2010-07-30 - Ninjas in Space
From Four Color Comics MUX
| Ninjas in Space | |||
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| Summary: The Shade and Glory finally wake up in the medical facilities aboard the fabulous starship Testament. The Shade engages in poorly timed flirting. | |||
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Somewhere along the line, The Shade passed out. It might have been the ratbites and jagged knife wounds. Or perhaps its just exhaustion. Regardless, when consiousness finally returns to him, its not in familiar surroundings. The bright lights of a well-lit room. Blue crystal walls, beds laid out, odd machines. And the room is occupied, crystalline machines fly around the chamber, like some kind of robots without legs. What resembles a transparent white-haired child also walks around the room, checking on things, apparently being in charge. So... yeah. Not the apartment anymore.
The eyes snap open and Shade takes a deep breath in surprise. The ribs still hurt but nowhere near as bad as they have been for the past few days. He rolls his head to the side and blinks at the crystal robots. Then stares at the white haired child. "I'm in the freaking Village." he says in Japanese and very softly. He quickly rolls over the side of the bed and leaps to a shadow. Ninja instincts kick in. When you're hunted by the scariest ninja on the planet, waking up in strange places puts you in the Search, Evade, Recon, and Escape mode.
Not all that many shadows in the brightly lit room, to be sure. The Shade will also discover that he is wearing fresh... bandages? They seem to be made of a translucent polymer as opposed to cloth, but serve the purpose quite admirably. The translucent child pauses, tilting his head and checking the monitor attached to The Shades bed, only then seeming to realize that he isn't still /in/ the bed. The Doctor looks around the room for a moment, and then says simply. "This isn't medically advisible. You've been cleared of infection from your animal bites, but could do with more rest before you risk opening your wounds again."
Muttering silently to himself over the lack of shadows, Shade does what he can to stay hidden. He slinks aroudn the room looking for a door. The Village Children couldn't POSSIBLY be doctors. So the talk about re-opening his wounds makes him pause. He remains hidden but says, "Yeah? And who are you, Doogie Howzer? You're like what? Twelve? Where am I?"
The room does indeed have a door... a sort of crystalline archway. Presumably its some kind of star trek style door that opens on proximity, since it dosen't seem to have a handle. The transparent child pauses, and then responds. "I am The Doctor, an interactive Virtual Intelligence modeled on several noted physicians. I am not alive, nor do I have any tangible reality beyond this projected hologram. My program was first compiled approximately five hundred years ago, but I have been online for only a few weeks. I assure you, you are not at any risk. I have been overseeing your care for some time now."
He smoothly continues speaking. "You are in the primary medical bay aboard the Testament Class Starship Testament."
"Kind of redundent isn't it? Having a Class of ship with the same name?" Shade replies as he peeks over a table. "Okay. So. Did you say Starship?" He blinks and looks around for a window. "Like. As in SPACE?!"
The room does suspiciously lack windows. "The Testament was the only ship of its class ever produced. It is customary for the first ship of a line to share a name with the line as a whole." The Doctor pauses then... as he usually does when he gets a question outside of his normal expertise. This is of course because he's accessing the appropriate data outside his own program. "The Testament is currently in geosynchronus orbit above the Planet Earth, positioned over the city of New York, in the state of New York, in the country of The United States of America."
Ah, so there is that then.
The Shade peers at the hologram and walks toward the door. "So. You're like Doctor from Star Trek." He walks casually toward the door and tries to see if it will open. "Okay. So. How did I get here?"
"I am unfamiliar with that reference point." The Doctor smoothly replies. The door does indeed open, smoothly receeding into the wall. This exposes... a hallway. That's a bit of an understatement. It's closer to being a street. A long and gently curved central corridor that travels the 'wheel' that makes up the primary hull of the vessel. It's easily large enough to drive a car through, and has dozens of those crystalline robots zooming up and down it on various inscrutible tasks. There are many doors visible in this section of the hallway, as well as a large window exposing the impressive vista of the earth beneath along the hallway.
