The Savage Brawl [Round 5: Battletopia]

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

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Ziirphael had to admit that the alien had a point; prior to the commencement of this battle he had never met another god. Despite never having crossed paths with anything more deific than humans he had easily accepted the existence of the gods. He had had to, he was living proof, or thus he had reasoned. It would have been easy to shrug off the impudence of this bug, to put it down to ignorance or arrogance or a combination of them both, but he could not. He had been born in the wailing darkness that predated the universe itself. If he had never encountered another of his kind, then surely he had to reason that such a thing could not exist. That he was something unique. That he was completely alone.

Though his mind was racing, his body did not sit still in quiet contemplation. Ziirphael was up and slamming into the heavy transparent substance that surrounded him. Whatever this substance was it was strong. Ziir's blades could not slice through it; his drill arm swung with as much force as he could muster could not smash it. The aliens had not so much as taken a step back, their confidence in their containment chambers unfaltering.

Sla’thuin regarded the angry spectacle of the so called god battering against his containment. This Collection was thus far an unmitigated disaster, that much was true, but perhaps it could be turned to his advantage. This creature was clearly a rare specimen, whatever it was. It would be a valuable addition to the Collection, far more so than the pitiful humans he had been sent to collect. And that was not even taking into account the other creatures down there on the surface. If he was to bring back these unusual beings surely he’d receive a commendation from the President herself. Sla’thuin’s smile froze… What if…? He regarded the specimen battering uselessly at the unbreakable walls of the containment cell. Surely not…

“This human form that I see before me…” Sla’thuin began somewhat hesitantly, “…this is not you is it? You are not confined to just the one body?” Ziirphael hesitated in his useless thrashing. “In your true form you are a black fog, or something similar.” Ziirphael’s eyes widened and his hesitation turned into a complete stop. Sla’thuin smiled widely; scarcely able to believe that his mad hunch had been correct. “I know what you are.” He said. “Moreover I know someone who would like to speak to you immediately.”

“What do you know?” Ziirphael demanded, slamming his limbs into the unbreakable container again. “What am I?”

“Do you think you could be civil and refrain from attacking my colleagues for the time being?” Sla’thuin asked. Ziir recalled Konka’s instructions; they had said nothing about murdering the aliens on board… He nodded a confirmation to the high admiral’s question and subconsciously reached for his radio. Sla’thuin nodded to one of the aliens at his flank.

“Are you certain about this High Admiral?” The alien asked, shortly receiving a sharp slap in response.

“Of course I am sure.” Sla’thuin replied. “Let him free.” With visible trepidation the alien pushed some buttons on a fancy metal bracer. Around Ziirphael there was the sound of mechanical parts shifting and moments later the cell unlocked, the walls of the chamber disappearing into the floor beneath him.

"Konka, this is Ziirphael. I was stunned and captured by the aliens, but they have graciously freed me and wish me to meet someone like myself. Over." The words were out before Ziirphael even realised what he was doing. Sla’thuin’s bodyguards suddenly had their weapons in hand and trained upon him, while the High Admiral himself had a perplexed look upon his face. “This body is being an issue.” He quickly explained.

“Take mine.” Sla’thuin replied. “It would be an honour.” Ziirphael stared uncomprehendingly at the High Admiral for a second, before his radio crackled back to life.

As he replied Konka was clearly irritated by this turn of events. “Kill them.” He snapped. “Then find somewhere secure and call me back.” Without a word Ziirphael jammed the radio back into his pocket, though he would have loved to have slung it off into a distant corner in this immense room, where he would never find it even if he had the time or inclination to look, or better yet to just smash it to pieces. His eyes narrowed in rage; here he was so close to an answer that he hadn’t even known was a question and he was stopped in his tracks by that thoughtless lich. If he had had hands at that point, they would have balled into fists as he exercised as much self-restraint as was afforded to him in this corpse of a body.

“Run.” He only managed to force one word out before he could no longer hold off Konka’s control. Unfortunately the aliens did not heed his advice while they had the opportunity.