Re: The Fatal Conflict (GBS2G7) (Round 2: Robo City!)
07-21-2011, 07:55 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Eversist.
After informing Kaja of the current circumstances, and a bit of hardly-concealed laughter at Scott’s expense, the group let themselves be led out of the building. The clerical bots fell back at the doors leading to outside, bowing slightly to their retreating backs.
During the walk, the four humans fell quiet, retreating into their own thoughts. Scott led the way, fiddling with the metal cube, which was somehow leading them through the chrome skyscrapers. Kaja trailed behind, assessing his remaining supplies. Kargrek was checking the keen edge of his axe, which was of course, flawless. And Bellona was tying her hair back again, her brow furrowed.
For a self-declared omniscient being, Zaire really was quite thick, much like a few of the gods of her own world. With the exception of the demonic atrocity from the first round, he must know that any level-headed, honorable, and sentient being would much rather turn and revolt against their dictator, rather than fight among themselves… especially when the end result would likely be death regardless. They weren’t rabid animals (except for the case of the undead, she wasn’t quite sure about him). Simphonia wasn’t even capable of direct violence, from what she had seen.
The only way to break this now repeating chain of events would be to remove himself from the battle, and truly have the competition run between the contestants. That much was obvious to Bellona. Including himself in the arena was disrupting what he claimed to have wanted from this whole thing. Unless he himself wanted to experience the fight first hand… she shook her head to herself. He would have just included himself as a contestant.
For the sake of the current unity between contestants, Bellona hoped that Zaire wouldn’t realize this. She much preferred having a common target, and as a result, allies. Even so, she doubted many of them would fight each other unless forced or offered a certain advantage. She personally would do anything to go against the wishes of Zaire; she would not be a plaything for people more powerful than she, if she could help it. Her death should have brought a definitive end to that, but instead became the turning point.
“What are you thinking?” Kargrek had noticed the furrowed brow, the distant look that was evident on the other warrior’s hardened features. Bellona shook her head again, taking a deep breath to bring herself to the present. “Why is Zaire even here? He’s toying with us. If there was even the slightest chance of us being able to defeat him, he wouldn’t be here.” Scott glanced back at her, clearly listening.
“How do you know that? Overconfidence seems to be one of his few traits.”
Bellona shrugged and smirked at the quip. “I’m not going to disagree with you there.”
“That’d be a first.” Kaja muttered from the back.
Before Bellona could prepare a scathing reply, a singular booming guffaw erupted from the barbarian. Bellona, startled, jumped away from him which caused Kaja to chuckle audibly.
“I’m glad you guys are able to stay all chipper and stuff, but we’re here.” Scott kicked over a disabled service bot that was in his path; many of them and other debris littered the street in front of the building that was blinking away on the 3-dimensional monitor in his hands. “What now?”
An explosion suddenly filled the sky far above them, jutting out in a huge stab from the building, spitting remains of robots and rubble into the air. As the groups eyes quickly returned to ground level, it was noticed that they were one fewer. Kaja shook his head slowly.
“Great. He had that thing with him.” Bellona sighed, crossing her arms. “Inside. Now.” Kargrek grunted. Prompted by a look from Bellona, he gestured upwards to the rapidly falling projectiles. “Ah.”
Once inside, pelted by glass and small bits of concrete, the group stood together. Kaja spoke first. “I think it can be assumed that the explosion was caused by our friend the Redeemer.” Bellona stood next to him, picking shards of glass from her hair. “Of course, of course. But that was almost half a league above us. How can we hope to reach him, albeit unnoticed?”
“Who said anything about going unnoticed?” Kargrek drew his battleaxe and hefted it over a shoulder. “There’s no honor in stabbing your opponent while their face is turned.”
“And who said anything about honor?” Bellona shot back. “We have a miniscule chance of even hurting this… man, and you’re worried about your reputation?” Incredulous, Bellona’s voice rose in volume.
Kargrek glowered at the woman, his voice in response lowering to a dangerous rumble. “A man’s reputation is all he has.”
