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SleepingOrange · 05-28-2010, 04:13 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.

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Okay so there had to be some way off here right? They said something about opponents, described people even, not that Anna could remember too much about them but there were definitely no war machines or apathetic women around. That meant a way to get off or somewhere to go. The, um, that thing over there, it looked like a boring limp of weirdly-shaped rock, not too helpful, so that glowing orb must be the way out. Logic, that's what that is.

She clutched her hands to her chest, still holding on to the eggshell remains of the omenreader and not because it was some sort of security blanket that would be ridiculous it just wouldn't be right to get rid of something of Gamma Brevvace's masherestinpeace. Slowly and nervously, she approached the glowing orb, squinting slightly. She definitely didn't whimper when the sounds of scrabbling and cackling came from below the floor, she was just clearing her throat, okay? And she definitely didn't drop the eggshell in shock when dozens of tiny stone hands gripped the edge of the platform, regardless of how it looked. It was with stoic bravery that she faced the rocky little imps that were pulling themselves onto the floor with her, and when she backed away it was a tactical move just so she could see what was coming at her.

"I'm... I'm a witch, you know!"

Bad Sparks are not a particularly bright kind of spirit; it's debatable, given their habit of blowing themselves up at the slightest provocation, whether they think at all. Even discounting that, though, it was doubtful the witch's outburst would have had much of an effect: Annaliese didn't have buck teeth, but did have a habit of biting her lower lip and furrowing her brow that gave her a permanently-worried expression. Combined with her huddled posture, it was difficult to imagine a more inoffensive-looking person. The overall effect would have been something like being threatened by a bedraggled hamster.

It was probably for the best that the Sparks had no idea what was going on, all told.

**Pinary** · 05-28-2010, 06:13 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

Will had his Data Reader back out again, waving it around the room and staring intently at the display. "No," he replied, "not yet." He glanced up for a moment, looking from Apathy to the ledge. "To either of you, that is. I don't see a way to climb back up there, and I think bloodshed, while inevitable, should at least be postponed as long as possible."

The Reader beeped, and Will looked down at it, frowning. He aimed it towards Apathy, shook his head slightly, then swept it around the room. "...There's some sort of electromagnetic disturbance around here," he said, "and it's building."

Apathy frowned at him. "What sort of disturbance?"

"Some sort, I said. If I knew anything more, I'd say so."

The disturbance made itself very clear in the few seconds following his statement when six of the twelve columns started to shift, sliding out from under the ledge that they had appeared to be supporting. Pairs of columns slid towards each other, and sections in each shifted and reconfigured. Three large, floating balls of darkness appeared in the middle of each pair, and they began to resolve themselves into vaguely humanoid shapes.

Will swore as the three Bruisers took shape, each standing at least five meters tall.

"I'd say probably that sort, then."

GBCE · 05-28-2010, 09:07 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Zaffa.

OTTO was abou to respond to Voitrach when he was interrupted simultanously by Will's shouting, O'rlyaths warning of enemies below, and his sensors doing the same. "Gotta go!" Without really thinking he jumped down in front of Apathy and Will, turning around to face the Bruiser.
"Indentifying...! These are Bruisers. Very similar to Bolters, only much larger. Highly dangerous and very violent, they can take heavy damage without falling. Severe structural damage is the only physical way of dispatching them. Like their smaller cousins, they are capable of exploding, but with much greater force. Thankfully, the only way to set off the explosion is with one of equal force."
OTTO paused before moving on.
"Now determining threat level... Threat level orange determined.
Activating Tesla Cannon... Stand back."
He braced himself, and his jaw cranked open, revealing some rather sinister-looking electrical apparati. Electricity, drawn from his battery pack and the very air around him, danced across his panels and collected in his mouth. A mere second was all the time it took for him to unleash the Tesla Cannon's power. A thick bolt of electricity and plasma was unleashed, flying forward and slamming full-force into the Bruiser immediately in front of him. The energy charred and cracked its stone workings, but didn't ddestroy the Bruiser outright. However, the damage was done... it was quite visibly crippled from the blow. OTTO lurched forward for a second, visibly drained. "Enemy has sustained heavy damage. Structural integrity estimated at 25%. Apathy, if may... I must recharge, and to do so I need a strong electrical current."
O'rlyath wasn't really in the mood for banter. He was focused on keeping the other two Bruisers at bay while his allies dealt with the first. Repeatedly, telekinetic blows shunted the Bruisers backwards, but O'rlyath could only keep this up for so long. "Pardon the interruption, but we really must take care of the others. Dispatch the crippled one already so I can rest my powers. I'm already signifigantly drained from keeping these tings back."

