(no subject)
WHO: Caim, Lord Genome, occasional cameos
WHEN: Saturday, November 3rd
WHERE: The Spiral World, Tokyo-03 Control Center, Side-3 Industrial Section, Mount Kilimanjaro, Izu Base (yes, all of them)
WHAT: Epic Wandering Maulfest
WATCH FOR: Scaring the whey out of Misato and Excellen, Phenomenal Cosmic Powaaah
Note: This running battle involved several +fullheals on both our parts, on purpose. Full consent was attained before tearing through anyone's personal space. (also, Lord Genome needs a tag I think)
The vast, untameable wastes of the Spiral Star. It is the past version of this distopian, distant-future Earth, ruled with an iron fist by the Spiral Empire, and its despotic mastermind, the cruel Lord Genome, the Spiral King.
At the moment, gathered around the mighty drill-shaped capital city of Teppelin, a vast force is gathered, an army of unfathomable proportions, settled here for a singular purpose...
They are preparing for war, to march out into the wastelands, and crush all the humans in their wake. Only one master of this armada is missing, General Adiane the Elegant, whose aquatic warfare troops are out monitoring the seas while the other armies have returned home for a resupply.
And unbeknownst to them all, a Gate opens within their midst...
It has been a frantic time, since he had discovered the Gates. Even now, he can only rarely find the one that leads back to his home plane, and even then it frequently leaves him in unfamiliar environs.
Today, he chose wrong.
As the Gate swirls closed behind the man, his eyes go wide, one a dead and crazed white, the other a brilliant and feral blue. Enough time for a startled blink, for the beastman he stepped out in front of to return one in kind... and then the presence of a surrounding army triggers old, old reflexes in the One Eyed Man.
To be fair, that poor beastman's death is quick and probably nearly painless, Caim's great, two-handed warblade shearing clear through him as the newcomer charges headlong into the assembled force, seemingly without any thought for his own survival.
Though the path of death and terror he leaves in his wake argues that he has fairly good reason for his lack of fear. For his strikes carry more strength than any mere human of his stature could ever hope to possess, his blade able to shear through battle-hardened steel as though it were cardboard.
And through it all, he makes not a sound.
You hit Lord Genome with your KNOCK KNOCK jab.
"WAAAAAAAA" wails the collected army of Beastmen, as the Eastern Division is quickly and thoroughly joined in battle.
It takes a few seconds before anyone manages to shriek, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!" but once that howl is unleashed, all Hell breaks loose - the full force of the Eastern combat division turning its weapons onto Caim, quickly sliding away from him and opening fire with bullets, bullets, bullets!
And as it happens, far above, the mighty leader of the Spiral Empire stares down through monitor cameras, eyes half-lidded, but slowly widening. "An attacker? The boy Simon?" he mumbles, and a strangely-garbed woman wrapped around his thigh cooes, "No, that brat's not nearly brave enough to attack us here..."
"Mmm," rumbles the Spiral King, not yet rising. Instead he issues an order: "General Thymilph. Dispose of that man."
"Yes!" replies the gorilla-faced general, who proceeds to disappear from the throne room in a cloud of brimstone.
Lord Genome gets a glancing blow on Caim with his ha ha ha, oh gumbies feint.
You take 11 damage.
Dark steel flashes, blood flies, and Caim looks to be having the time of his life.
In a world where combat is more often done between large, armored mecha, a man on foot might not be considered a threat. And, normally, this would be a correct assumption. But the strength of a Pact Partner, particularly this one, throws the equation completely out of whack.
Perhaps one of the first things the (now defending) army would probably notice is the fact that the bullets don't really seem to be doing much. Oh, it's not because Caim is deflecting them or dodging them or anything. No, it's rather more the fact that he's simply /ignoring/ them. Some of them don't even seem to be penetrating his skin, one catching him in the head and not even making him do more than stumble.
And then Caim meets his first Ganman, one of the smaller ones... and doesn't even slow down.
Dark steel shears through armor plating, and one of the mecha's legs goes flying, the One Eyed Man not even watching it begin to fall before he's off again, rushing headlong towards the next group of foot troops, beastman blood coating his form, dripping from his face, and doing absolutely nothing to hide the maniac grin stretched across his features.
You hit Lord Genome with your Whoops! jab.
"S...sir...He destroyed --on foot!"
Genome emits a low rumble as Cytomander squawks in horror like the turkey he is. "Indeed," the Spiral King says. And...he rises. "I will go. It would be troublesome if you all died."
"M...my lord--!" hisses the peacock, which earns him a deadly glare from Genome.
"Are you questioning me, Cytomander?"
"N....no my lord..." whispers the terrified beastman, who skitters off to do as ordered, and relay the commands to Thymilph, who is only barely in place to start doing what happens next.
Namely, oh look at all those mecha-scale bullets!
Lord Genome gets a glancing blow on Caim with his BULLETS FOR ALL attack.
You take 15 damage.
Now, /these/ bullets give Caim some pause. Mostly because they're bigger than he is.
He dodges the first few, gets clipped by another, which sends him flying off to crash into the dirt, and then receives several follow-up volleys while lying prone.
Ooh, does that sting like all get out.
One might think this overkill. One might even believe that there is nothing left of the attacker within the billowing cloud of dust caused by several mecha-bullet explosions in a small space.
And then a hand claws its way up over the rim of this small, newly formed crater, and hauls its owner up after it.
And the Bloody Handed Prince does not look happy.
Spitting blood and dirt, the man snarls a silent challenge at the watching army as he hauls himself the rest of the way out of what they certainly intended to be his grave. Though he shows signs of damage, now, it is far less than anything anyone could reasonably predict for the level of punishment he just took. Really, it looks more like somebody belted him in the face with a board than shot him with several large cannons.
But then the One Eyed Man whips his blade across in front of him in a flat arc, and a bloody aura howls into being around him before tearing itself apart and lancing out towards his attackers in the form of several, rather large fireballs.
You miss Lord Genome with your BOOM baby! feint.
Not necessarily bigger than /him/, but oh, most certainly big enough to make his head stop being there.
...if he weren't invincible? What is this madness!? "S---sir!" squawks a creature on the mighty fortress-gunmen of General Thymilph the Crusher. "He's--"
"Hold," rumbles the massive gorilla-man. "Our lord will deal with this one personally."
"L--Lord Genome will enter battle!?" squeaks the beastman, who is met only by a cold glare from his commanding officer.
And far above, the window to the throne room of Teppelin slides open, and wind whips the mighty Spiral King's cloak as he stares down at the battle through the clouds.
And with a cold glare, he removes the knot holding his robe on, letting the garment fall aside, leaving him clad only in chest hair and breeches.
And then he jumps.
Gravity does as gravity must, and soon, soon Genome has split through the clouds, a spiral hole torn in the fluffy mass, and then he's falling, red spiral flames igniting atop his bald cranium as a maniac smile splits his features, and as the red star falls, fist cocked back to smash through Caim as Lord Genome lands, a word thunders across the plains:
"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!"
Lord Genome switches armor modes to Helix King.
Lord Genome fully heals Lord Genome with his A NEW CHALLENGER HAS ARRIVED action.
Lord Genome misses Caim with his wait he did what super.
All set to go charged straight at the lumbering battleship on feet, Caim suddenly pauses as he hears something. What... Glancing first to one side, then the other, whipping around in the closest he ever comes to a defensive stance, the man sees only beastmen and Ganmen, all holding back for some reason...
Barely in time, the One Eyed Man looks up, his expression startled, then dives to one side moments before becoming rather shorter thanks to the descending Helix King. Skidding to his feet at a reasonable distance, he whips his sword up in a guard, every motion speaking of decades of practice, battle skill honed to a razor edge in the furnace of combat. And though the creature before him is no stranger than some that he's faced, it does seem a touch more coherent. This makes it dangerous.
But Caim was never one to back down from a threat, and he soon lunges in, his warblade shrieking through the air in a monstrous two-handed overhead strike. This attack has halved men in full plate before, and Caim obviously intends to render this newest threat a null matter in record time, teeth bared in a silent howl of battlefury.
You critically strike Lord Genome with your CAIM SMASH attack.
