The Savage Brawl [Round 5: Battletopia]

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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Diego watched the God's drilling, in a calculated awe. This being was clearly out of his league as well. While he knew that already, having it affirmed with his senses was still somewhat of a shock.

He glanced at the stairs down. They weren't particularly inviting, especially not with the meat monster down there. While Diego was fairly sure that it was peaceful, he did not want to encounter it quite yet. In fact, he wanted no relation with monsters that were not clearly killable. The thing didn't even have ears!

Looking back at the death god, he understood that this would take a while. Sitting down on a jutting rock, Diego contemplated his methods again. It was increasingly apparant that making kills would be difficult. However, he had no other real options- there was no way out of a god's game. He hadn't really thought about gods before, but now that he confirmed one's existence, his logic adapted to include them.

Everyone was a pawn on an endless playing space, held there by an uncaring fate. Fighting it was futile- it existed above the play, manipulating the pieces. One could never reach beyond the board they exist on. Yes, one could never leave the board, only die and fade from it's memory. The fact that there were gods did not change a thing- all it meant was that the thing that kept everyone on the board was concious and, possibly, alive. The greatest he could do, still, was carve a name and mark history with his actions. Diego would make certain the he left the playing board with a few scars that even fate, or gods, would always know.

This game, this savage brawl however... It was a much smaller board than his world. Only eight inhabitants... Diego allowed himself a small smile. Each one of them was already integral to the structure of their playing field. To carve out his place here... Yes it would be easy enough. He just needed to do what he always did...

Diego's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden lack of drilling. Turning to look, he noticed the hole was open already, and Ziir had crawln through. Diego allowed the sounds of others to occupy his mind again- it was so much better than simmering in a voice, a thought, that were already his own.

Originally posted on MSPA by Lankie.

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Dr. Anarchy paced uncomfortably, she didn't like other people touching her stuff, they usually break it. Modifying stuff was even worse as they most often or not aren't to the Doctors likening. But this anxiety was increased tenfold by the fact that it was her Death ray, her very first death ray she ever built. Oh sure, she has made countless others, but they never had the same feel to it, she worked hard on that cannon, put her very soul into it. And now it was getting modified, changed forever, deep down, she cared for that gun and was very sad to see it go. She gulped forcibly and forced any feelings down, whatever who cares; it'll be more powerful now!

“Yep! Made that gun myself! One of a kind that thing! I remember the day I made it like yesterday, two years ago. I've made countless others though, its not like I care about that one, nope, definitely don't care!” Her voice wobbles by the end of the sentence. “Anyway! I've made a bunch of other stuff too! Like a robot army! That's pretty cool, teleportation devices, absolute zero bombs, life. Although that's kind of a work in progress thing. Countless stuff! All invented and produced by little ol' me…well kind of. Alec helps around sometimes.” She shifts her concentration back Hoss, pointing her hand gun at him. “You better not break that thing, or like add a remote control thing where you can control it, or make it worse! I swear to God I'll kill you to death if you do!”

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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[img]images/smilies/apple.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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Hoss smiles inwardly. The Doctor's mistrust is well-placed; truth be told, he has other reasons for getting his hands on her precious cannon.

Hoss continues his probing questions while his modifications proceed. Guiding the conversation through the Doctor's past inventions, playing on her pride to keep her talking, Hoss begins to assemble a picture of the humanity of her universe. It is an image strikingly similar to his own, with one exception: he is absent. There were all the same wars of ancient history, all the same scientific breakthroughs, all the same social upheavals. Where their realities deviated was around the time Hoss was born; without Hoss, her humanity remained directionless, pointless, and prone to producing incomprehensible throwbacks like the mad scientist before him. The humanity she describes has grown stagnant, "boring" as she calls it. Her penchant for destruction began as her way of fighting a static universe. Hoss decides he has learned all he needs to from Dr. Anarchy; she is no longer useful as an information source. However, if he plays things right, she can play a different role...

Dr. Anarchy has become quite tired of all this boring talking. This silver robot man promised her explosions and... fun... stuff. Instead he's asking super-boring questions, about super-boring stuff. And... she's answering them, and at some length. She is puzzled by this, but only briefly. She is not aware of Ekelhaft's corruption eating away at the edges of what little sanity she has left; considering she is already quite mad, the corruption instead affects her ability to concentrate, thus her newfound verbosity. Her annoyance is punctuated by a loud drilling noise from across the lake, as Ziirphael bores through the rubble which had previously sealed he and Diego inside the cave.

