Re: The Grand Battle [Round Five: Battleopolis!]
12-10-2009, 05:35 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.
"Are you sure you didn't steal this?"
"Yes." Aeon said, moderately frustrated.
"Then tell me how you came about $50 within 10 minutes?"
"There's a pawn shop near this store. I traded in something." Aeon had sold the silver charm used two rounds ago. The pawnbroker couldn't identify it, but he nevertheless accepted it for its weight in silver.
"All this for a shirt? You seem to have a strange sense of priorities."
"Tell me about it. I have the money, just give me the shirt already."
The shopkeeper sighed and began typing into the register. "Who are you, anyway? I don't think I've ever seen you around here."
Aeon thought for a moment. "Let's just say I'm in the middle of a vacation gone horribly wrong."
"A vacation? You're not from bAtTlEoPoLiS?"
Aeon paused. The shopkeeper was obviously unaware of his change in voice. From the context of the sentence, it looked as if his words were altered, the name of this place being artifically changed into something else.
"No, I'm not from... here. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just that I've never quite heard of someone coming in from outside the city."
"Really?"
"Yeah. For some reason people never manage to make it out or in. A few years ago the governor tried to establish an airport, but it kept on getting technical difficulties and was hardly ever used, and it was closed down."
"Interesting. Where is this airport?"
"Well most of the road signs are taken down, but it's on the eastern edge of the city."
The shopkeeper finished the transaction and handed Aeon his bland shirt. The one paper note he had before was exchanged for more paper notes, along with a few coins. Counting only the notes, Aeon could see that the shirt had cost him most of his money. A silver coin is worth a cheap shirt? This is ridiculous. Aeon walked towards the changing rooms to get rid of his old shirt. On the way, he passed by a pale-looking female in a black hoodie with noticeably large sunglasses, accompanied by a rather nervous-looking man. As soon as he got near to the changing rooms, however, he heard a scream and could sense a distinct smell of blood. At once the girl with the black hoodie rushed to the changing rooms, with the man, looking absolutely terrified, following her. They entered the changing room and the man immediately came out, looking nauseous. Aeon walked into the room, acting curious.
At this point it became clear to Aeon who the girl was. She noticed him, but otherwise did little. Aeon looked at the room in front of her and saw it flowing with fresh blood. He grimaced, and entered a different room. Inside, he changed into his new shirt and muttered, "Jeez, this place is getting stranger and stranger. I bet that's some kind of prank pulled by those foreign kids. I need to get out of here, fast." Aeon exited the changing room to see the blood largely cleaned up, and the girl nowhere to be found.
As Aeon walked towards the store exit, he tossed his old shirt into a nearby bin. In doing so, he also noticed that the girl and man left the store and were now standing right outside to the right of the doorway, clearly visible through the glass front of the store. The girl told the man something, and he nodded. The girl then looked back into the store, to no particular position, and looked back towards the street.
Aeon exited the store and turned left. As if on cue, he was immediately grabbed from behind and blindfolded. He made some effort to escape, but he was held fairly tight. A few minutes later, his blindfold was taken off and he faced the girl, the man clearly attempting to look confident, but failing. Aeon stood up, and it took little time for him to realize that he was cornered, in the alleyway.
Well, it's about time you did that, Aeon thought, looking panicked.
----------
----------
"Leave me with him. I have things to discuss."
"But why-"
Amethyst faced the conspiracy theorist. At once, he understood and left the alley. Amethyst whispered something inaudible and the hum of vehicles driving along the busy road stopped.
"It's about time you did that." Aeon said. "What did you tell him, by the way?"
"He is a conspiracy theorist who believes I am an alien. He has proved somewhat useful. I told him that you were another alien, who lost communications and was trapped in this city for longer than I have been here--long enough to devise a decent disguise."
"Alright."
"Meanwhile, what have you observed about this city?"
