Brikman McStudz

OOC: Yes, of course. I did look up Majora's Mask ocarina songs on the interwebs (as I haven't played that game yet) and somehow, I missed the Oath to Order. I did listen to once ago, which made playing it in Ocarina of Time ​sound familiar.Even not yet playing Majora's Mask, I was still wanting to pull a "Dawn of the Final Day" at some point. At last, it finally came. I don't know about anybody else, but I suddenly felt like Dust deserves a ton of facts akin to Chuck Norris facts. I laughed quite a bit at this.IC:It was chaos in every since of the word. With Minerva at the wheel, Zach's Fire Hammer barreled toward the river with their fellow Fire Hammers. The army was massive with every Mutant Dino breed working together to destroy the team once and for all. He had little doubt that the imposing Mutant T-Rex in silver armor was Dr. Rex himself, seeing to it that the Dino Attack Headquarters was laid to waste and every agent was dead.As they reached the river, several Mutant Dinos had already jumped or walked through it and was now on Dino Attack turf. "Hit them with everything," he said into a radio, talking to the Fire Hammers around him and their gunner, a dark-haired, older man named Reggie. Reggie responded with a low grunt while he peppered oncoming dinos with Xenon fire.Zach opened the passenger door a crack and examined the Mutant Dinos heading the pack. While the T-Rex he assumed was Dr. Rex was in the lead, there was also an annoying large amount of Mutant Raptors leading the charge. He swore and pulled back into the vehicle and began to search the back for a Cosmotronic Ray. Once finding it, he leaned out of the slightly ajar door and began firing at the raptors, aiming to take out their force fields.Minerva turned to the radio as Zach fired. "There are a lot of Mutant Raptors here. Get rid of those force fields!" Almost immediately after saying that, several Steel Sprinters pulled up started firing their Cosmotronic Rays. She turned to Zach. "I'll admit, having a little authority is nice.""Less talk, more drive and shoot!" Zach grunted as he shot a stray Mutant Lizard that was running for his door. Another Mutant Lizard managed to slip past his radar and attempted to get into the Fire Hammer. "Oh, no you don't!" Zach roared. He kicked lizard once and slammed the door into its face multiple times before it finally collapsed.They're everywhere, Zach mused. Opening his door again, he shot a Mutant Raptor twice, disabling its force field. It was then struck repeatedly by Xenon blasts by Reggie, knocking it down."Keep it up!" Zach yelled, remembering Semick's advice of encouragement. "We're holding them so far, but there is still a long way to go!"*******************************Nazareno heard the first shots go off, followed by massive roars of anger. It was soon followed by an ominous boom of thunder and a terrifying crack of lightning. It has begun. The final storm. he thought grimmly. He looked at Zelda, who watched intently as the Dino Attack Team's forces collided with XERRD's legion of Mutant Dinos at the river."It's time," he remarked with little emotion. Zelda nodded wordlessly to him. She made sure her ponytail was secure and slid a black bandanna over her mouth. "And you are positive you can handle this?"Zelda rolled her eyes at him. "I'm positive. I do have some skill beyond what you taught me.""It is more than apparent that you are highly skilled, Zelda," Nazareno said sternly. He saw her cheeks become bright red at his compliment, but he ignored it. "What we are about to do is exceptional dangerous and would be suicidal to any other man. By my reckoning, it still is suicidal, but we have a much better chance at beating those odds and I do not want you to suddenly panic if things go wrong.""I don't plan on it," Zelda said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I am aware of what we are about to do, and I'm willing to take the risk."Nazareno sighed. Zelda showed exceptionally promise. She could take care of herself, so why was he worried? "Well then, I suggest we join our comrades." He gestured out to battlefield, where Urban Avengers and Steel Sprinters were moving in to provide back-up in case a dino managed to slip through. "However, we will be taking it a bit farther than they are."He revved his Steel Sprinter's engine. Even if its outwardly appearance was wrecked and ruined, Nazareno had made sure it had a decent engine so he could pull off their maneuver. With a single nod to Zelda, the two of them took of toward the front lines at full speed.

OOC: "> \/ A \/ > /\"? Well, since I had been playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the past week, I decided to throw this combination of arrows and "A's" into the titular Ocarina of Time and...I got absolutely nothing. I tried reading the notes, but I mostly got gibberish. Which either means I'm dead wrong or I'm doing it wrong.Welcome back again, Takanuva.I realize now, especially in a drought-ridden state, it is probably the perfect time to head to my favorite website, RainyMood.IC:Zach stared out of a window in one of the hallways of the soon-to-be-under-attack headquarters, thinking about what had happened in the past hour. Rain tapped against the window at an irregular beat. Normally, this would calm him and be sorely wanted. If one thing was wrong with LEGO Island, it was the always perfect weather. Now, it put Zach on the edge.The water on the window obscured his sight, but the dark outline of tall building against the dark and cloudy sky were still visible somewhat. After the mental image of city always being bright, even in the dark, was ingrained in his conscious, seeing no light from any building was more unnerving than he'd like to admit.Elite Agent Zachary. Something he hadn't really predicted to happen was a promotion to Elite Agent. He supposed he had done a fair amount on Adventurers' Island, but he figured the part where he attempted to destroy the team and, through that, the planet, as a Stromling would prevent any sort of promotion. Not that I particularly cared. I had more pressing concerns about a post-Stromling future. Most importantly, the Darkitect's constant reminders that he would be shunned by the team for his work as a Stromling. So far, the Darkitect had been dead wrong and Zach's promotion codified it.Though she was off making preparations and he hadn't been able to speak to her more personally since before the meeting, Minerva seemed just as and perhaps even more surprised to be promoted to Elite Agent. When her name had been included with his, her eyes had widened astronomically, forcing Zach to suppress a snicker.On to Semick's meeting, he had remained mostly quiet and made sure to note everything he had said concerning himself and Minerva. Once again, he had yet to discuss it with her, but was certain they would be on front lines. Waiting for the Mutant Dinos to reach the final stretch of Iron Predators would be more unnerving than staring at a dark skyline.The mention of leadership had brought on much thought as well. He himself disliked leading unless said leader is incompetent. He didn't know if the leadership demostrated during the Battle of the Temple of Hotep III was the Maelstrom's work or his own hidden talents. Semick's right, of course. Leading intentional cannon fodder is different from leading actual people. I think I would rather just stay as 'role model' as opposed to 'leader'. But if it comes down to it, I'll do what I must.He felt a person brush against his side. Zach turned and saw Minerva, her helmet tucked underneath her arm. "How're you feeling?" she asked, looking out the window as well."Fine. A bit surprised at first, but I've moved on. You?"Minerva laughed bitterly. "So was I. Semick's meeting and a quick talk with Vinyaya and Nazareno made me feel better. Somewhat.""So do we have a ride?" If the fate of the planet most likely did not depend on the success of this battle, he might have looked into taking an Iron Predator or T-1 Typhoon."I found us a Fire Hammer with a few other people.""So we're taking the front lines?" Minerva nodded once. Her face was full of grim determination. Zach merely stared ahead. He wanted to say something to her. Something reassuring. Something encouraging. Something heartfelt.Minerva looked at him, "Let's go see our friends," she said quietly. "Just in case...just in case we don't see them again." He looked at her. The only thing upsetting her determined face was her damp eyes. He swallowed hard and nodded. She took his hand loosely and started to lead him to their friends.******************They found them in the garage. Zelda, Nazareno, and Vinyaya were speaking in hushed tones near an Iron Predator."-kind of last-resort means we lose the war?" Zach heard Zelda ask.Nazareno sighed deeply. "I don't know. The only idea I have is the abandonment of the planet.""What?!"Vinyaya coughed. "It seems likely enough. If Dr. Rex were to overtake us and defeat us once and for all, Antarctica would be his next target. If the team falls tomorrow, we may give up the planet to Dr. Rex and simply evacuate the LEGO Planet's remaining population to a colony in space. It would ensure survival, but would result in losing the LEGO Planet to Dr. Rex and have it become the Mutant Dino paradise he is dreaming of."Zach winced as he listened to this. If Vinyaya was correct, winning seemed more important then ever.Nazareno turned to Zach and Minerva and bowed his head. "Congratulations, Zachary. The promotion was well deserved."Zach smiled faintly. "Thanks. Where will you be in this battle?" Nazareno gestured with one hand to Zelda. "I will be with Zelda. We are taking a more...direct approach with the Mutant Dinos." He then gestured to a pair of Steel Sprinters nearby. They looked somewhat beaten and rusted. In sudden realization in what Zelda and Nazareno were planning to do, he nodded."Sounds spectacularly dangerous," Zach noted. "A two-man army riding right into the the pack." If this was anyone else, he protest (maybe even command) that the idea was suicide and was pointless. However, he realized who was pulling off. "Knock around a few Mutant T-Rex skulls for me, eh?" Nazareno bowed his head again. He turned to Zelda. "I expect you to do the same, apprentice."She smiled confidently. "You can bet on it.""Good. I better see you guys on December 22 when we are celebrating our win." Even as he said it, he still wasn't sure if he was going to survive, but if anyone was, Kareem Nazareno and his very skilled apprentice Zelda Frodongan would.Nazareno seemed to read his mind. "It was an honor knowing you, Zachary Virchaus," he said calmly, extending his hand toward Zach. Zach shook it silently, looking into the eye-slits of Nazareno's mask.As he moved on to Zelda, she quickly embraced Zach in a warm hug. Surprised, he returned the hug. Thinking about it, he hardly knew Zelda and she hardly knew him. Despite this, the knowledge that they both shared the turmoils of the Maelstrom somehow made them closer. Zelda suddenly pulled away."When this is over," she said with certainty. "We're going to start a real friendship."Zach smirked. "You can be that big sister that I never really wanted." Zelda chuckled quietly and bobbed her head in agreement. With that, he moved on to Holly Vinyaya.Their relationship was a strange one. One based on a lot of sarcasm. While he does find Vinyaya a bit uptight, Zach knew she was a fearsome soldier. He tried to find something to say to her. Something that would smooth over their earlier rough patch like the discussion with Scratch did. Something to make amends."Well, Commander. Looks like I outrank you now."Vinyaya rolled her eyes, but smiled faintly. "Congratulations, Zachary" she said. Zach raised an eyebrow at being refered to be his first name (and designated codename) as opposed to his last name. "You better be out there when this thing starts living up to that title." Zach nodded and shook her hand.Zach stepped to the side and watched Minerva as she spoke to Nazareno in a quiet, hushed tone. After several minutes, she embraced the space ninja warmly. The same pattern occurred for Zelda and Vinyaya, Minerva managing to solicit a hug out of the latter.Minerva then joined him, putting her helmet on her head. "Ready?" he asked her."Ready as I'll ever be.""Then lead on to the Fire Hammer."

