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Mehir has followed the old man, grumbling with each gravity change. He sheathed his scimitar, but did not dismiss the mystical energy that spun lazily around his other hand.
"Sometimes you just have to let go," said Galen. "Sometimes we have no choice but to give up... Do not grieve for you failure. We all fail sometimes... I spent most of my life as a slave to the Dark Side." He put his hand on Link's shoulder. "I have no doubt that you did the best you could, Link; there is not much you can do to save an entire world. Still, you have healed Tyrell, at your own expense. Do not grieve." The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground
At the knowledge that they were being searched for, Garland redoubled his vigil. As much as he wanted to fight off all the guards, his guide apparently thought that stealth was the better option, and if that was his thoughts despite being surrounded by hardened warriors, he must have a point.
When they reached the wall of doors, Garland looked at it for a moment, wondering how many places it linked to, before following the old man through the one he had indicated.
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in.
After gurgling incoherently for a few minutes Tyrell ran to the most normal looking person he could see and grabbed his shoulders.
"She's a pony! She talks! I can never eat meat again! DID YOU SEE THAT!?" Tyrell shouted at the space marine and pointed to Fluttershy, "The pony talks! Food isn't supposed to talk! Are we in the Fey Realm?!"
As Grievous stood atop the tall pile of crystals, he felt a beefy finger tap him on the shoulder.
Henshin Hopeful
Yaguruma looked out at the other champions squabbling, and allowed himself a brief smirk.
"They're not powerful enough... They need to work together if they want to avoid being dragged into hell... Like I was..."
Wakka-wakka-wakka-wakka~
The Crystalline City...
"I am aware of how horses reproduce, mutant," Sergeant Damballah replied, a faint note of irritation creeping into his vox-distorted words. So this Fluttershy had apparently been born naturally; he could not decide whether that fact made things easier or more difficult to tolerate.
It was at that point that the red-haired youth ran up to Damballah, seized the Space Marine by his shoulders and began screaming directly into his face. At first Damballah thought that this fool was attacking him in a fit of madness, and had he not quickly realized that this person was evidently greatly perturbed and dismayed to learn of the existence of sapient livestock, the Salamander would have caved his assailant's skull in with a quick elbow strike to the face. Be that as it may, the green-armoured Astartes was hardly gentle in his actual treatment of the gibbering, ginger-haired lunatic; taking one hand away from his lowered bolter, Damballah placed an armoured palm on the center of Tyrell's chest and gave the man a light shove—yet from a Space Marine, even this simple gesture was more than powerful enough to knock Tyrell prone.
"Calm down," he ordered as he pushed Tyrell away. "Yes, a talking horse is a most unusual sight, but it is hardly cause for a mental breakdown. Now get ahold of yourself; there is danger in this place, and you must have your wits about you if you wish to survive."
With this command issued, the Salamanders Sergeant turned his attention to the Eurasian youth, unimpressed by the boy's attempt to strike a dramatic pose. "Well met, young Shotaro. I am afraid that I am unfamiliar with these...'Ka-man Rider Jokers'; if such an organization exists where I come from, then I have not heard of it. Nevertheless, I suppose some manner of introduction on my part is in order...my name is Damballah Hekatonkyres, and I am one of the Adeptus Astartes—or, as we are more commonly known to the citizens of the Imperium, the Space Marines."
The Danse Macabre Codex
Aww, son of a bitch
I looked up at the kid, tilting my head as far as the suit would allow. Which wasn't very much. The kid was Chinese, or Japanese I could never tell the difference, and dressed up like some kinda' gumshoe. He seemed a little young for that kinda' work, though. Had a nice hat. Said somethin' about Delta bein' a good name for a Rider whatever the Hell that meant. The horse, Fluttershy was her name, started hidin' behind the kid's leg. I shook my head and groaned. I turned around to give the big galoot a kinda' glare from behind the visor, though he couldn't see it, then turned back to her.
Stowing the drill away, I reached out with my now free right hand and gestured her over. It was a coaxin' gesture, lettin' 'er know I didn't mean any harm. Wherever she was from, it sounded like... things like her were natural. Alternate dimensions? Probably. The galoot introduced himself, called himself a Space Marine. Sounded pretty self-explanatory. He said his name was Dumbo-somethin'-or-other. Fucked if I know.
edited 3rd Oct '11 11:13:56 AM by Bindlestick
"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably
Grievous looked over his shoulder.
