Fight for Power

<]-Mithril-[>

I was currently in the middle of just beating down on this "Dark Animus" thing when it decided that it didn't want me doing that. I sidestepped a few of those red goo bolts before it then got me with some enclosing attack with a ring of spheres. That alone was not enough to get me to back off, so it followed up with a concentrated electrical beam to force me back.

It then slammed several globs of goo through the floor, which then erupted below Zeta to slow him down as well. This thing appears to have learned from our previous battles against the golems, as it clearly doesn't want Zeta nearby.

Brox however, had been capitalizing on the openings we had created, and had been hacking away at the Dark Animus as well. The Bloodseed had blocked a huge blade of red goo with his axe, but then the golem simply punched him to create some distance between them and then fired off another one of those huge electric waves.

Me? As I was currently far away enough from the Dark Animus, I simply fell back behind the electrical wave's maximum wave, and once that dispersed, I fired off an attack I had been preparing.

"Concussive Copper Cannon!" I yelled, blasting the thing with my aforementioned shockwave cannon attack.

This "Dark Animus" thing looks like it might be worth a decent amount of EXP, unlike the majority of the enemies in these labs. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint.

<Gamma>

The Beholder seems mostly focused on Bloodriver, which all things considered is probably for the best. I say "mostly" because it still has floating eyes keeping a careful watch on myself and Orbin. It's making it quite difficult to decide when to try to attack, because if I try to close in I'm likely to get nailed. On top of that, while Bloodriver had destroyed a few of its eyes, more had grown from atop its body and popped loose to replace them, so we can't even create blind spots for more than a few seconds.

While I was waffling about trying to decide when to attack, the Beholder acted first. Three floating eyes tucked themselves under it body, and then each projected a colored beam at each of us. I got a red beam, Bloodriver got a blue beam, and Orbin got a yellow beam.

"The mists hide many secrets," the Beholder mused, turning a cheeky grin in my direction, "If you know where to look."

The beams, which had previously been harmless, then turned into large cones of mist, still projected outward from the eyes hidden beneath its body. Some sort of game it came up with? I then suddenly noticed that the red "mist" that was surrounding me was in fact quite painful. Burning hot, even. A very twisted game, then.

Bloodriver's first action was to attempt to attack the eyes projecting the waves of mist, but the beholder moved its own body in the way to block it. It then launched several of its eyes at her, most of which were immediately shot down, but one got there and slammed into the ground under her, producing a circle of dark energy on the ground beneath her feet. A swarm of such eyes followed, directed at myself and Orbin as well. Apparently it didn't like us standing as far away as we were.

As soon as I moved, something coalesced out of the burning mists surrounding me, a tall, lanky creature that turned one large, angry eye in my direction and raised its arm to strike me. I gave it a face full of emerald flame in response, causing it to collapse into... a puddle? Looking over that the Beholder, it was still focusing mainly on Bloodriver, who had uncovered a mist monster of her own and dispatched it just as quickly.

"Orbin! Move until something forms out of the mist!" I shouted over at him, getting a knowing chuckle from the beholder. "And then kill it!"

<Sigma>

Getting up to the fracture point isn't something I'm going to be able to do easily, so that's a job I'm leaving to Rho. He blasted off into the air as soon as the turtle turned its attention to Rune, taking a deep breath for another sandstorm attack. I took the moment to go around to the side of its body where we'd already blasted a chunk out of it. Might not be much of an opening, but hell, it's an opening.

Rune launched her attack at the same time the turtle began breathing more crystal dust at her, so I couldn't see what it was. Whatever it was, it was loud, probably to cover up the sound of a few shield spells springing up around me and, presumably, Rho. That seems like a good cue to strike, so I rushed at the broken section of its shell and delivered the heaviest kick I could at the same time that an explosion went off up above.

