14866/Adaptation Part 1

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Adaptation Part 1
Date of Scene: 29 March 2023
Location: Lexcorp Building, Metropolis.
Synopsis: Summary needed
Cast of Characters: Superman, Arana, Superboy
Tinyplot: Adaptation


Superman has posed:
Worlds that contain power, hold secrets. A world with metas, mutants, men of iron, vigilantes, wonders, and even aliens, holds so many secrets. This includes wonderfully dangerous materials, objects and even weapons. These items are often transported in ways the public cannot see, or may be hiding in plain sight with none being the wiser.

That's why an L-Haul moving truck drives through Metropolis in the early hours of the morning. In reality, it's not a moving truck. That's just the cover. The exterior of a heavily armored truck worthy of Fort Knox. Inside the vehicle are all sorts of goodies carefully itemized and stored. Most of them are weapons. Toward the back are three suits of armor.

Each look kind of like unpainted Iron Man armors, completely immobile, silver and lifeless. The only key difference is the face. Outside of indentations along the jaw, chin and forehead, the face (or face plate) is devoid of details. Visors waiting to light up once the power is on, presumably. The three silver suits of metal are secure in place, but they are not disassembled.

Maybe it's bad luck. Maybe it's fate. Maybe it's something worse at work. Whatever it is, nothing ever stays dormant for long.

The truck moves along its path. Potholes cause the truck's contents to jostle and gently sway with each one. A small clatter runs through the truck as some of weapons move just a little. Each bump causes the amor to move. Tiny tremors from the bumps. However, a finger begins to twitch.

Even as the roads become smooth, the finger continues to move. One finger leads to two moving, then the hole hand. In a matter of seconds, the armor jostles in its spot. "Unit four online," a lifeless voice declares. It sits still for a long time. In the silence, Unit Four seeks out so many things. Two of them are quite easy to find. They're sitting right next to Unit Four. A third comes from within. The unit sends a small unseen jolt to their counterparts.

Like the other unit before them, each lifeless form starts to slowly comes to life. "Unit Five online," "Unit Three online," the duo speak in a dull harmony.

"Father is offline," Unit Four informs them. "Begin secondary objectives."

Sadly, this would be the time anyone would notice the units are far from dormant, but it's too late. Dark green creep along the armor, as if consuming every bit of silver, for the trio. Unit Three is simply a new color. The other two continue to change.

Unit Four's figure softens, it gains noticeable curves of a feminine frame. Dark green locks extend downward stopping past their face. They gain eyes, lips, cheek bones and other human-like features. But the eyes are soulless, devoid of pupils and irises.

Unit Five's changes are strikingly different. That empty faceplate starts to fill. Some of the indentations on the forehead alter a little bit, the hard-edged lines smooth to a point, like a metallic window's peak over its forehead. Three horizontal indentations form on the face, as if they're trying to form slots for a wearer to breathe and see out of, but that wearer will never come.

On the center of the chest a large circle takes shape. Two smaller ones form above and to the right/left of the center. Forearms turn to metal looking gloves. Shins and formless feet become similar boots. Each look like a suit of armor in their respective places.

Then the changes become peculiarly. An oval shape forms at the forehead. A high collar begins to jet forward and curve outward. The collar flows and extends downward turning into a cape. Once the cape is done, Unit Five declares, in an emotionless tone, "Adaptation complete."
Superman has posed:
Five becomes incorporeal and floats to the center of the truck cabin before materializing. Both hands extend and energy shoots outward shredding the trailer to the L-Haul. The sudden change causes the vehicle to swerve and lose control. It collides into a street lamp head on. Metal bends and groans, glass shatters and all of it a cacophony of carnage that destroys the still silence of early morning. Seconds later a loud, "BOOM!" shatters that silence. Rising from the fire are Four and Three, each moving toward Five and looking unscathed by the ordeal.

We will find father," Four declares and the trio begin to move together. Each an individual, and a hivemind, simultaneously. "That building can accommodate us," and they start moving toward a very particular building. It's a massive structure in Metropolis. And thanks to the giant "L" atop of it, very hard to miss.

R Pushing forward are the three androids. They're working their way inside of the Lexcorp building with ease. Security guards rush the group. Five waits for a moment. A ripple runs through units Three and Four. "Adapted," Three declares.

