Underclocked Forums Here you can view your subscribed threads, work with private messages and edit your profile and preferences Registration is free! Calendar Find other members Frequently Asked Questions Search Home  
Underclocked Forums : Powered by vBulletin version 2.0.3 Underclocked Forums > Rurouni Taikai 2 > Rurouni Taikai 2 > Character introduction thread
Pages (3): [ <   1   2   3   > ]   Last Thread   Next Thread
Author
Thread Post New Thread    Post A Reply
Terra Lockheart
Sponsoring Meryl in RT2

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Is this text unlimited?
Posts: 70

Whoa, TK (it's shorter than Renmazuo ), you really put a lot of time into this. o_O Ah, but poor Zack...more depressing stuff, ne? Zack's actually deeper than some of the main characters, IMO, especially since he was involved with not only Cloud, but Tifa and Aeris as well. If someone was sponsoring Aeris for the tournament, that would be one interesting story arc. But there're already a lot of FFVII characters, so lets see how Zack's story turns out the way it is...

Poor Ex...*switches the system Cirrus has with another PS2 and plugs in Port 2* Now what're YOU gonna do?

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Terra Lockheart is offline Old Post 03-26-2002 02:44 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Terra Lockheart Click here to Send Terra Lockheart a Private Message Click Here to Email Terra Lockheart Find more posts by Terra Lockheart Add Terra Lockheart to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Exeter
Psycho Mantis, Sponsor

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 77

Ren, you had better sponser Zack next tourny. I already plan to sponser Vincent again, unless ol' JonJon decides to kill him off or something. No, actually, I still would. Unless he's a better Vincent than I am, which I suspect will be the case. *slams head into keyboard*

What was I saying? Oh, right...great intro, Renmazuo.

Terra: You really want to know? Okay, here goes... *vibrates controller so hard that Cirrus's arms fly off*

Victory is mine! Ahahaha!


__________________

We have no past, no future. We live in the moment.

Banner by the super-cool Krizak

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Exeter is online now Old Post 03-26-2002 05:57 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Exeter Click here to Send Exeter a Private Message Click Here to Email Exeter Find more posts by Exeter Add Exeter to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Soujiro Seta
Sidekick :: Escad

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Lucemia
Posts: 37

Waaaaa....just when I thought I had a decent intro, along comes TK and puts me to shame. Much props to you man; your writing is excellent. If this is the passion and detail you put into merely the intro, I can't wait to see what'll happen come tournament time...


__________________
My name is Escad
I like to protect justice
and beautiful girls.

Thinking things over
is not what I like to do;
I have a big sword.

(banner pending)

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Soujiro Seta is offline Old Post 03-26-2002 09:39 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Soujiro Seta Click here to Send Soujiro Seta a Private Message Click Here to Email Soujiro Seta Find more posts by Soujiro Seta Add Soujiro Seta to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Wayne
Dycedarg Beoulve

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: There and Back Again
Posts: 35

True excellence... and to think that these are just the intros (with an admittedly weak method of entering the tourney)! I for one am looking forward to the writing in this little tournament....

Much like TK, I'll be writing several different stages to Dycedarg's intro. No Tactics spoilers in the first section (although all the rest will be pretty heavy on them)-- it's mostly for those of you who want a glimpse of Dycedarg's personality without wanting any of the game given away. For the rest of you... be patient.

---

A tall, middle-aged man stood gazing at a twilight sky on a cool Autumn evening. What had just minutes before been a beautiful sunset was now fading into night.

Much like my own life.... he mused.

The air itself seemed heavy, and the man could not hear the sounds normally present with nightfall... the night music of crickets chirping and leaves rustling in the wind. All around him seemed as dead as the castle he stood comfortably in, as though letting him know he was not alone.

But I am.

He let out a deep sigh and left his room to walk downstairs. The castle servants had long ago retired-- as always, they sought to slack off when the master was not around-- and he helped himself into the kitchen. But the noble did not feel hungry, and settled for a glass of aged wine.

Korentha, from 1021. Not a bad year. Korenthan wine was always Larg's favorite... one of the few things we could agree on....

He spilled on a few drops on his dark blue robe and silently cursed at his own clumsiness before removing a silk cloth with which he dabbed at the new spots. He gave up in disgust after just a few moments, and carefully filled the rest of his glass.

Now that I think about it, Gafgarion was partial to Korenthan too.... It always struck me as unusual....

"You seem upset, milord." came a smooth voice from a shadow in the corner, beside a cupboard holding the castle plateware.

"I am merely thinking, Yimaka. It is a pastime I choose to indulge in."

The female Ninja chuckled quietly. "You must have a lot on your mind... and your soul."

The older man turned to face her, the lines on his face seeming deeper in the dim light cast by the kitchen's fireplace. "I did not take kindly to your cousin's insinuations."

"Is that why you killed her?" came a quiet voice.

The noble slowly turned away. "I did not kill Mireiyu."

"Just like you 'didn't kill Larg,' right?"

He snorted. "Have you never been told not to ask questions that get people killed?"

She put her mask back on. "Do you admit it?"

"I admit nothing," he returned, scornfully, "...to you."

"You don't trust me?"

He tilted his head toward her. "I trust no one."

She shook her head. "No surprise. You wouldn't be able to kill someone you trusted."

The man spun around, a long gold-colored sword appearing seemingly instantly from beneath his outer robe. "That was a bad choice, Yimaka."

Her hands flew to her back and withdrew twin ninja blades, holding one in each hand. "Not as bad as the one you just made, Dycedarg!"

"I... wasn't planning on killing you, Yimaka. You will die knowing that this was your fault." Just as quickly, a Venetian wrist shield closed over his left hand. Dycedarg shrugged off his silk robe, showing armor underneath.

She narrowed her eyes. "We'll see."

She lunged with remarkable speed, slashing with both blades at the knight before her. But Dycedarg's natural skills were only augmented by fighting with such a light yet wide blade, and the Defender parried them both with little effort. Yimaka nimbly dodged a slash from the Knight Sword and jumped backward toward a kitchen wall, clinging onto it as a spider would. Her spiked gloves allowed her to climb further, and soon Yimaka hung from the wooden beams on the ceiling with one hand, reaching for shuriken with the other.

"Such a useless display of agility," the Knight mocked. "It will do you no good."

Her only reply was to grin, and throw a jet-black barbed throwing star from a leather pouch hidden in her Ninja garb. As before, though, Dycedarg effortlessly deflected it with his sword.

"Are there any other tricks you would like to show off before the end, Yimaka? To let me know that your training was not in vain?"

She switched back to her swords and dropped down, dodging another strike from Dycedarg. "Certainly, 'my Lord.'" She suddenly stooped down and drew a curved knife from her tabi boot. "Do you know what this is?"

"Of course. It's a--"

"Asura!" the Ninja cried and, holding the blade high, she concentrated her ki into the knife, freeing a spirit sealed in the sword to attack. And despite Yimaka's weak magical strength, the spirit drew ethereal gashes below Dycedarg's armor, and he hissed in pain.

The Knight recovered quickly and brushed off his inner robe. "So that's all. You proved to be quite a mistake, Yimaka. An error I cannot help repairing."

He raised the Defender to his face, blade turned sideways between the two. Dycedarg silently began chanting, and a pattern of ancient characters gradually and rapidly began appearing across the surface of the blade.

The Ninja involuntarily backed away. "You're--!?"

The noble's mouth twitched in a kind of sadistic smile. "...a Rune Knight. The only one alive. And one of a small group possessing that knowledge."

Yimaka threw her knives down and quickly found another Yagyu star. But she never threw it.

"Holy Explosion!" A column of white light blasted down from above into Yimaka and she was slain instantly, dead before her body struck the floor.

Dycedarg wasted no time, striking a bell to call for his servants before sheathing the Defender. He turned to leave, and bent down to the fallen girl's side. He removed her mask and gazed for a moment on the young woman's face, frozen forever in the serene smile of one embraced by Death. He halted, just for a moment, over her, and then slowly stood back up.

"To answer your question... yes. Yes I did."

---

Part 1 down, more later. I'm getting some practice for the return of the Brave Story (whenever FFO's back... and whenever that'll be ).


__________________


"The powerful must rule the powerless ones!"

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Wayne is offline Old Post 03-26-2002 09:54 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Wayne Click here to Send Wayne a Private Message Click Here to Email Wayne Find more posts by Wayne Add Wayne to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Renmazuo
Sponsor - Zack Ebony

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Graveyard of Airships
Posts: 30

Ahh, geez, you guys. Thanks, CV, Terra, Exeter, Tenken, Wayne, that means quite a bit. I hope I'll be able to entertain much more with the third installment.


__________________

"Memory destroys illusion. Yet even now, I hide in dreams."
Sponsoring Zack Ebony of Final Fantasy VII.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Renmazuo is offline Old Post 03-27-2002 05:43 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Renmazuo Click here to Send Renmazuo a Private Message Click Here to Email Renmazuo Find more posts by Renmazuo Add Renmazuo to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Kellios
Sponsoring: Kuja

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 32

*runs in* hey! Wait up!

Renmazuo, fantadtic sutff there for a character who doesn't get much spotlight. I, myself, am writing a ficcy that has Tseng, Aeris, and Zack. Maybe sometime you want to put some input into it? Seeing as you've potrayed Zack so well...

Ah, and yes, Cirrus, Ex, Tifa will be right behind you guys for a last go around.


__________________


Sponsoring Kuja in Rurouni Taikai 2

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Kellios is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 12:19 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Kellios Click here to Send Kellios a Private Message Click Here to Email Kellios Visit Kellios's homepage! Find more posts by Kellios Add Kellios to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Curley W
Sponsor: MegaMan Volnutt

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Elysium
Posts: 32

Here's my intro for Megaman. It's been a few months since I've played MML2, So forgive me if some of the characters are OOC.

_________________________________________________

"Are you sure this is gonna work Sera?" He asked the green haired young woman.

"Of course." The woman identified as Sera replied. "The propulsion unit is perfectly capable of sending the pod and it's passenger from Elysium to Terra system, and the outer casing can withstand temperatures 100 degrees above that of re-entry."

"And we've programmed the guidance system to compensate for the planet's rotation." A woman in her mid-thirties with short blonde hair added. "The pod will land precisely twenty miles off of Calinka island."

"You're such a worrier MegaMan!" Data replied. "Everything will be alright!"

"I guess your right." MegaMan replied, looking down at his small companion. It had been two weeks since he and Sera had fought, and since then he, Sera, Yuna, and Data had all been stranded on the giant space station Elysium. Searching for a way off of the station, they had constucted a small space pod to that could travel all the way to Terra. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough equipment to build a full sized ship, or create a suitable life support system for the journey.

Unable to return to earth themselves, they came up with a new plan. They would upload schematics of a rocket ship into Data's memory banks, and send him down to Terra. Once on Earth, Data would contact Roll and Von Bluecher to see about having a ship constructed for them. They were hoping Von Bluecher would agree to fund the ship's construction in exchange for advanced ship designs and other new technologies once they had returned to Terra.

"Now remember Data," Yuna replied, eyeing the diminutive robot. "once you hit the ocean, use the pod's communicater to contact the Flutter. Roll and Professor Gaskett will be able to pick you up, and track down Von Bluecher for you."

"Right! And when I see Bluecher, I'll give him my special sales pitch!" The monkey answered, hopping into the pod's opening.

"Good." Yuna replied. She then turned to a nearby console, and placed her hand on top of it. The console lit up, and began to recieve the mother unit's mental commands. The pod door sealed shut, and the pod itself was carried off by the the docking bay's conveyor belts. Once the craft had reached the launch pad, Yuna placed her other hand on the console, and began the last steps of the launch.

"Beginning final systems check." She announced. "Propulsion systems, fully functional. Guidance systems, operating normally. Compartment seal, working properly. Communications check, if you can hear me Data, please say something in reply." At first, there was no response, but suddenly...

"My fist is the divine breath!" Data's voice roared(well, as close to roaring as his high pitched voice can get) from the console. "Blossom, o fallen seed, and draw upon thy hidden powers! Grant unto thee the power of the glorious 'Mother of Destruction'!"

Yuna and Sera stared wide-eyed at the transmitter. They then turned to MegaMan in hopes that he could explain Data's sudden outburst.

The digger chuckled slightly. "He's been getting into those ancient role playing programs that are in the living quarters since there isn't much he can do here. That was probably some villain's line he liked."

Yuna just sighed, and continued the launch procedures. "Communication system... working too well. All systems, ready! Opening airlocks... unlocking ship restraints... launching pod!"

A hiss filled the air as the tiny ship's propulsion unit fired up. The hiss grew into a small roar as the rocket's engine went full throttle, and propelled the craft into deep space. Inside, Data let out a small sigh, he had a long and painfully boring trip ahead of him.
--------------------
MegaMan watched the monitor as the ship flew farther and farther away. "Well, all we can do now is wait. Right Sera?"

"..."

"Sera?" He turned to see why she hadn't replied, and found her staring at him fearfully. "What's wrong?"

"W-what is this...?" Sera spoke softly. From her eyes, she was seeing the unbelievable. High energy readings were emanating from around MegaMan. When she tried locate the source, her system almost overloaded! Time and space were in such an unstable state, that her sensors almost determined that the energy wasn't there.

Then the energy spiked up.

"Trigger!" She yelled, trying to warn him. But as she called out, a bright flash of light engulfed the young man, his screams of pain filling the empty shuttle bay. Yuna was about to reach into the light for him, but Sera stopped her as she approached.

"What are you doing?! He need's help!" Yuna objected, hearing MegaMan's scream's getting fainter.

"No! Don't get close!" She cried. "These readings, there... overwhelming! Indescribable! If you come in contact with the energy, your host body, Matilda, will die and your program will be erased! There's nothing we can do but hope that he can survi-"

But as she was talking, the light subsided, and MegaMan was nowhere to be seen. Yuna and Sera could only stare at where he was standing moments before, multiple feelings running through their minds. Shock, confusion, dread, but above all, pain. Something that was beyond them, beyond what even the Master knew of, had come out of nowhere and taken away one of the only people in existence who actually cared about them.
--------------------
The light subsided into a darkness. Various thoughts and memories swam through MegaMan's head as his mind tried to regain consciousness.

"Where...?"

"Alright kid, I have to know. What's your name?"

"What... happened?"

