"Anything is possible these days. But their skills do imply some sort of programming. There was no imagination in their fighting. That was the clue that led me to suspect that something wasn't right with them." Nightwing replied. "It doesn't matter if they were created by a God or man, the moment we start killing we lose any right to call ourselves human." He couldn't believe that he had just said that. It had been hard lessons learned from both his father and Dick. He wasn't afraid of it and knew he could if he had to. But he also knew that there was always another way. "We need to get to the leader. no matter how he made them he has some way of controlling them."
Justice League: The New Wave (IC)
- Thread starter Nubian_Legend
- Start date
"Anything is possible these days. But their skills do imply some sort of programming. There was no imagination in their fighting. That was the clue that led me to suspect that something wasn't right with them." Nightwing replied. "It doesn't matter if they were created by a God or man, the moment we start killing we lose any right to call ourselves human." He couldn't believe that he had just said that. It had been hard lessons learned from both his father and Dick. He wasn't afraid of it and knew he could if he had to. But he also knew that there was always another way. "We need to get to the leader. no matter how he made them he has some way of controlling them."
V
Varshanka
Guest
Centuries past
Standing in the shadows the Demon seethed with anger. Anger over betrayal. Anger over damnation. Anger over being forced from the Silver Spires of the Celestial City. It was time for Vengeance.
It had taken years for the humans to be subverted and coerced into action. He watched as the Human ‘king’ was flogged with spikes, a crown of thorns digging into his skull and causing blood to seep freely. He watched as the false prophet, the blasphemer was beaten and tortured for his false words.
*****
Saluting, the Centurion looked up at the false priest, the ‘King of the Jews’. Rising his spear the Centurion pierced his side, the Roman blade slid easily through the skin of the dead man. Satisfied at the results of the Past years work the Centurion turned and walked away.
And then a drop of ‘the Kings’ blood touched the ground.
The screams of agony ripping from the earth itself forced the Demon from mortal form. Shaking and shivering in pain unknowable, Xarathos slammed to the ground, writhing in pain. Screams wracked the world as The Son’s blood seeped into the ground.
*****
Walking up the hill towards The Tomb, the Demon rode the body of a Samaritan. They were so easy to fool, these humans. They never truly saw what was before them. Rounding the bend, The Soul Rider was finally bale to see HIS Tomb. And he stopped staring at the open grave.
Someone had opened it!
A drop of blood fell from a hanging body miles away. Innocent blood, the world screamed for Revenge.
FOR VENGEANCE!!
Standing in the shadows the Demon seethed with anger. Anger over betrayal. Anger over damnation. Anger over being forced from the Silver Spires of the Celestial City. It was time for Vengeance.
It had taken years for the humans to be subverted and coerced into action. He watched as the Human ‘king’ was flogged with spikes, a crown of thorns digging into his skull and causing blood to seep freely. He watched as the false prophet, the blasphemer was beaten and tortured for his false words.
*****
Saluting, the Centurion looked up at the false priest, the ‘King of the Jews’. Rising his spear the Centurion pierced his side, the Roman blade slid easily through the skin of the dead man. Satisfied at the results of the Past years work the Centurion turned and walked away.
And then a drop of ‘the Kings’ blood touched the ground.
The screams of agony ripping from the earth itself forced the Demon from mortal form. Shaking and shivering in pain unknowable, Xarathos slammed to the ground, writhing in pain. Screams wracked the world as The Son’s blood seeped into the ground.
*****
Walking up the hill towards The Tomb, the Demon rode the body of a Samaritan. They were so easy to fool, these humans. They never truly saw what was before them. Rounding the bend, The Soul Rider was finally bale to see HIS Tomb. And he stopped staring at the open grave.
Someone had opened it!
A drop of blood fell from a hanging body miles away. Innocent blood, the world screamed for Revenge.
FOR VENGEANCE!!
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Aussie_Wolf
Prowling for hugs
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
- Posts
- 11,820
Connor looked up from where he had been gathering rocks and saw the man who must be some kind of magician looking at him and then gesturing to a trunk that had appeared at his feet. Saying that there Might be something inside which could help him did not exactly fill him with confidence, but still it was better than where he had been 5 seconds before.
"Thank's, to both of you. Even if there's nothing in here I appreciate the effort," he told them as he walked up to the trunk and began to sift through the contents.
Well it was definitely magical or whatever, because it was a whole lot bigger on the inside than the outside. Connor always wondered if there was some little guy out there in the universe laughing as he folded Space to make these things. I mean there was the Tardis, those bags of holding, Rincewinds Luggage/Trunk, That bloody cupboard that contained a whole world...what was that one again?
Anyway who thought up all these things? Still they were useful in a pinch. Hell he would love a quiver like that. Now that would be great. If he could just meet that little guy and have him create a pan dimensional Quiver.
Sighing Connor kept looking and came across arrows from so many different time zones it was like looking at the progression of the weapon. He also found ones he was sure did not come from this dimension or maybe this timezone. There were ones he was used to, carbon fiber with metal heads, or wood with metal. Then there was wood with flint heads, obsidian, some made of a metal that was so light yet so strong he had no idea what it was. Some glowed with an eerie blue light and others with other colors of the spectrum.
He was able to fully restock his quiver and even bundle a few together and tie them to his legs for later. Closing the lid he looked at Kiz. "Again thank you. I might not know what half of these arrows are but I will use them on the simple principle of, "The pointy end goes in the bad guy," he chuckled. "The rest we can work out as we go along."
V
Varshanka
Guest
The end. The Beginning.
The Light Burned. The Light Spoke.
“Both of you have forsaken me. Both of you have denied me before my father. You will be My Vengeance upon Human kind.”
Wind whispered across the sands as the Mortal girl stood, the marks on her neck raw and red from the rope. As fresh as the Morning Sun the rope burns bled from angry wounds. Rolling her neck She could feel the broken bones as the crackled on each other.
The Demon knelt, forced down by the oppressive presence that was Truth and Light. “I punish you Xarathos, not for actions and deeds in Heaven above, but for the sins you have committed on Earth. For the sins and crimes you have committed against Mankind. And to mankind I bind you.”
Screams ripped across the world.
Mountains shook and exploded.
Ice storms swept across deserts.
Island cities sank beneath the waves, leaving behind only rumors and legend.
And before the Light and Truth that was and would always be, two became one. “Vengeance is your Word. And I am THE WORD!”
Looking up, her eyes glowing with an infernal heat the girl felt a tear sliding down her face. “Please.. don’t. Please.. have pity.” She begged.
“I AM!”
*****
Centuries past.
Eternity for a demon trapped inside a mortal coil.
Torment for a mortal trapped with a demon’s hate.
The Light Burned. The Light Spoke.
“Both of you have forsaken me. Both of you have denied me before my father. You will be My Vengeance upon Human kind.”
Wind whispered across the sands as the Mortal girl stood, the marks on her neck raw and red from the rope. As fresh as the Morning Sun the rope burns bled from angry wounds. Rolling her neck She could feel the broken bones as the crackled on each other.
The Demon knelt, forced down by the oppressive presence that was Truth and Light. “I punish you Xarathos, not for actions and deeds in Heaven above, but for the sins you have committed on Earth. For the sins and crimes you have committed against Mankind. And to mankind I bind you.”
Screams ripped across the world.
Mountains shook and exploded.
Ice storms swept across deserts.
Island cities sank beneath the waves, leaving behind only rumors and legend.
And before the Light and Truth that was and would always be, two became one. “Vengeance is your Word. And I am THE WORD!”
Looking up, her eyes glowing with an infernal heat the girl felt a tear sliding down her face. “Please.. don’t. Please.. have pity.” She begged.
“I AM!”
*****
Centuries past.
Eternity for a demon trapped inside a mortal coil.
Torment for a mortal trapped with a demon’s hate.
TertiusHuman
Broken Panda
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2015
- Posts
- 3,566
Maybe forgiveness comes in many forms
Garfield looked at the team as they readied themselves.
He had thought that the Rider wanted to show him animals which had been killed, animals which now dwelled in hell. Though he was quite certain that he could not shift into a demon since they are not really animal in the sense of an animal being an animal, he could try to shift into those things he saw, but the question was, what if he did and lost his soul in the attempt?
He was not certain about it, but something that would work for sure, was far more precious than what he had seen.
The Rider basically told him that he was innocent. The thefts, the lies, the deceit, it had left a mark, but his soul wasn't tainted by it. He was not completely free, since his conscious would keep bothering him at times, but he was not as guilty as he had first believed. This actually lifted a huge burden from his soul.
An emerald cat jumped onto the broken wall and waited patiently.
Garfield looked at the team as they readied themselves.
He had thought that the Rider wanted to show him animals which had been killed, animals which now dwelled in hell. Though he was quite certain that he could not shift into a demon since they are not really animal in the sense of an animal being an animal, he could try to shift into those things he saw, but the question was, what if he did and lost his soul in the attempt?
He was not certain about it, but something that would work for sure, was far more precious than what he had seen.
The Rider basically told him that he was innocent. The thefts, the lies, the deceit, it had left a mark, but his soul wasn't tainted by it. He was not completely free, since his conscious would keep bothering him at times, but he was not as guilty as he had first believed. This actually lifted a huge burden from his soul.
An emerald cat jumped onto the broken wall and waited patiently.
ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
Phantoms.
"See, that's what I thought I should be doing," Rose mumbled. "What all the good superheroes and social activists and mild-mannered literary researchers do when they wake up one day with super powers. But why do I feel like we're just standing on the lip of the abyss... of something so much bigger and darker and madder?"
Rose stared to nowhere for a moment.
As though she were remembering something and couldn't remember from where.
"You can't kill an idea. Even if you kill all the people who believe in it. I know, I was dead and I was an idea and I'm still alive."
It made no sense as she said it, she knew that. And yet.
But then she shook her head to clear it, to shake it off and get back out of her head and into the world. "You're on for the hot chocolate and fudge. Maybe we can just get a space heater, though."
Rose wasn't quite back into smile territory yet, though she appreciated the gesture. "No. No, no, no. You-- she did a really hard thing for me and it hurt her. Hobbling her would be a terrible thank you. Let's just do what we came here to do."
"See, that's what I thought I should be doing," Rose mumbled. "What all the good superheroes and social activists and mild-mannered literary researchers do when they wake up one day with super powers. But why do I feel like we're just standing on the lip of the abyss... of something so much bigger and darker and madder?"
Rose stared to nowhere for a moment.
As though she were remembering something and couldn't remember from where.
"You can't kill an idea. Even if you kill all the people who believe in it. I know, I was dead and I was an idea and I'm still alive."
It made no sense as she said it, she knew that. And yet.
But then she shook her head to clear it, to shake it off and get back out of her head and into the world. "You're on for the hot chocolate and fudge. Maybe we can just get a space heater, though."
Rose wasn't quite back into smile territory yet, though she appreciated the gesture. "No. No, no, no. You-- she did a really hard thing for me and it hurt her. Hobbling her would be a terrible thank you. Let's just do what we came here to do."
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ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
Snow Angels.
