Richard's Animorphs Forum
Animorphs Section => Animorphs Role Playing => Topic started by: warren_bearclaw on May 15, 2011, 10:13:25 PM
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Howdy!
Okay, so here's the deal: Me and Rad have been cagefighting our characters (I'm using Brian from OSV, and she's using Ra'at, her Stargate RAFpersona) through PM for a little while now, and we figured we'd share it so y'all can see it. Feel free to comment, but as the title implies, this is a 1x1, and we are NOT accepting new players. :D
Enjoy!
BRIAN:
The cafe was noisy, even outside on the little promenade. It was only semi-crowded, being a Thursday afternoon. Brian hadn't touched his sandwich. There was a reason for that. These days, they didn't have much money to spare, so he'd simply snagged a plate that someone had left behind and set it in front of him on the table. That way, the waitress wouldn't kick him out for not ordering anything. He adjusted his sunglasses a bit. Well, ain't this a hoot? He checked his phone. His 'shift' was almost over. Just twenty-five more minutes, then -
Mr. Douglas got up from his table. He set a tip on the table, and began walking briskly down the street. Brian nearly jumped up from his seat, but remembered soon enough to keep his cool. After his target turned the corner, Brian began to follow from a distance. This was the part of stalking that he enjoyed best. It sure beat sitting and waiting. Brian and the other morphers had traded off trailing Mr. Douglas for the past two days, and so far, they'd seen nothing to suspect him as a Controller. But they were going to stick it out till the end of the day. They'd know for sure by then. The NASA director looked over his shoulder. Brian reactively turned as if he was waiting for the light to change before crossing the street. After a moment, he resumed following. Where ya headed to now, bub?
Suddenly, he bumped into the girl in front of him. She'd stopped all the sudden. "Oh, sorry," He said. She didn't answer. Actually, she didn't do anything. She simply... stood there. "Um... Ma'am?" Brian walked around front. Not even her eyes moved. He looked around, a sinking feeling crawling up from within him as an idea came to mind. Everyone else around them had frozen as well. Even Mr. Douglas. "Ellimist...." he said with a sneer.
~Correct.~ Brian didn't so much hear the word, as much as it simply came to mind.
"What do you want with me? I'm kinda busy, can't ya see?" He wasn't too interested in working with this guy again. Just 'cuz he's got cosmic power and can stop time doesn't mean that I have to stop what I'm doing whenever he wants. He complained silently.
~You know that I won't make you do anything, Brian. The choice is yours, as always. Though, I believe you may want to consider my request. The fate of humanity rests upon your choice.~
"Oh, of course it does. Why can't you just play chess or something? What is it with you and your stupid game?"
~Crayak and I have made a wager, you could say. The outcome of this wager could allow me to greatly help you and your friends, in ways that I would not normally be able to.~
"Shouldn't someone like you not be makin' bets? Seems kinda ... dangerous, don't ya think? What does this have to do with me?"
Suddenly, he appeared before him. He looked like an oddly-elvish old man, long wisps of white hair hanging over his face. The Ellimist smiled mischievously.~Perhaps you are right. The challenge is simple; a contest of champions. His against mine. I have chosen you, Brian.~
"...Why me? What about the others?" Brian asked. What is this, a football game? He couldn't beleive this. It did seem somewhat tempting with the possibility of him 'greatly helping' them, but... what was the cost?
~There may be others, though not your friends. The circumstances are.... different than those you have encountered before. The winners - the survivors - will determine the outcome. ~
"So wait, I might die? You're... sticking me in a cage fight?!?"
~The choice is yours.~
What kind of choice was this? What would Tarry say about all of this? He didn't know what to do. This didn't seem like something he could pass up. He sure wished that this guy would be a bit more specific. Like, about anything. Apparently, details were against 'the Rules'. "This is dumb. Just plain stupid. I'm sure if I say no, some horrible thing is going to happen, so fine, I'll -"
~You have decided. Good luck.~
Instantly, Brian found himself standing on a street corner, much like the one he'd just left. Although, it was clearly obvious that this was not downtown Houston. He looked around, confused, and convinced that someone would be coming after him this very minute. Someone bumped into him from behind. "Just gonna stand there, twerp?" Brian was going to reply, but he needed to think. If he could count on the Ellimist for anything, it was this: Today was going to be one hell of a day.
Ma'at was sitting in her host's office. She had a chance to breath for a moment between her duties as a mayor and Earth's favourit Goa'uld. She was almost asleep when
Morgan Le Fay
came in.
“Ma'at,” she said quietly. “I was wondering if I could as a favour of you.”
Ma'at jumped at the voice and pointed her zat at the woman made of light before her. An ascended had never shown themselves to Ma'at or Rad, her host, before. She knew who it was because she fit Daniel's depreciation of her.
“You're-you're Morgan Le Fay,” Ma'at said with with some awe. “I've never seen-” Ma'at broke off. She wasn't a big fan all omnipotent beings since she masqueraded as one for a while.
<<Say something before you look like an idiot,>> Rad reminded.
“Yes,” she said answering the ascendeds question. She knew that it wasn't like she really had a choice in the matter either way. “I hope this means that I'll have a get out of jail free card for the future.”
