Welcome!!
This is the TWENTY-SECOND issue of our new Marvel Fanon-Made storyline called The Absconders. To read the previous issue, click here. This storyline is Role-played and made by a certain number of experienced RPers. These are our RPers, and their OCs:
- TheSuperiorOne - Trey Soniak (Earth-2025)
- Thecryingwolf3553 - Eliana Rosenheim (Earth-2025)
- PyroHunter16 - Haruto Higashikata (Earth-2025)
- Infamoussnake - Dominic Bernedicci (Earth-2025)
- Guilthegreat - Raa-4 (Earth-2025)
If you want to join this RP, please ask in the comments and you will need most of our approvals to RP in here. Also, you need to have a Marvel OC (Original Character) submitted to deviantART OR this wiki and must share it with us so we know who we are RPing with. Disclaimer: Any real-life or fictional brands are used in as a parody. None of us are actually sponsored, nor do we care to be sponsored. Now let us begin the RP and enjoy :)
Key:
- Normal writing is the dialogue between the characters.
- Italic writing is a special writing type for characters with second personalities or long distance dialogue (telepathy or calls).
- Bold and italic writing are the actions that characters do.
- Writing in between the *asterisk* means that the character is talking in their heads.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that night
Viviane was assisting in rebuilding Dinomo tower, as Dominic watched his father's company, attacked, this time by man, not his own fault. A true monster attacking his father's work, despite being able to take advantage of the situation by being a martyr, he hated the fact he didn't take Richard's instanility into account, now here he was, a Carbonadium bullet being broken down by his body, and life support, he then smirked, as he heard the window open.
Dominic: Where did you run off to for the past month? He then looekd and it was Antonia, as the new symbiote host, for Spoil's spawnling, Glory.
Antonia: How many died Bernedicci? Those idiots were supposed to be good, why, just why... She was obviously distraught, but in a tough way.
Dominic: Viv is keeping everything stable, the Hivemind, my company, hopefully the team, but now, actually getting shot, and risk actually dying permanently, I have some perspective. Antonia raised an eyebrow I want you to form a team, it's obvious at this point that the Absconders should not get their hands too dirty, and considering you lineage, maybe you can form-
Antonia: A "Dark Absconders"? You're telling me to form a black ops group...
Dominic: Fits doesn't it? The ninja badass, daughter of the trainer of most henchmen. My temporary spot filler when I went on hiatus.
Antonia: If you want a group, I'll need people....
Dominic: Toni, you know who we hang out with, go... She nods, as she leaps out the window.
After an hour, Dom was asleep, passed out due to the pain of his carbonadium poison aftereffects. Eliana had come to visit him again, but not alone. Thad accompanied her, but the room was empty otherwise. They both sat on one side of Dominic's bed, and Eliana had brought some flowers and other gifts for him.
Eliana: He looks peaceful, asleep like this.
Thad: Yeah. Think about how much it hurts though.
Eliana: Thad...
Thad: What, it's a penny shaped hole in his chest that'll never heal. Not to mention the fragments constantly poisoning him.
Eliana: Oh God... The doctors said there's not much else they can do, they removed most of the fragments but there's still dozens of tiny ones left in. Magic won't heal this.
Thad: Of course it won't. Magic and science, both branches of the same understanding, that's what Myron said. Neither can really counter the other, but instead can compliment. But this medical technology is just tat, it can't help him.
Eliana: So, what? He's just gonna stay in pain for who knows how long? He's currently defenceless, physically and socially. After he recovers then what? He'll be arrested again.
Thad: He has guards waiting outside, and didn't he want to be arrested? His dumbass way of making up for things.
Eliana: It was brave, he did it for the Absconders.
Thad: Bravery, stupidity, again one and the same. Regardless, he barely cleared anything.
Eliana: He became a martyr. He didn't get shot in vain.
Thad: Whatever, just hope Richard's taking this just as hard.
Eliana: Richard did this. He had himself get shot to not get framed for assassinating Dom.
Thad: Wow, that's pretty clever.
Eliana: Oh shut up. In the distance they hear gunfire, a few screams and men shouting. They turn to the direction of the noise, listening intently and preparing to fight. One of the Dinomo guards bursts in, yelling to them a warning, before suddenly being interrupted by getting shot in the back of his head. Several guards run in, all with Leon Corps logos on their uniforms. They aim guns at Dominic, Eliana and Thaddeus. Sh-t! She shields Dominic, but the men prepare to fire anyway. Thad notices this and stomps the floor, as a large appendage of visible blue telekinetic energy, much like the arm of a translucent giant, appears coming from Thad that smacks all the guards into the walls or the floor. He walls forward as the men struggle to get up and steady their aim, but Thad waves his arms at some of the men as they start floating up to the ceiling, being lifted by their throats. One man stands up and pulls the pin of a grenade, about to throw it at Dominic. Thad aims his hand at the soldier, as his hand freezes in place, not letting go of the grenade. The man looks confused and checks his hand, desperately trying to pry his fingers open as he screams. The man gives up and runs at Thaddeus, attempting to suicide bomb him; Thad simply waves his hand at him without caring as the man flies back into the nearest wall and blows up with the grenade. The soldiers he choked to the ceiling drop to the floor dead.
Thad: Everyone stay down! He shouts as his voice resonates around the room, and every remaining soldier stops getting up, and stay sitting or lying on the ground. You. He points at one soldier. These men are your best friends, but they failed their mission. Look them in the eyes and kill them all.
Eliana: Thaddeu-! She shouts, before Thaddeus turns to her and yells.
Thad: SHUT IT, ELIANA! As he says this he swings his arm downwards as she feels a blast of air strike her, and suddenly she ignores Thad and continues caring for Dominic, forgetting the bloodshed. Meanwhile the soldier walks up to all the other men and shoots them in the face after looking them in the eyes. He is visibly crying as he kills what Thad made him believe are his best friends. Thad notices him crying and calls him over after he kills the last man. Come here. Are you crying?
Soldier: Yes...
Thad: Wipe your tears off. Now tell me, did Richard sent you?
Soldier: One of his advisors did.
Thad: Who's your commanding officer?
Soldier: Sargent David Messenger.
Thad: Do you have a knife? The soldier takes out a combat knife Good. Report back to Sargent Messenger, tell him Dominic Bernedicci is dead. Then stick this knife in his jugular. Got it?
Soldier: Yes...
Thad: Now go. And stop crying! The soldier leaves, as Thad heads over to Eliana and comforts her from behind. It's okay, I saved him for you.
Eliana: That was Richard, wasn't it?
Thad: Yes. His men are gone, now.
Eliana: See, I told you he's defenceless, he's not safe here!
Thad: Then move him somewhere else if it pleases you.
Eliana: But the carbonadium...
Thad: Let me handle that. He leans over to Dominic and places his finger around his bullet wound. After a few seconds small pieces of carbonadium pop out the wound and into Thad's hand. See? Now all he needs is rest. Are you happy now?
Eliana: Woah, thank you Thad- wait, where's your finger? She looks at Thad's missing finger
Thad: You don't care anymore.
Eliana: We should move him now, before the police arrive.
Thad: Right. Where?
Eliana: Somewhere I know will be secure.
During that Night
This is the Monomer Driver's design as shown in the data.
The estimated design of the Monomer Driver's undersuit.
Haruto was sitting in the VP's workshop, reading through the data on the Monomer Driver belt. Its data showed copious amounts of code, the design of the belt itself, an estimated design of the undersuit given by the Driver, as well as various readouts on the different Arcana Batteries and their compatibility with the Driver.
Haruto: According to this... Exiled or Void battery, Elimina Battery, and... Acqua? Strange... The essences with the highest compatibility are all from the Celestial and Sinful councils, but... Acqua's among the top three? Perhaps... it's foreshadowing something?
He waved it off and clicked on the Acqua Battery data. The screen transitioned into a simulation showing the transformation sequence: the user with the belt already equipped twisted the cap on the Battery before loading it into the belt cap-first. The belt announced "Acqua Battery!" before playing standby music. Following that, the user took a pose and began the transformation sequence.
