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Ixcaliber · 03-12-2012, 12:12 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

[color=#JUSTICE]For a brief moment the three battlers stood stunned; silenced by this sudden development. In the distance the giant Cyclops did what came naturally to one borne of such destructive magic. It destroyed. It levelled buildings with a sweep of its enormous arms. It cracked the road beneath it with every movement of its titanic feet. Batman was the first to regain his composure. Sure this was pretty weird but walking the mean streets of Gotham City you got used to weird. A massive one eyed monster seemed comparatively normal when compared to that villain who saw through the tips of his fingers.

“What did you do?” He demanded.[/color]

“What did I do?” Rannus snapped incredulously. “This was your idea!”

“Guys…”

[color=#JUSTICE]“Excuse me?”[/color] Batman snapped back. [color=#JUSTICE]“I said to blow the mist away not to create a giant monster to terrorise the town.”[/color]

“You don’t know the first thing about magic do you?” Rannus retorted. “I should have never let you talk me into such a reckless course of action!”

“Guys…”

[color=#JUSTICE]“Yeah I don’t know the first thing about magic.”[/color] Batman replied. [color=#JUSTICE]“But I am not a magician, I don’t use magic. What’s your excuse?”[/color]

“Why don’t you come over here and say that?” Rannus’ crystal face was set into a grim scowl.

[color=#JUSTICE]“Gladly.”[/color] Batman replied putting his fists up.

“GUYS!” Kay’s shout finally managed to get through to the angry pair.

They turned and followed her gaze. Standing off in the distance the Cyclops had uprooted a building and was holding it over its head. Barely a second later and it threw the inn over the town, towards the three combatants. As the building sailed through the air, chunks of wall crumbled away and furniture and bodies plummeted from the hurtling hotel, smashing into the buildings below. In the couple of seconds they had Kay and Batman desperately tried to flee the area of impact. Rannus clapped his hands together, spread them in front of him and focused. As the inn neared them it seemed to decelerate. Ever so slowly its speed lessened and lessened until it was practically on top of them but at a dead stop. It did not make it any more stable than it had been as more pieces of the inn sloughed off into the street below. Batman and Kay, now clear of the structure, watched as the archmage gently lowered the building. He didn’t have anywhere large enough to put it down without incident and so it ended up sort of straddling the smallest buildings, the drooping remnants of the building hanging across the street. Rannus gasped for breath for a moment.

[color=#JUSTICE]“That was a little too close.”[/color] Batman said. Kay nodded her agreement. Batman thought for a moment and darted back to where Rannus was struggling to regain his composure. Kay sighed and after a moment she followed him.

[color=#JUSTICE]“You and me, we’re okay for now.”[/color] Batman said as he reached Rannus. [color=#JUSTICE]“More importantly, what do we do about The Evil Eye over there?”[/color]

“Well…” Rannus began thoughtfully. He glanced towards the distant Cyclops, merrily smashing buildings, and decided that it was probably best not to stay in one place for too long. “I posit that the concentration of fog directly affects what kind of creature it can support. Previously when the fog was in a dilute state, a large amount spread over the entire town, only small monsters were being manufactured. Compressed down into a relatively small volume allows it to create something much more complicated.”

“So…?” Kay asked.

“So my previous encounters with the creatures borne of this fog demonstrated that their bodies were temporary, designed to dissipate back into the fog when they were incapacitated, killed or otherwise.” Rannus continued. “I hypothesise that without that high concentration of fog this creature’s form cannot be maintained. We simply need to find a way to allow the fog to dilute itself, to spread naturally across the town. The simplest course of action is obvious.”

[color=#JUSTICE]“It is?”[/color] Batman looked lost.

“Well…” Rannus began, “I suppose it is only obvious if you are familiar with the principles of magic. The tornado spell is beyond my control but it is finite. It cannot absorb more mana of its own accord and so eventually, given enough time it will burn itself out and the fog will be allowed to settle back over the town naturally.”

[color=#JUSTICE]“You want us to sit around and wait?”[/color] Batman asked. “Batman does not simply wait for a crisis to be over.”

“Let’s just get over there and kill it.” Kay snapped impatiently. “No fancy plans. I’m sick of your long words and long speeches. Let’s just go and kill it until it is dead.”

“But…” Kay shot Rannus an exasperated look. “This is relevant and I will keep it as short and simple as I can. If we kill the monster it will dissipate back into the mist and five maybe ten minutes later the mist will have manufactured some new monstrosity for us to deal with. So yes you could kill it, at least in theory, but it is not a permanent solution by any stretch of the imagination.” There was a silence as Batman and Kay absorbed what Rannus was telling them and as Rannus tried to ponder a solution to their problem.

[color=#JUSTICE]“It is still better than doing nothing.”[/color] Batman said his voice full of resolve.

“I…” Rannus hesitated. “I can’t say for certain but I don’t think this fog is natural. I think there is another magic user here, someone presumably native, who has enchanted this fog to produce these monsters for some reason. Hypothetically you kill this person and you render the fog inert; the monster diffuses the same way as if we’d diluted the fog.”

“Could be those weirdoes that we were fighting before you showed up?” Kay said thoughtfully. Batman nodded his agreement.

“Okay.” Rannus said with a nod. “You go deal with them I will do my best to stop this monstrosity from destroying the entire city in the meantime.” Without waiting for a response Rannus performed a short incantation, taking care not to overdo things this time, and with a slight azure glow he floated into the air in the direction of the Cyclops.

GBCE · 03-12-2012, 12:13 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

I shall stab a reserve here

GBCE · 03-16-2012, 03:36 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

Sufficiently satisfied with the height of buildings and flattened corpses around it, the one-eyed behemoth decided to saunter over to the next cluster of screaming townsfolk and intact architecture. Sure, Greenport being eradicated was tragic but the destruction was excruciatingly slow - which made the magical disaster fundamentally more painful to look at. It was kind of like watching a butterfly burn at a match.

