At the Mountains

Despite the heavy coat that he wore, Sam had spent much of his time in the relative warmth of the boat and of their ride over, so stepping out in the frozen expanse was like a slap in the face. He also wasn't sure how the snow effected his power either as he usually had trouble with water and snow was just...well, yeah. Regardless of his ability though, it was clear by the expression on his face that this was the last place he wanted to be and was more excited to be nearing the rubble than how a normal person might look at rubble.

At her statement, he nodded, kneeling down and running a hand along the stone. It wasn't an explosion...not exactly. There wasn't burn marks, which meant...he stared back at the snow and only saw one set of tread tracks, so no one drove something through. That only meant. He looked back to Pyrrha, giving her a small grin. "Someone forced their way in. Physically, I mean." He said, holding up one of the smaller pieces of rubble to her, before letting it fall into the snow as it was not really relevant.

Sam had thankfully been used to following someone's lead and he took a place behind her, though not without keeping an eye over her shoulder as she went, watching out for anything that could catch their gaze. The first room had at one point seemed to be a checkpoint of sorts. There was the remains of a device not unlike a metal detector, but now just a broken heap on the floor. There were also several small barriers to hide behind, but they had massive chips taken from them. In addition there had been a desk with a computer, though that was still in relatively good shape.

"How do you think we should handle this?" Sam asked, giving her a wary look. "I would usually just rush in and see if I could find whoever did this..." But his voice trailed off as his eyes went down to the flood.

There what stuck out were the remains on the floor. Vaguely humanoid, but all metallic, greyed metal bodies and black screens for faces, though some had those shattered in. They were roughly human sized, but all were down on the ground, sparking from severe wounds in their chassis. Not too far from them, though, there was a human, an actual human, hunched over on the floor, not dead, but certainly not in a good place.

(Also, if you want to handle any of the things we see in here, by all means! I had a robotics facility in mind, but whatever works! Can also control whoever ya want too)

Further in the facility, Reaper was standing in an elevator, going down as rather pleasant music was playing overhead. It was...lounge? No, jazz. Maybe a cover of a popular song? He could never keep up with these modern artists or their music, but this was at least pleasant to listen to. It was just what he needed after his pursuits through the upper levels. He was sure there were a few more humans around, though there was a surprising lack of them. The robotic guards placed throughout were a a bit of a challenge for him, but they lacked that human element that made villainy fun. There was no terror or emotion behind them, they were just mindless bodies you could put down with no regrets.

He sighed and looked at his hammer, lifting it up to inspect a bit. "Ah, would you look at that." He said, running a finger over the slightest scratch in its rather smooth surface, "They're sturdy." He commented idly, just as the doors opened into a large chamber where the lights slowly came on.

Pyrrha continued to survey their surroundings as the pair moved properly into the facility. Though there was a gaping whole in the wall, the building was rather warm. With this in mind, Pyrrha would shed her heavy cloak, revealing that she was rather well dressed for the cold climate already. She looked around at the scene before her. She knew not what purpose this area served but it was clear the intruder had been through here. The fortified positions, the desk and computer off to the side, and the metal detector that lay in shambles all told a tale. She only knew what half of these things were thanks to Jake and Johanna. Though she had a feeling if she asked, that her companion would have filled in the details as well.

One of the most interesting things were the bodies that lay strewn across the room. Luckily they weren’t made of flesh and blood at least not that Pyrrha could initially see. She’d kneel down next to one of the guard bots and examine it. Certainly wasn’t like the ones she had encountered back home. Those had a strangely tough plastic like substance that made up their bodies, but these were cold hard metal. She took a moment to examine the blows the robots had sustained. All were deep depressions, indicative of a hammer blow, or some blunt object. For all she knew it could have been a bare fist.

