Spider to Fly (OPEN)

[Catalyst]

The only problem with the Emptiness - for a machine, anyway - is the extreme lack of dolls.

The little things had, as a general population, grown suspicious of the place deemed "the emptiness". This was understandable, actually - though it was teeming with broken buildings and tons of trash, a perfect place to find supplies and a hiding place.. it was also Traitor territory. And not only were there Traitors hunting about - there were machines, too.

This was one of them.

Catalyst was a full two feet tall (with her double back legs, anyway - without the tall legs, she was barely a foot) and all fearsome. A high-ranking machine of the Factory.. and very proud of it. The alligator-like machine swaggered through the Emptiness, having been away from the Factory for days, as she usually was. Hunting for the odd loner that wandered into the Emptiness, or perhaps some faction doll that got lost. Or.. maybe even some more of those colorful beads she loved so much.

There had been little activity for the whole day; she had pursued and managed to miss a young, aimless doll a few hours earlier, and the miss had turned her usually animalistic mood into something a bit colder. Irritated. Now she wanted nothing more than to find something, catch it, maybe stomp it into the dust with one of her six iron limbs, and rip it into shreds.

[Nikolai [39]]

Little did the beast realize, but it was being followed- Years upon years of hunting the hunters gave the Stitchpunk the edge of almost impossible stealth when it came to machines. It lulled inside the monster's blind spot, the long, finely-crafted sword gripped tightly in one of it's hands.

Almost an animal in it's own right, it nimbly stalked the creature, the symbol-emblazoned eyepatch turned inside-out to hide the red mark. A dark grey coat sat upon his shoulders, and his other hand assisted his movement as he traversed the harsh landscape. He was out for blood. He wanted this thing dead.

There was little doubt of the fact that this creature was formidable, as he could tell by the gait of it's walk that it was quite used to dismantling his kind. His caution only doubled- The last thing he needed was to be ambushed by a pack of Stalkers while he was hunting this big one. So, as he ghosted across the blasted landscape, he kept his optic open for any other signs of movement.

[Kib [745]]

Perched in a small recess in the side of a rubbish heap, Kib watched the scene before him with a wary gaze. Unlike the other stitchpunk, Kib was not at all the sort to actively try to confront a machine in any way unless it was absolutely necessary. This one looked nasty; different from the few others that he had had the misfortune of encountering, and for whatever reason he found himself unwilling to try to sneak off. Though nothing had exactly happened yet, he could tell that something was bound to happen, and he wondered if he should stick around just in case. Not that this guy looked like the sort who wanted to accept assistance readily. After all he was already stalking a machine ALONE. That already spoke for itself.

Despite these trepidations, he remained rooted to where he was until the pair passed by, and when they were within a safe enough distance away, he carefully slid out of his niche and around the side of the pile, where he began to tread silently and carefully after the pair. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin whatever this guy's plan was; that could spell trouble for the pair of them, but even so he still wanted to keep an eye on the situation. Fortunately today he had decided to bring his dental hook with him should it come in handy. As he continued to move forwards, remaining as hidden as he possibly could he couldn’t help but find a bit of humor in the scenario. A machine being stalked by a stalker who was being stalked…by him of all people. Ah, but now was not the time to let his mind wander. He pressed forward, wondering why on earth he wasn't doing the sensible thing and retreating.

[Catalyst]

The machine's day was getting no better. She moved on and on for many, many minutes, slowing to a halt only once she reached the Saviors' borders. She stopped there and raised herself slightly to peer into the doll territory - she wasn't scared, no.. of course not. But the damn insects had become quite good at rallying together against single machines. She preferred not to have to return to the Fabricator to get fixed up if she could help it. It would put such a damper on a lovely day of hunting.

The machine swung her head and released an irritated series of clicks, sounding much like a dolphin - albeit, a mechanical dolphin. If only she could safely cross these borders.. she could run the entire Cathedral down on her own. Father would be so proud.

