Re: The Phenomenal Fracas! (GBS2G6): [Round Four: The Warped Edifice]
09-22-2011, 02:52 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Anomaly.
"Before I answer that, I need to know. Do you know who died in the last round?" Syvex seemed strangely uneasy; unusual for the serpent, given his usual demeanor.
"Aye, it was Riko."
Syvex immediately breathed a slight, but audible sigh of relief. Though it lowered his spirits that one of the "friendly" contestants had died, at least Eureka was (temporarily) safe.
"Do you know how he died?"
"He, er-" Ripper paused suddenly. She certainly couldn't tell him the truth if she wanted to live. Fortunately for her, the serpent wasn't one to question small things, and a quick lie would probably be enough for him.
"He was overcome by th' riots before I could get to him. The lubbers broke near every bone in his body."
"I didn't think he'd have a chance if he was attacked. Never seemed like he could really fight. But anyway, I think we should kill either Sandman or that cultist guy."
"Muriegro? Aye, without his powers he shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Neither should Tamerlane, after I ripped off his arm. Maybe he's bleeding to death right now. But either way, there's not much use sitting around in here."
Ripper gave the solid-gold room a quick, longing glance, before starting toward the door (the normal one, not the sideways one). Syvex followed her into the honeycomb-lined hallway, quickly slithering his way to a turn further along. Ripper tailed him closely, turning into another hallway which twisted along its length, straightening out again when the ceiling and floor had switched places. Chandeliers of solid lapis lazuli lay smashed upon the ceiling (now the floor), and solid massess of leaf and paper stood in for doors.
"Shh!" Syvex suddenly hissed, stopping in place.
Listening in silence, Ripper could barely make out the sound of a constant sort of rambling, increasing and decreasing in volume at essentially random but never stopping entirely. Syvex silently motioned forward, slithering along the floor/ceiling with Ripper stealthily following behind. Rounding a corner, the two spontaneously froze in their tracks. Hunched over against a wall of charcoal was a dirty, ragged figure, bearing torn-up clothing and wild, mottled hair. A scraggly beard hung from his chin, but the rest of his face was obscured as he babbled incoherent nonsense to the empty hallway. Most notable was the crumpled-up piece of paper he was holding, possibly one of the documents that Second guy had mentioned.
Syvex and Ripper slowly inched closer, intent on retrieving the paper without Insane Guy noticing them (not that the Insane Guy was noticing much, being insane and all). Without warning, the piercing sound of a dial tone reverberated through Syvex's head, and he fell against the wall in surprise. The ragged, wild-eyed man immediately bolted down the hall, pursued closely by the pirate, as a feminine voice sounded in the serpent's ear canal.
"Hey. Is this Syvex?"
Syvex paused in confusion for an uncomfortably long amount of time. "What?"
"I said, is this Syvex?"
"I, uh. Yeah. It's Syvex. Who is this?"
"Alison Broderburg. I'm guessing you're in another of the battles?" Syvex could hear the distinct sounds of gunfire and artillery in the background.
"Battles? Wait. You're saying there's more of these?"
"There's a few of them, at least."
"Damn it..." More sounds of battle. "What's going on over there, anyway?"
"Oh, there's some robots attacking this military base I'm hiding out in. They haven't found me yet."
Syvex shuddered. A warzone. He could only take comfort in the fact that he wasn't there. "Well, just be careful. Three people have already died over here, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. Just hope we can get away from the mask guy before... you know, nevermind."
"Mask guy? Was he wearing a green cloak?"
"I, uh, can't tell you that. I can't actually see colors. I take it you're human?"
"Yeah. You're not?"
"I guess I was, er, created by humans, if that counts for something. An... experiment, I guess."
"An experiment?" She paused briefly. "So you're some kind of monster, then?"
"I, uh... I guess that's kind of right." Myriad painful memories briefly resurfaced in the serpent's mind. "I'd rather not talk about it, though."
"Okay, then." For being trapped in a military base which was actively under attack, Alison seemed almost unnervingly calm.
Syvex noticed Ripper shouting to him from out of sight. "I need to go, the pirate's trying to get my attention. Nice talking to you, I guess."
"Okay. Talk to you later, I guess. Bye."
