Spring 2007 R1-4: Musicmuse v. existingdark -- The Terca'nal Fault Line

[LocoColt04]

Reference this thread for bracket information. Reference this thread for environment information.

You have from now until the 28th of February to finish your round. Good luck!

I was going to expand the environments for you, but I've decided to leave that in your hands. Pay attention to what's already listed in the Environment thread, and build upon it from there. I look forward to this season's tournament.



Remember, your characters have been teleported to this location via the powers of the gods/aliens (call them anything but judges). Because this is the first round, long introductory posts explaining your characters' journey prior to abduction are acceptable. In future rounds, try to keep them shorter.

Again, good luck, and more importantly, have fun!

[Darkwolf]

A man ran up to Lance, obviously assuming he was a fighter by the armor and whatnot, and told him about a tournament, run by gods. He didn't know about gods but Lance could never turn down a good tournament, especally one this popular. He followed the directions to sign up and after registering, he waited until the day came for him to come. He had all of his equipment worked on until they were as good as when he got them, and made his way to the designated place. He was instantly teleported right next to a volcano, he drew his weapon, and readied himself for whatever was to come next.

Dragoth, on the other hand, had heard a rumor about a tournament, and thought of how much fun it would be, and both him and his sword were thirsty for blood. He signed up, reluctantly restraining from attacking anyone. When the day came, he came to the place, drew his blade, and found himself next to a volcano with the only opponent he could not kill, the one that escaped. "Ahh, so you are my opponent? I'm gonna have fun watching you burn."

The two turned their weapons at each other, not noticing that more people were coming... utter hate in Dragoth's eyes, determination in Lance's.

[Musicmuse]

The entire compund had just slipped away, like it was wiped from existance by some invisable hand. One moment they had been fleeing the military warehouse, their clothes and hands flecked with human blood, and the next moment time had slowed down and the walls of the compound and the blaring of the alarms faded away, replaced by a brilliant white light. Niah and Genesis had instinctively put their hands up to shield their eyes from the light, but its intensity kept growing and flooded over them with a soft warm glow. The transition had been timeless. It was as if they both stood together in that brilliant void for all eternity... and yet at the same time it was as if no time had passed at all.

Whether it had been forever or an instant was now unimportant. As the white light faded away the heat grew more intense and the color changed to a fiery scarlet. Niah and Genesis found themselves on unstable ground next to jets of searing lava and billowing smoke. Their minds worked in unison as they searched their database for where exactly it was they had ended up.

"Unknown?" Niah asked Genesis without speaking. Because they were artificial Intelligence known as Antrapan, Niah and Genesis were able to communicate through thoughts sent over a network built into their system. The thoughts were, in reality, just messages sent over a system, but to the two machines it was the equivalent to a normal human conversation. "How can our location be unknown? We're equiped with every location on earth. We have to be somewhere!"

"Perhaps," Genesis reasoned, "We are no longer on Earth."

It was an odd thought. Not on Earth? Where could they possibly be? As far as they knew no country had mastered space travel yet. There were countries that were edging closer every year, but it was still a ways off.

"The year is off too," Niah noted. "And my system refuses to correct it. Same with you?"

Genesis affirmed that she was unable to settle on a date either, and now the thought of enemy sabotage set it... or even sabotage by their murdered creators. It could be possible that as a security measure all of the Antrapan that had been manufactured by the American Government had been fitted with some sort of device that would automatically transport a rogue machine if it acted out. After all, Niah and Genesis had been the ones to turn on thier makers and murder them all just minutes ago. For all they knew they had been found out and were now being detained for disposal.

Except that they weren't on Earth, apparently, and even more alarming was that they were possibly no longer even in the same time period.

Another jet of molten lava spurted up from the shifting ground to their left and the two Antrapan decided it would be better to keep moving. The sky was covered in a blanket of dark ash, and tiny flakes of the smoldering ashes rained down upon the land like a gentle snow. Niah and Genesis moved cautiously over the terrain, and it wasn't long before they spotted two other lifeforms who were seemingly arguing with each other.

"They're --" Genesis started.

