Futuristic Paradise City Chronicles

[Gegawat]

Alex got to the office, mainly because he was pumped from meeting the royal guard. They were badass, no doubt, but they were as useless as... He couldn't think of an analogy right now. It would be awesome if the royal guard were formidable like... The CRUSADER! He immediately called his father.
"Hey, dad, listen... I have this crazy idea... Yeah, I saved her... No, the royal guard took her back... Would you please stop asking questions and hear me out? Thanks... Now how about you give me one of your armors, and I have this killer super talented engineer, who would automate it! You'd do it? Awesome! I am calling him to give him the news. If he comes in today, we will have the prototype by the end of the weekend! Kthxbye!"

He then immediately called Crow. No matter if he picked up or not, he would be insistent. "Hey, Crow, it's Alex. I am sorry to ask you to come to work, especially in the weekend, but I got something really awesome to show you and put your skills to good use! I can't say it on the phone, but I promise, it is going to be well worth it!"

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow groaned as he heard his phone go off, rolling over on the couch to get over to it. He was surprised to see it was Alex, not least because he didn't remember even giving the CEO his phone number, Becky had used her phone to call him, but he guessed Becky must have given it to him at some point. In retrospect, that would also probably explain why Alex was already a contact in Crow's phone, damn! Becky was good at her job.

Crow proceeded to answer the call, and while he sounded groggy at first, the villain's tone became happier as he replied "Yes, what do you need?... Something secret that requires my skills that's worth coming into work on a weekend for?" Crow was positively beaming, all the negativity caused by his earlier humiliation all but evaporated at the prospect of being needed for something top secret and possibly shady "Give me 15, I'll be there."

Crow then went and got changed into his normal clothing, he didn't like to work in a uniform, that was a minions job, and he hated wearing stuff like lab coats and aprons, so his normal clothes always fit the bill. He then grabbed a few random blueprints he'd been working on before making his way to the large MercerTech building over the road, calling Alex when he was outside "Hello, Alex? I'm outside MercerTech, where do you want to meet me?"

 

[Gegawat]

The moment Alex's phone rang, he was already at the door. He greeted Crow, and handed him a security badge, one that had the names and security clearance. He remembered having one is essential to, well getting in.

"You must wear it on you at all times, just swipe it over the readers at the different doors to open them." Alex explained "Also thank you for coming, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't urgent. Basically I saw the news, and figured the royal guards were bunch of pussies and need an upgrade." He talked all the way in the elevator, while going to the lab. The moment they reached Crow's lab, Alex swiped his ID on the door. As it opened it revealed the crusader's suit facing the door. The moment the lights came on, 15 more could be seen behind it, all facing the door. "Long story short - I want you to turn those suits into drones!"

(Sorry for no format I am on my phone)
(Edit: ok, managed to fix it)

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow looked at his security card, slightly annoyed he needed one, after all, who could forget a face like his. Admittedly it was also because I was worried he would lose it, he normally didn't have to worry about this sort of thing, Becky would deal with it for him.

Crow then followed Alex to his lab, at which point his jaw almost dropped off, he barely had time to take in the glory of his new lab as his eyes fell upon the suit of Crusader armour, he then felt like he would flat out faint as fifteen more became visible. Drooling a little, the villain basically magnetised to the closest suit "Are these ALL suits used by the Armoured Crusader?" Crow then immediately opened on up and snaked his way inside, inspected the inner workings, he'd always wanted one of these, and it seemed as though evil Santa had come early this year, and they were ALL his "I could, I'd need time though, and maybe a rudimentary blueprint or summary of their core workings."

 

[Gegawat]

Alex looked at how Crow reacted, taking his reaction in, as even he couldn't help and fanboy a bit. "I know, right! Those things are so awesome... And I had to pull MAJOR strings to get them." He explained how the first one was the one used most recently and how the others are older models with different settings, but mostly software issues, something Alex could easily fix. "A blueprint however would be a problem... The engineer died years before I was born! But I can ask my faaa--- I mean friend, who got those from the crusader, yes, I can ask for any blueprint. All I know for now is that they are genetically coded and can only operate when Crusader gets inside. I managed to crack the DNA code but I still can't unlock all their features, such as flight. They have the basics only, shield, shock wave, and charge (basically Reinhardt)."

