Ambiguous justice [Hotwire/Ask to join]

Jump city...

A sprawling anthill of human civilization, with thousands of people and cars moving back and forth, up and down, in this neverending journey called life. Any city was like that, to be honest, activity not stopping even during the night. Tall spires of skyscrapers, gleaming glass of many shops and markets, blinding lights - all the glamour and beauty... to hide stench and decay of desperate living. Because further you go away from the center, you would start noticing that buildings become less pretty, and more worn out and poor, signs covering their withered walls, and windows barred by wooden planks. You would also notice several shady individuals eyeing you from dark alleyways, as you pass by. Be cautious. Everywhere there are good people and bad people. And around here the chances of meeting a bad person were ... significantly higher.

Sasha, of course, did not know that. She was on her journey from Steel City, in a quest to find the famous Titans Tower. Her mission - to become one. This was what she always wanted, what she was created to do. The automaton girl walked across a darkened street, few of the people passing by noticing her weird look, and taking a turn to go around her. For she was no ordinary girl. Her body, entirely of metal, and her upper body floating over the lower one, with nothing in the middle, supported by forces of magic. Her unsettling, glowing gaze piercing the night. She had many thoughts about her future membership, considering what she was supposed to do, one could even say she was .. daydreaming. Her heroes, she would soon stand together with them, even if not in flesh and blood, like it was supposed to be initially... However, her thoughts were interrupted, when, all of a sudden, a loud scream came from an alleyway.

- HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!

Calling for help at this time of hour was not going to help. People were cowardly, they'd rather run away or pretend they did not hear it, than stick their neck out for someone they don't even know. However, for Sasha, it was time for action. She was a hero now, after all, or aspired to be one. And she would become criminals' worst nightmare. Without delay, she charged into the darkness of an alleyway, where she heard the screams from...

Alleyways were always meant to be used as shortcuts and such, by people in a hurry. Sadly enough, they also became a hornets nest for all sorts of petty criminals all too eager to prey upon defenseless, peaceful folks. One of such folks, a young lady in a clerk's suit, was such victim today. Knocked on the ground, dirt smudged over her pretty face, as she looked upon the three thugs towering over her. They were armed, with spiked bats, and one even sported something that looked like a gun.

- Well well, what do we have here... A bank worker coming home late, huh, boys?

- P...please... I will give you everything, just don't hurt.... - the woman, in a state of shock, said, and crawled over to the wall, her back pressing against it. The goons only laughed and snorted, enjoying her fear and helplessness, or, they were, until....

*PSHTANK!*

An arm on a chain flew out of the darkness, past them, grabbing the woman by her shoulder, and roughly pulling her back, flinging her through air into darkness. The woman didn't even manage to scream, the next moment finding herself in someone's strong, cold grip. She breathed out, blinking, and said:

- Hhh.... thank you... - but as she rose her eyes to look upon her savior, she could only see those haunting, glowing eyes looking straight at her. The being moved, whirring its mechanical parts, and a cold voice followed: - It's alright. You should run along now...

- I... I will... - the woman muttered, the voice giving her chills, as she realized that whoever saved her was not ... well, a normal, living person. The crooks, however, were quick enough to come out of their state of shock over what just happened, and they became ... angry.

- HEY! I DUNNO WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED, AND I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE. YOU'RE GOING DOWN! - the leader screamed, obviously, pointing the gun at the dark silhouette. The answer, however, was ... silence. And in that silence, only one sound was heard. Sound of blades yanking out, gleaming in a stray light of an old lamp-post, as Sasha walked out. In her hands, there was a rapier, and a dagger, her holding it in a vaudevillian fashion as she walked towards the three men. And if they were not yet sure of her intentions towards them, the automaton sounded them soon enough:

- I am going to kill you. It will be fun.

And sounds of repeated shooting echoed in an empty alleyway.

