The Great Belligerency [Round 4: Static]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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Cole was relieved to be away from the Spirit. He was beginning to regret not leaving her to the mercy of the hands.

Nonetheless, he had made his choice, and he might at least be able to get some use out of her offered "help", even if he didn't need it now. He flew above the forest towards Dove, slapping aside the few hand-trees that could draw near to his height; the bioelectric shock alone would be sufficient to win this battle.

As Dove saw Cole draw nearer, his face filled with anger. This monster, who so callously tormented thousands with every moment of his existence, was heading for him. And there was little he could do to prevent it. The hand-trees were proving ineffective.

Seeing no other choice, he commanded the surrounding trees to bend towards him, surrounding him like a dome. It would take Cole some time to break through; he could cause pain to the hands, but little else. But in the end, it was no more than a delaying tactic; Dove was left with no choice but to hope for some other force to come to his aid.

***

As Balance knocked aside the last of his mother's creations, he sensed something.

A battle was taking place some distance away. And one side had an overwhelming advantage.

Balance was compelled by his nature to alter those odds. He ran towards the source.

***

Ur's emergence in the forest had gone unnoticed. The whims of the puddle had dropped the goddess off some distance away from her fungal minions, and from all of her would-be opponents.

She drifted near some dead hand-trees, bringing them to life as she passed by. She paid them no attention. Something was drawing her here.

She stopped in front of an enormous door, her gaze fixated on a crack in it.

If the goddess had been able to form a coherent thought, she would have cackled at the sight.