Logs:Teslahome 2000

From Megaman Mush Wiki

WHO: Ciel, Pureri, Tabea Klein, Liese Schreiner, Hiryu, Xue Tianshi, Kain, Tesla
WHAT: Tesla unveils his LEGIONS and philanthropist-funded Teslahome 2000 Self-Building Domicile to help with restoration efforts in Berlin. The Edison Estate Enforcers show up to stop him, and Ouroboros attempts to steal the machines.
WHERE: Berlin Suburbs
WHEN: Saturday, July 5, 2221

Berlin - Suburbs

Restoration to the suburbs of Berlin, abandoned after the Maverick conquest of Europe, has been slow, but changes are beginning to sweep the area. Existing buildings, many of which stand empty and abandoned, are being repaired, refurbished, and reoccupied, and life is beginning to return to this place.

In places, plants grow through cracked streets, and wildlife has begun to return to the area. However, progress is again returning, and the streets are slowly being repaired, though only to pace the habitation here. In place of weeds and scrub bush, new trees have been planted, the saplings slowly bringing greenery back to Berlin.

As restoration crews clean up the rubble that marked the occupation and the war, murals and sculptures have taken their place, those with a creative bent lending their talents to give the city a bit of color. Splashes of vibrant urban art stretch across plain walls, while parks and large yards host beautiful abstract sculptures. A few art galleries have opened as well, seeking to host more traditional artists, and a theater has been rebuilt in one of the most-populated sectors. A large greenhouse also brightens part of the neighborhood.

Restoration is still underway, though much of what was Berlin is still being taken over by the forest. Further rebuilding will come in time, though some have already suggested that some of the renewed forest remain, a reminder of what was almost lost forever.

The approximate IC time is: Sat Jul 05 19:59:22 2221 EST

BERLIN!

A grand city, one of the most beautiful in the world. THE most beautiful in the world, according to its residents. And also according to Cyber-Hasselhoff, Patron Saint of Germany. This particular part of Berlin is not quite so grand; it is just the suburbs. Run-down, zombie-ravaged suburbs at that. Restoration crews work slowly but tirelessly to clean up the suburbs and rebuild the clapboard homes, literally all of which fell apart at the first sign of zombie attack. They don't make houses like they used to.

Well, /they/ don't. But Tesla? He's a different story. Having staged a charity event here, today, in the suburbs, Tesla has determined to show off his vast genius by deploying an army. An army... of self-building houses.

"... And that is how I defeated the problem with self-erecting roofs via hand-to-hand combat," he finishes explaining, clanking back and forth across a stage. Several huge cargo containers loom behind the mechanical monstrosity, and press, celebrities and philanthropists have gathered by the dozens. Far outnumbering them, however, are the throngs of homeless Berliners waiting patiently for their new, 'futurist' Teslahomes. "And so, unless there are any further questions, I shall without further ado unveil the Teslahome 2000, the self-building domicile of the future... TODAY!"

<Global News Network> Today, noted Mad Scientist (??) Nikola Tesla (???) will unveil his Teslahome 2000 Self-Building Domiciles as part of the ongoing reconstruction efforts in Berlin's ravaged suburbs. There is quite a turnout from press, local celebrities, members of LEGIONS and of course the hundreds of homeless Berliners, who have been living in squalor since the destruction of their communities during the event which has come to be known as 'Ragnarok'. We take you now live to the scene, where surely nothing can go wrong.

Liese's arms fold as she stands, somewhere between 'celebrities' and 'philanthropists'. She isn't entirely sure she wants Berlin to be JUST the way it was before, but then maybe she's started to find part of the ruins charming. Damn her and her voting Green three times out of seven.

"Two thousand was two hundred twenty-one years ago," a young woman points out from the sidelines.

It's Tabea, although not in her power armour, so some people might not recognize her at first. She's just in the crowd, not being German enough to need a house, celebrity enough to get a spot up at the front, or rich enough to be a philanthropist.

Amid all of the hustle and chaos of the gathered crowd, one figure in particular seems to stand out to anyone who may be looking for... well, people that stand out. Dressed in her military uniform, Xue paces quietly along the back edge of the people gathered here, watching the large metal man show off his new creation. Face mostly hidden by the shadow of her hat brim, the Ouroboros soldier watches closely, just as intrigued as those around her. A self-building house would be of great interest to the scientists back in China considering the sheer number of people that live there.

Already thoughts are milling about in her mind. She could try and steal it but... it's kind of large and she doubts the plans are just lying around for someone to grab. The inventor happens to be right there on the stage and everyone talks... eventually. Then again, she could just make a mental note to let the bigwigs know about it and see if they think it's worth the effort. Far less entertaining but more practical. Decisions, decisions.

This is something of particular interest to Pureri; no one should have to live homeless if they don't choose such a lifestyle, and this invention of Tesla's is perhaps one of the most powerful steps taken toward ending that particular problem. She is /technically/ working security for this particular event, rather than sitting in the audience, though; after all, there are a lot of low-minded people who would like to wreck things like that.

As such, she stands by one of the doors, posture solid, watching Tesla with a smile on her face. The young lady occasionally glances through the crowd, hoping not to find any agitators.

"Still," Liese says, looking over at the Swiss lady, "it sounds snappy, doesn't it?"

"I suppose it does," Tabea has to agree. "He could've used three thousand, though."

If they DON'T CHOOSE that sort of lifestyle is perhaps a key point when you LIVE IN A CAR. For Hiryu's part, he's pretty at home in the flying air fortress that used to belong to the Striders anyway, it's as if he lived there for ages before getting brainwashed. Naturally you can't spell Strider without Stride so he tends to travel a lot anyway.

Hiryu recalls a story about a Self-Building House. It was horror, if he recalls correctly, with lots of unusual typography--

Hiryu stands near Pureri. Stealth is, in its way, important when fending off a horde of rampaging houses but, at the same time, completely useless against rampaging houses. Their size, their power, their likely inability to sense you throug normal means beyond their bloodthirsty rage--you might think you are hiding in a safe position, until it's too late...too late.

"That's AMAZING! But Mr. Tesla--" "Doctor Tesla." "-- Doctor Tesla, how does it /work/?" asks a young one-legged boy on a crutch, who is definitely not a shill placed in the audience to provide exactly this cue. The scientist in question favours the boy with an alternating current-powered smile, which can light any room with fare more brightness and far less power consumption (and DEADLY FIRE HAZARD) than a direct-current smile. "I am just THRILLED that you asked, disabled child!"

Turning briefly from the audience, Tesla throws up all four of his arms in a grandiose gesture, encompassing the huge cargo containers and the ruined suburbs beyond. Before he speaks, he winks at Hiryu and Pureri. "My brilliant self-building domiciles literally LIVE OFF THE LAND," he booms, voice redirecting through speakers in his back so that the audience can still hear him. "Using the ruins of these old suburbs and natural materials obtained during their automated foundation excavation procedures, the Teslahome 2000 provides its own materials and fuels its own construction!" The sun emerges from behind a cloud, dramatically lighting the stage and the containers. Tesla sparkles like the sun. "All one needs to do... is activate them, stand back, and watch as their future home erects itself before their very eyes!"

There is a deep rumbling. "Ladies and Gentlemen... BEHOLD: THE TESLAHOME 2000!"

The timing is perfect. Tesla turns, tank treads screeching as they whip his huge body around to face the crowd. Behind him, a series of detonations marches down all four corners of each cargo container. Groaning, the metal walls of the big boxes fall at exact 90 degree angles to each other, like steel magnolias in bloom. Strange machines inside seem to straighten, reaching towards the sun like so many primitive worshippers. Each machine is twenty meters tall, and roughly shaped like a caterpillar rearing up on its hindmost legs.

"GO FORTH, MY FANTASTIC INVENTIONS... GO FORTH... AND CREATE!"

They do. The machines dive downwards, swiftly cannibalising their own containers before hissing, clanking and sparking towards the ruins. One reaches a ruined home, rears up and slams down on top of it, making horrible crunching noises as it begins to break down the shattered building for parts. Its inevitable Tesla Coils light up, whizzing and sparking and making a hauntingly beautiful castrophany.

Liese's eyes widen as the sun lines dramatically up and serves as a spotlight for those strange boxes as they blossom out. She can appreciate the poetry of mechanical motion, and her folded arms loosen slightly as they rise up and devour their own containers, stepping off towards the particularly blasted region. Well, that's not so bad, she thinks.

They're rather large, though. "So," she asks aloud, "they do this for a while and then they turn off, ja? Seems almost too fancy, you could only use so many on any given single planet!"

From her perch in the back, Xue is forced to concentrate to hear the words over the din of the masses as they mutter and talk amongst each other. At the moment of the unveiling her head turns along with everyone else's to watch the metal monstrosities begin their work. After a few moments a very dastardly twinkle touches the corner of her eyes.

