Kite of the Azure Flame (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
triedged) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
mutantsgohome2011-12-27 04:09 am
triedged) wrote in mutantsgohome2011-12-27 04:09 am
Entry tags:
Pit of Fears [ALTERNATE END]
As far as events go, it was one of the larger-scale ones. The mansion transforming into a ship turned out to be only half the experience. Up until that point, Kite’s scanners hadn’t picked up any significant anomalies. The jarring crash opened a new area to them—a vast and barren red wasteland. ‘Mars’ was what some had started calling it. The AI filed that information away.
From the ship his scanners still detected nothing of interest, but the area was large. Kite wasn’t the type to cut corners; with a flash of azure flame, his PC was compacted into a ball of light, and the AI floated outside to investigate. Just like routine scan in ‘The World’, only no viruses and potentially more dangerous… potentially. There was always a chance nothing would happen, but he couldn’t be sure. Not knowing was what worried him most. Would he be prepared for what was out there? Would there be anything at all? His processors outputted the data for frowning, though his PC lacked the form to express it. Nonetheless, the intention was there. The thought of being unprepared, or worse, being unable to protect others…
A faint signal pinged on his scanners. Suspending his thought process, Azure Kite zeroed in on the area. His compact form eventually floated it’s way towards what appeared to be a staircase into the ground, wisps of faint smoke rising from around the hole like it was just created. In another burst of flames, his PC materialized, hovering in front of the pit.
But as strange as the smoking hole with the staircase was, the signal he detected was further in. The AI stared into the darkness below. There was something there, he was sure of that, but he couldn’t get a visual at this distance… there was only one option. The knight descended the staircase.
The hole was deep. It wasn’t long before the light from above was too distant to illuminate the path. Fortunately, Kite had a pretty reliable method of night vision in that his eyes literally glowed on command. As the tunnel’s entrance grew smaller, the signal ahead grew stronger. By the time the light above was barely a speck in the darkness, the AI reached the end of the staircase.
Azure Kite let his feet touch the ground, his footsteps echoing throughout the dark corridor. The signal was still further in, but it was so close now. It seemed so familiar now, like he had traced this signal before… and while normally he would dismiss that as illogical, this was Wonderland. ‘Logical’ was the last thing this place was. It was entirely possible this was an entity he had encountered before. He filed that thought away and progressed forward. Whatever this thing was, it was here.
The tunnel was quiet and cold. Empty. The only sound was his own breathing and footsteps. There was a chill in the air and it unnerved him greatly. There was something wrong about this place, and the closer he got to the signal, the stronger the feeling became. But the Azure Knight marched forward. He couldn’t turn back, not until his investigation was over. He drew his blades to comfort his rising fear. He wasn’t going to let anything defeat him, and he wasn’t going to let himself fail. Not this time, and not ever!
It was when he paused to draw his weapons that he noticed the signal was moving. He quickly scanned the area. The tunnel seemed to have bulged into a large room where he had stopped, but the signal was still further away…
It was… through the wall?
Kite scanned again. Sure enough, the signal he was following seemed to be on the other side of the northern wall—and closing in fast. He held his weapons at his sides, approaching cautiously.
A loud note resonated throughout the room. Kite froze, he knew that sound—
Black dots pooled out of the wall, bubbling along the floor. Kite’s eyes lit up, his grip tightening on Empty Skies. ‘That virus’. No wonder it was so familiar, but why was it here?!
He quickly rolled to the side, dodging a stream of the viral dots as they spread across the room. When the dots came at him again, he met the stream with his blade, piercing the wave and scattering it. His eyes narrowed. He could handle this, no problem. This was what the AI was created to do. It was just like a routine scan in ‘The World’. Even without Balmung or Orca to support him, he could defeat something as simple as a common… ‘virus’.
But his swords seemed to have little effect. It was strange, but nothing to worry about yet. He still had his Bracelet. Sometimes stronger ‘viruses’ had resistance to regular attacks, so it was entirely possible that…
The dots started to retreat, moving out of his range though still staying within sight. Now, this was extremely odd. He held his defensive position warily. Why would the virus…?