She might have just followed the path of destruction to follow whoever it was that got here before them, but a sound managed to catch her ears as she moved towards the elevators at the end of the lobby. The sound she heard were gasps and moans, those of someone who had been severely beating or injured. Her mismatched eyes scanned her surroundings to find an actual person in the sea of metallic bodies. She quickly rushed over to find a middle aged man, nothing about his clothes told her who or what he was, perhaps Black Jack would be able to tell her. For now she focused on helping the stranger sit up, and propped him against a nearby barricade. “A-are you ok, can you talk?”

The man coughed, a faint trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth as he tried to speak. By the way he clutched his chest as Pyrrha sat him, it was clear that something in the man's chest had broken. A rib by the looks of it, or maybe several. The wounds he suffered weren't inherently fatal, though he wouldn't be moving anywhere fast anytime soon, but...perhaps he would be fine on his own, and surely in a place like this there had to be some kind of medical room.

The man, after a moment of trying to compose himself, managed to speak. "A red hooded man...he was...elevator..." He gripped at whatever article of clothing he could at Pyrrha, trying to pull himself closer so he didn't have to speak as loud. "Wait...who...who are you?" He asked, but before he could find the answer he needed, he succumbed the pain, his grip loosening as his head slumped forward. He wasn't dead, but he was out for the counter at least for now. Rest would probably be good for him regardless.

Sam gave a wary look to Pyrrha, then back to the man before sighing and giving his new friend a nod. He moved towards the man, undoing his jacket and draping it over the fellow so the cold wind from the outside wouldn't effect the man as much. He turned his gaze back to Pyrrha, giving her a small, reassuring. "He should be okay, I think...I don't like the idea of leaving him, but there might be other people here who might not be as lucky, so we should try and get to them first to help, right?" He straightened himself and offered a hand to help her back up, not that she needed it. "We at least know what we're looking for...unless..." His voice trailed off as he looked back towards the door that led further into this facility.

He was quiet a moment, "This place...it's run by some evil corp...right? So does that mean the red hooded guy is with us or against us?" He looked back at Pyrrha, frowning at this thought. "Or...do we have more than one enemy here?" That didn't feel good to ask that and he didn't like what that could entail, but...this entire situation was strange from the get go.

Same reached a hand for the button and the door slid open, revealing a large and open room, looking like some sort of factory. There were long lines of winding conveyer belts that were lined with different machines. On the conveyer belts there were several pieces of metal, some assembled, others still waiting to be put together, yet nothing was moving. Several of the machines that lined the belts were ruined, as were a few outlets from which the machine bits had fallen out of. More of those robotic bodies were strewn across the place, some in pieces, others just with holes in their chest. There didn't appear to be anymore humans in here, but the place was a mess and hard to tell. However, on the other side of the room there were large bulkhead doors and with the tale tell sign of an elevator.

For a moment, Sam seemed to look relieved at this, but that quickly turned to dread as from side rooms around the factory floor began to open, and out walked more of those mechanical men. They were large and bulky figures, broad steely frames and with almost oversized fists of metal, a few of which crackled with electricity. The sight of this made Sam slowly turn his head towards Pyrrha, giving her a lopsided smile .

"Here we go."

Pyrrha was slightly taken aback as the injured man did manage to respond to her. With the state the room was in, she was surprised he had enough energy to even do so. Still that being said, it wasn’t like he had much to say, and nothing he said really helped, but he did at least confirm the presence of another party and managed to give a vague description. The young hero could help but looked puzzled at the injured mans own confusion. Did that mean he was expecting help to arrive? Would Pyrrha and Black Jack have more than just the other intruder and robots to worry about?

She thought this over as she gently let go of the man and propped him up. Though he had passed out from the pain she didn’t feel right about leaving him here, especially with all the cold arctic air coming in from the outside. That’s when her companion surprised her by being proactive enough to drape his coat over the unconscious man. Pyrrha would remove her heavy cloak and offer it to the young man. She had no need for it. She was used to this kind of cold. Whether he accepted the cloak or not, Pyrrha would do one last thing before they progressed. A quick flash of light would envelope her and all her gear would change. She no longer sported the heavy black trench coat, and instead now sported something that looked akin to a musketeer outfit, if that musketeer was enlisted in a modern military.

