Min pushed his way to the front as the mob began to move past the cart. Despite the now splitting headache worming its way through his head with every step, Min was having fun. The screams of the mob and the merchants behind him, the click of his hooves as he dodged his way through the crowd, it was exhilarating. Been a while since he'd been in a good chase.
As he ran over a rug display and a table filled with pots (with merchants flipping him off as he went), he saw a strange sight in the distance: a number of small gates, rising out of the road like gravestones in a cemetery.
"Hah, excellent! Everyone, follow me!" As he approached the gates, he stepped onto one of the shortest ones, then a taller one. Soon he was running across the tops of the gates, barely losing any speed (with door gods flipping him off as he went). As he went, the beats of his hooves bent the gates towards the ground, creating a pathway for the rest of the party.
Gui was having little difficulty keeping up with the companions he had found himself with. When the Shi flung the cart towards the approaching mob, he merely hopped aside, and when small Gates began to litter their path, he merely hopped away from them. In time, he even began to pull ahead of the rest of the group, meaning that when the pane of glass depicting some Saint carried by a pair of Foxes on either side came across the path, he was the first to see it, and unless he slowed down and risk the Mob overtaking him, he would be the first to reach it.
The speed with which the pane of glass filled the road and the speed Gui was moving at meant it would impossible for Gui to hop around it, so instead he had to go through it. He let his arms fall to his side and then hopped high in the air and angled his body for a drop-kick. His feet smashed into the large pane of glass that made up the Saint's face, and as his body went through the rest of the pane, other pieces fell away from the frame.
Gui landed on his back on the other side of the pane, having wrecked the entire piece of glass aside from the frame itself. He stood himself back up and began to hop forward once more, feeling the eyes of angry Foxes on his back as he did so.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Up ahead, you see large crowds gathered, screaming. You hear the telltale notes of glam music in the air.
"IG-GY! IG-GY! IG-GY!" the crowds chant. Of course. It had to be Iggy Sunstone, the greatest glammer in the cosmos.
Gu sucks in as much breath as he can, holding it in his partially-dead lungs. He lets out a sharp stream of audio, shaped by his cupped hands, towards the stage.
Iggy takes notice mid-song, and raises his hand in acknowledgement. Iggy grabs a microphone as his backup musicians continue to play.
"Starchildren and ladies, let's give it for Gu Long Wang, the prince of Diyu! And clear the way, please, clear the way, he seems to be very busy!" The crowd acquiesces to his request.
As you pass, the crowd forms back again, and the mob struggles through the throng of revelers as Iggy strums on his guitar. Gu smiles at Sunstone, and salutes him as he leaves.
Past the square, you continue running. You enter a narrow alley, barely any room for two to stand side-by-side. It seems like a bad part of town, dirty and unkempt. Suspicious types lounge around, and every door has a shrine to the God of Thieves, Sadesmar.
"Hey, rube!" you hear someone cry. Suddenly all layabouts, thugs, and crooks surround you, stopping you dead in your tracks.
Having to run from an angry crowd wasn't exactly the kind of adventure Ba had in mind. Nor was stepping on small Gates, and the crunching of broken glass under her feet just adds to her annoyance.
By whiskers - glam music! Definitely not among her favorite types of music. She's relieved to not have to stay and listen to the dreadful noise.
Before she can clear her head she finds the party - and herself - stuck in a narrow alley in what appears to be the slums, unwholesome characters approaching from all sides.
Ba steps forward, a few feet away from the others, saying nothing. She raises one armored hand slowly into the air, huge metal fingers curling into a fist and, with all the fury she can manage, slams it into the ground, cracking it a little.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
The crooks are frightened out of their wits for a moment - some wetting their pants - before glancing at each other. They start edging away. Collectively, they decide that this is not a fight they want; losses would be too high.
You push past the crooks, and into the next part of town. Unfortunately, you end up in the Thorn Labyrinth, a hedge-maze of purple, razor-sharp spikes.
