Murder Drones: Out with the Old, in with the new Disassemly.

Cloris stared ahead, keeping herself alert for any possible threat. ”It’s what my father used to call a pittrap. You can look at the edge of a hole and see the antlion waiting at the bottom. But there’s something down in the hole that you have to get. It’s something he liked to employ against savvy enemies.”

It was what he had done against Karasu all those years ago. The mercenary was too smart to be outright fooled. Dr.Chambers realized that and instead set up a situation that Karasu had to walk into. From what Karasu had told him in the past, it came close to working. Fortunately, Nori had put a stop to it.

Cloris stared at the claw marks as they made their way into the office. Then more eerily than that, the amount of sentinels that were just completely trashed filled the office. Cloris stared at the things in shock. She nodded her head when 99 suggested she should take the lead.

”I’d say the solver creature did this, but there’s no evidence that it managed to get in. But it doesn’t make sense for anything in the factory to destroy its own security system. What’s going on here?”

This was Beyond Eerie. The worker drones that were still active hadn't touched anything in this office. The only thing that would make it eerier was if all the cubicles were filled were human corpses.

And then a familiar voice spoke out. One that made Cloris's blood run cold. No, it couldn't be. What was going on here?!

”The Drone Barron?!”

Yet again, Cloris was at a loss for words. How had this happened? Why the Drone Baron of all things? The timing alone on this seemed beyond coincidence.

Then as fast as 99 reacted, the doors to the office were sealed. Cloris winced as the intercom screeched, pressing her hands against her ears. Then the sentinals started coming to life. She lowered her hands and shouted To 99.

[B]”Watch their feet and their tails 99! Their movements are fairly simple. Use that to track their motions! Don't look into their eyes!”

Cloris Looked around, trying to find a way out or anything useful. A vent, access panel, anything. Fighting sentinels in a closed space wasn't exacrly ideal.

”Well somehow Its personality got transfered into this overseer. I don't know if it's sentient or not, but it's now as real as you and me.”

Things immediately became chaotic. 99 had reacted in time, but she was using a new way of tracking movement on the fly. That put her behind when fighting the sentinels. Cloris whirled around as she heard movement behind her. A sentinel was now staring her down.

She slowly backed up as she looked around the room. The panel immediately stood out to her. If this sentinel continued to hesitate, then she would be able to do something. Right now the humanity she had was keeping the robot at bay.

Then it struck. Or tried to. Klein put a stop to that with an electric shock. If the situation wasn’t so serious, she would have cracked a smile at Klein’s comment.

”Thank you Klein. Hold on 99!”

Cloris grabbed the convulsing sentinel drone with both hands, swung it around, tossing it at the closest sentinel drone to 99. She was hoping not only to knock at least another to the ground, but to get the attention of the others. She ran over to the control panel and opened it up, revealing its inner mechanisms.

”99, strike them when their backs are turned! You can tell which direction facing even when you’re looking down! If you can clearly see their tails, that means you can strike them!”

Cloris started fiddling with the inner mechanisms. She then paused, staring for a moment before starting again.

”Sorry 99, I’ll need a minute to get this open. This control panel is ancient.”

Type-99's eyes went hollow with a digital click as Cloris theorized on what they were dealing with. It was hard to believe, but given the circumstances it was also hard to deny. It wasn't as if the Drone Baron was a real thing that simply existed pre-collapse. He was only ever a recording of a worker drone that had been programmed to do and say whatever he was scripted for.

"... Then it believes we're characters in a story, just as it is?"

Klein flapped his wings in response to Cloris, he watched perched on her shoulder as the human began to dispatch a few sentinels on her own. The thrown sentinel struck the first target, though the others hopped out of the way, barking as they did so. Thankfully...Even just one being knocked down bought Type-99 enough time to adjust to the flow of the fight.

Cloris calling out to 99 with the advice she gave made Klein pick up on the human's distraction plan.

"Okie dokie! Time for attention!"

Klein's eyes began to rapidly flash like a strobe light as he stared down the pack of sentinels. The robotic dinosaurs were fully prepared to split their fighting force between the human and the disassembly drone right up until they saw a strange light flashing in the direction Cloris was running in.


