08-12-2016, 05:32 AM
The burgundy beast stood aside the hulking automaton, watching as Christa quite literally breathed life into the fallen gunman. He felt a sense of weird déjà vu watching her pound on Abner’s chest just as the feline had done for her what felt like forever ago. Before he could stop to appreciate the symbolism or poetic irony in her actions, Nanaki caught sight of the group of pursing ghouls, now tearing their way down the hallway with nightmarish vigor. The majority of the members of their ragtag ensemble had since skedaddled up the stairs, leaving the lovers, the tin man, and the lion. Red drew a deep breath into his raw lungs. What a time for courage.
“Let me out and hold the door closed behind me,” the fiery feline commanded, cocking his head to look up at Colonel as Abner began to stir.
A pause. The machine stared back at him, then down at his ailing comrade and the crippled huntress. “Understood,” he monotoned, pulling the door open and ushering him through. Without a second thought, the beast bounded down the rickety stairwell to the sound of the encroaching horde.
He stood once more upon the shellacked woodwork of the first level, at the base of the stairs, calmly staring down the veritable tidal wave of roiling rot pouring toward him. Red would need to buy them time, to put down as many as possible in an effort to grant them the breathing room to get what they needed. His last stand. The eggshell-painted walls, the smell of dust and disinfectant, the absolute mundanity of the décor. The shrieks and groans of the undead, the aroma of rotting meat. Juxtaposition alone was almost enough to bring a smile to his face- Almost.
“Father,” Nanaki muttered to himself, licking his chapped lips. He flexed his overtaxed muscles, willing whatever strength he had left into his impossibly tired appendages. He couldn’t make out the sounds of Karl and his crew in the room above, the clamor of the pursuing zombie horde replacing all sound. It wouldn’t be long. His thoughts fell back to Cosmo Canyon, to the day his father left his wife and son to stop the Gi tribe’s surprise assault. A proud, regal beast, standing alone against a horde not unlike the one he now faced. “I wonder if this is how you felt.”
“Red!” The call came from above, barely audible over the flood. Perhaps he had imagined it. “RED!”
The beast sighed, releasing a breath slowly through his nose. An honorable death. To lay down his life in the lonely crumbling document repository, to stem the flow of death that would otherwise rise up and tear at the Primes above. Would that be sufficient penance? Would the sacrifice make him worthy to carry the name his father had gifted him? He couldn’t know; he had denied his title as the son of Seto for so long, perhaps he was beyond forgiveness. As the furor of the horde reached a fever pitch he sighed once more. He wouldn’t have a chance to find out. Not here.
With his end in sight Nanaki threw back his head, his mane whipping in the dusty, stagnant air. A haunting howl leapt from his throat and echoed through the halls, carrying over the leprous legion’s cacophony despite their volume. His call carried throughout the building, bearing with it his resolve. As the first rotwalker reached its greedy hand forward to dig a jagged phalanx into the carmine cat’s coat, the windows shattered.
A cascade of light streamed through the high windows, motes of radiant luminescence bombarding the rushing crowd and detonating on contact. A sea of glitter erupted before the roaring lion, the sounds of the ailing dead cut short as the otherworldly bolts tore through their flesh, vaporizing the gore and leaving only ash. The tight hallway was blanketed in blinding light as the Stardust Ray ate away at the decaying humanoids. Seconds later the missiles began to cease, darkness encroaching once more.
“I hope...” Red said through panting breaths, feeling his knees on the verge of buckling. “That you’d be proud of me.”
The hallway had fallen silent, chunks of charred gore littering the hallway among piles of ash. Night had reclaimed the building once more, leaving but a few twinkling streetlights outside to shed a ghostly light through the shattered panes. Shakily, Red turned placing his paw on the first stair. He lifted the second to follow, his heart plummeting in his chest as a raucous roar boomed down the ruined hallway. The scarlet predator slowly turned his ocher optic to gaze down the corridor at the familiar silhouette of the zombified colossus, now bearing full-tilt down the passageway. Whatever otherworldly force that was sustaining the macabre creature had given it ample strength to make chase despite missing entire pieces of its body.
“Not...done,” Nanaki choked out, clamoring up the first few stairs to the landing. He made an about-face, breathing heavily. Not much left.
As the rotting giant came ever near, a peculiar noise met Red’s ears. Though at first quiet and far-off, it soon became undeniable. The bizarre shrieking made him freeze in place, his limbs stock still as if frozen by a banshee’s cry. Had yet another malevolent machination staked their claim on the squadron of Primes? The burgundy beast had little time to ponder this as the rotting leviathan reached the stairs, raising its mammoth fists skyward as what passed for a mouth warped into a smile.
The monster’s grin was fleeting, quickly falling away as a projectile streamed through the now open window and collided with the fiend. A wet crunch signaled penetration as the lance of God plunged into gray matter. As if in celebration of victory the lance’s end erupted into flames, showering crimson fireflies in a high arc. The impaled colossus cried out in what Red could only assume was a mixture of surprise and agony as it fell forward, crashing through the rickety stairs as it fell upon its own weight.
With strength that came only from dodging death, the burgundy beast leapt out of the way of the falling titan. He hastily scampered up the stairs as the woodwork, now unsupported, began to crumple. Faster than he ever knew himself to be, he reached the top of the staircase and flung himself through the doorway as the stairwell tore itself loose and crashed down upon the flooring.
“Oh hey, Clifford’s back.” The jumpsuited mercenary waved cordially at the exhausted feline as Colonel slammed the door shut once more.
“Back...to what…?” Nanaki panted, desperately swallowing breaths. He could hear his heart hammering in his ears, but thankfully nothing from the rubble below.
