Kid Kinetic and the Space Knights Issue #3 - Running for Home...

Ryan's thoughts raced and he ran through the possible scenarios.. There could be a number of reasons why Joe had lost contact. Some sort of null field was neutralizing his power. Another, more skilled telepath was blocking him. Cutthroat was unconscious...or dead.

"We do not know where he is. Let's find an opening and go in the ship....FAST!"

The Young Heroes climbed steadily closer to the ship.

The ways in were numerous. There were splits and openings in the metal caused (presumably) by the crash.



The Ceilings were twenty feet high, everything oversized. Whatever used this craft was larger than human size, maybe three times as tall!

Joe whispered "Hey buddy, we ain't in Kansas any more."

Then he added "I heard its a sayin' from some old film or other. Dunno what it means though."

Just then there was a CLANG! and the grinding of metal from somewhere... The pair glanced about. There were no visible doors in this room but one of the walls presumably slid down, up or to the sides to act as an opening. The only way out they could see was through the hole in which they'd just come through.

CLOMP! CLOMP! CLOMP!

The sound of creaking metal and heavy footsteps shook through the ship not too far away...

"Ummm, do we stay here and hope they are friendly or get outta here and go get the others?" asked Mimic Lad.

"We've come too far just to cut and run. I doubt they would have bothered with a distress call if they wanted to hurt us. Unless, this is a ruse. Lure in well intentioned do-gooders and ambush them? Nah. We need to warn them about the pirates that are coming and find Cutthroat. See if you can communicate with them telepathically and tell them we are here to help."

Mimic Lad frowned then nodded. "I gotta bad feeling about this pal..." he muttered.

He sent something out, a telepathic message that would form pictures inside the targets mind of hands held out in friendship.

"Nothing." he said. "I got nothing. If there is something out there..." he nodded to the wall where the distant sound was getting louder "It isn't listening, can't listen or it's some kind of, I dunno, robot."

The pair turned to the wall. Now that they stared at it a little it did seem to be a door of some kind with the faintest of dark gaps all around the outline. With the activation of the right controls it would probably rise into the ceiling.

Except... controls? They looked about. Whatever wasn't covered in dust and dirt just looked old. Chances were that the door, the ship itself had little in the way of power going to it. To open the door they'd have to exert some muscle except...

Except whatever was on the other side was getting closer!

KLOMP! KLOMP! KLOMP!

Ryan weighed his options. Just because it stomped about didn't necessarily mean it was going to be hostile. Depthcharge was large and he was...okay, that might be a bad example.

Kid Kinetic gripped the edge of the door and put his foot against the wall. "Hang on there, pal. I will get this open in a sec." He then tugged using his augmented strength.

Old motors groaned and protested but really couldn't do much against the power of someone who could benchpress ten tons!

With a grinding scrape the door inched open...

Mimic Lad stood ready, hands poised to aim a blast copied from Bioforce (though not quite as potent).

The dark corridor beyond revealed nothing - at first. Then a moment later those thudding footsteps again as a giant stepped into view. Well, 'giant' perhaps an exaggeration but it stood nine feet high at the shoulder and was distinctly 'Alien'!



About twenty feet away the thing - it was hard to tell if it was organic, machine, or both - seemed to consider the small pink fleshy things that had opened up a door into the corridor.

"Ummm. We come in peace?" offered Joe.

The 'thing' raised its arm in response - and the end morphed, changed from three thick fingers into an open circular end that started to glow!

Whatever this "cybiote" was it did not come in peace. And this explained why Mimic Lad's telepathy did not pick up anything. There were no lifeforms left to answer. They had all been wiped out by this thing. The only trace of their existence was tthat old distress call and this derelict ship. "Tomb" might be a better descriptor.

"No time for talk, pal. No time for nothin'" Kid Kinetic heaved the sheet of metal at the towering form's gun arm and made a dash for the exit.

MIMIC LAD turned and spluttered "What? Oh! Right!"

He sped off after Kid Kinetic and the pair of them slowed to clamber over the wreckage to get outside the ship.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

"What WAS that thing? I mean, when I use Telepathy I can 'see' minds even if they don't want to talk to me but I didn't see anything there! Some kind of robot? What's it doing?" asked the powerful young hero.

THUD THUD THUD!