He made his way to one of the suits and gently touched it, causing it to open. "Take as much time as you need. Also, if you need help or anything, don't be afraid to ask, I will come down here personally or at least reassign somebody to assist" He then headed for the door. "I'll leave you to it, I can see you can't wait to crack them open...! Oh, yeah, one more thing... This is kind of a secret, so no selfies on Facetime or Chirper (you know, because the other names are taken)"

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow was already too distracted to pay attention to what Alex was saying, waving his hand dismissively at his boss "Yes, yes, that's all good. Though if you could also get me an English to German dictionary, that would be great." Word couldn't describe how happy Crow was, the most formidable suits of armour in the world, except his, of course, were all his, the suits that had been a constant bane in not only his side, but also that of his father, were now but plants ready to be harvested.

Once Alex had left, Crow got straight to work dismantling one of the older ones for transport to his HQ, he wanted to use the newest one, but was worried it may be a little too obvious. At the same time, the villain was also attempting to crack the rest of the armours code, hoping to get its full functionality available, from there he could create an AI framework for the suits to run off. In truth, Crow had no intention of screwing Alex over, not yet anyway, no, he would give the man exactly what he wanted. That being said, if they just so happened to have a backdoor into their system, then there was nothing he could do.

 

[Gegawat]

In the meantime Alex was already banging his head over the genetic lock. If it was a password, fingerprint or retinal scan, he would already be done, but how the hell would he crack that lock? He had a reach around, but he couldn't use that, at least not in the long term...

In the same time he tasked Litchi in finding a German-English technical dictionary, as well as the blueprints for the armor. Of course, being Chinese automatically makes Litchi better at everything than everyone else, she managed to complete it in no time. She found the plans for a very old Mk. I, but they could still help.

Alex kept banging his head over the code. He had 2 options now. One was to use his powers to replicate, sample and trick the suits it was James inside, or he just clones james and waits 18 years for the clones to grow old enough... He liked neither of those ideas. Then bam, he got it. Just reprogram the lock to the royal guards. For this he would only need a hair from each one of them. He got to work.

The doors to Crow's lab opened and a generic NPC secretary entered, bringing him a 4 kilogram hard cover A5 format book the size of a toaster oven and a blueprint roll. "You asked for these?!" She said as she put them on a desk.

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow barely paid attention as the generic NPC secretary walked in "Yes, thank you, you can leave now." Crow then made his way over to the old blueprints, trying to see whether any of them matched exactly, unfortunately not, however, there was one which was reasonably similar. Crow had been genuinely grateful for the blueprint, he had been surprised by the complexity of the design, sure, he could have completed his task regardless, but this saved him a good couple of weeks.

Currently, Crow was working on building his own suit, similar to the designs of the Mk. I, he felt like he needed a greater understanding of the suits workings before trying anything with any of them, after all, if something went wrong, they may break beyond repair. That being said, he was working on a few upgrades, such as the ability to control the suit remotely. It was for this reason that Crow had re-wired his robotic hand to act as a controller for a makeshift suit gauntlet, now all he needed to do was to test whether he could control the weapons. An idea then came to mind as he picked up his phone and called Alex "Hey Alex! Can you come down to the lab? I have something I want to show you."

 

[Gegawat]

Alex was startled by the phone ringing. He had been asleep on the keyboard, drooling over it, as per proper sleeping on the job etiquette dictates. He picked up just to hear Crow sound excited. "Yeah, give me a minute"

He got up, stretched and saw the keyboard made an impression on his face, so he quickly shapeshifted it away. He took an USB flash drive and uploaded the data. Remember, his computer was disconnected from the internet or the company server.

He made his way downstairs and swiped his card over the door, causing it to open. He saw the older suit taken apart and signs of very enthusiastic working process. "What do you got?"