OOC: I would say go ahead with the vehicle part. In the chaos of the Final Battle, it could be easily explained away that nobody is really concerned if a non-Elite Agent is using an Iron Predator or T-1 Typhoon.But I also like the idea of being an Elite Agent as an honorary title. Like a sort of "Thanks for sticking around through a long hiatus and etcera and etcera and you're being recognized for sticking through until the end." So I'd say go ahead with one last Elite Agent promotion. Because why not? I think if you wait long enough, PeabodySam might throw some a lot Mutant Dinos at us. IC:"So this is it," Minerva said grimly."Yep," was all Zach managed say. After Specs' announcement came through, Holly Vinyaya and Zelda Frodongan left Zach and Minerva to their own devices; both presumably to help prepare for the battle. Zach was also certain that Zelda was going to find Nazareno. Zach and Minerva were quick in arming themselves and getting helmets. They both were helping where ever they could, which had ultimately led them to the helicopter hanger.It was slightly bare due to T-1 Typhoons helping escort helicopters with civilians out of the city. The T-1 Typhoons that remained were undergoing last minute inspections so they were prepared for the battle. Heading the efforts were more LEGO Islanders; namely, Nubby Stevens and Bill Ding. Nubby and Bill spoke surprisingly very little as they made sure everything was ready for tomorrow. Zach and Minerva helped by simply following the mechanic and builder's instructions."Why is that Agents helicopter here?" Minerva asked as Nubby dismissed them. She pointed to the dark blue helicopter landed near the edge of the hanger. Curious, Zach and Minerva walked over to it."Hey!" Zach called out. "Why is this thing here?" In response, a dark-haired, bespectacled man in an Agents uniform appeared from behind the helicopter."I'm refueling. I'll be out of your way in a moment..." The man squinted at Zach, then grinned. "Zachary Virchaus." He began to approach Zach.Zach smiled in realization. "Thaddeus Brickhouse." He shook the Agent's hand. "Good to see you again.""Hopefully not for the last time," Brickhouse said, scratching his beard. "I heard you became one of those Stromlings back on Adventurers' Island. Imagine my surprise to see you here!""Well, thanks to a couple of friends, I am here." Zach gestured to Minerva. "This is one of those friends. This is Minerva Fabello." Thaddeus extended his hand toward Minerva, who accepted it with her own, smiling nervously."Nice to meet you, Minerva. Me and Zach were close buds back when he was an Agent. While he moved on to this team, I stayed behind.""You know why," Zach said, crossing his arms.Brickhouse waved his hand. "I know. I know. If you haven't already seen, the Agents Defense Organization has learned its lessons. We didn't interfere with your Adventurers' Island mission until your team actually needed. And relations have been improved with the Alpha Team considerably.""I've noticed. Are you going to be out there tomorrow?"Brickhouse revealed an arrogant smirk. "Plan on it. Agent Chase is going to have some of us hanging around to back you guys up. Dash Justice will probably do the same.""Good to hear. Now, I suppose you should be going back to the-""Civilian evacuation." Brickhouse nodded. He turned and climbed into the helicopter. "Best be going. I better see you on December 22."Zach smiled sadly. "You too." The Aerial Defense Unit fired to life and quickly left the hanger."That seemed rather random," Minerva noted as they started to head for the exit."A bit. But now that we know he's here and he knows we're here, he'll probably save our lives at some point tomorrow in a Chekhov's Gun-style Big Darn Heroes moment."Minerva smiled briefly. "That's encouraging." She looked away. "What do think?"He knew what she meant, but still asked. "What?""Do think we'll win tomorrow?"Zach sighed. "I want to say that there's no chance of Dr. Rex winning, but I'm not sure. This is easily looking like 'final battle' material. If it is, we can probably bet that Dr. Rex is out there leading the Mutant Dinos himself, seeing to it that this building is flatten and all of us murdered. And if this is a final battle, we might be able to anticipate scientists, Hybrids, and mercenaries aiding him. And then there's stuff he might throw out that we aren't anticipating..."Minerva looked at him. "So basically, if we even have a chance, it's going to be like running through MegaBlokLand and back?" Zach nodded. "I'm staying with you. Until the end."Zach wrapped his arm around her and brought her close. "Until the end." Minerva rested her head on his shoulder. If there was one thing he didn't regret from happening in this war, it was getting to know Minerva Fabello and would gladly fight with her until this battle was won or until he was dead.He mentally cringed. Death seemed to be just a few hours away. There were enough close-calls on Adventurers' Island to tell him that he wasn't invincible, even if he could control the Maelstrom. Compared to when he first landed on Adventurer's Island, Zach was uncertain what would happen tomorrow. Anything could happen. He squeezed Minerva's hand tightly.All he could do now was wait.

OOC: I'm glad you though so. I realize who this site is targeted too, but after reading Bluetooth call French Fries "an cool dude", I need to make some sort of Take That-type reference to how ridiculous it made it sound. That's good, because that's more or less how I interpreted the situation, which actually more of the real reason why I suggested that. I suppose we could make something more of it if you're feeling up to it.

OOC: I might set sail on a ship for either Andrisa or Pteraxus, just cause this amuses me.I'll also shoot for Kattwire, even if Jacks says they're "Just Friends". Why two "Ts"? Because it looks cool.I don't think Glados x Anyone would work, primarily due to Glados' "bitter, unlikable loner" status. I could almost roll with some sort of Dr. Rex x Provencal/Glados/Ingrid in a sort of one-way attraction. Like Bellatrix Lestrange's attraction to Lord Voldemort.Bring up XERRD shipping, I toyed with "Provenswald" at one point, thinking that I'd take Carolyne Provencal to the final battle with Oswald. I gave it up later, and then Provencal died, so..."Stranyaya", huh? I don't think Vinyaya has even met Stranger, as far as I can remember. I would shoot for something like Vinyatooth or something, primarily because they're both from space organizations.IC:"Do you really think that?" Vinyaya asked, glancing at Zach. He shrugged."I'm leaning towards it. Due to his apparent deep-rooted dislike for pirates, I imagine he's been a ninja from a very young age. Though I don't know how space ninjas operate as opposed to regular ninjas, so you never know."Vinyaya and Zach had returned to the prison block to find it empty, so they took to wandering the hallways. While Zach brought up numerous ideas on who to pair Vinyaya with, they had ultimately returned their focus on Nazareno."I think Frodongan is infatuated with him," Vinyaya said. Zach raised an eyebrow, then smirked."That's interesting in a variety of ways. One is her pirate upbringing and second as that it sounds like she tried to kill him while she was a Stromling.""Well, Nazareno stayed behind during the Maelstrom temple and was there when Frodongan returned to normal. As the only two agents in the midst of a bunch of medics, it seems very likely they could have bonded in that time.""Do you know if Nazareno shares her feelings, or is even aware?"Vinyaya shrugged. "He's a hard man to read, naturally.""So he's attracted Zelda and he's probably attracted you," Zach said. Vinyaya began to argue when Zach cut her off. "I'm thinking Nazareno may be a Chick Magnet. Maybe even a borderline Memetic Se-""How are you so certain that I like him?" Vinyaya interrupted curtly."Space?" Vinyaya's eyes narrowed, apparently not satisfied with his answer. "Hmm. Did you help hunt after an intergalactic terrorist by the name of Matthew Vherestorm?""Yes.""Well Nazareno spent a good number of years chasing after this 'Vherestorm', so that's another thing you have in common. I don't know, I just see the two of you getting along rather well."Vinyaya rolled her eyes. "Probably. That doesn't mean I have to be romantically involved with him. Like you said, he-""Hey!" Minerva's voice called out from behind them. Zach and Vinyaya turned to see Minerva and Zelda approaching them. "We've been looking for you.""So have I," Zach said, smiling. Minerva turned to Vinyaya."So why did you need to see Zach?" she asked."It was a...personal matter that needed to be cleared up," Vinyaya said. Zach nodded in agreement."Where's Nazareno?" he asked."He said he wanted to be alone for a bit," Zelda said. She smiled, amused. "I think he's hungry, so he's probably going somewhere he can take off his mask."Zach chuckled. "Probably. I could go for a quick bite to eat. How about it?" Zelda and Minerva nodded. "Vinyaya? Oh, sorry, Commander?"Vinyaya smirked. "I suppose I could have something to eat.""Good," Zach said, clapping his hands together. "Let's go."

