Re: Epic Clash Round 3 - The Ascended City
06-15-2010, 06:31 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.
Spender had shaken him off for the moment, but Thomas wasn't giving up that easily. He sped around the city, eyes flicking around, searching for any sign of the other combatants.
A burst of weapons-fire and half-mad screams caught his attention. Asteira. There was no debate in his mind- simply the proposal of an idea and the instant acceptance. He turned and flew toward the spirit, eyes opened wide.
Despite being ejected from her robotic housing, Asteira was still shouting threats at Spender as much as she could. She hadn't quite realized the change of body yet, but when Thomas flew at her, though her, she noticed. He had aimed precisely, and her eyes directly intersected his, occupying the same space at the same time.
In that brief instant, their minds connected, and she found herself within him once more.
They had redecorated. What had before been a homey apartment now resembled the bridge of the Enterprise more than anything else. Gone were the worn carpets, replaced by crisp, cool linoleum. The couch too was gone, a very Trek-esque captain's chair in its place. The four iconic areas had changed- they still reflected the four individuals, but they were all now simply different stations on the bridge. Clockwise from the north, they were the Engineering, Weapons, Intel, and Communications posts, each subtly decorated with the appropriate element and colour. The window had been squished and widened, now styled as a viewscreen.
The room had also taken on aspects of the city around them- the steampunk influences could be seen in the brass dials and controls, the tangle of pipes covering the ceiling, and the old tube-style monitors.
The most notable difference, though, was the occupants themselves. Bern had abandoned his previous basketball uniform for a full-on medieval knight's outfit, complete with plate mail and plumed helm. Walt's casualwear had been replaced by a simple brown robe, reminiscent of those worn by reclusive monks. Eric, knowing the power of symbolism, had followed the environment and sported a faithful TNG uniform adorned with a clockwork communicator badge. Greg, unsurprisingly, was still in his tweed. He'd added a deerstalker, though, moving him away from "dusty academic" and closer to "resourceful investigator."
At the moment, Bern sat in the captain's chair, and Walt, Eric, and Greg were at their stations. When Asteira found herself tumbling through the viewscreen, only Eric turned to face her.
"Let's make this quick. You want to stop Spender. We want to stop Spender. We could do this more effectively if we worked together. Correct?"
Asteira nodded.
"Excellent. Now, we've come up with a plan, but we need your help..." They spent the next several minutes going over it, discussing it, and improving it.
An instant after the contact had begun, it was over, and Thomas flew on through.
Asteira reentered the robot she had just been ejected from. The core ruse may have been a distraction, but she had the droid. The droid that was, like all others, connected to a network. It wasn't hard for her to send out a general query, and the response was swift. Once she pinpointed the correct building, she let off a single shot, which splashed harmlessly against the side.
The building in question was beginning its descent already. It was a smallish, three-story building, square and solid-looking. It had none of the elegance of most of the other structures. It was simply a brick, suspended in midair by a quartet of failing rotors.
Thomas, seeing the signal shot, dove towards the building. There were lives at stake.
Spender had returned to his destruction, knocking buildings together and sending them spinning to the ground. He didn't look back when Thomas called his name from behind him. He'd decided to just bite the bullet and erect a bent-space field around himself, which would simply turn aside anything coming at him. It took extra focus, but it meant he didn't have to worry about any new threats for the next little while.
"We've been thinking about what you said," Thomas said, "about nightmares. It raised a question, and it's been bugging us: have you been checking the buildings?"
Spender paused, the rhythmic downpour of destruction faltering for a brief moment.
"Because we thought back to what the Overseer told us when we got here. He said there might be some stragglers still around, but he hadn't checked."
The hammering faltered again.
"Of course, if there's one thing we know about you, it's that you wouldn't just condemn an innocent person to their death. So obviously, you must have been checking the buildings for occupants before you destroyed them."
The stream of destructive spells slowed, trickling down to a gradual stop.
"We thought we'd take a look for ourselves, and honestly, we were surprised. And you know what?"
