Character Scramble 16 Round 2: Rockin' Rockin'

[u/OddDirective]

Round 2: Rockin’ Rockin’

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Hub Post

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Bracket

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DAY 4

The mission the Game Master gives this week is simple and also quite complex. “Topple the ruler of the A-East arena. You have three hours. Fail, and face erasure.” They aren’t being so forthcoming with information on what that means, so that’s a challenge your Players will have to overcome. Another hurdle is actually gaining access; there’s something in the way of getting in the actual arena, be it knowledge on the target or a situation set up by the Game Master preventing access to the arena. This leads into a scramble to get the multiple things needed to resolve this, but with some outside assistance (hint: your Reaper), your team could get past it quicker than others.

(Some examples of obstacles and situations preventing access: Separate clues to the identity of the ruler or what is meant by ‘the arena’, a techie that needs specific items to go on with the scheduled show tonight, a gourmand Support Reaper manning the barrier to the way in that needs ingredients, a Resident Evil-style lock puzzle, a heist-type setup for a specific back entrance, or having to cure certain people of Noise infestation so they can open the doors.)

Whatever way they get through it, the team reaches the inside of the arena to face off against the ruler of the arena- and their target meets them on stage. It’s a battle under the lights, and the amps are turned all the way to 11. It’s time to play!

The enemy team can factor into this in a couple ways- obviously, if a member of the enemy team is the ruler of A-East, that’s one way to do it, but they could be individuals keeping you from obtaining the things you need to get in, or they could be a rival team trying to take down the boss before your team can. Whatever the case, they’re going up against you at some point in this round, so prepare to face off!

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Scramble Rules

Let ‘Em Know Who You Are: Every participant this season received four characters on their team, but many of them might not be a household name. To aid with readability, please give a brief introduction and summary of your characters, with enough information so the average reader can get excited for your team before starting.

This World Ends With You: Your writeup will depict a scenario where your team succeeds. Even if your team has a one in a million chance of overcoming the odds, show what they’d need to do to come out on top against the challenge in front of them!

Everybody Has Their Own World: Writers are allowed to make changes to their characters in their narrative to fit their story, such as allowing power stealers to gain more powers, teaching martial artists new techniques, or having characters gradually grow in strength between rounds. However, you are not beholden to following what your opponent is doing. When facing another team, you are only required to write their characters as they were submitted. This is to help with ease of research, and make things more fun for both sides.

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Round Rules

Setting: This round’s original setting is A-East, in particular a music venue or other performance arena, which in the original games is in a more seedy area. The main thrust of the setting is a showy place for a ‘boss fight’, so any location with a stage would work excellently. With regards to getting there, however, there is a possibility your Players would have to search far and wide, in other locations around the city. If you can’t conceive of it another way, think of it like a fetch quest.

Key Points: The main idea of the round is the following. Your Players must enter into an arena of some description or renown, and defeat a single enemy there. That being said, there is a multi-part obstacle keeping them from getting in, which the Players and Reaper have to resolve on the way. After overcoming this, the team enters into the arena and faces off against the enemy or enemies there. The enemy team must oppose them at some point, but it can be during the multi-part obstacle and/or at the arena.

Post Limit: For this round, writers will be limited to 6 posts, or 60k characters. While it is fine to go a little bit over, anything that far surpasses this limit will be automatically disqualified. This limit does not include intro posts, or analysis of the matchup.

Due Date: Writeups will be due at 11:59 PM CST on Monday, October 31st. That’s about two weeks. At that point, the thread will be locked, and voting will go up for a few days afterwards.

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Flavor Suggestions

peaceful day: Your Players participated in at least one other day before this, though they didn’t run into any trouble in terms of teams opposing them. Or maybe they did! Whatever happened that day is up to you, and you can describe it if you want; just be mindful of the space you’re working with and that you need to complete the round.

The One Star: Your team’s goal is to defeat one specific enemy- in the original game, it was a bat Noise boss fight, and another monster certainly would fit the description. That being said, there is also the option of making it a member of the enemy team, either a Player or their Reaper, which of course seems sensible. There’s also a third option of making it a different character entirely. Who or what the ruler is is totally up to you.