OOC: I don't even know how to respond to that, other than I keep grinning each time I read it. I could confirm it, deny it, or elaborate on it. But I'd rather just leave you in suspense. ;)avmatoran, I don't have any real suggestions other than backing up what Atton is saying and perhaps you could bring back characters of yours that seem to suffering Chuck Cunningham Syndrome (such as Kara Wise, who is only confirmed to have arrived at the Dino Attack Headquarters. Or Catless, who hasn't been seen since rescuing Vinyaya at Hotep III's temple.) and clarify on their relationships with Dr. Cyborg, such as how they met, how they act around each other, how long they've known each other, if one is/they were ever romantically involved with Dr. Cyborg, etc. It could even be done via flashback as opposed to them occurring on December 20, 2010.At one point, I created a Google Doc primarily to write long ICs, but is also being used to record ideas concerning characters, such as background, personality, appearances, and plans. I'd suggest taking your characters, sit down, and come up with ideas about them.Or watch a good movie/read a good book/play a good video game. I've come up with a number ideas just by looking into other media. Or browse TV Tropes, which is basically every media under the sun in text form. Oh, and music can help with inspiration as well. Could be an epic movie soundtrack or the stuff you hear on the radio. An example for me was that Stromling!Zach's circus master persona during the battle at Hotep III temple was conceived by listening to the Nightwish song Scaretale. Whatever works for you.Due to only having shipping jokes in the brain, an IC will have to wait.

IC:Holly Vinyaya moved out of the detention block at a brisk pace , Zachary Virchaus close behind. He had no idea what she wanted him for and she had refused to elaborate. As they walked down a hallway, Zach gained the courage to ask a question."So, Holly," he said. "Where exactly are we going?"Vinyaya turned sharply and faced him, a look of annoyance on her face. "Do not call me Holly," she snapped. "You will refer to me by my rank." With that, she continued to walk ahead."Seriously?" Zach said, now annoyed himself. "The one time I'm trying not to irritate you and I irritate you!" Vinyaya ignored him. "My apologies, Commander." He made sure to stress her title.Finally, she stopped at a door. "Enter," she commanded. Zach bowed mockingly before he entered what seemed to be a storage room. Vinyaya followed him in, closed the door, and flicked on the lights."Alright," she said. "Now-""Just a moment," Zach interrupted. Vinyaya rolled her eyes but nodded. He leaned back against a crate. "Is there any reason why you seem to dislike me, provided this isn't the reason that you brought me here?""Besides blatant lack of respect toward me?" she asked irritably."Yeah."Vinyaya sighed. "It's mostly the whole 'Stromling' thing. You nearly killed me and used me as a shield. Yes, I am aware that it was the Darkitect's influence, but I am unfortunately one to hold a grudge or two.""What about Zelda?" Zach questioned. "She was a Stromling and from what I hear, she almost killed you too. Do you hate her too?""No, which brings us back to point A:" Vinyaya said with a slight smirk. "'Blatant lack of respect toward me.'" Zach was about to say something when Vinyaya silenced him. "It doesn't matter. Now, on to what I want to talk about. I would prefer if this conversation does not reach anyone else's ears. Understand?"Zach decided to take that statement as a threat Vinyaya would act on. "Fine.""Good. The reason I am speak to you is because I heard you and Fabello discussing an agent named Scratch. This agent's real name is Logan Zekria, correct?""Yes." Zach pulled the glove off of his right hand and flexed his metallic fingers. "He is the reason why I have this.""And you killed him, right?"Zach shrugged. "I'm not really sure if I pulled the trigger or he did, but he's dead. Why does it matter?"Vinyaya sighed again, her face becoming red. "Well," she said stiffly. "I was a bit, um, involved, uh, with Scratch."Zach let that sink in. Then, a grin slowly began to form on his face. "Wait. So you and Scratch were-""Yes!" Vinyaya hissed, wiping the grin off of his face."Alright, so did you two know each other prior to the Attack?"No. We were on the same T-1 Typhoon that was downed in Adventurers' Island's jungles.""And so you two became close under the desire to survive and make it to an outpost or something, right?"Vinyaya raised an eyebrow curiously. "I-yes. How did you know that?"Zach shrugged. "The same thing more or less happened to myself and Minerva, though it was more fighting in a battle together than trying to survive in a Mutant Dino-infested jungle. In fact, I'm more than ninety-nine percent sure that most relationships formed during this war were 'helped' by being forced to bond with one and another for survival purposes."Vinyaya waved her hand. "Anyway, I was in charge and since it was a Mutant Dino-infested jungle, things looked rather bleak. Logan was extremely determined to survive and offered to help me. You would not believe how powerful his-""-senses are?" As soon as he finished her sentence, Zach expected Vinyaya to angrily scold him. However, she simply nodded. "Yes. That managed to save my life at one point from a very nasty Stromling Islander.""We worked together," Vinyaya continued. "And I suppose I let my guard down around him. He was a rather nice person, even if a little rough around the edges." She paused, her face reddening again. "We were...rather close.""Did he share your feelings?"Vinyaya shrugged. "Back then, I thought so. Now, I'm not so sure. I will say that he trusted me enough to tell me secrets he hadn't told anyone else. Such as his former employment to Sam Sinister. He was suggesting to me that he was going to get revenge on Sinister since they were both on the island. He never elaborated on what he was going to do, but I suppose it would have been sinister."Zach smirked in spite of himself. "What was your response to this?""A flat no. Sinister is an ally and we needed him. Logan told me Sinister was a fool and we didn't need him. After some arguing, he told me he would save his revenge for after the war, which was good enough for me.""Did he tell you about the whole dinosaur bit?"Vinyaya nodded sadly. "He was determined to wipe them all out, Mutant and normal. I wasn't a complete love-stricken fool. I told him if he tried anything against the native dinosaurs, I would not hesitate to take him down. After that...""You think he didn't trust you after that?" Zach guessed. Vinyaya nodded."Logan Zekria might have still held feelings for me, but was much more reserved around me after the 'dinosaur thing'. We stayed together even after we reached an outpost. We only split when he was sent to the TumTum Tribe's village to fight. I never saw him again after that-""Because he went ahead with his plan to kill ALL the dinosaurs," Zach finished."And so what happened then?" Vinyaya asked. "I am aware that several native dinosaurs arrived during a battle outside the XERRD fortress.""That was him. I didn't know what was going on so I followed him to help him escape the dinosaurs chasing after him. The dinos were circling him when I reached. He revealed what he was doing. He knew I was going to turn him in, so he fought me. If its any consolation for nearly killing you, he beat within an inch of my life. Before he was going to shoot me, he told me he knew Minerva had watched run after him and said she would have to be killed as well." Zach chuckled. "At this point, all I can think is 'What a Cool Dude.'""'Cool dude?'" Vinyaya repeated frowned.Zach glanced upward. "For some reason, I can't bring myself to mention the word I want to use, despite it not being that obscene. Oh, well. Anyway, I forced myself to get back up and fight. I did better, which led him to shoot my hand off. In a possible Genre Savvy-move, he then blew up my hand with a Cosmotronic Ray, not taking the chance that I am a LEGO Islander and might have been able to click my hand back into my wrist. Now determined to beat this man, I stood up and fought for his pistol. In the fight, the pistol went off, shooting him and ending his life rather quickly. Dinosaurs stopped being hostile, Crisis averted."Both Zach and Vinyaya were silent. Zach glanced over Vinyaya's shoulder while she stared at the ground, clearly thinking. Finally, Vinyaya sighed and looked at Zach. "I suppose the reason I wanted to discuss this was to get it off my chest, and since you knew Logan somewhat...""No problem," Zach said calmly. Thinking back to Rex's outburst against French Fries and even Minerva's minor outburst concerning her mother, all directly related to holding in emotions, "It's best not to bottle up your feelings only to have to explode later on. I've seen enough of it today to be certain." Vinyaya nodded. "How do you feel about Scratch now?""I don't know. He was a terrible person, but I couldn't help but feel a little sad that he died." Zach suddenly wondered if his responsibility toward Logan Zekria's death played a role in Vinyaya's animosity toward him. "I'm certainly ready to move on from it."Zach nodded. "Now that we've shared this touchy-feely moment, we can be friends now. Right?"Vinyaya laughed quietly. "Keep thinking that, Virchaus. Let's head back to the detention cell so you can be with your girlfriend." Zach grinned and the two left the storage room. As they left, Zach decided strike a random conversation with the Space Police commando."Now that that's out of the way, you're in need of a new love interest," Zach began, ideas already forming in his head."What?" Vinyaya asked, a curious smile appearing on his face. She shook her head as she realized where Zach was going. "You better not start shipping me with other agents, Virchaus, or I swear...""Right now, I'm thinking Nazareno is the best choice for a pairing with you..."

