Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round Three: Water...place!]
11-03-2010, 02:14 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.
The clone leaned back on his dragon mount. They had been flying aimlessly for several minutes now; the raft had been left far behind. He could feel the thin layer of Ovoid which clung to him like a jumpsuit twitch every now and then, but for the most part, it seemed to be leaving him, and his dragon, alone. He sighed. Maybe it had forgotten about him. He'd like that. He was already haunted by the things he'd seen and heard during his... abduction. He was almost certain his comrades were dead; why he'd been left alive was something he preferred not to think about.
He shifted uncomfortably in his Ovoid-produced saddle. Something was moving inside, sort of like...
He groaned. "Oh no, not again. I don't want t-AUGH!" He brought his hands up to his head, teeth clenched in pain. "Fine! I'll deliver your stinking message!" The clone and his dragon shifted course, and flew with more purpose towards an empty patch of sea.
----
The Ovoid drifted aimlessly over the open sea, giving no sign of its earlier anomalous activity. Then, quite without warning, it sped off, towards the same patch of sea it had sent the clone and the dragon towards...
----
The clone was honestly considering suicide at this point.
The dragon had, without warning, dove straight towards the water. Before he knew it, they were flying down through the ocean - the clone somehow still able to breathe - towards a slightly muddled patch of light.
The clone corrected himself - their apparent speed, and the bright spot's slowly increasing size, put it at slightly bigger than just a "patch" of light. In fact...
They were quite close now, and light resolved itself into a gigantic glowing sphere. Before the clone could make out what was inside, the dragon burst through into... air?! The clone shook himself. Yes, they were quite definitely flying above an enormous half-sunken city; the upper half, liberally populated by beautifully flowing skyscrapers, was kept water-free by some kind of air bubble. The lower half appeared submerged, and it was this air/water barrier which the dragon seemed intent on leading him towards; specifically a point just on the edge of the bubble...
---
Xadrez was fairly certain Archie hadn't warned him about the sudden water-to-air transition on purpose. One minute, he was calmly explaining his predicament to the marlcop (whose slowly growing fighting-back-a-laugh expression now made sense to Xadrez), the next he was falling through air, from a disturbingly large height. The uneven transition made his disc flip uncontrollably, and he could just make out what appeared to be a denizen of this city be tossed off an approaching rooftop, followed by what could only be Jen; that feminine figure and swaying bio-wyrm protruding from the figure's shoulder were rather unmistakable.
Then they were gone, and Xadrez crashed awkwardly onto the rooftop. A jovial laugh boomed from above him.
Righting himself, and now hovering comfortably a few feet above the rooftop, he looked up to see Archie finishing up a chuckle. "Hooo boy, I was waitin' fer that." The marlcop floated downwards from the edge of the bubble, mechanical wings fluttering invisibly from the sides of his ride, guiding them through the air. He held up the knife. "Also, could ya make this thing shut up? It's kind of annoying."
Through the knife, Xadrez sent a testy your deception served no purpose as I had thought I had sufficiently proven my disassociation from these pirates you speak of
That said, Xadrez begrudgingly complied with Archie's request, and the knife stopped screaming.
Archie waved a dismissive hand "Yeah yeah I believe you. Sort of. I mean ok it's a pretty ridiculous story, and I'm still gonna have ter report you ter the Chief fer trespassin'. So if you'll just float yerself after me-"
"SLOW THE FUCK DOWNAAAUUGH"
Xadrez and the marlcop had bare seconds to look up towards the source of the voice before a tan-tinged, scaley meteor hurled itself through the roof. Several crashing sounds could be heard through the hold before the dragon and the clone burst through a wall, further down the building. Unfurling its enormous wings, the dragon glided out over the city, and with a few powerful pumps, changed course to come back towards the roof.
"'Nother of yer pals?"
in a way
The clone shouted as he drew closer. "XADREZ! I HAVE. TO TALK. TO YOU."
"Well he's a rather insistent feller, ain't he?"
I have not had much contact with him and I suspect he is merely a tool for another contestant
his presence here can only mean that this contestant wishes to deliver a message which is in itself surprising since the contestant has so far avoided direct communication with any of us
Xadrez pointedly left out his encounter with the Ovoid in the previous round, as it would be... too complicated to explain. If what he'd deduced from that brief contact were true, however...
The dragon made an ungainly landing on the edge of the building, and the clone looked between the marlcop and the tactician. "Uhhh... sorry to... interrupt?"
