An Ordinary Oddball
Cain (2)
"Perhaps you should be asking that of your master instead...he who casts the first stone..." Cain muttered, letting the flames wash over him. Though he was charring and burning, that meant the archangel would also char and burn, due to the unique nature of his curse. It encouraged him to sacrifice his sure footing to have a chance at a killing blow.
And he did. One wrong move and he'd fall and go splat. But he hung onto the archangel like a limpet and attempted to clamp his teeth into the divine flesh of the thing—and drink deeply.
Edited by JumpingFruit on Feb 16th 2020 at 9:27:23 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Zach - Squad 1 (Somewhere in town)
It was easy to maintain a sense of identity in these trying times. It was easy to blank out and never go too far in his actions. Lift this guy up, throw him into his friends, grab their weapons and chucke them as far and hard as he could. Afterwards, knock them out and be done with it.
Simple. Easy. Almost mindless in it's actions.
Just keep this up and let everyone else take care of the big wigs. He'd handle the forces down here. He didn't need to worry about being "overwhelmed", he could handle massive amounts of bad guys and he'd-
A streak of light above caught his eyes and he looked up.
Familiar coloration. Familiar tails. Familiar energy.
His eyes widened and he mouthed "Yoko?" in Surprise. Knowing she'd never see him from down here, he was curious why she shot right over him...and she was heading somewhere else.
She COULD possibly use his help. So using his tendril to snag the roof of a building, he began to swing his way towards her location.
Savior!Zach - The Harbor
Zach was having fun. His little tour of terror had brought him to the Harbor, leaving behind a cluster of unconcious, broken bodies behind him, limbs twisted mercilessly and the place scarred with streaks of black and red.
And now was the fun part here! The forces he'd chased here now cornered by the ocean. To anyone who knew of Zach's weakness would have been overjoyed here but less so for them. A small collection of special forces loomed over the water and turned their attention back to Zach-
-And he grabbed one of them by the leg and reeled back, throwing him as FAR as he could towards the ocean.
He landed with a far, far distant splash.
Grinning, Zach thought to himself, Personal best.
Two more tendrils swung out and grabbed another two by the leg, lifting them up by and preparing to fling them as well.
He sensed someone approaching.
Oh, someones.
He turned his attention, hoping for a good fight...when one of them showed up.
He recognized everyone about her. How could he not? She was on the forefront of his mind ever since. The tails. The ears. Her face. Her eyes. Her power.
He dropped the two and turned around slowly, and for a moment, he flickered into his Zach form.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd done that.
It lasted only a second though.
"Yoko?" He mouthed, as he took a step forward.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
AKA Nixer
Yoko – The Docks
Her farsight told her something was wrong even before she landed. But land she still did—cracking the ground beneath her a little— and cast her gaze over the mass of sentient ink that faintly registered as Zach. This did nothing but further her concerns, however.
The bodies behind him flat out caused alarm bells to ring inside her head.
“...Zach...?” she questioned fearfully, careful to pick her words. “...What is this...?”
The duplicate signature was fast approaching now, and she had a dreadful feeling that she had picked the wrong one. But she'd gained this Zach's attention, and if she had a chance of dissuading him...
She didn't know. Dread was weighing on her with each second. As a precaution one of her tails struck alight behind her, and she was careful to hide it from him.
It was around that time she remembered he wasn't stupid.
bork
Cole - Squad 3 (73)
Meanwhile, above the docks...
Cole flew about as he evaded six lighter weight fighter vessels associated with the Saviors - flying around in the air and dodging a rain of missiles coming after him, followed by blasting the missiles into a rain of scrap. He then snapped his fingers and shot a burst of light at them, momentarily connecting the six planes as he ducked under one of them...
The energy then flared bright and each of the vessels exploded. Cole looked around and saw that it looked like the battles were well underway and—-
Looking down, he swore - one of the Saviors - the one that looked like Zach - was within his range...and so was Yoko. So he couldn't launch any distanced attacks at this range. Not wasting any time, Cole flew down in a flash, not wanting to chance an encounter between the two.
Landing right between Savior Zach and the confused Yoko, Cole clenched a fist and turned his head briefly to address Yoko, "This isn't the Zach you know, Yoko, this one's a twisted Fascist from another world. He's here to dominate our world on behalf of General Tinpot up there..." He gestured at the main ship.
Cole then turned back to look at Savior Zach, and got into a fighting posture.
Ignis
Time to display my expertise...
A number of heavily armored forces of the Saviors promptly dropped to the ground suddenly weighed down by their armor, gravity bearing down on them heavier than should be possible. Standing atop a levitating ornate rock, Kenon Streiss felt that his brother was getting into a fight.
"That armor looked like it'd be difficult to penetrate...but now it'll just be your tombs."
I don't know why I'm surprised...
