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+--- Thread: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) (/showthread.php?tid=1657)
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Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-05-2015
Before he could even see, he could feel the heat. As Zack emerged from the portal he was blasted by both the thick, ashy air of the Ashen Steppes and the immense heat that seemed to be coming from everywhere. Immediately he began coughing, because in his surprise at seeing such a radical landscape he ended up inhaling a fair amount of the debris that was blowing in the wind. He stumbled a few steps forward, beating his fist against his chest as he coughed and finally spit out a blackened wad of gunk. He cleared his throat and stood up straight, looking at the expanse. The red sky was ominous and clouded. The landscape was nothing but blackened rocks and mountains, and the occasional lava pools or streams he could see. The mountain range made it difficult to see terribly far, but one mountain obviously stood out above all the others.
"They didn't think to warn me this place might be dangerous, too?" Zack asked aloud to no one as he remembered his conversation with the soldiers from Camelot.
He squinted a bit, and held his hand flat above his eyes as he spied what appeared to be some wildlife in the distance. One in particular stood out. It looked like a small, thin dragon that was flying around, looking for something or someone to devour most likely.
"'Not the world you know'...'Do not fear death,'" Zack repeated the strange overlord of this land's words aloud to himself.
As he said that, he was walking towards a cliff face. He crouched down for a second, and then with a powerful jump scaled the sixty foot cliff with little trouble. He landed at the top, now with a much better view of the area. Of course, it still looked like more mountains and lava, although he thought he could make out something resembling a settlement in the distance. Brushing it off for now, he looked back at the small dragon creature he'd spotted earlier. It couldn't have been more than twelve feet long from it's head to the end of it's tail, and certainly wasn't all that wide either. The creature was flying around under the cliff, wandering somewhat closer in it's search for food. He was happy to know he still could jump like he had been able to in his previous world, but he wanted to make sure all of his other abilities were intact. Zack had to smile. Born and raised in the remote town of Gongaga, this country boy was a hunter at heart. What better way was there to test oneself? He picked up a sizable rock in one hand, looking down to the dragon with a grin.
"Well, let's be interesting," Zack said to himself as he continued to think of Omni's words.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-05-2015
Zack threw the rock down at the dragon, hitting it right on the head. The dragon looked all around, and then upwards to spot his attacker. Grinning, Zack slid into a battle ready stance, drawing the Buster Sword in both hands. The dragon came flying up the cliff side in no time, but it actually kept going above Zack. It sailed high into the air before it suddenly banked outwards, going out wide before flying straight at Zack.
As the dragon began going outwards, though, Zack was already reaching behind his back for his Bolt Materia, figuring he'd put an end to this flying problem right now. Only, after a few pats, he realized that while the Buster Sword had followed him to the Omniverse, his vast stockpile of Materia hadn't.
"Son of a..." Zack was mumbling in annoyance, but upon looking up he saw the dragon was approaching him fast. "Dammit!!!"
Zack barely sidestepped in time, feeling the wind and actually losing his balance a bit from the dragon passing by so quickly. It turned around once it was out wide again, but this time Zack was ready with his sword tightly clutched in both hands. It came flying back in at a high speed, once again aiming for the Ex-SOLDIER head on. As it got closer, Zack stepped forwards, swinging the Buster Sword right at the beast's mouth.
What happened next was not the expected outcome. Instead of being cleaved into two, the dragon caught the sword in it's teeth and never once lost speed. Zack managed to keep a tight grip on the handle of his sword, but that simply meant that he was dragged right off his perch, hurling a stream of expletives as he and his foe descended. The dragon kept a tight grip on the blade in it's teeth and began flying low to the ground. The result of that was Zack being dragged across the rocky terrain, because there was simply no way he was letting go of his sword.
As soon as he found a few seconds of relief from being viciously dragged across the ground, he managed to swing his legs up and braced himself against the dragon's side. He pulled on the sword as hard as he could, ripping it from the beast's fangs. The dragon let out a startled roar and lost it's flight path while Zack hit the ground on his back, and began rolling backwards uncontrollably. Only stopping when he hit a boulder, he looked up to see the dragon crash face first into a separate rock.
With a groan, Zack climbed to his feet and held his sword ready again. This certainly wasn't going the way he would have imagined. He was quickly realizing that he was no longer quite as super powered as he had been before. Maybe the Jenova cells injected in him hadn't made the transition? He shook that thought off, remembering he still could perform some superhuman feats. It just seemed...scaled.
The dragon roaring directly into his face startled him so much he stepped back, swinging his sword out wide. He clipped the dragon's snout with the tip of the blade, and it stumbled backwards while blood shot out of the cut. Zack quickly charged forward and stabbed the Buster Sword into the dragon's gut while he had the opportunity. It let out an even louder roar, stumbling back and swinging it's entire body. Once it began to be difficult to keep a grip on the Buster Sword, Zack quickly ripped it out of the dragon's body. The monster let out one more cry of pain as it fell backwards, rolling down a brief hill before falling into a pool of lava below the next cliff.
Zack returned the Buster Sword to his back, taking a deep breath. That hadn't been easy, but at least he now had a better bearing for his strength in this realm. Once he got slightly more acclimated he figured he would get into his usual stride. For now, however, his issue was exactly where he was. He looked around, not seeing the portal that would return him to the Nexus anywhere. He wasn't looking to go back just yet, but he did want to know the direction out, just in case.
