|
|
Post by RYOU on Jul 5, 2016 0:03:41 GMT
RYOU I The sword sliced cleanly through the drone, parting in half, its intestinal wiring spiting sparks before falling lifelessly on the ground. I turned around, twirled the sword to draw a horizontal eight, and, stomping my left foot forward, pulled it from the side with all the force from my hips, smashing a second drone out in the air. They were fast but soft, many but a distraction. The robbers were exchanging fires with the police and were slowly nearing the armored vehicle. Following behind them were tall, four-legged drones carrying their huge stashes of stolen money and in front were another type, disc-shaped and small, shielding them from bullets and sniper shots. I was ten feet away, watching them make their escape through a barrier of pesky drones, swarming around me like jellyfish. “Stop!” I cut through the drones with an upward slice, but they jerked backward from my blade. Great. They were learning. “Cease firing!” I yelled to the police, sheathing the great sword to the scabbard on my back. I was nervous to be the one to be taking command, but the same effort made me brave. People were relying on me. My doubts would not help me or them. I was about to charge through the drones when they suddenly left me. There was a sickening drop in my stomach. My eyes met the dark goggles of one of the robbers, and I wondered for a split second if there really were a human in that mask and what he felt on seeing the fear in my eyes. Time seemed to slow then. I took into detail every motion as the gun's barrel stared at me while I looked back at its black void. I only had a second when I was shot under my chest. Electromancer |
|
|
|
Post by Electromancer on Jul 5, 2016 0:36:06 GMT
 ...the news brought her here--- quite literally, even. A reporter and her videocameraman were covering the latest superpowered scuffle from a safe distance... and they were connected to their station--- and that connection was her shortcut to here.
She slipped out of their machinery, unseen and unheard, seeing what they saw--- the police in a skirmish with a bunch of drones and robbers, and the robots were proving effective at letting the thieves get away. There was a lone hero... a young man wielding a sword--- usually those types who wielded melee weapons were either more durable or faster than most, and since he wasn't a blur, he was probably the former. Usually she would leave it to them to do the job... but the villains were the sort she could... interfere with.
She rushed, closer, phasing through cars and blockades; now that she was out in the open her speed was just of an ordinary person running, even if she had the advantage of going past obstacles. As she approached, she realized... there were no robbers. Or rather, the robbers... were drones, too! She could feel the electricity coursing through them. Just dressed as humans---
---and one of those was leveling a gun towards the hero. Ack, she was too slow! He got shot. Sure, he was probably durable, but he probably could use some help in not taking more lead puncturing his body--- hurriedly she floated into the humanoid machine. With the same haste she left the machine a program, a set of instructions that it would adhere to instead of what it was being originally instructed to do--- and exited. She had more to take care of.
The human-shaped robot she fiddled with... suddenly danced. One down.
RYOU
|
|
|
|
Post by RYOU on Jul 6, 2016 9:33:24 GMT
RYOU II Blood blossomed onto my palm as I clenched tightly on the wound. When I pulled out my hand, the bullet dropped from my fingers. I only had a second to shift the muscles on my abs and tighten it to a rock to prevent the bullet from digging deeply. But the pain was searing. I survived one shot. I wasn’t going to be lucky twice. I looked up, resigned to my fate, expecting the next bullet to come for my head. But the eye of the barrel was no longer on me. My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. The robber had broken into a dance. I snatched the opportunity rather than puzzle over what I was seeing. A flash of blinding light erupted from my body, followed by a burst of rolling hot steam. From the whiteness, the great shadow of a dragon stretched, unfolding two grand wings that blew the remaining steam away. I reached out with my claw, ignoring the bullets bluntly hitting my hard scales, and crushed the armored vehicle under my palm. They weren’t going to be escaping anymore. I carefully rose to my four feet; it was too cramped for me to freely move but that wasn’t going to be an issue. I reached out for the four-legged drones and did onto them the same thing I did with the vehicle. I let out a fearsome roar, shamelessly baring my large fangs. It was over. It was time for the robbers to surrender. Electromancer (if this is too easy, feel free to make them do something more.) |
|
|
|
Post by Electromancer on Jul 9, 2016 3:58:39 GMT
...ah, it looked like she didn't need to handle the rest of the robbers. That was what Alice thought. She'd been making her way towards the drones carrying the money when the dragon crushed them. So the guy was a dragon. Well, this was Kingsport, after all.
So, she thought she was going to no longer be needed. It would just be an anomaly in an otherwise routine foiling of a crime. Dragon gets all the praise... but, well, it seemed the robot robbers had a different idea.
With grotesque movements they shed their humanoid forms, merging together to become a much, much larger drone... which proceeded to vacuum the rest of the money. At the same time, the supposedly crushed drones upon the dragon's claw attached themselves to the reptilian creature... and started beeping. A self-destruct sequence?