 

[Skylord Nexus]

When Alex walked through the door, Crow immediately held a hand up "Ok don't move." He then made a fist with his metallic hand and pointed it at the hero, as he did this the fist did the same before multiple barrels extended out of the large metallic wrist, forming a minigun which immediately began spinning up. A hail of bullets then shot out, hitting the wall a few centimetres away from the CEO, Crow then began moving his balled up hand as if tracing an image, and the minigun followed his direction. After about a minute, Crow un-balled his hand and the minigun retracted back into the suit piece, leaving an Alex shaped outline on the wall. Crow seemed ecstatic with the results "Excellent! I used the old blueprints as well as what I learned from taking apart one of the suits to make the armour controllable remotely. With this test done, I should be able to rig up a more efficient control system then what's already being used inside the suits, as well as produce more that can be piloted remotely."

The villain then suddenly realised he had shot at Alex for an extended period of time, in some places that was considered rude, not in Crow's neck of the woods, but in some places "Sorry about shooting at you, I needed an adequate dummy and you were the closest at hand." All in all, though, Crow was happy with the progress he made, plus, if he could mass produce these suits, he could be unstoppable, though that was not quite possible yet, and for it to be a success, Crow needed Alex alive.

 

[Gegawat]

Alex didn't really flinch, it wasn't the first time Crow shot at him, which should serve as a hint that something's up. However he kind of moved a bit, making a pose, as the minigun was tracing his outlines. As he moved away he looked at the bullet shaped outline of himself and rubbed his chin. "I was under the impression I was taller! Well, still better than the Picasso my father paid several million to have..." He pulled out his notepad and wrote something. "Note to self: Sell the artwork in Crow's Laboratory!"

He then came closer to inspect the whole setup. It was more complicated than expected, but it worked like a charm. "This is amazing... You not only turned it into a remote drone, but also added the transformation feature..." Alex inspected the hand. Things that transformed made him happy since... recently... because reasons. He mimicked the action with his hand, which gave him an idea, but he had to work on it in his time off. Now he had more pressing matters. He wrote in the notepad another note, this time about having to write a hefty manual for the use of the drone, which wasn't in German...

The CEO reached into his pocket and presented Crow with the flash drive. "Here... it is basically a computer virus, that would trick the armor that the correct pilot is inside, while the armor itself is empty. I bet this will unlock all the features, but I haven't really tested it." he handed Crow the small black and blue flash drive. "Just make sure you detach your own hand first, I don't want to hack it by accident and end up blowing up the building." He chuckled, as he turned back to admire his Bullet outlines, which he had to admit were very detailed...

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow was confused by Alex's reaction to a hail of bullets flying towards him, in Crow's experience people didn't seem to like that very much, still, Alex was a CEO of a major corporation so he was probably used to being shot at. The villain did nod in agreement with Alex's comment however "Yeah, I know that feeling. My father 'bought' a Van Gogh, always crept me out." Bought may have been a strong word, more like stole when they were on holiday, but close enough.

Crow was happy with his praise, though to him it was natural, he was a genius in his chosen fields (ego +1!) "Well, of course, it's amazing, what did you expect?" The villain then went over to the large arm and pulled open a panel, revealing a big empty gap "Now all I need to do is find I way to fit more bullets inside... or cheaper ones. Currently, this thing fires two-hundred dollar custom tool cartridges at ten thousand rounds per minute, it costs four-hundred thousand dollars to fire this weapon for twelve seconds." Crow, then it the panel closed again "Though in all honesty, I didn't add the feature, I just made my own replica, it'll be much harder to add this onto the actual suit, if you recall, the Armoured Crusader wasn't big on ranged weapons, and prefered things of a more... 'blunt' nature." His ribs certainly remembered!

Crow swiftly grabbed the USB from Alex's hand and looked at it as if it was some kind of evil magical ring that could turn people mad and corrupt the hearts of men... but it wasn't, it was just a USB, though it may as well have been the greatest treasure in the world for the villain "The key to the Armoured Crusader suits! Part of me wants to know how you're being allowed to do this, what if someone stole it and took the suits?" Crow didn't dwell of the question however as he immediately plugged it into the newest suit they had, jumping inside to see if he could control it "Wait there Alex, I want someone to be a witness in the case stuff goes wrong and I get hurt so I can sue for payment!"

