Written by The Watcher 04-09-2002 08:48 PM
As The Inevitable lurched helplessly in space, Captain Vormeld realized it was the end. The Battlegroup had failed in every attempt to destroy the primary target, and even their last ditch suicide gambit had been in vain. Now as the Death From Above and the Correllian Corvette closed in for the kill, there was only one choice left. He flicked on the intercom.
"All hands abandon ship. All hands abandon ship. Proceed your designated shuttle or lifepod."
He then got out of his chair and stepped down to the Helm.
"Lt. you heard my order. Go!"
"But what about you sir?"
"Someone has to keep them busy till while everyone else lands on the surface. I'm the captain. I'm going down with the ship."
At this, the bridge crew saluted their captain and then marched orderly off the bridge. Captain Vormeld divided his time between the helm and weapon stations, trying keep their strongest remaining shields between the Inevitable and her attackers while pouring down as much punishment on both ships as he could. If they were going to take his ship he was going to make sure they paid an expensive price.
"So this is how my first command ends. And it looked so promising when I got it. Oh well, at least I made captain."
Meanwhile, down below in the corridors of the ship Jada and Shadowstalker fought a furious battle, heedless of the klaxons and evacuating crew. Shadowstalker tried strangling Jada with animated cables only to have his attempt disrupted as she slammed him into a bulkhead. Jada tried to compel Shadowstalker to sleep, only to have her commands lost in the whirl of his chaotic mind. Shadowstalker tried to surprise Jada by jumping from shadow to shadow, only to meet punches and kicks as she sensed where he'd emerge.
As combat went on each attempted to gain the upper hand, only to be checked by the other. It seemed they were evenly matched. But still they fought on, determined to gain the slight advantage that would break the stalemate and give them victory.
Written by Nobody 04-10-2002 02:13 PM
Very well, cease fire. If they wish to land on Ravenloft, that's there problem...
Yes Sir.
Open Hailing frequency's.
Yes Sir.
This Is the Correlian Corvette SSBKOA. If you wish to preserve the lives of you and your crew, we will accept your unconditional surrender. Upon recieving such, you will be returned to your di-mention of orgin. Understand failure to comply will result in the vaporization of your ship, and the strandin g of your crew on that cursed planet below. They will be quite unprepared for the horors that await them there...
Written by The Watcher 04-10-2002 04:41 PM
"This is Captain Vandar Vormeld of the ISD Intrepid. I hereby offer our surrender in exchange for the return to the Empire you have offered. All Ties are ordered to stand down. All shuttles are to retrieve the lifepods immediately and return them to the hangar deck."
Written by Nobody 04-10-2002 05:02 PM
*Nobody waved at T-DOT, who closed the channel.*
Hmmm... This is going to be a test... While theoretically I ought to be able to port it back, In practice the biggest thing I've done was this Corvette... Oh well... I wonder what off-branch of Star Wars they came from... Hmmmm... Stand by, T-DOT. I'm taking an R2 unit with me for a little recon...
YOU. C10-R2, your with me... *The acknowledged droid dutifly rolls over*
Good... *Nobody and droid disappear*
Written by Mg_knt 04-09-2002 09:03 PM
Written by Ramz 04-09-2002 09:15 PM
Pun Ramz finally made it to the dark temple, his plan was falling into play accordingly; with all these distraction he would go unnoticed to the dark lady and her minions. Combining the most powerful charm spells and the force, he was undetectable. His one main goal in this accursed world was to destroy all evil, he sensed inside a struggle between two his doppelganger call ally and friend. He was sure they were here to put an end to the dark ladies evil schemes, from what he remembered from them, both had quite formidable power, perhaps if he persuaded them to help destroy her, the task would be accomplished with much less grief... for though he was powerful beyond most of this realms wildest dreams, he was in her domain, and here, she ruled.
"yes I will seek these two out and ask for aid... though I am not cowardly, I know my limitations, and in her realm, she has none."
Written by The Watcher 04-09-2002 09:40 PM
As the Watcher trudged down the road he eventually began to hear the roar of a river and smelt a coppery odor. He used his powers to look ahead and saw a great red colored river. A bridge spanned the river, and beyond that a barren wasteland. Standing at the head of the river stood a female figure, half her face that of a beautiful maiden and the other half featureless. Seeing this possible avenue out of the void, the Watcher opened a gate to the bridge, and stepped through.
"Excuse me maam, I'm lost. Where am I? And how would I get to Asgard from here?"
