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 Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:43 am
Father of Death- The Protomen
Tom: What have I done?
Though I did not pull the trigger, I built the gun that he holds in in his hand.
Last night I dreamed I climbed to the top of a mountain of metal
and for miles I could see the destruction of man.
I will not be the father of death.
Darling Emily, everything that I have done, I have done for you,
but it's turned out all wrong.
Can I take it back? Can I turn off this machine
before it destroys everything that I've loved?
I will find a way to make this right!
I will find a way, Emily.
I will not be the father of death!
Emily Stanton climbed the stairs to her beloved's apartment, a folded letter in her hand. Tom had been so busy with his work these last few months, they'd barely seen one another. This, instead, was how they'd communicated. The door at the top of the stairs was cracked open. She called out to Tom as she entered the darkened room. A man was bent over the desk rummaging through the drawers frantically. It was Albert Wily. He turned, startled, and looked at Emily; the hint of a smile crossed his face. He motioned, not at Emily, but at the figure standing in the shadows behind her. The machine shut the door obediently.
Emily: What are you doing here? (Albert: Let me take you away.)
I'm not going anywhere. (He will be nothing when this runs its course.)
He will be everything that a man
is supposed to be.
If the shadow blocks out the sun... there will be light!
If it stays 'till the sun is set... there will be light!
If the sun never shows its face again... there will be light!
No matter how dark the city gets... there will be...
Albert Wily's eyes grew cold as Emily's rejection of him became clear. He turned to the machine standing at the door and quickly slid his finger across his own throat. The robot moved silently towards Emily as Wily slid through the window, onto the fire escape, and into the streets below. Emily ran to the window, following his escape, but the machine was too quick. Its cold hands caught the soft flesh of her arm. She opened her mouth to scream but the warm tearing of a cold blade across her neck aborted the sound.
Even as Thomas Light climbed the stairs to his apartment, he sensed something was wrong. He opened the door, crossed through, and locked it behind him. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, the first thing he made out was a red light pulsing slowly on the fire escape. A moment passed as Light tried to reconcile the image of a machine he'd just left at his workshop, with the figure now towering outside his window. His gaze drifted from the shaded helmet of the machine to its hand and to the knife it gripped, dripping deep crimson droplets onto the toe of its black boots. The machine tossed the knife in through the window, and leapt to the ground below. Light's eyes followed the arc of the blade to the floor, to Emily.
Sirens approached in the distance.
Thomas held his darling Emily in his arms, pulling her close to his chest. Shaking silently.
Footsteps rang out from the stairwell. A fist rapped violently against the door. Thomas didn't notice. He slowly brushed the hair from Emily's face and kissed her forehead. A single tear falling from his own eyes to hers. In her hand, a folded letter with his name scrawled carelessly on the front.
The sound of the door splintering finally shook Light from his mournful reverie. He pocketed the note and lowered his love to the ground as he inched slowly to the edge of the open window.
His actions were met with the hollow click of rounds being loaded into chambers. He began howling incoherently to the policemen about renegade robots and red lights in blast shields. The only responses he received were nervous faces and fingers inching toward triggers. In grief and desperation, Light turned and threw himself from the window.
Shots shattered the hush of the sleeping city.
Light's tumbling body flattened the roof of a car parked below. The air was thrust from his lungs. His right arm was shattered, but he was alive. He rolled from the car onto the shards of glass lying on the street below, shredding his hands and knees. Gasping for air and retching violently on the pavement, for the first time in his life not thinking about the future, Light scrambled to his feet and disappeared into the darkness.
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Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2010 12:49 am
The Hounds- The Protomen
[Hours later, from the broadcasting room at the tower at the center of the city]
Albert Wily was born for this moment. He answered the reporters' eager questions about the disappearance of his partner calmly and evenly with the story he'd rehearsed. Inside he was teeming with contempt for these men who were turning the story from the real headline: the unveiling of his newest marvel. A giant telescreen just above their heads, mounted to the top of the building, would within minutes broadcast information non-stop to every citizen of the city. No matter. Soon these men and their questions would be obsolete. He reluctantly turned his own statements to the media frenzy at hand.
Albert:
Tonight the streets are red,
the lights are blue and blinding.
No sign of the "Good Doctor,"
but the siren's wail and whining
Tell us he'll be found.
He made his way to the window overlooking the city.
I can almost hear the hounds...
He turned back to the reporters.
What kind of man builds a machine to kill a girl?
No he did not use his hands.
Like a smart man he used a tool.
But just the same,
How can you question who's to blame?
Reporters:
What was her name?
Albert:
It doesn't matter.
Now listen...
"The Good Doctor" has to pay!
Stepping away from the throng of reporters, he looked at the digital countdown above the nerve center of his broadcasting controls. He whispered quietly to himself...
