Battleground: Sin City

“Yuri, increase the packs intake cycle to 2000rpm, that help with keeping the jets cool at higher speeds...” Jacob moved around his lab, moving surprisingly fast, for someone relying on prosthetics. “And make sure to install the emergency shut off, last thing we need is him being knocked out and becoming a human missile.”  

“All systems are in place, protocols are installed, and safety parameters have been met.”

“You’re the best, Yuri.” Jacob looked over to Ryan, a massive smile on his face, as he motioned to a display model beside him.  

The model was wearing a now fully repaired suit, with a couple of changes made. The helmet had added sensors, altered rebreather, and the visor was lit up with a heads-up display. “The HUD is fully customizable to your preferences, and can be linked to Yuri here for assistance...” He pressed a button on a remote, which made the suit rotate, revealing a small, fitted jetpack. “I built this bad boy to require minimum energy input, while still maintaining maximum output over long periods of flight, while they aren’t as fast as the Talos jet systems, you can easily break the sound barrier...” He looked over to Ryan. “Calculated max speeds have it clocked to Mach 1.5, but there is room for upgrading, if you ever feel the need for speed...” He tapped on a center port of the pack, fitted between the two jets. “I added a compression undersuit for the Gs, but if you find yourself passing out, or getting knocked out during flight, the suit had a full suite of readers to keep track of your vitals, and if you drop below the threshold, the jets will cut off, and the safety chute will deploy...” He paused, the smile seeming to grow as he explained the upgrades. “Landing will be rough, but it’s better than splatting.”  

“Sir, the situation in Vegas has taken a drastic turn for the worst.”  

Suddenly, the two heroes were surrounded by projections, showing various News feeds, and CCTV cameras around Vegas.  

While the nightmare-land theme had disappeared, it had been replaced by what looked like literal hell on Earth, as demonic monstrosities ran through the streets, slaughtering whoever crossed their paths.  

“Shit, looks like Jack got tired of just scaring people.” Jacob rushed over to a nearby Pod-like machine, rapidly tapping a code into the console.  

“Sir, all scans indicate Jack is no longer in Vegas...” Yuri paused. “Or in this realm, for that matter.”  

“So we’re dealing with a new player...” Jacob rushed over to a nearby locker, stripping off his casual clothes. “I was hoping we would be able to field test your new gear here...” He looked to Ryan, grabbing a compression suit from the locker. “But I guess it’s gonna be a trial by fire...” He leaned against a nearby bench, taking off his shorts. “Just remember to lean the direction you want to fly, there are buttons on your gloves, arrows increase and decrease speed, to hover, decrease speed and shift your body until you are vertical, and lean slightly back until you come to a full stop.”  

He didn’t skip a beat as he ranted off instructions, pulling one leg off, sliding the legging of the suit on, and sliding the leg back on, repeating this process with his other leg.  

“Sir, safety protocols requires that I remind you that you are currently recovering from a critical stab wound.”  

“Shit, you’re right...” Jacob zipped up his suit, walking over to the door, where he pressed a button on the wall, speaking into the intercom. “Doc, prepare two doses of that painkiller you gave me earlier for my suit, and bring them to the Lab asap...” He smiled to the hologram child as he walked back over to the pod. “So glad I installed those safety protocols, would’ve hated to be in the middle of fight when this stuff wears off.”

“Protocol requires I recommend resting.”

“No can do...” The Pod opened, revealing another set of armor, clearly a backup suit. “Given the rampage in the streets, there are either no heroes on site, or they are stretched too thin...” He turned away from the suit, holding out his arms, as the pieces of the armor opened, and moved into their proper places. “This is what it means to be a hero.” In a matter of seconds, Jacob had disappeared, and Talos stood before them, once again. “I can’t just by while lives are on the line.”  

"Thank you, Doc.” Talos took the cases, sliding them into ports on his suit. “Now...” He looked over to Ryan, stepping towards the center of the lab, as a hole in the ceiling opened. “You ready for round two??”  

Before waiting for a response, the suits jets kicked on, and Talos launched through the exit, and up into the sky. He paused for a second, clearly seeing the chaos in the city from where he was, before leaning forward, making a sudden dash towards the fight.

Ryan was tense.

