Chapter 07: [Demons of the East] - Part 2 – Day of the Dragon Part 2
"Shadow is a color as light is, but less brilliant; light and shadow are only the relation of two tones."
- Paul Cezanne
*DOOM*
Shanghai, East China, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
The Chinese Government has many plans for various disasters. They can handle natural disasters, especially Floods which are there most frequent disaster. They can handle invasions with a military budget equivalent to over two hundred fifty billion US dollars. Bureaucracy-controlled super-functionaries take care of supernatural and metahuman threats to China's power. Those government-sponsored heroes have taken on extraterrestrials disguised as gods, metahuman terrorists, a Korean-made robot army, and a small army of Rakshasa from India.
They were not prepared for six corrupted dragons (long) to attack there six largest mainland cities at the same time. The Dragons are the most powerful phantasmic creatures, second only the Divine in power, and their destructive power surpasses all supernatural threats that China has faced. Within hours, the over hundred million people of those cities are dead, dying, and facing death.
In Shanghai, the Golden Earth Dragon's earthquakes have reduced the over twenty thousand buildings into rubble. The dragon's power is so great it can make the Earth beneath it ripple like ocean water. It creates waves of stone and dirt that wash away the human buildings like horizonal landslides.
A sea of stone and mud has now become the grave for Chinese soldiers. They are buried deep beneath the Earth, crushed by the intense pressure.
Two members of the Great Ten arrived in Shanghai under orders of the Bureaucracy.
Fang Zhifu possesses an iron-hard carapace due to a combination of alien virus and advance medical technology. This unique physiology grants him superhuman strength and durability as Great Ten Leader – August General in Iron. Now his carapace is cracked open in dozens of places, spilling blood on the ground.
Next to him is the last of the Seven Deadly Brothers. Yang Kei-Ying was cursed with seven lifetimes' worth of martial skills, this also caused him to have seven different personalities. Now after three hundred years, all of the voices are silent. Yang was able to separate himself into seven bodies, but now all seven are dead with only one facing the sky.
The Golden Earth Dragon looks down at the August General and roars, releases a thunderous breath of pure Earth Qi. The power moves any earthen material it comes in contact with, shattering the solid matter, and turning it into projectiles. August General doesn't flinch, even when half is body is destroyed. The dragon looks at the dead man with respect before madness returns to its demon eyes.
*DOOM*
Beijing, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
The Red Flame Dragon releases a roar and its fiery qi flows across the city like a crimson mist. It flows down streets, around buildings, and into structures before the air ignites into a sea of flames. The corrupted dragon of fire has already turned the nine hundred high rise buildings into torches with insane speed. Sparks and ash fall from the sky as thick smoke poisons the air.
Soldiers were sent to protect or avenge Beijing. Soldiers armed with the latest armor and weapons. Soldiers in heavily armored mech suit that copy Lexcorp designs. Powered armors crafted from reverse-engineered extraterrestrial technology. Soldiers in walking tanks that could overcome any terrain and soldiers controlling heavily armed drones.
The Red Flame Dragon did not care about the money and resources needed to put shells around the frail creatures. The bullets failed to pierce its scales and the missiles that managed to reach their target, failed to cause the damage the soldiers prayed for.
Those military machines still fall before the King of Flames. The thick smoke of the burning city is sucked into the air-intact and the engines begin to fail. The heat of the flames pushes the cooling systems beyond their limits causing the electronics to fail. Soon the robotic suits and tanks become metal tombs for the soldiers who burn alive.
Yao Fei, known to the world as Accomplished Perfect Physician, possesses vocal sound manipulation. He can paralyze his foes, create force fields, heal, fly, and even trigger earthquakes with his voice. All he can do is sink to his knees in despair at the death and destruction. The former criminal rendered mute by the heat and smoke.
Shaolin Robot - the android super-functionary constructed from extraterrestrial technology – drives its metal fist into one of the demon eyes of Red Flame Dragon, releasing a energy beam as it pierces the orb. The dragon shrieks in pain, before whipping its long body and sending Shaolin Robot flying. As the robot tumbles across the ground, tearing through some of the burning structures, the raging dragon's remaining eye locks on. The burning glow of its remaining eye forms a trail in the air as it moves with inhuman speed and pounces on Shaolin Robot.
The Robot hits the ground hard enough to make a large crater and send a shockwave through the smoky air. The Robot can hear parts of its armor cave in. If the Robot has a HUD, it would be red, filled with damage reports. The temperature warning rings loud in Shaolin Robot's head. The enraged corrupted dragon releases its flame breathe, only this time it's a focused beam of purplish-blue flame. All of its power and hatred focused on Shaolin Robot's demise. The last thing the robot sees is droplets of metal armor floating in the blue light, before going black.
The dragon roars with rage and victory, it roars to the point it releases blood.
*DOOM*
Bohai Bay, near Tianjin, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
Xu Tao, known to the world as Celestial Archer, is barely alive. He's holding onto a piece of floating piece of debris. Blood is pouring down the side of his face as he floats in the intensely polluted body of water. Part of him wonders if he will float out in the Yellow Sea.
A howling wind blows creating white waves that batter Xu Tao. Intense rain like a monsoon pours down from the dark clouds. The Blue Ocean Dragon's rage born of madness has flooded all of Tianjin.
Xu Tao wonders if the Gods were correct in choosing him as their hero. He was just a man selling items to tourists, until he found the Celestial Bow of Yi and was given a divine mandate. Despite his humble origins he has always fought to protect the people, there values and their culture.
The Blue Ocean Dragon slaughtered the soldiers sent to protect Tianjin. It sank the naval ships with monstrous waves and created immense sinkholes by manipulating underground water. Many tanks and robots were swallowed by the sinkholes then flooded with ocean water.
Celestial Archer had another super-functionary with him. Not a member of the Great Ten, but a young meta with the ability to control ice. Northern Ice Guardian was young, patriotic, and trained by the government to be one of the best. The Government even believed he would one day lead China's second super-functionary team.
Northern Ice Guardian's ice powers barely slowed the Blue Ocean Dragon. Northern Ice Guardian was able to launch immense ice attacks with the insane amount of water in the environment. The Dragon's azure and turquoise scales were unaffected by ice. When the dragon fired water from its mouth it was also able to cut through Guardian's glacial walls. Finally, Archer was forced to watch as the Dragon manipulated the very blood in Guardian's body. The sadistic insane dragon twisted the man's body like a child's puppet, carelessly dislocated bones and causing internal injuries. Then causing Guardian's body to explode like a twisted water balloon.
He hears the sounds of shouting and is pulled onto a shipping container by survivors. He looks in the eyes of the people and sees fear and hope. He rises to his feet, the Celestial Bow of Yi glowing in his hand.
"This fight is not over."
*DOOM*
Shenzhen, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
Shenzhen has been consumed by plant life. Over two hundred eighty skyscrapers are now either towers of wood and plants or piles of rubble. Almost every surface of the city is covered in green vegetation and as the creations of man crumble, flora of nature flourishes. Over two thousand square kilometers (790 sq mi) turned into a dense verdant forest. Over seventeen and half million people either transformed into plants or forever exiled from there city.
The Ghost Fox Killer was sent by the Bureaucracy to investigate, but it was pointless. The Huli jing (fox spirits) know the difference in power between a man and a god. Dragons are so powerful they can absorb the life energy of fox spirits with a mere breathe. Ghost Fox Killer couldn't sacrifice her life for nothing, especially since her people depend on her to sustain their phantom world. She harvested the evil souls she could sense in Shenzhen and vanished.
Socialist Red Guardsman Gu Lao on the other hand is willing to fight. He possesses the most radioactive body in the world and powerful powered exoskeletal-armor, both protecting him from the metamorphic golden powder. He unleashes immense blasts of radiation that burn through all plants they encounter. The intense radiation destroying the plant cells on a molecular level.
As Flowering Wood Dragon descends on its majestic wings, Socialist Red Guardsman channels all of his power into a truly brilliant blast of radiation. It's essentially a gamma ray laser of immense strength incinerating all its path. Gu Lao succeeds in burning off one of the wings, but the screaming dragon wraps around him. The dragon's coils crush the armored shell housing Gu Lao. Gu Lao lets out a roar of defiance before his suit implodes and crushes him.