Unfortunately, while being dragged across the landscape by an angry monster, he hadn't exactly kept his bearings. While he was standing there wondering, he heard several loud roars. Quickly, Zack turned around to see that he had attracted about five more identical dragons with his battle. Cursing under his breath, he looked around, and saw that the quickest way out was up this time. As the dragons closed in, Zack leaped upwards once more, easily sailing up an eighty foot cliff side, and actually overshooting it. Unfortunately, he wasn't looking at where he was landing, and was fairly surprised to find that instead of landing on a plateau, he had managed to find a decent sized hole at the top.
"Whoa..!" Zack shouted as he rapidly plummeted through the hole in the ground.
It didn't take long before he estimated he was actually lower than his original jumping point. Finally he hit the ground hard, but managed to keep his balance and landed on his feet. He looked around and then back up...realizing he had discovered some sort of underground cave network.
"You've got to be kidding me," Zack groaned as he looked down the multiple paths, and then back up at where he had entered from.
Leaning against the cave wall, Zack kept looking up to the entrance to make sure he wasn't being pursued. He wasn't sure if he'd go back out through the top or if he would explore these caves a little bit, but for now he knew he simply needed a brief break.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - The Vision - 06-06-2015
Luigi stepped through the portal and panted. "Mamma mia," he whined, and started fanning himself with his hat. It was outrageously hot in this place. There were crags and cliffs jutting out in every which direction, and they were all squeezed by sweltering, air-warping lava. The sheer heat seemed to choke breath here. A colossal volcano seemed to be constantly erupting in the distance, billowing smoke and dust into the heavens. Luigi sighed. This was, after all, the only logical place for Bowser to be. And wherever he was, Mario was trying to get to.
Maybe he could find Mario here?
Luigi started running forward, leaping high over cracks in the ground and the rivers of molten rock. Gravity felt different here, but nonetheless, the famous Mario Bros. jumps were still working. He flew high, fist proudly in the air, sailing through the boiling winds. He decided to give one more long jump, letting himself slide a bit, then using the momentum to launch himself forward.
"YE-HEY!" he shouted.
He landed at the edge of a particularly big cliffside. Luckily, it was parallel to another one, allowing for some easy Wall Jumps. Luigi scaled the cliff in a matter of seconds, then wiped sweat off of his brow. He fanned himself with his hat again, then ran his fingers through his hair before donning the cap.
"Hanh?" he said, looking down. A giant crack was dissecting the otherwise intact (though craggy) cliff surface. There was a gentle, red light flashing from inside.
Lava didn't flash.
Luigi felt panic rise in his chest again.
There was someone there.
"Maaaario?" he whispered, "Maaario?"
Suddenly, an explosion of gas from a steam vent caught him by surprise. Heat burned Luigi's back, and he felt the familiar stinging pain on his buttocks. In shock and pain, Luigi flew straight up in the air, crying, "OWOWOWOWOW!" Out of control, Luigi flailed and sprinted around, trying to put out the fire on his butt. After a while, fortunately, his pants were no longer on fire. Unfortunately, his feet were no longer on anything.
The plumber in green slowly tipped his head down to see why he felt like he wasn't standing on anything. He got a simple enough answer.
He wasn't.
"Oh no," Luigi said to himself. Then, he fell.
"AAAHHAHAHAAAHHHH" *konk!* "OOHOOWAHAA" *whump!* "YAWWW" *meow!* "MAMMA MIAAAA"
Painfully, Luigi landed on top of something soft. He managed to push himself up and rub his head, which was pulsing in pain. "OOoohhOOohoh," he moaned.
He stood up with great effort and managed to adjust his cap. He had fallen into the pit, clearly. It was much longer fall than he expected. The tunnel was very much in reach, and Luigi realized he could easily hop between the walls, when he realized that there shouldn't have been anything soft in the mountain to begin with.
Luigi looked down and saw a man - another one of those "normal-sized" ones - with rough black hair that climbed down the back of his neck. He was lying down on the ground, groaning.
"Waaah!" Luigi exclaimed, then stooped over to examine the man. Luigi shrugged. He was probably fine. Luigi simply said, "Soh-ree!" and looked around himself.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-07-2015
"Alright," Zack mumbled to himself as he stood up from the wall, deciding that his break was over. He pulled the Buster Sword off of his back as he did.
He held the sword out before himself, inspecting it for damage. He'd been discouraged from getting wear, tear, and rust on this sword by it's previous owner. However, despite the exceptional quality of this well crafted sword, the previous scuffle had put a few nicks and scrapes on the blade in various places. Nothing substantial, but enough that Zack's careful eye had noticed.
After studying the very minor damage for a couple seconds, Zack held the sword out in his right hand, with the blade tip pointed upwards. He brought his left hand up and put it against the side of the sword, then closed his eyes and concentrated. This Omnilium energy that he had access to was so precious it seemed, so he decided he wanted to test the resource out a little with some minor repair work. He wasn't quite sure how he knew, but somehow he already understood what he needed to do. Concentrating on an image of the Buster Sword without the scratches or damage on it, he held that visualization as he summoned the energy from within him and onto the sword in his hands. Several minutes passed as he kept this up, feeling the energy flow out and mold itself onto the sword. After enough time had passed, he opened his eyes and looked at the sword.
Holding the Buster Sword close, he inspected the sides of the blade and saw that all the previous damage had all but vanished. It looked better than it did even after one of his meticulous work sessions on the sword. He grinned at the sight, now understanding the power of Omnilium a little bit better. If a little effort and energy had done this, what would a lot of energy and effort cause? He would have to find that out later. For now, he decided, it was time to get moving.
