(no subject)
WHO: Darth Vader, Wrath
WHERE: Amestris
WHEN: 5/9 + 5/10. Had to pause in the middle.
WHAT: Darth is on the hunt for Edward. He meets a ball of Wrath. He underestimates the homunculus.
WATCH FOR: Wrath getting dismembered, but still keeping up the fight.
It's been a few days since he parted with the Fullmetal Alchemist, sent him off to start gathering the Stone. And it's high time to check on the progress. He's not assuming that everything would be ready by now; he sensed enough defiance in Edward to know that the boy would probably delay as long as possible. Which is another reason the Sith has come to his plane of origin; to remind him just who it is he's working for.
Darth Vader stands at the apex of a hill overlooking a town. The road leading to it is some distance away, but not far enough that it's impossible for someone walking along it to catch sight of the black-armored figure in the distance. But he could care less whether or not he's sighted - right now, he's searching through the Force of the town, searching for that one particular signature that is the Fullmetal Alchemist.
Yesterday was a good day, and Wrath has the feeling that he'll like today too. He skips along the road out of town, hopping from shadow to shadow. The sunlight parts of the road are lava! Watch out! A little bag of crystals tucked inside his shirt, representing a mission accomplished, jingle with each hop. A bird suddenly bursts out of a bush as he passes it, and Wrath instinctively turns to track it, watching it soar up a hill and over a figure in black. A...familiar figure in black. The homunculus blinks, then begins walking slowly towards the hill, his game forgotten. It couldn't be...but it is. Vader! Wrath drops into a crouch and runs to a bush for cover, his eyes narrowing. Anger and fear push back and forth for a moment - he still burns with humiliation, but the man is...he's.../scary/. The homunculus growls at himself, then runs for another bush, slightly closer. If he can sneak up on him, he can take him. No running this time.
So many lives, so many threads weaving to create a brilliant tapestry...but none is that which he seeks. Behind the mask, Vader's eyes narrow. Has Edward succumbed to fear and fled? Was his 'encouragement' not strong enough to convince the boy to continue? No, he'll do it. Vader knows this. But he still needs to check up on the progress...he wants that damned Stone!
Frustrated, Vader turns and begins to walk away from the town. There are still more that his prey could be in.
Wrath sees his chance as Vader turns his back on the town - and the homunculus. He casts around quickly for some good material, but sees only rocks, earth, and plantlife, and not the random chunk of steel he'd been hoping for. Oh well, work with what you got. He scoops up a stone and dashes for the black armor, transmuting the stone into an arm-spike as he runs. Surely that "knowing what you're doing before you do it" think Junior mentioned only works if he can see you...right?
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Stone vs. Space Age Materials, Round 2 attack.
You take 11 damage.
When one is focused on the Unifying Force, they can become deaf to the warnings of the Living Force. Which appears to be the case here; Vader hears it too late, and is only beginning to turn to face it when he's smacked by the arm-spike. A single step back is all that he shows in terms of pain or damage; and the next moment, the red blade of his lightsaber is out to slice off the offending appendage.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Saber'd! attack.
Wrath shrieks and hops back as the bulk of the spike and a chunk of his hand are forcibly removed. The sword! The freaking sword! "Damn it! When I kick your ass I am taking that thing!" He hops back a few more times, trying to put some distance between himself and the evil, /painful/ humming thing, then draws his left arm back, as if to throw a baseball. As the arm shoots forward it stretches out, swiftly covering the distance between them, and lashes at Vader like a whip.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Stay Back, Says the Lion Tamer attack.
You take 21 damage.
Now getting his first good look at his assailant, Vader actually smirks. He didn't expect the strange youth from before to return, but it appears he'll be a good way of taking out some of his anger. How nice for him to offer himself up! And he's even putting up a fight with some moves Vader can hardly expect; he holds up an arm, intentionally letting it get lashed so he can make a quick grip to grab the 'whip'...and roughly pull on it, attempting to slam Wrath into the ground.
You critically strike Wrath with your Tug o' War! Or not. attack.
Wrath is yanked off his feet and pulled face-first into a half-buried boulder, his instinctive retraction of the arm adding force to Vader's pull. He groans, dazed for a moment, before rolling back to his feet with a snarl. That was /embarrassing/, especially given that it hurt so much! Without really thinking about it, Wrath sticks the stump of his right hand spike on the boulder, rebuilding it, and charges at Vader again. It's only when he's already swinging that he realizes what he's done. "Oh shi--"
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his You're Going to Saber Me Again, Aren't You! attack.
You take 13 damage.
Vader purposefully begins to make his way over to Wrath, the lightsaber held in a loose grip but one that's easily ready to move into an attacking or defending position. Still, tactics have to be adapted; he's not facing off someone with another lightsaber, or even a blaster. Everything Wrath throws at him, he's able to slice through, but that doesn't stop the fact that it still has momentum against him. Which sort of damages the armor.
And indeed, Wrath is now in trouble. For even as the boulder strikes him on the armored shoulder with a loud *KLANG*, Vader's in the middle of a turn to step into Wrath's range, and not slice but stab him through the gut.
You hit Wrath with your Shishkabob! attack.
Wrath gasps, his eyes wide with shock, too surprised to scream properly. Trembling, he glances down at the burning light piercing his belly. Anything he does will only make it worse; what can he--? The homunculus shudders, coughing up blood onto the shiny black armor, and instinctively reaches toward Vader to support himself. When his hands make contact with the Sith Lord's armor, however, his panicked blankness suddenly clears, replaced by fierce inspiration. He has no idea what this armor is, what it's made of. But thanks to his time in the Gate, his alchemy is pure instinct. He doesn't need to /know/ what it is to understand it. Blue light crackles around the homunculus's hands. The stone slides off his right hand, revealing a fingerless hand that, thanks to his constant transmutations, has yet to regenerate. But it's quickly covered by the smooth, shiny blackness of Darth Vader's armor. Glancing up at Vader's face, Wrath grins briefly before stabbing at the now weakened spots of armor with two black spikes.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Space Age Materials Are Mine! attack.
