Futuristic Arcadia: Heroes World Brave

[DarKnight36]

The vault door slid open, the thick metal surprisingly smooth even as the clanking of machinery echoed into the hall. On the other side, about a football field's length away, Jacques stood, facing the door, his back to the gaping slash of vortex energy that could only be the Sliver. The once smooth glass that had covered the Sliver was nearly gone, cracked and broken. A hole in the world had formed, but not yet connected to its destination.

The hangar appeared to be a perfect cube, extending another football field past the Sliver in every direction, with the small observatory lab to the right side of the vault door. It was completely empty except for the Sliver and the machinery surrounding it.

"Koschei and friends," Jacques sneered sarcastically, raising his hands. "I would never have guessed the General would send you after me. Honestly, I don't know what you hope to gain here. You couldn't stop me in Atlas City from taking Koschei, and you won't be able to stop me now that I have nothing to hold me back."

"An apt way to put it," Sasha said, his expression grim and cold. "Nothing will be holding us back either."

Jacques frowned momentarily, then his mocking smile returned. "Then come and die! I only need to use one finger for the likes of you." He raised his index finger of his right hand and pointed it towards the Brave. "Now, which one of you shall I kill first?"

 

[PiePillager]

Henry glanced around for a brief moment at the tear in reality known as the Sliver. Like a jagged crack in the atmosphere, it was clear fro ma glance that whatever lay on the other side, was not meant to be seen by denizens of this mortal plane. Now, whether he himself would find it familiar is another story. But for now, there was another issue at hand. That issue being the individual standing before them.

"Maybe your memory needs jogging a little bit..." Henry stepped forward. "You attacked the city while we were unaware and got away with it because you had your team there to back you up and distract us. Needless to say, your team won't be here to have your back this time. And we have a better idea of what you can do," Henry continued, taking another step forward. "Not everything, of course. No way this is going to be easy, but...we can take you," Henry stated with a confident smile. "We all know you're not just going to sit there and talk us to death so bring it on."

 

[DarKnight36]

"So I guess you're first then," Jacques said, his finger aiming straight at Henry, then flicking upwards. Henry was launched into the air by Jacques' telekinetic power, two hundred feet up before his ascent slowed and he began to fall.

 

[Wing06]

Klaus activated his suit and took to the air to catch Henry as he fell. “I gotcha,” he said as the pair hovered a moment. Klaus’s gaze was stuck on the Sliver. He knew he couldn’t risk his tech going through the portal, and his sensors couldn’t analyze anything properly. “This isn’t going to be easy,” he muttered to Henry and they touched the ground. “We can’t risk anyone going through, ever see anything like this before?”

 

[obscured_light]

The belt gave its familiar jingle as Akiko activated Shinigami Gray form. Henry had gone first but Klaus had easily caught him. Shinigami didn't wait. Data was needed and Sasha had given her very little.

Intangible, Invisible, and In Flight all activated as she sought to close the distance between her and Jacques. She had no idea if he would be able to see her so she charged straight on, hoping at least one of her abilities would allow her to close the gap and land a blow.

 

[DarKnight36]

Jacques frowned as Klaus caught Henry, but he quickly turned his attention back down to the others. His eyes narrowed as Akiko disappeared but his gaze remained on Sasha.

Sasha reached inside his coat and pulled out a revolver. He aimed the gun and fired three shots in rapid succession.

Jacques didn't flinch as the bullets went way off target. Sasha took a step forward and fired again. Again the bullet went off target. Another step. Fire.

One more step, and this time Jacques moved. His finger jabbed at Sasha, and curled inward rapidly. Sasha found himself hurtling towards Jacques, the g-force nearly causing him to blackout.

Sasha hurtled past Akiko, and this time Jacques flicked his finger down, spiking Sasha into the ground at incredible velocity.

"Now where did you go Ghost Girl?" Jacques growled, his eyes scanning rapidly.

 

[PiePillager]

"Thanks," Henry nodded to Klaus as he alighted back down on the ground. He knew he'd potentially be under even more of a time limit, especially since he had already accessed the light earlier today. But now, there was no choice. They'd have to go all out against a foe such as Jacques.

As Jacques was tossing Sasha and looking for Akiko, henry quickly raised his blaster as it split apart and became something of a gauntlet over his right fist.

"Arisen Sun!" the Red light began to envelop Henry. "Endless Space!" with the blue light following in tandem!

Henry no longer stood where he once was the light enveloping him unleashing the strange-machinations of space time faster than the human eye would manage to notice. And before long standing before the sliver, a Titanic being hovered above the battlefield.

