Private/Closed Bootleg Bros. Ultimate - The Sumeragi Campaign

[Psymallard]

Akira Howard
-Noonish, The Slums-
Akira was glad that was over with. She wasn't used to dealing with large groups of human hostiles. Chimeras were one thing, but this felt like she was a soldier in an old war.

Alas, she wouldn't get the chance to relax, as alarm bells went off in her head. They started when she first spotted the levitating objects. It only increased in its severity. Akira stopped her bike even before the tower came into being to cut off their route. She watched in awe and in unease as the metal reshaped at a whim- the whim of the man who stood at the top of the tower. The policewoman had found her hand at the hilt of her baton. A defensive, instinctual reaction to such an awesome, unfamiliar display of power.

As the figure walked out of her sight, she looked between Miracle and Cyclone, scanning for any sign of recognition on their faces. Seeing none, she hit the kickstand on her bike and got off, removing her hand from her baton.

"You two stay here to protect Gardner, just in case. I'll go see what our new friend wants. I'll signal you if we can trust him."

With a deep breath, she unsteadily ascended up the hovering stairs, leaving her helmet behind to meet with this person face to face.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Boboiboy - Cyclone


Just happy to be out once more, even if we're to be used as cheap transportation, Cyclone took in the sights as they went. If one didn't know better, it would almost seem as if Cyclone and Bo didn't have the same priorities in mind.

That's when a new player entered the game. A tower with floating stairs leading up to the structure had manifested, stripped from the resources around them...noticeably all metal. Hands on his hips, he whistled up at the sight.

"Geez...they sure got that flair for the theatrics, don't they?" He teased, looking for a laugh or two.

When he made a motion to fly in closer to the tower, Akira addressed the crew that they should stay here and watch the commander. Halting himself, Cyclone widened his eyes, looking over to her in surprise.

"Oh. Okay." Cyclone finally answered, ending the sentence with a smile to Akira.

They were used to being left out anyway.

He did make this whole spiel about being here for the commander as a PPB first responder, would be weird to ignore that. Still.

He felt the latent urge, the guilt of being out. As if Bo was subconsciously telling him to switch. Was it such a crime to be out for a while? Questioning if he should follow this urge to follow it or his unconscious voices, he felt a swirling cycle of doubt enter his consciousness. That being the case, he still had a duty.

This internal dilemma wouldn't be betrayed by his person though, as he appeared his usual cheery self outside of it. Gripping his power watch, his hand twitched momentarily before he turned the dial of the device and pressing a button. In a dim flash of yellow light, Cyclone's visage was replaced with Boboiboy's.

"...We should stay on guard." He said, glancing back at Miracle and Commander Gardner before up at the tower.

 

[comic]

Officer Howard made the decision to approach this figure by herself. Boboiboy and Miracle would be left behind to watch after their newest ally. The cop took the first step, a foot placing upon the lowermost platform to find, despite there being air beneath it, the metal was surprisingly sturdy. Almost too still.

She ascended, rising step by step on a floating, solid staircase, and finally she reached the top at the entrance to the suddenly-assembled tower.

Akira was greeted with another impressive sight. Her... ‘host’ of sorts had also lavished the tower’s interior. More intricate designs to form pillars, leading her down a straight path forward to the other end of the tower, where a throne had been constructed, warped out of the metal. A throne where the man now sat, staring back at her.

It seemed almost a glare.

Despite how detailed everything was, all of the warped metal had been turned to its natural color by the shifting of its shape. Some possible beauty was lost in the face of gray and silver, making everything appear more dull, flat, and artificial.

His steely blue gaze pierced into her. For a moment, his eyes darted. He saw that she had come alone.

At a glance, several things were obvious about her host. He was an older gentleman, a thick, though properly trimmed silver beard hung from his face, giving a rather distinguished air to him. His attire was confirmed to be armor, a shade darker than the gray around him, though touched with details of a dark magenta. His black cape was draped beneath him, allowing him to sit upon it on his throne without creasing any folds.

The most striking feature seemed to be his helmet. It bore the same silver and magenta as his armor, followed the design of it as well, but a strange hum, low to the ear, seemed to emit from it at the simple movements of his head. It was no mere helmet.

He was silent for a moment, watching her approach, before he lifted his head a little higher. “A shame. I wished to speak with more than one.”

His voice, as regal and pronounced as his appearance, indicated he was clearly a man of refined tastes and elegant posture.
​

 

[Psymallard]

Akira Howard
-Noon-ish, The Slums-
Though the steps were sturdy, Akira still teetered at her own uncertainty of each step. She maintained a fair pace despite this, and reached the top of the tower soon after she started up the stairs.

The policewoman looked around the interior; she hadn't seen a building such as this before. This intricately designed tower, which would have taken normal people quite some time to create even with the most cutting-edge technology, had assembled itself in seconds before her eyes. The colorlessness of it all was also... unnerving.

Akira spotted the creator at the other end of the room, glaring at her. He certainly had an air of regality to him, but whether or not he was a royal mattered less than whether or not he was hostile. He spoke, indicating that he had a message for the entire team. Akira straightened, attempting to match his level of formality.

"I came see what your intentions were, first," she replied, gesturing to herself, "Captain Akira Howard of NEURON."

 

[comic]

“I know who you are,” the man answered swiftly, unmoving. “You have all had a long morning, some more than others. I have no intention of making this day any more difficult for you. I merely want to speak, face to face, with those the Sumeragi have underestimated.”

At that, the man stood. Or rather, his body seemed to lift out of the throne, rising until he was standing upright, hovering inches off the ground, letting his cape drift lazily behind him. “Collect your allies, Officer Howard. It is not every day you hold court with the master of magnetism.”

He placed his arms casually behind his back, folding his hands together, his stern gaze unchanged.​

 

[Psymallard]

Akira Howard
-Noon-ish, The Slums-
Akira stood her ground, attempting to match the master of magnetism's air of authority.

"You're with Sumeragi."

At least, that'd be the most reasonable assumption with how he knew of the group and what they'd been up to. The policewoman narrowed her eyes, but no matter how much she studied his face, he seemed genuine that this was a diplomatic encounter. Akira whistled over her shoulder.

"All clear!"

Her voice would carry down to her allies to summon them up into the tower. Then, the Legionnaire turned back towards the man. What he seemed was not enough to convince her to let her guard down. He was allied with a genocidal state, and they were meeting in the warzone that the aforementioned nation had created. As her teammates would enter behind her, she warned them.

"Be careful what you tell him."

Akira shot Boboiboy a look, seeking to reaffirm her statement and let him know to keep his guard up.

 

[DevVoid]

Mr. Miracle
Though the fleet-footed shapeshifter found himself racing back swiftly alongside his allies, it appears their trek home was rudely interrupted by.. floating items? Floating items that all appeared metallic in nature, building up a massive wall to block their path forward. His image covered in prismatic energy once more, Miracle had gone from feline to homo sapien once more, eyeing up in particular the massive tower that was being formed up above. That same tower Akira had set off to, commanding everyone else to guard the commander, which Terry was happy to oblige to.

Granted, it was a very.. grand display, but it made the entertainer question one thing: Why? Why would someone go out of their way to make such a big entrance if the purpose of it wasn't for an immediate attack, an ambush from all sides? Then, after a while, Akira's voice rang out from the tower again. Apparently, whatever- or whoever was up there was not here to murder them all like the Sumeragi normally would have. Talk about a silver lining, huh? The magician glanced back at Boboiboy and Kane, motioning his head over to the tower as his body begun to levitate. Of course, he had to go. And so did Boboiboy. And they obviously couldn't just leave the Commander behind, so..

As Miracle flew ahead and came to be the first to join Akira's side, the magician scanned the stranger standing before them with a raised brow. The black mask over his upper face, naturally, made this expression imperceivable, but the sense of curiosity and intrigue was still obvious in the way Terry tilted his head.

"So.." Hagen spoke after a moment of silence, moving his body to sit down mid-air as if on an invisible, floating pillow. "..Why did you block our way, exactly?"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Boboiboy



All clear...?

