Outside Port Authority Bus Terminal,

8th Ave

. Hell's Kitchen, NYC

Neighborhood:

Claimed by Guardian:

Loophole

City:

Claimed by Miscreant Squad:

Droids R' Us

(Contested by Guardian Squad:

Wildcard Assembly

)

Current Phase Points:

199690

Current Ascension Tokens Applied:

45

End of Phase Two: 23

D:01H:32M:49S

"Loophole, over here, can you spare a moment?"

"Oh fuck me…" I muttered under my breath, briefly considering using Spectrum Veil to vanish and escape before I had to smile for the camera.

"Hey, I did warn you that he was nearly there like… ah I guess that was ten minutes ago... my bad," Jon said, though I was relatively sure he sounded a bit distracted.

To be fair, he probably was distracted. Between Freak hunting down the most recent token, Pinky and Duskbreaker monitoring the Glen Oaks' Clockwork Egg and trying to evacuate the area in the blocks directly around it, Miss Mist still lingering in the old Viper Base watching over the crystallized Hydramental form, and yet another sudden surge of droids that decided to attack the bus terminal, Jon was having to split his attention quite a few ways. Still, after dealing with multiple attacks around Hell's Kitchen over the course of the day, my patience was wearing just a little bit thin and I was just as likely to curse Mr. Factory and Hydramental out as I was to say anything that would actually warrant being on James' show.

Although now that I thought about it…

"Hey… everyone is pretty much on board with taking care of Hydramental as soon as we can… right?" I asked, holding a finger on one hand up toward James while I held the other to my ear as if I was listening in on an earpiece that I didn't have.

"I mean, yeah I think that's the general consensus. Unless Hydramental somehow has an eighth body hiding somewhere, we know how many pieces of him are out there. If we can get him into a fight and confirm we have eyes on all of them… well theoretically you guys can put a stop to him… You're… you're still good to do that, right?"

"Yeah… I don't like it… but at this point I don't think there's much more I can do… Guess this is as good an opportunity as any to throw a challenge down. He's not exactly all that controlled, maybe I can get him to react to us for once… set a trap maybe," I said, my jaw setting as I looked over at Swansong.

Each time one of these attacks happened, I didn't even have to question who would be backing me up, especially since she was able to exit through my Safe House still. It was a risk to keep going that way, but thanks to my Cloak of Invisibility we had at least a bit of security in that regard. She was guiding a few people who had been hiding in a back room at the terminal during the attack out the door finally, having had to take some time to calm more than a few panic attacks. Though could anyone really blame them? They were regular, relatively powerless people who had been trying to take shelter from the destruction in the city, only for that destruction to come stampeding through the terminal in the form of a small group of Clockwork Rhinos.

Swansong looked surprised to see the News Crew waiting and she quickly moved to shuffle the group just a bit faster to the side and away from James as he inched closer to me. I shot her a knowing smile and shook my head before I looked back to James.

"Hey there Mr. Grisgby, what can I do for you?"

"Oh please, Mr. Grigsby was my father," Jame said, his veneers shining as his lips spread in a practiced, inauthentic smile. "There were reports of yet another one of Clockwork Tyrant's remaining droids spotted here tonight, care to comment?"

"Despite being called Clockwork Droid, they aren't Clockwork Tyrant's. They never were, he was just using them," I said, opting to just go for it.

"Is that so?" James said, looking directly into a camera being pointed at us. "If I recall, you've made the claim that another local Augment, Hydramental, is also involved in this. Would you care to comment on that, especially with the video and eyewitness testimony of Hydramental providing assistance during the Broadway Blitz your team managed to quell that occurred down in the Financial District yesterday?"

"Subterfuge? Or what he thinks passes as it for people who only look at the most recent bit of information they were given?" I said with a maybe a bit too overexaggerated sigh. "I mean, I guess it must pass if you're asking me that."

"A little overly hostile toward James, I'd suggest a second go," Jon said and I let out a sigh. He was probably right and I knew it. Hydramental was the only one here I needed to treat like the enemy and I needed to temper how I handled James if he was going to keep popping up.

"He is trying to distract and create plausible deniability," I explained after taking his advice and backing things up just a few seconds. "If I'm not mistaken, you've spoken with him, haven't you James?"

"Ah, when you didn't get ahold of my office I thought you hadn't seen my interview with him," James said, a fake laugh coming out that quickly disappeared. "I did in fact have the chance to interview him a few days ago, and he put forth the suggestion you are simply trying to smear his name due to some earlier conflict that he refused to elaborate on. Is this true? Is there some incident that caused this animosity between the two of you and could that animosity be the source of your belief of the alleged allegiance you've put forth?"

