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Post by Nikolai [39] on Apr 29, 2012 20:54:57 GMT -5
Of course, as soon as they had gotten inside, the rain had stopped, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. Then again, those very same clouds still threatened to choke the life from the sparse light that fought through the gloomy ceiling and pierced the windows of the toy shop they now took refuge in.
"Dis is a mistake." Nikolai grumbled somewhat irritably. "Vhat a terrible place for hiding dis is. Look at all this clutter! Ve are sitting ducks in here." He knew that Ulysses hated the rain- Indeed, it was the only reason he had let the sellsword lead him indoors, despite his own fervent admonitions against the action. But, they couldn't leave now- By the time the storm returned they would be far too far out to return to the shop. Nikolai glanced around. They had crawled in through a small opening on the back wall and now stood behind the cashier's desk. Next to him lay a broken doll, one arm crushed by the register, which lay where it had fallen when, undoubtably, the owner had fled.
He narrowed his optic and signaled for the other two to move towards the cover of the desk. Once he had reached it, he turned to Ulysses. "Dese dolls are unsettling." He murmured. "Vhat human vould ever want these horrid creations? I abhor whoever came up vith the idea!" He ghosted his way to the edge of the desk and peeled off his eyepatch. Rather than risk using his spotlight, he swept the room with the beam off, but no white spots- Or more importantly, voids- showed up in his vision. This was both comforting and unsettling- No machines. But, no dolls either. And if there were no dolls...
Then where was Hollow?
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Ulysses-Σ47
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Post by Ulysses-Σ47 on Apr 29, 2012 21:39:02 GMT -5
"Dis is a mistake. Vhat a terrible place for hiding dis is. Look at all this clutter! Ve are sitting ducks in here."
Like he really needed the reminding. Uly was still shaking off from the rain outside. Hell, he hated rain. Whatever good came of it was worthless considering it was wet. It ruined his gear, his weapons, and it made him uncomfortable. Yes, he COULD march through it, but when his client had so clearly shown an aversion to anything remotely dirty, he had. . .vaguely persuaded them all to head inside. And of course, the rain had stopped.
The moment anyone takes one step outside, it'll start again, he thought sourly, half- paying attention to his client, and half- searching, hoping for a distraction. Nikolai, thankfully provided one, though, as Ulysses saw what it was, he partially wished he hadn't.
"Dese dolls are unsettling." He murmured. "Vhat human vould ever want these horrid creations? I abhor whoever came up vith the idea!"
Ulysses shrugged, and made a fluid series hand motions. The jist was straight forward; military experiments, to see if machines could be driven to suicide. It was complete rubbish, and the Sellsword knew it, but it would relieve some of the monotony. The catharsis only lasted for a moment; they hadn't even bothered setting up, and the stress of their seeming unawares didn't sit well with him. He wanted out of this death trap, but he also wanted out of the rain.
Ulysses came to join his friend by the edge, motioning for his client to join them. He stared out, straining to see if he could see anything, though he knew from Nikolai's expression that there was nothing to see. He idly turned, covering another portion of the room. His eyes scanned the roof, the surrounding darkness, and any other possible spots for the beast to come from. His left arm and shield reached for the blade of his spear, and he kept his pack safe from view.
Old and ugly might get the first strike, but he certainly wouldn't get the last.
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Florin
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Post by Florin on Apr 29, 2012 23:13:55 GMT -5
At Ulysses' signal, Florin stepped into the shop as well, immediately wedging herself between Nikolai and Ulysses for protection. Since leaving Springfield's, she'd grown more and more nervous the closer they drew to the remnants of the toy shop. Now that they'd arrived, she was visibly shaking, her gaze darting across every inch of her surroundings, checking to make sure Hollow wasn't occupying them.
"Okay, alright... it's good, it's good... um... y-you're sure this'll work? I mean, not that I don't have faith in you, but..." She ran her fidgeting hands through her boa, absent-mindedly combing it. "Um, do I- do I really even need to be here? I mean, could I, maybe just go, perhaps, wait somewhere? I mean, I'll just get in the way, I'm sure you'd do much better without me, right?" She mumbled softly, half knowing that her companions probably didn't even hear her.
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Post by Hollow on Apr 29, 2012 23:43:27 GMT -5
It was that precise moment.