Rannus continued mulling his thoughts, as the Eye of the storm began to level an antique shop. He had some faith in the other two contestants would have no problem finding and eliminating the perpetrator of this ungodly situation. However, there must be something to be done for the defenseless townsfolk, the wounded and the injured...The Archmage needed to stall this monstrosity somehow.

Suddenly, a prick at his crystalline mind! The Archmage swung his head around, his vision spotting the flaming remains of the Pan Asia Airways. Memories of his attempted rescue immediately began to dig at his mind, but he knew he had to work fast. With all four of his hands, the Venephim gestured the slow-falling wreckage

towards the Eye of the Storm.

***

The acolyte was not having a very good day. He had joined the Estoeric Brotherhood of Ebon only a few weeks ago and now, there was a gloved hand halfway through his solar plexus, pinning him on a wall. He had seen human guts before, having indulged in communal townsfolk sacrifices. However, the sights of his own entrails was rather alarming.

"W, who are you." The cultist stuttered to the owner of the gloved hand. The red throbbing around his vision was not helping the stability of his question.

The glass inside the helmet was incredibly fogged, leading the dying acolyte to wonder how his foe is managing to see through the condensed vapor. It was comical, but at the same time, terrifying. It was an uncomfortable (and humiliating) thought knowing that the last face he would see was obscured by a fishbowl helmet. Not that it mattered. He was going to die and the last words he was going to hear was,

[color=#JUSTICE]"I'm Batman."[/color]

***

"Goddammit."

Kay half-heartedly raised her free hand aganist the rain of liver chunks and other vitals, thanks to Batman. Even though she was perpetual covered in blood thanks to symbolic pretense, the shower of gore was still annoying. It was kind of like being sprayed with water or having someone else's lunch dropped on your lap. As she skewered yet another faceless cultist on her saber, Kay wondered why she was making such petty internal comparisons. Perhaps, she grumbled to herself as she spilled an initiate's insides on the ground, she was not having a very good day.

Well, she did not even have a good grand battle at all. She was fighting alright - mowing down all these malevolent fanatics does exert energy. However, it was tedious. It was boring. It was simply not challenging. She had all the ingredients for a perfect duel. Her skill. A rival. A location. However, circumstances beyond her control prevented her from ever fighting with the chosen Batman. Her luck was rotten and it was frustrating.

And that made her positively furious.

***

[color=#JUSTICE]The cultist never saw that coming.

He did not even had the time to react. In an instant, his head exploded spectacularly, blooming like a beautiful pink cloud of death - or perhaps some macabre sort of visceral fireworks. As the body of the last cultist slumped awkwardly on the floor, blood still oozing from the shredded remains of the neck, Batman could not help but congratulate himself (even the Dark Knight could indulge a little pride, after all). That, that was a magnificent haymaker.

Unsurprisingly, reinforcements (just as untrained and determined) started to tumble in - their knives glinting murderously. Fortunately, Batman was not surprised. After all, no one can surprise the Batman.

The survivor swung his head around, "Let's fight--"

and saw a sword pointing at him. Although Kay was shorter than Batman, she still managed to do that certain you-own-me kind of condescending glare . The painted eyes of her mask never moved, but the sheer lack of emotion gave a feeling that she wanted something from Batman. [/color]

"Yes." The swordswoman said, deliberating each word with her own particular brand of business-like impatience. "Let's fight."

Then, she menacingly advanced.

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman was crestfallen, but not surprised. After all, when did he not experienced suddenly betrayals? Betrayal was unfortunately common. He was betrayed by Catwoman, Two-Face, Joker, Penguin, Calendar Man, and now, Kay. Although it was another drop in the pool of mistrust, every betrayal felt like a physical blow to him.

As Kay menacingly advanced, the cultists did so too. You did not have to be a million dollar play-boy to realize that the impending fight was going to be hard. In preparation, Batman raised his fists. As long as he had a fighting chance in his crime-fighting career, he would always have a plan. Batman was always ready in print - thus in reality. Batman was always prepared.
[/color]
However, he was not prepared for the Pan Asia Airways coming.

***

The Eye of the Storm was finished with the wharf and proceeded to make a pancake out of the shopping district. Its singular eye shined with piggish glee as it made a couple of fleeing survivors into dots on the ground. The feelings of the fleeing humans at its toes were beyond its care - or comprehension, really. The cyclops began to flatten the many survivors and buildings in sadistic delight.

Until the wreckage hit.

The cyclops's happiness plunged into to anger. A flaming piece of airplane landed clean on its side! Oh, the pain! The immense pain! Even a simple creature such as the cyclops could understand such a torment! The fog monstrosity let out a howl of agony - and positive fury! Burning with lacerations and debris-filled gashes, the cyclops dug at his flesh in search for the burning wreckage.

"No!"

The cyclops found the wreckage, stuck between the nape of the neck and his shoulder. With a mighty fling, the airplane sailed. Rannus raised a helpless hand as the wreckage practically exploded on the ground, spilling its insides like some dead metal-beast. Ruined luggage, flaming corpses, and especially the engine

oh god, the engine.

It was faulty, beyond any use, and especially dangerous. Like a time-bomb ticking towards ignition, the internal workings of this machine was rapidly growing more unstable. Rannus knew what was going to happen and he raised his hand. Hopefully, with the excess mana, he could stop the engine before it-

It exploded.

Rannus could only stare in horror as Greenport was engulfed in flames, putrid smoke of charred bodies and harsh chemicals. Screams of pain echoed through the crackling of the fire as support-beam cracked and the architecture folded in. This was beyond a tragic disaster, it was a full-blown tragedy.

And it was all his fault.

