The Great Machine (Round Two: The Evolving Labyrinth)

**The Dr.** · 07-09-2010, 12:56 PM

Hey now, my character's technically a human. While he was an omnipotent god, now he's bound to his human avatar.

...I think he's sane, so there's that too.

**WoodlandBeef** · 07-09-2010, 06:01 PM

B'aaaaww...Hijack! You ruined it!

Originally Posted by Wojjan

**Pick Yer Poison** · 07-09-2010, 07:22 PM

**granolaman** · 07-09-2010, 08:05 PM

The only course of action now is to entirely fill up the second page with inane chatter and let the third page start with the intro.

**WoodlandBeef** · 07-09-2010, 09:29 PM

Originally Posted by granolaman

The only course of action now is to entirely fill up the second page with inane chatter and let the third page start with the intro.

All in favor....say Aye!

~Aye

**granolaman** · 07-09-2010, 09:36 PM

Actually I'd rather avoid inanities so instead I'll ask a question:

I never played BlazBlue so I don't know anything about this Carl Clover guy, what's he like? I wanna keep the similarities between him and my character to a minimum if possible.

**gloomyMoron** · 07-09-2010, 11:27 PM

The Mechanic looked down at the small recording device as he moved it from screen to screen. "So, little one, what did you see? Who have you chosen?" The Mechanic rewound the device and pressed play. A series of images were projected onto the wall depicting 'The Nine'. "Hehhaha. Excellent, excellent. Come little one, there is much to prepare. You still have to become become one with Mother Machine. Nehhahahahaa."
---------

Darkness. Void.

In one of the many chambers of the Great Machine, unfathomable darkness existed. Darkness so great it would drive nearly any mortal who looked upon it mad. Suddenly, light flitted and permeated within the darkness exposing nine circular platforms upon nine pillars arranged in groups of three. Within the center of the lighted darkness another, larger platform existed. Upon this platform various machines, electronics, and devices sprung to life as a figure suddenly appeared within the center of the circular platform

The Mechanic studied the devices around him before moving. As he moved from machine to machine he flipped switched, turned dials, and monitored screens. A soft, barely audible hum droned and echoed throughout the chamber. A sinister hum accompanied by deafening silence formed the chorus; the verses consisted of footfalls, electric crackling, and the turning and flipping of various dials and switches. The Song of Noise crescendos and echoed and, suddenly nine figures stood upon the nine platforms atop the nine pillars.

"Three upon three by three, thus The Nine appeared amidst the Song of Noise. It is as the Great Machine wills. Welcome, travelers. I am known as The Mechanic, and-" The Mechanic turned to survey the visitors atop their perches. Each stood motionless and still, completely incapable of movement. "You'll have noticed that you are quite paralyzed, yet quite conscious. I have taken steps to limit your movements for now, as it is not yet time for you to scurry like ants nor howl like dogs. Now is the time to listen.

You've been selected to play a game. A game for entertainment, yes but also a game with a purpose. You shall work together in teams of three and gather objects that I desire for me. Seven objects in seven locales makes for seven rounds. Make it to the end and be rewarded with freedom and a prize. There is a slight catch though, at least one of you will die in each round until the finale. The final three of the final round must become the one. There can be only a single winner.

The overall rules are simple, do anything within your power to reach the round's objective. The rounds themselves may have other rules to follow, but the general rule always apply. Chaos. Mayhem. Carnage. Drama. Team-work. ENTERTAINMENT! Keep it interesting. Ahh now I should move on to introductions."

Light gathered and intensified around one set of three platforms as the other two sets of three dimmed slightly. Standing atop them, three figures came into focus. The front most figure, a man, seemingly much younger than his late-20s, wore a maroon robe tied at the waist with a black rope, his cowl lay unused, and his hair flowed into a tightly tied ponytail. The man, though lean, stood as though he could carry the weight of the world upon his shoulders. Confident. Brazen. Possessing a spirit not yet worn from life long lived. If The Mechanic had his way, this would soon change. "This young, proud warrior," The Mechanic announced, "goes by the name Lenzo Emerson. He is what those in his homeworld would call a puppet mage. A puppeteer capable of controlling a specifically manufactured war-puppet for use in combat. His war puppet is already waiting for him at the first location. Its name is Movie or something like that. Its unimportant."

