Tesliem Quintessence Refinery
This enormous room looks like a balcony overlooking the molten lava at the heart of the Empire's research and fuel production center. Dominating it is a giant steel sphere with windows on the sides showing a mysterious red liquid bubbling within its hull. Support columns anchor panels of some transparent glass-like armor that look out onto space, where a Leviathan of the Deep Darkness writhes in agony, its lifeblood being sapped slowly by three feeder pipes. To the south, a complicated looking mechanism directs the flow of positive and negative charged quintessence, combining them into a beam of charged energy that feeds what would normally be the Arcane Reactor that powers all of Tesliem...

It seems as if some unknown nemesis is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the heroes, as they have only now succeeded in bringing down the General, but not before he called in his ally, Mark Berkowitz, who appears to have a pet supersoldier with a rather feline temperament under his control. Presently, Mark himself is roaming invisibly, allowing his nigh-invincible soldier to charge forth into battle on his behalf.

Unbelievably, Cadena, having appealed to the General's compassion and finding what he believes to be a spark worth saving, has transformed into Brother Cadena and extracted his brain. This resides in a small, one foot diameter sphere that is adorned with several red gems which appear to fuel life support magics. Now uninhabited, the gigantic armored skeleton of a supersoldier begins to fall apart, the unnatural materials dissolving and leaving glowing crystals in their remains - proof that one has defeated a powerful enemy opposed to the Light.

Inari roams stealthily, saving her strike for an opportune moment. Yappy cringes behind the fallen body of one of the Tesliem Elite Armored Guards. The remaining raiders look warily at the new combatant, and Small growls, readying himself to charge.

"Under normal circumstances, that would be the end of the fight," Solanca says dryly as he nods to the dissolving body of the General's supersoldier, then to Bella, who is crouched down as if she were about to pounce in feline fashion, still holding her energy arquebus. "However, it appears we have a new opponent. Ladies and gentlemen... Prepare yourselves for battle!"

"I can try to keep in the way of the big gun," Tracy tells the others. "Mark needs me unhurt to collect the bounty, so shouldn't let his pet shoot through me!"

"If we play by the rules, we're bound by the game mechanics," Jason mutters from where he's still behind 'MeatMan'., "However, I've never played by the rules. So ... how can we change things to be in our favor? And gah, controlling two bodies at once is taxing. Anyway, first thing, disable that other SS. Need to destroy her weapon, or just blow her head off."

Brother Cadena tucks the small metal brain-sphere under his left arm. A few ethereal-looking chains wrap loosely around it, but this seems more decorative than functional. This leaves Brother Cadena with only one hand to hold a staff that clearly needs two in order to be an effective weapon or defense in melee. He keeps close to Sir John, maintaining the defensive chains that orbit and protect the knight.

Bella sweeps her gaze - somehow despite being in the body of a giant vaguely masculine half-robot golem, she manages to convey a sense of female felinity - across the gathered raiders. Her eyes settle upon Lady Tracer upon Fuseli. She shifts her stance and brings her gun to bear.

"Ahah, I have an idea," Jason says. He smacks the back of his helmet, which helpfully spits out a small module of electronics. "Lets see if I can adjust the phase-lock-loop of the sensor to operate in a different spectrum. Might help find Mark. I want to kill him slowly..."

"Lets see. If I establish a link through a sub-channel of my own processor and then out to RIU, we can use positional location to locate minute disturbances in the air, the lingering smoke, and Mark's own horrific body odor," Jason remarks to himself as he tinkers with what looks like a dentist's tool for nerve torture on the exposed electronics. He's thankful that he's amazingly good at ignoring things around him for the most part.

The fusion ball smacks into the ground wide of Tracy and Fuseli. Even from here, she can feel the heat of the plasma brush against her cheek.

Small is first to charge into battle, followed by the rest of the motley crew of Avatars heroes.

The cybernetically augmented cat replies with a snarl. A very nasty, possibly even jealous, snarl.

Jason slaps the module back into his helmet. "Ahah! I see ... stupid people," he complains.

Brother Cadena rushes forward, although Sir John quickly overtakes him. Rather than pushing himself just yet to keep up, he holds the staff forward in one hand as he advances, calling out, "May the Light reveal our enemy who hides in shadow, he who is known as Mark, who consorts with the abomination 'Bella,' and who covets Lady Tracer of House Trudeau!"

KaFWOOM! The tip of the staff bursts into blinding light. Beams of sunlight shoot outward from it... But they seem to warp away from their intended target, as if some infernal magic was bending space.

"Tell me if you have an idea of where he's hiding!" Tracy says, as she brings the laser cannon to bear.. and takes a moment to aim it at the muzzle of Bella's rifle.

"He's in the blast area of Bella's misfile. That's about all I can tell you. Continuing isolation. I claim first rights of killing him for what he did to my home," Jason shouts.

"The hunter hides over there, Lady Trudeau!" Brother Cadena calls out, indicating roughly with his staff an area well beyond Bella's misfire point, generally to the giant's left side. "I can feel the power of the Light assisting me, but I am being directly opposed by more than some mere stealth trickery or a basic invisibility spell!"

The gatling fires... And scores a direct hit on the arming chamber! The first shot scorches away the thick armor that makes up the arquebus's body, the second punches through the internal casing, and the third ignites the highly explosive quintessence that pulses within its depth. It explodes like a supernova, sending Bella staggering backward.

Tracer immediately turns Fuseli towards the area Cadena thinks Mark is hiding in, and snarls, "I've had enough of your crap, Mark: Maze of Horrors!"

Brother Cadena tries again, still rushing forward and sweeping the area with his staff as he strains to see the unseen. "Your evil deeds cannot remain hidden from the Light, Huntsman Mark!"

"What-- no! No! You can't leave me," Mark shouts. The beams of light force their way through the twisted space... and as Fuseli glares, flames leaping from his eyes, smoke curls up from the deck to surround a human form, armored in utilitarian black mail. Mark seems to be addressing someone hanging in midair. "I won't let you leave me!" His gaze suddenly pierces the veil of the Maze of Horrors, directly toward Lady Tracer.

"Let me blow you a kiss!" Tracy snaps, and Fuseli's hooves hit the ground and send a fan of flaming cracks towards Mark's revealed position!

Mark may be temporarily reliving the day that Tracy broke up with him... But he seems to have no trouble seeing the cracks on the ground racing toward his position. "Son of a--" He backflips out of the way. "Careful with that, you might hurt someone! Girls shouldn't handle weapons," he sneers.

Mark lifts his crossbow, feeling its comforting weight in his arms. "Bella! Keep her down once I bag her!" The bolt gleams as it flies... And explodes into a glowing net!

Fuseli dances aside and Tracer ducks low against his back.. And then vanishes as the net hits! Or rather, one of the pair of Tracer-Fuseli's vanishes, leaving the real pair free.

