Re: Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 1: Training Facility ONX)
08-28-2010, 12:42 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
Sarika pushed a wing up under her goggles in order to rub her eyes. Rapid-fire future-diversion was not very comfortable on her eyes. Or rather, her head. And now, looking at the present again, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened or is happening or was about to or something. She wasn't sure if she even was remembering the last few minutes right...or the next few minutes...? What? Huh?
"Lillian...what's going on...?" she asked wearily.
The little girl looked up at her, still clutching onto her waist tightly. She was still rather green and slimey and gross but it was nice to hold onto somebody who was kind and sweet and had a big stick to knock things around with. "Uhhh...?" she replied, looking back at the worm and the monsters and people and confusion. "...Fighting...?"
"Wait, what did I just do...?"
"You...uh...came here with that man and shouted a lot with the lady...and she shouted back that you were confusing her more than helping...and then..."
"Right, right," Sarika said, rubbing her forehead and shifting through different alternate futures in her memory. "So that means...uh...the...floor hasn't collapsed yet...?"
Lillian looked down at the very intact floor. "We're sitting on it...are you okay?" She paused before looking a little more worried. "The...the floor's gonna collapse?"
"Um...ugh...I don't...what?" Sarika squinted at the action that surrounded them. Karen was just blasting away at anything that lurched towards them and sometimes slicing if they were too close. She looked a little frustrated and possibly a little tired. At one point, she whipped a small vial out somehow (when did she do that?) and just held it as she attacked, as if reluctant to use it, but apparently something justified the use and she downed it quickly. Looking rejuvinated, she attacked with greater vigor than before and the beasts were all the unluckier for it.
Lloyd seemed to be stuck on some adrenaline high. He stood right next to Karen (okay well, maybe a little behind her and more off to the side), snapping his towel at any creature that Karen didn't kill (which, to be honest, was not many). It was a simple tactic that seemed to at least confuse some of the corrupt monsters, but Sarika did not need future sight to know that it wouldn't work for much longer. Though to be honest, they didn't have much longer to begin with...how many minutes had passed? Five?
The floor rumbled as the worm retreated into its burrow and errupted from a wall in an attempt to destroy the pesky robot. The only thing it accomplished was flinging more rubble around. The few functioning maintenance bots scurried around, flustered, juggling between their primary function and their survival instinct.
Sarika shifted. It hurt. Just like everything else. "I...I have to help, we need to kill that worm..."
Even a little girl like Lillian could tell that, after falling and breaking several bones, after being dragged around all over the place in dark tunnels, after getting swallowed and then vomitted out of a giant worm and hitting the wall, moving was not exactly a thing Sarika should do often. She tried to push her back down. "Wait, no, don't move, please! You'll, you'll hurt yourself and, and..."
Still, Sarika muttered to herself. "We've gotta get out of here...there's got to be a way out...we can't waste time..." And as she spoke, she blinked. They had to have escaped in the future and she needed to know how...
Karen sliced down what seemed to be the last infected monster, or at least the last one that dared to even come close to her. What a relief. Small wriggling space-parasites were actually hard to kill. She kicked aside some bleeding corpses and watched with interest as they seemed to dissolve into blue and yellow...light...thingies. Something like that. As she prodded one with her foot, a scream erupted behind her. The battle-ready woman whirled around, sword raised to cut anything that was attacking the wounded one or the helpless girl, but instead she found that Lillian was wincing and slowly putting her hands away from her ears while Sarika was apparently hyperventilating and staring at...something. It was hard to tell through the goggles.
"What's going on?" Lloyd ask, lowing his hands as well and staring at the bird-woman. She continued staring at some point ahead before seemingly coming back down to earth.
"...What happened?"
"You screamed," Karen replied, looking back over to where the rest of the battle was. The worm was generally thrashing about, though it seemed Marcus and Dekowin were trying to beat it down. Nothing seemed to be attacking Reudic. Strangely enough, while she was busy with the crowd of parasite-infected creatures, Charlie had gotten attacked by one himself. But it was smarter than the others. It dodged and moved with a strange grace that was both familiar and suspicious to Karen. But there was no time to be suspicious.
"I...screamed...?" Sarika repeated.
"Alright look," Karen started, tossing Lillian a vial of red liquid. "Get her to drink that. I've gotta help the others."
"I'll come," Lloyd said, but Karen stopped him.
"You wouldn't leave two defenseless women all alone, would you?" And before he could reply, she dashed off.
Lloyd paused for a moment, then swung his towel around, not really able to do much else. "So, what were you screaming about?" he asked as Lillian tried to force the cork out.
"What?" Sarika replied, still sounding dazed. "I was screaming in the future..."
