Emergence 2.9b
– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –
Mission Gained!
Flying Monkeys?
Seems like Doctor Ivo is unwilling to let his Amazing Android be locked away for good. Defeat his robotic minions and prevent them from making off with the remains of A.M.A.Z.O.
Objectives:
Survive [ ]
Rewards: 10000 XP, Increased reputation with S.T.A.R. Labs
Bonus Objective:
Defeat 10 monkeys [ ]
Bonus Objective:
Prevent the MONQIs from escaping with A.M.A.Z.O. [ ]
"Robin, Genesis, Superboy!" Aqualad's voice rang through their helmet comms with near-perfect quality, the tension and surprise in his voice captured clearly. "Our truck is under attack!"
"Yeah," Robin replied back, gaze locked on to the monkey-robots now swarming the sole cargo truck in front of them. "Kinda in the same boat here!"
"I hate monkeys," Superboy added, neither Robin or Genesis in the frame or mind to question that statement, especially not as the truck in front of them began to swerve dangerously. Even with the loud chattering of the creatures and the truck engine itself, the driver's screams remained audible as he tried to keep the vehicle straight despite the robots obscuring the windshield.
"Robot monkeys…" Zeke said aloud, more to himself than anyone else as he stared wide-eyed at the glowing eyes of several of the robot chimps as they turned to acknowledge the three of them.
"Robot monkeys," Robin repeated, voice far more eager and excited than it had any right to be. The Boy Wonder's mouth opened to let out a cackling laugh, only to grow serious a moment later as he refocused his attention on the swerving truck. "Totally Ivo's tweaked style."
Before Zeke could even note what the Boy Wonder had done, half of Robin's motorcycle disengaged completely, the back wheel shifting its mechanisms with a whir of moving gears until all that was left of it was a flying drone.
Superboy once again drew his attention with a grunt, forcing Zeke to glance back over to his right in shocked, silent witness as the clone violently tore his helmet from his head. Paying no mind to the visor cracking and shattering under his force, Superboy's fingers tightened around the remains of his helmet, half-crushing the fiberglass and plastic material before hurling it to the side almost half a mile into the cornfields they drove past.
Jesus. Zeke could only stare on open-mouthed at Superboy's ire, one hand raised to touch his own helmet and noting how solid the thing felt. Jesus Christ.
"Watch out!" Superboy spat the words out, the clone leaning forwards on his bike as he zoomed forward.
Robin blinked. "What do you mean, 'wa-"
Before Robin could even finish, the taciturn clone suddenly leapt from his speeding motorbike to slam against the roof of the swerving white truck just ahead of them. Genesis and Robin were left dumbfounded for a moment, mouths dropping open as the red bike in front of them began to lose balance without a rider.
"So that's what he meant." Robin recovered first, as expected, the Boy Wonder leaping up onto his handlebars with practiced ease. "Zeke!" His head snapped to the side; voice suddenly less playful as he faced his less-experienced teammate. "No time for Battle Mode. We're jumping now!"
Shock robbed the jumpsuit-clad boy of all thoughts, save one unimportant question. "Wait, what's Battle Mode?!"
"No time!"
Before Genesis could argue that, Robin leaned over with one hand and grabbed his collar, his one-wheeled bike seemingly maintaining perfect balance and pace with the blue trike even as Robin's right hand went for his belt in one smooth motion. "Wha-"
"WhaAAAAAAAAAA-" The grappling device in Robin's hand lanced out, the grapple itself latching tight to the roof of the truck not two meters away from where Superboy was getting dogpiled by a literal horde of monkey robots. The sound of crashing metal and squealing tires from behind him — barely audible over his own screams — was enough to let Genesis know that his three-wheeler was toast. Unfortunately, he had no time to grieve.
"AAAAAHHH- oof!"
The screaming came to a sudden halt as Genesis landed butt-first onto the truck, Robin already in motion as he retrieved his grapple and immediately after, launched a flying kick into the face of the nearest monkey, leaving the other thirteen-year-old on his own amid the fighting.
A second more to get his bearings would have been appreciated, honestly, but that was honestly too much to ask, especially when up against a swarm of heartless robots. Not even a full second after Robin had dropped him to wade into the fight alongside Superboy, the Boy Wonder's transformed drone shooting lasers at monkey-droids left and right, Zeke was forced to dive out of the way of a screeching dive-bomb.
"Whoa!" His mad scramble forward was cut off by yet another robot, this one leaping for his face with it's arms wide open. "Son of a-" The truck swerved beneath him again, making it even harder to keep his balance as he was forced to jerk left and right to avoid random tackles from almost every side. He glanced back over his shoulder just in time to get a faceful of a chittering monkey, it's grasping feet latching on to his helmet while strong, tiny hands cracked the visor of his helmet with every other blow.
[Observe].
