"Darth, what do think I am?"

Darth fought down his initial reaction. He liked breathing. He liked living. It was something he'd prefer to keep doing. Nevertheless, Darth suffered from a chronic male condition. His brain and mouth didn't interface. Thus, he said that one horrible phrase, interupting her sentence.

"A smoking hot biddy."

He slapped his hands over his mouth. That is when he could feel real terror radiating off of him.

IC now stood thinking, petting a cat that he now held in his arms. "Well arn't you just a pretty whitte kitty. Yes you are. Yes you are." Of course, he had full intentions of using the P9 as a meatshield, but as long as he comforted the cat for now, he shouldn't be any wiser.

"A smoking hot biddy."

"Good, atleast you didn't lie. Now, I am going. Stay or follow, I don't care, but I know I need help. And Pyros, what's with the cat thing? I like dragons, but you don't see me turning into one."

With that, she turned and began her stride towards the end.

And Rhiya rose out of the depths of the lake of blood...

Well... waded, at least. Grumbling a bit at the elbow-high bloody murk, the chaos-diamond dragon sloshed to the banks and shook each individual paw absent-mindedly.

".... what the hell? Where did everybody go?!"

Rhiya looked suprised, then moved forward a bit. She spotted Yuri and some others, and lumbered after them, shedding her large bulky build as she went. Dragon form is nice and all, but not her style. 'Twas more fun in her smaller form.

"Where are we all going?" she asked brightly.

Newb, within his blanket-room, rolled over on one of the beds. Somebody was being noisy as hell outside.

He banged on the ceiling, and when this did not have much effect, the ceiling being a blanket, he shouted "Keep it down out there!" He folded a part of the wall to create a hole to the outside and stuck his head out.

"I'm trying to slee-"

He looked around at the vast bloodshed.

"You guys are having an adventure and I wasn't invited? Well count me in!"

He scrambled out of the blanket and stuffed it into his bag.

OOC: But DB, lake of blood just sounds better.

"Hello Rhiya." Arhra replied, noting the mild irony of Mesden's last comment being followed by Rhiya's appearance. She didn't mak any mention of Rhiya's blood drenched appearance either. Her tone was surprisingly devoid of hostility. Either she didn't remember that Rhiya had killed her, or was saving a much more elaborate revenge for later.

That was one thing about Arhra - when she was being nice to you, she was either planning something terrible for you in the future, or just being nice to you. This was a scientific fact. In the past, it had ruined the sleep of several people who had done something minor that they thought might have offended Arhra.

"We're just splitting into groups. A few of us are headed back to Phoenix's base to make some preparations and all the others are going to go ahead to try and stall Raiden. I'm headed to PhoenixCorp myself, but I've managed to temporarily lend some of my powers to Yuri so she'll be going with the other group."

"I'm a helper!" Yuri added.

"I've set up something of a link with her too so if you do decide to go with that group, I still can look out for you." She gave a broad, friendly smile. The aforementioned peple whose sleep Arhra had ruined would likely have run screaming for the hills at this turn of events.

Seeing Phoenix, Rhiya and the space where DB had turned invisible to escape the notice of Asheth, some murky memory surfaced. Something about two mages, a marilith and a mirror scaled dragon. Arhra shook it off as a passing fancy and asked the group as a whole, "So, let's get going then shall we?"

"Stalling is just a code-word for 'cannon-fodder'." Newb proclaimed.

"Which way do I go if I want to go with the group that's going to bust in with the real power later?"

The Wizard felt the coarse tower wall underneath his hands. The sun beat down on the Wizard. Charon was snoozing in his arms, as he tried to think of why Raiden would be doing these stupid and horrible things. Why he would try to take down the NPF. He decided that he could not find the answer, and instead started to scan his surroundings. The tower was full of emotion, wisps of fear here and there, the heat of hate, the swirls of confusion. Above all else, was a pride so great that the Wizard had to pause for a few seconds. It was different from Mesden’s former disclosure as to her power. It was boastful, powerful, and cocky. It reminded the Wizard of only one thing: Dragon’s Bane’s here.