When I say he was a monster,
when I set fire to his name,
It does not matter where you hear it from,
whether truth or lies,
It gets said all the same.
Glancing once again at the countdown, he spoke plainly to the reporters.
Whatever's on the table plays!
1 minute, 46 seconds until the broadcast would begin
Wily shut the door on the tumult of voices continuing to shout questions after him. He walked down the empty hallway and around a corner and into the studio adjacent to his control room. A pane of double-plated glass sealed out the bedlam of the reporters. He watched as their mouths continued to hurl impotent questions.
In the silence of the studio he didn't bother trying to make out what they were saying. His eyes focused on a blinking red light above the digital countdown. He spoke aloud. His words bounced off the soundproofing glass. The cameras weren't yet rolling. The microphones were not yet active. His words went unheeded for the last time.
There is a flame I have been fanning.
There is a fire waiting to catch.
There is a hell that has been building
from the moment we first met.
58 seconds to air.
If there ever was a time,
If there ever was a chance,
To undo the things I've done
and wash these bloodstains from my hands,
49 seconds to air
It has passed and been forgotten.
These are the paths that we must take.
Cause you and I, Tom, we are men
And we can bend and we can break.
40 seconds to air.
If you think that you can run,
If you think that you can stand,
Well you forget who turned this city on.
You forget who plugged this city in!
30 seconds to air.
They'll not switch it off again.
He straightened his tie, knocked the wrinkles out of his suit jacket and faced the camera lens.
One by one they're tuning in.
15 seconds to air.
At this very moment - his moment of glory - he wished he could be out in the streets of the city. He wished he could hear the hum of a thousand tubes, powering the screen, popping to life and warming up simultaneously... wished he could feel the wave of sound as they drew the attention of every person within the walls of the city. His city. He wished he could float above the streets as every person walked from their homes, left their dinners, their polite conversations, their lives. Wished he could be there as they filed out into the streets, fixed their eyes on the giant screen, and waited.
3 seconds...
But Albert's place was here. His time was now. He cleared his throat.
The red blinking light went solid...
Outside, on the giant screen, Wily's face came into focus. For the first time, the people of the city looked to one man. They saw the face of a leader. One man towering above the city.
After a few inspirational opening lines, Wily turned his attention to the matter at hand. Thomas Light. He assured them that the murderer would be apprehended. He promised them that their city would be made safe again. They trusted him completely.
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:49 pm
The Protomen:The State Vs. Thomas Light
Thomas Light was picked up three days later in a beggars' cemetery. Emily Stanton had been buried there an hour earlier. She had no family. Her few acquaintances from the factory were busy covering the hole she'd left in their workforce. A few unmoving passages were read by a disaffected priest as her body was slowly lowered into the cold ground. No one but the men paid to cover her pine casket with earth heard his words. Even those were drowned out by the more urgent ones booming from the large telescreen. An hour after the ceremony, Light stepped out of the tree line just beyond the grave. He staggered to the mound of freshly moved earth and fell to his knees, tears pouring from his eyes onto her grave. The police, too, had been waiting. He didn't resist. The trial began within the week. The media circus was phenomenal. The city saw a demon portrayed on the screen. Every shred of evidence was dissected and rebuilt to incriminate him. Constant news, facts, and rumors were forced upon and absorbed by the masses.
Tom:
Emily, The crowd has gathered here
but it is not because of you.
Emily, the taste of blood in their mouths,
I can't imagine what they'll do.
But it doesn't matter what they'll do to me.
Emily, have they forgotten you
when they set their sights on me?
They will hang me from the rope tonight
Will you be waiting there for me?
Will our souls remember where we said we'd meet
on the way out of this town?
I'm leaving one way or the other, Emily.
There's nothing left here for me now.
Emily, it's so quiet now.
It's like the calm before a storm.
They will punish me for what he did to you
But either way it's all my fault,
'Cause I made the man who laid his hands on you.
And I would tear him down, but I feel like a dead man
and what can a dead man do?
Emily: This is not your fault
Tom: I'm leaving one way or the other, Emily.
Emily: This is not your fault
Tom: There's nothing left here for me now.
Turning his attention to the proceedings...
Here comes the blow.
We find the only man who loved her...
We find the only man who'd give his life
to see her once again... We find this man
Emily: Not Guilty!
Tom: Guilty... I am Guilty.
The judge entered his chambers. The lawyers and jury filed out of the courtroom, leaving Light, a free man, sitting silently behind the defendant's table. The sound of the mob outside was deafening. Even from within the thickly marbled walls of the courthouse, their rage - their sense of injustice - were palpable. Throughout the trial, the telescreen had told them that their judicial system would ultimately fail them, that the laws of the city were flawed, skewed to shelter monsters like Light, powerless to protect the people. Impotent. Weak. Dangerously out of touch with the times. Obviously, the screen had been telling the truth. Now, it was telling the masses that they would have to take matters into their own hands if justice was to be served.
