ic Fire & Steel

[RocketLord]

GM

 

January 5th, 2022

Claremont Academy

 

For almost a full year, Matt Wagner had been held at Claremont Academy's medical wing. Few knew that he was there, and fewer still seemed to pay him much mind. Luke Landers' friend-turned-cyborg had been quiet since the encounter with Nightscale and Watchdog, kept stable by the medical staff at Claremont, yet remaining unconscious and unmoving. Luke had been told that he was stable, at least.

 

The second the day turned from January 4th to January 5th, Matt opened his eyes and smashed his way out of the room.

 

The next morning, Luke was called. By the time he arrived, the headmistress was already in the medical wing, her eyes scanning the scene.

 

"Your friend woke up, Mr. Landers." 

 

It sounded almost like a question.

Edited January 10, 2022 by RocketLord

[Nerdzul]

As soon as Luke knew that there were news about his friend's condition, the young man's mind immediately raced to the worst. After all Matt had been comatose for almost a year by then with no sign of improvement. His heart had began racing and only managed to slow down, if only a little, only when he had learned that instead, Matt had 'merely' escaped. 

 

The young man had closed the distance between the dorm and the medical wing at record speed. Barely dressed with the first things that he had gathered from the mess of his side of the room he shared with Leon, hair wild and short on breath. 

 

"Woke up? That's good news right? Right?" He furrowed his brows as he realized the condition of the room. "How? When? How long...?"  

 

"We need to find him." He continued. "I mean, I..."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

Headmistress Summers shook her head. She looked at the damage that Matt had created during his escape.

 

"Yes, you have to." Summers stayed where she was, crossing her arms. "I hope I don't need to remind you that Mr. Wagner was here as a favor to you, and at considerable risk to the school, given the other party that tried to retrieve him, do I?"

 

The headmistress didn't seem happy about the situation, but she didn't seem like she blamed Luke either.

 

"We can't let this get back to the school. I hope you understand that, Mr. Landers. So, please. Do what you can to fight your friend."

[Nerdzul]

Luke nodded. Indeed. He had to find his friend and fast. And of course he was his responsibility. Always will be. 

 

"Of course..." He clenched his fists.

 

"Did anyone see anything?" He wondered, trying to figure out if there was some clue about his friend's whereabout. "Cameras maybe?" After all Headmistress Summers was always so prepared, there was definitely the possibility that she had left some extra security in the room.

 

Whatever. Even if they didn't have any clues he would still have a way to find him. 

 

Luke closed his eyes, a faint golden light still emanated from them as he tried tried to clear his mind, focusing on the bond he had with his missing friend, the adventures they had together, the the time they saved each other's asses while in Juvie. The dreadful night that Matt had been shot.

 

Where are you Matt?

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"Everything was wiped." The look in the headmistress' eyes betrayed the detached front she put on. She didn't like it at all. "We don't know if it was something your friend did on his own, or if he had help."

 

By now, Matt was far away, and yet, he was still within reach. As far as Luke could sense, Matt was still in Freedom, to the West of Claremont Academy.

 

Odds were that he were near Jordan International Airport by now.

[Nerdzul]

Luke frowned. "Ok... I'm gonna go after him." Why the hell was it happening now, he wondered. Whoever was keeping his friend hostage must have had a motive.

 

"We don't know if it was something your friend did on his own, or if he had help."

 

Then again, in truth, he didn't care. He just wanted to get Matt back and safe if he could. "Not on his own... Whatever that is, someone is forcing him, I'm sure of that." 

 

The teenage dragon than jumped outside, he had no idea about how far Matt could be, but he was gonna find him. "'Nks..."He saluted headmistress Summers and he was gone, his instincts leading him away from the school. Quietly he prayed that he could get there in time, wherever 'there' was. 

 

... 

 

As he dashed out from the room a thought started to sink in. What if he wasn't able to do this alone? Matt needed him and... Well... last time he had fail to help. What if... He was not alone after all, he had friends and one in particular that was much more adept at investigation than he was. He quickly typed a message for Chaz. 

 

A Friend is in trouble

need your help

Meet at the main gate?