Dragon’s Bane? Finally, we have been lacking in the magical power department lately. How? We have Garud, Mauve, and I. Are you kidding? Garud, Mauve, and you are all incompetent. Do you have any evidense to back up this baseless slander? You all don’t know the meaning of true power. Quite, as, you know, we aren’t super powerful sorcerers or anything. Not at all. You all fancy yourselves as mages, but you fear the power that you hold. So? We have that power, and that’s what matters. You need to use it, not just have it, like the Dragon’s Bane does.

The Wizard just sighed. He decided that now would be a good time to join up with his allies. He started to run up the wall of the tower when a loud rumbling was heard. The wall started to vibrate and crack. Energy was felt from within the tower, and the Wizard started to lose his balance. He decided that he did not want to be there when the tower exploded. The Wizard back flipped off the wall. The ground rushed to meet him, when he suddenly stopped an inch from the dirt. The tower exploded behind him. The Wizard touched ground, then immediately took off to avoid the explosion. He ran as much as he could, not wanting to be swallowed up by the possibly fatal energy behind him. He eventually left it far behind, and started to wander around for the other NPFs. He saw a bright flash, and a lake of organs, covered in a mist of blood. He took a guess at where the NPFs were, and arrived to see them splitting into teams.

The Wizard walked up to Mesden, and asked, “Would it be alright if I could join the team to kick Raiden’s ass?”

Mesden's eyes glanced over at Twid. The glowing white scan returned and Twiddy could feel his soul being picked apart.

The goddess clenched her hand tightly and it erupted in a weird glowing red light. The aura itself made all who looked at it a bit queasy.

She motioned her hand at Twiddy to come over to her.

"Twiddy, if you are coming, you need to be more useful. Come over hear please."

Her voice had a strong echo to it. The vibrations carrying through everyone around her's body.

"Please Twiddy. We lack time for hesitation."

The Wizard just stared at the Soul God looking down on him. He felt small, miniscule. There was power radiating from her, such that the Wizard stared in awe. His darker side was feeling a different emotion. Make me more useful? That stupid- You know, you should have learned by now that insults only get you hurt. She has damaged my honor and- You have honor? Quiet, you spineless worm. Anyways, I would recommend that you do not approach her. But It’ll get power… We can’t trust her. Of course we can. For what reasons? Do you think she’s going to turn us into a cow or something?

The Wizard closed his eyes for a few seconds. This day had obviously taxed him, what with the fighting his mentor and the destruction of his home. He took a deep breath, and became calm. He walked over to Mesden.

"This'll hurt. A lot."

"A wha-?"

He was cut off before he could finish. The goddess had plunged her hand into his chest. Twiddy's eyes started to glow as he yelled at the top of his lungs. Screaming in the soul wrenching agony.

"Now, the nice one."

She placed her other hand on his shoulder as she began to wrench his light side out. Slowly the soul was pulled out and rested beside him. Before he could catch a breath, she had already replunged her hand. Twiddy's screaming was louder this time. He was obviously in more pain as the goddess twisted her hand to pull out the resisting evil one.

Then, with the two souls resting beside Twiddy, both of her hands began to glow, but with a white light now. The two Twiddies slowly were pulled into reality. First their faces, then their arms, their torsos and their legs.

There they stood, three Twiddies again.

"Now, unimaginable pain for a minute is a fair trade for triple power, isn't it? Oh wait, let me do something real quick."

Mesden snapped her fingers. Random glowing lights came from nowhere and dove into the Twiddies.

"There, now you aren't soulless shells like how Raiden made you. You are as powerful as you can be. Now, we must hurry."

Her head turned towards the army of Gaians and a sigh escaped her lips.

"I guess we have a lot of grunt work to do."

"Well, I guess I'll go with...."

POS pointed at Fenris, "You, furry hobo. Into the ship."