Five looks like a mish-mash between two heroes. Coated completely in dark green, the unit floats looking like an earlier model of Iron Man with a high-collar cape in the same color as the costume. Extending his hands forward, Five starts to shoot down the guards with bolts of energy. The shots are without mercy. Every man and woman are killed.

Three and four grab the weapons of two fallen security guards.

Three goes right. Four goes left. And Five pushes straight, going incorporeal through any wall that gets in its way.

Whatever brings each hero out here, doesn't matter. It could be the police reports of an auto accident. Sounds of gunfire from the business distract of metropolis. Reports of three metal people terrorizing the street. An odd craving in the early morning hours when off duty. That is up to fate.

What will greet the heroes is the sight of several dead security guards. Also, the smell is quite unique. The smell of melted metal and plastics hang in the air. Like something microwaved these materials down.

A quick look at the guards not only confirms the worse, but if someone counts the firearms, at least two are missing. So, there's clearly an active shooter. And Lexcorp security do not use cheap weapons. It probably has some kind of kick.

In the distance the sound of gunfire goes off. It's coming from both the left, and the right. It's a little more prominent on the left. While too quiet for most, the sounds of security guards getting hurt do come from both directions. The left being more prominent.
Arana has posed:
Dead bodies are everywhere, and the sneaky girl steps over them best as she can. She is trying, so desperately trying, not to get herself killed. But she can't let others get murderated either! She can't. Can not. It's not happening.

Stepping in a bit of guard leaves her a bit squicked, but she's almost in sight of one of the assailants. She went left, which is ...so bad. So very bad, but she has her weapon in her hand, and she's set behind a corner, plastered against a wall.

Can do this, querida. Your pappi would be proud of you. I'm gonna die.

Her weapon, the spider-shaped grapple, casts out. It wraps around one of the robot's head, clicking over its eyes, and she yanks back hard! The cast was, as it should be, just about bang-on. "Noice!" she manages, but her breath is taken with hauling on the thing's head, one foot up on the wall-corner and ...

Crap, there's more than one of them. "Hi guys! No shooties, please?" She looks like a cross between Dora the Explorer and a spider-verse fan. Which is not far off.

So gonna die.
Superboy has posed:
Conner is all too familiar with Lexcorp, which might be an advantage in this case. That said, he also knows how intensive those security protocols are and if they're getting overwhelmed this badly, this quickly, whatever's on the attack here has to be the worst kind of trouble. Conner really hopes Superman gets here soon.

He zooms in from above, hands outstretched in front of him, a bullet in a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans swooping inwards.

As he comes in, he zooms just over her head, "Need a hand, chica?" he calls out as he drives his fists into another of the robots. "Any sign of who's in charge of these things? Or if they have a leader? Are they robos or cyborgs or robocyberborgs or what?"

He keeps tapping on his Titans alert button. He needs to get one of those for Superman. But if he's on world, he probably already knows and is on his way. Right. Totally. It's going to be fine.

"We got this!" he says, putting himself between Arana and a ranged attack, "Back off, Tin Man!"
Superman has posed:
Ana is omving with purposes as she can hear some of the noises coming from Four. The grappling hook wraps around her head and she start to pull back on the chord. The robot and a few wild shorts are done in her general direction.

Yes, there are more than one, but they begin moving in different directions toward a simialr goal. That goal? Unknown to the humans/metas/aliens at the moment.

When Conner arrives, Ana has a good hook around the machine's head/face, but her grip is starting to slip a little. Should could probably use some help. The good news is, whatever this is cannot currently see the targets.

The duo can see what looks to be a woman with dark green colored everything. From her hair, to the pupiless eyes, fingers, toes, etc. Maybe a good yank could slow this thing down.

There is a weapon in the machien's hand, but it can't get a good shot off judging by those wild shots from earlier.
Arana has posed:
Expecting her head to have 'sploded, Anya's eyes are squinched a bit shut when Conner shows up in front of the weapons fire that should have done her ticket. She opens them with a slight issue in her stomach that she wasn't aware would happen, and blinks. "Yah," she manages. Then nods, and quickly takes an actual look at the targets!

"Here, pull on this a sec," she manages as she stuffs her grapple-cord into Superboy's grip. All he has to do is give it a good-ol yank, and one robot will probably fall the heck down. Which is good for our team.

"Green female, I'll...give her a try." As she grabs another grapple from her backpack, and then grabs Superboy's hand. "Throw me?"