Monomer Driver: Extracting... Compiling... Deploying! Operative of Acqua! It announced as a beaker-like construct rose out of the ground around the simulated user. Filling with a bluish liquid, the beaker compacted into a test-tube before disappearing in a brief flash of light as the silver undersuit displayed previously formed. From there, the bluish liquid left behind on the upper torso condensed and solidified into armor themed after Acqua, thus completing the transformation. The bluish liquid appeared to have been frozen in place, retaining their fluid, flowing designs. Its mask resembled a bunch of icicles embedded in a mound of spiked snow with the orange of the compound eyes contrasting against it the light blue.
Haruto: Operative of Acqua? I'm supposing that's a stand-in name... Haruto watched the animation demonstrate the finisher attack sequence, with the stand-in user splitting into two.
Monomer Driver: Solitary Strike! Light blue energy gathered at the user's leg on the right side and in their fist on the left. The former jumped upwards before rocketing forward as a vent on the back of the suit expelled blue flames to rocket the user into a flying side kick. On the other hand, the user with the charged fist blasted forward without the need for a jump before executing a powerful straight punch.
Haruto: So that's how the Monomer Driver operates... Before he could do anything else, his phone rang. Who could that be at this hour...? It's midnight, dammit.... Haruto looked at the number calling him. From Tokyo?! This isn't either of my parents' phone numbers either... Whatever... Hello?
Female Voice: Moshi moshi? Kore wa... Higashikata Haruto, desu ka? A teenage girl's voice answered him.
Haruto: Uh... Hai. Boku wa Higashikata Haruto. Anata wa? *Her voice sounds awfully familiar...*
Female Voice: Hehe... I've found you, Haruto~ She spoke in perfect English, surprising him a bit.
Haruto: Who is this?
Female Voice: Did you really forget your oldest childhood friend? The girl sounded almost heartbroken.
Haruto: A-Akeno? How did you get a hold of my number?
Akeno: Our parents are still in contact, silly. In fact... I'm moving to America soon! My parents are going to be meeting yours concerning their jobs, but I'm really glad I'll be able to see you again!
Haruto: I see... He looked at the computer in front of him, which was silently replaying the demonstrations of the "Solitary Strike." He closed the animation and instead brought up a photo of him from his childhood: a little Haruto with a goofy grin hugging a cute little girl who was smiling at the camera. So when are you coming over?
Akeno: Very soon, actually! We're just about to leave for the airport, so I've got to go. I'm looking forward to catching up with you soon! Ja ne, Haruto-kun! With that, Akeno hung up.
Haruto: Akeno's coming over to live here now, huh...? He saved her phone number into his contacts before setting it down and looking at the photo in front of him, remembering the silly childhood promises they had made to each other. Better call Katie and Belle and let them know they've got competition... As he dialed Katie's number, he clicked over to the next photo showing his 5th birthday party, where little Akeno was kissing little Haruto's cheek as his childish self was bright red and embarrassed by the action. Saiaku da... Right after that, Katie picked up the phone.
Katie: Hey Hunter, what's up?
Haruto: Remember when I told you about that one girl I was friends with when I was a little kid back in Japan?
Katie: Yeah, and how she told you she had a crush on you and all that. Why?
Haruto: She just called me to let me know she's moving to the US.
Katie: I see Hunter's building himself a harem, hm~?
Haruto: Aaaah, not you too...! This really is the worst...
Katie: I'm just kidding, jeez! I'd love to meet her soon, did she mention when she was going to arrive?
Haruto: She said she was about to leave for the airport, and the flight's about 10 hours, so...
Katie: By Saturday at the latest?
Haruto: Considering it's now the middle of the night on a Thursday, and it's about 5PM over there on Friday... that sounds about right.
Katie: Well I can't wait to meet her!
Haruto: Did I ever mention she was kind of protective about me...?
Katie: Protective?
Haruto: You know... she gets jealous if I hang out with other girls. Katie chuckled a bit on her end. It might not end well for you, ya know...
Katie: I think I'll be able to handle myself around her just fine, Hunter.
Haruto: We'll see... I need to look some stuff over, so I'll call you later.
Katie: Alrighty. Love you.
Haruto: Love you too. With that, he hung up the phone and sighed. *I'm pseudo-dating Katie and Belle, and when Akeno comes, she's gonna flip her s-it. This is a disaster waiting to happen...* He decided to close up shop for the night, returning to his room in the VP and gently patting his pet Phoenix Engetsu before falling asleep in his bed.
The next day
Dominic was waking up on his bed in the VP, realizing the life support machines weren't there, he got up groaning, realizing he had no shirt, as he looked into the mirror, the hole in his chest, the black eyes, and still, he remembers his mother's death, his "clone" killing her, he started panting, his fists shaky, he wished, he absolutely wished, he had his green eyes back, the fact he didn't feel alone, now this new feeling, it sickened him. He snapped back to reality when he heard a knock.
Dominic: Come in... It was Antonia, with a good six other ninjas in a mix of a typical ninja outfit, with militaristic gear.
Antonia: Defectors that I found, so far, the only ones willing to use guns and more...So these are the first recruits, anything else?
Dominic: Your first mission...
Antonia: Oh. *I wanna shoot Gardener.
Dominic: Find who shot me, bring him here, in the suit he was wearing, with his gun, alive... Antonia nodded as she motioned the ninja to follow her, as they all turned invisible and exited. They traveled through the city, as they got a tip of a warehouse that is owned by Gardener, as she used her new powers to try and find clues, as her other ninja stayed in ambush positions.
Some workers were working at the warehouse, moving storage in and out on trucks which made noise loud enough to mask the presence of Antonia. This came to her advantage, as she managed to find a clipboard that contained information for some of the storage items. There was a shipment of weapons, specifically carbonadium sniper rifles, to be delivered today. The truck carrying them was leaving soon, as her ninjas spotted crates of weapons being loaded in by workmen. When the truck left, Antonia and her ninjas followed it across the city, and by their luck it lead them to a building owned by the Leon Corps, mercenaries hired by Gardener. Antonia and her men snuck into the garage where the truck disappeared into, and searched around the building. They saw soldiers unloading the weapon crates and taking them with them to another room. Antonia stayed outside the room and listened, hearing the soldiers talking.
Soldier 1: This is the last of them.
Soldier 2: Great, hopefully this puts grapefruit sized holes in them.
Soldier 1: It will, you saw what it did to Vanquish.
Soldier 2: Bernedicci survived the shot. It was Messenger's men who had to finish him off, too bad some f-cktard rogue killed him...
Soldier 1: Yeah well blame it on Tobias for not shooting straight. Otherwise Vanquish would've gone down in one shot.
Soldier 2: Whatever, let's just get these ready so we finally get our pay. Antonia heard them mention the name of Dominic's shooter, she wasn't certain how many men were in the room, as she only heard these two. She went on the intercom.
Antonia: Everyone, prepare your trackers, take pictures of the shipment, find any info on where they can end up in, government soldier deaths shall not be tolerated, Gardener's goons can bite bullets, dispose of them quick if needed... She whispered
Ninja 1: We wont destroy the shipments?
Antonia: Too risky, I don't want to put your necks in the guillotine. Not enough members, for now, we get Tobias, smuggle any info, and at east get an idea where the crates end up. But, permission to booby trap them is good, don't go overboard, we need the weapons identifiable still.
All Ninja: Understood. She then looked at the door and felt it was pure metal, steel, potentially stronger.
Antonia: *We must get in, old powers are given, upgraded...* When she used her Qi sense she could see their shapes even, and all forms of life, her entire symbiote suit then gained a rock like appearance, she kicked down the door surprising both soldiers, but there were actually seven as she predicted. She then got into normal symbiote mode and lifted the steel door and webbed it back in place. Some soldiers went for the crates, some reaching for their batons, she blitzed the ones trying to open the crates, webbing the crates up to prevent the soldiers from using the guns. A soldier then tried striking her, but she casually dodged all attempted hits, as she then threw a right hook at the soldier, launching him into a wall, one soldier with an UZI tried opening fire, but Antonia slid around like air or water, almost taking inhuman forms, one had two electric batons though, as he managed to hit her, causing her to screech in pain. She went down, stunned, as they started kicking her as she was down, unloading bullets, shocking her, even spitting on her for the Hell of it.