Looking around, he saw the opening phases of the fight between the Sams going on, and the armored figure crossed his arms in front of him. He'd intervene if Sam needed the help, which...going by the fact the Savior version seemed to be amplified in some way, might be the case.
It seemed that the Saviors were having their impact blunted - both Death Shaman and Mahvash had done quite some work withering the frontlines, letting the more battle inclined heroes take the field by storm.
...cannot believe I'm saying this, Ignis said via telepathic message to Cole, But do be careful you lout. I'm the only one who'll ever get to bury you.
Liam's thopters ceased their attack when it was clear that Ellie was in danger of being hit by them. However they then scattered from their area, and then flew through the air, continuing to lock on to Anti-Saint. The machines seemed to angle downward aiming at him, able to fire from most directions.
At this, Liam's voice came from the machines, "You know, I'd really have preferred NOT doing this. Lots of things I'd have preferred not doing. But I can't have anything get in the way of my research. My feelings included."
Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 16th 2020 at 7:25:59 AM
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Savior!Zach - The Docks
Her voice brought a brand new wave of life to him that he didn't know he could feel. It felt warm and happy, and he felt whole again. The smile that stretched across his face was less malicious and more...desperate. Seeking.
He started to take a step forward and ignored the tail she was trying to hide because she wouldn't dare try to hurt him would she-
When someone LITERALLY got in the way between the two of them.
The dimension hopper. He spun around and spoke ill of him right in front of him. His form bristled in anger and insult and he gave a low, quiet angry chitter. He wasn't going to let someone like him get in the middle of his life, of his goal, of his destiny.
If he wanted to fight, he would fucking FIGHT.
His body changed to be more battle ready. Spikes and claws and fangs and whips that lashed out and whipped against the ground, causing deep scars and rubble to kick up. Zach was more than ready for a fight. A fun fight. A fun fight to make everything-
Zach chose this awful time to come out and land right beside Yoko, his Super Hero Landing he'd been practicing finally paying off. He turned to Yoko immediately and rushed over, pulling her into a hug. He needed that hug, needed that from everything he'd had to do for the day. His gaze turned back to the other Zach and Cole and he turned to Yoko.
We should get out of here. He told her. Cole's more than got this covered, and the rest of the city could use a real power house like you, love.
It was funny, the kind of effect that the smallest, insignificant thing could have on someone. A bad day and something like bumping your knee into the table may have you send you into a rage that flips the coffee table over and destroys the living room.
For Savior!Zach, it was seeing another him, and another Yoko, and seeing them happy.
It hit him like a ton of bricks the cruelty of reality. How he'd lost everything, lost himself and was reduced to this twitching attack dog of Messiah's. How he'd been alone, with his thoughts and nothing else, thinking of the world of what could have been had he been strong enough. Happy, sane, with someone he loved, in a world he could fight for-
And he couldn't have that.
And this one got that.
He felt envy. Bitter anger. The world was not fair and he was just the punching bag of examples like that. His vision began to blur and his form shrank down to his basic shape before Cole, almost deflating, no longer wanting to fight.
But it wasn't him losing his drive.
No.
It was being enhanced.
That should have been HIM. That life should have been HIS. It shouldn't have been ripped away without his say, this should have been HIS. He fought for it. He suffered for it. Why shouldn't it be his!?
And suddenly the wind began to pick up. And it was subtle, but it was there.
It should all be mine. He whispered to himself in his head, an angry, vicious hiss. And it WILL all be mine. If I have nothing left to lose...
His eyes opened.
Then I have nothing left to lose.
What in the hell is he doing? Zach asked as he turned his attention to the other him, noticing before either Yoko or Cole the strange wind picking up. It felt like it was affecting him more than the other two, and it was a definite oddity. Maybe we should actually stay behind and-
He felt it before he saw it. He saw his right hand...well, the proper term he couldn't come up with but it was the same as "Sphagettifying", the effect when something is pulled towards a Black hole, it stretches to a noodle like shape and is spiraled into it. His hand was doing exactly that. His eyes went wide in panic as he stepped back, his arm beginning to be pulled out next, then to his shoulder.
He looked up in surprise and fear to Yoko, and be barely had a chance to write Yo before the rest of his body was pulled towards his doppelganger, his body stretched to a swirling ink like substance, with Savior!Zach having a strange gravitational pull.
It was new and something that the Zach never tried before. He often granted members of the saviors little balls of his ink to use as armor. It was simple as pulling it off them and adding them back to his body.
But this was new.
This was strong.
This was power.
The ink from the other Zach merged with his, and began to change. He folded in on himself, becoming less and less comprehensive to the human eye but growing and growing and growing before both of their eyes until it was large enough to be seen from the city itself as this massive, undulating ball of ink.
And then it took shape.