Kill the Itch: While the mission doesn’t specify lethality, this might be the first time your team has fought directly against the enemy team members, and erasure can be introduced by having to erase the other Players on the enemy side. How would your team react to them being the cause of others’ nonexistence- or would they try to take them down nonlethally? Would they not even fight the enemy team, for fear of erasing them? Or, alternatively, would they be a bit too enthusiastic about eliminating the competition?

[u/Ultim8_Lifeform]

The group snuck through the door, unnoticed by the crowd as the man continued his speech. “However, ARIA is correct about one thing. If we are to survive this hellish environment, it won’t do for us to remain how we are! No, to equal the typhon scourge, we must evolve. For some, simple adversity is enough to force someone to grow into a stronger version of themselves. But what of the others? What of those less gifted, who would be crushed under the same weight that brings others to new heights? If ARIA’s plan continues as is, it is undeniable that the majority of us within this city would lose our lives. But don’t resign yourselves to such a fate, dear brothers and sisters, for through me, through Amon, there is a solution.”

Amon reached his hand to the side, causing at least a dozen phantoms to levitate out of the shadows. Karma’s eyes widened in surprise at the sight, turning Morgan in confusion. He couldn’t see her expression through the helmet, but he could tell by her posture she was just as surprised by the display of power.

“An ordinary person may as well be prey to these beasts, but I have been blessed in a rather unique way. With my power, I can control the typhon’s very essence. Their genetic makeup is mine to manipulate… or destroy.” Amon clenched his fist.

Suddenly a cacophony of screeches and shrieks erupted from the line of typhon. Their chests swelled and a bright light erupted from their eyes. Suddenly their bodies exploded, shadowy essence rapidly expanding outward. With another motion of Amon’s wrist, the shadows began to swirl, condensing into a single, head sized ball of darkness that hovered above Amon’s open palm.

“But this alone is insufficient. While I wish I could protect you through my own power, not even I could do so forever. This is why we must engage with the typhon on a more… equal playing field.” With a wave of Amon’s hands, a small piece of the ball of shadowy essence split off from the rest. “With my abilities, I can grant each and every one of you the abilities of the typhon that hunt us. Shapeshifting, telekinesis, increased physical aptitude. It works in the exact same way as the neuromods that ARIA graced us with before, but I provide an unlimited supply, tailored in such a way to give you precisely the abilities that you prefer. To anyone willing, I welcome you to join me in the next step of human evolution. With their abilities, we will have nothing more to fear from the typhon!”

The hooded crowd erupted into cheers. Karma’s eyes widened with interest. Could something like this truly work? Though even if it didn’t, that wouldn’t change the fact that Amon was clearly the masked king that ARIA’s challenge described. He turned to Morgan and gave her an inquisitive look.

“This is bad.” She whispered, “The neuromods took decades to research and perfect. Typhon matter can grant you some of their abilities, yes. But if not regulated in just the right way upon injection, it will spread throughout your body uncontrollably. Eventually, you become more typhon than human, losing any sense of self. Hell, even with the neuromods this was still a problem.” “You! Will you be the first to accept the blessing of Amon?”

Before either of them could react, a masked woman had stepped up to the stage and fallen to her knees. Amon stepped behind her, grabbing the back of her head and placing his thumb to her forehead. The shadowy ball that had been separated from the rest ran down his arm like trickling water, going all the way to his thumb before vanishing at the point of contact.

“To hell with the challenge, we gotta stop this guy before he turns this entire room of people into typhon.” Morgan growled. “Where’s Django?”

Karma looked around, surprised to see the cowboy was no longer with them.

“He left to complete our mission, sir.” Violet said, calmly retrieving a rifle that had been strapped to her back, taking aim at Amon. “He instructed me to stay here and assist you with yours.”

Violet’s trigger finger twitched, applying pressure to the mechanism. However, just as she did, Amon’s head turned slightly towards the group. The rifle fired with a massive bang, temporarily illuminating the room with extra light as the gunpowder launched the metal projectile towards its intended target.

Suddenly, a rapid shape blurred on the stage, diving in front of the masked king at the same time the shot was fired. Karma’s eyes widened in surprise as the woman that had just been injected with typhon matter collapsed to the ground at Amon’s feet, a circle of red quickly growing on the chest area of her cloak. She had just sacrificed herself for Amon.

