Re: The Grand Battle S2G1! [Round Four: New Battleopolis!]
09-04-2011, 10:23 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.
Jeremy was on patrol when the situation sparked up, not doing all that much different from when he wasn't on patrol. It was mostly just an excuse to tell the office ladies that he didn't have time to chat; he had a city to be defending.
The commotion was making it hard for the doormage to talk the talk without resorting to walking the metaphorical walk, more so as one of the prettier girls who worked in the law firm was getting positively hysterical at the sight of her neighbour turning into a very papal dinosaur. The man was quickly running out of excuses, until he reached the point where tactically forced to excuse himself and nip through the door that – for anyone else – would've led to a supply closet.
---
It was yet another non-descript human, adjusting his shirt and striding confidently out of an alley in the no-man's land, to which the knife led Xadrez. The man glanced to the beige-dipped dagger with a look of delighted surprise, then smiled genially and extended a hand.
"Hello! I'm really glad to meet you!"
Xadrez assumed he was lying, one way or another, but accepted the handshake after only a moment's hesitation. It left an aftertaste of screaming in his palm, which made quite a few things clearer, but not enough for the tactician's satisfaction.
An explanation, ovoid
The man's gaze kept flickering to the knife, instinctual as watching the lips on an interpreter.
---
"Woah hey wait, where the hell is everyone?"
"Workin'," responded a morose Jacob from the bar. Special Agent Coy Spender glared at the chronomancer in a futile attempt to make him realise the irony of his words. Spender was on his lunch break; Jacob was on vacation since he'd shown up. Lucy, the barmaid clearing up after the lunch hour, was far too sensible to be worrying about things like waking up one day and being something or someone else. Strangely enough, or perhaps not strangely at all, hospitality was the one business not turned on its head by the apparent second coming of the cameo round - and The Bearded Swordsman was no exception, multiversal punters or no. Hell, the Guard's protection alone in this messed-up city paid for the dozen-odd rabble's food, drink, and board.
Spender downed the rest of his half-pint, and wiped his mouth with a napkin before standing. "Right." He finally deigned to look at Jeremy. "What do you want?"
"Konka Rar's just showed up outside the Marples building." That didn't quite elicit the alarmed expression Jeremy wanted Spender to pull, so he clarified. "He's already turned two guys into dinosaurs."
Spender pulled a face, not nearly horrified enough at this news for the door mage's liking. "Going to need backup, then. Go find Trenwye and Jungfrau, Wilson, hell, Deakin and the Faceless – if it gets any madder than dinosaurs we'll need all the backup we can get. Anyone else would be appreciated, unless you'd rather tell Rar and his disciples to head into the DMZ yourself," growled the soldier, pre-emptively cutting off Jeremy's protests at being the Guard's errand boy.
The doormage held the bar door open for Spender with an exaggerated bow, which went ignored. It was only after the second disgruntled slam that Jacob stood, reached for his sword, and vanished with only the faintest of drunken stumbles through a portal.
---
"There. Can I please go comfort some hysterical young women, now? "
Geoff loaded his crossbow as he peered round the alley's corner, sizing up the crowd gathered round the lich. "Wait, no. Get Tria; that looks like it might be Crepitans, and I'd rather be sure."
"Fiiiine, but that's the last one. Go bother Steven or Jacob or something if you need portals or whatever."
The Hattalan didn't even bother berating his irresponsible idiot of a co-battler, knowing full well the door had been closed on him. Catching a glimpse of Coy Spender on the other side of the crowd, Geoff readied his crossbow and marched on up.
"Konka Rar, you are disrupting the peace! You and the other Awakened are ordered to desist and relocate from NeW bATTleOpOlIS settlement immediately!"
The sorcerer chuckled in a manner far too genial for a face without flesh. "Triumphian, would you do the honours?"
Emily Trenwye, founder and head of the Geiram Guard, arrived just in time to see Geoff engulfed in a blast of holy light. A former Mallory Something-or-another-probably-started-with-M merely drank in the light with new, Awakened leaves at her prophet's side.
---
"I'm looking for something in this city."