 

[Gegawat]

What if someone stole the suits. He hadn't figured this out yet. Worst case scenario, James would have to come out and kick ass, on the other hand, we were talking about 15 top of the line, fully functional drones, just like him. It was going to be so much fun watching them swing at each other... "Well, if someone steals them, Crusader would be very pissed and probably come out of retirement and kick their ass and mine as well for allowing this to happen. But It won't, I have contingency plan!" And by that, Alex meant he was going to improvise on the spot... Like he always did... but for now, he had a better idea...

Alex made his way to one of the other suits that was intact. "I just got a crazy idea which you are going to love and hate at the same time..." he walked over to the computer and plugged it in to the suit's maintenance panel. He started typing furiously at the keyboard, most of it looked like nonsense, but it was a combination of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs, and the order seemed so random, but it wasn't... Or maybe it was, Alex didn't care at any case, he could still pop inside one of those and have it fully functional due to the nature of his abilities.

After he was done, he unplugged the suit as it opened and Alex jumped inside. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going to happen next. As soon as the suit closed Alex used his abilities to "unlock" the suit and it came to life, as the jet engine on the back started booting up. Then Alex made a pose in the suit, as he grabbed its own hammer "Come at me, Bro!" he provoked Crow with a hand gesture.

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow was a bit concerned about that contingency plan, Alex was no doubt brilliant, so who knew what he could have inside these suits. For now, the villain decided to play it safe and wait to see if Alex let anything slip in the future "Well that's good to know, wouldn't want these getting into the wrong, yet amazingly handsome and awesome, hands."

"There are many things I love and hate, I doubt this will b..." Crow trailed off as he saw what Alex was doing, surely he didn't what to do what he thought he was going to do. He then rolled his eyes and sighed at Alex's behaviour "You know, that is a very immature thing to suggest, these are some of the most powerful robotic suites ever made, who in the right mind would- TAKE THIS!" Crow swiftly grabbed his suits hammer and swung it at Alex, and just doing that, the villain could feel a rush of adrenaline and thought to himself "Now I can see why the old man did it, this feels great!"

 

[Gegawat]

The hit resonated through the suit causing an effect of being inside a ringing bell. It was the first time Alex received a hit while actually wearing one. In fact the hit was so strong that Alex instinctively hardened his skin under the suit.

"That wasn't very nice of you!" Alex swung forward causing the same shock wave that hit Crow the first time, but this time it wasn't X shaped it was more like /-shaped and immediately after throwing it at him charged by using the jet engine on the back. He wasn't really gonna pull any stops. "Don't hold back, Crow, this is important stress test!" Alex didn't really plan this, but now that it happened he figured knowing the limit of what this suit can take as damage was an important part in improving them. He made a mental note on the first hit, from which his ears were still ringing...

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow was blasted back by the shockwave, experiencing the same effect Alex had and was disorientated for a time before laughing it off "Well it's more realistic if I cheat, in a real situation that's totally something I- er I mean Crow would do. Though I guess nowadays not so much, that Helix guy is pretty hardcore, he can adapt to anything." The villain was definitely enjoying this experience, it was such a change of perspective, he now knew what the Armoured Crusader saw every time he fought him... German apparently.

Crow maniacally chuckled as Alex sped towards him "Oh I wouldn't dream of it." Using a mixture of strength from the suit and Alex's own momentum, Crow grabbed the shoulders of the CEO's suit before kicking upwards, sending it flying into the roof. A dastardly idea then came into Crows' mind and he grabbed a second hammer from one of the other suits, holding one in each hand, speeding towards Alex ready to make the suit into scrap metal.

 

[Gegawat]

Alex busted through the ceiling, and continued to roll, busting out of the building and falling down on the street. "I am starting to think his was a bad idea!" He juggled the helmet as he got up, using the hammer as support.

He didn't have much time as Crow appeared, dual wielding, with a clear intent to not hold back. Alex deployed the barrier to protect himself from Bayblade over there, who was swinging like a blacksmith. The hits almost shattered the barrier with a single hit, as evident by the red "Achtung" light on the display. "Think fast, Dumbass!" He told himself, as he saw one new function, he didn't notice the first time, called "Bequemlichkeit"

When activated the particle barrier moved back towards the suit, hugging it and forming a shield, glowing in red. The suit started to feel lighter as Alex moved, and the hammer opened up, several parts moving up and down the handle, forming a sword the size of a lamp post, which Alex swung at incoming Crow like a baseball bat!

