ic Block Head

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Excellent! I win!" declared Imprint, jumping free of Mannequins opening fist. In a flash of vaguely blue-ish light, she appeared now as a slightly short, slender woman with long brown hair, dressed in blue armour that had a kind of plastic feel. Her eyes were concealed by a mirrored visor, one would speculate to mitigate the effects of the flash when she changed size. 

 

"Ha ha! Well, I knew I would, of course! I have been planning this all for a long time!" she said. "I am, after all, a genius. Even if nobody recognises that fact that is unarguably a fact!". She seemed elated with her success. 

 

"Block Head is mine! So if you wouldn't mind opening a portal to my secret hideout which is...ha! I wouldn't let that slip would I?" she laughed. "No no, I think I can manage to get us through the police..."

 

Two police men came strolling in, with slightly blank faces. 

 

"See? Would you mind *ahem* arresting me...officers?" she laughed at them. 

 

"Yes..." they both replied simultaneously and flatly. 

 

"See?" she laughed at Mannequin and Doctor Deoxy. "My clay men can be anything! Very useful, even if they are a bit dull and fragile!" she admitted. "But they serve a purpose!"

 

"As for me, they won't even spot me. I just have to get Block Head out!" she though, although she seemed to think twice now she stood up close to him and gauged his height. 

 

"That might be a bit more tricky, I suppose..." she conceded. 

[Exaccus]

Realigning his synapse-circuitry and draining his energy reserves to the point of making himself gaunt with hunger it was a simple matter of runing the calculations to open a spatial gate.

 

the swirling purple portal hanging in the air like some surreal painting of the destination, Freedom City's  Centeral park

 

"here, take this portal to the city park, near enough for you to get where ever you might be going but sufficiently far away from here to avoid suspicion."

 

he would need to stop at the local IHOP after this, that much was certain or risk involuntarily digesting and consuming his organic surroundings through his mere presence.

 

he should not have skipped lunch.

Edited March 6, 2018 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

GM

 

"City Park? Well, why not. I do love flowers!" said Imprint. 

 

"Flowers?" mumbled Block Head, still spinning. 

 

"FLOWERS!" shouted Imprinted, vexed but determined. She took Block Head by the hand - not unkindly, but still firmly - and gazed at him with much concentration. 

 

"Flowers! I like flowers!" said Block Head after a moments contemplation. 

 

And with that, the two of them stepped through the portal quite content. Or, in Imprint's case, full of glee about her victory. 

[Removed.]

The cloud that was Mannequin's mind began to clear as Imprint left with Block Head. Slowly he began to realize just what happened to him and everything else in general. Reaching up he cradled his head in his hand hoping it would alleviate the feeling of being drugged.

 

"Ugh, Wha-Why does it feel like I've been drugged!" Looking around the room he saw that Imprint was gone with Blockhead. "Whe-where is that crazed woman? What happened to the art piece? All I remember was grabbing her in the vent and...Now this." Realization dawned on him as he realized he was the victim of mind control! "Oh, she is going to pay. She steals my work, abuses it utterly, may be responsible for killing my father, and now she just stole my mind! She is going to pay. What happened Deoxy? Surely you wouldn't just let her kidnap Block Head?"

[Exaccus]

"Indeed...."  Doctor Deoxy said, his voice strained with frustration at it all "She said she had rigged bombs all over your building so i left the choice up to you and blockhead, i would assume she influenced you both as you both fell into line with her demands.however she failed to reckon with me entirely..." he said with less strain "Using my portal has doused her and and blockhead in a rather unique and easily traced form of radiation." he summises

 

"before we give chase however i suggest we take a little time to prepare for the next engagement, so it will be on our terms..if you can provide me access to a biochemistry lab i will begin work on a suppliment that can hinder her mind control, It may also behoove us to go and see Mr. Brick was it?"  a slight shrug of dismissal following his inquery "I Imagine he will be most pliable now he is a named accomplice  of....whomever that woman was or failing that large quantities of currency."

[Exaccus]

Utilizing whatever facilities Mr. Hadran was able and willing to spare for his use an politely excusing the occupying staff he set to work on creating his preposed drug

 

It proved to be an interesting challenge create a substance that would travel through the bloodstream to react with the neurotransmitters in the brain, jellifying the synaptic fluids to create a mucus film that would resist foreign impulses

 

The synthesis of the chemical would however take time which was fine of course, he would need to rebuild his metabolic reserves and so taking on various morphic disguises several portal trips were made to the various greasy spoons and eateries this part of freedom is renowned for, returning to catalyze and inhibit the ongoing reactions between meals.

