Intense Struggle Season 2! (Round 4: Deathball Championship)

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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The Monitor was ready.

His contestants had been selected. He had prepared a special room for this occasion, as it was also to serve as a demonstration of his newly-completed device.

He held out a book he had just printed out. It was called, "The Waiting Room". A large claw-arm crawled across the ceiling, and placed it on a table in the center of the auditorium.

Then he pressed a button.

In an instant, seven beings appeared around the auditorium, all facing the center. The Monitor's voice spoke.

"Greetings, combatants. Welcome to the second Intense Struggle. Eight fighters from around the multiverse will be sent to arenas of my choosing in a battle to the death."

He paused, as a large device emerged from the ceiling.

"Now, those of you who possess the ability to count may have noticed that only seven contestants are present. That is because there is another reason I have brought you here. You will be the first beings to witness my latest creation."

A small sphere on the end of the device started glowing. A blue beam of light emerged from it, and struck the book.

The light shifted, and moved to an empty portion of the auditorium floor.

Slowly, an image of a man began to form in the light. After one minute, the blue beam vanished and the device retreated into its compartment in the ceiling. A spotlight turned on, highlighting the new arrival. He looked around, rather confused. It was as though something didn't feel quite right.

The Monitor spoke once more.

"This is Lloyd Conrad, also known as the Escapee. He learned he was in a book, and sought to escape. However, up until now, all of his escapes have been into other books, where he disguised himself as other characters. My device has allowed him to exist in the real world. His primary ability manifests when he is in a book - he is able to take on all skills and knowledge of the character he is portraying. However, he is also able to retain any knowledge he specifically commits to memory. It will be interesting to see if that aids him here."

The spotlight moved around the auditorium. A small girl of ten was now visible.

"Of course, you must all be introduced to your other competitors, as Mr. Conrad is not the only entrant in this battle. This young lady is Lillian Finch. The talisman on her wrist houses a kindred spirit which seeks to protect her from harm."

The spotlight shifted, and a young woman in a black dress with short black hair and a large sword on her back was standing beneath.

"This is Karen. She plays a game called Legends of Fate, in which her mind is transferred into the body of a computerized avatar, which closely resembles her real body. I discovered how to bring such an avatar here in the process of creating the device that has allowed Mr. Conrad to join us, and so I decided to enter one of the most skilled players of the game into this battle."

As the spotlight moved on, Karen reflected on her introduction. I guess it could be a fun scenario, she thought, but did they have to use that stupid meta joke?

The next combatant was a tall girl, who looked mostly human, but the black-and-white tone of her body, the exoskeleton she wore, and the six dragonfly wings on her back suggested there was more to the story.

"This is Dekowin. She is a Volkhanbet - they are a self-evolving artificial race. That exoskeleton has powerful retractable claws, and of course the wings allow her to fly. She can also make her spit acidic if she so desires. She is a very skilled warrior, you would do well to observe her with caution."

The light moved to a winged girl wearing goggles and a mask in the shape of a hawk, holding a staff with the aid of thin metal arms attached to her wings.

"Next, Sarika, a prophetess and former officer of the law. Despite what her appearance may suggest, she cannot fly, but she has exceptional jumping abilities. She has also been granted immunity to such petty concerns as hunger and aging by her gods. In addition, she has the power to see the future. When she blinks, she can switch between viewing the future and viewing the present. That staff is also an effective blunt weapon."

The spotlight moved to a strange robot, which looked almost like a heavily-armed three-legged chair.

"This is a hunterbot, serial number CH4-12-L13. Also known as 'Charlie'. In addition to its range of weaponry and armored exterior, it is capable of camouflaging itself and of walking across magnetic surfaces. It should be noted that Charlie's top priority at the moment is assassinating someone who is currently in another dimension, and it takes its missions very seriously. Who can say what it will do?"

The spotlight moved to a pale, muscular man in an armored suit. He almost looked like a neanderthal.

"This is Marcus White, a mercenary. He has been cybernetically enhanced, and so can push the human body to its limits. Do not be fooled by his near-primitive appearance - he is actually quite intelligent."

The spotlight then moved to the final combatant. It appeared to be an enormous floating rose bush.

"Finally, this odd-looking creature is Reudic Otsaceae, a viridioflorian. It has developed two mutations which make it unusual even for its own species - it can create illusions and has the capacity for mind control. As for the abilities more natural for its species, it can tangle you in its thick vines and slowly digest you, although it appears to me that some of you will be harder to digest than others."

The spotlight vanished entirely.

"Now that you have been introduced to your opponents in this battle, it is time to begin the first round."

There was a strange sensation, and soon, all the contestants found themselves alone, in small rooms with empty glass tanks. There were spots of green fluid on the floor.

The Monitor's voice spoke.

"Welcome to Training Facility ONX-5. Here, artificial life forms are created, and able to control their own evolution. This facility then tests their capacity to survive, often by pitting them against each other in battle. I felt it was suitable to use it to test you, as well. The doors in front of you will lead to a series of corridors filled with obstacles. You may also encounter each other as you advance. I believe it would be optimal for entertainment and gathering data if you made it to the point where you will all meet before killing anyone, but that choice is ultimately yours."

There was a brief pause.

"I should note that there are already creatures being tested in this facility, hence why the containment tanks near you are all empty. You might encounter them along the way. This facility is controlled by a computer, but it is a trivial task for me to keep its attention away from you for the duration of this round."

The Monitor did not mention that he would not necessarily continue to do so for the entire round. He had to leave some surprises, after all.

Show Content

SpoilerIt's the MSPAFA round! This one is based on Anomaly's #XF3974, specifically the training facility the adventure starts in.

Anomaly has kindly provided a rough map of the sector:


You're in all the rooms at the bottom. If the players want, I can decide who goes in which room so you know who you're meeting up with first; or if you'd rather figure that yourselves, I will edit this post as you go so there's a quick reference for which corridor everyone is in.

Now, get playing!

Leftmost corridors: Lillian and Sarika
Middle-left corridors: Marcus and Dekowin
Middle-right corridors: Reudic and Charlie
Rightmost corridors: Lloyd and Karen

Originally posted on MSPA by bobthepen.

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Lillian never heard the Monitor's performance or introductions. While the power of the grand master held her body upright and her eyes open, it did not break the subtle spell of sleep that had been cast on her moments prior. Wrapped in a blanket of dreams, Lillian was protected from the harshness of her undue summoning. She did, however, experience the very peculiar sensation of having fallen asleep on a train. Now, I don't know if you have ever fallen asleep on a train (Lillian certainly had not, and it may be that the experience is a tad different for everyone) but it is a type of sleep where a bit of reality always manages to find its way in. You know that you are going someplace, but you're not entirely sure where. And you know that you are not alone, but you're not certain who is riding with you. And, if you have never ridden a train before, the rattling of the windows and the clack-clack of the tracks reminds you that something very new and very exciting is happening.

So it was with Lillian when she awoke, on her back, on the cold hard floor to which the Monitor had sent her. She yawned, stretched her arms in a wide arc, and brushed the sleep out of her hazel eyes as naturally as if she was waking in her own bed. The sleep given to her was such that whoever awoke from it felt a subtle calm and confidence instead of the drowsiness that often follows a good nap. Lillian opened her eyes and propped herself up with a start. The room was hardly inviting. A sickly green goo lined portions of the floor, broken glass was scattered about, and the walls were made of a cold dull gray steel. Yet there was one quality of the room which appealed to Lillian more than any other, a quality which, with the magic of her sleep not yet worn off, overruled all the nastiness of the cramped little room. It was new. Never before had Lillian seen such a place, as dreary as it was. The green goo had an emerald luster, and the broken glass spoke volumes of mysteries. What mysterious creature or person could have made all this? Perhaps a lone architect shunned by society for his unorthodox designs, or a very meticulous mole stumbled onto a silver mine and lined the walls of his home with it? Soon every aspect of the unknown room became fuel for the excited and imaginative girl.

The Kindred Spirit did not share Lillian's thoughts. It had seen the Monitor's keep and heard the purpose of the contest. It saw the broken shards of glass and could feel the air of rage and frustration and danger left behind by the one who broke them. It knew that beyond these doors elsewhere in this structure were beings and creatures who were expected to kill the girl it had sworn to protect, and it did not know if it could stop them.

Lillian sensed the Spirit's apprehension and for the first time felt that some caution was required. The excitement remained, however, as an increasing suspicion gained prevalence in her mind.

"Spirit?" Lillian asked, "Is this part of the world?"

The Kindred Spirit replied with uncertainty.

"Well it could be part of the world. I mean, what else could it be if it wasn't? Though..." Lillian gazed down at the talisman. "I'm not fourteen yet, so I really shouldn't be out of the township...How?...How did we get here? I remember falling asleep, then having the strangest feeling, like I was traveling somewhere."

The Spirit said nothing, not wishing to frighten its bright-eyed charge.

"Well I think it was magic." Lillian continued without the kindred spirits input, as she often did. "Rosalie says there is no such thing as magic but I knew she was wrong. I told her, 'with a name as pretty as Rosalie the very least you could do is believe in magic.' Of course, here I am in a mysterious cave, and Rosalie isn't, so I suppose that says something for believing in magic."

The Kindred Spirit gave an encouraging twinkle.

Lillian turned ahead and began strutting down the goo-spotted hallway.

"No use in waiting here I suppose. I'm incredibly curious to see where this goop leads, and I bet it's nothing half as dangerous as you seem so worried about. Besides, if anything sticky happens you'll protect me, right Spirit?"

The Spirit twinkled, but its apprehension remained.

Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.

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Sarika glared around at her room behind her goggles but found nothing much to glare at besides broken glass tubes and green splotches. She was...frustrated. There was nothing to attack here, however, so she tried working off her frustration by stomping down the corridor in front of her.

This was...unimaginable. Inexcusable. As the prophetess tried to keep aware of her rather boring surroundings, avoiding sticky green goo, she fumed over what had just occurred and the implications of everything the Monitor had said. The Monitor...now how did that name pop into her head? In any case, the being was forcing people to fight to the death. From the cursory introductions, it was possible many of them were just innocent beings minding their own business before being forced to battle for it. Even a little girl! (At this point, Sarika pounded her foot on the floor so hard that she possibly broke a talon.) And it had implied another battle was in progress or had finished. Maybe there were even more going on. And for what! Nothing! There was no reason for something as sickening as this and even if one had been given, whatever it would have been, it would have been unacceptable.

Okay. Okay. Sarika let out a slow breath and calmed down a little. She had to pay attention here. Even if this whole situation was ridiculous and absolutely infuriating...

The Monitor, if that was its name, had exhibited god-like powers. But it was no god. No god would do this sort of thing. As far as she had seen, it was a robot. A cold, unfeeling robot who had no business whisking people from their homes for whatever robot reasons it had. It was not all-powerful. To make sure nothing of this sort would happen again, she would have to deal with this robot. She would dismantle the Monitor.

The bird-woman had absolutely no idea how, but it didn't matter. It would have to be done. But until she figured out a way to approach it or the gods allowed her an inspiration, she would have to play along. Maybe make allies to help her destroy it. If she had to kill, then it would have to be someone who deserved it...

Satisfied with her somewhat vague plan, Sarika was brought back to earth by a strange hissing noise and looked up to the ceiling to find a white creature shaped in a form of ultimate terror. There were many eyes and many legs and horrible, sharp teeth and what may be pincers. Grimacing, she jabbed her staff upwards much like a housewife dislodges a spider with a broom handle and attempted to skewer it before it leapt down towards her. Of course, staffs can't skewer very well. The creature, though, with its momentum, managed to break something and bounced off onto the floor, clutching its wounded gut. Sarika stared at it suspiciously as she moved on, circling around it gingerly and hoping that it was disinclined to attack her now.

