The Goal of Limitless Energy, a Limitless Army

Slick gave a sinister smirk as he took off out the door at Clayton's request, with Rush in tow. Outside, a parked vehicle had been there waiting for him. He placed Rush in the passenger seat and worked his way to the door to take off in a hurry.

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MEANWHILE

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Hurricane grasped The Black Knight's cape and flew skyward but was pelted in the face with two gas capsules, releasing their substance in his face. Instantly recognizing the danger he let go of The Black Knight and forfeited his attack, turning it into a retreat. But the gas didn't need to be inhaled, it forcefully entered into his system. Hurricane fell down from the sky with the Black Knight and hurdled towards the ground which wouldn't be too painful of a landing blow unless forced down with an extra attack.

The Helicopter above saw Hurricane go down and immediately began to retreat. It was hovering above the battle with the Clockwork strapped to several harnesses. The large chopper started to lift in the air and slowly raise the Clockwork from its position. The machine guns aimed at The Black Knight but refused to fire for he was too close to Hurricane.

Snoot wouldn't be down long from getting his jaw smacked around, and the Black Knight seemed to be too busy to ensnare him before Hurricane took action. With one hand still covered over his mouth he scrambled for the gun. A lasso twirled over his head and wrapped around his neck, clotheslining him to the ground. He sprawled on the ground and quickly got to his feet, wrapping his arms around the lasso so as to not allow her to put any pressure on his neck. He was going to give it a strong tug with his superior might but noticed Hurricane was down. He got to both knees and then placed his hands behind his head in surrender. The helicopter nor Hurricane could get him out now.

Alice listened quietly, taking deep breaths as she calmed down. Her mind was racing quickly, observing the situation. As Clayton spoke about not going in between him and his money, Alice looked at him... maybe he was a thief? But that thought was quickly derailed when Clayton whispered to her. In a typical teenage move, she glared at him when he told her not to do anything stupid. She then turned her gaze to the floor, "I'm not a kid." she muttered, glaring at a piece of rubble as if trying to pulverize it with her gaze alone. Then she whispered quietly, "And she's not my friend, she's just some random hero." she said this as she looked up, watching Slick and Rush leave with contempt in her eyes.

“Whadddya mean she’s not your friend? I thought all you heroes were total BFFs.” Clayton said and scratched the back his head, it was then when he noticed the sound of the helicopter, he hadn’t noticed it before with all the excitement. At once it all clicked in his head; they weren’t there for the blueprints to the machine at all! No, they were after the clockwork itself. Why else would they go to all this trouble? “Ugh.” He groaned, he could be so stupid sometimes. The sound of the helicopter coupled with the fact that Black Knight hadn’t returned yet meant that there were probably still men in the building, and whoever the ringleader of this group was would probably be there to supervise the lift. There was no way Slick would blow up the building yet, he might be suicidal but he didn’t seem stupid enough to ruin the whole operation like that. “If you still wanna play super hero, we’ve gotta move now.” He said to Alice before darting into the direction that Elaine and Black Knight had gone before, though he had absolutely no idea what kind of scene would be awaiting him. “Please no more guns.” He pleaded with some unseen higher power under his breath. He figured Alice would follow.

Elaine sprung darted in a weak wobbly fashion, holding fast to her lasso. She moved behind Snoot and attempted to take his hands behind his back and tie them in place. Blood continued to pour from her face and arm, and the light behind her head basked her head in a gruesome glow.

"I guess..." She began to mutter a triumphant gloat. "..That..." She moved back on her left foot and fell to a sitting position on the ground.

"You did good. Don't ruin it by talking." The small Corgi advised her.

"You're right magic dog." She put her hands on her knees and exhumed a deep breath. "You're so smart." She fell onto her back and brought her hands over her head.

"Yes. Well." The dog adjusted slightly. "Thats not important now." He kept his gaze between the events talking place within the room. "You should make an attempt to appear relatively intact."

Elaine threw her legs behind her head rolling onto her feet and coming up behind the man. "I guess now you know..." She began to muster up another hero gloat over her when she felt her stomach come up. She turned her head and vomited on the floor.

"Very nice." He spoke in a detached voice. "Don't feel bad. Its all the other thing you've spewed from your mouth that made me fell sick."