"No, you were screaming in the present. Or...past, I guess. What will you scream about then? Alright, here, let me help you..." Lloyd pulled the cork out easily for Lillian who seemed embarrassed for a moment before holding up to Sarika.
"What's this?" she asked suspiciously.
"Um, er," Lillian replied, not entirely sure herself, other than it was apparently supposed to help her friend.
"I think it'll heal you," Lloyd said helpfully. "It looks like that other one she drank, you know."
"I'm not drinking it," Sarika snapped.
"But, but but," Lillian stuttered, dearly wanting Sarika to be well again but unable to actually say it. "Wait! I can drink it first and then you'll know it's not poison, right?" And before the Kindred Spirit or Sarika could protest, she sipped a little.
Her eyes widened in shock as a small burst of energy flowed through her. When she said nothing, Sarika started sitting up worriedly, but she finally licked her lips. "Mmmmmmm," she said, trying to exaggerate the vial's safety as much as possible. "See? It's good! It's good for you! Please drink..."
The metal implant clutched on to the neck of the vial and Lillian cheered up some as Sarika held it up to her face. She bit her lip, but she wasn't thinking about poison, but explosions. Explosions in the future to be exact.
Nobody made it out. Nobody.
They were all still in this room when her vision was blurred by sudden fire and smoke. In fact, still trying to defeat the worm. The stupid worm.
How many minutes now? Was it still five? Or did they actually have less than a minute to live? How could she save everybody? How could she get everybody out in time...?
Nobody leaves until somebody dies.
It was something she had never thought of much. She didn't think she'd have to. She had naively believed that it wouldn't get that far. Or maybe she had denied the possibility in order to rebel against that despiteful robot. But now, there was no other possibility. One person had to die or else everybody would.
But she couldn't kill anybody! But if she didn't, everybody would die! But...
She would have to die.
It was an obvious choice, really. Broken leg. Broken arm. She would die soon. Why not now? And thus send everybody safely off.
She only had a staff and a vial. Not really much to kill herself in time...her eyes set upon something moving about on the floor. It was a shuddering maintenance bot. Battered from the trip out of the worm. So battered, in fact, that a metal plate was jutting out at an odd angle. And it looked quite sharp.
Two people that could stop her. Lillian, she might be able to fight off. Lloyd, maybe not. So it'd have to be fast. And she'd have to get rid of this stupid potion...
Sarika pushed a wing up under her goggles in order to rub her eyes. Rapid-fire future-diversion was not very comfortable on her eyes. Or rather, her head. And now, looking at the present again, she wasn't entirely sure what had happened or is happening or was about to or something. She wasn't sure if she even was remembering the last few minutes right...or the next few minutes...? What? Huh?
"Lillian...what's going on...?" she asked wearily.
The little girl looked up at her, still clutching onto her waist tightly. She was still rather green and slimey and gross but it was nice to hold onto somebody who was kind and sweet and had a big stick to knock things around with. "Uhhh...?" she replied, looking back at the worm and the monsters and people and confusion. "...Fighting...?"
"Wait, what did I just do...?"
"You...uh...came here with that man and shouted a lot with the lady...and she shouted back that you were confusing her more than helping...and then..."
"Right, right," Sarika said, rubbing her forehead and shifting through different alternate futures in her memory. "So that means...uh...the...floor hasn't collapsed yet...?"
Lillian looked down at the very intact floor. "We're sitting on it...are you okay?" She paused before looking a little more worried. "The...the floor's gonna collapse?"
"Um...ugh...I don't...what?" Sarika squinted at the action that surrounded them. Karen was just blasting away at anything that lurched towards them and sometimes slicing if they were too close. She looked a little frustrated and possibly a little tired. At one point, she whipped a small vial out somehow (when did she do that?) and just held it as she attacked, as if reluctant to use it, but apparently something justified the use and she downed it quickly. Looking rejuvinated, she attacked with greater vigor than before and the beasts were all the unluckier for it.
Lloyd seemed to be stuck on some adrenaline high. He stood right next to Karen (okay well, maybe a little behind her and more off to the side), snapping his towel at any creature that Karen didn't kill (which, to be honest, was not many). It was a simple tactic that seemed to at least confuse some of the corrupt monsters, but Sarika did not need future sight to know that it wouldn't work for much longer. Though to be honest, they didn't have much longer to begin with...how many minutes had passed? Five?
The floor rumbled as the worm retreated into its burrow and errupted from a wall in an attempt to destroy the pesky robot. The only thing it accomplished was flinging more rubble around. The few functioning maintenance bots scurried around, flustered, juggling between their primary function and their survival instinct.