Ahead of her she could see a circular room. Entering it, she couldn't help but notice two doors. One was leading ahead, across a treacherous-looking path that crossed a huge chasm, the other beside the corridor she had just gone through. Thinking that this was the room that connected the contestants, the woman blinked and let out a little smile. Yes, it was definitely the little girl...Lillian.

...Could she handle the strange beasts that lurked around...?

Sarika wasn't about to let a little girl possibly get into danger. The beads on her staff clattering, she hurried down the corridor that she was sure would lead her to Lillian.

Originally posted on MSPA by WoodlandBeef.

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Three seconds.

Three seconds was the interval that separated CH4-12-L13, the infamous Hunterbot, from completing its mission objective. It seemed so close, yet now so far as Charlie's data bank could not pick up on even the slightest trace of familiar territory. Not one nanometer of whatever this place was had been programmed into the Hunterbot's map. It was such unfamiliar territory, almost as if the Hunterbot had been so rudely plucked from its plane of existence and transported beyond space and time to another universe. To live up to the reputation as a Hunterbot was to adapt and excel, something that CH4-12-L13 had been notorious for in its history of being commissioned. Whatever happened was only a minor setback to the completion of the main objective.

As Charlie's basic optical and audio receptors reoriented themselves, the machine went to activate its more specialized sensors to get its bearings; only to find that they had all been dampened and deemed unusable. Something called the Monitor spoke up and delivered a speech like one of many politicians of the Republic. One small phrase struck a circuit of familiarity with the Hunterbot and the machine paused in automation.

'Battle to the death'

The robot walker processed the words and began to reformulate its objectives while the Monitor had proceeded with introductions. It seemed that there were seven other forms that were to be placed in a battle to the death with the Hunterbot. Charlie was incapable of getting a good visual representation of the new ‘targets', thus only could go by name and description to prioritize the secondary objectives. The order of which the Hunterbot's processor listed the other contestants by highest threat level started with Marcus White and Dekowin and ending with the Viridioflorian and Lillian Finch.

The specialized robot abruptly found itself transported again in the same manner as before. The Monitor's voice echoed from speaker's in the ceiling giving a statement that conflicted with the Hunterbot's programming.

"...made it to the point where you all will meet before killing anyone, but that choice is ultimately yours..."

Termination of the secondary objectives would result in a mission success, but a new objective had been listed. Do not kill before reaching a certain point. The Hunterbot was completely immobile for a time as the machine's processor tried to comprehend such blatantly incompatible orders, but to no avail as a large, bold, red five letter word flashed in Charlie's optical sensors.

ERROR

The Hunterbot slumped in the containment room it had been placed as the machine attempted to clear its processor of all unnecessary data to increase its computing speed. A new objective protocol was established; refrain from termination until all targets are gathered unless threat level exceeds Defcon-3. With that command locked in its processor, Charlie's mechanized form rose up and scanned the room. The Hunterbot's processor scanned the molecular complex of the green substance and the shattered holding canisters. The gooey liquid was relatively harmless as it was used to keep whatever was once in the containers in a meta-stasis, undoubtedly for study and testing. After a brief analytical study of the canisters, Charlie deduced that whatever biological organisms were once in here had been missing for some time prior to its arrival. The Hunterbot recounted the Monitor's words once more for perhaps any other commands, but instead had picked up upon another critical element.

"...already creatures…in this facility..."

CH4-12-L13 twisted around and gave the room multi-sensor scans to ensure there was nothing else that might be crucial to completing its directives. There was nothing notable left in the initial room, until a subtle hiss and noise that sounded vaguely like scuttling was processed by Charlie's audio sensors. The noise came from beyond the room. The Hunterbot's pincers rotated in their joints and the segmented tail lurched forwards into a battle ready position. The circuitry and mechanisms whirred to life as the tripod legs shifted and brought the machine to a steady, fluid gait and left the containment room with its objectives set.

Commence mission.

Originally posted on MSPA by GreyGabe.

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[background=#000000:200rjws7]Marcus glanced around the chamber, taking the time to get a grip on his emotions, and push them into a deep, dark corner of his psyche where no one would ever hear from them again. Here he was, on unknown turf, apparently being pitted against enemies the likes of which he'd never seen, for the most part, all according to the whims of some sort of amoral god-like entity. Probably wouldn't do him any good to start blubbering like a little girl. Deciding nothing was going to sneak up on him for now, it didn't take him long to regain control of himself, and begin analyzing the situation. He started by checking his gear and ammunition, and formulating a loose plan of action. His levelheadedness, after all, was why Marcus got paid the big bucks.

Speaking of, is there some sorta prize for winning? Nevermind. Worry about that later.

He checked his ammunition reserves first. Plenty of spare clips for the Retribution, a fair number for his pistols, quite a few for his shotgun, and of course he didn't have to worry about his knives. Oh, and he had grabbed a few grenades, too. Could be better, but could be a hell of a lot worse, I guess.

He double checked his armor, finding it securely fastened, and made sure he had all of his extra equipment, which hung from belts and in pouches distributed around his person. Marcus just wished he had grabbed his helmet before… whatever the hell happened, happened. As it was, he would just have to hope nothing tried to redecorate his face to badly, ‘primitive appearance' or not. Marcus had to smirk at that. Always with the jokes about his face.

Okay, so. What am I up against? A little girl, a scary robot… thing, an android, a plant, a bookworm… uh… let's see… an ‘avatar' from a computer game, and some sorta fortune teller. I think that's it. Okay, so all I gotta do is take them down, or let them take each other down, and then I can… go… home…
Wait. Had that… thing ever said it was going to send the winner home? Marcus didn't think so. Hmm…
Marcus sighed. “Well, shit.”

And what had it said about entertainment and data collection? Marcus was liking this less and less the more he thought about it. So perhaps the solution was not to think about it so much. Marcus took a longer look around the chamber he was in, noticing that there wasn't much to it that his cursory examination earlier had missed. Metal walls, concrete floors. Big fish tank. Green fluid in puddles on the floor. Minimalist décor (ha ha). No terrible monsters waiting to eat his delicious eyeballs. He poked at some of the green fluid with the toe of one boot, finding it to be… a slightly slippery green fluid. Meaning that it didn't eat through his boot or anything. Marcus shrugged and moved to the door, which suddenly opened automatically, causing Marcus to snap up his weapon, scanning the hallway beyond. Seemed to be empty. He relaxed. Slightly. Straining his hearing, Marcus listened for a few seconds. Nothing.

The way he figured it, all he had to do was survive. Surviving was something Marcus did well, if past experience was any indicator.
"'Course... I might be dead. And this might be Hell."
On that happy note...
Marcus began to stalk down the hall, slowly, quietly, holding the Retribution ready in case he needed to blow anything away.
[/background:200rjws7]

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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"REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Dekowin's iron claws ripped into the first thing she saw that looked breakable- some sort of computer system attacked to the wall. With a loud *CRUNCH* bits and pieces of circuitry were torn right off, leaving deep claw marks on the console.
"Just who... the fuck... DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Dekowin couldn't stop herself from screaming. Almost immediately after her sister had just... EFFORTLESSLY... made a fucking WASTE of her ENTIRE FUCKING LIFE, this asshole robot just tore her right out of HER FUCKING CASTLE seconds before giving that little bitch a piece of her mind!
She let out another scream, as she thrust her claws towards the automatic door. The door however, opened just before she made contact, and she fell through into the hallway. This just made her scream louder.
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO THE FUCK YOU JUST PISSED OFF?! I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES YOU ASSHOLE! YOU AND ANYONE WHO GETS IN MY FUCKING WAY!"

Show Content

SpoilerCompared to the others, my fairly short post feels inadequate. :x

Originally posted on MSPA by gloomyMoron.

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Reudic floated slowly above the lush jungle ground; motionless but moving, unnoticed but in plain sight. Just a few more moments and its prey would be within the grasp of its strong and sturdy tendrils. Slowly, quietly the vines snaked out and down from the coiled mass at their base. Subtle was the illusion that had held the prey-beast steady. Subtle not so much because of expert control on the part of Reudic, but rather due to the simplicity its prey's mind. Another second, another millimeter and Reudic would have enough nourishment to last an eighth of a solar cycle, at least. Just a bit further... and then it was gone: out of Reudic's reach. Not because the prey-beast had noticed its impending end, nor because of some error made by the stalking predator.

The prey-beast was gone because it and Reudic no longer inhabited the same dimensional plane of existence. Instead of engorging itself upon a fresh kill as its roots burrowed and tore into the thick armored flesh of the prey-beast, Reudic found itself in a place most strange. Suddenly, a voice came from behind what, to Reudic, appeared to be various thick, gray and black rectangular leaves, though Reudic saw neither tree nor foliage around. A voice soon came from behind the leaves, and it spoke in gibberish. Reudic understood not a single word that the voice had spoken, and yet the message still came through clear. Reudic was far from home, and about to be placed in mortal peril for reasons beyond its understanding.

The voice continued to drone on and, seemingly, singled out every other entity within the room. Quickly, Reudic realized that introductions were taking place, a realization that was confirmed when it recognized its own name being called, albeit unskillfully. The voice suddenly finished speaking, and then Reudic was once again displaced from one location to another without prior notice.

The plant-being hovered above green sludge, and broken glass. Everything around it was new and strange. The concept of walls were foreign to it, as was the concept of a ceiling that other than the leaves of the great mother-forest. Idly it regarded its surroundings and reflected on the fast pace events that had led it to be in this position. First it thought upon its lost prey. Reudic, as it always did, resolved itself to indifference. Survival was as much luck as it was skill, and today that creature was luckier. It then thought upon the place it had found itself last, and once again was disinterested with the events that had transpired. Finally, it thought upon its current surrounding, to which Reudic once again failed to react too.

|Survival is all that matters, and even that is transitory, same as my location today it seems.| With no particularly strong thoughts on what to do next nor with any real emotion guiding it, Reudic moved towards the spot in its surroundings that seemed to be cracked. Upon reaching its destination, the crack in the wall parted and grew larger, allowing the floating plant to continue passage through the egress.

The new room was different from the first in that it seemed longer and that parts of the ground were missing. A somewhat narrow, winding path that stretched outwards into the distance, leading to another cracked wall. At the end of the hall, a medium sized creature stood on three legs in front of, what Reudic could only imagine was, a rocky outcropping of the wall. |Must be some form of test or trial, that leads to some form of primitive alter. Not that it really matters anyway.|

Stealthily Reudic crossed the path, and sneaked upon the creature. It unwound its mighty tendrils and floated forward slowly, probing the creatures mind as it went. This new prey was much smarter than the last, sentient even. Reudic would have to try to exert more control over the images the creature would see, pulling up information from its own mind at random usually served to disorient all but the most focused and determined of prey. This ploy proved to be successful as the new prey-beast failed to notice the vines that tightened around its neck until it snapped. The prey-beast was dead, killed quickly and ruthlessly. Reudic's vines wrapped around the carcass and pulled it toward Reudic's roots to be digested.

|"One beast spared; another ceased. The cycle goes on."| Reudic's mouth-fruit uttered, seemingly cold, indifferent. Bored, even. After fully pulling the creature into Reudic's mass of vines and roots, it continued to move onwards, towards the cracked wall. Silently, the plant floated out into a larger expanse, the cracked wall sealing behind it. Two other cracked walls were placed around the circular room, and Reudic was continually indifferent towards both of them. Indecisive on where to go next, it decided to take a moment to digest. To digest both the situation at hand, and the fresh flesh that now sat in its root and vine gullet.

Show Content

SpoilerIn progress. Switching computers. I can't type on this laptop, especially with my mom watching something on "Shadow People" in the other room. That stuff creeps me the right out.

Done.

Edit: Fixed a few typos I missed last night due to being tired.

Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.

