Re: The Savage Brawl [Round 1: Afterlife]
02-21-2010, 02:47 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.
As Hoss trudges across the lakebed, navigating his way through the lightless deep, his thoughts wander. They dive through the eons of memories and experiences, back to a time before humanity had even glimpsed its role in the universe, before Hoss had formulated his Billion Year Plan, when his body was organic, and he was known by another name...
...a wild-haired youth sits in front of a flickering cathode-ray tube projection device, on a piece of furniture made from processed metal and animal products. Next to him, a short-haired, almost elfin female wears an expression of annoyance.
"I still don't see why it's so important," she says, attempting to bring the youth's attention back to her.
The youth's piercing blue eyes are glued to the screen, where a primitive collection of modules float in space, backdropped by a portion of a blue sphere. The youth answers, almost absent-mindedly.
"Because it is the first example of a permanent human presence in space. What's not to get?"
As if that were enough, the youth returns his focus to the ungainly white structure.
The female sighs, "That's just it. We don't need to go to space. We need to focus on Earth! Going to space is just... pointless. I don't get your fascination with it."
Confused, the blue-eyed youth turns to his companion.
"What? That's... you're not making any sense. Our presence in space is inevitable. It's humanity's destiny. The future doesn't care if you think it's pointless."
Visibly agitated, the female protests, "Well you don't have to be a jackass about it. Next time I just won't ask, then you wouldn't get to flaunt your precious "intelligence" like I know you love to do. And you can forget about satisfying your stupid hormones tonight; you're sleeping on the floor. Maybe then you'll actually try learning to be social."
The female stalks off, but the youth mentally dismisses her outburst. His attention is no longer focused on his (soon to be ex) girlfriend, nor on the images in front of him. They instead venture, tenderly, into the future. At first, just a few years, then decades, then generations...
This moment will never be recorded, but it is the most important moment in human history. For the first time, the boy who will be known as Hand of Silver begins to assemble the pieces of his Billion Year Plan.
Hoss brings himself out of his reverie as a tendril of light plays upon the ground before him. He is approaching the shore of the other island, where his fellow contestants currently reside. He looks up, and through the surface, can make out pulses of colored illumination. Hoss deduces that a fight is in progress. Judging by the prismatic display above, the participants must be using low-tech light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation devices; thoroughly inefficient, in terms of damage, but easy for pre-Singularity civilizations to develop. The only possible candidates, therefore, are the Doctor and the Lich. Hoss diverts a small amount of power to his kinetic barriers; while they are unable to fully function as shields until he can jump-start his heart, they are able to create a funneling effect in the water, which propels Hoss forwards and upwards.
-------
Konka Rar is pleased. The vastly inferior woman in front of him is in no position to dodge his lightning blast (how could she? It moves at the speed of light!), and he is fairly certain that there are no more little tricks she can whip out in time to block or otherwise negate his killing blow. A fine kill is upon him.
-------
Churning water angrily ejects a battle-ready Hoss, mere feet away from Konka Rar. Long-unused martial art protocols activate upon a quick assessment of the view before him: a puny, wild-eyed, fair-haired woman cringing before an undead cyborg monstrosity. An unknown weapon is pointed in her direction. The range is almost point-blank. If Hoss does not interfere, she will die.
Kinetic projectors in Hoss's back let loose a brief but powerful burst in a direction opposite to his intended line of travel. The sudden kick changes Hoss's direction in midair, severing his parabolic path and launching him towards his target. Hoss lands in between the Lich and the Doctor, synthetic left arm facing the aggressor. Limited on time, Hoss brings his left forearm up in an almost shield-bearing gesture. Panels scissor out from its sides, perpendicular to the weapon's line of fire, tearing through the sleeve of Hoss's overcoat. A faint hum can be heard as his sleeve is ripped to shreds by invisible claws.
In the same instant, Konka Rar discharges his lightning bolt.