[Removed.]

Filled with the righteous anger that has driven him to what he had become Mannequin ended the lock down and immediately gathered a task force of his highly trained work force. He couldn't afford the luxury of time so he decided to be as straight forward and blunt as possible to his workers. Sure some might think he is a jerk but you didn't have to be nice to be a hero.

 

"As head of R&D I am making it your top priority to assist me with my latest project. Expect to stay overnight. You will all be paid double for the remainder of your shift here. Unless its a family emergency this work is mandatory. If you have any issues take it up with H&R afterwards not me. I can assure you I have far to little time to care at the moment. If you have any questions then ask them as we work."

 

With that Mannequin herded his engineers like cattle into their various stations while quickly drawing out the schematics he had in his mind. He knew she was weak to his electrical shock so he would do everything he could to abuse that. The idea he had in mind was perfect. A Ionized Neutron Pulse Emitter. A device that irradiates the Neutrons around it. It may sound like it causes cancer but its relatively harmless. The Neutrons are far to small to affect anyone normal sized but if you were a very small person well...You'd be in for quite a shock. James didn't know where Deoxy went but he figured the mad doctor was able to find his way around in the workshop. Hopefully Deoxy came up with some genius to help with their efforts. He wished he could of worked together on the same project with one of his idols but time was of the essence. If they were too slow then Block Head would be gone or worse. Block Head may be reckless and easy to anger but he is that of a child, naive and confused. Was there no limit to her vileness? She stole his work, might of killed his dad, and now kidnapped a child who Mannequin had a part in inadvertently creating. Looking at it in a way, Block Head was Mannequin's kid in some regard. Not wanting to delve deeper into that thought he continued shouting and directing his workers. The pace was maddening but the sheer progress was there. This was going to be a long night.

[Supercape]

And so...A few days later...

 

Autolife Residential Homes

 

Ratchet had insisted on driving them, as he knew Autolife Residential Homes better than anyone. And Mr Brick was, it seemed, their best lead. 

 

Ratchet had also insisted on driving the Ratchetmobile. How he got the bucket of rust to stay together, much less function as a vehicle, was beyond understanding. 

 

Autolife Residential Homes was no different. The central building looked considerably more built. 

 

"It's building itself!" explained Ratchet, wide eyed and a little crazy. But perhaps, after all, it was not crazy. What was a bit disturbing was that the central building seemed to spreading roots - little annexes and out houses were popping up, and the other buildings seemed to be sliding into to fuse, ever so subtly, with the main one. 

 

Security was perhaps a bit tighter. Three guards, now.

 

And a grizzled grey haired man reading a cheap and nasty magazine and sipping a beer. His van "Gas Man Solutions" was parked outside the front gate. 

[Exaccus]

It had taken him a while to figure out the correct dosages for the hypo-spray but he was fairly certain that he had 5 doses of his encephelo-Insulator, enough to cover himself, mannequin and any other potential victims, possibly including Mr Broque, it remained to be seen.

 

He'd spent the last few days gearing up for the oncoming battle of course, mainly this meant keeping his metabolic reserves filled to the brim but also going over security footage with James and figuring out everything he could from such simple retrospective perception and of course talking to Mannequin himself about his experiences with the small blue women whos name simply failed to make an impact on him.

 

Creating a portal to Autolife would've been child's play at this point in time, with his reserves nicely filled he had enough to spare for his more taxing powers, however when ratchet offered he was more than happy to accept a ride that would keep unnecessary expenditure to a minimum even as he marvelled at the state of the ratchet mobile.

 

now that the journey had concluded and he, wearing his old human self like a second skin over his new bio-mechanical form, a smart black briefcase in hand he'd insisted on picking up firmly in hand he made his approach towards the building, sparing a sideways glance at the amorphous mass of buildings as they moved and gelled together into gesalt constructions before making his approach with mannequin 

 

"good day gentlemen." he says smoothly as satin wrapped steel "I wonder if we might be able to help each other; I have urgent buisness i would very much like to discuss with your employer, though he is not expecting me or my associate, i am quite sure."

this next part would be difficult.

 

"Maybe perhaps i could..sponsor you to take a break or even retire." jostling the black briefcase a little in his hand to bring attention too it "perhaps....twice your going rate, gentlemen?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

At this, the Gas Man put down his beer and raised his eyebrows. He had a twitch of a smile on his lips. 