The Flowering Wood Dragon rises into the air using it's Earth magic, flight unharmed by the loss of its wing. It moves its coiled body and whips its entire body, sending the remains of Gu Lao flying far from its garden. Then it moves South towards Hong Kong to expand its garden.
The insanely radioactive corpse lands in the South China Sea.
*DOOM*
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
Zou Kang, the alter ego of Thundermind of Great Ten lies severely injured on the ground surrounded by burning buildings. If he could say the words "Om me padme hum" ("All hail the jewel in the lotus"), he would transform into the superhuman form of Thundermind. A "Bodhisattva" possessing superhuman speed, flight, invulnerability, psychokinesis, telepathy, size changing, invisibility, and even copying himself. The Chinese Shazam struggles to rise and speak the words despite his injuries.
When he arrived, he was in his Thunderhead form, but while fighting the Black Lightning Dragon he was reverted back into his nebbish teacher form. He was still high in the air, but the Black Lightning Dragon tai whipped his human form into the ground. He heard his spine snap as he hit the dirt and passed out from the pain. Now awake, he struggles to say the words despite his severe injuries. Injuries that will soon end his life.
In the dark stormy skies, the Immortal Man of Darkness flies his Jet Dragonwing.
Few people outside of China know the truth of Immortal and Dragonwing. The Dragonwing is an extraterrestrial scout ship that only barely resembles an Earth fighter jet. With dedicated scientists they were able to bond the ship to a human pilot, granting the pilot superhuman abilities when linked. The cost was visible aging of the pilot and in some cases the Dragonwing liquifying it's pilot.
The current Immortal Man in Darkness can feel his body breaking down under the strain. He's pushing Dragonwing to its limit to fight the Black Lightning Dragon. The plane moves and maneuvers at hypersonic speeds. The G forces would kill a normal pilot a hundred times over, but not the Immortal with his parasitic suit. He made the modified alien scout ship fire energy beams strong enough to hurt the Black Lightning Dragon, even Tho he knew every shot was taking years from his life. He pushed the link further and further to save China.
The Black Lightning Dragon is in a league of his own. The dragon of flesh can transform into a dragon composed of lightning, arcing across the sky at Mach 350 compared to Dragonwing's mere Mach 25. What worse is every time it does the transformation, its wounds are partially healed.
Finally, the Dragonwing takes a hit and crashes in the middle of burning Guangzhou. The Black Lightning Dragon lands on its prey and lets out a screech. Lightning crawls across its black scaled body, arcing between its spikes. The field of electrical power, glowing like St. Elmo's Fire collects in front of the Dragon's face. Then a purple beam erupts from a place in from of the dragon's roaring mouth.
Scientists would be pulling their hair out watching this event. An Ancient Chinese Dragon of Lightning just fired a highly accelerated, particle-charge plasma beam. The beam is hotter than lightning, which already five times the temperature of the sun. The plasma beam burns through the alien and advance alloys of the ship, destroying every circuit and biotech component in its path.
The Immortal Man of Darkness doesn't react as his body is already dying, dissolving inside the parasitic flight suit. He said a silent prayer, hoping someone will avenge China, before his world went dark. He was already gone when the purple plasma beam pierces the cockpit and incinerated his body.
Half a minute later Dragonwing joins its self-sacrificing pilots in the afterlife as the alien scout ship violently explodes.
*DOOM*
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
The panicking arrogant Bureaucracy of Chinese Government made many mistakes. The last one was sending the One Thousand Champions.
Wu Mei-Xin was a theoretical physicist who believed she was rendered sterile by radiation. She was abandoned by her husband, but she learned she possessed a bizarre ability. She is able to conceive and gestate children at superhuman speeds, and can give birth up to twenty-five identical super-soldiers in three days. She became Great Ten's Mother of Champions.
The government having come in possession of bio-suspension technology decided to bank some of her Children for emergencies. Her children normally only live a single week, but the facility was able to store one thousand "champions" in suspension. A project that took two years in order to hide their activities from other nations.
While each of super soldiers born of Wu Mei-Xin possess superhuman strength and durability, they were against the White Ice Dragon. They were equipped with protective armor and advance weapons that only someone with their strength could carry. Even armed with the best armor and tech available to them they were outmatched.
The Mother of Champions inside the Great Ten Headquarters learned the One Thousand were dead. She has experienced the death of her children many times over, but the loss of forty times the normal amount brought her to tears.
In Chengdu, White Ice Dragon merely stares down at the collection of broken ice statues.
*DOOM*
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, D.C.
November 8, 2011
President Barrack Obama sits in the Oval Office. He's currently watching reports on a large computer screen. The screen shows the ever-increasing destruction of Chinese cities. He has a lot of ministers and political advisors in the office with him watching the unfolding events.
"So, what do you suggest we do?"
"We could call a special meeting of the UN and authorize the Justice League to begin rescue operations."
"The Chinese government is refusing aid even with the crisis. Damn Communists think more about appearance than their people. I say we wait until the government is dead."
"If we wait that long, most of China could be dead. One of them is already invading Hong Kong. What will happen if those Dragons go to Japan or South Korea."
"Do we know if these creatures can breed? This could be an ecological disaster."
"It's already a disaster and I'm not talking about the pollution caused by the destruction."
"There military losses are significant and most of the Great Ten and there metahuman assets are dead. If we invaded to help them, the odds of war are low."
"There are still submarines, unless Lán shuǐlóng decided to wreck them."
"Lan Shulong?"
"Blue Water Dragon. The one that turned Tianjin into Atlantean real state."
"You know Atlantean Land Reclamation Act is still under review."
"I thought Halloween was going be this year's biggest mess." says President Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II got to experience the Halloween Event because Klarion thought it would be cute to put one of the magic circles on the White House roof.
Barack Obama gained the memories of Kalel, also known as Calvin Ellis and the Superman of Earth-23. A Black Superman that became President of the United States. He enjoyed gaining Boxing and Guitar skills. As far as powers go. he doesn't even have half-Kryptonian powers, but he can now absorb solar energy for minor improvements. Enhanced immunity, enhanced stamina, and longevity.
"Mr. President, I'll be taking care of this problem, if you don't mind."
Everyone whirling around to the darkest "corner" of the Oval Office to see the vigilante/hero Rorschach striding toward Obama himself, one overzealous Secret Service agent rushed him, aiming to tackle him around the waist. At the moment of contact however, the man flew straight through Rorschach's body, revealing it to have been nothing more than an ultra-realistic hologram, the Secret Service agent plowing into the far wall with a loud *SMACK!*
"Thus, the exact reason I didn't arrive in-person," Rorschach said as he strode forward unimpeded, bodily phasing through the furniture and nearby staff.
"Rorschach, I guess you're here about China?" the President asked, having established a repour with the masked man after his life, and America, had been saved.
"That is correct."
"And how do you intend to remedy the situation?" he questioned.
"Obviously, this isn't something I can do alone. My corporate sponsors at Cognito Inc., in preparation for an eventual Communist invasion, had prepared a number of large-scale bipedal weapons platforms."
"Bipedal weapons platforms'... You mean giant robots?" Obama questioned incredulously.
"In as many words. However, for obvious reasons, Cognito Inc. is hesitant to move forward with any punitive action regarding the current crisis on China unless certain... concessions are made."
"You need us to spin-doctor this," Obama hummed, knowing where this was going.
"Correct. Under normal circumstances, giant robots armed with bombs and lasers are the purview of the stereotypical super-villain, so you can understand why this issue needs to be handled... delicately."
"I'm curious. How did Cognito Inc. come to be your corporate sponsor?"
The government may've been filled with greedy idiots and self-righteous hypocrites in varying positions, but there were also those smart-enough to see obvious trends in the superhero community. It took a great deal of money and resources to be a superhero if you didn't have a superpower; doubly-so for a resource-intensive caped crusader like Batman. Between the custom-made vehicles, hand-tooled weapons, storage, upkeep, and so-on, it made sense that someone like Batman was either super-rich, or sponsored by someone who was super-rich. Combine the analytics of it with the fact that Batman turned up abnormally fast around Wayne Enterprises corporate assets, and it wasn't hard to believe that Batman was unofficially sponsored by Bruce Wayne.
