Re: The Savage Brawl [Round 3: Abandoned Park]
06-16-2010, 04:00 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by SleepingOrange.
Ekelhaft, for all its chaotic and destructive nature, was not a being incapable of planning and forethought; indeed, the successful campaigns of millenia had taught it a great deal of strategy and patience. That said, direct combat brought out the deepest oldest parts of the slime, full of rage and destruction and a dearth of sense and foresight. Precious seconds were wasted vacillating between three equally-delicious targets, before a near-random decision sent it oozing after Konka Rar.
Rather than maintain the torso it had so recently adopted, the scattered blobs of Ekelhaft simply launched themselves formlessly after the lich, leapfrogging amd bouncing in pursuit, emitting an excited keening and occasionally spitting the odd tooth towards their quarry. Konka Rar had been gliding inches above the ground on a small cushion of air, but as the ooze closed in the spell began to warp and fade; the lich's toes caught on the soil, sending him toppling face-first. His reflexes were good enough to catch himself with his mechanical arm and turn the fall into a mere stumble, but he had lost too much time to continue running. Five smaller Ekelhafts formed a semicircle around him, gibbering and feinting. They were small and fast enough that it was difficult to train a laser on one, but they hadn't moved to attack yet.
Suspended as it was in Hoss's prison, Self had a very poor view of its surroundings; the distortion made identifying things very difficult on top of the problems of only having one eye. Still, the little gob of angry slime was able to recognize what it used to be as it bounded past and redoubled its escape efforts upon seeing the streaks of green. Hoss could feel his arm vibrate with the force of the thing's attempts to break free, but was confident that the prison would hold as long as he had energy to supply.
The mage-cum-cyberneticist cursed himself for a fool. He should have known better than to try to use magic to escape from a thaumophage like Ekelhaft, and was paying the price for his blunder; only one shot in five was hitting, and the tiny amount of ooze that sublimated on each hit seemed easily recovered or ignored. As he backed away from the group, still trying to fire, he'd lost track of two of the chunks of green madness; he was certain without looking that they had circled around behind him and had him surrounded. His bony hand gripped his staff tightly, and his conquerer's mind raced, trying to turn the situation to his advantage.
Seeing the world through a thousand eyes is easy for something that had done it for all of its eons of existence; seeing the world through disparate groups of hundreds of eyes, however, was dizzying. Konka Rar had been half right: the intention was to encircle the bothersome lich; in execution, however one of the five had gone the wrong direction and was having a very hard time figuring out where it was in relation to the others and its target. The false swipes that Rar had mistaken for feints were simply misjudged and botched tackles.
In the back of its mind, Ekelhaft knew it had the advantage in any prolonged standoff, but in the forefront of its consciousness was the desire to rend and kill and do it now. Its anger at the lich and at itself for being so clumsy served only to incite even more frenzied attacks, which themselves were scattered, disorganized, and largely off the mark. It was too intent on its attack as it was to reform or reconsider, but as long as Konka Rar was in control of his faculties, Ekelhaft would have little luck with its haphazard assault.
Ekelhaft, for all its chaotic and destructive nature, was not a being incapable of planning and forethought; indeed, the successful campaigns of millenia had taught it a great deal of strategy and patience. That said, direct combat brought out the deepest oldest parts of the slime, full of rage and destruction and a dearth of sense and foresight. Precious seconds were wasted vacillating between three equally-delicious targets, before a near-random decision sent it oozing after Konka Rar.
Rather than maintain the torso it had so recently adopted, the scattered blobs of Ekelhaft simply launched themselves formlessly after the lich, leapfrogging amd bouncing in pursuit, emitting an excited keening and occasionally spitting the odd tooth towards their quarry. Konka Rar had been gliding inches above the ground on a small cushion of air, but as the ooze closed in the spell began to warp and fade; the lich's toes caught on the soil, sending him toppling face-first. His reflexes were good enough to catch himself with his mechanical arm and turn the fall into a mere stumble, but he had lost too much time to continue running. Five smaller Ekelhafts formed a semicircle around him, gibbering and feinting. They were small and fast enough that it was difficult to train a laser on one, but they hadn't moved to attack yet.
Suspended as it was in Hoss's prison, Self had a very poor view of its surroundings; the distortion made identifying things very difficult on top of the problems of only having one eye. Still, the little gob of angry slime was able to recognize what it used to be as it bounded past and redoubled its escape efforts upon seeing the streaks of green. Hoss could feel his arm vibrate with the force of the thing's attempts to break free, but was confident that the prison would hold as long as he had energy to supply.
The mage-cum-cyberneticist cursed himself for a fool. He should have known better than to try to use magic to escape from a thaumophage like Ekelhaft, and was paying the price for his blunder; only one shot in five was hitting, and the tiny amount of ooze that sublimated on each hit seemed easily recovered or ignored. As he backed away from the group, still trying to fire, he'd lost track of two of the chunks of green madness; he was certain without looking that they had circled around behind him and had him surrounded. His bony hand gripped his staff tightly, and his conquerer's mind raced, trying to turn the situation to his advantage.
Seeing the world through a thousand eyes is easy for something that had done it for all of its eons of existence; seeing the world through disparate groups of hundreds of eyes, however, was dizzying. Konka Rar had been half right: the intention was to encircle the bothersome lich; in execution, however one of the five had gone the wrong direction and was having a very hard time figuring out where it was in relation to the others and its target. The false swipes that Rar had mistaken for feints were simply misjudged and botched tackles.
In the back of its mind, Ekelhaft knew it had the advantage in any prolonged standoff, but in the forefront of its consciousness was the desire to rend and kill and do it now. Its anger at the lich and at itself for being so clumsy served only to incite even more frenzied attacks, which themselves were scattered, disorganized, and largely off the mark. It was too intent on its attack as it was to reform or reconsider, but as long as Konka Rar was in control of his faculties, Ekelhaft would have little luck with its haphazard assault.