OOC: That was in my last IC

IC:"Alright," Andrew said, still clearly shocked at Rex's actions. "Let's get him out of here." Everyone nodded and began to file pass Rex and Claw, Pterisa making sure to keep the battered French Fries as far away from Rex as she could."Mother of Knudstorp," Zelda muttered, glancing back at Rex. "What was that about?""Who's Trouble?" Minerva asked."A Mutant Lizard that Rex trained early in the war," Andrew said. "He disappeared a long time ago.""Which makes you wonder how exactly French Fries knew he hit Trouble, as darkness-breed Mutant Lizards all look basically the same." Zach said, rolling his eyes. "What a moron." He heard French Fries groan in fatigued anger."I'm not sure the outburst was necessary," Nazareno interjected. "Even if the target is a hopeless fool. Hopefully it was an isolated incident and it won't happen again."Everyone nodded. They all knew Rex was seen as a leader. If he were to have another breakdown, one much larger that left him incapable of fighting, it would be a crushing blow to morale.They soon arrived at the detention block. They walked past the cells of Demoman and, after much looking, a disgruntled looking Carl Lutsky who was quietly muttering to himself. Whoa. Was all Zach could think as he looked at the former commander.The group quickly found an empty cell and Pterisa threw French Fries in. As they locked the door, Laxus spoke up, "Since you can pardon agents, Andrew, you should probably go and free Rotor and Pilot.""Sounds like a good idea," Andrew said in agreement. A quick search led them to a cell where Commander Vinyaya and Bluetooth were speaking."-know French Fries is a fool and Rotor and Pilot don't belong in there," Vinyaya said calmly. "Unfortunately, neither you or me have the authority to release him." She stopped as she saw Andrew, Laxus, Minerva, Zelda, Zach, Pterisa, and Nazareno approached them. "Yes?""I would like Rotor and Pilot released," Andrew stated simply. Bluetooth turned around and grinned at the group."Excellent timing, Andrew." He turned back to Vinyaya, who revealed a half-smile as went to find some keys to open Rotor and Pilot's cell. "Glad to see you guys are still alive." Zach smiled. It was nice to see Bluetooth again. They would have to catch up at some point.Vinyaya soon returned with a ring of keys in her hand. She handed it to Andrew. "You may do the honors." As Andrew went to unlock the door, Zach stepped back to talk with Minerva."You know," Minerva said. "This team has a lot of corrupt individuals who think they can do whatever they want without facing consequences."Zach nodded. "I've only met two. The incompetent French Fries over there and Scratch. Though I suppose you could justify Scratch's case in someway-""Virchaus," Vinyaya said with a hint of malice in her voice as she approached him. "May I speak to you?" She glanced at Minerva briefly. "Privately?""I-sure, I guess." Vinyaya nodded curtly and gestured for him to follow her. Zach glanced at Minerva uncertainly."You'll be fine. Unless you did something wrong. Then you won't be fine," Minerva said."Thanks," Zach responded sarcastically as he began to follow Vinyaya.

OOC:​ Spectacular building with all its anachronism. I must express surprise at LDD not crashing at some point during the construction at some point.And at last, Loop's death. I want to call him a Complete Monster, but last bit about wanting his own freedom saved him from that title.IC:Pterisa seemed prepared for this sudden attack. French Fries being quite vocal about his disdain toward her seemed to help. As the agent pulled the trigger, Pterisa's wings shot open with enough force to throw the revolver into the air, firing as it flew.The rest of the agents at the table had a quick reaction. Nazareno lunged at the agent and pinned him to the ground. The agent struggled briefly before surrendering to the space ninja."Maybe you aren't aware," Zach said coldly, rising to his feet. "But without Pterisa, the Maelstrom would have most likely gained enough power to destroy this planet.""I was following orders," the agent grumbled."Then, as an Elite Agent," Andrew said. "I'm ordering you to stand down."At this point, French Fries rose to his feet and stomped angrily toward the group. "What are you doing?" he demanded. "Why is that abomination here? And why did you let it attack Agent Darling?""Pterisa is an ally," Minerva said through gritted teeth. French Fries glared at her. "She helped us take the Maelstrom Temple.""It is a Mutant Dino and needs to be removed from this building in accordance to policy," sneered French Fries. Zach wished he could punch this Elite Agent in the face. However, he refrained and continued to fume. He glanced at Pterisa, who seemed shocked and uncertain how to respond to this attack. Getting attacked by your supposed allies is not exactly a self-esteem booster."She has done absolutely nothing wrong," Laxus argued. "She only attacked Darling because you tried to have him kill her!""I don't care!" French Fries snapped. "Now stand down and shoot her or I'll have you all shot!""Perhaps," Pterisa suddenly said, sounding a little nervous again. French Fries jumped in surprise at her speech and turned to her angrily. "You should speak with your Founding Members, Elite Agent French Fries. Specs, Shadow, Digger or Viper will be able to vouch for me and allow me to stay in this building."

OOC: Aha! I was right about the old man! Ben Gunn is also the Chekhov's MIA, isn't he? I began to assume Ben Gunn wasn't dead when I noticed his wiki page lacked the "deceased" category.IC:What kind of name is French Fries? Zach thought, rolling his eyes. "It's ridiculous how many power-corrupted individuals we have on this team. How exactly did this French Fries become an Elite Agent? More importantly, how is he still an Elite Agent if he helped leak the Antarctica mission and helped create the whole pointless realist versus idealist war and the riots in the refuge facilities?""I don't know," Andrew said with a shrug. "Perhaps the Founding Members were too busy monitoring four on-going missions and forgot about him?""Probably," Nazareno said coldly. "Another kangaroo court. Involving the same people as last time." It was clear from Nazareno's tone that he was not amused."He wasn't impressed with Rotor's trial on Adventurers' Island," Minerva muttered to Zach. "He thought we were wasting time when we should have been heading to the Maelstrom Temple." Zach found Nazareno losing his temper hard to believe, but he was busy serving the Darkitect at that time, so he would just have to take Minerva's word for it."Wait, wait," Zelda said. "I'm not following. What trial on Adventurers' Island?""I suppose you didn't infiltrate the camp until my ambush," Zach said."Infiltrate?" Laxus asked."Zelda was a Stromling spy. I believe she interrupted a command meeting trying to send me information?"Andrew's eyes widened in realization. "So you were that Stromling? You were cured as well?"Zelda seemed somewhat embarrassed about her Stromling past. "In a more conventional way than Zach's cleansing, but yeah. So what about this trial?" Minerva, Nazareno, Laxus, and Andrew explained to Zelda the trial Rotor had attempted to put on to convict and execute Pilot and his crew."So how did you know about it?" Zelda asked Zach. "Did Ghost tell you?""He was very brief about it. No, I learned more by reading the database not long ago," Zach explained. "Now that we're all in the loop, I do hope somebody stops French Fries. Pilot isn't in the wrong for showing concern toward his teammates and even though Rotor sounds like a #####, he's been far more helpful to the team than French Fries, his own kangaroo court aside."

IC:OOC: Just a random guess, but I'm think the old man is Ben Gunn. And he's the Chekhov's MIA."That was exciting," Minerva said to Zach as they made their way to the mess hall."I would say so," Zach responded absently. "Guess we found the mole. And and now he's dead thanks to Greybeard.""I don't know if killing him was necessary.""No, but he had a point. If Ata can slip out of a high-security prison once, he can do it again. Getting killed in an unceremonious fashion is more than fitting for mole that helped cause everything from the riots in Antarctica to the deaths of the Second Headquarters Squad.""I suppose." They finally reached the mess hall and found Zelda Frodongan and Kareem Nazareno at a table, Zelda consuming a snack while Nazareno sat in front of her, unable to eat due to his mask. As they approached, Zach noticed that Zelda had a sheath on her back that concealed two silver katanas."Greetings, Zachary and Minerva," Nazareno said plainly, not turning to face the two. Zelda grinned."Hello, Nazareno. Zelda," Zach said, taking a seat next to Nazareno while Minerva took a seat next to Zelda. "Getting one step closer to becoming a ninja, aren't you Zelda?""Unfortunately, the swords in the armory do not even begin to match the quality of mine," Nazareno said. "This swords will suffice, but barely. That is why I suggest carrying a firearm on your person just in case.""Yes, yes," Zelda said. "So, did you two hear they caught the mole?""Yes," Zach said. "We watched him get killed by Greybeard.""And why did the pirate shoot Ata?" Nazareno said, closing his eyes and keeping his voice controlled."He was escaping. He was a XERRD Shinobi. Some old guy clothes-lined him and Greybeard finished him off. From my interpretation, Greybeard seems to dislike Shinobi as much as you dislike Pirates.""Of course," Nazareno muttered. "And who was the old man that stopped Ata from escaping?""We don't know," Minerva said. "He stopped Ata and then he just sort of...disappeared.""Curious. I wonder where he could've run off to?" Nazareno shrugged. "So the mole is dead. Good. One less issue to deal with. With him gone, we should be able to move on to the team's next assignment soon enough.""What do think the team will do next?" Zelda asked."Unless another urgent issue rises that needs to be dealt with, a final conflict with XERRD is on the horizon. One that will decide to the victor of this war. It could be anywhere at anytime, but it will happen. Very soon."