"Definitely not better," Lisa agreed, touching her forehead, scrunching shut her eyes. "But damn, that was a ride. I... this is... this is going to take some serious getting used to. But I suppose this look is more 'me' than that golden glowing firebird of paradise crap."
As Kiz armed up the new Arrow kid and then braced himself with his H.R. Giger cat-o'-nine-tails, Cold approached Lisa, staring at her in an analytical, deciphering way that, for him, was almost-- worried, sympathetic.
Did this violate his code? Did this count as doing something to attack his crew? Should he fight back?
"Leese," he growled quietly, intently. "Talk to me."
"I'm okay," Lisa promised. "I think. He did something... we did something... probably we shouldn't've done on the first date. I think I've fallen deeper into the hole I became when I died. But-- I have better footing now. There's no vertigo, no constant sense of teetering on the edge. I'm stronger. It cost me, but I'm... steadier."
"If you say so," Cold allowed, but with visible reluctance. "Strong and steady seems like a good payoff to me. But if there's more side-effects. Into the Mouth of Madness shit. You tell me. Yeah?"
"Yeah," Lisa promised, undulating, watching Kiz with a kind of reverence unknown to someone as irreverent as her. "Yeah, you got it."
"Definitely not better," Lisa agreed, touching her forehead, scrunching shut her eyes. "But damn, that was a ride. I... this is... this is going to take some serious getting used to. But I suppose this look is more 'me' than that golden glowing firebird of paradise crap."
As Kiz armed up the new Arrow kid and then braced himself with his H.R. Giger cat-o'-nine-tails, Cold approached Lisa, staring at her in an analytical, deciphering way that, for him, was almost-- worried, sympathetic.
Did this violate his code? Did this count as doing something to attack his crew? Should he fight back?
"Leese," he growled quietly, intently. "Talk to me."
"I'm okay," Lisa promised. "I think. He did something... we did something... probably we shouldn't've done on the first date. I think I've fallen deeper into the hole I became when I died. But-- I have better footing now. There's no vertigo, no constant sense of teetering on the edge. I'm stronger. It cost me, but I'm... steadier."
"If you say so," Cold allowed, but with visible reluctance. "Strong and steady seems like a good payoff to me. But if there's more side-effects. Into the Mouth of Madness shit. You tell me. Yeah?"
"Yeah," Lisa promised, undulating, watching Kiz with a kind of reverence unknown to someone as irreverent as her. "Yeah, you got it."
ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
Unfathomable.
"Your intuition and deduction as ever do you credit, my friend," Aquaman frowned. "We have been so busy doing damage control that we have missed a deeper mystery right in front of our faces."
Heatwave grinned at her like he'd won the lottery. "Go ahead and threaten me with a good time, sister."
"We will each act according to our own consciences and necessities," Aquaman decided.
Aquaman stood tall, there, perhaps he had not suffered as many losses as Kiz, but he was working on shouldering the weight of the world. "Nightwing is right that we must retain what keeps us heroic, what sets us apart from those who would simply murder their opposition to succeed. But the Ghost Rider is right that we must be expedient and do what we need to do. So I propose a compromise."
"We punch through. A single, focused concentrated effort. Our enemies are arrayed around our objective. We punch through, hard and fast, using our speedier members and our raw power to our advantage to cross the field before they can close in on us and overwhelm us from all sides."
"Even if we cannot defuse Kobra's means of manipulating his minions, by uprooting and tearing down their Messiah, the head of the snake, we will take away their rallying-point and their so-called holy mandate. Get through the soldiers to the general, that is the priority."
"If you must kill on the way through, so be it. If you cannot bear to do so, find another way, a way to stop them hard and fast without killing them, but find it soon and do not fail. I should not need to remind us again that the soul of this nation, this continent, and perhaps the world rests on the fulcrum of this moment and the ones that follow."
"Justice League. To Action!"
"Your intuition and deduction as ever do you credit, my friend," Aquaman frowned. "We have been so busy doing damage control that we have missed a deeper mystery right in front of our faces."
Heatwave grinned at her like he'd won the lottery. "Go ahead and threaten me with a good time, sister."
"We will each act according to our own consciences and necessities," Aquaman decided.
Aquaman stood tall, there, perhaps he had not suffered as many losses as Kiz, but he was working on shouldering the weight of the world. "Nightwing is right that we must retain what keeps us heroic, what sets us apart from those who would simply murder their opposition to succeed. But the Ghost Rider is right that we must be expedient and do what we need to do. So I propose a compromise."
"We punch through. A single, focused concentrated effort. Our enemies are arrayed around our objective. We punch through, hard and fast, using our speedier members and our raw power to our advantage to cross the field before they can close in on us and overwhelm us from all sides."
"Even if we cannot defuse Kobra's means of manipulating his minions, by uprooting and tearing down their Messiah, the head of the snake, we will take away their rallying-point and their so-called holy mandate. Get through the soldiers to the general, that is the priority."
"If you must kill on the way through, so be it. If you cannot bear to do so, find another way, a way to stop them hard and fast without killing them, but find it soon and do not fail. I should not need to remind us again that the soul of this nation, this continent, and perhaps the world rests on the fulcrum of this moment and the ones that follow."
"Justice League. To Action!"
Folding Ourselves in Spacetime (tag Chas and Aussie)
"Do not use the glass ones on targets that matter unless you've anointed their tips with your own blood first. A price must be paid to stave off their betrayal. Pay the price now when it's cheaper." Kiz was slow and shaky, as his hand rose and pointed at the ones he was referring to. "Unseelie weapons will puncture through steel and other mundane materials to get at a mortal flesh, but they they love to betray in your darkest hour unless bound." He looked over the rest of the menagerie of arrows Connor had collected. "Those three are naga fangs, their poison will kill in three steps. Those five are from your bronze age." He shrugged. "The seven obsidian have minor enchantments, they shatter on impact and send thousands of shrapnel that linger in the air. Even if armored, inhalation of them will kill within minutes. Those four bone hafted arrows return to fight on if called upon by a Diyin Diné of the Navajo blessed as they are by the Corn Maidens." He looked over the rest. "The rest is self explanatory."
With Connor done, Kiz allowed gravity to take him to his knees. He reached into the chest and removed a matte black book whose pages looked like they covered the entire grayscale spectrum. He set the book besides himself on the ground, while he set about refolding the chest back into a small strip of paper. He closed the lid, push the top in and collapsed the corners. Made careful folds along well trodden lines, but still it was always harder to fold then to unfold. He was panting and shaking by the end, but the task was done. Before he put the paper away, he held it up to Lisa.
"This is you as much as it is me. Do you understand?"
He tucked the paper away into his back pocket and shifted his weight from side to side to get his legs crossed.
He looked up at her and frowned. "Maybe not." He opened the book and removed two black sheets of paper and one that was stark white. His hands were large mattock and his fingers sausage thick, but he worked with deft grace making sixty-seven tears in one of the black sheets, four in the white, and thirteen in the other black and then weaving the three sheets of paper into one while folding them in and over each other. Folds became lines which took on forms. A women emerged with streaming black tendril hair and porcelain white skin and a flowing midnight gown. "The differences between you and I are only a few folds and creases." Kiz tipped the origami simulcrum of Lisa so the underside of the dress was exposed. From this direction the origami women looked more like a gapping chasm with tendrils radiating from around the hole. "And our orientation along the many dimensions and planes of our existence."
"Do not use the glass ones on targets that matter unless you've anointed their tips with your own blood first. A price must be paid to stave off their betrayal. Pay the price now when it's cheaper." Kiz was slow and shaky, as his hand rose and pointed at the ones he was referring to. "Unseelie weapons will puncture through steel and other mundane materials to get at a mortal flesh, but they they love to betray in your darkest hour unless bound." He looked over the rest of the menagerie of arrows Connor had collected. "Those three are naga fangs, their poison will kill in three steps. Those five are from your bronze age." He shrugged. "The seven obsidian have minor enchantments, they shatter on impact and send thousands of shrapnel that linger in the air. Even if armored, inhalation of them will kill within minutes. Those four bone hafted arrows return to fight on if called upon by a Diyin Diné of the Navajo blessed as they are by the Corn Maidens." He looked over the rest. "The rest is self explanatory."
With Connor done, Kiz allowed gravity to take him to his knees. He reached into the chest and removed a matte black book whose pages looked like they covered the entire grayscale spectrum. He set the book besides himself on the ground, while he set about refolding the chest back into a small strip of paper. He closed the lid, push the top in and collapsed the corners. Made careful folds along well trodden lines, but still it was always harder to fold then to unfold. He was panting and shaking by the end, but the task was done. Before he put the paper away, he held it up to Lisa.
"This is you as much as it is me. Do you understand?"
He tucked the paper away into his back pocket and shifted his weight from side to side to get his legs crossed.
He looked up at her and frowned. "Maybe not." He opened the book and removed two black sheets of paper and one that was stark white. His hands were large mattock and his fingers sausage thick, but he worked with deft grace making sixty-seven tears in one of the black sheets, four in the white, and thirteen in the other black and then weaving the three sheets of paper into one while folding them in and over each other. Folds became lines which took on forms. A women emerged with streaming black tendril hair and porcelain white skin and a flowing midnight gown. "The differences between you and I are only a few folds and creases." Kiz tipped the origami simulcrum of Lisa so the underside of the dress was exposed. From this direction the origami women looked more like a gapping chasm with tendrils radiating from around the hole. "And our orientation along the many dimensions and planes of our existence."
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Aussie_Wolf
Prowling for hugs
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
- Posts
- 11,820
Connor nodded at the big warrior. He had no real understanding of what he was talking about but then he was not used to Magic. However if he said the arrows needed a bit of his blood before he fired them, then who was he to doubt him. Besides the edges looked sharp so pricking himself would not be a problem.
Connor nodded his thanks to him. Well at least now he had some idea what he was playing with. He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to summon the bone shafted arrows back but he would give it a shot. Maybe he would try pricking himself with them as well, after all it couldn't hurt. He would use the Obsidian ones for crowd control and make sure to fire them well away from any league members. They would be good for getting rid of any more of those rampaging hulks.
Smiling he placed the arrows one at a time into his quiver, making sure his fingers processed the feel of each one. As he slipped the bone and glass ones in he pricked the ends on his thumb and drew blood and smeared the head. It seamed to glow a little before he slipped it in and he smiled. Well he hoped he had paid the price correctly or he was going to be in trouble.
Once they were all in he moved around a little and then practiced drawing them making sure he drew the right ones. He smiled as he found it easier and easier for his fingers to tell them apart and after a minute he could pull have the arrow on the string, aimed and ready to release in one swift movement.
He was ready.
ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
There's a Little Black Spot on The Sun Today.
Lisa stared at him for a long moment. "...yes?"
Lisa's brow furrowed.
"I had a crush on this boy genius once but it never worked out. Partly because I couldn't ever wrap my brain around this Carl Sagan, Kate & Leopold crap. So-- yeah, no, I don't get it. Not even for a second."
"But no-one's ever made me anything so pretty, not ever, and fingers that nimble can do whatever they want to me."
"And I trust you. Well, as much as a lady like me can trust anyone. For whatever that's worth. I hope it's worth a lot."
