Re: The Battle Royale S2 [Round 2: Prospect Creek]
10-19-2010, 02:41 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.
Sirius wished he could fly high enough to get past the clouds nonsensically dropping fish everywhere. As it stood, however, he had little choice but to suffer the stench.
He was also slightly concerned that Geoff might see his flight and take the time to snipe him, but more for the annoyance than anything else; the Hattallan would surely notice the oddities and could probably be convinced to help in ending them, although he might oppose Sirius' solution.
The angel continued sweeping the area. He hoped the problem wouldn't get worse before he found Jeremy.
***
The whale had swallowed a skinny man in a dirty trenchcoat with a snake around his shoulders. The Photographer thought he seemed familiar somehow. The man kept yelling at the snake to shut up, then he held up a fan in front of his face and stared at it intently.
Suddenly, the whale started to shake! The Photographer wondered if there was a tidal wave. Then he wondered what color it was. Green, maybe.
***
Geoff blinked. He was sure there hadn't been a giant wave of green paint heading towards him a minute ago.
The myna gas didn't cause hallucinations for his people, so logically the fish falling out of the sky and the wave of paint were really there. The fish had certainly felt real when it had hit him on the head earlier. However, solving this mystery would be much easier if Geoff could find some shelter. He ran for the nearest building and slammed the door behind him.
Then he heard the shouting from a nearby room. It was Timothy Swhales' voice.
"Wh-what do you want from me? Please don't hurt me! I don't know why she took over your battle!"
Geoff's curiosity got the better of him, and he ran towards the kitchen to investigate.
***
Sirius groaned as he narrowly dodged a falling fish. There was no sign of Jeremy in the air. He was either in one of the buildings, or he had wandered into the wasteland around the town.
The latter thought gave Sirius pause. On the plus side, Jeremy would likely die of starvation or dehydration in a few days. The downside was dealing with the Photographer's imagination until then. It was an unpleasant thought.
Then the angel had an idea. He didn't need to eat or drink. He could fly out into the desert, and simply wait the battle out. Eventually the Photographer would destroy someone in a very stupid manner that Sirius did not want to know about at all, or one of them would starve. As long as the Photographer's insanity didn't go that far out, it would be perfectly safe. Of course, if the Photographer was still affected by the gas when they reahced the next arena... well, that would be problematic.
The risk paled in comparison to being constantly bombarded by fish from the sky, however. Sirius began flying out towards the desert, leaving the others to their fate.
***
In the dome, Wardell had been struck by a realization.
Whatever crazy things were going on out there, he didn't have to deal with them. He could just sit down, and read. All he had to do was ignore the scarf and the Photographer crowding him out. And the occasional thing conjured inside the dome. That wasn't so bad, really. He reached out for a book.
"Say, aren't you hungry?" his scarf asked as he did. Wardell ignored it. Even though he did have a slight craving for cheese on toast.
***
"Cheese on toast?" the Photographer said, after the man had picked up a new fan to stare at and gruffly given his reply. "Why, there must be plenty of it outside! I just hope the tidal wave doesn't ruin it all."
The man said nothing, and stared at his fan for a while. For some reason, he didn't unfold it. Maybe he felt uncomfortable.
***
"At least it's not fish," Sirius sighed, as the piece of toast falling from the sky struck him in the head. Leaving the town was definitely looking like the best solution.
As he flew over the desert, the rain finally stopped. He must have made it out of the Photographer's range, thankfully.
A few minutes later, he groaned as he saw what was very clearly a human passed out in the middle of the desert. And he was fairly sure he knew which human it was.
After some deliberation, Sirius decided that the Photographer's capacity for generating nonsense was much greater than Jeremy's. As opportune a moment as it would be to eliminate the door mage, there was a greater nuisance to be dealt with first. The angel landed nearby and approached the unconscious figure.
***
Wardell wasn't sure why he couldn't open the book. He'd opened lots of books. Why was this one sticking?
He looked back to his pile, only to find that the top book was still open.
And there was a hand sticking out of it.
He screamed, and turned to run, even though he was trapped in the dome.
***
"What's wrong?" the Photographer asked the trenchcoat man. "Why are you afraid? Is there a monster?"
The Photographer was suddenly afraid. Very afraid. He wasn't sure if he'd ever been this afraid before.
"That... that monster..."
***
Wardell soon calmed himself down enough to decide not to look back at that book that definitely didn't have a hand coming out of the page. It was in vain, he soon discovered. He hadn't realized how his screaming had been perceived in the dream world, how anxious it had made the Photographer.
Nor had he been aware that the strange being had "inherited" something from Sereno. No one had known of the subconscious transfer, not even the Photographer himself. But now it was here, and it was upset.
Wardell found himself face-to-face with Umbra, in a space that could barely hold the two of them. He knew this wouldn't end well.
"Um... hey there!" he said nervously to the dream-being, in a desperate attempt to placate it. "Read any good books lately?"
Sirius wished he could fly high enough to get past the clouds nonsensically dropping fish everywhere. As it stood, however, he had little choice but to suffer the stench.
