07-26-2017, 02:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-29-2018, 01:07 AM by Kelly MacAryn.)
Kelly didn't hear X - a feline-faced ape with silver plumage on its shoulders had the psychic's head gripped tight in its beefy hands, and was screaming at him about four inches from his face. Its hot breath reeked of carrion and bird-seed. He charged a psychokinetic bolt and shoved it point-blank straight up the monster's ear-canal. The creature's skull exploded, and Kelly staggered back, wiping unmentionable goo from his face.
The traveler was having a bad time. His plan to lay down some supporting fire for X had been preempted by the sudden arrival of six man-sized serpents with muscular humanoid torsos, and octopus tentacles erupting from their shoulders. They had arisen from the among the thick tangle of ankle-high undergrowth, their green-and-black scales blending perfectly - and as if that weren't enough, the fresh legion of abominations which had come storming out of the trees had made things even more complicated. Without his weapon, it had taken all of Kelly's considerable skill just to keep from being overwhelmed.
The liberator had ducked and dodged and vaulted through an ever-shifting landscape of threats and targets, simian fists, eyes and throats, beaks and grasping octopoid suckers. He'd struck viciously and precisely with his hands and his feet and - a couple of times - his teeth. He'd twisted monstrous, hairy limbs and kicked out knees and maneuvered falling opponents into the legs of their fellows. The traveler's world had become dominated by the scent of sweat and blood, feathers and hair, and the hum of psychokinetic force. It was monotonous and vibrant and terrible, a gyroscope of frantic action spinning on the lip of a cliff - and even with the psychic's superhuman powers of survival and his newfound regenerative qualities, the cuts, punctures and lacerations had begun to pile up.
Fortunately, an end was in sight. Kelly may not have been able to hear X, but he could see what the android was doing - and more importantly, in between desperate bursts of horrible violence, he'd seen how Plant Man was responding.
His reactions have gotten slower, his tactics have gotten less sophisticated - and he's making mistakes. He was down for a while that time. It follows that damage he's healed is having an effect after all - His capacity to regenerate isn't unlimited.
And the fire...
As Plant Man staggered X made a valiant attempt to press the attack, firing his remaining buster in an effort to interrupt whatever the enemy had planned, but a barrage of thorns erupted from the darkloid's shoulders with a thunderous bang, knocking the liberator to the ground.
Kelly ducked under the claws of a swooping chiropteran raptor, blasted a frog-monster out of the air - and finally spotted his staff, lying half-concealed among a patch of thoroughly-trampled foliage. He reached out with his mind and it leaped into his hands, impacting his palms with a satisfying slap. The moment of distraction cost him a lacerated ear and a deep cut on his calf - but it was an acceptable price. The weapon whirled in his grip as he carved himself some breathing room.
I don't think that's the entire solution - I doubt its hot enough to spread quickly in such lush conditions, but I can think of another use for it.
Plant Man glared at X and raised his hands, gritting his teeth with effort. The android tried to rise, only to be struck again by another barrage of thorns. The earth rumbled, and a tree-root as thick as a bus, trailing dirt and lesser tendrils, began to tear itself out of the ground amidst a cascade of shifting soil. Slowly it rose up, looming over the reploid and the fiery fruits of his labor.
Monsters scattered. The intent was obvious.
Kelly made his move, escaping in one fell swoop from the tangle of twisted creatures that surrounded him: He leaped skyward and lashed out with his staff, knocking bat-faced eagles from the sky as he covered thirty feet of distance in a single spiraling jump. No sooner had the psychic hit the ground than he shifted his neural processes into faster realms of thought and action. Ivy, ferns and thistles crunched beneath his boots as he made an accelerated dash toward the darkloid commander.
Plant Man saw him coming. The gargantuan tree-root sagged as its master's attention shifted, and he lashed out with his shrieking vines. Kelly's staff rang, bending alarmingly as he caught and deflected the impacts, the shock of it sending veins of jangling numbness up his arms.
This is probably unwise.
He pushed himself further. Already moving a little slowly relative to his accelerated experience, the world ground to a very near halt as he skidded to a stop before the evil android, plants twisting and snapping around his ankles. Even his own motion was painfully slow, unable to keep up with his racing thoughts as he drew back his staff, shifting his grip towards one end and holding it beside his hip in a low stance. He coiled his body like a spring, twisting his hips and his feet, and calculated the angle of impact for what he had in mind.
Other than Kelly, only Plant Man moved, though at a crawl. He hesitated, a look of realization, then horror rippling across his pinched features. His whips began to strike, but the moment of indecision cost him dearly.
Power flared, flattening the foliage around the psychic's feet, and an invisible psychokinetic construct burst into being around his body, an ethereal catapult designed with one purpose, one action in mind. His quarterstaff flashed, up and around in a vicious twisting arc.
Barely more than a blur of mahogany and black iron, the staff sheared through the striking vines as though they didn't exist, and impacted with plant-man's shoulder. It kept going, buckling his vegetable flesh clear through to his sternum and shearing his arm off entirely. The sheer impact propelled him backwards and down at an angle, shrieking in disbelief as he hit the earth like a comet, and bounced...