The second figure, barely noticeable upon its platform, was a small device that glowed a light blue. The device, smaller than a person's thumb, seemed out of place upon the comparatively large platform. "Where is...? Ahh yes. I forgot to..." The Mechanic turns, flips a few switches on his console and then, suddenly, a young, semi-translucent man appears. The young man was quite strange in appearance as he appeared hollow with glowing shapes and lines all over his body. Even stranger still was the fact that he appeared to be sitting upside down at an impossible angle. The young man stared out unable to move or speak like the others, despite being an incorporeal. "This is the avatar for the Simulated Intelligence Multipurpose Override Engine, shortened to S.I.M.O.N. An advanced piece of experimental technology in his home dimension, S.I.M.O.N. possesses the ability to interface with nearly any machine or electronic device and overwrite it. This program was also an experiment in sentience, one that was largely successful. To be perfectly honest, I half expect S.I.M.O.N. to suffer from a buffer overrun turn become little more than a child's game involving a series of flashing lights. We shall soon see if I'm right or wrong, I suppose. Next on the list should be a doctor..."

The third figure, a man appearing to be in his mid-30's, wore a white lab coat and latex gloves. His neatly trimmed hair and clean-shaven face betrayed no more than that he belonged to the upper echelons of society. In one hand he carried a clipboard, and in the other he held the handle to a large medical bag. He held himself with a certain degree of calm and appeared to stand in a relax, though not slouched, manner. To most people would say he seemed fairly average, not too remarkable but not forgettable either, but to a very small number of people would say he seemed crooked and hunched, despite standing straight. These people would seem to move away or disappear suddenly, at times, however. "Ahh speak of the devil, this is Doctor Lucifer Merikh. In his world he is rather famous, one might even say notrious, for being a world-class doctor with many specializations. He is particularly apt at the removal of organs and body parts... via surgery, of course. He transferred jobs often, and constantly honed his skills with each new job he took. He once even held a position as Head Podiatrist somewhere. He should prove to be use in the coming trials, just remember he's a doctor, not an engineer."

The light around the three contestants faded, and then shifted towards the next set of platforms. The first platform of the three lit up, focusing on its occupant. A mesh of wires, gears, and various devices laid in a seemingly random pile. At the front of the pile a small robot on a single wheel sat immobile. In the pile, various components turned, sparked, and sputtered but like its small leader, it too was otherwise immobile. "This is Clockwork. If S.I.M.O.N. was there pinnacle of High Technology; clean, efficient, and smooth; Clockwork could be considered to be at the apex of "Low" Technology being a conglomerate of various parts working together as one. Where S.I.M.O.N. overwrites, Clockwork assimilates. Clockwork was a repair-drone, until the entire civilization that built it disappeared and it went inactive. Upon reactivation many years later, it made its goal to fix it all the best that it could. Well, you can all see how that is going so far, but he is pretty singular and determined when set on a goal so he should be quite the dependable ally."

The second platform occupant's, who glowed a dark blood red naturally, features came into focus next. A form of stormy red mist in the very general shape of a woman stood at the center of the glow. Besides the slight glow, and the swirling red mist, the "woman's" face and body were nearly featureless. "Next on the list is Crimson. She is a 'thoughtform'; a physical manifestation of mental energies. She is generally an angry and hateful creature, though this is by design rather than choice. She doesn't seek confrontation but she is quick to anger, and quicker to act. Her mood swings are at least predictable, and towards one mood, so as long as her enemies manage to piss her off more than her 'allies' do, she should be a reliable fighter."

On the third platform a tall, somewhat muscular, and heavily scarred man stood stoically. His visage was not unlike that of a gnarled, battered, and ancient stone statue. Across his eyes a white wool bandanna was wrapped tightly; his body was barely visible against the surrounded black engulfing darkness, even in the light, due in part to the black combat uniform he wore. "Williams, Tom. In his world he was former Special Ops sniper and ex-soldier. A cynic since the day he was born, he believed only in power and strength. 'Might makes right', as the saying goes. He was blinded after returning home to his family, and has since trained to recognize and use sounds as a limited form of echolocation. Despite his disability, he is a more than capable fighter. He is also adept at stealth and patience. I know they said Justice was blind, but Tom here might be even more blind. Hah."