“If you survive you will.”
<<Please tell me I miss heard that,>> Rad said with an edge in her voice.
“You didn't,” Morgan said with a sigh. “We have to place a warrior in an area. We will help you with Tespara if you help us. We wouldn't ask such favours of you anymore after this.”
<<If the Ori are gone why does she need us?>> Ma'at asked her host.
<<There's no way to know,>> Rad said. <<But we've spent the past to months looking for Tespara with not one clue. If fighting means we can find her again than I'm for this.>>
“We'll do-”
“It,” she was there suddenly. She didn't think that the street she was now in was in Rad's beloved New York city or any Earth city the two had ever been in yet it looked so familiar. She then saw the human boy that appeared younger than her host by a few years. “So your the guy.”
She took shot a zat at him.
Brian was scanning the crowd, walking slowly, just enough to keep from being run over. He just barely had time to notice the lady across the street looking straight at him with some weird... curvy thing... pointed right at him. He probably would have decided it was a gun on his own, thanks to his experience with aliens and a healthy dose of paranoia, if he'd been given the chance. The gun thingie fired almost the instant he saw it, and he instinctively took his legs out from under him. He fell with a thud, right on the concrete with his rump,
"Ooph! Gaah, What the - ?" He began, silenced mid sentence by the blast of energy flying past where his head had just been. This wasn't a Dracon. It was... something different. "Oh goodie...." he muttered. The people on the street kept walking, oblivious to the gunfire around them. He reached for his own energy weapon, a stolen Dracon, but thought better of it. He preferred surprises. He rolled onto all fours, and while stooped over - hopefully safely hidden behind the pedestrians - he ducked through the doorway to Aeropostale. He ran to the fitting rooms and locked himself inside one of the stalls.
“Kree,” Ma'at muttered under breath. “Where did he go?”
<<He ducked in to the crowd,>> Rad said.
<<I saw that too,>> Ma'at snapped. <<Let's just get this done so we can go after Tespara.>>
Neither of the girls were trackers some they began to wade through the crowd without a clue of what she was doing. This area had pavement so tracking was even harder.
"Perfect..." Brian said under his breath. As he'd expected, the fitting room floor was covered in a respectable layer of discarded clothing, from which he picked out a few items. The sloppiness of people was apparently going to save his life. He changed what he was wearing, keeping his morphing suit underneath, as he began the morph to Chuck. 'Chuck' was how he'd come to referred to the older man he'd acquired way back at the start of his experience with the Yeerk war. His gut pushed out, his thighs thickened slightly, and his face itched as a five o'clock shadow sprouted. He'd grown used to that though; he had to deal with that, even in his own body now. Being a fairly simple morph, from person to person, he finished quickly. He walked out with his Dracon in a messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He had traded his t-shirt and jeans for an extra large button-up and khakis. Luckily, he and 'Chuck' wore the same shoe size, so he wasn't barefoot, but he hoped that whoever it was shooting at him didn't recognize his shoes. Wonder what the chances are.... He thought. He felt conspicuous, walking out of the store in stolen merchandise, but... no one paid him any attention... and this was going to safe his life. And besides, it wasn't like he'd never run from the cops before, either. The girl had moved from where he'd seen her. That could be a good thing. Or a very bad thing.
Ra'at knew that they had to hide since they couldn't find the guy again. She went inside a Claire's and picked up a red wig, a hair band and sunglasses. They didn't have their wallet on them, (because I didn't think to put it in their inventory) Ra'at zatted the woman at the cornter to get away. She would wake up in a few hours. She **** her what she bought and walked out of the store.
Brian assumed that the lady with the freaky gun thing was this 'champion' the Ellimist had told him about. He felt a little ... off... fighting a girl, but it wasn't as if he hadn't before. But then again, why did he have to fight her? Just as part of the Ellimist's game? That wasn't a good reason for her to die. Had she agreed to this? Then maybe, but.... what if she didn't want to be a pawn? But if that was the case, why was she out to kill him? After all, she'd made the first shot...
Brian was confused about all this. He hated this whole situation. He spent a good while walking the streets, grumbling to himself, and looking for this person. Eventually, he found her. She was kinda obvious, with that sword hanging from her side, and that metal thing wrapped around her arm. He laughed a little. Had she really thought a wig and glasses would hide her? Maybe he was a little biased. It wasn't everyone who could gain twenty years on the spot, not to mention fur, or wings, or fangs, or... yeah. He had the advantage when it came to stealth. He didn't want her to see he was following, and he didn't want to lose his chance. So when she had her back turned, he pulled out the Dracon, and fired a couple shots.
TSEEEEW! TSEEEEW!
It was only set to stun though, from the last time he'd used it. Crud, he thought. Quickly, he shoved it back into the bag he'd nabbed from the store, and resumed walking in the same direction, hoping that he looked like the average pedestrian.
<So Morgan didn't make this easy,> Ma'at comented. She ducked out of the way and slipped behind a large street sign.
<You do still stand out,> Rad reminded.
<I wasn't taking off my ribbon device,> Ma'at said. <You would want me to just use the sword against him. Where ever he is.> She peeped out from behind the sign.
