NeoNazo356: Fanmail!
superpierce: great to see another chapter so soon. though I gotta ask were the unwritten rules when it came to supers based on the same rules for Parahumans in Worm?
NeoNazo356: Passively. Also, Dinah Lance/Black Canary's identity is Publicly Known, so in-world events, or lack thereof in that regard, support that hypothesis that only the most-unstable Villains attack family.
Arnold (Guest): Arnold:Also, just wondering, will the Ceph unleash their bio-weapon against Humanity in Manhattan? (Not really a bio-weapon but more of a bird flu really) If so, will it make Mercer a little wary of it? I don't know the full science behind the Ceph's bio-weapon, but does it effect all biological matter? Or maybe it might over take the Mercer virus in Manhattan if it does appear during the time frame.
NeoNazo356: Look at the timeline.
Supreme King of all Kings: Ghost Rider (Possessed Car One) and Sudden appearance of Gwenpool as well as disappearance. Shaping up real nice.
NeoNazo356: Actually, the Ghost Car is based on Stephen King's "Christine". As for Gwenpool, through me she has become eternal! Just like future-her said she would!
Graymar1: I have been wondering will the truth of what happen in New York come out in the opean like how the American gorvment allowed for what happend like allowing gentek turning pepole in to test subject and leating blackwatch to get awhy for what they had done
NeoNazo356: Well, in context, it isn't as cut-and-dry as people "having the right" to know the truth.
From a governmental perspective, having Blackwatch staff the New York Zero Quarantine is one of those "necessary evils" every government has to commit in order to keep society functioning. Blackwatch specializes in "bio-hazard containment" and have the Emotional Fortitude necessary not to break Quarantine; something any other branch of the military wouldn't be able to match. Since the "Mercer Virus" isn't commutable across large bodies of water, it's extremely important the Quarantine not be broken, under any circumstances, because all it takes is one non-Blackwatch soldier letting an Infected person reach the mainland in a "moment of weakness" to literally DOOM the entire planet. In context, it's one of those "the needs of the many over the needs of the few" kinda things, because while objectively, what Blackwatch is doing might be seen as "evil", they're still keeping the virus contained, which is most-important. At the absolute worst, the entire planet could wind up looking like the Red Zone. At the absolute "best", we're talking "near-extinction level event" levels of bad.
As for the perspective of journalism... Whether or not the American people learn the whole story is a matter of journalistic integrity. According to the Society of Professional Journalists, the guideline of journalistic ethics follows into one of 4 categories. A) Seek Truth and Report It; B) Minimize Harm; C) Act Independently; And D) Be Accountable and Transparent.
Mind you, in the Epilogue of Prototype 2, it's heavily implied that Dana Mercer has been stockpiling evidence for the purpose of blowing the whole thing wide open, but since there isn't a lot of post-series media, it's basically up to FanFiction writers like me to determine the aftermath of such a reveal itself.
At the very least however, we can determine that while she adheres to guidelines A and C, revealing the truth does NOT "minimize harm" and because she remains an anonymous source (using the pseudonym "Athena"), she cannot be held "accountable" for what happens. If you ever read or saw the end of the Watchmen series, you'd remember that Walter Kovacs aka "Rorschach" compiles all the evidence needed to foil Adrian Veidt aka "Ozymandia"s plan to orchestrate an alien invasion in order to prevent Nuclear Armageddon, sacrificing a city "in exchange for" world peace. In the sequel to Watchmen, DC Comics' Doomsday Clock, we learn that the secrets of Veidt's orchestration are eventually revealed, doing the exact kind of harm that the journalistic guideline "Minimize Harm" was created to... well... minimize.
Simply put, I do intend to touch up on the after-effects of Prototype 2, but it's going to be more-complicated than the people "learning the truth"; there's going to be fallout. If you've ever heard of the expression "giving the government a black eye", then revealing the US Government's connection to GenTek and what they allowed Blackwatch to do, that's basically "beating the government to death with a crowbar", because that kind of news can completely destroy a government's credibility and their constituents' faith in it.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Moxxxi's Red Light
October 31, 20:05 EST
"So… How come you guys aren't hunting down the Ghost Car right now?" Virgil asked that evening. The sun had completely set hours before, the sounds of screeching tires and collateral damage sounding through the night air as the denizens of Bludhaven cowered in their homes from the supernatural forces that roamed their streets.
As a result of this, the Red Light was the quietest it's ever been since Virgil arrived in Bludhaven. Nothing sobered one up quite more than the threat of a supernaturally-induced demise.
As for why he assumed they weren't going to hunt down the Ghost Car, it was because they didn't appear to be in any big rush to get out the front door.
"It's a little more complicated than who gets to it first," Roland answered as he spread out a map on the coffee table. "When you have professional and amateur mercenary groups hunting down the same target at the same time, and in a metropolitan area to boot, the overlap between these kinds of groups can cause things to get a bit…"
"Fubar?" Brick groused.
"I was going to say messy, but yeah, things can get fucked up beyond all recognition," Roland went on to finish.
"While the possibility does exist someone actually might manage to kill the Ghost Car before we do, it isn't any huge loss; at least not for us. There will always be other jobs, more money. But it only takes one monumental fuck-up to completely ruin a group's credibility on the open market," Lilith went on to say. "Two years back these bozos thought it'd be a good idea to fire off an RPG in the middle of a street, and while no-one was hurt and nothing too-expensive destroyed, it didn't really do us any favors with the police commissioner. We were lucky to get off with a scolding, a fine, and a one-year ban from trying to hunt the Ghost Car again."
"In that time, we've been able to better prepare for the event where we have another shot at this thing," Roland said producing an ornate silver crucifix and placing it on the coffee table. "Last year the four of us were able to procure a blessed cross from the Vatican, guaranteed to send supernatural horrors reeling. With it we can even make Holy Water, which will be the crux of our plan."
"And even if we don't use this thing to kill the ghost car, we could always kill Dracula with it or something," Mordecai shrugged.
