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Paia

PAIA (Personal Artificial Intelligence Assistant), the coordinator and guardian angel of the Ereb Alpha Troopers

0 · 1,673 views · located in New Canton

a character in “The Multiverse”, as played by TheNoremac42

Description

Image

So begins...

Paia's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia Character Portrait: Elante Vadrillion
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#, as written by Script
"My hair is not girly!" a muffled, weak yell came from the pyramid of rock swamped with zomborgs at the far side of the street, "And er, I'm here! I could use a hand!"

Aeryn was barely capable of standing, and didn't really want to lower his protective pyramid until the excess of dead-people around it was removed.

He had heard Tobias' yell earlier, but hadn't had the strength to even yell back at that point, let alone lend a hand.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia Character Portrait: Elante Vadrillion
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Storm-Shadow glanced at his HUD, moving towards Tobias as he sliced another Zomborg in half. Another Zomborg lunged at him, and he turned to face it, grabbing it's face and shooting as much lightning into it's cranium as he could before tossing it away from him and moving towards Tobias again.

When he finally reached him, he took a second to analyze the situation before speaking. "Stay calm for me, Tobias, I'm here to help." he said, putting his katana back into its sheath before grabbing the rubble that rested on the man's arm and lifting it without too much trouble. He then zapped another zomborg from a distance before looking at Tobias. "Can you get up on your own?" he asked.

Then there was a magnificent flash of light and the air distortion, which the super soldier made no visible reaction to until he had moved the piece of rubble off to the side and away from Tobias. He then turned to look at another person that approached him, inquiring about someone with girly silver hair. "I have not, but I'll bet the voice coming from the pyramid of Rocks over there will be the man you're looking for." he said. His voice seemed void of emotion, add the fact that it sounded computerized made it deeper and more intimidating than usual.

"Paia, can you confirm my suspicions about someone being in that pyramid of rock?" he asked his AI. He unsheathed his katana and hopped towards a group of zomborgs, lightning radiating around his body and coursing through his katana as he sliced and zapped the zomborg group with ease.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia Character Portrait: Elante Vadrillion
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<< Affirmative, Storm-Shadow >> replied the AI.

<< She's surrounded by the zomborgs. For the moment she's holding them back, but I don't know for how much longer. I'd advise lending some assistance. A good sweep with your blaster on automatic or a couple void grenades should thin their numbers quite a bit. >>

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia Character Portrait: Elante Vadrillion
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#, as written by Arrow
"I've got you," Elante called back to Aeryn, stepping forwards towards the pyramid and focusing. His form wavered, becoming insubstantial, and then he shifted forwards. The movement was so fast he blurred to the naked eye, passing straight through a number of the cyborgs as he touched the edges of the nether realm. Shadows gathered about his palms when he alighted from his shifted state onto the edge of the pyramid, and moments later a burst of black magical chains shot from small portals that appeared in the ground and air, latching onto the undead beings and tearing many of them asunder. As well as this, the blades of light that hovered around him continued to dance and slash through the surrounding enemies.

"I'm here Aeryn, let down the pyramid and I'll get you to safety. Make it quick, there's too many of these things for it to be safe to hang around long."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia Character Portrait: Elante Vadrillion
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#, as written by Script
Making a grunt of affirmation, Aeryn took a breath and cast one of the slabs of stone that made up the pyramid down with a command to the bracers. He crawled out from beneath it, flashing a smile up at Elante. "Don't suppose you have any of that 'tiredness-be-gone' magic to spare, do you? I feel like I just bench-pressed a building."

The silvis hauled himself unsteadily to his feet, leaning onto the stone tent. "And don't worry, I'm not gonna go and kill myself by over-exertion if you make me feel less like death. I'd just like to be able to walk straight."

Aeryn extended a hand upwards to Elante, "Let's get the fuck out of here, anyway. Kazura was down there at some point, and I want to be long gone before he gets it in his mind to take a swing at us."

