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Post by The Mammoth on Oct 10, 2008 19:45:27 GMT -5
Galius tossed his brother upwards as Karsten began charging in like a fool.
"No! Idiot!" Galius yelled out, deflecting a strike from his brother as Warric turned and threw one of his swords into the ground, knocking a panel aside and causing the arrows to fly at Karsten from behind. Galius instantly turned and shifted, throwing Karsten out of the way, realizing how close he was to losing control. It took him a moment to break free from the time lapse, and his brother grinned as he stepped forward.
"Awwww. How touching, to save the demon you sacrificed yourself, now I'll finish you."
Galius turned to face Warric as he began his own Phase-shift. Galius knew what was coming and had no time, the only thing he could do is guess. His brother didn't have much time to strike or he would face the same issue. Galius raised his blade to his neck, and the clang out metal rang out as his brother appeared in front of him.
"WHAT!?" Warric yelled, surprised.
Galius grinned, his red eyes almost swirling like hellfire.
"Predictable..." He said.
Galius stabbed for his brothers stomach, but the blow was partially deflected, it rammed through the flesh in the right side of his waist, but didn't do any serious damage. The two separated, and Warric smiled as Galius readied himself again.
"Time to bring out my ace in the hole..." Warric cackled, raising his hand in the air. Almost as if he controlled Karsten like a puppet, he pulled at him, driving the demon inside mad with bloodlust, and in turn, causing everything that was inside Karsten to tear asunder. The demon had started a hiding battle for control, if he lost the battle, the demon would surely slay both Maukri and Galius now that he couldn't phaseshift.
Warric turned and smiled,
"Now, without further interruption... lets continue!"
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Post by Da Pwny on Oct 10, 2008 20:51:02 GMT -5
...But her demise never came; somehow, out of instinct, she'd jammed the bow into the creature's mouth, but for whatever reason it looked like her weapon was on fire! But then... how was she still able to grip it, and the steel part in her hand still feel cool to the touch? And then it struck her... it wasn't just her bow, but her hands and arms, all the way up to where it tapered off somewhere near her elbow... something that licked like fire but did not burn, although It had stopped the creature, who growled and writhed for control like a fish out of water, cold in its tracks.
Acting on a whim, Maukri grabbed her second arrow, aimed it straight down the thing's throat (though there was no other direction for it to go), and fired. The bolt seemed to charge with this new energy, until it finally broke out of its hold, passing straight through the creature, who gave off a sort of whining, wheezing cough just before it projectile-vomited up what had to be a good gallon or more of semi-acidic slime with bits and chunks in it, then went limp and fell to the floor. No sooner than she heard the sounds of coughing and such than Mau hit the deck, crawling away quickly as the thing puked its guts out and fell over, her bow still lodge in its mouth.
Taking a deep breath, she covered her mouth and got up, walking back over to the... thing to retrieve her bow. Then she heard loud screams coming from outside, which sounded like...
Making her way onto the roof, Maukri looked down below; things were getting worse by the moment. It seemed Karsten had gone into some sort of berserking rage, and she couldn't see the two brothers (which she figured to be, the way Galius had spoken of the other). Considering how high up she'd gotten, though... there was risk that things would be over before...
Something had crawled onto her back, and it was starting to aggravate the woman. Reaching around, she grabbed a reasonable-sized creature, which writhed in her grasp as she brought it about, her eyes suddenly going wide; it was a spider, a small one by some standards, but nevertheless a black widow. Still... something was familiar about it, almost as if... 'No way... that's... that's not even...'