***

Another attempt. Another failure. Kay was starting to wonder how she was going to, let alone start to, duel Batman since the beginning of this battle, but not that it mattered. Now she was pinned, trapped, helpless, all those damned iterations of the meaning "stuck," under the flaming debris.

And her saber. Her precious saber! It was lost somewhere in the wreckage around her. She should be angry, furious at her consistent misfortune, like she was always. And yet, as much as she hated to say it --

She laughed! It was a bitter laugh. She laughed because she felt joy - a peculiar. It was not a rushing river like how she felt while dueling. It was more like water oozing from a cracked pot. It was slow and dull, yet there it was. Not excitement, but reconciliation. She had no idea why she felt such serendipitous happiness--

--especially since she was sure she was pretty much doomed.

***

The wounds on the monstrosity healed, but the cyclops was acting strangely. Rannus looked in horror as the Eye of the Storm...changed, for a lack of a better word. Even with his great wisdom, it was difficult to say what was going on.

The changes was subtle, but significant. Veins throbbed visibly and its exposed arms was wreathed in cancerous lumps and nodes. It's infantile face has scrunched up like a piece of paper, making the final result reminiscent of a boorish bulldog. Larger, additional protruded out along with the resulting spittle, which hissed and spat on the floor. It was safe to say, it was much more stronger - and meaner too.

Rannus had a feeling it wasn't going to end well.

Pick Yer Poison · 03-21-2012, 08:04 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

Kay's head lolled to the side as she lazily pondered how she'd gotten to this point. Trapped beneath a pile of collapsed rubble, her sword lost, possibly for good...she let out a hoarse laugh. It was actually funny, when she thought about it. Another laugh bubbled up out of her. The sword had always trapped her - she'd lived and died by it. But now that she'd lost it, it had taken some kind of perverse revenge by trapping her in a much more immediate way. A piece of rubble broke from somewhere above and bounced off her head painfully. She heard something crack and idly wondered which part of her it had been. Really, though, it didn't matter. She was ready to die; she had no peace left to make.

To her surprise, she felt the piece of rubble on top of her shift. For a moment she thought it was going to break in half and finish crushing her, until she saw a very familiar curve bob above it for a moment. No. No no no no! What was he doing? Was he here to finish her off? To humiliate her? Why couldn't he just let her die? She couldn't fight without her sword. She was nothing without her weapon. She tried to cry out, to tell him to leave her be, but she couldn't summon the strength for anything above a pained moaning noise that vaguely resembled a protest.

If he could tell she objected, Batman paid her no heed, and continued to silently shift the rubble covering her until she was free. He knelt down and picked her up, ignoring Kay's weak attempts to push him back, and slung her over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, storming out of the wreckage with an air of determination that Kay, even while hating him for stealing her from her demise, couldn't help but admire.

As they neared the end, Batman ducked under a low beam, but forgot that he was carrying Kay with him. Her head collided with the girder he'd ducked under, and as her mask split apart, she suddenly realized what had made the cracking noise she'd heard earlier. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. She guessed that losing another of the protective measures she'd built up for herself shouldn't be something she should be ambivalent about, but she had difficulty making herself care.

[color=#JUSTICE]They left the site of the rubble and Batman carried her a short ways off before gently laying her down against a lone wall that was somehow still standing. He looked back at her and, finally realizing that her mask was gone, examined her closely. Wild red hair, bent at crazy angles from being packed inside the mask for so long, sprouted from her head like some strange variety of weed. Half-closed, bloodshot eyes glared at him from below the hair, making up the only color in her ghostly white face, which hadn't seen direct sunlight for a shockingly long time. [/color]

Kay finally found her voice. "Why?" It was only a fraction of her normal volume, but it was loud enough.

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman didn't know what to say. "Because I'm Batman." [/color]

Kay's voice gained strength. "I didn't need you to rescue me. I didn't need you to be my hero."

[color=#JUSTICE]The right words appeared to Batman as if they'd been waiting for this moment for a long, long time. "I'm not the hero you need. I'm the hero you deserve." [/color]

She glanced dully in the direction of the burning wreckage to hide her confusion. "I'm going to need my sword if we're going to continue our duel. I can't fight with my fists like you can."

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman was lost again. He was only supposed to fight the villains; fights with people who weren't villains but were really just misguided allies would inevitably be interrupted by something before they could lead to major injuries for either party, and so far, every time Kay had tried to fight him, they'd been interrupted. He was unsure why she couldn't see such a simple fact, but suspected she wouldn't understand. "I looked around, but I wasn't able to find your sword," he lied.

Kay's only response was to stare at him uncomprehendingly, and he suddenly felt a little guilty about lying, even if he knew it was all that would keep her from rushing right back in to find her weapon. After a moment's hesitation, he added, "When you are truly in need of a weapon, one will present itself to you."[/color]

Great. More cryptic bullshit from a man with a fishbowl on his head. Kay picked herself up shakily, pushing away Batman when he offered his arm for support. She was determined to do this for herself. "Let's go find Rannus."

chimericgenderbeast · 03-27-2012, 04:57 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Sanzh.

SpoilerShow

Pick Yer Poison · 04-08-2012, 04:09 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pick Yer Poison.

Batman and Kay found Rannus staring at the new and improved monstrosity lumbering slowly towards him, growling intermittently and leaving a trail of slobber on the ground below it. Batman muttered something unsavory, and Kay stared up at it blankly. "What the hell?" she asked of no one in particular.

Rannus was having trouble explaining himself. "I..I just...the plane...and then it exploded..." Unable to form the proper words quickly enough, he simply gestured at the cyclops, making himself more or less clear.