Creature? Oh, but this is /human/, although perhaps only insofar as Caim himself can be said to be human anymore. Head burning with bright crimson flames of Spiral Power, the new combatant says, "You're quick on your feet," in a voice like thunder, and then is summarily cut right the hell in half by Caim's blade.
Well, that was quick.
...except it wasn't - the blade stuck halfway into his shoulder, the new monstrosity laughs, and cuts his palms open on it, getting a good, hard grip on the dark steel. "And your blade cuts with something unnatural. But you'll need better than that to best LORD GENOME!"
Lord Genome stuns Caim with his GRAB action.
And thundering this challenge, the Helix King RIPS THE SWORD OUT OF HIS BODY, uses his grip on it to swing Caim overhead, and proceeds to then hurl Caim right the hell downrange - toward the Gate he came in from, and with enough force for him to end up bouncing right out to some other Gate on the far side.
Lord Genome critically strikes Caim with his THROW attack.
You take 27 damage.
Sci-Fi Sector - Tokyo-03 -
In the mountains of a Japan of endless summer, a fortress city stands.
Located on the old site of Hakone, Tokyo-03 is the second city to replace the capital of Japan. Serving in large part as the support for the extralegal UN organization NERV, it is a modern city in the center, with wide streets and mysterious markings regarding the deployment of the Evangelions, based in the underground Geofront beneath the city streets.
On the outer reaches, older buildings stand, from the era before Second Impact, when this town was known for its tourist views and close access to Mt. Fuji. Further out from the city are roads, mountain forest, an unobtrusive network of radar and other monitoring outposts, and the scenic Lake Ashi.
During attacks - or at times, in order to test the systems and keep them functioning - most of the central city's buildings retract below ground level, sealed off by armored plates. What buildings remain are defense structures - launching heavy weapons or containing equipment for the Evangelions, the great machines that defend Tokyo-03.
The atmosphere in Tokyo-3 remains somewhat tense, with one of the Children missing, along with her Evangelion. Still, it has slackened a bit, given the two weeks of planning and testing that have been going on in preparation of the rescue mission. Of course, there is also the possibility that the rogue Meltrandi unit coming back to try to acquire the original target, Shinji. But no such things have happened, yet, thus....
Misato is in the control room again. Yes, on a Saturday. After all, she's a bit of a workaholic, and this involves Rei, to boot--someone she has grown quite attached to, over the years. So she toils away at running simulations on her computer. Most of the bridge staff is out, though on call. For now, it is quiet, save for the humming of the MAGI, and mutterings of NERV's chief tactical officer.
It's going to change, though, isn't it?
Caim's eyes show satisfaction as his sword bites home, then surprise as it not only does /not/ bisect his target, but gets used as a handle by said target. Unable to give voice to a surprised squawk, Caim settles for keeping a grip like stone on his sword's hilt, in turn being sent flying...
And bouncing off an unfamiliar patch of floor on the far side of a Gate, smashing right /through/ an intervening computer console, then skidding a good ways to eventually fetch up against a wall. He's a bit dazed at the moment, you see, having landed mostly on his head. Oof.
It doesn't take long, however, for the Pact Warrior to hoist himself to his feet, shaking his head to clear it and quickly looking about for his foe. That can't be the end of it...
The technological aspects of this location cause a brief pause in the maniac, though only that. It brings back memories of the hellcity at the heart of the Empire, back at his own home plane... Perhaps luckily for Misato, the man hasn't spotted her, or at least hasn't identified her as a threat. He's a little busy, y'see.
You buff your ACC to +1.
Misato Katsuragi -
The woman before you is tall and statuesque: a figure of strength as well as beauty. She has long, purple-black hair down just past her shoulders, straight except for the slight curl at the end and shiny. Her face is well-defined and pretty; quite prominent are her sharp, deep violet eyes that often crinkle in laughter, stare with piercing inquisitiveness, or glow with passion--whether love or anger. Her lips are pale and almost never found with cosmetic coloring on them. The line of her jaw is smooth and strong, leading down to the point of her chin.
She wears an ensemble of red and black--her daily NERV uniform. A short red leather jacket with black lines along the seams, insignia on the shoulders and over the left breast, indicate her rank of Major in that organization, as well as her position as command staff for the IPA, both in general and also as a member of the Black Sheep Squadron. If it is open, it reveals a plain black shirt, and a cross-shaped pendant on a leather thong around her neck. Sometimes, perched on her head is also a red beret, also with NERV and IPA markings on it.
A matching red skirt, fitted to her long legs, is held secure by a black leather belt with a circular gold buckle in front. The hem terminates a few inches above knee length, leaving much of her long legs bare except for translucent hose. There is also a slit cut in the back, to make for easier movement. Her ankles are covered by dark socks and the medium-height tops of a pair of black leather service-issue boots, lending both support and comfort for her day-to-day activities on the job.
And as Caim bounces through the Gate, a bellowing cackle rips through the air moments later, a thunderous, terribly amused roar, and then from NERV's pet Gate comes another figure - stalking through the holes Caim has made, with a sort of crazed, manic glee.
Finally, he emerges into the control center - bleeding from his hands and from a deep gouge in his shoulder, but there he stands - Lord Genome, his head ablaze with Spiral energy. His burning spiral-printed eyes dart to Misato, and he rumbles a simple, "Don't interfere," before striding toward Caim, spiral energy blossoming around his hands.
Lord Genome buffs his POW to +1.
And now, of course, the klaxons sound. Misato jerks up, looking around wildly. Are they back? Have they come for Shinji after all?
But the sensors indicate no giants stomping about in their powered suits and oversized flying transports. Only.... "Intruders?" she says, questioningly. Inside the Geofront? How'd that happen? There doesn't seem like any sort of major breach....
"OH HOLY CRAP WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" she yells, immediately drawing her sidearm and training it on Caim. Then Genome. Back to Caim. Damn, she needs more guns. "This is a restricted area!"
There he is.
Caim wastes no time, even if he had the ability to taunt and bellow threats. Instead, the man crouches slightly, boots seeking and finding traction on the floorplates. He shakes blood out of his eyes, spitting more of the same to the floor, though he doesn't look too terribly wounded. Misato's question is ignored, her gun is ignored, the siren is ignored. All that matters now is the challenge.
With an explosive lunge, Caim charges straight for the laughing behemoth moving towards him. As he enters attack range, however, the man drops a shoulder, sword swinging back out of the way as he seeks to quite simply ram into Lord Genome, enough force put behind that tackle to carry them both back through the Gate, should it connect.
You hit Lord Genome with your kerSHOVE attack.
"I am Lord Genome, the Spiral King," Lord Genome rumbles. "And this interloper has proven of some interest." His eyes dart up again, a look of utter disinterest on his face. "Don't interfere."
--and then Caim grips him, and tackles the both of them right back out the door!
"...oh. Well, damn. The Commander is not going to like this."
Cursing faintly, Misato reholsters her gun, staring at the trail of broken computer parts and walls left in the wake of the two brawlers. Even now, the rapid footsteps of security personnel running toward the scene can be heard. This may be a bit awkward. She sighs and turns toward the shouts of the men coming in. "It's all right, they're gone now," she calls out.
It'll be all right until Gendou hears about this, no doubt. Sigh. Spiral King. At least she's got that to report.
Sci-Fi Sector - Side 3 -
In the year Universal Century 0079, the orbital nation known as the Principality of Zeon declared its independence from the Earth Federation, prompting the devastating One Year War. Side 3 is the location of Zeon, at the second Lagrange Point (L2), placing it on the far side of the Moon and out of sight of the Earth. It consists of some hundreds of orbital colonies, and the asteroid space fortress A Bao A Qu.
Each colony is a large, cylindrical spacestation holding roughly a million people, powered by a mixture of nuclear and solar energy. Within each colony, cities can be found, complete with manufacturing and commercial elements. Following the destruction of the STMC War, Zeon has fallen under the democratic government of Darcia Bakharov. With Zeon and the Earth Federation largely depleted, they no longer are at war, but tensions remain high between the two countries.
And as the duo emerges into the cool, crisp(ly recycled) air of one of the many space colonies in orbit above this Earth, Genome is finally shaken loose from Caim's shoulder, bouncing down range and THROUGH several walls, landing in the end in...a Zaku hangar?
How distressing.