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:51 pm
The Protomen:Give Us The Rope
A small contingent of policemen nervously escorted Light to the door of the courtroom and out into the mob.
Human choir:
Give us the doctor!
Give us the rope!
Light was shuffled through the crowd and into an awaiting car.
Give us his hands!
Give us his feet!
Give us the doctor!
Give us the rope!
The car maneuvered slowly through the sea of people.
Give us a grave!
Give us a shovel!
Give us a marker!
Give us the doctor!
Give us the rope!
Light and his police escort slowly moved south through the streets of the city. The commotion of the crowd finally faded in the distance. With every man, woman and child at the courthouse, the streets they traveled were empty and deserted. Knowing that the crowd would surely be following, they accelerated rapidly towards the old train station. Light's only chance was to get out of town.
The station was oddly quiet. Vacant. In the distance, however, he could hear the crowd advancing. Following. A crushing fear overcame his crippling apathy. He quickly stepped from the platform to the waiting train. It was completely empty. The doors shut and the engine hissed and pulled away from the station. Light looked across the skyline to the tower he'd helped create. His gaze climbed to the top and stopped at the giant screen. Albert's face was screaming at the crowd. Whipping them into a frenzy. This was his city now.
Light was gone.
His name destroyed.
His work stolen.
His love murdered.
But the city...
The city was alive.
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Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:59 pm
How The World Fell Under Darkness - The Protomen
The movement started slowly at first, but soon expanded exponentially into every part of life. The old commuter train that bore Light to his exile was bought and the track scrapped and recycled to make way for a shining electromagnetic bullet train. Sleek and silver, it tore through the city like a volt across a wire, and as quickly as it moved, the city was transformed around it.
Beneath the hammers of Wily's new army of metal workmen, buildings were razed to the ground, leveled in a single morning. New foundations were laid in the same afternoon. Structures, metal frames piercing the clouds, were erected before nightfall. Glass and steel wrapped the frames before the sun rose the next day. Then the armies of machines would move onto the next task. Never stopping. Never slowing. Never resting.
Morning after morning, the men and women of the city awoke to find a bright new world. Everything was remade. Made better. Made brighter. The streets were swept. The undesirables, the homeless, the criminal element of the city, systematically vanished.
The single screen on top of the tower sent out signals to the now hundreds of satellite screens. The factories were fully automated. The mines run entirely by machine. The men that found themselves suddenly living lives of leisure crowded the bars, slowly imbibing the generous severances they'd received, not so much as a single ill word grumbled towards their replacements. The city was a bright and shining beacon of light... a steel-plated heaven.
Years passed.
A generation grew up within the metal arms that embraced the city. The older generations never told them what the city looked like before the machines. Why would they? What good could come from telling the children of the type of dark, filthy, and dangerous world that men create when left to their own devices? That once men slaved away deep inside the earth, risking death for the sake of survival. That once women left their children, still asleep in their beds, to grind away mindless hours in the factories, sacrificing family to secure necessities.
This new world was so perfect that it seemed dangerous to speak of the old world. As if this new city, sprung from a sea of darkness, was balanced on a single point, teetering on a crucial ignorance. It seemed that any misstep, any wrong word, could topple the city, sinking it back in the sea, that dark abyss of human suffering, leaving them with nothing. After all, they were not the creators of this world. They were merely the recipients of a gift. A gift given to them by a single man and his countless steel hands. And just as easily as it was given, couldn't it be taken away?
An unspoken fear dangled above the heads of every man and woman. Keeping them silent. Keeping them safe.
Even so, rumors started. Ghost stories of a demon. A beast with a single red eye. He that would pluck you from your bed at night if you were found with a dissenting word on your tongue. Mothers told children to stay close as they traveled through the streets, keep a smile on their faces, and never speak ill of the machines.
A generation grew up inside the metal hands that gently circled the neck of the city. Some of them grew up hating the city, fearing the machines. There was one boy in particular. His name was Joe.
The Protomen - Breaking out
Joe:
The city doesn't know what's coming,
She doesn't feel the heat.
The city won't know what hit her,
What knocked her out into the streets.
The city is thinking that it's over,
and she's already fast asleep.
So I'm breaking out of here tonight.
I am ready.
We're given only what we need,
Only the chance to survive.
And even then, it's a coin toss,
A roll of the dice.
There's gotta be something better,
Something that feels more alive.
So I'm breaking out of here tonight.
I'm breaking out of here.
You've got to feel it girl,
Feel the wind pick up.
It feels like something's gonna change,
but there's no use putting it in drive
if all the wheels are stuck.