You take 21 damage.
An evil grin, although outwardly nothing shows Vader's dark pleasure at the stricken look on Wrath's face. Not even his breathing changes pace, the slow, mechanically-regulated intake and outtake of breath remaining as steady as ever. Vader even allows him to touch his armor, preparing to slash upwards and through the boy, all but cleaving him in two. But something makes him pause, and he looks down at the durasteel plating that covers his upper torso. As it...changes, melding onto the boy.
And then he stabs him. He /stabs through the armor/. Luckily, not by much; not enough to cleave through to the actual fragile body underneath, but enough to cause thin trails of dark fluid to ooze out of the holes. Vader emits a noise that could be a snarl, his hatred and rage rising to the point of being near-tangible, and a sudden wave of Force blasts out from him. The result, if Wrath isn't prepared for it? Feeling like a train just collided into him.
You miss Wrath with your Vader ANGRY! attack.
Wrath's grin widens at the sound of Vader's rage. Yes. /That/ got him. But unfortunately, Vader's still got him. Wrath swiftly, though reluctantly, drops the chunk of durasteel off of his left hand and reaches for the hilt of the lightsaber. He gets his hand around it and begins to hop back just as the Force blow hits. The invisible shove only serves to help the homunculus rip the lightsaber out of the Sith Lord's fingers and add momentum to his leap. Wrath lands several feet away, staggering, but largely managing to keep the lightsaber still sticking out of his torso from making things worse. He's still not sure how to get it the hell out of him, but at least Vader can't dice him up with it. Probably. Panting, he throws a kick at the armored figure - a stretchy kick, just like his arm before. Just stay over there while I figure this out!
Wrath switches armor modes to Elongated Body.
The thing is, anger, hatred, and rage are tools of the Sith. They thrive on such emotions, honing them into powerful weapons and using them with deadly finesse. And Wrath taking away his lightsaber only serves to heighten Vader's fury. He takes a step to the side, dodging the stretchy kick, then throws out a hand, calling his lightsaber back to it.
You hit Wrath with your Unimpalement...or something attack.
Wrath doubles over, coughing up another spray of blood in the wake of the violent unimpalement. "Not...what I had in mind," he wheezes, straightening up. You can practically see the light shining through the now even wider hole in his belly; it's certainly a good thing lightsabers cauterize, or he'd be gushing all over the place. He licks the blood off his lips, then grits his teeth. No running. This will heal. The homunculus passes his hand over the durasteel on his right arm, converting the spike into a blade, then charges in again with a wild swing. Maybe this stuff can block that glowing sword.
Wrath switches armor modes to Sharpened Body.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Does Durasteel Make A Good Edge? attack.
You take 25 damage.
Vader flexes his wrist as the lightsaber returns to its rightful place in his grip, and moves to block the durasteel blade that Wrath has created. It appears that it does, indeed, create a good edge, as it slices through the material on his arm. A deep gash is created, revealing sparking wires and circuits, but Vader doesn't let this slow him. He takes a single step back and throws out a hand, another blast of Force slamming towards Wrath.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Force Strike attack.
...after which, the hand gesture changes into a beckoning one.
Bring it.
Wrath goes flying and lands on his back, skidding a bit and getting dirt all up in his open chest wound. Augh. Despite the mounting pain, he smirks as he rises, pleased by the damage done by his new blade. He hesitates for a moment, wanting to give his regeneration some time to work - but then Vader beckons. Wrath responds to the taunt with a snarl and strides towards the Sith Lord. Just before he gets in range of the lightsaber he leaps, raising the blade overhead and attempting to bring it down on Vader's head.
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Brought attack.
You take 6 damage.
Wrath's pilfered piece of durasteel is getting to be annoying; even though Vader manages to sidestep, the blade slashes his arm again though nowhere near as deep as it did before. Still, his lightsaber moves to once more seperate Wrath from his weapon; although this is aimed pretty close to his shoulder. Apparently, Vader means to take the whole arm, not just the stolen material, this time.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Mine! attack.
Wrath jerks back from the lightsaber's slash, but it's too little, too late; though he manages to avoid losing the arm entirely, there's nothing he can do to stop the glowing blade from removing his right hand, just above the wrist. And he'd just regenerated those fingers, too! Wrath shrieks, yanking his arm to his chest protectively, but the pained sound quickly becomes a shout of rage. The homunculus stomps on his own fallen hand and its durasteel blade, blue light flashing as the shiny black material flows around his foot. The moment the transmutation is finished, Wrath lashes out at Vader with a round house kick, aiming to slash at him with the long, bladed toe of his new durasteel shoe.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his High Fashion Footwear attack.
The anger and rage he felt earlier is turning into annoyance. When will this pest of a boy realize that he's far outclassed? To be sure, he's putting up a good fight, and scored a few hits that will require time to repair; but that's not the point.
The point is, Vader has better things to do. It's time to end this. He raises his left hand again, fingers angled like some sort of claw as he commands the Force to do likewise around Wrath's neck, to raise him off the ground as his ability to breath is severely hampered.
Wrath dangles in the air, clawing at his throat desperately. Of course, there's nothing there, which only makes him claw all the harder in panic, tearing thin stips of red into the pale skin. Tears forming at the corners of his eyes, he suddenly starts to flail, kicking and twisting frantically in the air. In the midst of it all, Wrath stretches his right let out to bat at Vader, without much aim and with little real force in a last-ditch effort to somehow get free.
Wrath switches armor modes to Elongated Body.
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Air! Pleeeease! jab.
You take 11 damage.