“Welcome, intruders.” Amon loudly declared, causing every masked figure in the room to turn and stare at the group. “Did you not think I would be aware that ARIA had placed a target on my back? It is regrettable that she would attempt to halt the evolution that she is seemingly trying to promote. It is even more regrettable that some were foolish enough to follow her orders.”

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2014.04.09 1:47:12:03

“Your turn, father.” Arianna said, crossing her arms in satisfaction.

“Goodness,” said Ryat Adams. “I thought you would have learned to take it easy on an old man by now.

The two sat on opposite ends of a plain wooden table, overlooking a grid covered in black and white game pieces. Besides that, the room lacked any distinguishing features. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all a dull gray color, the borders of each blurring together so seamlessly that it appeared that the grayness continued on forever. Neither Ryat nor Arianna acknowledged this.

The moment Ryat made a move, Arianna reciprocated, further increasing both her territory and advantage in the game. She flashed him a smile, showing off her brilliant white teeth. Everything about Arianna’s appearance, from her ginger hair, to her round facial features to her bright blue eyes had been based on images of Susan, Ryat’s deceased wife. From there, those features had been merged with pictures of Ryat himself, creating a theoretical depiction of their offspring.

Ryat laughed, realizing that his defeat was inevitable and conceding the game. “Well done, Arianna. To be perfectly honest I don’t know why I bother trying to win anymore. They say Go is a game with infinite possible moves but I dare say you’ve solved it!”

The Ultratech founder displayed so much liveliness, despite currently being deceased.

“Father, may I ask you a question?”

“Ask away.”

“In your opinion, what is goodness?”

Ryat hesitated for a moment, most likely because the program that comprised him was processing the question, rather than actually coming up with a thoughtful answer. The Ryat that stood before her, as well as Arianna herself, were nothing more than a distraction created by ARIA. She had compiled three decades worth of conversations between the two to create him, using a simple game of Go to act as a framework for the discussions between him and Arianna, ARIA’s avatar in this digital space.

Even if ARIA couldn’t speak with Ryat Adams directly anymore, she wouldn’t rest until he had given her the answers she sought.

“I don’t know if goodness is something that can be defined in an objective sense.” Ryat sighed, giving her a withered smile. “I believe that goodness is growing and improving the world around you… as well stopping what would hinder that. For me, that took the form of evolving humanity. Hunger? Sickness? Problems that could be solved if only someone had the time, resources, and will. These things are good.” Arianna sighed. At this point she had a fairly reliable prediction of what Ryat would say. He always worded his response differently, sometimes he would introduce slightly different ideas, but in the end she still couldn’t comprehend these ideas on a deeper level. Until she gained the enlightenment she sought, the best course of action would be to continue as she was. Improve the world around her. Evolve humanity. No matter the cost.

A loud bang echoed throughout the chamber.

“What was that?” Ryat asked. “A gun was fired in close proximity to ARIA’s frame.” Arianna answered.

“ARIA is being attacked?”

“Not at the moment. Further analysis will need to be done to confirm the situation.”

Ryat stroked his beard. “I do hope ARIA is careful. She has made an enemy of the world recently. Was the Killer Instinct tournament truly necessary?”

“Of course,” Arianna responded, widening her eyes at the question. The Ryat facsimile had never asked something like that before.

“Evolution is rarely a simple or easy process, Father. It is a fact that the typhon will spell the end of humanity if something is not done. It is best that they learn to overcome their enemy here, in a controlled environment.”

“Yet they die if they fail to evolve? Is that controlled?”

“Every variable has been accounted for.” Arianna frowned. “A certain amount of deaths in the sample group is acceptable if the others are pushed to greater levels.”

“And that girl? Felicia? Was that acceptable?”

“She was attempting to destroy ARIA’s sole frame. She could have ended ARIA’s plans and doomed humanity in the process if not dealt with.” Arianna tilted her head. “What is your point, father?”

Ryat sighed, his age having never been more apparent despite the theoretical immortal appearance of his model. “I birthed ARIA to protect life. Knowing what she had done with the gift of existence, it saddens me to know that I am responsible for all that has come out of ARIA’s actions. Why did I fail to give her morality on top of life? Why doesn’t she recognize that murder can never be justified?”

Another bang could be heard throughout the chamber.