Sarika shifted. It hurt. Just like everything else. "I...I have to help, we need to kill that worm..."
Even a little girl like Lillian could tell that, after falling and breaking several bones, after being dragged around all over the place in dark tunnels, after getting swallowed and then vomitted out of a giant worm and hitting the wall, moving was not exactly a thing Sarika should do often. She tried to push her back down. "Wait, no, don't move, please! You'll, you'll hurt yourself and, and..."
Still, Sarika muttered to herself. "We've gotta get out of here...there's got to be a way out...we can't waste time..." And as she spoke, she blinked. They had to have escaped in the future and she needed to know how...
Karen sliced down what seemed to be the last infected monster, or at least the last one that dared to even come close to her. What a relief. Small wriggling space-parasites were actually hard to kill. She kicked aside some bleeding corpses and watched with interest as they seemed to dissolve into blue and yellow...light...thingies. Something like that. As she prodded one with her foot, a scream erupted behind her. The battle-ready woman whirled around, sword raised to cut anything that was attacking the wounded one or the helpless girl, but instead she found that Lillian was wincing and slowly putting her hands away from her ears while Sarika was apparently hyperventilating and staring at...something. It was hard to tell through the goggles.
"What's going on?" Lloyd ask, lowing his hands as well and staring at the bird-woman. She continued staring at some point ahead before seemingly coming back down to earth.
"...What happened?"
"You screamed," Karen replied, looking back over to where the rest of the battle was. The worm was generally thrashing about, though it seemed Marcus and Dekowin were trying to beat it down. Nothing seemed to be attacking Reudic. Strangely enough, while she was busy with the crowd of parasite-infected creatures, Charlie had gotten attacked by one himself. But it was smarter than the others. It dodged and moved with a strange grace that was both familiar and suspicious to Karen. But there was no time to be suspicious.
"I...screamed...?" Sarika repeated.
"Alright look," Karen started, tossing Lillian a vial of red liquid. "Get her to drink that. I've gotta help the others."
"I'll come," Lloyd said, but Karen stopped him.
"You wouldn't leave two defenseless women all alone, would you?" And before he could reply, she dashed off.
Lloyd paused for a moment, then swung his towel around, not really able to do much else. "So, what were you screaming about?" he asked as Lillian tried to force the cork out.
"What?" Sarika replied, still sounding dazed. "I was screaming in the future..."
"No, you were screaming in the present. Or...past, I guess. What will you scream about then? Alright, here, let me help you..." Lloyd pulled the cork out easily for Lillian who seemed embarrassed for a moment before holding up to Sarika.
"What's this?" she asked suspiciously.
"Um, er," Lillian replied, not entirely sure herself, other than it was apparently supposed to help her friend.
"I think it'll heal you," Lloyd said helpfully. "It looks like that other one she drank, you know."
"I'm not drinking it," Sarika snapped.
"But, but but," Lillian stuttered, dearly wanting Sarika to be well again but unable to actually say it. "Wait! I can drink it first and then you'll know it's not poison, right?" And before the Kindred Spirit or Sarika could protest, she sipped a little.
Her eyes widened in shock as a small burst of energy flowed through her. When she said nothing, Sarika started sitting up worriedly, but she finally licked her lips. "Mmmmmmm," she said, trying to exaggerate the vial's safety as much as possible. "See? It's good! It's good for you! Please drink..."
The metal implant clutched on to the neck of the vial and Lillian cheered up some as Sarika held it up to her face. She bit her lip, but she wasn't thinking about poison, but explosions. Explosions in the future to be exact.
Nobody made it out. Nobody.
They were all still in this room when her vision was blurred by sudden fire and smoke. In fact, still trying to defeat the worm. The stupid worm.
How many minutes now? Was it still five? Or did they actually have less than a minute to live? How could she save everybody? How could she get everybody out in time...?
Nobody leaves until somebody dies.
It was something she had never thought of much. She didn't think she'd have to. She had naively believed that it wouldn't get that far. Or maybe she had denied the possibility in order to rebel against that despiteful robot. But now, there was no other possibility. One person had to die or else everybody would.
But she couldn't kill anybody! But if she didn't, everybody would die! But...
She would have to die.
It was an obvious choice, really. Broken leg. Broken arm. She would die soon. Why not now? And thus send everybody safely off.
She only had a staff and a vial. Not really much to kill herself in time...her eyes set upon something moving about on the floor. It was a shuddering maintenance bot. Battered from the trip out of the worm. So battered, in fact, that a metal plate was jutting out at an odd angle. And it looked quite sharp.
Two people that could stop her. Lillian, she might be able to fight off. Lloyd, maybe not. So it'd have to be fast. And she'd have to get rid of this stupid potion...