Genome rises, slowly, shakily, his head spinning. But then he sees Caim coming...and he must move fast. He looks around, and the Spiral King steps over to a support vehicle with a worried-looking engineer in it, whom Genome yanks out and tosses over to hang on the spikes of one of the mecha on the other end of the hangar. Then the Spiral Emperor flips the enormous jeep-based vehicle with one hand, grabs it by the drive shaft...
...and swings it right at the approaching Pact Man!
Lord Genome misses Caim with his FORE attack.
Lord Genome resets his buff status to neutral.
Caim loses his footing as the ground changes, the Spiral King on his shoulder flying away as he stumbles, catching himself with a wide-eyed look around at the new scenery. This just keeps getting weirder and we-- oh, he's still moving.
With a snarl, Caim charges after his opponent, using the freshly created holes as a handy path to his target, sword held low at his side to avoid clipping the walls and throwing his balance off, or slowing him down.
Sadly for Lord Genome, Caim's been on the receiving end of a car before, and sees this one coming. As the jeep-thing whips around, the Bloody Handed Prince's legs bunch, and he LEAPS up over the vehicle. This time, though, he doesn't employ his sword to attack, at least not at the moment. Instead, he aims to quite simply land on the Spiral King with a...
You hit Lord Genome with your Boot To The Head attack.
WHACK.
Lord Genome is sent flat by the impact of Caim's boots in his head, and after a moment, as the base goes quite completely insane from the fact that two warring demigods just tore into the Zaku hangars, he rises, rises...and gets shot a few times.
He rumbles, and gives Caim a crazed, pleased look. He seems to be completely ignoring the bullets. "Good..." he rumbles...and then without any further preface, he simply lashes out with a massive fist, aimed to punch a hole in Caim's...Caim.
It may or may not send him flying out of the base.
Lord Genome critically strikes Caim with his POONCH attack.
You take 43 damage.
Pushing off after feeling that satisfying jolt up his legs, Caim lands a brief ways off from Lord Genome... and promptly meets the business end of a rather large fist.
If he could, he'd swear. That HURT.
Instead, the Pact Warrior goes flying skywards, punching a new hole in the roof of the hangar and flying in a high arc. His landing is similarly spectacular, caving in a smallish building (probably a dwelling of some sort) and easily visible for some distance.
It takes a bit, but eventually Caim pushes his way out of the rubble, coughing blood and dust out of his lungs, shaking his head and staggering. That one /hurt/.
And, to make matters worse, he's lost sight of his adversary. Well, only one way to deal with that.
After making sure both his knees are still working, the One Eyed Man simply takes off running, back the way he came. He's not done with you yet, Genome!
You buff your POW to +1.
He doesn't have to wait long. Genome turns to regard the horrified soldiers for about ten seconds, then he leaps up and out of the hangar, taking off in massive leaps and bounds downrange in the direction of the dwelling, leaping, bounding, sprinting--
He hits the ground, tearing a hole in the roof of another home, ripping off chunks of the wall as he slides downward, and punching a hole in the living room as he torpedoes toward Caim, gripping the One-Eyed Prince as they collide and carrying him tunneling deep into the substructure of the mighty station!
They may or may not pass through a Gate as they go.
Lord Genome critically strikes Caim with his BONZAI attack.
You take 35 damage.
Sci-Fi Sector - Mount Kilimanjaro
When Jaburo was destroyed by the bombardment of the Space Terrible Monster Cloud, the Earth Federation was forced to relocate its central base. They elected to create a new base at Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. It is a large, broad mountain that provides an excellent defensive position. The base itself is well-defended by numerous Mobile Suits and ground-based batteries. The base is largely located on the mountain's side, but the summit does have a radar tower that is utilized to detect attacks from abroad.
The base's existence is the brainchild of General Jamitov Hyman, a soldier who rose to prominence during the One Year War and the STMC War. It is said that many of the staff here are more loyal to him and his extremist, anti-Colonial thinking than they are to the Earth Federation as a whole. This base is a symbol of his rise to power.
Caim, charging down a street with murder in his heart and blood in his eye, doesn't see the incoming Spiral Lord until it is far too late. Concrete, steel and ceramic all give way before the force and combined mass of the two combatants, and the transition to another world is almost unnoticed.
Slamming into the ground beneath Lord Genome, Caim pulls in a painful breath, forcing his ribcage to expand, abused flesh and a few fractured bones protesting the motion, but unable to withstand their master's commands. Without even bothering to rise, the Bloody Handed Prince lashes out with his free hand, still (somehow) clutching his sword in the other, and grabs his opponent rather unceremoniously by the chest hair.
And then the world goes mad.
All the fury and madness of a red dragon, chained to the Heart of a world by sorcery and pain, is suddenly channeled through her Pact Partner, a focused blast of rage and pain that takes physical form in a towering column of black and scarlet flames, howling in the voices of a thousand damned souls.
And, at the heart of it all, stands Caim, fire bleeding from his eyes as he staggers to his feet.
You hit Lord Genome with your AND HE SPAKE AS A DRAGON super.
You reset your buff status to neutral.
Genome releases Caim, planting two hands in the hard metal of Mount Kilimanjaro Base's Gate chamber floor -- and then his eyes widen, as he's gripped by the hair, and stares into Caim's face as the Bloody-Handed Prince...
Destroys him utterly.
For a second, it seems as though Caim has at last proven the victor.
But then, shortly after Caim rises, that boneless lump of a man plants his fists into the ground, Spiral Power boiling off of him in thick waves. The base screams out, klaxons roar and soldiers hasten to stop whatever insane invasion is going on...but Lord Genome rises, rises, and an enormous wave of Spiral Power washes out of his body, the Spiral Emperor hissing, "Such a powerful force! You'd surely destroy any lesser being with such hatred..." He takes one step forward...and another, and another yet. "But I am...NO SUCH MAN!!"
And with this roar thundering out, into the base from monitoring systems and causing lowly mortals to whimper in terror, Lord Genome's spiral energy gathers around his fist, forming a loose, rotating cloud around it.
And the Helix King thunders, "BURST! SPIRAL!! BREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!" as his fist flies forward toward Caim's chest, a focused discharge of Spiral energy that will very definitely send the man hurtling back out through the gate.
If Caim weren't Caim, it might also involve a significant loss of body mass.
Lord Genome hits Caim with his Oh Sh** He Broke Out The Attack Names super.
You take 60 damage.
You have been knocked out!
Sci-Fi Sector - Neviim -
Neviim is a massive Balmarian battle station, belonging to the breakaway division known as the Aerogaters. Called the White Star by the humans that it is attacking, this immense space fortress is a perfect sphere hanging in orbit around the Earth at L5. It is smooth from a distance, though lines of defense emplacements and hangars can be seen if one should get close enough.
The White Star is dangerous to approach, though. An immense fleet of Balmarian forces is there - ranging from battleships to bioroid-piloted mechs to combat drones. The inside, to make things even more disturbing, houses an earth-like environment, with flat plains and mountains. This is the nerve center of the Aerogater assault on the Earth.
It is a cold, clear late autumn's day and Izu Base is still on a state of high alert. With the recent incursions by members of the interplanar edition of the DC against various bases and landmarks, it is understandable that they'd have people at the ready for any..unexpected guests. Both those from above, below and beyond. All hands are on deck. And everyone gets drafted to pull watch at some point. Even those with assignments beyond the gate.
"This bites," sulks the blonde pilot as she directs the Weissritter through the air, following the route designated as part of EFA sweeps around the gate. "Couldn't they have gotten the Hiryuu crew to do this one..?" It's been quiet /all day/, and Excellen doesn't foresee this changing any time soon.
Oh, how little she knows.
As the last of that horrible blast dissipates, Caim staggers, catches himself with the point of his sword dug into the flooring beneath him, and pants painfully for a few moments.
But then Lord Genome moves.
Caim can only stare dumbstruck as what was left of the Spiral King pulls itself back together. He's so surprised he can't react fast enough to the attack, and takes it full in the chest. The blow is so powerful that he literally doesn't experience the Gate transition.
You must not die...