Meanwhile, the doctor continues speaking without a break. "You were carried aboard by authorized guest 'Wyatt' through a Quantum Tunnel."
The Shade is totally about to make a break for it and hide in the shadows again. Then he suddenly sees the Earth. He just stops. He stops and stares at the view. He's not the most powerful super hero. He can't even fly, let alone break orbit. So he finds himself staring at the Earth. The full view of the Earth. It's.... Frightening, to one who has never seen something like that for the first time. So he speaks in Japanese, his native language, "By Kami. That... That's the Earth. Who's... Who's ship is this? Rachel's?"
Another voice, not the Doctor since he was left behind, either unwilling or unable to leave the medical bay, replies. It is a cool monotone. It replies in Japanese. << The Starship Testament is currently under the command of Mary Watanabe. >> There is no holographic representation for this voice, and it has the unvaried modulation of an unquestionably artificial source.
"Mary?!" Shade says in surprise. Yeah. He knew she was Chavalier, but had no idea she was packing a Starship. He blinks at the sound of the voice speaking in Japanese. He continues to speak in his native language for ease. "Good Lord. Anime was right. The aliens can learn our languages way too easily." He continues to stare at the Earth. "I don't understand. Wyatt Teleported us here? Or Did Mary? How bad am I hurt? How long was I out?"
The ship replies smoothly. In order of course. << Commander Mary Watanabe, that is correct. The Testament central AI is fluent in Japanese as that is a language spoken by Mary Watanabe, who is in turn neurally linked to the Avatar Class Shaylim Armor that has command over the Testament. Records indicate Commander Watanabe signalled for a Quantum Tunnel to be opened (plot appropriate time ago). Medical evaluation showed several stab wounds, as well as diseases transfered by the bites of many lower earth-native mammals. For detailed medical information, please consult 'The Doctor' VI, located in the medical bay. >>
The Shade just blinks. He looks around then looks back to the Earth. He runs a hand through his hair. "Where ..." He takes a deep breath. Glad it doesn't hurt as much. "Can... Where is Commander Watanabe at this time?"
<< Commander Watanabe is currently not aboard the Testament. Would you like a message relayed to her? >> Is the simple reply.
"Yes please." Shade says evenly. He runs his hand through hsi hair and walks over toward the Medical Bay. He goes back in and points a finger at the white haired child. "You Doctor VI?"
<< Request acknowledged. >> The translucent white-haired child turns and faces towards the Shade. "Yes. I am the Virtual Intelligence designated 'The Doctor'. How may I be of assistance to you?"
The Shade goes and sits on the bed he was on. "How bad was I hurt? How long was I unconscious? Was the Human designated as Glory brought here? If so what was her condition?" He can't help but run a hand through his hair again. Its a nervous tick.
The Doctor proceeds to reply in due dilligence. He gives a fairly extensive description of The Shades injuries, complete with gruesomely accurate holograms for visual emphasis. He also explains Glory's condition, and her current situation. After awhile of that, the main AI comments. << Commander Watanabe is now aboard. The XO stands relieved. >>
A few minutes after that, Mary in her typical street clothes strolls into the sickbay, commenting simply. "Oh good, your up. Wyatt was worried."
The Shade slides off the table as Mary enters, and offers a small bow in greeting. He doens't have a hat to tip. Hey. Maybe Wyatt's been teaching him! He doesn't wince during the bow, which is good. But he is still in pain. Broken and cracked ribs will do that to you. Even to a Ninja. "Mary!" He says with a relieved sigh. "You... You have a starship."
Mary shrugs a bit dismissively, seeming to consider it 'no big deal'. In this, she may be somewhat insane. "Oh, yeah. I guess I do. Rachel was worried, since you guys got all torn up, and it just made sense to let you use the medical bay up here, you know?"
The Shade nods a few times. "Yeah. I mean, it's gotta be better then a hospital. Which is cool. Especially since I can't GO to a hospital." He sits back down on the bed and puts his head in his hands thinking. "Is Wyatt okay? I hadn't gotten around to asking the Doctor there about him."
