06-29-2015, 10:25 PM
As Shang watched, a circular symbol not unlike the one on the handle of the dagger appeared beneath the corpse of the paladin. A dull red light shined off the symbol as the body burst into flames. A few moments later, it crumbled into ash and was blown away by a gust of wind that had no purpose existing several stories below ground. The symbol on the ground faded away, and as the sorcerer looked down at the dagger, he noticed that the handle was likewise barren.
Shang didn’t have long to ruminate on what had happened. A guttural roar could be heard beyond the door at the end of the hallway. Discarding the seemingly useless dagger on the ground where the corpse had been, the sorcerer grabbed the dead paladin’s hammer and made for the other exit. He glanced down only once to see that the weapon had lost its unnatural glow. As long as it could still be used to smash in someone’s skull, its luminosity mattered little to Shang Tsung.
Leaving behind Tyrant, Shang stumbled his way back toward the room with the giant generator. If the room was symmetrical, that meant there had to be at least one other possible route for him to take. As the door into the generator room slid shut behind him, Shang nearly threw himself down to the watery floor below, and although he knew there might be other terrors lurking in the installation, he rushed to the other side of the room and looked up to see what he had hoped to witness.
After hoisting himself up onto the platform, Shang forced the metal door open and slid into the adjacent corridor. Once the door was shut behind him, he let himself breathe out, and with a sigh, he collapsed against the wall and slid down onto his haunches. Although he was trying to calm his breathing, he found himself unable to breathe too deeply for fear that he wouldn’t be able to hear movement in the generator room.
Once a few minutes had passed and his heart rate settled, the sorcerer let out a faint grunt and pushed himself up into a standing position. A glance at where he had been sitting revealed more of his blood on that ground than he ever wanted to look at again. Limping slightly, Shang started down the hallway, his eyes glued on the poorly illuminated corridor and anything that might be waiting to pounce upon him.
He made it to almost the opposing end when he heard a man’s laughter in an adjacent room. Coming to a stop, Shang stood still and listened for a few moments to make sure he hadn’t been hearing things. When the man continued to laugh, the sorcerer walked over to the nearby door and peered through the little window. Through the dusty, dirt-stained glass, he saw a bearded man sitting in a straightjacket on the floor of the padded room.
...Is that?
When the doorknob didn’t turn, Shang bashed it open with the hammer and stepped into the room. Setting the hammer down, he walked over and dropped into a crouch next to the babbling, laughing Spartan, who stopped just long enough to flash him the expression of a man lost in his own mind.
“Spartan?” Shang muttered as he set a hand on the man’s shoulder. Atelos responded by laughing and trying to bite his friend’s hand like some sort of chuckling hyena. “Damn it! Come to your senses!”
[i}THWACK{/i]
The blow from the sorcerer’s palm knocked the Spartan onto his back. With the laughter gone, there was a momentary silence before a groan escaped the bearded man’s mouth.
“Where… What is going on?! Why can’t I move!”
The uncharacteristic laughter was gone, and in its place, the Spartan’s normal demeanor flooded back to the surface.
“Calm yourself,” Shang snapped as he slid around to help the man into an upright position. “What the hell are you doing down you?” He asked as he started to undo the knots that kept the man’s limbs bound.
“I was fighting a great monster in the fields of the Pale Moors,” the Spartan muttered, his eyes still trying to soak in the strange surroundings. “Then… then I was in the streets of Silent Hill. I rescued a family and defeated a mighty shadow dragon…” The greek-born warrior trailed off, as if he was already starting to doubt the words as they left his tongue.
“I think you sustained a head wound,” Shang shot back as he looked at a bloodstained patch of hair on the back of the man’s skull. “You’re bleeding still, and I doubt smacking this padded floor did it.”
Atelos shook his head as he felt the bindings loosen around his body. “No, I remember it clear as day, Sorcerer. I swear it…” Yet even as he spoke it, it was clear that the fire had left the other man’s spirit. As he tried to replay the memories in his mind, he began to see the discrepancies and all the places where things didn’t quite match up. In many ways, it felt more like he was trying to recall a dream rather than reality.