Caim exits the Gate at near terminal velocity, a spray of blood trailing behind him, tracing a crimson path from the Gate to where he slams to earth. Indeed, the base personnel might think a missile or canon-shot had come through the portal, so forceful is the man's impact upon the ground. In fact, it is only due to his preternatural durability that he is not reduced to a fine spray of viscera upon impact.
For one long moment, he lies still at the bottom of his crater. Completely still.
Then his eyes open.
Shattered stone and earth explode outwards with a thunderous roar as the Pact Warrior surges to his feet, fire fountaining from his wounds, eyes, mouth. Wounds that, miraculously, begin to close as he stands there, voicelessly howling his rage to the sky.
You fully heal Caim with your I FEED ON PAIN action.
You have been resurrected from knockout!
It is fully a minute after Caim arrives that the Gate ripples again, and this time something altogether slower emerges - although no less inhuman.
A monstrosity of a man, something on the order of seven feet tall, half that across - bulging with muscles and, perhaps more disturbing, roiling with some mysterious energy that sends every scanner, sensor, and radar haywire as it tries to process what in - or perhaps FROM - Hell has just arrived.
The tyrant of the Spiral Star spends no pleasantries upon the ignorant apes around him. He strides forward, unimpressed by Caim's shrieking bellow, undeterred by his thunderous roar. Spiral Power roils around his body, forming into the shape of drills. "Come at me again, boy!" Lord Genome thunders, ignoring the inevitable gunfire. "If that was enough to kill you, I'll be very disappointed!"
Lord Genome buffs his POW to +2.
Like a phoenix rising from a fire, Caim shakes off ash that used to be blood, his clothing ragged and rent but the flesh beneath whole and healthy. His fingers flex around the hilt of his warblade, the metal trailing a faint haze like heat-mirage as it moves through the air. He lifts his head, taking in a deep breath of the cool air. And then his eyes open.
The Bloody Handed Prince's lunge is so fast as to be nearly inhuman, a spray of dirt and small debris blasting up from where he was standing as he rushes towards the Spiral Lord, whipping his sword around in a series of quick slashes, one following the next in a blistering onslaught that, while not being the most elegant technique ever, has proven brutally effective in the past, largely making the space within Caim's forward arc extremely lethal to be around.
You juggle Lord Genome with your MAIM KILL BURN combo.
You juggle Lord Genome with your MAIM KILL BURN combo.
You juggle Lord Genome with your MAIM KILL BURN combo.
Lord Genome breaks your combo.
Lord Genome has been knocked out!
Lord Genome is prepared to employ his full force against Caim, simply crush the boy again until at last the Bloody-Handed Prince ceases to be--
--but then there is swords. Oh, so very much swords.
His gut is slit open, his head nearly sliced off - one of his arms dangles uselessly by his side, and then his other. Blood soaks the earth. For a moment, it seems at last that Caim may have truly destroyed the Spiral King once again...
Until that maniac grin comes back, stronger than ever. "Yeeeeeees..." he says. "That's the kind of power it needs to be! The kind of warrior I need! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
And it surges around him - a wave of Spiral Power erupting from every wound, crevice and pore in Lord Genome's battered body, streaking sheets of energy that shatters windows and detonates consoles.
And at the middle of it all, the madman himself - the spirals in his eyes burning a deadly red. "MORE," he demands.
Lord Genome fully heals Lord Genome with his RASEN NO CHIKARA action.
Lord Genome has been resurrected from knockout!
Lord Genome buffs his POW to +2.
The gate is not located directly within Izu Base itself, but close to the sheer expanses of tarmac and the many warehouses and buildings used for storage of weapons, mecha and equipment. Thus, when Caim first flies through and leaves an impressive impact mark, the gespents on site are already on the alert, and the ground crews approach with trepidation.
When Lord FLAMING SPIRAL KING OF DOOM steps through, however, whatever caution was initially in hand appears to fall to the wayside. Especially when the bloodied swordsman rises right back up and throws himself into the fray again, followed by yet more power rocketing off the charts.
You can practically see the HOT BLOOD mushroom cloud explosion from the other side of the base. Never mind Genome's light show. Excellen's jaw sags open slightly as the Weissritter's sensors relay the scene below, and the Gespensts on ground level are instantly armed and ready as the soldiers scramble to get away. Caim is not recognized, but the spirals remind the blonde of reports she's read in recent times, so this...Well, whatever this or that is, cannot be a good thing. Flicking on her radio to the general band, the Oxtongue rifle is hefted, locked and loaded.
You can't be too careful, after all.
If he wants more, he shall have it!
Caim has been known to lay waste to entire brigades purely with his sword and bare hands, leaving little but bloodied scraps of armor and smears of meat in his path. This one man, however, has managed to withstand his assault. Perhaps it's because he's so tall...
Regardless, Caim backs off briefly as Genome's power surges up, lifting a hand to shield his eyes... then snarls and rushes forward once more, sword set for a charge. It could be argued that Caim doesn't even notice the surrounding base, so focused on his target is he. His thrust, should it land, carries enough force to punch straight through an armored vehicle, and will be callously torn free from its fleshy target after the strike connects, a kick applied almost as an afterthought, to help shove the man off his blade.
You critically strike Lord Genome with your DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH attack.
The world goes mad. Of course everyone in the area is panicked, forces scrambling and preparing for a war against what for all the world would seem to be two furious demigods, intent on tearing each other apart forever.
And then Caim returns to the fore of battle, and Genome merely has the time to turn and stare straight at the Weissritter, his eyes burning, and bellow, "DO NOT INTERFERE, HUMAN!" before Caim runs him right through, the blade severing all sorts of important organs inside Genome's body...and then he's kicked back, back off the blade, tumbling to the ground. But he rises, once more, indestructible, and takes a few hard steps forward, before his eyes...travel up to the nearest Gespenst, and a mad sort of grin darkens his face. He spins, bounding away toward the mass-produced mecha, landing hard on its shoulder, gripping the arm with both hands, and quite simply TEARING IT OFF, before he then spins around and THROWS the detached limb straight downrange at Caim!
Lord Genome hits Caim with his BULLSEYE attack.
You take 30 damage.
Caim's satisfaction at spearing the Spiral Lord is short lived. What does it take to keep this guy down?! (like he has room to talk) If he could, Caim would probably be shouting some variant of "Come back here!" as Genome suddenly sprints away, charging after the man in a fury.
However, all this accomplishes is placing him squarely in the path of an oncoming mecha arm. Taken by surprise, Caim is knocked off his feet as the lump of metal impacts him and keeps moving. His sword spins off a brief ways, stabbing point-first into the tarmac and /sticking/ there as the Pact Warrior skids to a halt under the severed Gespenst arm.
...oh that's it.
Fingers like steel sink into the ragged end of the severed arm, and Caim lurches to his feet. He dropped his sword. That's a point for you. But you gave him a new weapon in the process.
And a big, metal fist is headed right for your head, Genome.
You miss Lord Genome with your WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM PUUUUUUUUUUUUNCCCHHHHHHHHHH!!! attack.
Don't interfere?! <> the Weissritter's pilot exclaims, frowning at the reply and ignoring the idle chatter of children on the Citizen's Band. <>
The screech of metal and the sight of the Spiral King literally rending steel limb from mechanical body is a thing to behold, and the gespenst that suffers such indignity tilts as it attempts to retreat, as much out of shock of the pilot as it is physics at work. "Holy..!" No gods involved here, though command on deck are already recalling troops to get back.
Except Excellen, who splutters at the orders relayed to her and the Weissritter retreats -- but only a little, taking a higher vantage point. She's already started recording the fight below. If nothing else, this might be of interest to members of the IPA..
Lord Genome stands there, arms crossed. "Dropped your sword?" he laughs. "About time, boy! Good tenacity..."
...and then there's a mecha fist coming at him. Hmm!
Another blast of Spiral Power rips out of Genome's body, and then the titanic Lord of Teppelin swings an arm backward, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" howls a battlecry, and then smashes his fist right into the incoming mecha projectile.
Caim's thrown fist shatters like glass.
And Lord Genome bounds down from the Gespenst, steps toward Caim, and thunders, "Take the fight elsewhere? I suppose, boy--"
And then his hand reaches out for Caim's neck.
"That we have no choice!!"
And if he gets hold, he will very simply pick up and THROW Caim right the hell back through the Gate.
