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 Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:44 am
Paul, swearing loudly, did what instinct told him. Diving to the first piece of concealment - the many cars jammed in the roads - he crouched behind it, staying behind the engine block as much as possible. He hadn't been absolutely sure, but given where Alex had been shot, it seemed likely that his assailant was across the road. Either way, though, until Paul saw a flash or some other evidence of where his foe had gone, he couldn't try to help Alex or put any fire back.
He was pinned down, and the firing had only just started.
Maybe he needed a disguise. The enemy had been able to pick them out from the crowd - ever-thinning, but still thick enough to hide in - so he obviously knew them by appearance (or by magical sense, but that was something Paul wasn't quite sure how to counteract.) Where could he obtain something like that, though?
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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 5:45 pm
THUNK.
A bullet ripped through the car roughly a foot away from Paul and ricocheted off the pavement. The rate of fire seemed to indicate a single sniper rifle was being used.
~~
Abaddon cringed as the fire rushed to him and up his sleeve. He yanked the chain, tearing deep gashes into Joe's arms and hands.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 8:02 am
Paul groaned. Not cool. He did have a nice little elemental shield that he could create, but he didn't know if it would hold against a bullet. He trusted the engine of the car to do so more. At least there seemed to be only one, though. If he could even determine the building the foe was firing from, that would be a start. But for that he needed to be able to see the building, and doing so would be a sure death sentence.
For the moment, he remained behind the front tire and the engine, knowing that they should hold.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 12:20 pm
(Ah! I didn't check in so long I didn't realize this had restarted! Sorry for the inaction.)
The two girls did not appear to be too interested in helping either part of the conflict, so Siber shrugged and fell towards the ground, watching the commotion the whole while. As he was falling, a voice brushed his ear.
"Hey, Siber."
The boy whipped his head sideways quickly, glancing at his shoulder. "'sup, Leo? How've you been?"
The squirrel flashed a grim smile. "Eh, decent. Bored, though. I'm not up for murdering people, and it's way too hard to find people I want to stay alive, so, eh."
"How are Razier and Firage?"
"They're still out having fun. Firage became attached to a young boy in the country and Razier really, really enjoys shooting herself through jet turbines in the Bermuda Triangle. She's pretty good at making sure everyone on the aircraft has a fair chance of survival. Whether they take that chance or not... shifts pretty much day by day. She'll probably be exorcized fairly soon, as will Firage if he's not careful."
Siber had slowed his fall to chat, but even so was at ground level by now. "Well, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I apparently have to kill Abaddon, so you'll have to excuse me." He turned his armored face towards the struggle between Abaddon and Joe, wondering whether there was any way to follow Legion. Probably not.
"Abaddon?" Leo asked suddenly, in a whisper. "Listen, I'd love to help, but I'm not suicidal. Is there anything else I can do? I really am bored."
"Find my uncle. He's here somewhere keeping Crossover's confused residents from interfering too terribly with L. A.'s residents and probably trying to get himself killed. He'll appreciate your help."
"Done." The squirrel darted off Siber's shoulder and was gone. Siber brought his sword into a two-handed grip and charged Abaddon, then cut through the chains attaching him to Joe, using the momentum from his circular motion to swing the blade in a wide arc out towards Abaddon's face.
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 6:35 pm
Jonathan Helmsborough recoiled physically, a look of shock on his face as the chains were cut like a French noble's neck in a guillotine. Abaddon threw his hand in the way. Something entirely unexpected happened.
His shield faltered and Siber's blade, though deprived of much of its momentum, made a small cut in the hand of Abaddon's avatar. He glared at Siber.
"Leviathan..." he growled, glancing at Siber's shadow, which featured an enormously oversized left arm.
~~
Paul took in his surroundings. There were several cars, and while he couldn't tell if his assailant had a semiautomatic sniper or some other kind, it was entirely possible that he might be able to work his way towards a more permanent cover without endangering himself.
SSSSS.
Another gunshot. This time the hole it left was smoking, and rather than a ricochet off the ground it appeared to have tunneled into it. It was closer than the last shot.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 8:20 am
Joe grunted in pain, but Siber came to his rescue. From the sky?
While the Avatar was distracted with Siber, Joe ran his hands up and down across the wounds on his arms, healing them. They healed slowly, because they were deep, but he was getting better at healing.
He finished and flared himself up again. "Yo Siber! Tag out, I want a shot!"
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 1:13 pm
Well, it was worth a shot, Paul figured, as long as he didn't run steadily. Ducking behind things, pausing; he could make it somewhere safer. But where to? Looking around, he looked for something sturdier, and more made of concrete. To the sniper's left (Paul had figured out which direction the fire was coming from) was a concrete wall, a foot thick and about four feet high. It looked perfect, but it was rather distant and Paul would have to go over it to get to safety. Shrugging and praying for a lucky break, Paul jumped and and dashed head-long.
At the next car, he ducked, staying behind the door so he was harder to track. He changed speeds, first leaping slightly then slowing to a walk. Next he ran behind a truck, which might leave his legs open to fire, but gave him the whole run to go flat out. Which he did. Next he came to a convertible, too low to even crouch behind, so he put his stomach to the dirt and crawled. At the end of the short car, he leapt up and found himself in the open, with the wall only fifty feet away. One last time he set himself to a full dash, his legs pumping wildly. Finally, a foot away, he dove over the wall, landed hard on the grass beyond it, then rolled against it.