As Zack placed the Buster Sword on his back once more, he began to look down the multiple pathways as he weighed his options. Going up was one choice, but he was curious what might be down the other paths as well. As he wondered though, he heard a distant voice...screaming?
Looking left and right, Zack couldn't figure out the source with all of the echos inside of this cave. All he could tell was it was certainly a distressed scream and it was certainly getting closer at a high rate of speed. He narrowed his eyes and took a slightly wider stance, trying to determine the direction it was coming from. He also heard what sounded like impacts on a hard surface. Upon glancing at the ground he saw a few pebbles had been falling near his feet.
Of course.
"Coming from abo-"
Zack never finished his declaration of the obvious, because as he was looking upwards something collided with him. The impact of this falling object on his face knocked him right off his feet and onto his back, and the being fell the rest of the way and hit his chest, knocking the wind right out of him.
Stunned and dazed, Zack laid there on the ground for a few moments, trying to gather his bearings and figure out what the hell had just happened. As he groaned in pain, he barely noticed this newcomer scrambling to get off of him. Upon getting his breath back, he looked slightly up from his field of vision and noticed this mustached man was now standing over him, and possibly talking to him.
In a panicked move, Zack leapt to his feet and drew the Buster Sword in both hands, holding it in a manner which would allow a quick and powerful thrust right into this recent arrival to the tunnels. Instead of reflecting on the fact that all of repair work on the sword was likely undone by a rough slam on the ground, he was instead sizing up this odd person. The man looked normal, except he was far shorter than a normal person might be. His clothing was not what Zack would have expected of a wandering warrior, but Zack knew that if he came from straight above there was more than meets the eye to this one.
Zack paused for a moment though, letting his thinking mind take over from his trained warrior instincts. Had he just said "sorry", and apologized for the rough arrival? The guy seemed to somewhat speak his language, and he wasn't attempting to attack him further. Maybe he was just another nutcase like him, wandering in an unforgiving and dangerous landscape. Anything was possible. Zack lowered the sword, holding it to the side in only one hand.
"Are you alright?" Zack asked this odd person. As he talked he wondered if they really even would be able to communicate. There was no telling who else from where else Omni had dropped in this world.
"What's your name...and what are you doing here?"
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - The Vision - 06-07-2015
Luigi smiled and nodded. "Eh heh! It'sa me, Weegee!"
He then shrugged and scratched his head. Eh. It didn't sound as good as when Mario does it. He shrugged and continued, "Sonoteerrata potehhto."
"Exploring?" Zack said, "How convenient. So am I."
"Wahoo!" Luigi said, "Ehh togrotobarahparriah toyotta."
"Have I seen someone that looks just like, but dressed in red? High-pitched voice? Shorter and a bit of a belly?" Zack thought for a moment. "No, I haven't. Sorry."
"Hmmm..." Luigi hummed.
He looked down and saw the lava pit under the edge of the cliff.
"Hwaoh," he managed to croak.
Then, very close by, there was a roar. It shook the very mountains. Walls cracked and steam gathered on the ceilings. A new lavafall was created by the tremor.
"WAAAAAH" Luigi reacted.
What in World 1-2 was that?
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-10-2015
Zack tilted his head and smiled in amusement. This guy Luigi was just another strange person in a strange place. Just as he was reflecting on how it was a good idea that he had an ally in this dark place, the cavern began violently shaking as the roar filled the area.
"That...can't be good," Zack muttered as he looked around.
Almost as if on cue, the ground burst and a lavaflow emerged. It quickly began to fill the area, with no definite end in sight. Luigi shouted something, and although Zack didn't hear the words, he had a pretty good idea what they might be.
"Yea! Good idea!" Zack shouted back.
The two of them turned and sprinted down one of the hallways as the rock wall collapsed, making way for more lava. They arrived in a large cavern filled with even more lava and many rock formations sticking out of the molten lake. They both eyes a ledge higher up, which would serve as relief from both the sweltering heat down here and also against the possibility of the lava getting higher. Zack was impressed as Luigi skillfully navigated the rock islands in the lake of lava, but he had to stay focused as he leaped from rock to rock as well.
Before long, they were comfortably on the high ground, above the new lava river that was pouring into this cavern. That is, as comfortable as one could be in a place like this. Zack took a breath, but they heard the roar again, and this time there was no mistaking it...it was right by them.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Miranda Frost - 06-10-2015
RUUMMMBLE
Miranda's eye slowly opened, scanning her environment somewhat lazily. It had only been a few hours since arriving in this new world. This one was completely different from the one before, a land of fire, ash, and darkness. Besides the bad air and blood-red skies, it reminded her of home. The heat was dry like the desert, and caves like this could be found at home, even if those provided a wealth of cool air and crystal clear water. Minus the water it made her feel a little better being this far from home.
She stood and tightened her eye patch. Not one step was taken before the rumbling occurred again, slightly throwing herself off-balance. A wall of stone crumbled down, sending forward a wall of ash towards Miranda. She took a step back, her eye squinting to see a faint red glow through the ash cloud. Ever so slowly it crept to her, the heat now become unbearable
'Lava.. no.. have to get out', she thought to herself as she started to run down the cave, summoning her black dirt-bike beneath her. The bike itself was black with dusty sand from home covering it. A white number eight was etched in its side. Over the sound of the cave crumbling and rumble of her bike's engines, a pair of voices could be heard ahead. A blink later and the wall beside her collapsed, a wave of lava spewing in its wake.