These people, so narrow minded. Why use such an amazing invention for something as mundane as houses for the beggars and the poor? Could they not imagine the power of the weapon they were watching unfold before their eyes? She certainly could. Dozens of these boxes raining down upon an enemy installation from the sky, ripping apart the very walls and structure to form its own foundation. Forward bases could be constructed in a matter of hours. Xue's eyes drift back towards the metal catapillars as they demolish the ruins of the city. Maybe even minutes.

The corner of her lips turns upwards slightly as a smirk plays across her delicate features, hidden by the shadows. Oh yes, there is much to be gained from this seemingly mundane technology. Still, her earlier dilema remains. What to do about it? Still mulling this question over in her mind the small officer begins to weave her way along the edge of the crowd, using the throngs of people to keep her mostly obscured, slowly working towards the stage incase an opportunity presents itself.

Tabea Klein didn't want to be impressed because she still thinks Mr. 'Tesla' is crazy, deluded, or a huge liar. Mostly the first two.

They are kind of impressive in motion, though. Tabea can't help herself from being at least a /little/ surprised. "They're kind of creepy," she says, eventually, which is also true. "The way they move... How do they know which houses are empty? I mean, /here/, maybe it's not so hard..."

Pureri decides to take a few steps further away from the machine as it actually starts its grisly work; she briefly considers ducking /into/ the building she's using as a vantage point, but decides against it. Instead, she just watches as the destroyed chunks are put to good use, recycled for parts for a new house for someone to use, rather than just lying in ruins. It's really a positive thing for the community, she thinks to herself; Tesla seems like a pretty good guy.

Pureri's stepping away has brought her reasonably close to Tabea. "I think it'd be heat signatures, and then a second check for something else after that," she says, nodding. "There's probably a few other checks, too, for safety -- I don't know how else you'd do it, though." Pureri: not a scientist. (yet)

Hiryu watches the terrifying display with a peculiar mix of awe and terror that is just right. He is mightily impressed so far--but still feels the chances of these rampaging and seeking the destruction of mankind, intentionally or not, is still pretty moderate.

Is he...really Tesla after all!? If Meio survived to present day, the possibility of Nikola Tesla doing so is not such a mad concept.

He follows after Pureri towards the others, perhaps thinking foolishly there is safety in numbers.

Liese sidesteps a bit closer to Tabea, perhaps in case there's an accident and a piece of scrap metal flies out towards them. "I'm sure they would turn them off if they got near an inhabited zone!" she says, brightly. Maybe a little too brightly.

"But Mist--Doctor Tesla, what if there are PEOPLE inside those homes?!" asks the one-legged, crutch-ridden little boy, shouting his little lungs out to be heard over the cacaphony. "Won't they, too, be recycled into grisly materials in a grisly re--re-in... renacksh--" "Re-enaction," Tesla interjets, magnanimously, "-- re-enaction of ancient Mafia construction practices?"

Tesla smiles a secret smile. "Yes, that would be /awful/, wouldn't it?" he replies, voice carrying over the din. The huge construction machines DO in fact resemble bizarre weapons of war, and their ripping, tearing, grinding, zapping noises are not making them look very... trustworthy. "Fortunately, I am a genius."

A small dog runs yipping out of a ruined house, as one of the Teslahome 2000 larvae rumbles towards the domicile. "Oh my!" Tesla calls, pointing dramatically at the little canine. "Whatever will become of that adorable puppy??"

The Teslahome 2000 stops dead, powering down immediately. The dog runs over, sniffs at it a few times, then pees on it. Nothing happens. Tesla smirks.

Meanwhile, the first larva has finished digesting the ruined house. The head of the machine rises up, then begins to spin, adding a whirring noise to the soundscape. Then it descends, slamming into the old building's (weak, shallow) foundation. It makes short work of it, then begins digging a REAL foundating, the kind STABLE houses are built on. As it does, panels along the machine's back begin to open and flip over, revealing solar panels. The tail end of the mechanical beast splits open, rotates 90 degrees upwards and shoots out a long pole. The pole splits into 3 sections around the core, and then catches the wind. It begins to spin.

"As you can see, the Teslahome 2000 is perfectly safe and as environmentally friendly as possible," he explains. The dog runs up onto the stage, and Tesla scoops it up in one large hand, turning to hand it to Pureri. "Every possibility has been taken into account. They are foolproof! Each machine can only be used once, however; once it has finished its preparations, it converts itself into materials and electronics for the house. You do not need to worry about these machines rampaging across Europe, destroying entire communities in an orgy of destruction," his eyes pass over Xue as he says this, "as long as the controls remain in the right hands." And indeed, there is a remote in one of his interior hands.

On the horizon, behind Tesla, beyond his amazing machines, a darkness begins to gather.

"Well," Tabea admits, "I think that the remote control probably helps, yeah. I figured it was automatic..." She's kind of glad it isn't, though. It's safer.

She scratches the back of her head, under her hair. It's warm; she sort of wishes it was shorter. "Is this actually cheaper than just building a house, though?"

Xue's dark green eyes lock with that of the metal man for a moment as his gaze sweeps over her, and for a moment, it feels like he's returning the look. The smirk fades back to her normal blank stare, head lowering slightly to cover her face in shadows again. She might have been discovered already. Her small gloved hands clench and release reflexively, knuckles popping in anticipation. After a few moments she makes a decision.

Lifting one hand to her ear, the officer taps an implanted bit of circuitry to activate her radio. The blasting of Tesla's voice and the noise of the crowd drowns out her message but after a small pause she gets a satifactory response, nodding once to herself. Having now come within a few feet of the stage, Xue emerges at the front of the crowd and takes up an at-ease stance, arms clasped behind her back as she watches the display. Now all she has to do is wait.

"I'm guessing economies of scale," Liese says wonderingly. She does smile slightly at the puppy - aww! It's cute and fuzzy! She does also look up, approvingly, at the renewable, scaleable, eco-friendly energy source for the machine. "I do wonder," she murmurs to Tabea, "just how much of the design is his." She does seem relieved that the orgy-of-destruction risk is low to middling.

Pureri watches the machine stop in the face of the dog, and has to smile; she loves adorable little animals, especially when they are not crushed by SCIENCE!. "It reuses a lot of materials, unlike building a new house, which might not -- that probably cuts down on the base cost," Pureri says, nodding a little. She does not know enough about economics, however, to be absolutely sure.

Hiryu listens to Tesla rant--but more seriously he looks up at the ominous darkness and takes notes of it. Hiryu is, at least, mildly superstitious. He wasn't exactly raised in the pinacles of modernity.

The first Teslahome 2000 machine finishes digging the foundation, and pulls its 'head' out of the ground. An orifice opens in the middle of the drill, and begins spraying an even layer of something akin to concrete around the edges of the hole. As Tabea speaks up, Tesla looks down at her with a thin smile. "The Teslahome 2000 does not require breaks, does not require a salary, and a fleet of 12 can be operated by a single individual," he, pressing a few buttons on the boxy, led-covered remote. Two tiny Tesla Coils sprout from the remote's top, spitting electrical arcs at each other now and again. The actual purpose of this is unclear, and possibly non-existant. "I will not claim that they are 'cheap', but they are economical-- and in this day and age, with the massive losses humanity has suffered, there is a staggering drought of skilled Tradesmen to construct houses."

The 'cement' dries, and the Teslahome 2000 coils its entire body into the foundation, wind turbine rising from the middle of the coil, solar panels ringing its periphery. "The machine will now begin construction of the house's frame," he continues, as the machine does just that. There is a horrendous noise, and parts of the Teslahome 2000 begin to break off and whirr over to the four corners of the foundation. Metallic beams, approximately the diameter of a bodybuilder's forearm, take up positions every 1.5 meters along what will become the walls, and more of the 'cement' is sprayed over them, strengthening the beams.

The darkness grows, grows, approaches, like a herd of storm clouds. Reporters and celebutantes point up, chattering, and soon the crowd is in a full-on ROOBA ROOBA. Then, even Tesla notices... just as a flying, one-man chariot descends from the sky, swooping low over the field of Teslahome 2000s to stop, hovering, before the Patron Saint of Electricity.

"Teslabot 0.9!" whines an annoying tenor. "Cease this nonsense! You are doing little more than copying Edison's cement homes philosophy from 1908!" Tesla glowers at the man. "DO NOT SPEAK THAT MONSTERS NAME!" he roars, clenching fists. "Edison was a fool! A blind fool! He abandoned his short-sighted project in favour of more lucrative ventures! He could not even manage a CONCRETE PIANO!" The android flings an arm towards the self-building house. "I HAVE CREATED AN ENTIRE HOUSE FROM RUIN! Furniture! Appliances! EVEN A TELEVISION! And you DARE compare my accomplishment to that... that /troll/??"

The cloud is above the audience, now. And it begins to descend: an army of men with inefficient-looking lightbulbs for heads. The man in the chariot smiles, smoothing back his comb-over. "You're trying to stand on the shoulders of a giant, Teslabot 0.9! And we, the Edison Estate Enforcers, shall STOP YOU! AND all of your allies!"

