Re: The Fatal Conflict! (GBS2G7) (Full!)
07-19-2010, 07:30 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Lankie.
The Redeemer sat patiently at the edge of the crater desecrating the once pristine cathedral. The float of the fishing rod bobbing up and down on nothing. While silence filled the whole building, it was not the same as the rest of void; instead an air of malice filled the room, like a predator stalking its prey. The silence was broken by the small buzz of the fishing line being tugged. The Redeemer snapped his eyes open and grinned.
“Got’cha!” The Redeemer swung the fishing rod wildly, with a splash of non existent water the lifeless body of Scott Williams swung out. A large hook was unceremoniously locked into his mouth. ”That makes eight!” He launched the corpse across the Cathedral, where it got stuck on some sort of spectral web. The other seven contestants were also trapped in the web, all in awkward positions and perfectly still. Except for the eyes, it would appear that upon contact of the web the contestants were jolted into semi-consciousness, the only things responsive being there eyes and ears.
”Once upon a time there was a man named Zaire.” The Redeemer said, as his fishing rod dissolved and the gaping hole filled back up. ”He was the greatest man that ever lived. No other could best him, his swordsmanship was that of legends.” The knight walked down the small steps leading to the throne, each step echoed loudly. “He wanted to rule the world, mould it into something beautiful, a world of chaos. But he could not do it in the state he was in, no, he needed something more.” The Redeemer looked up at the eight contestants as all they could do is stare back, he grinned wildly.
”But that’s neither here nor there. Besides, I’ve never been one to brag about my accomplishments.” Zaire lied, as he clicked his fingers, the eight contestants were released from the web, all of them landing in a wooden chair that wasn’t there before. ”Now then! I suppose you are all wondering what you are doing here!” He cracked his fingers and all eight chairs moved into a circle , facing outwards, The Redeemer paced round them all slowly. ”Well, first off, you all have one thing in common. You’re all dead!” He chuckled madly, and paused, expecting a response that he knew would never come. ”Of course some of you are more dead than others, I’ll admit some of you stretched the criteria a little but hey! I don’t choose what the ol’ rod gets!” Another pause, as if to expect a laughter from an unseen audience. ”Right then! I’ll explain the rules to you! Eight ‘players’, seven ‘rounds’. Each round one of you will be whisked away back to your respective afterlife that you no doubt belong in, which is a fancy way of saying, you will die! The winner of this Fatal Conflict will be brought back to the world of the living!” Zaire clicked his fingers once more, a massively long piece of paper unfurled from his hand.
”Simply sign this contract and we’ll be on our merry way!” The eight contestant didn’t even get to see the contract before there respective signatures simply appeared on the long parchment. The Redeemer beamed as he withdrew said contract back into his belonging.
~ ~ ~
”My my! You are all eager! You don’t even what to read the terms and conditions? Oh well! Who am I to judge!?” Zaire cackled as he swerved all of the chairs inwards, ”First some introductions! I am The Redeemer. But I couldn’t care less for that title; it was unceremoniously forced on me you see. So you can call me Zaire!” He gave a small bow, wearing his psychotic smile the whole way. The Redeemer jumped behind one of the chairs, poised to introduce everyone to this sick game.
”Unfortunately for you, you can’t speak! Not yet at least, so I’ll do these introductions for you! This rather plain gentleman you see here is Scott Williams! He got a sort of robo brain! But more importantly, he can jump forwards and backwards in time! The poor bugger doesn’t have much control on it though. Let’s hope he gets lucky then!”
The Redeemer then glided towards a man who wore armor and a huge broadsword. ”Speaking of the time, meet Luron Timerius! He’s your usual fair of knight; decent with a sword, a smattering of magic power, no different to the hundreds of knights I’ve killed. However! Our good friend Luron here can see into the future! Buuuut he doesn’t have much control on that either. Haha! Maybe you and Scotty boy can become friends!”
Zaire skipped to a ill looking man, with a strange apparatus strapped to his back. ”This monstrosity is called Dr. Kaja Lorrden! He’s an interesting one to say the least; this machine on his back has kept him in an unnatural state of life! Still, the fishing rod thought him dead enough to participate in my little game! He can create concoctions and potions in a matter of seconds thanks to that machine; hopefully his little chemistry set can save him in the upcoming battles!”
The caped man walked to the sight of a pale woman with huge demonic wings. ”Here we have the lovely Laura Scourge! Another oddity, she’s not technically dead, more so a denizen of the afterlife, still, variety is the spice of life, or death in your case. Laura is a demon literally made to rock! Not only can she kill people with her bare hands, but that guitar of hers can control the elements themselves! Rock on!”