Somehow Bo doubted that. Something told him the controlling of metal in this showy of a fashion spelled of an enemy overconfident in their odds. Those types were troublesome, because that meant they had a long history of winning. Glancing to Miracle and then to Kane, the consensus was to follow on up.

Carefully ascending the staircase, Boboiboy eventually found himself joining with officer Howard and a man on a throne made of metal. Ignoring the sense of inflated self importance he was reading, he nodded in acknowledgement to Akira's words.

"Were you brought here to attack us?" He asked somewhat bluntly. They needed to know.

 

[comic]

One by one, the rest of the group ascended. While Akira had ascertained what faction the man belonged to, he did not answer this. His silence was confirmation.

The officer warned them to be choosy with what they said. Ultimately a wise choice.

It didn’t take long for questions to come from the others. Miracle, the accentuated magician with a further accentuated flair, and Boboiboy, the elemental child with a physical manifestation of split personality. Tailing behind them was a newcomer, Kane.

“So, why did you block our way, exactly?” Hagan asked. The man looked toward him, then at Bo as the kid spoke next.

“Were you brought here to attack us?”

The man drifted from the front of his throne toward ground level with them, touching down. He raised his hands, pressing against either side of his helmet, before he pulled it up and off his head, revealing long silver hair, and seemingly giving more color to his hard-lined face.

“Today, I am not your enemy,” the master of magnetism expressed. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am
​

MAGNETO, KING OF GENOSHA​

He held his helmet down by his side, looking from each individual to the next. “I know each of you by name, but little else. My allies in the Sumeragi have taken quite the interest in you, and your presently absent cohorts. First the attack on the wall, contending with Blade, and now this - an act of war, some would consider.”

Magneto approached them, his body language still regal, yet comfortable. He left himself completely open from all angles, despite the fact he had surrounded himself with enemies that outnumbered him. He closed the distance toward the center of their group. “I align with Sumeragi, but often find myself in disagreement with certain methods. You have made yourself our enemy in your actions, but those actions are just, are they not?”

His brows knit together. “My being here is not known. I felt it necessary to open a dialogue, before things escalate further.”​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Boboiboy

Despite the presentation, his words seemed...oddly logical? Maybe it wasn't always the best to judge someone on looks. While suspicions were still very much present, namely after declaring Sumeragi, or at least portions of it, as allies. But despite this, he wanted open communication, which is something Bo wanted for a long while - to deal with the actual hierarchy of Sumeragi as a whole.

"Talking things over...that's a new one. But very much welcome, your highness." BoBoiBoy was the first to respond, giving a brief nod of a bow. "It wasn't just out of the morally good we do what we do. The moment we appeared here we were subject to relentless Sumeragi attack squads. They attacked first."

Now that's when things branched out in Bo's mind. Everyone from Sumeragi they attempted to talk to would rather attack them on sight without any other dialogue to be had other than threats. Yet 'Magneto' wasn't attacking on sight like they were.

"What do you see in Sumeragi? Judging from how we are having a conversation, their methods and yours seem starkly different."

 

[ArmedBlue]

City Slums – Tower of Magnetism
​

In a similar fashion to Akira, Kane instinctively reached for his Blaster Rifle at the sight of the metallic debris around the streets assembling into a massive tower. There was no immediate aggression to accompany it, though, merely a display of attention-grabbing power, which led the commander to lower his guard slightly. Officer Howard initially headed up alone, calling for her allies to protect the rescuee for a moment. Not being used to being in such a position, there was a slight frown from Kane – though recognizing that the others seemed to have much more experience with supernaturally-gifted individuals, he held his position.

At least, until the RAVEN captain signaled the all-clear, and he followed closely after the others on their ascent into the throne room. She warned the others to mind any words they would exchange with the regal gentleman, a reasonable concern when dealing with both a new acquaintance and someone who was seemingly on the side of Sumeragi.

He spoke of a couple events that the Sophia Force commander was unfamiliar with, but given what Akira had explained to him earlier, he could infer the specifics of them. And as Boboiboy put it, this man's – Magneto's – willingness to speak in place of attacking was quite welcome, especially after what had been previously seen from their forces. After the teen's question, Kane finally spoke up.

"I'm told Sumeragi seeks to kill anyone without psychic abilities. Does that goal really align with your own?"​

Armament Factory – Assembly 3
​

With practiced focus and precision, Terrence used his magic to conjure up a series of crescent blades around the Mantis' joints. A great deal of them were gathered around the mech's legs, with a couple smaller groups around the torso and arms – its lower body held both a greater amount of joints and slightly more fragile points of failure, while the upper body's thick plating would make that task significantly more difficult.

Soon enough, the summoned blades all began to revolve around their assigned targets, the filing of metal masked under the noise of machinery at work, even as a few sparks shot out from the contact points. Terrence's plan to sabotage the mech was making progress, though not particularly quickly. Whittling down the thick steel in such a manner would take a bit of time, especially if attempting to do so in a stealthy manner like this.

His move to mess with the Mantis' machine guns was also seeing results, the teen's enhanced senses showing him how some of their internals gradually shifted around, arranging into various positions that would most likely be detrimental to their function. He had some leeway to be more forceful with this method, as the scrambling of inner mechanisms wasn't something Sumeragi's units would likely be able to spot at this stage in assembly.

Fortunately, Terrence's interference was going unnoticed – at least for now.​

 

[Mokko]

Terrence "Metal Shavings" Boom
He was screwing with the Mantis, and nobody seemed to notice- that was good. There was a lot of noise and motion that went into assembling this thing clearly, and these guards had probably stood here for hundreds, maybe thousands of machine assemblies, so it made sense that they weren’t paying close attention to every little nook and cranny at all times. He was successful in his efforts to scramble around the inner mechanisms of the machine guns, that much he could tell, but the Mantis’s joints were a little more difficult.

Hoping Crescent’s expertise would pay off, he concentrated, allowing those little spinning blades to continue grinding and grinding away at the thick pieces of metal. He hadn’t been spotted just yet, but he still felt that it would be wise to wrap up his efforts with this piece of machinery and maybe move onto the next. He had been tempted to mess with those robot arms that were actually performing the assembly, but if those suddenly broke down, that’d completely give him away, and it’d make it more likely for the Sumeragi to realize the Mantis was compromised. No, the simplicity was the key here.

The blades finally came to a halt, before they sank inward, layering in one last big dent onto the joints of the Mantis, and then disappeared. Terrence wasn’t the most experienced with these sorts of things, but he felt that that was adequate- hopefully he’d hit the ‘sweet spot,’ where the Mantis would be able to leave the factory, and then break down while in use- that could very well be the difference between life or death for any Sumeragi targets.

 

[Psymallard]

Akira Howard
-Noon-ish, Metal Spire-
Akira stayed quiet for a moment while the others talked. She was centering herself. Sumeragi's actions disgusted her; she'd heard about manmade genocides in history class, but they seemed almost ridiculous in the apocalyptic world she was accustomed to. Magneto wanted to talk, but he was still associated with Sumeragi. The officer needed to remind herself of the former and focus before she started speaking.

"In my world, we officers take an oath to serve and protect those that can't protect themselves. Life... is sacred. I'm on the side of protecting it. Always have been."

The Legionnaire laid her ideals out to begin with. Her eyes still glared into Magneto's, and she showed no sign of acknowledging his royalty. She was still apprehensive about his ties to the genocidal Sumeragi. That was mostly her emotions getting in the way of her logical reasoning, which knew the King of Genosha had the potential to be an ally. In the meantime, Akira studied Magneto's reaction to her announcement to perhaps glean some of his ideals.

 

[comic]

MAGNETO​

—Tower of Magnetism, Day 2 Noon—​

The king let each member of the group get a turn to speak, one after the other. Only the magician had nothing to add. Nothing he wished to announce, at the very least.

His answer was one to each of their questions at once. “Sumeragi represents the will of Adepts,” he claimed. “As they are now, they must come across rather villainous, don’t they?”

He sounded almost humored by it, but he was quick to continue his answer. “What you seek, each of you, is noble. Freedom. Equality. Justice. Qualities I share with you. To understand this, I need to tell you about my home.”

