Setting
- 73 posts here • Page 3 of 3 • 1, 2, 3
"All systems will soon be deactivated. Visitors of alien origins will soon be contained and eradicated within two hours. Please evacuate the floor before the eradication process commences."
"Aw, fu-" she began, spinning around to look for possible exits. "What the hell kind of sci-fi movie are they running down here?" she asked in aggravation. She stared at the locked elevator door with a frown. "Doubt I can kick that down, Gabe. Thoughts?"
The creature screams out loudly, it's body twitching for a moment before it collapses to the ground, continuing to only twitch. Madison cursed softly and brought her heel down hard on the creature's neck before turning back to Gabriel. She ran back to his side quickly. "Okay, mistakes were made!" she hissed out, her eyes constantly moving around the area. "Let's push up the timeline on that escape, yeah?"
"Right. Are there any maps nearby? Someone -must- of been carrying one around!" Madison turned back to the corpse lying by the reptilian and gagged.
"Alright, lootin' bodies now. Fun." She squatted down to rifle through his person. The body appeared to be recent - They must of sent someone down here to help the survivors. An unfortunate situation, though he had what they were looking for in his gear, which the creature seemed to have taken no interest in. Madison pulled out the map triumphantly and tossed it to Gabriel as she stood. "Alright, you navigate and I'll take out the creeps." Gabriel takes the map and nods to her.
"Right.. According to this, they had an escape route planned for any survivors. Who knows how long this has been going on. Also, is it odd that the creatures only went for the people and not what they were holding?" Madison scratched at the back of her head and shrugged.
"I dunno. They're just...lizard things. Maybe they don't care if it's not food? C'mon, we can think about that later."
"Ah, right, sorry." Gabriel checks the path on the map. "Okay, we need to head north, then go through the first door to the left. It shouldn't be that far, but who knows what is going through the building right now.." He quickly goes to move, following Madison's lead if he could. Madison struck out ahead, glancing back at Gabriel every few seconds to make sure he was following closely.
"Alright, door, door..." After a few minutes of running, Madison sees a door up ahead... On the floor. The space it used to hold closed had been torn through like something had bashed it's way in. Madison hesitated for a moment before stepping over the door and into the hole, motioning for Gabriel to follow. "Where to, Gabe?"
"Erm, it says we're supposed to take the stairs up, but..." He looks up, seeing half of it broken. ". . .We'll need to fly up." Madison looked over Gabriel suspiciously.
"You better not've pudged up, Gabe," she mumbled before moving to pick him up.
"I'm not! What do you think of me?!" Madison laughed and crouched down before jumping into flight, landing them at the top of the stairs.
"Next, c'mon."
"We're supposed to head to the farthest end of the west and wait for further instructions." Madison frowned.
"Okay, that doesn't sound super comforting, honestly. Gah..." She struck out in the indicated direction, still keeping a close eye on Gabriel. Gabriel follows, more sounds could be heard ahead.
"Uh-oh. Are there more of them?"
"Just stick behind me, Gabe." The stun baton buzzed back into life and Madison slowed her pace, looking ahead carefully. They could see three of them up ahead now, they appeared to be making holes in the walls around them and searching inside said holes, repeating the process. Madison's head slowly tilted to the side in pure confusion. "What the hell are they doin'...?" she whispered quietly back to Gabriel.
"Searching for food?"
"Right..." Madison shook her head. "Any way around them? Or am I bashing in a lot of...reptile necks."
". . .Could we lure them away somehow?" Madison stuck out her tongue.
"Right, 'violence isn't always the answer', huh?" Madison looked around for any bodies. "Didn't save any meat from the dead person, didja?"
". . .Why would I?" Madison poked Gabriel's cheek lightly.
"Because at this moment it sounds useful." She sighed and rechecked her pockets. "Okay, okay...What else do reptiles like?"
"We could use noise?"
"I'd rather something keep their attention, but I guess we don't have that luxury..."
"We need a plan, and fast." Madison frowned.
"Plans are your job, Gabe. I hit things." She made a small bashing motion with her baton to demonstrate. "Look, get us somewhere out of sight and I'll take care of the noise part.
"Fine." He looks around, rubbing his hands on nearby walls as he frantically searched until he found something. Pushing the pile of rubble away from a door, he opens it and looks inside to see the room intact. "Okay, the coast is clear here." He said, heading into the room. Madison moved into the room after him, closing the door with just a crack left open.
"Turn around, Gabe," she instructed quietly. He did so. Madison peered down the hallway the way they'd came and focused her attention on one of the walls. She reached up her hand and clenched her fist, the wall tearing apart with a loud crash as dust raised. She hastily wiped away a trickle of blood from her nose. The three lizardmen seem to notice, letting out loud roars as they seemed startled. All three of them immediately move in for the source of he disturbance, looking ready to hurt. Madison held her breath and waited for the trio to pass before opening the door again and motioning for Gabriel to head down the hallway. Gabriel nods and follows after her, nervously looking at where the three were searching.
Madison ushered Gabriel down the hall quickly, sparing only a few glances back at the reptilians. "How far?" she whispered to him.
