ic Armor Leg

[RocketLord]

Alright, Robin was used to people not recognizing her, and she had changed the armor a bit in the last few months, but still, this guy was using parts of her armor, and he didn't know who she was? That stung! Still, focus. The Justice Buster was at her side, but she was pretty sure that drawing it wouldn't help this situation any, especially not if she could maybe try and talk this guy down. No reason for violence if she could help it, right?

 

And they did seem to have the same basic plan, at least, even if he was going about it much more violently than she would have preferred. 

 

"Yeah? And what do you hope to accomplish by doing that?" Honestly, she was curious. This place probably had tons of weird stuff hidden around. Bringing it down might be a good thing in the long run, but they'd probably just relocate or something like that, wouldn't they? 

[Supercape]

GM

 

The question was most pertinent, but it seemed Jones was hard pressed to answer. 

 

"Revenge!" came the conclusion after some processing lag. He raised a fist - although in this case it came with an armoured wrench attachment. 

 

"These scum hurt a friend of mine!" he explained, honestly and furiously. 

 

He decided to emphasise his point by smashing his fist into the nearby wall. 

 

The power flickered, and the lights dimmed. Jones may not have been the smartest tool in the box at the university, but he knew a thing or two about building maintenance. Like how to short out the power supply. And it seemed that those wrenches attached to his armoured fists were quite capable of insulation against electric power. 

 

The screams and chaos below intensified in the dim red lights of the back up system. 

 

"Who are you? Their security?" asked Jones, now turning his attention to the question of whether Justice would help or hinder his cause. 

[RocketLord]

Revenge, huh? Was he here because of Anna? Made sense, with the way he came storming out of the hospital. Honestly, Robin had all but forgotten that he was even there, but still, wow. He must've been close to her, if he went to do something like this. Or maybe just unhinged. It was honestly kind of difficult to tell.

 

"I'm Justice, and no, I'm not with these people." It was true, after all. She had come here to try and figure out how to help Anna, but not like this? "But I'm also not the kind of person that can just let you attack everyone. I'm sure a lot of people here are bad, but running around and hurting everyone at random? That'll just make you as bad as them." 

 

C'mon. Just once. Just once let it work to try and talk things through instead of having to end up fighting.

[Supercape]

GM

 

It would be nice if talking things through would be an easy, nice, solution. Lamentably, Jones was not a bright spark, and as so often the case, his lack of wit made him quite certain that he was right. 

 

"Good. Anyone thats involved with these people are scum!" he said, angrily. "And I'm not going to hurt anyone. Not unless they get in my way. Or I find the turdman who is responsible for health and safety" he added. 

 

As before, Jones seemed to have pockets of knowledge related to his job. Building maintenance, health and safety regulations, and so on. 

 

"If you are so keen on protecting everybody. Get them out of the building. Then i'll blow it up" he said, bluntly. 

[RocketLord]

Turdman. Right. Was Robin speaking to an adult or a kid here? She was not quite sure, even with the cobbled together mess of a suit he was wearing. She actually felt kind of insulted that he was using parts of one of her prototype suits, and yet he had no idea who she was.

 

Getting everyone out of the building did sound like a good plan, actually, if he was going to cause trouble, but that second part... 

 

"C'mon, level with me here. Why are you doing this? Did they hurt somebody close to you?" Was he here because of Anna? Maybe just keep him talking for a moment... That would be nice. Just a moment.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"I ain't got time to yap" answered Jones. "But they did. Hurt bad. These guys are scum" he said. Even saying the words got him angrier, if that was even possible. 

 

He smashed his two armoued hands together, to the sound of a large clang. 

 

Then something clicked in his head. 

 

"Quit stalling me!" he said, nastily. "She told me not to get distracted! And here I am, getting distracted!"

 

He turned around, and started to stomp down the staircase to the lower levels. 

[RocketLord]

Alright. He was probably talking of Anna. But was she the she that Jones was talking about? Or was it someone else entirely? Gah, nothing was ever easy, was it?

 

"Hey, come on! I'm not stalling!" Well, she really didn't mean to, but maybe it was an idea. Let people get out of there, right? "I want to know. And maybe, uh, help a bit? As long as you don't start attacking random people, at least!" Yeah, great plan. Team up with the pretty clearly unstable guy. But maybe that would be the best way to make sure he didn't hurt anyone, plus, she did want to try to bring down this place. Just, y'know, do it right.

 

She followed, moving much lighter than Jones' stomps. "This place is hurting lots of people, but that doesn't mean everyone working here is bad. Gotta do it right, else they'll just rebuild somewhere else. Get evidence of what they're doing, not just go around blowing up buildings."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Jones grunted. "I'm not attacking random people! I'm attacking scum!"