Bolts of Direct Current electricity begin to rain down on the assembled civilians, reporters and philanthropists. The little man cackles, jetting up into the sky, and screams, "EDISON FOREVER!"

On the stage, Tesla raises his arms to the skies, shaking his fists with rage. He is literally frothing at the mouth. Three syllables escape his artfully-crafted lips, rocking the very heavens:

"EDISONNNNNNNNNNN!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Liese Schreiner transmits, "Aah!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Liese Schreiner transmits, "Hm, that bolt of electricity was remarkably non-injurious."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Cerveau transmits, "What happened?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "EDISONNNNNNN!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Hiryu transmits, "I was not aware of the existence of the EEE."

The Ouroboros officer watches all of this utter nonsense unfold around her with unnatural calmness, never budging from her relaxed pose except to tilt her head back and quirk an eyebrow at the chariot-riding figure. She would be surprised but after god-like machines, zombies, and Robot Masters... it just can't get any weirder.

However, she does see her chance. In one smooth motion Xue crouches, her legs bending slightly and then snapping her into the air. Light as a feather she alights on the stage a few feet away from the distraught scientist, hands clasping behind her once more. "Dr. Tesla. A word, if you would." The small woman's voice is soft by carries the weight of one who is used to commanding others. The tone of her voice carries in it a hint of menace but makes no overtly hostile actions. Yet.

Edison-born chariots?! Why not. Why not indeed?

Liese stares in frank astonishment; this is stranger than things she has ever seen outside of Maverick Hunter missions. "Mein Gott!" she declares aloud, her eyes flicking momentarily over to the Chinese dominatrix who seems to have leapt up to speak to Tesla himself in his moment of ultimate grief. Not bad, she thinks -

Until a bolt of hostile DC electricity arcs through her steel body! Her back arches and she lets out a cry, before recovering, hair steaming slightly as she scowls, looking at her hands. "That... was remarkably gentle. It was almost safe, as if it had been modulated to avoid injury..."

"Probably a fair bit of it," Tabea says. "I mean, he does work hard, even if he - "

She doesn't get to say anything else because she instead is staring up at the Edison Estate Enforcers with an expression that is basically 'what'. This is replaced with a muffled squeak and then a rolling dive when it starts to rain electricity; Tabea rams into a nearby civilian and (rather inefficiently, because he's taller than she is) covers him with her body.

None of the lightning hits her anyway, and even if it had it may not have helped much (doesn't lightning transmit?) she tried. Tabea gets back up to her feet, adjusting the belt pack she habitually wears at times like this before raising her voice.

"All right! Civilians, press, follow me! We're going to get out of here in a nice, /organized/ fashion!"

[Radio: (G) Global] Nikola Tesla transmits, "ED"

[Radio: (G) Global] Nikola Tesla transmits, "DIS"

[Radio: (G) Global] Nikola Tesla transmits, "SOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein says, a little weakly, "Does this happen to you often?"

Hiryu is expecting the houses to rampage more than he is expecting, well, /this/. Even his ninja training cannot hide the plain astonishment in the ninja's eyes! What...is..this?!

Hiryu slides away from a lightning bolt, moments before impact! He stares at the groun in astonishment before he finally recovers. Men in weird hats with the power of electricity. That's not too weird.

Hiryu helps up a fallen philanthropist named Willard G Tubbard, guiding him away from the chaos. It gives him time to get a better understanding of these menacing foes.

Clearly the E in F O E stands for Edison.

Pureri has to wonder why there are people so devoted to this Tesla/Edison debate after centuries. It seems like such a strange thing to hold a grudge over; Tesla personally makes sense, but these Edison supporters still fighting in his name after this long? It's almost preposterous... but that doesn't change the fact that they're here, right now, and trying to hurt people.

She diverts some of the direct-current lightning with a full-speed palm thrust in its direction; it flies off in some ridiculous, random direction, eventually embedding itself in some clouds. She starts to leap up toward the strange attackers, ricocheting off walls and trying to put herself in a proper position to study them a little more closely; Tabea and Hiryu seem to have the civilians handled, though if they were to express a need for more help, she would of course turn right around and do /that/ instead.

A giant phonograph is revealed in the middle of the lightbulb-headed army, and the absurdly outdated musical machine's large vinyl disc begins to spin. A massive arm reaches over, and a needle descends into the huge grooves. A crackling, spitting song begins to blare out of the ornate brass horn. It seems to be some kind of Edison Anthem, praising his various achievements and business acumen, while at the same time containing lyrics discrediting basically every scientist who was Edison's contemporary.

On closer inspection, the lightbulb-headed army can be deduced to be mechaniloids, or drones. One arm is a lightning cannon, the other holds a hammer. Instead of legs, they have hover chariots much like the one ridden by the chubby, balding bureaucrat. They continue to go about their business of mindless destruction; about half the army goes after the crowd. The other half turns and heads out into the ruins, assaulting the Teslahome 2000 demonstration units.

While the Direct Current is not as deadly as it could be, it can raise painful blisters on skin where it strikes, and is bad for electronics in general. The ROOBA ROOBA of the crowd, which descended into screams when the attacks began, thins out as some civilians try to calm themselves and follow Tabea's directions.

A squad of Mechaniloids breaks off from the main force and hovers towards Pureri, brandishing their weapons, lightbulb heads blinking on and off in complex morse code messages.

Tesla stares at the sky, full of rage, and begins to power up his dynamos. "I will show them! I WILL SHOW THEM WHY I, TESLA, WON THE WAR OF THE CURRENTS!" he practically screams, on the very ragged edge of sanity. Xue's appearance wrests his attention back to the ground, and he favours her with a glare. "What do you want?" he demands. "I am in the middle of an epic, centuries-long rivalry with a vicious cad's deluded supporters!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Leon Kennedy transmits, "Hello everyone."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Hiryu transmits, "Pureri, they seem to be split off. I think we can handle the crowds--are you able to protect the Teslahomes?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Liese Schreiner transmits, "I think I can break some of these things."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "I'm not sure I can. I'll keep an eye on the people."

"I can see that, Doctor. However," Xue's left hand rises up next to her head and clenches into a fist as she pauses mid-sentence dramatically. From every direction at once dozens of soldiers dressed all in black, carrying guns that look far more deadly than the zap cannons on the mechaniloids, spill out of the alleys and side streets. Moving with precision and purpose they quickly surround the area and lower their weapons at everyone - civilians, scientists, ninja, and flying lightbulbs. "I must insist that we speak - at your... earliest convenience." The last bit is thrown in with only a hint of sarcasm. "You see, I am quite interested in this amazing new technology you have created." She steps forward and shifts her gaze to the massive half-formed Teslahome's in the distance, pausing once she is mere inches away from the large android. "To put it simply, I want it." Her head tilts just far enough to glare at him from the corner of her eyes. "I am sure you are honored to have the Grandmaster as your first customer."

Kain activates his stealth mode.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "NINJAS TOO?!"

Hiryu gives Tesla a brief put upon look as he's busy being a 'mad scientist'. He notices Xue proposing that he work for the Grandmaster--but manages to control his ninjarage for the time being and focus on helping the civilians escape!

But they seem pretty good at fleeing, almost as if they have had more than a decade of practice. Hiryu keeps an eye on them, deflecting lightning and covering their backs as they escape--but he also takes the time to study the villainous Edison Fanatics.

Hmm. They seem to have lightbulb heads. Hiryu's understanding of mad science is that these flashing lights are important. Hiryu draws out some shuriken and begins to chuck the flying lightbulbs, intending to smash them to bits!

Tabea Klein is glad they're listening to her. She isn't tall enough to actually stand over the crowd and point directions.

"Okay," Tabea says, trying to get an organized withdrawal going. She seems to have had practice with this; she helps people who can't go on their own (not many of those) and directs some of the stronger civilians to help carry them.

Liese glances left and right. Hiryu is on guard to protect these people, and Tabea. It makes her proud - especially of Tabea, because it's endearing to see her do it! She supposes it would be endearing with Hiryu as well, but somehow...

She reaches into her coat, drawing out a long-barelled handgun - not TERRIBLY long barreled, but notably so - and taking onehanded aim towards the phonograph-bearing drone. She squeezes one eye shut, takes aim - and fires, at the horn, once!

How long as Strider Kain has been in hiding and watching these goings on are up for debate, and are perhaps a convenient excuse to not know what exactly is going on here. But clearly this is the work of a subversive Ouroboros agent, which Kain can certainly appreciate. Edison versus Tesla.

Ingenius.

But then Kain's enemy comes to mess up the party and Kain cannot allow this to happen occur unchallenged. Kain silently slides down a gossamer wire, nearly invisible to the naked eye and drops on Strider Hiryu's head thrusting downward with an open palm, Kain attempts to bash Hiryu into the ground.

Kain deactivates his stealth mode.

Kain strikes Hiryu with his Be At One With The Earth attack.

