#ta-da: someone complaining about their tech

[marlynnofmany]

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?”

“Okay, calm down. I’ll preface this explanation with one thing: unbelievable scenarios sound more real if there’s something to complain about. Also, I have not touched a thing in here, and I am literally lost.”

“Lost in my house.”

“Apparently so. An inconvenience for us both.”

“So what’s your explanation before I beat you about the head with this and call the cops?”

“Right. Do you know what teleporters are?”

“I know they’re made up, from movies and—”

“And this one is the worst crock of compost I have ever had the misfortune of pressing buttons on. It’s a scam; look, even the straps are coming loose. It could have fallen off completely and stranded me between worlds, or come halfway loose and scraped my face across the edges of the realities. If I ever get back to the anus leech who sold this to me, I’m going to do thorough and creative violence to him. There will be duct tape, a sockful of batteries, and several Andromedan firewhips involved. I can borrow those from my neighbor if I ever get back home. She owes me for helping fix the antigravity in her apartment after the cat stepped on the buttons.”

“Okay. I’m willing to listen, and not beat you about the head just yet. Is it supposed to blink like that?”

“What the sweet and salty afterlife — Oh no, I’ve seen this before. Stupid straps! Fine, breaking is better than unfastening. Quick, which thing in this room do you hate most?”

“Lamp.”

“Got it.”

KatchewwwPOP

“Okay. I believe you now.”

“Sorry about the lamp. Here, I’ve got a light.”

“And of course it’s a magical floating one. Why would I expect anything else? Or probably a high-tech one, not magic.”

“Right.”

“Do people eat ramen where you’re from? I’ll make us something while we talk. I’d like to hear all of the everything, please, and I imagine you need to figure out how you’re going to get home.”

“Ah, yes. To all of the above, thank you.”

[chaniters]

Cracked Candy

Sidestep is captured by Vitruvian’s minions and left under the care of the sadistic Candymaster, while Ortega and the Rangers race to save him. 

Enjoy!

You cant' scream. You can't complain. Your mouth is sealed by the sweet substance. All you can do is watch helplessly as CandyMaster keeps torturing you.

When you woke up, you were are dangling from a pipe on the ceiling of the cell, your hands handcuffed together and held by a chain. Your arms still feel like hell, they kept you suspended for hours up there while the Candmyaster beat you. You are still held up by the cuffs and chain, but your feet aren’t dangling anymore. You are standing, now, but of course,   the freak took care of it, making it a thousand times worse.

"So delicious! You're almost ready!" he cackles.

Ready for what, is the question you don't want to answer.

Your lower body is now almost completely encased inside a growing sugary crystal casing that's slowly rising from the floor, already covering part of your chest. IT's getting increasingly hard to breathe under its pressure.

"GHMHMMM!" you try to yell, to no avail, the candy crystals completely blocking your mouth.  

The crystal growth stops. He's doing it slowly. Wants to see you suffer.

"What?" he asks bending an ear your way. "I didn't quite get that"

"HMMGGF!" you're not faking it right now...

"Oh, you want more? I'm glad to oblige!" he cracks in laughter again, the crystals covering up more of your body.

Tears begin to fall off your eyes, It's clear you might actually not survive this. You've only just begun untangling the seals of his strange mind. You might not be done in time to actually stop him.

The screens in front of you come to life, startling you, as well as CandyMaster. You look up... a figure inside an impressive green tech armor suit.

Vitruvian

"Aww.. we can't play anymore, Sidestep Darling. I need to speak with my sugar daddy" he adds, giving you his white smile.

You keep up your hopeless fight against the bonds.

"I am not. Your fucking. Sugardaddy" Vitruvian speaks with cold annoyance.

"Oh, sure you are! You appreciate me and pay for all my toys!"

"Just... put him on screen already... " Vitruvian seems exasperated.  

"Coming through!" The CandyMaster adjusts the camera to focus on you. "Ta-da!"

"GMHEMHHT THFIGMS FGMUKCHINHMG THMING OFFHMM MMHMY MOhMHMMUHMTH!"

"What the FUCK did you do to him?

"Just a few games! Games games games, I like games!"

"FUCKING LUNATIC! I NEED HIM ALIVE!"

"OH don't worry, I'm careful with my toys... I wasn't going to break him... YET!"