The signal… there was still something coming. Kite turned slowly to the wall where the virus emerged, and where ‘it’ was now emerging.
Two bright orange lights, like a pair of eyes… or a pair of glasses.
Kite’s scanners went haywire. He knew that PC, that strain of the virus, that signal—
“Ovan!” The AI roared, and before the Steam Gunner could emerge completely Kite charged, azure flames blazing around him.
The sharp black limb was in front of him before he could react. Kite was sent flying, skidding across the room as he landed roughly. The AI hissed and jumped back onto his feet. He couldn’t leave room for error this time, if this was really Ovan—
Two steam bullets slammed into his chest, knocking the AI to the ground again. Goddamnit that guy was fast. The black dots swarmed around his PC, but he shook them off with his twin blades as he rose. As soon as he was back up, Ovan was on him, slicing across the AI with his bladed arm. It cut through his clothing, burning a deep scar into his chest. Kite howled with pain. He raised his weapons to counter, but Ovan was already gone—and barely a second later the Gunner was behind him, firing another bullet straight into his back. The AI collapsed.
Gritting his teeth, willing the pain away, Kite tried to get up again. A heavy boot pinned him down, pushing his face into the dirt.
“Is that really all you’ve got, Pursuer? I expected a bit more challenge, even from you.”
Kite growled, turning his head to look up at the infected player with one azure eye. Ovan was smiling, his glasses reflecting an ominous light.
“Or… is it you’ve become weaker? You even lost to Haseo… or am I wrong?”
The Gunner’s words made the AI boil with rage, but he bit his tongue (it was painful). No, he wouldn’t give in to this man, he would win! …Although, the current situation was quite grim…
Ovan snickered. “Pathetic. I’m wasting my time with you. Can you do anything right, Pursuer?”
Kite flinched. He was… No. It was just a trick to distract him, he wouldn’t let it work. Maybe if he acted quickly, he could knock Ovan off him and—
“How many times have I defeated you now? Three times? Four?” The Epitaph User paused, waiting for Kite’s confirmation. The AI stayed silent. But it was three times, he had the records up now. It would only be four if he lost today, but he wouldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t let himself fail! “These disputes of ours are becoming quite tedious… perhaps it’s time I ended this.”
The steel of the bayonet was cold as ice against his skin. The edge of the blade was placed against his neck. The foot pushed harder against his back. He couldn’t move. Even if he could, what could he do? Ovan was too fast, and too strong, and with Tri-Edge…
Kite’s eyes were wide. He was shaking. He was terrified. He didn’t want to die, not like this! This time, there was no one to save him or pull his data back together if he came apart. He couldn’t escape. He was going to die.
He could feel the black dots surrounding him, piling up around his body as Ovan trailed his infected third arm across the AI’s back. Kite whimpered. This is it. Even if Ovan didn’t finish him off, the virus would. He could already feel it eating away at his defences…
“So long, Pursuer.”
He clamped his eyes shut.
The blade sliced down.
It was hours before Kite came to. Ovan was gone. The virus was gone. It was just him, lying on the cold floor in the darkness.
His body was sore all over. He felt like he’d been hit by several trains… but there was no trace of the virus anywhere. His injuries were gone, though he could still feel the lingering pain where he had been struck. Slowly, the AI sat up. He touched his face—it was damp, like he had been crying… but there was no one here. Had it all been an illusion?
Suddenly, there was laughter echoing throughout the room. His laughter.
Kite scrambled to his feet, scanning the room. There was nothing there. But he could still hear the laughter—getting closer, louder—was that the signal?!
The AI ran. He didn’t look back, he just ran as fast as he could, charging back the way he came. The laughter, Ovan’s laughter, didn’t stop until he reached the stairs, and even then it was still ringing in the back of his mind the whole way up. He didn’t stop running when he reached the surface, either. Only when the smoking tunnel was far out of his sights did he finally stop, slowing to a halt before collapsing to his knees.