"Nah, Batman already killed Dracula," Brick commented.
"I'd say that was bullshit, buuut…" Virgil hummed, thinking back to how Colonel outright confirmed that the supernatural was not only real, but officially recognized as a tangible threat by the government.
"Well, we could always use the silver to scare off werewolves," Mordecai went on to say.
"So… How exactly do I fit into all this?" Virgil asked. That he had been asked to attend the pre-mission briefing, and with road maps of Bludhaven with Monopoly pieces scattered about, it was safe to assume his inclusion was somewhat necessary for their plan to work.
"When it comes to jobs like this, an important part of the game is the numbers game," Roland answered. "Too few and you can't get enough accomplished to meet your goal. Too many and you get bogged down by the weight of said group. We haven't been able to stop the Ghost Car between the four of us in the past, and since trying with four again isn't likely to work since it didn't the last time we tried, the best move to make to shake things up would be to go for five."
"So then I am up to my eyeballs in this," Virgil said staring down once again at the Monopoly pieces. " . . . Dibs on the racecar."
"No fair, I was going to pick the racecar," Brick whined.
"Wait, I thought the racecar was going to be the Ghost Car," Mordecai interjected.
"No, that'd be the little Chevy Impala matchbox car," Virgil cut in.
"Lilith, are we really sure we should be bringing the kid in on this?" Roland asked as the three continued to bicker lightheartedly.
"Well, we can't really bring any of Moxxi's kids into this, and Virgil has shown himself strangely capable of acting on a moment's notice," Lilith answered. "And like you said, four hasn't worked so-far, so maybe the magic number we're looking for is five."
"Alright, but let's try to avoid getting him killed on his first official outing with us. Last thing we need is to piss off the girl who could hack a drone strike on us," the man said looking over his shoulder toward Athena's room.
"Duly noted," Lilith returned. That girl's technical ability was frightening.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Moxxxi's Red Light
November 1, 09:01 EST
"So… What exactly are we watching?" Virgil asked as he sat next to the other Fortune Hunters in front of the TV as they cued up a pay-per-view video.
"A couple years back, someone with a lot of money to burn got a helicopter up in the air to video tape the Ghost Car's rampage, and since then it's become a thing. Kinda like helicopters following car chases," Lilith answered, a notepad in hand. "Taking note of what the Ghost Car is able to do and not do will be important when night sets and the five of us take our shot."
"Ah, I get it," Virgil hummed. "It's basically like watching another team play football before playing against them yourself."
"Something like that," Roland hummed as he polished the crucifix that was the linchpin of their plan.
"Hurry up, Brick! It's starting!" Mordecai called out, a six-pack of beer on the table in front of him.
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Brick said coming in with a large bowl of popcorn in his hands, popping a squat on the couch that Roland, Lilith, and Virgil were all using, the whole thing tilting to the side briefly under the massive wall of muscle's weight.
" . . . Hey wait a second…" Virgil hummed as the feed began to play. "I know that pantless girl! She's the one who shot at the Ghost Car and got me run over!" he gaped seeing the familiar white-and-pink costume, this time the owner on a bicycle and blindly shooting backwards with a 10mm.
"To be fair, you only count as being run over if you go under the car's tires. At most she got you hit by the Ghost Car," Mordecai cut in.
"Don't remind me," Virgil grumbled. "If I had fillings, they'd have been rattling."
"Hey, any accident you can walk away from is a good one," Roland waved off.
"Yeah, except I couldn't walk away from it. I had to be hitched to the back of a tow truck and carefully carved out the back of the suit," Virgil grumbled.
"Hey, at least you didn't wind up paralyzed from the whole thing. Or driven crazy," Lilith stated.
"The power source Athena used was perfectly safe. It was the Lexosuit that drove that one guy crazy," Virgil countered.
"Fair point," Lilith shrugged.
"Shush, it's starting," Brick cut in.
"Huh… At the very least, they got a better cameraman than last year. Feed's a lot less shaky," Lilith hummed positively.
"That and they probably got a better camera," Roland nodded as he held his notepad, all-business.
"Wait a minute, is she trying to outrun the Ghost Car on a legit bicycle?" Mordecai asked as he squinted his eyes.
"So it would seem," Virgil nodded. "Well... At lest she never skips leg day," he hummed, noticing that even on a bicycle she still managed to stay ahead of the Ghost Car.
The fact that it was pink with white accents to match her costume was secondary.
"Hold on, are those hand grenades!?" Mordecai gawped as the girl began chucking explosives behind her when her 10mm ran dry.
"REMEMBER - MARCUS MEANS QUALITY AT A GREAT PRICE!" the pantless nutball shouted at the top of her lungs as she "cooked" each grenade before lobbing them blindly over her shoulder, a few missing, while others found their mark only for the Ghost Car to slowly regenerate. The next moment she drew a shotgun out of her penguin-shaped backpack and filled the grill of the car with buckshot, shouting- "IN A WORLD OF NO GUARANTEES, YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON MARCUS GUNS!"
"Uh… Why is she talking about Marcus' gun shop?" Virgil asked as the pantless nutball continued to shamelessly plug the Russian gun merchant's wares as she continued to antagonize the Ghost Car chasing her down.
"Marcus offers discounts for anyone who plugs his wares during the Ghost Car hunts," Lilith answered. "God help anyone who doesn't meet their plug-quota. He takes too much joy out of enforcing the consequences of his contract."
"WHEN YOU THINK MURDER, THINK MARCUS MUNITIONS!"
"Of course, some of these lines would get him in trouble if they weren't on pay-per-view," Lilith added at that last one.
"Yeah, no kidding."
"TELL YOUR FRIENDS: MARCUS MUNITIONS!"
"And of course, Marcus makes a buttload of money every Halloween when this happens," Mordecai hummed between drinks.
"Because of course he does," Virgil hummed, his phone vibrating in his pocket a moment later.
"Something up?" Brick asked as the teen checked it.
