Re: The Phenomenal Fracas! (GBS2G6): [Round Two: Witch's Haunt]
11-15-2010, 01:39 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anomaly.
"...Persistent, aren't you, Sandman? I would've thought that knocking you off a cliff would be enough to kill you."
"Serpent. Don't bother with your usual taunting. It's time for you to die."
Syvex snickered. "I almost succeeded in killing you when you were at god-like levels of power and I was severely weakened. And now? If you're determined enough, go for it!"
Riko quickly interjected, "...Syvex. The thing about th-"
"Not now, Riko. This.... this is personal." Syvex immediately rammed an open palm into Tamerlane's face, knocking him back into the nursery. He wasted no time in following the sand mage in, slamming the door behind him. As Tamerlane struggled to his feet, Syvex greeted him with a fist, knocking him backwards once again.
"Is that the best you can do? Is it?! I'm disappointed!"
Tamerlane pulled himself upward once again, this time swiftly blocking the serpent's blow with a cushion of sand. The sand formed itself into a small blade and slashed cleanly through Syvex's side, releasing a spray of purple-black blood across the nursery. The serpent laughed again, taking hold of an infant's crib, and immediately tossing it in Tamerlane's direction. The latter dove out of the way just in time to avoid the brunt of the assault, instead simply being grazed by shrapnel as it smashed against a back wall. He took purchase of two splintered bars of the crib, charging Syvex in a desperate assault.
Syvex easily took hold of both bars with two of his left hands, readying another series of attacks with his others. He didn't expect, however, that Tamerlane would leap forward into a kick, hitting the serpent squarely in the jaw. Syvex's concentration broke just long enough for the bars to be wrenched from his grasp, and subsequently be plunged into the open, though healing, wound. Syvex came to his senses and forced the bars back out, bringing with them the mangled remains of a heart, still spurting blood. The serpent's expression became one of surprise, with perhaps a tinge of amusement.
"Very good, Sandman! But, you know, it's too bad that there's still four more where that came from." Syvex rushed Tamerlane and sliced across his chest with the spikes on his arm - not enough to incapacitate him, but certainly enough to cause pain. The sand mage stepped back, clutching his wounds.
"What's wrong? I'd have thought you'd be hacking me to bits with sand by now." Tamerlane didn't respond, again stepping out of the way as the broken shrapnel of the crib flew past to reassemble itself. Syvex was less lucky, being sliced by several splintered fragments of wood as they forced their way behind him. Compounding this, Tamerlane had once more rushed forward to take him on, landing more than one blow before the serpent retreated. Syvex sighed, slowly inching toward the back wall as Tamerlane advanced.
"I don't suppose you'd like to stop now, would you?" Syvex questioned, trailing purplish ooze across the floor.
"Not until all of you are dead, serpent." Tamerlane made a point of breaking off two more wooden bars as weapons; they had worked well so far.
"Your loss, Sandman." Syvex, reaching the back wall, immediately threw closed the shutters to the room's one open window, drenching the room in shadow. Not enough to completely prevent Tamerlane from seeing, but more than enough to fully empower the serpent. It seemed that the latter had disappeared in the instant it took for the sand mage's eyes to adjust, before the sudden realization struck as a sharp blow sent him sprawling forward. He rolled out of the way of a burst of darkness, springing back to his feet and attempting to stab the serpent again. One of the bars managed to barely scrape by, penetrating the serpent's skin but not successfully hitting any "vital" organs.
Syvex's smile dropped slightly. "That's enough, Sandman. Die." In an instant, Tamerlane was suspended above the ground, held in the air by the throat. It was clear that Syvex was straining to hold him up with a single hand, but that didn't make much of a difference. A choke hold was a choke hold, deadly in any case. Tamerlane scrabbled against Syvex's deathgrip, but to no avail. Perhaps just in time, however, the serpent had another of the disorienting "visions". For an instant, Syvex's arm was replaced by a human arm; Tamerlane by a boy no older than his early teenage years.
forget what i saw can't forget must remember no can't happen didn't happencan't be happening
Syvex dropped Tamerlane, and began clutching his head again as the grating voice reverberated through his skull. He struggled toward the door, shutting it behind him before collapsing to the ground entirely.