'No time!', she screamed into her head, stepping up onto the bike and leaping forward, tumbling to break her fall. She didn't stop there. She recovered and sprinted to the end of the cavern, a river of lava following close. She spotted the two ahead and leeped from rock to rock, although somewhat clumsily and climbed up onto the ledge in which they were.
It was quite crowded on that ledge, but she stood as if she belonged there, as if she were there the whole time. The rumbling behind her nearly caused her to jump, and she quickly moved over between the two male's, conjuring up a couple of picks and bolts with her Omnilinium, forcing them into the rock. The cavern itself was tall, with an opening at the top, that was where they needed to be, on solid ground without much fear of melting alive. She found a foot hold in the rocky wall and held on by her picks.
'Up you go, little man', she thought as she grabbed the smaller, weirder shaped man by his over-alls, hoisting him onto her back before summoning a couple more picks for the more normal sized man with the green clad guy. She couldn't speak for the time being, but pointed to the hole in the cavern's ceiling to show her intention and started climbing, carefully. This cave was collapsing in places due to volcanic activity, and although they needed to leave immediately, rushing would only cause them to plummet to a fiery death.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - The Vision - 06-10-2015
"Hnngh!" Luigi grumbled. He hated being tossed around like a little child. But then, lava started spewing out of the walls, and the floor was vanishing quickly under a pool of sheer heat. Luigi immediately stopped complaining and held on tighter.
The woman that had tossed him over her shoulder was now climbing up the mountain wall, using picks and bolts to make slow but steady progress up the cliff.
It wasn't fast enough.
Luigi scowled and grabbed his new ally by the shoulder, along with the first guy he had fallen on top of.
"Letse-go!" he shouted, smiling wide.
He crouched to gain momentum, then shot up straight into the air. At the highest point of the jump, he was horizontal to the ground. At this point, he used the power of the stars to spin cosmically fast, then let go of his allies, throwing them both higher into the air like a sling. Finally, he used a double jump to catch a wall, then blasted off of it with a wall jump. The wall he kicked off of crumbled and collapsed, sprinkling the fast-rising lava with rocks. In mid-air, he caught his allies, who were fearfully shouting something. Luigi grunted and span again, blasting his new allies higher still.
But now he had no double jumps left.
Falling, no wall nearby, Luigi started falling towards the lava, and cried out, "Mamma miaaaaa!"
Suddenly, he noticed two stalagmites shaped like a giant V. Not thinking anything in particular, he stuck out the only extra limb he had, his Bros. Hammer. Luckily, the head of the hammer jammed itself in the the V, (Hehe) and Luigi held on for dear life as the lava got dangerously close. Sweating, he pulled himself up. He supported his weight on the rock formation and picked up his hammer. And, betting everything on it, he made on last leap for the cliff.
He was just a bit too short.
Luigi wasn't certain if he had any extra lives yet. He hadn't seen a 1-Up Mushroom since he got here, so probably none. But not like this! The game wouldn't be over just like this!
Luigi suddenly stopped falling.
There was something holding his hand like a vice. It was the spiky-haired man he had fallen on.
"Hold on!" the man shouted.
"Yeh-hey!" Luigi laughed in relief.
The person with the eyepatch helped Luigi up as well. When he clambered onto the top of the cliff, he sighed in relief as the others panted. The man with the spiky hair chuckled.
"Alright, greenie," he mumbled, "That was good."
Luigi jumped onto his feet, crying, "Yaho!" He then started chanting, "Go Weegee, go Weegee, go Weegee..." as he danced a very strange dance. He was only interrupted by the loud roar again.
"WAOH," he screamed.
"What the hell is that?" the woman remarked.
"I think it's the dragon I attacked."
"..."
"..."
"You attacked a dragon?"
"I killed it. Or... I thought I did."
"Ehh titulo sempre Machianelli Coolatta!" Luigi snapped.
"I couldn't check for a dead body because it fell into lava," the man snapped back.
Luigi shuddered. Even Bowser barely came back as a skeleton after falling into lava. And what could be more powerful than the Koopa King?... Actually, quite a bit. But that was besides the point.
If the dragon was still alive...
Luigi collapsed onto the ground and started weeping loudly. Two streams of tears shot out from his eyes and sprayed all over the ground.
Another roar echoed through the cliffs. Luigi cried, "WAOH!" and jumped onto his feet. The woman prepared herself for fighting. "It's getting closer."
A third roar, even louder. Luigi shuddered in his boots, teeth chattering, arms like half-cooked linguini as he lifted his hammer.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-10-2015
Zack placed his right hand on the Buster Sword, not drawing it and standing noticeably less ready to fight than the rest of them.
"Don't worry, I beat it one time," Zack boasted. "With three of us, we have nothing to worry about unless..."
As Zack was speaking a dragon emerged from the cliff side, slamming down before them and letting out a powerful roar. Zack recognized it right away, it did, in fact, look just like the dragon from earlier. Immediately after it landed, two more emerged, flanking it on either side. As if that wasn't enough, another two repeated the pattern immediately after, for a grand total of five.
"...unless it's his friends!" Zack quickly surmised, now drawing the Buster Sword with great haste.