He moved on to a giant of a man, the chair he sat on was buckling under his weight. Zaire flexed mockingly as he approached. ”Raaargh! This beast of man is Kargrek Strongarm! He’s a barbarian through and through! He’s naturally strong as it is but those bracers he wears gives him even more strength and nigh on indestructible bones! Oh and that axe he’s got? It can set. On. Fire. Wow! I wouldn’t want to cross with this man’s man!”
Next up was only non-humanoid of the group, a cloud of what seemed like musical notes. ”This bizarre spectre is called Simphonia! It would seem that in her afterlife she did not retain her previous appearance, instead becoming some sort of musical ghost. She does the usual ghostly things: change shape, go through walls etcetera. Her trick up her nonexistent sleeve however is the ability to change people’s emotions, depending on what tune she plays! Don’t worry, she’s normally pretty cheery. Oh wait, it works opposites doesn’t it? Oh well!”
The Redeemer walked to another chair, one man was sitting in it, another, what looked like his identical twin, lied crumpled on the floor. Zaire propped him up on his doppelgangers chair. ”Ah yes I should probably explain. This is Zachariah Shaw, both of them that is. Y’see, our good friend here made a deal, bisecting his soul. This purple hued one you see here is a ghost not very tangible, but I’m sure you’ll find a weakness for him! This other Zachariah is a zombie. Not the moaning, shambling kind though. He gotten considerably stronger since his days in the living so he should provide some challenge! Should be interesting how this pair play out!
He walked to the final contestant, a sturdy looking woman adorned in simple clothing. ”Finally, we have Bellona Achillia! She’s a classic gladiator! Or is that gladiatrix? I don’t know, either way she’s built to kill and that’s just what she’ll do! Interestingly, she got a little trinket from some war god or something, how quaint.”
~ ~ ~
The Redeemer walked out of the circle towards his throne, he twisted the chairs so that they may resemble an audience.
”Right then! Without further to do! Are you ready to play!?” He knew that there would be no reply, the silence made Zaire smile. ”Excellent.” With a click of the fingers the world began to melt around them. All eight of the contestants begun to fall under a powerful spell, one which willed then into a deep sleep, when the last contestant final succumbed to the enchantment, there was nothing but black, only The Redeemer’s smile remained.
The eight contenders awoke, lying on a cold tarmac floor. Unlike there previous episode in the cathedral, there paralysis had seemed to faded away. In further inspection there were still restrictions on hold of them, the first being they found it impossible to open there mouths, the second being invisible cages around them, limiting there movement to a square metre.
They found themselves in what looked like a standard main street, many shops flanking a large road. What once considerably different about this main street was that everyone was dead. Bodies were littered everywhere, as if they had simply dropped dead where they stood. There was no evidence of attack, except for modicum of crashed cars.
Before the competitors thought themselves free of The Redeemer’s meddling, he rudely teleported in front of then group, leaving a trail of blood red glyphs fading into nonentity. ”Welcome to round 1! Garforth Main Street! I figured it would be a fitting place to start for you, start with something you’re all familiar with!” Zaire gave a nonchalant chuckle, ”Not that theres anything really special about this place, its happened to this whole world. Total wipe out of the entire race!” He turned away from the group, hiding his chaotic grimace. ”Actually I tell a lie, not a complete wipe out, there is a smattering of survivors here and there, probably unlikely you’ll meet one. Oh and there’s an…entity, to say the least. Whether that contacts you or not, is not my choice.”
The Redeemer twisted round with a sort of enthusiasm unfitting for such a ghastly game. ”Right! I suppose I should explain some rules and guidelines here, I mean they are explained in your contract but you seemed like you were in quite a rush to start! I’ve taken the liberty of erecting a barrier round this quaint little street, keeps you from wandering too far from the fun! Oh and regarding rules for attacking me:” Zaire paused to turn back to the contestants, something about him becoming a lot more slower, his demeanour became a lot more serious than usual, like he just dropped his pantomime act. Well…you’re welcome to try. His now trademark smirk resurfaced as he slipped back into the cruel jester that he was. ”Though I don’t think that’ll do you any good! Now if you want me I’ll be in this delightful coffee shop down the street, can’t miss it, big red and black sign on the front!” He tipped a non-existent hat towards the group. ”Remember: next round doesn’t happen unless one of you dies! Have fun!” Zaire once again disappears in a flash of red, his cackle resonates through the air and disappears a little while latter.