"Just something at work," Virgil said reading the text. " . . . It's nothing pressing, so I'll be able to watch the Ghost Car's rampage before heading out."
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Moxxxi's Red Light
November 1, 11:35 EST
"Is it just me, or does this guy's suit look eerily similar to that of the chick who got me hit by a car?" Virgil asked a few segments later, this time the Ghost Car being antagonized by a guy in an all-encompassing red and black-accented costume. Other than the twin katana he had on his back, he also seemed to have a whole plethora of weapons on his person, which was weird because he seemed to be pulling them out of thin air from behind himself like a cartoon character.
"Actually, I'm pretty sure Deadpool came first," Roland answered.
"Wait, you know this guy?"
"Unfortunately," the man grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Kid, if ever there were a lesson to take away from this pay-per-view, let it be known that you do not want to get involved with Wade Wilson. Just... don't."
"Why?"
"Apparently I come across as a bit of a dick."
"Jesus!" Virgil yelped as the man on the TV suddenly addressed him.
"Relax, kid. It's only a recording. I'm sure what he's saying is purely coincidental," Lilith assured him.
"You wanna bet, Lil'?"
"Ooooookay... This is starting to get weird," Brick muttered.
"Starting? This shit's getting weird now!" Virgil gawped.
"Oh, you don't even know the half of it, red-eye!"
"How the hell'd he get up in the chopper form street level?" Virgil asked, Deadpool now pressing his face to the camera.
"Because plot demands it!" Deadpool said dramatically, the cameraman freaking out about the sudden intrusion.
"Oh god! The recording is self-aware like that one horror movie!" Mordecai screamed. "Run for your liiives!"
"Hey, don't spill your beer! That would be alcohol abuse!"
"I wonder what literally everyone else thought when they saw this segment," Virgil hummed to himself as he tried to suppress the brain-melting.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Moxxxi's Red Light
November 1, 12:38 EST
"Is it just me, or does this show have a lot of weirdos guest-starring?" Virgil found himself asking a few segments later once Mordecai had sufficiently calmed down and Deadpool made his "exit: stage left" after tossing a bouquet of grenades under the Ghost Car's hood and almost blowing up half a block before running off in an exaggerated manner.
"What do you mean?" Lilith asked.
"Well I mean, first there was a girl with no pants, and then a chatty merc with a tendency to talk to his audience who aforementioned pantless nutball supposedly drew inspiration for her costume from, and now we've got... What exactly am I looking at?" Virgil asked aloud, his brain stalling and incapable of articulating further vernacular.
"Uh... Someone who looks like they came from a Catholic-themed auto-erotic asphyxiation fetish party?" Mordecai suggested in turn.
" . . . " Virgil had no words for what he heard or was seeing. For a minute or so. "Call me in ten minutes when there's something less weird on the TV," Virgil said before getting up and walking off.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Moxxxi's Red Light
November 1, 13:01 EST
"Lilith, when I said to call me back when there was something less weird on TV... I kinda meant it."
"What? This is way more tame than what we were looking at before."
"Lilith... One of them looks like the cross between a lonely emo's wet dream and the "Last Girl" of a slasher flick, and the other looks like the secret love-child of Dr. Frankenstein's monster and a bootleg Jason Voorhees," Virgil said flatly as he gave the two a once over.
The "cross between a lonely emo's wet dream and the "Last Girl" of a slasher flick" was an admittedly sexy young woman with pale skin, short-cropped jet-black hair, heavy black eyeliner, and a lithe feminine frame. Her attire, or lack thereof, resembled something Moxxi might've worn in a "goth phase"; a fishnet tank top over a lacy black bra, a black leather belt with silver studs over a red plaid-patterned skirt, well-used fishnet stockings, and black combat boots. Held in her hands was a baseball bat loaded to the rafters with nails and the words KISS IT carved into the side which she used to vandalize the car's roof.
The "secret love-child of Dr. Frankenstein's monster and a bootleg Jason Voorhers" was a hulking behemoth cut from the same cloth as Brick clad in a large trench coat, worn jeans, black combat boots, and a gas mask. The man was completely bald and his skin had a sickly green palour, a large pair of steak knives like were used to butcher livestock held in his hands as he carved actual trenches into the chassis of the Ghost Car.
"Chick's kinda hot," Mordecai nodded appreciably.
"Keep it in your pants, Mordy, she barely looks college-age," Virgil said flatly.
After seeing Yoko in her "sexy sniper" outfit at the company Halloween party, he was not embarrassed to look at a woman in such risque clothing. Simply exacerbated at all the nonsensical weirdness because anyone going after the Ghost Car were either too serious or not serious enough.
"Hmmm... Seems like spike strips have a very brief effect, same as last year," Roland hummed, completely nonplussed by their attire as he continued to take notes.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
The Bunker
November 1, 14:18 EST
Watching the Bludhaven Ghost Car pay-per-view, it was understandable how to outsiders, the whole thing could be written off as a giant hoax; even in a world of aliens and superheroes. From the high angle of the "Ghost Copter", it could've easily been passed off as a non-possessed Chevy Impala on a drunken rampage, though admittedly, watching the car "regenerate" from whatever damages it incurred, either from running down criminals or run-ins with mercenaries and the like, was a bit more-realistic than what CGI could provide.
Having gleaned some idea of what he'd been roped into, he bundled up and headed off to C.E.L.L. Motors in the crisp November air, making his way down to The Bunker through the secret passage he'd been shown. A quick vaunt to the R&D and he was greeted by a cheerfully-grinning Otacon, the man holding something behind his back.
"Heya, Otacon. What's with the smile?"
"Oh… I just finished fine-tuning a little something I think you'll enjoy very much," the man said with a grin. "Since you've gotten wrapped up in something we can't really afford to let you use the Nanosuit for, we decided to set you up with the next best thing. Think of it as an early birthday present," he said passing a box wrapped with snake-themed paper and a red ribbon forward.
"That's great but, what exactly do you guys think I've gotten wrapped up in?"
