Re: Grand Battle S3G1! (Round One: Vio Maleficat)
05-13-2011, 08:13 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
As the four-minute warning echoed in the distance above them, Tengeri, Tor, and Velobo fled up the curving tunnel. Tengeri was wary, on her guard; something about this set of tunnels was making her scanners return nothing but gibberish. What few readings she got that were at all consistent were blatantly impossible, and if it hadn't been for the rust-coloured man's complete, unwavering certainty that this tunnel was the right one, the Leviath would have stopped right then and found her own way.
-
"Come along, children," Scofflaw chirped. "We're off to see the wizard."
Kerak, with barely a glance back at the steaming pile of fresh-cooked jumbo calamari, followed, keen as he was to track down the magic man. Tor and Tengeri, on the other hand, shared a look, one that crossed species and said, quite plainly, "yeah, that's happening." Neither of them moved. Velobo, unconscious at the time, didn't follow either.
With just one last look back and an "oh well, you're missing out" little tsk, Scofflaw closed the Chaos-spawned door behind him. It closed with a slight slam, then slowly fell forward, taking the frame with it and clattering to the floor. The stone behind it was as solid as the rest of the wall.
Just a moment later, the first warning echoed down to them, muffled a bit by distance and Chaotic interference. Tor frowned at it, listening, then turned to Tengeri, who was eyeing the downed monster.
"Right," he said, falling easily back onto the experience and instincts of a captain. His tone was curt, matter of fact- he wasn't asking if people would do things, he was simply stating it as a fact. "Tengeri, by the time I've got Velobo, you'll be with me and ready to go. You'll follow me to our escape tunnel, and we'll be out of here. Got that?"
The Leviath nodded, then turned to focus on the behemoth. Tor, meanwhile, moved slowly over to the unconscious Plazmuth. "Velobo," he asked, curt and urgent, "are you okay?" When he got no response, he grabbed the cube and lifted, heaving him up onto his shoulder.
The Telpori-Hal turned to Tengeri just as she finished gathering her samples. "Here, can you take him," he asked, and with a nod, she moved in next to him. With a grunt, Tor heaved Velobo, who was just regaining consciousness, on top of the Leviath.
"Now," Tor said, taking the lead toward the tunnel, "we need to go. We've got a bit over four minutes until that gas attack, and I rather doubt any of us want to be around when it hits. There's a tunnel this way, and it'll get us to the surface. From there, we either get to the bunkers that announcement mentioned or just get clear. I'd rather venture out into Chaos territory than get gassed, myself." Without looking back at the other two for assent, he moved quickly, breaking into a run as he neared the tunnel's entrance. His current form may not have been the best for carrying around a cube that was most of a meter in all dimensions, but running, that he could do.
As the four-minute warning echoed in the distance above them, Tor lead the group up the tunnel, his steps unerring. He knew just what was coming.
"You might see something unusual up ahead," he yelled to the two behind him, "just ignore it, it's fine." Tengeri thought that they were taking quite a number of strange things in stride already, but when they rounded a bend to see another Tor, the last Tor, standing at a fork in the tunnel with a smoking, dying version of the current Tor at his feet, she reminded herself that, with Chaos around, things could always get weirder.
Tor didn't even glance at his past self as he raced by, turning the corner sharply and heading down the other side of the fork they'd just come from. Tengeri followed suit, Velobo still on her back, and the three continued upwards.
The walls were spattered with bits of sourceless daylight, now, and the curve started to get sharper and sharper. The tunnel still rose, but it also bent in on itself, until Tengeri's readings suggested that they really should be wrapping through the space it was already occupying. Tighter still, curving closer in, starting to feel constrictive without ever changing dimensions, tighter, curving further, unable to stop running, closer in, wrapping impossibly around itself, until-
With a slight pop, they found themselves rushing down a hallway, and as fast as they could, they stopped themselves, catching whatever breath they needed. Velobo, for obvious reasons, wasn't terribly exhausted by the whole thing. (Though that curving tunnel had still been as strange for him as for the other two.)
After a moment more rest, Tor straightened, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay. We've got-"
He was interrupted by a blaring announcement. "TIME REMAINING TO THE PAINFUL DEATH OF ANY IDIOT STILL STANDING AROUND HAVING A DRINK WITH CHAOS: THREE MINUTES."
Tor sighed, then started again. "We've got three minutes to get to safety. Tengeri, you're the one with the implants. Any sort of mapping system that can tell us where that bunker is?"
"chaos has rendered them useless," she formed.
"Alright then." He turned to the door nearest them. "In that case, I guess we improvise." Before he could open it, though, it opened of its own accord.
"...not much farther, just a bit down this- oh." Scofflaw stopped talking as he saw Tor staring daggers at him.
Tengeri gave her best approximation of a sigh, thoroughly expecting the pair to start throwing punches the moment they processed what they were looking at.
The first punch didn't come, though. The two just stared at each other for a few tense moments.
"You're going to the bunker," Tor sad.
"You're going to follow me," Scofflaw replied. They both knew where this was going- it was hardly a difficult conclusion to reach.
"And you can't really mislead us without ending up dead as well." Tor stood back from the door, giving the shorter man room to go by.
Scofflaw passed him and started down the hall. His voice amicable, he continued, "I could lock you out once we get there."
"You're betting Tengeri can't cut her way in and render the bunker useless for everyone, then."
They continued back and forth like that a bit, neither really putting much effort forward. Tor knew he could catch Scofflaw easily if he tried to outrun them, and Scofflaw knew that he could easily take Tor if it came down to another fight. There just wouldn't be any satisfaction in a confrontation for either of them right now.