- - - - - - - - - -
Syvex woke with a start, finding himself on the floor in an unfamiliar room. With some dismay, he noticed under his claws some crude scratchings, apparently made by him: forget what i saw. The same phrase the voice seemed to love repeating. So I am going insane. Wonderful.
Syvex got off the ground and examined the cluttered room. It was quite a bit larger than the others he had been in, being mostly filled with various boxes and other random detritus. There were two windows on the side of the room closest to Syvex, and two doors leading out. On a nearby wooden box, Syvex found a book of some sort, likely a ragged journal. Unfortunately, despite spending several months at Interstice, he had never learned to read very well. He could pick out a few choice words: daughter.... drowned... lake... But he had little context to back them up. He decided to take the book with him and get aid from someone more... literate.
The attic was, on the whole, uninteresting. He checked the two doors, but found them to both be firmly locked. Or perhaps held shut by the same force that kept him out of the basement. Syvex paused in consideration. He would probably be safer here than anywhere else in the manor. If he were to barricade the doors, he could simply wait in safety for someone to die. Then he thought about Eureka. He had had to save her how many times back in the city? Four? Five? He couldn't simply wait around up here when there were lives at stake.
His mind made up, Syvex flung the wooden crate towards a window, smashing it to pieces. He hauled himself out onto the side wall of the manor, and quickly slunk to the ground level, though still remaining on the wall. Maneuvering around the side of house, he could faintly, but distinctly, hear the cloth mage's voice. He stopped at the window which he guessed was closest to her, then smashed his way through, slightly cutting up his arms in the process. He fell through the curtains, and landed directly in between Eureka Finch and Ripper Blackmask. The latter stayed silent, but the former immediately muttered quietly, doubtfully by her own will:
"Father?"
"...Persistent, aren't you, Sandman? I would've thought that knocking you off a cliff would be enough to kill you."
"Serpent. Don't bother with your usual taunting. It's time for you to die."
Syvex snickered. "I almost succeeded in killing you when you were at god-like levels of power and I was severely weakened. And now? If you're determined enough, go for it!"
Riko quickly interjected, "...Syvex. The thing about th-"
"Not now, Riko. This.... this is personal." Syvex immediately rammed an open palm into Tamerlane's face, knocking him back into the nursery. He wasted no time in following the sand mage in, slamming the door behind him. As Tamerlane struggled to his feet, Syvex greeted him with a fist, knocking him backwards once again.
"Is that the best you can do? Is it?! I'm disappointed!"
Tamerlane pulled himself upward once again, this time swiftly blocking the serpent's blow with a cushion of sand. The sand formed itself into a small blade and slashed cleanly through Syvex's side, releasing a spray of purple-black blood across the nursery. The serpent laughed again, taking hold of an infant's crib, and immediately tossing it in Tamerlane's direction. The latter dove out of the way just in time to avoid the brunt of the assault, instead simply being grazed by shrapnel as it smashed against a back wall. He took purchase of two splintered bars of the crib, charging Syvex in a desperate assault.
Syvex easily took hold of both bars with two of his left hands, readying another series of attacks with his others. He didn't expect, however, that Tamerlane would leap forward into a kick, hitting the serpent squarely in the jaw. Syvex's concentration broke just long enough for the bars to be wrenched from his grasp, and subsequently be plunged into the open, though healing, wound. Syvex came to his senses and forced the bars back out, bringing with them the mangled remains of a heart, still spurting blood. The serpent's expression became one of surprise, with perhaps a tinge of amusement.