This is so not a good idea. "Trust me, I got this." She sounds like her voice does not believe her though.

Wonder why.
Superboy has posed:
Conner loops the cord around his wrist, doubling his grip down on it. He doesn't know where he knows to do that, any more than he knows how he knows how to read or how he knows who George Washington is. He certainly didn't go to school. Or have parents. Or a childhood.

Whatever.

He yanks hard, hopefully hard enough to yank said robot off its feet and fling it back behind him. As he swivels, he'll reach out to grasp at Arana and try to fling her in the designated direction.

"Hope you know how to land!" he says as he lets her fly.
Superman has posed:
Ana is mantaining a grip. Yes, the head doesn't explode. However, Ana's luck seems to be holding out. Even when she tries to give the chord to Conner, nothing bad happens. Luck, or skill, seem to be on her side tonight.

When Conner takes control, the yank down is easy. There's a loud "CLANG!" that rings out. And the Machine is down on the ground. Somthing odd can bth see. Four, as she calls herself, starts to blink. There's no audible pops, fuses breaking, sparks, etc. Nothing like that, but they're blinking like a person trying to remove an eyelash. Something that would distort a person's ability to see. Easy to surmise the machine could be blind or have difficulty looking.

Altthough, it can still hear and has an automatic weapon in their hand. Carbine nine milimeter. It takes off wild shots that at least one person may want to avoid.
Arana has posed:
Ana Corazon believes that would be her, the one with the t-shirt level armor and jeans that already have enough tears in them, thank-you-very-much. She feels something as she's thrown, which might not be the best time to feel things, but thankfully her balance is point-perfect. She lands on a robot's shoulders, then kicks off and uses her mass to overbalance the thing backwards, as well as she can!

And she rolls when she lands, hitting a section of drywall and leaving a her-shaped dent in it that hurt a lot but she'll deal with that later.

After she's done slumping down to the floor. Ouch.

"No powers," she reminds herself. "No armor. Get...up." And she's starting to do so, when she realizes that a robot is PROBABLY aiming at her.

Or Superboy has finished them off already.
Superboy has posed:
Conner sees the still-armed robot looming over Arana and takes to the air again, flying forward as fast as he can in an attempt to take out teh rest of the threat before the heroine gets zapped. He can take a little zapping. He's zap-proof. Probably.

"They've got to be after a specific target. Does anyone know if Lex is in the building?" he says. Maybe there's some hiding office worker who can tell him, who knows, weirder things have happened.

Hell, he knows people from Mars. And Olympus. Oh yeah, and Krypton, duh.

He lands and starts chugging into a run towards the building, grabbing Arana by the hand and dragging her behind. You're in this now, superhero.
Superman has posed:
The machine gun barks at Ana, but everything missing terribly. Between the wild shots from Four and what Conner starts to to do the gun is lost. It goes clattering on the ground.

Conner takes the robot up and brings it down. There'a crunching of metal, but the blinking motion stops. Then the eyes glow and it starts at Conner. The machine is down.

While Conner can't find anyone in this room, he will land in a spot near a bunch of computers. There's probably a means to get a good backdoor means of accessing the security cameras to see everything happening.

Knowing the system intimately Conner gets to the feed real fast. He can see both feeds. First, is another green robot, which looks a lot like Iron Man with a cape. It's moving through walls like a ghost. Switching to cameras he can surmise the goal. One of the bigger communication rooms seems to be en route. For some reason, they want to get a hold of Luthor's communication rely.

Conner can see the other feed and see another green robot, a third to exact, dealing with other heroes. He can even pull up plans to see each unit seems to be heading to that location.

And that's when both of them can hear it. A crushing sound as wood, plastic and bits of metal begin to break. Four, the one they've been battling, barrels forwrd moving with more strength than before. Something has upgraded as she arrived by running thorugh the wall and looking unphased, unlike before. Something happened with that glow. Yes, there is some damage to exploit around the head/neck. Something to dig into. It just might be a little harder now.
Arana has posed:
Ana Corazon gulps. She knows that this is way over her head, and she's just slowing Conner down. So she says, "I'll man the computers," to give him a way out. "See if I can't find anything useful to do." Maybe she can figure out where the robots are heading. Use her brain, not her pitiful brawn.

