12-05-2017, 12:39 AM
The castle was crumbling. There was no time to politely trot down to the front entrance.
“We get to the side of the castle!” Samus bellowed. “Then we jump! We might break a leg or two but it’s better than being buried alive by rubble.”
Hiro didn’t offer any complaints, though the suggestion didn’t bring a smile to his face, either. It was true that being on the lower floors and being crushed by the many ceilings and pillars of the castle above seemed like a very bad idea.
So they ran. Dodging and darting between patches of intact flooring, even as it groaned and died beneath them. A horrible thought occurred to the bounty hunter – that it was sinking. Being trapped underground in an imploding dark verse would be horrible. There was no guarantee that it would even let them revive as normal. The rules didn’t apply here, Doctor Regal’s assistant had made that extremely clear.
“We’re there!” Samus suddenly cried out. “It looks like this is the castle’s outer perimeter!”
They couldn’t see to the outside, but down the long, once-ornate corridor in which they stood, there was indeed a wall, which curved. That meant it went round the castle in a circle.
“Break through it and we’re out,” observed Hiro.
They wasted no time, Samus’s heart seeming to leap into her mouth as every nightmarish step threatened to take that escape route from them. Just one more step. Then another. Then another.
Of course, it was never that easy.
They reached the wall and immediately Samus slammed a cannon-encased fist into it. Hiro likewise slammed his shoulder into it. Despite the hunter’s augmented strength, it wouldn’t budge. “Why?! The whole castle’s crumbling, so what’s with this wall?!”
The sound came from a voice to the hunter’s left. A familiar voice. “Infuriating, isn’t it? Having victory snatched away at the last moment.”
They turned. Hiro’s eyes widened. “Son of a bitch …”
It was the alchemist. The alchemist they’d killed, all the way back in the real world. It seemed months away now. The time they’d spent in this verse had been harrowing, challenging all of their stamina. They had gone from five members to two – and the two remaining members of their party had been changed for the experience. Covered in gore, both their own and that of others. It went some way towards representing how gruelling the day had been.
The alchemist, though …. he looked worse. He’d looked like an older fellow when they’d first encountered him, now he looked … somehow ancient. His mouth was stained like a child who’d been eating blueberries ... though that particular scenario seemed unlikely. Where before his eyes had been alight with danger and intelligence, now they were sunken sockets that seemed to drag in what little dim light the purple fires of the castle gave off.
“You underestimate Nebula,” he spat. “You underestimate dark power. No mere sword could kill me.”
Hiro spun his tanto. “I disagree.”
With that one word, he leapt past Samus. The hunter would have acted in support, but in the same motion, the alchemist drew from his coat and lobbed a sphere of pulsating … acid? It was all Samus could do to dodge it.
Hiro, meanwhile, simply redirected his angle of attack, zig-zagging out and then back in. His sword met the alchemist’s wrist – but instead of a clean cut, it appeared to catch halfway, leaving the ruined man’s hand half-off and the hacker’s tanto stuck inbetween globby blood and sinew. The alchemist turned, almost as if in slow-motion, and opened his mouth. It was like something out of a horror movie. Hiro let go of the weapon, jumped backwards – but even as he did, the alchemist’s head extended on a protruding neck, teeth bared.
The charged blast from Samus’s arm cannon cut him off, putting ‘U’ dent into the alchemist’s neck. The hunter moved in, still in her Predator state, grabbing the neck even as she vaulted over it. The alchemist’s face quickly turned from hunger to dismay as his body was slammed into the wall of the castle like a ragdoll.
“End this curse!” barked the hunter. “Let us free, or you’ll die too!”
The alchemist seemed not to care. He simply giggled, and then his head extended further, coiling around to attack his own attacker.
Hiro ripped his tanto out of the alchemist’s hand and slammed it into the alchemist’s face. “Listen to the lady. We’re in kind of a hurry.”
“We get to the side of the castle!” Samus bellowed. “Then we jump! We might break a leg or two but it’s better than being buried alive by rubble.”