Min came to the front of the group, again. Frankly, after that display, he wanted to be as far as Ba as possible. Ally or not, anyone that intimidating is a threat.
As the group found themselves in the middle of the Labyrinth, he came to a stop. He stooped down for a bit and focused, remembering the direction Gui had pointed in while looking at the footmarks in the dust. Millenia of divine instruction mixed with years of experience until...
"Got it." Hook sword at the ready, he rushed into one of the twisting corridors. At each turn, he scratched an arrow into the ground for them to follow. Before long, the exit was in front of him.
Ba is silently awed by the speed by which Min navigates the narrow, thorny maze. She follows close, hoping for a moment that this might be the end of today's misfortunes so she can get a good rest soon - and promptly finds those hopes denied, as the group finds themselves facing the Dravapala of the Eastern Gate, soon after leaving the hedge maze behind them.
Flanking the gate are two headless armored figures, each nearly eight feet tall and appearing to be hewn of stone, armed respectively with spear and halberd. The gate itself was not an open portal, but a pair of heavy closed doors with two bearded, scowling faces set into each of them.
Both faces suddenly flung open their eyelids, glaring fiercely upon the party.
"YIELD, ADVENTURERS," the voice of the left head boomed.
"On what grounds? What the hell did we do to turn the whole city on us?" yelled Min. This was beginning to get frustrating.
"SIMPLE. CRIMES WERE COMMITTED. YOU ARE SUSPECTS."
"Wait, crimes? Since when does Wuji City care about crimes?"
"Hmpf," said the right head, with a sneer behind his beard and a petulant whine beneath his deep voice. "If reports are to be trusted, you lot nearly ruined four class-A portals. And that's not even counting the ones that you bent this morning with your little stunt." Min frowned, almost embarrassed. He didn't expect news of that to spread this quickly. "A scratch on a gate would be enough to piss off every door guard in the city, and you had the gall--."
"YOUR GUILT IS UNPROVEN," said the left head, his scowl now turned towards the other head. HOWEVER, YOU MUST BE DETAINED FOR QUESTIONING BY THE PROPER AUTHO---"
"He means that we're going to sell you to the people you pissed off for the bounty reward."
Min clutched his head in pain. The hangover was starting to catch up to him and he was in no mood to negotiate. "...so", he muttered, "you're not going to let us go through that door."
"IN SHORT, NO."
At that, Min shrugged, yelled "take them down!" and charged towards the right door guard.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
The Door God shouts in anger, slamming his guan dao into the ground. The ground rumbles, and from the streets burst several roughly-hewn gates and doorways, forming a barrier between the mob, you, and the gate.
"WE, THE DVARAPALA ZUO AND YU DO SO CLAIM THESE MISCREANTS AS OURS, UNDER RITE OF CAPTIVE ARREST." shouts Door God Zuo.
"So everybody fuck off, okay?" shouts Door God Yu.
The dust had barely settled when Ba, face set in ferocity, bursts out of it. She moved with a swiftness that is almost unnatural given her unwieldy-looking fists, past the towering bodies - she makes a small leap, draws her fist back in mid-air - and strikes Zuo squarely between the eyes with a stunning force.
A cry that is as much in pain as in fury tears its way out of the Dravapala's throat, its stone body falling to one knee, writhing and grabbing at where a head would have been.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Door God Zuo crouches, lowering his spear, and then charges at the godling. The stone spear hits Gu Long square in the chest. His armor holds, but he suffers a painful bruise.
Door God Yu raises his great stone guan dao, sweeping it in front of him. Its crescent moon blade slashes Min's shoulder and Ba's leg, causing slight cuts.
Taking a running leap, he grabs onto Yu's arm and climbs onto his back. "Alright, let's see some of that bleeding" he mutters as he slashes through the neck. Yu yelps as a reddish-grayish sludge seeped out of the wound.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Gu Long slaps his thigh, a compartment opening in his leg's armor. He pulls out his Hand Cannon pistol, raises it, and aims carefully. A moment of concentration charges the blessed round carved to accept his deathly Qi, while a squeeze of the trigger puts the bullet directly in Yu's eye.