"Hey, Mark. Remember when I said I owed you for the damage you did to my house? Well, I'm collecting on that," Jason says as his eyes narrow. His link re-establishes to MeatMan and the horrific energy cannon is raised ... and targets Mark!

The raid charges forward, closing in on Bella! Her gun-arm armor is damaged, a segment hanging by a few cables, but she crouches and yowls loudly.

MeatMan's Arquebus chuffs as it spits out a fusion ball of energy aimed right for Mark. It looks as if it should be a direct hit... But the hunter's eyes widen as he sees incoming plasma-flavored doom and dives to the side, reeling as he almost falls into the yawning gap just off the edge of the platform.

Small roars defiance at Bella! Or wait-- that sounded pretty insulting actually. The cat-brained supersoldier turns and hiss-spits at the bear.

Brother Cadena hastens to keep up with Sir John and the others, as they charge the giant super-soldier creature.

Mark looks back, then glares at Tracy. "You've pushed me too far!" he yells, reloading his crossbow. The bolt he's inserting glows with deadly, needle-like viciousness.

Tracer takes a moment to lay her hands on either side of Fuseli's neck, and say a quick, barely remembered prayer; "Light flow through my heart and renew our bonds and strength.." The Nightmare's eyes flash as his power is partially recharged.

Small dodges the attack with practiced ease. The cat's brain in the supersoldier body is used to a much quicker moving body. Bella snarls and hisses as her fists fail her; instead she raises a small crater in the ground.

Zahnrad says, "Movuing up now with MeatMan (So pace 6). Is RIU in blastin range of Mark?"

"Onward, ho!" Jason declares as he hangs onto MeatMan's leg and marches the hulk forward.

Having finished reloading, Mark takes aim with his crossbow... At Fuseli! "This is what happens to anyone else you try to have in your life!" he shouts.

Fuseli rears up, trying to strike the bolt out of the air! But his strike misses narrowly, and it strikes home, lodging in his barding. Black magic crackles out of the head, seeming to crawl around him, trying to find a weak spot in which to paralyze him -- but in a few seconds, fades away, apparently unsuccessful.

"I wasn't gonna say anything about you overcompensating with the super soldier, Mark, but after that.." Tracer notes.

"Now look, going after someone's friends is just low, Mark. but I guess I should expect that of you. Oh well, it makes me feel even less guilty about this," Jason remarks calmly. Link established to MeatMan ... target, one annoying human with overcompensation issues.

Another bolt of plasma energy soars through the air toward Mark! But he was ready for it this time, and dodges out of its way as he reaches for another bolt from his quiver.

ZAK! Blue lightning crackles across the distance. Mark wobbles, not having been expecting that.

Bella looks up, seeing her master in danger! She cries out, a shrill yowl, and prepares to charge.

Once the Fuseli is nearly on top of Mark, he kicks out with a hoof to try and knock him down!

Mark yelps, still wobbly from being electrocuted! The hoof strikes dead center into his chest, knocking all the wind out of him. He flies backward, arms windmilling at the air...

And Bella charges, springing with impossible speed for the supersoldier body, to catch him in midair!

Except that now she too is falling toward what looks like a pool of lava at the heart of Tesliem.

Solanca yells in startlement as the supersoldier leaps over his head. Various magic spells and arrows pass through the spot where Bella had been standing only seconds ago.

Bella growls in jealousy at Tracy's voice... But as the pool of roiling toxic wastes grows ever closer, she senses that it may be the only way to save her master. The supersoldier body winds up... And then flings Mark in the air, while she herself plummets down into the fiery heat.

As Mark soars into the air, he shakes his head and then his eyes widen as he sees Bella plummeting into the lava, and he himself apparently flying through the air with no visible means of support. "No! Bella!" he yells. "BELLA!"

"Bella! RETURN TO THE VEIL!" yells Mark, making a gesture toward her. Her form starts to glow, then warp out of its supersoldier form, shrinking into a ghostly cat form... that fades out of sight.

Brother Cadena puffs and pants as he comes up to Tracer's side, having been unable to keep up with the stride of the giant super-soldier.

Fuseli leaps into the air.. then dives to try and get under Mark so Tracer can make a grab for him!

Reaching out, Tracer snags one of Mark's legs and yanks him down onto Fuseli's back. "You idiot!" she tells him.

The orbiting chains encircling Sir John fade away, as Brother Cadena's protective spell disperses.

"RIU, make sure that idiot can't hurt anyone, will you? And I mean the male idiot, not the one who just saved him," Jason tells RIU through the link.

Mark struggles instinctively as Tracy grabs him, trying to pin him down and keep him from reaching any of the weapons or gadgets he's almost certainly got stashed on his person.

RIU turns, aims, and spits out a rifle-straight electric blast, surrounded by tiny blue rings. The hunter goes limp in Tracy's arms!

Tracy ooofs, partly from the dead weight and partly from spillover electric charge. "If this makes my hair look funny someone is getting hurt.." she vows.

Inari shimmers back into visibility next to Cadena. "I was so looking forward to stabbing him," she remarks. "After what he said to Tracy..."

Brother Cadena continues to jog, altering his course as he tries to anticipate the final landing spot of the flying nightmare and intercept it.

Solanca breaks into applause. "Well done, heroes!" he calls, and his raiders begin clapping.

Fuseli turns in flight, and lands on the platform near the terminals and balancer.

"Please tell me you saved him so we could inflict unspeakable torture upon him?" Jason calls out over to Tracy.

Inari flicks a button and her laser sword springs into life once more. "We could end his pathetic existence. All it would take would be one little cut..."

Tracer wipes some tears from her cheeks, claiming, "Stupid.. lava fumes." She lowers Mark to the ground after climbing down herself. "He's going to jail for attempted kidnapping, remember? If he were dead, how could you sue him for damages, Jason?"

Brother Cadena hastens over to Fuseli upon landing. "Lady Trudeau! That was quite heroic of you." He gives the horse and its rider a quick look-over for any obvious injuries, as he returns his staff to the sling over his back and digs through his robes with his newly free hand.

"Like he has any money. He was after you for your reward, remember," Jason points out. "One I could have traded you in for, but didn't."

Unconscious, Mark looks like your average redneck - swarthy, thick-built, garbed in deadly-looking mail armor. His hand remains clenched around the pistol grip of his crossbow, but it is unloaded - probably for the best. His pet is nowhere in sight, having been dismissed.

"We can still do that... as if Sasha would really pay," Tracer notes. "Someone get Yappy? I don't want to forget him when we leave, and.. Cadena? What happens if you leave here looking like that? Will you go back to 'normal' when we get outside?"

Small moves up. He grunts dismissively as he sees Mark, then looks over at Cadena and the brain sphere that he is carrying.

Yappy peers out from the emptied armor of the Tesliem Elite Armored Guard. "Is it over yet?" he asks plaintively.

The brown-furred rangy werewolf jumps out of the armor. "Great! What did we win?"