It must have been Rho accelerating, because not a moment after that blast came a mighty crack and a horrid wail of pain from the turtle. Dozens of smaller cracking noises followed as a gigantic split formed through its shell, and then another, criss-crossing through the spots Rho and I had hit. With one final screech the crystalline turtle split into four pieces and fell apart, chunks of its body s***tering as they hit the floor. Fortunately, the crack Rho has made had split quite wide, providing a nice, clear passage through the facility.

"Well, that's that then," Rune commented, releasing some kind of scanning drone as she walked through the opening formed by the turtle's body. Her outfit was covered in crystalline dust, but she otherwise seemed unharmed. A wave of heat behind me signified Rho coming back down, a little worse for wear. He'd basically dived directly into a hunk of crystalline spikes, and even the shields hadn't stopped him from getting a few small chunks jabbed into him, which he was now irritably pulling out and tossing aside.

"Why can't we have more like that napalm one? That one was fun..." he grumbled as he floated past, still shedding little bits of crystal. I shrugged, laced my hands behind my head and followed silently. This place can't be that much deeper.

++Bloodriver++

An update: Xenon and I have been preparing a big "surprise" for the Beholder. The preparation so far has been disguised as me simply blasting away the smaller eyes with bloodbolts and lasers, while I quietly snuck a few energy nets out here and there. It's ultimately a game of patience.

After I dispatched another one of those mist creatures, the Beholder started to get bored and then decided to move onto another "game", which consisted of a maze of shadows, and a very nasty looking beam chasing us.

"That... does not look pleasant," Gamma commented. Orbin and I agreed on this, and all of us rushed through the maze together.

What was immediately apparent was that I was faster than the other two, and while I could outpace the beam without issues, said beam was catching up to them. Options. I briefly considered attempting to buff their speed with my abilities, but this comes with two issues attached:

1: I haven't buffed anyone in quite a while, so I'm out of practice. 2: I have not had the time to study the physiology of the two here, so unpredictable side-effects are possible.

Ultimately, I decided to disregard that option and just grab the hands of the two and run as fast as I could, while Xenon attempted to blow holes in the maze with lasers. I suspect Orvtre is more proficient than I am in buffing others, so the buffing option may have been viable if Orvtre were here right now.

Even as we ran through the maze however, my "surprise" was drawing closer to completion. I think the Beholder will find that the surprise in question is something to die for...
__________
@-Rune-@

I had some of my summons haul away the remains of the crystal turtle for analysis while we strolled through the lab.

We ran into more genetically-modified creatures. A few of them joined us. A few of them just kept their distance and ignored us. The rest of them chose to die. None of them were as notable or threatening as the turtle.

It wasn't too long before we came across one final derelict-looking room with a huge, sealed pod inside. My scanners indicate that this is probably the Blasting Corkoink that Orvtre wanted to recruit. Orvtre wanted to be here personally when we woke the thing up, so I had Sigma and Rho hold off on activating the pod for now.

Hmm, I guess it's just a matter of waiting for Orvtre to return. Since we appear to have some spare time, I brought up the live feed from the other two groups. I floated an idea across to Rho and Sigma: Perhaps we could assist the other groups with their tasks while waiting for Orvtre to return?

<Gamma>

You'd think I'd be used to dark, enclosed spaces what with living in a bramble for several years but no, that was actually decently open. This shadow maze thing is just pitch black, the only light sources being the horrible laser beam the beholder is chasing us with and a small point of light Bloodriver is using as a guide. Far too claustrophobic for my tastes.

As I was mostly being dragged along I didn't keep track of how long we'd been going around when Orbin abruptly declared, "I have a clever plan!" which I can only imagine is something he picked up from one of the other Experiments, as that phrase usually means "I'm about to do something extraordinarily stupid."

Unfortunately he twisted out of Bloodriver's grasp before either of us could stop him, skidded to a halt, and then threw up his pearl shield as the beam came toward him. Spectacularly enough, rather than simply stopping the beam reflected off of it, narrowly skimming past Bloodriver to carve a chunk out of the far wall. The beholder stopped the beam before Orbin could redirect it offensively, but this caused the maze to disperse as well... which seemed to have been what Bloodriver was waiting for.