"That's-" I stopped myself before I blurted out the first thing that came to mind and thought about it for just a moment.

"Wow… he can show restraint," Angie murmured, causing Jon to immediately shush her.

"Hydramental and I are from neighboring communities, I'm sure some of my neighbors here in Hell's Kitchen have seen us around each other more than once before. When we both started, we ran into each other and had a… difference of opinions, let's say, on what constituted appropriate force," I explained, though even I felt like my answer was coming off as robotic. "We tried to coexist… we even worked together a little bit… but he had a bad habit of trying to attack me in the middle of the chaos, every single time… just like he did during the, uh… Broadway Blitz."

"And how does that relate to him teaming up with Clockwork Tyrant and the Giant Pangolin attack that nearly destroyed the Financial District? The very one your team stopped and saved me and the rest of the Frontline New York production team from where you made your initial accusation?"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I don't think I ever said he had teamed up with Clockwork Tyrant," I shot back and James brow furrowed as he looked over toward the crowd that had been gathering around us.

"But didn't you say that he-"

"Was just as responsible for the destruction that was nearly caused. I don't mean to be rude by cutting you off James, but I want it to be very clear here so that my words can't be taken out of context. Yes, Hydramental is the reason Clockwork Tyrant is dead, it's the exact claim I'm sure he'd try to make if he wasn't hiding away right now. But if he was even the smallest bit of the hero he claims to be, he'd be out here actually doing something about the droids still roaming the city," I said, looking from James apologetically for a moment before staring back at the camera. "Make no mistake though, he won't show up to actually help unless he think it will give him a shot at me and he will show no restraint in how he tries to make that move. Because even after he killed Clockwork Tyrant, Hydramental intended on forcing the Pangolin's core to explode. He intended to kill hundreds of thousands of people, all just to try and kill me."

"Hydramental wants to kill you? Over a difference of opinion? Forgive me Loophole, but there seems to be quite a few steps missing between those two things if I do say so myself."

"No forgiveness needed James, you're right, there are a few steps missing," I said, swallowing hard as I realized I couldn't dance around this. Logically I knew I probably was going to have to admit to this, but it still wasn't "I… Hydramental that is… he believes I'm the one responsible for his brother's death. He's… well he's not wrong… I did exactly what he's accusing me of… but he's also missing quite a few steps in why I had to do it and has been misled by some people who are trying to harness his instability all for their own gain."

"And that would be this 'Mr. Factory' Augment that you mentioned previously? Because I must say, after you mentioned him the other day, my team has been digging almost nonstop with essentially nothing to show for it except for a nearly two decade old high school newspaper article about one of their students that went by the nickname Factory for the Rhode Island Robotic Battle League. Can you tell us any more about who this man is and what he might be after?"

"I wish I could James, I really do. But Mr. Factory has refused to show his face so all I have is the little bit of knowledge my team has been able to glean based on the various strongholds we have raided over the last few days. All I know for sure is that he's been fueling Hydramental's rage and helping him continue to terrorize this city. I fully intend to make Mr. Factory answer for everything he has done, but as long as he has a pawn on the field, keeping us focused on protecting the people of this city, we have to choose which battles we fight."

"Things have been rather heated recently so I understand the need to direct your attention. I suppose the most pressing question, one that I'm sure many of our fellow New Yorkers want to know, is do you and your team have a plan to take care of these issues? Are you making any headway in putting a stop to the constant appearance of droids causing destruction around the city?" James asked, pushing the microphone over toward me as the crowd seemed to noticeably hush as if this question was exactly what was going through everyone's minds.

"We are," I said, trying to infuse as much confidence as I could into my voice. "But we can't do this alone. I'm sure many of you are aware of the giant egg that has appeared over on the far side of Queens. Pretty Pink Warthog and Duskbreaker are both working to evacuate the area around it, if you're listening to this and live anywhere near that egg, please either shelter in place or evacuate as soon as possible, there's no guarantee when that thing will open but the less people nearby it, the easier it will be for us to handle when that happens."

"Yes, the last I heard the local police precinct in Queens have been coordinating with your team to try and get the citizens closest to the location moved. Are you implying that you believe this egg is the last big attack? What about the giant pangolin that vanished from the Financial District yesterday?"

"Well you can say a lot of things about Grigsby, but dude's got his sources. Pinky only met up with one of the officers from the 105th precinct like ten minutes ago," Jon murmured but I chose to ignore it and push forward.