Drawing her rapier and focus, Pyrrha would channel a spell. The focus would glow with a soft white cloud of aether before fading. As the light faded, the injured man would be showered with a green mist. “That’s about all I can do for him for now. That should allow him to rest easier and help mend some of his lighter wounds. Now lets go see about this other visitor shall we?”

Pyrrha’s eyes would look back over the carnage of the room they were in, as they advanced. Thinking of Black Jack’s question of the intruder being friendly, she shook her head. “Normally I like to be optimistic, but given the fact he’s the one that most likely injured that man back there, I wouldnt count on him being friendly.” No sooner did Pyrrha finish answering the question, the metal doors opened up to a larger portion of the facility.

Conveyor belts lined either side of the large assembly room as bits and pieces of unfinished robot slid by. This room to was also a mess, though still more intact that the previous one. It seemed this hooded figure was on a mission. They were very precise in how they had dealt with the robots that guarded this room. Just like the others, these to, had been felled by a single blow to the chest.

Just as Pyrrha was taking in all that she could about the scene before them, the sides of the factory began to open up. A detail she seemed to overlook. From these secret rooms came a new type of robot guard than the ones they had seen thus far. These machines were much larger and bulkier. With a slight sigh, she’d tilt her head in Black Jack’s direction. Though they had just met and though she had gotten a brief preview of his powers, Pyrrha didn’t feel comfortable putting someone else in harms way. “Don’t over do it. If you need help you say so.” With that she turned toward one side of the room and began charging up a spell as the bots began to approach.

Sam eyed the cloak for a moment, taking a second to consider something. This hadn’t been out of hesitation to accept someone’s kindness or distaste for the action. No, instead he was imagining this has part of his hero attire. Granted, his hero attire was mainly composed of handmade clothes that he had thrown together, but still…a cloak, now that was heroic in a mysterious way. He certainly wasn’t a cape person, but perhaps he could this bit of attire off…or would that be too dark for him? Yes, he was a shadowy person in terms of his skin, but he wasn’t sure if a cloak went along with what type of hero he was.

He was waiting too long to take it.

He suddenly straightened and smiled warmly at her and gave a dip of the head, “Are you sure?” He asked, though she had seem dead set on it, so…he donned it on and tried to get a proper feel for it. The cloak felt flowly, almost a cape, but, with the hood, he felt as though the style was a little less campy. However, did it go with...? He was getting of task again; he had to refocus himself before he got lost in thought again.

He gave a small nod as his partner theorized the intent of the other Meta that was here, and ultimately…he had to agree despite the urge to, like her, be optimistic. He let out a breath after her reply and went on with the task at hand, not wanting to wait with these thoughts. As he had turned to head to the door, he had completely missed the flash of light and her costume change, focused now on what was on the other side.

It wouldn’t be until she joined him in the doorway that he had to do a double take and ensure that she was in fact the same person. It wasn’t until she spoke that he had been absolutely sure that it was her and not some trick. By the glimmering look in his eyes and the big dumb smile he wore it was clear that he was absolutely amazed with this new development. He had always been a fan of superheroes and namely the abilities they carried. Working in this field gave him a front row ticket to the vast variety of powers this world had to offer.

He had wanted to praise her on her unique ability, but before he could, she was readying some kind of attack towards the mechanical protectors. He opted to do that later, not wanting to distract her. He turned his back to her and faced some of other machines on the other side of the room, lowering himself slightly as he too readied himself. Though she couldn’t see it, he was grinning at her compliment, nodding once. “Thanks, but I think I can handle it!”

As he readied to start throwing portals, a thought occurred, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but is it gonna cover an area or just targeting a few?” He asked quickly, but before she could answer he was already readying his plan, hoping that it would be more help than anything. For the five robots on his side of the room, portals opened beneath them, each connecting portal opening overhead the others from her side of the room, causing his side’s machines to fall atop hers. It would take a moment for them to stand, but he was hoping he had helped in giving her more targets and more time to fire off whatever it was she was charging.