The answer was 'getting closer'!

Kid Kinetic turned...

To see a blur of motion as another of the things was taking fast loping strides across the alien landscape and heading in the direction of his friends over the ridge!

Joe called out "Hey! How did it get in front of... oh!"

There was a crash behind as metal was being torn apart and aside to allow the creature/'cybiote' to escape the ship and get at them!

"Do we fight this thing or go help the others?" asked Joe, determined but wondering if they'd bitten off more than they could chew!

"I don't know what it is, Joe. But I know it wants to hurt us.," Ryan answered. "We should split up. You head back to the others and tell them to get ready for whatever this is. I need to know what happened to Cutthroat. "

Cutthroat. The mercenary would probably not go back for him and would definitely call Kid Kinetic a fool for doing so. But he'd grown fond of the alien mercenary. If the cybiote got the jump on Cutthroat he could be seriously injured or dead. Kid Kinetic needed to know.

MIMIC LAD looked uncertain but after a few moments nodded. "I'll go tell the others. We'll need help out here."

He sped off using Ryans borrowed speed.

For his part Kid Kinetic sped about, using his superhuman reflexes and speed to cover the distance as he checked out the ship. For the most part it was battered, old, broken up and exposed to the elements with all that brought. Most of it was filled with dirt and sand and moisture had done its damage too.

The fact that there was power still in certain parts of the ship suggested it might prove worthwhile for the crew to salvage parts from it, assuming the current occupants didn't mind...

Speaking of which...

Kid Kinetic skidded to a halt on the upper floor of a large open area. The high ceilings continued throughout and the size of this cavernous area - with levels running around the walls and looking down... down... suggested that the ship was huge and was almost entirely submerged in the soil, sand and rock of the planet having been here 'some time'.

As he peered between the rails (the highest hand rail was almost too high for him to touch when on tiptoes) he looked into the darkness. So far he'd found empty rooms or looted places, trashed, waterlogged, dirt filled, open to the elements. On the inner sections of the ship there was less damage.

He could hear noises. Voices? Alien though, it sounded like someone gargling!

From where? He looked up, not many levels above. Down... the darkness was near complete. He couldn't see in the dark naturally. Yes, several levels down. The sound was echoing.

SMECK!

THAT sound he recognised. The sound of someone being struck!

He glanced about. The 'Cybiote' had been left behind. As fast as it seemed, compared to Kid Kinetic it was like it was stood still! Saying that, it may have some means of tracking him... he had to watch out from behind as well as keeping his eyes open forward... With it's size though he should get some warning from those thudding steps...

SMECK!

The next strike was louder, followed by a grunt and what passed for alien laughing!

"Ryan wondered who could possibly be demented enough this situation in any form amusing. He came to a sudden realization. Cutthroat. He was alive. And someone (thing>) was hurting him. Kind Kinetic attempted to reach out with his mind. . o O ("Cutthroat! Is that you down there?")

Not having any illumination was seriously hampering the search efforts. Was the power out or did the original inhabitants not need to see? Were those giant cybiotes always here or did they answer the distress call and wipe out the ones who sent it?

Sending a 'pulse' to Cutthroat Kid Kinetic heard a 'strangled' reply.

"K...kid? That you? It's a... nnngh... TRAP! Get outta here! GO! Pirates arrrrrrrrgh!"

There was alien language shouting and a very loud dull sounding SLAP!

Cutthroat was a tough guy so anything that could catch him (he was fast and agile too) then beat him into submission had to be taken seriously!

Kid Kinetic glanced about. There was also the question of that horrible huge cyborg thing stomping about. No way it could keep up with Kid Kinetic but it seemed relentless and to have no problem navigating the near total darkness in here!

That darkness would prove a problem for Kid Kinetic - too fast and he'd run into something sharp and/or solid!

Ryan was growing very tired of stumbling about in the dark. It felt as though every species in the galaxy had adapted to subterranean conditions except his own. There was no way he could speed about without the risk of collision.  Rescuing Cutthroat was no longer an option.

Kid Kinetic headed back to regroup with the others at supersonic speed

Moving about in the darkened ship at speed meant slower progress...

But for Kid Kinetic, his 'slow' progress was still faster than most people could think!