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia Character Portrait: Elante Vadrillion
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Storm-Shadow was a bit busy with his own little group of zomborgs to help, and besides, it looked like Elante had it under control. As he sliced another zomborg into pieces, he hopped back into a small area that was clear. "Paia, I'm going to try something I haven't done before. Make sure I don't loose it." he said, and by loose it, he meant his mind.

Obviously.

Something resembling a black sludge started to accumulate on the super soldier's body, before floating in the air around him. Sometimes he would fling a hung of sludge into the air. Though, it wasn't really sludge, it was pure shadow. "Now let's see if this'll work." he said. He raised his katana up to one of the newly formed orbs of pure shadow and was pulled into it before reappearing out of another one and continuing to zap and slash zombies. "Hey, it worked." he said.

He coursed his lightning through his blade and cut down another group. "Paia, are you sure you want some of their programming? Because here you go!" he said, taking his blade and cutting out a motherboard of a zomborg and putting it in one of his ammo pockets.

He soon put away his katana and pulled out his Blast rifle, setting it to full auto. Letting out bursts of Dark Matter hurling at the zomborgs at near the speed of light. "This oughta take care of them." he muttered as he squeezed off another burst.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Gro'chal Deathweaver Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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Paia immediately began to scan the hardware and it's programming.

<< Damn... Everything here seems to be augmentative. I can't find anything that suggests a network hive mind or anything that can help us. I'll get what I can and distribute it to the labs. Also, I think the Detente may be doing research on these things as well. I will contact Mr. Ereb about collaborating with them. For now, it seems that the best form to deal with them is the old fashion way... Light 'em up. >>

<< Wait... I'm getting some strange readings. Storm-Shadow, can you check them for me? >>


As the weary ruins of the district eased into the scarred earth, a sinister yet anonymous figure strode through the destruction. A black trench-coat covered his body and snapped in the wind. Two ghostly azure eyes resonated faintly beneath the darkness of a concealing fedora. The cloaked man slowly scanned the ruins. Beneath the fractured stone and sundered wood were the makings of an army. Ten thousand souls trapped within broken bodies - all ripe for harvest.

Crunch... Crunch... echoed the broken glass as his thick black boots ventured further down the street. By all appearances, this was an ordinary man who had wandered into the chaos of the zomborg infestation. However, a dark and insidious power resonated from him. Those who listened closely would hear the subtle yet dark whisperings of ten thousand phantoms. Dark power, of fire and ice, fear and shadow, death and chaos, clung to the man. An aura of fiery rage, dark hatred, cold sorrow, and endless suffering flowed from him.

He lifted his gloved hands to the heavens and stood motionless among the destruction. For a moment, it was as if the earth had ceased turning in order to observe the spectacle. The ground quaked and quivered from a mighty unseen force. Slowly the broken walls, shattered beams, and collapsed ceilings rose from their slumber. They spun and toppled, revealing the multitude of corpses beneath. With a series of terrifying crashes, the ruins were cast across the to make room for whatever devious plan the figure had in store. Dead eyes stared back at him.


While most would see the visage of the mysterious man in the fedora and trenchcoat, the Alpha Trooper and every other technological tool would register static where he stood. Psychic energies were off the charts, but everything else - heat, sonar, heartbeat, everything - was simply not there.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Gro'chal Deathweaver Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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As the ground started to shake and quiver, Storm-Shadow disappeared inside one of his orbs of shadow and reappeared after the shaking stopped. He looked around, corpses everywhere, and a big bundle of static, along with energies going off the charts. "Oh, I don't think this'll be good Paia." he said. "I don't know whether to call for back up or to make a strategic withdrawal from the area." he muttered.

He looked around, there were still tons of Zomborgs hobbling around. "Well, judging by the feeling I'm getting from this guy, I know he's not here to help me out..." he muttered. This newcomer made the super soldier uneasy, not sure if he should even try to fight him.

