Tuesday, August 19, 2014

The Battle of the Zoo Part 3

The Titanium Warrior's robotic shock troops had forced the enemy back. The arrival of the Syndicate, now fully integrated into Mephistopheles' organization, had done little to turn the tide. Cognis had arrived, and was securing the facility. Vector was chasing down Mephistopheles' clones. More of the Titanium Warrior's suits had arrived. Things were looking up for the forces of good.
You can probably guess things weren't going to be that easy.

The problems began when a fleet of commercial ships began to approach the battle. The Titanium Warrior looked to the Professor for guidance. "They're about ten miles out, and they don't seem to be turning around. What should we do?"
"I suggest you open personal communication with whoever is in charge of the ships." The Titanium Warrior could hear the concern in Cognis' voice. That was impressive both because Cognis had other things to worry about, and because the transmission was going through almost a kilometer of water. Superheroes can get high fidelity anywhere.
A few minutes later, the Titanium Warrior had another problem. "I found out who owns the ships."
"Mm-hmm." Cognis was busy scanning the Zoo using wall-penetrating radar.
"It's Sabien Pallis."
"I see. You are worried that the corrupt billionaire has joined the Order of Darkness since escaping the exile Phoenix imposed on him. That is certainly possible. Have the Dark Detective determine what is on the ship. Take appropriate action as soon as possible."
The world's greatest paranoid superhero was soon on the case. Unfortunately, before he could find anything out, the ships all came to a stop. Gigantic hatches opened, and Mephistopheles' solid darkness began to emanate from the ships. A huge arm, a gigantic leg.
"I think I solved the case," the Titanium Warrior said. "We probably should have done something about the ships."

Within a minute the dark mass had formed into a truly gargantuan duplicate of Mephistopheles. Kind of narcissistic, when you think about it. The mile-tall entity walked towards the battle.
The Titanium Warrior knew how to respond. This was the sort of crisis the Mark Ninety-Five was meant to handle. The machine left its conflict with a Syndicate Barge, and blasted towards the dark giant. It opened with a volley of laser fire. The giant swatted it aside.
The Titanium Warrior considered his options. He knew that the Mark Ninety-Five was limited. When Puzzlemaster had taken over the Mark Eighty-Eight, Vector had destroyed it in minutes. The armors had gotten better since then, but there was no way he could take down a mile-tall monstrosity. Unless...
The mile-tall monstrosity would have a high center of mass. And balance was difficult for robots (it had taken months of work just to get his armors to stand up properly). Plus, once the colossus was down, it would have a hard time getting up again. Hopefully, the Mark Ninety-Five could last until Vector showed up. At that point, the giant grabbed the armor.
The machine disassembled itself. Most of the components had enough battery life to go about half a minute on their own, then the armor reformed just out of the giant's reach. The armor swooped towards the ground, and lifted a small Syndicate craft. The brown-clad criminals (Number Two had changed the uniforms since flushing Number One out of power) jumped to the relative safety of the water. The Mark Ninety-Five began accelerating towards the giant's head, carrying the boat with him. At the last moment, the machine swerved upwards. The boat crashed into the monster at several hundred miles per hour. The monster was knocked off balance, it stumbled backwards, but didn't crash into the water. Crap.
The Armor picked up a larger craft. It strained its jet engines lifting the craft out of the water. That wasn't going to work. The armor dropped the boat, then went underwater. It allowed water to flood its internal fusion reactor. A blast of glowing steam pushes the armor towards the monster. Through the monster. The giant had formed a hole in its head, allowing the projectile to fly straight through.
The armor's main reactor had been drowned. It could take minutes to start up again. Best to be productive in the mean time.
The armor flew onto a third craft. Three brown-clad mercenaries fired at it. The machine ignored them. It picked up a chain. Other armors procured lengths of chain from other ships. They are welded into loops, a hundred meters in circumference. Four armors together lifted the chains, wrapping them around the giant. A fifth (the Fire Containment Armor) provided the Mark Ninety-Five with a steady supply of water. The fusion rocket fired again. The chains went taut. They began to strain. One of them broke. Then another. Just as a third chain was about to snap, the giant began to teeter. The fusion reactor began to fail. The other armors joined in the effort, straining their weaker engines. The giant began to fall. It crashed into the water, sending waves towards the American and Syndicate boats. Before the towering swells could smash the boats, the water went calm.
"Vector," the Titanium Warrior said, "Late as always."

The hero lifted the giant. He tore it in half. He tore it again. The threw the four pieces in four different directions. Then he turned his attention to the Syndicate. He lifted the individuals out of their boats, and dropped them in the water. He then capsized their craft. He was about to take down General Electric when Mephistopheles sucker punched him. "For a guy who can sense motion, you are very easy to sneak up on."
"For a guy who wants to take over the world, you are very stupid." Vector forced Mephistopheles below the water.
The villain rose above the surface, standing on a black tripod. A gigantic hand slapped Vector. The hero formed his own gigantic hand out of water.
The fighting lasted for hours. All manner of flotsam and jetsam were used as missiles, as well as the water itself. Both combatants were slammed into the water an incredible number of times.
As the battle wore on, it became increasingly clear that Vector was losing. He was getting tired, he was covered in bruises. Mephistopheles seemed just as energetic as ever, and if he was bruised, nobody could see it beneath his black robes.
Everyone could tell which way the battle was going. Cognis needed to find a way to change it.    

1 comment:

  1. Gigantic hatches opened, and Mephistopheles solid darkness began to emanate from the ships. to Gigantic hatches opened, and Mephistopheles'

    Most of the components had enough battery life to go about half a minute on their own, the the armor reformed just out of the giant's reach. to Most of the components had enough battery life to go about half a minute on their own, then
    Mephistopheles seemed just as energetic as every, to Mephistopheles seemed just as energetic as ever

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