“What?”
Then he heard the Space Marine's little introduction. An Imperium? Clearly an Empire of some kind. Marine was usually a term for a ship-board soldier. So perhaps they specialized in zero-g combat. He would remember that.
Emissary of the Void
Xigbar notices the nearby people introduce themselves for the most part. He just silently watches their interactions nearby them from his current position. "Well, might as well get a closer look at them." The Freeshooter mutters, warping over to their location, still standing in the air.
[DATA LOST]
"Likewise, I don't know of these Space Marines, but they ring closely to Kamen Riders. Pleased to meet you Damballah. I hope you provide us assistance in these "challenges". The last one we did was a doozy." Shotaro said to Damballah.
Figure of Hourai
Great. Even the diving suit robot man thought this was completely sensible. Fine, she'd turn her back on him and this stupid, seemingly drug-induced madness... even if that did mean leaning on Delta for convenience's sake. I wouldn't mind the idiot being in control... she's just as much a hallucination as the rest of them.
Nyu, regrettably, didn't respond.
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"Hello, creepy cyborg citizen. Not planning any crimes today, I hope? After all, you don't exactly look like a villain, all hunched over and watching from afar."
The Tick was being subtle.
Wild Horse
"..." Gunner was looking at the pegasus like it was something straight out of a movie. "Impossible... the unicorns and pegasi, they only come in times of great harmony and peace..." She muttered. The arrival of one in front of soldiers and mercenaries should not be possible.
edited 3rd Oct '11 12:23:11 PM by GreyStar
Always be ready to do the unusual and unexpected.
"Um, hello," Fluttershy quietly greeted Damballah. "I'm actually a pony," she corrected the space marine, her answer slightly above that of a whisper.
Then Delta gently gestured to her. It was just like the same way she would coax over little animals. The pegasus gently smiled and walked over to Delta. The large man in the diving suit did not seem so bad to her....
edited 3rd Oct '11 1:28:44 PM by UdtheImp
DAMMIT MARK, STOP HOTTING HELPY!!
Aww, son of a bitch
Fluttershy started walkin' over to me. Huh. Din't actually expect that to work. I look 'er over again. There was somethin' about her that reminded me of the Sisters. I guess you could call it... cute? Heh. 'Cute'. That's not a word you hear me use every day. I kinda' stared for a couple seconds, kneelin', lookin' into those blue eyes that looked like they took up alomst a third of 'er head. If you could see past the helmet, which you probably couldn't since I doubt you're some kinda' comicbook hero, you'd see me smilin' with mangled lips. I could almost feel some of the leathery skin on my face cracking. After a few seconds of throught, I reached over and petted her.
Like a cat, I mean. Just ran a greasy, gloved hand over her mane, real gentle-like. Didn't want to pull anything out by mistake, ya' know.
"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably
Figure of Hourai
Great. It's pink and yellow, looks nothing like any real animal, has wings, and it can talk. What's going to crop up next, a talking ferret that turns into a boy that looks like a girl? Kaeded wondered, adjusting her balance in order to avoid falling over when Delta bent down. Maybe she ought to just try sleeping... it had been years since she had slept rough, even for a night, but she was sure that she could do it. If nothing else, the sheer stupidity of the situation was incentive to try...
edited 3rd Oct '11 2:37:49 PM by RainehDaze
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Galen was trying to help him, he knew. But his statement about the Dark Side, about failure and letting go of your mistakes - well, that only complicated matters while answering nothing.
Still, Link decided that he would take it in his stride. He would let go of the matter for now, though the questions still swirled around in his head like a chaotic whirlpool, carrying away his confidence, his morality and sense of self-worth piece by piece. Slowly, he closed his eyes and willed the waters to be still.
The tumult died down. He could think clearly for the moment. Getting to his feet, he smiled at the specter before him. “Thank you, Galen. I see it now. I will let go and face the future with a clear mind. You have shown me that.”
“Goodbye, till we meet again.” Without adding another word to this admittedly curt farewell, he turned and began walking to where the rest had gone. Apparently, some sort of violence had broken out, which should have held his attention for a while in any other case - but despite his best efforts to the contrary, his mind kept going back to the words he had spoken to Galen.
