The Desert is Cold in the Dark [Dark Data]

[Nebula]

Y’all are insane. You took this idea and … jeez, you ran with it. Seriously, great writing all.

Forgot to add damage last time, so damage for this round will total at 4 each. (around 2 each for the last two rounds)

The skeleton’s hollow laughter echoed across the walls of the giant, four-pillared room in which they stood. Now that the trio found themselves looking around for the origin point of the laughter, they could see that it was built for something big.

Sand drifted across the floor to the centre of the arena, as though pulled by magnetic force. The warriors watched with trepidation as it began to pool. Words weren’t needed, but Jimmy nonetheless elucidated what they were all thinking:

“Aw, shit.”

The brightness was almost blinding at the centre of the colosseum where the sand had started to pile up, as though it had been the source of the constant, debilitating ‘darklight’ all along.

And then there was this asshole.

The gunslinger appeared from a slot in the stone wall behind them, raining down a hail of shots as it flipped overhead. Even as it did so, it split into three of itself, each cartwheeling outwards as they shot more bullets.

The trio split, ducking and rolling between buckshot, swearing as it grazed their arms and legs. There were staircases around the room that lead to an upper area, free of sand, that seemed to almost be a viewing platform (if any part of this labyrinth had a definite or common-sense use). It had a bridge across it, which they stopped on, only to view the mound that was forming in the sunken ‘arena’ below.

“Was there this much sand in the room before?” questioned Ogong, though he already knew the answer to his question.

“No,” said Somerled. “This must’ve been spread throughout the whole labyrinth.”

The gunslingers cackled on cue with their realisation, even as the mound continued to grow, splitting into three. But unlike the gunslinger, these three mounds were not identical. The one in the middle, had formed a hard face, almost like a tiki totem in appearance. The outer two had formed into two giant fists, each equal in size to the head. Any one of the mounds could have dwarfed the warriors.

And as if to prove that, one of the fists suddenly raised up, as though lifted by an unseen force, and lurched towards the bridge upon which they stood.

Darkloid time, baby.



DESERTMAN.EXE

More of a force of nature than a combatant. It might seem at first that Desertman.exe cannot be damaged, as it has powerful regenerative capabilities and doesn’t seem to care that much when parts of its face or fingers go missing. But it’s mortal, and can be destroyed with enough damage. That will not be easy, however.

ATK: 7
DEF: 10
SPD: 2
TEC: 1

Powers: Survival, Advanced Regeneration, Malleability, Dissassemble, Shapeshifting, Mimic

Moves:

Monster Mimic
Sandman creates a sand-version of one of you, still attached to himself and only copying the general shape of you in order to use your abilities. These are crude imitations based on Sandman.exe’s limited imagination, and so you may find them to be … lacking or outright dumb. You may even question “why would Sandman.exe copy a silly gun when he can just smash”. But listen. I never said he was smart.

He may also create a giant version of one of you, if this occurs to him. Basically, Sandman’s powers are largely limited by his imagination. As the fight goes on, he may gradually come up with “smarter” ways to use his abilities.

As with the Dusted Gunslinger, feel free to innovate and build on what I’ve put here. You did amazingly well with the last round, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Oh, and the Dusted Gunslinger is still here. He’s used his SP to form two physical copies of himself as assists, but they’re only half as strong as the real one. He might make more, or he might use his SP on other ventures … depends what he feels like.

You have three rounds. Each round lasts four OOC days. You have one post per round, which may be as long as you like, but please, no gargantuaposts. Around 1200 words is about my limit.

For my own purposes, this means: Greg, this round ends on the 28th, at 6am GMT.