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+--- Thread: Descent [Dark Data] (/showthread.php?tid=5815)
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Simon - 05-21-2017
Dante was cursing himself out right now. Why was he having a problem with this? He shouldn't be having a problem with this. "Nebula Space" couldn't be an excuse, it didn't make any difference to his swordplay. Or, rather, it shouldn't have. Why could Dante hold his own in a fight, then?! He'd done it so many times before like this, so why was it a challenge now, of all times?!
The stupid electric robot threw another slash with the stolen sword. The desperate badass threw all his weight backward to avoid it, and his spine harshly met the wall. His shoulder scraped against the remains of glass on a weathered sill, and he winced angrily.
Fine, then. You want pain? I'll give you pain!
The enemy prepared a large overhead swing next, and the devil hunter steeled himself. Shame that Royalguard wasn't working.
The blade sliced through the air, crackling with electricity, and Dante threw both hands in front of him, catching the flat of the weapon between his palms. Lightning shot through his forearms in nerve-burning streaks of agony, while the cutting edge stood stopped an instant before his face. Sparks rippled off the steel as it struggled between two wielders, Dante's face scrunching with effort. The hunter's palms attempted to push the weapon to the side, while the remains of the Cyberman's momentum pushed the blade down.
There would only be one tiny instant where that downward motion would cease, to be replaced with another direction, however subtle. Dante focused hard, straining his arms and his mind to keep his plan - and sword - level. One second passed, then another, then yet another-
"DE-LEEE-LE-LE-LE-..."
The Cyber-guard flinched in a somatic response, its master having taken damage. For a faint moment, one mechanical arm faltered in strength, the machine's head twitching and flickering. Whoever did that, Dante would have to thank them. Later.
In that moment, Dante pushed with all his might, bursting forward with his shoulders. The electrified gauntlets twisted back from the movement, then relinquished the thunderous grip on the sword. Rebellion found itself smashed into the overgrown lunchbox's face-plate, digging through the shell and into the important components. A dozen remaining arcs of lightning poured through the metal weapon into the new outlet, and an ear-splitting screech emitted from the robot.
Red and black lines streaked up Dante's arms. He could hardly feel those limbs anymore, he couldn't even feel if his fingers responded to his actions. The son of Sparda didn't think to whine or tend to his damage, however. When he felt nothing left but the seething under his skin, he reached forward and placed both hands around Rebellion's abandoned hilt. Then he shot out with his leg, booting the Cyberman hard in the chest and ripping his weapon free in a single motion.
Without pause or a second thought, Dante spun the blade over his head and threw a swing for the Cyberman's arm. "Delete this, jerk-!"
The mutant toaster attempted to block moments too late. A heavy smash resounded as the sword bit violently into the damaged arm. As soon as the attack ended, Dante retracted his sword and threw another swing. Before it could connect, he dove in another direction, tearing at the opposite joint instead. Anger and adrenaline fueled Dante's battered limbs, while determination guided his strikes.
Nebula's guard did everything in its power to defend itself, but it couldn't stop Dante's sheer skill. He made a third swipe with Rebellion, hacking at the machine's arms, and then leaped past before it could even start to adapt. From a dramatically different position, the devil hunter sideswiped the clueless guardsman with a passing sweep of the blade.
The 'bot roared and screeched in pain and frustration, its wide electric swipes finding little purchase against Dante's constantly-moving form. It threw haymakers, backhands, cross and hook punches, but got no further than scrapes on that tell-tale red coat.
The machine finally dove for Dante in desperation, hoping to seize the insolent intruder and shock the life from it. The rush stopped short, halted by a swift stab of Rebellion. The Cyberman faltered, lurched, tried to reach forward, and only impaled itself slightly further on the demon steel. Dante pulled back and dashed away in a single motion, letting the robot fall forward. As his boots regained traction on the ground, the hunter then leaned in again and threw all his weight dead ahead, raking the edge of his Devil Arm across the sputtering skull of the Nebula tool.
The attack followed through, and Dante ended the furious attack with the tip of his sword touching the floor. His knee followed thereafter, the half-devil gasping in exertion. It was taking so much of his mortal effort just to beat down one single, stupid robot, and Dante found himself awfully sick of it. Mustering the will to continue, Dante gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand.
"I can't keep holding 'em off like this, guys! Let's finish this already-!" He cried out to his allies, hoping they would listen.
Quote:887 words, 1916/2000 words total.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Morene Fellon - 05-21-2017
In the moments that followed her rather sudden encounter with the gunning Cyberman, Morene could really feel her body aching the more and more she tried her best to use her mostly healthy state of being to her allies' advantages. She sighed again, standing in the midst of the throne-room as more lasers fired her way, Dante finding himself busy with the melee droid nearby.
Finish it, the woman thought, chuckling to herself. Never is that easy.
That observation wouldn't be enough to demoralize her, though. She looked on at the practically half-destroyed Cyberman the Son of Sparda was dealing with across the room itself, taking a moment to reassure herself as she dashed towards the guard she was dealing with.
Getting there, though.
With a rather loud battle cry, Morene found herself running at the guardsman defending the Commander once more with it's rather intimidating guns still on it's arms. Or... wherever those shots were coming from. The huntress never cared to check; dodging them was enough work.
On the note of work, Morene was lucky enough to watch as Dark Jak immediately popped into her vision, body-checking the Cyberman shooting at her. The woman wheezed at how comical the poor droid ragdolled onto the floor; only to stop a second and watch as Jak began... well, goring it.
"Haah...Oh my lord."
At that moment, the huntress herself realized how much stamina she spent trying to keep that thing from shooting at her allies. Hunching over and taking a bit of a breath, Morene looked around, and was hugely disappointed at the sight of the Commander almost done repairing itself in near-peace, even with Zedd's stubborn attempts to take it on himself as it sat upon it's throne.
Granted, Zedd was proving his rather tank-like nature useful, seeing as almost everything the Commander had to throw at him, the flayed conqueror shrugged off with relative ease. Though, Morene gritted her teeth watching as every time Zedd himself took a hit, he seemed to react slower and slower to staying on the offensive.
Shaking her head, Morene put a heavy, armored palm on her own face, contemplating why she wasn't helping Zedd and Des in the first place.
"Every one of those ranged attacks are decently reactable anyways..." the woman mumbled to herself, frustrated with her lack of common sense. In a sense, the huntress was right; the guards were pretty much a distraction to let the Commander slip by unharmed.
Growling to herself, Morene counted to ten in her head again, calming down despite the unrelenting chaos ensuing at all sides.
Without any other care in the world, the woman found herself grappling towards the throne placed center in this makeshift throne-room more fit to be called an arena. Though, she was unpleasantly surprised to find that the Commander actually found itself reacting to her this time. A horrific sounding stream of energy began to heat up beneath Morene's feet; she knew this old trick all too well.
Unfortunately for her, she was barely in time to sidestep it. A terrible pain crept up her left leg, mostly a burning sensation in her toes, emphasis on burning. It was definitely some sort of... current, which Morene knew she usually had resistances against, but it was different in some way. It hurt. Bad.
Omniphysics at work, and this was the woman's first time truly experiencing it.
Using the still-gained momentum to stomp forward with a limp in her leg, Morene continued on however bad the pain in her leg was.
Closer, and closer, Morene looked onto Zedd, who seemed to be in the same injured boat as her.
"Zedd, dear, stop being stubborn! With me!"
The skinless man groaned. Morene couldn't exactly pinpoint where and why she felt this, but somewhere deep down, she figured that this person maybe didn't like her all that much.
"...Bah," Zedd complained, wanting to go further and wish that only Desman was assisting him. His voice modulator may have been broken, but in all honesty, the distortion was much more bearable than the sweet-talking coming from the weird, giant woman.
Whether or not they enjoyed working together, both Primes had to admit, Dante's complaints were pretty well founded. They really did need to finish this soon, otherwise these three bots would overwhelm them through persistence alone.
Shouting in a sting of pain, Morene gasped as she straightened her leg out, running forwards at a rather lackluster speed. Immediately, she felt the ground beneath her getting hot again. More crashing metal ringed in her ear. The woman didn't even need to look down to know what was going to happen; it was going to be her other leg this time.
Though, not really. The Liberator guessed full and well these droids would have algorithms running through their thick metal heads to tell themselves, "if it worked last time, keep going." Morene already had her free arm raised to the Commander's head. A thick wire immediately zipped through the air, and it didn't take long for it to connect. Not quite to what it was aiming at however; the huntress could practically see the Cyberman's shield bounce the hook off and ricochet it onto it's throne instead.
Good enough, the woman supposed, not exactly pleased with the sloppiness of her preformance at the moment. She could only hope that was to change soon.
Launching herself forward, Morene once again knew the Commander was to try a different combination of ranged attacks to perhaps defend itself from being opened up like a tin-can. Her pseudo-sabatons skidded across the floor, watching a red bolt of energy fly towards her chest. It was unfortunate her jetpacks weren't functional at the moment, but she had to admit, there was something quite fun about sliding across the floor and watching sparks fly beneath her feet as she yanked the cord away from the oncoming attack.
Hopping up, Morene raised her legs forward, smiling a tiny bit as she anticipated kicking the throne-seated Cyberman square in the face.