There's somethin' wrong here,
like this whole city wants to scream,
But no one makes a sound.
But, you've got to feel it, baby.
So I'm going to find out what it is
and I'm going to tear it down
Joe turned to a girl who'd been ignoring him all night, leaned in, and whispered in her ear.
The engine's running, baby.
We don't have time for goodbyes.
I know you can't come with me.
I see that look in your eyes.
So kiss me fast
cause there's no time to lose.
Leave the light on
I'll come back for you.
When everything is said and done,
I swear I'm gonna make it right.
I'm breaking out of here tonight.
Joe leaned in and stole a quick kiss from the girl. She smiled and made a move to slap him but he was already out of reach. He kicked the door open and tore out into the dark streets. Fire in his blood. He didn't know exactly where he was going. Only that he was moving. And moving was something.
The slight breeze against his forehead meant that something was changing. He raised his voice, crying out against the quiet, constant hum of the city. From the windows high above the streets, a few concerned women called out to him to keep his voice down. For his own sake. For all their safety.
I'm so tired of giving up.
I am so tired of giving in.
You wake up knowing things should change,
not knowing where to begin.
This city won't say where she's going,
and she won't speak of where she's been.
So I'm breaking out of here tonight...
Without noticing where he was heading, he'd reached his home - or his former home - his mother's house. She'd vanished three years ago. He hadn't been back since. His father had been gone now for nearly ten. Heading around back, he made a straight line for a small workshop, set apart from the house.
His father's motorbike was there. A relic. A gas engine bolted to an iron frame. He kicked the engine a few times and the bike roared to life. As he turned onto the street and opened the throttle - the sound of combustion savaging the silence of the night air - he could almost make out the sound of the collective gasp let out by the neighborhood. He could almost imagine window after window opening above the street line. Frightened face after frightened face leaning out into the bright glow of the streetlamps. Timid voice after timid voice telling him, speaking in unison.
A chorus of fear.
Human Choir:
Don't turn your back on the city
Joe ignored the voices. He thought perhaps he was the only one who hadn't turned his back. He kicked the shifter.
Joe:
Say a prayer for all
the children still sleeping.
3rd gear.
Say a prayer for all the fathers
who still remember.
4th.
Say a prayer for all the girls
who've learned to stand up.
5th.
Say a prayer for all the boys
who won't surrender.
Sometimes I just want to drive
until the streets run out.
I want to burn until there's
nothing left to burn about.
This city's waiting for a better day.
When I get back there will be hell to pay.
But, if I'm the only one left standing,
I will not be afraid to fight.
I'm breaking out of here tonight.
I feel a fever coming on me,
burning out of control.
And I hear nothing but the static.
For years now there's been nothing
but the static on the radio.
If you can hear my voice outside these walls,
if you can hear me sending out this message tonight,
then break the silence, send a signal back.
I'm coming, all I need is a little guiding light.
...If you can hear me.
Human Choir:
Don't turn your back on the city...
Joe:
If you can hear me...
Don't turn your back on the city.
Store fronts gave way to warehouses.
Warehouses to abandoned factories.
Factories to the slums of the city.
He'd followed the line of the electric rail for almost an hour. The outskirts. A place to which men now rarely ventured. The dark streets flickered under failing street lamps. Away from the machines. Away from the people trying to keep him silent. He should be feeling free. He wasn't. He was feeling something else. A wariness. A hesitation. Joe let off the throttle. As his father's bike slowed to a crawl, he understood that feeling he'd had ever since he;d decided to leave the city. That hesitation he'd felt was the knowledge that he was being watched. Watched when he kissed the girl at the bar goodbye. Watched when he left his mother's house. Watched even now... Miles from the heart of the city.
A face in the shadows...
He stopped the bike in the middle of the street, silenced the engine, and lowered the kickstand. There was no traffic. No metal footsteps patrolling the streets. But the familiar sound of the telescreens reached even here. Joe stood watching the face on the screen. It babbled incessantly, but said nothing.
Over the sound of the screen, Joe heard footsteps, slow and deliberate, echoing from the darkness of the alleyway. Kneeling down, Joe placed one hand on the street beside him, the other reached for the knife in his boot. He recalled the stories the children of the city loved to repeat about the red-eyed assassin. "Light's Monster," they called it. The footsteps emerged from the darkness of the alley and into the uneven glow of the flickering street lights. Joe stood, his hand loosening its grip on the knife.
It was a gray-haired man.
Joe was about to speak when the old man lifted a finger and pointed past him, into the darkness. Joe turned to see a single red light pulsing from the depths of the alleyway behind him.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 12:04 am
The Protomen- Keep Quiet
Joe:
I've seen your face in the shadows.
I've seen your face in the places I wasn't meant to be.
I've heard them whisper about you.