GBCE · 05-28-2010, 03:27 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

At OTTO's request, she placed her hand on his tail, and the stripe on her arm again began to glow profusely. This time, only the tips of her fingers turned blue; there were no sparks, no crackles. She lifted her hand away a moment later, the stripe continually glowing. "It's done, then."

"Thanks." Again, OTTO opened his mouth, revealing the circuitry inside, and fired another blast - this one, however, at the Bruiser that O'rylath had been working away at. It was already beginning to back down from the pressure. It slammed against the Bruiser, and the dark sphere in the middle slowly began to fade away; the columns surrounding it sunk downwards the less powerful the gravitational pull became.

When Apathy looked, OTTO had again been drained, and moved sluggishly, but she wasn't focused on that at the moment. She looked towards the final Bruiser, which was the only one of the remaining two that could move. It had strange encryptions carved into the arms, which Apathy couldn't read. It seemed to be some sort of dead language, much like Latin; the only reason she had really noticed this was because the Bruiser had swung its arm into the second floor of the colosseum, in a lazily-constructed punch. It crushed the rock away with its massive fist, and embedded itself into the wall. "You say that the only way to kill them is structural damage, then?" Apathy backed up to the back wall, and charged at the railing. Upon setting foot upon it, she thrusted herself off of the railing and upwards, getting a good height of 30 feet between her and the Bruiser's arm. "I'm up for that." As gravity began to do its work, Apathy lifted her leg up, and brought it down full-force on the connection holding the arm together. The rest of the group had expected her to break her leg, but instead the exact opposite happened: the connector rattled a second, and when Apathy hopped back from the arm, they saw that there was a clear indention in the soft connective joint holding the Bruiser's arm in. It pulled its fist out of the solid rock and brought it back to its side, albeit sluggishly. It was obvious of the structural damage that Apathy had inflicted upon the Bruiser, but it was also obvious that Apathy was both in serious pain and exhaustion.

"I'm not going to do that again for awhile," she said, only between hurried breaths of air. "You guys can handle this for the rest of the way, right?" She collapsed on the ground, her leg stiff. "Yeah, definately not for awhile." She grimaced.

Will nodded. Noting the encryptions on the arms of the Bruiser, he took a rather rash move: The next time the Bruiser readied itself for the punch, he ran up to it and jumped on its arm, upon it crashing into the ground. In his multi-tool, he flipped to a small, durable knife, which he then began to chip at furiously. Specifically, he was going for the symbols on the arm, carving a small tunneled path between the two. The Bruiser began to swing about a bit, but since it was so sluggish, it hardly provided enough force to knock a man of average strength off. Suddenly, it stopped, and Will grinned, slowly dropping away from the arm and backing off. OTTO, in the background, noted something about the Bruiser being at 75% after Apathy's attack, but quickly reconfigured it upon the arm dropping clean off.

"Just as I thought," Will said, closing his multi-tool and slipping it back into his pocket, "the Bruisers depend almost entirely on those symbols embedded on their limbs. If you can just mess with them a bit, break a couple of symbols up, the force behind it just stops working."

OTTO nodded, impressed. "Let me reconfigure that, a bit. Structural integrity... 70%. Good job, Will." O'rylath had been too focused on the first, crippled bruiser to give congratulations to them. He was slightly annoyed that no one had yet taken care of it. "If you want something done, you've to do it yourself, then," he said, pushing the bruiser back with one final blow and dismantling it.

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GBCE · 05-28-2010, 04:35 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Nehh.

Voitrach was being ignored up on the level with the chairs. But he had been discovered. And these things were upon them. It was time to act. And, if it was required to damage their structure to kill them, then his control over gravity could come in useful. He quickly tugged at it to grab it's attention, then when it turned around and swung a punch at him, ran up its one remaining arm. About this point he remembered that being a mobile chair probably wasn't the best method to fight these things, and quickly switched into a humanoid form, driving his sharp rock into an arm joint and leaving it in there as he went past. Making it to the head of the creature, he grasped his arms around it and slowly tried to crush it. The Bruiser shuddered. Good. With one hand, he motioned to OTTO to give them a status update.

