InFamous: The Unusual Conduits

by Blackdrag-rose

New Marais: Helping Laroche

The first thing that Cole, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata found out was that Vermaak 88 did, in fact, currently control the majority of Flood Town, meaning that they had used their powers to gain control of this section of New Marais, through fear tactics and the like, which meant that one of the things they would have to do while they were here was drive them out before they endangered anyone else. At the moment it didn't appear that there were any side objectives that would allow them to take out the soldiers of Vermaak 88, save for the few Militia guards that were still harassing the civilians of this part of the city, so that meant that their new opponents were free to remain in control for the moment, but that would change when they found a way to get back at them. Of course that didn't stop them from taking out the soldiers that were harassing the people around them, break the fortifications that the soldiers of Vermaak 88 had set up and knock out those soldiers, and free anyone that was being attacked at the moment, while making sure to get rid of the bombs that had been made from Blast Shards so they didn't hurt anyone.

One thing they found to be interesting was that the tormented soldiers of Vermaak 88 seemed to stall when Adagio showed her powers to them, because her ability to manipulate the moisture in the air also worked against their ice attacks, meaning that she could turn their ice to water and then turn it back to ice as she used it against them. The other thing she did was just convert the ice to water and leave it alone, as a good amount of the ice soldiers liked to stand in the flooded area and Cole took advantage of the situation, shocking them into submission and cutting the number of enemies down in the long run. Aria and Sonata, on the other hand, did what they always did, they made sure to keep an eye on their enemies as they flew, or use grindwires in Cole's case, through the area of New Marais that they were in and occasionally attacked their enemies as well, just to remind the soldiers that all four of them were dangerous and not to underestimate them because two of them weren't showing off their powers. Even the Militia seemed to forget that all four of them had their own powers, but they were quick to remind their enemies and make sure they remembered the danger they were in, before the group put a stop to whatever plan or activity the Militia was up to in the area.

Fortunately it didn't take them long to figure out where Laroche had setup his 'clinic' that was giving out the 'cure' for the plague, something that they didn't believe he had to begin with, and that was mostly because there were several civilians that were already moving towards the area in question, so the four of them just followed the people... and when they arrived they discovered that the building was halfway fallen apart and didn't look like it would be a safe place to treat people, but then they spotted Laroche and Zeke talking about something and headed over to them.

"Hey guys," Cole said, to which he and the Dazzlings approached the pair, who happened to be looking at a map of the area, though he was happy to see that them walking up to the pair had pulled their focus away from the map, as he and the sisters needed to know the situation before they figured out what their next move was, "What's up?"

"You guys showed up just in time, that's what's up." Zeke replied, though what was surprising was the fact that this entire clinic was already under siege by enemies, though for the moment those enemies weren't near the building and were approaching them as they spoke, "We've barely had time to set up everything and we're already in trouble."

"Already?" Aria asked, as she found that a little hard to believe, but then she remembered that Laroche was claiming that they had the cure for the plague, meaning that enemies might be coming to stop them from assisting the people that were in this area, "So, a reliable birdie told us that you happened to find a 'cure' for the plague. What's the truth behind what you're telling the people?"

"There is no cure... there never was one." Laroche said, though he didn't like the looks that the three girls, not to mention Cole himself, were giving him, as if they were judging him in some manner and didn't like the fact that he was willing to lie to sick people about such a thing, "Nearly everyone in Flood Town is dying from the plague... look, all I'm trying to do, with Zeke's help, is use the supplies that you guys brought to me and my men, who are fine by the way, to ease their pain before they have to check out. The only problem is that the majority of the people that are coming to this building can't actually reach us, because they keep getting jumped by the swamp monsters in the area."

"I've set up a few defenses around the camp to protect them as they make a run for it," Zeke added, knowing that Cole and the sisters would want to know what he was doing to assist the Rebels, or in this case Laroche, before he turned towards them, "Cole, since we don't have near enough power to keep them all going, we were hoping that you could help us out in some manner, and that's including having Adagio, Aria, and Sonata help protect the people as well, because I know that they're itching to help out."

"We're sure going to give it our all to protect as many of them as we can," Sonata stated, to which her sisters nodded their heads in agreement, though not a few seconds later they all heard the sound of an alarm going off nearby, "What in the world is that?"