Once again the light dims and shifts to the next set. Upon first platform in the last set of three, a seemingly normal human male was perched. He wore a long sleeved, white shirt with collar and a fairly non-distinct pair of black jeans. Save for a long wooden lance with a blade at one end and a lamp at the other, he could otherwise be described as faceless or generic. "This is.. hmm. Huh? Who is this generic dron- ahh. I see. This is the vessel of The Creator. The Creator was a being of creation and destruction. Order and chaos. The Creator was the Source for his home dimension. The universe, the worlds, the multitude of their inhabitants were all able to exist because of the creator. In order to get closer to his creations and revel in their likeness to himself, he created an avatar; a human body to serve as his container and vessel. This human body has all the limits of any other mortal body, however. Boring. That is boring. Bah, I must have miscalculated and summoned him at the wrong time. Oh well, it doesn't matter much as I accidentally summoned his staff with him and with it he is able to summon elementals of arcane power, though their powers are reduced in a universe that is not their own. Oh right, the human's name. The Creator goes by the name Michael while in his human form. Im just going to call him Mikey though. Do you like that, Mikey? If you like it stay silent." A few moments of insufferable deafening silence reverberate throughout the chamber before The Mechanic speaks again. "He likes it. Mikey likes it."

The second platform held a rugged looking man. His build was very slim, but also slightly muscular. He stood up straight, almost unnaturally so, as if he was standing his ground against the pull of gravity and the laws of nature. His hair was in the style mullet and its color an eerie pitch black. He wore a brown trench coat, a pair of sunglasses, and a pair of dark blue pair of jeans. "This is Joeseph Radd. He tends to be extremely serious, and displays an extremely cocky attitude towards others. He could be described as a bit of a jerk, really. He possess lightening reflexes and amazing speed and agility. In a fight, his speed will undoubtedly be helpful."

The form on the final platform proved difficult to see against the black background. The lights intensified to better highlight the last player. The lithe, smooth form of something vaguely humanoid stood at the center of its pillar; it appeared to be vaguely like that of a male. His skin was a smooth, piercing pitch black that seemed as though it would absorb any colors that were around him. The structure of his body flowed gracefully, giving the impression of a gently moving river despite being entirely motionless. His equally black hair, only noticeable due to its slightly more lustrous nature, spiked upwards and back. In the center of his back, a large gear was embedded. With deep, glowing red eyes; large, sharp fangs; and long, dagger-like claws, he appeared as a nightmare incarnate. "This creature is Pickbot, a member of the now dead race known as Cog. Seemingly insane and unstable at times, he loves to pull pranks on others. Unfortunately for others, his idea of a 'prank' often doesn't end well for them. Pickbot is several centuries old, and has managed to outlive the rest of his race entirely, and his abilities to manipulate the shadows and amplify the fears of others are not to be underestimated. Add those abilities to his fierce claws and teeth, and he could prove a valuable ally and a potent enemy."

"With the introductions finally out of the way, we can move on to the first round. I will be sending you to a desolate and deserted sea-side city of a post-apocalyptic world. There you will seek out clues and explore the ruins in order to find a piece of technology I need for The Great Machine. I will provide you all with the first clue now, and leave you all to find the rest. The first clue is:

'Like a snake, I crawl;
Through the earthworm's tunnels.
'Til I reach earth's gaping maw.'

Oh I forgot to mention, the long-dead denizens of the world you all are going to built many robots and defense systems into their cities to protect them from wild, and savage beasts. In the long centuries since their destruction, some of these defenses have failed and the robots gone berserk. You'll have to contend with various giants beasts and machines on your way towards the goal. Well, good luck. Bye."

As suddenly as The Nine had originally appeared, they disappeared. Each team of three would next find themselves at random locations throughout the decrepit and dying port city, and from there they would seek to solve their first clue.