"Wait, what? Don't I get a choice or--"

"No," Pedro said bluntly, "Hobos aren't real people. Now get moving."

"Aw fucksticks..." Fenris cursed under his breath as he shuffled up the boarding ramp. At that moment, someone else decided to show up, and POS neither knew nor cared who he was, but the man apparently wanted to join up with the cause. He could only wonder how many body bags Phoenix had on hand. Knowing her, probably quite a few.

"Well," he answered Newb, rather effectively ignoring the agonized screaming of the three Twiddies, "Those guys over there are going to fight a thunder god with their bare hands and maybe some sticks and rocks that they might be lucky enough to pick up along the way. The rest of us are going to try to put some sort of amazing plan together while Operation Human Shield keeps Raiden occupied."

For a brief moment, neither man spoke, the only sound that could be heard was Twiddy's screams echoing ceaselessly across the newly-created wasteland.

"If you want to go with them, I think I saw a stick over there you can use. You know, if you want."

Newb glances where Pedro pointed and then towards the amassing meatshield before grinning and shaking his head.

"You don't realize who I am, do you? I could pick up a twig and make my way through a horde of enemies, provided I started with the weaker ones, and at the end I could hand you a weapon any warrior would sell their grandmother into slavery to own. But I can probably help you get whatever it is that you're building working, so I'll go with you guys."

"Grunt work? They're drowning in a soup made of them comrades!"

Darth was still somewhat horrified at the ichor lake that DB had made, but was quickly getting over it.

"So...anyone got a canoe laying around?"

"You don't realize who I am, do you? I could pick up a twig and make my way through a horde of enemies, provided I started with the..."

By this point, POS was already in the ship having a snack.

As kitty Pyros enjoyed a nice petting and doting upon by Inbred, he also had his own plans that involved meat. Every so often, without Inbred's notice, he would lick the Ninja Chocobo's arm.

<MMMmmm....Kentucky Firaga Chocobo....>

Phoenix was busy tending to Phoenixbot's wounds with her technomagic while Pedro and the others argued and insulted each other. She thought of several witty remarks, but decided it was just better to not voice them. Until Newb spoke, however.

"Well Newb, with a bit of work, a little concentration, and some thought, I could probably design a thermally-homing throwing weapon from a twig." Phoenix said, idly waving her left hand at the Forumer, her black metallic hand-device shifting across her wrist and palm as she turned to board the VTOL.

"Right, let's get moving." She says to her assembled team members, closing the ramp of the Shilone with a wave of her left hand.

"You may wish to take a seat. Raven is an efficent pilot, not a comfortable one." Phoenix continued as she buckled herself into the heilo's right window-seat, idly gazing out the window at the ocean of Ichor. "Heh, Dragonsbane, I'd assume. He never ceases to amaze me. Granted, a Nuke would have been equally impressive." With a snap of her fingers, the synthetic pilot at the controls of the machine hit the lift fans full-throttle, and the Shilone wizzed off toward Phoenixcorp, kicking up a massive cloud of dust as it left the remains of the Mashirosen tower.

Phoenixbot strode silently after the first team, analyzing the defenses around Raiden as best she could at such long range.

Newb followed the others into the craft, and when taking a seat was mentioned, he pulled out his blanket. "Knock when we get there." He said, pulling it on top of himself. The blanket fluttered to the ground.

******************************

Newb looked around at the beds, and picked out the least comfortable one. With any luck, this trip would even out the beds and get it up to the same level as the others. As he lay back he reflected that "least comfortable" doesn't always mean "uncomfortable" especially when he had been getting these beds better and better for years. It was far from uncomfortable, and he managed to drop off despite the odd tilting and lurching of the room as the blanket slid about.

A lake of death. It wasn't something Ecurt hadn't seen before, but he had certainly never expected to see one in the Nuklear Powered Forums. It was a little disgusting. Especially the smell.

