OOC: Nevermind... got myself a decent idea now.
The Man of Steel stood, for a moment, staring at this person. Their... strange abilities had reminded him of himself, once. He stood there, holding the axe, as blood slowly poured down his scraggled mustache. His nose had been broken time and time again; his visor was nothing more than the first casualty of any fight against an intelligent foe. This was all playing out as it had, time and time again.
But something intrigued him about this phantom stranger--the eloquence, the simplicity. He had not seen such a thing in his time. He had been in the acquaintance of demons--vampires, human-hating machines, devils, witches, and dragon saiyans.
But here... was the first foe who was not made of darkness, or cursed entirely by it.
His hardened eyes focused on the figure, taking in the details, both of the damage which had been healed, and which had not. His eyes highlighted potential weak spots, while numbers rattled off in his brain. This... was not the common everyman he was used to beheading and using the skull of which as a frisbee.
"So you are a Traveler, hm?" He would put a hand to his chin. The Traveler would stand there, confident in his own strategy; a few idle words would not harm his plans.
"Yes, I am."
"So am I." The steel giant pressed a few buttons on his left wrist. The Traveler went to say something, but... "Shhhhhhh." The device finished, showing Metal Man... Metal Men. It had a number for each, like they were nothing more than machines. Each was adapted to a different time period. And after the line of holographic clones had concluded... there was this Metal Man, holding the axe.
"I have traveled to many dimensions. Between them all, I have fought an endless collection of heartless demons, mindless warriors, and madmen. And I have come here... to finish this madness, where it had once begun."
The Traveler was not so interested; while he had an appreciation for backstories, this Steel Giant had forfeited his rights to talk 5 minutes ago. He prepared to begin another stunning punch, or perhaps an uppercut--what, exactly, he planned was on its way.
"You mistake me for something I am not, 'Traveler.'" The fist flew at Metal Man's face. The inhuman speed behind it was unmistakable. By all rights, Metal Man's face and skull should be about to implode.
*THWANG!*
The fist was blocked; it hit the pole of Metal Man's axe. Only Metal Man's teeth could be seen, grinning beneath that ghostly blade. The crooked white teeth made a ghastly smirk, then spoke a last line of words; "I have been traveling... for ten million years."
The Man pushed back with immense force, knocking the Traveler back. He then blurred and swung his axe with inhuman force at the Traveler's neck; the Traveler ducked underneath this and smashed Metal Man's left clavicle with a resounding CRUNCH, and Metal Man grunted--then he swung the axe back towards himself, grabbing the Traveler and giving his spine a metallic crushing, at least before the Traveler shoved the axe arm back with such speed that Metal Man's axe nearly slipped out of his hand entirely.
The Traveler then hurled another right hook at Metal Man's face, but the hand was caught by Metal Man's left hand and pushed back. Metal Man regained his axe while the Traveler rapidly smashed his right shinguard and shin with a stunningly strong kick. Metal Man narrowed his eyes and, in an un-orthodox fashion, shoved both his fists outward towards the Traveler's ribs, catching him by surprise; multiple ribs would break as the Traveler would be punted into a hay bale.
Metal Man would then flick the bottom part of the axe's staff into his right hand, then swing the whole thing almost like he was doing it two-handed at the Traveler. The Traveler simply turned another of his fists into Earth and parried the thing straight into Metal Man's left thigh. Metal Man groaned louder this time--and then unexpectedly lurched forward and bit the Traveler's earthen left arm.
The Traveler would rip his arm free, only to see those teeth were steel--and had bitten a chunk of his arm free! Metal would spit the clod of bloody earth in the Traveler's face and then backhand him to the side with his metallic hand. Eager to end this equally matched foe, Metal Man walked at him--but to his dismay, his right foot fell entirely off.
The Traveler backed away and prepared another attack, while Metal Man stood atop the bloody stump... shaking his head. "You and your fancy tricks... you should respect your elders, you know."
The Traveler knew he could not waste time responding to this--the Metal Man could counter at any minute. So the Traveler hurled a mighty jab towards the Metal Man's gut...
...But strangely, it missed. Looking down, he found his left fist now had... a foot embedded in it.
