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6 yrs ago
Hey guys, don't catch the flu. It sucks! - PSA from your friendly neighborhood Targaryen
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7 yrs ago
Our father's were evil men, all of us. They left the world worse than they found it. We're not going to do that, we're going to leave the world better than we found it - Daenerys Targaryen
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8 yrs ago
Time and space - time to be alone, space to move about - these may well become the great scarcities of tomorrow. - Edwin Way Teale
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8 yrs ago
Ever make a mistake so bad, that it hurts every time you just think of it? Ever wish you could go back in time and fix everything so you didn't hurt the one who matters most? Yeah, me too.
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8 yrs ago
Hail Hydra!

Bio

Do not go gentle into that good night
By: Dylan Thomas


Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Most Recent Posts

Nano Impulse & The Champion



January 2nd, 09:15 AM
US Army Outopost ‘Land’s End’ Facility, Hub City, IL.


"QUARANTINE!?" The voice of a young, distressed, and McDonalds-lacking girl echoed loudly across the small room that the group of survivors had been confined within. Despite her tone and the way one might take it, Nano's group was not in any sort of inhuman condition. Sure, the room wasn't huge, but there was enough room for all of them. There were more than enough beds for each member of the group to have their own, and there were private bathrooms and showers. Along the walls were plenty of books to keep one entertained, and there were simple couches and chairs where one could sit. The far wall had a long window along it, providing a view not of the border, but the city that lay beyond. As if meant to let those in the room orient themselves a bit before they would be allowed into the city. Of course, there was also a part of the room with medical equipment set up in case there were any emergencies. The doors were locked closed, but still it was quite a humane treatment. But the girl within the room, was completely distressed. She had spent so long wandering the scar, that Nano wanted nothing more than to be free in the city. Able to experience what she had missed, and not worry about some eldritch horror around every corner.

As such, she was pacing the room, stopping every now and then to comfort a member of her party or chat with them. But it was clear to see she was upset by the sudden change of being locked into the quarantine room. She wanted nothing more than to get out, and go get her damned McDonalds right now. Still pacing, she ranted to herself about being stuck. After a long few minutes on this track, the girl let out a sigh and moved to one of the beds along the wall with the window. Sitting on it and putting a metallic hand to the window she muttered softly to herself. "I made it, Mal, mom, Verra. I lived for you guys and made it out of hell." She said softly, a small smile gracing her features.




The US Army Border Processing Facility- Hub City (known to the locals simply as ‘Land’s End’) was always a… special little adventure for Duncan. Usually, whenever they called looking for him specifically, it was because they’d accidentally let in something they shouldn’t have, were being attacked by some Coven raiding party looking for weaknesses, sacrifices or runaway slaves or, once or twice, dealing with a serious dragon problem.

Needless to say, the man had seen the place on fire more times than he had not. And it was pretty much guaranteed that a day spent here was not exactly going to be a pleasant one.

Today, however, was a bit of an exception. As apparent with how they’d called him personally instead of going through the usual channels (and while he may or may not have been laying on the couch, sans pants) to pay back a little favour he’d asked of them nearly a decade ago now.

To call him up at the first sign of anything relating to Central City.

The American Army was generally good about these things once you’d saved their country once or twice.

Touching down on the tarmac in front of the base and breathing a visible sigh of relief that, at first glance anyway, the whole place was neither on fire nor under siege by some murderraping death-cultists and/or a giant monsters, The Champion took a minute to brush off all the winter frost his jacket had accumulated on the short trip over from Halifax. Just as two uniformed men strolled on over to meet him, as they always did on those rare occasions he was here and everything wasn’t going right to shit.
“Champion. Glad you could make it.” The older of the two, a Colonel greeted with a slight nod and just the slightest upward twinge of his scarred lip.

”Glad that you called, Lennox.” Champ replied, finishing off his post-flight maintenance and walking forward. ”How many and how are they?”

“Probably best you see for yourself.”