Dr. Anarchy decides she's had enough of this blathering. Super-powered gun or no super-powered gun, if Hoss doesn't stop tinkering with her precious right now...

"All right, robo-dude. I'm sick of your questions. Gimme back my gun, OR ELSE!"

Hoss had finished his upgrades a while ago; he maintained the illusion of work to buy more time for his questions to be answered. Hoss raises a placating right hand.

"Relax. I have finished."

He recomposes his segmented left hand, and draws the newmatter tendrils back into his body. Dr. Anarchy wastes no time, and grabs her Death Ray. Before Hoss can launch into an explanation of what he's done, she aims randomly and pulls the trigger.

Gravity, as a weapon, is incredibly difficult to harness. Individually the weakest force, it has the ability to compound upon itself, nearly without limit. This is what Hoss has made possible in the center of the Doctor's weapon. A slight modification of its power source and various constituent parts turns her laser into a graviton beam emitter.

The name is misleading. Where other beam weapons emit a plasma or other physically destructive substance from the barrel, a graviton beam emitter does... something a little different. The weapon serves as a focus for the gravitational field directly in front of it, ramping up the force of gravity in a cylinder which appears to come from the weapon's front.

When Dr. Anarchy pulls the trigger on her new death cannon, Hoss's makeshift graviton manipulator fires into action, and the graviton beam slams into existence. A concussion wave pounds out from its path, barreling through Dr. Anarchy's body. The sheer power she experiences sends a surge of adrenaline through her system, her dilated pupils reflecting the beauty before her.

Every gravitational field warps the fabric of spacetime to some extent; the effect being more readily visible with stronger fields. When light passes through this warped spacetime, its path is altered, leading to an apparent magnifying effect. As an example, if one were to observe a black hole, one would only "see" it as a result of the light from stars which it occludes being bent around it. Its edge seems to condense more light than would normally be visible.

The beam which has erupted through the air of the cavern has much the same effect; stray shafts of light are bent and twisted in unpredictable paths, lending a scintillating aspect to the cave's walls. The beam itself is noiseless; it does not have a strong gravitational pull outside its edges, therefore no air rushes towards it, and what few particles are captured simply grow hotter due to a rapid increase in pressure, their energy release delayed until the beam passes from their location. This is where its true damage potential lies.

The coruscate cylinder hammers through the solid rock ceiling of the cavern, crushing everything inside its radius of effect to an impossibly small volume. The contestants fortunate enough to witness the resplendent apparition gape in awe, mesmerized by the whimsical dance of light along its edges. Silence rings through the cavern, foreboding in its potency.

Dr. Anarchy has held the beam on her target for about ten seconds, momentarily lost in the beam's prismatic display, before she releases the trigger. Mayhem reigns.

No longer forced together by an oppressively intense gravitational field, the atomic remnants of destroyed molecules explode outwards in a cataclysmic celebration of their newfound freedom. The heat which had built up as a result of all that trapped energy is released, and a ball of light expands from the last known impact of the graviton beam, spraying chunks of rock and tendrils of calefaction throughout the cavern.

Whooping, Dr. Anarchy turns back to Hoss.

"WOOOYEAH That was AWESOME, robo-dude! I take back everything I said before, this is KICKASS!"

"There are a few things you should know. Your weapon manipulates the gravitational field in a cone in front of it. The narrower the cone, the stronger the field. Conversely, the wider the cone, the weaker the field, yet you also have more control. I've added a few switches which will allow you to change the settings a bit. With a wide cone, you can change the direction of gravity in the affected area, making it point towards you, or away from you. It won't completely counteract the current gravitational field; everything and everyone in front of you will simply behave as if they suddenly found themselves on a steep hill, whose slope is determined by what direction you have chosen gravity to point. When in this widecone setting, the beam has a limited range; about ten meters. After that, the effects begin to taper off."

"Well goolllly gee thanks, Mr. Oldmandude! My handy cannon is now pretty awesome. But that means I don't really need you anymore, so, ta-ta!"

Dr. Anarchy begins a gleeful saunter away from Hoss. She only makes it so far before a low-power warning emanates from her gun. She glances down, puzzlement growing to shock growing to anger as the weapon shuts down completely. Whirling, she finds Hoss wearing a beatific, yet somehow mocking, smile.

Hoss can't help but gloat; his fraying psyche is no longer capable of maintaining his usual monolithic composure.

