Chapter 19: Time to prepare

An original little mini-arc for those who've been waiting for combat.

[2/2]

[Taylor's POV]

After freeing Dragon, a few things happened.

The big thing was that we were officiated! Dragon basically side stepped the whole thing like she said, I thought Narwhal would protest or something, but apparently she accepted freeing her bestfriend was enough for us to skip the whole thing.

It'd been settling in my mind for a while now, but this did it. This was the culmination of everything I'd gone through. All the shit Emma and the Bitches put me through, all the days of wishing it would just get better.

The Locker and meeting my Other Half.

It all came together for this.

I was a fully fledged Hero of The Guild. I could walk up and smack someone in the face with the badges we were given. (Maybe I'll break into Sophia's cell and punch her in the mouth with my badge on my knuckles.) The thought sent a shiver down my spine, and I felt my boyfriend's Amusement at the idea. All for that to be honest. I snorted, but shelved the idea.

Maybe in the future.

That aside, we'd gone home, and celebrated with movies, cuddles, and alot of making out. We'd almost crossed the line, so we had to stop unfortunately, We didn't have to stop. Rolling my eyes, I looked over at my boyfriend, who was putting a bunch of materials into the upgraded Fabricator. The thing's inventory was expanded, so the crate full of Diamondhead crystals, Titanium, circuitry, and other stuff being shoved in there somehow fit. I didn't get the science behind it, but neither did he, so it was whatever.

I focused in on his thought though. "We did, because I said not until another date, and you haven't taken me on one yet." Which was true. I'd been waiting, and also getting a little Frustrated because I WANTED us to get to that point.

I was just waiting on him. My boyfriend huffed at that. "I've been thinking about the Dragon Slayers for a week. Now that those shit heads aren't in the equation, we're having our date soon." I perked up at that, thinking about how soon 'Soon' was. "Today 'Soon.' After today's test in the Danger Room, and we cool off, I'm taking you out." He turned to me at that, his lips twitching as Affection and Amusement radiated off of him.

I knew why of course. I was pretty much vibrating in my seat, Anticipation coming off me in waves. It wasn't just the idea of sex that ran through my mind, that WAS there, but the idea of going on another date was making me burst at the seams. For as childish our first one was, it was something I Loved. We weren't just two Capes out in civilian clothes, or anything like that.

For a time, we were just Phoenix and Taylor, a girlfriend and her boyfriend out on a date. It was a normal thing, something that shouldn't have meant as much as it did to me, but it did. There were no world ending threats to think about, no Bitches or anything to ruin anything, just the two of us enjoying each other's presence.

Sure, we did that everyday when we weren't training or patrolling, but it was official when we were out on the streets and eating together.

A surge of Understanding flowed from my Other Half, and I tuned back in to see him blink, a Curious look on his face. "If I knew it meant that much to you, I would've said fuck em and took you out again sooner."

Freezing at that, I stared at him, and felt my eye twitch. "I didn't need to wait this long?" Something about my tone must've clued him in, since his eyes widened, and he made the mask materialize by tapping his collar. Despite hiding his face, I kept staring at where I knew his eyes were. Okay, answer this right, we got this.

He cleared his throat. "I know this really great pizza place." I kept staring at him, my thoughts non existent. Okay, that didn't work. I kept staring. "Um... I'm sorry?"

Slowly nodding, I kept my eyes on him. "You're safe." Relief washed over him. "For now." Dread came in right after it. It was nice to know my boyfriend understood getting on my bad side was bad for his health. He grumbled nonsense, and turned away. A holographic interface appeared, and he started going through it. Eventually, he started poking things, and the Fabricator unfolded, similarly to our door, as the outline of weapons appeared, four small drone like constructors coming out as they went to work.

While that happened, I thought about the rest of what happened yesterday.

The Dragon Slayers had been caught, The Guild as a whole celebrated, a party being planned for today, but we weren't going. Sure, we were getting better, but neither my boyfriend or I were social creatures, so that was a no. We could meet our fellow Heroes another time... I felt my lips curl up at that thought.

That aside, since we were official and all, I picked us an assignment that my boyfriend and I were interested in. We both wanted combat experience, so I picked the next rotation to Ellisburg. That was going to be a week away, so we had time to train and use the Danger Room.

It was going to be our first taste of real large scale combat too, since this was going to be a culling assignment. They were a semi-yearly thing, the Goblin King's creations only had a 2-4 year lifespan, so there'd be a time when some, if not most, of his forces would be at death's door. Next week would start the 'Dying Season', so it was one of the only times the PRT/Guild had to push in and make sure the man's forces were cut down.

Granted, if enough of the Goblin corpses were retrieved, then he'd just make new ones.

And if they got too close to the Goblin King himself, then his 'Royal Guard' would show up.

Thinking about it, and wanting something to do to take my mind off my date, and impending training session, I brought out my phone and went to the files of the 'Royal Guard.'

There were 12 speculated 'Royal Guards', but only 7 of them were known.

The 1st, and the 'Biggest' issue was the one named Tweedle... My boyfriend snorted, but I rolled my eyes, and went back over what the files had said about the thing. It was apparently a 10ft tall strong and durable Brute, covered in stone like rusty red skin, bald, had a massive under bite full with jagged teeth, and wore a massive tarp to cover its junk... (Thank god.) Another snort from my boyfriend.

The 2nd Guard was known as Dee. It was apparently a Goblin the same size as Juryrigg, and looked a bit like him too. The menace would be offended. I agreed with that. Dee was known to hang off of Tweedle, and was some kind of Blaster/Shaker. It fired off blasts that took the form of orange grenade like things that exploded into 'Slow Zones.' Anyone caught in them would be slowed down for 2-5 minutes, making them easy pickings for Tweedle or any other allies.