Zedd didn't look as amused though, removing the fingers currently grasping at his forehead. Sighing, he dashed forward, feeling the weight in his feet as he stomped, watching as Morene did just what she planned.
CLANK!
Quote:Words: 1,042; total words: 1977. Post 2/2.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Lord Zedd - 05-22-2017
There was a voice in the back of Lord Zedd’s mind. It beckoned him towards a path of destruction. It pushed him to slaughter all he saw before him, whether they were Liberators or of the Nebula forces. Throughout this entire brawl with the Darkloid Commander and its brood, the voice never let up.
It was far from the first, and far from the most powerful.
Breaking away from the Dark Chip's call to slaughter his allies, Zedd let out an extraordinarily loud cackle as he unleashed a bolt of lightning towards the darkling commander. The Commander was quick to unleash an energy bolt to of his own to counter it, and the two attacks exploded between the adversaries. Zedd halted his charge so he wouldn’t find himself in the midst of the blast and he lost sight of Morene in the process. Oh well.
The lingering energy from the attacks dissipated, and Zedd once more locked eyes with the commander. In a moment of respite from the battle, the dark lord began to laugh as he dreamed momentarily about what he would have done to these machinations, had they entered his own realm and not this twisted reality. It had been a little while since he’d thought about that.
“So, future scrap pile,” Zedd bellowed to the commander, paying no mind to the battle with the other two warriors around him. “I hope you haven’t exhausted your entire skillset on us just yet. If this is the depths of the Nebula’s power, then I remain… amused.”
Zedd cackled louder as he paced to the side. He appeared relaxed, and unconcerned with the concept of imminent death. But in reality he was constantly scanning the area, looking for a weakness of some sort in the Commander’s shield. The truth was that he was feeling the fatigue of this endeavor, and the others had to be as well. These robots seemed to be able to go on forever. It was that thought that made Zedd start to look around the entire arena, not just the Commander’s immediate vicinity. Where the hell had their robot gone?
“Zedd,” the distorted and rapidly changing voice of Desman came from behind the warlord.
Zedd jumped in surprise, not expecting to be flanked by the little machine. He watched as their own mechanical member stopped beside him.
“We can’t do this forever,” Desman lamented, each word coming out in a completely different pitch. “They’re wearing us down.”
“What is wrong with you?” Zedd demanded, having heard enough of Desman’s damaged voice and temporarily disregarding the battle.
“It’s… it’s this space. It’s done something to my voice unit,” Desman hastily shrugged to explain. “I don’t know what else it damaged.”
“You had better find a way to pull your weight,” Zedd scowled. He already forgot that he was the one that started this conversation, because now he was wondering why Desman was bothering him with this information.
“Just listen,” Desman snapped. “I can merge with you, I think. Maybe that’s the push we need.”
Zedd immediately perked up at that thought. So, the robot was good for an upgrade after all. Except it would be for him. Zedd nodded. He liked that idea a lot. For a freakish man with no facial expressions, it was quite easy to tell he would be grinning wildly.
“Oh, Nebula Droid!” Zedd called out to the commander. Its eyes shifted to look at Zedd and Desman. “We, as beings of darkness, have quite a bit in common.”
Desman paused for a moment wondering why Zedd was continuing to antagonize the Commander. He then realized that the warlord was buying him time to prepare. Perhaps he wasn’t as clueless as he let on.
“We bring order to the universe at large, but it just isn’t appreciated,” Zedd was downright sarcastic, now. “I’ve fought a lot of do-gooders in the process, and heard a lot of threats and battle cries over my time, as I’m sure you have, too. Let me share with you the words that never fail to send a chill down my spine.”
Desman’s robot body expanded, turning into what appeared to be armor that could be worn. This fully caught the commander’s attention, but Zedd laughed one last time before finishing his taunt.
“It’s morphing time.”
Desman leaped onto Zedd, latching onto his limbs and meshing his head with Zedd’s faceplate. Wires mixed with Zedd’s own metallic accessories while the armor wrapped itself tightly around Zedd’s arms. There was a brilliant flash of light as their fusion completed, and their minds became linked as well.
Memories flooded into both of their minds. Zedd saw glimpses of a world of innocence and youth, two things he’d not contemplated in some time. It was jarring. On the other side, Desman saw countless conquests and horrific slaughters, but going back further he saw something noble. There was an era of Zedd’s life, almost completely repressed from memory, where he appeared to fight for the light. What had caused the fall wasn’t something he had time to search for. They both understood there was work to do.
Morene jumped away from the Commander, pausing to take in the new sight. Zedd and Desman merging wasn’t something she expected to see, but she was pretty welcoming of any new tricks they could utilize in their attack. Especially if it kept the heat on Zedd. And sure enough, the Commander had taken this time to power up a massive beam of pure dark energy, which it promptly unleashed at the new combatant.
Zedd willed their body to grab the Dragon Dagger in their left hand, while Desman insisted that they take the Elemental Cutlass in their right. Quickly Zedd brought the Dragon Dagger towards where their mouth should have been. He was able to exhale into it, regardless, and with a brief tune he powered up a wall of energy before them, which deflected the energy attack into a nearby wall.
There was no further time to waste. Zedd broke into a sprint, lighting Desman’s sword with fiery red energy. The Commander ripped an energy shield from the ground before them, but with little time to power it up, Zedd slashed right through it. He continued his charge, far from the fastest one in this group but moving well enough. He hit the dark shield and roared in agony as it burned against his flesh. Desman could be heard groaning in just as much pain.
The Dragon Dagger lit up in green energy, and Zedd roared as he forced his way through the barrier. He stabbed at the Commander, barely piercing its chest with the powered up blade. The response was a wave of energy that shoved the fused pair back outside the shield. Zedd hit the ground with a thud, and quickly rolled to his feet. Smoke poured off the Dragon Dagger, so he holstered it, and held Desman’s sword ready. He could have sworn he heard a little bit of anger in the monotone Commander’s voice.
“DE-LETE.”
Zedd laughed once more as he charged back into the fray.
Quote:1215 Words
Zedd and Desman used Fusion
They used Zedd's T1 Super Defense - Dragon Deflect
They also used Zedd's special move for the Nebula Space - Dragon Dagger
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Nebula - 05-29-2017
The royal guard could only do their best to hold off the additional enemies as their commander went head-to-head with the fusion of Zedd and Desman. The enthroned machine was gradually taking more and more damage, and with every injury, the fervor of Zeddman seemed to grow.
Dante stole a glance at the battle of the titans as he noticed his own adversary seeming to hesitate, wince. They were all feeling the hurt. But he wouldn’t let the royal guard break off to stop Zeddman. “Hey, hey, hey,” he growled with a grin at his lips. “Don’t look at him. You’re my opponent.”
Still. It was taking too long.
Zeddman knew that, too, and the knowledge boiled up within him as frustration. He was landing hits, but despite the damage the commander just seemed to go on and on. How long would it take to land a killing blow? Just what would it take to murder him?
It was Morene who answered that question. All Zeddman heard was “Move!”
He was lucky that he’d done so. Something large and silver flew overhead – one of the two cyber-guards, travelling faster than it had any right to. One of Morene’s gauntleted arms had the cybermen held by the armpit, the other of her hands was attached to a zipline whose destination was the throne. It wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t ceremonious. But they nonetheless each took a moment to gape as Morene flung the cyber-guard into its commander, crashing through its shield and damaging them both in the process.
Zeddman took the cue. He stormed forward, into the gap created by the cyber-guard, and thrust his left fist up into the ribcage of the commander. As he pulled it away, the Dragon Dagger was revealed; coated in oil and wreathed with sparks that must have hurt, even for a fused warrior. But again he thrust the dagger into the weak spot, pushing it deeper until half of his forearm was buried in the commander’s chest, and the shrill screams of the three cybermen threatened to burst all their eardrums.
“Die,” spat the conjoined warrior.
His right hand swung – connected with the cyber-commander’s metal neck. It jerked, holding – then the sword came back again for a second hit. This one freed the commander’s head from its stationary prison.
It sailed through the air before coming to Jak’s feet. The eco warrior, smile stained black, regarded the head for a moment before bringing one heavy boot down.
He hadn’t counted on the explosion that would follow.
Quote:Desman takes 3 damage.
Jak takes 2 damage.
Zedd takes 1 damage.
Morene takes 1 damage.
Dante takes 1 damage.
The death of the cyber-commander had triggered the entire warehouse to start falling apart. Clearly a last-ditch effort to stop the invaders. As it came down around them, the ragtag bunch made their exit. Bruised, exhausted, but alive. What they exited to, however, could not be called normality.
The effects of Nebula Space had been felt even inside the factory, but now that they were out in the open, it became clear that they were in one of the Omniverse’s more unnatural spaces. The world had seemed askew before because they weren’t on flat ground. The factory had been built inside a plane that mirrored the inside of a sphere, purple and miasmic, covered in black dots. There was no ‘sky’; the ground extended out in every direction before curving back around to form a ceiling, from which extended – paradoxically, towards them – a small black tower, almost like an obelisk.
It screamed at them. Its voice was like a child’s gurgle; somehow reminiscent of the shrill mechanistic tones of the cybermen, but amplified a hundredfold and then run through water. “You’ll never shut down this factory!”