Lisa stared at him for a long moment. "...yes?"
Lisa's brow furrowed.
"I had a crush on this boy genius once but it never worked out. Partly because I couldn't ever wrap my brain around this Carl Sagan, Kate & Leopold crap. So-- yeah, no, I don't get it. Not even for a second."
"But no-one's ever made me anything so pretty, not ever, and fingers that nimble can do whatever they want to me."
"And I trust you. Well, as much as a lady like me can trust anyone. For whatever that's worth. I hope it's worth a lot."
Kiz and Lisa
Lisa's brow furrowed. "I had a crush on this boy genius once but it never worked out. Partly because I couldn't ever wrap my brain around this Carl Sagan, Kate & Leopold crap. So-- yeah, no, I don't get it. Not even for a second."
"A diamond isn't born in a day." Kiz reached up and took her chin between his forefinger and thumb. "It takes time and effort. Lots of it. Not genius." He raised up the book. "Your a diamond, Lisa." He said it with a sincerity that had no place for mockery or compliment. It was a truth to him. His eyes remained on hers. His face was placid. There was no encouraging smile, like when a coach gives a pep talk to a struggling player or a parent tells their kid they can reach for the stars. It was more like a coach informing a player about the time a game would be or a parent telling their child that they were loved.
"But no-one's ever made me anything so pretty, not ever, and fingers that nimble can do whatever they want to me."
"They will," his forefinger traced down the underside of her chin and along her throat. He had no trouble with her selective etherealness. "They will."
"And I trust you. Well, as much as a lady like me can trust anyone. For whatever that's worth. I hope it's worth a lot."
"It is." Kiz showered Lisa in a rare smile. "It is." He handed Lisa the book. "This is for you. Also given without asking for anything in return. Your Arcanum. Use it to practice origami. It's not good or much else. There are very few crutches for those called to the Void." Kiz turned and nodded at Kaldur. "We have no convenient artifacts or tools to lean on if we fall." His face broke into a small grin "But we'll lean on each other for a long, long time. One of the few perks we'll share."
Lisa's brow furrowed. "I had a crush on this boy genius once but it never worked out. Partly because I couldn't ever wrap my brain around this Carl Sagan, Kate & Leopold crap. So-- yeah, no, I don't get it. Not even for a second."
"A diamond isn't born in a day." Kiz reached up and took her chin between his forefinger and thumb. "It takes time and effort. Lots of it. Not genius." He raised up the book. "Your a diamond, Lisa." He said it with a sincerity that had no place for mockery or compliment. It was a truth to him. His eyes remained on hers. His face was placid. There was no encouraging smile, like when a coach gives a pep talk to a struggling player or a parent tells their kid they can reach for the stars. It was more like a coach informing a player about the time a game would be or a parent telling their child that they were loved.
"But no-one's ever made me anything so pretty, not ever, and fingers that nimble can do whatever they want to me."
"They will," his forefinger traced down the underside of her chin and along her throat. He had no trouble with her selective etherealness. "They will."
"And I trust you. Well, as much as a lady like me can trust anyone. For whatever that's worth. I hope it's worth a lot."
"It is." Kiz showered Lisa in a rare smile. "It is." He handed Lisa the book. "This is for you. Also given without asking for anything in return. Your Arcanum. Use it to practice origami. It's not good or much else. There are very few crutches for those called to the Void." Kiz turned and nodded at Kaldur. "We have no convenient artifacts or tools to lean on if we fall." His face broke into a small grin "But we'll lean on each other for a long, long time. One of the few perks we'll share."
ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
Stabbing into The Heart of The Heartland. (Time-Skip)
For all the mystical yellow-gold lightning scorching up the sky to the top of the dome between the cities, there wasn't a lot of thunder.
So when this engine roared like a thunderstorm that would end the world, it echoed loudly in that abandoned cityscape indeed.
And what an engine it was.
In the parking lot around where the sports complex used to be before it had been dimensionally displaced to shut down a Lovecraftian horror, the team had found a bad-ass black Romanaclef convertible.
The Rider had torn the roof off with less effort than it took you to read this sentence. And in getting into the driver's seat, the Romanaclef had become her Ride-- flaming tires, invulnerable regenerating paint job, hellfire hemi and all.
And then they'd loaded up.
Captain Cold and Heatwave in the back seat with Milton!G.R.I.D., Ruby!G.R.I.D. up in the passenger seat, all five of them laying down covering fire with their respective weaponry even as The Ghost Rider drove like a Batmobile out of Hell.
Behind and beside the Romanaclef, Green Arrow straddled The Ghost Rider's motorcycle-- not sentient, as such, but linked to The Rider such that it could race in a straight line alongside her without The Rider's guidance... which freed Connor up to twang off some shots of his own.
The army of Blackadders and Ajagar saw them coming, of course.
They swarmed like cockroaches out of a broken New York City Dumpster, teeming, seething, ready to squash this reckless wrecking crew.
But this team had grown tremendously, and even in the infinitesimal time they had been rolling together, they had learned to get each other's backs.
And the rumble of The Rider's Romanaclef was joined by a dual sonic boom, as Wonder Girl and The Martian Manhuntress flew side-by-side hand-in-hand, swooping ahead of The Rider and her posse just above ground level and punching aside any Ajagar mammoths that tried to obstruct The Rider's lane-- physically or psychokinetically, the effect was the same.
As they did so, a third sonic boom joined the powerhouse ladies as Velocity dashed through the Blackadders now robbed of their defensive line, stealing their swords and tossing them up into the air...
...where Static would snag them with his electromagnetism and toss them furiously away. Static rode his flying disc, barely above the ground, gritting his teeth against the pounding forces of the energies that surrounded their target... but he had Aquaman with him on the disc, willing The Champion's Trident to buffer Static against these forces, protecting him until they could power through.
Beast Boy had taken smilodon form, green and feline and powerful as an Eternian Battle Cat, with Wildcat riding on his back and yowling, snarling at the air--
--any disarmed Blackadders who tried to attack would find themselves no match for the combined claws of Thea Grant and her sabertoothed new friend.
The Ebon Glider swirled along, a fearsome writhing mass of darksome tendrils, Kiz wrapped up in her embrace-- she could carry him if he let her, though the Lasher would render him as immovable as Mjolnir if someone tried this without his leave-- and none dared approach them.
Bringing up the rearguard were Raven, Renegade, and Nightwing, Raven scowling at the way her mental safeguards itched whenever Heatwave unleashed his flamethrower, but nevertheless providing telekinetic shields and fire support for allies ahead and against enemies behind. Renegade and Nightwing had each secured themselves motorcycles of their own, and between shuriken and gunfire they made short work of any stragglers-- though with flawless precision Nightwing brought his enemies down with non-fatal wounds.
In this way, the unstoppable juggernaut that was The Justice League and their allies punch a hole through the wall of Kobra's forces and into the heart of power over the river between The Gem Cities.
And as they burst through--
--they found--
The Keystone-Central Bridge.
Wreathed in yellow-gold electric flame.
It was this that poured energies up towards the top of the dome-- projected the dome-- like some sort of tuning fork for transdimensional forces... the wire suspension of the bridge conducting the ambient-material/folded-spacial juices that maintained and erected Kobra's teleport network.
Like entering the eye of a hurricane, Static would find that the pounding pressures of approaching this nexus were much less now that he was actually in it--
--and indeed, the flyers would quickly find that the spacial distortions that had forced them down to ground level were, ironically, counter-intuitively, of negligible effect this close to the focal locus.
And at the heart of it all, at the very middle of the Keystone-Central Bridge, there sat Kobra himself, the cult leader and despot, on a throne built for the purpose. Blithely uncaring of the energies that coursed around him, he was not unlike certain Biblical figures in a Fiery Furnace. Unsinged. Unruffled.
With him stood his Lieutenant, who narrowed his eyes at the arrival of the heroes, and looked to his Lord and Savior.
Kobra simply nodded, and gestured dismissively at the heroes-- as though they were gnats beneath his notice.
And Kobra's Lieutenant called out-- "STRIKEFORCE KOBRA! DEFEND OUR GOD! FAITH TO KALI YUGA!"
For all the mystical yellow-gold lightning scorching up the sky to the top of the dome between the cities, there wasn't a lot of thunder.
So when this engine roared like a thunderstorm that would end the world, it echoed loudly in that abandoned cityscape indeed.
And what an engine it was.
In the parking lot around where the sports complex used to be before it had been dimensionally displaced to shut down a Lovecraftian horror, the team had found a bad-ass black Romanaclef convertible.
The Rider had torn the roof off with less effort than it took you to read this sentence. And in getting into the driver's seat, the Romanaclef had become her Ride-- flaming tires, invulnerable regenerating paint job, hellfire hemi and all.
And then they'd loaded up.
Captain Cold and Heatwave in the back seat with Milton!G.R.I.D., Ruby!G.R.I.D. up in the passenger seat, all five of them laying down covering fire with their respective weaponry even as The Ghost Rider drove like a Batmobile out of Hell.
Behind and beside the Romanaclef, Green Arrow straddled The Ghost Rider's motorcycle-- not sentient, as such, but linked to The Rider such that it could race in a straight line alongside her without The Rider's guidance... which freed Connor up to twang off some shots of his own.
The army of Blackadders and Ajagar saw them coming, of course.
They swarmed like cockroaches out of a broken New York City Dumpster, teeming, seething, ready to squash this reckless wrecking crew.
But this team had grown tremendously, and even in the infinitesimal time they had been rolling together, they had learned to get each other's backs.
And the rumble of The Rider's Romanaclef was joined by a dual sonic boom, as Wonder Girl and The Martian Manhuntress flew side-by-side hand-in-hand, swooping ahead of The Rider and her posse just above ground level and punching aside any Ajagar mammoths that tried to obstruct The Rider's lane-- physically or psychokinetically, the effect was the same.
As they did so, a third sonic boom joined the powerhouse ladies as Velocity dashed through the Blackadders now robbed of their defensive line, stealing their swords and tossing them up into the air...
...where Static would snag them with his electromagnetism and toss them furiously away. Static rode his flying disc, barely above the ground, gritting his teeth against the pounding forces of the energies that surrounded their target... but he had Aquaman with him on the disc, willing The Champion's Trident to buffer Static against these forces, protecting him until they could power through.
Beast Boy had taken smilodon form, green and feline and powerful as an Eternian Battle Cat, with Wildcat riding on his back and yowling, snarling at the air--
--any disarmed Blackadders who tried to attack would find themselves no match for the combined claws of Thea Grant and her sabertoothed new friend.
The Ebon Glider swirled along, a fearsome writhing mass of darksome tendrils, Kiz wrapped up in her embrace-- she could carry him if he let her, though the Lasher would render him as immovable as Mjolnir if someone tried this without his leave-- and none dared approach them.
Bringing up the rearguard were Raven, Renegade, and Nightwing, Raven scowling at the way her mental safeguards itched whenever Heatwave unleashed his flamethrower, but nevertheless providing telekinetic shields and fire support for allies ahead and against enemies behind. Renegade and Nightwing had each secured themselves motorcycles of their own, and between shuriken and gunfire they made short work of any stragglers-- though with flawless precision Nightwing brought his enemies down with non-fatal wounds.
