Re: The $300,000 Fight-A-Thon! [Round One: Storage Park!]
09-16-2012, 10:35 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by SeventeenthSquid.
Watching Schuster climb through the gap and into the warehouse, Eriz considered, for a very brief moment, following him. It was a very, very brief moment. She immediately decided that that would be an exceedingly bad idea, and watched the green back of his jacket vanish over the lip of shattered wall. Suddenly she remembered something.
"Franz!" she shouted, her amplified voice easily reaching his ears.
"What!" came his reply, already a little faded. Eriz cocked back an aux-arm and tossed his worn firearm through the gap, towards the sound of his voice. "You might need this!" She heard footsteps coming back towards her, the quick clatter of the weapon being scooped off the concrete floor. Then receding footsteps. She waited a moment for him to say something, to thank her, maybe to climb back over the wall having changed his mind about this exceedingly foolish venture. He did not.
Eriz sighed and returned to her task. She wasn't really sure if they'd ever find the proper materials to repair... whatever that thing was. Warden, it called itself. Of the Sixth Ring. Wherever that is. She sifted through shelves, lifted a moldering cardboard box to her face-dome. It was full of weights and elastic bands. She released it in frustration. Its several-dozen kilogram weight smashed into her foot. She did not notice. Her aux-arms milled through the piles of old clothes, stacks of magazines, books, lamps, the detritus of a life she could barely even begin to understand. While she mindlessly sorted through the stacks, her mind began to wander. She thought of her home, briefly, before remembering she would probably never see it again. This quickly put a stop to such frivolous thoughts.
"Eriz," came an ominous and booming voice from behind her. She spun immediately on her heel, grabbing her hammer where it lay against the shelf she had been searching. It was, of course, Warden. She immediately felt very foolish, and allowed the hammer to drop back onto the floor. Warden, at least, seemed not to notice her embarrassment as he continued on in his horrible, grating voice.
"We must find the necessary parts to repair me. I must be operating at full capacity if we are to successfully apprehend the arch-sinner." This made very little sense to Eriz, and only succeeded in irritating her. She was looking, by the Ship! She didn't need some overblown infernal CLOCK of all things telling her how to do her job.
"I'm looking, Warden. But this horrible place is just full of... socks and magazines. Old worthless Kyelz exercise equipment. Broken televisions. What you need is... maybe a gearbox. From a vehicle. I don't know." She sighed again, and looked up at the Warden. Its stupid grinning skull-face slowly revolved, its long metallic limbs picking at the ground with a strange idle curiosity, save one that hung crippled and broken. "I don't think the Coach owns what we need. Or maybe he moved everything we could really use out of here. I don't know," she repeated. She kicked aimlessly at the box she had dropped, ripping it apart and spraying five and ten kilogram weights across the floor. A band of elastic caught around her leg, wiggling back and forth between her shin and toes. She frowned under her face-dome and hit at it with her hand. It was just out of reach. She bent down, grabbed it, pulled, yanked herself off balance and fell flat on her back.
"Eriz." Warden again. She lay on the floor. "Eriz, you've stopped looking." Eriz groaned, her voice emerging harshly static, the Sauthai sign of frustration and annoyance.
"I know that," she replied.
"Get up, Eriz. We must stop the arch-sinner." Eriz didn't want to get up. She heard, faintly, as if from another world, harsh shouting and yowling, something that sounded like a discharging energy weapon. She should be up on her feet, she realized. This was a warzone. She was a Sauthai. She should be ready to fight. She continued to lay on the floor, listening to the distant sounds of fighting, crashing shelves, screeching cats. A horribly almost-human laugh, that seemed to be getting closer...
A shadow passed over her face as she stared up at the ceiling. Silhouetted against the harsh warehouse lights, a winged shadow passed right over her, shrieking and wailing and... laughing? in a voice that was very nearly human but most certainly not human. She sat up, pushing her heavy torso up with her arms. Warden was gone, she realized, floating off somewhere. Probably looking through more stacks for the gears he needed. She slowly stood and reached down for her hammer.
