04-07-2016, 07:33 PM
The exorcist Yu Kanda grimaced as he tried to fight back against his adversary. Compared to the burning, empty sockets of the skull monster’s countenance, the man was all grit and determination. Sweat had stained all along his brow, and the lower half of his face was a mask of gore. Kanda opened his mangled maw to speak words, but his breath was stolen from him by the butt of the gestalt’s hammer.
With that, Yu Kanda stumbled backwards, his eyes a blend of confusion and fury as he tried to work through the metaphorical stars swirling around his head. Before the warrior could bring his blades back to bear, he heard the thunderous crack of a bolter pistol. A moment later, a chunk of the exorcist’s shoulder exploded into a wet cloud of blood, sinew, and flecks of bone. By the time his knees had hit the floor of the Nexus, Kanda was spouting blood from two more places on his chest.
The plague marine lowered his bolter just in time for Ryner to jump him from behind. The young man clawed at the armored soldier for a few moments before a gauntleted fist closed around his shoulder and squeezed. For his part, Ryner withheld a scream just long enough for a battered, half-conscious Orihime to launch herself at Okor like a human spear. While he was shuddered by the woman’s sudden assault, the marine remained upright and swiftly responded with the barrel of his weapon.
Removed from the immediate battle, Gamzee had managed to catch his breath, but before he make his mark felt, he saw the shadow befall him. A beat later, a serrated Rathalos claw tore through his abdomen, lifting him a few inches from the ground before he was thrown at the Harbinger’s feet.
“All things must end.” The gestalt spoke as it lifted its hands up into the air. Those with the faculties remaining to do so watched as chunks of the shattered fountain and broken pieces of the floor wiggled a few times before lifting up off the ground.
Blanketed by a faint yellow glow, the now airborne pieces of debris swirled around the Harbinger before they started to settle near the remains of the Fountain of Infinity. Chunks of gray stone and the white material of the Nexus stacked upon themselves before being held together by sections of the metal material that had once controlled the flow of the fountain’s water. In a matter of moments, the debris had been crudely stitched together into an unevenly shaped cross that would have cast a long shadow had there been a sun in the Nexus.
A mockery of any real religious icon, the cross bled yellow and green vapors into the air. It was almost as if the blasphemous thing was infecting the world around it.
Even though he was bleeding out, Kanda managed to grasp his katana with both of his hands. He dragged his battered carcass up to his feet and glared at the monster that stood before him. “Your existence should offend any rational individual,” the exorcist rasped before throwing him at the gestalt. There was a fleeting moment when it seemed that the Harbinger wasn’t going to defend itself, but then the sword stopped harshly in the air. Halfway up the weapon, a bony hand was clasped around it.
“Your existence offends us.” The monster’s voice echoed as it squeezed down on the katana. What followed was the dreadful sound of metal breaking apart as if it were made of wood. As Kanda stumbled forward, he could only watch with muted horror as the shattered end of his own weapon was thrust through his left lung.
Fresh blood started to sputter from around the blade as the exorcist felt his knees buckle beneath him. Instead of the ground, he was stopped by a skeletal hand closing once more around his throat. With a swift motion, the Harbinger spun and slammed Kanda against the central shaft of the cross. A beat later, Kanda felt one more sunburst of agony as the other half of his sword was driven through his heart and into the stone behind him, pinning him to the Harbinger’s monument.
Turning toward the sound of gunfire, the Harbinger watched for a few moments as Okor tried to gun down his two adversaries. When the marine didn’t quickly dispatch the two fighters, the gestalt willed a hardlight chain into existence and lashed out at the woman. Already mangled and focused on her adversary, Orihime never saw the chain coming, and by the time she could grab at the warm construct around her neck, she was already being dragged back to the Harbinger.
Eyes wide, the young woman struggled against the pull of the chain, but fate was moving too quickly against her. A hammer swung down, and just like that, she lost any remaining feeling in her right hand. The chain vanished, but before she could find a scream, a hand closed around her jaw. Viciously pulled up onto her feet, Orihime swung with her good arm in vain as another hand grabbed at the clips she wore in her hair. With little regard for the rest of her head, the Harbinger tore the clips out along with a fistful of red locks.