In this way, the unstoppable juggernaut that was The Justice League and their allies punch a hole through the wall of Kobra's forces and into the heart of power over the river between The Gem Cities.
And as they burst through--
--they found--
The Keystone-Central Bridge.
Wreathed in yellow-gold electric flame.
It was this that poured energies up towards the top of the dome-- projected the dome-- like some sort of tuning fork for transdimensional forces... the wire suspension of the bridge conducting the ambient-material/folded-spacial juices that maintained and erected Kobra's teleport network.
Like entering the eye of a hurricane, Static would find that the pounding pressures of approaching this nexus were much less now that he was actually in it--
--and indeed, the flyers would quickly find that the spacial distortions that had forced them down to ground level were, ironically, counter-intuitively, of negligible effect this close to the focal locus.
And at the heart of it all, at the very middle of the Keystone-Central Bridge, there sat Kobra himself, the cult leader and despot, on a throne built for the purpose. Blithely uncaring of the energies that coursed around him, he was not unlike certain Biblical figures in a Fiery Furnace. Unsinged. Unruffled.
With him stood his Lieutenant, who narrowed his eyes at the arrival of the heroes, and looked to his Lord and Savior.
Kobra simply nodded, and gestured dismissively at the heroes-- as though they were gnats beneath his notice.
And Kobra's Lieutenant called out-- "STRIKEFORCE KOBRA! DEFEND OUR GOD! FAITH TO KALI YUGA!"
Aussie_Wolf
Prowling for hugs
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
- Posts
- 11,820
Green and Gold
Green Arrow had gotten used to his new arrows on the way towards their destination. He had been surprised but honored when the Rider had gestured towards her bike in such a way as to leave no doubts that he was to ride it. He had smiled at her and nodded and climbed aboard, then quickly realized he could not control it at all. He shot her a quick look and could have sworn he saw a smile on her face.
Could a skeleton smile? He wasn't sure but that was the Aura she gave off. Still it did mean he could put all his concentration into shooting at their enemies, and there had been enough of them.
Even though the big guns had taken care of the larger Ajagar's, the smaller but nimbler Blackadders had flooded around them. Once again he had loosed arrow after arrow, sticking to plain ones as much as possible as they punched their way through.
Thee few times he had been forced to use any of his 'Special' Arrows, he had been pleasantly surprised at the results. Once an Ajagar had avoided the powerhouses by the expedient method of jumping over them from a tall building while they were occupied. Connor had only seen it at the last moment as it's shadow crossed his vision. Pulling one of the obsidian arrows he turned, looked up and shot in one motion. It had impacted right in the beasts face and then the unexpected had happened. The whole arrow had exploded into millions of tiny shards, spraying outwards in a cloud of black mist.
The large Ajagar had bellowed in fury and breathed in a large portion of the cloud, while the rest had spread over the nearby Blackadders. Quickly the Blackadders had dropped but the Ajagar had continued to advance before slowing and then clutching at it's throat it had fallen then remained still.
Staring at the bodies Connor shrugged. Okay so obviously that mist was something that got into the lungs and could kill a regular person in seconds and even something as powerful as an Ajagar quickly. He just had to remember never to use them when any of his teammates was close.
Connor whistled slightly and then smiled. The more he saw of these things the more he was changing his mind about his Fathers 'Showy' arrows. Maybe there was a place for arrows like these.
By the time they made it to the bridge he had used two more of those arrows and had found out that the bone arrows would return to him although very reluctantly. Now as he sat examining the two people on the bridge he was a little worried. The one sitting on the throne hardly seemed to notice them and that was never a good sign. If the person in charge was willing to ignore people of the caliber of Wonder Girl, The spirit of Vengeance, Martian Manhuntress and Aquaman, then he was either supremely confident or a complete nutcase, both of which did not bode well.
Looking at what was probably his second in command Connor noticed something else he did not like. Total and absolute devotion. Well there would be no talking him around. Maybe if they could take him out quickly they might have a chance. After all if the big guy was too busy doing something else, take out the lieutenant and they could catch him by surprise.
Connor pulled out one of the obsidian arrows and let fly at the mans ankle. It was a strange place to fire at but with these arrows you only needed to hit a part of the body for them to work and really who would expect anyone to aim at their ankle?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Velocity had been running cover for their insertion. She had decided only to kill if it became necessary even with Nightwings revelation about them being clones. That hadn't really changed her mind all that much, some of her best friends had been clones, so to regard them as non entities was not something she was able to do.
Still she was having fun with the latest tactic she and static had come up with. As the Blackadders swarmed forward, she ran through them, disarming them and throwing their weapons into the air where he snagged them and used them against them.
It was almost too easy for her. She seemed to be getting faster as time went on. She had found a new gear after pushing herself beyond her limits trying to clear the stadium in time, and now doing this almost seemed too easy. Oh she wasn't taking anything for granted as one misstep could lead to her doom, but it just seemed that what had been so hard before was now almost effortless.
When they made the bridge she was surprised to find she was not even out of breath. Normally she would have been at least breathing hard, but now she was still raring to go and by the looks of things it was a good thing.
She listened to what was being said then decided to go ahead and try to end everything quickly. She had to hope their was no force field up around Kobra but he seemed to be vulnerable. She still had the two daggers she had taken to take lives if needed and now she drew them and took off at top speed straight towards the throne looking to use the pommels to knock out not only Kobra but his lieutenant as well.
Green Arrow had gotten used to his new arrows on the way towards their destination. He had been surprised but honored when the Rider had gestured towards her bike in such a way as to leave no doubts that he was to ride it. He had smiled at her and nodded and climbed aboard, then quickly realized he could not control it at all. He shot her a quick look and could have sworn he saw a smile on her face.
Could a skeleton smile? He wasn't sure but that was the Aura she gave off. Still it did mean he could put all his concentration into shooting at their enemies, and there had been enough of them.
Even though the big guns had taken care of the larger Ajagar's, the smaller but nimbler Blackadders had flooded around them. Once again he had loosed arrow after arrow, sticking to plain ones as much as possible as they punched their way through.
Thee few times he had been forced to use any of his 'Special' Arrows, he had been pleasantly surprised at the results. Once an Ajagar had avoided the powerhouses by the expedient method of jumping over them from a tall building while they were occupied. Connor had only seen it at the last moment as it's shadow crossed his vision. Pulling one of the obsidian arrows he turned, looked up and shot in one motion. It had impacted right in the beasts face and then the unexpected had happened. The whole arrow had exploded into millions of tiny shards, spraying outwards in a cloud of black mist.
The large Ajagar had bellowed in fury and breathed in a large portion of the cloud, while the rest had spread over the nearby Blackadders. Quickly the Blackadders had dropped but the Ajagar had continued to advance before slowing and then clutching at it's throat it had fallen then remained still.
Staring at the bodies Connor shrugged. Okay so obviously that mist was something that got into the lungs and could kill a regular person in seconds and even something as powerful as an Ajagar quickly. He just had to remember never to use them when any of his teammates was close.
Connor whistled slightly and then smiled. The more he saw of these things the more he was changing his mind about his Fathers 'Showy' arrows. Maybe there was a place for arrows like these.
By the time they made it to the bridge he had used two more of those arrows and had found out that the bone arrows would return to him although very reluctantly. Now as he sat examining the two people on the bridge he was a little worried. The one sitting on the throne hardly seemed to notice them and that was never a good sign. If the person in charge was willing to ignore people of the caliber of Wonder Girl, The spirit of Vengeance, Martian Manhuntress and Aquaman, then he was either supremely confident or a complete nutcase, both of which did not bode well.
Looking at what was probably his second in command Connor noticed something else he did not like. Total and absolute devotion. Well there would be no talking him around. Maybe if they could take him out quickly they might have a chance. After all if the big guy was too busy doing something else, take out the lieutenant and they could catch him by surprise.
Connor pulled out one of the obsidian arrows and let fly at the mans ankle. It was a strange place to fire at but with these arrows you only needed to hit a part of the body for them to work and really who would expect anyone to aim at their ankle?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Velocity had been running cover for their insertion. She had decided only to kill if it became necessary even with Nightwings revelation about them being clones. That hadn't really changed her mind all that much, some of her best friends had been clones, so to regard them as non entities was not something she was able to do.
Still she was having fun with the latest tactic she and static had come up with. As the Blackadders swarmed forward, she ran through them, disarming them and throwing their weapons into the air where he snagged them and used them against them.
It was almost too easy for her. She seemed to be getting faster as time went on. She had found a new gear after pushing herself beyond her limits trying to clear the stadium in time, and now doing this almost seemed too easy. Oh she wasn't taking anything for granted as one misstep could lead to her doom, but it just seemed that what had been so hard before was now almost effortless.
When they made the bridge she was surprised to find she was not even out of breath. Normally she would have been at least breathing hard, but now she was still raring to go and by the looks of things it was a good thing.
She listened to what was being said then decided to go ahead and try to end everything quickly. She had to hope their was no force field up around Kobra but he seemed to be vulnerable. She still had the two daggers she had taken to take lives if needed and now she drew them and took off at top speed straight towards the throne looking to use the pommels to knock out not only Kobra but his lieutenant as well.
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TertiusHuman
Broken Panda
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2015
- Posts
- 3,566
Breaking through the lines of the cannon fodder actually went down quite well. It did feel weird to start off with Thea seated on his back and the way she shifted, moved and pivoted made things even more weird for him.The ones that she couldn't get to, the mad charges from the front, fell away with feral strokes across their chests, faces, legs and some just slumped from broken necks or backs. He picked up a few nicks along the way, but none too serious.
When they pulled to a stop on the bridge, Garfield felt a slight shudder of danger, that animal sixth sense kicking in. Even though he was sure that the two figures didn't seem like they posed much of a threat, back in his mind a little voice went crazy about not rushing in.
'I don't like this.'
He wasn't sure which one of the telepaths would pick up his feline brain, but he placed that little thought on the table.
When they pulled to a stop on the bridge, Garfield felt a slight shudder of danger, that animal sixth sense kicking in. Even though he was sure that the two figures didn't seem like they posed much of a threat, back in his mind a little voice went crazy about not rushing in.
'I don't like this.'
He wasn't sure which one of the telepaths would pick up his feline brain, but he placed that little thought on the table.
ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
Numbering the Beasts.
"These days I look more like coal, if you hadn't noticed," Lisa had drawled in reply, but just as there was no mockery in Kiz' tone, neither was there regret in Lisa's. "But if you're saying I'm a diamond waiting to happen, I guess that still works."
"But no-one's ever made me anything so pretty, not ever, and fingers that nimble can do whatever they want to me."
She'd shivered, and her eyelids had fluttered, and the fluttering had rippled through every one of her tendrils like a flock of obsidian butterflies. "I'm gonna hold you to that, dammit, soon's you're done hacking up all your lungs."
"And I trust you. Well, as much as a lady like me can trust anyone. For whatever that's worth. I hope it's worth a lot."
She'd stared at the book. She'd never been the crafty sort, no glue-guns or bedazzling for her as a kid. But she had figured she could fold like a motherfucker with these nimble tendrils now... "Origami. Huh."