"HEY," the creature shouted. To her? She spun around, the lethargy that had filled her moments ago evaporating in an instant. "HEY, YOU. YOU. HEY. HEY." Where was it coming from? She quickly rotated on her heels, looking in every direction. "GOD DAMN IT. I'M UP HERE. GOD, YOU'RE THICK." Eriz looked up. Almost directly above her, perched precariously on the shelf she had been inspecting a minute before, was a horrible ghoulish mixture of human and something she couldn't even begin to identify. It smirked at her, eyes bright in the warehouse lights.
"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH, GIRL. ERIZ, RIGHT?" Eriz didn't really know what to say, so she said nothing. She lowered her hammer slightly, but still held it ready if the thing decided to pounce. It leaned its long neck down from its perch, inspecting Eriz closer. The shelf swayed dangerously under its bulk.
"ARE YOU DEAF? I ASKED YOU A QUESTION. IT WASN'T RHETORICAL."
Eriz still didn't really know what to say, and was stunned by the sheer hideousness of the thing before her. It's pale, bare human face, repulsive enough on a human body, leered from a long serpentine neck. Wide, fleshy wings stretched from its shoulders, ending in wriggling pink human hands. She took a step back from the shelf. The creature leaned further out, trying to keep its face as close to her face-dome as it could. Maybe to intimidate her. Maybe just to get a closer look at her. Its eerily human eyes inspected the length of her body, and she felt horribly uncomfortable.
"NICE GEAR," it said. "HIGH TECH. VERY CLASSY." Was it mocking her? She still couldn't even tell. She took another step back. It leaned further forward. The shelf wobbled, and Eriz realized a moment too late what was about to happen. The huge creature realized a few seconds later as the shelf gave way with a thunderous crash, and Eriz vanished under a drift of socks, plates, cardboard and a few hundred kilos of scaly meat.
"GOD DAMN IT!"
Watching Schuster climb through the gap and into the warehouse, Eriz considered, for a very brief moment, following him. It was a very, very brief moment. She immediately decided that that would be an exceedingly bad idea, and watched the green back of his jacket vanish over the lip of shattered wall. Suddenly she remembered something.
"Franz!" she shouted, her amplified voice easily reaching his ears.
"What!" came his reply, already a little faded. Eriz cocked back an aux-arm and tossed his worn firearm through the gap, towards the sound of his voice. "You might need this!" She heard footsteps coming back towards her, the quick clatter of the weapon being scooped off the concrete floor. Then receding footsteps. She waited a moment for him to say something, to thank her, maybe to climb back over the wall having changed his mind about this exceedingly foolish venture. He did not.
Eriz sighed and returned to her task. She wasn't really sure if they'd ever find the proper materials to repair... whatever that thing was. Warden, it called itself. Of the Sixth Ring. Wherever that is. She sifted through shelves, lifted a moldering cardboard box to her face-dome. It was full of weights and elastic bands. She released it in frustration. Its several-dozen kilogram weight smashed into her foot. She did not notice. Her aux-arms milled through the piles of old clothes, stacks of magazines, books, lamps, the detritus of a life she could barely even begin to understand. While she mindlessly sorted through the stacks, her mind began to wander. She thought of her home, briefly, before remembering she would probably never see it again. This quickly put a stop to such frivolous thoughts.
"Eriz," came an ominous and booming voice from behind her. She spun immediately on her heel, grabbing her hammer where it lay against the shelf she had been searching. It was, of course, Warden. She immediately felt very foolish, and allowed the hammer to drop back onto the floor. Warden, at least, seemed not to notice her embarrassment as he continued on in his horrible, grating voice.
"We must find the necessary parts to repair me. I must be operating at full capacity if we are to successfully apprehend the arch-sinner." This made very little sense to Eriz, and only succeeded in irritating her. She was looking, by the Ship! She didn't need some overblown infernal CLOCK of all things telling her how to do her job.