It stretched and elongated longer and longer until it was as long and as wide as the largest skyscraper in Super Hero city. And then it grew even longer and larger then. it resembled a snake at first appearance but given where it was, it more resembled a massive serpent rising out of the depths, like Jormungandr but made of it. It stretched wide and grew tall, and massive ink fangs grew in its titanic mouth. Its eyes opened, showing red pinpoints in ebony black holes, and colors danced across its body, giving it this strange radioactive coloration that raced down the side and then vanished into inky ebony blackness again.
It couldn't speak. Even the collective of its pieces it couldn't speak but the noise it could make, it could improvise. It allowed the air around it to billow out of its open maw so it was less of a titanic roar of a mighty sea serpent, but a colossal, agony filled wail of the damned, stacked on top of each other about a dozen times over.
And it turned its attention back down to the city.
It would all be worth it.
It had to be.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
AKA Nixer
Yoko – The Docks
“Zach!” Yoko gasped as he was suddenly pulled away from her, the brief attempt at comforting him literally dragged away as she watched him fuse with his other self, stunned to complete silence at the sheer size of the forming creature that was by now looming over the city. A broken cry of anger tore from her throat as all nine of her tails lit up with spiritual fire and crackling energy, but a wave of indecision wracked her to her core and caused her to look over at Cole in panic.
“...Which part's my Zach?” she half choked, desperation clawing at her throat as she restrained herself from desperately clawing at him. “I can't tell which... which part's my Zach?!”
Inari knew she wouldn't dare hurt him. But she couldn't sense the distinction between him and his alternate self. As such she found herself completely unable to move, wanting to do anything yet frozen in place regardless. Her foxfire still cracked in preparation, but her face was scrunching up in indecision—until it settled into a consistent look of worry as she looked up at the colossal thing above.
“...W-we have to separate them. Somehow,” she swallowed, looking at Cole again. “I don't know how, but... even if it's helping him take control... just something. Anything.”
Ascending to celestial status supposedly brought wisdom. Enlightenment. Try as she might, Yoko couldn't find either within her.
bork
Cole - Squad 3 (58)
Cole's eyes widened and he tried to reach out with his psychic powers to stop what was happening, but the gravity like pull the Savior Zach used was too powerful even for him to stop. He watched as Zach was pulled straight into the greater mass of the Savior...and then things started changing. The Savior Zach lost his humanoid shape, and turned into a great undulating mass.
And then it seemed to erupt, turning into a great and terrible serpent, looming large over the city. It seemed half serpent and half demented tidal wave, able to override even the water here. Who knew what mind or intelligence was present within that mass of ink...
Cole was thrown backward from the sheer force of this thing's genesis, and when he got his bearings he looked to see Yoko trying to find where her Zach was.
Hearing what Yoko was saying, stricken with despair, Cole said, "Yoko, get yourself to safety, I-I think I have to defeat this..." Even as he said this some pulverized concrete and other debris flew to his hand and covered in psionic energy, forming into a broadsword.
"I don't know what this is, but Zach's mind is within there, somewhere, submerged in chaos. Get yourself to safety, I'll get him outta there."
Readying his ersatz sword, Cole outright ran up the side of one of the buildings to try and get a better start, flying up and off. He took aim at the great serpent's head, swinging his sword at it, but even he could tell at impact that wasn't having the greatest of effects...
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Up on Melancholy hill.
Serpent!Zach - The Docks/The City.
The Serpent that was once the collective Zachs stared out into the city, form flowing with ichor and ink as it began it's trek.
A flicker of movement caught its attention and both sides recognized Cole. He flung himself into the air heroically and swung his make shift sword into his mass-
And what little it did, the massive beast didn't even react. Instead, it looked annoyed as one of its car-sized eyes stared at it. A whip of ink shot out and struck him with enough force to slam him into the ground and create a decent sized crater.
Insects.
And so it turned its attention to Super City, as tendrils of ink began to grow from its titanic form and begin to lash out wantonly and randomly. Striking buildings. Striking enemies.
Striking allies.
It would all be worth it in the end! It wouldn't matter if they won!
They would see...he thought to himself as he brushed against one of the buildings and took it down by sheer size and scale, as it began to collapse.
It would ALL be worth it.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Cole - Squad 3 (25)
Cole tried to bring up his shields, but got far too little far too soon, and the tentacle blasted right through the shield and struck Cole, sending him flying through the air. He was dimly aware of coming back to awareness in a crater in the middle of the city, barely able to move for how much it hurt. He tried to drag himself back to his feet, but just groaned and tried to muster the energy to try and heal himself.
But it seemed like even that was beyond him now.
He started to feel an odd tug in the air though. It was like some other sort of energy was in the air. Cole looked around for the source, trying to locate it...
Nothing in his view right now.
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
An Ordinary Oddball
Wilma (3)
Wilma teleported to Cole's side as soon as she saw him go down. She drew the vial of Gillianos' lifeblood out of her pocket, and left it by Cole's side. On the opposite side of the tag, it said, very clearly in Wilma's loopy handwriting, "DRINK ME."
