[ QUOTE ]
"Ah, we would like me to make the first move?" Hotaka chuckled, "Very well."
Hotaka ducked low in a flash, easily weaving away from Michael's blasts, lifting his left foot and driving it back onto the dirt with force.
The earth seemed to explode under his foot, a quickly propgating fissure of rock making its way to Penny in only a heartbeat with the intent of knocking her down.
This didn't seem to be the point, however, as Hotaka leaped from his position not a moment later, following the wave with almost the same speed...
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Michael spotted a pit between Penny and Hotaka as the super leaped into the air. Michael took a knee and waited until Hotaka was directly over the pit, and fired off a burst intended to knock him off course. He winced, even as he knelt, with the pain that was returning to him. It took all of his strength to put his shots on target.
[/ QUOTE ]
The ground crumbled very well... very well. Too well. Hatoka's fissure easily shot forwards. Cracks ran out from it in every conceivable direction, almost as if they had been standing on glass, and not earth at all. The floor of the Arena was loaded with pits, one of the things which made fights there so difficult. Many of the pits had simply been covered over with a light dusting of earth. The fissure was collapsing the coverings as it went, so that gigantic holes and craters opened explosively in its wake.
Out of the corner of her eye, Penny saw the flash of a blaster, and guessed that the Council soldier was shooting at the Asian martial artist. That could potentially work to her advantage. Not much of an advantage: two unpowered humans wouldn't be doing much against a paranormal. Still, she would take what she could get. Michael's shots might give her a bare moment to act.
Penny swung her rifle around. She was clearly familiar with the weapon, and had a good knowledge of how to use it. She took three shots, but not at Hatoka. Instead, she fired at the crumbling ground.
She herself was surprised at how fast the ground shattered under the blasts. The earth was completely honeycombed with holes, not just near Hatoka, but near herself as well. In the depts of some of the holes, something glittered - spikes maybe? - but there was no time to study, the wave of earth was here.
She did the only thing she could: she jumped.
The jump was clearly the jump of a normal human, not as high or as fancy as a paranormal could have made it: but it served its purpose. The wave passed underneath her feet, harmlessly rising and falling, and failing to knock her down. But the ground split in its wake, and so there was no place solid to land, as Hatoka had undoubtedly intended.
She did the best she could, lighting on an edge, on her toes. Unfortunately, the lip of the fissure was every bit as unstable as it appeared. In that crazed instant, she didn't see Hatoka, but it was difficult to see anything through the clouds of dust that had risen up. Her plan had been simply to crumble the ground in her area, to make it more difficult for him to land safely near her.
While she couldn't see him, and therefore couldn't predict his landing, the ground-crumbling portion of the plan appeared to have worked better than her wildest dreams. She had had no idea of the number of pits which honeycombed this area. She didn't see anywhere he could land and still have solid footing.
The thought had no sooner come to her than the ground under her own feet crumbled away.
It was the rifle that saved her. By sheer luck, it was too long to fit, and wedged itself hard in the walls of the crevice. She lost her grip with her hurt hand, but managed - barely - to hang on with the other one. She might not have even managed that, except that the strap of the rifle had gotten awkwardly tangled around that arm.
This gave her a good look at the underground portion of the arena, along with her own swinging feet. She would have expected for Hatoka's crevice to have the approximate shape of a 'V', with a wide mouth, and narrow bottom. That wasn't what had happened. There were so many pits around that the fissure had simply opened them up, as if the tops had suddenly been popped from a long line of bottles.
The pit she was dangling over did indeed have long spikes. But they weren't metal: they were wooden, as if something had grown here, then rapidly died. They looked almost bambooish. She had no illusions of what they would do to her without the armor.
But they were rather widely spaced, and she was dangling far enough where she could almost reach the tallest one with her toes. If she could kick it out of place, she might be able to land between the spikes, without killing herself, and if she could do that, perhaps Hatoka might have a hard time following her.
Presuming, of course, that he had to land in such a way as to make a second jump, and presuming she could do it before he could get down here, and presuming the rifle held her weight that long...
A lengthy list of things that could go wrong ran through her head, as she swung her weight and kicked at the center spike.
The guard toppled like a log, clearly not expecting a prisoner to try anything this audacious during the fights. The guard's belief wasn't that hard to understand as two battle drones descended on Anthony, their lasers set to stun and firing the moment they saw him.
With his powers gone, seeing as how he wasn't actively participating in the arena itself, Anthony would probably go down quite easily. It was a sure fact he wouldn't enjoy what he would wake up too, though. The Pit was generally a bad place to be.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
OOC: *takes things into his own hands....well, sort of*
BIC: The sharp stick that Penny nudged with her foot snapped cleanly in half, revealing that it was hollow due to rot. The rest of the sticks were most likely in the same condition and would hinder her not in the least if she fell the rest of the way into the pit.
Meanwhile, the prototype had been eagerly scanning the beginning of the fight in order to build up a more comprehensive database on Penny and Michael when a confirmation signal went off in its head. A quick query later and the signal was identified as coming from the Warden himself. Apparently the man wanted to make this fight more interesting and had ordered the prototype to pull something off.
Thinking to itself, the prototype rounded up three drones that were guarding the audiance of prisoners and had them troop down to one of the arena gates. There he had them apply a simple splash of paint to their chests, one red, one blue, and one yellow. The paint was easily noticable on their standard drab grey paint schemes.
Next, the prototype assigned each drone to a combatant as an ally. The red drone would assist Michael, the blue drone would aid Hokata, and the yellow drone would help Penny. After making sure that they wouldn't actually accept orders from the prisoners but instead simply act in their best interests, the prototype ordered the door opened.
