To the readers
I appreciate any comments on the story.
Notes
[] are used to indicate stage directions
All dialogue follows a "Speaker: dialogue" format
{} are used for author comments.
CONTINUE
[Axel zooms out on the map. He sees the group of shadow figures that surrounded the tower following Ai and Ombret through the tower wires. And a second group on a course to a beam of light in the inner zone.]
Axel: Where are you coming from? They reached the Annex somehow.
[He traces back a path connecting the two groups movements to where they could have initially been one group and split up from. The lines travel over plateaus and up transportation platform routes. The intersection is a point on the edge of the sector.]
Axel: I'm speaking in party mode so the invaders can't hear me. We have two problems. They originated on this waypoint, but they've split into a squad to hunt Ai and a separate squad to delve further into the core zones.
[More red dots appear on the map at the plateau with the origin waypoint.]
Ethan: Come on, they can spawn in reinforcements?! We need to capture that spawn base or else we'll be overrun from a war of attrition.
Axel: I don't know why they want to go deeper, but they need to be stopped. We don't even know who they are.
Ethan: I mean… they're obviously the Men in Black agents. The Black avatars and all the warts?
Axel: If they're the men in black, why did they work so hard to capture the Annex when they would already have virtualization and supercomputer technology?
Ethan: They could be using RCAs like we did. With custom turbo controllers too those pay-to-win shills.
Ai: [wide eye] Probably Mocap suits or full VR rigs. Feet sensors, treadmills, the whole shebang.
Axel: I would love to know what the delving squad wants, but we don't have the man power to observe them and stop them once they reach their objective. We're already playing catch up and improvising.
Ethan: You on defense and I rush the objective with nutcase and princess XANA?
Ai: I'm. Not. XANA!
Axel: Sure. I'll devirtualize and respawn on you guys once you reach their beachhead.
[Axel sets up a virtualization. He and Ethan step into the scanners. Axel presses up button on the controller hanging from above. The scanners close and their hair gets blown up as air and light rush past them. Axel with grim determination with eyes closed and Ethan grinning with his eyes open eyes watering from the air.]
[A Tarantula is watching more shadow avatars exit the tower Ombret and Ai arrived from. Similar vantage point structure in the inner zone from ep 4.]
Ethan: Integration!
[Tarantula is absorbed and turned into a sniper rifle.]
Ethan: [surprised] Huh, I don't have to get them in the red if I quick ball them? Okay.
[Lines up one of the shadows in his sights. The leader of this group. Jerks head down. Travel path line of laser completely misses but would have hit had he not dodged. The laser just ricochets off the bridge.]
Ethan: It… That… That's literally just hacking! Hurrrgh. At least I know it's automatic.
[Two of the shooters below tap their wrists and an oval shaped board virtualize in front of each of them. Each of the boards has razor sharp edges with a blue flame trailing behind. The two shooters jump on the boards and they fly up to where Ethan is while shooting blue arrows from their arms.]
Ethan: [While dodging and returning fire] Hey, I have an idea. Stop being forking copycats and come up with something original. I came up with this FIRST!
[Shadow avatars round a corner to see the bridge leading to the beam of light. Cliff face with a jagged pattern cut into the top of the cliff face right to the edge of the bridge. The bridge reaches out to and curls around the beam. Or it would. The part that curls around the beam is broken down on the bottom of the pillar valley below sticking out the electrical field above the planetoid surface, the bridge portion is sheared off.
Leader of the group points out and growls. Two of the shooters step out. Refocus on the corner the agents turned. Axel is there waiting.]
Flashback
Axel is running up to the top of a pillar valley and jumping down to the bottom over and over.
Axel LP: 100 - 75 - 50
BING
LP has dropped below 70%. Switch to phase 2.
Axel LP: 50 - 25
BING
LP has dropped below 40%. Switch to phase 3.
[Axel takes the new scythe off his back. Axel cuts off the bridge by spinning his scythe like a saw to cut through it. Axel cuts into the bridge the triangular wedge pattern that's there later]
Axel: They're going to notice that.
[He cuts through the cliff to make the triangular pattern around the cliff face so it fits in.]
Axel: [turns back] If would look better with cross hatching. No Sherlock, stop being a perfectionist. Go hide.
End flashback
[Shooters are about to touch their wrists. Axel slips out of hiding.]
Axel: Chamber
[Boosts into the air from his greaves hitting the ground.]
