Half as Long, Twice as Bright 3D

[b]Thanks for the reviews. Next one up. This one is going to go through a way through the game that is actually impossible for reasons that will be clear within it.[/b]

[size=4]Rabble Rousers[/size]

A few days had passed since Cole had learned his "Ionic Vortex" move. They had named the purple energy on some Militia soldiers "Ionic charges" or "Ionic Energy". Both of the Interferences had been given handheld radios like Cole had, so people could keep in contact, mostly Zeke, but Cole and even Nix on some very rare occasions.

A lot of time had been spent giving Cole "Rayacite" or "Blast Shards", highly charged pieces of earth that glowed blue or purple. Naito had been spending most of his time gathering them, seeing as he could fly, but he did seem weak after handling them, and needed a few minutes to take a breath. Maybe the radiation had negative effects? Unknown, but unlikely to be that much of an issue.

Naomi, after constant pestering, had convinced Cole to be a trainer of sorts in order for her to learn how to better utilize her rare ability to manipulate lightning. Though her world's version of electrokinesis was controlled differently than Cole's, she managed to adapt and learn (after several days of relentless training) a basic attack that sent a bolt of electricity out of her palm. She had made a habit out shooting bolts any chance she could, much to Naito's annoyance. This only encouraged her to continue, as she was none too fond of his 'goody two-shoes' nature. She had a feeling that the feeling was mutual, it didn't take a genius to figure out that her destructive tendencies unnerved him.

However, despite their differences, both of them did come to Zeke's roof to relax and talk. It was there that they came to see Zeke once he had heard about something important, them and the two Conduits they knew.

As the four arrived, Zeke was sitting on the couch in a white shirt and green jacket, reading a book titled [u]Thievius Raccoonus[/u]. He did close it, though, standing up as he spoke, starting with a slight groan. "Ugh... I tell you guys," He started to pace. "Spying on this Militia? [i]Man[/i] it's taken [i]years[/i] off my life." He did turn to them, grinning as he pointed to them. "But boy is it worth it."

Cole grinned in return, walking forward. "Heh, you found out where they're keeping Kuo." He crouched a bit, putting an arm on one knee.

Naito knew better than to interrupt, but he did grin. Maybe they could get a better idea on what to do with her here, if he understood talks right. Only then could they bring down this "Joseph Bertrand III" and his Militia to make it easier for Cole to take on the Beast.

Zeke had his hands on his hips then. "Bertrand's got all his veterans protecting an old cane plantation. Word is they've got all the serious... uh..." He made some hand motions to try to get a word for it. "'deviants' caged up in there."

To Naito's dismay, Nix had an idea. "That's the place with a streetcar out front, yeah?"

"That's the one," Zeke confirmed.

It was Nix's turn to pace, making some hand motions as she walked past and around the vicinity of Naomi, getting increasingly manic. "I got an idea. We fill the streetcar up with explosives, we get it going [i]real, real fast[/i], we ram it through the front door, and [i][b]boom[/b][/i]!"

Naomi found herself grinning as Nix laid out her unorthodox plan of action. It was dangerous, destructive, and it would cause a [i]lot[/i] of mayhem. It was perfect. "Likin' the sound of that, sounds like a [i]blast[/i]!" She said, chuckling darkly at the pun. She then glanced at Naito, wondering what he'd have to say about such a violent way of accomplishing one's goals. If his boring do-good personality was any indication, his opinion would take hours to explain.

Cole pointed to them. "Fire will make a great diversion."

After palming his face in exasperation at the pun, Naito had an objection, though a far shorter one than Naomi thought. "This is the Militia," he said, glaring at Naomi. "They'll have people caged up. Blow open the gates, and they'll be burned alive! Not to mention any innocents anywhere else near it!"

Zeke nodded. "Naito's got a point."

Cole was a little annoyed. "Come on, Zeke, Naito. If we're gonna do this thing with any sort of precision, we're gonna need a much bigger [i]team[/i]."

At that, the one non-action oriented double agent nodded, thinking. "Hm..." He had it as he walked around, stopping and looking at the group of powered people. "Militia's been parading around cages full of cops. These guys used to fight against them."

Cole understood, standing upright again and walking toward him. "Think we break 'em out, give 'em guns..."

Naito sighed with relief, liking this idea better. "Much better, much less likely to cause too much damage. Zeke, where's--?"

Nix cut him off, annoyed as she waved her arms. "Wait, wait, wait. Free cops? No, no, no." She pointed at Zeke, then stepped away. "If we do that, I'm out."

Likewise, Naomi wasn't liking the second plan at all. She'd never been fond of any form of law enforcement for reasons stemming in the past. Crossing her arms, she looked to Naito with a frown, "Same here, why should we help people who wouldn't think twice if they had the choice to kill us?" She said, then nodded in Nix's direction, "We could do this ourselves," she gave her head a jerk towards the others, "They do their thing, we do ours."

Naito's eyes narrowed more. She was willing to sacrifice civilians just for her "fun"? He wasn't going to have any part of that, so he just listened to Zeke again.

"Now, think about it, Cole," the nonConduit said. "Putting some ex-cops back on the street? Hell, that could pay off in the long run."