That moment, when she began to stutter out her need for comforting, that the laughter started.
It sounded like stones bouncing off a corrugated tin roof at first, before it really took off. His laughter echoed around the store, bounced off the dolls in their plastic and cardboard boxes, and surrounded the three travellers- It came from everywhere.
"Oooooh, how precious." Cooed the twisted voice, too soft to be echoing so prodigiously through the darkness. The sun sank below the horizon. They were alone.
"I must say, Nicko, I never expected to be seeing you again. You look a little rough around the edges. Life has not been kind to you, has it? But then again, it hasn't to me, either. Remember the last time we met? I guess I must have gotten a little... Ahead of myself!" This time, the laugh that left the haunting anima's throat was sinister, and dark. The sound of his joints creaking and clicking resonated through the rafters of the store. He could be anywhere. He could be everywhere.
"And, of course, the sellsword. Our little murderer. Well my friend, you have quite a track record! Almost as long as mine." He sounded delighted with himself. A doll fell off the shelf, slamming to the ground next to the three companions with a dull 'slap'. The clatter of his talons on the rafters rang out, and suddenly there was silence. Horrible, crushing silence. Worse than the laughter. Worse than the hints and jibes. No sign of his bright eyes. No sign of his creaking limbs. He may as well have been behind them-
But there was only darkness.
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Post by Nikolai [39] on Apr 29, 2012 23:49:30 GMT -5
Nikolai looked around, frantically, trying to locate the demonic monster that was currently stalking them. He swept the entire store with his eye, over, behind, everywhere. Even below them. To no avail.
Then he realized. It hit him like a punch to the stomach. He couldn't find hollow because he couldn't see him. He couldn't see him because Hollow didn't show up in the vision of his eye. The realization was forming a deep pitted knot in his stomach. He turned to Ulysses as Hollow spoke, pointing first to his eye, then making a slashing motion across his throat. Hollow didn't have a soul. He didn't even show up as a machine.
When the doll fell from the shelf, he really did activate his spotlight, pointing it at the place where the doll had fallen from- But there was nothing. He swept it across the shelves, and then the beam froze- Froze on a ragdoll's corpse. It was dead, long dead, the fact that it was missing the top half of it's skull and half of it's left optic attested to that, as did the faded oil stains. But the mark on it's chest was terribly, horribly familiar. It was the greek ∑, the Sigma emblem.
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Post by Ulysses-Σ47 on Apr 30, 2012 11:05:28 GMT -5
The laugh echoed, and Ulysses' grip on his spear head tightened. He was there somewhere. He was there, and, judging from his comrade's tension, the bigger ragdoll was nowhere in sight. This was a bad, bad scenario; amongst the worst that could've planned. As Florin cowered between the two fighters, the Sellsword listened intently, trying to pinpoint the origins of the noise, despite the lack of light.
"Oooooh, how precious. I must say, Nicko, I never expected to be seeing you again. You look a little rough around the edges. Life has not been kind to you, has it? But then again, it hasn't to me, either. Remember the last time we met? I guess I must have gotten a little... Ahead of myself!"
The voice was irritating, grating. But that was hardly the worst part. A niggling bit of doubt began to worm it's way into Ulysses' mind; a thought that, though he was loathe to admit it, troubled him. He discarded it for now, instead controlling his gag reflex when he heard the pitiful attempt of the serial killer at humor. Yes, he was growing annoyed, but-
"And, of course, the sellsword. Our little murderer. Well my friend, you have quite a track record! Almost as long as mine."
Ulysses blinked, and controlled the sudden burst of anger and hatred he felt. It had been a long, long time since he'd felt like this. But this- The raggedy monster was comparing itself to him! That thought alone was enough to set the Sellsword into a frown. But the implications of his word choice hit home almost immediately, and irritated him far more; He knew Ulysses' past. How could he know about his contracts? Not even Nikolai knew the details of them. He kept those private.
It was a taunt. A pathetic taunt, to get a rise out of him, to throw off the plan. Ulysses seethed silently, but refused to be budged. Then, the nail in the coffin; Nikolai's signalling. Ulysses felt his metaphorical stomach tighten as well.