OOC: Yes. I happened to discover that on my (now daily) jaunts over to TV Tropes. It's all right there on the "LEGO Island" page. It's probably because I'm just crazy, but I'm immediately assuming this "special person" is Michelle Glados, as you stated she was involved in an "idea" that would work better with her than some "cannon fodder." At least, that was the first thing that came to my head.Either that, or Rex's insanity is showing again.IC:"Well?" Zach said expectantly, crossing his arms. Minerva bit her lip, suppressing a snicker."Well, if I was your mother, I'd be worried sick about what might happen to you next after reading this letter.""I did put some encouraging words in it," Zach protested."I'm pretty that will do little to nothing to reassure her," Minerva said. She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You're out in a Mutant Dino-infested world. Your mother's going to be terrified regardless."Zach pulled the letter away from her and folded it into an envelope. "Then I suppose I'll send it off." He rose to his feet and began to head to the post room, Minerva right behind him.Fortunately for him, he managed to meet Ed Mail on his path. "Ed! Glad I caught you.""Oh, hello, Zach," Ed muttered. "I suppose you need a letter to be delivered, too.""Yeah." Zach handed it to him. Ed put the letter into his large sack. "Now excuse me. The mail must be delivered." Zach and Minerva stepped out his way, allowing him to slowly pass on."What to now?" Minerva asked."Perhaps we should-"Zach paused as he looked ahead. He saw a floating chair briefly pass through the intersection in the hallway, its occupant, who Zach could not identify, clearly looking for someone. "That sort of looks like Zed Provhezor's chair.""Who?" Minerva asked, confused. "Ze Professor?""Zed Provhezor.""That guy you were reading about that got sucked into the Maelstrom vortex?""Yeah. Some limbless XERRD scientist who floated around in a hoverchair. I passed by him briefly before getting the Maelstrom injected into my body. But, as you said, he should be dead."Minerva frowned, her grip tightening on her Sonic Screamer. "So, I guess that we should see why this guy is in such a hurry?""Probably would be a good idea." Zach made sure his Cosmotronic Ray was fully loaded before he and Minerva started to move after the hoverchair and its occupant.

IC:"So," Minerva began, leaning against the wall of the Dino Attack Headquarters. "Who is your letter from?""Let's see," Zach said, tearing open the envelope and pulling out a sheet of paper. He read through the letter, a small smile forming on his face. "Just as I thought: the folks back in Antarctica checking up on me.""Mommy worried about her little boy?" Minerva asked, grinning.Zach ignored her playful insult. "Yes. She wants to know if I'm okay. Hopes that I haven't been injured. She'll probably split a brick when she finds out what has happened.:"Losing a hand, becoming a zombie, and getting every beating under the sun?""She also says everything is fine in Antarctica at the moment. Not so much of a surprise.""I think she wrote that letter for the sake of getting a response from you," Minerva noted."You can't really blame her. In all seriousness, she's probably worried sick that I ran around a jungle inhabited by mutated dinosaurs, trying to take down a temple that was host to an exceptional dark power bent on destroying the universe. A dark power she knew I would have some...issues with."Minerva merely nodded. Zach suddenly felt guilty. Minerva most likely felt jealous that he had a mother that cared for his well-being while she as of few days ago, has no mother. Eager to rectify his mistake, Zach continued speaking."Let's head in," he said. Minerva stood up straight and they pushed open the door and entered the lobby. "What should I write? Everything? Brief summary?"Minerva shrugged. "I'd probably be somewhat detailed. Like a lot of what happened would best be explained in person. But don't be so vague that she's left panicking about your state of well-being."Zach nodded. "Sounds good. Let's see...I'll mention the fortress, Scratch, the temple. I'll throw in the long Stromling bit with the promise that I'm mostly okay and I'll explain everything when I see her again. And an 'I miss you' to top it off" Minerva grinned at his explanation. "Oh, and I suppose I'll mention you.""And Mommy will be excited her little Zachy got a girlfriend, right?" Minerva said with a smirk."Probably," Zach said in complete seriousness. "And then she'll want to meet you, have coffee, go shopping, etc. Treat you like her second daughter, that sort of thing. Not sure how well it would work out. Without going into much detail, you two aren't very alike."Minerva laughed. "I'm sure that will be fun." she said sarcastically."When you put it that way, you both are incredible sarcastic. You'll get along great."

OOC: I myself do not particularly care if Pyro is a homosexual woman or not and as long as there isn't an objection, we should just role with it.Also: I chuckled and began to curiously wonder if you were planning on that line ever since Montoya was introduced.IC:"She's dead?" Zach repeated, surprised. "I don't know much about her, but she can't be much older than fifty if her oldest son is in his mid-twenties.""Take a look for yourself," Minerva said somewhat indifferently. She handed him the letter. It was Napoleon XIV Mental Institution."Died of natural causes. Says she 'passed away.'""She was mentally ill," Minerva stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "I think it can shorten your life."Zach raised an eyebrow at her. She seemed completely unaffected at the news that her mother had died. He looked back at the letter. "It says she is already buried with no funeral at the request of a Ginerva Chase. Who is-""Athena's sister," Minerva said, her voice souring. "Nobody wanted to deal with Mom anymore after what happened with Tod. Athena Fabello's immediate family at this point only consists of her sister Ginny and her daughter Minerva. Since I am away fighting for the Dino Attack Team, Napoleon XIV chose to contact Aunt Ginny first, who clearly decided to save us the trouble of organizing a funeral where nobody cared about the passing soul in question and just have her buried somewhere in Antarctica."Zach frowned. "Seriously?"Minerva shrugged. "The fallout from Mom's breakdown wasn't pretty. I know Aunt Ginny was probably heartbroken to hear Tod had died, but I'm sure she was just as if not more embarrassed that her insane sister was the culprit. Nobody really forgave Mom for killing Tod, especially Oswald and I. I'm certain that Mom lived the last six years without seeing any family or friends."Zach knew Minerva would probably be angry for how he felt, but he couldn't help but feel sorry for Athena Fabello. Torn apart by grief and abandoned by every single person she ever loved did not sound nice. "It sounds like dying was probably a good thing. She finally got to escape her not-so-happy reality."Wrong thing to say. Minerva's emotionless face turned into a scowl as she jabbed Zach hard in the chest. "Death only made her escape permanent," Minerva hissed angrily. "She escaped her harsh reality a long time ago, forcing us to suffer through it while she watched happily by the sidelines!"Zach was struck silent after Minerva's sudden outburst. His mind buzzed annoyingly, telling him to lash back at her. No. He told himself calmly. That won't help. "I'm sorry," he began. "It's just that you didn't seem to care-""I don't care," Minerva snapped, cutting Zach off. Her tone, however, seemed to suggest otherwise. "I moved on after Tod died. For all intents and purposes, Athena Fabello died in 2004. She is nothing to me anymore. Her death means about as much as the death of an insect. Nothing."Zach watched as Minerva fumed. "I'm going to be honest," he said slowly. "It seems like her death does mean something to you."Minerva glared at him angrily. Cold and calm, she said, "She was my mother. Obviously her passing means something. Other than our blood connection, I feel nothing for her, Zach." Minerva let out a long sigh. "She's gone. I'm done talking about her. She meant little to me before and means nothing to me now."Zach simply nodded. It was clear that Athena Fabello was a touchier subject to Minerva than she had let on earlier. It would best for them both if they just let it go. "I'm sorry for snapping at you," Minerva said quietly. "It's just-""I understand," Zach interrupted. "Just drop it." Minerva nodded in agreement and the two started to head back to the headquarters' entrance.

IC:“Not to appear lazy,” Minerva muttered to Zach. “But I think there is enough people here to keep track of Pyro and Demoman. And it’s getting crowded. Could we leave without getting in trouble.”Zach nodded in agreement. “I’d say we can move on.” The two then turned and started to leave the prison complex. “You can finally pull off your ‘kiss and kill’ plan.”Minerva rolled eyes in amusement. “You’re never going to drop it, are you?”“No. The very idea just seems so outlandishly ridiculous that the entire gambit about you being the mole lost its charm.”“Oh no! Now you don’t think I’m the mole! I might as well go cry in a corner now,” Minerva said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.“Okay, okay, I get it,” Zach said defensively. “I’ll move on. For now.”"Good."***************************************They returned to the armory and picked up some bigger weapons; Minerva grabbed a Sonic Screamer and Zach resigned to a Cosmotronic Ray. The two then headed outside the headquarters' front doors.Zach breathed in a large gulp of air as he looked ahead. LEGO City was still a wreck, but with more people moving back, things were starting to get cleaned up and restored to a semi-decent state.Minerva stood beside him, looking into the city. "This place looked really bad the last time I was here."Zach nodded in agreement. "Now that people are moving back in, that's expected.""I hope moving people back in doesn't kill any civilians," Minerva said quietly. "What if Dr. Rex organizes his Mutant Dinos to attack here again? Civilians will be caught in the crossfire."Zach flinched. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that." It was a very real possibility. The war was reaching its climax, especially with the cleansing of the Maelstrom Temple. XERRD has made their move with mole. One would hope that the Dino Attack Team would respond quickly by heading to Dinosaur Island and finishing off XERRD and it's forces before XERRD mounted an attack on LEGO City.Minerva raised her Sonic Screamer. "Who's that?" Zach squinted as he saw a man slowly approaching the headquarters, a bag over his shoulder. As he came closer, Minerva lowered her weapon slightly. "I think its a civilian.""Yeah. I think it's..." Zach allowed himself to smile as he identified the man with a black mustache and a blue cap. "Ed Mail.""Who?" Minerva looked at him, then in realization, "A LEGO Islander, right?" Zach nodded as he walked up to greet Ed Mail."Here I go again," Ed began. "I know, I know. I'm in your way. Hey, I know you-""Good to see you again, Ed," Zach said. "Still making the rounds?""Oh, hello Zachary. You know how it is. Rain, snow, sleet, and hail will never stop me. Why should an apocalypse? Besides, the mail must be delivered, shouldn't it? Oh, yes it must."Zach smiled as he listened to Ed ramble on. Behind him, Minerva half-grinned, somewhat confused by Ed's behavior. "Ed, this is Minerva Fabello, my...ah, girlfriend." Minerva shook Ed's hand somewhat nervously."Good to meet you. I have a letter for you. Or did I leave it at the station-?""A letter?" Minerva repeated, surprised. Ed pulled his sack over his shoulder and started shuffling through hundreds of envelopes. He pulled one out at last."This is for you, Zach," he said. Zach accepted it. He presumed it was from his family in Antarctica. Ed continued to look for Minerva's letter. She looked on anxiously. Finally, he pulled it out and handed it to Minerva."There you go," Ed lifted himself back up and cracked his back. "You wouldn't believe how heavy that bag is. Or you might. I don't know. I suppose I'll have to see my brother about it. Yes, I should.""Thanks, Ed," Zach said, grinning. Ed Mail nodded once before he started walking toward the Dino Attack Headquarters entrance. He turned back to Minerva, who was eyeing the letter curiously. She looked up at him, to Ed, then back to him."He was...interesting," Minerva said. "Is everyone on LEGO Island like that?""No. Some people are considerable more...'interesting', I suppose. You haven't met people like Captain Rom or Nubby. Rom takes his job very seriously and Nubby will talk your ear off if you give him the chance. But they're all decent people. You'll get used to their mannerisms soon enough."Minerva smiled faintly before looking at the envelope. "Who would send me a letter?" she thought out loud."Your mother?" Zach guessed. "Oswald?" Minerva shot him a dirty look."I doubt she even realizes that her home has been flattened by Mutant Dinos and she's never written in the past. Why now? And Oswald has that agent Keith Empson's PDA remember. He can send me threatening messages through that." Zach flinched at Minerva's sudden cold tone. She tore open the envelope and read the letter in silence. As she read, her eyes seemed to widen."What?" Zach asked, worried. She lowered the letter and looked at Zach, showing little emotion."You weren't too far off. The letter says Mom died a few days ago."