Right into X's merry bonfire.
The traveler was having a bad time. His plan to lay down some supporting fire for X had been preempted by the sudden arrival of six man-sized serpents with muscular humanoid torsos, and octopus tentacles erupting from their shoulders. They had arisen from the among the thick tangle of ankle-high undergrowth, their green-and-black scales blending perfectly - and as if that weren't enough, the fresh legion of abominations which had come storming out of the trees had made things even more complicated. Without his weapon, it had taken all of Kelly's considerable skill just to keep from being overwhelmed.
The liberator had ducked and dodged and vaulted through an ever-shifting landscape of threats and targets, simian fists, eyes and throats, beaks and grasping octopoid suckers. He'd struck viciously and precisely with his hands and his feet and - a couple of times - his teeth. He'd twisted monstrous, hairy limbs and kicked out knees and maneuvered falling opponents into the legs of their fellows. The traveler's world had become dominated by the scent of sweat and blood, feathers and hair, and the hum of psychokinetic force. It was monotonous and vibrant and terrible, a gyroscope of frantic action spinning on the lip of a cliff - and even with the psychic's superhuman powers of survival and his newfound regenerative qualities, the cuts, punctures and lacerations had begun to pile up.
Fortunately, an end was in sight. Kelly may not have been able to hear X, but he could see what the android was doing - and more importantly, in between desperate bursts of horrible violence, he'd seen how Plant Man was responding.
His reactions have gotten slower, his tactics have gotten less sophisticated - and he's making mistakes. He was down for a while that time. It follows that damage he's healed is having an effect after all - His capacity to regenerate isn't unlimited.
And the fire...
As Plant Man staggered X made a valiant attempt to press the attack, firing his remaining buster in an effort to interrupt whatever the enemy had planned, but a barrage of thorns erupted from the darkloid's shoulders with a thunderous bang, knocking the liberator to the ground.
Kelly ducked under the claws of a swooping chiropteran raptor, blasted a frog-monster out of the air - and finally spotted his staff, lying half-concealed among a patch of thoroughly-trampled foliage. He reached out with his mind and it leaped into his hands, impacting his palms with a satisfying slap. The moment of distraction cost him a lacerated ear and a deep cut on his calf - but it was an acceptable price. The weapon whirled in his grip as he carved himself some breathing room.
I don't think that's the entire solution - I doubt its hot enough to spread quickly in such lush conditions, but I can think of another use for it.
Plant Man glared at X and raised his hands, gritting his teeth with effort. The android tried to rise, only to be struck again by another barrage of thorns. The earth rumbled, and a tree-root as thick as a bus, trailing dirt and lesser tendrils, began to tear itself out of the ground amidst a cascade of shifting soil. Slowly it rose up, looming over the reploid and the fiery fruits of his labor.
Monsters scattered. The intent was obvious.
Kelly made his move, escaping in one fell swoop from the tangle of twisted creatures that surrounded him: He leaped skyward and lashed out with his staff, knocking bat-faced eagles from the sky as he covered thirty feet of distance in a single spiraling jump. No sooner had the psychic hit the ground than he shifted his neural processes into faster realms of thought and action. Ivy, ferns and thistles crunched beneath his boots as he made an accelerated dash toward the darkloid commander.
Plant Man saw him coming. The gargantuan tree-root sagged as its master's attention shifted, and he lashed out with his shrieking vines. Kelly's staff rang, bending alarmingly as he caught and deflected the impacts, the shock of it sending veins of jangling numbness up his arms.
This is probably unwise.
He pushed himself further. Already moving a little slowly relative to his accelerated experience, the world ground to a very near halt as he skidded to a stop before the evil android, plants twisting and snapping around his ankles. Even his own motion was painfully slow, unable to keep up with his racing thoughts as he drew back his staff, shifting his grip towards one end and holding it beside his hip in a low stance. He coiled his body like a spring, twisting his hips and his feet, and calculated the angle of impact for what he had in mind.
Other than Kelly, only Plant Man moved, though at a crawl. He hesitated, a look of realization, then horror rippling across his pinched features. His whips began to strike, but the moment of indecision cost him dearly.
Power flared, flattening the foliage around the psychic's feet, and an invisible psychokinetic construct burst into being around his body, an ethereal catapult designed with one purpose, one action in mind. His quarterstaff flashed, up and around in a vicious twisting arc.
Barely more than a blur of mahogany and black iron, the staff sheared through the striking vines as though they didn't exist, and impacted with plant-man's shoulder. It kept going, buckling his vegetable flesh clear through to his sternum and shearing his arm off entirely. The sheer impact propelled him backwards and down at an angle, shrieking in disbelief as he hit the earth like a comet, and bounced...
Right into X's merry bonfire.
Quote:Kelly used his special move, Combat Acceleration.
Kelly used T1 Super Attack: Oppositional Rotation. 0 Order points remaining.
1015 words.