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Post by Triunis on Nov 14, 2003 19:37:19 GMT -5
The swampland was not particularly pretty on a good day, and this was not a good day. However, the creatures in Gandora were unaware of how much worse things were to get.
There was an enormous bang, a loud squelch, and a maniacal giggle.
"Oh, man, what a rush!"
A creature lay face down in the mud. Rolling over, he stared up at the clouds through his now dirty goggles. A frighteningly wide smile spread across his face.
"Where am I? Why am I here? Who really cares?"
Having dealt with this brief onslaught of philosophy, he stood up and looked around, swinging the mud off his tail. His eyes glazed over with joy.
"Wet! It's all wet! That means there are alive things! Which means there will be things not alive very shortly!"
He eagerly set out to look for said things, the smile remaining where it was.
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Post by DrivS/DarkUmbra on Nov 16, 2003 17:32:34 GMT -5
His feet made small sploshing noises as he walked across the swamplands. He needed to clear his head yet again, and the mountains were becoming cliché. He heard the soft thump of a creature hitting the ground. He was curious, but still cautious. He withdrew his shroud of shadows and stayed in the darkness so as not to be observed. He slowly began charging the magiks of the shade, and slowly approached the creature.
As he neared, he hid even more. He sensed powerful force within this one. He cautiously approached even more, and was now mere feet from the new arrival into the swamplands. He stayed concealed, and watched in silence. What to do now? He did not want to make himself visible, but at the same time, if the new creature was a threat. . . He decided to remain in silence.
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Post by Triunis on Nov 16, 2003 18:03:27 GMT -5
Setthirosa's senses suddenly focused in on several things. A new sound, a new smell, a new taste on the wind, a new sensation on his skin, and other minute changes in the environment that would be hard for a normal person to sense flooded to him. He turned around and saw DarkUmbra, and his smile grew even wider.
"Life! Excellent! What is it? Who knows!"
He concentrated a large amount of gravity energy and floated casually into the air, laying back and relaxing on invisible currents as he did so. He thought to himself about what to do, then realized that it didn't really take much energy to decide. He reached into his beautiful blue trenchcoat, now specked with mud, and pulled out the Tigris. He looked at the shimmering white shotgun, and uncomfortable thoughts sifted through his mind. Where had he been before? Why was he here now? He shook his head, resumed his smile, and spoke to the creature.
"You are odd. You are ugly. You try to stay hidden without any mechanical devices to do so. Why do you bother? Why? Why?"
He contemplated this, forgot where he was momentarily, and then remembered. He spoke again.
"I do not care who you are or why you are here. Farewell."
He held the Tigris at arm's length and pulled the trigger. There was a loud burst, and a bullet of pure light - endowed with infrared, ultraviolet, and everything in between - came piercing out of the chamber. The flash of rainbow colors that accompanied the shot blinded everything in the swamp, and the shell flew toward the shadow man.
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Post by DrivS/DarkUmbra on Nov 16, 2003 19:15:29 GMT -5
Even the light of the gun itself burned DarkUmbra's flesh. As the flash burst into the air, DarkUmbra screamed. The very light from the shot melted his flesh and broke his bones. And when the shot finally hit him, he was nothing more than a memory. He was totally gone. Leaving no trail. He was fast and powerfull, but solid light can peirce even the darkest of shadows.
Death. That was it. There was no more. No more life, no more pain, no more pleasure, nothing. It was over. In the last instant of his life, he thought of Kathryn. He pictured her perfectly. He muttered an appology in his last moment of consiousness.
[glow=purple,2,300]I'm. . .sorry. Kathryn.[/glow]
What had he done. He had broken his promise. He would never leave her. Right. Well, at least he paid for it with his life. But Kathryn. . . what happens now? Where do we go after death? Religion provides some answers. Invented by humans as a last resort to explain the unexplained. But that's not right, because nobody really knows. No one, but the deceased anyway, and they can't tell much. Death and life seem both meaningless when you think about it. But then, there's always something worth living for. DarkUmbra had forgotten that.
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Post by Triunis on Nov 16, 2003 22:15:13 GMT -5
Setthirosa blinked. Even shapeshifters left shards of themselves. He'd never seen a creature simply vanish from a photon bullet.
"I'm sorry, Kathryn? Who did he speak of . . .?"
He walked over to the place where the shadow man had stood and sniffed the air. Hydrogen and nitrogen. The machine in his chest that converted the oxygen to methane whirred with happiness as hydrogen hit it. He touched the ground where the man had stood and looked at the substance that came off on his hands. In between flecks of mud, he found small flakes of skin. He didn't recognize the species. He shrugged and stood, smiling wider than ever and revealing his sharp teeth.
"Ah hah hah hah! What a weakling! One shot? Ah hah hah hah hah!"
