Steamworks

Another day, another dollar.

At least, that's what the phrase would be if dollars were a currency here.

Somehow, somewhere along this odd timeline, the British won the Revolutionary War, sending the world spiraling into a strange series of events. Wars changed, old values remained all but stagnant, and while technology indeed marched on, it marched in a bit of a different direction.

The power of electricity was discovered but never explored as a viable alternative to steam. As such, research into the field fell by the wayside as steam-driven technology grew ever more widespread and advanced. The people of this world had none of the small modern conveniences we are familiar with today, but there was little reason to miss them, as they had simply never existed in the first place.

In this world of steam and bronze, Britannia still rules supreme, holding immense influence over the few countries they do not control. Those who pay their dues to the queen live quite normally; those who do not would require great luck to once again see the light of day. Society stagnates and technology along with it.

The only interruption to this stagnation came in the form of a strange gauntlet that was happened across by the son of a nobleman. The gauntlet granted the adolescent the ability to transform into ten extraterrestrial lifeforms, widening the scope of the universe by just that much. Though the son had no idea what the full implications of his discovery could be, he resolved to make use of it in such a way that he could repay the universe for granting him such power.

This is a part of his story.

A dark night was nothing new to the city of St. Virgil, as much of the moonlight was always filtered out by steam and smog. This left the town with nothing but the orange glow of flame to light it after dark, resulting in an unearthly light that permeated the larger streets.

The small streets were not so lucky as to receive even that, especially in the poorer industrial districts, leaving it almost impossible to see without the aid of a lantern. This left these streets open to those with less than admirable intentions, and nobody in their right minds would ever be out after dark, at least in theory. As it was, many underpaid factory workers forced into overtime had two options at the end of the day: go home or sleep at work. The wise ones chose the latter option.

The less experienced ones, however, were often more daring and usually attempted to return home after dark at some point. These poor fools either learned to stay at work, or would not return to work the next day. These absences never caused much of a fuss; there was little need for the factory management to investigate the whereabouts of their worker. They all knew there would be no point.

One such inexperienced worker was a young man that went by the name of John. John knew the risks of traveling at night, but he had house chores to attend to, and surely the number of crimes committed at night were at least a *little* exaggerated, right?

'Not right.' John thought, reeling from the pain in his shoulder as a serrated knife was yanked unceremoniously from his flesh. 'Not right at all.'

John tumbled to the ground, frozen fast in shock. His cloaked attacker raised up their knife to deliver the finishing blow, but right as they brought the knife down, an orange blur swept aside them, creating a burst of wind that startled the attacker, causing him to take a few moments before realizing his knife was missing.

"Are you looking for this?"

The attacker and John turned their heads to see a large, cat-like humanoid with orange and black fur wearing leather equipment and an eyeglass of some sort standing a few meters away from them. The strange creature was holding the knife by the tip of the handle, allowing it to dangle back and forth in the air. The attacker was still for a few moments, then began advancing on the creature with his fists clenched.

"Sorry, was this yours?" The creature asked, readjusting his hold on the knife. "Here, you can have it back."

The creature suddenly threw the knife faster than the eye could see, burying the blade up to the hilt in the attacker's chest. The attacker hardly had time to let out a yell of pain before crumpling to the ground and writhing a bit before finally laying still.

"Well, as much as I don't like doing the dirty work myself, you simply can't deny the results." The creature mused a bit before turning to face John, who began scrambling backwards in fear. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you! I'm only hunting down people like the one who just tried to kill you!"

"I-I appreciate it, b-but-" John grunted in pain as he pulled himself up off the ground. "I don't want to take any chances."

"A fair point." The creature waved him off. "If it makes you more comfortable, I'll leave. Just try not to get murdered on the way home."

With that, the creature took off into the distance in another blur of orange. John waited a bit to make sure it was gone before picking up his lantern and continuing on his way, stumbling his way home while trying to ignore the searing pain of his wounds. As he turned onto his street, he noticed a man in a large black suit and a top hat standing on the street corner, staring patiently at him with silver eyes as if he had been waiting for John to arrive.

"John, good friend." The man began, his voice quiet and raspy. "You're late."

"Who are you?" John demanded, his stomach dropping as the man continued staring at him.

"A man with an opportunity for you." The man replied, a toothy grin coming across his face. "I need volunteers for an...experimental medical procedure. If all goes well, you will feel as if you are a brand new person entirely."

"And if I refuse?"

The man's smile dropped.

"You can't."

"What are you-"

Before John could finish speaking, the man grabbed his face and bashed his head into the nearby wall.

He blacked out instantly.

* Scene of Isaac talking to his parents

* Cut to just outside the Bronze Sky District where a monster is rampaging
* Isaac shows up as Blazerunner just in time to stop the monster from killing someone
* After not being able to beat the monster as Blazerunner, he takes a blow that forces him to detransform

"Alright..." Isaac groaned as he pulled himself off the ground. "I suppose I should try something a bit stronger."

Isaac pulled up the gauntlet on his left arm and pressed a few of the golden buttons, causing the dial of the device to pop up with a loud click. He twisted the dial, switching around slides underneath the glass of the dial that each displayed a unique silhouette.

"This should do." Isaac glanced up, noticing that the monster was lurching its way towards him with unnatural speed. "Oh, dear. Steam up!"