I had easy solutions for the both of them, mainly shoving as many bugs down their throats as possible and drowning them to death, Maybe I shouldn't have eaten breakfast, I snickered at the feeling of Fear that rocked my boyfriend. It was just another reminder that being on my good side was a good idea. "Bitch, please, I'm always on your good side."

I raised a brow at him, watching as he nabbed the two weapons our Fabricator created, and set them on the bench by his side, going back to tapping on the interface. "You are, but like you said before, 'We're going to fight, it's only natural.' So one day, you're going to be on my bad side."

I could feel the eye roll from here. "Then I'll bribe you with all of my love and affection, maybe some chocolate too, and we'll be right as rain." My eye twitched, knowing he might've had a point there. "Damn right I do."

Huffing, and ignoring the laugh coming from him, I dove back into the files.

Like I'd thought earlier, I had easy solutions to the first two, but it was Dum... I sighed at the even louder laugh of my boyfriend. (He's a child.)

Indignation came at that. "Oh come on!"

Ignoring him, I focused on Dum's profile. The Goblin was 4ft tall, the general height of normal Goblins, but was pitch black in appearance, and didn't seem to have any eyes... It was creepy really, 'Shoving as many bugs down their throats as possible', my brow twitched, and I mentally flipped him off for that.

Dum was reported to be some form of Stranger, capable of using shadows to hide in, and making it nearly impossible to notice him. There was also a minor 'Aversion/Forget' aspect of its ability, but those would go away the moment it was out of the shadows. It was known to hide in Tweedle's shadow, so I either had to mark it with a bug or two, or keep it from going into the shadows in the first place. "Or I set the place on fire and get rid of the shadows." As crazy as it sounded, that idea would work considering there would be no civilians in Ellisburg.

After Dum came Humpty, "FUCKIN WHO?!" Feeling my lips twitch, I looked up to see my Other Half looking at me, most likely gaping under his mask. Amused at his reaction, I tapped the side of my phone, a hologram projecting from the front camera, and turned it towards him. I watched as he read it, and listened to his thoughts. You gotta be shitting me. How the fuck does some 2ft tall little bastard turn into a living wall? Did a Stakataka come out of nowhere while I wasn't paying attention? I had no idea what tha...- An image of some weird box thing showed up in my mind, the 'Bricks' of the thing flipping to reveal blue eyes. I looked at it for a bit, then nodded.

Seemed legit. Really need to introduce her to Pokemon. I took that in, then shrugged. I'd either be introduced into the series, which would need an Aleph import of a console and the actual games, or he'd figure something out. Either or.

Nodding at that, I pulled up the file for the next one. I swear to go...- Dumpty was, I'm gonna choke a bitch, a weird one. Like the last three, this one was usually partnered up with the last one. Humpty would defend Dumpty from attacks, while the latter attacked. It had a Breaker form that seemed to be always active, turning the thing into some weird fleshy tree thing that used its 'Branches' to strike from afar... It was fucking disgusting, and I wanted to kill it with ALL the fire. A pulse of Amusement came from Phoenix, but I showed him the image of the thing, and he just stared at it. "Okay, yeah, Heatblast it is. No goddamn way I'm getting close to a fleshy Malboro."

I had no idea what that was, he sent over the image of a giant thing with tentacles and eye stalks and a massive mouth... I looked at him for that, and stared at where I knew his eyes were. "Doing things like that is how you get on my bad side."

He shrugged. "Ice cream or cake?" I blinked, cake sounded gre...- I shook my head, getting the thought ou...- "Cake it is then. Big or small?"

I sighed, knowing he'd won. "Think we can get those chocolate zebra cakes?" I'd might as well go along with this.

He hummed, and I 'Heard' him direct the V.I to search for chocolate cake snacks. While that happened, the Fabricator finished making another set of weapons, they looked like a trio of shotguns at first glance. "Mhm, Noble Cause Peace Keeper for you, and a pair of futuristic 1887's for me."(The akimbo shotguns from Mw2.) The surge of Excitement and childlike Glee coming from him made me roll my eyes.

Sometimes, my boyfriend was such a boy.

He scoffed at that, and put our guns next to the prior pair of weapons, before going back to the interface.

While he did that, I looked at the last known pair, Cinder, a female Goblin standing at 5ft even, long and burnt rusty red hair going down to the ground, and was cloaked in fire. She was a Blaster that burned things, rather simple.

Then there was Ella, another 5ft tall female Goblin, but with glass like hair that also went down to the floor. She had a see through crystal gown, and could control/make glass.

The Royal Guard were some of his oldest creations, having survived a full decade, and even having some offspring of their own. They hadn't died from natural causes yet since they were made from Cape corpses, that was why they had some powers, but it was observed that they were getting weaker, so a theory was that they were reaching the end of their lifespan.

Best case scenario was that they were all dead by the time we got there, he snorted, We're not that lucky, I nodded.

We really weren't.

Worst case scenario was that we walked into Ellisburg and were immediately jumped by all 12 of the Royal Guard. Sounds more like it. I hummed at that, then brought up the files of the normal Goblins.

The first iteration of Goblins were 4ft tall, bald, covered in rust red skin, and were around Brute 3-5 on average. So they were somewhat resistant to being cut/shot, blunt force was sort of resisted, and they were strong enough to cut through steel with their claws. They were capable of thought/planning, so they could be sneaky and use weapons too. Though, because they were being starved, they regressed to being 3ft, and were a little weaker. So basically just really strong normal people.

It was also speculated that there were atleast 5,000 Goblins.

Normally, that number would worry me, but given my abilities, the offensive/defensive capabilities of my suit, and my own skills with my guns and Swarm, I was confidant that I'd be fine.

That wasn't even counting what my boyfriend could do.