"You can not get to Asgard from here. As for this place, you are in Hel."
"Hell?"
"No, Hel. Hela will receive you in the Palace Eljundir."
She points to a majestic hall in the distance.
"Ummm, that sounds good, but I think I'll take a raincheck. I've got some friends to find."
"But it's traditional. Hela always greets new citizens with a banquet to suit their station."
"Well, you see, I'm really not a..."
Just then the Watcher is interupted by a shout from atop the towering hall.
"Up here my guest!"
The Watcher saw Hela beckoning him, and decided to head her way. He had no other choice. He probably couldn't get out of Hel with his powers, and if he snubbed her invitation it might offend her. And the last thing he wanted to do is offend a god. Especially one of Death. Who knows, maybe if he played his cards right he could get her to let him out. And if not, he could always run later. He decided to try diplomacy first, and opened a gate to the banquet above.
Written by Tanith 04-10-2002 12:15 AM
Mg Knight finally kicked open the door his instincts were leading him towards. He walked into the dimly-lit room, his eyes scanning the surroundings alertly. But... there was no one there. Mg Knight frowned. Someone was toying with him, and someone would pay...
Suddenly, he heard a footstep behind him. He whirled around, bringing his Desert Eagle to bear on the intruder, and found himself staring at a confused and bumbling Cheeks. For a moment, he was sorely tempted to blast away his people who very much resembled an attempted terrorist back on Earth Prime. However, he recognized this Cheeks as the mostly harmless double of the one he knew. Grumbling, he lowered the gun.
By this time, Cheeks had noticed Mg Knight, and stepped forward, undoubtedly to make some lighthearted remark. However, his attention was caught by a movement in the shadows behind Mg Knight.
Noticing Cheeks' distraction, Mg Knight turned around once more. But he was too late, as both he and Cheeks were suddenly assaulted by a dark and powerful sound. Siren, the crystal-borne pokemon, had risen out of the shadows in the room, unleashing its corrupting voice upon the hapless duo. Neither had the powers nor the preparation to resist, and both eventually succumbed to the thrall of the creature.
A long while later, Siren disappeared back into the shadows once more. It left behind in the room two large crystalline chambers, one a dull yellow, and one an dark grey, both pulsing with the dark powers that flowed through them.
Written by Tanith 04-09-2002 06:37 PM
*CLANG!*
*BUMP*
Tanith winced as she was pressed into the corridor wall, then rolled away from Shadow-Genma. As she faced her opponent once more, she could feel her breath coming in short gasps. In her hands, she held the sentient sword Need, which she had pulled from her subspace pocket the moment SG rushed her with its giant black crystal broadsword. She winced as she parried and then dodged another attack, feeling her arms grow heavier by the moment.
If it were not for the special properties of Need she would not have survived the first rush. However, she had willingly surrendered control over her autonomous reflexes to the sentient sword, allowing *it* to fight through her. She herself, however, did not have much combat training at all, much less sword training. For the tenth time in the battle, she was thankful for Need's own fighting abilities.
"You shouldn't be tiring this quickly," Need informed her telepathically.
"I know," Tanith replied mentally to her sword, "something from outside is tampering."
"Or someone," added Need.
Tanith was too busy reeling from the next hit to reply. As she fought, her mind searched furiously through her memories of her sorcery training on Eriondis. But so far neither she nor Need (who was a competent mage itself), nor even the mini-effector in her suit could affect the shadow-creature much... or, at least, it kept going despite their efforts.
She knew there was a way to dissipate it. Polgara had spoken of the Grolim shadow tricks with disgust and condescention. However, the only story she could remember was Belgarion's confrontation with a Grolim-shadow. Unfortunately, Belgarion was very vague in describing what he did - he always was. Besides, he had the Light Prophecy whispering directions in his ear at the time, as well as the Orb of Aldur to draw upon. She had neither.
Tanith winced again as she realized she was going to have to wing it. Taking a deep breath, she gave a few mental orders to Need. Reluctantly, the sentient sword agreed to the risky plan.
With a mental shove, Tanith sent the black crystal sword flying out of SG's hand. Before it could recall the blade (as it did before), she plunged Need into the center of its body. Immediately, Need began to work the most powerful of her sealing and dispelling spells. At the same time, Tanith reached up with her other hand to touch SG's forehead. Her hand immediately sank into the shadowy substance that made up the creature. She did not notice, having half closed her eyes in concentration. She gathered her Will, formed it within her mind, and released it into the creature.
