The Grand Battle II! [Happy End!]

**Sruixan** · 10-03-2009, 09:52 AM

"Putting your... talent to good use. I could question that, but..."

Maxwell was silent once again. Something had occured to him that was a little... worrying...

"Ummm... kick off, yeah, well... er... I dunno... I mean, do you want to kill? Do you really want to have to kill anyone and everyone here, including me? Think about it, I mean..."

The mouth lost its grin, perhaps a little later than would be deemed normal.

**snoomanwaff** · 10-03-2009, 09:58 AM

Cabaret, former (and now inwardly fearful) magician, frowned "'course not" he answered "but sooner or later someone's going to try and kill someone else, you heard what that guy said. We can only continue on if someone dies, but rest assured I won't start it and I hopefully won't finish it either." He fanned himself a bit more in the following silence.

**Sruixan** · 10-03-2009, 10:08 AM

If you fancied leaning really close to Maxwell's head (which, considering his awkward height, is always a tad troublesome), then you probably could seriously hear little cogs clicking and whirring and jamming and purring, despite the cliche. What the magician was saying was troubling him slightly...

"So... would you mind dying? By saying you don't want to finish the killing, is that not admitting defeat? Distinguishing between right and wrong is important, but consider the difference between want and need as well. I don't want to have to kill anybody either, but if I am forced to, then... er..."

Cabaret's predicament suddenly hit home with Maxwell. What he was teasing out of the magician was certainly useful, especially if...

"But what about our opponents? What do you think of them?"

**Archduke_Ferdinand** · 10-03-2009, 11:20 AM

The magician and the genius, from what he could tell, were feeling something very strongly and what it rang of was fear.

Fear that within a few black hours something might extinguish them; put their souls back into the courseless void this world seemed to be, fear that they would transform into the very white surface the ground consisted of. The Sunset was not unfamiliar with such passions, as they had gripped it some times before. In the heat of grand battles, when it seemed its form would shudder and snap. When it became old. All these occasions had provided in the heart of the Balancer a feeling of intense rage, and despair, and a sickly flowing feeling of inevitability. It vowed never to give in to such fancies again, as each time it had encountered them, a steady mind guided him knowingly and swiftly to safety and freedom. And although this world frightened the two humans, it didn't scare him a bit. No, The Sunset wasn't frightened. It was concerned.

The lumbering robot elected to observe the two from a distance for the time being. The Sunset had seen galactic arenas before, although never like this, and they never picked contestants who weren't dangerous. Unless, of course, the ringmaster was mad. At any rate, for the moment, the Balancer-turned-machine simply turned to faced the two men. Watching them. Making judgements. Deciding which would be the biggest problem should a fight break out.

**yousodumb** · 10-03-2009, 11:35 AM

Dairy of Professor Armidillo Reccxer: My new ally quickly retracted the effigy that He, she, it? had created earlier. It wrote down, What is it that you have planned? To this I said, "well, It would be hard to explain, so I'll show you!" I gently tapped the Schrotgolem with my cane, changing it's mass to that of a baguette, I then picked it up and then started running, we weren't going anywhere in this endless field, so I changed my mass to that of a feather again. We quickly got up to 25 MPH, Which is a term for speed that I had barely created.

We will find others soon, else we all will die...

**Sruixan** · 10-03-2009, 01:58 PM

The abruptness of Maxwell's question put Cabaret a tad off-balance, but in answer he just shrugged.

"I dunno. I haven't met many yet. The Faceless... it... erm, she... it was weird. Sent chills down my spine I'll tell you. It seemed..."

Cabaret stopped, a little lost for words. Summing up the darkness, the solemnness, the hatred within that shadowy void, the impatience it had with him, the fury conveyed in a few scars in the soil that formed words with unsettling air of mystery about them.

He gave up. Much less pain, that way. A shrug or two would suffice.