However his thoughts were cut short by another zomborg leaping at him, which he kicked out of the air and onto the ground with a spinning hook-kick. He then quickly brought his knife from its sheath and stabbed the zomborg in the chest, dragging the blade down the body to mess up as much stuff as he could before yanking the knife out and replacing it back into the sheath. "But must I light them up? I prefer to slash things..." he muttered, letting off another few bursts from his rifle and another few bolts of lightning from the area around him. It was if the lightning was forming an aura around him, sparking around him but never touching him or the weapon he carried.

After putting the rifle back to its holster on his back and taking out the katana again, he stopped, his hand going to his head as a dark growl echoed throughout his mind. Before Paia could speak to telll him that she was working on quelling it, the Alpha Trooper responded by letting out a battle cry as he started to charge the lightning around his left arm and in the blade of the katana and charging into another group of zomborgs, hacking them with the blade and overloading their circuits with his left hand by letting out charged shots like a rail gun and by grabbing the head of the zomborgs and directly sending lightning through their bodies.

He wasn't about to let some primal dragon take over his mind and ruin his fun. As he did this, the source of the growl seemed to be satisfied and calmed itself without the assistance of Paia. Storm-Shadow by now had also mutated his own left arm into something more draconian, doing it of his own free will and now slashing zomborgs with his newly clawed fingers while also zapping them with the lightning.

The entire time he was doing this, the ominous figure stayed in the back of his mind, and he made sure to get a glimpse of what was just static to his sensors every now and again to reassure himself.

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Gro'chal Deathweaver Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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Tobias just stayed silent. His mechanical leg meant that should a virus be deployed to stop the zomborgs, it would hit him as well unless he was extracted. It also made him vulnerable to an EMP blast, but hey, he needed a quick fix. Plus, the rubble shield made it so that the zomborgs couldn't get him.

Until one grabbed him around the waist from below. "Ack!" was all he could say before he was pulled under. Well, now both of his hands were free. No time to draw his sidearm. Time for some close-quarters action as he went down. He always used to say that Terra would be his grave, but this was NOT what he had in mind. As he was buried alive, the only thing he could do was use his mechanical leg to deliver a series of powerful stomp attacks until the subterranean one (or perhaps it too was in the same rubble pile? It was hard to tell) decided to let go. That was the easy part. Now to get out without running out of air.

He popped up under Aeryn's little tent after what seemed like an eternity. Hey, 30 seconds without air was a long time after fighting off one of those guys and clawing his way to freedom. "Hey, uh...room for one more? I think I heard one of those guys up there mention me, so I'd rather they find me alive." He looked positively haggard from his ordeal.

"Damn, I knew I shouldn't have bought that lady a drink. She thinks I owe her dinner, and next thing you know...ow." He was testing his previously immobilized right arm. Hopefully he didn't have to get that replaced as well.

The setting changes from Wing City Business District to Wing City

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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It had been maybe two or three hours since Storm-Shadow had left the Business District of Wing City to try and keep control of himself, and he stood alone on a rooftop, holding his katana in his right hand, the blade inches from the roof as it hung loosely. Blood or whatever came out of the zomborgs still dripped from the blade. The Alpha Trooper brought the blade up, then quickly flicked it to the side, making the blade first face to his left, then quickly to his right as he flicked it. "That should get rid of most of it for a little while." he muttered, putting the blade back into its sheath.

He looked at his left arm, and slowly mutated it back to a human arm. "Paia, hows my mental stability? And how much longer until that patch is done?" he asked. He had basically spent an entire day killing Zomborgs, and was out of energy, evident from his slumped posture and heavy breathing. "And I would like a glass of water, but I can't take off this helmet!" he said in a very annoyed, yet playful tone as he crossed his arms and shifted his weight to his left foot.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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"You're stabilizing, Storm-Shadow" the AI replied. "Just take deep breaths. The suit will pull in moisture from the air."

As the Alpha Trooper calmed, the air he inhaled steadily became damp with a cool mist. The synthetic fibers of his artificial muscles flexed and loosened as they massaged themselves into a relaxed state.

