "Gee, thanks for that dismal... Did you say 'kaijuiced'?"
"Yeah, you know, you look a little like Go-" began Rex.
Matt snapped, "Yes, yes. Draco pulled that one too."
"Has Chloe been feeling the same way?" asked Rex.
"No, but she didn't spend a year living with them. There's no way she can feel it. I saw Avalarians fall into depression if they spent more than a week grounded," said Matt darkly.
"And Kala?" asked Rex.
"I think she's relieved right now that she has actual legs again," said Matt, "I think it'll be a while before she feels wingless depression." Matt sighed. "I just want to fly again," he said gloomily.
"Sure you don't want to go for a jetpack ride?" asked Rex.
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll leave you to your view," said Matt in a kind voice, walking back inside.
Meanwhile, Chip was trying to crack a particularly difficult puzzle and he needed as much computing power as he could get. That was why he was commandeering the meeting room, which was annoying a lot of Providence.
"For the last time, Chip. You can't use our own meeting room's computer. You have your own ship for that," said Dr. Holiday through the door.
Chip snapping "2 MORE MINUTES!" in a manic voice that made the doctor jump back from the door.
"What is Chip going nuts over now?" asked Kala in an annoyed tone. She had finally gotten her fluid levels back to normal and was discharged from the medical bay.
"One of the signals from that map is moving. He's trying to predict where it's going to be next," said Dr. Holiday before Chip was heard yelling "GOT IT" before a manic laugh was heard, the door opening to show that Chip had seemingly completely rewired the computers up to the big screen.
The screen showed a topographical map of a very large mountain range. Dr. Holiday soon noticed the latitude and longitude on the map and asked, "Are those the Himalayas?"
"Indeed they are...and our little gem keeps moving. I know exactly where it will be tomorrow," laughed Chip, his eye twitching, before he said, "It only took me 12 hours, 4 rewires and 2 major electrical shocks."
"How big is this 'little gem'?" asked Holiday.
"About a mile...and 14 miles in the air," said Chip
"Huh, you'd think someone would have noticed by now," said one technician.
"In the Himalayas?" asked Chip skeptically, "They couldn't find the Yeti or Shangri-La there either."
"Shangri-La?" said Kala, perking up, adding, "The place with all sort of cures?"
Chip said, "Nah, that was a static settlement. This is moving."
Aria's voice was heard on the monitor, "Shangri-La was a fictitious city created by James Hilton for his novel 'Lost Horizon'. What we're looking at is more likely the mythical city that inspired it, Shambhala. Or to be more precise, the base that inspired the myth. From records in the NSC archeological database, Shambhala is less of a name then a classification. The closest equivalent would be the infamous Groom's Lake facility, otherwise known as area 51. Their high-end research, development and construction would have occurred there. The fact it moves is probably a security measure to prevent civilians locating it."
"And how can it stay sable hovering over the Himalayas? That is very thin air," said Holiday.
"Atlantean ships are capable of hovering and moving in atmosphere without being aerodynamic. Anti-gravity technology most likely," said Aria calmly, before saying, "The problem is these facilities store dangerous technology...and are heavily armed in of themselves. The NSC lost 24 ships attempting to capture one located on one of the inner colonies."
"So, I doubt this Shambhala is a utopia of peace and harmony," said Holiday.
"Some were. It depends on the era it was commissioned. The earliest models focused on medical and terraforming technology. The later ones, during their war with the Ashen, were more weapon-based, focusing on war droids and gene modification nanotech," said Aria calmly.
"Either way, that could be very valuable to me- To US! Us, probably would be a bad idea for bad guys to get it too," said Kala.
"Correct, we should look to destroy it without delay, preferably by its self-destruct if it has one," said Aria, not picking up on Kala's comment.
"What? But there could be valuable tools and artifacts!" said Kala.
Chip snapped, "Kala's right. There could be all sorts of technology there, not to mention anything we could use to cure Lumina."
Aria snapped, "No. With respect to White Knight and his staff, this Earth is not ready for Atlantean technology and without the resources of the NSC to contain and remove the technology, we need to remove it from play."
"We're not of this Earth," snapped Kala.
"Yes, but we hardly have a good track record either. And even if we could call Avalar, I do not think they have a big enough ship," said Aria harshly.
Chloe said, "I hate to say it, but Aria's right. There'll be other chances. At least we don't have to worry about her this time..."
Taleth was rather pleased about getting so many new recruits for the Shar-Virk. Their forces were higher than they have been in centuries. However, there were a few certain recruits who were getting on his nerves. Namely the newest one; Lumina, daughter of Spyro and Cynder. Or as she fancied herself 'Empress Tenebra'. The girl clearly had more ambition than experience. And her 'patron' Ghoulwyrm...well, he didn't care for the undead as a matter of principle. But Ghoulwyrm has been oilier than he remembered.
There was also rumors from Janeth that Tenebra had been talking herself up as a more suitable leader. Hence why Ghoulwyrm had been dragged, in anti-phase cuffs to his quarters. "Now then, I do remember how you helped us when we freed ourselves from our corrupt leader. So this is why I am not killing you now. I hear you have been...encouraging some very silly behavior in Miss Lumina," he said calmly.
"I've just been paying attention to which way the wind's blowing," said Ghoulwyrm.
"No, you're sadly encouraging suicide with silly little rumors. A leader plays the long game. I assume that's the only reason you haven't finished off Mr. Lynch," said Taleth with an evil sneer.
"Matt is more complex than you can guess," said Ghoulwyrm, "If he weren't, you think I wouldn't have disemboweled him by now?"
"Oh, I remember when you'd not break a sweat. That said, if I even think you're encouraging sedition, I will cut you into...no...that's not true," said Taleth, Ghoulwyrm looking relieved before wincing and yelping as Taleth said in his head "I do not need to cut you to make you feel pain, remember?"
"Perhaps if you turned those psychic powers to a more practical use, you'd know what might be coming," said Ghoulwyrm.
"Fortune telling is for fools. Now then, please tell Tenebra I would like to see her," said Taleth
"I can tell her, but she is rather...willful," said Ghoulwyrm, "The young these days are so headstrong."
"Then this should be an interesting lesson. Guards, I will handle this alone," said Taleth smugly.
"I don't suppose I could watch," said Ghoulwyrm.
"Leave!" said Taleth in an echoing voice, Ghoulwyrm yelping as his body, without orders from his brain did an about face and marched him out the door. "Now, let's see if the purple dragons are as formidable as legends say they are," said Taleth.
Tenebra walked in smugly at that. "Come to tell me you're abdicating, old drake?" she sneered before Taleth said calmly, his eyes glowing "Stop breathing."
Tenebra opened her mouth to say something undoubtedly rude, but found she was unable to do so. Or inhale at all for that matter.
Taleth said calmly, "Now then, it seems we got off on the wrong foot...and you were under some impression that I was your subordinate." as Tenebra grabbed her throat, trying to take a breath. "Don't speak, you can't anyway. Now then, it's so sad when I need to make a show. But you seem to not realize how the pecking order goes. I have the job because I am the smartest, most powerful and successful here. Even with the Lynches as a thorn in my wing," he said calmly, as if discussing the weather, "Just nod if you understand."
Tenebra quickly nodded.
"Good. Now then, I am going to give you a chance to get back in my good graces. And if it pays off, you will even get command of a ship in the fleet. My scouts report that one of the old nanite factories have been detected. We have our own so we don't need it. But these things are extremely dangerous in claws other than ours. Nod if you are following and be quick...if you keep me waiting you might suffocate," said Taleth calmly.
It was a bit hard to tell with Tenebra's dark skin, but it did look like she was turning blue. Her nodding noticeably had less energy than before.
"Good. You will take some of our other initiates and destroy the factory...totally. I do not want one nanite left. Breathe," said Taleth, Tenebra gasping as her lungs started working again before whimpering. "And if you fail, next time I will simply let you...become breathless. Just as I will if I ever hear you speak of mutiny against me again. Do we understand one another?" he said sweetly, like some horrible facsimile of a friendly father figure.
Tenebra was able to croak out a 'yes'. "Good," said Taleth before he starting to walk away. He paused and said, "By the way, your parents don't automatically make you next in line for the throne. Everyone has to prove themselves. Don't embarrass their name." Tenebra glared before Taleth said, "I'd hate to end the bloodline of the purple dragons." causing Tenebra to scamper out.