“Good timing,” Karl said, gesturing to a nearby door. “We’ve found our room.”
“Let me out and hold the door closed behind me,” the fiery feline commanded, cocking his head to look up at Colonel as Abner began to stir.
A pause. The machine stared back at him, then down at his ailing comrade and the crippled huntress. “Understood,” he monotoned, pulling the door open and ushering him through. Without a second thought, the beast bounded down the rickety stairwell to the sound of the encroaching horde.
He stood once more upon the shellacked woodwork of the first level, at the base of the stairs, calmly staring down the veritable tidal wave of roiling rot pouring toward him. Red would need to buy them time, to put down as many as possible in an effort to grant them the breathing room to get what they needed. His last stand. The eggshell-painted walls, the smell of dust and disinfectant, the absolute mundanity of the décor. The shrieks and groans of the undead, the aroma of rotting meat. Juxtaposition alone was almost enough to bring a smile to his face- Almost.
“Father,” Nanaki muttered to himself, licking his chapped lips. He flexed his overtaxed muscles, willing whatever strength he had left into his impossibly tired appendages. He couldn’t make out the sounds of Karl and his crew in the room above, the clamor of the pursuing zombie horde replacing all sound. It wouldn’t be long. His thoughts fell back to Cosmo Canyon, to the day his father left his wife and son to stop the Gi tribe’s surprise assault. A proud, regal beast, standing alone against a horde not unlike the one he now faced. “I wonder if this is how you felt.”
“Red!” The call came from above, barely audible over the flood. Perhaps he had imagined it. “RED!”
The beast sighed, releasing a breath slowly through his nose. An honorable death. To lay down his life in the lonely crumbling document repository, to stem the flow of death that would otherwise rise up and tear at the Primes above. Would that be sufficient penance? Would the sacrifice make him worthy to carry the name his father had gifted him? He couldn’t know; he had denied his title as the son of Seto for so long, perhaps he was beyond forgiveness. As the furor of the horde reached a fever pitch he sighed once more. He wouldn’t have a chance to find out. Not here.
With his end in sight Nanaki threw back his head, his mane whipping in the dusty, stagnant air. A haunting howl leapt from his throat and echoed through the halls, carrying over the leprous legion’s cacophony despite their volume. His call carried throughout the building, bearing with it his resolve. As the first rotwalker reached its greedy hand forward to dig a jagged phalanx into the carmine cat’s coat, the windows shattered.
A cascade of light streamed through the high windows, motes of radiant luminescence bombarding the rushing crowd and detonating on contact. A sea of glitter erupted before the roaring lion, the sounds of the ailing dead cut short as the otherworldly bolts tore through their flesh, vaporizing the gore and leaving only ash. The tight hallway was blanketed in blinding light as the Stardust Ray ate away at the decaying humanoids. Seconds later the missiles began to cease, darkness encroaching once more.
“I hope...” Red said through panting breaths, feeling his knees on the verge of buckling. “That you’d be proud of me.”
The hallway had fallen silent, chunks of charred gore littering the hallway among piles of ash. Night had reclaimed the building once more, leaving but a few twinkling streetlights outside to shed a ghostly light through the shattered panes. Shakily, Red turned placing his paw on the first stair. He lifted the second to follow, his heart plummeting in his chest as a raucous roar boomed down the ruined hallway. The scarlet predator slowly turned his ocher optic to gaze down the corridor at the familiar silhouette of the zombified colossus, now bearing full-tilt down the passageway. Whatever otherworldly force that was sustaining the macabre creature had given it ample strength to make chase despite missing entire pieces of its body.
“Not...done,” Nanaki choked out, clamoring up the first few stairs to the landing. He made an about-face, breathing heavily. Not much left.
As the rotting giant came ever near, a peculiar noise met Red’s ears. Though at first quiet and far-off, it soon became undeniable. The bizarre shrieking made him freeze in place, his limbs stock still as if frozen by a banshee’s cry. Had yet another malevolent machination staked their claim on the squadron of Primes? The burgundy beast had little time to ponder this as the rotting leviathan reached the stairs, raising its mammoth fists skyward as what passed for a mouth warped into a smile.
The monster’s grin was fleeting, quickly falling away as a projectile streamed through the now open window and collided with the fiend. A wet crunch signaled penetration as the lance of God plunged into gray matter. As if in celebration of victory the lance’s end erupted into flames, showering crimson fireflies in a high arc. The impaled colossus cried out in what Red could only assume was a mixture of surprise and agony as it fell forward, crashing through the rickety stairs as it fell upon its own weight.
With strength that came only from dodging death, the burgundy beast leapt out of the way of the falling titan. He hastily scampered up the stairs as the woodwork, now unsupported, began to crumple. Faster than he ever knew himself to be, he reached the top of the staircase and flung himself through the doorway as the stairwell tore itself loose and crashed down upon the flooring.
“Oh hey, Clifford’s back.” The jumpsuited mercenary waved cordially at the exhausted feline as Colonel slammed the door shut once more.
“Back...to what…?” Nanaki panted, desperately swallowing breaths. He could hear his heart hammering in his ears, but thankfully nothing from the rubble below.
“Good timing,” Karl said, gesturing to a nearby door. “We’ve found our room.”
Quote:Used Stardust Ray: Tier-1 Super. 3/4 SP remaining
2384 words, both posts.
COFFEE IS FOR CLOSERS.
Also the rocket at the end was Gin's doing, if that wasn't obvious.
![[Image: G3vODOp.png]](http://i.imgur.com/G3vODOp.png)
![[Image: oQAQ9Jn.png]](http://i.imgur.com/oQAQ9Jn.png)
![[Image: sfSJ19f.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/sfSJ19f.jpg)