“Leave us.” The creature spoke as it jammed its fist through the woman’s ribcage and stabbed the accessories through her heart. A beat later, it lifted her form the ground and dumped her over the right arm of the cross. With a sharp turn, the Harbinger grabbed Ryner’s outstretched hand and wrenched it sideways. The young man got halfway through a scream before he was thrown to the ground and taken out of his misery with a thunderous, skull-shattering hammer blow. Grabbing hold of the shattered head of the man, the Harbinger lifted up the corpse and draped it over the other side of the cross.
The Rathalos took that moment to let out a deafening roar as she rolled Gamzee’s half-conscious body over to her master.
“We would be lying,” the Harbinger spoke as it lifted the horned man up to his feet with a bony fist. “If we said this didn’t bring some of us some pleasure.” Red shimmered through the aura of the Harbinger as it summoned one of Gamzee’s deuce clubs into its free hand. The first blow was enough to break the bone, but the monster continued until the majority of the face had been bludgeoned away from the shattered bone underneath. The last dull thud of club upon broken skull snapped away one of Gamzee’s horns.
With the man limp in its grip, the Harbinger turned and tossed the corpse at Yu Kanda’s feet. As it glanced to its side, the gestalt saw the ninja’s sword lying on the ground. A lazy hand gesture from the Harbinger caused the katana to telekinetically skip across the ravaged floor of the Nexus before coming to rest at the feet of the plague marine. Neither the armored juggernaut nor the burning gestalt needed to exchange words. Despite their lack of visible facial features, they understood the transaction that had just taken place.
With that, Harbinger turned to face the corpse-coated effigy. Fresh blood soaked the cross from the bodies staked or draped over it. Any life that remained in the primes had since fled what remained of them. The gestalt lifted its hands as green flames danced across its skeletal frame. “Your souls are ours.”
A few minutes later, the hands of the Harbinger dropped to its sides as the final vestiges of the monument faded.
Powdered omnilium floated in the air where the remains of the concrete and stone cross had once been. In time, the Fountain would renew itself and the damage to the Nexus would vanish into memory.
Trailed by the Rathalos, the Harbinger turned and departed. By the time it reached the halfway marker between the epicenter of the Nexus and the gate to the Pale Moors, there were four men walking in tandem. They shared no looks. No high fives. No smug sneers.
There was only silence and the memory that none of them would forget what it had been like to taste the power of the gods.
With that, Yu Kanda stumbled backwards, his eyes a blend of confusion and fury as he tried to work through the metaphorical stars swirling around his head. Before the warrior could bring his blades back to bear, he heard the thunderous crack of a bolter pistol. A moment later, a chunk of the exorcist’s shoulder exploded into a wet cloud of blood, sinew, and flecks of bone. By the time his knees had hit the floor of the Nexus, Kanda was spouting blood from two more places on his chest.
The plague marine lowered his bolter just in time for Ryner to jump him from behind. The young man clawed at the armored soldier for a few moments before a gauntleted fist closed around his shoulder and squeezed. For his part, Ryner withheld a scream just long enough for a battered, half-conscious Orihime to launch herself at Okor like a human spear. While he was shuddered by the woman’s sudden assault, the marine remained upright and swiftly responded with the barrel of his weapon.
Removed from the immediate battle, Gamzee had managed to catch his breath, but before he make his mark felt, he saw the shadow befall him. A beat later, a serrated Rathalos claw tore through his abdomen, lifting him a few inches from the ground before he was thrown at the Harbinger’s feet.
“All things must end.” The gestalt spoke as it lifted its hands up into the air. Those with the faculties remaining to do so watched as chunks of the shattered fountain and broken pieces of the floor wiggled a few times before lifting up off the ground.
Blanketed by a faint yellow glow, the now airborne pieces of debris swirled around the Harbinger before they started to settle near the remains of the Fountain of Infinity. Chunks of gray stone and the white material of the Nexus stacked upon themselves before being held together by sections of the metal material that had once controlled the flow of the fountain’s water. In a matter of moments, the debris had been crudely stitched together into an unevenly shaped cross that would have cast a long shadow had there been a sun in the Nexus.
A mockery of any real religious icon, the cross bled yellow and green vapors into the air. It was almost as if the blasphemous thing was infecting the world around it.
Even though he was bleeding out, Kanda managed to grasp his katana with both of his hands. He dragged his battered carcass up to his feet and glared at the monster that stood before him. “Your existence should offend any rational individual,” the exorcist rasped before throwing him at the gestalt. There was a fleeting moment when it seemed that the Harbinger wasn’t going to defend itself, but then the sword stopped harshly in the air. Halfway up the weapon, a bony hand was clasped around it.