Pyrrha tilted her head in slight confusion at her allies question. It was a good thing it took a tiny bit for her spells to charge as she quickly realized what the young man had in mind. In a nice display of his mastery over his power, Black Jack had gobbled up the androids on his side of the room and rained them down upon the group on Pyrrha’s side. The sheer weight and volume of the machines caused them all to topple over and form a nice pile of scrap on the floor. A perfect target for Pyrrha’s magic. With a quick wave of her makeshift staff a series of small lightning bolts would rain down over the machines.

At a glance the electricity seemed to do the trick, but Pyrrha’s slightly elated expression would narrow into a glare as the androids shrugged off the blast, signified by them all rising in unison as though nothing had happened. “That’s fine, I’ve got something else for you then!” Pyrrha would once again begin charging a spell as the mass of metal began marching in their direction. With another wave of her makeshift staff she’d fire a new spell. This one caused a stone mass to form at the heart of the group. It looked like a stone star and as quickly as it formed it exploded sending razor sharp shards of rock in every direction.

The machines closest to the mass were shredded and collapsed from the damage they had sustained. Several others also fell still as the stone shrapnel damaged some of their vital components. The rest would be knocked down and suffer damage to their outer shells, but would soon shrug that off and begin approaching the duo once more. Removing the focus from the bottom of her rapier, Pyrrha prepared for a close quarters engagement, Black Jack’s safety in the back of her mind.

There was excitement in Sam’s eyes as he watched Pyrrha unleash a powerful array of lightning bolts down upon the enemies. The excitement remained, even as the robots seemed only partially put off by the strike. While, yes, that meant they still had threats to deal with and they were still in peril, that also meant he had more chances to see what else Pyrrha could do. Ever since he was a kid, he had loved both heroes and villains, seeing what abilities they held and how they would use them against one another. It was one of the many reasons he had become a hero in the first place, to see it all.

However, he would have to keep a side-glance on it in the meantime. He had to refocus himself on the arrival of those reinforcements, some of which had slightly altered designs. Their chests were slightly bulkier, latches on a circular plate on the centerpiece of their chest. New variants? Probably. That raised the question, of course, of whether or not the last Meta had to go against similar robots or if these were meant for him.

Before he could come to an answer, he felt an intense heat brush by his body as one of the mechanical defenders fired a red hot ball of plasma his way. The blast of energy struck against the back wall, melting through some of metal surface. If not for his training with Melody that blast surely would’ve hit, a fact that he was all too aware of now as he diverted all of his focus on the six new arrivals.

Even at the sight of the new arrivals and their enhanced capabilities, Sam didn’t lose that wide and excited grin. Instead, he dashed forward towards the one who had shot at him, the one that had been charging up a new shot to fire in his direction. The cannon in the chest grew brighter and brighter, although Sam didn’t seem to anything to alter his course, as if he was going to charge the energy bolt. When the bolt finally fired, however, almost on instinct, Sam opened a portal in front of him and the blast instead went through their and then fired out a new portal that opened up behind the guard, causing the bolt to crash into it instead, melting steel and circuitry.

He didn’t have time to celebrate his victory as the other machines were now converging on him. As they started to surround him, metal fists raised, ready to come pummeling down on him, he jumped backward into a newly formed portal, ending up across the room. He let out a huff as he heard the sound of metal collide with stone as the group struck, only having narrowly dodged what would’ve resulted in a fine new collection of broken bones. His gaze once more traveled to Pyrrha, grinning a bit more sheepishly, “Any ideas?” He called over.

He was good at one on ones, group fights were a whole other beast to him.