Axel: Hammer-
[The leader notices and turns back to point at him.
BURZING
Lazer arrow nails Axel.
THUD
Axel LP: 25 - 22
Shadow figures turn around and charge him. Axel kicks up same as he did with Ai in training.]
Axel: Rend
[Continuously spins scythe around to create some space. They split around him without getting hit. Axel has trouble stopping the spin. One of the staff users stabs in. Axel guards it with steer guard and-]
Axel: Dual Rend
[-to slice the staff apart with the axe end. The owner of the staff keeps coming bare handed. Comes in with a flurry of blows which axel deflects off his gauntlets. Dodge, weave, snares the last punch with the ring guard of his scythe and twists it horizontally to trap its arm.
He posts the polearm in the ground and vaults over the martial artist's arm to kick a sword wielder, back kicks the trapped avatar's head on the way down, then spins under the martial artist's arm bringing the bottom of the polearm up with him and sweeping the martial artist's legs. Before he can finish off the downed avatar, the leader with the zweihander comes in with a slash at the neckline.
Axel frantically swings the polearm up onto his shoulder and pivots to the right slightly in upper guard. The leader's swing lands at the center of his guard. It hits the scythe hilt, but its redirected into Axel's shoulder. It bites into him and exits back out of his bicep.]
Axel LP: 22 - 10
Axel: STOP!
[All the black avatars continue attacking without hesitation. Axel chamber kicks off the ground and flies out of the storm of swords and arrows. Behind the mask he's smiling.]
Axel: HAMMER TIME!
[Fully extends scythe blade and slams it down into the bridge, the shock wave cracking the bridge off at the weakened points he cut where it joined the cliff. Everyone on the bridge falls into the electrical field of the planetoid below.]
Axel: Yep, I lost. But my plan won.
[As he falls Axel spots something and loses his smile. He sees two of the shooter avatars flying their boards toward the beam of light. Axel panics-
-only for them to get shot off their boards by a flurry of lasers from sprites, the orb monsters, descending from above.
KURRM
KURRM
KURRM
BURRZZN
The black avatars devirtualize into black wireframe and Axel into blue.]
[Ai and Ombret's elevator platform exits the planetoid and ascends to one of the structures hovering above its surface. They run down a hallway between plateaus. They stop near the doorway to a wide open room, edge closer, and peer out into the room.
The door they're by is halfway up the wall. Attached on the wall is a raised walkway running the length of the room. The raised walkway has doors that exit off to the left and right toward other plateaus. Ramps leads down from the walkway to the center of the room.
The pit of the room has rectangular prism like barriers running parallel and off to each side of the ramp and ramps that lead up to other raised walkways along the sides of the room. At the far end is a tower connected to a giant block like machine. The far wall of the room is missing allowing the black ship to dock there. On the left and right walls, some pieces of the walls are missing as if the back half of the room is under construction. The segments that are there are made of square metal violet plates.
The giant black brick like vehicle in question was docked at the edge of the room with two ramps leading from the side of the ship to the floor of the room. Two shooter shadow avatars were by the bottom of the ramp to the ship standing guard. But where the ramp met the ship, there wasn't a door or any kind of opening. Just a mat black color the same shade as the biomass on the tower.]
Ombret: What is that?
Ai: If I didn't know any better, and keep in mind everything I know is either from the internet or stories, I would say that's a vehicle of some kind.
Ombret: What kind of vehicle?
Ai: Well, to even create avatars that could invade us, they would have to have their own supercomputer. So, if would have to be something that could cross into the Annex from another world.
Ombret: OMG. What Mr. Frosch said to is what XANA was warning us about. And if these guys are powerful enough to scare a virus that wants to take over the world, what does that mean for us?
Ai: Whoever these guys are, they don't have much of an imagination. It's as if they created a cube and slapped some engines on it.
[The MIB on overboards are able to outmaneuver Ethan's shots. They land a hit on him, and he is knocked off the his sniper post.
Ethan LP: 100 - 94
Ethan lands on the bridge in front of the shadow avatars who are heading toward the edge of the sector, back the way they came. The shadow avatars dart out of the way. Ethan tries kicking a footbomb toward the enemies, but they dodge out of the way before it even hits the ground near them perfectly outside its explosion.]
Ethan: AoEs don't work? So it's not targeting protection.