"Why, the Ghost Car of course. After getting hit like that, your psyche profile speculated you might want to get involved."
"What? How did you know about that?"
"You've been exploding on Twitter," Otacon said holding up his phone, a reel of him in the T-45 Power Armor "tanking" a hit from the Ghost Car cued up to play.
"Oh… right…" Virgil hummed. "Man, it must be really easy to monitor people now that we basically monitor ourselves, huh?"
"Like you wouldn't believe," Otacon said rolling his eyes.
"So… What's in the box?" he asked, noting it had a bit of heft to it, but not too much.
"If I wanted you to know that, would I have covered it in wrapping paper?"
" . . . Touche," the teen admitted, tearing into the wrapping paper to find, of course, a box waiting for him. Setting the box down on the nearby table, he lifted up the lid before pulling out what looked like a full-body suit of rubberized muscle, similar in design to the Nanosuit's fibers, but non-metallic and largely simplified in anatomical structure. " . . . Wait a minute, is this-"
"Your very own Sneaking Suit!" Otacon said excitedly.
"So that's what the snake-themed paper was for," Virgil hummed looking at the leavings.
"Well, we couldn't very well call you Snake without a suit of your own," Otacon said with a nod. "And plus, you won't always be able to use the Nanosuit, so in context, this is the next best thing. What makes the Sneaking Suit so-amazing is-"
"Snake already told me how it worked when he started teaching me CQC," Virgil cut in.
" . . . Oh… I see…" the man deflated. "I even made a really cool Power Point presentation to explain all its functions too."
"Sorry if I took the wind out of your sails," Virgil apologized.
"Hey, nothing to it. At the very least, I can hold onto it for anyone who doesn't know what it is," the man waved off with a smile. "Here's the user's manual, which I recommend you familiarize yourself with," he said passing forward a nondescript black paperback book labeled Sneaking Suit User Manual.
Noting that it wasn't too hefty, the text of a reasonable size, Virgil was about to dig into it before heading home when he heard Otacon sighing dejectedly. Looking between the anime fanboy and the book in his hands, the teen sighed before snapping it shut, getting the man's attention.
"You know, this seems like a bit of a dry read. Why don't you give me the rundown on what makes this thing unique," he offered, feeling bad for the guy.
Having to stay huddled up underground had to get boring, and there was only so much one could do 'til they've done everything to be done underground.
"I'd be glad to!" Otacon said with a broad smile. "I almost never get to talk shop, at least not with the other Freelancers. They take special courses from actual instructors…" he said twitting his thumbs. "Anyway, to start things off, the current generation of Sneaking Suit combines all the best parts of ifs predecessors, while at the same time making it lighter and more-compact than ever. This was a result of the joint-venture between FOXHOUND Special Forces and Crynet's patented nano-manufacturing techniques. The end result is a product stronger than the sum of its parts and more-streamlined than anything that came before it."
"Now that you mention it, it does look awfully skinny," Virgil hummed leaning forward to take a closer look at it. "Definitely skinnier than the one Snake was wearing."
"Giving the user a smaller silhouette and cross-section is invaluable in stealth ops, because an inch or two opens up more hiding places than you'd realize," Otacon stated as Virgil held up the suit to his chest, noting the sleeker muscles compared to what Snake had worn before. "Now, for features!"
"Nice to see someone's having fun," Virgil muttered to himself.
"Inspired by the earliest iterations of the Sneaking Suit, making their debuts during the Virtuous Mission and Operation Snake Eater, are the special bulletproof fibers that additionally provided effective heat and moisture insulation, reducing both injury and stamina loss to the wearer," Otacon began. "Once the Sneaking Suit was brought back to the United States, it was later reverse-engineered and then recreated with Aromatic Polyamide, becoming the standard issue uniform of Unit FOX, aka the Close Quarters Combat Enforcer Unit, the suit itself improving the wearer's performance in hand-to-hand combat."
"Wait wait wait wait…" Virgil cut in, thinking back to what he'd read about the Virtuous Mission. "Are you saying we stole the Sneaking Suit from the communists?"
"Not stole. Reverse-engineered," Otacon corrected. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first time we took reverse-engineered tech from former enemies. We would've never gotten into space before the Russians if it weren't for all the German scientists we recruited after World War Two."
"I guess that makes sense," Virgil shrugged. "So… How-advanced are the Russians' Sneaking Suits now?"
"They've tried to keep their models' specs under wraps, but it seems like they've hit a wall a couple decades back, so our Sneaking Suits have the undisputed edge over theirs."
"America. Fuck-yeah," Virgil felt himself blurting out.
"Moving on, during the Peace Walker Incident, the Sneaking Suit's camouflage was further enhanced, and then given sound-reducing properties. The suit's fabric was also capable of exerting pressure on the wearer's body to help stop bleeding from any injuries."
"So… The then-current model basically responded to trauma in the suit and the wearer?"
"In a way, that could be how it's explained," Otacon nodded. "Survivability is the most-important thing because you can't bring back your findings if your dead, and it can be a bit difficult for an agent to apply pressure to their own wounds depending on what part of the body is hit, so this context-sensitive clamping system was revolutionary in the field of body armor. Of course, because of the hefty price tag, only FOXHOUND Special Forces really makes use of this; the same reason that Wayne Enterprises' Nomex Survival Suit didn't reach the open market."
"Right, because how much can a human life be worth?" the teen spat, understanding more than ever why so-many soldiers would abandon their countries and sign on for both the Diamond Dogs and Outer Heaven both during and after the Cold War.
"Next on the history lesson of the Sneaking Suits' evolution is the Ground Zeroes Incident, during which the Sneaking Suit was given sound-dampening soles to reduce the sound of footsteps, additionally designed to be heat, water, and shock-resistant while simultaneously maintaining optimum body temperature. During the Cold War, Sneaking Suits from then-on were made with high-strength aramid fibers, further increasing user survivability. During the Shadow Moses Incident that followed, the suit was specifically redesigned to withstand harsh winter environments and prevent hypothermia, representing then-recent advances in poly-thermal technology."