Right, just a sec... Structural integrity is at 55%.

GBCE · 05-30-2010, 01:20 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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GBCE · 05-30-2010, 05:00 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by PlumFinder.

So much dilemma's.
Loran crouched at the edge of the second floor, looking down at the arena and the fight going on in there. He'd only seen part of it, but that had given him enough to think about.
Firstly, he had found out who the third party was. Apparently, they were some sort of stone golems guarding this labyrinth. They were of no importance. The other ones were doing a fine job dispatching them; Proof that these things were far from strong. Besides, they would be out of the picture the moment one of his enemies died.
More important was his other observation: The others were not fighting amongst each other. It might have been a temporary truce while they were fighting the golem thingies, except that the electric witch was disabled and none of them had made a move to kill her. Surely they weren't all too stupid to realize that would get rid of the golems as well? The big question was, what should he do now? He was not going to join that group unless he was without other options. He hated groups. There was no predicting when one would plunge a knife in your back.
And if he decided to kill one, who to kill? The weakest or the strongest were the obvious options. If he could catch the strongest by surprise that would be an advantage later on, but the robot, who was obviously the strongest â€“a flaming stripe still ran across Loran's vision from the suddenly fired gun â€“ didn't look like the kind of being to let itself get surprised easily. The weakest was obviously the girl with the electrical gift. She was weakened by her own attack. Plus, the robot seemed to rely on her for powering up his gun. Yes, that would be â€“
One of the chairs, barely ten meters away from Loran, started moving. He stopped moving completely. Damn what was that? The chair attacked the remaining golem. He was either a member of the group in the arena, or another contestant who wanted to join them. Whoever he was, Loran quickly realized he'd have to reassess his opinion on who the strongest member of the team was.
He hated this. Had he had it his way, he would've had several days to prepare. His way was the way of the knife in the dark, not clear and open battle!

â€œDestroy the symbols!â€ Will yelled at the thing currently crushing the Bruiser's head. Voitrach, he remembered. A gravity-manipulating golem. Voitrach didn't respond, whether through lack of ears or mouth, Will didn't know. The Bruiser stumbled around, raising its remaining arm in an attempt to pull Voitrach off. Will nearly got crushed beneath one of the feet, and backed away, until he noticed the encryptions in the leg, and raised his knife again.

Loran landed soundlessly in the arena, directly behind the electricity witch. Everyone's attention was fixed on the big stone golem. If he was fast enough, he could slit the witch's throat and be gone before anyone noticed. If he was fast enough, and if he could prevent her from shouting out. If he was noticed, he'd have to come up with a really good excuse.

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SleepingOrange · 06-02-2010, 03:53 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.

One of the little rock things launched itself at her and Anna wasn't having any of it. She punted the jerk as it approached, and pretended the loud pop was coming from it instead of her ankle; it wasn't the most impressive kick maybe, but Anna was a witch not an ultimate fighter, and it did the job. Her rude little attacker arced away: she hoped it would break when it hit the ground, she expected it to stand back up, and she was afraid it would bounce or something, but she had no idea it would explode.

That's probably the only reason that when it did she was nearly knocked off her feet and stumbled backwards; if she'd been ready for it she'd have been fine. Obviously. She did manage to catch herself, though, and wasn't really harmed by the blast. The same couldn't be said for a good few of the little imps, though: many of those that weren't blown apart by the blast were knocked off the platform from the shockwave. Judging by the way they tried to scrabble to stay on the platrform, Anna was pretty sure she didn't want to fall off herself...

On a whim, she charged through the gap created in the horde by the explosion, heading straight for the sphere. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when she got there, but she was sure it was her ticket out. Behind her, the remaining bolters rallied and charged. A quick glance over her shoulder told her they were faster than their tiny legs had suggested, and wouldn't leave her much time to form a plan once she got there; not knowing what else to do, once she reached the edge of the platform, she jumped straight for the glowing ball.