The word instinctively came to mind, Zeke's mouth occupied screaming as the mechanical beast continued its screeching and scrambling, holding onto his helmet with deceptive strength for its small frame. Wrenching it off his head with both hands took far too long in Zeke's mind as he stumbled blindly across the roof, nearly losing his balance with every step. Even now, as he held it away from him with both hands, he could barely keep a grasp on it, gritted teeth preventing him from screaming even more as he pointed it's flaming eyes away from his face or body with a hand on its neck.
M.O.N.Q.I. Lvl 15 (Autonomous Drone)
Creator: Dr. Anton Ivo
Mobile Optimal Neural Quotient Infiltrators or MONQIs are monkey-shaped autonomous drones designed and programmed to act like monkeys because Dr. Ivo is less of a mad scientist and more of a "wacky" one.
While not individually powerful, the MONQIs are programmed to utilize swarming tactics and to capitalize on any weakness an enemy presents. They possess rockets on their back that allow flight, as well as thermal optic blasts powerful enough to melt metal through prolonged use.
> STR + 1
Zeke dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding another MONQI as it swiped for his neck, unintentionally hurling the one in his hands over his head. A second later, that same droid was quickly obliterated as Superboy's flailing fist turned it into literal scrap.
That's one down. Zeke nodded, scrambling from his prone position up to his knees only to feel his confidence dim as he found himself surrounded by over a dozen more. And… of course.
> - 70
Ability Gained!
Resistance: Heat Lv 1
It… BURNS.
Reduces all heat-based damage with a magnitude of less than 100% of your health.
Increases 2% by level. (2%)
> VIT +1
Genesis bit back another scream, this one from raw pain, the teen cradling his burnt and smoking shoulder as he was forced to duck another heat beam from an attacking monkey.
"I!" Roll.
"Really!" Duck.
"Really!" Jump.
"Hate!" Dive.
"Monkeys!" He punctuated the last word with a forward flip, barely avoiding yet another beam of heat one of the chittering pests aimed at his back. "And they have lasers," he groused, stopping his roll before he neared the edge of the truck. "Because why not."
Reflexes 6 → 7
As he scrambled back to his feet again, a screech from behind him warned Zeke of yet another monkey-droid approaching him. Fueled by his frustration, the sidekick spun on his heels and swung to meet it.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
"[Power Strike!]"
His glowing, gloved fist hit hard and struck home.
Zeke winced slightly as his arm shuddered slightly in return as he plowed into the skull of one of Ivo's robots. Despite being made of metal, the thing was surprisingly flimsy, the head caving in under a single solid blow and nearly popping off completely, lights dimming and sparks fizzled around its body as it was launched back and off the truck completely.
> + 300 XP
+ LexCorp Ion Battery Mk V(Damaged)
+ Hyper-Conductive Filaments (Basic)
+ Cybernetic Actuator (Damaged)
+ Accessory Fuse Fragments
+ Shattered Optics
+ Overloaded Circuits
+ Crumpled MONQI Chassis
+ MONQI Head
"That's what I'm talkin' about!"
Adrenaline rushing through him and the pain in his shoulder already forgotten, Genesis side-stepped another set of flying tackles and held both his hands out as he spun around to track the speeding droids, screaming out two familiar words over and over in quick succession. "[Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Burst! Mana Buuuuuurst!]"
Almost half the shots went wild, peppering the roof of the truck or meandering off into the cornfield but with two hands in play, it meant twice the shots anyway. Enough of the projectiles hit home, five or six of them peppering the back of each monkey with enough force to scatter their sensitive machinery and sending them crashing to the road below.
Mana Burst 24 → 25
+ 300 XP
+ 300 XP
Double Takedown! + 300 XP
+ MONQI Autonomous Targeting Unit (Semi-Functional)
+ IVO Energy Transfer Conduit
+ Augmented Conductive Wire x 2
+ Accessory Fuse x 8
+ LexCorp Ion Battery Mk V(Damaged) x 2
+ Cybernetic Actuator (Damaged) x 4
+ Accessory Fuse Fragments
+ Hyper-Conductive Filaments(Basic) x3
+ Metalloid Scrap x 4
+ MONQI Servo (Damaged) x2
Getting used to the flow of things, Genesis quickly raised his arms out at his sides, tracking the droids hovering in the air as he prepared to launch another salvo of blue energy blasts at the next one to dive at him. "Come on! I'm ready for you now!" Blue energy flared at the center of his gloved palms like sparklers, an unneeded intimidation tactic that still made him feel a lot stronger than he probably was. "Who's next? I've got Mana Bursts for days!"
"GgrrRAaaAAAAAAHHHH!"
Zeke's eyes widened, energy fading from his palms as he spun around. "Superboy!"
The clone continued screaming with his hands pressed up against his eyes, visible wisps of dark smoke rising from behind his fingers as Ivo's monkeys swarmed over him. Before Zeke could react, each one of the robots flared their jetpacks and took to the sky, Superboy carried along with them even as he struggled and screamed.