"Shadow Moses… Wasn't that in the middle of Alaska?"
"Actually, it was part of the Fox Archipelago in the Bering Sea, just southwest of the Alaskan mainland," Otacon corrected. "Additionally, the then-current Sneaking Suit incorporated materials similar to those used by NBC troops to provide limited protection against chemical weapons."
"So like a hazmat suit, but also partially bulletproof," Virgil hummed.
"After that was the Manhattan Incident, where the suit was re-worked with a rubber-like material designed to protect against a wider range of toxic substances, including water-repelling scales allowing for ease of movement through water and a pebbled texture to reduce drag not unlike a golf ball. Then-recent advances in electrofiber technology provided a wide range of built-in sensors referred to as "Smart Skin", allowing it to compensate for any damage accrued to major internal organs and maximize performance and safeguard their continued functionality."
"Is there any chance Batman has this kind of tech in his suit?" Virgil asked aloud. "Between stuff like Fear Toxin, Joker Gas, and Poison Ivy's pheromones, you'd think the only thing keeping you alive would be a hazmat suit."
"It's possible. It's the only way he could've survived for so long otherwise," Otacon hummed. "Moving on, are the advancements made just-prior to the Guns of the Patriots Incident. With its camouflage system at its most state-of-the-art, the OctoCamo feature became the strongest it'd been in years, while additionally the "muscle suit" feature of it enhanced the user's strength further than it had been during Operation Snake Eater. Of course, after what happened on the Outer Haven, future suits were made microwave resistant, in the event an area was fortified by a long tunnel filled with microwave emitters."
"So wait, then it's actually true that Snake survived three straight minutes of microwave bombardment? It wasn't just an exaggeration on his part?"
"Oh, big time."
"You're serious?"
"Serious as a heart attack. Which, un-ironically, Snake kinda had the moment the heat was finally off," he said thinking back to what he'd experienced through his remote-controlled robot while things were going to shit all around him. Had he not emptied his bladder, he would've definitely wet himself. "Of course, hopefully you won't have to walk through something that insidious."
"But Christ, can you imagine the size of the burritos you could make in a microwave that big?" Virgil wondered aloud.
"That or enough Hot Pockets to feed all of Metropolis," the man chuckled.
"So basically… this thing has all the after-market options," Virgil hummed as he digested everything he was told. With all the features he'd been told it had, the thing should've made him look like Bane on roid rage, yet the sleekness of its design was a complete juxtaposition to that.
"Yeah, and it cost a pretty penny, so don't lose it," Otacon stated. "Technically speaking, the Sneaking Suit technology isn't really top secret, just restricted, so if you're going to take it out and do your own thing, please exercise discretion. We could always pass off you having a Sneaking Suit as having a family member in FOXHOUND, but if you get too much attention on you, you might be forced to… relocate."
"Well I don't plan on becoming a costumed vigilante in my free time, so I doubt that'll really be an issue," Virgil stated as he gave the suit another once-over. "Anything else I need to know about it."
"Mmmm… Oh right! I almost forgot, the last feature is actually something of a Virgil Valentine exclusive," the man remembered. "This Sneaking Suit has the added capability of interfacing with your body's nanomachines. More-specifically, it'll allow you to compensate for their power-draw, allowing you to make use of your minor healing factor and certain aspects of Nanovision, since the suit itself increases your body's bioelectric yield. Now obviously you won't be able to use Strength or Speed Mode like the Nanosuit itself, but the physical boosts available to you with just the Sneaking Suit should be quite substantial. As long as you hide the suit under some baggy clothing or even just a trench coat, you should be able to pass off any Olympic-level feats of strength and speed as a surge of adrenaline."
"So… I'd potentially be fast-enough to out-run a 1967 Chevy Impala?" Virgil asked hopefully.
Admittedly, a cut of the then-current bounty on the Ghost Car was tempting, but he wasn't going to gamble his life on something without an ace in his corner.
"As long as you slow it down with obstacles like lamp posts, mailboxes, or parking meters to prevent it from reaching top-speed… probably."
"You don't say," Virgil nodded. "So… How exactly do I activate the suit?"
"Ah, for that, you'll just have to read the instruction manual like everyone else."
"Yeah, that figures," the teen sighed. " . . . So I'm really allowed to walk out of here with this thing?" he asked incredulously.
"As long as you exercise the necessary discretion," Otacon replied. "Consider it part of the ongoing experiment. Plus, it'll help you get better-acquainted with the nuances of using the Nanosuit."
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Moxxxi's Red Light
November 2, 17:00 EST
"So, it's five o'clock on the dot," Virgil hummed the next evening, clad in his "ace in the corner" underneath a gray sweat suit. "What's the final plan? This might be my first time working with you, so I want to be sure we're all 100% on the same page."
"Well, since everyone out there tonight is looking out for number one, no-one's really keen on sharing the location of the Ghost Car, so we're going to have to get out there ourselves and do some legwork," Lilith stated as she spread a map of Bludhaven out across the table, prepping the Monopoly pieces for their final debriefing. "Excluding the areas that are still warded to prevent the incursion of the Ghost Car into those areas, there's only so many places left it can be skulking. While Mordecai and Brick will run a sweep of the city in the van, you, Roland, and I will parse out these areas on-foot, and remain in contact via these ear-pieces Athena whipped up for us," she said holding out a small clear box with tiny devices that resembled hearing aids. "They operate on a private frequency, so we won't have to worry about anyone eavesdropping."
"In addition to this, everyone will be required to wear these body-cams," Roland stated passing said body-cams forward. They weren't anything overly-fancy, just some light harnesses worn around the torso with forward-facing cameras mounted in the center. "Long story short, the proof is in the pudding, so be sure the red recording light is on before you catch sight of the Ghost Car. There should be plenty of data storage in the cameras for a full night of patrolling, but I don't want to take any chances on data retention being weaker than estimated."