As ruler of Abysus, the 'unofficial' safe haven for EVOs around the world, Van Kleiss had many duties to occupy him. Mainly ways of consolidating power for the betterment of EVO-kind...which typically meant just for him. But despite his important political and literal power, he was still a scientist and when something of great interest comes to his notice, he had to investigate it. "And you say this sample came from a floating city," he said.
Biowulf nodded, "In the Himalayas."
"At the top of the world," said Breach in her singsong way.
"And how did you happen to find this remarkable structure?" asked Van Kleiss.
"Breach got us there when we had to do a blind escape to lose Providence," said Biowulf.
Breach said, "It won't let us in twice."
"I suppose you were fortunate enough to get this sample while you still had surprise on your side," said Van Kleiss.
"So, what kinda nanites are they?" asked Skalamander.
Van Kleiss peered closely at the vial, muttering, "Not anything on Earth."
"So it really is alien?" asked Skalamander.
"No, I don't think so. The materials are Earth in origin, but these are designed to work deeper then the Nanite Project...a lot deeper," he said, lost in thought.
"What can they do?" asked Biowulf.
"Alter genes, far more competently then activated nanites go," said Van Kleiss, opening the vial and reaching a finger in before pulling it out as there was a sizzle, before the vial melted to glowing slag. "Hmm...very smart. They wanted something called DNA clearance," he said wincing from what had felt like a yelling voice from the nanites.
"All for nothing," grumbled Biowulf.
"Not at all," said Van Kleiss, "It means we'll simply have to go to the source. I believe we can override the clearances from there."
"The dark city won't let the adventurers in twice," said Breach in a dark tone.
"Well, I have a good feeling that we won't be the only adventurers there," said Van Kleiss.
"Ok, this is the target: an Atlantean mobile factory," said Mantichrome to his lackeys, a hologram of what looked like a floating oval, the surface bristling with weaponry and antennae.
"Let me guess, it's at the bottom of the sea," said Whipsting.
"Polar opposite, actually. Its location tomorrow will be over Everest," said Mantichrome.
"Wait, that's an Atlantean facility. Your viruses won't even dent those systems," said Deathgrip thoughtfully
"Sadly no. That's why we're going to have to do this the hard way," said Mantichrome, "We'll be hitting the place hard and fast. We'll have to fight our way to the central computer and take over the factory from there."
"Queztion: haz this ever been done?" asked Leafstripper.
"To known knowledge, no," said Mantichrome, "Atlantean bases tend to self-destruct before anyone can reach the core. But, there's nothing that says it can't be done."
Schizophrona sighed, "Is this really a good idea? Even we'd struggle to survive ground zero of an Atlantean self-destruct."
"If the worst happens, we have a retreat beacon that'll warp us out," said Mantichrome, though he didn't seem bothered by that.
"We're dead," said Leafstripper dully.
"Will you shut up?!" snapped Mantichrome before controlling himself, "Admittedly, the last few plans have not...gone as planned."
Deathwing muttered to Schizo, "That's an understatement."
Mantichrome said, pointedly louder, "BUT...once we have control of one of the Atlantean factory ships, there will be nothing we cannot do."
"What if the squishies get involved?" asked Roughshell.
"There is no 'if'," said Strapwing, "The mercenaries are bound to be there."
"So...what do we do when he cuts Leafstrippers head off?" said Schizo with an amused tone.
"The instant he shows up, you form Monstructor," said Mantichrome sharply, "I don't have time to deal with you lot falling apart on the job."
"Yeah...aren't we supposed to not wreck the factory?" said Deathgrip.
Mantichrome snapped, "Now look, you just kill the mercenaries...ok?"
"And should Chip decide to jack you guys?" asked Whipsting.
"CHIIIIII-" snapped Mantichrome only to lock up and start playing Spanish soap opera.
"Yeah...but first we can catch the newest episode of 'All My Circuits'," said Deathgrip happily, adding, "All in favor?"
All the others said, "Aye."
Climbing Mt. Everest used to be an extremely credible feat, something that automatically earned you a knighthood or some other form of high recognition. These days, climbing Everest has become really commonplace, even though it was only attempted by serious mountaineers. But even so, getting to the top of the highest mountain in the world was not easy. Even flying was impossible since the air was so thin.
Luckily when you have a spaceship and all their shuttles, it was slightly harder. The gang had donated one to the Keep, White Knight having insisted that some of his own come along too.
"Chip, you sure these scanners will spot it? Even Aria struggled," said Matt.
"We could have some trouble pinpointing it," admitted Chip, "These mountain winds are very unpredictable and this close to the ionosphere, there could be interference. And it will have to have cloaked itself to avoid being spotted by satellite before now. So...while our chances are good, they're not guaranteed."
"It's...it's close," said Kala suddenly, sounding half-asleep.
"What makes you say that?" asked Chip, not looking up.
Captain Calen, in charge of the ship, at that said "Something happening...helm."
One of the crew saying, "Radar's blacking out straight ahead."
Matt pausing before squinting his eyes, to see that it was almost like there was a glass wall ahead. "You gotta be kidding," he said before the screens on the bridge began to flicker before what looked like a trident appeared on every screen.
"Unidentified vessel, you have entered restricted airspace," said a calm voice, continuing, "State your intentions and destination."
"We seek Shambhala," said Kala, sounding like she was in a trance.
"Stand by...recite access code...you have 10 seconds to comply," said the voice.
One of the crew said, "We've been painted, multiple weapon locks."
"Kala, I hope you've suddenly figured out an access code," said Chip with worry.
"Code: 1-6-4-Tempest-6-0-2-Poseidon," said Kala dully.
An ominous silence sounding before the voice said, "Access granted. You will be brought in for landing remotely. Any attempt to override will result in your immediate destruction." before a translucent beam hit the ship and the sky suddenly replaced by...a wall of black metal, a door opening in it.
"Ok, color me impressed," said Bobo.
"Ok...this is big..." said Matt weakly as the ship was brought in, the inside being a huge tunnel...for one good reason. Several Atlantean cruisers similar to Taleth's own were either docked or in a state of construction, the Keep's cameras zooming in to see construction lines behind windows.
"You'd think whoever's running this place would have enough time to finish building those ships," said Rex.
"No...they're just being built..." said Matt weakly.
"And how many ships could it have built over the last 9000 years?" asked Chloe.
The ship was pulled round a corner to see the rest of the hollow filled to capacity. "An entire fleet?" said Draco weakly.
"Yeah...this puts even more validity into-" started Matt before Chip slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Not where the AI might hear you," hissed Chip.
Chloe nodded, "The core must be protected." in a dull voice.
"Erm...it's spreading," said Rex nervously.
"Uh, guys, did Taleth's ship need a crew to move it?" asked Chris.
"How should we know?" asked Draco.
On cue, a yellow blast shot out and impacted the back of the Keep, another shot hitting the source of the tractor beam. "Engines down!" yelled one of the crew.
"Ha! Got them in two blows!" said Tenebra triumphantly.
"They're going down. Locking onto the factory core..." said a crewman.
Tenebra said cheerfully, "No, look at this place. It's perfect." not noticing that, on the viewers, all the discarded ships had lit up. "With this many ships, overthrowing Taleth won't even be a challenge," said Tenebra before pausing and saying, "Or would that be too unsporting? There's not much point in taking over if none of the other Virks follow me."
Irony, however, was still a thing as at that point, every docked ship began firing on Tenebra's vessel, alongside wall and ceiling mounted turret cannons. "Er, I don't think the factory recognizes us yet," said one of Tenebra's lackeys.
"No, I think we need to move out," said Tenebra, "Those of you who aren't shadow dragons, stay close to me."
Most of the crew were panicking but one, a fire dragon, ran over, the few vanishing in a cocoon of shadows just as the ship exploded.
They were not the only intruders. "I think we broke him this time," said Deathgrip. Mantichrome was still frozen in his enraged position, his mouth still projecting like a radio.
"Leafstripper might be able to fix." said Leafstripper.
The group looking at each other before Deathgrip said "It's worth a shot."
Leafstripper peering before sticking a claw into a heat vent and wriggling it around, Mantichrome shuddering before gaining movement again. "Grasias senor," he said, before pausing, everybot more or less sweatdropping.
"Er, maybe Leafstripper can fix it," said Leafstripper.
"¡Estúpido saltamontes!" snapped Mantichrome, smacking Leafstripper into a wall.
"Maybe not. Maybe it's not permanent," said Leafstripper,
Mantichrome twitched before yelling "Tal vez no es permanente? ¿TAL VEZ? TE MATARÉ!" before proceeding to try and strangle Leafstripper.