[color=#JUSTICE]The cyclops paused in its path to step on an old pickup truck in its way, and Batman finally spoke. "Is there anything you can do without messing it up, sorcerer?" [/color]

Rannus turned to him in astonishment. "Excuse me? I fail to see you performing higher magic perfectly!" He raised his arms, looking at the cyclops grimly. "Now if you're quite done insulting my work, I must go fix this before it destroys the city."

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman stepped forward and put a firm hand on his shoulder. "No. You had your chance. It's my turn now. Just distract it while I grab something so I can hit it with some force." [/color]

Rannus looked back at him incredulously. "You? What could possibly make you better suited to defeating this abomination than me?"

[color=#JUSTICE]Time slowed to a crawl for the hero. He was acutely aware, by way of some otherworldly sense, that if he fought the demon, he would die. Whether he would succeed was hidden to him. He could stand back and let Rannus die to save him. Or maybe Kay would jump in and sacrifice herself. It would be easy. He just had to take a single step back. It would be...it would be...

It wouldn't be what Batman would do. Batman wouldn't leave someone to die to save himself. Batman fought the bad to save the good in the world from dying out.

And Batman always won.

Time started again. He spun Rannus around to face him, pressing his fishbowl helmet as close as he could to the crystalline face. "Because I'm the goddamn Batman." Rannus, rendered speechless by the unexpected intensity of the moment, could only nod fervently. Batman let go of him and ran down a nearby alley, off to find something he'd found earlier. [/color]

Rannus turned towards the cyclops again. Batman had wanted him to distract it? Well, he could at least give it a shot. He raised his arm and a bolt of purple lightning briefly connected his hand and the cyclops' head. To his surprise, a matching purple jolt flashed down from the magic-filled clouds, causing the monster to roar and look upwards for its attacker, spinning uselessly as it scoured the skies for a foe that wasn't there. Rannus allowed himself a small smile. Distracting it seemed to be something he could do without incident.

[color=#JUSTICE]A few minutes later, the sound of a vehicle reached Rannus' ears. He and Kay tried to see where it was coming from, but found buildings blocked their line of sight. The cyclops, on the other hand, quickly found the source of the disturbance, and proceeded to roar at it in a way that provided absolutely no information about what it was.

The mystery was solved when an oil tanker drove out of a cross street, turned as if in a futile attempt to swerve, and hit one of the cyclops' legs with the broadside of the oil tank, crushing it badly and causing it to leak oil profusely. The monster picked up the oil tanker and lifted it above its head, not noticing the small figure that jumped out and landed on top of its forehead. After a moment of straining, its strong arms tore the oil tank in half. [/color]

Kay squinted at the figure on top of the cyclops. Her face showed no emotion - after having had it under a mask for so long, she'd forgotten how. "That has to be Batman. But what's he doing? Has he got something in his hand?"

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman, balanced on the creature's head, felt the torrent of oil spill over them both. He held out his gloved hand, the cigarette lighter he'd found in the glove box gripped tightly in it. He tried to convince himself that his suit would protect him from the heat, but he couldn't quite pull off the deception. He glanced back to where Kay and Rannus were standing. Fight the evil to protect the good. With a single decisive motion, he opened the lighter, holding it to his arm, and flicked it on.

Kay saw the spark and realized what it meant before Rannus did. She swore as Batman, then the cyclops' head, then its torso, and finally its arms and legs burst into flame. It roared out in pain, swatting ineffectively at the air as it burned. But the figure on top was not yet done - even burning alive, Batman would not let up the fight. He swung himself down, placed his boots in the monster's giant eye, then jumped, launching himself off the cyclops, and providing the small push needed to send the already overbalanced Eye of the Storm crashing to the ground in a giant flaming heap, where it crackled and burned but didn't get back up. Kay cried out as she saw Batman plummet to the ground, but she and Rannus both vanished the instant he landed. [/color]

chimericgenderbeast · 04-16-2012, 09:10 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Sanzh.

As Batman's death only just barely began to set in, the remaining two combatants were whisked away.

"Well, that's that. I'm honestly surprised you've gotten this far. We were about to cut off the experiment, you know. But that's beside the point. There's one last locale for us to visit."

The contestants watched as an enormous space station came into view. The combatants soon found themselves within the station itself, watching a number of species as they examined a variety of exhibits. They soon noticed just what was in the exhibits.

"Welcome to Menagerie. You are no doubt familiar with zoological gardens. This is one of the premier examples of such-- housing numerous non-sapient and sapient specimens collected from innumerable locations. I would recommend you keep your stay short-- something that will require one of you to die."

SpoilerShow

Ixcaliber · 04-19-2012, 12:16 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

“Stupid.” Rannus snapped to himself, the first thing he did upon arrival in this new locale.

Has he been paying attention to the reactions of the others maybe he might have caught some telltale sign upon Batman’s face, an indicator that he had not followed or cared to follow the archmage’s discussion on the mechanics of the magical fog. He ought to have stopped him somehow. It was not that he objected all that much to Batman’s sacrifice, just that without the death of the beast’s summoners the pattern would inevitably repeat itself. The only question was how long it would take before something new was created to terrorise that poor town. Batman had bought them time, but at the same time made it so much more difficult for Rannus to save the citizens of Greenport. After the recent string of disasters Rannus really needed a win, if only to boost his flagging self-confidence.

However trying to accomplish such a feat here was going to be even tougher than before; the first thing that struck him about this round was the distinct lack of mana. This world was more akin to the first they had been taken to; it was not a world that functioned through the use of magic and that was going to severely limit his capabilities. He glanced around the new location. It was a maze of transparent cells with crowds of various different species gathered around them. Inside the cells were strange and unusual creatures with hundreds of eyes or their young nesting in pouches in their cheeks or whatever. The only real difference that Rannus could see between the creatures contained in the enclosures and those staring at them were their size and the fact that they looked somewhat less presentable. Alien kids goggled at the unusual creatures and there was a generally pleasant background noise as the various species enjoyed themselves.

