|  Author | Topic: The Justice of the Mercenaries (Read 176 times) |
Cern
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Karma: 45 |  | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #30 on Nov 2, 2009, 6:55pm » | ![[Quote]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/quote.gif) |
It was a sound argument.
With such high bounties, Zelox, Eddie, and the rest of their group would doubtlessly attract more mercenaries after them.
They were able to deal with all of them so far, but with rank 20 gone, any newcomers would have to be above that - and hence above Friedrich Goth in standing.
"My rank is low because I do not take on that many jobs, so I would be able to deter them possibly up until Seira and Maiko appear, but I cannot guarantee that I could do so while keeping the villagers safe, which is my number one priority. Hence, I ask you to leave so that you do not attract such troubles."
"...Yes, that's fair." Eddie nodded.
"No, it isn't." Zelox shook his head. "I wanna stay here for a while! If you try and force us out, I'll fight you!"
A faint smile appeared across Friedrich's face.
"...A novel suggestion, Mr Morphis, but I do not think either of us would benefit from making enemies of each other."
"Well, yeah, I guess. How about this? You said you had problems with those Catgirls, right? Actually, we've already met them and I don't think they care about us any more."
"You fended them off?"
"Nah, they just took a few useless people from us- Ow! Eddie, what was that for?! Fine, they took one useless person from us."
"...I see." Friedrich nodded. "I do suppose the pair of them would be satisfied with that. However, this simply shifts the problem up one rank to Red Seven, who I would also have difficulties with. Or don't tell me you've met her as well?"
"We haven't." Eddie replied before Zelox could say anything stupid.
"There we are, then."
"Waitwaitwait. What if we helped you fight off any other mercenaries that turned up? We'd make sure to minimize fatalities and stuff."
"You two certainly are skilled, I shall grant you that."
"So why not?"
"Hmmm..."
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Cern
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #31 on Nov 10, 2009, 1:36pm » | |
~~~~~~~~~~~
"And so we discussed more stuff like that, and now we really can stay for the night!" Zelox gave the group a thumbs-up.
"How did you possibly manage to convince him?" Sunny seemed slightly mortified at the concept that Zelox could uphold any sort of intelligent proposition, let alone get it accepted.
"Ahaha!" The thief snapped his fingers with a burst of flame. "Nobody can resist me! I'm awesome!"
"......"
"...To be fair." Friedrich, who had been standing with the group, spoke up. "I must admit that Zelox does possess a certain indomitable air about him."
"Damn straight!"
"He is the type of person who can keep impossible promises."
Finally having someone praise him, Zelox seemed to be in high spirits indeed.
"Keyword is 'can', though." Sunny pointed out, "When it comes down to it, will he really?"
"A valid point as well."
"Wait, I thought you were on my side!"
"Just be glad he's on our side in general." Eddie sighed. "We're all lucky Friedrich's kinder than we thought he'd be."
"...As the protector of a village, I cannot afford to be unkind." He shrugged.
"Eh? What?" Sunny turned around for a moment and seemed to be talking to herself. "Ooh, that's a good point." She spun back to face Zelox.
"Luna's asking whether you'll really be able to defend the village if Jackie Ripper, Cloudy, Valor and Vladamir Kaillski all attack at once."
"Kapow! I'll punch them so hard-"
"One: There's a limit to obvious to obvious lies.
Two: How can you say that about my sister right in front of me?!" Sunny shot a bullet of compressed air into the thief's forehead, not hard enough to leave a wound but hard enough to hurt.
"Gaaaah! What was that for?" Zelox clutched his head, on the ground.
"Violence seems to be the only way to get a point through to you."
"Either way." Friedrich coughed, "I can guarantee that sort of situation will not arise."
"Why's that?"
"Because all the names you have mentioned are part of the Mercenaries' Alliance, as am I. Hence, they will not attack you while you are in this town."
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Blazi
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Karma: 22 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #32 on Nov 10, 2009, 6:21pm » | |
"Mercenaries' Alliance?" Kerri asked. "I didn't know there was one of those."
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Cern
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #33 on Nov 13, 2009, 1:41pm » | |
"Oh?" Friedrich blinked. "Perhaps I should explain it to you, then."
