NPF Avatars 5 - Another Version Of The Truth

[POS Industries]

Meanwhile, back in NPF Avatars IV....

POS took a sip from the can of Cherry Coke, looking down through the employee lounge window upon the loading team as they finished readying the glowing canister onto the transport. The contents within, some high-energy material from the comet currently traveling past the NPF, had been analyzed as thoroughly as possible in the short time afforded them during the current situation and appeared to be the final piece of the puzzle necessary to power the machine....

"Pe-chan, are you ready to go?" the android Rei asked of Pedro as she entered the room, "The other NPFers are nearly out of the Fire Temple and we need to leave soon if we're to meet them before they head to the Shadow Temple."

"Sure, sure, one sec," POS nodded, drinking down the last of his soda and throwing away the can, "We're sure the chaos shards won't react badly to the hyperlink transport?"

Rei looked out through the window herself. "Probably. The canister's pretty well protected. Assuming Arhra and the others save the day this time, there shouldn't be any major hiccups."

"Well, then we'll have to make all the arrangements for my coming out party. Creating a manmade god and heralding in a new reign over the NPF seems like something for which you plan a whole major event, you know? Not to mention create an excuse to get all your potential threats together in one place to wipe them out," Pedro grinned as he grabbed his coat.

"Well, what about another grand adventure?"

"Hm, that could work," POS considered aloud, "but nobody'd buy me assembling the Avengers to save the world or whatever. Maybe invite them all for, I dunno, an arena tournament and then have the major crisis pop up from there. We'll have to create the threat ourselves and pin it on some other schmuck, of course...."

At that moment, the two of them became aware of the man behind them, who had just started pounding on the snack machine that had eaten his change.

"You stupid piece of garbage!" the stout, balding man in the labcoat whined, "Give me my damn Cheetos!"

POS studied the man curiously studied the man for a moment, before continuing his conversation with Rei, "What do we have as far as mind control? You know, hypnotic suggestion, sleeper agent induction, that sort of thing?"

"We've got a few things available," she answered, "What do you have in mind?"

"All of it and right now," Pedro informed her before walking over the man, "Excuse me, guy with his arm jammed up the snack machine. What's your name?"

"Um, D-Doukhobor, sir," the guy stammered, quickly pulling his arm from the machine and getting to his feet, "Doug Doukhobor. What, uh, what can I do for you, Mr. O'Sullivan?"

"Well, Dougie," POS continued warmly, putting his arm around Doug's shoulder and walking him out of the room, "How would you be interested in a promotion? I believe we might have a position as the Robotics Director that you might really enjoy...."

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The restaurant shaking all around them, the staff at Denny's were quite obviously in a state of panic at their current situation. Had there been any customers, perhaps the trepidation would have been doubly so. Luckily it was just a couple fry cooks and a few waitresses at the moment.

Well, it was really always like that there.

"It's an earthquake, Myrtle! We've got to get out of here!"

"No no no, Rose! You have to stand under a doorway or hunker down in the bathtub!"

"Bathtub? That's tornadoes! And there isn't even a tub in the place!"

"Oh, right, right.... Well, what if we ju--"

At that moment, the ground around the restaurant gave way as the concrete shell that had been erected around Gaia broke apart under the strain and were devoured by the dark, empty tendrils that had grown out from Pedros Nihilem as the final stage in his ascension to godhood commenced. Light finally shined down upon the true surface of Gaia for the first time in over a year as the massive parking lot was torn apart above it.

Despite the further questions asked of him by the assembled NPFers as they themselves battled the panicked hordes of Gaians while the world around them was torn asunder, Nihilem had become much too involved in his "birth" to answer at this point.

Rei, on the other hand, didn't have much to do at the moment. Opening a hyperlink portal, she threw Pedro's lifeless human body into it and dropped down next to Mauve, erecting a shield bubble around the two of them and deflecting the several Gaians who were lunging at the mage at that very moment.

"Well, since you asked nicely," the android began to inform her, "Pe-chan's trying to take over the NPF, a goal in which most of you would undoubtedly try to stop. To that end, he used the resources and knowledge gained throughout the past two of your adventures to become a god and destroy you in one fell swoop. We would have actually done this at Pe-chan's funeral, but Dougie decided to spill the beans and so we moved this on ahead. Neat, huh?"