“We’re dead, Kargrek! Do we even have the right to call what we are men and women any longer? The rules of right and wrong clearly do not apply to us! And even if we manage to pull this off, who knows what will happen?”
Kargrek slowly walked over to Bellona, towering over her in mild annoyance, teetering on the edge of seething anger. “Do what you will. But I will not lower myself to your backhanded tactics.” He turned away from the gladiatrix, and began to cry out to the large, empty room. “You hear that, Zaire? Let us fight, face to face, LIKE MEN!” The last words reverberated through the large space dramatically. Kaja put his forehead in a palm.
Large rumble noises, distant at first but getting much louder quickly, were suddenly audible. A large hole, as if a boulder had bust through, blasted through the ceiling not ten paces from where Kargrek stood.
“You rang?” The Redeemer himself slowly levitated through, arms crossed like some sort of twisted messiah, light streaming from the previous floor through the settling dust.
“And to answer your question, Miss Achilla, no. You no longer have the right to call yourself anything remotely humane.” A chill permeated Bellona’s body as she realized he had heard their entire exchange. “You are abominations that I have forced back into existence. With the exception of Doctor Lorrden over there, he was an abomination long before I got to him!” He cackled at his observation.
“Now I, on the other hand, am nothing remotely like a man. And therefore, will not fight like one." The smile already on his face stretched wider to the point of being unnatural, revealing far too many pearly whites as he dove at Kargrek. <font color="RED">“Who am I to deny a man who repeatedly asks for death?”
Scott chose that very moment to pop back into existence next to Kaja. He quickly took in the scene, eyes large as Kargrek was bodily thrown through a wall.</font> “What the hell…?” Kargrek jumped back up, hardly phased, and charged Zaire’s still-hovering form. His axe, raise above his head, trailed frenzied flames.
“This heroically dense man has decided to fight Zaire on his own, since he would not listen to reason... and agree with less than honorable fighting methods.” The pair watched as the barbarian’s axe swings were deflected again and again by runes that surrounded Zaire’s form, brightening on impact. Sparks and embers filled the area around them.
Scott held up the metal box. ”Well, I have news. I spoke with PI-3-TI from the near future. The others are going to fight against the robots. They’re targeting their leader, the Singularity.” He winced as Zaire suddenly knocked Kargrek's feet out from under him with no preamble or show of force, causing him to fall on his stomach. His axe flew from his hands.
“Seems like Luron has decided to fulfill his own ‘prophecy.’ They did report to the masses that he is the Destroyer.” Scott nodded in agreement. Zaire had placed a foot on the back of the barbarian’s neck, slowly applying pressure. It appeared he was using his runes to prevent Kargrek from getting back up. His axe’s flames sputtered out.
Scott looked uneasily over at the chemist. “Should we be… I dunno, helping or something?” Kaja shrugged and crossed his arms. “They seem to have it under control.” He inclined his head towards the white blur, speeding towards the Redeemer.
Staring intently at his prey with a murderous lust, Zaire suddenly stopped and looked up, as if he were hearing someone calling to him in the distance. He then noticed Bellona’s spear, in a wide arc, headed straight towards the side of his neck. He froze it within an inch of his flesh, Bellona paused in midair, eyes and hair wild. “Well done, Miss Achilla. I venture to guess that this may have been your plan all along! Too bad it was for nothing.” With a flick of his wrist, he sent Bellona skidding across the floor, limbs in a tangle.
“You should know by now that your pointy stick is useless against me." He picked his nails as Bellona came to a stop against the rubble of the wall Kargrek had decimated with his body earlier.
He spoke to the room. “There are far more interesting things going on elsewhere. Thank you for the passing amusement.” And with that, he was gone.
Kargrek struggled slightly into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his bruised neck. He was bleeding from a few deep scratches along his back and chest, and one serious-looking one on his right forearm, but otherwise appeared unharmed. He groped around for his axe, avoiding eye contact with the others.
Bellona stood slowly, and walked over to where Kaja and Scott were standing, limping slightly. “Can you do anything for him?” She asked Kaja quietly, concern slightly perceptible in her voice.
Kaja raised an eyebrow at her.