He raised a hand, more for dramatic flair than anything, spreading his fingers out. The columns on either side of them, leading from throne to exit, lifted from the ground and disassembled as all the metal began to float around them in a wide circle throughout the tower, like a funnel.

Behind Magneto, two new constructs assembled: identical statues of a robed man, almost like a medieval king, holding the hilt of a sword in his hands, the blade pointed down, its tip touching the ground, the kings using it like a cane. “In most worlds I’ve come across, humanity has a similar origin found in evolution,” Magneto began. “Different species of homo appeared across the continents of Earth, but two were prominent. Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens. Over time, through various means, be it war, inbreeding, or simple superiority, it was the latter that prevailed in the game of evolution. Homo sapiens - humans, were the dominant species.”

As he spoke, the statue on the right crumbled away, clearly representing neanderthals and the other species of homo.

“Yet as evolution would have it, mankind’s day in the sun must come to an end. In my world, a new race began to emerge. Homo superior, the natural next step from man. A specific gene began to appear in humans, called the ‘x-gene,’ and it granted Homo superior awesome power. Yet man did not take kindly to the emergence of something new, something that could threaten their dominance.”

As he spoke, the statue on the right reassembled, though it clearly bore more resemblance to Magneto himself. Atop the hilt of the sword was his helmet.

“My people were called mutants, a term to antagonize, to threaten. Yet it went much further than mere name-calling,” Magneto paused, his eyes seeming to grow distant for but a moment. “I created Genosha as a place to protect my people. I reclaimed our right to live, and our name of mutants became one of pride. The world I offered, a sovereign nation, was apart from the world humanity thrived in. An island, cast in the ocean, yet even at such a distance, humanity still feared and hated us, for our potential. For them, peace was never an option. Not as long as my rule threatened their ubiquitous power.”

The two statues crumbled, returning to the slow tornado of metal drifting around them. “Humanity attacked Genosha, and destroyed it. My people, my kingdom; gone. They thought the mutant problem resolved. I had to respond, and so, I did. War was waged.”

More statues appeared, this time in the air, encircling the group. Various beings were depicted, ranging from a hulking monster of pure muscle, to a man in heavy flying armor, to a soldier carrying a patriotic shield. “Humanity’s guardians came to their defense, but the war they had so desperately craved was not one they could win.”

The statues tore apart.

“In my vengeance, I became the very thing humanity feared. In their own hate and greed, they created the very thing they swore to destroy.”

Magneto looked toward each of them as his personal tale concluded. “Sumeragi had a beginning much the same. Mutants, Adepts, feared and reviled for being different. When this oppressed group tried what they could to fit in, to offer help, to contribute to the larger picture, it was humans who called for war, who sought to control and snuff out what they feared. The Sumeragi as you see it now... is the result of this conflict. So driven by the divide humanity first caused, these Adepts represent my Mutants.”

The metal all came down, falling almost like tetris blocks to rapidly assemble a group of statues surrounding them. The statues all resembled people in futuristic technology and armor - and it became evident who these were, as one of the statues was clearly Blade, who’d they’d already fought.

“What they do is not something I find pleasure, or pride in,” Magneto continued. “But their goal and mine align. The humans they treat so harshly, just as humanity had treated them before, represent an old world. If you and your allies wish to save them - find them and flee. Sumeragi will not stop. The hatred runs deeper than skin. The divide cannot be healed. There is only one outcome, and it is war... just as it always is when dealing with the absolution of human will.”​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Boboiboy


Magneto described a race war, just as they inferred of Adept vs Non-adept violence. While Magneto was on their side...it appeared as though he had some reservations. They could use that.

"I sympathize with what you and you're species have gone through, I have seen persecution of races like this first hand. Entire worlds at war or subjugating based in race war. The belief it's either us or them." Boboiboy recalled, looking to the side and shaking his head before turning to Magento. "You see...that's a false dichotomy."

He looked up to the sky, as if looking past it.

"third option that my cut of space discovered worked is arbitration. The PPB was formed through many cultures coming together to avoid disastrous incidents like this happening on other worlds. We have stopped race wars, we've stopped genocides, planetary devastation events."

Clicking a setting on his watch, it seemed to activate a holographic display mode. Up from the face of the watch was projected a stout greenish figure wearing white and golden clothes, their form seeming highly plantoid. Flipping to another image, a humanoid figure wrapped in shadows, a jet black-purple cowl similar to a dragon covering their face. Then A green box headed alien with an neatly kept admiral's uniform, and it kept going.

"Rimbaran, GogoBugi, Kubulix, Windaran, Bara, Saiju. Many races we have came into contact with the PPB has helped them, and they in turn have come up to return the favor to help other societies as well. Despite these races in the PPB having background of war, bloodshed, and piracy, they became upstanding societies. I believe Sumeragi can be helped and be put under the protection of the PPB, then we can find a peaceful solution to all of this, just as we have done to many worlds prior to this."

Clicking the hologram off, Boboiboy but a hand on his chest. Felt like a great deal of pressure, negotiating for the fate of a world. Like a single word messed up could collapse an entire house of cards. Collecting his next words, he continued.

"So, King Magneto, will you help the PPB arbitrate this for fairness to all Sumeragi?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy Rinehart​

- Armament Factory, Second Floor, Interior Hallway -​

Observing the people within the Control Room, Tracy stepped back from the door. There were quite a few people in that room, and each of them would have some sort of special power. Not to mention that strange, humanoid creature as well. Just from the glimpse she caught of it, Tracy had been reminded of a Toon monster. It was unlikely that Kiwi's use of his singing would work as well as it had last time. She looked back at the hall, and the boxes within it. Then to the fire escape plan posted on the wall.

A plan was beginning to form. One she hoped wouldn't effect whatever Terrence was doing too much.

"C'mon, help me with this." Tracy said, stacking some of the crates. In a moment, the pair had moved some of crates around to give them a small place to hide behind, without looking too suspicious. As they worked, Tracy drew a card from her deck-

"Burning..."

Tracy froze, staring at the card she had just drawn. It was a monster card, one that depicted a terrible, flaming beast. A massive, tentacled skull with an armored white and black figure on top of it. It was a card that Tracy shouldn't have, one that she knew she had gotten rid of. But somehow, it was here, in her hand. Was it her imagination, or did the card feel hot?

She couldn't focus on this now. Tracy set another card on her duel disk and finished stacking some crates, and moved herself and Kiwi behind them.
"Okay." Tracy said to Kiwi. "I'm going to pull the Fire Alarm, and we're going to hide behind these boxes. When the Sumeragi guys leave the Control Room to evacuate, we'll go in. They'll probably find those soldiers we trapped, and know what's up, so I'll throw some traps and monsters in the hallway to buy us more time. We go into the Control Room, grab some intel, smash up the controls, and head towards Assembly 3 to meet up with Terrence."

Kiwi nodded, and Tracy made her way to the fire alarm. She hesitated a moment, before letting out a breath and pulling the lever. Once it was pulled, Tracy sprinted towards the makeshift hiding spot her and Kiwi had made, and hid behind it! Now there was only a hope that her plan would work well...

 

[PaprusTeuton]

V2

Ghiaccio hit at the machine with one of Amaterasu's reflectors, knocking away the robot's shotgun. Their attack had been, as expected, totally ineffective. Sliding away, V2 went to retrieve their shotgun, and considered leaving entirely- they had almost no effect on the ice elemental, while Frisk and Amaterasu both had things that made them far more effective at handling-

Did Ghiaccio just clone himself? Yes, yes he did. There were now 2 Ghiaccios. Though, of course, there was no way this was true- it would be incredibly expensive for the ice elemental to actually create another version of himself, and was likely somehow creating a facsimile. Staring closely at both, V2 noticed something. A small hole in the back of the neck of each Ghiaccio's armor, presumably for breathing.

It was perfect. A single shot into that hole would deal immense damage to the ice elemental, perhaps defeating them in a single shot. V2 prepared their Marksman, tossed a coin into the air, waited for a flash, and fired. The magnetically accelerated shot split in twain on contacting the coin, each shot heading for the hole on the back of each Ghiaccio's armor.