"Allow me to rephrase. I will exercise my right to terminate your program."

"What was that light?...Did it kill me?"

"Babu!"

"No... I'm not dead. But I need to get up and find out where I am. "

He let out a slight groan as he struggled to move. His body ached, and felt like it had been still for decades. With a bit of effort, he managed to roll onto his stomach, and then stand up onto his own feet. He felt disoriented, and had trouble keeping his balance.

He took a few steps forward. His vision was slightly blurred, but he was certain of one thing. "Well, I'm not on Elysium anymore."
________________________________________________

Note: Sera call's MegaMan "Trigger" in the game because it's what he was originally called.

Eh, it ain't the best intro here(that title probably goes to TK), but it'll suffice. Good intros all. And Simplistic Hero...

quote:
Originally posted by Simplistic Hero
I only wish my mexican child horde could accompany me to the tournament.


Uh, care to rephrase that? *snickers*

EDIT: made a few small changes. Nothing big.


__________________
Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Man, machine, and magic.

Switchblade - Sasuke

Curley W - MegaMan Volnutt

Julia - Eiko Carol

Last edited by Curley W on 03-28-2002 at 10:10 AM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Curley W is online now Old Post 03-28-2002 01:36 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Curley W Click here to Send Curley W a Private Message Visit Curley W's homepage! Find more posts by Curley W Add Curley W to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Maniacal Ranma
Mega Man X7

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: The year 21XX, Neo Megalopolis.
Posts: 33

To be honest, I don't like what I had. Maybe it's a bad idea to watch the last episode of Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure" before writing an intro. All I could get in my head last night was Kazuki Yotsuga in Zinv reaching his unlimited potential and trashing Kumu with his final gravity attack. Good series, that.

So here we go, a less-anime-influenced version of my intro. Disregard the Trancegrudge crap from earlier.

Today I used old school Prodigy to write this. Specifically, music for the jilted generation

-------------------------------

X dashed to the left, and plasma exploded everywhere. Sigma crashed down in front of him with an engery scythe, tearing a hole into the steel plates on the ground.

X was too slow to react and cried out as the armor on his left arm was seared by the near solar level heat of the attack.

Sigma looked up and grinned at X. "What are you going to do now, you ancient piece of shit!"

X grunted and threw a punch at Sigmas face, knocking the larger Reploid off his feet. X leapt back and flew into the sky with his falcon armor.

Sigma jumped back to his feet and began firing green energy into the sky. The air around X crackled as the shots got closer and closer. Left and right, all over, holes where being blown into the ceiling.

"You are NOTHING without Zero!" Sigma hollered over the explosions.

"I'm enough to beat YOU!" X yelled back. His body glew white for a moment and he fell from the sky, back in his normal blue light armor. "Nova Armor!" He cried out over the radio.

'en route, X' came Elie's voice.

In a flash of light, X was encased in a black and gold samurai style armor. His most powerful weapon.

"It's time to END THIS!" X yelled and charged Sigma, his beam saber flaring with every ounce of power he could force into it.

Sigma took pulled his own beam saber and dashed at X, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

They met at the center of the ruined warehouse and then their blades met. Sigma was obviously better with the saber as he gained the upper hand quickly, forcing X back.


__________________
Anime quotes of the day

"Present day....Present time....HAHAHAHA!"
---------Serial Experiments: Lain opening.


"Duh, I'm going to go see my mistress"
---------Ranma 1/2, Ranma Saotome

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Maniacal Ranma is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 03:27 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Maniacal Ranma Click here to Send Maniacal Ranma a Private Message Click Here to Email Maniacal Ranma Find more posts by Maniacal Ranma Add Maniacal Ranma to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Maniacal Ranma
Mega Man X7

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: The year 21XX, Neo Megalopolis.
Posts: 33

X twisted out of Sigmas way and slipped behind him. "Take this you mother fu-!" He released a plasma shot into Sigmas back side. It left a trail of energy ripples through the length of the warehouse, but Sigma shrugged it off and kicked X in the side.

X fell and as he was in the air, Sigma slammed his fist into X back and brought up his knee into X's face. Their was a sickening snap and
X bounced up from Sigmas knee. The left half of his face was shattered. Chunks of titanium and poly-dextrite flew out of his ruined face. X uppercutted Sigma with his gun arm and put a plasma shot into the base of his head, sending Sigma flying with a trail of detrinium fuel flying from a severed arterial-pipe in his ruind neck.

As Sigma flew X extended the wings on the nova armor and burst into the flames of a nova strike. He slammed into Sigma 6 feet above the debris littered ground. The fuel ignited and both were set on fire.

Somehow they both managed to land on their feet and the beam sabers met again.

They glared at each other. X's shattered face exterior crackled with loose energy. Sigma had lost an eye and his jaw was hanging at an angle. Both of them were covered in flames. The fire extended from X's shoulders like a fiery cape. Sigma's chest was encircled in flames as if they were a body armor.

Then the sword play began, and it was equal. They matched each other blow for blow, locked into a dance of attacking and parrying.

"Looks like we're finally equal." Sigma growled in a garbled and static filled voice and blocked another volley of attacks from X's beam saber.

"Never. You'll never be as good as me!" X yelled.

"I taught you! You and that freak Zero! HOW DARE YOU TREAT ME LIKE THIS!"

"I'll treat you however the hell I feel like it! It's what you DESERVE!"

X could feel his anger rising further than it ever had at the mention of Zero. His on-board computer screamed about the damage he had taken. His power reserves were gone, and he was over his maximum damage tolerance level by over 100%.

"I finished off Zero, it's YOUR TURN X!"

"You did NO SUCH THING!"

X dropped his beam saber and threw Sigma off balance. Screw it, he wasn't going to win this with a sword. He threw his fist into Sigma's stomache and penetrated his damaged armor. He let off a huge powered up blast inside his chest and sent him flying back 30 feet. X dashed past him as he flew and got behind him and upper cutted him into the ceiling.

Sigma reoriented himself and sent a hail of energy at X, knocking him off his feet and blowing his left arm in half.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Maniacal Ranma is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 03:28 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Maniacal Ranma Click here to Send Maniacal Ranma a Private Message Click Here to Email Maniacal Ranma Find more posts by Maniacal Ranma Add Maniacal Ranma to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Maniacal Ranma
Mega Man X7

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: The year 21XX, Neo Megalopolis.
Posts: 33

X suddenly felt his power levels drop off and his armor vanished, leaving him in his blue light armor. "No! I'm too close!"

Alia's voice came through, filled with static. 'X we only need a few more minutes before the anti-sigma field is in place'

Great. Cause that was no problem.

Sigma flew from the sky and clotheslined X, sending him sprawling.

"Face it X! I'm TOO strong!"

And it was true. X couldn't get off the ground. His systems were shutting down one by one.

Sigma stood above X looking down at him. X could tell that Sigma was also nearly offline. Too bad. It wasn't nearly enough.

Sigma aimed his buster at X. "Either pull something out of your shitty blue ass....or I think this is FINALLY over!"

And something snapped. What the fuck was X thinking? This wasn't the time to lose. He wasn't going to go down now. He'd taken out sigma time and again, and he thought he was going to lose now?

Time seemed to slow down as X got up. The pain went away. The noise went away. In slow motion Sigma gaped at X's sudden recovery. X was too busy looking at the facts to be amazed.

Fact: He was NOT going to lose.

And why not?

Cause Zero would be disapointed if he did.

And the words 'limitless potential' had to mean something, right?

It was simple. All he had to do was hit Sigma once more, and it would be over again. Next time, he would use the device they created to eradicate him. Next time.

X aimed his buster at Sigmas damaged head and charged it. Sigma tried, in slow motion, to run. If X had been conscious at the time, he might have laughed. But X wasn't really there right now.

And then Sigma wasn't there at all. X fired the largest shot he'd ever managed, point blank, straight into Sigma's head. The force of it sent X through a concrete wall. It sent Sigma to hell.


X smiled and more of his face fell apart. He blacked out.

---------------------

Alia tore off her headphones as the signal from X turned into a screech. Her monitors exploded one by one. Every electronic device she had that was monitoring X burst into flames except for one. It went blank excpet for two 3 words in arial font, white lettering.

Stage Two: Activated.

Alia pressed the escape key, but nothing happened. She tried ctrl+alt+del and still nothing. After a second the words vanished to be replaced by new ones:

Memories and secondary battle tactics activated/reactivated. Model W-?? code name 'Zero' detected. Begininng auto repair system routine 10-2-1. Capsule Program marker lvl.2 activated. Models L-#23-5 detected, code name 'Rockman NEO' 23-elysium.

Alia's eyes went wide as she saw Zero's name show up. What could it mean? And what was Rockman NEO.

She felt....terrified. She'd spent decades trying to discover the secret of X....and now she wished she hadn't.



There we go. I'm re-posting my intro to get rid of the clutter.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Maniacal Ranma is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 03:30 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Maniacal Ranma Click here to Send Maniacal Ranma a Private Message Click Here to Email Maniacal Ranma Find more posts by Maniacal Ranma Add Maniacal Ranma to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
San Draco
Torn from my love, Jinx.

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Mavericks, Inc.
Posts: 103

EXCELLENT intros, all. Wayne, TK, I can't wait to see the next installments.

Curley: How is Data supposed to deliver a sales pitch? He speaks gibberish!

Maniacal Ranma: Nice plot twists all around. Ought to be interesting to see how "Rockman NEO" does in the tournament!

*Looks at all of the intros* That's a lot of talent, right there. This tournament's gonna be awesome!


__________________
Former member of the Possessed Mavericks. Now, just a single Reploid with an agenda of evil. Huzzah.

Draco would like to invite you to Random Insanity, a collection of Rurouni Taikai writers, and complete insanity!

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

San Draco is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 05:09 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for San Draco Click here to Send San Draco a Private Message Click Here to Email San Draco Find more posts by San Draco Add San Draco to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Curley W
Sponsor: MegaMan Volnutt

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Elysium
Posts: 32

Have you played through MML2? After the credits, Roll and Tron are seen arguing over the plans for a space shuttle. When Data tries to tell that the ship are "really simple" and that they should listen to him, Roll and Tron simultaneosly shouted "You stay out of this Data!". They obviously understood him, otherwise, they would have something like "Quiet Data! We're trying to figure out what went wrong!" or something to that extent.

Second, how could Data tell them about the plans if he couldn't talk? Either Sera and Yuna upgraded him so he could be understood by normal people, or he could talk normally all along, and kept this secret so no one would question him about MegaMan's past.

Hope that clear's things up. By the way, Exeter...

*switches to port 4 on an N64*

Let's see you get me now!

Exeter: That's not even the right console, dumbass!

Hah! That just make's me even more immune to you!

*Exeter is about to correct him, when a sharp whistling noise make's him duck and cover as a dozen Moron-seeking-missiles hit Curley dead on*

*cough up's some smoke*Well, scratch that plan.*fall's flat on his face, unconcsious*


__________________
Nyuk nyuk nyuk nyuk.

Man, machine, and magic.

Switchblade - Sasuke

Curley W - MegaMan Volnutt

Julia - Eiko Carol

Last edited by Curley W on 03-28-2002 at 10:52 AM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Curley W is online now Old Post 03-28-2002 10:49 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Curley W Click here to Send Curley W a Private Message Visit Curley W's homepage! Find more posts by Curley W Add Curley W to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Daigohji
the host with the most

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: the mouth of madness
Posts: 50

And I thought my posts were going to be long!


__________________

Drafting starts 18th March
Tournament starts 31st March

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Daigohji is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 11:22 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Daigohji Click here to Send Daigohji a Private Message Click Here to Email Daigohji Visit Daigohji's homepage! Find more posts by Daigohji Add Daigohji to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Exeter
Psycho Mantis, Sponsor

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 77

Hahaha! I am invincible!

*notices Curley diving for a Gameshark*

No! Not that! Anything but that!

Curley: Who's invincible now?

Ex: ...run away!

*is beaten to a pulp thanks to the first controller port and an invulnerability code*

Great intros, all.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Exeter is online now Old Post 03-28-2002 05:42 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Exeter Click here to Send Exeter a Private Message Click Here to Email Exeter Find more posts by Exeter Add Exeter to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Soujiro Seta
Sidekick :: Escad

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Lucemia
Posts: 37

Cool This is a test...of the Escad combat-scene writing system.

Alright; this isn't a second part of the intro - it has nothing to do with the 'official intro', which takes place a year and a half after the events of the game. This particular piece takes place shortly before the events in the Legend of Mana game, and was written mostly for two purposes: 1) So I could get practice writing Escad's personality and nuances, and 2) so I could practice writing Escad fight scenes. With that said, it's absolutely unnecessary to read this; it has no relevance to the tourney or the intro other than just general personality detail, I suppose.

However, if you're bored or - gasp - actually liked Escad in LoM, feel free to read. It's got all the writing 'quality' that you could expect from a rough draft written on impulse...

------------

Highway Robbery



“You won’t get away with this, Irwin. There’s absolutely no way I’ll let you. As long as I draw breath, I WILL stop you, and I will make you PAY.” Escad curled his right hand into a fist and drew it up to the height of his chest. Ten years, it had been. Ten years since he was violently thrown down into the Underworld against his will in a frenzied battle with his former friend, the demon Irwin. Escad opened his hand and gave it his full attention as he walked onward, watching the imprints made by his fingernails slowly disappear from his callused palm.

“Back then, I never got to finish the duel with Irwin – no; that demon. But if the battle had gone on….I would have been the loser. It seems more and more the likely outcome, no matter how much I dislike it. But now I’m back. I’m not the same man I was ten years ago. This time, I will conclude the duel, and it shall end with a demon’s blood upon my sword and a victory in my name.” Escad withdrew from its sheath the blade given him by Olbohn before he left for the Surface World to seek out Irwin. It was an odd blade, seemingly of a foreign style. It had a long curved blade, no guard to speak of, and a gem of a beautiful azure cut set in the pommel. Heh…looks like such an odd blade, it does. Lots of differences from the typical longswords and broadswords I was trained to use in the Liotte Order. But it’s got a few surprises, this blade…

The time had been a week and three days since he had departed from his master Olbohn, Lord of the Underworld, to finally return to the surface and ‘catch up on old times’. It had been whispered by the spirits in the more remote corners of Fa’Diel that Irwin had secluded himself in the land of the Faeries, plotting some heinous act no doubt. And that tip-off had lead the knight to his present quest. If one sought entrance to the land of the faeries, one had to go to the places where the dimensional boundaries between the dimension of faeries and the dimension of humans were the weakest. Escad knew there were only three such places in all of Fa’Diel – Lake Kilma, the Jungle, and the Mindas Ruins. He would tirelessly search them all in turn, but first, he had a visit to make to a dear old friend.