"Oh yes, one more thing. Your weapon's power source can't completely handle its new demand on its own. Out of the goodness of my... heart... I've tied it into my remote power transfer relay, which will wirelessly transmit the extra power it needs. However, in my weakened state, this transfer has quite the limited range, so you'll have to stay close if you want your gun to work. Oh, and it's probably in your best interest that I remain unharmed; my power grid is currently fragile, and even a slight bump in the wrong place could shut it down completely!"

Dr. Anarchy stares at Hoss as the full understanding of what he's done sinks in.

He's RAPED my baby!, she thinks. He's turned it, and me, into his... slaves! Ooohhh he'll pay for this. I'll find away to crush that ugly mug, and then we'll see who's laughing. ME! I'LL be laughing! HA HA HA. Just like that!

The Doctor, stewing in thoughts of vengeance, nevertheless returns to Hoss's side, recognizing that, until she can find away out of his trap, she must keep him alive.

It does not occur to her that she would have never given him the gun at all, had a certain madgod not been slowly devouring what is left of her rational mind.

Hoss beckons to the angry madwoman.

"Come, gunhand. Let us see what our earlier destruction has brought us. That cave was likely occupied, and we wouldn't want any survivors to have time to recuperate, now would we?"

Positively strutting, Hoss and his newly-acquired crazed mobile weapons platform make their way towards the collapsed cavemouth, and the three figures standing outside it. Hoss has acquired useful data from Dr. Anarchy, but needs more. His next target for interrogation lies ahead...

Unseen, a small stream of thick, green sludge follows the two humans, maleficent aura working its way through their minds. Ekelhaft's success at breaking their sanity is inevitable. It is only a matter of time.

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Spoilersoooo yeah, heading over to the cave where Ziir, Diego, Gormand, Konka Rar and Calm are located. Also, apparently Ekelhaft left in that direction a while ago as well sooo... everyone's gonna be at the cave.

also tl;dr for the weapon: focused beam = big boom, unfocused = everything's on a hill, ignore the science

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Konka Rar's eye implant was finally functioning again. His arm would still need some time, however.

He stared across the lake, his vision enhanced.

"They seem to be preparing to cross. I believe they're headed this way."

Ziirphael turned towards them, staring as expectantly as someone without eyes could.

Calm walked towards the death god, stepping in front of the lich. As he did, he placed his hand behind his back for a moment, and made a quick stabbing motion with it. The meaning was clear enough to Konka Rar - "backstab". They would be targeting Ziirphael, but not just yet.

"Pardon us. We just came to investigate," Calm said to the death god, trying his best to look sincere. "We aren't looking for a fight at the moment - though, I suppose if you are, we can always oblige."

Ziirphael shook his head. Konka Rar spoke up.

"It seems we have company approaching. I believe we should prepare for their arrival. Do you not agree?"

Ziir nodded, and began reshaping himself. Calm looked at him oddly, then turned back to Rar.

"Not much for conversation, is he?"

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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SpoilerI am so screwed. [img]images/smilies/pc_bemused.gif[/img]

Ziir began to daub more blood onto himself, he left his claw arm alone, but replaced the drill one with a blade of bone; long sharp, and importantly, lightweight. The drill took a minute to unform, but this time he found he didn't quite mind the pain so much. Just like the good old times, he thought ruefully. A thought occurred to him as he daubed further glyphs onto his face. Maybe this was just what he needed. Bored with killing normal people? Feel like the world isn't a challenge more. Get selected for the Savage Brawl! Kill people with crazy powers! Yes when he thought of it like that this might actually be fun. The latest runes were just kicking in. He was thinner and lighter than before. His skin had formed a thick exoskeleton made of bone and sharp spines jutted from his back at odd angles. He was practically unrecognisable, except for his suit, which was now in addition to the bloodstains he accumulated constantly, ripped along the back.

He turned to the pair that had approached him and been talking amongst themselves while he transformed. He started to gesture wildly, to them to the cave, to himself and to the tall pillars, but stopped midway through the gestures feeling he had lost his audience. He turned back to the cave mouth, grabbed a boulder and scraped into it the word 'AMBUSH'. He looked at them, nodded, and threw the boulder into the lake, where it splashed loudly and showered the rocks with black water. It looked like some of it hit Calm, who wore an expression as if to say that this was just typical. Without waiting for confirmation Ziir absconded, leaping onto a nearby pillar that had been spared the earlier explosion. He leapt from pillar to pillar, gripping them tightly with his massive claw, until he spied Dr Anarchy and Hoss beneath him. He noted that they were being stealthily followed by a bunch of green slime, but filed it away under things he didn't really care about at the moment. He proceeded to shadow them silently as they made their way to the cave mouth.