The sounds of gunfire ceased as Alison hung up, and Syvex was once again overtaken by utter silence. He quickly slithered down the corridor to Ripper.
"Sorry about that. Did you catch that guy?"
"The hell were you doing? The lubber was bloody insane, I couldn't keep up."
"I was talking to some girl, somehow. I'm not exactly sure how she called me."
"Nevermind that. There's something you probably want to see."
Ripper started off down the hallway, leading Syvex through a series of confusing twists and turns, ultimately coming to a revolving door made not of glass, but of solid diamond. Syvex stood still for an uncomfortably long time, doing something that in the less ocularly-challenged would qualify as staring. Without a word, he slowly slithered forward, then ripped the door from its less-sturdy foundations (made mostly of fruitcake) and tossed it forward.
Five seconds later, Syvex and Ripper heard the door hit the ground.
What the two saw before them could not, by anyone with any semblance of sanity, be called a "hotel". Rather, what Ripper saw before her. Syvex was rather vision-impaired by the power-draining properties of the hotel, but he could at the very least tell that they were somewhere enormous.
A massive, cavernous expanse stretched far away from the miniscule entrance the two had entered from, seemingly carved out entirely by hand. Huge pieces of the twisted hotel snaked through the expanse, a number of intact rooms and corridors forming bridges between a series of odd structures. Throughout the room were a number of large pillars of hotel rooms, stretching from the ground far below to the ceiling far above. Most prominent, however, was what appeared to be a massive temple in the center of the expanse. The enormous pillars, of which there were eight, surrounded the central structure in a perfect octagon. The central structure itself was more-or-less a massive pyramid, evocative of the pyramids of Mesoamerican societies.
Throughout the "town", a number of figures could barely be made out, but most were clearly recognizable as human. Some seemed oddly distorted - a bit too tall, arms a bit too long - but Ripper assumed (or, more correctly, hoped) that it was just a trick of distance.
Ripper then noticed that Syvex was missing. A few moments of glancing around revealed that he was already well on his way down the narrow staircase which connected the entrance to one of the "bridges". As she noticed two more clearly deformed figures shambling forward to meet the strange new arrival, she began sprinting down the stairs.
"Before I answer that, I need to know. Do you know who died in the last round?" Syvex seemed strangely uneasy; unusual for the serpent, given his usual demeanor.
"Aye, it was Riko."
Syvex immediately breathed a slight, but audible sigh of relief. Though it lowered his spirits that one of the "friendly" contestants had died, at least Eureka was (temporarily) safe.
"Do you know how he died?"
"He, er-" Ripper paused suddenly. She certainly couldn't tell him the truth if she wanted to live. Fortunately for her, the serpent wasn't one to question small things, and a quick lie would probably be enough for him.
"He was overcome by th' riots before I could get to him. The lubbers broke near every bone in his body."
"I didn't think he'd have a chance if he was attacked. Never seemed like he could really fight. But anyway, I think we should kill either Sandman or that cultist guy."
"Muriegro? Aye, without his powers he shouldn't be much of a problem."
"Neither should Tamerlane, after I ripped off his arm. Maybe he's bleeding to death right now. But either way, there's not much use sitting around in here."
Ripper gave the solid-gold room a quick, longing glance, before starting toward the door (the normal one, not the sideways one). Syvex followed her into the honeycomb-lined hallway, quickly slithering his way to a turn further along. Ripper tailed him closely, turning into another hallway which twisted along its length, straightening out again when the ceiling and floor had switched places. Chandeliers of solid lapis lazuli lay smashed upon the ceiling (now the floor), and solid massess of leaf and paper stood in for doors.
"Shh!" Syvex suddenly hissed, stopping in place.
Listening in silence, Ripper could barely make out the sound of a constant sort of rambling, increasing and decreasing in volume at essentially random but never stopping entirely. Syvex silently motioned forward, slithering along the floor/ceiling with Ripper stealthily following behind. Rounding a corner, the two spontaneously froze in their tracks. Hunched over against a wall of charcoal was a dirty, ragged figure, bearing torn-up clothing and wild, mottled hair. A scraggly beard hung from his chin, but the rest of his face was obscured as he babbled incoherent nonsense to the empty hallway. Most notable was the crumpled-up piece of paper he was holding, possibly one of the documents that Second guy had mentioned.
