Geez3r Posted August 19, 2009 Posted August 19, 2009 "Hey! No panicking. Me, the police and the other heroes will hold the line. Nothing is targeting anyone in particular. These creatures are mindless, they go after what's around. If you go and I stay, they go after me and not you. And I'm taking them down before they have a chance to go after anyone else. So go home, stay there and get some rest. I'll take care of everything. Trust me."
Dr Archeville Posted August 19, 2009 Author Posted August 19, 2009 "Oh, thank you, thank you!," she cried, throwing her arms around RRG. "Um... could you... get me down from this roof? I'm not sure how to get down."
Geez3r Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 "Heh. Sure thing. Hold on tight now." RRG lifted off gently this time and then descended back to the ground, and deposited her back on solid ground. "Once this all blows over, the police might want to hear your testimony of the events, but right now they have more pressing matters. So make sure to stop by in a day or two. Arlight? Here you go... Ma'am. I never did get your name..."
Dr Archeville Posted August 20, 2009 Author Posted August 20, 2009 "Oh, yes, I will!," she says, before planting a kiss on RRG's faceplate. "Thank you, Rocket Man! Oh, and the name's Marie, Marie Müller." She then runs off.
Geez3r Posted August 20, 2009 Posted August 20, 2009 God I love this job. RRG takes a moment to ensure Marie is alright and heading the right way before taking off again. He flies in a large search pattern over that section of the city, as he kept his eyes peeled for any sign of the creatures. He also kept his radio on in case the police tried to contact him.
Dr Archeville Posted August 20, 2009 Author Posted August 20, 2009 RRG sees no more signs of blob-monsters from his aerial view, nor any chatter concerning additional dead bodies. The chatter he hears over the radio from the police is nothing out of the ordinary (for an investigation of a mostly-devoured, nothing-left-but-a-head murder victim). From the radio chatter he hears that they're taking the head and as much of the goo and slime as they can collect -- from the area around the head and from the trees nearby -- back to the labs.
Geez3r Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 "It's never simple is it? As soon as you think you're on the verge of being overrun by monsters, you can't find anymore around. The only clues are things that I barely understand. The police have it in hand for now I believe. Better check in with them before I head off. If I'm going to have to patrol the area all night, which I'll probably wind up doing, I'll need something to eat." RRG flies down to where ever the police have set up shop, and asks who ever's in charge "Is there anything else I can do other than keep an eye out?" feeling distinctly useless.
Dr Archeville Posted August 22, 2009 Author Posted August 22, 2009 A young (and somewhat star-struck) medical examiner approached, "er, Mr. Rocket, sir, there's... well, unless you're good with identifying strange flesh- and bone-melting goo, you probably-" The young man was interrupted by an older man who walked with a cane, "Mr. Pilgrim, I am sure our armor-clad hero does not need your advice on how to do his duties. Besides, I believe you have some duties which need attending to...." The younger of the two scampered back to his work. The older man began to walk away from the others, and motioned for RRG to follow. "Sorry about that; Jimmy tends to get quite excitable when he meets one of the city's superheroes. You especially, after you'd rescued his girlfriend from that rampaging alien in Downtown Freedom back in March. Still, he needn't go wandering off, not when he still has important duties to perform, like 'bagging & tagging' evidence." "As for what more you can do, however," he said, turning to face RRG directly, "I believe you would have more luck if you searched from the ground, not above it, where the trees obscure your view. The slime trails on the trees only go up about three meters at most, so while they're hard for a person going about a normal, eyes-to-the-ground routine, they'd be impossible to spot from above the treeline."
Geez3r Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 "Nice to meet you Mr. Pilgrim." says RRG at the retreating medical examiner. People coming up to thank him never quite got old. It just let him know that for all the hardship, he was actually accomplishing something down here. "I was taking to the air to give your men room to work, but now that you point it out, it was rather pointless wasn't it? Thank you for the tip officer, and keep in touch. If I find out anything you'll be one of the first to know. And if you find out anything, please let me know. Stay safe." said RRG as he departed, flying just a bit above the ground this time, seeing if he could find any clues.
Dr Archeville Posted August 22, 2009 Author Posted August 22, 2009 RRG finds several trees have slime trails going up and down them, about one every 300 feet or so. He also notes a distinct lack of forest sounds. True, this wasn't a completely wild forest, there were jogging paths and electric lights going through, but there should still be some sounds... but there are none. As he keeps going northwest, he notes that the slime trails are becoming more frequent. Now they were popping up every 200 feet... after a few more minutes or searching, every 100 feet... after a few more minutes, every 50 feet...
Geez3r Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 RRG gets on his radio as he continues going towards the epicenter of this event, relating some information to the police. "It appears as if the creatures are coming from the northwest. If the number of these slimy patches is any indication, there are loads of these creatures. I'll continue to search to see if I can uncover anything else. Also I'm noticing a lack of normal animals about. I think they may have been attacked as well, or wisely cleared out. Rocket out."
Dr Archeville Posted August 22, 2009 Author Posted August 22, 2009 There is one consolation to the increasing number of slimed trees: they're away from the jogging paths, so it is highly unlikely someone would have run into them. Now the slimed trees were 25 feet apart.... 10 feet... soon he figured he'd be in an area where all the trees were slimed. But where were the things doing the sliming? [[ One Notice check, please. ]] RRG suddenly knew: three housecat-sized blobs of translucent green nastines flung themselves out of the trees and towards the hero!
