[quote]Liam Gue, the chancellor, struggled to call the Senate together. Since elections had not yet taken place, the general citizens of offtopic gathered in the great hall… an emergency session had been called…[/quote] [quote]“This emergency session has been called to deal with a dire situation…” the onlookers waited nervously[/quote] [quote]“The president of Offtopic RingLeader77 has been abducted.” Gasps rose from the audience immediately the crowd began shouting [quote]“what do you mean?-”[/quote] “How could this happen?- [/quote] [quote]The swarming crowd took to arguing loudly amongst themselves, the voices deafening as the Chancellor struggled to regain the floor, lay-delegates took to the floor to squabble and bicker… Up in the gallery, a scientist looked on with disdain; an intellectual; a madman; the earnest Acrocanthus. [/quote] [quote]‘This is insane… the president could already be dead and these people still can’t see past their petty differences’ “Enjoying the view?” The greasy and cunning Nighthawk startled Acrocanthus so, that he fumbled the small voidstone he had been nervously twirling through his fingers and snatched wildly to catch it. Lightning fast a weathered hand caught the stone, it was the warrior Ronin; silent and quick. “You should be more careful Acro-,” He gibed; and offered the stone. Acrocanthus quickly snatched it back before collecting himself. “I didn’t expect the two of you here, aren’t you on the run Nighthawk?” “With the senate the way it is and the brotherhood in disarray… why worry?” [/quote][quote]Ronin spoke… “The brotherhood is not in disarray, we are well-organized, but without RingLeader77-“ he trailed off, uncertain. Down on the floor a lay-delegate pushed an offtopican angrily who responded with a right hook; shouts and jeers as the bystanders came forward to separate them- ‘an unorganized mess’ thought Ronin. Liam Gue spoke from the parapet. “Order here! We must have order!” The three onlookers leaned over the balcom to observe the would-be melee- end before it started. “Brilliant isn’t it?” sighed Acrocanthus[/quote] [quote]The mob calmed and went back to arguing amongs themselves. “The Speaker betrayed us-” Nighthawk gave an ominous chuckle “What is so funny” "Ha… Let me tell you about the speaker; The guy who would be speaker ran my organization from its inception; till he went out of his mind… I have never in all my years of doing what I do, met a man as cold calculating and Evil as the Smiling Serpent himself- and now this deep business is involved… He will do anything to gain more power. Dont you see? He didn’t betray you, he was just never on your side” [/quote] [quote]“Which is precisely why we will stop him…” The three turned to see the British detective Sherlock Holmes emerge from the doorway… “Sherlooock, wheres Watson…?” Nighthawk guffawed… “He couldn’t make it; previous engagement.” “I’m Heartbroken…” Nighthawk retrieved a cutter and Cigar from his pocket and clipped the end. Ronin stepped forward and bowed before shaking Sherlocks hand “It is good to see you detective.” “Likewise…” Addressing them all Sherlock continued “… I am here with a proposal.” [/quote][quote]The three shrugged and looked at eachother… “Im going into Vault B to get my friend back… and I need volunteers…” Ronin stared quizzically at Sherlock, and Nighthawk turned back to the more interesting development of two females on the senate floor fist fighting, chuckling smugly, as Acrocanthus spoke… “How, the Fortress of the Vault is-“ [/quote] [quote]“-Gone? No it’s not gone, not completely” “Wha? How?” “It seems the Speaker has made his realm on the seam between realities, but the fact is the seam is uninhabitable, nothing can exist between the void and this world; answer in order to exist between worlds, the realm of the speaker has been built to overlap with our own…” All three looked at him bewildered. “Its simple really his world exists half in hours half in the void, but because it creates an overlap between realities it both does exist and does not, a perfect paradox, and an effective hiding place” [/quote][quote]“Hold on your saying the fortress is still where it’s always been?” Acrocanthus asked intrigued “Yes, but only partially, I discovered the rift by accident when I investigated the site, I would have investigated it sooner but the whole of the Brotherhoods forces bombarded the area” Ronin stepped forward, mildly incensed “I was there Sherlock, if it were a cloaking device-“ [/quote] [quote]“- you would have already destroyed it…” “We had no choice we had to know-“ “-and you endangered the life of my friend, and the minister of stories” Ronin backed down. Acrocanthus spoke up “He took Girrafalope?” Sherlock’s face winced slightly “It would appear so-“ The three of them stood silently. Why Girrafalope? [/quote] [quote]“As I was saying I spoke to Girrafalope through the rift in realities, The Speaker was elsewhere, but they gave me some details of their incarceration, the speaker is aggressively trying to control them both, something having to do with unique qualities they both possess… but they did not know any more” Nighthawk turned around from the balcom… "look I’ve got no love for speaker but if your going after him, you can count me out.” He tapped the ash from his cigar. Sherlock looked at the other two, Acrocanthus nodded, “Ok” Ronin also signaled his support “I will help you my friend in this mission, but there are only three of us, the Speaker possesses armies of immense number, we will need help-“ A shriek-like raptor call made them all jump as The Raptor entered the gallery. “Do you mean us?” The heavily armored Raptor bowed “You called detective?” [/quote] [quote]Behind him a Northstar Titan Pilot followed; Wripperoni “Heard we got a job needs doing!” Out of the digital space, Virus stepped out next to Acrocanthus. “This crisis affects us all, and I have seen what the deep is capable of, I will accompany you on this journey” From the Balcom, Nighthawk smiled slyly and chuckled, 'boy… what a motley crew this is'" I should take a picture… Ah -blam!- it! If the speakers gonna kill us all I might as well stay close to where the action is… count me in.” Sherlock nodded “friends, thank you for coming; we will find the speaker, and we will make him pay for this grave mistake he has made” [/quote] [quote]“7 heroes for the 7 pillars” he muttered ‘I am coming for you Ring, and I bring hell with me’ ‘and if you are listening- expect us,…’ Deep in the transdimensional warp, the speaker watched the gathering…[/quote]