His worries were confirmed; Nikolai couldn't track the murderer. It couldn't get any worse- His eyes widened. No. No. there was no way that it could be- It was. Nikolai's beam showed it only too bright, with the left part of the head missing, and the ∑, the Sigma emblem, on it's chest. Ulysses felt himself shift a little instinctively. If he had any blood, it would've run cold, albeit only for that instant.
He knew the symbol too. That psychotic monster knew that they shared the symbol, whatever it meant. They were right; this thing knew more about him than anyone else alive.
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Florin
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Post by Florin on Apr 30, 2012 13:30:55 GMT -5
Florin was silent, only the occasional whimper slipping from her as Hollow's voice taunted her companions. She clung to Ulysses, her arms wrapped around his waist, her head pressed against his side, like a frightened child to it's mother.
The doll falling from the shelf earned a short, high-pitched scream from her. Her optics saw the corpse only a moment, before she hid her face against Ulysses again. She's seen dead bodies before, why did this one bother her so much, she wondered. She wanted to be brave, she wanted to help fight this monster, but.....
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Post by Hollow on Apr 30, 2012 21:07:46 GMT -5
"It's horrendous, isn't it? Hollow's voice dripped with sick, sarcastic disdain. "It's almost as though I'd taught him myself!"
Another bout of malevolent laughter echoed around them. Hollow seemed to be everywhere, anywhere Nikolai's spotlight wasn't as it swept the rafters. "You see, Mr. Greil- Can I call you Mr. Greil?- I found them. All the bodies. How does it feel to murder your family, your brothers, other members of your own set- Oh, excuse me, I already know that feeling! Ha, haha, hahaha- HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
As Hollow's laughter shrieked through the shop, the final slivers of daylight died out the window, and suddenly the shop changed. The shelves began to rattle, and the dolls seemed to vibrate in their boxes. A windup toy monkey began crashing it's symbols together, and waddled off it's shelf to crash to the ground with a horrendous bang. As though it were a switch, the shop grew dead silent once more. A dim, greenish-teal light, seemingly from nowhere and everywhere, began to filter through the shop- A pack of glowsticks had fallen from a shelf and cracked all over the place, spreading their thin, faint light through the shop.
The dolls looked eerie in the pale green light- And the lowest shelves, surrounding them, were revealed to be stacked with corpses- Some of them bore Sigmas, some of them did not, but all of them had been horribly disfigured, many of these disfigurations seemed post-mortem.
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Ulysses-Σ47
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Post by Ulysses-Σ47 on Apr 30, 2012 21:51:21 GMT -5
"It's horrendous, isn't it? It's almost as though I'd taught him myself!"
Ulysses was aware of his client clinging to him, his brother at his side, but the creep was getting to him in a way no other had ever before. He instinctively tensed his arm blade, ready to impale- No, he hadn't used that blade like that in ages. Yet it felt so familiar. That was more troubling than the body. When his client's grip tightened, he felt himself dragged back to reality, in time to prevent himself from moving off on his own. His composure returned, and his professionalism nearly regrouped, when the next assault began.
"You see, Mr. Greil- Can I call you Mr. Greil?- I found them. All the bodies. How does it feel to murder your family, your brothers, other members of your own set- Oh, excuse me, I already know that feeling! Ha, haha, hahaha- HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
Ulysses glared out at the darkness, his mind whirring. Family, friends? 'Members of his set?' Greil? none of that meant anything to him. The only live Sigma he'd ever met was clearly unrelated; they were built vastly different, with different numbers. If anything, this ruined his unnerving accuracy, all of this nonsense. So he had found the corpses from his origin, and rigged them up. So what? They were dead. They meant nothing. Just another mystery to add to his to-do list, one he promised to investigate with the Chemist-
The clap of the cymbal monkey, the rumbling of the shelves, the sudden glow across the corpses; One of them lunged for him, and he instinctively caught it, locked it's joint, then smoothly tossed it to the ground, and impaled it with his arm blade. Another two lunged, he grabbed one, slammed it into the other, sent them skittering, metal framing snapping, as he spun, blocked a third, then locked the wrist, spun under, swept the foot, and snapped the arm- He felt something tug on his waist, pull him back, no, they were in his zone, they were the enemy, they- Florin, oddly, stuck out. She wasn't part of whatever this- This was his contract. The sellsword blinked; the corpses were corpses. Mutilated corpses, but corpses. They. . .They couldn't move. Corpses didn't attack. But here was a corpse attacking. Hollow had been killed. He blinked, and glowered at the corpses, his weapon forgotten on the ground. He reached for his tomahawk instead, pulling away from the one holding him. He didn't like that at all; no one was going to touch him now.