The Fabricator finished production, and I blinked at the handheld... Thing, in my boyfriend's hand. Feeling my Confusion, he sent over a clip of a game called Subnautica, which was where he stole, Borrowed, the Fabricator from. I watched as habitats were created underwater... And was that a submarine?! "Yup. I'm mixing the Fabricator, and Mobile Vehicle Bay with the Habitat Builder. In theory, this little guy," He held up the handheld tool that looked like the latter thing. "Should be able to do it all, but I need to test it first... Or give it the Upgrade treatment, but hopefully it works as intended."

I slowly nodded, but wondered what the point of it was. More images flowed into my mind, and I blinked seeing they were all vehicles. "You're... Seriously?"

I couldn't keep the Incredulous tone out of my voice, and my boyfriend snickered. "While I love it when you ride me," I blushed at the phrasing, making him snicker again. "We can't go around everywhere with me as Wildmutt." I understood the point. "Plus, I'm thinking of working on our rides," My eyes widened at the 'Our' part, making him let out an Amused huff. "Yes, 'Our' rides. You're getting a badass motorcycle that shoots lasers, and you're going to like it!" Blinking, I processed that sentence for a bit, then nodded.

My boyfriend was an idiot. "Excuse you?!"

Giving him a blank stare, I spoke the obvious. "We don't know how to ride a motorcycle."

He shrugged. "We have time to learn, and the place to do it." My brow twitched because I knew he was right. Smug Satisfaction pulsed from him, and I rolled my eyes.

Besides, while he was right, I also didn't mind the idea of having a cool motorcycle that shot lasers. Because seriously, who wouldn't? (... I feel like i'm getting infected with 'Boy.')

"You're not pregnant yet."

...

...

...

The Swarm buzzed to life, and my boyfriend ran, cackling all the while...

And forgetting the guns he just made. (Goddammit.) Grumbling, I went to grab the guns, and the spare crate on the ground by the Fabricator.

Doing my best to ignore how I Burned at that comment.

[Phoenix's POV]

Walking into the Danger Room, I watched as the Perfected Hard Light projector turned on and exposed itself from the hidden section on the roof, flashing to life as a figure materialized in front of me. She blinked for a moment, then turned to smile at me. "Ah, good morning Anubis. Excited about testing the Danger Room?" Grinning behind my mask, I nodded at Dragon. Well, the copy of Dragon that she kept here as a resident. All of Dragon's instances, The Warden, The Researcher, The Trainer, The Informant, and Dragon herself, all had their own looks. Now that she could freely mold an avatar, which was something I hadn't known she couldn't do, she was trying out as many different looks as possible to not only figure out what she preferred to look like, but so that each instance could be their own person in a way, despite still being Dragon at the end of the day.

Our Dragon, The Taskmistress, was like that too. Her avatar reminded me of Fate's Medusa, but in a form fitting jumpsuit, black hair, and a bust a cup or so smaller then the Rider Servant. I thought it was a good look for the woman, but that was just my opinion. "Yup. Got something interesting I wanna try out too."

Spinning the Builder in my hand, I felt my lips curl up as I saw her look interested in it. "Do you intend to share with the...-" She blinked, and I felt my Other Half enter the Danger Room. "Morning Khepri."

Turning around, I only had a few moments to recognize the way her arm rose, before I saw my R-301 came flying towards my face. I was a little too slow in raising my arm, and got whacked in the face by my AR. While I groaned, that stung, and bent down to grab my gun in my free hand, my girlfriend greeted the A.I. "Morning Dragon." She sounded so damn Happy at that. I am.

I huffed, while Dragon let out a hum. "Do I need to talk to you about weapons safety, Khepri?"

My girlfriend scoffed, and set down the crate of materials I was going to use with my Builder, putting my akimbo 1887's on top of it. It said something about our suits that she carried 675lbs of materials like it was nothing. "In my defense, he was being an insufferable man."

I squawked at that, pointing the Builder at her. "I'm not wrong though, you're not pregnant yet." Her Affection and Love nearly blindsided me, but I was fine. While I was neutral about kids, Taylor seemed to love the idea, so they were in our future eventually. No idea how long 'Eventually' would be, but that was a future me issue.

Dragon just looked between us, then nodded. "Well, you get a pass for this once." I whipped my head to Dragon, and the A.I just smiled at me. "And while I do enjoy hearing you two affirm your feelings for each other, I would hope that this 'Yet' isn't anytime soon." I just stared at her. Not getting an immediate answer, the woman raised a brow, and gave off a hum that made me Worried. "This is where you agree, Anubis."

That made me nod. "Few years at least, gotcha."

My girlfriend's Love simmered, and Dragon lost the somewhat intimidating smile. "That's good. Now, I see you've created more weapons, would you like to talk about them?"

I took a second to shake off the whiplash from being intimidated, to having her ask about my guns, and blinked. "Kind but stern Aunt indeed."

"Huh?"

"Mhm?"

Dragon and I stared at each other, her in confusion, me because I knew what I said. We kept it up for a bit, then looked away when Taylor facepalmed, and sighed. "This is my goof." I was starting to feel attacked here. As you should.

Ignoring that.

Dragon cleared her throat, the sound getting both of our attentions. Though, when we saw her, we both blinked. "Are... Are you blushing?" She totally was. I knew that was what I was seeing. I saw it too.

Though when I called her out on it, the blush disappeared, and she stood up straight, folding her arms underneath her chest. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

My girlfriend and I stared at her, then shared a look. [We're not letting that slide, are we?]

|Nope, not at all.| Sharing a nod, we turned back to her. "Being able to just hide blushes like that must be a godsend."

That got a nod from me. "Kind of cheating to be honest. Though I get to say I made an A.I blush."

"Mhm. No one can say they made Dragon, Hero of The Guild, blush. Good work goof."

"Thanks Mi Reina, I try."

"Sometimes too much."

I turned to her, brow raised. "Excuse me?"

She shrugged. "You heard me."

"Brat."

"Love you too."

I grasped my heart at that, which made my carbine hit my chest, but it was fine. "Hnng!" Critical damage had been sustained!