The girl never saw the Champion arrive, having turned away when the local kid had asked her to come play with him. Of course, the young hero obliged the boy as she wanted to ensure he felt as comfortable as he could. Afterall, it would be a bit of a shock to see the normal world for him, one that he had never seen before. So, while the Champion was being briefed and brought to the quarantine Nano was ‘chasing’ the member of her group in a game of tag. Naturally, the cybernetic girl ran a bit slower to let the boy get ahead and have his fun. Though everybody in the room stopped and turned when they heard the sound of the doors unsealing with a soft hiss, opening up slowly. While the group wondered who was coming into the building, and if another group of survivors had miraculously been found on the same day they had.

What they found instead, was Colonel Lennox and his Sergeant, a mountain of a man with a red visor in place of the eyes he’d lost to a harpy and the maroon beret of the airborne infantry who was trying his level best not to look like walking, talking murder-machine judging by the awkward, forced smile he was currently wearing.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.” The Colonel said as he entered, removing his cap with a warm grin “How are we all settling in?”

As the two military men walked in, Nano instinctively moved to stand in front of the group of survivors she had brought back. Although unlike her, most of them seemed pretty relaxed to seeing the men come in. However, afterall having years of surviving in the scar she was naturally distrustful of men who were holding them ‘captive’. Quarantine wasn’t quite the same, but it still triggered reflexes within the girl. As she stepped forward, the tail that had been previously just lazily hanging behind her sprung up over her shoulder. The three talons around the outside opening to reveal the three nozzles inside menacingly. "We’re fine. What do you want?” She said in an even tone, looking back at the others in the room who still seemed a bit calm, and as such made herself slowly lower the tail. Though she seemed tensed, as if ready for a fight.

The Colonel raised a brow at that, but held his ground. Seemingly unphased by the implied threat of the young woman’s tail. The Sergeant, reacted in much the same fashion, though something could be seen shifting slightly beneath the arm of his uniform.

Before either of them could get a word in, however...

”They just want to know how you’re all holding up, Kiddo.” Came Champ’s voice from behind the two, walking up as they stepped slightly top the side with a relaxed gait, one hand in his pocket and the other wrapped around a styrofoam cup of java. ”...The bladed flamethrower’s a little much.”

Lennox simply cast a small glance back at the Canuck for a few solid moments before waving down his Sergeant and turning to leave.

“I’ll have monitoring systems shut off and leave y’all to get acquainted.” He stated flatly as he went. “All yours now.”

”Thanks, Matt.”

“Don’t mention it.”

And with that, the doors hissed shut and they were all left to their own devices.

”So…” The Kryptonian finally stated after a solid few seconds of silence, after he’d confirmed he couldn’t hear the minute electric buzzing of the various hidden cameras and microphones in the room anymore. ”You’re Nano from Central City, I take it?”

The girl noticed the sergeant moving, but didn’t really have time to react to it before a voice she had heard… many years ago made its way into the room. In a mere instant, she was suddenly a little eight year old again. Standing silent and still, she was at a loss for words as he addressed her. A feeling of awe struck in her, a typical reaction whenever The Champion himself appeared. As the soldiers left, and the Kryptonian addressed her, the girl started to quickly move towards the man standing near the door.

Emotions boiled over, a decade of trauma and fighting for her life every single day catching up to her. Nano’s pupils began to glow a menacing red as she approached the Champion, not all that dissimilar to the eyes of certain robotic exterminators from the old movies her father had enjoyed so, or to the color of the chaos magic that still hung within her system. The normally more collected young hero was overtaken by emotion, as she approached the Champion and swung a vicious punch towards his chest. Screaming in rage, in pain, as she struck out towards the hero so many idolized.

Champ, for his part, just kept on sipping at his coffee. Unphased by the hit and raising a brow he may just have learned over a decade of working with a particular Gotham vigilante at her.

”Well hello to you, too.”