"It's fine, young sir. I've got nothin' against you two talkin'. 'Sides, the rest of the police force're already on their way!" Archi pointed, and a smattering of small dots could be seen rising up from the water in the distance.
"Oh, uh, ok well." The clone collected himself, and looked at Xadrez. "The Entity was very clear that I deliver this message to you specifically. I'm going to have to uh... paraphrase the first parts because they don't make a lot of sense and-"
Xadrez waved an impatient arm.
"Right, ok. So, apparently there's some stuff going on in the, uh, 'non-Euclidean atemporal interstice', and I think whatever happened between you and the Entity earlier was part of that. There's also some stuff about how time doesn't flow properly in... that place... so what you got was a little jumbled. Anyway the Entity managed to work out the order of some things into a way we can make sense of it, though I got the sense it considered the effort unnecessary but whatever. Someone else, in another 'anomalous artificial closed-loop phenomenon' with 'multiple emergently self-aware fragments' managed to send a message through the... thing. It wanted me to deliver the message to you, verbatim."
The clone took a moment to make sure it had everything memorized, and clutched his scythe a bit tighter, obviously nervous.
"Ok, here it is:
'If you are hearing this, then you, too, are a victim of the whims of an enigmatic master, whom has forced you into a battle to the death with many other strange beings. You are likely far from your home, far from your friends, far from your family.
'My name is Vandrel Reinhardt, and I am in a battle similar to yours. I seek allies, to overthrow these unworthy grandmasters. I assume that, if you can receive this message, then you have some way of reaching into the multiverse. Seek me out. Together, we can fight for our freedom.'"
The clone fell silent. Archie raised an eyebrow. Xadrez remained motionless.
After a moment, he looked towards Archie, sending a telepathic request through the knife. Archie shook his head. "Sorry Mr. Traveler, but this'ere weapon is officially confiscated. You'll have to find another way."
Xadrez did something that looked suspiciously like a sulk, before giving a start of surprise as a tiny, tan ovoid materialized on his board. He tentatively grasped the object, obviously wary of a repeat of his earlier encounter. Thankfully, upon contact, nothing happened.
why me, he asked.
The clone answered. "The Entity said something about how your incredible... tactical abilities? Yeah, that. Apparently it believes you to be best suited to lead an attack on the... whatever thing... that's organized this battle."
the observer
I agree that I am the best suited and provided the entity gives me its full cooperation I do believe there is a chance that we will succeed
however we must first extricate ourselves from our current predicament
"Oh, yeah, um, I think that's about to be taken care of."
Archie narrowed his eyes at the statement. "Now, I'm not so sure I like the sound of th-"
Oily tan erupted in a huge disc-shape above the city, and the burning, smoking city of Cyk'nl burst through into the air above Hydresther. Parts of its levitation machinery were still working, slowing its decent slightly, causing it to angle downwards, narrow edge cutting through the air, straight towards the soaring buildings of the magnificent underwater city.
Minutes previously, in another universe...
The two crippled sky-cities revolved slowly around each other, locked in a fatal dance as they fell to the surface. The lizardkin of Cyk'nl had abandoned their city, seeking refuge in Sk'va, as rumor spread of a secret Sk'van engine which would save them from destruction.
In the center of Cyk'nl, an eerie landscape had replaced the previously decadent buildings. Metal had been twisted into a non-Euclidean nightmarescape, and any observer walking through the alien construction would be unable to determine its purpose.
Then, without obvious reason, the entire construction began to glow. Corners became fuzzy, their location indeterminate, and a light of unidentifiable color spread outwards from every surface.
As the refugees of the falling cities gathered in Sk'va, a tremor nearly shook the city apart. Startled insects and lizardkin looked out of windows and over buildings, to see that Cyk'nl had vanished.
---
Archie's mouth wouldn't close itself. What the hell just happened kept running through his mind. So distracted was he that he nearly missed Xadrez attempting to be stealthy, and use the chaos to drift away from the marlcop. Archie decided to follow the spectral entity, and observe. Whatever was happening, it had gone way beyond a simple case of trespassing, and he intended to do whatever he could to protect his city.
Meanwhile, Xadrez absent-mindedly toyed with the miniature Ovoid on his board. Before the shockwave of displaced air had hit the building, the clone had said one final thing before flying off. "The Entity is your relay. It will deliver your reply to Reinhardt, when you're ready."