She let out an Amused huff from her nose. "Get up dummy." I dropped to the ground out of 'Spite.' My girlfriend scoffed, and looked away from me, That's adorable.

Curious about what she was looking at, I looked up, then blinked. "Yeah, that's hilariously cute."

Dragon had been blushing, steam actually coming out of her ears, which only increased as she heard me speak. She was doing her best to look away from us, which made me grin. "Damned realistic avatars and these automatic reactions." Doubted she knew we heard that. That aside, I got back up, holstering my carbine to the magnetic holsters on my back as I did. Seeing that, Dragon turned back to us, and huffed when she saw the two of us looking at her, the blush on her cheeks going away as the steam stopped too. "You're lucky this is me, and not Narwhal. She'd probably lecture you two if you tried that on her."

My Other Half and I shrugged. "We're only doing this to you because we trust you."

Taylor nodded. "What he said. Anyone else and he'd keep his smartass comments to himself, while I did most of the talking."

I rolled my eyes at that. "She could've put it better, but basically, yeah."

The Taskmistress blinked at us, then slowly nodded. "Uhuh... If you say so." It was what we said. "Anyway, getting this back on track, you've enhanced your loadouts." Ah, those!

Surprisingly, Taylor looked to me at that. "You didn't really explain these to me either." Oh... Huh...

"Well, guess now works." That said, I holstered the Builder, and brought a hand back to the R-301 I'd made. It was based off the Exposed Wiring skin, but with acidic green where the red and gold were. Removing the clip, I brought out the mag, showing off the Diamondhead rounds nearly all of my guns used. "Same shit, gun go brr, but looks cool while doing it. AR versions of my Diamondhead rounds, 25 per mag, and can alternate between single fire and full auto." Putting the mag bag in, I re holstered my R-301, and reached out to grab my shotguns.

It took a bit to hold them right, dual wielding shotguns was harder then MW2 made it out to be, but when I got it, I 'Reloaded' them, their Pulse Reactors humming to life. The barrels glowed light blue, and I grinned... Only to be met with a pair of deadpanning women. I couldn't even see my girlfriend's face, but I just knew she was giving me the blank stare, I am.

Huffing, I rested the girls, The what? Against my shoulders. "These two will probably be my only Pulse guns. Reloading them both would take too long, so I decided to make them work on Pulse Rounds. Spinning them like this," I did the reload spin again... And almost made one of them fling out of my hand... Amusement from my girlfriend made me look away. "I did it the first time!"

She snickered, while I heard a light chortle from Dragon. "It's alright Anubis, practice makes perfect after all."

"That'd sound better if you weren't grinning like that." Neither woman commented on that. Shaking that off, I holstered my shotguns on my legs, falling just below my pistol and grenades.

Turning to my girlfriend, I motioned for her to bring out her guns, and she did. Bringing out her AR, I nodded. "Your Quicksilver Storm(Destiny) has 50 shots in a clip before you'll need to reload, and should handle 500 shots before needing a minute or two to recharge/cool down. It's good for mid range, you'll probably manage to make long range viable for it though, and should have little to no recoil. To turn it on all you'll need to do is flick the safety." Doing just that, a light blow glow appeared around the barrel, I'd designed it with just one, and a low thrum rang out. "It should work like your other Pulse Guns, so you'll have some experience with that."

My girlfriend hummed a bit, taking in the rifle, before nodding and holstering it on her back. That done, she reached for her right leg, bringing out her Noble Cause Peacekeeper. Knowing what to do, she flicked the safety off, the gun letting out the familiar thrum of its Pulse Reactor, the glow running along its barrel. "Is it just a shotgun, or is there anything else?"

I scoffed at the idea of calling a Peacekeeper 'Just a shotgun', Get on with it, I rolled my eyes. "Your Peacekeeper has two modes. A spread mode and a focused mode. The former is the base state, and will fuck up whatever's directly in front of you, but phase out a bit away. The latter you can trigger and swap back to the base by pumping it in the air." I felt the narrowed look she was sending me, but shrugged.

She hummed, and pumped the shotgun, a louder thrum coming from the gun, while the barrel glowed brighter. "In spread, you'll have 10 shots before you'll have to reload, while the focused mode has 5. You should be able to get 50 shots off before needing to recharge." Interest was radiating off of her, and I rolled my eyes. "You're going to focus shot something into a wall aren't you."

We both knew it wasn't a question.

Taylor shrugged, turning the safety back on and holstering it back on her leg. "Probably." I snorted.

Dragon clapped getting our attention. The woman smiled at us, looking amused at the whole thing, She probably was, and interested in my guns, She probably is. I agreed with her on both points. "I'm looking forward to seeing how those work in the field." Taylor and I both were too to be honest. Then she motioned to the crate my Other Half brought with her. "But what about that? And the handheld device you brought with you?" Both were good questions.

Bringing the Builder back out, I twirled it, not dropping it almost like my shotgun. "Since I can change in the field, I should be able to just swap to Diamondhead, shoot out some crystals, and use this guy to make ammo or whatever else I need in a minute or two." I'd thought about how to work on my ammo situation, I didn't want to only run Pulse Guns, because bullets were more permanent, so I came up with this. "It's thanks to us going crazy with your labs yesterday that I came up with the idea. So really, I kinda have to thank you for this." I tapped my mask, making it go away, and grinned at the surprised Dragon. "Thanks Auntie."

The way she fucking Glitched, made me laugh, my Other Half sharing in my Amusement as the Hero visually buffered. |Is this why you tease me so much?| I mentally nodded, and felt it as Taylor smiled. |I think I get it.| I laughed harder at that.

"I... I-I," After a few more seconds, The Taskmistress fixed herself, and shook her head. "I... I'll just put that away for now," I snorted, while Taylor's shoulders shook in Humor. "And the material crate?"