However, they needed to cross it if they hoped to follow Raiden. Of course, since he was sure nobody would want to swim across, and most of them couldn't easily fly, that meant they would have find a boat. It was a good thing that Ecurt was prepared for such things.

Pulling out a remote control out of Rhiya's Baggy Pants™, he pressed the big red button and took two steps back. Five seconds later, a large golden cruiser yacht fell from the sky and into the lake, splashing those who hadn't backed away. It was clear from the speakers everywhere and the T on the side of the ship that it was the ThumpCruiser.

Jumping onto the deck, Ecurt began to make his way to the control room below.

"So Pedro, Phoenix," Mauve began, settling into the seat as the pilot took off. "What kind of plan did you have in mind for this?"

She leaned forward in her seat, propping an elbow on the armrest and cradling her chin in her palm. Her mind switched from "Kill Stuff and Don't Die" mode to "Make Evil Plots" mode.

So far, things looked promising. Team Kick Ass was buying them time to come up with a Doomsday Plan. Splitting up like this made the NPFers harder to defeat. Plus, they now had a tactical group / backup squad to leap in and take Raiden by suprise. Ahrha was in constant radio contact with Ecurt, which would help them get a better idea about what was going on inside the building. It sounded like Pedro already had an idea for aforementioned Doomsday Plan, and Phoenix had the technology to make it happen. All they had to do now was put it together and make sure it worked.

"So what's this idea of yours, Pedro?" Mauve asked. "So far it sounds like it's hobo-powered, which intrigues me."

Krylo looked at all the liquified flesh, then back at the three Twiddy's, then back at the flesh. "Hey, Twiddies, think one of you could whip out an apocalyptic ice spell on the goo?"

"Ah, yes, yes, good. Thank you. Completing the connection... now."

POS was buckled into his seat in the shuttle, doing his best to ignore the fact that Phoenix's auto-pilot system seemed to be set on "Florida Student Driver", which could very well mean their imminent doom. Still, Phoenix had put him in contact with her main headquarters and he was already starting to get things going. Over Fenris' flight-inspired moans of terror, Pedro heard Mauve speak up.

"So what's this idea of yours, Pedro?" she asked, "So far it sounds like it's hobo-powered, which intrigues me."

"Glad you asked, my dear," he said, swiveling his chair around to face the mage, "You see, to say that the device is hobo-powered is a bit of a misnomer. No, what I have in store is far different. Computer, activate program POS Unzip Protocol 218.3-Gamma. Authorization: Pregnant Male Seahorse."

Before Phoenix could open her mouth demanding to know just what in seven fucks Pedro thought he was doing, the computer chirped in response and ran his program. A moment later, a voice cheerily greeted the occupants of the shuttle.

"Good morning, Pe-chan and Pe-chan's friends!" Rei exclaimed, "It's a cool 17 degrees celsius out, partly cloudy with a 78 percent chance of raining vaporized blood. Ohhh, I love rainy days!"

POS smiled slightly as he addressed the AI. "Hello, Rei. Can you bring up the schematic for project #307?"

"Hmmm," the digitized voice pondered in response, "Most likely. This is a new system so I'm still getting used to it and... Ah! There you go!"

A small blue dome on the console began to glow as it a emitted a beam of light that expanded to show the three dimensional image of a rather fearsome looking humanoid robot. In the machine's right hand, it held a large hammer and, in the other, what appeared to be a bindle.

"I present to you, my esteemed colleages.... THE POS INDUSTRIES ROBOHOBO XL-3500!!!"

"So Pedro, Phoenix," Mauve began, settling into the seat as the pilot took off. "What kind of plan did you have in mind for this?"

"Ah, of course. the plans." Phoenix grins, holding out her left arm to Mauve.

The mage looked confused for a moment, until the Technomagi's Hand-device projected a blue screen of light, flickering with various pictures and symbols. Most of which Mauve wouldn't understand, but soon enough, the holoprojector began Phoenix's PhoenixPoint™ presentation. The soothing female voice of PhoenixCorp's Supercomputer began explaining the objectives for the team.

