The gigantic moth hovered slowly, scattering dust particles all around. As its shadow streaked across him, Orange had a desperate idea.
He reached into his pocket and fished out his lighter.
He flicked it open, holding it up in the wind, watching the flame intently and praying that the moth wouldn't see what he was doing.
*************************************************
Purple grabbed at the clawed fists around his throat. He couldn't breathe. His lungs were on fire.
Strangling was a horrible way to go any day, but here in this derelict room, with nobody he loved knowing where he was?
He fought down the panic he was feeling. He forced himself to realize he wasn't quite choking yet - he was managing to keep the ghoul from crushing his windpipe.
He had someone to come home to back on Legion World. And he would.
*************************************************
Blue and Yellow continued raining blows on each other, desperately trying to stop. Both were bloodied and battered; Yellow had a black eye on the face he always groomed perfectly; Blue was bleeding from his nose and the corner of his mouth. Uniforms torn, they tumbled through the sky.
The ghoul controlling them didn't even bother to hide now. It was taking sadistic glee in watching them slowly kill each other.
Yellow took a chance - he had no choice. He opened his mindlink with Blue. "Okay, so this thing can manipulate our actions, but not our thoughts, since we're both still aware."
"Right," Blue replied. "It also can't seem to fully control us - I was able to pull my last few punches, at least a bit."
Red swung his staff desperately, trying to block as many crystal darts as he could.
"I sprocking should have practiced more," he thought. One out of every four darts was getting through, and that was way too many. Gashes caused blood to run down his arms and legs. He had managed to prevent them from hitting anything vital, but soon blood loss would make that accomplishment useless.
He tried to think. What had Power Boy and the others taught him about weak spots?
Maybe he should change strategy... It would mean taking some hits, but it was a risk he'd have to take.
He fought against the dizziness and the pain as he formulated a plan. ************************************************
Indigo kept his back to a corner of the room, watching as the dark tendrils snaked around him. He'd tried to run through them, but they were so dark... Any light he gave off had been quickly absorbed.
He hated fighting this thing without being able to see.
Those tendrils of blackness were also cold... Every touch seemed to drain not only light, but the very life out of his body.
He drew out some of his throwing knives and tossed them in the general direction the ghoul was last in, trying to buy whatever time he could.
*************************************************
Green flew as fast as he could, but the currents from the black hole ghoul were drawing him in.
Ordinarily, he'd just blast it away, but no dice this time.
Smaller space debris was being drawn in, but it looked like the ghoul couldn't expand its black hole too much. Else, Prianopolis and the other worlds around would be affected.
Its small range now was still powerful enough to deal with a 5'9'' young man, though.
Green desperately tried to reach a nearby asteroid . It was his only chance.
posted
New Wystuv’ryy (formerly Gotham City), Earth-4, The Dark Oval
Deep into the Loser Cave stretched a damp, dark tunnel that opened up into yet another wider cavern. Within was a cave lake with black, still water; they had set-up several makeshift lighting mechanisms and the lake caused a nice reflection that opened up the room. Within, t the Losers known as Karate Kid and Zhiya dueled one another, practice fighting to keep each other’s senses honed. Lolita approached and joined several onlookers among them, standing next to Saffron Kid and Portfolio Girl. The young former SMB Academy member Saffron Kid had a look of awe at the level of skill being displayed, while longtime SMBer Portfolio Girl had a smirk on her face, enjoying the high intensity of the spectacle. As always, her mysterious suitcase was in her hands, where she contained all manner of beast to summon in battle.
For all the action, it was relatively silent. Lolita watched as both combatants proved they were among the best fighters Lolita had ever seen. Karate Kid was magnificent to behold; she’s heard the stories about him, even on Legion World years ago, but she could see now they didn’t do him justice. He had perfected martial artistry to the point where it was a super-power. She’d heard how he once beat a Daxamite in single combat and now for the first time gave that story some credence. Meanwhile, Zhiya was equally adept. Her fighting style was totally odd yet equally beautiful; it flowed like music. Lolita had to remind herself Zhiya was blind and in that memory she realized now for the first time that Zhiya undoubtedly had superpowers.
The two fighters danced, parrying and blocking blows, leaping forwards and backwards, punching, kicking, lunging and circling around one another. Both were concentrating deeply but Lolita thought their styles were more due to instinct. She could see now the contest was not a fight—rather, it was a contest to see who could land a clean blow without being blocked.
Finally, the sequence ended, as Karate Kid showcased his reputation as the supreme fighter in existence. He doubled back, and faked his own tripping over a loose stone. For a micro-second Zhiya believed the action was genuine before she realized that could not possibly be true but by then it was over. All he needed was a moment, no matter how brief, and he quickly chopped at her calf and caught her cleanly with a blow, knocking her off her feet.
She landed on her derrière, and a smile went across her face. Lolita could see she was out of breath and so was Karate Kid, who rose to his feet. He extended a hand to help her up and she took it. “Probably the best sparring session I’ve had in years,” he said to her with a smile.
“The best I’ve ever had,” she said matter-of-factly, “but then again, I lost.” She laughed and he did too.
As they walked to the others, Saffron Lad couldn’t help but comment. “That was amazing! When do we get lessons?” he added enthusiastically.