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Post by knightc3 on Oct 13, 2008 13:17:59 GMT -5
Karsten would have expected the trap but he was 'saved' by Galius right before he could act on it himself. He growled in frustration and then suddenly he lost all control on his body. He saw himself grab Galius by his shoulder but before the demon could dig his claws in Galius' skin, Karsten recovered from the initial shock of this turnaround and betrayal. Karsten's body transformed back to his human form, all the while letting out something between a growl and a human scream. His hands reached for his head. It would seem like he was almost trying to crush his own skull. The demon had gone crazy, a hidden instinct to follow its 'master' suddenly kicking in without warning. Karsten's body fell to its knees. The man was beginning to loose this battle against the demon. All the memories from the torture caused by every thing he had leeched on went through his mind, how each and every of their victims had died and how each of them had been turned into the demons and undead that they were when Karsten had encountered them. The demon called himself Salviak. That was his name and his goal now the annihilation of all those who opposed his master, Warric. Karsten desperately searched for a way to hold off this demon or to rid himself off him but there was nothing he could have done. How was he supposed to fight himself, his own mind? Suddenly, he had a thought and got back enough control to shout out. "I demand my last wish!" The time froze, everything stopped, even those that could stop time. He had no idea if Galius and Warric was still alive. Neither Karsten nor Salviak could control the body enough to comprehend anything beyond their own state at that point. A voice he remembered from not so long ago was heard by both the entities not fighting for the body of Karsten. Usually, the former agents reserve their last wish for a place in heaven but we cannot grant you once your soul has been touched by a demon. "I don't ask for a judgment I just ask for my last wish, and no I didn't want it to be a plead for a place in heaven." Karsten paused then spoke again, "You can see what I want?" Yes, came the prompt reply. Thank you Karsten, you may not be one of us but you certainly deserve to be. You are an angel in this hell. Karsten felt falling down to his knees... again. There was no more battle in his mind. It was totally calm. His face had been restored and he could see again. He got back up on his feet and realized something else. Even though he hadn't asked for it, the powers that came with Salviak were no in his control. He had retained all the powers of the demon but the angels had vanquished the demon itself. He was not human anymore and he was not a demon either. He was a breed that would protect one from the other. He was the result, the product of this city. *Time to wrap up M *
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Post by Da Pwny on Oct 15, 2008 14:55:45 GMT -5
*yes indeed >w< got another semi-obvious*
The battle was turning, the pendulum was on the upswing. Things needed to end before it turned to the down once more... and so, an old face stirred anew. On all sides of the arena, the earth opened up, and large, black spiders began to flood in, screeching like banshees in the night. An abomination broke through the gates, flailing its arms as the small demons began marching up its legs... before it fell face-down, far away from anyone else, but close enough to reveal someone familiar. Eyes red as blood, body plated in the ebony armor of Hell itself which glistened in the moonlight, but she was holding something in her arms... the life of a small girl-child, which clung to the arm that suspended it from the ground, never crying but seeming as though she was about to.
Lowering the girl, Carella whispered something in her ear, to which the girl nodded vigorously before being carried to safely by the devil-arachnids under Carella's command. Turning, she saw the battle that was taking place before her, a deep glare of changed eyes forever altered; where there was once only rage and hunger, now there seemed to be... peace, understanding perhaps. Raising both arms, she grimaced in pain as they changed before her; the right broke open to the sides, the shell that once was there spreading like abominable wings from the arm, thick webbing forming between the spaces, then hardening almost immediately to form a shield of sorts; the left tore forwards of her a bit, straightening and sharpening its edge into a kind of jointed sword until it could slice easily through steel armor.
Planting the six 'feet' that she had on the ground, Carella lowered her head behind the shield, her eyes fixed upon the battle ahead. Even if she didn't have much of an impact, anything at this point in time would be a godsend for Galius. Stamping in place for a moment, she finally started forward, quickly gaining momentum as she charged forward, her new armaments in front of her. Still, she did not forget about the others around her; to Karsten and Maukri, she stated simply 'Rest for a bit, my beloved mate and mother. I will help in this battle as much as I am able.'
*y'all knew she was comin' back, didn't ya ;D*
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Post by The Mammoth on Oct 15, 2008 18:12:07 GMT -5
Even with the arrival of Carella, and his allies being defeated, Warric fought like a man possessed, and it was taking everything Galius had to even fend him off. The clang of swords rang out as they locked again, staring each other down.
"You're good brother!" Warric said, a sound of glee in his voice. He pushed himself backwards, turning to face the new demon, a smile on his face.
"So much power for some spider-demon to hold. Let me teach you to control it!" Warric yelled, holding his hand in the air as he turned every demon she had summoned against her with the wave of his hand. Galius, however, was not distracted, and by the time Warric turned around, he could do nothing but deflect the strike at his neck. Galius followed with a slash that tore through Warric's leg. Warric stumbled back, struggling to stand. He knew he was in trouble now, as the confidence in his eyes had faded. Galius had just struck him slow now, and it was only a matter of time.
Lunging forward, Galius aimed to slice Warric's head clean off, but found his momentum used against him, and a slash came across his chest as he fell forward, blood gushing out of the wound. A massive cut along his back, and one slightly less serious across his chest, he knew he had to end this quickly. Warric was injured as well, neither brother could stand tall. The distraction had proved useful, as Warric was losing the battle against so much strength between the demons, the elf, and his brother...