He stepped only an inch out, instinctively straining his senses for any sign of the killer. Had he looked at his hand, perhaps he would've noticed it seeping oil. He didn't; he had other, more pressing matters to face. Like the possibility of zombies. And his client stabbing him in the back. He turned his head a fraction, catching a hint of movement in his eye, and nearly swinging at it, until he realized it was just the light of Nikolai's spotlight. Nikolai wouldn't betray him; they'd fought with each other. Nikolai was good. . .for now.
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Post by Nikolai [39] on Apr 30, 2012 22:15:06 GMT -5
But Nikolai wasn't moving. In fact, he seemed to be standing quite still. A sound was eking out of the silence, a high-pitched whine of servos that grew ever louder and louder as time progressed. Nikolai was shaking, quite violently, but not out of fear. Out of anger.
His right pupil had contracted completely, and the look on his face was so furious, so purely animal that it seemed almost as though he were a different person. His shaking shoulders hunched, and he bowed over. The darkness shrouded his face, and out of that darkness came only a small red orb and a larger green one. His hands, clenched into fists, creaked and groaned against the strain he was placing on them.
His chest heaved, and the corpse in front of them began to lean forward- Nikolai let out a harsh roar and sprinted for it, knife forgotten in his belt, sword falling to the ground. It flew suddenly backwards as the big russian's foot landed firmly in a rope trap, sending him rather suddenly rocketing towards the ceiling.
In moments, Nikolai had vanished into the darkness. There was the sound of a rope snapping, and the ever-present whine of his machine eye had escalated into an ear-piercing screech. Nikolai let out another roar in the darkness- They could not see him, nor Hollow, but the sounds of combat, of fabric ripping, of the scythe blade slicing through the air, reached them. Several dull 'THUMP's sounded, and then Nikolai gave another roar. There was a moment of silence. The monster's scythe fell out of the darkness, spinning like a fan blade, and impaled itself deep in the floor near Ulysses.
Then, plummeting out of the darkness, they fell. Nikolai above Hollow, hammering his fist repeatedly into the other's mouth with dreadful power, almost speeding them closer towards the floor. They landed with a colossal crash, so hard the floor shook. Hollow's limbs lay tangled like a rusted metal flower around his torso. Nikolai's form rose from the tangle, panting, shoulders heaving. His eye seemed to be back to normal- Scratch that. It was dark, flickering feebly, although whether it was broken or simply rebooting was unknown. Several tears ran down his back from the top of his right shoulder, and his knuckles were dented and mangled, dripping oil- Whether his own or Hollows, it remained to be seen. A cut ran from his left bicep to his collarbone, and his pants were frayed. There was also a deep scratch in his metal forearm, although not a bad one. His expression was somewhere between exhaustion, pain, and receeding anger.
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Florin
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Post by Florin on Apr 30, 2012 22:40:15 GMT -5
Florin felt herself back away from Ulysses instinctively. She couldn't see his face, but she still knew he was angry. She could feel it. It was frightening her, not as much as Hollow, but enough so she began to question trusting him with her life, and that of her offspring. "Ulysses? W-what're you doing? Please, calm yourself.."
Nikolai's roar was what sent her running. She couldn't trust Ulysses now, she decided, what else was she to do? She hurled herself into the farthest corner of the room. She could hear what was happening; Nikolai falling into the trap, the fight, but she refused to see. Her head was buried in her arms, ducked in the corner. Even as minutes passed she refused to look. Finally, she heard the crash, immediately knowing what it was. Only once silence settled again did she dare move her arms, slowly, shakily raising up her head to see the fallout..
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Post by Hollow on Apr 30, 2012 22:49:38 GMT -5
There was only the sound of oil dripping from Nikolai's knuckles, the panting of the 'victorious' doll, and the sounds of Hollow's joints creaking as his body settled, arms and legs sagging slightly.