The big difference between Batman and Rorschach however, was that while Batman refused to kill, Rorschach while still being corporate, was also a deputized member of the President's Secret Service. The Justice League answered to the United Nations, but thus-far, Rorschach was the only one who answered directly to the leadership of a single country.
"The 'how' is less important than the 'why'."
Instead of explaining further, he let the statement hang in the air for them to marinate in.
"So, in addition to food-related products and medicine, Cognito Inc. has prepared for giant monster attacks?" one of the President's advisors questioned. "Just how smart are the R&D guys at Cognito Inc.?"
"'Is', singular. Cognito Inc.'s innovations are all the result of oneman, a super-genius of unparalleled caliber," Rorschach answered. "It is not an understatement when I say that Cognito's super-genius is potentially the smartest man in the world, if not-already the smartest in an entire galaxy. Lex Luthor may be a genius in his own right, but Cognito's super-genius can invent, transform, create and destroy for a living, and when he doesn't like something about the world, he can change it at will. It's only recently that he's been able to finalize the infrastructure necessary to begin changing this planet as he pleases without pushback from those that profit from the world staying the same. Compared to Lex Luthor who can design flying robots capable of carving perfectly-formed stairs by reading Shakespeare at ultrasonic frequencies with nothing but the tools one would find in an ordinary prison workshop-"
"Luthor is that smart?!" a nearby General asked incredulously.
"Lex Luthor, Anthony Ivo, Ted Kord, William Magnus, Ray Palmer, Batman, the Brain, all of them may be in a league of their own, but the founder of Cognito Inc. is so far above them he may as well be smarter than all of them put together to the tenth power. But of course, I've gone off on enough of a tangent in justifying why or rather how Cognito Inc. was able to manufacture and possess war machines capable of remedying the present crisis. Because make no mistake, if these dragons aren't stopped soon, by the time the United Nations are done co-chairing the committee to review the recommendation to revise the color of the book they use to dictate those regulations from, there won't be anything left of the greater Asia or eastern Europe."
" . . . So, you and Cognito Inc. can really do this? They can save us?" Obama asked, knowing if they waited for China and/or Russia to be destroyed before eastern Europe was smart-enough to finally request aid, the situation could become intendable.
"At present we can achieve infinitely greater results than China's nonexistent resistance. Even if we were to act immediately, it's already estimated that half of the Great Ten is already dead, if not completely defected from the floundering communist nation."
" . . . Alright. You have mine, and America's blessing. Do what needs doing, and my administration will stand behind you and Cognito Inc., 100%."
"That's all I needed to hear," Rorschach's hologram replied with a tip of his hat, the hologram derezzing a moment later.
*DOOM*
The Ink Well
[Classified Location]
Rorschach, having turned off the Hologram Field Projector hotlined directly into the Oval Office, if not most of the White House, the man formerly known as "Neo" in another world turned to his Quest Log.
[Save China]
The Mother of Champions prays for someone to save her dying nation.
[Objective]
Kill 6 Corrupted Chinese Dragons.
[Status]
Accept/Deny
[Bonus Objective]
? ? ?
[Rewards]
Title: [World's Smartest Man]
? ? ?
"That's a lot more question marks than I'm usually comfortable with," Rorschach hummed as he hit Accept, already feeling the metaphysical weight of his obligation upon him.
Hurrying himself through the depths of the "Ink Well", Rorschach entered a control room overlooking his chosen automata in a large industrial warehouse below. Colossal titans of steel and circuitry, each one thrumming with power rarely seen even in a world like this, he walked over to a control panel bristling with red-lit bulbs, slowly changing to green.
"Honestly, I thought the Reach would be the first time I'd have to mobilize my forces like this..." Neo said as the final System Checks were finalizing. "Then again, with how much Ash and I have been 'Butterfly Effecting' this world, a deviation of this level was to be expected," he said as the last of the red lights on his control panel changed to green. "Alright then..." he said rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck. "Let's LIGHT this candle!" he said slamming a red button through its protective glass casing with his fist, superfluous alarm klaxons sounding through the warehouse as the automata stood straighter, visors and chest reactors thrumming with life.
*DOOM*
Beijing, East China, China
The massive beasts of legend laying waste to China, those that were unable to flee cowered amid the debris, some dead, some dying, some hoping for a miracle.
Suddenly, the sounds of destruction and chaos across China's destroyed cities were overwhelmed by... an orchestra? A theme song of epic proportions beginning with the violin, followed by the cello and the bass, accompanied by trombone, bassoon, bass clarinet, tuba, tambourine, and various horns. The flute, oboe, and clarinet joining in soon after as the music reached a crescent, for those aware of the exploits of Heroes in other universes, the sounds that washed across the ruined portions of China were undoubtedly, the Avengers Assemble theme in glorious sound and potency spread with what would normally be considered "sonic weaponry".
The next moment, enormous plumes of sparks began to spray out of mid-air in a perimeter around the dragons. Those plumes of sparks whirling around in a circle, large gateways bridging space and time suddenly opened up, and from those portals like bombs dropped from bay doors, massive robots that touched down with bent knee, the ground shaking upon their arrival. With circular reactors inside their chests and eye slats lit a bright crimson, standing at more than twelve meters tall, 40 feet in height, were humanoid, heavily-armored bipedal war machines looking like something from the 1950s, but with Cognito Inc's logo on the shoulders, containers of nuke-like weapons in a drop-down rack situated upon their backs. Retro-futuristic in design with black war paint upon their helmed faces in Rorschach-like patterns, four units per destroyed city totaling in 24 strode slowly forward. The strides soon breaking out into thunderous footfalls of a full charge, their power cores roared like jet engines and, as one, they began to speak in authoritative booming voices immediately catching the dragons' attentions.
"ARC REACTORS, RE-INITIALIZED. LIBERTY PRIME, FULL SYSTEM ANALYSIS: ALL SYSTEMS, NOMINAL. WEAPONS: HOT. MISSION: THE DESTRUCTION, OF ANY AND ALL CHINESE DRAGONS. PATRIOTISM SUB-ROUTINES: ENGAGED!"
Whether by fate or chance, the dragons roared out simultaneously as the new aggressors bum rushed them, some wielding the nearby debris as weapons, others grabbing the nuke-like weapons off their backs and readying to lob them like American footballs.
*DOOM*
Shanghai, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"DEMOCRACY, IS NON-NEGOTIABLE!"
The Liberty Primes, originally war machines from the retro-futuristic world of the Fallout universe, were originally created to liberate Anchorage, Alaska from Red Chinese occupation, that world's home of "the last drops of oil" needed to feed a world rife by the throes of capitalism. Though they were not completed in time, various units were completed in the post-apocalyptic world, usually by the Brotherhood of Steel. Rorschach, with his "Intelligence Build" and the Crafting Perks that came with it, was able to make various upgrades including but not limited to Tony Stark-style Arc Reactors for power, and hover jets for terrain traversal.
The Golden Earth Dragon letting out a wave of earth and stone, the four Liberty Primes leapt higher than anything their size had any right to, before unleashing powerful non-Newtonian Uni-Beam blasts from their chest reactors. The compressed muon particle beams striking the Golden Earth Dragon with insane amounts of pure kinetic force, the dragon was knocked from its "throne" and sent tumbling across the ground, the earth rumbling like a small quake.
"NO CIVILIANS IN TARGET RANGE. CHINESE ENEMY, WITHIN RANGE."
The Golden Earth Dragon roaring in challenge at the mortal machines that dared to strike at it, unleashed a golden breath attack. The Liberty Primes, actuated by magnetic technology instead of their original design's hydraulics, were able to avoid the Earth Qi attack with incredible agility despite their hulking frames.
"CHINESE FIREWORKS ARE NO MATCH FOR THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE!"