If timed right, the shots would pass straight through the hole, hitting Ghiaccio in the neck. If timed poorly, the shot would be caught in the ice forming the hole, blocking airflow. If timed horribly, the shot wouldn't hit the hole at all, being blocked by armor- although, this would imply that the hole was sealed in the first place.

The shot would have the dual effect of revealing the true Ghiaccio, as the bullet would pass straight through the false one.

 

[DevVoid]

Mr. Miracle
Though he remained silent, this was because Miracle lay deep in thought about the man's words, about his tale of discriminatory hardship and.. wow, okay, this guy REALLY reeled out back with this one. As far back as mentioning the paleolithic era and even knights and kings of olden days? Someone get a bucket of popcorn and a tall soda, this one was going to be a doozy. Yet just as the magician had moved to lie on his stomach within the air to make himself comfortable for easy listening, that's when his ears- or rather, his eyes, picked up on something interesting.

Those statues, the ones surrounding the initial group as the stranger elaborated on the history of his former paradise for the supes in his world, and how it came to a crumbling end before he himself went on a campaign against his unpowered adversaries. That giant beast of a man, that flying armor.. that shield..

..no..

..no fucking way..

..was that supposed to be goddamned Captain America?

Granted, Terry knew little of comics usually, other than his own, on account of the fact being kept busy all day, everyday with his dual professions of an showstage performer and a magical hero. But if he had learned anything during his years of living in New York, it was who the Avengers were. They had been practically everywhere in the entertainment industry, Marvel Movie this, Hulk that, it had been unavoidable for an multi-talented actor to be oblivious to the reigning champions concerning movies and television.

Now, it was one thing for Hagen to be teaming up with a bunch of otherworlders that had powers vastly different from his own. Then again, in his world, superpowers had already been a known thing. So for all he knew, the man just figured they were people from worlds who also had this concept of supernatural abilities being imbued into its inhabitants. But he just straight-up KNEW this guy was from a work of fiction - or at least, a universe that, in his reality, was just that. A franchise invented by the creative, owing countless amounts of merchandise and shows galore.

"..I understand why you'd resent humans after all they'd done to mutants such as yourself. If we are to believe your account, and I've got little doubt that you're lying to us right now."

Terry spoke up first, his brows furrowed as he finally recovered from the previous realisation. Honestly, that kind of past sounded exactly like a kind of future HIS world may inevitably have. Yes, Mr. Miracle, the public entity, was beloved and admired by the common folk. But for how long this championship of good faith would last? He dared not even think about it, dreading to imagine a day where it all comes crashing down on supes like himself.

"I am from a similar world. We have had no such bloody wars between Supes like myself and the regular folk that I know of - yet, at least, and hopefully we never will. But we are also no stranger to those with power, using their gifts to abuse and exploit as they wish. Whether it's an ability they were born with, or acquired through hard work and willpower. That's where people come in to stop them and set them straight. People like myself."

Miracle gestured with his hands as he spoke, acting out the lorekeeper side of himself to give extra emphasis to his response. On the last word, he had reached a hand behind his cape - and, as if out of nowhere, procurred a newspaper. An issue he treasured always, when the media picked up on his earliest appearances and first started out writing articles, equally singing praise but also suspicions and concern about the strange, magical upstart. The appearance of the man within the photo covers was a bit different from the current costume, but it was evidently Mr. Miracle, matching the way the floating figure carried itself with his own current demeanour. Then, as he held it out for Magneto to grab and inspect, the magician continued.

"But surely, someone who's lived throughout so many battles must know that violence only begets violence? Hammer your point home as many times as you may, but there will always be resistance. The harder you fight back against it, the harder it'll eventually strike back at you. I'm a man of the people first, and a hero second, and so I always make a point never to go too far and take a life. Because I know that in the end, there will always have been a better path, even if it wasn't obvious in the moment."

The entertainer spoke, his body now tilting upwards as to symbolize how seriously he took the conversation, how much he'd put his heart into the discussion. Even if the stranger had been an enemy due to standing with the Sumeragi, he seemed to have no intention of launching a sudden attack. If a foe wanted to talk, then Miracle was always up for it. It was better than more needless bloodshed, after all.

"I don't doubt that you are telling the truth about the conflict and loss you've experienced, but I do doubt that you are telling the whole truth. To have the entire world turned against you, so many independent minds.. I do not believe every single last one had it out for the mutants. But you let their hatred blind you, and instead of extinguishing the flame of war, you opted to prove the ones who did despise you to believe themselves right about you. Validating their assumptions of your people, proving all the negative stereotypes they've thought up. But- I digress," Hagen spoke, his arms folding over his chest before he had continued.

"My point is; I don't fight evil because I expect the good to thank me for it. I do it because it's the right thing to do. People are free to think as they like, and you are free to defend yourself from their misdeeds, within reason. But when I came to this world, my first sight on escaping to the surface were literal mountains of corpses. It saddened me then, and it does even moreso now that I know that all those lives were lost over prejudices spiralling out of control. I have no intention of stopping striving towards my goal of putting an indefinite halt to the Sumeragi as a whole, and I cannot support the atrocities they've committed going unpunished. Do you, after all you've gone through, really still insist on working with such a group?"

 

[comic]

MAGNETO​

—Tower of Magnetism, Day 2 Afternoon—​

His tale incited response, particularly strongly, from two of the four individuals immediately. First, Boboiboy, presenting an idealized galaxy with idealized... ideals. It was... almost child-like, a presentation of a rose-tinted universe through rose-tinted glasses.

He didn’t seem to realize his PPB wasn't in a place such as this.

Miracle broke his silence, explaining his own brief story, his similar world, and his reasons for doing what he did. Magneto had had many conversations with heroes such as these. The Annoying Spider-Man came to mind particularly strongly in his last paragraph.

“You speak with wisdom,” Magneto told them. “But you fall short of... understanding.”

The sovereign turned from them for a moment. “Your PPB is not here, and likely will never be. My destiny was carved from childhood. Long before I learned I was a mutant, when I was just another human, I saw the true depravity of mankind in the second world war. Humans were cruel to one another long before mutants became their concern. With a common enemy, they could unite under a single banner of fear.”

He turned back to them, briefly displaying a face far more pained than the stoicness he’d depicted, but it was quick to return to regality. That part of his past seemed to haunt him even more than the loss of Genosha. “You are right, of course. There were small pockets of humanity that took pity on our plight. But they were quickly silenced. You are noble for fighting evil for the sake of good... but the lines between them are far more blurred than you present.”

His gaze turned from Hagan to Bo. “Your idealized galaxy is rare. Almost non-existent, in the multiverse. And I wonder how much of it is held up by threads. How much of it you yourself don’t yet know. You see, this is far from my first excursion through time and space. I have visited many parallel worlds before, seen vast differences, remixed outcomes, uncanny friends and enemies... in this world we now stand, it is Sumeragi and its allies that control all.”

Magneto’s eyes narrowed.

“Yet I feel you know not what I mean... you... do not grasp just how isolated we are, do you?”

...

“Do you know of the Nexus?”​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Boboiboy

PPB not likely to ever be here? That's quite the statement...we came from elsewhere and crashed landed here. There is a PPB ship crash landed here. I'm sure they are getting the comms back online as we speak to call for support. The fact we are here is proof of the contrary...

Of course, he wouldn't divulge the status of his crew to a possible threat. Instead, he listened. He wasn't sure how much of what Magneto said was true, but he was seasoned in exploring, that much was obvious from his cultured perspective.

"Nexus? No, that doesn't sound familiar. But what about this 'Nexus' hinders cooperation?"

 

[Psymallard]

Akira Howard
-Noonish, Tower of Magnetism-
Akira watched the fascinating display of statues, but the content material was... distressing. The officer found herself clenching her fists. Moral dilemmas were her least favorite part of the job. As she struggled for words, Boboiboy and Miracle took the lead. After a few moments of thought, she spoke up again.