"He was still my boyfriend, back when.. back when I had some serious self-esteem issues, okay?" Tracer replies. "I'm not going to explain my psychology to you. Things changed, and I stopped needing reinforcement of my screwed up self-image from him."

Inari smirks. "The truth is you wanted to rattle your mother's cage a bit, didn't you?" The golden vixen powers her laser sword down. "Did anyone bring some rope?"

"Actually, I did," Brother Cadena volunteers. "It comes in handy for situations such as these."

"All the better to let him go," Jason points out. "I'd much rather that he die, then you get hurt or killed because of him, okay? You're worth more than that piece of trash is." He shakes his head and heads towards the balancer now. "When you're all ready, I want all of you to leave."

"You could show one of the raiders how to shut that down you know," Tracy tells Jason, gesturing to Solanca and his team.

"Well, surely Tracy won't mind if we just make sure her boyfriend doesn't cause any more trouble," Inari says as she holds a hand out for the rope.

"I'm not going to shut it down. I'm going to detonate it," Jason notes as he starts looking over the system to figure it out.

Lower, and to Small, Brother Cadena looks apologetic. "I think there is more to this than it appears on the surface. I am not actually certain which General I have here right now, but I hope this magical life support will last long enough for me to sort it out. For a fleeting moment, I saw more in him than just a megalomaniacal villain; this man has a soul, and he is fighting for a cause that - even if it is wrong - he believes in. I believe that in a war, there are certain considerations that must be afforded to prisoners taken." He suddenly cuts off that line of thought. "Mr. Edwards? I wasn't lying to the General. I think there might be severe repercussions in the other world."

"I am aware," Jason notes, "And will be making sure it won't effect the other world before I do anything specific."

"Why do you have to blow everything up?" Tracer asks Jason. "Once the energy to the core is cut off, the vortexes shouldn't last much longer, right?"

Solanca approaches. "We're about to divide up the crystals before we make good our escape. We've agreed that you should take half of the crystals, but... Is there anything else that we can help you with, before we leave?"

"Because I don't want this to start up again," Jason answers. "We leave it repairable or functional it'll just start all over again, and again. Unlike a game, I like things to end, not do the same thing over and over and over."

"The crystals aren't of any use to us, you can take them all," Tracer tells Solanca.

Brother Cadena looks to Solanca. "Are there other personnel in this facility? I believe there may be indentured servants, menial workers and such to be found in Imperial facilities. If this is going to 'blow up,' perhaps we need to issue a warning to evacuate."

The gathered Avatars heroes, with the exception of Solanca and Ton Weigh, have set about breaking down the soul crystals that remain of the General's supersoldier. Ton Weigh, behind Solanca, raises an eyebrow. "You plan to destroy Tesliem itself? A tale that would be worthy of the greatest legends of Avatars," the portly mage says. "No one has ever understood its inner workings well enough before."

Solanca grins. "We could carry the warning... But who will believe us? We are the enemies, after all!"

It is just about then that the brain sphere suddenly sparks, a fat crackle of electricity arcing from one electrode to another. "Krrzt... Rr... What-- what happened?"

Brother Cadena rushes to one side, dropping to kneel, and carefully finding a place far from the edge of the lava. "General? Is that you? Are you all right in there?"

"I've rebuilt an Imperial Warship before, Ton," Jason remarks absently as he pours over the controls. "I understand how most of it works."

"It is a game on this side of the looking glass," Tracer reminds Jason. "Even if you blow it all up, it could just respawn in an hour. Maybe. And.. uh.. should we try to take Heart and Small with us, or wait until you can get core access again?"

"It's dark in here. Wait, I've been transferred to the supersoldier. All I have to do is open the soldier's eyes..." the General complains. A second later, a lense opens in the side of the sphere. "What-- I've been removed from my body! I demand that you reinstall me at once!"

Small grunts. Princess Heart says quietly, "The real world is no place for us anymore. Unless you need our help, we will return to Tasavalta with the others."

"Watch for me there, then," Tracer tells them, a bit sadly. "Maybe we can help you in other ways, after all this is taken care of. Or if we fail, and the different realities merge.. come save our butts okay?"

"Your body has been destroyed beyond repair," Brother Cadena says to the brain sphere. "I was able to recover your shell, and it appears that the magical support system is keeping you stable. I regret to inform you that this place is in danger of 'blowing up' - and I don't know the exact technical details beyond that. We need to issue an evacuation order. Is there a quick way to get you a new body? One ... smaller than a super-soldier would be ideal in order to escape."

"An evacuation order! Ridiculous! Tesliem is invulnerable to all harm," the General asserts. "That body there, isn't that one mine?" Though the sphere can't actually move, the lids of his optic sensor tilt in such a way as to indicate the one Jason had been remote-controlling. "Merely install me in that and I will demonstrate the foolishness of opposing the Empire."

"Actually, I control it, General," Jason remarks and glances back to the sphere. "And yes, this place can be destroyed. You have several fundamental flaws in its design, which can be easily exploited to destroy the entire place. And one more minor question, have we ever met before?"

The General sphere peers at Jason. "No, but I do not make it my business to associate with would-be heroes of the Light. Deluded champions of a mindless chaos!" His gaze turns back to Cadena. "Who is this man? How is it possible that he could dare to challenge the impregnable heart of Tesliem?"

"Yappy, do you think you can use a crossbow?" Tracer asks the werewolf while gesturing to Mark's weapon and quiver.

"You see, I'm no hero," Jason notes as his hands dance over the controls and streams of apparent gibberish spew across the displays. "I think Anyone here would readily confirm I'm anything but a hero."

"He is Captain Jason Drachehand," Brother Cadena says. "It is he who with the Gauntlet of Power resurrected the Ozymandias from the far-flung gates in the Outer Darkness, navigated an aether vortex to jump to Tasavalta, and ... well, a great many other things, really. As he frequently reminds people, he is no hero, but he does have a knack for building and fixing things, or blowing them up, with frightening efficacy."

"Yeah, he saved the world last time for purely selfish reasons, I'm sure," Tracer mutters.

"Oh yes," Brother Cadena says, as something seems to come to mind, and he shakes the fog away. "I'm afraid there is a terrible rift that has formed between worlds. How he got here was by traveling through a vortex from an entirely different universe. The energy output of this generator has been redirected from Tesliem and is instead being pumped into this other world - Earth - with devastating results expected if this process continues."

"And what would you have me do, Tracy? We're playing into the AD's hands if we play by the rules. We have to go outside the bounds and do things that would not follow their expected perspectives if we are to actually win this," Jason says as he continues to explore the systems. "I'm not heartless, I have no intention of hurting anyone on the outside, or risk any of you. The way is open and you can leave any time. I'll only risk myself, ever."

"Even if you were to somehow detonate the reactor, it would only purge this chamber," the General-sphere asserts. "This room is encased in adamantite! It is impervious to any and all damage. We would simply rebuild the reactor. Another would take my place, and Tesliem would continue. But if there were to be some sort of calamity that actually might threaten Tesliem... It would be necessary to call for General Order X-Zero." His voice hushes into a whisper. "Evacuation."