Underfoot the floor was a surprisingly authentic gravel path, and here and there were trees and brick buildings; whoever had made this place had really been trying to go for the authentic look, the transparent cells non-withstanding. However the thing that really caught Rannus’ attention was the walls and ceiling. The entire zoo was enclosed within a massive transparent dome; here and there throughout the zoo it was possible to pick out a couple of people just staring up in wonder at the twinkling expanse of stars that lay beyond.

Rannus was rather grateful that the zoo was not currently in the grip of some form of major disaster in the same way that the previous rounds had been. He was not sure that in the current circumstances he would have been able to coordinate both threats at once. He was going to need all of the mana he had drawn with him in order to save the town. His way would hardly be as heroic as what Batman had done, or as impressive, but with luck it would have a more lasting effect than the crimefighter’s noble sacrifice could achieve alone.

Rannus weaved his way through the crowds without much in the way of incident until he found himself at the edge of the dome looking out upon a blue and orange planet in close proximity to the space station. Rannus had never seen a sight like it, and for a moment he was stunned. His world was an elemental realm, it wasn’t the kind of place that had planets; what he was seeing was something he had never even contemplated before. But as wowed as he was and as much as he would have liked to contemplate how this world might have worked he didn’t have the time. As he stared at the unfamiliar world before him somewhere back in the town another awful monster could have been forming.

At that thought he brushed away his wonder at this world and focused upon the task that needed doing. Whereas in the previous round he had been able to perform magic with little more than a thought and a flick of one his wrists, here he thought it prudent to utilise those techniques he had developed in his home world, in the hope of wringing every last drop of potency from the magic that still clung to him. Quickly he snatched a large pebble from the gravel path and with one nail he scratched a series of runes into its surface, whilst his other hands moved through the air in a complicated series of gestures. He chanted under his breath, a series of words that were not words but thoughts or ideas, given power in their vocalisations. In the emptiness beyond the dome a hole opened up and through it there was a swirl of fog; the heart of the tempest he had accidentally created. Immediately the fog began to pour through the portal and into the void of space.

There were already a couple of bemused zoo-goers staring at Rannus, due to his unusual actions (some of them had decided that he was some kind of entertainment put on by the zoo). However as the portal opened that bemusement turned to worry. He glanced around at the couple of aliens that were looking at him and brushed them off “It’s okay, I know exactly what I am doing.” He told them. When he turned his attention away from the concerned crowd it became apparent that he had missed something in his moment of inattention, something distant moving through the rapidly dispersing cloud of fog. There was another glimpse of movement and then nothing.

And then something emerged from the fog, or rather somethings.

An entire flock of them moving without problem through the dead of space, straight towards them.

GBCE · 04-20-2012, 05:09 AM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

As if things had not gotten worse.

Kay was slouching sort of catatonic on one of those trendyorganic eco-benches that populate the space zoo. Despite the curiosity of some onlookers, the tourists were otherwise indifferent to her presence. Considering her performance in the earlier rounds - whatever those irritating timespans were called, the duelist was not having a good day. A stroke of bad luck, she attempted to convince herself, but the facts proved otherwise.

Look at her; bleeding pretty much all over with no saber (what is a swordswoman without one - such a disappointment); no mask (with that thought she idly adjusted the stubborn remains on her neck); and no goddamn progress (all she wanted was a proper one-on-one fight but was her simple request ever fulfilled? nooooo). The losses and setbacks were piling on her evolving frustrations. Worst of all, she never fought her --

She gagged on a lump forming in her throat. Batman. Batman. Batman, he was everything that Kay wanted in a rival. But why was he such a fucking idiot. Why did he toss his life away at some singular cyclops. Was this suicidal stunt really necessary for such a short term goal. The list to Batman's foolishness was infinite to Kay. She wanted to yell, scream, shout all these wrongs at this man.

Yet the blood in her eyes said otherwise.

Kay began to sniffle. Good god, why was she crying blood. Why was there blood everywhere with her. Nevertheless, the weight of her emotions was heavy. Yes, she was sad - for the most selfish reasons, honestly. There was the fact that she would never ever ever going to fight Batman for instance. Then, there was this other reason.

Batman was stupid stupid stupid so stupid, but in a way, his stupidity was so smart. He was fearless. He was selfless. He radiated confidence - not fake or arrogant confidence like she had plenty, but real confidence. One-hundred-percent genuine confidence that kindled envy- but mostly shame from Kay. She was sad because she was shamed - shamed that irradiated idiot from the post-apocalyptic plains was better than her in all spectrum of things she strived to be.

[color=#JUSTICE]As if the shame was not enough, Batman appeared.[/color]

Kay blinked but he was real - at least real enough for her. There he was, sitting all casual-perfect across from her - his padded hands embracing each other and his glass helmet fogging up per-usual. Usually, the spacesuit-fishbowl combo induced laughter, but this time - the figure obscured by the passing tourists of all shapes and sizes - he seemed rather...

[color=#JUSTICE]Omnious.

"Some rope and a high enough branch won't solve anything," Batman croaked. Kay nearly jumped out of her skin as the suited man somehow appeared next to her on the bench.

His close proximity was incredibly uncomfortable. However, there was something disconcerting about this effigy. He was definitely Batman especially from this curtailed distance. The voice sounded like Batman...but was not Batman at all. It was slightly disconcerting to hear such a serious tone from a jovial fellow like him. [/color]

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?" Kay blurted.

[color=#JUSTICE]"Well, aren't you suppose to be too?" Then Batman (or more accurately "Batman") chuckled slowly. Slowly. So slowly. It was kind of creepy to the point that Kay was questioning her self-proclaimed fearlessness.[/color]

Kay was getting really uncomfortable. She wanted to scream. Yell. Shout, and so she did. "Why." Ugh the sentence was so stubborn in her mouth. "Why." The task seem so Sisyphean, nearly impossible."Why." How could she continue this. "Why." Why was it so hard to ask such a simple question. "Why--"

" -- are you STILL HERE."

