I do suggest you spend a few days finishing up the chapter, and then editing it in. Doing little bits for a chapter where someone will die might lead a reader to who it is, before it's official.
The Munitions Factory has explosions. Carter doesn't like explosions. :C
Also safe to assume that you'll be introducing Graves when they bury the person.
I awoke in the medbay. The first thing I looked at was my left arm. The stump from where my left hand had been completely removed remained, albeit it had stopped bleeding. The biomedics said they were working on a robotic hand. Some sort of new shielding hand to replace the old shield, and to replace my now destroyed left hand. They described the process. First off, they had gone back to the Ironclaw Munitions Factory to recover my hand so they would get fingerprints and anatomy. They also stated the factory had stopped ascending and all the Twins were destroyed, so we had accomplished the mission.
I got up, or tried to. A gripping, horrible pain hit me. I collapsed forwards and began to relive the events. Carter, sacrificing himself to allow us to destroy the Twins. My hand being removed. Everything going black. Horrible nightmares, the contents of which I shall refrain from speaking of. Silence. Nightmares. Silence. The biomedics were talented people, but the medicine they were using had some nasty side effects, such as horrible nightmares, and, potentially, paralysis. Or minor headaches. Then I heard a knocking. Two people were talking. I strained to hear.
"He's awake, Zero. I'm sure of it."
"Tina, this is your tenth visit and the other nine times he was out cold and bleeding all over the place. What makes you think this is going to be any different?"
I could barely make out Tina and Zero's voices. "Oi. I'm awake now. C'mon in." I groaned in intolerable pain.
"See, Zero? Told ya~"
Tina stepped through, followed by Zero, who examined me. "Boss, I'll put this in layman's terms for you. You, are injured, as hell. Multiple bones have been compromised, the exact nature isn't clear, you suffered a lot of external and internal bleeding, and you chipped a tooth a little."
Tina sat at the side of my bed, adding in to what Zero said. "You were basically comatose for three days. I was getting worried."
I heard yet another knock. "Who is it?" I asked, weakly. The pain was horrible and I clutched my chest in obvious pain. Tears involuntarily escaped.
The door opened and in walked Kora. From the looks of it, she was the worst for wear. It was obvious to everyone she hadn't slept in days, or eaten for a while. The bags under her eyes were visible even behind her glasses and she looked like hell. She also had soaked her armor in something. Tears? Water? Blood? Whatever it was, she sat at my bed. "You're lucky to be alive right now. Most knights with your injuries would be dead." I rubbed my eyes and Kora was now slowly looking over me. I shivered involuntarily as whatever pain medicine they had me on wore off. I screamed in pain. It hurt. It honest to goodness hurt. Kora called for a biomedic, who came in.
"Ah, good, you're still awake and well. We need to see how your arm's doing, so if you don't mind removing the bandages so I can take a look...?"
Kora spoke up, her temper flaring. "I CALLED YOU HERE TO GET SINTAG SOME MEDICINE. YOU GET HIM THAT MEDICINE NOW, OR HEADS WILL ROLL." She had withdrawn a pretty big freaking sword, too, her slender arms seemingly too small to so easily wield such a gigantic blade. The biomedic looked absolutely spooked. Even I was caught off guard and the pain seemed like the second worst thing that could happen to me. The biomedic had the good sense to wire me back up on the medicine. I sighed, both in relief that I wasn't feeling the horrible effects of all my injuries, and out of relief again because Kora legitimately scared me when she got angry. She turned to me, her eyes reverting back to caring and tender. "I authorized a little project to make up for your hand. If you weren't slowly dying in pain, I would've gone ahead with the next step. I would've put you under, and attached the new hand to your stump while you were sleeping. I guess that's off for a while, huh?"
Tina spoke up. "Right, we're going to attach a robotic hand to you. It'll come with data instead of a physical shield. Like a projector, except the projected objects are tangible." Then chirped Zero. "Boss, while you were out cold, Feron ordered me, your faithful Sprite, to tell you that you, Tina, and Alfred have all been promoted. Since Carter is technically still alive, he's also been promoted. Good work there, Boss. You earned it."
I sighed. Kora looked at me. "New idea. If I give you the contents of a Sleep vial, then we could operate here and now on you. I just need your consent for obvious reasons."
"...All right." A sleep vial was held to my nose. I breathed deeply and fell asleep...
END OF INTERLUDE WHATEVER NUMBER THIS IS
(Regarding Chapter 18: It's more than likely I won't be finishing Chapter 18. It's too monotonous at this point and working on it would be absolute hell for me. Sorry to those of you waiting for me to finish that off, but it's probably going to go unfinished until I actually feel I got the time and motivation to cap it off.)
(Regarding why I'm updating slower: School has been one factor, but I'm also looking to get myself a job. As such, Knight's Tale won't be updated quite as fast as it used to be. Sorry folks.)
I don't think I ever said Carter was genuinely terrified of explosions. :P
that's no excuse! My life is hell right now and yet I continue to write. AND SO SHOULD YOU!!!
Playerman, that was how I interpreted it. That aside, meh. Maybe I was blowing it a BIIIIIIIT out of proportion, and if I did, whoops, bad Sintag. Oh well. Maybe he'll get over it in the Maskewraith. But yeah, I do tend to blow things WAY up. So more or less a mistake on my end. :c
As for you, Danpixed, calm down. I genuinely HATED working on Chapter 18, as I felt it was just a variation on the same boring thing. I'm also, as the second notice says, trying to make sure my life isn't as much hell as it would otherwise be, and, frankly, I feel as if if I try to work on Ch. 18, then it'd more than likely go unfinished anyway.
Nice one!
But.......
Mind if I add a noobie application?
Sorry mate.But look ate the bright side...Your character is a makewraith.
I'm still waiting for my character to come in D: I understand the delays so its ok.
I awoke. The first thing I paid any attention to was the fact that, save for Zero, Tina, and Kora, no one else was in the room. I felt a coldness on my former stump. I took a look. THERE WAS A HAND THERE.
This wasn't any old hand though. It was black, with several areas instead being a gunmetal grey. On further inspection, I saw a sort of yellow orb. I cautiously poked it with my (Still organic) right hand. It spoke up, spooking ALL of us.
"Welcome to the Robo-Hand operating system. Please input user details."
This took a WHILE to sort out, mostly because a lot of it didn't apply to me.
"Thank you. Your SHIELD data is being loaded now. Please wait..."
Data...? I called back to something Kora or Tina had told me. A projector projecting tangible objects. I then saw a bubble enclose me.
"Process complete. User data registered."
I looked at it again. This hand responded perfectly. It felt mostly like my natural hand. Had to give the biotechs credit here. They knew what they were doing. The orb was replaced with a blue shield icon. I recalled my left hand formerly also had my armor's charge listed on it. I looked at the hand. Didn't seem to have that feature. Then I looked at my right hand. At had not only the charge, but I saw something. E-Revive. Then just then I heard knocking. I got up. My ribs hurt, and breathing was still a small obstacle. No one had said a WORD. I gestured for someone to open the door.
"Yeah, whoever you are, I'm awake. C'mon in."
Then, Izola and Zebulon stepped in. Izola was the first one in though. I mistakenly referred to her as a male last time, by and large because she was always in her armor and it's tough to tell the gender of someone in thick armor and wielding a massive sword. But without her armor, in more casual clothing, she was unmistakably female. She walked, carefully, up to me and examined the new hand. "Well, look at that. Love to have ME one of those hands."
"Yeah, ever try getting your hand sliced off? REAL fun. Try it sometime."
"You're such a bad influence, Sin. Seriously."
I slowly drew the palm of my robotic hand to my face, then, deciding one hand couldn't do, used the organic hand, placing both to my face, and sighed in disdain. This woman sometimes...
"Just kidding!" She said, in a more singsong voice.
Carter must have been affecting Zero more than I thought - He'd taken cover behind Zebulon.
"I dare say, what is rubbing against my back, and why does it feel so semi-ethereal?" We were all stumped. "Never mind that, Sintag, what the hell happened? We were all keeping contact in case you needed backup, and then you go dark and your girlfriend-"
I cut him off. "Not my girlfriend."
Tina was quick to try and slip a few words in on that comment. "Stop denying it."
Zebulon quickly retook control of the conversation. "Tina was communicating saying your left hand was sliced off, and then we heard several THUDS and silence."
"Don't ask me, Zebulon. I was out cold for 72 hours."
"AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO CARTER?" He yelled. "One moment he's here, next, his comlink goes dead!"
I looked down. Tears began to well up. Zebulon calmed himself. "Don't tell me. Please don't tell me. He's dead, isn't he. ...If I may, what happened to him?"
