Re: Intense Struggle! (Round 5 - Cervaled Fall)
06-13-2011, 06:50 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.
“One… two… this is the fifth round.”
“That’s Battleopolis. Where…”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“The fifth round of my battle was Battleopolis, where all the dead contestants momentarily came back for the round. You know what this means?”
“What.”
“Every prisoner here, except the four remaining contestants from this battle—your battle—is an artificial construct made by the host of your battle to spice things up.”
“And…?”
“None of the copies in Battleopolis survived. I’ll be dead by the time you move on to the next round.”
“Hmph. Doesn’t mean we can’t try. Is she friendly?” Aegis motioned to the girl, now fleeing across the walkway.
“I seem to have all my memories. She should as well. Let’s g-” A dart materialized on Aeon’s neck, sending him convulsing to the floor. “Silent alarm! Move!”
Aegis heaved his friend on his shoulders and jumped over the fence, aiming precisely for the floor his friend’s apparent friend was on. Amethyst noticed the gigantic man falling from two floors up, and, considering her current state of severe mana inhibition, dove behind the nearest corner.
“Hey, you there!” Aegis called towards her. “I’m friendly! Y’know a guy named Aeon Ferrous?”
Amethyst peeked behind the corner and saw a familiar face on the big man’s back. “He’s telling the truth. He’s a good friend of mine.”
“Are you paralyzed?”
“My whole body’s numb, yes.”
“Do you have any idea why we’re in this prison, and why I’m still alive for that matter?”
“I have a hunch.”
An uproar began to form in the floor above, suggesting a struggle, with enough screams and sounds of maiming to suggest casualties.
“I’d hate to interrupt this little reunion, but we’ve gotta move.”
The trio fled, heading for the elevators Aeon and Amethyst somehow knew existed, until all three caught the glimpse of a familiar face.
“Hey hag, need a hand? Who’s ol’ bones and metal here?” Aegis offhandedly asked Sister Clara. From the outside, it appeared that Sister Clara and Konka Rar were in a cell with a glass door—one-way and soundproof glass, as the inmates’ lack of a reply seemed to indicate. Aeon and Amethyst motioned for Aegis to ignore them, preferring to keep the infamous lich in captivity. With total disregard, Aegis ripped off the nearest terminal, thereby causing the door to retract into the ceiling. Clara and Rar turned to their apparent liberators.
“This is a pleasant surprise.” Konka Rar said, beginning to exit.
“Aegis, find a way to close the door. We’re not letting Konka Rar out.”
“What? You just did.”
“They seem to know you, Rar. Could someone please explain?”
“There was another contestant in our battle, one of his undead creations. We helped him find his free will and independence, but Rar here was intent on keeping him a slave. Rar was also involved in several conflicts in our battle, including teaming up with a particularly destructive necromancer.”
“What in ten ages are you talking about?!” Konka Rar paused. “This ‘undead creation’ wouldn’t happen to be my vacuum cleaner, would it?”
“Excuse me. There seems to be a great deal of confusion here. Does anyone have a cohesive explanation for all of this? For starters, who are these two?”
“This guy’s Aeon. I’ve known him for years. This girl is Amethyst, who’s apparently another contestant in the battle Aeon was in.”
“I believe I’ve figured some of this out. This is the fifth round, which you should remember as Battleopolis.” Aeon looked at Amethyst as she nodded. “The reason we’re alive—and Konka Rar is here—is we’re like Alcarith and the others in that round, copies created specifically as additional quirks of the setting. If they move on to the next round, we’d probably die. However, we’re all copies of the real people, and in the real Konka Rar’s perspective, all he saw was Eximo disappearing without any explanation. The Konka Rars we fought against were also copies. Eximo won the Grand Battle, by the way. We didn’t manage to kill the Director.”
“Oh.”
“You two were killed by a vacuum cleaner?”
“Long story.”
“I have never been so confused in my life, hah.”