Wilma saw some of the Saint Foundation's allies being overrun in another spot, so she hurriedly ported over there without saying a word.
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Vivian-Outside-The Savior War
It would, perhaps, surprise some of her classmates that Vivian did not like using guns. Ok, that was not entirely accurate: she did not like using guns against normal, run-of-the-mill humans. She was an ace fighter, and pulling a trigger took no real skill in her opinion. However, she did like carrying, using and learning new weapons as well as seeing their effects on the powered bad guys. Today her new toy was the 20mm rifle from Anzio Ironworks, borrowed from the FBI.
The crosshairs floated through the air, stopping here and there. A mook commander? No, those guys are still human. It landed on a few more targets before settling on a familiar face. She zoomed in. Right above the eye. I can probably crank out a second shot through the nose before he reacts. Revenge is a dish that tastes best when it is cold But he did not move, and her finger tightened on the trigger, and she genuinely didn't know if she had fired for a millisecond before resettling and moving on to a new target
The scope rose and she spied the small clump of Liam's stupid little machines. With a little careful positioning, she was able to put his ship just behind one of them. Maybe she'd get lucky. My voice is in my sword: thou bloodier villain/Than terms can give thee out!
B O O M
B O O M
B O O M
And of course the monster showed up just when she had to reload.
Cole - Squad 3
He vaguely saw Wilma in the periphery, and she left a little vial, a little item by his side. Of course it said in her usual scrawling "Drink Me". He didn't recognize the liquid inside of the vial, and in fact he could barely tell what it was. A bright red fluid, sluicing like blood. He didn't know what Wilma was doing with that, but...he had to trust her. Trust her judgment.
He grit his teeth.
It was a struggle to grip it, it was a battle to bring the vial to his lips, feeling the strain in his arms and shoulders. He anticipated this being some sort of healing elixir she whipped up to get him back in fighting shape.
Cole didn't expect what it actually was, and even as he poured it down his throat, he felt something like lightning blast right through him, all the pain and aches evaporating - the damage abnegating. His wincing eyes flashed open, glowing bright golden as he dragged himself back up in time for his whole body to start emitting bright blue and golden energy.
He had never felt anything like this before in his life. Cole levitated up, surrounded by a corona of energy...
Eight locations the world over began to give off a similar glow and then erupted with energy. Very familiar locations, the places of heraldry and heirship.
Cole looked out at the monstrous iteration of Zach, deformed into a massive serpent, and then clenched his fists tight. The corona of energy formed into eight ethereal items, which were then absorbed one by one by Cole, producing a lingering bright gold and crackling blue aura around him.
He had no idea what all of this...was, but he knew this was something beyond his experiences. It was like his limits were being forcibly pushed through, and he could reach for something beyond his usual scope.
He heard a voice on the wind, "Through this blood offering, you have attained the power of the Sage. Use it well, Son of Matthew."
Cole extended his arm and a large ethereal sword formed by his side, floating and rotating in the air by his side. Seeing the enormous serpent engaging in its rampage, Cole extended one arm and snapped his fingers in its direction.
At once a barrage of gold and blue psionic blasts formed - some in the shape of swords - flying through the air right at the center mass of the serpent—-followed by a producing a large series of explosions. More aimed to divert its attention back on Cole instead of on everyone else.
Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 17th 2020 at 1:05:14 AM
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Deranged X-Mas Figure
Super City — Perfect Chaos
At this point, the battle had well been underway. Troops and heroes on either side had been fighting and shooting at each other with wild abandon, hoping that their efforts, no matter how small, were enough. And yet, despite the Foundation's best efforts, the tide was slowly but surely turning in the Savior's favour.
And then all hell broke loose.
Like a beast from hell, the creature that was once Zach emerged in a maelstrom of darkness, stretching out talons and tendrils of massive, all-consuming ink and annihilating anything and everything in its' path. Buildings as tall as skyscrapers were brought crashing down to the ground below, crushing anyone unlucky enough to be in the vicinity. Dozens of ships, Savior and Foundation alike, were swatted down or skewered, crashing into other ships and buildings and bringing them down like dominos. Troops on either side tried their best to defend against the abomination, only to flee in terror upon seeing their comrades slaughtered like cattle. Both armies were in complete disarray, the war momentarily postponed as everyone simply tried to survive the chaos. If that was even possible.
As for the Saint, even he was shocked at the sheer horror that lay before him. The thopters that had been pursuing him had been skewered by a few stray tendrils, the Saint barely able to make it out with his skin intact. All he knew was that in some way, all of this was his fault. If he had never formed the Saviors, if he had never spurred everyone towards their current path, if he had never infiltrated this world in the first place. In that sense, this was on him.
