05-21-2018, 05:36 AM
In his lab situated on Tier 2, Doctor Regal heaved a sigh of relief. His monitoring of the situation had been constant, his sleep almost nonexistent during the duration of this crisis. But it had finally ended. He was detecting the collapse and destruction of the last of Nebula's strongholds. Their power was broken. The situation had been resolved.
"It will take some time to fully undo all the damage they caused, I suspect...but everything is already on the mend." He carefully and methodically shut down the banks of monitoring equipment. He would have to see to converting all of this equipment and hardware back to the usual tools and his lab to its original arrangement, now that Nebula was no longer a threat.
There was the faint sound of doors opening, relayed by a security feed to his office. Visitors, even at this hour... He simply sighed, not turning from his monotonous task. Too tired to deal with that; he would leave it to the staff.
He could distantly hear chatter, the receptionist droid greeting and trying to explain to the visitor that they were closed. The conversation went back and forth rapidly, growing quickly in pitch and developing first an agitated and then a frightened tone. Then there came the sound of tearing metal and shattering glass, and everything went eerily silent.
Doctor Regal's exhaustion and indifference evaporated in an instant. He slowly turned to look over his shoulder, through the partially-open doorway of his office toward the hall that lead to the front room. "What's going on out there?" No response. He turned around fully, concern etching itself onto his features. "Core, Sark!"
The only response was an electrical buzzing as the lighting in the hall outside flickered. Moments later, a shadow fell across the doorway, and with a fizzling crack, the lights went out. Amid the tinkling of fallen glass, there came the whining of steel as clawed fingers closed tightly around the edge of the door and simply crumpled it in on itself. "Hello, Doctor," a smooth voice spoke up, as its owner loomed in the doorway.
Regal's eyes went wide, some mixture of surprise and abject terror robbing all the color from his face as he stumbled back, grasping at his desk for support. "Y-You?! Why-- What do you want?!"
"We need to talk," the looming figure answered simply as he lazily drifted through the doorway. "About that little party you organized."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Regal stammered.
"Oh, Doctor. Don't lie to me, please." The unwelcome visitor flashed a smile, the needle-sharp points of fangs glinting brightly in the dim office lighting. "I'm not upset about all the trouble you caused, you know. Just that you set up such a wonderful party without informing me so I could make proper preparations."
Doctor Regal closed his eyes, shaking his head and trying to steel himself. "It had to be done. Before you and your monsters caused any more damage."
The only response was a dark chuckle. "Well...if that's what you think, Doctor," he said quietly. "But enough about the past. I've come to talk about the future. You're going to help me very much. By playing host to another lovely party." He threw his arms wide, wings flaring out from his back and throwing him into stark shadow. Only the blaze of red eyes, the glimmer of white fangs, showed against the darkness. The remaining monitors and lighting in the room flickered and sputtered, throwing wild shadows all over. "Let us talk further, and properly organize things this time, shall we?"
With a piercing shriek, as if a massive swarm of bats had screeched and cried in unison, he struck. Regal screamed, voice lodged somewhere between terror and agony. The lights blew out with a hissing electrical whine, glass raining over the room in the ensuing darkness.
And out front, the armored shutters slowly closed over the external windows and main entrance, amid a low-pitched, reverberating laugh.
"It will take some time to fully undo all the damage they caused, I suspect...but everything is already on the mend." He carefully and methodically shut down the banks of monitoring equipment. He would have to see to converting all of this equipment and hardware back to the usual tools and his lab to its original arrangement, now that Nebula was no longer a threat.
There was the faint sound of doors opening, relayed by a security feed to his office. Visitors, even at this hour... He simply sighed, not turning from his monotonous task. Too tired to deal with that; he would leave it to the staff.
He could distantly hear chatter, the receptionist droid greeting and trying to explain to the visitor that they were closed. The conversation went back and forth rapidly, growing quickly in pitch and developing first an agitated and then a frightened tone. Then there came the sound of tearing metal and shattering glass, and everything went eerily silent.
Doctor Regal's exhaustion and indifference evaporated in an instant. He slowly turned to look over his shoulder, through the partially-open doorway of his office toward the hall that lead to the front room. "What's going on out there?" No response. He turned around fully, concern etching itself onto his features. "Core, Sark!"
The only response was an electrical buzzing as the lighting in the hall outside flickered. Moments later, a shadow fell across the doorway, and with a fizzling crack, the lights went out. Amid the tinkling of fallen glass, there came the whining of steel as clawed fingers closed tightly around the edge of the door and simply crumpled it in on itself. "Hello, Doctor," a smooth voice spoke up, as its owner loomed in the doorway.
Regal's eyes went wide, some mixture of surprise and abject terror robbing all the color from his face as he stumbled back, grasping at his desk for support. "Y-You?! Why-- What do you want?!"
"We need to talk," the looming figure answered simply as he lazily drifted through the doorway. "About that little party you organized."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Regal stammered.
"Oh, Doctor. Don't lie to me, please." The unwelcome visitor flashed a smile, the needle-sharp points of fangs glinting brightly in the dim office lighting. "I'm not upset about all the trouble you caused, you know. Just that you set up such a wonderful party without informing me so I could make proper preparations."
Doctor Regal closed his eyes, shaking his head and trying to steel himself. "It had to be done. Before you and your monsters caused any more damage."
The only response was a dark chuckle. "Well...if that's what you think, Doctor," he said quietly. "But enough about the past. I've come to talk about the future. You're going to help me very much. By playing host to another lovely party." He threw his arms wide, wings flaring out from his back and throwing him into stark shadow. Only the blaze of red eyes, the glimmer of white fangs, showed against the darkness. The remaining monitors and lighting in the room flickered and sputtered, throwing wild shadows all over. "Let us talk further, and properly organize things this time, shall we?"
With a piercing shriek, as if a massive swarm of bats had screeched and cried in unison, he struck. Regal screamed, voice lodged somewhere between terror and agony. The lights blew out with a hissing electrical whine, glass raining over the room in the ensuing darkness.
And out front, the armored shutters slowly closed over the external windows and main entrance, amid a low-pitched, reverberating laugh.