"Something out there just tripped one of the motion sensors I set up," Zeke answered, showing that he had planned all of this out the moment that Laroche had told him what he was planning on doing, though the only part he couldn't get around was the lack of sufficient power to fuel his devices, before he turned towards the group, "You guys ready to head out and kick some ass?"

The alarm was coming from the building behind the one that they were standing in, though when they arrived the four of them found a spotlight of some kind waiting for them, one that, when Cole activated it, shined a bright blue light on the area that Cole was targeting. Zeke revealed that this particular beam was designed to turn swamp monsters to dust when it was shined upon them, surprising the four of them when Cole targeted one of the monsters and vaporized it in a matter of seconds, before he turned towards the next target and continued his assault. Adagio questioned if Zeke was aware of the fact that this was a spotlight, to which he replied that it was a 'Killer UV Spotlight of DOOM!', or the Dunbar Beam as he was planning on calling them, and that they would get crispy swamp monsters when the light was focused on them, while at the same time it might make the civilians a little sicker, but since they had the plague Zeke figured that such a thing was okay to overlook. Once the swamp monsters in this area had been taken care of, and the Dazzlings reported Cole's success in taking them all out, another alarm went off, on the west side according to what Zeke said, and they moved out immediately, where Sonata carried Cole through the air as they reached the area where the next outpost happened to be located.

When that happened, and Cole activated the second Dunbar Beam, the four of them spotted a Ravager that was moving through the area and was quickly burned to a crisp when he shined the focused light on his target, causing him to claim that this weapon was awesome and causing Zeke, who was listening to them, to claim that should be awesome since he had created it.

There were seven Ravagers in total attacking the area, though all of them fell before the might of the Dunbar Beam, but once the last one fell a third alarm went off and the four of them moved through the air, where Cole claimed control of the spotlight and started vaporizing the swamp monsters that were in the area. What surprised the sisters was that there were quite a large number of enemies in this area, causing them to wonder if they could do something to assist Cole in taking out the creatures that were going after the civilians, but for the most part it actually seemed like Cole was able to keep the enemies back and not let the people get hurt. The instant the swamp monster had been taken care of the four of them needed to head back to the second outpost and found that the Ravagers had some reinforcements, in terms of more Ravagers and normal swamp monsters, and Cole attacked them with the spotlight once more. When that group fell before the Dunbar Beam the other two alarms went off, so while Cole and Aria headed towards one of them while Adagio and Sonata headed towards the other one, though when Adagio arrived she manipulated the moisture in the area and used the ice in question to hurt their enemies... as both she and Sonata used their grenade style attacks to knock back the enemies that were surging towards them, all while making sure that the people were safe from harm at the same time.

When both groups took out the enemies that had triggered the two alarms the worst thing happened, all three of them went off at the same time and Laroche, understanding the this wasn't working, called for the four of them to retreat so they could guard the actual clinic together... our course, when they arrived at the building, they found that the soldiers of Vermaak 88, even some bulkier ones that stood on large ice pillars, were attacking the swamp monsters and the group held their powers at bay so they could see what was going on.

"Hey, thanks a lot." Laroche said, to which he waved at one of the bulkier soldiers for a moment, as he figured that they were the commanders of the Vermaak 88 forces, while at the same time the group stared at the soldiers in the area and prepared themselves accordingly, "You guys are alright."

"We don't want your thanks." the soldier in question replied, his voice sounding like he was having trouble breathing, which made sense considering what had happened to him and his fellow soldiers, while his words confirmed why the Dazzlings were ready for battle, "We want your Blast Core."

"Wait, you found a Blast Core?!" Adagio asked, turning towards the Rebel Leader for a moment, as she couldn't believe that the man, who knew that they were looking for those things so Cole could power himself up even more than he already was, but at the same time she and her sisters weren't about to let the Vermaak 88 soldiers take it away.

"I was planning on telling you guys..." Laroche replied, to which he moved his hands a little, showing that he honestly didn't have much to say to the soldier's accusation that he had a Blast Core, but at the same time they all knew what was going to happen in the next few seconds.

"We'd sooner die than give it to you guys!" Zeke declared, because he knew that the soldiers that were standing in front of them were already planning on attacking them, so he might as well be the one to declare war between the two groups and let both Cole and the Dazzlings defeat their enemies.

