Aberrant: Quantum Zero - Quantum Zero

[Ayre el KaBeer]

A scream can be heard from the casino, a young woman is huddled in the corner hoverring over a figure in the corner...

"Will, wake up! SOMEBODY HELP! Please Will wake UP!"

At that moment the figure starts to shuffle... A red glow seems to be eminating from the figure's body! A loud gasp is heard followed imediately with a cry of pain from the figure, as he awakes.

"Will?...

The glowing red figure looks at his tattered clothes and then at his hands in shocked amazement...

"What? Jany? What's happening to me? What?..." Clearly overwhelmed by the situation William Henesse stands shocked for a moment as he realises what has happened to him.

"I'm a nova..." He whispers at first and then Announces to his life long friend "Jany, I'm a nova!" ::ohmy

[brilyn]

An obviously fatigued Derek looks up at the gung-ho tone in Masters's voice....

"Ok..... I'll see what I can do to help....."

He follows the group (grabbing the metal sphere), keeping up as best he can, pausing for a moment when Nullifier's vortex opens up.

Derek shrugs, then steps through.

[Alex Green]

About ten feet in front of him, an intense gravitational disturbance starts to form, small at first but rapidly growing, until a fairly large hole in space is visible, strong gravitational waves rolling off it, intensifying the nauseating effects those near him felt a few seconds before. Through the hole the interior of the penthouse is clearly visible.

Alex thinks, "Wow, now that is a useful power."

Alex steps through the hole in the air and shifts much darker and heaver after his head passes through. Alex thinks, "I wonder if this kind of thing is just part of being a nova. I imagine Pax lives like this, but do Novox singers?"

[ProfPotts]

[Elevator Shaft]

Glacier pounds his way up the shaft [OOC I'm not sure polar bears "scamper" as such...], unaware that the others have just taken a shortcut...

[The Penthouse]

Through the hole in space is the lounge of the penthouse (it's actually not quite the very top of the building, since it's floor 86 of a 90 story building, but it's close). The room is mostly decrorated in an Art Deco style, with many strange odds & ends all over the place. There's a huge video-screen built into one wall, another wall is covered with antique melee weapons from various cultures, the third wall sports a variety of firearms, from flintlocks to relatively modern pieces, the forth wall is the widow, with a magnificent view of the night city-scape below. A fur rug, with the head of what looks to be a sabretooth tiger, lies in front of an open fire. Mixed amongst the other ornaments are a large number of framed photographs, many of them old black & white ones. An open doorway leads to a kitchen area, another door Masters indicates as the bedroom, but he turns to a short corridor that leads away from the windows, towards the centre of the building. The corridor is lined with more photos, as well as a couple of suits of medieval armour.

From the door at the very end of the corridor can be heard a rythmic metallic clanging, that seems to be getting closer - Masters whispers that it's the top of the damaged elevator shaft. He heads along the corridor, gun raised to his shoulder, to where there should be another door, but where there is, in fact, the scorched & charred evidence of the use of explosives, & the twisted remains of a metal door. From within the doorway can be heard a strange chanting.

"Damn!", whispers Masters, "They're in the vault. We've got to stop them before it's too late."

He enters the doorway with a leap & roll (only a slight grunt giving away the fact he's getting too old for this sort of thing). Those who follow see a rather large room, with all metallic walls, floor, & ceiling. Inside the room are a number of stange objects, for the most part mounted in thick glass display cases. There's a strange leather uniform, metal helmet, & what appears to be a back-mounted rocket-pack straight out of an old RKO Serial. Another case contains a variety of exotic looking guns, all of an old-fashioned construction. Yet another case contains a variety of expensive looking jewellery of various designs. Other cases hold what appear to be archeaological artifacts of many different types. The list goes on...

... However, what captures your attention the most, is the group of gunmen, dressed for the most part like those downstairs, that are gathered around a plinth, on which lies what looks to be an ancient Egyptian-style golden mummy-case. Three of the gunmen are dressed in the same jumpsuit, flak jacket, & gasmask outfit of those downstairs, as is the one woman in the group. Another man is well over six feet tall (although nothing compared to Alex's Dark Matter form), & wears the same outfit & flak jacket, but without the gasmask. It can be seen that he's both bald & black, & his muscles are huge, the veins on his thick neck visibly standing out. All four of these spin to face the door when Masters enters, the muscle-man flexing & hoisting a nearby ten foot Greek-style marble statue in the air above his head, the others readying their SMGs. The last man in the group, an Arabic figure dressed in white robes that are trimmed with golden heiroglyphs, remains standing & chanting over the mumy-case. Masters levels his gun...