Tina saw the look of pure, emotional trauma on my face. It was the kind that you don't feel at first, only for someone to painfully jolt it back. Carter's death had affected me. Mostly because I didn't know a lot about him. If anything, only his mental sharpness and comedic dislike of women were saved. His swords were also recovered, but as to their fate, no one knew. It was all too sudden. Carter didn't deserve to die. Tina spoke up. Coming from her, though, I broke down weeping.
"Zebulon, Carter gave his life. He sacrificed himself to stop them."
So simple. So excruciatingly painful. The words ate into my heart. Izola noticed my pain and placed a hand on my back.
"Sin. Listen, please." At those last two words, Izola's other hand stroked my arm, up and down, up and down...I began to feel odd. Like a small child. I was equally helpless to do anything - My mind was wrecked and my emotions were too. On top of that, Izola, from experience when we were kids and she had an adorably cute crush on me (She was a year older), had a grip like a hydraulic press. I then remembered a smaller detail - My birthday was tomorrow. ...Was this why they were visiting?
I tried to free my arm for a bit, but Izola wiped the tears from my eyes, blushing. It seems as though every girl I run into has a crush on me EXCEPT for the one I have a crush on. Her affectionate action didn't go unnoticed from Zebulon.
"Aww, trying to renew that cute little crush you had on Sintag?"
She turned back to Zebulon. "Oh, shut up. He was weeping, I decided to be a dear and help him clear his eyes! Not because I still have a crush on him!" She was red as a tomato, though. She looked a little angry as she returned her gaze to me. I tried moving a little, but she pinned my arms to my sides. Her grip was just how I remembered it - Strong enough to break bones. She was holding back, though. "So, I thought I heard your birthday was tomorrow."
"It...Is, Izola. Why, though?"
"Oh, nothing major." She winked.
Tina had finally had enough. She stepped in and talked with Izola.
"Hey, how old was Sintag when you had a crush on him?"
"Sin was only 11 when I had that crush. And to be honest, I only kissed him, once, on the cheek."
"Sure. Sure." Tina sounded disbelieving. Izola simply sat where Tina once did. Kora finally awoke - She was a silent sleeper, that woman, to have slept through all this - And noticed Izola and Zebulon.
"Good morning, you two. I'm just going to leave now. See you all later." She left the room.
Tina also left with her, probably to plan things out. Zebulon then took off, seeing no further reason to remain. This left me and Izola. She looked around a bit. "Huh. We're all alone." She grinned a little and turned to me. "It's been years now. Let's hope your lips taste as good as your cheek..."
She leaned in over me, puckered up for a kiss. Her arms instinctively grabbed mine, preventing me from fighting back. I struggled as best as I could, but she was a powerful figure. I felt warmth as she cuddled up against me, attempting to smother me. Then my lips felt a degree of warmth as Izola took my head in with both hands and pressed her lips against me. I reached, desperately, both hands now trying to pull her off. The robotic hand must have been built pretty strong though, because she was visibly fighting to keep kissing. Eventually, she gave up fighting and ducked under, taking both hands and forcing them behind my back. Right as she began this kiss again, I felt a sweetness overwhelm me. She must have too, because Izola got off me. "That was...Odd. I guess I'll see you later. Oh, and, by the way, your lips DO taste delicious."
Well, that was certainly a bit weird. Then a Master Blast Bomb went off and a man in full bomber armor appeared.
"I AM YOU FROM THE FUTURE!" He gallantly exclaimed. "No time to explain. Follow me to-OH GOD!" A giant enemy crab appeared. He dropped his Bomb. I grabbed it and began following him.
Whatever that weird sensation was, it didn't matter now. My ribs were fine, though. Maybe the medicine must have done something. I don't know. Maybe it's a cliche like the power of love or something, done by the author to ensure he can write another chapter. Or maybe the fourth wall no longer exists.
Anyways, end of chapter 20-WHERE IS THIS KNOWLEDGE COMING FROM!
Out of context talk here.
First off, I'd like to chat with you about where this is headed and future plans. I'd like for this to end sometime around Chapter 50 ish, but obviously that won't be the case. It may be shorter. That's utterly depressing to me, but I HATE FILLER. All it is is a waste of my time, your time, and a lot of other people's times. I want this to feel good.
That being said, my idea well is great at the start, and at the end, but wanes in the middle. And we're approaching the middle. I'm starting to have to try to do filler-y stuff in an effort to advance the plot. AND I KNOW YOU KNOW I KNOW YOU KNOW I HATE DOING THAT. So, as a result, I need to go back a few spaces, retrace my steps a bit, and start coming up with more, maybe even go ahead and attempt a freaking crossover with someone for new stuff to write. Now, bear with me here.
I'm enjoying the reaction you guys have to some twists and turns in this bumpy road, and I REALLY appreciate your patience for bearing with me as I try to get chapters in despite school making things hellish for me, put nicely. Let me explain what my situation is.
My license to Word on my laptop, which is what's been overtaking my desktop in recent weeks, as running out. If you're wondering what significance this has, it means I have to write the whole chapter in one go here or edit small bits and pieces in whenever possible. Neither outcome seems like a good choice, but I need the privacy for my files.
Another thing, good or bad, is my player-run roleplay, Times Have Changed, which sets itself three years after Knight's Tale. While I haven't been on there, as the players I've seemed to attract have managed to form a tight-knit community of roleplayers that's not only heartwarmingly good to watch in action but seem to be perfectly capable of taking an idea and running it through the roof, it's a LOT more popular than Knight's Tale.
This is a good and a bad thing. Good because, hey, it proves that players will, if left alone in a box with an idea, take that idea and run with it. Bad because I kind of want to be known by my own personal writing. If you enjoy Times, however, hey. Don't get angry at me. Personal opinion here, not going to throw a fit here. Like I said. The role-players I've attracted there are an awesome group of people. So I'm a wee bit unsure.
I also have school and friends (Yes, I have some) to tend to. As a result of the deadly homework disease and all it bears, I haven't been very capable of finding the time to write Knight's Tale stuff.
Thanks for reading, anyways. Knight's Tale will continue, though. I plan to see this thing through to the end of it's life, so if that at all sounded like I was abandoning this project, keep your hopes alive, my readers.
Thank you.
-Sintag-
As I tried to catch up to the man in full bomber armor, my sight line became fuzzy. It then faded out. I was still holding the bomb, which now became a skull. What was this feeling, anyway? I felt odd. Something wasn't right. I staggered and stumbled, felt my breathing grow heavier and heavier, like someone had a boot to my ribcage and was pressing it in. HARD. I choked and sputtered for air. I then felt a lifting, carrying feeling. I felt like I was being dragged out. I was set to lie down again, though. The pressure on my chest alleviated itself eventually. My breathing pains came back, worse than ever now. My breathing grew ragged. Was this death? No. I was too young to die now.
My life began flashing back to me. I struggled against it, but eventually caved in. Memories I had long forgotten. Repressed. Watching on as a helpless child as my house burned to cinders, with my mom and dad still trapped inside. I was age ten. A week later, after barely managing to live, Arkus found me and carried me onboard the Skylark. My unhappy childhood had just ended at that moment. My training. The hell I went though. Promotion after promotion, containment after containment. The crash. Meeting Tina. All of it wound here, to the present day. It's funny how people only remember what mattered the most in their lives at the time of no importance. The time of death.
I felt another lifting sensation, felt electricity, felt my heart beating, faster and faster. I was sucked out of the blackness that consumed me. I re-opened my eyes. The bright sky distorts my view. Instinctively, I hold my hand out, casting a shadow over my face. I rise up from the ground to discover Feron, standing over me, and a woman in unique goldish white armor with black details. Simple. Yet familiar. I slowly pulled myself to my feet.
"Sintag. Do you know what just happened?" The woman asked me. A note of concern was in her voice. My mind was in a haze.
"You died. You were dead for five minutes. Two more, and your brain would cease functioning."
"Hate to sound rude here, but...Who the hell are you?" I asked. I felt dizzier now, felt the ground moving under me. Feron moved to catch me.
"Where are my manners...The name's Desna. Recon Ranger leader."
"All right, Desna. How do you know who I am?"
"Are you kidding. You've been the talk of the town lately! Savior of Haven, complete woman magnet, and seller of a giant pile of daggers."
"Now, I can explai-" I tumbled forwards, my head crashing into Desna's shoulder. I felt momentarily dazed. Is this what not dying feels like? Coming back from the dead? Desna gave me a light shove off, and I tumbled over.
"Whoops." She muttered. I got back to my feet pretty quickly, under the circumstances.
Desna then handed me a crest. "I know of how you spat in Death's face, Sintag. If you want to keep your little spree up, pin the crest to your uniform. We'll be waiting."
I looked at the crest. Yellow overlapping white. Overlapping the yellow was a black crown-like marking. I looked back at Desna, but she disappeared. Feron spoke up.