Despite the gasps of surprise from the group she had escorted, along with some exclamations telling Nano to calm down the girl continued to swing towards the hero. Tears began to run freely from her eyes as she kept hitting the hero, screaming with each hit. "Where the hell were you!? We needed you!” She screamed, emotion clouding any sense of rational judgement. "Verra died! You weren’t there! You and Velocity just left us in hell!” She screamed at him, dark thoughts that had been lingering in the back of her mind finally bubbling up to the surface.

And as the young girl continued her assault on the Lion of Nova Scotia himself, the man in question’s demeanour steadily melted from playful sarcasm into concern… and then something else entirely as his coffee abruptly slipped from his fingers and an unreadable expression made it’s way unto his face as she screamed out one particular bombshell.

’Verra...?’

Very suddenly— faster than anyone could hope to track, in fact— the young cyborg’s fist was intercepted by the Champion’s open palm as he took a small step forward to get a closer look, his own eyes glowing red now, too.

”...Lexi?”

As he caught her fist after seeming to recognize the name Verra, the young girl tried desperately to pull away from the man. "You left us to die!" She screamed, tears running down her face freely as she froze upon hearing the name. She shook her head slowly in response. "Nano, now. Lexi died in Central City.

Abruptly, two things happened.

One, the glow in Duncan’s eyes faded away, replaced instead by a sad smile.

”Well, that’s a shame...”

And two, the Champion, Lion of Nova Scotia, Defender of Earth and the strongest man in the world... had gently pulled her into a hug.

”Because her sister and I have been looking for her for a very long time.”

The girl was caught off guard to say the least, a small noise of surprise easily heard as she was pulled into the hug. There her anger slowly died down, as she seemed to start to calm down. Now replaced by sobbing from the girl as she held onto Champ. "Verra lived?" Were the only words she squeezed out between the tears, a decade of trauma catching up to the poor girl.

”She did.”

Was all Duncan could say as the girl clung to him for dear life, a hand raising slightly to stroke her back reassuringly as she let it all out... being an older brother himself had armed particularly well for these kinds of things, it appeared. There were a lot of things he could say there. He could tell her who her sister really was. How he’d watched her smile fade, never to return, as she slowly, quietly collapsed in on herself and could do nothing to stop it. How every time he dared enter the scar, desperately searching for any sign of her or her mother, the Three Horned God would appear and beat him to near-death, so empowered by the chaotic forces of the scar.

He could tell her how he’d failed them both. And how sorry he was, but that wasn’t going to make it right.

No. There was only one thing he could do.

”...I can take you to her, if you want.”

He finally offered, releasing the embrace but still resting his hands on the girl’s shoulders to give them a gentle squeeze. Looking down at her with that same sad smile.

Only now, with a little glimmer of hope.

Nano looked up at Duncan, the red fading from her eyes and instead being replaced by the bright, youthful hope that had been missing from them for nearly a decade. Something that had always been in her eyes when she talked to him and proudly declared how she would be a hero like Velocity and him the few times he visited when she was younger. For a moment she looked about to agree before stopping, and looking back towards her group then shaking her head.

"I… I can't. I want to go, but I told everybody here that I would be at their side until we made it. I need to see them into getting their freedom in civilization." She said in a sad tone, looking back towards the group watching her with various different expressions. The youngest looking at the girl with the same gaze that Nano herself always had whenever something came up on the news about Velocity as a little girl. "I believe I had always declared how I would be a hero one day, right Champion? I think a hero would save being selfish just a little bit longer to keep their promise to these people." She said again, looking over her shoulder at those she had led out of hell itself.

At this, Champ nodded slowly, releasing the girl’s shoulders and taking a step back.

”You’re right, kid. But only half right.” He said, a bit more warmth and mirth making it’s way back into his voice as he raised his gauntlet-mounted computer. ”...A hero also helps their friends be selfish every once in a while.”

And with that he turned his eyes from the girl to speak into the back of his hand.

”Mom. Can ya get Lennox back in here?”

”Of course, Duun.”

