Master of Disaster

<SNIP>
The time gate span up and quickly collapsed in around them, before opening up again an instant later in chilly, candlelit darkness in what appeared to be a cellar, filled with empty wine racks
“What was that you said about a ‘remote spot’?” Katrina hissed as she swept her rifle around in a controlled arc, her eyes suspiciously scanning the shadows for any movement
“Indeed” Artemis cackled, pulling his psi-scanner out and waving it around “It’s not exactly a pastoral vista, is it?”
“Well, that’s what I damn well set it for!” Jay snarled peevishly as he in turn swept his own weapon around the room
“That’d be my doing” a modulated voice rang out, making everyone start and wheel to train their weapons on the decloaking figure that shimmered into existence beside one of the pillars supporting the ceiling
“Cass?” Jay frowned after a moment as the cloaking field finally dissipated to reveal a tall, slim woman in one of the STCP’s pitch black, figure hugging nanosuit’s
“Damn right!” Cass smiled at him as she hauled her rebreather mask off over her head “You’re a sight for sore eyes!”
<SNIP>

Evelina lowered her pulse rifle when she saw Cass and sighed in relief. (Evelina was wearing the MACO armor she got from Jaxx before and her helmet was clipped onto her belt.) As Jay and Cass were talking Evelina felt a claw brush up against her leg. Evelina squatted down to Skutter 86 and said, “What is it Jaxx?” (Jaxx was still stuck in Skutter 86 but thanks to Jay, he was rescued from the trash bin and fixed by Alex. Jaxx even managed to get an upgrade by Artemis, Alex and Jamie so he could be more independent till they could put his mind back into his body. Now Jaxx’s skutter body had better sensors, a thicker hull, and two retractable articulated arms with holo-whips attached.) Skutter Jaxx then spoke in a monotone voice much like a speak and spell toy, “Eve babe something feels totally bad.” Evelina looked around to see what Skutter Jaxx was talking about.

<SNIP>
“I... Jeez...” Jay whispered, momentarily forgetting himself and allowing his eyes to drink in the contours of her body
The crash of breaking glass, somewhere in the house above made everyone jump
“We’ve got company” Cass warned, unslinging her pulse rifle “Things are going to get real nasty, real fast”
“Yeah, well let’s just jump outa here!” Kat snapped “Jay?”
“We can’t” Cass shook her head “There are a bunch of paradoxes trapping us here – It’s how I escaped Brittany!”
“You what!?” Jay exploded
“I’ll explain it all later” Cass soothed “We don’t have time right now. There’s an infestation of some sort of alien mind parasites occurring in this time line”
“Lady Cassandra!” a voice echoed throughout the house above them “We come for you!”
“Once you’ve become a host, you get what looks like a sixteen legged spider, about the size of your fist, developing inside your brain” Cass said hurriedly “I think they’ve some sort of limited psychic ability, because after a person becomes a host, they don’t show up on the psi-scanners”
The sound doors crashing open and hurried footsteps thumping across the floorboards filtered down from the rooms above
“They hunt at night and have been picking off the squad that I gated in with, one by one, since we arrived” Cass continued “They knew who we were and why we were here; and tonight, it’s apparently my turn
“But hey” she smiled “It’s not all bad – I finally managed to escape Brittany!”
The door at the top of the stairs down into the cellars burst open to reveal a tall, thin, balding man carrying an oil lantern and a stout cudgel
“The cellars!” he shouted and began hurrying down the steps
<SNIP>

Evelina pulled up her pulse rifle as she and Skutter Jaxx moved closer to the group as the intruders were closing in. Skutter Jaxx looked around the dark room with his enhanced sensors to see where they were as the man was waiting for back up. Jaxx then picked up a baseball sized rock with his claw and hurled it right into the old mans crotch. This of course caused the man to fall backwards and drop his oil lamp, which broke and quickly caught the house on fire above. Everyone stopped and looked at Skutter Jaxx in shock. Jay asked, “Do you actually plan your waves of destruction or are you just naturally gifted?” Skutter Jaxx replied in his monotone voice, “Sorry, my bad. I was aiming for his head.” Cass muttered, "Wow Jaxx somethings never change." Katrina asked harshly, “So what now? You plan on roasting us alive?” Eve yelled, “Hey don’t pick on……..” Skutter Jaxx interrupted with his monotone voice, “I see an abandoned tunnel behind that shelf. It looks it was made by a person.” Artemis used his scanner and spoke up, “He’s right it looks like an old coal mine.” Jay replied, “Well it looks our only way out, but at least they can’t follow us through the fire.”

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