An eternity later... or perhaps merely a moment... there was nothing. Then, the shadow that looked like Genma seemed to stretch... and stretch... and stretch...
In the next instant, several things happened in disjointed order...
...Jaffa finally burst through the wall, the mangled remains of a terminator unit in his hand...
...With a bright flash of light and an audible *SNAP* the shadow creature disappeared...
...Jaffa shielded his eyes from the flash and shook his head to clear it...
...Tanith fell to the floor in exhaustion...
...shadow-Jaffa materialized in the room...
...Jaffa's vision cleared just in time to see a shadow-creature that looked just like him beginning its attack...
Written by Jaffa 04-10-2002 05:58 AM
Only Jaffa's combat conditioning saved his life as the crystal sword the creature thrust at him stopped an inch from his face. At that moment, Jaffa was more thankful for the hours spent training with KrispyKreme and Ramz than ever.
A TK thrust then sent the shadow flying at the wall. However, the wall and the creature never connected. When the shadow levitated safely back to the ground, Jaffa recognized it for what it was. "You. You have something that belongs to me." The dark sword the creature had dropped, flew through the air and pierced the abomination's body. "I think I'll take it back now."
"No", the shadow replied. "We were one once, but not any more. I have no desire to return to you." It pulled the sword out of it's chest effortlessly. "There is no pain, no responsibility. I rather like it." v "You're a slave", Jaffa pointed out. "And whether you like it or not, I'll reclaim you."
"Slavery can be... liberating. You sould try it sometime, you might like it." The shadow said, sending it's own telekinesis against Jaffa's force field. "And you cannot win, anyway. I will kill you in Tanith's name."
Jaffa knew that the creature was right. If the sorcerers and mages he had spoken to had been unanimous of one thing, it was that physical force wasn't enough to kill the shadows. He could spend an eternity fighting it, but eventually he would get tired and lose.
Jaffa slammed the creature brutally through the doorway he had made for himself. At least he could lead the creature away from Tanith before doing what he had to do.
"We'll see about that, shadow", he said. "If you want to kill me, you need to catch me first!" That said, he took off.
Meanwhile outside the castle the fighting superhumans and monsters witnessed the Lady's castle roof blow up, and a man, followed by a shadowlike figure, fly up towards the skies.
Written by Tanith 04-10-2002 11:14 AM
During the fight with shadow-Genma, the pokeball holding BWMT fell out of Tanith's pocket, and through a series of cartoon-physics coincidences, it eventually landed in some unused magic workshop/lab...
Written by Z-man 04-10-2002 09:32 AM
In the labratory outside, a small ray of red light came out of the pokeball. A small creature stood in the lab. There was more than one Pokemon trainer who feared this beast more than any other.
"Psy?" Psyduck said, looking confused.
Finally he waddled over to the Pokeball and tapped it's release button. BlackWarMewtwo was flung out with such force that he was once agained rendered unconscious.
"Psy?" Psyduck asked to the unconscious form. He tapped BlackWarMewtwo's side a bit with his hands. Finally, Psyduck got tired and began to waddle towards the bridge of the ship, tumbling somersaults with every turn of the ship. "Psy-yi-yi-yi-yi! Duck."
Written by The Watcher 04-10-2002 11:27 AM 04-10-2002 01:47 PM
As M-Cheeks lay in his crystal prison, barely conscious, he noticed something odd. While the crystal was changing him physically, his mind remained his own. He wondered why this was so. Then his mind flashed back to something the boss had told him.
| Meddler, quote: The psi blocker I had surgically implanted in you should see to that. And if that doesn't protect you, the magic resistance charms I picked up for you on Sigil should. |
That must be it, he thought. The magic resistance charms he had been given by the Meddler were somehow interfering with his metamorphasis. The Temptress' power was too strong here for them to stop it entirely, but they were at least keeping his mind his own. Now the only thing he had to do is wait to be released.
Written by CheeksTheToyWonder 04-10-2002 01:51 PM
Written by Mg_knt 04-10-2002 11:59 PM
Written by Jaffa 04-11-2002 12:33 AM
Jaffa flew out of the thick layer of clouds surrounding ravenloft and into the sunlight. Still, he didn't stop. If he wanted to reclaim his shadow, he had to be as far from shadows as possible.
Written by The Watcher 04-11-2002 01:01 AM
Then Darth Jada decided to attempt something she'd contemplated hypothetically but never tried before. She opened herself up to her opponent's Darkside, linking them both in an unholy union of souls. Then, with all of her will, she attempted to drain his very lifeforce through that link, consuming all his power and energy.