While the Liberty Prime units designated as 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4 held the Golden Earth Dragon down with powerful Repulsor blasts from dilated nodes on their palms, Unit 1-1 palmed one of the vaguely nuke-shaped weapons from the drop-down rack on its back, and reared its arm back like it were throwing a football. Later analysis of this soon-to-be iconic image would reveal the words Cognito Inc. N² Mrk-30 Bomb.
The teardrop-shaped armament sent screaming through the air as it flew in a beautiful arc into the Golden Earth Dragon's exposed flank, the bomb detonated in a brilliant flash that was practically blinding, a sphere of golden-white fire consuming the corrupted dragon. The intense light and thermal radiation incinerating almost everything around the blast site, the cluster of air blasts to follow finished off any remaining structure.
In America, as they and the entire world watched from their various camera feeds, politicians began to panic left and right about the deployment of nuclear armaments on foreign soil. Scientists with access to orbital spy satellites would later dissuade their worries by saying there were no radioactive particles or fallout. Instead, the non-nuclear armaments used were closer in design to the GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast, aka the MOAB colloquially known as the "Mother of All Bombs"; the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the United States' arsenal. Cognito Inc.'s version of this same weapon however, easily eclipsed the 11-ton TNT yield of the next leading technology.
A golden beam suddenly shooting from the smoke and striking one of the Liberty Primes, completely piercing it through, the mutilated Golden Earth Dragon let out a roar even as it wailed its death throes. The Liberty Prime, dropping to the ground, instead of falling angrily pounded a fist and visibly forced itself to its feet with a guttural roar from its vocal actuators, even as the enormous gaping hole in its chest belched sparks and dribbled melted armor components.
"CHINA WANTS TO CONTINUE THE FIGHT. AMERICA, WILL FINISH THIS FIGHT!"
The other Liberty Primes' arms already drawn back as their perforated comrade fired a powerful optic blast in the Golden Earth Dragon's face, moments later the Chinese menace was bombarded on all sides by powerful non-nuclear blasts, the aftershocks of which could be felt as far out as Russia. Shanghai and other places similarly waylaid, lit up like Christmas lights from space, showing that it wasn't just one dragon being blown to bits at this same moment.
*DOOM*
Beijing, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"ENGAGING RED CHINESE AGGRESSOR!"
The Red Flame Dragon unleashing its fire breath on the four metal attackers, to its horror, the Liberty Primes weren't even slowed as their adaptive armor plating reconfigured itself for the task at hand. In addition, the Liberty Prime's cooling systems, normally meant for use in a nuclear wasteland, allowed them to power through the supernatural flames. One Liberty Prime, after getting close enough, cocked back its fist, as a luminous blue forcefield manifested around it. The Liberty Prime lashing out with a brutal right corkscrew, flung the Flame Dragon's head aside, blood and broken fangs sent flying out of the creature's mouth. The Red Flame Dragon, concussed by the force of the blow, was incapable of defending itself as Liberty Prime 2-1 suddenly shifted into a boxing position, its movements like that of the legendary Muhammed Ali as it turned the once-majestic creature into nothing more than a punching bag with a pulse.
The Red Flame Dragon composing itself and attempting to soar into the sky, two of the Liberty Primes deployed clamps from their feet and anchored themselves while grabbing its tail. The dragon attempting to whip them off, a third Liberty Prime joined its brothers, their chest reactors glowing before massive electrical currents exploded from them, shooting up the dragon's tail and into its body.
"AMERICA!" the Liberty Primes bellowed as the massive 120-foot-long dragon was ripped from the air and smashed into the ground. The 40-foot-tall robots, displaying disproportionate amounts of strength, proceeded to alternate between cracking the serpentine dragon like a whip and tossing it over their sum shoulders into the ground again. Soon the dragon was embedded into the ground, mewling pitiably as it tried to recover.
That time would never come however, as a number of gateways like those that'd heralded the Liberty Primes' arrival opened up above the battlefield, dropping large spear-like shafts into the ground that were perfectly-sized for the Liberty Primes. Though resembling the Tungsten shafts hypothetically meant for kinetic bombardment from orbit, these "Anti-Dragon" weapons were actually equipped with High-Frequency technology equipped with countless nanoscopic thorns, capable of breaking apart scales harder than Tungsten at the molecular level.
Dragon blood soon spattered the battlefield as it was impaled "like a fucking kabob".
*DOOM*
Tianjin, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"AQUATIC TRANSIT PROTOCOL: ACTIVATED!"
The Blue Ocean Dragon screeching in pain and rage as four harpoons pieced its body, though it was over four hundred feet in length, dwarfing its other siblings, it was caught like a fish on a hook. The High-Frequency Nano-Thorn Spears unleashing hooks and barbs that bit into bone and organs, more portals opened unleashing magnetic cables that latched onto the harpoons before the dragon was drawn in toward the mainland.
The Blue Ocean Dragon using its authority over water to manipulate the ocean around it, with its flailing it created massive waves, intensifying the torrential storm around it. Massive tentacles of sea water whipping at the Liberty Primes and managing to toss the robotic heroes into the air, it was soon blinded by flash bombs, its control over water weakened, allowing the Liberty Primes to regain their footing, taking hold of the magnetic cables and lending their own efforts.
"PROBABILITY OF MISSION HINDRANCE: ZERO PERCENT!"
The four Liberty Primes firing off their Repulsor Jets at full power, the sides of their backpacks opened to reveal booster rockets, the Blue Ocean Dragon yanked out of the water and onto the mainland, where it was rendered helpless to the follow-up bombardment of non-nuclear weapons.
*DOOM*
Hong Kong, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"LET FREEDOM RING!"
The Flowering Wood Dragon screeching as the four Liberty Primes leveled against it unleashed plasma flamethrowers, the spray of napalm-like energy stuck to its scales, the only way to remove it being to scrape itself across the trees. The golden powder unleashed did nothing to the Liberty Primes as their Reactive Armor adapted to the threat, sap and plant matter failing to take hold.
The Flowering Wood Dragon attempting to coil around the machines to crush them, as one the Liberty Primes unleashed full-body forcefields that combined with one another like soap bubbles, throwing the dragon to the side. Not only were its attacks being repelled, but it itself was beginning to grow sickly and weak from the tailored biological weapons being unleashed by the four war machines.
The Dragon of the Green unleashing its waning strength to make massive tree roots burst from the ground to entangle the robots as soon as their shields were down. Battle algorithms whirling, glowing sword blades extended from their forearms and sliced through the thick wood like a hot knife through butter, plasma flamethrowers doing the rest.
"THE FLOWER OF LIBERTY WILL BLOOM FROM THE ASHES OF COMMUNISM!"
*DOOM*
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"COMMUNISM IS A TEMPORARY SETBACK, ON THE ROAD TO FREEDOM!"
The Black Lightning Dragon sending down torrents of lightning upon the machines that dared to face it, the Team 5 Liberty Primes' forcefields redirected the bolts down into the earth, the dense electromagnetic barrier itself countering the dragon's plasma-based breath attack.
The Black Lightning Dragon raging at the creations of mortal man daring to stand against their power, it channeled its energy and unleashed the same purple beam it used to destroy the Immortal Man in Darkness' Dragonwing. The shields glowing brightly to the point of saturation, a shift in their polarity caused it to be deflected, the Liberty Primes bouncing the beams off of one another like mirrors until the attack was turned against its own master's exposed flank. No animalistic roar sounded as the attack pieced its own body, only a look of shock upon its face.
The dragon composing itself, its eyes then glowed before it transformed into its lightning form, shooting at one of the Liberty Primes faster than it could react. The dragon phasing through the forcefield and striking with a thunderous explosion, it carried the burning Liberty Prime into the air before burning through and blasting out of the other side, shooting into the dark sky and scattering machine parts like fireworks.
"AERIAL INCURSION... BY COMMUNIST FORCES... CANNOT SUCCEED!" 5-3's voice box belted out before it went silent.
Molten metal falling to the ground, the other Liberty Primes shot off after their target, firing air-burst bombs with pinpoint accuracy.
"LIBERTY NEVER DIES!"