 

 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Nerdzul

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The headmistress looked after Luke as he jumped out of the window, disappearing almost without a trace. 

 

She sighed silently, and shook her head. 

 

The wing was in ruins. It would be rebuilt soon enough, but the damage done to Luke could be worse. So much worse.

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

By the time Luke got to the main gate, Charlie was already there. He was wearing a jacket that just worked to conceal the Nevermore uniform that he was already wearing under it, without having pulled on the cowl, and the cape somehow hidden under it. It was a trick he had used a few times before, for quick undercover work, but right now, it was useful for not looking like he was all suited up and ready to go.

 

The moment Luke arrived, he was ready. This was serious, no doubt about it.

 

"Alright, I'm ready. What's happening?"

[Nerdzul]

Luke was short on breath when he met with his friend and in truth, it had very little to do with the exertion from the run.

 

"It's Matt. He is awake." Now, perhaps the young man hadn't shared with Chaz every detail about the relationship with his friend, but his comatose state and unwilling transformation into a cyborg was not a secret to him, or to the other young guardians. 

 

"And he is gone." The young man lowered his eyes. "Dunno why. Or how. Or... Whatever. I can feel where he is. I need to find him. And..." I don't think that I can do this alone. He left the last part unsaid, but it wouldn't take much for Chaz to figure it out with just a glance to the eyes of the teenage dragon.

 

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

Charlie crossed his arms. 

 

Yeah, Luke had told him and the others about Matt, he'd told them them a bit about the whole cyborg thing, losing control, and being in the infirmary.

 

And Charlie had used some of his own connections to learn a bit more. A not-so-young bird might have told him a few things.

 

"Alright. Let's go, then."

 

His bike was ready. 

 

"Get up and lead the way, I'll drive. We gotta be quick, right? And if Matt or whoever's got him sees you flying in..."

[RocketLord]

GM

 

For now, Matt seemed to have stopped moving. He was still at the airport, which they should be able to reach without too much trouble, especially on Charlie's bike, which wasn't exactly conventional.

 

The question was if they would get there in time, and what they would find once they got to the airport.

[Nerdzul]

"nks man..." Luke nodded, throwing a glance toward the motorcycle, on another day he probably would have teased his friend a bit for his themed ride (maybe out of a tiny bit of jealousy as well, the Feather was pretty rad), but his mind was too focused on the task at hand. 

 

 

"Get up and lead the way, I'll drive. We gotta be quick, right? And if Matt or whoever's got him sees you flying in..."

 

"Yeah..." He jumped on, with a fluid movement. It made sense, he was almost thinking about shifting and flying toward his friend on dragon wings, but it was better this way, safer, for both him and Matt. Truth was, though, without Chaz he would have never had taught of that. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

 

"Sure Let's go. I can lead the way."  He closed his eyes again and focused on Matt. "He's at the airport." Damn. There would be a lot of people there and plenty of damage to be done. I hope you are -ing fine man. The boy clenched his fists.

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

"Jordan? Alright, that's not too far."

 

Charlie revved the bike once, then set off down the road.

 

It wasn't far, but they still had some time.

 

"So... what do you think happened? Do you think your friend's gonna try to attack us?"

[Nerdzul]

"Yeah... He had been there for a while." Hopefully he hadn't hurt anyone. Luke frowned again. His eyes focused on the horizon toward his missing friend.

 

"I dunno... He... he is not in control of himself." That was messed up. "Whoever did this...." Is not more guilty than I am... "They can like, force him to do what they want through the implants."

 

"I hoped that school could do something about it. But not even there..." Even with all the superscience and powers available they couldn't...

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

Charlie drove in silence for a moment, while he listened to Luke. 

 

"Sounds like some serious tech. Maybe they just didn't want to make him worse? I mean, it might not even be possible to separate him from the tech, if it's keeping him alive?"

 

But, Matt might try to attack them, so they should be on guard. That was... great. Really great. Potentially remote controlled cyborg that might try to murder them, and they had to make sure not to hurt him too bad.

 

Reaching the airport, Charlie pulled over to the side and stepped off the bike. He pulled off his helmet.