She was growling in reaction, sizing up each soldier, as her mask slowly showed teeth, her claws sharpening, and the hoood disappearing, she pushed them all off easily. Antonia looked more monstrous, as she grabbed three soldiers, one had a shotgun, she grabbed it and all decapitated the three with it, the remaining three, looked scared, she chuckled menacingly, forming guns as she shot two, it was silent, but they fell, she grabbed the last one by the throat and pinned him to the wall, her long tongue sliding across his face.
Antonia: I have questions, and I'm expecting answers that line up.... She hissed with disdain, she could bite out his throat at any moment.
Soldier: What do you want?!
Antonia: Tobias! Give us Tobias! The guns, the source, give it all! She tightened her grip on his throat, he could feel her claws break some skin.
Soldier: Tobias?! He's on the top floor! The guns, were made by Pangolin Industries! That's all I know! We're just hired mercenaries! Please spare me!
Antonia: We better not see those fingers on a trigger or else, you'll lose something more precious than the ability to fight... She then squeezed enough on his throat to knock him out, as she carried some of the crates back, and brought the soldier and crates to a spot where the ninjas can pick them up, she decided to use the vents to climb to the top floor. She came across the top floor and peered into a room containing four men sitting down on some sofas and smoking cigarettes. They were dressed in gear but their weapons weren't holstered. They weren't talking much and seemed mostly unfocused. She grinned widely, as the three soldiers were shot with some black fire, Tobias was shocked to see Antonia behind him, but, he got his rifle from under his table, as he opened fire, again, Antonia dodging each, she then webbed him up with his rifle, and contacted her ninja.
Antonia: Target secured, bring crates and soldier to sewer base... She made her way to the VP, entering, as some time later, To ias woke up in the hangar area, where he was suddenly kicked in his helmeted face.
Dominic: Remember me? He glared at Tobias, kicking him again Shocking isn't it? He walked a few feet away with his back turned, when Tobias grabbed his rifle, Dominic reacted fast enough to push the rifle's barrel in his face, with the recoil of the gun shot increasing damage, cracking the visor, making Tobias grunt.
Tobias: W-What do you want!?
Dominic: He foes near the power tools, grabbing a metallic pipe Satisfaction... He started beating Tobias with the pipe, knocking off his helmet, but Tobias got up, tackling Dominic, but Dom was able to still get the upper hand, he started beating Tobias up into a bloody pulp, grunting, almost twistedly laughing as he did, his knuckles bleeding, he saw the bruised up face of Tobias, as he grabbed him by the suit's collar, pinning him to a wall, his head in front of the natural rock formation, Dominic wavering to hit him, as a punch like this would kill Tobias.
Eliana heard the noise and rushed in, seeing Dominic beating a bloody, bruised man.
Eliana: Dominic! What are you doing?! Who's this?! She ran to them. Dominic let go of Tobias, who was breathing slowly.
Dominic: E-Eliana! Let me explain! Please, this is the man who tried to kill me!
Eliana: What? The sniper? You went after one single hired gun? Regardless of how stupid and uncalled for this was, you're not in the condition to do this. Your carbonadium poisoning is only going to get worse the more you stress yourself.
Dominic: I-I- Eliana, I know I'm hurt, but, this man- this piece of sh*t...He almost took me away from you, and I didn't want anything like that again, ever since I got this, all I could remember was him in that building, I don't want to get away from you...and I certainly wont let someone like him do it... He was looking down in shame
Eliana: Richard is the one you should be mad at. He ordered the assassination, not this man. He deserves justice sure, but certainly not you hunting him down and beating him silly. How did you even find him? You brought him here, were you planning on killing him?
Dominic: I- I don't know. He admitted one of the only times he did not know himself, would he have killed Tobias, would he have just let him live to let him suffer, due to everything crazy that was happening, he had no proper answer.
Eliana: This is crazy. Let him go, he's had enough by the looks of it. But he's seen me now. She kneels to Tobias and places her hand on his forehead, as Sapphire energy leaks between them as he starts screaming, her ripping his memories out of the past couple hours and destroying them. Dominic left Tobias in the forest, as he decided to take a break in the newly made sauna, sighing a bit, but he only let his waist in the water, as he did not want to risk hot water entering his chest.
Meanwhile, Viv had just entered the VP in Speed Demon mode, entering the main room and tripping over the table, grunting as she fell.
Vivian: Damn it!
The Vanishing Point computers marked her presence, and Eliana came in to see her, dressed up as Volatile as she was ready to head off. Her helmet was held in her arm.
Eliana: You okay? She said with mandatory mannerisms
Viviane: How does Dominic do this, he's got like, at least a thousand voices, and six of them are the most chatty...Oh piss off you coated b-stard! it was obvious she meant Wicked
Eliana: A dozen voices telling him off and he still ends up doing something stupid. You'll probably learn to ignore them.
Viviane: Maybe I need something that can actually apply them more fluidly, maybe I can come with you?
Eliana: We may not be fighting huge threats on the street but hero work still isn't training. I don't want you messing up out there.
Viviane: Didn't Dominic basically learn by messing up a lot?
Eliana: You want to take training tips from Dominic? The guy who messed up more times than braincells he has? He may be bright but he can be such a dumbass at times. Like that little stunt he pulled that nearly cost his life or his freedom.
Viviane: Is there some problem going on with you two? She raised an eye brow, a bit scared
Eliana: No, we're perfectly fine. Every relationship has its bumps. Anyway, I'm heading out, if you think you'll manage then you can come.
She nodded, following her, as she went into Rebirth Protocol, as that was a mode she was most used to now. They exited the VP together and patrolled the city. They stayed on rooftops and looked down alleyways for petty crimes. After a while of searching they saw someone walking around with a weird metal box in hand. Eliana read their mind and found out the box was potentially very destructive, but the carrier was unaware just how destructive.
Eliana: See that boy down there? I think he's carrying a bomb...
Viviane scanned it, and instinctually she approached the person.
Viviane: Excuse me, I believe you have no idea what's in there, do you?
The boy turned to her and gasped. Instantly, he ran down the street, in-between citizens trying to escape. Instinctually, Viviane went into Widower Protocol (Widow in this case), swinging from building to building, firing the freezing plasma bolt at the boy's legs to stop him from running. The boy was struck and fell over, the box toppling out of his hands and onto the middle of the pavement. It opened up and started beeping, as the boy was shocked and started screaming. People didn't notice the box but those who did scattered fast. Viviane looked at it, as each of Dom's personalities were telling her to defuse it, she decided to go Gamma Protocol, and due to her own strength without nanites, and a massive boost from Gamma Protocol, she threw it high up into the sky. The cube didn't detonate, instead it landed back down and drilled into the floor, staying immovable now attached to the concrete. It started beeping harder and faster as Eliana approached.
Eliana: What kind of explosive is this? Kid, what is that?!
Boy: I-I don't know! I was supposed to drop it by that restaurant down the street!
Viviane went into Submariner mode, repurposing the sonar for a sonic screech weapon, checking if that effected it. Nothing happened, the beeper was continuously becoming louder as most of the civilians ran off believing it to be a bomb. The boy shielded himself and cried out.
Boy: No! Please let me go! Please!
Viviane went into Dove Protocol, creating a domed energy shield around the bomb.
Eliana: Kid you better tell us how you got this. Did someone give it to you?
Boy: A secret agent did! He said he'd arrest me if I didn't! He said it's powerful and it needs to be put there.
Viviane: Eliana! She called out, basically checking if she had a solution to this.
Eliana: Uh, crap! She tried to dismantle the device with her powers but she stopped, sensing it was unstable. The beeping was loud enough that Eliana couldn't hear anyone talk.
Boy: No! No! LET ME GO!
Viviane then kept the shield around the bomb up, hoping she had a will like Dominic that can keep the shield strong. The streets were empty now, and the beeping was deafening. Suddenly the box unfolded, spreading flat out against the concrete. The beeping stopped and a party horn sound was heard. The kid started laughing in the spot.
Viviane: W-What?
Eliana: Kid, what the f-ck?!
Boy: Soooorry, a bad joke.
Viviane glared at the kid, as she went into Beast Protocol, growling at him. Suddenly Viviane caught a bullet in the arm, a sniper from three blocks away shot her. The bullet wasn't carbonadium. Then, over a dozen mercenaries came out from behind buildings and surrounded them, instantly firing at them and shouting about how they found two Absconders. The kid broke the ice and ran away. Viviane went back to back with Eliana.
