Lucas

Autor grins at him. "Fair enough," he says, and then turns to the Porkybot for their next set of instructions.

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The host applauds Master Mini-Porky's stunning last victory.

"I hereby deem all of you fit to meet Master Porky."

He opens the door to the next room, revealing a waterway and a boat. Lining the sides of the channel are a collection of objects, presumably Porky's. A group of phones, an ancient ATM, a couple of buses, a helicopter, a yellow submarine, a chrome device in the shape of a Mr. Saturn, a mech in the shape of a spider, and, for some reason, a pair of sesame seeds.

"Anyone else getting a weird, wrong vibe about this room?" Kumatora asks.

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"Hate to say it," Dinah says helpfully from the back, "but I've been getting a weird, wrong vibe for a while, now."

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"Yeah, but this is a new one," Duster comments. "These were the same things we saw in the cinema. It's like walking into a stalker's house."

Lucas reaches into a pocket, thoughtful, and pulls out a yo-yo. What did Lil' Miss Marshmallow call it? King P's precious Best Friend Yo-yo?

"His best friend?" Lucas asks himself aloud.

The boat ride ends just as he wonders what sort of a person King Porky would have as a best friend.

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Autor doesn't make a comment on the shrine, as the mention of stalking doesn't faze him.

No, what's caught his attention is the huge window taking up the wall opposite the entrance of the new room. His boots click on the metal floor as he steps off the boat and glances around. "This is the most roundabout way to a top floor I've ever heard of."

Edited Date: 2013-12-18 02:28 am (UTC)

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"The beginning of the end," calls a tinny voice. "The end of everything."

A young blond boy almost identical to the Master Mini-Porky stands in wait near the window.

"Let's be friends. I'm Porky. I'm really just this meek little boy."

He steps towards the group, forcing them to step back.

"Please dote over me more. Please talk to me like good boys and girls. You know, just like me."

Duster and Kumatora each put an arm over Lucas as they back up. He shakes his head slightly, unsure how to answer Porky.

"That's not very nice, now is it?" Porky asks, the tinny voice now stilted. "Actually...I'm not very nice, either."

A small beeping is their only warning before the Porky-bot explodes.

From:

a1enzo

Enzo was already moving forward at signs of obvious creepiness; when the creepiness turns to ominous beeping, he dives in front of the group, getting everyone either within range of his forcefield or behind it. A big enough bang will overload the field and force it to recharge, but then, it doesn't need to hold for long against a single explosion.

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One thankfully brief explosion is the least of their worries. Five more Porky-bots drop from the ceiling and close in, all clamoring for attention. A couple throw themselves on the ground to play dead. One begins to cry. Another bows up and down and apologizes over and over. The last moves behind the apologizing one to use him as a shield.

Kumatora and Duster try to push the resisting bots away while Lucas casts a PSI shield on everyone in the party.

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"Is it safe to assume that all of these will explode?" Autor shouts, standing up from his crouch. Sylladex in one hand and one of his grenades in the other, he darts to Enzo's side.

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"Unless we can shut them down first?" Dinah suggests. She takes a couple of steps back in order to give her a running jump over the force field. "Keep it strong, Enzo."

With that between her and her friends, she takes a breath.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

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"Oh shit!" Kumatora yelps when she hears multiple bots beeping. And then, as fast as she can, she crouches down and puts her hands against the floor. "PK Ground!"

The PSI attack spreads the bots further out just as they explode one by one...

...only to be replaced by five more Porky-bots.

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a1enzo

Frag. That did it. They're okay, but... "My force field needs time to recharge!" he says, abandoning the defence and sending the nearest bot flying with a powerful kick. "And how many of these things are there going to be, anyway?"

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"Slightly fewer than we can handle," Dinah says firmly. Her scream didn't disable, so she sweep kicks one as far away as she can on her way to racing towards another, wrestling it to the ground and away from the others.

"Robots usually have 'off' buttons, right?"

(All the while praying: please don't explode while I'm holding you, please don't explode while...)

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"Haven't seen one yet," Duster answers, pinning the kicked bot to a wall with his staples.

"I'm really sorry," whimpers the Porky-bot in Dinah's hold.

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Autor picks one distanced from the others off with a well-placed flash bang. He tosses another up into the holes in the ceiling and waits for beeping. "I don't think anymore are dropping down!" he says. "But be careful!"

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"Oh man."

Dinah, for the record, hates throwing things. She turns away from her friends, and hurls the Porkybot away from her, while rolling backwards to give herself as much distance as possible.

"I say we get out of here."

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A couple of the Porky-bots explode. More drop from the ceiling despite Autor's attempt to stop them.

But all of a sudden, some guys rush into the room!

"Tonda Gossa!" calls Baccio as he jumps out and effortlessly takes out a Porky-bot without exploding it. "Dramatic climaxes are when unruly dudes like us get to shine!"

Shimmy Zmizz beans another. "Seems this Master Porky guy was trying to use us to brainwash everyone. I say it's high time we screw up his idiotic plan!"

"Hah! We ain't gonna let this Porky freak have his way!" Magic shouts.

"We're gonna make you pay for all the bad stuff you've done!" OJ adds. "Get ready! It's punishment time!"

One by one, the DCMC deactivate and destroy the rest of the Porkybots in the room.

"Everyone all right?" Magic asks, offering a hand to anyone who needs it.

From:

a1enzo

SUDDENLY, MUSICIANS.

"I think we're good, yeah. Thanks for the backup."

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Autor takes that hand, given that one of the explosions happened to knock him down. "Er, thanks," he says, thoroughly confused. "Nice job cleaning up the mess."

He glances around the room. "Think that was the last trap?"

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"Lucas, this is it," says the gruff shepherd that just entered the room. "This is finally it..."

Boney barks and rushes forward, pawing at Flint's hand while Lucas turns to face him.

"Dad...?"

Why are his feet lead when facing his father properly for the first time in three years? Shouldn't he run forward the way Boney did?

"Have we managed to corner the enemy....or have we all been dragged here?" adds Wess as he and others from Tazmily file in. "Hmm. I suppose it doesn't matter either way. Right, Duster?"

Bronson and Alec look around the strange room. Lighter messes with the 2x4 he's hauling on his shoulder while his son Fuel turns circles. Lastly, Dr. Andonuts from the chimera lab approaches the front of the room.

Lucas can't remember the last time he saw everyone together like this. Why here like this?

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"Is anyone hurt?" Autor asks, clearing his throat.

He shifts his feet, trying to find a space for himself in the crowded room, and ends up near Lucas. "Hey. You okay?"

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"Huh?" Lucas goes. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Flint steps closer to Lucas, looking Dinah, Enzo, and Autor over.

But then there's a creaky coughing and wheezing.

"Come a little closer so I can see your face better..."

Lucas looks left, then right, then turns around.

"Oh, is that what you look like? I was the one who brought you here. A traveler who has journeyed to and from past and future. I'm the most clever, most charming, and most trouble-making boy ever...

"Master Porky Minch!"

Chains rattle in the high ceiling.

"I welcome you once again, you weak hangers-on pretending to be the last survivors of this world! Spankety, spankety, spankety! Ahahahahahahaha!"

The chains jerkily lower a bed holding an immensely old man. His skin is wrinkled and almost as white as his hair, his cheeks are sunken in, and his childish t-shirt and denim overalls have been faded by time.

From:

a1enzo

"That's our virus? Seriously? He's just…"

Pretty creepy, actually, but not in any way Enzo had expected.

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If Autor hadn't just blown up a robot wearing a facsimile of those overalls, he wouldn't have believed the announcement.

"Spankety?" he murmurs, perplexed.

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