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Karen surveyed her new surroundings. A total mess. And what's worse, it was modern. The thought if being in a modern locale caused her stomach to sink into itself. It almost disgusted her. This was a fantasy game, nothing like this could really exist. Was she dreaming this then? She paused to muse this over. What had she been doing? Sure, she was probably leaving off the sleep for far too long again. She remembered all those people telling her of the bags under her eyes these past few months. It was a possibility. But improbable. Her dreams never usually contained this much thinking. She was sure she had been clearing out that nearly impossible tower dungeon for the fifth time. That meant she must still be wearing the game set. And falling asleep would have left her in the game, albeit there would have been a blank pause between being awake and asleep. So then, maybe this wasn't her game.

She could only peruse the idea of this not being her game. she had browsed others over the years, yet none had given her the feeling of being at home in the world. Especially the single player ones.
She looked around in more detail. Everything looked used. Computers with rings of some sort of drink stuck to the desks they sat on. Notes of paper haphazardly stuck to things. The shattered chamber covered in green liquid. She noticed that last piece of information was an odd one out, and checked further. She knelt down, smoothing out her hem as she did so, she always made sure to do so since she had changed the design, anybody could have been watching her after all. Glass shards were strewn around. The chamber had been broken with quite a bit of force. If there had ever been a filled chamber that is. Perhaps it was just to set the first scene of the game.

She stood back up and stared at the door. The point of this game seemed to kill other players, something she wasn't all to unfamiliar with. Player Killing had been possible in Legends of Fate, but frowned upon. Dying by the hands of another player lost you experience, like a normal death. They could also try to take your items and money. That was why whenever a player actively killed another player, they were designated as a player killer and changed. They would become red-eyed, and if another player killed them, they would not be penalised. This stacked of course with other kills, increasing the amount of time they would be in this state.

She had never killed a player to try to take things from them, but she had been attacked by both wanted and unwanted players. Some of them had been strong. Players were not like mobs or smarter monsters. They acted out of impulse; you couldn't formulate a strategy that worked on all of them. She imaged the same of the others. Would they attack on sight?

Then she remembered something. Some of the other players, if that's what they were, were WEIRD. One was a plant, for crying out loud. A few things that could be possible were that this game had changed the way character creation was made, the person had manipulated their game card, it was an A.I playing or, god forbid, there was some sort of bush playing the game. There was also a robot, a bird woman, a space adventurer, some sort of bug girl? (She looks familiar for some reason, must be the face, but where have I seen that face before?), A man that could live inside a book? Apart from herself and the really young girl, everyone was weird. Yeah, definitely different form of player creation r A.I's. The other ideas were either Illegal (and obviously so! They'd never fool the game looking like that), or insane.

The only thing she could decide was this definitely was not reality. Nothing like transporting people through realities through space could be real. And taking her character out of the game and keeping her in control? Complete nonsense. She guessed the game company was forcing its employees to role-play again. The last time that happened they were terrible. They would forget their own names, It was really funny to watch though. Coal had said it wasn't their fault, they joined to make a game, not play it.

Coal... She wondered what he was up to right now. Was he still playing Legend of Fate at this moment? She wondered about getting a message to him, when she realised the command prompt was non-existent. Then she remembered she wasn't in the same game as him, not the full one anyway. Beta, sequel, expansion, different game. She'd remember which one of these it was eventually. She passed through the only door, scowling at it's modern way of opening automatically and vertically. The corridor onwards was silent, and just as grey as everything else. She rummaged around her pockets and found a piece of bread, saw it was still in good condition, and started biting pieces off and eating them as she walked past the bland walls. The walls reminded her of how bland the old fashioned bread was, something not to spend time thinking about, to be taken in and swallowed almost instantly. The soon came to yet another hateful sliding door, and stepped through.

What happened next took less than a second to realise. There was a small point jabbing into her neck. Oddly, it didn't feel like a blade. (Something she'd felt before in the same place) She looked at the person who was attempting to assault her in the eye.

"Ah," She breathed, "you're that special one, like me. Or so it was suggested."

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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The Monitor could have given argument after argument for why Lloyd wasn't in a book any more, and it would've been ineffective. Lloyd, stubborn and antagonistic, would've simply pulled out one "what if" after another and dragged the conversation on until either the Monitor gave up or the book ended and the man moved on. Out of sheer bull-headedness, Lloyd would've gone on thinking he was in just another book, albeit a more meta one than most.

He didn't think that, however, and there was exactly one reason why: the room around him was sharp and crisp, no room for variance or interpretation. The walls didn't have a range of shades to them, no realm of possibilities allowed by the colour "grey." The puddles of green goop on the floor were in precise, exact locations, each one with its own unique shape and size. No author would be this precise- to describe the exact shapes and locations of the puddles in such detail that he could see no variance in potential would be simply absurd, and to list each and every little dip and bump in the concrete floor in such a way that they would be exactly the same from one moment to the next would be practically impossible. The layers upon layers of descriptors and qualifiers that would be required to describe even an inch of the room he was in would be staggering.

He crouched down and looked into a tiny pit in the concrete floor. There were three specks of dust sitting in the bottom. He looked away, then looked back, and they were still there, positioned exactly the same way they had been before.

No author would write a story in that much detail, taking care to describe the relative positions of individual motes of dust, and that fact, above anything else, convinced him that this place was the real deal.

The thought that he was in the real world should have been comforting. He'd started out wanting to escape his prison, and he'd succeeded. It had been his one goal, his driving motivation, and now, finally, he'd done it. He'd made it out of fiction.

Trouble is, his life had continued after he'd left The Escapee. He'd then spent years jumping around from book to book, rocking the boat and generally giving the pre-established storyline the finger. He'd rather enjoyed doing that, and the thought that, whatever happened, he would always have another book ahead was quite comforting. Now, though, he was stuck. He couldn't just jump out when he was done, and if he died here, he wouldn't just move on to another book. He'd be dead.

That aspect of the situation should've made him wary or nervous, or perhaps fill him with fear and dread. He hadn't ever had to worry about dieing, and the sudden, looming danger of the great one-way trip to nowhere should have been a rather large concern.

It shouldn't have caused him to grin widely and rub his hands together in anticipation. It shouldn't have made him feel that the events that were about to unfold were going to matter more than anything he'd ever done before, that the stakes now were higher than he'd ever had on the table in his life. The thought shouldn't've set him moving towards the door.

But it did, and through he went, striding confidently into the next room.

This room, too, was precisely defined. The ceiling was at a precise value of "high," the pit in the centre had a precise value of "deep," and the ledge across which he was clearly intended to walk had a precise value of "thin."

The precision of the whole place made his grin just a bit wider, and he walked confidently out, his strides longer than was advisable but shorter than was crazy. He held his hands out to balance a bit, but he still moved across the pit at a fairly good clip.

He was most of the way across when a precisely-defined pebble slipped beneath his shoe. He overcompensated, wavering dangerously, but didn't fall. For a moment, he just stood, closed his eyes, and took deep breaths, letting his racing heart calm down a bit.

Once it had reached a relatively normal level, he opened his eyes again and continued across. Once on the other side, he slumped against the wall. "That was reckless, Lloyd," he muttered. "Remember, things don't just happen here for story reasons. There's no-one calling the shots, making things happen to advance the plot. Things like that pebble can just be there. It's not all about the story."

He blinked for a second, his words reminding him of something else. In books, he'd always had the general knowledge of a typical protagonist in that story, but he wasn't sure if he'd have it here as well.

He worried about the effects of losing that advantage for a second before he decided to simply try it and find out. If it was there, great, and if not, he'd have to live without it. No use worrying about it until he knew.

So he thought about his situation.

Nothing. He didn't know where he was, or what sort of things were expected of a character in this situation. He didn't know the history of the region or even what sort of gods they did or did not believe in.

He sighed. "Well, that's one advantage lost." He stood back up and headed for the other door. He was still experienced and skilled, and he wasn't about to sit down and die because he didn't know what television shows people in this place watched.

On the other side of the door was a large, circular chamber. There were three doors in the room: the one he'd entered through, another door of a similar design, and a third, larger door.

First, he headed over to the similar door. It didn't slide open for him, and despite his attempts, he couldn't open it manually. He tried the other door, but got the same result. Frustrated, he turned back to the door he'd entered through.

It too was locked, leaving him stuck. Presumably one of the other competitors would be entering in the near future, then, and here he was, out in the open.

He took stock of what he had. It wasn't much. He'd taken a few things from people as he moved between novels, removing what would likely be key plot elements and therefore making the plot go off in a completely different direction. In his pockets, he had a magnifying glass, a pair of AA batteries, and a ballpoint pen, and over one shoulder, he had a largish bath towel from Marks and Spencer. Other than that, he was basically unarmed. Against most, if not all, of the other competitors, that was a serious disadvantage. He'd need every edge he could get if he was going to survive.

At this point, he really only had one feasible advantage- he was here first. He could probably get the drop on whoever it is that's going to be coming in, he supposed.


He'd just gotten into position next to the door when it whisked open. His timing was off, and he moved forward a split second too early. Instead of coming up behind her and having one arm wrapped around her neck while holding the pen to her throat with the other, he was performing more of an awkward hug from the side with one arm and holding the pen to her throat with the other.

She looked at him for a moment, then said, "Ah, you're that special one, like me. Or so it was suggested."

"Well," he replied, thinking back to what the Monitor had told them, "that depends on how you define special. If it means 'pulled from somewhere other than reality,' then yes."

He shifted his grip a little to get a better angle with the pen. "But the past isn't important right now- the present is. That Monitor guy says he can 'gather the most data' if we don't kill each other right off the bat, but I'm not exactly in a mood to help him out. So tell me- why shouldn't I kill you right here?"

In truth, he had no intention of killing her. Given any sort of half-decent excuse, he was planning to just let her go and 'reluctantly' move along together. After all, she hadn't dragged him away from his previous life. His issue was with the Monitor, not her.

Originally posted on MSPA by GreyGabe.

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[background=#000000:2jopfs6u]Marcus had been hearing the crashing and yelling for a short while, now. It was difficult to pin down exactly where, though it sounded more or less ‘ahead'. He suddenly decided he wanted to be off of this winding, elevated pathway. Given his choice, he would have liked to be on a resort planet, somewhere with a beach populated largely by ladies in skimpy outfits, but he'd settle for somewhere with adequate cover. Beggars and choosers, you know. He hustled the rest of the way across, fighting the strange urge to look down. Finally back on solid ground, Marcus approached the door, sticking to the side and checking for hostiles before continuing through. He entered a large, round room, with a single door across from where he had entered, and another door to the left of the one he had come in from. The screaming continued, now seeming to come from the side, still muffled, but understandable.[/background:2jopfs6u]

“…YOU ASSHOLE! YOU AND ANYONE ELSE WHO GETS IN MY FUCKING WAY!”

[background=#000000:2jopfs6u]Well. That sounded promising.

Marcus took almost three and a half seconds in deciding that he really didn't care to meet whoever that was. Scratch Plan A: Meet with closest ‘contestant' first, attempt to form temporary alliance. Commence Plan B: Get the hell out of Dodge and hope to meet someone rational somewhere else. He pointed his rifle at the door, and slowly began backing up towards the exit opposite. As he got close enough to trigger the door-opening mechanism, he checked over his shoulder to make sure his escape was unobstructed.