That was when they noticed the black spots began to move. Darkspawn. Perhaps hundreds, from across the sphere, converging on their location.
And just as they thought things couldn’t get any worse, the world began to quake. Dark power spilled out of the ground as something giant … rather, somethings, began to emerge from the sides of the sphere closest to the obelisk.
Tentacles. Each one spanning over half the distance between the party and the obelisk, each as thick as the large warehouse had been. They rose up out of the ground as though they had been waiting, dormant, for someone to threaten the dark world. At their nexus was a tiny, bulbous head, barely visible from their distance, but attached nonetheless to each of the eight limbs that stemmed from the obelisk. While the host ‘body’ seemed to be an organic thing, the colossal limbs were monstrosities of wire and metal, no doubt culled from the junkyards of the lowest tiers, held together by veins of sticky dark power. The Empire’s fingers-in-ears approach to the worst parts of the city were no doubt in part responsible for how big this thing had been allowed to become.
The tentacles, slow and deliberate like the movements of mountains, raised up and writhed at the centre of the sphere, waiting for them to get close enough to attack. Meanwhile, the black dots began to close in on their position from every viewable angle. They were cornered, and they would have to go the long way around to reach their destination. It wasn’t going to be easy.
Quote:You have 8 days and two posts each, neither of which may be longer than 1000 words to play this event. Your first post should entail getting past the darkling waves to the tentacles. Your second should entail getting past the tentacles to the head of the creature, which I have conveniently named Junktopus. You don’t have to strictly adhere to this guideline, do whatever seems like good writing, but you may not reach the head without my say-so.
These tentacles are massive, like skyscrapers, but extremely slow and cumbersome. You’ll be able to jump on top of them and climb on them, but they won’t stay still while you do so. They can twist, writhe and turn, and they’re not exactly easy to stand on since they’re made of wires. They’re also filled with hazards in the way of the dark power, which snakes through the tentacles in an uneven fashion and will seriously hurt you if you touch it due to the sheer amount and concentration of dark energy.
The head looks like this. It’s not Ultros, it just has his stupid ugly face.
Good luck and don’t die!
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Desman Black - 05-31-2017
"Holy..." A appropriately timed glitch blocked the second half of Desman's Exclamation was interrupted by a perfectly time glitch, like one of the writers of a TV show suddenly decided they wanted it to be more 'Kid Friendly'. "This place is beautiful, almost a shame we have to destroy it."
"You mean like you destroyed the Dark Chip?" Zedd interjected, obviously still mad about the affair, especially after how much power he had gained using the second one.
"I said almost, and besides...That chip brought back terrible memories." The last part ended up being so quiet that neither part of Zeddman knew if Des whispered or just thought it. Before the dark lord could respond in any way to the statement however, the voice of the tower spoke up and the Darkspawn moved from all around the sphere onto the groups location.
"Heh, hiding behind your weak pawns now are we?" The Lord Zedd gloated at the unseen enemy. "Are you really so afraid as to not show your face while 'you' fight us, mind you, I guess that is a wiser choice then any of your comrades made, we are almighty!"
Suddenly the tentacles and the creature they were attached to emerge from the ground. Des mentally face-palmed Zedd for his gloating before the group rushed out into battle. Zeddman was the first to sweep though the foes, with most of his attacks turning any of the Darkspawns that hit them almost immediately into a dark purple poosh of smoke.
The conjoined warrior spoke in union like it had done to the Cyber-Commander, "This is going to be easy."
Quote:287 words
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Simon - 06-02-2017
Dante heaved a great breath and plucked a stray shard of shattered glass from his shoulder. As he did, he felt a certain freshness replenish through his body. The nerve burns and stinging agony seemed so much less apparent now, though if he rolled his left arm the wrong way, he still felt the cry of pain from the lingering wound. Guess that fight didn't all turn out as bad as he had thought.
Thank goodness for that, because the army of darkness approaching them now seemed like a very, very large nuisance. The tentacle monster, maybe not so much.
The devil hunter shot a glance to Zedd and Desman, now briefly separate again after their stunt back in the factory. "Think you can do that again, punch us a path through those guys?" Dante asked, and the red 'bot nearly answered before pondering a moment.
"I don't think I'd have enough power, normally-" Desman thought aloud, "But it looks like I've got plenty of reserves left. This space must be affecting my energy for the better." The two red-clad warriors looked a little perplexed at this, but arguably could not complain about the circumstances in here, of all places. The machine must be relieved to know a powerful mechanical function like Fusion was still available, even if he still looked a little glitchy.
...Wait a moment. Why did his whole body act up just then-?
As the hordes of dark soldiers approached, Zedd wasted no opportunity and made Desman fuse again. He seemed fully intent on charging into the fray and taking on the whole army themselves - even for Dante, that seemed stupid. As Jak began to ripple with Eco and follow suit, the red-coat forced a hand over his chest to stop him.
"We're not gonna fight that whole army ourselves, you know-" Dante spoke out quite seriously, a dissonance from his typical tone so far. Jak's trust in the devil hunter took the comment to heart, but neither Zeddsman nor Morene proved quite so empathetic.
"Would you rather have them at our backs?" The suited woman called back, already arming her grapple cables. "Have a little faith in us! We can handle it!"
Dante stifled a grunt of dejection, running after the fighters before they got too involved. The Eco warrior, blast in hand, ran aside him reassuringly. "What's up, Dante?" he asked, speaking up of the ensuing sounds of battle, "You think this is too much?"
"That's not what I said!" The son of Sparda replied, taking Rebellion in both hands as the first wave of foes drew closer. He quickly turned to the fused Liberator, barking out a command, "Everyone, forget about fighting! We need to force our way through this army!"
The digital readout of that amalgamated mask spared only a sideways glance. "What gives you the right to command-"
"Just do it!" Dante roared, the sheer volume carrying his cry throughout the Dyson-sphere of Nebula Space. "We're wasting time here when we could be going forward!"
The rest of the Liberators practically shook from the sudden ferocity the half-blood displayed, but Zedd only grew more frustrated. He attempted another swiped of the sword with his combined form, but Desman struggled against the movement for a moment, conceding that perhaps Dante spoke some truth. They quickly forced themselves to reach a mental compromise before they got swarmed by Darklings, and regained form again to attack with redoubled might.
Slashing, bashing, and zapping all in his way, Zeddsman began to charge through the waves of Darklings, a dozen counter-attacks rebounding off his durable carapace at any given moment. Dante shot in line behind the rampaging warrior, violently raking his demon steel against an enemy trying to seal the gap. Jak pieced together what was happening, and provided cover with his firearms. Only Morene stood left to oppose the plan, still standing her ground against the swarm of hapless minions.
"Come on! Dante's right, we'll waste our energy here," The elf-eared gunner motioned to the lady soldier, trying to get her moving. She persisted, blocking an incoming swipe with Judgement and countering with a deadly cut.
"These guys will be swarming us from behind if we don't take care of them!" Morene rebutted, bearing down again one unfortunate Darkling as she said so.
"We don't need to take care of them-" Dante reaffirmed, then his tone suddenly slipped back into that ever-confident smirk, "-Junktopus over there is gonna do it for us!"
The hunter disarmed and beheaded another weak Darkling with his sword, then leaped into the air. His boot met the skull of another soldier, landing and then immediately kicking off of it. Like stepping stones, Dante stomped and hopped over the waves of Nebula agents with defiant grace, coat-tails furling about like a triumphant banner. Nebula certainly didn't make it easy- aside form passing swings at Dante's legs, several of the soldiers threw projectiles and weapons at the Liberator's way. His large jumps and fine technique allowed him to duck through the worst of it, revived a few bumps and scrapes from the occasional lead pipe or blaster shot.
The encroaching waves of foes may have stretched wide, but it did not hold considerably deep, and the rear end soon came in sight. Like a last dash to the finish line, Dante generated a glyph beneath his flying heels and vaulted on it with a speedy burst. He landed with a hard stomp from his boots, quickly pulling himself upright to swing Rebellion at one of the stragglers behind the main force. Two more came, and Dante batted them down with the sword all the same.
Between attacks, he shot a glance at the gigantic junk beast. Not quite moving to attack yet... Guess they weren't in range of the tentacles. Which meant the Liberators hopefully wouldn't have a problem with it until they broke through the Darklings.
Tear open the path with Zeddsman, provoke the Junktopus, crush the army, run through to the head.
Simple.
Quote:1000 words exactly, according to Wordcounter.net
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Morene Fellon - 06-03-2017
Morene saw Dante's little smirk, and the plan he had formulated. It almost put her to shame that she didn't think of it earlier. Granted, the woman's eagerness to decimate the ocean of Darklings was her first priority; dealing with those kinds of situations was her job at one point, after all.
Truly, it was adorable to her to see a bit of panic and confusion among the Liberators. Not in a sadistic way, mind you, but the huntress could tell that perhaps only Dante had experience in this field. As flashy as he was, he certainly knew how to keep a level-head. Still, that wasn't quite Morene's style, and she'd have to show for it now.
Cleaning her blade by swiping it on her gauntlet, Morene held her breath as she strode forward. The haunting screeches in her ears raised in intensity; whatever Dante had planned, the Primes would have to execute it without clear communication. The huntress wished she had time to think about all of these intriguing concepts, but with how quickly she was swarmed by at least ten Darklings, that'd have to wait.