Not a minute into her pause, Catalyst swung herself around and began to head quickly in the opposite direction, meaning to switch onto a different track to search elsewhere - and not aware just yet that she was heading straight towards Nikol and Kib both.

[Nikolai [39]]

Nikol noted this strange behavior- This thing was /highly/ intelligent. He hazarded a guess that this was one of the higher ranking of the machines, perhaps a rung or two above the pack-animal Stalkers he usually hunted.

When the monster turned, he froze and slunk sideways, waited until the beast had drawn alongside them, and exploded from his spot in hiding like a demon from hell, his first swing scoring a deep gash in the side of the creature.

Without a moment's hesitation he hit the ground, rolled, and threw his entire weight against the closest back leg, intending to send it flying out from under the monster and cause an imbalance.

While he did this he noted the relative dexterity of the animal's forelegs under the torso of the beast. Given the opportunity he should like to chop those off. The thing would pose less of a threat if it couldn't grab him with something so nimble he couldn't force his way out of it. Best-case-scenario he would cut off a couple of legs, let the thing drop, and then get on top to deliver the killing blow.

[Kib [745]]

Oh no...this wasn't good at all. The thing he was indirectly stalking had made a sudden change in direction, right towards them, though it didn't seem to yet know they were present. He shrank back into the shadows behind the other stitchpunk, clutching tightly at his dental tool, and tensing his body for immediate movement, be it towards the creature or in a desperate attempt to escape. There was no way he could currently go anywhere without being spotted, and thus he remained rooted to his current spot, far too close to the pair for comfort. Only if he needed help would he show himself...only-

The stichpunk moved fast, he had to hand it to them. He hadn't been expecting such a sporadic movement, though obviously calculated and well-aimed. He seemed to have scored a hit, though it was hard to say from his current angle, and he shifted ever so slightly to gain a better vantage point.

It was here he made his error.

Kib hadn't intended to make noise, or even let them know he was there, but the second he moved, his dental tool whacked the side of a metal piece of something-perhaps a former machine part-and with a rather lovely clang that reverberated around a couple times, followed by the piece toppling to the ground, there was no way it would be unnoticed. Maybe it would be ignored, but not unnoticed. He stood there for a few seconds, face blank as a regular doll's, not at all reflecting the still posture the rest of his body held. He hoped he hadn't screwed it up for the other...oh if he did and the doll got hurt he wouldn't forgive himself. Instead he remained where he was.

No point in running now.

[Catalyst]

PAIN!

The machine started and swung slightly to the side as the suddenly-existing doll scored a hit in her side. "Insect!" But then it was gone from her sights, and something was shoved into her leg - most likely the thing's body. But her heavy weight played well for her this time - the tackle only forced her leg to skid some inches through the dirt, but her multiple legs kept her balance quite easily.

It was only one doll, it wouldn't be hard to kill. Even fast dolls never lasted too long. Not against her. Just one doll--

Then there was a loud sound from nearby, a crash of objects, and Catalyst released a loud, angry shriek - a second one?! Her focus was still on the first doll and there was no way in hell she would allow it to escape her sights.

The machine dipped her head to the side, allowing the sharp sides of the blades of her upper jaw to face the doll, and swung at the thing with furious force. At the same time she turned her body with the scything of her head, utilizing her tail as a weapon as well - and sent it crashing to the ground where the second individual - Kib - was most likely to be.

[Nikolai [39]]

Nikol had to admit- this one was quick. He could swear- Had it spoken? No machine he had encountered could speak. But this was far too big a foe to tackle without his ace in the hole.

He dove out of the way of the blades and peeled his eyepatch off his head, stuffed it in his belt, and activated the spotlight hidden within the foreign Beast optic that sat in his left eye socket, shining the bright beam directly into the other's own eye.

He snarled quietly as the other's klutzy actions elicited an angry shriek from the beast- He had hoped that if the slighter 'punk had been following him it would at least keep quiet and out of the way. No such luck on that score, it seemed. He made use of the machine's momentary focus on it's tail to wrap an arm around the lower jaw of the beast.