[The Casino]

Several armoured men run to the glowing man's side, gun's ready but not raised. The lead guard raises a hand slowly, palm out, & asks,

"Sir, are you alright? Are you in any pain? You appear to have erupted, do you want a doctor?"

One of the men heads over to inform Dr Chen of what's happened.

[Alex Green]

Another man is well over six feet tall (although nothing compared to Alex's Dark Matter form), & wears the same outfit & flak jacket, but without the gasmask. It can be seen that he's both bald & black, & his muscles are huge, the veins on his thick neck visibly standing out. All four... spin to face the door when Masters enters, the muscle-man flexing & hoisting a nearby ten foot Greek-style marble statue in the air above his head..

Alex thinks, "Now he looks about my speed", and charges forward.

OOC: Alex will bull rush the black guy. There is no HTH combat manuver that covers this, but he intends to do the running equiv of the Aerial Slam (Dex + Athletics I hope). By running full tilt into this mess I hope to disrupt whatever is going on, and draw everyone's fire.

Alex continues to think, "I'm sure there are better moves to make, but doing something violent right now beats thinking up the correct move 10 minutes from now. The guns will be nothing, but leading with my chin like this could get someone hurt. Hope it isn't me."

"HHAAUURRGGG!!!!", Alex roars.

[ezekiel]

Terry zips from behind the newly arrived group

"Whats going o...Holy Sh..!"

Terry's eyes widen at the sight of the huge marble statue and Alex rushing into the fray, his arms thrust forward almost reflexively. A sickly crunching noise emanates from the robed man...

(OOC- Will blast the robed guy with full bashing damage. If I'm out of juice I'll trade in a health level, better to save the world, right?)

[Ayre el KaBeer]

[The Casino]

Several armoured men run to the glowing man's side, gun's ready but not raised. The lead guard raises a hand slowly, palm out, & asks,

\"Sir, are you alright? Are you in any pain? You appear to have erupted, do you want a doctor?\"

One of the men heads over to inform Dr Chen of what's happened.

Will looks up at the man, about to reply he pauses for a second, then continues

"I'm fine... I'm better than fine, I feel great! My suit's had it though..." He says with a cheeky grin aimed at Jany. Looking back at the man "What happened to the scum that shot me? Where is everyone? Hell, where are all the Novas?" he says somewhat distraught.

His red glow seems to fade and a handsome young man... well boy really, he couldn't be 19 by the look of him, can be seen.

All of a sudden Jany seems to break out of her shock and hugs William, pulls back and she starts to cry and punches him in the shoulder as hard as she can "You Idiot! You scared the hell out of me! What the hell was i gonna tell your parents, huh? That you were off at a party and got killed?..." At that she stops the thought of this putz of a friend of hers almost dying seemed to overwhelm her. She turns and runs towards the exit still crying.

Standing with an indignant (at being called an idiot) and worried look. Then a Blank expression takes him over and he glows red again, to the man he says "They made Jany cry! Where the hell are they?"

[ProfPotts]

[The Vault]

As Alex smashes through the door (it's a snug fit) & charges towards him, the heavily muscled man hurls the marble statue with all his might. The statue slams into Alex's Dark Matter body, & shatters into a hundred pieces, Alex doesn't even slow down. The hail of automatic fire from the other gunmen just seems to pale into insignificance next to the attack with the statue...

[The move Alex is attempting is closest to the Tackle move BTW]

\"HHAAUURRGGG!!!!\", Alex roars.

Alex does indeed draw everyone's fire (he seems good at that...) bursts through the shattered chunks of marble, & slams full-tilt into the muscle-man. The Dark Matter giant continues his rush until he hits the back wall, the black man vanishing from sight as Alex's body obscures the view. A moment later he steps back, all that's left of his opponent is a rather messy splat of blood & gore, mixed in with bits of brain, fragments of bone, & the guy's clothes - all smeared up a huge dent in the thick metal wall. Nasty... ::smiley4

Terry's eyes widen at the sight of the huge marble statue and Alex rushing into the fray, his arms thrust forward almost reflexively. A sickly crunching noise emanates from the robed man...