Avoiding the subject was hilarious to me, but I accepted it. Tapping the top of the crate, the lid slid back, exposing all of the materials in it. With them out in the open, I activated the Builder, and pointed in at the inside of the crate. The two prongs/drones flew out, scanning the available materials. When they were done, an interface popped up, and I rolled through the selections, both available and non, and selected the motorcycles.

One drone flew away from the crate, and hovered a few feet away as a 3D outline of the vehicle appeared. Then, both drones whirred, the drone over the crate de-materializing the required materials, while the other drone started constructing the bike.

I could tell Dragon was taking note of everything she was seeing, binary flashing across the glasses she wore, while my girlfriend was just outright fascinated at what she was seeing, A motorcycle is being 3D printed right in front of me, obviously I'd be fascinated. She had a point there.

After three minutes of watching, my motorcycle gently landed against the ground, and I felt my grin nearly split my face. It looked fucking awesome! I based the schematic off of the Kawasaki Neon Green Trike, though the sides weren't exposed, instead they were covered by refined Titanium. The wheels weren't white/grey, black with the green lines of Upgrade pulsing through the wheels, and the rest of the thing. It made the idea of taking a small cluster of Upgrade nanites and creating a small colony within the engine, seem like the best shot to make my ideas work.

At the moment, it didn't have weapons, I was going to test out the base form first then tune it up based on what would work with the frame, instead of just sticking a big 'Fuck you' cannon onto it. It was what the Galvanic Mechamorph was created for. The species could upgrade technology, but it could also make reports on how something could be upgraded, and what it would take to get that machine to the improved version. It was awesome. "Okay, that's cool."

Grinning at my girlfriend, I felt some of her Envy, and grinned like the Cheshire cat. "Oh I know. You ready for yours?" The sheer surge of Desire made me cackle. "One Queen-cycle coming right up." Cycling through the schematics, I pressed the design I'd recreated for her use, and watched as the drones went to work.

While that happened, and the women watched as Taylor's bike was being made, I walked towards mine, popping the dial of the Ultimatrix as I did. When I was in front of my ride, I pressed the dial. The flash went off, the surge of power ran through me, and I grinned as much as I could in this form. "Upgrade!" I felt the Curiosity of my Other Half, and started the show.

Melding with technology was a weird feeling, like dipping into a nice warm bath. (That's the most normal way I can really phrase wearing a bike like a suit.) A soft snort rang out at that.

Anyway, I ran diagnostics on my bike, making sure it was all in working order, it was, and checked on the nanite colony I'd installed in the engine. At the moment, they were unprogrammed and waiting to be activated. So, reaching out towards them, I dove into their waiting code, and started programming their parameters.

They'd have a soft cap at how many nanites there could be, I'd raise it depending on how the tune ups went, they were to ensure the bike was in perfect condition, and were to replicate until they could repair any damages, and were to passively upgrade the vehicle's durability and stats as time passed. (So far so good.) Peeling myself off the bike, I turned back into myself, and got on my bike.

As soon as I was on, I felt the suit's V.I pull up a prompt, and mentally accepted it. The moment I did, the engine revved, and the bike started to purr. (God that's a sexy sound.) My girlfriend turned to me at that, brow raised under her mask. [You heard me.]

She rolled her eyes at me. Boys. I was about to say something about that, but her bike finished being built, and I felt her Desire and Awe at the machine. My lips twitched, |Not a word, goof.| My lips curled up in a grin as she walked up too, and ran a hand over her bike.

Building on the 'Queen' thing I'd been emphasizing on with my girlfriend, I modeled hers after Johanna from Persona 5, my 2nd favorite game of all time. The few differences though were the color scheme, black and gold to match my girlfriend, and the face in the glass was replaced by an upside down scarab beetle whose wings could open up to act like a sort of shield. The idea was that it could protect her, and she could put in and send out bugs from it. I think I'm in love. I snorted. [Should I be jealous you replaced me so fast?]

My Other Half sent over the 'Innocent Whistle', which was cheating since she didn't need to physically do it. |Oh hush you.| I ignored that, and watched with a grin as she got on her bike. Like mine did, the V.I brought up a prompt, which she accepted, and the engine revved. Like mine, her ride ran on a Pulse Reactor and Upgrade nanite colony, which reminded me I had to activate and program aid colony to make sure everything was working. |Then do it! I want to test this girl out.| Excitement was radiating off of her in waves with that.

Getting off my bike, noting the engine started to die down without me on it, I snickered at her, and transformed back into Upgrade. "Really starting to think I should be jealous."

Taylor rolled her eyes as I melded with her Johanna. "If our date sucks, then maybe you should."

Making me 'Head' grow out of the front of her bike, and getting some Surprise from that action. "We both know I'm not fucking this up." While the end goal was something we both looked forward too, I wasn't going to jeopardize the relationship I had with my girlfriend just so we could fuck. ROB given bond or not, I refused to fuck up with the woman that'd taken away my Loneliness and Apathy.

She hummed at that, a pulse of Love and Affection wrapping around me, then nodded. "I'll take your word for it." That was good enough for now, so I fully melded back into Johanna, and finished programming the nanites. With everything in working order, I detached from her bike, and turned back into myself.

With me off, she revved the engine, Anticipation and Excitement coursing through her. She was about ready to try to drive it, but Dragon cleared her throat, getting our attention. Looking at her, we were both Surprised at the stern look on her face. "While the vehicles are fascinating, I know the two of you aren't going to field test them in a combat environment without having any practice with said vehicles before hand, right?" The way she stressed certain words was Worrying me.

We were silent for a bit, then shook our heads. ""No/Definitely not.""

The woman kept the look up for a bit, then nodded ,smiling again. "Good. I'll keep watch over the bikes, while you two prepare for the first level of Ellisburg." That said, she walked over to my bike, and dragged it behind her with one hand, then did the same for Johanna after Taylor got off of it.