Silence.

"Same reason as you." Batman's body had disappeared but his voice still lingered on - somehow. "You have questions. You want answers, no?"

"But you are changing the subjec--"

[color=#JUSTICE]Batman's voice (if that painfully flanged voice could ever be assigned to Batman) "No. I am not. Face it, lady. You know I am dead. You know you are dead, but hey why are you still dancing? You know you have questions: why am I bleeding fucking everywhere. What was the purpose of the mask. How are you going to go back home? What your boss is going to think? You know, it's funny. For all your paranormal persona, you are still a squishy human underneath."

He laughed. It was awful, awful, awful.

"Your aspirations. Your insecurities. Your feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings. Also, your curiosity. You know you want answers. You want them so bad."[/color]

Kay fidgetted uncomfortably in place.

[color=#JUSTICE]"Ending your file prematurely won't do you any good - or work really. After all, you are quite dead." Batman's voice began to fade away like dust. "I think a good step is to get some knowledge. You know what to do: find that shiny archmage. You know, Rannus? Guy who knows everything? He should not be TOO hard to find. He is made of diamonds after all."[/color]

The voice laughed faintly faded away - much to the considerable distress of Kay. Was the Batman (or "Batman," really) in front of her really real? W Yes, she was going to find Rannus. Maybe get some guidance, but more importantly

maybe get some answers too.

Kay stood up from the biodegradable plastic that was the bench. From the glance, the Menagerie was expansive - countless corridors, columns - not to mention the infinite void of space that encompassed the dome. This place was definitely huge, but hey. With enough time and diligence, she could find that crystalline egghead eventually.

Kay gripped her hand on a pistol and darted off. Her future was uncertain but at least there was somewhere to go.

***

"SECURITY!"

The Officer gripped his head in considerable annoyance. As if manhandling ten different types of camera interfaces was not enough, there was this panicking rookie dancing panic in front of him. Yes, yes, mister space cadet. Stop panicking. Yes we know there's a flock of something coming zoo-wards. However, remember last time? The last time that something attacked (which turned out to be an intergalactic nematode). Everything turned out fine in the end.

As long as they followed protocol, everything should be fine.

The Officer grumbled as he flipped through the specific section of the manual ("Outerdimensional Entities And Beings; IV. How To Deal With An Oncoming Extraterrestrial Threat"). Poring through the pages, he realized that the first thing to deal with such threats was to do away with any probes, beacons, attractors. whatever. Basically, obscuring the path for the oncoming threat could drive the threat away - or in the worst case scenario, buy them time to gain help. Immediately, he began hammering away at the buttons.

After all, Menagerie security was within interdimensional public interest.

Ixcaliber · 05-28-2012, 04:19 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.

Rannus wasn’t surprised by the creatures’ capacity to exist in space, primarily because he didn’t really understand space. How could he have done? He had been formed in an elemental plane and before this battle had occurred he had never left the nexus of planes in which it was situated. The closest comparison he had to the concept of space was once when he had accidentally opened a portal to the elemental plane of void. Likewise the best comparison he had to the things that were making their way in his direction was when he had once accidentally opened a portal to the elemental plane of flesh. The vast bulk of the creatures were twisted approximations of people with claws and talons, ragged flesh and sharpened protruding bones. Emerging from the cloud of fog were larger things, the size of vehicles or even of buildings made from an awful mesh of carcasses and with tentacle like tangles of nerve and muscle trailing behind them.

To an organic being, or someone who might have once been an organic being, it would have been horrifying. To Rannus they were just aesthetically unappealing meat beasts, no more stomach turning to him than a half melted lump of plastic would be to us. Rannus was more concerned about how quickly they had generated. Hypothetically this meant one of two things; that there was some kind of time dilation effect between this universe and the last or that the magic that infused the fog was even more powerful than he had previously reckoned. It was troubling and he was having a hard time concentrating with the panic that was erupting from around him.

“There is no need to panic.” He spoke clearly, his voice calm and clear to demonstrate the need for restraint in this difficult situation. He was consequently drowned out by the noise of the crowd, who couldn’t seem to make up their minds whether to stand at the windows at gape at the creatures that were coming their way or to flee towards the parking bays. “Excuse me!” Rannus shouted over the crowd, his voice no longer restrained and calm. Even this was swallowed up into the cacophony and Rannus was forced to try again a third time, this time expending a portion of his magical reserves to ensure that he would be heard.

“EXCUSE ME”

That had been more than he had intended, but at least it seemed to accomplish the desired effect. Silence fell and he wondered if there was a part of the Menagerie that had not heard him.

“THANK YOU,”

A pause.

“OH GREAT NOW I’M STUCK LIKE THIS. DO NOT WORRY I HAVE THIS ALL UNDER CONTROL. IT WAS NOT MY INTENTION TO CAUSE A SCENE, COULD EVERYONE PLEASE GO BACK TO WHAT YOU WERE DOING NOW AND LET ME DEAL WITH THIS.”

With his supply of mana was dwindling faster than he would have liked, Rannus knew he was going to have to prioritise. Instinctively he thought that the most important thing was to close the portal, cutting off the supply of these creatures would be far more effective than trying to combat the potentially endless waves head on. However that had the unfortunate drawback that he would essentially be sealing the doom of the town and the entire exercise would have proved pointless, less than pointless in fact because he had endangered the denizens of this world as well.

