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4U City Green
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4U City Green deals with Riff's reawakening and his infiltration of the 4U City REA Corps.
Synopsis[]
The story begins with Riff outside of 4U City on a clear day. He is struggling to throw off the effects of his long chemical control and he soon realizes that he is outside of 4U City and has been given the cleansing cocktail. He looks up and sees a band of marauding mutants menacing him. However a blast from the city's main DFA cannon quickly takes care of the larger one. A small squad of REA-5 clad soldiers take out the rest of them with small handheld DFAs. It appears as if Riff is going to be fluxed out next when one of the suits opens to reveal alt-Torg inside. He tells Riff that one of the suits is his and that he is coming with them. Riff then asks how long the rain has been stopped. Alt-Torg says the dry spell has lasted three days, the longest in anyone's memory. He then gets in a fistfight with Riff for linking him to a revolution and then abandoning him. They fight for a few minutes before they stop due to the other squad members' comments. Riff told alt-Torg that he had to drop off of the grid long enough for alt-Rammer to stop tracking him and makes a comment that he isn't from that dimension. Alt-Torg didn't know this and apologizes to one of his squad-mates, saying he didn't know he was chasing down a copy of their Riff. The woman he is talking to is Izzy, and in that dimension she is married to alt-Riff. Riff recoils from her on instinct. Riff is then introduced to the last member of the team: Six Pack, named that because he cannot remember his real name. Riff then remembers the team bursting into his apartment, killing Matty with a grenade, giving him the cleansing cocktail, and spiriting him away. He got his REA-5 stuck in the mud right as the purge kicked in, so Izzy carried him to the top of the mud-hole to purge himself. Then the outsiders attacked and the rest everyone knew. Torg then says that they had taken on new identities as an REA-5 squad thanks to Izzy and that he also has a new name/number. The REA squads get to stay clear-headed at all times due to the fact that they use weapons. Inside the city they are referred to as "blue" and drug up a target before dumping them down a chute into a DFA. Outside the city they are "green" and they carry the DFAs with them. Riff then asks what the outsiders were and alt-Torg informs him that before 4U City was founded there was a conflict between several corporations known as the R&D wars. The outsiders they encountered were a combination of NoFun mutants armed with Crushestro Inc. weapons. Izzy then says that their time is up and that they have to move before drawing attention. Torg tells Riff to get in his REA-5 or he'll send him to another dimension. On the way back to the Precinct Riff notes that he can pilot the REA-5 very well and alt-Torg indicates that he has something important to tell him, but it has to wait until they get back. Back at the Precinct (essentially the barracks) Riff is introduced to the squad's hi-jacked robot Jeeves. Alt-Torg then tells Riff that Hereti-Corp merged with several other groups during the R&D wars and that they became 4U Corp and built the city. The REA-5 was a result of them stealing Riff's tech after he vanished. Alt-Torg also said that Hereti-Corp was led by Dr. Schlock. Riff is relieved to hear this as he thought it was his alternate self that had caused all of the damage. He then says that their dimensions are very different, as in his he still thinks Schlock is a good guy. He says that the only bad thing he's ever done is jam his communications while Oasis was attacking. Upon hearing this alt-Torg asks: "who is Oasis?" showing that he'd never met her in this dimension. They then go to sleep. The next day Riff awakens to find everyone leaving, as they all have jobs to do other than police/military work. Riff gets to work designing a system to get them to the top of the central tower. He decides to create jump-jets like those on the Mark-19, but lacks tools and a fuel supply. Alt-Leo tells him that the 4U City coffee is explosive enough to work as fuel. Riff then tries to get parts out of the robotics facility with no success, he even tried to get in with his REA-5 suit. Eventually he gets the parts he needs and modifies Six-Pack's REA-5. The test fails miserably as the suit crash lands and loses its legs. On the way back Riff comes up with the idea of an arm-mounted grappling hook as an alternative and mentions that the test used up their week's supply of coffee. When everyone complains Riff loudly states that they could imitate Izzy and abuse the "upper" drugs kept in the vats. She slaps him and walks out. Riff then says that what he meant to say was that he noticed that she was taking the drugs too often and was not being regulated. That she is on the road to self-destruction and he feels that he should try to do something about it. Alt-Torg then comments that it's good to know Riff's social awkwardness is universal and states that they'll be switching to "blue" status soon and that means more frequent patrols.
Trivia[]
Riff's new id number, 7433464866, spells "RIFFINGTON" on a telephone number pad.