Syvex and Ripper slowly inched closer, intent on retrieving the paper without Insane Guy noticing them (not that the Insane Guy was noticing much, being insane and all). Without warning, the piercing sound of a dial tone reverberated through Syvex's head, and he fell against the wall in surprise. The ragged, wild-eyed man immediately bolted down the hall, pursued closely by the pirate, as a feminine voice sounded in the serpent's ear canal.
"Hey. Is this Syvex?"
Syvex paused in confusion for an uncomfortably long amount of time. "What?"
"I said, is this Syvex?"
"I, uh. Yeah. It's Syvex. Who is this?"
"Alison Broderburg. I'm guessing you're in another of the battles?" Syvex could hear the distinct sounds of gunfire and artillery in the background.
"Battles? Wait. You're saying there's more of these?"
"There's a few of them, at least."
"Damn it..." More sounds of battle. "What's going on over there, anyway?"
"Oh, there's some robots attacking this military base I'm hiding out in. They haven't found me yet."
Syvex shuddered. A warzone. He could only take comfort in the fact that he wasn't there. "Well, just be careful. Three people have already died over here, and I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. Just hope we can get away from the mask guy before... you know, nevermind."
"Mask guy? Was he wearing a green cloak?"
"I, uh, can't tell you that. I can't actually see colors. I take it you're human?"
"Yeah. You're not?"
"I guess I was, er, created by humans, if that counts for something. An... experiment, I guess."
"An experiment?" She paused briefly. "So you're some kind of monster, then?"
"I, uh... I guess that's kind of right." Myriad painful memories briefly resurfaced in the serpent's mind. "I'd rather not talk about it, though."
"Okay, then." For being trapped in a military base which was actively under attack, Alison seemed almost unnervingly calm.
Syvex noticed Ripper shouting to him from out of sight. "I need to go, the pirate's trying to get my attention. Nice talking to you, I guess."
"Okay. Talk to you later, I guess. Bye."
The sounds of gunfire ceased as Alison hung up, and Syvex was once again overtaken by utter silence. He quickly slithered down the corridor to Ripper.
"Sorry about that. Did you catch that guy?"
"The hell were you doing? The lubber was bloody insane, I couldn't keep up."
"I was talking to some girl, somehow. I'm not exactly sure how she called me."
"Nevermind that. There's something you probably want to see."
Ripper started off down the hallway, leading Syvex through a series of confusing twists and turns, ultimately coming to a revolving door made not of glass, but of solid diamond. Syvex stood still for an uncomfortably long time, doing something that in the less ocularly-challenged would qualify as staring. Without a word, he slowly slithered forward, then ripped the door from its less-sturdy foundations (made mostly of fruitcake) and tossed it forward.
Five seconds later, Syvex and Ripper heard the door hit the ground.
What the two saw before them could not, by anyone with any semblance of sanity, be called a "hotel". Rather, what Ripper saw before her. Syvex was rather vision-impaired by the power-draining properties of the hotel, but he could at the very least tell that they were somewhere enormous.
A massive, cavernous expanse stretched far away from the miniscule entrance the two had entered from, seemingly carved out entirely by hand. Huge pieces of the twisted hotel snaked through the expanse, a number of intact rooms and corridors forming bridges between a series of odd structures. Throughout the room were a number of large pillars of hotel rooms, stretching from the ground far below to the ceiling far above. Most prominent, however, was what appeared to be a massive temple in the center of the expanse. The enormous pillars, of which there were eight, surrounded the central structure in a perfect octagon. The central structure itself was more-or-less a massive pyramid, evocative of the pyramids of Mesoamerican societies.
Throughout the "town", a number of figures could barely be made out, but most were clearly recognizable as human. Some seemed oddly distorted - a bit too tall, arms a bit too long - but Ripper assumed (or, more correctly, hoped) that it was just a trick of distance.
Ripper then noticed that Syvex was missing. A few moments of glancing around revealed that he was already well on his way down the narrow staircase which connected the entrance to one of the "bridges". As she noticed two more clearly deformed figures shambling forward to meet the strange new arrival, she began sprinting down the stairs.