"Well, Sintag, good news and bad news. Good news is, your Robotic Hand's ready to go at any time. Bad news, well, let's just say even if you DO take Desna up on her offer, you won't be able to come with the Recon Rangers just yet. We've got a MASSIVE emergency. Tina and I will be waiting."
I staggered, then caught myself on a nearby beam. "Ok. Just give me a bit of time. Need to readjust."
"Yeah, well, hopefully you can readjust quickly here."
END OF CHAPTER 21
The quality of your writing certainly is very good (aside from the sprite chapters) for the amount of time between them. I'd probably have hit a big bump in the road at Chapter 20 if I was writing.
I do find a bit odd that Sintag (in the story) seemed stronger than Carter at times. (how he sliced up the Twins, etc.) :P
Well, there's this funny thing called rage and this other stuff called adrenaline. Mixing them together can cause...Unexpected side effects. Sintag was certainly angry as hell from Carter's death, and...Well let's face it, if you were stuck between what amounted to giant missile launchers, you'd be on an adrenaline rush as well.
Fridge Logic, my friend. Fridge Logic.
In case you don't know. Look up Fridge Logic on TvTropes.
EDIT: Though that is the only justifiable bit. ...Note2self.
EDIT 2: Also, I suppose I didn't make this detail clear. Sintag grabbed one of Carter's swords (The Faust) and jammed it through a Twin, stabbing into it. He then took the sword and ran down the twin, effectively slicing it in two. He lost the Faust when his hand got removed. Don't worry, though. The swords will make a reappearance. Eventually.
I had begun to notice that the voice in Tina's head began assaulting her again, only it got worse. Much worse. At one point, she lashed out and attempted to attack me, a crazed fury in her eye. This had to stop. Now.
It was the morning after I had somehow died. A second chance. How I died, no one could say. Some speculated it was hunger, some thought it was a lack of sleep, and a few argued I had a little too much medicine pumped into my bloodstream. Of course, all those people were me, Alfred, Zero, and Tina, when the voice hadn't overtaken her. I took my gear up. Ascended Calibur. Mighty Cobalt set. ...Master Blaster?
Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.
My mind thought for the worst. My head raced, my heart pounded. I then finally saw it. It fell from it's usual spot. Whew. At least Tina didn't...I brushed that thought from my mind. I needed to speak to Feron today about that emergency. I walked downwards, into the Arcade.
"Feron."
"Well met, Sintag. I think I've discovered the source of that voice coming into Tina's head. First off, yeah, that white stone. Second off, take a look at this Recon Module we found."
It started normal. Fighting, victory, cheering. But it turned MUCH darker. A blackness with a hot pink eye erupted from seemingly nowhere. Feron paused the tape.
"If I'm not mistaken, Sintag, this is similar to what you reported at the Stranger convention. The exact same..."
I hit the playback button. Something was...Up. I looked around the tape a little bit. Mostly static after that darkness has appeared. The recording ended abruptly.
"This darkness. I don't know WHAT caused it. But Tina's not the only one affected. Remember Arkus?"
My mind hit a loop. Arkus had saved me from certain death. He was responsible for enlisting me into the Order, at age ten. Seven long years. My mind kept racing with thoughts.
"Yeah..." It was a weak stammer. I could barely breathe, let alone speak. The pain in my heart had all but ruined my breathing.
"Hey, calm down. Calm down."
I couldn't hear him. I slowly began murmuring.
"Look. It's either you listen, or Tina succumbs to insanity. What do you prefer?" Feron's harsh voice broke me.
I began trying to cool down on my breathing and listened in. "I'll listen, sir. Sorry about that."
"Arkus has gone insane. He lost his squad to a battalion of Dust Zombies, about a week or two ago. While you were still recovering. And he intends to consume the Clockworks in his madness. This cannot stand. You, Tina, Alfred, and Desna are to work as a team and take down Arkus. I'm appropriating you to receive your old gear back. Leviathan Blade, Valiance, Azure Guardian Armor and Helmet, and the Aegis. Take it all. Anything to destroy Arkus. I understand this mission will be extremely dangerous. Good luck. You'll need it."
I sheathed the Leviathan Blade, and holstered Valiance. I put on the armor and downloaded the Aegis's data chip into the robotic hand, making it now protect me with it's all-consuming cover. I felt safe. This armor was what I was accustomed to. This weaponry, my standard.
"Thank you, Feron."
"Good luck out there."
-A DAY LATER-
Desna looked at me with the slightest bit of concern in her eye. "I've got important things to do, but then again, I suppose the Rangers need a small break for the day. I'll come along soon."
Tina simply nodded. She didn't dare speak up.
Alfred seemed overjoyed to be back and packed with him a new poncho. He also wielded a fully golden revolver (Why can't I have nice things?) and a completed piece of Gremlin tech AND a pair of Drivers. Wow.
We all stepped onto the elevator. Tina didn't say anything. She looked saddened. It was all she could do to keep her eyes focused. Then, without warning, I heard a gasp, heard a horrifying scream. It was all I could do to remain by her side. I grabbed her and, not knowing what to do, hugged her. She continued yelling and feebly pounded on my armor. I noticed her cloak has a white on grey color scheme, and she was wearing a holographic Solid Cobalt Helmet. Desna looked spooked, but understood my gesture and kept out of it. Alfred looked nervous, twitching, and occasionally firing into the air.
The elevator finally landed. Tina stopped yelling, but we turned and saw a...Man...In blackened armor.
"Ah, this is the presence I saw. I suppose you'll put up a fight for her, won't you."
Who?
At this point, he raised a great big, black and magenta Leviathan Blade into the air. It was all I could do, within a second, to unsheathe my own blade and block him.
"If you mean Tina, trust me, you're NOT getting anywhere NEAR her."
The mystery man spoke up. "Oh, my boy, that is where you're WRONG." He brought the blade to bear a second time, smashing me aside. With gentler hands, he scooped up Tina and carried her off. I then saw her drop her gun. I hastily snatched it from the floor. Then, I saw a man with a simple Calibur, not even tempered, trying to fight off a swarm. He laid down bombs like a champ, but not even this was driving them back. When one of them was about to finish him, I fired a needle. The needle hit the monster square in the brain, halting it.
He looked at us, at our crests. "Well, didn't expect to see some Spirals here. Suppose you're in for a slice of the pie, too."
I looked a bit confused. "We're actually tracking down Arkus."
"Oh, goody. This is going to be a fun day. Well, suppose we work together. It'll be easier on both of us." The man spoke up.
"Don't see any problem. Name's Sintag. As for you?"
"The name's Graves. Good to meet you." He then noticed a monster. "Get to the side."
I looked confused, then heard a sound. I turned around and fired a point-blank shot with Valiance. The orb struck the monster, blowing it back. I quickly withdrew Tina's gun and opened a barrage of needles into it. Tina's gun had changed a LOT since I last held it. It now was white on red, with a red barrel. Needles were loaded, so sharp they GLOWED. This thing looked like it could cause enough perforation to make an iron maiden blush. I gulped. This would, without a doubt, hurt like hell to be on the receiving end of.
Graves then hurled a bomb, causing a large explosion in the middle of a crowd of monsters, scattering them aside easily. Where was this man several days ago, I never knew. He then took out a new bomb. Blue with a light blue side to it, with a redder base. He laid it down, the monsters charging us. They were caught head on in it, and began experiencing spasms, allowing Alfred to open fire and take them out. Desna was handling herself nicely, dodging around monsters and attacking with a sword unlike any I had ever seen. It was long, with a slender blade accompanying it. Surely a danger to a lot of monsters, seeing as they all had stab wounds or slash wounds that looked too big for any weapon to inflict.
"Yeah, about that sword, you cheater." I told her, quizzically. Why did she get this awesome sword...Oh well, she was technically a captain, so...
"Grabbed this on a mission. Had no swords to fall back onto, saw this. Killed my attacker with it's blunt edge. Took several hours."
"Hours?" I asked, now more impressed than anything.
"Yup."
I swallowed my breath right there. We had gotten to the elevator without much trouble. We descended into a second floor. There, on the floor, was a shield. It's visage was an owl of some sort. Graves picked it back up.
"Good, my shield's here." He fastened it onto his bracer. "And, where the heck is your shield?" He asked me.
"Long story short, I have this hand. It downloads shield data and reprograms it into a shell that constantly remains around me."
"Heh. Fancy stuff. You with the Order?"
"Yeah. Yourself?"
"No longer. I left."
"Why?"
"That's for another time." Graves concluded.
We barely managed ourselves this time. I dropped, hard, in the midst of combat. I heard a robotic voice.
"E-REVIVE ACTIVATING."