<Cloaking technology?> Rad asked.
<With this crowd its hard to know,> Ma'at said. She looked for the young man she had tried to shot earlier. But kept the zat in her hand.
Crud, Brian thought as the girl jumped behind a street sign. He wasn't too surprised he'd missed; he'd been trying to shoot through the crowd without hitting any other people.. if these were even really people. They hardly acted like it. They seemed more like the wandering crowds from Crazy Taxi... they just walked along their way down the street, paying no attention to the guy with the flippin' laser gun. Y'know... I wonder... He had a crazy idea. ...What if these 'people' didn't mind a bear tearing through town? He didn't want to demorph quiet yet. Then he had another - perhaps crazier - idea.
He walked a good distance down the street, passing her, hoping he didn't lose track of her in the mean time. Two block down, he came to a taxi cab, engine running, simply sitting at the curb. Without a seconds hesitation, he pulled out his pocketknife - it was a wonder he hadn't lost it all these years - and pulled a nice long streak down side of the door. Perfect. The cabby came out, yelling obscenely. He stopped pretty abruptly as Brian pulled out his Dracon again, careful to not show it from behind. "Shut up. Walk away." He said. The cabby did so without remark. He hopped in the car, put 'his' bag in the seat next to him, and tucked the Dracon under his leg. He pulled out into traffic, did a U-turn, and headed back in the direction of the girl... at the creeping pace of what had to be rush hour traffic. Of course it is..., he grumbled. He scanned the sidewalks, looking for that sign, looking for that girl.
As Rad kept looking at the street as Ma'at thought.
<What type weapon was that?> Ma'at though.
<I don't know,> Rad aswered. <It wasn't of Earth disign, that's for sure.>
<I hadn't seen it before,> Ma'at said. <But if this means that he is using new technology I should acquire it.>
<You're not a Goa'uld anymore,> Rad reminded. <Though if you want to make that a goal you could try to talk to him about trade.>
Brian was getting edgy. He didn't like the traffic. Not. At. All. These stupid drivers were going slower than some ol' granny. What, were they slowing to look at a squirrel?! He blared his horn. No one responded, which was rather confounding to him. He was used to dealing with the morons who decided to blare their horns back at him. But... nothing. There was something up with these people.
He continued looking around. Then he saw her, the girl ((I know, I know :P)) with the sword. She was on the opposite side of the road, though she wasn't in exactly the same spot as before. ((or.. was she?)) Slowly.. ever so slowly... he continued straight, pushing through the traffic for at least three minutes, which seemed like a lifetime. He pulled a u-turn again, and worked his way into the far left lane, closest to the curb. It was still going slow, but it would only be a moment or two before he was close enough. Only if she stayed still long enough...
Ma'at know that she couldn't stay here where the the *kid* had seen her last. She looked for the closess tall building.
<That's a long shot,> Rad commented on Ma'at's thoughts.
<Got a better idea?> Ma'at questioned. As she tore her way through the people to and to the building.
Just as Brian was pulling close to the corner, bracing himself to hit the curb with the intent of running her over, she ran. Despite the fact that it made him edgy, he parked the car and followed on foot. He had to remind himself that she wouldn't be able to recognize him in this morph. With his laptop bag at his side, holding his Yeerk firearm within, he kept pace several yards behind. He took his water bottle, that he'd managed to hold onto, and drank from it as he walked, hoping to add to the 'average joe pedestrian' look he was going for. He would wait for a better opportunity to retaliate.
<So we should run up the stairs, right?>
Ma'at rolled Rad's eyes as she pressed the butom for the elevator. <I'm taking the elevator. Make him use the stairs.>
Brian's target entered a tall building, very similar to some of the skyscrapers in downtown Houston. He wondered what she was up to... was this crazy town familiar to her? Was she getting back up? If so, this was totally unfair. "Yeah, I'm glad you're proud of me, but I ain't that good!" he said under his breath, at least pretending that the Ellimist would hear or care.
He didn't enter the building, though he did stop to 'tie his shoes' outside of the glass doors. He noticed the lady with the sword... which the security guard at the front desk didn't seem to mind, go figure.. head straight for the bank of elevators, and hit the button. Now, there was the chance that she was headed for a basement or subfloor, but chances were, she was heading upwards. With what purpose, he wasn't sure. But nevertheless... this was kinda why he was here, whether he liked it or not.
With the girl out of sight, he decided to conduct yet another little experiment. He reached out an pulled a large-ish branch off a neatly trimmed nearby tree, and threw it at a random passerby. The guy simply yelled at him for a moment, then continued on his way. "This is a town of freakin' morons!" he yelled... to which, no one responded. "All right, all right, I can roll with this..." Brian quickly sheds his outer layer of clothing and manages to somehow stuff it all into his shoulder-slung laptop bag. ((...I said he had one, right??? Well, he does now. :P)) Boy, wouldn't Mom be so proud of my folding job.... he joked with himself. He took the bag, and stuffed it in a trashcan on the streetside, but underneath the plastic bag, so that even if one of these crazy citizens decided to take out the trash, it just might be there for him later. He walked to a small alcove, to avoid being in the middle of plain sight despite his lack of fear of the public, and began to morph.