Anna's shoulder collided with a square patch floating on the orb's surface, shattering it into four pieces; a strange voice fills her mind as the light envelops the witch:

Trrrr[sub:3h6qt48d]zzzzkzzsh[/sub:3h6qt48d]ansporrtaaaation maaatrix daaaaaaaamaged [spr:3h6qt48d]fssstkst[/spr:3h6qt48d] Controooooooool driyiyi iiiiives offligggggne

DisptptosinnGGGGG of CONTaminantkkkk; Destptinashunk proooooozzzoootocol lostLOST, shuntiiiiiing ING

Loran was about to make his coup de grace, knife in hand and target in sight when he was bowled over by someone who hadn't been there a moment before. He and the figure tumbled across the floor, her voice filling the air with unintelligible terror.

**Pinary** · 06-02-2010, 06:20 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

At the sound of screams, Will turned- the assassin and the witch were in a heap, not three meters behind Apathy. The robot was keeping the bruisers occupied, so he hurried over, pistol ready. He didn't know what to expect from either of them, and he wasn't going to take any chances.

He was almost there when Loran made his move. The Creeper twisted around, a dagger appearing in his hand, and grabbed Annaliese. He held the knife to her neck and held her in front of him as a shield. "Not one more step," he said, "or I slit her throat."

She would have made a much better shield if he'd been facing toward Will, instead of directly away from him. Is this the insanity the book mentioned?, Will wondered. Experimentally, he shifted his feet. No response. He took a step. Still nothing.

He took the last few steps forward and raised his pistol behind the assassin's head. "Freeze. She dies, you die. Got that?"

That Loran heard, and he tightened his grip on the knife. "As soon as I kill her, we all move on. You will not have a chance to fire."

Will sighed, frustrated. This guy's a killer, he reminded himself, and he needs to be dealt with as such.

"Alright, you barbaric screwhead, listen up. This is my laser. The twelve-rem double-powered Blastec. It's got a steel handle, twin fusion cores, and a hair trigger. This baby will carve a hole in your skull before you can blink. If you so much as twitch, I will shoot you dead. Got that?"

Loran didn't respond.

"Besides... was our arrival here instantaneous?"

GBCE · 06-05-2010, 01:51 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Nehh.

Whilst still attached to the Bruiser's head, Voitrach kept an eye on the conversation below. He held out a hand and made a nice, clear message in the air: "I CAN CONFIRM IT WAS NOT." This quickly reformed to: "THERE WAS A DELAY, I WOULD SAY OF ABOUT THREE SECONDS" in a much smaller script, as the gravity-altering golem set back to work on the symbols.

"Thank you for that. Now, would you risk your life on that - just for the life of one other person in this competition? That is a nearly pointless risk to take."

"It is a risk I am willing to take, though. If necessary." Loran loosened his grip on the witch, instead tensing himself himself and preparing to spring out of the way if he saw Will's finger even twitch on the trigger. At best, Will would shoot the witch and not him, if he did fire. Otherwise, he had a straight line to the other witch, the electricity one. He could leap over there and slash her neck open in an instant. Although he hoped he could get away into somewhere that wasn't in plain view, instead of having to dodge Will's laser.

GBCE · 06-05-2010, 01:51 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Nehh.

Whilst still attached to the Bruiser's head, Voitrach kept an eye on the conversation below. He held out a hand and made a nice, clear message in the air: "I CAN CONFIRM IT WAS NOT." This quickly reformed to: "THERE WAS A DELAY, I WOULD SAY OF ABOUT THREE SECONDS" in a much smaller script, as the gravity-altering golem set back to work on the symbols.

"Thank you for that. Now, would you risk your life on that - just for the life of one other person in this competition? That is a nearly pointless risk to take."

"It is a risk I am willing to take, though. If necessary." Loran loosened his grip on the witch, instead tensing himself himself and preparing to spring out of the way if he saw Will's finger even twitch on the trigger. At best, Will would shoot the witch and not him, if he did fire. Otherwise, he had a straight line to the other witch, the electricity one. He could leap over there and slash her neck open in an instant. Although he hoped he could get away into somewhere that wasn't in plain view, instead of having to dodge Will's laser.

GBCE · 06-05-2010, 08:44 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by PlumFinder.