"And nothing is impervious," Jason adds to that. "There is a little universal fact with all matter. Everything has a resonant frequency."

Yappy peers at the crossbow, hefts it experimentally by the grip. "I can pretend it's one of those little G-Force guns. I can handle those! Er. Where do you put the magazine?"

Brother Cadena turns to Jason. "What about the Leviathan? If everything just 'blows up,' I suspect it won't be in much of a position to evacuate in time, will it? Is there some sort of release mechanism?"

"Yes, there is. I think we should release it now," Jason says and does exactly that.

Solanca considers the situation. "I think I see the threads of fate coming together... But perhaps you'd care to sum it up so we're all clear on it?"

"You cock the bow, then load one of these bolts into the groove," Tracer explains to Yappy. "Assuming any of it still exists when we leave. That other platform looked like it was still in a vortex zone, so it might persist," she says, a bit dully. "And you aren't going to risk yourself, either, Jason. Use the cyborg. Do you really think Inari will let you stay behind?"

The Leviathan groans as the feeder pipes retract from its hide... And then almost disbelievingly, turns as if to regard the stars that lie in the infinite deeps beyond Tesliem. It thrashes its tail and lunges into space.

"You don't like it when I don't do you what you tell me to," Tracer points out. "Then again, Mark used to tell me what to do too. And I didn't leave him behind. Make of that what you will."

Yappy takes the quiver. "Right then. Um. These arrows are all different colors, and they have different shaped heads too." The werewolf scratches behind one ear, considering. "Well, it shouldn't matter! Sharp end goes in the bad guy." He wags now that he has something with a bit more range than a skull-faced club.

"You hate me more than him," Jason notes as he starts scratching out equations on one of the metal panels using a metal tool. "Come on, think. What was the resistance and frequency range you figured out when you fixed the warship," he mutters to himself.

"General, have you ever heard of the world of 'Earth' before, and, just as importantly, have you ever been there?" Brother Cadena asks. "If it comes to evacuation, I need to know where we need to take you."

The General's sphere clacks. "Earth? Who names their world after dirt?" he says. "It's not too late to surrender to the might of the Empire. Worthy opponents such as you have proven could rise quickly in our ranks."

"I don't hate you, and I don't hate Mark either," Tracy claims, and pats Fuseli's side. "I wonder if I should dismiss you, Fuseli, or risk taking you through.."

"Don't think I didn't see the disappointment in you when I turned out to not be the hero you imagined me to be," Jason notes. He taps the plate, them seems to remember something and scratch it down.

"And if you want to take anything through, it will require resolution upgrade," Jason adds, "At least if I am thinking correctly about it. That includes the Genera's brain and your avatar. Of course that also means you may have to stay like you are now, too."

Ton Weigh looks to the south, where the annihilation of positive and negative quintessence generates a powerful beam that stabs through the vortex, into the Arcane Reactor that now seems to live in a different world. A bridge runs across, over the beam. "If I were to step across that bridge," he murmurs. "Would I then be in two places at once?"

Brother Cadena looks to Jason and Tracer, then to the bridge. "Ah ... My apologies, Lady Trudeau, but is this place still blowing up? I suspect that this is not our General Vilius Irongrip. In any case, that one wouldn't require a 'resolution upgrade.' Therefore, I suspect it would only harm him to take him through to the other side."

"Ask Yappy about that, Ton Weigh," Tracy suggests. "Cadena, Fuseli can probably take the General to safety. I won't risk bringing him through the vortex."

"This resolution upgrade would be essential then, I take it?" asks Ton Weigh. He hesitates. "What would happen to someone who did not have it?"

"It'll feel like your skin is being eaten away by billions of little ants," Tracer claims.

"Right, so I know how to destroy this place," Jason concludes. "And I can to it on a timer. This would give time for all its inhabitants to evacuate, providing someone actually issues the order. I should also be able to sever the link back to the real world before it goes, which means the destruction will not ripple through," Jason says as he finishes out his math problem. "The only thing I couldn't figure out, was to how to make the explosion look like a giant middle finger pointing at Black." The last part leaves Jason founding very disappointed.

"A continual healing power can counteract the results, I am given to believe," Brother Cadena says to Ton Weigh. "Lady Heart might know more about it, but I still wouldn't advise it except in the most dire of circumstances." He digs around and produces the cord, handing it to Lady Tracer of House Trudeau.

"Help me make a harness so Fuseli can carry the General's ball out of here," Tracer asks the dog-man as she looks over the braincase for places to secure the cord.

Lady Heart shakes her head to Ton Weigh silently. Solanca leans toward Cadena and whispers, "His player's disabled. Spinal defect. When he heard the rumors that people had actually encountered Avatar characters in the real world..."

Inari looks up from where she's secured Mark with the cord. "Now you want to drag him too?... Head up or down?" she asks.

Fuseli whinnies and glares at the General's sphere. Something about its eyes suggests to Tracy 'As soon as my mistress is out of sight... Stomp!'

Brother Cadena nods sadly to Solanca. "I'm sorry. I did not know." He starts to work with the cord. "I regret to say that the 'Avatars in the Real World' are not ... quite as might be advertised by the rumors. I have been trying to investigate the truth behind them, but all I have are wild theories and unsubstantiated speculation at this point."

"We can carry Mark out," Tracer tells Inari. "But we aren't taking this version of the General, and I'm not bringing Fuseli through. I can dismiss my horse, but unless one of the heroes wants to carry the General out.. well, I guess he'd make a hell of a souvenir."

The Nightmare noses Tracy meaningfully. His gaze goes from the sphere... to the lava pit still churning below with the waste products of Quintessence refining.

"I hate to be a burden, but ... is 'blowing things up' entirely necessary to stop the flow of energy to Earth? I had hoped that releasing the Leviathan would be sufficient," Brother Cadena asks as he works. "Even if an evacuation order is issued, there is still the risk of innocent slaves - er, that is, 'indentured servants' - being left behind in the chaos."

Solanca chuckles. "We have plenty of those already. Well, let me get everyone sorted out... And I need to find Father Camillo and Max, wherever they've gotten to."

"That would definitely upset Cadena," Tracy notes to Fuseli. "And it isn't appropriate for a Champion of the Light to chuck brains into boiling lava."

"An evacuation would be chaotic enough, even if the damage is limited, to keep things from starting up immediately," Tracy notes. "So sound the alarm already, give us a countdown, and let's go on and.. get shot at by the security guys on the next platform."

Small grunts. The unicorn-headed healer says softly to Tracy, voice a bell-like whisper, "We may take the General with us. Through the power of the Light, he may be restored to a body, beyond the reach of the Empire. Perhaps he will come to understand the truth. Or perhaps he will wish to return to the prison he knows."