There was half a minute. Half a minute of silence and it seemed the battle would be already over. The glow of the broken glowsticks was gone now. there was only the very faint green optical tint of Nikolai's eye and whatever light was gently emanating from their own eyes. Then, with a soft 'click!', Hollow's spotlight eyes turned on full-force, and his right hand lashed out at Nikolai's chest at the same time his left foot lashed out at Ulysses with deadly speed- Nikolai was sent flying backwards into the shelf, slamming through the dolls and into the darkness. Before anybody could do anything, Hollow had skittered away on his hands and feet into the darkness like a colossal, deformed daddy longlegs.
He was silent; Nikolai's ferocious attack had surprised and stunned him to a degree, and he was not free of injury. It was clear that the spindly creature was rethinking his tactics, preparing himself for his second attack.
A dim redness lit Florin's back. "You, dear girl, should not have left the party." Came a hissed whisper, and a swipe of claws shaved off a chunk of the fur over her shoulder, biting into her fabric below, before vanishing once more into the darkness.
A giggle of returning humor; They did not have long before Hollow was back to his mind games.
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Ulysses-Σ47
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Post by Ulysses-Σ47 on Apr 30, 2012 23:21:57 GMT -5
The scythe flew at Grimme, which he instinctively dodged, even yanking it out of the floor, and spinning it for an attack of his own, until- Yes, that was Nikolai. His instincts slowed, and he lowered the scythe, approaching his ally. The distance closed quickly, so quickly that he forgot his client momentarily. And, when he reached the monstrosity, he gazed over it.
It was large; nearly twice as large as the Sellsword himself. Hideous, deformed, and clearly- it's eyes flickered open, and Ulysses barely dodged, performing a dive, bringing the scythe with him, and rolling into a crouch as he followed the creature's kick. He momentarily diverted his attention, distressed as Nikolai was damaged further. Then, at the sudden motion of the bigger ragdoll, his anger returned, his promise to Nikolai's friend burning.
Daddy-long-freak was playing the monster? Daddy-long-freak hurt a comrade in arms? Daddy-long-freak would get squished. Ulysses was immediately back into the tactical mode; it had information on them. It knew what they had gotten, gathered their history and their weaknesses. And, while it was big, it was quick. But he had its weapon. And-
No, Nikolai had had the "gift." The Sellsword growled; of course it would be lost. Hollow wanted it lost. And then, he heard the whisper. The whisper from where his client- his client- was peeking out from, and he saw the beast. The moment it swung for his client, Ulysses swung for it. He was a near blur, moving in an odd pattern, before slicing down with the scythe, aimed at dividing the beast in half, across the torso. Regardless of contact, the momentum was more than enough to launch the already fast Sellsword flying towards the arm joint of Hollow, putting his shield up to redirect any assault on him, and pulling the tomahawk to drive into it's shoulder.
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Florin
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Post by Florin on May 1, 2012 0:17:13 GMT -5
"GAAAHH!!" Florin cried out as Hollow's claws cut through her shoulder. A bit of oil bled out, soaking her fur. Luckily, not much, nothing vital. Her pupils shrank in horror. Her thoughts from the night Hollow first attacked her came back to her. She was going to die, no one was going to save her, her child would never be born. Her mind hazed with fear, her only thoughts escaping, she scrambled to her feet, again taking off in a run as one hand gripped her injured shoulder.
Her gaze landed on something, something that snapped her from her haze; the object the Rogue had given them. The Russian dropped it. She probably could reach it... yes, she definitely could. She ran towards it, her hand outstretched to grab it once she was close enough..
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Post by Hollow on May 3, 2012 18:36:09 GMT -5
Hollow brought his clawed hand to the ground and jackknifed his body to the left. The sellsword sailed clean by him and his left hand grabbed his scythe. The long handle of the weapon clattered downwards against Ulysses in an attempt to disorient the sellsword and separate him from the tomahawk.
The spindly Stitchpunk quickly rolled away and disengaged. He uncurled and recurled his fingers against the scythe's handle one at a time, similar to the way Nikolai clicked his fingers against the hilt of his sword. He turned to Florin and opened his dimmers to their maximum brightness, letting the light from his eyes wash across the room, as though daylight had suddenly been reintroduced to the room through a red shift, blinding as staring into the sun.
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