Maxwell, realising that there were deeper layers of meaning to the result, unfathomable enigmas best left untouched, just nodded.

"And that thing... The Sunset. It's watching us now. I t-"
"Pardon?"

Maxwell swung round, almost overbalancing as he immediately tried to correct his mistake, to make his actions less obvious. He didn't fall, but he didn't half look odd. The Sunset just stayed still, observing their trifling affairs from a distance. Maxwell returned the stare for a while, but was forced too soon to blink and look away.

"This... how peturbing... he..."

The infamous grin returned to the fringes of his mouth. Bending down, he motioned for Cabaret to come closer. Concerned, the magician drifted over, and a hand cupped his ear from what seemed like out of nowhere.

"Cabaret, this is important. From what the Observer said, The Sunset has no human operator. That suit of armour, though inhabited by a soul, is not home to one of the flesh. Whether or not he is robotic or not remains to be seen, but somehow, he can recognise different emotions and express them himself. I think he knows you're sc- we're scared. I think he's used to this. I think he was almost... smug... but not quite. He is a fighter, that is obvious. He's been in situations like this before. By the looks of things, he is used to much more dangerous foes than an erratic professor, a selection of boxes, a conjurer and so on.

But he's scared.

He's too stiff, even for a machine. His face... those eyes... the frequency of the smoke... what's scaring him?"

The retraction was as sudden as the arrival. Cabaret felt now a hand on his shoulder, briefly by most standards, but it lingered maybe a second or so too long. Whether it was to reassure him or to establish superiority (either way, he thought...), he had no time to find out, for now Maxwell was striding away, towards the wall where the stuffed toy met its demise. Cabaret thought of warning him, but Maxwell's monologue was starting to filter through...

**SleepingOrange** · 10-03-2009, 02:01 PM

If a stack of boxes being carried by a man running impossibly fast could have expressed concern, this one certainly would have been. The lid on the uppermost crate flew off, and the pen and paper jerked out; the smooth, gliding movements from before were gone, and the pen scrabbled across the paper furiously and spasmodically
i am not familiar with this manner of magic what is going on my constituent parts are

are wrong

The professor chuckled deeply, adroitly dodging a small, white sphere in a puddle of red fluid.

"I assure you, old chap, you get used to it quickly. I've merely changed your mass a bit; lightened you up, you know."

Indeed, the schrotgolem's movements were already returning to something approaching normal as it packed up its pieces, but it was still uneasy. It tried to occupy itself a bit; the professor probably didn't notice the ball was now trundling after them.

Armidillo stopped abruptly; the top few crates he was carrying tumbled off the stack, but righted themselves in midair and returned to their position.

"Say now, what have we here?"

A short way ahead of him was a pair of men; Cabaret and Maxwell Deakin, if memory served. They were talking about something, and from the way Cabaret was standing, he wasn't pleased with the conversation. With a click and a snap, the paper descended to Armidillo's eye level.

i suggest we kill them before they see us

One of the men broke off and strode towards a more distant figure.

excellent they are occupied the time is now

Gestalt was about to begin.

**Schazer** · 10-03-2009, 02:06 PM

Vyrm'n watched the two men talk like it wasn't there, like the Faceless was a thing, not worth their effort to consider as a being capable of some emotion. Again, its experiences, rather than its actual emotions, told it should be offended.

I am resentful, it thought to itself. Rights must be wronged, that is the way things are done. Satisfied with that train of thought, The Faceless continued to follow their conversation.
At the mention of the Sunset, Vyrm'n consciousness flicked in its direction, however it struggled to catch Samuel's words. The Faceless' decision was made. The two men would die, and Vyrm'n would see to it personally.

It turned its assessment to the greater field around. Sprinting towards their present location was a man with... a stick of bread? Along with many other odds and ends bumping and lurching behind him. Vyrm'n assessed the man's posture, his speed. That was not a man coming over to greet a rival, unless in his parts a "hello" was a knife between the ribs. Now where did that come from, Vyrm'n thought with some confusion. I don't even have ribs.