In the meantime, the ruckus started gathering a crowd, who was oblivious of what was happening. It looked like 2 crusaders, one armed with a sword, and one armed with 2 hammers were in a clash of titans!

 

[Skylord Nexus]

When he saw the sword swing for him, Crow immediately dug one of the hammers into the ground, as he bought the other one up to block. Apparently, the force of Alex's swing was more than Crow or the suit had been expecting, because even though the sword was blocked, sparks flew out of one of the armour's joints and a small diagram of the areas appeared on Crows' display stating "Kritischer Schaden" Unfortunately for Crow, he had not had a chance to learn German in the last five minutes and gave an annoyed grunt "God, I wish I'd taken those German classes now."

Once the assault had ended, Crow bought both hammers up, using the suits boosters to fly into the air, though the damaged arm did seem to be much looser and less responsive than it's functional counterpart. As both hammers were raised above his head, he came crashing down, sending a firey shock wave at Alex. It would likely be at this moment that the CEO would realise that giving a supervillain control of a hyper-advanced battle suit may not have been the best idea, as Crow seemed to have no care for property or the people inside it.

 

[Gegawat]

At this moment Alex knew, he fucked up. He raised the barrier and the sword, but the first shockwave went straight through the barrier, braking the arm along with it. The second shockwave shattered the sword and the other arm into salt. Instinctively, Alex hardened his body for the impact which threw him over half a block... Through conveniently empty buildings...

All the lights went off, and Alex emerged from the chest of the wrecked suit like the alien, all covered by hydraulic oil, lubricant and coolant. "Man, this was my favorite suit I wear all the time..." He dusted himself off, and looked at what was now a very expensive pile of garbage. So... The only thing that could break a crusader is another crusader... Good to know... Now he had another problem... How would he explain this...

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow began laughing maniacally at his victory, it felt good to win, especially when most his time was spent being pummeled "Damn, I wish I got something like this sooner, perhaps this is what I need to take out that Helix guy once and for all." Crow then realised that he was standing out on the street, all eyes on him. Under more villainous circumstances, Crow would revel in their attention, however, inside that suit was a smaller, more vulnerable and socially awkward Crow.

Trying to avoid looking at the people, the villain slowly made his way towards where he had sent Alex flying, not because of his felt bad, baka! he just wanted to... to um... money! Yes, he wanted to make sure he still got paid! He wasn't starting to like Alex or anything! He used the suit to knock down a wall in front of him to see Alex covered in a cocktail of nasty and sticky substances, but not those kinds, get your head out the gutter! "You alright? Sorry about that, the adrenaline got to me a bit, I saw red for most of that fight, and so much for keeping these things a secret."

 

[Gegawat]

Alex now realized how those girls in the movies he watched after midnight felt like. He shook off like a dog, and suddenly he was clean... ish... The wreckage and some collateral were an issue, but it wasn't anything ye city wasn't used to. In fact, people seem to have accepted the skirmishes as part of daily life, so they paid no mind of them. Of course, the fact that 2 Crusaders were fighting was unusual, but the citizens assumed they were training.

"I'm fine!" He looked at the suit. "Those things are surprisingly durable, but not as indestructible as I expected." He scratched his head. "I will arrange for a cleanup and try to figure out a way to armor them up." He had a smile on his face. He hated to admit it, but it was so much fun, his heart was still beating like dubstep, pumping him full of adrenaline. "We should do this again, after we make the upgrades!"

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Now seeing the state the other suit was in, Crow was honestly shocked, he'd been fighting those suits from the better part of seven years and they had always seemed so insurmountable "Guess it's true what they say, it is best to fight fire with fire. These things have been through fight after fight after fight, it's a wonder the Crusader didn't get pummeled by my superior mind and tech." At this point, Crow had been so off guard, he didn't even notice he let his TOTALLY UNOBVIOUS real identity slip.

