Keep it Brief 004

Within a large building located in Central City, Narinki Momiage, CEO of Pod Corporation was in a panic. The heavy set man with thinning brown hair, and extravagant sideburns was sweating profusely as he paced his executive suite. 

His polished shoes struck the marble floor in sharp, furious clicks. The panoramic windows behind him showed Pod Corporation’s sprawling skyline campus, but even the sight of his empire failed to soothe him now. Narinki's silk cravat was loosened, and his manicured fingers were clenched so tightly they trembled in unconcealed rage. 

On the far wall, a massive monitor flickered to life. The image resolved into the silhouette of a man seated in shadow, his features obscured save for the faint glint of glasses, the lower half of his face, and a lab coat. 

Narinki spun on the screen, face flushed red with rage.

“Do you have any idea how much money I’ve lost today?!” Narinki screeched, jabbing a finger at the monitor. “My stock is plummeting! Plummeting! And why? Because Capsule Corp is still standing! We agreed to destroy the Briefs so I could enact a hostile takeover! Instead, my tech gets smashed to bits by some blue-haired brat!” He threw his hands into the air, and all but roared his displeasure. 

The labcoat wearing man wreathed in shadow seemed amused by this outburst, the ghost of a smirk spread across his lips as he silently allowed the CEO to make a fool of himself. 

“Commoners are laughing at me, M.K. Do you understand that? Laughing!” Narinki sneered, and wagged his finger as if he were lecturing a naughty child. 

The shadowy man took Narinki’s words in stride, as if they didn't bother him in the slightest. 

“You are allowing your emotions to cloud your judgment. The assault was never meant to deal a decisive blow. It was a field test, nothing more.” M.K.’s voice was calm, measured, and tinged with academic amusement.

Narinki froze mid-pace, turning slowly back to the screen. “A…a test?” He questioned incredulously. 

“Yes.” M.K. calmly continued, steepling his fingers just beneath the edge of the light. “The mecha wolves performed within acceptable parameters. Their destruction provided invaluable combat data. I won't bore you with the details, but energy output thresholds, shield tolerances, reaction times, this information was necessary to achieving our plan. I have learned much from this exercise.” M.K. stated in a pleased tone. 

Narinki’s lip curled into a furious smile. 

“Your data isn't applicable to the real world. Your little hit on the Briefs compound, it didn't work, my friend.” The large man said in a dangerous tone. 

“Everything is proceeding according to plan. Surely, a businessman such as yourself understands the concept of long term goals.” M.K. said in a dry, mocking tone, one that genuinely questioned the intelligence of others. 

Narinki ground his teeth, and his chest rose and fell as he struggled to rein in his temper. Finally, he let out a sharp huff and straightened his posture, forcing some measure of dignity back into his voice.

“Fine. Fine. But I want results, and fast. Pod Corporation cannot afford to look weak. Not to investors. Not to anyone.”

The corners of M.K.’s mouth lifted into a faint smirk.

“Then you will be pleased to hear this. Dr. Briefs’ son, the true heir to Capsule Corp, is on his way to Central City. I believe he is interested in revenge.” M.K. informed Narinki as if he were casually discussing the weather. 

“The boy is delivering himself to us?!” Narinki excitedly exclaimed, and began to rub his hands together like a stereotypical super villain. 

“Indeed. And when Ty Briefs is captured, Capsule Corp will collapse from within. That detestable man will have no choice but to listen to our demands.” M.K. said, for the first time, calm left his voice, and a hint of hatred crept into his tone. 

Narinki’s rage evaporated almost instantly, replaced by a greedy, delighted grin. He clapped his hands together like a child who got his candy. The billionaire business mogul was practically bouncing on his heels. 

“Captured? Oh, marvelous! Absolutely marvelous! I knew there was a reason I was paying you obscene amounts of money!”

On the screen, M.K.’s eyes shifted, his gaze sharpening as he regarded the billionaire. A smirk of disdain practically colored his entire expression. 

“Yes, yes, this money of yours gives you great power over me.” M.K. darkly intoned. 

Narinki failed to notice the look. He was already turning away, dreaming of headlines, of revenge, of his stock soaring once more.