The door opened in its typically slow and grinding fashion but had only gone about half-way when the three drones ran under the gap, ducking a bit to get through. They instantly split up, the red drone crouching and then jumping through the air to land next to Michael, the blue one jumping to land next to Hokata, and the yellow one heading to Penny.
"This unit has been assigned to aid you for the duration of this fight," said each robot to its temporary ally and then waited for the prisoner to make the first move which the drone could follow up on.
"At the very least this shall provide useful tactical data," the prototype said to itself as the battle continued.
OOC: Alright, so basically all three of you can control your own drone. They're like the standard Mastermind battle drones and are upgraded with the first upgrade power, so no Full Auto Laser Bursts. Also, their lasers are currently fixed to fire only stun blasts, so no having them shoot to kill.
Control them as you would a second character, but remember that they won't actively take orders from a prisoner. Consider them sort of like a pet/ally NPC you might find in a mission, except with slightly less wonky AI.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
Ms. Marrow grinned to herself as Penny lost her balance. The asian man was good... hopefully good enough to kill one of his opponents soon. The girl, or the one who called himself an Archon- neither seemed to stand a chance against their superpowered foe. Penny looked almost helpless, and the Archon would likely fare little better. Marrow had killed 5th Column grunts before- nothing to be concerned about. It seemed only a matter of time before the match would be over, with Hotaka declared as the winner....
Marrow cursed to herself as the arena doors opened, allowing three brightly colored drones to enter the battle area. Were the gaurds ending the fight already? Marrow watched as each of the three machines approached a prisoner. They weren't firing... what was going on? She leaned forward to get a better view of this new developement.
[ QUOTE ]
BIC: The sharp stick that Penny nudged with her foot snapped cleanly in half, revealing that it was hollow due to rot. The rest of the sticks were most likely in the same condition and would hinder her not in the least if she fell the rest of the way into the pit.
[/ QUOTE ]
"Well, that's something," Penny grunted to herself. She tried to let go of the rifle and swing down, but the tangling of the strap made this impossible. She grumbled to herself, then tried to yank it free, only to find that it had jammed more firmly than it appeared. "Uh - uh - uh - " She swung hard, inching the rifle downwards, until it finally broke free in a shower of dust and pebbles.
It was a good thing that the spikes were old and rotten, because her landing was far from graceful. However, the old wood shattered under her weight, and she emerged from the fall with nothing worse than a few bruises.
[ QUOTE ]
"This unit has been assigned to aid you for the duration of this fight," said each robot to its temporary ally and then waited for the prisoner to make the first move which the drone could follow up on.
"At the very least this shall provide useful tactical data," the prototype said to itself as the battle continued.
[/ QUOTE ]
"Will you accept commands?" Penny asked the yellow drone, but it gave no response. "Right... that's what I thought."
On the one hand, she was hardly in a position to refuse whatever aid had been provided. On the other , it wasn't her droid, and if it had been programmed not to accept commands (something she certainly would have done, should their positions have been reversed) then it would be doing anything it damn well chose. Likely it was the droid that had been assigned to stun her to unconsciousness should she somehow emerge from the match without being killed (something she considered unlikely.)
The droid turned its gun upwards and took three shots at something overhead - Penny couldn't see what - and she presumed it missed, as it spun around, trying to track.
It gave her a good chance to study the droid, up close and personal. It had certainly been created by the Gray prototype. She could tell exactly how it had been fitted together, power core, weaponry... she could have disabled it, perhaps, if she had had any tools. The blaster certainly wouldn't hurt it... and what point was there in attacking it anyway? She would never be able to use it in any meaningful manner before she herself was immobilized, and likely punished for damaging it. No, best to let it do what it would for -
Her thoughts were interrupted as something under her shoe heel crumbled. She lifted her foot to see another hole underneath it, a much smaller one - but much deeper. The ground was thick here, thick enough to support the weight of the drone... but there were telltale cracks around its feet and her own foot, which had been standing very near one of the old, rotten roots, had almost punched through a particularly weak points. It seemed that there were layers of pit.
"Hm... interesting."
The droid turned to look at her, but her attention had been distracted, for at that moment, with a burst of stones and dust, there was something else in the pit with them.
(Tag someone!)
[ QUOTE ]
Next, the prototype assigned each drone to a combatant as an ally. The red drone would assist Michael, the blue drone would aid Hokata, and the yellow drone would help Penny. After making sure that they wouldn't actually accept orders from the prisoners but instead simply act in their best interests, the prototype ordered the door opened.
[/ QUOTE ]
The drones scurried off and took their places. But they had barely arrived when another beep indicated that another message had been sent to Prototype.
It was from Doctor Crain, also known as "Stitches," who served as the medical examiner for the prison. The various activities at the Zig - both legal and illegal - usually kept him pretty busy.
The preliminary autoposy report was relatively straightforwards. Blade's cause of death was strangulation, following a serious malfunction of his cybernetic arms. Most of the data listed on the report was very run of the mill: height (after decapitation,) weight, blood type, and an inventory listing of the items on the body and in the room. The inventory note had an asterisk, and because of this asterisk, Prototype had been included in the list of interested persons to whom the report had been mailed.
It looked like a simple enough note. Experiment in progress at time of death (removal of armor from Prisoner 42200179) appears to have been unsuccessful. Note to Prototype: please retrieve armor during interrogation session scheduled for 1700 and deliver to Medical Examiner's office for inclusion in autopsy report.
Simple... except that Prisoner 42200179 wasn't wearing the armor. He could see her quite clearly through the drone's remote camera, and there wasn't a sign of it. Nor was there any notation of its presence in the room inventory list.
Though it was standard procedure to record all comings and goings in the Zig, the footage of Blade's 'Experiment' was scrambled. Penny could clearly be seen being brought into the room, and strapped down onto the table, but when Blade turned to get his tools, the picture suddenly turned to snow, and remained that way, for several hours. The next available footage was the hallway footage which had been shot when the guards had opened the door.