The supercharged plasma careens off of Hoss's desperate and energy-sapping forcefield, instantly overloading its generators. Hoss is already moving, using the excess kinetic energy from his descent to roll forwards. As his hands touch the ground, he pushes off towards a nearby stalagmite, feet deftly positioning themselves for a quick ricochet. One foot lands on the stalagmite's side before the other, performing a quick walking motion in order to gain some height. As Hoss pushes off, he is now positioned slightly above the undead Cyborg's head. Hoss brings his feet under him, angling his knees forwards to serve as a striking surface, raising his arms above his head for stabilization and later leverage. With a sound that would have been sickening had it not hit a corpse, Konka Rar gets a face-full of Hoss's structurally-enhanced kneecaps.
Konka Rar falls backwards, and Hoss falls with him, already positioning his limbs for the final phase of his attack. As the duo topple, Hoss takes advantage the speed differentials between his upper and lower body and diverts some of his torso's momentum downwards, moving him into a backwards-flip position. He extends his legs so that each shin finds itself underneath the Lich's armpits. When the pair touch ground, Hoss has extended his body into a reverse crescent; hands on the ground at Konka Rar's feet, legs grabbing an undead torso. Using his single activated gyroscope to change his center of gravity, Hoss swings his body around, keeping one hand on the ground, dragging Konka Rar with him. One balletic spin later, and Konka Rar is flying towards the lake.
As the lich's body splashes unceremoniously through the lake's opaque surface, Hoss rights himself, deactivating the one lone gyroscope to conserve energy reserves drained during his defense of the mad scientist. Still dripping from his trek through the lake, he turns towards the young woman, who wears an expression of crazed defiance.
"Ya idjit! I had'im! Yeah sure, you're all 'oooh lookit me, I'm a fancy-shmancy dude that runs around saving chicks!' Well guess what, I have a freakin' LASER GUN, and around here, IT does the saving... well, actually not much saving, more like killing, BUT STILL! I don't need an overdressed freak like you to dispose of... hey you didn't even kill him! I COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB YOU SUCK!"
Hoss's translation centers recognize the language; an extinct dialect belonging to pre-Singularity humanity. Newmatter fabricators, now with something to work with, manufacture artificial vocal chords, a bodypart Hoss had not used in eons. Hoss begins to speak, his first word mangled with a metallic echo as he works through the kinks in his newly-formed voice.
"EEEEEEEEEEERRRRRWWWWWwwWwweee need to talk."
As Hoss trudges across the lakebed, navigating his way through the lightless deep, his thoughts wander. They dive through the eons of memories and experiences, back to a time before humanity had even glimpsed its role in the universe, before Hoss had formulated his Billion Year Plan, when his body was organic, and he was known by another name...
...a wild-haired youth sits in front of a flickering cathode-ray tube projection device, on a piece of furniture made from processed metal and animal products. Next to him, a short-haired, almost elfin female wears an expression of annoyance.
"I still don't see why it's so important," she says, attempting to bring the youth's attention back to her.
The youth's piercing blue eyes are glued to the screen, where a primitive collection of modules float in space, backdropped by a portion of a blue sphere. The youth answers, almost absent-mindedly.
"Because it is the first example of a permanent human presence in space. What's not to get?"
As if that were enough, the youth returns his focus to the ungainly white structure.
The female sighs, "That's just it. We don't need to go to space. We need to focus on Earth! Going to space is just... pointless. I don't get your fascination with it."
Confused, the blue-eyed youth turns to his companion.
"What? That's... you're not making any sense. Our presence in space is inevitable. It's humanity's destiny. The future doesn't care if you think it's pointless."
Visibly agitated, the female protests, "Well you don't have to be a jackass about it. Next time I just won't ask, then you wouldn't get to flaunt your precious "intelligence" like I know you love to do. And you can forget about satisfying your stupid hormones tonight; you're sleeping on the floor. Maybe then you'll actually try learning to be social."
The female stalks off, but the youth mentally dismisses her outburst. His attention is no longer focused on his (soon to be ex) girlfriend, nor on the images in front of him. They instead venture, tenderly, into the future. At first, just a few years, then decades, then generations...
This moment will never be recorded, but it is the most important moment in human history. For the first time, the boy who will be known as Hand of Silver begins to assemble the pieces of his Billion Year Plan.