Lies. Utter lies. He had experienced no epiphany of the sort – the doubts were still there, lurking somewhere beneath the surface of his subconscious, waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Ignoring them was merely a temporary solution, a tactic he had used to put the ghost at ease somewhat and to remove from the spirit’s shoulders the burden that only he himself could carry, and that only he himself could put down. He saw it now.
One day, he would have to face the storm again. He could only hope that when that time came around he would be better prepared. He stepped up next to Tyrell, helping him up and looking up at the hulking, green armored figure of the Space Marine, eyes undaunted at his fearsome appearance. It was a newcomer, it seemed – but he didn’t look too hostile, even though he had knocked Tyrell over. At least he wasn’t pointing that massive gun at them. He decided simply to ask a polite question, and not give any overt expression of hostility – which in fact he did feel slightly. Pushing over an ally was not a good way to make a favorable impression on people.
“Was pushing him really necessary, sir?” he asked.
edited 3rd Oct '11 2:42:18 PM by troydenite
Grievous simply stared at the ridiculous looking humanoid. And then turned away with a long suffering sigh. He stalked down the crystal, concealing his still connected arms inside his cape. He really didn't have the patience to put up with beings like that.
Erio sighed again and stepped through the portal behind the others, hoping that he would at least come out of this one the right way up.
"Yup. That tasted purple."
Hmm, this isn't getting me anywhere. I wonder what he's looking at. The Tick tried to look over Grievous' shoulder, stretching his neck higher and higher, and leaning dangerously against Grievous.
Grievous had, up till this point, managed to keep hold of his temper.
Until that blue colored human had decided to get a wee bit too close. Remember something of the anatomy of humans, Grievous, quick as a flash, snapped his fist up and backwards, aiming to smash his mechanical knuckles into the nose of the human being that was leaning over his shoulder.
“Bug off” he rasped.
Wild Horse
And done... Gunner looked pleased with herself as she scanned Grievous with her Satellot, adding his armor and lightsaber designs to her dataspace. Now she could graft together new robots with the parts she had in her hyperspace arsenal.
So much tech... Feels so right... She looked rather happy as she got some new toys.
Always be ready to do the unusual and unexpected.
Clutching his nose, the Tick fell over backwards and plummeted from his perch. With a great thud he landed, leaving a crater in the ground.
"Ugh...I've said it before, and I'll say it again: gravity is a harsh mistress."
The Crystalline City...
The Salamander found Shotaro's assertion that these Ka-man Riders were at all similar to the warriors of the Adeptus Astartes an unlikely prospect to say the very least, given the boy's evident lack of genetic enhancements or a bearing that spoke of rigid discipline; yet he refrained from voicing his disagreement, far more interested in the last words to escape the boy's mouth.
"'Challenges', you say?"
At that point, a curious youth dressed primarily in green raiments called out to him, and the Space Marine turned to regard him with his red-visored gaze.
"This is a warzone, young man," Sergeant Damballah said to Link, glancing at the Hylian youth as he spoke; a frown of disapproval, unseen behind his scowling helm, spread across the Space Marine's face as he took in the boy's pointed ears and rustic weaponry. Some feudal worlder suffering from a mild form of mutation, perhaps? "We must remain alert, and thus we cannot afford to waist time with hysteria of the sort he just demonstrated. In addition, I made an effort not to hurt him to any real extent...which is a great deal more consideration than he would have gotten had I been of a different Chapter.
"But that is neither here nor there. Judging from the small arsenal slung over your shoulders, it seems self-evident that you are a warrior of some sort; what is your name and designation?"
The Danse Macabre Codex
"Groan if you're finding this as ridiculous as I am." Kaede said, staring at... well, everything. The Gunner was implausibly heavily armed but possible; Delta's existence not entirely surprising given the over the top nature of the labs she had seen, a diving suit robot thing wasn't too unlikely. Cletus? Completely logical.
An ugly cyborg with too many arms, a talking horse... thing that she was certain should be killed at a later date, and the giant suited... thing were all verging on ridiculous. Everyone else? Background details.
She hated this place. Maybe the drugs had finally gotten to her? It was only a matter of time, after all...
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