"Not human," Niah finished. "At least not the kind of human that we are accustomed to."

It was now apparent that things were definately not how they should be, and thoughts of this all being a punishment for slaying their creators quickly started to slip from their mind. No human could have done this, reguardless of their nationality. It seemed their systems had been correct, and now it was anyone's guess as to where and when they had ended up.

[Darkwolf]

( thanks Loco for clearing that up)
The two stared at each other never blinking or even making the slightest movement to show an attack, their eyes unchaning. Dragoth's rage burned just as bright as Lance's determination to win, and not back down. Just as Lance and Dragoth were thinking through what they're next moves were going to be, they saw two figures coming their way. hmm, 3 good ones in one day? This is too much fun. Dragoth thought as the two grew closer. Why to they have to come here? I need to take this guy out on my own, to show I'm not a coward... Lance turned at the two and said "before you attack, let's see who they are" Dragoth was just taking his first step twords Lance when that was said. "they are not normal" Lance said. Dragoth didn't even care at the moment, his mind was focused only on finishing this one man, and slaying the two incomers next. "feh, fine... go ahead and.... aquaint yourself with them, but don't get yourself killed, that's my job."

Lance took several steps twords the two and said "hello, who are you two..." He was nervous about how odd the two looked to him. "At least let me know your names."

[Musicmuse]

Well, the two creatures seemed friendly enough... or, more accurately, one of them did. This boy looked fairly young, perhaps just a touch over 18 or so, and seemed genuinely interested when he asked them for their name. Obviously there was no danger in releasing this information, so Niah and Genesis introduced themselves and asked the same question of the two guys standing opposite them.

There was definitely a different feeling coming from the more sinister looking of the two. Dressed in the deepest black from head to toe, this person seemed distinctly disinterested in learning their names, much less giving out his own. A scowl was smeared across his face and his eyes had narrowed practically into slits as he seemed to be studying the more hospitable boy.

Another geyser of lava spurted out of a nearby fissure, and the gentle sprinkling of ashes from above continued to rain softly around them all.

[Darkwolf]

Dragoth stood there, thinking of when to attack. He was getting very tired of this friendly crap and wanted to have some fun. He observed the two, thinking of how weak they were, for openly giving out information about themselves, then he had a thought. I think I'll use this lance kid to find some weakness in these two, plus some info on Lance wouldn't hurt. Then I can kill them and find out where the hell I am.

Lance felt good to know that the two were not hostile, but he kept a close eye on Dragoth. He knew what kind of things Dragoth has done, how evil he was... He motioned himself to invite them to move farther away from Dragoth, to avoid endangering him or the two, Niah and Genesis. He felt a little akward twords them, but they were not human, he was starting to really question what had happened. He just appeared here, and someone he had not seen for a year at least, and never cared if he never saw again, had showed up as well. He walked farther from Dragoth and immediately warned them of Dragoth. Then he started to introduce himself more in deph.

[Musicmuse]

Lance's warning came as no surprise to neither Genisis nor Niah. They had surmised that this Dragoth character was not to be trusted, and having this other person who knew him personally vouch for his wickedness solidified his evil intent in their mind. Niah's attention shifted toward Dragoth as Genesis continued to chat lightly with Lance. Genesis was more just talking for the sake of buying time so that Niah could get a better read on Dragoth. They suspected that these two beings wouldn't know exactly what they were -- after all, they had the exact appearance of human females and were indistinguishable from such until the heat of battle was upon them. It was only after an enemy felt how truly skilled in the art of war these two ladies were that the true essence of what they were could be imagined.

Unless the sky is raining heated ash, that is. The entire area they had been teleported to was completely unstable and the eruptions of molten lava that gushed from the surface every other moment only reinforced this fact. The ash barely had time to cool before it fell back upon them. As Genesis and Niah communicated back and forth over their internal network, Genesis caught a sudden twitch in Lance's eye. She was about to say something to Niah, but Niah had already said that she noticed a glint in Dragoth's eye as well.

"Is something wrong?" Genesis asked Lance soothingly.