Written by Jaffa 04-11-2002 01:12 AM
The shadowy tendrils reached out of Shadowstalker, piercing Jada's physical body as well as her mind. Jada screamed in agony as the shadow that now connected them wriggled it's way inside her.
Written by The Watcher 04-11-2002 01:24 AM
Written by Tanith 04-11-2002 01:25 AM
He paused as he passed by an ordinary door, hearing a pulsing sound from behind it. He walked in, and found himself in a room with two large crystalline chambers. As he peered into the crystals, he could vaguely make out humanoid shapes within. BWMT pondered what he should do. Finally, his lust for power overcame his caution, and he took out two of the most powerful destuctive spells he had.
He stood back to the doorway and cast the spells, ready to duck any debris that came his way. To his surprise, the crystals did not shatter, but opened wide with large cracks. The occupants within immediately fell out onto the floor, dazed and struggling. BWMT recognized one of them as Cheeks, and the other seemed vaguely familiar also.
Before he could move towards them, however, he heard a yell behind him. Twisting around, he barely had time to erect a telekinetic shield before a large ki-blast slammed into it.
Ramz had arrived. And he did *not* look happy.
Meanwhile, unnoticed by all in the room, the two cracked crystal chambers slowly sank into the dark marble floor. In the ruckus that followed, neither Cheeks nor Mg Knight noticed that their shadows seemed less than it should be.
Written by Ramz 04-11-2002 08:41 AM
Written by Tanith 04-11-2002 02:53 PM
Tanith walked alone through the dark hallways of the Black Tower. She berated herself for not recognizing the familiarity of certain features of the tower, though perhaps the shadow-Genma creature had something to do with that. But now, she realized that the Black Tower bore a startling similarity to both Torak's fortress in Cthol Mishrak and the Mallorean capitol of Mal Zeth.
Tanith shook her head ruefully, and wondered what possessed her double to try and mix the most forboding and the most glorious cities in Eriondis together. But that wasn't important now. Stopping her mirror self was. And Tanith was almost certain that the way to her lay beyond the myriad of illusions and traps of the Tower... to where the corridors began to resemble the lost temple of Korim.
Against the instincts and whispers that screamed to her mind to seek another path, Tanith continued on. She was sure that of all those who have entered the Black Tower, she was the only one who had seen the holy temple in Korim, the Place that Was No More. Silently, she thanked her old teacher in sorcery, Belgarath, for dragging her on that world tour of Eriondis early in her tutelage. The knowledge was coming in very useful now.
Written by Nobody 04-11-2002 04:42 PM
Odd, they're from a Star Wars in which a D-gater with an gotee led them to victory against the Rebels?? Oh well... I guess That's where They'll head back to. However, I really should make some inquries when I get back to EP...
* after the last lifepods were recovered*
Alright, looks like there ready to go... Hmmmph we'll see if they can find they're way back from here...
*The Star Destroyer vanishs*
It's a little off their beaten path, but they should be able to find there way to Courscant from there... T-DOT, resmue bombardment on Ravenloft's mist, we Must penetrate it long enough to send a rescue team down... Preferably capable of steralizing the place... *Nobody grins tiredly*
Yes, Sir...
Thank you...
Written by Jaffa 04-11-2002 05:08 PM
All contingecies had already gone straight to Hell, so he just stumbled onwards, hoping to find something or someone he could use.
Written by Jaffa 04-11-2002 08:19 PM
The Shadow-Jaffa followed it's former template, shrieking of rage, but failing to shorten the distance between them a bit. They were evenly matched. Every now and then telekinetic tugs and blows were exchanged, but neither combatant could gain any advantage over the other.
All the while, Jaffa led his enemy upwards, keeping it too mad to notice their direction.
Then it was too late. As the shadow noticed the light coming through the clouds, it realized how it had been fooled. In desperation, it tried to turn back, but Jaffa's force field grabbed it. It could not escape, and only now it realized that Jaffa's powers were stronger than it's, and by following him here it had given up it's only advantage. In panic, as it flew upwards towards the broad daylight, the shadow tried to escape by shadow melding. Too late.
Jaffa followed his shadow upwards, still pushing it up. There were no shadows here to hide in, just the endless plain of clouds, and the Sun. The horrible, burning Sun that scorched the shadow so badly. With a scream of pain and horror, it bursted into flames and disintegrated.
