A Game of Gods: A Multiversal Challenge

Sub-Zero decided to test if his Cryomancy was back. He attempted to freeze his ears again and stepped away from the rumbling earth.

edited 4th Jul '11 4:36:09 PM by TestYourMight

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

Upon noticing the ground rumbling, Bowser got out of the way, knowing what happened the last time it happened.

Meanwhile, Iota sent out multiple energy shots, followed by a deep, electronic, powering down noise.

To be seen, stand up To be heard, speak up To be appreciated, shut up

Sub-Zero's cryomantic powers had indeed returned, leaving his outer ears transmuted into solid constructs of ice. Bowser, meanwhile, successfully managed to avoid getting impaled by a sudden eruption of a dozen bony spikes...though the attack still launched him into the air at an angle, tossing him further down the path and away from the beast.

The beast made no effort to dodge whatsoever and snarled in pained anger as Iota's energy blasts struck it, further damaging its already-fragmented exoskeleton and causing its ichor to drip onto the ground in thick, grey-green rivulets. Once this barrage was done, however, the reason for its lack of evasive manoevres became perfectly clear; during the Nomad's assault, the creature had continued to bite into and savage Kisame with its talons, mandibles and tongue-mouth, ripping huge chunks of flesh from his body and stuffing them into its mouth in a veritable feeding frenzy. With every bit of the squaliform Missing Nin that it ate, the creature grew nearly a foot larger and its wounds rapidly began to close up; now it stood just shy of twenty feet in height and its limbs had grown thicker and more robust, with nearly all traces of its previous injuries having faded away. It was equally clear from his sorry state that no healing magics, no matter how powerful, would be able to save the monster's victim from this; whether he expired from his wounds or the monster finished gorging itself on him, Kisame was as good as dead.

And yet, in spite of the horrendous pain of being eaten alive even as the monster's secondary mouth pumped his grievous wounds full of extremely potent digestive juices, the squaliform swordsman's face broke into a fittingly sharklike grin. "That's right, you ugly bastard...eat up; it'll be the last thing that you ever do..."

An astute observer might have noticed that a slip of paper was clenched tightly in his left hand, and even sharper eyes might have noticed the kanji, barely visible through the gaps between Kisame's fingers, that identified it as an explosive tag.

Slowly, and with great difficulty, the former Akatsuki member turned his head around to look at the Champions out of the corner of one eye. "It's been...both fun, and...an honour, knowing and fighting alongside you all," he rasped, his words dry and hoarse both from the effort of simply speaking and from the pain of his injuries. His gaze fell upon Phi then, and his smile turned wry. "My only...real regret is that...Itachi's vengeance will just have to wait. I'll see you...in Hell...but not today; if you die here...if you rob my sacrifice of meaning...then I'll be waiting for you...you hear?"

edited 4th Jul '11 5:11:50 PM by SullenFrog

The Danse Macabre Codex

Spriggan felt that he could not save the ninja.

Rest comrade. Your death will not be meaningless once we take care of the beast.

He gave a salute for a few seconds before he resumed his trek on firing his carbine at the beast while being on the move.

"It has been an honor, fellow ninja," said Sub-Zero. He assumed a Lin Kuei victory pose as a salute.

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

Link bowed his head in both respect and sorrow.

"May the Blessings of the Goddesses be on you.... Kisame..."

Another one of our number... gone?

Raising the Master Sword in a gesture of defiance and turning to face the beast, he said in a calm, determined voice,

"No more."

With that, he charged and leapt at it, attempting to stab the Master Sword into one of its many arms, its silver, untarnished blade shining with an Audible Gleam.

edited 4th Jul '11 5:42:14 PM by troydenite

'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023

Iota sent his fist beast-ward, however, due to the fact that he was once again in full control, it was quite a bit faster. Bowser meanwhile, came charging in, spewing fire all the way.

To be seen, stand up To be heard, speak up To be appreciated, shut up

Narumi and Phi wake up to see Kisame sacrifice. Their response were in unison. "KISAME!" They both said. Narumi said it in a shocked tone, while Phi screamed it out.

Rey was still trying to regain his bearings, but he looked up, wincing some, shaking his head a bit. "What...what's happening...?"

Easing back into life one step at a time

"Kisame went down." Spriggan told the wrestler. "Pretty bad too. He didn't make it."

"Another ally down. How many must we lose for you Lambda?"

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

Rey got slowly to his feet, holding his head, starting forward again, still clutching at his sword in his free hand.

Easing back into life one step at a time

"We're not losing anyone else. We're not!"

"Yup. That tasted purple."

"So eager...to write me off...that quickly?" Kisame ground out, an expression that was halfway between a grimace and a smirk spreading across his face. It was a testament to his incredible stamina and self control that, even as the beast's tongue-mouth tore off a large portion of his chest, the squaliform swordsman's grin wavered only slightly. "I'm not...done just yet; soon, though, I'll...be out of your hair."

A faint gasp of pain escaped him as the monster seized his waist with its two pincer limbs and began to force him further into its primary mouth; much of his right side was already gone, torn apart and consumed by this chitinous horror from beyond the stars. His left side still functioned, however, and his remaining hand clenched into a tight fist as he swung this limb as if in preparation for the delivery of a powerful punch.

"Never thought...that I'd get eaten alive...twice," he rasped, his voice rising in mounting resolve. "Sayonara, bug face; you've had your fill...now choke on it!"