The guy with the gun, Will, still hadn't shot Loran. That was a good sign. If the gun was really as fast as Will claimed, Loran would never have the chance to slit the witch's throat. Either the gun was not as good as the guy claimed, or he was reluctant to shoot. Both gave oppurtunities.
The other one was more of a problem. The man Loran was facing was carrying a massive gun, aimed at Loran's head. On top of that, the man himself was huge.
'I could blow both your heads -,' the man said, at the same time as Will started speaking again: '-or I will kill you!'
Why did they do that? Why did they keep talking through eachother? Didn't they understand he couldn't hear them this way?
'Lower your guns, and I'll let her go, okay?' he said, trying to sound as confident as he could. This is all a misunderstanding. I was just coming to help you with those walking stones, when I was bowled over by this witch here, and then you came running with your guns. What else was I supposed to do?'
'Enough of this,' the big man said, and he started charging his gun. The weapon was big enough to blast all three of them to bits, but in a reflex, Loran tensed his grip on the witch. He heard Will gasp.
'Let her go NOW!'
Now!
Loran dropped his dagger, and launched himself to the side. A gun was fired, but he didn't know which. He landed on his hand and feet, janked out a new dagger and made for the other witch. He felt her crackling with electricity before he reached her, and changed direction at the last second. Another gun was fired, and had he not turned, it would've hit his head.
The strongest one first!
Loran jumped towards the big man, who was too late in taking aim, and slashed at the man's neck with his dagger. His dagger passed through the man as though he wasn't there. So did Loran, and he crashed head-first into the wall.
'Well,' he thought, as he crumpled on the floor, 'that explains a lot.'
He didn't faint, thankfully.

Will ran past Annaliese to were Loran lay on the ground, disarmed, and not in any condition to fight. He aimed his laser at the Creepers head again.
'I don't know what that was supposed to achieve,' he said. 'But you're not moving again unless I say so, got that?'
Loran nodded, and muttered: 'He wasn't really there...'
Yep, definitely insane.

GBCE · 06-05-2010, 08:44 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by PlumFinder.

The guy with the gun, Will, still hadn't shot Loran. That was a good sign. If the gun was really as fast as Will claimed, Loran would never have the chance to slit the witch's throat. Either the gun was not as good as the guy claimed, or he was reluctant to shoot. Both gave oppurtunities.
The other one was more of a problem. The man Loran was facing was carrying a massive gun, aimed at Loran's head. On top of that, the man himself was huge.
'I could blow both your heads -,' the man said, at the same time as Will started speaking again: '-or I will kill you!'
Why did they do that? Why did they keep talking through eachother? Didn't they understand he couldn't hear them this way?
'Lower your guns, and I'll let her go, okay?' he said, trying to sound as confident as he could. This is all a misunderstanding. I was just coming to help you with those walking stones, when I was bowled over by this witch here, and then you came running with your guns. What else was I supposed to do?'
'Enough of this,' the big man said, and he started charging his gun. The weapon was big enough to blast all three of them to bits, but in a reflex, Loran tensed his grip on the witch. He heard Will gasp.
'Let her go NOW!'
Now!
Loran dropped his dagger, and launched himself to the side. A gun was fired, but he didn't know which. He landed on his hand and feet, janked out a new dagger and made for the other witch. He felt her crackling with electricity before he reached her, and changed direction at the last second. Another gun was fired, and had he not turned, it would've hit his head.
The strongest one first!
Loran jumped towards the big man, who was too late in taking aim, and slashed at the man's neck with his dagger. His dagger passed through the man as though he wasn't there. So did Loran, and he crashed head-first into the wall.
'Well,' he thought, as he crumpled on the floor, 'that explains a lot.'
He didn't faint, thankfully.

Will ran past Annaliese to were Loran lay on the ground, disarmed, and not in any condition to fight. He aimed his laser at the Creepers head again.
'I don't know what that was supposed to achieve,' he said. 'But you're not moving again unless I say so, got that?'
Loran nodded, and muttered: 'He wasn't really there...'
Yep, definitely insane.

GBCE · 06-08-2010, 11:48 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Nehh.

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GBCE · 06-09-2010, 12:01 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Kaitostrike.