His processors told him it couldn’t have been real. It was an illusion created by Wonderland, by the event… but he could still remember the cold steel against his neck, and the burning of the virus as it devoured his PC.
From the ship his scanners still detected nothing of interest, but the area was large. Kite wasn’t the type to cut corners; with a flash of azure flame, his PC was compacted into a ball of light, and the AI floated outside to investigate. Just like routine scan in ‘The World’, only no viruses and potentially more dangerous… potentially. There was always a chance nothing would happen, but he couldn’t be sure. Not knowing was what worried him most. Would he be prepared for what was out there? Would there be anything at all? His processors outputted the data for frowning, though his PC lacked the form to express it. Nonetheless, the intention was there. The thought of being unprepared, or worse, being unable to protect others…
A faint signal pinged on his scanners. Suspending his thought process, Azure Kite zeroed in on the area. His compact form eventually floated it’s way towards what appeared to be a staircase into the ground, wisps of faint smoke rising from around the hole like it was just created. In another burst of flames, his PC materialized, hovering in front of the pit.
But as strange as the smoking hole with the staircase was, the signal he detected was further in. The AI stared into the darkness below. There was something there, he was sure of that, but he couldn’t get a visual at this distance… there was only one option. The knight descended the staircase.
The hole was deep. It wasn’t long before the light from above was too distant to illuminate the path. Fortunately, Kite had a pretty reliable method of night vision in that his eyes literally glowed on command. As the tunnel’s entrance grew smaller, the signal ahead grew stronger. By the time the light above was barely a speck in the darkness, the AI reached the end of the staircase.
Azure Kite let his feet touch the ground, his footsteps echoing throughout the dark corridor. The signal was still further in, but it was so close now. It seemed so familiar now, like he had traced this signal before… and while normally he would dismiss that as illogical, this was Wonderland. ‘Logical’ was the last thing this place was. It was entirely possible this was an entity he had encountered before. He filed that thought away and progressed forward. Whatever this thing was, it was here.
The tunnel was quiet and cold. Empty. The only sound was his own breathing and footsteps. There was a chill in the air and it unnerved him greatly. There was something wrong about this place, and the closer he got to the signal, the stronger the feeling became. But the Azure Knight marched forward. He couldn’t turn back, not until his investigation was over. He drew his blades to comfort his rising fear. He wasn’t going to let anything defeat him, and he wasn’t going to let himself fail. Not this time, and not ever!
It was when he paused to draw his weapons that he noticed the signal was moving. He quickly scanned the area. The tunnel seemed to have bulged into a large room where he had stopped, but the signal was still further away…
It was… through the wall?
Kite scanned again. Sure enough, the signal he was following seemed to be on the other side of the northern wall—and closing in fast. He held his weapons at his sides, approaching cautiously.
A loud note resonated throughout the room. Kite froze, he knew that sound—
Black dots pooled out of the wall, bubbling along the floor. Kite’s eyes lit up, his grip tightening on Empty Skies. ‘That virus’. No wonder it was so familiar, but why was it here?!
He quickly rolled to the side, dodging a stream of the viral dots as they spread across the room. When the dots came at him again, he met the stream with his blade, piercing the wave and scattering it. His eyes narrowed. He could handle this, no problem. This was what the AI was created to do. It was just like a routine scan in ‘The World’. Even without Balmung or Orca to support him, he could defeat something as simple as a common… ‘virus’.
But his swords seemed to have little effect. It was strange, but nothing to worry about yet. He still had his Bracelet. Sometimes stronger ‘viruses’ had resistance to regular attacks, so it was entirely possible that…
The dots started to retreat, moving out of his range though still staying within sight. Now, this was extremely odd. He held his defensive position warily. Why would the virus…?
The signal… there was still something coming. Kite turned slowly to the wall where the virus emerged, and where ‘it’ was now emerging.