You, as in
The Ovoid
I should like to speak to it personally
The man smiled, but there was a pain to it – like cutting him open would find a wailing knife, lamenting that it should have never drawn blood. He closed his eyes, and everything other than him juddered briefly before he opened them again. They were uniform tan.
"It's PRESENT."
Is this the most convenient arrangement
"AFFIRMATIVE. It's… CONSENTing to brief you personally, after your ASSISTANCE IN ELIMINATING THE ERRANT FRAGMENT."
I can quite sincerely say that it was my pleasure
however, to business
what other preparations are necessary
"Well, CALCULATING NECESSARY ACTIONS TO, uh, overthrow the Grandmasters couldn't really happen while THE FRAGMENT was still around. Which is why YOUR CO-OPERATION IS NOTED, and why the Amalgam's all right with FULL DISCLOSURE.
I'm looking for a silver orb; the rest of THE FRAGMENTS are scouring the city as we speak. We MAY ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS WITH SYMPATHETIC PARTIES, when we find it."
Xadrez stared out into the deserted New Battleopolis streets, not so much absent-minded as displaced-minded. mobilising these replicates against the Grandmasters may be useful
or their abilities utilised, where brute force is ineffective
The tactician's fruitless crowd watching let him miss the uneasy frown that flickered across the Ovoid-man's face. By the time his attention returned, he was all smiles.
"The rest of me's been listening while searching, and it seems like the non-humans are the real zealots. The humans are banding together because they can't trust anyone else! It's the non-humans pressing this war, and they're getting torn apart from within by Grandmaster sympathisers."
Xadrez frowned. How much of this knowledge does the O-Amalgam intend to withhold
"Oh, much less, now that you're a certain ally!"
---
The human encampment was a disorganised affair, bundled clumsily in several crudely fortified city blocks which also housed Battleopolis' main shopping mall. Galus was on guard duty, surveying the deserted streets from atop the remnants of a multi-storey parking lot. Brooklyn happening really didn't count as his fault, although to his credit he put up a decent fight before Zeke deemed his grappling-claw getting mangled up in the chainsaw's innards unsporting.
Brooklyn screamed triumphantly, which really only served to attract more attention. Not that the ghosts minded; Zeke gave his partner a moment to pry off the grapnel and repurpose it into an additional claw, before they charged as vengeful one.
---
Jeremy stuck his head back inside the Bearded Swordsman, discovering the sulky resident one had portalled off somewhere. Gadget had no idea as to his whereabouts, but Lucy's mention of a "sewer" kind of smell gave Jeremy a very good idea. By which he meant a pretty unpleasant one.
A quick grasp of the nearest doorhandle revealed that yes, sewer systems did apparently have doors in them. Somewhere. Jeremy didn't want to question it, but on the other hand, he sure as hell didn't want to be irresponsibly indirectly responsible for Jacob's presumed nefarious schemes.
Jacob had already found his way to his prisoner by the time Jeremy hunted him down. Fortunately for the door mage, the trek had sobered the mercenary somewhat – or maybe it was the bird-like, lizard-like, fruit-like monstrosity caught mid-thrash in a sizable temporal bubble. Jeremy couldn't really confess to "getting" Jacob's obsession with the creature, having been told on many a bitterly drunk occasion (on the mercenary's part) that it was a "godawful lunatic". In a pinch, he would've guessed it was one of those clone-in-denial things.
The swordsman had a look in his eye, not that Jeremy would've been able to see that from where he was standing. The air around Sen rippled, and Jacob's sword jumped in hue. The rest of the wards were lowered in short order, leaving the warden and his prisoner basking in bright indigo.
"Jacob, dude, you're totally wasted," called out the doormage. He wasn't sure whether what he was observing was an unspeakable atrocity or some kind of highly personal ritual he'd walked in on, so settled for stating the obvious. Even if he was the last man in Battleopolis to fairly criticise a guy for drinking.
Sen flicked drain-water off his fingers, and creaaaaked at them both.
Jeremy was on patrol when the situation sparked up, not doing all that much different from when he wasn't on patrol. It was mostly just an excuse to tell the office ladies that he didn't have time to chat; he had a city to be defending.