Without warning, a bolt of energy pumped itself into my heart, causing me to get back up. I was able to do this once a floor, Desna told me, and it would not fully restore me. I kept to my feet. We staggered through, the ice threatening to freeze us. At several points, my legs were frozen tight. Had Alfred or Desna not intervened, I stood a chance of freezing to death. As we descended the elevator again, my breathing hurt. I couldn't tell what, but I knew something was happening to Tina. I tried to stabilize myself, but to no avail. Desna grabbed me and pulled me to my feet.
"On your feet, Ranger."
We had descended into...A grassy sanctuary? Something wasn't right. We all had our weaponry drawn and ready. From a statue came a Trojan. Then a second. A third. We had our work cut out for us. I darted around the back of one - The Dash Modules made this so easy - And stabbed it in the back, destroying it's crystal. Alfred shot one down, while Graves got it's attention by bombing it's shield as Desna slashed the crystal out. Good. Good.
We fought our way through and stepped on a big red button. The mystery man stepped forward.
"Feh. You're still following me?"
"Shut up. Give us Tina. Where the hell is Arkus."
"No, no, and I AM ARKUS."
I was broken. I crumpled forward. Seven years. This was the man who had been my savior, my first friend in the Order. I was barely capable of restraining my emotion. Fear. Sadness. Anger. Rage. Confusion. I looked up, purely emotionless.
"Do not call me as though I am a Knight. I am no longer."
"What...The hell are you...Saying, Arkus." I could barely get the words out. The revelation broke me.
"I'm saying I'm no longer a Knight."
"BULL."
"Deny it as long as you want to. It won't change matters. Your little blindly obeying, your held-in hate...Bah. None of it will matter soon. NONE OF IT! I'm going to bring you all down. One by on-"
Arkus was struggling now. He suddenly shifted the topic. "No! I can't!" "YES, YOU WILL." His voice shifted between the kindness and darkness. Something was up.
"IF YOU REFUSE TO OBEY, WE WILL FALL." Arkus's dark voice came back. I saw a familiar pink crystal in his back as he left. This broke me.
I was now on one knee, the other leg having given in. Arkus was a Trojan. There was no hope we could save him.
Desna again pulled me up, but more gently. "Listen, Sintag. I understand he was your friend, but he's no one's friend now. You heard what he just said. We need him eliminated. Here, and now."
"R-Right..." I murmured. This was horrible.
We progressed onward, myself staggering. The revelation remained fresh in my mind, hit me hard. I felt like I was going to die.
We caught up.
"I'm not surprised you caught me. You're merely doing as told. I like that blind determination. But I'm going to open your eyes. Everyone near me DIES. I'm sorry...You're next." He withdrew that sword again. I couldn't call it a Leviathan Blade any more. It was corrupted. He brought it to bear. I barely stopped it. "Nice knife." He noted, before bearing down with full force. My own Leviathan, my ideals...Shattered on the ground. I was now fighting fist-to-blade. This ended as well as expected. Not at all. I crashed, hard, into the wall. It was here wherein Desna came through.
"Sintag." The fighting stopped as she held a second sword in the air. Etched into it's scabbard was "Muramasa." Right as she tossed the sword to me, Arkus smashed her aside, clearly knocking her out cold, into rubble. She hit, bounced off, came to a stop.
"ARRRRRRRRRKUS!" I yelled, getting his attention back. Alfred and Graves understood the situation I would be getting into and readied their weapons.
"No. I'm killing him alone." I told them.
"We're fighting with you, like it or not." Alfred noted. Graves nodded.
"Fine. Clearly, you two would destroy the one me in an argument."
Arkus looked at me. "Oh, the little boy has a new toy. Suppose I'll have to smash this one, too."
I looked up at him. "Go ahead. TRY."
I withdrew the blade. It was surprisingly held up. Not a single molecule of rust. It almost matched Desna's sword. Only difference was the hilt. Mine was a golden color, hers was blood red.
Arkus leaped downward, blade readied. It was time.
END OF CHAPTER 22
Before and during FSC:
Name: Auruk
Age: ??
Gender: Male
Affiliation:Spiral Order
Strengths: powerful crest of almire that can resist more than anyone else in the party, is willing to stay behind to block an entrance, and if armor is at critical as well as having all teammates unconscious, will enter a berserk state for 10 seconds that one shots a regular enemy.
Weaknesses: DPS is normally lower than any character, with a somewhat dull lionheart blade. Special function(berserk) does not mean he cannot die. Worries about others a lot, and slowest of the group. Also has non modded mighty cobalt only. CANNOT change equip(except for changing to other modded shields) and also makes a pretty good target.
Personality: Very cold and silent. He seems to radiate rage, anger, and despair.
Wep prefer: only wep is lionheart, but. Can deal moderate damage with a shield bash. Also has a flourish on his back, but he never uses it.
Background: As one of the premier guardian types, he quickly made his way up after the skylark crash. He salvages any tech that he can find, and tries to put it to good use: helped knights escape to safety first, being one of the knights that free fell. He had a wife, but when the duo ventured down into the clockworks after reaching Haven, Vanaduke and co. managed to kidnap her and (...). He sweared revenge, taking his wife's equipment that still survived, and 1 year later, he is eating a sandwich at the end of blackstone bridge, after basically clearing the whole thing(bridge), even though it took him a while. (No, he is not a variation of the heavy from TF2, though you can make jokes at his expense.)
Class: Guardian
After FSC: and after his rage settled, as well as his need for vengeance.
Real name: Aurum
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Affiliation: Spiral Order(still)
Strengths: He modded his own shields to make his attack faster(pretty much ats increase) and increased his armor's defense(barely, by about 1-2 points), as well as created the next star of the Winmillion, his own modified personal weapon. He can also use a gun(mod valiance with stronger blade meant for stabbing) quite well, and has pretty much everything else about an archetype striker. Good friends with Echo, Izola, and Archilus. A basically all rounder(as well) except leaning more towards a Striker role(it will progress). He also uses his gun as a blade quite well, and the two shortswords he stores in his BTS (yes, modified, as usual, you can change the shield if you want) as well. Finally. COOKING
Weaknesses: Unlike his other guardian role, he cannot defend as much. Gun shooting is not his strong point; definitely worse than Alfred, and less than Tina if moving. HE HATES BOMBS too; he is just plain startled by them whenever they go off. He has a habit of sometimes overestimating his prototype weapons(although he always tests them first) and this can lead to some weird stuff happening whenever he tries to show the group a new weapon..even when offering to modify his own group's. It leads to awkward moments sometimes, such as throwing away a backup during a mission :P He can also be forgetful, and under a mask of calmness in a mission, lies frailness. He shoots his gun with a bit of awkwardness, more used to carrying a sword.
Personality: Basically like he was before the tragedy: upbeat, cheerful, and makes ridiculous jokes about enemies when outnumbered and outgunned to put a smile on everyone's faces. Still very responsible about taking care of others, and loves cooking(although when he says that this is my first .............., it's probably not very good). He loves trying out new things, such as his modded warmaster rocket hammer that he obtained(somehow)in the guild hall....oops. He also loves fencing.
Wep Prefer: Either the flourish section or the Voltedge, as well as his Valiance. Everything is modded(he knows how to mod a valiance quite well, so he can mod them for the team).
Background: Same+After he defeated Lord Vanaduke with his newfound friends, his old personality returned, except with some wistful thoughts about his past life.
Kind of big, sorry.
I really want to say yes, but I feel you don't really have the sort of...I dunno, that sort of "magic" I felt with other characters. Sorry.
Reviewing my character, he doesn't seem to have quite the originality the others do. Maybe I'll try adding in things for character development.
Making sure this doesn't go to secomd page.
Awesome, really like how the story is developing and my character appearing :D. I didn't put a reason why Graves left the Spiral Order so you can make up the story.
Y this moving down so quickly? O_O
Bump to move it up.
As Arkus approached, I cautiously held my new blade. This was clearly going to be an issue of sorts. I wasn't accustomed to a blade THIS lightweight. It felt basically like air. I tested i with a few quick slashes. Still light, but quite mobile. Arkus's blade came to bear over my head. The block came almost naturally, and I was even able to repel his sword. I needed to hurry, though.
"I'll ask, one more time. Where. The hell. Is Tina."
Arkus replied, his darker voice taking over. "Oh, yes, HER. I struck a little extradimensional dealing. Her soul for my power. Doesn't it sound wonderful?"
I grew extremely angry at this point. "Hurt my friends, you're in for hell. Kill them, don't expect to live. Give them a fate worse than death, and pray I give you a swift death. In other words, Arkus? You're screwed."
Arkus replied. "Good luck with that."
At this, I began to realize. With a lighter sword...Could I jump over him? I took a running leap, dodging his blade, and stabbed him in the back, shattering the Crystal. It then reformed and I was blown backwards some ten to twenty paces. Arkus didn't come flying after me like a Trojan would. It seemed whatever the process was, it hadn't overtaken him yet. He then slammed down, barely giving me any time to block his sword. I rolled to the side and took out Tina's gun...Wait.