Of course not. On the other side of the door, a strange, reptilian creature stood on four long, spindly legs, with thin, insectile wings fluttering on its back. Its front legs (arms?) were long, flat blades with serrated edges that looked way too sharp to be completely natural. Altogether, it looked like nothing so much as a raptor crossed with a praying mantis. Goat-like eyes narrowed, antennae twitched and four nostrils flared as the thing recovered from momentary surprise and quickly categorized Marcus. Marcus could practically see himself being filed under ‘F' for ‘Food'.
The creature pounced, arms pulled back and mouth gaping to reveal several rows of wickedly sharp teeth. Marcus spun quickly, using the momentum of his turn to slam the butt of his rifle into the side of the thing's head. It flew past him, propelled by its own inertia and the force of Marcus's strike. Marcus lined up a shot and opened fire, Retribution roaring like Norellian plains-cat. The creature moved with unbelievable speed, avoiding injury but for a scratch on one flank. It rushed at him again, this time staying low to the ground. Marcus dodged to the side, again slamming down the butt of his rifle, this time hitting the creature's spine. There was a sickening crunch, and the creature fell. Marcus backed away quickly, keeping his weapon trained on the creature. It tried to haul itself up on its fore-legs, but its hind legs hung uselessly, and it quickly fell over again. It let out a keening wail, and began pulling itself away by its bladed arms, leaving small furrows in the concrete floor. It glanced at Marcus once, and began pulling itself faster, towards one of the back doors. Marcus was about to put a few rounds through its skull to end its misery, when the door it was headed for opened up. There was a slight pause, and then a foot came crashing down on its head. The creature jerked once, pitifully, and then went still.
Marcus kept his rifle trained on the girl who came through, watching her warily. She looked like a teenage girl, but her strange skin tone, the wings and the armor seemed to blow that theory out of the water. As she stood, Marcus could see her tense, and long, metallic claws began sliding out of her fingers. Her wings fluttered slowly, and she scowled at him.
Marcus somehow got the sense that if he made any significant movement, she would rush him, and he didn't want to tangle until he had some sense of her abilities. So he put on his most (read: ‘not very') charming face, nodded once, and said, “Hey. Thanks for the assist. Had it covered, though.”
Oh yeah. A smooth diplomat was Marcus.[/background:2jopfs6u]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

---

Show Content

SpoilerOkay, Reudic and Charlie are now the last pair by default.

I've decided to organize you the rest of the way; Lillian and Sarika will meet up with Marcus and Dekowin first. Then Lloyd and Karen will meet up with Reudic and Charlie first.

This information has also been edited into the introductory post.

Originally posted on MSPA by Drakenforge.

---

"Well, that depends on how you define special. If it means 'pulled from somewhere other than reality,' then yes."

Karen was right. It was indeed Lloyd who had ambushed her. She wondered why he had a towel around his shoulder, but in the situation it was probably less than important.

"But the past isn't important right now- the present is. That Monitor guy says he can 'gather the most data' if we don't kill each other right off the bat, but I'm not exactly in a mood to help him out. So tell me- why shouldn't I kill you right here?"

Karen smirked back at him, showing she didn't see him as a threat. She moved her eyes down to look at where his waist would be, his eyes followed. Her hand was facing palm up between their bodies. He obviously didn't know what she was capable of. Before he could react, a ball of fire shot past his face, causing him to stumble, losing the pen. As he fell backwards, Karen shouldered him, pushing him down onto the floor. He tried to get back up, an action Karen ceased by drawing her sword and placing it in front of his neck.

"The obvious answer to that is that you couldn't kill me." A click in the background announced that the pen had ceased its arc of flight. "That, and you would have had to pull your arm back to get enough force to pierce my windpipe. In that second, I would have killed you."

"H- hey, wait a minute here. You aren't seriously going to kill me, right?" The amount of worry shown in Lloyd's face told Karen enough. He was afraid of death. But for what?

"Why do you, of all people, fear death?" She asked him.

"Because it's the end! I can't die here, I still have to do... stuff..."

So we only get one life eh? Makes sense. If this game is about fighting each other it wouldn't be right for us to respawn. I guess they made tons of these things and all kinds of people got invited, or signed up. She gazed down at Lloyd. She guessed he had acted in spur of the moment. Her entrance was sudden, and anybody could have entered. He was fortunate a merciful one such as her had been on the receiving end. She replaced the sword on her back and offered her hand to Lloyd.

"I won't kill you if you can't defend yourself. But attack me all you want, if you feel it'll help. But for now, let's just get on with this game."

Lloyd looked at her hand, deciding on what to do, before slapping it away. He raised himself off of the floor.

"I can handle myself at the least," he replied in a snarky manner, "And my name is Lloyd Conrad, commit it to memory, I don't want to repeat myself to the likes of you."

"Just Karen," She replied curtly. He didn't seem to be interested in her name though, he was just stating his own name for his own benefits. He didn't seem like much of a fighter. She realised that this game might not even be about fighting. Conflict may arise in different forms than she was used to. Well, she wasn't a muscle head or battle maniac anyhow. She would hold her own from someone who's existence apparently was from literature. Yeah, that and she was the daughter of a warrior tribe. Pfft, some people and their make believe characters. Must be another role-player that gets way too much fun from living outside of their norm. She might as well play along with his type. It would only cause them both to become annoyed if they fought over it.

The largest door of the room slid open, causing them both to focus their attention on it. Karen moved first, strolling through it, and Lloyd adopted a position behind her. the corridor ahead consisted of platforms spaced apart from each other with large gaps in between. Jumping, or even flying, was the objective to pass.

"I hope you can jump." Karen said, bounding across the gap with ease. She paused to look back, and saw Lloyd staring down into the abyss. He seemed to contemplate something. Karen moved onto the landing ahead, allowing Lloyd to take his first running jump. He landed safely on the other side, marvelling in his success. They repeated this process until they reached the other side. Karen stood waiting for Lloyd, who was catching his breath.

"Don't.." He gasped between breaths, "you... get tired?"

"Eventually, sure. I'm just used to exerting myself a hell of a lot in this body. Ever take on an army? That's tiring. This is just like jogging for me."

He seemed to regain his breath. Karen noted a machine to the right. It had a large glass sphere on the top, one that was currently empty.

"Don't panic, but we may not be the first one's to use this path."

The door hissed open, revealing a corpse of some strange animal. It had been blown apart by some unknown force. The corpse still smoked. It was fresh. Lloyd turned away, muttering
"That's way too much detail... I'd prefer it if it was vague."

Karen ignored him and examined the room. There were small doors around the whole room. Another door similar to the one they had just opened was on the left. A larger door stood on the far wall. She looked up. There were several small machines mounted to the ceiling.

"Don't move. I'll try to smash these turrets." She sprang forward without giving him time to reply. The closest turret beeped and tracked her as she moved, and rapidly started shooting bullets. She dodged to the side, throwing fireballs as she did. The combined explosive power of them fried the turret, but the others soon began shooting too. Some of them had different guns too, making Karen have to run all out to dodge. She slid her sword out, and flexed as much muscle in her right arm as she could. She did a flying leap, throwing the sword with as much force as she could, causing it to spin like a boomerang towards the turrets. They tracked that too now, but were unable to stop it's path, crushing several and passing by. The sword crashed into the floor near the other entrance. There were fewer turrets now, but they reacquired Karen as their target.

"Damnit," She moaned, "I hate sci-fi."

Originally posted on MSPA by bobthepen.

---

Lillian scampered down the monotone hallway, her strawbrush sandals flapping on the ground with each step. She had been following a thin trail of the green goo that had remained with her after she had left the other splotches behind. It was a little thicker than the rest of the goo, with a texture much like gelatin. It did not taste at all like gelatin, however, a fact Lillian discovered after curiosity drove her to wipe up a bit with her index finger and taste it. She quickly spat it out.

"It tastes like wet soot! How awful! It's not right for something to look like something you know tastes good and then end up being wretched. It makes it much more disappointing than if you had expected it to taste bad all along."

The trail continued down the hallway and so did Lillian, all the time wondering what strange creature could leave behind such a substance. "Perhaps it's a snail, or a spider that hasn't quite figured out how to make a thread. Of course it would have to be a very large spider..." Lillian shuddered at the idea and decided not to think about what the creature could have been for some time, or at least not to think about spiders.

Of course, deciding not to think about something and not thinking about it are two very different things and often work towards quite opposite ends. So, it was not long before Lillian found herself tightly clutching the talisman to her chest and wishing that the hallway was not quite so narrow and worrying that her next step would give way and drop her right into a den of uncharacteristically large and hungry spiders. It did not help things when Lillian saw the trail of goo veer into a hole in the wall at the left, and realized that all the scratches and scorch marks around the hole meant that the creature that had made them must have been very formidable and at least half of her height.

It just so happened that the creature had bore its way through the wall just as the hallway took a sharp turn to the right, so that as Lillian peered into the dark makeshift corridor her back was turned to the portion of the hallway she had not yet gone down. It was then that Lillian heard the rapid thud of boots on steel and the Kindred Spirit frantically told her that something very agitated was quickly approaching from behind. Thus, Lillian was forced to make the difficult decision of fleeing into the unknown tunnel, or turning to face whoever or whatever had spotted her. As the thudding grew louder and the potential assailant rapidly closer, Lillian nearly made a dive for the lightless crevice but an odd thought entered her mind. It occurred to Lillian that fleeing into the tunnel without even facing her perpetrator was a very cowardly thing to do, and that, in situations such as this, bravery was a very important trait. So, with talisman tightly clenched, the young girl mustered a great deal of courage and turned to face the stranger.

What she saw was not a spider or a snail or any of the other monstrous things she had imagined, but what appeared to be a young woman. I say "appeared" because there were some key differences between her and the ladies you often see laughing about with their friends in malls and the like. The most obvious being that the woman before Lillian had broad feathery wings where her arms ought to have been. The feathers were dull and downy, and on the tip of each wing sat a small wire grip, one of which held a long, highly decorated ceremonial pole.

Show Content

SpoilerThere were many more strange and curious aspects of this woman who Lillian had never seen before, and I would love to detail them all to you, but I'm afraid I have run out of time and must leave the pair's interaction and subsequent adventure through the complex to MalkyTop while I travel for the weekend.

Originally posted on MSPA by WoodlandBeef.

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The Hunterbot proceeded down the corridor with utterly no hindrances other than maneuvering its form from point A to point B. Consequently, Charlie's scanners detected more of the biological stasis ooze along the hall. Whatever was in the stasis chambers had gotten out and was running about this path. The robot's protocol had been reformatted to not terminate any of the seven upon encountering them, but had not deviated from the potential threat of other life forms in this facility.

A chasm was the first so-called obstacle in the path. CH4-12-L13 observed it and tentatively pressed forwards. Across its many missions, an area like this was booby trapped more often than not; not that the Hunterbot couldn't handle such travesties. The Republic's defenses couldn't even keep it from marching all the way up to the Chancellor's office and prominently pin the man down to await his termination. The tenuous footing was awkward for the Hunterbot to cross the chasm as the pitfall seemed indefinite in how deep it extended.

Within time, the machine crossed the chasm and scanned the inactive machine beside the next pair of sliding steel doors. Its purpose was unknown and the machine was promptly inactive for a reason the Hunterbot was unable to process. There was a metallic clang as something took a stab at the armored hunter's body frame. Charlie rotated and snatched the tiny attacking creature by one leg in a massive pincer causing the organism to screech. A quick scan identified the creature as an unknown species and potentially hostile, considering it had tried to scratch Charlie's sleek frame. Charlie affirmed a termination protocol for the organism and raised its other pincer to the squirming thing. It screeched even more as the pincer opened to permit the flamethrower nozzle to char the creature until naught was left but ash.

The robot returned to the matter at hand and issued a radiating scan of the area, which informed Charlie that there was another life form beyond the doors although its life signs were unlike any the Hunterbot had encountered ever before. CH4-12-L13 activated its cloaking mechanism and seemingly vanished from sight with a watery visual effect. The steel doors opened revealing a hovering rosebush of some unknown quality that lacked information on any database Charlie could search. The creature seemed rather unfazed by the opening door and just hovered in place lazily, even as the Hunterbot approached and decloaked in front of Reudic with a flamethrower claw aimed right at it.

|This must be that ‘Charlie' Hunterbot. Looks to be some form of experimental breeding of arachnida or crustacean. Looks potentially difficult to crack the shell, but the nutrition would most likely sustain me for half a solar cycle| Reudic had completed digesting the small creature it previously ensnared. The plant being projected illusory images towards the new food source's mind, but was rather confused as to the lack of a ‘mind'. The creature did not move though and the Viridioflorian considered it safe to ensnare the prey with its snaking roots.

