The second they stepped out of the monorail, they were welcomed not by a zombie but by another survivor.
"Salutations, survivors. I am the best and most brilliant genius in the multiverse, Supercollider! I have total control over this part of the base," a nasal and annoying female voice rumbled through the speakers.
There was a small pause as Cat let out a groan of pure annoyance, Ange smiled, and Olivia widened her eyes. Max was only confused by that reaction. He vaguely remembered someone with that name doing something with the moon like ten years ago, but the man was shooting blanks.
"I inform you that the current section of the bunker is completely clear of any hostile life forms. My automaton made sure to exterminate each of them," Supercollider exclaimed.
"Helga Muller, a supervillain known as Supercollider, has the power to steal other people's powers related to non-organic crafting," Olivia interrupted, giving Max all the information he needed.
Helga cleared her throat, clearly annoyed from getting interrupted. "I am talking! Now . . . thanks to exterior forces, I couldn't finish the target recognition system so it sees each life form as infected," she warned them that new, more dangerous ones replaced the normal dangers they were expecting.
"Also, I know her from jail. She got shanked in the showers and had to shit in a bag for a month," Cat added.
Max was more baffled by the fact that the prison for villains had communal showers than by Cat already knowing Helga.
"THAT IS why I am currently hiding in an undisclosed location trying to destroy this magnificent creation," she yelled the first part; the group could just feel her seething at what Cat had just said.
"So, you have two options. Become my minions and work under me to take out the killer automaton or die in its hands," Helga gave them the ultimatum.
As it was clear that the group was not excited about becoming her minions, there was a small pause in that woman's dialogue.
"Also, don't waste your time trying to communicate back. I can read lips, but your opinions are irrelevant," Helga finally said, giving the impression that she had stopped talking.
"Well, we should—" Max began to say, and Helga immediately interrupted him.
"The first task that I will order is to get some clothes for that pervert in spandex. We are a decent organization here! Not some strip club!" She yelled, thinking they were talking about surrendering to her.
"I hate to give her the reason, but she is right about that one," Olivia answered and rolled her eyes.
"I know her, a crazy bitch but a really strong super," Cat whispered, giving her back to one of the cameras in this place so she couldn't read her lips.
"Like me!" Ange exclaimed.
"There is no way I will do that," Max said with resolve.
"Really?" Olivia asked, surprised.
"Yes, I love the view, and I will not take orders from a megalomaniac villain," the man exclaimed and looked at Olivia. The group would just blow up with that lunatic at the helm.
"What? You are refusing to obey me?! Do you have any idea who you are talking to?!" Helga screamed into the speaker, so loud that there was some distortion in her voice. The woman's rant was stopped when she got a better glimpse of the healer.
"Oh, is that Catriona? I didn't recognize you under all that skin," she added after a small pause.
Cat just flipped her middle finger to the camera.
"Such a charming girl as ever, even with a useless superpower that can't even heal me. Hey, this robot is not your dad; you cannot ruin its life with just a touch," Helga mocked her, having a personal grudge between them because Cat flat out refused to fix her wound when they were in jail.
"That fucking whore. . ." Cat spat and gripped her spear tightly.
"So, if you are not going to work for me . . . good luck getting killed. Bye!" Helga exclaimed, saying goodbye to the group again.
"Ok, so we have a killer robot on the loose. Any idea?" With the super out of the question, Max began to make a plan to deal with the machine.
"Well, we could use the same tactic as last time. Our guns could penetrate the armor," Ange suggested, as they had more than enough firepower to try to take it down.
"There is no need to make a plan! You are going to die anyway, so stop wasting time." Of course, the supervillain would not shut up and would chime in whenever she could.
"Didn't you say goodbye?" Max said with a mocking tone.
"I am just making sure that your deaths are painless and quick. After all, I am a merciful goddess," Helga answered back, the tone too smug and royal for someone hiding under a desk.
"You sound extremely starved for any kind of validation," the man answered.
"Ha! Such a silly thing! I don't need anybody! I am perfectly fine being completely alone!" Helga barked back, even if she had just asked for their help a moment ago.
Olivia made an effort to contain her laugh, Ange looked a little sad, and Cat just shook her head. Meanwhile, Max looked at the camera with some pity.
"Hey, what is that look?! I am not pathetic!" Helga yelled again in her nasal voice.
"I am only hearing static, right?" Max said, teasing the supervillain. It was the man's intention to play around with the girl's huge ego.
"Yep, it must be broken." Cat got it right away.
"We should be divided into two groups, one for dealing with the automaton and another to deal with Helga. The automaton would be extremely easy to handle with our current setup," Olivia said, playing this game was her specialization.
"What? No! Only because it is made out of office computers and random tools? It is invincible!" Helga yelled, clearly offended by the suggestion that her robot was trash.
"Probably has a lot of weak points," Max added, trying to fish for more information.
A loud thud, a sound of frustration, was heard through the speakers. "Only the back, but even that is really durable! I mean double-layered PC tower levels of durability, not something that you can destroy. And even at that point, your silly little powers could never get past its laser beam eye or buzzsaw hands!" Helga yelled at them, fuming at their insults.
"Oh! Oh! Oh! We could sneak behind it," Ange exclaimed, joining the game and trying to be part of the group.
"Why? Because it can't hear? I installed a 360° vision sensor on it! You will die, and I will cackle at the burned piles of gore that will be left behind!" She barked again, gritting her teeth and clenching her fist.
"The second team should go after Helga; we cannot let such a dangerous super do whatever she wants," Olivia added, making it clear not to poke the bear too much.
Even if she was in a less-than-favorable situation, the woman had completely weaponized the moon during her peak of villainy. Like it or not, making a killer robot that could take down dozens of zombies with scraps in less than a day without any tools was an impressive deed that they could not admit.
Max nodded. "Yes, she is extremely powerful; just a wrong step and Supercollider could easily overpower us with any of her inventions," he added in a really bad attempt to take back some of the anger he had provoked while digging for information.
A wicked cackle came from the speakers. "Finally, some recognition! You will be completely destroyed if you try to defy me! Absolutely wrecked!" Helga yelled at them, puffing her chest.
"Good, then, you will go after Helga with Ange while I go after the robot with Cat," Max ordered.
The reason was simple. Cat would kill Ange if alone with her, and Olivia could be a step ahead of anything that Helga tried to do now that she knew what they were planning.
A chuckle that slowly erupted into a loud crackle exploded from the speakers. "You dare to defy me?!" You will crumble under the weight of your own hubris like the pathetic vermin you are!" Helga proclaimed. Good thing that she didn't care what they thought about her.
With that information, the group began to walk into the installations. Of course, Max was in front to tank the killer robot.