The Arabic man lets out a blood-curdling scream, clutches his stomach & doubles over, as blood sprays from his mouth. He falls first to his knees, then over onto his side, where he lays still, eyes rolled up to whites.

The female gunman (gun-person? ::confused ) starts to yell something at the group, in a Middle-Eastern accented voice,

\"You idiots! Why do you let Masters keep her prisoner? Why...\"

The rest of her speech is cut-off as Masters fires his pistol, an electrical bolt momentarily connecting the gun barrel to the woman's chest. She convulses, then drops, twitching occassionally, but unconscious. ::sly

Nearer the mummy-case than the others, Alex starts to feel waves of heat coming from it. All can now make out a bright glow from where the lid joins the rest of the case.

[The Casino]

Then a Blank expression takes him over and he glows red again, to the man he says \"They made Jany cry! Where the hell are they?\"

"If you're talking about the guys that shot you, then they've been dealt with. Except for those in the penthouse, but Mr Masters is taking care of that personally."

The dazzling Dr Chen walks over to look the glowing man up & down.

"Bioluminesence, regenerative capability.", she states, "Are you experiencing any other changes?"

[ProfPotts]

Meanwhile...

... Glacier reaches the top of the lift shaft, making short work of both the floor of the lift car & the door to the penthouse. As he emerges into the short corridor he sees the blown-open vault door, the other Novas, Masters, the gunmen, & is just in time to witness Alex's fatal slam & an awful lot of gunfire...

[phoenix]

As he emerges into the short corridor he sees the blown-open vault door, the other Novas, Masters, the gunmen, & is just in time to witness Alex's fatal slam & an awful lot of gunfire...

Glacier plunges into the fray, attacking anything that shoots him with earth-shattering punches and slashes.

Nearer the mummy-case than the others, Alex starts to feel waves of heat coming from it. All can now make out a bright glow from where the lid joins the rest of the case.

After things cool off, he reaches the mummy case and feels its heat. He turns to Masters.

Umm. That doesn't look too good.. You want I should cool it off a bit, or might it be easily damaged? I could just smash it..

[ezekiel]

The Arabic man lets out a blood-curdling scream, clutches his stomach & doubles over, as blood sprays from his mouth. He falls first to his knees, then over onto his side, where he lays still, eyes rolled up to whites.

Terry stares aghast at his hands, oblivious to Glacier's entrance and activity emmanating from the mummy case.

"Oh...God...what the... - dropping to his knees - I didn't mean...I never..."

Terry Keeps staring at the floor through his hands.

[Ayre el KaBeer]

The dazzling Dr Chen walks over to look the glowing man up & down.

\"Bioluminesence, regenerative capability.\", she states, \"Are you experiencing any other changes?\"

Looking distracted "Ah... I don't know... " ::unsure To the man "The penthouse's upstaires right?" with that he sprints at incredible speeds towards the elevator.

[OoC just hyperrunning no enhanced movement ]

Seeing the dammaged elevator he stops and looks in...

[i'm guessing gunfire can be heard from the shaft, and im assuming will can see the holes from glaciers claws]

[Alex Green]

Alex ...continues his rush until he hits the back wall, the black man vanishing from sight as Alex's body obscures the view. A moment later he steps back, all that's left of his opponent is a rather messy splat of blood & gore, mixed in with bits of brain, fragments of bone, & the guy's clothes - all smeared up a huge dent in the thick metal wall.

"But you, he, I... oh no..." ::smiley4

[brilyn]

Peering in around the door, Derek grimaces at what he sees...

"Well, I guess you guys have the situation in hand. To some degree at least....." ::nervous

[ProfPotts]

[The Casino]

Looking distracted \"Ah... I don't know... \"  To the man \"The penthouse's upstairs right?\" with that he sprints at incredible speeds towards the elevator.

[OoC just hyperrunning no enhanced movement ]

Seeing the damaged elevator he stops and looks in...

