i wanna be a chracter.
Name: Topoyozada
Personal colour: Anything you want except pink
Loadout: full cobalt with the costume Hallow fur coat and Hallow pith helm with a comlink, a pipe and a ribbon.
Bio: is a Gremlin but a Knight at heart. Loves to help people and is the Technician for any guild in need. For refrence please go to Treasure Vault and to Life as a Gremlin knight.
See here.
All applications not already used will be considered in the future.
Yay, after surviving Sandy and getting a Wi-Fi connection for this here T-mobile phone, I can continue to read. :-)
I tell you hwat.
Glad you and many others are recovering from Sandy. Not glad about it taking this long, but better late than never. Not that the phrase has anything to do with updates to this being further apart, or is an implied excuse. I was up later than I normally end up waking up in the middle of the night because I felt like writing a little on the next part.
Have some metal.
Name: Andy
Personal Color: It can be any color you want as long as it's white.
Equipment: Full Vog with Swiftstrike Buckler and always has on him a proto sword. Other than that in his arsenal is a Voltedge, Acheron, and a Furious Flamberge.
Character: Dangerous but too daring. Sometimes his confidence will take over him and he'll most definitely do something stupid. More than once he fought Tier 3 enemies with an innefective weapon or worse with his proto sword.
BIO: When he was only 3 years old gremlins caught tortured his mother. From ever since that day he felt that he had to kill every single gremlin. At school everyone hated him for no good reason, starting at five his first year. He endured. He was a fine student, but why everyone disliked him was, because they were jealous; he was just too perfect for them. A great student, but he wanted more of a challenge, especially in military training, so from that point he strayed from the rules. Killing his foes in the least effective way or using his proto sword. His proto sword soon became hos mpst used weapon. It was then when he was 14, that one day when his father was out on reconnaisance that he was killed by gremlins. Oh they've done it again. Now he was more mad, but this time he would show it. If he saw a gremlin he'd instantly and do things to its corpse. Defile, mangle, pee on it, and finally set its body aflame. The sands of time past the young man, and remaining a scholar yet his combat skill was growing. Along the way he learning many unique ways to kill his enemies, knight and monster. He got a (Choose one Military/ Combat) Scholarship. His majors were Mathematics and Combat. He did pass his course with his doctorate's degree, but felt a longing to fight. He was a master of survival and spent three years at a time somewhere hundreds of miles from Haven, but from his expedition he found something quite interesting. He found a trash chute with dead knights in it. He knew that it was only Feron who had the authority to do this and from then on kept his distance from the Spiral Order. He has been longing to break off since he found that trash chute. He dared not to tell anyone, because he well knew that he would meet a fate similar to the knights he found there. (He is a great tactician.)
Age: 27
Hope you consider this admission in the future. ;-)
Our characters may fight in the future. Hope I win XD.
Oh look, triple post by me. Derp.
Denied-Truth glares into the the distance Deeeeerp.
Denied-Truth yawns.
Denied-Truth dozes off. . .
Blue struggled to stand, let alone walk. His comrades have fought well, far better than himself, and he felt he was a burden to their skill. His meager shield was obliterated by any attack, its benefit a distant hope for offensive ability. Archilus often came to his rescue to repel enemies to allow Remi or Jorin to take care of it, but Blue knew the Vanguards must be disappointed in him.
Archilus brought Blue to his feet. “Are you well, my friend?”
The team arrived to what appeared to be the final room of this fourth consecutive floor, every particle of flame having singed its spiteful snicker throughout his body. If not for the others he would have burned away long ago. The flame creating weapon in his hand disgusted him. He began to lift the firearm in preparation to toss it away, to a distant corner, thinking it would ease the pain. Archilus stopped him.
“This weapon is your ally, Blue. Please, use your other handgun for this next battle. I will protect you.”
Blue bowed his head while crawling on the stone floor to hide his distress, the brim covering his face. From his limited range of view a different pair of feet approached. Something took Blue by the shoulders and jerked him to sit on his knees. Jorin stood in front of him.
“Son,” he started, “your support is crucial to the success of this team. The lieutenant chose you out of countless knights in the Order to fill our fourth slot. Before deployment to this mission the lieutenant spoke of your victories in combat alongside less capable knights.”
Blue thought of Green. Did Jorin mean Green was..
Jorin held one hand to Blue. “You can join us in the battlefield to return peace to this kingdom or allow others to suffer.”
Blue stared at the hand. The fingers were stiff yet held steadily in a welcoming position, as though beckoning him to accept the offer. Blue looked up to Jorin, meeting his gaze. He took the hand and pushed himself up with his other hand on his knee to stand. Jorin tightened his grip and pulled Blue towards him, then leaned in over his shoulder to whisper something.
“Make the Order proud.”
Archilus and Jorin joined Remi on the party button, who was trying to balance a Shivermist on top of a Big Angry; both disarmed, Blue silently hoped. Blue joined the three to activate the room while the elevator in the distance past a raised gate, a skull symbol glaring back at him on the square screen.
__________________________________
Green felt exhausted. His body tumbled around in the passage, constantly collapsing into the strange liquid for a few moments only for the memory of an outside world motivating him. An electric surge occasionally flickered within him, a reminder of the circumstances he awoke in. The last thing he could remember was...
“Grah..... Wher- What did you do?!”
Green felt his head throb. He stumbled into a wall and leaned against it, one hand to his forehead while the other dangled at his side.
“Answer me, insect!”
Green was unable to answer. The headache harmed more than helped his physical condition. Green felt the tendrils underneath his armor weave outward again, branching throughout surfaces as a warm wave passed through the system at once multiple times until they stopped moving and the waves stopped.
“I felt a disruptive electrical force, strong enough to disable... Never mind, you must escape this place. We dare not risk the source lingering with the ability to repeat its past retaliation.” The tendrils began to tense and pulse again as Green felt his severe weariness pull away, almost as if someone had grasped it by the neck and scraped it off. This was followed by a flush of energy as Green felt his torso breathe new life into him, the newfound strength extending to his extremities. He bounced off the wall which held him in comfort and stood on his own in the liquid, his legs denying any length of motion exhausting enough to stop them and his arms powerful enough to bash any Lumber into sawdust.
The tendrils pulled his armor by every piece to turn Green to one of multiple pipeline directions.
“The exit is ahead.”
__________________________________
Lugnut had never ventured in these areas before. In the past he kept to mapped areas to stay within camp areas to keep communications open to Brawl and other wandering knights out in the world under their community, though there were far too many times when those explorers never returned. Even if they did come back, or even close enough to track on his own com unit map, Lugnut could only remember Brawl having gone out this far and come back both alive and not captured by the Order within two days of returning. There could be countless things out here Brawl has kept hidden from Lugnut and the others, including Bunker.
The thick woods began to thin. The damp air thickened and gained a rank stench completely foreign to Lugnut. The vegetation began receding and replaced with significantly thinner trees with thick patches of moss invading standing and fallen trunks. Brawl approached the only trunk comparable to those in previous forests, a small spiral mark carved onto the side. It was smaller than an open palm, a simple line spinning a couple times around the center. He knocked on the trunk three times. The sound of dry leaves rustling below echoed from another trunk resting on its side, one end pointing away from them while the other bent into the ground behind the trunk Brawl sounded.
Brawl took a knee and brought himself toward the base of the marked tree. He leaned down and whispered.
“Lanterns have eyes.”
He then stood and waited next to Lugnut who was utterly confused.
The rustling resumed, but Lugnut could tell it was moving to the surface toward the shy opening. As the noise came to a halt at the end, a lump of leaves and moss peeked around the corner. Lugnut felt he was watching a strange dream, as though Brawl would disappear any second and he would awake with Brawl telling him to keep it down. Unfortunately this was all too real.
A hand hesitantly reached from beneath the foliage and pulled it off, revealing the helmet of a knight wearing Wyvern Scale. They were lying on their stomach and had already crawled completely out of the fallen trunk. They began to stand and brush themselves off.
“S-Sorry, I didn’t know you were..” The soft voice rose as a pair of light violet eyes stared back at Lugnut. “Who..” They turned away.
“This is a friend. Lugnut.” Brawl slapped Lugnut on the back, pushing him closer to the retreating knight. “Lugnut, this is Turbine. During my expedition across Cradle I found her..”
Brawl let his sentence fall short when he noticed Lugnut staring at her right leg. It was only a short stump. She was leaning against the resting log with her right hand while hopping over to greet them. Brawl ran over and helped her walk, but Lugnut was unable to stop himself from staring at the wound.
“Is she stable?” Lugnut began pondering methods of repair and replacement. Maybe he could build a replacement if he had the resources, or could at least fashion a detachable temporary extremity as he has in the past.
“She was trapped in the wreckage of her escape pod. I had t-”
“He had to break me out,” she broke in. Brawl and Lugnut noticed her outburst. She bowed her head away.
Brawl sat her down on the log. Lugnut joined them.
“We could have taken her back.” Lugnut was eyeing Brawl. “We could have fixed her back at the ba-”
“She was like you.”
Lugnut retracted. How could anyone be remotely similar to such an abomination to society?
“She was taken for the expedition as a prisoner from the war times. She held vital intelligence all sides would kill to get.” Brawl brought her closer to himself. “The Order has been secretly hunting her. Just like you. And since landing, me.”
The three sat in silence while Lugnut watched the sky. It was clear. He was used to the sky being blocked by trees in all but small clearings and the town he despised polluting the air with heavy machinery. The sky was beginning to dim and approach slumber in the evening. Lugnut thought of what creatures may lurk this area in the night. The familiar trees behind them were familiar, but out here it was more open. Potentially massive predators.
“You two can stay with me for the night,” Turbine spoke softly. “I’ve burrowed more than enough space for three over the years.” She begun to stand only to nearly fall over. Brawl helped her stand for a moment, then picked her up completely and set her down at the open end of the log. She crawled in.
Brawl looked to Lugnut, then dropped to his stomach and crawled in as well. Lugnut walked over to the entrance and only saw a small opening muffled with leaves and brush. He took a deep breath, exhaled, then went after them.
__________________________________
Green stumbled up to dead end until he realized there was a giant hole blasted through the wall leading uphill. Outside. He reached out for it while stepping forward, each motion a struggle against exhaustion, until he eventually allowed himself to fall forward on the grass. He felt the tendrils in his armor force his arms to claw himself up the hill and allowed it to take control. At the top of the incline he found himself outside the Haven wall facing a massive forest.
He felt himself hobbling on his feet. A mere whisper of wind would knock him over. He felt something drag him toward the trees in spite of his intent to return to the town, but his legs walked forward against his will. He watched himself march into the dark forest as the dimming light of evening questioned his unmade decision behind him.
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Only a pair of Trojans remained. Jorin was clashing blades with one, his strength whittling away, while Remi tossed a Big Angry over its head. The other was attempting to smash into Archilus who was narrowly evading its massive attacks, his shield absorbing occasional mistakes. Blue held the white handled handgun and began pressurizing a charge attack while keeping himself discreetly placed out of the vision range of both Trojans. Archilus shared a quick glance with Blue, signaling the priority. Blue unleashed the pressure into its back which shattered the crystal into powder, which evaporated skyward. The Trojan fell to its knees and began to petrify. Before becoming stone it slowly turned towards Blue. It petrified before an eye could peer around to its back. The other was still occupied until a stray Shivermist found its back, to which Jorin jumped to its left and hustled to its back before splitting the crystal with his Leviathan. It collapsed and the remains began to petrify. The northward gate fell.
“Good work, team.” Jorin commented. His breathing was noticeably heavy. He raised his blade again to slash at the stone Trojan, loot falling from the crumbling remains. He then destroyed the other.
Blue was eager to replenish his own health. The others continued ahead out of sight while Blue sat alone to rest for a moment.
“Are you coming, Blue?” Archilus called to him.
Blue stood. “Yeah.”
He jogged up to meet them in front of the elevator platform. Remi was sitting on a Big Angry while Jorin took a knee. Archilus was standing.
“This is where it gets hard,” Jorin said. Everyone knew what was at stake and what awaited them. The duke himself. “Is everyone ready? Before it starts there are heart pads for the hurt.” Jorin stood and walked onto the platform.
Remi rolled off the bomb, stood, then picked it up and held it under one arm. He walked over to Jorin and turned the same direction so both were looking back at Blue and Archilus.
“This is your time,” Archilus whispered to Blue. “This is your initiation.”
“Wh..What?” Blue whispered back, his own breathing less than stellar.
“Feron wanted to wait before telling you, but this is your final mission before your next promotion. Before you become a Vanguard.”
Blue perked up. “M-Me? A Vanguard?”
Archilus smiled. “You would have earned it.”
The two joined Jorin and Remi on the platform, a newfound enthusiasm having emerged from the depths of seclusion. Green would be proud.
Blue may become a vanguard. wonder what will happen in the fight.