Galius stepped forward and the clash of metal rang out again. But in a move almost impossible to make, he twisted his wrists almost completely around, twisting the blades from his brother's hands. Galius rammed his sword into Warric's stomach and watched him fall to the ground, his life beginning to fade.
Placing his sword against Warric's neck, Galius allowed for his brother to have his final words.
"This is how it ends?" Warric said, a sadness in his voice, "Slain by my own brother? Did you not see what I was doing?" Warric's eyes were tortured, tortured that all he had done had fallen, "This city, this hellplague... There is no way to bring it back from the brink of death... I tried... I did... In order for a new life to begin, sometimes the old must end... The only way to bring about order, to bring peace back to the lives of everyone was to destroy all that which fought. My followers may not have been themselves... But they loved me... They believed in the cause... When was the last time ANYONE here believed in a cause..." Warric stopped, coughing up blood.
"I did the necessary evil, in order to try and restore Varamen. And because of you, the only thing that will come of it is more chaos.... There was no fighting in the streets besides yours, there was no more useless death.... Think about it! I am sorry, Varamen, I have failed you... You are not human, Galius... Nor am I, your hatred comes from your lineage... Seek it out if you want to know the truth, my part of the story ends here... You'll know where to go..."
Warric lowered his head, and Galius took it off with one swift movement of his sword. The head rolled along, and the followers, no longer pale from whatever method of control Warric had compelled on them walked from the hallways in the keep. They stood staring at the man on the ground, and somehow, rather than spite, they wept. Perhaps they had not been freed, or perhaps they believed in what Warric had set out to do... Which led to the question, who had won today? Had good conquered evil, or evil conquered good? An elf, two demons, and a hateful, vengeful, non-human. The picture was one that left questions, none of which even bothered Galius. He sheathed his blades and turned from the corpse of his brother, walking through the crowd that slowly separated.
In the streets, people wandered again, the abominations no more. They had turned into the corpses they were before. Galius could see what they were, not living beings, but corpses from the graveyards nearby. How Warric had managed to reanimate the dead was unknown... It was almost as if all the silence and order given to the town died with Warric and his abominations. Galius looked around, it must have been one of the demon orbs. Perhaps he used the evil that corrupted this place against itself. Galius shook his head, Varamen was not his concern, only vengeance for Bernie, Eve, and Forman. They were avenged...
In the street his hat blew across the ground, lost in the fight for the gate. He picked it up and placed it on his head, the rising sun now shielded from his eyes. Before him, a woman stood at knife point, being robbed by a man in broad daylight. None helped her...
It was a long walk to the gates, but there was nothing more in Varamen for Galius. He would leave it in his past, and take his chance in the wilderness that so few had ventured into, and none had returned from...
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Post by knightc3 on Oct 16, 2008 6:19:55 GMT -5
Karsten watched the end of the battle then watched as Galius walked away towards the gate. That was the end of their travels together. In fact, that was the end of a life for Karsten and beginning of a new one. He hadn't seen Carella come back till she called out to him after he had gone through his transformation. He looked in her direction and smiled. He was a bit curious about the girl and what she was doing with Carella but right now he was just happy that she was alive.
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Post by Da Pwny on Oct 16, 2008 7:31:29 GMT -5
Her part done in this battle, Carella returned to her human form. It was all she'd really wanted, and it had worked gruesomely well. As for the spiders, they disintegrated when she'd turned back; in fact, she hadn't really payed much attention to them when they turned against her, given that they didn't affect her much because of the hardened, almost armor-like exoskeleton. Legion were nothing more than the lowest of demons in physical form; by the time it would have taken a significant number of them to bring her to her knees, the battle would have ended three times over...
As she took a deep breath, her attention turned to the gates which Galius passed through. The war here had been won, but to tell the truth, it didn't feel that good... the words Warric had spoken were true enough, now that she thought of it. However, his way of dealing with it, in her mind at least, was certainly not how it should have been done. Then again, what would have been the way to do it?
So many questions left unanswered, so many left unasked... but none of that mattered right now. Her attention turned towards her beloved, and with wide open arms she raced towards him in a pure glee she had not felt in so long, embracing him with watery, tearful eyes, nuzzling him with her cheek like a cat, purring almost akin to one as well. "Karsten..." she repeated over and over again as she clung to him, having severely missed him in their extended separation, even though it had only been but a few hours...
She stopped for a moment, however, sniffing at his clothes. Looking up, her eyes met his as she asked, blinking once "What happened to you? Something's... different..."