[i'm guessing gunfire can be heard from the shaft, and im assuming will can see the holes from glaciers claws]

William can indeed hear the distant echo of gunfire rattling down the shaft, as well as other, less recognizable, sounds of battle. He can also see the long slashes in the side of the elevator shaft, & still feel the fading cold from Glacier's assent as well.

Back in the casino Dr Chen states (to no-one in particular),

"Highly increased perambulation velocity, possible energetic barrior to prevent harmful thermodynamic effects. Interesting."

The armoured guard who was talking to William runs after him calling,

"Mr Masters said the elevator was damaged, Sir. You'd have to take the stairs to get to the penthouse, but I wouldn't advise it - we've got a dangerous situation up there. Best calm down & let us help you."

[The Vault]

As both Terry & Alex come abruptly face-to-face with the harsh realities of Quantum Power, & Derek (quite sensibly) does his best to stay behind cover, Glacier bursts into the room, bear anima glowing bright with Quantum energies, whisps of cold vapour being formed as the room's air hits the freezing shape. Unlike Terry & Alex, it seems as though the figure within the anima, once just a young boy, is reveling in the glories of battle!

The three gunmen still standing have reloaded their SMGs during the pause created by the horror of the Nova's actions, & turn to fire upon Glacier as he "plunges into the fray". The guns bark out automatic fire, but the shells visibly shatter as the impact Glacier's anima, little pieces of frozen lead scattering about the room.

The enraged Nova ::angry reaches his prey with lightning speed, one massive anima claw slashing out, mimicing the arc of the boy's arm within. The claw slices through the first gunman, his meagre flak armour providing no impediment to the powerful focused Quantum energies. The man is hurled back across the room to smash into the rear wall, a set of parallel slashes having opened his torso from collar to waist - although his innards have been simultaneously flash-frozen, so no blood or gore erupts, just five grim dark crimson openings where none by right should be... ::shocked

One of the two remaining gunmen drops his gun & draws a combat knife, slashing it in a wide arc at Glacier's face as he does so. The man yells out in pain as the blade intersects Glacier's anima, frost coating the steel & running down the man's arm, the blow going wide of it's mark. His companion takes several steps backwards, fumbling with a clip for his SMG, & is struck with an electrical bolt from Masters' gun, whereupon he drops to the floor, twitching, with the odd blue spark playing across the metallic surfaces of his weapons.

Glacier turns on his last remaining victim, raising a claw high, the man drops the knife & holds up his hands - his words are in a language none here comprehend, but he appears to be begging for mercy. The claw comes down, fast. The severed head of the gunman, still clad in it's gasmask, bounces pathetically across the room, as the decapitated body slumps lifeless to the floor ::nervous . Glacier spins to face the nearest character - Alex - blue-white energies flaring across his anima as he advances, steam starting to fill the room as the heat from the mummy-case meets Glacier's own power... ::devil

[Alex Green]

Glacier turns on his last remaining victim, raising a claw high, the man drops the knife & holds up his hands - his words are in a language none here comprehend, but he appears to be begging for mercy. The claw comes down, fast. The severed head of the gunman, still clad in it's gasmask, bounces pathetically across the room, as the decapitated body slumps lifeless to the floor ::nervous . Glacier spins to face the nearest character - Alex - blue-white energies flaring across his anima as he advances, steam starting to fill the room as the heat from the mummy-case meets Glacier's own power... ::devil

Still in shock over recent events, all Alex can do is gulp and form a medieval(?) shield. A medieval sword forms as well, but only because you can't have one without the other.

OOC: This is not a block (Alex doesn't make defensive moves) this would just be more soak.

[phoenix]

As Glacier turns to face Alex, two pairs of eyes fall upon the massive nova (Alex). The despairing first pair, those of John Walker, are barely visible behind the eyes of the great bear, little more than glowing impressions on the anima.

Unfortunately, Glacier is both faster on the draw than John - and a good deal more powerful. A bestial roar emanates from the massive nova (Glacier), and the figure leaps at Alex. The slow hiss of his claws escalates to a steady, low roar, and both of the great bear's arms slash from opposite directions at the massive nova (Alex).

John Walker, now little more than a far-off voice in Glacier's berserker mind, tries desperately to regain control, screaming mentally for the attack to cease and desist.