"The objectives of plan 'Extermination Raiden' are as follows. Number one, create a an-"

"Skip a bit, Raven." Phoenix says, mildly annoyed.

"Acknowledged. Team two's objectives during the downtime are as follows. First, all members, with the exception of Newb, must survive transport to the P.S.S. Isparalian. From there, Magitech transfer units will be used to convert team 2's MP into power to activate the Isparalian's sustaining fusion torch."

A large, sword-like blue wireframe of the PhoenixCorp Headquarters/Flagship blinked to life on the screen.

"From there, completion of H.W.T. Altan and the Robohobo XL-3500 will commence."

Wireframe graphics of a large, polygonal mecha bristling with weapontry and the Robohobo appear under the ship's graphic.

"Once complete, Team two will be issued state of the art anti-personell weapontry and hot-dropped onto Mount Raiden, wherefore the P.S.S. Isparalian will provide low-altitude fire support."

"Thank you, Raven." Phoenix smiles.

"I am pleased to be of service."

"As you can see, we have a long few hours ahead of us. Every second counts." Phoenix adds, drawing her arm back as the Shilone transport VTOL approaches the large, blue swordlike tower of PhoenixCorp HQ.

"Speaking of which, here we are." She adds, as the Heilo gently slides inside the massive structure's upper level landing bay. "From here, we'll take the tram and lift to the main Reactor Room. Once the Isparalian has power, we can work on our plans."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Phoenixbot calmly boards Ecurt's ship-o-doom, for transport to Mount Raiden with team 1. Being emotionless and fearless, there wasn't much to say.

After all, both Pedro and Dragonsbane where nowhere to be found. Even if she was sociable, there wasn't anyone she'd care to talk to.

Having woken up when he fell out of bed during a particularly bad swerve, Newb had been watching and listening to the entire breifing from a folded curve in the blanket. When they arrived, he poked his feet out of the hole first, and then made a quick motion that ended in him standing upright with the blanket folded under one arm. He shoved it into the bag, and then walked up to Pheonix. "Hey, is there any particular reason why I don't have to survive?"

"Hey, is there any particular reason why I don't have to survive?"

Newb's question as the group exited the VTOL did have some merit. After all, Phoenix didn't like to seem heartless, despite the fact that she often was. Without turning to face him as the rest of the group followed, she casually replied.

"Well, you're not mission-critical personell. You see, Mauve, Arhra and I are needed to activate the ship's reactor. Pedro, Arhra, and I are required to finish planning and construction of our various weapons. The hobo is required so we can jack his conciousness into the RoboHobo, and you, well... I don't even know what you're useful for. I chalked you up as expendable, I hope you don't mind."

He nodded with his lip held in his teeth while looking away. "Okay, watch this." He pulled a large box out of his bag and began rummaging through it until he found a piece of wood and half of a zipper. He wrapped the zipper around two fingers and sawed away at the piece of wood, the zipper becoming sharper as he did so. After cutting through the piece of wood, he pulled out a metal bolt and cut through that as well. "Anything I use becomes better at what I'm using it for. Just put me in a position that could be called using whatever mission resources there are and you'll be able to get more use out of them. Any blade I use sharpens instead of dulls, any machine I use becomes more efficient instead of breaking down. And you say I'm not useful?"

Phoenix stopped, and casually looked over her shoulder.

"Reverse Entropy, using the principles of the infinite engine, hmm? I suppose you're a bit more useful than I suspected, given that you're a living IE. We won't be needing any improvisation here, however, given the plethora of machine tools on the Isparalian."

The glass double-doors of the lift elevator reading "Engineering" vwsshed open, admitting the group. Phoenix casually pressed a few buttons and inserted her override key to get the lift active under emergency power.

"Though I suppose you might assist us with the reactor."