The girl looked up at Champ as he stepped away from her, tilting her head as he spoke. Though a look of complete confusion moved over her face as the Champion asked his… mom for help. That was a strange moment for the young girl, but her attention was soon stolen whenever she felt a small tug at her hand. Turning around, she looked towards the boy pulling at her hand. Pointing towards the man talking to her with a questioning look. "Oh. Thats right, you never knew about them.” She said as she crouched down to his level and guided him over next to her. "Meet The Champion. He’s a superhero, like me. He actually was the guy who inspired me back when I was your age.” She said with a small smile before the boy moved behind her, still seeming slightly shy, and whispering to her that she was still his hero.




Two Hours Later…


One conversation with Lennox, a lot of paperwork and a whole hell of a lot of vaccinations later. Champ found himself in an oddly familiar, if unforeseen situation.

Soaring through the air with a Valinova on his back.

It honestly didn’t take all that much to get Lennox to agree (as previously stated he had saved the man from a dragon or two). And after he’d vouched for them and ran their backgrounds through the Justice League’s own mainframe, the scar survivors were allowed out of quarantine after the usual (though drastically lessened) amount of red tape and on a bus towards their new subsidized, fully-furnished homes on Uncle Sam’s dime.

Though, truth be told, Duncan was never that fond of throwing his weight around and calling in favours whenever it suited him, this was… a special case.

”Hey, Kid.” He called over his shoulder, in between keeping an ear out for any super-sonic footfalls on the ground below. ”You alright back there, or should I speed up?”

The entire time they were flying, the Champion wouldn’t be bombarded by the squeals of delight and joy he had heard when flying the younger girl he knew around. Instead, she remained silent as she looked around the open sky. A sign that her life in the scar had very likely left the once jubilant girl in a much more mellow, subdued manner. When he asked his question, the girl had to shout for him to hear her over the roar of the wind. "I’m alright, I just want to find her!”

At that, the Kryptonian Canuck flashed the girl a little smile.

”Well… alright then.”
Jade Schneider




Focusing on the magic around her, and within herself, Jade once more attempted to channel the magic to create a flame in her hand. Of course, it did not manifest beyond the form of a few small sparks. With a small grumble, Jade was once more back at square one. Moving her finger across the braille in the book, the girl carefully read the details of the spell once more. Truly, it was a simple little spell compared to some of the others that she had read about in just paging through. All she had to do was condense the air in her palm, and then form a magical spark to ignite this fuel-rich source to create the flame. After that, it was a mere problem of bringing in more fuel to continue feeding the small burst of flame. Jade wasn't sure exactly what point she was messing up, after all she knew she could produce sparks and at least heat up the air.

Hearing Chiron's question, the girl nodded and turned her head in the direction of his voice. "Maybe a bit of advice? I'm trying to use my time wisely, and practicing this spell to learn how to manipulate magic better." She said, explaining the details of the spell that she had figured out to the centaur, then explaining how she could create the sparks, but wasn't sure what else she was messing up to create the little fireball. The girl even offered the centaur a demonstration, which once again only yielded some small sparks for the effort and concentration she put into it. "I was wondering if perhaps you might have some advice that could help me figure this out? I imagine I'm not your first student who tried to learn how to use magic." She said in a polite tone, geuninely hoping that perhaps the famed trainer of heroes might have some knowledge that she was missing.
Vasani'Brinme Skirata || The Shadow




Oh great, just what she wanted, the situation to somehow get even more chaotic. Brin was starting to grow very wary of everything aboard this damned ship. As the blaster bolts flew all over the place, the girl decided that she better contribute to something to ensure her place among the crew. While she was wary of the crew, she was firmly at the point that she had a choice of die or join the crew at this point. Starting up her datapad, Brin began to tap furiously at it as the streams of data flowed along the eyepiece. The girl focusing on her task she kept her head down, slicing her way past the Noreaster's firewalls that were set up. As the girl did her actions, small curses could be heard as she tried to battle her way past the firewalls within. Surprisingly enough, these firewalls were sound enough to actually put up a fight against the twi'lek, something that wasn't terribly common. Although the task was surprisingly slow for the girl, she still was able to make it past the security protocols and into the ship's systems.