Lugnut rolled down a slide of vegetation and dirt while trying to stop himself from flailing his limbs to find traction in case he suddenly landed on someone. When he stopped he began to stand in a pile of dry leaves. He had to blink a few times for the goggle piece to adjust. It was a familiar light sequence. Several lanterns were hung overhead in a wire which continued down a tunnel.
“This way,” Turbine pointed down the tunnel. Brawl carried her while Lugnut followed close behind.
The trio continued for a while in the dim lantern light. The tunnels appeared to be caked dirt moist from the marshes above yet were layered with more dry leaves and moss. The entire passage seemed to breathe as a stampede of warm air charged through them back to the passage they entered from. If heat is escaping they must be going deeper underground. Lugnut noticed every step needing to be ever so slightly lower to continue. They were going downhill.
“Where does this tunnel lead?”
Brawl remained silent. Lugnut noticed Turbine allowed one arm to dangle.
“Is she alright?”
“Yeah, I’m just..a little..”
Brawl stopped and kneeled, bringing Turbine together in his arms. When he stood and continued the arm was no longer dangling and Turbine was unresponsive. Lugnut jogged up to walk aside him and noticed her asleep in his arms, her own arms crossed over her chest. Her head was limp against his right upper arm and her eyes were nothing more than faint slivers. She began to mumble what seemed to be a song.
“Tonight..my love...I sing for you..”
__________________________________
Brawl could already smell what they were approaching. The Order must not have found it yet. Turbine was mumbling under her breath while Lugnut seemed to be listening intently. He remembered creating an organic compilation of scents to mark this area in case he was ever lost in the wilderness and needed to find an important location. To others it would resemble recently decomposing flesh combined with mud, but it was far more than that. The flesh part has long since been removed.
“This is the place.”
The three entered a chamber after passing several alternative hallways and stood in front of a large object with a layer of roots acting as a prison. Brawl placed Turbine in a nest of dry leaves against the wall and began pulling the roots from their slumber through time and pierced them into soil aside to reveal an elevator platform. There was a console on the left side of it. Brawl approached the console and booted it up. While it loaded Brawl turned to Lugnut who was sitting beside Turbine watching Brawl. He turned back to the console and was faced with an unexpected window.
ARE YOU SURE
Yes No
Yes.
The light on the screen zapped away. Brawl simply stared at it expecting something to happen. The elevator platform groaned and was audibly powering up. Light began flickering on the screen again.
WHY DID YOU DO THAT
The letters began to distort and shred, then dissipate again.
“What was that?”
Brawl nearly jumped in surprise. Lugnut was standing next to him. He was so focused on the screen he must not have noticed him approach.
The screen on the back of the elevator platform lit up. A skull symbol with a red background appeared. It was the wrong destination. Brawl attempted to coordinate the platform but it was stuck.
“Something has it locked on...”
Brawl let his sentence trail as he and Lugnut watched the console spark to life again and create two words. Lugnut finished the sentence.
“...Firestorm Citadel.”
__________________________________
“Did you set it to go there?”
“Of course not. But if this particular gate is locked on any specific location it must be important.”
Lugnut turned to Turbine. “What about her?”
“She will be fine alone. She knows to stay away from this gate.” Brawl stepped onto the grated platform. Lugnut joined him and the platform immediately dropped.
The platform descended significantly faster than those Red could remember. This must be a different platform. An experimental freelancer. Was that what this is? Why does this exist? Lugnut?
“I..I have no answer. I never knew of this. I have no idea how this thing works.”
Red and Lugnut knew what they wanted to say but felt unable to do so. They instead stood in silence beside Brawl who was clenching and unfurling his fingers constantly. It made Red nervous.
“Brawl, are you alri-” Lugnut was interrupted by the sudden stench of heated ashes.
__________________________________
Green jerked to consciousness. He was standing. Walking. It was pitch black and he seemed to be walking in complex terrain, his footing constantly shifting as opposed to the smooth comfort of a developed town. He never expected to miss something so insignificant.
His entire body moved on its own. He could feel the tendrils tense and relax throughout the thin space between pieces of his armor as every movement was coordinated by an outside mind. Where was he? Why was it so dark out here? It was never this dark in Haven. Green thought he would ask this aloud, hoping someone would hear, but was unable to.
Green felt something inside his head claw into his consciousness.
“Your location is not of your concern. Your duty was to retrieve the eye and I will not allow it to escape so easily so long as your body is still usable.”
Green wanted to resist. To turn back. To go home.
“You will satisfy my demand.” Green felt a pulse coarse through the tendrils which sent a shockwave of pain through his body but left themselves unscathed.
The pain may have lingered long after its initial deployment but Green was rested now. He could fight back. Ur said the eye was ahead. Where was it? Hidden in the wilderness of Cradle?
“Held by one among these trees. Yes.”
If I could see its location for myself I can run with my own legs. Your control is limited to a mere walk.
Green noticed his vision began to blur and dim until he was completely blind, then flash into a world of silhouettes. In the far distance, beyond anything remotely identifiable, a minuscule glow called for him. It was far. Even if he sprinted without stopping it was also descending downward faster than he could run.
“Surrender is not an option.”
Green expected Ur to use the same incentive again but nothing came. He instead began to run toward the target. Surrender was not an option.
__________________________________
Lugnut coughed a few times. Brawl was silent. When the platform lowered to floor level they noticed four knights standing at the end of a short hall in front of them, the very end blocked by airlocks. Lugnut immediately recognized a pair of blue eyes.
“Blue!” Lugnut blurted out, unaware of where the urge came from.
The four knights turned back to them and fled to the party button glowing in front of them. The airlocks reversed so Lugnut and Brawl were blocked. Brawl watched Lugnut run up to the bars and clench his fingers around two of the bars.
“Blue! Wait!”
Past the four knights Brawl could see a giant turn their back to face them. In a low and booming voice the titan spoke.
“What’s this? More wolves hungry for the blood of Almire? Our great kingdom shall never fall to the likes of beasts!”
Its face was nestled into its upper chest making its massive shoulders appear even bulkier. Ashen gray fur hung from the back of its neck, which was effectively where its neck should have been, and from the upper arms. Its hands were thickly condensed magma with several bright orange claws hungrily dangling to shred through their tiny bodies. Its legs were short yet thick as though it expected a low blow to imbalance it. A pair of chains held its...face...in place. It held a massive, molten mace with a volcanic knob at the end within the four spires. Brawl felt a thick presence of fear in the four knights locked with it, but in Lugnut there was nothing.
Lugnut turned to Brawl who was only a few steps behind him now. “Help me get this gate open!” Lugnut was trying to break the pikes down by shaking them from their ranks.
This was a significant change of character. It must have been Red overwhelming Lugnut with his own emotions. It must be confusing to have more than one consciousness sharing the same body. Brawl approached the gate and began his own attempt at breaking into the room but was unable to. While the two struggled behind the gate, four prepared for battle within.
__________________________________
“Archilus, Blue, distract him.” Jorin was shouting orders. “Remi,-” Before Jorin could give a command, Remi was already winding up a Shivermist and running up to the duke. Jorin drew his Leviathan and ran into the fray.
Archilus began to join them but Blue was watching two knights on the other side of the airlock. They appeared to be trying to break into the room. “Never mind them, Blue, we have to help the others.” Archilus took Blue by the arm. Blue shook him off. “What are you d-”
“I know those knights.” Blue watched their strife. “Red and Brawl. I have to help them.” Blue turned to Archilus. “They may not give me the glory of a Vanguard, but friends come before power.” Blue ran over to the gate and began pulling at the pikes. Archilus hesitated for only a couple seconds before joining Jorin and Remi.
__________________________________
“What are you doing?! Our lives are not worth wasting on those slaves to the Order. To the tyrant which you know all too well has betrayed us.” Lugnut was snarling at Red. The airlock he was trying to compromise was the only thing keeping them safe from the giant whose mere touch would burn.
Blue is on the other side. We have to get him out of here.
Lugnut tried to stop Red from wasting their physical strength on something he knew was impossible. These airlocks were designed to be sturdy enough to endure ten Brawls at once. Red still persisted when the thought flashed from Lugnut to Red. Their thoughts were linked and it was only a matter of seconds before the other received the same thought. The airlock would only fall when the battle ended.
__________________________________
The lord. The duke. Vanaduke. These mere animals have come for the blood of Almire. In what felt ancestral was his past. He was once a young lord of the kingdom of Almire. Rival crowns and common foes wished for the demise of his kingdom which came all too soon. His enemies had conspired against him. The lord fled. Fled to the mountains east in hopes of gaining the favor of an ancient power which lay in eternal slumber among the stone. Years slipped from his grasp. The lone fruit to his quest was a single cave entrance which emitted an entrancing heat. To turn away was to finally concede. The cave housed a pool of heated ashes. They burned but with every step into the burning he remembered those who have fallen. His family. Friends. Those who ruled before him. Their losses were singed in his mind, repeating their names until the anger boiled into a fury. He found himself satisfying vengeance to the fallen by reminding the world who he was and what will become. His enemies shall perish in eternal flame. No restraints to his anger. Those who dared oppose him deserved every pain of fire. He felt his body be consumed by the heat but made no effort to resist. The fire was his only friend now. With this fire he found what he was looking for. Power.
When the lord ventured to return to his kingdom with his newfound army of fiendish beings, the fire obeyed its new master. Vanaduke was able to reclaim the throne within a day. Only when the glory of victory began to wash away did the lord realize the consequence to his actions. The people of Almire burned by his presence. His own body had become infused with the fire. He became vengeance. With vengeance comes blind fury. Those he sought to liberate simply found a new tormentor, though now without mercy. Life ceased to be. Only the dead reigned. His army was left unsatisfied without more to destroy and dispersed to the mountains whence they came in preparation for anyone who may dare to invade again. The lord was unable to shed a tear for his actions. The fire greedily devoured it before it could descend.
"Spinning a telephone cable"
Fixed the title for yah :v Great story though!
The massive blunt weapon crashed into the stone, the mere force blasting Remi from his feet into a wall. Jorin was knocked onto his back but held his shield over his exposed stomach before standing in preparation of another attack. Archilus slid back a short distance but his shield absorbed most of the impact, its once blue bubble a faint orange now. It was beginning to wash into green until he lowered it.
The giant had its feet frozen in place courtesy of Remi, but it was still fully capable of attacking. Jorin rolled over and brought himself to his feet while in the corner of his vision he noticed Blue running to its back with a familiar white gun in hand. The bullet would make it thaw.
“Blue! Stop!” Jorin was still trying to stand, the girth of his armor getting in the way. Before he could run over to intercept the hasty gunner the ice which kept the beast in place shattered and it began to turn to its liberator. “Remi!” Jorin threw his hand towards the bomber who was already preparing another Shivermist.
Blue must have been too scared to move. He was staring up into its eyes while it raised its massive weapon. Before Jorin could say anything Archilus threw his shield over to Blue who grabbed it by the side rims not a second too soon as the blunt object crashed down onto him and blasted the knight into a nearby wall. It left a large dent.
__________________________________
“We have to get over there,” Brawl said under his breath. He was struggling to even budge the stubborn bars.
Lugnut began creating possible methods of getting past the gate. Maybe his bombs could blast it down. No, that was stupid. Maybe he could try a combination...
What if we used a bomb to propel Brawl over the wall?
“What?” Lugnut forgot Red was with him for a moment.
Red withdrew the small white bomb from their arsenal. Lugnut began to put the pieces together.
“With the combined blast force of this and our Valiance, the explosion would still be incredibly weak against that gate. Unless..”
No, not the gate. Brawl can take the blasts, but if this bomb is placed near the gate and we use the pressurized attack of our gun, it might be enough momentum to toss him over.
Lugnut began winding the bomb. “Or it could shred into his armor.” Lugnut looked over to Brawl who was punching at the gate. “Never mind. Brawl,” Lugnut called his attention, “we have a plan.”
__________________________________
Vanaduke was frozen again. The four regrouped at his back while Remi redeployed another Shivermist every once in awhile to keep him on ice. They were whispering in case he could hear them.
“Anyone have any ideas?” Jorin asked in a hushed tone. He looked from Archilus to Blue to Remi. “We need to be able to take him down without getting crushed.”
Blue began to raise his hand but Jorin noticed before anyone else noticed. “Yes, Blue?”
“Well, Brawl and Red are still behind the entrance gate. They could help us.”
Jorin sneered. “Anyone else?”
Archilus was silent. Remi spoke up.
“Red? That kid is still around?” Remi was trying to look through the gate while winding up a Shivermist. “That looks a lot li-” The bomb fell from his hands.
“What?” Jorin looked over to Remi then turned to see what caught his attention. “What is i-” Jorin also froze. “I-Is th-” Jorin jerked his eyes away from the gate and faced the others again. “We have to get out of here now.”
