Re: DEATHGAME 9000 [S!3] Round Two: Interplanetary Circus
10-24-2012, 04:27 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.
When confronted with death, people feel fear. It is an understandable reaction that nearly all sentient creatures share. Humans are unique in that they fear not only their own deaths, but can fear the deaths of their companions.
Those that die leave behind survivors who have to bare the burden and move on. Those that fail to save lives must wonder what else could have been accomplished, if only they had known or acted faster.
Keagan felt none of this.
Even as the tears fell, even as her blood seeped into his clothes, even when he was torn away from her now limp body and relocated twice, Keagan felt empty. There was no honour in being a hero that failed or simply being a boy that survived. Eventually the emptiness found a substance to fill the void. Anger. He now knew that whatever Gomorrah truly was, it had to be eliminated. After that, the orange fool would be next. He already had a vague and crazy plan to kill both of them.
He dried his tears, put his glasses on and managed to search his surroundings. He wasn't alone.
She stood there, staring at him. She showed no feeling of surprise or fear, not even curiosity. They both simply stood there, staring. She had recently showered, he could tell, and was halfway through getting dressed. If she noticed his brief look at her flesh she didn't show it, but Keagan turned all the same. She seemed contempt with that at least as she continued dressing. As he heard the fabrics move he allowed himself a small peek, taking in more this time. What he saw was not flesh, though he hadn't been hoping for that, but instead was a large scorpion tail. At first he assumed it was a prop or costume, since he appeared to be in a dressing room. But they way it would swerve from side to side, or move aside to allow for her clothes seemed far too prehensile for it to be fake.
This girl was not normal. But Keagan was surprised by his own lack of, well, surprise.
When she was finally dressed she took a seat, her tail curving around her waist to rest on her lap.
“So”
As Keagan turned to address her she lunged forward, quickly stabbing him in the chest with her sharp reptilian spiked tail. He was slammed into a wall while the tail failed to penetrate his flesh. This at least seemed to get her attention as she applied even more pressure. Keagan was unused to the feeling of slowly being crushed, but his power seemed able to compensate. After she seemed to have exhausted her full strength she instead kept him pinned. With a proper chance to look her over Keagan noticed her short yet wild bronze hair, her almost glowing aqua coloured eyes and an outfit that reminded him of the pattern of a bumblebee. It matched her tail. The costume left very little to the male imagination, helped along by her curvaceous figure.
“So”
“I guess you've earned a chance to explain yourself, never met a brat that could hold up this long,”
He briefly considered telling her the truth. He couldn't play off his sudden appearance without causing himself trouble.
“How much time do ya have? It's a long story. And very, very bullshit.”
“Long enough, I'd think.”
So he told her. From his selection, to meeting Jolene, all until the moment he stood in her dressing room. He managed to avoid telling her about his power, or the events that would sound impossible to survive without it. All the while she didn't react, she just kept staring at his face, possibly judging whether he was lying. There wasn't much chance of her believing it all, but Keagan was already between a wall and a very strong opponent. His chances weren't getting much better.
“That is one heck of a story, I'll give you that. Truth or not I think you've earned a little freedom.”
The pressure on his torso lightened as she retracted her tail. He rubbed at the point where the barb had failed to pierce his skin. His finger kept away sticky. This girl, whoever she is, was more dangerous than she looked. And she looked pretty damn dangerous as is.
She sat once again, this time letting Keagan stay where he was.
“So your friend died, that explains the blood. You've got six things left that could try and kill you, not to mention you don't know the layout of the circus, and there are other new guys who can try and screw up my job.” She sighed, finally showing a single sign of dropping her guard. “This doesn't seem like something the manager could handle. And there are very few exceptions of things they could not handle, I tell ya.”
There was a knock on her door, causing her to look sidelong at it. It was quickly followed by a voice calling “Ten minutes, Pepper”
She stood again, moving across to a small desk that held an array of make-ups along with a mirror. She tutted at her reflection as she started adding girly things Keagan had no understanding of.
“Listen Kid,” She said between applications, “You've got a shit hand dealt but way I see it it's none of my business. True, I did just try and kill ya, but I won't be the last today I reckon. Whatever kept you alive just know better keep happening for the next hour or so.”
As Keagan opened his mouth to respond her tail lashed out. It stopped a foot or two before his face, causing him to blink in automatic response. But the stinger never connected, but he felt a sharp burning sensation in the back of his throat. His eyes opened in shock as he began to gag. When he tried to focus on her, all he saw was her reflection in the mirror, her eyes deadly focused on him. As his mind figured she'd used it to target him, poison him, he could only wonder what she planned.
All her words that he remembered suddenly began to dull, his body becoming numb almost like an instantaneous fever was ploughing through him.
“Hope you got good reflexes kid,” She said standing over him, belts of knives wrapping around her figure, “'cos I hate it when my targets get squeamish. It scares the audience.”
As his mind went blank, all Keagan could focus on was his plan, his solace, his last resort. He needed that girl with the rabbit. He needed to kill that spectral city.