We watched as she yoinked our bikes, and I couldn't help it. "... She really IS the kind but stern aunt."

Taylor just mutely nodded, a weird mix of Appreciation, Melancholy, and Longing churning in her side of the Bond.

I didn't mention it, understanding why she felt that why.

After that, we took the time to get used to our new loadout. The magnetic holsters made it so we didn't need to worry about our guns suddenly falling off. The weight was nothing we couldn't handle, though I was going to need to make better/more convenient mag holders... |Or just not carry 5 guns at the same time.| I scoffed at that. It was blasphemy. |You've got 3 guns that all run on different ammo. Plus, you don't need to bring the sniper, so that'll free up some space. The pistol too to be honest.|

I clicked my tongue at that. I liked carrying around my Longbow/Wingman, but as much as I would've wished, I wasn't exactly talented as a sniper. I was making progress, but it was a slow thing. [What if I leave behind the Wingman, and replaced the holster with a mag holster?]

We both hummed at that, and looked at where the Wingman was. I'd need to make a proper ammo belt or something like that, maybe change my suit model to be something more like a Halo suit or try to replicate Doomguy's armor and/or inventory. |The latter sounds better. Being too big would be an issue, don't!| I snickered, and she rolled her eyes at me. |Anyway, being too bulky would be an issue. Staying as slim as we are would be better.| I hummed at the point, and made a mental note to figure out a way to upgrade our suits without changing too much. |Though, maybe we should have different suits for different occasions?|

I blinked, and thought about that while I practiced spinning my 1887's. The first thought I had was an Iron Man situation. Though I discarded it since there was only so much time I had, and while I COULD make a fuckton of suits, it wouldn't be viable. (Besides, Dragon is a better Iron Man then I would be.) That idea aside, I thought about about trying something like Kamen Rider.

We already had the bikes, and the idea of making mine change depending on my form had been one of the reasons I'd made them in the first place, but making our suits have different modes was a thought I liked. We technically already had them with the Strength and Speed aspects of our suits, but if I could figure out a way to upgrade that part, make it so the modes were like different forms... (Yeah, Grey Matter and Brainstorm are going to have a field day with that train of thought.) Grinning beneath my mask, I gave my shotguns one last spin, then holstered them on my legs.

That done, I detached my Wingman and its holster, putting them down on the desk that suddenly appeared by my side. I was gonna have to work on adjusting my loadouts, since annoying as it was, Hmm? My Other Half had a point. Obviously. Ignoring that, I brought out my Longbow, and after looking at it for a bit, sighed, and put it on the table, adding the ammo I'd had for my guns with them.

I was better at close to mid range, but the former could be handled with my suit, shotguns, and knife, while I could use my AR for the latter. It'd also help me get used to them, so that was a good thing.

Grabbing the mags laid out besides my guns and their ammo, I turned to my girlfriend, seeing she left her Peacekeeper and her Quicksilver. I blinked, but she shrugged. "I'm not used to them. I'll practice with them later, but I'll stick with what I know now." Why did she have to be so good with logical thinking? "One of us has to be."

Rolling my eyes, I made sure everything was set, and went to stand by her side. "We both know I'm not stupid, thinking about shit when I'm normal is just too much work."

She scoffed. "You're just lazy."

I grinned, bumping her shoulder. "And you love me nonetheless."

An eye roll was her response, but I felt the Fond Affection from her. "Anyway, ready?" I nodded. "Dragon, we're ready!"

"Read you loud and clear Khepri. Beginning simulation, Ellisburg." The world brightened, and we watched as outlines of buildings and roads began loading in. The roof turned into the 'Sky', the ground turned into 'Roads', I noticed we were boosted up a bit so there was enough room for me to rip up some 'Asphalt' to throw, or Swampfire/Wildvine to grow things.

In moments, the Danger Room was replaced by an unfamiliar territory, decrepit buildings, roads in disrepair, shattered glass and other crap all around us. Taylor and I shared a look, then nodded.

It was time to get to work.

First things first was information.

My girlfriend was the ultimate reconnaissance expert at this part, though I still shuddered when a veritable sea of insects flowed into the area. Yes, I'd gotten used to seeing her call up her Swarm, but there were still instincts that went wild when a Swarm of 'Oh fuck that's alot of bugs' shows up. Thankfully, they dispersed around the 'City' moments later, getting me to breath out now that they were gone. Amusement radiated off of my partner, and I rolled my eyes. I might've been rubbing off on the cheeky woman a little too much. I got a flash of us in the shower, 'Experimenting', before it was gone.

My lips twitched, but she shunted her Embarrassment away before I could comment on it. |Tease later, we're in the field.|

Sighing, I grabbed my shotguns, and gave them a spin, the Pulse Reactors humming to life as they glowed. [Definitely teasing you later though.]

|Future Taylor issue.| I snorted, then turned as growling filled the air. |They're spawning in now. Overwatch, or side by side?| Knowing what she had with her, I motioned for her to take the high ground. I was better in close range, while she was a prodigy at long range. My girlfriend pulsed with Pride, then nodded. I heard her activate the Strength aspect of her suit, then watched as she kicked off the ground, jumping towards the nearest building. |Stay safe, I love you.|

I accepted the way my core pulsed at that, and smiled. [Love you too.] We both radiated and let our Love envelop each other, and began the mission. I took a step towards the growling noise, idly noting my Minimap gaining more and more markers.

Turning the corner, I saw one of the starved and weakened Goblins, and had a moment to take in the fact it looked ugly as fuck before the thing pounced at me like an animal. "DI...- ACK!" I pulled the trigger of my right shotgun, the Pulse Round landing on its right shoulder, staggering it. I clicked my teeth at the fact it didn't die, and moved my left towards its head and pulled the trigger. The shot tore through its eye, and the Goblin's head exploded.