"Good timing." she continued. "The patch is completed, so I would suggest you find a safe place to relax and take a nap for a few minutes. You did well today."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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Storm-Shadow nodded. "Let's see..." he said, taking another deep breath, sounding relieved as he felt the moisture. "Some where safe..." he muttered. "Ooh, I had a hide out somewhere around here when I was still a run away from the UNSC." he said, I think I'll look there." he said.

After a few minutes he jumped from roof to roof, and after landing on one, he looked around again before jumping down into the alley way, landing quietly. He found a door that was hidden underneath some trash cans, and smiled inside his helmet. He opened the door and hopped inside. After he closed it, the trashcans would be pulled over it again to conceal it.

The hide out was complete with just about everything a man needed to survive for a few months at a time. He walked in and sighed. "Memories." he muttered, sitting in a comfortable chair. "Alright Paia, go ahead and install the patch." he said.

Setting

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Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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"Affirmative. Stand by."

Storm-Shadow's visor turned black as lines of coding poured from the top. A green loading bar shot across his screen.

<< Download complete. Initializing installation process. >>

The screen went completely black. Every fiber, nerve, and electric pulse in the nanosuit started to go numb. It started at the tips of his toes and fingers before crawling up his limbs. As the paralysis took over his body, his heart rate slowed to virtually nothing. Eventually his thoughts and mind faded into eternal blackness.

Was it sleep - or was it death?

Eternity drifted over the cyborg's mind as it floated through the serene void. A single spark of sentience flickered in the back of the cybernetic hardware. It sent a signal throughout the nanosuit, altering its base structure - its synthetic DNA. The programming floated over the nucleotides and made the necessary alterations. Moments passed as the re-sequencing was tested and retested.

Finally, a spark of life flew through the synapses of the nanosuit's cognitive systems that ran through Storm-Shadow's brain. A light draped over the slumbering mind of the soldier and pulled it from the darkness.

<< Primary systems rebooting. >>

<< Life support online. >>

<< Motor functionality online. >>

<< Establishing server connection... >>

<< Server link established. >>

<< Activating interface... >>

<< Awaiting user input... >>

"Storm-Shadow?" Paia's voice flickered to life in the drowsy brain of the super soldier. "Storm-Shadow? James? Can you hear me? Are you alright? If you can understand me, I want you to test your motor skills. Follow the same routine for your Spartan suit."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Paia
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Everything went black for what seemed like forever, and when Storm-Shadow started...living again, he took slow deep breaths, and blinked a few times as he heard Paia's voice. "Yea...I'm fine." he said. He slowly stood up and looked up, down, left right, and moved his fingers, toes, ankles, wrists, and other joints. "Well, everything seems to work fine." he said.

After a second he took a few steps. "Let's see, I can't sense the dragon anymore...do my powers still work?" he muttered. Lightning started to spark around his body. And he disappeared in one shadow and appeared outside in the alley. "Everything still works." he said. "It worked." he said happily. "Now I can build the strength of my mind in peace and not worry about loosing it." he said. "I best be getting back to base then..." he said, walking into a shadow again, and disappearing into it.

The setting changes from Wing City to Wing City Business District

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lake One Character Portrait: Kazura Kanahashi Character Portrait: Tobias Malari Character Portrait: Aeryn Character Portrait: Gro'chal Deathweaver Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow
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#, as written by Awinita
Things always changed. One miinute she was reaching towards Tobias to help him back to his feet, the next thing she knew, the floor underhim just fell out from under the ocean. In a manner of speaking. At the same instant the roof above collapsed ontop of her. She ducked backwards quickly. But not fast enough. Grabbing her identity discs she activated them as she split them apart as a few more zombargs came at her. But it was the collapsing roof that made the difference.

As she moved to join in combat with the undead cybernetic constructs the caving in roof broke apart the floor around her. Making it act more like a catephulte that threw her clean over her intended targets and through the back wall with a very loud explosion of heat and fire behind her as she connected with the wall. Hard.

It was then that her world went completely dark. The last thought on her mind was just how much Pegleg owed her. Dinner, sure he owed her for that, but then with this pushing that dinner further off.... Well, he now owed her desert too.