Charlie continued to run scans over the plant and stored the data into a new file for later reference on the Viridioflorian species. The Hunterbot's processor completed the scans and data storage, and shifted to observe the room. The three sets of doors were the only other things in the room aside from a few dried bloodstains and char marks. CH4-12-L13 processed that following the linear path would lead it to the ‘meeting place' where it could then successfully complete the tasks of termination and return to the main objective. The Hunterbot shifted its tripod legs, just before Reudic's roots could ensnare one of the limbs, and started for the next doorway. Charlie's optics studied the door and waited for the automated sensors to respond and open, but no such thing happened. Wordlessly, the robot jabbed the door with one pincer, but the action did not elicit any reaction. Charlie deduced that the room was in a kind of lockdown and did what it was programmed to do in the instance of such a protocol.

Blast the door to smithereens.

Reudic withdrew its root tendrils quickly as the prey-beast had slipped out of its grasp for the moment. The rosebush hovered lazily and observed its next meal speculatively, wondering what it had in mind. There was a loud humming noise that culminated in a crackling whoosh and bright light being emitted by the creatures tail at the cracked wall. A rush of heat and wind ruffled the Viridioflorian's petals accompanied by the sound of metal being wrenched, torn, and stripped as the prey-beast created a new opening in the wall with its pincers. Reudic remained indifferent to the happening as the prey-beast turned to regard the plant being and beckoned to it with one of those pincers before proceeding through the portal.

The Hunterbot processed the next obstacle which was a chasm like before, except the walkway was now segmented requiring those who sought to traverse it to jump. Charlie's audio receptors picked up on muffled sounds coming from beyond the far doorway. Switching to its thermal scanners, the Hunterbot identified two more humanoid life forms moving around rapidly as if under attack. They were undoubtedly two more of the objectives that had been placed in Charlie's databanks as targets to terminate by protocol once the target destination was reached. Carefully, the Hunterbot regarded the chasm before it and ascertained that its form was two bulky to attempt jumping from small platform to platform. Instead, the machine identified the elemental composition of the ceiling and walls as substantially magnetic; enough for Charlie to walk across without difficulty.

Activating the electromagnets in its feet, the Hunterbot scaled the wall and ceiling, inverted its body, and then proceeded across the chasm. Upon reaching the other side, the tail tip rotated to see if the Viridioflorian was following. Indeed the plant being had followed, although it seemed to simply levitate across the chasm by some form of biological hover propulsion. Charlie activated the optical camouflage mechanism and proceeded through the door, ignoring the small machine beside it.

The two humanoids identified as Lloyd Conrad and Karen were in the room attempting to survive an onslaught from several remaining automated defense turrets protruding from the ceiling and walls. Both sides had temporarily paused upon the door opening, but nothing was visible in the opening so they resumed their skirmish. The tripod scaled the walls of the room while storing data from the two humanoids as later reference. Neither the turrets, nor the humanoids seemed to have noticed the cloaked Hunterbot, or the fact anything else was in the room until one turret was crushed, torn from its socket, and flung into another. The explosion of smoke, flame, and shrapnel not caused by Karen drew another pause from the battling contestants and turrets whom collectively turned towards the area where the Hunterbot remained cloaked.

The characteristic humming filled their ears followed by Charlie's ceiling-hanging appearance and firing of three plasma bursts that disposed of the remaining turrets. Karen reacted instinctively and flung fireballs at her new threat as would any good game player if something like that showed up out of nowhere. The mechanized ‘menace' seemed to jump off the ceiling and invert itself appropriately on the floor before launching into the air and swatting Karen with one of the heavy pincers. Her sword was sent spiraling and embedded into the wall as the machine loomed over her, a compartment opening in its underbelly and a nasty looking needle extending to mere inches from her neck. The girl glared at the attacker angrily and grit her teeth.

“Whoa! Whoa! Let's not be hasty here! The Monitor said something about not killing each other right off the bat” Lloyd shouted while waving his hands in a ‘simmer down' gesture.

Charlie's optics regarded the aggressor beneath its central body segment carefully while processing Lloyd's words. He was indeed right that The Monitor had given a preferred directive. With that logic in its processor, the sedative needle snapped back up into the Hunterbot's body and it backed off from Karen's downed form. The machine took a standing by poise closer to Lloyd although Charlie kept its optics and targeting computer trained on Karen.

Show Content

SpoilerI know I didn't really do much, but I was trying to catch up for myself and gloomy. I apologize for the word wall of doing nothing but showing up D;

…and now I flee to The Grand Christmas Carol with sleigh bells a-ringing

Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.

---

Lillian, although feeling a little panicky at meeting a very very strange stranger, couldn't help but feel the childish urge to pet her fur. Or down. It looked like fur, she was going to call it fur. It looked so fuzzy and irresistible. The Kindred Spirit, recognizing this strange stranger from the Monitor's introductions, said nothing.

Lillian almost didn't catch what this bird-woman was saying, so caught up in daydreams of fluffy kitties and little goslings that everything that had come out of her mouth seemed very echo-y and distant. But the woman had repeated her question several times, enough for the girl to get the idea that she was asking, 'Are you okay?'. Since this bird woman was polite enough not to eviscerate her or anything, Lillian decided to answer.

"Um, I'm okay," the little girl responded a tad shyly. The woman looked relieved and smiled, so she smiled as well. She seemed to be a very nice lady and also Lillian still really wanted to pet her fur so maybe she was nice enough to let her? But she still was a stranger and she should really be wary around those.

As if knowing what Lillian was thinking, the woman crouched down to eye-level and said, "You are a very brave girl. I don't think I know many children as brave as you are. My name is Sarika."

Lillian, easily flattered, warmed up to this very very nice Sarika immediately even though she hadn't felt brave a few minutes ago and Sarika was wearing goggles so she couldn't see her eyes. "I'm Lillian!" she chirruped cheerfully. With another exchange of kind smiles, Sarika stood up once more and started walking.

"Come, we should meet up with the others." Lillian rushed up beside her and craned her neck up to see at least part of her new friend's face.

"You have friends?" She asked, more dreams of soft fluffy birds rising up in the back of her mind.

Sarika seemed hesitant to answer but still said, "Maybe."

This didn't disturb Lillian much. She knew she was friends with lots of people but there were also mean boys who were mean and tough and tended to hit things and be dumb. Obviously, the same thing must apply to bird-people. In fact, an old story called 'The Ugly Duckling' came to mind...though Sarika wasn't ugly. She looked strange and dressed oddly, but she wasn't ugly.

"Are they people like you?"

"No," Sarika replied without hesitation. "Actually...there will be some monsters around. So be sure to be careful."

Lillian wasn't worried because she was a brave girl like Sarika said. Still, she slowed down a little so that the odd-looking definitely stronger bird-woman was in front.

They walked down the bleak and dirty hallway in quite a bit of silence. Sarika's comforting back in front and hopefully nothing much behind. Finally, Lillian shyly asked, "Can...can I pet your wing...?"

------------------------------------------

Lillian was a good girl, Sarika decided, and it just made her all the more determined to protect her. N-not that it would be any different if she were a brat! It was just nice that she didn't try her patience or was rough with feeling her feathers. She was also incredibly cute and it was a little hard not to gush over her like an overbearing aunt. Still, she managed to keep her composure as she entered the room for the second time.

Lillian looked around the room with childlike curiosity but found not much to be curious in. The only thing of interest was the narrow ledge that led to a door.

"Do...do we have to go there?" she asked a tad nervously. Sarika hesitated as they both looked down into the pit. It looked quite bottomless.

Sarika judged the gap. It would be a bit easy for her to jump across it. She would at least go most of the way. But she couldn't leave Lillian behind. She couldn't exactly carry her too, as a long jump also meant weak bones. So it seemed there was no choice but to go the slow way.

"Just stay close to me and hold my hand," she replied, trying to continue to sound kind and sure. Lillian grabbed onto the metal hand as they stepped onto the ledge gingerly and promptly decided that she would rather grab the nice and soft wing instead. Sarika looked straight ahead, apparently confident that she would not waver. Lillian tried to be as brave as her, but couldn't help but risk looking down. She couldn't help but note the sheer bottomlessness of the pit and how this ledge looked as though several things had scrabbled on it and possibly fell and how sometimes the ledge had worn off a little and looked quite old and oh gosh there goes a piece. The girl reflexively tightened her grip but loosened it when she heard a hiss of pain in front of her and all this tightening and fear and loosening and heights was kind of making her dizzy and at least she had both Sarika and her Kindred Spirit to try to sooth her but she could see herself slipping and never coming back and

"There, we're across," Sarika said as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah," Lillian said shakily and they entered the next hallway.

Originally posted on MSPA by gloomyMoron.

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Reudic silently watched as the strange 'creature' known as 'Charlie' seemingly disappeared from sight, or at least so the machine had thought. The optical camouflage Charlie employed worked by not only bending light, but by utilizing dozens of sophisticated micro-cameras to capture its surroundings. These images were then relayed to the adaptive and reflective 'smart-metals' upon its outer chassis and simulated in real time. When still, the bot was nearly completely invisible. When in motion, there tended to be a slight, barely noticeable 'ripple-upon-the-lake' effect. Though not perfect, the technology was quite advanced and very effective. Reudic knew nothing of this, and would only be able to understand parts of it should it care enough to ask. It did not. All the plant-being knew was that its 'visual image' of Charlie that his numerous leaves had 'seen' had disappeared, though that was all that changed.

The unique biology that the viridioflorans had evolved in the lush jungles that were their home were many and diverse, and it was thanks to such an adaptation that Reudic still knew the whereabouts of the mechanical assassin. In viridiofloran anatomy, there existed a highly specialized membrane and pressurized fluid-sac system. This system was used to notice slight changes in air pressure that could indicate any number of things such as an incoming storm or the approaching of a nearby prey-beast. It also allowed the plant to have exceptional hearing. In this respect, it would not be wrong to compare the system used by viridiofloran biology to that of a human's ear, specifically a human's inner ear: only be a gross underestimation of its efficiency. So delicate and fine-tuned was this system that if there was so much as a slight breeze or Charlie stayed in motion, Reudic would be able 'see' the unwieldy bot as clearly as if it was a rampaging gorhinorex, a territorial predator from Reudic's homeworld that could grow to be, at its smallest, about the size a small tank or about the size of a Boeing 717 at its largest. Both objects Reudic knew nothing of and couldn't be bothered to care about.

Reudic floated along and followed, at a distance, the wake and drag-flows the metallic prey-beast left as it entered the next room. Here, Reudic saw two bipedal figures fighting seed-shooting branches? At least that's what the plant assumed they were fighting. It couldn't really be any less interested in the fighting, so long as its own life wasn't in danger, even then Reudic wouldn't particularly care. It'd do what it always did when in the wild, survive or die. No more, no less.

It watched as Charlie and Karen managed to destroy the defenses. Some of its vine tendrils crept along the ground, not to hunt for prey as it was finally beginning to feel its nectar sac pump nutrient-rich sap through its vacuoles, but to feel for extra vibrations along the ground. |Strange. Constant noise. Small things scurry nearby. In the distance, medium-sized prey-beasts stir. Two pair of two. Separate from each other, but close.| Reudic listened carefully to the ground and to the air, something that was as natural to it as releasing oxygen in exchange for carbon dioxide.