With the flexing of hydraulics and an angry grunt he wrenched it's head sideways, mustering as much power as he could to pull the beast even slightly off-balance, only to fail utterly. He felt stupid. The thing was too much bigger than him. He leapt back after his attempt to avoid the gnashing teeth and retreated out of range under it's belly.

[Kib [745]]

At the very least his mistake seemed to have proven at least somewhat of a distraction for the machine, which was the best thing that could have occurred in this unfortunate situation. And while he was here and in view, he may as well offer his assistance. If anything he could be backup. Kib didn’t bother taking notice of the red eye just yet, he had already known someone with a similar attribute, that so it wasn’t as much of a shocker to him as it might have been to another, and in any case, dwelling on anything but the situation directly at hand could prove fatal. He had just been about to move into a position where he could possibly gain an opening for attack when the beast beat him to it. Out of nowhere the thin tail came whistling in his direction like a whip. It missed him by inches, both due to the fact he had still been partially concealed, and the fact that while not nearly as fast as the other doll, he still had decent reflexes.

Landing with a less then elegant manner against the junk pile, he wasted no time in righting himself again and after observing the other’s actions for a second - and using the fact that the beast’s focus would probably be on the other doll for the moment – Kib darted around the other side of the beast. This might work quite well if he made it in time and the beast didn’t manage to thrash about too much. While the other stitchpunk tried to overbalance the beast, he rushed forwards to slam the dental tool into its side, hoping to use that extra bit of force to assist in the stitchpunk’s goal of flooring it. Whether or not this stichpunk favoured working alone or not, and even though he wasn’t the world’s greatest fighter, he could at least offer help where he could. Or at least be that annoying distraction that prevented the beast from fully focusing on its true attacker.

[Catalyst]

Too much movement, too much! She could be in real danger if she didn't master the situation - and soon.

The machine let out a furious hiss as its red eye locked momentarily with the doll's and she fought the force it put on her jaw - but then there was a mysterious, suddenly flaring PAIN in her other side and she jerked away from that, causing a frightening wobble in her balance.

But the bug was under her now, she saw it retreating there, and allowed her torso to hit the ground hard, hoping to crush the little thing under her heavy weight. The two small hands under her head twisted as much as they could and grabbed for any of 39's fabric that was in reach. Catalyst was becoming quite agitated and excited to tear these two into shreds!

As she landed the machine twisted her head, and a deep, thrumming, whirring sound filled the air. The machine gaped its jaws at Kib and lunged at him, the vacuum hidden inside her torso now activated and pulling tat the air in front of her jaws. "Die!"

[Nikolai [39]]

Nikol threw his coat at the small hands as he dove backwards, and as they gripped the coat he hit the ground on his back, sword-point up, and let the beast drop on top of his sword. Not a particularly villainous wound, but enough that the beast would think twice before trying it again.

The vacuum startled him- These machines were becoming more and more troublesome. He hated loud noises. With a snarl he pushed upwards, sinking his sword another half-centimeter into the machine's side, hoping to perhaps damage the vacuum's machinery and shut it off, but to no avail. Surely he had at least hurt the thing.

Now again he heard it speak. Speaking machines were new. The Stalkers, he knew, conversed in binary, and he'd gotten good at deciphering it, and the Fabricator had it's own way of controlling and communicating between machines. There was no precedence for colloquial dialect speech.

Nikolai considered whipping out his knife and cutting his way inside the beast, but this was no Catskull. He didn't know what tactics would work and what wouldn't.

[Kib [745]]

This really was a bad idea, and the more he stuck around the more he seemed to fail. He couldn't even seem to land a simple hit on the creature and now...now if he didn't act fast he would be in a lot more trouble than even now. If there was one thing he and Nikolai had in common were their dislike of loud noises, and the new combination of both the vacuum’s pull and the sudden noise now roaring through the air didn't help with concentration. The suddenness of the lunge forced him backwards, causing him to lose his balance and topple over onto his butt, though somehow he managed to keep a hold of the dental stick.