Felix watched the fight below, knowing that to interfere at the wrong time could invoke a fight of his own. He watched, the mostly transparent sillouhette invisible to the naked eye. But as Loran made his move, it became obvious that he would have to interfere, or else...
This could end very badly... for me.
"I'm picking up a disturbance. It's... What?" "Surely you can detract yourself from your faulty sensors long enough to realize that it's behind you."
A gray mist began to form behind the group, gaining most of their attentions. The mist took the form of a man.
"Come now, killing will get us everywhere; the problem is, everywhere isn't where we need to go. If you can stop attacking each other, then you would realize that-"
"Hey, he is the one who attacked us!" "Were you the one attacking? No? Then I wasn't talking to you.
"Regardless, you all are going on about how death is inevitable. Is it now? It will be if you can keep this up. But if you have noticed, we are on an island. And as should already be noticeable, magical force is at work here. Teleportation is a magical force. Now, I'm not saying that it's a very likely exit route, but it is there none the less.
"If someone dies, then we leave. If we leave, then any chances of going back that are here are gone. While death may be necessary, it might not be. Now, Mr.Stabby Stabby. I suggest you work on your aim. If you must kill someone, make it quick.
"As for the rest of you, I suggest you do the same. But not the killing part, the quickening part. For if this fight is destined to occur, then every second could count."
Loran, seizing the opportunity, went to grab his knife that had been strewn to the side. However, the blade was gone.
"Hohoho, looking for this?" Everyone looked at Felix. However, he wasn't holding anything. "Ahem, behind you."
A gray clone was behind the group, twirling the knife in his hand. "Did you really think I would- Ow!" The knife dropped to the ground.
"Ehehehe. Oh, and before I forget. The name is Felix."

**Pinary** · 06-12-2010, 11:33 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

"Well, Felix," Will said, keeping his laser pointed squarely at Loran's head, "the trouble lies in how inevitable this all really is. Disregarding the book for a moment, let's consider the people around us. More than half of us contestants were described in terms of violent tendencies. A 'naturally evolved assassin,' a 'heartless warrior,' and, if I recall correctly, a 'textbook villain...' If even one of these stays true to their description, we have a situation in which bloodshed of some form or another is practically inevitable."

"And then, of course, there is the consideration of the book. If it is as it appears to be and contains a complete record of what is going to happen here, then it's a prophecy, and let me tell you something about prophecies: The common perception is backward. By their very existence, prophecies change the outcome. The mere existence of that book changes what's going to happen, and even if it's just a small change, it will still echo forward. Prophecies take a hell of a lot of work to get right, and if they expect us to cooperate, they're in for a shock."

"I, for one, am not a fan of prophecies. One of the first things I saw after my successful experiment was a prophecy I myself had left, and I spent fifteen years working my ass off to fulfil it. Even if they've gotten it down to a stable time-loop already, there's still going to be variation, and that variation's where we can choke them."

This, of course, was complete rubbish. If they were in a stable time-loop, then he'd said that many-a time before, and the outcome was as it was. What that outcome actually was was a mystery- those hooded fellows couldn't be trusted, and any word they said was suspect, likely carefully calculated to lead them along the "correct" path.

But it would do no good to say any of this out loud. Right now, they needed to calm things down, and a defeatist attitude was not conducive to that goal.

"So what do we do, then? Certainly, we could start killing, hoping to be the last one standing, but that leaves us all in a rather poor position, statistics-wise. I prefer a higher than 12.5% chance of survival, myself."

"So we don't just go killing each other, then. Of course, if there are those of us who feel the need to attempt to kill us and we defend ourselves, then that's up to them. I, for my part, will not direct harm towards anyone who does not attempt to do harm to others first. All who do, well..." He gestured in a vaguely threatening manner with his laser.

GBCE · 06-13-2010, 01:07 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Nehh.