I've heard the men in the bars
and I've seen the women lock their doors at night
They say your eyes are on fire.
They say you'd kill a man for walking the wrong side of the line
But men, they say a lot of foolish things
and in the end the only words I can find to believe in are mine.
They say
Human Choir:
This city, she's been dead for years now... for years now.
So death is not something that scares me... that scares me.
There's worse things than death here.
Joe:
They told me...
Human Choir:
Keep quiet.
I will not be told where to stand!
I will not be told what to say.
Not by man or machine,
Not by you,
not by anyone tonight!
You're gonna have to do better than fear.
You're gonna have to step out of the shadows and fight.
And when they see your face again,
They will know what it means
to have fear dragged out into the light.
Drag it out!
Human Choir:
This city, she's been dead for years now... for years now.
So death is not something that scares me... that scares me.
There's worse things than death here.
Joe:
So come on!
Come on!
Step into the light!
The red-eyed assassin stepped from the shadows. He'd been keeping pace with a motorcycle racing at top speed for an hour, yet he showed no sign of fatigue. The gray-haired man watched from the alley tensing visibly as the machine revealed itself. Joe slowly backed away from the bike, deliberately withdrawing towards the gray-haired man in the alley. He stopped as his foot brushed against something solid.
The sniper robot's hand never once went for the gun at its side. It leaned in, a large blade clenched in its left fist, waiting for the proper moment.
Human Choir:
This city, she's been dead for years now... for years now.
So death is not something that scares me... that scares me.
Joe:
There's worse things
than death here
There's loss and there's silence and sadness.
Joe's hands were shaking.
So come on,
come on,
just open your mouths and revive it.
Joe leaned forward and charged towards the machine. If he was going to die, he would go down swinging. He plunged his shoulder into the chest of the automaton. With every bit of strength he could summon, Joe thrust upward, and both man and machine left the ground in an arc. By the time they slammed back into the asphalt, the machine was on top, its cold hands tightening around Joe'e neck. The impact sent the pipe bounding far from Joe's reach. Joe's fingers clawed at the smooth metal covering the machine, searching for a c.hink in its armor. His hand found the gun instead.
The light of the blast was painful, even through Joe's closed eyes. He opened them slowly. Carefully. He found the machine lying several feet away, immobilized, with a smoking hole in its chest. Its red eye fading and flickering. Joe rose. He approached the machine. He pointed the gun at the robot's head and slid his finger over the trigger, steeling himself for the blast. The gray-haired man stopped him. The man knelt down - his face inches from the machine's - and spoke, his voice gruff and trembling.
"I built this. It's mine to destroy."
With surprising speed, his right hand shot to Joe's boot and withdrew the knife. With his left hand he grabbed the machine by the jugular-shaped electrical conduit at its throat and sliced. A single swift blow. The eye went dark. The machine was dead.
The two faced each other in the middle of the street. Joe's labored breaths drowning out the telescreen in the distance.
"My name is Thomas Light..."
Returning to the lifeless machine at his feet, Light motioned for the speechless Joe to assist him. Together, they dragged the remains of the murderer out of the light and into the protection of the alley. Light sheathed the knife into Joe's boot holster and turned back to the machine. He examined the assassin for a few seconds and nodded. With a few deft motions, he detached the dark green helmet from the body of the robot, tossing it to Joe.
"Here... try this on."
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:36 pm
The Protomen:Light Up The Night
Joe:
This city's sleeping like a soldier
trapped inside of an iron lung.
Machines can keep you breathing
but what happens when you find a new war's begun?
Flip a switch and turn it off, you won't be able to breathe.
So either way you're a casualty.
I've got this burning like my veins are filled
with nothing but gasoline.
And with a spark,
it's gonna be the biggest fire they've ever seen.
Cut me down or let me run,
either way it's all gonna burn...
The only way that they'll ever learn
We've got to turn it off,
Flip a switch.
Light up the night!
There is a city that this darkness can't hide.
There are the embers of a fire that's gone out,
But I can still feel the heat on my skin
This mess we're in, well you and I,
maybe you and I,
We can still make it right.
Maybe we can bring back the light.
Tom:
At the heart of the city there is a building that looks down over all there is.
And the man in the tower controls it all without raising a single fist.
It's like they gathered up the city, they sold it to the devil, and now
It's gone to hell and they wonder how.
Well, a friend once told me:
Men, they would follow any man who would turn the wheels.
Now the wheels are spinning out of control; what would they do if we held them still?
If you destroy the working parts, what you'll get is a broken machine.
A beacon of light from a burning screen.
Light it up.
Light up the night.
Together:
There is a city that this darkness can't hide.
There are the embers of a fire that's gone out,
But I can still feel the heat on my skin.
This mess we're in, well you and I,
maybe you and I,
We can light up the night.