Crow genuinely smiled at Alex "Sure, why not? Though in theory, if we can get my wireless control system working, they neither of us will need to feel like we've been strapped to the inside of a church bell at noon." Crow then jumped out of the suit he was in, the vibration finally causing the damaged arm to fall from the main body of the suit and onto the floor below "Hey, how about we go get a drink at my place? My treat."

 

[Gegawat]

Alex looked at the damaged suit Crow came out of. The thing took more damage than initially expected. His words stuck with Alex, but he would never expected that this genius inventor Crow can be the same evil general. If it was the same Crow, he would still be reeking like a horse died in a field of pig feces due to the last run in with him.

"This sounds like a good idea!" Alex gladly accepted the offer. Being the only non superpowered member of the family, Alex spent his time training his mind, and when he fell sick, he further disconnected himself from reality. He was friendly with everybody he worked with, but he couldn't call any of them friends. "You know..." He started talking on the way to Crow's. "You may be the first person I can actually call a friend..."

 

[Skylord Nexus]

Crow froze at Alex's words, as his mind almost short-circuited at the prospect of long term human interaction on that level. Crow had never really had any friends before, the prospect had always been foreign to him, he had his minions, sure, and whilst he treated them pretty well, there were none among them he would like to spend time with. Then there was Becky, probably the second closest person he had to a friend, after Princess Euphemia, but that was a whole nother story right there, but Becky had always been there for him and was dependable, but due to her generally emotionless demeanour Crow had never really been able to tell whether she valued him outside of a workplace environment.

As the villain slowly recovered, he fidgeted nervously on the spot, trying to think of something to say "Um... er well... that's kind of..." He was stumped, sure he like Alex a bit more than most other people, but he was still just a normal person who might betray him in an instant, as such, Crow decided to play it safe, he wouldn't open the door completely, just leave a small gap to see how things went from there "Well, I find you more...'bearable' than most others."

Crow then began to move towards the door "Is there anything else you need to get done while we're here, because if not..." Crow then made a dash for the exit, running as fast as he could "Last one back has to pay for takeout!"

 

[Gegawat]

"Ha ha!" Alex laughed. "That's funny, considering I barely tolerate myself sometimes!" He walked over the wreckage and made a call for a cleanup crew. "I think that's pretty much it!" Alex took the question seriously and was genuinely caught off guard when Crow made the run for it.

Using his abilities, Alex could easily win the race, but that would mean risking his secret identity. Thankfully his brain fired at the speed of light. "I forfeit, no way I can give you a run for your money with this silk pants and heeled shoes!" He walked slowly towards the door, as Crow was making a run for it. Besides, Alex was thinking of buying Crow dinner for the fun times. Or at least give him a pay raise, but that was personal and professional relationship, and Alex preferred not to mix both. "I guess I'm buying!" He reached for the phone, he had several takeout places on speed dial, mainly because he had many late nights in the office.

Meanwhile, somewhere else, totally unrelated, in a white room with Blue Bird Logo on the floor.

"Sir, we have reports of a class 3 skirmish in Paradise City! Your orders?" A man in a black catsuit, not literally a cat suit, but one of those black skintight overalls, with a bird logo on the left side of his chest, placed a tablet with a recording of the fight on a desk.

"Is that so?" The chair rotated and in it - a guy. He was wearing a black duster, with the sleeves rolled up just above the elbows, his right hand covered with a glove, that went up past his elbow, ending somewhere underneath the coat. There was a gun on the desk,that looked like an UMP sub machine gun. The guy had long black hair, reaching his shoulders, and an eyepatch over his right eye. On the shoulders of his duster the same bird logo can be seen. (No picture of the man, can't find a good one, but imagine Nero from DMC, but less gay and with more badassery)

"Seems like 2 crusaders having a sparring duel, without limitations. No damage to locals, only several conveniently empty buildings." The agent explained as the boss looked at the recording. "Your orders, sir?" He asked once again.

The boss waved his gloved hand, dismissing him. "I want tabs on both operators." The boss ordered. "Also contact our field agents. I want full report!"

"Right away, Sir!" The agent took the tablet and left, but not before saluting the boss. "Well, Alex Mercer... I guess you have found your power after all!" The boss leaned back in his chair.