Germany
The first thing Calvin learned in Germany, was that they really knew how to make their sausage.
Two weeks ago, he'd split up with Lucy, after she was picked up by a MAVERICK transport, that threatened to arrest him if he didn't stop insisting he "tag along". So, after seeing on a TV how a mountain town in Germany was getting hammered by Robots, much like the ones that destroyed the Fighting Cup, he got the bright idea of "borrowing" a ride on a cargo ship, with an IOU and everything.
The town was up in the mountain, yet didn't look too damaged. But, the surrounding forest had multiple fallen robots, with ashes still fresh in the air. It was obviously a battlefield, that he guessed a bunch of people had died defending. So, he decided to return to the town, and hunker-down until the next robot attack occured.
But, apparently something Calvin and Robots have in common is never being in a hurry. He'd been in this town for three days, and not a single attack happened. So, here he was now. Eating a sausage that he bought with five bucks off some thug who tried mugging him, waiting for the army to bust by. But then, he heard a giant metallic roar, followed by panicked murmuring. Up in the sky, Calvin saw a giant dragon flying through the air, with some smaller humanoid object flying straight towards it. It looked like that was his cue... But how was he supposed to hit it from all the way over here?
Japan
"I see..." Ivory calmly nodded.
"But, I was not the one who hurled the car towards you. That would have been Commando, who I am sure is very sorry. Nevertheless, I did not "start this" conflict." Ivory nodded towards Commando, who nodded also. Ivory turned back to Khan
"But, you throwing your can at me was balanced out by Ricochet ruining your jacket. That was, as I have been informed, known as an "Eye for an eye", even if I would have preferred a less... forceful method of retribution. Yet, you have revealed to me an opportunity."Tortuga slowly walked behind Khan.
"If what you say is true, and you do not even apologize to those who you have truly wronged, and thus deserve one..."Tortuga's big thick hand grabbed Khan by his now-ruined jacket from behind, and lifted him up.
"Then I suppose I may delegate some of my time towards teaching you a lesson in apologizing."Tortuga hurled Khan towards a parked van. The crowd on the sidewalk took a step back, murmuring in shock. Ivory's face glew orange, as did the faces of all five Pioneers.
Germany
SMOLDR slowly walked towards the collapsed, transformed Seven-Seven. Both of his arms glew orange as he approached her. POCOA slashed up Justin, keeping him busy.
"YOU HAVE USED FORCE FAR TOO LETHAL FOR SIMPLE RESTRAINT. THEREFORE, NECESSARY SUBDUING TACTICS HAVE BEEN AUTHORIZED." SMOLDR's electronic voice buzzed. He picked Seven-Seven up off of the ground, wrapping his thick metal claws around both of her arms. He looked her straight in the eye as he began to pull them away from her torso. Just as he was about to subdue her, he heard a third voice from behind him.
"Hey dickweeds, fuck off," moments before a powerful soundwave collided into him, forcing him to Drop Seven-Seven. Before he could collect his bearings, a barrage of missiles collided into him. Two of them hit directly at
both of the exposed joints between his arms and body, blowing one of his arms clean off, and detaching the other in every aspect except for four wires attached to them... Which quickly severed. As if he didn't suffer a hard enough blow, Justin created a powerful shockwave, which not only toppled him over, but also blew off a few plates of his armor, exposing his hideous, biological skin. After several missile blasts, he was completely shrouded in black smoke, atleast hiding his giveaway disfigurements for a few seconds, if not a minute.
POCOA was also knocked away by Justin's hammer wave, forcing her camouflage to disable. She collided into a tree, but was mostly unharmed. She saw that Seven-Seven was disoriented, if only temporarily, Justin was still standing, a third well-dressed gentleman had appeared, and her partner, SMOLDR... was dead. Her night vision activated, showing that her comrade had both arms removed, as well as several plates that exposed controversial biological mass. This battle was obviously lost. POCOA activated her camouflage, and leapt away fleeing.
Rio
Rod flinched as Sage summoned and pointed a sword right towards his throat. Their voice had a sense of being "High and Mighty", acting like they knew what was going on, and that they could so much as grasp the scale Horizon Frontiers functioned on. The other guyl, Rosie he thought it was, got up and pretty much repeated Sage's behavior, but in a soothing whisper, asking politely if there was anything they didn't know. And then there was the question as to "significant damage".
