10-19-2015, 08:04 PM
Gildart’s already outstretched hand blurred with speed as it swatted her attack away, easily deflecting the hammer from its path and embedding it into the dirt at his heel. Before the bandit even had a chance to blink, the wizard’s fingers were around her neck.
The man’s searing white sorcery was all she could see, the oppressive presence of his magic ripping away at the earth around them, the tournament grounds slowly eroding as his power sheared it into crumbling pebbles. His burning eyes narrowing into a silent threat as he slowly tightened his grip, enough to let her feel his might though merciful enough to allow her to breathe.
“It’s over,” he growled with a supernaturally echoing voice, the failing illusion of calm holding back a sea of emotion that roiled in his chest. “Stop this. Let it end without any further bloodshed.”
Still gripping the end of the handle, the bandit twisted the cuff at the base of the hammer, revving the machine to life. The transcendent mage glanced down as the engine roared, muted as it was from its half-buried position. Sneering, the mage lifted the woman off the ground with ease, fingers pressing ever deeper into her throat.
Her brown eyes locked onto the burning slits in the shadow, her defiant stare refusing to diminish even as he crushed the life out of her. “Heh,” she choked, a bloody grin splitting her mask of paint, “I was kinda hoping you’d ‘force’ me to use this.”
There was no time for the mage to respond when the deep reverberations of the hammer’s engine suddenly came to a crescendo. A blaze split the earth, sputtering red licked out from the cracks of the fissure before a pulse of harnessed horsepower shattered the ground below Gildarts’ feet, blowing his up and away in a swath of fire.
Gildarts released his opponent as he stumbled backwards over the collapsing earth, quickly regaining his footing in the broad crater that had formed underneath him. The glowing red things that were once his eyes searched the area and found the wily desert-dweller already as far away as one of the tall stone barricades that dotted the battlefield.
The radiant wizard cast his hand forward and the fluttering torrent that surrounded him coalesced into a silvery tide that he cast forward with the flick of his wrist. It crashed forward over the field, expanding into a huge net of magical cables, dicing everything in its path into neat little cubes.
Panting as she sprinted, the bandit leapt for the thick obstacle as the attack swept towards her, massive squares being chopped into the rock and mortar with a huff of powder and pebbles. Breathing heavily as she leaned on the wall, the woman glanced around searching for an answer, any answer, to the problem of abject horseshit that now persecuted her.
The ground split as Gildarts trod forward, air crackling with lightning at the very presence of his power. Finding himself before the obstacle, he planted both hands on the wall and a white light shined from within it, a gleaming grid forming over its surface that quickly grew brighter. With a flash, the barricade exploded into a series of tiny hexahedrons, scattering into the air and crumbling before him like so many children’s playthings.
The empowered man was already charging another bolt of Crash magic when he saw her.
“S’up, fucko?” she asked from the weapons rack, broadsword in hand.
Tossing the blade high into the sunlight above, she wheeled back the maul, cranked the throttle, and swung. A thunderous CLANG rang out as the hammer impacted the weapon, the shockwave sending it flying towards Gildarts with startling speed and the approximation of accuracy.
Gildarts’ eyes flew wide and he hastily cast, another gargantuan net engulfing the field. The sword was all but instantly obliterated into jangling steel blocks as the Crash rushed forward, unrelenting.
A spray of gore fanned into the air and an uncharacteristically shrill yelp of pain echoed into the stands above.
The competitor yet stood, blood covering her from shoulder to shoelaces. She breathed heavily, deep checkered lacerations laid into her left shoulder and chest, her armor completely shredded away. A single line was carved over her now closed and bloody right eye, though the other stared on with untold anger. Red rushed over her hand in thick gushes as she grasped at what remained of her bicep.
At her feet, Sledge’s Hammer. Beside it, her severed arm.
[spoiler]
The man’s searing white sorcery was all she could see, the oppressive presence of his magic ripping away at the earth around them, the tournament grounds slowly eroding as his power sheared it into crumbling pebbles. His burning eyes narrowing into a silent threat as he slowly tightened his grip, enough to let her feel his might though merciful enough to allow her to breathe.
“It’s over,” he growled with a supernaturally echoing voice, the failing illusion of calm holding back a sea of emotion that roiled in his chest. “Stop this. Let it end without any further bloodshed.”
Still gripping the end of the handle, the bandit twisted the cuff at the base of the hammer, revving the machine to life. The transcendent mage glanced down as the engine roared, muted as it was from its half-buried position. Sneering, the mage lifted the woman off the ground with ease, fingers pressing ever deeper into her throat.
Her brown eyes locked onto the burning slits in the shadow, her defiant stare refusing to diminish even as he crushed the life out of her. “Heh,” she choked, a bloody grin splitting her mask of paint, “I was kinda hoping you’d ‘force’ me to use this.”
There was no time for the mage to respond when the deep reverberations of the hammer’s engine suddenly came to a crescendo. A blaze split the earth, sputtering red licked out from the cracks of the fissure before a pulse of harnessed horsepower shattered the ground below Gildarts’ feet, blowing his up and away in a swath of fire.
Gildarts released his opponent as he stumbled backwards over the collapsing earth, quickly regaining his footing in the broad crater that had formed underneath him. The glowing red things that were once his eyes searched the area and found the wily desert-dweller already as far away as one of the tall stone barricades that dotted the battlefield.
The radiant wizard cast his hand forward and the fluttering torrent that surrounded him coalesced into a silvery tide that he cast forward with the flick of his wrist. It crashed forward over the field, expanding into a huge net of magical cables, dicing everything in its path into neat little cubes.
Panting as she sprinted, the bandit leapt for the thick obstacle as the attack swept towards her, massive squares being chopped into the rock and mortar with a huff of powder and pebbles. Breathing heavily as she leaned on the wall, the woman glanced around searching for an answer, any answer, to the problem of abject horseshit that now persecuted her.
The ground split as Gildarts trod forward, air crackling with lightning at the very presence of his power. Finding himself before the obstacle, he planted both hands on the wall and a white light shined from within it, a gleaming grid forming over its surface that quickly grew brighter. With a flash, the barricade exploded into a series of tiny hexahedrons, scattering into the air and crumbling before him like so many children’s playthings.
The empowered man was already charging another bolt of Crash magic when he saw her.
“S’up, fucko?” she asked from the weapons rack, broadsword in hand.
Tossing the blade high into the sunlight above, she wheeled back the maul, cranked the throttle, and swung. A thunderous CLANG rang out as the hammer impacted the weapon, the shockwave sending it flying towards Gildarts with startling speed and the approximation of accuracy.
Gildarts’ eyes flew wide and he hastily cast, another gargantuan net engulfing the field. The sword was all but instantly obliterated into jangling steel blocks as the Crash rushed forward, unrelenting.
A spray of gore fanned into the air and an uncharacteristically shrill yelp of pain echoed into the stands above.
The competitor yet stood, blood covering her from shoulder to shoelaces. She breathed heavily, deep checkered lacerations laid into her left shoulder and chest, her armor completely shredded away. A single line was carved over her now closed and bloody right eye, though the other stared on with untold anger. Red rushed over her hand in thick gushes as she grasped at what remained of her bicep.
At her feet, Sledge’s Hammer. Beside it, her severed arm.
[spoiler]
Quote:750 words exactly.[/spoiler]
Sledge's Hammer
Crash!
Disassemble