"Ahem" echoes a voice. It sounds strange, and wavers and changes pitch constantly. Instantly, Will and Felix's gazes turn to look at Voitrach, the source of this noise. Voitrach motions crazily at Will, to get him to turn around and watch Loran again. Of all the competitors, Voitrach distrusted Loran the most. Anyone willing to take a life so easily, for only mild personal gain - that was someone against his way of thought. It just was. Already, he had worked out that to win the game and survive, he had to kill at least one of these people, and at the moment the only one he could bear to even try and kill was Loran. The Creeper seemed so evil compared to the others. Still, the next thing he was going to do he would quite probably want to pass over for the rest of his life - if it lasted any longer. So he said this:
"Will, get out of the way. I'm going to kill the Bruiser."
"Kill it? I thought you already had. And how did you gain a voice like that?"
"I shall explain the voice later. No, I haven't killed it yet. It seems to be very weak right now, and I've found inside its head a cube with only a few letters on. I think it might be the creature's brain. But when I kill it, it won't have enough control to stay upright. It will slump forward, and at the moment that will be onto you."
Will stepped smartly round to the other side of the Creeper, closer to Felix.
Voitrach grabbed the brain cube and jumped off the thing's head with it onto the balcony. The blackness went out, and it toppled forward. It fell onto it's knees first, and the torso was just about to pivot onto where Will just was when they snapped, and the rest of the body skidded a short way over the floor, in a shower of sparks. That last shove was Voitrach's doing. He seriously hoped the Creeper was dead, but he also wished inside it had been paying attention and got out of the way.

SleepingOrange · 06-13-2010, 03:41 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.

They say that powerful witches can become invisible with a thought. They say a lot of things about powerful witches, in fact, and a lot of it is true; this particular rumor, however, is only partially grounded in reality. Witches can't become invisible, or generally choose not to: invisibility is a complex thaumaturgical headache involving bending light or altering the properties of matter. It's unsubtle and involves too much actual use of magic. It's flashy wizardry is what it is. Instead, witches learn how to simply fade into their surroundings so completely that people simply don't notice them until they want to be noticed. Like much of witchcraft, it wasn't about slinging around spells, it was about convincing other people that the world is how you say it is; it's about attitude and bearing, two things Annaliese sadly lacks.

Annaliese is actually such a bad witch that in this particular respect she loops back around and approaches the skill from the other direction. Rather than disappearing through force of personality or use of powerful spells, she became effectively invisible by not mattering at all. She was meek and forgettable, and slipped out of people's awareness without even trying. She's not even aware of it on a conscious level beyond knowing she often has to remind people that she's talking to them mid-conversation, and up until now it had been nothing but an inconvenience.

Still, from the moment she'd frozen up on being grabbed by Loran to being tossed like a ragdoll across the arena, she's been too petrified to say a thing or move, and she had rapidly gone from "competitor" or even "person" in the minds of the others to "faceless hostage" and eventually to "blip on the radar" before being ignored entirely. She had scuttled to the wall and pulled herself up, breathing heavily and staring with wide eyes at the others who had been all-too-recenly bargaining with her life.

Okay. Okay so. Those whoevertheyweres were serious. Everyone here was trying to kill Anna or kill the people trying to kill her or just plain kill everyone. Metal dragons and knife-wielding psychopaths and a very odd-looking man with odd ideas about prophecy... Plus giant stone things and little stone things and... stones. Even a great witch like Anna couldn't handle all this at once, and nobody seemed to be paying attention, so..

With a lengthy mumble that anyone who had given a second thought to the witch might have heard as "Mnrffnmffflrmmmnf mmnflmm n-no, umm. Mmnflmn. Mmmnf?", Anna began her escape. There were a few seconds of not much happening save very dramatic and serious dialogue between two people Anna might have thought were talking way too much if she were a less charitable soul; with no warning and less visual effect, there was a pop of inward-rushing air and a very bedraggled hummingbird where Anna used to be. It had appeared at about eye-height, but it was near knee-level before it actually managed to start flying and right itself.

There was no sign that anyone had noticed the change, and the little bird flitted towards the upper stands, hoping there was an escape up there that wasn't sealed by a slab of rock. For all that she was the size of a small mouse, hummingbird-Anna could actually cover distance rather quickly; it was only a few moments before she had topped the stone lip above the arena, and only a moment more before she was making towards a door.

"And just where do you think you're going, Miss Nibbs?"

Startled by the sudden address, Anna's concentration lapsed, and a fully-human witch crashed face first into a stone chair with all the momentum she'd had when zipping through the air.

GBCE · 06-13-2010, 04:14 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by PlumFinder.

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SleepingOrange · 06-13-2010, 05:20 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.

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GBCE · 06-13-2010, 06:57 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

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GBCE · 06-14-2010, 04:16 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by PlumFinder.