((OOC: I did a lot in my post, so I will edit if you feel I should))

His plan worked perfectly, the knock-out gas surrounded his foe’s face and nearly instantly entered his system. The grip on his cape was released and the two of them started quickly plummeting towards the ground. It would have been a painful fall for the both of them, but he would make sure to avoid it. With his deadly opponent now unconscious, dealing with the situation would prove far simpler. In one hand he gripped the man by the back of his shirt and in the other he moved to pull his grappling gun. Just as he planned, he shot it into the roof and prevented their fall. They were suspended in the air, The Black Knight holding them both up with his near superhuman strength. He looked up to the helicopter; it was armed to the teeth with machine guns and making away with the Clockwork. He had to stop them; he could not let them get away with such a valuable and powerful piece of technology. With the press of a button, his grappler quickly lowered them to the ground. He was just a few feet off the ground when he dropped Hurricane to the floor and released his grappler’s grip on the roof. He easily landed on both feet and moved his light brown optics back up to glare at the helicopter.

It would not open fire on him while he stood so close to their leader, and he used that to his advantage. He quickly thought up a plan, thinking of every gadget he had in his arsenal and picking the best for the job. The Black Knight swiftly drew a shaper metallic boomerang from his utility belt, preparing to toss it towards the main wire that held up the Clockwork. He made sure to put power and accuracy behind his toss, throwing the boomerang at an arc and allowing it to cut several straps. He was successful, the massive Clockwork was released and sent plummeting towards the ground. He quickly flipped on the power bracers built into his suit, instantly feeling the strain on his muscles, but strength surged through him. He wasn't sure how much the clockwork weighed, but he knew he needed to push himself to be able to catch it. The Black Knight played smart, making sure to limit his strength and not to push to max power; it was very strenuous on his body and he couldn’t risk anything. He threw his hands up high over his head and caught the heavy falling object with his temporary super strength. His arms barely struggled underneath the Clockwork, proving just how powerful this gadget was, but he felt the side effects instantly. He dropped the heavy object onto the floor beside him and let out a deep breath; he was glad that worked.

The Black Knight moved his eyes back up to the helicopter flying high above him and he no longer had the advantage. He immediately moved to take cover behind the large Clockwork when it opened fire on him. His vision darted back over to his temporary ally and it looked like she had dealt with the other thug. She didn't look like she was doing so good, her injuries seemed to be getting the best of her; he needed to treat her soon. Right now he was pinned down, and catching his breath; he had to think of something quick to deal with this helicopter.

Alice glared at him for a moment, the words, "I'm not a hero." on the tip of her tongue, but she kept silent, knowing that no one would believe her... She wouldn't even believe herself. She then heard the sound of a helicopter... which meant the villains was probably still here. Clayton seemed to hear it too, he started heading towards the clockwork, telling her to come IF she wanted to. After a split second of deliberation, Alice ran after him, catching up quickly, she was slowly regaining her strength but she was still out of breath from the short period of exertion. "Plan?" she managed to pant out.

Clayton didn’t respond to Alice’s question, he didn’t have an actual plan. All he wanted to do was warn Black Knight that the place was to be demolished, he figured he owed him that much, and then get himself out of there. There was a chance the Black Knight and Elaine were struggling against or taken out by who or whatever was after the clockwork, Clayton was glad to have Alice at his side if that was the case.

Once there, Clayton stood with his back against the wall near the door and motioned for Alice to do the same. He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to take a glance behind the open door way. What he saw was utter destruction; it looked like a tornado had torn up the entire room. Anything not bolted to the floor was scattered somewhere around the room, there was even a hole in one of the walls. Apparently Black Knight had been victorious because he was the only one still standing; he was standing behind the large clockwork object, probably using it for cover from the helicopter above. “Uhm… Mr. Knight, sir… I can see you’re busy and I don’t want to bother you but, they wired the place to explode. We should probably get out of here, no rush though, whenever you’re ready. Is the cowgirl okay?” Clayton shouted to the hero sarcastically.

The mention of wiring the building hit Elaine's ear. Why would someone resort to that she thought to herself. Then she realized she could physically ask. "Why would you rig a building to explode?" She shouted at Snoot.

Outcomes bounced around her head for what would happen. "Its only right that we get you out of the building." Elaine helped Snoot up to his feet, but his weight almost made her collapse on herself. She signaled over to Clayton to help her out.

Black Knight would probably try and disarm the bombs, but Elaine's biggest concern laid with getting everyone out of the building safely. "Hey, can you grab my guns?" She spoke out to Alic, hoping she would help her out. Oxygen in her head began to dissipate; she closed her eyes hard and squinted them. "I think I have a concussion." She muttered.

Snoot raised his head. "It's simple really, but it might not make sense to someone like yourself. It's a message to the world. The evolution of man is changing into something greater. And the more dangerous the metahumans get, the more afraid the governments get of losing control. It won't be long before humans hunt you down, fearing what the future might bring. A dominion of metahumans, with humans as the inferiors. It's already in motion.

If it weren't for you 'heroes', that message would have been sent. But you fail to realize the purpose of your powers. For the true betterment of mankind. So go ahead, believe that you serve the 'people'. They'll only want you around until they don't need you anymore. And when they don't need you anymore, they'll throw you away like a piece of trash. Metahumans were destined to rule this world, it was only a matter of time before everyone was a metahuman, or the humans killed them all out of fear. One way or another, someone had to be wiped out."

Snoot smirked but let it drop right away, portraying a serious face. It's difficult to explain your belief, and harder to leave it. A series of explosions rumbled through the museum. Snoot's eyes flinched, thinking Slick set all the charges up to blow including this room. However, Slick only detonated half the structure because he had to get Rush out of the scene. The helicopter responded to the explosion as well, as it started to take off and flee the scene.

Alice peeked into the room from behind Clayton and stared at the chaos. It looked like... well... a tornado had gone though the place with piles of rubble and a hole in the wall. Apparently mystery man won since he was still standing. Then she noticed Elaine as Clayton began to talk. Elaine was speaking to Snoot as she tried to help him up, only to fall down herself. Alice wasn't sure who the man was but... maybe he was on their side, either was, Elaine told her to get the guns. She quickly picked up the firearms, jogging over to Elaine in time to hear Snoot's little speech. She looked at him as he spoke, "Hitler... Jim Crow..." and that's all she said before the bombs went off, detonating the part that she and Clayton had just come from. Alice sighed in relief, glad that everyone got out. As she this was happening, the helicopter began to take off.

The Black Knight stood behind the Clockwork, peering around it to glare up at the armed helicopter. He knew exactly how to take that thing out of the sky, and he was about to turn the corner to deal with it when a familiar voice shouted out to him. It belonged to the Janitor he had rescued earlier, and his news was grim. They’ve wired this place to explode!? He knew this side of the building had to have been safe from the charges, he would have noticed them when he arrived. That meant the other half of the building was doomed. He took his attention off the helicopter, he had bigger problems now. The authorities could deal with the rest. “Come here, and move quickly.” He commanded the two of them, he was sure the chopper would not shoot them; their leader was still in the way. He couldn’t help but wonder what possessed the two of them to come back here. They were good hearted people to risk their lives to warn him of the explosion; even if it was only for their cowgirl friend.

The Black Knight turned to face his new ally questioning the thug, his eyes coming to a squint as he stared the man down. His vision moved up to take in the injuries of his ally; they were too severe for her to keep going like this. He was surprised to see her still standing, but if it were him he would have kept fighting too. He began walking towards her, pulling the medi-gel gun from his utility belt in one hand and balling his fist up with the other. He stopped a few feet before them, allowing the man to finish his speech. The Black Knight softly shook his head and quietly chuckled through his nose. Just before he could speak, explosions rumbled throughout the building, and he knew exactly what that meant. “I’ve heard enough.” He said simply as he swung a vicious fist towards the defenseless thug’s face. Immediately after punching him, he would move the same hand to grip his collar and lift him into the air. “How many of you are there? What the hell are you planning?” He easily held him high above his head, shaking the thug as he interrogated him.

His eyes darted over to the janitor; he assumed the man could use a simple device. He chose to toss the medi-gel gun to him. “Help your friend. You saw me use it.” The Black Knight moved his vision back up to the thug, glaring fiercely into his eyes as he prepared another strike with his free hand. He intended to punch him again if he didn’t answer his questions.

Clayton listened to Snoot babbled about metahuman superiority; he didn’t say a word or even acknowledge the man while he walked to where he and Elaine were standing. Clay was going to shut him up soon if someone else didn’t.

The explosions that rung out rattled the building and made Clayton jump. He expected them but the thought of being killed in an explosion was still startling. It seemed that only the front half of the building was set to explode, “Why blow up half a building? Idiots.” He muttered under his breath.

Clayton couldn’t hide his smile when he watched the Black Knight lift Snoot into the air by his collar Black Knight was certainly an intimidating presence. The smaller man looked terrified, even if he tried to hide it. Clay caught the medi-gel gun that was tossed to him, he wasn’t quite sure how to use it, but how hard could it be? Point and shoot, right? “Yep, I’m practically an expert with this sort of thing” he responded to the knight. “It looks like you took quite a thrashing” he said to Elaine as he looked her over, “Where does it hurt most?” he asked. Where ever it was Clayton would start there with the medi-gel in that area using the same motion Black Knight used on his hand earlier and then move on to the rest of her injuries.