First, she overrode the controls on the cargo hatch, forcing it to close just a bit faster than was completely safe. She was certain that the captain wouldn't be too angry if there were a bit of paint missing from the force of the door closing. After that, she switched her attention over to the engines on the ship. Turning them onto the lowest thrust setting, she knew that would not be enough to move a clamped ship, but would dump an obscene amount of heat into the hanger that contained the Noreaster. Her goal was simple, to cook the bastards shooting at them alive in an oven roughly the same temperature as a starship's engines. Mere moments after starting the closing of the hangar doors, she heard the sound of a turbolaser firing after the droid spoke up, her eyes going wide with surprise. That droid was certifiably insane. Not long after, the blind man suddenly appeared in the cargo hold. Just as the cargo hold doors closed, throwing the contents of the cargo ramp into the hold, the sound of the engines to the ship starting on their lowest setting would be heard through the ship.








Roman Carter





Location: Wakanda (E7)
Skills: Technokinesis



The man kept with the group and listened to their suggestions. While he agreed with the girl about destroying the cameras, he also wanted to try to keep them and use them for their own benefit. Yet, he would not get that option as the Ultron drones soon started to close in and start to fire upon them. Of course, they had to fire upon them, because what was a day without being shot at by murderbots anymore? Redirecting his attention, the man focused on the Ultron bots firing at them. With the intention of causing some critical failure in all their systems. He closed his eyes to allow himself to focus as he battled past whatever firewalls Ultron had put up to try to keep others out of his little toys. When he opened his eyes, six of the Ultron drones suddenly seemed to freeze up for s second before exploding into little bits of shrapnel as he sent their cores into a reckless overdrive.

"I'll try again, I doubt an ICER is going to do shit against those drones!" He said, going to check the cameras for reinforcements before realizing he had lost control. With a sudden swear, he spoke up again. "I lost control of the cameras, but on the bright side I can confirm from before I lost control, that the speedster is dead." He said quickly, frustration edging into his tone as he tried to calm himself and focus on calming himself to go for another attack on the Ultron drones. He wanted this time to flip their friend or foe identifiers opposite their current status but knew it would be a bit before he could commit to such an attack once more.
Jade Schneider




The girl was very thankful that she was going to be allowed to sit out this game, as it would be much easier for her to adapt until she started to figure out what her place at this camp was. She certainly she would ever be some sort of fighter like this game seemed to be training them for. Unlike the comics, she wouldn't turn into some sort of super-cool ninja using her other senses to see or anything fun like that. No, instead Jade would just be boring, normal Jade. Blind as a bat, but hey at least she could apparently cast magic. Though she wondered how effective that would be given that she couldn't exactly see where she was trying to cast the spell. Jade doubted anybody would want to be lit on fire by some giant fireball because 'oops couldn't see, lol!'. That just sounded like something that was almost a surefire way to get yourself hurled off the nearest cliff or 'accidentally' lost in the woods with a bunch of really hungry monsters hanging around.

Soon enough she was dropped off by her sister with Chiron, and the girl stood there clutching her spellbook to her chest. She was a little nervous hanging around a mythical creature right before some big fight, even if it was training, was about the begin. But hey, guess when you're at super-secret-demigod-fighting-camp, you do as demigods would do. Once everything was set up and they were in the right place, Jade went and found herself a nice place to sit. Pulling out the spellbook, she thumbed through to the page about the fire spell she had tried to show off earlier. Carefully she read through the braille page again, determined to take it nice and slow, figuring out where she had gone wrong earlier. She muttered a few words of frustration to herself, just barely loud enough that Chiron might hear as she was practicing, determined to get it down to show her cabinmates.