With a bit of bravado and unnecessarily flashy blade work, Pyrrha would cut down two of the advancing droids quickly. Her attention however would shift to her companion as the reinforcements drew closer to Black Jack. This wasn’t good, there were a fair deal many of these robots. It would take a lot of effort at this rate to cut through them all or even reduce them to scrap with spells. That is however, till an opportunity presented itself as Pyrrha watched Black Jack employ his power to avoid a deadly blast from what looked like a different model of android.

After watching the boy slip into a portal and reappear on the opposite side of the room, Pyrrha was stricken with an idea, she only hoped that her limited knowledge of how her comrades power worked, that this wouldn’t be a total crapshoot. His timing was impeccable as he called out to her, asking if she had any ideas. “Yeah actually. Though that depends on how free you can be with the placement of those portals of yours.” She didn’t quite have the chance to calmly explain as more droids continued to advance upon her. With yet another flash of light, Pyrrha’s outfit would once again change. This time her attire looked nearly identical to when the first entered the building. Except this time the sleeves to her coat were missing and she sported a blindfold that covered her glowing white eye. Instead of wielding her gunblade, instead, strapped to her hip was a katana. Given she had little time to adjust, she’d quickly grab the katana and unsheathe it while making a slicing motion at the same time.

A powerful gust of wind would knock the androids backwards, causing several of them to tumble over one another. With the bots out of the way, Black Jack would have a clear view of Pyrrha and would see the blade of her weapon was wreathed in wind. “Can you create a portal big enough to catch all these guys? And could you make it open up outside? If you can, I can send them packing with one good swing of my sword.” Pyrrah would take her katana into both hands, the wind around the blade growing more violent and angry. She’d stay off her attack until she got confirmation from the boy. If he was incapable of performing the task, she’d think of something else.

As Pyrrha spoke, he didn't reply verbally, only giving her a quick look and the slightest bit of a nod. He had gotten the message. Whether he could or not was another question entirely, he didn't even have that answer. One big portal was possible. Making a connection between two portals that was beyond thirty feet was also possible. But together? That was a different matter entirely. He had never really tried it in combat.

The robots did not cease their assault on Sam. This time, however, he seemed less focused on trying to damage them, and more on just dodging and blocking. Wide fists thrown his way, found their way into a portal and nearly hitting other robots through connected portals, but Sam's aim seemed more off. Lasers fired were no longer funneled through portal and instead just rolled and dodged away from. First glance might suggest that he was getting winded, but to someone more trained, they'd find his movements had been with purpose and intent, and that the robots all seemed to be getting a bit closer together. He was corralling them.

Once they all had been rounded up as best he could, a new portal formed beneath him and fell through. In the next moment he was behind Pyrrah, clenching his eyes shut and focusing. "If you can...keep 'em there..." He spoke in a struggled tone, "Gonna need...five...four..." He would've continued with the countdown, but it was throwing him off. With a final exhale and a wide gesture of his hands, a massive hole formed under the bots, sending them falling through and out into the tundra outside. If any bots had managed to break away from the group he corralled them into, they would remain, but largely it seemed as though he got most of them.

Despite his skin's night black color, it almost looked like sweat had begun to form at his brow. This clearly hadn't been a norm for him and took a bit more out of him compared to the other portals he had been making. Still, lazily, he reached a hand up and patted her on the back, "Tagging out, you're up."

Pyrrha didn’t quite understand what Black Jack had in mind. His actions didn’t seem to answer her question all that much but she’d at least try to have a little faith. With that in mind, as Black Jack did his thing, Pyrrha would deal with the bots closest to her that were an immediate threat. With a few swings of her sword, mighty gusts of wind would be unleashed, battering against the ceaseless androids. The powerful gusts inadvertently served t better coral the machines into a nice mass of glistening metal, just in time for Black Jack to appear behind Pyrrha.