Mary lets out a soft sigh then, and gets a troubled expression. "He's..." She stares off for a moment, before looking up. "He's physically okay. I mean especially compared to all you guys. But I think he's... bothered... by what happened. I'm not sure. We haven't really gotten the chance to talk."
Running a hand through his hair agian, Shade looks over to Mary. "I think it's my fault Mary. I'm sorry." He sighs again. "I started that fight because I thought Patrisha was going to attack Tao." he shakes his head trying to remember clearly how ti went down. "She's... She's bigger then we are. She doens't fight on the same level as us. I think it's part of her scheme. She's trying to turn us against each other or doubt ourselves."
Mary hesitates for a moment, and then replies simply. "Doubt is the only weapon that can defeat us." With the certainty of either a true believer or a zealot. "As long as we have faith that our mission is just, the worst thing that can happen to us is that we die. And thats not so bad a thing." She pauses... and then adds. "But only we can defeat ourselves. Nobody has that power." She seems dead certain of that.
The Shade looks over to Mary as she speaks and blinks at her. "You know. I remember a shy pretty girl at a fair. You've... Being the Lady Chevalier is good for you. You're confident and strong in your mannerisms." He smiles at her and finishes with that playful grin of his, "I wish I still was."
Glory comes awake with a start and peers about in utter confusion. "Oh Shade!" she says in a mixture of relief as she spots the ninja, "Where uh, are we? Some sort of mystical ninja hideout? And who's your friend?" the blonde asks as she adjusts her trashed wig.
Mary glances over as Glory wakes up, and then smiles a bit. Good. It's good to see that the other teen is awake as well. She steps over, and says simply. "I'm Mary. Your in my medical bay. Your safe here, and among friends. Take it easy... you got pretty wrung out in your last battle, and you've been out for a little while." He demeanor is gentle and supportive. No Shade, apparently Mary has /no/ idea of capacity for leadership and comfort she is gradually devealoping.
The Shade grins over to Glory and shakes his head. "Nope. My Hideout is a Dorm Room at St. Ives. This is..." He pauses as Mary handles the introductions. He slides off the bed and walks over. He looks like he's about to hug Glory, but stops. There might even be a tear in his eye, but he clears his throat and then realizes that he's shirtless... Because Rachel had him remove it. Good thing he's got so many bandages on. He stands sort of at-ease and looks to Glory. "Are you okay? Or feeling any better?"
"I'm Glory" she introduces herself to Mary, climbing to her feet. Her voice is only a little hoarse as she says "I'm fine, a lot better than I was when we first got to.. er when we arrived at the apartment." the blonde girl finishes lamely, not knowing how much Mary knows about everything and not wanting to 'out' Rachel. "Shouldn't you be lying down? What if you tear a stitch" Glory chides shade as he moves closer.
Mary looks between the two, and does step back a bit, letting them have their reunion. She strolls off a few paces, and comments softly. "Interface." As several holographic keyboards and screens spring into existance around her. She begins tapping at them, as they silently display information to her. For those who glance in that direction, it's mostly news reports, police channel communications, that sort of thing. Never a day off for her.
The Shade blinks a few times at Glory and hops up on a bed to lay down. "I... Ok." He states evenly looks over toward the girls. "I don't know. Appearantly according to the Doctor there," he jerks a thumb toward what looks like a child with white hair. "I have a broken rib and three cracked ones. I also have a few stab wounds. Some cuts and about a dozen rat bites that have thankfully been cleaned." He sighs. "The Doc says you're gonna be fine though. I uhh. Asked." He tries not to blush.
Glory rolls her eyes, "Of course I'm going to be fine. Superpowers, remember?" the fact that she was taken out by a martial artist with black pajamas isn't conviently not mentioned of course. Now that the ninja is resting as he should she turns to Mary. "So, you have a medical bay..." she repeats, not exactly a question, more like she wouldn't mind hearing why exactly a girl her age has a super-spiffy medbay. And on what exactly.