"Not much." He looks at the map. "There should be an ending soon..." Madison nodded and simply continued forward. As they find the ending point, they find an unusual looking bug that crawls out before they can get to the end.
"Invaders! You dare invade our new territory?! You shall not get past His Majesty's top commander!" Madison cringed backwards and her face contorted.
"Okay, plan time, Gabe!" she all but screamed out, holding the baton at the ready as she got into a defensive stance. She wasn't going to justify the insanity of the moment by responding to a giant talking bug.
"Uh, well --" Before Gabriel could continue, the bug suddenly transforms, becoming ten feet tall in an instant, having a humanoid form with it's bug parts forming into some sort of armor over it's body, and appeared to be very durable now. ". . .I didn't know bugs could have powers, too!"
"PREPARE TO SUFFER HIS MAJESTY'S WRATH!"
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Madison used her free hand to pull out the small knife, throwing it desperately at any chink in the armor she could find. "If you see an opening, run!" She prepared herself to launch at the bug, the adrenaline pumping through her veins. The bug prepares to attack as the knife bounces off of it's body, when the wall behind them explodes. The bug turns around and begins to fire little needles at a helicopter.
"Foolish fools! Stay away from my home!"
"That's an opening as I'll ever see one! Fly us out of here, Maddy!"
"Oh, thank Christ!" She gasped out, turning the baton off and resettling it on her person in a fluid motion. She scooped Gabriel up into her arms and sprinted, jumping up into a glide and aiming to fly around to the back side of the helicopter. The bug lets out an unusual roar as it is fired upon, a red glow coming off of it as it explodes, the helicopter quickly flying away as the insect had melted practically everything around it... And on top of that, appeared to have spawned itself into tiny little bugs.
"I just saw a bug with four different abilities! Now I'm certain, those things -are- from the rips!" Madison flew up and away from the building, taking a few steadying breaths.
"Crazy powered rip bugs. Great. Perfect. Really need that in my life." Madison shook her head slightly and adjusted her grip on Gabriel. "Alright, Gabe, hold on tight. We need to get somewhere safe where we can actually think through whatever the hell that was. Where to?"
"Um... I don't know, really. You got a place we can stay at for a bit?" Madison nodded.
"My apartment it is." She corrected her course and took them down to the street once they were within walking distance.
"Everyone, hold on!" Suddenly, everyone would feel the train fall before crashing down, everyone hitting the ground as they were caught up in complete darkness. "Oh no, this isn't good."
"Welcome to my domain, everyone." A deep voice boomed out around them, as the darkness around them felt ominous, it felt unnatural. "You will find there is no escape, the way you came in is too high. You will have to play my game, or die of starvation."
"We have to move, we can't stay in this train!"
"But we don't know where this person is!"
"It doesn't matter, more now! Leave the two behind!" With that, the team was suddenly out and away, but now Brandon and his friend were alone in the darkness. Meanwhile, Gabriel merely sat down in a chair and closed his eyes as he lets out a sigh. He was too tired to complain and merely waited for the meal to be done. He wondered still on the incident they just out of and wondered how the rips were so specific to open up. Could it be, he thought, that someone was... No, he couldn't think of that, for now, he had to stay focused.
She poured out two cups of soup and handed one to Gabriel before lounging on the couch and closing her eyes with a groan. "Ugh...when we get outta here, I vote we go to a hot spring..." she mumbled softly.
"Shadow...what's going on?" Elizibet asked.
"I don't know...." I Brandon replied calmly. "But as long as the light user doesn't get any ideas, we should be okay." he whispers calmly. "Now let's get out of here before anyone else gets any funny ideas."
With that the two of them quietly started to climb, heading towards where they thought civilization, and life, was, leaving SOLO's men behind as well as the light manipulator.
"Hm...?" she replied softly, not really registering his question at first. She took another sip of soup and swallowed before actually turning to look at him. "I don't know, Gabe...The world's a crazy place, but we're sorta crazy now, too, aren't we?" She sighed softly and set her food to the side disinterestedly. "I mean, we have to try. We don't have a choice, right?"
"Salutations, Union City. First off, I am Eternity, some of you may call me The One, God or otherwise. I go by many names, and change my name depending on the situation of the world. This is a message for Union City, danger will befall upon you tomorrow if you do not pledge loyalty to me. If not, I shall leave Union City to it's fate, for only I can save it. If you doubt my powers, then watch as the one you call SOLO falls tomorrow. That will be your final chance to pledge yourselves to me, otherwise, I shall move on. My identity cannot be pinned down, for it shall be either a gift or a curse. This is Eternity's first and only message for Union City in the reality called Earth."
Gabriel turned off the television after that, looking over to Madison. "Should I be surprised or worried?" Meanwhile, Brandon and his friend felt the ladder break as they ascended part way up it.
"I don't think so." The voice spoke out again. "You, too, are part of my game now. There are no exits besides two. And one of them is death." The voice chuckles, as shapes and figures begin to form in the darkness around them.