Geez3r Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 "Under attack by the creatures. Engaging now." Under normal circumstances, RRG would have launched a rocket and be done with it, but a blase here would destroy far too many trees. He wanted to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. He performed a quick barrel roll so that he was flying on his back and let one of the creatures taste plasma.
Dr Archeville Posted August 22, 2009 Author Posted August 22, 2009 RRG's blast goes straight for the blob in the middle, which explodes, showering slime everywhere. Some splashes onto RRGs suit, but internal sensors indicate it's doing nothing worse than making the enamel crack slightly. The remaining two both land on RRG, one on each shoulder. Suit integrity sensors indicate that they are secreting a cocktail of potent digestive enzymes, but all its doing to the suit is peeling the enamel.
Geez3r Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 "Okay, play time's over, get off of me." RRG blast the creature on his left shoulder with the palm plasma blast. He takes a moment to enjoy the smell of ozone in the air, the smell of science.
Dr Archeville Posted August 22, 2009 Author Posted August 22, 2009 The blob vaporizes. The one remaining on his right shoulder crawls up and covers RRG's face, but the suits airtight seals keep it from toughing his flesh.
Geez3r Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 RRG holds his hand up in front of his face, and the energy concentrates in the palm. Then RRG remembers the situation "Wait! Bad idea is bad." RRG then has the smarter idea of attempting to tear the thing off his face, and then apart.
Dr Archeville Posted August 22, 2009 Author Posted August 22, 2009 And he does. From what RRG can tell through the tactile senors, it feels like tearing apart a wet burlap sack. A wet burlap sack filled with potent digestive enzymes. All seems quiet again.
Geez3r Posted August 22, 2009 Posted August 22, 2009 "Blegghh. That was just about the most disgusting thing I've ever done. Thank you face mask, whatever would I do without you?" After spending a moment to shake some of the slime off of his arms, RRG gets back on the horn. "Okay, 3 more of those critters down, making that 4 so far. They're pretty much blobs of stomach acid, I highly recommend keeping your distance and engaging at range, if at all. I believe I'm getting closer to their main spawning point. Here's hoping there's not as many of them as I think there are. Rocket out." With that RRG continued his journey northwest, hoping to find the epicenter of this madness.
Dr Archeville Posted August 22, 2009 Author Posted August 22, 2009 RRG continued onwards. More of the housecat-sized blobs dropped on him from their perches in the trees, but his fantastic armor both protected him and made short work of them. As he went deeper in, the blobs started getting bigger, but his armor held up admirably. There were ones the size of large dogs, but his armor saw him through them with no more trouble than it did through the housecat-sized ones. But when they stared getting man-sized, things got a bit more troublesome. Specifically, when three dropped down on him from above.
Geez3r Posted August 23, 2009 Posted August 23, 2009 "My god! If these creatures were set loose on the city, the destruction they would reek!" If their size was any indication, these creatures would by much stronger than their predecesors, so RRG decided to play it carefully. He kept his distance and blasted one of the creatures before using his superior (he hoped!) speed to his advantage and got well out of harms way, using the zoom on his visor to keep on the creatures.
Dr Archeville Posted August 23, 2009 Author Posted August 23, 2009 RRG's blast hits, and vaporizes one of the blob-monsters with no problem. The other two land with a sickening THUD on the ground, but quickly rise up and continue coming for the hero, moving with frightening speed. They reach up and grasp at RRG's rocket-boots, and get a solid hold on! But, again, the suit's sensors tell him that their secretions, while stronger than those of the smaller blobs, are not potent enough to do any real damage. There is something else different about these massive blobs: RRG can make out some sort of sound coming from them. It almost sounds like.... [ Notice check ] "flllessshhhh.... joooiiinnnnn...."
Geez3r Posted August 23, 2009 Posted August 23, 2009 "&*#%!!! They're fast!" cried the surprised RRG. He regained his composure somewhat when the creatures against couldn't get through his armor, but their moanings drained what little color he had left in his face. He had seen too many bad zombie movies to know that when the mindless horde started talking about flesh, it was never, ever a good sign. RRG tore off the creature that had previously latched onto him. He then called out over the radio "I don't know how better to explain it. These blob creatures are like fast moving zombies. Keep your distance at all costs!" RRG took his own advice and backed up rapidly from the remaining creature, if for no other reason than to see how fast they truly were.
Dr Archeville Posted August 23, 2009 Author Posted August 23, 2009 RRG tears one of the creatures off of him, and it falls to the ground with a wet THUD The other one dashes for him, but is not fast enough to cover the gap; it's still well over 100 feet away. "flllessshhhh.... joooiiinnnnn...."
Geez3r Posted August 23, 2009 Posted August 23, 2009 "Thank god!" breathed RRG as he observed the gap between him and the creature. It was a very good feeling being faster than his opponents. It had gotten him through a great number of battles and hope it would serve him well through the challenges to come. RRG changed course and barreled at the creature, its purpose now served. RRG blasted the creature as soon as he got within firing range, and continued on his course towards the source of this mayhem, doing his best to keep an eye on the tree tops.
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