[With lazer arrows whizzing by Ethan, with no cover on the bridge, hits the deck and rolls. Just barely avoids the overboard shooters trying to ram him off the bridge. Focus fires on one shadow avatar with a sword three times. It dodges, blocks the second and takes the third.
Ethan follows up with a quick switch to his pistol, but one of the shooters blocks the shots with its overboard protecting the sword wielder.]
Ethan: Only one automatic dodge. They're like Taken Thralls. Hopefully they don't commit mitosis.
[He rolls back onto his feet. Shoulders empty rifle, Sniper attaches to his back holster with a magnetic snap, and retreats to the tower platform while shooting back with master rifle.]
[Axel is back at the terminal. He puts on a headset, then looks at the computer windows.]
Axel: Huh?
[Just then, Kankrelats spawn behind on the tower platform so Ethan's are surrounded.]
Ethan: What?! The men from the black dress shop wasn't enough, now we have to deal with the Flood.
[A Kankrelat fires at a shooter shadow avatar. It autododges, but another Kankrelats shoots the shadow before it can regain its stance stunning it.
Ethan dodges a swords wielder's swing, fires at it to make it dodge away, then spins around to fire at the Kankrelats destroying one. A close quarters avatar with its staff runs up to attack Ethan. Ethan tries to kick it, but the shadow avatar parries his leg down, grabs it, and throws him back on the bridge. He lands on his back near the Kankrelats. His head is 2 inches from a Kankrelat, but it keeps on firing at the shadow avatars. Axel notices this.]
Axel: They're ignoring him?
[Ethan rolls onto his side, spots a monster, winds up and kicks a kankrelat like a football. A Kankrelat goes flying and arcs perfectly into Ombret's cap.]
Ethan: GOAAAAAL!
[The shadow avatars start attacking back on the monsters. Kankrelats ignore the avatars destroying the swarm and still focus on just one at a time. A barrage of lasers from several Kankrelats devirtualize one and it dissipates into grey pixels.
KURRM
Ethan absorbs a kankrelat. Obtains a new pistol that looks like a kankrelat shell for the barrel. Aim down sights and destroys another monster.]
Axel: Obelisk stop!
[Ethan stops before he shoots a third.]
Axel: The head crabs aren't trying to kill you. Let them help.
[A Blox virtualizes behind the black avatars. It's a cube with an eye on each side face, and tiny 6 legs scuttling from the bottom. The blox skitters out and shoots an ice beam at the avatars. They autododge, but the blox is shooting a continuous stream of ice, so it just resprays back over them. They are frozen in place.]
Axel: Try treating them as squad mates. They're focusing on the flyers. They're helping us.
[The beam is tracking one the flying shooters. The blox manages to freeze it and it flies in a straight line after that. The blox then sweeps across the bridge. Even with the autododge, most of the shadow avatars freeze in place covered in ice. Ethan takes the opportunity to headshot them with the kankrelat pistol.]
[Ai and Ombret in the room with the box ship. They are sneaking among the violet cubes when Ai stops.]
Ai: Um, Ombret?
Ombret: Yah
Ai: You ehhh, have something on your head.
[Shows Ombret with a kankrelat on her head. The Kankrelat has her beret comically perched on top of its shell.]
Ombret: What? Did one of those explosions leave a burn?
Ai: [eyes fixed] Much more terrifying than that.
[Ai creates a mirror in front of Ombret, a flat reflective borderless rectangle suspended in the air, in front of Ombret with creativity.
Ai LP: 100- 50
Ombret just freezes for a second after seeing the kankrelat. Then-]
Ombret: Get it off, GET IT OFF!
[She's flailing around trying to get the Kankrelat off her head, but it seems to have gotten its metal legs stuck in her hair. Ai grabs the EMP off her back and whacks the kankrelat onto the ground. Ombret pounces on it with her beret trapping it.]
[There's only a few agents left. The monsters are mopping them up. Ethan is taking advantage of the monsters not shooting and playing Keepy Uppy with them. When a kankrelat jumps out of the EMP cap.]
Ethan: No, you don't get it. Balls, stay in the goal. [kicks it back in]
[Back in the landing zone, Ombret turns over the beret. Ai is posed ready to smash it with the EMP. But there's nothing in the beret.
Ai: Did the parasite borrow into your head and take over your brain?
Ombret: How would I know? Is that what those things do?
Ai: That's what Obelisk's friends told me.
