Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 1: Training Facility ONX)
07-28-2010, 10:31 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
It's very hard to describe a dark tunnel in an interesting way. Even harder to stay interested and alert when the only thing you've been doing for the past few tediously long minutes was walking. When they first entered this new tunnel, Marcus started noting several small details that made it different from the tunnel they had been in before. There was the obvious he had already noted, no green slime, man-made, blah blah blah. The floor also didn't rumble under his feet as much, which he took to be a good sign, and while the air in the green-slime tunnel seemed slow-moving, stale, and smelled just a bit funky, here, the air seemed fresh and moved down towards them. As it went by, it seemed to make a small...echo-y, rush-y sound. He wasn't sure if there was actually a specific word for that sort of thing and to be honest, it seemed unnecessary to name it. What it mostly seemed to mean was that this tunnel would open up into an open area such as a room. Whether through a vent or some other way, it didn't matter. As long as--
"Watch out," Sarika said, sharply.
"What?" said Marcus just as his head bumped into something low-hanging and unfortunately metal.
"Sorry," Sarika said, flustered, as Marcus reeled back. "You can, um, just duck under it..." Marcus was curious, though, and started feeling whatever it was that he had walked into. It was definitely some sort of bar and had cables coming out of it. It was also quite hefty, which he found out when it snapped off and clattered to the floor. He leapt aside as it fell and it released a few bars of dull red light that flickered before dying again.
"What was that?" Marcus asked.
"Ow!" Sarika replied, rubbing her eyes.
Before the marine could ask if this was another future thing, the lights turned on, blinding Marcus as well just as Sarika finished rubbing the spots out of her eyes. He stumbled a bit, but soon his eyes adjusted and the two could finally see the tunnel they were in in greater detail.
The walls were made of metal plates. The ceiling was a confusing jumble of various wires and cables in many different sizes. While Marcus had left behind a trail of green goop, Sarika had dripped blood. There wasn't really much else of interest. Though the sudden lighting had made him realize just how covered in goop the both of them were. They looked like they swam in a pool of the stuff. Sarika pulled her goggles back over her eyes once more, tried to wipe it clean, then realized how hard it was to clean goop off with something caked with more goop.
"Welp," said Marcus, setting the bird-woman against the wall carefully, "I think this is the perfect time to look at whatever it is that's bleeding."
"No it's not," Sarika snapped. Marcus didn't really pay any heed and took out his medkit. "If the lights suddenly turned on, that might mean someone's coming! We have to be ready for them!"
"And I'm sure we can be ready for them with me having a bad leg and you bleeding and unable to walk. Actually," Marcus added, pausing as he took out the bandages. "How long have you been bleeding?"
The woman shrugged, resigned to the fact that they weren't going anywhere for a while. "As long as we've been down here. Which means I don't know."
"It should've scabbed over by now, or at least slowed, don't you think?" He insisted, taking out the medical tape as well. "Maybe the green slime did something, I dunno. In any case, I doubt you'd like bleeding to death. Show me the wound." Without a word, Sarika untied the sash around her waist and started lifting the hem of her bloodied and slightly slimey dress. She started wincing as she peeled the cloth off of the wound slowly and soon, she revealed the whole gash on her side.
It looked pretty bad, perhaps even horrible. But Marcus didn't just stop to stare at a gushing wound and comment on how fatal it could possibly be. Disinfect. Bandage. Tape. And Sarika was leaning back against the wall once more, trying not to touch her wound but touching it anyways in a sort of morbid curiosity. Marcus took this chance to sit down himself and examined his bad ankle.
"So tell me, did you hesitate because you were uncomfortable with revealing yourself or because you wanted to wait until I actually asked the question?" Marcus teased. Yup, his ankle was swollen. Which probably meant a sprain.
"Hm?" Sarika absentmindedly replied, tying the sash around her waist again. "Oh, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I blinked. Not seeing the future right now. I think I need a break anyways. It's exhausting seeing things that are about to happen and changing them to avoid death." It wasn't quite the oddest thing Marcus had heard today, but then again, it had been a fairly odd day.
He had no ice and probably would be unable to elevate it for long. He settled for just binding it...
It had forgotten light. Oh, how sickeningly bright it was...it burned through its skull. It wanted to scratch its eyes out...but soon it was able see, albeit blurredly.
It wasn't used to this environment. It was cooler than it was used to. Brighter. It wanted to adapt, but had no energy. Maybe if it ate the wounded one it would gain some. And then it could evolve to eat the other.
It changed its skin color to better camouflage, from a dark blue to a uniform grey...it started creeping up on its prey, who had stopped...carefully and silently...until it was within jumping distance.
Noticing movement out of the corner of her goggles, Sarika turned and saw a vague shape with not-so-vague teeth coming her way and reacted accordingly by screaming rather loudly and batting the thing-with-teeth away with her staff. It collided with the wall and backtracked, hissing crossly. Marcus jumped to his feet again and searched wildly for the attacking beast, but was interrupted by something prodding his leg. Looking down, he noticed a small, white, blocky robot. It was helpfully labeled REPAIR BOT XM342. It was currently holding a welding torch to his leg. "PERSONNEL PLEASE TO MOVE ASIDE TO ALLOW THIS REPAIR BOT TO MAKE REPAIRS PLEASE." He stared at the robot who seemed to think that if it continued to wheel itself into his leg, he would eventually move. He looked back to the beast who seemed to have disappeared. He looked back at the robot.
"PLEASE TO MOVE ASIDE TO ALLOW THIS REPAIR BOT TO MAKE REPAIRS PLEASE."