Within this vast universe exists a macrocosm of light, Cosmic Titan, ""MACROMAN!"

Macroman flew, the cosmic titan's speed increasing until he became a giant blur. Moving faster than one would expect for a being of his size, he cracked his arm backwards and soon enough a shadow was cast over Jacques in the shape of a colossal hand, curling into a fist! Macroman's punch was let loose, the impact causing a gust of wind to stir up from within the vault. Whether it hit Jacques or not remains to be seen, which is why he had to prepare for his next maneuver.

 

[DarKnight36]

Jacques' head snapped instantly towards Macroman as he flew towards Jacques, his eyes tracking every movement the giant made. The blast of wind, quickly followed by Macroman's gigantic fist, smashed directly into the space above Jacques, no more than a few feet away, unable to pass through whatever barrier Jacques had surrounded himself with.

Jacques glared up at the oversized alien and sneered. "Know your place," he growled, and his eyes flashed with a strange light. Macroman instantly could feel an intense pressure building up inside his palm and fingers, rapidly increasing to the bursting point...

 

[obscured_light]

A whoosh went through Macroman as Akiko put her hand on him, putting all her strength into making him intangible as well. Her body reappeared and she was grounded, all her focus going into Henry. She didn't know if it would allow him to pass through the barrier but if it did, it gave both her and Henry an opening.

 

[druidquest]

Lynne hung back, her focus pulling itself in every direction at once. They were fighting. This Jacques guy was a threat, had killed people, would kill them if they failed here. They had to stop him, she needed to help. And yet.

The Sliver. A polished mirror, cracked for access to the reflections inside. Was that how to describe it? She wasn’t sure. She didn’t really know what it was. Didn’t know where it had come from, how it could have been made, what worlds it could connect to. There were so many questions, so many mysteries, so much missing knowledge.

She felt hungry.

She took a step back through the door of the lab, looking around at the crowded next of monitors and dials and buttons, at the bodies slumped on the floor. Her hair drifted around her like tendrils, her eyes widening in a near predatory obsession. Were they all dead? Could one have survived? One who knew how to operate things?

She turned, stepping toward the engineers Jacques had thrown against the opposite wall. She loomed over them, an odd flicker in her appearance, like a screen projector stuttering. One ẗ̴̖e̴̦̿ñ̸̼t̷͕̍a̸̖͐c̵͓͆l̷̤̄e̴̖̎ floated near one of the bodies, and her eyes snapped toward it; this one was still living, barely, a flicker of electricity firing in faint bursts through his brain, soon to be extinguished entirely.

Not soon enough.

Lynne knelt, grabbing the bottom of the scientist’s chin and tilting his face upward. His eyes were closed, lids heavy and limp, and she pried them open, tilting his head this way and that to roll his insensate eyes where he could ļ̴̘̪̘̈́̓̊̽o̸̝̪̮͍̽͌̇̚o̴̤̝̘̓͐̑͜͝k̴͈̭͇̹͑̑̾͆ ̸̡̙͖̖̉̆͊̈́a̵̼̘̖̬̿̍̀͒t̸̯̣̬̬́̾͛̅ ̵̢̞̰̘̍̔̐̚h̴̹͙͖͛̌͊͂͜ê̸̛̺̺͓̄͋ͅŗ̵̩͍̬͆̈́́̚.

Her eyes locked to his. She had never done this before. It would not be gentle.

 

[Wing06]

Klaus' suit tried to analyze Jacques but couldn't get any solid readings. It was as if he were contained in a forcefield. "Something's not adding up...his powers aren't like any I've seen, but are so versatile. He can't simply be thinking it all...can he?"

 

[DarKnight36]

Macroman's fist passed through Jacques' barrier, but Jacques was already leaping backwards, an annoyed expression on his face. Jacques landed, then flinched as a bullet struck the ground next to him. His eyes met Sasha's, who was climbing back to his feet, reloading his pistol.

"Guns, Koschei?" Jacques sneered as Sasha fired more bullets, only for them to ineffectively smash against Jacques' shield. "I expected more from you."

Jacques raised a hand but Sasha was already running back away from Jacques. Jacques only watched as Sasha came to a stop near where he had initially stood. Sasha turned, a small smile on his face and spread his arms to Jacques. A bead of sweat formed on Jacques' forehead as his eyes narrowed. Had Sasha figured it out? He glanced back at the Sliver.

"Open, damn you," Jacques muttered. "Open!"

 

[PiePillager]

Macroman rubbed the arm that Jacques had affected with his powers, contemplating something briefly. Within the minds of all the gathered members of The Brave, Macroman spoke, "It's got nothing to do with his thoughts, Klaus. Do you understand now, Sasha? I didn't get it until his attack against me moments ago. It's the air itself!"