"Start by leaning on me, sugar. Things are gonna get bumpy. We'll cross that long time when we come to it. I'm more of a moment-by-moment girl, and this is one bastard of a moment."
Red red eyes wide wide with the Martian equivalent of adrenaline-- the frantic bewilderment of a neophyte standing on the edge of a battlefield-- Rose put her hand on Garfield's smilodon flank and bit her lip.
<"Me neither. Why are they just sitting there?">
Connor sent an enchanted obsidian arrow slicing towards their ultimate foe, a fletching that could shatter into innumerable glassy flechettes and give its target a death of a thousand cuts both inside and out. His aim, even over such an impossible distance, was unerring, accounting for the crossbreezes and the arch of the river-bridge with the same instinctive math as a hawk in flight.
In the same instant, Velocity, armed with slicing blades of her own, streaked towards Kobra and his second-in-command...
Perhaps because Carin had pushed herself harder than ever before in these last battles, perhaps because she had forced herself to advance in her power, she might be sensitive enough to the lightning that coursed in her cyber-augmented veins to feel The Speed Force clench like a fist...
...giving her a nanosecond to react as a purple streak came out of seeming nowhere, another speedster, reaching out and snatching that obsidian arrow and hurling it at Carin's chest at shatterneck speeds.
Moments Ago.
********
********
"These days I look more like coal, if you hadn't noticed," Lisa had drawled in reply, but just as there was no mockery in Kiz' tone, neither was there regret in Lisa's. "But if you're saying I'm a diamond waiting to happen, I guess that still works."
"But no-one's ever made me anything so pretty, not ever, and fingers that nimble can do whatever they want to me."
She'd shivered, and her eyelids had fluttered, and the fluttering had rippled through every one of her tendrils like a flock of obsidian butterflies. "I'm gonna hold you to that, dammit, soon's you're done hacking up all your lungs."
"And I trust you. Well, as much as a lady like me can trust anyone. For whatever that's worth. I hope it's worth a lot."
She'd stared at the book. She'd never been the crafty sort, no glue-guns or bedazzling for her as a kid. But she had figured she could fold like a motherfucker with these nimble tendrils now... "Origami. Huh."
"Start by leaning on me, sugar. Things are gonna get bumpy. We'll cross that long time when we come to it. I'm more of a moment-by-moment girl, and this is one bastard of a moment."
Moments Since.
Now.
*******
Now.
*******
Red red eyes wide wide with the Martian equivalent of adrenaline-- the frantic bewilderment of a neophyte standing on the edge of a battlefield-- Rose put her hand on Garfield's smilodon flank and bit her lip.
<"Me neither. Why are they just sitting there?">
Connor sent an enchanted obsidian arrow slicing towards their ultimate foe, a fletching that could shatter into innumerable glassy flechettes and give its target a death of a thousand cuts both inside and out. His aim, even over such an impossible distance, was unerring, accounting for the crossbreezes and the arch of the river-bridge with the same instinctive math as a hawk in flight.
In the same instant, Velocity, armed with slicing blades of her own, streaked towards Kobra and his second-in-command...
Perhaps because Carin had pushed herself harder than ever before in these last battles, perhaps because she had forced herself to advance in her power, she might be sensitive enough to the lightning that coursed in her cyber-augmented veins to feel The Speed Force clench like a fist...
...giving her a nanosecond to react as a purple streak came out of seeming nowhere, another speedster, reaching out and snatching that obsidian arrow and hurling it at Carin's chest at shatterneck speeds.
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V
Varshanka
Guest
Renegade - Today is a Good Day to Die!
A lifetime of lifetimes spent killing to survive. Killing to fend of poachers and man predators that sought to take what was not theirs had honed reflexes and nerves/muscle reaction times to as close as humanly possible for a nonspeedster.
Renegade saw things on a different level of awareness. Not psychic, but a instinctual understanding of air/pressure/speed/temperature/gravity. So when another speedster entered the arena the gunfighter for the dark ice age of mankind moved. Revolver and hand cannon rose up, several shots twitching away before the targets were even understood.
The Ugly bitch on a throne, The stoic Lieutenant standing before him, where the speedster would be in microseconds, and a last shot at the arrow.
“Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam,” she murmured in her peoples tongue. A language so old history had forgotten it. Not even archeology had discovered that her people had once spoken. And once a person had lived long enough they just got tired of it.
Caring had ended a long time ago. That’s how an individual became so good. Stop caring. About anything. People didn’t exist. It was just a bullet and bone. A blade and arteries. Poisons and meat. Everything died. And today was Kali Yuga’s day.
The bike rocketed forwards at speeds even stunt drivers, thrill junkies, and suicidal drivers avoided.
150
The bike bounced and weaved around rubble, trash, and interfering cannon fodder.
175
The engine roared in protest as the throttle was twisted further and further. Bumps of gravel were like launch pads. Glass was razor death.
200
The bike hit a loading ramp, launching into the air. Tires screamed on metal rooftop. A gun barked in rapid fire. Reloading was simple muscle memory. One handed.
250
Vaulting from roof to roof, twisting and dodging around sudden pressure zone, firing at the same zones.
300
The engine screamed in terror and protest. Pain ripping through the bike as it finally gave out. The engine stressed far beyond tolerance, began to overheat as something inside locked and failed, as the driver pitched herself into a somersault, weapons snapping and barking as tungsten shells spewed forth.
A lifetime of lifetimes spent killing to survive. Killing to fend of poachers and man predators that sought to take what was not theirs had honed reflexes and nerves/muscle reaction times to as close as humanly possible for a nonspeedster.
Renegade saw things on a different level of awareness. Not psychic, but a instinctual understanding of air/pressure/speed/temperature/gravity. So when another speedster entered the arena the gunfighter for the dark ice age of mankind moved. Revolver and hand cannon rose up, several shots twitching away before the targets were even understood.
The Ugly bitch on a throne, The stoic Lieutenant standing before him, where the speedster would be in microseconds, and a last shot at the arrow.
“Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam,” she murmured in her peoples tongue. A language so old history had forgotten it. Not even archeology had discovered that her people had once spoken. And once a person had lived long enough they just got tired of it.
Caring had ended a long time ago. That’s how an individual became so good. Stop caring. About anything. People didn’t exist. It was just a bullet and bone. A blade and arteries. Poisons and meat. Everything died. And today was Kali Yuga’s day.
The bike rocketed forwards at speeds even stunt drivers, thrill junkies, and suicidal drivers avoided.
150
The bike bounced and weaved around rubble, trash, and interfering cannon fodder.
175
The engine roared in protest as the throttle was twisted further and further. Bumps of gravel were like launch pads. Glass was razor death.
200
The bike hit a loading ramp, launching into the air. Tires screamed on metal rooftop. A gun barked in rapid fire. Reloading was simple muscle memory. One handed.
250
Vaulting from roof to roof, twisting and dodging around sudden pressure zone, firing at the same zones.
300
The engine screamed in terror and protest. Pain ripping through the bike as it finally gave out. The engine stressed far beyond tolerance, began to overheat as something inside locked and failed, as the driver pitched herself into a somersault, weapons snapping and barking as tungsten shells spewed forth.
V
Varshanka
Guest
Raven - Time for Hell on Earth.
“I would theorize that they are conserving power.” Raven answered, as she floated over, her feet inches above the ground. “Time to take the battery and drain it.”
Sliding forwards she settled to the ground, taking the last few feet actually with her feet. Walking. Bowing her head she whispered. “To all those things and entities that guardian the universe and have claim upon me and my foes. Forgive me for what must be done.”
Touching the gem in her forehead for a moment she settled in place a barrier that made what she had done to Rose look like sticks and mud. A bulwark of defense and silence. Words of power slipped from her lips to caress the battle field. She couldn’t hurt the soulless with this, and she’d spent more than enough time around certain individuals to call them allies and wrap the spell around their energies.
But the ones she called foes. And had souls. Those were her target. Opening her third eye she inhaled, still casting her words of death, tears streaming down her face at the actions she was being called upon to do. To save the lives, souls, and hearts of others.
“Mauris ac libero tellus. Sed vulputate vel odio consectetur cursus. Vivamus feugiat, erat vel tristique aliquet, diam eros eleifend eros, placerat dictum sapien neque id sapien. Phasellus bibendum eu metus sed eleifend. Maecenas consectetur augue dapibus tellus condimentum, id posuere nunc facilisis. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Phasellus suscipit posuere faucibus. Ut vehicula elit neque, non fringilla lectus convallis non. Fusce convallis sed tellus non finibus. Praesent sagittis lobortis finibus. Fusce id elit eget libero pulvinar vestibulum sit amet vel nulla. Curabitur egestas, ipsum ac convallis pretium, quam magna tincidunt lectus, id maximus dolor tellus at ante. Nullam sit amet suscipit metus. Etiam diam neque, maximus vitae justo at, laoreet pharetra leo.
Morbi eu est non mi convallis fringilla. Phasellus sit amet consequat mauris, ac malesuada orci. Curabitur porttitor egestas nunc, vel semper velit molestie sed. In euismod ante sit amet blandit hendrerit. Donec a finibus urna. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Curabitur iaculis, mauris in placerat dictum, quam dui ultrices leo, in pellentesque erat nibh ut augue. Donec lacinia consequat mauris a iaculis. Quisque ut euismod sem. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam dictum dolor augue. Aliquam et justo sed dolor dictum lobortis. Sed ligula orci, vehicula in finibus in, pulvinar id ex.”
Stealing the soul of another was one of the darkest spells she knew of. But sometimes, you fought fire with a Holocaust.
“I would theorize that they are conserving power.” Raven answered, as she floated over, her feet inches above the ground. “Time to take the battery and drain it.”
Sliding forwards she settled to the ground, taking the last few feet actually with her feet. Walking. Bowing her head she whispered. “To all those things and entities that guardian the universe and have claim upon me and my foes. Forgive me for what must be done.”
Touching the gem in her forehead for a moment she settled in place a barrier that made what she had done to Rose look like sticks and mud. A bulwark of defense and silence. Words of power slipped from her lips to caress the battle field. She couldn’t hurt the soulless with this, and she’d spent more than enough time around certain individuals to call them allies and wrap the spell around their energies.
But the ones she called foes. And had souls. Those were her target. Opening her third eye she inhaled, still casting her words of death, tears streaming down her face at the actions she was being called upon to do. To save the lives, souls, and hearts of others.
“Mauris ac libero tellus. Sed vulputate vel odio consectetur cursus. Vivamus feugiat, erat vel tristique aliquet, diam eros eleifend eros, placerat dictum sapien neque id sapien. Phasellus bibendum eu metus sed eleifend. Maecenas consectetur augue dapibus tellus condimentum, id posuere nunc facilisis. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Phasellus suscipit posuere faucibus. Ut vehicula elit neque, non fringilla lectus convallis non. Fusce convallis sed tellus non finibus. Praesent sagittis lobortis finibus. Fusce id elit eget libero pulvinar vestibulum sit amet vel nulla. Curabitur egestas, ipsum ac convallis pretium, quam magna tincidunt lectus, id maximus dolor tellus at ante. Nullam sit amet suscipit metus. Etiam diam neque, maximus vitae justo at, laoreet pharetra leo.