Though Nix did agree a bit with Naomi, she was angry with Zeke. "Screw that, man!" She stepped back from him... then over to Cole, whispering now. "Don't you want to see that place burn, baby?" And she stepped back, motioning toward her. "I know you do..." She looked to Naomi. "Any case, down by the streetcar. I'll have it set up. Just be there. I'll guide you, alright, firecracker?" And she disappeared in a burst of smoke.

Naito looked to Zeke once more, who was annoyed with her, shaking his head. "Whatever. It's your call, chief," he admitted, walking over to change into his Militia outfit and get his handgun.

Naito looked to Naomi. "If you're so set on blowing everything up even if it hurts so many people, I'm not going to stop you, and I know it. All I'll ask is that you don't run people over. I'll keep in touch, but we'll cut off communication if you annoy us."

"Whatever." Naomi muttered, rolling her eyes and giving Naito a dissmissive wave of the hand. Despite the fact that she wanted to go along with Nix's plan, she felt uneasy about the fact that many people would be injured from the ensuing explosion. Yes, she was a destructive and violent person, but she'd hardly ever killed others because of this. The truth being that she disliked taking lives immensely, and Naito's request to avoid running people over would stick in her head. She'd try to minimize the casualties, but that was it, going out of her way for others wasn't her style.

"I'll see you when I see you." She said, exiting the rooftop from the door. As she left the building, Naomi could hear Chau whisper in her ear.

[i]"Are you sure you wanna do this?"[/i]

She smiled, "Yeah, I am." Chau said nothing to this, and slithered back into her jacket. Naomi then took to the streets, walking with haste towards her destination.

===

Some time passed before Cole and Naito made it to one of the tile roofs, looking down at the parade of trucks. They had gotten Cole some power on the way, sapped from power lines. Three, one on front, one in back, one in the middle with the cage of police officers. Those in the front and back had Militia members on top and inside of them, the sides open so they could cheer and laugh, as well as a pickup truck in back with two more on it, and a helicopter in the air. There were a few on top of the cage too, a visible mechanism there to keep it locked as the police officers sighed in defeat or tried to get out by shaking the bars.

Cole spoke. "Sure packing a lot of heat just to humiliate some police."

Zeke on the other end. [i]"It'll be worth it. The cops in those cages are just a fraction of what they've got back at the plantation. You bust those boys out, and you're gonna have a hard time holding them back."[/i]

"Yeah, we'll see," Naito agreed.

Someone out on a loudspeaker as the trucks came around. [i]"Good people of New Marais. These men swore an oath to protect and serve, but when things got tough, did they accept the help of fellow citizens? No, they turned their arrogant backs on the Militia..."[/i]

Cole and Naito were no longer listening as they dropped down to the street level at the former's insistence, and stood, ready as the convoy turned the corner, right in their path.

It was time to start working.

===

It wasn't long before Naomi found a red trolley street car perched precariously near the edge of a long, steep hill leading down to the plantation. She quietly whistled as she walked along the side of the car where several lines of explosives were attached, "Damn..." She muttered to herself, only to jump when Nix appeared on top of the street car in a burst of black smoke. The Conduit chuckled softly as she jumped down in front of Naomi.

"I had a feeling you'd come, firecracker." She said, grinning.

Naomi shrugged, crossing her arms with a sly smile, "Yeah, we tend to think alike, right?"

Nodding, Nix turned towards the street car as Naomi came to her side. The two were silent for a few seconds as they inspected the explosives. "We're packing enough heat to give the Militia a bit of a headache." Said Naomi, and her eyes met Nix's.

"You know what they say, bigger [i]is[/i] better." The Conduit said with a grin.

"My thoughts exactly..." Silence, "Others went with Zeke's plan, think they'll get the cops out before the bomb hits?" Said Naomi, her apprehension was clear, she wasn't becoming any more comfortable knowing that Nix's bomb would likely end up killing quite a few bystanders. Though she was quietly reassuring herself that Naito and the others would break the prisoners free before the street car killed them all.

Nix seemed to notice the firebender's hesitance when she rolled her eyes with a scoff, "You need to get one thing in your head, firecracker. Cops are just as bad as Miltia. Bunch of a**holes who think they in the right because they got guns. Ain't nobody gonna miss them." She said with a frown.

"Yeah, right." Said Naomi, laughing nervously. Nix scoffed again, louder this time, as she jerked her head towards the front of the street car.

"We need to get this thing rolling. The Demon been teaching you some of his moves, think you can give it some juice?" She said, keeping her eyes trained on Naomi as she climbed to the roof of the street car.

"Yeah, I think so..." She muttered, walking to the front of the street car, where a small generator stood exposed. "Here goes nothin'..." She held out her hand and focused intently, and almost instantly, a dark blue bolt of electricity shot out of her palm faster than she could blink. The generator then began to hum from it's new power source, and the car vibrated as it slowly moved forward.

"Ni-i-i-ice!" Shouted Nix, who began to sprint ahead of the street car, "Keep that thing running, firecracker!"

"Got it!" Naomi shouted back, trying her best to balance herself on the car, which was vibrating violently.