Pureri had assumed they were drones, but this confirms it; this is a good thing, because it means they're not horrible cyborg monstrosities or, really, anything more complex than animals -- this makes actually dealing with them easier. The fact that there are suddenly a great deal of Ouroboros soldiers surrounding the area does not complicate things /too/ badly in Pureri's mind; she has a plan.

She leaps toward some of the drones, grabbing one by its lightbulb-shaped head; the music throws off her concentration a little, but not enough. The girl swings it around a few times, clipping some of the other drones with it; she then flings it at some of the Ouroboros goon squad, sending shards of super-hot pointy glass at them in addition to the raw mass of, well, a drone. She is particularly careful, of course, to avoid hitting any civilians; that would be a bad thing, after all.

"Do not presume to dictate my 'customers' to me, madam!" Tesla thunders in response, impressive brows knitting together. "These Teslahome 2000 machines are for CHARITY! I have built them myself, with my own sweat and blood--" which as an Android he does not have "-- and funding from the excellent philanthropists here today. I do not require 'customers!'"

As the Ninja Strike Force is assembled around the periphery, elements of the Edison Estate Enforcer drone army begin to shift their attention, zapping and hammering at the black-clad assailants. Their programming simply says 'destroy everything;' they don't discriminate. Intriguingly, any of Tabea's civilian lines which move at least half a kilometer away from the ruins in any direction cease to be harrassed by the Lightbulb Drones.

The giant phonograph rocks back and forth in the air as Liese's bullet slams into it's horn, leaving an impressive dent. And yet, the music continues to play. It's just even more distorted now. It has moved on to a verse about how Marconi was a fraud, a sentiment Tesla would agree with if he were not a) busy and b) Edison's mortal enemy.

As Hiryu and Pureri assault the drones, they are destroyed rather easily. Shattering the lightbulb heads does indeed disable them instantly; Hiryu's shuriken assaults take down an entire wing of drones. Pureri's 'throw enemies at other enemies' tactic seems to be working, at least as far as destroying drones. Their superheaded DC lightbulb heads explode in burning hot shrapnel when they hit pretty much anything with a density greater than paper.

"If you seek to commandeer my genius, you will have to take it by force!" Tesla concludes, putting up his outer dukes in a ridiculous Irish fighting pose. "And you will find that this Hero Of A Bygone Era is no joke!"

Hiryu is pretty oblivious to Kain's presence. Say what you want about 'ninja senses', they don't actually give you the ability to see sneaky individuals. They do, however, give you a conception of when sneaky individuals are about to jump you.

Xue's men provides Hiryu with a moment of distraction--the drones are troubling, but Xue seems to want to kill everything and is actively prohibiting civilians from escaping. Hiryu draws out another pair of shuriken when Kain jumps him, slamming the ninja into the ground, his shuriken escaping his grip and sliding across the ground.

"Ngh." Hiryu grunts, his nose bloodied from smashing up against the ground. he rolls around across the ground briefly to escape immediate destruction, and looks up at his assailaint.

It is Strider Kain!

"Ngh." Hiryu grunts, pulling back up to a crouch. He is in a tough position! He can try to help the civilians and leave himself open to being slaughtered by Kain--or focus on Kain and potentially leave the civilians to gruesome deaths (or worse, imprisonment) to Xue's men.

Hiryu decides to go for option 3. Option 3 is grabbing for Kain's arm, twisting behind the former Blue Dragon Director, and then lifting him up by the back to chuck him into a group of Xue's men!

Hiryu misses Kain with his Throw attack.

Xue's impassive expression twists slightly into a smile as if this entire absurd situation were entertaining or amusing for her in some way. "As you wish." Her right hand drops to the hilt of her saber, drawing it forth in one silky smooth motion. A small interior handle is gripped firmly and squeezed shut. The blade of the Ouroboros soldier's sword ignites with an impressive flash, going from a cold grey to a brilliant red in mere moments. She takes a moment to pose in a 'ready to go' stance, as only you can see in cheesy Hong Kong action films, then launches herself in a graceful attack at the massive android, blazing sword leaving red streamers of light in its wake as it cuts through the air.

The special ops soldiers under her command are meeting with mixed success. One pair is showered with scorching glass framents, shredding their body armor painfully. One of the men catches the remains of the drone full on and goes down with a sickening crunch. Several other pockets of civilians are being herded together at gunpoint near the stage. Some have stopped to combat the maddening flurry of lightning bolts being rained down upon them, firing their machine guns into the air in short controlled bursts. Several of the Edison bots explode or fall from the sky, shattering glass everywhere.

Xue Tianshi strikes you with a glancing hit from her Little Star attack

Tabea Klein keeps trying to herd civilians. This works pretty well until they start running into soldiers; Tabea instead starts to turn them around and get them to a safer spot in the area.

She starts to send radio message as she goes. Some to LEGIONS, of course, but others to police, and still others to some people she knows in the area; Tabea is not German but has been spending time here lately, and she speaks the language fluently.

Although she is quite aware she cannot survive a pitched gunfight, if one starts, Tabea reaches into her belt pack for a pistol with a slightly elongated barrel. She won't start anything, but if they come after her civilians...

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "There are soldiers here, blocking the ways out. I'm trying to find another way, but..."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Pureri transmits, "I can clear a path if you give me a few seconds!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Liese Schreiner transmits, "One moment -"

After taking her pot shot, it dawns on Liese: they're surrounded. How the hell did this happen? she thinks in irritation; I knew nothing good can come from Chinese women!

Pureri's handling this, she thinks as her mind shifts back into the comfortable cool of combat awareness, but there are a lot of them and these are Ouroboros; the lives of gwailo mean nothing to them. (See, she thinks as she notices Kain's descending strike, like that.)

The crowd's still intense. This provides camouflage, of a sort. She lets herself hustle and bustle, lowering the weapon and readying her other hand as she comes up on one of the clusters of soldiers.

She slides the pistol away then, and reaches up to rest her palms on the back of two of their heads. A moment later comes the oscillation wave of sudden harmonic motion; Liese is hoping that this will work just like it does on watermelons, only with a bit more in the way of detonation. At worst, she reasons, they will shoot at /me/.

Strider Kain doesn't feel like being a bouncy thrown object today!

As Hiryu's arm snakes up, Kain pulls on his gossamer wire using it's natural bounce to help him flip out of Hiryu's grasping range, and away to another Striders range, landing next to Pureri, Kain pauses and says.

"Hello," before moving forward and back at Hiryu, Kain kicks up a loose block of concrete up and palm strikes it at Hiryu without even blinking.

You know, just everyday Strider stuff.

Kain misses Hiryu with his Shot attack.

Pureri glances over to Tabea, seeing her with the civilians; she's not armed the way she usually is, and she's still doing her best! That sort of thing always makes Pureri really hapy -- it's not about how much power you have, it's about how you use it, and people like Tabea prove that. She, of course, decides to give Tabea and her buddies some help.

She leaps up, and lands with Tabea; this lets her have a /little/ better idea of where she needs to start firing. She pulls out her assault rifle, and starts aiming surgically for lightbulbs and Ouroboros kneecaps in the most direct path out; she's very slow and surgical about it, though. This /is/ a crowded area, and she doesn't want to accidentally hurt anyone who doesn't, well, need hurting!

Out in the field of ruins, two of the Teslahome 2000 machines are heavily damaged. Smoke pours out of their serpentine bodies. Tesla Coils crackle and flicker weakly. Then, one explodes. The explosion is surprisingly well-contained; the majority of the blast force goes straight up, destroying a squad of Ligthbulb Drones. Tesla cries out in anguish. "MY HIDEOUS MECHANICAL CHILDREN!"

The Lightbulb Drones seem to be thinning out, just a little bit. They are far from vanquished, but the combined hero and villain forces are making headway. The bureaucrat, floating hither and thither in the sky, looks aggravated, waving around a bulky remote control panel of his own. One drone's head pops open from a Purerifle shot, showering the bureaucrat with hot glass. He screams, much like a small girl would.

Tesla continues to glower at the woman, even as she pulls out her glowing sword. "A heat blade? Please! Do not throw TOYS at me, child!" The Patron Saint of Electricity lives up to his name; his two large fightin' fists crackle and hiss, and are suddenly wreathed in electrical power. "Behold the power of a VISIONARY!" One fist jabs towards Xue.

You miss Xue Tianshi with your Shock Punch attack.

Troubling. The trick about putting your faith in chucking Kain hella far is that you first have to chuck Kain, Hiryu thinks (more or less). He attributes his failed strike to his haste in trying to open a path to the civilians. An easy move to read, you don't need to be a Strider for that.

Hiryu catches the thrown block with a hand. "Kain, are you that eager to keep these people from escaping a dangerous situation?"

He spins his body and fling the block at Kain.

This is a feint. That is not the real strike. The real strike is the sliding kick Hiryu engages in moments afterwards--the block itself is no problem for Kain's skills--except, perhaps, as a distraction.

Hiryu strikes Kain with his Acrobatics attack.