"LONELY? HOT SINGLE DRONES IN YOUR AREA! THEY'RE WAITING TO MEET YOU. CLICK HERE NOW!"

Klein seemed to be playing back an audio recording that was being boosted as if it was played through a megaphone...One got the impression considering the subject matter that the audio was probably from a certain Scientist's computer. The sentinels dropped everything they had been focusing on beforehand and looked among each other as a series of raptor barks could be heard from the pack...And then they rushed towards Cloris.

Type-99 acknowledged the cybernetic woman's advice with a nod and a single word.

"Understood."

The disassembly drone rushed in with blades extended from her wrists and began to dice the sentinels apart one by one, each of them unable to respond to her assault before she had already dispatched them with killing blows. 99 wasted no time trying to dispatch their bootlooping eyes, she went straight for their cores in order to finish them off with fast piercing attacks.

A voice called out over the intercoms as 99 began whittling down the sentinel pack.

"So I see even the beasts that lurk in the dark are no match for the great Stella of the Starry skies! Very well...Perhaps it's time then that I take matters into my own hands."

As Cloris did her best to try and hack the security panel, the lock on the screen turned green and the doors to the Overseer's office opened up.

"Hurry inside, I'm right behind you!"

Once 99 insured that Cloris and Klein had made it over the threshold, she ran towards the open doorway with the sentinels now pursuing her instead of the human. The drone's left hand shifted into a gun and she took aim as she ran, firing off a single round that struck the security panel, destroying it as sparks flew out wildly. 99 dropped onto her back and slid under the door as it closed rapidly. A heavy metallic thunk rang out; its source soon evident once the trio looked over. A sentinel drone had narrowly managed to slip its head past the door moments before it shut and was now stuck. The machine let out a raptor bark as it struggled underneath the crushing weight of the solid steel bulkhead. Eventually however...The hydraulics of the door won out, and the sentinel was decapitated under the crushing weight. The sentinel head rolled over towards Cloris and 99, leaking oil all over the floor.

The disassembly drone calmly stood up, brushing herself off.

"Well...We managed to escape that predicament despite everything."

The calmness of their new surroundings was cut short when a high pitched whirring sound began to break the silence. Type-99 perked up and looked over at Cloris with a set of hollow eyes displayed on her visor. The drone slowly turned around...And was met with an EMP device that had finished heating up right on cue.

"CLORI-"

99 went silent with the activation of the EMP that filled the room. Everything went dark...

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The drone's visor displayed the text [Booting up...] in that familiar pale yellow color. After a brief moment the text was replaced with a pair of eyes that blinked to the tune of a digital beep. Type-99 shook her head for a moment, groaning.

"What happened...?"

The disassembly tried to move but found that she was bound by steel wire and seated in an old office chair. Normally mere wire was a material that would be nothing in the face of a disassembler's might, but with the magnets that were stuck to 99's visor she found her fighting strength greatly dampened. She flinched as she looked up and spotted several of the factory's worker drones that stood silently and stared at the trio.

While Cloris and 99 had been bound to a set of chairs, Klein's shape and size proved to be a unique challenge...The little penguin robot had been tied up like a rubber band ball and was hanging upside down by a rope that had been secured to a steel crossbeam on the ceiling.

"Mama look! It's a carnival ride!"

One of the workers spoke up, pointing at the three of them.

"Alright you friendly bunch of gender-neutral nicknames! You just sit tight mmkay? The Overseer's on his way to greet you, just like you were wanting! Isn't that great?"

”Exactly! It’s personality core must have been damaged, so it probably cycled through data it had and constructed a new personality that best suit its functions!”

Fortunately she was able to give 99 some breathing room by throwing that Sentinal into the other one. And then Klein made his move and came up with a good distraction. Perhaps a little too good. Cloris stiffened as she worked on the panel. Then she roared out.

”THAT DAMN PERVERT!”

Cloris tried to ignore the ominous threat that the overseer gave them. It probably had something waiting for them beyond the door. Cloris hated walking into two traps in a row, but what choice did they have?