[Ayre el KaBeer]

William can indeed hear the distant echo of gunfire rattling down the shaft, as well as other, less recognizable, sounds of battle. He can also see the long slashes in the side of the elevator shaft, & still feel the fading cold from Glacier's assent as well.

Looking at the slashes in the shaft William says to himself... "Shouldn't be too hard a climb..." he pauses again (he does that alot) looks behind him, seeing the running guard and realised that he shouldn't have been able to cover that distance in such little time ::blink .

"Ahh... What the hell!" He says reaching in to the shaft and using the... ah... well... claw marks as hand and foot holds and cautiously pulls himself up and finds it easier than any rock climbing he's ever done in his life. The higher he climbs the faster he goes as his confidence increases.

(OOC. Using mega dex to reduce climbing difficulty)

Nearing the penthouse, or at least a set of open elevator shaft doors, Will is startled by the beastial roar and looses his grip in his right... Through sheer instinct his left hand flares a bight red and digs into the wall of the shaft... Taking a moment to catch his breath from his life threatening spill... he notices the flare is still pressent in both his hands. William resumes his climb and somewhat relieved to know he has a safety net of sorts.

[ProfPotts]

[The Vault]

As Glacier advances on Alex the Dark giant's leading arm warps & shifts until a huge heater (knight's shield) forms of the same black substance - & just in time too, as Glacier's claws slash out only to be caught on the (apparently rock-hard) surface of the shield, blue icy flakes flying off like sparks!

Out in the corridor there's a sudden flash of light, as Nullifier bursts into orange & yellow tinged white flame! The fire blazes from his eyes & mouth, & dances across his body, but he appears unhurt - although the walls, floor & ceiling of the corridor start to smoulder, & the sprinklers go off, resulting in a large cloud of hot steam around the ignited Nova.

Masters swears under his breath, moving further into the vault to avoid being scalded, but trying to keep away from the two dueling Novas. Those close enough (& with nothing more important on their minds) can hear him mutter,

"Damn amateurs, we don't have time for this!"

[Elevator Shaft]

William climbs quickly, & starts to realise the extent of the changes that have befallen him. The climb is childishly easy for him, but he's still some way from the action (unless he really wants to pour on the speed).

[OOC: Enhanced Movement would speed his ascent]

[ezekiel]

The sudden blast of heat startles Terry from his stupor..

"Wha.."

Getting up he stares at the two Novas in conflict and, more importantly, the glowing casket. He approaches Masters:

"What's happening? Is there anything we can do? Did you...know the robed man?

[Nullifier]

As the searing white flame continues to cover his body, tiny white flame-like sparks shooting off of him, he moves steadily towards the sarcophagas seemingly unaware of, or unconcerned with, everything else going on in the room. Unbidden, a single word comes from his flame-filled mouth, booming through the vault, "Aten!"

[ProfPotts]

\"What's happening? Is there anything we can do? Did you...know the robed man?\"

Masters glances briefly at Terry, then back at the glowing mummy-case,

\"It's about to wake up. We have to stop that happening. I've met his sort before...\"

... his words are cut short as he notices what Nullifier's doing...

As the searing white flame continues to cover his body, tiny white flame-like sparks shooting off of him, he moves steadily towards the sarcophagas seemingly unaware of, or unconcerned with, everything else going on in the room. Unbidden, a single word comes from his flame-filled mouth, booming through the vault, \"Aten!\"

"Oh crap.", says Masters. And means it. ::crazy

[phoenix]

Glacier's attack falls flat against the knightly shield, and he falls into a crouch. He turns slightly to the right, and with a furius cry from the teen and a bestial roar from the anima combining into an unearthly howl the likes of which none present have heard before (barring, of course, Celine Dion fans), he leaps at Alex again, swinging his left paw to the left in an attempt to knock the shield aside and deliver a slashing uppercut with his right.

He ignores Nullifier, the mummy case, and the others unless someone steps too close to the berserker, in which case he delivers a warning slash before returning to his furious attack on the giant.

[brilyn]

Derek surveys the carnage. The novas fighting. The corpses. The lone bodiless head.

::blink

::blink

::blink

"um....."

::confused

"Right......."

Finally (ie after the last couple of rounds where he's done nothing but stand bewildered), he seems to come to a decision.