Shying away from the 'thudding' footsteps of that huge cyborg thing that looked *very* unfriendly he encountered a number of dead ends but the ship was so damaged that in places there were rents/tears in the metal allowing him to slip through.

With a general sense of what direction to head in he kept going... and stumbled out into the desert like atmosphere of the planet once more. It was difficult to tell how long it would have taken the others - Kid Kinetics 'slow' was much faster than most of the others could even dream of managing. As to which way to get back into the bowels of the ship to find Cutthroat... it was practically a maze and with that 'Cybiote' prowling around - and who knew what else - it was too dangerous to take on the task alone.

He sped back to where the others were.

Mimic Lad waved as he saw the dust kick up and Kid Kinetic 'appear' amongst them, the dust wafting past in a huge cloud. "Did you find him Ryan?" asked Joe. Kid Kinetic explained.

Ian/Transmuter was quick to scowl as usual. "So we're a man down and found nothing of use in there, save for pirates who are using the distress beacon to draw suckers like us in. I suppose we'd better go find your friend."

"Perhaps we should think about the bigger picture?" expressed Sam/Mystralla. "Whilst that distress beacon is sending out a message people like us - good people - will go to help and find themselves at the mercy of Pirates who draw them in to do... who knows what."

Ian bit off a retort and sighed. "You're right. We're heroes. We can't just grab our guy and go. We have to fix this so that no one else gets suckered in like we did." He turned to Kid Kinetic. "You saw inside the place. Any thoughts on our next move, or do we go in and hope for the best? I'm starting to learn that out here we're just 'another bunch of guys and gals' and nothing particularly special when practically everything we meet has super powers..."

"I couldn't find him in the darkness. My speed is no good if I can't see where I am going.. Maybe Mentallica can probe the ship for him then Depthcharge and Shadowhawk and Mimic Lad can go rescue him? Oh, and there are something...else here. An artificial lifeforms. At least, I think it is. I am not sure if it belongs gs to the pirates but it gives me the creeps.

Ian frowned. "Great. That loudmouth got himself captured and WE have to go rescue him."

"Comes with the job of being a leader?" said Mimic Lad. Ian gave Joe a hard stare but to his credit the younger hero didn't flinch, returning it.

Finally Transmuter sighed and frowned. "Ok, let's see..."

He looked over at the ruined ship and back the way they'd come. "We need torches, a light source."

"Can't you... magic up some kind of glowing rock?" asked Mystralla/Sam.

"Huh!" laughed Ian, the first he'd done in a while. "Not quite. The only element I can think of that glows on its own is Plutonium. Not sure I would want to be around that stuff. I mean, we're superhuman and all but there has to be a safer way of getting light. I say this. We go back to the ship, get EVERYONE and then come back here, splitting into teams and working through the ship carefully. We grab something for a light source and we're not stumbling around in the dark then. Chances are this thing Ryan saw CAN see in the dark which means we can get jumped at any time and more of us fall prey to it. As usual, this is a 'volunteer only' mission - no one is going to judge if you stay back to protect the ship. It is our only means of getting home so if that gets taken..."

"We're dead." said Mimic Lad.

"Indeed. So someone, possibly a couple, will have to stay behind." finished Transmuter.

OOC Ok at this point you can pick which team mates go with you back to the ship and who teams up with you. I suggest leaving at least one behind to defend the ship or at least alert of danger. Then when you've jury rigged torches and gathered all the people you need you can go back to find Cutlass...

OOC: I think magnesium would be the way to go for a light source.

"Depthcharge, Shadowhawk and Mimic Lad can go in and grab Cutthroat without worrying about the darkness. Mentallica can monitor their progress. The rest of us can take care of...those nine foot things."

OOC Good call on the Magnesium.

KID KINETIC

Transformer held his chin for a moment then waved his hand about. The gas in the atmosphere - what there was of it - changed into a solid chunk of white/grey metal.

"Careful with this. When it burns, it's HOT!" stated Ian. "Someone with super strength..." he glanced about "flatten it then tear it into strips and we'll wrap it around something to make a torch."

Ryan sped off to look about the outside of the shattered ship and came back with half a dozen 'poles' which might have been pipes or a ladder once. Now broken up they would serve as torches as he tore strips up of a rubber like substance that he picked up to wrap the torches in.