The clone leaned back on his dragon mount. They had been flying aimlessly for several minutes now; the raft had been left far behind. He could feel the thin layer of Ovoid which clung to him like a jumpsuit twitch every now and then, but for the most part, it seemed to be leaving him, and his dragon, alone. He sighed. Maybe it had forgotten about him. He'd like that. He was already haunted by the things he'd seen and heard during his... abduction. He was almost certain his comrades were dead; why he'd been left alive was something he preferred not to think about.
He shifted uncomfortably in his Ovoid-produced saddle. Something was moving inside, sort of like...
He groaned. "Oh no, not again. I don't want t-AUGH!" He brought his hands up to his head, teeth clenched in pain. "Fine! I'll deliver your stinking message!" The clone and his dragon shifted course, and flew with more purpose towards an empty patch of sea.
----
The Ovoid drifted aimlessly over the open sea, giving no sign of its earlier anomalous activity. Then, quite without warning, it sped off, towards the same patch of sea it had sent the clone and the dragon towards...
----
The clone was honestly considering suicide at this point.
The dragon had, without warning, dove straight towards the water. Before he knew it, they were flying down through the ocean - the clone somehow still able to breathe - towards a slightly muddled patch of light.
The clone corrected himself - their apparent speed, and the bright spot's slowly increasing size, put it at slightly bigger than just a "patch" of light. In fact...
They were quite close now, and light resolved itself into a gigantic glowing sphere. Before the clone could make out what was inside, the dragon burst through into... air?! The clone shook himself. Yes, they were quite definitely flying above an enormous half-sunken city; the upper half, liberally populated by beautifully flowing skyscrapers, was kept water-free by some kind of air bubble. The lower half appeared submerged, and it was this air/water barrier which the dragon seemed intent on leading him towards; specifically a point just on the edge of the bubble...
---
Xadrez was fairly certain Archie hadn't warned him about the sudden water-to-air transition on purpose. One minute, he was calmly explaining his predicament to the marlcop (whose slowly growing fighting-back-a-laugh expression now made sense to Xadrez), the next he was falling through air, from a disturbingly large height. The uneven transition made his disc flip uncontrollably, and he could just make out what appeared to be a denizen of this city be tossed off an approaching rooftop, followed by what could only be Jen; that feminine figure and swaying bio-wyrm protruding from the figure's shoulder were rather unmistakable.
Then they were gone, and Xadrez crashed awkwardly onto the rooftop. A jovial laugh boomed from above him.
Righting himself, and now hovering comfortably a few feet above the rooftop, he looked up to see Archie finishing up a chuckle. "Hooo boy, I was waitin' fer that." The marlcop floated downwards from the edge of the bubble, mechanical wings fluttering invisibly from the sides of his ride, guiding them through the air. He held up the knife. "Also, could ya make this thing shut up? It's kind of annoying."
Through the knife, Xadrez sent a testy your deception served no purpose as I had thought I had sufficiently proven my disassociation from these pirates you speak of
That said, Xadrez begrudgingly complied with Archie's request, and the knife stopped screaming.
Archie waved a dismissive hand "Yeah yeah I believe you. Sort of. I mean ok it's a pretty ridiculous story, and I'm still gonna have ter report you ter the Chief fer trespassin'. So if you'll just float yerself after me-"
"SLOW THE FUCK DOWNAAAUUGH"
Xadrez and the marlcop had bare seconds to look up towards the source of the voice before a tan-tinged, scaley meteor hurled itself through the roof. Several crashing sounds could be heard through the hold before the dragon and the clone burst through a wall, further down the building. Unfurling its enormous wings, the dragon glided out over the city, and with a few powerful pumps, changed course to come back towards the roof.
"'Nother of yer pals?"
in a way
The clone shouted as he drew closer. "XADREZ! I HAVE. TO TALK. TO YOU."
"Well he's a rather insistent feller, ain't he?"
I have not had much contact with him and I suspect he is merely a tool for another contestant
his presence here can only mean that this contestant wishes to deliver a message which is in itself surprising since the contestant has so far avoided direct communication with any of us
Xadrez pointedly left out his encounter with the Ovoid in the previous round, as it would be... too complicated to explain. If what he'd deduced from that brief contact were true, however...
The dragon made an ungainly landing on the edge of the building, and the clone looked between the marlcop and the tactician. "Uhhh... sorry to... interrupt?"