Flowing from one movement to the next, Xue's slash flows effortlessly into a spinning sidestep as she whirls around the massive fist like a dervish, trailing fire and light. As she spins her sword arm seems to go lax, dipping towards the ground. But moments later the tension returns and the blade whips across Tesla's body from the knees to his massive broad shoulders in the blink of an eye. Xue pauses for a split second after her attack then pirouettes away and readies herself to strike again. "The problem with being a visionary, Doctor, is that you let your lofty ideals cloud reality. You /will/ give it to me."

By now the soldiers have gathered a large gaggle of the civilians into a small group and forced them to their knees. Half of them remain focused on combating the aerial menace. Liese's strike catches the pair off-guard as they line up for another attack on the Edison bots and after a few moments their heads look alot like spattered watermelons. A few nearby soldiers notice and call out, turning their attentions to the Hunter.

On the other side of the crowd Pureri's shots land true and two more soldiers fall to the ground, holding their legs in pain. Their comrades dive for cover behind cars and rubble, quickly locating the source of their harassment and returning fire with bullets and tear gas without regard for the civilians.

Xue Tianshi strikes you with a glancing hit from her Dragon Whips Its Tail attack

Kain is not terribly surprised when Hiryu catches the block but his counter attack does catch Kain off guard, dodging the cement block is not the problem, Kain bends backwards letting the block pass harmlessly overhead but he is suddenly tripped up as Hiryu comes sliding in.

Kain grunts as he falls to the side, rolling to the left the moment he hits the ground, Kain spins himself onto his feet and has Hiryu in a precarious place. Kain darts forward, flashing out the Earth Cipher, he slashes low cutting along the ground as he passes.

"Victory is the only acceptable outcome," is his reply as he goes past.

Kain strikes Hiryu with his Earth Slide attack.

Tabea Klein wasn't going to fight them if she didn't have to.

That was before they started firing bullets indiscriminately. Tabea has managed to avoid the shots, although the tear gas is making her eyes water; she backs up and tries not to get too close to the origin points, covering her mouth and nose with her left arm by burying them in her elbow.

Right-handed, she points the pistol at one of the soldiers forcing the civilians to kneel, takes careful aim, and fires. She placed highly in pistols in her classes in the Swiss Army; hopefully it works just as well here.

She only gets one shot off, though, because the recoil, one-handed, is horrible. It takes her a moment to line up for the second.

Hiryu draws his ciphe as Kain stumbles--not to strike, but to lash out at a spray of bullets from Xue's men--sending them flying into the air. They may hit Edisonbots, they might not. That is beyond Hiryu's present concerns. Kain lashes out with his cipher--Hiryu tries to evade but is still sliced along his lower left leg. With a hiss, Hiryu stumbles.

Leg wound. Shit.

Hiryu would very much like to jump around but it might make his injury worse. If he's going to leap, he has to make sure it's one that counts.

Hiryu pulls back, flinging shurikens at Kain's leg and left arm. Perhaps he hopes to slow the other Strider down as well to diminish his advantage.

Hiryu strikes Kain with his Generic Melee attack.

Well, good, Liese thinks as she leaps into the air, over the heads of the people - and thus drawing the BULLETS away from them - that's the idea! She dives down, leading with one foot towards whichever of that cluster of soldiers has the fanciest badging.

"Bastards!" she shouts as she does. "Perish in your lack of compassion!" Maybe the rhetoric will help matters - sometimes it does. She'd say something fancier, but jump kicks lend themselves to brevity.

Pureri reaches into her coat, pulling out a gas mask, as the tear gas starts raining down; after a second, she hands it to Tabea, meanwhile pulling her own hat off and using it as a slightly less effective impromptu mask. This only leaves her one hand free; as such, she puts away her rifle and goes back to her preferred distance weapon -- her pistol.

She glances between the half-clear escape route and the Ouroboros soldiers, as gunfire narrowly whizzes past her head, some small twitch motions keeping her from having that pretty little dome of hers perforated. Time to make a judgment call...

... and make it she does, focusing on the escape route for now. She can't deal with the hostages until she can do it completely -- otherwise they might start killing people (or, if they decide to do it anyway, killing people /faster/). She fires precise shots, aiming for the elbows and knees of the Ouroboros soldiers. She isn't having a problem with recoil, but that's primarily due to freakish ninja strength.

"NEVER! I will not prostitute my work, and especially not to the likes of MEIO!" Tesla replies angrily. "Do not seek to pervert my ideals with your disgusting drive for power!" His punch goes wide, as it often does. Tesla was never much of a fighter, even with his ridiculous robot body. Her counter-attack cuts a gouge in his armor plates, and he growls. "Very well, I see that you are serious about this!"

Tesla throws back his head and roars, "HRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

As he does, his body glows. The twin Coils riding his shoulders spring to life, crackling with a symphony of buzzing strikes. In fact, it IS a symphony. Beethoven's 5th, to be exact. DA-DA-DA-DUNNNNN. DA-DA-DA-DUNNNNNN.

Electricity and magnetism mingle in an unholy union, racing across his entire body. A tiny spark leaps from between the Coils, dancing towards Xue. And then, a bolt of blue and white lightning zaps from the left-hand Coil, seeking to blast Xue right in the chest.

Up in the sky, the Phonograph's horn... shifts. Turning downwards. Towards the assembled Ninjas and Legionnaires and what few civilians remain in the area of attack. There is a sudden silence, deeper than any racket. And then... the horn explodes. A huge blast of sonic energy SLAMS straight downwards into the battlefield, destroying several allied drones as it inexorably seeks to annihilate everything on the battlefield. Riding high, the bureaucrat giggles.

You miss Xue Tianshi with your Lightning Strikes Twice attack.

Tesla brings his reflect system online.

The lightning bolt arcs into Xue's blade and her eyes narrow in the same split second, calling upon some inner focus. At the same instant that it strikes her sword the weapon strikes down into the stage, discharging the static power harmlessly away from her body. The Ouroboros officer doesn't even stop to think about what to do next. Her sword seems to recoil from the stage and flow back up towards the metal monster before her in a fluid motion, moving so naturally it almost looks rehearsed as it seeks one of the shoulder joints of his massive arms.

Another soldier falls under the weight of the Hunter, falling to the ground with an unpleasant sound, either unconscious or dead. Those close to the attack drop their guns and draw wicked looking combat knives, rushing Liese from two sides. One of the captors falls to a bullet in the back as Tabea begins her attack and the others quickly move to drag civilians between themselves and the bullets as human shields. Pureri also manages to take down a couple more of the entrenched soldiers when they rise from cover to attack, causing most of the others to hide or fire blindly, thrusting their guns over cars and around corners to spray bullets wildly.

Then the air itself seems to explode in a powerful downburst. The thick tear gas that had begun to gather spreads out like a ripple on water. Dozens of civilians and soldiers are knocked flat to the ground, some breaking bones in the process, others screaming as their eardrums burst apart. The already hectic battlefield erupts into utter chaos.

Xue Tianshi strikes you with a minor hit from her Dusting In The Wind attack

[Radio: (A) Chat] Liese Schreiner murmurs, "Damn, hostages."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Web Spider transmits, "Where at?"

Tabea Klein accepts the gas mask from Pureri gratefully and puts it on as quickly as she can, left-handed. Her eyes are still watering. It's not a perfect defense by any stretch of the imagination, but it means she doesn't feel that she's about to cough up a lung.

She switches to a two-handed grip on her pistol but can't find anyone to shoot at. She refuses to take risky shots over humans as hostages, and instead moves for a better position when the sonic blast comes.

Tabea is reasonably tough for a human. She is, after all, a trained soldier, able to withstand more and act for longer than those without training, and she's naturally quite vigorous and healthy in any case. The sonic blast bowls her over, a dull ringing filling her ears, but she manages after about five seconds of being dazed to force herself to hands and knees. Five seconds after /that/, she pushes herself back to her feet.

Soldiers are down, too. That's a plus. Tabea tries to move past them, still on wobbly legs, toward the civilians they were guarding. If she can just get to them...

[Radio: (A) Chat] Midnight Epiphyllum transmits, "Eh?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein says, loudly, "What?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Liese Schreiner transmits, "Berlin, some Chinese bitch showed up with an army."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Midnight Epiphyllum transmits, "...Huh."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Pureri transmits, "How did they get /in/?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Midnight Epiphyllum transmits, "Sorry, I have been...busy."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Cerveau transmits, ", over the sounds of cooking, transmits "Oh my.....""

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "Ninjas."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Ciel transmits, "Berlin?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Web Spider transmits, "And they took hostages?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "Scatter! INCOMING PHONOGRAPH ASSAULT!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Midnight Epiphyllum transmits, "..Phonograph?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein is still loud and remains so for the next while. "I can't hear right, they're using sonics! I think they just walked! But a lot of them fell over now!"

Liese raises one arm as the combat knife comes in from the left, aiming a fist at the soldier's face as the one on the right sinks his knife into her side. She doesn't react immediately; she is steel, after all, and turns to slam an elbow at his chin. The sonic waves aren't helping, though she uses them enough to -

Goddammit, human shields, she thinks as she lunges back with a shower of sparks from her side to push some of the stray civilians to the ground. She looks briefly at the Ouroboros soldiers, and the camera in her left eye clicks twice.