“I’ll think about it,” Karate Kid hesitated. Lolita wondered if it was the idea of taking on new students again that caused him the hesitation. She knew his last students didn’t fare so well in the Epsilon Sector.
Several of them now began leaving the cavern, though Zhiya stopped in front of Lolita, grabbing a towel to dry off the sweat from her face. It was cold in the cavern and her deep breaths showed in the cold air. “You are looking for me,” she said to Lolita, though not as question.
“Well…” said Lolita, hesitating, realizing for the first time that Zhiya was just as petite as she was, “…I thought it was the other way around. You’ve kind of been following me for a few days.”
Zhiya smiled. “If I’d wanted to approach you, I would have. But I’m glad to have the chance to talk to you now, Oracle.” Lolita appreciated the usage of her official new LMB codename. Zhiya faced her but Lolita could see that her eyes were void of color, a side effect of her being blind. Despite the sweat and lack of any make-up, she was very beautiful. She had clear, porcelain skin and jet black hair that extended midway through her back. She had it up in a ponytail during the battle but now let it fall loosely across her shoulders. She wore black as always, this time the pants and jacket in a pseudo-ancient Japanese style with a 31st century twist. Lolita felt that Zhiya had an air of being friendly about her, but buried not far beneath was something very dangerous.
“It took me a little time to figure out why you might be interested in me,” said Lolita, realizing Zhiya just told her she would have approached her if she wanted to but skipping past that, “but I know you were married to your world’s Cobalt Kid. As you probably realize, I’ve been his partner for many years.”
Zhiya’s eyes creased as if she was confused by something. “I hear your words, but your heartbeat has changed slightly. You are distressed by this topic. Has something happened to your Cobalt Kid as well?”
“No,” said Lolita, perhaps too quickly, “we’ve just…we haven’t been seeing eye to eye. We didn’t part on the friendliest of terms. Actually, I was the one who unfriendly.”
Zhiya nodded. “If he is anything like my Cobie, then it’s understandable.” She smiled widely as she spoke. “But there is still time then for you to make things right. I hope you’ll use the time wisely.”
Considering Zhiya’s loss, Lolita felt her words carried more weight. “I never had the chance to meet your Cobalt Kid, though from what I hear they were very similar. They never got to meet each other either.”
“I do not speak of him too often,” she said to Lolita. “Though they were polite never to say, my hearing could detect it makes people uncomfortable to speak of your grief. I was never a member of the Society of Message Board Posters, though before he passed, Cobie would bring me to their meetings more and more. Likely I would have joined at some point since I do have a powerset. But he died and I just remained an Honorary Member. Only after our planet was put in such dire peril did I take up the call and join the Losers. I suspect Louie and Hugh thought one day I just showed up. The truth is I thought about it for a long time before taking the step. Their kindness and genuine sense of good is what convinced me.”
They walked slowly out of the cavern and Lolita noted that Zhiya walked standing very strait, almost regal. “I’ve never met your counterpart on our Earth,” she said, though she thought it was a stupid thing to say the moment she did so.
“Nor have I ever met yours,” said Zhiya. Lolita suddenly realized she didn’t like that—why wasn’t there a version of her among the SMB? She dropped it though and figured she’d return to it another day.
“What are your powers?” she asked, figuring with all of these personal anecdotes, she might as well ask her the question she’d been most curious about.
Zhiya told her without hesitation. “The story of how I came to be blind is a long one and I will not bore you with it. Needless to say, when I was a young girl, I lost my eye sight, but I gained many other gifts in return. All of my other senses are enhanced: hearing, taste, touch and smell. To such a degree that they’ve opened up my mind to other senses I did not know I had. My hearing is proficient enough where I now have a Radar Sense, able to see all around me 360 degrees. I’ve even learned to harness the long unused sense of electroreception that sharks and other animals have.”
Ah, thought Lolita, no wonder she’s such a fantastic fighter. Her balance and knowledge of her surroundings must be second to none.
They were now approaching the end of the cavern where it opened up into one of the big rooms in the Loser Cave where numerous members of the Losers were going about their daily activities. “It was his smell that made me take notice,” she said. “It caught me totally by surprise when I attacked you in the snow bank. Since then, I haven’t been able to not smell it. Whenever you enter the room, I can’t help but feel that’s he suddenly here with me. It’s been many years now, but I miss him all the same.”
Lolita could see the sadness in Zhiya’s face, something she obviously guarded very judiciously. It made her feel something too…she felt her eyes welling up a little with tears. “I’m wearing his jacket,” she said at last. “Sometimes I take it or he gives it to me, since it’s got all kinds of circuitry and gadgets in it. He threw it to me before we began the quest so he could don some old cloak, mainly I think to make Lard Lad laugh. That’s why you smell him so much. The jacket is his.” For some reason, Lolita took the jacket it off and handed it to her. “They say the two of them were almost exactly the same.”
Zhiya held the jacket and lifted it up slightly so she could smell it better. She smiled. “They smell exactly the same,” she said at last.
The stood there for a moment in silence. Zhiya did not sniff or inhale deeply but Lolita knew she was taking the moment to smell him and be reminded of her dead husband.
She handed the jacket back to her. “Thank you, Lolita,” she said, as the two rejoined the others.