Matilda….certainly she hasn’t forgotten me… Escad’s tense muscles relaxed ever so slightly, and he took a deep breath. How had his dearest friend gotten along in ten years? Had she already become the high priestess of Gato’s famed Temple of Healing? There was so much he wanted to catch up with her on; therefore, his path would first take him to Gato.

The sun blazed high in the late-morning sky as he made his way down the dusty, rocky path of the Luon Highway. It would only be two days more until he once again sat in the great halls of Gato and admired its ascetic architecture from the many clifftop vista points. It held many memories for him; fond memories of his childhood. He had come there often as a youth, always excited to show off some new swordfighting technique he had recently learned, or to tell of his achievements, and always to see Matilda. Rummaging through his travel pack, he produced a rather stale bar of Pakkun chocolate. “Hmmm….running out of food already? I could’ve sworn I’d packed more.” He peeled the sides of the wrapper down and cheerfully munched the brown energy-restoring substance. “Ahhhh….” He stretched his hands high into the air and breathed deeply. The warmth of the sun on his back and the richness of the earth at his feet made him feel truly alive, wishing that the moment could last just a bit longer. “Hwaaa!” He gave an energetic shout as he scrambled up a large pile of boulders that created a natural lookout point. “I can see the canyon side from here” he said aloud to no one in particular.

“Yes…it’s a shame you’ll reach it with an empty wallet, isn’t it?” A seedy yet threatening voice emanated from a source approximately a meter behind the knight. “Turn around slowly and put your hands into the air!” Escad did as he was told and found himself face to face with two Chobin Hoods, their arrows pointed squarely at his chest.

“Thieves eh?” He decided to humor them a bit while he thought of a way to retain ownership of the current contents of his money pouch. “I had heard news of a new rash of thieves on the Luon Highway, but it seems you’ve got a lot to learn.”

“Whaddaya mean?” One of the Chobin Hoods moved in closer, pulling his bowstring back even further to show he meant business, its ratlike face pulled back into a sallow grimace under the shade of a tattered orange hood.

“Well, any respectable thief would know that eleven o’clock proper is no time to be robbing people of their goods! I’m surprised you didn’t know that!” Escad exclaimed, a look of mock surprised pasted all over his face.

“Uh…it ain’t?” The other Chobin hood removed the arrow from his bow and scratched his head. “Well…uh…what time d’ya think would be good for thievin’?” Escad had to put forth a mighty effort to stifle his oncoming laughter.

“Oy, he’s just messin’ with ya Gritto!” exclaimed the seemingly more competent of the duo, as he brought his bow upside the head of the other. “We’re thieves, and we’ve done got the right to thieve any time we want, including eleven o’clock!”

“But Litto, he said we –“ Gritto’s head once again felt his partner’s attempt to knock sense into him via a whack with his bow.

“He ain’t no thief!” Litto cried out, beating Gritto with his bow yet again. “Why, I’ll bet he doesn’t know the first thing about thievin’!”

“I think maybe you’re right!” Gritto agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

“Wot makes ya think that?” replied Litto, puzzled at Gritto’s sudden change of opinion.

“Well, I suppose cos he’s already gone, I thin – “

“Whaaat!?” Litto cried out and drew another arrow from the rustic leather quiver on his back. “Why, if we didn’t have to get his money, I’d be usin’ this arrow on you, ya block’ead! After him!”

“Uh…yeah! Yeah!” Gritto pulled a beat-up whistle from his pocket and blew it with all his might, filling the valleys and pathways with its shrill, wavering note.

“Why’d ya have to summon the boss!?” Litto grumbled as the both of them scampered down the rock face, running as fast as their feet would carry them. “He’s gonna get mad if this guy don’t got much cash!”

“If we can’t get there in time, maybe the boss can stop that guy so we have a chance to catch up! Then we’d at least get some money instead of no money…”

“At least you’ve proven that you still have one brain cell still alive in that vaccum between yer ears!”

------------

“Ha…that was too easy!” Escad laughed as he jogged down the path, pounding up puffs of highway dust with his sturdy purple boots. “Am I just good or have thieves gotten distinctly less menacing than I remember them?” No sooner had he uttered those words, though, then he was covered by a rather large shadow. “What the…?” Escad’s hand flew instinctively to the handle of his sword, ready to draw it and attack any foe. He looked up and saw a buglike creature fast descending right above him. “Yikes! It just won’t do to die here!” He made a running slide as the creature made an earth rumbling landing.

“Aaaaaaa!” The force of the shockwave passing through the ground upset Escad’s balance, turning his tactical slide maneuver into a careening-into-a-rock maneuver. Opening one eye, he saw the dim-witted Chobin Hood duo finally making their way down the path. “Maybe it seems as though I’ll get some real exercise today after all” he whispered softly to himself. “Now, where did that big ugly bug go to…” He looked up and rolled out of the way unceremoniously as the giant mantis’s claw swooped down and sectioned the rock he had been thrown against like a loaf of bread. Coming out of his roll, he jumped to his feet behind the creature. “Think you’re tough, eh? Well, I’ve got a blade too.” He succinctly drew the blade from its sheath in a fluid motion that bespoke a certain level of skill. Pointing the tip of the blade skyward and bringing his hands to shoulder height, he assumed the most general of his stances. “Think you want a piece of this, thief? Come and get it then!”

Escad charged at the Mantis-Ant, maintaing a loose but sure grip on the handle of his blade. With each footstep, he strung together an assault in his mind. Nearing the creature, he tightened the grip with his right hand and prepared for his attack – it would be a rising slash followed by his Shish Kebob technique at little more than two feet range. His hands brought the blade to the ground in a smooth arc and he bent his right knee ever so slightly, so as to give him enough power to push the large creature back even if his strike was blocked. “Here I come!!” Escad’s sword began its upward ascent, when suddenly, he felt a pressure at his back. Arrows! They had not pierced the light Ishe Platinum hauberk he wore, but he knew that those same arrows could have just as easily hit his head. Crap! Forgot about them! He stopped his sword stroke and rolled again, this time between the legs of the creature. What a compromising position…

Before he could deal with the Mantis-Ant, he had to take care of those Chobin Hood archers. But if he didn’t want to get his head lopped of prematurely, he had to take care of that Mantis-Ant. Choices, choices… The Mantis-And roared as its powerful slash cut nothing but the space Escad used to occupy.

Turning to the two Chobin Hoods, Escad cast a gaze at them that could have bored through Dior Wood. “All kidding aside, thievery is wrong. So why don’t you two go crawl back into whatever hole you came from and stop being a menace?” He ducked another swipe of the Mantis-Ant’s giant sickle-like claws and slid forward again. He was met with a hail of arrows. “You really should think this over; this is your last chance. Reform your evil ways and go sell hot dogs or something.”

“No can do; we’re thieves and we want yore money! Besides, now that I’ve been a thief, I likes it a lot better; more adventure and excitement, y’know…” Litto reached into a pouch at his belt and took a pinch of a strange powder from it. “Yes siree this’ll be yer final resting place!” Litto sprinkled the powder on his arrowhead, causing it to burst into flame. “This here’s my special, ‘Litto’s Flaming Arrow’!” He notched the arrow in his bow and drew back the bowstring. Okay, time for another great plan thought Escad. The thought was unneeded – he had already thought of a plan. It would, of course require perfect timing, but he had no doubts about his skill. “Hey, you couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn!” Escad began to taunt, ever mindful of the Mantis-Ant’s approach from his rear. Just a bit closer…just a bit closer… Escad ducked and rolled backward under the Mantis-Ant’s legs just as the Chobin Hood had let its flaming arrow fly. “Now it it’s my turn to fly too!” Escad thrust his sword into the exoskeleton of the giant bug and jerked himself up on top of the creature’s shoulders, just as the flaming arrow which had instead hit the Mantis Ant exploded into flame. It thrashed about trying to put out the fire almost causing Escad to lose his balance. “It’s now or never!” Escad bent low and then extended his legs in a powerful jump that caused him to soar above and across the battlefield. Gritto and Litto fired a steady stream of arrows as he descended, but he had learned early on that an aerial target is difficult to hit. With only the sky as a backdrop, it was more difficult to discern perspective and distance, and the only sensation was the arrows whistling through the air around him.

“Hrrraaaa!!!” Escad came down with his sword in a half-diving maneuver that sliced Litto’s bow in half and removed his right hand. The Chobin Hood didn’t even have the time to recognize the pain as Escad moved into his second attack, still in his crouched landing position, knees bent. “Rising Crush!” he shouted as his blade carved its way from the ground up into the demi-human’s leg, further driven by the jumping force of Escad’s powerful legs. Up diagonally across the creature’s chest it tore, it’s cloth and leather equippings offering no resistance. In a spray of blood, Escad landed in front of the creature’s two halves, and in the same motion, turned toward Gritto, whose eyes were wide with fear. “You’ll be the testament to this victory.” Escad smiled as he drew his sword back, a phantom image following it. “This is one of the skills passed down in the Liotte Order of Holy Knights; the Magic Touch!” Gritto fired an arrow, but Escad met it with his blade as if he could see its entire trajectory. A crackling sound was heard, and the arrow fell away harmlessly, ice encrusting the whole shaft. Litto drew another arrow, but Escad’s blade was quicker than Litto’s bow. Litto felt a waterlike sensation on his hand for just a second, then extreme cold. He tried to bring up the arrow but he could not move his hand. He turned to find a finger lying on the ground in a small pool of blood – his finger! Turning further with eyes wide open and short of breath, he looked at his hand – it was anchored to the quiver by a sizeable ice crystal of a faint red shade. “That is only a taste of the ‘Magic Touch’; give thanks to the Goddess that I did not display more of its capabilities." Escad smiled; he had wasted too many words on that pitiful creature as it was, and he brought up his blade again just in time to block the swift reaper's stroke of the Mantis-Ant.

Sparks flew as Escad flexed his muscles to maintain his block, finally shoving the creature’s heavy claws off of his sword. It has a fast strike, but its defense is…less than menacing. He grasped his sword with both hands again and helt it at a 30-degree angle to his waist, pointed squarely in front of him. The Mantis-Ant swung its claws, releasing a crescent wave of wind that Escad barely dodged. He felt it breeze past him, then heard the faint noise growing louder again. It was a boomerang-type attack, and he had precious little time to act before it put some sort of unsightly gash into him. “Liotte Holy Sword, Shish-Kebob!” He dove at the Mantis Ant like a tiger, his horizontally-positioned blade crushing the space between the two. The Mantis-Ant held up its great claws in an ‘X-position’ block, but Escad’s sword punched through their armored plating with a grating whine like steel brushing upon steel. Passing the claws, the tip of the blade entered the giant insect’s softer underbelly, prompting a raging cry of pain and pushing even the massive insect's bulk back a meter or two. Escad ducked, almost as if on cue, to let the returning slash of wind at his back hit the creature full force. At the Mantis-Ant bellowed, Escad gripped the handle of his sword and sharply turned it 90-degrees as he pulled it from the injured creature. The force of the turning blade caused both claws to crack, then snap at the point where the sword had penetrated them. Escad held his sword up and inspected it. Not a scratch on it, but covered with the creature’s blue blood. There was still some of that Chobin Hood’s blood on it as well, and little areas of violet stain formed where the two vital fluids mixed. Giving it a vigorous swing to remove the colorful paint, he slid it back into the long sheath hanging at his waist.

“Bandits? Feh…I’ve faced more frightening creatures in my sleep.” Escad turned and began walking down the path once again. It had only taken him a few minutes to win, but to him, it felt as if he had been detained for an hour.

“W…who a...aaare yyyyou!?” The remining Chobin Hood stuttered as it waved it’s free hand to get the knight’s attention.

“They call me Escad” he said in a lackadasical voice. “Tell your friends about me.” And with that, he shouldered his pack once again and took up the path toward Gato Grottoes.


__________________
My name is Escad
I like to protect justice
and beautiful girls.

Thinking things over
is not what I like to do;
I have a big sword.

(banner pending)

Last edited by Soujiro Seta on 03-29-2002 at 12:17 AM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Soujiro Seta is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 07:33 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Soujiro Seta Click here to Send Soujiro Seta a Private Message Click Here to Email Soujiro Seta Find more posts by Soujiro Seta Add Soujiro Seta to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Maniacal Ranma
Mega Man X7

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: The year 21XX, Neo Megalopolis.
Posts: 33

quote:
Originally posted by San Draco

Maniacal Ranma: Nice plot twists all around. Ought to be interesting to see how "Rockman NEO" does in the tournament!




Oops. *Remembers that not everyone knows what Rockman Neo is*

Back when Megaman Legends/Rockman Dash was first being made, they needed a preliminary title. It was Rockman Neo. Rockman Neo is actually Megaman Volnutt. It's just part of my plan to encompass as much of the megaman world into my story as possible. And you better believe that leaving Vile in pieces is a part of that plan.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Maniacal Ranma is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 09:46 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Maniacal Ranma Click here to Send Maniacal Ranma a Private Message Click Here to Email Maniacal Ranma Find more posts by Maniacal Ranma Add Maniacal Ranma to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Simplistic Hero
Sponsering: King

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: A "Secure" Location
Posts: 70

So we've got robots with blasters, broadswords, massive magical fireballs, laser sabers and all that.

Hell with it, you give King 10 free minutes, and hes gonna find himself an assault rifle.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Simplistic Hero is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 10:49 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Simplistic Hero Click here to Send Simplistic Hero a Private Message Click Here to Email Simplistic Hero Find more posts by Simplistic Hero Add Simplistic Hero to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Merton Dew
Sidekick: Flea

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: The Moogle Cafe
Posts: 35

quote:
Originally posted by Simplistic Hero
So we've got robots with blasters, broadswords, massive magical fireballs, laser sabers and all that.

Hell with it, you give King 10 free minutes, and hes gonna find himself an assault rifle.

