Descent [Dark Data]

[Lord Zedd]

For ten thousand years, Lord Zedd had been the terror of the known universe. He conquered and enslaved many worlds all across multiple galaxies, and waged war against countless armies. Despite what image he currently portrayed, completely out of his element and at the edge of desperation, he was actually quite brilliant. To rule over these worlds he learned about them, studied them thoroughly, and mastered their customs. Sometimes it paid off in the form of utilizing a unique military strategy, other times it allowed him to properly anticipate what a society might do against him.

This time, however, his deep knowledge of countless cultures allowed him to hurl expletives in dozens of languages during his short, spiraling trip away from the upgraded Cyberman. He crashed down in a smoking heap beside his allies, lying still only long enough to process the situation. After that, he defaulted to his neutral emotion: unbridled rage.

“Uh,” Morene stuttered for a second as she watched Jak reach a helping hand down to Zedd. “Are you okay?”

“Insolent maggot!” Zedd roared as he climbed to his feet, brushing aside Jak’s assistance.

“DE-LETE,” the Cyberman repeated as its arm raised once more.

“If you must beg for your end…!” Zedd screamed back at it, snapping his staff upwards.

The two released their attacks at the same time, and they yet again exploded on contact. The shockwave was thrown entirely in Zedd’s direction, forcing him to brace himself to prevent being ripped off his feet. He was loathe to admit that repeated instances of that exchange would not bode well for him.

“Dispatch this pile of scrap!” Zedd bellowed to his teammates as the rush of energy died down, only to look around and see that they had already departed from his side. Good.

He marched forward with a brisk and deliberate pace, watching as the Cyberman fielded attacks from all sides. He studied its motions carefully, as well it its reactions to the primes’ attacks. The upgraded darkling was monstrously powerful, but the previous exchange had already told Zedd that. Just the same, it was taking blows quite well. The one thing Zedd spotted was its slower and sloppier technique. That was what enabled his allies to run literal circles around it during their assault. That was how Zedd would contribute.

“Do not take his strikes!” Zedd ordered, raising his staff in both hands as he closed the gap completely. “Stay mobile!”

Zedd swung at the darkling with his staff, catching it on the side of the head and causing it to turn ever so slightly. The robot seemed almost annoyed at Zedd’s return to the battle, but the dark lord merely swung another blow, knocking its head the other way this time. The Nebula minion had enough by then, and struck at Zedd with its arm cannon. Zedd blocked it with his staff, but was unable to stop a second strike from connecting with his face from its other hand. He stepped back and gave a hard glare at the infected machine.

Too angry to even muster up a taunt this time, Zedd swung straight downwards with his staff, catching the arm cannon inside the ‘Z’ shape at the top. With the darkling’s arm caught, Zedd pinned it to the ground and held its greatest weapon out of play. The darkling tried to pull against it, but Zedd’s leverage kept it stuck in place, if only for a moment. But that was a long time in a fight like this.

“Kill it!” Zedd roared to his companions, only hoping they would appreciate and utilize this moment of opportunity.

612 words. Zedd used his staff and Volt.