A Game of Gods: A Multiversal Challenge

"Whoa," said Sub-Zero. "This place...is a prison? Looks more like a rave party to me."

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

"This is no party, I assure you," Lambda said, turning to fix Sub-Zero with a positively acidic look. "That is the Core of Echidna, and the access point for her primary lock. It awaits the Key at the heart of the pyramid; once it has been unlatched, my wife shall at long last be free of her torment."

The path wound its way to the base of the pyramid, vanishing from sight as a result of the great distance which still needed to be covered; most likely there was a door at the end of it to permit entry.

The Danse Macabre Codex

"I see." Spriggan heard Lambda's explanation. "I thought that there would be tangos guarding the place..."

"Any more monsters?"

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

"It would be foolish to assume otherwise."

Without any further comment on his part, Lambda began to stride down the path once more, heading for the distant form of the pyramid.

The Danse Macabre Codex

Sub-Zero stood, taking in all he saw. He strongly hoped he would not have to fight Echidna.

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

The Doctor comes to the same conclusion as Sub-Zero. "Your wife is still sane enough to not attack us right?"

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

"I don't know, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Narumi said.

"It is not her you should be concerned about," was the extent of the argent Nomad's response.

The Danse Macabre Codex

"Then who?" Narumi asked.

"Oh, Raiden," said Sub-Zero. "We have to fight another impossible to spell abomination, don't we?"

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!

"I think he means.... us, Narumi."

Link drew his sword, walking in a ready position, beside the Doctor.

The Doctor would need all the help he could get to survive.

Link intended to give him that help.

edited 5th Jul '11 7:26:55 PM by troydenite

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

The Doctor nods. "I hope not Link. But thanks for your help."

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

"Hopefully Lambda will calm her down enough for us to save her. Isn't that right, Lambda-sama?" Narumi said.

Rey stayed back slightly, still gripping his sword. He was still a touch woozy from the collison earlier, so was staying back as best he could for now.

Easing back into life one step at a time

Spriggan readied his grip on the G36C.

"Wow."

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

"Think nothing of it."

"It's what I do - help people..."

"There is nothing else, really...."

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

Galen's Force Ghost manifested above Lux's sleeping form, and smiled. Here was one that was pure, purer than he'll ever be. Silently, he went over to his remains and took lightsaber from his belt. He went back to Lux, and put it in her hand, closing her fingers over it. He touched her brow...
Lux's dreams, whatever they were, faded away. In their stead, she would see Galen, wrapped in Jedi robes◊. "I was honoured to fight alongside you, Luxanna Crownguard," he said and handed his lightsaber to her. "Consider as this as my gift to you; and may the Force be with you. Always," he said, and his form faded away. Should Lux wake up, she she would find his still-bloody lightsaber in her hand, its exposed energy crystal sparkling in the light.

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

Luxanna awoke with a start, bolting upright and almost falling off the couch. What was that, just then? Hadn't Galen died?

She became aware she was holding something, and looked down to see the lightsaber in her hand. She didn't know what to think about his wish, but if that's what it was she'd keep it. She carefully placed the lightsaber next to her own staff on the floor.

The ballroom area was still completely empty, she supposed that everyone was still off helping Lambda. A glance at a timepiece, though completely indecipherable, at least gave her the feeling she hadn't bees asleep for long.

She resumed her resting position to see if it would come again, but she was left staring at the ceiling, a thousand thoughts and questions crowding her mind.

How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?

Lambda did not reply, leading the Champions and the other Nomads further along the path towards the foot of the massive pyramid; so great were the distances involved that this trek took a further five minutes to complete, and by the time they arrived at their destination the monumental edifice loomed overhead, dominating the horizon with its vast black bulk. Where the path met the building's smooth, inclined metal surface, a jagged fissure some thirty feet in height and wide enough to admit three men walking abreast with room to spare had been knocked into the wall; strange sounds and ominous swirling lights emanated from within this hole, and a hot breeze gusted out to wash over the Champions like the breath of some dragon sleeping at the heart of a deep cavern.

Lambda strode into this breach without hesitation, quickly vanishing from sight in the riotous frenzy of lights, patterns and colours; it was clear that he expected the Champions to follow him. Should they do so, they would find themselves walking through a long causeway that seemed to stretch on forever in a straight line, its far end lost in a swirling maelstrom of pulsating polychromatic radiance. They would find the interior of this place a stark contrast to its damaged but otherwise immaculate exterior: whereas the outer walls of the black pyramid had been largely spotless and even shiny in spite of the large hole near its apex, inside those maddening and chaotic lights played across a corridor whose walls and floor had long since become warped and corroded with age and rust, and here and there entire sections of panelling had been stripped away to expose the decayed pipes and wiring which lay beneath the tainted surface. Beyond this understandable and mundane corruption, the place fairly seethed with awful vitality; thick veins throbbed within the walls, translucent membranes allowing the Champions to see that they were filled with a black, granular substance which made their eyes hurt simply to look upon, and sensory organs of every sort—eyes, ears, noses and mouths from every creature known to many and quite a few that were not—covered the walls and ceiling in a macabre tapestry of living tissue fused with lifeless metal. The eyes tracked the progress of these brave and valiant warriors, blinking only infrequently, and the noses sniffed deeply and often as though desperate to familiarize themselves with the Champions' scents.

Most eerie of all, perhaps, were the mouths. They did not snarl like rabid animals, they did not babble, they did not cackle madly, scream obscenities or hurl vile threats at the Champions as might have been expected of a vast menagerie of orifices located within the heart of some vast, world-destroying abomination; instead, they were singing. Every mouth hung open, vocal chords vibrating and tongues oscillating as they hummed the faint notes of a powerful and wordless aria; and contrary to what might have been expected from such a horror as Echidna, the thousands of different voices which issued forth from these thousands of mouths were neither guttural nor horrific parodies of speech, but melodious and beautiful in an otherworldly fashion.

---

"Most unusual," a dry, familiar voice rasped from somewhere beyond Lux's field of vision. Its source became apparent soon afterwards as Dis Baba stepped into view, looming over her to peer intently at the bloodstained lightsaber on the floor. The alien's close proximity, combined with his stooped posture and the disturbing grin which never seemed to leave his face of late, might have proven cause for alarm in different circumstances; as it was, the Kin overlord's gaze was fixed squarely on that most elegant weapon of a more civilized age, almost as if he was not aware of Luxanna's presence.

"Most unusual indeed," he repeated, seemingly talking to himself. "Powerful though Starkiller may have been, such a technique is not one that can be performed by just anyone; when would have had had time to receive the necessary training, not merely to manifest in such a fashion but to bequeath the living with a tangible object plucked from the netherworld of the Force? Such a feat is all but unheard of; it is most...impressive, to say the least..."

edited 6th Jul '11 5:18:01 PM by SullenFrog

The Danse Macabre Codex

"What... What is it singing?"

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

"Beats me."

"This song...."

Link, still following the Doctor, looked at the mouths in both surprise and wonder.

"I wouldn't expect them to be singing...."

"But that is beside the point. Let's keep going."

edited 6th Jul '11 6:09:07 PM by troydenite

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

"I wonder if it knows any songs I like," said Sub-Zero. "Maybe it knows Halcyon and On and On." He began humming it as he followed Lambda.

J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!