Yu screams in pain from the two attacks. He crouches, lowers his guan dao, and charges forward toward the gate-barricades in a fury. He charges past Gu Long and manages to shake off Min, both of them dropping to the ground, suffering slight fractures.
Ba appears to pay very little heed to the heavy swing of Yu's guan dao, and the resulting wound to her leg. As far as the most primal parts of her brain is concerned there are only Zuo's face and the raining of blows upon it. With every swing and jab the face becomes increasingly distorted, cracking and splintering like any door should. The Door God cries in great agony, his vision gradually fading.
By now Zuo's stone body is only barely upright, futilely swinging his weapon at nothing.
As parts of the left door fall away, the exit portal becomes visible, shimmering and humming invitingly beyond.
Gui's momentum had carried him forward a bit more than he may have wanted, but he was able to turn back around. He saw Min jump onto Yu's back and strike the Door God's neck, and he saw Gu Long shoot him straight through the eye. Thinking Yu the weaker prey, and because he had missed Zuo in his last attempt to strike, he hopped towards Yu and whirled around a few times with his arms outstretched his clawed hands fully extended, such that his body was not unlike whirling blades, colliding with the Door God's body, scratching it through its armour
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Screaming furiously, Zuo's eyes glow for a moment, the air tensing like a heatwave. Blasts of red light stream from his eyes, striking Ba's upraised gauntlets, singing her fur and burning her skin somewhat.
Min spat out a string of blood as he rose up on his elbow. Getting up entirely would be the proper decision, but his aching ribs said no. He looked up, wincing, and saw Gui slash through Yu's armor. A weak spot. An easy shot.
He pulled out his dragon pistol, took aim, and fired into Yu's back, right where the claws had marked him.
A slab of stone armor strikes Ba from the side, knocking the wind out of her before she could recover from Zuo's initial attack. Unperturbed by the suddenness and the force by which she was knocked away, her face still full of fury, she grabs hold of a large slab of armor and takes aim...
Gui finally stopped spinning when the bullet from Min's dragon pistol went through the Door God, and hopped to the exit wound. Then he thrust his claws forward into the wound and simply began to tear the God apart until the life had left from it, and it fell to the ground in a heap.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Upon seeing Yu collapse into a heap, Zuo's eyes start burning with green flame. The great door bearing his face crumples in fury. Zuo starts with shouting "fuck you fuck you fuck you", going from a rapid series of slurs to a steady unintelligible stream of obscenities.
Zuo slams his spear into the ground, holding forth his hand. Yu's guan dao springs into his free hand, gripping it. His stone armor cracks in blazing green fissures, before exploding outwards and clobbering everyone and everything in the area. Beneath the stone armor is a lean and wiry clay-like body.
The explosion knocked Min off his feet, sending him flying. He twisted in the air, landed on his hooves and ran. Melee's not where he wants to be right now. It's nowhere close to where he wants to be right now.
Once he felt that not running would no longer result in messy death, he spun around and took a shot at Zuo.
The flying piece of stone armour that collided with Gui caused him to spin in place. Once he had regained his stability, he exhaled poisonous fumes towards the remaining Door God, who moved out of the way of the slow-moving cloud of poison with little effort.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Zuo's eyes spots Min as he runs away, noting that of all those railed against him, Min is the most heavily-wounded. He snarls, whirling his two pole-arms in circular motions, gathering energy. He hurls them both, and their micro-rocket-tipped ends propel themselves straight through Min's midsection.
Ba is suddenly acutely aware of the stinging from her burns - they glow faintly with magic, seemingly eating into her, hurting more than fire commonly would. She hisses in pain and stops to snuff them out with her armored fingers.
The impact of the pole-arms knocked Min even farther away. He struggled to get to his feet again, but he didn't have the strength.
"Punch him, Ba" he choked out, spitting out blood, his voice breaking with fear "Take him out! There's no way I'm dying from a drunken night gone bad!"