"You're Superboy. I'm nobody. Go on, dude." The smile is rich, encouraging, and so very fake. I'm supposed to be doing the hero stuff, damnit. Instead she sits down, hoping to get something else out of the computers.
Superboy has posed:
Conner shakes his head, "Funny thing is, it's the other way around. I'm nobody. And I'm Superboy." Sounds a little bleak, maybe. But it seems to focus him somehow.

"See if you can find a way to get word out to the Justice League, to the Titans, to anybody. Let them know we're in here. They'll probably want to at least drag us out safely before they spank me for dragging you into this," he says.

"Sorry. I just...didn't wanna go alone,' he admits.

Four, at least, he's familiar with. He's knocked that one down once. Means he can do it again. That may, in fact, be the exact opposite of true. But he's not supposed to do things anybody can do. He's Super.

That spot around the head and neck will become an immediate target for heat vision when it's noticed.
Superman has posed:
Red beams lance out from Superboy and they start to connect with the necck. The robot's eyes glow green and then green beams lance out creating a laser dual between the pair. Yes, the neck is one good hit away from crerating a decapitation. There's new seer marks on the neck that cause a series of sparks. Th smell of melted metal is in the air beofre the two energy sources clash.

Ana can see everything going on with the computers and in the room. She could keep going and find those exterior emergency communications going on.

Because they could bring about some answers. However, Superboy is right now doing a meta-powered version of dualing energy beams with this robot. The female robot keeps moving forward. Those beams continuing as the unit continues to move forward.

She's trying to move close to give Conner a smack and then blast him with energy. It's a matter of getting in striking distance, keeping the energy beams up and ignoring some system damage that has damaged vocal chords and similar.
Superboy has posed:
Conner may not want what he seems to want in the fight. He gives one last hard push, enough to gain just a few inches, and then breaks the stand-off by ducking sharply to the side and out of the way and then diving for Number Four. He can't worry about getting hurt in the contact, he just needs to make that contact. It's a sprawling grasp, a tackle. A takedown. A clench.

Whatever he can manage.

Because once he's in contact, he can unleash his non-Kryptonian gift: taxtile telekinesis. Through that simple ontacxt, he can disassemble even the most complex circuitry with a flicker of a thought, capable of causing, say, a highly advanced robot to break down and disassemble in a matter of a few seconds.

Theoretically. Of course. He's never done it before exactly. He's done microwaves. And a laptop once. That's kind of. Similar. I mean, he's just causing destruction. Once he psi-seeks the seams, he can pull apart whatever formation they're in. Probably.

He thinks.
Arana has posed:
Ana Corazon is working away at the computer, while trusting Conner to fight. He may have been better at this, but she's done computer work all of her life, and most of is was info-gathering. She actually does know what to look for.

They're looking for..."Communications?" she says, finding some patterns. She's got a few searches going, looking at what she can handle. "Superboy! Who do we love?" she asks, aloud. Slightly coded, so she can ask Conner. Who should I be trying to get help from first?

Why are they trying to get satellite access? "And don't vaporize me! I need my lungs to breathe with!"
Superman has posed:
Flick. What's holding the neck together starts to unravel like fabric unfraying. All of the circuitry coming undone causes the body to slump dwon like a sack of potatoes fill of pots and pans. All of it clattering with a loud "Clang!" "Bang!" "Clccckkllcc," and the head starts to roll forward, bouncing and roll. However, after the two are separated the form of the unit starts to change. It revotes back to the silvery body type it once held long before coming to the Lexcorp building. Now, the pair have time ot work on te computer.

They can figure out who to contact and how to contact those in the building. Both can presume these units know how to somehow power swap. Maybe even skill swap.
Arana has posed:
Wow. We won. He won, technically, she amends mentally. "Good job," Anya says as she keeps using the mouse to track information. "They're after satellite access. That's my best guess. Now somebody tell me why. Almost like it's not aimed at anything local though, the other group was trying to get into the longrange comms."

She's trying not to notice too much that Superboy is right over there. But it's hard. So hard. Gah, now I know why the guys say it.

"Got a line out. Madre de dios, yikes already." She leans in to the mike and says, "Lexcorp Tower location, someone with ears on respond? Emergency, this is so far over my head..." She stops it there, her dad wouldn't approve of her swearing to her first JLA or SHIELD interaction. But yes, she's seeing brown.

"Help?"