If a Moogle can do it, I'm sure King should have no problems.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Merton Dew is offline Old Post 03-28-2002 11:44 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Merton Dew Click here to Send Merton Dew a Private Message Click Here to Email Merton Dew Visit Merton Dew's homepage! Find more posts by Merton Dew Add Merton Dew to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Wayne
Dycedarg Beoulve

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: There and Back Again
Posts: 35

Hey, SH-- don't let it get to you. Dycedarg can switch to the Monk job class to fight hand-to-hand, and I'm sure a few other characters will too. If you want to do an old school wrestling match (or lucha libre, whichever ) I'm sure you'll find a few willing participants.

...next part of the intro will be up... soon. I'm working on the sig right now....

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Wayne is offline Old Post 03-29-2002 12:05 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Wayne Click here to Send Wayne a Private Message Click Here to Email Wayne Find more posts by Wayne Add Wayne to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Slipstream
The Immortal Pirate

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: The Black Tail Inn
Posts: 32

Excellent intros all around so far, I especially like Renmazou's and Darkken's. I figure I should get round to posting at least something before the tournament starts, but writer's block has killed off the part of the intro I was working on. I'll finish up and edit in the rest of it if I get time, this is about 1/3 of it in length, but it covers Cervantes's introduction into the tournament.

---

Just a lie.

The belly of the Spanish galleon, freshly returned from the New World, was half-filled with good yellow gold; decorated charms, delicate filigrees of ivory and jade. Treasures immorial, torn from their native lands by ruthless grave-robbers and misbegot plunderers, by men who considered themselves better than those whose ancestors created them with tools of flint and bronze. They were riches beyond the dreams of many, of most save those who blithely wallowed in their aristocracy.
For Cervantes de Leon, they were merest baubles. Faerie gold that glistened in the hand and eye but soon tarnished and faded in the harsh light of reality. There was only one treasure he cared to find, only one that did not loose taste as soon as it was gained. He could hear his crew whooping estatically as they devoured the Spanish treasure with their eyes, but Cervantes's were fixed on the mental face of the information broker who had told him it would be here.

SoulEdge.

He had been promised its bearer would be on this vessel, and that promise was broken and befouled. Behind the pirate's eyes visions danced of bloody vengeance, his swords impaled through the spindly chest of the man who had sent him on this wild goose-chase in exchange for his own miserable little life. The saying 'heads will roll' did not apply here - decapitation was too quick and merciful an end for that waste of flesh, and Cervantes intended to make him pay for his lies.

"The usual, Cap'n?" Rothcoe called from above deck. His first mate had done his always efficient work in bringing over the Adrian for loading, rounding up the few survivors and seizing their weapons. Cervantes only had the best in his crew and he paid them well for it - there were many who would fight their own kin for a place on Cervantes's ship, since he had no real interest in treasure himself and thus the shipmen's shares of the booty were much larger than was usual.

Cervantes shook himself from his idle fantasies, which had already moved up to tendon cutting and interesting things to do with a marlinspike. The 'usual' meant destroying the sails, then setting a slow smoky fire to some part of the ship. Should they somehow be rescued by someone seeing the signal, then tales of his ruthlessness would no doubt spread amongst the gossip of the docksides and his reputation would be enhanced once again.

But that took time, and right now time was something he was loathe to spare. "Not this time, Rothcoe," he commanded. "Get the cargo loaded, much as we can take and lose no speed from it, and leave the rest. The captives, too, my fight's not with this scum for the day." In sudden anger he turned and drove his fist clean through a wall of the cargo-room, wood splintering around his fist and blood trickling down his arm.

Rothcoe knew better than to bother his captain when in one of his black moods. "Aye, sir!" he shouted, calling out the commands to the rest of the crew, as other pirates began to carry the precious cargo across and into the Adrian's hold. Many would have wished to look on their captain as they passed, but none dared to risk meeting his eyes as he stood with crimson trickling off his fist and muscles tense as foresail rigging.

Idiot. Believing that fool, and the time it's taken to seize this ship means Nightmare's further from my reach. Tracking him down could take a lot longer, if he returns to the mainlands, and I've no intention of letting him - it - get away from me. Even in sleep thoughts of the blade hounded him, a burning obsession that filled his veins like a fever and drove him constantly to find its owner and reclaim it. It was his Id made manifest, an extension of his very soul, and until death claimed him Cervantes felt he would never be free of his need for it.

Noticing the injury to his hand for the first time, a full five minutes after smashing it through a bulkhead, he concentrated on it and the torn flesh slowly knitted together under his gaze. The sight did little to comfort him, however, since it and his remaining meagre abilities were but a shadow of the power he had once held. Even those few gifts he had left seemed to be failing him, he noticed, for the pain had not faded but was swiftly spreading over his entire body.

What?

Then it hit him, indescribably agony flooding his muscles and tendons, blood and bones as the world turned white around him, an excruciating symphony of light and pain that expertly played the nerves in his entire body like the strings on a violin. In the farthest reach of his senses he could feel his men reacting, priceless treasures slipping from their hands as their captain bellowed in pain and rage and crashed kneeling to the floor.

SoulEdge? Why? It is too soon... I cannot... I must not... be... forgotten...

And then, nothingness.


__________________

........................................... offer ..... your ..... spirit ...........................................

Last edited by Slipstream on 03-29-2002 at 12:13 PM

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Slipstream is online now Old Post 03-29-2002 03:07 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Slipstream Click here to Send Slipstream a Private Message Click Here to Email Slipstream Find more posts by Slipstream Add Slipstream to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Dareon
Junior Member

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 8

quote:
Originally posted by Simplistic Hero
So we've got robots with blasters, broadswords, massive magical fireballs, laser sabers and all that.

Hell with it, you give King 10 free minutes, and hes gonna find himself an assault rifle.

I have no tricks. Knives, knives, more knives, a few more knives, and a little bit of hypnosis. Plus a superhuman jumping and balancing ability...

Okay, maybe I've got a few tricks. But I won't be pulling elemental attacks out this time around.

Just so you know, I felt like that whole elemental ammo schtick I went through last tourney was fairly useless showboating, myself.

=^._.^= He gets this way some times. Just praise him and give him a biscuit, and he'll snap out of it.

(EDIT: Pink does not go well on this background)

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Dareon is offline Old Post 03-29-2002 03:30 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Dareon Click here to Send Dareon a Private Message Find more posts by Dareon Add Dareon to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
KyleIII
Sponser: Olga Gurlukovich

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: The Big Shell
Posts: 71

Heh, I'd say a guy who can stand on water, dodge bullets, and walk up walls has more then a few tricks.

As for Olga, she may pull out a few special moves of her own, as long as no one minds spoilers.


__________________

I was raised on the battlefield. Conflict and victory were my parents.

Thanks to Krizak for the banner!

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

KyleIII is offline Old Post 03-29-2002 03:35 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for KyleIII Click here to Send KyleIII a Private Message Click Here to Email KyleIII Visit KyleIII's homepage! Find more posts by KyleIII Add KyleIII to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Exeter
Psycho Mantis, Sponsor

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 77

'Special moves?' Why, whatever could you mean, Kyle?

And I doubt very much an assault rifle will help anyone against Mantis, unless you're one of those "haha, I'll use the second controller port" types...

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Exeter is online now Old Post 03-29-2002 05:23 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Exeter Click here to Send Exeter a Private Message Click Here to Email Exeter Find more posts by Exeter Add Exeter to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Soujiro Seta
Sidekick :: Escad

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Lucemia
Posts: 37

Somehow, I think there's something I'm missing with this 'second controller' thing.....

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Soujiro Seta is offline Old Post 03-29-2002 05:37 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Soujiro Seta Click here to Send Soujiro Seta a Private Message Click Here to Email Soujiro Seta Find more posts by Soujiro Seta Add Soujiro Seta to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Exeter
Psycho Mantis, Sponsor

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 77

That depends on whether you've played Metal Gear Solid or not, Soujiro.

In the game, when Solid Snake fights Psycho Mantis, Mantis is able to read all of Snake's thoughts, and thus can rarely be hit by weapons, because he knows exactly what Snake is going to do. However, you'll eventually discover that Mantis won't know what you're going to do if you use the other controller port. If you do that, fighting him is a cake-walk.

As for how I'm going to explain that kind of thing in a realistic manner for the tournament, I have no idea (yet)...

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Exeter is online now Old Post 03-29-2002 05:47 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Exeter Click here to Send Exeter a Private Message Click Here to Email Exeter Find more posts by Exeter Add Exeter to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Daigohji
the host with the most

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: the mouth of madness
Posts: 50

You mean people having to plug their keyboard into the USB socket before they can hit you, Ex?


__________________

Drafting starts 18th March
Tournament starts 31st March

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Daigohji is offline Old Post 03-29-2002 07:09 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Daigohji Click here to Send Daigohji a Private Message Click Here to Email Daigohji Visit Daigohji's homepage! Find more posts by Daigohji Add Daigohji to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Exeter
Psycho Mantis, Sponsor

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 77

...wow. It all makes sense now.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Exeter is online now Old Post 03-29-2002 07:56 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Exeter Click here to Send Exeter a Private Message Click Here to Email Exeter Find more posts by Exeter Add Exeter to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Wayne
Dycedarg Beoulve

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: There and Back Again
Posts: 35

Not a whole lot of time left, is there? Well, here's part II:

---

"Are you certain? A Shrine Knight?"

The vassal Knight nodded. "Yes, m'lord. He's on his way here, and he'd come straight from Murond from the looks of things."

Dycedarg seemingly ignored him, turning instead toward a large window in his chambers. The verdant green land that made up the Beoulve Castle grounds was a relaxing sight, especially in the face of such trying news.

"I see that Funeral hasn't given up on his scheme, even with the..." he paused, remembering that the Knight was not party to his plot; "...unfortunate demise of Duke Larg."

The retainer nodded. "Indeed. Good news, though... Ardrana wishes you as his advisor, just like his father."

The noble chuckled and shook his head. "Good for him."

The other man didn't understand. "Isn't that pleasing news for you?"

"I will have to build another monarch from scratch. Ardrana isn't ready for a crown."

The Knight smiled. "All the more reason to offer your aid."

"...I'll think about it." Dycedarg replied in a tone that seemed to suggest his mind was already made up. After a few moments, he asked a question of his own. "What do you know about my brothers?"

"Your spies wish to give you these."

Dycedarg took the letters his aide offered. "Thank you. You are dismissed, Captain."

"Sir." He turned and left.

I never knew when I let Ramza go how much trouble he'd be. And now Zalbag, too....

He opened the first of the letters.

Lord Dycedarg,

Your youngest brother has just reached Limberry. He has made remarkable progress through Zeltennia-- though we're not sure why he went there-- and we know that General Orlandu is now among his number.

After the death of Marquis Elmdor I must confess I do not know what business brings him to Limberry. The Marquis has no living relatives and with the subsequent death of Goltana no one is currently in command of the marque. It is possible that Ordalia or another enemy could take advantage of this poor defensive situation, especially now that Ivalice is involved in civil war.

Ramza is currently being hunted by the Shrine Knights on charges of heresy, although currently only the Tingel daughter is actively chasing him, and we've learned that her action is maverick. I speculate that Murond has sent most of its other agents to try to sow support for the High Priest's unification plan.

I am sorry if this news grieves you, Lord. I will return on the twentieth as you have requested.

Hirian Bartholomew


"In Limberry?" But why? Unless he was traveling to Zelamonia for asylum.... But still....

He was jarred from his thoughts by a sudden knocking at his chamber door.

"Yes? What is it?"

The muffled voice of one of his chamberlains responsed. "A... 'Sir Wodring,' from Murond. He claims to have some business with you from the Church."

"Show him in, and tell him I will meet him in my father's war room."

"It shall be done, milord."

Dycedarg slowly rose and put on his silk midnight blue robe, which he had removed earlier while he was meditating. He chose not to take the Defender with him... his spells were more than a match for one Knight.

He met the Shrine Knight while en route to the meeting room and, as was the custom, exchanged greetings.

"How is the Holy One?" inquired Dycedarg, raising his hand.

The Knight raised his. "He is well. How is His Excellency?"

Dycedarg looked him in the eye as he opened the door to Balbanes's old room. "I am quite well. I thank you for asking."

He entered and the Knight followed, shutting the door behind him. Dycedarg casually cast a lighting spell and instantly the darkened room was bathed in normal light. He then offered the Knight a chair, which he took; Dycedarg then sat across from him.

The Shrine Knight began first. "My name is Rofel Wodring. I come to you at the behest of the Glabados Murond Temple."

Funeral's lapdog. This was unsurprising. "And I am Dycedarg Beoulve, Duke of the Beoulve Fiefdom and honorary Archduke of Gallione until Prince Larg is crowned. What can I do for you?"

Rofel regarded him evenly. "I see that neither of us enjoy wasting time, so I will get straight to the point. The High Priest would like your support as he attempts to moderate an end to the Lion War."

Dycedarg narrowed his eyes. What a joke. "I am afraid I must decline, Rofel."

The Knight drew back the hood on his teal cloak and straightened his helmet. "Are you sure about that? A peace agreement would seem to be in your best interest, now that Princes Larg and Goltana are both dead."

The noble smirked. "I am afraid I must disagree. Now, more than ever, is the best time to strike, and to win. A conflict is never solved by peace... 'peace' is the route the loser takes to save himself from total destruction. The forces of Gallione are not defeated."

Rofel pursed his lips. "Well, then. What if I were to offer you an important position in Funeral's new theocracy?"

"I would question your sincerity."

The Shrine Knight chuckled himself. "Your cynicism is unfortunate. You may not be aware of this, but Delita Hyral-- a man you yourself are familiar with-- has taken over the leadership of the Nanten Knights due to the death of Cidolfas Orlandu. I am sure that you and he, working together, would both serve--"

"I serve no one, Rofel."

The two men's eyes locked. Then Rofel frowned, drew back his hood, and pushed his chair back. "I see you have no intention of agreeing with our arbitration."

Dycedarg nodded. "That's right. His Excellency's wish was to unify the kingdoms.... Rather, until King Orinas as recognized as the true King, we won't stop fighting." Slowly, dramatically, Dycedarg pointed to his heart. "As long as a Beoulve lives... we won't give up."

The Knight smirked. "Is that so? Tell me... who do you think let you assassinate the Duke you revere so highly?"