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Gu Long places a special round into his Hand Cannon's secondary chamber. He charges it with his will, and fires it into the air. It is an invitation; "Come, spirits. Come quickly."
Min crawled to his knees and took aim at the giant, his hands shaking from the aching blades in his chest. As Gui was flung away, he pulled the trigger. The bullet flew straight through Zuo's gut, dropping the giant to his knees. After a few seconds, Min began to crawl to his feet.
"Heh, don't let the door hit you on the way--ow, ow, OW!" Min winced as the blades wriggled in his wounds.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
As Zuo drops to the floor, so does the barrier between you and the mob. They eagerly rush in, blades and torches and tar barrels and feathers at the ready.
Min grimaced as he saw the crowd rush forward. He had hoped to get some plunder for his troubles, or at least a copy of that report Yu was spouting off about.
Survival comes first though. With a grunt of displeasure, he limped through the portal.
The mob surged forward as the barrier fell, and Gui knew it would not be long for them to surround him and his companions. As their grubby hands began to snag his robes, he swatted them aside and hopped forward, into the portal.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Gu Long turns, facing the mob. Flicking switch on his vambrace, metallic fins fold out from his armor, before reforming to plane-wings with extra-large turbines. Leaning forward and putting on his goggles, Gu Long focuses on the psycho-ferro circuits in his wings, forcing the turbines with his will to shift. The exhausts face the mob, and with a shout, Gu Long unleashes the Divine Wind of Diyu upon the screaming throng.
Ba's mind clears in time for her to notice the incoming angry mass of people. With no other means to deal with the crowd, she leaps toward the now-open portal and quickly vanishes in its swirling mass.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
Upon seeing Ba leap through the portal, Gu ceases the suppression by wind, and dashes through the portal himself. On the way out, he draws his sword and nicks the circuit box, closing the gate.
As you step through the portal, the first thing you smell is the salt of the ocean. Pearlsea is a thriving galactic port, and much trade moves through it. Beings of all kinds barter, buy, and sell amongst each other beneath the skyline of steel, sandstone, and plastic skyscrapers.
Min leaned against a nearby building as he spat blood onto the cobblestones. He resisted the urge to remove the polearms that stuck awkwardly through his gut; that would just open up the wounds and cause him to bleed him to death.
"Anyone know where the nearest healer is?" he grunted.
Man is a most complex simple creature: see what he weaves, and how base his reasons for doing so.
"Ah, good." says the nurse, as she scribbles into a clipboard.
"Well, I'd thank Surgeon Gofa for that, but it's dead." she says, holding up what seems to be a humanoid shape of seaweed. "We grow all surgeons for one task, and one task only."
"Would you like to see your friends? They're waiting on you."
Comments
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
By whiskers - glam music! Definitely not among her favorite types of music. She's relieved to not have to stay and listen to the dreadful noise.
Before she can clear her head she finds the party - and herself - stuck in a narrow alley in what appears to be the slums, unwholesome characters approaching from all sides.
Ba steps forward, a few feet away from the others, saying nothing. She raises one armored hand slowly into the air, huge metal fingers curling into a fist and, with all the fury she can manage, slams it into the ground, cracking it a little.
"Move."
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Flanking the gate are two headless armored figures, each nearly eight feet tall and appearing to be hewn of stone, armed respectively with spear and halberd. The gate itself was not an open portal, but a pair of heavy closed doors with two bearded, scowling faces set into each of them.
Both faces suddenly flung open their eyelids, glaring fiercely upon the party.
"YIELD, ADVENTURERS," the voice of the left head boomed.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
A cry that is as much in pain as in fury tears its way out of the Dravapala's throat, its stone body falling to one knee, writhing and grabbing at where a head would have been.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
By now Zuo's stone body is only barely upright, futilely swinging his weapon at nothing.
As parts of the left door fall away, the exit portal becomes visible, shimmering and humming invitingly beyond.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead