Re: The Grand Battle [Round 4! Pop-up Land!!]
10-07-2009, 09:52 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.
Lutherion looked behind him. There was no sign of Nathan. He concentrated for a moment, and looked through the eyes of his clones.
The first thing he noticed was that two of them were destroyed. It wasn't surprising, though it still angered him. Through the eyes of the third, he saw Nathan, wildly attacking. Good, he was distracted... although, it seemed odd that he was doing so poorly. He wasn't even hitting the mimic at all. Out of the clone's peripheral vision, he noticed the other three. Well, he still had one clone to spare, perhaps he could pull off a sneak attack. He focused on the final clone.
Through its eyes, he saw something on the ground. A children's pop-up book, with the title "MASTER OF THE WORLD" written on it in colorful letters. Lutherion was curious, despite himself. He ordered the clone to retrieve the book and bring it to him.
***
Eximo could not see the demon's influence as Amethyst could. But, it could detect the anomaly in Nathan's life-signal, and realized it was getting stronger. It almost seemed as if there were two life-signals in the same body, but Eximo could not quite grasp this concept.
Aeon, meanwhile, had noticed Nathan's ineffectiveness. He couldn't detect the cause directly, but from what Amethyst was saying, he had a pretty good guess. "Nathan should have beaten that clone by now. But he's not hitting at all. The demon's doing that, isn't it?"
"It appears to be the case," said Amethyst, confirming his suspicions. "If we are to help him, we may have to destroy the mimic... but the demon is manipulating his mind. It may well decide to come after us next."
Aeon nodded. "So it seems." Emily would have taken that risk, he thought. She wouldn't have thought twice about it. Amethyst was probably thinking the same thing... and the way things had been going lately, he wouldn't have been surprised if the vacuum thought it, too.
***
The clone made its way to its master. It handed the book over to him.
"Excellent. I'll take a look at this. Meanwhile, you head over and deal with the strawberry girl, the vacuum, and the old man. But leave the boy alone, he's more trouble than he's worth right now."
"As you command. Heheheheheh." It flew off.
Lutherion opened the book. Try as he might, he could only open it to one page, showing a grassy field with a crystal in the middle. After a few minutes of struggling with it, he turned his attention to the pop-up tab instead.
"Might as well," he said to no one in particular.
As he pulled the tab, the bushes, trees, and crystal popped up... and started growing. In an instant, they were full-size, and there was nothing to be seen of the cubes.
***
The dilemma of whether or not to kill the clone was soon resolved. As the cubes faded and gave way to a field of lush greenery, the clone stopped moving completely. Even Nathan, overcome with rage as he was, couldn't help but notice it.
"This isn't Lutherion. THIS ISN'T LUTHERION. WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS THAT BASTARD?"
"...I think we'd better run," Aeon said. Amethyst followed. Eximo, however, seemed still. Aeon tried to motion to it to follow, but it ignored him completely.
"What's wrong with the vacuum? What's it doing?" he asked Amethyst, desperately.
"You will notice that Lutherion's mimic has stopped moving," she replied. "The same has happened to much of Eximo's body. Only its mechanical parts are still functioning, and it appears they do not respond to your requests."
"So... it's just a vacuum now?"
"To be more precise, a robot vacuum with numerous useless parts. But yes, it seems to be. I believe it is trying to locate filth to clean..."
She looked at the scenery. It seemed... fake. And unnaturally clean.
"Ah, there is the problem. It cannot locate any. It must have set itself on standby. If we can create a mess, it will follow us."
Aeon grinned. "Then I guess I'd better start making a mess."
Lutherion looked behind him. There was no sign of Nathan. He concentrated for a moment, and looked through the eyes of his clones.
The first thing he noticed was that two of them were destroyed. It wasn't surprising, though it still angered him. Through the eyes of the third, he saw Nathan, wildly attacking. Good, he was distracted... although, it seemed odd that he was doing so poorly. He wasn't even hitting the mimic at all. Out of the clone's peripheral vision, he noticed the other three. Well, he still had one clone to spare, perhaps he could pull off a sneak attack. He focused on the final clone.
Through its eyes, he saw something on the ground. A children's pop-up book, with the title "MASTER OF THE WORLD" written on it in colorful letters. Lutherion was curious, despite himself. He ordered the clone to retrieve the book and bring it to him.
***
Eximo could not see the demon's influence as Amethyst could. But, it could detect the anomaly in Nathan's life-signal, and realized it was getting stronger. It almost seemed as if there were two life-signals in the same body, but Eximo could not quite grasp this concept.
Aeon, meanwhile, had noticed Nathan's ineffectiveness. He couldn't detect the cause directly, but from what Amethyst was saying, he had a pretty good guess. "Nathan should have beaten that clone by now. But he's not hitting at all. The demon's doing that, isn't it?"
"It appears to be the case," said Amethyst, confirming his suspicions. "If we are to help him, we may have to destroy the mimic... but the demon is manipulating his mind. It may well decide to come after us next."
Aeon nodded. "So it seems." Emily would have taken that risk, he thought. She wouldn't have thought twice about it. Amethyst was probably thinking the same thing... and the way things had been going lately, he wouldn't have been surprised if the vacuum thought it, too.
***
The clone made its way to its master. It handed the book over to him.
"Excellent. I'll take a look at this. Meanwhile, you head over and deal with the strawberry girl, the vacuum, and the old man. But leave the boy alone, he's more trouble than he's worth right now."
"As you command. Heheheheheh." It flew off.
Lutherion opened the book. Try as he might, he could only open it to one page, showing a grassy field with a crystal in the middle. After a few minutes of struggling with it, he turned his attention to the pop-up tab instead.
"Might as well," he said to no one in particular.
As he pulled the tab, the bushes, trees, and crystal popped up... and started growing. In an instant, they were full-size, and there was nothing to be seen of the cubes.
***
The dilemma of whether or not to kill the clone was soon resolved. As the cubes faded and gave way to a field of lush greenery, the clone stopped moving completely. Even Nathan, overcome with rage as he was, couldn't help but notice it.
"This isn't Lutherion. THIS ISN'T LUTHERION. WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS THAT BASTARD?"
"...I think we'd better run," Aeon said. Amethyst followed. Eximo, however, seemed still. Aeon tried to motion to it to follow, but it ignored him completely.
"What's wrong with the vacuum? What's it doing?" he asked Amethyst, desperately.
"You will notice that Lutherion's mimic has stopped moving," she replied. "The same has happened to much of Eximo's body. Only its mechanical parts are still functioning, and it appears they do not respond to your requests."
"So... it's just a vacuum now?"
"To be more precise, a robot vacuum with numerous useless parts. But yes, it seems to be. I believe it is trying to locate filth to clean..."
She looked at the scenery. It seemed... fake. And unnaturally clean.
"Ah, there is the problem. It cannot locate any. It must have set itself on standby. If we can create a mess, it will follow us."
Aeon grinned. "Then I guess I'd better start making a mess."
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