"It's fine, young sir. I've got nothin' against you two talkin'. 'Sides, the rest of the police force're already on their way!" Archi pointed, and a smattering of small dots could be seen rising up from the water in the distance.
"Oh, uh, ok well." The clone collected himself, and looked at Xadrez. "The Entity was very clear that I deliver this message to you specifically. I'm going to have to uh... paraphrase the first parts because they don't make a lot of sense and-"
Xadrez waved an impatient arm.
"Right, ok. So, apparently there's some stuff going on in the, uh, 'non-Euclidean atemporal interstice', and I think whatever happened between you and the Entity earlier was part of that. There's also some stuff about how time doesn't flow properly in... that place... so what you got was a little jumbled. Anyway the Entity managed to work out the order of some things into a way we can make sense of it, though I got the sense it considered the effort unnecessary but whatever. Someone else, in another 'anomalous artificial closed-loop phenomenon' with 'multiple emergently self-aware fragments' managed to send a message through the... thing. It wanted me to deliver the message to you, verbatim."
The clone took a moment to make sure it had everything memorized, and clutched his scythe a bit tighter, obviously nervous.
"Ok, here it is:
'If you are hearing this, then you, too, are a victim of the whims of an enigmatic master, whom has forced you into a battle to the death with many other strange beings. You are likely far from your home, far from your friends, far from your family.
'My name is Vandrel Reinhardt, and I am in a battle similar to yours. I seek allies, to overthrow these unworthy grandmasters. I assume that, if you can receive this message, then you have some way of reaching into the multiverse. Seek me out. Together, we can fight for our freedom.'"
The clone fell silent. Archie raised an eyebrow. Xadrez remained motionless.
After a moment, he looked towards Archie, sending a telepathic request through the knife. Archie shook his head. "Sorry Mr. Traveler, but this'ere weapon is officially confiscated. You'll have to find another way."
Xadrez did something that looked suspiciously like a sulk, before giving a start of surprise as a tiny, tan ovoid materialized on his board. He tentatively grasped the object, obviously wary of a repeat of his earlier encounter. Thankfully, upon contact, nothing happened.
why me, he asked.
The clone answered. "The Entity said something about how your incredible... tactical abilities? Yeah, that. Apparently it believes you to be best suited to lead an attack on the... whatever thing... that's organized this battle."
the observer
I agree that I am the best suited and provided the entity gives me its full cooperation I do believe there is a chance that we will succeed
however we must first extricate ourselves from our current predicament
"Oh, yeah, um, I think that's about to be taken care of."
Archie narrowed his eyes at the statement. "Now, I'm not so sure I like the sound of th-"
Oily tan erupted in a huge disc-shape above the city, and the burning, smoking city of Cyk'nl burst through into the air above Hydresther. Parts of its levitation machinery were still working, slowing its decent slightly, causing it to angle downwards, narrow edge cutting through the air, straight towards the soaring buildings of the magnificent underwater city.
Minutes previously, in another universe...
The two crippled sky-cities revolved slowly around each other, locked in a fatal dance as they fell to the surface. The lizardkin of Cyk'nl had abandoned their city, seeking refuge in Sk'va, as rumor spread of a secret Sk'van engine which would save them from destruction.
In the center of Cyk'nl, an eerie landscape had replaced the previously decadent buildings. Metal had been twisted into a non-Euclidean nightmarescape, and any observer walking through the alien construction would be unable to determine its purpose.
Then, without obvious reason, the entire construction began to glow. Corners became fuzzy, their location indeterminate, and a light of unidentifiable color spread outwards from every surface.
As the refugees of the falling cities gathered in Sk'va, a tremor nearly shook the city apart. Startled insects and lizardkin looked out of windows and over buildings, to see that Cyk'nl had vanished.
---
Archie's mouth wouldn't close itself. What the hell just happened kept running through his mind. So distracted was he that he nearly missed Xadrez attempting to be stealthy, and use the chaos to drift away from the marlcop. Archie decided to follow the spectral entity, and observe. Whatever was happening, it had gone way beyond a simple case of trespassing, and he intended to do whatever he could to protect his city.
Meanwhile, Xadrez absent-mindedly toyed with the miniature Ovoid on his board. Before the shockwave of displaced air had hit the building, the clone had said one final thing before flying off. "The Entity is your relay. It will deliver your reply to Reinhardt, when you're ready."