Invasion of the Vorticons

[The Future Warrior]

The trip down to Tier 7 was not really one that a certain glob of blue play-doh really enjoyed. It was becoming a rapid realization for her -- and anyone else that paid even a few seconds' worth of attention -- she didn't really like elevators much. Or at all, really. They were just too slow. Especially this one down to the bottom-most tier of the city, which seemed pointedly as if it were reluctant to go down there.

...she really couldn't blame it. Even as they just headed slowly downward, she could almost feel the unpleasant air about the place. To say nothing of the smell. She was pretty glad she didn't have anything approaching an actual nose, as that would've probably made it waaaaay worse. But...she still kinda wished she couldn't smell it. Blasted weird magic alien anatomy.

"Thank the emperor for these helmets, eh?" Hunt piped up, as if reading his prime partner's mind. "Filters out just about all of the stink of this place. Kinda wish it got all of it, though." There was a dim sense of sarcasm radiating throughout the elevator, and all eyes, both helmet-shrouded and otherwise, slowly turned to stare at the stormtrooper. He just looked around, from one face to the next. "...what?"

"....don't have a helmet," Graowr mumbled, turning away again. She was crouched down in a corner, away from the others, arms wrapped around her knees. Much, much quieter than her usual demeanor, but she just seemed more impatient than anything else. ...and maybe, maybe a little down. When she'd heard what these vorticons were up to, and that they knew where they were headed to find and put a stop to it, she'd been pretty damn excited. A chance to really get to some smashing, and probably a lot more of those vorticons to fight. And now she knew what she was up against, she wasn't gonna be caught off-guard again; it'd be even more fun the second time around! But her good mood was just ever so slightly tempered by something else. Both the location of their new destination, as well as the aggressive horror show of how Zedd had gotten the information out of the vorticon. And the other two being shot dead had definitely put a downer on her mood.

But despite her quiet demeanor and apparent downer state of mind, she was apparently quite busy thinking about something. Every now and then she'd messed with her scouter, pressing a few buttons and earning a series of beeps and what sounded distinctly like error noises. And there were the few times that she had mumbled to herself, just loud enough to be heard during the trek back across Tier 6 and down to Tier 7. Something along the lines of "...yeah, just gotta...hold the charge. Make it do the beam-y thing..." It was bizarre to hear, especially with how often her train of thought seemed to derail, and drift in and out of speaking and internal monologue.

Eventually, they were down on Tier 7. And predictably, more than ready to be on their way to finishing this as quickly as could be done. Graowr bounded out of the elevator, into the (relatively speaking) open air. A decision which she immediately regretted, and waved a hand in front of her non-existent nose in an attempt to ward off the air from it. She didn't really need to breathe, as such, but...kind of a reflexive thing. Still needed air to talk and whatnot, even if she didn't really do that....respiration thing. "So, uh...where are we headed to, again?"

"Abandoned factory, to the south. Part of the reason we took so long up on Tier 6 before coming down here." It was...Grace, or so the little blue majin thought. She was still trying to catch names and match them just to voices. The helmets didn't help. "This was the elevator that would put us out closest to where we're headed."

"Which..." Zedd suddenly cut in, his tone making it quite clear he was the exact opposite of in the mood for wasting more time. "...is where, exactly?"

"Just...should just be a little ways to the south, from here."

"South we go, then!" Graowr interjected, and was all too eager to be off.

"....hey. Blue. That way's to the north."

She stopped in her tracks, in a comical freeze-frame.

"Turn on your compass, Blue."

She slowly lifted one hand to the scouter over her eye, and after a few fumbling button presses, she sighed. "Man...directions were never my big thing..." she mumbled.

She was all but dragged off by her stormtrooper companion after the rest of their not-so-merry bunch. "C'mon, now. Don't get too hung up over it. Directions can get a little muddled around here. South in one verse might be west in another, if you keep going the same way. Heck, wouldn't surprise me if you were headed east, went through a gate and ended up heading west." He laughed. "Place can get pretty weird like that, sometimes."

Graowr just folded her arms over her torso, looking even more confused. Her expression adopted a highly contemplative cast as she was dragged along. "Hmm...." She blinked once, tilting her head back to look up at Hunt. "Directions are confusing," she finally stated, as if it was her great revelation on the matter. She did plant her feet and get back up to walk for herself.

"Yeah. They sure are."

They went on in silence for a time, with only the occasional input from various members of the group.


"We almost there?" Graowr whined.

"Almost."

"Smells down here..." She went on.

"Yes. It does."

"What's this whole....vortilaser thing about?" she kept right on.

"Some kind of laser, by the name. Dunno much more."

"....that's kind of silly," she mused.

"Coming from you, that's saying something."

"...I guess so."

The amount of frustration Zedd was radiating just slowly continued to build during the entirety of the inane exchange.

"There are a lot of factories down here. Which one are we going after?"

"It's...the one with vorticons in it. I'll let you know when we get there."

"Wonder if it'll be locked or something...if they're building a laser thing there, it probably will. Or probably have some guards. Spies or scouts or something." Graowr nodded, and lightly smacked one fist into an open palm. "I bet we're not gonna be able to get too close without being spotted. Which means they'll probably be ready for us."

"Which means nothing. They will merely be ready for being eradicated." Zedd's confidence -- looking to be reasonably well-placed by now, at least -- was just as strong as ever. As was the dark tone of his voice. Probably going to be a lot more death down here.

"Well...yeah, I guess. Maybe we can smash the laser apart and just bring the factory down on it. Or just blow it all up, that'd work too!" She tilted her head lightly. "If I was a little stronger or had a little bit to get ready, I could probably do that...just blow the whole place up. If they don't have some kind of...energy barrier thing." She shook her head, making a sour expression. "I don't like energy barriers."

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