“You’re free,” his comrade replied as the straightjacket went limp around him. Shrugging off the infernal cloth, Atelos rose shakily to his feet and touched the wound on the back of his head. He brought the fingers around to his eyes and knew he was looking at his blood. “You’ll survive,” Shang rasped as he rose back to his feet and offered his hand to Atelos.
“What happened to you?” The Spartan asked as he finally turned his attention from his own confusion and to the sorry state of his partner. “You look like shit.”
“...You’re not aware that you’re several stories underground in a laboratory where they created biological weapons using an experimental virus, are you?”
“None of the words that just came out of your mouth made any damn sense, Sorcerer,” Atelos replied, eliciting a rare grin from his beleaguered associate.
“We’re below the surface, and there’s a monster hunting me. It killed the paladin.”
It almost seemed like the Spartan had to suppress his own smirk. “A shame.”
Shang nodded and lied flawlessly. “Something like that, yes.”
“How long do you think it’ll take him to be back in town? I’m sure the town crier could use a day off.”
“There was something different… symbols and fire. I’m not sure if Argento will be back. It’s possible that the town took him, or there might be a worser fate that awaits him.” Shang Tsung shrugged his shoulders as he retrieved the paladin’s weapon.
Atelos frowned. “Where do we go now? I have no desire to die down here.”
“I’ve been trying to find an exit, but there’s only one door remaining. If it isn’t there, than we’re screwed.”
“Lovely,” the Spartan muttered as he gestured for the bloody sorcerer to head out first. “You know the way, after all.”
With a scowl, Shang Tsung returned to the hallway and quickly slipped over to the final door. Once inside, he found a tiny room with a large and jagged hole in the center of it. A glimpse down revealed nothing but darkness for as far as either Spartan or sorcerer could see. Only a nearby sign decorated the otherwise plain room.
“The only way through the Darkness is to leap headfirst,” Atelos read aloud as the two men stood on the edge of the circle. The Grecian glanced over at his associate. “What do you think it wants us to do?” Before he got a proper response, both men heard a vaguely human roar in the corridor they’d just exited. “Is that the friend you made?”
The sorcerer nodded his head as he glanced down into the dark pit. “We’ve come this far, Spartan… what’s one more plunge into the unknown?”
Atelos nodded and extended a hand over the pit. “What’s one more plunge?” He repeated as Shang reached out and shook hands with the only individual in the Omniverse he’d consider close to an equal.
With that, the pair jumped into the Void.
Shang didn’t have long to ruminate on what had happened. A guttural roar could be heard beyond the door at the end of the hallway. Discarding the seemingly useless dagger on the ground where the corpse had been, the sorcerer grabbed the dead paladin’s hammer and made for the other exit. He glanced down only once to see that the weapon had lost its unnatural glow. As long as it could still be used to smash in someone’s skull, its luminosity mattered little to Shang Tsung.
Leaving behind Tyrant, Shang stumbled his way back toward the room with the giant generator. If the room was symmetrical, that meant there had to be at least one other possible route for him to take. As the door into the generator room slid shut behind him, Shang nearly threw himself down to the watery floor below, and although he knew there might be other terrors lurking in the installation, he rushed to the other side of the room and looked up to see what he had hoped to witness.
After hoisting himself up onto the platform, Shang forced the metal door open and slid into the adjacent corridor. Once the door was shut behind him, he let himself breathe out, and with a sigh, he collapsed against the wall and slid down onto his haunches. Although he was trying to calm his breathing, he found himself unable to breathe too deeply for fear that he wouldn’t be able to hear movement in the generator room.
Once a few minutes had passed and his heart rate settled, the sorcerer let out a faint grunt and pushed himself up into a standing position. A glance at where he had been sitting revealed more of his blood on that ground than he ever wanted to look at again. Limping slightly, Shang started down the hallway, his eyes glued on the poorly illuminated corridor and anything that might be waiting to pounce upon him.
He made it to almost the opposing end when he heard a man’s laughter in an adjacent room. Coming to a stop, Shang stood still and listened for a few moments to make sure he hadn’t been hearing things. When the man continued to laugh, the sorcerer walked over to the nearby door and peered through the little window. Through the dusty, dirt-stained glass, he saw a bearded man sitting in a straightjacket on the floor of the padded room.
...Is that?
When the doorknob didn’t turn, Shang bashed it open with the hammer and stepped into the room. Setting the hammer down, he walked over and dropped into a crouch next to the babbling, laughing Spartan, who stopped just long enough to flash him the expression of a man lost in his own mind.