Luckily all three of them were ready, each wielding their respective weapons, because the dragons rushed forward at their prey with little hesitation. Never one to miss a good fight, Zack charged forwards from his group with his sword held tightly. As he approached the group he leaped forwards, swinging directly at the center dragon. The dragon, just like it's brother before it, caught Zack's sword in his teeth and then flipped Zack backwards. This time the Ex-SOLDIER landed with his feet firmly on the ground, and ripped the sword from the beast's mouth with little trouble. The dragon snarled, however, and opened it's mouth, where an orb of fire could be seen quickly gaining size.
"There it is...!" Zack laughed, having been secretly wondering if these were slightly stereotypical fire breathing dragons.
He quickly wished he had been slightly more productive with those couple of seconds, because the dragon then lurched forward and unleashed a wide stream of fire breath at him. Fortunately Zack was quick on his feet and dove to the side, rolling to his feet after evading the fire breath. A second dragon was waiting at Zack's landing point, and slashed at him with it's large claws as Zack was recovering. He gritted his teeth as he brought the Buster Sword up and barely blocked the slash in time. Deciding that it would be best to not allow the dragon a second of thought, Zack quickly pulled back his sword while back stepping, and then unleashed a slash at the dragon's chest. He felt it tear through flesh and even some bone as he mangled the dragon's left arm and cut into it's chest.
While the dragon was roaring and stumbling in pain, Zack turned around to see the first dragon approaching him rapidly. Once again Zack aimed for it's mouth, but this time in a stabbing motion instead of a slashing. The dragon attempted to bite down on the Buster Sword, but was unable to before it was thoroughly lodged into it's skull. Zack gave a small extra shove for good measure, making sure he'd killed this dragon. He then put his boot on the limp dragon's chest and shoved it, allowing his sword to easily slide right back out.
Turning once again, Zack held the Buster Sword up in only his right hand, as a blue aura began gathering around the blade. The second dragon was already moving in, albeit with a limp and at a slowed pace. As it closed in, though, Zack slammed the Buster Sword blade first into the ground and unleashed a blue energy wave. The wave traveled across the ground and slammed head on into the dragon, the impact of the attack stopping it in it's tracks, and nearly knocked it over. Still, it was stunned enough that Zack was able to quickly charge in unnoticed. The dazed dragon barely regained it's senses when it saw Zack jump upwards as swing the Buster Sword with a powerful horizontal slash that cleanly removed it's head from it's body.
Zack landed, smiling at the decisive win this time. Still, there were three dragons and he was determined to help the other two finish them off. As he made a few steps towards Luigi and this woman who's name he needed to get, he was suddenly distracted by the arrival of yet another dragon, but this one was different. It was mostly skeleton, with drops of lava and chunks of burnt scales dripping off of it. A few patches of scale remained intact, most notably covering only half of the dragon's face.
"My mistake, guys!" Zack's tone didn't quite match the seriousness of the situation. "That's the dragon I attacked earlier!"
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Miranda Frost - 06-11-2015
All was well, all of the three were now on solid ground without a torrent of lava threatening to melt their meat off their bones. Her breathing was accelerated by that whole ordeal, but overall she was glad not to be turned into flesh and rock soup, cooked to a mighty crisp over open brimstone.
Dust and ash covered her from head to toe, and tears could be found in her leather jacket. The zipper was completely torn and the coat sagged at her shoulders. It couldn't be helped now. The roars and growls came ever so closer. She shed her coat and let it fall to the ground. In its place was a tattered and torn, black colored shirt tucked into old black battle dress uniform pants. The sleeves have been nearly completely torn away from her mechanical arms with pieces of cloth still stuck in various places.
The metal itself was lightly chrome, but shown signs of wear. Its appearance resembled what a human arm looked like with most of its skin and muscle torn away. She turned to face the three dragons who flapped their wings and snarled at them but otherwise stayed at bay. The spiky haired swordsman sprinted forward and engaged one. For some reason the others just watched, careful not to get to close. All eyes were on them.
Ultimately, the swordsman stepped away the victor, but a new dragon rose to take its place. It missed a great portion of its scales and other portions seemed to fall off. It was goofy yet sinister, especially with the way it glared at the swordsman. He didn't have to say a word to confirm that this was the dragon he mentioned before, the one that supposedly survived.
But not for long, The cyborg Frost would make sure of that. Miranda stepped in quick, grabbing the male's sword and shoving it to the ground. Something had to be done to break the staring contest that was being held by both parties, and Miranda would be the one to do so. She balanced herself on the blunt edge of the sword, an arm held out against his shoulder pad to balance herself
"No talk, throw me", she said, her silver eye scanning the near naked dragon with blood lust. Her voice was entirely synthesized, sounding more like a computerized translator than human. It could not be helped. She lacked the proper voice boxes to speak. The swordsman catapulted her at a high speed toward the dragon, aimed at its head. She held out her arms and the dragon snapped at her catching her right arm into its sharp maw. She d responded by wrapping said arm around its jaw, keeping it still. She had to act fast before the others came in to help, so she flattened her hand and thrust it into the dragon's eye with all her might. Being made of metal with incredible strength, her arm drilled into its eye and beyond, cracking the bone behind it.
As expected this caused it to drop her arm, now dripping with oil and lubricants. The dragon squirmed and writhed with pain, desperately trying to shake her free. It was no use. Her arm grasped the inside of his socket, pushing at the back of its socket in attempt to widen the crack. Her other arm still held onto its maw, but suffered from bite after bite.