Slowly, the invisible grip tightens, crushing Wrath's throat. Darth Vader takes perverse satisfaction in watching his struggles. All too easy. It would be also easy to ignore the flailing, to ignore the jab and continue crushing the boy's throat, but apparently he still has some spirit left in him. Time to introduce him to another level of pain.
While the grip arond his throat slackens, Wrath is still held in midair; this time, the crushing Force is all around him, as if to the very life from his body.
You miss Wrath with your Squeeeeeeeeze. attack.
Wrath begins gasping for breath the moment it becomes possible, his eyes widening in surprise. He stopped? Why would he--? And then the pressure begins closing in all around him. "No!" This is a stupid way to be beaten! Stupid! He can't let it happen! The durasteel shoe encasing his left foot begins to spark and flow up his body, covering his already battered torso and throat and becoming a part of his skin. Though still in serious discomfort, the stuff is sturdy enough to save his precious internal organs. A small portion of the durasteel runs down his arm and into his one remaining hand, forming a small needle. With a flick of the wrist - about all he can manage right now - Wrath sends it flying at the Sith Lord, hoping to at least break his concentration.
Wrath switches armor modes to Hardened Body.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Needle In Your Eye! jab.
You take 20 damage.
This is becoming very, very annoying. Very much so. Why won't this insignifigant pest simply roll over and die? Vader begins to further tighten the Forcegrip, so intent on /ending/ this boy that he hardly registers the incoming needle until it's too late to dodge. It actually pierces one of the eye lenses, but is stopped there...less than a milimeter from his /real/ eye.
The grip is released, and for a moment, Vader does nothing. Then he pulls out the needle, flicks it away from him, then takes his lightsaber in a powerful, two-handed grip. Raising it over his head, his vocalizer emits an unintelligable scream of rage as he leap-slashes for Wrath.
You miss Wrath with your DIE plzkthxbai. attack.
Wrath drops to the ground hard, quite surprised that it actually worked. For a moment he's tempted to simply take a moment to appreciate being able to move again, but as the angry Sith leaps in screaming he realizes that now is a good time to exercise his newly regained freedom. Wrath dives out of the way of the lightsaber at the last moment, his eyes wide with panic. But there's no time to think, no time to think! He's angry, that's good! Sign of hope! /Go get 'im!/ The homunculus scrambles to his feet and swings a punch at Vader.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Sore Knuckles attack.
You take 15 damage.
Like some sort of beast, Vader doesn't remain in the landing position for long; immediatly he's up, and pressing the fight on Wrath. His lightsaber moves almost in its own accord, somewhat slow but that doesn't make it any less lethal. A diagonal slash, a horizontal, another diagonal; a flurry of slices that are normally meant to combat another lightsaber, but without a way to block...unless Wrath can somehow avoid the deadly read blade, he's in trouble.
You miss Wrath with your Lightsaber Assault super.
Wrath jumps back, shaking his left hand in the wake of the punch - and then yelps as the lightsaber comes within an inch of taking his head and right shoulder for a stroll several feet from the rest of his body. He scrambles back, ducking and weaving in a panic that some how works. Eventually, a horizontal slash drops him onto his back in his frantic effort to avoid it. A completely exposed position, of course, and if Vader keeps going like this Wrath knows he's going to end up dead. For a while, at least. In desperation, he pulls both legs up to his chest and kicks out at Vader, hoping to drive him back enough to give the homunculus room to find his feet.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Donkey Kick attack.
Perhaps the fact that Wrath is able to dodge all of the attacks should give Vader pause. Is the Force not with him, today? Has it abandoned him? Impossible; he controls the Force, it is his servant. But even this notion isn't entertained, all that is is the thought of finishing this fight in the most painful way possible for the boy. And even as he's kicked at, the lightsaber slashes; attempting to remove the legs from his body, since Wrath offered them so nicely.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Donkey Kick attack.
You critically strike Wrath with your Delegger attack.
Wrath fails to find his feet, largely because they are now /five feet away/. The homunculus howls in shock and pain, thrashing on the ground. He quickly begins to froth, however, as panic and pain become disbelief and then rage. "Damn it! Damn /you/!" Though his feet may be gone, the homunculus still has his knees, and since the kid is like a monkey, this actually leaves him something to work with. He swiftly rolls to his hands and knees, then pushes off with a front handspring, planning nothing more elegant than to bodyslam the Sith Lord while in mid-air.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Limbless Gymnastics attack.
Dark amusement. It appears he's not the only one angry, although he's acting like he should and warping his anger into a weapon, rather than allow it to override himself like he did moments ago. That was why Wrath was able to dodge - the only reason. But it won't happen again. Vader steps backward, the form of Wrath flying through the air before him. An almost lazy slash of the lightsaber, not meant to take off both arms, but just one. Let's see how many pieces of Wrath we can make!
You miss Wrath with your Disarmament attack.
Wrath somehow manages to twist in midair to avoid the lost of another precious limb, but he's far too angry to celebrate this tiny triumph. No, he won't be happy until this black armored bastard is on the ground. Still snarling and frothing incoherently, he hits the ground awkwardly, but swiftly manages to roll up onto his good hand. In a move somewhere between a handstand/roundhouse kick and break-dancing, he bends his arm to stabilize himself and swings his lower body at Vader, trying to knock him down. Then he'll be on his level! Ha!
Wrath critically strikes Darth Vader with his The Most Awkward Melee Ever attack.
You take 22 damage.
The surge of triumph dissapears as Vader's legs are smacked into with enough power to cause him to stumble. He manages to keep from falling onto his face, instead a kneeling position. Now holding the lightsaber in one hand, he thrusts both his arms forwards as if to push Wrath away from him. Although the Force behind it is anything but a little shove.
You critically strike Wrath with your GO AWAY. attack.
