Re: Petty Squabble [ROUND 2] [Acidity City]
10-24-2011, 04:23 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
As the gaping maw opened in the floor, John took a few steps back, turning to peer at Ethan napping on the bench.
He considered it. Standing above the kid and fiddling with one of his sleeves, he honestly considered just taking the dozing child and tossing him into the waiting embrace of green, glowing death.
Time, his again to move through at will. He could get out of the battle easily enough. From there, he'd have a whole universe of civilizations to pick and choose from, and with the right know-how, he could punch a hole back out, maybe punch his old employer in the face and grab his TEDD back, and from there... Well, he'd have options. It'd all be so easy.
A few seconds later, Ethan was blinking sleep out of his eyes. For such a short nap, he'd really gotten into it. When he saw John staring down at him, a grin on his face, he perked up and asked, "What's up? We going somewhere other than this boring temple?"
His temporary guardian straightened up, his grin broadening. "Oh, are we ever!" Holding his hands out, he helped the boy to his feet and gestured to the newly-formed stream of acid. "Check it out, that just popped up out of nowhere!"
A green, glowing river suddenly appearing in the middle of a temple? Totally cool. Immediately, Ethan was running towards it to take a look at how cool it was, all traces of his sleepiness gone.
"Hey," John reminded him, "be careful! This place is dangerous!" There might've been a hint of irony in his voice, but Ethan wouldn't have cared if he'd noticed. He was too busy standing by the edge and looking down.
It was quick, quicker than either of them would've thought. Ethan, had he been given the opportunity to imagine such things, probably would've conjured up images of screaming Nazis, lots of smoke and screaming. John, if he'd had to predict, would've gone with something closer to what he'd seen in the past, not realizing that this acid was being used to drain potential energy, not just what was currently around, so it was a tad more potent than what he'd run into in the past.
As it was, only one of them was in a position to think about it, and the other was distracted by the being that was manifesting itself above the river.
It looked, shockingly enough, like Ethan. John wasn't impressed. "Supposed to drive me towards guilt, I suppose?"
"SOMETHING LIKE THAT," it replied, its voice not quite carrying the same weight as before.
"Well, let's get to the part where you unhitch my t-coordinates, alright? I'm quite satisfied without the dramatic monologue."
"...AS YOU WISH." Had Calendar not been in such debt to John for freeing it from its encasement in the temple and allowing it to bring about the Second Doomsday, which would not only wipe the few remaining mortals from its plane but also the other competing deities as well, it might've punished him. Instead, it just reflected that it'd have plenty of time for dramatic monologues when it was raining death upon all who opposed it.
Bringing its hands together and focusing, it brought three gems into existence, each approximately the size, shape, and colouration of a lemon. Unlike lemons, however, these were crystalline and not quite euclidean- the facets glowed a bit and didn't exactly match up with the expectations of typical geometry.
"EACH OF THESE CRYSTALS," Calendar explained, "WILL PRODUCE A RIFT. SIMPLY FIX A LOCATION IN TIME IN YOUR MIND AND SLASH."
John took the gems, held two in his left hand, and grasped the other solidly in his right. "So say I had a precise time marked off." He raised his left hand and gestured at his sleeve with his right. A stopwatch was running. Calendar frowned. "All I'd have to do is focus on that time, take this crystal in my hand, and do this?"
He raised his right hand, stared at the numbers on the display on his sleeve, then brought the gem slashing down. As it cut through the air, a gash appeared, tearing through space and time and connecting two points.
Calendar blinked at him. "IF YOU WANTED TO WASTE ONE OF YOUR THREE OPPORTUNITIES TO TRAVEL, THEN YES."
"Not waste," John corrected, "invest."
A voice came to them from the other side of the rift. "What's up? We going somewhere other than this boring temple?"
"Oh, are we ever!"
Calendar got it. John winked and threw the two gems through. Time backpedalled a few steps.
-
John considered it. Standing above the kid and fiddling with one of his sleeves, he honestly considered just taking the dozing child and tossing him into the waiting embrace of green, glowing death.
A few seconds later, Ethan was blinking sleep out of his eyes. For such a short nap, he'd really gotten into it. When he saw John staring down at him, a grin on his face, he perked up and asked, "What's up? We going somewhere other than this boring temple?"
His temporary guardian straightened up, his grin broadening. "Oh, are we ever!" Holding his hands out, he caught the pair of lemon-shaped crystals that came through the rift next to him. "These little babies are going to take us places you can't even imagine."
Ethan's eyes widened, all traces of his sleepiness gone. "Whoa, cool! Where are we going first?"
John just chuckled and slipped them in his pockets. "Nowhere yet, kid. First, we've got some business to attend to. Come on, let's ditch this temple and go see what the others are up to."
"Aw, okay... But only if we can go find some food first!"
