Dark on the Waters [Dark Data]

[The Vision]

The Vision looked towards the bunker.

> open daredevil.exe
Opening...
ERROR
daredevil.exe is not accessible
The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable

The android scowled. Daredevil's particular ability would have been very convenient at this time. Instead, he would have to estimate the situation inside the bunker.

The Liberators had so far encountered legions of Darklings, as well as powerful lieutenants. Since they had more or less fought past them, it was likely that this Klaymoor would have an elite but small force protecting him. In that case, the Liberators were likely to have an advantage of numbers once Vision and Proto Man arrived.

"Report: Proto Man and I are incoming, sustaining heavy fire."

Proto Man blasted at an artillery shell. He briefly shut off the rockets in his feet, flipping over debris from the collapsing cliff. The agile robot was faring much better than Vision had surmised he would. The preteen android was shredding the cannon shots before they could hit him. Perhaps he could use some of Proto Man's weapons.

> record(mark.now "Proto Man")
Recording begun

Proto Man was shooting at another tentacle when a stinger-like limb coiled up from behind him. The Vision's eyes flared as he realized that his partner had not noticed the limb.

> run "webshooters_rope.exe"
Generating webshooters...
Success!

The Vision fired two ropes of adhesive fluid at the tentacle. Upon landing the two shots, the Vision knelt while pulling at the two ropes, yanking the tentacle towards him.

> set.selfvalue density zone[11051335] 231.3415%
Shifting...

With his hardened fist, Vision shattered the limb, the impact rippling down. Desertman.exe was stuck crawling slowly up the cliff, but still throwing attacks at them. The monster roared as he finally realized the two androids were escaping. The tentacles melted and fell to the ground in useless clumps of wet shrapnel, then gathered together into several giant hands. The monster bellowed in fury as two hands launched after the pair of robots, sliding up the hill. It smashed through any boulders and shrubbery in the way, absorbing them as it barreled up the hill.

> run "mjolnir.exe"
Generating mjolnir...
Success!

The Vision felt the hammer rush into his hand. He smacked one giant hand aside, letting Proto Man fire a barrage of plasma shots into its palm. The hand dissipated almost immediately. The other hand, however, had better luck. It snatched Vision out of the air, gripping him tightly then slamming into the cliff face. It dragged him back down. Proto Man stopped in his tracks, blasting downwards.

"Vision!"

"Proto Man," Vision exclaimed, "Request: Do not stop! The others need your help more than me!"

"Don't be-"

"GO!" Vision roared. Proto Man stopped again. Vision had always used an amplified version of his calm tone of voice. This was new. But he wasn't leaving anyone behind.

> set.selfvalue density 0.31%
ERROR: Damage sustained
> run iron_man:jet_boots.exe
Running...

The soles of Vision's feet hissed and clicked open, revealing two large apertures at the base of his ankle. Two jets protruded from the openings, firing up after a few moments. The Vision promptly blasted forward, resisting against the pull of the hand. He marked the location of the bunker in his internal GPS. Only a hundred more meters to go, but he was being dragged down.

NOTIFICATION
AdaptoidFile008.zip parameters met
Artificial adrenaline levels = 83% (must be greater than 80%)

Vision roared, the glow of his blank eyes turning from red to green.

> run "hulk.exe"

Proto Man's eyebrows raised as a green light flashed across his face. He cleared his throat as shrapnel exploded below him. The shield in his hand facing up was battered by the artillery, but Proto Man didn't notice.

"Oh man."

***

Meanwhile, in the bunker, two of the Liberators fighting Klaymoor were leaping around to dodge the cyborg's attacks. They were surrounded by a swarm of writhing abominations, all assaulting the vastly outnumbered Liberators. Blink was teleporting faster than she knew she could, falling through a portal moments before one of the Darklings killed her. Cole was doing his best not to get hit, shooting less to eliminate and more to just slow down the attacks slightly.

Suddenly, an inhuman roar echoed from below the cliff. Everyone in the bunker flinched slightly, before resuming combat.

"What the hell was that?!" Cole shouted.

"Another damn Darkling, I'm guessing," Claire muttered, slashing at a pirate with crustacean claws for hands, "Just our luck."

"I will destroy you!" Klaymoor hollered, firing another cannon shot at the teleporter.

The wall behind Klaymoor abruptly exploded, concrete spraying him from behind. Blink flashed out of the way, reappearing behind her teammate. A dark green behemoth, appearing to wear nothing but blue pixelated shorts, jumped through the hole, his two gigantic fists slamming into the cyborg before throwing him aside. He grunted once, steam bursting from his nostrils.

"Hulk?" Claire squeaked.

"Vision!" Proto Man shouted, flying in after him.

"That's Vision?!" Cole nervously laughed.

"VISION STRONGEST THERE IS!" the giant roared, banging on his chest like a gorilla.

> run "gazerbeam.exe"
Engaging optical heat generators...
WARNING
recomm_heatgen :: >70%

The Vision roared as his eyes flared brighter than usual. His eye sockets were beginning to overheat, and the area around his eyes were beginning to glow red. A searing wave of heat incinerated one side of the room, burning the Darklings there. He smacked aside one minion, then chucked Mjolnir at another crowd. He roared in fury as Klaymoor fired a cannon in his face.

Vision gripped Klaymoor by the ankles and threw him against the ground, stomping him into the floor. He then picked up the cyborg and threw him through the roof.

"We should help!" Cole exclaimed.

"No, no, no," Blink and Proto Man insisted, holding him back.

"Just uh..." Claire mumbled nervously, "Just seem friendly. Don't antagonize him."

"He must know that we're-"

Proto Man interrupted him with a frightened stare.

The Vision, meanwhile, was stampeding through the minions, swatting them aside like they were dolls, but he was clearly getting tired. He suddenly collapsed, but the other minions were too scared to attack him while he was down. The android Hulk huffed as he started gently shrinking. The Darklings flinched as Klaymoor fell back through the roof, screaming the whole time.

The Hulk roared one last time before the green reformed into lines and shapes, and the cape emerged from his shoulders again. He was the Vision again, panting from the exertion of being the Hulk.

Klaymoor grunted and got to his feet. He looked at his minions.

"He's down! Get him!" the commander shouted.

"Okay," Claire said, "Now we help."

1123 words. Used hulk.exe for one post (1 SP).
3/5 SP remaining.