Wrath goes away; he goes far, far away. The Force blast shoves him several yards away a high speed. He would have gone farther, but for the large tree which helpfully dissipated his inertia, though it got nothing but a shattered trunk for its trouble. Wrath is momentarily dazed, but not enough to lose sight of his target. Black figure...has got to die. But he's too far away...he could never handwalk - or, rather, handhop back to him fast enough to get an attack in. Wrath grits his teeth, then puts his good hand to his chest, drawing all of the durasteel out of and off of his skin. As he draws his hand away, he shapes the metal into a spear, and then, pushing himself to his knees, lets it fly.
Wrath switches armor modes to Homunculus Body.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Shiny Black Javelin attack.
Slowly, Vader gets to his feet. He glances at his arm, the one that Wrath sliced through earlier, and moves it a little - sparks fly from the gash. A hidden frown. Then he looks towards Wrath to see the result, just in time to catch him rearing back to throw the javelin. And at first, Vader does nothing, waits, and watches...then, at /just/ the right time, reaches up and catches the polearm an inch from colliding with his chest control panel. That would have been bad.
But Vader doesn't keep it. It appears that the young boy wants it so much...well, then...he can /have/ it.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Keep it attack.
Wrath leans away from the incoming spear as best he can. Unfortunately, that's not very well; not if he wants to stay upright. He gasps at the bite of the durasteel as it grazes his ribs and then thuds into the stump of the tree. While having it back and not being dead is a great and wonderful thing, Wrath sees it as a vote of no confidence; does this Vader /still/ think he's no threat? Snarling, the homunculus passes his hand over the spear again and again, drawing a smaller spike off of it each time and hurling them at the Sith Lord.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Almost Like Ninja! attack.
It's not that Vader thinks he's no threat. It's more along the lines that he's a threat that Vader wants destroyed in any way, shape, or form possible, and if it involves playing catch...well, whatever works. The spike impacts against Vader's shoulder armor - a piece that wasn't drawn from the transmutation - and is deflected. Vader seems a bit distracted, making a hand gesture as if he's holding something...
Remember that tree that Wrath snapped in two? The upper half is now off the ground, and primed to crush the homunculus.
You miss Wrath with your Go hug a tree. attack.
Wrath sees the shadow of the trunk sweep over him just in time to dive to the side, very narrowly avoiding being crushed. Pushing himself up on his right elbow, the homunculus snarls at Vader and slaps his left hand onto the side of the trunk. Blue sparks fly and the width of the trunk shrinks as the bulk of its mass is shoved forward, extending towards the Sith Lord with a nice little point on its end.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Extend-o-Tree Go! attack.
You take 19 damage.
You have been knocked out!
He thought that would end him. He did not believe that he could dodge that in his condition, much less turn it into a counterattack. Vader gapes perhaps a moment too long, and the tree collides with his chest - smashing into the control panel and destroying it, along with sending the Sith Lord sprawling. His form spasms, and for the first time as long as he can remember, he /can't breathe/.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the unstoppable intake and outtake of breath has been stopped! Vader lies on the ground, no longer twitching, apparently finished - but wait! There's movement! His arm is slowly inching towards one of the control boxes on his waist.
Wrath's snarl slowly fades into a look of amazement. Did he...is he really? He keeps a hand on the tree just in case, but for the moment, the homunculus just takes a moment to sit back and absorb the fact that he may have just beaten the second thing he has ever really feared. A grin slowly works its way across his face. "How do you like that?!" he shouts breathlessly. "Huh?!" In the meantime, now that there's a quiet moment, white sparks dance across the stump of his right arm as his hand begins to take shape.
Vader hears Wrath's words as if from a distance, as he's more focused on restoring power to his respitory systems. The strike to the control panel shortened them out, but thankfully, there are measures in place to keep him alive. A panel on one of the boxes is opened, and a few keys are pressed in order - and once more, the regular breathing takes place. But that doesn't begin to ebb the hatred he's feeling.
Damn this suit! Damn this weakness! And damn that kung over there! Although the question is...what happens now?
That's a good question. Now in possession of two fully functional hands, Wrath hoists himself up onto the tree/spike and cautiously handwalks along it toward the fallen Sith Lord. Caution is telling him to wait until he has legs, but at least with his hands on the tree he'll have a ready weapon if Vader's just playing possum. If he's not, but is not yet dead, then Wrath will delight in severing his head from his body. The homunculus grins savagely as he draws near.
Now that he can actually think about something other than trying to breathe, Vader cranes his neck so that he can see the one who took him down. In the back of his mind, he's impressed, but mostly he's furious. But anger is little comfort when you can tell that the other has death on the mind.
And Vader isn't ready to die. Not yet, when he's so close to being reborn.
For a few moments, Vader simply watches Wrath approach; then he moves, grabbing the log with both hands and shoving it off of him, at the same time starting to get to his feet.
Wrath yelps, tumbling off the suddenly moving treespike, which promptly rolls over his hand and arm, crushing freshly formed fingers and thonking into his head. What the...Wrath looks up, his eyes widening as he realizes what's going on. He's moving! He's /moving/! "No!" Wrath yanks his hand out from under the log and pushes himself back up on his hands. "No, damn you! I want your head! I want your /head/!"
Sparking from the wounds to his armor, the mechanical monstrocity that is Darth Vader gets to his feet and looks towards Wrath. It's not hard to imagine that he's glaring behind his helmet, and with what's visible through that one shattered eyepiece, it looks like that imagination is a reality. And then, he speaks, his first intelligable phrase since this battle started:
"You're not the only one."
With that, and calling his deactivated lightsaber to his hand, Vader promptly makes himself scarce. Running? Perish the thought! He's...going to get himself fixed. Yea. SHUT UP.
Wrath chases after Vader for a moment, but given the fact that he's exhausted, injured, and handwalking with a limp, it's no surprise that he can't keep up. Eventually he flops over with a grunt, looking at the sky. After a moment, while white sparkles rebuild his legs, the homunculus begins to laugh.
WHERE: Amestris
WHEN: 5/9 + 5/10. Had to pause in the middle.