"As I explained earlier, this is about 'not playing by the rules'," Jason says as he rests his head against one of the displays. "We can't 'play the game' as it is expected to be played. We won't win that way. We have to go against the rules and all expectations. No regular player could destroy this place, we can. If we just do what is 'expected', the ADs have already won. We play by their rules, we're their slaves. Simple as that."

"Thanks Jen- .. Princess Heart," Tracy says, sounding relieved. "I don't suppose any of you can open a portal to safety, for convenience. You must have a ship somewhere close by, right?"

The General's sphere emits tiny little crackles of disapproval. "This-- this can't be happening! Guards! Where are the guards! We must stop that madman from destroying Tesliem!"

Solanca nods. "We've got several ships tied up, actually! That's why I asked, I wanted to make sure none of you got left behind."

Ton Weigh says, "It would, as they say, 'blow' if someone were to be confused on which ship they belonged... And on correcting that error, find that their ship had left already."

Brother Cadena nods to Jason, standing back up and cradling the brain sphere. "I'm sorry, General. I have no quarrel with your Empire, but right now our priority must go to stopping a menace that threatens both our universes. Your Empire will be strong enough to withstand this minor setback. It always does. I beg you, please go with Princess Heart and Small. They will see you to safety and I trust them. If there is some way we can issue an evacuation order, now would be the time to do so. I promise you, I will try to help your people who are caught on the other side of the vortex."

"We're leaving through the vortex," Tracy notes and pats Solanca on the shoulder. "I'll look you guys up if I ever get back here again. Now scoot! Take care of Heart and Small, alert the King's Explorers and.. uh.. thanks for the help!"

Inari raps the sphere. "If you're not going to help, just be quiet," she growls. Her eye goes from Mark to the lava pit, but... Tracy is watching.

Jason's head rolls a bit so that he's looking sideways from the screen at Small and Princess Heart. "I am sorry we couldn't do more for you back then," he tells them. "But at least you are both together again. If you ever want to try and leave, contact us. Or if you need anything at all, for that matter."

Small rests his head against Jason's leg briefly. Princess Heart smiles, then kisses Jason's cheek. "You have the heart of a hero," she whispers. They turn to join up with Solanca and the others.

"But not the skill or courage of one," Jason admits and shakes his head. "I can't make any of this ... right, I can just control the damage to some extent. And so much of it is probably my fault anyway."

The General seems swayed by Cadena's voice. "I... If there is nothing I can do for my people beyond speak for them..." Another fat bolt of electricity crackles. His brain sphere lights dim. "I will give the order. We will pass through the communication center on our way out... Connect me there."

"Well, Mark didn't break my heart, I broke his," Tracy notes. "So he's partly my responsibility.. I think. Help me carry him?" she asks.

Princess Heart smiles at Jason, pausing to reach out to Cadena for the brain sphere.

Solanca says crisply, "Not long. Five minutes should do it, but I'd say ten for the inevitable mishaps." He glances over at Phosphemus. "Like someone dropping their book of magic into the garbage disposal." The other mage colors.

Brother Cadena hands over the sphere, then whispers and moves his hands through the motions of a blessing for the departing heroes and their odd charge.

"I'll give it twelve, then. Once this starts it's unlikely to be stoppable. The reaction will quickly become self-sustaining. Once the resonance point is hit, that's it. It'll feed on itself until this whole place disintegrates," Jason says. He taps a bit more on the panel, then says, "Program loaded. I'll use the zombie to activate it as we all leave."

Yappy fidgets with his crossbow, then moves up to where Tracy and Inari are carrying Mark. "Right, lock-and-loaded, ready to move out, sir! Ma'am. Um. Boss."

"Until I see you again, Fuseli," Tracy tells her horse, and kisses him on the cheek. "Return to the fields of dream, between the Light and the Darkness."

Princess Heart smiles at Cadena, accepting the General's sphere. She and Small accompany Solanca and the raiders as they depart on their errand of mercy.

Under Jason's direction, the supersoldier lurches toward the main operator terminal. Empire script flows across the monitors. Things go ominously, CLACK and WHIRRR.

"All right, all of you get going already," Jason complains and makes shooing motions with his hands.

"Hold him up, so I can get him into a fireman's carry," Tracy says. "Hopefully I won't drop him if my shoulder armor vanishes.."

Brother Cadena frowns, walking up to help. "I can assist with that, Lady Tracer, if I may. If we encounter danger, you are a far more capable fighter. Most of my contributions are passive in nature."

Tracy squats, gets her right shoulder under Mark's stomach and tries to life him up that way. Just don't drool down my back, she asks the gods of fate.

"My arms are permanent though," Tracy points out to Cadena. "And Inari is probably better at fighting than I am."

Brother Cadena looks uncertainly at his hands, flexing the fingers, turning them over and examining each side. He frowns and nods, then follows, keeping watch out for the next threat.

Jason enters the final sequence into the system; the one that overloads the control lines to the reactor to make it impossible to undo what he has done. He steps away from the panel and walks towards the bridge and the vortex out. As he reaches over his shoulder and waves to the cyborg, he says, "You know, for someone without a brain, you were an amazing ally. But ... I promise I won't ask Tracy to get a lobotomy to see if she becomes a better ally too." He lowers his arm and tries to stick his hands into nonexistent pockets. "BEsides, she's ... " he mutters to himself, the last few words of that sentence being lost in the noise of the vortex.

"So much for unicorn kisses improving one's outlook," Tracy says to the others, and marches forward with Mark slung over her shoulder.

As the final order is given, the supersoldier turns to regard the departing heroes, though there's no way that anything like emotion could possibly be running through the tiny control that Jason had installed. He then reaches up to grab two small switches, one on each side of the Main Operator Terminal, and flips them.

The beam of mutually annihilating quintessence wavers and then begins to thin out. Beneath their feet the bridge wobbles, becoming unsteady footing. They are forced to quicken their paces, Inari helping Tracy with Mark...

The swirling green fogs rise up around them, thick with the noxious odors of quintessence wastes. Pure white light stabs through it, and then they emerge into the fluorescent lights of the Q-Link.

In another universe, fancifully carved ships with butterfly wings of blue and gold and all the other colors of the rainbow pause to look back at Tesliem. The General was true to his words: all over the docks and hangars, dull gray military ships are putting out to space, tiny boat "life pods" are being ejected, trailing smoke as their tiny engines put distance between them and the lightning-surrounded asteroid.

In true space, sound would not travel... But here in the Diadem, there's an eerie rising crescendo from the asteroid as its very structure begins to sing. Cracks form across its surface, glowing with plasma heat.

And then it explodes, just as the last ships are departing, sending them flying helter-skelter across the cosmos. A ring of pure concussive force flings itself out across its equator. Solanca's ship catches the wind, is flung instantly to immense speed, and on its bridge, Princess Heart topples into Small's clutches, as the bear hangs grimly onto the railing with his enormous claws. A distant 'WOOHOO!' sounds as Solanca hangs on for dear life.