Morbi eu est non mi convallis fringilla. Phasellus sit amet consequat mauris, ac malesuada orci. Curabitur porttitor egestas nunc, vel semper velit molestie sed. In euismod ante sit amet blandit hendrerit. Donec a finibus urna. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Curabitur iaculis, mauris in placerat dictum, quam dui ultrices leo, in pellentesque erat nibh ut augue. Donec lacinia consequat mauris a iaculis. Quisque ut euismod sem. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam dictum dolor augue. Aliquam et justo sed dolor dictum lobortis. Sed ligula orci, vehicula in finibus in, pulvinar id ex.”
Stealing the soul of another was one of the darkest spells she knew of. But sometimes, you fought fire with a Holocaust.
V
Varshanka
Guest
Wondergirl - From the Halls of Justice to the Dock by the Bay.
Knuckles hurt. Muscles ached. Her lower spine had the most intense sort of weariness that she could ever imagine. Landing beside Rose she raised an eyebrow and looked at Rose petting the green furred hulking housecat.
A whisper of something caressed the edges of thought, it sounded like Rose but she wasn’t moving her lips, and it wasn’t really words. Or loud. It was more of a ghost of a whisper from across a room. “When this is over we need to work on suntans. And sleep.”
How long had they been fighting inside this dome anyway? Minutes? Hours? Days? By Gaia and Helia it had been to long. As it was, the clothing she had managed to scavenge when the storm of death and teleportation had started was beginning to show signs of battle and speed.
She didn’t care really, training on Themyscira had been without clothing. But she was getting the feeling that Fire and Freeze were starting to look at her more. And not in a nice way either.
Knuckles hurt. Muscles ached. Her lower spine had the most intense sort of weariness that she could ever imagine. Landing beside Rose she raised an eyebrow and looked at Rose petting the green furred hulking housecat.
A whisper of something caressed the edges of thought, it sounded like Rose but she wasn’t moving her lips, and it wasn’t really words. Or loud. It was more of a ghost of a whisper from across a room. “When this is over we need to work on suntans. And sleep.”
How long had they been fighting inside this dome anyway? Minutes? Hours? Days? By Gaia and Helia it had been to long. As it was, the clothing she had managed to scavenge when the storm of death and teleportation had started was beginning to show signs of battle and speed.
She didn’t care really, training on Themyscira had been without clothing. But she was getting the feeling that Fire and Freeze were starting to look at her more. And not in a nice way either.
TertiusHuman
Broken Panda
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2015
- Posts
- 3,566
He turned his head to look at Carin as she stood next to him, he had to admit that with the animal's body came some perks, one of them being able to really enjoy the touch of a person. And since his thoughts were not guarded, he stuck with not even thinking of Thea straddling his back.
OK now that just sounded super creepy, he was not even sure that he wanted to know what she was going to do. OK don't think about it Gar, because once you think, almost the whole group knows what you're thinking... in fact they might even hear you, my inner voice...
He managed to see the blur and hear the wind through the fletching, but it was moving the wrong way. Using an all too human hip thrust to the side, he managed to shove hard against Carin and since thought traveled faster...
'Arrow!'
He just hope she understood, but since they had their own speedsters and that also meant that one of their pre-emptive strikers would become very busy very fast, he loosed a low growl and readied himself to attack, muscles bunching, preparing to launch him into the fray.
ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
Tribulation.
Vandal Savage once reflected that after a life as long as his, one's senses tend to become impossibly refined and discerning. Immediately thereafter, he identified the vintage of a fine champagne just from the sound of it being poured.
So yes.
Of course.
Someone as long-lived as Renegade stood a chance in Hell of hitting a speedster with something as mundane as a bullet when they weren't standing still. But it was still just a chance. And it was still in Hell.
Catching bullets wasn't ever as easy as The Flash made it seem. It took practice, and if you did it wrong you could snap your wrist.
...but this purple streak of a woman didn't bother trying to catch these bullets.
She just reached up with a hand and flicked them, one at a time, sent them spinning away, skipping out across the surface of the river to sink uselessly below it. Even the one that Renegade shot in the direction of the arrow to try and intercept the speedster there, this gorgeous blur just waved it off, then grabbed the arrow on schedule and hurled it for Velocity. A dart with all the force of a hurricane.
As Renegade kept firing, however, Dervish was focused on engaging with her opponent on a playing field only the ultra-fast could level up to.
But there was more where that came from.
Only instants had passed since Kobra's Lieutenant had uttered Kobra's decree.
But in front of the enthroned would-be Antichrist and his left hand, there came a shattering of green, green light, a swirl of power-- to the veteran heroes, it would look troublingly like the energy signature of a Green Lantern, but how could that be--?
--worry about that later, because out of that green green surge emerged a small crowd of figures, all of them malevolent, all of them itching for a fight after having been sidelined until now.
The Lieutenant was Kobra's left hand. But Kobra had two hands, and here was Kobra's right-- the Lady Eve, field commander for Strike Force Kobra.
With her was a woman in love-child-inspired attire-- Fauna Faust, daughter of legendary dark archmage Felix Faust.
Beside her was a creature crackling with energies like a Rainbow Raider-- all colors of the visible spectrum, it seemed that it was from this beast had come the Green Lantern-esque teleport effect. A Spectrumonster, and none of Earth's heroes would recognize anything like it.
A woman with a crackling energy whip, whose uniform resembled that of assassins previously codenamed Syonide.
A woman made seemingly from the mud of the Earth, constantly slithering and rearranging and elongating and extruding. She had the powers of a Clayface.
A pale man with black markings and a dark mohawk, like some sort of Zebra-Man.
A caped female with platinum hair and a chip on her shoulder, wearing a similar uniform to a little-known, oft-forgotten villain called The Elemental Man-- an Elemental Woman?
Front and center stood a man in a finned helmet and spacesuit like a dark mirror of legendary science-hero Adam Strange... this was the uniform of The Planet Master, but those sensitive to magicks would instantly sense that this Planet Master's power was not sci-tech like Strange or the previous Planet Master... instead his power was deeply, darkly magical... but twisted and perverted by science... harnessed in ways perhaps it was not originally meant for...
...and it was this figure who raised both hands and bellowed simply "WINDS OF NEPTUNE!" And with a crackle of anti-lightning in his armor, he summoned terrible aerokinetic cross-breezes that blew Renegade's hail of bullets off-course, sent them spinning off in different directions.
Over all of them towered a gigantic silver robot-- this was The Servitor, the original extraterrestrial robot that Kobra had captured and reprogrammed, from which his scientists had replicated the army of smaller robots that were currently engaging a faction of Titans down in Santa Prisca.
Fauna Faust immediately put her hand to her forehead, frowned, scrunching her eyes behind her John Lennon sunglasses. "My Lady, the Raven girl-- she's using a deep magic, unholy, a soul-binding unheard-of since Jason Blood's younger days--!"
"Then let her face something truly soulless," Lady Eve decreed, and glanced up at the gleaming silver automaton. "SERVITOR! ATTACK!"
With a whine of servomotors and hydraulics the likes of which were beyond this planet's present technic, The Servitor dutifully ignited powerful rocket boosters on the underside of its bootsoles, and launched itself towards Raven as she recited that long, long, long string of Latin...
...and landed with a booooom in front of her before unleashing a storm of crimson laser bolts from cannons embedded in its palms and wrists.
Vandal Savage once reflected that after a life as long as his, one's senses tend to become impossibly refined and discerning. Immediately thereafter, he identified the vintage of a fine champagne just from the sound of it being poured.
So yes.
Of course.
Someone as long-lived as Renegade stood a chance in Hell of hitting a speedster with something as mundane as a bullet when they weren't standing still. But it was still just a chance. And it was still in Hell.
Catching bullets wasn't ever as easy as The Flash made it seem. It took practice, and if you did it wrong you could snap your wrist.
...but this purple streak of a woman didn't bother trying to catch these bullets.
She just reached up with a hand and flicked them, one at a time, sent them spinning away, skipping out across the surface of the river to sink uselessly below it. Even the one that Renegade shot in the direction of the arrow to try and intercept the speedster there, this gorgeous blur just waved it off, then grabbed the arrow on schedule and hurled it for Velocity. A dart with all the force of a hurricane.
As Renegade kept firing, however, Dervish was focused on engaging with her opponent on a playing field only the ultra-fast could level up to.
But there was more where that came from.
Only instants had passed since Kobra's Lieutenant had uttered Kobra's decree.
But in front of the enthroned would-be Antichrist and his left hand, there came a shattering of green, green light, a swirl of power-- to the veteran heroes, it would look troublingly like the energy signature of a Green Lantern, but how could that be--?
--worry about that later, because out of that green green surge emerged a small crowd of figures, all of them malevolent, all of them itching for a fight after having been sidelined until now.
The Lieutenant was Kobra's left hand. But Kobra had two hands, and here was Kobra's right-- the Lady Eve, field commander for Strike Force Kobra.
With her was a woman in love-child-inspired attire-- Fauna Faust, daughter of legendary dark archmage Felix Faust.
Beside her was a creature crackling with energies like a Rainbow Raider-- all colors of the visible spectrum, it seemed that it was from this beast had come the Green Lantern-esque teleport effect. A Spectrumonster, and none of Earth's heroes would recognize anything like it.
A woman with a crackling energy whip, whose uniform resembled that of assassins previously codenamed Syonide.
A woman made seemingly from the mud of the Earth, constantly slithering and rearranging and elongating and extruding. She had the powers of a Clayface.
A pale man with black markings and a dark mohawk, like some sort of Zebra-Man.
A caped female with platinum hair and a chip on her shoulder, wearing a similar uniform to a little-known, oft-forgotten villain called The Elemental Man-- an Elemental Woman?
Front and center stood a man in a finned helmet and spacesuit like a dark mirror of legendary science-hero Adam Strange... this was the uniform of The Planet Master, but those sensitive to magicks would instantly sense that this Planet Master's power was not sci-tech like Strange or the previous Planet Master... instead his power was deeply, darkly magical... but twisted and perverted by science... harnessed in ways perhaps it was not originally meant for...
...and it was this figure who raised both hands and bellowed simply "WINDS OF NEPTUNE!" And with a crackle of anti-lightning in his armor, he summoned terrible aerokinetic cross-breezes that blew Renegade's hail of bullets off-course, sent them spinning off in different directions.
Over all of them towered a gigantic silver robot-- this was The Servitor, the original extraterrestrial robot that Kobra had captured and reprogrammed, from which his scientists had replicated the army of smaller robots that were currently engaging a faction of Titans down in Santa Prisca.
Fauna Faust immediately put her hand to her forehead, frowned, scrunching her eyes behind her John Lennon sunglasses. "My Lady, the Raven girl-- she's using a deep magic, unholy, a soul-binding unheard-of since Jason Blood's younger days--!"
"Then let her face something truly soulless," Lady Eve decreed, and glanced up at the gleaming silver automaton. "SERVITOR! ATTACK!"