"Other than its strange placements of monetary value, I have found that the name of this city--or providence, I really don't know--is somehow blocked out. Its societal system is somewhat similar to my own, only more complex and... busy. I have gained some currency, but I spent most of it on a shirt. I was planning to go to a hospital, when you showed up."
"Very well then." Amethyst uttered some more inaudible incantations and a pair of small crystals appeared. "This will allow us to communicate. I have found that the bleeding corpse in the clothing store is likely the work of the demon. As of now, however, he is likely either causing extreme chaos or blending in perfectly with his surroundings--locating him will either be very easy or very fruitless, as the demon seems highly intelligent. Thus our best course of action is to locate Eximo, to prevent him... it... from causing unnecessary harm. You may go to the hospital, I believe it is not too far away. I will locate Eximo."
"Ah, very well then." Aeon began to walk out of the alley. As he walked, the sound of vehicles on the road returned, and he passed by the conspiracy theorist. Thinking it best to be consistent with Amethyst's alibi, Aeon gave him a well-practiced gaze that he knew caused people uncanny fear. Aeon headed towards the hospital with a subtle feeling of triumph.
Amethyst exited the alleyway a few seconds later.
"W-what's up with him?" the conspiracy theorist said, quietly.
"I told you, he has been trapped on this planet for weeks. Surely that would be enough time to develop severe disdain of humans?" Amethyst said nonchalantly.
"Er... right. Also, I saw what looked like a vacuum cleaner hanging off a flying broomstick, if that's relevent at all..."
Amethyst nearly jumped, but was able to avoid showing visible signs of concern. "Which direction did it go?"
The conspiracy theorist pointed towards where he saw it fly off to.
"Try to keep up. This is a serious matter." Amethyst said as she sprited towards that direction, keeping an eye on her armband. The conspiracy theorist followed as fast as he could.
----------
"Good morning, sir."
"Hello. I have a few minor injuries and a... punctured eye." Aeon lifted his eyepatch and let the woman see the remains of his eye.
The receptionist paused. "Dr. Tennyson will be with you shortly."
"Thanks."
A few minutes later, Aeon was called to a hospital room. Inside, a skinny woman greeted him and asked him what ailed him, and he told her.
"Oh, my. The punctures seem to be mostly healed, but your eye is horribly damaged. You seem to have avoided any infection, but the scar tissue that has grown around the eye probably means it will have to be removed. Now, how did this happen?"
This woman seems familiar. A bit young, yes, but still... "For the minor injuries, I had a window broken on me. Then, someone took a shard of glass and stabbed my eye with it."
"Oh." She seemed visibly disconcerted. "Do you feel any pain right now?"
Yes, the connection is definitely there. But, I have to make sure... "No, it seems to have been numbed down, mostly."
"Okay. We'll first clean up all this blood, and then we can see what we can do about the eye."
"Say, what did you say your name was?"
"I am Dr. Amelia Tennyson, why do you ask?"
"You... remind me of someone. Do you know anyone named Nathan?"
"Yes, I have a nephew called Nathan. He's a bit of a devil, though."
Ah!
"Alright." Dr. Tennyson proceeded to clean up the dried blood. All of the minor wounds simply needed a cleaning. The eye, however, was irreversibly damaged.
"Come to think of it, you look pretty familiar too. I think I had some kind of dream involving floating islands... and I think I remember someone with a colorful eyepatch."
What? Emily died before last round. Dammit, Director, leave the dead at peace.
"Alright, so there's very little we can do about the eye. It's never going to work again, so the best course of action right now is to remove it."
"Actually, are there any problems with just keeping it there?"
"Well no, not really, but I would highly recommend just removing it."
"This may seem strange, but I would rather not do an operation, thanks."
Dr. Tennyson looked at Aeon quizzically.
"It's a long story. Can I have my eyepatch now?"
"Here you go. So, is this all?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, have a good day."
Aeon left the hospital. The basic cleanup did not merit any payment, and thus he had avoided getting paperwork or other hassle done. Nevertheless, Aeon did find something interesting. He took the crystal communicator, ready to give Amethyst the information.