Two bright orange lights, like a pair of eyes… or a pair of glasses.
Kite’s scanners went haywire. He knew that PC, that strain of the virus, that signal—
“Ovan!” The AI roared, and before the Steam Gunner could emerge completely Kite charged, azure flames blazing around him.
The sharp black limb was in front of him before he could react. Kite was sent flying, skidding across the room as he landed roughly. The AI hissed and jumped back onto his feet. He couldn’t leave room for error this time, if this was really Ovan—
Two steam bullets slammed into his chest, knocking the AI to the ground again. Goddamnit that guy was fast. The black dots swarmed around his PC, but he shook them off with his twin blades as he rose. As soon as he was back up, Ovan was on him, slicing across the AI with his bladed arm. It cut through his clothing, burning a deep scar into his chest. Kite howled with pain. He raised his weapons to counter, but Ovan was already gone—and barely a second later the Gunner was behind him, firing another bullet straight into his back. The AI collapsed.
Gritting his teeth, willing the pain away, Kite tried to get up again. A heavy boot pinned him down, pushing his face into the dirt.
“Is that really all you’ve got, Pursuer? I expected a bit more challenge, even from you.”
Kite growled, turning his head to look up at the infected player with one azure eye. Ovan was smiling, his glasses reflecting an ominous light.
“Or… is it you’ve become weaker? You even lost to Haseo… or am I wrong?”
The Gunner’s words made the AI boil with rage, but he bit his tongue (it was painful). No, he wouldn’t give in to this man, he would win! …Although, the current situation was quite grim…
Ovan snickered. “Pathetic. I’m wasting my time with you. Can you do anything right, Pursuer?”
Kite flinched. He was… No. It was just a trick to distract him, he wouldn’t let it work. Maybe if he acted quickly, he could knock Ovan off him and—
“How many times have I defeated you now? Three times? Four?” The Epitaph User paused, waiting for Kite’s confirmation. The AI stayed silent. But it was three times, he had the records up now. It would only be four if he lost today, but he wouldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t let himself fail! “These disputes of ours are becoming quite tedious… perhaps it’s time I ended this.”
The steel of the bayonet was cold as ice against his skin. The edge of the blade was placed against his neck. The foot pushed harder against his back. He couldn’t move. Even if he could, what could he do? Ovan was too fast, and too strong, and with Tri-Edge…
Kite’s eyes were wide. He was shaking. He was terrified. He didn’t want to die, not like this! This time, there was no one to save him or pull his data back together if he came apart. He couldn’t escape. He was going to die.
He could feel the black dots surrounding him, piling up around his body as Ovan trailed his infected third arm across the AI’s back. Kite whimpered. This is it. Even if Ovan didn’t finish him off, the virus would. He could already feel it eating away at his defences…
“So long, Pursuer.”
He clamped his eyes shut.
The blade sliced down.
It was hours before Kite came to. Ovan was gone. The virus was gone. It was just him, lying on the cold floor in the darkness.
His body was sore all over. He felt like he’d been hit by several trains… but there was no trace of the virus anywhere. His injuries were gone, though he could still feel the lingering pain where he had been struck. Slowly, the AI sat up. He touched his face—it was damp, like he had been crying… but there was no one here. Had it all been an illusion?
Suddenly, there was laughter echoing throughout the room. His laughter.
Kite scrambled to his feet, scanning the room. There was nothing there. But he could still hear the laughter—getting closer, louder—was that the signal?!
The AI ran. He didn’t look back, he just ran as fast as he could, charging back the way he came. The laughter, Ovan’s laughter, didn’t stop until he reached the stairs, and even then it was still ringing in the back of his mind the whole way up. He didn’t stop running when he reached the surface, either. Only when the smoking tunnel was far out of his sights did he finally stop, slowing to a halt before collapsing to his knees.
His processors told him it couldn’t have been real. It was an illusion created by Wonderland, by the event… but he could still remember the cold steel against his neck, and the burning of the virus as it devoured his PC.