The Zig was technically on what might have been called an "orange alert." Without an actual assailant - other than Blade's own robotic arms - the Zig was using precautionary protocols rather than a full-scale lockdown. Herding most of the prisoners to the arena was a convenient way to keep them all in one place, and under the watchful eye of scanners, while cells were searched and entry and exit points were scrutinized.
And in the interest of watching the matches, it seems that Prototype, himself, was the only one in the Zig who had been alerted to two diametrically opposed pieces of information.
((Pardonne moi, mes amis. 
))
The Archon's blast trio didn't seem to deter Hotaka. Two went wide completely (he was moving quite rapidly), but the third struck his side true, leaving a small hole in his robes.
Due to their crimson hue, it was difficult to make out if this had injured him or not, but judging from the conclusion of his leap, it seemed highly unlikely.
Ryuu didn't seem to have a second thought about having his course head right down into the fissure, even choosing one of the wooden spikes as his landing point. The black cloth wrapping his feet allowed him to easily grasp the thing with his soles, making for a very secure position. so long as he kept his balance.
Which he performed for all of half a second.
Hotaka had no known 'powers'. By all records and precedents, he was no metahuman; and this was quite true, though in a much more literal sense than people expected.
He made up for this with skill - skill in the senses, skill in the martial arts. And one of those senses exploded with an impulse that he should leap on. So he did.
Only a moment later, the spike he'd been standing on turned to toothpicks under a burst of three crimson bolts, shattering apart in a cloud of sawdust.
Hotaka's face bore a frown, but not because of the laser fire - the wood had been rotten, and had he stayed on the spike any longer, it would have fallen apart anyway. Being who he was, Hotaka deeply disagreed with letting a plant suffer such, but there didn't seem to be anything he could do about it now.
Or was there?
A smirk crossed his lips as he hopped onto three more spikes in series, making his way over to Penny.
She'd performed some impressive, if very uncoordinated, actions to save herself, and altogether different from what Hotaka had expected. Very curious indeed...
--------------------
Form the burst of pebbles and dust peeled the form of another battle drone, a speck of blue pant on its frame.
A moment later, Hotaka landed on top of it, planting his feet firmly but lightly on the machine's shoulders. If the drone had any sensors that enabled stress and weight calculations, it would now realize that the martial artist weighed a great deal more than his frame let on. Indeed, it was far too much for his suspected body mass.
Lucky for the drone, it had chosen a patch of stable ground to come down on - which, all things considered, was a likely reason Hotaka was now perched on its shoulders.
"How very interesting." he commented to Penny, letting himself slide into a crouch, "I wouldn't have done that..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
Frm the burst of pebbles and dust peeled the form of another battle drone, a speck of blue pant on its frame.
A moment later, Hotaka landed on top of it, planting his feet firmly but lightly on the machine's shoulders. If the drone had any sensors that enabled stress and weight calculations, it would now realize that the martial artist weighed a great deal more than his frame let on. Indeed, it was far too much for his suspected body mass.
Lucky for the drone, it had chosen a patch of stable ground to come down on - which, all things considered, was a likely reason Hotaka was now perched on its shoulders.
"How very interesting." he commented to Penny, letting himself slide into a crouch, "I wouldn't have done that..."
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny frowned when he shattered more of the wood. For a moment she looked sad at its fate.
She stepped backwards when the drones landed, and almost fell, her foot punching through the unstable ground in another place. Penny was by far the lightest thing in here: this unstable ground would have already collapsed if the drones had moved too much. The drones appeared to be aware of this, as they paused. She thought perhaps they were calculating where they could safely stand.
There was no fear in her face when she looked at Hatoka, perched so gracefully on his blue droid. "Well," she smiled, "You're better in the Arena than I am." It was not a statement meant to be flattering, but rather a simple observation of a fact. Her blaster was pointed in his direction, but more out of a sense of obligation than any real hope of hitting him. "Personally, I would be just as happy having a civil conversation while these two make a show for the folks upstairs," she nodded at the yellow and blue drones. "Of course," her face was thoughtful, "that might be a short fight."
With her shoe, she kicked a loose pebble into the new hole her foot had just punched through the ground. "A real short fight." It was several seconds before a tiny THUNK was heard, with an audible splash. "About eighty feet," she mused to herself thoughtfully. "Something wet... don't think it's water though... at least not good water." She rolled a bit of the old, rotten root in her hand, watching how it crumbled. "Poor thing," she mused.
Her eyes had not left Hatoka's face. She was more interested in sizing him up than in winning this particular battle. There was something in her eyes... as if she was thinking of a day beyond today, when his services might be required.
As if she was thinking of an old saying... something about losing a battle... but winning a war...
Michael stared at the drone as it approached him and pushed himself up out of the depression he was in and moved to a vantage point where he could see Hotaka about to engage Penny. He noted that his weapon seemed to have no effect on the villain and figured him for completely invulnerable to all types of damage available to him. In addition to that, he was capable of flying through the air and landing on a dime rolling on its side while juggling chainsaws and kittens and reciting Shakespear.
Oh this is fair, he thought to himself as Hotaka perched on the droid. What the hell
Michael turned and fired into the droids right front quarterpannel, then once into its leg joint so that it couldnt get away. The droids armor blew off and sparks flew out, as it tried to stop itself from falling. Michael then pulled the power core from his blaster and grabbed the aux loopback ground from the droids reactor. He unwound it from the main gyro coupling to get some slack, and fed it directly into his blasters receiver.