Viviane: Should we chase the kid as well!?
Eliana: There's bigger problems! She generated a fire bolt and shot it at a soldier. Gardener trapped us! A helicopter flew in and started firing at them from above.
Viviane stood in front of Eliana, shielding her, growling whilst she did. Eliana used the sapphire energy she gained and uses telekinesis to disarm some soldiers, giving them time to prepare. Viv went into Speed Demon mode, preparing to bump into a lot of soldiers. Due to her being inexperienced with this, she was being careful, as she rammed into one soldier, knocking him away, she looked at two others and ran towards them, before they knew it, a flurry of speed punches hit them, as all focus was now on Viv. Eliana jumped up and landed into the centre of the ambush. She absorbed some weapons into Emerald then generated throwing knives that incapacitated some soldiers. Viviane went into Gamma protocol so each soldier can get incapacitated much faster. Suddenly though, a grenade was thrown at Viv, which emitted an EMP, stunning her greatly, as the soldiers surrounded her, she was forced to go back into Widow Protocol, blocking with arms and legs, shooting the plasma that freezes, but she was slowly getting cornered by many. Eliana grabbed a soldier from behind and absorbed some of his life energy, then knocked him out. She threw a small Ruby grenade which hit the back of one of the soldiers attacking Viviane. It blew up, knocking out several soldiers prompting the rest to aim and fire and Eliana. She erected a plasma shield wall that disintegrated the bullets, then kicked the wall as it headed towards them quickly and burned through several of them.
Only a couple soldiers remained, but the helicopter was circling them, still firing. Viv saw it as she fired a freezing plasma shot, aiming for the helicopter's guns. The helicopter dodged then fired a missile at the pair. Viv went into Dove protocol to shoot the missile down, prompting her to fly fast toward the helicopter. She grabbed it by the front punching open the window, shooting the soldiers who were piloting, she was enduring several gun shots.
Viviane: Volatile! Neutralize any incoming debris! She yelled as she was grabbing what soldiers she could, she then shot off the helicopter blades and tail. The tail and main blade of the helicopter came off, while Viviane was flying down with the soldiers she could get out. Eliana defeated the last of the soldiers as the helicopter crashed in the centre of the road.
Eliana: Viv!
Viv was shielding some soldier from the fire, as some pieces of the armor started getting damaged, while she was desperately trying to get out with the soldiers. Eliana helped Viviane out and pulled the soldiers out too.
Eliana: It was a damn tracking device.
Viviane: How much money is he spending just to get to you? She panted out, retracting the helmet.
Eliana: She sighs Guess he's not stopping at Dom. They heard more helicopters in the distance. Eliana turned to the device and it started beeping again. We should probably get out of here.
Viviane nodded, running off, when they got somewhere safe, Viv decided to talk.
Viviane: What are you planning to do to Gardener anyway?
Eliana: When I find him I'll decide. I'm hoping to strip him of everything before that point, though.
Viviane: As long as it gives Dom the chance to come out of hiding... It was obvious she cared for Dominic.
Eliana: That's if you don't replace him. She laughed, quite obviously joking.
Viviane: Oh God She chuckled I'm okay with taking care of Dominic alone, and even he's a handful, then you have aliens, and, well, it's like taking care of Dominic, but he's in various places...
Eliana: Can't imagine how that's like... Anyway, you did good on your first day as Vanquish. No innocent died at least.
Viviane: Thank you... Once this is all done I could help you and the Absconders, when needed.
Eliana notices the helicopters patroling the city.
Eliana: Looks like Richard won't give up this manhunt. Probably time to abscond again...heh.
Viv chuckled, they then returned to the VP. Meanwhile somewhere else, Antonia found Jason's apartment, and stealthily entered, waiting somewhere. Jason entered his apartment, but before walking in he heard his demon whisper to him. He quickly became a shadow, and flew around his apartment until he found Antonia. He didn't reveal himself, but instead whispered to her.
Jason: Who are you waiting for?
She was surprised at first, but smirked.
Antonia: A friend.
He turned back into flesh form.
Jason: I hope it's not me. My pineapple pizza is getting cold. He smiled, referring to the pizza he brought home. Antonia just went to the point, showing her face.
Antonia: I'd have a job opening for you though Jason.
Jason: Wow, work. I was busy working on myself as an excuse for not turning up to the VP for a while.
Antonia: Ha, well, guess who your boss is. She had some holographic projector, and it showed Dominic.
Dominic: Jason, it's been a while...
Jason: I don't have to offer this hologram a drink, do I?
Dominic: Don't be a d-ck, anyway, considering that the Absconders are now a household figure, I want a team that can handle things we shouldn't...
Jason: Oh crap, this isn't a soliciting service, right?
Antonia: Black ops group...
Jason: Against?
Antonia: Any target that the Absconders should not face... Basically, get the hands dirty.
Jason: I thought all you c-nts were dirty already. That's what the news showed...
Antonia: They were framed, some organization, lucky for you, me, and an ally they have, we remained inconspicuous. Also explain why they'd attack people randomly.
Jason: Ha, that sucks. Anyway, black ops? Eh sure whatever, I'd prefer that over stupid regular petty crimes.
Antonia: Good. Welcome to the Dark Absconders. She smiled.
August 15th, 2026
Haruto had arrived at the airport at the request of his parents. Since they were preoccupied with work and unable to meet up with Akeno and her family at the airport, Haruto had to go in their place. He was holding a sign that had the Kanji for Akeno's family name on it: Amamiya. To avoid the bustle of the airport, Haruto had his phone blasting music through his headphones to drown out the sounds of people.
Haruto: *First time I'll be talking to Akeno in 12 years... Damn...* He thought to himself as a group of four walked towards him. A mother and father, with a daughter about Haruto's age and a younger son seemingly in middle school, approached him. *Ah, here they are.*
Akeno: Haruto-kun! The daughter ran towards him, hugging him tightly. It's been so long~!
Akeno's appearance here.
Haruto: Y-yeah. 12 years, right? Way too long since we've talked. He was blushing, but hugged her back as Akeno's family caught up.
Akeno's father: Haruto, it's been so long! How have you been? He greeted him with a smile and a pat on the back.
Haruto: Hello, Amamiya-san. I've been... very busy with school and extra-curricular activities. He then had several flashbacks to his activities as Anomaly and Override.
Akeno: Ah, did you hear? There's someone running around the city dressed like Build! Crazy, right? He claims to be a "hero" and all, but I don't know... kinda suspicious to me.
Haruto: Yeah, it's wild. I think he calls himself Override or something? It's not bad to have a hero roam around the city to protect us.
Akeno: But still... do you really trust him?
Haruto: If he looks like Build, he's gotta be a good guy, right?
Akeno: The government in Build did label him as a government weapon, so...
Haruto: Hey, hey! Don't spoil it!
Akeno: For who?
Haruto: It's... complicated...
Akeno: Jeez.. you've really changed, haven't you? She ruffled his hair and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Haruto: Very much so... He blushed heavily and looked away shyly.
Akeno: In any case... Can I go explore the city with Haruto, Dad? Please?
Akeno's father: Sure thing, but be back before dark. I'll text you the address, Haruto. Don't have too much fun. After texting Haruto the address, Akeno's family took their luggage and left, calling a taxi to take them to their house. Haruto exited the airport with Akeno holding his arm. He led her to his Harley Bobber, starting the engine and tossing her a spare helmet.
Akeno: You really took after bikes, didn't you? She put the helmet on and secured it.
Haruto: I like motorcycles, so what? He revved the engine a bit and put his helmet on as Akeno sat behind him. In any case, I need to introduce you to my friends Katie and Belle. So... first stop is their place.
Akeno: Are you... dating either of them...? She said with a bit of a sad tone.
Haruto: Uh... that's kind of... complicated... They talked all the way to Katie's house. Before they stopped by, they grabbed some snacks and drinks from a nearby convenience store before they headed over. When they did arrive, Katie and Belle greeted them happily, and they spent several hours catching up and getting to know each other.