Mary pivots back towards Glory, her various holographic keyboards and screens winking out as she turns her attention from them. She strolls over, and says simply. "Oh... yeah." She shrugs a bit. "I sort of have a starship." She glances between the two, and offers. "Your welcome to stay here as long as you need. Uhm... the ships AI or one of the VI's like the Doctor here..." She gestures over towards the translucent white-haired child in the room. "...can answer any questions or direct you towards one of the Quantum Tunnel chambers if you want to go back down to Earth." She pauses... and nods to herself. "I... I mean pretty much what use is this place if I can't use it to help other superheroes, right?"
The Shade tries not to roll his eyes as he listens to what is being said between the two girls. He looks oveer to Glory and runs a hand through his hair, before sighing and looking abck at the ceiling.
"Oh Don't pout" Glory orders Shade, "Just rest up, I'll get Tish asap." She does raise an eyebrow at Mary's comments though, "A spaceship? That's not fair at all. Thank you for all your help though. /Both of you/. But I should probably go before too long."
Mary shifts a bit uncomfortably at the 'not fair' comment. But she does nod seriously to Glory. "Well make sure your healed up before you go diving into another fight. From everything I've heard, these are some very serious opponents your fighting."
The Shade looks over to Glory and sits up. "Oh hell no. You can't go after Tish alone." He runs a hand through his hair. He tries to speak but fails horribly. Then clears his throat and collects himself. "She's too dangerous to take on by yourself. Can you imagine if she had taken over you? She could have splated half of New York before somebody could have stopped you. And I don't wanna see you hurt again. Because ... Well it would suck, and we should totally go get some pizza and a movie. Sometime. When we have time. Or like go on patrol or I could teach you how to surf. But we should definately work together on taking Tish out. I promise nott o attack first becuase I won't be in as much pain and won't do anything stupid."
Glory nods at Mary, "Hopefully it's down to just the one now." She eyes Shade for a moment before saying, as gently as possible, "We were just beaten. Badly, now is probably not the best time to ask me out." pause "And surfing? Really? Do I look like a beach bum?"
Mary does not visibly wince when the Shade gets shot down. Ouch. She's far too empathetic to do that. Instead, she sort of finds something else to pay attention too for a moment. She shakes her head a little. "I would offer to aid you... but if your facing a mentallist, I fear I'd be no more resistant to that kind of thing. Can you imagine the consequences of me falling under such influence? Problematic." She creases her brow. "Still, if your putting forth a concearted team to overwhelm this person, you have only to ask. I'm good at working in a group." Yeah she is.
"It is?" Shade asks with a raised eyebrow and a nervous laugh. He lays back down and covers his eyes with his arm. "Doctor VI. Just give me a lethal injection. Please." He sighs. "I like surfing. Thought I'd share?" he keeps his eyes covered and jsut decides to stay quiet.
"Besides, we already have plans to go to the mall remember?" Glory quickly adds, only realizing how harsh her words may have seemed /after/ she'd spoken them. "She didn't seem able to deal with more than one of us at a time. The real problem was her friends" the blonde informs Mary, "But uh, what exactly is it you do if you don't mind me asking?" Glory isn't actually sure about the etiquette here, is it rude to ask what your powers are? "So I know how to work you into a plan we make"
Mary replies simply. "I've been operating as the superhero Chevalier for almost a year now. It's a bioreactive crystalline shell that forms around me. In that state, I'm highly resistant to harm, posesses extreme strength, can generate various sorts of energy blasts both single target and wide area with selective targetting options, fly, travel faster then light..." She pauses and quirks an eyebrow, mentally making a list and seeing if she forgot anything. "...oh yeah. I'm also a little super-fast, totally environmentally sealed, and I can light up like a sun." A pause. "Right, plus, I've got fairly extensive anti-magical weapon systems. But that part is probably not useful with what your dealing with." She adds after a moment. "My identity is sort of secret though, so don't go spreading it around to people outside the club." Huh. She's fairly open.
Mary snaps her fingers, and adds. "Oh, also, I can like... create big contructs out of crystal. I forget about that. It's new."
The Shade remains where he is on the bed with the arm over his eyes. "I noticed that when we faught the Sushi Bar from hell." He lightly tabs fingers on the bed as he speaks. "It was pretty cool. And thanks for the help Mary. I'd probably be dead ina ditch if you hadn't brought me here."