He shuffled around in one of his pockets and pulled out a bright blue badge, circular and sky blue. The only thing on it was a black symbol, very reminiscent of a big smile. Not a normal smile, though, as this grin had a somewhat sinister, eerie quality to it. In fact, you could almost call it-
~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know what's weird?"
Wicked announced as downed some dubious drink, feet up on the table.
"From what I understand, a lot of you have signed up because you've got a goal in mind, right, right?"
"...That's true." Valor replied casually as he played darts. The dartboard was at the other end of the bar and he was still hitting the bullseye practically every time.
"So why don't you help each other, then?"
"We can't allow things like alliances to get in the way of our jobs." Zelox was shuffling cards with the skill of a performance expert.
"...That's stupid. It's more like you're letting your job get in the way of making alliances, isn't it, isn't it?"
"....."
"No objections, then? Let's make one!"
He started carving some words into the table.
"Rule 1: People in the alliance shouldn't attack each other, cause you do more damage if you work together.
Rule 2: No weaklings. I don't care about the problems of anyone below rank 20.
Rule 3.... actally, those two rules are fine for now."
"Heheh. So how do we sign up?" Valor smirked.
"It's invitation only! Valor, you're in. Vladamir's in cause he's always so lonely. Grimm's in cause he's interesting. Jackie's in cause she tastes good. Cloudy, too. Zelox, cause he's strong. Uhhh... Dygo, too."
"What?" The person in question turned around. "....Hmmm. You know, I don't mind if I'm not part of-"
"Shut up! You're in the group!"
"I think I'll really just be a-"
"If you disagree with me, you die."
"...Thanks for the invite."
Thus, the Mercenaries' Alliance was formed.
~~~~~~~~~
"That's... really vague." Sunny mumbled.
"It's true that it started on some questionable foundations." Friedrich shrugged. "However, the Alliance is now a very tight-knit, well-running group, and its presence really has decreased strife and dissonance as a whole. It's regarded as Wicked's most famous achievement, which is why the logo is now based on him."
"A group of the most powerful people in the continent, eh..." Zelox looked at the badge. "I wanna join!"
"You're not even a mercenary!" Eddie snapped.
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Cern
Maximum Power Unrefined Vector Force
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #34 on Nov 25, 2009, 9:28am » | |
Their bickering was quickly interrupted by the sounds of screaming coming from the edge of the village.
"Eddie, Zelox, I have faith in you." Friedrich darted forwards, with the two of them following close after.
"Hahahaha! Bring them out, bring them out! Where are those dead men walking with bounties high enough to buy a city block?!"
An aggressive young man, around twenty years of age, laughed at the villager who he was holding up by the neck. He was dressed recklessly, with a ragged grey questionably leather jacket, and his hair under a stylish but normal cap. The woman in his hand was gasping frantically for breath, trying to struggle out of his claw-like grip despite him being so thin.
"We're right here. Put her down." Eddie barked, and the man turned with a grin on his face.
"Finally, man. I was getting tired of waiting."
There was a quiet crunching sound as he closed his fist tight before dropping the woman to the ground.
"...! You..." Friedrich was momentarily too shocked to speak.
"Outta my way, Goth. I don't care about-"
It was a vicious leap that none of them saw coming. Without a word, Zelox had torn forward and smashed the mercenary's head off.
"...Something about his style really ticked me off." The thief spoke bitterly.
"Well, too bad." The mercenary pouted mockingly, his head perfectly fine. "You're not gonna be killing me any time soon."
Zelox turned his left arm into a spike and plunged it into his chest. There was no blood, no cry, and no pain. Instead, from the point of contact, a black mass seemed to spread up along the thief's arm.
"The name's Seth Harper, Mercenary #16." The youth taunted him. "They call me 'Lord of the Flies.'"
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Cern
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #35 on Dec 1, 2009, 3:54pm » | |
The name probably gave it away, but soon Zelox realised just what that black mass on his arm was.
It wasn't a 'mass', per se, but more of an entity made up of hundreds of smaller masses.