From: Right by Cobie's Side | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Earth-4, The Dungeon of the Emperor's Palace
Lon awoke with a slight start. He hurt everywhere, he hurt in ways he hadn't imagined he could. He was still shivering from the cold, but he felt his body starting to warm up.
He tried to open his eyes, and found that he could barely open his right eye, and his left eye was swollen shut.
He could hear The Emperor ranting at Kalla, who was chained across from him. He could see that she was shaken a bit from whatever had been done to him, but she wasn't breaking. she trusted him and that he had a plan.
"...what I need to know, or I will do even worse things to this beast." The Emperor finished.
Lon laughed as best he could. "I hope you have worse things, because whatever you've done is making me feel better," he said in a barely audible voice.
The Emperor spun and walked over to him. "So the lapdog is awake. You passed out so fast, I was worried I had broken you already."
Lon cleared his throat, and smiled. "You got me when I was barely conscious to start with. Hardly a challenge."
"Oh, don't you worry about it...I'm just getting warmed up with you."
"I would certainly hope so bird boy. I'd hate to think you'd take the easy way in this and use the numbness in my body as an excuse as to why you can't hurt me."
He could see Kalla past The Emperor's shoulder. She looked a cross between worried and awed. He wondered why, but as feeling slowly returned to his body, he realized that he had cuts, stab wounds and other bruises all over his body. he was chained up above the ground with no way to gain any leverage to break free. the effect of all of this was that his body was working overtime to heal itself and spending energy...which in turn was warming him up faster and faster.
The Emperor grabbed a long metallic object. One end of the rod was pointed. It looked almost like a spear to Lon. "Let's see how you do when you have only one lung to breathe with."
Lon cleared his throat again, "I'm gonna shove that through your..."
His comeback was interrupted by a loud scream of pain as The Emperor jammed the spear though his right chest wall.
Lon howled and he felt blood coming up his throat. He aimed carefully, and spewed it out onto The Emperors lower half. That earned him a strong backhand across the temple.
Lon's head swam in bright lights. He could not remember taking this bad of a beating in years...if ever. He would have given The emperor his props for being as sadistic as possible, but that would get him nowhere. He needed this sadistic sprockin maniac as angry as possible.
Blaine actually looked a bit surprised that Lon was still alive, let alone conscious. He moved in close to The Emperor, "My love, please let's go and get you cleaned up. The guards can have a little fun while we're busy, and we can continue this later."
The Emperor looked at Blaine, and then down at himself. His face turned to one of sheer unbridled anger. He turned and struck Kalla as hard as he could and came close to knocking her unconscious. Then he turned back to Timberwolf. "When I get back...she suffers more than you have."
Lon coughed up more blood and laughed. "Wouldn't take much you pompous ass. My daddy used to give harsher whippings when I was a little cub."
The Emperor grabbed the spear sticking through the left side of Lon's chest and ripped it out. That was when Lon became acutely aware that there were serrated edges in it.
"That's a little better," he barely got out due to the blood he was coughing up between gasps of breath.
Blaine led his Emperor away and motioned the guards to him at the door. They were giving them instructions as to what to do while they were gone.
------------------------
Lon lifted his head as much as he could. "Can you summon any power hon?"
Kalla looked at him wide eyed. "Very little, not enough to get us out of here."
"Good." >cough< :I want you to fry my left calf," he said in a low voice. To her surprise, he opened both eyes and gave her a wink.
Her attention went to the doorway. The guards were nodding their heads and laughing with what seemed to be great delight at the prospect to allowed to torture these two.
------------------------
Kalla summoned all the power she had and Lon could feel feeling returning to his left leg.
One of the guards turned around as the other shut the door behind Blaine and the Emperor
"What are you doing?" The first guard said as he saw a faint light coming from Kallas hand.
It was the last thing that he would say.
In a matter of a second, explosions started going off from various parts outside and inside of the Palace.
Lon screamed as the trigger had heated up enough to go off, blowing out a small portion of his left calf.
The guard at the door, ran forward drawing his weapon, but Lon was already changing.
The next thing the guards knew was that there was a large furry creature that had snapped out of the chains that he was in and turned on them.
The first guard tried to draw his weapon but found that his arm was missing, before he saw a large clawed hand grab at his head. The second guard got a shot off that want wild and hit the wall harmlessly.
Kalla, eyes wide, watched as Furball turned and limped over to her. He tore the chains holding her captive off and then fell to the ground, reverting back to the man she loved more than ever.
"LON!" she screamed as she knelt beside him.
She heard him grunt, or laugh...she wasn't sure. She turned his face to hers and kissed him on the forehead. "This was your plan?" she said mustering a smile.
"Yep..." he turned his head and coughed something up, "...and it's working perfectly, go seal the door..." he managed to mutter as he passed out.
[ November 02, 2011, 08:24 PM: Message edited by: Timber Wolf ]
From: Doing the things that need to be done | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
He was getting ready to leave his Thanagarian Wingman Cruiser when the message alert sounded.
Angdar put his bag down and went to the communications console. It was a priority message coming in on a scrambled channel.
"Who has this channel?" He said to nobody, as he was the only one on the ship.
