The War of Paradigm City

{I bet it was a series of single floor houses.}

*Gelu Chalybs backs up, firing another needle at the Megadeus's arm. Kanrei Tsuki begins hacking and slashing at the back of its legs.*

"The subway tunnels, perhaps." Zell said, continuing her strategy.

T"Basilisk could dig those out easily."

*Kanrei Tsuki can't possibly move that fast, so it just trips over its feet, & then is kicked several blocks by Behemoth because I hate Hitomi. Behemoth's outer shell collapses, revealing a thick skeleton of steel beams & circuitry underneath. It roars, firing all of its cannons at Gelu Chalybs & Mirror Zero. Each shell is about half the size of the Megadeus it's attacking.*

Mirror Zero continues strafing with its one good thruster and fires its lasers on the missiles, aiming at their warheads to detonate them mid-flight.

*Kanrei Tsuki gets to its feet and runs back to behind Behemoth. A feat made possible by its lack of heavy armor. Gelu Chalybs raises its assualt rifle and fires on the missiles, aiming for the warhead like Mirror Zero.*

OOC: Lack of heavy armor doesn't mean shit, you fool, the thing is the size of one of the Domes. You know, like the one Thiera's mansion is in. Where Big Duo could still fly around hundreds of feet above everyone's heads.

*As it turns out there are no warheads, they just hit the ground & make bigass craters through sheer mass. Unable to get out of the way in time, Rozengeist has an arm ripped clean. Gelu Chalyb's leg suffers a similar fate. It also shakes Basilisk free & makes to step on the serpentine Megadeus once it's on the ground.*

"Holy crap," Zell muttered under her breath as the missiles landed, thankful they missed her. Seeing now that the internal skeleton of the beast was exposed Mirror Zero concentrated fire on one of its knees, hoping to stress the joint to the point where it would topple over (in the direction away from the domes, and presumably out to sea, assuming I'm imagining the battlefield correctly).

*Topaz is wandering around. Her brother died and she lost her house and her Megadeus, the universe won't allow her to contact anyone she knows, and so she's considering suiciding because why the hell not.*

*Behemoth falls & sinks into the ocean. As an unintended side-effect of this, a huge wave sweeps everyone in & their Megadeuses into the deep. As they are dragged into the black water at an alarming rate, their displays begin to crack. They start to slow as they fall towards a large canyon in the water. Lights come on inside, & they can see a metal cylinder that dwarfs even the Behemoth, covered in gears. The gears start turning & they lose consciousness.*
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*Everyone wakes up in a vast, empty plane. The floor is distinguished only by a glowing grid pattern. The Megadeuses are strewn about in various states of disrepair. All of the pilots are in about the same area, between all of the Megadeuses. The only other landmark is a Megadeus-sized box off in the distance.*

Zell looked around, "Where are we? Thiera, Lilith, what is going on? Do you remember how we got here?"

*Topaz staggers to her feet and looks around blankly.*

Topaz: <(...What...?)>

L"The last thing I remember was being pulled into the ocean when the Behemoth fell in & displaced all of that water. As we sank, we saw a very large machine, & it...activated. I do not know what, if anything, it did."

*Thiera takes this time to dig her briefcase out of Basilisk, jam her cuff links into the floor, & open the briefcase.*

T"All I see going above us is rock. We must be around 2 miles below Paradigm City, at least!"

L"Provided we are still within the city limits."

Zell let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated, "So, we're miles underground. Any ideas on how we're getting out of here... wherever here is?"

*Topaz walks over to them and listens quietly, folding her arms.*

L"There are very strong electromagnetic signals pulsing through this room. If we could find out where they are going, that may provide a clue."

T"Okay. Where are they going?"

*Lilith points to the gigantic, sarcophagus-like box in the middle of the room.*

"I don't like the looks of this..."

*Topaz walks up to it and examines it.*

*Hitomi stares up at Kanrei Tsuki.*

[I said I'd be there tomorrow.]

*She then goes over to the sarcophagus, staring up at it, zooming in with her glasses.*

*Carved near the top are the words "The power of God wielded by man, divine thunderbolts raining down from the heavens, cast in the name of God."*

T"Can you confirm if there's a Megadeus inside there?"

L"If there is, it is missing its Core Memory. I cannot communicate with it. It will not activate."

"Why would we want to activate it?" Zell asked, "What's to stop it from going on a rampage if we do?"

T"What's to stop it from doing all of that anyway? I noticed that one Megadeus continued moving despite its not having a head. And autonomous machines aren't exactly unheard of."

*She smacks Lilith on the back, producing a muffled clanging noise & then has to gingerly massage her wrist.*

"True enough, I guess I'm just a little jumpy when it comes to Megadei." Zell said, "They always seem to want to destroy."

L"What about all of those?"

*She gestures to the Megadeuses they've been piloting.*

"Mirror Zero and I met when it tried to grind me into dust with its fist and the floor. I think I'm qualified to say they like to destroy."

"Metropolis..."

*Vega decides to stop playing dead and stands up.*

Vega:<Wouldn't be the first time. I acquired mine after a similar incident happened.>