This was going to be a bumpy ride.

===

The convoy slowed a bit, the speaker still going on about how the Militia were needed more than the police, but some other member looking over the side. "Hey, outta the way!" He aimed his assault rifle down at the two heroic males, as if wanting to drive them off... and realized something.

"Oh, crap, it's the Demon!" he shouted.

Not another word. The Ionic Vortex tornado ripped through the street, the wind throwing Militiamen everywhere. They all were laughed from their places, crashing into walls, cracking into the street, no deaths, but all knockouts.

The helicopter didn't fare much better. The electrical energy overloaded its engine, causing an explosion. It spun wildly, crashing into one building, on fire, then another... Naito's eyes widened as he had to dive away from the crazily flying hellish-copter, so to speak, rotor tearing up the pavement as the entire thing basically fell apart.

The angel gasped, standing up once more as Cole jumped up, landing on the cage car, forcing his Amp under the lock and pushing, pushing like a lever... it was released! The whole thing cracked open with a small explosion at the top of the door, the bars falling off as the police all jumped out, cheering as he stood on top.

Naito spoke to them, relieved to be alive, but hoping to do something to help, anything. "Alright, who's gonna join us in attacking the plantation; freeing your friends?" he called out, heard by them as he summoned his wings to show he was indeed powered, but giving the impression of an "angel" as well.

More cheering, and Cole grinned, pointing at the Militiamen around them on the ground. "Grab a rifle off one of those Militia!"

====

[i]"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"[/i] Shouted Naomi above the roar of gunfire all around her. Civilians were running all over the street, panicked and trying to get away from the Militia, who were too focused on the speeding trolley car smashing through anything unlucky enough to be in it's path. The unlucky ones were mostly Militiamen who tried to stand their ground in their flatbed trucks which had gatling guns fixed at the ends. Sometimes it would be an unlucky civilian who wasn't fast enough to get out of the way. Naomi was trying her best to warn them, but the chaos meant her voice went unanswered in all of the panic. Eventually, she gave up and flattened herself on the car's roof while she kept a steady flow of electricity surging into the generator. Meanwhile, Nix teleporting to the roof and streets as she took out several attackers that were firing at the car from all sides. Nonetheless, Naomi always tensed up when she felt the rumble of automatic gunfire striking the car close by.

After what seemed like an eternity, the car picked up speed down a large hill. Then it swerved left to another street on it's way down. Everything became a blur to Naomi as the car turned several corners downhill in rapid succession. All she could do was hold on for dear life, that and shouting a series of swear words that would go unheard.

Another turn, this time Naomi saw the large gate at the very end of of a large hill. "Jump, Firecracker!" Naomi heard Nix say, at least she thought she did. [i]Gotta get off. Gotta get off.[/i] She thought, but when she tried to stand, she nearly slipped off the side. Paralized in fear, she gripped the sides of the car. [i]I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna di-[/i] An audible popping sound. Two hands gripped her shoulders. She was pulled backwards into the air, and she found herself landing roughly on her back.

Ahead, the car smashed through several lines of gatling gun trucks and finally collided with a large gate. The explosion easily blew the gate to pieces, and the heat from the fire could be felt from several feet away. Once the smoke cleared, all that remained were several charred bodies, ruined cars, and the gap where the gate was moments before.

Staring out the destruction in wide eyed shock, Naomi suddenly remembered who saved her. Looking back, she saw Nix kneeling beside her.

"Than-" A hard slap to the back of her head stopped Naomi short.

Then she was grabbed by the collar of her jacket, and her face was mere inches from Nix's. "When I say 'jump', you JUMP! Don't make me have to save your ass again!" Nix shouted, then she roughly let go and stood. Leaving Naomi as she ran through the destroyed gates to meet up with Cole and Naito.

Wordlessly, Naomi got to her feet and followed. [i]Stupid stupid stupid...[/i]

====

"Cole!"

A cough. Another cough.

Naito stumbled to his feet, picking up his swords.

The police seemed to still be helping, though Cole was doing most of the work, mopping up most of the Militiamen. The explosion of the now-destroyed husk of a bus, while immediately helpful, was not good in the long term. She was ruining it! Both of them! What was [i]wrong[/i] with them?!

He turned, swiftly knocking a rocket launcher to the side from aiming at him, sending a rocket being fired straight up at the balcony behind him. The sniper on top was sent flying, and a Moon Wave did the same to the assailant in front of him, the former dead, the latter incapacitated.

Finally Cole was back, looking over at Naomi coming closer to them. "You two keep them busy. I'll go get that last gun." And he was off running again, to get the final cannon around the perimeter keeping them from getting inside.

Meanwhile, Naito glared at Naomi. "Are you even a heroine at all, or are you just in it to blow stuff up?" That question asked, he was summoning his wings again, flying through another group of Militia, the final one, to slam down two members suddenly, one with each sword hilt, followed by the police gunfire wounding them to the point of being out of the fight.

Crackling electricity could be heard from a nearby warehouse on the plantation, higher frequency than normal. Perhaps Cole had found a way in? For the time being, however, it was probably best to just keep things steady here.