He ran a few checks and could not trace the signal past the upper atmosphere of Legion World. He stared at the screen for another minute, finally deciding to answer the call.
The screen flashed to life and he was presented with a woman who he could tell was important. Just by the way she looked at him through the screen.
"Angdar Fel," she said, not as a question, but as a gentle statement.
"Yes ma'am."
"Good. I am Ambassador Mirenna Helene of the Langley Galaxy." I am calling you to offer you a chance."
Angdar had heard of the Langley Galaxy, and had heard of Mirenna Helene. He was one of those on Thanagar that had always been interested in the workings of the United Planets. This was an important person talking to him, and he felt a wave of nervousness wash over him.
"I'm...ummm...honored to have you contact me Ambassador Helene," he said, trying to sound as sure of himself as he could.
The Ambassador smiled and continued. "You have more friends than you ever thought on Thanagar young man. Powerful allies that cannot reveal themselves at this point. But mark my word, there is a change coming on you home planet. How soon that change happens, how quickly it starts is dependent on you and your actions though."
"I don't understand," Angdar said, feeling totally at a loss for words. There were government officials that were behind him. Why had none of them done anything? How did she know this?
"I'm sure you have questions. These cannot be answered at this time, but I need you to do something for me. I have to get back to a meeting, but I need you to come to Webber's World as soon as you can. The answers you seek, and your future will start to unfold once you arrive here."
"Okay," he said, not wanting to say anything to upset the Ambassador, especially if she could help him.
"There will someone to greet you when you land. We will see you soon Angdar, have a safe trip."
Angdar thanked her and the transmission ceased.
He walked over to where he had set his bag down and proceeded to unpack. He then did leave the ship long enough to gather a few supplies and take a flight.
Registered: Sep 2011
| IP: Logged |
Helena passed her time catching up with Bat-Fem and Grev Mallor as both filled her in on the adventures of the Covenant as they travelled through the Dark Oval and of their time here on Earth-4 becoming part of the so-called Losers.
Helena couldn't have been more disinterested. When Rockhopper Lass returned, she had expected Seth Gaterra to be with her. Unfortunately, Seth had been given a side mission and would return indefinitely when the mission was fulfilled.
Sensing where Helena's thoughts were, Bat-Fem said, "he asked me to rig those lots we drew, you know."
Helena was surprised at the sudden turn in the conversation. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
Bat-Fem smiled. "The lots we drew back on Legion World that determined which of the Covenant would stay. Seth asked me to rig them somehow so that you would be the one who stayed. He feared it was a suicide mission, and he couldn't bear anything happening to you."
"How DARE you!" Helena said raising her voice, causing other Losers in the area to gawk. Grev suddenly wished he was anywhere else but couldn't slip away unnoticed. "You had NO right! Seth...had no right..."
"Relax, Helena," Bat-Fem said soothingly but methodically, "I didn't rig it for him. I rigged it for my own purposes."
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!?!"
"We would have never worked well together in such a small group...both too used to being in command. We would have been at one another's throats so much that the mission would have been doomed."
Helena thought for a moment at those words. She recalled the moments before the lots were drawn and thinking the same thing about the mission to come. She shrugged off her anger and irritation. Water under the bridge, she supposed. She just wondered where the hell Seth was and how much longer--
"Helena! Where is she?" came a voice from the far side of the cave that snapped her out of it.
Could it be--? she thought and at once stood up to look for the voice's source. Immediately, she spotted him. "Seth!"
Seth's bright pupil-less eyes flashed as he saw her. Then, the two ran toward each other and crashed together right into a tight embrace.
"Oh, Seth..." she managed while her head was wedged on his shoulder, tears streaming from her eyes. "I thought I'd never see you again...but I never forgot about you! Not a day went by..."
Simultaneously, Seth was saying, "my precious lady...beautiful, beautiful Helena..."
Applause erupted spontaneously around the Loser Cave at the sight of the two. In such bleak times the Losers knew that every shining moment they could get was worthy of recognition and celebration.
Moments later, the two sat at an empty table together.
"Seth, I just realized you're not wearing your containment suit!"
Seth's completely opaque features betrayed a bright smile as his lips parted. "I have been studying with a Loser named Val Armorr who has taught me the mental discipline to control the symbiants within me and, by extension, the destructive nimbus that had to be contained. I only have to wear the suit when I sleep or when I am in battle, now."
"You mean...you can be touched?"
"Why, yes...I can!"
She smiled. "Can I kiss you, Seth?"
He smiled back, and before he could respond to the question, her lips were on his. He was surprised but kissed her back. They embraced and occasionally gasped for air, but they didn't want to stop.
Neither had so much as openly expressed the depths of their feelings for each other in the very short time they had together before the Covenant's mission to the Dark Oval separated them. But they had a deep connection, nonetheless, one that never weakened despite years apart. This kiss was truly worth a thousand words.
Finally, Helena forced her lips from his long enough to ask, "so Seth...you got a room here--or any sprockin' place more private?"
He grinned, nodded and took her hand. They practically ran to their destination.
An hour or two later, the couple lay naked in bed, their clothes and her robotic arm littering the floor. Basking in the afterglow, Seth lay on his back and Helena on her side, snuggled up against his pitch black body with her head on his chest.
"I love you, by the way," he said as he kissed her forehead.