"Chevalier... Chevalier..." Glory mutters to herself finalyl snapper her own fingers and pointing at Mary. "Hey! I know you! You were in that dream! Shade, she was in that school dream, remember?" she asks excitedly. "Wait. So you're a guy?"
Mary smiles a bit and shakes her head a little. "No... not anymore. My armor did used to look like a man... but that was awhile ago. I look like a woman when I wear it now." She almost looks a tiny bit wistful. "It's better this way... truer to who I am. Plus, that was kind of weird." She adds. She glances back at The Shade, and says simply. "Every life you save repays me." But she would have saved him if he were a pedestrian, of course. Its just how she is.
The Shade groans and holds up a finger. "Trust me on this one. Don't mention the guy thing..." He puts the finger down as Mary explains. He does wince a tthe life comment. Between the fact that he kileld his mother (Even if she was illusionary at the time) and the fact that he attempted to take down Tad, he doesn't feel too hot about that comment from Mary. He doesn't comment but nods from where he is.
"Yeah, I suppose that would be weird. A very good disguise though" Replies Glory, who's own disguise consisted of makeup and a wig. "I was wondering why you were there at the time, you certainly didn't look like the rest of us. Except for maybe witness, but it's hard to tell under his costume. Oh hey, you don't think he's really a she as well?"
Mary blinks... and peers at Glory for a moment. "Ugh..." She shakes her head finally. "I dunno. He's like, the only one of us who kept his identity secret during the meeting about the whole thing. So I guess his secrets are really important to him. I don't know... he could be a girl." She creases her brow. "No... i don't think so." Huh. She hadn't thought of that.
The Shade gestures with a hand. "It could be worse. Saviorgirl found out who I was because A Kunoichi had tricked me by having a fake mugging, and then she flew in and scared them all away." He flops the hand back on the bed. "Then the dream took place RIGHT in the middle of Mrs. Brandt's History Class. So my Identity was just thrown out the window."
Glory shudders, Mrs. Brandt. "I've never seem him, or her, take it off! And it covers everything!" she replies to Mary, somehow implying the last bit made it all the more weird. "Oooo or maybe he's horrible scarred?"
Mary looks between the two. Do they go to the same high school? Weird. She blinks, and then replies to Glory. "Maybe. It could be. I'm just not sure. It's odd though, isn't it?" She looks back over to Shade, and replies. "I was at home in bed... but I guess thats what led to my mother throwing me out." She's able to say it without all that much emotion now.
The Shade is silent as the girls discuss The Witness. He looks over to Mary and actually removes the arm so he can look at her. "If you, or Rachel ever need any help, with your apartment. You have but to call me. I'll be there to assist." He runs a hand through his hair.
Glory manages to not comment on Mary's mother throwing her out. Barely. "I'm always happy to help as well and not just for superhero stuff. Rachel knows how to get ahold of me."
Mary shifts her shoulders a bit, and smiles. "Well... I appreciate that. But I'm okay. But yeah... we definately need to keep in touch. All of us. It's getting nasty out there lately, and... we'll need to be ready." She adds, perhaps a bit cryptically.
The Shade rolls his head to look at Mary and raises an eyebrow in that, 'what do are you not telling us?' sort of way. He says nothing beyond that look. Which is pretty impressive.
Glory is silent for a few moments then sort of shrugs. "I should probably get going before people notice I'm gone."she finally offers, "It was nice meeting you properly Mary. Shade rest up and we'll go after Tish when you're better. I have X-ray vision, I'll know if you're lying" the blonde threatens.
Glory is silent for a few moments then sort of shrugs. "I should probably get going before people notice I'm gone."she finally offers, "It was nice meeting you properly Mary. Shade rest up and we'll go after Tish when you're better. I have X-ray vision, I'll know if you're lying" the blonde threatens.
The Shade clears his throat and replies in Japanese to Glory, "By your command Glory-Chan." and makes a gesture to the affirmative.