WHAT: Darth is on the hunt for Edward. He meets a ball of Wrath. He underestimates the homunculus.
WATCH FOR: Wrath getting dismembered, but still keeping up the fight.
It's been a few days since he parted with the Fullmetal Alchemist, sent him off to start gathering the Stone. And it's high time to check on the progress. He's not assuming that everything would be ready by now; he sensed enough defiance in Edward to know that the boy would probably delay as long as possible. Which is another reason the Sith has come to his plane of origin; to remind him just who it is he's working for.
Darth Vader stands at the apex of a hill overlooking a town. The road leading to it is some distance away, but not far enough that it's impossible for someone walking along it to catch sight of the black-armored figure in the distance. But he could care less whether or not he's sighted - right now, he's searching through the Force of the town, searching for that one particular signature that is the Fullmetal Alchemist.
Yesterday was a good day, and Wrath has the feeling that he'll like today too. He skips along the road out of town, hopping from shadow to shadow. The sunlight parts of the road are lava! Watch out! A little bag of crystals tucked inside his shirt, representing a mission accomplished, jingle with each hop. A bird suddenly bursts out of a bush as he passes it, and Wrath instinctively turns to track it, watching it soar up a hill and over a figure in black. A...familiar figure in black. The homunculus blinks, then begins walking slowly towards the hill, his game forgotten. It couldn't be...but it is. Vader! Wrath drops into a crouch and runs to a bush for cover, his eyes narrowing. Anger and fear push back and forth for a moment - he still burns with humiliation, but the man is...he's.../scary/. The homunculus growls at himself, then runs for another bush, slightly closer. If he can sneak up on him, he can take him. No running this time.
So many lives, so many threads weaving to create a brilliant tapestry...but none is that which he seeks. Behind the mask, Vader's eyes narrow. Has Edward succumbed to fear and fled? Was his 'encouragement' not strong enough to convince the boy to continue? No, he'll do it. Vader knows this. But he still needs to check up on the progress...he wants that damned Stone!
Frustrated, Vader turns and begins to walk away from the town. There are still more that his prey could be in.
Wrath sees his chance as Vader turns his back on the town - and the homunculus. He casts around quickly for some good material, but sees only rocks, earth, and plantlife, and not the random chunk of steel he'd been hoping for. Oh well, work with what you got. He scoops up a stone and dashes for the black armor, transmuting the stone into an arm-spike as he runs. Surely that "knowing what you're doing before you do it" think Junior mentioned only works if he can see you...right?
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Stone vs. Space Age Materials, Round 2 attack.
You take 11 damage.
When one is focused on the Unifying Force, they can become deaf to the warnings of the Living Force. Which appears to be the case here; Vader hears it too late, and is only beginning to turn to face it when he's smacked by the arm-spike. A single step back is all that he shows in terms of pain or damage; and the next moment, the red blade of his lightsaber is out to slice off the offending appendage.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Saber'd! attack.
Wrath shrieks and hops back as the bulk of the spike and a chunk of his hand are forcibly removed. The sword! The freaking sword! "Damn it! When I kick your ass I am taking that thing!" He hops back a few more times, trying to put some distance between himself and the evil, /painful/ humming thing, then draws his left arm back, as if to throw a baseball. As the arm shoots forward it stretches out, swiftly covering the distance between them, and lashes at Vader like a whip.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Stay Back, Says the Lion Tamer attack.
You take 21 damage.
Now getting his first good look at his assailant, Vader actually smirks. He didn't expect the strange youth from before to return, but it appears he'll be a good way of taking out some of his anger. How nice for him to offer himself up! And he's even putting up a fight with some moves Vader can hardly expect; he holds up an arm, intentionally letting it get lashed so he can make a quick grip to grab the 'whip'...and roughly pull on it, attempting to slam Wrath into the ground.
You critically strike Wrath with your Tug o' War! Or not. attack.
Wrath is yanked off his feet and pulled face-first into a half-buried boulder, his instinctive retraction of the arm adding force to Vader's pull. He groans, dazed for a moment, before rolling back to his feet with a snarl. That was /embarrassing/, especially given that it hurt so much! Without really thinking about it, Wrath sticks the stump of his right hand spike on the boulder, rebuilding it, and charges at Vader again. It's only when he's already swinging that he realizes what he's done. "Oh shi--"
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his You're Going to Saber Me Again, Aren't You! attack.
You take 13 damage.
Vader purposefully begins to make his way over to Wrath, the lightsaber held in a loose grip but one that's easily ready to move into an attacking or defending position. Still, tactics have to be adapted; he's not facing off someone with another lightsaber, or even a blaster. Everything Wrath throws at him, he's able to slice through, but that doesn't stop the fact that it still has momentum against him. Which sort of damages the armor.
And indeed, Wrath is now in trouble. For even as the boulder strikes him on the armored shoulder with a loud *KLANG*, Vader's in the middle of a turn to step into Wrath's range, and not slice but stab him through the gut.
You hit Wrath with your Shishkabob! attack.
Wrath gasps, his eyes wide with shock, too surprised to scream properly. Trembling, he glances down at the burning light piercing his belly. Anything he does will only make it worse; what can he--? The homunculus shudders, coughing up blood onto the shiny black armor, and instinctively reaches toward Vader to support himself. When his hands make contact with the Sith Lord's armor, however, his panicked blankness suddenly clears, replaced by fierce inspiration. He has no idea what this armor is, what it's made of. But thanks to his time in the Gate, his alchemy is pure instinct. He doesn't need to /know/ what it is to understand it. Blue light crackles around the homunculus's hands. The stone slides off his right hand, revealing a fingerless hand that, thanks to his constant transmutations, has yet to regenerate. But it's quickly covered by the smooth, shiny blackness of Darth Vader's armor. Glancing up at Vader's face, Wrath grins briefly before stabbing at the now weakened spots of armor with two black spikes.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Space Age Materials Are Mine! attack.