The control room of the Thumpcruiser was pretty plain when Ecurt entered. If one were to enter it for the first time and not know what it was, all they would see was a simple turn table in the center of the room. The floor, the walls, and the ceiling were all green, and the room itself was barely big enough to fit half a dozen people. However, it was all that Ecurt needed.

Pulling out a single vinyl record out of Rhiya's Baggy Pants™, he placed it on the table and began his routine. By combining a complex series of backspins, cuts, blends and scratches, he inputted his order to the computer hidden within the turntable. Then, after he finished with one final body trick, he stepped back from the instrument and waited. Sure enough, a couple moments later, the engine began to roar.

The screw propellers began to spin, beginning to power the Thumpcruiser forward through the lake. By the time that Ecurt had made it back onto the deck (trusting that the Auto-Pilot Plushies would keep the ship on course) it had already reached a speed of fifty knots, and it would only continue to accelerate.

There was a flicker of light, and Dragonsbane was back, making the final folds on a slightly larger than average origami crane made of some shiny black paper. He stood up from where he sat next to Phoenixbot, and walked over to an open window.

"One last trick to pull..." he murmured with a soft smile, the crane cupped in his hands like a happy duckling, then blew on its tail.

The wings fluttered, and the paper crane flew off into the sky, fluttering in imperfect circles that actually formed a sort of rune, before the minor enchantment gave out, and the crane spiraled down through the crimson mist onto the lake of death below.

As it slowly sank into the thick liquid it unfolded, and a complex series of scarlet runes which covered the entire surface of the material shone forth, before it sank entirely.

While it had hovered in the air, while it sank through the water and the silt, and when it finally reached the bottom, it was twisting the natural Essence flows of the world nearby toward the lake, altering the natural flow of magic for a temporary span of time.

Dragonsbane smiled for no apparent reason, sat back down, and contentedly leaned against the Phoenixbot like a bored cat.

POS emerged through the boarding dock onto the Isparalian, continuing to discuss the intricacies of his RoboHobo plan with Mauve, Arhra, and Fenris. It had been a rough ride, though Fenris was a little more worse for the wear. Given his lifestyle, flying may not have been something he was altogether used to, and flying like that is just plain unpleasant.

"Originally," he explained, "the idea was to actually put the hobo inside the robot, as sort of a mechanical suit of armor. However, I concluded that it would be more efficient resource- and size-wise to have the mech be remote controlled. This presented another problem: historically, remote control systems on humanoid robots require a good deal of operational programming or they just started blundering about running into walls and shooting things at random. Much like your Sith friend."

They continued walking briskly through the Isparalian's corridors, Phoenix and Newb discussing something-or-other. Meanwhile, Fenris was finally starting to look a little less green as he and the ladies continued to listen to Pedro's lecture. It's very likely that one of them, probably Mauve, would make the assumption that he rather liked the sound of his own voice. She, of course, would be more than right.

POS went on. "Anyway, I concluded that the most efficient method of balancing the two problems was by simply jacking the brain of a human pilot into a remote control system for the mech. This provides no space in the product wasted on biological and cockpit components, quicker reaction time than a manual piloting system, and the pilot gets to remain safe in the medbay while his consciousness fights on the ground below. The only real danger is a minute chance of some sort of electrical feedback that could fry his brain and leave him a vegetable, but I'm not too worried about that."

Fenris suddenly looked quite a bit more green again. "So, why me and why aren't you worried?"

Pedro answered both questions simultaneously, "Because hobos, by nature, are inherantly expendable."

Rhiya wasn't worrid.

Granted, she was vaguely aware of the fact that she was supposed to be concerned with her livelihood, but right now she was still in a state of half-daze, half-insanity.

Hence, Arhra's 'good natured' appearance went completely over her head and down a black hole into oblivion.

Instead, she rubbed her hands together in a likely evil fashion, chuckling under her breath. She patted Yuri on the shoulder, then absently wiped her hand.

"Yes, this is going to be fun. Rawr," she muttered under her breath.

[OOC: Rhiya is with team Kick anybody's Ass....]