09-19-2017, 02:41 PM
As the Mega Man soared through the air, unbeknownst to him, a single vine, like the crooked finger of a cadaver, reached out to him from the base of the "lip." It stretched and wrapped around the android's ankle. With a heart-wrenching jerk, the vine yanked on the android's leg and stopped his forward momentum.
Or, it should be said, it did so a long time ago.
The escaping version of X was using the recoil from his gun, ducking instinctively in mid-air at the sight of another version of Kelly being strangled by a tree right behind him. Time was slowing down, nearing an end, and the mouth reduced to one part of a lip made of decomposed mammal carcasses.
The sky was on top of him now, making him slightly regret taking to the air. But his calculations were absolute. There was no way to run this. Whether his little stunt would save him?
Calculations inconclusive.
Dammit.
But he had thirteen minutes to finish his calculations, he gathered, from the speed that he was moving at.
On the other side of the portal, Kelly waited anxiously. There were strange plants he hadn't noticed around the portal that were slowly rotting into dust. Other minions were similarly disintegrating, shrieking as they fell. The psychic eyed them suspiciously, looking out for any Dark-affected minions too big to fully rot quickly enough.
Where was X? He was right behind him.
Twelve minutes passed. Calculations insisted negative three minutes had passed, and that there were still twenty minutes to go. X didn't notice the discrepancy in his calculations. He was glancing nervously at the encroaching void.
Then the portal exploded.
Kelly flinched, but no shrapnel studded his body. Whatever it was made of, the opening had simply vanished, despite its explosive destruction. For those who were watching despite the bright light, it would have seemed to have eaten itself, famished for existence. X was nowhere to be seen.
The psychic's heart sank.
"X?"
He stepped forward, tentatively stepping into where the portal was moments ago.
"X!"
Nobody responded. The forest was its normal, noisy self again. Birds sang, bugs rattled, wildlife brimming the canopy of the forest with noisy life.
And from that same canopy dive-bombed the Blue Bomber.
On his way down, he collided with two thin branches, turning the wood into dust and splinters as they shattered beneath his metallic frame. The android continued to fall, concerningly fast. Suddenly, the timer on his destination told him he had two seconds until collision.
Kelly reached out with his mind and X began to slow down, though not completely stopped. When he landed, it was no longer bone-shattering, but bone-bruising.
X stared at the ceiling of the forest, sunlight trickling past the leaves. He blinked once. In one afternoon, he encountered a living tree filled with hundreds of spiders, an army of monstrous half-beasts, and two (very) tough Mavericks. One of them turned into the very Earth, and the universe then ate itself. He saw incomprehensible nothingness, a place where there was not even vacuum. Time itself had slowed in an attempt to kill him.
"Ow," X said.
Kelly smiled. "Me too."
X lifted his head slightly and looked at where the portal had been. He lowered it again.
They had won.
Or, it should be said, it did so a long time ago.
The escaping version of X was using the recoil from his gun, ducking instinctively in mid-air at the sight of another version of Kelly being strangled by a tree right behind him. Time was slowing down, nearing an end, and the mouth reduced to one part of a lip made of decomposed mammal carcasses.
The sky was on top of him now, making him slightly regret taking to the air. But his calculations were absolute. There was no way to run this. Whether his little stunt would save him?
Calculations inconclusive.
Dammit.
But he had thirteen minutes to finish his calculations, he gathered, from the speed that he was moving at.
On the other side of the portal, Kelly waited anxiously. There were strange plants he hadn't noticed around the portal that were slowly rotting into dust. Other minions were similarly disintegrating, shrieking as they fell. The psychic eyed them suspiciously, looking out for any Dark-affected minions too big to fully rot quickly enough.
Where was X? He was right behind him.
Twelve minutes passed. Calculations insisted negative three minutes had passed, and that there were still twenty minutes to go. X didn't notice the discrepancy in his calculations. He was glancing nervously at the encroaching void.
Then the portal exploded.
Kelly flinched, but no shrapnel studded his body. Whatever it was made of, the opening had simply vanished, despite its explosive destruction. For those who were watching despite the bright light, it would have seemed to have eaten itself, famished for existence. X was nowhere to be seen.
The psychic's heart sank.
"X?"
He stepped forward, tentatively stepping into where the portal was moments ago.
"X!"
Nobody responded. The forest was its normal, noisy self again. Birds sang, bugs rattled, wildlife brimming the canopy of the forest with noisy life.
And from that same canopy dive-bombed the Blue Bomber.
On his way down, he collided with two thin branches, turning the wood into dust and splinters as they shattered beneath his metallic frame. The android continued to fall, concerningly fast. Suddenly, the timer on his destination told him he had two seconds until collision.
Kelly reached out with his mind and X began to slow down, though not completely stopped. When he landed, it was no longer bone-shattering, but bone-bruising.
X stared at the ceiling of the forest, sunlight trickling past the leaves. He blinked once. In one afternoon, he encountered a living tree filled with hundreds of spiders, an army of monstrous half-beasts, and two (very) tough Mavericks. One of them turned into the very Earth, and the universe then ate itself. He saw incomprehensible nothingness, a place where there was not even vacuum. Time itself had slowed in an attempt to kill him.
"Ow," X said.
Kelly smiled. "Me too."
X lifted his head slightly and looked at where the portal had been. He lowered it again.
They had won.
Quote:Congrats! You destroyed Nebula's army in the Tangled Green and liberated it. Now you can move to another Dark Data thread, or take five and do something else (after all, one of you is missing an arm).
Thanks for being patient, folks.