“But what about the mission?” Archilus told Blue this was his final test before becoming a Vanguard. When would this opportunity come again?
“We can promote you when we get back to Haven. You survived. You earned it.” Blue noticed Jorin was becoming nervous. “Over there,” Jorin pointed to the northward opening, “we can get out from there.”
Blue heard two explosions layered over each other southward and saw a flash of metal fly over the gate and land on the other side. The object stood. It was Brawl. And he was looking back at them.
__________________________________
“Everyone, move!” Jorin was rushing the three to the exit while it was open. He took a panicked moment to look back at the knight who was approaching them after defying the gate which once held it back before running after the three fleeing knights.
Then he remembered their previous problem as he heard the ice crack and shatter.
Jorin stopped and looked up to see the gray mask glaring down at him again with one arm raising its mace again. He was terrified. When it began to swing down onto its target Jorin could only watch his inevitable demise.
__________________________________
Brawl pulled his shield off his back while sprinting to intercept the attack. He turned toward Vanaduke, shield between them, and tackled Jorin out of the way. The absurdly large mace crashed down onto the small shield. Brawl could feel the raw power and heat almost compromise the shield but it was condensed enough to survive. When the force stopped and the mace began to lift away again Brawl rolled away and grabbed Jorin. His eyes found the other knights northward and he hauled the unconscious knight over to them. They were hiding in a narrow hallway leading to an elevator.
“Get him out of here!” Brawl shouted, tossing Jorin onto the two larger knights. The other stared at him with a pair of blue eyes. “Go!”
The four fled. Brawl turned to face the lord himself. He grasped the handle of his Gran Faust from over his shoulder and slung it over so the blade was revealed to its opponent. The dim weapon began to emit a purple glow followed by several outlining purple glows around its blade. The giant laughed. Brawl clenched his empty fist.
__________________________________
Lugnut was still behind the gate. He simply held the bars with both hands and stared blankly at the back of a giant, its ragged cape flowing in the heated air.
“We got Brawl over, but now how do we get over?”
Lugnut heard his com link beep. He checked it. The map showed four knights on the exit elevator descending while a lone orange signal was on the opposite side of the thing Lugnut was watching in the room. When the four signals disappeared the party listing was modified so only Brawl and Lugnut were in the party, the other four disappearing one by one as the elevator took them out of range for this floor.
Gears unwound the gate so it lowered. Lugnut entered the room. His com link said Brawl was on the opposite side, so the bomber would be able to surprise their enemy.
__________________________________
Blue stared down at his feet. What did he do? He left Brawl and Red behind. They could be hurt, or in even more danger than they were, or even dead.
“Cheer up, kiddo.” Jorin coughed twice before continuing. “You did pretty good. We all made it out in one piece.” His attention was drawn to several dents decorating Remi. “Not necessarily in the best of shape, but one piece.” His attention went back to Blue. “I look forward to the ceremony.”
“What?” Blue was disgusted.
“Your promotion to Vanguard.”
“No,” Blue lashed out. “What did I do to earn it? Run and hide?”
Archilus lay one hand on his shoulder. “Blue, you did gr-”
“No!” Blue jerked away from Archilus. “We all ran like cowards while Brawl and Red are fighting our battle!”
“The elevator is already going down. Too late to go back.” Jorin knew what was happening. He also knew what was at stake. “Listen, Blue. Those two are traitors to the Order. Our enemies. Whether they defeat Lord Vanaduke or die trying, both results are a success.”
“How can you say that?!” Blue shrieked. “They were willing to fight that thing so we could live, and you want them to die?!”
The platform came to its destination. The air was infested with particles. The three Vanguards continued to meet the knights in front of several consoles.
“Come on, Blue.” Archilus beckoned.
Blue had his arms crossed. “I am going back to help them.”
“The elevators are one way. Get over here,” Jorin commanded.
Blue opened his com link. Red was still under contacts. He was still standing on the elevator platform they came in on.
“Blue, I order you t-” Jorin was in the middle of giving an order until Blue was propelled upward by the platform.
__________________________________
Lugnut ducked down slightly and began winding a Voltaic while keeping his eyes on Vanaduke, mimicking its movements to stay at its back while Brawl must have been on the other side.
__________________________________
Brawl kept one optic on the mace while the other stared back at the giant. If either withdrew from his attention it would be his end. It was staring back at him. Brawl unwittingly circled around the room, still keeping his front to it, while it followed his movements. Around the side of the giant Brawl noticed something familiar in a quick glimpse. He unfurled the fingers on his offhand and curled them back into a fist again. He could feel something in the back of his throat inhibiting his breathing slightly.
Vanaduke raised the mace and began building momentum for it to crash down. Brawl threw himself to the ground aside from the attack and rolled onto his front and tossed himself back to his feet. With his own weapon on the ground he grappled the giant by its arm and began pulling it down to eye level. It was heavier than he thought.
Following a hoarse chuckle the giant yanked its extended limb over its head again, flinging Brawl to its back and landing onto an unsuspecting demolitionist. Lugnut was sprawled on the ground with the sentient brick of metal dazed on his back having dropped a prepared explosive and inconveniently dropping it with the surprise. Brawl could hear it ticking quietly in spite of his vision temporarily scrambled. He rolled off of Lugnut and struggled to stand, or at least get off the ground to do something. He swung his attention back to Vanaduke, seeing the blurred figure with a large object over their head, and reacted by grabbing Lugnut under his arms and flinging him away to a corner.
When he turned back to the giant all became dark.
__________________________________
Green was hunched over on all four limbs flinging himself over knots of roots and unnatural mounds of soil and liberated leaves. He may not know what brought him to do so or how he was able to, but the more he thought about it the more he realized it was impossible for him to do alone. The hands which previously held cold steel blades by the neck were now satisfying the duties of motion. It was degrading. He wanted to stop and walk by his own will, to relax his arms from constant activity. There was no time to stop. To stop would mean to surrender to his tormentor.
__________________________________
Red finally returns to the story!
I may've missed this but does Green have 5*?
Amber and Korin are written out.
Green is fighting a battle inside. So does this thing turn people into trojans? So where is Green going?
Blue is the generic , Green is the Anakin, an Red is the mystery main.
Amazing story.
So, when did you think of this concept.
Can I also ask, if you have the time, can you read this story in progress I'm doing?
Actually, Red was there the whole time. Not necessarily by the same name. Been that way for a while. I can do character progressions when this wraps up in case anyone missed anything.
Not yet. His equipment barely comes up lately.
Yes. I mean no. I m- Saying anything about this would be a spoiler.
Not necessarily, but relevant. Definitely more on this kind of stuff in the sequel. This first part is more focused on creating the world, history, people, and relations among the people throughout the history of the world(s) they exist in. I probably should have done the same about when they were on Isora but it would be only around five to seven chapters long, not that it would be uneventful or short. Maybe I will. It would definitely explain a lot of details involved in flashbacks. As for where he goes from here, that will soon be discovered. Cue thunder and maniacal laughter.
Kind of close. A few houses down the street. Again, if I open up the ideas behind each of these characters it would involve spoiling what comes in the next few parts and completion of the final chapter, but I definitely plan to do a character review for as many as possible or at least the dynamic characters.
The concept? You mean the plotline? When did it happen? Maybe a month before I started writing, I thought it might be entertaining as opposed to the generic "hero does stuff but villain does bad stuff so hero kills villain and everyone is happy forever" I saw constantly pop up only to be trashed then brought up again. Heroes and villains are fine, but can we get more than just the hero is the best thing since the CE market and the villain only exists to be evil? I remember in a few threads having little breakdowns about making characters and plots more interesting but usually they were ignored. Writing the way readers want to see? What wizardry be that?
This may come as a surprise, but when I was starting out it was just the adventures of the three main characters who do stuff but develop different personalities in spite of starting as essentially the same clean slates. Like three brothers who grow to become different people. In fact, the very very first set of character developments I had in mind involved making Green and Blue both become high ranked knights but Green murders Blue out of rage in spite of the two being so close, then commits suicide from the guilt; both deaths were blamed on Red who would be hunted by the Spiral Order and eventually executed. How fun does that storyline sound? That was changed pretty quickly when the whole backstory of what happened on Isora came into mind, characters like Brawl and Feron were created and dug into a little deeper, and now all of this stuff is going on.
I would like to read what other people have going on but I want to finish this first in case I subconsciously steal anything. I read shorts and the occasional few chapters of stuff, but if I read what other people are writing it might influence what I already have going here so close to the end. I can take a curtain drop once this concludes to review other fictions but it would probably turn into me shouting at people to make their characters what I want and to never use generic hero/villain characters ever.
When I was first learning about writing I saw everyone else around me doing stuff like "the hero is great and good and perfect and the villain is smelly and stupid and mean so the hero kills the villain and everyone is happy the end". This was in elementary school in some English class. Want to know how my first story went? The basic idea of it? This guy was a freak, people screamed and fled in terror by seeing his face alone. Every time he sought comfort in interaction with others he was always abandoned. He eventually went crazy and would kill people who fled or even had any fearful reaction to seeing him even though he would wear a big old ragged cloak to hide under. He even ate their corpses because mentally he was scrambled. Only when he met someone who refused to flee, refused to scream and run, did he realize what he had become. In the first version he killed himself to end his misery but my teacher told me to change it so he became a normal person because she thought I might become a criminal. I kept it the same. She talked to my parents. Nothing happened after that.
Well,a young, childhood comic I did was gorry.....
I read Misery at 12.
I'm not sane, as what my friends say, and am wierd.
I like crime, horror, mystery, and psychological stories.
Gives an insight into my writting.
I can't wait till the conclusion.
There are stuff which i must first say to you:
-The way you write, the way you come up with everything.... It's brilliant.
-I loved this story, i'll try to read the whole thing out next time other than skimming it (yes, i am a very lazy reader :|)
-Your story sounded just realistic, showing the dark side of Spiral Knights (i will never buy another recipe from Echo ._.)
I just want to see Red, Blue and Green being together once more... That is my only wish ;_;
Reading this awesome fanfic makes me feel that I have to beat the crap out of every vanguard (don't make blue a vanguard pwease :3)
Weaver group hug.
Come here, you big lugs. And small lugs. And Lugnut. That crazy triclops.
A not-so-little reminder about character applications, they are closed for this..season? I like that. Season one, Spinning a yarn. I should probably capitalize "yarn" but that would make the title seem so formal. Not that formal is bad for a title, but usually when the title has something to do with the story without simply title dropping it has a pretty big impact for readers. How about it, weavers? Think your hearts can take all the pulling I keep throwing at you? I may or may not speak for others, but when I reread certain parts of this I get a little teary. What were we talking about? Character applications, that was it. You can post them here if you want, I plan to go through this thread at the end of this season/novel (who knows, someone might make a series about Spiral Knights and use this fiction for content) and collect applications and hold imaginary auditions with characters like Brawl and Lugnut as the judges. I can imagine the questions they would have for contestants. Brawl would probably say something like "how many skulls have you crushed with your bare hands". I can also imagine Nick and company watching the judging on TV or something and just constantly saying "no" while having dramatic expressions. I keep getting distracted here. Applications. If you absolutely have to write them immediately you can, but you should probably wait until the end so you know how the storyline has played out. If you have any backstory content you want to be part of your character, like how their parents were eaten by bees or something, remember to keep it applicable to this version of the Spiral Knights world. A lot of factors have significance to the character and plot, even something as simple as personal color. More on that in upcoming updates.
What else can I ramble about. People seem to like skimming. Normally I would be fine with that, but if you skim through the whole thing there are going to be a lot of confusing moments, like what happened to Red. Where did he go? Where did Brawl come from? Where did Ur come from? That last one is still a valid question as I post this. Skimming is okay, but if you want to know what the liquids is going on you should read through the whole thing. I mix in a lot of significant factors in the world like the mood and relationships among characters in fairly small details, but if you just skim through most of that is going to be missed meaning most of the interest is skipped. Skimming also means spoiling things for yourself if you skipped foreshadowing events.
Gobble gobble gobble, turkeys in my sock drawer. Another thing about the sequel/second season, I have already started a little on specifics like new characters and events, but I definitely have the overall theme decided. What could it be? Wait until the end of this to find out. I am such a tease. Back to writing the next part now. Judging by what I have in mind and how much I already have written, expect a big one.
“Alright, kids,” a hoarse voice spoke in a low tone, “go back to your quarters. Recess has ended.” The knight was tall, bearing the intimidating Mighty Cobalt. He watched as the near hundred child knights filed from the barren yard surrounded with towering fences into several roughly constructed shacks. He noticed one knight sitting toward the fence. “Hey, I said recess is over.”
He approached the child wearing a beige blast suit. He stood no less than two steps away now. “Are you deaf?”
The child stood. They were holding something.
“Turn around,” the adult knight ordered.
The child turned to reveal a small shape of metal shoddily constructed to form what may have been intended to be a cube. The only form intentionally jutting from the cube was a small handle to crank.