He quickly dropped his borrowed human form for his own, and after a couple moments' rest, he went into the next. First off, were the blades. Brian was slightly creeped out even at himself, standing there with long, deadly bone-like protrusions crawling out of his elbows and forehead. He was sure glad there wasn't a mirror nearby. His knees reversed, knocking him off balance with the suddenness to the point that he had to lean on the wall to catch himself as his spine stretched into a tail, covered with blades of its own. His skin broke out into patches, which itched like crazy, yet thankfully didn't hurt, and turned to a characteristic shade of lizard-scale green. After some other changes, including a rapid height adjustment and the exchange of toes for talons, he was finished. Brian had become a Hork-Bajir.
Brian went swiftly to the side of the building not facing the street, to not draw too much attention. With Dracon in hand, he quickly began scaling the outside of the building. He'd be at the top in just a moment at most.
The elevator opened and Ma'at stepped in and isn't followed.
"What floor, miss?" the elevator oprator asked.
"Whatever is the highest," Ma'at answered sharply with a human voice as pointed the zat at him.
"Yes ma'am," he said as he closed the door. He seemed on egde but not as much as she thought he should.
"I'm going up there to kill someone," Ma'at said testing him.
<<What you you doin'?,>> Rad asked.
<<Trust me on this,>> Ma'at said.
The man nodded. "Yes ma'am."
<<I was testing to see if he was an idiot,>> Ma'at said. <<I would seem that he is.>>
<<Your point..>>
<<We can be ourselves here,>> she said. <<I don't believe that we have to worry about planet sucority.>>
"Here's your floor ma'am."
"Thank you," Ma'at said with her voice as her own.
As expected, it was an easy climb. He didn't use his blades as would be natural, but rather held onto the cracks and ledges from the fancy architecture of the building. He was near the top of the building, just seconds away from pulling himself over the top edge, when he saw through the window the sword-toting lady with the freaky gun-thingie. Instinctively, he jumped sideways, hoping she hadn't seen him, and caught hold again to the building side without too much effort. He debated whether he should continue to the top now, or if he should go through the window...
Ra'at didn't see the giant lizard because both minds were focused on finding the stairs to the roof. They found a stair case and broke the lock with a few shots from their zat. After the two story jog, she was on the roof.
After a couple seconds, Brian craned his snake-like neck around to look through the window again, this time from a different angle. The girl was gone, but he figured he knew where she went. There was a door open, that didn't look like it was supposed to be. At least, he figured that having the latch and lock blasted off wasn't the normal way of opening it. Considering it didn't make much sense to take the elevator to the top just to take the stairs down, he knew she would be waiting from above. But the question was... where? He climbed upwards, trying to not make too much sound, though maybe not succeeding. Once near the edge, he sticks his head up again, only his eyes and forehead blades showing, as he scanned quickly for her location.
Rad's acute hearing picked up the sound of the climber. They turned to see what was making the noise while keeping an eye on the door her tarrget would come up. When they see the blades, they don't know what they are looking at.
<<What the sokar?>>
Oh crud... Brian thought. She was looking right at him. Apparently she had very good hearing. Or he just had really rotten luck. Probably both... He stalled for a couple seconds, not sure how to carry on from here. He fingered his Dracon... not sure how well he could aim from this angle. Brian had an idea, but... He decided to wait for her to respond.
Ma'at kept the defencive stand.
"What the Sokar are you?"
Well, that ain't good... He thought. She recognized him as alive. Somehow, he'd kinda hoped that she figured he was part of the architecture or something, or come closer to look. No such luck. She wanted a response. ....Nah... he thought. Still holding on, he picked up his legs and swung into and through the window just below him, ending up in a large conference room on the top floor. He bounded over the table, and through the door, into a hallway, hoping the doors on the other end opened to the windows on the other side of the building.
"Everybody here is crazy," Ma'at muttered still keeping a human voice. "What type of town lets lizards clime there buildings?" She kept looking at the door from the stairs be also around her now. She felt like she had missed something.
Brian didn't stop to look behind him. Either the sword-swingin' sharpshooter from Saturn had come in through the window, down the stairs, or she was still on the roof. Regardless, he needed the advantage here. He crashed through the door on the opposite wall, leaped over an office desk, and vaulted at the window that made up the entire facing wall. He spun, shattering the glass with his tail, and launched through into the open air. He passed through the opening backwards, and caught onto the wall before getting too far and plummeting from a height that would mean death even to a Hork-Bajir. Quickly, he clambered up the wall, and pulled himself up and over the ledge, landing on his feet. He hisses at her, shouting <Bring it on, ....> He stops and ****s his head to the side. <... aw, heck, I'll come up with a name for you later.> He says, with a bit less ferocity then he'd intended. That said, he began running at her, ready to wield the bark-harvesting blades as weapons of death.
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These sound like fun. Now I'll just have to start a free for all thread.
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What should... Whoa! Ma'at ducked the blade and turned her ribbon device on the creature. "I go by Rad most of the time," Ma'at said. "You can change shape I see Mister Scaly Face."