The contestants were then freed of there temporary prisons and mute inflictions.
The Redeemer sat patiently at the edge of the crater desecrating the once pristine cathedral. The float of the fishing rod bobbing up and down on nothing. While silence filled the whole building, it was not the same as the rest of void; instead an air of malice filled the room, like a predator stalking its prey. The silence was broken by the small buzz of the fishing line being tugged. The Redeemer snapped his eyes open and grinned.
“Got’cha!” The Redeemer swung the fishing rod wildly, with a splash of non existent water the lifeless body of Scott Williams swung out. A large hook was unceremoniously locked into his mouth. ”That makes eight!” He launched the corpse across the Cathedral, where it got stuck on some sort of spectral web. The other seven contestants were also trapped in the web, all in awkward positions and perfectly still. Except for the eyes, it would appear that upon contact of the web the contestants were jolted into semi-consciousness, the only things responsive being there eyes and ears.
”Once upon a time there was a man named Zaire.” The Redeemer said, as his fishing rod dissolved and the gaping hole filled back up. ”He was the greatest man that ever lived. No other could best him, his swordsmanship was that of legends.” The knight walked down the small steps leading to the throne, each step echoed loudly. “He wanted to rule the world, mould it into something beautiful, a world of chaos. But he could not do it in the state he was in, no, he needed something more.” The Redeemer looked up at the eight contestants as all they could do is stare back, he grinned wildly.
”But that’s neither here nor there. Besides, I’ve never been one to brag about my accomplishments.” Zaire lied, as he clicked his fingers, the eight contestants were released from the web, all of them landing in a wooden chair that wasn’t there before. ”Now then! I suppose you are all wondering what you are doing here!” He cracked his fingers and all eight chairs moved into a circle , facing outwards, The Redeemer paced round them all slowly. ”Well, first off, you all have one thing in common. You’re all dead!” He chuckled madly, and paused, expecting a response that he knew would never come. ”Of course some of you are more dead than others, I’ll admit some of you stretched the criteria a little but hey! I don’t choose what the ol’ rod gets!” Another pause, as if to expect a laughter from an unseen audience. ”Right then! I’ll explain the rules to you! Eight ‘players’, seven ‘rounds’. Each round one of you will be whisked away back to your respective afterlife that you no doubt belong in, which is a fancy way of saying, you will die! The winner of this Fatal Conflict will be brought back to the world of the living!” Zaire clicked his fingers once more, a massively long piece of paper unfurled from his hand.
”Simply sign this contract and we’ll be on our merry way!” The eight contestant didn’t even get to see the contract before there respective signatures simply appeared on the long parchment. The Redeemer beamed as he withdrew said contract back into his belonging.
~ ~ ~
”My my! You are all eager! You don’t even what to read the terms and conditions? Oh well! Who am I to judge!?” Zaire cackled as he swerved all of the chairs inwards, ”First some introductions! I am The Redeemer. But I couldn’t care less for that title; it was unceremoniously forced on me you see. So you can call me Zaire!” He gave a small bow, wearing his psychotic smile the whole way. The Redeemer jumped behind one of the chairs, poised to introduce everyone to this sick game.
”Unfortunately for you, you can’t speak! Not yet at least, so I’ll do these introductions for you! This rather plain gentleman you see here is Scott Williams! He got a sort of robo brain! But more importantly, he can jump forwards and backwards in time! The poor bugger doesn’t have much control on it though. Let’s hope he gets lucky then!”
The Redeemer then glided towards a man who wore armor and a huge broadsword. ”Speaking of the time, meet Luron Timerius! He’s your usual fair of knight; decent with a sword, a smattering of magic power, no different to the hundreds of knights I’ve killed. However! Our good friend Luron here can see into the future! Buuuut he doesn’t have much control on that either. Haha! Maybe you and Scotty boy can become friends!”
Zaire skipped to a ill looking man, with a strange apparatus strapped to his back. ”This monstrosity is called Dr. Kaja Lorrden! He’s an interesting one to say the least; this machine on his back has kept him in an unnatural state of life! Still, the fishing rod thought him dead enough to participate in my little game! He can create concoctions and potions in a matter of seconds thanks to that machine; hopefully his little chemistry set can save him in the upcoming battles!”
The caped man walked to the sight of a pale woman with huge demonic wings. ”Here we have the lovely Laura Scourge! Another oddity, she’s not technically dead, more so a denizen of the afterlife, still, variety is the spice of life, or death in your case. Laura is a demon literally made to rock! Not only can she kill people with her bare hands, but that guitar of hers can control the elements themselves! Rock on!”