The setting changes from Wing City Business District to Wing City

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Draco of the Shadows Character Portrait: Captain Agares Narkel Character Portrait: WCPD Agents Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Ereb Alpha Troopers Character Portrait: Paia
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It was another normal day for Wing City, the weather was sunny, and the people were for the most part happy. Children were at play outside, parents socialized, the police force did its job, patrolling the city and the business men and women were busy as always. Something then began to change, though. Anyone who looked would notice that every single shadow in the city began to move, sway, and quiver. The shadows would be pulled from where they originally sat in the city, and would head towards the center of the city.

The shadows began to pool, forming a large shadow. The shadow then began to rise into the air like a mist in four pillar-like shapes, then they began to pool again, forming what appeared to be a body while the pillars formed into legs. From the body a tail made from the same shadowy mist formed, as did large wings. Next, the neck and head of the beast formed. There were no scales, there was no true form. There was just a pair of glowing red eyes to complete the form of Draco of the Shadows, the Dragon of Death himself. Lightning flowed through the body similarly to blood, and the electric power from cars and buildings nearby flowed into the body of the Dragon.

He let out a roar that rumbled and shook the very earth beneath the feet of people, shattered the windows of buildings and vehicles, and even killed people from the pain, others had their eardrums pop, and their ears bleed, blood pouring down the sides of their heads as the rumbling continued. Soon it stopped, and Draco flapped his wings of Shadow-mist hard, and he started to lift off the ground, the shadow from the ground he formed from clinging to him like a sludge for a few seconds before falling off and revealing his enormous clawed feet. He flew into the sky, and let out another bellowing roar, a mist coming from his mouth, forming dark clouds.

Lightning Struck down from the clouds, and Thunder roared almost immediately. It then began to pour. Hard.

Anyone with power would hear the Television and Radio suddenly warp for a few seconds. "We now go to our weather-man, Ollie Williams. Ollie?" a voice would ask.

"IT'S RAININ' SIDEWAYS!" another voice would yell at the top of his lungs before the video feed cut out.

"Thanks Ollie." The audio would cut out as well as the signal was blocked from the storm.

Draco flew through the clouds, and then spread his wings, stopping in air for a few seconds. He was fifty feet from the tip of his snout to the tip of his tail, twenty-five feet from the bottom of his clawed feet to the top of his head, excluding the seven feet horns that sprouted from his head. His total wingspan from shadowy wing-tip to shadowy wing-tip was about one-hundred and thirty-six feet.

The lightning that flowed through his body started to condense, and gather in his maw, which hung open as he charged his attack. After five seconds of charging, Draco released the charged beam of pure lightning onto the city, burning people to a crisp, making vehicles explode, and toppling buildings while setting them on fire as well.

Meanwhile................

Storm-Shadow ran through the passages of the secret Ereb Industries facility, narrowly avoiding people as he then leaped into a shadow and appeared in his quarters, grabbing his weapons and putting them in their holsters before heading to the deployment room.

Paia had already alerted the other Ereb Alpha Troopers, including Agares of the situation in Wing City.

......................

Draco had already destroyed at least four city blocks, and landed on the ground, the great pool of shadow beneath him as he roared again, the bellowing sound reaching all corners of the city. The roar was a challenge to all who though they could defeat him.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Draco of the Shadows Character Portrait: Captain Agares Narkel Character Portrait: WCPD Agents Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Ereb Alpha Troopers Character Portrait: Paia
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#, as written by Lorawr
Jessica looked around the side alley she had just found herself in, after the crowd of people had (not too gently) pushed her in there. Her twitching right hand finally found its way into her bag, and emerged once more with her quill clasped between her fingers. The alley itself was dark, dank, and damp, with the waste and refuse of the street and the buildings that created it tossed carelessly into the shadow of the road. Not that it was much of a road, either. In fact, it was perhaps wide enough for two people to walk abreast of each other - if they could avoid the rubbish that polluted the ground. Jessica looked around, and felt her lips turn down in disgust at how anyone could leave any place like this...but she had to write it down before she could go.