Still, for now, all that mattered was stopping this before it got any worse. He flew over to Zach, narrowly dodging any tendrils or falling ships that got in his way. He would have tried to save them, but every second he wasted risked this whole calamity spiralling further and further out of control. Just something else he'd have to answer for. He slowed down as she approached what he assumed to be Zach's face, though it was hard to tell if he even had one. Still, he knew that this was one situation raw power alone wasn't going to solve. And he also knew that everyone else was already doing their absolute best. So he did the only thing he could.
"ZACH! You still in there?! Look, I can't imagine why you're doing this or what's going through your head right now, but you have to stop! We all have to stop! All of this, everything we've been doing! It has to stop! Do you want even more blood on your hands?! Do you want Yoko's blood on your hands?! Because if this keeps up, that's what's gonna happen! Is that what you want?! IS IT?!"
Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around
Up on Melancholy hill.
Perfect!Zach - The City
Shockingly, against all odds, the voice of The Saint caught the attention of both Zachs but for different and wildly opposing sides.
The Savior!Zach stared at the Saint with burning hatred in his eyes, another little insect in the grand scheme of things to slow him down and to trail him from his path. Small. So small. Once he looked up to him. Once he was his hero. Now he was this little pest. This annoying little thing that he could look down upon. It opened its massive maw and the roiling ink inside began to shift and bubble out, looking less like a wave of ink and more like grasping hands over grasping hands reaching out to him.
The other Zach, the one inside, the one lost to the darkness, heard the echoing shouts of the Saint. It brought the beginnings of attention back to him. His conciousness beginning to wake up and stir something inside the massive, titanic figure-
And both felt pain when something erupted in the middle of its body and tore it apart...for a grand total of about a second or two. The ink reconnected back effortlessly and it turned its attention back to where it came from, WHO it came from-
And based on the fact Cole stood there with this strange color flickering around him, he had every reason to believe it was him.
Another loud, wicked howl erupted out and thankfully his attention turned away from rending and ripping the city apart with barely a care and instead focused on hurting him, hurting him bad. His mouth opened and he gave a loud howl as a torrent of ink shot straight out at him, a mockery akin to a dragon's flame.
please stop thought the voice in the back of his head, for what little it did.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Cole - Squad 3
Well, that definitely got ugly's attention!
Cole readied himself when he saw the creature coming for him, and even as he moved he found he was clipping through the air at higher speeds - it'd take some getting used to, flying this smoothly and quickly. As he saw the creature roar and open its maw, Cole dodged right under the ersatz dragon breath, hearing it in the foreground tear through one of the remaining Super City skyscrapers.
He flew through the air, quickly, moving around the wild fluctuating limbs of the monstrous and chaotic creature Zach had become. Once he was close in enough, Cole made use of his new acquisition;
The ethereal sword levitated and slashed through the air purely on his mental input, slashing and burning the ink as it carved through a wall of tendrils, Cole moving quickly from place to place further up the monster's body...and then once he reached the back of its head, he pointed at the creature's skull, and around 8 ethereal weapons formed of energy formed around him before each flew in at the same spot...and then each let loose a massive explosion at that point.
Cole clenched a fist, ...Yeah, I can do this!
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Perfect Zach - The City
That HURT.
Why did it HURT.
The explosion rocked his body. The swords cut through his tendrils. He felt the sensation of burning and burning and pain and cutting.
And he couldn't understand it.
Why did it HURT?! What did this annoying little insect do that could cause such pain?! His rage built and as his form reshaped from the previous mental assault, it spun around to face him. Suddenly his body EXPLODED into millions and millions of tendrils, lining his form like some deranged John Carpenter parody.
And every single tendril, big and small, shot towards him with the intent of stabbing him, whipping him, slamming him, BREAKING HIM-
And all the while, that anger was his primal focus. Zach was waking up more and more and could feel the attention diverted to keeping him down. He struggled to do anything. Make him stop. Make him freeze. Turn his attention elsewhere but not yet.
Keyword being yet.
Just keep it up Cole...he thought to himself.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Where am I? What's going on?
Squad 2 - Iris
When the fighting had started, Iris had simply dipped into one of her portals, as if to join the fight. But she had never come out, even as the battle raged and a monster emerged.
Not until suddenly, on the underbelly of one of the Saviors' remaining airships, a truly massive eye-portal opened. A number of the Children of Ahl'kuur dropped out of it, a good deal more than Iris was normally capable of summoning.
But what came next was far more impressive. Hundreds of optic nerves like tentacles extended out of the portal, taking full advantage of its massive size. On the end of each was a single, exposed eyeball.
The eyes blinked at the sight of the great black serpent, but seemed to quickly grasp the situation.
"Great. So it's monster versus monster. I'll freeze this ugly mug in place so you guys can finish things!"
From the eyes came an array of bright blue beams that froze the ink where they hit. It was far from enough to stop the beast, but it'd hopefully be enough to slow it down.
Squad 3 - Rebecca
Rebecca wasn't built for fighting an army. She needed space and focus to use her powers effectively, and both were in short supply on a crowded battlefield.
But protecting people from a rampaging monster? That she could do.