As Jacques turns around to look at the Sliver in desperation, Macroman, launches a kick at him with surprising speed, his foot digging into the floor of the hangar and pelting Jacques with rubble as he launches him towards a wall, away from the Sliver.

 

[DarKnight36]

"Well, I wouldn't say it's totally without thought," Sasha corrected, as Jacques' barrier was revealed in full from the dirt surrounding it. A sphere surrounded Jacques, just a few feet in front of him on all sides. "But the air? Yes, that does make sense."

Jacques landed and gritted his teeth. He gestured at Macroman, stretching out his right hand. Macroman felt the air seize up around him as Jacques grunted in exertion, and swung his arm to the left. Macroman felt himself flying, crashing into the wall of the hangar with tremendous force.

"Akiko!" Sasha called out. "There's a trick to how his powers work. I've figured it out now." Sasha grinned, a genuine smile for perhaps the first time in a while.

"Have you?" Jacques growled, his eyes again glowing with the strange light.

 

[obscured_light]

"Have you!?" Akiko asked as she turned intangible again, eyes looking Jacques up and down. She turned intangible, her amethyst lantern ready in one hand as she charged forward, yelling, "You better tell me now!"

 

[DarKnight36]

"Distance, vision, movement," Sasha continued. "Jacques, every attack you make is telegraphed. Your strength is great, indeed, but once you've figured it out..."

Jacques' eyes flicked from Sasha to Akiko as she approached, his hand reaching out towards her. It was at that moment Sasha moved, so fast he seemed to blur. He hit Jacques like a freight train, the impact sending the Fang member flying and smashing into the floor hard enough to bounce.

"It's easy to take advantage of your weakness," Sasha finished. He turned to Akiko. "Jacques has a distance parameter of each of his powers. 254 feet is the maximum distance from him to a target. Moving a target is controlled by his hands. Speed seems to be determined by how quickly he moves his hand or finger, perhaps it operates on some kind of magical fulcrum. His bursting attack is recognized by his eyes, which glow extremely conspicuously. That's close range... He can't use that from afar. His shield is close range as well, a few feet in front of him. Impenetrable when it's active but..."

Sasha smiled. "It seems like he can only keep two of his powers activated at a time. Based on the telegraphs, I knew his shield wouldn't be open when I attacked just now."

Jacques slowly picked himself up, wiping blood from his mouth. He wobbled as he rose to his feet, but managed to stand straight.

"I'm going to enjoy killing all of you," Jacques snarled, but his eyes were once again glancing towards the Sliver. WHY ISN'T IT OPEN?

 

[druidquest]

Lynne stumbled back into the hanger where the Sliver was kept, a hand clutching her head as she tried to wrest control of her scrambling thoughts. The air shimmered around her like television static, milky ichor pooling on her lower lids and dripping down her cheeks. She felt dizzy and drained - was this what people referred to by the term "food coma"? She felt like she could sleep for a week.

"Get back!" She choked out in warning, her mouth not moving. She put a hand over her lips to hide them when she realized, her voice echoing through the hangar regardless. "Get away from the Sliver!! Quickly!!"

 

[PiePillager]

"Explain," Macroman stated simply, shaking the last of the rubble off of him, already observing from a distance as he took in what Sasha had said about Jacques's abilities.

 

[obscured_light]

"Hit him with everything, basically," Shinigami said with a smirk before bursting into her amethyst whip form. She cracked the ground with her whip and amethyst burst from the ground into two distinct trails. They circled around Jacques and then dove at him from the right and left, both bursting forward towards him at the same time. One of them burst into multiple tiny shards that hurtled towards him as Akiko dove forward as well, not really heading Sasha's warning about a close range shield as she got into melee range and sent another burst of amethyst towards him.

 

[DarKnight36]

Sasha attacked simultaneously alongside Akiko, although not physically. His demon form twisted, forming more of a sleek, acrobatic look. The wind picked up around Sasha, blasting forward towards Jacques. The wind swirled around Jacques' shield, lifting him into the air.

"No, no!" Jacques yelled as he struggled to keep his shield up. He raised another hand, a blast of downward pressure slamming down towards Sasha and Akiko. But both dodged the clumsy attack as Jacques was thrown, shield and all, directly in front of the Sliver. The shield burst with a gust of wind, and Jacques hit the ground hard.

Jacques twisted to face the Sliver, his reflection staring back at him. For a moment, his eyes cleared.

"My name... my name..." Jacques muttered.