Maukri watched below as the chaos ended. Surely, even such a great battle would not change this city a whole lot. Leaping from the rooftops (with a bit of... assistance from some creepy critters), she followed behind Galius on her own destiny. Surely, at the rate of things, most of the city would destroy itself within a matter of years, especially with the acceleration caused by Warric. Perhaps she and the girls that were left would simply wait that out, then reopen the hospital to the public. Many would be in need of help, and nursing staff were very short in supply. Of course, they wouldn't give up their defenses, but the traps and locked gate wouldn't be as necessary, now that the freaks were back to 'normal', whatever that was...
As she passed by Carella and Karsten, she gave them but a glance before continuing. She had let go of that child of hers, entrusting her life to that of the one she loved in an unceremonious marriage- if that's what it could be called. There was something ahead for them, she was certain of it. As for herself... Maukri's days as a warrior were over. Maybe she'd open a bar or something, once the girls grew up some more and could take care of themselves without having to rely upon her at all. As she passed by the woman getting robbed, she used her last arrow to shoot the man in the head, dropping him where he stood. Just for kicks.
Looking ahead, she said to the one she was somewhat following right now in a joking manner "Galius, you really need a hospital. And a bath. Again."
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Post by The Mammoth on Oct 16, 2008 18:02:06 GMT -5
Galius looked down at his chest and touched the wound at Maukri's words. It hurt still and there was definately a good amount of blood coming from it. She was right, so he changed his direction and made a stop by the hospital. He didn't look back at the elf, nor did he care to, he still found her arrogance aggravating. The women of the hospital, eager to get this horrid man away from them, patched him up and he went on his way. After a day's trip he reached the gates at the west side of the city, hardly needing to stop as even the worst of the problems in Varamen seemed to want to avoid Galius now. His vengeance apparently was not forgotten by those who were freed from Warric's hands. He turned from the rusted gates, looking at the towering trees outside, a brush so thick he wondered how he would pass through. This path had not be traveled for decades. He turned back for one last look at his home, the hellhole, Varamen.
Hellfire consume you, Varamen
With that, Galius turned from the city, and with blade in hand, began cutting a path through the brush...
((And that closes out the thread))
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Post by knightc3 on Oct 17, 2008 6:29:02 GMT -5
Karsten hadn't seen Carella for a very long time now, since the reaper had left him and taken his eyes. He smiled as she transformed back into her human form. He wrapped his arms around her and spoke, "I hoped you were still alive and I am happy you are." He smiled as she seemed to notice a different in him. He told her how Salviak, his demon had been turned against him by Warric and due to his work as an agent for the reaper, he had been granted a last wish. He had used that and vanquished the demon.
The reapers had also granted him back his eyes and let him keep the powers of the demon that had used his body as a home. "I am not a demon anymore but then, I am not human either." He paused and kissed the woman in his arms before adding, "And I still love you."
He stroked her hair gently as his mind worked. There was a power void in Varamen and Galius didn't seem interested in anything else regarding this city. So he would take up power now. The city was beyond saving but there would be a new order in the city. He was probably one of only few who understood that this was a home for both humans and demons, and both will coexist rather than trying to wipe each other out. It would start with the hospital and he would spread the order through the city. He would kill every human and demon that wishes death on the others and would let those who just want to live, human or demon, lead their lives in peace.
But he needed help and he hoped there were more humans and demons that thought the same and would be willing to help him create this new order in Varamen.
(No, it doesn't.)
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Post by Da Pwny on Oct 17, 2008 19:06:49 GMT -5
*"and ONE more thing...." <-said in a squeaky, old-man's voice >w<*
It was something Carella never heard of... something vague and distant to her. Had she had that same choice presented before her, would she have done the same thing? Somehow, she knew she couldn't have... or rather, wouldn't have. She also sensed that he was staying here, and she as well had no where else to go except back into wandering the wilderness with a man who was also neither human nor demon, and didn't give half a sh** for her life. "I don't care what you are anymore, my love" she said, nuzzling closer and holding him tightly, "I just want to be near you. You gave me things I had lost so long ago... and I never want to lose them again."
Turning towards the keep's gates, she began walking, holding her beloved's hand in her own, a playful look coming across her face. Depression and sorrow left her in whole, something that she had forgotten possible for so long... but as long as they were together, she would never have to be sad anymore. Instead, joy filled the gap, and that playful smile turned into a laugh as she lead Karsten out of the entryway, into a city that still had a lingering hope... and as long as that was there, then things could be made right. Yes, saying it made the whole fiasco sound extremely cheesy, but in the end, also oh so true...
FIN.
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