Re: Epic Clash Round 2 - The Wax Colosseum
04-02-2010, 07:38 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by suomynonAyletamitlU.
The explosion wasn't bad, but the echo was deafening, Spender decided; the arena had a heck of an accoustic problem. But that Nightmare... definitely an Anti, if a low-level one. Her aura was menacing, and it felt like she had a power if you fell into her domain.
Was she dead? As part of this arena, could she ever really be?
Spender doubled back, shaking a couple coins out of his sleeves. Just shy of the crater, he slotted in another Analysis coin and took cover behind a low bit of floor, where the waxy covering on it had stopped it from shattering and left it peeled back like a banana.
The analysis didn't show quite enough, because he didn't want to get close, but something was forming out of the mess below. Probably the same monster, he figured. A certain electric tremor meant, in his mind, another of the hot-potato devices, although he wasn't close enough to scan that, either.
And then there was the wax itself. He paused and studied it. It trembled, to his magical senses--like a punished child, one who knew no way to stop the hatred that was focused on it. It resonated with sadness... but it also danced to the tune of that monster's wrath.
He paused and put his hand to the waxy coating of the floor. He couldn't feel it, as he suspected, but he knew there was so much in this place.
But in front of him, in the crater, a sick bubbling of the wax indicated that the creature was coming back into form. He switched out for another set of coins, putting his holdouts back and drawing fresh ones from the ATM device. After a pause, he cast one, and a huge holographic wall appeared before him, and he drew forward from behind his cover.
Before he got close, though, the wall itself turned to wax and (as it was incredibly thin) crumpled, and he turned and dodged backwards. A sick feeling slid through his analysis space--another kind of space, one with a horrible magic embedded in it, twisted beyond his own recognition. Definitely an Anti power. But why did it affect his holograms?
It didn't matter. That creature shouldn't run loose. He mentally tracked back to the source of the attack and prepared two--no, three coins. Before he cast them, though, he raised his voice, and in his best Disaffected Government Agent Voice he pronounced:
"Creature known as Euryale, may I have your attention please. As a designated representative of the North American Ether Defense Force, with the authority given me by that organization, I find you guilty of reality-tainting and designate you Nightmare Level Anti. If you do not cease these activities, I am authorized to use lethal and super-lethal levels of force. Any attempt to attack me from this moment onwards will be considered a refusal of these terms."
That same sick feeling grew, and he had to dive away from his cover, shivering as the wicked space wrapped around the small cover and clawed at him before sliding past it and towards him. He cast one of his coins, and a sudden jolt yanked him sideways, tossing him thirty feet before he hit the ground and rolled.
What did Asteira say? ...Medusa's sister? Finally, it clicked. Whatever that space's rule was, it would require eye contact, or some other way to get inside of him. That made it easier.
Two, no, four new coins. With the first, he launched himself into the air and closer to the monster, eyes closed, trusting his reflexes to let him land on his feet. He paused, and soon enough, the woman's footsteps drew closer, but he didn't run or react until she stepped foot inside his analysis radius.
Then he turned, and cast a coin, then flipped another into open air. That second coin was accelerated into the ground at Euryale's feet, and he activated it--and it immediately buried into the ground, below her ability to affect.
"You're lucky," he said, drawing her attention back to him. "Or perhaps, unlucky. Something about this is all wrong." Below, the coin kicked into high gear, and it began rearranging matter underground, gathering it into three giant triangular slabs. "With something like that, with something like the Overseer, I feel like I have to keep my aces close to my hand, you see." The slabs became thicker, as more dirt and stone was compressed into them, fusing them into a hard, strong earthen plate, tall as Euryale, just large enough to form a triangular earthen coffin. "So, you see, for today, super-lethal techniques are... not permitted." The three plates ripped up out of the earth like a bear trap, snapping around Euryale to make another prison for another wax creature.
However, unlike the first, a pitiable creature, Euryale fought back, tooth and nail, and Spender wondered if he could possibly drag her and her prison under the ground in time. Instead, he cast the third coin, funneling more and more earth from down below to try to imprison where she stood, merely with the walls and the weight of dirt he dragged up from below.
When he finally stood back, it was an almost-spherical mound. He wasn't happy, but he didn't want to mess with it. There wasn't nearly enough time left in the round, and whatever happened, this particular menace wasn't likely to come back after it ended.
He turned and walked away, Euryale's muffled screaming echoing slightly around him... and perhaps, he could almost convince himself, from inside the very wax itself.