***Some time ago***

"Dr. Pospelov, I presume?"

"That's me," Vadim Pospelov nodded. He smiled, an easy smile that reached his eyes with no hesitation. "Although the title of Doctor was really my grandfather's thing, just call me Vadim."

"Of course," the General said, smiling back at Vadim, gesturing for Vadim to enter his office. "It's nice to have a Pospelov on the team again. I'm told you've been given special permission to study the Sliver again. I'm happy to help as best I can."

The General waited until Vadim had taken a seat before sitting himself. "I was a good friend of your grandfather's," he continued. "His discoveries and work with the Sliver were impressive, to say the least. It was hard on me when he disappeared. I'm sure it was harder on yourself."

"I'm not sure what to say to that honestly," Vadim said, sighing. "Losing my grandfather... no, honestly, he was more than that. He was everything I wanted to be. Continuing his work has been my dream since I was a child. I had no idea he was working on something so... grandiose, of course. Not until I was much older. But that's just driven me even more."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to continue his studies," the General said, still smiling. Vadim felt something in his mind, like an itch he couldn't quite scratch, as the General continued to talk. "Of course, you understand that the Sliver must remain... closed, yes?"

Vadim's smile became a little tighter. "That's not exactly what I was promised, General... I..." He paused, the itch continuing. "Sorry, do you have some water?"

"Of course," the General said, turning away. Vadim felt the itch recede. His eyes narrowed. He'd heard the General had telepathic abilities but to be so blatant? What was the General looking for inside Vadim's thoughts?

The General passed a glass of water to Vadim. "Things do change, unfortunately. Being in command of this facility, and Fang completely, I have a bit more understanding of what dangers the Sliver has inside it than perhaps your recruiting officers. So... the Sliver will remain closed. At least for now. Give it some time, Vadim. You'll have your chance to enter once I'm confident we won't lose you like we lost Dr. Pospelov."

Vadim tried to relax. "Yes... yes, of course."

But inside, his anger seethed.

***Two years later***

"Sliver opening in 30 seconds," Ivanov, the lead technician in Vadim's group, nodded to Vadim. Vadim smiled, trying to keep his excitement under control. He looked out the laboratory windows at the group of soldiers, who were doing last minute checks on their weapons.

It had taken two years for Vadim to have his chance to enter the Sliver. Two years, and multiple expeditions that he'd needed to wait out, but thanks to that kid Sasha's success, Vadim was now getting his own turn.

"I'm coming, grandfather," Vadim said under his breath, before stepping through the doorway into the hangar proper. He walked towards the group of soldiers as the Sliver finished opening, the black expanse giving way to a calm image of a cavern that looked almost ordinary. Neon moss glowed gently on the other side of the image, and as the machines powered down, the sounds of running water could be heard as well.

"Are you ready, Dr. Pospelov?" the lead soldier, a strict man named Kyur, said.

"Vadim, please," Vadim said, nodding to Kyur. "And yes, I am ready. Let's step through into another world, shall we?"

"Take the lead," Kyur motioned to two of his soldiers, who nodded and slowly stepped through the Sliver as they would step through any other doorway. Which, Vadim considered, the Sliver really was... just one that crossed dimensions rather than rooms.

His excitement grew larger as he took his turn. Just one more step and he'd be through...!

***Present***

"Vadim, Vadim..." Jacques muttered, holding his head. "My name..."

Visions were bursting in Jacques' mind, visions of the cavern, of blood, of gunfire, screaming. Of a presence, a demon whose name overrode his own, who invaded his body and cornered him within his own mind. He groaned, unable to comprehend what was happening.

He remembered stepping back through the Sliver. They were calling him Vadim. But that wasn't his name. Not anymore.

"My name," Jacques growled. "My name is JACQUES!"

As Jacques looked up at the Sliver, he saw it clearing. It was opening. He smiled. It was time to go home.

 

[druidquest]

Akiko answered Henry's (Macroman's?) question first, clearly thinking he had been speaking to Sasha, and for a moment, Lynne thought the same. Had he not heard her? Was she- Wait, he was looking at her!

"O-oh! There's- There's no time!" She spluttered out, the pitch of her voice peaking and dropping as it rang in the minds of everyone present. "I don't have time to digest it all! Just get away from the Sliver, fast!! It's opening!! All of you!! Jacques!!"

 

[obscured_light]

Akiko's eyes widened as her blood lust settled in the wake of Lynne's warnings.

"Oh," she said quietly, nodding in a sagely fashion. Shinigami Gray activated and as the belt finished it's line, Shinigami was already running towards Jacques. She reached out to clap a hand on him, fully intending to vanish on out of there with him.

