The Chaos Hour

Rorschach reached forward, brushing one of the threads with the tip of his finger. He drew back instantly, shaking his hand. God, that stung.

Then, he saw it, gleaming metal on the ceiling in the middle of the room. Some kind of door.

"There," he said, nodding to it.

Cthulhu looked. " 'kay," he said, "Now how do we get up there?"

Rorschach was silent. Good question.

 

"There," he said, nodding to it.

J.J. looked up as well, seeing the door in the ceiling. Not really a door, more like a metal panel.

"Now how do we get up there?"

The ceiling wasn't so high... and she could easily give the kids a boost up there. Did she want to go up there, though? With the security in place, it seemed important enough.

She guessed the threads served as a deterrant, since they stung the little boys. But it didn't hurt her...

J.J. pointed at a single thread and shot electricity out at it. The thread shriveled under the new shock, and a low rumble from somewhere made its way to her ears.

"Well," she said, "this is potentially a very bad idea, but..." J.J. raised both hands. Bright white lightning scrambled from within her bones and shot all around the room, burning every electric thread.

The same low rumble, and the building shook.

 

Alethea made it through the crowd, and found the man who had greeted her dancing with a considerably well-endowed blonde, who wasn't exactly hiding the fact. Alethea had to yell to hear herself over the crowd and the pulsing, shredding rock and roll in the background.

"How long have you been here?"

 

The boys exchanged glances, then Rorschach offered a small smile. They followed the girl into the room, staying close.

"Who are you?" asked Rorschach quietly, looking up at her.

Cthulhu had his eyes on the panel above them. There was no way they could reach it - they were as short as this post. He wondered if tossing his hands up there would help. Probably not - he couldn't stick to walls.

 

The woman was trying to get to him. She pulled up on Magus and his dance partner.

"How long have you been here?"

"About thirty seconds less than you," he said to the woman. "Very nice, by the way."

 

"About thirty seconds less than you," he said to the woman. "Very nice, by the way."

"Thanks. I thought it only fair to warn you though; there'll be more of them coming. Soon." She said. She looked him over and cocked an eyebrow at his outfit. Platinum-colored gloves and boots studded with diamonds. His face was masked, and the suit stretched across his musculature. You saw all types down here...

"You're here because of the code unlock? Or did you just see a free way in and decided to have some fun?" She motioned to the blonde girl, who gave her a glare and wrapped her arms around his neck.

 

"Who are you?"

"J.J." she replied. "Who are you?" She wondered if she should ask about their place here in the game, but decided that would only make her suspicious. Best find a way out before I get into another fight.

 

Magus smiled at the woman as his new friend embraced him a little.

"Well, I figured a little bit of both," he started. "I came here because of the code unlock first, though. Are you trying to pry me away?"

He looked at his new friend looking at the other woman. He looked at the other woman again.

"I'm sorry, did you want in on this?"

 

"Rorschach," he mumbled. He nodded toward his brother. "Cthulhu."

He was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Spot?"

If she was, she probably wouldn't say so, but he could probably tell by the way she answered. Rorschach wasn't a social kid, but he could read people pretty easily. Needless to say, he hoped she wasn't a Spot.

 

"Spot?" he asked

J.J. raised an eyebrow and looked down at the kids. "Why?" she asked. "Are you?" Surely they weren't, they're just kids after all.

 

"Well, I figured a little bit of both," he started. "I came here because of the code unlock first, though. Are you trying to pry me away?"

He looked at his new friend looking at the other woman. He looked at the other woman again.

"I'm sorry, did you want in on this?"

Alethea smiled.

"I'm not quite so easy, Superman." She said. She looked significantly again over his suit. "Besides, I doubt you're my type." Her smile faded as she went back to business.

"If you're here because of the unlock, I suggest you stick here and do exactly what you're doing. There'll be more guardians coming in after me, and it'll create a bit of a scene. They'll have noticed that you snuck in after me, but if you stay hidden, you should be safe."

As if on cue, she noticed several white-shirted guards enter the club and began moving through the crowd, eyes open.

"S***." Alethea swore. She nodded back to Superman. "Good luck." With that, she tore away from the spot, trying to wade through the crowd of gyrating bodies.

 

"NICE PANTS!!!" Magus yelled as she tried to duck the guards.

He was already watching out for them. They were very alert. More alert than the last time he could remember. He smiled as one of the guards edged closer to him. Thinking quickly, he motor boated the woman he was dancing with and turned away from the guard. The guard went past him. Magus picked the woman up, masquerading like it was a dance move, and took her deeper into the sea of people.