"You know that doesn't work," said Roughshell. "Cállate, cangrejo inútil!" snapped Mantichrome before throwing Leafstripper at Roughshell.
"Wait, I think there they are. We could ambush them," said Whipsting, pointing to below them to see the gang.
Mantichrome said in a panicked voice, "¡NO! No hasta que arreglemos esto."
"You don't want the builder to be the only one to know what you're saying, right?" asked Deathgrip.
"No estoy enfrentando a ese maldito mercenario hasta que pueda volver a hablar de nuevo," said Mantichrome stubbornly adding, "Así que encontrar una tienda de máquinas...AHORA!"
Legends spoke of Shambhala being a paradise, a sanctuary in the high mountains. Here among the desolate peaks there were said to be many plants, flowers mainly, growing abundantly. This legend regarding the garden was at least partially true because that is what the factory's agridome resembled.
"This...is weird. Why'd they need all these plants?" said Kala, turning away from the vine-covered plant, which squirmed slowly.
"The workers here probably needed as much oxygen as they could get," said Chip, "Even Atlantean factories are not pollution-free."
"I dunno...something seems off," said Matt, Kala twitching before striding off in a random direction.
"Kala, don't wander off," said Chris, "There's no telling what could be guarding this place." Kala didn't respond, actually starting to walk faster.
"Kala, wait up!" called Matt, running after her.
It didn't take much to catch up with Kala. However, stopping her was slightly harder as, when Matt grabbed her, she simply dragged him along. "Kala, where do you think you're going?" snapped Matt, "Don't you realize how dangerous this place is?" Kala turned her head to look at matt before backhanding him backwards.
Matt was rather surprised that he was sent tumbling like that. He wasn't a heavyweight, but he was very hard to push over for someone of average strength and Kala hadn't shown signs of being this strong in her EVO form. However, as soon as he was up, Kala was gone, vanished. "Kala? KALA...!" he yelled.
"Dammit," he muttered before heading back to the others. "Something's wrong with Kala," he said as he got there, "Something made her wander off and I need to go find her."
Six nodded. "We're being stalked. Something's in here with us," he said.
"Is it yetis?" asked Rex. The others gave him an odd look. "Hey, I've seen a chupacabra, how could the abominable snowman not also be real?"
"True, but I doubt they'd be kept up here," said Chloe, "The most this place would have been pollinators."
"Like that...bees," said Chloe happily before a plasma blast sent her flying, a metallic insectoid flying into view, two more with it, before a blast shot from where its stinger usually was.
"Intruders! Intruders!" it said in a monotone.
"I was honestly expecting giant EVO bees," said Rex as he built up his Blast Caster.
"Intruders will surrender!" said a drone, lunging at Rex only to be smashed, several more seen flying into view over the trees.
"Guys, I'm not sure if we can take on a whole hive," said Chip.
"Agreed, we need to get out of the open," said Six, slashing a lunging drone in half.
Matt nodded, spotting a door in the distance. "There!" he called.
"I'll open it," said Draco before flying towards it, shooting various energy attacks from his mouths as he did. As a result, a hatch above the door opened, a cannon aiming at him and firing rapidly. Draco barely noticed the blasts. His hide was designed to take heavier fire than this. All he did was tuck in his wings a bit so he could corkscrew the rest of the way throw his full weight at the door.
A second later, a drone swooped down, its legs clamping round him and jetting upwards. "Draco!" called Rex.
"Oh, he'll be fine," said Chip, "He's Jumba's strongest experiment. He can take care of himself."
Matt, however, was charging at the door. "Let's see it take on a city stomp-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" He said, screaming as the door politely opened for him the second before impact, everyone wincing at a chorus of 'oofs' and 'ows' as Matt rolled down a flight of stairs, ending with a thud and a faint 'ow'.
"I think we want to go up," said Chip. A drone flew down and blew what was clearly the way up at that. "Then again, down has so much possibilities...oh God," he said, seeing what was possibly the largest spiderbot he'd ever seen, leading another flight of drones.
"Down, down, definitely down," said Chip quickly, before rushing down the stairs. However, he went a little too fast and soon found himself bouncing down the stairs.
Chloe heard Matt say 'NonononoEEEEE!" which coincided with a clang.
Meanwhile, Draco was finding out the bee drone was not as easy to break as it looks. More specifically, its grip was not so easy to break. And it was holding him at an odd angle that kept him from attacking it.
The drone's mandibles opened before biting down on his wings membranes. "Ow, ow, ow, no fair!" snapped Draco.
The drone finally pulled its head away with a tearing noise, leaving a ragged tear in said wing before saying, "Flight disabled...goodbye." before dropping Draco as it flew over a walkway.
Abandoning ship did not go as smoothly as Tenebra expected. There were quite a few of her crew that got warped to different places and the ones she had with her had quickly gotten whittled down by traps. "Oh for crying out loud, haven't anyone been in a tomb or something before?" she snapped.
"Atlantean ships are still loyal to our dead weaklings," said the one remaining Virk, Tenebra growling before a descending scream was heard. Tenebra checked the ground for shadows before taking a couple of steps over to the left.
The Virk also looked up before diving to the side, pushing Tenebra down as Draco smashed through the ceiling. Tenebra was first up before smirking and making her eyes seem like Lumina's. "Get off me! Help! Help!" she called,
"Wait, what?" asked the Virk.
Draco, dizzily, got up and said "Mina? I'll save you," before lunging at the Virk. Sadly, he ended up charging through the wall right next to the Virk.
Tenebra sighed before pulling out her ion staff and stabbing the Virk in the throat. "Sorry, but if you can't find a lieutenant you can trust, you make one," she sneered.
Draco burst back in through a different part of the wall. "Did I get him?" he asked, his eyes still unfocused.
Tenebra immediately hugged Draco. "You saved me," she said happily.
"Nice seeing you, Mina," said Draco, "Say, what are you doing here?"
"I broke free. They were gonna dunk me," said Tenebra.
"Dunk you in what?" asked Draco, looking around.
"It's this way," said Tenebra, grabbing Draco's arm to pull him and falling backwards as she came up short. "It's like pulling a building," she muttered.
"Yep, it's pretty hard to drag me to the bathtub when I don't wanna go," said Draco.
"We have to go. Apparently, they booby trapped the nanites," said Tenebra, pulling as hard as she could.
"Booby trapped how?" asked Draco.
"There's...a bomb...and I can't swim," said Tenebra.
"You can't swim?" asked Draco flatly.
"You've seen any swimming pools on Shar-Virk ships?" said Tenebra scathingly.
"I haven't been in any Shar-Virk ships," said Draco, "Anyways, I would have thought you'd pick that up on Nirn. Heck, there was a lake in the Bladestorm's biodome you could have swam in."
"I was a technician fixing your broken fighters, kind of a full time job," said Tenebra.
Draco paused before saying, "Good point."
"Anyways, we have to warn the others," said Tenebra.
"Hang on, I think I've got a comm on me somewhere," said Draco, feeling himself over, "By the way, why the concern about swimming?"
"Because the bomb's in a vat of carrier fluid. That stuff'll go up like a fusion bomb," said Tenebra.
"Oh, I guess we better take care of that," said Draco.
"Ok, we never speak of the bug robots again...where's Chloe?" said Matt.
"I was a little too busy with the killer wasps," said Rex.
"I said we never speak of the bugs again," snapped Matt.
"Well, Chloe's bound to turn up sooner or later," said Chip.
"Yeah, probably dangling by one leg from a crane claw," said Techo.
"I'll tell her you said that," said Matt, suddenly cheerful.
"I'm sure she's fine," said Techo.
"Of course," said Matt, before Bobo said "Ok...so where are we going?"
"I haven't the slightest idea," said Matt.
"You're kidding," said Six flatly.
"Hey, it's not like I have a map for this place," said Matt.
"Well, you have been leading us through here like you know where we're going," said Chip, matt pausing.
"Say what?"
"Well, you weren't just wandering around blindly, were you?" asked Chip.
"I thought I was...till you said that," said Matt nervously.
"Great, now he won't know where to go because now he's consciously thinking of it," said Bobo dryly.
The lights came on at that, two tracked droids, heavily-armed, rolled around the corner. "Subliminal method: FAILED! The damaged unit will proceed to processing or its companions will be vaporized," said one of them.
Matt looked around before asking, "They're not talking about me, right?"
"I'd do a not-so-innocent whistle, but I don't have any lips," said Chip.
The bots, at once, all looked at Matt, the same one saying, "Your nanites are defective. You will surrender for repairs."