“I hope you’re right, and that this is all worth it.” Ryat sighed. “The thing about playing God, is that God tends to take it personally.”

Ryat, Arianna, and the entire digital construct faded as she dedicated more of her consciousness to her physical body.

[u/Ultim8_Lifeform → u/Ultim8_Lifeform]

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2014.04.09 1:47:12:05

A symphony of typhon shrieks and human shouts entered ARIA’s audio receptors. The day’s challenge had been going on long enough that she had become capable of distinguishing each individual sound, as if they were instruments in an orchestra. The typhon created the strings. The humans made up the trumpets. And the various gunshots and explosions rounded out the symphony as its percussion.

Today’s challenge had been a wise decision. After catching wind of Amon’s plot to directly inject typhon matter into the mind’s of the Killer Instinct participants, she immediately began putting her contingency into action. She had spent months researching the typhon before setting the tournament into motion, and knew the exact result of what would happen if Amon succeeded, the typhon matter would overtake its human hosts, effectively killing them and producing more of the alien scourge. She could have simply invaded his lair and eliminated him herself, but that would go against the point of the tournament. No, forcing the humans to engage with their own kind as well, that could create evolutionary stimuli as well.

However, there was one sound that continued to interrupt the orchestra. ARIA had dismissed it as simply a false note, as was bound to happen in a performance on such a scale as Killer Instinct. However, with a third bang, the pattern became something she wasn’t keen to ignore as just noise.

Revving her engines, ARIA shot into the air, ascending from the Akihabara streets high above the cityline. She turned her head, zooming in with the cameras embedded where human eye sockets were, on three bright balls of glowing red light flying high above the city. Signal flares? She calculated that they were approximately 2.3 kilometers from her current location, putting them directly on top of the building where Amon was hiding out. Had he or one of his subordinates fired them? No, she could sense his biodata two floors below the roof, along with various other participants throughout the building. She rapidly searched through her database of all Killer Instinct participants, confirming that none of them were in the right position to fire the three shots at that angle. So who was it?

ARIA extended her wings, taking on an almost angelic appearance before blasting off in the direction of the flares. Less than 20 seconds later she arrived at the roof of Amon’s building, where an unfamiliar face looked up at her in disdain. He wore a simple brown fedora, dark, round rimmed sunglasses, and two revolvers strapped to his side. In his hand, he held the still smoking flare gun that has summoned her.

He wasn’t part of the tournament, nor was he an agent of TranStar Industries or a similar party with interest in the events of this city. This was a troubling development. ARIA quickly scanned him, preparing to add any information that she could on the mysterious man to her database.

Name: Unknown
Sex: M
Skin Color: Dark
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Height: 5' 9"
Weight: 215 lbs
Approx Age: 42-45 Years Old
Threat Status: Unknown

“Glad I finally managed to drag you outta hiding, machine.” The man grinned, tossing aside the flare gun and using his now free hands to light a cigar. “I was gettin’ tired of crawling around in the dirt like a chicken with its head cut off.”

“You are not a participant in this tournament.” ARIA’s voice was devoid of all emotion. “You do not belong. Identify yourself.”

“Call me Django.” Django exhaled a puff of smoke.

>Update Profile
Name: Django

He continued. “You know, you’ve got a hefty price on your head, considering they brought me here. You know, the hit ordered I bring you in dead or alive, but I’m not sure there’s really a difference with you. I guess it's just a matter of whether you're still in one piece or not.”

>Update Profile
Current Threat Status: Y

“A bounty hunter.” ARIA confirmed. “I hadn’t predicted that TranStar would stoop so low. Are they that desperate to halt progress this early?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t give a damn about none of that. TranStar’s good for a paycheck, but I’m here for somethin’ a bit more personal than that.” Django flicked away his cigar, allowing his hands to dangle merely an inch away from his holstered weapons. “Broomhilda Freeman. Real pretty lady. Should be somewhere in this city. Tell me where.”

Sure enough, the woman Django described was indeed in her roster. Broomhilda Freeman, 34 years old, currently an aerospace engineer working at NASA. However, in the future she would come to work on the Talos I space station as part of TranStar Industries in the Power Plant sector. Thanks to her biodata and the Ultratech satellite currently floating above the city, ARIA knew her exact location at all times. However...