"Shut ... up... Just remove that thing of his mouth"

"Aww... I liked it... can't we keep it on?"

Vitruvian simply stares at him.

Candymaster taps your sealed mouth and the crystal cracks in pieces. You spit candy stones all over the place as the thing falls apart.  

"FUCK...  YOU!" you scream at CandyMaster

"See? It helps keep him well behaved."

"Leave us," Vitruvian says, furious.

The monster finally leaves the room, leaving you alone with the screens.

"Well well... Welcome, Sidestep. I'm sorry for the delay. I was.. occupied."

"And fuck you too," you say to the screen.

"Again, apologies... CandyMaster clearly went a bit Overboard. But that can't be helped now..."

"What the fuck do you want from me?"

"Ah.. straight to the point. Very well, let me show you..." The armored figure turns to another console "Doctor M., please send the sample inside the cell"

Shortly after, the door opens, and a pair of HIVE androids enter, pushing a metal tray with a glass box inside. A black residue is at the bottom of the box.

"What... is that?" you can't help ask.

"That, Sidestep... are dormant Nanovores. Relics of the Gulf war."

Nanovores. The terrifying word resonates in your mind.  You've heard the accounts. They can cover entire areas eliminating all life, stopping at nothing. Devouring people on the spot.  

"You stole them from that ship!"

"I see you're keeping up, good for you. Yes, I got them out of the ship before you and your friends came in to send Jupiter to the bottom of the sea. You spared me having to pay him for his services too, so I thank you once more."

"I wish you had been there too, you sick monster!"

He simply ignores you, and goes on "Now, what I need is for you to help me activate the nanovore's control software"

"Fuck that...! I'm not... helping... you!" You struggle trying to break free. You don't like where this is going... but you only manage to get the crystals to dig deeper into your suit. It hurts horribly, until you stop, exhausted.

Vitruvian simply stares at your futile attempts before speaking again.

"Are you satisfied? Is it over? Did you get it all out of your system?"

You look down, exhausted and weak.

"How do you even want me to help you? I'm not a scientist"

"Oh, I know. And I also know you're not a martial artist either. You are a telepath. And a very strong one. Which is exactly what I need to unlock the nanovores".

"W... what?"

"You will do this for me. Or else, I will release the nanovores in the cell you're in right now."

The screens show a graphic of the nanovores spreading through the room leaving nothing behind... and then spreading through a large circular area of square kilometers before dying off. Spreading so fast...

"It will take them around 9 minutes to break the glass. If you haven't unlocked their software by then, they will devour you. According to the gulf war accounts, if you believe those, it's worse than being flayed alive."

"I'm not... a telepath"   His image is replaced on screen by past footage of you striking Eldritch's behemoth form's head, sending the whole monster down. Then the screen returns to him. "That is not the work of martial arts. If you're not a telepath, I'm afraid you'll die here, Sidestep, and our business will be concluded."

Fuck.

"Are you insane? Even If I was...  How am I going to control machines?"

"It's in their design. Dr. M and I have studied this technology."

Dr. M., You remember the name... a powerful villain relying on advanced tech.

"You are strong enough to do this. The machinery in this room will record your efforts so it can be reproduced."

"I won't!" you defy him. "I won't help a freak like you get hold of a weapon of mass destruction".

"Pitty," He says. "But I haven't finished" he continues. He is replaced once more by... security cameras? There seems to be a battle outside... you see energy weapons fire and...

"You are watching the exterior of this complex. Your friends are coming to rescue you"

Anathema is facing off against the HIVE robots in one screen. Steel and Sentinel are creating a distraction on another sector, fighting off another squad of HIVE.

"I'm sure they are all here somewhere, even if the cameras haven't picked up all of them. If you won't do it, then not only will you die, but them as well once they come looking for you. Their lives, are in your hands Sidestep. So do it, and save them, save yourself. Or don't... and you can all die together."

The screens turn black.

As she speaks, the black residue inside the box comes to life, spinning and turning into a cloud of black smoke.

You hear a harsh sound coming off the box. The nanovores are eating it's walls as Vitruvian said they would.

The screens show the Rangers battling their way inside.

There is no way to warn them.