"Ow, be careful..." The healing gel began to move through her bullet ridden arm, bringing a soothing sensation as the wound closed. "Okay, I'm not sure how that things going to help my head, but that would be the next place." Blood transversed over to her hand from the brushing movement that she made over her head. A viscosity of viciousness she thought to herself.

Alice approached holding Elaine's pistols. Snoot's speech drew the attention of the smaller girl. While she peered over preoccupied with the rambling, Elaine reached out to grab the guns and holster them. "Don't listen to him." Elaine let her pigtails down and brushed her hair out. "I may need to take a bath with this stuff." She moved her neck to speak to Clayton, as she lay back in his arms. "You did good. We saved those people from the explosion. They would have died without us." Debris ridden air floated abrasively through the air, landing uninvited along the museum floor. "Don't let this asshole say any different."

Her body began to go limp with the aid of the medical treatment. It could last for days she thought herself. Air escaped from her lungs in a twitched fashion. A gasp and a muscle spasm shot from her. The medicine needed to take action soon.

Snoot didn't care if they ignored him, he really didn't. It didn't make his words any less true. The day of masked heroes are over as soon as the governments deem them no longer necessary. Then what? Be executed out of fear of the weak, fear of the future, fear of true power. But Snoot shut up as soon as the Black Knight was tired of listening. He didn't need to preach. The Black Knight blasted the defenseless man in the face and demanded an answer to a question. His head bobbed back and he scrunched his face, not liking being hit for no reason.

"Damn man! You could wait for me to not answer you first! Was just the four of us here, minus the chopper pilots. They're just mercs. Who ain't gettin' paid. You ain't heard bout this? The 'Clockwork'? It could power a whole city, and it requires no fuel. I think it's pretty obvious what we were planning to do. We were goin' to take it. But you all jacked that up, didn't you?"

Snoot wish he'd offer him a cigarette instead of punching him in the face. There were OTHER methods of interrogating. He did surrender, after all. If he'd known there would be no "good cop bad cop" routine, and just the "bad cop", maybe he would have kept fighting for his gun.

For the moment he mostly ignored his temporary allies, figuring they could take care of themselves; they seemed capable enough. That young woman had extraordinary potential, whatever she did to teleport the two of them earlier could prove extremely useful. This battle would have been far more difficult without her aid. They all seemed like good hearted people, but from what he’s seen she was the only one ready to work along side him. She risked her life for him and the people at this museum, they all did, and that was something he respected; it was rare to meet people like them. The other girl seemed far too young to get involved; he could not bring himself to ask a child to fight a war with him. Both her abilities and the janitor’s remained a mystery to him, but he assumed neither of them could simply be normal people. He would have a talk with all of them after dealing with this thug; he was interested in their capabilities, especially that janitor’s.

The Black Knight’s glowing white eyes glared up at the thug, coming to a squint after the thug’s second statement. He chose a more aggressive approach against crooks like him; it was always easier and more effective to break them than to befriend them. In a way it was also how he released some of his frustration; it wasn’t easy being a hero who kept to an oath. He wouldn’t release his tight grip and kept himself prepared to strike; he didn’t intend to hit him again but fear always aided in his interrogations.

He softly chuckled as the thug finished speaking, a smirk coming to his masked face. ”My pleasure. Of course I’ve heard of it, but it has far more uses than that. What exactly did you hope to accomplish with the Clockwork?” He demanded boldly in his deep calm voice. His grip tightened on the man’s collar tightened even further, shaking him in the air once again.”I suggest you talk if you’re planning to leave here with the rest of your teeth.”

Alice followed Clayton over, hoping that nobody would start shooting at them again, before handing Elaine the guns. She winced slightly as the interrogation started, while Snoot did partially deserve that, it didn't stop her for feeling the tiniest bit of sympathy for the man. She turned away so that she couldn't see if anything else happened, though she continued to listen to see if she could garner any information. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Clayton start to spray the strange gel all over Elaine, she easily guessed that it was for medical purposes, she really hoped that it'd help... Elaine needed it.

She nodded as Snoot talked about how powerful Clockwork was... she had searched it up on wikipedia and from what she could remember... he was correct. But there was one thing... what were they going to use it for? As it by magic, the Black Knight started on that line of questioning. She now had her whole attention to the interrogation scene, this was interesting.