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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SpoilerOk, so, just for the sake of consistency, I've drawn a rough map of how I view what's going on; mostly based on other people's posts and stuff, and mostly because I'm starting to struggle with where everyone is/is going.

If I'm dead wrong on some stuff or people had a different view of what's happening let me know, but I'm pretty sure this is right:



The shape is the only thing I could find that was consistent with what other people have said their characters have done.

Originally posted on MSPA by Lankie.

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SpoilerOk i'm an idiot but could you give a lamens term of what Dr. Anarachy's gun does now? I'm kinda confused

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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SpoilerFrom what I gathered it is now like a really strong force hitting whoever it shoots at when it is focused and when it is unfocused it makes you fall over. Also because of SCIENCE! it makes the air explode. I think. I didn't expect this battle to be quite so SCIENCE!y.

The map looks pretty much how I was picturing this place, except I was picturing it flipped turn-ways. [img]images/smilies/mspa_face.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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SpoilerBasically what Ixcalibur said. The tight beam crushes everything it touches, including the air. When the beam moves, everything it crushed expands into balls of plasma. The denser the material the bigger the explosion, and it leaves little trails of light as it moves because of exploding air. But that's all aesthetic, really. Basically, it's a bigger version of the Death Ray, except more Death Rayish. And it's a beam, so it can be sweapt and stuff, like "sweep the leg" only instead of knocking people over they all die. It can also be fired at about the same rate as the previous Death Ray.

As for unfocused, basically everything in front of her (for ten meters) is suddenly on a really steep hill. So, for example, if she aimed at a pile of rubble, she could create an avalanche on level ground (though after ten meters the rocks would stop rolling.

Basically, this is normal ground:
_

Gravity points down.

Gun turns on, unfocused beam, making gravity point away from her, everyone and everything in front of her experiences this:

\

Gravity points towards her:

/

(the dashes are like, slopes. They represent the ground, in case that was unclear)

The unfocused beam uses a lot less power than the focused, so that one can be on pretty much as long as she wants.

All that sciency stuff was just for show, so ignore it. Explosions and falling are all that are important.

Also she can't move too far away from Hoss or the weapon loses power. He's an evil bastard like that.

also srsly sorry to suddenly change your main weapon, if you're uncomfortable with me taking so much control I can just... change things around a little bit, so that all Hoss does is make your weapon fire more often or something. The whole point here was really 1. to get information out of her and 2. to turn her into an unwilling thrall, since none of Hoss's weapons work, she does the shooting for him.





tl;dr: focused beam = big boom, unfocused = everything's on a hill, ignore the science, sorry for being a douche

Originally posted on MSPA by Not The Author.

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Gormand bounced to a halt; leathery, uneven skin providing ample traction against the carved stone floor. Sprouting his multitude of limbs, he was at once pleased and displeased to find his corpse luggage partly embedded in his flesh. It was uncomfortable, but at least he wouldn't have to start anew. Pulling the body from it's snug alcove in his side, Gormand found his soon-to-be-meal somewhat worse for the wear - in addition to the previous headwounds, the body's whole chest and face areas were crushed unpleasantly. It didn't matter terribly much, just that the meal would be that much less nutritious.

Re-wrapping the body in a noodle cocoon, Gormand surveyed the area. It was marginally darker this time, what with the lack of light from the stairwell, but he could still make out the vague shapes of the many dead bodies littering the trap-laden corridor. How does one die again once already in the afterlife? Why bother to trap the afterlife, for that matter? File for later analysis.

Gormand was fairly certain of how the hall worked; he'd designed a few of these himself to throw off would-be heroes. Shuffling slowly along down the cavern, one of his feet slid over an unnatural crack in the otherwise smooth cavern floor. Carefully maneuvering as far from the anomaly as he could, he traced the crack with his foot. Sure enough, there was a large, worn square panel carved into the ground directly ahead of the staircase.

Gormand removed his probing flagellum, and was about to test the panel's effects when he was distracted by a quiet, sickly popping noise. Had he a mouth, he would have smiled, but the glint in his eye was enough to tell he was pleased. Swinging what should have been a twice-dead man to his front, he found he held instead a considerably oversized corndog. Dried, stale, and crushed all down one side; most people would consider it unpalatable and inedible.

Gormand was neither most nor people.