As the large portal opened up beneath the bots, Pyrrha would leap upwards into the air and swing her katana once more. The resulting wind wave would push any stragglers into the pit for them to be relocated outside the factory. With one final howl, the gale of wind wreathing Pyrrha’s blade would putter out as the blade slipped into its sheath. Turning to Black Jack she offered him a hand, taking note of the visible build up of sweat upon his skin. He no doubt had to push himself to perform the task she asked of him. Something she would take note of for the future.

“No worries. You can leave all future fights to me. Now then…” her voice would trail off as she scanned the now vacant room. Where was it they needed to go again? “Now where was that door again? Why does every building need to be so needlessly designed on this godforsaken star!” At this point she wasn’t even sure if they were going in the right direction. Sure they were following the trail of destruction left behind by an earlier visitor, but who was to say that they even knew where they were going.

Sam was grateful that he could take this time to sit back and really appreciate all his teammate could. He also appreciated that he had this time to catch his breath and recover from the strenuous act. He didn't mind getting to watch Pyrrha in action either, it was incredible all she could do. He tried, throughout the process, to try and read what exactly her ability was, but any time he felt like he had a grasp on it, she up and did something else. The idea of an elementalist or summoner came to mind, but something in his head didn't seem convinced on that.

He would have to keep an eye on her.

In the meantime, at least, he would accept her hand, hopping up to his feet. He gave a small laugh at her comment and waved a dismissive hand. "What are you talking about?" He asked, giving her a dumb smile, something he was pretty good at, "I'm good to go, I just needed to catch my breath. No way am I gonna let you take on everything else. What kind of hero would I be if I went down after only one fight?"

Putting his hands in his pocket, he followed after her. He gave a small shrug, looking around. "Not sure...I think the guy from before said something about an elevator...which...." Sam's eyes darted around the room, trying to search for any sign of an elevator or...Ah! He pointed over to one of the far doors where a sign indicating a section called "Transit" hung. "That sounds like a good place to start, yeah?" He said, starting to lead the way. His eyes did trace across the room, looking to the other rooms which read "Security", which he felt inclined to pass on, and "Offices" which also sounded boring and not worth their time.

Probably...

He wasn't very sure of himself either.

Pyrrha’s eyes would snap to the sign that Black Jack had pointed out. That would indeed seem to be their destination. But as the two made their way through the now empty factory area, the easy going adventurer took note of the rooms connected to this one. There was once a time when a bitter adversary imparted sound wisdom upon her. Fighting without knowledge of the enemy was just blood whetting. Somehow she didn’t think that could apply in this situation. At least in the sense that the information that these additional rooms could provide would link to the other intruder.

After a brief walk the two arrived at a large pair of metal doors on the other side of the factory. Pyrrha would tap the call button several times out of impatience, humming to herself all the while. “Doesn’t the lift know we’re kinda in a hurry.” she mumbled to herself.  She would take a quick look over to Black Jack to assess his condition. The sweating had seemed to subside, but he still looked fairly fatigued, at least in her eyes. “You know, a hero also knows when they need to rest. If we find our mystery person and you’re still feeling a bit winded don’t worry about hanging back.” She would finish speaking just as the lift would arrive. The metal doors would begrudgingly side open allowing the two to enter.

Taking a look at the board on the inside, it was clear their job would be easy. Rather than having to figure out what floor the other intruder got off on, there was only one option. Seeing no other reason to delay, Pyrrha would hit the button. She’d wait for the doors to close and the lift to start moving before resuming her speech from earlier. “Im not saying these things to belittle you or say you are weak. Take these words as someone who has been where you are. Pushing yourself in the heat of the moment isn’t always the best course of action. And besides you’ve got me at your side.” She’d flash Back Jack a quick smile before turning her attention back to the panel where the operating button was. There, was a display that visually indicated how far they had traveled and how much longer it was going to take.

Hopefully the minor hindrance with the robots didn’t give their suspected foe any more of a head start than he already had.