The explosion wasn't bad, but the echo was deafening, Spender decided; the arena had a heck of an accoustic problem. But that Nightmare... definitely an Anti, if a low-level one. Her aura was menacing, and it felt like she had a power if you fell into her domain.
Was she dead? As part of this arena, could she ever really be?
Spender doubled back, shaking a couple coins out of his sleeves. Just shy of the crater, he slotted in another Analysis coin and took cover behind a low bit of floor, where the waxy covering on it had stopped it from shattering and left it peeled back like a banana.
The analysis didn't show quite enough, because he didn't want to get close, but something was forming out of the mess below. Probably the same monster, he figured. A certain electric tremor meant, in his mind, another of the hot-potato devices, although he wasn't close enough to scan that, either.
And then there was the wax itself. He paused and studied it. It trembled, to his magical senses--like a punished child, one who knew no way to stop the hatred that was focused on it. It resonated with sadness... but it also danced to the tune of that monster's wrath.
He paused and put his hand to the waxy coating of the floor. He couldn't feel it, as he suspected, but he knew there was so much in this place.
But in front of him, in the crater, a sick bubbling of the wax indicated that the creature was coming back into form. He switched out for another set of coins, putting his holdouts back and drawing fresh ones from the ATM device. After a pause, he cast one, and a huge holographic wall appeared before him, and he drew forward from behind his cover.
Before he got close, though, the wall itself turned to wax and (as it was incredibly thin) crumpled, and he turned and dodged backwards. A sick feeling slid through his analysis space--another kind of space, one with a horrible magic embedded in it, twisted beyond his own recognition. Definitely an Anti power. But why did it affect his holograms?
It didn't matter. That creature shouldn't run loose. He mentally tracked back to the source of the attack and prepared two--no, three coins. Before he cast them, though, he raised his voice, and in his best Disaffected Government Agent Voice he pronounced:
"Creature known as Euryale, may I have your attention please. As a designated representative of the North American Ether Defense Force, with the authority given me by that organization, I find you guilty of reality-tainting and designate you Nightmare Level Anti. If you do not cease these activities, I am authorized to use lethal and super-lethal levels of force. Any attempt to attack me from this moment onwards will be considered a refusal of these terms."
That same sick feeling grew, and he had to dive away from his cover, shivering as the wicked space wrapped around the small cover and clawed at him before sliding past it and towards him. He cast one of his coins, and a sudden jolt yanked him sideways, tossing him thirty feet before he hit the ground and rolled.
What did Asteira say? ...Medusa's sister? Finally, it clicked. Whatever that space's rule was, it would require eye contact, or some other way to get inside of him. That made it easier.
Two, no, four new coins. With the first, he launched himself into the air and closer to the monster, eyes closed, trusting his reflexes to let him land on his feet. He paused, and soon enough, the woman's footsteps drew closer, but he didn't run or react until she stepped foot inside his analysis radius.
Then he turned, and cast a coin, then flipped another into open air. That second coin was accelerated into the ground at Euryale's feet, and he activated it--and it immediately buried into the ground, below her ability to affect.
"You're lucky," he said, drawing her attention back to him. "Or perhaps, unlucky. Something about this is all wrong." Below, the coin kicked into high gear, and it began rearranging matter underground, gathering it into three giant triangular slabs. "With something like that, with something like the Overseer, I feel like I have to keep my aces close to my hand, you see." The slabs became thicker, as more dirt and stone was compressed into them, fusing them into a hard, strong earthen plate, tall as Euryale, just large enough to form a triangular earthen coffin. "So, you see, for today, super-lethal techniques are... not permitted." The three plates ripped up out of the earth like a bear trap, snapping around Euryale to make another prison for another wax creature.
However, unlike the first, a pitiable creature, Euryale fought back, tooth and nail, and Spender wondered if he could possibly drag her and her prison under the ground in time. Instead, he cast the third coin, funneling more and more earth from down below to try to imprison where she stood, merely with the walls and the weight of dirt he dragged up from below.
When he finally stood back, it was an almost-spherical mound. He wasn't happy, but he didn't want to mess with it. There wasn't nearly enough time left in the round, and whatever happened, this particular menace wasn't likely to come back after it ended.
He turned and walked away, Euryale's muffled screaming echoing slightly around him... and perhaps, he could almost convince himself, from inside the very wax itself.