He moves inside the door (keeping WELL clear of Glacier, and also Nullifier), to within 5 metres of the coffin.

He plants his feet well apart, places his hands close together, and begins to concentrate. After a moment, energy begins to build within his hands......

[Alex Green]

Covered with blood, dealing with Glacier is only a side note. Alex's

thoughts swirl, "Whathaveidonewhathaveidonecouldihavebeeninthewrong? Wait,

using nerve gas on a civilian population isn't the mark of an innocent

victim... this was excesive but not... but only excesive. Focus. FOCUS!!!"

OOC: Alex will spend a willpower point (if neccessary).

As Glacier advances on Alex the Dark giant's leading arm warps & shifts

until a huge heater (knight's shield) forms of the same black substance - &

just in time too, as Glacier's claws slash out only to be caught on the

(apparently rock-hard) surface of the shield, blue icy flakes flying off

like sparks!

Alex thinks, "Not good. Let's keep this non-lethal. I don't want to hit him, he'll go splat. Ah, I know!"

Alex doesn't exactly drop the sword and shield, it is more like he just ignores them (interestingly they don't fall to the ground). Reaching out to Glacier, he drops his guard to let him in close.

OOC: Alex will try to grab him and then use him to hit the nearest object (not the wall, that is too tough). By my count that would be the coffin. I don't pull it, but I'm counting on him being tougher than it is. I do not let go of him. If I have to I'll start bouncing him off the floor and wall at increasing force.

[Ayre el KaBeer]

[Elevator Shaft]

William climbs quickly, & starts to realise the extent of the changes that have befallen him. The climb is childishly easy for him, but he's still some way from the action (unless he really wants to pour on the speed).

[OOC: Enhanced Movement would speed his ascent] 

[OOC: Wasn't sure if Will would have figured that out yet but what the heck]

Hearing the second blood curdling roar William climbs with greater determination... "I know I'm faster than this, Damnit!" William's climb increases in speed.

[spends 3 quantum points into enhanced movement for it to last the scene]

[ProfPotts]

He plants his feet well apart, places his hands close together, and begins to concentrate. After a moment, energy begins to build within his hands......

Nullifier spins to stare at Derek ::angry . At the same time Terry, obviously concerned at Masters' words, levels his arms at Nullifier. Derek suddenly looks confused ::confused , as the energy building within his hands splutters out, & Nullifier grunts & glances at Terry, one hand going instinctively to his gut, as if he'd been punched there.

Meanwhile, across the room...

Glacier & Alex move to attack each other, but the berserker proves faster:

Glacier's attack falls flat against the knightly shield, and he falls into a crouch. He turns slightly to the right, and with a furius cry from the teen and a bestial roar from the anima combining into an unearthly howl the likes of which none present have heard before (barring, of course, Celine Dion fans), he leaps at Alex again, swinging his left paw to the left in an attempt to knock the shield aside and deliver a slashing uppercut with his right.

Glacier succeeds in getting inside Alex's guard (which is easy since the giant lets him do just that), his right claw scything across the giant's abdomen with icy sparks! But to little effect beyond getting his notice (the Dark giant felt that one, which is impressive enough,but still didn't take any damage).

Next Alex retaliates:

With a fluid quickness the huge Nova graps the berserker, his hands closing on the glowing bear anima & frost spreading up his arms (not that it seems to bother him). Alex hoists his opponent high, ready to smash him into the golden mummy-case.

Masters holds up a hand & shouts over to Alex,

"NO!!!"

Elsewhere...

Putting on a burst of speed William finishes his climb in record time, dodging past the twisted metal that is all that remains of the floor of the elevator car, & the door, & into the vault before even he realises what he's doing. The sights within are enough to give him pause, though... ::shocked

[ezekiel]

"Nullifier! Pull yourself together!"

Terry looks completely exhausted as he glances at Glacier falling towards the coffin:

"Aw, shlt!"

His hands burst in Glaciers direction...As Alex throttles him downwards an invisible force seems to push Glacier to the side, avoiding the Mummy-case and smashing him into the floor instead.

"Someone close that coffin!"

Glancing worriedly at Nullifier, Terry jumps behind cover

[brilyn]

Derek looks at his empty hands, obviously confused..... ::blink

Glances up at Nullifier:

"What the HELL are you up to????"