How...? But he recovered quickly; the veneer of the polished politician coming back into place. "What a thing to say.... Larg was killed by someone sent by the Nanten." And if this is a game, then he needs to play also.... "Or... are you saying that you sent the assassin?"

Rofel raised an eyebrow below his hood. "So... you're definitely not going to cooperate."

Dycedarg decided to press his advantage. "If we wanted to, we could easily defeat you. Don't forget that...."

A thin smile crossed over the Knight's tanned face. "Think so? Do you remember what the 'poison' was that took out the Hokuten?"

"I think it was extracted from Mosfungus...."

He nodded. "Right. Unless you take large doses, it won't kill you." He waved his hand in a careless gesture and flippantly added, "But even small amounts over a long time can be deadly."

I don't like where this is going....

Rofel leaned back in his furred chair, hiding his visage under his aqua-colored cloak. "Over time... one develops symptoms similar to a cold. Its victim is not fully aware of his conditions... until it's too late."

Does he know? Or is he fishing?

"...didn't your father die from cold complications?"

So he knows. But I can't kill him here.... I suppose I must still play along. "What are you saying?"

He shrugged. "I heard you know a lot about poison...."

"So... what are you trying to say?"

The Knight's lip twitched in a smug half-grin. "If you bury a body with mosfungus... the fungus begins to grow out of the body. Did you know that?"

Yes. Yes I do.

His opponent slowly sat up straight in his chair. "Such... trivial things.... Oh, yes. I've got something for you from the High Priest." He reached into a pocket inside his cloak and drew a small green stone. He mutely placed it on the table.

Dycedarg stood up from his seat to get a better look at it. It appeared to be merely an old gemstone, made of malachite. It wasn't a very well-carved piece, either... sort of a triangle pattern with a 'horn' or 'spike' along the top. But it was not its flaws that drew Dycedarg's gaze... it was the sign Capricorn, the sign of the 'Goat,' carved with an expert hand right into the surface of the stone. And before his very gaze it lit in a sudden flash, and just as quickly it was gone.

The noble shook his head and blinked, staring again. But the stone did not repeat its earlier trick.

"...what's this?"

Rofel stood also, the smugness gone from his voice. It now seemed to speak in an almost reverent tone. "It is a holy Zodiac Stone, from Murond. He would like you to have this... to show his trust in you."

The carving shimmered silently, and lit once more before falling dim. In his sudden thrall, Dycedarg did not hear the Shrine Knight whisper, "The Furious Ghost has chosen its home...."

Dycedarg blinked and glanced at him. "Did you say something?"

Rofel shook his head. "No, but I must. I will leave and tender your reply to the High Priest. Shall I tell him that you are... satisfied... with his gift?"

Dycedarg took it in his hand, and felt a silent tremor. There is power in this rock.... The same kind I occasionally tap when bringing the Runes to life.

"...yes, Sir Wodring. You may tell him that I am pleased."

---

So there it is. I know it's not quite up to my usual standard... you can blame my hands. They're almost allergic to keyboards now that I type for a living, forty hours a week....

Not a whole lot of time left, either. Hmmm... how to wrap this up....


__________________


"The powerful must rule the powerless ones!"

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Wayne is offline Old Post 03-29-2002 11:00 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Wayne Click here to Send Wayne a Private Message Click Here to Email Wayne Find more posts by Wayne Add Wayne to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Baka
Lapis Knight

Registered: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 177

It is said that when a Jumi cries, the heavens cry with them.

This is half-true. But which half.. that is the question.

Once, the tears flowed freely. And then came a time of lessening, when the magic of the cores dried up, and the tears flowed no more.

One Jumi tried to save her race, and began a story that could only be ended with a wish granted by the Mana Stone. And for that that, a legendary artifact known as the Mana Sword would be required...

And then the Bejeweled City was attacked, by the creature known as Deathbringer. The Jumi scattered to the edges of the earth, alone, and afraid of the harsh world that spawned them.

Then, to this earth, one Jumi was born, to the stone known as Sapphire, or more correctly Lapis Lazuli. Alone, and afraid, he searched the world for others of his kind. Finally, somewhere in the endless deserts, he found a white-cored Jumi, who he named Pearl, and swore to protect...

----------

"Cross Strike!"

A wave of force swept out from Elazul's sword, as he arced it down, smashing the zombie into the ground. As the last opponent fell, he wiped his sword down, then sheathed it next to the other sword on his back. Turning, he looked Pearl up and down, then breathed a sigh of relief, as she seemed to be unharmed.

Running his hand through his hair, he took a bigger look around at the clearing.

"We're lost." he said bluntly. "I said we should have gone west at the river."

The third member of the party looked at him. "The map said to keep going north, 'til we reach the city. I trust the map."

Pearl giggled. "Yes, but you did get it off someone who insisted on calling you Chumpy."

Elazul ran one hand through his hair and grunted slightly. "That's beside the point, Pearl. We should press on. The Jewel Hunter could strike at any time, and we need to make it to Geo."

The final companion scratched his head.

"So remind me again why we're going to Geo? I mean, I'm sorry, but couldn't we have bought the stuff we need in Gato? I could REALLY use a new bow string."

Elazul sighed. Being Pearl's knight, she had to be where he could protect her. 'Chumpy', as Pearl called him now, was a useful guy, and to tell the truth, Elazul and Pearl were both indebted to him. But Chitto? A 'tame' Chobin Hood with a bad attitude and a worse mouth? Even the succubus would have been a better choice for the journey.

The Jumi Knight shielded his eyes against the sun rising overhead and peered into the undergrowth. Catching a glimpse of something different up ahead, he started to walk off into the forest. Pausing at the edge of the clearing, he turned and called back.

"There's something up ahead. Follow me."

After a few minutes walk, the forest began to give way to small walls, ruins of an ancient civilisation. Pearl rushed up and knelt by the stonework, running her hands over it. Elazul moved over and drew his sword.

"Pearl, stay back - this place could be dangerous." Sword out, he moved further into the city.

----------

Elazul snapped his mind back to the present, and stretched a hand over his shoulder to feel the hilt of the other sword he carried.

The Sword of Mana. Ancient relic of times gone by, and said to be the key to the Mana Sanctuary, home of the Mana Stone, the wishgranter. The one thing that could restore the Jumi race, or so Florina said. It wasn't Elazul's place to question her, but to believe. He had to believe, for Pearl's sake. Since Sandra stole Pearl's core... he shook his head.

Now, it was down to him, Chumpy (the name had stuck) and Chitto to save everything he held dear.

The odds seemed slim.

----------

I'll add more later. Luna, sorry if this interferes with yours in any way, I gave up on waiting for all three of us to get online so we could all co-ordinate. Feel free to alternative-universe stuff if this interferes.

and for the LoM un-initiates, the main character in LoM doesn't have a name, you name him yourself. But a lot of the NPCs seem to think he's called Chumpy...


__________________

Elazul // Lapis Knight // Salva Nos

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Baka is online now Old Post 03-30-2002 01:54 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Baka Click here to Send Baka a Private Message Click Here to Email Baka Find more posts by Baka Add Baka to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Simplistic Hero
Sponsering: King

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: A "Secure" Location
Posts: 70

Hey Ex, way to reveal your weakness directly before tournament start.

I was always horrible at Metal Gear Solid. I've beaten them both, but I almost always used my Rambo technique before stealth. Hell, who knew Vamp and Psyco mantis required strategy?
I just kept firing.

And this second controller thing?
Wish somone would have told me that one too, cause otherwise, Mantis takes a whole lot of bullets.

Hell, if a boss beat me, it was because I ran out of bullets.

As for King's assault rifle, I feel I must donate that to Mog. Hes got aways to go if hes catching Merton Dew's duel gatlingunning moogle.

King might be brandishing a more low-tech weapon, and Gryz's old favorite, the dreaded Alaskan Pine.


__________________
"Violence, don't play that game." I wonder where i can get this game. That sounds like a good game.

Violence is my Antidrug.


Not my most visually spectacular Sig, but it does the job.

Ruroaru Tentinataki 2?

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Simplistic Hero is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 02:05 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Simplistic Hero Click here to Send Simplistic Hero a Private Message Click Here to Email Simplistic Hero Find more posts by Simplistic Hero Add Simplistic Hero to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Renmazuo
Sponsor - Zack Ebony

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Graveyard of Airships
Posts: 30

Curriculum Vitae - Mortality's Folly

Ehehe! Sorry for the delay, all, but this turned out longer than I thought it would, so there'll be four posts altogether. Don't worry, though, it's all done.

And add the fact that a very special something came in the mail (it's Japanese, deadly, and starts with a "k" ), and you have my reasons for delay. That said, here are the final two posts for Zack's introduction.

-----------

To the Midgar Scientific Outreach Community,

My colleagues, partners, and associates, it is with the utmost of pride that I write this seventeenth log of the Netzach Project. I am pleased to report that the project is proceeding just as I have planned, and even ahead of schedule by several weeks, at that. The cells in Source A are still too weak to be of much use to us, but the recently obtained Source B (a result of my discovery in the [Nibel] reactor) has provided us with enough stem cells and tissue samples to sustain a full, prototype clone. The final construction of the clone body will begin in seven days after all preparations have been made. I expect that I shall present to you, before a scientific assembly in Junon on the 25th of August and not a night sooner, a complete Sephiroth clone.

There were some curiosities that I and my subordinates made note of, however. Regarding the Jenova tissues I supplied myself with (see log of July 13th), there were alternating side effects. When 'Tipheres' was infused with the cells, it responded quite well to them; I daresay it may even have used the cells to strengthen itself. Of course, there were some minor difficulties during the transfusion process, but we were able to put 'Tipheres's' pain in moderation with the use of the typical sedative and morphine. As I write this, 'Tipheres' is dormant and resting. The last check of 'Tipheres's' vital signs is improving to a state of normalcy. During the shock treatments, 'Tipheres' as well as 'Geburah' suffered mild calcification of their skeletal structures, causing an abrupt drop in blood minerals in their bodies; muscular microseizures, obviously, were commonplace in both specimens. Fortunately, condensed Mako treatment repaired the damage. Nevertheless, it should be noted that 'Tipheres', in particular, has a very weak organic buildup, though I expect the combined Jenova and Sephiroth cells to improve its strength.

'Geburah' is what perturbs me, however. The Sephiroth cells had the desired effect, as expected; it has also received the first of the FFT (Fight-Flash Treatment, as per your orders in log June 30). When its mind is again stable, I expect 'Geburah' will mimic all known SOLDIER class skills fairly well. Despite this, there has been grave disappointment- the Mako Radiation Therapy had no effect on the specimen, despite its exposure to Mako beforehand. On top of that- this is what has fascinated my entire team- 'Geburah' showed absolutely no response to the Jenova cells. The Mako therapy I can understand, but Jenova cells are said to be perfect, and ingrain themselves into the body in much the same way as locusts mimic in the open field. Based on my analysis on 'Geburah's' physiology, I have concluded that some unknown, innate material has already set up a proven defense against the Jenova cells. I have no doubt you are utterly fascinated by this, and I assure you- my fascination is even greater. We could very well be looking at something greater than Mako or Jenova.

The lack of funding issues from this body of science, however, have forced me to depart for elsewhere in order to obtain the required equipment for further conducting of the project. My team shall continue to monitor the readings of both 'Tipheres' and 'Geburah' while I am away. In the meantime, I request for additional Mako tanks for the purpose of enhanced Mako showering.

I also request that I be granted another cryogenic battery for a little project of my own I have had going for quite some time, now. You shall be reimbursed.

Scalpels, drill systems, place pins, and any surgical tools you can spare are of course welcome. Anesthetics are acceptable, but not required.


[December 14th note- because of the fires from the Midgar power loss this month prior, sections of the professor's July notes have been damaged; a section here has also been destroyed]

such is the case.

A salutory thanks to all of my colleagues at the Midgar Science Committee, and I look forward to presenting the results of the Netzach Project to you at the convention in Junon in several weeks. Keep well until then- I guarantee a scientific breakthrough.

-- Professor Maximillian Hojo
Netzach Project, log XVII . July 22 . X Year


--------------

It reeked in the basement of the Shinra Nibelheim Estate, and badly. The Professor's many escapades in this place would have given veteran morticians nightmares for years- corpses dissected and reassembled only to come back to life, people hacked up with stitches and then sealed away in cryo-stasis, and bats so warped by the Mako Radiation Therapy that they could literally kill a grown man. It was unsettling to walk in the dark, blood-caked hall outside the library, and for the lone guard that stood vigil over the "specimens" in that library, it was a nightmare just to peek out into the foreboding hall of grim stone. Overall, most of the scientists in Hojo's team were thankfully unafraid of superstition, but it was nonetheless uncanny to see a "Yin-Yan" wail aloud as it prowled the steps of the hidden chambers.

The library itself was a plethora of Shinra's secrets. Stored in mass bookshelves were reports, recordings, theses, and other assorted written works detailing its most heavily funded- and darkest- experiments. It was also a laboratory of the Professor's, something he kept for his more private research. Though the professor was currently away, it retained the old man's stink.

Well, at least it's one stink I don't have to put up with anymore.

Zack cracked the knuckles on his left hand, taking a moment to spit on the unconscious face of the gray-suited scientist sprawled at his feet. His fist was sore from hitting the man- who had been expecting to get an incoherent mumble and a silent acceptance of the food tray now littering the ground. The fact that it hurt meant he still had not recovered his strength, but the scale on which it hurt was a godsend after the hell that he'd been put through. On that contemplative note, he felt a sudden pang in his chest, and for a moment Zack thought he would faint.

Hours, days, weeks spent in this hellhole...days where everything was white with pain, nights where Cloud's crying and screaming kept me up, times when my only solace was that memory, and my friend's life. I thought I was going to...

Going to...


"Z...Za..."

Cloud. Zack leaned on the table in front of him and kicked the back of his heel to send a sharp lance of pain up his leg, and his dreary reverie was brought to a close. He quickly turned to the other pod- beside the empty one he'd been kept in for what felt like an eternity- and grabbed at the lock. A fierce tug and the simple thing was broken, and then spicy Mako vapor filled his lungs and blocked his vision with green. He winced for a moment, but felt no real pain- Mako was something he was used to.