Roman Carter





Location: Wakanda (N7)
Skills: Technokinesis



Roman looked between the group assembled as they debated what to do, and Shuri gave the ever so helpful advice. Literally, the exact thing he had just suggested that he do. The man mentally grumbled to himself as his exact suggestion was given back to him, but decided that arguing against it at a time like this was very likely a terrible idea. He simply gave a nod towards the girl as she told him to find something that he could use in the valley. With a long sigh, he calmed himself so that he could focus solely on trying to find something that could prove useful to their efforts. Something like a flying vehicle that could draw attention, or maybe even some stuff he could overload to force the speedster to go investigate and eat up some time trying to fix or figure it out.

However, he was suddenly distracted by the calling out of Niah by Shuri, and how the girl seemed to have her eyes clouded over. Roman swore and tried to focus on his task at hand. As the temperature suddenly fell, and snow started gathering all around them, Roman's focus on his attempts was thrown a bit off. Using his inhuman abilities had always been a bit of a struggle, as he never got official training on them, and unfortunately, the sudden cold wasn't helping. He still managed to get control over the security cameras in the city, however, something which he thought would prove useful and focused on keeping control of those systems. "I can't focus well, I need a target or a calmer enviornment. But I do have control of the security cameras, I can help us find a safe way around once we are in." He said quickly, continuing her attempts to find better systems to help out the group.

Jade Schneider




As much as spectating the whole capture flag match sounded, Jade doubted she would really be able to do much spectating because... you know, blind. It might end up with her just clinging to Chiron or whoever was spectating in a panic from all the chaotic noise all around. At the same time, however, she most certainly wanted to be there to support her cabin. Especially after they were there for her and ever so helpful all day, despite her disability and her just being suddenly thrust into their cabin as she had been. She was lost in thought for a long while, at least until Annabelle and the rest of her cabin started to get up to leave. Moving in closer to put a hand on Annabelle's arm so she could lead her back to the cabin, Jade formulated a simple plan.

"So, Annabelle, I wanna spectate the match tonight to support you guys, but I also am worried that I might panic hearing all that chaos when I can't see much of anything. I'm thinking I might read my spellbook and try to learn some small things. Having something to focus on... might let me avoid the panic! So I can be there to support my siblings!" She said happily, following along back towards the cabin as she tried to think back to where she had left the spellbook in her cabin. The girl's mind was also thinking on about the different spells she might learn as well, while spectating the game. Then another thought jumped into her mind, as she turned her head towards her sibling. "Oh, and Annabelle, don't forget to tell me who wins the match! I don't wanna cheer if we lose!"



Roman Carter





Location: Wakanda (N7)
Skills: N/A



"Suppose you're right, Doctor." He responded calmly before quickly moving to grab his icer from upstairs and running back down to make it through the portal. He somewhat wondered why the wizard from before felt so inclined to comment on the situation, after all if he was so perfect why didn't he just magic the damn vibranium to the sanctum? Oh yeah, because there were some things even he couldn't do. Either way, the agent decided that he should probably focus on the task at hand, given that they were now in the open. He wasn't overly eager to test his powers directly against Ultron, however, and decided that if he was going to avoid all of that mess... he would need to be fully focused on the mission and task ahead.

"Well, what do we have along the walls or inside the city? The good thing about my ability is that if I hack something to make some noise and draw her attention, I'm harder to trace than a computer." Roman offered as he stepped up to the group. "Perhaps I could set off a siren, or something to make a bit of a distraction to get her over there once we get closer for an extra safety net?" He asked, looking between the group as he wondered how they might react to his proposal. Of course, he doubted that it was the best plan but, it was what he had in about ten seconds of thinking.
Jade Schneider




The girl breathed a long sigh of relief as she was reassured that she would not have to participate in Capture the Flag. The girl was no over-eager to have a bunch of people attacking her with pointy things when she couldn't even see where she was going at that moment. At least that was one big weight off of her chest, and Jade could rest easy without fears of being trampled by a bunch of people trying to get to a damn flag. That, and she didn't see much of a purpose of trying to fight other people who were trained when she didn't even know how to fight anything herself. Apart from beating them with her cane, which for some strange reason she didn't think would be overly effective again monsters or kids in armor. Go figure.