The downed Liberty Prime's eye suddenly glowing fiercely, a final beam shot into the Black Lightning Dragon's eye and blinded it, allowing its brethren to succeeded where it failed before individual portals opened up above its largest components and pulled the metal warrior to safety, any pieces left behind destroyed by Detonite charges.
The remaining Liberty Primes, after depleting their air-burst bombs, then proceeded to unleash massive clouds of silver-gray powder. The Black Lightning Dragon recovering from its blindness and firing lightning bolts in all directions, beheld its power weakened by the silica powder scattered in the air around it.
*DOOM*
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"HONORING THE FALLEN, IS THE DUTY OF EVERY RED-BLOODED AMERICAN."
Liberty Prime Tean Six fighting the White Ice Dragon in the frozen wasteland that was once the great city of Chengdu, though the howling winds unleashed withering blizzards which would turn ordinary men to ice, the Liberty Primes' bodies were enveloped in bright red forcefields that filled the air with steam as they plowed their way through. The White Ice Dragon unleashing directed blasts of sheer cold at the mechanical men intruding upon its new domain, from their eyes they unleashed powerful optic blasts to counteract the ice beam. The White Ice Dragon, majestic and brilliant before its corruption, had instead fallen to the throes of insanity as it continued to fight a battle it couldn't win.
"ONLY TOGETHER CAN WE STOP THE SPREAD OF COMMUNISM!"
The air screaming as the Liberty Primes unleashed directed sonic weapons, ice shattered and rippling shockwaves struck the White Ice Dragon. The creature crying out in pain as blood dripped from its ox ears, the continued barrage soon caused blood to fall from its nose, eyes, and mouth as the directed shockwaves intensified.
The White Ice Dragon's eyes clearing of madness for a brief moment, unleashed its most-powerful breath attack, a bitch-black beam surrounded by spiraling ice crystals. The Liberty Primes scattered to dodge, but one was too slow. The sensors in its arm able to indicate that its temperature dropped to near absolute zero before completely failing, the slightest amount of motion made the arm shatter at a molecular level.
The dragon however was given no chance to enjoy its small victory. Not only did the madness once again claim it, but the remaining Liberty Primes leapt at it with freshly-manufactured Nano-Thorn spears.
*DOOM*
Doomsday Bunker
November 8, 2011
1st Person POV
"I HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL AMERICANS ARE CREATED EQUAL, AND ARE ENDOWED WITH CERTAIN UNALIENABLE RIGHTS!"
I watch the Liberty Primes fighting the city-destroying Chinese Dragons, Neo having unleashed flying surveillance drones that resembled floating mechanical eyeballs to record the whole thing. Each one was the size of a baseball, but tough enough with withstand a nuclear blast; I think he said the process that went into making them made them more-durable the smaller they were...
And it wasn't just Neo's own footage spreading across the world. Survivors, government surveillance drones, and spy satellites pooled their resources together to show the greatest news story of 2011, the world praying for a swift victory.
I'll admit, the choice to use the Liberty Primes from the Fallout universe was fitting, given this whole mess was happening in China. Though four of the Corrupt Dragons were swiftly losing their battles, when the Great Ten were incapable of so much as scratching them, the Golden Earth and Black Lightning Dragons were in leagues of their own, Liberty Prime Teams 1 and 5 losing badly.
And yet, with the Avengers Assemble theme on loop, I can't help but feel that everything will work out...
"Hey, Ash. I need a favor."
Nigh-indestructible incarnation of the apocalypse or not, I still got jump-scared at the sudden sound of Neo's voice. Whirling around to see Rorschach standing behind me from a closing portal, it was very much like Rick. Konami next to me was visibly spooked, and I guessed that Neo had psionically shielded himself, otherwise she would've been able to detect him.
"Neo, aren't you kind of in the middle of something?" I ask gesturing at one of the feeds.
"New battlefield analysis necessitated a tactical change. I need you to drink this."
Lobbing a silver-gray thermos with blinking lights at me, I opened the lid and was met with the familiar metallic scent of blood. I raise an eyebrow, but I swallow the contents without second guessing; not only did Raven and I have to drink a lot of strange fluids while in hell, but I trust Neo more than anyone else. While I didn't need to drink per-se, I'd gotten used to taste-testing anything Raven might have to quench her thirst with, to make sure it wasn't poisonous, corrosive, flesh-melting, or just filled with evil souls.
"Long story short, those spears have been draining the blood of their targets. I need you to make some 'secret sauce' for the occasion."
The blood was hot and charged with insane amounts of energy. I guessed the Dragons' blood was filled with massive amounts of Qi and/or magic and/or "dragon power". It seemed mildly toxic, but nothing I couldn't handle. Hydra venom was way worse, feeling like hot sauce while this was closer to a hot tea too-hot to serve.
Knowing what he meant by 'secret sauce', I formed a bone spike injector and pumped out a new poison filled with anti-dragon antibodies. The black liquid soon filling the container, I close the lid before tossing it back.
"One container of 'Dragon's Bane', ready to go."
"Thanks. Hope you enjoy the show."
Rorschach whipping out what looked like a barcode scanner with an embedded container of Portal Fluid, I note that the color is different form the standard Transfinite Curve Liquid Green or Evil Morty's Liquid Gold. The portal was actually white and black never melding into gray, the same monochrome as his mask. Huh. Never knew the portal tech color was customizable.
I'm sure the Justice League and the Team are debating going to China and helping the Chinese people, regardless of whatever the UN or China itself has to say about the matter. I on the other hand, am completely confident in Rorschach's nearing Rick-level Intelligence Build, and that he'll slaughter the Dragons. He didn't need me to help him with this, probably, but there was no kill quite like overkill.
At the moment, I'm more concerned with the two people that just entered the Bunker, Raven and Blackfire shooting me predatory smiles and completely ignoring the price of tea in China.
*DOOM*
Shanghai, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"MISSION PROCEEDING AS PLANNED."
The Golden Earth Dragon however, didn't care about the words of the metal man held firmly in its jaws. After enduring many blows, the Liberty Prime's arc reactors had burnt out, its ammunition depleted, and jaws strong enough to crush diamond mere moments away from tearing 1-4 in half, the others destroyed and returned to parts unknown.
"THE HEART OF COMMUNISM DIES. THE HEART OF VALOR IS ETERNAL."
Somewhere behind its visor, even as razor-sharp crystal teeth pierced its body and systems began to fail, the Liberty Prime had an unerring faith in its creator as the words [Incoming Upgrade] were transmitted.
*DOOM*
Beijing, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"AMERICA WILL NEVER FALL TO COMMUNIST INVASION."
The Red Flame Dragon roaring in pain as the Liberty Primes of Team 2 received more-specialized weapons, supercooled gas in its liquid state was injected at high pressure into its body through the Nano-Thorn spears impaling its phantasmal flesh.
At first the burning hot flesh and blood of the dragon vaporized the gas, but that gas soon rapidly expanded within its body, creating an immense pressure. The pressure causing parts of the Red Flame Dragon's body to rupture like over-ripe fruit, blood and superheated gasses soon erupted like geysers. As the injected gasses cooled the supernatural flesh, extinguishing its fire and life functions, the Liberty Primes then ripped the now-barbed spears away in opposing directions, tearing the once insanely-powerful dragon into pieces.
"DEATH IS A PREFFERABLE ALTERNATIVE, TO COMMUNISM!"
*DOOM*
Tianjin, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"DEFENDING LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!"
Liberty Prime Team 3 having pulled the massive serpentine dragon from the ocean, went on to use their N² Mrk-30 Bombs to dry out the overgrown eel with non-nuclear fire. In addition, new chemical weapons originally designed for a Justice Lord-style Aquaman stuck to the dragon's body, preventing any fresh water from touching it, even as it willed the waves to sweep across the land and smother it. One of the Nano-Thorn spears lanced through its lung, draining them of vital moisture.
If the opponent was a normal creature, the chemical weapon would've drained the water from its body, tearing the very blood from its veins. Instead, the dragon had to draw water from the ground and nearby pipelines, but was now unable to do so.