Written by Tanith 04-11-2002 08:29 PM
Tanith stood in front of a large iron door in the shape of a masked face. It looked exactly like the one on the hidden temple on Korim, except that the face was not of Eriond as it was there, but rather of a nondescript iron mask. Cautiously, she approached the door. If memory served, when Belgarion had sought the temple on Eriondis, he had been met by a demon-possessed dragon. Hopefully, that parallel would not extend to her situation.
Despite her caution, Tanith almost missed the slight motions in the shadows of the odd protrusions near the door. However, her gelsuit sensors had been set to maximum, and were able to pick up the deviations in resolution. Tanith turned to face the source of the movement.
"Come out! Whatever you are!"
A figure seemingly melted out of the darkness. Tanith easily recognized her opponent; she had her face, after all.
I see you've made it after all. *smirk*
"I see you finally show your face."
This would be much easier if you'd just surrender. My power far outstrips yours here in the heart of my Domain.
"Arrogant, aren't you? Well I'm certainly going to try. There's no way you're ever going to enslave my friends again!"
Never? *laughs* They have already fallen into my clutches! All who came with you. And if you wish too see them alive again... you would do well to obey me.
"Huh. So you're a liar as well. My sensors show perfectly well that none of their transponders show any distress in their bioreadings."
*frowns* Sensors? Bioreadings? *looks even more puzzled* What manner of sorcery are you speaking of?
*blinks* "You really don't know? *looks closely at the other* You really don't!" *smirks* "Well, I take back half the good things I've thought about you. You're not half as intelligent as I'd expected. Did you flunk out of high school or something?"
*expression of rage* DIE!!
...Tanith felt her double release her Will, and did the same. Soon, the two were locked into a battle of Wills, each struggling to assert their power. However, it soon became apparent that the dark powers of Ravenloft were feeding Tanith's opponent... and that power far outstripped that of her own. As Tanith began to falter, her opponent smiled.
However, her double had not taken one thing into account - that Tanith did not totally rely on her personal powers, especially when it came to survival. The sensitive internal scanners of the Culture-tech gelfield suit had been diligently tracking its wearer's bioreadings. Once they passed a critical point, its semi-AI executed one of its several contingency programs.
Tanith's opponent screamed in pain and dismay at she was struck by the gelsuit's effector. That short lapse of attention was enough for Tanith to catch a peek of her opponent's mind. What she glimpsed was surprising.
*to gelsuit AI* "Wrist light on. Wide beam. Full EM and subspace spectrums."
*hisses and tries to shy away from the flood of light*
"Huh. So you're a shadow-creature too. No doubt of your mistress."
*recovers from her temporary lapse* I serve NO ONE! *gathers Will to attack again*
*to gelsuit* "Intensity level 12."
With the flaring light flooding the room like a miniature sun, the shadow creature knew that it had lost the focus to win another battle of wills. Instead of fighting on, it chose to retreat, melting through the crack between the iron gate.
Tanith waited a while, making sure with her senses and sensors that the creature was gone before turning the light off. She was surprised that the creature chose to leave, since it still had a considerable advantage in raw power. But wondering wouldn't help anything; she had little choice but to move on. She had faced the 'dragon' guarding the temple door. Now it was time to face her real double.
She could only hope that she would do as well as Belgarion had when he faced Zandramas in another hidden temple, dimensions away.
Written by Mg_knt 04-11-2002 08:44 PM
'My lady.' *the imp coughs* 'A demon of fire is loose in your tower, it is burning everything and anything in its' path and is calling for you.'
Written by Tanith 04-11-2002 10:18 PM
As their eyes met, Tanith thought she saw an undeterminable emotion flash across the other's eyes, before her double put up a mask of disdain.
M-Tanith: Do you really think you can defeat me *here*? v Tanith: I did pretty well with your shadow.
The undefinable emotion flashed through the mirror's eyes again, who answered by lashing out with a blast of dark power. Tanith barely dodged it, only to find herself rooted to the floor as the confrontation suddenly turned into a contest of Will. This time, she found the attack even harder to ward off than the previous, which she had expected. Just as the last time, the gelsuit fired its effector at her mirror, sending the other reeling back in pain.
M-Tanith: Impossible! You have no such power to harm me!
Tanith blinked in surprise. She had used the attack before on her double's shadow. So why did her double seem so surprised? A quick glance showed that her mirror had no shadow in the dimness of the room. A suspicion began to form in Tanith's mind.