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<Yes, this town is just entirely populated by shape-shifting lizard people, couldn't you tell?> He says sarcastically. Brian berated himself for letting on that he was the person she'd been looking for earlier, though he didn't think that he'd been that careless. <Now be still while I> *WUMPH* He went flying, totally unprepared for the sheer force coming from her hand. He assumed it was the whatchamacallit that was wrapped around her arm, and refused to believe that it was her strength alone. He tried catching hold of the building's edge, but had no such luck. He was sent shooting over the side and over the cityscape. <...Crud...> He said.
He tumbled through the air, and began demorphing with the intent of morphing an insect or something that could take the impact of falling 25 stories. But there wasn't any time. The ground was coming up too fast. Way too fast.
Luckily, he didn't have that far to go. He crashed through the through glass walls of another tall building. He hadn't been prepared, and took quite a beating from the broken glass and furniture he'd flown into. This floor was mostly open, filled with small cubicles, which were filled with unconcerned people. A few yelled at him, but rather than actually do anything, they simply began picking up their papers. He simply laid there, bleeding from a couple gashes, dazed by his current circumstances. Whatever he did... he didn't want to be on the business end of that curly-arm-blaster thing again.
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Ma'at smiled. It was done. Margan would give her Tespara's location. But nothing happened.
What did she do wrong?
<<He lived somehow,>> Ma'at said. <<Or that wasn't the right guy.>>
Rad had gone to a corner in her mind. She left the blood and the killing to Ma'at. <<Then we need to find out and look for him.>>
Ma'at nodded Rad's head in agreement and walked to the stairs to go to the lizards location. She knew where it went because she watched him fall.
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*stuff happened.*
Brian ended up taking his time to demorph, and acquired a random office worker before heading for the elevators.
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(((stupid RAFture
Ra'at is taking the elevator down to check on lizard dude.
I still think it's your post.)))
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Brian found the elevator music horribly out of place. He went down to the ground floor, and nervously walked out of the building. He didn't want to morph yet, since he was stuck in his morphing suit and would be rather conspicuous anyways. He had been tossed just a block from the building he'd scaled moments ago. He couldn't see the freak lady yet, so he bolted for the corner where he'd stashed the bag with his clothes. Hopefully, he didn't get caught in alien laser fire on his way....
-
Ra'at had to be on the look out for anybody that looked out of place while traveling to the one block to where the lizard fell. She also had to keep in mind that it could look like anything. She started to walk the streets with her eyes pealed to any threats.
-
Brian didn't even look behind him as he ran, which really freaked him out after the door to the skyscraper he'd been tossed from passed from view. He would have no idea if she came out and spotted him. But it was only a short distance; he could already see the trashcan where he'd stashed his stuff. He hoped his luck would hold out, but he felt as vulnerable as a duck in a shooting gallery.
He nearly shouted in relief. Quickly, he pulled out the trashcan liner and grabbed his own bag. He coughed as he tried catching his breath over the old garbage. "Oh gaw... what a smell... " He sputtered. He felt much more secure with his Dracon in hand.
-
Among all the people that were rushing about, one was running and taking clothes out of the trash. That stood out to Ra'at and but Rad didn't want to start shooting a random person. So they kept up from behind the man. Rad with her hand on the sword and Ma'at with her hand ready with her ribbon device.
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Somewhat casually, Brian shouldered the bag and began to walk at a more leisurely pace down the hallway. He turned behind him, just for safety's sake, and broke into a run down the alley. She was right behind him. "Crud monkeys, woman, can't you give a guy two seconds to get dressed?!" He shouted as he jumped over a cardboard box.
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Ma'at smiled. She had such a good comeback line for...
<<Don't you dare..>>
"But what if I like what I see."
<<You just had to.>> :dull:
<<Yeah, I did,>> Ma'at replied as she started to run after the lizard, or man, whatever he was. She jumped over the box and turned her hand device on a washline above her target hoping to have clothes fall on him.
-
"...are you seriously hitting on me while chasing me with guns and swords? 'Cuz that really ain't gonna work for ya, lady." He shouted over his shoulder. He turned back to look where he was going, and got a face full of undershirts. "Ack!" He kept running, and pulled the white tee's hanging off his shoulders. He held on to one... just in case. He turned a corner abruptly, and tried firing off a few rounds from his Dracon while he did.
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<<You need to find a new way to entertain yourself.>>
"I'm just saying thanks for the view," Ma'at laughed. Then she got hit in the hand that had her hand device on it.
<<Because you were looking at the "view" you stopped being carful,>> Rad scolded. <<I won't be able to take that off my hand now. You shouldn't be hitting on dudes without my permission.>>
Ma'at tripped as Rad's hand burned. "Shut up. I'm not really in to lizard people anyway."
-
Morgan watched the fight from her high and mighty viewing place. She knew who ever won this fight would have to go up against the Q's pick next week. Why did omnipotent beings need to prove that the lower beings in their realm were better another she didn't know.
(((in other words... Bear post here!)))
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Running, running, running... why am I always running? Gah... Brian thought, starting to huff just a little bit as he ran. He needed someplace to hide... against these weapons, he was worthless. But fortunately, that could change. In fact, everything about him could change. That was his only strength. He jumped behind a dumpster, and hoped against hope that he had enough time for this... Quickly, his skin began to break out in small, hardened patches, a tail shot out of his back, and he began to shrink rapidly. Please don't run fast, please be a slow klutz, please just let me live...