Make it quick, she thought, and so she would.
Still holding the air in her lungs, Morene swerved around the Darklings with alarming speeds, keeping a distance from the few that actually had formidable melee weapons to speak of. Realizing she had pretty much no concept of range other than throwing her only weapon, the woman found this somewhat of a challenge. She let go of her breath, keeping her balance as she skewered the next neck that approached her in the little line she forced the Darklings to make. Just like old times, these beasts had no concept of spreading themselves out, nor did they react to thrusting motions very well.
So, she kept herself near Zedd and Des' fused bodies, sprinting in any direction she could as she dropped the Nebula monsters one by one. A stab to the eye, neck, skull or heart; it was like formula to her.
Ten of them fell, then five more. More screaming, metallic crashing and battle cries followed. Yet, Morene could only stay silent as she focused on her footwork, the only thing keeping her alive other than her armor. Taking a quick glance back to see if she was being jumped on, the huntress saw as Zeddsman immediately dispatched a few more of the creatures for her, Jak and Dante covering any area they could sink their weapons into. Most of their faces expressed some level of confidence, impressively.
Or, Morene mentally corrected herself as she kicked another Darkling, extreme tension. That might be it.
Either way, the woman was somewhat grateful to know she wasn't working with people that would get themselves killed so easily. Stabbing down into the Darkling's head she had just kicked over, Morene immediately saw five disgustingly deformed arms with assorted weapons falling down upon her. Keeping her eyes trained on whatever weapons she could block, the woman used her free hand to grapple herself away from the oncoming attacks.
Of course, that gave Morene absolutely no room to breathe. As soon as she planted her feet back onto the ground of the void that was Nebula's space, three more Darklings swing at her at the exact same time, all in different directions. Growling lowly, the huntress ducked under one of the pipe-like weapons flying at her face, dashing through the gap the Darklings made for themselves as they launched forwards. Naturally, Morene kept her eyes trained on the threat in front of her, chopping at their spines as they knocked themselves off balance.
Looking over, Morene almost instinctively hacked away at the other monster's arm as it attempted to avenge it's buddies. The huntress saw as the rest of her Liberator allies rip through the wave of zombie-like creatures in what seemed to be a straight line, much more slowly than she thought they would.
It was then she realized, even more of the Darklings came forward to challenge Zeddsman and their allies desperately attempting to cover them.
Grappling over once more, the huntress felt herself increasingly more and more angered at these forces of evil trying to push them back. All of these lives lost to this awful corruption. As her feet touched the ground once again, the Prime had just then realized how high these stakes were. Punching through a few Darklings to get to Zeddsman, Morene snarled as she reached to her neck, running forward.
Zedd and Des' fused bodies could see she was pressing on something. They didn't need to inspect what she was doing further as a metal-alloy helmet collapsed onto her head in parts. Morene knew Omniphysics wouldn't help her much when it came to making armor more useful, nor would it stop a concussion at this point, but...
As Morene rushed forward and started stabbing at the zombies pushing and clawing against Zeddsman, she knew she needed something to cover her eyes from the horrible smelling blood-like substances about to spill from their throats, right?
...Admittedly, it made her feel cool, too. She really needed to remember to use this thing more often.
Quote:863 words, as told from wordcounter.net.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Lord Zedd - 06-04-2017
Zedd tuned out the chatter of his teammates. He had enough of their thoughts, sharing a head with one of them and all. They might have been saying something useful, but he was in agreement with what little he did hear. His mission was to storm up the middle, and cut a path towards the monument to Palpatine’s laziness.
Sword in one hand, staff in the other, Zeddman charged forward. The darklings didn’t show the least bit of surprise at such a brazen approach, and swarmed towards the merged warrior. Fortunately the support of their allies helped thin the herd to an acceptable level, and allowed them to violently bludgeon their way through.
Voices echoed in Zedd’s mind. They called for him to show mercy, and pulled him towards the light. He wasn’t sure if it was simply Desman’s influence on him at the moment, or if the fusion had awakened a long forgotten part of his history. On the other hand, the influence of the Dark Chip still remained, and he heard its call to turn and slaughter his allies. The only thing missing was a mini angel and devil hovering over each shoulder.
It was no matter. He was stronger than these feeble mind games. He used Desman’s sword to lop the head off a darkling, and his own staff to impale another. That was what he was here for. These things would not change him. All that mattered was clearing the monster from the lower tier, because when he seized control from Palpatine he would take control of all the levels of this verse. Something like this would surely be in the way.
A particularly large darkling stepped in his path, but he thought little of it. It wasn’t until he tried to cut through it like the rest that he realized this one needed a little extra attention. The sword bounced off the darkling’s metallic hide, but with Zeddman in full sprint he collided with the warrior and sent them both tumbling to the ground. Zeddman rolled to his feet slightly faster than the heavily armored darkling, and then turned and drove the sword into its neck.
While that was a fortunate weak spot and ended that threat, the other darklings had begun to mass around them in the precious seconds wasted on a single adversary. Zeddman held both weapons ready as the horde gathered.
“We need to keep moving,” Desman’s voice echoed in their shared mind.
“Yes, I am fully aware,” Zedd announced out loud, having not quite grasped the nuances of fusion as quickly as the small machine.
“...Then keep moving!” Desman mentally demanded, not sure what was taking so long.
Zedd’s only response was to take a deep breath. He didn’t expect fatigue to be getting to him. He’d fought for much longer before, but it had to be something about these Nebula forces and their effects on the area. He decided to forgo the usual insisting demand about how he should be properly addressed and instead just get to work.
Zedd willed the shared body back into the crowd, wildly hacking away with both weapons. Nothing would stop him. Not the odd voices in his head, not his own exhaustion, and certainly not these robotic monstrosities. He would approach this situation like he had every other one for the past ten thousand years. He would conquer it.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Jak Mar - 06-04-2017
The eco warrior was awash with sweat and the smell of dark eco as the lightning flashes off his body and the feeling stopped as the dark form fell away.
Jak growled as his superego roared in his head “I DEMAND you change back.”
Zeddman was too busy slashing and cutting when an large portal opened and an octopus like creature crashed his way into the space or rather what was left of nebula space.
The knife eared hero grabbed his hand forcing his dark large claws to turn back to normal and sighed.
“Dante!” How long can you keep this up??
Blood drenched his clothing but luckily no other dark matter had fell on him.
A swarm of darklings surrounded Jak and he felt his tiredness annoying him, however Jak used his guns to switch off and use the Vulcan fury to clear a path for Dante to get close to the tentacles.
Jak's fury was replaced with a brief rubbing his head in confusion as Dante held him and the others from doing what they would do.
“Dante, don't you- BLAM trust me? Us?!”
Jak growled slightly in frustration as his dark form itched for more blood.
“I have a better idea” Dante was confident of this and Jak knew the devil hunter was right in some ways.
Jak sighed “ Fine, I trust you. Just convince the others.”
Jak was back to providing cover with Dante and morene keeping bloody zombie like beings from biting them. Jak shot a few in the head and growled. These creatures kept coming. Blood squirted out of each creature who dared to lay a hand on Jak and his teammates. Prince, warrior, hero.
That's what he was, that's what he planned to keep up.
Team anti-hero edginess is up to the challenge. Morene was the kiter, Jak the hero prince, desman the robot, Dante demon hunter and zedd the heroic villain.
Sounded like a bad sitcom, but in reality there was quite the predicament. Jak held onto the personal hope that he had to survive this for everyone's sake.
Jak bent down and once a path was cleared, the eco warrior pulled a risky shot and held his own gun against another trying to knock him down like a sword fight. The darkling tried to slam on Jak's weapon and a clash occurred. the liberator threw the hanging on darkling against some others still trying to crowd their group.
“Damn dark creatures… “ Jak muttered.
He knew he couldn't touch the creatures in question.
Wait what if he lit things up a bit?
The liberators smashed dark zombie creatures together as the beings regrouped and tried their attacks again. Jak's form changed to that of a almost translucent blue color one that shone in the dark Nebula space.
He tried to heal but failed and it ended up with him falling out of his form and losing little eco in the process.
"Damn CREATURES!"
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Simon - 06-05-2017
A dozen Darklings tried and failed to hold back the fused Liberator, their thinning ranks being flanked by Dante. Finally, the lumbering mass of armored conflict named Zeddsman tore through the threshold. Jak and Morene came in tow, both valiantly fighting off the stupid dark-spawn as they went. With everyone successfully on the other side of Nebula's military might, the ragtag team began to formulate their next approach:
"Enlighten us, devil hunter-" Zeddsman spoke in his sarcastic digitized voice, "-about the next step in your masterful plan, if you will." Even Desman, currently a part of the combined overlord, seemed as pained to say that as the others were to listen to it.
Nevertheless, Dante complied, swiping down one last humanoid with his sword before turning to the monstrosity in the distance. "Hey, Scrappy!" The devil hunter roared again, this time with that keystone devil-may-care attitude in his voice, "Do you kiss that mother with that ugly mug of yours!?" Perhaps it heard him, or merely anticipated their approach, but the metal-filled tentacles began to writhe with more power, curling and rearing up for a titanic strike at any given minute.