"Sasha! Everyone!" she yelled, turning away from Jacques, extending her other hand out to Sasha and anyone nearby. "Let's go!"

 

[DarKnight36]

Jacques stared up at the Sliver, his expression turning from relief to confusion. The image in the Sliver stabilized, the glassy blackness giving way to a strange jungle, a dark fog rolling about the trunks.

Plant life, if that's what it could be called, hung all about, the leaves drooping from thin black branches. As the image coalesced, the leaves began dripping a liquid that smelled and looked like some kind of phosphorescent blood, the gentle patter sounding like rain as the leaves quivered. The fog began leaking through the Sliver, hissing as it made contact with the air inside the hangar.

"This isn't..." Jacques muttered, stumbling to his feet, ignoring Akiko. His head twisted back towards the lab proper, his eyes boring past Lynne to stare wide-eyed at where the technicians normally sat. "Changed the coordinates? No... NO... IVANOV!"

Jacques' roar was easily drowned out by the sound of metal screeching over metal, a horrendous gut-wrenching scream from inside the Sliver that reverberated through the minds and eyes of everyone present.

"Close the Sliver now, shut it...!" Jacques cried out in desperation but it was very much too late.

Black skin, coiling in on itself like an imploding spiral of ink and bone and blood, stretching out and through the fog an infinite amount of times, shaped like something vaguely recognizable but twisted and torn into something completely alien. Eyes and teeth flashing in turn, claws tearing at the Sliver, forcing it wider, pressing itself through with unmistakable malice.

The beast, if that's what it could be called, was massive, that much was certain. Its very presence barraged the mind with pain, and as it screamed again, Sasha stumbled, feeling his mind reeling from the double attack of sound and telepathic energy. Darkness filled his vision as he fell to one knee.

Jacques was the first to move as the first of the beast's limbs touched the hangar floor, instantly turning the metal into a disintegrating mass of black sand that pulsed and oozed a sulfuric-smelling pus. The Fang member raised his hand and slammed everything he had left at the creature.

The front of the creature stretched and stretched until it exploded from Jacques' attack, but instead of blood, a million tiny tentacles expanded outwards, wrapping around Jacques' outstretched arm.

In an instant, Jacques' arm was turned to mere goop as Jacques fell backwards. What was left of his limb was devoured instantly. The tentacles spread like a kaleidoscope, a thousand, dizzying patterns as the beast continued to step forward into the light.

 

[PiePillager]

Macroman froze for a moment as he witnessed the Sliver spring open, in part forced by an indescribable spiral of darkness that emerged from the decrepit domain on the other side. His head jolted upon seeing Jacques be the first one struck, his hand liquifying into a puddle on the floor. There was no more time for hesitation, the time for action was nigh!

"Lynne!" Macroman called out. "Take any survivors where you're at and leave, now! I'm getting the others out of here!" With nothing else left to say, but a cry of, "AARU FIELD!" Macroman was able to create a barrier around himself and the others in the hangar, including Jacques. In an instant, those inside were briefly transported to an alien domain atop a large chunk of rock in a field of asteroids, but only briefly. Macroman started to feel the metallic plate on his body begin to flash red, meaning his time in this form was almost up. With his last actions for now, Macroman warped the group to the hall just outside the hangar.

Henry, back to being a human, panted as he leaned against a wall to catch his breath. "We don't have long before that thing breaks out from the hangar," he told the others. "So, we can't rest long. 'Cause if this thing manages to reaches civilians, we're gonna have another Atlas City on our hands."

 

[druidquest]

Lynne rushed back into the control room, shaking her head in an attempt to clear her addled mind. The door to the hanger slammed shut behind her, sensors detecting the breach from the portal and tripping the first security protocols. Anything else would need to be activated manually from the control station, using... using...

Lynne placed a hand on the edge of a console to brace herself, a hand going to her head to try and seize on the information dangling out of reach. Damn it all! If she were more practiced, if Arkadiy had been in better condition, if-

The Beast dragging itself from the Sliver screamed again, cutting through Lynne's mind and causing her appearance to distort and break down. She stumbled toward the door out to the hall, tangling tendrils whipping around her as she punched in the override code to make it open in spite of the emergency demanding it remain locked. She grabbed the edge of the door with a clawed, three-digit hand as it began to move, forcing it to open faster. An odd, asymmetrical arrangement of gleaming red eyes tracked between each face in the hall, looking for one in particular.

"Jacques!" Lynne said, small lipless mouth unmoving as her voice echoed in the skulls of those present. "The emergency shutdown, the anti-breach protocols, do you-"