IC:Commander Vinyaya seemed to pause to think, before saying: "Right now, throwing them in a cell where the only ones that can hurt them are themselves sounds like the best idea." With her hoisting up Pyro by his handcuffs and Firecracker escorting Demoman, the group started heading toward prison complex. Zach and Minerva lagged behind considerable."Nobody seems to have taken into consideration that any one of us could be the mole," Zach whispered to Minerva quietly."I don't know about anyone else, but I'm sure Vinyaya is thinking about," Minerva said. "She was rather intent on helping Specs find the mole earlier. I doubt her intentions have changed very much. She's just more mute about it.""Cause she's has experience with this sort of infiltration kind of stuff, right?" Minerva nodded. "Makes since, I suppose." He paused briefly before saying, "You know, everyone is a suspect, including us."Minerva frowned, "We've been together the whole time. Our alibis are pretty tight.""What about Engineer and Medic? We were separated when they were killed. What if I was actually killing Engineer instead of taking a shower? What if you were killing Medic?""But we were together the rest of the time. Unless you're implying there are multiple moles.""Always a possibility," Zach said with a shrug. Minerva suddenly smiled and looked forward."If you were the mole, XERRD did a poor job," Minerva said. "Infecting you with the Maelstrom was kind of a dumb thing to do.""Perhaps Dr. Rex hid the mole's identity from most of his followers so defectors and captured scientists couldn't give it away? Provencal infected me, not knowing I was XERRD's eye in the Dino Attack Team.""Maybe. I'd think I would be a much more believable mole though."Zach gave a half-smirk. "Sure. Instead of concentrating on the Dino Attack's primary objective, the mole decided to chase after one agent.""All apart of my 'ploy', so to speak. I needed to gain the trust of someone. I started out small with some goofy, bespectacled redhead Standard Agent and would work up the ranks. I pretended to be attracted to you. Unfortunately, you, in turn, became attracted to me. A minor setback that I thought was dealt with when Provencal corrupted you. With you out of the picture, I would become closer friends with people like J.D., Nazareno, and Vinyaya while sending information to XERRD superiors. Then you just so happened to return to the camp and gave your message to Andrew."A sinister smirk appeared on Minerva's face. "At first, I was annoyed by your persistant attraction to me and was absolutely content with killing you off. However, I would have worked this angle to my advantage. I would use this message and the 'star-crossed lover' facade to get closer to Elite Agent Andrew so I could get information. The only problem would be having to go after you. I reasoned that if Andrew and I found you, I would kill you and Andrew and pretend I only barely escaped."Zach raised an eyebrow at how Minerva would go about being a mole. "And why would you keep me alive?"Minerva let out a long, fake sigh of disappointment. "When we defeated, I would've killed you and Andrew when Ahua intervened. You defeated him and saved my life. A small ounce of humanity would overcome me and I would let you live. We escaped and headed for the real Maelstrom Temple. Then we would get into the fight against Provencal and Glados. They would know I was the mole. They would make the attack look real while I made the injuries look real, all while giving you a hard time. When it came down to us and Provencal, I would pretend to have a breakdown so Provencal could 'defeat' me and kill you herself.""Why though? You could've killed me easily by switch over to Provencal's side.""I felt bad for you, naturally. So stricken by me. It was better for you to die believing that Minerva Fabello was ally and 'girlfriend' then know the horrible truth. Once again, my humanity was showing. Unfortunately, you killed Provencal. So I would maintain a relationship with you a little while longer."I would return to the Dino Attack Headquarters and begin working with the other mole in taking down that meddlesome Second Headquarters Squad. He gave me the symbol to begin by killing Engineer-""You didn't kill Engineer?" Zach interjected."Unfortunately, no. I would be sitting with Zelda Frodongan while the murder took place, who discussed her ridiculous theories with me. When the announcement was made that Engineer had died reached the mess hall, I began to make my move. Zelda and Vinyaya left, and I waited for you to return. I would tell you I was going to go take a shower, when in reality, I was going to head off Medic. I would be informed of his unorthodox measures and knew he would discover who the mole was with some medical procedure. I headed him off and murdered him. Then I would take said shower to clean off the blood and reunite with you."I would be helping the other mole with his killing spree, but your insistence at staying by my side hindered my plans. I might have been able to off Sniper while you went to pick up that laptop, but I decided not to risk it. After telling you the story of my past, we would start moving. At that point, the other mole would have made his grand move and murder Soldier, Spy, Heavy, and Scout. We would learn of what happened, leading us to go find Pyro and Demoman, where I could finish them off myself. Unfortunately, Minifigs by the bucketload began to arrive, making it hard to pull of the murder."Zach simply nodded, smirking slightly. "Alright, 'Master spy.' So what are you going to do now that you've revealed your whole diabolic purpose to me?"Minerva lips curled into a smile. "Let me see..." She scanned the hallway for a moment. Her eyes rested on a door that presumably led to a closet or office. "Ah! I would stay in character as completely stricken by you. I'd find a closet and forcibly shove you into it.""What? How would that-""When the agents would backtrace to see what happened, they would see two perfectly normal love-stricken young adults kissing in a closet. Unimpressed as they might be, they shrug it off and continued their escort. Once I made sure they were gone, I'd kill you."I don't-what?" Zach was surprised at this sudden turn."Then, to top it off, I would injury myself and make it seem like the mole killed you and grievously wounded me while I cried for help. Nobody would be the wiser." Minerva displayed look of seriousness on her face."You kiss me and then kill me?""Due to my pity toward your one-sided attraction toward me. And to stay in-character. If you can't already tell, I'm a fantastic actress, manipulating your feelings to my advantage.""Huh." Minerva smiled and continued to look ahead. Zach smiled half-heartedly. "Well, you've thoroughly convince me your the mole. Because I oddly find your story somewhat believable. Up until you kiss me and kill me."Minerva shrugged. "Remember that when your dead in a closet because you didn't listen to the mole who was trying to save your life." Zach looked at her once. She glanced at him briefly before suddenly kissing his cheek. He jumped back in surprise, causing Minerva to snicker as she walked ahead of him."Not funny," he said, trying to stop a smile from forming on his face. Minerva continued to walk ahead, unfazed."Nope. It's hilarious."

OOC: So what is probably the final Dino Attack RPG anniversary is passing by. My only regret is that I did not join this RPG sooner. Oh well.IC:Zach breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright. We saved Pyro and Demoman from themselves. Now to guard them from the mole." He saw Vinyaya leave the group momentarily only to drag Pyro, still unconscious and handcuffed, back into the scene."So where are we going to take them?" Minerva asked, crossing her arms and glaring at Demoman as he wobbled on his feet, hiccuping.Zach shrugged. "Somewhere that makes it easy to guard them until this mole is brought to justice. Somewhere that makes it hard for the mole to sneak up on us would be good.""I hope this guy is found soon.""With any luck, the mole will slip up soon enough. Perhaps he'll target Rex to tie up those loose ends involving Soldier, Spy, Heavy, and Scout's deaths, only to get his bricks handed to him by Claw or something.""Well, that's certainly a pleasant image," Minerva noted, rolling her eyes."You're welcome."

OOC:I have no problem with how Demoman was dealt with. The only thing I'm have trouble accepting is that Firecracker still detonated the bombs. It may be in his character, but I think the explosives would still cause some heavy damage to the building by sheer number of explosives, even if they are not exceptionally powerful.But since it is in his character to blow things up, I could only suggest Firecracker pressing the button and nothing blowing up because in his grief-stricken, intoxicated state, Demoman did not set the explosives up correctly, preventing an actually catastrophe.