If you do nothing, then you, and all your friends will die. But if you do, you'd be handing over a weapon of mass destruction for him to use.

"FUCK!" you scream. You struggle once more, but it's completely useless. The handcuffs above are firm, and the crystal below is like an anchor, constricting you.

He's left you no choice. No fucking choice. You can't let them die.

You try to concentrate. Your body is in a tremendous amount of stress. But you try again... and again...

The sound from the box becomes louder.

You start feeling them. They have a presence to them... You keep attempting to connect, but each time's a new failure.

Is that a crack on the box? Or your mind playing tricks...

"GHAA!" you scream as you manage to make contact for a brief second. You have to keep trying... you have to...

The screens outside show Balrog joining the fight... he and Steel are going hand to hand. They will be distracted... they won't have time to flee.

You focus once more. You can't fail. You can't fail them.

~Contact~

The strange language inside the Nanites floods your brain... you realize it's some sort of computer language.

You focus even harder...

The residue stops spinning and focuses on your side of the box.

Fuck... you're leading them to you.

It begins to crack...

"Stop! Stop!" you yell at them... until something clicks. You've managed to do something... unlocked something...   And then they freeze... and fall back into the box's bottom, lifeless once more.

You take a deep breath. You did it... whatever happens next... you saved them.

A screen flashed on the device on the wall on the left. "Package sent" it flashes. Vitruvian won. He got what he wanted. Fuck.

You hear footsteps... and a mind approaching... it's...

Oh no...

The door opens and CandyMaster barges in.

"My precious young man, it seems your friends found us! I'm not sure how they did it, but it seems they want to rescue you... We can have that!" he says forcing you to look at him, taking your chin with his sharp crystal fingers.

"I'm afraid this is goodbye for us! I enjoyed you very much!" he giggles, as he commands the crystal to grow once more.

"Hm... bas... tard!" you scream in terror feeling the crystals pressure increasing. You are about to die. It's over... The pain is unbearable. You try to scream... but it's hard to even breath. 

You don’t want to die.

Not like this. 

"S...to..p!"  

And then the air vent on the ceiling behind him opens up as someone kicks it open.

CandyMaster turns to see Ortega jump down through it.

"Oh... I didn't know there was another dessert coming up!" he starts laughing, raising his hands to use his powers...

Only this time you get him.

He is distracted, and you get inside his mind. You don't know how his mutated brain works, but you're in, so you simply start pulling and breaking everything you see. You've' learned to fear him, but right now It's either you or him.

"Aaargh... " the CandyMaster holds his head, in pain... and then it explodes in pieces, being replaced by Ortega's Electrical fist. His body continues to move, but Ortega strikes once more, the thing cracking up and falling apart in a thousand pieces.

"H...el.. p"  

"Fuck! Cyrus, I'm here!" he runs to you

"Can't... br..ea...th"

"Hang on, let me break this shit!"

He starts pulling the crystal pieces apart. You struggle to remain conscious... until you finally sense your lungs released from the pressure.

"Mierda..." he says, still working on releasing you. "What did that monster do to you?"

"Thank... you... Ricardo" Is all you can think of. You are tearing up. "Thank... you" He continues breaking down crystals, releasing your legs. The thing is stuck to your suit, and you have some cuts. Fortunately, your nanomesh seals your skin once they are removed...

"Elyise called us... her precognition told her where they took you... Fuck... I'm sorry. If I hadn't..."

He breaks the chain to which your handcuffs are attached, and you fall down. He catches you. Your legs are completely numb from the crystal's pressure. You can't even stand. And the handcuffs are still there.

"Fuck.. let's.. take you out of here," he says with concern, carrying with both arms. Elyise comes inside as well Oh there you are! "The HIVES are fleeing... And  Sentinel sent Balrog down with a wind gust while Steel broke down one of wings. They've captured him... and... What the... Cyrus are you ok?" she says approaching.

No, you're NOT OK you want to scream. You’ve been tortured for hours and you thought you were going to die. You were sure of it. But you just don’t have the strength to do it.

"Let's get him out," Ortega says.

A piece of the CandyMan's face lies on the floor, it's dead eye staring at you, hauntingly. 

You bury your face in Ortega’s chest as he walks out. "Thank you" You keep repeating, in tears.

_________________________________

My fanfiction: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.