Re: Pitched Combat [Round 4: Colossus Colosseum]
06-11-2010, 08:30 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.
Jordan closed his eyes, as reluctant as he was in front of Right, and concentrated.
Right wanted him to heat up the insides of Eemp...Jordan had never tried to set fire to something he couldn't exactly see but knew was there. Usually it was good enough if he stared at something and concentrated. Then fire would start eating from the outside in. But if he did that here, the supposed spiders probably wouldn't even get warm and he could inadvertently set Right on fire, who would then probably become very unhappy with him.
A little hesitantly, Jordan tried imagining Eemp, armless, and then took off the outer cloth so there was an Eemp-shaped pile of hay. By now, he would imagine an Eemp-shaped pile of hay on fire, but he was still a little unsure. Right did say that Eemp was apparently fire-resistant, but it was hard to think of straw as anything besides flammable. Maybe he could imagine a thermometer instead...?
Right let his impatience known with a "Well?" and Jordan just went with the thermometer idea. As the imaginary mercury rose, he smelled something burning, which meant it worked and the spiders were curling up and dying, or it worked and Eemp's straw was on fire. But Right said nothing, simply coughed, and so Jordan continued. The sounds of fighting went on outside and he ignored them, trying not to get distracted, but he couldn't help but break his concentration when he started to feel small bits of rock falling on his head. He looked up, but Right barked, "Keep going, you're not done!" before coughing up more smoke as he made himself an arc over Jordan's head to protect him from falling rubble. Jordan couldn't help but wonder how he could know, but if he wanted to suffer more smoke, that was fine by him.
Jordan continued supposedly exterminating spiders, sometimes breaking concentration when it sounded as though the room was about to come down on them or when Right started a horrible coughing fit, but every time, Right just ordered him to keep going.
Suddenly, Jordan felt something biting into his shoulder. He flailed instinctively, but Right just bit a little harder and threw him out of the room as Eemp ran out right when the room collapsed. Outside, the Manikin was still clinging onto the giant statue's shoulder. It had decided that the small wooden Manikin was no trouble and set its attention on the more troublesome knight. They had ran right in the middle of the fight, but were not noticed and so just escaped to the other side of the arena, dodging giant feet.
They stopped nearby a pile of rubble, Jordan leaning over to catch his breath. When he looked back up at the dragons again, he watched with slight horror as Rong's bloody stump healed over, then slowly sprouted horns and fins. "Oh, looks like Rong will be joining us in a minute. Anyways, I think I have another proposal for you." Jordan watched as Rong's stump started growing a snout.
"Do you ever pay attention? Look, do you want to get out of here?" The bespectacled boy forced himself to look at Right and stared skeptically.
"Ye-es..."
"Well we'll need to kill someone."
"'We?'"
"That Alex Corendal's occupied and more importantly, exhausted. He'll be easy to finish off right now. You could set fire to him, couldn't you? Then we'll be away from this pesky arena." Jordan looked over at the huge fight which was slowly progressing its way around. He had a horrible feeling that Right was just trying to pick off the one with more battle experience so the only ones left in his way for victory would be a mindless mannequin and a harmless kid. Self-esteem issues reared its ugly head once more. It was hopeless now. The only one he could actually win against in a battle was the Manikin and that was only because it happened to be completely stupid. Alex seemed nice enough, but eventually he would realize the only way to escape would be to kill him. The dragons would kill him without a second thought.
Even under depression, though, Jordan couldn't go and let Right control him. "If you want him dead, you do it yourself."
"Ah, remember, you destroying those spiders had a side-effect? We can't exactly attack anyone unless this idiot thinks we're in danger." Right nodded over at Eemp's vacant expression and chuckled. "And if we just go up to that thing, we'll get occupied by that giant as well, I'm sure. Long range is best, and as Rong's little head is still in development," Jordan quickly glanced at Rong and discovered in dismay that though she had grown eyeholes, she had not grown eyes. "I'm thinking you're best for the job."
Jordan appeared to consider this and raised his remaining sword. Right smirked. "You really think that's a good idea?"
The boy stared determinedly at him for a while, shifting nervously, before suddenly scrambling up the pile of rubble and disappearing in the hole in the wall.
Right stared in slight disbelief before glaring at Eemp. "You could, oh, I don't know, follow him?" But by now the giant statue had arrived, still fending off Alex's attempts to attack while occupying Right's attention with lasers.
Rong's head had finally grown completely back and to Right's annoyance, she was as garrulous as ever. "GODDAMN THAT HURT! The next time I see that guy, I'm gonna kill him! And what the hell is shiny sword guy doing with my head?!"
Alex looked over, looking both exhausted and relieved. "Oh great. Listen, do you mind bleeding on these glowing runes? I think it messes this statue up."