Reudic was the first to notice that the newly formed group of four had visitors, not just because it was listening, but also because one of its vines had been bitten. Another tendril had whipped out in a flash of dark green; the rough, sharp point piercing the offending creature through its neck, killing it neigh instantaneously. "Kah-wren. Loy-did Kahn-rad. Char-lee. Kree-tch-ores," Reudic's mouth-fruit had said in a disinterested tone, trying to mimic words it had heard previously.

Losing what little interest Reudic already had in conversation, it went back to dealing with would be attackers. Whip. Snap. Crack. Another creature down.

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SpoilerThis is much shorter than planned because I have to watch/cook for my grandmother in the morning. Which means bed earlier than normal to wake up at an ungodly hour (9 AM >.>). Please note that Reudic and Charlie are both unable to speak. Charlie, by design, and Reudic because it hasn't grasped the English yet. It could possibly repeat any words it hears and learn from being spoken to or being around conversations, but it generally is disinterested in such things. I imagine it'd learn anyway, because it has no reason not to. It just won't particularly care if it is using the language right or wrong. If anyone wants or needs me to describe more of Reudic's biology feel free to ask. I can reasonably work out how most things work, even it's floating if need be, though tackling that is something I'd rather not have to do. I know how it works in my head, but explaining it in a way that actually makes sense is... [img]images/smilies/mspa_face.gif[/img]

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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Dekowin eyed Marcus for a second, before regaining her composure, and letting out a simple. "Yeah whatever. It's not like I did anything to help you. Little bastard just got in my way."
In truth, Marcus didn't look the slightest bit threatening to her. His bulky body didn't seem like it would be that fast, and his rifle didn't look like anything more than an ornate club to Dekowin. She briefly considered that it could be enchanted, but Marcus really didn't look like a mage to her. "Well anyway, it sounded like that asshole wanted us to kill each other, so that's exactly what I'm not gonna do."
She had appeared to have calmed down quite a bit, and Marcus briefly entertained the thought that killing something had been all she needed. The thought vanished quickly however, as a small white, snakelike creature leaped at her through the shadows. Before Marcus could even react, Dekowin had grabbed it out of the air, and slammed it against the wall. As it sat pinned up writhing, she moved in and...

Bit its head clean off. As she spat it back out onto the floor, and the creature started to melt into a yellow slime, she turned back towards Marcus.

"I'd prefer that nothing get in my way though" she said with almost a sadistic smirk.


The door at the opposite end of the room reacted to the death of both experiments, and opened itself up. Dekowin walked right through, totally casual.

Originally posted on MSPA by Pinary.

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Lloyd wasn't a coward, but he wasn't a fool, either. Ceiling-mounted gun turrets weren't exactly the sort of thing he could deal with. Give him a subtle and intricate set of interconnected plot points, and he could wreak havoc, but against as simple a foe as bullets, he wasn't very capable.

So he hung back in the hall while Karen dealt with them. He didn't have long to wait, and soon the turrets were silenced in crunches of metal. He waited a moment, then took two steps into the room, only to be greeted by a sword lodging itself in the wall a few feet to his left. The robot was nearly on top of Karen, ready to stab her in the neck with what was presumably a poison of some kind.

He moved forward, waving his hands in a placating gesture. “Whoa! Whoa! Let's not be hasty here! The Monitor said something about not killing each other right off the bat!" After a second's contemplation, the robot retracted the needle and moved back.

Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief. Now, maybe, they could move on and figure out a way to screw with the Monitor.

Before he could say anything, though, the floating ball of plant spoke, causing Lloyd to jump a bit. He hadn't noticed it come in, and even if he had, the fact that it was capable of speech would have been startling alone.

The way it speared the first of the creatures in the neck was a bit disconcerting as well. From the books he'd been in, Lloyd had always seen death as a dramatic, soul-crushing moment of loss and regret. He hadn't expected it to be so... uneventful. It had just been stabbed, twitched, then died. There was no subtle feeling of remorse as the thing's soul faded from existence, no moment where time seemed to slow as it breathed its last, shuddering breath. It just... died. One moment, it was moving, and the next, it wasn't.

He probably would've preferred it if it had been a bit more dramatic. As it was, it just served to make the "real world" seem that much more cold and bleak. Was that all he'd get, he wondered? Just a split second to realize his end, then nothingness?

He mentally shook himself, coming back to the present. He could wax existential later; now, there were creatures attacking them, and if he didn't want to experience a similarly underwhelming end, he'd need to be more attentive.

Originally posted on MSPA by GreyGabe.

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[background=#000000:2jbsry4b]Marcus spared a short glance at the dead creature – or rather, what was left of it – as Dekowin sauntered past. How appetizing. Marcus shook his head and turned around. He gave the girl a short head start before continuing on into the next room himself. He examined the hallway and sighed. What kind of building planner says to himself, “Okay! Let's just put a happy little bottomless pit, right… here! And then we can have a small, precarious walkway traversing it with no other way to access the rest of the facility!” And this time it wasn't even really a walkway, but more of a jumpway, with large gaps between platforms. As he entered, Dekowin was traversing the obstacle easily with a combination of relaxed, easy jumps and fluttering wings. Marcus watched her silently for a few moments. He could take her, right here. Hit her from behind with a cheap shot, tear up her wings and knock her into the pit. Maybe. Then again, I don't know how strong that armor is. And I'd really rather not piss her off until I've seen what else she can do…
Marcus waited until she had moved out of sight, and began making his way across. It was… more difficult for him. Even with enhanced muscles, carrying all of the armor, equipment, and weaponry Marcus was currently in possession of didn't exactly lend itself to the long-distance hurdle. All-in-all he felt more like a pack-mule than a race-horse. Still, with much muttering of curses and gnashing of teeth, Marcus eventually made his way across. Marcus looked back, allowed himself a moment of smugness at the fact that he had crossed without much difficulty, and continued slowly through the door to stand near (but not too near) Dekowin.

It was… An empty room! Larger than the last, and round like the last, with the same dull metal walls and plain concrete floor. Once again, there were three doors, two smaller and one on the opposite side that was larger. There was nothing moving in here, nothing on the walls, nothing hanging from the ceiling, and no dark corners for anything to hide in.
Dekowin looked around the room, and came to the same conclusion Marcus had.[/background:2jbsry4b]“Ah, good. No obstacles.” [background=#000000:2jbsry4b]
She began walking towards the larger door, still alert, but obviously more relaxed. Marcus shrugged and was about to follow when he noticed the seam. A paper thin, circular seam in the very middle of the chamber. As Dekowin stepped over it, Marcus heard a very quiet click and the sound of motors starting up.
“WATCH OUT!” Marcus yelled, eloquently displaying his mastery of Galactic Common. Dekowin looked over her shoulder at him, alarmed, and started to move as the circular section of the floor jerked once, and then rose sharply. She landed on her feet, on the opposite side of the contraption as Marcus.

Which meant it was aiming directly away from her.

And directly at Marcus.

It was a large, metallic cylinder, about three feet in diameter and twice that in height. A single green, glowing light was set in the side facing Marcus. Everything went still and quiet for a moment. And then small panels began opening around the cylinder. Coming out of the small, rectangular openings were a number of arms, each one tipped with something highly unpleasant. A circular saw on one arm, what looked to be a flamethrower on another, electric prods, scalpel-sharp blades, drills, and some tools that Marcus couldn't even recognize. Slowly, they started in towards Marcus.
He ran, firing at the cylinder. Every shot ricocheted off of it, barely scratching the thing. The arms continued reaching for him, before suddenly stopping. There was a sound of twisting, ripping metal. Marcus looked over to see Dekowin tearing one of the arms out with visible effort. Marcus was suitably impressed.[/background:2jbsry4b]
“Door won't open!” Dekowin shouted, by way of explanation.
[background=#000000:2jbsry4b]Marcus nodded, and quickly decided on his next target. He shot at the flamethrower arm, smashing its business end to bits. As it was destroyed, it quickly retracted back into its compartment. As soon as it was hidden, another panel opened and an arm with a large, three-fingered claw slid out. Arms began moving through the air at both Dekowin and Marcus, this time, obviously prepared to inflict all sorts of unpleasant, inconvenient injuries. Like decapitation, for instance. Or disembowelment.

“Well. This is gonna be interesting.”
[/background:2jbsry4b]

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SpoilerI guess I'm just kind of assuming Dekowin has super strength, so correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.

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The hallway was long and uninteresting. Mostly because there were no strangely evolved monsters to jump out at them, so it was probably a good thing, but not even the eerie atmosphere could jolt the boredom out of this hall. Yes, the scratch marks and scorch marks and whatever-marks were creepy before, but now they were just boring. Yawn. No, Mega-Yawn. That's how boring they were. Lillian might have been a little scared if there were some strange noises, but nope. The hall seemed abandoned completely of any sort of scampering or creepy-crawling critters.

All the same, the girl felt much better sticking close to Sarika.

At the door at the end of the hallway, Sarika stopped suddenly. Lillian looked up curiously, seeing nothing really wrong. Did she see something that she didn't notice? Lillian had always heard about animals being able to sense some things better than people. Did Sarika have those same senses? She wasn't sure if she should ask. Instead, she settled for a simple, "What's wrong?"

Usually, Sarika would have just walked through the door. She was just the confident type: sure that whatever was coming at her, she could figure out how to take it. But this time she wasn't alone. Lillian was with her. And she was feeling a little nervous about being reckless.

Peering into the future, she was glad she had paused. She watched her future-self go through the door and through the opening, watched as some strange robot rose up from the floor, wielding many weapons of which a young girl like Lillian shouldn't be around. And then she couldn't watch much else as the door closed again.

Back to the present. Lillian was tugging on her arm looking a little worried. "We're going to stay here for a while," she announced, thus changing the future slightly.

As Sarika leaned against a wall to wait, she couldn't help but notice that Lillian didn't seem to happy with that idea. Maybe because she wanted something to do and waiting for no apparent reason meant, well, doing nothing. "Why?"

"Don't worry, we probably won't be waiting long," Sarika replied. Lillian couldn't help noticing how she avoided the question. Man, adults were always like that! Always not answering questions! Lillian pouted a little and paced a bit to pass the time.

"Can you tell me now?"

"You'll see," Sarika replied distractedly. Lillian pouted some more.

And then sounds of violence and tearing metal and swinging blades erupted from the other side.

Lillian recoiled from the noise but Sarika jumped up and started towards the door. There was a pause as the door seemed to hesitate before opening and another pause as she actually saw the robotic monstrosity. Waving arms and weapons everywhere. More appendages than was comfortable. Moving with uncomfortable speed.

Despite having chased many a crook during her time at home, they were all human. They certainly didn't look like a metal octopus and often held no more than a gun. And their arms usually didn't whirl around with enough speed to chop her spine in half.

As she thought, there were two more contestants trying to fight off the thing. "Stay here," she barked over to Lillian before rushing in. She had absolutely no idea what she would be able to do. But she'd have to help, right?

Dodge a saw, bat away a cattle prod...yup, it looked like she was useless. She couldn't even break an arm with her staff. When a blade came right at her, she sidestepped and attempted to direct it over to another arm. A chainsaw arm was thus rendered useless, but then she was picked up and held danging above the ground. When several other arms went to attack her prone figure, she tried letting go and landed right on top of the robot.

Marcus had shot at the three arms that had encircled Sarika and even the blade-arm that tried to hold her up high, so the bird-woman actually hadn't been in too much trouble. He immediately noticed that the newcomer was in the perfect position to directly attack the robot and thus stop it and shouted towards her, "Smash it!" before continuing to attempt to cover her.