The blaster wined its complaint loudly as he pointed the weapon at the super villain and fired off an overpowered burst toward the ground in front of Penny to drive her back into a crevice, and the droid underneath Hotaka, hoping to catch him in the resulting explosion. He moved away quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid his droid and rifle's shockwave.
When the dust cleared, Michael was already on his rear end, his droid, his blaster and the front of his prison garb all effectively rendered useless. He looked downrange to see if he had any effect at all, shortly before passing out once more.
[ QUOTE ]
There was no fear in her face when she looked at Hatoka, perched so gracefully on his blue droid.
"Well," she smiled, "You're better in the Arena than I am."
It was not a statement meant to be flattering, but rather a simple observation of a fact. Her blaster was pointed in his direction, but more out of a sense of obligation than any real hope of hitting him.
"Personally, I would be just as happy having a civil conversation while these two make a show for the folks upstairs," she nodded at the yellow and blue drones.
"Of course," her face was thoughtful, "that might be a short fight."
With her shoe, she kicked a loose pebble into the new hole her foot had just punched through the ground.
"A real short fight."
It was several seconds before a tiny THUNK was heard, with an audible splash. "
About eighty feet," she mused to herself thoughtfully. "Something wet... don't think it's water though... at least not good water."
She rolled a bit of the old, rotten root in her hand, watching how it crumbled.
"Poor thing," she mused.
[/ QUOTE ]
"Ah, but talk will get you nowhere." Hotaka smiled, sliding off the drone and onto the ground, seeming to find secure footing by mere instinct as he stepped towards her, "And you have somewhere to go, a path to walk."
Without warning, Hotaka rushed forward, and a sudden barrage of blaster fire cratered the ground around their position, tearing at earth and wood indiscriminately. Dust and thunder filled the air as he snatched Penny by the wrist, pulling her along like the lightest leaf into another part of the crevice.
"Your friend is a rather rude little fellow." he chuckled as he stopped again, "But don't be mad at him. He seeks only to protect you."
The drones that had been with both of them had been consumed by the crumbling ground and tumbled into whatever lay below. Whether they'd come back up or not really wasn't an issue at this point, as their present programming would allow them only one action.
To prevent the other from returning to the person they'd been assigned to aid.
"Your path starts here." Hotaka continued as if nothing had happened, snapping a root from the dead plant of the crevice, "But it ends elsewhere. You must be careful, and not let this place corrupt you. Otherwise..."
He crumbled the rotten wood between the fingers of his hand. As the woody dust fell upon the ground, he added, "...this will be your fate."
"I estimate we have roughly six minutes until the dust clears." Hotaka stepped to Penny once more, "Let's make use of the time. To stay true to your path here, you will have to defend yourself."
He snatched the blaster out of her hand with a dismissive gesture, commenting, "Toys. Entertaining, but they cannot help you. Only a weapon can do that. Lesson number one: you are never unarmed."
He took three steps back, then rammed his foot into the ground, almost in the same manner he'd done above, yet different in a few subtle nuances.
Instead of descending into a fissure, the earth rose upward, and a humanoid figure of dirt and rock rose from the ground - an animated stone.
It looked crude, some of the rotten roots having intermixed with the earth, giving it a ragtag appearance, the weak wood only barely holding it together in a good number of places.
"Your mind is the only weapon you will ever need." Hotaka went on, taking a combatant stance. The animated stone did exactly the same, mirroring his movements. It was clearly bound to his will somehow.
Was this all he was using? No magic, no technology, merely his will? Or were there things that the broad spectrum of humanity didn't know about the earth entirely?
"Lesson two: using your weapon requires only concentration." Hotaka hinted ominously, "But concentration requires discipline. The earth is a powerful ally, but no match for a disciplined foe. Be that foe now, and strike down this stone."
The assembly of dirt and rotten roots threw its first punch...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
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[ QUOTE ]
"Lesson two: using your weapon requires only concentration." Hotaka hinted ominously, "But concentration requires discipline. The earth is a powerful ally, but no match for a disciplined foe. Be that foe now, and strike down this stone."
The assembly of dirt and rotten roots threw its first punch...
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny, in the past, had had a good Sensei. It was unlikely that she had been a star student, or even an outstanding one; but somewhere she had studied and practiced an art at which she had far more interest than actual talent. That much was obvious when she obediently began sparring with the golem.
And she felt much better about sparring, in a match where no one would get killed, than fighting to the death for the amusement of someone she didn't know, in front of huge and terrifying audience. That also was obvious in her immediately improved performance.
Given a small space of privacy, when not in the spotlight or under constant threat by robots or gladiators, Penny was actually pretty good at sparring. She planted her foot in the chest of stone golem, hard enough to stagger it backwards a couple of steps - which was impressive, given the differences in weight. The sort of spin-kick she used was not something to try and impress him, or to be fancy, but the best way to use her weight to her own advantage.
Yet there was something in her movements which was unpracticed, very fresh and new... too new, far too new. It was as if her mind remembered training, and classes, and perhaps even actual live combat, but her body and muscles had never before encountered the demands which were being asked of them. Her mind remembered how to kick, how to dodge, and the best way to make use of her slight strength and weight: but her arms and legs lacked follow through.
She had concentration - which came only with experience - and determination as she struck at the new foe. But she had nothing else. Hatoka could see her shaking her head - she knew when she missed, though she didn't seem to be at all concerned about being knocked off her feet on such occasions. She must have had some considerable practice, but her hands and feet had somehow not participated. As if they were running through these moves for the very first time. It was an extreme and blatant contradiction, and made no sense at all.
There was something else. There was a marking on Penny's left wrist, likely something she hadn't even noticed herself. It looked like a number, not large, but raised, as if it had been branded into her skin.....
Hotaka's wry smirk grew wider as he noticed what he'd suspected unfold - there was more to Penny than met the eye.