Yes, if you looked closely when it moved, you could see them. Tiny, six-legged creatures with shining black shells, cluttering and scuttling over each other, biting at Zelox's arm with ravenous fangs.
"FFFFF---!" Zelox immediately pulled his arm backwards and set it aflame, completely burning off any living thing within half a foot of it.
"What's wrong? Scared of insects?" Seth laughed at the thief, evidently amused.
"You just caught me by surprise, that's all." Zelox replied. "I'll beat you, just you wait. Nobody challenges Zelox Eduardo Morphis, master thief extraordinnaire, and gets away with it!"
"..." A bemused smirk appeared on Seth's face. "Ahh, so it's you with the bounty, eh?"
"You bet it is!"
"I thought you'd be tougher."
"Why you-!"
"Shush, Zelox." Friedrich held them back as he talked. "Seth Harper, do you realise that attacking this village would be making an enemy of me, Friedrich Goth, and thus the whole Mercenaries' alliance?"
"I won't get scared off that easily." Seth waved off the threat. "I came here to kill, and that's what I'm gonna do."
He raised his arms into the air, and they dissolved into a dark, shimmering cloud, almost like black glitter, except for the sharp buzzing sound that it emitted.
"So... let's start killing."
The cloud exploded outwards, releasing upon the group a vicious swarm of black beetles, each one the size of a large grape.
"Keep your bugs to yourself!"
Sunny swung her arm, and a gust of wind blew them away.
"Stand back. You won't be able to keep them at bay forever." Friedrich stepped in front of Sunny and snapped his fingers.
He was suddenly surrounded with what looked like hundreds of tiny steel toothpicks, suspended in the air, before they too darted out and impaled every single on of the insects right through their cores.
There was a small silence as everyone watched the insects fall out of the air like heavy rain.
"It's not really fair with so many of you against me." Seth made a face.
"I don't think people like you deserve fair treatment."
"It was just a comment. Who said I was complaining?" The mercenary grinned again as his arms, which had regrown in a second, dissolved once again into an army of insects.
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Cern
Maximum Power Unrefined Vector Force
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #36 on Dec 1, 2009, 4:42pm » | |
"Eddie, Friedeggs, cover for me! I'm going for his head!" Zelox declared.
"How do you expect a swordsman to fight off hundreds of tiny insects?!"
"That's why you're with me!"
Zelox grabbed Eddie's arm and yanked them both through the fog of insects, turning himself to steel to escape their stings.
Eddie was not so fortunate.
Too occupied with thoughts of 'get this idiot off me', he allowed an insect to bite him on the leg.
"...!!!"
He immediately collapsed and grabbed his heel, screaming.
That hurt. That bite really, really hurt.
It really, really, really hurt.
It felt like someone had gouged a hole the size of a golfball in his skin with a rusty fork, yanked out any trailing sinews by hand, and then forcibly rubbed salt in before filling it with vinegar. Maybe plus an iron nail or two as well.
"A-a-a-a-a..." He couldn't get the words out. This hurt even more than getting hit by a truck. His mind was flashing white.
"Ffffff---"
Yanking the insect off him, he crushed it in his hand before forcing himself to stand, supporting himself on his good leg.
"Oi, Slowpoke! Hurry up!" Zelox yelled.
"I'm gonna kill you after this!" Eddie yelled back, bringing himself back to his senses and sending magic to his leg to stop the pain.
"Whoah, you're up." Seth applauded. "Hardly anyone can get up after one of those stings."
"My new hate for you just surpassed the pain of the sting." Eddie grimaced through clenched teeth.
Kicking off with his good leg, he leapt completely over the cloud of insects and landed next to the mercenary, sending his sword clean through his stomach in a single sweep.
"...Do you really think you can hurt me with something like that?" Seth didn't even bother dodging, because even though the sword went right through him, he wasn't even scratched.
"I'm made of insects. Like living sand. Cut me and everything just moves back into place."
"..." Eddie didn't reply.
"It's not nice to pick on the weak, you know." Zelox, having somehow found his way through the mass of insects which were now being taken care of by Friedrich, stepped up next to him.
"I'm gonna beat you, cause I know your weakness."
Both his arms were set aflame.