Hoisting Rebellion behind his back, the son of Sparda shot a confident glance to his allies. "Start running, and forget about the zombies! Those tentacles will smash 'em to bits-!"
Just one glance at the swirling mass of junk and dark energy made everyone else a little less certain about this plan- and rather more enthusiastic to see if running would work. With Dante taking the head of the charge, the Liberators left the Darkling horde behind. They gave chase, as was to be expected, but the intruders' superior speed left the enemy outpaced.
Well, all except for one of them-
Jak was the first to catch up to Dante, shrugging off blue-and-white wisps from his dud transformation. "Dante, I don't think this is gonna work-"
"Don't worry," the red-coat interjected, still wearing that sure-fire smile, "As long as we all keep running, those things won't smash us!"
"What about Desman?!" Morene cried, bringing up the rear and trying to get through to the devil hunter. What about him? Dante glanced over to his other side, getting a look at Zeddsman-
No, just Zedd. The suit of electronic red armor was nowhere to be found on him. "What-?" The son of Sparda exclaimed aloud, surprised at the shocking reveal that the overlord did not appreciate his surge of power, for once. "Why'd you get rid of him!?"
"The robot only slowed me down," the skinless warlock scoffed. He seemed so matter-of-fact about it that Dante felt offended.
"Like hell he did-!" After having gone from confident to concerned with the flip of a switch, the half-devil now turned determined. Skidding to a halt, he back-flipped over the rest of his team, getting a good shot of Desman wheeling around in panic with the Darklings at his heels. The red-coat twisted around, stuck the landing, then burst after the robot.
Forget about it, you're slowing everyone down!
"It'll be fine! Just keep running!" Dante cried back, ignoring the cries of his more-concerned teammates. Drawing his sword, the warrior charged to meet the enemy head-on once again. So much for the tentacles taking care of them...
At least he'll get a quick death-
With a flying stab, Dante charged past a fleeing Desman and ran a Darkling through. He immediately pulled free and swung around, rapidly cutting down another soldier. There was no point trying to fight all of them - the wheely 'bot just needed enough room to escape unbidden.
If he's lucky, he'll just be reborn. No big deal, right?
A shadow loomed over the scene, and with another parting bash of his blade, Dante disengaged from the fight. He backpedaled, kicked away, and dashed for a confused and annoyed. "Whyyyy'd ZEDd jUSt ggg- rId of MMe like thA-!? Isss -e trYIng ttt- KILL meee? We-we-we sHOULD've got- RIddd of hi-!"
Why do you care so much about these people?!
"Desman!" The devil hunter cried, breaking through the cacophony. The shade grew darker by the moment, wind rushing around the colossal appendage as it came crashing down. Dante needn't have fought them off- they began to scatter of their own accord, suddenly aware of their untimely fate. "I need you to work with me here-!"
"WhA- do yOU mean-?" the brave little toaster asked, overwhelmed by the pressure.
"What do you think I mean!?"
The tentacle of the wretched octopus finally touched down, the crash like a collapsing building. A sickening crunch of junk and bodies rung out many times over, and all matter of dust, scrap, and bodies were scattered by the impact. The rest of the Liberators had managed to evade the tentacles, but were dismayed (some more than others) to find the other two not successfully in their company...
Junktopus was as unsophisticated on the inside as it appeared on the outside. A storm of veins funneled dark energy throughout the ever-shifting mass of junk, gravitating and gluing it all together. The moving fortress proved far from impregnable, however, as a sword tore through the outer layer of garbage into a gap between the amalgamation.
And speaking of amalgamations, a second sword joined the first, ripping apart the barrier and creating a space large enough for their owner to come through. Clad in crimson red and digital blue, the fusion of Desman and Dante broke into the tentacle, beaten but not broken. With demon steel in one hand and elemental energy in the other, the new combined Liberator faced the twisted environment before them.
"We made it!" rang Desman.
"Damn right," Dante replied.
"But what about the others?"
"Do you trust them?"
"Well, not Zedd."
"Then trust me- They'll get through this."
"What about us?"
"We're gonna cut our way though, to the head. Raise some hell from the inside."
And so they began, dual blades hacking a destructive path through the slough of corrupted scrap.
Quote:999 words, according to Wordcounter.net
Dante and Desman use Fusion for this post only.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Jak Mar - 06-05-2017
Jak was tired as much as he was sweating but Desman and Dante seemed too quiet. He had not seen signs of the two since he was fighting the darklings. He looked around, worried for his ally and teammate. "Dante? Desman?!"
Desman was a capable fighter when it came to various areas but he still worried about his teammates, but Dante was on his mind the most. Not only was Dante a capable fighter, he could handle his own in a fight, but why was he not around?
“SHIT, Dante!”
“He’s fine, you idiot”- Jak's dark side insulted him within his head.
Jak growled, still in a panic "Dante and Des, they- we can't lose.. them. How could they survive that?"
Well more in a panic than usual.
The eco warrior eyed the others to see how their reactions were to the disappearance of two of their allies.
Zedd growled just looking at Jak and the others "Do I have to do everything MYSELF?! "So what if those two are dead, anyway? Useless fools is all they were."
Jak should've went up to choke Zedd by his words alone to blatantly disrespect Dante and Desman's sacrifice like that. He held his tongue and saved it, however. Words didn't count, actions did.
Jak couldn't help but be conflicted,however.
His head said one thing, his heart said another.
He was slowly piecing together details.
As the creatures came to a slowing after a large smash of one of the tentacles, it made Jak roll away from likely sharing the same fate, luckily.
Morene was sharing her own sense of the pain, trying to figure out just where the two of them had gone after likely being smashed. A path was carved out for the liberation group thanks to Dante.
But there were still the stubborn darklings trying to push and pull the liberators out of their ideal "zone".
One darkling grabbed ahold of Jak's skirt and almost began to pull. Jak felt the pull and he had to stomp on the creature's hand to force it to let go of him.
The creature recoiled in anger and then Jak stepped on its head.
Guilt stirred up in Jak's mind.
"Guilt is a fool's game."
Jak hadn't gotten past that moral dilemma quite but these guys were destroying the world they were in, they had to die.
"ENOUGH" Jak held his head and growled.
His light had held him back too long from doing what he needed to do.
"Kill them all"
"NO!"
Jak felt held back by the light and stepped back, holding his head again.
“STOP IT! I don’t want to be you again!”
“Don’t you get it, Jak. I AM YOU.”
The knife-eared hero sighed and lighting sparked around him but he quickly stopped.
Quote:761 words according to Google Docs.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Morene Fellon - 06-06-2017
If there was one thing Morene never got used to when in the midst of combat, it was the feeling of her stamina slowly depleting and her breathing patterns becoming faster and faster. As if there wasn't enough pressure on her chest as it is, not even her light "mutations" she had subjected herself to in her past life were keeping up with the utter mess going on around her.
It wouldn't be that bad, really. Not if two of her colleagues hadn't appeared dead a mere seconds ago. Something in her gut told Morene it wasn't that easy. She couldn't mourn now, not until she found bodies.
Alternatively, saving her own hide would alleviate that issue of finding her allies as well. If she could, that is.
More loud snarling broke the woman out of her slight panic. Morene knew it wasn't professional of her to lose her cool now. The huntress reassured herself.
I've handled worse. Much, much worse.
For now, she'd hope so anyways. Even if the Son of Sparda and the tiny robot seemed to be nowhere in sight, Morene knew it was her best interest to see Dante's plan see the light of day. Thankfully for her, it already was. The tentacle beast not too far to the side of where she sprinted seemed to be in... a bit of pain. Unease, rather. Morene wasn't sure why; perhaps it was that it was alarmed by their presence? It didn't look too smart, she'd note.
With a bit of discomforted twitching out of the way, the Junktopus slammed one of it's many appendages onto the floor of the void beneath it, a sudden crash following. The now knightly-looking woman didn't pay much attention to her allies, for all she expected was the creature to attack her, since she seemed to be the easiest target. Rather, she felt that she was the easiest target, and she wasn't sure why until she saw two Darklings sprint towards her.
Without thinking, it only took a second as she drove-by and sliced both of their jaws straight off their heads. Morene instinctively baited one of them into attempting to defend themselves, and kept running. As she did so, Morene could feel the ground shake.
The noise started quietly, but as a few short moments passed, it turned into a loud screech. Not one of a monster, but of grinding metal. No, not even metal, just... things.
Junk.
The tentacled creature's arm slid across the floor, directly towards her. The armor-clad woman would have felt safe, if she hadn't felt a horrible twist at her ankle at that exact moment. Another quick look, this time downwards as she fell over to the floor. Another Darkling could be seen at the corner of her eyes, grasping at her leg previously seared by the energy blast from the Cyber-commander in their previous encounter.
Pain returned to her once again, coming up the nerves in her legs like a slow, destructive wave. She didn't need to look, for Morene knew the tentacle was only less than ten meters away at this point.
Before the thought of escaping this dire situation even sprang into her mind, Morene heard herself utter something terrible; a phrase so uncalled for, she was surprised it even left her lips! Or... so she thought.
"HECK!"
The huntress could practically feel Lord Zedd rolling his eyes.