"So… How do we actually kill the Ghost Car when we find it?" Virgil asked the most-prevalent question on his mind. "I doubt shoving that crucifix you got from the Vatican up its tailpipe will work, and I'm pretty sure melting it down to make silver bullets would be an affront to our lord and savior Jesus Christ."
"Don't worry, Lilith and I have made arrangements, you just focus on sweeping as much of your quadrant of Bludhaven as you're able, and rendezvous at our agreed-upon meeting point in the event someone else spots the Ghost Car first," Roland said pointing at a single red hotel piece.
"Well alright then, let's get out there and do this thing!" Brick said enthusiastically as he rose from his seat and bolted down the stairs.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Bludhaven Back Streets
November 2, 22:01 EST
'Man… It's cold as balls out here, yet I feel as snug as a bug in a rug,' Virgil thought to himself as he patrolled the back streets of Bludhaven.
Under normal circumstances, a sweat suit by itself would never be able to keep him warm in the crisp night air. However, the then-current Sneaking suit he was currently clad in kept his body at the optimum temperature; as-advertised.
Or at least everything from the neck down.
Everything from the neck up was still cold as balls, hence the wool cap he'd pulled over his head.
"Virgil, reporting in," Virgil said putting a finger to his ear with one hand, his map held in the other. "I've cleared roughly sixty percent of my assigned area, and there isn't any sign of the Ghost Car. How're things on your end?"
"I'm coming up dry as well," Lilith answered. "Roland, how about you?"
"More of the same. It also looks like most of the bounty hunters have called it quits for the night," the soldier replied. "Mordecai, how are things on your end?"
"Nothing much. Apart from getting harassed by the police for driving around in circles in the middle of the night in a windowless van, there wasn't anything eventful on my end."
"So… What're the odds we'll even catch the Ghost Car tonight?"
"To be honest, a little on the low side," Roland asked. "We're talking about splitting up half a city between three search parties. Without any credible intel, we're bound to come up short."
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but-" *Yaaaaaawn* "I'm probably going to sleep like the dead after the night's over."
"Hey, don't go falling asleep on us now. We've still got two hours left until the third when the Ghost Car disappears for another year."
"Got it, Lilith," the teen sighed, cutting the feed on his comm. 'Man, if it weren't for the Sneaking Suit I was wearing right now, I'd be completely miserable,' he thought to himself, left alone with his thoughts as he walked the quiet night streets, made even more quiet by his sound-dampening soles. 'Man, when FOXHOUND was retrofitting these suits, I bet they never thought it'd be used to hunt down a possessed Chevy Impala.'
*Rrrrrr-Rrrrrr-RRRRRRRR!*
" . . . "
Looking over his shoulder, the teen was suddenly aware that there was a car parked in the alley he was passing in front of. Hoping beyond hope it was a cop car on a stakeout, those hopes were sufficiently dashed when he was suddenly bathed in headlights, the empty passenger compartment revealed for him to see.
"Mordecai."
"Yeah, kid?"
"If I survive the night…" he said as the car slowly stalked towards him like a big cat. "Tell Lilith I am very cross at her for making me patrol this part of town."
*MOTORPHOBIA*
The Bunker: Cafeteria
November 2, 22:05 EST
"York… Am I a bad person?" Carolina asked, seemingly out-of-nowhere.
"What brought this on?" York asked the red-headed Freelancer sitting across from him.
"I mean… All this baggage I had about him getting the Nanosuit instead of me… and then what happened in Gotham when Batman tried to tail us home the other week…" she said sullenly. "I took that all out on the kid when none of it was really his fault," the red-head sighed tiredly into her mug, sleep eluding her.
"Well, I mean… You did have a lot of emotions bottled up and all," York said consolingly.
"He probably hates me right now. I know it," Carolina sighed, thinking back to the absolute fit she'd thrown in front of her boss.
Ever since her talk with the Director, she'd realized that what she was doing was simply petty.
Virgil's synchronicity rating with the nanotech in the Protosuit was higher than her own, so it simply made the most sense that he remain as its test pilot. And of course the kid was going to be green since he didn't come from a military background; that fundamental fact wasn't going to change no matter how much she kicked the shit out of him when he couldn't properly fight back.
What Hargreave said about her having to build him up if he didn't hold up to her own standards… He was completely right.
So-focused had she been on the boons the prototype nanosuit granted, that she'd completely forgotten it was the fundamentals that made a soldier, not the gear they carried into battle. As his senior, it was her job to raise him up into something great, not take out her issues on him just because he was the lowest on the totem pole.
She just hoped the bridge between them hadn't been completely burned down. Not before she could apologize to him.
"Hey, c'mon, Virgil's a good kid at heart. I doubt he'd hold a grudge over such a little thing. Hell, I bet he's forgiven you and everything by now."
"What makes you so sure of that?"
"Well…"
*MOTORPHOBIA*
The Bunker: Communications
22:15 EST
"So? Can you do it or not?" York asked.
"Well… It's not whether I can or can't, it's a matter of whether or not I should," Simmons hummed as he looked at his console, Carolina and York hovering behind him. "My job is basically to monitor and notarize communications both within and without The Bunker to prevent any communications leaks, since secrecy is very important for our ongoing security and safety. While I could activate the Codec Nanomachines in Virgil's ears and listen in on whatever he's saying since my console is keyed into the Codec Network, we have a bit of an ethical dilemma on our hands because doing so without his consent would be a severe invasion of his privacy."
"I'm not talking about monitoring what he's watching on TV or listening to on the radior or what he thinks of the President. I just want Carolina to know that Virgil isn't as-obsessed with getting back at her for the uncalled-for smack-down she gave him-"
"Hey!"
"Shut up-That she gave him the other day," York said turning back to Simmons.
"Sooo… You basically want to "read the room", is that right?" Simmons asked.
"Pretty much," York shrugged.