__________________________________

**Ixcalibur** · 07-10-2010, 02:58 AM

It was the middle of the day, but Crimson would not have known. The sky was a cloudy grey mess completely obscuring the sun. She, and her newly introduced teammates were standing on the sand of a long thin beach. A handful of sand around her feet was whipped up into her body by the motion of her swirling mists. Its passage around her body was almost inconsequential, except for the fact that it was annoying as hell. In front of her, towards the ocean were creatures, huge crab-like creatures, mutated and inconsistent. Some the size of a regular humans with pincers that could slice through a neck. Others smaller but with extra twisted limbs, more sharper pincers, dripping poison glands and so on. There was no rhyme or reason to their shapes except that they were all deathly silent and almost exclusively horrifying. Crimson noted, through her new found hatred for crabs and crab-like things, that they seemed to all group together near where the black/grey ocean hit the sands. Almost as though there was an intangible line that none of them were willing to cross. Very few, maybe one or two had actually moved further up the beach. Further down the beach to Crimson's left she noted why, one of the monstrosities that had passed the line clicked it's claws loudly enough that she could hear it, and suddenly a hail of machine gun fire was focused on the creature, obliterating it and spraying it's thick black ichor across the sands.

Slowly Crimson turned her back on the ocean to face the town itself. Except standing in the way was a huge barricade of steel and iron and barbed wire, along the top of which were machines mounted with machine guns and occasional rocket launchers. Another click of a claw and far to the right another wandering crab monster was torn to shreds. It did not take a genius to discern the nature of this defense system. The sentries listened for the sound of the monsters, and fired upon it, although Crimson guessed that they were not too picky about what classified as the sound of a monster. She glanced to either side of her, at the man with the black combat jacket and the pile of junk. Though she had hated them both from the moment she saw them she understood the nature of the game and of teamwork. The blind man looked the most potentially fragile of the pair and so she quickly grabbed him, forming a hand across his mouth to stop him from crying out and getting them both killed and dragged him towards the barricade. She would explain what was going on the moment she felt she was safe.

**granolaman** · 07-10-2010, 04:15 AM

As soon as the mechanic finished his speech, the platform room disappeared and Lenzo found himself on top of a towering building along with the two people that were just introduced as his teammates. Around them the view was obscured by an omnipresent rusty haze, but the silhouettes of equally tall structures loomed in every direction.

Lenzo allotted himself a solid minute of taking in his surroundings and situation before finally uttering a warranted "What the hell?"

"It apppears we've been summoned for a tournament of sorts, and this seems to be our first arena" the blue entity said. What did the Mechanic call it? A program? Must be another word for spirit, Lenzo decided.

"Arena? Tournament? I don't have time for this. The enemy is at our gates, we can spare no warrior."

"Then I suggest you start trying to win this game as quickly as possible," the other man sniped back snidely. Did the Mechanic mention that this one was a doctor? Seems useful enough, but why summon a physician to fight warriors? Something seemed odd.

Before Lenzo could pursue the matter more, he heared the sound of a door opening behind them. A small figure stood hunched in the entryway of a stairwell

"Lenzo..." the thing spoke, barely above a whisper.

"What's this, one of the machines the Mechanic spoke of?" The doctor asked, reaching for his bag.

"No," said Lenzo as he walked towards the form, "this is Mu-V, my puppet." He scooped the small body into his arms. The puppet clung tightly to his robe. "Heya, Vee, did you miss me?" Lenzo asked fondly, gently cradling his doll. the puppet said nothing, but laid her head on Lenzo's chest.

Suddenly, a colossal shadow shifted through the haze with a deafening sound of metal groaning and weight shifting. Was that one of the buildings moving?! Lenzo couldn't remember how many monoliths he had counted, but he was sure there were more now. They seemed closer now too.

"I'd hate to cut this touching reunion short, but perhaps we should abscond to a slightly safer locale?"

"I agree whole-heartedly" Lenzo replied, gently moving Mu-V onto his back and heading for the stairwell.