"I'm looking, Warden. But this horrible place is just full of... socks and magazines. Old worthless Kyelz exercise equipment. Broken televisions. What you need is... maybe a gearbox. From a vehicle. I don't know." She sighed again, and looked up at the Warden. Its stupid grinning skull-face slowly revolved, its long metallic limbs picking at the ground with a strange idle curiosity, save one that hung crippled and broken. "I don't think the Coach owns what we need. Or maybe he moved everything we could really use out of here. I don't know," she repeated. She kicked aimlessly at the box she had dropped, ripping it apart and spraying five and ten kilogram weights across the floor. A band of elastic caught around her leg, wiggling back and forth between her shin and toes. She frowned under her face-dome and hit at it with her hand. It was just out of reach. She bent down, grabbed it, pulled, yanked herself off balance and fell flat on her back.
"Eriz." Warden again. She lay on the floor. "Eriz, you've stopped looking." Eriz groaned, her voice emerging harshly static, the Sauthai sign of frustration and annoyance.
"I know that," she replied.
"Get up, Eriz. We must stop the arch-sinner." Eriz didn't want to get up. She heard, faintly, as if from another world, harsh shouting and yowling, something that sounded like a discharging energy weapon. She should be up on her feet, she realized. This was a warzone. She was a Sauthai. She should be ready to fight. She continued to lay on the floor, listening to the distant sounds of fighting, crashing shelves, screeching cats. A horribly almost-human laugh, that seemed to be getting closer...
A shadow passed over her face as she stared up at the ceiling. Silhouetted against the harsh warehouse lights, a winged shadow passed right over her, shrieking and wailing and... laughing? in a voice that was very nearly human but most certainly not human. She sat up, pushing her heavy torso up with her arms. Warden was gone, she realized, floating off somewhere. Probably looking through more stacks for the gears he needed. She slowly stood and reached down for her hammer.
"HEY," the creature shouted. To her? She spun around, the lethargy that had filled her moments ago evaporating in an instant. "HEY, YOU. YOU. HEY. HEY." Where was it coming from? She quickly rotated on her heels, looking in every direction. "GOD DAMN IT. I'M UP HERE. GOD, YOU'RE THICK." Eriz looked up. Almost directly above her, perched precariously on the shelf she had been inspecting a minute before, was a horrible ghoulish mixture of human and something she couldn't even begin to identify. It smirked at her, eyes bright in the warehouse lights.
"TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH, GIRL. ERIZ, RIGHT?" Eriz didn't really know what to say, so she said nothing. She lowered her hammer slightly, but still held it ready if the thing decided to pounce. It leaned its long neck down from its perch, inspecting Eriz closer. The shelf swayed dangerously under its bulk.
"ARE YOU DEAF? I ASKED YOU A QUESTION. IT WASN'T RHETORICAL."
Eriz still didn't really know what to say, and was stunned by the sheer hideousness of the thing before her. It's pale, bare human face, repulsive enough on a human body, leered from a long serpentine neck. Wide, fleshy wings stretched from its shoulders, ending in wriggling pink human hands. She took a step back from the shelf. The creature leaned further out, trying to keep its face as close to her face-dome as it could. Maybe to intimidate her. Maybe just to get a closer look at her. Its eerily human eyes inspected the length of her body, and she felt horribly uncomfortable.
"NICE GEAR," it said. "HIGH TECH. VERY CLASSY." Was it mocking her? She still couldn't even tell. She took another step back. It leaned further forward. The shelf wobbled, and Eriz realized a moment too late what was about to happen. The huge creature realized a few seconds later as the shelf gave way with a thunderous crash, and Eriz vanished under a drift of socks, plates, cardboard and a few hundred kilos of scaly meat.
"GOD DAMN IT!"
![[Image: 6w2Z6.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/6w2Z6.jpg)