Hiro didn’t offer any complaints, though the suggestion didn’t bring a smile to his face, either. It was true that being on the lower floors and being crushed by the many ceilings and pillars of the castle above seemed like a very bad idea.
So they ran. Dodging and darting between patches of intact flooring, even as it groaned and died beneath them. A horrible thought occurred to the bounty hunter – that it was sinking. Being trapped underground in an imploding dark verse would be horrible. There was no guarantee that it would even let them revive as normal. The rules didn’t apply here, Doctor Regal’s assistant had made that extremely clear.
“We’re there!” Samus suddenly cried out. “It looks like this is the castle’s outer perimeter!”
They couldn’t see to the outside, but down the long, once-ornate corridor in which they stood, there was indeed a wall, which curved. That meant it went round the castle in a circle.
“Break through it and we’re out,” observed Hiro.
They wasted no time, Samus’s heart seeming to leap into her mouth as every nightmarish step threatened to take that escape route from them. Just one more step. Then another. Then another.
Of course, it was never that easy.
They reached the wall and immediately Samus slammed a cannon-encased fist into it. Hiro likewise slammed his shoulder into it. Despite the hunter’s augmented strength, it wouldn’t budge. “Why?! The whole castle’s crumbling, so what’s with this wall?!”
The sound came from a voice to the hunter’s left. A familiar voice. “Infuriating, isn’t it? Having victory snatched away at the last moment.”
They turned. Hiro’s eyes widened. “Son of a bitch …”
It was the alchemist. The alchemist they’d killed, all the way back in the real world. It seemed months away now. The time they’d spent in this verse had been harrowing, challenging all of their stamina. They had gone from five members to two – and the two remaining members of their party had been changed for the experience. Covered in gore, both their own and that of others. It went some way towards representing how gruelling the day had been.
The alchemist, though …. he looked worse. He’d looked like an older fellow when they’d first encountered him, now he looked … somehow ancient. His mouth was stained like a child who’d been eating blueberries ... though that particular scenario seemed unlikely. Where before his eyes had been alight with danger and intelligence, now they were sunken sockets that seemed to drag in what little dim light the purple fires of the castle gave off.
“You underestimate Nebula,” he spat. “You underestimate dark power. No mere sword could kill me.”
Hiro spun his tanto. “I disagree.”
With that one word, he leapt past Samus. The hunter would have acted in support, but in the same motion, the alchemist drew from his coat and lobbed a sphere of pulsating … acid? It was all Samus could do to dodge it.
Hiro, meanwhile, simply redirected his angle of attack, zig-zagging out and then back in. His sword met the alchemist’s wrist – but instead of a clean cut, it appeared to catch halfway, leaving the ruined man’s hand half-off and the hacker’s tanto stuck inbetween globby blood and sinew. The alchemist turned, almost as if in slow-motion, and opened his mouth. It was like something out of a horror movie. Hiro let go of the weapon, jumped backwards – but even as he did, the alchemist’s head extended on a protruding neck, teeth bared.
The charged blast from Samus’s arm cannon cut him off, putting ‘U’ dent into the alchemist’s neck. The hunter moved in, still in her Predator state, grabbing the neck even as she vaulted over it. The alchemist’s face quickly turned from hunger to dismay as his body was slammed into the wall of the castle like a ragdoll.
“End this curse!” barked the hunter. “Let us free, or you’ll die too!”
The alchemist seemed not to care. He simply giggled, and then his head extended further, coiling around to attack his own attacker.
Hiro ripped his tanto out of the alchemist’s hand and slammed it into the alchemist’s face. “Listen to the lady. We’re in kind of a hurry.”
Quote:Figured I’d give Hiro something to work with. If not, Blink can decide what happens here. It’s been a lot of fun! Thank you, all of you for writing with me. It’s been an epic, year-long journey through this hellish verse, and we are ready to end!
![[Image: 0bwAI3j.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/0bwAI3j.jpg)