"Explain to us this...game of yours." Brandon said calmly, his dark red eyes glowing brighter. The multiple personalities in his head were all screaming at what to do next, but Shadow only stared and watched, tuning the rest out. Elizibet looked at her Master and gulped down her fear as a tendril brought her over to a platform of solid Shadow, where she and Brandon stood and stared at the figures in the darkness.
Madison ran her hand over her face with a heavy sigh. "Ain't no rest for the wicked..." she mumbled softly, taking a quick sip of water from her own glass. "Gabe, I don't think there's much left to surprise me in this world. And worrying would be a waste of effort. Let's settle for being disgruntled."
Madison swung her legs back onto the floor and slowly stood, rolling her shoulders. "I'mma go ahead and assume you'll want to do something about this...?" A hell no would be welcome, but oh, so unlikely.
Meanwhile, Gabriel shook his head, putting a hand up to rest on his forehead. "The more I try to do something right, the more chaos I cause for this city. The sooner we get out of here, the better things will get for everyone." He closed his eyes for a moment, it wasn't like him to do this, but this was getting out of their powers. Quite literally, actually. He wanted to rest from the chaos and madness, he wanted to get away from these conflicts between others and just keep Madison happy. Of course, what route could they take out of here?
She shuffled around a few things in the kitchenette before coming back and pushing his hand aside, laying her own wrist against his forehead as she checked for a temperature. "Let's just worry about you, right? How do you feel?"
Elizibet looked at Brandon and put a hand on his back comfortingly. "Let us go! Can't you see he's in pain?!" she screams, concerned for her master's well-being.
She sounded confident, but she was over her head with all this stuff. She wasn't sure how she was going to keep Gabe afloat, let alone herself.
He considered, given his power, it actually could be, but it could easily just be him being confused. Otherwise, he would have to consider every metaphor or simile he made that was time related to be possibly true.
It wasn't like he knew his last name or anything.
And then there was Cyler. Something was brewing in the city. Most of the mainstream criminal society had gone to ground and bunkered up. Even some of the supers had gone to ground. And no one was talking.
--------------------------
The Mayor sat down, looking Cyler right in the face. "This is an unusual request your making, old friend".
He had his pistol nearby just in case this was Cyler here to kill him as well. Though, if he had fully thought that, he would have never let him enter in the first place. After all, he was still useful to Cyler, and they had a history even Cyler had to have some sentiments towards.
"Well, these are odd times. After all, you do have two corpses with the same DNA, and the same fingerprints, and yet Daniel Ross still lives. And he doesn't have a cloning power".
"You really think he is a big threat to what we have planned though?"
"That is what my source says, and it has been reliable thus far. Besides, I have a score to settle with him. Now, from what I heard, a man named Gabriel may know some things about him. Don't worry, I will make sure he wont talk. I just need to know where he lives. The more we learn about Daniel Ross, the better".
The Mayor got out some old scotch and poured them each a glass. The Mayor knew it was now or never. "I know about your history with him. Isn't he a bit young considering the people you usually recruit? What made him so special?"
"Trust me" Cyler told him with a smile. "You don't want to know. I don't even fully know how to explain it myself. But lets just say, if I am right, his death would be a victory for the safety of mankind".
The Mayor gave him Gabriel's address. "Just make sure it doesn't lead back to me".
Gabriel did as he was told, laying down and feeling the cool wet on his forehead as he drifted off into sleep after a bit. All his worries seemed to vanish in the blink of an eye after that, and he entered into his dreams. He finds himself moving through some woods, running and out of breath as if being chased by something, yet he didn't dare look back. His heart pounding, his head throbbing, he ends up sliding down some fallen leaves, landing in a pile of them as he quickly got up and kept moving. He didn't know why, but even in his dreams, he was not safe from the world.
However anger grew within him at the bickering of the other personalities. Soon the personality for anger faded and was absorbed into his body. The other personalities continued to argue, ignoring that fact. Soon sadness also vanished, and every single personality went quiet, staring at Brandon as he now stood, head bowed as the personality for fear vanished as well. Determination followed, and Brandon looked up at Shadow, staring him straight in the eye.
While this mental shift of power was happening, Brandon was in reality hacking up a lung. He eventually puked violently at least five times, causing Elizibet to scream in fear for her master. After the puking was done, Brandon weakly stood up and stared at the figure, finally in control of his own body for once, his muscles twitched slightly as he got used to controlling them for the first time in a long while.
"Tell us this game of yours." he says quietly. "Say it before I tear the very darkness from this realm and keep it for myself."
~~~
The normal hustle of bustle of a small, open shopping center came to a sudden and grinding halt. A rip, the size of a large gate, tore through the air with a shhhhhkt that echoed throughout the plaza. There was a pregnant pause as onlookers gazed at the rip with fear and curiosity. Heat radiated outward in a wave, accompanied by visible waves that made the air turn strange.
A beast beyond Earthly description, large and ferocious like a wolf, lept through the rip and time seemed to slow down. In a single, fluid motion, the monster landed a huge front paw on top of a screaming woman, letting out a earth-shattering roar. The people were pulled from their prone states and immediately began to run in any direction they could to escape.
- 73 posts here • Page 3 of 3 • 1, 2, 3