"What they did to you was wrong. This vengeance, though... it's only hurting more innocent people. That's why Sumeragi has to be stopped! It'd be no different if the roles were reversed."

Akira looked down.

"...We have the strength to defeat Sumeragi. When we do, we'll make sure this never happens again."

The Legionnaire looked back up at Magneto. Even though she didn't know how she'd achieve this, she was sure of herself. Magneto had brought up that this world was isolated, which Akira had brushed past to make her own point. She figured this world was isolated- likely another universe connected to her own only through the Astral Plane. She was pleasantly surprised to see that other universes still had humans, at the least.

???
-Noonish, Control Room Antechamber-
The guard at the other end of the hallway clumsily thumbed through a Sports Illustrated magazine. He was struggling to turn each page because of the large mittens he wore. That's when the door at the other end, aka the one door he was assigned to watch, opened. He caught it from his peripheral, but assumed it was one of Sumeragi's. It always was, after all. Yet... no soldier came towards him. The mammalian's eyes slid up to the empty hallway, though they could not be seen due. Maybe they'd changed their minds about coming in? That hadn't happened today, but it was a possibility.

Then, the fire alarm went off. That was odd. The guard couldn't help but suspect it was somehow related to the door opening just now. He stood, carefully closed his magazine, and then set it on the crate behind him. His nose twitched as he smelled the air. There was no scent of smoke... but there was someone in the hall with him. They had a distinct scent unlike the soldiers he'd been working with.

The mammalian didn't buy it. A snowflake symbol shone on the dorsom of either mitten as it pumped septimal energy through the webbing that ran along the seams of the gloves. The guard pressed one hand to the door behind him freezing it shut. The other hand touched the wall to his right, and frost travelled along the wall to freeze the other door shut as well. After this, the lights on his gloves dimmed, leaving Tracy and Kiwi trapped with...

Bark the Polar Bear
The Strong and Silent Type​

As the polar bear got closer, besides his brown, septima-enhanced mittens the heroes would see the 5'11" anthromorph wearing a red beanie on his head, a green scarf around his neck, brown boots on his feet, and cream-colored fur everywhere else. He followed his nose- highly alert and ready for a fight.

 

[comic]

MAGNETO​

—Tower of Magnetism, Day 2 Afternoon—​

With Akira’s conclusion, Magneto raised his hand slowly, palm facing up. Several chunks of metal came out of the statues to spin over his palm, slowly forming the shape of rose in his hand. He stared at it for a moment, then turned his eyes back up to them.

“I know what you speak. I know how you think. None of it goes beyond my understanding...” he held the rose gently. It represented something to him, but what, the others didn’t yet know. His eyes seemed to glaze over somewhat, caught in a brief memory.

“I was once foolish and naive. I once thought peace was attainable. I pushed for it, for so long, Charles and I, we...” his teeth grit. “But humans took everything from me. Again, and again, and again. Every time I built something, mankind was there to destroy it.”

His face hardened as he closed his fist, crushing the metal in his palm.

“I appreciate this conversation. I am sorry it did not go the way you wanted,” he looked first at Bo. “My cooperation goes to those whom can assure the dominance of mutant over man. My people are the next step in evolution - and we must embrace our heritage! The Nexus is the key to superiority.”

His eyes flashed toward Akira as he opened his palm, revealing a small metal ball. It began to orbit him. “The equality I sought was myth. You sound like Charles and his X-Men. Stubborn in their beliefs, unwavering that no matter how much we suffer, humanity will miraculously ‘come around’ eventually. You have bested a fraction of Sumeragi’s power... but you have never fought me.”

He slid the helmet back on, rising into the air as the statues came apart, also orbiting around him. Now, his eyes fell on Miracle. “Good and evil are concepts in a bottle. How would you expect me to be, if every opportunity I gave man was turned into hatred? I must cower before them? Beg their forgiveness? I am Magneto, Master of Magnetism. I bow to no man, I cower to no foe. To lead mutants to salvation... I must be strong.”

The entire tower was starting to shake. The hovering structure could quickly become a death trap, but it was still unclear if Magneto intended to attack and break his word.

“Elements of your worlds will appear here, but the might and strength you know cannot be found. There is no PPB. There are no superhero teams. No empires and governments to protect you. Only yourself, and for that, you must be strong enough to survive here. This world is ruled by the Nexus, and with it, the multiverse will not stand in the way. Peace can only be accomplished through war. So I say to you again: leave! Take what humans you can find and protect them! Demerzel and my ambitions are one in the same, and we shall see Sumeragi rise to the pinnacle of its potential, for the betterment of both our peoples.”

The tower began to crumble, plates stripping away to join Magneto’s orbit, tearing apart quickly from the top down. The stairs outside, however, remained in place to allow them a way safely to the ground.

“I have no desire to hurt you. But if you stand in our way, I will do as I have always done: what I must.”​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Boboiboy


This had gone in a direction...all too familiar. Planet Gur'latan was still fresh in his mind, only happening a meer matter of months ago. Empress Kira'na also found herself above the PPB, declaring war on the entire galaxy. It was a grueling endeavor, but he managed to scrape by to ending the conflict. The Empress was blinded by her conquest, thinking her empire's power was the key to peace if she dominated over every other faction, so she could ensure their safety. Magneto sounded no different that her.

"You are mistaken, King of Genosha. The PPB doesn't just act to protect me. They send me in to handle threats to galactic peace. A monarch has just tried to put her will over the galaxy for the betterment of all. It was a terrible battle, but she was stopped..."

It seemed like there was a tone of reservation behind his words, as if he knew where this path of dialogue went. The feeling of dying, having part of his soul ripped out was fresh in his mind from Gur'latan. His fresh experience from that planet made his resolve stronger than before against Magneto.

"...You and Sumeragi will follow her!"

The power watch shook, an elemental forcing itself into the active setting without Boboiboy even touching the watch. The red lightning bolt symbol flashed over him, in a flash of red electricity Thunderstorm had taken the helm of his body. Instantly, he went for a killing blow. Manifesting six polearms over him, he fired them at Magneto, each one acting as a lightning strike consolidated at his location.

 

[comic]

MAGNETO​

—City Slums, Day 2 Afternoon—​

Thunderstorm appeared - the very same from the rooftop in the battle with Blaze. This one was brash, arrogant, and lethal. He was the first to act against Magneto, manifesting from Bo with a threat.

The mutant raised a hand, and a surplus of metal conjoined rapidly into a dense wall - which the polearms shattered through in a great attack, reducing them to bolts that passed through, charging right towards the Master of Magnetism and—

They struck an invisible field around Magneto, the electricity crackling over the entire orb around the king.

Magneto turned his hand upside down, slightly curling his fingers. The red lightning passed in the current of his electromagnetic field, condensing over the palm of the mutant’s hand, forming into a violently pulsating ball of energy, forced into a point - before it was cast down.

The lightning ball struck the ground, blasting apart the street below and cascading debris into the air, much of it getting swept up in Magneto’s orbit. His face remained stoic, despite the sudden attack - he’d been prepared for a response, and his preparedness had paid off.

“Know this,” Magneto said calmly, looking upon Thunderstorm with disdain. “When next we meet, it was not I who cast the first stone.”

The mutant turned and began to hover away, rising into the air, taking his orbit with him - though the stairs remained stable to continue to offer a safe way to the ground.​

 

[Gamingfan]

Amaterasu
Her attack missed, and Ghiaccio attempted to strike back at her. The two exchanged blows again, though Frisk's inferenced gave Amaterasu the chance to avoid a few and keep her shields blazing.
After another bladed kick, Ghiaccio took off, skating around before suddenly splitting into two mirror images, nearly identical save for the flipped hair curl on one!
The both skated past Amaterasu, focused on Frisk again. Ammy followed as Frisk defended herself, swapping her Solar Flare for her Thunder Edge. Ghiaccio seemed to think he'd be able to focus them down individually, but Amaterasu intended to place as much pressure on him as he did to them. The wolf jumped behind the Italian as he jabbed at Frisk's wings, slamming her glaive overhead with enough force to shatter the surrounding ice!
A second later, her tail drew and infinity sign in the air, activating her Fireburst technique! A small ball of intense, determination laced flames engulfed Amaterasu, burning brightly despite White Album's influence! The heat radiating from it would sear into Ghiaccio if he was close, as well as provide a brief reprieve from the freezing floor
(7/10 Ink Pots)

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy Rinehart​

- Armament Factory, Floor 2, Interior Hallway -​

The door opened, but there was no rush of footsteps or panicked voices. Instead, just heavy footsteps that Tracy could feel through the ground and barely hear over the fire alarms. Then, the door closing. A crackling noise. Something was wrong. Their deception had failed. But this gait. These footsteps. They almost felt like... Well, it reminded Tracy of her friend, Braxer. Was that him? Even if he was here, there was no way he'd be with Sumeragi, right?