The Same Day in the VP
Raa-4 entered the Vanishing Point, After having been off for all these days because of the injuries he got from the fight against the now eliminated lackey of the Agency; The Man. His body was still weak from the damage, he had learned once again that without his powers, he couldn't do much to fend for himself, this thought was in his head since this day, How could he possibly destroy the Agency for good when they had someone who could negate his power? and more importantly what if he lost his powers? would it mean his death? All these questions were rushing in his head as he was entering the hideout of people that he now knew were definitely more powerful than him.
The first person he saw was Dominic, who was sitting here in the lobby. Raa blandly approached him and lifted his hand to say "hey", however, the "hey" quickly transformed into a painful grunt as he realized that it was still a pain for him to raise his arms
Raa-4: Urg...Dominic...is that it? congratulations to you guys for your victory against the pawns of the Agency.
Dominic: A good reward for that victory should have been my mother living, but I think that's just me... He looked different, expression wise, the once open rich individual was a phantom of his former self at the moment.
Raa-4: hm...You look miserable...you are indirectly letting them win by being that way...how are the others doing?
Dominic: Haruto is doing God knows what, Trey is training on a moon, Eliana is the only original Absconder who is actually going at full capacity, my secretary has my nanites, and I have a permanent bullet hole in my chest...
Raa-4: Oh...Well...are you still able to fight?
Dominic: If said person I'm fighting has no powers or weapons, then yes...
Raa-4: Then participating in the fight against the agency would most certainly signify your death. ugh...the situation is only getting worse. *...at least he is powerless but can still fight....*
Dominic: You're relying too much on power Raa. I may be near to useless in this state and practically dying, but I still have my mind.
Raa-4: I don't rely on power...I need it, It's as if I told you that you relied too much on oxygen. No matter how hard I try to make my body stronger...I fail. It's in vain.
Dominic: For your case, yes, but maybe I can have someone train you?
Raa-4: Yes...why not.
Dominic: Good, Eliana might come back soon, Antonia is, at the moment, busy with several things...
Raa-4: Okay. I will wait then... He crossed his legs in a meditating position and started levitating...he was sitting down on thin air, looking at the wall a few meters away from him ...Let's. just. Wait.
Inside The Complex of the Agency
Inside the laboratory of the Agency, there is barely any light outside of the ones that lit up the various isolation tanks filled with a thick liquid, some of them seem to be hiding humanoid looking silhouette while others are nesting horrendous beasts. Lula is walking around in the laboratory, looking around for something or someone, she finally stops in front of an empty tank.
Lula: Ah So you got out...
A voice came from behind her
Voice: shut up you dumb c-nt! The voice was one that she had hear many times before; it was the voice of The Man. The Man was standing a few meters behind her completely naked and with tubes hanging from his neck.
The Man: I can't believe you abandoned us against this Raa-4 you worthless wh-re! How dare you show up in front of me...
Lula: You didn't die did you?
The Man: Do you know how exhausting it is for me to manage those clones? Of course you do not...You know nothing of hard work. The Man pulled out the multiple tubes that were connected to his neck and dropped them to the ground, he walked to Lula ominously
The Man: If the old man didn't protect you...You would be already dead.
Lula: Yikes...could you at least...hide your...eh....nevermind
The Man walked away from Lula. As he got further one of the tanks in front of him emitted a loud scream of rage that startled him, he turned to the tank and gasped in shock. Lula curious of what he had seen rushed to the tank as well and her eyes opened wide.
Inside the tank was a towering man with undefined features and bulking muscles, pulsing fibers were surrounding both of his arms completely. The figure was tightening it's red vibrating fists and was screaming incomprehensible words, almost as if it was sleeping and didn't want anything waking him up. The Man got closer to the tank.
The Man: What...What this...thing? his eyes were wondering all around the humanoid, gazing at every single one of it's unique traits, like it's muscles stripped of all skin.
Lula: What the hell...Lula touched the tank, As soon as she did, the towering figure opened it's eyes, red and full of malice and stopped screaming, the duo could only see those eyes in the blurry liquid, and they were not pleasant to look at.
Lula: Alriiiiiiight, I'm outta here. She started to walk out of the the lab but noticed that The Man was still looking at the tank in shock What are you looking at?
The Man: C-Come here! Look at this!
Lula reluctantly got back to the tank, She realized that The Man was not looking at the creature itself but at the tag that was right under it: Raa-5.
Later that Day
As Akeno, Katie, and Belle talked and got to know each other, Haruto had to head out after seeing the news on his phone: there was another attack on the city by a man wearing similar equipment to Override, but the black suit had white angelic wings for eye pieces and was fighting a monster that looked vaguely like a demon. The four of them were watching the news until Haruto left to take care of it.
Akeno: Haruto, where are you going?
Haruto: Just wanted to see if the man fighting is really Override.
Akeno: Stay safe!
Katie: We'll be waiting for you!
Haruto: Thanks. He left and equipped his Binary Driver, using his Duel-Phone and the Mach Arcana Battery to access his usual bike before riding off to the scene of the attack. However, as he was riding, a car began tailing him. *A red Lykan Hypersport? Why must fate taunt me...* He sighed and transformed into his Shin Assault form, riding on. To his surprise, the car caught up to him and mutated into a monster, trying to ram him off the road. What the s-it?!
He jumped off his bike, telling it to transform back to phone form so he could land on the car monster's... roof? Head? Whichever. As he landed on top of the monster, he summoned his Dual Assault in gun form, firing into it before it tried to shake him off. In response, Haruto took the Ninja Battery out and swapped it for Assault, transforming into Test Form Shin-Ninja.
Haruto: At least this way, I can test the new sword... He summoned the weapon, causing his belt to announce its name.
Binary Driver: Hari Atsumaru Ninpoutou!
Stabbing the sword into the monster, Haruto stabilized himself and continued to fire into the car monster, shooting away the tentacles that tried to throw him off and absorbing the glass shards into his sword. Loading the Ninja battery into his Dual Assault's battery slot, he charged up a finisher with the weapon and pulled the trigger. "Binary Burst!" The weapon announced as Haruto fired shurikens made of explosive energy. Backflipping off the car with both weapons in hand, Haruto detonated the shurikens and sent the car monster crashing into the side of the road. Arcana essence seemed to be leaking out of it, so Haruto took an empty battery out and absorbed the essence into it, locking the cap and saving it for purification later.
Haruto: That intrusion out of the way... Haruto summoned his bike once more and road off to the site of the attack, where the fake Override and demon monster were rampaging about. Before he arrived, he swapped into his Pyro Swordsman form and summoned his Crimson Slasher, walking onto the scene and facing the two. A voice filter hid his real voice from the public. So we've got an impersonator and a monster. I'll help you take the monster out, but if you turn against me, we've got a problem on our hands...
Fake Override: Impersonator?! You sure you're not the impersonator? He pointed at Haruto before punching the demon monster back.
Haruto: Override's suit has more of a half-and-half design. But whatever. Gardener's on my ass about this s-it, so let's just take the monster down together. Haruto made a move to attack the monster, only to have the fake Override push him back.
Fake Override: Leave it to me, knock-off! He rushed the monster with a series of punches at light-speed, pummeling the demon into submission. And now for the finish! He cranked the lever on his belt, which was a modified Binary Driver using a similar adapter to the previous fake, and punched the monster. The belt announced "Lone Finish!" as angelic and photon energy rushed through the monster and made it explode into a gas. That's right, Overload has done it again!
Haruto: Overload? Haruto recorded the phrase over again and played it louder for the news copters above to hear. "That's right, Overload has done it again!" You hear that, right? He said the wrong name! He's a fake!
Fake Override: What? No, I said Override! Haruto collected the monster's essence, but it collected in two different streams, so he used two separate batteries. Then, Haruto played the voice clip over again, causing the fake to have an existential crisis. W-what am I!?!?!? He ripped his belt off and threw it at Haruto, having taken the battery and opened it on himself. The essence poured onto him and turned him into an angelic version of the monster from earlier.
Haruto: Here we go...
He caught the belt, stored it in his pocket dimension with the filled batteries, then held his sword up. The monster rushed him at light-speed, striking his arm and knocking him off-balance. It continued to blitz him, continually striking him at blinding speeds. Haruto paused time to collect himself, causing the monster to move slowly through the frozen time. After steadying himself, Haruto split his Crimson Slasher into its dual-wield mode, slashing at the monster with fire-imbued strikes, dealing it massive damage in the time stop before restarting the flow of time and allowing the damage to take effect. When the monster felt the damage, it exploded away from him and onto the ground, weakened. Gas was leaking out of it, so Haruto took out two more batteries and absorbed the essence, creating two more unpurified batteries. The only thing left behind was a clump of space rocks and a flash-drive.