 

He reached the turn of the corridor by the stairs and nearly collided with a panicking security guard. The taser bolt clinked against his armor, and a second later, he swatted the guard away with a power-assisted arm. The guard fell unconscious. 

 

"Scum!" concluded Jones. 

 

He was not a man for complexity of action, or rationality of thought. He was a man driven by righteous fury and he would not be dissuaded otherwise. Perhaps the flow of the river might be diverted, but one could not stop the river from flowing. 

 

"If they build somewhere else, I'll smash that too!"

 

Smashing, it seemed, was on the agenda, and would not be taken off. 

 

Ignoring Justice, he stomped his metal feet down the next flight of stairs. 

[RocketLord]

"Hey, he's just doing his job!" Robin tried to shout to stop Jones, but he just didn't seem to care. Only wanted to smash this place and hurt whoever got in his way. Great. She wanted to bring the place down too, but not like this. But alright, Jones wasn't going to stop doing this, and she had tried reasoning with him. The guard's taser might not have had much of an effect, but she had something better.

 

Quickly pulling out the Justice Buster, she raised it to take aim at Jones. She wasn't about to shoot him in the back, but no way she was going to let him continue this.

 

"Alright. Stop or I'll stop you. I want to bring this place down just as much as you do. We can work together, but not if you keep attacking everyone that gets in your way. This is your last chance."

[Supercape]

GM

 

Jones spun round. Not fast, for he was not a fast man. He seemed unfamiliar with the power armor he was wearing - and one could hardly blame him given its cobbled-together nature. 

 

He hadn't planned on fighting a cape. But, it seemed he hadn't planned on much at all. 

 

"Work together? What do you mean?"

 

He was just about keeping his fury in check, but it was a hard thing. His teeth were gritted so hard together one could almost hear the enamel shatter. He was red faced, and not from exertion, but anger. 

 

"What are you going to help me with? Taking down this place? I think you just want to try and do something proper. You think talking helps. Talk, talk, talk....."

 

His wrench - like armoured hand mimiced a yapping mouth. 

 

"That's it, right? You want to talk your way out of this? That's not going to work...."

[RocketLord]

Do things proper? Yeah, of course! Not like Robin would be able to change things if she didn't!

 

"Talking? Yeah, if that works, but I'm guessing it won't for these people. Problem is, if you just smash things, they'll rebuild, come back bigger, better and badder, and ready for when you try again. You wanna bring them down for good, you gotta find evidence! Bring it to the cops, the news, whichever. Not just smash things up." 

 

Alright, she tried, but she could already see it wasn't about to work. Jones didn't seem like the kind of guy to change his mind in any way. She felt she had to try, and despite everything else she had learned... she wasn't about to take the first shot. Not if she could talk him down. 

 

"So, we work together. Find evidence of everything we can, all the wrong they're doing there. How's that sound?" No, didn't sound plausible at all to Robin either.

Edited March 31, 2019 by RocketLord

[Supercape]

GM

 

It was a fair point. A logical, reasonable point. However, angry people were not fair, logical or reasonable. And this went doubly so for Jones. 

 

"You go look for evidence. I don't know what it would look like. I'm going to smash things" he said, violently. Then, in a moment of insight and good cheer. "Think of it this way, me shashing things is a great way for clever people like you to get into all the secret labs downstairs!" he said, brightly.

 

"So everyones happy. Well, not Neutron Industries" he added.

 

"Its your lucky day, cape!" he said, cheerily. Well, somehow he managed to be cheery and angry at the same time. There simply was no mistaking Jone's livid rage. 

 

Stomp stomp stomp...he lunged down the stairway, about to go out of sight...

[RocketLord]

And off he stomped, leaving Robin behind. He had a point, yeah. And it made her kind of angry that he did so. If he was creating trouble, she could probably make her way in here easier, but what if he started hurting people? She couldn't let that happen, could she? She needed the evidence to help Anna, to get rid of this place, but should she do something like that? It would be the easiest way to do it, but...

 

Damn it. She couldn't take the easy way. Not if it meant someone getting hurt. And while Robin had been debating what to do, Jones had already moved down. How did he even know about secret labs downstairs, anyway? But those were what she would go for, anyway! 

 

So, as well as she could, Robin followed, dashing down the stairs after Jones. She would have to figure out what to do once she got there.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Stomp stomp stomp

 

It was a somewhat surreal environment. The dim red emergency lighting, the pitch of the alarms, the sunlight half-streaming through tinted windows. The clang of Jones' metal feet on metal stairs. 