Hotwire was riding his cycle through one of the seedier parts of jump. After all... the numbers told him there wasn't going to be much criminal activity in the busier parts of the city. Besides, the dark alleyways were breeding grounds for crime. That fact was brought home to him when he heard gunshots.

He pulled down the allayeway, the lights blaring down the brick lined walls. Any bullets that would whiz in his directions would bounce of the bullet impenetrable ballistics shield.

*PFTANK*

*PFTANK*

*PFTANK*

The goons immediately took a few steps back, upon witnessing shots fired from a gun - their greatest asset and weapon, simply ricochet from Sasha, as she slowly walked towards them, each step followed by a metallic clank and whirring, and a quiet ticking of the mechanisms inside of her. The sight of bullets having no effect had a very demoralizing, if not outright frightening effect on the villains, who were crept enough already by the words she had uttered before.

- W... what kind of abomination are you?! - the leader screamed, firing his last bullets, aiming at her head. The pistol clicked a few times, after the shots were made, informing that the clip was empty, but ... one of the bullets managed to hit Sasha in the eye! It stopped glowing, and so did the automaton, halting her advance. The crooks blinked a few times, wondering if it was enough to 'kill' it. But then Sasha brought a hand over her artificial eye.

- I am Sasha. - she said, her voice ringing with a sadistic echo. Then, her hand over the eye began glowing with blue light, and when she removed it, the eye was fully functioning once more. And your resistance is futile.

The gang leader dropped his gun when he saw that happening, and so did his remaining lackeys. If even that didn't work, they had no hope against the approaching robot-thing! They turned around to run, only to find out that it was the dead end of the alley! Pressing their backs against the brick wall, they rose their hands in the air, yelping:

- P... please! Have mercy! We surrender!

- Denied. - a short answer came from the automaton, as she moved in range of a strike, and rose her sword to cut down the leader in front of her. It was at this very moment, when, suddenly, bright lights appeared behind Sasha. She blinked, half-turning towards the source of the light, narrowing her eyes to see what it was. The crooks, pale from deadly threat about to be made true, covering their eyes from the light as well, screamed out, imploring to whoever it may be:

- PLEASE HELP! THAT THING WANTS TO KILL US!

Using his nanobots, he accessed the camera in his cycle and analyses the situation at 10 times the rate of normal human thought.

'Three thugs. Armed but out of ammunition. 2nd party. Some form of robotic assassin. Armed with various weapons.' He said as each weapon on her body appeared in orange in his view.

'First... take out the primary weapon.'

A bola chain would shoot from the cycle, hopefully ripping the weapons from the hands of the robot. The bola would the wrap around it. The magnets inside would fire up, and attach to a fire escape.

"Now stand down." Hotwire said getting off his cycle.

An intervention was unexpected.

Sasha did not know who the bright light belonged to, and who the person was, but surely she did not expect him to stop her from doing the right thing. At least, in her opinion. Which was why she never reacted in time. The bola ripped the weapon out of her steel hand with sheer force, rendering her weaponless. Heh, weaponless. She was a weapon altogether, disarming her was ... pointless, to say the least. Sasha frowned, focusing her glowing eyes on the boy in a strange suit, and his cycle.

- Why are you stopping me? Are you a friend of theirs? - she asked inquisitively, turning fully to face this new threat. The three crooks just froze, eyes darting to find an escape route, but there was none. The wall was high and doned with razor wire to stop such attempts altogether. Cornered, and without any ways of escape, the three thugs were desperate enough to try using the moment, when the automaton girl turned her back to them.

- IT'S OUR CHANCE GUYS! GRAB HER!

And with that, the three men jumped Sasha, one grabbing her from behind, and other two latching to her arms, before she could do anything. The girl cringed under weight, but did not allow herself to be toppled over, feet planting into the ground. Her glowing eyes narrowed, still locked at the boy, and then...