Don't worry, he'll grab Caim's sword on the way out.
WHEN: Saturday, November 3rd
WHERE: The Spiral World, Tokyo-03 Control Center, Side-3 Industrial Section, Mount Kilimanjaro, Izu Base (yes, all of them)
WHAT: Epic Wandering Maulfest
WATCH FOR: Scaring the whey out of Misato and Excellen, Phenomenal Cosmic Powaaah
Note: This running battle involved several +fullheals on both our parts, on purpose. Full consent was attained before tearing through anyone's personal space. (also, Lord Genome needs a tag I think)
The vast, untameable wastes of the Spiral Star. It is the past version of this distopian, distant-future Earth, ruled with an iron fist by the Spiral Empire, and its despotic mastermind, the cruel Lord Genome, the Spiral King.
At the moment, gathered around the mighty drill-shaped capital city of Teppelin, a vast force is gathered, an army of unfathomable proportions, settled here for a singular purpose...
They are preparing for war, to march out into the wastelands, and crush all the humans in their wake. Only one master of this armada is missing, General Adiane the Elegant, whose aquatic warfare troops are out monitoring the seas while the other armies have returned home for a resupply.
And unbeknownst to them all, a Gate opens within their midst...
It has been a frantic time, since he had discovered the Gates. Even now, he can only rarely find the one that leads back to his home plane, and even then it frequently leaves him in unfamiliar environs.
Today, he chose wrong.
As the Gate swirls closed behind the man, his eyes go wide, one a dead and crazed white, the other a brilliant and feral blue. Enough time for a startled blink, for the beastman he stepped out in front of to return one in kind... and then the presence of a surrounding army triggers old, old reflexes in the One Eyed Man.
To be fair, that poor beastman's death is quick and probably nearly painless, Caim's great, two-handed warblade shearing clear through him as the newcomer charges headlong into the assembled force, seemingly without any thought for his own survival.
Though the path of death and terror he leaves in his wake argues that he has fairly good reason for his lack of fear. For his strikes carry more strength than any mere human of his stature could ever hope to possess, his blade able to shear through battle-hardened steel as though it were cardboard.
And through it all, he makes not a sound.
You hit Lord Genome with your KNOCK KNOCK jab.
"WAAAAAAAA" wails the collected army of Beastmen, as the Eastern Division is quickly and thoroughly joined in battle.
It takes a few seconds before anyone manages to shriek, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!" but once that howl is unleashed, all Hell breaks loose - the full force of the Eastern combat division turning its weapons onto Caim, quickly sliding away from him and opening fire with bullets, bullets, bullets!
And as it happens, far above, the mighty leader of the Spiral Empire stares down through monitor cameras, eyes half-lidded, but slowly widening. "An attacker? The boy Simon?" he mumbles, and a strangely-garbed woman wrapped around his thigh cooes, "No, that brat's not nearly brave enough to attack us here..."
"Mmm," rumbles the Spiral King, not yet rising. Instead he issues an order: "General Thymilph. Dispose of that man."
"Yes!" replies the gorilla-faced general, who proceeds to disappear from the throne room in a cloud of brimstone.
Lord Genome gets a glancing blow on Caim with his ha ha ha, oh gumbies feint.
You take 11 damage.
Dark steel flashes, blood flies, and Caim looks to be having the time of his life.
In a world where combat is more often done between large, armored mecha, a man on foot might not be considered a threat. And, normally, this would be a correct assumption. But the strength of a Pact Partner, particularly this one, throws the equation completely out of whack.
Perhaps one of the first things the (now defending) army would probably notice is the fact that the bullets don't really seem to be doing much. Oh, it's not because Caim is deflecting them or dodging them or anything. No, it's rather more the fact that he's simply /ignoring/ them. Some of them don't even seem to be penetrating his skin, one catching him in the head and not even making him do more than stumble.
And then Caim meets his first Ganman, one of the smaller ones... and doesn't even slow down.
Dark steel shears through armor plating, and one of the mecha's legs goes flying, the One Eyed Man not even watching it begin to fall before he's off again, rushing headlong towards the next group of foot troops, beastman blood coating his form, dripping from his face, and doing absolutely nothing to hide the maniac grin stretched across his features.
You hit Lord Genome with your Whoops! jab.
"S...sir...He destroyed --on foot!"
Genome emits a low rumble as Cytomander squawks in horror like the turkey he is. "Indeed," the Spiral King says. And...he rises. "I will go. It would be troublesome if you all died."
"M...my lord--!" hisses the peacock, which earns him a deadly glare from Genome.
"Are you questioning me, Cytomander?"
"N....no my lord..." whispers the terrified beastman, who skitters off to do as ordered, and relay the commands to Thymilph, who is only barely in place to start doing what happens next.
Namely, oh look at all those mecha-scale bullets!
Lord Genome gets a glancing blow on Caim with his BULLETS FOR ALL attack.
You take 15 damage.
Now, /these/ bullets give Caim some pause. Mostly because they're bigger than he is.
He dodges the first few, gets clipped by another, which sends him flying off to crash into the dirt, and then receives several follow-up volleys while lying prone.
Ooh, does that sting like all get out.
One might think this overkill. One might even believe that there is nothing left of the attacker within the billowing cloud of dust caused by several mecha-bullet explosions in a small space.
And then a hand claws its way up over the rim of this small, newly formed crater, and hauls its owner up after it.
And the Bloody Handed Prince does not look happy.
Spitting blood and dirt, the man snarls a silent challenge at the watching army as he hauls himself the rest of the way out of what they certainly intended to be his grave. Though he shows signs of damage, now, it is far less than anything anyone could reasonably predict for the level of punishment he just took. Really, it looks more like somebody belted him in the face with a board than shot him with several large cannons.
But then the One Eyed Man whips his blade across in front of him in a flat arc, and a bloody aura howls into being around him before tearing itself apart and lancing out towards his attackers in the form of several, rather large fireballs.
You miss Lord Genome with your BOOM baby! feint.
Not necessarily bigger than /him/, but oh, most certainly big enough to make his head stop being there.
...if he weren't invincible? What is this madness!? "S---sir!" squawks a creature on the mighty fortress-gunmen of General Thymilph the Crusher. "He's--"
"Hold," rumbles the massive gorilla-man. "Our lord will deal with this one personally."
"L--Lord Genome will enter battle!?" squeaks the beastman, who is met only by a cold glare from his commanding officer.
And far above, the window to the throne room of Teppelin slides open, and wind whips the mighty Spiral King's cloak as he stares down at the battle through the clouds.
And with a cold glare, he removes the knot holding his robe on, letting the garment fall aside, leaving him clad only in chest hair and breeches.
And then he jumps.
Gravity does as gravity must, and soon, soon Genome has split through the clouds, a spiral hole torn in the fluffy mass, and then he's falling, red spiral flames igniting atop his bald cranium as a maniac smile splits his features, and as the red star falls, fist cocked back to smash through Caim as Lord Genome lands, a word thunders across the plains:
"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!"
Lord Genome switches armor modes to Helix King.
Lord Genome fully heals Lord Genome with his A NEW CHALLENGER HAS ARRIVED action.
Lord Genome misses Caim with his wait he did what super.
All set to go charged straight at the lumbering battleship on feet, Caim suddenly pauses as he hears something. What... Glancing first to one side, then the other, whipping around in the closest he ever comes to a defensive stance, the man sees only beastmen and Ganmen, all holding back for some reason...
Barely in time, the One Eyed Man looks up, his expression startled, then dives to one side moments before becoming rather shorter thanks to the descending Helix King. Skidding to his feet at a reasonable distance, he whips his sword up in a guard, every motion speaking of decades of practice, battle skill honed to a razor edge in the furnace of combat. And though the creature before him is no stranger than some that he's faced, it does seem a touch more coherent. This makes it dangerous.
But Caim was never one to back down from a threat, and he soon lunges in, his warblade shrieking through the air in a monstrous two-handed overhead strike. This attack has halved men in full plate before, and Caim obviously intends to render this newest threat a null matter in record time, teeth bared in a silent howl of battlefury.
You critically strike Lord Genome with your CAIM SMASH attack.