...she didn't know how strong the explosion would be, if it would reach the police from this distance, if the dragon could withstand it. At the same time, the merged-robberbot was getting away. Urgh!
Quickly she accessed one of the police's radios. "The drones are going to explode! Get away!" she warned. Then, hoping the dragon could do something about it... she rushed for the escaping thieving machine.
RYOU |
|
|
|
Post by RYOU on Jul 9, 2016 8:55:30 GMT
RYOU III My eyes were fumbling from what they were seeing. First, one of the robbers had broken into a dance, and now all them had melted into one. They were mechanical. I should have realized this and crushed them in the first place. I looked over at the police car where the warning had come out, confused, though my reptilian face could not express it. The drones? What drones were she talking about? That was then when I heard the beeping from under my claw. Oh no. I had no form of communication while I was in this form. The cops might not make it in time. Throwing all my hesitation away, I immediately beat my wings, casting gusts like typhoons around me, and zoomed toward the sky. I haven’t made it twenty feet in the air when the drones attached to me like ticks exploded simultaneously. My foot bled, the blood trickling onto the street. But the damage had been kept to bare minimum. No property was damaged and no person was hurt. I looked over to the escaping fused drone. Who could be controlling them? Should I find the controller first? Ack. I wasn’t good at this kind of game. I raised my altitude, going past the buildings, and tailed after the machine. I couldn’t attack it from the sky without destroying properties or scorching the street. I would have to revert back to human form and deal with it somehow. I flew higher in the sky. When I was high enough, I took aim at the drone and charged. Before my wings could cut across the buildings, I reverted back – white light and white steam – with the sword above my head and a roar out of my chest. With momentum’s and gravity’s push combined, I slashed down at what I could cut and tumbled gracefully on the road. Did I do it? Electromancer |
|
|
|
Post by Electromancer on Jul 9, 2016 10:10:07 GMT
She ran.
Going for the police car was a considerable distance, and now the walking machine had a lead. Still, she ran. Once in a while she spied a circuit that she could jump into, but none gave her a substantial lead to reach the robot, and so she refrained from doing so.
She heard the explosion--- a slight glance confirmed it was in mid-air. The dragon came then, much faster than her, which meant the shapeshifting hero had endured the blast. That was good. Then, from above, he dived--- for a moment Alice was scared that he would break the neighborhood--- and returned to sword-wielding human form, cutting a couple of the robot's legs, and more, besides.
Perfect. The machine eviscerated, it struggled to rebuild itself back, allowing Alice to catch up and jump into it. She deactivated, as per routine, the commands the controller was giving, but kept the connection. Since the robot was recuperating, it would take a while for the commander to know... that the robot was no longer in control... and besides, she was allowing the drone to reconstitute itself... in the meantime.
Using the drone, she began to make it spew out the money, even as she tracked down where the robots' master should be. Triangulating... ah, how funny, it was just a van across the road. How arrogant, too. Well, probably smart as well; could have deposited the money there and made the other van go away somewhere else. She used the drone's speakers.
"Mic test, mic test~" she sweetly intoned. "This nice little robothingy here is now the property of the Electromancer~ although I'll be disposing it in a bit, haha~ no room for it in my garage~" she informed the general vicinity--- that included the man in the van, the police catching up, and of course, the dragon hero. "By the way, the guy controlling this a while ago is in that van over there~"
With that, she exited the robot, and it crashed down into a useless heap.
RYOU |
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2016 10:44:32 GMT
Post by RYOU on Jul 11, 2016 10:44:32 GMT
RYOU IV I had cut the machine off its legs, but it was rebuilding itself. How could a bank-robbing thief have acquired this level of technology? And, really, if they possessed this high technology, was robbing a bank worth it? I readied my sword to finish the job, but surprise found me once more. Was it malfunctioning? Money was spewing out of the machine, raining in a flurry of green paper. A voice cracked from the machine, claiming that she was now in control of it. I couldn’t believe what I just heard. The voice had claimed herself to be the Electromancer. The Electromancer was a hero… no, a vigilante from my country, the Philippines. He was an active crime-fighter who remotely used drones and robots. No one knew his face or his true goal. He was a mystery but his name. I remembered him to be a cordial but enigmatic man in the short time we teamed up during the alien invasion. After ten years of silence, he had reappeared in a manner that I never would have imagined him to. Flashy, playful, and using a girl's voice. I stepped forward, my sword still ready. Confusion scrunched my face. “Electromancer? Is that really you?” He surely had seen me turn into a dragon. I was not hard to forget that way. Electromancer |
|
|
|
Jul 11, 2016 13:41:41 GMT
Post by Electromancer on Jul 11, 2016 13:41:41 GMT
 The van, as soon as she spoke, started moving, but the police were ready, quickly surrounding it in all sides, now that the threat of drones and robots were banished.