"Game over!" Bloodriver yelled as a bunch of nets of light sprung up and laced themselves over the beholder, which grunted in annoyance, turning its eyes toward itself in an attempt to cut itself loose. It never got the chance, as Bloodriver conjured up a glowing, bubbling ball of blood.

"Searing Plasma!" she yelled, launching the orb at preposterously high speed. it slammed into the beholder's side... and went clear through it like a hot knife through butter, splashing against the far wall along with a decent chunk of the beholder's innards. The mortally wounded creature released a horrid noise as its body wobbled for a few more seconds in the air.

"I... welcome... the void's.... embraacccccceeeeee..." it uttered before finally falling still, its many eyes dropping to the ground and dissolving into puddles of black slime. A few moments of silence ensued before Orbin finally spoke up.

"Plasma?" he queried, tilting his head. Bloodriver folded her arms.

"Plasma is a component of blood," she replied defensively. I simply rolled my eyes and looked over toward the damaged wall, where Orbin had deflected the beam. Sure enough, I'd seen correctly: there was something hidden behind the wall.

"Hey, help me clear this," I called to the two of them, picking at a loose chunk of the false wall. I reached out to brace myself against whatever was behind it and...

"Show me the color of heroism," whispered a voice from behind the false wall. I blinked a few times and looked back.

"You heard that right?" I asked. Both Orbin and Bloodriver nodded, moving over to help break down the wall. It took a while, but once it was cleared...

The section behind it was obviously not built with the lab. It was a massive stone door, covered in complex patterns and letters of a language I'd never seen before. Just looking at it hurt my eyes.

"Show me the color of heroism," the door repeated in a thin, almost malevolent whisper.

"Huh. I didn't know heroism had a color," Orbin mused. Now what color would that be?

<Epsilon>

The front line seems to have hit a bit of a snag. Moreso than the chokepoints the Blues are so fond of abusing.

Namely, they're fighting each other, for Zeromus knows what reason. I'm tempted to say something idiotic, like someone stealing someone's kill. Regardless of the reason, whomever is responsible is getting executed. Finding myself a good vantage point - like hell am I getting into the middle of that - I 'pinged' Barrack furiously over his mental network.

'Why the fresh hell are the Boyz fighting each other?' I thought at him, doing everything in my power to get my displeasure across to him. There was a brief burst of some kind of mental feedback before a very angry-sounding Barrack responded.

'Some clown down here's got some kinda mark he's throwing on people, makes them fight for him. I think he's with those ass***s from Sholazar. Good news is his gimmick isn't working on Barricade,' came his reply. Sure enough I could see Barricade wading through the melee, completely ignoring any attack sent his way.

'Flush him out and I'll take care of it,' I thought back to him, prepping my rifle. A tougher target might even be a bit exciting.

?-Orvtre-?

So, it's time to fight the Corkoink. Well, almost.

At the requests of a few of our Hero Squad members, I had dragged Quicksilver back to Hero Squad HQ. Quicksilver shot off a few complaints, but I simply replied that we could just come back to Omicron's colony later. I didn't want to hold up the others too much, after all.

Dropping off Quicksilver into his Hero Zone, I then warped into the location where Rune, Rho, and Sigma were located, a room with a huge, sealed pod inside.

I floated over to the pod and gave it a look over. "Is this the Corkoink?" I asked.

"One way to find out," Rho replied, before giving the pod a fiery wake-up punch.

Given that the pod began shaking, that definitely woke up whatever was inside. Alright then, here we go.
__________
X-Pluto-X

Almost immediately after Epsilon's mental conversation with Barrack came the ringing of the videocommunicator Pluto handed Epsilon.

Epsilon activated the videocomm, which brought him the live video feed of a rather injured Pluto.

"Of course. Of f***ing course I had do deal with that ass*** again. That disgusting bastard Pepe Waccabrada is here, and he's been using his power to pit the Boyz against each other," snarled Pluto.