Hoss brings himself out of his reverie as a tendril of light plays upon the ground before him. He is approaching the shore of the other island, where his fellow contestants currently reside. He looks up, and through the surface, can make out pulses of colored illumination. Hoss deduces that a fight is in progress. Judging by the prismatic display above, the participants must be using low-tech light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation devices; thoroughly inefficient, in terms of damage, but easy for pre-Singularity civilizations to develop. The only possible candidates, therefore, are the Doctor and the Lich. Hoss diverts a small amount of power to his kinetic barriers; while they are unable to fully function as shields until he can jump-start his heart, they are able to create a funneling effect in the water, which propels Hoss forwards and upwards.
-------
Konka Rar is pleased. The vastly inferior woman in front of him is in no position to dodge his lightning blast (how could she? It moves at the speed of light!), and he is fairly certain that there are no more little tricks she can whip out in time to block or otherwise negate his killing blow. A fine kill is upon him.
-------
Churning water angrily ejects a battle-ready Hoss, mere feet away from Konka Rar. Long-unused martial art protocols activate upon a quick assessment of the view before him: a puny, wild-eyed, fair-haired woman cringing before an undead cyborg monstrosity. An unknown weapon is pointed in her direction. The range is almost point-blank. If Hoss does not interfere, she will die.
Kinetic projectors in Hoss's back let loose a brief but powerful burst in a direction opposite to his intended line of travel. The sudden kick changes Hoss's direction in midair, severing his parabolic path and launching him towards his target. Hoss lands in between the Lich and the Doctor, synthetic left arm facing the aggressor. Limited on time, Hoss brings his left forearm up in an almost shield-bearing gesture. Panels scissor out from its sides, perpendicular to the weapon's line of fire, tearing through the sleeve of Hoss's overcoat. A faint hum can be heard as his sleeve is ripped to shreds by invisible claws.
In the same instant, Konka Rar discharges his lightning bolt.
The supercharged plasma careens off of Hoss's desperate and energy-sapping forcefield, instantly overloading its generators. Hoss is already moving, using the excess kinetic energy from his descent to roll forwards. As his hands touch the ground, he pushes off towards a nearby stalagmite, feet deftly positioning themselves for a quick ricochet. One foot lands on the stalagmite's side before the other, performing a quick walking motion in order to gain some height. As Hoss pushes off, he is now positioned slightly above the undead Cyborg's head. Hoss brings his feet under him, angling his knees forwards to serve as a striking surface, raising his arms above his head for stabilization and later leverage. With a sound that would have been sickening had it not hit a corpse, Konka Rar gets a face-full of Hoss's structurally-enhanced kneecaps.
Konka Rar falls backwards, and Hoss falls with him, already positioning his limbs for the final phase of his attack. As the duo topple, Hoss takes advantage the speed differentials between his upper and lower body and diverts some of his torso's momentum downwards, moving him into a backwards-flip position. He extends his legs so that each shin finds itself underneath the Lich's armpits. When the pair touch ground, Hoss has extended his body into a reverse crescent; hands on the ground at Konka Rar's feet, legs grabbing an undead torso. Using his single activated gyroscope to change his center of gravity, Hoss swings his body around, keeping one hand on the ground, dragging Konka Rar with him. One balletic spin later, and Konka Rar is flying towards the lake.
As the lich's body splashes unceremoniously through the lake's opaque surface, Hoss rights himself, deactivating the one lone gyroscope to conserve energy reserves drained during his defense of the mad scientist. Still dripping from his trek through the lake, he turns towards the young woman, who wears an expression of crazed defiance.
"Ya idjit! I had'im! Yeah sure, you're all 'oooh lookit me, I'm a fancy-shmancy dude that runs around saving chicks!' Well guess what, I have a freakin' LASER GUN, and around here, IT does the saving... well, actually not much saving, more like killing, BUT STILL! I don't need an overdressed freak like you to dispose of... hey you didn't even kill him! I COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB YOU SUCK!"
Hoss's translation centers recognize the language; an extinct dialect belonging to pre-Singularity humanity. Newmatter fabricators, now with something to work with, manufacture artificial vocal chords, a bodypart Hoss had not used in eons. Hoss begins to speak, his first word mangled with a metallic echo as he works through the kinks in his newly-formed voice.
"EEEEEEEEEEERRRRRWWWWWwwWwweee need to talk."