**piester** · 07-10-2010, 06:47 AM

Joseph looks at the Desert of rust that The Mechanic called the ruins of a lost civilization, and says to himself "Dear god, is their rust in the wind?" he says, before getting a bit of the rust in his throat and starts hacking and weezing like a cat with the hairball in his throat, When he finally gets the rust out, he remarks "Dear god, did I just cough out blood? Christ on a bike, could the mechanic person pick a worse place to start this stupid little "'Tournament"'" of his?"

Joseph looks at his two team-mates and laughs.

"Well, if we are going to look for this thing, I strongly suggest my hover-board, we could get an arial view of this hellhold, making it less
like finding a needle in a haystack and more like finding a needle in a school-desk"

Joseph takes out his hover board and presses a button on the side, making it extend to a size suitable for three people.

"Welcome to Radd air, where the only safety precaution is always pray to god that you don't fall off!"

Joseph hops on and does one of those "Come over here gestures" to his teammates to come on too.

**Pick Yer Poison** · 07-10-2010, 08:14 AM

Pickbot unclenched himself slowly, despite never having realized he had clenched in the first place. Running one of his hands - now devoid of its claws - through his spiky hair, he surveyed his surroundings.

He and his other two teammates appeared to be a small, ruined lobby of some sort. Judging by the size of the building and what seemed to be a checkout counter at one end of the room, it was once a hotel. Emphasis on "was" - it was clearly in extreme disrepair. Chairs littered the ground, many of them broken, and a good majority of the front windows were smashed in. Above them, a large chunk of the ceiling was missing altogether.

The edible that the Mechanic had called Joseph Radd was complaining about the rust, but the other, The Creator - Michael - didn't seem to be particularly taken aback by the sudden change of scenery, at least no more than any being who was suddenly brought to an unknown place to take part in a bastardized contest would have been.

Pickbot's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Joseph, who began chuckling. "Well, if we are going to look for this thing, I strongly suggest my hover-board, we could get an aerial view of this hellhold, making it less like finding a needle in a haystack and more like finding a needle in a school-desk."

He pulled out a brightly colored board, and pressed something on it. It quickly tripled in length, enough to fit three humanoid entities without too much trouble. It was quite clearly the aforementioned hoverboard. "Welcome to Radd air, where the only safety precaution is always pray to god that you don't fall off!"

He hopped on, gesturing to Pickbot and Michael to do the same. Pickbot shrugged. "Seems fair enough to me." He carefully clambered aboard the strange vessel, his hands blending into the rest of his body, making it look more like he was flowing up its side than anything else. He pointed up at the rift in the ceiling, which was showing an ash-clouded sky. "I suggest we go through the pre-made hole, instead of trying to make one ourselves."

**Wojjan** · 07-10-2010, 09:21 AM

It makes for a strange feeling to not be able to move but still feel, still see, still know. A strange feeling in which time itself becomes the most fickle, subjective matter, and the churning feeling in the gut of being warped out of your homeworld, put upon a tower and then equally fast dropped onto a beach.
For that very reason, it was a good thing a little robot couldn't feel, or hadn't a gut to be churned. It took some time to asses its situation. It processed the endless sea behind it that refused to flicker in sunlight as per lack of sunlight. It processed the sandy beach it has been mercilessly chucked upon, that scraped coating off the copperwire it tried to break its fall with. It processed all the info The Mechanic offered him on the other contestants, but this is saved for later. Right now, it mostly processed the task it was given: the riddle.
Like a snake, I crawl; - to move with the body resting on the ground.
Through the earthworm's tunnels. - an invertebrated creature known to dig fine tunnels
'Til I reach earth's gaping maw. - The earth's core is about 5761 km from the earth's surface, and assumes temperatures of about 13,600,000 K.
It never was any good with riddles, especially those of the interpreting kind.
It saw Crimson tread off somewhere, other team member in arm, and as far as Clockwork was concerned, none of the parts on the defensive wall they were heading for seemed to fit the description of the riddle. It didn't pay the other contestants much heed, and decided to simply tend to its own matters.
Firstly, it decided to check if he himself wasn't the solution. It flung itself on the sandy bed, corroding machinery toppling over it in the process, the started rapidly spinning circles to see if anything in his supply indeed crawled like a snake and proceeded through the earthworm's tunnels 'til it reached earth's gaping maw. It wasn't the case. However one of the objects violently swung onto a star-shaped key, neccesary to turn on the stellar dome in tower B2-Demeter, as to mimic the night sky, had a pattern upon it that, precisely and geometrically perfectly resembled a spiraling snake.
It picked up a drill with tremendous caution not to break anything, then held it up in the general angle it recently fell from, hoping the almighty hand of The Mechanic would pick it out of its clawlike limbs and pat it on the head for a job well done. That wasn't the case either.
Twice presented with failure already, though not in the least ready to give up or in, it gathered what wheels and belts it could find, set the thundering mess of parts in motion, scrolling past the isle at a steady rate and pace, hoping to bump upon anything relevant that in the best case crawled and bore and reached earth's gaping maw.