Ethan lead the way out, and John gave Calendar's temple one last little look before he followed.
As the gaping maw opened in the floor, John took a few steps back, turning to peer at Ethan napping on the bench.
He considered it. Standing above the kid and fiddling with one of his sleeves, he honestly considered just taking the dozing child and tossing him into the waiting embrace of green, glowing death.
Time, his again to move through at will. He could get out of the battle easily enough. From there, he'd have a whole universe of civilizations to pick and choose from, and with the right know-how, he could punch a hole back out, maybe punch his old employer in the face and grab his TEDD back, and from there... Well, he'd have options. It'd all be so easy.
A few seconds later, Ethan was blinking sleep out of his eyes. For such a short nap, he'd really gotten into it. When he saw John staring down at him, a grin on his face, he perked up and asked, "What's up? We going somewhere other than this boring temple?"
His temporary guardian straightened up, his grin broadening. "Oh, are we ever!" Holding his hands out, he helped the boy to his feet and gestured to the newly-formed stream of acid. "Check it out, that just popped up out of nowhere!"
A green, glowing river suddenly appearing in the middle of a temple? Totally cool. Immediately, Ethan was running towards it to take a look at how cool it was, all traces of his sleepiness gone.
"Hey," John reminded him, "be careful! This place is dangerous!" There might've been a hint of irony in his voice, but Ethan wouldn't have cared if he'd noticed. He was too busy standing by the edge and looking down.
It was quick, quicker than either of them would've thought. Ethan, had he been given the opportunity to imagine such things, probably would've conjured up images of screaming Nazis, lots of smoke and screaming. John, if he'd had to predict, would've gone with something closer to what he'd seen in the past, not realizing that this acid was being used to drain potential energy, not just what was currently around, so it was a tad more potent than what he'd run into in the past.
As it was, only one of them was in a position to think about it, and the other was distracted by the being that was manifesting itself above the river.
It looked, shockingly enough, like Ethan. John wasn't impressed. "Supposed to drive me towards guilt, I suppose?"
"SOMETHING LIKE THAT," it replied, its voice not quite carrying the same weight as before.
"Well, let's get to the part where you unhitch my t-coordinates, alright? I'm quite satisfied without the dramatic monologue."
"...AS YOU WISH." Had Calendar not been in such debt to John for freeing it from its encasement in the temple and allowing it to bring about the Second Doomsday, which would not only wipe the few remaining mortals from its plane but also the other competing deities as well, it might've punished him. Instead, it just reflected that it'd have plenty of time for dramatic monologues when it was raining death upon all who opposed it.
Bringing its hands together and focusing, it brought three gems into existence, each approximately the size, shape, and colouration of a lemon. Unlike lemons, however, these were crystalline and not quite euclidean- the facets glowed a bit and didn't exactly match up with the expectations of typical geometry.
"EACH OF THESE CRYSTALS," Calendar explained, "WILL PRODUCE A RIFT. SIMPLY FIX A LOCATION IN TIME IN YOUR MIND AND SLASH."
John took the gems, held two in his left hand, and grasped the other solidly in his right. "So say I had a precise time marked off." He raised his left hand and gestured at his sleeve with his right. A stopwatch was running. Calendar frowned. "All I'd have to do is focus on that time, take this crystal in my hand, and do this?"
He raised his right hand, stared at the numbers on the display on his sleeve, then brought the gem slashing down. As it cut through the air, a gash appeared, tearing through space and time and connecting two points.
Calendar blinked at him. "IF YOU WANTED TO WASTE ONE OF YOUR THREE OPPORTUNITIES TO TRAVEL, THEN YES."
"Not waste," John corrected, "invest."
A voice came to them from the other side of the rift. "What's up? We going somewhere other than this boring temple?"
"Oh, are we ever!"
Calendar got it. John winked and threw the two gems through. Time backpedalled a few steps.
-
John considered it. Standing above the kid and fiddling with one of his sleeves, he honestly considered just taking the dozing child and tossing him into the waiting embrace of green, glowing death.
A few seconds later, Ethan was blinking sleep out of his eyes. For such a short nap, he'd really gotten into it. When he saw John staring down at him, a grin on his face, he perked up and asked, "What's up? We going somewhere other than this boring temple?"
His temporary guardian straightened up, his grin broadening. "Oh, are we ever!" Holding his hands out, he caught the pair of lemon-shaped crystals that came through the rift next to him. "These little babies are going to take us places you can't even imagine."
Ethan's eyes widened, all traces of his sleepiness gone. "Whoa, cool! Where are we going first?"
John just chuckled and slipped them in his pockets. "Nowhere yet, kid. First, we've got some business to attend to. Come on, let's ditch this temple and go see what the others are up to."
"Aw, okay... But only if we can go find some food first!"
Ethan lead the way out, and John gave Calendar's temple one last little look before he followed.