"Well… Alright, I suppose I can give you one minute of surveillance," Simmons sighed. "But any more than that and my conscience won't allow it," Simmons said keying his console into the Codec Nanomachines. "Codec link established in three… two… one."
"WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON THAT RED-HEADED BITCH, I AM GOING TO FUCKING MURDER HEEEER!" Virgil raged, unknowingly through the Codec, and sounding quite pissed with "that red-headed bitch".
"Whoo, okay! He is really steamed!" Simmons conceded, killing the line before they eavesdropped on any more choice words.
"So… About what I said about him forgiving you and all…" York said uncertainly, Carolina slumping tiredly as she rubbed her face with her hands.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Bludhaven Back Streets
November 2, 22:17 EST
And that's what happened.
"Backup! Where the hell is my backup!?" Virgil demanded as the Ghost Car continued to drive through the obstacles he slalomed around, each one slowing the Ghost Car down and buying him precious seconds he needed to stay alive and not-dead.
The only reason he was even still alive right now was because the Sneaking Suit he was clad in gave him the speed of an Olympic Athlete. However, even that advantage was no match for the 400 horsepower the 1967 Chevy Impala chasing him had under the hood, as the car continued to slowly narrow the gap between them, no matter what Infected-avoiding parkour bullshittery he pulled out of his ass.
The only other time he'd run faster was clad in the Nanosuit, understandably leagues above what the Sneaking Suit could do because while the Sneaking Suit applied "Buffs", the Nanosuit raised his "Base Stats" and applied "Buffs".
"Why the hell is it chasing after me?! I'm not a criminal!" he cried as he knocked over a trashcan, the Ghost Car swerving to avoid it.
"Maybe you have blood on your hands or something? That or you just really screwed someone over a long time ago," Mordecai hummed over the line.
' . . . Shit!' Virgil cried realizing, with all the people he'd killed and/or screwed over, even if he wasn't tried as a criminal, he was still exactly the kind of person whose blood the Ghost Car would want on its front bumper.
In retrospect, killing his high school class -with extreme prejudice- may not have been the smartest move.
"Kid, just focus on staying alive, but don't let the Ghost Car lose interest either. We'll come to you!" Roland ordered.
"No shit I'm going to try and stay alive! The fuck did you think I was doing while you wasted my time like this!" he cried as he grabbed a nearby trashcan lid and chucked it like Captain America, the lid smacking the Ghost Car right in the windshield and keeping it "kited" onto him. "C'mon you worthless piece of trash! Come and get me!"
The taunt, and lack of any other prey, easily drew the Ghost Car after him once more, any damages incurred from obstacles hit slowly rewound as the minutes ticked by.
Suddenly, after what felt like an eternity of running, a familiar steel wall suddenly interposed itself in front of him, the teen hitting it full-force with a loud *THUD*, his teeth rattling in his skull as black spots exploded across his vision.
Tipping backwards from the force of the hit with the Ghost Car right on his heels, the wall then slid to the left, a massive meat-hook reaching out of the shadows before he was hauled off his feet. The squealing of rubber tires heralded his swift departure as he was tossed into a car seat and hastily buckled in.
The spots in his vision slowly fading, the teen blinked his eyes as headlights suddenly bore down on the back of his head. Shaking his head and clearing his vision, he saw that he was now escaping the Ghost Car via the A-Team-style van he'd become familiar with, Mordecai in the front putting the pedal to the metal while Brick chucked actual bricks out the open back doors and into the Ghost Car as it chased after them.
"Heya kid! Good job on being the bait!" Mordecai called out from the front. "You just take a breather, leave the rest to the adults."
"Uuuuugh…" Virgil groaned, having little choice in the matter as his limbs burned. Unlike the Nanosuit that cycled fatigue toxins out of his body, the Sneaking Suit had no such function.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Bludhaven Outskirts
November 2, 22:44 EST
"Hey Mordy, how close're we to the meeting place! I just chucked my last brick, and my fingers are too fat for the paintball gun!" Brick called out.
"Almost… there…" Mordecai said as the van peeled down the country road, the city of Bludhaven proper long in his rear view mirror, the Ghost Car even-still following after them.
"So… What exactly is the big plan to kill the Ghost Car for good?" Virgil asked, fiddling with the chest-mounted camera to make sure it as still running.
"You'll see when we get there!" Brick said grabbing random shit from around the car and chucking it.
The next moment the Ghost Car suddenly surged forward, rear-ending them causing their rear tires to briefly leave the road.
"Shit!" Mordecai swore.
"Guys, whatever you're going to do, do it fast! I think the Ghost Car is scowling at us!" Virgil cried.
"Anyone would scowl if they had bricks thrown at them for half an hour," Brick nodded. "Whoa!" the hulking man cried as they were rear-ended a second time, Virgil whirling around and grabbing him by the back of his pants before he could fall out onto the road behind them. "Thanks for the catch, Slab."
"Shut up and get your enormous ass back in this car! I feel my arm leaving its socket!" the teen cried as, even with Sneaking Suit-augmented strength, his arm threatened to do just that.
" . . . You don't have to be mean about it," Brick pouted as he wrapped a seat belt around his arm. "Mordy, I ran out of stuff to throw!"
"Don't worry about it, we're almost there! Remember the plan?"
"Heck yeah!" Brick said with a grin as he drew an enormous set of brass knuckles.
"I don't remember the plan! What's the plan?!" Virgil cried as the van suddenly drove through the opening of a gated chain-link fence. Witnessing a large white X painted on the ground passing underneath them, to the teen's shock, Brick suddenly leapt from the back of the van, legs like tree drunks digging trenches in the dirt road. The hulking man steeling himself as he took a knee, he brought both arms forward into the grill of the Ghost Car with a deafening *CRASH*, the large man's feet digging trenches into the ground.
As a testament to the enormous man's strength, the Ghost Car was rendered to a stop with greater ease than he had while wearing the T-45 Power Armor-styled costume. Highly-functioning costume or not, it was damn impressive to stop a speeding car with nothing but pure muscle.