Avatars LLC, Q-Link
Normally a large white-tiled room full of monitoring equipment and plasma conduits feeding energy into a quantum link confinement sphere, the Q-Link chamber has been ripped apart, as if by a giant's hand. The nearby quarter of the room opens onto a yawning chasm of infinite space, into which the other fragments of the room hang suspended. Directly ahead, threatening to swallow up the nearby Q-Probe display and operator terminal, is a swirling white vortex of energies within which appear visions of other worlds. The floor doesn't actually end at the vortex; instead, it seems to continue into the vortex as if space were being warped around a black hole.
If one were to somehow be able to swim through the white vortex to the other side, it might be possible to reach the northwest quarter of the room, which appears a full floor higher even though it should be at the same level.

As they emerge onto the familiar white ceramic tiles of the Q-Link, several workers are working frantically at the equipment that lines the walls. "We're losing the beam! Something's wrong!" the nearest one yells.

The lieutenant moves toward the workers, studying the monitors. "Something must have gone wrong on the other side," he muses.

For the moment, it seems as if the guards haven't yet noticed the arrival of the heroes. On the southern platform, Chaz Burgundy is still being held hostage by a Tesliem captain, with a Tesliem Mage-Lord glowering as the beam to the Arcane Reactor grows thin and thready. Monica stands near him, her face pale.

"Hey, Inari ... think you can sneak over and deal with the guards around Chaz?" Jason whispers to the kitsune as he draws a finger along the front of his throat as a suggestion.

The golden vixen frowns. "There's the matter of that vortex in the way," she whispers back. Behind her, Yappy is trying very hard not to make a loud noise as he walks behind them.

"And here I had the faith you could do the impossible," Jason teases softly. "How about the guards in here?"

"I can't carry this guy forever," Tracy whispers, looking for a good spot to lay Mark down.. and not a little disturbed to still be Lady Tracer outside of the vortex.

"The others would complain if they were more than only a little dead," Jason admits.

Brother Cadena bites his lip, and just assists Tracy in setting Mark down, as quietly as he can manage.

She ignites her laser sword and raises it, preparing to sever the guard from his life...

And with a THWACK she brings the laser sword's hilt with a crack down on the guard's head, then catches the guard before he can fall. The other guard and the lieutenant, distracted with the monitors reporting falling power output, take no notice - it's hard to hear over the noise of the vortexes themselves.

The golden vixen eases the guard gently down to the floor and turns toward the others. She glances back at Jason and Tracy and Cadena to see if they're moving up.

Jason gives Inari a 'thumbs-up' for her work! "Can anyone stun the worker?" Jason asks, plotting to send RIU in stealth to shock him asleep if not...

"You know how my previous attempts to stun someone have turned out," Tracer notes quietly, still looking for an out of the way place to stash her ex.

"And just when I thought you were being heroic," Jason mutters. "RIU, you're on. Slealth and close quarters stun them, please..."

Brother Cadena lets out a breath - quietly - once he sees that Inari is quite the pro at non-lethal means of incapacitation. Meanwhile, he works with a gadget from his first-aid kit that is meant to weave a spidersilk-like material into bandages, only he's abusing it at the moment to gag Mark with a custom fit, just in case he wakes up in the middle of things.

Contrary to how videos portray them, Inari's Naginata Blade makes no sound as she readies it, in case the worker raises an alarm before she closes in.

With the worker stunned, Tracer offers Mark to Cadena, and whispers to Yappy, "Bring me the crossbow."

The robed canine gingerly takes the redneck warrior, pressing himself back against the machinery frames for what little support and cover they might offer.

The werewolf looks a bit disappointed having his toy taken away, but offers it to her. From what Tracy can see, there are red, blue, and green feathered bolts in the quiver, and a smattering of other arrows. The green one looks like it would immobilize its target; the red one looks like it's meant to do serious damage. She's not familiar with the markings on the blue one.

"Blue for stun, hopefully," Tracer mutters, and arms the crossbow with a blue bolt.

The mage-lord shouts from the southern platform, "What's going on down there? Get the feed re-established, do I need to do everything around here? Heads will roll if it is not re-established within the next minute!"

The lieutenant, distracted, yells back "My Lord! We are doing everything we can, but we may need to send a party back to Tesliem to sort the matter out!"

"I'm sending RIU to the second worker to stun him. Can you aim for the lieutenant? Your weapon is stronger than RIUU's bolt, I expect," Jason whispers to Tracy.

"Think you can get the weapon off the fallen guard without being seen?" Tracy whispers to the werewolf.

WHACK! The other guard goes down before her mighty sword-hilt, into Inari's arms. She lowers him as well gently to the floor.

Slowly, stealthily, the brown-furred werewolf creeps over the tiles. As he approaches the guard, he tries to relieve him of the gun without banging it against the ground.

The minidragon hovers silently through the air, over the lieutenant - no one ever thinks to look up - and gets ready to drop down from ambush onto the anonymous Tesliem worker's shoulders.

The lieutenant continues to be intent on the monitors. "Try boosting the positive flow," he says. "Are you sure you're doing it right? I'm positive you've got the signs reversed on that..."

Being unfamiliar with the crossbow, Tracy takes her time as she aims carefully between the Lieutenant's shoulder blades..

The worker says angrily, "I know my job, okay?" Not turning around, he works furiously trying to send a signal to the other side to boost the drain of blood from the Leviathan. "It's just not responding! Flow is down to zero!"

The bolt flies through the air, leaving a trail of blue... And when it hits, it bounces off of the back of the lieutenant's armor, leaving a glowing blue rune there. He turns and is about to yell when-- PAF! a sudden block of ice forms around him.

RIU, brain fry! Jason orders. The little dragon drops onto the Worker's head and tries to shock him silly!

The worker stiffens as electricity washes over him from head to toes! He passes out, collapsing against the panel where he was working.

The lieutenant's eyes move side to side, but he's unable to move. His muscles strain and the iceblock creaks.

Brother Cadena gently sets down the unconscious form of Mark, then rushes over to the closest unconscious guard, doing a quick check to make sure that he's just unconscious, and not, say, about to die from hemorrhaging due to the hit to the head.

The golden vixen straightens as she considers the situation. With the one remaining hostile in a block of ice... She advances toward him. "Make a noise," she says brandishing her laser sword. "And I stick this where the sun doesn't shine." His eyes widen. Clearly he's seen at least one video drama with the famous Naginata Blades.

The lieutenant struggles in vain against the icy grip of the ice. Inari frowns and looks over at Jason. Her eyes clearly convey, One little swipe and we won't have any problems.

"What do we do next?" Brother Cadena whispers to Yappy, who's the only one within seemingly safe whispering range. "Did they say anything about whether we need to take Mark with us? Do we just rush on through the Vortex while we have the chance?"

