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It was once said, 'Heavy is the head which wears the crown'. Though ElectroTyrant sat on a throne forged of metal stained a dark indigo from heat oxidization he didn't yet have a crown. Not a full one at least he thought to himself as he fingered the new horns that had sprouted from his head upon his latest regeneration, hoping against hope that he wouldn't obtain a full ringed set of them to complete a crown. The spikes on his head were accompanied by others that now jutted from his shoulders and elbows, a blatant sign of his slipping ever further towards the inevitable curse of Infesterism. ElectroTyrant wanted to roar at the hopelessness and frustration of the situation he currently found himself in, but that was something that MegaTyrant would do and was thus beneath him.
Whereas once he could call the Earth's moon solely his own domain, his moon base and drone factory had been destroyed by Narcitron's Sins after ElectroTyrant had quite literally killed the messenger come to tell him to bend the knee before Galaxy once again. ElectroTyrant not for the first time chastised himself at his foolishness. He should have known that he wasn't yet powerful enough to stand against Narcitron. He considered himself fortunate that he'd been allowed to rebuild his factory here in this hollowed out mountain he now called 'home'. At least a silver lining, tarnished though it may be, was that rebuilding his factory allowed him the opportunity to redesign his drone soldiers, which were now being slowly but surely shuffled through the automated production line.
He noticed movement to his right where Sonique, his second in command was approaching him with a languid fluidity. A sly one she was, he thought to himself, and worth keeping a close eye upon. There was a time that she kept her emotions much closer in check, but now, after so much change in the recent few years her aspirations at Tyrant status were plain to see for those who knew what to look for. ElectroTyrant allowed her to think she was playing her little mind games. With so few troops under his command who actually had a brain there were precious few she could convince to join her against him. As a rare Bot with the ability to host Symbiotes Sonique would always have the support of her tiny winged terrors who continually flapped hither and yon around his mountain complex, but the two bumbling fools Vexxed and Outrage who he'd managed to talk into joining his cause were of the simple-minded opinion of 'Bigger is Better'.
Speaking of which, the two Air Warriors in question came shuffling into view, ElectroTyrant was sure that the only thing that kept their knuckles dragging along the ground behind them were the boxes of Drone components they were carrying. The two butted shoulders, pushing and shoving harder and harder until the drone components began to spill out onto the cavern floor. Barely suppressing the urge to shout, ElectroTyrant instead gripped his Electro Rod and slammed the ball-tipped point into the floor with a resounding metallic clang. The two warrior Bots flinched back, having the proper dignity to appear chastised.
"Sorry Boss." Outrage grunted as he stooped to gather up some of the spilled components.
"Yeah, sssorry Bossss." Vexxed hissed from behind the sharpened teeth of his permanent rictus grin.
"I said it first!" Outrage rasped as he straightened, pointing a taloned claw at Vexxed.
"Maybe, but I actually meant it."
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
ElectroTyrant's single baleful eye flashed dangerously as he loosed a blast of electricity in their direction. The spikey winged Deceivers yelped and hot-footed it away, suddenly all too eager to complete their tasks without any further tomfoolery.
ElectroTyrant drug a clawed hand down his face with a growl of exasperation, wondering how he had gone from a base on the moon with competent warriors at his beck and call to a literal cave with...those two.
"From the looks of things, it would appear that 'the help' will be serving a new mistress soon..." Sonique purred quietly from his side. ElectroTyrant nearly jumped, having forgotten for a moment that she was there.
ElectroTyrant's eye darkened to a dangerous red color. "You wouldn't happen to mean yourself, would you?"
Sonique leaned back with a hand to her chest, feigning indignity. "Galaxy forbid, no! I meant The Queen of course."
ElectroTyrant grunted in response, his eye returning to its normal light purple color, knowing that his only recourse should those two actually fall to Infesterism he would either have to try to sweet talk more competent warriors into throwing in their lot with him or take the riskier route of paying for the loyalties of Mercenary Bots. Neither option was appealing.
Sonique took the opportunity in the conversation's lull to sit on the arm of ElectroTyrant's throne, languidly draping herself over the back, stretching her arms far over her head until she was practically laying atop it in an arch over the Tyrant she'd sworn fealty to.
With a flash of annoyance and no small hint at hidden dangers, ElectroTyrant slowly stiffened in his seat, his senses becoming acutely aware of the whispering sound of Sonique's blades being drawn from their sheaths. He tightened his grip on his Electro Staff, the sphere at its top beginning to hum as the accumulator arms mounted on his back gathered the ambient electrons in the air in preparation for a destructive discharge.
"Don't you have tasks of your own the need attention?" ElectroTyrant stated carefully, knowing just as well as Sonique how devastating a point-blank blast from his weapon would be. He knew from experience that his own internal dampeners would protect him from the brunt of such an attack. Sonique had no such special shielding.
Slowly, Sonique's twin crossed swords dipped into his eyeline, the tips slipping lower until they tapped lightly into the seat of ElectroTyrant's throne between his legs. With a slight grunt of effort Sonique flipped lithely over the Tyrant, landing with her knees on his arms, pinning him where he sat, her face what would be considered to be mere inches from his. With a high-pitched whine of servos ElectroTyrant's accumulator arms whipped up and over from their resting position to either side of Sonique's head, each crackling with barely contained electrical discharge.
Her protective faceplate retracting, Sonique leaned forward and placed a playful kiss on his forehead with a slow wink. "But all work and no play makes Sonique such a dull, dull girl..."
"A living one, I might caution." ElectroTyrant whispered, the only response that could come to mind in his temporary confusion, unaccustomed to his current situation.
Sonique pouted as she withdrew, her protective faceplate sliding back into place with a metallic clink before she lifted her swords and slid them back into their sheaths on her back. As she slid off of the Tyrant's throne one of her Symbiotes swooped towards the pair from out of the gloom.
"Mistress, Tyrant, we have visitors." Gargoyle croaked in his nasally voice.
Before ElectroTyrant could inquire as to who or why, the clomping of metallic feet echoed through the chamber as a dark green robot clomped into view flanked by two more robots of similar yet slighter design in a lighter shade of green. ElectroTyrant could tell by the movements of each that they were not Bots but mechanical suits piloted by organic beings, Atlanticans from their obvious aquatic accoutrements.
The suit in the middle gave a slight bow by awkwardly leaning forward before righting itself again. Gargoyle issued a slight chuckle that he tried to disguise as a cough, flapping his wings as he settled upon Sonique's shoulder. She absently reached up and stroked his leg, eyes narrowing at the intrusion. ElectroTyrant nodded his head, returning the greeting as he moved his accumulator arms into a less threatening position, powering them down slightly. No need to appear hostile to a guest, even one as uninvited as this. Not yet at least.
A voice emanated from a speaker mounted on the mech suit's head. "I am Baron Nautilus of the Kingdom of Atlantica. I have come seeking an alliance with the Baron Electro."
"ElectroTyrant. I am he." ElectroTyrant responded, keeping his voice neutral. If this Atlantican wanted to form an alliance, then perhaps the buffoons he currently found himself saddled with could soon be yesterday’s problem.
The dark green mech suit gestured with an arm, its pilot suddenly displaying far more control than he had previously. "Ah yes. Tyrant, Baron, both titles that ultimately mean one thing: we both currently find ourselves chaffing under the heel of those we wish to remove from the seat of power. Am I not right?"
ElectroTyrant let the question hang in the air for a moment before deciding to answer. "You're not wrong. Baron Nautilus, was it? Come, lets go for a walk, shall we, and discuss the possibility of this alliance you propose."