Pureri ducks and takes cover as the sonic blast rings out; she is lightly dizzied but thanks to her cover and her careful protection of her ears the damage is comparatively minimal. "... This is really bad," she says, to herself; this is getting hairy. /Really/ hairy. She really doesn't like three-faction battles -- it's hard to figure out how to handle all the guys, especially when the guys might be fighting each other too!

She stays pinned down for a while, covering her mouth and nose with her hat still; after a few seconds, she looks up toward the Phonograph-weapon, deciding to try to solve that problem by ricocheting a bullet down the main 'horn'.

Shurikens stab into Kain's leg and arm, and the Blue Dragon, stumbles in pain. He stops and yanks the blades out but is similarly injured as he turns to face Strider Hiryu. Hissing, Kain throws the two Shuriken away. Kain's handsome face is eternally calm.

"Just like training," Kain mutters and smiles. "But now I can show you something new Hiryu."

Kain's smile vanishes as he takes up a fighting stance, lifting his injured leg up and resting it on the toe he points two fingers down towards the ground.

"The earth's shadow is silent," Kain says before he moves forward in a blur, moving his hands in a beautiful rythm of death, Kain's hands cross towards Hiryu's body and then violently lash out wide as Kain executes a deadly, and nearly forgotten style.

Kain strikes Hiryu with his Diamond Strike attack.

Ironically, the ninja fight with Kain drew him out of range of the giant death blast--albeit barely. The explosive force is enough to send Hiryu off his feet. He flips onto his hand and manages to steady himself--but it's a poo position to evade Kain's fists. Multiple strikes from a style Hiryu does not immediately recognize slam into his body. Is this a new one? If it is, how can he counter it? Hiryu doesn't get a chance to quite figure out until Kain's hands slow down the fractional neccessity for Hiryu to throw himself back.

Now is the time for a leap. Hiryu leaps up and ontop of a nearby building that looks like it's about to collapse. Hiryu never thought that he'd have to use this technique on someone other than Matic, but seems like that's the case.

Hiryu raises the sword over his head, hops a few times lightly, focusing on his uninjured leg--

And then swings it--sending a wave of plasma flying at the Phonograph! That thing has to be taken out more than Matic does!

"Wh--" Tesla gasps, looking up at the Phonograph. "OH NO!" he cries, throwing up his arms to shield himself. It is at this point that Xue stabs him in his larger under-arms, and he staggers back a few steps, leaking a clear fluid. "Hgk... GET DOWN!" he cries. "INCOMING PHONOGRAPH ASSAULT! That FIEND... he COULDN'T have created this himself!"

Tesla cranks his shock absorbers to maximum and makes himself as small as possible. Mainly by folding his legs up onto his flanks and putting his larger hands over his head. Nevertheless, the sonic assault is devastating, crushing the stage entirely and slamming more Lightbulb Drones into the ground, crushing their delicate heads and then their sturdier bodies. But it doesn't even stop there; no, the EARTH ITSELF is cratered ever to slightly. Dust and debris fly into the air, making a chaotic situation even worse.

Yet another Teslahome 2000 Machine goes offline, exploding fantastically into the air. Miraculously, the one which was already building itself into a house when this ruckus started is still functional. The first story of the house is, in fact, completed. And it stood up to the blast. Peeking out from between his giant hands, Tesla manages a smile. "Astounding. My beautiful work is INVINCIBLE!" He seems to ignore the fact that two of them have been thoroughly vinced thus far.

The assault abates, and dazed civilians get to their feet, or to their knees. Some... don't. There is blood here, staining the ground of what was to be a momentous and joyous day. The lightbulb drones are still present too... in their dozens. A much-reduced force, but still an irritant at least, a deadly threat at most. And they spread out, circling the area like a giant wheel. Their heads stop flashing. The light is now solid. Bright. Almost blinding. They circle, faster and faster and faster. Like a halo above the ruined suburbs of Berlin. But does it mean death, or resurrection?

The phonograph, severely damaged from its own attack, begins to creakily realign for a second and final shot. The balding bureaucrat's eyes are bright, feverish, as he presses buttons on his control pad. "FOR EDISON!" he screechees, carefully-coiffed hair falling down his face. "DIE, INFIDELS! THIS IS YOUR PUNISHMENT FOR ACKNOWLEDGING ALTERNATING CURRENT!"

But the ricochet shot does exactly what it should. Ping. Ping. Ping pingpingpingpignpgingping...

And then, a wave of plasma comes along to finish the job. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

So much for the phonograph. The bureaucrat screams in rage, flying even higher in the sky. "YOU WILL BURN FOR THAT!" he rages, sweat rolling down his face. "BURN AND THEN YOU WILL GO TO HELL, WHERE YOU WILL BURN EVEN MORE!"

Tesla's attention is torn from the sky. Clearly this Chinese woman is not going to back down. He frowns. "I have greater concerns than you today, child. But if we must continue this charade..." Folding and clanking until he is at his full height again, Tesla's tank treads flip down and whirr, pushing him forward at ASTOUNDING SPEEDS of about 10 mph. The upside is that the debris of the shattered stage is simply shoved aside or crushed beneath his mighty feet. Two massive arms swing wide, the left one a little more slowly due to damage, then swing back towards each other, with Xue in the middle.

You strike Xue Tianshi with a solid hit from your Tesla Compressor attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Ciel transmits, "Hmm... maybe I could make a giant skunk..."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "What about Punk?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Alloy transmits, "...what's wrong with gas grenades?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "They lack /flair/."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Rush Raccoon transmits, "Yes, because nothing says 'flair' than a humongus skunk."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Ciel transmits, "I've already got toxic grenade ammunition synthesizing."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Rush Raccoon transmits, "If you do that Ciel, it better have a pretty comical name to make up for the monstrotiy of it all."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Rush Raccoon transmits, "Name it 'Pepe' or something."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Ciel transmits, "But I'm good at making creatures. It's what I do."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Cerveau chuckles a bit.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Ciel transmits, "So I ask myself, what does a scent hunter hate? Which leads me to a giant skunk or a swarm of toxic stinkbugs."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Alloy transmits, "For chrissakes, pot smoke works just fine."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein says, after another pause, "Civet cat!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Cerveau transmits, "I would think that the skunk might be a better route, yes."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Ciel transmits, "Ooh, a civet..."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Daryn transmits, "Maybe you should capture Toxic Seahorse and make a seahorse ray"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Midnight Epiphyllum transmits, "Why not just make a pharamone ray that makes them go into a ****ing frenzy? Then we shoot them in the act?"

Kain watches as his technique is successful but then there's a resounding explosion that Kain is forced to watch as a gigantic phonograph explodes under the combined might of the heroes. Kain watches disapprovingly but clearly unable to do anything, he focuses on killing Hiryu.

Kain chases after the the Strider, flipping and bounding after him and wincing at every stage his wounded leg hits the ground, Kain finally catches up and comes at Hiryu for an aerial barrage.

"You may have destroyed the phonograph, but you will still be defeated Strider Hiryu," Kain yells over the sonic explosions and other tomfoolery. Kain's fists fly out at Hiryu at speeds a machine gun would envy.

"Atah! Atah! Waaaatatatatatatatatatatatata. ATAAAH!" he cries out as he finishes off with a final thrust punch to Hiryu's face.

Kain misses Hiryu with his Granite Avalanche Technique attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Web Spider transmits, "Too Wily."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein's hearing is coming back. "Because that's gross."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Midnight Epiphyllum transmits, "What? It seems simpler."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Charlie jokes, "If you develop a Sex Beam, I'd be happy to power it."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Web Spider deadpans, no doubt to a studio audience, "Captain..."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Midnight Epiphyllum laughs!

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "Ugh. /Intercourse/."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Cerveau laughs as well.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Alloy transmits, "I don't think the charter covers WMDs."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Charlie transmits, "I may be too sexy for this beam."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Pureri transmits, "... this conversation is kinda gross."

Her sword buried deep in the body of the massive android, Xue is caught off-balance when the sky comes crashing down around her. Pressed flat on her back, vision blurred from the force of her brain rattling around in her head, the Ouroboros officer is still one of the first non-mechnical people to rise to their feet. Unfortunately, her recovery is not quite quick enough to see the crushing fists until it is already too late to dodge.

Gritting her teeth, she gathers the excess power coursing through her body for emergencies and floods it all into her cybernetics at once. The woman is replaced by a pillar of fire, her entire body seeming to erupt flames. Her small hands reach out to both sides so fast that her body blurs and catch the huge arms before they can crush her into little bits but the strain nearly rips her arms from their sockets. Stopping just short of her ribcage, Xue struggles to hold back the mechnical vice for a moment then another blast of fire seems to give her renewed strength, blasting her hands outwards with inhuman strength and freeing her from Tesla's grasp with a loud cry of frustration. Her eyes focus on the metal face infront of her, body burning brightly yet oddly her clothing seems unaffected. "Incase you haven't noticed, this is /not/ a negotiation."