“Put your hands in the air!” The voice belonged to a reptilian security guard who was pointing some kind of futuristic weapon in Rannus’ direction. “All of them!” It added. It was thin and nervous looking with pale grey scales. Its body crackled and burned with vermillion flames. It wore a heavy dark blue uniform including an unfashionable baseball cap and a name tag that read ‘Syen’. For a moment Rannus glanced from left to right, looking for the person this security guard was apprehending. He was surprised to find that at some point in his cogitations the crowd had all decided to put some distance between themselves and him.

“YOU – DAMNATION IS THIS STILL ON? – YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE HERE.”

“Put your hands in the air!” Syen repeated, a crackle of electricity dancing along his weapon. Another security guard, out of breath and sweating globs of candle wax joined him.

“I AM NOT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM YOU HAVE AT THE MOMENT. I DON’T KNOW IF YOU HAVE NOTICED BUT THERE IS A SWARM OF… THINGS OUT THERE HEADING THIS WAY AND IT IS REASONABLE TO BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE GOING TO CAUSE MAJOR DAMAGE TO THIS STRUCTURE AND THE PEOPLE INSIDE IF I DO NOT DO SOMETHING TO STOP IT.”

The crowds had for a brief moment been calmed. The fact that security was confronting the mysterious crystal terrorist had temporarily reassured them that whatever was going on it was going to be sorted out. This shared delusion broke simultaneously as people began to rush for the elevators down to the parking bays.

“What are your demands?” Syen demanded. Rannus sighed, really loudly.

“I WISH TO PUT AN END TO THIS SITUATION EVERY BIT AS MUCH AS YOU. IF YOU REALLY WISH TO MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL COULD YOU SEE FIT TO ACTIVATE WHATEVER DEFENSES THIS STRUCTURE MIGHT CONTAIN AND MAKE THESE PEOPLE BE QUIET SO THAT I CAN THINK. I JUST CANNOT WORK UNDER THESE CONDITIONS.”

Syen dithered. He could not comply with either of those requests. Most of the other security guards were attempting to keep some kind of order amongst the panicked guests, but they might as well have been trying to convince water to flow uphill. As for the defences, well they’d already done all they could; the shield was up and that was pretty much all the defences they had. This was after all a zoo not a military base. The shield wouldn’t last a minute when up against those creatures; it was only ever expected to protect them from space debris and meteorite dust. The only lead they had was this one guy and he was not proving to be as helpful as they had hoped.

“Get down on the ground!” The other security guard demanded when Syen failed to take any decisive action. “Get down on the ground and put your hands in the air.”

“Drop the gun.” Kay was suddenly there with a gun of her own. She’d heard Rannus’ voice halfway across the menagerie and had just known that everything was going horribly wrong.

“KAY I DON’T SUppose – oh hm I guess I must be running low on magic if that wore off without the need for a counterspell. That’s worrying… but to focus upon the problem at hand; Kay, I don’t suppose you could give me a rough estimation of how many people there are in this structure and how many there were in the town we were just in?”

“What?” Kay asked. “No, why would you expect me to be able to do that?”

“That’s it!” The other security guard snarled through gritted teeth. A blast of electricity shot across the pathway striking Rannus in the chest. Before the bolt had even found its target Kay had opened fire. Almost simultaneously Rannus and the security guard stumbled back. Rannus managed to right himself, charred but not really affected by the electricity otherwise. Thick foam poured from the security guard’s wound and he collapsed face first to the floor. Syen had been unsure what to make of the crystal man and now his bloodied friend; he wished he could say that shooting Frank had clarified things somewhat. He wished he was allowed to carry more than this glorified taser, which he turned on Kay. She pointed her gun back at him with the expression of someone who really didn’t care what happened to the people who got in her way.

“Would everyone just calm down for a moment?” Rannus asked. He was running dangerously low on mana he knew, but he also figured that he was never going to solve this problem if everyone didn’t just calm down for a minute. He opted to just help them along a bit; whispered an arcane verse as Kay and Syen faced one another down, and then he collapsed.

A hiss and a snap coming from outside the windows tore Kay’s and Syen’s attention away from each other. The things were at the shield and as Syen had predicted, within a minute it was down. A couple of spaceships had managed to make it out of the docking bays where they found themselves quickly swarmed by fog creatures that ripped and tore and hacked through the hull of the spacecraft and then presumably did the same to those inside it. Some of the monsters started to pour through the open ports into the docking bays and the screams of those who had managed to get the elevator down could be heard throughout the zoo which had been stunned into silence. The creatures slammed into the dome above and began to scratch and claw and relentlessly tear at it.

“This is bad.” Syen stated the obvious.

“Naaah.” Rannus said dismissively. He was lying on the floor on his back, his arms splayed out by his sides and generally looking far more relaxed than was appropriate and than should have been possible in the situation. “It’s okay. There’s no need to worry I’m sure someone’s got it all under control I bet.”

Kay broke off from the pointless standoff that she and Syen had been engaged in and hurried to Rannus’ side. His face was set into a wide crystalline smirk and he looked as though he didn’t have a care in the world. She frowned, “Pretty sure that person is supposed to be you.”

“Awww man.” Rannus moaned. “Can’t someone else do it? Hey Kay heres a thought; I hereby promote you in charge of stopping the bad things. Now go and save the day and while your up if you could get me a drink or something that’d be tremendous thanks.”

SpoilerShow

GBCE · 06-03-2012, 11:21 PM

Originally posted on MSPA by Pharmacy.

Kay was never the one for authority – or orders honestly. She was the type of obstinate person who flipped the middle finger to instructions for the sake of it. That predilection ran strong even when she was a wee (and alive) lass – where she threw a screaming tantrum at the toes of her bewildered master to express her displeasure at the offending task (which was every single task) he bequeathed upon her. This flippant attitude persisted to adulthood– with addtions of stabbings and slashings and the screamings but she was not feeling up to doing all three - probably because of the distressing string of encounters with the contestants.

And her loss of her saber.

And her near second-death.