Something was amiss. The gun now had a longer, more slender grip. Twin drum barrels adorned either side. Loaded into the gun, instead of needles, were incredibly sharp arrow-like projectiles. It was a crossbow, a weapon from when we were but a primitive race, updated to fit modern times. I took aim down the sight. I gotta admit, whatever caused this change from nowhere worked well. I fired.
The bolt hit Arkus dead-on, shattering the crystal again. The gun then switched to "normal" mode. Did Tina modify her own gun?
I took a look at my Valiance while Arkus was busy swearing revenge for weakening him, as all villains seem to do. It's limiter was removed. The limiter was a piece of equipment meant primarily to prevent the plasma cell overheating and depleting itself. Tina must have stolen my gun in the dead of night and modified it. ...This girl was crafty, give her that.
I took aim with the Valiance. Instead of firing a shot, it charged up a small ball, then fired a beam of light blue energy. The beam ran headlong through Arkus, fully removing the crystal, leaving nothing but a bloodied hole in his back. He crumbled backwards.
"Sin...Come hither..." His lighter voice whispered.
"Thank you...For putting me down...I wasn't myself...Apocrea...Apocrea..." He whispered, before dying. I slowly closed his eyes.
"You have earned the rest." I muttered. I felt bad after. Horrible, even. Arkus was a friend of mine. The fact I had to kill my savior was a thing stated a lot, but to this day I still feel hurt by it. I then pressed on.
On a stone altar lay Tina. She was in a white gown, clearly meant for sacrifices. Near her was some purple-black void that drew ever closer. I snatched her from the altar and began trying to wake her. Right as she awoke, a black tentacle FLEW OUT. It grabbed her, ripping her from my arms, and sent her sailing out the stone wall, to our right, with extreme force. I couldn't comprehend anything. I jumped and followed her...
I eventually saw her and sped my free fall up. It still wasn't enough. I then recalled something Echo had told me that I considered unimportant. If I activated the Dash Modules twice, they'd overload. The cost would be enormous, but the speed boost greater. I activated them once, then again...
I plummeted down. The G force hurt. I felt a cooking, burning sensation overtake my feet, then my legs. I reached Tina, barely in time, and hit the warp to return to Haven. It was there I finally crumbled, my legs burnt, and weary from recent events, and passed out.
This is turning out to be one of the better stories I've read. :D But the Apocrea...*looks around with horrified eyes*
I must say though, this chapter needed a bit more detail(stone wall?) Furthermore, where were the others? If you had to type this quickly, though, I can understand...
Keep up the good work!
...jeez...I mean, he should be able to handle it...
One question, Sintag. Why did the scabbard have Maramusa on it? Its supposedly the name of a swordsmith who made evil swords...so why?
Pushing this thread up on the page.
(No naming code here! Point of View: Tina)
The doctors said Sintag was too badly burnt. He might not even awaken. They gave me my gun back...What consolation is that? Now I'm basically alone, my friends are who-knows-where by now, and my boyfriend is laying there, dying. I can't let him die. I can't. I grab my Blitz Needle again and look at it. It's a thing of deadly beauty. It's simplistic and yet it works effectively when it needs to.
It's a slow, glum walk to the Auction House. I used to frequent this area between missions. Bidding on stuff at the last moment to see other knights' faces turn red with pent-up anger as always hilarious, and on several occasions I had to smother laughter as the guy threw a temper tantrum that went completely out of control. But now it feels emptied. Painful, even. I grab a pad containing all the latest in deals. There's nothing that interests me. Not much, anyways. The other guns seem worthless and the ones that seem worth it just cost way too dang much. I continue scanning anyways. Too many overpriced stuff, too little cash.
I set the pad back onto the desk. The Stranger nods. "Who did you outbid today?"
It took me a surprising amount of inner strength to resist muscle memory. "No one." I murmured.
"Oh well. Perhaps next time."
Yeah, right. I didn't actually say that, though. I went to the Arcade. Again, a seemingly infinite, saddening walk there. What were the doctors doing? Chopping off more limbs, slowly turning my best friend into a cyborg? Trying to save him, as I hoped they were? Or giving up on him, declaring him hopeless...I couldn't bear any of the three.
I walked to the lab. Zero was waiting for me. "Hey, Zero."
"Yo, Tina. Boss has a...New development. They were just sending me out to look for you."
"Good or bad?"
"We honestly can't tell if it's either, and this is after keeping a close eye on his vitals, his nervous system, his blood flow...Everything."
"Bring me to Sintag. NOW."
When we finally arrived, Sintag was still asleep. "No visitors." The biotech told me. He then noticed Zero. "Oh, you're Tina? Apologies, madam. Come on in." When we walked in, there was Sintag, hoked up to several cables, all of them administering medicine, monitoring vital organs, heartbeat, bone structure...It was a sad sight. What was worse was I felt personally responsible. While the circumstances leading up to this injury were outside anyone's control, Sintag brought his injuries on himself to save me.
So why am I not overjoyed he'd sacrifice himself to let me live?
Then Graves walked in. A small amount of blood, presumably from cleaning up what was left of Arkus, adorned his armor. "Well, it took several swords, thirty minutes, and a giant bag, but we finally remo-"He stopped when he saw Sintag. "The hell?" He asked me. I tried my best not to break down describing the events.
I had nothing to say after. Desna arrived shortly after Graves. She seemed bleak.
"The Rangers go through hell every day. Death is watching, so you might as well put on a show. But the sheer scope of these injuries. If Sintag ever recovers, he'll be unable to walk. Unable to serve. A soldier that can't serve is like a fish out of water, but then again we both know that feeling."
"Yup." I muttered. Desna at least was blunt.
"But we have bigger fish to fry, Tina. Specifically, there could be a surefire way to save Sintag."
At this, I perked up. Tears of joy began to empty from my eyes. I calmed myself a bit, though. Desna, acknowledging me again, spoke.
"It's extremely risky. But there's a way to have him recover WITHOUT turning him into a cyborg."
I looked at Sintag. His legs were in clear plastic tubes. He was, at about the knee level, wearing some cloth. His legs were charred black. Wounds had opened from his burning. He needed to recover. "How?" I asked, my eyes returning to Desna.
"Well, here's the thing. It's the Dark Harvest right now, right? It's around this time of year that some sort of mystical healing shrine is said to open and give all who enter what could amount to life eternal. If we could get Sintag there..."
I caught on. "We could save him. But how are we going to convince the biotechs? They're a stubborn lot, you know that."
"Oh, you know. Cut off their oxygen. Nothing gets results like a death threat, right?"
I spoke up. "You, Desna, are one twisted individual."
"Yeah, I think after the third or so Gremlin massacre I caught on. You in?"
"If it means saving Sintag? Yes."
"Good."
So Desna and I formed a far less dangerous plan. Desna would have her Recon Rangers pull Sintag out of there and swap him out for a decoy. I was to procure a vial of the healing spring's water. We were to meet up in haven's secret gardens, wherein I could give Sintag the water. We didn't have a lot of time, though.
End of Chapter 24.
Hey!
Are you a fan of Knight's Tale, but you got no time to be looking on the forums 24/7 for new chapters?
Want to know the status of your character applications?
Need to know insider details?
If you said, "HELL YES!" To any of these questions, then have I good news for YOU! Starting today, I'm setting up a mailing list!
~HOW TO JOIN IT~
Simply give me your in-game name. That's it. Oh, and add me as a friend too.
After those two steps are done, I will mail you when new chapters are out, mail you about your character application statuses, and maybe give you little insider details only I know of (Muahahahaha).
SIGN UP TODAY! OR TOMORROW! OR MAYBE THE DAY AFTER!
(Still no naming code! POV: Tina)
It was a day after Desna and I planned to save Sintag. We were to go about it quite well. The hard part would be getting him out of the clinic. If we did this right, no blood would be spilled. But given what has occurred recently, Desna and I are prepared for the worst. I started alone on a cold walk to the healing shrine...I didn't even know what it looked like or where it was. Stepping off the elevator alone was a new feeling to me. Always, someone would help. Alfred, or Carter, or Sintag. Someone. Now I only have the company of myself.
I saw a grassy plain after some 30-odd minutes of walking. Within was a silver-platinum spring filled with water. I radioed Desna.
"Is this the place?" I asked, cautious.
"From what I can gather from folklore of old, yes, it is. Wait. TINA! BEHIND YOU!"
I turned behind me. There was....I don't know how to describe it, a purple mass that looked like...Like myself. It held aloft a weird pair of guns. Both of them looked hastily built, held together by a purple energy.
"I am the gatekeeper of the Apocrea. You escaped a deal. Prepare for destruction, Spiral Knight."