Sarika had heard the advice and honesty had no idea what she was supposed to smash the robot with. As the other two tore off or blasted any arms that came worryingly close, she attempted to smack it with her staff. As she thought, metal was a bit resistant to being smacked by wood. There wasn't even much of a dent. She struggled to think of something else and was actually contemplating using her necklace when someone called, "Watch out!" and she looked up to see some other sort of arm coming at her, apparenty having gotten past Marcus and Dekowin. Quickly, she leapt out of the way in time and the overly-armed robot clubbed itself instead. It made a much bigger dent than Sarika's staff did.

When Sarika landed again, the robot shuddered, sparking a little, before what seemed like hundreds of arms came out of hundreds of panels, all jittery and twitchy. All those arms grouped so close together would have looked a little funny if they weren't completely dangerous. It was a marvel that they hadn't even tangled up yet.

Originally posted on MSPA by bobthepen.

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While Sarika and the others fought against the mechanized sentry, Lillian, waiting behind the hallway's sliding door, faced a battle of her own. It was not a physical battle, but rather one of choices. It was the type of choice that needed to be made when one is not entirely sure what is the right thing to do. Lillian heard the sounds of battle, the grinding, clanking, breaking, blasting and although she did not fully realize what was beyond the door (nor had she realized yet that she was partaking in a fight to the death), she knew very well through her own intuition and the guidance of the Kindred Spirit that something very dangerous was making those noises. This meant, she realized, that the caring winged woman was in the midst of that danger and that danger would threaten Lillian as well, should she choose to go through the door.

"She said to stay here," Lillian said to the Kindred Spirit, "and it's very important to do what a good adult tells you, especially in a situation like this."

The Kindred Spirit agreed.

"Oh but what if she gets hurt? or needs help? You should never leave a friend in trouble."

The Spirit said nothing.

At this a thunderous slam rumbled against the door frame, shaking the corridor. Instinctively, Lillian buried her head in her arms and brought her knees close to her curled body.

"I can't possibly. I'll stay right here. I'll..." An image appeared in Lillian's mind, interrupting her frightened speech. She recalled Sarika. Moments before running out of the corridor into the room beyond, the bird woman had stood, tense, pensive. It was a posture that belied the silky softness of her downy feathers. At the time, Lillian had thought it meant she was nervous or afraid, but reflecting on the image now, recalling her stern appearance and focused gaze, Lillian discovered it had not been a look of fear, but one of determination.

It was with this thought in mind that the scrawny young girl stood up, legs quivering, talisman clenched tightly in hand. Despite the protests of the Kindred Spirit, Lillian had made her choice. Sarika was her friend and if her friend was in danger she needed to be brave. With a stubborn resolution she stepped through the imposing door and into the sentinel's lair.

-------

In olden times, before cars or bikes or electricity, when witches and wizards lurked in the woods and magic was much more common than it is today, there was a creature known as the Rat King. It was a grotesque creature that formed when large beastly rats swarmed together, wallowing in the filth and mud and darkness they knew as their home. Their tails and fur would intertwine, creating a crawling orb of gnawing teeth and skritching claws. It was chaotic, nasty, deadly, and not entirely unlike the writhing mass of metal hands Lillian saw as she entered the dome-shaped room.

The hands, some swinging their weapons, most just grasping at whatever they could reach, had become so twisted and tangled that they moved about like the head of a metal Medusa. They scraped and sparked and screeched against one another, jerking and lurching, working to free themselves and attack all around them and becoming more and more entwined in the process.

Lillian frantically looked for Sarika. There was a large, dark-skinned man in the middle of the fray, one arm gripped firmly around a squirming metal wrist, the other launching a mass of shrapnel into the heart of the King of Hands. A furious woman with callous skin and six fibrous wings tore into some stragglers from the mass. There was chaos and fighting but aside from those strangers Lillian saw no one. Sarika was missing.

Then, in an instant, a glint of light directed the child's gaze upwards. Silhouetted against the light of the dome was the outstretched form of her winged guardian. Like the hawk of her people, Sarika, staff in hand, dove at her prey with unyielding focus. Skill and momentum on her side, the hawk woman struck the exposed wires and paneling. Then, as quickly as she descended, her nimble frame sprung off the metal foe and into the air once more. This she repeated, landing strike after strike, blow after blow. No single hit landing a killing mark, but her staff was sturdy and her foe confused, and every strike fueled by her determination to protect. Bit by bit she tore into the mass, victory edging ever closer.

And then Lillian screamed.

---

While the battle raged, the Kindred Spirit remained pensive yet vigilant. It checked the room, searching for any threat to its young charge. The dangers were plenty, but they kept their distance, occupied with other foes. The King of Hands held massive size and power, but it was cold and soulless. It carried no anger or malice and sought simply to carry out its instructions. The one known as Marcus White, a mix of man and machine, despite his fearsome appearance seemed calm and collected. The Volkhanbet's temperament , (was that what that "Monitor" being had said?), matched her external appearance perfectly, furious, self-focused, destructive. As for Sarika, the Kindred Spirit had already accepted her help begrudgingly. Her intentions were noble, almost motherly, and she had a genuine like for Lillian. She was, as Lillian had decided, a friend.

A stray piece of shrapnel launched toward Lillian, but the Spirit deflected it. The talisman that housed the Kindred Spirit allowed the guardian force's will to interact with the physical world. As long as the Kindred Spirit desired it, and the assault was weak enough, it could easily protect Lillian from harm. As long as its charge stayed away from the center of the fight, all should be fine.

Then the Spirit sensed it. It was faint at first, like a speck in the distance, but it approached with startling speed, and as it drew nearer its intensity grew. It was an aura of hate, rage. Not at any one particular thing, but at all of existence. The Kindred Spirit sensed a frustration and disillusionment, brought about by years of mistreatment and torture, unwarranted pain that had collected and congealed into a seething malice. The Spirit took only moments to figure out its source. It was a creature, it was massive, and it was under them.

Quickly, the Spirit warned Lillian as best it could. Something huge. Underneath. Very, very dangerous.

Lillian, heeding her Kindred Spirits warning and noting the urgency and seriousness of its message, cried out to the others.

"Everyone! There's something coming!"

The sound of the young girl's cry diverted Sarika's attention just as she landed another blow. In that moment a lunging hand clasped her from behind, pinning the prophet's wing to her side. In the same moment, the room shook. Dekowin jumped towards the outer wall, but Marcus, grappling arm to arm with the groping monstrosity, stayed his ground. The walls of the dome trembled, and the floor, battered by masses of mechanical hands and countless strikes, began to give way.

The Spirit remained tense, the light in the talisman glowing an azure blue. It felt the monstrosity pass directly beneath Lillian's feet, propelling itself from one end of the room, through the center, and out the other. In truth, it passed quicker than it came, taking no notice of the warriors above, but the damage had been done.

The scorched, beaten, and abused flooring, ripped from underneath of all its supports, and weighed down by the King of Hands and his captives, cracked, lurched downward, and then collapsed. Lillian watched in terror as the cyborg and the struggling Sarika fell down into the darkness below.

Moments passed in silence.

"Sarika!" Lillian cried out. She ran to the edge of the pit and stared into the blackness. There was a green sheen covering the edge, and the air smelled heavy of soot. Lillian clasped her hands over her mouth and waited, hoping that her winged guardian would appear, leaping from the seemingly infinite chasm, a comforting smile on her face. But she did not appear.

No one is there. The Kindred Spirit shared with Lillian.

"Hahaha! Sucks for them!" Lillian jerked about to face Dekowin, a smug, victorious look spread across her face.

"Looks like this fight will be over sooner than that Monitor thought!" The warrior continued.

"How can you say that?", Lillian yelled, her anger overruling any curiosity about this new stranger or the meaning of her words. "We have to help them!"

"Help them?" Dekowin sneered. "Who do you think you are giving me a command like that?"

"It's not a command! It's the right thing to do!" Lillian stammered red-faced and fists clenched.

The Volkhanbet ignored Lillian's words, instead studying her with a contemptuous gaze.

"Oh right. You're the girl. To think that someone would have the gall to enter something like you into a contest with me. It's insulting." Dekowin spat. "I should push you into that hole right now, get three out of the way in one go."

The chitinous warrior approached Lillian, but the Kindred Spirit struck out, puncturing Dekowin's armor at the wrist when she came too close. The indignant princess quickly pulled back, rubbing her wound.

"Hmph. So you have magic protecting you. How quaint." She turned towards the door, and began to walk away. "I'm going on ahead. If you want to go die trying to save those others, be my guest."

Lillian froze. She had not thought that saving her friend meant going into that darkened soot-filled hole. Her Kindred Spirit could probably protect her from the fall, but...Images of monstrous spiders and other creatures returned to her, and she was reminded of the very real danger of the King of Hands and the creature that had passed not too long ago.

Again, she was faced with a battle of choices. It was the kind of choice that needed to be made when one is certain of what is the right thing to do, but does not want to do it. Lillian heard the voice that had assured her, Be brave. Keep your friends close, but the terrors of the unknown were great. What could she possibly do? She asked the Spirit, but the Spirit said nothing. Had Sarika really...?

Lillian heard the exit open as Dekowin walked through. The possibility of being left alone forced her decision, and fear won over courage. Lillian glanced back at the pit for a final time, and then ran after the warrior princess.

Originally posted on MSPA by Nopad.

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Damn did I really just miss my chance at this?

Originally posted on MSPA by Draykon.

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If it hadn't been obvious that this laboratory had been an obstacle course before, it was definite with the hallway Dekowin had entered, and Lillian had followed. In fact, to call it a hallway would be an insult to corridors. Rather, this structure bore more resemblance to a large steel wall, that happened to have a couple platforms and two doors on the top inside of it.

Dekowin had already begun to fly across, but when she sensed the door open behind her again, she landed on the platform nearest the one the door led to.

Lillian came out into hallway, and looked down. It seemed that either way she went, she had to deal with one of these bottomless pits. This one looked just as deep as the last one, or rather, both were deep enough that she couldn't see the bottom. Really she didn't know which one was deeper but they were both obviously way too deep! As she gazed into the darkness below, she was almost certain she could see something moving.

After a couple minutes of staring, Dekowin began laughing.
"You really gonna let your fear control you like that kid? I get that you're so amazingly afraid of everything down there, but all that fear's only in your little head."

Lillian was taken aback at this one. Earlier Sarika had been praising her bravery, and now here this bug girl was saying the exact opposite!

"Fear's everywhere kid, and it doesn't go away. But still, you're sitting there and letting something that's only in your head control what you do. Don't you think that's a little pathetic?"

That was it. Lillian was a brave girl, and she knew it. She wasn't gonna let something like a big hole scare her, that was for sure! The Kindred Spirit shouted protests, but by the time Lillian acknowledged them, it was too late, and she was leaping over the gap.

She was only a fourth of the way over the gap, and already she could feel herself losing altitude. There was no way she was going to make it across. She looked down into the darkness below, and this time she was sure she saw something down there. Something with lots of arms and eyes and oh god so many teeth!

She shut her eyes, as the Talisman began to glow blue... and then stopped. It didn't have a reason to continue, because a chitinous hand had grabbed onto Lillian's wrist, and Dekowin now hovered above, holding Lillian over the pit.

Slowly but surely, she carried her across the corridor, and they touched down on the platform holding the door forward. Just before Dekowin let go however, she extended her claws, and cut slightly through Lillian's wrist. A small cut, that would definitely heal, but it HURT.

Lillian gripped it, and the Kindred Spirit moved to react, but Dekowin let go too quickly, and stood a safe distance away.

Then Dekowin spoke, with a fierce expression, and a scolding tone.
"I didn't save you just now. You fell down that pit, and got eaten by a horrible monster."

Lillian wore a meek expression, as she gripped her wrist.

"What I did, was reduce the amount of you that died. Before, it would've been all of you gone, and you wouldn't be able to learn anything. I made it so that it was just a little scratch on your hand. Compared to the experience you gained from the stupid act of jumping a long distance over a pit-of-obvious-death, you're definitely more now than you were before. You're welcome."