As the sylvan bubbles faded away, a smaller shape crumpled to the ground in front of Zack. Blonde hair crowned his head in a spiky crown, his lithe body wrapped in the blue uniform of the Shinra Elite Guard. He breathed in a weak and tired manner, like he'd run a whole marathon, and his wrists were raw and scar-ridden. Zack winced again as he dropped to Cloud's side, looking over one of his wrists. God, he tried to bite through his own veins, his own damn veins...was it that awful for you, too, Cloud? Your eyes, they're too full of Mako...what the hell did they do to us? I'm so sorry, buddy...

"You all right, Cloud?" Zack offered. Cloud's head craned up in response, dark circles under his eyes as he mouthed something. "Nngh...ifa...Sephir..."

Tifa. Sephiroth. Names Zack did not want to be reminded of. "Yeah, I know...Tifa's all right, though," Zack assured him, though he knew it was a lie. "And...'he' won't get away. Sephiroth will pay for what he did...just like Hojo will. Someday...I'll pay them back in kind. Don't you worry a bit, Cloud, we're going to make those S.O.B.'s pay for what they did to us, to everyone..."

He looked up from Cloud's dumbly nodding form to the lab table. Sure enough, his Buster Sword and accessories were there, covered in dust along with a whole set of uniforms, armor, and even materia; the scientists who'd brought them both in must have confiscated everything, every piece of evidence, every shred of cloth proving that something had gone seriously wrong in Nibelheim. It made Zack want to vomit inside, but vomiting wasn't going to get them out of here or help Cloud. He quickly went to the table and grabbed the gold armlet and Power Wrist he was accustomed to wearing, placing each on either wrist to form gauntlets. Then he seized the hilt of his mighty butcher's blade, hefting it up. It hurt to hold it at first, but he found his strength was returning with each passing second. Haha, feels just like when you gave it to me, Grandpa. Hope I can make you proud...

He inserted his materia- properly organized- into both armlet and sword. Clothes were next. Zack could get by in his uniform- nobody in their right mind suspected a guy wearing purple- but Cloud wouldn't get far in a Shinra outfit. Placing the Buster Sword into the makeshift sheath strap on his back, Zack found a garment strikingly similar to his- purple shirt and pants, with suspenders and armor for the shoulder and belt, gauntlets, and hiking boots. He looked around again and grabbed a dirty pack from the floor, dumping the contents onto the floor and setting to work packing what they would need. He slipped the clothes into the bag, along with a good iron bangle and three materia orbs for Cloud. Zipping it up, he slung it over his shoulder, turning to haul Cloud to his feet by the arm.

"Come on, Cloud, let's go," Zack murmured to his friend's tired face. "Be quiet, though, okay, man? I don't think anyone else is in the mansion, but we can't take our chances. Just hold on and don't fall asleep..."

Cloud's breathing was heavy as Zack began to move with him towards the gate, the younger boy's body slack against Zack's. "Aaa...want mom...wanna home...mom..."

"I know...I'd like my mom, too. Sorry, buddy...but it'll be okay, we're gonna make it out to someplace better." Zack grimaced, carefully easing them both out of the door- and further away from this house of black nightmares. His words were true, he knew it; one way or another, they wouldn't be coming back to Nibelheim. And most certainly not to this unholy crypt. Try as he might, he still could not forget what he had seen, here; the line between "research" and "sadism" had been erased in this damn torture chamber, lies and deceit hidden behind the screams of young men. If Zack could help it, he'd find that old man with the sloping forehead and narrow eyes- Professor Hojo, he remembered. He'd find him.

And then, Zack would get to listen to his screams.

----------------

"Ugh...man, that doesn't look good."

Zack traced a finger over the new scar running from his chest to his hip. It was a pretty angry cut, though the swollen and red surface had died down a little to where it looked like a pink line. Zack was accustomed to scars- he sported a blatant one on his cheek, just below his left eye, from a close encounter with a Stone Dragon as a kid- but never from something like this. Whatever Hojo had done to him, it was apparent; it looked like the sicko had cut him open and examined everything in his body. The thought of the old man's hands poking around in there disturbed Zack to a "T".

The truck bumped over a road block, and Zack winced as his nail accidently chipped a part of the scar. "Ow! Hey, watch it, pops!" he shouted to the driver.

"You don't like it, then put a shirt on, kid!" the bearded trucker shot back, running his truck further down the dusty road. "You're lucky I even gave you a ride."

Zack rolled his eyes and slipped his shirt back on, kneeling in the flatbed of the truck. In the corner, beside him, Cloud sat bobbing his head dumbly. He hadn't spoken a word since the escape a few days ago, though he had shared a blank laugh with Zack while changing uniforms. One of Cloud's hands hadn't been able to move when they'd got out of Nibelheim, so Zack had had to help him put on everything (and what an experience that had been). The purple suit smelled, but it was identical to Zack's and fit on Cloud like a second skin. "Well, you look sharp, but I make this look good," Zack had cracked to his senseless friend.

"Hungry?" Zack asked Cloud, already foraging in the bag he'd taken from the mansion. Cloud's head rolled on his shoulders, his eyes still glazed with the Mako. Zack decided to give him something extra, so he slipped out two things he'd gotten at Costa Del Sol the day prior- an elixir, and a half-loaf of salami. He inched over to Cloud and used the other's scout knife to cut a slice of the meat. "Work with me, okay, man?" he said, tipping Cloud's mouth open to slide a slice in. Cloud seemed to comprehend, and chewed wordlessly before swallowing.

"Hey, that's an improvement," Zack said with a grin, gesturing with his eyes to the faded stains of spit on his uniform. He sliced another cut of the salami and continued to feed Cloud, pausing to give him a drink of the elixir- it wasn't exactly as good as soda, but it resembled tonic water and tasted about as much. As Cloud ate and drank, Zack blinked away sleepsand. He hadn't slept much since they'd left...

No one had been left in Nibelheim. The place was a ghost town, devoid of life, but strangely, it had all been rebuilt...as though the fires of hell had not surged over it that night. Zack had felt his head swim at that- how long had they been kept down there? The sunlight had hurt his eyes, and the air stung his nostrils, but he'd never been happier to see a good 70-degree climate. Zack had helped Cloud along, all the while worrying more and more about his weakened friend- something had eaten at him physically, sapped him of all his strength and then assaulted him. Zack wished he could remember all that had happened- he knew they'd been tortured, prodded and burned, shocked and sheared, and even worse, but...he didn't remember how, or when, or what he'd felt. There were only white flashes when he tried to recollect...

They had walked on, long through the day and well into the night. Zack strayed towards the hills, away from the Nibel wolves that prowled the open land. They'd camped near Corel first, and then gotten a ride the next day to Costa Del Sol a few hours away. Under normal circumstances, Zack would have gotten them a couple bikini girl dates- these really awesome hotties named Yuna and Rafa had been giving them the stiff one-eye- but he doubted Cloud would have appreciated it, being half-awake and all. So Zack had used about half of their gold to buy food and materials- and about four Molotovs, as a nasty surprise for any would-be pursuers- and they'd taken the independent ferry to a free dock about sixty miles from Junon.

And then we ran into this guy this morning, Zack noted, glancing over his shoulder to old "Pops" in the driver's seat. "Pops" Vector, he was called, an intermittent trucker who made very curious deliveries to a place in Midgar. Judging by the box of speedos in the trucker's side seat, Zack could only imagine what that place was. Despite his poor mouth and latent nature, Vector had allowed them to accompany him to Midgar. It was about three in the afternoon, now, as opposed to the morning's seven-thirty that they'd left. Zack imagined they were coming up on Midgar right about now.

Cloud finished the last of the salami, and Zack helped him down it with an elixir. "So, what're you gonna do when we get to Midgar?" he asked, kiddingly. He stood up and put his hands on his hips, glancing around the rocky scenery as they proceeded down the path to Midgar. Midgar...he felt in his pocket, fleetingly, and smiled. Sure enough, the Lightning-materia badge of SOLDIER, First Class, was in there. Aeris would be elated.

If she hasn't found someone else by now...it has been a long time...

Zack crossed his arms, shutting that thought aside for now. "Well, I got a place I can crash for a little while- oh, wait...Elmyra. Ick, the mother lives there, too...guess that's out..." He shook his head. Elmyra was a good woman, but she really hated anybody involved with SOLDIER. Just because of those brushes with the Turks, anyone associated with Shinra in any way, be him patrol guard or president, was about as welcome in her home as a Marlboro on Haste.

"Yep, gotta change my plans," Zack said, clicking his tongue. He was sure he could find Aeris at the old church, if it was still standing. With her resourcefulness, he doubted the Turks had gotten her yet- he thought. Damn, I need to figure out if this is still the year I think it is...

"Hmm...well, no matter what I do, I'm gonna need some money, first, so let's see...what pays?" He looked back at Cloud with a grin. "There's always the dancing business, if you smell what I'm cookin'."

Cloud's head bobbed up and down blankly. Zack scratched his head, thinking seriously for a moment. "Well...hey! Wanna start a business? But...what could we do? Think there's anything I'd be good at, Cloud my man?"

Cloud murmured under his breath, bobbing his head ad nauseum. "Mmf...promise...come for you...in danger..."

Zack sighed. His friend still wasn't feeling better. In desperation, he looked back to the old guy, Vector. "Hey, pops! What do you think I'd be good at?"

"What're you yappin' about? You're still young ain't ya?" Vector told him, glancing in the rearview mirror. "Young folks should try everything. You gotta pay your debts while you're young. Go out and look for what you really want."

Zack looked back to Cloud dubiously. "'Try everything'...that's easy for him to say..." he repeated. Zack stretched his arms back and yawned, suddenly realizing his muscles were terribly unstretched. He tensed them and slowly eased down onto his haunches, bringing his fists together in squat-thrusts. As he warmed himself up, he considered what he was hearing a bit more. Come for you in danger, pay your debts, try everything, I'm young, Pops smells like grandpa's blade cleanser, man, I want to see Aeris again...

"HEY!"

Zack whirled to Cloud, snapping out of his exercise. He spread his arms wide and laughed as though the answer were right in front of him the whole time. "Of course! I got a lot of brains and skill that other guys don't! I'm young, I'm strong, I'm pretty damn sexy, and I can fight. And I was second in com...uh, second place in the swordsmanship competition back in Gongaga. That settles it!"

Zack glanced up to the darkening sky, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm gonna become a mercenary! Yeah! Hey, thanks, pops, I appreciate it."

Vector shook his head behind him, breathing a very dramatic sigh. "Hey...didn't you even hear a word I said?"

"Listen, I'm gonna become a mercenary and that's that." Zack looked to Cloud and winked, sliding a thumb under his suspender and snapping it. "Boring stuff, dangerous stuff, anything for money. Ho-ho, with all the anti-Shinra posters we've seen and the damsels in distress, this business is gonna boom. I'm gonna be rich, buddy!"

Cloud bobbed his head again, his Mako eyes smiling a little. Zack felt like playing with him a little more, so he crossed his arms and leaned forward questioningly. "So, Cloud? What are YOU gonna do? Maybe hook up at the Honey Bee Inn, eh? Yeah, man!"

The smaller boy looked confused as his head drooped. "U...uhhh..." he managed, his temples practically pounding against his head. Zack smiled to him and dropped to a knee beside him, clapping his shoulder with one calloused hand. "Just kidding...I'd never leave you hanging like that, my man. We're friends, right? Thick and thin, you and me. We've tackled missions before, haven't we, and we've always come out on top. We'll be great."

It was true, that. In the brief time Zack had been in SOLDIER Second and First, Cloud had accompanied him and Sephiroth on a few missions to various spots. Even though Cloud had been crushed when he hadn't made it into SOLDIER, he always came through for Zack on whatever mission was needed of him. In fact, Zack had decided to recommend Cloud for a repeat course in SOLDIER's basic training when the fated Nibelheim job had come up. Even if that was past, he knew Cloud was, indeed, SOLDIER material.

He leaned his head over to Cloud's and rocked his shouler a little. Cloud looked at him peculiarly and blinked, but his head stopped bobbing. Zack grinned and whispered into his ear, crystal-clear. "Mercenaries, Cloud. That's what you an' me are gonna be. Understand, 'partner'? I've heard of this group called AVALANCHE...supposedly fighting to free the Planet or some stuff like that. Don't know about any of that, but the pay's good and their base is in the slums. We'll be checkin' them out."

A confused smile made its way over Cloud's lips. "Avalanche...mercenaries...?"

Zack laughed and ruffled Cloud's hair. "Now you got it. Yep- Zack Ebony and Cloud Strife, mercenaries for hire. Brawlers, diplomats, swingers...anything for money. That's the life for us, Cloud."

Zack leaned back in the flatbed by Cloud and turned his gaze up to the stars above them. The cool afternoon air whipped against their faces, and Zack took great leisure in breathing it. There was a hint of Mako in the air, but it was fresh and promising, just like the future. Though the darkness of Nibelheim lay creeping and unknown at their backs, and the black skies of Midgar loomed on the horizon before them, Zack knew their futures would converge to a very bright point.

----------------

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Renmazuo is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 02:10 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Renmazuo Click here to Send Renmazuo a Private Message Click Here to Email Renmazuo Find more posts by Renmazuo Add Renmazuo to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Renmazuo
Sponsor - Zack Ebony

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Graveyard of Airships
Posts: 30

Curriculum Vitae - Dawn of the Empyrean Blade

Midgar on the inside was dark, gloomy, and genuinely miserable, but from the outside, even under a cloudy sky, it was quite a spectacle. It was a city of darkness, surrounded by dead grass and rock, and shaped like a giant fist jutting from the earth. The Shinra tower in the center, high and mighty above the sectors and slums of Midgar, did not fail to impress, even though it tended to block out the sun as much as the sickening black gas of Mako exhaust did. Yet from the cliff, the city of woe looked meager but promising under the afternoon's waning light. Zack breathed a whistle- he'd forgotten just how much he'd missed the place, depressing as it was.

"We're home," he said to Cloud, who leaned weakly on his shoulder. Well, in truth, neither of them were, but it was the only home they had to go to. Vector had told Zack, just before he'd dropped them off a few minutes ago, that Gongaga's Mako reactor had blown sky-high just a few years ago (and that meant Zack and Cloud had been kept in stasis for about that long, too- Aeris was going to be livid). Nibelheim was out, obviously, and Zack didn't exactly consider Cosmo Canyon or Wutai joints to become mercenaries in. No, the only place for them was Midgar...a figurative city of forgetfulness.