Haruto: A flash drive? Really? His visor scanned the drive for its contents, discovering data on an item it recognized in the Binary System files. The Lone Adapter? Haruto picked it up and looked through the data on his visor. *This... is an actual blueprint, not just planning notes. The hell did Exiled send this to me for? Whatever... I need to purify those batteries.*
With that, Haruto tried his best to repair the damage, using his Overwrite and Restore to repair the damage back to how it was before the damage. Waving to the citizens, Haruto used his bike to drive off and return the Vanishing Point to purify the batteries. He set up a rig to simultaneously purify up to 5 bottles effectively and began purifying them while uploading the data of the Lone Adapter to the Binary System files. When the two files combined, they created a highly detailed layout of what the Lone Adapter was supposed to do: adapt a single, powerful Arcana Battery for use in the Binary Driver to contain the power without the need for a Best Match.
Haruto: So this was a prototype to the Monomer Driver system, but why did he just get back to it...? He sat pondering before realizing Katie and Akeno were waiting for him. *Ah, s-it... I'd better get back to them.* As he thought that, one of the batteries finished purifying. He removed it from the rig and looked at it. Lykan Battery? Does that mean... He hid his purifier in the wall and headed out of the VP, loading the new bottle into his phone and accepting the change. Tossing the phone into the air, a mass of cosmic energy swirled around it before a red Lykan Hypersport sat in front of him. Dude... F--k. Yes. Good thing I got my license before I disappeared... With the new car, Haruto drove off to Katie's house, entering the neighborhood in car then transforming it back into his phone to avoid revealing his identity as Override to Akeno. When he walked in, he greeted them with a simple hello before Akeno tackle-hugged him. Do you really need to do this every time...?
Akeno: Don't judge me! She pouted and continued to hold him.
Haruto: Hai, hai. He pat her gently and returned to the couch. Think we should tell her?
Katie: I mean, you've told us already. Might as well, right?
Belle: My parents live in a different state, but still. If these dangers stay in L.A., then it might be a bad idea.
Haruto: It'd be easier to tell her the truth rather than make up a lie every time...
Belle: Fair enough.
Akeno: What are you talking about? You don't mean...
Haruto: Yes. I'm Override. He even transformed into Shin Assault to confirm.
Akeno: No way...
Haruto: And now you know. He cancelled the transformation and put the belt away. We should probably get you home, Akeno. It's starting to get late.
Akeno: Right... With that, Haruto escorted Akeno home using his Harley bobber as the sun set. Today was a very eventful day for her...
August 16th, 2026
Antonia, Jason, and her ninjas had set up shop underground Dominic's mansion, setting up at least some form of high tech computers, tents, and a fridge with the confiscated weapons. Dominic was on a holo projector.
Antonia: We set up shop boss. Anything else we need to do?
Dominic: Recruitment, the last Erratics I know of... Antonia's face paled up a bit, recalling her former encounters with Virus Antonia?
Antonia: Y-Yeah, on it! She groaned, meanwhile in Chloe's place, Virus was seeing her saddened face.
Virus: Chloe, you should be happy, Bernedicci is gone, he would not have been a suitable partner, considering he was willing to cheat on his own partner with you... She tried to give a silver lining
Chloe: Say that again, b-tch, and you'll be next! She said in anger, but Virus could tell she was just hurt. She instantly dropped the anger and looked sad again Sorry, I just thought for once someone liked me, someone I couldn't kill on accident like everyone else. I've only ever found that here in the Erratics, but now most of us have gone. It's just us two...
Virus: We're the survivors, besides it could be wor- She glows red, sensing something Someone's here... Her nanite based form shifted into something akin to a mechanical jaguar as she glared at the window
Chloe instinctively flipped the table forward, then hopped over it and rolled forward, tossing a small stun grenade out the window. They heard a "thwip"/web like sound, someone jumped in, somebody in a symbiote, Virus growled charging, up, said wearer raised hands instinctively and started webbing up Virus.
Antonia: Ha! Not this time b-tch! Everyone calm down, my boss would like to meet you two. She showed her face, Virus grew more aggressive, thrashing around in the web ball.
Chloe: Let her go! She dashes forward, preparing to make a blade of white energy but she barely makes a physical one, only an outline of a white arm blade appears as she lacks energy. F-ck! Not again...
Antonia did an aikido throw, getting Chloe to the ground, unharmed.
Antonia: Vice, or Chloe whatever... She has attacked me several times, putting me to near death in most cases, and I am still traumatized, tell her to calm her sh-t please!
Chloe: Virus, leave it for a second. What's she talking about?
Antonia: My boss, he tells me he knows you, can't tell you who he is here, anyone could be listening, just follow me... She opens the web ball, Virus in a liquid like form slithering out.
Chloe: Or we give you three seconds to f-ck off before we rip out your slimey throat!
Antonia: Jesus Christ, my boss is Burnie! She used a never before used nickname, hoping Chloe would know who she meant.
Chloe: H-he's dead...
Antonia: Come on- You think someone with a will, stubbornness, mind, and rage like his can be put out by some crappy sniper?
Virus: Grrrr, Chloe her father is a master mercenary, she inherited what he is, what if she lies?
Chloe: We're going. If she's lying I'm going for her first.
Virus allowed Antonia to lead the way, going to the trail of the VP, letting them in, Antonia opened the door, showing Dominic, unbuttoned suit to show the bullet hole, on his bed reading a book, he saw Chloe, then gave a small smile.
Chloe: Dominic? What the f-ck, how are you alive?! I saw you get shot, what the f- She ran over to him and hugged him You're real?
Dominic: Yeah. He hugged back Carbonadium bullet was good, but, they screwed with me, attacked my company, I'm barely alive... But I'm glad you're here, without needing Virus to assault Antonia...
Chloe: Who shot you?!
Dominic: Who ordered you mean, I already dealt with the shooter. But really, it was Richard Gardener who ordered it, apparently when he found out I survived, he tried to send men to kill me, Eliana and Thad got me out...
Chloe: I should've been there... The news said you were shot by a protester and died of your wounds in hospital later...
Dominic: Chloe, you must have panicked, I don't blame anybody for not being there. I just wanna see Gardener get what's coming to him.
Chloe: Who even is Gardener, I heard his name on TV once or twice, but what?
Dominic: Him and his father owned some island, hunted people on the island for pleasure, Eliana dealt with Richard's father and destroyed the island. Richard is attacking everyone close to Eli, and that included me.
Chloe: What a c-nt... So what are we going to do to kill him?
Dominic: No, Eliana is dealing with him, I just wanna see what happens, but I need you, and plenty others to dismantle what Richard built, those bullets he used, he has an army's worth, and probably more weapons, I'm assembling a team, I want you and Virus to join.
Chloe: You want me to join the Absconders?
Dominic: No offense, but you two aren't material, but, I'm working on something that would do what the Absconders shouldn't do on a daily basis, Dark Absconders, black ops group.
Chloe: That sounds cool, but can we speak in private? She referred to other members nearby listening. Virus and Antonia left them to their business, closing the door, Dominic went to lock it, sighing. Dom... I was hurt when I thought you died... She hugged him again, tighter.
Dominic: He hugged back just as tight I guessed you would, I didn't visit, not really able to go out with the Carbonadium poison still trying to get out of my system.
Chloe: I understand... I'm so glad you're not dead, I never cared about anyone's death since Limit and Joker...
Dominic: Whatever is in store for us, if me and Eli get together or not, I'll always have your back.
Chloe smiled and kissed him, as he kissed back, a bit deeply. The door to the room opens, and noticeably Thaddeus walks in.
Thad: Interrupting anything, am I?
Dominic: Oh- Thad! God, how did you open the door?
Thad: You underestimate me. Who's this?
Dominic: This is Chloe, from the Erratics... His face was a bit strained, as it was obvious Thad was mentally prying him open.
