Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round One: Alpha Complex!]
07-10-2010, 01:36 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.
The ex-Free Enterpriser ran for what he was pretty sure was his life. Pretty sure.
Generally, running through Alpha Complex with an impossibly heavy forge, and being chased by an off-kilter board-like floating rainbow-man would get one caught as an unregistered mutant, or harboring unregistered mutants. The strange floating man-thing behind him was simply too... weird, anyone they ran into would simply accuse him of being responsible for its existence.
And the damn thing wouldn't stop following him! He couldn't know, of course, that in multitudes of other realized and unrealized realities, he just happened to turn left instead of right at various intersections, avoiding the rainbow-man-thing entirely. But in this reality, he didn't.
And so the Ovoid continued to chase him.
The manner of the chase was... unlike anything he'd ever experienced. The man-thing quite often scratched up against walls for large distances, and at some times seemed to have difficulty navigating corners, while at others it had almost prescient knowledge of what was coming.
After a several minutes of running, the Red risked a glance behind him, and was surprised to see the man-thing's legs moving. Well, one of them. Sort of. There was less "movement" and more "instant-to-instant leg-teleportation". One leg would be stuck out in front, rigid, and then suddenly be stuck out behind, rigid. The other leg wasn't moving.
"Freeakyy..." the Red muttered, and attempted to redouble his pace, only to run smack into Arkal's back.
Arkal turned at the impact, and glared down the already quite shaken Red. Between the surprisingly fit-looking old man's glare and the... thing behind him, the Red decided he'd had enough, and dropped the Forge at Arkal's feet before turning on his heel and running the hell out of there.
"Ahh, my forge. I knew you'd find a way back to me."
With nary a grunt, the huge blacksmith hefted the forge onto its place on his back, and looked up at the floating crooked rainbow-man and its twitching leg.
It looked back. Maybe.
"I suppose you'll be wanting this back, then?" said as he produced the piece of the Ovoid gathered earlier.
The Ovoid remained inscrutable, though perhaps one of its startlingly blank eyes smoothed over, momentarily. It continued to float and twitch and be weird.
Kracht stepped in. "It's no use. It usually doesn't start to actually communicate until at least the end of round two. Not with words, anyways. Although, on occasion..."
Kracht moved closer to the floating man-thing, and looked directly at its chest. Something shifted inside of him, and he opened his mouth. A hollow, vibrating croon escaped his throat, and he looked expectantly at the Ovoid.
Nothing happened.
Kracht shrugged. "Nevermind."
"The hell was that?" a thoroughly confused Jennifer demanded.
"Nothing to concern yourself about," Kracht waved a dismissive hand in the girl's direction and turned away from the Ovoid.
The Ovoid had remained completely impassive throughout the exchange, and as Kracht turned away, its leg finally stopped twitching. It began to slant slightly into a horizontal position, face pointed directly at the ceiling, and began to float up.
As the rest of the group dealt with the newly-resurrected and quite angry Weo, the Officer of Things that are Dumb laid down face-first on the ceiling, quite peacefully.
The ex-Free Enterpriser ran for what he was pretty sure was his life. Pretty sure.
Generally, running through Alpha Complex with an impossibly heavy forge, and being chased by an off-kilter board-like floating rainbow-man would get one caught as an unregistered mutant, or harboring unregistered mutants. The strange floating man-thing behind him was simply too... weird, anyone they ran into would simply accuse him of being responsible for its existence.
And the damn thing wouldn't stop following him! He couldn't know, of course, that in multitudes of other realized and unrealized realities, he just happened to turn left instead of right at various intersections, avoiding the rainbow-man-thing entirely. But in this reality, he didn't.
And so the Ovoid continued to chase him.
The manner of the chase was... unlike anything he'd ever experienced. The man-thing quite often scratched up against walls for large distances, and at some times seemed to have difficulty navigating corners, while at others it had almost prescient knowledge of what was coming.
After a several minutes of running, the Red risked a glance behind him, and was surprised to see the man-thing's legs moving. Well, one of them. Sort of. There was less "movement" and more "instant-to-instant leg-teleportation". One leg would be stuck out in front, rigid, and then suddenly be stuck out behind, rigid. The other leg wasn't moving.
"Freeakyy..." the Red muttered, and attempted to redouble his pace, only to run smack into Arkal's back.
Arkal turned at the impact, and glared down the already quite shaken Red. Between the surprisingly fit-looking old man's glare and the... thing behind him, the Red decided he'd had enough, and dropped the Forge at Arkal's feet before turning on his heel and running the hell out of there.
"Ahh, my forge. I knew you'd find a way back to me."
With nary a grunt, the huge blacksmith hefted the forge onto its place on his back, and looked up at the floating crooked rainbow-man and its twitching leg.
It looked back. Maybe.
"I suppose you'll be wanting this back, then?" said as he produced the piece of the Ovoid gathered earlier.
The Ovoid remained inscrutable, though perhaps one of its startlingly blank eyes smoothed over, momentarily. It continued to float and twitch and be weird.
Kracht stepped in. "It's no use. It usually doesn't start to actually communicate until at least the end of round two. Not with words, anyways. Although, on occasion..."
Kracht moved closer to the floating man-thing, and looked directly at its chest. Something shifted inside of him, and he opened his mouth. A hollow, vibrating croon escaped his throat, and he looked expectantly at the Ovoid.
Nothing happened.
Kracht shrugged. "Nevermind."
"The hell was that?" a thoroughly confused Jennifer demanded.
"Nothing to concern yourself about," Kracht waved a dismissive hand in the girl's direction and turned away from the Ovoid.
The Ovoid had remained completely impassive throughout the exchange, and as Kracht turned away, its leg finally stopped twitching. It began to slant slightly into a horizontal position, face pointed directly at the ceiling, and began to float up.
As the rest of the group dealt with the newly-resurrected and quite angry Weo, the Officer of Things that are Dumb laid down face-first on the ceiling, quite peacefully.