The next topic her mind zeroed in on was what her half-sibling said about the whole magic taking a while in order to master. She wondered how long it would be before she was capable of doing things like hurling fireballs around. Maybe she would even be able to find a spell to let her see again, or at least something similar to that. Maybe she could be all cool and badass like daredevil? Blind but could use her magic to be able to see and fight with her other senses. Man that would be cool. Still, that was a long way off and she didn't even know if such a thing was even possible. She debated asking one of her siblings about it, but wanted to try to figure things out her own way instead of having to go to somebody else for help.








Survival

January 2, 9:30 AM
The Shattered Scar, Near the Hub City Border




Hidden in the abandoned husk of what was once a gas station along the road leading into Hub City, the young hero looked back at the collection of survivors from all those years ago. Where their numbers had once been about twelve, now only six sat in various locations around the old building. Dirt was caked deeply into their skin, scars covered their bodies, and their clothes were torn from years of attempted survival in the Scar. Their frames were gaunt, each of them almost looking like some zombie out of an old Halloween movie from their malnourishment. Of the six, three were clearly in their later years. All of them above the age of 60, yet still holding on with the hope of one day seeing the civilization they had lost all those years ago. Two more were in their mid-30s, survivors they had found wandering in Central City after the destruction. Sitting between them, a little boy who looked about the same age that the young hero had been when she was still bright-eyed and full of innocence. Despite their varied experiences and ages, all their gazes lay upon the nanite-infused girl sitting just beside the front door to the gas station.

The girl looked at the scared faces of the group before her, the wear and tear of the years in the Scar clear upon all of their bodies. Yet their eyes were hardened and filled with determination. One that showed their will to survive the hell they had been living within for the past ten years. "Okay. Hub City is less than a day's travel from here, just behind that big fence. We've nearly made it, just one final hurdle before we are finally there." She said to the group, looking at each and every one of them for a long few moments. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm thinking about McDonalds tonight." She said, with a diffusing smile to try to keep the situation in a positive manner. "Now, I'm gonna take a look outside before we all head out. Get your things packed, we're about to make it." She said quickly before getting to her feet and heading out the main door, a small sigh escaping her lips as she wondered just what the world was going to through at her today.

Once outside, the girl's gaze was on a careful swivel as she looked around the area to see if their pursuers of the last few days happened to be nearby. For the most part, it was a rather empty patch of land. Not much was moving, to either side of the road or along it. In the distance, she could see the fence standing like a beacon of hope for her little group. Marking the end of a decade's long battle, and finally, something that might resemble peace. However, the peacefulness of the girl's gazing towards their destination would soon be interrupted. She spun around suddenly as she heard the clear sounds of movement from nearby the gas station. She could see the shapes of three silhouettes moving together in a slight formation moving towards the rear of their gas station. It was evident from their movements that the group hadn't noticed her or her allies inside. Quickly, yet quietly the girl rushed over to the gas station and held a finger to her lips to signal for them all to be quiet as she arrived.

"Here is the plan, our friends are outside. So I'm gonna go out there and handle them. When you hear the fighting start, I want all of you to run. I'll their attention on me." She said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Without even waiting for any sort of response from the group, she was then moving in a crouch across the gas station towards the back door to the building. Careful to keep her steps light so to keep the sounds from her metal feet hitting the concrete floor to an absolute minimum. Slowly, the door did creak open as she was able to sneak out and move to hide behind a pile of boxes that were left unstocked whenever this gas station was abandoned. Peeking around the side of the cardboard boxes that provided her with a (flimsy) form of cover, she took stock of party that was stalking her group. Three individuals, two who she guessed were non-magi cultists, judging by how one bore a shotgun while the other was a very large man bearing a fire ax. One seemed dressed in robes and muttering small things under his breath. A mage, she assumed.