"Don't tell him you know his weakness, you idiot." Eddie sighed.
Zelox swung his fist at Seth with a literally blazing speed, but Seth had ducked down even faster, moving to Zelox's side and grabbing his throat with such an intense strength that the thief was too startled to escape.
"Did you know most insects can lift something like ten times their weight?" The mercenary smirked as he tightened the pressure.
Zelox tried to turn into fire and escape, but it wasn't working.
...The bugs in his hand! They're eating my magic!
"Looks like the person with the second-highest bounty's the first one to go." Seth laughed, but before he could do anything, Eddie had literally cut in, a giant butcher's knife in hand, and severed the mercenary's arm.
"Looks like you've got something to fear from blades after all." The swordsman grinned.
Not bad. He'd used a blade that was larger than the width of his arm, so when he cut through it, his arm became completely seperate from the rest of his body and couldn't rejoin.
The clamp on Zelox's neck fell apart into a mass of confused insects that the thief hastily tore off with his hands.
"Right! Sunny, hydrogen! Lots of it!"
"Gotcha!"
Feeling the density in the air around him change, Eddie held his breath as he continued fighting, and made sure Seth couldn't move out of the area. Any time one of his limbs gave a hint at regrowing, Eddie cleaved it away once again, and crunched the resulting insects underfoot.
"Eddie, go!" He heard the thief's voice and quickly withdrew.
"EAT THIS!"
Zelox flicked out a tiny ember from his fingers, causing the whole area around Seth to explode in an intense burst of fire that completely incinerated him.
"Yes! It worked this time!" Zelox pumped his fist.
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Cern
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #37 on Dec 12, 2009, 9:34am » | |
"...Something tells me it can't have been that simple." Sunny looked around.
"It does feel like there's something we missed..." Eddie admitted.
And then they realised.
All the scattered insects which Eddie had escaped death in the fight gathered up again, grouping together into a growing black mass until Seth's form was restored.
"I told you, it's not that easy to kill me." He grinned. "I'm the Lord of the Flies, after all. Just destroying most of me isn't gonna cut it."
"Yeah, well!" Zelox yelled back, slightly disappointed that his finishing blow didn't really work, "It's not that easy to kill us, either! Cause we're awesome!"
"No problem. I can kill awesome people, too."
"...What?! How the heck do you manage that?"
"Cause I'm more awesome!"
"No way! You can't be more awesome than me! It's against the law!"
"The law?" Eddie raised an eyebrow.
"The law of the universe!"
"...Just shut up and smash him already like you always do."
However, Zelox's usual straightforward burning punch of determination was parried by a large, shiny black shell that had grown over the mercenary's arm.
"Anything insects can do, their king can do better, after all."
"Not that impressive, seeing as insects are pretty pathetic to begin with."
A gigantic stone tombstone seemed to have appeared out of thin air and crushed Seth Harper flat.
"...You know, I still can't figure out for sure what the heck your ability is." Zelox looked warily at Friedrich.
"Keep trying, Mr Morphis."
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Cern
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #38 on Dec 12, 2009, 9:53am » | |
"...AAAAAGGGGHH!"
The tombstone burst apart into rubble as Seth Harper rose again, his figure crippled and twisted, hunched over like a wretched creature, and his whole body completely crawling with thousands of frantic insects, except for his glaring eyes, creating the slightly surreal image of a demonic shadow rising from the ground.
"This isn't faaaiiirrr, you know? So many of you against me at once. How about I take you on one at a time?"
The insects on his face scurried away as he grinned, and the whites of his eyes and teeth contrasting with his crawling insect-clad body made him look like some sort of nightmarish black yeti.
"Let's start with Mr. Awesome, shall we?"
And suddenly, they heard them.
All around town, an array of screams, shouts, breaking glass, splintering wood, chaos.
"I've just taken about half the citizens hostage." He explained, "If you don't believe me, see for yourself. Because I'll be waiting at the other end of town for whoever wants to fight me."
He flashed them one last grin before his whole form exploded into a fountain of flies that escaped into the air, beetles and cockroaches that scuttled away in all directions across the ground, and maggots that dug their way into the earth.