Dekowin didn't allow a response, and instead walked straight through the self-opening door.

The Kindred Spirit definitely didn't like her.

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SpoilerI had to type this post twice because the new forums are INCREDIBLY STABLE. So sorry if it's not that great now that I'm so frustrated.

Originally posted on MSPA by MalkyTop.

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Marcus groaned. It seemed as there was nothing more sensible to do, seeing as he had just dropped God-knows-how-far down into a dark pit that was strangely gooey and sticky. He was feeling an extraordinary amount of pain which he supposed usually came with falling down great lengths into the great unknown. Also, there was a death-robot crushing his ribs.

The robot seemed to be worse off than he was, having basically fallen apart as soon as it hit the ground. Looking at it, Marcus was quite surprised that he wasn't dead right now. Exposed wires sparked threateningly but were too far away to be any danger. They illuminated the walls slightly allowing him to at least see in this near-complete darkness. The armored man could see that the walls, though almost completely covered in green goop, were definitely made of metal. It seemed whatever had bored its way under the facility had slathered everything with something that smoothed down the metal as it went so that there were no jagged pieces jutting out. He stared up, quite an easy feat since he was pinned down on his back, and found that although he could definitely see the hole they fell through, it certainly was quite high up, too high to even attempt to climb to. Besides, the walls were smooth. Beneath him, the ground still shook, presumably because of the giant creature burrowing its way around.

With a little effort, he shoved the hefty arms off his ribcage and wriggled his legs from underneath the useless sparking hunk of metal. Though his toughened skin let him escape without a scrape, he still gained a limp. It was probably not a good idea to walk around with a limp but, well, Marcus didn't exactly want to stick around in a tunnel made by what seemed to be a giant, green-goo-spewing, metal-devouring worm. As he stood apprehensively, wondering which way to go, he heard a weak 'help' come from nearby. Further investigation revealed the bird girl who had suddenly jumped in to help them.

The (he didn't exactly want to say 'primitively') strangely-clad woman was only pinned down by one arm, but another still held her feathery wing in a tight grip. Her headdress had fallen beside her, showing off her soft, short hair, but her goggles had managed to continue to tenaciously cover her eyes. She was definitely bleeding slightly, though the lighting wasn't quite stable enough for him to judge where, and although she was trying hard not to grimace, possibly out of pride, Marcus could tell that she was in great pain.

It was quite easy for him to pull the metal claw so that it released its death grip. As soon as Sarika moved her arm out of the way, Marcus let go and it snapped shut again with a loud clank. "You okay?" he grunted as the woman rubbed her wounded arm tenderly and stuffed her headdress back on top of her hair.

"Yes," she snapped back as she attempted to stand up. She failed miserably and reluctantly amended her previous statement; "No. I, er, my arm's broken. And possibly a leg. And...maybe a rib," she muttered darkly as though resenting herself for breaking her bones. "Um. Can you...carry me...?"

It wasn't exactly polite to just kill someone who just helped you out fighting a killer robot moments before, so Marcus just shrugged and picked her up bridal style. This seemed to make her flustered. "Um, maybe not like this..."

"D'ya want me to sling you over my shoulder?"

"No."

"No other way to carry you then. In any case, I don't see how we're going anywhere. It looks pitch dark either way." Seeing that she was going to be nestled in the man's arms for possibly quite a while, Sarika shifted a little and rested her broken arm on her chest. Marcus couldn't help but notice how light she was. She probably would have felt very soft if it weren't for all the slime covering her.

"Weren't there others up there?" she asked. "There was Lillian. And I saw someone else."

"If they were going to help, they'd have come down by now, don't you think? Besides," Marcus added, a hint of bitterness sneaking into his tone. "I don't think that Dekowin girl would even bother trying."

There was only a short pause before Sarika said, still sounding determined, "Then let's go. Let's see if we can find another way out through these tunnels." She lifted her staff to slightly touch the walls, presumably to feel if the tunnel suddenly turned or forked or something, Marcus guessed.

"Pitch black, remember?"

"Hey, future vision. Let's go forward. I think that's the way we would have gone in the first place if we were still up there."

Marcus tried not to roll his eyes and instead patiently said, "I don't think future vision works well if you can't see what's going on."

"I can manage," she replied, sounding as stubborn as before.

"How far can you see in the future anyways?"

There was a worryingly vague "Depends."

Marcus gave a skeptical grunt.

"The gods tend to know what I need to see and I trust them fully to tell me," Sarika retorted, sounding as firm as before but also rather defensive. "They do what's best!"

"So the best thing for you was to fall down this hole and break various bones?" It probably wasn't a good thing to do to start talking such a touchy subject as religion, but Marcus couldn't help himself. Sarika huffed.

"I never said they completely controlled everything. I don't believe in predetermination." Marcus wasn't quite sure if it was paradoxical for someone with future sight to not believe in predetermination and so didn't say anything. "In any case, even though I fell, they sent you with me, or at least let you fall as well instead of the other woman. Now do you think she's as likely to help me as you are?"

"No," Marcus said without pause. "She'd probably leave you behind. Maybe even just kill you for being useless."

"See?" Sarika said smugly. "Hora watches closely over her followers. The deities dutifully try to pull strings to make everything turn out as best as it can. Now let's go."

It was still hard for the bulky man to bring himself to walk away from the only source of light (even if it was very irregular). "...How will we know if you're seeing too far in the future?"

There was a slight pause and quite suddenly, Sarika ordered, "Raise your right arm." A little confused, Marcus did so, letting Sarika's legs swing low and almost dropping her in the process. "I'm now seeing maybe a few seconds ahead, twenty maybe. I'll let you know if anything important happens. Yes, I know it is, but I still can hear, can't I?"

"But it's still dark--" Marcus paused, feeling slightly odd, as though he was experiencing deja-vu but not quite. Deja-faux?

"I'm sure we'll scream quite clearly if something goes horribly wrong," Sarika continued as though this was the most normal thing in the world to say. "Let's go already."

"Right," Marcus muttered, still a bit worried as he started into the darkness, wondering if there would be one of those moments where he would try stepping somewhere and the floor would be lower than expected and he would have a mini-heart attack. He hated those.

It was very silent except for the squelching under his boots.

"Hora is the 'top god' in my religion," said Sarika.

"Who's Hora?" Marcus asked before he could bite it back.

"I suppose if anything, she's the goddess of justice. She's stern but fair and open-minded. Karura and Garuda are the main ones that try to manipulate the world by her decrees. Reward and retribution and punishment and so on. Chaos, on the other side, tries to manipulate the world to its destruction and--Well, you're the one that asked in the first place."

"I didn't want a whole theology lecture," Marcus snapped. It seemed to him sharp retorts lost their edge when the one to whom you are retorting already knew what you were going to say ahead of time.

"I can wait for a bit before answering," Sarika said helpfully.

"Look, it's hard to keep up a conversation when..." Marcus trailed off once he realized his complaint had already registered.

"It's annoying when you stop in the middle of sentences you just said," the bird-woman continued.

"Really?" Said the muscular man before the previous sentence wound it's weird-time-shenanigan-tendrils across his brain. "...Wait, what?"

"I'm not entirely sure if you want to hear me explain. It's stuff about hearing things and then remembering hearing them differently...sort of, kind of...like an ice-cream headache...and yes, I can pause so I won't keep answering things you've said before you've said them. Gonna feel weird," she muttered.

"That'd be nice."

"You're welcome."

Another awkward pause and more squelching. Sarika's staff started trailing lower as her arm got tired.

Marcus could feel her tense right as he started to say, "So if you can see the future, how did you get caught by that robot arm in the first place?"

"Oh yes, look into the future while fighting, what a brilliant idea, especially since nobody can possibly decide to do something else as a result of me preemptively dodging a non-existent att--ACK!" Marcus froze at the sudden squawk, almost stumbling over.

"What is it," he questioned sharply right as Sarika said, "Hole in the ground, we fell through it, or almost did, or did in another universe or whatever." Despite the flippant tone, Marcus could tell she was still trying to calm down after seeing a possible future where she possibly could have died. Or at least had her other leg broken. "I guess this thing made more tunnels than just across. Go around."

Marcus shifted forward carefully and soon after felt the hole Sarika had talked about. Feet hanging a little over the edge, he started to sidle around until Sarika's feet touched the wall. It seemed the hole completely spanned the whole tunnel.

"What do we do?" the prophet said nervously. Marcus paused for a moment.

The obvious solution was to jump, but not only did he know how far he would have to jump, he had no clue how high the ceiling was and if he would just hit his head trying to do so. Also, he still couldn't see a thing and it honestly didn't seem very smart, jumping over holes you wouldn't have known were there if it weren't for having a friend with precognition powers.

Actually...

"I am going to jump, although I think you already know that. I will jump in a minute or so."

"Yes, I knew that," Sarika snapped. "And that's a horrible idea--oh. Uh, we made it across but--" That was all Marcus needed to hear. He backed up, making sure to count the steps, before running full speed, leaping right at the edge of the hole as Sarika babbled nervously, "butit'snotacomfortablelanding--"

"What?" Marcus shouted back right as he landed on his limping leg. It buckled and he fell over, dropping Sarika and rolling a ways before they stopped. It turned out that even knowing the outcome didn't make the jump any less scarier and he recollected himself on the slimy floor before getting up and carefully shuffling around until he came across the bird-woman. "Uh, sorry," he said, picking her up again. "You still have your stuff, right?"

"I held on to them so hard that my staff is probably fused to my hand now," Sarika said dryly. It seemed the more frightened she got, the more she sounded like she didn't care.

"Good, I guess," he said, continuing to walk.

"You're an idiot."

"I've heard worse."

More silence. More squelching.

"I think we're about to see some light up ahead," Sarika announced just as Marcus detected a slight change in the darkness. It was definitely still dark, but at least it was lighter than complete darkness.

"Great," he replied, walking a little faster, eager to actually see things now.

"Er, judging from our future conversation, it's not that great." Sarika winced behind her goggles. "And just saying that gave me the biggest future-changing-related-ice-cream-headache I've ever had."

"Oh really?"

"Don't sound so amused."

As they arrived at where the light was coming from, Marcus could see why the possible-future-them thought it wasn't that great. There was light, yes, and even with a little light, he could see fine. He could also see the grid structure above them that was considerably out of reach. He wasn't sure, but it seemed that part of it rose up to possibly be used as jumping platforms to go across the gap that was giving them light.

After a little hesitation, Marcus asked, "What were we about to say? Or uh, was never going to?"

"I believe it was something about this possibly being the seemingly-bottomless pits we had encountered in earlier rooms that had served as a 'test' or something like that."

"Yeah," Marcus nodded. "That seems like something I would have thought of."

"There's no way up here, so let's just go already."

"The dark is only going to seem so much darker after this light," Marcus sighed.

"Yeah, yeah."

Squelch squelch squelch.

"Actually, I just remembered something," Sarika suddenly said.

"Hm?"

"I was planning on asking everybody to ally with me against that Monitor guy."

"Really? That doesn't seem...well, all that likely for us to win."

"Yes," Sarika said, agitated, "but this is the sort of thing Hora's against! She'll find a way to stop this stupid 'game,' I'm sure. That Monitor may be some sort of weird, advanced robot, but he's only machine! We can defeat him, somehow!"

Marcus thought for a bit as he continued walking. "I'm sure you already know my answer, but I suppose I'd be willing to help. If you can figure out a way to actually be able to attack him."

Sarika seemed contented by this and fell silent. Marcus continued walking.

Squelch squelch squelch.

Originally posted on MSPA by gloomyMoron.

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Due to a sudden and catastrophic FireFox crash, I lost this post. Consider this an UN-reserved.