"We accept... your terms." the soldier stated, to which both he and his bulkier comrades gathered their power and loosed a beam of ice energy at them, only for them to be stunned a little when Adagio raised her hand and the ice dissolved into water for a few seconds, which she used to pierce their shoulders and knock them backwards.

"You know, ice vs water is never a very favorable match up." Sonata commented, as she remembered all the times they had seen people using ice type attacks against someone that used water type attacks, though Adagio's control over water, and the moisture in the air, made it incredibly harder for an ice type opponent to get the drop on her, before she sighed and stepped forward as Aria did the same thing, "Not that you guys stood a chance to begin with."

Cole joined the Dazzlings as they assaulted the soldiers of Vermaak 88 that had come into the area to claim the Blast Core that Laroche had found, and not told them about, though thanks to the combination of their powers, and the fact that three of them could fly, the soldiers had a hard time trying to take them out or even the odds. Laroche and Zeke stood back and watched as the four of them took out the enemies that were around them, though since the bulkier soldiers were the only enemies in the area it was easy for the group to take out their targets and restore the peace to the clinic area that had been set up. Once the four of them were sure that the enemies had been taken care of, and there weren't anymore in the immediate and surrounding areas, they returned to where Laroche was standing and stared at him, as he had some explaining to do, since the Vermaak 88 soldiers was his fault.

"We're in the clear." Laroche confirmed, showing that he was focused on the task at hand, and had seen that the enemies had been taken out, before he turned towards Cole and the sisters that were standing behind him, "You and your friends did some real good work here tonight, even if you don't agree with my methods, and I was originally planning on giving you the Blast Core... but there is one more thing I'd like to ask your assistance on before I hand it over. I've already sent the coordinates to your phone, so once you get there I'll explain myself... and then, once you're done, the Blast Core will be yours."

Cole glanced at Adagio, Aria, and Sonata for a moment, finding that they were still annoyed that Laroche had hidden the fact that he had a Blast Core from them, but instead of getting too bend our of shape the four of them simply headed out of the building they were in an sought out the area that Laroche had sent them the coordinates to. Of course they had to stop the Militia and Vermaak 88 soldiers that were harassing the civilians, each for their own reasons as it turned out, and only came to a real stop when they reached the building in question, where they found a well of some kind that happened to be on fire. Something immediately told them that this wasn't normal for Flood Town, as Laroche wouldn't have asked them to come out here if this was something that one of the civilians had done, though at the same time Cole tapped his phone and opened the line to Laroche, so they could get underway with this objective and could take home the Blast Core that had been promised to them.

"It's getting a little hard to breath since those ice freaks lit fire to the wells." Laroche said, though at the same time the group looked at each other, as they had no idea what he was referring to since they hadn't noticed weren't finding it hard to breath, but at the same time the four of them waited to see what else he had to say, "Hey, you guys should be near a well cap. If you use that to snuff out the flames, we'd all appreciate it."

Cole glanced at the area in question and found the well cap in question, something that he could lift with his Kinetic Pulse and position over the well that was in front of them, but as he did that Laroche revealed that there were several other wells and they were far away from where they were standing, and they only had the one well cap. Since Aria was with them, and her power was over fire itself, she separated from the pack and headed towards one of the other wells that Cole and her sisters were heading to, as the three of them could carry the well cap without having to throw it through the air to reach their target. As that happened Laroche revealed that Flood Town had once been called Bellevue, which was before the flood came through New Marais and created what rested all around them, and that he, and many members of his resistance, still loved this area despite it's current state. He even told the four of them that he was responsible for the people and that he had to consider every angle, so helping the ice guys by giving them the Blast Core, when they willingly set fire to the wells, didn't make sense to him... and that, since the four of them and Zeke had done right by them so far, they would do right by them and hand over the Blast Core once the wells were taken care of.

One thing they found out was that each of the wells were being guarded by some Vermaak 88 soldiers, who were easily taken care of when the group got to them, despite the fact that Aria had to fight some sort of evolved ice soldier that was different from the heavy breathing one they fought a few minutes ago. What Aria found was that, just like all of the larger and more opposing enemies, was that this guy was severely weak to grenade type attacks, causing her to sigh as she decimated him and moved on, though once that battle was over Cole, Adagio, and Sonata revealed that they had snuffed out the flames on their end. At the same time, however, Aria waved her hand and willed her energy to cut off the flames that were in front of her, where she watched as the flames wavered for a moment before disappearing, to which she smiled as she took to the skies and headed towards the other well that the others were heading towards. Her plan was to assist them, pure and simply, and that was all that was needed from her as they fought the larger group of ice soldiers that were guarding the last of the lit wells, who all insisted that Flood Town was theirs and that the four of them needed to leave or be destroyed. After that was over, and the well was capped off, the four of them paused as they heard some Militia in the nearby rail yard shouting about something and heard some sounds of swamp monsters in the area, causing them to wonder if there might be a link between Bertrand and the swamp monsters.