[While she's holding it upside down, a Kankrelat comes sailing out. Ai smashes it with the EMP before it can hit the ground.]
Ombret: Where are these things coming from?
[Ethan walks over to the cap.]
Ethan: Now are you going to stay in there?
[Ombret pokes her head in the beret to inspect it.]
[Ethan looks in the cap.]
Ethan: Huh this thing looks a lot like Frenchie. [Ombret's head is at the bottom of the cap.] It's even got her stupid hair.
[Tugs on the head's hair.]
[Back in the landing site, Ombret is sucked into the hat which drops to the floor.]
Ai: Ombret?
[Ombret emerges from the cap with Ethan still grabbing her hair.]
Ethan: Heh. It's a Frenchie copy. Though a bit shabby.
Ombret: It's me you idiot.
Ethan: But you were up there with princess XANA.
Ombret: And now I'm here.
Axel: I think her hat is some kind of teleporter-
Ethan: -and her weapon cap is the other end. This is so awesome. We can speed run deactivating towers now. You stay back with Ai, I'll just throw your cap into the tower, and she can step through and enter the code before the monsters even know she's there.
[Ai hears footsteps and peeks around the corner. More shadow avatars are almost where Ai behind one of the raised barriers.]
Shadow avatar 1: This place is creepy. Why do we have to do this dangerous job just for just one AI.
Shadow avatar 2: It has to die. Nothing simpler than that. And you should be glad for the chance for payback for what it did.
Ai: [Nervous. Over comms] Guys there are some shadow avatars here.
[Shadow avatars round the corner.]
Ethan: [waltzes over to the EMP cap.] This will be over quickly.
[Ethan drops his last footbomb into the cap, then fires a shot after it. The explosion can be heard far away.
Show Ai safe. She planted the EMP in the ground and used it as cover. All but one shadow avatar was devirtualized. It attacks her with a zweihander.]
Ombret: Let's hope this thing isn't one way.
Ombret jumps into the cap. Ethan tries to follow her, but his feet touch the bottom. Ombret pops up from the hat right behind the shadow and pins it in space with two of her spacial spikes. Then Ai deletes the ground below it and when the spacial spikes wear off, it falls to its doom.]
Ai LP: 50- 25
Ethan: Moffing Nux! I can't use the teleporter.
Axel: So?
Ethan: So we can't speed run things.
[Ai reaches into the beret to confirm.]
Ai: Too bad, looks like it only works for you.
Ombret: But now I have an awesome ability. And no one else can use it.
Axel: No one else can use it.
Ombret: There's a portal on my EMP too. Maybe you can go through that. Ai.
Ai: Here it comes.
[Ombret jumps in the hat. Ai stuffs the EMP through the beret. It pops out of the cap into Ombret's hands.]
Ombret: Hehehe. Magic.
Axel: Literally inside a computer. Least magical thing possible.
[Ombret pulls and holds the trigger. The purple portal appears in the weapon frame.]
[beat]
Ombret: Okay put it in. [Tries to put Ethan's hand through the portal. Ethan pulls back.] Oh, stop being a wuss. Put your hand in the guillotine.
Ethan: If I have to spend the rest of this invasion fighting with one hand… I'll still be awesome and kill more than anyone else… but it will be bloody annoying.
[Sticks his hand in the portal on the EMP. It just passes through the purple plane without going anywhere.]
Ombret: MY FINGER SLIPPED
Ethan: AHH
[Yanks back hand just as portal disappears. Ombret is ROTFL. Ethan counters by giving her a swirly in her own portal down to her waist. She pops up in the cap nearby on the bridge.]
Ombret: Stop. Stop. Truce. Maybe it only works with the cap on. How do I…? Try shoving the cap on. It doesn't fit with how the Montant bend outward now with the cap off.
Ethan: Clearly its spring released.
Ombret: There's more buttons. How do I. [Pushes a button on the weapon handle and the EMP cap pops back on the EMP and her hat reappeared on her head.] Wait! No. How do I undo-?
Ai: Guys where did the hat go?
[More black avatars surround Ai. One comes up to attack. Ai punches at it. It autododges back.]
Axel: -Scanner, Virtualization.
CRUNCH
[Axel newly virtualized avatar plumets down from the ceiling. Feet crunches into the avatar Ai just punched at.]
Axel: Where did Dark Magician Girl go?