And tries to focus once more.....

[phoenix]

Walker smirks inwardly as Alex gains the upper hand. Glacier roars in frustration, and if he has time before Alex throws him, he tries to knock one of the giant's arms away, rolling out of the other directly onto Alex, claws first. If he fails, of course, this is merely thrashing without effect.

[Nullifier]

\"What the HELL are you up to????\"

And tries to focus once more.....

The tiny sparks like miniature suns falling from his body have turned to darkened cinders, burning a sullen red inside as he turns from Derek and approaches the coffin. In a low, slightly testy, yet sane and civil voice he says, " An awakening Goddess can tend to be rather testy, and there's no need for further unpleasantness. Especially from or towards someone who's been asleep for this long. So I'd really appeciate if you'd all try to start being civil. Mr. Masters, I'm sure you believe that Aten here sees herself as a Goddess, and as such it's only polite to treat her in that manner for the time being. " ::dry ::cool ::sly ::sneaky2

[ProfPotts]

Glacier struggles, but can't break free from the potent grip of the Dark behemoth. As the giant swings his opponent down towards the mummy-case, Terry reaches out, trying to match his own powers against the Dark Nova's might, but to little avail. Glacier smashes into the case, shattering the gold even as Derek pours forth his own power to try to keep the thing in one piece - but it's too little, too late.

The golden case flies apart, the metal floor buckles & groans, & from within the case erupt white-hot flames, spilling out to engulf those near - Alex, Glacier, & Nullifier. It's hard to see past the blinding light the flames are giving off, but Alex keeps a grip on his opponent, who looks slightly battered, but hasn't paused in his attempts to escape the giant's grip. Within the inferno rises a radiant, awe-inspiring figure - a goddess of inhuman beauty with skin of polished gold, hair & eyes of blazing solar fire. Arms outstretched she floats to hover above where the mummy-case once lay, bright flames dancing over her body more intense than even those that dance over Nullifier. In a pure voice that fills the room she commands,

"Yo'wi meb'ich Nefertiti se't Aten!"

Masters looks on in horror, & whispers under his breath,

"My God, what have we unleashed?"

[Nullifier]

\"Yo'wi meb'ich Nefertiti se't Aten!\"

Masters looks on in horror, & whispers under his breath,

\"My God, what have we unleased?\"

Not even flinching from the heat, he says, "Wrong adjective, Masters. She's obviously a nova. She claims to be Nefertiti, daughter of the ancient Egyptian sun-goddess Aten, and she wants your adoration, not your fear."

[ProfPotts]

Not even flinching from the heat, he says, \"Wrong adjective, Masters. She's obviously a nova. She claims to be Nefertiti, daughter of the ancient Egyptian sun-goddess Aten, and she wants your adoration, not your fear.\"

Masters look furious ::angry as he shouts at Nullifier,

"I know who she thinks she is, you demented nitwit! She's deluded & has more power than you'll ever know - she could destroy this city with a thought. That's something we can't allow to happen."

To the room in general he says,

"Stop her, for the love of God."

He levels his pistol at the golden woman, for all the good it'll do him...

[Nullifier]

Masters look furious  as he shouts at Nullifier,

\"I know who she thinks she is, you demented nitwit! She's deluded & has more power than you'll ever know - she could destroy this city with a thought. That's something we can't allow to happen.\"

To the room in general he says,

\"Stop her, for the love of God.\"

He levels his pistol at the golden woman, for all the good it'll do him...

Looking sharply at Masters he says tersely, " Whether she's deluded or not, if she's as powerful as you say then there's little we could do to stop her, and I for one am not feeling particularly suicidal at the moment. " Turning to golden nova, his voice softening a bit, "I don't know if you can understand me darling, but you might want to hold off on burning down the city for a bit until you find out where and more importantly when this is and the current state of affairs in the world outside this room. Ignore the mortal, he's just a bit high-strung and apparently not thinking straight, but killing him would probably just cause more problems than it's worth. " ::devilangel

[brilyn]

\"Stop her, for the love of God.\"

Derek drops to one-knee, bleary-eyed, wiping away a nose-bleed, obviously in real physical pain.... ::nervous

Glancing up at Masters, with an angry glare:

"And what, PRECISELY, would you like me to do......?" ::angry

"I'm all out. And I mean ALL out....... Frankly, whatever she does, there's not a DAMN thing I can do about it.