Thankfully for said huntress, Morene had already gracefully shot a grappling cable from her forearm outwards into the void, latching onto the floor and reeling her into safety at the last possible second. Morene herself was in no danger, but the same couldn't be said for the Darkling latched onto her; the woman could feel the weight she had stuck onto her foot divide itself by half as the Junktopus divided the Darkling in half.
Her landing wasn't as perfect as the last time she utilized her Circuit-Makers, but it didn't need to be. As her armored legs skidded accross the floor, sparks flew into the air as she clawed into the ground beneath her. It felt very strange, but needless to say, it stopped her from drifting any further from the remaining group of Liberators than she already was.
As she quickly got herself up, the tiny hole in Morene's heart as she saw Desman and Dante were nowhere to be found was filled slightly by the sight of the Junktopus utterly dispatching it's own men left and right. Rather, left to right, in Morene's perspective. She felt herself chuckle at that one as she ran back into the fray, hoping to anger the boss-like abomination that squirmed before them into helping them Liberate the void further.
"Heh, look at him go..."
Biting her tongue to keep herself from getting cocky, Morene let go and breathed in once more. She couldn't count the number of Darklings being terminated before her, but it was definitely more than twenty at a time. Possibly double that, if she really stretched her definition of "terminated." As she ran forward, the woman had only wished her comrades, who she hoped were still alive, could see this plan work out as it was intended, even considering how roughly it was formulated.
Morene could at least give Zedd some credit; it didn't matter now if they were here or not. Even if their goal at this point was to survive, the huntress saw further than that.
Nebula would pay for this, no matter if her allies were dead or alive.
Quote:919 words, second post.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Desman Black - 06-06-2017
And another one shot, and another one sliced, and another one smashed by the staff. This cycle repeated over and other again though not always in the same order, and it was taking a toll on the robot. The only things that kept him going was his willpower, or maybe Zedd's. Whether it worked that way or not wasn't something the fused warrior should be thinking about right now, of course what the Des half was thinking about wasn't any more helpful, he was thinking that it would be far easier and less exhausting if the world they were in had the same physics us the various others he had came across, that way the sword and shots could pass though the monsters into the next ones, being able to clear out about 20 in about 5 seconds, not counting about the staff would kill as well. They were also thinking about whether the weapons did not act this way because of the omniverse or the Nebula space, or maybe a combination of both.
Soon Zedman, as a way of trying to fight off complete exhaustion for longer, put the staff in their right hand and the cutlass in their left, tat way Des only had to focus on one arm, and Zedd didn’t have to fight with he over control nearly as much, it didn't work, the hard breeching singled that out perfectly.
'Wait... Why are there suddenly less creatures...' Zeddman had to turn around for Des to realize that they had tore right though the middle and were on the other side of the horde now. It didn't take long for everyone else to catch up, and took even less for the group to put a new plan into action.
Everyone started bolting in a clockwise direction around the beast, well, except for the dark lord who had jump the first few steps, leaving the crimson plated midget on his own without even a reason why. "ThE leAst U coWLd hAvE doN- wAs Too gET rid oF tHesE DarKlIng so i CowLd tElIpoRt aWY!" Specking of them... Des run in a very scattered pattern, it seeming to work as the darkspawn couldn't catch up like this, it was probably dumber then it looked.
In the distance Desman was able to see the crimson-coated hunter run towards him, a light from their sword threatening to blind him, wait there's no light here, was he imagining it then? The robot's mind didn't have time to elaborate on the problem any further as a wind rushed right passed him, everything after that seemed to become a rush, Desman soon finding himself alive and well connected to the body he assumed saved him, but now wasn't the time to get sentimental, Dante had formulated a plan, and it was going to be one heck of a time.
The elemental weapon had cut further into the tentacle only to accidentally hit a dark power vain that squirted out at the new fused warrior's chest on it's left side. "Maybe we should switch," The robotic voice suggested, "There's enough room in here and we won't hurt the other person if one of us hits another one"
Quote:Words:252
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Lord Zedd - 06-06-2017
Dante was gone, and Desman with him. Out of sight at best, dead at worst. Or best, really. Zedd continued to dislike this entire posse he’d found himself involved with. He had told the trenchcoat clad warrior that the robot was slowing him down, but he’d gone back for it anyway. Red robot, red trenchcoat… Zedd figured they were sticking together based off color coordination if nothing else. His old adversaries did much the same, in the land before this one.
It was thinking of the world he had once dominated with an iron fist that made him pause in the midst of battle, and look up at the massive foe in a moment of calm reflection. Its massive, wire tentacles swung in every direction, causing incredible destruction to the area around it, and preventing any of the liberators from getting anywhere near it. It was a beautiful monstrosity.
“Oh, trash cephalopod,” Zedd longingly whispered as he watched it reign terror on Tier Six. “I could have dreamed you up. We could have decimated worlds together.”
Zedd shook his head, and tucked the idea away in his mental bank of schemes. Perhaps he would concoct another monster of equal splendor another time. For the moment, this particular one was trying to kill him, and his patience with the Nebula forces had reached its limit. An audible snarl escaped came from behind his metallic mask as he raised his staff once more.
“Zedd!” Jak shouted at the warlord, having wondered why he was just standing there for so long. “Are you alright?”
Zedd ignored Jak’s question as he turned to face his remaining allies. Instead, he asked his own question. “Is anyone else as tired of this thing as I am?”
“I don’t think anyone’s as tired as you are about anything, sweetie,” Morene replied, sounding a bit exhausted, herself.
“I am at my limit with your attitude,” Zedd growled in response, turning his head directly towards the dark haired woman.
Morene threw her hands up. “See?”
“We need to do something!” Jak tried to get them back on track once again.
Zedd pointed at the horde quite suddenly while looking at Jak. “You! Wood Elf! Keep them off our backs.”
Jak rolled his eyes as he fired another volley from his weapon. He was already doing that.
“And you, Snark-Girl,” Zedd said as he looked back upon Morene.
“Snark-Woman,” Morene interjected.
“We will end this. I will take one of it’s eyes as my trophy,” Zedd continued unphased. Just as his allies had become used to him, he had learned to anticipate their reactions.
Morene blankly stared at him. That simple, huh?
Zedd leaped forward, catching a tentacle and pulling himself onto it. Morene was quick to follow, with Jak following at the flank and keeping his attention on the hordes behind them. Zedd did his best to scale the beast’s appendage, but he was by far the least agile of their little band, and the surface area didn't allow much room for error. It didn’t go unnoticed when Morene hopped past him with effortless grace.
He went to curse her, but in the distraction he was swatted from his perch by another tentacle. Zedd spent most of his fall loudly cursing, as usual, but happened to notice a tentacle swinging at him, trying to take advantage of this moment of vulnerability. He wrapped his arms around it as it struck him, catching what appeared to be the side of a dumpster in a full body hug. Far from out of the woods, Zedd held on for dear life as the tentacle wildly flailed and tried to remove him, but he held tight.
With a great deal of effort, he pulled himself onto the tentacle of fused garbage and awkwardly made his way down it, swaying and stumbling on the unstable and constantly moving surface. He looked around as he did. He’d lost sight of the other two, as well. What was more, he saw a line of dark energy coming towards him, down the surface of the limb he was using for transport.
Zedd was free of outside influence, both the Dark Chip’s and Desman’s mind. He would not tolerate another intrusion into his psyche. Though he figured this bit of dark energy would be more sudden and violent, he wasn’t about to take that chance. Without a second thought, the warlord leaped from the tentacle, blindly hoping for another one to land on. This deep into the monstrosity, it was almost guaranteed.
Sparks and an explosion erupted from the appendage he’d just left, no doubt an attack meant for him. He grabbed the next flailing tentacle with his left hand, and pulled himself up with a bit more finesse than the previous time. He could see the disgusting face of this creature, just down the way. He was almost there. Whatever the hell he was going to do to this massive monster once he got there was still an unknown factor to him, but he had his target. That was enough.
Zedd saw the opportunity and he he ran at it, like he always did. The tentacle did its best to throw him off, and he nearly lost his balance and fell into the sea of limbs several times, but each time he caught himself and pressed on. He held the bladed end of his staff ready as he descended upon it. One way or another, the end was in sight.
Quote:929 words
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Nebula - 06-06-2017
Zedd was the first to reach the apex of the dark metal construction that they fought to keep on top of. With no room left to writhe and wriggle, the final furlong of the monstrous mass was merely a slope for Zedd to slide down; which he did, staff outstretched and evil grin ever-present.
The jelly-like mass was larger from up-close – about the size of a van – but still comically small in comparison to its skyscraper-like limbs. As Zedd closed in, its face contorted in fear. “Don’t!” it blorbled in a panic. “Don’t geb any closerrr!”
Zedd tried to maintain his composure, but even the ancient warlord was near the limit of his exhaustion. That didn’t stop him from delivering one final snide remark, after he’d taken a second to catch his breath. “Sorry … I don’t take orders from jellyfish!
The pointed staff pierced the body of Junktopus, eliciting a high pitched scream. Its body expanded into light, the purple energy pulsing beneath the surface of its attached scrap-arms brightening and bulging in unison. Zedd’s grin extended as the body of the Junktopus exploded.
But something wasn’t right. Where Zedd’s gaze expected to meet with nothingness, instead there stood a silhouette. In the instant he realised what he saw, it was already too late to dodge.