Her motions were characteristic of those anchored deep in the subconscious mind, something one had learned once upon a time and then resigned to the pile of forgotten memories.
But she was also holding back.
"You are holding your own, this is good." Hotaka told her, still being the original to the stone's mirror, though he was obviously not transferring his full skill to it, "But that will not be enough here. We do not have much time left. Destroy the golem, and do it quickly!"
"Remember, you are never unarmed." he repeated, "Your body is a tool, your intellect must guide it."
In addition to this demand, Hotaka stepped up the animated stone's speed. The collection of agglomerated surroundings, however, didn't seem to take this well, though it of course obeyed without question.
Quite a few of the points where the thing's structure had been composed of large collections of rotten roots seemed to strain already...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((Erm... I'm still alive, and quite interested in this post, but my elbow is imply not up to typing today, and so I won't be deliverng an update. But, I'm still alive!))
(And I'm pretty much stunned to high hell right now. I'll probably be back by the end of this arena sequence.)
[ QUOTE ]
Quite a few of the points where the thing's structure had been composed of large collections of rotten roots seemed to strain already...
[/ QUOTE ]
The golem would have given Penny a much harder time if it had been truly solid. As it was, though, it was rather crumbly. She had not wasted the time she had spent sparring with it, for she had been studying its structure, as well as "warming up" to new and previously undiscovered skills.
Now, after a few additional study-punches, she began going at it for real. Her face darkened, not with anger, but with simple concentration. Penny was more comfortable fighting with her feet than with her hands, almost like a kick-boxer. She jumped and kicked at the golem's weak points, her manner quite determined. For the most part, her blows landed solidly, further crumbling the already-unstable golem.
From far below them, it was possible to hear blows, lasers, and splashes as the drones sparred too. Penny, whose senses were less acute than Hatoka's, didn't seem to have noticed, concentrating on finishing off the golem, and doing a fairly respectable job of it. Hatoka, however, could tell that the drones were fighting directly below their position: presumably one or both of them were tracking their movements somehow.
Penny spun around, delivering the final blow to the golem, intending to crumble it to pebbles by shattering its central rotten-root structure. But at the moment her foot connected to its chest, a laser beam pierced the unstable floor, and continued right through the thin ceiling above, bursting through it, sunlight cutting through an abrupt shower of dirt and pebbles. A piercing smell of ozone followed instantly in its wake, combined with the pungent scent of chemicals. Penny had been correct - whatever water was down there was contaminated. The force of the blast, while it didn't strike her, was enough to throw her unexpectedly back.
+++++
FLASHBACK
+++++
"It's ready."
The pungent smell of chemicals filled her nose as the water in the tube drained away. Below her feet were holes, and they swallowed every drop of the water in which she had floated, only moments ago. She reached out her hand and it met glass.
There were men talking. Their faces were obsured by the wet glass. They made noises. The noises had no meaning; they were just sounds. It took several moments to realize that the noises were coming from the men, and not spontaneously generated by the air itself. One of the men wore blue scrubs and a white coat: the other wore a business suit.
"When will the programming be completed?"
"It's completed now."
The other man had an expression on his face, but they had no more meaning than the sounds had. It was only the other man who recognized the expression as doubt.
"I thought the thing was supposed to be intelligent at the end."
"It is - she is," the other man corrected himself. He came to the tube. On the other side, there was a square with glowing lights. He touched some of these with his fingers, in a definite sequence. The glass slid down into grooves in the floor, and she stumbled. She didn't understand where the glass had gone.
"It is not," the other man was looking displeased. "Look at it, I've never seen a stupider-looking thing in my life!"
"What do you want?" The white coated man was looking displeased also. "We only induced consciousness twenty minutes ago! What were you doing when you were twenty minutes old?"
"Don't get smart," replied Suit. "It has to be ready for the swap on Friday so that it can be smuggled into the Zig. You hear me? If it's not ready Friday - "
"It'll - damn! She'll be ready! All right?"
"Language skills? Motor functions?"
"Look - " Scrubs was clearly annoyed by now, "You're really pushing this. It'll - dammit, she'll be able to walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. She'll have language skills and whatever recollections we are able to generate with the personality overlay between today and Friday. But you are pushing too fast, we won't be able to make it airtight, at the very least she will have huge memory holes, and if the overlay begins to disintigrate - "
"By that time, we'll have what we need, and it doesn't matter what happens to it after that. "
"Lot of money down the tubes." Scrubs frowned.
"Acceptable losses," shrugged Suit. "You have the contraband?"
"On the table." Scrubs went to a jar, filled to the brim with a molten, blackish goo. He poured it out onto a metal tray, where it moved around rather eerily. A black smoke seemed to rise from it.
"Doesn't look like much."
"It'll do what we need. She can pass as normal long enough to get it in. She'll get it in."
"Hmph. She had better." The box attached to Suit's hand was not a part of him after all. He set it down on the table. It opened. It was full of squares - white, yellow, pink. "Now, what's it's serial number? I need it for the computer geeks."
"I'll mark it now." Scrubs went over to a taller box, with more glowing lights. From this he removed a much smaller cube, with a thick cable. He flipped a red switch on the cube, and it made an ominous humming noise. After a moment he took her hand, rotated it, and placed the box firmly on the inner bend of her wrist.
She had not felt pain before. She tried to jerk her hand away but he held it quite firmly for that single, critical moment. When he took the box away, she could see the series of sybmols it had left behind, burnt a foul-smelling, crunchy black. The interior of the cube had a series of numbers, glowing orange with heat...
+++++
END FLASHBACK
+++++
Penny fell backwards, landing on her rear, coughing. The flashback instantly faded into a tangled collage of unrelated pictures, many of them having to do with glass and green water. She could smell chemicals, but there was no water here: there was dust and dirt, the bright red flash of numbers - no, of lasers - lasers here - where - ?