Helena smiled. "I can tell. And I think I loved you the first moment I ever saw you."
"Whatever happens," he said, "I'm never leaving your side again."
"Better not," she retorted, "or I'll kill you."
The two laughed and started kissing and gearing up for another round.
Tomorrow might be a day filled with horrors beyond imagining, but this night, for them, there was nothing or no one but each other.
From: A spare room over Quislet's Table | Registered: May 2007
| IP: Logged |
Indigo was down to his last three throwing knives, and he still couldn't get a bead on his assailant.
Every time he threw one, he listened intently for a sound - any sound - that would give him a clue as to where the ghoul was.
Logic dictated that, with a dozen knives on his person and his back to a corner, there were only so many directions he'd have to throw something at before he got in a lucky shot.
But since when did ghouls and evil gods follow logic?
There was little time... the dark shadows were already crawling up his leg.
He closed his eyes and threw again. Nothing.
He did a quarter turn and threw once more. Still nothing.
The shadows were up to his waist now. It was cold. Very cold.
Desperately, he mentally reviewed where he'd already struck. It didn't make sense. He'd pretty much already done a 360-degree sweep of the area. He'd even thrown a few knives above him to be sure.
Unless...
His body shivering so hard he could barely think, Indigo squeezed his eyes shut again. Think! Think! Perhaps the ghoul was crouching down. Perhaps it was flying above him. Perhaps it kept moving around and changing direction.
If it didn't... There was one direction he hadn't hit. But it didn't make much sense.
Of course, if everything made sense then he wouldn't be stuck in this mess in the first place.
The shadows were up to his chest now. He had to act fast.
Fingers shivering, barely able to close them upon the hilt of his knife, he lunged backwards and stabbed, half expecting to hit stone.
Instead, mercifully, he heard a soft crunch. Flesh.
A scream escaped its lips as the ghoul behind him began crumbling to dust.
Released from the shadows, Indigo slumped down, muscles failing all over.
Dev Em was flying across the barren landscape of Earth 4. He was searching...searching for the group of rebels called The Losers. In his mind, there was never a more aptly named group of scum.
He slowed and hovered for a while, searching the land with a variety of powers her had. He could hear the sound of a fly's wings at a hundred miles if he wanted.
His communicator want off. He siged and pulled it from his belt. "Yes."
"The Emperor would have you know that he has captured your alternates brother. The man beast Timberwolf."
"Let the Emperor know that that one is dangerous. If he is half as cunning as my sister was, he is a danger as long as he can draw a breath, and possibly for several minutes after he draws his last."
His mind flashed back to his sister being ripped apart by creatures too terrible for words. His mind flashed back to his family being torn apart. His mind flashed back to his former team member Sharklad attacking his son and biting off his leg, and taking him somewhere else to feed on the rest of his body.
He crushed the communicator without even thinking about it, ending the conversation a second before he would have heard a series of explosions ripping through the Palace of The Emperor. He screamed and let loose with a barrage of heat vision at the ground.
The Emperor had helped him understand that the SMB had decided that he was too dangerous to live after he had slipped up a little one day and almost killed one of their enemies. They had also found out about Silverwolfs actions for the government, including assassinations and attacked them using creatures they brought in from another dimension. Only Sharklad had been bold enough to show his face in the attack, striking at Jon, his second youngest child.
"One day I will have my revenge against that..."
HE stopped and looked down at the ground he had scorched with his heat vision. There was something amiss.
He floated down and looked closer. There was the tiniest piece of metal in the dirt. Metal that should not be here.
Dev Em, The Emperor's Dark Emissary smiled as he stood.
------------------
Inside the Loser main security room, Super-Dense Kid and Legion Adventure Boy stared at the screen and then looked at each other with wide eyes.
Legion Adventure Boy turned and ran for the door, "I'll go try and slow him down, you alert the others."
"Don't go out there alone!" Super-Dense Kid yelled after him and hit the alarm button. He grabbed the intercom and spoke as slowly and clearly as he could, "The Dark Emissary has found us...I repeat, he is here!"
From: Turn around... | Registered: Jul 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Kalla set Lon's head down onto the floor and moved to the door. She could barely hear any commotion outside, which seemed odd. She cracked the door open and the noises rushed in. Individuals yelling for equipment, others running past, not paying any attention to who may be opening the door. She heard someone yell that The Emperor himself was needed at one of the sites, because the fires were not extinguishing.
She shut it again and activated the locking mechanism. The room obviously had some form of sound proofing, which meant that as long as the others thought they were still being tortured, they were safe for the moment.
She moved back around the table that contained all manner of tools that had been used on Lon and herself. As she passed, she grabbed a few towels.
Lon was stirring when she knelt beck down beside him. "Shhhh...easy does it Fuzzy."
Lon smiled at her, and slowly opened his eyes. "We have to...get moving."
"Give yourself a minute, we're alright for right now."
"No. If I calculated it right, we should have about fifteen minutes from when my leg blew out until he comes back here to kill us."
"Why fifteen minutes?" She asked as she helped him to his feet.
"The most dangerous of the devices will need his personal attention to extinguish. Once he get's done with one or two of them, he'll be back...and not with torture in mind."