Either way, this man is either coming to kill me, or the two I have to kill. Unacceptable. The Faceless still had some time before the man showed up, so it considered the best course of action. It would be easier to kill the two now, but Vyrm'n did not know what powers were manifest in the pair. Although the pillar of night no longer understood true yearning in its heart, the closest thing it had was that long-departed memory of its brethren it soared with along the edge of the universe. That was enough to make it think nothing was more valuable than its own survival; to win this "Game" and find a way home.

Well, it wasn't thinking of home, it only got as far as winning the "game", but that was enough. Its arm flowed out one more time and it extracted a fourth line of words from the earth, forcing the soil to relinquish the Faceless' thoughts.

<I WANT TO GO HOME>

That done, Vyrm'n rose, flowed over to the conjurer, and tapped him on a shoulder again. This time, he did not draw away his hand, but reformed the eyeless face and stared in the direction of the oncoming Professor.

"He doesn't look too friendly, does he?" Biting his lip, Cabaret glanced up at the motionless Faceless, and added, "Well, thanks for warning me-" Cabaret's words were caught in his mouth as Vyrm'n suddenly liquified and started flowing up the Conjurer's legs in splashy leaps, encasing him in darkness. The conjurer touched the flowing shadow experimentally, then exclaimed, "Oh! It's rock-solid. I see, you're trying to protect me! Good on you, Vyrm'n-" before breaking off uncertainly as the Facless slithered up his arm, locking it in place. "Hold on, I think that's far enough, I can't fight without my arms..." Vyrm'n ignored him, and slid up his chest.

Cabaret realised with horror this creature was thorough; every time he exhaled, it shifted a little closer, always encasing him perfectly. The logical thing here would've been to conserve his breath, but he paincked and started screaming at the top of his lungs. Vyrm'n took no heed and paused its ascent around Cabaret's neck, sliding the rest of its bulk around the cage to thicken it and stop Cabaret's struggling.

By the time Vyrm'n began the last dash, the conjurer had run out of breath, although he put in a good effort to stymie the Faceless' progress considering he was only mobile from the neck up. Avoiding the face and all its awkward holes, the Faceless slid up and over Cabaret's hair, over the chin, down over the eyes...

**Sruixan** · 10-03-2009, 02:12 PM

**yousodumb** · 10-03-2009, 02:20 PM

Dairy of Professor Armidillo Reccxer: I saw the note that my new ally had written, and was flabbergasted! I quickly held out my hand for the universal sign of stop. the pen wrote why would you save them? it is their destiny to die anyway. "This is true," I commented. "But just because we are being forced to fight, doesn't mean we have to act like savages! Let us wait, and see if they are friend or foe. If they are indeed violent, feel free to kill them." There was a brief pause, I understand. the pen wrote.

Suddenly that poor fellow wearing the mask was consumed by that strange thing that was standing, no, floating besides him. I knew what had to happen next. Do we get to kill that one? the pen wrote quizzically. I narrowed my eyes and said in the most badass tone I could, "yes." Soon that thing would know what it's like to get on the bad side of Professor Armidillo Reccxer.

I believe I may have found a way out of this silly contest, however I need more subjects to prove my hypothesis.

**snoomanwaff** · 10-03-2009, 03:08 PM

**yousodumb** · 10-03-2009, 03:10 PM

Dairy of Professor Armidillo Reccxer: That, that oh I don't know what it was, what did that shiny fellow call it? Oh right, that faceless was apparently trying to kill that poor fellow, apparently through some sort of fusing ritual. I was sure that this would kill that poor chap in the process. I began to swing The Cane of Materialistic Probability, in mid-swing I then changed The Cane of Materialistic Probability's mass to that of a rather large rock, not enough to kill it but just enough to interrupt the process. After I hit that faceless, it shuddered and and I could have sworn I heard a voice saying, "You've ruined it!" WOW! The Cane of Materialistic Probability must have temporarily connected with the faceless, this is definitely going down in my scientific log. Meanwhile, It then slid off the chap freeing him from his doom. "that thing was going to use you to better itself, I am assured that it would have killed you to augment itself with your power!" I said to the masked chap. I then focused my attention on that faceless freak, my companion had already engaged it. I would join this fight soon, but first I would have to explain my intentions to the masked fellow, he looked rather confused.