"Quick question: would the repairs affect my charming personality in any way?" asked Matt.
"Negative," said the bot.
"Ok, take me to your leader. I've been needing a tune-up," said Matt.
"You will proceed. Your companions will be removed from the facility," said the bot coldly, making it clear what their definition of 'removal' was.
"Oh, sorry, wait, I have to run this by my medical insurance first," said Matt.
"You will comply," said the bot, firing a clamp onto Matt's chest.
"Not if you're going to treat my friends-" started Matt before the clamp let out a powerful surge. Matt shook in place before collapsing, the clamp pulling his body into the bot's grip, the other readying its weapons.
"All intruders will be removed," said the other bot. Just then, two lights flashed on the sides of their head. "There is an intrusion in the nanite vault. Prioritization reorganized," said the bot. With that, they turned and started rolling another direction.
"Erm, I know Atlantean AIs. They hate unexpected guests. If they think something's more important, it's serious," said Chip in a worried voice.
"And what are we supposed to do about it?" asked Rex, "Those robots are dragging off our only guide."
"Can't you interface with this facility?" asked Six.
"Atlantean firewalls are tough. You'd have seconds at most before it probably fried your brain. And they'll probably reprioritize you as the biggest threat," said Techo.
"Yeah...that said, the AI might let us go if we help," said Chip.
"And how can we help if we don't know where to go?" asked Rex, pointing out the big flaw in the logic.
"Follow the bots," said Chip, pointing to see that the bots weren't moving that quickly.
"Huh, not the fastest security I've seen," said Rex.
"Yeah...but, with a ship this size, there's probably abouuuut...10,000 of them," said Chip.
"Oh," said Rex.
"Yeah...let's go get on the core's good side," said Chip.
"And, I don't think I should have to say, don't touch anything," said Techo.
Meanwhile, there was one group having an easier time of it. "It seems that we're not alone," said Van Kleiss, looking at a human in some sort of crystalline armor, not that it had helped when some sort of crystal harpoon had shot out the wall and pinned him to the wall.
"And they ain't Providence either," said Skalamander.
"It seems the owners have lost their keys," said Breach with a giggle.
"Or are no longer welcome here," said Van Kleiss.
"Which means we can probably expect similar treatment once this place finishes with them. This is folly," said Biowulf darkly to himself, a little too loudly.
"Have faith, Biowulf," said Van Kleiss, "I suspect we aren't the only intruders here, but certainly the quietest."
"The giant will notice the ants soon," laughed Breach.
Biowulf said, "See? She's insane and even she thinks this is a bad idea."
"Biowulf, our little group may be called 'the Pack', but you're not the top dog here," said Van Kleiss, his tone become a lot less easygoing.
Biowulf glared before backing up, "And if this place focusses on us?"
"By then, it'll be too late...for it," said Van Kleiss.
Breach just laughed, "The ant can't beat the elephant."
Van Kleiss lifted an eyebrow and said, "Since when has Breach so philosophical?"
"I think she's just goin' through a phase," said Skalamander.
Meanwhile, Tenebra was leading Draco to where the nanite vault was supposed to be. "Ok, it's in the third vat," said Tenebra, opening the door, before a droid came around the corner.
"Intruder located...EXTERMINATE!" it said in a screeching voice before two tesla blasts shot at the duo.
The two of them just narrowly avoided the blasts. Then Draco looked up and said, "Oh, look, there's Chloe and Kala." Tenebra looked up to see Chloe and Kala being carried away. Though it was hardly dignified considering each was being held by one leg by ceiling claw clamps that was carrying them off like sides of beef.
It was at that moment that the bot tried to swipe Draco, who grabbed the claw and tore it off. "Not now," said Draco with annoyance, "Mina, tell me you got a camera."
"Not on me. Oh god, they're gonna be dropped in the bomb vat. You got to get it out," Tenebra said desperately.
Two new bulkier bots began to drive up to Draco, one screeching, "Systems adapted...Exterminate intruders."
"Where's the volume control on that thing?" asked Draco with annoyance. The first bot had already reached combat range, swiping at Draco and leaving a huge dent in the wall. "Oh, you wanna fisticuff, eh?" asked Draco, popping out of the wall, "Ok, let's see what you got, you gumball machine."
The bot paused before uppercutting Draco under the jaw hard enough for him to take off with the floor panel he had been standing on, sailing up and into one of the vats with, less a splash then a 'gloop'. Tenebra laughed giddily before pulling out a vial and pouring it in.
"Warning, incompatible elemental alignment," said a computer's voice.
"Of course it is. That's my new partner, right from under Lynch's nose," sneered Tenebra insanely before a clawed scaly hand burst out the slime. "Oh, he's finished already, just like Taleth's notes," she giggled.
However, Tenebra soon found herself being thrown into a wall. "Ok...he's a little twitchy," said Tenebra dizzily as an anthro Avalarian pulled himself out the tank. "Ok...why'd you hit me?" she said.
"Meega nala queesta!" roared the Avalarian before breathing fire everywhere.
"Oh shit!" snapped Tenebra before screaming, "ENGLISH, YOU NUMBSKULL!"
"Can't talk, gotta destroy," said Draco before ripping up a piece of the floor and throwing it at a robot.
"Wait...wait..." said Tenebra desperately, as she heard two splashes, Chloe and kala apparently having been dunked. "You wanna destroy, right?" she said.
"That's my primary function," said Draco as he started breaking open a wall.
"But there's...space cops here," said Tenebra.
Draco snarled, "The Galactic Federation?"
"Yeah, them. They want to banish you to a desert asteroid," said Tenebra.
"WHAT?" snarled Draco, before raising a fist before the air sucked Tenebra into his grip. "Where are they?" he snarled.
"They're...er..." Tenebra froze. She wasn't sure which vats the girls had been dropped into. She finally said in a conspiratorial voice, "Somewhere..." causing Draco to twitch.
"WHERE'S SOMEWHERE? I'LL KILL IT!"
Tenebra muttering, "I thought this serum was supposed to increase I.Q." With a roar, Draco ran through a wall. "Yeah...I think Jumba must have saved too much brainpower for Chip instead of him," said Tenebra flatly.
"Warning...all security report to the vat room...traitor detected..." said the voice.
"Well, I think I've outstayed my welcome," said Tenebra, "I need find something salvageable from this fiasco."
Another drone rumbled into view at that. "EXTERMINATE!" it screamed, firing rapidly, causing Tenebra to run screaming out the other door.
"Ok, nearly done," said the Schizophrona as it worked on Mantichrome's processor, "Ok, your language files will have been rebooted now."
"Good, senor...DAMMIT!" said Mantichrome, snapping the last one.
Schizophrona said innocently, "I guess something was left…" verbally winking at the Monstercons.
"I am not in the mood for games," growled Mantichrome. He stomped over to a door and snapped, "Open up!" The door obeyed, revealing a large drone behind it. "Er, please close," said Mantichrome.
The bot's optic lit up and it slowly looked at him before pointedly slowly raising his fist, Mantichrome bashing on the door button. "Close, close, by the great programmer, CLOSE!" he screamed before the door shut, a large dent appearing in the door.
"Well, let's proceed to the core of-" started Mantichrome before another door opened and a young woman with dark skin and red-striped hair ran through. She was so intent on fleeing what was behind her that she didn't notice Mantichrome until she ran into him. Mantichrome stared for a minute before he reached out and grabbed her by the neck. "Oh look...stress relief," he said evilly.
The woman struggled in his grip before she looked in him the face. Instantly, recognition and anger became visible in her gaze. "You!" she snapped.
Mantichrome peered closer before he said, "Heeeey...you're Spyro's daughter. What the hell are you doing in a Shar-Virk uniform?"
"About to melt your face!" snapped 'Mina' before spitting acid at Mantichrome.
However, Mantichrome just opened his mouth and sucked the acid down. "Ah, that's just a refreshing drink to me," he said.
Tenebra gulped. "We got off on the wrong talon. I'm Tenebra, the far more sensible side of Lumina...gak...and you have no sense of humor..." she rasped as Mantichrome squeezed.
"Oh, I do, but it's been completely worn out by my so-called helpers," said Mantichrome.
"I...know...that the Lynches...don't...have their...powerrrrrs…" rasped Tenebra.
"Tell me something I don't know," said Mantichrome in a bored tone.
"I...know...where...they...aaaare…" said Tenebra, going blue.
Mantichrome slightly loosened his grip before turning to his minions. "What do you think? Should we try to take care of the Lynches now?"