She grinned to herself. "Where did you get the chemicals to pull this off?"
"Haven. Those and a temperature sensitive trigger, which has unfortunate side effects as well," he said as he got to his feet with Kalla's help.
They moved to the door, and Lon unlocked it. They were looking at each other, knowing that this could very well be their last true quiet moment together if things went wrong.
They both said "I love you." at the same time, and then they both smiled. Lon gave her a gentle kiss, and said, "stay behind me and use me for cover," he said as he handed her the two guns that the guards had. "Use these and save your own power for emergencies only.
He opened the door wide and shifted into Full rampaging Furball mode and charged into the hallway. He took down the guards within reach of him, and Kalla started blasting away at the guards further down the hall.
Furball did not slow at all as he tore through the ranks of guards and others that happened to get in his way on their trip to the outside. Kalla was amazed at the punishment that this form of Lons could take and not slow him down.
They finally hit the outside and were pleased that the guards were still occupied with the various fires raging around the Palace.
Furball stopped and reverted back to human form. Lon ran to the side of a stray building and starte digging into the dirt.
Kalla followed him and watched for any guards that may spot them.
Lon unburied a duffel bag and unzipped it. he handed Kalla a thermal jacket and put his standard uniform on with a little help from Kalla, since there were still parts of his body that were still incredibly messed up.
He looked at her, "can you get us over that rise there?" he asked as he pointed to the north.
She nodded and grabbed him under his arms and they took flight. Staying as low as they could to avoid as much unwanted attention as possible, she was also bending the light around them...rendering them invisible to the naked eye.
Once they reached the ridge and Kalla set down, Lon turned back to see if they were being followed. Amazingly, they were not. "Your cloaking is amazing," he said smiling at her.
Kalla had turned to the west and was concentrating hard. Lon watched her curiously until she at last raised her arms and fired a blast of energy in that direction.
"Signal sent huh?" Lon said as he sat down in the snow and ice.
"With a few minutes to spare," she said with a wink.
"C'mere..." Lon said with a grin.
She moved over to him and he gave her an embrace. She felt him slip his hand under the clothing on her back and that made her grin. She was smiling as he gently massaged her back.
"This is going to hurt," he said suddenly as she leaned in to kiss him.
"What...OWWW!"
He had scratched her...hard, and she thought she felt a little blood dripping down her back. "What are you..."
He slipped his hand out of her clothes and in his palm was a small transmitter. "They do not make it that easy to escape and do not not follow you if you are a prisoner of your stature."
He held the thing in his hand staring at it.
"You could have warned me," she said sharply.
"Yes, and I'm sorry for that," he said and hung his head a little, looking at her from under his brow. "It was just that, well...I started with the best intentions in mind, but then I couldn't sense something that I felt under your skin.
She grabbed him and gave him a kiss. "You know just how to say the sexiest things to a woman." She mumbled as she continued kissing him.
"We have to get moving..." he said as best he could with her lips against his, "they're going to notice that we stopped soon enough.
"No sense of adventure at all," she said with a smile.
------------------
The Emperor was awaiting the message from Blaine. He had finally attended to all of the fires that the man beast had managed to get started. He wondered how he had triggered them. The one that had not detonated had no timer, nor did any of the others that his people could see. And that meant that it had to have been a remote.
The creature had been stripped down and had no devices on him...his patrols had found no other trace of anyone close enough to detonate the primitive technology used to construct the devices. They would have had to have been within visual range of the Palace, and there was nobody.
They knew that the man beast would try and rescue the traitorous whore, and they allowed it to transpire to a point. The Emperor had not thought that the beast would have actually succeeded in doing the damage he had done though.
Blaine entered the room.
"My Emperor. They have escaped as you allowed, but the tracker has been found with this note," he said and handed The Emperor the paper.
"Really emperor bird brain? Did you really think I could not detect the undetectable?"
He ripped the paper into shreds and threw the tracking device against the very far wall of the room. "Send teams out in every direction...and get Dev Em back here.!"
Blaine nodded and ran out of the room.
Minutes later, a guard entered the room.
The Emperor looked at him, and waited.
"I was sent to inform you that The Dark Emissary has been out of contact for the better part of an hour. Since just before the explosions actually."
The Emperor strode over to the guard, who was visibly nervous.
"Who sent you to inform me of this?" He asked, his voice dripping with anger.
"M-m-m-my Captain..."
The Emperor nodded. "Very well, my new Captain," he said as he placed his arm around the guards shoulders, "let us go talk to your former superior officer."
From: Doing the things that need to be done | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
There are four necessary conditions for a dust explosion to occur. Combustible dust, large concentrations of said dust suspended in the air, an oxidant such as oxygen, and an ignition source.
Coming from a part of Prianopolis without any humans, the moth-like ghoul probably didn't know that.
All it knew was that the human male it had been sent after was standing before it defiantly, shooting light at it with much brilliance.
Orange's lasers had no effect, though; the dust spores being scattered around had light-absorbing properties.
All around it, death was being scattered by the spores. And Orange, protected as he was by the makeshift masks around his face, was starting to get affected.
If the moth could, it would have smiled at this easy task.
Not for long, though.
As it drew closer, Orange acted. In one fluid motion, he flicked open his lighter and threw it on the ground in front of him.