As one, the Liberty Primes ripped the spears from its body in opposite directions, the blood sprays from its body blackening into needles. Those sharp needles raining down at the Liberty Primes and beginning to pierce armor, as the wounded dragon turned more of itself into projectiles, the three older of the Liberty Primes threw themselves over their brother and shielded it. Even amidst the cascading system failures, the Liberty Primes, without the ego or hubris of other poorly-made AI, worked together for the greater good, allowing the youngest of their number to take hold of its spear which was driven into the dragon's eye, the Nano-Thorns spear piecing the skull and shredding the brain within it, any remaining needles collapsing back into liquid droplets.
"WE WILL NOT FEAR THE RED MENACE!"
*DOOM*
Hong Kong, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"DEFEAT IS NOT AN OPTION!"
The Flowering Wood Dragon roaring as it was forced to the ground, despite its insanity, it had enough sense to flee, marking it as the most-intelligent of its siblings.
However, against the combined assault of the Team 4 Liberty Primes, it was all for naught as they leapt into the air and with their combined weight aided by gravity, pinned the floral dragon to the ground. Their powerful legs holding on like rodeo riders, the Liberty Primes then proceeded to hack the dragon to pieces with plasma-infused X-Ionizer blades.
The dragon finally brought low, it was still an Ancient Dragon, and in its death, throes unleashed an immense cloud of corrosive alkaline chemicals. An unprotected human, inhaling even the tiniest amount would be dead in seconds from lung rot. The insane dragon pushing its connection to The Green Harder in a final desperate attempt to live, blood began to pour from its eyes and other orifices.
However, it did not succeed as two of the Liberty Primes shot above the frenzied plant growth and landed in front of the Flowering Wood Dragon. Jet boosters flaring, the two shot forward like jousters, some part of the Flowering Wood Dragon was relieved as its brain was finally shredded, its body mutilated as the Nano-Thorn spears were dragged through its flanks and down to the end of its tail.
*DOOM*
Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"FREEDOM IS ALWAYS WORTH FIGHTING FOR."
These were the final words of the last Liberty Prime of Team 5, mere moments before the spiky tail of the Black Lightning Dragon ripped through its chest and out the back. A couple pulses of electrical plasma caused the remains of the final arc reactor to explode. Though the Black Lightning Dragon had no knowledge of electrical engineering, it was able to see the flow of energy in all things, and knew that the swirling circles of energy within the Liberty Primes were not unlike the swirling pools of Qi inside itself, like its own Chakras.
The Black Lightning Dragon watching as its final opponent was whisked away to parts unknown like the magical creations of sorcerers, it let out a great sigh of relief. Tired and bleeding from a thousand wounds, its connection to the storms disrupted by the layer of metallic powder that covered it, that very same powder prevented it from becoming living lightning. It would need to feed in order to heal, thus it began the hunt.
*Mroooooo*
The ox ears of the Dragon perking up at an impossible noise coming from the destroyed city, its eyes panned the ruins to behold bovine mammals trudging through the ruined city of fire and ash, a herd of cattle wandering the streets.
The Black Lightning Dragon, even insane and starving and wounded, was suspicious after the hours it spent fighting the metal giants what continued prattling on about places it had never been, and ideals it would never believe in. It scrutinized the cows with its demon eyes, seeing no magic nor poison, assuming them to be dull and witless, poisoned by the smoke.
In seconds, all of the bovines were devoured by the dragon, not noticing anything abnormal beyond the bones tasting more bitter and metallic than it remembered.
The Dragon roaring in pain, some part of its brain realized the insidious trap had been sprung.
The Liberty Primes' creator, having acquired a Dragon-killing poison from the living weapon of mass destruction he kept on speed dial, combined programmable nanomaterial and 'Dragon Bane' with flash-grown cattle. The nano-metal smuggled insidiously into the body of the thing that had laid waste to the noble Liberty Primes that fought it, began to replicate inside the Dragon's body, creating bio-organic factories to release more poison. With the immense electrical field of the Black Lightning Dragon, there was plenty of energy for the trap to self-replicate.
The Black Lightning Dragon roaring as it looked up into the dark thunderous sky, its roar was interrupted by a branch of nano-metal emerging from its mouth, resembling coral with a smooth, metallic silver texture and barbed points.
Its brain beginning to shut down, an image manifested before its clouding eyes; an illusion of sight and sound crafted by the mastermind of its destruction.
"I am Rorschach, soon to be the smartest man in an entire galaxy. You destroyed this city, its Heroes, and the Liberty Primes I sent to protect them, so now, I will destroy you. May your soul find peace in whatever afterlife you dragons believe in, and rest well knowing that your flesh and bone will be my boon, your death, transcending me into the realm of legend."
*DOOM*
Chengdu, Sichuan, China
November 8, 2011
3rd Person POV
"CULTURAL DATABASE ACCESSED. QUOTING NEW ENGLAND POET, ROBERT FROST: FREEDOM LIES IN BEING BOLD."
The White Ice Dragon didn't know who this Robert Frost was or where New England was, but it wished the metal giants would stop talking. Already, it had a severe headache from the directed sonic weapons, and the majestic creature was nearing its breaking point.
The Law of Conservation of Energy stated that energy could neither be created nor destroyed; only converted from one form of energy to another. This is true even when metaphysics is involved. The dragon master of ice and snow was able to freeze objects at an insanely fast rate by bending the laws of physics; this was how an entire lake could be frozen in seconds and how an enemy can reach near absolute zero outside a dedicated physics lab. All of the energy absorbed by the freezing was converted into a metaphysical energy contained within the dragon. Now, at the moment of its death, all that accumulated energy and its remaining Qi was converted into the one energy it instinctively understood; heat.
The Liberty Primes watched as for a moment; the dragon became a statue of ice with a chest glowing like a star. One of the LPs firing a beam from its arm opened a portal underneath the statue, causing it to fall inside.
A beam of energy exploding from the portal as it closed, parted the thick storm clouds overhead revealing the sky. Experts would later speculate that if the Liberty Prime hadn't contained the blast, China would've suffered an explosion far beyond the power of any known nuclear weapon, based on energy readings later picked up from one of Saturn's moons where it was speculated the White Ice Dragon had been isolated to.
*DOOM*
Doomsday Bunker
November 8, 2011
1st Person POV
"Rorschach's robots seem to be doing well," Blackfire hummed, curling up to my side. "Though I don't know why they're blathering pro-American propaganda."
"The ones from the source material did the same thing. I guess Neo put that in as an inside joke that just-so-happened to play out really well," I say enjoying her warmth. Raven was currently busy with something elsewhere in the Bunker, otherwise she would've had a snarky comment of her own.
Konami then chirped from her position on the couch.
"I still can't believe he killed the Lightning dragon with poisoned cows," Blackfire then mused.
"Rorschach has been experimenting with tissue cloning after creating the Food Printer. He said he wanted to make a medical printer for organ transplants."
"So...?"
"I think those were fake cows. Cloned meat around a scaffold of poison nanotech bones."
"Oh, devious. I like it~"
"Hmmm... Though the Golden Earth Dragon didn't fall for it," I said as the feed showing the only remaining dragon, showed it turning up its nose at the seemingly-oblivious livestock.
" . . . What is that moron doing?" Raven questioned, coming into the room right as the footage showed Rorschach making a complete and total ass of himself amidst the Liberty Primes that vanished away to parts unknown. Not only was he taunting the dragon by slapping his own ass and calling it names in Chinese, he was also wearing a combat webbing filled with various cuts of meat, some of which were still bloody.
"Uhhh... Getting eaten, apparently," Blackfire said as the Golden Earth Dragon exploded into motion, gobbling up Rorschach and the debris he was standing on in a single bite.
"Yeah. Big mistake," I mused.
"You think Rorschach was overconfident, or careless?" Raven questioned.
"Not Neo. The one that made the mistake was the dragon."
"So, he intended to get eaten alive?" Blackfire questioned as the dragon lumbered off, only to begin vomiting copious amounts of blood. Enough of it to fill swimming pools. "What is he doing in there?"