"I wish," Jason mutters softly when Inari looks at him. He looks to RIU. Though unspoken, the command is probably obvious enough to observers. Bolt the ice block.

Yappy whispers back, "Um... All I heard is that Tracy wants Mark arrested and put in jail." He examines his new rifle, trying to puzzle out the workings. Where's the safety on this thing?

Tracy loads a fresh ice-bolt, and sneaks along the wall of machinery towards Cadena and Yappy and the unconscious technician.

Brother Cadena looks wary as Yappy fiddles with the rifle, noting where it's pointed at all times. "Perhaps you should let Mr. Edwards look at it first," he whispers. "Doing something wrong might make noise - or worse."

"It'll be okay, I've seen lots of guns in videogames," Yappy reassures Cadena. "It didn't look that complicated..." He is momentarily blinded by a flash of electric blue light from the direction of the ice cube.

CRACKLE! RIU winds up and unleashes a powerful bolt of sizzling energy that crashes into the lieutenant's ice block! The lieutenant's eyes roll up as he slumps, still entrapped.

"If only his name were Vodka," Jason mutters, amused as RIU sends the Lieutenant into Shocksville.

Inari dances back a step as the bolt crashes into the ice cube. Her fur sticks up all over. "Thanks, RIU," she mutters, then grins as she powers down her laser sword.

"There should be a door around here," Tracy notes, heading towards the vortex. "Do any of these consoles make sense to you, Jason?"

Brother Cadena hastens to make the rounds of the immediate area, doing a quick check on the stunned workers and guards of Tesliem, to make sure that they're not in need of immediate emergency medical attention (or administering what he can and quickly, should it be necessary) - but with a deliberate focus on not bringing anyone back to consciousness if he can help it.

Jason slinks over to Inari. "I'd prefer your solution ... but they would complain," he admits to the kitsune. He's about to say more, but is distracted by Tracy and goes to look at the console.

"It's ... a lot of gibbrish. The Q-Core is linked to the Tesliem reactor. But ... the readings seem to be going back to normal. That is good, I think," Jason says after some study.

"Can you guess the rate of .. going-back-to-normal-ness?" Tracy asks, checks if the hall door is locked or not. "I mean, is this vortex going to fade out soon, or do we still need to cross through?"

Jason checks his timer. "And ... hm. It hasn't happened yet," he muses, "Must be the bridge closure."

The beam of light from the green vortex grows thinner. The vortex itself seems to be fading slowly, growing smaller, yielding floor back to the Q-Link room as it used to be.

Brother Cadena hurries back over to Tracer's side. "My Lady, it appears that the doors here actually lead back to Avatars corporate property - to the stable world. Perhaps I could bring 'Mark' to the attention of the security forces, to make sure he doesn't escape, while you and Mr. Edwards figure out these devices?"

The white vortex also appears to be dwindling. Only the black vortex remains obstinately the same size, fringed in such a way that shadows seem to reach out from its periphery.

"Slight flaw in that, Cadena," Tracy notes, tapping the dog-man on the chest. "What happens if you leave the area of influence of the vortexes? You could step through the door and become a dog again. But.. even if you turn back, you can still talk, and move quickly. You could search for a guard while we drag everyone outside.."

Yappy hefts his assault rifle, shifting it into a grip that looks normal. "All right! I'm ready to rock and roll," he says in a hushed voice. Then looks up. "Um. Where are the guards?"

"Then ... er ... Yappy?" Brother Cadena offers to Tracer, nodding to the werewolf. "He'd only revert to being human, after all."

"Or.." Tracy says, and goes to the intercom. "We could try to contact Hel and have her send a squad.."

Jason wisely doesn't comment that there is no guarantee Yappy will return to being human.

Brother Cadena frowns. "And yet she hasn't sent a squad here already. I'm ... missing something, I fear."

The brown-furred werewolf scratches behind one ear. "What am I doing again?" he says diffidently as he moves up to Tracy, sensing that he's been volunteered for something.

"That depends," Tracy tells the werewolf. "Do you want to go through those doors and see if you turn human again?" she asks.

The werewolf looks worried. "Um... Turning into a werewolf wasn't much fun. What if turning back human hurts like that?"

"Well.. you could start to dissolve," Tracer notes, wincing a bit. She then tries to reach the security AD on the intercom.

Brother Cadena walks back from where he'd put an ear to the door, and reports, "We're in luck. It sounds like there are some guards out there after all. They must be hunkered down - perhaps they came under heavy fire from the Tesliem guards here ... or that mage-lord, or something stranger. I can't fault them for not simply charging in here, after all."

"Well, I have access to some Q-Core functions here. I could try to turn you back to human. Or make that your permanent body," Jason offers.

Yappy considers this. "What do you like better?" he asks Tracy, looking embarrassed.

"Human," Tracy tells Yappy. "You wouldn't want to be stuck as a werewolf if stuff doesn't work out, right?" she asks, and heads for the doors. "I'll try to talk to the guards."

The werewolf looks a bit disappointed. "Being a wolf is kind of fun," he mutters to Jason. "My old body was always kind of... rubbish. But it would be a bit hard to fit into society. Um, no offense, miss. I'm a big fan, Inari!"

Brother Cadena, meanwhile, lifts up Mark again and works on taking him in a fireman's pull toward the door.

"Well, it's your choice, Mike!" Tracy adds, then opens the doors a crack to peek outside.

"Well, you could remain a shifter, you would just need sources of magic to shift," Jason points out to try and save him from inciting Inari into killing him."

Inari takes it with good humor. She whispers to Jason, "I get that a lot. Someday I wonder if I'll be the poster child for 'species-challenged people'."

Jason almost tells Inari that she also doesn't look fat, and no, that suit does not make her butt look big ... but self-preservation instincts kick in. "Right, well, lets see what I can access," Jason says instead, looking for any pattern data on Yappy.

Brother Cadena looks like he's about to try whispering something to Tracer, as he drags Mark toward the door, but seeing her being so intent upon things, he opts to stay out of the way.

As Tracy punches the door button, she draws back behind the frame, then peeks out. Avatars LLC-uniformed security robots are there, guns and zappers at the ready. A ladybug-like droid peeps around the edge, and then when its extended sensor/vocal package doesn't get immediately destroyed, it says chirpily. "Hello? Is everything all right?"

"Ah, you're with Hel right?" Tracy asks the 'bug' probe. "We've knocked out the Imperial agents and need them taken to holding and help securing this room. I'm Tracy Trudeau, and I should still be on Hel's 'officially deputized' list."

"Aaand ... nevermind. I can't fix you one way or another. Not enough equipment that is remotely stable. Sorry, Yap. Looks like you're stuck in the flea side of life a bit longer," Jason admits.

Could it possibly be Ed, the same robot that escorted them in? Ed says cheerily, "We were beginning to be worried! HEL expected you to send a signal when you wanted us to charge in." The ladybug-like robot tilts its head toward the intercom. "The BLACK is fighting hard to retain control over this room though, so we couldn't track what you were doing in here."