Creature? Oh, but this is /human/, although perhaps only insofar as Caim himself can be said to be human anymore. Head burning with bright crimson flames of Spiral Power, the new combatant says, "You're quick on your feet," in a voice like thunder, and then is summarily cut right the hell in half by Caim's blade.
Well, that was quick.
...except it wasn't - the blade stuck halfway into his shoulder, the new monstrosity laughs, and cuts his palms open on it, getting a good, hard grip on the dark steel. "And your blade cuts with something unnatural. But you'll need better than that to best LORD GENOME!"
Lord Genome stuns Caim with his GRAB action.
And thundering this challenge, the Helix King RIPS THE SWORD OUT OF HIS BODY, uses his grip on it to swing Caim overhead, and proceeds to then hurl Caim right the hell downrange - toward the Gate he came in from, and with enough force for him to end up bouncing right out to some other Gate on the far side.
Lord Genome critically strikes Caim with his THROW attack.
You take 27 damage.
Sci-Fi Sector - Tokyo-03 -
In the mountains of a Japan of endless summer, a fortress city stands.
Located on the old site of Hakone, Tokyo-03 is the second city to replace the capital of Japan. Serving in large part as the support for the extralegal UN organization NERV, it is a modern city in the center, with wide streets and mysterious markings regarding the deployment of the Evangelions, based in the underground Geofront beneath the city streets.
On the outer reaches, older buildings stand, from the era before Second Impact, when this town was known for its tourist views and close access to Mt. Fuji. Further out from the city are roads, mountain forest, an unobtrusive network of radar and other monitoring outposts, and the scenic Lake Ashi.
During attacks - or at times, in order to test the systems and keep them functioning - most of the central city's buildings retract below ground level, sealed off by armored plates. What buildings remain are defense structures - launching heavy weapons or containing equipment for the Evangelions, the great machines that defend Tokyo-03.
The atmosphere in Tokyo-3 remains somewhat tense, with one of the Children missing, along with her Evangelion. Still, it has slackened a bit, given the two weeks of planning and testing that have been going on in preparation of the rescue mission. Of course, there is also the possibility that the rogue Meltrandi unit coming back to try to acquire the original target, Shinji. But no such things have happened, yet, thus....
Misato is in the control room again. Yes, on a Saturday. After all, she's a bit of a workaholic, and this involves Rei, to boot--someone she has grown quite attached to, over the years. So she toils away at running simulations on her computer. Most of the bridge staff is out, though on call. For now, it is quiet, save for the humming of the MAGI, and mutterings of NERV's chief tactical officer.
It's going to change, though, isn't it?
Caim's eyes show satisfaction as his sword bites home, then surprise as it not only does /not/ bisect his target, but gets used as a handle by said target. Unable to give voice to a surprised squawk, Caim settles for keeping a grip like stone on his sword's hilt, in turn being sent flying...
And bouncing off an unfamiliar patch of floor on the far side of a Gate, smashing right /through/ an intervening computer console, then skidding a good ways to eventually fetch up against a wall. He's a bit dazed at the moment, you see, having landed mostly on his head. Oof.
It doesn't take long, however, for the Pact Warrior to hoist himself to his feet, shaking his head to clear it and quickly looking about for his foe. That can't be the end of it...
The technological aspects of this location cause a brief pause in the maniac, though only that. It brings back memories of the hellcity at the heart of the Empire, back at his own home plane... Perhaps luckily for Misato, the man hasn't spotted her, or at least hasn't identified her as a threat. He's a little busy, y'see.
You buff your ACC to +1.
Misato Katsuragi -
The woman before you is tall and statuesque: a figure of strength as well as beauty. She has long, purple-black hair down just past her shoulders, straight except for the slight curl at the end and shiny. Her face is well-defined and pretty; quite prominent are her sharp, deep violet eyes that often crinkle in laughter, stare with piercing inquisitiveness, or glow with passion--whether love or anger. Her lips are pale and almost never found with cosmetic coloring on them. The line of her jaw is smooth and strong, leading down to the point of her chin.
She wears an ensemble of red and black--her daily NERV uniform. A short red leather jacket with black lines along the seams, insignia on the shoulders and over the left breast, indicate her rank of Major in that organization, as well as her position as command staff for the IPA, both in general and also as a member of the Black Sheep Squadron. If it is open, it reveals a plain black shirt, and a cross-shaped pendant on a leather thong around her neck. Sometimes, perched on her head is also a red beret, also with NERV and IPA markings on it.
A matching red skirt, fitted to her long legs, is held secure by a black leather belt with a circular gold buckle in front. The hem terminates a few inches above knee length, leaving much of her long legs bare except for translucent hose. There is also a slit cut in the back, to make for easier movement. Her ankles are covered by dark socks and the medium-height tops of a pair of black leather service-issue boots, lending both support and comfort for her day-to-day activities on the job.
And as Caim bounces through the Gate, a bellowing cackle rips through the air moments later, a thunderous, terribly amused roar, and then from NERV's pet Gate comes another figure - stalking through the holes Caim has made, with a sort of crazed, manic glee.
Finally, he emerges into the control center - bleeding from his hands and from a deep gouge in his shoulder, but there he stands - Lord Genome, his head ablaze with Spiral energy. His burning spiral-printed eyes dart to Misato, and he rumbles a simple, "Don't interfere," before striding toward Caim, spiral energy blossoming around his hands.
Lord Genome buffs his POW to +1.
And now, of course, the klaxons sound. Misato jerks up, looking around wildly. Are they back? Have they come for Shinji after all?
But the sensors indicate no giants stomping about in their powered suits and oversized flying transports. Only.... "Intruders?" she says, questioningly. Inside the Geofront? How'd that happen? There doesn't seem like any sort of major breach....
"OH HOLY CRAP WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" she yells, immediately drawing her sidearm and training it on Caim. Then Genome. Back to Caim. Damn, she needs more guns. "This is a restricted area!"
There he is.
Caim wastes no time, even if he had the ability to taunt and bellow threats. Instead, the man crouches slightly, boots seeking and finding traction on the floorplates. He shakes blood out of his eyes, spitting more of the same to the floor, though he doesn't look too terribly wounded. Misato's question is ignored, her gun is ignored, the siren is ignored. All that matters now is the challenge.
With an explosive lunge, Caim charges straight for the laughing behemoth moving towards him. As he enters attack range, however, the man drops a shoulder, sword swinging back out of the way as he seeks to quite simply ram into Lord Genome, enough force put behind that tackle to carry them both back through the Gate, should it connect.
You hit Lord Genome with your kerSHOVE attack.
"I am Lord Genome, the Spiral King," Lord Genome rumbles. "And this interloper has proven of some interest." His eyes dart up again, a look of utter disinterest on his face. "Don't interfere."
--and then Caim grips him, and tackles the both of them right back out the door!
"...oh. Well, damn. The Commander is not going to like this."
Cursing faintly, Misato reholsters her gun, staring at the trail of broken computer parts and walls left in the wake of the two brawlers. Even now, the rapid footsteps of security personnel running toward the scene can be heard. This may be a bit awkward. She sighs and turns toward the shouts of the men coming in. "It's all right, they're gone now," she calls out.
It'll be all right until Gendou hears about this, no doubt. Sigh. Spiral King. At least she's got that to report.
Sci-Fi Sector - Side 3 -
In the year Universal Century 0079, the orbital nation known as the Principality of Zeon declared its independence from the Earth Federation, prompting the devastating One Year War. Side 3 is the location of Zeon, at the second Lagrange Point (L2), placing it on the far side of the Moon and out of sight of the Earth. It consists of some hundreds of orbital colonies, and the asteroid space fortress A Bao A Qu.
Each colony is a large, cylindrical spacestation holding roughly a million people, powered by a mixture of nuclear and solar energy. Within each colony, cities can be found, complete with manufacturing and commercial elements. Following the destruction of the STMC War, Zeon has fallen under the democratic government of Darcia Bakharov. With Zeon and the Earth Federation largely depleted, they no longer are at war, but tensions remain high between the two countries.
And as the duo emerges into the cool, crisp(ly recycled) air of one of the many space colonies in orbit above this Earth, Genome is finally shaken loose from Caim's shoulder, bouncing down range and THROUGH several walls, landing in the end in...a Zaku hangar?
How distressing.