Jordan closed his eyes, as reluctant as he was in front of Right, and concentrated.
Right wanted him to heat up the insides of Eemp...Jordan had never tried to set fire to something he couldn't exactly see but knew was there. Usually it was good enough if he stared at something and concentrated. Then fire would start eating from the outside in. But if he did that here, the supposed spiders probably wouldn't even get warm and he could inadvertently set Right on fire, who would then probably become very unhappy with him.
A little hesitantly, Jordan tried imagining Eemp, armless, and then took off the outer cloth so there was an Eemp-shaped pile of hay. By now, he would imagine an Eemp-shaped pile of hay on fire, but he was still a little unsure. Right did say that Eemp was apparently fire-resistant, but it was hard to think of straw as anything besides flammable. Maybe he could imagine a thermometer instead...?
Right let his impatience known with a "Well?" and Jordan just went with the thermometer idea. As the imaginary mercury rose, he smelled something burning, which meant it worked and the spiders were curling up and dying, or it worked and Eemp's straw was on fire. But Right said nothing, simply coughed, and so Jordan continued. The sounds of fighting went on outside and he ignored them, trying not to get distracted, but he couldn't help but break his concentration when he started to feel small bits of rock falling on his head. He looked up, but Right barked, "Keep going, you're not done!" before coughing up more smoke as he made himself an arc over Jordan's head to protect him from falling rubble. Jordan couldn't help but wonder how he could know, but if he wanted to suffer more smoke, that was fine by him.
Jordan continued supposedly exterminating spiders, sometimes breaking concentration when it sounded as though the room was about to come down on them or when Right started a horrible coughing fit, but every time, Right just ordered him to keep going.
Suddenly, Jordan felt something biting into his shoulder. He flailed instinctively, but Right just bit a little harder and threw him out of the room as Eemp ran out right when the room collapsed. Outside, the Manikin was still clinging onto the giant statue's shoulder. It had decided that the small wooden Manikin was no trouble and set its attention on the more troublesome knight. They had ran right in the middle of the fight, but were not noticed and so just escaped to the other side of the arena, dodging giant feet.
They stopped nearby a pile of rubble, Jordan leaning over to catch his breath. When he looked back up at the dragons again, he watched with slight horror as Rong's bloody stump healed over, then slowly sprouted horns and fins. "Oh, looks like Rong will be joining us in a minute. Anyways, I think I have another proposal for you." Jordan watched as Rong's stump started growing a snout.
"Do you ever pay attention? Look, do you want to get out of here?" The bespectacled boy forced himself to look at Right and stared skeptically.
"Ye-es..."
"Well we'll need to kill someone."
"'We?'"
"That Alex Corendal's occupied and more importantly, exhausted. He'll be easy to finish off right now. You could set fire to him, couldn't you? Then we'll be away from this pesky arena." Jordan looked over at the huge fight which was slowly progressing its way around. He had a horrible feeling that Right was just trying to pick off the one with more battle experience so the only ones left in his way for victory would be a mindless mannequin and a harmless kid. Self-esteem issues reared its ugly head once more. It was hopeless now. The only one he could actually win against in a battle was the Manikin and that was only because it happened to be completely stupid. Alex seemed nice enough, but eventually he would realize the only way to escape would be to kill him. The dragons would kill him without a second thought.
Even under depression, though, Jordan couldn't go and let Right control him. "If you want him dead, you do it yourself."
"Ah, remember, you destroying those spiders had a side-effect? We can't exactly attack anyone unless this idiot thinks we're in danger." Right nodded over at Eemp's vacant expression and chuckled. "And if we just go up to that thing, we'll get occupied by that giant as well, I'm sure. Long range is best, and as Rong's little head is still in development," Jordan quickly glanced at Rong and discovered in dismay that though she had grown eyeholes, she had not grown eyes. "I'm thinking you're best for the job."
Jordan appeared to consider this and raised his remaining sword. Right smirked. "You really think that's a good idea?"
The boy stared determinedly at him for a while, shifting nervously, before suddenly scrambling up the pile of rubble and disappearing in the hole in the wall.
Right stared in slight disbelief before glaring at Eemp. "You could, oh, I don't know, follow him?" But by now the giant statue had arrived, still fending off Alex's attempts to attack while occupying Right's attention with lasers.
Rong's head had finally grown completely back and to Right's annoyance, she was as garrulous as ever. "GODDAMN THAT HURT! The next time I see that guy, I'm gonna kill him! And what the hell is shiny sword guy doing with my head?!"
Alex looked over, looking both exhausted and relieved. "Oh great. Listen, do you mind bleeding on these glowing runes? I think it messes this statue up."