"Very good, Sandman! But, you know, it's too bad that there's still four more where that came from." Syvex rushed Tamerlane and sliced across his chest with the spikes on his arm - not enough to incapacitate him, but certainly enough to cause pain. The sand mage stepped back, clutching his wounds.
"What's wrong? I'd have thought you'd be hacking me to bits with sand by now." Tamerlane didn't respond, again stepping out of the way as the broken shrapnel of the crib flew past to reassemble itself. Syvex was less lucky, being sliced by several splintered fragments of wood as they forced their way behind him. Compounding this, Tamerlane had once more rushed forward to take him on, landing more than one blow before the serpent retreated. Syvex sighed, slowly inching toward the back wall as Tamerlane advanced.
"I don't suppose you'd like to stop now, would you?" Syvex questioned, trailing purplish ooze across the floor.
"Not until all of you are dead, serpent." Tamerlane made a point of breaking off two more wooden bars as weapons; they had worked well so far.
"Your loss, Sandman." Syvex, reaching the back wall, immediately threw closed the shutters to the room's one open window, drenching the room in shadow. Not enough to completely prevent Tamerlane from seeing, but more than enough to fully empower the serpent. It seemed that the latter had disappeared in the instant it took for the sand mage's eyes to adjust, before the sudden realization struck as a sharp blow sent him sprawling forward. He rolled out of the way of a burst of darkness, springing back to his feet and attempting to stab the serpent again. One of the bars managed to barely scrape by, penetrating the serpent's skin but not successfully hitting any "vital" organs.
Syvex's smile dropped slightly. "That's enough, Sandman. Die." In an instant, Tamerlane was suspended above the ground, held in the air by the throat. It was clear that Syvex was straining to hold him up with a single hand, but that didn't make much of a difference. A choke hold was a choke hold, deadly in any case. Tamerlane scrabbled against Syvex's deathgrip, but to no avail. Perhaps just in time, however, the serpent had another of the disorienting "visions". For an instant, Syvex's arm was replaced by a human arm; Tamerlane by a boy no older than his early teenage years.
forget what i saw can't forget must remember no can't happen didn't happencan't be happening
Syvex dropped Tamerlane, and began clutching his head again as the grating voice reverberated through his skull. He struggled toward the door, shutting it behind him before collapsing to the ground entirely.
- - - - - - - - - -
Syvex woke with a start, finding himself on the floor in an unfamiliar room. With some dismay, he noticed under his claws some crude scratchings, apparently made by him: forget what i saw. The same phrase the voice seemed to love repeating. So I am going insane. Wonderful.
Syvex got off the ground and examined the cluttered room. It was quite a bit larger than the others he had been in, being mostly filled with various boxes and other random detritus. There were two windows on the side of the room closest to Syvex, and two doors leading out. On a nearby wooden box, Syvex found a book of some sort, likely a ragged journal. Unfortunately, despite spending several months at Interstice, he had never learned to read very well. He could pick out a few choice words: daughter.... drowned... lake... But he had little context to back them up. He decided to take the book with him and get aid from someone more... literate.
The attic was, on the whole, uninteresting. He checked the two doors, but found them to both be firmly locked. Or perhaps held shut by the same force that kept him out of the basement. Syvex paused in consideration. He would probably be safer here than anywhere else in the manor. If he were to barricade the doors, he could simply wait in safety for someone to die. Then he thought about Eureka. He had had to save her how many times back in the city? Four? Five? He couldn't simply wait around up here when there were lives at stake.
His mind made up, Syvex flung the wooden crate towards a window, smashing it to pieces. He hauled himself out onto the side wall of the manor, and quickly slunk to the ground level, though still remaining on the wall. Maneuvering around the side of house, he could faintly, but distinctly, hear the cloth mage's voice. He stopped at the window which he guessed was closest to her, then smashed his way through, slightly cutting up his arms in the process. He fell through the curtains, and landed directly in between Eureka Finch and Ripper Blackmask. The latter stayed silent, but the former immediately muttered quietly, doubtfully by her own will:
"Father?"