They made their plans carefully. Spending hours on the details. If Joe could reach the main telescreen on top of the tower in the center of the city - Wily's tower - he could take out the central transmitter. He could stop the broadcasts going out to the satellite screens. He could stop the broadcasts going out to the machines. He could take out Albert's eyes.
With Wily blinded, Light could reenter the city undetected. He could complete the task that he had obsessed over for more than twenty years. He could kill Albert Wily. A prisoner caged on the edge of the city, this was Light's chance. His chance not only at freedom, but to exact revenge. To kill his judge, his warden, and the man who'd built his prison. To destroy the man who'd taken everything from him - his life's work, his name, his love.
Together:
There is a city that this darkness can't hide.
There are the embers of a fire that's gone out,
But I can still feel the heat on my skin.
This mess we're in, well you and I,
maybe you and I,
We can light up the night.
There is a city that this darkness can't hide
There is a fire that will burn through the streets of the city, and we will stand in the light.
We will stand in the light,
you and I.
You and I.
We can bring back the light.
With Wily's assassin out of the way, they had a small and rapidly closing window. The sniper robot would soon be missed. Their plan finally secure, Light locked the green helmet under Joe's chin and handed him the bag of explosives. "Go!" he shouted.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:39 pm
The Protomen:The Fall
Joe kicked the motorcycle's engine back to life. He spun the bike and raced towards the city. Passing under the cold glow of screen after menacing screen. Reports coming in of an incident in the outer rim. Reports of an armed assailant. Reports of a growing threat to public safety.
Choir:
Climb.
Joe tore through the streets. A missile aimed at the metal spire towering above the city. The great steel arm holding a torch of fear. The main telescreen was designed to be visible from almost anywhere in the city. The destruction of that screen would be felt by every man and every woman in the city. He thought of the children. How, for the first time, they would know a world without that screen. Without the constant, mind-numbing barrage of misinformation. Silence. Had he ever encountered silence? Soon.
Climb.
The street was ending. Joe revved the engine. No hesitation. No fear. The motorcycle bounded over the curb, launched off the steps in front of the tower, and landed jarringly upon the hard, slick marble of the plaza. Losing traction, the tires skidded out ahead of the heavy iron frame. The bike pitched. Joe kicked hard against the bike. Inertia kept him glued to it. He rolled over on to his stomach and clawed frantically at the smooth marble, trying to slow himself.
Climb to the top of the world.
The bike would not be slowed. It slid rapidly toward the main entrance. The steel doors secured tightly for the evening. The wheels caught on the final few steps leading up to the doors. The bike spun upright and left the marble floor. 600 pounds of iron and chrome roared, end over end, towards the entrance, crashed into the steel doors, and exploded. Joe's momentum halted just inches from the steps. Sirens erupted around him.
And as you stand tall, you will see...
He pushed himself to his feet and ran towards the flames. Hurdling the mangled carcass of the bike, he entered the tower lobby and headed for the stairs. Flight after flight, Joe took two and three steps at a time. His chest nearly collapsed under the strain. His legs never hesitated. Finally, he reached the door leading to the roof. Joe kicked hard and stepped into the cool night air. He had to act quickly. He threw his bag down next to the transmitter. Reaching inside, he wrapped his hands around the detonator. Holding it tightly, he turned and started back to the stairs.
That when you fall...
He'd taken three long strides when the explosion ripped his feet from the tarred roof. Joe didn't hear the explosion. The shock wave of the blast knocked him unconscious instantaneously.
You will fall from a height most men will never reach.
Light had nearly reached the plaza. He watched as the flames erupted from the top of the shimmering tower, setting aglow the clouds above. Among the debris cast off the bulding by the explosion, he spotted what could only be a human body, twisting lifelessly as it plummeted towards the earth. Light held onto the hope that the falling body was not the one he feared it must be. As it approached the ground, Light's fears were confirmed as he made out the glare of the flames above reflected in a scarred blast shield. He watched as Joe's body landed with a dull thump upon the small patch of grass in a courtyard on the south side of the building.
By the time Light had reached the boy's body, a crowd had gathered. As he stood in the center of the circle of onlookers, another explosion rattled the ground. Then another. And another. In the distance he could see, one by one, the telescreens splintering and erupting into flames.
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:42 pm
The Protomen:Here Comes The Arm
Light understood immediately. No mistake had been made. This was all occurring as part of Wily's design. A man who'd spent all of his life fearing and planning against his loss of control could not be undone by a lone boy and a bag of explosives. Light's eyes turned to the east. The industrial complex on the edge of the city. From a tower in the center of the complex, a red light pulsated. A second transmitter. They'd stopped nothing. Light fell to his knees and cried out into the night. He'd sent this boy to his death. The enormous loudspeakers, mounted to the steel walls surrounding the complex, began to howl. A voice followed the sirens.