Tracy was able to peek through a small crack between a pair of crates to see who had stepped out of the room. It was, fortunately, not Braxer, but instead- Well, instead, an anthropomorphic polar bear. Not Gladiator Beast anthropomorphic, but Toon monster anthropomorphic. It had closed the door to the Control Room, freezing it shut, and was walking towards their pile of crates. Did Sumeragi have animal people? In the few pictures Tracy had seen over Jin's shoulder in the news articles, there hadn't been any pictures of animal people. None of the Sumeragi soldiers had been animal people either, from what she could tell. Was this guy even from the same world as Sumeragi? Bark was sniffing the air, and Tracy could tell he hadn't seen them yet. But it was only a matter of moments. What could they do? Their plan to get Sumeragi out of the Control Room was shot. Time to start winging it. Another plan quickly formed.

"Stay down." Tracy whispered to Kiwi, trying to use the blare of the alarm to mask the sound of the whisper from Bark. She pulled her flip phone from her pocket, opening it.

Bark took another step closer.

"Wait, wait!" Tracy called out from behind the crates to Bark. She raised her hands over the crates, then slowly stood up to face Bark. Her hands in the air, she watched Bark carefully. The duelist regarded Bark coolly.
"Who are you?" Tracy asked the Polar Bear. "You're not Sumeragi."

Ghiaccio​

- Q.U.I.L.L. HQ, Ruins -​

As expected, the kid created more energy barriers to protect herself. Ghiaccio continued to pummel the barriers nonetheless. With every strike, the ice around Frisk's legs creeped further up. That barrier may protect her from the cold, but surely it had to follow some level of physics, right? He could see her, and she could see him, so light could get through. It was stopping the ice from attaching to the brat directly. Did it create air for her to breath? Something he could test out. Total encasement could cause her to suffocate quickly, that would be the path to-

V2 fired his revolver. The bullet struck the coin, splitting in two and racing towards Ghiaccio. The left bullet passed through the illusion of Ghiaccio, causing the head to seem to disappear as the fog was displaced by the whizzing projectile. The right bullet- vanished. A strange crackling and ringing noise sounded around Ghiaccio, with sparks and sparkles appearing momentarily in the air around the assassin.

Ghiaccio glanced back towards V2 with a grin, and was about to say something, when he saw Amaterasu flying through the air towards him. The dog had conjured another weapon, a Glaive that crackled like lighting! Ghiaccio barely managed to dive out of the way of the main strike, but the shockwave from the attack knocked him off his feet. He rolled across the ground, but skidded to a stop on his feet.

The crackling and ringing noise around Ghiaccio was a familiar one for V2. One that was the sound of a bullet, ricocheting! The power of White Album's special agility, Gently Weeps! By bringing the temperature of the surrounding area down to such a level, Ghiaccio had been able to freeze small crystals of the air itself. White Album had been able to position these small crystals, barely perceptible, suspended in the air at the perfect angles to not only block V2's bullet, but send it ricocheting around Ghiaccio. And as Amaterasu unleashed her Fire Burst technique, Ghiaccio send V2's bullet flying towards the dog!

Still, this wasn't looking well. He couldn't keep up this level of fighting forever, and judging by the way the brat was fighting, she knew that. The three were able to control the battlefield at their own pace. The brat's ability was versatile in defense and offense, the dog was absolutely nuts, and V2 was a fast hassle. One he could take, even two. But all three at once? V2 seemed completely recovered from his freezing, the dog was stronger and faster than before, and despite her crazy powerful attack, the brat still had enough energy to conjure these powerful defenses.

It may be in his best interest to fall back...

 

[Psymallard]

Akira Howard
-Noon-ish, Tower of Magnetism-
Magneto was sure of himself, and this conversation was clearly going nowhere. She was disappointed in the king. Sure, she didn't know what his world was like, but "Charles" sounded like he did. Even with all the bad he claimed to have witnessed, it wasn't enough to demolish the hope that was there. With that hope, there was no way that this was the only way.

This result wasn't shocking, but what was more shocking than it probably should have been was Boboiboy's immediate fallback onto violence. He claimed this PPB... used him as a child soldier. That would explain a lot, but justified little. Just as the conversation had been for Magneto's reasonings.

Akira was overwhelmed by her thoughts once again. She knew it would be fruitless to try to yell after the mutant, as would trying to give chase, since she'd deactivated her Legionis for the talk. The policewoman also knew this transformation of Boboiboy's couldn't be reasoned with. That just left her with the best option in the first place... to get off this damn tower.

"GO!"

Akira waved off Miracle and Kane to go out the same way they came in. She took out her X-Baton as the tower got increasingly shaky. She didn't know how it'd help if this thing collapsed, but it made her feel safer. The captain moved to usher two of her allies out of there. Though she was scared herself and she was frustrated with how much of a wild card the elementalist was, Akira couldn't bring herself to leave him behind. She didn't follow Miracle or Kane.

"B-BOY! We need to get out of here, now!"

 

[comic]

FRISK DREEMURR​

—QUILL HQ Ruins, Day 2 Morning—​

Ice was creeping up. Ghiaccio let on an assault, but the unique design of the prism wings was able to keep up, even better than Frisk had expected. Each individual hexagon didn’t take much magic to make at all, and while the entire form of the wings themselves was a little more taxing than she’d prefer, replacing the hexagons one at a time was a simple matter.

His offense was met with a stalwart defense. Her bulwark was impenetrable from the front with his tactics, but that creeping ice would become an issue sooner than later.

Yet as Ghiaccio was forced off by the combination of Veetoo and Amaterasu, the canine’s burst of energy made Frisk skid back a few inches, the heat making the encasing ice brittle, even if just for a moment. Enough for the teenager to shift her legs and move them free of the entrapment.

The Italian was losing steam, she could see that look in his eyes. Having fought so many people now, particularly humans as of late, Frisk could recognize such a look. The eyes darted around, looking at more than just their surroundings, but their thoughts. He was going to flee. Blink had done the same thing.

Her wings peeled back, a shifting prism of reflections. It was... kind of beautiful, actually, especially when coupled with twinkling crystals in the air - though that probably wasn’t a good sign.

“V2’s found the weak point, good for him,” Chara said casually, her tone the same as somebody watching a mildly entertaining movie. “He can’t exploit it.”

“If I do, I could kill him,” Frisk whispered, iterating the fact she really didn’t want that outcome. “Better Veetoo do this than me.”

“I just said he can’t exploit it, Ghiaccio’s onto him,” Chara rolled her eyes. “Just Chaos Saber him with an Aberration, it’s impossible for him to dodge that, and it’ll force him to flee.”

Maybe... the Chaos Saber was amazing for bypassing physical defenses, it could just vibrate right through them, as seen yesterday when she’d landed a heavy blow on Blade, but that special kind of application could be detrimental with her reserves this depleted. Coupling that with an Aberrate would dry her up even more. If it didn’t work, what then? She’d lack the energy to produce more hexagons and her wings would be gradually torn apart. Going full offense was too risky.

Chara seemed sure it would work, and she’d really never been exactly wrong as far as Frisk knew, but she felt it was logically too risky. Something like that just wouldn’t do right now.