**gloomyMoron** · 07-10-2010, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by granolaman

**Drakenforge** · 07-10-2010, 12:23 PM

The space Tom occupied changed suddenly during after the introduction. This was it. This is what he was told to train for. The sounds of the ocean sent out contant sound waves, allowing him to easily identify even the smallest crabs on the beach. He also found his two "teammates". He was used to working as a cell, but one of them was hard to make out. As if their form was not a constant. It unnerved Tom, who had to make precise images to work effectively. Then he heard the gunfire. It obliterated a crab that had just clicked it's claws.

He figured out the mechanism. Now he needed a way to bypass it. He could move silently enough, but he wanted to warn the other two first. As he turned his head, Crimson lached her hand onto his mouth, dragging him forwards. Tom complied quietly. One outbrust of noise could get them both killed. He stood to his full hight, pulling his face away gently. He nodded to the shape, mentally colouring it crimson to make sure he didn't mistake it for something else. As they stalked across the beach, he looked back at the one that was called Clockwork, seeing it shimying across the sand. Snake like. Tom guessed it was atempting to solve the riddle by trail and error, like a child with shaped blocks attempting to slot them into the correct spaces. Tom decided he would attempt to figure out the riddle as well as soon as he was in a space where his body wouldn't be ripped to shreds by gunfire. As he thought this, both he and Crimson met the edge of the barrier. He instinctivly pressed his back against it, left left palm flat on top of it too. He sent out a pulse to get the schematics of the area, and looked at Crimson questioningly. It seemed she might have some sort of plan, and Tom was willing to play along.

**Wojjan** · 07-10-2010, 01:13 PM

Clockwork carried on. The sea behind it faded away as quickly as the though a drill would be the correct answer, and soon, it found itself treading over a long since abandoned motorway, occasionally graced by a dillapidated vehicle. Its first impression of the island faded soon as the towering constructs emerged out of the chestnut-tinted mist. It reminded him...
The vines of ivy had long since claimed this city as their own, and any attempt to fight their forceful grim on the frozen concrete was as futile as trying to actually enter any of the buildings around without weaponry. Clockwork started working. Combining a fistful of wires and gears, soon an automated catapult came into existence. It shredded open the plants containing an office with a sharp gear, picking it up from its landing spot as soon as the job was done. After one use, the catapult quickly fell apart due to the lack of sturdiness and the powerful backlash the gear had given.
The building was easily the highest around. The elevator - out of order, naturally - indicated a number with some LEDs occasionally blinking in the second digit. It entered, and screwed open the control panel. Combining the fuel it found in a jerrycan long ago, a bunzenburner from who-knows-where and some dull metal plating, it used the newfound makeshift lighter to wipe out the plants around the circuit entirely. It replaced and adjusted until finally the buttons lit up. building a staircase out of metal bars and bronze plating, it arrived at the top button, conveniently labeled H.
The elevator halted at the top floor, apparently a roof. There was a small ramp up to give way for a helipad. It looked over the edge for a better view of the city. It saw the towering buildings, the ivy descending into the underground, and the floor endlessly far away from where the robot stood. The view reminded him...
Life was good in Caricot, the flying city. The people had little to no worries. Since no one knew of their existence in a city in the sky, how could there be war? Since everything they lived on was nature itself, how could one be poor? Since the coming of the sentient format, how could one be helpless? The world worked, and finally, it seemed mankind had rid itself of its previous failures, started anew, and won this time around. Until, of course, the definite downfall.
Clockwork stood close to the edge. He was taken by surprise at the sight of what he was sure to be his home. He returned to the elevator, not wishing to recall that fateful demise of the levitating empire he called home.
The elevator wasn't all too keen on Clockwork's second visit, especially after the brute arson it committed to its innards. It greeted the robot with naught but a distrusting clank, and the screeching of metal against metal. As it again pressed a button - sir had to visit the ground floor this time - the elevator crankily dropped itself down the chute at an immense speed, hitting the bottom with a satisfying crush. The presently destroyed elevator and all parts operating it now joined the ranks in Clockwork's lagging bundle of metal.
The view from above did have some sort of benefit to Clockwork, besides a nostalgic reminiscence. It saw the ivy head down into the ground, as the riddle suggested the answer to be. The overgrowth intimidated Clockwork, but nevertheless something in it remembered the riddle. "Ivy crawls.",it hopefully muttered to The Mechanic, still awaiting a word of praise.

