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The rounded end of the pointer tapped forcefully against the whiteboard, directing attention to the haphazard scribble upon it.
"This is Sigma. He's a big, mean, nasty reploid who wants everyone to bow before him and wait like patient little sheep to be slaughtered in a bloody mess!" Had she said it any more cheerfully, he was sure he would develop hyperglycemia, had he the ability to be diabetic.
"Do you have to say it like that?" Variance was careful to strip his voice of all signs of whining, "I may not have been around long, but I can easily understand standard English."
Shima huffed, petulantly collapsing her pointer. "You're no fun." Variance receded further into his generic folding chair, his compelling expression of 'I did something wrong again' effectively softening the eccentric scientist's pout into her usual caring, motherly smile. "Don't look like that, I'm only teasing!" The young-of-mind reploid met his creator's bright, cheery gaze, his own dazzling amethysts refusing to release their openly exhibited concern. She faintly sighed at his refusal to cheer up, extending her pointer again.
"Anyway," Shima resumed, steel rod tapping against the crude sketch of what barely resembled Sigma, "He's the one the Maverick Hunters, who you'll get comfy with real soon, end up beating down every Uprising. No one knows how he keeps coming back, but he does, and every time the Hunters scramble to whup up on him again. However..." At that, the end of Shima's pointer clicked against a much more expertly rendered dry-erase masterpiece of a peculiar figure with a crested helmet and excessively long ponytail(signed by 'Kat'), "Siggy wasn't the start of the whole Maverick thing."
"You see, there's this guy named Zero..."
***
The Silence of the Dead. An impenetrable fortress of quiet that not even white noise dared to impede upon.
A set of heavy, uniformly rhythmic footfalls shattered the hellish silence, a medley of shifting rocks and hydraulics echoing about the cavern walls. The feral, guttural hissing could only be heard after Sigma stopped walking, though the stalwart reploid had hardly paid any mind to it.
A red Maverick, he says... Dark, abyssal eyes scanned his surroundings, a few select insults flitting across the forefront of his mind as a complete lack of anything registered on his sensors. He honestly thought there was something here?
In an unnaturally darkened corner of the ceiling, the Demon stole a clearer look at his victim, perched upon an errant rafter, out of the range of normal perception. Tall, thick-armored, precise...
Completely off-guard.
His deliberate steps came to a halt again, gaze flickering to what he thought was a flash of light. Nothing. As nonchalantly as he entered, he continued deeper into the pit.
Oh, how easily we fall...
A sharp, clear cry of shock reverberated painfully throughout the cave, followed by a nearly demonic growl and bout of amused laughter. Sigma managed to throw off his aggressor with a bit of effort, taking three imbalanced steps back to distance himself from the new threat, which gained its own distance simultaneously.
He was certain Cain was going 'Told you so!' right about now.
Nothing more than a blur of red was visible as Sigma was charged again, the larger being's boots cutting into the ground as he forced himself against the other. As the two massive forces clashed, Sigma gained a flood of insight into the nature of his attacker...
It was as if he were staring into the face of Hell itself.
A widened, demonic gaze, blue eyes drained of all emotion except for pure, unadulterated joy as their owner threw all of his limitless power into his prey; a wide, entertained grin spread across his features, proudly showcasing every horrible intention spinning in his darkened mind; the light glimmering dimly from blood-red armor, as if preemptively stained with the blood he'd spill from his target.
Anything he might have distinguished further was lost to him as his head involuntarily reared back in response to a fierce head-first charge from the crimson agressor. Sigma barely had time to stumble backwards before he was pinned to the ground, the joints in his left shoulder creaking in protest to being pulled apart by the psychotic red reploid. The demon seemed to take even more pleasure in Sigma's uncontrollable grunts of pain, his devilish grin widening and maniacal cackling overcoming the Hunter's agony.
The crimson monstrosity's amusement was paused, if nothing else, not long after he had fully removed Sigma's arm from the rest of his body. A deep, intense shockwave rippled from the back wall where the temporarily immobile Maverick had made contact and subsequently left a striking indentation in the solid stone. Sigma took the opportunity to stand, reflexively gripping his bare shoulder as his opponent released himself from the wall.
His unreadable gaze flicked upward, trailing the dark streak of red to its new position on top of a guardless catwalk, one gloved hand gripping a pipe not too far from where it stood. Another low, crazed laugh accompanied the sound of twisting metal, and the demon descended upon his victim yet again, solid metal pipe in tow and forcing down upon Sigma's other shoulder with the intent of disarming him completely.
***
"Did you really have to do that?"
Shima's fit of self-induced giggling refused to die down. "I'm sorry, that's just..." She laughed a little harder, hiding her face from her pupil for a few moments. "'Disarm'. Man, I slay myself!" A deep breath and exhalation of such, and Shima composed herself enough to continue.
"So as I was saying, Sigma was getting his a** handed to him by this certain red Maverick," Variance made a mental note never to listen to another of Shima's lectures again if he valued the precious sanity he was still building up, "And this weird 'W' flashes in his helmet's crystal-thingy..."
***
The piercing, agonized shriek bounded off the rock-and-steel walls with irritating resonance, the Maverick desperately gripping and clawing at his helmet, doubling over. Sigma had to admit the 'W' flashing in his opponent's control crystal perplexed him more than a little, but the fact was overridden by the realization that he could gain the upper hand. He followed his logic's advice, darting up to and then letting loose with a ferocious right hook to the triangular crystalline cover protruding from the other's helmet.
The scream came to a grinding halt, and the Maverick was silenced, landing a few yards from the battered Sigma. His eyes were still wide open, having had no rest since he was incapacitated. Sigma hardly took the time to take the sight in, long since having made his way out of the decimated battlefield.
***
"And that's the wonderful tale about how the Maverick Virus spread!" Shima placed her hands on her hips, beaming and generally looking proud of herself.
Variance blinked. "That didn't explain anything."
"Oh." Shima peered at the floor for a moment. "...Well, it was a good story, right?" She grinned impishly, nudging the ivory-clad reploid playfully on the shoulder. "C'mon, you have to admit I'm one hell of a storyteller!"
Never listening to her lectures again.
 Val-Rei · Sat Mar 05, 2005 @ 10:25pm · 0 Comments |
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