Taking a second to recognize that it looked completely realistic, I spun my guns, the next pair of rounds being generated. (So, these fuckers are going to talk... Interesting.) With that taken care of, I made my way down the road. The recreation of Ellisburg was amazing, and it felt li...- Noticing a pair closing in on me from my sides, I turned to the one closer to me, and aimed my gu...- A bit of concrete hit my head, not enough to hurt, but enough to make me stagger at the suddenness.

The one I turned too lunged at m...- A Pulse Round rang out, the Goblin's head shooting back like it got kicked by a horse. |Behind you!|

Getting my bearings, I took the chance and jumped in place, my suit sending me a good few feet into the air, and away from the Goblin that tried to tackle me. The fucker ended up tackling his friend, the two falling into a heap of limbs. When I landed, I aimed my shotguns at the both of them, and shot, The first round tore through the top Goblin's back, while the second tore through the dazed ones throat.

I looked at the corpses for a second, then checked my Minimap. 10 blips were closing in, and I huffed. (I'll have to test my shotguns out later.) Holstering them on my legs, I brought out my R-301, and flipped off the safety. Spraying and praying was going to be the name of the game. And speaking of praying, I sent a quick one off to my Other Half. [All hail the Headshot Queen.]

Amusement came to me at that. |Mhm. You can praise me later, focus now, goof. I'll pick off the lead, you take the 4 on the left, and I'll handle the ones on the right.| I hummed, and looked ahead at the charging Goblins, I could do that.

A Pulse Round went off, the lead Goblin's head popping like a watermelon, making the ones on its left and right freeze. I heard the beating of bug wings, and took the opportunity I was given, raising my AR and firing towards the frozen Goblin. A pair of shots tore into its chest, while a third shot through its jaw. A small Swarm of hornets and wasps flew past me, and I turned towards the other three.

Their faces looked pissed, and one of them threw what looked like a makeshift axe at me. "FOR THE KING!" Seeing it in time, I turned to the side, avoiding it as I raised my AR and fired at the fucker. My rounds tore through it, and I swept to the left, another Pulse Round went off and took the head off another target, the other Goblins ducking under the gunfire. (Tch, let's see em duck under this.) Taking a grenade off my belt, I primed it, and tossed it at the downed Goblins. The idiots looked at it, shared a look, then got electrocuted with enough Pulse Energy to knock out an elephant.

With them dead, I turned to look at the other Goblins, and blinked when I saw a bunch of wasps stinging throats, while the hornets went into said throats... [Have I told you how much I love you today?]

I felt the Embarrassed Amusement, as well as the Love my comment got. |No, but I...- Duck!|

Trusting her again, I dropped to the gro...- A big ass chunk of concrete flew over my head, crashing into a building, and breaking down the wall. A Pulse Round went off, and I turned to see what she shot, and groaned at the sight of a normal Goblin groggily shaking off the shot. Getting back onto my feet, I checked my clip, and saw I had 8 rounds left. (That'll do.) Raising my R-301, I took aim, and was about to fire, but the fucker lunged at me like a Cheetah. Knowing I wasn't going to avoid it, I activated the Shield Mode, and braced as the fucker hit me like a Quarterback.

Unfortunately for the Goblin, I took it, and didn't budge. The look of surprise on its face was hilarious to me, but I used my free hand to grip the fucker by the shoulder, switched to Strength Mode, headbutting the Goblin, dazing it. "Dammed Hu...-" I raised the AR under his chin, and shot him in the face. My rounds tore through his jaw and head, and blew his head apart.

Knowing I was empty, I tossed the mag, and was about to reload again, but then I saw the Minimap. I was going to be surrounded.

Now, I had a few outs here. The obvious one was the Ultimatrix.

Another was going Speed Mode and booking it.

Maybe Strength Mode and pull a 'HULK SMASH.'

But obviously I was going to go with the first option. So, as I holstered my AR, I made the fibers on my wrist pull back and popped the dial, noting a Swarm of bugs flying in and attacking the upcoming Goblins. I selected one, and pressed the dial.

The transformation ran through me, and when I opened my eyes, I grinned. "Diamondhead!" The bugs retreated, and as the Goblins stared at me, I shifted a hand into a Morningstar, while I grew a jagged gauntlet onto the other, a Kite Shield growing on the length of that arm as I charged towards the Goblins in front of me. "RIP AND TEAR!" My Morningstar bashed in the skull of the closest Goblin, and that started a melee frenzy.

The older and healthier Goblins surrounded and tried to beat on me, while the weaker ones tried to climb up my body, probably trying to get to my head. A Pulse Round impacted a Goblin on my back, and I brought my gauntlet clad hand to the neck of another one on my shoulder. "Legolegole..." I snapped its neck, and tossed it off of me.

Bashing my shield arm and Morningstar into the Goblins around me, I laughed, and slammed a foot into the ground, crystal lances exploding out from the earth and impaling everything near me. Some missed, mainly the smaller and weaker ones, but I turned my Morningstar into a blade, and decapitated one of them, while I punted another one. I was twice their height, so that was easy as hell to do.

A Goblin managed to climb onto my back, and tried jumping onto my head, but another Pulse Round shot it out of the air. I made quick work of the rest of the Goblins after that, and surveyed my work. Goblins were impaled like I was Alucard, some missing their heads, others looking like they were turned to paste. (Yeah, I do good work.) That aside, I turned to the direction my girlfriend was in... Then blinked. [Uhhh, you know those guys are climbing the building, right?]

My girlfriend scoffed at me. |Duh. I can handle it though.| Saying that, her Swarm arose, the sky being temporarily blocked out at the sheer number of flying insects. The building she was staying on was Swarmed as both flying bugs and crawlers made their way over, coating all the Goblins in their bodies... I just stared, not even paying attention to the rocks/concrete being thrown at me as I watched the scariest thing I'd ever seen.

I punted one of the little shits that got close to me though.

The building looked like it was rippling, kind of like a pond, with all the bugs crawling onto it.