“Wha’s that?”
The child held the cube in one hand and slowly wound the crank with the other. Inside the cube a weak light began to flicker.
The adult knight grabbed the child by the arm he was cranking with and pulled him close. “Recess is over.” He nearly threw the child towards the closest shack, and in their stumble they dropped the cube which broke into several pieces. The child fell to the ground and attempted to recollect the pieces, but the knight took him by the arm again and dragged him to the door then lobbed him in. “Lights out, all of you.” He slammed the door shut and audibly locked it from the outside.
The child in a blast suit was still on the ground. The other children in the shack were powering down, their optics dimming, until only one pair of red eyes glowed in the dark.
Outside the sound of mobilization units approached. The knight bearing Mighty Cobalt, among several others equipped with the same armor, were watching the transport unit approaching the entrance to the outpost. The same knight brought a pair of binoculars to his optics for a better view. On the side of the transport, painted in dull violet on the gray metal, were three horizontal lines. The knight turned around, lowering the binoculars, to look at the banner flowing in the afternoon wind. On its gray cloth were two horizontal lines painted in red. The knight turned back to the transport.
“All hands, move it underground!”
The other knights were scrambling back to the shacks, hastily unlocking the doors and shouting in for everyone to follow them out, while the knight with binoculars stood at the balcony of the scouting tower. The near hundred tiny knights flowed from the shacks and followed the handful of adults toward the flag pole and to the barracks past it. They went around to the back of the barracks, crawled underneath the building, and opened a hatch. When opened the knights beckoned the children to descend. One of the adult knights stood at the base of the flagpole and waved one hand to the knight in the tower, who waved with the same hand back then continued to watch the transport come ever closer.
The child in a blast suit peeked around the corner of a shack, then pulled away and rested his back against the short wall. He could hear the adults shouting at the other children to enter faster. The child in a blast suit looked up to the tower, watching the knight watch something outside the walls. When that knight turned back his motion was suddenly stopped and stared back. The adult swung back to the flagpole, waved both hands, then sprinted over to the ladder and slid down. Once on the ground he bolted over to the isolated child, grabbed him in both arms, and clumsily charged to the back of the barracks. His heavy breathing was noticeable but seemed exaggerated, as though something else were giving him stress. When they came to the back of the barracks two other Mighty Cobalt knights were laying on their chests underneath the building and watched the two descend, then entered themselves. Once inside the child realized it was completely dark. He heard behind him, once the other Mighty Cobalt knight dropped him to the floor, the hatch seal and lock. This was followed by a spark and lanterns hanging overhead being lit by the Mighty Cobalt knights individually for a miniscule light source.
“Stay clear of the door,” the knight who was still standing over the child wearing a blast suit ordered. While the swarm of child knights melted to the other side of the room from the door only one pair of red eyes was still near it, countless other pairs of red eyes staring down at him.
“You heard the commander, move it!” One of the other Mighty Cobalt knights kicked him while he was still on the dusty dirt floor.
He rolled over on his side and begun to stand.
“Come on, get over there!”
Someone pushed him from behind, knocking him back to the ground. The room was silent. Instead of attempting to stand again he stayed down. He felt someone pick him up and carry him a few strides then drop him again. He lay there for a while.
They were all sitting around in the underground bunker. Overhead everyone could hear marching as it came nearer.
“Our weapons are up there,” one of the Mighty Cobalt knights said. It would have been a whisper if anyone else was making noise.
“Not all of them.” The knight with a pair of binoculars dangling around his neck walked over to a corner and grabbed a shovel leaning against the wall. He dug into the corner, revealing a black box. Other Mighty Cobalt knights helped him dig it out. They brought the box out of its resting place and pried it open with the shovel. Inside were Caliburs, Blasters, and Defenders of varying models; they must be varied ranks. The adult knights sifted through the container and armed themselves.
“What about ‘em?” One of the knights pointed to the crowd of children.
“As long as they stay out of sight.” The knight with binoculars had a Master Blaster in their right hand and a Mighty Defender hovering over their right wrist. “And out of the way.” He turned from the children to his comrades. “We may not all make it through this raid, but as long as we take some of them down it counts as victory.”
The other Mighty Cobalt knights nodded, holding their own weapons at the ready.
“Then let’s show them which side of the spectrum is on top!” The knight with binoculars led the rallied warriors to the hatch, but before unlocking it turned to give one final order. “You two in the back,” he pointed to two Mighty Cobalt knights, “watch the kids ‘til we get back.”
The two obeyed. When the others went up and out they locked the hatch behind them.
Silence.
Blasters being fired.
Metal being cut, electric sparks crying final tears.
A hoarse cry silenced by a bullet.
Silence.
The two Mighty Cobalt knights looked to each other. One spoke.
“D-...Did they..”
“Stay here.” The other approached the hatch and began unlocking it.
The first grabbed the other by the shoulder before he could open the hatch. “Be careful.” He nodded then went outside.
Silence.
Footsteps.
Two bullets fired.
The only remaining Mighty Cobalt knight took one step towards the hatch. He raised a hand, his optics locked on the hatch, then withdrew and turned back to the children. Silence. He turned to the open black container. He walked over to it. He reached into it and withdrew a simple Blaster. He held it in one hand. The children were watching him. He looked back at them. He took a deep breath, held the Blaster to his head, and fired a round. The knight dropped to his knees and collapsed.
Silence.
No one moved.
A single meek voice spoke from the group.
“Wh-What do we do now?”
Silence.
Another voice spoke from somewhere else in the room.
“M-Maybe someone should go up and see if they left.”
Silence.
Everyone was staring at the Mighty Cobalt knight face down on the ground.
The knight in a blast suit stood. He had seen the same as the others. He approached the black container, peeked in, and saw the barren inside. He turned to the rest of the children. They were all staring at him. All their red eyes. He turned down to the adult knight. He picked up the Blaster. He looked back to the children. They were still watching him. The gun was held in his left hand which dangled at his side. The single child facing the others were silent. Overhead they could still hear footsteps. They were coming closer. Closer to the hatch.
Silence.
“I think they came from here.” The voice came from outside.
Footsteps coming closer.
Thump.
Thump.
Silence.
The hatch was flung open. A knight wearing Mighty Cobalt with purple eyes peeked in. “Is anyone in there?”
There was no response. What were they supposed to do? Answer to an invading force? The knight wearing a blast suit saw the others power down, to pretend it was merely a basement with nothing significant in it, but one pair of red eyes gave off enough light to give them away.
“It looks like we have hostages,” the purple eyed knight said. He withdrew and the hatch remained open.
The children were silent still. No one tried to escape as there was only one exit. Where would they go? They were in the middle of the outpost. Anywhere they would try to run would get them caught. They could hear footsteps all around them overhead. None were training to fight. None knew how to hide. They were kept in this outpost their whole lives as far as they can remember. None of them had names. They were all the children of the outpost, being raised until they were strong enough to be trained. Their only adult relations were dead and gone, replaced by the force which conquered them. Was this the end? Were they destined to be raised as slaves, or cattle, for the slaughter? Was this war? The knight in a blast suit sat in silence as the others, yet his eyes were locked open. He felt the thoughts swirl around in his mind. How would they survive? What would these new knights do to them? Would they be slaughtered? Would they be enslaved under different management? What of their colors? They were red, as their deceased guardians, but these new knights seem to be violet. Does that matter? They have only seen knights with the color red. Red was who they were. Red were the stripes on the flag on this outpost. They should know, they were marched around the base to various exercises around.
“Over there, I saw one.”
Another voice. Who was it? Curiosity overwhelmed fear. The knight in the blast suit had to know what would come of him and the others. He approached the hatch, not looking back to the others, and as soon as his hand was beginning to reach for the edge of the opening a pair of purple eyes met his gaze.
The child was startled, yet had no reaction. The other knight fell to his back and scrambled away before shouting, “we have live ones!”
Were they going to shoot him down? Were they here to liberate the children? There was no turning back. They knew he was there. He stepped out of the hatch and stared back at countless pairs of violet eyes beaming back at him.
“Are you hostile?” One of the knight asked.
The child soon realized he and the others were never taught to talk. They only knew how to understand orders, like marching somewhere or doing something simple. The child wanted to reveal the awful experiences he had throughout his short life thus far. Someone had to know. The world had to know what horrible things happened in this outpost.
“I know what’s going on here,” a knight standing next to the first interrupted, “this is one of those training outposts. Two stripes.” He pointed to the still waving flag. “One stripe is a supplies cache, two training, three and up military.” The second knight approached the child. “If this one is the same as the rest we just found a great advantage in numbers. All we need is to change their colors, which should still be easy in this stage of development, then the rest should follow.”
“Are you sure? What if they already know about the factions?”
“Of course they don’t, this one can’t even talk yet. Look at ‘im.” The two stared at the child. He was too intimidated to respond. “Yeah, this is going to be great. Think of what the captain would say when we bring in a whole outpost of trainees nearly ripe.”
Is that what he was? A malleable slave to war? Is that what all the children were? Their shared personal color makes sense now, there are other colors in the world beyond the walls, but what were they doing out there? Why were they red all inside? These new knights speak of a war outside. That must be what the children were training for their whole lives.
“Hey, kid,” one of them ordered, “where are the rest of you? They all hiding down there?” He pointed to the open hatch.
Silence. Would he surrender the others, or sacrifice himself in hope of their escape? No. They would never be able to escape. What would happen if he refused? What if he obeyed? He stood still and made no motion.
“Maybe you have problems listening to orders. I asked where the other trainees are. I know these training outposts have at least a hundred kids at a time or they keep the flag down.”
Still no response. The two knights turned away and mumbled for a few seconds. One walked past the child to the hatch while the other kept a Master Blaster pointed on the child standing in front of him.
Silence.
The knight came out of the hatch. “Not too many in here, but more than enough to use.” He waved to a knight standing in the tower who waved back then held an object to the side of their face. It was too far to see clearly but it was probably a radio judging by the antennae poking up from it.
The same training, herding, and abusing continued but under new management. The children thought life would change with the invaders taking over but everything was same aside from the color of their eyes. The flag was taken down and a new one created, two violet stripes. Beneath it was raised a second flag, three violet stripes. The first meant the purpose of the outpost while following flags identified occupying units.
Day after day passed, the same metal crunching labor. The children would still construct basic weapons for the violet knights to upgrade for their own use. After what seemed to be several lifetimes the knight in a blast suit noticed familiar faces with the same red eyes as his own begin to disappear. When they were herded into the shacks at night they were slowly becoming less crowded. What was happening to them? One night he snuck out of the shack to investigate. He had to know what was happening. Where the others were going. He heard footsteps near the flagpole. Minding guards on patrol, he crawled underneath nearby buildings in spite of his larger size than when they first arrived. His armor felt bulkier than ever in the tight space. His red eyes watched the Mighty Cobalt knights, seemingly spectating an event at its center. They were either standing, sitting on the ground, or sitting on containers around. A few steps away he managed to crawl to an opening in the wall of knights and saw what they were all watching.
Four knights. Red eyes. They were shackled and chained to each other, standing near the base of the flagpole together. They were all facing outward from the center of their grouping.
“Well, kids, it looks like you four are the runts of the evening.” One of the many violet eyed knights walked around them, keeping a few steps away yet staring at them as he circled. “The captain has little tolerance for knights as weak as you.”
One of the restrained knights was missing their left hand, a few frayed wires hanging out of the limb. Another had a large dent in their lower leg. There were four Mighty Cobalt knights, each holding a Master Blaster and their eyes within view, who raised their guns and took aim.
“There is no room for the weak. This is war.” The knight raised one hand. “You four are dismissed.”
When the knight allowed his hand to drop four consecutive shots were fired. The grouped knights fell over. None moved for several mute moments. They collapsed in a pile.
Something stirred in the lump. A knight with one arm wiggled himself free of the chains, his legs broken by the weight of the other three having crashed onto him. One was still caught underneath by the weight. The circling knight stood over the survivor and withdrew his own Master Blaster. The gun dangled at his side in a limp hand. The knight used his only hand to reach for the leg of his tormentor. The trainees recently completed communications training but could only speak very simple sentences.
“Pl...Please..have merc-”
A bullet was fired. The knight fell limp again.
Silence.
The knight beneath the building was without thought. He silently withdrew from the crowd and their show and walked back to his assigned shack uncaring if anyone noticed. He knew there were other knights in those shacks who would become damaged. Their training became more intense and dangerous every day. It would only be a matter of time before the war killed them before they were forced to fight the outside world.