I gulped and saw it shoot both guns into the ground twice. Immediately where the bullets struck, tentacles with hands flew up. I strafed, whipping out a relatively new gun. It was an angelic gun used to destroy those who refused to leave this world. I read up on it's history. It was an Argent Peacemaker, as far as it's name went. The purple mass taunted me.
"What are you and that silly little pea-shooter going to do, now? This spring you are desecrating is a fountain of restoration."
I recalled why I was here. I grabbed the vial and hurriedly filled, then corked it. This could save Sintag. The mass spoke.
"First, you filthy creature, you break into our spring, now you dare steal it's water?! I'm going to enjoy eating your soul. But something tells me it'll be a little too FILTHY for me to consume."
I spoke up. "Oh, shut the hell up, will ya?" I opened fire, putting six rounds into this mass. It just seemed to absorb them. Like it was made of water, it flowed through them, and over to me. I felt hands hold my limbs, cover my armor, and clasp over my mouth, but not my eyes. The creature closed in.
"Good little dog. Now, allow me to steal whatever shred of a soul you have, you impudent creature."
Then, a voice spoke up. I didn't recognize this voice. It distracted the mass just long enough.
"Oh no you don't!" It was a Recon Ranger. Then two. Then three, then four. One of them immediately jumped my attacker, knocking it to the floor. Two of them worked to free me from these leather-like hands, and the fourth withdrew her gun. "Tina, by orders of Desna, our leader, we were to protect you from this creature. Looks like we arrived just in time, eh?"
"Yeah. Couple more seconds and who knows what would've happened..."
"We're on your side."
The mass threw off the Ranger assaulting it. The poor man was sent flying, only coming to a stop when he smashed into a support beam, denting it. That's when I had an idea. "Focus fire on the supports! We need to bring this structure down!" I yelled.
"FOOL! Do you not understand! This spring was meant for us Apocreans to replenish ourselves! Your demolishing it, demolishing a sacred spring, would only serve to further anger us. We are one and many, Knight. We know you are here. WE KNOW ALL. WE-"
We had darted around it, distracting it just long enough to destroy all four supports at once with four well-placed bombs.
"NO! NO!"
Those were the mass's last words. The roof caved in. All four Rangers had the sense to make a run for it. In a festive mood, one of them aimed a flare gun into the sky and opened fire. "Congratulations, Rangers. Thanks to your valiant effort, Tina has what she needs at minimal deaths." The flare burned a bright yellow. Much like the color of my hair. A warm, bright, inviting yellow. ...Why am I rambling about myself?
We ascended the elevator in good spirit. It was like a small party. But deep down, I knew whatever this "Apocrea" was, it was by no means the last of what I'd see or hear of them.
I finally caught up with Desna, who was cradling Sintag's body. Alfred was also there, more or less keeping his guns out. "Right, Tina. Real funny you steal my gun. Give it back." I handed the Peacemaker over. Didn't exactly live up to expectations, anyways. Not really powerful.
I knelt over Sintag's body and held up the vial. It held up surprisingly well from that brawl. Well, not so much a brawl as more a lesson in stomping on something. Desna opened his mouth and allowed me to pour the vial down his throat...
Sintag's eyes, a bright shade of blue, opened and he took a halting, stuttery breath. Then a second, raspy, but clearer breath. A third, a fourth. His legs turned gunmetal grey, then pink, then their normal shade of...Wait. We don't have much color to us, either. I nearly forgot. The burn scars, the open wounds, closed, scarred, then healed within moments. He blinked as his consciousness returned to him.
"Hey. How do you feel?" I asked.
Sintag took a moment to respond, but boy was he quick to get back to his feet. "All's new." He grinned. "I even feel a bit younger."
I grinned. Time to submit a mission report and call it a night.
END OF CHAPTER 25
Can't wait for the next!
(still is scared of the apocrea)
You'd better make the Vanaduke fight good. :3
I'm assuming you already planned this, but try to make the "ending" open, so you can fit in the upcoming Tier 3 Boss.
:o I want to have updates on my characters.
IGN:Soulstaker
I'd prefer you add me because I am very lazy and forgetful. I usually do a run or 2 a day so I usually don't have time to do any extra things. I'll try to add you during the weekends.
It was three days after Arkus's death. Here, in one moment, were Tina and I, investigating a series of tunnels in the Clockworks where several talented Knights mysteriously vanished. No radar, no coms, nothing. They were simply gone. Captain Ozlo, instead of Feron, who was away battering at some sort of arsenal, sent us both to look into it. We looked around. Aside from the undead infestation, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
Then the next moment. We had stepped onto the party button and were sealed in. The radio went to snow. All forms of communications were blocked off as tentacles, with black hands, ensnared us both and dragged us down, deep down. When we awoke, we were on a cold, hard, blackened surface. Tina pulled me to my feet, confident in that we'd be able to find a way out. The Muramasa and Valiance were still there, so that was relief. Zero floated over.
"Boss! What the hell happened!"
"Zero, I do not know either. Calm down."
Tina was speaking to a pale, transparent, white orb. She nodded, a look of grimness crossing her face. She swore under her breath. "Sintag, we're locked in the realm of some abomination called the Apocrea. I've fought one in the past, but according to this soul here, that was an entirely different matter. We're on their home turf now. Stick with me."
We went down on a purple, circular, rift-like thing. We descended...And then I heard a cry. Tina was snatched from the elevator and hauled off. Where were we? Or rather, where was I? I checked the radar. Snow. I checked the comms. Dead, all of them. Zero flew over by me. "Boss, I got no idea where we are, even. Be VERY careful." At this, I silently withdrew the Muramasa from it's sheath. The sword was reacting...Oddly. It vibrated in my hand and the blade seemed to point somewhere. I began following where the sword led me. It led me to a grave. I knelt, blew off the dust, and wiped the grave.
HERE LIES KYRIE
We hardly knew ye.
The Muramasa was reacting violently. At one point, I lost control, and it chopped the grave in two. Three purple orbs floated about at random. The sword fell at my feet. I grabbed it and decided to do what I normally do to unknown things - Hit them. This freed a soul and left a small sigil on the floor. I did the same thing to the other two. These were...Weird.
I got the feeling of being watched all of a sudden. Sheathing the Muramasa and telling Zero to ready the Shadow Cloak he had acquired as of late were two precautions I usually took. The first one to be able to parkour if needed, the second to escape. I then saw a giant, black mass approaching. It quickly fired. A long line of hands came barreling at high speed towards me. Zero cloaked me and we barely escaped. After that, he flagged and rested onto my helmet. Carter's voice came through.
"What the hell was that thing? ...Well, whatever it is, and however you escaped it, keep doing the latter. Something gives me the idea there's no fighting these things at all."
I nodded in agreement. I then heard a cry for help. I kept overhearing it, and the Muramasa flew from it's sheath and seemingly told me to follow it. I heard the whisper in my head.
"...thank you..."
I kept running, keeping pace with my own sword. This was weird. The Muramasa seemed attracted to the souls. But this time, it led me to Tina. She was bound, helpless, in the hands. The Muramasa flew into my hands and gave me another forlorn whisper.
"...cut her free..."
I withdrew the blade and, with some precise slashes, cut the hands off her. Tina pulled herself up, then sprinted. It was all I could do to follow her. She eventually came to a halt. "It's useless, we're getting nowhere!"
A third whisper of a voice.
"...follow me, master..."
It flew out of it's sheath again. I grabbed Tina's wrist, then pulled her a la bridal carry style into my arms. She swooned a little, to be fair. We then ran, keeping pace with my sword. It led us to an elevator.
"...master, free my soul...free my body...FREE ME..."
The Muramasa whispered again and again, those nine chilling words. "Zero. Investigate the sword, please. It's been...Talking to me."
"On it, Boss."
Several minutes passed. We arrived at a passageway, but we were waiting for Zero. A fourth whisper from the Muramasa.
"...i was taken by them. the apocrea. if you bring me to my body, i will become whole..."
Zero spoke. "What does that mean, "Making you whole?""
The whisper.
"...i used to have a body. i used to be a female warrior, the last of the fallen clan. i lost my soul to them. a deal with the devil, as they say. you freed it. restore my soul to this sword. i will, in return, aid you..."
I sighed in apparent anger. Weren't enough girls invading my life? That aside, which soul belonged to the former body of the Muramasa?
END OF PART 1
I pwomise that I'll read all 100+ posts just for you.
'Cause Sintag is awesome, and Sintag deserves to be known by all of the SK community.
*Huggles*
~The one and only MCC~
Bump to move this up.
I WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS THREAD!
THIS THREAD SHALL NOT DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO DYING ON ME!
*cries*
It had been a while since we first evaded that jet-black Apocrean thing. Coms were back online. I was able to make contact with Kora.