OOC: Oh, Ata. I will say that I thought Atton's guess was the most reasonable, but those Red Herrings man.I couldn't really believe Specs was the mole, more because I was thinking Like PeaSam would really make the canon leader of the Dino Attack actually the traitor. Still, this mole hunt has been a thrilling read I eagerly awaited the each new update.IC:"Even with the pyromaniac down," Zach said quietly. "I have a feeling that Demoman will be harder to deal with. One push of a button and boom. We're all dead."The firemen were quickly taking out Pyro's carnage. Behind Zach, Vinyaya was struggling to control Pyro, who was screams of anger were muffled by his balaclava and helmet. Vinyaya shoved him against the wall hard, causing several firemen to jump in surprise. "Stand down!" she yelled."Mmmmph frmmmpha mmmph mmph!" Pyro shot back, his head being pushed against wall."He's paranoid," Zach said. "He thinks the mole is after him. Which he/she probably is. He and Pyro are trying to defend themselves.""By destroying this building?!" Vinyaya snapped, reaching for a pare of handcuffs on her armor's belt."Well, the Second Headquarters Squad is full of ax crazy heroic sociopaths. They all seem to be crazy to some extent. The only justification in Demoman's case is that he is probably too drunk to see straight Combined with grief over the rest of the team's death does not help.""And that's hardly a good justification," Minerva said irritably. Remembering what she said about her opposition to alcohol, Zach could understand why Minerva was irritated. Demoman's grief while intoxicated could only fuel her anger due it closely resembling her mother's condition. He only hoped she wouldn't do something rash in response to it.Vinyaya finally managed to snap the handcuffs around Pyro's wrists. Despite this, he continued to struggle against her. "Just knock him out," Zach finally said. "He is absolutely no help to anyone being conscious at the moment." Vinyaya nodded in agreement and seemed to try a way to knock out Pyro without harming him. Vinyaya seemed to find a pressure point, because Pyro slouched forward on the wall, his protests silenced. Vinyaya adjusted him so he appeared to be simply sitting against the wall before joining Minerva, Zach, Anubis, and Hotwire."So," Vinyaya said, wiping the little soot and ash that had landed on her visor. "Back to Demoman." Picking up their pace, the group returned to Demoman's room and entered it slowly, careful to avoid stepping on a stray explosive. In the corner sat Demoman, his finger hovering over the button on his dentonator. He held an empty bottle in another hand, but that didn't stop him from trying to take a drink from it. In front of him was man wearing a trenchcoat, who seemed to be trying to communicate to the distraught, intoxicated member of the Second Headquarters Squad.

IC:Minerva frowned as more people seemed to be joining the hallway. She turned to Vinyaya. "How could your armor help?""It's fire-proof to a degree," Vinyaya said, scowling at the new arrivals. "Heat resistance type stuff. With it, I could probably get close enough to Pyro and take him down.""Don't you have a spare set of armor or something from your ship?" Minerva asked."No. Everything was destroyed when the Enforcer crashed. However," Vinyaya's mood darkened suddenly. Minerva flinched. "My only surviving ally from that voyage, Julius Kelp, happened to be killed while operating in Castle Cove. Presuming they brought the body back, I might be able to take his armor and get to Pyro.""Excellent," Zach said. "Head over to the morgue and see if you can find it. We'll try to stop him from burning down the building." Vinyaya scowled fiercely at Zach before nodding and starting her sprint toward the morgue. Minerva rolled her eyes. Zach had been extremely insensitive toward Vinyaya, who was clearly unhappy that her Space Police ally had been killed. Minerva could associate with the stress of this situation, but it was still insensitive. I don't think those two will ever be friendly toward each other. Minerva thought. Beyond grudging respect."Alright, so while she does that, any ideas on what to do?" Hotwire asked."Some of the population has returned to the city, correct?" Zach asked. He looked toward Anubis, who nodded. "Call a Fire Department, presuming one has been reestablished. They can help us take down the blaze. I also suppose we could find some fire extinguishers and try to handle the fire in the meantime."

OOC: Oh, man. Meet the Pyro. I wasn't sure what I was suspected. Regardless, I like that they still left his/her/its background still mysterious. The whole-Sugar Bowl episode thing. I haven't cracked up like that in a long time.Yes, it is deliciously tempting to recreate the video now. May have to jump on it.that guy, I'd say Rex is his name, bestowed upon him by a pilot and Frank Einstein in HTTYML. I don't think he ever had an actual name prior to that, being a T-Rex.IC:After teaming up with Commander Vinyaya and Hotwire, Zach and Minerva started their running of the hallway quickly (as quickly as they could when one of their group was missing a leg). It wasn't long until they found a group of agents standing outside a room. The only ones Zach recognized were Rex and Claw. And one seemed on the verge of shooting Claw with a shotgun."Hey!" Zach yelled. "What in Blue Bricks are you doing?!" The man paused, glancing up at the approaching agents. This distracted gave Rex enough time to ram his wheelchair forcefully into the man's side, knocking him to the floor. Zach, Minerva, Vinyaya, and Hotwire quickly converged on him, surrounding him and pointing their weapons at him."What was that?" Hotwire snapped."She's Silencia Venomosa," the man muttered, clutching his side in pain. Beside Zach, Minerva flinched and glanced at Claw."So?" Zach snapped. "Unless we are on a policy of 'shoot suspects on sight', you have no right to blow out Claw's brain, even if she's Venomosa. Whatever happened to "innocent before proven guilty'?""What are you talking about? I know fully well she is guilty of what she did." the man said calmly, climbing to his feet slowly."Wait, what are you talking about?" Vinyaya said. "We're talking about the mole.""What mole?" The man seemed clueless."I don't think he's apart of the team," Hotwire muttered. A large man man burst past Hotwire and Vinyaya and gripped the attempted murderer arms tightly. A man who looked like an old detective picked up the murderer's shotgun calmly."Alright, so what's going on...whoa." Zach said as he turned around. He was looking inside a room filled to the brim with explosives. "What is...""Demoman," Rex said. "He's have...a bit of a breakdown. So is Pyro.""Where's Pyro?" Minerva asked."Burning up another room with his flamethrower," Claw said quietly, still staring at the man that had attempted to kill her.Vinyaya facepalmed irritably. "Great," she muttered as she peeked into the explosive-filled room and saw Demoman sitting in a corner."Excuse me," a man appearing to be a communications expert said, tapping Rex on the shoulder. "Specs still needs you and Claw. From the sounds of it, its important."Rex faced clearly showed anxiety. He glanced back into the room. "What about Demoman and Pyro?""We'll take care of them," Hotwire interjected. "Me, Vinyaya, him-" he gestured to an Egyptian agent. "-Fabello, and Zach." Rex's eyebrows perked up at the mention of Zach's name."Zach?" Rex looked at Zach and seemed to recognize him. "Weren't you a-""-Stromling?" Zach finished. "Indeed. Thanks to a couple of friends, that is no longer the case." Rex nodded, then he, Claw, and the communications agent left. Zach turned to group of agents."So, how are we going to deal with these two?"

OOC: I don't think Rex and Amanda would be simply "relaxing", that guy. I think they were going to look for Pyro and Demoman, last time I checked.IC:Upon arriving at the armory, Minerva was quick on selecting simply a Sonic Screamer to use. Zach, not wanting to use a Cosmotronic Ray so soon after having one fused to his arm, spent more time looking over weapons. He picked up a long-bladed combat knife and eyed over it."Turning into a Knife Nut?" Minerva asked curiously from behind his shoulder"Just a bit," Zach said, sheathing the knife. "I figure if I can wave one of these things around with my left hand and not get killed, I should be able to handle it as a back-up weapon provided I lose my firearm."He spent even longer trying to find an ideal shooting weapon. He finally laid his eyes on a large, hand-held gatling gun. He grinned like a child on his birthday as he carefully loaded the weapon and moved in toward a shooting range."Really," was all Minerva said, crossing her arms in amusement.He shrugged her away as he threw a long chain filled with bullets over his shoulder. "I've always wanted to use one of these," he told her, taking aim at a target several yards away. His grin widened as the six barrels began to rotate.Then the gun started firing. Zach jumped, but held his ground against the massive amounts of force the weapon as hired at the target ahead. The bullets from the weapon tore apart the target at the other end of the range. Almost as soon he had started firing the weapon, it suddenly ran out of bullets. Zach flipped off the weapon, grinning at the decimated target ahead."Impressive," Minerva said, chuckling. "Watching you jump when that thing started firing was pretty good too.""Shh," he said, walking back over to her."Hey!" a man said, walking over to them. "Have you heard? The Second Headquarters Squad is dead!" Zach and Minerva looked at him, surprised. "Seven o' nine o' them are dead! All o' them offed by the mole!""How?" Zach asked."Engineer was murdered tryin' to catch 'im. Medic was killed 'cause he coulda figured out who the mole was! Sniper was stabbed in the back, n' Heavy, Scout, Soldier, and Spy were all killed at once in their safe room. Only Rex survived in the safe room, n' only Pyro and Demoman're alive.""Rex survived? So did he see the mole?""He claims to've been blinded so he couldn't see the mole's identity."Minerva frowned. "That sounds suspicious.""And now they're sayin' that Silencia Venomosa's behind the murders! And she's also apparently agent Claw! At this, Zach raised an eyebrow. Minerva's face betrayed fear. "Keep an eye out for yerselves, lad and lady. You never know who yeh can trust." With that, the man ran away from them, presumably to spread the news."Well," Minerva said, scratching the back of her head. "I think Zelda's theory was dead wrong. The mole was targeting the Second Headquarters Squad. Doesn't seem to be trying to cover up his tracks or anything.""That bit about Rex seems off," Zach pointed out. "But I'm not willing to go and point fingers at anyone.""What about that bit about Claw and Silencia Venomosa?" Minerva bit her lip nervously. "What if Venomosa is really here and working for XERRD?""It probably wouldn't be the strangest thing to ever happen," Zach shrugged."You're rather calm for someone who just heard that one of the most infamous assassin-bounty hunter-mercenary in the world might be in this building."Zach shrugged again. "I understand she's dangerous. Venomosa and her exploits wer just something I would read in the paper. To my knowledge, she never operated on LEGO Island and probably never had a reason to. I considered myself rather safe, seeing the only threat as a deconstruction-and-pizza-crazed criminal. LEGO City would offer a different mentality than LEGO Island's. Rest assured, I'll probably be terrified out of my wits if I ever actually meet Silencia Venomosa and not Amanda Remous.""Anyway, I think it's time we stop sitting around."Zach sighed. "Yes, I know. The brief relaxation was blissful, but time to get back to work, I suppose. There's a mole running loose around this building and he needs to be stopped. What do you suggest we do?""Find Pyro and Demoman and keep and eye on them," Minerva said, discarding her Sonic Screamer for a more traditional handgun. "Whoever the mole is is clearly targeting the Second Headquarters Squad. If we find Pyro and Demoman, we may be able to figure out who this guy is.""Sounds like a plan." Picking up his own handgun, the two left the armory and began their search for Pyro and Demoman.