She coughed, without even the presence of mind at that moment to try and scramble backwards, out of the way. Though it would pass quickly, at that moment she was completely disoriented, not knowing where she was, or what was going on.
Hotaka smiled with satisfaction as the animated stone crumbled apart. She'd spotted the weak points, and acted upon her observation.
Good, but not quite enough. It would take time - but that was for another day. For the moment, she'd have what was necessary to survive.
"You've taken the first step." Hotaka nodded to her ominously as the dust cloud from earlier began to settle, the short time it had obscured the view into the crevice having passed, "Soon, you will take the second. Then the third. After that, it will not be long before your path reveals itself. Take my advice: follow it. It will lead you to what you seek."
Suddenly and without any prior warning, Hotaka dropped to his knees, the fell face-first into the dirt, the tall man's collapse almost creating the impression of a tree going over.
Only now could Penny see the large hole in the robes of his back, the fabric bloodstained from the sizeable wound in the man's flesh. Partially charred, there was only one source it could've come from.
The Archon's overcharged blaster fire.
Michael hadn't missed after all.
And as the dust finally cleared, the announcer's voice once more boomed through the arena...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
[ QUOTE ]
Michael hadn't missed after all.
And as the dust finally cleared, the announcer's voice once more boomed through the arena...
[/ QUOTE ]
Penny stared for a moment. She completely missed the announcer's voice, which was declaring her the winner of Round Two. Hotaka was unconscious. And now that the dust was clearing, she could see that Michael appeared to be unconscious too.
How had that happened?
But then her training took over, and she knelt over Hatoka's prone form. She had no cloth but the orange jumpsuit: after some effort, she was able to rip off one of the sleeves, which she tore into several strips. It wasn't the greatest solution for a blaster wound: but with surprising quickness she had the wound bound. Infection would be a worry, but it would prevent him from bleeding to death.
Michael was next. She didn't have enough cloth to patch up his wounds, but settled on wrapping the worst, leaving her with a sleeveless jumpsuit, and him with a sort of bright orange headband.
It was only when this was completed that she looked up and saw the medidrones beginning to float onto the field. She worried about this: did the Zig have any real medical facilities to speak of? What would happen to them, since they had lost the match? But she knew better than to argue with the medidrones, who looked well-armed, and in a few moments the prone combatants were being loaded onto stretchers.
She turned around in a slow circle, becoming aware of the crowd again, wondering what would happen now. She had completely missed the announcer's statements. She spotted the three drones, red, blue, and yellow, running back to the entrance. Though two of them were wet, none of them looked particularly worse for wear.
Then she saw that there was something in the door they were running to. It looked like the Mastermind Droid Control Prototype Mark Two. Was this the next fight? Did he intend to enter the Arena? She looked nervously for her rifle, but it was gone, and so there didn't seem to be much to do but wait to see what came out, which she did, shifting nervously from foot to foot.
(Tags all!)
((I hope it's ok if I do Greene's round 1 fight now))
Dr. Greene's face was pulled back from the chain-link fence at the gladiator's entrance.
"Ya like that, Doc?" The guard sneered as Hotaka and Michael's prone forms were carried out of the arena, "Cuz you're up next. You get to display that feared prowess you're always talking about."
Jeers and crude laughter greeted Dr. Greene as he was pushed into the open floor. The announcer's voice boomed, and the camera zoomed around like an irritating little insect, but Dr. Greene wasn't paying attention. He reached down and picked up a handful of dirt, slowly letting it trickle out of his hand. Whatever came out of the opposite door, he was ready.
On the other side of the arena, the metallic door opened.
A streak of darkness shot out of the containment cell, and ricocheted madly across the arena. Dr. Greene tried to focus on the blur of shadow, but it's extreme speed made this impossible. He shook his head, and extended his fingers. In response, small green shoots started rising out of the ground. Before Dr. Greene got any further, though, the dark streak smashed into his torso, knocking him backwards through the air.
As Dr. Greene slammed into the dirt, the being of darkness finally came to a halt. It was surrounded by a dark nimbus of murky smoke, and if you looked carefully enough, you would see a stunted, twisted humanoid figure, with limbs that trailed off into the billowing gloom around it. Dr. Greene narrowed his eyes, and twisted a finger upwards.
Suddenly, the small plants rocketed upwards, spiraling and twisting towards the dark being. Before it was struck though, it launched off again. As it raced across the arena, the snaring vines wound after it. More and more plants burst from the soil ahead of the creature, sending forth viciously spike creepers. Even so, the creature of shadow evaded these attacks.
Dr. Greene was panting with exertion as he got back onto his feet. "Damn," he thought to himself, "This dampening field is getting troublesome." His rumination was interrupted by yet another violent collision from the darkling, as it slammed a flurry of vicious punches into him. Accompanied by the punches was a thick oily cloud that spilled out of the darkling, and into Dr. Greene's face. He staggered back, desparately calling upon his power to fend off the being in front of him. In response to his thoughts, a jagged snarl of spines burst out of the soil, directly into the darkling.
Even with it's supernatural reflexes, one of the barbs sliced into it, spattering an oily, tarlike substance across the floor of the arena as it let out a shrill scream.
Dr, Greene smiled.
As the creature shook of the pain of it's attack and started to run again, a small looped vine snared it's leg and brought the creature to the floor with a loud *THUD*. More vines wrapped around it, effectively binding it in place. Dr. Greene casually snapped off one of the spines that had erupted from the ground, and strolled towards the struggling creature. He started to make small cuts on it's body as he looked up towards the warden's box.