 

"So, we look in there, we move together, try to stay out of sight. Let me know if you ping anything about him, and I'll send out a drone. I'll slip away and change when we find him." 

 

While he was talking, Nevermore picked up one of his small drones from his belt and put it in his hand. Moving inside the airport, he let it fly, sending it ahead.

[RocketLord]

GM

 

The airport was, as expected, quite busy. People were standing lines, running around to get to their flights on time and everything was generally chaos around Luke and Charlie.

 

But there was something. Luke could feel something, something that was his, deeper inside the airport, past the airport security scans... A feeling that something that belonged to him was there. 

[Nerdzul]

"Yeah... I... If there was a way... I'm sure that the school would have found it." Luke clenched his fists. "F- There must be. I mean... He is just... They can't..." 

 

Come on Luke! Matt needs you.

 

"There must be a way free him from them. That's what matters."

 

He nodded, following Chaz into the airport his gaze still hazy, like if he was lost in some sort of trance. Or in a freakin' nightmare. 

 

"There." He pointed toward the source of the familiar sensation. Now, of course, had him being thinking straight, he would have waited for Charlie's drone to scout the scene, but truth is, he wasn't. So instead, he darted ahead. "I need to get to him."

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

"Past the security, huh? Figures." Charlie grabbed Luke's arms and pulled at him, away from the hustle and bustle, to the side of the area. "Look, security's tight in a place like this. If you just go running through, you'll get in a fight with people that's just doing their jobs, right? Besides, Matt will see you coming."

 

The drone was still moving along, heading deeper inside. Charlie's watch made a beeping noise.

 

"Found him."

 

He adjusted his watch slightly, turning it so Luke could see the image of Matt.

 

"Seems like he's waiting for a flight. That's... kinda anticlimatic... Wait! Someone's moving up on to him..."

Edited February 28, 2022 by RocketLord

[RocketLord]

GM

 

A man was approaching Matt. A man dressed in a red and white striped custome, with a blue right shoulder with white stars. He had a bow in his hand, a quiver on his back. The red and white stripes stretched over the full face mask he wore. He was surrounded by a group of men dressed in black, with small American flags on their shoulders.

 

Luke would probably recognize him from when he, Ashley and Judy had first caught up with Matt.

 

U.S.Archer.

 

His body language told a clear story. He was here for a fight.

[Nerdzul]

Luke struggled for a moment against Chaz's grip, before finally relenting and following his friend away from sight. "Yeah... you're right..." He slumped his shoulders. It was not like he could barge past security anyway without casing a fuss. They would have to play things smart. "Sure. Ok. But we need to get there." Maybe he could cause some confusion and sneak past, but well... at a crowded airport, it was gonna be more harm than good.

 

The young man took a deep breath, trying his best to calm his nerves. "How do you think he managed to get past... I mean, he's part metal..." He mused,  perhaps they could use the same way in. Then again, it was not like he could figure that out. Maybe he could make an illusion to mask them as security or something then again, cameras wont' be tricked by his powers. 

 

"Hey I know that son of-" Nightscale clenched his fists again. "Matt is in troubles..."

[RocketLord]

Nevermore II

 

"Alright, go!" 

 

If a fight was gonna break out anyway... yeah, it was gonna be chaos. Having someone like Nightscale show up might actually help. 

 

Besides... Yeah, Charlie could do a little something about that. He could already see people moving away from the guy that was going for Matt with the drone, but they had to get everyone away.

 

He quickly ducked away to the side, out of the way. He had to switch into costume, while Luke could just transform, then he'd get to work.

 

[RocketLord]

GM

 

"G.I.Cyborg-Ex000! At attention!" U.S.Archer barked at Matt, while holding his left hand up. The other soldiers with him moved around Matt, circling around him and raised their rifles.

 

Around them, people were starting to notice what was going on, a man in costume that looked like a hero and soldiers surrounding a young man. Whatever they thought, everyone was starting to move away, putting as much distance as they could between themselves and the situation that was happening.

 

Matt looked at U.S.Archer, his expression was blank. He remained motionless, while the star spangled archer moved to grab his arm.