A siren ripped into the night sky. Its scream caught the knight off guard. A loud crash boomed through the air in the direction of the front gate. They must have brought their reinforcements. Others to torture us. We were created to destroy and deserved what we dealt as our own fate. There is no life. We were never alive. We are weapons. We were designed and taught to be weapons. They taught them how to use swords and guns, though this particular knight was only worthwhile in demolition. Bombs of his own design and creation. The violet eyed knights have never heard of using hand carried explosives. The only thing remotely similar was a mounted mortar launcher. It sounded ridiculous to them. They ridiculed and taunted him for using a strange weapon. When the rest of the slaves were obediently crafting swords and guns he would use the same materials to craft bombs. If the violet eyed knights caught him doing so they would immediately confiscate and destroy it. Countless orbs were stomped, slashed, and fired through. Following the destruction was punishment. Extra training. Carrying containers completely filled with lugnuts. He hated them. Lugnuts. They meant pain. Torture. Suffering. His whole life was filled with the same. Pain. Torture. Suffering. There was nothing beyond. The outside world was more of the same. There was only one escape but his captors would undoubtedly do the job for him. Whatever was going on at the gate would be his final experience in life before he would cease to be even if he had to do it himself.
“We need help!” A voice yelled out.
The knight looked up to the flagpole. The flags were torn off. The remaining shreds were lowered then followed by a light blue banner with four stripes.
Almost a dozen violet eyed knights were running toward the shacks, none yelling out as other voices had. One grabbed the immobile knight while on the run while the others ran into the shacks and called everyone out. Everyone was outside. The one carrying the blast suited knight stood on an empty container with its lid down and addressed the crowd.
“Everyone, follow me!” He jumped down and ran to the best of his ability to another hidden hatch. When he found it he dropped the knight and hastily flung it open, jumping in himself.
The other violet eyed knights directed the crowd into the bunker. The knight in the blast suit was the last to enter before the hatch sealed. They were once again in darkness.
Silence.
Lanterns were lit.
A crowd of red eyes glowed.
Footsteps.
Silence.
They were in a supply storage bunker. In the many containers sitting around were materials, metal, and...lugnuts. They sat in silence.
Days passed. They may not have had any means to see the rising or falling sun, but they could tell. After what was assumed to be the eighth dawn the violet eyed knights were becoming impatient. The red eyed knights were tasked to reinforce the bunker using the metal and lugnuts available. Many collapsed from exhaustion since they were working ceaselessly. Those who became weary were either beaten to insist they continue or were too crippled to continue and were executed.
“They have to leave eventually,” a pacing knight snarled. “We have to get out of here! You!” He pointed to one of the knights in the crowd. “Go and see if the coast is clear!”
No one moved.
“I said,” the knight stormed up the the red eyed knight ordered, “get out of here!” He grabbed the knight by the arm and threw him to the ground towards the hatch. The knight looked up to another knight wearing a blast suit. The only one to ever wear a blast suit. Then back to the angry violet eyes.
“No.”
“What did you say?”
“No!” The knight jumped to his feet and tackled his attacker. The others, unarmed, attacked the violet eyed knights. Long after bullets were being fired did any of them stop.
Silence again. The dust settled from the countless struggles. Three knights, all with violet eyes, stood facing each other with a Blaster pointed toward another. They slowly lowered their arms. One spoke.
“Check for survivors.” He looked to the knight in the blast suit standing aside the fray. “One.”
They searched the bodies. No one was moving other than the four. Bodies with holes burned through lay everywhere. Some were cut apart by blades.
“Nothing.” He turned back to the only surviving pair of red eyes. “Only this one.” The speaking knight walked to a corner and sat facing the wall on a container. He buried his face in his hands.
The other two sat in other corners.
Silence.
One began to mutter, barely audibly. “We failed. The captain will have us all executed for losing both our prize and our militia.” He stood. “We have to flee with our lives.”
“No.” One of the others stood. “We still have one. We should bring him to the captain and gain what little we can.”
The third stood. All three were now facing each other. “Maybe we can recapture the outpost. They must have realized nothing of value is on the surface and left.”
The three and fourth with red eyes faced each other, the violet eyed knights walking toward the center of the bunker.
One withdrew their handgun. The other two noticed and did the same.
Silence.
One raised the gun and pointed it to the head of the knight to his right. The others did the same. One spoke.
“Make your move.”
The three looked to each other.
Panting. Heavy breathing.
Silence. They were holding their breaths.
A shot was fired.
Another shot was fired as one of the three collapsed.
A second collapsed. One was still standing. They stared at the remaining red eyed knight. “You..are going...to make me a very..very important knight.”
He may have been standing aside but he knew what had to be done. He eyed one of the guns on the floor. He slowly approached the violet eyed knight, careful not to shift his gaze from one to the other, then as soon as he was within lunging distance he jumped for the gun, pointed it towards the head, closed his optics, and heard a bullet fire. When he looked again no one was standing.
Silence.
The arm which held the gun fell limp to the ground. He was laying on his back. He was finally free. How long would this freedom last? If he resurfaced this new invading force would undoubtedly continue the same torment. In a distant past the violet eyes planned to change his red to match them, but they never did. They may have planned to use their color to deceive other red outposts to invade unexpectedly. No. No more of this. If this is war there is no point in living to experience it further. He still had the gun. Would he have the courage to do what was not long ago pondered? He held the gun up. The end of the barrel was brought to the side of his head. He could see around him the work of countless lives to layer this place with metal and reinforce it with lugnuts. The same lugnuts used to punish him. If he ended it now all his strife would be for not; he survived this far, maybe outside was freedom. To stay would mean to join the others who lay lifeless around him. He stood. He still had no name. If he were to be free there may be others with similar experiences. Would they all be lost without identities? No. A name means identity. Freedom from the ranks which once oppressed him. But what name would he take? He has yet to hear the names of anyone else, not that he would take it from one of his past oppressors nor have any of his comrades been given names.
He found himself staring into an open container with a few remaining lugnuts sitting inside. Lugnut. The very object which made him suffer. His life has been thus far infected with pain. He is the result of torture. Lugnut. The world may press down against him, yet he has survived and will continue.
There was still so much to do now that he was finally alone. No one held a gun to him, no one stared at him, and no one was interrupting his thoughts with their own nonsensical panic. There was an immense supply of materials, though currently attached to preconstructed bodies, which could easily be cannibalized into new life; not life, creation. Lugnut remained in the bunker for an undefinable time, tinkering with minuscule parts and struggling with his fingers in meticulous work. Ideas of machines to assist whirled in his thoughts. Time had no effect on his patience as his time was occupied with endless trinkets, most useless outside his prison from the outside world. After what felt like days but must have been several years he became tired of using the same materials which were very soon depleted. He needed more. There was more outside. There was insufficient remaining metal to work with to make anything worth the time, not that time was scarce. He was making the same small objects which could rest in one hand with slightly varied functions. Some of them connected, others independent, a few could connect. They managed to keep him occupied but were still insufficient and impractical anywhere else. Lugnut needed to get out. To do more. There was infinitely more to create, to explore. The last noise he heard overhead was long ago. Barely memorable. It must be abandoned by now. The lone knight stood, surrounded by small objects, and walked away from them towards the exit.
Lugnut took a deep breath, exhaled with his optics closed, then opened them and the hatch.
Sunlight. Its warmth swept through his armor, or at least the outer layer. During his time underground he upgraded his own armor using materials laying around, small pieces of metal discarded in place of a large sheet of metal to reinforce with, its gray surface refused to reflect the light back in greeting to the world.
The air was silent. No one was marching. No sounds of metal clashing or groaning. No voices laughed or spoke at all. Lugnut looked back into the hatch. There was only the faint light of a light source he had created. Then back to what remained of the outpost. He checked his arsenal. A few explosive devices. The gun taken from the distant past upgraded. He looked back into the hatch. In the light, which once hung directly over him as he worked in the dust, the small toys stared back at him. The light begun to flicker. There was no sign of motion in the decaying light.
The hatch became dark. Lugnut turned away from the hatch and walked toward the base of the flag pole. There was no pole. In fact, there were no buildings; only the obliterated ruins of buildings long lost. Minor traces of the remains of occasional knights, a few fingers connected on one end by what was once a hand or a fragment of a helmet, littered the surrounding halls between buildings Lugnut could remember marching through long ago. A light whisper swept through and carried a handful of dust over some of the pieces. Lugnut sought the front gate. The tower which once stood proudly as the left beam of the gate was collapsed onto the buildings behind it. The remains of the gate were fragmented on the ground inward. Without thought he found himself walking towards the exit.
Lugnut watched the mace pry free from the stone it smashed down upon. Small chunks of rubble fell from the weapon but no sign of crushed metal.
“B...Brawl?”
Large chunks of flame began descending from above. Lugnut kept his attention at an angle, between looking directly up and to match the gaze of Vanaduke who was slowly turning to face him. Wooden beams occasionally fell and withered away in the heat which seemed to be intensifying. Lugnut knew his armor would protect him from the heat but if it were compromised he would be vulnerable. One hit ought to be enough to pound right through him. Look what it did to Brawl. He was completely obliterated. Lugnut thought to approach the hole to see what remained but decided against it. He knew Brawl well enough to feel the disapproval glaring over his shoulder. In the past Brawl refused audience to Lugnut when he would dispose of invaders and tend to any wounds on his own. He mentioned something of a past mercenary unit among other knights similar to himself during the war on Isora but was reluctant to explain further.
Lugnut began winding a Voltaic while keeping his motion as silent as possible under the sound of rubble and fire crackling and rambling through the heated air. When debris fell Lugnut used its short travel to cover his own movement around the room while the giant searched for its second target. With the explosive prepared he took the opportunity while facing its back to approach close enough to place the bomb and let its radius take care of the rest. Direct confrontation was out of question when he lacked the brute strength which failed Brawl not too long ago.
The electricity began to find its point of discharge. Lugnut could see through the rapidly thickening air its body experienced electrical spasms. He found a pile of wood and ran behind it as cover so he could ponder his next actions before recklessly risking his life for a battle started by the people whom his existence antagonized.
He faced toward the center of the room where the giant previously stood. The air was too thick to see without his goggles but there was nothing there. All around him was an overwhelming energy signature, though that presumably came from the heat suffocating the room. Lugnut could feel his breathing gain a slight wheeze though his armor included a filter. It was only a matter of time before the equipment so well prepared for such events would fail. He had to escape. If he left then Brawl would be forever lost in this accursed place, but the old clunker would have at least wanted one of them to make it out of there alive. From his little corner Lugnut could see a large life signature wandering, slowly turning to him and approaching.
A single explosion accompanied by a bright blue flash burst through the air and directly made contact. The giant staggered from the attack then faced the direction it came. Lugnut checked his com unit. A single blue signal was at the other side of the room.
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Was it heroism? Or foolishness?
Blue knew his action would have consequence but felt it necessary to aid the familiar red signal hiding somewhere in the red-orange cloud. Normally the gun would tremble in his shivering hand but it was held firm on its own. The barrel was still pointed towards the massive shadow which slowly became more visible accompanied by audible steps.
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Lugnut blinked, every other occasion switching visibility from normal view to filtered. While filtered he could see Vanaduke approaching the helpless Blue with a patient stride. Without the filter he noticed the colored air beginning to thin. The once blinding red-orange fog was slowly dissipating, though where it was going was still unknown. Only when it cleared enough to see clearly did he notice the gaseous fire spiraling into the single crater in the middle of the room.
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Vanaduke stopped only a few steps from the lone knight who dared challenge him. His exerted flame which replenished his strength had disappeared. This room was well sealed from any means of escape. There must be a vacuum, or worse...
The giant turned away from the challenger and sought the source. The last wisp of orange was pulled into the crater another challenger was crushed within. He approached the dent in his floor which he noted to repair once the weaklings are disposed of.
The two knights and one giant stood silent.
From the crater the sound of debris being brushed aside rung out in the still air.
A hand reached from the crater and grasped the edge followed by another on the opposite side.
A grated helmet with two horns lifted. Behind the four slits of the grate a dim orange became brighter until its energy burned through the grate and orange flames visibly licked for vengeance.
The knight clawed himself out of the crater and stood facing the giant. From his back he drew the purple shell with his right hand and dropped it to the ground. With his left he drew the purple blade and tossed it next to the shield. He unfurled his fingers and clenched them.
The challenge was immediately accepted.
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Lugnut was at the side of his barricade and alternated his attention between the showdown and his stunned comrade. He activated his com unit and whispered into it.
“Blue, over here.”
The knight shook his head and scanned the room until he noticed Lugnut staring back at him, who then activated his own com unit and whispered a reply.
“The elevator should be here soon. We can get out of here.”
“Not without Brawl.”
“Of course, I mean we should help him so we can all get out of here.”
Lugnut nodded to Blue who nodded back. Lugnut began winding another Voltaic while Blue prepared another charge on his Master Blaster. The two cautiously kited around the staredown out of sight to safely deploy.