**The Dr.** · 07-10-2010, 02:00 PM

[background=#000000:c5jpd21s]Befuddled, Michael opened his eyes and suddenly found himself surrounded by a city of a brown, scrapey material. As he felt it the memories began to flood back to him as to it's makeup. It scratched on his fingers gently but roughly, slowly scraping off as he dragged his finger along it. Fragile.

He closed his eyes and breathed in heavily. Now he remembered it. Rust; a combination of Steel and of Water, the former being one of Earth and Fire. While it wasn't necessarily that simple, as there was a number of workings that Michael would have to redo if he were to recreate this element, he decided to stick with it and left it simple. While he could easily remember details at a glance from the vast knowledge he had of the world, he soon realized that he would have to remember much and he didn't want to strain the human confines of his brain. It could only hold so much before it began to forget things to make room for more, and he certainly did not want that.

Before he could ponder the environment further, one of his teammates spoke up, interrupting his train of thought. While at first he was perturbed (and slightly angered) by this, he remembered why he'd come down to Earth in the first place. If it weren't for his teammates the audience would become bored, and soon would Michael as well.[/background:c5jpd21s]

"Well, if we are going to look for this thing, I strongly suggest my hover-board. We could get an arial view of this hellhold, making it less like finding a needle in a haystack and more like finding a needle in a school-desk." [background=#000000:c5jpd21s]As the contestant Michael identified as Joseph Radd said this, he pulled a small board of metallic material from his back and pressed down a button located on it's side. What was once a small board soon morphed, through advanced mechanics, into a wide board easily capable of carrying multiple occupants.[/background:c5jpd21s]
"Welcome to Radd air, where the only safety precaution is 'always pray to God that you don't fall off!'" [background=#000000:c5jpd21s]The man, whom Michael noted had incredibly good posture, motioned for the two other in his team to get on. The Pickbot character let out a content sigh and said,[/background:c5jpd21s] "Seems fair enough to me. I suggest we go through the pre-made hole, instead of trying to make one ourselves," [background=#000000:c5jpd21s]while pointing a dark finger to the clouded sky above.
Michael scowled and began to spoke for the first time. "Two rules. One: I will not be referred to as "Mikey." Two: I do not want anything to do with you and see no need to cooperate unless I need to." Sickening people, he thought. While at first he thought the man in good posture might be polite and of good manner he seemed to be different. Michael did not appreciate this.
He tapped the ground with his lance, and as such it began to glow a greenish blue color, before the glass lamp began to leak a thick airy substance. It formed into a ball, which sparked profusely, stretching out and feeling everything it could. Snapping a larger piece of rusty metal from his surroundings, Michael nodded to the ball. "Wind, would you do the honors?"[/background:c5jpd21s] "Gladly. [background=#000000:c5jpd21s]A voice that traveled through the air seemed to speak to all of the contestants, and a harsh wind began to pick up under Michael's feet. "Many thanks," he uttered, before jumping on the rust board and letting himself float a good 3 feet off of the floor. As the orb returned to the glass lamp on the staff, Michael looked back over to his two teammates.
"Let's move, then, shall we?"[/background:c5jpd21s]

**piester** · 07-10-2010, 03:28 PM

"Wow, I didn't think this Thing would be so crowded, Whatever, It will have to do, well let's get going then,
I still don't get the clue the Mechanic gave us though.