Words and phrases buzzed around the inside of her head, and if she had someone to relay that particular bit of information to nearby, she would have said that it was as though each one was like a tiny person, dressed up as a clown, or in brightly colored clothing, and each one danced to get her attention until she wrote it down. It was almost like a little party inside her head.

Jessica chuckled to herself as she perched on the edge of a discarded wooden stool, and took one of the many notebooks that she carried out of her satchel bag. Flicking through to a clean page, she started to record her adventures of the day so far in a looping, elegant hand. The words seemed to melt from the quill as though they were already there, on the paper, and all it took was the touch of the golden nib to bring the words to light.

So focused on her craft was she, that two pages later, she didn't notice the slightest quivering of the darkness she sat beneath. Humming to herself, she was so involved in her work that nothing could have distracted her until...

...BANG!

The rickety stool that she had perched herself on cracked, and splintered, so that she landed in a most unladylike fashion on the ground, in the dirt, with a resounding thump on her backside. Jessica gasped, and would have squealed in indignation had she not finally noticed the shadows tugging away from their source like a disobedient dog on a leash. And then, that leash snapped, and the shadows whipped past her in one direction - the direction that the general populace were walking in, from the thoroughfare before she had been rudely pushed aside.

Jessica snapped her notebook shut, trusting that the ink was dry, and placed it cleanly back in her bag as she rose, and ran. The heels of her boos landed noisily on the ground as she pursued the shadows, with her quill held protectively in her hand still. Jessica ran, and continued to run, until she found herself in the very center of Wing City itself. In one sweeping glance, the writer took in the sheer beauty of the gardens and the buildings arranged around her, unable to focus on the creature that was manifesting itself in front of her, until she looked at it.

The mass of shadows was under its final construction by now, with a body forged out of concentrated darkness, and Jessica immediately understood what it was, or at least the form it took. Dragon. Lightning flickered up and down its length as it observed the puny characters around it, and instinct alone had Jessica's hand groping the market stall the she had frozen next to. She feared this creature, and its power, and so did all of the other fear-frozen spectators in her vicinity. The only thing that parted her from these was her determination not to become helpless.

From the stall, Jessica pilfered an apple, with her gaze fixed on the dragon creature as though mesmerized. Tears of awe, or fright, or anger trickled down her fair cheeks as her hand immediately moved to the apple, and the quill worked its magic.

'The sweet flesh of the fruit bore protective powers, granting the consumer a temporary shield from the power of light, in all its volatile states'

And then Jessica brought the apple to her mouth, a second after the rouge colored skin had absorbed the black ink of the quill, leaving only the vaguest tracing of a possibility of the words that she had written upon it. Her hand writing was awful, shaky, but the enchantment would hold true.

A single bite of the apple was enough to protect her from the dragons lightning. But then its roar struck her, and the very ground beneath her feet rumbled, and her head vibrated as though she had been struck from all angles with a hammer. Pain lanced up and down her body; red hot, and white at the same time as her sight faded and went black. Everything was color, but there was no light as her ears rang and she was sure that she would never hear or see again. The roar seemed to last a lifetime, and even after the destructive dragon had shut its great mouth, the sound still echoed wickedly off of the remains of buildings.

Jessica never found out how much time passed between that moment, and the moment of her wakening. She was on the ground, her cheeks soaked with the wetness of her tears, with her hands clamped over her ears. And there was silence. Deathly silence. Forcing her body to work through the pain, Jessica forced her head up, and held her hands tightly over her ears as though her head would fall from her shoulders unless she held it there.

Everywhere, buildings had crumbled. People lay in the streets, frozen, either dead or paralyzed with the force of the roar that had been unleashed upon them. Everything was blurry, and nothing made a sound. Shuddering, Jessica wondered if she was deaf. Taking several deep breaths, Jessica took her hands from her ears. Silence still. Until she softly tapped the ground that she had unceremoniously fallen upon. Tap, tap, tap. She heard it. Her once pristine finger nails made the softest sound on the stone floor, but it was sound.