Slowly, Spender turned his head.
Thomas hung in the air behind him, carrying a small child in each arm, each slumped, unconscious.
"So were they."
A burst of weapons-fire and half-mad screams caught his attention. Asteira. There was no debate in his mind- simply the proposal of an idea and the instant acceptance. He turned and flew toward the spirit, eyes opened wide.
Despite being ejected from her robotic housing, Asteira was still shouting threats at Spender as much as she could. She hadn't quite realized the change of body yet, but when Thomas flew at her, though her, she noticed. He had aimed precisely, and her eyes directly intersected his, occupying the same space at the same time.
In that brief instant, their minds connected, and she found herself within him once more.
They had redecorated. What had before been a homey apartment now resembled the bridge of the Enterprise more than anything else. Gone were the worn carpets, replaced by crisp, cool linoleum. The couch too was gone, a very Trek-esque captain's chair in its place. The four iconic areas had changed- they still reflected the four individuals, but they were all now simply different stations on the bridge. Clockwise from the north, they were the Engineering, Weapons, Intel, and Communications posts, each subtly decorated with the appropriate element and colour. The window had been squished and widened, now styled as a viewscreen.
The room had also taken on aspects of the city around them- the steampunk influences could be seen in the brass dials and controls, the tangle of pipes covering the ceiling, and the old tube-style monitors.
The most notable difference, though, was the occupants themselves. Bern had abandoned his previous basketball uniform for a full-on medieval knight's outfit, complete with plate mail and plumed helm. Walt's casualwear had been replaced by a simple brown robe, reminiscent of those worn by reclusive monks. Eric, knowing the power of symbolism, had followed the environment and sported a faithful TNG uniform adorned with a clockwork communicator badge. Greg, unsurprisingly, was still in his tweed. He'd added a deerstalker, though, moving him away from "dusty academic" and closer to "resourceful investigator."
At the moment, Bern sat in the captain's chair, and Walt, Eric, and Greg were at their stations. When Asteira found herself tumbling through the viewscreen, only Eric turned to face her.
"Let's make this quick. You want to stop Spender. We want to stop Spender. We could do this more effectively if we worked together. Correct?"
Asteira nodded.
"Excellent. Now, we've come up with a plan, but we need your help..." They spent the next several minutes going over it, discussing it, and improving it.
An instant after the contact had begun, it was over, and Thomas flew on through.
Asteira reentered the robot she had just been ejected from. The core ruse may have been a distraction, but she had the droid. The droid that was, like all others, connected to a network. It wasn't hard for her to send out a general query, and the response was swift. Once she pinpointed the correct building, she let off a single shot, which splashed harmlessly against the side.
The building in question was beginning its descent already. It was a smallish, three-story building, square and solid-looking. It had none of the elegance of most of the other structures. It was simply a brick, suspended in midair by a quartet of failing rotors.
Thomas, seeing the signal shot, dove towards the building. There were lives at stake.
Spender had returned to his destruction, knocking buildings together and sending them spinning to the ground. He didn't look back when Thomas called his name from behind him. He'd decided to just bite the bullet and erect a bent-space field around himself, which would simply turn aside anything coming at him. It took extra focus, but it meant he didn't have to worry about any new threats for the next little while.
"We've been thinking about what you said," Thomas said, "about nightmares. It raised a question, and it's been bugging us: have you been checking the buildings?"
Spender paused, the rhythmic downpour of destruction faltering for a brief moment.
"Because we thought back to what the Overseer told us when we got here. He said there might be some stragglers still around, but he hadn't checked."
The hammering faltered again.
"Of course, if there's one thing we know about you, it's that you wouldn't just condemn an innocent person to their death. So obviously, you must have been checking the buildings for occupants before you destroyed them."
The stream of destructive spells slowed, trickling down to a gradual stop.
"We thought we'd take a look for ourselves, and honestly, we were surprised. And you know what?"
Slowly, Spender turned his head.
Thomas hung in the air behind him, carrying a small child in each arm, each slumped, unconscious.
"So were they."