"I am Brother Cadena," the canine introduces himself. "I ... ah ... am an altered form of experimental subject AVA-808-X-024. I do not know whether I am stable outside of this area. I have in my possession an individual who escaped from custody previously: Mark Berkowitz. Might we turn him over? Carrying him with us might pose risks to all parties involved."

One of the humanoid police-style armored humanoid droids nods at Tracy as well. "Acknowledged, Miss Trudeau." He steps toward the unconscious guards, then hesitates before the lieutenant trapped in an iceblock. "A very efficient method of securing the prisoner, miss."

Yappy looks secretly relieved. "It isn't so bad once... Ack, did you have to mention fleas?" He scratches vigorously behind a cheekruff.

"Yeah.. I'm sure it'd be a great trick at parties," Tracy agrees. "This one is Mark Berkowitz.. make sure he's kept separate from the Imperial detainees - he's eventually going to the police. And Yappy.. uh.. do you want to go with the robots or stick with us?"

The other droid obligingly takes Mark from Cadena. "Mark Berkowitz. Processing." Its eyes dim for a second, then light up again. "Illicit orders to remand Mark to Chaz Burgundy's custody in the Q-Link room detected. Correcting. Subject is to be confined to Security Holding Cell 5 on order of Vice President Holly Trudeau."

"Personally, I think you look cool like that," Jason whispers to Yappy. "Being human is boring."

Brother Cadena smiles. "I'm glad to hear that your mother is back in the action," he says to Tracy.

Yappy looks a bit wary. "Well... I'm a bit worried about this 'dissolving away' business, or suddenly turning human, without Cadena here to help," he admits. "I'd better come with you. As long as I don't get shot, it should be less painful!"

"Thanks," Tracy tells the droid, feeling that a weight's been lifted from her shoulders. "And in that case, Yappy.. have one of the bots show you how to use that gun."

Ed tilts its head sideways. its voice changes to female... A voice Tracy knows very well. "Tracy Ellen Trudeau, what have you done to yourself?"

"Vice President Trudeau?" Brother Cadena asks. "Er ... we are in an unstable area. She's not at fault."

Rolling her eyes, Tracy whines, "Mooommm, don't embarrass me while I'm trying to save the world, okay? I'm sure this is all just temporary and I'll go back to normal once the breach in reality is closed."

"Don't listen to him, he's dressed up as an armored fox right now," Tracy counters.

"And yes, oh great Holly of the unfortunate shortness and bad hair?" Jason asks of the bot.

"Is there any reason I shouldn't have the robots on the other doors rush in and shoot everything that's moving in there?" asks Holly. Ed's video-head turns to regard the room. "Things appear rather... Helter-skelter just now."

"Vice President Chaz Burgundy is being held hostage under armed guard!" Brother Cadena interjects quickly.

"I wouldn't advise it. Chaz is still being held prisoner past the vortex. Now I know you have corporate ambitions, but shooting the president is not a good career move," Jason teases. "The Q-0Core readings are slowly returning to normal, we've cut off the link to the Diadem ... and Tesliem will blow up any minute now."

Yappy discusses guns with a guard-robot while the guard patiently extrudes plastic tape from its utility belt and uses that to secure the workers and guards. "Ah! Great," the werewolf enthuses. "So that was the safety after all. And the fingerprint interlock? ... Okay, um right. I don't know if I still have the same fingerprints..."

"There's also a sorcerer and a giant spider," Tracy adds, shivering at the thought of the monster arachnid.

"Tesliem?!" Ed looks startledly back to Jason. "We'll have to evacuate all players from that sector, it could get unstable. That's a major plot nexus. I'll get someone on that... Just whip yourself up one, you're good at improvising," Holly says flippantly.

"Bug spray? But I don't have that huge can of deodorant you always carried around," Jason retorts. "And yes, Tesliem. It's going to blow. quite spectacularly, I might add."

"Anyway.. if there's nothing more we can do from here, I guess we should get going into the deep dark there," Tracy says, gesturing to the remaining vortex. "No idea where it goes though.."

Holly shakes her head. "I'm not going to ask how... We don't have time. Do you have a plan for freeing Chaz?"

"Might we see if the security robots have any sort of ... stunning devices? Restraints we could use?" Brother Cadena asks Tracer. "It could be useful for apprehending individuals. Or, say, restraining allies if they suddenly and inexplicably undergo radical personality changes."

"Well, one solution is we kill him, sort of, then hope medical can save him in time," Jason suggests. "But so far, no, we don't have a plan yet. Let me see if I can find out what is going on in that vortex."

In the distance, the Tesliem mage-lord yells, "What's going on down there? Report, lieutenant!"

"Just don't sing. You're a terrible singer," Jason claims as he steps away from the console.

The nearby security droid clicks apologetically to Cadena. "I regret, sir, our weapons are designed not to be removable so that they cannot be used against us."

"Ooo, right, tasers," Tracy says. "And the other two rifles.. I'm sure Jason and Inari would appreciate them."

Brother Cadena nods to the robots, not particularly surprised. "Thank you for checking." He turns to the Ed/Holly robot and says, "Thank you, Vice President Trudeau, and we wish you luck. I will have a detailed report when all of this is through, including several details I believe will be of special interest to you."

"Ahem, T have built in bolt cannons," Jason points out. "Inari would love to have a sniper rifle, though!"

Inari says, "I don't think guards have that as standard issue." She shakes her head. "It'll be all right, Jason. Let's go, we don't want to get caught out here."

The robed canine advances toward the Black Vortex, taking a deep breath and bowing his head in a quick prayer as he braces himself for another reality jump.

"Bye mom, love you!" Tracy says, blowing a kiss towards Ed. "And remember: if anything is broken, it's all Jason's fault!" she claims before wading into the darkness with her crossbow at the ready.

Ed dips its head toward Cadena. "Thank you, Cadena," it says in Holly's voice. The other police droids escort their prisoners out... One carries the lieutenant, iceblocked. The ladybug-like droid itself deploys in the middle of the platform fragment, raising one of its 'wings' as a shield.

"All right is relative," Jason claims, "I prefer overwhelming odds in our favor." He moves back to Inari's side and once there, squeezes her hand briefly. "Just remember, BLACK no longer has any sway over you. So ... if you get the urge to eat my head, ignore it. I'm sure we can get a pizza after we save the building. And if we're lucky, we might only be charged half price instead of full. Bah. who am I kidding? No one ever gives those who risk their lives a discount. Sure, you're going to save the world! but that potion still costs full price," he babbles. "Er, anyway, right, onward. Into darkness. Why does it have to be so dark..."

Overhead, strands of giant spider-silk shoot across the room. It appears the mage-lord has gotten tired of waiting and is coming over himself to have a closer look.

Inari picks up the fallen assault rifle from the second guard. She stops Jason's babbling with a kiss, and then pulls him after her. "Time to go, honey."