IC:Before heading outside, Zach and Minerva decided it would be best to pick up some weapons, so they started toward the armory. While walking, they began to discuss conspiracy theories Zach had heard while on Antarctica."Wait, so there are conspiracy theories about this war?" Minerva asked, almost surprised."Naturally, as there have been conspiracy theories about everything that's ever happened ever," Zach said. "I spent some time around those facilities as an Agents and I'd occasionally get some guy to tell me that I'm 'sheep' and 'helping the conspiracy against the people'.""What sort of theories did these people have?""They have a wide spectrum. Here's just a basic one: I had someone tell me the Government (don't ask me which one) orchestrated the Dino Attack so they could dig up all the oil in the world with no one watching so said-government could control the post-war economy or something. There also the one where 'the Government' caused the Dino Attack to ultimately create some sort of unified totalitarian government. Before I left Antarctica for Adventurers' Island, someone managed to tell me that the riots and Greybeard's speech were some sort of test to see how easily the government could manipulate the fear of the populace to their advantage.""That's...strange," Minerva responded. "So how to they explain the existence of XERRD?""Easy. They're scientists (or actors) that were hired by the government to pretend like they started the Dino Attack. The theorists predict that sometime by the end of the war, Ronald Alexander will just 'disappear' instead of actually being killed. They say he will actually get a high sum of money, and identity change, and be forced to move to some exotic, isolated tropical island or something.""They do realize that Dr. Rex is a Mutant T-Rex, right?"Zach shrugged. "I don't know if they ever addressed that. But your right, it's kind of hard to adapt a new identity when you're a Mutant T-Rex.""Anymore strange theories?""Loads. Are the Mutant Dinos robotic, or are they mutated creations of extraterrestrial beings who are using them to weaken are defenses enough so they can invade themselves? Are the dinos in fact just modern military vehicles using some strange cloaking device that makes them look like dinosaurs with super powers?"Minerva raised an eyebrow. "I assume these people haven't left Antarctica since the Attack began?"Zach chuckled. "It's a fair guess. I've also heard even stranger theories like the Alpha Team and Agents secretly created the Mutant Dinos and fight the war pretending to be bitter rivals when they are actually close allies who are actually helping the Mutant Dinos advance. There also something more a long the line of XERRD's thinking: The Mutant Dinos are super-evolved dinosaurs that aren't just a science experiment. Their true purpose is the restore the Earth to a more environmentally friendly state by destroying civilization. Mother Gaia is in slaughter, so she will do whatever it takes to return to her former glory, even if it means the destruction of an entire species.Minerva smirked. "'Gaia?' Bringing up more Greek mythology?""Just a bit. The whole shocking revelation about you and your mother's names are still hanging on in my brain.""Haha. Got anything stranger?""Well, someone told me that Specs was actually a woman underneath that balaclava..."

OOC: Well Atton, the personality seemed fine. More of the context of the situation that bugged me. I can't bring myself to believe a ten-year-old girl, no matter how much of a "master thief" she may be, broke into a convenience store to steal junk food. Minerva used more of the fact that she was a small, innocent looking ten-year-old to steal things. And she stole actual food for meals opposed to snacks.I might be able to willing suspend by disbelief by saying the Fabellos were running particularly low on food, so Minerva had her "friends" help her break in to the store. And she stole the snacks as opposed to actual food because she wasn't thinking that far ahead because, as I previously mentioned, she was ten-years-old.IC:“It was a normal night in 2004. As normal as it could get at my house," Minerva continued. "Oswald, Tod, and I were all in the kitchen, making dinner. We were having fun, trying to cook and making a mess. Mom suddenly entered the kitchen in a panic. She kept saying that the man that killed Dad was going to kill her next. Tod tried to calm her down, but nothing was working. She was becoming more and more hysterical. She looked at me and her panic...changed into anger. She kept pointing at me and yelling. She thought...I was the man that killed Dad and was back to kill her too. She shoved Tod out of the way and pulled a knife out of the cabinet and started moving toward me. I was terrified. I froze in fear. She almost reached me when Tod suddenly tackled her to the ground.”Minerva paused and breathed in deeply. Zach could see her eyes were becoming damp, but she didn’t seem to notice. “There was short fight. It barely lasted ten seconds. Then they pulled away. Tod fell next to me. The knife was buried into his chest. His breathing was heavy and irregular. He looked at me and smiled at me. A warm, caring smile that tried to reassure me that everything was alright. Then his eyes closed and they didn’t open. Mom broke down. She started crying and screaming Tod’s name. Then...” Minerva paused again and wiped her eyes. Zach was silent, giving her an opportunity to recover. She swallowed once and nodded.“I can’t remember what happened next. I shutdown and went into shock. I think a few hours later I finally came back to reality. Oswald told me Tod was dead and Mom was in custody. There was a big long investigation where the cops figured out that Mom hadn’t been able to take care of us for years. She would’ve gone to jail for that and murder, but she was declared insane. Since they feared she would have another episode like that, she was thrown in a mental institution and Oswald, since he was eighteen, was officially made my guardian. And we never saw Mom again. We both hated her for what she did and wanted nothing to do with her.”Zach leaned back. “Huh.” That’s all he could think to say. Then: “You seem to have turned at fine. What happened was bad, but at least you don’t seem to have serious mental issues after watching Tod die. I’m not so sure about Oswald.”Minerva nodded. “That’s because I wouldn’t allow myself to be ruined by the event. Oswald and I spent a week griefing. I wanted to give up. But then I thought of my mother, who gave up after Dad died. I didn’t want to become her, especially after what she did to Tod. I forced myself to move on, which was harder than I expected. My thieving increased due to my grief and anger and my exploits became considerably less noble. And growing older made me more suspicious to shop owners. And the people I stole from before began to suspected me so they always watched me close. I was arrested multiple times and had to get Oswald to bail me out. I would've gone to some detention center had the police not felt sorry for us. After awhile, I finally realized my stealing was counterproductive. Only after I tried to stop I realized I was almost addicted to stealing, riding on some sort of adrenaline rush each time I swiped something from a shelf.“How did you stop your kleptomania?”“I cut ties to those friends I mentioned, as I had nearly been caught by authorities due to stealing with them and violence. I asked Oswald for help, so he kept an eye on me and I gave him permission to do whatever was necessary to stop me from steal. I suppose it might by comparable to a drug addict trying to break his addiction I was moody, angry, unfriendly, and sick a lot of the time. I took the anger out on Oswald, which often lead to shouting matches. Despite that, I pulled through."Zach simply nodded. “And so what did the illusions do?”“Degrad me,” Minerva said. “Blamed me for Tod’s death, Mom’s insanity, and Oswald’s corruption until I shot them both trying to shut them up.“So that’s why you snapped against Provencal. She convinced Oswald that what happened in the past was your fault.”Minerva nodded. "It was kind of like a punch in the face.” She wiped her eyes again.“It’s not your fault, though.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in tight. Minerva didn’t say anything, only turning her head away. “Minerva, I’m sorry that-”“Don’t be sorry for me,” Minerva snapped, turning her head sharply toward him. “You wanted the story. I didn’t want to share because I don’t want pity. It happened and there is nothing you or I can do to change it. It made me who I am, I suppose.”Zach raised his hands defensively. “Sorry. Though it sounds like the only good thing was that it made the person that you are.” Minerva smiled weakly. Zach rose to his feet. “Now that you have depressed me to a great extent, I’m feeling up for some fresh air. Care to tag along?”“Sure.” Zach extended his hand and pulled her to his feet. As they started walking toward the exit, Minerva spoke again. "Well, I suppose I was more impacted by the incident, in a sense that I promised never to consume alcoholic beverages after watching them steal away my mother's sanity. And while I will use them, I'm not particularly fond of knives. At all."“Well, not drinking isn't a bad habit to pick up. And I can understand the bit about knives. Now enough of your stories. I'd rather not hear another one.” Minerva punched him hard in the shoulder, chuckling as they reached the exit.