Re: The Grand Battle II! [Round 1: The Labyrinth Field!]
10-05-2009, 06:55 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Schazer.
On the barren plane, Vyrm'n stood, more alone than usual, ignoring Galus and Cabaret's antics with the demonic plant. Maxwell as a projection had been going surprisingly well to date, that was, until the schrotgolem threw a letter-opener at him. Vyrm'n didn't have time to respond to the projectile and terminate the link with Maxwell before the man got a stomachful of letter-opener.
Maxwell's body in the garden jolted slightly as the blade embedded itself in his stomach, but otherwise his projected form did not change shape or position, other than Maxwell starting to scream with pain, unable to move his hands to pull out the weapon, each stomach-contracting gasp of pain causing him further agony.
Vyrm'n was not oblivious to any of this, as its already shaky perspective of the garden was blotted out by Maxwell's howling. The Faceless nearly panicked and released him from the darkness, but luckily for Maxwell stopped itself in time. Trying its best to make itself heard over the sound of matter in the garden and Maxwell's own screams, Vyrm'n intended with every once of his being that Maxwell COME BACK COME BACK COME BACK COME BACK COME BACK.
Through the haze of pain and singing atoms, Maxwell heard Vyrm'n's chant and trying and failing to ignore the pain, tuned his consciousness back to Vyrm'n's plane with difficulty, his presence in the garden fading until nothing was left. The sense of being disappeared again; immolating Maxwell's perception of a body; though the essence of Maxwell just wanted to curl up in a tiny ball deep inside the Faceless and sleep there despite this inconvenience. Incapable of executing this action, Maxwell sufficed with redefining his being so his new song was agony. The response of Vyrmn's matter was swift and unequivocal.
NO. Maxwell paused his reassessment of himself for a moment, while Vyrm'n figured out how to handle this. The trouble with Maxwell having a Faceless' way of seeing the world was that telepathy was impossible, as it required a non-passive mind with a sense of identity.
It decided the best course of action was to talk to him using logic. Admittedly, this was another trait not renowned in Faceless, but for Maxwell, Vyrm'n was willing to have a go.
Vyrm'n released Maxwell gently, first exposing his face so the man could breathe, before letting gravity do its thing and letting an unresponsive Maxwell slide limply out of the black. As only the last tendril of darkness kept the two in contact, Vyrm'n considered how best to do this. Forming an arm at the ready, the Faceless pulled the last bond away witih a snap; it was a movement designed to cause as little disruption as possible, like pulling the second block out of a layer in a jenga tower and leaving the remainder teetering on the centre block.
Vyrm'n was stiller than usual, arm still at the ready.
Maxwell had been too caught up in his own pain to notice any movement, but he felt the breaking of their connection with an abruptness as the song of matter ceased to soar through his mind. The silence was what unnerved him into opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings. Then a part of him recalled the letter opener in his stomach, and he would have started screaming again if Vyrmn had not anticipated this and threw one arm over his face to blind him, another grabbing the man's arms to stop him reaching for the wound.
Stop. Think. It's what you're good at.
"But... I'm hu-" the arm engulfed his mouth, leaving Maxwell incapable of continuing.
Are you hurt?
Maxwell was about to try and mangle out a barely intelligible reply about how it should be obvious even to a bloodless Faceless that a letter-opener through the stomach would count as a painful injury, and then he realised why it wouldn't be. He stopped struggling; the Faceless released his mouth again so he could talk. Careful, now. You believed you were in the garden; you were. Now tell me, are you hurt?
Maxwell thought this apparently obvious question through carefully, letting Vyrm'n listen to his train of thought. "My... body was trapped inside you, then I saw things your way." Vyrm'n seemed satisfied with this statement, so Maxwell continued, doing best to ignore the stabbing pains. "You can see as far as you like without moving, so I can too." Agreement. "Then I saw somewhere were you weren't... so my body wasn't either. I even conjured up a... image... of myself, to substitute for my lack of body on that plane." Ascent. "So... when the golem hit me, I only believed it did." Vyrm'n seemed to still be waiting for something. "But, it didn't. Its weapons and my body are on different planes."
At this point, Vyrm'n released Maxwell's arms, and removed the blindfold. His first reaction was to check for a wound, then stopped himself. It would be ridiculous to go looking for an injury that had never really been made. Maxwell instead turned, with an effort to fight his instincts, to face the unmoving Faceless. "Thank you for saving me there. And... showing me the way you see the world. I can't comprehend how you can stand that, but I suppose you can get used to it... You truly are a remarkable creature, Vyrm'n. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to rest for a moment, that was quite a lot to take in..."
Vyrm'n shifted its form into one more comfortable for Maxwell to rest upon than the withered grass, content for now as the man relaxed and began muttering to himself again. Its view of the other plane was now blind, so it instead amused itself by watching the proceedings betwen Galus, Cabaret, and the killer plant.
On the barren plane, Vyrm'n stood, more alone than usual, ignoring Galus and Cabaret's antics with the demonic plant. Maxwell as a projection had been going surprisingly well to date, that was, until the schrotgolem threw a letter-opener at him. Vyrm'n didn't have time to respond to the projectile and terminate the link with Maxwell before the man got a stomachful of letter-opener.