A split-second was all Loran had.
A load of rock was about to crush him unless he moved out of the way. That Will-guy would shoot him if he did move. There was no doubt in Loran's mind that he wouldn't hesitate this time. Stay still, and he was dead. Move, and he was dead. He had a split-second, and he spent it frozen with indecision.
Perhaps it was all just an hallucinationâ€¦
Something knocked into him from the side, pushing him out of the way from the dead golem. Will fired, but missed Loran by inches. Again Loran came into collision with a part of the building, and it hurt even more than the first time.
He should move, he thought. Run, hide, get the hell out of here, but he just lay there. He was dizzy and hurt all over, and was still wondering why he wasn't dead.
â€˜You're not dying after all, are you?'
The cloning guy walked over from where Loran had been seconds ago.
â€˜Did youâ€¦ did you push me out of the way?' Why was he panting? He wasn't tired, damn it! The last thing he needed now was to show weakness!
â€˜I did. You clearly didn't pay attention to what I said. It's in our best interest if we all stay alive for now.'
â€˜Fine. So I won't get shot?'
He glanced at Will when he said that, and found him staring confused at his laser and the hole in the rock it had made.
'Will, is something wrong?'
â€˜I don't get it. You, errâ€¦ Felixâ€¦ You jumped straight into the path of my laser. It should have killed you.'
â€˜You must've missed,' Felix said dismissively. â€˜Now will you all stop the killing?'
And Loran found himself agreeing to cooperate in finding a way out. He was sure he wasn't the only one lying about that, and his was only a half lie. He would cooperate, until he found an opportunity to kill one of the others unseen.

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**Pinary** · 06-26-2010, 10:35 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

"Were you even listening?" Will asked. "This creature, Loran, has demonstrated that he is both mentally unstable and willing to kill. As far as I'm concerned, he is a danger to anyone near him, and I would much rather shoot him on reflex than let him kill someone else. It is my intent to prevent as much harm as I can, and if that means preemptive action, I will not hesitate to do what is necessary."

"I spent much of my life arranging to tear a hole in reality, and I damn well succeeded once." His voice rose, shouting a challenge to the hall around them. "I am going to assemble what I need and tear myself another hole, and I will leave this horrible game behind! Anyone with peaceful intentions is welcome to come with me. Anyone without them will find themselves stiffly opposed."

He took a step towards Felix, eyes narrowed, and dropped his voice low. "Have I made myself clear?"

Felix just stood there with his arms crossed, aloof and unimpressed. "Crystal," he drawled.

"Splendid." Will turned a bit, addressing the group as a whole. "Does anyone else here have a problem with this?"

There were general negative murmurs; everyone was at least pretending to go along with him.

"Good." Taking a slow breath, he calmed himself down. "Now... there are a number of ingredients required to open the hole we need. In fact, I think we might actually have everything we need here. First, though..." He took a few steps, kneeling down next to Apathy. He tried to put some compassion and concern into his voice, but it sounded awkward and uncomfortable. It was the best he could do, though; he could work out how to tear a hole in the universe, but for the last fifteen years, the vast majority of the people he'd talked to had been a previous version of himself- he was horribly out of practice at dealing with others. "Are you feeling any better?" He winced. The words were flat and cold, still all business. He tried again, putting all the warmth he could into his voice. "You, ah, seemed fairly drained earlier. How are you feeling now?" There might have been some empathy that time, but he couldn't tell. He hoped he'd managed a bit, at least.

GBCE · 06-28-2010, 01:19 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by The Dr..

"I'm just fine, thank you. It was nothing serious. I can take care of myself," she said, shoving away Will, who then stumbled back a moment. "If you'd please continue."

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**Pinary** · 06-29-2010, 11:41 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

Will steadied himself and stood back up, slightly offended. Reflexively, he straightened the front of his jumpsuit. "I only ask because your health could be integral to our escape," he said, back to being all business. "My original scans of the local gravity indicated the presence of an inactive gravity generator nearby. If we can generate two gravitational fields of sufficient magnitude and oscillate them at the correct frequency, we can use their interactions to create a rift between realities. One field comes from Voitrach here, and the other comes from the inactive generator. It's not the most elegant solution, but it's the simplest- a brute force approach."

"All we need to do now is locate the inactive generator and get it running. It's simple enough from there."