“Your existence offends us.” The monster’s voice echoed as it squeezed down on the katana. What followed was the dreadful sound of metal breaking apart as if it were made of wood. As Kanda stumbled forward, he could only watch with muted horror as the shattered end of his own weapon was thrust through his left lung.
Fresh blood started to sputter from around the blade as the exorcist felt his knees buckle beneath him. Instead of the ground, he was stopped by a skeletal hand closing once more around his throat. With a swift motion, the Harbinger spun and slammed Kanda against the central shaft of the cross. A beat later, Kanda felt one more sunburst of agony as the other half of his sword was driven through his heart and into the stone behind him, pinning him to the Harbinger’s monument.
Turning toward the sound of gunfire, the Harbinger watched for a few moments as Okor tried to gun down his two adversaries. When the marine didn’t quickly dispatch the two fighters, the gestalt willed a hardlight chain into existence and lashed out at the woman. Already mangled and focused on her adversary, Orihime never saw the chain coming, and by the time she could grab at the warm construct around her neck, she was already being dragged back to the Harbinger.
Eyes wide, the young woman struggled against the pull of the chain, but fate was moving too quickly against her. A hammer swung down, and just like that, she lost any remaining feeling in her right hand. The chain vanished, but before she could find a scream, a hand closed around her jaw. Viciously pulled up onto her feet, Orihime swung with her good arm in vain as another hand grabbed at the clips she wore in her hair. With little regard for the rest of her head, the Harbinger tore the clips out along with a fistful of red locks.
“Leave us.” The creature spoke as it jammed its fist through the woman’s ribcage and stabbed the accessories through her heart. A beat later, it lifted her form the ground and dumped her over the right arm of the cross. With a sharp turn, the Harbinger grabbed Ryner’s outstretched hand and wrenched it sideways. The young man got halfway through a scream before he was thrown to the ground and taken out of his misery with a thunderous, skull-shattering hammer blow. Grabbing hold of the shattered head of the man, the Harbinger lifted up the corpse and draped it over the other side of the cross.
The Rathalos took that moment to let out a deafening roar as she rolled Gamzee’s half-conscious body over to her master.
“We would be lying,” the Harbinger spoke as it lifted the horned man up to his feet with a bony fist. “If we said this didn’t bring some of us some pleasure.” Red shimmered through the aura of the Harbinger as it summoned one of Gamzee’s deuce clubs into its free hand. The first blow was enough to break the bone, but the monster continued until the majority of the face had been bludgeoned away from the shattered bone underneath. The last dull thud of club upon broken skull snapped away one of Gamzee’s horns.
With the man limp in its grip, the Harbinger turned and tossed the corpse at Yu Kanda’s feet. As it glanced to its side, the gestalt saw the ninja’s sword lying on the ground. A lazy hand gesture from the Harbinger caused the katana to telekinetically skip across the ravaged floor of the Nexus before coming to rest at the feet of the plague marine. Neither the armored juggernaut nor the burning gestalt needed to exchange words. Despite their lack of visible facial features, they understood the transaction that had just taken place.
With that, Harbinger turned to face the corpse-coated effigy. Fresh blood soaked the cross from the bodies staked or draped over it. Any life that remained in the primes had since fled what remained of them. The gestalt lifted its hands as green flames danced across its skeletal frame. “Your souls are ours.”
***
A few minutes later, the hands of the Harbinger dropped to its sides as the final vestiges of the monument faded.
Powdered omnilium floated in the air where the remains of the concrete and stone cross had once been. In time, the Fountain would renew itself and the damage to the Nexus would vanish into memory.
Trailed by the Rathalos, the Harbinger turned and departed. By the time it reached the halfway marker between the epicenter of the Nexus and the gate to the Pale Moors, there were four men walking in tandem. They shared no looks. No high fives. No smug sneers.
There was only silence and the memory that none of them would forget what it had been like to taste the power of the gods.
Quote:Okor gets the Blade of Kurnisagaflagaharashai
Shang Tsung receives the Golden Rathian Egg
Magus receives the Silver Rathalos Egg
Gamzee, Ryner, Orihime, and Yu Kanda were killed