Robert told Paul.
Well thanks. Did you happen to figure out where he was? I don't know if you always see what I see...
Why do you think that?
Robert added.
Right... Thanks.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 2:55 pm
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 9:21 pm
commented Keldan.
He was calm before Siber's ears caught Helmsborough's use of Leviathan's name. Taking a quick gander at his own shadow, Siber saw the hypermuscular left arm that was leviathan's trademark where a silhouette of armored plating should have been.
Fear gripped him. Leviathan was surfacing from the potency of magic here in cross-over, clearly, and Siber's own generous use of it in the past few hours. Centauri, unable to deal with genuine fear, abruptly left him in the remains of tattered, charred clothing (so ruined after Samuel's attacks). Tripping backward, Siber signaled Joe to go on and take Abaddon's attention at least until this was sorted out.
What did Leviathan want? She was aiding him without asking her. The pendant was like ice against his chest and, looking at his shadow, Siber saw horns like an ibex rising from the umbral cranium on the pavement.
Leviathan... Leviathan, what are you doing?
As ordered, I am doing what is necessary to preserve the life of Siber Roelan Terrian at all costs. Even weakened, Abaddon is too powerful an opponent for you to defeat without my aid.
Is your current operation the complete takeover of my body and instantiation of yourself into Crossover?
There was a pause. Yes.
"Joe, I'm about to undergo a bit of a change. For your sake, please don't get in my way." Leviathan, Siber said with his eyes closed, You may have me for no longer than ten minutes. The instant time runs out, please have it in your will that you will allow me full control of my body and re-substantiation into whatever plane you inhabit at such a time.
You have a deal, young master.
Siber did not know, when he made the deal, that having her take his place for however long, even though he didn't die again, necessitated his experiencing again the pain of the first time Siber summoned her. His body was ripped apart, piece by piece, as he shrieked on his knees in the middle of the road. Thirty seconds later, Leviathan stood in his place, her semi-draconic features glaring serenely at Abaddon out of eyes like two blue marbles as she leaned on her supernaturally huge left arm. She ran forward, trailing the massive weapon and digging a trench in the ground behind her. When she reached Helmsborough, she lifted the appendage high in the air, did half-turn, and slammed it down from above in an arc like the very gate of Hell. Needless to say, there was quite a shockwave.
Siber witnessed this all from a dream-like consciousness located a few feet above the scene, hoping she would adhere to his request.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:36 pm
When Siber signalled him, Joe launched himself about eight feet up in the air (with the aid of his own wind magic) and dropped a flaming kick straight on top of Helmsborough's head. He didn't bother stopping there, slamming punch after flaming punch at whatever part of the Avatar's body was currently within reach.
Joe was getting into his beatdown, laughing manically and flaring up more and more. As he succumbed to his own fury and overflowing energy, he once more began to gain his own Avatar-esque powers.
By chance, his glanced over his shoulder to check on Siber. He saw the demon standing in his place and his fury and power drained in an instant. He stepped away from the weakened Helmsborough, feeling more than slightly inadequate in his power between these two titans. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice him. He continued to back slowly away.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 11:49 pm
Abaddon snarled at Siber/Leviathan.
"BRING IT, ********> he roared, bringing his blade against the strike. As usually happened in such instances, a shockwave burst outward parallel to the force of their strike.
He took a one-handed swing at Leviathan's body but the swing passed cleanly under it due to a certain massive arm holding him at bay. He glanced at Joe cautiously and resumed his engagement with Leviathan, but every second or so he'd look at Joe again; it clearly indicated he thought Joe was as much of or greater of a concern than Leviathan.
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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 1:15 pm
I noticed. He's on the move, probably, Paul returned.
That's true. Dang, I need a rifle.
I know, I know... Hey, this'll do the trick, though, he thought, lifting his head and shoulders slightly over the wall, enough to spray a couple of floors with explosive rounds. The windows shattered, and bricks exploded back into the dirt they had been before; a whole section of the wall collapsed from loss of support, leaving the third to sixth floors exposed.
That worked better than expected. Paul thought as he ducked, dropped out the magazine, and replaced it with a new one.
Well... I just seem rather straight-minded.
True, I suppose. I guess I just need more... defensive things. I think we could advance, Paul added quickly.
Paul liked the idea of cutting off the foe's line of fire by getting too close. Close Paul could do; he had a handgun, so it was practically required. With no time to waste, he picked himself up off the grass, vaulted the wall, and started dashing again. Drawing his iPod, he blew away a window in a bank across the street and made for it. It was a ways away, but he could make it, as long as his foe wasn't already zeroing in...
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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:53 pm
Takeshi rolled the rubber bouncy ball around in his fingers.
"In Legion we trust," he muttered, throwing the ball at the door of the building Paul had entered.
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:32 pm
((Ummmmm. I don't remember what the ball does... sweatdrop ))
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 6:13 pm
((That's because I haven't said what it does. 3nodding xd ))
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