As the four-minute warning echoed in the distance above them, Tengeri, Tor, and Velobo fled up the curving tunnel. Tengeri was wary, on her guard; something about this set of tunnels was making her scanners return nothing but gibberish. What few readings she got that were at all consistent were blatantly impossible, and if it hadn't been for the rust-coloured man's complete, unwavering certainty that this tunnel was the right one, the Leviath would have stopped right then and found her own way.
-
"Come along, children," Scofflaw chirped. "We're off to see the wizard."
Kerak, with barely a glance back at the steaming pile of fresh-cooked jumbo calamari, followed, keen as he was to track down the magic man. Tor and Tengeri, on the other hand, shared a look, one that crossed species and said, quite plainly, "yeah, that's happening." Neither of them moved. Velobo, unconscious at the time, didn't follow either.
With just one last look back and an "oh well, you're missing out" little tsk, Scofflaw closed the Chaos-spawned door behind him. It closed with a slight slam, then slowly fell forward, taking the frame with it and clattering to the floor. The stone behind it was as solid as the rest of the wall.
Just a moment later, the first warning echoed down to them, muffled a bit by distance and Chaotic interference. Tor frowned at it, listening, then turned to Tengeri, who was eyeing the downed monster.
"Right," he said, falling easily back onto the experience and instincts of a captain. His tone was curt, matter of fact- he wasn't asking if people would do things, he was simply stating it as a fact. "Tengeri, by the time I've got Velobo, you'll be with me and ready to go. You'll follow me to our escape tunnel, and we'll be out of here. Got that?"
The Leviath nodded, then turned to focus on the behemoth. Tor, meanwhile, moved slowly over to the unconscious Plazmuth. "Velobo," he asked, curt and urgent, "are you okay?" When he got no response, he grabbed the cube and lifted, heaving him up onto his shoulder.
The Telpori-Hal turned to Tengeri just as she finished gathering her samples. "Here, can you take him," he asked, and with a nod, she moved in next to him. With a grunt, Tor heaved Velobo, who was just regaining consciousness, on top of the Leviath.
"Now," Tor said, taking the lead toward the tunnel, "we need to go. We've got a bit over four minutes until that gas attack, and I rather doubt any of us want to be around when it hits. There's a tunnel this way, and it'll get us to the surface. From there, we either get to the bunkers that announcement mentioned or just get clear. I'd rather venture out into Chaos territory than get gassed, myself." Without looking back at the other two for assent, he moved quickly, breaking into a run as he neared the tunnel's entrance. His current form may not have been the best for carrying around a cube that was most of a meter in all dimensions, but running, that he could do.
As the four-minute warning echoed in the distance above them, Tor lead the group up the tunnel, his steps unerring. He knew just what was coming.
"You might see something unusual up ahead," he yelled to the two behind him, "just ignore it, it's fine." Tengeri thought that they were taking quite a number of strange things in stride already, but when they rounded a bend to see another Tor, the last Tor, standing at a fork in the tunnel with a smoking, dying version of the current Tor at his feet, she reminded herself that, with Chaos around, things could always get weirder.
Tor didn't even glance at his past self as he raced by, turning the corner sharply and heading down the other side of the fork they'd just come from. Tengeri followed suit, Velobo still on her back, and the three continued upwards.
The walls were spattered with bits of sourceless daylight, now, and the curve started to get sharper and sharper. The tunnel still rose, but it also bent in on itself, until Tengeri's readings suggested that they really should be wrapping through the space it was already occupying. Tighter still, curving closer in, starting to feel constrictive without ever changing dimensions, tighter, curving further, unable to stop running, closer in, wrapping impossibly around itself, until-
With a slight pop, they found themselves rushing down a hallway, and as fast as they could, they stopped themselves, catching whatever breath they needed. Velobo, for obvious reasons, wasn't terribly exhausted by the whole thing. (Though that curving tunnel had still been as strange for him as for the other two.)
After a moment more rest, Tor straightened, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay. We've got-"
He was interrupted by a blaring announcement. "TIME REMAINING TO THE PAINFUL DEATH OF ANY IDIOT STILL STANDING AROUND HAVING A DRINK WITH CHAOS: THREE MINUTES."
Tor sighed, then started again. "We've got three minutes to get to safety. Tengeri, you're the one with the implants. Any sort of mapping system that can tell us where that bunker is?"
"chaos has rendered them useless," she formed.
"Alright then." He turned to the door nearest them. "In that case, I guess we improvise." Before he could open it, though, it opened of its own accord.
"...not much farther, just a bit down this- oh." Scofflaw stopped talking as he saw Tor staring daggers at him.
Tengeri gave her best approximation of a sigh, thoroughly expecting the pair to start throwing punches the moment they processed what they were looking at.
The first punch didn't come, though. The two just stared at each other for a few tense moments.
"You're going to the bunker," Tor sad.
"You're going to follow me," Scofflaw replied. They both knew where this was going- it was hardly a difficult conclusion to reach.
"And you can't really mislead us without ending up dead as well." Tor stood back from the door, giving the shorter man room to go by.
Scofflaw passed him and started down the hall. His voice amicable, he continued, "I could lock you out once we get there."
"You're betting Tengeri can't cut her way in and render the bunker useless for everyone, then."
They continued back and forth like that a bit, neither really putting much effort forward. Tor knew he could catch Scofflaw easily if he tried to outrun them, and Scofflaw knew that he could easily take Tor if it came down to another fight. There just wouldn't be any satisfaction in a confrontation for either of them right now.