Much like his partner, Sam felt a bit impatient at the slow moving lifting, his foot tapped against the metal floor, his hands shoved into his pockets as they waited for it to rise. Quickly, he leaned over and pressed the button a few more times as they waited, hoping that somehow the multiple presses would hurry the process along. At her comment, his glowing white gaze turned to meet hers and a strangely cheerful smile spread across his face. This wasn’t really the place to be cheerful or so at ease, but he couldn’t help the feeling or resist it. Before he could reply, however, the elevator dinged and opened for them. He promptly stepped inside and waited for her to press the button.

When she started speaking again, he kept quiet, nodding with that same cheery smile, not seeming to take any offense or worry at her words. He gave a small wave, trying to displace any worry she might have, “Ha, thank you! I’ll keep that in mind and let you know if I need to step back, I appreciate that!” He gave a small roll of the shoulders, “For now, though, don’t worry at all about me! I got plenty of fight left and I have some energy building up, so I might still be able to show off a bit.” He said, giving her a knowing look. “Though, I am not the sort to deny that I got limits and there’s stuff I can’t do, so thank you! You got my complete faith.” He’d raise up a fist, offering to bump hers before staring at the door as the elevator slowly descended.

Yep…slow travels…

He cleared his throat and then shifted awkwardly, “Uh, hm…so…the weather out here is uh…cold.” He noted, trying to think of a topic. “Oh!” He said, his eyes seeming to literally brighten for a moment, “I am still honestly working on that hero name, so uh…any suggestions? Odd isn’t bad, Blackjack might work, but I don’t know, have been able to settle on anything.”

That was good, they had to pass the time somehow.

---

Further down, not too far from where the lift would get off, the Reaper stood in the large atrium, his eyes peering around the empty space around him. The room was roughly…fifty or so yards long? Half a football field, maybe a bit more. The ceiling was high too, more than enough room for a drone or another small device to fly around in. At the very far end of the room there had been a large glass window that looked down upon the entire area, dark, but not empty, there was a lone figure who stood there, looking down at him.

The thoughts slowly clicked into place for him. An observation room overlooking a testing chamber. A large testing chamber. Big enough for giant machines or airborne drones to function, maneuvers around, or probably fire off whatever arsenal they were packing. And he was in the center of it.

The grip on his hammer tightened as he glared up at the man, but before he could speak a voice came over the speakers. It was a dull, tired voice, unimpressed clearly, “A fine display, though before you press on, it might interest you to standby for a few moments.”

Pyrrha would take some solace in knowing that budding young hero seemed to his limits. She truly hoped he’d heed her lesson enough to not get himself into trouble. Trouble that she’d ultimately have to get them both out of. With that out of the way, the elevator would descend a bit more with nothing but the hum of the hydraulics to fill the air. That is until Pyrrha’s young companion once again spoke up, this time bringing up the nature of his ‘hero name’. The seasoned adventurer looked to the young man with an arched brow followed by a shrug of the shoulders.

“I wouldn’t be able to help you there. Ive always just gone by my own name…Or whatever vainglorious title my companions and people I helped out, saw fit to use in place of said name.” It was a somber sort of feeling that washed over Pyrrha in that moment. It had been a long time since she bore the title Warrior of Light. With no battles left to fight and no challenges left to be overcome. That title…It brought on a lot of emotions, enough of them to leave Pyrrha reflecting in awkward silence till the lift finally reached its destination.

If it wasn’t for the trusty heads up display attached to the side panel of the elevator, it would be impossible to tell just how far down the lift had taken the two. Judging by the little graphic the elevator had stopped several meters beneath the surface. The cold and barren frozen wastes had been replaced by a dark corridor with a well lit room at the end of it. Pyrrha would instinctively be the first out of the elevator. Leading the way and putting herself in the path of any immediate danger than might be waiting for them down here, including one very armed and dangerous hammer wielding intruder.

Her left hand would find its way wrapped around the hilt of her katana as they moved into a large wide open doom-like room. The lighting made it hard to make out the finer details, but Pyrrha could clearly see someone else was here, and there was ever the faintest shape of…a hammer. “Stay behind me.” she whispered over her shoulder. Just what the hell was this place, who was this intruder, and what was in store for them? Pyrrha had a feeling they’d find out soon enough.