Zack hauled his friend further along the path, towards the edge of the cliff. "Haha, bet you've never seen Midgar from so far away," he said with a grin to Cloud. "Ain't it a sight? Hey, maybe from up here we can look down some dresses, eh?"

Cloud smiled and chuckled under his breath. Zack sighed in relief- the Nibelheim guard was getting better by the second. Maybe it was all the Mako in Midgar, or some sort of trigger that caused Cloud's health to improve. He'd stopped bobbing his head up and down, was actually forming coherent words, and he felt a lot stronger, though he still couldn't stand on his own. Zack didn't mind that much, but he'd be glad when they settled in somewhere nice and got to sleep- in a bed and under a roof this time.

Hope you don't mind pointing a few fugitives out, Aeris, Zack mused mentally. At the memory of her, he sighed- how guilty he had felt in that tank, with only that memory to provide him with solace. The memories of her touch and breath and kiss were still swimming in his mind, still pushing him on. Perhaps that was why he wanted to come to Midgar so badly.

"First thing we're going to do, Cloud, is find you a woman," Zack said to him, grinning wider. "Hehe, but that shouldn't be too hard, slugger. With our dashing good looks and incredible appeal, we'll have to board up our joint to keep out all the women-"

Then he was cut off by a sound that was all too familiar to him, a sound that he had never wanted to hear again.

The sound of a gunshot.

Damn it! He craned his head around from the edge of the cliff, hearing cries of "found 'em" and "open fire" ringing out through the hills. Down the slope of the hill, only a few yards from where Zack and Cloud stood, were four Shinra guards and two others, what looked like the Elite Guard- no, worse. They were SOLDIER, 2nd class, and pounding up the hill. The other four guards were just providing cover fire. Those are not good odds, Zack realized, panic setting into his gut. He was feeling much stronger than before, but six on two- no, six on one- wasn't something he was quite ready for. He cursed himself violently for being so stupid as to walk the shortcut to the slums- he should have known there was a border convoy out here that could identify them. With the odds out of their favor, he and Cloud were both screwed.

Don't like the odds, then change them! I let down Cloud once- I'm not failing him again.

Damn right. Zack still had time, and he had one or two aces up his sleeve- he'd been watching Sephiroth long enough to pick up on a few quick-dispatch techniques. He set Cloud down gently on the grass, patting his shoulder. "Just a sec, buddy! I'll take care of it!" he shouted over the tat-tat-tat of gunfire. As the soldiers hefted their cone-shaped blades- "Doom Swords", they were nicknamed- Zack reached back and grabbed the hilt of his own Buster Sword, narrowing his eyes in challenge. The touch of the hilt sparked memory and technique all at once into his mind, and with his muscles poised in readiness, he tore down the hill with sword gripped in its sheath.

The foremost soldier gave a loud yell- a kiai, Zack realized, meant to charge one's spirit. A glance at his eyes told him why- it was a Wutai immigrant, no doubt. Zack was a little insulted that they'd send Second Class after him, but pleased that they'd picked Second Class with class. The man evened his sword horizontally, a traditional impaling position, and Zack let him work with it. His enemy charged up the hill until he was upon the former First Class member, and with murder glinting in his eyes, the soldier screamed-

-and, countering Zack's expectations, jumped from the ground into a forward dive, shifting his body around into a spin, and then thrust forward for an odd lunging, spinning stab for Zack's head. "Shinra Shinmei Ryu- Kijo no Tsuki!"

Oh, please. Spare me.

As the cone-shaped blade shot for his face, Zack moved. He fluidly shifted pace, changing his course to weave to the right and then around. The Second Class member shot past him, his Doom Sword embedding itself in the ground. Just as he was preparing to pull it out, Zack tipped the hilt of his sword forward, so that the blade formed a horizontal line on level with his neck. Clapping the end of the handle, Zack swung himself around, putting all force into the spin, and let the momentum do the work for him. The sharp mythril edge of the Buster Sword slammed into the back of the Second Class's helmet, punching through the shoddy iron like tissue paper. The Buster Sword cleaved only a bit of blood and flesh from the man's head, but the impact did the rest. The helmet split into shards from the bludgeoning slash, and the spikes were forced in to puncture through the man's skull and reduce his IQ to an effective, bloody zero.

"Sayounara, sucker," Zack cracked. In another time, he might have been appalled at what he was doing, but seeing the SOLDIER charge him only brought back memories of Cloud, tortured and beaten, trying to gnaw through his own wrist. Damned if he'd let that happen again.

The second fighter charged up the slope, though a little more wary after seeing his comrade die in the second prior. Gunfire bounced off the ground behind him, increasing up the slope as the guards neared Zack's position. Zack grimaced, bringing the Buster Sword around one more time for a clean draw. He'd have to finish these guys quickly, and he had an idea how to. Bringing the sword in front of him, he twisted his arms and raised them until the edge of the blade was facing up, but pointing down. His right arm craned around his chest to grab the hilt just in front and above his forehead, his left curved in an opposite way to grip the handle in front of his right hand. He bent his left leg inward, years of practice dispatching any involuntary trembling, and stretched his right leg out. The bullets stopped for a moment, and the Second Class member came to a screeching halt.

"That stance- the Empyrean Blade! Bloody hell, that's Zack Ebony!" the soldier cried, shock riding his expression. Curses were heard from the guards behind him, and Zack couldn't resist a smirk. There was a reason he was First Class, and he'd prove it to these sickos before they tasted defeat. Tensing his legs, he slipped just a little lower into the stance, raising the blade a fraction higher- and then he moved.

In a deft movement, Zack lunged for his opponent and shifted the leverage like a balance from his left to his right leg. At the same time, he swept the mighty Buster Sword down in a clockwise motion, whipping it back towards his left leg and then up for a straight slash up. It was a traditional cut, something he'd learned by mimicking Sephiroth, and he didn't expect it to do as well as Sephiroth made it- but, to his own astonishment, he was wrong. He watched as the blade cleaved through the man's middle with speed so intense that he himself couldn't even follow it. The man died with a cut-off scream, the sudden impact literally sending a shock wave through his body. Zack gaped as the Doom Sword shattered into a dozen fragments- mirroring the man's bones. There was little time to contemplate his sudden skill, as the one-blow assault sent Zack leaping forward from the slope into an airborne position.

The guards twisted their heads up, immediately opening fire. But it seemed heaven itself was on Zack's side- just as Zack leapt, a rain cloud happened to move away from the sun behind him. Sunlight poured into his enemies' vision, and suddenly Zack knew his follow up. As he reached the apex of his leap, he twisted the sword up again into his odd stance, but this time he curved the blade down a little more so as to point to the guards below him. His apex was reached then, and Zack brought the sword back up as his muscles, strengthened by the stimulating energy flow of the Power Wrist, tightened into position. He saw red for all of a moment, and with a great cry, he whipped the giant sword the other way until he was sending it straight across in a horizontal swipe, and followed through.

See if you remember this, boy-o's- the Forsaken Braver!

As Zack came down, so too did his Buster Sword cleave through the air and directly into the two foremost guards. Again, the blade shot through with such incredible speed that they were instantly killed, the horizontal chop shattering their armor and slashing through their fragile bodies. The blade claimed the head of the first man, and the upper body of the first. Their guns were then silent, the amount of blood spewing from their slain forms ungodly. But it wouldn't stop with them. The mass of the Buster Sword, incredible and titanic, was coupled with the maddening speed of Zack's attack to send a furious gale in its flow- strong enough to knock the last two soldiers off their feet. Crying out in alarm, they impacted far down the slope, their guns going off futilely as they rolled down the long hill, smashing violently into the rocks and jagged features of the dead grass. One hit his head against a particular jutting stone and moved no more, and the other came to a dead, dusty halt at the very bottom- with six of his own bullets in his stomach.

Zack punched the Buster Sword into the ground and leaned on it, breathing heavily. He was shocked; it had been a long time since he'd fought in mortal sword combat, true, but he had never gone at that speed before. He didn't even know he could move that fast, jump that quickly, or cut as powerful as any of his motions. It had always been Sephiroth to have that much skill, not him- and Zack had lost fairly easily to the commander back at Nibelheim. What the hell happened to me? Is this part of what happened in the lab...?

Cloud groaned behind him. Zack hefted himself up from the slope, getting his bearings back as he turned to trudge up it. He'd done his duty and protected Cloud- if his abilities helped him do that much, then they couldn't be bad. Maybe he was just better than he thought.

Riiight, and that applies to how many fields?

Cloud was still face-down in the grass, mumbling something about Tifa again. Zack knelt by him, keeping an eye out behind his shoulder, and checked Cloud for any gunshot wounds. None- the closest he could find was actually half a yard from where he lay. Zack sighed in relief, clapping his friend's shoulder. "Told you I'd take care of it, huh, buddy? Hah...what mercenaries we're going to be-"

"Get him!"

Oh, damn it.

Zack craned his head back around to see three more guards coming up the hill, already half the distance from where the slain patrol lay. He barely had time to move before one of them opened fire, and he felt a bullet hit the armlet on his wrist. They were already in firing range! Zack hefted his Buster Sword up to block, but it was already too late. One of them lined up his machine gun and squeezed down the trigger, sending a hail of bullets up the slope.

He was going to die. Zack knew he was going to die- there was no way to block a stream of bullets that close with an uplifting blade. Mere microseconds left to live, and the only thing he could think of was Aeris and Cloud. Two lives he'd ruined by failing...God, he deserved this. Fear overrode him- that was the worst part. Zack was going to die in fear...dishonor. Shame. Worthless...

Dammit Cloud I'm sorry Aeris Aeris someone help NO-

And then Zack felt pain erupt everywhere on him. He gasped as the sharpness delved into him, sure that he'd been hit by the bullet's fatal sting- but, no. It wasn't a bullet, he should have felt something pop inside of him. There was only pain, and intense white light. His eyes gaped as he saw the bullets veer off course and around him, saw the guards cry out in shock and go down as the light blinded them. And all through it, Zack heard Cloud murmur something, the younger boy locking eyes with his friend as though for the last time-

-and then Zack felt himself torn away, with only Cloud's utterance to sing him into the white-and-black abyss that flooded his vision.

"Zack..."

----------------

End Part Three. Now let fate take its course.

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Renmazuo is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 02:11 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Renmazuo Click here to Send Renmazuo a Private Message Click Here to Email Renmazuo Find more posts by Renmazuo Add Renmazuo to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Kellios
Sponsoring: Kuja

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 32

Wow.

Ren, you truly have a fantastic hold on Zack. My god, I'm just tempted to go and sponsor Tifa like I've done for a couple tourneys before. But someone's already sidekicking Tifa.

You better sponsor Zack next tourney or I'll send a horde of rabid moogles after you.


__________________


Sponsoring Kuja in Rurouni Taikai 2

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Kellios is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 02:55 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Kellios Click here to Send Kellios a Private Message Click Here to Email Kellios Visit Kellios's homepage! Find more posts by Kellios Add Kellios to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Simplistic Hero
Sponsering: King

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: A "Secure" Location
Posts: 70

not just one, but a whole horde of rabid moogles...

I never really thought of moogles as pack hunters.

Learn somthing everyday.


__________________
"Violence, don't play that game." I wonder where i can get this game. That sounds like a good game.

Violence is my Antidrug.


Not my most visually spectacular Sig, but it does the job.

Ruroaru Tentinataki 2?

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Simplistic Hero is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 03:16 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Simplistic Hero Click here to Send Simplistic Hero a Private Message Click Here to Email Simplistic Hero Find more posts by Simplistic Hero Add Simplistic Hero to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Cirrus Velious
Sponsor: Solid Snake

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Arsenal Gear
Posts: 48

TWO hordes of rabid moogles.

That's amazing Ren. If you're not Zack next tournament I'll personally send Cloud to destroy you...


__________________
"What you see is what you get, Just a guy who loves adventure!"
-Sonic

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Cirrus Velious is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 04:56 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Cirrus Velious Click here to Send Cirrus Velious a Private Message Click Here to Email Cirrus Velious Find more posts by Cirrus Velious Add Cirrus Velious to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Kojichan
Ichiban Kobun: Tron Bonne

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 21

As the minutes tick by, the closer they get towards the beginning of the tournament, the more I begin to feel anxious, and rather upset. Krizak shoved me to this, and I promise to try and make a good effort out of a first-time event.

So, as Sweet Punch plays endlessly in the background, I type away endlessly trying to finish what started as a good Intro, even though it looks incredulously rushed compared to Renmazuo's well thought-out and planned story.

I must say, I am simply amazed at how well he portrayed Zack. That was truly marvelous!! So, a few hours after I finish working on Gafgarion's picture, and Krizak to finish the banners for the Team, I am now going to post my opening intro. Unfortunatelly, I have no clue how long it is, as I'm typing it up in a Japanese Word Processor, for lack of anything better. ;D

I assume it is sorta big, seems Notepad didn't want to save it properly. I bow down to all of you who have created such wonderful intro's, and I beg of you to take it easy on a Newbie on such a fun event. ^_^; This is my first Tournament, so I really barely know how to go about this. I've studied a few of the past survivors, and am going off of what Krizak has been telling me. So, forgive me for having any impurities in this.

'Specially for this intro, seems I haven't played the game my character is from in well over a half a year, and my brother isn't letting me borrow MML2, so I'm going with a blank slate here. o_O I just found out what happens, sorta, in the end of MML2, thanks to Curley, so my intro may seem odd to those following that continuity.... Well, enough blab.. Here goes!

(Idle note: Please excuse typo's, and minor gramatical errors. It is 4:50am where I am, and I am without a spell-check or grammar-checking program.. ;_; It sucks..)

- - -

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Kojichan is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 11:38 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Kojichan Click here to Send Kojichan a Private Message Visit Kojichan's homepage! Find more posts by Kojichan Add Kojichan to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Kojichan
Ichiban Kobun: Tron Bonne

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 21

A thunderous explosion ripped throughout the excavation site, rocking the cavern and those who were exploring deep inside of its bowels. Debris rained from the ceiling, and scattered about the floor infront of a well-armed group, their barrels smoking from being recently fired.

Aside from the recent disturbance, all was quiet as the troupe gazed at the metallic wall, a large jewel which vaugly resembled a glass eye, seemingly glared at them. Not a single scratch was bore across it, as dust lingered in the air in protest.