She managed to opened the door, quickly running over as per 99’s instructions. She turned her head back briefly to make sure the drone was following her in. It was close, but 99 managed to get in and get the doors closed. Cloris watched as a Sentinal struggled to get in, and then followed its head as it rolled across the floor.

”I’m glad those things don’t have sentience. That would have been a hard way to go.”

She looked over at 99, giving her a nod. ”And we’ve probably dived headfirst into another one. It’s like jumping into the antlion pit to escape a scorpion.”

Oh how true that statement was. There was a familiar hum that filled the air. Cloris noticed the EMP too late.

”99! Ugh!”

Cloris collapsed to the ground, landing on her stomach. While her systems protected her from her own EMPs, she was vulnerable to bursts from other sources. Her limbs locked up and her vision flickered, becoming staticy. Lines of code and warnings popped up and vanished sporadically. All she could do was watch as she and 99 were taken away.

---

When 99 came to, she managed to turn her head, looking at the drone.

”We got tied up. The Overseer is acting completely in character. Otherwise they probably would have killed us by now.”

Her vision was still a little sporadic. But it was getting clearer. She could move her limbs a little, but even if they weren’t tied down. She wouldn’t be able to do much.

Cloris couldn’t turn her head enough to look at Klein. But she did let out a low sigh at that.

”Yes Klein, this place has been one big carnival ride. I for one would like to get off it now.”

Cloris stared at the worker drone. She felt a tinge of annoyance at the thing. Just seeing something soulless act as a poor imitation of a human brought her more fiery side to the surface.

”It would be great if we weren’t tied up. Now all we can do is sit tight. You have to know you aren’t authorized to tie up a JC Jenson employee. Or are you too malfunctioned to even obey your IT officer? My name is Cloris Jade, Employee I.D. 112935. I order you to untie us!”

99 slammed her head into the back of the chair out of annoyance over the contrivance that was this "Overseer" following a stereotypical villain plot.

"I supposed I should count myself fortunate, but I just feel stupid for falling into a trap like this."

Two of the worker drones stared at each other as Cloris begins to read off her identification. After a moment they both just shrug at each other, almost completely ignoring the human's demands to be released.



A voice called out from a room that sat just up a set of stairs ahead of the tied up trio.


"Don't bother with the false identification Carrie. It won't work on these drones. They're under strict orders not to release prisoners."

A great steel being stepped into view from the doorway, slowly walking down the steps...It was a first generation disassembly drone in form.


And yet it wasn't like the ones that were being processed in the factory. This one walked with a hunched posture, a much more human-like posture than the cold unfeeling war machines that filled this facility. This one had a flowing black cape that had been created from thousands of nuts and bolts welded together. The end result was not just a distinguished cape but one made of chain mail. On this drone's head was a top hat, likely taken from the body of whatever socialite had been visiting this factory when the core collapsed. The drone walked slowly, its terrible hunched back posture supported by a flak cannon that was being used like a walking cane.

"Surprised to see me no doubt. I'm aware I look nothing like I once did. It took a decade to get used to this form. I searched for so long to try and find my old body...It's long gone Carrie. I am not the same person I was all those years ago when you last thwarted my plans. I've grown wiser! And perhaps...A little more rusted. But I never forgot the pain and humiliation you all caused me. You and that drone of yours."

The baron emphasized who he was talking about by pointing his flak cannon cane at Type-99 before lowering its barrel back onto the floor. He approached the pair of them calmly...Though 99 glared at him the entire time.

"Enough of this game. I'm not Stella, and that isn't Carrie. Who are you really?"

The hulking drone standing before them let out a low raspy laugh. He lowered his stance with both hands planted firmly on the stock of the cannon until he was eye to eye with 99.

"I don't know what scheme you're cooking but it won't work on me. I could never forget my greatest adversary. ... And I don't think you could forget me either. I AM The Drone Baron! I woke up in this place fifteen odd years ago...But I know who I am. I could never forget that."

Type-99's face shifted into a scowl as she struggled in an attempt to break her restraints.