And with that, he swung his arm forward and drove his fist deep into the back of his killer's mouth—just as it stuffed him inside the cavernous maw and began to chew him up. For a moment or two, nothing but the awful sound of flesh tearing and bone breaking under the mastication of horrendous fangs split the silence; then a torrent of light shone forth between the gaps in the monster's teeth, and it had just enough time to let out a howl of rage as it realized how badly it had been suckered before a tremendous explosion rang out, obscuring the beast from view in a thick cloud of smoke and a shower of chitin and ichor.

When the smoke cleared a few moments later, the Champions and their Nomad allies could see that the entire top half of the monster's head had been blown clean off, leaving a smoking, charred ruin in the place of much of its skull. A ragged, dying gasp issued forth from the beast's exposed windpipe as its limbs twitched violently in a death spasm; then the chitinous appendages went slack, and the monstrosity tottered in place for a few moments before collapsing to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been neatly severed. Of Kisame himself, nothing remained; the only evidence that one of the former Seven Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist had ever lived and fought in this grim place alongside the Champions was Samehada, whose scales rustled slightly in apparent mourning of its late wielder.

Lambda stepped forward then, peering at the sword with an inscrutable expression for a moment or two. Then the argent deity knelt down and picked up the enormous blade in one hand, holding it aloft in a salute of some sort before driving it into the ground at the feet of the broken monstrosity; as he did this, the enormous carcass burst into silver flames and rapidly burned up until nothing remained but a cloud of ash, and silver characters written in kanji etched themselves into the hilt of the living weapon.

"Rest easy, warrior," the silver Nomad uttered, his so quite as to be barely audible unless one were standing right next to him and devoid of its usual arrogance or smug superiority. "You have earned that right."

The Danse Macabre Codex

The Doctor sighs. "May you be able to return home Kisame."

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

Spriggan once again gave a salute as he gazed at the spot where Kisame last stood.

Link stopped, and kneeled before Samehada for a brief moment, bowing his head in prayer.

Then, after a while, he stood up.

"A noble warrior.... One who deserves to be remembered by us all...." These words were muttered to himself, though any people in the immediate vicinity might be able to discern his words.

"Rest easy in the life to come, Kisame...." His words mirrored that of the silver Nomad, though whether willingly or subconsciously, he did not know.

"It is all I can wish you."

edited 4th Jul '11 11:58:45 PM by troydenite

'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023

"C'mon, let's get going. We have to fight on, win this fight, and when we get home, then we can mourn."
Mason continued down the path.

They do have medals for almost, and they're called silver!

Link got up.

"... Indeed."

Sheathing his sword, he beckoned to the rest.

"Come on."

He followed Mason.

'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023

" ... Kisame...." Phi said, his a mixture between shock and sadness. He couldn't begin to say another word. Narumi on the other hand spoke out. "Come on, let's go. We don't want his death to be in vain." Narumi said, walking off. Phi shuddered as he followed Narumi.

"Wait, is he..." Chi trailed off in a mix of shock and sadness.

edited 5th Jul '11 7:08:43 AM by Deadbeatloser22

"Yup. That tasted purple."

Durant was the first to get up, helping up Michael.

"You alright?" The Somali vet asked the RHKP G4 veteran.

"Yeah." Michael said as he got up. The Black Stig got up as well.

"We need to move."

The three moved down the path, following the others.

---

"Agreed."

Spriggan followed alongside Mason after reloading his G36C once more.

Almost out of ammo...

Sub-Zero froze his wound and walked after the group.

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

"He is dead," Lambda said to Xi, a sudden harshness creeping into his voice as if he were angered by the younger Nomad's indecision. "But his death shall not be in vain; I will not allow that."

And without further ado the argent deity set off down the path once more, quickly outpacing the Champions who had left before him in spite of the fact that his stride was both measured and unhurried. It seemed as though some aspect of Kisame's demise had shaken him in some way, but precisely what fashion that might have been and why it had done so was still a mystery; after all, he had demonstrated no particular interest in the squaliform swordsman prior to this point, and though his plans had seen to the liberation of the Champions it seemed evident that he did not value their lives that highly, especially not when in comparison to his wife. Why then, had he reacted in this manner?

---

As the group continued on its way, the beach gave way to a vast plain of strange, column-shaped growths that stretched high into the sky; curious red symbols skittered and crawled across the surfaces of these structures like vast swarms of army ants, and they glowed faintly with an eerie radiance. They seemed to have been arranged in a pattern of some sort, part of an intricate design wherein they served as the edge of a vast hemisphere, and as the Champions and their Nomad allies trode down the path it became obvious that they formed alternating concentric circles around a distant focal point.

Five minutes later, and that focal point became visible at last; located at the center of this large collection of glowing organic pillars was a great pyramid, at odds with the surrounding landscape due in no small part to its clearly artificial nature. This towering edifice of steel and plastic had clearly seen better days, for a larger portion of it was missing; it looked as though something utterly massive had taken a bite out of the structure's north and east faces, leaving a ragged hole to mark where the missing pieces of the pyramid had been. Strange lights and sounds flowed out of this hole, and those present could feel an overwhelming power emanating from within the incongruous building; it seemed clear that this, then, was the ultimate destination of their journey.

The Danse Macabre Codex

Stepping forward, Link could feel the sheer power that the structure exuded ; clearly, this was no ordinary pyramid.

"What... what is this place, Lambda?"

Such power...

E- Echidna?

edited 5th Jul '11 4:14:42 PM by troydenite

'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023