~~~~~~Author's Notes:~~~~~~
So sorry for not updating for a while, guys!
~~~~~~Author's Notes:~~~~~~
The room… It comes to haunt him once more… But this time… it's different… the place is underkept, and the walls… floor… everything… is showing the lack of attention… Standing among the mess… There stands a figure… wizened… lacking the respectability of the elders, yet strangely familiar…
Molotov? What is he doing here?
"My dear Sergov. There are many messages I have hidden for you like guide posts. If you remember these words, it means it has begun!"
What…?
"You have started, Sergov, on a path to realize your true potential. To go farther than any of us ever thought possible!"
Is this a memory? I certainly do not remember remembering it before…
"My boy, I'm absolutely ecstatic for you! But I'm sure my joy is a small shadow to your delight! How wonderful and wondrous this must be for you!" And Molotov went on, sprouting an endless river of information…
5tR4N63r's eye turned and tossed within its socket, as the data locked within him, info caches that he had never known about, all became unlocked… Examining the various plans for his mechanical parts, he found that he was even more disgusted with his body… an act that he had deemed impossible before…
The Mutated Animagi Chronicles
Chapter III: Titan
Elsewhere…
Deep in the bowels of the White House, one Ms. Zilpah Abishag was busily rifling through the many, many disorganized texts and cabinets within the catacombs beneath the main building. Designed and furbished just over a month ago, the place was already suffocating in cobwebs. Though no one would admit it, the area has the feel of something that has existed for ages, powerful… and forbidding. Assigned… no, that would mean that she had volunteered… more like drafted, like the thousand of others that lived within the Washington D.C. area, to help with the construction and maintenance of the drafty place. Often difficult, as the ceilings were of dwarfish height, the labor seemed futile to the workers. It usually involved the movement of some object to another area, or the polishing of some oddity or another. The President and his cabinet gave no reasoning for these menial tasks, and heavy punishments were dealt for even the slightest error made. But the pay was good, so the workers stayed on, grumbling and stumbling through their daily tasks, hoping to attract as little attention from their superiors as they could.
Currently, Ms. Abishag, reasonably bored and unoccupied, had decided to do a tad of exploring… See, there was this one tunnel that no one had any clue about. The area leading to it was open to all, yet there was never anyone seen near that one particular tunnel. Now, having finished her assignment, her curiosity nagged at the back of her mind, a little impish version of her screaming at her to explore. Of course, yet another miniature her immediately appeared, one dressed all in white, no make-up. The kind of person that she might have been… If she wanted to be a saint… The saint version of her countered her curiosity, preaching morals such as responsibility and self-preservation. Yet as time passed, she began leaning more and more on the side of her curiosity, and the hated moral version of her shrunk until its voice was only a shrill whistle that she failed to make any sense out of. Making herself as invisible as possible (not particularly difficult, since the tunnels were rather dark and it was difficult to see more than 2 feet in front of you), she turned off her helmeted flashlight and began to sneak along the many tunnels that would bring her to her destination. Choosing to shroud herself in darkness proved to be more of a hindrance than a blessing, however, as she fumbled and tripped over various obstacles in the dark. Silently cursing her stupidity, she nevertheless managed to make her way to the mysterious tunnel without attracting too much attention…
5tR4N63r stumbled into the meeting feeling rather shaken and deadly pale. His mechanical joints, normally turning smoothly and easily, were now clogged and stubbornly refusing to turn. After unsuccessfully attempting to cross the crowded meeting room, he had to be assisted by several volunteers before making it to an open seat.
Sirius, concern etched across his face, whispered to 5tR4N63r. "Where were you? The meeting has already been in session for half an hour!" The tone was cheerful, yet the familiar tang of concern could be heard throughout it.
5tR4N63r knew what was happening to him. After a night of studying the means of which he was created, he knew what he was undergoing. However, to reveal to anybody this information would attract unneeded attention, something that he did not wish for. Moreover, with the crises that arose each day, sparing time and effort was impossibility. He responded to Sirius, though it pained him to lie to such a close friend: "I am well, Sirius… I seem to have some clogging and rusting within my various parts… I am sure it is nothing, but for the time being, I will have to excuse myself from the missions."
Sirius nodded, though in his heart he did not believe a word uttered by 5tR4N63r. Appearing to take 5tR4N63r's word for granted, Sirius laid back in his chair and began contemplating the reasons of what was happening to his close friend, and why it was of such importance that 5tR4N63r could not even tell him.
The meeting was based, as always, around recent missions and their relative success/failure. With the magical world in chaos as it was, many missions were diplomatic, attempting to reunite the many factions back into one, coherent being. Others were of a more belligerent nature, consisting mostly of raids and strikes on remaining Death Eater targets. Various issues were then discussed, from such major problems as lack of supplies, to infinitesimal concerns such as the colors of the uniforms. They were halfway through a complaint filed by Arnold McBuffer over the lack of respect he was getting from his companions, when…
"…and as I said, Jeremy Chen simply don respect me! I don get no respect around here! What does a guy…" Arnold rattled on and on…
A loud thump echoed throughout the area, as the walls and ceiling shook violently for a second. But due to the magic that was poured into the structure, not one crack dared show itself upon the walls. There was, however, a large cloud of choking dust, blinding some unfortunates that failed to react in time. Most of the attendees, however, had managed to cast upon themselves various protective charms, many among them choosing the widely known Bubble-Head Charm. Those who suffered recovered rather quickly, as orders were immediately issued to the various squads. A head member, having cast a Sonorus spell upon himself, bellowed the alarm throughout the caverns. The few squads ordered to investigate while the others evacuated included, among them, Krum's Divers, The Raiders, Home Guard… and Padfoot's Hunters were chosen.
Seeing as how 5tR4N63r's current condition made him drastically unsuitable for combat, Sirius excused him from this mission, making sure to have him escorted by Benjamin Keppler and Nancy Shoffman, both skilled in the art of healing magics, before assembling the rest of his squad. Together, with the many others that had been ordered to stall for time, they emerged from the catacombs into the dank, humid air…
"Remember, my fellows, our main objective is to stall for time so the others can evacuate everything and everyone out of this base. Whatever this is… destroying it comes second. Comprendez?" Domingo "Chihuahua" Sanchez spoke calmly and quietly, yet everyone heard. A low unison of "Si, senor!" clashed horridly with the cries of "Aye!" from those who didn't comprehend Spanish enough to speak it. A couple sarcastic shouts of "Yo quiro Taco Bell!" also found their way into the disharmonious clash of sounds.
Then…
The earth, the verisimilitude of stablity, suddenly began to tremble violently, causing deep cracks and splits appearing around the stunned magi. Another quake soon followed, and yet another after that. The nervous magi glanced around fearfully, attempting to decipher the cause of these sudden tremors.
They didn't have long to wait.
As they searched fearfully for the perpetrator, one Elizabeth Candis Knoles was unfortunate enough to spot it first. Her screech drew the attention from several miles around… Unfortunately, this also included their aggressor…
As it stomped closer, the group was able to see it as it was…
A metal behemoth, a colossus of steel and titanium, of gears and cold, calculating intelligent machine, was stomping towards them… Each logically determined step it took, each seemingly simple movement calculated to bring it to them… to crush them all the faster. The group of magi integrated themselves to face the coming threat, the nervous and frightened following the examples set by the ones who had managed to keep their cool. Standing as one, the magi faced the titan, ready for battle.
~~~~~~Author's Notes:~~~~~~
High skool's hitting me like a bag of bricks. Expect a lack of updates for a while. So sorry guys, but as parents go: "Study first! Stupid story never!"
~~~~~~Author's Notes:~~~~~~