“No, I’ll keep up how I’ve been,” Frisk said. If she got a good opportunity to, she’d like to trap Ghiaccio in an Encasement, a classic Sans technique. Like that, he could be ripe for Veetoo to land his necessary blow... she’d just need to keep an eye out for that opportunity, wait to see when the robot was firing, and if it would be good to Encase the Italian.​

 

[DevVoid]

Mr. Miracle
Though his offering of the article fell on deaf ears and he hesitantly made the paper vanish behind himself again, Miracle glanced back to Magneto when the man begun to explain about this strange 'Nexus' entity.. though, with the way it sounded, it made it more seem like a machine than anything. So, whatever that.. thing was, it was responsible for this mess of characters that were all brought into a collide from different worlds to merge in this place?

That explained why he had never even heard of the Sumeragi before this, and why Magneto knew about the X-Men, talking about them like they really existed. Because this was THE Magneto, and he was talking about THE X-Men. The ones in his world, the ones that in Miracle's were nothing but a concept. Then, the electromagnetic mastermind's words caught his attention next as he was adressed, momentarily before Hagen was caught off-guard by Thunderstorm's sudden appearance and the resulting attack, its shutdown and the threatening collapse of this metallic tower.

"Got it, just-" Terry had shouted back to Akira, lowering himself beside the Commander. One of his hands was held up, a smoke bomb already rolled out of his sleeve and held in his palm, ready to be thrown down. The other waved the others to him, as to initiate a group teleport back to a distant rooftop - not too far from their original location, but not too close to be in danger of being crushed by the falling pieces. The magician's eyes darted back to the levitating Magneto, stuck between waiting for everyone to get close and wanting to get a parting word out. Then, with the best volume he could muster to overpower all the loud sounds of metal falling and clashing against one another, he shouted in the man's direction.

"YOU DON'T NEED TO COWER, YOU NEED TO BE BETTER!!" Miracle yelled skywards to the departing foe, unwilling to pursue but equally unable to simply let this go without at least trying to convince him how he was fighting on the wrong side. "HUMANS FEAR WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW, AND FEAR ALWAYS LEADS TO HOSTILITY! NO MATTER HOW CLOSE THEY MAY SEEM, GOOD WILL ALWAYS WIN OVER EVIL IN THE END! DOESN'T MATTER IF IT TAKES A DAY, A YEAR, A CENTURY OR A MILLENIA! WHAT MATTERS IS WHAT YOU DO TO SPONSOR THE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER!!" The entertainer had managed to shout out, before his throat and his lungs gave way to the dry irritant of dehydration and a lack of oxygen to formulate words with. Even if he had to catch his breath now, he had only hoped that his words reached his target. Even if they had no effect, it was better to have them out in the first place. Then, as soon as everyone would have gathered close to him to be cloaked by its radius, Miracle had planned to throw down the smoke bomb and promptly bring all parties into safety as quick as he could manage.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Boboiboy - Thunderstorm


Red flashes of words soaked in violence cluttered Thunderstorm's head. He appeared ready to pursue Magento the moment he had begun to flee. Magneto was going to come after them on his own favorable terms later in the first place. Pretending he wasn't going to attack them was wishful thinking...that was what the logical justification was. Something about a Thunderstorm felt off in approach.

"B-BOY! We need to get out of here, now!"

"...!"

Thunderstorm flashed a head turn towards Akira. What Akira would see would be a surprisingly expressive Thunderstorm. Normally stoic and on task, Thunderstorm's pupils were practically dots erratically shaking alongside an intense expression on his face. The hair on his skin stood on end. This wasn't a face of determination. It was a face of fear. Intense and overwhelming fear.

Thunderstorm seemed to catch onto this himself, hiding his face away from Akira, gritting his teeth and hissing. Doing so, this lucidity seemed to knock him off the helm, reverting back to Boboiboy.

...

Coming to with a light gasp, Boboiboy looked about, brought attention to the collapsing structure around them. Shaking his head, he regained his focus.

"R-Right!"

As Miracle belted his words to the sky, Boboiboy went up to the commander and Miracle both, the latter seeming to have a trick up his sleeve, as should be expected for a magician. Trusting Miracle, he nodded to himself at his words. He remembered giving a similar sentiment before to the empress, if only that itself would have worked.

 

[Psymallard]

Akira Time
-Noon-ish, Tower of Magnetism-
Boboiboy was receptive. He showed the obvious signs of fear, even if for only a moment. It melted Akira's heart... had this transformation been a defensive reaction? There wasn't much time to speculate, but the boy was being sensible now.

Miracle soon spoke up as well, surprising the cop. Akira was shocked by his words; she couldn't have said it any better herself. There was a twinge of embarrassment, as she'd written him off as a goofball before. This changed that.

Regardless of her increased respect for either teammate, the tower was still coming down. Akira dashed towards Miracle and grabbed onto him as the four disappeared in a puff of smoke.

 

[comic]

MAGNETO​

—City Slums, Day 2 Afternoon—​

Miracle’s words triggered a response. Erik was an exceptional orator, having led many mutants in his time. His debates with Charles had gone on for many years. Political and social discourse was familiar to him, he had patience for it, but the words of the magician could not be the last spoken in this moment.

Magneto would not stand for it.

As he continued to hover upward, the mutant folded his arms as he turned around. His booming voice seemed amplified by the metal around him, bouncing off of them, ensuring his words would not get lost in the distance. “And wait for the extinction of my people? No...! Time is my enemy, and I must act now. I tried your way, once. All that is left... is mine.”

And with that, Magneto turned and continued away, disappearing over the rooftops. His orbit quickly vanished afterward, lost from view, leaving the heroes with a new encounter to reflect on.

Erik, meanwhile, would begin preparations. Such an encounter reminded him of his convictions. Demerzel needed the master of magnetism; their project would not go unfinished.​

 

[Fraseandchico]

The Bard

Kiwi, of course, had felt a little silly back when being scolded on being reckless - Mostly due to not realising that was not the plan that the group had been thinking of. But regardless, things moved on, as the singing allowed Terrence a chance to place those guards into cages, and after getting some information The Bard was dragged along.

And of course, eventually following the new and actually given plan, Kiwi made sure to sprint to the boxes as soon as the fire alarm went off (Though Kiwi could not help but feel concern of someone potentially getting hurt in the panic, there was the mild marvel of not knowing what a fire alarm like this was.), crouching down behind the cover.

Then, seemingly investigating, a big bear-looking creature showed up. To Kiwi, this reminded them of the Yetis back home, except in actual clothes and a little smaller. Probably not Sumeragi, right?
"Stay down." Tracy had told Kiwi, and though Kiwi didn't enjoy having to crouch so much, they stayed low while the Duelist stood up and began speaking to Bark. The Bard was tempted to join the conversation, but kept quiet for now since they were told to.

They also hoped Terrence would be okay, since they never got to tell him this part of the plan with the fire alarm...

 

[Psymallard]

Bark the Polar Bear: Snowboard King of Mobius
-Control Room Antechamber-
Bark's head snapped towards Tracy. A small girl was the intruder- the Mobian recognized her from the group that attacked the wall. Though she raised her hands in peace, she wore a weapon on her wrist. He didn't recall what it did, but it wasn't very subtle. Either way, Bark was more than willing to keep this nonviolent.

As Tracy asked the polar bear a question, he pursed his frowning lips. He couldn't answer that question. Bean was usually here to speak for him, but Nack thought it'd be best for them to split up this time- just so he could haggle for more pay from Sumeragi. As it stood, that was going to pay off, since Bark had found one.

At least, one that he could see. His eyes moved from studying the duel disk to Tracy's previous hiding spot. There was always a possibility she was stalling for something or someone just out of view. The snowboarder put his mittens up in front of him in a nonhostile manner as he stepped closer still. Once close enough, he slowly reached one of his large arms out to pull down the stack of crates to see what else was behind it.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy Rinehart​

- Armament Factory, Second Floor, Interior Hallway -​

The bear paused a moment, but didn't respond. No banter, no words, just a frown. From the look in his eyes and the way he was holding himself, Tracy could tell the bear wanted to keep this peaceful. Tracy kept her hands up, and Bark took another step forward, extending a hand towards the crates-

"STOP." Tracy said, forcefully. Then her voice softened. "Please."
Tracy pointed to the open cell phone she was holding in her right hand.
"One button is all I need to press. My associates and I have been planting explosives in the factory all morning." Tracy said. It was a lie of course. No bombs or explosives had been places, but there was no way Bark could know that, or know how long they had been sneaking around the factory for. Tracy gestured up towards the blaring sirens and lights.