"Kora, I think we might have found out WHY those knights were gone. I can see why Captain was calling it foul play. I was able to get a recording of it. Uplinking to you now."
"Wait." She answered. "What? Your location is unknown. You're galaxies off Cradle, and heaven forbid you managed to find something interesting to prove yourself."
"Well then. How about if I do?"
"Fifty crowns says you won't."
"Deal."
After that bit, I remained on the com. Kora's face turned from normal, to shock and astonishment, to terror.
"My God...Sin, what is that thing?"
"No ide-" Tina cut me off here.
"It's an Apocrean. I think those things feed off souls, if my experience and what the Muramasa's sayings have proven true."
"Well then...Be careful, all right? I don't want to see you two get killed."
"Nice to know you care." Tina added, actually serious about that remark.
I took back control. "We'll be in touch ASAP. For now, we're out." I killed the coms.
This was just a standard floor. A good breather floor. We had amassed several Health Capsules, which we divided among the two of us. I kept an eye out for anything amiss. Nothing. I looked around us. Didn't seem like an Apocrean was near us. Not even close. I then suddenly was cut off by HANDS. We were both enwrapped, head to toe. Only our eyes were left uncovered. We saw darkened orbs floating away, forming...Us? They looked like us in most ways. Except for weaponry, which for some reason went without being stolen, they were just like us. It was borderline terrifying. The hands released and our doppelgangers fled the room.
Great. Now not only were we trapped in the Apocreans' domain, with seemingly no way out, we were forced to fight ourselves. We stepped onto the elevator, not saying a word. I contacted Kora.
"Kora, there's something ELSE you need to know."
"Oh, you mean like the fact there's suddenly two of you and two of Tina on the coms?"
"Wait, what."
"You've been cloned somehow. I know having two of you seems good, but this one seems evil. Destructive. Honorless. It's best you two take them out. It seems they're racing...To Haven. We found a way out at Depth 30. But there's only one platform. If they beat you there, you'll be trapped forever."
We took off running. Down another elevator. Depth 29. This would be the deciding floor. Another plateau, another split. I ran like hell and found myself.
"Well, look who it is." The clone mused, angered I had caught up. He withdrew his own sword. It was a lot like the Muramasa, but at the same time, it wasn't. I did the same.
Because the clone and I had equal experience fighting, we were constantly parrying and blocking each other's slashes, not letting the other get a hit in. Sparks kept flying. The attacks continued. Then a fierce, stabbing pain shot through my back. Tina's clone had caught up and was now opening fire on me. I immediately grew concerned. I couldn't cloak out of this. But I couldn't fight in this, either. I began deflecting my clone's slashes, but due to the bolt from Tina's clone's crossbow, I began to feel woozy. Weak. I cloaked, found a gap in the fire, and pulled it out. Tina finally caught up. There was a hole in my back. Two, three inches more to the right, and it would've gone through my spine.
There'd be no chance of recovery then.
Tina and I were fighting off our clones. They were dodgy, but eventually we both brawled onto the elevator. After a protracted battle, both of us suffering injury after injury, I had grabbed my clone by his neck and held him out over the edge of a jet-black structure.
"Let me go!" He yelled into my face, cursing as he did so.
"If you wish." I stated, flatly. I then let him go.
Five stories down.
Tina had shot her clone in her spine, but the shot was made at too harsh an angle. The clone was able to get off one final shot, which hit her stomach. The effect was immediate. She fell over, bleeding heavily. Her cloak's white and grey were stained a deep crimson. The shot hadn't hit any organs, but it must have struck a lot of veins. I moved.
I bolted to the elevator. My own arms were bloodied from the fighting. Tina's guns were dented and scored. The Muramasa gave me one last whisper.
"...you have freed my soul. look. it's floating up with the others."
At this, I saw a white orb floating. It flew around the sword, pulling it from it's sheathe, and fusing with it. The sword landed. And from it, the body of a female Knight slowly formed. She was dressed in a jet-black coat that looked all-too-much like the Snarbolax. Her hat was also jet-black with red orbs gazing out. She slept for the ride up. Tina kept pressure applied to her wound, but we had gone through all our Remedy Capsules.
As soon as we hit Haven, I carried her to the biotechs. Turns out the shot was like I called it. No organs, just veins. They disinfected and cleaned up her wound and were, after tense hours of waiting, finished fixing her. She got to her feet, but it was obvious the internal damage was still there.
"I saw the other side. For a few, brief, moments, I saw it. It's beautiful. It truly is." She kept repeating this.
The other female Knight was also in the biotechs for any injury. But why would the Apocreans pick a sword, let alone an ancient one, to stash away a soul? This was odd. The one thing that got to me was the fact that they stashed a soul-carrying object above ground, as a weapon. I suppose she can provide answers.
Given what I've been through recently, it'd come to no surprise I wasn't getting a break. Feron was on the link with me. He was requesting help.
END OF CHAPTER 26
...This one kinda sucked, going to edit it later/flesh it out.
The Muramasa.
An apparently cursed sword containing within the soul of a female Knight. My weapon of choice since the Leviathan was smashed, and absurdly powerful. The female Knight had awoken. She looked around, a bored dullness in her eyes. "I need no treatment. Master restored me. I have no serious injuries." She protested over and over. Jeez. She eventually blocked off the noise, clearly beyond annoyed. The biotechs finished mere moments later. "You were correct. No major injuries. Apologies for causing trouble."
The female Knight nodded and took up her own sword and... My goodness, it was a second Muramasa. She nodded at my blade. "The Apocreans weren't exactly bright. When they captured my soul, they forgot to remove the Muramasa, which is what my soul was trapped in. Your friend's finding me was rather well timed, a deus ex machina if I ever saw one. Your own sword is merely the shell of the soul carrier. Because the original blade was so well-forged, not even the normal decaying process a soul carrier undergoes once it loses it's soul has weakened it. ...But forgive my awful manners. Who, if I may, are you?"
"Me? Well, the name's Sintag."
"You have a VERY weird name. Did your parents hate you?"
"My parents are dead."
"Depressing." She noted. The callousness in her voice really sold it. I didn't exactly like or dislike her. She was neutral. She continued. "Well then, Master, I suppose you ought to be able to reacquaint me? I spent a month in my own blade."
I got her up to speed. As it turns out, she was sent after an Alpha Squad. The Apocreans had made a similar dealing with Arkus, much as Tina. The only difference? This one worked. Arkus had been made a Trojan for his first sacrifice, and her soul was split. A very small part, the most primordial essence, remained, clinging desperately to the Muramasa that Desna found. She was about to explain more when I got cut off. Kora was on the line, and she seemed a bit panicky.
"Sintag! W-We have a major em-emergency! Report to the Arcade, stat!" She practically yelled. I picked the female Knight up and got her to her feet. She sheathed her blade. I didn't note any more weapons on her, though. Tina took out her Blitz Needle, which she had finished making into a crossbow permanently. Graves was gone, something of an outsider. He obviously didn't receive the call. Alfred loaded all his guns and checked his sword. Him being a gunner, it seemed a bit weird for him to have a sword. Then again, I was a swordsman toting a Valiance, so what was I thinking? As for myself, I sheathed my own Muramasa. This was likely dangerous.
The four of us sprinted to the Arcade. Upon arriving, Kora was busy on a computer of some kind, fiddling with it and trying to establish connection. Explosions could be heard in the background of whatever she was doing. She looked visibly tensed up.
"OK, I'll assume that is Sintag." She turned around. "Ah, good. You're here-Wait who is the fourth knight?"
"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Alice." The jet-black armored female stated, a note of odd plainness overlaying her voice.
"Alice? No. You were captured a month ago." Kora noted. She seemed quite a bit confused.
"Master Sintag here-" She pointed to me - "Freed me. I owe him my life."
Tina was obviously repressing feelings of mixed anger, fear, and sadness. I felt kinda bad for her. I really did.
Kora spoke back up, steering the conversation back to her topic.
"You four need to listen to this. Feron was sent out to raid the Grand Arsenal of Warmaster Seerus. His name is no laughing matter. Take the mission seerusly." She noted, chuckling a bit at her own pun. Everyone groaned. EVERYONE. "He's been met with a seerus amount of resistance, though. As you know, Gremlins don't easily surrender potentially world-ending weaponry. You four need to go and aid him. Normally, I'd send Graves along as well, but he's nowhere to be seen or heard of. Just sorta disappeared. He's still alive, but we tried every venue to contact him. Nothing. But that aside, I'll send you along. Happy hunting!"
We were all teleported into the room with Feron. His armor was scored something fierce, his swords were notched and had some splotches of crimson on them, and his voice was a hacking cough.