Maxwell's body in the garden jolted slightly as the blade embedded itself in his stomach, but otherwise his projected form did not change shape or position, other than Maxwell starting to scream with pain, unable to move his hands to pull out the weapon, each stomach-contracting gasp of pain causing him further agony.
Vyrm'n was not oblivious to any of this, as its already shaky perspective of the garden was blotted out by Maxwell's howling. The Faceless nearly panicked and released him from the darkness, but luckily for Maxwell stopped itself in time. Trying its best to make itself heard over the sound of matter in the garden and Maxwell's own screams, Vyrm'n intended with every once of his being that Maxwell COME BACK COME BACK COME BACK COME BACK COME BACK.
Through the haze of pain and singing atoms, Maxwell heard Vyrm'n's chant and trying and failing to ignore the pain, tuned his consciousness back to Vyrm'n's plane with difficulty, his presence in the garden fading until nothing was left. The sense of being disappeared again; immolating Maxwell's perception of a body; though the essence of Maxwell just wanted to curl up in a tiny ball deep inside the Faceless and sleep there despite this inconvenience. Incapable of executing this action, Maxwell sufficed with redefining his being so his new song was agony. The response of Vyrmn's matter was swift and unequivocal.
NO. Maxwell paused his reassessment of himself for a moment, while Vyrm'n figured out how to handle this. The trouble with Maxwell having a Faceless' way of seeing the world was that telepathy was impossible, as it required a non-passive mind with a sense of identity.
It decided the best course of action was to talk to him using logic. Admittedly, this was another trait not renowned in Faceless, but for Maxwell, Vyrm'n was willing to have a go.
Vyrm'n released Maxwell gently, first exposing his face so the man could breathe, before letting gravity do its thing and letting an unresponsive Maxwell slide limply out of the black. As only the last tendril of darkness kept the two in contact, Vyrm'n considered how best to do this. Forming an arm at the ready, the Faceless pulled the last bond away witih a snap; it was a movement designed to cause as little disruption as possible, like pulling the second block out of a layer in a jenga tower and leaving the remainder teetering on the centre block.
Vyrm'n was stiller than usual, arm still at the ready.
Maxwell had been too caught up in his own pain to notice any movement, but he felt the breaking of their connection with an abruptness as the song of matter ceased to soar through his mind. The silence was what unnerved him into opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings. Then a part of him recalled the letter opener in his stomach, and he would have started screaming again if Vyrmn had not anticipated this and threw one arm over his face to blind him, another grabbing the man's arms to stop him reaching for the wound.
Stop. Think. It's what you're good at.
"But... I'm hu-" the arm engulfed his mouth, leaving Maxwell incapable of continuing.
Are you hurt?
Maxwell was about to try and mangle out a barely intelligible reply about how it should be obvious even to a bloodless Faceless that a letter-opener through the stomach would count as a painful injury, and then he realised why it wouldn't be. He stopped struggling; the Faceless released his mouth again so he could talk. Careful, now. You believed you were in the garden; you were. Now tell me, are you hurt?
Maxwell thought this apparently obvious question through carefully, letting Vyrm'n listen to his train of thought. "My... body was trapped inside you, then I saw things your way." Vyrm'n seemed satisfied with this statement, so Maxwell continued, doing best to ignore the stabbing pains. "You can see as far as you like without moving, so I can too." Agreement. "Then I saw somewhere were you weren't... so my body wasn't either. I even conjured up a... image... of myself, to substitute for my lack of body on that plane." Ascent. "So... when the golem hit me, I only believed it did." Vyrm'n seemed to still be waiting for something. "But, it didn't. Its weapons and my body are on different planes."
At this point, Vyrm'n released Maxwell's arms, and removed the blindfold. His first reaction was to check for a wound, then stopped himself. It would be ridiculous to go looking for an injury that had never really been made. Maxwell instead turned, with an effort to fight his instincts, to face the unmoving Faceless. "Thank you for saving me there. And... showing me the way you see the world. I can't comprehend how you can stand that, but I suppose you can get used to it... You truly are a remarkable creature, Vyrm'n. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to rest for a moment, that was quite a lot to take in..."
Vyrm'n shifted its form into one more comfortable for Maxwell to rest upon than the withered grass, content for now as the man relaxed and began muttering to himself again. Its view of the other plane was now blind, so it instead amused itself by watching the proceedings betwen Galus, Cabaret, and the killer plant.
peace to the unsung peace to the martyrs | i'm johnny rotten appleseed
clouds is shaky love | broke as hell but i got a bunch of ringtones
eyes blood red bruise aubergine | Sue took something now Sue doesn't sleep | saint average, day in the life of
woke up in the noon smelling doom and death | out the house, great outdoors
staying warm in arctic blizzard | that's my battle 'til I get inanimate | still up in the same clothes living like a gameshow
clouds is shaky love | broke as hell but i got a bunch of ringtones
eyes blood red bruise aubergine | Sue took something now Sue doesn't sleep | saint average, day in the life of
woke up in the noon smelling doom and death | out the house, great outdoors
staying warm in arctic blizzard | that's my battle 'til I get inanimate | still up in the same clothes living like a gameshow