He placed his snack in the cavity it had made on their trip down the stairs, dislodging the wooden shaft whose prescence he'd never quite understood. They're inedible, so why do so many foods come with one? Gormand threw it haphazardly to the side as his flesh engulfed the breaded sausage. Slinking back into a corner of the room next to the stairs, he lowered himself to the ground and rested, digesting. He wasn't quite sure why the Virus couldn't break down regular matter, why it needed food specifically. Then again, he didn't really care.

Originally posted on MSPA by Lankie.

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Dr. Anarchy silently raged, her thought process was no more that a stream of constant swear words. She would not take this. She refused to take this, she looked down at her pistol, Dr. Anarchy obeys no on-

[background=blue:it6vyhqr]“Jeez, Jess you need to calm down, like a lot.”[/background:it6vyhqr]
Dr. Anarchy found herself in a small bed room, sitting on a large bean bag. The room was messy, much alike a teenagers, a man was sitting on the bed, he wore a casual t-shirt and jeans and sported a slight beard. “ALEC!” Dr. Anarchy screamed “I. AM. AAAAANNNNGGGGRYYYY!”
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]“No kidding.” Alec responded “you usually don't lose your cool Jess. Has anarchy got the better of you?”[/background:it6vyhqr]
Dr. Anarchy crossed her arms and huffed “No! I am the master of chaos! It can never get the better of me!”
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]“Then why are you here?”[/background:it6vyhqr]
“Because I needed someone to shout at! That son of a bitch ruined my laser gun! Ruined it FOREVER!”
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]Alec laughed softly and had a smug smile. “Its just a gun. Besides didn't he make it better, I thought that's all you cared about.”[/background:it6vyhqr]
“That's not the point! He got this remote power bullshit going on! Making me his god damn guard! Besides its lost its personal touch now, It's not my gun anymore! It's…”
Dr. Anarchy's anger tapered off, her wild eyes were replaced with one full of sorrow “…it's not our gun anymore.”
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]Alec sat up, his smug smile dissipated, instead taking on something more genuine. “Heh – no matter how insane you get, a little piece of you still survives. Thank you.”[/background:it6vyhqr]
Dr. Anarchy snapped out of her brief moment of emotion. “Gargh shut up! I'm not here to reminisce! I here for advice! What do I do?!”
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]Alec laid down on his bed. “Geez I dunno, put the gun back in it's default state?”[/background:it6vyhqr]
“How am I supposed to do that? The guys like a super scientist! And a dickhead! I can't just undo that nano bullshit he did!”
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]Alec pondered further, finally snapping his fingers “Break it then fix it.”[/background:it6vyhqr]
Dr. Anarchy was going to respond, but then too thought of this, it could technically work, although it would leave her stupendously vulnerable to contestants. Alec simply wore a look of satisfaction as the Doctor realised that the plan would easily work.
“*Sigh* Y'know, I'd kill you if I didn't love you.”
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]“No problem Jess. I'll be here if you ever need me. Just…try not to lose yourself in Anarchy, for me?”[/background:it6vyhqr]
“No promises Alec, this is way too fun!” Dr, Anarchy began fading back into consciousness.
[background=blue:it6vyhqr]“Oh, and you might want to do something about that blob guy. He's making quite the mess in here.”[/background:it6vyhqr]

“WHAT!?” Dr. Anarchy screamed, she was back in the caverns of the Afterlife, Hoss looks on confusingly, only 7 seconds had passed.
[background=silver:it6vyhqr]“Come again?”[/background:it6vyhqr]
The doctor wielded her new Death ray. “Mr blobby is still here…”

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SpoilerIf your wondering WTF was going on there, that was basically an internal conversation in Dr. Anarchy's mind, it also introduces Alec! He shall be elaborated on in future posts.

Also I understand new death ray now! [img]images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] You don't have to change anything, but ‘new death ray' will most definitely not last forever. [img]images/smilies/pc_pranky.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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SpoilerAwesome! I was hoping you'd find a way around that. Dr. Anarchy and Hoss are due for a showdown, and she's gonna need to be able to shoot at him without fear of breaking her gun.

“Mr blobby is still here…”

The words nearly froze Hoss in his steps. He barely resisted the urge to cast around for a glimpse of the pestilent slime. Barely.