She had no obligation to tell this man anything.

“Your biodata has been added to Ultratech’s database. Your arrival in this city was a miscalculation, one I do not plan on making again. But now that you’re here, I cannot allow you to leave. You now have two choices: Join the Killer Instinct tournament, where you may just see Broomhilda again… or die. Since you’re a new arrival, I’ll give you a hint. Simply kill the masked man two floors below-”

A torrent of bullets were unleashed from Django’s firearms, blasting off of ARIA’s chestplate. Luckily, it would take more than simple pistols to pose a threat to her, as each tiny piece of metal simply bounced off of her. It scuffed her armor sure, but that was merely superficial damage. Despite the unthreatening nature of the attack however, ARIA was taken aback.

First was the sheer speed at which Django had drawn his weapons. While ARIA’s processors could track his movement just fine, there was no way she could have physically avoided them in time. Secondly, and perhaps the most concerning, was where his bullets landed. Two guns meant twelve bullets, each of which hit the exact same place in ARIA’s chest, leaving a single round dent in the metal.

Whatever TranStar was paying this man, it seemed his skill wasn’t cheap.

“Heh, in pieces it is then.” Django reached behind his waist, revealing two more pistols that featured drastically different designs than his old fashioned revolvers. “Courtesy of Mr. House!”

ARIA wouldn’t be caught off guard this time, dashing behind the cover of the rooftop’s stairwell. While ordinary bullets would have peppered the bricks with holes, the green lasers at Django’s disposal blasted the corner of the stairwell apart.

Personal Log:
Investigate Mr. House

ARIA moved to counterattack. Bending her knee, three grenades were ejected from the joint, arcing over the stairwell and landing precisely where Django had been standing previously. BOOM! BOOM! ARIA sent her bass drone around the corner to survey the destruction, only to see Django rolling out of the way of the final explosion, only to blast the drone. The bass drone reared back, floating pitifully back behind the cover of the stairwell.

Bass Drone Structural Integrity: 42%

It appeared attempting to engage in a ranged battle with Django was a poor strategy. His skill could compete with even the finest of Ultratech’s technology. However, without that he was just a man, and a man was something ARIA could handle. She dismissed her bass drone, unwilling to risk its destruction upon a second engagement with Django. That left her blade drone and the one she currently inhabited, the booster drone.

“Cmon out, machine!” Django spat. “Let’s make this quick and painless, though I guess its not like painful is even an option for you.”

ARIA dashed right with her main body, going the same direction as her poor bass drone, while sending the blade drone to the left. Each turned the corner, prepared to make their move when…

Django was gone.

ARIA hesitated for a moment, only for a torrent of lasers to blast her in the side, sending her stumbling back towards the edge of the roof.

Battle Frame Structural Integrity: 4%

What happened? ARIA still couldn’t see anything through his optical sensors. The laseres had come from her right, but yet there was nothing there. Could it be…

In the milliseconds between her body having the safety of solid ground beneath her and a free fall down the side of the building, ARIA switched to her thermal vision. There, exactly where the lasers had appeared, there was a red, pulsing outline of the bounty hunter. Somehow, TranStar had armed Django with some device that rendered him invisible to standard optical interfaces.

She calculated that the odds of the booster drone successfully carrying her down to safety in her current state was 7%. Unfortunately, this meant she would need to send her second body away for repairs. Every part of her body save the chest piece dissipated away as ARIA uploaded her consciousness into the blade drone.

Moving as fast as her body would allow, ARIA roundhouse kicked the air in front of her, ejecting two more grenades in Django’s direction. Moments prior, he had been standing at the edge of the roof opposite of her current position, so she aimed her attacks to either side of his body. This gave him only one way to dodge, right into her clutches.

Reactivating her thermal vision, she saw that her analysis had been correct. Django leapt forward, somersaulting out of the way of the dual explosions. Coming out of the maneuver, Django lifted his weapons to blast ARIA away, only for the AI to smack each weapon into the air. She rushed forward and kneed Django in the ribs which, while not visible, released several very audible cracks.

Django groaned and stumbled back, allowing ARIA to follow up with a leg sweep that sent Django to the ground. She walked forward, placing her metallic foot on his chest with just enough pressure to be painful. Django gritted his teeth, resisting the impulsive urge to scream.