And then, there was a crack of thunder, and a flash of lightning, and Jessica screamed again as rain pelted her, and soaked her quickly through her clothes, expecting to receive another attack. But it was just the weather, and she marginally relaxed.

Forcing herself to her feet once more, Jessica pushed her hair out of her eyes as she looked up at the sky, the golden quill held tightly in her hand still. All was blackness, except for the occasional flash of lightning, and the crash of thunder. But she saw it again, then, that mass of dragon. It was a permanent darkness, refusing to be lit by the lightning that inhabited it, or the lightning that was outside of it. And Jessica knew then, that she had to follow.

She ran. Somehow, the woman found the energy to chase the creature that could cripple her with fear with a single look, and she followed it. Her skin, despite the rain, was warm, she suddenly realized. Her enchantment had held.

And then she froze once more as she tumbled out of a street into a once beautiful plaza that the dragon creature was hell bent on destroying. Lightning flickered from it's maw, and bounced from vehicles, and people, and buildings alike, but she held no fear of it. Protected as she was, Jessica whimpered, and hid herself in the arch that had once been an entrance to a garden. There, she simply allowed herself to be content with watching the monster.

Perhaps when all this was over, assuming she survived, she would write an epic poem about the event. Assuming there was a force to stop this creature, of course.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Draco of the Shadows Character Portrait: Captain Agares Narkel Character Portrait: WCPD Agents Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Ereb Alpha Troopers Character Portrait: Paia
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#, as written by Gasmask
There was a flash from the rooftops, a figure dancing along the rails and sides of the tall houses and shops. Where there was a sign that would stop it, the figure disappeared with a crack and reappeared just as suddenly as he disappeared beyond the obstacle. Running was what the figure lived for, and this danger was exhilarating.

The runner worked his way though the destroyed city blocks and slid to a halt on one of the rooftops. Felix was his name and that wasn't as intimidating as the huge shadowy dragon in-front of him. It wasn't friendly that was for sure. "You are so fucked." A voice echoed though his head. "Yup. You're fucked."

Felix leaped off the building and into the streets, swinging off pipes and bending his body to the extreme as he looked for survivors of the sudden attack, working his way though the wrecked garden and torn grass till he saw the curious form of Jessica. Felix lifted his hands above his head and dashed though the wreckage.

The wreckage of a car flipped into the air, crackling with lightning from the dragon and landed with a solid crack and screech of metal atop the runner, grinding to a halt slowly. Felix looked back at the wreckage that had been about to cut his life short from behind the writer; Jessica.

"You're so dead if you don't grab my hand." Felix shouted over the chaos, holding out a hand.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Draco of the Shadows Character Portrait: Captain Agares Narkel Character Portrait: WCPD Agents Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Erebuz Character Portrait: Ereb Alpha Troopers
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Shadow-Sabre and Verhasst raced down the street, dark matter rifles in hand, towards the destruction. While the police escorted the civilians from the danger zone, the Ereb Alpha Troopers mobilized to combat the rogue dragon. The cyborg super soldiers sprinted through the street, leaping over toppled cars in single strides. They slid to a halt when Draco was in view.

"Paia!" Shadow-Sabre called out on their comm channel. "Give me some intel. Are the Gargoyles and Minotaurs mobilized? What's the view from the Crow's Nest?"

<< Affirmative. Drones have been deployed and are inbound. Supernatural energies are spiking. I'm sensing a strong electromagnetic field along with fluctuation in spacetime. Advised that you stay mobile and flank Draco at multiple positions. Formulating attack plan and plotting unit routes. >>

"Acknowledged." replied Shadow-Sabre before making a global broadcast. "You heard her! Surround that overgrown lizard. Air support is on its way. Stay moving! Storm-Shadow, how's everything on your end? Is your team mobilized?"

The Alpha Troopers formed into rotating strike teams that circled the perimeter of the dragon. They periodically halted behind cover and unleashed a barrage of concentrated pulses of dark matter at the dragon. Their lancers charged while blasters provided cover fire before unleashing a powerful pulse of concentrated dark matter. Then, as quickly as they entrenched, they retreated to another position.