Ekelhaft. Has it been following us this whole time? Hoss has no data on the ancient madgod besides the aura of insanity hinted at by the Cultivator, and his own brief experience with if after his temporary disposal of Konka Rar. All he does know is that he must not lose his sanity. Hoss reconsiders his decisions since their encounter, but has trouble thinking rationally. He is unable to consider them based on their merit alone; a talent he is usually quite capable of. He puts it down to the damage he sustained upon entry to the cavern, and the fact that he is still running on minimal power. A sudden thought strikes him. How did she even know? If she saw him, why didn't she shoot? Unless... Hoss grins inwardly. Were it visible, it would not be a kind grin. Clever girl. Clever, evil little girl! Oh I shall have to punish you for this, yes, most terribly! This time a twisted, ugly smile spreads slowly across his face. He is not aware it is there.

Stewing in half-crazed paranoia, Hoss is too focused on Dr. Anarchy to consider that she may have been telling the truth. That she, too, may be affected, and that maybe, just maybe, she was able to recognize the corruption. Where Hoss's thoughts should dwell on the true threat of Ekelhaft, they instead chatter and rage at what could have been his greatest ally.

Hoss and Dr. Anarchy near the two figures standing by the rubble(Hoss does not notice the third has gone missing), and are now able to make them out. Calm and Konka Rar watch the duo approach.

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SpoilerSpeaking of, where the heckfire is Sleeping Orange?

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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He had heard enough. Diego walked out, carefully weighting every step. Glancing in the distance, he saw the two technology users, who's coming forced him to make a move. If he didn't do something now, before a fight broke out, he might lose his chance to at least speak with the figures in front of him forever. As he approached Calm and Konka, he rapidly made note of their physical traits. Calm looked human, at least. Diego supposed dealing with the devil did not change Calm's composition. He made a mental note that Calm could be a potential target. On the other hand... Konka was a corpse-like man. One of Konka's arms was a dull metal- it appeared that he was some sort of machine man. Diego checked Konka's vitals quickly with a glance. They seemed to still be in the same place... But, the way they moved, or rather didn't move, was odd. Looking closer, Diego realized he couldn't even tell if he was breathing. Could Konka really have been a corpse? Diego shuddered briefly, wanting to turn back. But, he couldn't- he had already begun his move, and he could do nothing but follow through.

"Hello, you two. My name is Diego." He gave a curt bow, practiced in a king's court. "You two seem to know the nature of higher beings... Do you think there is any way out?"

Again, Diego removed any doubt from his voice, replacing it with a slight waver, as if he were nervous. The two of them seemed calm enough to listen before attacking. Just in case, though, Diego stood a distance away from them, palming the four remaining arrowheads. Hopefully, he could win them allies early on... His life would be much easier maintained if he wasn't attacked as much. Plus, he also needed to dig, find out how he could best kill them, which would be much easier if he could get them to speak with him.

Yes... If they spoke to him, it would be best. He needed a few more voice samples before he could reproduce their speech accurately.

As if he had just realized it, Diego turned to look at Hoss and the doctor.

"Oh... Them. Why do I feel like this will turn into trouble?" He wondered out loud, to divert the pair in front's attention from him as he backed off a bit, anticipating the eventual laser fire. Diego had accomplished enough for now- the two, although they didn't respond, would know he was friendly. Unless asked something, Diego was going to retreat back to the cave.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Konka Rar eyed Diego suspiciously as he spoke. The Cultivator had told them that this contest was between the "worst of the worst", but the air mage seemed to be a weakling. In fact, he almost seemed like an innocent, unfortunately caught up in this battle among great evils.

There were two obvious possibilities. Either this godlike, but highly eccentric, Cultivator had made a mistake... or Diego was hiding his true nature. Konka Rar strongly suspected the latter.

However, his attention quickly shifted to the approaching Hoss and Dr. Anarchy. It looked as though they were having something of an argument, but they were still proceeding towards the cave.

If only this blasted arm were working! he thought. I could fire a laser at them from this distance and they'd likely never see it. And none of my spells are nearly as accurate this far away.

What concerned the lich more was that there was still no sign of Ekelhaft. He did not want to be caught off guard. Then he noticed Diego trying to slip away.

"Wait," he said, coldly. "I have a small favor to ask of you."

Diego stopped, and looked towards Rar expectantly.

"The slime creature, Ekelhaft. I have not seen it in some time, and that concerns me. I want you to watch for it, and warn us if you see any sign of it. I do not want it to interfere with this battle."

This was largely a ruse. Konka Rar suspected that the blob, still cautious, was trying to avoid engaging in battle against a group; a third set of eyes would likely not be needed. Besides, now that he was on guard, Ekelhaft was far less likely to surprise him again.