"You want my foot so bad? You can have it!"
The sound of an electromagnet fired up; in an instant, pain was everywhere for the Traveler. The metal foot, controlled by the invisible demons of magnetism, had now begun to fly about like a deranged superball.
The silver streak flew out of the corner of his fist and into his own foot; then, after breaking his ankle, it spun upwards, leaving a line of painful gashes that included a hit to the groin and ended just inches from his neck. Before he could reach, the magnet-controlled shoe then sideswiped the right side of his head, kicked the flesh containing his right eyebrow right off his face, broke three of the teeth in his lower jaw, cracked the ball of the ball-and-socket in his left elbow joint, slammed into his funny bone and dealt no damage, but made his entire left arm painfully buzz, then ripped off his left middle finger before it crashed into the ground and blew up, throwing him backwards into the nearby house and through a window, into that kitchen table, embedding glass, dishware, forks, and the like in the process.
The Metal Man calmly picked up the stolen middle finger of the Traveler, and waved it at him through the impromptu 'window' that had been created with that fiery entrance.
"I think you'll find that the iron giant has a lot more than mindless axe swinging to his name."
He'd then flick the finger to the side... and take off the head of the energy-axe... replacing his foot with it. It turned on, accepting the new position.
"Besides, I think you will find the upgrade you gave me... charming."
The Traveler got up and prepared for another round, backing away moments before Metal Man's new laser-axe right foot slashed and smashed through the nearby wall, throwing burning wooden planks and splinters at his eyes and everywhere else not protected by a barrier of some sort.
The Tournament of Red Lions: Sacrament
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Metal Man
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Galefore
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Zaden
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^I had actually already thought of that and made that decision before you said anything.
I had already thought, "If the other guy leaves I am SOOO keeping this entrance for the next round...."
My only complaint is that my opponent's withdrawing gives me no feelings of a victory that is actually earned. :(
Whatever; someone's going to get ripped up by Goro if it's the last thing I post.
Well, 'Mushi' (seems to be your most common name...), good luck in the future. If you're a skilled Gunjineer I hope you find more time later and come back for a some brawlin'.
Man, shoe-in victories SUCK.
I had already thought, "If the other guy leaves I am SOOO keeping this entrance for the next round...."
My only complaint is that my opponent's withdrawing gives me no feelings of a victory that is actually earned. :(
Whatever; someone's going to get ripped up by Goro if it's the last thing I post.
Well, 'Mushi' (seems to be your most common name...), good luck in the future. If you're a skilled Gunjineer I hope you find more time later and come back for a some brawlin'.
Man, shoe-in victories SUCK.
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Fairlight Excalibur
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Metal Man
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Heck, if I get past him, you'll be fighting me instead.
I think you're in for trouble either way.
I think you're in for trouble either way.
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Apiary Tazy
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Now to wait for another of Traveller's posts. Between his and my next one's massive size, we will probably have completed the entire battle ;)
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Yes. Seemingly they are not. Then again, if you wanted to be drunk, you could just claim this is the semifinals and have the winner of me vs. Traveler fight you or something.
Oh, and Repster, of course.
Oh, and Repster, of course.
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Bad Dragonite
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Futility
Time for a new approach...
The Traveler ducked out the way as the wall exploded in a shower of flaming sparks and wreckage. This was a painful chore thanks to his newly broken ankle, and regaining his balance after diving for cover took too long. Metal Man's axe foot was the first sight that greeted him as the Man of Steel stomped through the wall, cornering the smaller warrior in the dining room.
“It seems I cannot best you in hand to hand combat.... at least not without tilting the odds in my favor first.”
Metal Man did not like the sound of this, but there was little he could do to prevent it as the Traveler waved his hand in the air, effecting another enchantment. The aforementioned flaming sparks and wreckage created by Metal Man's entrance now worked against him as all the debris sprang to life, leaving the floor and zipping at the steel giant. Although he was in no real danger – after all, fire and kindling cannot do much damage to metal – the real reason for this particular assault was not for damage.