One side street was barricaded by a wall of grime and debris that just barely held back the ink attacks, and though she was visibly straining with the effort, she continued to open and close the barrier just enough to allow in both friend and foe.
Cole - Squad 3
Cole flew under the wave of tendrils, watching for them as he intermittently landed and ran up the side of a damaged skyscraper, watching the tendrils crash and rip through the slowly falling monument. The falling rubble and glass was deflected off or dodged out under, and Cole watched the remaining tendrils starting to follow.
He accelerated up the side of the falling skyscraper, then balanced for a moment at the very top and leaped upward hundreds of feet as the tendrils followed—-!
Readying his new Etherial Sword, Cole gestured once and shouted a war cry, the sword seeming to slash a red silver and blue enormous path of energy through the tendrils...followed by several dozen more showing up in quick succession - more slashes added to the attack than could be immediately seen.
Once the way was clear, Cole started flying back in toward the monster, noting that it seemed Iris and Becca were doing their part to try and hold this here instead of letting it rage any more elsewhere.
I have to get Zach's heart opened back up and out of the grasp of Savior Zach...
Flying through the air, he built up speed and a massive shell of spiralling energy formed around his Etherial Sword before plunging down at the chaotic monstrosity at incredible speeds.
Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 17th 2020 at 6:24:28 AM
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Squad 1
Sam had known that physical might has never been his biggest asset. Even as a human, even if he was a fair bit tougher than he looked, it wasn't the best idea to get into a physical conflict.
Which is why how he ended up getting sent flying by a kick on the gut was something that he should have seen coming. But being so agile, he could right himself and aim his claws at the face. But suddenly a tail spun to hit him, but he managed to barely jump over it. A giant dragon of ice, with a giant wolf and several other predatory animals. The red marks on their bodies resembled veins and the way they moved...
"You are one twisted bastard" Sam said, as he tried to block the attacks "Giving life to things to only make them attack dogs?" Even he could see he was forcing them to focus on him.
"Everything for the mission" The savior said, coldly. Sam got an idea, and decided to mess with him.
"Guess that's what one gets on being a villain" He mocked "All that work, and you yourself are just a mess with nothing and no one" He continued, vanishing on ice and snow. Zero could only glare and start shooting at everything, as the snow started to pile on.
"I mean, do you have family, actual friends?" He continued "A girlfriend, or even a pet you didn't create? Anything to worth risking it all, yet worth actually living for"
Now, Zero was outright furious, attacking wildly and destroying everything surrounding them, and Sam could barely dodge, but got tackled by his bigger counterpart.
And all hell broke loose.
Sam could feel his bones cracking at the vicious beatdown, as Zero turned his ice into brass knuckles, hitting him again and again, with blood flying out, in every direction, with Sam blacking out for seconds. As it was, he looked terrible, but still managed a chuckle to keep him roaring and attacking.
"You are just a walking corpse, you are so sad, it's funny"
Zero was going for the kill, as Sam's arm formed a blade. There was not much room for error here.
Edited by Blueace on Feb 17th 2020 at 1:15:55 PM
Wake me up at your own risk.
Breath of the Sun
Squad 1 - Sam vs Sam - Nariko
As Zero pummeled his counterpart, the alternate, twisted Sam would suddenly feel dozens of slashes across his arms and legs, aimed at severing his tendons and crippling him.
Nariko seemed to flash into existence behind him a second later. Her blades were still extended, her muscles tense, ready to move at the first shiver of cold. She knew that Sam's ice powers were fearsome - it would take only one clean hit to kill her. One touch and he could freeze her very blood.
Nonetheless, she showed no fear.
"I don't want to kill you, Evil Sam. But I won't let you hurt my friend." She said, flatly. "Surrender. You're outnumbered, and you're not fast enough to hit me."
Saviors - University - Ellie
S!Ellie note spun in the air, casually avoiding the thopters' crossfire with a beat of her wings. She grit her teeth, her horn still crackling as she prepared to charge at Saint again. Even knowing how powerful he was, she wasn't deterred. All she had to do was keep him busy long enough for Liam's machines to suck him dry.
Then the Saint completely ignored her, opting instead to try and fight Zach.
"You're fighting me, bastard!" Sellie screamed, and charged at him again, only to crash into something blue-gray, or rather someone. She spun through the air again, and when she came to a stop, was looking at herself.
"No he isn't." The real Ellie grinned at her doppelganger. "He's fighting Zach. I'm fighting you."
Sellie's pupils shrank to pinpricks. At the sight of herself, wearing the coat that he had given her, she could only shriek again, swinging her leg in a lightning kick at her clone.
Ellie met the blow dead on, and the sky began to crackle with thunder as the twin lightning demons matched their strength.
Warpath - Vs Zach - A Familiar Face
The city should have been evacuated. But down below, what seemed to be civilians emerged from alleyways and ruined buildings. They held firearms, old-looking rifles of dark wood and black iron.