There was one more humanoid drone driving the vehicle, but once they were surrounded, even the robot raised its arms in a sign of surrender. Opening the back of the van yielded a frowning man in front of a bunch of computers--- the little robbery's villain.
Even as this happened, though, Alice watched her handiwork... she might not get much praise for it unless a very keen journalist caught her announcement or the police or Dragon Boy mentioned it, but she guessed that was fine... it was not like people could give her attention, usually, anyway.
Wait... was Dragon Boy calling for her? She moved closer to the sword-wielding hero and jumped into his phone, activating its ringing tone. Once he took it out and opened it, she would appear on the screen.
"Hiii~ looking for me?" she asked. "You might want to check if that villain's coming quietly, though~" she sang. Well, everything was at least going smoothly, so she was mostly saying that to tease the guy.
Why was he looking for her, anyway? The way he spoke, it was like he knew her...
RYOU
|
|
|
|
Post by RYOU on Jul 14, 2016 9:08:09 GMT
RYOU V My phone’s ringing had startled me. I drew it out with my free hand and when I clicked its lock, it wasn’t a number but a face that greeted me. Was this Electromancer? Was this… her true face? But she didn’t look older than I was! This had to be an avatar. Electromancer might be a girl or a boy, but she wasn’t a child. I turned to the van the police now had surrounded. My hand reached for the wound under my chest, a dark red stain having spilled on my shirt. “They…can take care of it.” I was going to live and in a day, the bullet wound would be gone. But after the stunt I just pulled from the air, it might take another day for the exacerbated wound to fully heal. I healed fast, but I wasn’t pain-resistant. Electromancer and I could have had a better way of reuniting. I felt like I had showed a disappointing side of myself when I should have become better after ten years. I returned my sword into the scabbard and wiped off the sweat on my forehead. “Thank you for helping me out. Without you, this mission would have been a failure.” I looked over the street. An ambulance was coming for me. “Sir – er, ma’m,” I whispered close to my phone, “Are you still a vigilante? The Initiative wouldn’t be welcoming of your presence here despite your contributions in the invasion. It might be better if you return to the Philippines.” Electromancer |
|
|
|
Post by Electromancer on Jul 14, 2016 9:56:06 GMT
 Sure enough, the police seemed to be handling the capturing well.
"Oh, oh~ you're welcome~!" Alice sang. It was slightly strange that the hero had been looking for him, but gratitude was always nice.
"Sir? Wait, Philippines? Why do you know where I'm from?" For that matter, Dragon Boy was acting weirdly deferent, and... it was as if she was supposed to be familiar with him. "Wait, wait, wait. I think you might be confusing me with someone else---" and then an idea came upon the digital ghost's mind.
"Wait... do you know the original Electromancer?" she asked, upon coming upon the possibility. Someone who knew the original bearer of the name she used... her deceased father... an Initiative hero this young knew him? How did he know? Was there some other possible conclusion?
RYOU
|
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2016 10:37:39 GMT
Post by RYOU on Jul 14, 2016 10:37:39 GMT
RYOU VI My eyes went wide at the phone. There was something not right. “You’re not…him?” Now it was making sense. This Electromancer was a different person. But…why? Why would she take the name Electromancer? It wasn’t unheard of. Heroes and vigilantes alike wore the mantle of their predecessors to continue the legacy. Often times, the connection between predecessor and successor was that of a mentor and student. I would never have a legacy like that, not that I was particularly envious of it in the first place. But for the Electromancer that I knew, it certainly was possible… “I wouldn’t say I knew him.” The original Electromancer was an enigma even to this day. I only fought alongside him and followed the stories of his heroic feats. I didn’t even have a clue on who the successor before me was. The ambulance arrived. The nurses hurried to get the stretcher, but I stepped forward and raised my hand to stop them. “It’s fine! I’m fine sitting down. Just take me to the hospital.” I entered the back and seated down on the bench. The nurses kneeled and sat beside me, applying first-aid on my wound. I hissed in pain and placed my phone on my ear. “Um, hello?” he asked, checking to see if Electromancer was still on the line. “Who are you? Not your name…but how are you related to the original Electromancer?” Electromancer |
|
|
|
Jul 14, 2016 11:09:24 GMT
Post by Electromancer on Jul 14, 2016 11:09:24 GMT
He seemed almost as surprised as she was. She could almost see the gears turning in his head.
He knew that the Electromancer was a vigilante, and despite this, had chosen... to warn her, who he thought was her father, that the Initiative might not welcome her presence, even if he was employed by them.