"Those are just stories! Stella isn't real. The drone baron isn't real! You're a malfunctioning unit in a derelict factory. Once I'm free I will dismantle yo-Hrk!"

The drone baron slammed his cannon cane into Type-99's abdomen, shutting her up immediately.

"I assure you I'm very real. And you would be wise to remember that Stella. And as for you..."

The drone stood back up, hobbling over to Cloris. He stopped and pointed his cane at her. An action which caused Type-99 to go ballistic as the chair bounced and rolled with her struggling. Even weakened by magnets, 99 was still becoming very angry.

"Copper Carrie. How could I ever forget that name? It's one that haunts my nightmares. Well, as you can see! I've finally assembled an army. I've waited years for it to finish amassing...And once it's finished? I will send the entire force down on your Mine! With this much power you can't possibly stop me. Oh I'm certain I can hear your bloody disdain for me. This is just another one of my 'harmless plots' ey? I'll show up to your mine threatening to take the deed like I always do...And then your little drone will show up to stop me? Is that what you're thinking? Well I'm afraid this time it won't be so. I will dispose of you when my army has finished production. I'm keeping you alive long enough to let you watch. As for this...Thing..."

The Drone Baron stepped over to Klein, lightly tapping the penguin with his cane. The action caused Klein to swing back and forth like a pendulum.

"Weeeee!"

The baron stopped in his tracks, staring idly. He turned and looked at Cloris.

"What is this? I don't remember this one. Little pippin he is."

Cloris frowned as 99 slammed her head against the back of the chair.

”You shouldn't feel stupid. We both knew it was a trap. I was foolish and arrogantly thought we could handle it. I should have realized that things had gotten out of control the moment the Overseer spoke to us. All my information relies on things being relatively sane, for lack of a better term. And I ignored the warning signs and had us press forward.”

As calm as she was trying to be with 99, she was about to blow a fuse when the two drones shrugged at her. That is until the Overseer came into the picture. And all her words died in ber throat. The way it was walking, the haphazard chain mail cape were bad enough. But it was the hat. The stupid, tiny little top hat that she couldn't take her eyes off.


Cloris had to wonder if she did something in a pass life to deserve this. Not content with taking everything from her, it also insisted of making a mockery of every memory she had. No, she didn’t have to wonder why all this befell her.

”It's your family's fault that humanity is on the brink. The blood of your own race is on your hands.”

She hadn't been the one to pull the trigger. She wasn't the one who did that experiments. But she had known what was going to happen. Karasu had gone back in time and told her as such. She could tell herself that with her theories of how time travel worked that the core collapse was inevitable.

But no matter how much logic she used, she couldn’t convince herself that she was free of blame. That it wasn't her fault that the theme park was devoid of life and that a machine taking on the personalities of one of its characters.  But it didn't feel thar way. And sometimes feelings mattered more than facts.

Cloris was literally smacked out of her state when the Baron slammed it's cannon into 99's stomach.

”99!”


The anger and fear were rolling off of her. Both of them could die here, and it would be on her. It wasn't helped by 99 desperately trying to struggle loose. She seemed more distressed by the BAron approaching her then she was being punched by the thing. Cloris did the only thing she could think of.

”CALM DOWN STELLA!”

Cloris hoped that her calling 99 that would shock her enough to stop struggling like that. She needed to get through to the Overseer. And the only way to do that was to walk into it's world. Cloris took a deep breath, then did her best Carrie impression.

Well don't that beat all? The drone Baron got the drop on us this time!”

She was wearing a helmet, so the drone Baron wouldn't be able to see her expression. So Cloris put as much as she could into her vocal cords. The result wasn't a half bad impression.

”Actually drone barren, me and Ole Stellar here were looking to meet with ya! That little feller? That’s a new friend we found wondering outside!”

Cloris couldn’t believe she was having this conversation with a old disassembly drone. But she was going to do whatever she could to get out of this situation.

”Say Baron, about that mine… I’m willing to gander you haven’t been outside in awhile.”