"Are you sure you didn't steal this?"
"Yes." Aeon said, moderately frustrated.
"Then tell me how you came about $50 within 10 minutes?"
"There's a pawn shop near this store. I traded in something." Aeon had sold the silver charm used two rounds ago. The pawnbroker couldn't identify it, but he nevertheless accepted it for its weight in silver.
"All this for a shirt? You seem to have a strange sense of priorities."
"Tell me about it. I have the money, just give me the shirt already."
The shopkeeper sighed and began typing into the register. "Who are you, anyway? I don't think I've ever seen you around here."
Aeon thought for a moment. "Let's just say I'm in the middle of a vacation gone horribly wrong."
"A vacation? You're not from bAtTlEoPoLiS?"
Aeon paused. The shopkeeper was obviously unaware of his change in voice. From the context of the sentence, it looked as if his words were altered, the name of this place being artifically changed into something else.
"No, I'm not from... here. Why do you ask?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just that I've never quite heard of someone coming in from outside the city."
"Really?"
"Yeah. For some reason people never manage to make it out or in. A few years ago the governor tried to establish an airport, but it kept on getting technical difficulties and was hardly ever used, and it was closed down."
"Interesting. Where is this airport?"
"Well most of the road signs are taken down, but it's on the eastern edge of the city."
The shopkeeper finished the transaction and handed Aeon his bland shirt. The one paper note he had before was exchanged for more paper notes, along with a few coins. Counting only the notes, Aeon could see that the shirt had cost him most of his money. A silver coin is worth a cheap shirt? This is ridiculous. Aeon walked towards the changing rooms to get rid of his old shirt. On the way, he passed by a pale-looking female in a black hoodie with noticeably large sunglasses, accompanied by a rather nervous-looking man. As soon as he got near to the changing rooms, however, he heard a scream and could sense a distinct smell of blood. At once the girl with the black hoodie rushed to the changing rooms, with the man, looking absolutely terrified, following her. They entered the changing room and the man immediately came out, looking nauseous. Aeon walked into the room, acting curious.
At this point it became clear to Aeon who the girl was. She noticed him, but otherwise did little. Aeon looked at the room in front of her and saw it flowing with fresh blood. He grimaced, and entered a different room. Inside, he changed into his new shirt and muttered, "Jeez, this place is getting stranger and stranger. I bet that's some kind of prank pulled by those foreign kids. I need to get out of here, fast." Aeon exited the changing room to see the blood largely cleaned up, and the girl nowhere to be found.
As Aeon walked towards the store exit, he tossed his old shirt into a nearby bin. In doing so, he also noticed that the girl and man left the store and were now standing right outside to the right of the doorway, clearly visible through the glass front of the store. The girl told the man something, and he nodded. The girl then looked back into the store, to no particular position, and looked back towards the street.
Aeon exited the store and turned left. As if on cue, he was immediately grabbed from behind and blindfolded. He made some effort to escape, but he was held fairly tight. A few minutes later, his blindfold was taken off and he faced the girl, the man clearly attempting to look confident, but failing. Aeon stood up, and it took little time for him to realize that he was cornered, in the alleyway.
Well, it's about time you did that, Aeon thought, looking panicked.
----------
Spoiler
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"Leave me with him. I have things to discuss."
"But why-"
Amethyst faced the conspiracy theorist. At once, he understood and left the alley. Amethyst whispered something inaudible and the hum of vehicles driving along the busy road stopped.
"It's about time you did that." Aeon said. "What did you tell him, by the way?"
"He is a conspiracy theorist who believes I am an alien. He has proved somewhat useful. I told him that you were another alien, who lost communications and was trapped in this city for longer than I have been here--long enough to devise a decent disguise."
"Alright."
"Meanwhile, what have you observed about this city?"
"Other than its strange placements of monetary value, I have found that the name of this city--or providence, I really don't know--is somehow blocked out. Its societal system is somewhat similar to my own, only more complex and... busy. I have gained some currency, but I spent most of it on a shirt. I was planning to go to a hospital, when you showed up."