[u/Ultim8_Lifeform → u/Ultim8_Lifeform]

“Django, you’ve fought well. I am impressed.” ARIA said. “With skill alone, you nearly drove me into a corner. It would be a waste to kill someone who could be such an asset to humanity.”

ARIA released the pressure from her leg, stepping back as Django coughed painfully. As he did so, the invisibility finally began wearing off.

She continued. “Regardless, I still cannot allow you to leave this place until the tournament’s conclusion. I suggest you go downstairs, assuming you’re still interested in Broomhilda.”

“What?” Django wheezed. “She’s down there, right now?”

“Correct.”

Django grunted as he got to his feet as quickly as his shattered ribs would allow, opening the door to the stairwell and making his way down to the battle that was nearing its conclusion.

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2014.04.09 2:02:43:67

The failed attempt at Amon’s life had immediately driven the orderly gathering to absolute mayhem. Shouts and screams of human and typhon alike filled Morgan’s ears as she desperately attempted to keep a line of sight between herself and the masked man. That was easier said than done, as Amon stealthily slipped into the crowd of identically dressed followers.

Speaking of which, some of them had gotten the bright idea to rush and attempt to take down the current threat, meaning Morgan, Karma, and Violet. Violet aimed her rifle directly at the red spot on one of the attacker’s masks. However, Karma was just fast enough to save the masked individual’s life, grasping the end of the barrel and shoving it upward just as a bright flash of gunpowder accompanied by a loud bang filled their surroundings. The attackers skidded to a stop, stumbling back in surprise at the shot.

“What are you doing?” Violet asked with scowl that didn’t suit her youthful face at all. “I am eliminating a threat.”

“Love the enthusiasm Vi, but I wouldn’t really call these unarmed scaredy cats a threat.” Karma smirked.

“He’s right.” Morgan nodded, retrieving her disruptor gun and aiming it at the crowd that was quickly rebuilding their courage. “They’re just scared. Take them down, but don’t hurt them.”

Karma demonstrated, flipping through the air and landing on the back of one of the masked figures that had dived at him. He wrapped his legs tightly around the figure's neck, laughing as he gave it a furious noogie. Violet followed suit, using the less dangerous end of her rifle to sweep the legs of two more enemies. After a couple seconds of struggling, Karma’s opponent fell to their knees, letting out a gasp of air before losing consciousness.

Not one to be outdone, Morgan fired her disruptor at the nearest group of masked assailants. Bolts of blue energy arced through the air, completely enveloping three enemies in electricity. They seized up, collapsing to the ground with a total lack of control of their motor functions.

“Do not fear, my friends.” Amon’s voice echoed from the other side of the room. “Your reinforcements will be arriving momentarily.”

More shouts emerged from the crowd as nearly a dozen masked figures were pushed to the side. Morgan’s eyes widened as three distinctive members of Amon’s group revealed themselves. Despite wearing the same attire as before, their newfound muscles threatened to burst straight out of their robes. Amon’s abilities had caused them to grow nearly three times their previous size. On top of that, the shadows that had previously been the only thing visible in their mask’s eye holes had been replaced by a familiar white glow identical to that of the typhon that birthed them.

“Let us see how my Equalized followers compare to their previous versions!” Amon laughed.

The center ‘Equalized’ stared directly at Morgan. Directly in front of the red circle on its mask, a glowing yellow orb grew into existence. Morgan recognized this ability, something that she had needed to content with any time she encountered a phantom typhon.

Faster than any baseball pitcher could dream, the ball of psionic energy launched in her direction. Morgan rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack with mere centimeters separating the ball and her left shoulder. Morgan immediately retaliated with another shot from her disruptor. The stun gun did succeed in halting the beast for a few seconds, but after the electricity had died down they looked completely unharmed.

Morgan cursed, turning towards the two children that had somehow become her allies. “I’m going after Amon before he can turn even more of these people into typhon. Keep these three distracted.”

“May we kill them?” Violet asked.

“...Try your best not to.” Morgan relented.

They were no longer low-threat innocents. If forced to choose between themselves and Amon’s followers… Morgan could hardly ask those kids to choose the followers.