Cloris did not expect 99 to look at her like that. Why did she feel that bad for her? It was her fault things had turned out like this. Did the idea of her taking the blame hut  99 that much? That look pulled at her heart strings.

”99… Don’t look at me like that. What I said was the truth.

It was incredible how much personality the Overseer had taken from the baron. It was just a repurposing of lines: There were many lines that the Baron had never said before mixed in. If the situation weren’t so serious, this would be a fascinating case study of how damaged programming interpreted information. She was going to have to treat this like this AI was sentient: Cloris wasn’t sure if it was or not, but that was the way she was going to have to play this. At least it seemed to be thinking of letting Klein go.

Cloris looked over at the Overseer, shaking her head. ”Nah, you haven’t broken me Baron. You ain’t the only one who’s been damaged.”

The baron had hinted that he might let go of Klein earlier. But it was quite another for him to actually go through with it. This wasn’t in the Baron’s character at all. He was made to be a very standard black and white villain to cheer against. Something which she expressed it.

”Well shucks! I’d never thought I’d see the day you’d show concern for someone Baron! You had a heart in ya the whole time!”

Cloris tried keeping the Baron’s attention on her for as long as possible. It was weird and surreal the closer the thing got to her. That hat looked so stupid on the Baron! But she couldn’t let that distract her: she had to convince the thing to back off.

”Now that’s not fair Baron! Ya know that the mine wasn’t just mine. It wouldn’t have been fair to my merry crew and all the children that visited it. If I accepted that offer, I would have let everyone down!”

Now that Klein was loose, they actually had a chance. Now she had something that she could stall for. Well, that was the worse case scenario. If she played her cards right, she could end this whole thing without there being a fight.

”Well Drone Barron, I don’t think it’s about what I deserve. The important thing is that we need to do what’s best for everything. Baron… It’s all gone. Something terrible happened and we couldn’t stop it. It’s something you’ve got to see for yourself. We opened the doors for ya. You should take a look outside, or have one of your trusty sidekicks do it for ya.”[/b][/b]

The look that 99 gave her only got worse. It looked like she was trying to peer through her helmet. Hell, she probably could peer through the helmet by changing vision modes. In which case she couldn’t hide anything from 99. Then finally, mercifully 99 looked away.

Something was wrong here. The more that the overseer talked, the less her theory of an AI just using the Baron’s personality to fill in a damaged personality core seemed less and less likely to be what was going on. Either the AI was taking extreme liberties and combining various data sources, or she was dealing with something that had self awareness.

Cloris decided right then to treat the Baron as self aware. Even if it wasn’t, it would be the most effective way at dealing with this program. And if they were, well she would avoid making it angry by telling them that they weren’t real. Either way, her Carrie impression was the way to go right now. She looked down towards the ground.

”Well Baron, ole Carrie here has seen things that she wish she hadn’t seen. The years took their toll on me too. With Sally gone I’ve had to get creative to keep chugging along.”

Even as she was talking, she felt a weird connection to the Baron. It talked about how it’s memories were clouded and that it wanted things to be more clear. While Cloris never forgot a thing, she understood not being able to connect to memories.

”The golden land of promise eh? We’ve been searching for that since the beginning. Gosh that takes me back.”

Well that seemed to anger him. Telling him that he was nicer then he was letting on actually got an emotional reaction. Cloris knew she was treading dangerous waters here, but if she didn’t take a risk, they weren’t going to get out of this.

”Aw, ya don’t have to pretend to be the evilest nastiest person on the planet. You’re definitely a lot more cranky then I remember ya being, but I remember the days when you would take ole innocent Minerbot hostage. Ya’ve gotten a little warmer Baron.

Well, if he wasn’t sentient then this program sure was doing a convincing job of faking it. The level of emotion, the nuance in all the mannerisms were all fascinating. Still she had to continue on. She paused, considering how to word things.

”It’s cause I had connections. You were always alone Baron.”

She paused, letting that sink in before continuing. ”Children are curious and wanna belong to something. When they see someone making friends, having a good time, who also want to connect with them, they’re drawn into that. Ya never tried connecting with them.”