Metal Man covered his eyes as the splintered pieces of burning wood formed a cloud around him, repeatedly jabbing at his face and gouging his eyes. He swatted at the incoming projectiles and they fell from the air, only to rise again and zip at his face like a swarm of mosquitoes. Again, no harm done, but now Metal Man began to understand. All the cinders and splinters were flying ONLY at his face – nowhere else.
The smell of smoke filled his nostrils and the sound of wood impacting metal filled his ears. He could not smell the strong scent of earth as the Traveler's magic reactivated, nor could he hear the three rapid footsteps as his opponent charged at him.
The punch collided with the side of Metal Man's head just above his ear, and connected with sufficient force to hurl him back through the wall from which he entered the room, creating another impromptu window in the process. The outward collapse of the wall was distorted as all the new debris created joined the cloud of burning wood that was harassing Metal Man already. He landed on the ground outside and slid a few feet, still having not sustained any significant damage other than a dented head.
That was about to change.
The Traveler landed on top of him, and something different came over. Metal Man still could not smell anything other than smoke and wood, and this new scent of the Traveler's magic eluded him. It was an unholy smell, a distorted mix of several elements. Blood, death, rage... this was the scent of a berserker, a ruthless tyrant of a warrior who killed without mercy and lived without remorse. The scent was so strong that it carried far outside the bounds of their arena, causing alarm in humans and panic in animals for nearly a mile in every direction.
Its effect was obvious. The normally calm and collected Traveler had already gone insane by the time he landed on Metal Man. Casting a Berserk spell on one's self was always risky, simply due to the caster's lack of control afterwards. But this was as good a time as there ever was, while Metal Man's senses were disabled.
The cracking sounds of Metal Man's bones were the only noise loud enough for him to hear over the constant banging of wood against his visor, along with the rapid impact of the Traveler's fists.
”RAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! AAHHH!!!! AAHHH!!! AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
Each punch was accompanied with an infuriated yell of rage and insanity, blended together to form a lethal force as the smaller warrior turned the tables and began beating the living tar out of the Man on Steel. Each punch was fueled by the Traveler's own mana power, transforming his ordinary fists into death dealing titanic stone arms. After the first two punches, Metal Man struck blindly at the air to throw him off, but hit nothing. He felt the two stone arms of his opponent wrap around his own steel arm after his missed punch before they rapidly applied pressure to his elbow, and Metal Man winced as stone broke steel and snapped his right arm.
His remaining good arm was pinned down, leaving him open to an uninterrupted beating.
Jaw broken. Skull nearly cracked. Visor completely shattered. Left knee broken. Virtually every rib shattered. Ear bitten off. Hip joint dislocated.
The fluid that served as Metal Man's blood seeped out of his numerous wounds, though he did not care. After some struggling, he maneuvered his leg around the Traveler's head and forced him off, and as they stood, the Traveler immediately tackled him again. The tackler's shoulder met the tacklee's already broken knee.
The previously broken knee now snapped completely and bent in the wrong direction as they fell, twisting against its natural direction as the axe blade twisted. The Traveler reached out and grabbed the weapon, attempting to swing it at Metal Man's neck, but found that the blade was a part of his opponent's body. The berserker rage filling him at moment dictated only one course of action: he planted his foot on Metal Man's weakened knee joint and yanked with all his might. Metal Man choked back a scream as his foot was sheared off, and the burning blade was immediately buried in his own chest.
The insane Traveler laughed hysterically as he carved a huge gash in his opponent's chest with said opponent's own foot. The huge hole in Metal Man's chest spewed forth lubricant and oil, as well as exposing the Man of Steel's innards.
The Traveler's laughing was loud enough for his opponent to get a fix on his position, and Metal Man also laughed hysterically as he jammed the jagged edge of his own severed foot through the Traveler's gut. The huge hole in the Traveler's gut bubbled forth his crimson lifeblood, bringing his berserk spell to an end as well as exposing the mysterious stranger's innards.
The Traveler's senses came back to him now as the severe injury to his gut jarred him back to reality. The steel titan just continued laughing, even as his own fluids poured out onto the ground. The Traveler watched in astonishment as Metal Man began spinning in circle, spraying his own mechanical blood everywhere. The embers and wood, once soaked with heavy oil, ceased their mosquito-like behavior and fell to the ground harmlessly.