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Brawl and Vanaduke were simply standing facing each other. Brawl held his arms away from his torso in preparation to meet the massive hands. He felt an unnatural energy burning inside him. He could see his own orange glow attempting to blur his vision. The heat which once strangled the atmosphere had condensed within every wire in his being. It almost felt as though he would burst into flame while externally his armor remained intact. His mind was held by the neck by the very heat which surged throughout every extremity, consuming any whisper of thought or resistance to its scalding entity.
His mind flashed back to a distant past. Before the troubles of Cradle, amidst the youth which haunts his thoughts.
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“Brawl? Are you under here?” A knight dug through heaps of rubble and debris. Massive chunks of metal were blasted down.
Brawl attempted to move a hand to wave to his comrade but was unable under the weight.
“I think I saw something move over here,” the voice quickly came close. Brawl could only see the shadow which hid underneath away from the surface world.
A foreign presence dug underneath the metal and dragged it aside. The ashen sky welcomed Brawl back to the outside world. A familiar helmet appeared.
“Come on, we have to keep moving.”
The knight thrust one hand into the opening and went underneath one arm and went around to the opposite side of his torso. Brawl used his own arms to push himself to his feet. The debris holding down his legs resisted.
“R..Rampage.” Brawl uttered in a short breath. Brawl focused his attention to match gazes with the other knight while both their expressions pressured into frustration. They were trying to pull Brawl free but his legs were well nested.
Rampage let Brawl rest his back on their small progress. His helmet covered his entire head except the eyes and mouth, though the heavy brows gave it a stern expression on its own. Decorating the smooth surface were several small spikes and a single blade which ran along from a curved point towards the forehead descending back towards the neck. Brawl noticed a couple small pieces of metal stuck on the spikes. Rampage was frantically trying to contact someone through his com unit.
“Any of the other Fingers around?”
Rampage hesitated to respond. “Jawbreaker was scrapped. Blue. Six stripes.”
Brawl silently cursed. “We can shred this cloth,” Brawl waved to the metal layer as thick as his fist but large enough to be the wall to a one story building, “I just need a moment to rest my arms.” He gave a brief and breathless chuckle.
Rampage was wildly looking around.
“What is it?”
Rampage hastily returned the small slab of stone over him and audibly jumped into the scrap nearby. Brawl remained silent.
Silence.
A footstep. Someone must be approaching. Brawl felt for the edge of the object holding his feet down and prepared to throw it with enough force to release his legs for the couple seconds needed to swing out.
The footsteps sounded very close. As if they were standing over him.
Debris thrown aside again. Yet another familiar face.
“What are you two doing here?”
Brawl was pulling himself out again while Rampage broke out of hiding. “We were just..waiting for you, yeah.”
The third knight wore an ovular bascinet with two slits to see through and several holes poked in the face for ease of breathing and speech. “You two need better com units.”
When Brawl finally jerked out of the debris he patted himself down in case any stray pieces of metal or stone became lodged between any plates. “You know us, Solid. Out there.”
Solid coughed. “Listen. Both of you. Jawbrea-”
“Scrapped.” Rampage interrupted.
“Looks like that old unit of yours does something right,” Solid said under his breath. The sunlight beamed off the smooth surface of his helmet uninhibited as the helmet on Rampage adorned in short spikes. “Do you two realize what this means?”
Neither spoke. Solid was not the kind to ask them something he already knew the answer to unless he was about to tackle them, but that only happened to enemies.
“It means we lost a Finger.” Solid eyed Rampage who had his back leaning against a lone standing wall. Solid grabbed Rampage by one shoulder and brought him close enough to bash foreheads. “Our numbers are dropping. We were few to begin with.” Solid let go of him. “None of us are going to live forever but we need to outlast this war.”
Several seconds of silence. Solid turned his back to Brawl and Rampage to think. Brawl looked over to Rampage who returned the gesture. Solid turned back.
“Do either of you know where Loop is?”
Silence.
“Then what were you doing out here?”
Rampage spoke up. “W-We were taking down a violet barracks. Three stripes.”
Solid turned away again and paced along the wreckage. “You two wasted time on three stripes...” His head was bowed slightly. Brawl could tell there was anger in his voice. “...yet you failed to assist Jawbreaker no more than eighty lobs without risk of interception.” Solid threw a hand towards an empty canyon. Smoke billowed in the distance.
“We thought he could handle it,” Brawl retorted.
Jawbreaker was no weakling. In his early training under Solid he was dispatched to fight some of the behemoths shoddily constructed by the red faction for brutal melee combat warriors as opposed to wasting themselves in what they considered barbaric, but one managed to crush everything under his eyes in the front of his head. His speech mechanics were shattered. Since then he used a helmet with a jaw guard in ironic preparation and to hide the damage. The same helmet included a tilted dome which allowed any chemical attacks to simply drain off his back instead of seeping into his head. He may not be as tough as the other Fingers but none of them could be considered weak. Jawbreaker himself was well known for delivering uppercuts to share his own situation with others.
Solid was standing right in front of Brawl. “Why did he send a distress signal?”
Brawl checked his com unit. The screen was cracked.
“Never mind. Find Loop while I investigate Jawbreaker.” Solid left Rampage and Brawl in the ruins and hopped into his vehicle. A four wheeler with the back open for the other Fingers to jump in while the thumb drove.
Quick little note, here are reference images for the helmets:
Trying to keep each part around five to six pages each. C10P6 was twelve pages. Shows how well I can handle that.
Another note before I leave you alone. Chapter 10 is probably going to have more than ten parts. Just a heads up. Or heads down for nappy time. How about heads in the middle, a little sleepy from reading so much at once but awake enough to stare blankly at your screen before collapsing on your keyboard?
Brawl snapped back to reality as two massive hands thrust toward him, the force nearly forcing his feet into the stone on which he stood. He bent his knees slightly to cushion the forced while his legs fought against the weight while his arms focused on fighting back. The two were locked. Out of the corner of his vision Brawl noticed the massive mace laying at his side not too far out of reach.
Lugnut and Blue were on opposite sides of Vanaduke, staring in awe. Brawl could feel the absorbed heat pulsating through him painfully but every audible thump in his head replenished his energy and fed him raw heat energy to press Vanaduke back by minuscule distances. Solid would have been proud.
Brawl could hear Lugnut winding a Barrage shortly followed by Blue fumbling to charge his own gun. He kept his eyes snarling back at the giant whose arms seemed to wobble slightly and legs trembled.
The giant flexed momentarily then redirected Brawl to his side, then swung one hand to his mask, ripped it away, and threw it towards Blue then fell over due to the change in direction. The mask immediately began flaring bullets in random directions while it spun in the air. Brawl rolled a couple times before pushing himself back to his feet to reengage.
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When the Barrage was prepared Lugnut had to think fast to intercept the mask before it hit Blue. It was too far to throw, but...
He placed the active Barrage next to his foot and faced toward the point where the mask would make contact with Blue, then with his other hand withdrew the small white bomb and hastily wound it up. As the mask was nearly close enough to breathe bullets into the gunslinger, Lugnut picked up the Barrage, threw it in the direction of the mask, then threw the Blast after it. The small bomb detonated in a second, the explosion knocking Lugnut to his feet, and the Barrage was propelled through the air and directly hit the mask. The momentum and explosion following the first redirected the mask into the wall on the opposite side of the room from where Lugnut was standing. He fumbled to stand again after hearing a gun discharge a large bullet towards the ceiling and Blue was also swept off his feet. The two exchanged glances. Their attention was reminded by the loud scraping of clashing metal and collapsing debris followed by brief grunts from cushioning the landings.
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Brawl could tell a chunk of wood was stuck on one of the horns adorning his helmet but both hands were occupied. He managed to pressure Vanaduke so his back was to a wall, his burning eyes staring down at the knight whose strength dared match his own. Brawl could feel his arms cringe. The heat was pumping faster, harder, and louder. He could hear it pumping while his mind was numb from the physical stress. Vanaduke must be hearing it as well. Above them Brawl new their clash was having an effect on the throne room. Both knew. Neither was prepared to surrender regardless. They would be locked until the world around them crumbled.
Once certain he had caught his breath, Brawl shouted over the symphony of magma boiling within his own armor.
“Get out!”
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Lugnut watched the two titans. The falling pieces of debris were becoming larger.
“Get out!”
No need to ask twice. Lugnut ran over to Blue, grabbed him by one arm, and ran towards the elevator platform. Blue began to resist, using his feet to catch friction, but was unable to combat the unrelenting force the old bomber earned in age. The two entered the elevator platform and watched the two continue their conflict until a large wooden beam fell in their view and the elevator dropped out of sight.
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“See that hill over there?” Rampage pointed to a short lump in the distance. “Obvious underground supply bunker. We should raid it.”
“Solid said to find Loop.”
“Come on, Brawl.” Rampage gave him a playful bump on the shoulder with his fist. “You know how old Loop is. Always complaining about supplies. He might be there right now about to ask for backup.”
“Solid sai-”
“Listen, Brawl. I know what the old clunker said. Listen to what I have to say.” Rampage was staring back at him, his face closer than normal. “Solid has a lot of experience. He was bashing heads while we were learning how to punch. I get that. But he never takes risks. He never goes for great opportunities. You remember best out of all of us. He could have chosen to turn us in only a few cycles ago while the war was blazing and be one of the head orange commanding knights. That would have been the safe option, he would live in luxury, and we would be reprogrammed to do whatever they want troops to do. But you know what he did?”
The two stared at each other in silence for several seconds.
“He chose us. He chose to live free. He took that risk.”
Silence again. Brawl spoke.
“We will tell Solid first.”
Rampage turned away from Brawl and readied his com unit for transmission. “Solid, Brawl an-”
He stopped.
Brawl approached him. “What is it?”
Rampage made no answer. He remained still and silent. Brawl looked over his shoulder and saw Rampage was reading a message.
“Rampage & Brawl
No trace of Jawbreaker
Body consumed by red for resources
Loop destroyed by violet
Abort search
Rendezvous
Solid”
Solid was never one for drawing out simple commands. Rampage seemed to have known Brawl was peeking as he made no relay of the information. He was still watching the hill.
“We can still bring in some loot. Might cheer him up a bit.”
Brawl was silent. They both knew nothing would make Solid cheerful at this point. Brawl took him by a shoulder.
“You heard him.”
Rampage brushed the hand off himself. “The place has no flag. You know the only times that happens are supply and training camps trying to hide.”
“Rampage-”
“No.” He was already walking towards the hill. While he walked he spoke over his shoulder. “We need this.”
Brawl felt his arms tense and his legs await the command to pursue, but all relaxed. There was no use arguing. Rampage began walking away from the rendezvous until he was barely within speaking range. He stopped and drew his blade, then pointed it to the sky over Brawl. Several notches in the gladius and stains from deceased knights past adorned its once shining blade.
“Hear me now, my brother. The next time we meet I will avenge every mistake. I will have brought to our people more triumph than all my regrets, if not double. I will create a self sufficient energy generator to power cities and technology as opposed to enslaved labor. I will conquer all who dare oppose us.” He lowered the tip and pointed it at Brawl. “I will be the pride of the Fingers. I will bring new recruits to our brethren and will lead all of our kin together. We will be one once again.” He lowered his arm and returned the sword to its sheath at his side. “Until then.”
Brawl was unaware these would be their last words exchanged.
To see his brothers in arms again. To remember what happened after his separation from Rampage, since his memory has yet to return in that region. He may not want to know what happened or if he held the memory himself anyway, but to die now would mean failing everyone who needed him. Bunker still needs him somewhere. Lugnut would be able to take care of him. What about the Order? Lugnut was unable to defend himself in the past. Brawl may not think of himself as important to others, but others were important to him. People who helped him throughout life when his only other option was surrender to a tyrannic force. Before it was the pressure of war among his own kind, then to what potential abominations of science Lugnut may spawn with what strange resources he could find ranging from grave robbing to live recycling of public offenders, to countless betrayals by those thought to be allies. There was more to remember and infinitely more to experience, starting with finding Bunker again. In the depths of the intelligence base he found a tracking system which had several knights in its radar, one of the signals identified as Bunker. There was another signal that appeared to have followed him and Lugnut into the forest on their way to Turbine earlier but it had a transparent icon; a thin ring. The legend had all other signals named but that one was unidentified. Upon further inspection the record indicates the same signal was identified since the hub was set up, presumably when they crashed. Mapping systems for non-military knights were set up long after the agreement with the Strangers. Brawl tried running the signal through lists of knights identified for the space expedition before leaving Isora and found nothing, but remembered it was impossible to not have a named and colored signal unless you were not originally a member of the Order. Brawl backtracked mentally to his young adulthood with Rampage and the other Fingers, the only knights he knew who refused to conform. Was the signal Rampage? Or Solid? Loop and Jawbreaker were gone. But, wait, they all still had named and colored signals on his own com unit. They may not show up for standard radars from the Spiral Order but if connected to specific units could be identified. It must be a foreign signal. An age old enemy stalking after countless days finally finding their prey.