And the incredibly heart-wrenching death of Batman.

And the return of ghost-Batman (???)

Oh look, there is some crystal dude asking her for a drink.

…And monsters pouring everywhere into the Menagerie. The sight of on-coming elderbeings, rippling inwards like some demonic ocean, felt like a task much too momentous for Kay, especially with her nonexistent bravado. The temptation go “screw it” and forcibly invite Rannus some needlessly expensive space-bar so to drown their sorrows in embarrassingly-named cocktails was too strong, but on the one hand, monsters. On the other hand, fucking monsters. Everywhere.

Man, she could not take this task. He could take that back. This problem was probably Rannus’s fault anyway. Probably. “Oh noo, thanks but no thanks.” The duelist made a waving gesture that was suspiciously more appropriate for a gift exchange party or a family reunion. “I appreciate this but I really do not think I am up to it.”

“Oh cooooooome on,” Archmage Rannus said in a very unarchmage-like manner. “You are perfect for this task of problem solving. You have the experience and that sword –“

“Well, I don’t it have my sword right now. Also technically, it is a saber.”

“Same thing.” Rannus made a tut-tut gesture.” Anywaaaay, what am I saying here is that there is a lot of people in peril and the whole infrastructure is crumbling. WhatamIsaying everything is in danger. Anyway, what I mean IS.” Rannus lifted a dramatic spindly finger to the horizons.“YOU.” He pointed at a very confused duelist. “Can solve this.”

“What if I don’t want to.”

“What if you can?”

“Well, see this is the problem, I can’t do this and I don’t want to.”

“What if I give you a hug?”

“What the shit, why do I need a –"

Kay suddenly found herself unto an awkward embrace from the crystalline mage. The clasp between a dead ghost and a Venephim was a rare phenomenon, especially considering that Kay and Rannus were from two dimensions (or two different stimulations, depending on how this minigrand is viewed). Instead of counting herself fortunate that she was lucky enough to be hugged by a crystalman of high social standing, Kay was completely flummoxed. And cold. And uncomfortable because being surrounded by four arms did not give much for personal movement.

“Uh, can you let me go.”

”You smell gross.”

“I know, it’s blood. Well, symbolism blood.”

“That’s nice.”

“Um.”

A significant fog of silence descended between the two. The awkwardness was so thick it could practically be cut with a knife.

Syven was not having a great day. The job was stupid. The uniform was stupid. Hell, everything was stupid and it could only go more stupid from here. Hard to disprove that prediction, considering the dearly departed Frank was on the floor - no thanks to that oddly dressed stranger with a gun. Syven felt incredibly indignant - vindictive even - at his own apparent useless, at the unfair death of his co-worker, but especially to the eventual doom that seemed to lingered over everyone’s heads like some sick Sword of Damocles. However, that feeling was now long gone for the security guard –

Only fear – to put more exactly, a wall of suspicion that grew weaker which each exposure to the stress known as Frank His Dead Friend. There was something frightening strange on the prone body of his candle-like coworker. Frank was dead, but he looked kind of alive – and it was not because he just recently expired. His waxy flesh still emanated intense heat, his flames still flickered, and he looked like he was still breathing. No that is wrong, wrong, wrong, some voice scolded him in his head.

More like pulsating.

Suddenly, Frank exploded – not literally or comically though. Alarming gallons of mist (blacker than india ink distilled from tears of children) erupted out of his mouth, his nose, his ears, his open wound – any hole it could wrench from the cadaver prison. The ferocious fog (too turbulent to look directly) immediately condensed into monsters. A lot of them. They looked awfully like the monsters invading at the ports in the way that they are exactly the same thing. Needless to say, the sheer proximity of these elderbeasts caused alarm in everyone, especially the repulsed Syven, who dug fearful claws into himself at the desecration of his dead-coworker. Nearby visitors reacted just as expected - the weaker-minded civilians behaving like agitated herbivores, running and bumping into each other; the more stronger-minded slightly paused for a second then went along with the motions of the chaotic masses.

“OH MY GOD,” Syven screamed. “OH MY FUCKING GOD.” And so, the security worker continued his vociferous benedictions to whatever monotheistic entity existed in this Menagerie.

Meanwhile, Kay was alarmingly annoyed – or annoyingly alarmed. She could not really decide which sort of nuance she should choose but she figured that both are probably appropriate considering some monsters apparently teleported through some alien dude’s corpse. Sure, she was a horrific entity that bled and stalked victims, but the bodysurfing fog-spawn was a bit too much. “Wait, what.” Kay made frantic gestures. “How.”

“I would ask you the same thing.” Rannus gave a weak double-shrug.

“But you are a wizard. I'm not. Aren’t you supposed to know this.”

“I don’t know.”

“We are fucked.” Kay lifted her arms in the arm and let them drop. This was too much for her either.

“I don’t even know anymore.”

“We are so fucked.”

Even with the crescendo of the crowd, the silence between the two was heavy. Their time in the same place had been filled with fallbacks and hindrances– and they felt the tremendous brunt of those reminders on their back of their respective heads. The memories were not pleasant. The progress was not excellent. Their accomplishments seemed to be doomed to eternal disappointments --

- not just yet.

Kay turned around, “Rannus.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where the exit is?”

“Well, I am not familiar with the architecture of this place but I believe the ports are only way out. Unfortunately, they had been overrun by—“

Kay grabbed one of Rannus’s hands and dragged him against his mild protests. It could end in death of one of them, or both of them, or even everyone in this damned techno-place. The duelist felt incredibly overwhelmed at the prospect of solving everything personal and environmental, but she figured if she nicked off one problem (the fog monsters), her sanity might be thankful for this.

“I am not exactly sure why we get so close to danger.” The Archmage objected.

"Support."

"I do not think my skills are up to this support."

She shrugged and continued forth.