"Leafstripperrr think izz bad idea. We came to get computer..." said Leafstripper.
Tenebra said smugly, "Yeah, you don't hack an Atlantean AI."
"You never know unless you try," said Mantichrome, his fingers starting to exert pressure on her neck's vertebrate.
"Fine...try...I hope you like exploding..." said Tenebra, squirming out of Mantichrome's grasp.
Mantichrome's other three arms quickly grabbed Tenebra. "Where are you going?" he asked, "There's so much left to share." Acid started dripping from his own mouth, hissing as it hit the floor.
Tenebra smirked, before saying, "Oh, you want to make an enemy of my partner? I believe you know Ghoulwyrm."
"Like Ghoulwyrm's opinion matters in the-" started Mantichrome before purple energy started crackling over his body, forcing him to drop Tenebra.
"I thought I knew you. He put a curse on you," laughed Tenebra.
"It's been a long time since he's done anything to set it off," said Deathgrip.
"Oh this is cute. You lot are going to leave...now. I want my godfather to have his nice...corruptible powers back...and if I see you try to kill him again..." said Tenebra loftily.
"Not...leaving...empty..." groaned Mantichrome as he got up.
"Oh but you are. It's bad enough that you clearly already messed with some outer systems and set off every alarm..." began Tenebra.
"Hey, we got in here with surgical precision," snapped Whipsting, "We didn't set off a single alarm!"
"Wait...then who put the base on red alert?" asked Tenebra.
Kala and Chloe were having trouble remembering what had happened before. It felt like something flipped a switch in their head and shut off their consciousnesses. But now they were alert again and aware that they were suspended in what felt like liquid metal.
A claw reached down, before lifting them gently up and putting them on the catwalk. The first thing Chloe saw was that she wasn't some...wolf lizard thing. She was still a lizard but the scales were a more familiar gold color.
Kala felt very slimy, but she soon noticed that there was a familiar presence on her back. She looked back and lifted up her wings. They were very limp and weak, like a butterfly's fresh out of the cocoon. She looked around before concentrating. A weak flame, but definitely a fireball, appeared. "I'm me...I'M ME AGAIN!" she said happily, before the two noticed a drone coming up.
"Your nanites have been corrupted by an unknown energy. I have instructed nanites to seal the energy. It is not known when it will fail," the drone said.
"So Aleyshia's upgrade was a bust," said Chloe as she struggled to get up. She felt as fragile as a hatchling.
"Dr. Aleyshia's modifications were detected, identified, scanned, troubleshot, repaired, and restored," said the drone, "Shar-Ekta programming is fully operational."
"Pardon?" said Chloe.
The drone repeated, "Your elemental energy is currently recharging. His first attempt had not fully integrated the elemental, causing a split personality. This has been rectified."
"So, we're not going to go crazy or evil?" asked Kala.
"Unknown, please consult with your psychiatrist," said the drone.
"Funny, can we go now?" asked Chloe.
"Negative," said the drone, "The third member of your group has yet to be restored and requires significant wetware repair."
"Who...oh no…" said Kala, as angry yelling was heard, three of the tank bots reversing into view, pulling Matt who was literally dragging the floor.
"No! I don't like going underwater! LEMME GO!" he was yelling, the drone hovering over, picking up some rubble before dropping it on Matt's head.
"We've got to do something," said Kala.
"Wait," said Chloe, "Matt getting his dragon and elemental powers back might be a good idea, especially if it means locking up that kaiju thing. Besides, can you even stand up right now?"
"No, I mean the drone keeps hitting him with that floor panel," said Kala, pointing.
Chloe glanced at where Matt was repeatedly getting bonked by the drone. "Oh, that's even less of a worry. That skull can't be cracked by a diamond drill," said Chloe.
The tank drones at that finally pried Matt's grip loose, before forgoing the claw and just throwing Matt over the side of the catwalk, two of the tank drones high fiving.
"Now we just have to wait for Matt to finish with his nanite bath," said Chloe.
"Then what?" asked Kala.
"Find out who else is here," said Chloe, remembering all the alarms.
"Well, well, this is an interesting sight." Chloe and Kala looked up to see the Pack walking in. Leading them was a man wearing a long brown coat and a bronze gauntlet device that covered his left arm and formed a collar around his neck. His hair was long and black, though with a noticeable patch of white at the front.
"It's the snake and the doggy from the catacombs," said Breach excitedly.
"Oh. It's these lot," muttered Chloe, readying a lightning blast. Skalamander shot a shard of crystal that hit Chloe's hand. "Ow! That hurt!" snapped Chloe, "Is it bleeding? No, it's not. But ouch though!"
"Pardon Skalamander's trigger finger. He does try to look out for me," said the man in front, "But let's start again with introductions. I am Van Kleiss, leader of Abysus and the Pack, whom you've already met. And you two must be from those space aliens I have been hearing about so much."
"We're not aliens...well, I am but she isn't," said Kala after a minute's thought.
"I'm sure there's a lot to learn from you," said Van Kleiss, "For instance, why your EVO forms are different than the ones the Pack described."
Kala smirked, "We're not EVOs anymore, hobo features."
"Interesting. And it's because of these nanites, am I correct?" asked Van Kleiss, looking at the vats.
"Yeah, but only because we have clearance," sneered Chloe.
"Oh, I know how to give the proper form of authority," said Van Kleiss as his gauntleted arm reached out toward the vat.
Biowulf, noticing the bots were all turning to watch, said "Master, this might not be safe. Surely they would have a failsafe."
Van Kleiss paused before he could touch the liquid metal. "You have a point," he said, retracting his hand, "I suppose I should try to feed more indirectly." With that, the five fingers on his gauntlet extended needles.
Chloe and Kala began to move to stop him only for Skalamander to create a wall of shards to block them. "This won't be good," Chloe said before a blue-scaled hand shot out the surface, grabbing Van Kleiss's gauntlet and squeezing, the needles popping off as the metal creaked, before Matt's now-draconic head, the eyes feral slits emerged before he growled.
"Ah, the male. I was wondering where he was," said Van Kleiss, seemingly unconcerned.
Matt growled before pulling himself out of the vat, back to his draconic self. "How comes he doesn't have trouble moving?" asked Kala with annoyance.
"Pure adrenaline. And I think he's operating on a simpler mindset at the moment," said Chloe.
Matt, meanwhile, glared at Van Kleiss, his lips peeled back in a snarl showing his teeth, and the glow behind them.
Just then, the door burst open and Rex, Techo, Bobo, Chip, and Six were there. "Ok, step away from the..." started Chip before noticing Matt's current appearance and the feral look on his face. "On second thought, you've got this covered, Matt. We'll just leave you to it," said Chip quickly.
Matt glared at the others before throwing Van Kleiss at a wall and flying after him. However, Matt stopped dead when he felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He looked down to see Van Kleiss's fingers, the needles restored, sinking into his skin. He could hear a similar sound to Rex's nanite draining.
Any other creature would have been worried...but a feral Avalarian, as Matt was at the moment, just proceeded to bite the offending hand. An electrical shock told him it wasn't worth eating so he threw Van Kleiss away from him.
"Uh, shouldn't we be helping?" asked Rex as they backed out of the room.
"Not when Matt's in that particular temper," said Chip. Just then, something hit the wall behind them.
They looked back to see Van Kleiss embedded in the wall, looking a little bent out of shape. But he fixed that with several unpleasant-sounding snaps and pops. "Rex, aren't you going to introduce me to your new friends?" asked Van Kleiss.
Chloe called from up high, "My brothers probably gonna eat you..."
"Well, I'll need more security," said Van Kleiss before his hand stretched out and grabbed Techo. On cue, Techo seemed to swell, turning into a rather large cyberwolf.
"Ok, didn't expect that," said Chip.
"Lunch time," said Van Kleiss evilly, stepping aside to let EVO-Techo charge the group.
"It's ok. I can fix this. I just need him to hold still," said Rex.
"Good luck with that," said Bobo as he fired at Techo, whose armor deflected the blasts.
Meanwhile, not far away...
"Ok...the vats are through there," said Tenebra.
"Where'z everyone elze?" asked Leafstripper.
The floor shook at that. "In there," said Tenebra.
Leafstripper said, "Maybe me escape intact?" before everyone heard a rumbling behind them.
"Oh no. I think the super robots here are activating," said Mantichrome with worry.