He struggled; the force of the vacuum directed upon his small person causing him to be pulled forward a few centimeters before he came to his senses and dug the straight part of the tool into the ground behind him to act as an anchor against the pull. Useless before and only becoming more-so. He had to get out of this position fast. No doubt if the other stitchpunk didn't manage to disable or distract the machine somehow, it would try to come for him right away considering how near he was to its great maw.

All he could so right now, suspended in between the pull of the vacuum and the grip he had on the stick was to hope, that even for a split second, the machine would redirect its gaze and enable him to properly move away.


(Sorry for the fail post. I just suck at action scenes..especially with char who can't fight well xD)

[Catalyst]

This had become rather awkward. Not only because Catalyst was having trouble gobbling these two up, but because of how easily she was letting them have their way! She felt fabric touch her small administrative hands and the metal fingers clutched sharply at the jacket, pulling opposite directions hastily as if trying to rip it to utter shreds.

The machine felt the sword in her side, and felt it cut metal - it didn't stop the vacuum, but only gave the air inside a different outlet. The suction lessened a fraction, but only a fraction. Apparently that fabric had not been the doll beneath her.

Her focus was so utterly on the little doll in front of her jaws, so close, she didn't even try to get away from Nikolai's blade beyond shifting her weight dramatically to one side. The machine dug three of her long legs into the dirt and literally lunged at Kib, gaping her jaws open further with a furious series of clicks; she wanted something to bite down on, so badly!

[Nikolai [39]]

Nikolai felt his arms nearly wrenched out of his sockets and felt the fabric on his back grate painfully over the ground. He growled in pain and barely clung to his sword by a single finger. He regained his bearings and attempted to pull the sword out of the thing's stomach. This had been an enormous mistake. He was too used to fighting smaller machines, and this one was far more clever. And now, not only had he risked his own life, but there was another person caught up in this now. It was time to run. He rolled out from under the beast and to his feet. "Run!" He called to Kib, and then turned to the machine. He ran around to it's peripherals, in front of an empty can. "HEY UGLY!" He roared, his russian voice reverberating through the air. He didn't know if he could even get his voice loud enough over the sound of the vacuum but he tried.

"LOOK OVER HERE!" His plan was simple but effective. As the vacuum turned on him he would jump behind the can and let the monster block it's own throat, then use the ensuing lull to run. It wouldn't kill the thing- Probably wouldn't even slow it down at all, but it would stop that suction. And that was assuming the thing didn't just lunge at him and swallow him whole.

Well, he was doomed.

[Kib [745]]

This was exactly what he hadn't wanted to happen; for himself to be in the dangerous, compromising position and have the other doll be forced to do something that might have otherwise been spent on assisting themself. He knew he had to run, they both had to and fast. There was no way, not even Nikoli with his apparent talents, that they could come out of this the victor. However this task was made a little harder by the fact that he was currently under the direct visual field and concentration of the creature. He knew it was only a fraction of a second before the machine would act, and he braced himself both against the pull and then, suddenly the lunge. He had thought it might happen but no one is ever really prepared for the exact moment it occurs.

Kib had little choice; the suction was still too much to run backwards, and he didn’t have enough time to strategize anything else so he did the first thing that popped into his head. It was little more than instinct for self-preservation to be honest, and knew it had a higher likelihood of failing then anything. As the lunge came, he thrust the pointed edge of the dental took at the gaping mouth of the beast, hoping it would either lodge there, do some damage or just distract it for a second, and dropped all the way to the ground, hoping the suction would be less down there. Sadly he wasn’t quick enough to totally avoid injury though, and the arm that had been bearing the weapon scored a nasty gash in it, sending rivulets of sharp pain shooting up and down his arm. If he managed to evade this he would indeed start trying to scrabble away in the opposite direction, or at least try getting himself out of attack range.