Re: The Savage Brawl [Round 3: Abandoned Park]
06-24-2010, 12:38 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by slipsicle.
As Hoss made his way towards the edge of the enclosure, a familiar mound of meat in motion caught his eye. Realizing an unprecedented opportunity to candidly observe Gormand had just presented itself, Hoss stood back to watch, quietly.
Along with Gormand, Hoss had to shield his eyes from the massive electrical discharge. He couldn't help but chuckle at the gratuitous display of carnage; not too dissimilar from his own outburst several minutes ago. Gormand's initiative was...
"Impressive."
Gormand's single eye waded through the mass of ground beef to point itself at Hoss.
"Figures you'd appreciate such wholly unnecessary gore."
"That is not the action to which I referred. Your... exploratory instinct, caution, whatever you'd prefer it to be called, is what impressed me. Almost human. Of course, the raw power this enclosure has put to use in order to better serve its purpose is equally as... intimidating."
"You almost sound scared. I'd think of any of us, you might be able to deal with this."
"Yes, you would think so... but I cannot. At least, not at the moment."
Gormand made a small sound of annoyance. "You're much more useless than I originally thought. You can't even take out a little fence, much less live up to your part of the Ekelhaft problem. If I'm not mistaken, that's Konka Rar off in the distance, doing your job."
Hoss pursed his lips. Ekelhaft was indeed a problem; one that Hoss was less willing to deal with than he'd care to admit.
He glanced at his gravity blade, the makeshift prison vibrating rather more than it should. Perhaps...
Perhaps it was because of the nearby electrical discharge. Perhaps it was an early warning of rapidly diminishing power reserves. Perhaps it had something to do with the sudden "disappearance" of Hoss's newmatter fabricators. Whatever the cause, for the briefest of moments, the gravity bands of Self's prison weakened.
Self had discovered, rather quickly, that it did not have the patience of its larger counterpart. Doubling and redoubling its efforts to break the gravity prison, it wasted no time on surprise when a sliver of an opening appeared for a bare instant. It was not enough to manufacture immediate escape, but a small portion of Self's unbridled, rage-fueled insanity leaked out. Leaked out, and touched upon Hoss's mind.
... Ekelhaft would have to be dealt with, sooner rather than later, Hoss realized. He raised his eyes back to a glaring Gormand.
"You are correct. I have been lax in my duties; I entered into a deal, and it is something I intend to make good upon."
With that, he turned towards the rock maze in the distance. A burst from his kinetic emitters sent him rocketing across the field, towards the inevitable conflict.
A rumbling escaped from Gormand's meaty innards; his way of expressing disdain. Something about the cyborg's behavior was... off. He suspected the damage from Ekelhaft two rounds earlier was more permanent, and more extensive, than he'd previously considered.
A paroxysmic cyclone of manic anger tore at the boundaries of its prison as it spun. Then... oddly familiar shapes occupied its limited view of the outside world. They were little more than heavily-distorted blurs, but something about their pattern... Self recalled its last battle with its captor: a maze of broken porcelain. The pattern of the shapes was reminiscent of that disastrous conflict. Self felt a strange wistfulness overtake it; the distorted scenery evoking the memory of its true separation from Ekelhaft. It found that it valued being... individual. It did not want to go back.
It was still going to kill everything, though.
Remembering his previous engagement with Ekelhaft's sprout, Hoss knew that the conditions of the maze would be ideal for Ekelhaft's aura to work its subtle influence upon him. The deleterious detritus would make short work of him here, undetected as it was.
Hoss decided to change that. His magical acumen had grown slightly since his capture of Ekelhaft Jr. Enough, possibly, to detect the ethereal insanity radiated by the main mass of the ancient madgod.
He entered the maze, every sensor he could afford to activate prowling the boundaries of their detection ranges, searching for traces of madness.
Along with Gormand, Hoss had to shield his eyes from the massive electrical discharge. He couldn't help but chuckle at the gratuitous display of carnage; not too dissimilar from his own outburst several minutes ago. Gormand's initiative was...
"Impressive."
Gormand's single eye waded through the mass of ground beef to point itself at Hoss.
"Figures you'd appreciate such wholly unnecessary gore."
"That is not the action to which I referred. Your... exploratory instinct, caution, whatever you'd prefer it to be called, is what impressed me. Almost human. Of course, the raw power this enclosure has put to use in order to better serve its purpose is equally as... intimidating."
"You almost sound scared. I'd think of any of us, you might be able to deal with this."
"Yes, you would think so... but I cannot. At least, not at the moment."
Gormand made a small sound of annoyance. "You're much more useless than I originally thought. You can't even take out a little fence, much less live up to your part of the Ekelhaft problem. If I'm not mistaken, that's Konka Rar off in the distance, doing your job."
Hoss pursed his lips. Ekelhaft was indeed a problem; one that Hoss was less willing to deal with than he'd care to admit.
He glanced at his gravity blade, the makeshift prison vibrating rather more than it should. Perhaps...
Perhaps it was because of the nearby electrical discharge. Perhaps it was an early warning of rapidly diminishing power reserves. Perhaps it had something to do with the sudden "disappearance" of Hoss's newmatter fabricators. Whatever the cause, for the briefest of moments, the gravity bands of Self's prison weakened.
Self had discovered, rather quickly, that it did not have the patience of its larger counterpart. Doubling and redoubling its efforts to break the gravity prison, it wasted no time on surprise when a sliver of an opening appeared for a bare instant. It was not enough to manufacture immediate escape, but a small portion of Self's unbridled, rage-fueled insanity leaked out. Leaked out, and touched upon Hoss's mind.
... Ekelhaft would have to be dealt with, sooner rather than later, Hoss realized. He raised his eyes back to a glaring Gormand.
"You are correct. I have been lax in my duties; I entered into a deal, and it is something I intend to make good upon."
With that, he turned towards the rock maze in the distance. A burst from his kinetic emitters sent him rocketing across the field, towards the inevitable conflict.
A rumbling escaped from Gormand's meaty innards; his way of expressing disdain. Something about the cyborg's behavior was... off. He suspected the damage from Ekelhaft two rounds earlier was more permanent, and more extensive, than he'd previously considered.
A paroxysmic cyclone of manic anger tore at the boundaries of its prison as it spun. Then... oddly familiar shapes occupied its limited view of the outside world. They were little more than heavily-distorted blurs, but something about their pattern... Self recalled its last battle with its captor: a maze of broken porcelain. The pattern of the shapes was reminiscent of that disastrous conflict. Self felt a strange wistfulness overtake it; the distorted scenery evoking the memory of its true separation from Ekelhaft. It found that it valued being... individual. It did not want to go back.
It was still going to kill everything, though.
Remembering his previous engagement with Ekelhaft's sprout, Hoss knew that the conditions of the maze would be ideal for Ekelhaft's aura to work its subtle influence upon him. The deleterious detritus would make short work of him here, undetected as it was.
Hoss decided to change that. His magical acumen had grown slightly since his capture of Ekelhaft Jr. Enough, possibly, to detect the ethereal insanity radiated by the main mass of the ancient madgod.
He entered the maze, every sensor he could afford to activate prowling the boundaries of their detection ranges, searching for traces of madness.