Although difficult to make out amidst the commotion that surrounded him, Light heard enough to understand. He could make out the words, "threat to the safety of the city." He heard, "insurgent forces." He heard the loudspeaker commanding the frightened men and women of the city to return to their homes or risk being counted among the criminals. Even from the courtyard, Light could make out the thousands upon thousands of green-helmeted robots marching from the steel gates of the complex. Wily had built a fortress. He had built an army. He had been waiting for this moment to unleash it.
Tom:
Emily, a crowd has gathered here
And once again they fail to see.
You can't just set the world at someone else's feet
And not get trampled underneath.
And I think somehow Joe knew it,
He paid the price he thought he had to pay,
but Emily, that debt was meant for me...
That debt was meant for me.
This is not the world my father knew.
This is not the world, I know,
he would have wanted me to build,
But I can't undo it now.
It's like a train, and all its cars are filled with steel,
that I would stop if I knew how.
And it is bearing down on me.
So I will stand here with my shoulders square and tall,
and when the whistle blows, not falter,
but when the crash comes I will fall.
With so much steam and steel behind it,
I won't slow it down at all.
Oh God...
Oh God...
Here comes the arm.
The building above Light shuddered. The weight of the screen and the metal framing that surrounded it overwhelmed the now destroyed upper levels of the building. He heard the sharp crack and whine of bending steel. He felt the quake of thousands of pounds of metal crashing into the earth and the marble surrounding him.
The explosion of steel and stone sent the crowd fleeing in all directions. Light barely noticed. The world had been crashing down around him for more than twenty years. He placed his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, its creases cracked and splitting. He carefully unfolded it.
Soon, he would be with Emily. Only now could he summon the courage to read what she had written to him all those years ago. Only now could he bear to read her words.
"Thomas,
Please don't cry for me. I know you never meant for this. I love you completely. Just remember that if I should leave you now, then in my final hour, I pray this letter finds you well before it all goes to hell. He could never cage the world. It's too big for anyone, and soon the dark will pass. I want so much to be with you but in my heart I know, Tom, the city needs you now. This city needs you now.
Emily"
Amongst the turmoil and destruction, he could just make out the screams for help coming from every direction. Tom scanned the desperate and terrified faces of the people running past. He gazed once more into the flames reflected in the blast shield that covered Joe's face. He unlocked the helmet and removed it from the boy's head. Light looked at the bruised and battered face of a hero. A hero the city had lost. He spoke:
Joe, when you see Emily,
tell her to wait for me.
'Cause I still have work to do...
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Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 2:53 pm
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:48 pm
Nikopol (Virals theme from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCjG0eDTzXoThe ground below my feet" elevated
Instinctively programmed there for me
No thoughts my visions clear not too complicated
I'm here because you're here
(You've got a problem now)
The speck of fear grows in your eyes
You'll meet your death in no disguise
It may come as a small surprise
There will be no compromise for you
No problem can't be solved temporarily
Then soon it gets forgotten that you exist
Sounds echo underground nauseating
I'm here because you're here
(You've got a problem now)
The speck of fear grows in your eyes
You'll meet your death in no disguise
It may come as a small surprise
There will be no compromise for you
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:56 pm
Rappu ha Otoko no Tamashii da!
Onore wo Shinjite Ten wo Yubisasu
Dotou no Otoko Kamina-sama no Teema wo
Mimi no Ana Kappojitte Yo~ku Kikiyagare!! Translated as: Rap is the Soul of a Man! Perk Up Your Earholes and Listen REAL Close to the Theme of Lord Kamina, the Man of Raging Billows Who Believes in Himself and Points to Heaven!!Yes that is the name of the song. I am not making this up.(Also from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and also known as RAW! RAW! FIGHT THE POWER! ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxX3JkGHmDI (with an awesome bonus at the ;3 ) -Hook do the impossible see the invisible raw! raw! fight the power! touch the untouchable break the unbreakable raw! raw! fight the power! what you gonna do is what you wanna do just break the rule, then you see the truth this is the theme of "G" coming through baby! raw! raw! fight the power! -Verse1 power to the peeps, power for the dream still missing piece scattering, so incomplete we be the most incredible soldier from underground see how easy, they all fall down digging to the core to see the light Let's get out of here babe, that's the way to survive top of the head, I'm on the set do the impossible, don't you wanna bet? cuz, a lot of things changed, we be waiting in vain if you wanna get by, no pain no gain wow! fakers wanna test me again (damn! suckers wanna test me again) sorry, my rhyme's gonna snatch your brain we gonna make it happen with the crazy rap (I'm still starving for the straight up s**t) we gonna make it happen with the crazy rap skill (s**t) get ready to rumble, now is the time if you don't know, now you know (good luck fellows! ha ha) -Hook -Verse2 2nd verse dedicates to the real peeps what we got to say is so real thing (what we got to say is damn real thing) cuz, revolution ain't never gonna televise kicking the mad flow, microphone phenotype (kicking the dope s**t, microphone phenotype) open your third eye, seeing through the overground I'm mabout to hit you with the scream from the underground whole city is covered with the cyber flavor "G" is in your area, one of the toughest enigma -Hook