"Pulling a Yuyu Hakusho by targeting its vulnerable insides," I said as the Golden Earth Dragon began to roll across the ground in its death throes, its rib cage distending outward amidst the sound of bomb blasts going off. "Holy shit! He just pulled off a Chestburster!" I guffawed as the Golden Earth Dragon's chest exploded outward in a shower of bone and sinew, a humanoid figure smothered in crimson dragon blood steaming in the night air bellowing as he climbed out of the dragon's chest, blood dribbling out of the gaping wound and its mouth, its eyes rolling up into its head.
"How do you know about those murderous body-thieves?" Blackfire questioned.
"The Xenomorphs? They show up in a few DC Comics crossovers, and even have their own movie franchise," I answer.
"Your people are so weird," Blackfire replied. " . . . Is he naked under there?" she questioned as the blood running down his body began to reveal swaths of lightly-tanned skin.
"Hm. Must've taken a bit of an acid bath before clawing his way out of its chest cavity," Raven hummed as Rorschach stepped on a puddle of congealed blood and slid down the dragon's flank like a water slide before coming to a stop on the ground. The other-worlder wiping his face with a cry of- "Oh god! I got some in my mouth!" -, instead of his identity being revealed, an animated logo like a circle with an ever-changing symmetrical Rorschach blot with Cognito Inc's name rotating around the rim appeared. It reminded me of the Laughing Man logo from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The genius hacker of the series avoided being identified by hacking into cameras and cybernetic brains so all they ever saw was a logo. Thankfully, Rorschach's crotch was also covered by a black censor bar, stopping him from flashing everyone in the world as the last of the blood began to pool at his feet.
You know you're Batman-level prepared when your own surveillance drones are programmed to censor your face and nudity. Doubly-so when you have an electronic warfare suite prepared to do that to all the other camera feeds in the area.
Truly, an "Intelligence Build" with The Gamer power was a frightening force to behold...
A moment later my phone chimes.
"It's a message from Rorschach," I say as the one on-screen used a little sleight-of-hand to withdraw a towel from his inventory and wrap it around his waist, before using a Portal Gun to galivant away. "Apparently he did get an 'acid bath' on the way in, pierced its stomach from the inside before working his way toward his heart, nearly drowned on dragon blood. And the Dragon Blood might have made him invulnerable to weapons like Fafnir or Sig. He'll run further tests tomorrow."
"Fafnir? Sig?" Blackfire questioned.
"In Norse mythology and derived tales, Fafnir was originally a dwarf who, after being overcome by greed for a certain treasure, was transformed into a dragon," Raven answered. "He was eventually slain by Sigurd or Siegfried, depending on the source. Siegfried slew him and bathed in his body to obtain a body close to that of a dragon, immune to mortal weapons, but because there was a leaf stuck to his back, he had a single weak point. If he'd washed off before his dragon bath, he would've been completely invincible."
"The hero Achilles was similar, as he was bathed in a river that made him invulnerable except for the ankle his mother held him by," I add. "If she'd dunked him in a basket, he would've been completely invulnerable."
"You like mythology?" Raven asked with a raised brow.
"I like interesting adaptions to mythology. Have I ever told you about the Fate series?"
*DOOM*
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Hong Kong
November 9, 2011
Queen Elizabeth Hospital was officially opened on 6 September 1963 by then-Governor of Hong Kong, Robert Black. At the time, it was the largest general hospital in the British Commonwealth, built at a cost of seventy point three million Hong Kong Dollars. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh laid the hospital's foundation stone on 7 March 1959. It serves an effective population of about 900,000 and about one-third of all cancer patients in Hong Kong.
When Flowering Wood Dragon began to approach Hong Kong, the golden pollen spread to the city. The distance between the dragon and its victims changed how quickly they changed into plants. It was a lot slower and more painful the further away you were. When the Flowering Wood Dragon was killed by Sentinel Prime and their fiery swords, the magical transformation ended. Those that did not completely transform into plants, reverted to normal with not a trace of the plant cells.
"So, it's confirmed?" asks Doctor Chan
"Yes, sir. All of the patients that survived don't possess any cancerous cells or even benign tumors. It's like a miracle." says Doctor Leung, "Thankfully the new medical scanners were able to handle the load."
"Miracle? The same people that made the medical scanners also made those giant robots. I think we should be thanking Cognito Inc." says Doctor Chan, sound older than he looks, "I can't believe we had to treat a magical disease. Magic in this day and age. Yes, I know the Atlanteans use something they call techno-magic, but they have been developing their tech for thousands of years."
"The wood transformation was based on mass, when smaller children changing faster than large adults. According to the oncologist, the magic or whatever particle treated cancer cells as separate entities. I don't explain why people didn't go from having tumors to lumps of dead wood in them."
"Did I tell you about my brother in American?"
"The one that wanted to make it big in the film industry?"
"During that Halloween Event, his daughter was dressed as fighting game character along with three of her friends." he comments as he pulls out his smartphone and shows his colleague a photo.
One is a beautiful woman with brown eyes and long dark brown hair done in unadorned ox horns style. She is wearing a blue qipao with golden accents, white combat boots, brown leggings, and spiked bracelets. What is most interesting is she is holding a small sphere of glowing blue-gold mist.
"Chun-Li - an expert martial artist and Interpol officer who relentlessly seeks revenge for the death of her father at the hands of M. Bison (an international terrorist leader possessing psychic abilities). She herself possesses Qi manipulation abilities."
"My God! How old is she?"
"Before Halloween she was 15, born March 1, 1996. Chun-Li was born March 1, 1968. She's a 15-year-old girl with the memories of 43-year-old martial artist cop and the body of a 23-year-old. Her friends are the same, having the memories and young bodies of movie star Fei Long and a police officer named Lei Wulong. I swear the man looks like a younger version of Chef Inspector Lee."
"Yan Naing Lee?"
"Yeah. Only Chef Lee was 53, while this guy is 26."
"He never showed his age. Wait! You said three friends."
"The last guy was Joke character called Dan Hibiki."
"So why did you bring them up. You usually don't talk about your relatives."
"I may have to call them. My son developed Qi abilities from inhaling the smoke after the Dragon's Death. I don't think standard Tai Chi is going to help my boy."
A Nurse comes in with a chart and hands it to Doctor Chan. "Anita King, Maggie Mui. Michelle Cheung. Are you serious!?"
Maggie Cheung, Anita Mui, and Michelle Yeoh are the names of famous Hong Kong action stars. These three actresses starred together in the 1993 movie The Heroic Trio as the titular super-powered heroines. One of Doctor Chan's favorite films.
"These patients awoke with metahuman abilities"
"What can they do?"
"They can control paper!
Since the Death of Flowering Wood Dragon, a lot of people have gained abilities related to plants. Some gained the ability to make plants grow. Some gained the ability to generate wood armor around their bodies. Some gained the ability to create flowers and herbs with different properties. Many government officials are looking for potential super-functionaries to replace the loss of Great Ten.
The power to manipulate a plant product – paper – is a new one.
*DOOM*
The Light
Virtual Meeting
Vandal Savage – L1 - How goes the harvesting of the Dragon Blood?
Ra's AL Ghul – L2 - We have already acquired a significant amount from Tianjin water dragon. He will be acquiring Blood from the Flame and Wood Dragon soon. Rorschach acquired the Earth Dragon from Shanghai and the Lightning Dragon Guangzhou using his portal technology. The Ice Dragon's self-destruct means there is virtually no blood to acquire.
Lex Luthor – L3 – I have already invested in Cognito Inc. I believe it can profitable and I believe this company may possess the type of intellect the League mentioned in their reports.
The Brain – L6 – The 'Rick-level Intellect'? I'm not sure if I should be excited, or offended.
Klarion - L6 - I'll admit, using an entire civilization to fuel your tail lights, is really fucking funny~!
Vandal Savage – L1 – You have a report of metahuman activity in Hong Kong?
The Brain - L6 – After the destruction of Shenzhen, Flowering Wood Dragon moved towards Hong Kong. When that dragon died, the area was contaminated with blood and pollen. There has been a spike in metahuman awakenings in the area. The majority are plant-based metahumans like Poison Ivy and Thorn, but there is a variety.