 

At the next level, Jones tore open the elevator door with his power - wrenches. He turned to look at Justice. 

 

"Looks like you know how to make the most of the deal" he acknowledged. 

 

Intruder Alert! Level 3! Warning! Intruder Alert! came an accurate and panicked squark over the intercom. 

 

"Suckers!" grunted Jones. "Keep 'em off my back, cape!" he told Justice. Then, he fired a bolt from one of his arm into the elevator shaft. The bolt struck into the metal opposite, leaving a cable between the bolt and Jone's arm. And in the next moment, he was gone - shooting down the shaft on that power-assisted cable. 

 

 

[RocketLord]

Keep 'em off his back? Not happening. Not right now, at least. Jones was gone in a matter of seconds, shooting down the elevator shaft, and to be honest, Robin kind of wished she had a grappling gun right about now. She had to finish work on that utility belt, and soon. Use Terrifica's advice for something good, at least!

 

She couldn't just follow him down there, and she kind of doubted that calling the elevator would help, so what was she going to do?

 

Robin could think of one idea. It was crazy. Absolutely bonkers. No way, not something she should do. And yet... She ran, heading straight for the elevator shaft. She couldn't hesitate, she had to be fast if it was going to work. Jumping, she tried to grab on to the cable, and was very thankful for how armored the suit was, as she would start sliding down the cable as fast as she could, before Jones detached it however he would do that. He had a headstart of a second or two, but she hoped to get as far down as possible before he detached.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Justice slid, rather elegantly, down the bolt and cable. Sparks sizzled as her guantlets gripped the cable and friction did its work. The shaft was dim, dimmer even than the rest of the building, although lit in the same red hue of emergency lighting. But she could see that the shaft went deep, and at the bottom they were a level or two underground. 

 

Secret Labs, indeed. 

 

Jones was tearing open the door to the bottom levels when Justice landed. And he was doing so with ease. The whole of his cobbled together powered armour seemed to be designed for wreckage. Not quite combat. But then again, wrecking and combat had a lot of overlap. 

 

"So, you kept up!" he said, sundering the last remains of the door. 

 

"FREEZE!"

 

Two security guards aimed rather impressive looking energy pistols at the two of them. They were twnety feet down the corridor and clearly more professional than anyone Jones or Justice had encountered in the building. This was a secure basement facility, and security was several levels tighter. 

 

"See? Secret laboratory!" said Jones with a nasty smile at Justice. 

 

Two red dots appeared from the laser - targetting of the guards pistols. 

 

One on Jones, one on Justice!

[RocketLord]

Yeah, she kept up. Robin wasn't about to let Jones get out of her sights, even if his little break and more break could be useful, he seemed way too dangerous for that. But he was right about the secret laboratory parts. While she remained silent for now, Robin looked around, trying to get any overview of the layout. A map on a wall, arrows pointing somewhere, names of what was going on or the areas, anything really. 

 

And then the guards, and their weapons, and the laser sights. Robin wasn't sure how much Jones knew, but she knew enough to be intimidated. This was not just regular guns. She would have to see them in action, but there was no telling just what those guns would shoot, or how much damage they could cause. Probably wouldn't hurt the building itself, but there was no telling if her armor would be able to take their hits.

 

"C'mon, no need for that. Look, I haven't done anything here, just trying to get this guy to calm down." Probably wouldn't work, but worth a shot, she hoped.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The thing about secret labs were that they were secret. No maps or directions! Just shiny steel and shiny glass, and emergency red lighting. You didn't go down here unless you knew your way around!

 

"Put your hands up! And drop the weapon!" called out one of the guards. 

 

Justice heard the thummm of Jones' powered armour heating up. "I can't drop nothin!" grinned Jones, answering correctly both literally and philosophically. 

 

"DROP IT!" screamed the guard targetting Justice, indicating she should drop the mighty justice blaster!

[RocketLord]

"Alright, alright, sheesh. Relax." No, she was not about to drop the Justice blaster, no matter what these guys were telling her. From what had happened to Anna to the mention of killbots and those futuristic weapons... Nah. She didn't trust Jones, but she trusted these guys even less.

 

The Justice Buster was in her hand, and yeah, it was a bit oversized for a handgun, Robin knew that, but it did pack a lot of power. Probably even more power than these guys suspected. "See? I'm dropping it. Let me just get the safety first, alright? Don't want to hit anyone by accident." Slowly moving the gun out, but turned away from the guards, aimed at the ceiling, she moved her other hand close to it, to put the safety on. Or rather, to make it seem like she was putting the safety on.