You take 21 damage.
An evil grin, although outwardly nothing shows Vader's dark pleasure at the stricken look on Wrath's face. Not even his breathing changes pace, the slow, mechanically-regulated intake and outtake of breath remaining as steady as ever. Vader even allows him to touch his armor, preparing to slash upwards and through the boy, all but cleaving him in two. But something makes him pause, and he looks down at the durasteel plating that covers his upper torso. As it...changes, melding onto the boy.
And then he stabs him. He /stabs through the armor/. Luckily, not by much; not enough to cleave through to the actual fragile body underneath, but enough to cause thin trails of dark fluid to ooze out of the holes. Vader emits a noise that could be a snarl, his hatred and rage rising to the point of being near-tangible, and a sudden wave of Force blasts out from him. The result, if Wrath isn't prepared for it? Feeling like a train just collided into him.
You miss Wrath with your Vader ANGRY! attack.
Wrath's grin widens at the sound of Vader's rage. Yes. /That/ got him. But unfortunately, Vader's still got him. Wrath swiftly, though reluctantly, drops the chunk of durasteel off of his left hand and reaches for the hilt of the lightsaber. He gets his hand around it and begins to hop back just as the Force blow hits. The invisible shove only serves to help the homunculus rip the lightsaber out of the Sith Lord's fingers and add momentum to his leap. Wrath lands several feet away, staggering, but largely managing to keep the lightsaber still sticking out of his torso from making things worse. He's still not sure how to get it the hell out of him, but at least Vader can't dice him up with it. Probably. Panting, he throws a kick at the armored figure - a stretchy kick, just like his arm before. Just stay over there while I figure this out!
Wrath switches armor modes to Elongated Body.
The thing is, anger, hatred, and rage are tools of the Sith. They thrive on such emotions, honing them into powerful weapons and using them with deadly finesse. And Wrath taking away his lightsaber only serves to heighten Vader's fury. He takes a step to the side, dodging the stretchy kick, then throws out a hand, calling his lightsaber back to it.
You hit Wrath with your Unimpalement...or something attack.
Wrath doubles over, coughing up another spray of blood in the wake of the violent unimpalement. "Not...what I had in mind," he wheezes, straightening up. You can practically see the light shining through the now even wider hole in his belly; it's certainly a good thing lightsabers cauterize, or he'd be gushing all over the place. He licks the blood off his lips, then grits his teeth. No running. This will heal. The homunculus passes his hand over the durasteel on his right arm, converting the spike into a blade, then charges in again with a wild swing. Maybe this stuff can block that glowing sword.
Wrath switches armor modes to Sharpened Body.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Does Durasteel Make A Good Edge? attack.
You take 25 damage.
Vader flexes his wrist as the lightsaber returns to its rightful place in his grip, and moves to block the durasteel blade that Wrath has created. It appears that it does, indeed, create a good edge, as it slices through the material on his arm. A deep gash is created, revealing sparking wires and circuits, but Vader doesn't let this slow him. He takes a single step back and throws out a hand, another blast of Force slamming towards Wrath.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Force Strike attack.
...after which, the hand gesture changes into a beckoning one.
Bring it.
Wrath goes flying and lands on his back, skidding a bit and getting dirt all up in his open chest wound. Augh. Despite the mounting pain, he smirks as he rises, pleased by the damage done by his new blade. He hesitates for a moment, wanting to give his regeneration some time to work - but then Vader beckons. Wrath responds to the taunt with a snarl and strides towards the Sith Lord. Just before he gets in range of the lightsaber he leaps, raising the blade overhead and attempting to bring it down on Vader's head.
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Brought attack.
You take 6 damage.
Wrath's pilfered piece of durasteel is getting to be annoying; even though Vader manages to sidestep, the blade slashes his arm again though nowhere near as deep as it did before. Still, his lightsaber moves to once more seperate Wrath from his weapon; although this is aimed pretty close to his shoulder. Apparently, Vader means to take the whole arm, not just the stolen material, this time.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Mine! attack.
Wrath jerks back from the lightsaber's slash, but it's too little, too late; though he manages to avoid losing the arm entirely, there's nothing he can do to stop the glowing blade from removing his right hand, just above the wrist. And he'd just regenerated those fingers, too! Wrath shrieks, yanking his arm to his chest protectively, but the pained sound quickly becomes a shout of rage. The homunculus stomps on his own fallen hand and its durasteel blade, blue light flashing as the shiny black material flows around his foot. The moment the transmutation is finished, Wrath lashes out at Vader with a round house kick, aiming to slash at him with the long, bladed toe of his new durasteel shoe.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his High Fashion Footwear attack.
The anger and rage he felt earlier is turning into annoyance. When will this pest of a boy realize that he's far outclassed? To be sure, he's putting up a good fight, and scored a few hits that will require time to repair; but that's not the point.
The point is, Vader has better things to do. It's time to end this. He raises his left hand again, fingers angled like some sort of claw as he commands the Force to do likewise around Wrath's neck, to raise him off the ground as his ability to breath is severely hampered.
Wrath dangles in the air, clawing at his throat desperately. Of course, there's nothing there, which only makes him claw all the harder in panic, tearing thin stips of red into the pale skin. Tears forming at the corners of his eyes, he suddenly starts to flail, kicking and twisting frantically in the air. In the midst of it all, Wrath stretches his right let out to bat at Vader, without much aim and with little real force in a last-ditch effort to somehow get free.
Wrath switches armor modes to Elongated Body.
Wrath gets a glancing blow on Darth Vader with his Air! Pleeeease! jab.
You take 11 damage.
Slowly, the invisible grip tightens, crushing Wrath's throat. Darth Vader takes perverse satisfaction in watching his struggles. All too easy. It would be also easy to ignore the flailing, to ignore the jab and continue crushing the boy's throat, but apparently he still has some spirit left in him. Time to introduce him to another level of pain.
