Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round Two: Sk'va!]
08-31-2010, 12:53 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Lord Paradise.
The distortions of physics accompanying the fall were beginning to intensify; everything carried a strange echo and a wind whirled around at all angles. Jen looked rather pitiful trying to hold on to a Cyk’Nlian streetlight that had buckled upon the collision with Sk’Va.
The intersect gave off the impression of a rather artful work of city planning, the red bricks of Sk’Va’s roads divided from the white cobblestones of Cyk’Nl along a jagged line. This close to the edge, everything was diverted; even the soldiers (now mostly frantically scurrying for cover) had drawn a line farther south, where the wind was less fierce.
Kracht stood facing Jen, one foot in each world. “I just told Maxwell that he died a hundred per cent of the time. I lied. Every now and then, it’s you. You fall off the side or get shot in the back of the head by a soldier or some other stupid comeuppance that reminds everyone that you were just a little girl the whole time. And it starts with you doing something like this. Get back to the cathedral, Jen.”
”But those weren’t me, were they?” asked Jen. ”Not really. They were just alternate versions, right?”
Kracht was silent for a bit. “You were a redhead once,” he admitted. “But no, always the same old Jen. No one ever really changes, except maybe Keleth.” He laughed. “No, that was a joke, sorry.”
”Have you made that joke before?”
”Quiet. Why are you here this time? You either want to save the city or you want to save Maxwell. Either way, I can’t help you.”
”It’s the city. I like these guys. They make these sounds like ‘squee-donk’ and their eyes always look like they’re scared of something.”
Kracht sighed. ”Yes, yes, your motives are impeccable as always, Jen. But really, the city’s falling out of the sky. I’m not a miracle worker.”
”Will the cathedral work?”
”Mostly. Acceptable losses, you know. But with their city destroyed and their rivals eliminated, the new mayor-for-life Phakkum Ohl leads them to famine and ruin. 90% of the population is dead within thirty years.”
Jen started and almost lost her grip on the streetlight. “Fuck, we aren’t going to be here for thirty years, are we?”
Kracht laughed, a strange metallic sound. “No, of course not. But I’ve followed up. Infinity is a long time to travel. I usually even stumble into your kingdom. Inform your citizens of the circumstances of your death, all that.”
A quake shook the cities, knocking Jen to one knee. “You’re a bastard sometimes, you know that, Kracht?” she shouted over the sound of imploding gravity.
”I’m everything sometimes!” Kracht rushed forward and steadied Jen’s arm, helping her back to her feet. “I’ve tried being nice! Most of you end up hating me anyway!”
Everything settled down. Jen caught her breath, then looked in Kracht’s eyes. A sudden feeling of nausea washed over her; she caught her breath again. “You’re radioactive, right? Hedgehog’s dilemma, twenty-first century style.”
”The twenty-first century is always hard, yeah.”
”Kracht,” Jen said slowly, measuring her words. “There’s no reason you should be able to win this thing even one more time. The odds are stacked against you. Xadrez tells Arkal what can kill you, Arkal makes a sword with it, and I stab you through. Easy.”
”Well, Jen, it just hasn’t happened yet.”
Jen smiled. “Kracht, honey, I don’t want you to take this as a threat, but if you want this friendship of ours to work out, you’re gonna have to work for it. If Cyk’Nl can detach from Sk’Va, it can still stay in the air, right?”
”And if Cyk’Nl’s still up there, then after the Ovoid leaves the theocracy will collapse, war might end and it’s likely that humanitarian aid will be sent to the remnants of Sk’Va. I know the theory, but we can’t detach the cities in time. We have less than an hour. We’d either need to disable all the locks manually from underneath the cities, or contact the Ovoid.”
Jen chuckled. ”Well, shit, man, I didn’t know you had a plan already! Get on that! I’ll head for the cathedral, see if Arkal or Xadrez can think of a way to stall the descent.” She uneasily detached herself from the lamppost and stumbled off back towards the center of Sk’Va.
Kracht followed. “No, Jen. I’m coming with you to watch Maxwell die. You can’t stop me, and you can’t order me around, because you’re not the queen here. You’ll come to understand that eventu--”
”Shut the fuck up. How could you live forever and still be that thick? You’re green, Kracht. You are literally a green thing shaped like a man. You give off a green fucking aura. And what does that make you?”
Kracht was, for once, dumbfounded. “Green?”
”That makes you mine, you piece of--”
”Quiet! Your royal color is green?”
”Yeah. Life, abundance, youth, what else would it… It isn’t usually green?”
Kracht considered lying, but figured Jen would probably be able to tell. “It’s never been green.”
”Not once?”
”Zero times.”
Jen smiled. ”Well then! I’m off. Make your choice.”
She ran off, leaping a little higher with each step than might be considered normal. The fall was accelerating. Kracht stood where he was for a few relatively long seconds, then made his choice.