The commotion was making it hard for the doormage to talk the talk without resorting to walking the metaphorical walk, more so as one of the prettier girls who worked in the law firm was getting positively hysterical at the sight of her neighbour turning into a very papal dinosaur. The man was quickly running out of excuses, until he reached the point where tactically forced to excuse himself and nip through the door that – for anyone else – would've led to a supply closet.
---
It was yet another non-descript human, adjusting his shirt and striding confidently out of an alley in the no-man's land, to which the knife led Xadrez. The man glanced to the beige-dipped dagger with a look of delighted surprise, then smiled genially and extended a hand.
"Hello! I'm really glad to meet you!"
Xadrez assumed he was lying, one way or another, but accepted the handshake after only a moment's hesitation. It left an aftertaste of screaming in his palm, which made quite a few things clearer, but not enough for the tactician's satisfaction.
An explanation, ovoid
The man's gaze kept flickering to the knife, instinctual as watching the lips on an interpreter.
---
"Woah hey wait, where the hell is everyone?"
"Workin'," responded a morose Jacob from the bar. Special Agent Coy Spender glared at the chronomancer in a futile attempt to make him realise the irony of his words. Spender was on his lunch break; Jacob was on vacation since he'd shown up. Lucy, the barmaid clearing up after the lunch hour, was far too sensible to be worrying about things like waking up one day and being something or someone else. Strangely enough, or perhaps not strangely at all, hospitality was the one business not turned on its head by the apparent second coming of the cameo round - and The Bearded Swordsman was no exception, multiversal punters or no. Hell, the Guard's protection alone in this messed-up city paid for the dozen-odd rabble's food, drink, and board.
Spender downed the rest of his half-pint, and wiped his mouth with a napkin before standing. "Right." He finally deigned to look at Jeremy. "What do you want?"
"Konka Rar's just showed up outside the Marples building." That didn't quite elicit the alarmed expression Jeremy wanted Spender to pull, so he clarified. "He's already turned two guys into dinosaurs."
Spender pulled a face, not nearly horrified enough at this news for the door mage's liking. "Going to need backup, then. Go find Trenwye and Jungfrau, Wilson, hell, Deakin and the Faceless – if it gets any madder than dinosaurs we'll need all the backup we can get. Anyone else would be appreciated, unless you'd rather tell Rar and his disciples to head into the DMZ yourself," growled the soldier, pre-emptively cutting off Jeremy's protests at being the Guard's errand boy.
The doormage held the bar door open for Spender with an exaggerated bow, which went ignored. It was only after the second disgruntled slam that Jacob stood, reached for his sword, and vanished with only the faintest of drunken stumbles through a portal.
---
"There. Can I please go comfort some hysterical young women, now? "
Geoff loaded his crossbow as he peered round the alley's corner, sizing up the crowd gathered round the lich. "Wait, no. Get Tria; that looks like it might be Crepitans, and I'd rather be sure."
"Fiiiine, but that's the last one. Go bother Steven or Jacob or something if you need portals or whatever."
The Hattalan didn't even bother berating his irresponsible idiot of a co-battler, knowing full well the door had been closed on him. Catching a glimpse of Coy Spender on the other side of the crowd, Geoff readied his crossbow and marched on up.
"Konka Rar, you are disrupting the peace! You and the other Awakened are ordered to desist and relocate from NeW bATTleOpOlIS settlement immediately!"
The sorcerer chuckled in a manner far too genial for a face without flesh. "Triumphian, would you do the honours?"
Emily Trenwye, founder and head of the Geiram Guard, arrived just in time to see Geoff engulfed in a blast of holy light. A former Mallory Something-or-another-probably-started-with-M merely drank in the light with new, Awakened leaves at her prophet's side.
---
"I'm looking for something in this city."
You, as in
The Ovoid
I should like to speak to it personally
The man smiled, but there was a pain to it – like cutting him open would find a wailing knife, lamenting that it should have never drawn blood. He closed his eyes, and everything other than him juddered briefly before he opened them again. They were uniform tan.
"It's PRESENT."
Is this the most convenient arrangement
"AFFIRMATIVE. It's… CONSENTing to brief you personally, after your ASSISTANCE IN ELIMINATING THE ERRANT FRAGMENT."