"Is this pathetic creature the best you have?" He opened up a deeper cut on it's upper arm. "If so," Dr. Greene continued, "You'll have to do better. I'm getting bored." This time, the Doctor brought the sword-length thorn into the stomach of the pinned and squirming creature. As it's shrieking again fills the arena, Dr. Julius Greene turns and walks towards the exit.
Ms. Marrow clenched her fist in anger. Not only had Hotaka failed to kill his opponents, but he had fallen, as well... Marrow ran through the fight in her mind, disgusted. The asian man had used his power to summon a golem, but it had been shattered by the surprisingly skilled Penny. The only explanation was that Hotaka had been overconfident, had opted to play with his prey before finishing her, and had underestimated Penny's abilities. Now, both Hotaka and the Archon were unconscious, and Penny still very much alive. Marrow slumped in her seat, uninterested in the next battle. Her plan had failed, and she would need to come up with something else soon...
((Pretty sure it is. We seem to have subdivisions of the arena floor.))
The arena personnel worked to clear the area quickly, so as not to generate too large a gap in the schedule.
A gaggle of guards with a stretcher was soon upon Hotaka, a few lifting him from the crevice while the others stood to make sure he wasn't playing possum.
The retrieval, however, went without incident, and off to the infirmary adjacent to the arena they were...
--------------------
"We are alone, Sensei."
Hotaka didn't hesitate at those words, rising with a sigh from the hospital bed he'd been placed in. The beds were housed in solitary compartments, just to make sure no prisoner could organize a sudden influx of patients, then attempt and escape by taking the hospital staff hostage.
The doors here were just as thick as the ones in the regular cells, and these solitary units had no windows through which to speak to the other inmates.
"Very good." Ryuu told the source of the voice, a man in the garb of medical personnel, resembling the uniform Crey Biotech issued to its medics to a tee.
Of course, the man was neither a doctor nor a Crey employee. According to the Zig's records, he didn't even exist.
"And what is the path of the Dragon from here on?" the man questioned, dumping a vial of regenerative drugs down the sink's drain, "I see we have a new student, hai?"
"We will see." Hotaka waved a hand uncertainly, hopping off the bed. The wound on his back wasn't there anymore - only the hole in his robes still bore witness there had ever been one in the first place, "As of yet...hehe...I suppose 'the Dragon' isn't quite sure yet..."
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
So Im going to ask you, just one more time, how he got these injuries. Michael woke on his side on a gurney. He was completely unattended, but barely capable of movement.
A second voice, from behind him chimed in. I told you, the arena.
Michael could see the very light grey and blues that painted the room with color. He could see the curtain surrounding him, presumably behind him as well. He could smell the sterilization fluid on everything. The first voice spoke again, this time heavy with the effort to maintain patience. Thats impossible. The arena is a danger room. Theres no way he got these bruises there. Its a mixture of psychointeractive machinery and particle control physics holograms. He simply couldnt have been injured to this extent.
That one guy died three weeks ago. The second voice hastily pointed out.
Look, Simmons is it? That incident was a freak accident and everyone knew something was going on the whole time. Thats why they tried to lock it down. Accidents happen, but I can assure you that if the same accident were to have happened in this case, wed be arguing over a corpse, not a recovering convict. The first voice became stern.
Doctor Lowell, accidents happen to prisoners. Simmons hurled it up as half defense and half you dont want to know.
If its an accident, Ill have to file a report for the Zig safety bureau. The arena is there for one purpose, to give the illusion of violence and provide an outlet for prisoners with super powers to release aggression and frustration. I assure you that each and every one of the dampener panels is operating at maximum efficiency. The spectrascope reads prisoner intentions and simulates a response. Thats why nothing appears too solid or deadly. Lowell calmly explained. So do I file this under, he fell off of the bus
a lot or do I put it to a prisoners name?
Ill bring you the prisoners name, you can file your report. Its starting to sound like the least distasteful of all the options. Simmons did not sound happy.
Dont. Michael said from the gurney. The curtains were drawn back quickly.
What? Are you awake? Lowell moved to inspect Michael.
I just woke up, Michael lied, and heard you talking about reporting this. Dont. I dont want it reported. Theres an honor amongst us, despite what you think. Simmons was simply doing what was necessary to teach me my place and it got out of hand. I dont blame Simmons. Dont get him in trouble. Michael didnt roll over, he just stared at the curtain in front of him.
There was a long pause, Fine, the doctor finally acquiesced, breaking the silence. If it happens again, though.
There was more silence, then Archon Steele heard the guard walk away. Within an hour he was back to his cell, walking perfectly, no limp, no dragging the right foot, no wincing as he put pressure on his ribs by staying upright. All the way to his cell, before he collapsed on his bunk on the bottom shelf.
A pair of legs dangled over before a very, very tall white guy landed near him. I recognize you from line. They say you fought in the Arena.
I didnt win. The Archon didnt even smirk, though he almost meant it as a joke.
Got a kill, though. The large guy shrugged.
Oh no, the girl with the secrets! Archon thought to himself, beating himself up for trying such a risky maneuver. He finally turned to the large guy. Im Archon Steele, Fifth column.
Argum Hestottower, but everyone calls me fist. With a meaty thwack his fist pounded once into his palm. Youre a tough cookie for a little guy. Some other Fifth asked if I would join their club. I said yeah, but I didnt know if you were going to be in their club too.
Michael smiled and closed his eyes. Yes, Ill be in their club too. But right now, I need to sleep.
Right, no one is gonna disturb you. Fist turned and faced the door.
This is going to be easier than I thought. The Archon drifted off to sleep. A couple hours later, a guard came and collected the Archon and put him out in the yard, alone.
You get two hours a day for the next two weeks. You also have access to the day room. The guard turned to leave, then stopped and turned back. Simmons says youre even, he doesnt owe you anything.