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The two stood in silence as the platform descended. Around them the elevator shaft had broken into open air, but no light found its way this far into the planet from above. Occasionally in the distance were minuscule lamps drowsily glowing after too many uncounted days with unchanged bulbs, but other than that they were in complete darkness.
“R....Red, I..”
Lugnut faintly noticed a hand reach for his shoulder but retreated. Though neither could see anything around them their optic light was enough to have a vague view of each other. Lugnut felt something in the back of his mind itching to say something but no words came. Once the platform came to its final destination and the silence was broken the two continued along a winding path to a room with several consoles, all of which bearing the same flickering padlock. Remi, Archilus, and Jorin were standing near the edge which seemed to peek over to whatever was below the floor they were standing on. The two approached cautiously.
Jorin turned to face them without haste or anger. He stared at the two who stopped in place, both sides staring each other down. Archilus was about to join for a moment but soon decided against it and returned to Remi with whatever kept their attention.
“This may not have been as big of a failure as I thought. Good work, Blue.”
“What are you t-”
“You have brought an important offender of the Order in.” Jorin pointed to Lugnut. “This one is far overdue for justice.”
Lugnut took a step forward. “The only crimes I have committed are not submitting to a tyrant and punishing the true villains the Order was afraid to.”
Jorin slowly dragged one hand towards the Valiance at his opposite hip. Lugnut noticed the motion and quickly drew his own before Jorin could do the same. The two stood facing each other, Jorin with one hand crossing his waist holding the gun hilt while Lugnut pointed his own firearm at Jorin. Neither made motion or sound.
“Why were you down here?” Lugnut did not expect an answer but thought he may as well try.
Jorin brought his hand away from the still sheathed gun and stood relaxed. “We were assigned by the Spiral Order to investi-”
“The real reason.”
Jorin visibly cringed. “We were...investigating a signal.”
“What signal? Vanaduke? The only signals your community com unit can identify are other knights and pro-” Lugnut stopped himself. “None of your scientists were capable of creating advanced systems as mine. What did you steal and what did you do to it?”
Jorin backed away a couple steps towards Archilus and Remi. “That was what we wanted to know, Feron said he found an unidentified signal passing through barely strong enough to be noticed and asked us to see what it was.” Archilus and Remi stood to finally join the conversation. “According to the signal Feron linked to our com units it was moving and lead us to Vanaduke himself, then went to the elevator and came down here.” Jorin waved a hand towards a knight with two violet almond shaped eyes blinking at the group of knights who dared create sound in a normally silent environment. “Lieutenant Vaelyn says nothing came through she noticed, but I asked if we could investigate this floor as the signal seems to still be somewhere around here.”
“Did your precious Feron send you away?” Lugnut taunted, knowing it was a mistake as he heard himself speak.
Before he could explain himself Jorin had charged into Lugnut and brought both to the floor. Jorin was sitting on top of his chest. “Feron is the reason I have stayed alive through the war and you know it.” After several heavy breaths which eventually settled Jorin stood and returned to his comrades. “If you want to escape,” he pointed to the elevator platform with his back turned to Lugnut and Blue, “get out and let us work.”
Lugnut propped himself up with his arms. Blue helped him stand again. He felt the urge to hold his Valiance again and finally end the knight who served a constant reminder of that which tormented him, but Lugnut instead approached him. “I may as well help. Brawl should be joining us soon so we better make this quick before he decides to throw all of you over the edge.”
Jorin showed Lugnut the signal on his com unit. The two stared at it in silence for several seconds before Lugnut spoke up.
“Hold still for a moment.” He took Jorin by the arm which the com link was attached, withdrew small tools from his arsenal, and began opening it beneath the screen face.
“What are y-”
The screen flicked off, then in another few seconds it and the small frame around it popped up. Lugnut flipped the face over, revealing the inner workings, and began opening his own com unit.
“If I can transfer the signal to my own com unit, which has access to frequencies the Order can only dream to know the existences of, I might be able to identify it.”
Lugnut noticed Jorin stiffen, then relax and mutter a demand. “No tricks or bugs.”
While Lugnut worked he noticed out of the corner of his vision Blue was idly wandering around the small area before joining Remi and Archilus at the edge. He thought to discreetly modify the exposed com unit while he had the opportunity, but that would make himself no better than the vermin who scavenged his resources as their own. He expected his arms to stress for wasting the chance but his mind was more powerful than the matter. Once the transfer link was complete the two watched the two blank screens until both lit up and showed the same image. The one attached to Lugnut flickered several times, then a static distortion of violet and black appeared in an abnormal blob on the elevator platform. Both turned towards the elevator but nothing was there, the platform still humming idly.
“Lieutenant Vaelyn, would you mind telling us if you recognize this signal?”
The lieutenant approached them and joined the two in staring at the small screens. Lugnut continued tinkering with his own com unit until a meter appeared and slowly began filling.
“I have to disconnect before my mapping kicks in.”
After what felt like days the download completed and the connection between Jorin and Lugnut was removed. Lugnut returned both com links to their normal states then waiting for his unit to reboot. Jorin left his deactivated. Both Vaelyn and Jorin were standing around the single com unit while Lugnut dreaded what may appear.
The screen flickered several times, same as before, which was abnormal as com unit maps normally switch on and no complications occur. Jorin took notice. He probably plans to tell Feron all about it, Lugnut thought. Once the map of the floor loaded signals began appearing. Archilus, Remi, and Blue were a short distance northward indicated by a red, green, and blue circle. In the center was a light blue, violet, and red signal identifying Jorin, Vaelyn, and Lugnut. Westward from the center, on the elevator platform indicated by a square with an arrow pointing downwards, was the same distorted mess of violet and black pixels; they seemed to move sporadically and changing the silhouette of the inconsistent shape but remained in the same area on the platform.
Jorin walked over to the elevator. Nothing was on it and the platform was at their level. “Maybe something is caught in the shaft?” He looked up where the platform could only go, since this was the bottom floor. It went up a while with only the two metal pillars into a void of black. He felt the emptiness stare back at him until he nearly fell while standing. He pulled his attention away and refocused on Lugnut and his com unit. “What is that thing?”
Lugnut was tinkering with his com unit again. “This has never happened before,” he muttered with a tinge of frustration in his voice. “The only thing that could give this kind of distortion to even my radar would have to b-”
He stopped when the signal suddenly flashed to a different image. Jorin and Vaelyn seemed relieved to see a standard violet circle, but Lugnut read the name identifying the blip in his goggle piece.
Bunker.
Brawl felt his optics flicker into an active state. He strained to clear the blurred vision but he felt stress throughout his body and a burning sensation in all his limbs. He relaxed his legs slightly, already bending as if preparing to lunge, and his arms fell from a lifted position as though he were wrestling something hand to hand. Once the air cleared of crimson smoke Brawl noticed the short wall bordering the room crumbled and two large, thick legs before a massive body laying on its back among burning beams of lumber. He could only stare at the fallen titan as it made no motion to retaliate. Was Brawl victorious? He wanted to turn away, to see what else may challenge him, but his legs buckled and Brawl fell to his knees.
Fire flowed through him underneath the plated armor. Brawl was no rookie when it came to the burn which cradled him in the furnaces which held him in hibernation, but this heat was concentrated beyond anything ever experienced. During his time on Isora flame based weaponry was attempted against his fire retardant armor with predictable results. No, this heat was alien; no height of fire could imagine such intensity. Brawl felt as though his inner mechanisms would melt but they could only feel pain. As the singe spread from his chest it extended into his arms and legs, then to his hands and feet, then finally took the short distance from the origin into his head. During its final motion the heat swirled thoughts of fear and doubt into obliteration.
Brawl pushed himself to his feet off one knee and stood again. He was still facing the fallen giant and made no motion to turn away. It was as if his feet were welded to the stone beneath them as the heat flushed through him.
After a long silence in the uncomfortably hot air, Brawl heard a groan among the rubble. The ashes began to thicken until nothing more than a blur of a massive object slowly shifting its shape to appear larger until it seemed to grow, though Brawl recognized the change as a figure approaching. Once the unrecognizable form nearly came close enough to reach out and touch Brawl was too late to notice the massive arm swing from his left and lifted him above the massive figure. Another arm ending with a hand came from the right and both held Brawl to prevent resistance. Brawl could only listen to heaving footsteps following one another as they moved towards the edge of the throne room. Brawl heard the giant take a deep breath, then both arms bent back into the room slightly, and finally heaved the immobile knight over and into the abyss.
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“Now that we have the signal we can apprehend this punk and go home,” Jorin said in a quick exhale. He looked around expecting the source of the signal to surrender themselves. “Come on out, you may as well give yourself up and save everyone the effort.”
All stood in silence. Jorin brought one hand to his forehead and bowed his gaze momentarily before snapping back to match optics with Lugnut. “Why do you have the signal but not the Spiral Order?”
All eyes were on the bomber. He stood still and silent in spite of the pressure. After a long silence Lugnut responded.
“The signal comes from an impossible source.”
“Are you trying to hide something, traitor?”
“I was only able to identify the signal by whitelisting deceased knights.”
Jorin felt himself choke. “Th-Then how can it be emitting a signal?”
Lugnut stared back at Jorin for several seconds before walking past him and approaching the signal on his com unit. He stood staring at the empty elevator platform. “Do you believe a knight can be returned from death, Vangaurd?”
Jorin turned to meet gazes with Lugnut again. “No. A knight no longer exists in life upon death as the state implies.”
“Would you believe Ozlo disagrees with you?”
“Ozlo knows far more than I and all of us.”
Lugnut turned away from Jorin. “Ozlo only knows what we tell him.” Lugnut was standing on the elevator platform while staring down at his com unit. “His wisdom can never exceed those who provide it to him.”
The screen on the elevator, once displaying a home icon signifying return to Haven, became a chaotic static. Jorin felt the urge to tackle into the escaping knight only to clumsily fall on his face shortly after realizing his feet were unresponsive to the movement. When he pushed himself to see around him he noticed everyone else was trying to pry their feet from the metal floor, all except Lugnut on the elevator platform which disappeared.
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“Red!” Blue pulled with both arms on his left leg, struggling to break free.
Archilus lay one hand on his shoulder. “He fled. He abandoned you.”
Blue swung an arm at Archilus and knocked him over, then threw both hands at a nearby console and attempted to drag himself along the floor towards the elevator platform. Remi was attempting to stand but due to his blast suit received greater effects of the magnetic force.
Blue locked his optics on the platform as he slowly dragged himself closer, his feet scraping along the floor with every painful pull testing what little strength he had as it quickly diminished into exhaustion, which inevitably led to collapsing and falling unconscious.
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We should of brought Blue with us. The others may be against us, but Blue would never betray.
“His promotion to Vanguard is imminent.”
What if he never wanted it? What if he wanted to join us?
“Then he can find a way on his own.”
Lugnut programmed the elevator to the same path which Bunker seemed to have traveled: down. They were already at the core of the planet but they seemed to be descending further. Closer to the massive sphere. Lugnut noticed the elevator responding to the descent as an error but refused to abort. Bunker was definitely down here.
The elevator stopped descending. A loud, audible halt echoed in the emptiness. Lugnut checked his com unit. Bunker was close. Not just close, he was almost right on top of him. Lugnut looked up and around. Was he wrong? Was the signal a hoax?
A wordless whisper wheezed in the void. Lugnut snapped his attention to one of the two shaft beams. It was completely void of light, same as everything excluding himself and the elevator, but its true being was revealed when two white circles appeared on it. The two simply stared at each other. Lugnut began to raise a hand to further interpret what he was looking at, until the eyes and what appeared to be a shadowed body swiftly shot upward. Lugnut checked his com unit. The signal was moving up towards the planet surface.
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Green felt himself thrust into consciousness as though he were previously submerged in a deep slumber. He could feel throughout his body his own nerves begin to awaken starting with his core and eventually reaching his extremities. Ur may have given threats of demise but the only sign of imminent demise was his own body becoming more distant from his own awareness.
“You are not my first host, my servant. You will also not be the last.”
Green felt as though his arms were bound yet he watched them and his legs fling his entire body through obstacles of vegetation. “What are you doing to me?!” He realized the demand was only in thought. His body made no verbal response though he originally intended to.
“You are weak. Time evades your grasp, child.” Ur took a few seconds to force an unnatural, choked laugh. “Soon you shall join your predecessor, Rampage, in the hell which your kind deserves to suffer.”
“What?”