I can quite sincerely say that it was my pleasure
however, to business
what other preparations are necessary
"Well, CALCULATING NECESSARY ACTIONS TO, uh, overthrow the Grandmasters couldn't really happen while THE FRAGMENT was still around. Which is why YOUR CO-OPERATION IS NOTED, and why the Amalgam's all right with FULL DISCLOSURE.
I'm looking for a silver orb; the rest of THE FRAGMENTS are scouring the city as we speak. We MAY ESTABLISH COMMUNICATIONS WITH SYMPATHETIC PARTIES, when we find it."
Xadrez stared out into the deserted New Battleopolis streets, not so much absent-minded as displaced-minded. mobilising these replicates against the Grandmasters may be useful
or their abilities utilised, where brute force is ineffective
The tactician's fruitless crowd watching let him miss the uneasy frown that flickered across the Ovoid-man's face. By the time his attention returned, he was all smiles.
"The rest of me's been listening while searching, and it seems like the non-humans are the real zealots. The humans are banding together because they can't trust anyone else! It's the non-humans pressing this war, and they're getting torn apart from within by Grandmaster sympathisers."
Xadrez frowned. How much of this knowledge does the O-Amalgam intend to withhold
"Oh, much less, now that you're a certain ally!"
---
The human encampment was a disorganised affair, bundled clumsily in several crudely fortified city blocks which also housed Battleopolis' main shopping mall. Galus was on guard duty, surveying the deserted streets from atop the remnants of a multi-storey parking lot. Brooklyn happening really didn't count as his fault, although to his credit he put up a decent fight before Zeke deemed his grappling-claw getting mangled up in the chainsaw's innards unsporting.
Brooklyn screamed triumphantly, which really only served to attract more attention. Not that the ghosts minded; Zeke gave his partner a moment to pry off the grapnel and repurpose it into an additional claw, before they charged as vengeful one.
---
Jeremy stuck his head back inside the Bearded Swordsman, discovering the sulky resident one had portalled off somewhere. Gadget had no idea as to his whereabouts, but Lucy's mention of a "sewer" kind of smell gave Jeremy a very good idea. By which he meant a pretty unpleasant one.
A quick grasp of the nearest doorhandle revealed that yes, sewer systems did apparently have doors in them. Somewhere. Jeremy didn't want to question it, but on the other hand, he sure as hell didn't want to be irresponsibly indirectly responsible for Jacob's presumed nefarious schemes.
Jacob had already found his way to his prisoner by the time Jeremy hunted him down. Fortunately for the door mage, the trek had sobered the mercenary somewhat – or maybe it was the bird-like, lizard-like, fruit-like monstrosity caught mid-thrash in a sizable temporal bubble. Jeremy couldn't really confess to "getting" Jacob's obsession with the creature, having been told on many a bitterly drunk occasion (on the mercenary's part) that it was a "godawful lunatic". In a pinch, he would've guessed it was one of those clone-in-denial things.
The swordsman had a look in his eye, not that Jeremy would've been able to see that from where he was standing. The air around Sen rippled, and Jacob's sword jumped in hue. The rest of the wards were lowered in short order, leaving the warden and his prisoner basking in bright indigo.
"Jacob, dude, you're totally wasted," called out the doormage. He wasn't sure whether what he was observing was an unspeakable atrocity or some kind of highly personal ritual he'd walked in on, so settled for stating the obvious. Even if he was the last man in Battleopolis to fairly criticise a guy for drinking.
Sen flicked drain-water off his fingers, and creaaaaked at them both.
peace to the unsung peace to the martyrs | i'm johnny rotten appleseed
clouds is shaky love | broke as hell but i got a bunch of ringtones
eyes blood red bruise aubergine | Sue took something now Sue doesn't sleep | saint average, day in the life of
woke up in the noon smelling doom and death | out the house, great outdoors
staying warm in arctic blizzard | that's my battle 'til I get inanimate | still up in the same clothes living like a gameshow
clouds is shaky love | broke as hell but i got a bunch of ringtones
eyes blood red bruise aubergine | Sue took something now Sue doesn't sleep | saint average, day in the life of
woke up in the noon smelling doom and death | out the house, great outdoors
staying warm in arctic blizzard | that's my battle 'til I get inanimate | still up in the same clothes living like a gameshow