"Very well then." Amethyst uttered some more inaudible incantations and a pair of small crystals appeared. "This will allow us to communicate. I have found that the bleeding corpse in the clothing store is likely the work of the demon. As of now, however, he is likely either causing extreme chaos or blending in perfectly with his surroundings--locating him will either be very easy or very fruitless, as the demon seems highly intelligent. Thus our best course of action is to locate Eximo, to prevent him... it... from causing unnecessary harm. You may go to the hospital, I believe it is not too far away. I will locate Eximo."
"Ah, very well then." Aeon began to walk out of the alley. As he walked, the sound of vehicles on the road returned, and he passed by the conspiracy theorist. Thinking it best to be consistent with Amethyst's alibi, Aeon gave him a well-practiced gaze that he knew caused people uncanny fear. Aeon headed towards the hospital with a subtle feeling of triumph.
Amethyst exited the alleyway a few seconds later.
"W-what's up with him?" the conspiracy theorist said, quietly.
"I told you, he has been trapped on this planet for weeks. Surely that would be enough time to develop severe disdain of humans?" Amethyst said nonchalantly.
"Er... right. Also, I saw what looked like a vacuum cleaner hanging off a flying broomstick, if that's relevent at all..."
Amethyst nearly jumped, but was able to avoid showing visible signs of concern. "Which direction did it go?"
The conspiracy theorist pointed towards where he saw it fly off to.
"Try to keep up. This is a serious matter." Amethyst said as she sprited towards that direction, keeping an eye on her armband. The conspiracy theorist followed as fast as he could.
----------
"Good morning, sir."
"Hello. I have a few minor injuries and a... punctured eye." Aeon lifted his eyepatch and let the woman see the remains of his eye.
The receptionist paused. "Dr. Tennyson will be with you shortly."
"Thanks."
A few minutes later, Aeon was called to a hospital room. Inside, a skinny woman greeted him and asked him what ailed him, and he told her.
"Oh, my. The punctures seem to be mostly healed, but your eye is horribly damaged. You seem to have avoided any infection, but the scar tissue that has grown around the eye probably means it will have to be removed. Now, how did this happen?"
This woman seems familiar. A bit young, yes, but still... "For the minor injuries, I had a window broken on me. Then, someone took a shard of glass and stabbed my eye with it."
"Oh." She seemed visibly disconcerted. "Do you feel any pain right now?"
Yes, the connection is definitely there. But, I have to make sure... "No, it seems to have been numbed down, mostly."
"Okay. We'll first clean up all this blood, and then we can see what we can do about the eye."
"Say, what did you say your name was?"
"I am Dr. Amelia Tennyson, why do you ask?"
"You... remind me of someone. Do you know anyone named Nathan?"
"Yes, I have a nephew called Nathan. He's a bit of a devil, though."
Ah!
"Alright." Dr. Tennyson proceeded to clean up the dried blood. All of the minor wounds simply needed a cleaning. The eye, however, was irreversibly damaged.
"Come to think of it, you look pretty familiar too. I think I had some kind of dream involving floating islands... and I think I remember someone with a colorful eyepatch."
What? Emily died before last round. Dammit, Director, leave the dead at peace.
"Alright, so there's very little we can do about the eye. It's never going to work again, so the best course of action right now is to remove it."
"Actually, are there any problems with just keeping it there?"
"Well no, not really, but I would highly recommend just removing it."
"This may seem strange, but I would rather not do an operation, thanks."
Dr. Tennyson looked at Aeon quizzically.
"It's a long story. Can I have my eyepatch now?"
"Here you go. So, is this all?"
"Yes."
"Alright then, have a good day."
Aeon left the hospital. The basic cleanup did not merit any payment, and thus he had avoided getting paperwork or other hassle done. Nevertheless, Aeon did find something interesting. He took the crystal communicator, ready to give Amethyst the information.