But Diego clearly seemed to be concealing something. It would be a mistake to leave the air mage to his own devices.

Originally posted on MSPA by MyifanW.

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Diego Red jerked to a stop, and turned awkwardly to face the lick again. With a nervous voice, he responded.

"Keep... track of the blob? Hmm... Alright, I suppose I could do that. But, don't expect me to... Attack it or anything. My power isn't suited for attacking something... Indefinite like that..."

Diego trailed off, meeting Konka's stare. It looked like he was being analyzed.... Good! He had been waiting for an opportunity to spread word of his "background". Filling his voice with sureness, he spoke.

"Ah... That's right, you don't know me exactly. I am a royal executioner. I've killed... An uncountable amount of people... Which is why, I suppose, I ended up here..." Diego drew his mythril knife, from the sheath hidden under his shirt. "This is my tool, you see. If I channel it with wind magic-" he paused, swirling the air around the blade, pretending that that was how it was used. "I can kill a man instantly by cutting them and sending air through the brain."

Diego kept a slightly worried face, but was actually elated that his lie worked out so well. In fact, an executioner wasn't too far from his actual... Job. The only difference was that an executioner did not choose or seek out it's kill. Diego quickly ran over the godwoman's discription of him. Being an executioner covered most of those points... The only thing that was questionable was his nickname- "earworm." While it was good she hadn't mentioned that his full title was "The Earworm Killer," the information was still troubling. He quickly began thinking about another cover, a lie that could explain "earworm." Then, he relaxed a little. There was no need for him to explain himself unless directly questioned. Quickly, he spoke again, changing the topic.

"So, my aeromagic is mostly only useful against things with blood and brains. I can also use small projectiles, but try not to rely on me here."

As he spoke, he warily glanced over towards the two technology users. With the staring contest cut short, Konka spoke a small affirmation, and turned his attention towards Hoss. Calm walked to the left, getting some space between him and Konka so they wouldn't be easy targets.

Diego nodded, backed off and leaned against a pillar, casually watching the two technology users approach, while carefully keeping the blob in eye. The situation was becoming tense, now. Was it time now, time for this god's playing board to lose a piece? Diego waited, hungrily. What ever happened, he'd make sure to take the best of it for himself.

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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Hoss and the Doctor approach the (now three) standing figures. Where Hoss originally intended to initiate communications immediately, his goals have been slightly... altered by the madness eating his brain. A "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality has infiltrated his mind, and this is exactly what he intends to do.

He begins to signal to his unstable new gunhand to fire with wild abandon at everything in front of her, but a sound from above interrupts...

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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SpoilerJust a heads-up: slipsicle and I already have something in mind for the end of this fight. Everyone else involved can feel free to go crazy with it in the meantime, of course.

Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.

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SpoilerIt's only been a couple days, slipsicle; this battle's been moving at a breakneck pace, and I can't always find the time to write. I'll probably update during what I'm thinking of as tomorrow but is just later today by this point.

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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SpoilerIt's only been a couple days, slipsicle; this battle's been moving at a breakneck pace, and I can't always find the time to write. I'll probably update during what I'm thinking of as tomorrow but is just later today by this point.

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SpoilerYeah, looking back through other battles, we have been moving pretty fast.

It seems to have worked out anyways; Ekelhaft is the unseen, lurking threat. Makes him even more scary.

Was mostly asking since I like seeing more of Ekelhaft.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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SpoilerI am amazed at the speed at which this Grand Battle has progressed. Really awesome.

Ziirphael was pretty much back where he started now. He sailed through the air from a pillar he had grappled on, to a stalactite, which hadn't been dislodged by the earlier blast. As he gripped it he realised that this had not been the best move. The stalactite felt loose. Another couple of seconds and it was going to plummet no matter what he did. Ideally he would have waited for Hoss and Doctor Anarchy to engage the others and then strike from behind, but if he failed to act now then the element of surprise was gone altogether. He leapt down, blade held out across his chest. There was a loud crack as the stalactite broke from the roof, and before he landed he saw them turn to look at him. Ziir smacked into Doctor Anarchy, knocking her device from her hands. He braced himself with his claw hand, leaving him on top of her with his blade raised just above her neck. He paused for just a second, struck with an unfamiliar sensation. It took him a moment to identify precisely what it was. Fun, he realised. He was enjoying himself. If he had had a mouth he would have grinned widely.

Originally posted on MSPA by Lankie.