It's very hard to describe a dark tunnel in an interesting way. Even harder to stay interested and alert when the only thing you've been doing for the past few tediously long minutes was walking. When they first entered this new tunnel, Marcus started noting several small details that made it different from the tunnel they had been in before. There was the obvious he had already noted, no green slime, man-made, blah blah blah. The floor also didn't rumble under his feet as much, which he took to be a good sign, and while the air in the green-slime tunnel seemed slow-moving, stale, and smelled just a bit funky, here, the air seemed fresh and moved down towards them. As it went by, it seemed to make a small...echo-y, rush-y sound. He wasn't sure if there was actually a specific word for that sort of thing and to be honest, it seemed unnecessary to name it. What it mostly seemed to mean was that this tunnel would open up into an open area such as a room. Whether through a vent or some other way, it didn't matter. As long as--
"Watch out," Sarika said, sharply.
"What?" said Marcus just as his head bumped into something low-hanging and unfortunately metal.
"Sorry," Sarika said, flustered, as Marcus reeled back. "You can, um, just duck under it..." Marcus was curious, though, and started feeling whatever it was that he had walked into. It was definitely some sort of bar and had cables coming out of it. It was also quite hefty, which he found out when it snapped off and clattered to the floor. He leapt aside as it fell and it released a few bars of dull red light that flickered before dying again.
"What was that?" Marcus asked.
"Ow!" Sarika replied, rubbing her eyes.
Before the marine could ask if this was another future thing, the lights turned on, blinding Marcus as well just as Sarika finished rubbing the spots out of her eyes. He stumbled a bit, but soon his eyes adjusted and the two could finally see the tunnel they were in in greater detail.
The walls were made of metal plates. The ceiling was a confusing jumble of various wires and cables in many different sizes. While Marcus had left behind a trail of green goop, Sarika had dripped blood. There wasn't really much else of interest. Though the sudden lighting had made him realize just how covered in goop the both of them were. They looked like they swam in a pool of the stuff. Sarika pulled her goggles back over her eyes once more, tried to wipe it clean, then realized how hard it was to clean goop off with something caked with more goop.
"Welp," said Marcus, setting the bird-woman against the wall carefully, "I think this is the perfect time to look at whatever it is that's bleeding."
"No it's not," Sarika snapped. Marcus didn't really pay any heed and took out his medkit. "If the lights suddenly turned on, that might mean someone's coming! We have to be ready for them!"
"And I'm sure we can be ready for them with me having a bad leg and you bleeding and unable to walk. Actually," Marcus added, pausing as he took out the bandages. "How long have you been bleeding?"
The woman shrugged, resigned to the fact that they weren't going anywhere for a while. "As long as we've been down here. Which means I don't know."
"It should've scabbed over by now, or at least slowed, don't you think?" He insisted, taking out the medical tape as well. "Maybe the green slime did something, I dunno. In any case, I doubt you'd like bleeding to death. Show me the wound." Without a word, Sarika untied the sash around her waist and started lifting the hem of her bloodied and slightly slimey dress. She started wincing as she peeled the cloth off of the wound slowly and soon, she revealed the whole gash on her side.
It looked pretty bad, perhaps even horrible. But Marcus didn't just stop to stare at a gushing wound and comment on how fatal it could possibly be. Disinfect. Bandage. Tape. And Sarika was leaning back against the wall once more, trying not to touch her wound but touching it anyways in a sort of morbid curiosity. Marcus took this chance to sit down himself and examined his bad ankle.
"So tell me, did you hesitate because you were uncomfortable with revealing yourself or because you wanted to wait until I actually asked the question?" Marcus teased. Yup, his ankle was swollen. Which probably meant a sprain.
"Hm?" Sarika absentmindedly replied, tying the sash around her waist again. "Oh, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I blinked. Not seeing the future right now. I think I need a break anyways. It's exhausting seeing things that are about to happen and changing them to avoid death." It wasn't quite the oddest thing Marcus had heard today, but then again, it had been a fairly odd day.
He had no ice and probably would be unable to elevate it for long. He settled for just binding it...
It had forgotten light. Oh, how sickeningly bright it was...it burned through its skull. It wanted to scratch its eyes out...but soon it was able see, albeit blurredly.
It wasn't used to this environment. It was cooler than it was used to. Brighter. It wanted to adapt, but had no energy. Maybe if it ate the wounded one it would gain some. And then it could evolve to eat the other.
It changed its skin color to better camouflage, from a dark blue to a uniform grey...it started creeping up on its prey, who had stopped...carefully and silently...until it was within jumping distance.
Noticing movement out of the corner of her goggles, Sarika turned and saw a vague shape with not-so-vague teeth coming her way and reacted accordingly by screaming rather loudly and batting the thing-with-teeth away with her staff. It collided with the wall and backtracked, hissing crossly. Marcus jumped to his feet again and searched wildly for the attacking beast, but was interrupted by something prodding his leg. Looking down, he noticed a small, white, blocky robot. It was helpfully labeled REPAIR BOT XM342. It was currently holding a welding torch to his leg. "PERSONNEL PLEASE TO MOVE ASIDE TO ALLOW THIS REPAIR BOT TO MAKE REPAIRS PLEASE." He stared at the robot who seemed to think that if it continued to wheel itself into his leg, he would eventually move. He looked back to the beast who seemed to have disappeared. He looked back at the robot.
"PLEASE TO MOVE ASIDE TO ALLOW THIS REPAIR BOT TO MAKE REPAIRS PLEASE."