Spoiler
![[Image: BellonaDrawing.png]](https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/Trix_Disorder/BellonaDrawing.png)
After informing Kaja of the current circumstances, and a bit of hardly-concealed laughter at Scott’s expense, the group let themselves be led out of the building. The clerical bots fell back at the doors leading to outside, bowing slightly to their retreating backs.
During the walk, the four humans fell quiet, retreating into their own thoughts. Scott led the way, fiddling with the metal cube, which was somehow leading them through the chrome skyscrapers. Kaja trailed behind, assessing his remaining supplies. Kargrek was checking the keen edge of his axe, which was of course, flawless. And Bellona was tying her hair back again, her brow furrowed.
For a self-declared omniscient being, Zaire really was quite thick, much like a few of the gods of her own world. With the exception of the demonic atrocity from the first round, he must know that any level-headed, honorable, and sentient being would much rather turn and revolt against their dictator, rather than fight among themselves… especially when the end result would likely be death regardless. They weren’t rabid animals (except for the case of the undead, she wasn’t quite sure about him). Simphonia wasn’t even capable of direct violence, from what she had seen.
The only way to break this now repeating chain of events would be to remove himself from the battle, and truly have the competition run between the contestants. That much was obvious to Bellona. Including himself in the arena was disrupting what he claimed to have wanted from this whole thing. Unless he himself wanted to experience the fight first hand… she shook her head to herself. He would have just included himself as a contestant.
For the sake of the current unity between contestants, Bellona hoped that Zaire wouldn’t realize this. She much preferred having a common target, and as a result, allies. Even so, she doubted many of them would fight each other unless forced or offered a certain advantage. She personally would do anything to go against the wishes of Zaire; she would not be a plaything for people more powerful than she, if she could help it. Her death should have brought a definitive end to that, but instead became the turning point.
“What are you thinking?” Kargrek had noticed the furrowed brow, the distant look that was evident on the other warrior’s hardened features. Bellona shook her head again, taking a deep breath to bring herself to the present. “Why is Zaire even here? He’s toying with us. If there was even the slightest chance of us being able to defeat him, he wouldn’t be here.” Scott glanced back at her, clearly listening.
“How do you know that? Overconfidence seems to be one of his few traits.”
Bellona shrugged and smirked at the quip. “I’m not going to disagree with you there.”
“That’d be a first.” Kaja muttered from the back.
Before Bellona could prepare a scathing reply, a singular booming guffaw erupted from the barbarian. Bellona, startled, jumped away from him which caused Kaja to chuckle audibly.
“I’m glad you guys are able to stay all chipper and stuff, but we’re here.” Scott kicked over a disabled service bot that was in his path; many of them and other debris littered the street in front of the building that was blinking away on the 3-dimensional monitor in his hands. “What now?”
An explosion suddenly filled the sky far above them, jutting out in a huge stab from the building, spitting remains of robots and rubble into the air. As the groups eyes quickly returned to ground level, it was noticed that they were one fewer. Kaja shook his head slowly.
“Great. He had that thing with him.” Bellona sighed, crossing her arms. “Inside. Now.” Kargrek grunted. Prompted by a look from Bellona, he gestured upwards to the rapidly falling projectiles. “Ah.”
Once inside, pelted by glass and small bits of concrete, the group stood together. Kaja spoke first. “I think it can be assumed that the explosion was caused by our friend the Redeemer.” Bellona stood next to him, picking shards of glass from her hair. “Of course, of course. But that was almost half a league above us. How can we hope to reach him, albeit unnoticed?”
“Who said anything about going unnoticed?” Kargrek drew his battleaxe and hefted it over a shoulder. “There’s no honor in stabbing your opponent while their face is turned.”
“And who said anything about honor?” Bellona shot back. “We have a miniscule chance of even hurting this… man, and you’re worried about your reputation?” Incredulous, Bellona’s voice rose in volume.
Kargrek glowered at the woman, his voice in response lowering to a dangerous rumble. “A man’s reputation is all he has.”