Isaac slammed down on the dial, forcing it back into the body of the gauntlet. The device suddenly obscured his body in a cloud of steam with a loud hiss, after which a burst of golden light flashed from within the cloud. A large figure standing where Isaac had disappeared threw its arms out to the side, blowing away the cloud of steam.

"Sludgehammer it is." The newly revealed figure appeared to be a robotic alien covered in bronze plated armor with a single purple eye and a glass viewing port in its stomach that swirled with a purple concoction of chemicals.

The monster, finally within striking range, lunged at Sludgehammer, aiming to knock his head off with one swift stroke. Sludgehammer dodged the blow and grabbed the monster's right arm as it swung by, wasting no time in whirling around and tossing the monster into the pavement a good few meters away.

"Now, in the name of queen and country..." Sludgehammer posed with his right hand hovering just over his chest. "You will pay for your sins."

The monster stumbled to its feet and roared in anger, charging towards Sludgehammer at top speed. Sludgehammer waited until the creature was just within striking distance and lunged forward with a heavy punch, smashing into the monster's gut with enough force to utterly decimate a brick wall. The monster somehow managed to stay standing and grabbed Sludgehammer's arm, attempting to rip it from his body.

"Good try, but I'm made of metal." Sludgehammer tsked. "Unfortunately for you, you don't seem to be."

Sludgehammer used his other arm to grab one of the monster's arm and snap it off of its torso in one clean stroke. Dark, almost black blood spilled from the wound as the creature screeched in a mix of rage and agony. Sludgehammer firmly grasped the torn-off limb in both hands and swung it at the creature's head as if it was a baseball bat, dazing the monster as it fell over onto the street, which gave Sludgehammer his first good view of its back.

"Oh, dear..." Sludgehammer's eye widened. "Perhaps I spoke too soon..."

Embedded in the creature's back, where one might usually expect a spine, was an extended series of gears and pipes that almost seemed to pulse as they turned and pumped steam, respectively. Sludgehammer stepped on the creature's back just to the side of the odd contraption to hold it down while he leaned in for a closer look.

"What is the purpose of all this machinery?" Sludgehammer mused aloud. "Did someone intentionally create this creature?"

The monster screeched and bucked under Sludgehammer's foot, momentarily knocking him off-balance before he regained his footing managed to keep holding it down.

"Regardless of its origin, I can't set it loose." Sludgehammer noted. "Here's hoping this does something."

Sludgehammer pointed his palms towards the machine in the creature's back and fired two short sprays of some sort of chemical mixture. The gears quickly rusted over and stopped turning, and the pipes rusted and snapped in several places. The monster's body jerked a few times before suddenly falling deathly still, evidently having been deprived of its primary power source.

* The monster reverts to John, whose body is so mangled he dies on the spot
* Right before he dies he manages to mumble "The man...in the black...suit"
* Sludgehammer looks up and sees the black-suited man turning away and walking into the Bronze Sky District
* Sludgehammer reverts to human and starts following him

* Isaac notes how horrific the conditions are in the Bronze Sky District while tailing the black-suited man
* Some thug kidnaps him

* but he Abstracts his way out of that one
* Turns out he's in some factory where a giant machine of unknown purpose is running
* Sneaks around but ends up being found out by the black-suited man and goons
* He transforms into Fatemask to fight them off
* Black-suited man is impressed and introduces himself as The Ripper
* He explains the purpose of the machine is to convert humans into monsters under his control en-masse and eventually wipe out humanity
* Isaac asks why the fuck he would do that and the black-suited man explains that he isn't human and has no sympathy for prey animals
* The machine pumps out a batch of new monsters and the black-suited man leaves Isaac behind to get mauled to death

* Isaac uses Magidisk to give himself various attributes of the conversion machine as he fights the monsters across different parts of it
* All seems to go well until Isaac realizes the monsters aren't dying or turning back even after being dismembered
* Uses Chirotearer to control the monsters to destroy the machines and then themselves
* Proceeds to go the fuck after the Ripper

* Uses Blazerunner to catch up to the Ripper and start punching the shit out of him
* Ripper: Omae wa mo shindeiru
* Blazerunner: NANI
* Ripper morphs into his real form
* Some kinda fucking skinwalker-ass nigga covered in sharp pointy bits
* Beats the ever-loving FUCC out of Blazerunner

* The fight takes them out of the industrial area
* Isaac realizes he needs to finish this fast before more people die
* Uses his nuclear option
* Bomb 2 Hell: Omae wa mo shindeiru
* Ripper: NANI

"This form creates nothing but destruction and brings nothing but death." The creature's blank eye sockets were suddenly filled with pinpoints of golden light. "A demon of explosive force that leaves devastation in its wake."

"Get to the point." The Ripper hissed impatiently.

"This form is a ticking time bomb." The creature continued. "A bomb created to drag bastards like you back down to hell where they belong."

The creature yanked the grenades out of its arm sockets, pulling the pin on each of them.

"As such, I've taken to calling it 'Bomb 2 Hell'." The creature finished explaining. "May God have no mercy on your soul."

* BOMBS THAT NIGGA'S ASS TO HELL
* Day's saved
* All's gucci

* JUMPSCARE ENDING SHOT WHERE RIPPER IS STILL ALIVE BWAAAAAH

## Aliens Used

* Blazerunner (Fasttrack)
* Magidisk
* Fatemask
* Abstract
* Bomb 2 Hell
* Chiroterror (Whampire)
* Sludgehammer