ic Zip Zap

[Tarrakhash]

Delta's mouth drew a more determined line as Zip drew his rifle,"A great way to gain someone's trust is to threaten them with a rifle?" The Cyborg watched his diminutive erstwhile ally grow more set on his path and then shook his head, almost getting ready to declare this discussion closed when a thought occurred and he held up a metal hand, the black and red machine part acting as a pause while he thought.

 

"Show me, let me look in your mind. Show me your intentions and your future you are so scared of. If I see something to convince me not only will I provide you with Terminus Energy I'll go back to fight with you....but if there is something that makes it seem otherwise you have to accept my decision. Does that sound fair?" He did not like his developing telepathic powers, even less so using them on someone he had fought alongside of, but this would be a way of stopping this from becoming the two of them yelling, or shooting, at each other to determine who was right without any real evidence one way or the other.....except for a few character defects that Zip had shown.

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Zip did not drop his rifle, but he lowered it. 

 

"I'm not threatening you. You are threatening me! All of existance, in fact!" he said, spinning things around. 

 

"All I need is terminus energy. And lots of it" he said. "As for seeing my intentions...."

 

"You can't" he explained simply. "The dimensional streams are locked. Those of us living under the tyrant can escape...with a lot of effort and only temprariliy. But you can't enter. At least, I haven't found a way to do so. Not that anyone would want to"

 

"So I can't show you. I have no way to prove my intentions. But I am desperate! So would you be, in my shoes. You just have to trust me, since I am so very very clever!"

[Tarrakhash]

Delta let out a sad sigh, the annoying alien had grown on him, even if it was simply because it could see no wrong with anything it did and figured it was smarter than everyone else,"No Zip, I can't trust you just because you're smart. You're going to have to find Terminus Energy somewhere else if you're that desperate. I've got to make sure this doesn't fall in the wrong hands, and I can't shake the feeling that your hands would not be the right ones. None of your devices even work reliable, not the robot, not the hopper...nothing. I can't let you play with enough Terminus Energy to shatter dimension."

 

He gestured to the exit,"Now you can do this the easy way..." Then he pointed at Ether,"Or the hard way, your call little man."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Zip considered the matter carefully. 

 

"I've seen what you can do. I don't fancy my chances in a fight" he started. "But on the other hand, its a chance I may have to take. I need that Terminus Energy. I'm prepared to lay down my life if I can stop Collapse. Or even just strike a blow against him" he said. "My only decision now is if I have a better chance of doing so if I walk away and try and get the energy from somewhere else. Or I get the energy from that reactor. Hell, I'd suck you clean dry if I had to" he said, ominously. 

 

"To be honest, I had planned to. Don't take offence. I set out the bait, I drew you in. Then it all went to hell as we went the long way around. Kind of got to like you. Would have regretted using you. But then, jackpot! Ether transformed this reactor for me...."

 

He looked down at Ether. 

 

"Guess the Professor did me a favour" he said. 

 

Then the idea struck him. 

 

"And he's my best hope...."

[Tarrakhash]

Delta paused, rubbing his chin, considering the little man's words something concerned him about it,"How did you set the bait out? Did you have something to do with this reactor's emissions to start with?"

 

He glanced over at the unconscious Professor,"And yes, he would be a source of Terminus Energy, one we'd have to drain from time to time just to keep him from gaining enough power to escape. But how would you contain him? You didn't seem to have an answer to any of his powers?"

[Supercape]

GM

 

"As we are speaking frankly, yes, I did" replied Zip. He looked slightly ashamed. Not repentant, but ashamed. 

 

He started circling slowly towards Ether. 

 

"Contain him? I don't know. I'll figure something out" he said confidently. "The future has, as you may appreciate, many what you might call futuristic technologies. From your perspective, anyway. Not that things are that simple when the dimensions are all smashed together"

 

He gave Delta an inquiring eye. 

 

"But this is a neat solution to our little predicament isn't it? A comprimise, you might say. I don't get exactly what I want, you don't get exactly what you want. But the multiverse survives..."

 

"...I hope. At least, it gives it a chance of surviving...."

Edited February 6, 2019 by Supercape

[Tarrakhash]

Delta raised an eyebrow at Zip and his admissions, and he had been doing so well, but it meant that the little creature was determined and would make it happen one way or another,"Fine...take him, one of two things happen since you're in the future. He breaks free and comes after me, or you become the villain you think you might like to be I hear about it and I come after you...don't make me regret this, Zip, understand?"

 

He gestured at Ether,"Now make it quick before I change my mind, I have a reactor to disable."

Edited February 6, 2019 by Tarrakhash

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Thats a good a deal as Ill get" said Zip. "And...for what its worth, I'm sorry its you that got pulled into this mess"

 

He scuttled off to Ether's unconscious body. 

 

"Come on then, mad professor! Its time you did your bit to save all existence, rather than your own skin"

 

Zip started to fiddle with his own D-hopper gauntlet. 

 

"Delta, theres a great film in this era, isn't there? A classic thing about time travel and robots and cyborgs. What was that catchphrase now....hmmmm...."

 

He gave one final cunnning smile to Delta, and a mischevious wink. 

 

"I'll be back!!!!"

 

And then he and Ether were gone. 

[Tarrakhash]

Delta had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as Ether and Zip vanished, and the final words of Zip echoed across the reactor room.

 

"I'm sure you will be...I'm sure you will be."

 

Then he moved to the reactor, he had to drain the Terminus Energy and then find Lulu and inform her that all was as stable as it could be in this time and space.

[Supercape]

GM

 

It was not a difficult task, draining the residual terminus energy. Now that Ether was gone, the reactor was not stable, and was reverting to its normal experimental function. 

 

Unformfortable, perhaps. For there was a lot of energy left, and leeching it out was unpleasant, like draining pus from an abscess. Easy, but uncomfortable. 

 

Agent Lulu rushed in, doing her duty. The coast was clear, the building evacuated.

 

"What happened?" she asked, scratching her head. 

[Tarrakhash]

Delta shrugged,"I defeated Ether, I am stabilizing the reactor, he had it in overload and it was producing a vast amount of Nihilus energy. Then I'm going to remove any tech that would advance ASTRO's ability to draw more of the Energy and would recommend we check the lab from time to time."

 

He looked up at the older french woman, his mechanical eyes whirring as they adjusted,"Zip took Ether back to his dimension to a prison, or something, that wouldn't allow him to build up more Terminus Energy, which will hopefully neutralize him as a threat. A job well done, Agent Lulu!"

[Supercape]

GM

 

"That's pretty good work" summarised Lulu, trying to unmuss her hair and wipe the dust from her face. Even with Ether gone, the dust lingered, as a reminder of what he had done, and what he could do. 

 

"I had no idea it would play out like that, but then again, it rarely plays out how you think it does. Its a funny type of science, this job, but I wouldn't have it any other way"

 

She surveyed the carnage around them. "I guess Director North will want to keep this quiet and hold it over ASTRO for further favours. He needs their coopreation and they are pretty neat guys most of the time..."

 

"...and when they aren't, thats when W.E.S.T come in. And, if we need you again...."

 

~ Fin? ~