"M-miss Tron..!" Quietly, a rather childish voice uttered, trying to get the attention of it's superior. Resembling a rather large version of a childs toy. The robot's bright eyes showed a feeling of uneasyness, as it clambered closer to an exceedingly larger robot, "The door seems to be locked..."

Riding atop her giant rust-colored mechanical armor, Tron Bonne sat in the plush seat that was allotted to her. Seating just before her, in a sepparate area, was another one of the yellow Servbots, with a look of worry written all over its face. Folding her arms over her chest, the Bonne glared at the wall, then at the Servbot before her, who was obviously stating the obvious about the situation, "Of course the doors is locked, that's why I decided
to blow it open!"

She furrowed her brow, as her 5 Kobun gathered around, then placed her hand to her head in a bored slump, "Well great... Now what do we do. We travel all the way down through this site, and all we found was some small measly bits of Zenny, and a locked door." Blowing a stray lock of hair from her face, Tron closed her eyes to try and gain some composure, before she could think of what to do next.

The small gathering of Servbots around the Rusty Mecha known as the Gustaff looked around, trying to find something else for their Miss to look at. At least something interesting that would prevent most of them from being tortured when they got back to the Gesellschaft.

A smaller Servbot with a red cap adorned upon its head looked over towards the door, then noticed something strange. As it studied the glowering bauble imbedded in the wall, it noticed it began to move slightly, "Miss Tron!!" The Kobun screamed out, "Somethings wrong!!"

Without paying much heed, the girl upon the ride armor just waved her hand without caring so much as to open her eyes from the new commotion, "There is always something wrong! Which is why I'm trying to think of a way to fix that something wrong..."

"...BUT!", the servbot exclaimed, as the others began to run around in a hurried frenzy.

Tron began scolding her troupe, "What could poss---" and stared face to face with 'The Rather Large Problem', "--eh?" Staring down at her, with a meanacing red jeweled eye, the large Robot began rearing back, after breaking down the wall which had it encased.

"A Reaverbot!?" almost all the travelers yelled in unison as the metallic form before them began rising to barely touch the ceiling of the large room, while the only Servbot, with the red cap, just gawked at its enormity, "I feel like I could wet myself, if I were properly equipped..."

Working together, Tron and her co-pilot in the Gustaff, backed up quickly, trying to avoid the monsterous steps the large Reaverbot was taking toward them, while yelling out orders for her other groupies.. A slow-moving Servbot was crushed in an instant, as the foot of the Reaverbot landed firmly upon it, flattening the little 'bot mercilessly.

"Fall back, then fire at the eye!" Tron yelled out, after she was far enough from the beast-bot, then fired a homeing beacon-bomb upon it, shot from the Gustaff's head. Instantly, the Kobun who were running aimlessly around like chickens with their heads cut off, were running around toward the Reaverbot like chickens with their heads cut off and weapons drawn and fireing.

Feeling at a comfortable distance, the Kobun incharge of speeding the rust-colored machine started to turn it around, "I feel we have a chance... We should start attacking now." Nodding her head in agreement, Tron jumped at the idea, and helped the little yellow bot turn the large armor around, "Right!"

As the Gustaff began firing off shots from its left arm, recoiling each time as it shot another round, her Servbots firing bazookas and a few grenades. The brunette began to feel a bit anxious, then was dropped from her high rather hard and hit a rather depressing low. Chills ran up her spine, as she witnessed the Reaverbot not slowing down from the onslaught it was receiving, feeling something terrible was about to happen.

Tron's favorite Servbot, #18, slung it's bazooka over it's shoulder, and fired a few rounds, before looking back at the Miss. She looked so upset, what was wrong? As if to answer it's question, the giant Reaverbot let out a mighty roar of screeching metal, and began to callapse in the area. Not from the punishment it had been receiving, but, from something else.

A ball of blindingly hot white-light burst from the Reaverbot's eye, shattering the glass and expanding rapidly as it blinded those who witnessed it's beauty.

Melting together, the next few moments ran far too quickly before death was shone in Tron's emerald eyes. As the ball of light grew in size, her remaining Kobun ran from the falling Reaverbot as it began to desintegrate where it once stood; trying to get back to the shelter, to the saftey of their Mistress, her favorite leading the way back.

Slowly, one by one, the last breaths of each one of the Servbots were snuffed, as the white ball burned away their forms, plucking each one of her children away from Tron. In a fit of tears, she tried to jump from the Gustaff, to run to her Kobun even though each one were being destroyed by the mysterious light, but the driver of the mech held her back. Vainly, Tron held out her arms, to try and reach out to her family, to no apparant avail.

Screams of agony tore through the ruin, not from the occupants in, but from the dozens of others lost souls as they were dissolved before by the ball, muffling cries of Kobun and Tron. Leaping out towards Tron's arms, #18 valiantly leapt towards, for it's savior, the white ball closely on it's heels.

In an instant, the light burst out quickly, snatching up the life of the last two Servbots, Tron's favorite, and the one in the Gustaff, before engulfing the Bonne in it's blanket of light. Desintegrating in her fingers, the last remains of her Servbot melted from existance, as streams of tears ran down her cheeks in protest to the burning pain. The loss of her children caused more pain to her heart, than the red-hot spiked pain she was receiving to her body, from the filterous light.

Moments passed before the light faded, but not without the taking with it agonizing screams of many, who lost, and will be lost forever. A red cap clamped firm against her heart in memory...


__________________


Behold, the ultimate of banners, and ph34r the mighty Kobun! ^_^

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Kojichan is offline Old Post 03-30-2002 11:44 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Kojichan Click here to Send Kojichan a Private Message Visit Kojichan's homepage! Find more posts by Kojichan Add Kojichan to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Baka
Lapis Knight

Registered: Feb 2002
Location:
Posts: 177

I dunno, I finally get my intro up, and Ren/Koji blow it out of the air with theirs... :P

Time for part 2!

WARNING! LEGEND OF MANA SPOILERS!

----------

It is said that when a Jumi cries, the heavens cry with them.

This is half true. But it doesn't make the odds look any better.

Elazul knelt down slowly. Before him, a drop of condensation caught the first morning rays, as it fell from the stone figure before him.

Cradling a white stone in his arms, Elazul looked up into the light. Silhouetted against the sunlight, the statue loomed ominously, piercing through to Elazul's core. He blinked slightly.

Is this it? Is he.. after all this, is this the end for him?

Elazul unslung the Sword of Mana from his shoulder, and pulled himself up. He took another look at the milky-white core in his hand, then glanced at the sword, then the statue.

Then it struck him.

The Teardrop Crystal..

He raised his head.

"...teardrop Crystal."

But do I have the power? Does any Jumi have what is needed now?

He blinked again. The air.. the sun seemed brighter.. and brighter, almost, no, not almost - dazzling! He squeezed his eyes shut against the light, but it was no good.

A racking pain shot through his body. My Core! Is it... breaking?

The light grew in intensity, and the pain filled every cell in his body - and then there was nothing.

Without anyone to hold it, the milky-white stone fell to the floor, and rolled silently towards the wall...


__________________

Elazul // Lapis Knight // Salva Nos

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Baka is online now Old Post 03-30-2002 02:52 PM
Click Here to See the Profile for Baka Click here to Send Baka a Private Message Click Here to Email Baka Find more posts by Baka Add Baka to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Huan80
Junior Member

Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 6

Biggs and Wedge intro (part one)

Biggs braced himself as the mysterious sorceress approached the esper... Something about her eyes told him to hold his distance. The Crown should have rendered her incapable of independent thought, but from the look on her face, it wasn't working. The crystalized creature began to pulsate with an eerie glow. "What's that light?" Wedge didn't answer. The burning radiance surrounded him, burning his eyes, even if he closed them. It was the most intense pain that he had ever felt. It was becoming hard to breathe. He felt consciousness slipping. Then he woke up.
Biggs hated that dream. Biggs hated that memory. Those had been hard times. The line between keeping peace and waging war had been blurred since Kefka had worked his way up the Imperial hierarchy, but as an Imperial soldier, Biggs was in no position to question orders. Whatever the esper had done to Wedge and himself had put him in a strange predicament, though. The Imperial Special Forces would have presumed them dead, ending their contract quite effectively. Biggs himself was almost willing to believe that he was dead. All the signs pointed in that direction. After he lost consciousness in the light, he found himself on a cliche sunny beach with all of the characteristics of a travel brochure, but in spite of the bright light-tropical destination factors, Biggs still wasn't ready to accept that that was the afterlife. For one thing, his magitech armor was with him when he arrived. Also, he soon found that his "paradise" was actually a small disgruntled communist country, living under the shadow of a heavily demonized democratic superpower. The main reason for Biggs' doubts as to that being heaven, though, was the fact that Wedge was there.
Since their arrival Biggs and Wedge had spent their time quite differently. While Biggs had followed the standard Imperial MIA protocol, Wedge completely disregarded everything he had learned in his years of service. Soon after their arrival, in a heated argument about whether or not to use their repair equipment to construct a distillery, Wedge had said "Look, man, we're dead. Things can't get any worse, right? Start living!" Since then, Biggs had been easy on him. He did have a point, after all.
After his dream, Biggs couldn't get any more sleep. He got up and surveyed his bunk. He stood for a moment, remembering the huge troop quarters of Vector. The small, dimly lit cave that he saw was not as grand or impressive as those, but it was sure more comfortable. As he stood there reminiscing, he heard a muffled gargling coming from the back of the fort, where Wedge slept. He walked back to see what inadvertent sabotage Wedge had managed. When he opened the shabby curtain that divided the two soldiers' quarters, he smelled smoke. In the back of the room, a mass of pipes was beginning to shudder. Suddenly, one of the tubes on the makeshift distillery ruptured, sending out a plume of steam. He ran back to where his magitech was standing and powered it up. He flipped on the com, setting it to Wedge's frequency. "Private Wedge..." No answer. "Wedge, are you there?... WEDGE!"

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Huan80 is offline Old Post 03-31-2002 04:26 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Huan80 Click here to Send Huan80 a Private Message Click Here to Email Huan80 Find more posts by Huan80 Add Huan80 to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
Izlude
Sponsor: Wedge (FFVI)

Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Not quite sure..
Posts: 18

Intro for Biggs and Wedge| part II | Wedge's intro:

---

I wanna love you...
and treat you right.

frothy waves crashed against a worn metal foot

I wanna love you...

The blackened beast shown brilliantly in the afternoon sun

every day and every night.

"mommy, whats that?" a small child directed her mother towards the creature on the beach. it stood nearly 9 feet tall. 7 feet wide, perhaps 13x8 if you had noted the mounted beach umbrella and the blue ice chest that looked to be duct-taped to the side. it also had what appeared to be a gold liscense plate in the front that read "Betty"

We'll be together....

there seemed to be another creature riding it, for protruding from what looked like a central open compartment were a pair of hairy legs wearing white sandals.

with a roof right over our heads.

"I think we should stay away from it dear, it doesnt look safe" the mother grabbed her daughter by the hand and walked away. mumbling could be heard from inside the creature.

We'll share the shelter...

"Mission log... some time in the not so distant future"

of my single bed.

"It had been a few years since we landed on this rock"

We'll share the same room, yeah!

"That freaky esper thing had banished us to an Island..no a world not yet discovered by the empire"

for Jah provide the bread.

"They share many things in common with the returners, under oppression from some great "Democratic" Empire, they rise to one day rise and conquer it"

Is this love - is this love - is this love - Is this love that I'm feelin'?

"Their leader, a crusty old man with a white beard and a green cap, has show much interest concerning our magitek armor"

Is this love - is this love - is this love - Is this love that I'm feelin'?

"however, my partner thinks it would be a bad idea to share our secrets, even though i have yet to understand how the reactor core for our firepower works"

I wanna know - wanna know - wanna know now!

"all i know is that it makes a spectacular barbeque grill"

I got to know - got to know - got to know now!


"however, the combustion engine works much better now that i've converted it to using nothing but hard liquor"

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I - I'm willing and able,


"now betty and i have something in common" he said as he stared into his lime margarita

So I throw my cards on your table!

"ahh..." the man leaned back in his plush leather chair and sipped his margarita under the shade of his umbrella, he turned up his stereo and his eyes remained fixated on the pair of fuzzy dice that hung from his keys oh the dash of the mech and the slowly began to close. Seagulls could be seen and heard directly in front of him.

I wanna love you - I wanna love and treat - love and treat you..
"WEDGE!"

The muffled voice over the intercom startled the man, and with he foot he kicked the fire button on the dash of the mech. A large amber blast shot forth from the center of the mech and faded into the distance, startling everybody nearby.

"what was that?"

"oh... well, you startled me and I kicked the fire button by accident"


"your not supposed to power up the reactor core unless you plan on using it...its dangerous"

"but i was planning on making hamburgers..."

"aren't you worried about radiation?, well.. either way, I need you back at base ASAP"

"oh... alright.. I'll be there in a jiffy, wedge... over and out"

Wedge moved turned the key on his mech and it sputerred, moved to a loud rumble, made a loud pop, and began a soft rumble. Wedge moved the gear to "walk" and slowly turned the mech and began moving it off the beach.. Leaving huge footprints in the sand.

The little girl broke free of her mothers grasp and ran up behind the mech, on the back of its right leg, she could spell out a small black and white bumper sticker that read "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!!", several well roasted seagulls washed up on the shore behind her

-----

a cyber cookie goes to the first person to name the introduction song and its artist

parts III and IV coming soon

Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged

Izlude is offline Old Post 03-31-2002 04:32 AM
Click Here to See the Profile for Izlude Click here to Send Izlude a Private Message Click Here to Email Izlude Find more posts by Izlude Add Izlude to your buddy list Edit/Delete Message Reply w/Quote
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:10 PM. Post New Thread    Post A Reply
 Pages (3): [ <   1   2   3   > ] Last Thread   Next Thread
[ Show a Printable Version | Email This Page to Someone! | Receive updates to this thread ]

Forum Jump:
 

Forum Rules:
You may post new threads
You may post replies
You may post attachments
You may edit your posts
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
Admin Options:

< Contact Us - Underclocked >

Powered by: vBulletin Version 2.0.3
Copyright ©2000, 2001, Jelsoft Enterprises Limited.