Genome rises, slowly, shakily, his head spinning. But then he sees Caim coming...and he must move fast. He looks around, and the Spiral King steps over to a support vehicle with a worried-looking engineer in it, whom Genome yanks out and tosses over to hang on the spikes of one of the mecha on the other end of the hangar. Then the Spiral Emperor flips the enormous jeep-based vehicle with one hand, grabs it by the drive shaft...
...and swings it right at the approaching Pact Man!
Lord Genome misses Caim with his FORE attack.
Lord Genome resets his buff status to neutral.
Caim loses his footing as the ground changes, the Spiral King on his shoulder flying away as he stumbles, catching himself with a wide-eyed look around at the new scenery. This just keeps getting weirder and we-- oh, he's still moving.
With a snarl, Caim charges after his opponent, using the freshly created holes as a handy path to his target, sword held low at his side to avoid clipping the walls and throwing his balance off, or slowing him down.
Sadly for Lord Genome, Caim's been on the receiving end of a car before, and sees this one coming. As the jeep-thing whips around, the Bloody Handed Prince's legs bunch, and he LEAPS up over the vehicle. This time, though, he doesn't employ his sword to attack, at least not at the moment. Instead, he aims to quite simply land on the Spiral King with a...
You hit Lord Genome with your Boot To The Head attack.
WHACK.
Lord Genome is sent flat by the impact of Caim's boots in his head, and after a moment, as the base goes quite completely insane from the fact that two warring demigods just tore into the Zaku hangars, he rises, rises...and gets shot a few times.
He rumbles, and gives Caim a crazed, pleased look. He seems to be completely ignoring the bullets. "Good..." he rumbles...and then without any further preface, he simply lashes out with a massive fist, aimed to punch a hole in Caim's...Caim.
It may or may not send him flying out of the base.
Lord Genome critically strikes Caim with his POONCH attack.
You take 43 damage.
Pushing off after feeling that satisfying jolt up his legs, Caim lands a brief ways off from Lord Genome... and promptly meets the business end of a rather large fist.
If he could, he'd swear. That HURT.
Instead, the Pact Warrior goes flying skywards, punching a new hole in the roof of the hangar and flying in a high arc. His landing is similarly spectacular, caving in a smallish building (probably a dwelling of some sort) and easily visible for some distance.
It takes a bit, but eventually Caim pushes his way out of the rubble, coughing blood and dust out of his lungs, shaking his head and staggering. That one /hurt/.
And, to make matters worse, he's lost sight of his adversary. Well, only one way to deal with that.
After making sure both his knees are still working, the One Eyed Man simply takes off running, back the way he came. He's not done with you yet, Genome!
You buff your POW to +1.
He doesn't have to wait long. Genome turns to regard the horrified soldiers for about ten seconds, then he leaps up and out of the hangar, taking off in massive leaps and bounds downrange in the direction of the dwelling, leaping, bounding, sprinting--
He hits the ground, tearing a hole in the roof of another home, ripping off chunks of the wall as he slides downward, and punching a hole in the living room as he torpedoes toward Caim, gripping the One-Eyed Prince as they collide and carrying him tunneling deep into the substructure of the mighty station!
They may or may not pass through a Gate as they go.
Lord Genome critically strikes Caim with his BONZAI attack.
You take 35 damage.
Sci-Fi Sector - Mount Kilimanjaro
When Jaburo was destroyed by the bombardment of the Space Terrible Monster Cloud, the Earth Federation was forced to relocate its central base. They elected to create a new base at Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. It is a large, broad mountain that provides an excellent defensive position. The base itself is well-defended by numerous Mobile Suits and ground-based batteries. The base is largely located on the mountain's side, but the summit does have a radar tower that is utilized to detect attacks from abroad.
The base's existence is the brainchild of General Jamitov Hyman, a soldier who rose to prominence during the One Year War and the STMC War. It is said that many of the staff here are more loyal to him and his extremist, anti-Colonial thinking than they are to the Earth Federation as a whole. This base is a symbol of his rise to power.
Caim, charging down a street with murder in his heart and blood in his eye, doesn't see the incoming Spiral Lord until it is far too late. Concrete, steel and ceramic all give way before the force and combined mass of the two combatants, and the transition to another world is almost unnoticed.
Slamming into the ground beneath Lord Genome, Caim pulls in a painful breath, forcing his ribcage to expand, abused flesh and a few fractured bones protesting the motion, but unable to withstand their master's commands. Without even bothering to rise, the Bloody Handed Prince lashes out with his free hand, still (somehow) clutching his sword in the other, and grabs his opponent rather unceremoniously by the chest hair.
And then the world goes mad.
All the fury and madness of a red dragon, chained to the Heart of a world by sorcery and pain, is suddenly channeled through her Pact Partner, a focused blast of rage and pain that takes physical form in a towering column of black and scarlet flames, howling in the voices of a thousand damned souls.
And, at the heart of it all, stands Caim, fire bleeding from his eyes as he staggers to his feet.
You hit Lord Genome with your AND HE SPAKE AS A DRAGON super.
You reset your buff status to neutral.
Genome releases Caim, planting two hands in the hard metal of Mount Kilimanjaro Base's Gate chamber floor -- and then his eyes widen, as he's gripped by the hair, and stares into Caim's face as the Bloody-Handed Prince...
Destroys him utterly.
For a second, it seems as though Caim has at last proven the victor.
But then, shortly after Caim rises, that boneless lump of a man plants his fists into the ground, Spiral Power boiling off of him in thick waves. The base screams out, klaxons roar and soldiers hasten to stop whatever insane invasion is going on...but Lord Genome rises, rises, and an enormous wave of Spiral Power washes out of his body, the Spiral Emperor hissing, "Such a powerful force! You'd surely destroy any lesser being with such hatred..." He takes one step forward...and another, and another yet. "But I am...NO SUCH MAN!!"
And with this roar thundering out, into the base from monitoring systems and causing lowly mortals to whimper in terror, Lord Genome's spiral energy gathers around his fist, forming a loose, rotating cloud around it.
And the Helix King thunders, "BURST! SPIRAL!! BREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!" as his fist flies forward toward Caim's chest, a focused discharge of Spiral energy that will very definitely send the man hurtling back out through the gate.
If Caim weren't Caim, it might also involve a significant loss of body mass.
Lord Genome hits Caim with his Oh Sh** He Broke Out The Attack Names super.
You take 60 damage.
You have been knocked out!
Sci-Fi Sector - Neviim -
Neviim is a massive Balmarian battle station, belonging to the breakaway division known as the Aerogaters. Called the White Star by the humans that it is attacking, this immense space fortress is a perfect sphere hanging in orbit around the Earth at L5. It is smooth from a distance, though lines of defense emplacements and hangars can be seen if one should get close enough.
The White Star is dangerous to approach, though. An immense fleet of Balmarian forces is there - ranging from battleships to bioroid-piloted mechs to combat drones. The inside, to make things even more disturbing, houses an earth-like environment, with flat plains and mountains. This is the nerve center of the Aerogater assault on the Earth.
It is a cold, clear late autumn's day and Izu Base is still on a state of high alert. With the recent incursions by members of the interplanar edition of the DC against various bases and landmarks, it is understandable that they'd have people at the ready for any..unexpected guests. Both those from above, below and beyond. All hands are on deck. And everyone gets drafted to pull watch at some point. Even those with assignments beyond the gate.
"This bites," sulks the blonde pilot as she directs the Weissritter through the air, following the route designated as part of EFA sweeps around the gate. "Couldn't they have gotten the Hiryuu crew to do this one..?" It's been quiet /all day/, and Excellen doesn't foresee this changing any time soon.
Oh, how little she knows.
As the last of that horrible blast dissipates, Caim staggers, catches himself with the point of his sword dug into the flooring beneath him, and pants painfully for a few moments.
But then Lord Genome moves.
Caim can only stare dumbstruck as what was left of the Spiral King pulls itself back together. He's so surprised he can't react fast enough to the attack, and takes it full in the chest. The blow is so powerful that he literally doesn't experience the Gate transition.
You must not die...
Caim exits the Gate at near terminal velocity, a spray of blood trailing behind him, tracing a crimson path from the Gate to where he slams to earth. Indeed, the base personnel might think a missile or canon-shot had come through the portal, so forceful is the man's impact upon the ground. In fact, it is only due to his preternatural durability that he is not reduced to a fine spray of viscera upon impact.
For one long moment, he lies still at the bottom of his crater. Completely still.
Then his eyes open.
Shattered stone and earth explode outwards with a thunderous roar as the Pact Warrior surges to his feet, fire fountaining from his wounds, eyes, mouth. Wounds that, miraculously, begin to close as he stands there, voicelessly howling his rage to the sky.
You fully heal Caim with your I FEED ON PAIN action.
You have been resurrected from knockout!
It is fully a minute after Caim arrives that the Gate ripples again, and this time something altogether slower emerges - although no less inhuman.
A monstrosity of a man, something on the order of seven feet tall, half that across - bulging with muscles and, perhaps more disturbing, roiling with some mysterious energy that sends every scanner, sensor, and radar haywire as it tries to process what in - or perhaps FROM - Hell has just arrived.
The tyrant of the Spiral Star spends no pleasantries upon the ignorant apes around him. He strides forward, unimpressed by Caim's shrieking bellow, undeterred by his thunderous roar. Spiral Power roils around his body, forming into the shape of drills. "Come at me again, boy!" Lord Genome thunders, ignoring the inevitable gunfire. "If that was enough to kill you, I'll be very disappointed!"
Lord Genome buffs his POW to +2.
Like a phoenix rising from a fire, Caim shakes off ash that used to be blood, his clothing ragged and rent but the flesh beneath whole and healthy. His fingers flex around the hilt of his warblade, the metal trailing a faint haze like heat-mirage as it moves through the air. He lifts his head, taking in a deep breath of the cool air. And then his eyes open.
The Bloody Handed Prince's lunge is so fast as to be nearly inhuman, a spray of dirt and small debris blasting up from where he was standing as he rushes towards the Spiral Lord, whipping his sword around in a series of quick slashes, one following the next in a blistering onslaught that, while not being the most elegant technique ever, has proven brutally effective in the past, largely making the space within Caim's forward arc extremely lethal to be around.
You juggle Lord Genome with your MAIM KILL BURN combo.
You juggle Lord Genome with your MAIM KILL BURN combo.
You juggle Lord Genome with your MAIM KILL BURN combo.
Lord Genome breaks your combo.
Lord Genome has been knocked out!
Lord Genome is prepared to employ his full force against Caim, simply crush the boy again until at last the Bloody-Handed Prince ceases to be--
--but then there is swords. Oh, so very much swords.
His gut is slit open, his head nearly sliced off - one of his arms dangles uselessly by his side, and then his other. Blood soaks the earth. For a moment, it seems at last that Caim may have truly destroyed the Spiral King once again...
Until that maniac grin comes back, stronger than ever. "Yeeeeeees..." he says. "That's the kind of power it needs to be! The kind of warrior I need! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
And it surges around him - a wave of Spiral Power erupting from every wound, crevice and pore in Lord Genome's battered body, streaking sheets of energy that shatters windows and detonates consoles.
And at the middle of it all, the madman himself - the spirals in his eyes burning a deadly red. "MORE," he demands.
Lord Genome fully heals Lord Genome with his RASEN NO CHIKARA action.
Lord Genome has been resurrected from knockout!
Lord Genome buffs his POW to +2.
The gate is not located directly within Izu Base itself, but close to the sheer expanses of tarmac and the many warehouses and buildings used for storage of weapons, mecha and equipment. Thus, when Caim first flies through and leaves an impressive impact mark, the gespents on site are already on the alert, and the ground crews approach with trepidation.
When Lord FLAMING SPIRAL KING OF DOOM steps through, however, whatever caution was initially in hand appears to fall to the wayside. Especially when the bloodied swordsman rises right back up and throws himself into the fray again, followed by yet more power rocketing off the charts.
You can practically see the HOT BLOOD mushroom cloud explosion from the other side of the base. Never mind Genome's light show. Excellen's jaw sags open slightly as the Weissritter's sensors relay the scene below, and the Gespensts on ground level are instantly armed and ready as the soldiers scramble to get away. Caim is not recognized, but the spirals remind the blonde of reports she's read in recent times, so this...Well, whatever this or that is, cannot be a good thing. Flicking on her radio to the general band, the Oxtongue rifle is hefted, locked and loaded.
You can't be too careful, after all.
If he wants more, he shall have it!
Caim has been known to lay waste to entire brigades purely with his sword and bare hands, leaving little but bloodied scraps of armor and smears of meat in his path. This one man, however, has managed to withstand his assault. Perhaps it's because he's so tall...
Regardless, Caim backs off briefly as Genome's power surges up, lifting a hand to shield his eyes... then snarls and rushes forward once more, sword set for a charge. It could be argued that Caim doesn't even notice the surrounding base, so focused on his target is he. His thrust, should it land, carries enough force to punch straight through an armored vehicle, and will be callously torn free from its fleshy target after the strike connects, a kick applied almost as an afterthought, to help shove the man off his blade.
You critically strike Lord Genome with your DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH attack.
The world goes mad. Of course everyone in the area is panicked, forces scrambling and preparing for a war against what for all the world would seem to be two furious demigods, intent on tearing each other apart forever.
And then Caim returns to the fore of battle, and Genome merely has the time to turn and stare straight at the Weissritter, his eyes burning, and bellow, "DO NOT INTERFERE, HUMAN!" before Caim runs him right through, the blade severing all sorts of important organs inside Genome's body...and then he's kicked back, back off the blade, tumbling to the ground. But he rises, once more, indestructible, and takes a few hard steps forward, before his eyes...travel up to the nearest Gespenst, and a mad sort of grin darkens his face. He spins, bounding away toward the mass-produced mecha, landing hard on its shoulder, gripping the arm with both hands, and quite simply TEARING IT OFF, before he then spins around and THROWS the detached limb straight downrange at Caim!
Lord Genome hits Caim with his BULLSEYE attack.
You take 30 damage.
Caim's satisfaction at spearing the Spiral Lord is short lived. What does it take to keep this guy down?! (like he has room to talk) If he could, Caim would probably be shouting some variant of "Come back here!" as Genome suddenly sprints away, charging after the man in a fury.
However, all this accomplishes is placing him squarely in the path of an oncoming mecha arm. Taken by surprise, Caim is knocked off his feet as the lump of metal impacts him and keeps moving. His sword spins off a brief ways, stabbing point-first into the tarmac and /sticking/ there as the Pact Warrior skids to a halt under the severed Gespenst arm.
...oh that's it.
Fingers like steel sink into the ragged end of the severed arm, and Caim lurches to his feet. He dropped his sword. That's a point for you. But you gave him a new weapon in the process.
And a big, metal fist is headed right for your head, Genome.
You miss Lord Genome with your WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM PUUUUUUUUUUUUNCCCHHHHHHHHHH!!! attack.
Don't interfere?! <> the Weissritter's pilot exclaims, frowning at the reply and ignoring the idle chatter of children on the Citizen's Band. <>
The screech of metal and the sight of the Spiral King literally rending steel limb from mechanical body is a thing to behold, and the gespenst that suffers such indignity tilts as it attempts to retreat, as much out of shock of the pilot as it is physics at work. "Holy..!" No gods involved here, though command on deck are already recalling troops to get back.
Except Excellen, who splutters at the orders relayed to her and the Weissritter retreats -- but only a little, taking a higher vantage point. She's already started recording the fight below. If nothing else, this might be of interest to members of the IPA..
Lord Genome stands there, arms crossed. "Dropped your sword?" he laughs. "About time, boy! Good tenacity..."
...and then there's a mecha fist coming at him. Hmm!
Another blast of Spiral Power rips out of Genome's body, and then the titanic Lord of Teppelin swings an arm backward, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" howls a battlecry, and then smashes his fist right into the incoming mecha projectile.
Caim's thrown fist shatters like glass.
And Lord Genome bounds down from the Gespenst, steps toward Caim, and thunders, "Take the fight elsewhere? I suppose, boy--"
And then his hand reaches out for Caim's neck.
"That we have no choice!!"
And if he gets hold, he will very simply pick up and THROW Caim right the hell back through the Gate.
Don't worry, he'll grab Caim's sword on the way out.