He was also slightly concerned that Geoff might see his flight and take the time to snipe him, but more for the annoyance than anything else; the Hattallan would surely notice the oddities and could probably be convinced to help in ending them, although he might oppose Sirius' solution.
The angel continued sweeping the area. He hoped the problem wouldn't get worse before he found Jeremy.
***
The whale had swallowed a skinny man in a dirty trenchcoat with a snake around his shoulders. The Photographer thought he seemed familiar somehow. The man kept yelling at the snake to shut up, then he held up a fan in front of his face and stared at it intently.
Suddenly, the whale started to shake! The Photographer wondered if there was a tidal wave. Then he wondered what color it was. Green, maybe.
***
Geoff blinked. He was sure there hadn't been a giant wave of green paint heading towards him a minute ago.
The myna gas didn't cause hallucinations for his people, so logically the fish falling out of the sky and the wave of paint were really there. The fish had certainly felt real when it had hit him on the head earlier. However, solving this mystery would be much easier if Geoff could find some shelter. He ran for the nearest building and slammed the door behind him.
Then he heard the shouting from a nearby room. It was Timothy Swhales' voice.
"Wh-what do you want from me? Please don't hurt me! I don't know why she took over your battle!"
Geoff's curiosity got the better of him, and he ran towards the kitchen to investigate.
***
Sirius groaned as he narrowly dodged a falling fish. There was no sign of Jeremy in the air. He was either in one of the buildings, or he had wandered into the wasteland around the town.
The latter thought gave Sirius pause. On the plus side, Jeremy would likely die of starvation or dehydration in a few days. The downside was dealing with the Photographer's imagination until then. It was an unpleasant thought.
Then the angel had an idea. He didn't need to eat or drink. He could fly out into the desert, and simply wait the battle out. Eventually the Photographer would destroy someone in a very stupid manner that Sirius did not want to know about at all, or one of them would starve. As long as the Photographer's insanity didn't go that far out, it would be perfectly safe. Of course, if the Photographer was still affected by the gas when they reahced the next arena... well, that would be problematic.
The risk paled in comparison to being constantly bombarded by fish from the sky, however. Sirius began flying out towards the desert, leaving the others to their fate.
***
In the dome, Wardell had been struck by a realization.
Whatever crazy things were going on out there, he didn't have to deal with them. He could just sit down, and read. All he had to do was ignore the scarf and the Photographer crowding him out. And the occasional thing conjured inside the dome. That wasn't so bad, really. He reached out for a book.
"Say, aren't you hungry?" his scarf asked as he did. Wardell ignored it. Even though he did have a slight craving for cheese on toast.
***
"Cheese on toast?" the Photographer said, after the man had picked up a new fan to stare at and gruffly given his reply. "Why, there must be plenty of it outside! I just hope the tidal wave doesn't ruin it all."
The man said nothing, and stared at his fan for a while. For some reason, he didn't unfold it. Maybe he felt uncomfortable.
***
"At least it's not fish," Sirius sighed, as the piece of toast falling from the sky struck him in the head. Leaving the town was definitely looking like the best solution.
As he flew over the desert, the rain finally stopped. He must have made it out of the Photographer's range, thankfully.
A few minutes later, he groaned as he saw what was very clearly a human passed out in the middle of the desert. And he was fairly sure he knew which human it was.
After some deliberation, Sirius decided that the Photographer's capacity for generating nonsense was much greater than Jeremy's. As opportune a moment as it would be to eliminate the door mage, there was a greater nuisance to be dealt with first. The angel landed nearby and approached the unconscious figure.
***
Wardell wasn't sure why he couldn't open the book. He'd opened lots of books. Why was this one sticking?
He looked back to his pile, only to find that the top book was still open.
And there was a hand sticking out of it.
He screamed, and turned to run, even though he was trapped in the dome.
***
"What's wrong?" the Photographer asked the trenchcoat man. "Why are you afraid? Is there a monster?"
The Photographer was suddenly afraid. Very afraid. He wasn't sure if he'd ever been this afraid before.
"That... that monster..."
***
Wardell soon calmed himself down enough to decide not to look back at that book that definitely didn't have a hand coming out of the page. It was in vain, he soon discovered. He hadn't realized how his screaming had been perceived in the dream world, how anxious it had made the Photographer.
Nor had he been aware that the strange being had "inherited" something from Sereno. No one had known of the subconscious transfer, not even the Photographer himself. But now it was here, and it was upset.
Wardell found himself face-to-face with Umbra, in a space that could barely hold the two of them. He knew this wouldn't end well.
"Um... hey there!" he said nervously to the dream-being, in a desperate attempt to placate it. "Read any good books lately?"
There's no reason for this | Or this | Death is inevitable | You can't challenge fate | The smallest change | I'm overwhelmed
I'm serious | It makes perfect sense | Easy as ABC! | I can't even explain it | Cleaning up someone else's mess
I suck | I rule | I've got it made | Really, I'm serious | This bugs me | It's all lies | I want to believe | Beauty is a curse
I'm serious | It makes perfect sense | Easy as ABC! | I can't even explain it | Cleaning up someone else's mess
I suck | I rule | I've got it made | Really, I'm serious | This bugs me | It's all lies | I want to believe | Beauty is a curse