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:58 pm
Libera me from Hell (Also from TTGL, is played before Raw Raw Fight the Power) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAlztMvvNkkLibera Me and Row Row Fight the Power as used for Penultimate episodes Requiem aeternam. Dona eis, Domine Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna, in die illa tremenda. in die illa Quando coeli movendi sunt et terra, Dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem. Tremens factus sum ego et timeo, dum discussio venerit atque ventura ira. Dies illa, dies irae, calamitatis et miseriae, dies illa dies magna et amara valde. et amara valde Requiem aeternam, dona eis Domine Requiem aeternam, dona eis Requiem et lux perpetua luceat eis Libera me, Domine. Libera me, Domine (translation) Grant them eternal rest, O Lord. Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, on that terrible day. On that day when the heavens and earth shall be moved, when you shall come to judge the world by fire. I am made to tremble, and I fear for the judgment upon us and the wrath to come. That day, a day of wrath, calamity and misery; that day, a day of great and intense bitterness, and intense bitterness. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord. Grant them rest, eternal rest, and may perpetual light shine upon them. Deliver me, O Lord. Deliver me, O Lord.
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 6:00 pm
Gattai nante Kusokurae!! (Translation) Uniting Can Kiss My a**!! rofl (More TTGL, seriously, you should watch it, the final episode consists of two mechs so large they use Galaxies as stepping stones too fight.... and throw em too XD ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IJX-LNWTEQYou've got some nerve coming out here Into the eye of the storm with a noose 'round your neck Knowing that you're going to be dead What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine No choice in matter everything's fine If you stay where you were Obey Don't think Consume Don't even start to assume I know I got what you need Evacuate to the underground This is no place for you I know I got what you need I know I got what you need I know I got what you need I know I got it but it's MINE You've got some nerve coming out here Into the eye of the storm with a noose 'round your neck Audacity at its best You've got no place to run You've got no place to hide Your smell is groping my tongue Obey Don't think Consume The sign is right in front of you I know I got what you need but it doesn't mean a thing to me I know I got what you need but it doesn't mean a thing to me I know I got what you need You've been warned you little rat And I'm out on the kill
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Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 7:03 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jibOZDutsisTROMBE OVERRIDES YOU! (Trombe's theme from the Super Robot Wars games, lyrical version) TROMBE! TROMBE! kakero! tsukinukeru arashi tachimukau tamashii kakero dokomademo tsuyoku hayaku kakenukeru shikkoku arekuruu shippuu sore wa masa ni kuroi tatsumaki kako ni seoishi onore no tsumi wa kono mune wo ima mo kurushimeru taigi no tame no gisei kanashimi wo nori koete tsukisusumu ima TROMBE! TROMBE! kuroi sono sugata TROMBE! TROMBE! kakeru tatsumaki TROMBE! TROMBE! kako ni katsu made kakero sono na wa kuroki TROMBE! aisuru TROMBE! aiba wa TROMBE! jouki yobuna wa subete TROMBE! onamae wa RATSEL gaiken mo kaeta dakedo naze ka mina ni bareteru senyou BGM wa sugoize! nantatte BOSS yori mo yuusen <3 AUSSENSEITER imi wa ana uma desu yobu toki wa ELZAM to yobuna! TROMBE! TROMBE! kuroi SUNGLASS TROMBE! TROMBE! chotto ikasuze! TROMBE! TROMBE! mina ore wo mite warau soudaze ore wa TROMBE! Translation! Trombe! Trombe! Gallop! Your soul facing even the blowing storm, gallop anywhere strong, fast Running, a jet black colored raging gale that is of course the black whirlwind The crimes I committed in the past still weigh heavily on my chest Overcome the sadness, the sacrifice, just progress forward Trombe! Trombe! That black shape Trombe! Trombe! Gallopping whirlwind Trombe! Trombe! Gallop from the past towards victory Your name is: the black Trombe! My loving Trombe! My beloved horse Trombe! My mechs are all called Trombe! My name is Ratsel I even changed my looks then why does everyone recognize me? My BGM is pretty awesome! Hey, it even overrides the boss! <3 Aussenseiter means dark horse When you're looking for me never call me Elzam! Trombe! Trombe! Black sunglasses Trombe! Trombe! Pretty cool Trombe! Trombe! Everyone who sees me laughs That's right, I am: Trombe!
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