Ground that had been soaked with tree sap and dried twigs.
Ground that was underneath air thick with spores.
Ground underneath the moth that was the source of the dust.
The plains were lit up in a brilliant burst of flame.
The shapeshifter's form wrapped around Purple's legs. And his hands. And his arms. And his neck.
His eyes were blindfolded by a thick tentacle, and another wrapped around his mouth so he couldn't scream.
The ghoul was unnaturally resistant to light. Every time he blasted bits of it, it reformed quickly.
His mind was churning; something was upsetting his concentration. One thought did scream through his mind - "Oh god, I'm being crushed to death. Oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god."
This wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't been caught by surprise.
It was a mental struggle, but Purple fought to calm himself. He closed his eyes - not to block out his sight, but to help himself concentrate.
Emptying himself of emotion and thought as best he could, he focused.
A blinding purple flash lit the room as Purple emanated light from his whole being.
After a second, the only thing left was a pile of dust and an unconscious figure on the floor.
Faraway Lad walked among the various resistance fighters, nodding at some and smiling at others, but purposely plodding along so he wouldn’t be stopped. There was a momentary lapse in the fighting and Faraway was experienced enough to recognize the proverbial “calm before the storm”. Though it seemed hardly possible, things were about to get even more chaotic. And difficult.
He found a makeshift tent sent aside where someone had been kind enough to find him a table, chair, some papers and an old fashioned pen. It was as close to an office as a commander in this battle was going to get, and having it available to him let him put his thoughts together more coherently. He was exhausted and needed sleep—he could hardly remember the last time he’d even had the chance to close his eyes for a few seconds. He was feeling run down and even running a bit of a temperature; a harsh sounding cough was developing that he hoped sounded much worse than it was. And he was starving. There was no food in sight, but he had a small bottle of port nearby and so he poured himself a drink. He sipped the glass and felt the warmth settle through his body as he sighed deeply.
Metternich. The Dark Oval General had thwarted them at every turn on Daroon. Just when they thought they had an edge, it was only to fall right into Metternich’s trap. The two had animosity preceding Daroon going back several years but never more than now—Faraway hated Metternich now. Truly hated. His words still hung in his ears: “but if I cannot have the children converted, and the oh so joyous ecstasy of seeing the child kill the father or the father the child…”
The Dark Oval General had done the impossible and gotten battalions from the Khanate of Sol Invictus to work side by side with the Hive for this attack, knowing it would weaken and possibly shatter the United Planets. Only someone as cunning in the political realm as he was on the battlefield could do this. Deep in his heart he feared that Metternich being on Daroon was purposely orchestrated so the Durlan could get revenge on Faraway himself. He pushed those thoughts asides—nonsense, surely. In a universe this vast, there was no way that could be the reason they wound up in the same theater of the war. It was coincidence. Wasn’t it?
“Ambassador Coulthard,” said a voice approaching. “Do you have a moment?” Faraway Lad turned to see three men walking over, or rather, three triplets all in similar armor with a different color scheme. They were tall and handsome, with black hair and a strong jawline & chin. By their sides were sheathed swords and it was clear these men were knights.
“I do,” said Faraway, still seated. He nodded towards the port. “A drink lads?”
“No thanks,” said one of the three, who wore a large cross on the front of his armor. Must be the devout one, thought Faraway Lad. “We are Sir John, Ambassador, and as you probably guess, we are a Carrggitte. Dev Em said we could find you here and thought it would prudent to introduce ourselves. We know your colleagues Cobalt Kid and Eryk Davis Ester quite well.”
“The pleasure is mine,” said Darden, “though I don’t take any pleasure in our meeting place. As you can see, the situation remains dire and while your arrival has lifted our spirits, we still have a very hard battle to fight.”
“Indeed,” said one of the Sir Johns, this one in blue & green. “But we’re ready to fight it. When the time comes, we hope it would be alright with you if we led the knights out into the field. I know Kar Em, Dev Em and yourself have all been leading in your own ways…”
Faraway understood immediately and respected their taking the time to make sure the chain of command was not going to be shattered by the recent arrivals. “Of course,” he said, “better your fellows have someone they know leading them out into the chaos. You’ll see the bugs are numerous and each wave has a different species at the head. It will be difficult to coordinate a proper defense since their lines are not uniform. So having a leader with his own special battalion may just be the right way to proceed anyway.”
The last Sir John, a man in blue & purple, with trimmings in pink, now spoke. “We’ll let you rest now, Faraway Lad. I’m sure you must be exhausted, and who knows when they’ll strike next. I just will also let you know that it was many weeks ago when we saw your colleagues in the Dark Oval. But when we did, they were alright. And by all reports, are probably still alright knowing them.”
That brought a smile to his face. “Then all hope is not lost,” he said. “Thank you for remembering to tell me.”
They nodded and turned around to walk away. Sir John the Carrggitte seemed to be a good man, or men actually. So many of them were good people, who stepped up when things were bleak. He considered how many good ones they’d lose tomorrow in the battle. And in the next battle. Rather than dwell on it, he poured himself one more drink before looking through his maps and plans.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
Red had just made one of the riskiest decisions of his young life. He strapped his quarterstaff to his back and drew out his throwing knives, hurling them at the crystalline ghoul that was throwing darts at him.