 

"I am always for hire" he said, standing up confidently. He was in good shape, and had a few scars that indicated he had had his fair share of fights. He was also armed, with a huge pistol by his hip, and some grenades. Predictably, gas grenades. 

 

"Mr. Brick pays me very well. For now. Reasonably well" he said, his loyalties shifting with every word. He studied the Doctor very carefully. 

 

"Now, I do like a break. A nice long break. But you see, I also have a reputation to uphold. And if my reputation was to be, say, hypothetically, incompetent bribe-taking mercenary with no sense of honour or decency, that would hurt my future earnings very much" he said, with mock sadness. 

 

"So, I whilst I would love to take a break, unfortunately I cannot" he said firmly. 

 

"Unless I had a lot of money" he added. 

[Exaccus]

"Ah but of course, i understand these things quite well, though might i add, a reputation as a shewd buisnessman might ensure you get better pay then usual, to ensure your continued services?" he asks with a slight smile "i am willing to negotiate a price with you of course."

 

he lifts the briefcase into his hands and popping the locked clasps open peers in at the crisp, freshly printed american dollars within, inch thick sacks containing $8,300 a piece filling its lower and upper chambers to the brim. all in all exactly 1 million dollars in total "How does.....three hundred, thousand dollars sound? I can also arrange to pay you in Euros if your inclinations run towards the Mediterranean climate." he offers with a gentle wink.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Three hundred...thousand?" gasped the Gas Man, before recovering. 

 

"I mean, thousand. Sure. That sounds about right" he said, seriously. "I would be happy to take that Job, in..errr....the Bahama's. Real nice this time of year, I hear" he said. "Dollars is good" he added as an afterwards. 

 

"Ill just...ah...take this and be on my way then?" he muttered, shielding the case from the view of the other three men who didn't look that interested. "I mean...just take a break?"

[Exaccus]

"indeed, that would be all i ask, though you may wish to do something else of course, as long as you're not doing it here and now, if you catch my drift?" he adds with a soft wink.

 

"good day to you sir and safe travels." he adds politely parting with the agreed upon amount "I shall make certain to keep you in mind if i should have any further need of your services myself as well."

 

looking now to Mannequin before turning to face the three remaining guards "what about you good sirs?" he asks impishly "Less open to negotiations? It would be...most unfortunate for us all if you were unwilling to see good sense and reason, i mean your employer no harm of course."

[Removed.]

Wishing he could roll his eyes Mannequin disliked how Deoxy dispatched the hired goon. While it was a good thing to not have to fight them it felt dirty having to bribe them. This will only make them more willing to commit crime when the heroes themselves pay them off. He was going to have to have this talk with Deoxy later. 

 

Seeing as to how Deoxy was being as persuasive as a bake potato to the rest of the assembled goons judging from their still present grimace and sneers He decided to lend a helping hand of sorts to try and back up Deoxy's point about how unfortunate it would be for them not to be smart here. Standing behind Deoxy Mannequin slowly started separating his head from his body by slowly contorting his neck.  He had the rest of his body mimic being in pain as it spasmed from the neck getting further and further twisted. He had sparks start fizzing out of his body making him appear very unstable and dangerous before with sudden abruptness his head turned back into its position with a loud snap starring directly at the goons with his vacant expressionless gaze.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The other goons eyes followed the head, and widened considerably whilst doing so. So wide, one might worry about those very aids falling out of the skulls they normally resided in. 

 

"Agh!" came the eloquent comment from more than a couple of mouths. 

 

Following such eloquence, the goons followed the natural course of action indicated by said comment. 

 

That is to say, they ran. 

 

Some dropped their weapons, some clung to them like a baby to a bauble. Who was to say which was the wiser?

 

But with the Gas Man and the Guards gone, the entrance to the building site was no quite deserted. The inside - well, that might be a different matter. 

[Exaccus]

"now to the matter at hand." deoxy said with a soft humm to his voice as he passed his briefcase to his other hands, all in all it was going well, so far he'd not wasted a single joule of metabolic energy on swiping aside these clowns and he'd managed to buy gas man for the low low price of less than half of what he had on him.

 

"It's all been going rather well so far, i must say its a pleasing and refreshing change of pace." he said matter of factly as he strolled right on up towards the doors and pulled it open "As mr Bisque is your....contact ill let you handle him how you will, though if all else fails i still have a half million on me."

[Removed.]

