Re: The Savage Brawl [Round 1: Afterlife]
02-28-2010, 08:15 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
The blind slime made a rippling motion and spat out a punctured eye and several arrowheads. Another eye surfaced to take its place, but it didn't matter; the moment of blindness had been enough and his quarry had escaped. Ekelhaft had no illusions that it was powerful enough to suppress the magical explosion that was imminent, nor did it think it would survive it in a way that would leave it strong enough to have a decent shot at survival. The only shelter it could see was the cave, and Ekelhaft was extremely reluctant to get into a position where a number of allied psychopaths would bear down on it at once. Time was running out and the ooze was running out of options. Wait... This place was limestone, wasn't it? Limestone or close enough; an exploratory dig with a tooth yielded a satisfying scrape into the living rock. A simple plan formed and Ekelhaft wasted no time in implementing it.
It extended a pseudopod and formed a conical tip ringed with dozens of teeth; the teeth began to rotate, slime twisting, and Ekelhaft pushed its makeshift drill hard into the stone. Between its incisors and its acid, the slime was making decent progress; it was just digging a simple shaft downwards, only about eight inches in diameter. It formed a pulsing channel down one side, pulling up the stone dust to clear the hole. Once it was deep enough that Ekelhaft could fit is entire body inside, plus about two feet of buffer, it formed a "plug" out of the powdered limestone and some of its more blunted teeth. Between its magic-dampening, the plug, and its limited exposed surface, it was sure it could weather the explosion.
The tiny blob of slime and teeth that had been tailing the techies was alone now; it had lost its quarry in the fray, and hadn't been able to tail anyone without realizing it. Ekelhaft realized that even if its old purpose was finished, it could still prove useful; it liked the idea of laying unseen in its little hole while the small blob scouted. Ekelhaft Jr, as it was beginning to think of the offshoot, oozed into the lee of a column and bored itself another small hole. Shortly after it finished its own protective plug, there was a quiet fwup, followed by a sound too loud to be heard. The cavern shook.
The blind slime made a rippling motion and spat out a punctured eye and several arrowheads. Another eye surfaced to take its place, but it didn't matter; the moment of blindness had been enough and his quarry had escaped. Ekelhaft had no illusions that it was powerful enough to suppress the magical explosion that was imminent, nor did it think it would survive it in a way that would leave it strong enough to have a decent shot at survival. The only shelter it could see was the cave, and Ekelhaft was extremely reluctant to get into a position where a number of allied psychopaths would bear down on it at once. Time was running out and the ooze was running out of options. Wait... This place was limestone, wasn't it? Limestone or close enough; an exploratory dig with a tooth yielded a satisfying scrape into the living rock. A simple plan formed and Ekelhaft wasted no time in implementing it.
It extended a pseudopod and formed a conical tip ringed with dozens of teeth; the teeth began to rotate, slime twisting, and Ekelhaft pushed its makeshift drill hard into the stone. Between its incisors and its acid, the slime was making decent progress; it was just digging a simple shaft downwards, only about eight inches in diameter. It formed a pulsing channel down one side, pulling up the stone dust to clear the hole. Once it was deep enough that Ekelhaft could fit is entire body inside, plus about two feet of buffer, it formed a "plug" out of the powdered limestone and some of its more blunted teeth. Between its magic-dampening, the plug, and its limited exposed surface, it was sure it could weather the explosion.
The tiny blob of slime and teeth that had been tailing the techies was alone now; it had lost its quarry in the fray, and hadn't been able to tail anyone without realizing it. Ekelhaft realized that even if its old purpose was finished, it could still prove useful; it liked the idea of laying unseen in its little hole while the small blob scouted. Ekelhaft Jr, as it was beginning to think of the offshoot, oozed into the lee of a column and bored itself another small hole. Shortly after it finished its own protective plug, there was a quiet fwup, followed by a sound too loud to be heard. The cavern shook.