"One more", she said, withdrawing her hand before thrusting it one more time, breaking the wall between her and this monsters brain then released it, falling back to the ground, using her already damaged arm to break the fall. The shock hurt but otherwise she was fine.. the arm was mangled beyond belief though. She turned to see what the others had accomplished in this time.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - The Vision - 06-11-2015
Luigi whimpered at the sight of the bone dragon, which had emerged, half-melting, as if the world had read his mind and pulled out one of his many worst fears. Gripping the hammer even tighter, Luigi trembled again.
The three dragons were huge, each perhaps the size of the Mushroom Castle from the outside. Their skin was made of glistening, igneous rock, and their eyes glowed the color of magma. The resulting appearance was that of a moving mass of cooling lava in the shape of a dragon.
The other two had been fighting the "Skelegon" already, and the other dragons were watching. After the woman seemingly killed it, the lackeys seemed enraged. Roaring furious fires, they started clambering their towards the trio. Luigi noticed that the woman's arm was all but destroyed. They were going to die here.
The drakes roared again and and dotted the sky with fireballs the size of Chain Chomps. As they landed and exploded, it was everything Luigi could muster to avoid becoming stir-fried plumber. There was more fire on that mountainside than there was fire in all of World 8.
The barrage ended. Luigi was covered in ash. He panted, "Hoo, hoo, hoo..." His health wheel had depleted to 1. There was no way he could survive another attack like that. He didn't even know if the others had survived this one.
He felt something hot on his head. He took off his hat and looked at it. One of the embers from the fireballs had burned a hole through it.
The dragons inhaled deeply, preparing to throw another round of fireballs.
They were going to die.
Luigi calmly tucked his cap onto his head and adjusted it slowly. Suddenly, he snarled, smashed his hammer into the ground, and roared, "Itsa-Weegee time!"
He charged one of the dragons. In panic, it shot a fireball at Luigi's feet. Luigi calmly leapt over it, shouting, "JAMP!", legs spread in a mid-air split, fist raised high like a war banner. The dragon swung its tail in an arc of sharp and hot rocks, to which Luigi responded with a second, slightly higher jump and "HIGH!"
The dragon realized that Luigi was a bit closer than it was comfortable with. It roared then snapped its jaws at the little plumber. Luigi lightly landed on the dragon's snout, then successfully finished the Triple Jump. Somersaulting into the air, Luigi whipped out his hammer.
"HAMMAR!"Luigi announced. He let his weight take over, and he accelerated towards the dragon's head. Right before the impact, Luigi swung the Bros. Hammer at the dragon's snout. The force of the blow completely shattered the dragon's rocky face, and lava began to drop out of its nostrils like blood. The beast roared in agony. A dimly glowing red ball hung by a tendril from the dragon's jaw. Luigi shot him a death glare.
"FIYAH!" Luigi bellowed, then with a high-pitched "Blink!", a fireball shot out of his palm and slowly bounced into the red core. It exploded in a burst of red-hot igneous blood.
Luigi glared into the dragon's eye as it died. He growled in a low voice, "Weegee number one."
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-13-2015
As this odd woman eyed the newest dragon, Zack turned to assess the other three. He looked over at her when she tried to grab the Buster Sword, but he also very quickly got the message on what she wanted. Happy to oblige, Zack tightly gripped the sword in both hands and flung the woman at the newest dragon. It was after that he turned to look at the other three dragons, raising the Buster Sword. Witnessing Luigi violently charging one of them, Zack watched in surprise for just a moment. He then ran forward as well, going for the center of the three dragons. The remaining two dragons shot their fireballs at Zack, who evaded with a few sidesteps as he ran.
With no other alternative, the dragon Zack was approaching lunged forward and snapped at him with it's mouth. Zack was ready, though, and leaped jumped upward, pressing his left hand against the top of the dragon's head and somersaulting over the beast. Zack landed at a kneel behind it, and then quickly spun and slashed the dragon's back. It let out a roar and stumbled away, while the other dragon turned and lunged out at Zack with it's claws.
"Whoa!" Zack leaped backwards, dodging two slashes before getting his footing proper and bracing himself.
He swung the Buster Sword upwards, slashing through the dragon's claw as it tried to strike again. The dragon roared in pain and stood up straight, giving Zack all the time he needed. Zack leaped straight up, raising the Buster Sword high above his head. As he came back down, he swung the Buster Sword straight down as well. The result was the sword being lodged completely in the dragon's skull.
Zack landed and ripped the sword from the lifeless dragon's head, and the body slumped down behind him. He grinned wide as he did, quickly looking around. The woman had killed the skeleton dragon, and Luigi...well, he glanced over just in time to see Luigi finish it off, and witness the enraged little man's death stare and comments. His smile now gone, he looked over to the final dragon, which was now on the defensive, limping and bleeding from the previous slash to it's back.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Miranda Frost - 06-14-2015
Her coat was shredded from the brief but climatic battle, her mangled metallic arm leaking out black lubricants to the ashy ground. She was recovered, but to risk using her omnillium to replace her coat and arm was to risk putting herself in an open position should that remaining, wounded dragon decide to target her. Instead she stood by at a safe distance and watch the two finish business.
The seemingly light personality of the green overalled man showed a little darkness and it was somewhat terrifying. She shivered and shook her head. These warriors were strong, stronger than she'd ever seen, or possibly stronger than what anyone in her world had seen. The yearly tournaments were held to keep the surrounding city-states in check with their military growth, requiring nearly all of their strongest warriors to be sent to Colosseum City to fight. The winner stayed and served the Colosseum state, while the others were killed in battle or exiled into the desert. Both of these warriors would have done well if not smashed the competition.