"I havn't been in the hero business for long but I don't think its wise to be so nonchalant about this. For all we know the mad woman is turning Block Head into a weapon. People can get hurt if we don't succeed here. I also don't think its wise to simply bribe the thugs. Yes, its nice not having to fight them but still...It seems like you are just reinforcing their line of work here. They need to know of the consequences of being bad people rather than be rewarded to take a break from it. Again though, I'm new to all this so maybe I'm missing the point."

 

Pushing open the doors without checking if its locked or not Mannequin entered the building. 

 

"Mr.Brick, I have returned and have need of you. Just answer a few questions and that will be all. There is no interest here beyond that."

[Exaccus]

"haha, oh, you are intelligent my friend, but naive; tell me, how many times have you seen a hero put away a villain only for that villain to, when they are released or escaped from black rock, return to their ways?" he asked as he followed behind mannequin "prison focuses too much on punishing people, rather than reforming them, with that sum of money he might not have to continue taking jobs such as these ones." he offered "It is possibly infact, the only actions we could've taken that have the slightest chance of him not continuing as he has been, taking mercenary work for crooks." he reasoned even as he walked slowly behind, swinging his briefcase merrily as they went.

 

"Oh it could be fixed of course, but it would take time and money..." he hummed a little "and i suspect most of america rather likes the way things are now, Institutionalized vengence on people who wrong you....its almost like hiring a mercenary to take your revenge for you, just government sanctioned ones....or as i have heard, rather popular private industries with state funding."

Edited March 24, 2018 by Exaccus

[Supercape]

GM

 

Mr Brick jumped up from his desk, still fat, still in a cheap suit. Still bald, and still red faced. 

 

But now, pretty shocked. 

 

He grabbed the shotgun on his desk and pointed it at Dr Deoxy and Mannequin. It was a token gesture, of course, faced with two mighty super powered persons, but he clearly liked holding it. 

 

"What! What are you doing here? This is private property!" he blustered, the same old crud falling from his lips - he had said that line a hundred thousand times. 

 

His secretary, Lizzy Blush, shrieked, looking quite scared. She was a tall blonde woman of limited intellectual skills who nevertheless had developed a great skill in manipulating older men and getting a lot of money from them. She had been halfway to cracking Mr. Brick when they were busted, and she felt money dribbling through her fingers. 

 

"Oooh! Save me, Save me Mr. Brick!" she whimpered. It was a false act, but people believe what they want to believe. 

 

"Don't you worry, Lizzy, this here is PRIVATE PROPERTY!" declared Mr. Brick, keen to show his importance. 

[Exaccus]

Though perhaps one with his powers would've sneered at a shotgun, doctor deoxy was well aware of the weapons destructive power, having born witness to it when his father inevitably dragged him out on his game bird shooting trips to help him aquire some kind of masculine credibility.

 

They were not pleasant memories, normally he would be inclined to try and talk Mr brick down, but his mood was soured and to be honest he didn't like the pathetic little man in the slightest so, with a lazy flick of his eyes he reached out with his telekinetic powers and bent the gun back onto itself, tying its long black barrel into a knot as the kinetic projectors held the weapons firing pin back and kept it firmly suspended in place.

 

"Now that we have dealt with that ridiculous Weapon, maybe you'd like to have a seat Mr brick so we can discuss some business." he pulling a seat from across the room and falling into it as it glided into place.

 

"We'd like to know how and why a superlativeness calling herself impact not only knew my friend had obtained him from you, but where he was taking him, mere moments after concluding business with you and any involvement you may have had with her attack on Vision Inc." he said with a cold edge to his voice as he regarded the woman whom had thrown herself over dramatically into mr bricks protection.

 

"I Wouldn't test mr Hairdan's patience today, i wouldn't test mine, ever."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Yeah, well, it wasn't loaded anyway" bluffed Mr. Brick, trying to maintain some credibility. "I am sure we can talk business!" he said, steeling some calm into his manner and voice. Miss Blush hugged him in an attempt to capitalise on the situation. Mr. Brick did not resist. 

 

"Sure, sure, I heard about Vision Inc. A man in my position knows things, you see" he said, painting a grin onto his mouth. "You do some stuff with chemicals and stuff, right? Sure, chemicals and stuff. Interesting, we should do business, you know!"

 

"Here at Autonomous Living, we have state of the art buildings, you see! Top of the range! You won't by better!" he said proudly. "Maybe I can construct a super powered Headquarters for you? I mean, I'll give you a twe---ah...ten percent discount! Glad to be of public service, you see!" he continued, airily. 