 

Suddenly, she dropped to a knee, raising the Justice Buster with both hands and took her shot at the guard that had aimed at her, sending a blast of focused kinetic energy flying his way.

[Supercape]

GM

 

Zam!

 

The Justice blast slammed into the security guard, who was thrown several feet down the corridor, his blaster pistol dropping from his hands. He managed to give a last groan on the floor before falling unconscious. 

 

The other guard pannicked, and fired repeatedly at Justice, obviously (and perhaps rightly) considering her the more serious threat. The blaster-bolts went wild, scorching the walls and hitting the emergency ceiling light that exploded in sparks and flickered the red light. 

 

But the adrenaline - fueled firing was so rapid that, even if unaimed, you could get lucky. And lucky is what the guard got - Zam! one blaster bolt straight into Justice. 

 

Jones cut short the salvo, though. He charged at the guard and hefted him up to the ceiling, before slamming him down, hard, on the floor. 

[RocketLord]

One shot, and the guard was down, and then the other acted, shooting all over the place. He was panicking alright, and Robin couldn't really blame him. She did just take out his buddy, after all. Moving to the side, she tried to get out of the way of the blaster-bolts that scorched the walls, but either she was too slow, or the guard was just plain lucky. A bolt slammed into her side. 

 

Ow. It had at least bruised her ribs, and there were scorch marks on the armor. That was kind of impressive, in its own way. She was almost thankful that Jones took the guard out, even if he did seem needlessly brutal about it.

 

But alright, she had thrown her lot in with Jones now. Time to see where it went. Propping herself up again, she moved closer to the guard that Jones had taken out. "Please tell me you at least didn't kill him."

[Supercape]

GM

 

"This peice of trash? No" replied Jones, honestly. The guard was out cold, but not dead. Probably a few broken bones, but still breathing. 

 

"I'm no killer. What, you never wanted to punch the lights out of a school bully? Or careless driver? We all want to. Now, I do" he said, grimly, walking back to the elevator shaft. 

 

With another punch and snip! of his gauntlets, the elevator cable was cut, and the shaft now blocked off. "That should stop anyone coming down here. Unless they got a death wish!" he said. 

 

He turned back down the corridor and the secret labs. "So, you want to do some demolition work with me?" he offered. 

[RocketLord]

Alright, Robin had to admit that Jones had a point about having wanted to punch somebody like that, but honestly, Jones seemed to be enjoying this way too much, and being way too reckless on top of it. She remained silent as he moved to the elevator, moving to cut the cables. "Hey!" She reacted too late, and the entire thing came crashing down. "Think about what you're doing! There could've been people inside!" He had no way of knowing if there were anyone in there, right? He could just as well had let someone fall to their deaths without ever having known.

 

"You wait right there!" Robin shouted back to Jones, while she moved to the elevator door, then shouted, addressed at anyone that might be inside. "If there's anyone in there, move away from the door, I'll get it open!" There might not be anyone in there, sure. She really hoped there weren't, but she had to be sure. Power to the leg engine, feeling its hum around her lower leg, Robin kicked at the door, hopefully with enough force to break it open but not enough to hit anyone that might be inside.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Neat" commented Jones as the elevator box splintered open, having no chance against a mighty Justice kick.

 

"You are getting the hang of the smashing!" he added, applauding her destructive power.

 

"Together, we gonna bring this place DOWN. With your kick and my lunch. By arm or leg!"...

 

....

 

Fortunately the elevator was empty. No pizza of mashed and flattened flesh. No splatter of blood against the walls. Just bent and distorted metal and a flashing emergency light.

 

"Let's get this party started!" said a keen Jones. "You got any explosives with you?"

 

[RocketLord]

Getting the hang of smashing? Robin was half of a mind to start smashing Jones, if he kept the commentary up. Well, at least there were nobody inside, which meant that nobody had gotten hurt by Jones' stunt. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned back to Jones.

 

Robin replied, with a bit of a harsher tone to her voice than before. "No. I don't." And even if she did, she was not about to share it with a lunatic like Jones. Once this was all over, she'd really have to look into him back at uni, try and make sure he wasn't up anything dangerous. 

 

But, she needed something else here, didn't she? Why was Jones doing this? So, maybe if she stuck around, she could find out something more about him, and just why he was doing this. Was he related to Anna somehow? 

 

Grabbing the Justice Buster with both hands, Robin raised it and started moving forward, trying to take the lead now. Better than Jones running ahead and smashing everything. "So, why are you doing this anyway? Did they hurt somebody you know?" Bit of a leading question, sure, but it might help.