Thad: What's she doing here? He asked, closing in on him
Dominic: We- We- I was getting her to join a project I'm working on, a Dark He feels like his breath was being sucked out Absconders!
Thad: Dark Absconders? Does Eliana know about this?
Dominic: N-No, we're still, getting it together, we were able to take some of Gardener's shipment.
Thad: A black ops division working unbeknownst to Eliana, and you're attacking Richard Gardener?
Dominic: Dick popped one of my buttons, I want to do more, and besides, the Absconders are about to be our generation's Avengers, can't get our hands too dirty...
Thad: Then count me in. As long as Eliana doesn't find out.
Dominic: You? Joining something I created, after many attempts to kill me? Again, you? Who contributed into my mental instability at the New Years party? Thad can see the grudge he has now.
Thad: Oh shut it, I don't care about your problems. I'm joining for Eliana, and you will let me join.
Dominic: Alright, you're in, but if you aren't able to handle it, you're off, and I'll tell Eli about your secrets.
Later, In The VP
Haruto checked up on the batteries he had purified the day before, discovering that he had the Angel, Light, Demon, and Shadow batteries in his possession. Having some free time, Haruto decided to create a Best Match detection program and a device that would accept two bottles, to which he hooked up to the computer and began calibrating the program.
Haruto: Now then... let's test the detection system. He loaded in Light and Angel, receiving an error. Alright. The L and K on the cap doesn't line up either... D and K? Like Donkey Kong? Eh. This S and R though... Haruto rolled across the workshop towards the rack of Batteries and checked it. After picking Rogue off of the rack, he rolled back to the computer and loaded it in with Shadow into the slots for the system to scan. When the scan completed, the system displayed a Best Match. Gotcha...
He removed the bottles and set them aside, before thinking of weapon ideas for the Best Match. Eventually, he settled upon a dagger that would absorb lunar energy for various combat purposes, putting the other Batteries away and fabricating the weapons. Immediately after finishing the weapon and naming it the "Kage Chikara Mangetsu Kire," he received a message from the Arcana and was immediately teleported to their planet.
Haruto: Hm? What's happening?
Luce: Hello, young Haruto. It's been a long time, hasn't it?
Haruto: Indeed. Is this about the Light and Shadow batteries I found?
Ombra: Batteries now, huh?
Haruto: Eh, had a change of heart about the name. Arcana Batteries.
Ombra: I see. Regardless, it appears that Exiled has created knockoffs of both me and Luce. Which is why... Ombra handed Haruto two batteries: one based off of himself and one based off of Luce. We're going to give you the real deal. At this rate, if you keep using those extra batteries and stuff, you'll be able to use our power.
Luce: Your Essence Level is on the rise. It's jumped up to 3.7 since your last visit. Just a couple more Best Matches, and you'll be ready to use our power!
Haruto: I see... Thank you both. He bowed to them before they teleported him back to the VP's workshop. Now how the hell am I gonna dispose of the knockoffs...? When he turned to look at the batteries he had purified, he found them missing. Guess they took care of that for me.
When he looked at the space, it seemed as though it had been tampered with beyond simply taking the batteries away. The space where the bottles were looked as if it had been erased, with the space around it simply filling in the missing gap, as evident by how the distance between the Mangetsu Kire and the computer had increased for no particular reason.
Haruto: That you, Giorno? He said to no one in particular, though he felt that Giorno's presence was somewhere in the room. It only gets crazier from here, man. Don't let the Echoes bother you too much, yeah?
With that, Giorno's presence faded away. Haruto sighed and began tinkering with the Mangetsu Kire, testing its cutting capacity and such. When he returned from testing the Mangetsu Kire, he looked at both the Light and Shadow batteries, then began looking through the Binary system files to see if there was anything he could use to put them together. Again, the Lone Adapter appeared to be a viable option, but it was meant to adapt the two slots into one, rather than fuse two powers together. With that in mind, Haruto decided to work on fusing the two batteries together on his own, rather than rely on the data that the Arcana had given him.
Later that day
The city was awfully quiet in this hour of the evening, all was seemingly well above the streets of LA, but eventually of course that peace was disrupted. Above the skies a leviathan was spotted, a soaring monster that appeared as a blackened whale with metallic wings and a razor tale, matched by its bloodied teeth. It supposedly appeared out of nowhere, as if it suddenly popped into existence, and as soon as it was spotted, all Hell broke loose. As usual citizens were screaming or amazed, and a news team was filming minutes after the event's inception. It flew around the skies for several minutes, as a police team arrived to direct civilians away. It didn't attack, but came scarily close to the skyscrapers, and seconds later, the Absconders were on the case. Haruto and Eliana both came, and when the monster opened its mouth wide and breathed gas at them they assumed it to be hostile, and so began attacking it. Meanwhile, a nearby building which was occupied by the Leon Corps, a paramilitary mercenary group owned by the Gardener Corporation, was receiving shipments. The soldiers were carrying weapon crates out of trucks and into their warehouse building, but they all stopped when they saw the leviathan leaving its trail of darkness through the skies. They were all in shock and awe, some were running inside to inform the others, others were petrified.
Soldier 1: That's it, another alien invasion...
Soldier 2: This isn't an alien, it's a sign of judgement day.
Soldier 3: Quiet, the both of you. The heroes will take care of it again. Hurry up and get this inside. The soldiers reluctantly continued, albeit slowly as their eyes were glued to the sky. Inside the building more soldiers were panicking, watching the news and seeing close-up footage of the fight.
Soldier 1: Look, it's Volatile! I told you she was an Absconder too.
Soldier 2: She's with Reigai, that pretty much confirms it.
Soldier 1: New sources claim he goes by Override now. At least that's what citizens he saved are saying.
Soldier 2: Should we attack them then?
Soldier 1: No, boss says we shouldn't waste resources on the other Absconders yet.
A third soldier comes, with a couple medals and better equipment. He's quite obviously their commanding officer.
Soldier 3: Have you finished unloading those carbonadium rifles, yet?
Soldier 1: No, sir.
Soldier 3: Then hurry up. I don't care if that beast tears the roof off this place, y'all aren't leaving until the trucks are fully unloaded.
Soldier 2: Understood, sir.
Soldier 3: Good. He quickly pulls his sidearm out and headshots the second soldier, to the surprise of the other soldiers. He then kills the first soldier, as the surrounding soldiers take their weapons out, about to fire at the third soldier. They yell at him to drop the gun, as he does, then turns around to face them, as his face suddenly changes and morphs into that of Jason's. Oops. His voice was his own now. Sorry I found this face taking a nap outside, so I took it... I fooled you guys, though, right?
Soldiers: Kill him! They begin firing, putting several holes into Jason and the area around him. He takes a few steps back, looking down at his body. His clothing is severely torn apart, with multiple bullet holes in his body which begin bleeding. The soldiers stared at him for a reaction.
Jason: Ow... F-ck that actually hurt. Wait just kidding. His wounds healed up, but his clothing was still torn. He quickly ran at them as the soldiers continued firing, but suddenly their guns all pointed at each other and they accidentally shot each other, a few of them falling over, incapacitated. Thaddeus walked into the room from behind and blasted two soldiers, as they went flying fast through the air and splatted against a wall. Jason reached the remaining soldiers and grabbed one, and effortlessly ripped him in two. He then turned into a shadow tiger and jumped another one, ripping out their throat as the rest of the soldiers ran to the supply crates and stocked themselves with carbonadium weapons. Boys, boys, how many times do we gotta tell ya? I'm immor-
He's interrupted by a gunshot to the shoulder. He looks at the wound and frowns, he waits a couple seconds but it doesn't heal up.
Thad: It's carbonadium, watch out! He uses TK to force Jason behind cover, as Jason feels his wound. It won't heal.
Jason: W-what?
Thad: Carbonadium distracts healing factors, that wound will remain.
Jason: But I can't die. This demon won't let me-!
Thad: But you can be turned into a pile of beaten bullet holes, and remain that way forever. Or that demon will jump to another host since you'd be incapable.
Jason: But then...what do I do? I can't fight them, I'm not prepared for this! I never cared about getting shot at, it never affected me. But now it suddenly does? W-what do I do?
Thad: You got powers, use them. Don't start having a breakdown here, I thought you kept bragging about ways you tried to kill yourself. Here's your opportunity.