"Well, Significant damage would be anything that can't be fixed with a few hours of hard science. So basically, try to keep him in one piece, and don't tear any holes in his armor. His entire body is bonded to that suit, and he'll die if anything is exposed. Don't crack his visor, and don't rip off his tail. Okay? Good luck."Rod waved them off as they walked out of the room. Once they were clear out of earshot, he turned on the TV in the upper corner. The outdoor camera showed that they both walked into the street, and out of view. Rod sighed, turned off the TV. He pulled up his chair that fell over as Sage threatened him, and sat in it, face in his palms.
Rio
The Slums of Rio didn't just have trash, they
were trash. The streets were full of litter. The river in the ditch below was completely logged with garbage. Atleast two men were standing in it, impaling trash with sticks and putting it into bags. As they worked in the river, they made their way towards a bridge over the river, which was more squalid underneath than the rest of the river combined. One of them men pinched his nose as they approached. Once they were both underneath the bridge, a metal scorpion tail slowly lowered itself, and suddenly curled around the arm of one of the men, pulling the poor screaming fellow up into the dark corner. The other man defenselessly pointed his quivering stick towards the darkness, as the sounds of violent drilling emanated. After a few seconds of silence, a shriveled husk of his friend dropped from above.
Next from above, a suit of armor plunged, with the same tail that abducted his friend curling up, before lashing at the man. Yet before it penetrated his stomach, before coming to an abrupt stop.
SYM-04 stood there in suspended motion, his armor covered in dirt, garbage, and stain from water. A few cracks lated his armor, here and there.
WHY
AI Repair has been completed. Now starting...NO
An Error has occured. Restarting AI..."NO!"
75% Active... Please wait..."NO! SHUT UP! GO AWAY!"
SYM-04 shrieked out loud, clutching his head. A deep, primordial darkness poured in from behind SYM-04. He tried to sprint away from it, yet it kept growing after him. As he escaped underneath the bridge, the darkness poured upwards as well, stretching infinitely, and faster, as it pursued the rogue Symbiote. A black hand lunged out and grabbed SYM-04 by his leg, tripping him. More black hands came out, stretching an unnerving distance and grabbing a part of SYM-04. They began to pull him into the darkness. SYM-04 screamed as the darkness subsumed him, absorbing him. The abyss wrapped around him, the trash-ridden slum, the blue sky, everything... All replaced by the oppressive darkness.
He wanted to fight. But the Darkness had a complete grasp over him. A single light appeared in the darkness, far away, yet right close to SYM-04. It took shape, resembling SYM-04, but without the damage and decay he wore with indifference.
"AI Reboot complete. Now heading to the nearest installation of Horizon Frontiers...
NO NO SHUT UP SHUT UP LET ME GO I HATE YOU I WANT TO KILL YOU LET ME GO I WILL KILL THEM ALL
SYM-04 screamed in pointless defiance. He knew how to keep the bad version asleep. He just had to hurt himself, and he would go away. But he couldn't move, only speak. SYM-04 let out a vicious scream that slowly increased in volume, until it deafened any passerby. Eventually, SYM-04 felt his "ear drums" pop. Just that small change in volume receeded the darkness, just enough for him to rip his left arm free, and stab himself in the gut, penetrating his own armor and stabbing his gut. The dark hands let him go, and Jeremy Halvit looked startled.
"SYM, please. If you keep this up, they are going to--"
I DON'T CARE I HATE YOU I'LL KILL THEM ALL IF THEY COME
SYM-04 snapped. Jeremy Halvit sighed, accepting defeat before the void completely disappeared.
"Very well. Let's see how long you can keep this up. Just know that eventually, you will be caught. Or better yet, you'll die, and they will pry me from your "consciousness", as Horizon Frontiers are polite enough to call it. Even if you can run forever, you won't be able to hurt yourself at one point. And then I will have the opportunity to return."
The darkness completely receded, leaving SYM-04 sitting alone, in the polluted river. The other man had escaped. SYM-04 would have to move again soon.