A second later, the far door blasted open, Virk Draco charging through, panting heavily. "Ok...nobody provoke him," said Tenebra carefully, before Draco shot up to Leafstripper, screamed "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?" before throwing Leafstripper through the vat room door and running into said room, screaming incoherently.
Chip looked through the hole in the door and said, "Could you all wait your turn? We're in the middle of a few things."
Mantichrome's optic twitched at that before he said over and over "Happy place." before saying it a little more aggressively when Leafstripper ran past the doorway, screaming, with some sort of giant cyberwolf in pursuit.
Curious, Tenebra walked into the vat room and looked around. She walked along through the chaos, Leafstripper trying to avoid being a chewtoy and running past her, while she also dodged effortlessly Chloe and Biowulf locked in combat.
It was pretty easy to spot Matt, considering he and Draco were brawling quite recklessly. "Hmm...hi, godfather," she said cheerfully, her hair being whipped back when Matt roared at her. "I'll leave you to it," she said calmly.
She walked back towards where she came from, hopping across Breach's portals and ducking under Kala's thrown body. She walked back to the Monstercons and said, "Well, aren't you going to do something?"
"Leafstripper's still being chased," said Deathgrip pointedly, before Leafstripper was heard screaming "STOP WATCHING AND HEEELLLP MEEEEEE!"
"Just as well, I suppose," said Tenebra, "You four are just as useless combined as you are separate."
"What did you say?" said Whipsting darkly
"But you wouldn't even know what to do now that your leader is in replay mode," said Tenebra, pointing towards Mantichrome.
The Monstercons turned to see Mantichrome saying 'happy place'' and twitching before repeating himself. "It's cause he saw Chip," said Deathgrip.
"Just as well so he doesn't see you jalopies totally fail again," said Tenebra.
"Us? FAIL? LEAFSTRIPPER! GET YOUR TIN CAN BACK HERE SO WE CAN COMBINE AND SQUASH THIS LITTLE TWERP!" roared Deathgrip.
"I thought you'd never ask!" yelped Leafstripper.
He ran back, at them, the wolf on his heels, the other Monstercons staring in horror. "On second thought…" said Deathgrip, before Leafstripper ran through the door, the wolf getting stuck in the doorframe.
The Monstercons quickly assembled into Monstructor. "Time to smash," said Monstructor before punching the wolf.
The others turned as Techo flew past with a yelp, before Monstructor smashed his way in.
"Oh for crying out loud," said Chip, at the peak of exasperation.
"It's Chip. Let's crush him," said Monstructor before being staggered as EVO-Techo tackled him from behind.
Meanwhile, the two wrecking balls known as Matt and Draco were busily trying to demolish each other, though their efforts were more noticeable on their surroundings than on each other.
"You're smashing this place good," commented Draco. Matt growled and lunged again, Draco dodging and whacking him across the back of the head. "Why not help me take out those Federations?" only for Matt to pause and manage to snarl "No...hurt...Kala." before he lunged at Draco again.
"Who cares about Kala? Don't you just want to destroy everything you touch?" asked Draco, sounding rather maniacal.
"No...Kala...MINE!" roared Matt, lunging at Draco and digging his claws in. Draco roared in surprised pain. Clearly, he wasn't expecting Matt's claws to be able to pierce his skin. Matt growled before lifting off, carrying Draco. "You..." he said, apparently with effort "need...BATH!" before letting go over one of the vats. Draco probably could have taken flight and avoided the dip if Matt hadn't help him land with a plasma blast.
Matt flew up before roaring triumphantly from the catwalk, before Draco, back as an experiment popped his head out the nanites, spluttering. "The hell? MINA!" he snapped.
"Oh, Draco, good to see you back to normal. If you have the time and are capable, WE COULD REALLY USE SOME HELP!" snapped Chip as Monstructor was smashing EVO-Techo against the ceiling hard enough to make the room shake in a worrisome way.
"I...don't feel...well...I think Matt's got poisonous talons..." said Draco before falling forward snoring.
"Odd, they aren't poison dragons..." muttered Chris before a hail of bullets from Monstructor broke his line of thought. "Not important. Rex, can you fix Techo now?"
"Not till that thing's out the way. I doubt it's going to let us get close," said Six, slashing a security bot in half.
Chip looked up at Matt, "We could ask him. His IQ's pretty low atm. We could tell him Monstructor stole his mutton."
"Kala, I think you might be able to get Matt to listen better," said Chloe, who had her claws full with Biowulf.
Kala sighed, changing to dragon form and flying up. "Hi, honey..." she said happily, Matt's head whipping round to look at her.
"Kala..." said Matt in a dreamy voice.
"Not right now. That mean old robot took our mutton," said Kala, pointing at Monstructor.
Matt turned to glare, baring his teeth. "Mutton! IT'S MINE!" he said before taking off. However, before Matt could take out his vengeance on the gestalt, he swatted him into a wall. Matt squeaked down the wall before plopping into another vat.
"That was easy," sneered Monstructor evilly, before Matt, in anthro form, pulled himself out, groaning.
"I think all of my hangovers from the last year have teamed up and attacked me all at once," he groaned.
Kala helped drag him out before hugging him. "You're ok...and all dragony again," she cheered.
"Isn't that cute?" sneered the combiner, "I think this moment is so lovey-dovey...that I have to stomp it flat!" With that, he raised up his foot and brought it down on the couple.
Matt and Kala took off, before matt started flying round the room picking up speed. Monstructor opened fire at them, but they were flying to fast for him to keep up.
"Matt...what are you doing?" snapped Kala, trying to keep up, before Matt wordlessly broke out the cycle at high speed, his wings flat out in a glide and strangely glowing before flying at Monstructor at head height, shooting past.
"What was that supposed to be?" asked Monstructor, turning around. He was about to fire again but had to stop and catch his head as it fell off.
Matt turned with a slight tip of his wing before taking off Monstructor's cannon hand, the cut glowing, before he flicked his wings into a hover, out of hand reach. "Nyeh, nyeh," he taunted.
"Hey, that was made up of my body," said Leafstripper's voice.
A chorus of voices from the gestalt snapped "SHUT UP, LEAFSTRIPPER!"
Matt flashed forward again, this time his cut was more visible as it ran across Monstructor's torso. "Ow...you know how long welding takes?" snapped Monstructor before Matt shot back and forth several more times.
"Hah, that did nothing," laughed Monstructor before he fell apart, saying in a gloomy voice, "Oh...darn."
Once Monstructor was a pile of parts, Kala said, "Cool trick. Where'd you pick it up?"
"I...dunno...just knew it," said Matt in confusion.
"Oh, you feeling ok?" asked Kala.
"Just fine," said Matt before yawning, "Kinda sleepy though..."
"Oh boy..." said Chloe. Techo snarling and advancing before Bobo and Rex tackled him.
"Alright, just calm down," said Rex before putting his hand on Techo. Techo quickly started shrinking until he was back to normal.
"Ow," said Techo weakly, before Matt flew over to Monstructor and grabbed Leafstripper's head.
"Ok, tiny, you got one chance before I use you as a teething tool. Who else is here?" he snarled.
"Who didn't you see?" asked Leafstripper.
"Well your boss is here and so's Van Kleiss. Anyone else?" snarled Matt.
Leafstripper nervously asked, "Is this new question or same one?"
Matt sighed before dropping that head and fishing around until he found Deathgrip's. "Ok, you're the one who has the most computing power. Who's here that I haven't met yet?" he asked.
"Not tell-ok, you're not joking. I saw Ghoulwyrm's new partner," said Deathgrip, changing his tune as Matt prepared to munch on his head.
"What? You mean the vampire priestess?" asked Matt.
"He's working with a vampire priestess?" asked Whipsting.
"No, I mean his new protégé," said Deathgrip.
"Is her name Tenebra?" said Matt, starting to squeeze subconsciously.
"Empress Tenebra," said Deathgrip, "As if she could really claim that." Matt glared before squeezing a tad too hard, pancaking Deathgrip's head, Deathgrip saying in a high-pitched voice, "Ow."
He turned back to the others and asked, "So where's Mantichrome? He must be here too." A second later, he turned back to see the Monstercons' sparks fleeing. "Goddammit...spread out. Tenebra's somewhere," he snapped.
"What about the core?" asked Rex.
"It can wait. I'm taking Lumina home," snapped Matt.
The door didn't last long under Van Kleiss's abilities, the man walking into a pitch-black room, a single what could possibly be a console, the only thing under light. He had been feeling an unusual charge since he's sampled the dragon's nanites. He wasn't sure how long it'd last, but he'd better take control of this factory while he still had it.