With a whine of servomotors and hydraulics the likes of which were beyond this planet's present technic, The Servitor dutifully ignited powerful rocket boosters on the underside of its bootsoles, and launched itself towards Raven as she recited that long, long, long string of Latin...
...and landed with a booooom in front of her before unleashing a storm of crimson laser bolts from cannons embedded in its palms and wrists.
Last edited:
Aussie_Wolf
Prowling for hugs
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2015
- Posts
- 11,820
The Blink Of an Eye
Carin was surprised at how much faster she had gotten. She had watched Green Arrow fire off his arrow and had timed her run to enable her to strike just as the arrow was breaking apart and releasing it's cloud of deadly shards. If there was anything preventing her from striking the Villains at least she might prove a distraction and his arrow could get the job done.
It was a total shock to see a purple clad woman appear and intercept the arrow and then launch it at her. In the nano second it took her to process that information, both she and the arrow had traveled dangerously closer to each other. In fact she was now so close she was not sure she could dodge any more without causing herself serious harm.
Acting more on instinct that any plan she clapped her hand's together rapidly, sending out a sound pulse that shattered the arrow, then slid under the fragments and continued passed the throne even as she saw more people appearing before it.
Stopping halfway down the other side of the bridge she turned and saw the new enemies they now faced, but she kept a special eye out for the speedster. She might be mistaken but she had a feeling that purple clad woman might be a little faster than she was and in this game, that could prove fatal.
Carin was surprised at how much faster she had gotten. She had watched Green Arrow fire off his arrow and had timed her run to enable her to strike just as the arrow was breaking apart and releasing it's cloud of deadly shards. If there was anything preventing her from striking the Villains at least she might prove a distraction and his arrow could get the job done.
It was a total shock to see a purple clad woman appear and intercept the arrow and then launch it at her. In the nano second it took her to process that information, both she and the arrow had traveled dangerously closer to each other. In fact she was now so close she was not sure she could dodge any more without causing herself serious harm.
Acting more on instinct that any plan she clapped her hand's together rapidly, sending out a sound pulse that shattered the arrow, then slid under the fragments and continued passed the throne even as she saw more people appearing before it.
Stopping halfway down the other side of the bridge she turned and saw the new enemies they now faced, but she kept a special eye out for the speedster. She might be mistaken but she had a feeling that purple clad woman might be a little faster than she was and in this game, that could prove fatal.
Arriving at the bridge AND The Arrival of Strikeforce Kobra
[quote="Reaching the Bridge]
Kobra simply nodded, and gestured dismissively at the heroes-- as though they were gnats beneath his notice.
And Kobra's Lieutenant called out-- "STRIKEFORCE KOBRA! DEFEND OUR GOD! FAITH TO KALI YUGA!"
[/quote]
Just because it was a trap, didn't mean it should be avoided.
To Kiz it looked like a trap. How else could this man have contained the Bestowed? There was no signs of the arcane. The man's soul was unremarkable besides the weight of a death pressed upon it's resonance. Still, Kiz had seen Hellcat come back to life and others, it wasn't justification for this. While the Adders and Ajagar had been troubling, they had not presented a true challenge. And now when Kobra and his lackey could use the backup, his men stayed back.
And Kiz had a few traps planned as well.
>>M'gann M'orzz, Ward of High House Dream of Lord L'Zoril called Morpheus Dream of The Endless, post-incarnate Last Pale Daughter of Ma'aleca'andra, The Red and Silent Planet. I humbly request the following. Allow Rose to remember how to construct a Mindscape from the dreaming. Lure Kobra into a dream of reality that moves through his successful occupation of the world. Kobra is the fulcrum which the entire enemy moves, and his greatest weakness is his faith.
Second, convey this to the heroes.<<
It's a rapid succession of images.
Connor raises his bow and fires an obsidian arrow towards the Kobra. Carin races towards Kobra at the same time the arrow strikes, drawing attention away from the major attack. Milton and Ruby's technic suits unleash a barrage of projectiles at the support structures of the bridge. The Rider hurtles herself at Kobra, reckless of the onslaught approaching.
Kaldur raises his trident and a vast stampede of water bursts from upriver, swelling with each stride towards the bridge. Karan turns and her eyes ignite with the superheated, multiplicative radiance of the sun pouring from here eyes, vaporizing the air. Virgil's hands raise heaven ward coaxing the positive ions from the ground to align and race towards the onslaught of water.
In the confusion, Lisa sweeps up the Rogues, Nightwing, Renegade, Garfield. They disappear, phase out and drop below to where all the mechatronics are hidden. Gears, pulleys, steam engines, all sorts of steampunk devices are smashed and destroyed. They destroy the machinery and the shield goes down.
Then there is darkness as Kiz considers.
One final image, Kaldur raising his trident Qayin appears behind Kaldur. The Jötunn is two feet taller and wider, casting a shadow over Kaldur. In Qayin's hand is Elivágar. As Elivágar touches the Champion's Trident, the two come into resonance and Kaldur feels not just the waters of this world but those the oldest rivers of Ginnungagap. Where true cold and death were breed and ripped from the realm of the gods and hurdled down to earth as an Ice Age. But before the heart of a new Ice Age can take hold and consume the warmth from the world, Kobra and the new glacier disappear into a black, endless maw.
Then Kiz disengaged his essence from its harmonic resonance with that of Rose's Martian heart.
--- --- ---
Everything had a resonance. Speedsters could palmate that resonance and oscillate at the frequency of a substance like glass and therefore pass through the space between one substance's molecules without loosing their own molecules. But for those bound to the Void their problems were the opposite.
As Lisa held him, her tentacles wrapped around him, Kiz watched the obsidian arrow change in mid-flight. The light turned green near Kobra and vomited forth a motley crew of foes. He continued to feign decrepitude, leaning on Lisa but it wasn't idle as his plan was set into motion.
The appearance of the trap, now sprung might deviate or delay the full execution but so long as the Hero's kept the pressure on Kobra, their enemy would be working in Xian Shou. It wasn't about who made the first mistake, but about who made the last. With the first few moves of the game set into motion, Kiz turned his attention to his end game. He'd been working on it for over an hour now. With the Nadeau finished, Kiz engaged his essence with the another being.
>>You are in my debt now.<<
>>You've got to be fucking kidding me. Hell's bells man, who do you take me for?<<
>>That is often the initial response a patient has upon waking.<<
>>That's rich considering what you did.<<
>>He won't win. He was off by three days.<<
>>Haha, isn't he always? Fine, fine. What are your terms?<<
>>Quite generous, considering. If you are interested in becoming a free agent.<<
>>Free from him? For you? Hahaha. I'm not that desperate. I'll heal up and then get my revenge.<<
>>Freedom is never free.<<
>>Fool me once, shame on you Bells.<<
>>Mutual. One degree of separation. Equal opportunity. You can draw front he Paramatma through my resonant essence.<<
>>I am his resonance, your ringing would...<<
Silence drifted between the two in the space between moments where the Void dwelt and communication was not needed but still information flowed. Centuries worth of information if it had to be spoken. If time had to pass so that the sounds waves generated by one person's larynx had to pass through pressured air then be converted back into information through a biological translation and sent via electronic impulses through several layers of neural networks to call forth a set of images and events that would then be tweaked by the presence of this new information only then then decide which slice of this new state would be shared with the originator. Back and forth they would go as seasons chased each other and the world grew older. However, as two beings that weren't limited to just biomechanical information relay petabytes of data passed back and forth.
Then the silence crept once more between them until the second entity resumed as if never cut off.
>>...You would let her? Let me?<<
>>Yes. Our trajectories would allow for a stationary orbit, but such orbits never linger.<<
>>So this how the Nadeau were enticed?<<
>>Yes. The same failures apply, but if she is able to skirt the event horizon, that is your reward. Until such time as she can bind you, I will exist as proxy to manage your downside risks. At which point-<<
>>At which point infinity is infinity. As you've made your pitch quite attractively. A pretty little bow. A cherry.<<
>>It is.<<
>>Then we have terms.<<
>>Then we have terms.<< Kiz echoed back, opening his eyes. The Void leaked from them, an unintentional side effect of so much of himself spent in the space between moments.
--- --- ---
Kiz watched Renegade's bullets ripple and scatter into the river. Raven called upon the Anti-Circle, weaving necromantic energies designed to rip the soul out of Kobra. The enemy countered by sending one of the never living, a technic monstrosity at her. The new enemy host was still just considering what they would do in response to what the heroes were executing.
Kiz planted the Lasher Staff upon the Earth and bound himself to his present location as sure as a mountain was bound to the place of its birth. "Take care Lisa." It was all the time he had to spare for their budding feelings. It was an asshole way to send some off, but neither could they afford deep romantic gestures.
[quote="Reaching the Bridge]
Kobra simply nodded, and gestured dismissively at the heroes-- as though they were gnats beneath his notice.
And Kobra's Lieutenant called out-- "STRIKEFORCE KOBRA! DEFEND OUR GOD! FAITH TO KALI YUGA!"
[/quote]
Just because it was a trap, didn't mean it should be avoided.
To Kiz it looked like a trap. How else could this man have contained the Bestowed? There was no signs of the arcane. The man's soul was unremarkable besides the weight of a death pressed upon it's resonance. Still, Kiz had seen Hellcat come back to life and others, it wasn't justification for this. While the Adders and Ajagar had been troubling, they had not presented a true challenge. And now when Kobra and his lackey could use the backup, his men stayed back.
And Kiz had a few traps planned as well.
>>M'gann M'orzz, Ward of High House Dream of Lord L'Zoril called Morpheus Dream of The Endless, post-incarnate Last Pale Daughter of Ma'aleca'andra, The Red and Silent Planet. I humbly request the following. Allow Rose to remember how to construct a Mindscape from the dreaming. Lure Kobra into a dream of reality that moves through his successful occupation of the world. Kobra is the fulcrum which the entire enemy moves, and his greatest weakness is his faith.
Second, convey this to the heroes.<<
It's a rapid succession of images.
Connor raises his bow and fires an obsidian arrow towards the Kobra. Carin races towards Kobra at the same time the arrow strikes, drawing attention away from the major attack. Milton and Ruby's technic suits unleash a barrage of projectiles at the support structures of the bridge. The Rider hurtles herself at Kobra, reckless of the onslaught approaching.
Kaldur raises his trident and a vast stampede of water bursts from upriver, swelling with each stride towards the bridge. Karan turns and her eyes ignite with the superheated, multiplicative radiance of the sun pouring from here eyes, vaporizing the air. Virgil's hands raise heaven ward coaxing the positive ions from the ground to align and race towards the onslaught of water.
In the confusion, Lisa sweeps up the Rogues, Nightwing, Renegade, Garfield. They disappear, phase out and drop below to where all the mechatronics are hidden. Gears, pulleys, steam engines, all sorts of steampunk devices are smashed and destroyed. They destroy the machinery and the shield goes down.
Then there is darkness as Kiz considers.