Meanwhile, several large spheres zipped along the streets from every direction. They weaved between the fleeing and flipped cars as they advanced towards the frontline. Upon reaching the core of the destruction, they collapsed and reassembled their outward panels. Titanic robotic figures that towered at nearly a story stood shoulder to shoulder along the streets. The droids glared at the dragon with their robotic crimson eyes. Missile launchers, gatling guns, and dark matter cannons materialized from various panels across their arms, chests, and shoulders. Finally, the assault droids deployed a bombardment of gun fire and anti-matter warheads onto the dragon's flanks.

Dozens of slick black objects zoomed through the air with deft agility, dodging streaks of lightning with super-human reflexes. The drones joined the fight - buzzing about the dragon like flies as they fired their missiles and guns. A bolt of lightning ripped through the air on a direct collision course with a drone, but the fighter shattered into a thousand pieces like glass. As the lightning passed through empty air, the shards reassembled into the black drone several meters away.

As the destruction unfolded, an ominous figure observed from atop Ereb Tower. Two black feathered wings, drenched in writhing darkness, spread out over the city. Penetrating eyes, blacker than the blackest trench of the Abyss, pierced through both concrete and steel into every soul of the city below. His clawed hands clenched as a corrupted cosmic energy coursed around him. Gnarled horns spiraled upward from his forehead. An aura of terrible malice and god-like power surrounded the being like an impenetrable blanket of chaos.

"Yes..." he whispered to himself. "Feed, my new pet. Feed upon their terror. Relish the death and destruction. Cast more souls into the Pit for your master's legion. Destroy and kill in my name and remind these pitiful beings of their place!"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Draco of the Shadows Character Portrait: Captain Agares Narkel Character Portrait: WCPD Agents Character Portrait: Storm-Shadow Character Portrait: Erebuz Character Portrait: Ereb Alpha Troopers
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#, as written by Lorawr
Jessica looked around as she crouched beneath the arch, before turning to the stone that she took shelter beneath. Her pen scratched at the stone already. 'And the heat of the day granted the grand arch protection from the destruction caused by lightning and thunder, and sheer titanic force.' And with the final stop on the end of the sentence, the stone shimmered and it appeared as though she looked out at the rest of the world through a fine curtain of water. But she was safe, for now. Power radiated from the small structure like blood from a wound. The enchantment, powerful as it was, wouldn't last long. But she had a few minutes of recovery time.

From her place in relative safety, Jessica watched the dragon, and evaluated her own situation. She was wearing her own typical traveling clothes - leather pants, with her white shirt tucked in. Her leather boots were knee high, and her satchel bag was on the ground at her feet. Her hair though...Jessica was glad she was nowhere near any solid reflective surfaces. Her normally perfectly groomed blonde hair was filthy with settling dust, and tangled beyond recognition almost. Scowling at the dragon, she bound her hair back with a scarf dug up from the depths of her bag.

Settling back on the ground, Jessica watched the dragon as it raged through the city, and buildings crumbled beneath its fury. Lightning cracked several times, and twice it struck the arch that she hid beneath, but the enchantment held. The first time, she flinched, but after that she was too busy trying to plan an escape as the water effect that the shield appeared as faded to little more than a pathetic drizzle.

The last shimmer of the shield faded, and Jessica became acutely aware that she had mere seconds before something struck her. Fear hit her again, but this time, she was prepared. Shouting from nearby told her that there were people coming to contain the situation, and adrenaline began to thrum through her. And that was why the hand that appeared from behind her made her jump.

"You're so dead if you don't grab my hand."

Jessica gasped and spun, her hand going to the knife she carried on her leg as she saw the man that stood behind her. She took a moment to look at him, judging whether or not she could trust him or not. But, at the end of the day, the wild excitement in the mans eyes and his shout over the chaos told her she was probably safer with him. Not that she needed a man to protect her, of course. She stood, taking her time before putting her hand in his, silently reasserting that she was capable of looking after herself.

In reply, she simply grinned and nodded "Lead on"