“Mind explaining who the old woman is?” Amethyst asked.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sister Clara Jungfrau, necropolitan. I have been in this battle with Aegis now for several rounds, and-”
“So she’s a contestant.” Aeon muttered in annoyance.
“She looks friendly enough, and might prove useful if we manage to destroy the mana dampening systems.” Amethyst said.
“The lich isn’t coming with us.”
“I don’t believe he will cause any harm at this point.” Clara responded. “This floor has mana dampening systems in place, rendering both of us more or less harmless. I don’t suppose a vow from him to keep civilized will convince you two of that?”
“I will make no such thing.”
“Very well. Rar, lead the way. You are not to leave our sights for any reason.” Amethyst said.
As they walked, noise from the upper floor escalated and extended to the floor they were on. Aegis, the only member of the group still at full strength, formed a longsword and stood at the ready.
Konka Rar suddenly spun around and pointed his hand at the group, clearly generating magic energy.
“Hah! You haven’t noticed? The mana dampening system gave out just a minute ago!”
Amethyst checked her armband. “He’s right.” Immediately, she summoned a dozen crystals, surrounding Rar. Aegis pointed his longsword at his neck vertebrae. Clara, unsure of how to intervene, stayed idle.
“You forget that every prisoner in this prison is a Grand Battle contestant. You are outnumbered.” Amethyst said plainly.
Konka Rar attempted to shoot down the crystals with fireballs, but was met with a gauntlet gripping his skull. He relented. More noise was heard as more and more prisoners escaped from their cells. The group, Aeon and Amethyst realized, were directly in the middle.
The group noticed the sound of electricity coming from further down the hall. Aph came from around the corner and upon seeing the group, developed a wide grin on her face.
“Aph.” Clara said with a hint of concern.
“Another contestant?” Aeon asked.
“Yep.” Aegis released Rar, who regarded the newcomer with irritation. He increased the size of his longsword. “Big fight?”
“Big fight.” Amethyst replied, summoning another dozen crystals.
“One… two… this is the fifth round.”
“That’s Battleopolis. Where…”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“The fifth round of my battle was Battleopolis, where all the dead contestants momentarily came back for the round. You know what this means?”
“What.”
“Every prisoner here, except the four remaining contestants from this battle—your battle—is an artificial construct made by the host of your battle to spice things up.”
“And…?”
“None of the copies in Battleopolis survived. I’ll be dead by the time you move on to the next round.”
“Hmph. Doesn’t mean we can’t try. Is she friendly?” Aegis motioned to the girl, now fleeing across the walkway.
“I seem to have all my memories. She should as well. Let’s g-” A dart materialized on Aeon’s neck, sending him convulsing to the floor. “Silent alarm! Move!”
Aegis heaved his friend on his shoulders and jumped over the fence, aiming precisely for the floor his friend’s apparent friend was on. Amethyst noticed the gigantic man falling from two floors up, and, considering her current state of severe mana inhibition, dove behind the nearest corner.
“Hey, you there!” Aegis called towards her. “I’m friendly! Y’know a guy named Aeon Ferrous?”
Amethyst peeked behind the corner and saw a familiar face on the big man’s back. “He’s telling the truth. He’s a good friend of mine.”
“Are you paralyzed?”
“My whole body’s numb, yes.”
“Do you have any idea why we’re in this prison, and why I’m still alive for that matter?”
“I have a hunch.”
An uproar began to form in the floor above, suggesting a struggle, with enough screams and sounds of maiming to suggest casualties.
“I’d hate to interrupt this little reunion, but we’ve gotta move.”
The trio fled, heading for the elevators Aeon and Amethyst somehow knew existed, until all three caught the glimpse of a familiar face.