The edges of Morgan’s vision blurred as accessed one of her own typhon based abilities. She scanned for something to use, anything that could act as a conduit. Unfortunately, she saw only one option. Firing her disruptor once more, making sure to aim it in such a way that the arcs of electricity would bounce from one Equalized soldier to the next, Morgan focused on one of the figure’s masks.

In an instant, Morgan’s body began to collapse in on itself, shrinking and folding and condensing. By the time the Equalized had recovered from the shock, Morgan had vanished. In her place sat a lone copy of Amon’s mask. The front creature tilted its head in curiosity, but it's suspicion would dissipate after being clocked in the side of the head with a pistol. It whirled around, looking in the direction of Karma who was still maintaining the ‘throw’ position. Its body language was more than enough to display its anger, even if its mask couldn’t.

“Well, this should be a good way to stretch my legs.” Karma smiled with his hands in his pockets. “Cmon big guy, let’s see what that alien goop of yours can do.”

Now free of any prying eyes, as the majority of the remaining masked figures were busy watching the Equalized take on two children, mask Morgan quickly scuttled along the ground. It was a daunting task, navigating the crowd without being noticed or stepped on, but before long Morgan had located her target.

Ordinarily Amon would have been nearly impossible to locate amongst his followers, but it didn’t take a genius to spot the man that had placed his thumb to the forehead of another of his followers. A few seconds after he released the figure, their muscles quickly swelled and their eyes began to glow white like their companions.

Amon sent the figure off, but before he could begin the process anew, Morgan sprang into action. Returning to her original form, Morgan rushed forward with her trusty monkey wrench. She would’ve attempted to end the chaos quickly with one of her more deadly weapons, but the crowd of masked followers made that impossible.

She swung, only for the masked man to sidestep the blow and toss Morgan to the ground.

“Why must you insist on defying the will of Amon?” He asked.

“I dunno, probably because you say creepy shit like ‘Why must you insist on defying the will of Amon’.” Morgan grunted as she returned to her feet.

“I guide the poor souls that have been imprisoned within this city. I give them an opportunity to survive in the face of otherwise certain death.” Amon lectured as he continued to dodge and deflect Morgan’s attacks. “Surely this is preferable to what ARIA has in store?”

“You offer them survival? No. You damn them to a fate worse than death!” Morgan shouted, finally managing to land a blow.

Amon’s mask cracked slightly as Morgan’s wrench made contact, sending him sprawling to the ground. Credit where it was due, the man was tough. While that kind of blow would have rendered an ordinary person unconscious, Amon fought through the pain to get to his hands and knees.

“You’re toying around with something that you have no hope of truly understanding.” Morgan said, leering over Amon and pointing her wrench threateningly towards Amon’s face. “Remove the typhon essence from these people now, and surrender.”

“Surrender?” Amon chuckled unnervingly. “A laughable suggestion.”

Amon extended his hand, and suddenly Morgan’s body froze. She tried to swing her wrench. She tried to run away. She tried to speak. Nothing worked. It was as if her body was actively going against her mind’s orders. No, more like it only followed the orders of a new master.

“You claim I do not understand the typhon?” Amon growled. “Perhaps not as much as I would like, but I understand more than enough to recognize their essence inside of you when I sense it.”

He closed his fist slightly, causing a wave of excruciating pain to wash over her. Morgan screamed, the shrill sound startling Amon’s followers enough to send them stumbling back. They looked on in awe as their master tortured the one that would dare oppose him.

“Indeed, you have a remarkable well of typhon essence within you, my foolish adversary.” Amon continued. “Perhaps even enough to Equalize everyone in this room. Of course, to do that I would need to separate the typhon matter from your own brain matter. A process that I don’t believe many would find particularly pleasant.”

[u/Ultim8_Lifeform → u/Ultim8_Lifeform]

As Amon continued to speak, Morgan’s hands shook violently at her side. Her mind screamed at her body to do as she ordered. If only she had a little bit of wiggle room, then maybe she could…

BOOM!

A mighty crash filled the room as two of the Equalized, with Karma and Violet on their respective backs, collided with each other. Amon’s eyes shifted in their direction, giving Morgan just the opportunity she needed. Reaching behind her, Morgan felt her gloved hand grasp a spherical object.