“Your kind and the simpletons of this planet have come to know me as Ur, a sort of demon who seeks to destroy; but in truth I am not of this world as you and the Spiral Order. Seeing as your conclusion is but a single day from now I may as well explain.” Ur seemed to inhale through Green though he only did so to reiterate his control. “I was originally created as an adaptive program which could be moved from host body to another. My creator intended for this only to be used if the previous body were to be destroyed by the savages who outcasted him, one of their own kind, and wished to prove his worth with my existence. I found little use of my first body. A clumsy prototype of recycled parts, and not any worth keeping. When the aforementioned aggressors arrived as my creator predicted would inevitably occur they immediately destroyed that pitiful shell, so I took the opportunity to use them. All I needed was an open audio receiver and I was in. I suppose I could have done the same to my creator, but I ought to show gratitude for at least one; destroy the rotten fruit of the orchard first, then pluck those ripe for my own benefit.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your tyrants have kept many secrets from their subordinates. I am their greatest fear which still exists.” Ur was silent for a few seconds before continuing. “Which they are aware still exists. Regardless, I am nothing without a host; in the past I managed with simple foot soldiers and made my way through the ranks. Unfortunately the only way to escape a body is to allow it to...become incapacitated.”
Ur was going to kill him anyway. It was only a matter of finding someone better.
“You may as well speak your mind; that is, if you could speak at all. I hear your thoughts as speech. There is no point trying to hide anything from me. I am the virus with no cure or quarantine. The only time I was detained was by my creator himself, who I owe a pleasant greeting once we reunite once more.”
Where are you taking me?
“One of many locations beyond the walls which once held us imprisoned; and outside that small town, Haven. Did you think there was nothing beyond those walls of the Spiral Order?”
No, of course there is more to an entire planet...but why would anyone be out here? The Order called everyone who crashed to come to one pl-
“You are still blind. I may be a vile entity, but before you cease to exist even after death by the generosity of Ozlo there are things you must know to complete how you see this rotten, decayed civilization. While I occupied Rampage, though deformed as he was from a previous encounter with my creator, the already confused mind was easy prey to settle into; as was yours. Many of your kind are of similar weakness. Your captains and kings may hold a hand over your heads to unite, but often for their own intent. They point to others who may oppose their own will and claim they to be all the evils and suffering to their followers. My creator was one of the few without strings binding them to a louder voice and stronger arm but he was without the driving force which allowed those tyrants to stand above others. Rampage had that initiative as do you. Though you may cease to exist the face which others identify as you will continue to live and conquer. I may have been created by a knight but what I represent has existed long before my time: fear. Fear of evil. Fear of conquer. Your kind fears itself and has exiled what it considers enemy.”
None of this makes any sense! Get out! Leave me alone!
“Once your time ends I will have full control and you will cease to be. That is, unless I reunite with my creator before then.” Green began to regain feeling throughout his body again, his limbs previously moving on their own through the vegetation suddenly becoming immobile due to lack of command. “I leave the decision to you.”
From his momentum and lack of awareness Green abruptly crashed into a combination of dry leaves and soft soil. He brought his face up to look around with his regained vision and found himself directly in front of a tree trunk with a small spiral carved into the bark.
Umm... Are you still going to update? Because I wouldn't like to see a brilliant thread to collect dust :<
It takes the amazing teamwork of procrastination and trying to cram as much content into the next two or three parts to take this long to update this thread. But in all tortoises, C10P11 is a little over half done. It only has three pages and my goal is at least five per part.
Alibi the murder, here are the things I plan to review after the storyline concludes:
I will also take questions and shove them up your b- I mean, answer them. Yes. Minimum of two parts remaining, maximum of f- three.
Brawl felt consciousness trickle back to reality as the numbness which held his body began to dissipate. Once vision was restored he took the first chance to look around. There was nothing. No light, visible objects, not even anything for him to have landed on; he remembered being tossed over the edge of a floor by Vanaduke during a moment of paralysis probably caused by the overwhelming surge of heat energy he absorbed during the battle which must have settled by now. Not that it mattered, seeing as he was essentially free falling in an empty void. His arms and legs were outstretched in hopes of catching something hidden in the abyss and to slow his descent.
__________________________________
Lugnut had connected a thin wire between his com unit and a control box on the bottom of the elevator platform. Rather than risking falling into the emptiness of the world at its very core he used small machines to connect the wire which were currently standing by to detach when they were ready to ascend to follow the signal. Whatever he saw, it must have been Bunker; or at least what remains. Once the elevator was functioning again Lugnut only needed to think for the order to relay to his intricate mechanical assistants who detached the wire and returned to his right belt pocket then closed the flap and returned to hibernation.
The elevator coughed a few sparks before moving again. It moved very slowly through the infinite emptiness, the only means of noticing motion being the sense of being pushed upward. A thought sparked in his mind. What if he returned to meet the same floor where the Order awaited? Would Jorin and company still be there? The familiar shaped floor appeared overhead illuminated by several screens spewing a bright white around its silhouette.
The platform continued without hesitation to the hub and continued. Once it came to the level Lugnut felt his body stiffen in anticipation of assault only to find no one was there. The screens were still showing the same as earlier but no knights were to be seen. Did they go up? The platform continued upwards while Lugnut could do nothing other than stare at the empty floor.
__________________________________
Brawl noticed a pair of elevator shafts curving into his path of descent. If he grabbed onto it he could stop the fall. As he reached an arm to the closer of the two he realized the soft scraping of metal coming towards him, upward. An elevator platform was coming up.
He redirected his attention from the beam to the platform moving up from the darkness which dominated the underground world. The elevator beams curved to maneuver out of the way of other elevators, some redirecting to different paths though most went to the Arcade, one of the few which branched elsewhere brought an unexpected and highly convenient passenger. But why would anyone be on one of these freelance paths?
His thoughts were interrupted by the one passenger on the platform. A familiar appearance.
“Lugnut!”
As Brawl felt his reach insufficient to reach the platform or the close beam, he outreached one hand in desperation. It was met with another which brought his fall to a halt. His feet dangled and he felt his arm dragged over the rail and onto the elevator platform.
__________________________________
“I got you,” Lugnut forced himself to say as his breath was quickly consumed by the strength required to lift the titan. He was strong enough to do it but just barely so.
The two lay on the platform, backs to the grate. Brawl was the first to muster enough strength to speak.
“Going up?”
Lugnut tried to laugh but only a brief, hoarse cough came. “Sure.” Why was Brawl falling through the Clockworks? He should have been more than strong enough to defeat Vanaduke. “Were you getting impatient trying to catch up with us?”
Brawl took a few seconds to think about it. “The big guy threw me off. Poor sport.” He sat up and leaned his back against the railing. “Know where this is taking us?”
“It should take us to our starting hub gate, wherever we were earlier.”
“Did you find him?”
Lugnut was silent. He stood, turned away from Brawl, and leaned on the rail. “I saw him.” Lugnut heard Brawl stand.
“Where is he?”
Lugnut checked his com unit. “Up.”
__________________________________
Green was inspecting the fallen log. It was definitely hollowed, but stuffed with leaves and mud. What was he looking for again? He checked his com unit. A red and orange signal were slowly coming closer from the west, though a distorted flicker appeared to be shooting in the same imminent path until it was very close by. Green turned to where the signal would have been only to see nothing. Did he imagine it? He checked his com unit again. The red and orange signals were still slowly approaching but the distortion disappeared. What was it?
A flash of black flew by at ground level. Green was caughty by surprise and nearly dove aside but by the time he would have reacted it was already long gone. Straightening himself again he checked his com unit once more. In the direction where a few short branches shrouded moved the same flicker. It appeared to be moving southwesterly into the infinite forests. The soothing whisper of morning bore no blankets of comfort over the daunting panic which overwhelmed Green in body and mind. Physically he shifted from himself being painfully exhausted to Ur refueling him. Even while unconscious his body was in use under another consciousness leaving little time for rest. Green thought back to fonder mornings with his comrades, Blue and Red. Yes, Red. He may have abandoned their team but at least he was there for a short while. What it would be like to see him again..
Something shuffled behind him. Green turned around and stared down at the fallen log again. A single violet eye pierced through the brown and green which imprisoned it. Green slowly approached the opening of the log, the light not retreating or reacting to his approach, and eventually moved aside the brush. Once the gray armor of the helmet revealed its draconic shape Green recognized the violet light to have been an eye from this knight.
“What are you doing here?”
They made no response. Green lay down on his stomach to match heights with the knight who bowed their head so Green was staring at the top of their helmet.
“Are you out here by yourself?”
No response or movement. Green expected a demand from Ur but nothing came. He was on his own with little time to spare.
“Have you seen...” Green let his question drift as he realized he had no idea who he was looking for. “Have you seen any other knights passing through?”
The two lay in the soft earth for a while. Green felt ridiculous but it was probably his best bet to find what Ur was looking for, especially since moving forward looked no different than his travels for the past day and he was not about to waste what little time he may have remaining trying to chase a desperate hope. Ur withdrew control at this place for a reason and there was a knight out here, they have to know something!
“Please, I have to know if you saw someone!” Green reached into the log with one arm attempting to grab the knight. They withdrew into the void.
Green stood up, walked over to the side of the log, and leaned his back against it. What would he do? What could he do? If he stays here trying to pull this knight out of their shell nothing guarantees they know anything or saw anyone. But if he continues to wander in the trees there would be even less of a chance to find someone. The world is a big place. Green returned to the opening of the log thinking of trying to catch the knight in the log again only to find the brush piled up again to make it appear that nothing is inside. Time was burning. Green dropped down and began scooping the brush and mud to one side. The more that was moved, the more Green noticed a smooth passage which traveled further into the fallen log. From the outside the trunk led into a mound of soil, as if it used to grow from a hill until the soft dirt decided otherwise, which could mean an underground shelter. Eventually the previously empty abyss became a dark passage. Green crawled into the log on his elbows while the rest of his body dragged along the earth and pushed forward blindly.
__________________________________
Lugnut returned the welding torch to his arsenal. Brawl knocked the back of his knuckles on the plate in his armor which was previously shifted out of place when his body was internally a volcano.
“Your body seems stable now,” Lugnut commented after rechecking the scanning device initially used on Brawl in case the hurricane of fire still lingered. “When did you say it stopped?”
“After clashing it was as if the fire burned out. I could feel it flush from my chest out through my arms and legs. I felt paralyzed.”
Lugnut held a hand to cradle his chin. “It may have been stun from a sudden impact.”
“It started a while after I threw him through a wall.”
Lugnut stood silent for a while. If Brawl was not already used to the sudden awkward silences from their past he would have said something, but he knew too well how the distraction would be received.
Lugnut readjusted his stance and allowed his arms to drop to his sides as the elevator ascended into a dark zone. “We have a more important objective.”
The two remained silent while the platform moved through emptiness. Brawl could feel it was still moving upward to the surface but if he tried moving around a sudden turn of the shaft might cause him to fall off. He grasped onto the railing and assumed Lugnut had done the same. Eventually the platform began to slow as the familiar warm air flooded over him. The faint glow of a lantern in the room overhead flickered slightly.
__________________________________
Green brushed the leaves off himself and struggled to stand in the darkness. Once the somewhat dry mud was swept from his optics he noticed a pair of violet circles staring at him from the distance.
“H-” Green started to call, but the eyes turned and fled deeper into the shadows. As Green cautiously began to approach, crouching slightly in preparation for anything that might jump out at him, he noticed a light slowly flicker on from around a corner. It was enough to reveal the path between it and himself safe enough to dash the distance so he did so. When he came to the corner he found even more tunnel, but it branched into multiple directions.
Green felt the back of his head throb and become numb as if something had hit him, but he felt no impact. It was underneath his helmet. A familiar voice echoed in his head.
“Left, left, right, down the chute.”
Green felt his neck twist forcibly turn towards the furthest left tunnel which he stood before. When his legs began the same unnatural motion Green followed the commands by his own will and the pressure receded, but he could still feel something on the back of his head scratching towards his inner helmet.
Where has luguiru gone? He is a great writer.
I am a new player and forum-er, so inform me if my present action is stupid.
Also, why has this thread been sitting alone without anyone touching it for 10 months?
Luguiru / Luigi might still be in the Suggestions or General Discussions forums, but then again, he did say on several occasions he would quit for other things. Or that he just forgot.
Yes, your present action is just...insufferable. Insufferable so that I had to use a hashtag. I don't use hashtags, period.
At the time, we had a whole smorgasbord of forum-games, fanfictions, art threads, contests, etc. That, and the likely possibility that he had something else to do that prevented him from writing. Not that I'd know.
Thanks for the information, I’m off to explore new areas of the clockworks and the forums.
I now understand my stupidity and will not make more of it
Let us now put this thread away, deep into the treasure vault.
Sad that it's not finished.
Wow, Luguiru actually wrote something creative that wasn't sassy, rude or just plain not nice! ITS A MIRACLE!
i wanna be a chracter.
Name: Topoyozada
Personal colour: Anything you want except pink
Loadout: full cobalt with the costume Hallow fur coat and Hallow pith helm with a comlink, a pipe and a ribbon.
Bio: is a Gremlin but a Knight at heart. Loves to help people and is the Technician for any guild in need. For refrence please go to Treasure Vault and to Life as a Gremlin knight.