He needed more power.
When confronted with death, people feel fear. It is an understandable reaction that nearly all sentient creatures share. Humans are unique in that they fear not only their own deaths, but can fear the deaths of their companions.
Those that die leave behind survivors who have to bare the burden and move on. Those that fail to save lives must wonder what else could have been accomplished, if only they had known or acted faster.
Keagan felt none of this.
Even as the tears fell, even as her blood seeped into his clothes, even when he was torn away from her now limp body and relocated twice, Keagan felt empty. There was no honour in being a hero that failed or simply being a boy that survived. Eventually the emptiness found a substance to fill the void. Anger. He now knew that whatever Gomorrah truly was, it had to be eliminated. After that, the orange fool would be next. He already had a vague and crazy plan to kill both of them.
He dried his tears, put his glasses on and managed to search his surroundings. He wasn't alone.
She stood there, staring at him. She showed no feeling of surprise or fear, not even curiosity. They both simply stood there, staring. She had recently showered, he could tell, and was halfway through getting dressed. If she noticed his brief look at her flesh she didn't show it, but Keagan turned all the same. She seemed contempt with that at least as she continued dressing. As he heard the fabrics move he allowed himself a small peek, taking in more this time. What he saw was not flesh, though he hadn't been hoping for that, but instead was a large scorpion tail. At first he assumed it was a prop or costume, since he appeared to be in a dressing room. But they way it would swerve from side to side, or move aside to allow for her clothes seemed far too prehensile for it to be fake.
This girl was not normal. But Keagan was surprised by his own lack of, well, surprise.
When she was finally dressed she took a seat, her tail curving around her waist to rest on her lap.
“So”
As Keagan turned to address her she lunged forward, quickly stabbing him in the chest with her sharp reptilian spiked tail. He was slammed into a wall while the tail failed to penetrate his flesh. This at least seemed to get her attention as she applied even more pressure. Keagan was unused to the feeling of slowly being crushed, but his power seemed able to compensate. After she seemed to have exhausted her full strength she instead kept him pinned. With a proper chance to look her over Keagan noticed her short yet wild bronze hair, her almost glowing aqua coloured eyes and an outfit that reminded him of the pattern of a bumblebee. It matched her tail. The costume left very little to the male imagination, helped along by her curvaceous figure.
“So”
“I guess you've earned a chance to explain yourself, never met a brat that could hold up this long,”
He briefly considered telling her the truth. He couldn't play off his sudden appearance without causing himself trouble.
“How much time do ya have? It's a long story. And very, very bullshit.”
“Long enough, I'd think.”
So he told her. From his selection, to meeting Jolene, all until the moment he stood in her dressing room. He managed to avoid telling her about his power, or the events that would sound impossible to survive without it. All the while she didn't react, she just kept staring at his face, possibly judging whether he was lying. There wasn't much chance of her believing it all, but Keagan was already between a wall and a very strong opponent. His chances weren't getting much better.
“That is one heck of a story, I'll give you that. Truth or not I think you've earned a little freedom.”
The pressure on his torso lightened as she retracted her tail. He rubbed at the point where the barb had failed to pierce his skin. His finger kept away sticky. This girl, whoever she is, was more dangerous than she looked. And she looked pretty damn dangerous as is.
She sat once again, this time letting Keagan stay where he was.
“So your friend died, that explains the blood. You've got six things left that could try and kill you, not to mention you don't know the layout of the circus, and there are other new guys who can try and screw up my job.” She sighed, finally showing a single sign of dropping her guard. “This doesn't seem like something the manager could handle. And there are very few exceptions of things they could not handle, I tell ya.”
There was a knock on her door, causing her to look sidelong at it. It was quickly followed by a voice calling “Ten minutes, Pepper”
She stood again, moving across to a small desk that held an array of make-ups along with a mirror. She tutted at her reflection as she started adding girly things Keagan had no understanding of.
“Listen Kid,” She said between applications, “You've got a shit hand dealt but way I see it it's none of my business. True, I did just try and kill ya, but I won't be the last today I reckon. Whatever kept you alive just know better keep happening for the next hour or so.”
As Keagan opened his mouth to respond her tail lashed out. It stopped a foot or two before his face, causing him to blink in automatic response. But the stinger never connected, but he felt a sharp burning sensation in the back of his throat. His eyes opened in shock as he began to gag. When he tried to focus on her, all he saw was her reflection in the mirror, her eyes deadly focused on him. As his mind figured she'd used it to target him, poison him, he could only wonder what she planned.
All her words that he remembered suddenly began to dull, his body becoming numb almost like an instantaneous fever was ploughing through him.
“Hope you got good reflexes kid,” She said standing over him, belts of knives wrapping around her figure, “'cos I hate it when my targets get squeamish. It scares the audience.”
As his mind went blank, all Keagan could focus on was his plan, his solace, his last resort. He needed that girl with the rabbit. He needed to kill that spectral city.
He needed more power.