Welcome to Gaia! ::

The faceless automaton said nothing.

The mannequin clattered into the river; elbows raised and spear-like arms extended as if it were offering the half-golem a loving embrace. This misrepresentation of man had no such love in its heart, however, and once within striking distance the two appendages would close in like a pincer with intent to skewer.

After a dramatic slow-motion sequence that seemed like it lasted almost weeks, the culmination of this cinematic technique was revealed with a don.



The automaton's metallic limbs were torn from Shouyin's stone grip with the accompaniment of a harsh grating sound; the smooth metal surface that the conical sections had once been was now streaked with scrapes and scratches. Ribbons of shaved metal would be left entwined around the half-golem's fingers as the automaton lurched backwards from the impact onto the very tips of its outstretched legs; taking a clumsy backstep with the pointed appendage.

The puppet's steel torso had bent concave in the front from the impact, causing the metal shell to tear slightly where the new indentation had crossed over with the fist-shaped divet.

(( Flu got me. ))



The automaton went immediately from being on the equivalent of its toes to being completely off of them. The sudden impact to the torso while it was still reeling from the earlier strike crunched squarely into the metallic segment with another thunderous roar of concussive force rocketing through the metal frame.

It rang like a bell.

Stone and steel shavings were shed across the banks of the river as the automaton flew several feet backwards through a granite hedge. The series of impacts to the abdomen had succeeded in tearing an opening on the puppet's right side as the torso folded in like a crushed soda can. A strip of torn metal hung out to the side, shedding splintering pieces of steel as the automaton ground to a slow stop in the gravel.

Lifeless? Not yet.

All four limbs lashed out simultaneously at air; twitching almost randomly without a purpose for a second or two only. They then bent backwards on the ball joints that connected them and the automaton rose from the debris once again... for all purposes facing away from Shouyin, except that with the limbs reversed the nearly unblemished backside was the puppet's new front.

It lowered to a tripod stance, spreading the two pointed legs to the sides and placing down one spear-like arm to the floor. Were there muscles to tense, they would have done so instantaneously as the automaton hurled itself forwards in a sudden long-jump; intending to use the weight and momentum of its steel frame to drive its conical left arm straight through the half-golem intruder.

A severe lack of joints was the largest flaw in the automaton's design. It neither had ankle nor wrist, and so as it fell flat atop of Shouyin the four conical appendages scratched and clawed at the ground to the sides; trying to dig in for a foothold in order to push away and create the distance necessary to draw back one of its ball-jointed appendages and plunge it into the soft flesh of its adversary.

The barrel roll was flawlessly executed, and nothing went wrong with the maneuver in the slightest. Shouyin ended up in his top mount just as he had intended, and he encountered no resistance while he began to wail continuously upon the automaton's featureless head; giving it the indication of a face one fist-sized dent at a time.

However, the construct was no longer grounded. Flat on its back the puppet was not trapped by its own limbs and with Shouyin sitting pridefully atop it, the automaton was in prime position. With a single soft click, the metallic appendages reversed their joints once more and pointed their conical tips towards the fleshy torso that sat squarely between the four of them.

The construct was unfazed by the recent success; showing neither surprise nor satisfaction in the flowstone blood that slickened its metallic surface. The spears that had driven themselves in were not removed, nor did they drive any further through, nor did they attempt to make any more movements. The conical sections of the automaton's legs simply stayed locked in place; impaled within the half-golem.

Likewise, the construct showed a lack of interest with the failure if its upper appendages; having not cut into flesh and stone with their attacks, it would draw them back and lash out again. And again. And again.This was not a creature of flesh and blood, nor was it a machine that moved with delicate clockwork. This automaton was an animate construct, kept moving through will alone. It would not tire and it would not rest until the task that it had been set to was complete.

The half-golem's assault had destroyed the puppet's face completely. What had once been a smooth, featureless piece of metal was now torn, blemished, and pock-marked with knuckle dents left behind. It no longer held any semblance of its former shape, and was now completely flat in the center, where Shouyin's punches were now simply molding two pieces together into one with tremendous force. Even the chest was beginning to c ave as well; being pulled down by the twisted neck joint that no longer functioned.

There would be no melting this day. Try as he might, the half-golem would find that whatever this automaton was constructed of... he just couldn't seem to control it. His 'power' would reach out to the metal but find nothing it could use... the grip he tried to exercise over the material just slipped away like it had been greased to prevent him from doing so.