He didn't respond, but a low hissing and a flick of Lance's eyes toward Genesis's abdomen told them why there had been the sudden change in Lance's disposition toward them. Genesis' camouflaged tank-top had been singed by a particularly hot ash, and before all of their eyes the burn hole that the ash had caused was repaired, leaving the fabric looking brand new. For once it seemed that having a regenerative shell had become a disadvantage. Genesis and Niah held their breath, waiting to see how this seemingly unexplainable phenomenon would be taken by their new acquaintances.

[Darkwolf]

Lance saw the burn... heal right before his eyes. He didn't know what to think, what to say. He looked at Genesis, and spoke very softly "are you human?"

Dragoth was pleased with this. He would use this unexpected event to turn Lance against them, and get the battle started. He could no longer bear having them chatting on about crap while he could have so much more fun just killing them all. "Don't you see, they are creatures, here to kill you. They are the lowest of beings, finding the slightest weakness and torturing you with it... they are no more trustworthy than I... so kill them now!"

Lance was stunned by the words, he had been uneasy by the two, and he was beginning to doubt weather Dragoth was right or not... His heart began to race, he looked the two in the eyes... No they were not human at all, he began to question their truthfulness. He drew his polearm and pointed it first at Dragoth, but moved it over to the two, Niah and Genesis. He didn't know what to believe, only that he was alone, and that he'd have to fight someone in order to get out of this...

[Musicmuse]

Niah and Genesis watched the scene unfold before their eyes. The evil Dragoth had sipped his venomous words into Lance's ear, and now the two groups stood separated by a pole-arm. How exactly Lance thought a pole-arm could stop them was uncertain, but the gesture alone drew the line. It seemed inevitable now that this meeting would come to blows.

Niah lowered her head and her eyes squinted menacingly, her fists clenching at her sides. The ash continued to fall and singe their clothes, but as quickly as the burns appeared they were repaired as if it had never happened. Genesis flipped her blonde hair back with a flick of her head and adjusted her footing to a defensive stance. Both of their arms were raised in front of them, acting as a shield.

"It seems there is no avoiding it," Genesis communicated to Niah silently.

Niah gave a slight nod and responded. "We've been up against worse before. This is what we were built to do --"

"-- destroy," Genesis finished.

Their conversation went unheard by both Lance and Dragoth, but they assumed that the two boys were also trying to calculate what move to make next. Niah and Genesis decided to play defense and attack only if the enemy moved first. The pole arm's position was a pretty clear indication of where everyone stood, but they hadn't forgotten about how Lance felt toward Dragoth. For all they knew, this could be a three-on-one battle.

[Darkwolf]

Dragoth felt glad as the three fell for his trap. He put one hand behind his back, while keeping one foreward. The foreward one was being used to focus heat on the two while the one behind was focusing on making a fireball. He smirked and said "what are you waiting for, attack!"

Lance heard Dragoth and swung his polearm at him, only to be avoided. "Since when have you been so trustworthy?" Lance was hit with a difficult choice... The two Niah and Genesis were in defensive stances, but Dragoth seemed like he was about to attack. He chose Dragoth. Lance swung his polearm hard to make a wind slash at Dragoth, hoping it would hit.

Unfortunately, Dragoth simply threw the fireball at the gust, cancelling it out. He found the cracks in the ground to be of great use... There was lava just waiting to come out. Instead of attacking by creating his own fire, Dragoth realized he could make a more destructive attack by focusing on the cracks, and taking the lava out to use as he saw fit. He would enjoy this battle, and was greatful of where he had turned out to go.

[Shan'do Spike]

This one has to go to Musicmuse.

Existing: your idea of having the conflict between your characters is cool, but it's drawn way too far out. This is supposed to be a 2 v 2 battle, not a 2 v 1 v 1 battle, and it really kind of hurt your chances. Secondly, your posts are sorta lacking in content: they're very short and very little happens beyond one of your characters plotting with each other. In specific, your intro post was really lacking in content. It still wasn't a bad effort, though.

Music: your content is solid, but there isn't much of it. You also do an excellent job of having your characters working with each other. You also do a nice job of using the environment.

Good job you two, and good luck in the next round, MM.