All of them were, on close inspection, demons.
As one, the demonic militia began to take to the skies, heading towards the giant ink monster, raising their rifles and taking aim.
Atop a roof, his own gun drawn, was a great red demon, with black wings, horns, and the hooves of a warhorse. He wore no shirt, only an open fur coat.
"Hey, Zach." He said softly. More to himself than anything. "It's been awhile. Sorry about this, old friend."
Aiming his rifle with one hand, he raised his other hand, curling it into a fist. "Warpath! Let your rage be heard, like the thundering of hooves! Fire!"
And then came the sound of a hundred bullets, blasting at the ink goliath. As they struck liquid, they exploded into hellfire, intent on boiling away the ink creature.
Mikael saw the psychic in the distance, and called out: "Cole! We'll keep his body down! You work on his mind!"
What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?
As Mas pummeled Sam, and then Nariko intervened to try and cripple the dark alternate, in order it seemed to prevent him from continuing on pummeling Sam despite this a single red beam flew between Mas and Sam. Sitting right on top of some toppled rubble was the golden king of the Baern Elves, Sommerset. His left hand smoking and crackling with red energy.
He'd had his merry way with quite a number of the Saviors' men. When he learned the "heroes" did not mind casualties in war he went from simply blasting them into messed up, barely living bodies to outright shooting out brains and hearts. The quicker he resolved this mess, the better.
And what happened with Savior Zach did not avoid his notice. It seemed the psychic boy too had taken in that accursed creature's blood. These humans...it was like they were setting themselves up nicely to be duped.
He loudly apologized from his position, "Ah, my apologies~ I was so keen on watching the fights go on I let my hand slip. Now, I've gotten oh so wearily bored, and I believe there is space in this engagement for someone to step in."
Levitating down and approaching, he roughly tried to put Sam out of the physical way, "Concentrate on getting better and then re-engage, cat-monkey. Overstraining yourself is just unsightly."
More of Liam's machines seemed to come from his specific ship - though he withdrew his forces from the Zach front so as to head off the damages. He'd still lost a sizable chunk of his thopters to Zach going ballistic...though he estimated he'd be able before long to deploy something truly special to try and bring the battle to their advantage.
Liam looked at Barnett, and signaled for him to get the machines moving.
I hate the maintenance on superweapons...
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Perfect Zach - The City
So much happened in so little time, the two minds barely had time to figure out exactly what to focus on first.
Cold, freezing cold one portion of his body. Then, hellfire erupted around his body and burned away at his outer layer of self, bringing untold pain that he didn't even think was possible on his part. The Savior!Zach inside of it was growing frustrated, mad, furious. It looked around as best it could and noticed a good number of attention had drawn to him, and quite a few outside sources.
So furious, so angry, he didn't notice Cole plunge into his being, his attention on the eyed abomination and the array of demons and devils that had dared to strike him.
Fine then.
If it didn't matter anyway, then what was a little collateral damage?
And the tendrils around the Zach Serpent grew and grew and grew, whipping and snapping and beginning to stab into the air, the ground, the buildings, intent on just...taking as much with him as he could. He didn't mind leveling the city. He didn't mind obliterating it off the face of the map to send a message.
Messiah would make everything right.
But those outside would notice that the tendrils would stop mere inches from the civilians and the fighters, allowing them ample time to run and escape their inevitable fate, in part thanks to THEIR Zach inside.
It was taking everything in his power to maintain control, any DEGREE of control, but he could do it, theoretically. He was stopping the onslaught before anyone could get hurt.
But it was the best he could do.
I won't let you hurt my friends. I won't let you hurt my family. I won't let you hurt anyone. He struggled internally to the screaming, demonic howls of his counterpart.
Even if I lose myself, I won't let you!
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
Cole - Squad 3
As Cole landed, the ink seeming to screech as his corona of energy dissolved it off of him, he looked at the giant serpent still thrashing and trying to destroy the whole damn city. If he didn't stop it here, it was just gonna—-he noticed that it was no longer aiming for any remaining people left behind. Cole's eyes widened. He knew somehow this was the interference of the original Zach.
And that meant the more he fought, the greater Zach would be freed of the monster's control!
Cole grit his teeth, he needed to put all that he could into one decisive strike. I am not losing any more friends and comrades! Cole brandished the Ethereal Blade overhead and eight more floating blades formed, flying into it as it spun above him.
It grew in size and became an enormous crackling gold and blue form, ornate and easily the scale of a truck as it levitated back to by Cole's side...
(115)
Cole's eyes flashed blue, and he took off running and then flying up, snapping his fingers as fifty tendrils reached up toward him, veins of white hot energy rippling through them and then exploding in a flash...which Cole then flew right through as he moved.
He dodged several more of the tendrils, and then plunged the enormous Ethereal Blade into the serpent and slashed downward with it all the way to the ground.