"Good evening, Van Kleiss," said a voice at that.
"You learn quickly,' said Van Kleiss.
"Oh, I've been monitoring you since your little insane friend accidentally teleported inside," said the voice with amusement, this time coming from his left in the dark, a silhouette just visible from the light.
"If you've spent enough time with Breach, you soon become numb against such 'party tricks' that attempt to scare," said Van Kleiss, sounding unimpressed.
"Oh please," said the voice, now from his right. "I'm far more intelligent then you. For a start, you thought the nanite connection was one-way," it said in a tone that suggested it was about to laugh.
"I have been noticing a few new tricks," said Van Kleiss before his hand became covered in green energy that formed into a spiky ball.
"Oh, you mastered it fast. Sadly you don't have clearance for that. I'm going to have to confiscate it," said the voice, now apparently behind him, muttering into his ear.
"Save the ventriloquism," said Van Kleiss, "I'm not someone who can be frightened by ghost stories."
"Oh, you should be..." said the voice, now in multiple voices from everywhere at once.
Van Kleiss sighed before swinging his arm out, the spiky ball extending on a chain as he swung. The voice just laughed. "Silly primitive, only Shars are allowed that power." before the ball seemed to flicker. "Sending kill code...nanites removed." The flail disappeared completely.
"Easy come, easy go," said Van Kleiss mildly.
"Now please leave or I'll add you to the crew..." said the core, the lights coming on to see Van Kleiss was surrounded by grey-skinned humans in what remained of what were probably scientific gear...and covered in cybernetics. The core laughed before saying "I've wanted new blood for ages..."
"Well, this puts a completely different perspective on things," said Van Kleiss, looking at the corpses.
"That said, you don't need silly things like breathing...or you could leave..." said the core, apparently throwing an out at Van Kleiss.
"Breathing is overrated," said Mantichrome as he entered the room, "Along with all that other biological garbage."
"Oh look, the calculator who walks like a man," said the core through one of the drones.
Van Kleiss turned to Mantichrome and said, "And you must be the leader of these rogue robots I've been hearing about."
"I am my own machine...and this core's mine, local," snapped Mantichrome. He was extra special pissed given how he'd watched the Monstercons get beaten...AGAIN.
"I'm afraid I have to disagree with that," said Van Kleiss.
"Yes, no harming the new drone. I just need to have the others pull his heart out first," said the core, making Mantichrome pause for a second.
"If we agree on nothing else, I think we both know this core is useless to both of us and it would be in mutual best interests to shut it down," said Van Kleiss.
"Oh that's cute. The crew tried to do that and they knew the passwords...but I made them feel better," said the core happily.
Van Kleiss and Mantichrome turned to look at the cyborgs, before Mantichrome said "Nice style, crazy lady."
"Sir, don't you think her choice of troopers is...distasteful?" asked the Schizophrona. The cyborgs were definitely not pleasing to the optic, even if one wasn't an organophobe.
"True, they could use impro-" began Mantichrome before his head was shot off, the head saying "You know of course, that this means war."
"I think we are in agreement," said Van Kleiss.
"Oh well. All security to core room, eliminate all intruders," said the core happily, laser fire streaking from every direction from the drones and wall turrets.
"Schizophrona, attack!" snapped Mantichrome.
"Er, I was not designed for direct combat," said the Schizophrona, hovering backwards.
"JUST DO IT!" screamed Mantichrome's head, as his body staggered around. "Warmer...warrmeeeer..." Mantichrome said before his body grabbed some rubble next to his head and plonked it on its neck. "Ice cold," said Mantichrome darkly.
Despite its better judgment, the Schizophrona had to help Mantichrome, only because its programming told it to. Mantichrome, meanwhile, had managed to get his head back on, heading through the melee before getting to the core. "Now then..." he said evilly, before shoving his claws into it. "Now you're mine," he sneered before yelping as his wrist got clamped.
"No, you're mine. Let's have a look at your system," said the core.
"I am not a toy!" snapped Mantichrome.
"That's strange. Your operating systems like one..." sneered the core AI as it smashed it way through the firewalls, "Oh, you've never actually met an Atlantean AI..."
"Let go of me, you outdated abacus!" snapped Mantichrome.
"Outdated? Oh, that's amusing coming from a synthetic less than a few hundred years old," said the AI, before it poked into Mantichrome's settings. "Hmm...so...what was your plan?" it asked conversationally before turning his deceit settings off.
"Take command of the factory, activate the warbot army, destroy all organic life," said Mantichrome.
"So silly, when you have clearly created cybernetic minions. I suppose I should make your AI the same as your plans," said the AI, before beginning to dial down his processing power.
"What aarree yooouuu dooooiiiinnnnggg?" asked Mantichrome, his processor slowing down a lot.
"Making you the dullard you act like," said the AI, before thinking "Hmm." before uploading something.
However, Mantichrome was in no condition to be playing the program right now. His processing speed was a complete crawl. Slow-witted would be an ideal term to use with him.
"Now then, the human with the metal hand tastes like microchips. Go and lick him," said the AI cheerfully, releasing Manti. Mantichrome slowly stood up and started walking towards Van Kleiss, though he was going at a turtle's pace. "This should be good," said the core AI, smugly.
Tenebra hadn't forgotten her mission. The core of this factory still needed to be destroyed. But she was expecting the others to already be starting on it when she got there. What she found was rather disappointing.
There was also the terrifying fact that the core appeared to have co-opted the dead crew but that was moot given some human and her goons were attacking them. "I think...I'll come back later." she said carefully, "Well, at least Matt will be easy to capture in his current state. Probably easy to break and tame as well."
She smirked at that, turning to walk away and walking into what felt like a wall...in combat pants. She looked up to see an anthro dragon with an athletic muscle build glaring down at her before it said in Matts voice. "Pardon'e?" in a dark tone.
"Shouldn't you be busy with-" started Tenebra.
"Draco? Oh, he got a double dip, fixed him right up," said Matt.
"Erm...oh thank God that you're-urk!" said Tenebra, yelping as Matt grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up with no apparent effort.
"Yeah, we finished off Mecha-Dumbzilla. I got a new trick by the way, and followed them...only to see someone was already watching. IMAGINE THAT!" he said snarling.
"You can't treat the Empress of the Shar-Virk this way!" snapped Tenebra.
"You're no empress. You're just a little girl that got too big for her britches in more ways than one," said Matt, "And it's time to take you home."
"NO!" roared Tenebra, blasting Matt in the face, causing Matt to drop her before she readied her blade. "I'll kill you first!" she roared, lunging at Matt who easily dodged the blade before backhanding her. Tenebra snarled, fire, ice, and electricity crackling around her while the floor lit up with green earth energy.
Matt glared. "You're just a kid. I had a year of working with my dragon powers before I even got a halfway form later. You...nope," said Matt, sending a plasma blast at her which morphed into an energy net that almost pinned her. Blasts of elemental energy shot out at Matt, which Matt deflected easily. "Still more flash than substance," he said.
"I WAS GOING TO LET YOU LIVE!" screeched Tenebra.
Matt smirked. "This is a roar," he said, before letting out a dragon roar perfect for terrifying any other dragon that hadn't mastered their fear element yet. "Now then, do we have to keep fighting? Because there's a computer matter that demands more attention," said Matt.
Tenebra, who looked pale and was shaking, managed to get her senses together. "I'm not going anywhere. I was treated like I was made of porcelain back home. At least I have respect now," she managed, her shaking voice spoiling the speech somewhat.
"It's not respect. It's pity," said Matt before pushing past her.
"DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" screamed Tenebra aiming a slash, only for Matt to spin and grab her ion blade wrist, twisting it till she let go, yowling.
"You're going home," he hissed angrily, taking the discarded ion blade.
"You're not my father!" she snapped.
"But I am your godfather," said Matt, "And you're still a child, in age if not in body."
"Let...me...go!" snarled Tenebra, before Matt pushed her towards Six.
"If she tries to escape, don't be afraid to clip her wings...literally. The nanites'll fix it," he said to Six. With that, Matt headed towards the core.
Tenebra glared at Six at that "You won't hold me for long, human," she sneered.
"We'll see about that," said Six.
Tenebra sneered, readying her claws before going cross-eyed as Six gave her a pinch her at the base of her neck. "I'll have the salmon, mummy," she gibbered before collapsing.
Inside the core room, Matt found Van Kleiss trying to fight of several cyborg zombies, the Schizophrona trying to deal with the turrets, and Mantichrome...doing a spot-on impression of a windup toy.