The distortions of physics accompanying the fall were beginning to intensify; everything carried a strange echo and a wind whirled around at all angles. Jen looked rather pitiful trying to hold on to a Cyk’Nlian streetlight that had buckled upon the collision with Sk’Va.
The intersect gave off the impression of a rather artful work of city planning, the red bricks of Sk’Va’s roads divided from the white cobblestones of Cyk’Nl along a jagged line. This close to the edge, everything was diverted; even the soldiers (now mostly frantically scurrying for cover) had drawn a line farther south, where the wind was less fierce.
Kracht stood facing Jen, one foot in each world. “I just told Maxwell that he died a hundred per cent of the time. I lied. Every now and then, it’s you. You fall off the side or get shot in the back of the head by a soldier or some other stupid comeuppance that reminds everyone that you were just a little girl the whole time. And it starts with you doing something like this. Get back to the cathedral, Jen.”
”But those weren’t me, were they?” asked Jen. ”Not really. They were just alternate versions, right?”
Kracht was silent for a bit. “You were a redhead once,” he admitted. “But no, always the same old Jen. No one ever really changes, except maybe Keleth.” He laughed. “No, that was a joke, sorry.”
”Have you made that joke before?”
”Quiet. Why are you here this time? You either want to save the city or you want to save Maxwell. Either way, I can’t help you.”
”It’s the city. I like these guys. They make these sounds like ‘squee-donk’ and their eyes always look like they’re scared of something.”
Kracht sighed. ”Yes, yes, your motives are impeccable as always, Jen. But really, the city’s falling out of the sky. I’m not a miracle worker.”
”Will the cathedral work?”
”Mostly. Acceptable losses, you know. But with their city destroyed and their rivals eliminated, the new mayor-for-life Phakkum Ohl leads them to famine and ruin. 90% of the population is dead within thirty years.”
Jen started and almost lost her grip on the streetlight. “Fuck, we aren’t going to be here for thirty years, are we?”
Kracht laughed, a strange metallic sound. “No, of course not. But I’ve followed up. Infinity is a long time to travel. I usually even stumble into your kingdom. Inform your citizens of the circumstances of your death, all that.”
A quake shook the cities, knocking Jen to one knee. “You’re a bastard sometimes, you know that, Kracht?” she shouted over the sound of imploding gravity.
”I’m everything sometimes!” Kracht rushed forward and steadied Jen’s arm, helping her back to her feet. “I’ve tried being nice! Most of you end up hating me anyway!”
Everything settled down. Jen caught her breath, then looked in Kracht’s eyes. A sudden feeling of nausea washed over her; she caught her breath again. “You’re radioactive, right? Hedgehog’s dilemma, twenty-first century style.”
”The twenty-first century is always hard, yeah.”
”Kracht,” Jen said slowly, measuring her words. “There’s no reason you should be able to win this thing even one more time. The odds are stacked against you. Xadrez tells Arkal what can kill you, Arkal makes a sword with it, and I stab you through. Easy.”
”Well, Jen, it just hasn’t happened yet.”
Jen smiled. “Kracht, honey, I don’t want you to take this as a threat, but if you want this friendship of ours to work out, you’re gonna have to work for it. If Cyk’Nl can detach from Sk’Va, it can still stay in the air, right?”
”And if Cyk’Nl’s still up there, then after the Ovoid leaves the theocracy will collapse, war might end and it’s likely that humanitarian aid will be sent to the remnants of Sk’Va. I know the theory, but we can’t detach the cities in time. We have less than an hour. We’d either need to disable all the locks manually from underneath the cities, or contact the Ovoid.”
Jen chuckled. ”Well, shit, man, I didn’t know you had a plan already! Get on that! I’ll head for the cathedral, see if Arkal or Xadrez can think of a way to stall the descent.” She uneasily detached herself from the lamppost and stumbled off back towards the center of Sk’Va.
Kracht followed. “No, Jen. I’m coming with you to watch Maxwell die. You can’t stop me, and you can’t order me around, because you’re not the queen here. You’ll come to understand that eventu--”
”Shut the fuck up. How could you live forever and still be that thick? You’re green, Kracht. You are literally a green thing shaped like a man. You give off a green fucking aura. And what does that make you?”
Kracht was, for once, dumbfounded. “Green?”
”That makes you mine, you piece of--”
”Quiet! Your royal color is green?”
”Yeah. Life, abundance, youth, what else would it… It isn’t usually green?”
Kracht considered lying, but figured Jen would probably be able to tell. “It’s never been green.”
”Not once?”
”Zero times.”
Jen smiled. ”Well then! I’m off. Make your choice.”
She ran off, leaping a little higher with each step than might be considered normal. The fall was accelerating. Kracht stood where he was for a few relatively long seconds, then made his choice.