While the grip arond his throat slackens, Wrath is still held in midair; this time, the crushing Force is all around him, as if to the very life from his body.
You miss Wrath with your Squeeeeeeeeze. attack.
Wrath begins gasping for breath the moment it becomes possible, his eyes widening in surprise. He stopped? Why would he--? And then the pressure begins closing in all around him. "No!" This is a stupid way to be beaten! Stupid! He can't let it happen! The durasteel shoe encasing his left foot begins to spark and flow up his body, covering his already battered torso and throat and becoming a part of his skin. Though still in serious discomfort, the stuff is sturdy enough to save his precious internal organs. A small portion of the durasteel runs down his arm and into his one remaining hand, forming a small needle. With a flick of the wrist - about all he can manage right now - Wrath sends it flying at the Sith Lord, hoping to at least break his concentration.
Wrath switches armor modes to Hardened Body.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Needle In Your Eye! jab.
You take 20 damage.
This is becoming very, very annoying. Very much so. Why won't this insignifigant pest simply roll over and die? Vader begins to further tighten the Forcegrip, so intent on /ending/ this boy that he hardly registers the incoming needle until it's too late to dodge. It actually pierces one of the eye lenses, but is stopped there...less than a milimeter from his /real/ eye.
The grip is released, and for a moment, Vader does nothing. Then he pulls out the needle, flicks it away from him, then takes his lightsaber in a powerful, two-handed grip. Raising it over his head, his vocalizer emits an unintelligable scream of rage as he leap-slashes for Wrath.
You miss Wrath with your DIE plzkthxbai. attack.
Wrath drops to the ground hard, quite surprised that it actually worked. For a moment he's tempted to simply take a moment to appreciate being able to move again, but as the angry Sith leaps in screaming he realizes that now is a good time to exercise his newly regained freedom. Wrath dives out of the way of the lightsaber at the last moment, his eyes wide with panic. But there's no time to think, no time to think! He's angry, that's good! Sign of hope! /Go get 'im!/ The homunculus scrambles to his feet and swings a punch at Vader.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Sore Knuckles attack.
You take 15 damage.
Like some sort of beast, Vader doesn't remain in the landing position for long; immediatly he's up, and pressing the fight on Wrath. His lightsaber moves almost in its own accord, somewhat slow but that doesn't make it any less lethal. A diagonal slash, a horizontal, another diagonal; a flurry of slices that are normally meant to combat another lightsaber, but without a way to block...unless Wrath can somehow avoid the deadly read blade, he's in trouble.
You miss Wrath with your Lightsaber Assault super.
Wrath jumps back, shaking his left hand in the wake of the punch - and then yelps as the lightsaber comes within an inch of taking his head and right shoulder for a stroll several feet from the rest of his body. He scrambles back, ducking and weaving in a panic that some how works. Eventually, a horizontal slash drops him onto his back in his frantic effort to avoid it. A completely exposed position, of course, and if Vader keeps going like this Wrath knows he's going to end up dead. For a while, at least. In desperation, he pulls both legs up to his chest and kicks out at Vader, hoping to drive him back enough to give the homunculus room to find his feet.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Donkey Kick attack.
Perhaps the fact that Wrath is able to dodge all of the attacks should give Vader pause. Is the Force not with him, today? Has it abandoned him? Impossible; he controls the Force, it is his servant. But even this notion isn't entertained, all that is is the thought of finishing this fight in the most painful way possible for the boy. And even as he's kicked at, the lightsaber slashes; attempting to remove the legs from his body, since Wrath offered them so nicely.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Donkey Kick attack.
You critically strike Wrath with your Delegger attack.
Wrath fails to find his feet, largely because they are now /five feet away/. The homunculus howls in shock and pain, thrashing on the ground. He quickly begins to froth, however, as panic and pain become disbelief and then rage. "Damn it! Damn /you/!" Though his feet may be gone, the homunculus still has his knees, and since the kid is like a monkey, this actually leaves him something to work with. He swiftly rolls to his hands and knees, then pushes off with a front handspring, planning nothing more elegant than to bodyslam the Sith Lord while in mid-air.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Limbless Gymnastics attack.
Dark amusement. It appears he's not the only one angry, although he's acting like he should and warping his anger into a weapon, rather than allow it to override himself like he did moments ago. That was why Wrath was able to dodge - the only reason. But it won't happen again. Vader steps backward, the form of Wrath flying through the air before him. An almost lazy slash of the lightsaber, not meant to take off both arms, but just one. Let's see how many pieces of Wrath we can make!
You miss Wrath with your Disarmament attack.
Wrath somehow manages to twist in midair to avoid the lost of another precious limb, but he's far too angry to celebrate this tiny triumph. No, he won't be happy until this black armored bastard is on the ground. Still snarling and frothing incoherently, he hits the ground awkwardly, but swiftly manages to roll up onto his good hand. In a move somewhere between a handstand/roundhouse kick and break-dancing, he bends his arm to stabilize himself and swings his lower body at Vader, trying to knock him down. Then he'll be on his level! Ha!
Wrath critically strikes Darth Vader with his The Most Awkward Melee Ever attack.
You take 22 damage.
The surge of triumph dissapears as Vader's legs are smacked into with enough power to cause him to stumble. He manages to keep from falling onto his face, instead a kneeling position. Now holding the lightsaber in one hand, he thrusts both his arms forwards as if to push Wrath away from him. Although the Force behind it is anything but a little shove.
You critically strike Wrath with your GO AWAY. attack.
