The Dark Ages [Dark Data]

[Hiro Protagonist]

Hiro had been silent since their entry into Nebula Space, aside from a few comments here and there. The otherworldly, eerie feel of the pocket verse was unsettling, in a familiar way. Like that high pitched whine some electronics emitted during the last few days of their lives, a hair raising screech that put him on edge. The readings from his goggles had confirmed it though. It was something that Nebula's minions, those infected with Dark Power, emitted. But the real reason it unsettled him now was because of it's source for the past couple hours. He was emitting it as well.

Maybe the flippant usage of those darkchips hadn't helped. Sure, they had helped in the moment, but now, outside of a fight, they just added to the discordant nature of this place. Then they came upon the festival, and Hiro nearly rolled his eyes. This was right out of an old TV show, it was. Soooo obvious. Too obvious to even really do anything about except watch how it played. Okor enjoyed pie though, that was good to know. Maybe he could bribe the rusty bastard further down the line. 

They watched him walk out of sight among the tents, Samus in her golden armor eyeing the Test of Strength the old man had mentioned. "Yeah...not my area of expertise..." He mumbled as he watched her size up the mallet. Any readings from these people were useless. They were visibly normal humans, if seeping Dark Power. But this whole plane seeped it, so, useless reading. He felt a little naked without his big flappy coat. Any future posing would have to be done without the benefit of it's long whippy tails.

He picked idly at a hangnail as Madotsuki spaced out a bit, watching the patrons and townsfolk warily. This "Black Knight" was obviously the head Darkling here, and if they had to pass these tests to gain entry...Couldn't be that hard. 

Hiro started to walk towards the old man, Samus groaning as she picked up the hammer. "Hey, so, if you have any Tests of Agility or something like that, I could..."

THWUMP

The guy vanished from Hiro's view and reappeared ten feet away on the ground, coughing. Hiro was already moving before Samus called for him and Madotsuki. "Oh, we're doing it this way, okay. Gotcha. Little more warning next time, maybe? Woah!" The erstwhile hacker leaned back and dodged a wild haymaker thrown at him by a peasant. "Okay, so, run for it, I guess. Good plan, lady." 

The street samurai left his blades in their sheaths, not wanting to spill any more possibly innocent blood. Instead, he used his increased agility and flexibility to dance across people's bodies, parrying their punches and catching their kicks while rolling over their forms and slipping between and through the surging mass of bodies. Casting glances back across the suddenly frenetic fairgrounds for his fellow liberators, he managed to navigate the chaos and flash in next to Madotsuki, laying out attackers back to back.