Sam frowned a bit at that, scratching the side of his head as his mind reeled at what he would call himself. Odd was his first and it seemed fitting, Blackjack was just a whim and because it sounded cool, but he felt like there was a better one. Mel suggested Void, but that was a bit too edgy for him. Regardless, he gave a small nod, accepting that this was going to have to be something that he had to figure out for himself. He gave her a half-hearted smile and a shrug, “Well, if it means anything at all, Pyrrha is a pretty cool name. I don’t know what it means, but still. It has a good ring to it.” He said, and honestly meant it. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed fitting for the woman with the strange set of powers.

Sam followed behind the woman, keeping that small grin on his face they went into darkness. While some might be nervous or on guard, or perhaps even take it more seriously, Sam couldn’t get over how cool this all was. Secret bases, killer robots, mysterious summons, other cool super powered people, it was all what he loved about this job. It was like something out of all those old comics he read as a kid. Even if things did get worse, he knew, at least, he had Pyrrha here. From what he had seen she was one of the most skilled combatants he had encountered. It was a hard to worry when you had someone as powerful and talented as she was.

It was only when the entered into that wide and open space and he saw the strange visage of the man in the center of the room that felt the smallest of shiver down his spine. That just didn’t seem right…or normal? Perhaps this was the person who had come in before them. He had been ready to move forward and say hello to the man, but Pyrrha stopped any notion of that with her whispered command. And so Sam did as he was told. He stood behind his companion and watched her carefully.

Slowly, from his place across the room, the Crimson Reaper slowly turned and faced the duo who just entered. The grip around his hammer tightened as he eyed the two carefully. He stood quietly for a few moments, his gaze shifting between the pair, seeing if he recognized either. He tried his best to keep up to date on all the active heroes out there, but there were a lot.

A grin crept across his face and as he tapped the handle of his hammer down on the ground, the head became ignited in flames and slowly he started to approach. “Ah, so there are heroes here.” He spoke in a loud, yet low, echoing voice. “I was wondering if that was just a clever ploy to distract me, I’m more than pleased to see that I was wrong.” He was still a good sixty, fifty feet away, yet his voiced carried like he was only a few steps from them. “Tell me, what do they call you both?”

Pyrrha’s eyes narrowed and her grip around her sword tightened as the head of the mans hammer ignited. His booming voice echoed throughout the arena as he slowly began to approach. While he was certainly the most immediate threat, Pyrrha’s eyes couldn’t help but glance at the mysterious silhouette in the distance. With a flick of her wrist a powerful gust of wind would sweep across the wide open field. “You seem like you’re more eager to talk. How about telling us who you are first. And why you’re here.” While the man’s voice sounded intimidating and booming, Pyrrha matched it with a more commanding and collected tone.

She’d draw her blade holding it loosely at her side. The light catching the red blade, a small current of air flowing around it. “Stay back a little. If he charges in I want you to be able to move away from us and counter.” she’d subtly whisper over her shoulder to Blackjack, hoping that he’d follow her example and not reveal himself to their suspected invader. Numerically speaking the had the hammer wielding maniac out numbered, but that didn’t mean much. Those bots while not entirely pushovers were certainly no where near the strongest things Pyrrha had ever fought.

If it came down to it and their opponent showed a strength that was previously unrevealed then she at least had two other forms she could tap into, if needed. She knew she could rely on Blackjack as well, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. If she could help it, she’d try to keep the attention on her. So long as the young hero was safe that’s all that mattered. Pyrrha would remain unflinching as the hammer wielding man marched toward them. She hoped he’d be as vainglorious as many of the other bad guys she had come across in her journey. She was curious to learn more about him and the nature of the hammer he carried, especially since its now flaming head was something that wasn’t present in the damage dealt to the bots topside.