Behind the glassy reflection of the monitor, M.K. leaned back in his chair, expression unreadable save for the faint curl of his lip. In his mind, Narinki was already obsolete, just another tool, soon to be discarded once it had served its purpose.

~~~~~~~~~

Back with Team Briefs, once Ty had sorted out the additional payments, they had boarded an experimental invention of Ty's, and began to fly from West City to Central City. The plane's name was the: Thunderhawk 009. Once he had unlocked the secrets of Z-Force, he pretty much went wild, slapping that shit into any kind of machinery he could get his hands on. This big, black flying wing was nostalgic, as one of the first big projects he had worked on with his dad as a little kid was a plane. Truly, flying a killer dorrito worth more than some country's entire GDP was a man's romance. 

The next-generation aircraft screamed through the upper atmosphere, its sleek black hull thrumming with awesome power as Z-Force energy surged through its engines. Inside the cockpit, holographic displays shimmered with data while the city lights of Central City sprawled across the horizon ahead.

Amanda sat in the pilot’s seat, the perfect picture of poised calm. Her synthetic eyes narrowed as Pod Corporation’s headquarters came into view, it was a gleaming spire that looked like a giant golden finger pointing up at the sky. Under the pale light of a crescent moon, and a handful of black clouds, it appeared rather ominous in the night sky. 

The moment they had arrived in the airspace nearby, a stream of bullets, and invulnerable tiny missiles followed by tracers came screaming towards them. Searchlights lit up the sky, and air raid sirens sounded down below. 

“Anti-air batteries, how quaint.” Amanda muttered in amusement. 

Ty gave her a wide-eyed look, then gripped a nearby handrail as he had flown in countless simulations with her, and knew she was a bit of a maverick pilot. 

The aircraft shuddered as she wrenched the controls, throwing the plane into a sharp barrel roll. Tracer rounds clawed past the windshield, and Ty felt as if he could vomit due to the extreme G-force placed on his body. With a thought, his power armor-which he was already wearing-had the helmet expand outward, covering his face. Internal dampeners kicked in, and the insane flying no longer affected his stomach. 

“Didn’t we have AA batteries at home?! How come theirs seem so much more dangerous?!” Ty shouted to be heard over the explosions that rocked the air, gripping the edge of his seat as gravity lurched him sideways.

Missile locks chimed seconds later. 

“Let's return the courtesy, shall we?” Amanda said, ignoring Ty's question, as she was in the zone. 

Twin bays opened beneath the wings, and a salvo of missiles streaked downward. Explosions blossomed across the outskirts of the city, where several AA batteries vanished in bright balls of fire. 

The giant golden finger was just in sight. 

For half a second, it seemed like they’d made it.

Then, a powerful EMP wave forced the aircraft to violently jolt. Of course Ty had prepared countermeasures, but unlike his power armor-which had greater protections against EMP’s-the Thunderhawk did not receive his full and undivided attention. As such, it went into free fall for 5 seconds. And 5 seconds was all it took for a hail of gunfire to tear a gaping hole in a wing, and tear an engine off. 

“Warning. Port wing integrity compromised.” Amanda announced. 

Klaxons were blaring, and red lights flashed within the cabin, indicating that something had gone catastrophically wrong. The aircraft entered a tailspin, and it felt like it was doomed to crash. 

“Is she salvageable?" Ty asked Amanda. He wasn’t concerned that they wouldn't survive, however, he was slightly saddened by the loss of one of his inventions. As one of his earliest creations with his dad, the Thunderhawk held a special place in his heart. 

Amanda fought the controls, and slightly shook her head. 

“The stabilizers are gone. We’re not pulling out of this one.” She replied in a calm, composed voice. 

All the while, the ground rushed ever closer, as the plane fell down in a stomach twisting spiral. Wind howled through ruptured panels, and the missiles-though reduced in number-were still coming. 

Without any further delay, Ty unbuckled himself from his seat in one smooth motion. Although he was sad to lose something like this, objects were dead, people were living. Besides, this was one hell of an adventure! Looking back at the others, a wild grin flashed across his face. Although they couldn't see him underneath all that armor, a holographic display projected a pair of neon blue eyes, and a mouth, which could mimic his expression. A bright blue smile met the pair of martial artists as he waved at them in goodbye. 

“I hope you can fly!”

Before anyone could respond, he vaulted out of an open hatch. Amanda was right behind him, her body flying out of the cabin in a blur of red light. 

Sonic narrowed his eyes, and then followed after them like a shadow under the noon sun. 

The black-clad ninja leapt from the aircraft with a laugh. Purple ki then flared around his body, coiling around him. The energy wave propelled him forward, as he rocketed downward alongside both Ty & Amanda. 

“Try to keep up!” Sonic yelled, as he passed them by. Unsheathing his sword, he deflected streams of AA fire, and even sliced a missile in half. 

The resulting explosion fluttered his scarf, and passed inches from his face. Facing this near death experience, a mad-insane-grin spread from ear to ear. Twirling his katana, Sonic's speed doubled, and he disappeared into the darkness. 

“...” 

Ty shared a look with Amanda, and laughed in disbelief. 

As for Tao, he sat inside the doomed air plane with his arms crossed. 

“Hmph, amateurs.” Tao muttered to himself as he calmly stood within the spiraling plane. “No sense of ceremony.” He chided, wiping a small pinch of soot off his shoulder. 

The pink clad killer punched a hole in the top of the plane, and stood on top with his arms crossed. He then reached into his sleeve and flicked a small capsule into the air. It burst open in a flash of light, expanding rapidly into a massive wooden log. 

Tao stepped onto it as it emerged from the capsule, and gave it a mighty kick. Bouncing to the front of the log, his momentum instantly increased, far surpassing anything even Sonic was capable of.

Crossing his arms as if the entire world were beneath him, and robes snapping in the wind, Tao shot out of the falling aircraft like a missile. Descending toward Pod Corporation’s headquarters, he bypassed both Ty & Amanda, and smashed directly into the tip of the giant finger-spire, forcing it to shake and shudder as if the hammer of God had struck Buddha's gong. 

Ty felt his mouth go dry. 

“Good thing he's on our side.” He weakly said. 

“Right you are, love. Let's go!” Amanda agreed with him, then grabbed onto his hand. 

Feeling the soft velvety touch, he almost lost himself in his feelings, but countless hours in the sim had prepared him for a fight! Like any person good at their job, repetition was key, and Ty had logged in a ridiculous amount of time (fooling around) fighting in virtual reality. Explosions and ki blasts were second nature to him! 

Following Tao’s trail, they entered Pod Corporation headquarters, and saw him mercilessly stomp a robo chicken into scrap metal. At the far end of the penthouse suite that they found themselves in, Ty saw a large man. His helmet's scanners instantly checked a database, and listed his name, age, occupation, and a whole host of other details. 

His name was Narinki, CEO of Pod Corporation. 

But to Ty, this scumbag who launched an unprovoked attack on his home? Narinki was one thing above all else: 

Dead! 

~~~~~~~~

AN: So like I said in ch1, ki is much more commonplace. Expect most martial artists, and even 'ordinary' fighters to know how to manipulate it. Tao in this story could fly, but he's too busy aura farming. To my OP-Man fans, do you recognize either of the characters introduced this ch? XD