*SSSHHHKINK!*

A sound of a blade coming out of somewhere was heard, and the crooks' face expressions changed from fierce ones to ... those of pain. With groans, their grips became weaker, and their bodies fell off of her within a moment. Sasha... was doned with blades. They came out of each of her joints, and have pierced through limbs that were holding her. The boss, who held her from behind, also received a stab straight in the gut, and was now thrashing on the ground in agony, along with the rest of his gang. They were alive, for now, but without proper medical help... - So strange, they scream... - the automaton pointed out, looking at the downed robbers without a hint of remorse on her metal face, but rather ... curiosity.

- You must be one of them if you want to protect them. - the mechanical voice ringed, as Sasha pointed her finger at Hotwire, making a step towards him. The blades, some of them crimson, escaped back into her joints with a raspy sound. - You will suffer the same.

And when that was said, the tip of her finger opened, and ...

*SHICK SHICK SHICK SHICK!*

A barrage of sharp, heavy needles was fired at the boy!

Casualties! No one was going to die... not under his watch. He held his hand to his communicator, as his nanobots dialed out through it to patch in a 911 call to his location.

Needles fired at him, and as he moved to dodge, one of them ripped through his sleeve, missing his skin, but causing a gash in the suit. The nanobots immediately began fixing the rip.

He needed to finish this so he could apply first aid. he would command his cycle to weave with him, allowing him to get up close. He would clamber on and jump off to get on top of the girl.

"A robot huh? Let's see what I can hack..."

He would slam his fist into her eye, hopfuly cracking it, and allowing his nanobots to hack in. What would happen next would come down to what there was to control.

(ooc:You can give hotwire as much or as little control as you want.)

The battle was on.

Something Sasha was made for. Even though her father made her to be a replica of his deceased daughter, he also made sure that this one won't fall prey to a bunch of bunks such as those, who lied on the ground now, bleeding to death. Oh no... this Sasha was different. She was a lean mean killing machine. Something her opponent would recognize soon enough.

The boy dodged her barrage of needles, but it was hardly the best Sasha had to offer. She stood her ground, as the boy charged in with his bike, the blinding lights striking her face again. She turned a bit away, and it gave the boy an opportunity to jump over and throw a jab directly at the automaton's face! The girl did not even try to dodge the attack as it was coming.

And then...

*BAM*

A sound of a strong blow against metal was heard, added the sound of glass cracking. However, Sasha did not take a step back. She did not even flinch, and just stood there, his fist planted into her eye. Her remaining eye stared directly into the boy's one, with an unsettling, strange light glowing inside of it.

- It doesn't hurt.

The girl then gwould grab around the arm that just threw a punch at him. Her steel fingers, holding his hand in a vicegrip. She was stronger than a normal human, mush stronger. And her hand would begin crushing his wrist. While at it, the remaining would rise to strike at him, but before she could do it, Sasha suddenly... stopped. Something was going inside of her. She could feel it.

- I hear soft things. - she stated. But the nanobots going inside would be ... quite surprised. There was no processors. No circuits, no nothing a regular robot would have. Her joints, her mechanisms, were purely mechanic, binded together by a strange blue light that was seen going through her eyes. Her eyes were made of simple glass, but it was the light that made them 'see'.

And then the robot would strike at the boy. Again and again, in the face, in the gut, aiming to maul him with strength of ten men. She would be done with him soon. And then she would return to the bodies on the floor, to deal with them. If Hotwire wanted to save them, he would have to hold on until police comes!

Hotwire reached out to control the robot... and instantly regretted it.

He saw himself floating in a void, blue lights flashing all around.

"What is this? Hotwire yelled.

As if answering him, four glowing tentacles, of pure blue magic wrapped around him. A facsimile of the robot walked up to him.

"You're power is strange. Alien."

"What?"

"You have further blurred the line between machine and magic."

"I didn't know!"

"Claiming ignorance will not change your interference. The consequences will be made known in due time" And with that, the robot walked away, and the tentacles fizzled. The next instant, Hotwire was expelled from the empty space.

Hotwire then screamed in agony as his wrist began being crushed.

"What are you?"