 

"But I am afraid I don't know what exactly happened at Vision Inc. I didn't have any part to play in it, I know that much...."

[Exaccus]

"that is a fairly astute assessment, mr brick, you are clearly a man who knows thing." he said with a soft smile "a man who understands the value of things, of that i have no doubt" drumming his hands on his briefcase.

 

"A man who knows things i would like to know and understands that information is valuable such as yourself would have no problem sharing that information if the price was right?" he asked as he placed the somewhat diminished breifcase on the desk before him and span it around to face mr brick, a small gesture later and the latches clicked open.

 

"A man of Business and distinction." he said with a softer edge to his voice "We have no intrest in hindering your buisness Mr brick, we understand you were lead astray...possibly even under impacts influence, its understandable of course that you were acting against your will..." he offers "and as a responsable citizen you only want to help us bring her to justice." he offers as he causes the lid of the suitcase to open like a clam and reveal the neatly stacked wads of dollars within.

 

"A man, who like myself, appreciates the cool, refreshing smell of....Mint."

[Removed.]

Clenching his fist Mannequin felt disgusted with rewarding yet another criminal lowlife. While he did look up to Deoxy a great deal he was vastly disappointed in what he saw as rewarding criminals for their crimes. Deoxy has his reasons but still, it felt wrong and that made Mannequin pause for a moment. Why did he feel this was wrong? His parents taught him that the best way to stop violence it to peacefully resolve things with reason and words...Isn't that what Deoxy was doing? No matter what reason he saw for the act he couldn't condone it for the simple matter of hate. Mr.Brick is exactly like all the slime ball salesmen who if they saw profit in something they will extort it regardless of how many lives they will crush. If its not a supervillain holding the people hostage with their crazed powers then its them with the contracts and deals.

 

Ever so slowly walking to the table making his footsteps louder than more while slightly separating his form to appear bigger he hoped he would come of as imposing. He made no sound while Deoxy and Brick talked until he was up at the deck at which point he slammed a hand down cracking the surface of it.

 

"Mr Brick, I have made it abundantly clear when I entered that I want only answers from you...And instead of doing the reasonable thing and telling us you decided to be scum. Did you know that the same woman you are withholding information of threatened the lives of hundreds just hours ago? She was willing to detonate bombs killing men, women, and even children. She was willing to go that far out of fear, fear of us. Now here we are trying to stop this maniac from potentially killing more and yet you attempt to make a profit over potential death. I am appalled at your lack of empathy and would want nothing more than to break you. But, I simply have no reason to care about you beyond what you know so... I will ask one more time. Where is she? I trust you will make the smart decision being the "business man" you are."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Mr Brick scrabbled his seat a few inches away, his resolve eroding. But even in a state of panic, his spinal cord still insisted he strike a deal. 

 

"The woman? ah...oh....yes, the woman. Blue suit, red hair, arrogant little...yes...the woman" he spluttered. "Look, she brought that giant thing back here. Good for me, of course. He keeps expanding our site, completely free of charge!" he said, thinking happy thoughts. "Its only me and Hettie and my lovely secretary now!" he explained, again finding time to give Lizzy a lustful look. 

 

"But honestly, I don't know where she is! Maybe she is in the central building here, I don't know!" he explained. "But we can still do business, right? I mean, I am helping you, and I can give you a great discount on a super headquarters! 100% genuine fake marble is my speciality!"

[Exaccus]

"oh im most certain we can sir, I am looking for a supplier for some personal construction projects, please feel free to take this as a downpayment and ill get in touch with you shortly...for now it might be best if you and your ladyfriend vacate the area, if impact is here she has, as mr haridan stated, displayed an almost psychotic disregard for the lives of bystanders." he adds smoothly as he rises from the table, letting his morphic disguise drop and assume his now pseudonatural technoorganic form as he turns to face mannaquin, his expression unreadable.

 

"You and I i feel, will need to have a little talk when all this is said and done i think." honestly a little disappointed that such a brilliant mind would let his emotions control him to such an extent as to threaten someone on private property after breaking in, it was good that he was eager to do good and deal out justice but there were times and places after all.

 

"For now, let us focus on finding and apprehending Impact, I still have the lions share of my metabolic reserve at my disposal so baring a prolonged battle i shall not need to withdraw to refuel."

Edited March 29, 2018 by Exaccus