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Post by Araxis on Nov 17, 2003 18:44:49 GMT -5
Cethyn pulled himself along through the mud on his four arms, moving at a fairly hefty pace now that his wounds had had time to heal enough to scab over. THey still screamed with pain, but not so bad, and besides, Cethyn had managed to get used to it by now. He was also grateful that his injuries had closed up before he'd reached the swamp-lands because he didn't want to think of what alien diseases might have wandered into his body had they not. Furthermore, it was a good thing he'd manged to steal a gun from that funky little hideout he'd found that had reeked of Kruck. A shiny new mahine gun, complete with multiple clips of ammunition and a highly advanced sniper scope that was nonetheless outdone by the insect's goggles.
Suddenly, Cethyn sensed a presence nearby, and he stopped squelching through the mud. Extending his antennae he was able to detect an alien scent through the smells of the swamp bombarding his sensory organs. It was familiar in an alien sort of way, perhaps slightly insectile? Cethyn pondered this thought as he readied his gun for a threat and adjusted his goggles in an attempt to sight this new being. It was none too difficult--this new creature obviously had no desire to be stealthy. It was standing in a long cerulean trench coat, a shotgun of odd design in one hand, and blue goggles dissimilar to Cethyn's own covering it's eyes. The creature was looking at something, but Cethyn was unable to discern what that something was, and decided against attempting to deduce what that something might be.
Instead, he called out, "What are you doing here? Who or what are you?" Ready for a fight if this new being proved hostile, even in his current condition, Cethyn aimed his gun nonchalantly at the creature in a manner that bespoke of willingness to kill if provoked.
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Post by Triunis on Nov 17, 2003 20:00:46 GMT -5
Setthirosa suddenly blinked as he felt a new presence. He turned and blinked again as he saw an insectile creature dragging itself along on its forelimbs. He snapped his goggles up onto his forehead to get a better look.
"Good Gaea! What are you doing?"
He dropped into the mud and walked over to the creature. Bending over, his electric blue eyes shining with curiosity, he grinned his maniac grin.
"Well, I'll be d**ned! What's this thing? It's missing limbs. Should I shoot it? Nah, it looks miserable. That's pretty funny."
He leapt into the air about twenty feet, and floated there with his usual air of not really knowing where he was.
"Hey, buggy! What's your name?"
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Post by Araxis on Nov 17, 2003 21:59:22 GMT -5
Cethyn looked on at this bizarre being. It seemed utterly insane. "We . . . I . . . am Cethyn," he stated to answer its question. This was a curious creature, indeed it was. It had a peculiar manner of speech, and spoke to itself aloud. 'Definitely lacking sanity,' Cethyn thought. He was glad that it decided against shooting him, for it would be a difficult dilemma trying to escape with only four limbs. And a fight would be bloody; he'd likely get at least several more injuries, even if he took it down with him.
"As I asked before, who and what are you?" Cethyn pointed his machine gun at it in a threatening manner. He thought perhaps that this being wouldn't respond to threats, but decided to try it anyways--at least his gun would be pointed in the right direction if it proved hostille.
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Post by Triunis on Nov 17, 2003 23:55:35 GMT -5
Setthirosa giggled at the gun, and he held out his right arm. Three pipes extended from it, and began to shift and change around his forearm. In seconds, a cannon-like weapon had formed on him, glowing a bright blue, and he pointed it with malice at Cethyn.
"Don't point that thing at me, you daft bug. I have the Mahandronis! You could not hope to defeat me!"
His weapon folded up, and it seemed he'd forgotten about the insect's weapon. He then looked at it.
"As for me . . .You don't recognize me? First-class, premier, fool-blaster supreme, single best bounty hunter of all time, Ahknada Setthirosa!"
The Archarialite struck a heroic pose. It didn't really fit him, but he didn't seem to mind.
"Call me Setthirosa. What are you doing here?"
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Post by Gen on Nov 19, 2003 23:58:23 GMT -5
"Nooooooo!" the cry echoed through the clearing with
an intensity that would make a banshee squirm. The
one whose lips it flowed from rushed to the side of
DarkUmbra and knelt down beside him. She took his
hand in hers and squeezed it tightly.
She must have been dilusional. She was seeing things,
yes, that was it. She was seeing things. She needed
to get some rest. She stroked his face with her free
hand and, amist tears that were steadily falling from
her sapphire eyes, she whispered with a slight quiver
in her voice, "Wake up . . . I love you . . . you need to
wake up. We have to leave this place."
She took his shoulders and gently shook his lifeless
body. There was a high toned note of panic in her
voice as she continued to urge him out of his
unconcious state. "Please, DarkUmbra . . . we need to
leave. This might be dangerous."
She was expecting him to spring miraculously back to
life, and tell her how much he loved her and how he
missed her and how they had all the time in the world
togeather. She didn't understand, though . . . She
didn't understand. He had never kept her waiting like
this . . . She leaned down and pressed her lips against
his, trying to snap him back into her world anyway
possible.
"No. No, you can't do this to me. You wouldn't . . ."
tears were splashing onto the ground, and her bady
was starting to convulse from the sobs. She tightened
her grip on his hand and sank to the ground next to
him, her muscles tensing and her sobs echoing all
around her.