The laser burst out from within the dead body of the Junktopus, enveloping Zedd entirely in green light, even as the tentacles, released from their dark hold, began to crumble into scrap. The fusion of Dante and Desman arrived just in time to escape the innard of one of the tentacles and witness this event.
The figure from within Junktopus cackled, his voice carrying the telltale taint of dark corruption. “You thought it was an octopus, but it was me!” As the jelly-like substance fell away, the figure was revealed as a tall robotic-looking creature, etched with blue lines of energy and mantled with what looked to be a huge magnet protruding from its back.
“Laser Man!”
Desmante wasted no time in attacking, bringing Rebellion to bear against Laser Man, who simply blocked with his forearm, still cackling. As the digital construct brought his other hand around to counterattack, the half-demon fusion rolled out of the way.
The rest of the team had finally caught up, and now it was Jak’s turn; firing a ball of dark eco into the small of Laser Man’s back. The construct flinched and turned to face the attacker. He received a boot in the face for his trouble. Morene dismounted from her zipline and brought her short sword into Laser Man’s chest.
The program grunted and stumbled backwards, emitting sparks, but the fusion of Dante and Desman wouldn’t let him escape, bringing his (or rather, its) own sword into Laser Man’s back. Judgement and Rebellion; Laser Man was sandwiched between the two.
He turned to try and escape; but it only dug him deeper, the sliding motion letting both swords cut further into his torso, towards one another. In his final moment, Laser Man panicked, looking between his two assailants, and then up to the sky. He let loose one final cry-
“D-doctor … Regaaal!”
-Before his chest split in two, the top half of Laser Man sailing upwards towards the centre of the sphere. There was a moment of silence.
Then his body exploded; and with it, the entire verse began to fall apart.
The floor beneath them rippled and wavered, as though trying to decide whether or not it should still exist. The darkspawn that had followed them began to fizzle out of existence; some of them lingering as something akin to ghosts, that sparked and screamed in their final moments between existence and non-existence.
And if they didn’t get out of there soon, they’d join them.
Zedd groaned, prompting the others to look over at him. “I don’t need your help,” he spat in response, though whether or not it was sarcasm was a matter left for the scholars.
Quote:Dante takes 1 damage.
Morene takes 2 damage.
Jak takes 4 damage.
Desman takes 4 damage.
Zedd takes 5 damage.
The dark space is collapsing! As it does so, the world begins to disintegrate, leaving large gaps in reality that you’ll have to traverse, along with the leftover junk from the Junktopus and a few screaming, semi-corporeal remnants of the darkspawn, who are already dying and are going to do anything they can to bring you with them.
There’s one gap in reality through which you can see an escape, what looks like Coruscant. Unfortunately, it’s located back at the ruins of the factory where you fought the Cybermen. You’ll need to get back there, and I recommend expediency.
You have four days and up to 800 words each. Good luck!
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Morene Fellon - 06-08-2017
Morene groaned, wanting to smack Zedd across the head for his stubbornness. As if he hasn't caused enough trouble! She may think, but the huntress knew now was not the time. Rolling her eyes, Morene merely gave him a warning. Really, it was more of a tease to keep him on his feet, emphasized by the slight smirk on her face as she told it.
"I hope not, hun! If you start laggin' behind, I'll just have to come and get you myself!"
The ground of the void shook as she turned around to face Zedd. The entire world to her right now began tearing itself apart, if you can even call it that. How would a space entirely composed of "dark energy" be destroyed, anyways? Morene might've asked herself. Perhaps it wasn't even destroying itself, just trying to kill her and her allies?
Partly true.
It was at that point she realized, looking off to the tiny tear in the void, the woman wouldn't want to find out. Not like Nebula and it's forces would let her, either. She took note of this in her head, bolting forward. The huntress looked back at Zedd lagging behind again, but only for a second. At this moment, the screeching emitted from the now desperate darkspawn had began to turn utterly unsettling.
Morene Fellon had been in this situation countless times before. So had Dante, and apparently the rest of her allies, according to the efficiency in which they demolished the troops corrupted by the Dark Chips. All of this reassured her, but only for a second longer.
The screeching continued, but it didn't sound hungry or livid this time. It sounded painful.
She could see it, too. Watching as some of the Darklings dropped their weapons, clenching their heads and screaming, whilst others got even more furious at the passing Primes, for somewhat valid reasons. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as some of the things she's seen, no. Morene could attest to that; Creedmoor, the lands she used to defend, her home, held far more terrifying secrets and cryptid monstrosities than Nebula could begin to imagine. The mere look of the Junktopus crossed her mind to affirm her point formulating in her head as she ran; it almost looked silly to her.
But, this?
Morene thought of the sounds these creatures were making sounded similar to that of a dog being kicked. It was saddening, enraging to an extent.
The only thing the huntress could be grateful for at that moment is their misery, if they had any, would be ending soon. Morene wasn't so grateful that her own existence might end soon if she didn't pick up her pace.
She blinked, and as soon as her eyes opened, she saw a Darkling launch itself at her in a fit of rage. Narrowly avoiding said Darkling, Morene hopped forwards and grappled herself closer to her allies, excluding the flayed man guilty of giving her constant sass previously.
Taking away from the little bit of her allies she could see now, Morene noticed something akin to both Desman and Dante getting ahead of her by a solid step or two. Fusion, Morene mouthed out, raising her eyebrow in surprise. The woman had a feeling the two weren't dead, but... Unrelated to that, she also found it amusing how much this little group of Liberators seemed to love the tactic of fusing the mind and body. Perhaps it was just Des, though; the poor thing's been taking quite a beating.
Sighing, Morene continued to run, running over another Darkling writing in pain in a rather violent drive-by with her blade. She felt the steel of her shortsword thrust into the creature's neck like nothing, and then the howling ceased.
Picking herself back up, Morene yanked her weapon from the corrupt body it slayed. As she did, Zedd came into her peripheral vision once again, this time farther from the group.
...By a little bit, but still. She could see at least ten darkspawn attempt to swarm him as she looked on in concern.
"Come on Zedd," Morene yapped, "I still want you alive by the end of this!"
"I told you, I don't need any help, you--!" Zedd wanted to enunciate himself further, his legs pumping themselves off the shaking ground beneath him in a rhythm faster than it was a mere second ago. A bead of sweat rolled down Morene's brow as she saw Zedd storm to her in frustration.
Maybe I'm the one getting slapped by the end of this? Morene half-jokingly thought to herself, attempting to chuckle away at the intense worry piling up in her gut.
Quote:777 words.
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Simon - 06-08-2017
"Jackpot."
The fireworks of Laser Man's exploding body proved not so much of a spectacle as a hazard, however. As if the Darkloid's death were tied to the dimension itself, Nebula Space began to descend into chaos. The last few Darklings collapsed and turned into desperate ghosts, the junk compromising the tentacles scattering all over. Even the earth itself seemed to give in, crumbling and breaking away into nothingness. Memories of the Graveyard returned, and Dante immediately knew they had to leave.
"Run for it!" Desmante yelled out, and everyone instantly complied. The celebration of the Liberators' combined badass feat would have to wait until they could escape this crumbling dimension. Unfortunately, the only way out was their first way in, and that proved a long trek to make. If they had not been sprinting to this point in the first place, they were certainly going full speed now, everyone quite eager to leave this world before it collapsed entirely.
The scarlet fusion of the Liberators remained together, Dante willing Desman to stick to him. The robot simply wasn't fast on their own, and they both knew this too well to risk separation. No one should be left behind- not even the Liberator among them who certainly deserved it.
Jak ended up coming alongside the armored hunter again, being among the two of three actually relieved at Dante and Desman's survival. "You scared me for a moment there," he remarked, expressing his surprise, "I thought you'd actually been crushed!"
"Then you don't know me well enough yet," the amalgam smirked through the digital visor, feeling quite keen. As another quake sent a monstrous crack through the ground up ahead, the crimson knight's expression turned serious. "You think you can use those wings of yours?"
The eco warrior seemed puzzled for a moment, before recalling his Light transformation. "I mean, when I tried it here, it didn't work-"
"Then try it again," Desmante half-suggested, half-commanded. "If you could actually carry someone with that, it would help stop anyone from falling to their death." Jak acknowledged this and merely nodded, taking a gulp of air and spit to steel himself for the experience. As crude as the devil hunter seemed sometimes, he really did prove himself to be much more cunning and clever than he let on.
As the path gave out before them, the Liberators traversed the new gap in their own ways. The speedy warriors took great bounding leaps to the next chunk of ground, and Morene shot her cables to pull herself across crudely. Zedd was forced to jump as far as he could and plant his pointed staff into the other side, pulling himself up with an aggravated grunt. The overlord was unfortunately the farthest behind, and he would sooner die than admit it and accept aid. But while Morene mentally lobbied with the stubborn conqueror, Desmante focused on forging a way through the collapsing space.
A stray nigh-spectral Darkling tackled the fused Liberator, intent on dragging the warrior down to hell with him. The crimson knight easily threw the mook off. The corrupt souls were clearly unstable and desperate, trying to attack and cling onto the intruders as if they might find solace in them. Nobody likes the clingy types, though, so Desmante just brushed them away as he forced onward.