The black haired swordsman with strong resemblance to November, her brother, quickly defeated another dragon. It limped back, hissing and groaning. It was obviously in pain but refused to counterattack. Blood seeped over its scales to the dry ground from its gash on its back. Miranda stepped forward and tapped the swordsman on the back of the head. It was a quirk she did with her brother. She couldn't help it and shocked even her self. She didn't show it though.
"He's done. That dragon will not strike again.", she noted aloud for him, scanning over the beast again. It was almost trembling, but that could be just from the wound it had sustained. Dragons were supposedly smart from the fantasies she had read as a child. This world seemingly stripped everything from what she had read and made it reality. Even if it wasn't as intelligent as dragons were supposed to be, it could surely see the strength in this odd trio. Even the seemingly harmless green clad man was able to send shivers down Miranda's spine.
Frost stepped forward to test her theory. As expected the dragon took to the air, screeching down at the group before flying away. She exhaled and pulled out her little ball of rainbow light, the Omnilium bestowed upon her by the white god, Omni. she focused through it and her damaged arm was repaired, its original chrome surface restored. She then focused on her long, trench-coat like coat. Its sleeves seemed to sew themselves and the ash, dirt and blood that had stained it earlier had disappeared. Its black leather had been restored and she was happy for it.
She turned to the others, crossing her arms.
"My name is Miranda Frost, Your names are?"
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - The Vision - 06-14-2015
"Itsa-me, Weegee!"
Miranda frowned. "Never heard of you."
Luigi slapped his gargantuan nose with his palm and sighed. Of course she hadn't. Would he forever live in Mario's shadow..? Speaking of Mario, Luigi had to find him... and quickly! Mario could surely handle himself, but who knew how long someone as weak as Luigi would survive here?
"Eh scopulo mozzerella duomo di pizza?"
"Have I seen someone who looks just like you, except dressed in red?" Miranda paused, "Can't say I have."
Luigi sighed and groaned, "Ayayayah."
"Who is this man you're looking for anyway?" Zack asked.
"Mi fratello, Mario."
"Mario?" Miranda scowled, "I swear I could've heard a turtle here somewhere saying that name..."
Luigi frowned. "Heh?"
"Yes, a turtle on its hind legs, with a bright green shell... Very odd-looking. I think I- Where are you going?"
But Luigi had already run away.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-14-2015
"I'm Zack, nice meet you!" Zack quickly shouted after Luigi as he departed. He held his hand out as if to gesture him to stop, but it was far too late to change the odd man's mind. "Huh."
Zack shrugged and dropped that arm to his side, then turned to Miranda with a smile.
"I'm Zack. Nice to meet you," he repeated, this time not having to rush through an introduction.
At that, Zack stabbed the Buster Sword into the ground. He then sat down, leaning his back against it and taking a short break. No sense in wearing oneself out when there was more than enough time to explore this vast place. Instead he just laughed as he rested the back of his head against the wide sword.
"He might come back with some friends, but it'll be awhile," Zack commented, though he didn't sound very concerned about that thought. He only got serious when he realized he might need to clarify. "The dragon, that is. That dude is gone."
He let out another laugh.
"So, this Omniverse. What can you tell me about it?"
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Miranda Frost - 06-14-2015
"Zack...", she repeated, committing it to memory. She knew a zack once, but such childhood memories are not easily brought up nor worth digging for. The familiarity of the name was conforting, for it meant his world may or may not be similar to hers in some aspect. The two spoke the same language and understood each other so that was good.
The green clad wierdman Weegee, did strike a familiar string with her. She didn't realize it at the moment, but as that Weegee fellow left, she realized that he wore a similar resemblance to a childhood game she played. It was a handheld electronic device that played games from cartridges. It was something she had found while wandering outside the city limit. Its batteries still worked, even after all that time buried in the sand. It didn't last long but she did play enough to get through it. It involved mainly jumping from platform to platform whilst avoiding various enemies and traps. The green clad guy resembled the main character on the game... but that could just be a coincidence, even with the short description gave by the italian speaking green wonder. She dismissed it as nothing important.
As the green man trotted away, she turned back to Zack, watching him heave his heavy blade into the rock to use as a seat. She was impressed by the blade's craftsmanship and wondered what kind of world he came from to allow him to wield something so mighty. Her concentration on the blade was torn away by his speech, causing her eye to the dragon still flying away in the distance. She shook her head in silent disagreement. To her, that small group of dragons were that one's friends. According to the literature she had read over the years, dragons didn't really work well with each other, and these were incredibly young. There maybe a chance of an older dragon coming later, but that just as likely as nothing coming.
Zack had his seat, but Miranda didn't. Yet. A few moments of concentration through her little rainbow orb and her motorcycle revived behind her. She leaned back, propping herself somewhat comfortably against its aged leather seat. She crossed her arms and shook her head again. "Probably as much as you do. First area is white. This one is hot."
"What are you doing out here if I may ask? You just do what I did and go through the first portal you see?", she asked, scratching at the metal plate over her missing jaw.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-15-2015
"Eeny, meeny, miny, mo..." Zack replied, pointing four times nothing, but still getting his point across. "I got talked out of my first choice."