She paused, again letting that sink in. ”But if you got the opportunity to try again, I think you’ll be more successful. Aclean slate can really do wonders.”

Cloris’s face paled behind her helmet. The Baron had been talking about visions he had been seeing. She assumed that it was just an interpretation of a recording at first: what he described earlier were the last moments of the original Overseer. Cloris felt a chill run down her spine.

”This feeling… it’s the same I got when everyone described that church. And the same feeling I got around Nori when she stared drawing. Is the Baron is also seeing visions? Or is it just insane?”

But then insanity would imply sentience, wouldn’t it? This was too specific to write off as a malfunction too. She paused, then answered the Baron.

”I wish that was the world Baron. But that’s no what ya gonna see.”

And then they were carried along outside. Well so far her stalling had worked. Now all she could do was hope Klein could find an opportunity to do something.

As they walked towards the surface the Baron considered all that 'Carrie' had said. "You were always alone Baron." Was he really so isolated? So disconnected from everything else that he couldn't even see the truth in front of him?

... Could he really form connections after all this time? And what about Sally? Was she really gone? Carrie spoke as though she had left this world so long ago. What was his revenge plan even worth if all of his enemies weren't there to witness it? No...That's right. He had always been alone. From the very beginning, all the memories he had were of his battles against this group protecting their mine. He knew what he had said regarding his exploits, but the more he thought about it, the more he found that he couldn't picture those adventures at all. All that fortune and glory he had built for himself on the plains before he met these miners...It wasn't there.

"I had always been so sure of myself, of my every action. I could justify anything as long as it meant taking what I wanted. It was why I pursued the creation of a perfect army for almost two long decades. I drilled a flawless revenge plan into my mind, I ran over every single calculation, every possible contingency. So why is it that when I'm so close to completing my revenge...I've begun to hesitate?

The simple fact is that I don't think I can kill them. Either one. Perhaps I fear redundancy deep inside my systems. Perhaps I would lose all purpose if I were to destroy the target of my hatred. Perhaps after coming this far I've lost that burning desire to see my vengeance completed. Or perhaps I'm just an old fool who has lost sight of what matters.

... Perhaps I'm afraid of being alone after all."

His digital mind raced with thoughts as they were almost to the entrance. His chance to finish what he started was coming. The Drone Baron was going to have to make a choice soon, and once he made that choice there was no chance to change his mind afterwards. Whether he chose mercy or revenge, there would be no turning back from it.

The group made it to the entrance, and after a second one of the worker drones got the door opened. The massive steel bulkhead parted and revealed...A frozen wasteland devoid of life.


The workers sat the two prisoners down just outside the entrance. As for the drone baron? He silently, wordlessly stepped past the pair staring off into the blizzard in front of them. The snow crunched underneath his feet and the wind blew harshly against his frame, his dark cape billowed wildly in the gusts.

"It's all gone."

With his back turned to the pair Klein was able to roll up to Type-99, his movements muted by the sounds of the wind. He hopped up close adn zapped the chains binding 99 with a red bolt of energy.

"Okie dokie! No more ride for you!"

Type-99 gripped her wrists firstly as she balled her robotic hands into fists...And then she reached up and violently ripped the magnet off of her visor.

"Ngh."

It took a second for her senses to come back to her...But finally Type-99 felt her digital mind clearing up. She stood up from her chair -- Which was more than enough to cause the worker drones to back away from her.

"Mr Overseer...Sir...?"

"What have you done, Carrie...?"

Type-99 turned her hands into blades and approached him slowly.

"It's over. It's time to end this charade once and for all."

The baron gripped his cane tightly and turned to face Type-99. His single eye had turned into a harsh red color, practically beaming a spotlight on the disassembly drone.

"No...No!!!"

The drone baron rushed at Type-99 and slammed into her!


Type-99 slashed at him, only to find that he forced her away with a cane strike directly to her mid-section. The drone growled in pain, but quickly recovered and launched her nanite tail at him, its stinger aimed for his face.

"That won't work!"

The drone baron pulled his cape in front of him and it caught the tip of the stinger. Before 99 could retract it, he grabbed her tail through the cape, violently swinging her straight into the bunker's wall.

