The Great Belligerency [Round 4: Static]

Cole reluctantly marched down the deserted street, prodded by Ur every few steps. The whole experience was frustrating and humiliating. It was as though he were a rebellious child being dragged through town by his mother.

She hadn't even told him where they were going. Despite what she had said about an "ignorant tool" before, she was hardly in any hurry to inform him. He would have commented on the hypocrisy if he were able to speak.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking, Ur suddenly stopped him in mid-step.

"This is close enough," she said.

Close enough to what? he didn't reply.

She walked up to him and pulled a bee off of his body. Cole had an unpleasant feeling about just what bee it was.

"You cannot hide anything from me, mortal." Ur looked at her hand, where the bee was crawling weakly, taking stock of its newfound freedom. "You have been hoping that I did not know about this mockery of nature, that if I were distracted you might use it to escape me."

It would have been nice.

"But you should be thankful. I will soon grant you the freedom you desire so much."

How kind of you. I'm sure there's no catch.

"All I ask in return is one simple favor. But I believe you will find it to be in your interest as well."

She returned the bee to Cole's body, and they both vanished.

***

Phil Girnham was bored. He'd appeared in some kind of ornate palace, in front of a door that was shut tight. Even a grenade hadn't budged it.

With nothing else to do, he had taken to wandering the corridors, but they all looked more or less the same. Maybe a trained archaeologist could tell the difference between the assorted piles of rubble filling the place, but to him it was all a bunch of rocks.

After half an hour, he was bored enough to take a closer look, but all he found was that some of the rocks looked a little like arms and legs. Statues, apparently.

He vaguely remembered the recording, something about a ruined world; maybe this place had been trashed in the disaster. Then again, he supposed, it could have been ruined long before that; maybe the machine had flung him into an ancient temple.

Too bad it was an ancient temple without a convenient exit. He couldn't even tell if the door would have lead out or deeper in, assuming he could even find it.

After what seemed like hours of wandering, he found another door. Or possibly the same one; by this point he'd forgotten the details of it. A door was a door.

He gave it a small push. It opened. Maybe it was a different door, then. Unless he'd gotten so lost that he'd managed to find the other side of it, of course.

As he stepped through the doorway, he found a small chamber with a golden altar and an ornately-decorated urn sitting on it.

So he hadn't gone in a big circle, at least; on the other hand, he still wasn't outside. Then again, the altar and the urn were the most interesting things he'd found since his arrival.

He stepped towards the altar and glanced inside the urn. It was full of some sort of dark red liquid.

It wasn't blood, Phil had seen enough to be sure of that. Maybe it was acid, or an explosive. Maybe it could help him get through the other door, assuming he could find it again.

As a test, Phil lifted up the urn and poured a little bit of liquid on the altar. The liquid burst into flames as soon as it struck the golden surface.

That was a conclusive enough test. Phil didn't need to see any more.

But he found that he couldn't stop pouring. His arms were frozen into position, and the liquid kept flowing out, until it covered the altar, flowed all across the floor, and set the entire chamber ablaze.

***

"We are here. This is as far as your little friend can take you."

Ur plucked the bee from Cole's still body once more.

"Take a good look around. You will be spending some time here."

Cole found he could move, at last. Not much, but enough to turn. He took her advice and examined the area. They seemed to be in some form of palace, or temple; there was a great door behind him.

"That door is shut tightly," Ur said, pulling him to face her once more. "Your job is to open it - it is, after all, your only way out of here."

"You've gone to all this trouble so I can open a door?" Cole asked. "I wish I could say I was surprised."

"That is all you need to know. The rest is up to you. Enjoy your freedom, fool. We will be waiting for you on the other side."

Ur smiled, tapped the bee in her hands, and vanished. Cole's body felt light again, and he could move freely.

He promptly put his newfound freedom to use by forming his hands into claws and pounding on the nearest wall as hard as he could. It hurt his claws more than the wall, but he was beyond caring at this point.

"She will pay for this!" he shouted. "I am no plaything for the gods!"

Cole would have smashed something, but the chamber was already filled with rubble. As he pondered whether it would be worth breaking a rock into a smaller rock, he heard a loud, piercing scream echoing through the halls.

Evidently, he was not alone in here.

***

In truth, Ur understood less of what she had just done than she would have cared to admit to Cole, or to any mortal. But she knew enough.

She knew that this temple had been sealed away by divine power. Even in the city, she had been able to sense it. That meant this world had gods, gods who would surely take notice of a mortal trying to break one of their seals.

And when they arrived, she would see to it that they did not limit their wrath to Cole.

***

Phil was on fire. This was the least of his problems.

He was more concerned with the serpentine shape the flames on the altar had taken, the fact that the fiery snake was staring directly at him, and the fact that he couldn't move at all.

It only got worse when the serpent spoke directly into his mind.

WHERE ARE THE FALSE GODS

Phil found he could move his mouth. This was presumably so that he could give the serpent an answer, but as far as Phil was concerned, it was better used as an opportunity to scream at the top of his lungs.

The serpent was less than amused. Phil's shrieks were cut short, though not before they echoed through the entire temple.

YOU WILL ANSWER ME, MORTAL

"I don't know!" Phil blurted out. "I don't know who you are, or even where I am!"

HOW USELESS

THEN WHAT DO YOU KNOW, MORTAL

Phil tried to answer, but this time his mouth was still firmly shut.

THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO SPEAK

I WILL SIMPLY SEE YOUR PATHETIC KNOWLEDGE FOR MYSELF

The flames swirled through the room, all flying towards Phil. The pain was intense, and his screams would have been even louder if he were allowed to make them.

Slowly, the flames surrounding his body subsided. He removed his helmet, and looked at his hands.

"Such a weak body," he said to himself. "I shall have to remake it to be more suitable."

Before he could prepare himself, however, he found that he had another guest.

"Phil? Was that scream you? And do you have the slightest idea where we are?"

"Phil" turned around, and put his helmet back on. His suit burst into flames.

"You carry the stench of false gods," he said. "I will give you one chance. Renounce the false gods and swear yourself to me, or be destroyed."

Cole groaned. He was becoming more and more convinced that he should have taken his chances with the heavy artillery.