“Spartan?” Shang muttered as he set a hand on the man’s shoulder. Atelos responded by laughing and trying to bite his friend’s hand like some sort of chuckling hyena. “Damn it! Come to your senses!”
[i}THWACK{/i]
The blow from the sorcerer’s palm knocked the Spartan onto his back. With the laughter gone, there was a momentary silence before a groan escaped the bearded man’s mouth.
“Where… What is going on?! Why can’t I move!”
The uncharacteristic laughter was gone, and in its place, the Spartan’s normal demeanor flooded back to the surface.
“Calm yourself,” Shang snapped as he slid around to help the man into an upright position. “What the hell are you doing down you?” He asked as he started to undo the knots that kept the man’s limbs bound.
“I was fighting a great monster in the fields of the Pale Moors,” the Spartan muttered, his eyes still trying to soak in the strange surroundings. “Then… then I was in the streets of Silent Hill. I rescued a family and defeated a mighty shadow dragon…” The greek-born warrior trailed off, as if he was already starting to doubt the words as they left his tongue.
“I think you sustained a head wound,” Shang shot back as he looked at a bloodstained patch of hair on the back of the man’s skull. “You’re bleeding still, and I doubt smacking this padded floor did it.”
Atelos shook his head as he felt the bindings loosen around his body. “No, I remember it clear as day, Sorcerer. I swear it…” Yet even as he spoke it, it was clear that the fire had left the other man’s spirit. As he tried to replay the memories in his mind, he began to see the discrepancies and all the places where things didn’t quite match up. In many ways, it felt more like he was trying to recall a dream rather than reality.
“You’re free,” his comrade replied as the straightjacket went limp around him. Shrugging off the infernal cloth, Atelos rose shakily to his feet and touched the wound on the back of his head. He brought the fingers around to his eyes and knew he was looking at his blood. “You’ll survive,” Shang rasped as he rose back to his feet and offered his hand to Atelos.
“What happened to you?” The Spartan asked as he finally turned his attention from his own confusion and to the sorry state of his partner. “You look like shit.”
“...You’re not aware that you’re several stories underground in a laboratory where they created biological weapons using an experimental virus, are you?”
“None of the words that just came out of your mouth made any damn sense, Sorcerer,” Atelos replied, eliciting a rare grin from his beleaguered associate.
“We’re below the surface, and there’s a monster hunting me. It killed the paladin.”
It almost seemed like the Spartan had to suppress his own smirk. “A shame.”
Shang nodded and lied flawlessly. “Something like that, yes.”
“How long do you think it’ll take him to be back in town? I’m sure the town crier could use a day off.”
“There was something different… symbols and fire. I’m not sure if Argento will be back. It’s possible that the town took him, or there might be a worser fate that awaits him.” Shang Tsung shrugged his shoulders as he retrieved the paladin’s weapon.
Atelos frowned. “Where do we go now? I have no desire to die down here.”
“I’ve been trying to find an exit, but there’s only one door remaining. If it isn’t there, than we’re screwed.”
“Lovely,” the Spartan muttered as he gestured for the bloody sorcerer to head out first. “You know the way, after all.”
With a scowl, Shang Tsung returned to the hallway and quickly slipped over to the final door. Once inside, he found a tiny room with a large and jagged hole in the center of it. A glimpse down revealed nothing but darkness for as far as either Spartan or sorcerer could see. Only a nearby sign decorated the otherwise plain room.
“The only way through the Darkness is to leap headfirst,” Atelos read aloud as the two men stood on the edge of the circle. The Grecian glanced over at his associate. “What do you think it wants us to do?” Before he got a proper response, both men heard a vaguely human roar in the corridor they’d just exited. “Is that the friend you made?”
The sorcerer nodded his head as he glanced down into the dark pit. “We’ve come this far, Spartan… what’s one more plunge into the unknown?”
Atelos nodded and extended a hand over the pit. “What’s one more plunge?” He repeated as Shang reached out and shook hands with the only individual in the Omniverse he’d consider close to an equal.
With that, the pair jumped into the Void.
![[Image: Shang.jpg]](http://www.omniverse-rpg.com/images/Shang.jpg)