"Again? Do you know something about this Pepe individual?" Epsilon inquired.

"More than I've ever wanted to," hissed Pluto. "Listen, s*** will hit the fan if that a****** Pepe gains control over the city's leader. This is a matter of speed. To kill Pepe as soon as possible. With some difficulty, I've managed to slip behind enemy lines. I'm probably closer to Pepe's position than Barricade or the others are at the moment, so I'm going to personally find him, beat the s*** out of him, drag his fat ass out into the open, and then finish him."

Epsilon was quiet for a moment or so... and then let out a chuckle.

"I've seen that face... that look of determination, or perhaps stubbornness, from Black Hole before," Epsilon stated, before letting out a sigh. "I know nothing I say now will change your mind, so go for it."

Pluto nodded, before turning off the communicator. Pluto was then promptly met with more Pikmin under Pepe's control, hoisting weapons.

It was never going to be easy, was it?

<Quicksilver>

Alright, the Corkoink. As the pod rattled about violently, I clasped my hands behind my head and turned to Orvtre.

"Just to stave off any potential disappointment, this thing was apparently a really early attempt at gene splicing, so it's sorta... crude? I'd say?"

A siren blared as the capsule began to open, a hiss of smoke blasting out of the growing opening.

"Doesn't mean to take it lightly, though. This thing did survive an encounter with a pretty well equipped team, after all," I warned as the creature finally came into view, stepping out of the smog within the capsule.

The most immediately obvious thing was that they'd used a Gatling Groink as a base for it, and then had apparently just thrown genes at it to see what would stick. Gone were it's own stubby legs; it stood on four rather thick dweevil legs. It's own mouth cannon was also gone, a much more threatening Cannon Beetle cannon installed there instead. And of course, the multitude of pipes sticking out of its back, pumping out a constant stream of smoke.

Did I mention it's about three times the size of a normal Groink?

Orvtre didn't even get a chance to play a message at it before it took a deep breath and fired what seemed less like a boulder and more like a mass driver round in our direction.

"I may have forgotten to mention that it's really hostile," I mentioned as I nonchalantly scooted to the direct opposite side of the room, behind the Blasting Corkoink. Orvtre, meanwhile, simply tanked the shot and regenerated, then threw a molten boulder back at the Corkoink in retaliation... which it likewise simply tanked, leaving only a mild burn wound that shortly healed over.

"I think I like this one," Orvtre chuckled, generating an electrical storm around himself. "Try not to kill it."

Bump for great justice. Or something.

@-Rune-@

Alright so that damn spy Quicksilver is back. Ugh, was he giving away Squad secrets while he was up there? Well okay Orvtre was up there too, I trust hir enough to hopefully keep Quicksilver in check.

Speaking of Quicksilver, I spotted some kind of patch on him. THAT had BETTER NOT be a f***ing tracking device because I don't want the Omicrons here SNOOPING around in Squad territory and oh right we're fighting the Corkoink.

So apparently, several attacks were exchanged while I was busy watching Quicksilver. Mostly standard fare, with Orvtre using stronger lightning attacks in an attempt to power past the Corkoink's damage reduction and regeneration, with the Corkoink retaliating with its cannon.

Naturally, soon after Orvtre began hurling more lightning bolts at the Corkoink, Rho quickly flew in with a burning punch and began punching and burning it lots, while Sigma approached more cautiously. I threw up some shields to help the two of them find some openings. Orvtre should be okay for now with hir electricity barrier copied from Upsilon.

Obviously, I had several drones secretly watch Quicksilver during this time, especially because of that weird patch thing on him. Can't have him snooping around even more.

And of course there's the matter of the Corkoink. Since most enemies I've met had secret powers or something along those lines, the Corkoink should be no different. I sent out a few scanning drones to examine the Corkoink more closely, but either way, I think we'll see more of what the Corkoink is capable of in the near future.