For a moment it would look like that was all that happened.
And then innumerable white and blue blades slashed at the enormous serpent from almost every angle, almost blotting out the ink monstrosity under sheer weight and brightness of the attack. They just kept raining in, seeming to be drawn in by the slash mark of Cole's initial attack.
Cole breathed and each of those blades then exploded in turn, and the Ethereal Blade by his side returned to normal.
Edited by NickTheSwing on Feb 18th 2020 at 2:13:22 AM
Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.
Up on Melancholy hill.
Perfect Zach
The true irony of the matter is that by all accounts he could have reformed. The damage was catastrophic but it wasn't eding. He was still ink. He was still POWER. He could still come right back around and destroy them all. Bring about a destruction unheard of and only dreamed about.
So....why couldn't he reform? Why did it feel like he was falling?
The Savior!Zach half panicked for a brief moment as no matter how many times he tried to bring it all together it failed him. He felt nothing. He felt less in control than he usually did. He reached and grabbed and for a moment felt a pang of panic. This wasn't happening, right?
He was so close he was so close he was so close-
You know it's funny. Sounded a voice in his mind. It was calm, content. It brought more panic to him as he tried to find where it was coming from. But...you know, this is some kind of symbolism if there ever was one. Trapped in a black space. My movements controlled against me. Knowing I'm hurting someone that didn't deserve it.
Oh. It was the other one. All it did was encourage the animalistic Zach to move harder and struggle against the invisible bonds that held him.
I was always really afraid. Really worried that I wouldn't be able to stop myself if that ever happened. That I'd wake up and I'd have torn someone apart, and it'd be one of my friends or even worse, Yoko.
Savior!Zach snarled quietly and struggled futility against him.
But you know, this showed me something. His tone was calm, collected. Like speaking to a friend. It's what I told Lily earlier this year. Anchors. Anchors keep me ground. Anchors keep me down. And those anchors out there...they fought for me, and they fought to bring me back. They really do care about me. I could hear their voices in here and it...made it so much easier to reel this mess in.
Savior!Zach's mentality panicked a bit as he felt something odd happen.
I'm never really alone when these things happen. And you kind of helped me realize that. his tone turned...well, a little sinister. I have friends. I have family. I have people out there that would fight for me.
And you don't.
Consciousness began to slip away. But it wasn't a terrifying thing. It felt...comforting.
I pity you, I really do. You were alone for so long with no one. Used like an attack dog to push an agenda. Used by your friends. You haven't felt anything in so long, you must be a mess of nerves. But...if you let it go. The voice continued. You can be free. Happy. You won't ever have to struggle with this ever again.
Another pause.
So thank you, other Me. Thank you for showing me that...I'm stronger than the voices in my head. That I'm stronger than the scar on my brain that sat there for so long.
And thank you...for showing me that I'm stronger than you.
And then, Savior!Zach knew no more as he was absorbed into the collective of ink, known only as Zachariah Hirschbaum.
The explosion finally clicked and the portions of Zach that had been a mighty serpent collected slowly through the air, folding in and on it again and growing smaller and smaller until he was in a more...compact shape several people recognized.
Zach regained consciousness as he began to plummet to the ground, his vision blurring and fading.
Just stare at the sky. Don't think about what you did down there.
He paused and he smiled a bit.
Fuck me, I'm sore.
Is it selfish that I'm happy as we pass the setting sun?
IW - What Kind of Being
Zzzz
Mahvash didn't break stride, but recently she didn't just ignore 'static'.
"Hello, Lover, well 'revol' maybe," She answered after some delay to clear out the communication. And radiating genuine if cheeky warmth.
"You've thinking about me? That's sweet. Nitram's were literally hanging by a thread. Even the mirror-man could make her laugh. Really, for people shouting and charging into gunfire, the coup de grâce was not in short supply. That's before one got to the one's ignoring their pains until body parts just rotted off or snapped from weakness. That worked too. And if that extra effort tied down an Elite Mook all the better. She didn't need to linger.
"Don't worry about apologizing," she said soothingly. "Or trying to send messages like that. Its like trying to listen to the radio during sunspots. Just call me. Every human can do it, and you know my name. It is indeed Mahvash."
After a beat, she added softly, Here's the dilemma, dear. I doubt you'd want the help of someone who just abandoned her house on the battlefield for just an introduction and a bribe. But I answer petitions to me all the time. What remaking? Why should I believe you can do it? If you come to me with something good, then maybe I'll find your idea a better way to protect my house and grant your request."
It has to be more than crash his army in a neat line against a heavily defended city and inevitably lose, before, on the off chance he didn't, face down the rest of the continent's militaries or one inbound nuclear device with whatever scratch forces he had left. All the while his world is left lightly defended. And they'd just freshly come in with some many leaving trails back. Look with century eyes... With our backs to the arch And the wreck of our kind We will stare straight ahead For the rest of our lives