Wrath goes away; he goes far, far away. The Force blast shoves him several yards away a high speed. He would have gone farther, but for the large tree which helpfully dissipated his inertia, though it got nothing but a shattered trunk for its trouble. Wrath is momentarily dazed, but not enough to lose sight of his target. Black figure...has got to die. But he's too far away...he could never handwalk - or, rather, handhop back to him fast enough to get an attack in. Wrath grits his teeth, then puts his good hand to his chest, drawing all of the durasteel out of and off of his skin. As he draws his hand away, he shapes the metal into a spear, and then, pushing himself to his knees, lets it fly.
Wrath switches armor modes to Homunculus Body.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Shiny Black Javelin attack.
Slowly, Vader gets to his feet. He glances at his arm, the one that Wrath sliced through earlier, and moves it a little - sparks fly from the gash. A hidden frown. Then he looks towards Wrath to see the result, just in time to catch him rearing back to throw the javelin. And at first, Vader does nothing, waits, and watches...then, at /just/ the right time, reaches up and catches the polearm an inch from colliding with his chest control panel. That would have been bad.
But Vader doesn't keep it. It appears that the young boy wants it so much...well, then...he can /have/ it.
You get a glancing blow on Wrath with your Keep it attack.
Wrath leans away from the incoming spear as best he can. Unfortunately, that's not very well; not if he wants to stay upright. He gasps at the bite of the durasteel as it grazes his ribs and then thuds into the stump of the tree. While having it back and not being dead is a great and wonderful thing, Wrath sees it as a vote of no confidence; does this Vader /still/ think he's no threat? Snarling, the homunculus passes his hand over the spear again and again, drawing a smaller spike off of it each time and hurling them at the Sith Lord.
Wrath misses Darth Vader with his Almost Like Ninja! attack.
It's not that Vader thinks he's no threat. It's more along the lines that he's a threat that Vader wants destroyed in any way, shape, or form possible, and if it involves playing catch...well, whatever works. The spike impacts against Vader's shoulder armor - a piece that wasn't drawn from the transmutation - and is deflected. Vader seems a bit distracted, making a hand gesture as if he's holding something...
Remember that tree that Wrath snapped in two? The upper half is now off the ground, and primed to crush the homunculus.
You miss Wrath with your Go hug a tree. attack.
Wrath sees the shadow of the trunk sweep over him just in time to dive to the side, very narrowly avoiding being crushed. Pushing himself up on his right elbow, the homunculus snarls at Vader and slaps his left hand onto the side of the trunk. Blue sparks fly and the width of the trunk shrinks as the bulk of its mass is shoved forward, extending towards the Sith Lord with a nice little point on its end.
Wrath hits Darth Vader with his Extend-o-Tree Go! attack.
You take 19 damage.
You have been knocked out!
He thought that would end him. He did not believe that he could dodge that in his condition, much less turn it into a counterattack. Vader gapes perhaps a moment too long, and the tree collides with his chest - smashing into the control panel and destroying it, along with sending the Sith Lord sprawling. His form spasms, and for the first time as long as he can remember, he /can't breathe/.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the unstoppable intake and outtake of breath has been stopped! Vader lies on the ground, no longer twitching, apparently finished - but wait! There's movement! His arm is slowly inching towards one of the control boxes on his waist.
Wrath's snarl slowly fades into a look of amazement. Did he...is he really? He keeps a hand on the tree just in case, but for the moment, the homunculus just takes a moment to sit back and absorb the fact that he may have just beaten the second thing he has ever really feared. A grin slowly works its way across his face. "How do you like that?!" he shouts breathlessly. "Huh?!" In the meantime, now that there's a quiet moment, white sparks dance across the stump of his right arm as his hand begins to take shape.
Vader hears Wrath's words as if from a distance, as he's more focused on restoring power to his respitory systems. The strike to the control panel shortened them out, but thankfully, there are measures in place to keep him alive. A panel on one of the boxes is opened, and a few keys are pressed in order - and once more, the regular breathing takes place. But that doesn't begin to ebb the hatred he's feeling.
Damn this suit! Damn this weakness! And damn that kung over there! Although the question is...what happens now?
That's a good question. Now in possession of two fully functional hands, Wrath hoists himself up onto the tree/spike and cautiously handwalks along it toward the fallen Sith Lord. Caution is telling him to wait until he has legs, but at least with his hands on the tree he'll have a ready weapon if Vader's just playing possum. If he's not, but is not yet dead, then Wrath will delight in severing his head from his body. The homunculus grins savagely as he draws near.
Now that he can actually think about something other than trying to breathe, Vader cranes his neck so that he can see the one who took him down. In the back of his mind, he's impressed, but mostly he's furious. But anger is little comfort when you can tell that the other has death on the mind.
And Vader isn't ready to die. Not yet, when he's so close to being reborn.
For a few moments, Vader simply watches Wrath approach; then he moves, grabbing the log with both hands and shoving it off of him, at the same time starting to get to his feet.
Wrath yelps, tumbling off the suddenly moving treespike, which promptly rolls over his hand and arm, crushing freshly formed fingers and thonking into his head. What the...Wrath looks up, his eyes widening as he realizes what's going on. He's moving! He's /moving/! "No!" Wrath yanks his hand out from under the log and pushes himself back up on his hands. "No, damn you! I want your head! I want your /head/!"
Sparking from the wounds to his armor, the mechanical monstrocity that is Darth Vader gets to his feet and looks towards Wrath. It's not hard to imagine that he's glaring behind his helmet, and with what's visible through that one shattered eyepiece, it looks like that imagination is a reality. And then, he speaks, his first intelligable phrase since this battle started:
"You're not the only one."
With that, and calling his deactivated lightsaber to his hand, Vader promptly makes himself scarce. Running? Perish the thought! He's...going to get himself fixed. Yea. SHUT UP.
Wrath chases after Vader for a moment, but given the fact that he's exhausted, injured, and handwalking with a limp, it's no surprise that he can't keep up. Eventually he flops over with a grunt, looking at the sky. After a moment, while white sparkles rebuild his legs, the homunculus begins to laugh.