He couldn’t stop the tempest of thoughts that whirled within his mind. Thinking over all that happened and all that was going on.  Vegas was under assault by a mad man, a pumpkin headed one to be exact but something told him that was something beyond his own abilities. The power of a god focused on a single city, something he wasn’t sure even his father could hope to shut down. The man was not weak by any metric but his power came from more than muscle. More than just the ability to destroy, and even he was more than an engine of destruction. Flamel had taught him how to think, use all he had at his disposal to the best effect he could.

All of this thinking made his head feel like it was going to split in half. It almost made him forget where he was and what he was doing, until Jacob spoke and drew his attention to the male. Distant eyes quickly focused on the male, narrowing in curiosity in what he had to say. He was talking about the modifications to his suit. Additional features that made it more useful, perhaps even in the field. Sensors, flight capabilities as well as the ability to break beyond the sound barrier. Would speed like that do any actual damage to his body? Ryan considered this, half paying attention to him and half contemplating his own stray thoughts. Parallel processing had its own strengths.

”That’s pretty impressive. You’ll have to tell me more about how you got the suit to reach that kind of speed,” Ryan noted, perking up significantly at what he had been told. Perhaps he would have learned more but something had changed outside.

So trial by fire it is. ”Used to it by this point. ” He responded, half paying attention to him quickly changing into a compression suit while also rattling off instructions. While he did that, Ryan went about getting into his own suit.  Switching into a compression suit if only because it would make Jacob feel more comfortable with him flying at those speeds. He never thought about how fast he could move without suffering consequences, which meant he would have to perform a few tests. Sven had said that his body returned to an ideal state when regenerating, so he wasn’t too worried about what happened if he performed such tests.

His suit was waiting for him, upgraded with all the burnt holes patched up. It looked a little bulkier but he was impressed with how Jacob managed to keep it so streamlined despite adding all of those features. Normally he put it on through alchemy but he was afraid to mess with the new circuits and devices. So he went with simply putting it on manually. Fit just like a glove. Did his AI manage to take his measurements when he wasn’t looking? Overthinking was the way of things but inevitably he let the visor clamp over his eyes, a HUD springing to life.

”Didn’t think I could like someone more,” Ryan muttered, thinking back on his small minded opinion of humans he had not so long ago.  Running fingers along the exterior of the armor, he nodded and returned to where Talos was standing in his armor. Armor looking as if he had not been run through sometime tonight.

”Sure you can do this? I don’t think you heal as fast as I do,” He questioned, already feeling as if most of the energy had been washed from his system and the injuries he sustained were closed up. Not even scars remained when he had fully healed up. Well, none that he had paid much attention to. All he knew was that he made some kind of friend and didn’t want to see him die due to painful injuries. Humans and even his siblings were so slow to heal, it made him worry over them like porcelain dolls.

Despite that he couldn’t help smiling under the helmet. ”Course I’m ready. Don’t think they are though,” With that the man took off and so Ryan did too. The initial burst of speed was dizzying, everything around him becoming like a blur as he shot into the sky. There was no bodily discomfort but his mind did reel, trying to figure out and come to terms with what was happening around him. The City of Vegas; once a twinkling jewel stretched out below them. A burnt and smoking thing, so small as he realized he was ascending too high.

Recalling what he was told, he slowed down to a hover and quickly darted back down to a lower altitude. One where breathing felt more manageable, where he could catch sight of Talos within his HUD. A little reticule scanning the horizon, and catching sight of malformed things darting and jumping through the burnt streets below. His attention was quickly sourced on Talos, and he followed suit. Quickly breaching the sound barrier as his target became a massive, ape-like demon with teeth as large as a human arm.

Telekinetic force formed around him like a shell, turning him into a fast moving weapon. Strong enough to punch through this things skull. It popped like a balloon,  and caused the body to slump against the nearest building.  Its girth was enough to slow him down a little,  slamming through a concrete pillar and stopping against the ground in the midst of the same building. Cobalt stepped from the rubble, shoving the massive carcass away with a thought and looking to see multiple people running away from the carnage. There were many more little demons skittering through the streets, just as dangerous for different reasons. They looked like massive beetles. ”Have a few more chasing some civilians down the street.” Ryan sent the comm to Talos, feeling the presence of something lording over him. Three more of the demons he had taken down, seemingly seeing him as enough of a thought to focus on themselves.