He moved on to a giant of a man, the chair he sat on was buckling under his weight. Zaire flexed mockingly as he approached. ”Raaargh! This beast of man is Kargrek Strongarm! He’s a barbarian through and through! He’s naturally strong as it is but those bracers he wears gives him even more strength and nigh on indestructible bones! Oh and that axe he’s got? It can set. On. Fire. Wow! I wouldn’t want to cross with this man’s man!”
Next up was only non-humanoid of the group, a cloud of what seemed like musical notes. ”This bizarre spectre is called Simphonia! It would seem that in her afterlife she did not retain her previous appearance, instead becoming some sort of musical ghost. She does the usual ghostly things: change shape, go through walls etcetera. Her trick up her nonexistent sleeve however is the ability to change people’s emotions, depending on what tune she plays! Don’t worry, she’s normally pretty cheery. Oh wait, it works opposites doesn’t it? Oh well!”
The Redeemer walked to another chair, one man was sitting in it, another, what looked like his identical twin, lied crumpled on the floor. Zaire propped him up on his doppelgangers chair. ”Ah yes I should probably explain. This is Zachariah Shaw, both of them that is. Y’see, our good friend here made a deal, bisecting his soul. This purple hued one you see here is a ghost not very tangible, but I’m sure you’ll find a weakness for him! This other Zachariah is a zombie. Not the moaning, shambling kind though. He gotten considerably stronger since his days in the living so he should provide some challenge! Should be interesting how this pair play out!
He walked to the final contestant, a sturdy looking woman adorned in simple clothing. ”Finally, we have Bellona Achillia! She’s a classic gladiator! Or is that gladiatrix? I don’t know, either way she’s built to kill and that’s just what she’ll do! Interestingly, she got a little trinket from some war god or something, how quaint.”
~ ~ ~
The Redeemer walked out of the circle towards his throne, he twisted the chairs so that they may resemble an audience.
”Right then! Without further to do! Are you ready to play!?” He knew that there would be no reply, the silence made Zaire smile. ”Excellent.” With a click of the fingers the world began to melt around them. All eight of the contestants begun to fall under a powerful spell, one which willed then into a deep sleep, when the last contestant final succumbed to the enchantment, there was nothing but black, only The Redeemer’s smile remained.
The eight contenders awoke, lying on a cold tarmac floor. Unlike there previous episode in the cathedral, there paralysis had seemed to faded away. In further inspection there were still restrictions on hold of them, the first being they found it impossible to open there mouths, the second being invisible cages around them, limiting there movement to a square metre.
They found themselves in what looked like a standard main street, many shops flanking a large road. What once considerably different about this main street was that everyone was dead. Bodies were littered everywhere, as if they had simply dropped dead where they stood. There was no evidence of attack, except for modicum of crashed cars.
Before the competitors thought themselves free of The Redeemer’s meddling, he rudely teleported in front of then group, leaving a trail of blood red glyphs fading into nonentity. ”Welcome to round 1! Garforth Main Street! I figured it would be a fitting place to start for you, start with something you’re all familiar with!” Zaire gave a nonchalant chuckle, ”Not that theres anything really special about this place, its happened to this whole world. Total wipe out of the entire race!” He turned away from the group, hiding his chaotic grimace. ”Actually I tell a lie, not a complete wipe out, there is a smattering of survivors here and there, probably unlikely you’ll meet one. Oh and there’s an…entity, to say the least. Whether that contacts you or not, is not my choice.”
The Redeemer twisted round with a sort of enthusiasm unfitting for such a ghastly game. ”Right! I suppose I should explain some rules and guidelines here, I mean they are explained in your contract but you seemed like you were in quite a rush to start! I’ve taken the liberty of erecting a barrier round this quaint little street, keeps you from wandering too far from the fun! Oh and regarding rules for attacking me:” Zaire paused to turn back to the contestants, something about him becoming a lot more slower, his demeanour became a lot more serious than usual, like he just dropped his pantomime act. Well…you’re welcome to try. His now trademark smirk resurfaced as he slipped back into the cruel jester that he was. ”Though I don’t think that’ll do you any good! Now if you want me I’ll be in this delightful coffee shop down the street, can’t miss it, big red and black sign on the front!” He tipped a non-existent hat towards the group. ”Remember: next round doesn’t happen unless one of you dies! Have fun!” Zaire once again disappears in a flash of red, his cackle resonates through the air and disappears a little while latter.
The contestants were then freed of there temporary prisons and mute inflictions.
Spoiler