Before Tanith could ponder any further, another blast was sent her way. She tried to dodge, but found herself unable to move her feet. With a quick mental command, she switched on the personal forcefield in her suit, wincing as the blast struck. The field was not made for powerful magical attacks, and would not last for long against them. Casting her eyes to the ground, Tanith saw that the black crystal of the ground had risen up and entrapped her feet completely and was creeping upwards.
Her double strode toward her, raising a hand and gathering her Will. In desperation, Tanith ordered her suit to strike out again with its effector. As her double was sent reeling back again, though not as much as before, Tanith took the opportunity to release her own Will. It was a short struggle before she was shrugged off by her opponent; but like the last time, she was able to catch a glimpse of her opponent's mind. She repeated the attack, and was able to gleam a little more.
Again, Tanith was surprised. She had seen her own image, accompanied by a sense of .... dread? And a thought... a thought that lay close to the surface of her double's mind... a thought that would no go away. Her mirror paused for a moment upon seeing Tanith's expression as she deciphered the thought she had seen.
Yesss.... 'Tis one of the many ways the Dark Powers torment me. The moment of my fall... with my own face the triumphant.
*another blast*
Tanith: *wince* Well if you hadn't tried to enslaved my friends, I would have never gotten involved or come here!
Then they will die here with you!
*another blast*
As yet another blast struck home, Tanith was forced to turn off the forcefield before it overloaded. By this time, the black crystal had seized her hands as well with thin black tendrils that were stronger than they seemed. She was quickly running out of options. For lack of anything else to do, she lashed out with the effector again, this time at full power. This time her double was flung off the dais and halfway across the room, before shakily regaining her feet with an expression of pure hatred on her face. The pulsing light under the dais, which Tanith had not noticed before, seemed to dim; and the tendrils holding her hands seemed to loosen for a moment.
Before M-Tanith could strike again, however, a dark figure launched out from behind her and they fell to the floor in a struggling heap. Tanith blinked at the sight before her -- of herself struggling with... herself.
M-Tanith: You!!
shadow-Tanith: Yesss!
M-Tanith: I command this Domain! I command you to leave!
shadow-Tanith: No... It shall be MINE!!
Tanith could feel the sheer power each leveled against the other. It coursed around the room and seemed almost tangible. The two seemed equally matched, and soon were both showing the effects of the fight. As they expended more and more power against each other, and channeled more and more from the Dark Powers to keep from tiring, the control on the rest of the room faltered. The black crystal growth that covered Tanith slowed, then stopped at her waist. The black tendrils holding her hands grew brittle, then snapped.
Knowing her chances were better if she let her enemies tire each other out first, Tanith instead turned her attention to the pulsing dais. Focusing her Will, she carefully probed it, and found it to be the central magical backbone of the Tower. It also channeled the great majority of dark energy both were drawing from. And for now, it was also vulnerable.
With a silent command to her gelsuit, and slowly gathering her Will to avoid attracting attention, Tanith focused on the dais. Simultaneously, the effector fired as she released her Will.
Tanith: BURST!!!
With a deafening CRACK, the solid crystal that the dais was built from cracked, then shattered. A scream came from both of her enemies as the majority of the power they had been channeling from was suddenly severed from them. Another effector burst was able to knock them unconscious.
Then placing her hands on the crystal holding her, Tanith Willed it to shatter as well, releasing herself from the black prison. Cautiously, Tanith approached her doubles. M-Tanith had evidently been trying to reabsorb her shadow... or perhaps it was the other way around. Before she could ponder further, Tanith felt the Tower shake beneath her. Severed from its major source of energy and its mistress(es?) mind(s?), the Black Tower was coming apart.
Tanith could feel the crystal floor beneath her slowly cracking. She did not have much time left. Turning to her doubles, she made a quick decision. She knew what to do.
Placing her hands upon each of the doubles she Willed them to shrink to a very small size and placed them in another of her pokeballs. Then, from her pocket, she pulled out a small, delicate model of the starship Heart of Gold. She had bought it from a specialist dealer on Khazan, and it was built to be an *exact* duplicate of the real thing... down to its Infinite Improbablity Drive. Of course, during the Watcher's party, it had also been... tinkered with... by Washu and Skuld, who had both been interested in the device. So now, it had a few *additional* qualities above and beyond a simple IID.
With a few small tweaks and reprogramming with her effector, Tanith was able to reconfigure the engines to do.... yet something else. Attaching the device to the small pokeball, she activated the mini-IID engine. A short burst of light later, the model and pokeball vanished.