One final image, Kaldur raising his trident Qayin appears behind Kaldur. The Jötunn is two feet taller and wider, casting a shadow over Kaldur. In Qayin's hand is Elivágar. As Elivágar touches the Champion's Trident, the two come into resonance and Kaldur feels not just the waters of this world but those the oldest rivers of Ginnungagap. Where true cold and death were breed and ripped from the realm of the gods and hurdled down to earth as an Ice Age. But before the heart of a new Ice Age can take hold and consume the warmth from the world, Kobra and the new glacier disappear into a black, endless maw.
Then Kiz disengaged his essence from its harmonic resonance with that of Rose's Martian heart.
--- --- ---
Everything had a resonance. Speedsters could palmate that resonance and oscillate at the frequency of a substance like glass and therefore pass through the space between one substance's molecules without loosing their own molecules. But for those bound to the Void their problems were the opposite.
As Lisa held him, her tentacles wrapped around him, Kiz watched the obsidian arrow change in mid-flight. The light turned green near Kobra and vomited forth a motley crew of foes. He continued to feign decrepitude, leaning on Lisa but it wasn't idle as his plan was set into motion.
The appearance of the trap, now sprung might deviate or delay the full execution but so long as the Hero's kept the pressure on Kobra, their enemy would be working in Xian Shou. It wasn't about who made the first mistake, but about who made the last. With the first few moves of the game set into motion, Kiz turned his attention to his end game. He'd been working on it for over an hour now. With the Nadeau finished, Kiz engaged his essence with the another being.
>>You are in my debt now.<<
>>You've got to be fucking kidding me. Hell's bells man, who do you take me for?<<
>>That is often the initial response a patient has upon waking.<<
>>That's rich considering what you did.<<
>>He won't win. He was off by three days.<<
>>Haha, isn't he always? Fine, fine. What are your terms?<<
>>Quite generous, considering. If you are interested in becoming a free agent.<<
>>Free from him? For you? Hahaha. I'm not that desperate. I'll heal up and then get my revenge.<<
>>Freedom is never free.<<
>>Fool me once, shame on you Bells.<<
>>Mutual. One degree of separation. Equal opportunity. You can draw front he Paramatma through my resonant essence.<<
>>I am his resonance, your ringing would...<<
Silence drifted between the two in the space between moments where the Void dwelt and communication was not needed but still information flowed. Centuries worth of information if it had to be spoken. If time had to pass so that the sounds waves generated by one person's larynx had to pass through pressured air then be converted back into information through a biological translation and sent via electronic impulses through several layers of neural networks to call forth a set of images and events that would then be tweaked by the presence of this new information only then then decide which slice of this new state would be shared with the originator. Back and forth they would go as seasons chased each other and the world grew older. However, as two beings that weren't limited to just biomechanical information relay petabytes of data passed back and forth.
Then the silence crept once more between them until the second entity resumed as if never cut off.
>>...You would let her? Let me?<<
>>Yes. Our trajectories would allow for a stationary orbit, but such orbits never linger.<<
>>So this how the Nadeau were enticed?<<
>>Yes. The same failures apply, but if she is able to skirt the event horizon, that is your reward. Until such time as she can bind you, I will exist as proxy to manage your downside risks. At which point-<<
>>At which point infinity is infinity. As you've made your pitch quite attractively. A pretty little bow. A cherry.<<
>>It is.<<
>>Then we have terms.<<
>>Then we have terms.<< Kiz echoed back, opening his eyes. The Void leaked from them, an unintentional side effect of so much of himself spent in the space between moments.
--- --- ---
Kiz watched Renegade's bullets ripple and scatter into the river. Raven called upon the Anti-Circle, weaving necromantic energies designed to rip the soul out of Kobra. The enemy countered by sending one of the never living, a technic monstrosity at her. The new enemy host was still just considering what they would do in response to what the heroes were executing.
Kiz planted the Lasher Staff upon the Earth and bound himself to his present location as sure as a mountain was bound to the place of its birth. "Take care Lisa." It was all the time he had to spare for their budding feelings. It was an asshole way to send some off, but neither could they afford deep romantic gestures.
ChasNicollette
Allons-y Means Let's Go.
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2007
- Posts
- 16,135
Don't Blink.
In the elongated bullet-time Matrix-moment that was the fraction of an instant in which Velocity glided beneath the countless fractures of obsidian...
...she might, if she did not blink, catch an eerie, surreal glimpse of a madman's mouth grinning down at her from every single gleaming black shard of volcanic glass.
And then she slid past, and braked down the bridge, and the moment was gone.
Dervish sprinted across the surface of the river and up the back on the other side, hissing to a stop a few feet behind Velocity where she gazed warily at StrikeForce Kobra.
"Y'know, you're cute," Dervish drawled, smirking. "Too bad I'm seeing someone, it'd be nice to have someone who can... keep up with me."
In the elongated bullet-time Matrix-moment that was the fraction of an instant in which Velocity glided beneath the countless fractures of obsidian...
...she might, if she did not blink, catch an eerie, surreal glimpse of a madman's mouth grinning down at her from every single gleaming black shard of volcanic glass.
And then she slid past, and braked down the bridge, and the moment was gone.
Dervish sprinted across the surface of the river and up the back on the other side, hissing to a stop a few feet behind Velocity where she gazed warily at StrikeForce Kobra.
"Y'know, you're cute," Dervish drawled, smirking. "Too bad I'm seeing someone, it'd be nice to have someone who can... keep up with me."
V
Varshanka
Guest
Intervention
The Romanaclef snarled and roared as it traversed the streets, and up buildings, and across the river itself as the Rider raged inside. Returning at last to the solid ground of road and street it’s hair aflame the driver looked over at G.R.I.D.!RUBY. “Drive,” She/it commanded, vanishing into the flames that swirled around the car and it’s environs.
*****
Passing through the byways and highways of Hell, it’s citizens avoiding it, The Deamon Xarathos walked. Here was pain and torment. Never death. Never ending. Only when one of the Great Ones of the Unholy Council, or the Dark One himself, gave their gift was pain ended. But was it really ended, or just changed into something else’s torment?
Hell was a dark mockery of the Celestial City and It’s spires of Silver and Gold. Cupper, Brass, Bronze, Ebony twisted and writhed here, making what should have been beautiful towers bend and twist as if they themselves were in pain.
Flames faded, flesh took shape and hair of dark brown filled out and framed that beautiful face. And she walked. Alone. Untouched. The demons and damned of Hell knew her. Especially here in HER layer. Some respected her. But all of them feared her. Even more than they feared Xarathos. They fear the Riders Companion. It’s Mortal Host.
She had been here. An inmate. Prisoner. A damned soul.
Damned for betrayal and self murder.
Until The Event.
Then she had been gone.
But now. She came and went when she wished. And that scared the damned, more that The Lord of Morning ever dreamed of.
She walked.
She remembered the pain. Skin peeled from her body one cell at a time. Muscle, sinew, and bone roasted as fat dripped from her face and chest. Her thighs melting. Bones being broken over and over. And the healing even as she was torn apart.
Again.
And again.
Centuries of pain.
“Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping, Left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain, Still remains within the sound of silence.” She spoke but no one was listening. No one was close enough to hear her words. Event eh Darkness that was Hell avoided the glow of her eyes.
The coffers of Hell would be filling soon. Overflowing with the damned. And she’d be doing a lot of the sending. Many claimed it was Xarathos that did it. Xarathos was the executioner. Dannielle Ketch was the Judge. She damned them. A mortal soul passed Judgment over other Mortal souls. She just didn’t interfere when Xarathos cast Vengeance upon them.
Every murdering, raping, destroyer of innocence that she had come across was here. Punished for their dark sins. Even the ones they’d refused to admit to mortal man.
Time to cast Judgment once more, she sighed to herself.
*****
A storm of crimson laser bolts from cannons flashed towards Raven at speeds of light itself. And splashed across a magical barrier that glowed faintly from the light it absorbed.
And from the burning street and flashing Lasers stepped Vengeance.
And she smiled as chains flowed reforming her Unholy Armor. The blade in her hand grew, become a spear. A very.. Roman looking spear.. but a spear none the less. And Vengeance became the immoveable object, as that blade twisted and turned, deflecting blast and bolt, defusing energy beams. Defending the Dark Witch and her vile spell. Raven would face her Judgment soon enough.
The Romanaclef snarled and roared as it traversed the streets, and up buildings, and across the river itself as the Rider raged inside. Returning at last to the solid ground of road and street it’s hair aflame the driver looked over at G.R.I.D.!RUBY. “Drive,” She/it commanded, vanishing into the flames that swirled around the car and it’s environs.
*****
Passing through the byways and highways of Hell, it’s citizens avoiding it, The Deamon Xarathos walked. Here was pain and torment. Never death. Never ending. Only when one of the Great Ones of the Unholy Council, or the Dark One himself, gave their gift was pain ended. But was it really ended, or just changed into something else’s torment?
Hell was a dark mockery of the Celestial City and It’s spires of Silver and Gold. Cupper, Brass, Bronze, Ebony twisted and writhed here, making what should have been beautiful towers bend and twist as if they themselves were in pain.
Flames faded, flesh took shape and hair of dark brown filled out and framed that beautiful face. And she walked. Alone. Untouched. The demons and damned of Hell knew her. Especially here in HER layer. Some respected her. But all of them feared her. Even more than they feared Xarathos. They fear the Riders Companion. It’s Mortal Host.
She had been here. An inmate. Prisoner. A damned soul.
Damned for betrayal and self murder.
Until The Event.
Then she had been gone.
But now. She came and went when she wished. And that scared the damned, more that The Lord of Morning ever dreamed of.
She walked.
She remembered the pain. Skin peeled from her body one cell at a time. Muscle, sinew, and bone roasted as fat dripped from her face and chest. Her thighs melting. Bones being broken over and over. And the healing even as she was torn apart.
Again.
And again.
Centuries of pain.
“Hello darkness, my old friend. I've come to talk with you again. Because a vision softly creeping, Left its seeds while I was sleeping. And the vision that was planted in my brain, Still remains within the sound of silence.” She spoke but no one was listening. No one was close enough to hear her words. Event eh Darkness that was Hell avoided the glow of her eyes.
The coffers of Hell would be filling soon. Overflowing with the damned. And she’d be doing a lot of the sending. Many claimed it was Xarathos that did it. Xarathos was the executioner. Dannielle Ketch was the Judge. She damned them. A mortal soul passed Judgment over other Mortal souls. She just didn’t interfere when Xarathos cast Vengeance upon them.
Every murdering, raping, destroyer of innocence that she had come across was here. Punished for their dark sins. Even the ones they’d refused to admit to mortal man.
Time to cast Judgment once more, she sighed to herself.
*****
A storm of crimson laser bolts from cannons flashed towards Raven at speeds of light itself. And splashed across a magical barrier that glowed faintly from the light it absorbed.
And from the burning street and flashing Lasers stepped Vengeance.
And she smiled as chains flowed reforming her Unholy Armor. The blade in her hand grew, become a spear. A very.. Roman looking spear.. but a spear none the less. And Vengeance became the immoveable object, as that blade twisted and turned, deflecting blast and bolt, defusing energy beams. Defending the Dark Witch and her vile spell. Raven would face her Judgment soon enough.
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