The majority of the Ouorobors soldiers lie on the ground, some in messy piles, most merely dazed. A couple of them climb shakily to their feet, dragging their guns up and looking around in uncertainty, not yet fully recovered. The civilians remain on the ground, too frightened or injured to attempt an escape.

You successfully reflect Burning Spirit.

Xue Tianshi strikes you with a glancing hit from her Burning Spirit attack

Xue Tianshi brings her reflect system online.

Liese is injured, but not severely. She is also seeing some red now, as one soldier struggles back to his feet. She advances towards him as he begins raising his gun, drawing back --

She crooks one leg, feeling the motors inside of it spin up with a whirring noise as the power drain spikes exponentially. Her head turns, looking at the man carefully, seeing as his arm passes the critical arc -

Her leg snaps out with bone-crushing force, aimed slightly upwards to propel the man in the approximate direction of a water fixture in the Tiergarten, which is not immediately next door. She then looks over at one of the other Ouroboran soldiers, a lock of hair falling partway in front of one eye.

Hiryu doesn't have time to appreciate an explosion of a giant phonograph as Kain is upon him moments later. Hiryu did indeed further injure his leg by performing those jumps--which means that he is further limited in how he can deal with Kain's attacks.

Hiryu takes the first punch, but suddenly in between that and the rest--Hiryu's arms are in the way! He blocks each strike with finesse, and speed.

"This...is what you've done just moments bfeore." Hiryu hisses--before he throws his Cipher at Kain!? At close range?!

The hilt aims to spin into Kain, forcing him back before the blade comes aroun like a boomerang towards his chest--

--and then the cipher pulls back, returning into Hiryu's hand a moment later.

Hiryu misses Kain with his Falchion Boomerang attack.

Tabea Klein is still feeling kind of dazed but that's perfectly normal after that sort of sonic blast. She's at least doing better than the soldiers are, apparently.

She does not shoot any of them, but the ones that get up, she makes a very good attempt to kick their knees backwards. It's a good way to take out legs without being ludicrously strong, which of course she isn't.

Once she's past them - either by moving or kicking - she goes for the civilians, checking on as many as she can manage. Her first aid is limited, but she can do some.

Pureri seems to be having a little trouble, though at the same time, the numerous soldiers have finally thinned out; this means she can start leading civilians out. ... though 'carrying' might, in this case, be more appropriate; she goes for the particularly wounded first, as she has the ability to outpace at least /some/ recovery vehicles. With a little effort and some strain on normally-less-used muscles, she manages to get the three who most need immediate care onto her shoulders/into her arms; she then tries to bound away toward the local hospital, making herself something of a target unintentionally but moving very, very quickly.

Kain's strikes are immediately blocked as Hiryu and Kain machine gun kung fu at each other in mid air as gravity pulls them to the ground, "This is only the prelude, Hiryu," Kain says in reply.

Then Hiryu counterstrikes, as the Strider throws his cipher the Blue Dragon plants his right foot on the tip of the blade, uses its momentum to spin around and place his left foot on the hilt and fly away and back toward Strider Hiryu. Kain leaps off the flying Cipher just in front of Hiryu, but Kain has already thrown himself back into action.

Kain seems to move in slow motion. The reality is utter speed, what Hiryu is experiencing is the spirit of a man completely devoid of regret. Kain floats at Hiryu seeming to only strike at him ten, twenty, thirty times. The reality is a hundred finger strikes aimed toward Hiryu's chest, each at pressure points so fast and precise the naked eye can barely detect them.

Kain misses Hiryu with his Earth's Quiet Strength attack.

Hiryu is confused for a moment. Why is Web Spider talking about looking through his dry cleaning when he handles that himself? Why is she insinuating he was utilizing a Girl Scout disguise when he does not have the build or frame to properly utilize it. Then Web Spider unleashes a whopper--it was a joke! A joke! He should laugh. Hiryu laughs over the radio to put Web Spider at ease, even if he did not get the joke at all.

This is important to Kain only that it might be weird to see Hiryu suddenly laugh without warning mid battle before returning to his usual stern countenance. Kain evading such a risky technique is surely nothing to laugh at.

Hiryu continues his blocks. He seems more at ease with this maneuver as Kain has repeatedly focused on hand strikes for some time now. He is moving much more quickly--faster than Hiryu is acustomed to moving--but Hiryu does not have to move faster than Kain. He merely needs to know where he's going to strike before he does so. the force of each blow is enough to send Hiryu sliding back--and he cannot block forever...

--but it is a Boomerang strike. By using it as a platform, while impressive to look at, it also leaves it into play as a boomerang. The cipher flies back at Kain--swiping at his side as it returns to Hiryu's hands.

"People need help," Hiryu says and he becomes a blur of motion himself--swiping repeatedly with his Cipher, intending to rip into Kain in blows that do not show much quarter. The only tying element to Hiryu's strikes is that he's avoiding vitals. He goes for limbs and shallow cuts across Kain's upper body--but not anything fatal--unless he overestimated Kain, at any rate.

Hiryu strikes Kain with his Hyper Combo attack.

Even with the phonograph gone, the halo of Lightbulb drones continues to orbit at high velocity, humming ominously. Tesla's attentions are clearly divided; his mind is not on this fight, and it shows. "Hagh!" he cries, ripping his hands away from the burning sensation and backing away from Xue. "Of course it is a negotiation! If I learned one thing from that idiot Edison, it is that EVERYTHING is a negotiation!" He offers a long-suffering sigh. "Some are merely more... aggressive than others."

Tesla's attention is diverted more fully towards the man on the chariot, as he produces a loudspeaker and cackles into it. "Ha ha ha! You morons!" the little man cries. "May I /direct/ your attention to your /current/ dilemma?! These drones... are ABOUT TO SUMMON THE MOST POWERFUL BLAST OF DIRECT CURRENT THAT YOU HAVE EVER SEEEEEN!"

"Oh no!" Tesla cries, turning away from Xue and squaring what pass for shoulders. Then: "DO YOUR WORST, you disgusting toad! MY ALTERNATING CURRENT SHALL TRIUMPH!" Twin Tesla Coils crackle to full life, and the field of electricity crackling across his body extends a few feet. At the same time, the drones in the sky begin to spark. Electricity crackles between them as well. It is not a pretty sight. And then...

KRAKOOM! A bolt of electricity as wide as a house forms at the epicenter of the spinning wheel of drones.

"HRAAAH!" Tesla replies, throwing back his shoulders and howling at the sky. The alternating current sheathing his body EXPLODES, upwards and outwards, crackling up to meet the incoming direct current assault. Unfortunately for Xue, she's close enough to get caught in the area of effect.

Two currents meet in the skies above Berlin, throwing themselves against each other, writing through one another like a nest of fierce vipers. Yellow, blue, white, purple, the colours dance across the sky as the War of the Currents plays out its eternal dance. But, in the end, ONLY ONE MAY STAND. And, as ever... it is Alternating Current.

Tesla's High Field Emission dispels the DC blast, ripping upwards through the final ring of drones and grounding itself in the bureaucrat's chariot. He screams, his chariot is flung off towarsd the horizon, and the drones... are no more.

Now, all that's left is... everything else?

You strike Xue Tianshi with a solid hit from your High Field Emission attack.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla can be heard breathing heavily, even though he is an android.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "TAKE THAT, DIRECT CURRENT"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein says, loudly again, "CAN WE STOP WITH THE THUNDERBOLTS? I'm going deaf again!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Daryn transmits, "Just deflect it, Tabea."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "They're not hitting me! I just can't hear half the time!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Daryn transmits, "Affected by attacks that do not directly strike you? That's unusual. You should see a doctor."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Cerveau transmits, "Have you tried Ear Plugs, Miss Klein?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "I don't carry earplugs with me when I go to watch a house being built!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "I was lucky I had my pistol except I don't go anywhere without it anymore."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Daryn transmits, "Perhaps you can reflect the atacks away from you, Tabea. Will that do it?"

Kain is certainly one to be underestimated, but it seems that the Hyper Combo has taken Kain's desire to remain in battle. The Blue Dragon is caught in Hiryu's brutal combination attack, cut across his entire body and stabbed once or twice, Kain falls to the ground, but quickly rolls back to his feet.

"Delay the inevitable then Hiryu. Nobody can escape the inevitable," Kain says before, flipping away and moving to make his escape.

Kain retreats from the area swiftly, leaving him open to pursuit or parting shots from Hiryu, Web Spider, Liese Schreiner, Pureri, Tabea Klein, and Xue Tianshi.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "I AM IN A TANK TOP AND SHORTS! I don't have Beschutzer!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Daryn transmits, "I know this girl who was able to reflect in a tank top and shorts."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Daryn transmits, "I wonder what happened to her."

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "Well I'm not her!"