"No James, sorry I wasn't trying to imply that," I said, shaking my head quickly. "My only goal with bringing that up is to try and minimize the possible harm to as many people as possible. Every other time one has hatched, we have had to react to it and for once we can instead be prepared. I know New Yorkers. I know we are tough and you'll find it easier to convince a New Yorker that deep dish is real pizza before you get them to roll over and leave their homes just because of a giant chicken, but if you want to help us put an end to the destruction in this city, this is how you can do it. Because the only way to put a stop to this once and for all is to deal with the source, Mr. Factory… which I can't do until his pawn is off the board."

"With his pawn being Hydramental?" James asked.

"Yes…" I said trailing off, looking around at the crowd. There were so many faces, all looking for some sort of comfort in the chaos and I knew they were hanging on my every word. But this next part… this next part I had to direct at someone else and I turned my gaze back to the camera, trying to stare through it.

"Hydramental… I know you're out there listening to this. I know you blame me for your brother, but you can't take out your hatred for me on this city. It isn't what your brother would have wanted and you know it. I have tried so hard to get you to see reason, to get you to understand… but you refuse. If you really believe that I'm the source, then leave the rest of the city out of this… Meet me where we started this tomorrow, where you and I first disagreed, and we can put an end to it once and for all. I'll be there as long as I need to for you to show up. And how about just this once… well… how about you bring your all. That way you don't have an excuse for when I do stop you."

End of Phase Two: 23

D:01H:21M:19S

"An excuse!? HE THINKS I NEED A FUCKING EXCUSE FOR HIS CHEATING?! WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS?!"

Hydramental looked as if he wanted to burst into flames or some other element, his desire to destroy something becoming almost consuming as he channeled all of his energy into his yellow form before it let out a frankly massive wave of electricity into the pangolin's core.

"He thinks he can just kill my brother, pretend like it was for some grand reason and then just get away with it!? LIKE I'D LET HIM NOT KNOW THE PAIN HE'S CAUSED ME AND MY FAMILY?! I'LL FUCKING BURN HELL'S KITCHEN DOWN IF I HAVE TO!"

"Will you please lower your voice, it echos in here and you're going to give me a migraine," Mr. Factory said, having watched Hydramental's entire temper tantrum. The moment Loophole had appeared on the news, one of Factory's alerts went off, bringing the feed up for the two of them to watch.

He could see that it was increasingly putting Hydramental on edge and while his rage was absolutely useful if it could be harnessed, destruction for the sake of destruction wasn't going to get them anywhere either.

"NO I WON'T FUCKING LOWER MY VOICE!" Hydramental screamed, wheeling on Mr. Factory and pointing a finger at him. "If you'd just fucking make a god damn move already instead of nurturing a million different plans, maybe we would be fucking rid of him already."

"Hydramental, have you ever stopped to consider why I am helping you with your petty revenge plot as much as I am? Other than the fact that you're basically a human labor force all on your own?" Mr. Factory asked, a small smile spreading over his face.

"Not really, you kinda refused to answer most of my fucking questions because you're afraid Axio will hear you," Hydramental spat back, though he did noticeably quiet down a bit, slightly taken off guard by the redirection. Mr. Factory's smile grew wider, as if Hydramental had said the exact thing he needed to hear.

"Well we have a solution for that now," Mr. Factory said, a hand moving ahead of him as a small, recognizable device materialized into it.

"One of the Dead Zones? How- Are you working with fucking TechWarden?!" Hydramental demanded, his body splitting apart as he prepared to attack. While Mr. Factory had been helpful, he refused to let himself be put back under someone else's control again and would fight if he absolutely had to.

"Oh please, pull yourself together. In fact…" Mr. Factory started to say before his hand moved to the edge of the device, clicking something before he pressed a switch on the other side of it. All at once, the blue, red, and purple forms that had split off of Hydramental's main body collapsed back together, though his yellow form was left untouched and looking over at the two of them slightly confused.

"What the-- shouldn't that be filling the entire room it's inside of?"

"It used to. You can say what you want about Loophole, but he's got a pretty good tech guy on his side. And it's thanks to that tech guy using one of my printers that we now have one of these ourselves," Mr. Factory said, lightly tossing the device up and down in his hand. "Now… after I tell you my plan on how we handle Loophole, because I do think that little idiot is providing us the perfect opportunity, how about I fill you in on a little history lesson. I think it's time you know exactly why I think we need to take down Axio."

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