Turn around.
"You!" she glared threateningly at the creature
standing behind her. The one who had . . .
momentarily held back, yes, that was all . . . the one
who had momentarily held back the love of her life.
Anger danced in her eyes, and she made it quite clear
that she was going to rip his cold heart right out of his
chest if he did not obey her command. "Fix it."
Her mouth was set in a straight line and she was trying
to control the quiver in her lip. Her nose was red from
crying and the uncomfortable burning still pulled at her
eyelids. "NOW!" she shouted, anger coursing through
her veins. If this could not be undone . . . then bad
things were going to happen. And that may be the
understatement of the century.
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Post by Triunis on Nov 20, 2003 9:13:31 GMT -5
((Erm . . . DarkUmbra was vaporized. Nothing is left of him.))
Setthirosa froze. He heard the voice, and he turned around slowly. He saw a young woman standing near the spot where he had shot the shadow creature. A disdainful grimace spread across his face.
"Kathryn, I presume? He spoke of you in his last instant of life."
He spat on the ground. He was quite satisfied to see the bluish liquid eat away at the ground. He smiled very slightly, and looked at the woman.
"Life is fragile. It can frequently be broken, and not repaired. Your boyfriend is a whiff of hydrogen and nitrogen now, floating through the atmosphere."
He looked at the smoke rising off the end of the Tigris. He hadn't even begun to think of the repurcussions that his random killing could cause, but he wasn't about to back down on that.
"So . . . you cared for him. Do you see what that can do to you? Do you see your weakness now?"
He put the Tigris back in his trench coat. Then he stared at his right arm. He knew the immense power that was contained within it, and even in his insane state, it frightened him. He looked back at the woman, and shrugged.
"There's really nothing I can do. Even if there were, I doubt I would care."
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Post by Araxis on Nov 20, 2003 23:26:05 GMT -5
Cethyn stared at the newcomer to the swamplands with confusion. She had displayed such emotion for the passing of life, it was surprising. Furthering his confusion was a macabre and very alien feeling deep in his gut that bespoke of a . . . sympathy? . . . for her. What was happening to him? First he saw that he was an individual, and now he was feeling emotions? Even if it was naught but a mere twinge, it was a seed, and it had the potential of growing into full emotions. And it was strange. Utterly alien. Bizarre . . .
Shifting his position to one more comfortable, the Cython asked curiously "Why are you crying? Whoever it was, he was nothing but a dust mote in the cosmos. Death comes even to the Overseer in time, as . . . I . . . have learned. It is a part of life." Cethyn was begining to frighten himself. Now he was even trying to comfort another being! Such insane foolishness, he didn't even know how the human mind worked! But somehow it seemed . . . right . . . .
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Post by Triunis on Nov 20, 2003 23:44:57 GMT -5
"Fools. Both of you."
Setthirosa quivered with rage where he stood. His left eye twitched slightly, and he spoke with controlled fury.
"Emotions are to be used to strengthen oneself. The two of you have made yourselves weak by wasting those emotions on others. You sicken me."
He pulled both the Tigris and the Euphrates, pointing one at each of them.
"I've had just about enough of you. I wonder how your immune systems handle pure light . . ."
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Post by Gen on Nov 23, 2003 19:51:06 GMT -5
"No . . . no, he's not . . . he's lying right here . . . HELP
HIM!" The mage's voice quivered with fierceness, and
she was biting her tough hard enough to make it
bleed. The warm, saltiness was disconcerning, but the
numbness that had been threatening to take over her
body was pulling her away from the pain. Her vision
blurred and she turned back around and knelt down
next to the remains of her loved one.
The stones . . . so calm . . . unfinished . . .
"NOW!" Kathryn's voice cracked at the end of her
word, and she collapsed onto the ground, merely a pile
or remorse, tears, and despair.
He's aiming at you.
She knew. She had always known. It was destined to
happen. They could not die seperatly. She turned her
tear-stained face towards the creature. "Go ahead,"
she muttered spitefully.
I love you, DarkUmbra. We won't be apart long.
"Go right ahead."
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Post by Triunis on Nov 23, 2003 23:13:16 GMT -5
Setthirosa blinked. A creature was asking him to kill it? He pondered the matter briefly.
One bullet was all it took. I have caused this creature more grief than any other I've ever seen. Gaea . . . She must have loved him more than I thought. How can anyone do that? How can anyone make such an investment in another, when life is so fleeting?
The Archarialite closed both his eyes, grinned slightly, and leveled his guns at the sky.
"Ha ha ha . . . No bullet of mine will ever end your life. You have watched the one you love be killed, and you know grief. You have been reduced from a great mage to ashes. I can and will do no more."
He opened his eyes and smiled the most malicious grin he could ever remember smiling.
"No less fortunate a fate I have ever bestowed. May you suffer long and painfully."
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