 

She moved as fast as she could, trying to duck away from groping, overeager hands. The guards, unfortunately, got no such attentions, and sliced through the crowd like a firebrand through snow. The one in the lead was right on her tail, and when he was close enough, she abruptly stopped, turned, and shot her leg out to the side, catching him in the chest, and sending him back against a press of people.

The immediate crowd noticed the fight, and instantly cleared back, making space for the showdown. Alethia saw money already being exchanged as bets were laid down. The guard recovered his wits, and faced her down. She fell back into a tae kwan do stance, and noticed him dropping into a similar martial arts pose. Good to see the controller program was still adaptable.

She came on, using her legs and twisting her body into a series of fluidic kicks. The guard deflected her blows with his hands and arms, and as she finished her routine, struck her hard in the chest with an open-handed punch. She stumbled back, but retained her wits.

He came forward to follow through, using an advanced karate form. She blocked less than she dodged, and used the momentum of one of his kicks against him, sending him spinning to the floor. He rolled up, bringing his legs under him smoothly. She moved in again, leaping up and striking with two strikes in succession. He dodged away, but she spun and jumped again, this time bringing her mind into focus as she manipulated the Com's digital fabric.

In the air, time slowed around her. She lashed out, striking impossibly three times with her feet before landing and jumping back into the air. Her legs came around again, hitting him twice more. Again, she landed, and again she leaped, this time planting one foot on his chest, and striking him hard in the throat with the other. She used the momentum of the kick to somersault backwards in the air, landing in a low pose, eyes burning.

Time sped back to reality before her. The sequence had taken only a handful of seconds, and the programmed guard lay on the ground, disabled for the time being. Around her, the crowd cheered wildly.

Having lost her jacket, and as such her firearm, somewhere along the line, she stooped and picked up the guard's before diving back into the crowd.

 

Magus heard a ruckus. A different kind of ruckus than the club atmosphere. He looked up. DAMN!!! The woman was in a brawl. He had switched dance partners to a sassy redhead with an itty bitty skirt, an itty bitty top and thigh highs. He nudged her in the direction of the action.

"Hey, where are we going? Are you trying to get me outta here?" she yelled over the loud rock music. She was drunk too, and more willing to make the moves than the blond he had earlier.

He looked at her and smiled.

"Maybe later," he answered her. "Right now, I think I see a friend."

He moved his head, trying to get a clear look at the fight. There were too many clubbers.

"Sh*t!," he said under his breath.

He nudged the redhead again.

"Hey, there's a fight over there," she yelled to Magus.

"Very perceptive, sexy," he told her. "I need to get to get closer to it."

She went with it and walked ahead of him as he continued his idiot charade, hamming it up while grinding on her as they inched closer to the fight. He only saw one toppled, so he stopped a little distance away and sought out the other guards. When he looked back, the woman was gone.

"Dammit," he muttered.

 

As she fled, she looked behind her, seeing Superman in amongst the crowd. Dammit, does he want to die?

He was moving through the crowd where she had just been, and the other guards were gaining fast. She swore again under her breath. He'd have them to deal with if he didn't get out of their path.

 

Magus was now agitated with the crowd. As he looked to his side, guards were maybe ten feet away. He pulled his redhead backwards into another section of the club.

"Where are we going now?" she asked.

"Which way am I taking you?" he replied rather flip.

She frowned a little at his little jerky remark.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you," he started back. "Will you come with me please?"

She smiled and went with him again. He smiled back at her as he backed into the crowd, using her hot body to shield him from the guards. He heaved a sigh of relief after getting clear of the threat.

 

Eventually, Alethea made it to the edge of the crowd, seeing Superman and his girl wander off into another room. She burst through a door into a long hallway, lined on both sides with rooms. She tore down the hall, knowing she was vulnerable. An instant later, a gunshot rang out behind her. She dove forward, tucked in, and rolled. As she stopped, she used her feet to pivot off the closed-in walls, spinning herself enough so she could aim the pistol. She counted the rounds as the fired them off. The muzzle flash illuminated the dim, blue-lit area with splashes of white light. The guard backed out, attempting to find cover from her shots.

Jumping to her feet, Alethea opened the door immediately next to her and dashed in. She shut and locked it behind her and spun into the room. In it was a bed and a small table with two chairs. She grabbed a chair.and shoved it up under the doorknob.