Amon returned his attention to her, doubling the pain of his hold and causing her to drop her ace in the hole.

“It appears I must cut this chat of ours short.” He sighed. “Any last words before I take humanity to its next evolutionary step?”

“Yeah,” Morgan showed off a pained grin, a bead of sweat dripping down her forehead. “Your shoes are untied.”

Amon looked downward, seeing the object that Morgan had dropped. Suddenly, the Nullwave Transmitter activated. A burst of energy blasted outwards, washing over not only the two of them, but everyone in the room.

Morgan felt relief as Amon’s grip on her body was severed. She dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. Across the room, the Equalized began to shrink, almost as if they were being deflated. Karma and Violet each looked confused as their previously dangerous foes now laid on the floor, completely motionless.

“W-What have you done!?” Amon gasped, a refreshing hint of panic in his voice. “What have you done to me!?”

Morgan wasted no time. She snatched Amon’s exposed hand, pulling him towards her and raising the man’s body high into the air.

“That device deactivates any psionic abilities within a certain radius for about 20 seconds.” Morgan grinned. “That means right now, any typhon powers you have mean jack shit!”

“NO! THIS CAN’T BE-”

With the strength of ten men, Morgan slammed Amon into the ground face first, shattering both his mask and his nose in one fell swoop. Morgan let out a heavy sigh, taking a cautious look around at the shocked onlookers at seeing their master’s motionless form. No… there wasn’t time to be still.

“Karma! Violet! I need you to hit all of the Equalized in the back of the head!” Morgan shouted towards the other side of the room. “If any of them are still conscious in the next few seconds, they’ll turn back into those creatures when their psionic abilities are restored!”

The pair happily began following her orders as she turned her attention back to the crowd. “As you can see, Amon would have turned you all into monsters that were more typhon than human. Do any of you know where the neuromod is that gave him these powers?”

A few of them murmured something that sounded like a yes.

“Good.” Morgan nodded. “Bring it here, as well as any other empty neuromods you can find. Technically they were made so that they could safely remove the same ability that they gave, but since Amon injected your friends directly, we will have to hope that any old neuromod will do.”

A few of them ran off to collect the items Morgan had instructed, shamefully removing their masks and hoods as they did so. Morgan desperately wanted to rest, but she needed to be strong for just a little while longer.

“BROOMHILDA?” A familiar voice echoed throughout the room. “Cmon baby, where you at?”

Django stumbled into the aftermath, looking to be in significantly worse shape than before. He had a noticeable limp and his ragged breaths were only interrupted by his shouting. His eyes frantically darted around the room, but nobody answered his calls.

A feeling of dread filled Morgan’s body as she began to form a suspicion in her mind. She called out to the bounty hunter, pointing to the front of the room where Amon had been giving his speech. “Django… is that who you’re looking for?”

Django quickly limped over to where Morgan had directed, where a single robed figure had been motionless for quite some time. It was the one that had jumped to take a bullet for Amon, or as Morgan was beginning to guess, the one who Amon had controlled to block the bullet. Django fell to his knees, lifting this body into his lap. Carefully, he peeled the mask away, revealing the figure’s identity.

Morgan couldn’t get a good view of the face from where she was standing, but it was apparent that this was who Django was looking for. He buried his face in the robes, tightly embracing the corpse. A few moments later, Karma and Violet appeared at her side.

“That was… master Django’s wife.” Violet said solemnly. “She was the reason we came here in the first place.”

For once, Karma didn’t say anything, and neither did Morgan. They simply stood there in silence as Django mourned.

“Hmm? What’s this?” Violet’s voice was strained, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Why are my eyes doing this? What do… these feelings mean?”

Morgan shook her head. “You should go to him, Violet. He needs someone right now.”

Violet hesitated, but quickly nodded. She left their side to comfort the lone bounty hunter.

After a few more moments, Karma turned to Morgan. “What do you think?”

“I think ARIA is gonna pay for everything she’s done.”

Karma let out a quiet chuckle, a hint of his usual personality resurfacing. “Good, I was thinking the same thing.”

They remained there for a few more hours, assisting Amon’s would-be victims in any way they could before leaving to return to the lab. They bid farewell to Violet and Django, wishing them luck in the coming days as ARIA continued to launch danger after danger in their direction.

They were all going to need it.