"Oh no you don't!" Brick said with a face-splitting grin as he dug his fingers underneath the front bumper and lifted its tires from the ground just as it began to back away. Fighting the Ghost Car as it attempted an escape, the next moment a large magnet attached to a crane descended, clamping onto the top of the Ghost Car before hauling its remaining tires off the ground.
"Guys, the car's in the garage! I repeat, the car is in the garage! Move in!" Mordecai said into his earpiece as he brought the van to a stop and leapt out.
"Will someone tell me what the fucking plan is!?" Virgil cried as he leapt out of the car, following the Ghost Car through the air as it struggled against its magnetic hold. The crane coming to a stop, Brick suddenly put large metal stakes into the ground beneath it before making a signal with his hand, the crane lowering the Ghost Car into the spikes impaling it, reducing the force of its struggling.
"Kid! How good are you at reading Latin!" Lilith said suddenly running up to him, a junkyard crane at her back.
"Latin? What are you… Are you guys going to try and exorcise this thing?!" Virgil gawped as a piece of paper was shoved into his hands.
"We've already prepared the crucifix, so just stand over there by that water tank and don't stop reading!" Roland said as he pushed a large toolbox into position near the car.
"Wha- But I- Ugh, fine!" the teen cried as the Fortune Hunters began to work on the underside of the engine.
Likely to get at the engine block so they could take off the tires without losing any fingers.
That and/or the drive shaft.
"Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu Christi Filii ejus, Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei Francine, quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est, ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo! Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem!" Virgil recited at the top of his lungs.
He wasn't a huge church-goer, but after all the shit he'd seen, it helped to believe in something.
Especially if that something was the thing keeping him alive.
By the end of the second repetition, the engine block had been dropped to the ground, glowing with an unholy power as it sputtered in vain to fuel its vessel. The Fortune Hunters then proceeded to further break it down into its base components and toss them one-by-one into the water tank behind him. Black smoke rose up out of the water as the parts began to dissolve, an anguished wailing fluttering into the night air every time a piece was exorcised, the soft glow of divine light wafting off the crucifix tossed into the bottom of the tank.
With how-fast they were able to work on that car, if the whole soldier-for-hire thing didn't work out, they'd make for a hell of a pit crew.
Then again, if they'd been prepping for this hunt on-the-side for the past two years, it only made sense that they'd learn to field-strip a car like this.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Bludhaven Scrapyard
November 2, 23:14 EST
"Guys… throat… cramping…" Virgil wheezed out after a half-hour of reciting the same exorcism prayer without end.
"That's what she said!" Brick chuckled.
"Less talking, more working!" Lilith cried as she fought against the gearshift, teleporting out of the Ghost Car in a plume of flame and taking it with her. "Kid, you good with a wrench? Do you know which tools are what?"
Virgil could only nod.
"Alright then, you go over there and hand them the tools they need, take apart what you can. I'll handle the reading from here-on," she said trading him a bottle of water for the prayer sheet he was given. "Come on, let's move it people! We only have… forty-six minutes until the deadline!"
'Exorcising a ghost car held aloft by a junkyard magnetic crane… This is not how I thought I'd spend the start of November,' Virgil thought to himself as he rapidly chugged the water, quenching his parched throat as he bolted over to the toolbox.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Bludhaven Scrapyard
November 2, 23:36 EST
"How the hell is this thing still wriggling around!?" Virgil cried as the just-removed passenger seat bucked underneath him, fighting its way away from the large tank filled with Holy Water most of the Ghost Car had then been tossed into.
"Don't question it! Just keep disassembling!" Roland called out as he worked with the wrench.
"Man, this is so fucking weird!" Virgil shouted as he lifted the chair above his head and bolted for the Holy Water tank, Lilith dutifully praying in Latin as they did the lord's work.
Or something.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
Bludhaven Scrapyard
November 2, 23:59 EST
"There. That's the last of it," Brick sighed as the tossed the final piece of the Ghost Car -the roof that had held the Ghost Car aloft to the junkyard magnet crane- into the tank filled with Holy Water.
Turns out all you had to do to make Holy Water in bulk was toss a blessed crucifix into an enclosed container of water and continue reading.
Who knew?
"And with one minute to spare," Lilith sighed as she slumped her shoulders in a very unladylike fashion.
"Christ, I'm exhausted," Virgil panted as he fell onto his butt, completely spent after the "chop shop party" they'd undertaken. While initially it was really exciting to disassemble a haunted car and purify the pieces with Holy Water, after a while, it just turned into an enormous chore.
A chore he was glade was finally done.
"So… You think it's over?"
"ROLAND?!" the other Fortune Hunters screamed.
"What? It was a legitimate question-"
"-that you never ask at the end of a horror movie!" Mordecai cried out, eyes darting around as though expecting the ghost car to jump out of the nearby shadows and run them over.
"Well, as long as he can't regenerate like Michael Myers, I think we should be good," Virgil sighed tiredly. "So, when do we get our money?"
"Next-year if there aren't any sightings of the Ghost Car," Roland answered. "A while back at the very beginning of this whole thing, someone tried to hoax killing the Ghost Car, which was a bit of an embarrassment for the city council because they got conned out of a lot of money, so they established the policy that in addition to proof, you need to prove that beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt you did the deed and that it sticks."
"Yeah, and since we basically melted that thing like a Xenomorph's acid down to the last bolt, I think we did a pretty good job of it," Mordecai said with a nod.
"And you're sure every last part got melted down?" Lilith asked.
"Of course I'm sure," the sniper replied.
"I really hope this episode doesn't come down with a case of Sequelitus," Virgil sighed tiredly, hoping this whole mess was over.
If he ever had to fight another possessed automobile, it would be too soon.
*MOTORPHOBIA*
And thus the Halloween adventures of Virgil and co. have come to an end. With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the way in-story, we draw nearer and nearer to the 2010 part of the Earth-16 timeline, and you all know what that means.