Zeke and Kuo, who had been listening over the phone, stated that they had heard the sounds as well and that they needed to get in there to see what was going on, once they were done assisting Laroche and the Rebels anyway, since that was their current objective at the moment... though Laroche, hearing that they capped all the wells, revealed that he had given something to Zeke as a prize that they might want to get their hands on. As such the four of them made their way to the newest hideout that Zeke had created, as there wasn't much he could do in Flood Town, and found that the area in question was a train car that looked unassuming, and happened to be near the bridge that connected to the first district of New Marais. Of course when Cole went to open the door, and climb inside, Zeke rushed forward and immediately pointed his gun at the opening that had been created, though Cole, deciding to play along, simply raised his hands and prepared himself.

"Whoa. Password for the clubhouse?" Cole asked, because when Zeke got like this it was best if he, and anyone else involved, played along, despite the fact that the Dazzlings didn't seem to care, no doubt since they were more magical than he was and could easily stop the bullet if he actually fired at them.

"Yeah, 'Don't shoot my ass'." Zeke said, though his tone revealed that he was only playing around, as once he figured out that it was only Cole and the Dazzlings he put away his gun and approached them, knowing that Cole, at the very least, would play along before getting down to business.

"Don't shoot my ass." Cole replied, though the moment that left his mouth Zeke extended a hand and pulled him into the train car, to which they paused as the Dazzlings climbed in as well, before the door was put back to the way it was, before they found Kuo standing nearby, looking at some notes until they entered the hideout.

"Guys, I've got some news for you." Kuo said, to which she held up the notes that she had been reading before their arrival, when she was setting this place up with Zeke, and knew that they were interested in hearing what she had to say at the moment, "I was sifting through the wreckage back at Wolfe's lab, and I found one of his journals, the only one to survive the destruction from the looks of it. It turns out that he initially created the RFI to cure the plague!"

"You're kidding me." Adagio said, though at the same time Zeke, who had been holding onto the RFI as per Cole's instructions and kept it hidden in their safe house when he spied on the Militia, pulled out the device and handed it over to Cole for the moment, who studied it for a few moments, "So, how does it do that?"

"Well, according to Wolfe's analysis, the plague is... it's created by radiation poisoning." Kuo replied, to which she saw some lights flash in the eyes of those that were around her, as some of them understood what she was talking about and knew what had caused it, "Ray Field radiation to be exact."

"It's a Ray Field Inhibitor." Aria stated, recalling the wording that Wolfe had used when he first introduced them to the device that would allow them to defeat the Beast and save the world, though at the same time Cole moved the device to the table that was nearby, "If Cole can fire that thing up, it'll not only help us defeat the Beast, but it will also take out the plague at the same time."

"Here's the Blast Core from Laroche," Zeke added, picking up the glowing shard from the table, where he had left it, and handed it over to Cole, who smiled as he switched from the RFI to the Blast Core, as this was going to boost his powers and maybe allow him to wield the device they were carrying with them, "maybe this, combined with the ones you've used so far, will be enough to use the RFI."

Before anyone could stop him Cole moved to one side of the train car and passed a current through the Blast Core, empowering himself and the Dazzlings in the process, though that only prompted Kuo to ask if anyone knew how many Blast Cores Cole had absorbed so far. Sonata revealed that this made the fifth Blast Core so far, and that Cole hitting the ground was normal when he absorbed the power from one of them, but, since it was clear that Cole was going to be out for a few hours, she and her sisters sat down in the chairs or the couches that were nearby and settled into them. They were going to take this opportunity to get some rest and recover from the fights they had been in since the last time they had a chance to rest, to which the three of them dozed off as Zeke and Kuo discussed the next stage of their plans... which they would find out about once Cole was up and ready to go, after he had a chance to test out any new powers he might have discovered from absorbing this Blast Core.