(ooc:Hotwire had a tiny brush with technomagic... poor guy)

The enemy was spacing out, from fright or from pain, Sasha could see that, as the metal ring of her grip tightening around the wrist of the boy, crushing it, rending flesh and muscle as the pressure grew. It mattered not, the automaton was having an intent to kill the boy anyway. Her other hand slowly moved towards the throat, aiming to grab it and slowly strangle him, as she began talking again:

- Why did you try protecting the villains? They wanted to do bad things to that poor woman. They would've killed me, if they had the chance. But they don't. They're dying instead now. It is their own fault. And you will join them... - the voice was not kind, it was cold and metallic, formed by metal strings in her throat. And as she would slowly strange the boy, he muttered out the only question:

- What are you?

- I am Sasha. That is my name.

But then... something happened. Again. And maybe the nanobots getting in touch with the magical essence that powered up this machine, this ... golem, did not went on without strange ... consequences. For both of them. And as the boy would space out again, either from it, or from asphyxiation, he would see... A picture.

_____

It was much similar to this one. A dark alley in a city that did not look quite like Jump. It was ... darker, nastier, with clouds of smoke from the factories making even the day somewhat dark. A tiny shop at the end of the street, which sold groceries, and belonged to a tiny old man. Who was now facing three punks, talking to them about something... Something involving money...

- P...please, you have to understand... If I give you any more money, I will not be able to run my shop!

The three thugs only laughed at him, and one made a step forward, intimidating the old man, who fell on his knees almost immediately. There were people outside, passing by, but they acted indifferent, not caring about this even happening in front of their eyes. Apathetic...

- Sorry Gramps, but we just don't give a shit. Either you pay us, or we wreck this place up so badly you'll never get it off the ground again. Once you leave the hospital, that is. - he said, and showed a nasty-looking baseball bat, doned with spikes, which made the shopkeeper tremble. But as he was about to comply with the crooks' demands, a voice thundered:

- Have you no soul, bastards, to such such disgusting things?

A few steps away from them, stood a young girl, her body clad in white costume used in fencing practice, and she held a practice rapier in her hands - the end of it had a plastic material covering the tip, to prevent any injuries. Thu thugs looked over her, and laughed, clearly not seeing her as any sort of a potential threat.

- Eh-heh, we do what we want. And who's gonna stop us, you?

The girl looked at the old man, who looked at her with pleading eyes, and frowned, turning her fiery gaze upon the villains, and unsheathed her weapon. Determination and bright righteous fires in those bright blue eyes.

- Yes I will...

________

The image of the girl's face would slowly fade before Hotwire's eyes, and in its place, once he would return to reality, he would see... Sasha's face. An almost perfect replica, only made of steel. The eyes, so lively and bright in the vision, replaced with those glass shards, glowing with the unsettling, ghastly light. The face, suddenly, twitched, and the automaton girl just ... cringed, for a second. And let out a horrible scream:

- AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRHGH! - it almost shattered windows, a loud mix of a human scream and sound of metal tearing apart. Sasha took a grip over the boy's form, throwing him far away from her, against the wall, before grabbing her head with both hands and shaking. How could a mechanism even feel something like this? How could it feel... pain?

- S... stay out of my head... - an angry metallic growl was heard, as she used her technomagic to repair her eye, broken by the boy's blow. She reached for the fire-escape, where her rapier was, and tore it out of the bola with sheer strength. Then, she walked towards the direction she threw the boy in, her weapon in hand again. Only it was not made for practice. The safety tip was gone. This one was made... for killing.

She did not appreciate opening her mind. It... hurt.

A vision in his head... of a girl about to fight. When he came back he noticed the striking resemblance between the girl and this... thing!

It showed pain... then anger, things Hotwire was sure a machine shouldn't have... unless it had a really good programer and could create some sort of pseudo-emotion.

He saw the blade. A couple more minutes... all he needed. This girl didn't care for lives. All crimes are the same. All must result in death.

"These men will receive their punishment. You went too far. I'm trying to protect lives."