Vandal Savage – L1 – The value of Dragon Blood has increased with time. Not only is a powerful magical resource, but it's capable of granting or awakening supernatural abilities be they metahuman or magical in origin.
Klarion – L6 – Dragon Blood grants invulnerability, doesn't it?"
Vandal Savage – L1 – Yes. One of my descendants gained skin impervious to weapons by bathing in the blood of a dragon. The fool only died when he arranged his own suicide.
Klarion – L6 – That Rorschach guy popped out of the Yellow Dragon like one of the aliens. You know, the fun ones that have banana heads and bleed acid. That guy was naked and completely soaked in blood. Does that mean he's also invulnerable?
Vandal Savage – L1 – . . . Shit.
Lex Luthor – L3 – That lunatic vigilante who already has government sponsorship and access to some of the most advance technology in existence, now has a meta-ability.
Ra's al Ghul – L2 – So now we have two chaos generators that are invulnerable.
The Brain – L6 – The applications for the Dragon Blood are astonishing. A vigilante with that level of technological sophistication and meta power is disturbing.
Black Manta - L8 – I'm glad he is not involved with our underwater operations.
Lex Luthor – L3 – Actually, Cognito Inc. just announced a future meeting with Atlantis. No further details available, but if their 'Liberty Primes' are any indicator...
Black Manta - L8 – ...
*DOOM*
Rorschach's Ink Well
November 9, 2011
1st Person View
I wonder how life got so weird.
I mean... weirder than being reincarnated like an Isekai character, at least...
Over four hundred ninety days ago, I was a normal fanfiction writer living in the house of my late grandparents. The most exciting thing I experienced was a biannual trip or an interesting YouTube video. I had never been on date before.
Now, I'm a part-human part-extraterrestrial part-biohazard humanoid weapon of mass destruction. Now, I'm in a relationship with an alien warrior princess and a half-demon sorceress-princess. The former who is trying to convince her young sister to join.
Right now, I'm standing in the secret headquarters of my Internet friend from my previous life, Neo, who has become the famed government-sponsored vigilante who styled himself after Watchmen's Rorschach. A "reincarnator" like me whose "Cheat Ability", The Gamer, made his life like a video game character. A cheat he used to become the smartest man in the world - The Rick.
A black-and-white portal whipped up, I walked on in to see him standing at the end of a firing range in a pair of swim trunks with a piece of string in his hand connected to the trigger of a 50 Cal sniper rifle. The bullets were absolutely huge, like tiny cigars, and normally when The Gamer's body was "breached" there were red grid-like patterns underneath like in Sword Art Online. Now however, Neo is laughing his ass off as the bullets flatten themselves against him, even as he takes a jerking step back from each, the bullet failing to so much as put a permanent scratch on his Asian American skin.
"That was an armor-piercing depleted uranium anti-tank round. The kind the US government developed for Brutes."
I smile at Neo using the Parahuman classification I told him about from the Worm series.
"I doubt you brought me here just to watch you waste a few thousand dollars in ammunitions," I say eyeing the ruined bullets pooled at his feet, everything from small arms to the 50 cal. rounds he just exhausted, as he used his Inventory screen to re-equip a duplicate of the costume, he lost to stomach acid like out of a video game. "So why did you call me here? A Quest."
"Look for yourself," he said activating our Party System and showing me the Quest Notification.
[Save China]
The Mother of Champions prays for someone to save her dying nation.
[Objective]
Kill 6 Corrupted Chinese Dragons.
[Status]
Completed - 6/6
[Bonus Objective]
Acquire [Dragon's Blood]
[Rewards]
Title: [World's Smartest Man]
[Armor of the Dragon]
I click on the Rewards to find out their effects.
The Title [World's Smartest Man] "Doubles INT and WIS Stat Gains. Increases Reputation with people who respect INT. Crafting Speed & Success Rate Bonus. Luck +/- 10."
The [Armor of the Dragon] granted "+50 Durability. Immunity to all weapons. +5 Durability/Level."
"Well... Those Rewards are broken as hell," I say taking it all in.
"My INT Build also means I get more information from my Quest Notifications. This includes who was behind the Dragons attacking in the first place."
"What is the Light or someone else?"
"It was Shiro Ito, the World War II Supervillain known as Dragon King."
"The guy that looks like a knockoff Cobra Commander?"
I know it's not true. Dragon King first appeared in All-Star Squadron #4 in 1981, Cobra Commander of Gi Joe fame first appeared in 1982
"He was able to keep the Heroes out of Axis countries with his magical barrier and was responsible for Flamebrand's death."
"I remember. He was the hidden villain during Virgil's Road trip in your Young Justice: The Hunter story."
Helping Neo create the Hunter-verse was so much fun!
"So, what is Dragon King up to this time?"
[Save the World]
Dragon King intends to unleash the power of Ashiya Dōman's Forbidden Ritual.
[Objective]
Stop the Ritual and Save the World.
[Bonus Objective]
Kill Shiro Ito/Dragon King
[Status]
In Progress.
[Bonus Objective]
Hidden
[Rewards]
Hidden
"A 'save the world' Quest. And it's a big one."
"No kidding. So, you want my help?"
"There are many ways I could complete this quest on my own, and thanks to my Intelligence Build I got some extra information on Ryūgū-jō."
Using the Party System, Neo showed me a 3D wireframe structure of a large underground structure. It appeared to be composed of hexagonal layers that got smaller the deeper it descended into the Earth. I could almost hear the music from the Resident Evil films, with how-much the place reminded me of The Hive - the underground lab that was the main setting for the first and the final films.
"In Japanese folklore, Ryūgū-jō or "Dragon palace castle" is the undersea palace of Ryūjin, the dragon kami of the sea. Princess Otohime, her maidens, and Ryūjin's vassals reside in the palace, as well." Neo replied, flexing his INT. "Dragon King calls his secret headquarters the same and it apparently dates back to the 1930s. What is special is it was constructed using Daemonite technology"
"Daemonites. As in the body-possessing enemies of the WildCATs?" At Rorschach's nod, I continue, "Was there any mention of Helspont, Defile, or Hightower?"
"Who?"
Ah, right, he doesn't have the same "perfect recall" as I do...
"The High Lords. The Daemonites on Earth are or were ruled by three Lords"
"According to my information on Shiro Ito – He's now the Lord of the Daemonites."
"How the Hell did he pull that off?"
"I don't know. I have managed to create some Daemonite Busting Gear for you, the girls, and I."
"You want me to invite my girls?"
"There's too much at stake for me to try doing this alone out of pride, and giant robots aren't the solution for everything. It was fun as hell, but this is a little more... delicate."
"I see. How can I help?"
"The Dragon Palace Castle is protected by a multi-layered barrier designed to repel physical and energy-based attacks, technological force fields and hybrid mystical barriers, protecting against terrestrial and extraterrestrial sources. All of it is sandwiched within spatial warping and additional barriers to block mystical, technological, and meta-surveillance. There are also wards to drive away living and spiritual beings," he said showing off a graph taht looked like all the colors of the rainbow. "This actually gave me some ideas on how to fortify the Ink Well, and your Bunker if you want."
"They sound more paranoid than a mystically empowered Batman."
"It isn't 'paranoia' when we're going to kill them; if the League got involved, they'd just try to stop me, even if it meant damning millions," Neo replied. "The problem on my end is while I can get through all these barriers on my own eventually, it would take a lot of time that frankly, I just don't have. It would be down to the wire for that Ritual if I did, and you're the only one on-hand immune to damn-near everything who would be unharmed even if comic book Superman punched you through the planet. I'm basically asking to expose you to stuff I'm still 'iffy'" about, and then use you as a battering ram to shove you up the Daemonite's collective asshole. Metaphorically of course," he amended.
Ah, the good old DC Universe. Crazy as hell, and I knew from the beginning I wasn't going to be completely sane after coming out the other side, and knowing that Neo is starting to think on Rick Sanchez' wavelength... Another proof of my madness is when I reply-
"Let's light this candle!"