"I've spent years thinking about how I would fight you. And I came to a conclusion!"

Type-99 drew her hands into guns and began firing at him. The baron's eye flashed and forced 99 to cover her eyes, momentarily reducing her to a single gun and massively lowering her accuracy. He rushed in during her weak point and delivered a punch straight into her chest.

"No more honorable duels!"

He lifted her up with a single claw, even as she drew her own hands into claws and began to slash away at his arm. The baron turned his entire body as he slammed her into the snow, kicking up dust everywhere and concealing them from sight.

"No more even playing fields!"

Type-99 stood up slowly, quickly shifting around in circles as she tried to pinpoint his location, but with the snow concealing her vision, she was caught off guard when she heard his voice from behind her.

"And no more dueling pistols!"

Three missiles flew in from the fog, 99 managed to dodge the first two before the third arced around behind her and impacted the ground at her back, exploding and launching her forward...And straight towards a waiting Drone Baron, who proceeded to kick her hard enough to send her flying into a snowbank.

While 99 fought a losing battle, Klein rolled up behind Cloris, calling out to her.

"Niney's in trouble!"

The penguin did what he does best and zapped Cloris' bindings as well, freeing her from her imprisonment. While this happened Type-99 launched out of the snowbank with her wings drawn, using the momentum to blast straight at the first generation disassembly drone in front of her full force. She aimed to hit him with a flying kick as she extended her legs towards him. The kick impacted against his hands as he held them up to block, but the strength of her kick was too powerful, it caused him to slide back several feet before she disengaged, ensuring he couldn't counter her. She then began a tactic of several more high speed flying kicks delivered from multiple angles.

The baron was fast though...He was able to shift and block each kick. But little by little 99 was managing to whittle away at his ironclad defenses.

"Enough of this! Your justice will prevail no longer!"

The baron's entire body began to glow, and when 99 sent one last flying kick his way...He released a massive shockwave of energy, throwing the second generation disassembly drone back and into the ground where she bounced several times before rolling to a stop.

”Well Mr.Baron, I think your whole vengeance plan looked better in yer head. You’ve thought bout it for years, and now that you’re actually here, you aren’t feeling how you thought you’d feel. And you’ve been planning for so long that you came out a different person by the time ya were done.”

Well, this was the moment that she had been shooting for. The Baron was indeed stunned by what had just happened. And in that moment Klein was able to take advantage and get 99 free.

In hindsight, she should have asked Klein to free her first. She saw how distressed 99 had been earlier. If she had gotten free first then she could have continued talking with the Baron. Or rather, the drone that had taken on its persona. She just had enough time to answer the Baron.

”A truly vile villain came. And I failed to save everyone.”

Before she could say anything, 99 engaged the old disassembly drone. What Cloris assumed would be a fairly simple battle turned into anything but that. The most baffling thing was the creature using the cane and the cape for attack and defense.

”Where did it learn to fight like that?

Cloris had to switch to thermal vision to keep track of the fight. It was not going well, a fact that Klein was quick to point out. When she got free, she watched in worry as 99 was knocked back from a shockwave.

9… STELLA!”

Oh right, she was supposed to be in character. She ran over in between the Baron and 99, holding out her arms protectively.

”That’s enough! Baron, not everything is gone! There’s something you need to see!”

”Sure there is Baron! Life always find a way. Not everyone is dead and gone!”

Fortunately she was able to talk him down. Cloris looked at 99 as she walked over to her. She whispered to her quietly.

”Are you okay 99?”

She seemed alright enough if her protectiveness of her was any indication. But she could just be hiding it well. Cloris picked up Klein and put him on her shoulder. She then led them through the snow and back towards the amusement park.

”I know things look grim Baron, but we’re working on rebuilding everything. One day there will be children laughing again. You’re quite good at building yourself: that factory of yours was real impressive.”

Eventually they reached the amusement park. Cloris would lead the Baron to the stage area where she ran into 99. She gestured towards the stage.

”Feast your eyes Baron. The show’s about to begin.”