"I don't suppose it would matter." he muttered as he concentrated and ran a finger along the metal poles base. It was hit and miss - inside his helmet Ian was concentrating and beads of sweat ran down his face - but he would make a layer of asbestos around the torch so the great heat wouldn't transmit through the material they used to wrap the handle.

"That's some ugly ass jury-rigging..." said Matt/Bioforce.

At Ian's snarling look he held up his hands "But it's fine! It works!"

"I can't shape the elements I transform, I can just ... change them. That makes it slower as I have to layer it on like paste with my hands as a scraper. Can YOU do any better?"

"Hey Boss man, I'm just..." started Matt.

Ian held up a hand to silence Bioforce then looked about, settling his eyes on Ryan. He stood and sighed. "Look, I was trained to lead, expected to make all the right decisions. One thing clear to me now is that Ryan is at least as good as I am at it, and he's had no training at all. I think we should all - as a group - agree but ... Ryan should be co-leader of the team. Any decisions that clash should be made as a group vote but out here, in the field..."

"Ryan's the boss."

Depthcharge stomped up. "Took some berries ta say that kid. I think yer finally gettin it." he grumbled in his deep monotone. Ian 'whuffed' as the friendly pat on the back sent him staggering. "oops." muttered Depthcharge.

=========

DepthCharge, Shadowhawk and Mimic Lad followed the rest of the team into the ruined ship then with Ryans direction head in the rough general direction he remembered going.

It wasn't going to be easy to find Cutthroat in this maze of a ship and they may get lost. It was agreed that they should return here and Ian handed out strips of stretched and flattened magnesium for people to light on their 'too bright to look at' torches.

The idea was that a strip would be lit (and dropped, quickly!) every now and again to provide a route, like bread crumbs, leading back to the hole they entered through in the side of the ship.

"No undue risks. Cutthroat..." ian swallowed the words "is tough and fast enough to give us as a TEAM a problem. Anyone who can take him out and capture him has to be... capable."

Shadowhawk stifled a smirk at seeing Ian admit Cutthroat was a worthy team member.

Mimic Lad held up a hand. "So... plan when we find him?"

"Distraction." growled Depthcharge. "Then someone..." he looked at Shadowhawk "Go in and get our boy." The big alien turned to ian and Ryan. "If you hear sounds of battle it might be an idea to help us out." he growled.

Mentallica sat his wheelchair on the ground at the moment but could hover it over and around obstacles. He 'pulsed' to the group and said 'I can keep everyone in contact with everyone else. Walls hold no barrier to me. I think.'

"That leaves us." Ian said as he looked around everyone else. Then he nodded to Ryan. "What's the plan with these '9 foot monsters' you talked about? Find it, kill it? Or... talk to it?"

Bioforce muttered "Run from it?"

Ian scowled. "We're the new Knights! We don't run from anything!"

The entire group turned and arched an eyebrow as one.

"Alright! We need to figure out what it is we're dealing with. Maybe... lure it into a trap. Get Cutthroat, rescue anyone else and disable the distress beacon that lured us here - so no one else gets suckered in like we did." he said. Then Transmuter looked around, shaking his head. "Then we get the heck off this rock."

OOC Any plan in mind or 'wander around till you find sign of the Cybiote?'

"That leaves us." Ian said as he looked around everyone else. Then he nodded to Ryan. "What's the plan with these '9 foot monsters' you talked about? Find it, kill it? Or... talk to it?"

Ryan honestly had not considered trying to talk to it. The assemble group probably had enough raw power to handle almost any threat. Then again, overconfidence could get someone killed. One Psion proved to be a formidable threat. He had no idea if this thing was worse.

"I am not sure how we would even start a conversation with it. It could slay one of us before we open our mouths and I doubt Mentallica's telepathy would work on a machine."

Kid Kinetic turned to Marionette. "I know we have asked a lot of you but and strained your abilities to the max. Would you be able to make contact with a life form like this?"

MARIONETTE... or at least a 'part' of her, turned to Ryan

She was an AI that could control non living molecules with a specialisation in vehicles. Possibly not great in a fight, she was otherwise invaluable to the team. Without her they'd be stuck in space...

The silver female form paused for a moment then spoke, melodic robotic voice somehow managing to impart emotion.