Fire and lightning rip through the remains of the stage as the two primal forces collide with each other. But before Xue can offer a retort or strike again the two mortal enemies turn upon each other. Forced to take a defense position the officer begins to back away from electrical battle, shielding her face with one arm. The sudden burst of power flows into her body and she is rocketed off the platform and lands on her back in the street, the concrete turning black under her.

Kicking her legs into the air, Xue gracefully flips back to her feet and the fire around her dies out just as suddenly as it came. "Enough. We will discuss this another time." Collecting her fallen weapon, the woman sheathes it and turns towards those soldiers who are still able to move. A disturbingly small number. A couple rise only to be kicked back down by Tabea. Motioning to the handful that can still move she turns and runs towards the nearest alleyway, followed quickly by her minions who lay down a wall of supression fire and gas grenades to cover their retreat.

Xue Tianshi brings her reflect system offline.

Xue Tianshi retreats from the area swiftly, leaving her open to pursuit or parting shots from Liese Schreiner, Kain, Pureri, and Tabea Klein.

The woman's - flipping away?

Liese's eyes narrow as she smells the blood out there, not all of it coming from these soldiers. She remembers the picture in her mind of that man holding a civilian at gunpoint, all to steal - not even a weapon, not even wealth, no, to steal an /automatic house construction device/.

"Oi!" she shouts as a gas grenade lands near her feet; she kicks it up into the air, the hissing plume of disruptive chemicals spiralling far up above the tree line. She points after Xue - "Hold still, you bitch!" And with that, she starts running after them, her implacable steel legs giving her at least temporary advantage against flesh. She gets shot in the chest; she doesn't seem to notice all that much, the stray round spang'ing off to the side.

Tabea Klein fires back, once or twice, at the suppressive fire, and defiantly stands in front of the civilians who are starting to rise.

She gets shot in the shoulder for her efforts. Tabea bites her lip to avoid making a sound, but remains standing, passing her pistol to her left hand and holding it up. She stops shooting though; she's an awful shot left-handed.

Hiryu does not chase after Kain for two important reasons: 1) He should see if people need help and 2) His leg is injured and Hiryu is pretty tired after unleashing that maneuver.

Hiryu sheathes his cipher and hops down from the building, looking for any stragglers.

Xue's men seem not only well trained but incredibly disciplined as well. Even as the bullets have no effect on their pursuit they don't panic or start running. Instead, the officer pauses and motions with two fingers at the cyborg and a pair of them turn and focus fire on the Hunter who has taken up the chase. She takes an obviously exhaggerated moment to adjust her hat and throws a smirk at Liese before ducking into the alley, followed by the rest of her men. A few moments later there is a large explosion and bits of metal, brick and dust billow out of the passageway. It's doubtful anyone will be following them that way. The two remaining soldiers dutifully fullfil their last command, emptying their clips at Liese with deadly determination, even as a few stray shots land around them from Tabea's efforts to intervene.

Liese feels the bullets rip into her as she approaches the exploded area. She cannot withstand this FOREVER, and she can feel her torso's outer plating begin to give way. So, the answer is simple as she draws nearer. She draws her arms in suddenly, twisting as she approaches -

The coat she is wearing (in July? well, cyborgs) flies up, riddled with bullets as Liese herself slides backwards, sinking down to rest on her hands in a half-pushup situation, just a few inches away. Then, with a fishlike jackknifing of her spine, she draws up, legs raising like a mule's and spreading slightly apart -

"Dual Breaker," she says, before both feet jam out with the previously-established 'steel-ripping' force at the two brave soldiers' lower pelvises. She called ahead for medical support, and if they can keep fighting after this blow, their efforts are in far more trouble than they thought.

TWENTY-FOUR HOURS AGO:

"YOU MUST NOT FAIL ME AGAIN, DERYLL. YOU HAVE FAILED ME TOO MANY TIMES ALREADY."

"Y, yes my lord! This time, I will surely crush the Cult of Alternating Current in your name!" snivels the balding bureucrat, as his combover repeatedly slides down his face, and he repeatedly licks his hand and tries to slick it back into place.

"NO, YOU FOOL. NOT THAT PATHETIC CULT. AN ANCIENT ENEMY OF OUR ILLUSTRIOUS MASTER'S CAUSE HAS RESURFACED." A hologram of Tesla springs to life before Deryll's face. It rotates, with known weak points etc. scrolling down the side. "NIKOLA TESLA, OR SO IT WOULD APPEAR. YOU MUST DESTROY HIM BEFORE HE INVENTS YET /ANOTHER/ MODERN AGE! THIS TIME, WE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE CREDIT FOR HIS WORK!"

"Of, of course!" Deryll says, eyes gleaming with malice. "A chance to kill TESLA! I am not worthy... but it shall be done!"

NOW:

Deryll's hover chariot floats in the water off the coast of Spain. The final AC assault really messed up the engines, sending him all the way here. Deryll slumps over the controlls, sobbing. "If... if it wasn't for those damnable ninjas! And those cursed LEGIONnaires! I WOULD HAVE GOTTEN HIM! I could have DESTROYED NIKOLA TESLA! But... but next time! N, next time, for sure!"

A hologram of a man's face, hard to see from this angle, full of shadows, appears before Deryll. It is roughly the size of a whale. "DERYLL. YOU HAVE FAILED ME FOR THE LAST TIME. I AM... DISPLEASED."

"No! No, my lord! Please, give me one more chance!"

"NO, DERYLL. YOU ARE A DULL TOOL. YOU ARE LIKE A DRILL WITH NO BIT. A SAW WITH NO TEETH. YOU ARE USELESS TO ME. BUT YOU KNOW TOO MUCH."

"Oh... oh god, no! NO!" Deryll reaches up, feeling at his hairline. Thick, black liquid leaks from his pores. There is no visible wound. He begins to tremble uncontrollably, eyes rolling back up into his head. "NOOOOOOOOoooooooo--*"

MEANWHILE:

Tesla turns around, panting from the exertion. "Now, child, where were w-- hey, where did she go?"

Tabea Klein waits for them to stop shooting at her.

/Then/ she kneels down, next to the civilians, and yelps in pain as she does. She reaches down and rips off a strip from her shirt, around her waist, and tries to bandage her own shoulder. It doesn't work very well.

One of the civillians, a middle-aged man, watches Tabea closely as she does this. Then: "Oh, oh!" he cries, clutching at his shoulder. "I am bleeding! If only someone had a make-shift bandage??"

Tabea Klein glances over at the man briefly.

"Lend me your shirt," she says, with as much brightness as she can manage (not as much as she'd like to). This is, amazingly, not the first time someone has tried that.

The hail of bullets stops only a few moments before Liese gets within range, the clips finally expended. Both men move forward intending to use their guns for clubs if needed but instead get a steel boot in the guts. There is a loud crunch as metal meets flesh and for a moment it seems like the world goes silent. Both men exhale the air in their lungs violently and then slowly keel over, unconscious. That's gotta hurt. As for their officer and comrades - they are long gone.

The man's :D turns into a D:. But he takes off his button-down business shirt and hands it to Tabea anyway. He is not bleeding.

Over at the ruins of the stage, Tesla is taking stock of all his parts. They are all there so far. Turning away from the devastation, he gazes out over the field. All of his 'children' were destroyed. A single tear rolls down his android cheek, somehow.

BUT ALL IS NOT LOST. For the miraculous Teslahome 2000 which was mid-construction... has completed itself. A domed roof caps the utilitarian structure, which has two storeys and windows on each floor. What looks like an old-fashioned radio tower juts out of the roof, flanked by well-protected solar panels. Next to the building, the wind turbine continues to turn. In the windows... light.

"I... did it?" Tesla whispers, seemingly surprised by this. He looks down at his hands, then out at the perfect little building. More tears well up in his eyes. "I... I /did/ it!" he says, more firmly. "Yes! YES!"

Throwing his head back to the sky, he bellows: "I /AM/ NIKOLA TESLA!"

But there is no more time for celebration. The field is covered in the wounded, dead and dying. Tesla trundles off on his tank treads, pulling an emergency kit out of a hatch in his armor. "Do not worry, my people. I am here for you. I will save you." His eyes gleam. "I will save you /all/."

Tabea Klein immediately uses the shirt to make bandages for /other/ people, inasmuch as she can; she's not moving her right arm at all, after all, and ripping a shirt one-handed is hard.

You lie, you lose.

Hiryu tends to the middle aged man instead. Sparkles!

Liese brushes nothing in particular off her mouth as she stands over the unconscious men, looking down with a dark expression. She steps over, pulling up a discarded garbage can, and settles down to watch over them until the medical operatives can get there.

[Radio: (A) Chat] Ciel transmits, "Tabea, do you want me to kill the pain before I try to extract the bullet?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "Help the civilians first, I'll live. I think. It's just in the shoulder!"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tabea Klein transmits, "How much does it hurt, though?"

[Radio: (A) Chat] Tesla transmits, "Considerably more than a jocular punch to the shoulder from a comrade, I'd imagine."