Like a snake, I crawl;
through the earthworm's tunnels.
Till I reach Earth's gaping maw.

Wait a minute, Earthworm's tunnels, underground tunnels...."

Suddenly it hit him, he realized what the Mechanic was talking about.

The Board flew up through the hole in the ceiling.

"Where going to the subway tracks, that's where we'll find what we need too."

Joseph flew through the air, looking for a subway entrance, after around 10 minutes of searching, he found one.

"Get ready to land."

Joseph landed at the entrance of the subway station, and ran down the stairs, victory waits for nobody.

after looking around the station for a bit, he finally found what he was looking for, a Subway train.

"Perfect... Let's hope this thing still works, or for that matter, let's hope I can drive it."

He walked up to the driving cabin and Kicked the door down, took of his shades and used the shade's handle as a substitute key to start the Subway Train... Somehow that managed to actually start the thing.

"Yeah!! This is going to be awesome!!" He jumped into the Drivers chair and got ready for what would probably be a batshit insane trip.

He honked the horn a couple of times in excitement.

**Pick Yer Poison** · 07-10-2010, 03:57 PM

As the hoverboard raised out of the hole in the roof, with Michael close behind, Pickbot gazed out over the ruined buildings. Ash floated through the air, resulting in a slight fog, but he could see far enough to tell that it had once been a great city. Gigantic skyscrapers loomed above the team of three, covered in dull red splotches of rust. Here and there were signs of a crumbled building, and twice he saw a dark shape prowling through the streets. Fortunately, they were high enough up so as to be out of reach.

Joseph was speculating as to the meaning of the riddle, when he suddenly halted in his muttered thoughts. "We're going to the subway tracks, that's where we'll find what we need!" he exclaimed, and without further explanation dived down further into the city, weaving between buildings as he looked for something. Finally, he came upon the object of his search: a tunnel leading underground. He parked the hoverboard at the entrance, dismounted, and ran down the steps. Pickbot lowered himself speculatively, and the hoverboard skidded on down after its owner.

Pickbot walked down the steps cautiously, but he needn't have; no surprises were in store for him down there, save for a long tunnel stretching out of view and a curious oblong machine made of metal, studded along the sides with windows, all of them dark.

Michael drifted down after them, surveying the surroundings with only mild surprise. [background=#000000:3oxi57bo]"Anyone care to explain what we're doing down here?"[/background:3oxi57bo]

Pickbot shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. I'd ask Joseph, but the damned edible seems to have vanished." He walked towards the metal contraption, examining it closely.

Michael had just opened his mouth to reply when two deafening blasts of noise emanated from the metal contraption. All the lights flicked on in it, and a low humming start up. Both Pickbot and Michael winced at the sudden change from the near-total silence that had been present so far.

However, they weren't the only ones who had heard the metallic creature's bellows. A howl echoed down the tunnel, and perhaps it was just a side effect of the echoing, but it sounded particularly gruesome. Several answering howls echoed from the other end of the tunnel, followed by even more, until it was impossible to tell where they were coming from.

Pickbot took a few steps towards one end of the tunnel. "What in..." He peered into the blackness. Then, without clear reason, he abruptly darted back towards the metal contraption and tried to open one of the doors. It refused to open, as it was a broken automatic door, but Pickbot didn't know this, nor did he care. After a few failed attempts to yank it open, he raised one of his arms back. His fingers rapidly grew into razor sharp spikes, and he began slashing at the door until it was reduced to metal ribbons. He paused before he slipped through, turning back to Michael. "You coming, Mikey?" He grinned, revealing unnaturally pointed teeth, before passing through the ruined doorway.

**WoodlandBeef** · 07-10-2010, 05:12 PM

Dibs after Pyp! (Is that okay?)

**piester** · 07-10-2010, 05:57 PM

Also, I just realized something, Did I just start a subway with a pair of sunglasses?

**Pick Yer Poison** · 07-10-2010, 06:58 PM