...ah, the bullet wound was still giving him trouble. "You okay in there?" she asked. "Well, um... how am I related... I guess I'm his successor! ...but you probably already knew that."
She paused as he asked her her relation to the original Electromancer. Ironically, that was more telling for her... since her name belonged to a dead person; she practically needed no secret identity. At the very least Dragon Boy thought of her father as a friend, she surmised. She wondered if that meant she could trust him, even if he was an official hero.
"Well... you could say I'm his daughter?" Her tone was cheerful, but she listened carefully for his reaction.
RYOU |
|
|
|
Post by RYOU on Jul 15, 2016 0:37:49 GMT
RYOU VII “Ah.” A daughter. So the original Electromancer had a family. He had probably retired. It was a weird way for her to say it though. ‘You could say…’ like there was another story behind it. I put the phone down to see Electromancer in my screen again and showed her a friendly smile. None of the nurses were paying attention to my conversation. They probably assumed that I was speaking to another hero or doing something work-related. “My name is Ryou. Or Benedict, my real name. It really brings me back, working with Electromancer again, though I didn’t really do much this time…” I was still ashamed of myself. I couldn’t do a proper job of fixing up a bank robbery alone. Despite the power I had, I couldn’t put it to good use. “Your father and I worked together in the alien invasion ten years ago. He hacked into an alien ship. He’s a genius. How is he, by the way? He knows that you’ve taken up his name, right?” Electromancer |
|
|
|
Jul 15, 2016 14:05:41 GMT
Post by Electromancer on Jul 15, 2016 14:05:41 GMT
 "Ryou... because you're a dragon?" she asked, grinning. Well, it should probably be Ryuu, but she hadn't really studied Japanese extensively despite her father inviting her to watch random shows with her, so she probably wasn't in a position to correct stuff. Besides, the Initiative branding people probably know their thing.
"Benedict, huh. I'm Alice." Well, she could have gotten his real name with a little effort from the public files of the heroes the Initiative employed, but it didn't feel right not to reply with her own. Besides, it wasn't like she had anything to lose with her name, as she had thought a while ago.
She listened as he narrated... about how this guy and her father had worked so many years ago... the alien invasion? "Wait, but you look like you're just as old as me. You were in the alien invasion when you were only around ten years old?" she asked, incredulously. Well, he was a dragon... maybe he had one of those ageless things going?
He hacked into an alien ship... she remembered encountering alien tech in Ace Maxim's mecha, and being unable to do anything about it... well, it probably wasn't the same thing beyond both coming from somewhere not Earth, but Dad really was awesome. She made a strange smile.
"Um..." How was she supposed to say it? It was not a question of trust, for Dragon Boy, strangely enough, felt trustworthy to her--- rather--- it seemed he looked up to him a lot, even if their ways of fighting cannot be further from each other. "...I don't know if he knows, wherever he is now..." she mumbled.
"...my father is dead."
RYOU
|
|
|
|
Post by RYOU on Aug 1, 2016 4:25:28 GMT
RYOU VIII Despite the pain, I grinned back. “Because I’m a dragon.” When I joined the Initiative, there had been many options of names for me, not many I could recall anymore. Names weren’t important for me. All I wanted to do was to help people. Whatever name came easier, the better. At the top of the list, “Ryuu” and “Ryou” popped up, and I jumped to the one that rolled easiest on the tongue. The Japanese origin had an added incentive, the only meaning in a name that I needed: my siblings were a fan of the culture. I didn’t need a more meaningful story behind it. My grinned grew wider when the age and years added up in Alice’s mind. My tale had yet to disappoint me. Every time I recounted the story to others – how I had been there, fighting side-by-side with others heroes, ten years ago – it always elicited the shock and astonishment that made me press my lips in the attempt of reining in my laughter. A smile always got away. But as the strange smile on Alice’s face fleeted away, so did mine. I stared at my phone, not seeing Alice on the screen. “Dead? Your… He’s…” I saw the red med-kin on the floor with a whirling pool of colors, the water in my eyes melting everything in sight. I ignored the nurses, who paid attention to my soft sniffling. Soon, my sniffling turned to shaky breaths and I burst into tears. My hand pressed on my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I said tearfully, both for what happened to her father and for my sudden onslaught of crying. I didn’t know Alice’s dad well, but I just… I couldn’t process whatever it was that happened to him quietly. Did he die peacefully? Did he die violently? Did he die as a man, or as a hero? How long had he been dead? All those occasional thoughts I had on Alice’s dad weighted on me with the new, profound guilt of ignorance. I had always thought that Alice’s dad would be joining the Initiative one day. “I’m sorry. I…” I shook my head, squeezing my eyes shurt. “I’m sorry.” Electromancer |
|