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“God damn you're heavy!” Dr. Anarchy said as the huge death God loomed over her. “But I see your not one for talking, so gotta run!” Dr. Anarchy pressed some buttons on her wrist and blasted forward, just missing the Death Gods huge claws. She quickly disabled her jets and began tumbling uncontrollably, stopping oh so conveniently next to her gun.

“Ah ha!” She picked it up and pointed it at Ziirphael. “Heh, you need to face the facts, face it, your going down; face first! Hehehehah”

“ITS FUNNY BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO FACE!” She fired her death ray at Ziir.

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Spoilersorry for small post.
And yes I was saving then face puns for this moment.

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Without exchanging words, or even glances, Konka Rar and Calm ran towards the battle. The fact that it had started was signal enough.

As they drew close, Konka Rar began chanting a spell. Calm ran straight at Dr. Anarchy, knocking the death ray's aim towards the ceiling. He wanted to finish the death god himself.

The blast struck the largest stalactite in the cavern. It broke off, and began moving directly towards the doctor and Calm.

"What the heck? I thought I had this on the big boom setting!" she shouted, diving out of the way.

Calm wasn't sure exactly what she meant, but he knew why it had happened - because it was worse luck for him. He dove in the opposite direction, as the stalactite crashed into the ground inches away.

Meanwhile, Rar unleashed his spell.

"Glacial Arrows!" he shouted. Three large icicles formed in the air in front of him, and began flying towards Hoss.

Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.

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Hoss had begun running towards Konka Rar the instant Dr. Anarchy became preoccupied. She had succeeded in pulling away two of his three most obvious opponents; the modified gun should occupy their attention long enough for Hoss to do some damage.

Three large icicles form in front of Hoss, already flying straight towards him. Hoss curses, out loud this time, anger at his power difficulties finally bubbling over. Had he been running at even a third of full power, Hoss could have dodged, destroyed the icicles, or let his personal forcefields take their brunt. As it is, he has too much momentum to alter course without the aid of his kinetic emitters, so he opts for the only option he has.

The icicles are formed in a pattern which guarantees one will impact Hoss. He maneuvers to avoid two and mitigate damage done by the one he has chosen to hit him.

The icicle slams into Hoss's right shoulder and continues on through, taking a large chunk of Hoss with it. The damage is mostly cosmetic; Hoss knew where the impact would occur, and withdrew as many critical systems as possible from the area. His right arm is still attached, and moderately functional, but he is now missing most of his shoulder.

Unhindered, the ice spears fly past Hoss and embed themselves in a large boulder near where Calm threw himself to avoid a falling stalactite. One of them nearly takes his head off; Calm, ever on the lookout for bad luck, barely avoids the icy death.

The hit appears to send Hoss off-balance. In reality, Hoss uses the opposing kinetic energy imparted by the lone icicle and pushes off the ground, spinning as he does so. He comes down upon Konka Rar, silver left arm prepared to strike, additional potency arising from his angular acceleration. Hoss slams down on Konka Rar's right shoulder, grinning wickedly at the instant payback.

Were Hoss of sounder mind, he would not have done what he is about to do. However, the sickly little voices screaming at him to tear and rend the flesh of others and to do it NOW force him to reveal his only working offensive weapon much sooner than would be optimal.

A hidden blade stabs out from the base of his left palm, ripping through the exposed bones of Konka Rar's unmodified arm. Hoss lets his momentum carry him through, and twists his body, bringing his bladearm upwards, slicing through Konka Rar's shoulder before landing behind him.

While Hoss feels has done some damage to Konka Rar, in reality, their damage is exactly equal. No critical systems were in Hoss's right shoulder, and Konka Rar's cybernetic arm was not the one Hoss hit.

Their damage is superficial, but enough to keep them focused on each other.

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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Ziir silently raged. All this time trying to be a normal nice person. It had left him out of practice. He had had Anarchy prone with his blade to her neck and instead of finishing it there and then he had hesitated, daydreaming. He was going to need to do better than that. Luckily his new allies had charged into the fray and knocked Anarchy's beam away. He had to get his head into the game, and to that end he decided to stop standing around thinking about how he wasn't concentrating and get killing. He leapt at Anarchy swinging his blade. A blow she managed to deflect with her death ray; something she didn't seem pleased about. Anticipating a shot from the beam in retaliation, Ziir leapt up to the cave roof. He gripped onto a tall pillar nearby, climbing around to to the back of it and hoping that the others would keep her busy for just a minute.