Standing up, Tanith stumbled against the wall as the floor beneath her shifted. Before she could regain her footing, her gelsuit sensors warned of approaching danger. But there was not time for her to dodge it, as something round and purple slammed into her.
Tanith slammed into the wall, which shattered behind her. At the same moment, the floor of the room also shattered. The purple thing fell into the darkness of the hole beneath them and Tanith could feel herself flying out into emptiness as well along with the shards of the wall behind her.
Her last sight was of the dark mists of the Ravenloft sky, before she lapsed into unconsciousness....
Written by The Watcher 04-11-2002 10:45 PM
Excellent, he thought to himself as Tanith shattered the Tower's Heart. Now she'll destory her weakened double and another player will be taken from the board. Then he saw her shrink both of her counterparts and stuff them in a pokeball. As it dissappeared due to the mini Heart of Gold's field he used his divinely enhanced clairsentience to split the view and find out what happened to them while still observing the heroes in Ravenloft. He had to make sure they stayed in Ravenloft, or at least confined in some manner. To have them alive and free to roam the multiverse at large would be something he'd have to rectify.
As for the other super beings left in the domain, he watched with a little less anxiety. No matter what happened to them, they weren't likely to escape from Ravenloft. While there had been an increase of transit to and fro lately, most likely to allow more beings to be lured in, departing from that dark realm could be very difficult without the help of a Greater Power. And since he had managed to quash the attempt to appeal to such a power to help, he had little to worry about.
Written by Tanith 04-11-2002 11:04 PM
This was the same power that again and again allowed gifted beings such as Mihoshi surpass the most ingenious capabilities of Washuu. The same power that allowed Toons to escape from mass destruction and certain death to overcome vastly superior enemies. Such power ignored Power and mocked Wisdom...
The Infinite Improbabilty Drive is the distillation of this essense. It could not be tracked. It could not be predicted. It could not be understood.
The ultimate destination of the seemingly innocuous pokeball would remain in the knowledge of one person... who was currently in free fall from the highest turrets of the crumbling Black Tower.
Written by The Watcher 04-11-2002 11:57 PM
Which meant his own plots for accumulating super powered minions were more imperative than ever. He opened a small gate and picked up the phone, making sure to first errect an illusionary curtain to block sight and sound of his actions from others in the throne room. The less information others had on his operations the better. Thus having secured his privacy, he hit the speed dial.
"United Nations Superhuman Coordinating Agency," said a tired sounding receptionist. "How might I direct your call?"
Get me the Operations Director, priority code alpha.
slight pause as the call is transfered to a secure line.
Hello Alfonse, this is your sponsor. I'm calling to get an update on your progress so far.
Written by Z-man 04-12-2002 12:16 AM
He enjoyed it so much, he lost track of time. After awhile, he got himself oriented towards the tower again.
"Alright, Dragonite, blow a hole in the wall with your hyperbeam."
Normally hyperbeam tires pokemon out, but this dragonite had been amped up by multiversial genetic therapies to the point where it was almost never tired. Dragonite blew open the hole and flew on towards it.
They weren't very far away when Z-man heard a faint voice from the castle. "Ji-gly-puff, Jig-a-ly-y-y-puff"
Z-man yelled "Dragonite, pull up!" Dragonite went vertical. "There's a Jigglypuff in there, if we get too close we're asleep in the air. That's not good. Use safeguard, then we'll get closer."
The air around the two started to swirl around their flying form. Eventually it crystalized into a force field that would help them against status attacks, such as a Jigglypuff's singing. They turned back towards the hole. When they got there, they saw a modified Jigglypuff puffed up and staring at them.
The minute it saw them, it began singing. Ji-gly-puff, Jig-a-ly-y-y-puff Even though they were protected by safeguard, that still wouldn't stop the Jigglypuff's physical attacks.
Borrowing a page from the anime, Z-man turned his hat around backwards, to prepare for the fight.
Jigglypuff rained down on the Dragonite with a hail of incredibly strong punches, one after the other.
"Dragonite! Use Blizzard!" A whitish-blue beam shot out of Dragonite's mouth, with flakes of snow swirling around it. When it hit the Jigglypuff, it was encasaed in a block of ice almost immediately. Not that it mattered, since Jigglypuff barely missed a beat before expanding large enough to break the ice. Now they had a much bigger Jigglypuff to deal with.