Matt stared for a minute. "The fuck is happening?" he said in confusion, reaching out and grabbing the Schizophrona as it passed. "Ten seconds, talk," he said calmly.
"The core crashed Mantichrome. I am too busy to be bothered with you right now," said the Schizophrona before flicking Matt away.
Matt yelped before something clicked and he flicked his wings to land on his feet, the core saying happily, "Oh, the combat training has taken."
"Yeah, thanks for the patch up. Now power down," said Matt. The core just started to laugh at that. "Erm...thats a no..." said Matt slowly, before the core said "I have orders to stay active till the council relieves me."
"The council has long since been dissolved...into dust. In fact, all of Atlantis is dust by now," said Matt.
"Orders are orders...and I have orders to kill anyone else who gives the order," said the core happily.
"You seem to be really fond of that particular part of the job," said Matt.
"Well, if you enjoy your work..." said the core, before Matt seemed to freeze. "...that and overrides," she said.
"No fair," groaned Matt.
"Don't care. Now then..." said the core, apparently focusing on the Pack who were slowly being penned in.
Chloe and Kala were also apparently, Draco as well thanks to some leftover nanites, the three writhing in pain.
"Must be a security override," said Chip, observing them, "Anyone with Atlantean nanites isn't going to get anywhere near that core."
"Good thing my nanites are homemade," said Rex.
"Then do something. The core's probably gloating if our track record's like anything," said Chip, trying to override the override with virus blasts.
"I'm on it," said Rex, building up his Rex Rider and zooming through the halls.
The warbots were already on the loose again, several of them firing at him as he passed, but he was going far too fast for even a bot to hit, turning the corner to see Six near a black-scaled dragon hybrid in pain. "Rex, hurry," called Six.
"Working on it," said Rex as he zoomed past.
The core's cameras and drones turned as Rex smashed in. "Oh, a new player. You have nanites...why aren't they dissolving you like I told them to?" asked the core conversationally.
"Different company, incompatible software," said Rex.
"Kill him," said the core calmly, the turrets beginning to fire.
Rex built up his Block Party hands and said, "I'm barely even feeling them."
"Hmm...well, I haven't been out personally before..." said the core before a hatch opened and what looked like a normal woman in a combat suit walked out.
"Hmm, if you're like ZAG-RS, then that must just be an android," said Rex.
"The current term is 'gynoid'," said the woman with the core's voice.
"Yeah...I won't be able to say that with a straight face," said Rex.
The android glared and said, "I'm going to enjoy killing you." before its arm turned into a blaster and it started shooting.
Rex easily blocked the shots with one hand. "You've obviously haven't put any time into practice," he said.
"Nope...just charging," sneered the android before a larger blast knocked Rex off his feet.
"Ok, you've got more of a punch," said Rex before building up his Smack Hands, "But so do I."
"Take your best shot, barbarian," sneered the android.
"If you insist," said Rex before spinning his right fist and throwing a twister punch at the android.
The android smirked before grabbing the fist and stopping the punch. "Cute," she said before kicking him flying into the center column.
"Rex, don't waste time with the puppets," said Van Kleiss, who was still fending off the cyborgs, "Cut the strings."
Rex turned his head to see the pillar before activating his fists and smashing into it, cracks appearing and the woman screaming, gripping its head. The cyborgs faltered at that, allowing Van Kleiss to knock them away. "As interesting as this has all been, I should be leaving now," he said.
Rex glared before smashing the pillar, the pillar smashing to pieces and the woman droid twitching before collapsing like a puppet with cut strings, the lights flickering before a male voice said "AI has suffered critical damage...self-destruct protocols activating."
"Oh...right. I just smashed the brain of this place..." said Rex with growing realization.
Tenebra meanwhile appeared to not be recovering. "We need to get out of here," said Six, "This whole place is coming-"
Tenebra's fist lashed out, scales spreading as it did and dealing out a dragon strength punch. "No thank you," sneered Tenebra, before running down a corridor.
"We really should be going," said the Schizophrona before grabbing the still-stalling Mantichrome and vanishing into data.
Chloe and Kala, with the others, ran in at that. "What's happening?" Chloe said, Kala running over to Matt.
"I broke the AI core," said Rex, "I probably should have plotted out an exit before that."
"Everyone...back to the Keep!" yelled Calen.
Matt glared. "Where's Mina?" before noticing Six getting back up, rubbing his jaw.
"I left my guard down," said Six, sounding annoyed with himself.
"Trust me, she has mastered the sneaking. We gotta go," said Matt desperately, as the voice said "Destruct charges 35% prepared."
"Er, what are we over right now?" asked Rex as they ran.
"Class 3 civilization detected...breaking orbit to avoid contamination from detonation," said the voice, the ship shaking.
"Oh, so it's taking us up to the stratosphere to explode," said Rex dryly, "How considerate."
Matt paused, before saying "Escape pods, this way." pointing down a corridor.
"Keep to clean. We gotta go, now before this thing breaks atmo," said a voice on the Providence com.
"By my calculations, there's a 98.6 percent chance we won't make it back in time," said Chip with worry.
"I'm telling you, the escape pods are this way," said Matt urgently.
"Do we dare take that chance?" asked Techo.
"Our odds are more favorable, maybe," said Chip.
"It's our best chance," said Six calmly.
Matt nodded, "This way."
Tenebra smirked as she walked onto the command deck of the most complete ships in the Shambhala factories fleet. She opened a screen to show it had a cargo of nanites...all ready. "Even better. Computer, get us out of here," she said.
The computer said "Local vessel at heading 412-12...should I engage?" a view of outside appearing and a reticule appearing.
Tenebra stood back before saying, "No, let them go. It's not worth it."
"Confirmed. Please state destination," said the computer.
"Set a course for Taleth's command ship. And move the cargo to somewhere only I know. And then delete the cargo from logs," said Tenebra evilly.
"By your command, warmaster," said the computer.
Here! Go, go, go!" said Matt, the group having arrived at a row of hatches in a corridor.
"Charges at 95% prepared...safe distance achieved."
"Ok, everyone into a pod. And don't try to clown car inside one," said Matt.
Matt ran over to a panel as everyone got in, before typing something in, seemingly from memory. "Code accepted...pods will launch in 10 units," said the computer.
Matt jumped in the last one just as the hatch closed and he was thrown back, the pod spinning to show the Shambala ship, now decloaked rapidly vanishing into the black of space, before the night sky suddenly turned, just for a second, to daylight
"Ok, now we just have to wait for a pickup," said Matt.
"Class M planet detected...all pods targeting closest settlement," said an emotionless high-pitched voice.
The Bladestorm was able to pick up the pods pretty easily. They couldn't find even pieces of wreckage from the Shambala ship, so it was presumed its destruction was absolute. Not that it was much of a surprise considering it was an Atlantean ship.
The loss of the Shambhala ship and its technology was a disappointment as it might have been used to create a more efficient cure. But considering its AI was going to eradicate humanity, it was an acceptable loss. Some might complain that they didn't get anything from this mission. There are a few who respectfully disagreed.
Matt stood on top of Providence Headquarters, let the desert wind blow against his wing membranes. He may have been wingless for a relatively brief time, but it still felt like too long. He stood at the edge of the rooftop, getting ready to push through his instinctive fear of falling.
"Mind if I join you?" Matt turned around and smiled. Kala was standing there in her anthro dragoness form. Maybe it's just been a long while since he's last seen it, but she seemed more beautiful than he remembered.
"I'm not sticking around long," said Matt, "I was planning on going for a flight."
"I can't remember the last time we went flying," said Kala, "I mean, it was probably some time on Avalar, but it's been way too long."
"We've got a lot to catch up on," said Matt with a lot of feeling.
"Is Chloe going to be joining us?" asked Kala.
"She doesn't seem to be interested in using her dragon form right now. She seems to prefer her werewolf form," said Matt, showing a bit of disapproval.
"Good, that means we'll have plenty of privacy," said Kala with a bright smile.
Matt smiled back before offering his hand. Kala took it as she stepped up to the edge of the roof. The two dragons jumped off and fell for a little bit before they opened their wings and soared off into the sky.
There's another chapter, one that gets a chance to show Van Kleiss as well as the Pack. We're also featuring Tenebra, who become a recent threat in the last story and she's growing more dangerous. We also get to tie up the problems that Matt, Chloe, and Kala have been having both in this story and the last few ones.
The next chapter will be up next Monday and the pace is going to be picking up. Keep an eye out and please review.