The 'merge of minds', so to speak, still left the automaton girl with the nasty ringing sound going through her head. It has been passing though. She rarely felt something known as pain, even during fights, due to being invulnerable to most things. Being hurt like that was something new. Something... she didn't really like.

Her eyes looked upon the boy coldly again, as she approached. He didn't try to run, which was good. She would punish him for meddling with her dealing with thugs. Same thugs because of who a human girl known as Sasha existed no longer. There was only 'Sasha', a deadly, and powerful machine, where mechanics and magic combined.

- Why protect those lives? - she asked, not really fluent or apt in difficult ethical and philosophical babblings humans usually enjoyed doing. And besides, talking like that would not distract her from fighting. It was also a clever move. - Their lives are not worth protecting.

And with that the automaton charged at the boy. She pointed a finger at him and released a barrage of needles. But it was only part one of the attack. She waited for him to dodge to a side, and when he would...

- GET OVER HERE!

She would shoot her arm, on a chain, towards the boy, aiming to grab and pull him closer, where she could run her blade through him. She cared not for any obstacles in front of her, crushing bottles and glass, and knocking over garbage cans. She would have to hurry dealing with this threat though - from afar, sounds of sirens and ambulance could be heard already...

He saw the spikes coming... and made a plan. Computer geeks like him had a phrase "A computer is only a powerful as the thing that made it."

As he dodged to the side, he would grab one of the needles. When the chain wrapped around him and dragged him close, he would drive the needle right in her face.

"Fatal system error. Time to shut you down." He joked.

'Computers are only as powerful as those who make them.'

The boy had underestimated the power and determination of an insane man driven by sorrow and loss. And he had underestimated the power of his punch, with a needle in hand. He was facing an automaton made of metal. Punches ... would do little to nothing in this situation. He would need something with more firepower. A lot more.

Which would not matter anyway - he was being dragged back to Sasha, who poised her rapier to impale the boy with extreme prejudice. He would see himself flying right towards the pointy edge, and it would have been the end of him, if not for that somewhat useless, but suddenly saving punch he threw.

*BANG!*

He did not do much damage, but the bunch managed to get the incoming stab off-focus. Instead of piercing right through his heart, it would go through shoulder, and he will slide down, meeting the machine once again face-to-face. Hers showed no emotion, and eyes - no mercy, no pity. Actually ... only slight disappointment.

- Hello. - he greeted, and pushed him off her blade, towering over to deliver one last, finishing blow. And nothing would've said the boy from impending doom at her hands, if not for the...

*ALARM!*

*ALARM!*

*ALARM!*

The police sirens became a lot louder in the background, and multiple steps were being heard getting closer and closer. Sasha looked at the boy, and then at the shadows, that appeared at the end of the alleyway. She could have ended it quickly, but then she would have had to deal with police. Sasha did not want to deal with police. Police were the good guys by default. She was a good guy.

- I must leave. We shall play together again. - an unsettling smile appeared on her face, before she charged much force into her legs, and leaped up, landing atop of a 2-story building that made the alleyway. The villains were lucky, but she figured police will deal with them ... adequately. And soon enough a few men in blue uniform and guns in hands would flow into the alleyway, where the boy, and three injured crooks were lying on the ground. The lieutenant shined his flashlight at them, the beam of light falling on Hotwire's face.

- Jesus Christ, what happened here?

A splitting pain sliced through hotwire's shoulder. He fell on the ground in agony. The girl fled at the sound of sirens. The police lieutenant shone his light on hotwire's face.

Jesus Christ, what happened here?


Out of the stabbed thugs...only one died. The leader. The survivors were put in intensive care until their arrests.

The medics patched up Hotwire, and deemed him fit to go off on his own.

He got on his cycle, and programmed a location. He needed somewhere to settle down after the fight.

He decided to go to rays.

(ooc:out0

[ THREAD END. Thanks for the RP, Hotwire, it has been fun ^_^ )