Lunging forward with all the might in her legs, the girl lunged out with her tail and managed to catch the group off-guard. As they were turning towards the source of the sudden sound behind them, her tail lunged out and grabbed the cultist with the gun by his head. Immediately flinging him directly into his ally bearing the ax. The two men shouted in pain and surprise as they were knocked to the ground, and the girl followed it up by forming a tri-barrelled machine gun at her right wrist, firing in a wide arc towards the opponents in a move meant to push the enemy on the defensive. Now that they were fully aware of her presence, the mage quickly caused the ground to rupture upwards to block the bullets for himself. The man who had been holding gun lay bleeding as the bullets from her spray tore a path up his back. Yet she was forced to retreat as the other man came in swinging with his ax, a mighty war cry leaving his lips as he swung wildly down towards her. Thankfully she was able to push back and dance out of the way of the incoming ax, just barely, as it slammed into the ground hard enough to break the pavement.

The man never got raise his ax again, as the girl lunged forward in an explosion as retaliation to throw him off his feet. The man grunted and stumbled as she slammed her shoulder into him, as the wall of pavement behind them fell and the mage appeared behind the two engaged in vicious melee combat. The cultist swinging vicious blows as she deftly tried to dodge, or stab her tail into the fray to deflect from impacting her smaller frame. She knew these cultists were enhanced with their chaos magic, and that they could easily do permanent damage from even just a single blow. The girl's tail suddenly snapped up and yanked the man's right leg out from under him, sending him crashing down to the ground. Then immediately followed up with a single shot from her weapon to his forehead. "Two do-" She started to say as she turned back on the mage, only for her eye to shoot wide as she saw a blast wave from the mage tearing towards her. She shouted in pain and coughed up blood as the wall she was slammed into exploded against her back, and she was sent rolling through the gas station. Her body came to a rest with a hefty impact against the opposite wall, and she was just barely able to look out and seek the distant figures of her group running towards the fence in the distance. Good.

She was locked in a vicious battle, with various magics being thrown around the small area and the gas station quickly being reduced to rubble. Her ranged attacks seemed simply unable to connect with the mage, as he was always ready with some spell to defend himself. Then he was able to easily keep her at range, due to his many spells that covered a wide area. She was once again shot back into the rubble of the gas station, laying in pain as she found herself unable to react and get up as well as she had beforehand. The mage having seemed to stun her, and slowly moving over to complete his kill. A small smile was worn on her face as she knew she was at least able to get everybody else to safety and away from these mad bastards.

Then she heard a scream from the direction her group had gone. The child in her group had seemingly broken away from the rest and was shouting at the mage towering over the girl. To her horror, the mage turned away from the girl as he seemed to decide to take down the child shouting at him, and the group that seemed to be running away. "No!" The girl shouted, roaring back to life as adrenaline flooded her system and kicked her into overdrive. The prongs on her tail sunk deep into the man's back, as the girl stood up behind the mage groaning in pain and looking back towards her. Her face clearly displaying rage clear as day, before she flung the mage to the ground and a single shot rang out from her weapon. Then rushing forward, she scooped up the child who had been paralyzed in fear and made her way back to link up with the group once more.

Within a couple of hours, they had finally arrived at the great fence that separated the Shattered Scar from Hub City. The girl moving forward despite her various wounds to attempt to flag down anybody working at the barrier, hoping that they would be able to get through and escape this hellish nightmare. That alone was a production that eventually was ended whenever she channeled her nanites to make her arms become a very reflective surface and flashed her makeshift mirror towards the buildings on the other side. A single guard made his way towards the second fence on the opposite of a bit of no man's land, inspecting them before speaking into his radio. Not long after, they were allowed through the gate but stopped on the other side by a group of guards who seemed well equipped enough to handle a full-on assault if one were to come. Despite the armed guard all around them, the girl was able to breathe a sigh of relief and felt a smile grow on her features as they were each asked to identify themselves. As each member stated their name, she felt the pressure leave her shoulders. They had finally made it, after ten years. Then came her turn to state who she was, and after a few moments of thinking, she looked the guard in charge in the eye and gave a confident response.

"The name's Nano, from Central City."






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