“Hey hag, need a hand? Who’s ol’ bones and metal here?” Aegis offhandedly asked Sister Clara. From the outside, it appeared that Sister Clara and Konka Rar were in a cell with a glass door—one-way and soundproof glass, as the inmates’ lack of a reply seemed to indicate. Aeon and Amethyst motioned for Aegis to ignore them, preferring to keep the infamous lich in captivity. With total disregard, Aegis ripped off the nearest terminal, thereby causing the door to retract into the ceiling. Clara and Rar turned to their apparent liberators.
“This is a pleasant surprise.” Konka Rar said, beginning to exit.
“Aegis, find a way to close the door. We’re not letting Konka Rar out.”
“What? You just did.”
“They seem to know you, Rar. Could someone please explain?”
“There was another contestant in our battle, one of his undead creations. We helped him find his free will and independence, but Rar here was intent on keeping him a slave. Rar was also involved in several conflicts in our battle, including teaming up with a particularly destructive necromancer.”
“What in ten ages are you talking about?!” Konka Rar paused. “This ‘undead creation’ wouldn’t happen to be my vacuum cleaner, would it?”
“Excuse me. There seems to be a great deal of confusion here. Does anyone have a cohesive explanation for all of this? For starters, who are these two?”
“This guy’s Aeon. I’ve known him for years. This girl is Amethyst, who’s apparently another contestant in the battle Aeon was in.”
“I believe I’ve figured some of this out. This is the fifth round, which you should remember as Battleopolis.” Aeon looked at Amethyst as she nodded. “The reason we’re alive—and Konka Rar is here—is we’re like Alcarith and the others in that round, copies created specifically as additional quirks of the setting. If they move on to the next round, we’d probably die. However, we’re all copies of the real people, and in the real Konka Rar’s perspective, all he saw was Eximo disappearing without any explanation. The Konka Rars we fought against were also copies. Eximo won the Grand Battle, by the way. We didn’t manage to kill the Director.”
“Oh.”
“You two were killed by a vacuum cleaner?”
“Long story.”
“I have never been so confused in my life, hah.”
“Mind explaining who the old woman is?” Amethyst asked.
“Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sister Clara Jungfrau, necropolitan. I have been in this battle with Aegis now for several rounds, and-”
“So she’s a contestant.” Aeon muttered in annoyance.
“She looks friendly enough, and might prove useful if we manage to destroy the mana dampening systems.” Amethyst said.
“The lich isn’t coming with us.”
“I don’t believe he will cause any harm at this point.” Clara responded. “This floor has mana dampening systems in place, rendering both of us more or less harmless. I don’t suppose a vow from him to keep civilized will convince you two of that?”
“I will make no such thing.”
“Very well. Rar, lead the way. You are not to leave our sights for any reason.” Amethyst said.
As they walked, noise from the upper floor escalated and extended to the floor they were on. Aegis, the only member of the group still at full strength, formed a longsword and stood at the ready.
Konka Rar suddenly spun around and pointed his hand at the group, clearly generating magic energy.
“Hah! You haven’t noticed? The mana dampening system gave out just a minute ago!”
Amethyst checked her armband. “He’s right.” Immediately, she summoned a dozen crystals, surrounding Rar. Aegis pointed his longsword at his neck vertebrae. Clara, unsure of how to intervene, stayed idle.
“You forget that every prisoner in this prison is a Grand Battle contestant. You are outnumbered.” Amethyst said plainly.
Konka Rar attempted to shoot down the crystals with fireballs, but was met with a gauntlet gripping his skull. He relented. More noise was heard as more and more prisoners escaped from their cells. The group, Aeon and Amethyst realized, were directly in the middle.
The group noticed the sound of electricity coming from further down the hall. Aph came from around the corner and upon seeing the group, developed a wide grin on her face.
“Aph.” Clara said with a hint of concern.
“Another contestant?” Aeon asked.
“Yep.” Aegis released Rar, who regarded the newcomer with irritation. He increased the size of his longsword. “Big fight?”
“Big fight.” Amethyst replied, summoning another dozen crystals.