Looking up, she found a small ventilation duct. She yanked off the grate and crawled inside.

 

Magus had the door slightly ajar until he heard someone coming into the hallway. He quickly and quietly closed the door and locked it. The room was dimly lit. The bed and table were a nice touch. The redhead that was better looking than the blond made the room even better. Too bad Magus was running for his life. Temporarily. He gathered his thoughts a moment as he faced the door. His redhead companion came behind him and wrapped her arms around him.

"So was this your plan all along, mister?" she playfully asked.

Magus hesitated as she started to rub her hands on his chest. He turned to her with a smile and put his arms around her waist.

"Well, you know..." he shrugged and continued. "I had an idea and went with it."

There was no way in Hell he would tell her she was in danger. She just might do something stupid. He was sure of it. Going with it, he picked her up and sat her on the bed.

"Stay here a moment, I just have to check on something."

Shots were fired.

"What was that?!" asked the redhead.

"Shhh," he said with his finger over his mouth. "Don't make any noises... til later," he said with a wink after removing his mask.

He'd have to sit there a while and check the door later.

 

Alethea crawled through the vent duct, aiming approximately for some point on the other side of the building. Air blew through the vent around her, cooling the skin of her arms. She tried to move as quietly as possible. She glanced at her watch. Must be getting close. She'd have to try to hole up here for another few minutes, anyway.

She eventually found another room's grate, over on the other side of the building. She looked in through the mesh and heard voices. Thankfully, it was not the sound of pleasure-induced moans. She could see a woman sitting on the bed...a redhead who wasn't naked yet, but looked like she wanted to get that way. Standing in front of her was...Superman. She rolled her eyes. She had just stumbled into the beginning of their alone time. She started to back up to go look for a different room, but as she moved, the pistol she carried fell from her hand, clattering loudly and echoing through the vents.

She swore out loud, and pushed out the grate. She fell out onto the floor and rolled up onto one knee, the gun up and in her hand.

 

Magus heard a profanity and thought it was his redhead companion. But it wasn't her, it was the woman that helped him get into the club. She fell through his grate and got on one knee with her gun in hand.

"Brown pants," he said with a smile. "Glad to see you made it."

"Who's she?" the redhead asked.

"Brown pants... pay attention, babe," Magus said to her. He looked back at the woman with the leather pants.

"Are they following you?" he said looking up at the open grate.

 

Alethea stood, and set the gun on the table. She then took the vent grating and popped it back in over the duct.

"Brown pants," he said with a smile. "Glad to see you made it."

"I never miss a party, Superman." She said.

"Are they following you?"

She nodded.

"They'll be coming by to check rooms. Can't see them Wandering through the vent system. There are locks on these doors, and the guards won't disturb the clientelle. It'll only be a few minutes, then I'll be gone and you two can carry on with...whatever it was you were going to do." She took in a deep breath and let it ot quickly, brushing the loose strands of hair from her face.

 

"We're already locked in," he said to brown pants. "Listen, no need to go into the danger head on. We weren't really doing anything anyway."

He leaned over to brown pants and spoke low.

"I couldn't possibly partake in cybersex. That could be a dude using a woman avatar. So could you, honestly. I don't believe you are, but I'm just saying. You know?"

 

She shrugged.

"And yet, here you are!" She said with a smile. "Besides; what does it matter? In the real world, reality is only what you receive through your senses. Here, its the same thing." She paused, looking him over yet again. Definitely a flair for the dramatic.

"Well, Superman, I suppose it might be better for both of us if we had more than nicknames for one another. I'm Ali." She stuck out a hand.

 

Taking Ali's outstretched hand, he smiled and introduced himself.

"I go by Magus, but Superman was doing it for me as well," he said before raising an eyebrow.

"Interesting comment about the senses. I can usually sense a man posing as a woman in real life. I'm curious, were you suggesting I would be able to sense that here also?"

 

"Interesting comment about the senses. I can usually sense a man posing as a woman in real life. I'm curious, were you suggesting I would be able to sense that here also?"

"No; I was simply saying that, as far as your senses were concerned, it wouldn't matter if it were a male or a female mind behind the avatar you were bedding. All your senses would tell you 'female'. What you're talking about is intuition. That's a different thing entirely." She smiled again at him.

"And, in case you're still wondering, I am female, inside and out of the Com."

"So, if this isn't your thing, what do you do for fun in here?"