"I'm an engineer, dammit, not a super-hero!"

OOC: Sorry, couldn't resist...... ::biggrin

[ezekiel]

"I...I'm spent as well..."

Terry is lying down at the end of the vault, back to the wall, holding his chest in pain.

[Ayre el KaBeer]

Elsewhere...

Putting on a burst of speed William finishes his climb in record time, dodging past the twisted metal that is all that remains of the floor of the elevator car, & the door, & into the vault before even he realises what he's doing. The sights within are enough to give him pause, though... 

"My God!" Hopping through the doors he calls out "Masters, I'm new to this! What do i have to do to stop her?" Before Masters can responde however, he looks for the nearest fire alarm hoping to trigger off the sprinklers, if nothing else maybe he can stop the fire from taking over the rest of the floor. "Man, this is the dumbest idea i've ever had" Sprinting towards the switch with all the speed he can muster and pulls it.

[Alex Green]

Masters look furious ::angry as he shouts at Nullifier,

"I know who she thinks she is, you demented nitwit! She's deluded & has more power than you'll ever know - she could destroy this city with a thought. That's something we can't allow to happen."

To the room in general he says,

"Stop her, for the love of God."

He levels his pistol at the golden woman, for all the good it'll do him...

Alex thinks, "Oh, Joy, did we mess up." He considers the bear, "The last thing we need when dealing with a crazy nova is another crazy nova."

OOC: If I see some signs of sanity RIGHT NOW, I'll drop him and regrab that sword. Otherwise I give our friend the polar bear (whose name I don't think Alex knows just yet) a hard, back handed slap (bashing damage, but only pulling one mega-strength level) and then regrab that sword.

OOC: I'm assuming that she is facing Masters, who is just inside the door, which would put me behind her (what with the bull-charge eariler).

Still thinking, "Hmm. She is just waking up. A quick, brutal attack right now would probably do it. Just one step and decapitate. Can I really do this?"

[ProfPotts]

\"My God!\" Hopping through the doors he calls out \"Masters, I'm new to this! What do i have to do to stop her?\" Before Masters can responde however, he looks for the nearest fire alarm hoping to trigger off the sprinklers, if nothing else maybe he can stop the fire from taking over the rest of the floor. \"Man, this is the dumbest idea i've ever had\" Sprinting towards the switch with all the speed he can muster and pulls it.

New to his incredible speed, Will obviously fails to notice that the sprinkler system on the rest of the floor (apart from the vault) is already activated - thank's to Nullifier bursting into flame a few moments ago ::confused ! He makes a quick lap of the vault, looking for a fire alarm there, but the room doesn't appear to have a sprinkler system installed for some reason. ::sly

Below where the golden Nova hovers, Alex & Glacier still struggle. The polar bear anima (the boy inside seems as much prisoner as guiding intelligence) glows bright, flexs & twists, breaking free of the giant's grip. As it spins free it's claws again lash out at Alex, before landing in a feral crouch before it's opponent. To everyone's suprise, the Dark Matter Nova actually let's out a grunt of pain ::nervous ! He retaliates quickly, with a sharp backhander (AKA "The Klingon Surprise Slap") that sends the youth hurtling across the vault, smashing through numerous cases of priceless artifacts, & impacting on the far wall, leaving a deep Nova-sized dent in the metal. Even so the polar Nova starts to regain his feet at once, never once pausing for breath ::angry .

Masters' pistol again spews forth an electrical bolt, this time connecting the gun with the golden Nova. The electrical sparks are lost amongst her own flaming emanations, & it seems to take her a moment to even realise that she's been attacked, it certainly doesn't appear to have any negative effect on her.

The golden Nova - Nefertiti - looks at Nullifier as he speaks to her, ignoring Masters & the others. A few moments later the light from her body intensifies a thousand fold - everyone's vision is replaced with a painful white light, as if they'd stared directly into the Sun ::blink ! A moment later there is a feeling of intense heat, a hiss like water boiling to steam, then a sudden rush of cold air. It'll take a few moments for people's vision to return...