I need more time to think this through, if I'm wrong I'll kill us all!

** edited for continuity**

**cyber95** · 10-03-2009, 03:13 PM

**bobthepen** · 10-03-2009, 03:18 PM

Deep within his mind, a ways from the ensuing battle, Samuel could feel the killing intent that had suddenly spiked among the other contestants. It begins. He chuckled to himself.

**Schazer** · 10-03-2009, 03:36 PM

Vyrm'n felt the cane hit with a crunch improbable for its size. With a voiceless snarl, it slid off Cabaret to confront its attacker. The conjurer fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

The pile of junk and the professor stood side by side, looking ready to aggress. I knew that seemed too easy... The Faceless extended first one hand, palm facing the pair, a request to pause. Then with an urgency which made the already awkward letterforms even harder to read, it scrawled out:

<WHY DO YOU FIGHT ME I AM NOT TRYING TO KILL YOU I WAS>

At this point, Gestalt swung his shredding-rock at Vyrm'n; the Faceless shot into the sky like a midnight comet. The stone grazed along the length of Vyrm'n as it sprung up, emitting a screech which may have been the Faceless itself, or simply the cry of stone on flesh. Fragments of darkness were shaved off and dissolved in the air as it ascended.

Out of danger for now, Vyrm'n swirled above in a loose figure of eight; as it could not simply hover. It kept its focus on Gestalt, it was the tougher enemy for Vyrm'n as it could not be choked in darkness like the humans could be.

**yousodumb** · 10-03-2009, 03:43 PM

**Schazer** · 10-03-2009, 03:46 PM

**yousodumb** · 10-03-2009, 03:50 PM

**Archduke_Ferdinand** · 10-03-2009, 03:53 PM

Reserved for after those people who reserved finish I guess. Someone should tell me more clearly the current turn order so I know when to go.

**yousodumb** · 10-03-2009, 03:56 PM

**SleepingOrange** · 10-03-2009, 03:57 PM

**cyber95** · 10-03-2009, 04:00 PM

**yousodumb** · 10-03-2009, 04:03 PM

**snoomanwaff** · 10-03-2009, 04:26 PM

**Archduke_Ferdinand** · 10-03-2009, 04:37 PM

The Sunset was filled with a very strong sense of deja vu as it watched the proceedings, and cursed itself for not spying the Faceless earlier. That fluid motion and lack of complete tangibility... It was something The Sunset hadn't experienced for centuries. It was the kind of daring and bold movement that the Balancer used to perform on a daily basis. That nonchalant twisting and webbing through the atmosphere like a glistening and malevolent wisp of matter. The shifting and reforming. Above all, the feel of a black-hot glistening ball of energy. It was like a scene out of an old movie flashing to The Sunset's mind.

The appearance of an entity that was so /familiar/ threw The Sunset off.

The choking of the man resembled greatly the motions he knew as 'binding', as though the beast was transforming the magician into a sort of walking suit. For now, The Sunset deemed it best to watch the proceedings and determine the intent of the participants. As the Faceless attempted to bind and was then cast off, the Balancer tried to find a visible pattern in the movement of the... what was it... Vermin? Vrym'n? But could find none. It was as though the entity was searching for a pattern to follow. At any rate, events unfolding were involving forces too powerful to ignore. Time to set out and see whos' who. The Sunset walked slowly, steadily forward towards the crowd.

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