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"I must apologies," Rad said as Ma'at pulled up her body and started to run again. "My friend is an idiot and I won't allow you to have that type of relationship with her."
<<Spoil sport,>> Ma'at muttered as she took her zat in her still good hand. She didn't know what was awaiting her around that ehind the dumpster so she wanted him to come to her while she was pointed at zat at the dumpster. "Show you're self!"
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Come on, come on, come on!!! Brian thought. Just ten more seconds, please! He pleaded to nobody. He had already become rather small, perhaps the size of a raccoon now. But it wasn't small enough. His arms and legs had so far reduced to stubs, which caused him to fall over onto his belly, and his face was entirely reptillian now, with the exception of a horribly out-of-place chin that hadn't sucked back into his face yet. He tried slinking under the dumpster, but there wasn't enough room. Not yet. Ten more seconds. That's all he needed...
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The sounds of cracking bones and shifting flesh made Rad squint her eyes. "That sounds so gross."
<<Regardless keep that gun on him,>> Ma'at said refusing to move the gun away.
-
The instant he was small enough, Brian wriggled under the dumpster. He couldn't believe it. He'd actually finished the morph. And... while it was hard to truly hear, he could sorta tell that she was speaking, which meant that she had to be darn close. Yet... she hadn't shot him. For some reason he couldn't imagine, she had stood on the other side of the dumpster. He could see her now, looking out from under the slight gap between the trash can and the asphalt. He was right where he'd wanted to be. And now he realized how stupid he'd been. There was no way that he could execute his plan and come out alive. Yeah, great plan, you moron. He grumbled. Okay, so now what, dope? Just gonna sit here all day? He thought about his current situation. Brian had no idea what direction she was facing. This made things difficult.
...That might work.
<In here, Sparkles.>
He had no idea where that name had come from. He chuckled to himself, amused with his own brilliance. Actaully, the more he thought of it... the funnier it got... Hehe... 'Sparkles'... Boy, I crack myself up!
-
"Now why would I go in there?" Ma'at said not moving her zat. "And how the sokar are you calling Sparkles?"
-
<Oh, would you prefer 'Sprinkles'? I think that might suit you better, actually.> Brian said with a slight laugh. He always loved taunting his enemies. Sean always smacked him in the back of the head for it too. But that was a price he was willing to pay in exchange for the mockery. It somehow made all the fighting and near-death-ness of his life more bearable.
Brian's forked tongue shot out and back in rapidly. He was used to the strange new sensory input, but it was still a bit bizarre. She wasn't moving. Now what do I do? He thought. Brian was kinda stuck under the dumpster now, without room to demorph. Thus, he was stuck in this morph until something happened. Maybe he was just going to have to try his luck at this one...
-
"I said I go by "Rad" most of the time," Ma'at said not moving."I can go by "Ra'at" or "Ma'at" if you like them better."
-
<Nah, I think 'Sprinkles' is good for me. Hope ya don't mind.>
...well this is workin' swell, now ain't it?
<Wanna know somethin' funny, lady? See, the cool thing about this thought-speak in your head is that you have no idea where or what I am while I'm talking to you. While you've been sitting there staring at that dumpster, I've already managed to fly my way out of town. Now, I'm gettin' kinda far away, which is gonna make it really hard to chat with ya, so you might not hear from me for a while. But don't worry. I'll be back soon. Oh, and uh... I'd buy a bug zapper if I were you. Talk to ya later, Sprinkles!>
...Maybe that would work?
-
Ma'at lowered her zat convinced that lizard man was telling the truth.
"So you can become insects too?" Rad questioned.
<<We should find his new location,>> Ma'at said.
Rad smiled. <<Let me try something first.>>
<<You do remember what happened the last time you did that, on that PX-43927?>>
<<The planet well be habitable in 400 years it was no big deal.>>
-
...what kind of question is that?
<I wouldn't call it an insect, per say... insects only have six legs, right? Yeah... I think that's how it goes. Nope, not an insect.>
...Brian was starting to get bored of just sitting there. He inched forward just slightly.
-
Rad wondered what Lizard Man was now. But he wasn't an insect but she hadn't heard anything fly away. <<He's still here,>> Rad explained. <<He can still hear us and nothing flew away->>
<<That you heard,>> Ma'at finished. <<I trust your ears.>> "Kree, I have to find him again," she said for him to hear before taking two steps away to make him think she was going away. Then she turned and shot the dumpster. If he was touching a metal part of the dumpster she had just fried him.
-
The heat signature from his target shifted. He could only see her feet from his position, but thanks to his keen sense of smell and the oh-so-wonderful thermal sight of the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, he could tell where she was rather well. She muttered something, which he understood, but only with practice in this morph, then she stepped away. He slithered an inch closer to the edge. Not yet... not yet...
BOOOOM!