"Well, about damn time SOMEONE sends me backup. Anyways, no time for fuss or introductions. We've been NEEDING backup for weeks now. The Gremlins have gotten wise and began attacking our camp. First order of business is to open the gates and let you slip in. The walls are lined with plasma wire. Think barbed wire, but superheated. It'll melt through you if you so much as touch the stuff." Feron noted. Alice's breathing was muffled some and she kept an eye around us. Her left hand was always on her sheath. Her right hand was kept alertly open, holding a black shield with reddened dots on it. She looked wary.
I myself kept my robotic hand near the handle of my own blade. Ever since Arkus and the Apocreans, the sword itself got a new sheath, not just a loop in my belt. It was custom-fitted by BECHAMEL of all people. But he was good at fitting fashion onto fighting frocks, so who but him to turn to custom-fitting a sheath? Alice herself had a simplistic black sheath. She caught my stare at her own sheath and re-focused me by placing two fingers on my chin, then moving my head up to her face. "Hm, I see Master is jealous of my sheath." Her face morphed into a calm delightful one as she wrapped around my neck with the second arm, then caught me fully in a hug. It was a light one, though.
Tina grabbed me back and ripped me from Alice's arms. Alice staggered forward, her head landing with a "THUMP" into my chest. She grabbed my shoulders and pulled herself to her own feet. Tina was holding my arms back in restraint. "No. No, no, no." Alice was indignant. "Well, I see someone managed to catch himself in a quarrel here. And SOMEONE ELSE just earned herself my anger." She noted. Her voice was cold and emotionless. It was kind of creepy, and I began sort of backing off. Except Tina brought her arms tighter around me. And now I was choking. And suffering And dying a slow painful death. Alice yanked me free.
"You were intending to choke Master out? Why, you..." She withdrew her blade. This would get nasty. With me held in one arm and her own Muramasa in the other, she kept hey eyes on Tina, analyzing her movement. Tina simply withdrew her gun, which was back into it's crossbow-like nature, took aim down the sight, closed one eye, therefore magnifying her eyesight in the other eye, and slid her finger to the trigger. Alice's response was to throw back back with some force and raise her shield. Tina squeezed the trigger. The resulting bolt forced Alice to stagger five or so paces back, but her shield blunted it. Tina kept firing, again and again. Alice ducked under the barrage and ran into Tina with her shield out. The force caught Tina in the stomach, knocking her a small ways back. I saw my chance and stepped in between them.
"We have a mission to do. Cut it out."
"But she started it." Tina complained.
"Does it looks like I care? Look, you two need to work out your problem, and we all have a mission to do." I noticed Alfred had taken off ahead. I then noticed Alice's blade. The word "Masamune" was engraved on it. There was no second Muramasa. So she was bluffing, and I was mistaken. Wow. Alice sheathed her sword. Tina kept her gun out, but didn't aim down the sights. We were safe. For now.
We all stood in the lobby. Myself and my Maskewraith, Zero. Tina and her Seraphynx, Hatsune. Alfred and his Maskewraith, Masky-Doo. Carter and his Seraphynx, which was, sadly, un-named. We looked down. Below us lay the Ironclaw Munitions factory. Three levels. The Roarmulus Twins, which were painstakingly located at HQ. Man, if half the stuff HQ was saying was true, if this thing was deployed, every one of us would die.
And yet here were four Knights who had, at best, an hour to stop this thing before it went skyrocketing. Time was pressed. Barrus had only just located it and gotten us here. If we didn't stop this in one hour, everyone in Haven was doomed.
"Lady and gentlemen. Before us, the Ironclaw Munitions Factory. Above us, Haven. We're the only things between the Roarmulus Twins and Haven's demise. If we fail, more than our lives are over. Millions of knights and strangers will die. The stakes have never been higher than this. If any of you wish to flee now, I will not blame you. If you wish to continue on with me, then good. Victory today means safety for all. Let us now step forward!"
We all went down the elevator. I had no idea at the time someone was going to die. We descended onto a floor with rocket launchers opening with a steady barrage of rockets. Tina, Alfred, and myself all put our shields up. Carter ran like hell. He got hit a couple times but seemed to, other than the fact his armor was charred, not mind it that much. He was, however, sweating more than we were. Did he overexert? Carter merely shrugged it off. Tina carefully withdrew her own Ascended Calibur, ready to fight. We then stepped on a power button that was somehow located right there. …Yeah. Don’t ask me either. For all their smarts, Gremlins couldn’t do anything regarding building buildings that did not go “BANG”, “BOOM”, “KABLOOEY”, or “SPUDDOW!”
The rockets turned off. We then saw cranks and gates. Hitting the crank moved the gate, as we discovered after some time. We went inside and found two material stacks. One was Dark Matter, one was Luminite. We took the stacks and moved on. Carter seemed to be getting more and more rattled with the explosions, though, at one point stopping to calm down.
We then ran into a silvery slime that seemed to be taking power from the electricity around it. This is bad news, but we quickly developed a strategy to keep pounding it away from the sparks and not use shock-based weaponry against them. Then a mechanical Knight appeared before us. I quietly pondered on how it was built and wondered about the death toll it had already inflicted. Nevertheless, with some effort, the fake Knight was destroyed with little to no damage being dealt to us. We has passed the first floor.
The second floor was more of the same except with a few hundred more rockets. Carter was visibly shaking, though.
“Ah, Carter? Why are you shaki-“ I asked.
“No, it’s not real, Carter, the blasts erupting are not attempting to destroy home, they aren’t…” He repeated that as if he were going insane. I was actually beginning to grow seriously worried. Sheathing my weaponry, I shook him. “Whatever incident this is reminding you of, Carter, snap out of it. We need you, now more than ever.” His face brightened. “Thanks, Sin. Good to know I have friends I can rely on.”
“We’re here for you, man. All right, c’mon, get up.” Carter got to his feet and we went off without too much of a hitch, although I kept an eye on Carter. We then descended into the lair. All that greeted us was a big red button and total silence. Oh, and some heart pads presumably set there by recons. We healed up and stepped on the button.
What arose was not one, but two GIGANTIC GUN PUPPIES. I swore under my breath. I was actually hoping to have caught them in production, but I should’ve known better. They were too far out of range. …Then, I noticed the gates. And that they were firing missiles at each other. I had an idea. “Someone, man the gates!” I yelled out. “Get one of the missiles to hit the other Twin!” It was crazy, and, sure not very realistic, but it was all that I got.
The missile connected with the Twin’s hard armor, causing it to fall over. We concentrated our full force against it, and when it got up, it was noticeably damaged and OH NO IT WAS MOVING! This wasn't good at all. Several frog-like robots escaped and began charging Tina, who had taken up the gates. Right wen it looked like she was going to be sneak-attacked, Alfred shot it, getting it’s attention focused exclusively on him. We kept this pattern going until both were mobile. We then repeated the process, made slightly harder now. …But the shield remained online. It seemed as though they had prepped for this. Carter noticed the wires running down, lower, to the shield generator. He put two and two together. “My God…One of us is going to have to sacrifice ourselves…” This was so sudden IT HURT.
A twisting knife formed in my gut. “I…I volunteer.” I murmured, weakly. If anyone was going to sacrifice themselves, it’d be me. Then Alfred volunteered himself. Then Tina. Brave, brave, Tina, volunteered. But then an explosion rocked Carter forwards. He had no choice now. He slid downwards. Time seemed to stop as I realized what was about to happen. Desperation, now more than anything, ran through me. I ran to the edge. “CARTER! NO!” I then collapsed in weeping as an explosion was heard. Carter’s swords flew back upwards. Now it wasn’t sadness that gripped me. It was anger. Pure. Hatred. I put away the Calibur and the Defender. This was personal. I took up his swords, ran to one of the Twins, LEPING ACROSS IT’S MISSILES TO DO SO, and ran down it, splitting it in half. To seal the deal, I quickly dropped a bomb in the generator and ran up the surviving twin, outrunning the fireball. Zero then said something that took me by surprise.
“Boss, good news. I was able to collect Carter’s soul. He’s a part of me now. …I might be able to…Hol on…”
Carter’s voice came out of Zero’s mask. “Wha-Where am I? Am I dead or…?”
“Carter, bud, you’re not quite dead. Well, physically, you are. Mentally and spiritually, Zero has absorbed you. It seems as though you’re now his primary intelligence.”
“Oh, joy. No rest for the wicked, not even when we close our eyes for good, eh?” Yup, this certainly was Carter. Zero’s normal voice came back through.
“Well, Boss, here’s the thing. I can only channel Carter for so long at a time, y’know?”
“Yeah, I kn-“ I was cut off.
Or rather, I myself wasn’t cut off. But my left hand, which long held my shield, was. Shrapnel sent from the explosion had completely, cleanly, severed it off. I looked at the bleeding stump with horror. I passed out. The last thing I heard was Tina, hyperventilating, and the last thing I was was Alfred, dragging me at the shoulders to the elevator.
(END OF CHAPTER 19)