The War of Paradigm City

Topaz: <Well... we'll stop it from happening again! Somehow!>

*Adramelech steps back and its core begins to glow. It shoots its red beam into Big Duo's head.*

Mirror Zero fires off a volley of lasers, concentrating the fire on Big Duo's knee.

B{Oh, don't worry, I plan to put a stop to all of it! But I'd like to start with that mechanical doll of yours. Where is it?}

*Heedless of its mangled leg & missing half-head, Big Duo rushes towards Mirror Zero. Basilisk swings a tail at it, but it bats that out of the way & keeps moving.*

Mirror Zero tries to strafe out of the way, aiming a slice at Big Duo's damaged knee, hoping to topple it, "I won't let you anywhere near her!"

*Adramelech's jet wings activate and it rushes after Big Duo, attempting to hold it down.*

Ambiance 1

*Big Duo immediately bats away Adramelech, then puts the arm up & commences the flight function to counteract the loss of balance from only having one leg.*

B{What the...MOVE, you trash heap! I'm COMMANDING you to kill them!}

*Everyone's internal Megadeus screens fade into static, before fading back in to the scene inside Big Duo's cockpit. Barbatos has wires from the Megadeus plugged into ports along her arms & legs. The controls are a pair of joysticks on a semicircular track around the seat. Even though she pushes against the joystick for the remaining arm with both hands to the point where the metal starts to creak, it won't budge. She looks down on her own viewscreen.*

Cast in the name of God...

Ye Guilty

<Wh...what?!>

Ambiance 2

*More wires begin emerging from the Megadeus, piling up on Barbatos, who tries to fight her way out. When she attempts to pull some out of her arm, she gets an electric shock. The Megadeus then begins to take to the air. She smashes the outer shell of the cockpit with her fist, but it's automatically replaced by a metal dome. She looks down when she hears her screen talking, to see that Schwarzwald is now depicted on it.*

Schwarzwald<A Megadeus chooses its Dominus. You...you possess the foolishness of both man & machine. It chooses one who controls the power of God created by Man. One who is able to arrive at one truth. That's not the case with you!>

*The screen cracks & bursts into flame, the rubber coatings on the wires following suit. All the while, Big Duo just keeps ascending.*

Zell just watches it fly away, "Should... we shoot it down?"

*Topaz widens her eyes in horror.*

Topaz: {I don't... I don't know.}

*Big Duo crashes through a glass pane in the Dome ceiling & keeps going. Thiera looks back & forth from it to her watch.*

"I suppose...that it's out of our hands now, anyway."

Zell shrugs, "Well, good riddance I guess."

Topaz: <Are we going to look for the Big O?>

"First we have to find Lilith. I sent her after Pruslas, to see if he still had any evidence linking him to Ronstadt's murder."

Zell nodded, "Right, we should get on that."

T"Let's store the Megadeuses & take the car. Paradigm is already in shambles, there's no sense giving them a target to lash out at."

Topaz: <Okay, let's get going then.>

*When they reach Pruslas's mansion, they find that the front gate has been torn down.*

T"Oh good God."

*Thiera parks inside & gets out. Running to the entrance, she finds Pruslas standing on the porch, holding Lilith at gunpoint. When they arrive, she points her weapon at Thiera.*

L"As you can see, he still had the gun on him."

Pruslas<Stand back! And don't even think about summoning a Megadeus!>

"What exactly would you do if we did?" Zell asked, "I don't think you could shoot us all before one of us got into a big robot and reversed this situation here." She then looked at Lilith, "Are you alright, Lilith?"

L"I have sustained no damage since I departed."

Pruslas<Don't try bluffing with me! A half-second per shot, that's easily enough time. Besides, what would the people think if I was killed by a Megadeus? What's more, what if I already had evidence linking that Megadeus to one of you?>

T"Well, you've just thought of everything, haven't you?"

Pruslas<I did. I even knew what was going to happen to Aamon & Barbatos. You see, once Barbatos had the Megadeus, she would have just destroyed Paradigm City. And we can't have that, can we?>

L"The Big O?"

Pruslas<Ha! Don't tell me you believe that ridiculous lie we told Barbatos. There's a fourth Big, & we've had Big O from the very beginning!>

"Well now," Zell said, "What a twist."

T"And of course you wouldn't tell us where it is."

Pruslas<Of course not. Now that Aamon is gone, I'm the only one left who knows where it is. Not that you could likely activate it. None of us could. But you see, I think I've finally figured out the secret.>

*Lilith begins walking towards Pruslas, who makes no movement.*

Pruslas<Don't think you can intimidate me! I know very well that androids cannot harm humans!>

*Lilith reaches her fist back & punches him in the face, quite literally caving it in. Needless to say, he falls back without taunting them further.*

"Woah!" Zell damn near jumped, "Lilith!"

L"I have neutralized the threat to your lives."

*She looks at her fist.*

L"Should I wash my hands again?"

T"How did you...?"

L"From the moment I was activated, I never had a restriction from harming humans. I simply chose not to."

T"And you never thought to tell me this?!"

L"It was not relevent until today."

T"What are we going to tell Roatha when he becomes President & starts looking into this mess?"

L"The gun that killed Vera Ronstadt is still in Pruslas's hand."

Zell is freaked the fuck out, and looks a bit shell shocked, but tries not to make a big deal out of it.

T"Alright...alright...I guess you're right...this could still turn out okay."

L"Should I--"

T"Yes, please do wash your hands!"

*She enters Pruslas's mansion. Thiera looks over to Zell.*

T"I'm sorry you had to see that. But if it looked like he was going to fire, I would have had to shoot him anyway."

"I would have preferred that. That, at least, can be rationalized, or justified. A gun is made for killing, you can expect that of it. Pruslas didn't even see it coming... I've... never been scared of Lilith before now, and it isn't that she killed him, that could be justified too, its how she did it. I'm just... freaked out."