ACK! NOW, NOW, NOW!!! he thought in a panic. His brain went crazy with all the vibrations going off all around him, and he watched as the entire dumpster's temperature spiked. And it wasn't a gradual increase, but rather, he could see the heat fill the entirety of the metal box almost instantly. All thanks to his current bodies abilities, he reacted just as fast. This was insane. He hadn't expected that for some reason. Calling upon all his experience, all the viper's speed, and the combined adrenaline and panic of the two, he shot out with the trademark reflexes of the deadly snake he was, straight for the lady's ankle.. She was just a few feet away; this would be easy. Fangs extended, he was already planning his escape route after the bite.
((Rad, don't let me get too powergamey here, okay? Good shot, btw. I so totally would have had to take it and die if it wasn't for the fact that I had infrared senses already. :P))
-
(((Lucky morph. Good move yourself.)))
Rad had the normal reaction that a human female has to seeing a snake. "Ahh SNAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She started doing the snake-away dance. It involves screaming and jumping in away that looks like backwards skipping until the person that is warding away had the sense to run or was bitten. Rad was the lather case.
Ma'at, though frighten more than it might be a Goa'uld like herself, wanted control of the body back. <<Rad, stop!>> If I can't get control of my host... She didn't want to think about it. Yet she had to and there wasn't much time.
-
((>.< awesome post.))
Success, as expected. Brian felt his fangs sink deep, and he only pumped venom for approximately a second and a half before detaching from the spot right above her ankle. That was somewhat of a long bite for a rattler, but normally, a rattler only bit to defend himself, which was only partly his intent. He *did* intend to incapacitate her, if not kill her. But his priority (whether or not he was maintaining it well at the moment) was living. Trying to avoid the prancing feet, he slither surprisingly fast, as snakes did, behind her and under some more rubbish, while trying to get to the opposite corner of the wall and pavement. Thank goodness this alley is trashed...
-
(((thank you if I'm gonna die I'll do it with style...)))
The pain from the bite allowed Ma'at to take control again and she set Rad down on the floor and made her stay still. <<We can't let the venom spread,>> Ma'at said franticly. She looked around for the snake that must have been lizard man. <<Kree! I can't find him.>>
<<Unless you have the anti-venom on you, I'm gone,>> Rad said looking at the grim reality.
<<No,>> Ma'at said. <<I felt my last host dying just before you took me I don't want to feel that again. Stay still!>>
<<But Tespara,>> Rad said now with enough control back to clinch her teeth with pain.
<<Isn't important now,>> Ma'at snapped as she loosened the laces of shoe the snake had bitten through. Why was she wearing knee high All Starts today?
<<Ma'at don't die with me.>>
<<Don't be silly you won't die... what are you doing?>>
Rad was using her good arm and good leg to reach the closest opening to the alley. <<You're in my mind so you know.>>
Ma'at did and she didn't like it but she let Rad continue because there was nothing else to do.
(((...and fighting)))
-
Cant wait to see how things go here. And now we have an RAFian method of settling problems. FIGHTS TO VIRTUAL DEATH
-
Brian tried to not draw too much attention, but he slithered away as fast as he could. He made it to the end of the alley - er, so he hoped - and turned a corner. His vision made it hard to understand where exactly he was, but he thought he found himself at the bottom of a door. He couldn't fit under it, unfortunately. So,he kept slithering until he came to a dead end. He easily slipped under the fence, and began to demorph.
-
Rad found the street again. <<Thanks for riding Rad airlines. Remember to not leave me till my heart has come to a complete stop.>>
<<Rad don't think that way,>> she said looking over the people. She was about to take a host by force without checking to see if the new host had experiences that she didn't want to know about. It was making her sick to Rad's stomach because it reminded her of her days as a system lord. <<I can't do it, Rad. I can cure you if you have the time to heal you and regain your strength.>>
<<There is a chance it might not work,>> Rad said.
<<But I'm not giving up on the chance that it might,>> Ma'at took control of the body and opened up the basement cellar doors to the corner pub. <<He won't find you here.>> She closed and locked the door behind her.
-
Brian had gotten as far as he could from that alley. And fast. He had no idea how well his plan was going to work, and he did *not* want to be chased down by her. He'd crashed in a random office of some high-riser building, on the receptionist's couch. All that morphing had caught up to him... he was worn out.
**The Next Day**
It took a while for Brian to remember where he was. He got off the couch quickly, suddenly highly alert. The sleep had been good for him, but... he felt like he'd missed something because of it. He had no idea what time it was, either.
-
Ra'at stayed in the basement of the pub close to the water pipes. Rad was alive with Ma'at's help in healing. Neither of them had gotten as much sleep as they liked but they could continue with Brian without a fear of dying from the snake bite. She had kept her zat ready to shot anything at any point that night. This lead to a poor waiter getting stunned.
<<See you're alive all because I stayed,>> Ma'at said with a hint of arrogance.