He'd managed to grab a nearby piece of scrap metal to use as a shield, but it wouldn't hold long.
He tensed as he observed the ghoul's reactions to his strikes. Hopefully, he was posing enough of a threat for it to...
There. There was one spot that the ghoul instinctively crossed its arm to protect. He was sure of it - it had happened thrice.
It was time.
With a yell, Red charged at the ghoul, shield held high in his left hand and quarterstaff ready in his right. He would have spun it, but he was losing blood fast.
The crystal spikes came faster and thicker, but he ran on. He was bleeding too heavily to dodge much, so he prayed the shield would hold.
He was closing the gap. Other ghouls farther behind were starting to move forward to stand side by side with his current opponent. With a wave of his hand, lasers felled those others.
"No fair bringing on reinforcements, coward!" he yelled, partly out of fury and partly as a distraction.
The ghoul stopped letting daggers fly and formed a crystal sword, pointing it at Red's chest.
It struck.
Red used his shield to take the brunt of the blow; the sword shattered, sending crystal flying in all directions. He cursed as a couple of shards hit his side, and another his forehead. But he’d already lost so much blood, a little more wouldn’t matter. As the ghoul was getting its bearing, he struck too.
Red spun his quarterstaff around and drove it deep into the point he’d identified – midway between the ghoul’s neck and where its waist would be.
What passed for the ghoul’s eyes widened, and it shattered into a million pieces.
Too many, in fact, for Red’s shield to stop them all.
True to form, the last thing Red uttered before he went down, bloodied and cut, was “Crap!”
"Please tell me we're ready," Yellow thought to Blue as he dodged another kick. Yellow retaliated with one of his own, though Blue blocked that one with his arm. He failed to grab Yellow's boot, though, letting him swing back for another pass.
The two were setting up a fine balance between pulling their punches and letting each other gain enough cosmetic injuries. The ghoul controlling them was smart enough, sentient enough to be taking glee in their torture - it would be smart enough to notice if they fought against its influence too much.
Hopefully, though, it would also be enjoying itself too much to see that they were herding it, just as it was herding them.
Thankfully, it didn't seem to notice that they hadn't been speaking in a while. They did keep yelling and snarling to keep up pretense though.
"I think we have to get closer," Blue thought as he blocked another punch. He wasn't fast enough to block the next one, though - a punch to the gut which sent him doubling over in pain.
Yellow winced in sympathy pain - he could register that Blue felt it, but thankfully couldn't feel it himself. The awareness hurt, though. After all, Blue was him. "We're getting beat up pretty bad, and if the others are in as much trouble as we are...I think we're good."
"I can't tell from here." Blue thought.
"I'm the one facing it. Trust me."
Blue hesitated. Damn him, thought Yellow.
"I said TRUST ME!" Yellow screamed into their mindlink. "We don't have time - and even though I'm the irresponsible one, this is a fight dammit!" That last one came out as a scream. Damn. Mustn't lose control.
Blue's face blanked out for a moment, like he was thinking. "Alright," he thought back. "I'm sorry. I trust you." With that, he gave Yellow a kick that sent them hurling away in opposite directions.
"Damn you," Yellow screamed. "You're the part of me I hate most, you hesitant oversensitive sissy!" He barreled forward, with all the speed he could muster.
"Shut up, you vain little boy in a man's body!" Blue yelled back, teeth gritted.
At the last second before Yellow hit him, Blue turned around and brought his arms up.
Yellow tackled him, sending both of them careening straight towards the hooded ghoul below them.
It was a sight to behold - a yellow and blue streak zipping across the sky, colliding with a black figure, cloak billowing all around it.
Blue quickly closed his hands around the ghoul's neck and let loose to the limit of his powers. The last thing he saw before he lost consciousness was the shock on the ghoul's face before it too vanished in a burst of light.
Green was thoroughly exhausted. Making his way to the nearby asteroid should have been a snap - but nothing is against the power of a black hole.
A pseudo black hole, anyway. If it were a real one, space around would have been warped and planetary bodies of all masses would have been affected.
Funny how, in the face of almost certain death, the most minute details sometimes come to mind.
Just like the designs on the ship the Fellowship had parked there.
Green could vividly see the LMB logo, shining like a beacon of hope in the darkness of space.
He paused at the ship's door, trying to use his light powers to see where the ghoul was. Luckily, it moved slowly, glacially. "Probably thinks it can afford to take its time," Green muttered. "And I can't - so open up, you stupid door!"
Bad, bad. Better keep calm.
Composing himself, Green got the door open and entered the ship. They'd only left it there a couple hours earlier, but it seemed like days.
He started the ship, praying that his timing was right.
No more mistakes.
*************************************************
The problem with ghouls is they have tunnel vision. They do have some measure of intelligence, but death has a way of dulling their instincts.
If it had been as canny as it were when it was still alive, the ghoul would have wondered why its target had chosen to head to a nearby asteroid where he wouldn't have been able to hide.
The ghoul would have known to watch its back.
Instead, it was still making its way slowly to the asteroid when the ship blinked out of hyperspace.
In seconds, Green had lasered himself out of the ship's window and had decapitated the ghoul with a laser beam.
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