He glanced out, taking in the red sky and the looking at the large mountain in the distance. It made sense that every portal would take him to a completely different environment, but he couldn't yet imagine what they would all be. He certainly knew he'd have a good time finding out what each portal held, though. A grand adventure in an unknown realm was just about as exciting as it could be. Still, though, he had one more question and he knew exactly how to get the answer.
"Yea, I was a first class in ShinRa's SOLDIER unit," Zack casually explained. "I lived in Midgar, at the main headquarters, but I was sent all around the world. Participated in a lot of missions in a lot of places. Junon, Wutai, Modeoheim..."
Zack trailed off as he observed the blank look on Miranda's face. Yep, she didn't have a clue what he was rambling about. That meant she was from a world unlike his own, and given their experience with the man Luigi was from another unique world. The question, then, was just how many worlds and realities were there, and how different could they be? The more he thought about it, the more he realized how big of a world he had entered.
"Wow," Zack nodded, tapping his knee a few times with his right hand. "So, what's your story, then?"
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Miranda Frost - 06-15-2015
"I see", she acknowledged, kicking at the ash beneath her out of boredom now than ever. She wasn't used to sitting around. She always had a job to do and now for the first time in years... there was nothing. Nothing but the red skies ahead and the burning mountains in the background. That and this man, this Zack guy. It was kinda nice but.. it hurt not know what to do when everything up to her snatching away was planned out. She was going to wrestle control of her raider band and bring the Governor to his knees. But then there was this relief. She could now think and act on her own without even the hand of death to worry about. The idea was very very pleasant.
She listened attentively, first understanding then completely lost. Apparently the only visible part of her face, her eye showed enough emotion to tell him that. How rude of her, she should have at least pretended to be interested, but it didn't bother the man. She would have to ask him to explain these things another time, when they weren't in the middle of a unstable land of fire and brimstone.
What she did understand though, was that he was a strong warrior, who could travel the world. She derived that his world was way better off than hers, that his world was not reduced to crumbling nations and fledgling city states. His position title had a.. noble ring to it that ground hers in the dirt. It made her feel filthy if only just a little. She crossed her arms and looked away in exaggerated annoyance.
"My Story? It isn't as pretty as yours.", she began looking back at him with a renewed fire in his eyes. Thinking about the place she lived in lit a fire in her core. One that burned brighter and brighter whenever she thought about that place.
"Its long but... I believe I can compress it. Imagine..." she said, holding out her hands, open in gesture. "society collapsing world wide." She squeezes her hands, the loud stretching and pinching of leather very audible in the stale air. "Humankind tries to rebuild while at the same time holds back its progression.", she said, reopening her hands and letting them drop to her sides. "My world is a world of sand. A world of clear skies. A world of filth, metal and bloodshed."
"I exiled myself from an attempt to rebuild and joined a band of raiders to tear down this.. system. I had plans and they were snatched away by this 'Omni'. Now here I stand slaying dragons, breathing in sulfuric air, and chatting with a man who resembles my dead brother.", she finished, her frustration not shown by the monotone, synthesized voice she spoke with. The fire in his eyes spoke for her.
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Zack Fair - 06-16-2015
Zack looked to the side, studying Miranda for a bit as she talked. He listened and tried to understand her explanations of this war-torn reality she knew before this place. He leaned his head back as she finished explaining, resting it against the blade he was using as support.
He studied her, and understood the difference between them all too well. She had hopes, dreams, and plans before ending up here. She was trying to make her world a much better place and seemed to have the means to do so. It made sense that not everyone would think this place was as fascinating as he might. After all, he was leaving his world one way or another in those last few seconds. He was just thankful that he had made it out alive, and that he was given a new realm to explore and continue his wanderings. Frustration at the prospect of being here made sense, though. He thought back to all the other times it would have been a horrible time to be brought here.
"Guess it wasn't all sunshine and roses where I came from either," Zack contemplated out loud, milling over his last battle with ShinRa, deciding to keep his almost-fate to himself for the time being. "Guess there's always someone trying to exploit someone else. It's a sad thing that it doesn't change from world to world."
The ground suddenly started shaking, and there was an explosion of lava a couple hundred yards from them. Zack was almost certain that they were on or near a small volcano. He stood up, recovering his sword and replacing it to his back.
"Guess that's our cue to move along."
Re: Lost Amongst Lava (Open) - Miranda Frost - 06-17-2015
"Yeah.. lets go.", She said, turning and straddling her bike's leather seat, she revved its engine and sped off, spewing ash and dust behind her. She sighed internally and gripped her motorbike's handle bars. She had let her frustration out just a little, and it made her feel so foolish. Upon a recollection of his introduction, Zack only lightly described where he was from. He gave only names and occupations. The details were largely unknown. For all she knew he could have been through worse events than she. Further reflection noted that his near happy-go-lucky attitude dropped a few degrees after her introduction.
She looked back behind him, watching him catch up to her. He reminded her so much of his brother. They shared many characteristics such as their swordsmanship, the spikey black hair, and that positive attitude that always brought a smile on her face. In the end.. he was a completely different person. She chastised herself silently and slowed a bit, when the rocky surface they drove onto a road. The road wasn't in bad shape considering the environment they were in. If they were lucky it would lead to a town or some other settlement they could stay at for a short time and find work.
She waited for Zack to catch up and matched his speed. "This road seems to be in good condition. There may be a settlement at the end of it. What say you? Want to check it out?", she asked, her eye scanning ahead. Like fog, a heavy cloud of ash kept visual distance low.