As almost one mind, Z-man and Dragonite ran around the Jigglypuff in a circle, avoiding blow after blow. After awhile, it stopped, and began to wave it's hands in the air.
"Shoot, it's using metronome! This could finish us off, or give us our chance!"
When the Jigglypuff stopped waving it's hands in the air, it suddenly turned into a Jigglypuff shaped rock.
"Yes! It used harden! Alright Dragonite, Aeroblast it!"
Dragonite's mouth once again issued a beam of air which hit with such pressure Jigglypuff was blown out the hole and sank like a stone.
With a sigh, Z-man and Dragonite collapsed against eachother.
"That was a tough one, Dragonite, but I knew we could do it."
They didn't notice that Jigglypuff was no longer a rock and was now floating back up to where they were.
It landed, and tried to sing the song again. Ji-gly-puff, Jig-a-ly-y-y-puff
The safeguard had almost worn off, and they would have been toast if it weren't for some unexpected help.
"Psy-yi-yi-duck, Psy-yi-yi-yi-yi-duck". A Psyduck had wandered into the corridor and tried to sing Jigglypuff's song.
Jigglypuff sang again, Ji-gly-puff, Jig-a-ly-y-y-puff, but Psyduck was just too stupid to be affected. They sang a duet for awhile, and tears of joy filled Jigglypuff's eyes. No one had ever stayed awake through her songs before, and Psyduck enjoyed it enough to sing along.
Psyduck and Jigglypuff tried to hug, but just ended up falling down, where they began laughing. Jigglypuff rubbed Psyduck's belly with her small arms.
Slowly realizing what they were about to see, Z-man and Dragonite jumped up and were flying back out the hole they had come in by.
"That was... Well, that was disturbing, incredibly disturbing. It'll take at least an hour of blasting hanggliding zombies to get that out of my mind."
Dragonite called out in agreement.
Written by Jaffa 04-12-2002 05:58 AM
Tanith was unconscious, so she didn't see the figure that came swooping down after her, nor did she feel the arms that caught her.
The castle convulsed violently lke a living being, and with a moan it's main tower collapsed. The end was near, now.
"Attack force, this is HALST officer Jaffa. Retreat from the castle." With that, he enlarged his force field enough to hold a supply of air and headed for the Andromeda.
Written by Mg_knt 04-11-2002 10:52 PM
Written by Tanith 04-12-2002 09:10 AM
Finally, to her relief, whatever dark force that held the mists against the small fleet dissipated, and her sensors suddenly burst through the interference. Her first priority, of course, was to find her pilot, and a transponder trace soon located her in midair next to the crumbling tip of the Tower, along with Jaffa's transponder signal. According to its bioreadings, Tanith was alive, though unconscious.
Without wasting any time, the Andromeda focused its teleporters and beamed them directly to the infirmary (which had already been cleaned up from deviljon's previous incursion). Once she was sure they had safely arrived, the Rommie droid avatar jerked into motion and headed there as well.
When she arrived, Jaffa had already placed Tanith on one of the medibeds and turned on the diagnostic systems. A quick look showed that Tanith suffered no severe physical injuries except a few bruised ribs that were already healing. Her energy levels however, were still very low. Just then, Tanith stirred from on the bed.
Oooww.... What hit me?
Jaffa: Other than the debris from the tower? You tell me.
Tanith: *blinks and looks around* We're back? ... We've won? *suddenly puts hands to head* Ouch.. owowow... reaction headache.
Rommie: *prepares a hypospray and injects Tanith* It certainly does appear that way. Sensor scans do not show your double anywhere in Ravenloft. *reads the bioreadings again* It seems you have overexerted yourself. Again.
Tanith: My double... *shakes head ruefully* ...now there's a long story. *tries to get up* What are our plans now?
Rommie: *pushes Tanith back down* Your plans are to stay in bed and rest. Don't make me sedate you. The fleet can find our way back to Khazan without your help.
Tanith: *grumbles* Tyrant *yawns and mumbles some more*
Jaffa: But she's right. We'll wake you when we get back to Khazan. Hopefully, you'll have recovered by then, and you can tell us aaalll about what happened there at the end.
Tanith: *mumbles* Whatever *falls asleep*
Written by Nobody 04-12-2002 06:31 AM
WHAT!??! Good, Lock on to all Humanoid Lifesigns in the vicinity of M-Tanith's castle and beam them directly to the brig. We'll sort 'em out down there...
Yes Sir *A brief pause* They are beaming them up now...
Very good, I'll meet our guests down there... *vanishs*