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Cern
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #39 on Dec 18, 2009, 9:46am » | |
The group immediately ran back into the town, and a few of them couldn't help but let out a gasp.
The scene before them was just like something out of a twisted science-fiction movie. Hundreds of insects of every sort were terrorising the entire village.
Giant beetles were smashing through walls, swarms of ants that could tear off a human hand with one bite covered the streets, and lice as big as rats tunneled out of the ground by the bucketload.
"Kerri, watch out!"
Before she could figure out what was going on, there was an intense fluttering in front of her, like a huge rustling cloak, and Eddie had pushed her away to cut it in half.
"Heh... the big ones aren't actually so bad, since they're bigger targets."
What lay wriggling on the ground were two halves of a giant moth, its legs still scrambling like deranged tendrils, and its wings beating against the ground ruthlessly like wet cloth.
"Okay, I used to hate birds, now I hate just about everything with wings."
Zelox stepped on the giant wing and twisted his leg, tearing it off the still half-living insect.
"Eeew, don't step on it!" Sunny backed away.
(Meta note: Zelox was originally going to say:
"...but now I respect them a bit more cause they eat bugs like these." but that was a bit too sensible for him.)
"We have no time to be standing around!" Friedrich yelled. "Everyone split up and get the villagers to safety! There are a few underground bunkers scattered across town; take them there!"
"Got it!" They all nodded.
"Right, and I'll go beat down that Harper guy!" Zelox nodded as well, but Friedrich grabbed the back of his shirt.
"Zelox, he can wait till we secure the villagers!"
"Wouldn't beating their boss be a much more permanent solution? No telling how many of these pests he can call down!"
"Don't be so irresponsible, we have no idea how long it would take to beat him! We need to save the villagers first!"
"I thought all the people living here were decentish fighters anyway?"
"...Well, that's true, but we can't take that chance!" Friedrich remained firm even as his argument faltered. "It is my duty as the protector of this village to put its citizens' safety as top priority!"
"Then go do it, then! Aren't you wasting time talking to me?"
"I want your help! Didn't you say you were going to work with me to protect the village?!"
"I said I'd work with you to defeat mercenaries, and that's what we're doing! I'm fighting him while the rest of you are taking care of all the collateral damage!"
"Collateral damage?! People's lives are at stake!"
"People die all the time!"
"....!"
Friedrich fell silent as he realised that there was no use arguing, Instead, he turned around to instruct everyone else, regaining his composure.
"Come on, everyone else! There's no time to waste! Let the theif run to his gallows!"
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Cern
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Karma: 45 | | Re: The Justice of the Mercenaries
« Reply #40 on Dec 21, 2009, 3:44pm » | |
At Friedrich's orders, the group split apart and ran into the depths of the town, sharp on the lookout for any signs of people.
~~~~~~
"Anyone here?" Eddie yelled as he kicked down a door that was absolutely covered in woodlice.
"In here!"
He followed the voice into the kitchen, ignoring the crunches of insect shells underfoot, and found his way barred by an indescribable fluttering black mist.
Filling the entire corner of the living room, packed like jellyfish into an ocean, was a swarm of mosquitos, each wingspan as large as a human's forearm. They were clamouring for space in the air, trying to pack into the next room, resulting in effectively a wall of the bloodthirsty creatures, flapping their wings madly.
"Area Shredder."
Without mercy, his sword cut through the air, slicing each insect apart as he moved forward, creating a thick carpet of writhing black body parts on the floor as they fell.
It wasn't long before he was identified as a threat, but he never let any of their stingers get close to him.
Behind the cloud of insects was a small family of three, protected by their father's barrier.
"Thank you." The man breathed a sigh of relief as it faded.
"Friedrich Goth said you'd know where the shelters are."
"Yes, right this way..."
~~~~~~
Ummm... Sunny... are you s-sure we'll b-be okay?
"Oh, come on! Bug pokemon are weak against rock and flying-type attacks, right? We'll be unbeatable!"
B-b-but Sunny, flying attacks are d-different from air magic, and b-b-bug types are s-strong against ground-type moves, which is c-closer to earth m-magic...
"...Forget that, let's go!"
Uuuuu...
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