Michael, again, didnt turn to look. Tell Simmons that hes more generous than he need be. Oh, and tell him thank you for me.
Whatever, convict. The guard shut and locked the door. Michael wandered to the day room access and was let in, where he sat and watched television for a while, trying to catch up on current events and ancient history all with the same program.
Regardless of the fact that it had temporarily released control of the three drones for the Round 2 fight, the prototype was still capable of observing through their eyes and ears what was going on where it itself couldn't see. As such, while the blue and yellow drones had been fighting in the middle of the small cesspool, the prototype had occasionally caught glimpses of the prisoner Penny fighting hand to hand against something that did not register as Hokata. The only explanation for that was that somehow Hokata, a man with absolutely no registered super powers, was able to create some sort of golem and have it attack Penny.
This of course was utterly impossible and discarded almost as soon as the idea had been thought of. The sheer illogicalness of it all baffled the prototype's mind and the android tucked that bit of information away along with several other examples of impossible behavior from other prisoners.
"Congratulations, prisoner Penny," said the prototype as it stepped into the arena, its three drones hurrying out through the closing door behind it. "You have successfully passed to Round 3. Normally a slight reprieve would be granted to heal the most greivous of your injuries, but since you have no need of such healing, the fight shall begin immidiately."
"Here we go, scum bags and baggettes!" shouted the announcer. "The fight you've all been waiting for, the Mastermind Droid Control Prototype Mark 2, or 'Grey', as we all know and love the little clanker, versus the new little girl on the block, Penny! Considering that this little girl beat up the legendary Hokata, smart men might think that she's got a chance! But smart men you are not! Let's get this started!"
"Indeed, let us begin," said the prototype as it lifted up it's pulse rifle and sighted down the scope. "I have never lost, for your knowledge."
As soon as it finished speaking, the prototype fired a triple-burst of coherent light at Penny. But it was aimed in such a way that Penny could easily dodge while not looking at though it was easy to dodge. All other shots that were fired would be aimed in the same fashion as Penny charged.
Statesman said let there be heroes, and there were heroes.
Lord Recluse said let there be villains, and there were villains.
NCsoft said let there be nothing, and there was nothing.
The 'legendary' Hotaka, of course, was as unnoticed as ever at the top of the stands. Right now, everyone's attention was focused on the arena.
Well, everyone's except the combatants, maybe.
Hotaka smiled once again. Here and now - this was a fork in the path...
"If I had Force powers, vacuum or not my cape/clothes/hair would always be blowing in the Dramatic Wind." - Tenzhi
Characters
((Glee! Fork-dom! Le plot twisting beings anew!))
They were coming for him. He could feel them outside his door. Confident. Weak. Useless. To humanity maybe, but Fear was decidedly not human. Two men entered his cell, and didnt bother looking for him. He rarely moved from the far corner, curled up in a ball. It gave the illusion of darkness, possibly, somewhere. But then the guards would tire of their duty and blast some strobes around his room. The mirrored walls made strobes so disorienting and painful, it was easily a violation of any human law. But he wasnt human. Their laws didnt apply to him. They would pay, though. They would pay.
One of the two doctors began prepping a syringe. The drug they used. It was coming. He had to wait for the last moment, and eke every drop of power out of his body. Not enough would mean years of waiting. Or perhaps
an eternity of light, one like no other. That was just as bad a possibility.
The syringe was prepped. The man with the syringe hung back, in case he tried something. They didnt realize that it wouldnt matter. If he could absorb one of them, and not get stuck by that damnable needle, he was free. The second man, the one without a syringe, pulled a nightstick, and prodded him with it. Fear stirred, like a good little prisoner would. He slowly stood, and flexed his muscles. Took a step
one more
now! His back hand rose and grabbed the guards wrist. The guard started, a combination of revulsion at the scaly, clawed debauchery that was touching him, and fear that the prisoner was attacking. With a brutal and formless wrench, Fear grabbed the mans energy, life force, his being. It flowed out like smoke, billowing, ethereal, and straight into Fears body. The guard dropped. No spiraling, no flailing, nothing. He simply stopped resisting gravity, and fell.
Power blazed through veins, vessels, rebuilding, reforming. The motes of darkness expelled from behind the Harlequin expanded into a stream of shadows compacted upon shadows. Tendrils curled around his torso, arms, and legs.
The one remaining man let loose a scream of terror and dove at him with the syringe. It never came within a foot of his body. Darkness enveloped the man and threw him backwards. The walls lining the cell blasted apart as the hapless man was propelled at excessive speeds through the air. A sudden deceleration shattered several bones, but he still remained conscious long enough to realize the shadows held him in midair. And they were
eating his skin. The man screamed. And screamed. And screamed, until not a soul wanted him alive, and still he screamed. Guards rallied. Inmates -those that were left in their cells- cheered for the death of a pig, or pleaded for release. But as the doctor was devoured, the shadows swept back into Harlequin Fears cell. The shadows surrounded him, and the essence of the man just eaten was passed into himself. His powers were returning. But now, now was not the time to show them. Now was the time to escape, to gather his strength. And then, these men would be his sustenance until he was filled. He would gorge himself on souls and power. And then, he would level this hated place. He would destroy everyone. No- not that one touched by Arachnos. The Mistress would want her. He would destroy this place, take her, and leave. And damn anyone who got in his way.
Anthony sighed for a moment, he stared at a guard that was standing near then entrance to the fighting arena, his gray eyes glanced around as he devised a plan.
Lifting his heavy hands, he smirked as he ran full speed towards the guard, lowereing his heavy hands, he stared at the guard, who's attention was on the pit below.
Swinging his hands, and using the weight of the gauntlets, he used it as an added force to his attack, his fist aiming at the guard's bottom jaw.