“We’re dead, Kargrek! Do we even have the right to call what we are men and women any longer? The rules of right and wrong clearly do not apply to us! And even if we manage to pull this off, who knows what will happen?”
Kargrek slowly walked over to Bellona, towering over her in mild annoyance, teetering on the edge of seething anger. “Do what you will. But I will not lower myself to your backhanded tactics.” He turned away from the gladiatrix, and began to cry out to the large, empty room. “You hear that, Zaire? Let us fight, face to face, LIKE MEN!” The last words reverberated through the large space dramatically. Kaja put his forehead in a palm.
Large rumble noises, distant at first but getting much louder quickly, were suddenly audible. A large hole, as if a boulder had bust through, blasted through the ceiling not ten paces from where Kargrek stood.
“You rang?” The Redeemer himself slowly levitated through, arms crossed like some sort of twisted messiah, light streaming from the previous floor through the settling dust.
“And to answer your question, Miss Achilla, no. You no longer have the right to call yourself anything remotely humane.” A chill permeated Bellona’s body as she realized he had heard their entire exchange. “You are abominations that I have forced back into existence. With the exception of Doctor Lorrden over there, he was an abomination long before I got to him!” He cackled at his observation.
“Now I, on the other hand, am nothing remotely like a man. And therefore, will not fight like one." The smile already on his face stretched wider to the point of being unnatural, revealing far too many pearly whites as he dove at Kargrek. <font color="RED">“Who am I to deny a man who repeatedly asks for death?”
Scott chose that very moment to pop back into existence next to Kaja. He quickly took in the scene, eyes large as Kargrek was bodily thrown through a wall.</font> “What the hell…?” Kargrek jumped back up, hardly phased, and charged Zaire’s still-hovering form. His axe, raise above his head, trailed frenzied flames.
“This heroically dense man has decided to fight Zaire on his own, since he would not listen to reason... and agree with less than honorable fighting methods.” The pair watched as the barbarian’s axe swings were deflected again and again by runes that surrounded Zaire’s form, brightening on impact. Sparks and embers filled the area around them.
Scott held up the metal box. ”Well, I have news. I spoke with PI-3-TI from the near future. The others are going to fight against the robots. They’re targeting their leader, the Singularity.” He winced as Zaire suddenly knocked Kargrek's feet out from under him with no preamble or show of force, causing him to fall on his stomach. His axe flew from his hands.
“Seems like Luron has decided to fulfill his own ‘prophecy.’ They did report to the masses that he is the Destroyer.” Scott nodded in agreement. Zaire had placed a foot on the back of the barbarian’s neck, slowly applying pressure. It appeared he was using his runes to prevent Kargrek from getting back up. His axe’s flames sputtered out.
Scott looked uneasily over at the chemist. “Should we be… I dunno, helping or something?” Kaja shrugged and crossed his arms. “They seem to have it under control.” He inclined his head towards the white blur, speeding towards the Redeemer.
Staring intently at his prey with a murderous lust, Zaire suddenly stopped and looked up, as if he were hearing someone calling to him in the distance. He then noticed Bellona’s spear, in a wide arc, headed straight towards the side of his neck. He froze it within an inch of his flesh, Bellona paused in midair, eyes and hair wild. “Well done, Miss Achilla. I venture to guess that this may have been your plan all along! Too bad it was for nothing.” With a flick of his wrist, he sent Bellona skidding across the floor, limbs in a tangle.
“You should know by now that your pointy stick is useless against me." He picked his nails as Bellona came to a stop against the rubble of the wall Kargrek had decimated with his body earlier.
He spoke to the room. “There are far more interesting things going on elsewhere. Thank you for the passing amusement.” And with that, he was gone.
Kargrek struggled slightly into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his bruised neck. He was bleeding from a few deep scratches along his back and chest, and one serious-looking one on his right forearm, but otherwise appeared unharmed. He groped around for his axe, avoiding eye contact with the others.
Bellona stood slowly, and walked over to where Kaja and Scott were standing, limping slightly. “Can you do anything for him?” She asked Kaja quietly, concern slightly perceptible in her voice.
Kaja raised an eyebrow at her.