"Without encountering the creature it is not known whether I could affect or communicate with it. However from your description this creature is based on biological matter with implants or enhancements. I *may* be able to affect those but would need to get close enough to touch them."

Transmuter raised an eyebrow. "Well that's not such a bad idea..."

"I am not versed in Combat. The creature you describe would have to be restrained before I could affect its artificial implants."

"Hmmm." muttered Transmuter. "Well, I guess that's not a great plan then. We need to beat the thing to a pulp so you can... break it or take control or whatever."

He shrugged.

"Let's find it first then wing it. This thing has the advantage over us - it can see in the dark and knows the ruin of that massive ship like the back of its hand... um, assuming it has hands. Maybe... hmmm. What about using someone as bait then gang piling it?" asked Ian.

Ryan found Ian's new cavalier attitude entirely out of character. It was vital Marionette be kept safe as she was the only available transport off the planet.

"I'll do it. I should be able to keep it at bay until the rest of you can pounce." Or at least he hoped!

"Mystralla and Mentallica, I want you two to cover the other team's escape while we engage this thing. I don't know if it can be affected by your abilities. Then everyone regroup back here. If this thing is as tough as it looks we may need everyone. "

TRANSMUTER seemed satisfied as everyone glanced at each other and took in a deep breath.

Then he looked at Ryan and sighed.

"Wait." he said quietly, glancing at the others and waving them away.

"Wait. I'll do it. I'll be the bait. I said that because... because I was... am. I'm ... I was supposed to be the leader of the team and you..."

He ran a hand through his hair. Sighed again.

"You are doing a better job. You're the better leader. We're lost somewhere across the Universe and you're doing it. Stepping up. The others look to you. I know why. You're a natural Ryan while I ... I have to work at it."

He sighed again, looking around and his eyes filled up. Turning away he sniffed and sucked in a deep breath. "I'll do it. I'll be the bait. Just... just be the leader I can see you are and save my butt, ok? I... I thought if you got beat up a little, injured, things would go back to how they were and I would be back in charge. I was wrong. I *am* wrong."

He sucked in another breath then exhaled, then held out a hand. "I'll make it official, tell everyone, when it's over and we have your friend back. Your... our team mate."

Yikes. Ryan did not expect all that. Deflection was probably the safest course of action here.

'Aw, don't sweat it." he said with a wave. "We're only huma..uh mortal. Organic? I guess. Even you." Kid Kinetic shook his hand none times in rapid succession. "Don't worry about your job. I've had enough decision making on this trip to last me a lifetime. Leadership is not all it's cracked up to be. But I would watch out for Shadohawk. She is way better a giving orders than I am." Kid Kinetic sped off to attract the Fury before Transmuter had time to reply.

With mixed emotions Ryan sped towards the gigantic wrecked space ship.

He sped up and around it. It really was massive, mostly submerged into the dust and sand and was broken up in several places. The ship was split, broken up, twisted and buckled in too many places to count. The ground for... hundreds of metres, a mile or more, was furrowed and carved up where the ship had (once upon a time) skipped and skidded to finally rest here, broken up and quite unable to ever fly again.

Slowing down to take the ship in he sped about to the first crack in the side of the ship he'd arrived at when he first came across the ship.

Somewhere in there, in the bowels, Space Pirates were torturing his team mate, his - dare he say - friend, Cutthroat. before they could go rescue him that giant, awful looking 'Cybiote', some hybrid monster of flesh and robotics, was prowling about the ship.

Any attempt to rescue Cutthroat with THAT thing at the backs of the heroes would be foolish - suicidal even!

Transmuter had shocked him with the statement he'd made but now he'd have to put it from his mind!

---

Stepping into the darkness of the ruined spacecraft, Kid Kinetic looked about.

Light from outside lit the dusty interior. He'd be limited with regards speed and movement in the enclosed space/near darkness so had to be careful not to get cornered. Popping his head out he saw dust from the group as they jogged towards the ship. They'd be here soon. He needed to find the Cybiote, lead it to a place where the others could lay in wait and Transmuter as the bait... then pounce - as one - and take it down!

OOC How are you going to find/attract the Cybiote?

Ryan wagered he could attract his foe if he made enough of a racket. Kid Kinetic grab a piece of scrap metal and began sprinting about and pounding the wreckage at super speed.