<<I'll thank you later,>> Rad grumbled. She wasn't very good at thank yous and she didn't want to inflate Ma'at ego any more ant the moment because she might do something crazy like... hit on the target. <<Does he even know I'm alive?>>
<<He wasn't been taken home so he mustn't unless this is his home.>>
<<Why didn't he finish us off or make sure that we were dead?>>
<<He's dumb or we're lucky.>>
Rad sighed. <<He loss,>> she changed to other subjects. <<I wonder if this pub has good fish and chips I could use some breakfast.>>
-
Early-morning tiredness caught up to him as he hit the elevator. Brian exited on the bottom floor, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He scanned the lobby. No one he recognized. That reminds me.... He thinks. He steps back onto the elevator, and morphs with the doors closed. He went with the morph he'd just acquired yesterday, of the skinny, black-haired guy from the office. He then reentered the lobby, exited the building, and eventually wandered his way in to a restaurant of sorts. Ever scanning the faces around him, he picked up a menu after taking a seat at the bar. He jerked when the waitress offered to get him a Pepsi. Ew, no... "Just water will be fine..." Oh gah, what a weird voice....
((and yeah, I figure this is the same pub. :P Moves things along rather quickly that way. ))
-
<<Why did you order chips?>> Rad asked.
<<Its fish n' chips,>> Ma'at explained. <<Was I supposed to only eat only eat the fish? It's still a fried and no good for your stomach.>> She went and put a fry in Rad's mouth and chewed it.
<<But it's worth it for the fish.>>
-
Brian tugged at the tie around his neck. He *HATED* ties. If it wasn't maybe a matter of life and death, no way would he have ever considered wearing one. But he needed it, to complete the outfit he'd mugged off some guy. He thought he should feel bad for it, but these weren't really people. They were like 'extras' in the movies. Only sorta people, but not really.
He glanced casually about the room, with a sneer on his face as he grumbled about said tie. He did a double take when he spotted her. In the same restaurant. What were the chances?! He then resumed scanning the room, before turning back to the newspaper that had been sitting on the counter. He didn't ever read the newspaper. He normally avoided it. This was just not his day.
((:shrug:))
-
<<So how do we get lizard man here?>> Rad asked.
<<If he is smart he will know we aren't dead. He isn't like the other people here so I think he will be sent back to want ever planet he came from. When he isn't home he should come looking for us. I'll give him two days before we have to hunt him down. Can I please have tartar sauce?>>
Rad, who hated tartar sauce, rolled her eyes. <<Yeah you've kept me alive this long just don't put it on the chips.>>
<<Eww why would I do that?>> Ma'at said as she took some fish and dipped it in the sauce.
<<You hit on lizard people so why not?>>
Ma'at took an extra large tartar sauce helping for Rad to taste after that jab. <<After we are done eating we should we back to our hiding spot.>>
-
This was weird. No fight he'd ever been in had gone like this. This was almost ... convenient.... Of course he wouldn't have his Dracon, now of all times. Brian went back to what he was doing, for a short moment. He tried copying the same monotonous movement and emotionless expression as the sorta-people around them. He put his silverware back on his plate - discreetly tucking the steak knife into his right pocket - wiped his mouth, finished his glass of water, and pushed his chair back. He stood and walked to the door. His heart was beating slightly faster than normal. This wasn't scary or anything dumb like that, but there was still an adrenaline rush every time he was about to do something crazy. Which, as Jo would have vouched, was often. He headed for the door, but then turned slightly, as if he'd decided to use the restroom before leaving. As he got behind his opponent - well, as close as he could on his imaginary path - he grabbed the back of a wooden chair, spun it to the side, and swung it like a baseball bat... sort of... at her right shoulder. Hopefully, the split-second of noise hadn't alerted her enough to matter.
-
Tartar sauce smeared on Rad's cheek as she fell of the chair. <<I'm guessing he found us.>>
Ma'at reached for Rad's blade. <<No kidding.>> She rolled their body on to its back and pulled her feet close to her butt so she could get up quickly. She whipped Rad's sword. He was close enough that Rad could finish him off her way.
-
Oh yeah, she has a sword... Brian thought. That thought involuntarily verbalized itself as "ACK!", and Brian reacted by throwing the chair at her, but mostly at the sword-wielding hand, while jumping to the side and bending like he was playing dodgeball.
He was never much good at dodgeball.
He jumps back and pushes over a table between them, grabbing the other chair and wielding it like a horribly misshapen baseball bat. "Not often I get in a fist fight... kinda nice to mix it up every once in a while, y'know?" ...I sound strangely optimistic... how weird...
-
Rad was putting a careful plan in place. She had the advantage of knowing the battle ground better. She was forming a plan when...
"A fist fight would mean you are man enough to use your fists," Ma'at said sounding tough even though she was dizz and saw stars. "You put down the chair and I put down the sword."
<<You are insane.>>
-
Brian lowered the chair slightly, somewhat dumbstruck. "Seriously? What next, a battle of wits? No thanks, you might be Sicilian for all I know." he says, hoisting up his chair again, lifting it with both hands. Truth be told, it wasn't exactly light.... "And besides, I'm only human part-time." He began demorphing, trusting that he'd be able to maintain control of the situation, considering that he was only morphed as another human; the changes wouldn't be that sever. He kept a wary eye on the twisty gun thingie she had.
-
<<Fail,>> Rad chided. <<We're still on the floor and he didn't take the bait.>>
"Wit's would be unfair," Ma'at gloted. "I don't fight unarmed opponent." She staggered to her feet and weakly held her sword. while lancing to the basement door behind her.