Jason: Well it's different now. I have a mission, it's real, the stakes exist.
Thad: Then act. He jumps out of cover as a gun flies to his hand. He fires the rifle, as the bullets curve and strike each soldier in their throats and through their brain stems, immobilising them. While Thad is busy, more soldiers arrive as back up from behind him. Jason notices this in time and gets out of cover, he then throws a piece of his demonic soul at one of the soldiers as it possesses them and turns them into a demon-human hybrid, which tears the other soldiers apart and eats them. Escaping soldiers run into Jason, he roars at them as he turns into demon mode, inducing extreme despair and fear into them. He claws one's face off, as they scream and walk around aimlessly without functioning eyes, then grabs another, his claws becoming sharper. He then flays the man alive, in front of his comrades, then wears his skin as robes around him. The other soldiers are too shocked to fight back, so Jason easily catches them then rips them open, consuming bits and pieces of their flesh.
Thad: He kills the last soldier on his end, then turns to see Jason eating from the body of a dead soldier, or at least what was a corpse-like demonic Jason devouring human flesh. Dude, what the f-ck?!
Jason: He screeched with two voices, before shifting back to normal O-oh, crap. He stands up, wiping blood from his mouth. I guess this demon had enough of my sh-t...
Thad: Please don't do that ever again.
Jason: Hey I didn't do anything it was the demon.
Thad: Ugh, whatever. Anyway that's this area cleared of Gardener men. Nice job on the distraction outside.
Jason: Oh yeah, should probably go take that down, now. They walked outside and saw the leviathan still battling Eliana and Haruto. Jason held his hand to it, as its armoured hull opened up revealing several weak spots. Eventually the heroes landed the killing blows, and the leviathan disintegrated, leaving a dark mark in the sky that wouldn't fade for a week. There ya go. Magnifique.
Thad: Call Antonia and tell her the job's done. I'll go back inside and erase evidence, memories and survivors. Thad walked back into the building as Jason phoned Antonia, telling her the details. After that it was nightfall, and the pair headed home.
Back at the VP
Dominic was tinkering with the Absconders' jet, tuning it, painting it a bit, relieving all the stress in work, he then heard the metal container dent open, startling him, he realized the bodies were moving now, he exited the hangar area, getting on his phone, texting anyone to come help him.
Dominic: *VP Now- * He then felt a huge pain in his chest, his heart was getting overstressed, as he yelled, in pain, locking the door behind him, he sat on the ground, panting, hoping someone would come to his aid.
Haruto walks in with his Mangetsu Kire in hand, noticing the locked door and the half-painted jet. He used the knife to cut through the locks and found Dom on the ground.
Haruto: What the fuck happened here? He sheathed the knife beside the battery holster on his Binary Driver.
Dominic: H-Haruto, look out... Four biomechanical creatures jumped down, running out of the now opened door.
Haruto: Oh fun... Haruto got out his newest Best Match and loaded it into his Driver. I'll take care of them. Henshin.
Binary Driver: Shadow! Rogue! Best Match! Mix!! Tsuki no Thief! Shadow Rogue!!
Haruto's Arcana-themed half was black with purple accents while the Rogue half was dark silver chain-mail armor with a hood draped over his helmet. The compound-style eye pieces reflected their respective halves: a crescent moon colored purple on the left and a knife colored dark silver on the right. Haruto unsheathed the knife on his side and hunted down each of the creatures after closing the door and restoring the locks. All were at the computer room, seemingly downloading information, they were chittering, making clicking sounds, insectoid really.
Haruto: *You're not getting your hands on that Arcana data... I've had to make some intense security programs and firewalls to keep that safe...*
Haruto disappeared into a nearby shadow, creeping through the shadows towards the computer and diving out of a shadow, intending to ambush the creatures through the shadows and cut them down with his knife. When he jumped out, unexpectedly, one of the creatures made an arm cannon, shooting him with some burning energy, he could feel his brain get scrambled a bit, as if that was its main function. Haruto managed to redirect some of the energy into his knife, allowing him to cut a nearby monster before hitting the ground with a headache
Haruto: The hell?! He focused on restoring his brain back to normal through the splitting headache before attacking the closest creature with his knife. It took the stab, the knife barely penetrating, its "mouth" opened up revealing a purple light, he was getting scrambled again, he could hear a voice a low booming entity.
Entity: Your mind is mine, it is useless to resist, you shall join the collective, make us stronger. The Wraiths shall have Earth.
Haruto: F--k... off...! A projection of Ombra gathered from the nearby shadows, balling up his fist and punching the entity through the mouth, essentially decapitating it as Haruto cut it in half. What the hell was that?!
Ombra: This entity... What did it claim to be?
Haruto: I-I don't... Wraiths?
Ombra: I'll look into this... With that, the projection dispersed itself back into the shadows and faded away. Haruto held his head and began restoring his brain back to normal before continuing the hunt.
Haruto: Dom, what the hell are these things... He muttered as he walked around cautiously, taking care to protect his head the most since that's what these creatures seemed to be aiming for. When he looked around the computer room they were gone, they were now at the main room, looking at everything, almost looked like they were searching for an item of information, Haruto could see just two, the last one was somewhere else.
Binary Driver: Ready? Shadow Rogue... Binary Finish! Haruto dove through the shadows and cut through them both with his knife, infused with shadow energy to extend the blade length so that he could cleanly cut them down. They fell, the cut wasn't deep, but it was enough to draw out anything keeping them alive, the next one was at the Hangar, its mouth opened to Dominic, as he was yelling in pain.
Dominic: The Hivemind will prevail in your destruction! I'm not giving up any more secrets! He yelled.
Haruto sensed Dom's yells from the hangar in the brief moment of time post-finisher where his body was still slightly supercharged by the essence in the batteries. The post-finisher supercharge lasted longer than usual, allowing him to dive into the shadows and traverse to Dom's shadow. He dived out of it and stabbed into it from above, away from Dom.
Haruto: Dom, what the hell are these things?! Dominic looked at the dead body.
Dominic: They're called Wraiths, the Hivemind was created to battle them...
Haruto: That's the last one, right?
Dominic: Last ones I know of? Yeah.
Haruto: Then kill them all and make sure they stay dead. I don't need anymore of these things f--king with my brains.
Dominic: It's not that simple....
Haruto: Now would be a perfect time for Elimina... In any case, how the hell do we get rid of these things?
Dominic: So far Hivemind constructs are most effective.
Haruto: So where the hell did your nanites go? And why have you been so- Wait. Don't tell me you purged them from your body...
Dominic: You- You didn't know what happened!?
Haruto: I've been trying to decipher the space anti-god's leftover notes on things designed to work with my belt and figuring out a new power-up item for said belt. I heard you got shot, but I was a bit absorbed in my work to fully comprehend why. It's a long story. In any case, how the f--k do we counter these Wraiths without... Haruto then held out his hand and summoned Mifune's sword. Holy s-it, I forgot about this sword. This is empowered by Hivemind nanites, so... use it to defend yourself for the time being, I guess. Or maybe I should analyze the nanite structures and replicate its effects with weapons for my future upgrades...
Dominic: Yeaaah, I'm taking the sword, Hivemind nanites, pretty sensitive to none consensual reverse engineering...
Haruto: I'll figure something else out then. Haruto hands Dom the sword. If that corpse is a corpse, and not a sleeping nightmare, I'll analyze it and see if I can find another alternate method of killing these things with what I've got.
Dominic: Make sure they're extra restrained.
Haruto: Duly noted.
Haruto grabbed the corpse, wrapped it in shadows, then transported it into the workshop and secured it with all the restrains he could possibly think of, using excess materials and such to overwrite them into existence. He began experimenting, analyzing the Wraith and murdering it every time it came back to life. With all of the experiments he performed, he couldn't find anything similar to the Hivemind constructs in terms of damaging the Wraiths, even using the Arcana's data as inspiration.
Haruto: Perhaps... I'm not quite powerful enough to do anything... I'll have to leave it to Dom and whoever he decide to give his nanites to. If I had Giorno or an Elimina battery, that'd be nice... He sighed and decided to cut up the Wraith into tiny bits to dispose of, creating a bin specifically to contain it out of the restraints he made for the body earlier. The hell do I do with this thing...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next Issue: The Absconders: Issue 23