I watched as they handled all the Goblins, then dispersed back into the streets, surrounding buildings, and sky. Smug Satisfaction radiated off my Other Half, and I saw her look over to me, laying her sniper on her shoulder as she did. |See.|

All I could do was stare for a second, then slowly nodded. [If Diamondhead had a dick, mine would probably be scaroused by now.] Fun fact, Petrosapien's reproduced kind of like fish. The female was supposed to create an egg like structure out of crystal, while the male would create a crystal that'd integrate itself with the egg structure. After a decade, the child would appear... Grey Matter had weird thoughts when he was handling 'Diamondhead Sperm.'

Anyway, I saw her turn away, while also getting a pulse of Embarrassed Affection. |Why are you like this?|

[Because yes.]

Taylor huffed over the Bond, then I felt a spike of Alarm. |Tweedle and Dee, incoming!|

Turning towards where she was looking, I saw the lumbering Goblin smash through a building. The smaller Goblin was bouncing around a makeshift platform on the giant Goblin's shoulders, cackling as it juggled some grenade like orbs. "PREeeTy GlasS MAn!" I hated it.

Slamming my gauntlet clad hand into the ground, I sent a fist made of crystal towards the lumbering giant, but Dee threw one of the grenades at it, and a bunch of chain like things sprouted around the area slowing down my fist... Then the duo paused. "Considering we can't recreate esoteric affects, I'll be substituting Dee's ability by using those dense and heavy chains you see before you." Then everything resumed...

[|Uhuh...|] The moment passed, and I dashed to the side to avoid another grenade. A Pulse Round shot out, but Tweedle's arm moved way too fast for something of his size, and blocked it. Irritation bled over from the both of us at that.

Huffing, I got up, then stomped, creating waves of thin spear shaped crystals at the Goblin. Sure, Dee could stop a big construct, but how about a bunch of thin ones?

The answer was apparently really well. The damn grenades had a big AoE, 5x5 if what I was seeing was right, and the little shit was smart, chucking them in front of Tweedle, making a 'Slow Zone' that made the amount of spears I sent irrelevant. "HEHEHE, PRETTY ROCK MAN NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR DEE!"

My eye twitched, and I tapped the dial. "Jetray!" Taking off, I flew above the two idiots faster then they could blink, charged my eye beams, and my tail beam, and aimed at the little bastard. "Eat shit!" A trio of emerald rays shot towards the smaller one, but again, Tweedle moved faster then he should've, and turned to smack the beams aw...- Another Pulse Round shot out, nailing Dee in the head. (Fuckin Jesus, she's on point with those shots.)

The small Goblin screamed as it fell from Tweedle, and landed on the ground with a crack. The giant Goblin went still at that, actually, he paused. "Considering we don't know what could happen should Dee or Dum die, I'll be throwing you curve balls like this."

The Goblin gained a manic look in its eyes, and roared at me. "DEEEEEEEEE!"

Obviously, I said the first thing I thought. "... Dick?" Then I saw the fucker reach over to the crystal spears I'd made as Diamondhead, break them apart, and start lobbing them at me like this was the Olympics! "Nope." Too bad for him I was fast as fuck.

I peppered the bastard with eye beams, but they didn't seem to be working, making me click my tongue. I heard and saw Taylor directing her Swarm and shooting at the horde of Goblins that'd made their way over, which answered why I hadn't been getting bothered by grunts while the bosses showed up. "STAY STILL AND LET TWEEDLE HURT YOU!"

"How about no?" He threw a chunk of the bigger crystal at me, when the fuck had he broken that? And I had an idea.

Flying above a roof, I tapped the dial, turning to someone else. "Blitzwolfer!" Opening my maw, I howled at the fucker. "~AWWWOOOO!~" The sound waves traveled towards the giant, making it scream as the crystals he'd been using were shattered. Seeing that it was working, I jumped off the roof, leaping towards the downed gia...- A wild swing made me widen my eyes before I was whacked out of the air by an arm as thick and heavy as a bus.

I crashed through a building, and groaned as I got a bookcase dropped on me for extra measure. (Note to self, don't do that.) Getting the bookshelf off, I shook my head, and looked out towards the street, where the big lug was groggily getting up and looking for me. (He doesn't know I'm he...-) Surprise came from my Other Half, and thanks to my hearing as the Werewolf, I heard a familiar yelp. [Taylor?!]

|I'm fine! Apparently Dragon made Dum invisible!| I blinked, that seemed legit. |I can handle it though, focus on Tweedle.| Nodding, I tapped the dial.

Sound had proven to work already, so I was going to double down. "Echo Echo!" Splitting, my clone and I shared a look, then nodded. We ran out of the store, splitting again, again, and again.

By the time we were out, we were 16 strong, but another split got us to 32. We surrounded the big lug in pairs, and I mentally grinned. "Go. To. Hell. Wall! Of! SOUND!" As one, we screamed, the sound waves blasted the pavement in front of us, and converged on Tweedle. The giant Goblin's screams were drowned out by the collective barrage of sound, and eventually it stopped screaming all together. When we were sure it was dead, we stopped screaming.

Recognizing it was dead, we all looked at each other, then turned to see where Taylor was... And blinked when we saw something get kicked off the roof. It shimmered similarly to our Cloaked Form, so we had an idea of what it was. Said idea was confirmed when Taylor chucked a Pulse Grenade off the roof, an explosion of energy enveloped the Goblin, frying it, and causing a pulse of Pride to surge through her.

The clones and I shared a look, then nodded. "We're. Winning." No idea which one said that, but we all agreed.

We all knew what we meant by it.

"Difficulty increase, activated." Wait, what?

Suddenly, a horde started crawling out of the wood works, stone weapons and concrete hailing at us from out of fucking nowhere! (Goddammit Drago...- Was that a goddamn SINK?!) The A.I and I were gonna have WORDS after this!