"We just want to destroy the factory, not hurt the workers." Tracy said. "But you come any closer, and we'll all go up."
The duelist stared down Bark, her eyes brimming with determination. Deception and bluffs were just as much a part of the game of Duel Monsters as deck building and card management. However, he expressioned shifted to slight nervousness as she asked another question.
"You can understand me... right?"

 

[Psymallard]

Bark the Polar Bear: Silent Muscle
-Control Room Antechamber-
Bark froze as Tracy suddenly raised her voice. She claimed they had rigged this place to blow. So much for not escalating the situation. The polar bear narrowed his eyes and retracted his arms, folding them across his chest.

"You can understand me... right?"

Bark nodded. Surely she was bluffing with this bomb business. That little resistance didn't have the resources for this. Definetly not enough to risk losing their members like this. Bark was just doubtful enough so a part of him believed Tracy's bluff, or at least had to take it into account. He definitely wouldn't be fast enough to knock it out of her hands; the bear was infamously slow compared to those he associated with. Even if they did, what was the plan from here? She was trapped in here.That fact alone bought him more than enough time to wait for her next move.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Tracy Rinehart​

- Armament Factory, Control Room Antechamber -​

The bear was suspicious, but her threat had been enough to make him stop. He nodded an affirmative that he could understand her. So he was the silent type. Or perhaps he wasn't able to speak at all. The bear had taken a more relaxed stance, crossing their arms in front of them, no longer ready to attack. Tracy let out a breath, and a moment of silence passed between her and Bark. At least, as silent as it could be as the fire alarm continued to blare.

"... You should get the others, and get out of here." Tracy said, nodding to the Control Room door. "My associates already know to get out from the Fire Alarm. You should too. There's no reason we can't all walk away from this. Please."

 

[Psymallard]

Bark the Polar Bear
-Control Room Antechamber-
Bark continued to study Tracy. She'd said something interesting just now- suggesting her 'associates' weren't already out by the time the alarm was pulled. They wouldn't have had the time to fully evacuate, with how recently the alarm was pulled. The resistance definitely didn't have the manpower to waste a full team of people... especially considering these people were supposedly stealthy and skilled enough to perform a huge operation under Sumeragi's nose.

Emboldened by this flaw in her story, Bark took a careful step forward. The snowflake emblems on the back of his mittens glowed faintly as he eyed the phone...

 

[ArmedBlue]

City Slums – Tower of Magnetism
​

The diplomatic encounter continued, history and worldviews being exchanged across parties. Magneto's world and past were be remarkably similar to that of the land they found themselves in, with divides between the superhuman and the powerless prompting destructive conflict across the globe. The mutant's faction had emerged victorious at the end of the war, and Sumeragi was approaching its own Adept supremacy.

What the Master of Magnetism was met with, however, was resilience. His opposition refused to bow out and flee with the remaining survivors, instead strengthening their resolve to oppose Sumeragi and put a stop to their genocidal campaign. Their own experiences served as fuel for the rebellion, much like how Magneto's struggle had reinforced his own convictions. Although Kane had not previously encountered this type of conflict before (being accustomed to a far different type of 'mutant'), he was still at home with the ideals of his rescuers, particularly Boboiboy's – he'd managed to establish a peace agreement with a different species before, after all.

Suddenly, things took a turn for the worse. Thunderstorm emerged to attack Magneto, his kill shot swiftly intercepted by the mutant, who began to retreat as the entire tower began to shake and crumble. Akira called for the team to flee, soon bringing a now-returned Boboiboy with her towards Miracle, the magician trading some parting words with the king of Genosha. And as the tower's rumbling worsened and Magneto drifted further away...

Miracle's smoke bomb burst, and the four vanished away to safety.

In another puff of smoke, they reappeared back down in the street, just a couple dozen feet away from where Akira's bike had been left. The barricade from earlier had disassembled along with the tower, numerous pieces of metal trailing nearby Magneto as he disappeared from view. He'd made his point of view clear, and given how the encounter had turned out, the next would surely be on much worse terms.

Besides, he'd left some questions to ponder on – namely what the 'Nexus' he spoke of truly was.

After a few moments, Kane spoke up. "...Let's continue to the safe house," he called, starting to step toward Akira's motorcycle. "We can discuss as much as we need once there."​

Armament Factory
​

Slowly but surely, Terrence continued to shave down and weaken the joints of the Mantis, electing to maintain his efforts on that and avoid calling attention by messing with other Sumeragi equipment. Wrapping up his stealthy sabotaging of the mech, he allowed the crescent blades to carve one more dent into the Mantis––

And mere moments after that, a loud alarm began to blare throughout the facility. Not due to his meddling, but instead caused by Tracy's deliberate pulling of the fire alarm in an effort to sneak into the control room.

Immediately, the soldiers manning the Mantis' assembly rushed out of their positions, dismounting at various levels of Assembly 3 to head towards the exits, leaving just a few automated robot arms to work on the mech. In scrambling to safety, a soldier hopped off from a lift onto the second level, and he soon caught a glance of Terrence. The soldier skid to a stop, putting a hand to the side of his helmet, simultaneously reaching for the beam rifle on his back.

"Attention all available units – an intruder has been sighted in Assembly 3, near the control room antechamber! Seize him immediately!"

As the Gunner drew his weapon, some of the soldiers scattered throughout the area began to double back, bringing their own weapons out as well. Two other Gunners came into view on the opposite side of the third level walkway, soon firing plasma bolts at the teen in unison with the first one. At about the same time, the air towards the center of the room distorted slightly, and a Psi User suddenly warped into view. His hands crackled with violet Septimal energy, and he began to launch short barrages of psychic orbs towards Terrence.

To further complicate things, a panel by the door to the previous room flipped open, and out of it emerged a Barrier Laser. After a brief wind-up, the wall-mounted turret began to fire a steady stream of pink energy shots, aimed to both cover some of the walkway Terrence stood on and partially block his way back to where the rest of his squad was.​

 

[Fraseandchico]

The Bard

Kiwi really wasn't sure what Tracy was talking about when she claimed they had set bombs, to say the least. Nor were they sure of Tracy's attempts to decieve Bark into believing these bombs existed, especially as they heard the footsteps continue. But for a moment, they remained crouched where the duelist had told the bard to stay.
"Attention all available units – an intruder has been sighted in Assembly 3, near the control room antechamber! Seize him immediately!" A voice blared from somewhere that Kiwi was unsure - Deciding to chalk it up to another techie thing they didn't understood.
And then Kiwi realised that such a voice was probably referring to Terrence. Now there was panic.

"WAIIT!!!" Kiwi's voice flared up, the humming behind the voice a discordant mess of panic as the Bard stood up next to Tracy, the next words formed behind what almost felt like a gust of powerful wind right towards Bark. "Wait wait wait!!!" They continued, before huffing as she slowed down... And then feeling rather surprised at their own shouting, as shown by a rather flat expression, and a quick moment of pause that gave way to a more determined look. "Um- You don't have to fight!!!" He began again, acting as if he was not in a complete state of panic just one second ago. "She just wants to stop the making of any weapons here! You know, stop people from getting hurt!" He claimed, putting forth a statement with utmost confidence in it. "You don't want people to get hurt, right...?" It wasn't exactly an accusation - But Kiwi did have one underlying worry of this sort of thing ever since coming out here.

Besides, it wasn't like the story contradicted Tracy's, beyond not all of the associates being out - And even then, there was words suggesting detaching themselves from it, referring to it all as though Tracy were the only one on this plan within the factory. Blowing up the factory and getting everyone else definitely would stop the making of weapons... And if Bark were to attack anyway, at least they could say they both tried to talk the Polar Bear down.