Another fissure ensued ahead, and the combined fighter dashed over to the remains of one of the junk tentacles. With deft, seemingly impossible agility, he ran up and along the trail of trash, and leaped off it as it fell away into the darkness. Soon there wasn't going to be much of the ground left but platforms refusing to fall.
The group needed to make as much headway as they could before that happened and the terrain got unbearable. Most of the Liberators were mobile in their own rights, but Nebula Space clearly restricted what they could do- and for some of them, even full power would not be enough to make it. Yet as much as it pained Dante to risk leaving the others behind, Desman pushed the fused pair onward, determined to escape the collapse.
The remains of the factory loomed just ahead, but even that was starting to buckle under the loss of the earth beneath it. Dante had been through a few close calls before, and this was shaping to be one of the closest ones yet.
Quote:735 words, according to Wordcounter.net
Dante and Desman will remain fused until they escape Nebula Space. [-2 LP, 5/15 LP remaining]
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Jak Mar - 06-09-2017
Jak smirked after what should've been a celebration for the dynamic- single? Jak bit his tongue, a bit saddened Daxter wasn’t here. But he didn’t need any extra reminder to run when Nebula Space started to fall apart, one by one.
Desmante screamed at everyone to run like it was nobody’s business. Jak wouldn’t run, he was going to fly his way to safety, plus he could keep watch for anyone else’s purpose.
A flash of bluish-white beam struck the eco warrior as quick as the darklings could try and attack him.
He was Light Jak now with his brilliant blue wings floating in Nebula Space, or what was left of it.
Those who weren’t used to the light shaded their eyes as they ran toward what was left of the factory.
“COME ON!” Light Jak cried, trying to get everyone out.
The fused man and robot, Desmante was first to jump from panel to panel, then Morene, the mom of the group, and then Zedd lagging behind, but seemed to be catching up.
The Light hero flew behind, avoiding cracks of reality and then every so often a darkling disturbed by the angel’s light tried to hop on for a ride only to be shaken off and making those creatures fall to their death even more satisfying.
The hero forged ahead and eyed Zedd. Why the hell should he help the flayed villain after all that he did for the group.
“LEAVE ME TO DIE” yelled Zedd as Light Jak stared at Zedd, struggling.
He was truly struggling and Light Jak questioned his own morals as he grabbed Zedd like Superman held Lois Lane.
“I DEMAND YOU LET ME GO, LIGHT CREATURE”
The angel ignored his pleas as both of them flew toward the falling apart opening of the factory.
The comedic moment of the bluish angel and Zedd looked pretty hilarious .
The mighty flap of Light Jak’s wings took them to the front of the group trying to escape where they were before and could see the beacon of hope near them.
He threw Zedd to the final step and let everyone else catch up before a satisfying victory ending outside waited.
Quote:412 words according to Google docs
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Lord Zedd - 06-09-2017
This had gotten out of hand.
As the world collapsed around him, Zedd had struggled to keep up with the rest of the group. Then, one of his overly noble companions had actually carried him a ways before throwing him even further. Zedd’s fury was so absolute that he was finally without words. He wasn’t sure whether he would go on an unrelenting killing spree in the wake of this madness, or if he would simply pledge to never speak of this whole experience ever again.
He hit the ground and slowly rolled to a kneel. Somehow, the light warrior was before him, already, offering a helping hand up. Zedd grasped it and allowed Jak to pull him to his feet.
“I would have left you to die,” Zedd matter of factly said in the brief pause in the chaos.
“I know,” Jak acknowledged. “But that’s not my way.”
It was difficult to read Zedd’s reaction through his emotionless face mask, but Jak detected a shift in the body language. Perhaps they had gotten through to Zedd, at last. Teamwork was the only way to survive this encounter, and strong alliances could be built on trust. This might be the first step. Perhaps they could even begin-
“Do not this of this as a teaching moment,” Zedd harshly derailed the Eco Warrior’s train of thought. “I would have done so then, and I will still do so now. I am not having any sort of epiphany about my ways.”
Morene looked over her shoulder to see the two of them loitering around, and heaved a sigh in frustration. “What are you two doing!? Come on!”
Zedd shoved Jak onwards, and the two of them bolted for the exit. The ground trembled beneath them, threatening to give way and plunge them into the depths of oblivion. A bolt of dark energy spontaneously burst between them. It shoved Jak forward, but Zedd was launched backwards. This time he was much quicker to get to his feet, unfortunately he noted that three decaying darklings had surrounded him in the chaos. In the face of impending doom, he laughed yet again.
“If only I could find such determined help,” Zedd bemoaned aloud. “Perhaps I wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
He waited no more, violently jabbing the Z in his staff into the throat of one of the darklings, which sent it reeling backwards. He spun and impaled the second on through the abdomen, but the third managed to tackle him. The two of them stumbled to the side, with Zedd using all of his willpower to stay standing. He crouched low and flipped the attacker over his shoulder, slamming it onto the ground.
A section of the ground ripped from beneath them, falling away and taking the mortally wounded darkling with it. Zedd grabbed the first attacker and hurled it into the depths after its comrade, but did not mind the final attacker. It was stunned enough. Instead he ran back the way he came, only to see that the ground between him and the exit was falling away too.
He had no choice. He jumped. Another unpredictable burst of dark energy ignited behind him and propelled him across the gap. The dark lord didn’t quite make it, but caught the edge in his hands. Zedd pulled himself up as quickly as he could, and wobbled in place for just a second, still stunned from the blast.
But the temporary safety of his current footing began to give way, and he ran forwards once more. Just a little bit more until he reached the exit.
Quote:610 words
RE: Descent [Dark Data] - Nebula - 06-10-2017
The entire world was falling apart. Chunks of the spherical world 'overhead' were falling out, tumbling in toward the center and breaking into pieces. Spikes and bursts of darkness and fire erupted at random from every surface, sometimes even from thin air. Flashes of purple and blue light crackled and spiraled through the space like lightning. The wailing of tortured, dying grunts and soldiers of Nebula, doing anything and everything they could to try and take down the fleeing group of Liberators with them.
Claws raked, spectral hands grasped, weapons slashed and barked their last. It was a dizzying display of color and sound, the entire, small world seeming to spin crazily out of control as the group hurried for the only exit. Huge, gaping pits sprawled out across the landscape, more and more of them cracking open as chunks of the ground fell away, or were ripped out to float lazily toward the center of the world. Sometimes they just ceased to be, breaking apart into digitized chunks and constructs.
In fits and spurts, the lingering traces of the nebula space's corruptive influence waxed and waned, the powers it disrupted growing stronger and weaker again. The entire place was unraveling, along with its power and influence. The warehouse they'd been dumped into loomed ahead, the walls crumbling and falling apart. The shattered, ruined corpse of the cyber-commander on his throne was still there, breaking apart and dissolving.
The Liberators headed for the portal, the thing sparking and crackling, wavering unsteadily and crazily like a light source about to lose its power. One after another, they piled through. All except for one.
The fusion of Dante and Desman felt a snag in their stride, stumbling and all but faceplanting at the sudden weight. Like a lead brick had been clamped around one ankle. Looking down, they saw why. The shattered remains of a cyberman. From the waist down, it was naught but a mess of wires and trails of oil and dark fluids. The left arm was blown off just above the elbow, half of its head was sheared off. Exposed wires sparked and fizzled from every join and crevice in what was left of its body. And yet still, somehow, it was alive, and the grip of its remaining arm was as tight as iron. "DE-DE-DE-DELEEEEEEE-LEEE-LEEE-EEEE-EEE-LEEEE-LEEEEETE!" it issued, voice skipping and stuttering. Sparks crackled and sputtered ominously along its crushing grip, but the weapon system was far too damage. The deadly electrical system wouldn't fire.
But the grip did enough. It slowed Desmante down for a few crucial seconds. Long enough for the entire world to flash purple, colors flashing in all the wrong hues. For a moment, everything seemed weightless. The world went black, stars danced in a myriad of colors, and Dante and Desman were hurled apart, a brief instant of complete lack of power breaking their fusion. The devil hunter and the robot both staggered back up, making for the portal. The cyberman pitifully dragged itself along on its lone, working limb, whether in pursuit of them or some desperate struggle to escape the collapsing world and survive. It only got a few feet before what was left of its head hit the ground and it went still.
Everything lurched again, with a noise like tearing sheet metal. Sparks flew, colors whirled and a smell like decaying meat filled the air. Hues of black, purple, blue, and green flashed in a nightmarish kaleidoscope and redcoat and robot both found themselves pitched off the ground, hurled toward the portal.
Back in Coruscant, the portal belched clouds of noxious smoke and fumes, tongues of fire and lightning spitting and belching from it, like some great beast going through its death throes. Dante came tumbling out, tumbling in an uneven sprawl, ass over teakettle. Scorched and blackened, but alive and whole. The same could not be same for Desman. With a last, pitiful puff of smoke, the portal winked shut with a dull, rumbling boom, and ejected a single, blue wheel, rolling along the barren warehouse floor.
Four out of five had survived.
Quote:MISSION COMPLETE! Nebula's operations in Coruscant have been shut down.
Desman has died in the escape.
If you are planning to continue taking part in the saga, you can make your way to another verse at your leisure, or make note you're done, and receive your participation reward. Whichever choice you go with, thanks for taking part!