"Forget about him!" Robin screamed from behind, Zeke glancing back to see the other boy pull out a pair of batons from… somewhere. "They literally can't do any serious damage to Superboy."
The Boy Wonder paused as he ended that sentence with a sudden grunt, sticks spinning in his hands a moment before he drove one through the eye of a droid. Tearing it from the MONQI's now-dimming optics, Robin quickly spun and drove his other baton into another's chassis, kicking the droid away before it could spark and explode. "We're the ones that need help here!"
Robin spun and swung, moving like a whirling top with his batons in hand. MONQI after MONQI was knocked aside, Robin striking the chittering droids with almost unerring accuracy once they entered within his cone of vision. The ones he could see were easily taken care of but the Boy Wonder didn't have eyes in the back of his head and Zeke knew his part to play.
"Robin, duck!"
The Boy Wonder acted immediately, hitting the ground as soon as he heard his name. Zeke moved, lower body glowing gold as he blurred forward in a quick burst of motion, quickly leaping up into the air and spinning to face the six MONQIs that had been creeping up on his teammate.
"Mana…" He thrust both hands out, the bottoms of his palm together as blue light began to pulse in the space between them.
"...IMPACT!"
The energy burst out from his palm in a cone of force, nearly transparent yet still visibly blue-tinged as it rushed forward and slammed down on the center of the truck's roof. Four of the MONQIs were directly in the epicenter of the cone, their surprisingly weak bodies crushed under the wave of force as their skulls and chassis crumpled like soda cans.
Two others just barely avoided the blast Genesis had unleashed, one losing both its forearms in an instant under the crushing force and yet another suffering severe damage to a portion of its skull. Either way, judging from how their optics were already dimming, they were already out of the fight.
Mana Impact 3 → 4
+ 300 XP
+ 300 XP
+ 300 XP
+ 300 XP
Quadruple Takedown! + 600 XP
+ 300 XP
+ 300 XP
+ LexCorp Ion Battery Mk V(Damaged) x 4
+ Cybernetic Actuator (Damaged) x 12
+ Optic Heat Capacitor (Ruptured) x 5
+ MONQI Servo (Damaged) x 10
+ Metalloid Scrap x 22
+ Crumpled MONQI Chassis x 4
Both of Genesis' feet landed hard on the roof again, sending still-twitching MONQI scap scattering off the truck just to be crunched under its wheels. He glanced over his shoulder to notice that Robin was back in the thick of things, swinging his sticks left and right at any robot that dared to come near him.
Under his helmet, a grin spread across Zeke's face and he ran forward, palms flaring with mana with every stride he took. "[Mana B-!]"
The word died in his mouth at the same moment his energy faded from his hands, Zeke suddenly losing his balance completely as the entire vehicle shook violently. The roof of the truck dipped inwards at the center, armored and reinforced metal giving way under the force of the that was an angry Superboy coming in for a landing.
The impact was as sudden as it was brutal, brutally knocking Genesis off his feet and face-first into the hard surface of the roof, his helmet protecting him from what could have been a serious hit. Almost all the monkeys were hit far harder, though, over a dozen scattering to the asphalt from the force of Superboy's crash.
Their attention drawn by the Kryptonian missile rising to his feet, almost all the remaining MONQIs rushed to swarm Superboy, five of them latching onto him as he blindly ripped them off in a violent rage. One latched on to Superboy's face, optics charging up with the signature yellow glow that meant "Danger" only for the things head to suddenly cave in, four blasts of blue energy shattering its skull casing.
Mana Burst 25 → 26
+ 300 XP
+ LexCorp Ion Battery Mk V(Damaged)
+ Accessory Fuse Fragments
+ Optic Heat Capacitor (Ruptured)
Satisfied with the assist he gave Superboy, Zeke glanced back behind him, his attention drawn by a couple more MONQIs rushing to the back of the truck. These things really don't give up! He thought to himself with a grimace, expecting them to already be cutting their way through the back of the truck with their heat beams. Yet, as he glanced over the edge of the truck's roof, he found himself surprised yet again. Oh no.
And not for good reasons.
Not at all focused on the truck's cargo hold, powerful beams of heat lanced from the optics of the twin MONQIs as they hung from the side walls of the cargo vehicle, all four beams aimed right at the back tires on the right side of the truck.
Oh no. Zeke spun back to face a growling Superboy crushing the skull of a MONQI, Robin nowhere to be found on the roof, and screamed his warning. "They went for the tires!"
The instant the shout left him was the same one that the truck swerved again, far more violently than it ever had since this mess had begun. This is gonna suck, isn't it? The sound of exploding rubber a moment later confirmed what Zeke already knew; vulcanized rubber stood no chance against heat beams powerful enough to cut through armored steel.
Yeah. This is gonna suck.
With two busted tires as it careened down the highway at top speed, the twenty-ton truck had no other option than to lose control completely.
In the span of a second, the vehicle flipped itself into the air.
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