[Arrows start raining in from the crowd. Axel jumps in front of Ai while blocking to try to make the shots his as much of his armor as possible. His gauntlets and greaves break.]
Axel LP: 50 - 47 - 44 - 41 - 38 - 35 - 32 - 29 - 26 - 23
Axel: GO! Run!
[Ai dives for the corner of the nearby barrier just as he turns around to see the zweihander wielder mid swing.
SNIKT
Axel LP: 23 - 0
BURRZZN
The scanners open. Nobody is standing there.]
Axel: AAAAAAAAAAAH
[Then it pans down to the bottom. He's curled up on the ground of scanner, panting and screaming.
Scream comes out audibly to Ethan and Ombret.]
Ethan: Sherlock! What's wrong?
Axel: [short breaths in between words] Muscles cramped. Pins. All over. Spasms. ERGH. Pulse is. [pants] What's 46 x 4?
Ethan: Sherlock can't do single digit multiplication. He's gone dappy.
Ombret: What was special about how he died?
Ai: Nothing, they just attacked Axel with his weapon.
Ombret: Have any of us been devirtualized twice in the same day before?
Ethan: No?
Ombret: So, is there a penalty for dying twice?
Ai: I…I…
Ethan: You're supposed to know these things! That's your role!
[Refocus back on the bridge with Ethan, Ombret, and the monsters. The monsters are constantly firing on the black avatars making them constantly dodge to avoid their attacks. Ombret sprays spatial spikes to pin the remaining hover board riding avatars in place. Their boards keep going without them. Ethan spots something drifting beneath the bridge. The frozen overboard riders.]
Ethan: Skyjack!
[He jumps off the bridge, grabs the legs of the first one to swing off, lands on the second one kicks off, breaking spatial spike and lands in a parkour break roll, brings up his pistol while he's laying sideways on the ground and triple headshots all three remaining black avatars as their heads line up just before they hit the ground.
Ethan: Trip-da-kill!
Ombret: Good. Let's keep this up.
Ethan: [turns his gun on the monsters] Yeah [click] Fork.
[Axel has managed to crawl up from the scanners to the terminal. He leans against the chair for support and slumps down into the chair with a gasp. Notices something and looks at the screen confused.]
Ethan: You take the lead Frenchie. I'll need to be at full HP for the Men in Black agents.
Ombret: Motivation.
Axel: Hmm?
Ombret: That needs to be Inès's modus operandi. How to control the flow of people. It's all about what they're motivated by. It's not easy. It's not simple. It shouldn't be. Because people aren't.
Ethan: What the crunch are you talking about Frenchie?
Ombret: XANA's going to help us fight the shadow avatars.
[Robots focus on her.]
Ombret: I can get rid of the ship and save Ai who I am pretty sure can hear me through these drones. [knocks on the blox]
Axel: She's not XANA!
Ethan: [points at the sky] You don't know that.
Ombret: [to the robots] See we're the scrappy rebels. We have no idea what we're doing. [smugly gestures to herself] Completely incompetent. You gave us a warning they were coming. You don't think we couldn't take them by ourselves. BUT you can't either. They are an organized military force. They will eventually find and kill you. You can take us out easily whenever you wanted and leave you unopposed. That leaves us with something in common. We don't want the Men in Black agents to use the supercomputer to control the world or whatever it is they want, and you don't want them to kill you.
[Hops up on a blox and treats it like a Chaise lounge chair]
Ombret: So, what will it be XANA?
[Another troop of monsters virtualize behind Ethan. Tarantulas, more sprites, golems and another blox. Ombret stands up and preps to run.
BING
A message pops up in front of Axel.]
Axel: "What do you need?"
[Then all the monsters bow.
Ethan steps forward.]
Ethan: Guns. Lots of guns.
Ombret: What am I doing?
Ethan: Depends. How much space is in your hat?
[While Ombret sticks her entire arm in her beret trying to find the bottom, Ethan turns back to the monsters.]
Ethan: One last thing. I need one of those roly-poly ball monsters.
[Megatank is virtualized in front of him. Ethan holds up his hand and the red circuit pattern crackles along its shell.]
Ethan: No cheating this time. Integration.
[Ethan goes through a magical girl transformation sequence as his red windbreaker transforms into a black suit and tie. Complete with pose at the end.]
Ethan: Listen overgrown malware. You strip their autododge. Frenchie, you pin, stun or discombobulate. Then I'll go in for the kill.
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