With his vision now cleared, the Man of Steel turned to his opponent as rage and lunacy filled his eyes. He rose to his feet, though he was now standing on a jagged scrap of metal that used to be a leg, and faced the Traveler once again.
The Man of Steel was grinning.
Crap...
The Traveler was beginning to sense that this was a battle he could not win if he simply kept playing Metal Man's game of toe to toe melee; close quarters combat against a steel behemoth was a recipe for failure, and the hole that had been bored directly through his gut was evidence of it.
Needing to buy some time, he reactivated his swarm spell, but rather than burning pieces of rubble, Metal Man's axe blade came to life again and attacked. Despite being disconnected from its power source, the Traveler's magic kept the glowing blade functional as it harassed the larger warrior. Unlike the debris from earlier, the axe blade was capable of doing real damage to his steel skin.
The Traveler left him to deal with his own deranged foot and sprinted back to the house, ignoring the searing pain in his ankle that screamed at him to stop. He dove through the opening they had made earlier and snatched up his own satchel of goods that had been left on the table earlier. He quickly fished around inside, looking for some of his favorite toys, and then decided to simply take the whole bag with him. He snatched it up as he raced back towards the field, just in time to see Metal Man finally disable his own weapon.
Metal Man turned to face his opponent again, by now thoroughly annoyed with the hit and run tactic.
“Are you gonna fight me for real now?” his metallic voice inquired mockingly.
This attitude seemed out of place: The Man of Steel was standing on a twisted piece of shrapnel that used to be a leg; he was spewing fluid profusely now, spilling out of his chest all over the ground and seeping from the multiple gashes across his face, his head, his arms, shoulders. His left arm now dangled completely useless from his shoulder, held on by scraps of metal that looked as though they would give way at any moment. His face was no longer a face, but simply a twisted, smashed up pile of metal scrap.
Yet, he looked like he was enjoying this.
Time for a new approach...
The Traveler ducked out the way as the wall exploded in a shower of flaming sparks and wreckage. This was a painful chore thanks to his newly broken ankle, and regaining his balance after diving for cover took too long. Metal Man's axe foot was the first sight that greeted him as the Man of Steel stomped through the wall, cornering the smaller warrior in the dining room.
“It seems I cannot best you in hand to hand combat.... at least not without tilting the odds in my favor first.”
Metal Man did not like the sound of this, but there was little he could do to prevent it as the Traveler waved his hand in the air, effecting another enchantment. The aforementioned flaming sparks and wreckage created by Metal Man's entrance now worked against him as all the debris sprang to life, leaving the floor and zipping at the steel giant. Although he was in no real danger – after all, fire and kindling cannot do much damage to metal – the real reason for this particular assault was not for damage.
Metal Man covered his eyes as the splintered pieces of burning wood formed a cloud around him, repeatedly jabbing at his face and gouging his eyes. He swatted at the incoming projectiles and they fell from the air, only to rise again and zip at his face like a swarm of mosquitoes. Again, no harm done, but now Metal Man began to understand. All the cinders and splinters were flying ONLY at his face – nowhere else.
The smell of smoke filled his nostrils and the sound of wood impacting metal filled his ears. He could not smell the strong scent of earth as the Traveler's magic reactivated, nor could he hear the three rapid footsteps as his opponent charged at him.
The punch collided with the side of Metal Man's head just above his ear, and connected with sufficient force to hurl him back through the wall from which he entered the room, creating another impromptu window in the process. The outward collapse of the wall was distorted as all the new debris created joined the cloud of burning wood that was harassing Metal Man already. He landed on the ground outside and slid a few feet, still having not sustained any significant damage other than a dented head.
That was about to change.
The Traveler landed on top of him, and something different came over. Metal Man still could not smell anything other than smoke and wood, and this new scent of the Traveler's magic eluded him. It was an unholy smell, a distorted mix of several elements. Blood, death, rage... this was the scent of a berserker, a ruthless tyrant of a warrior who killed without mercy and lived without remorse. The scent was so strong that it carried far outside the bounds of their arena, causing alarm in humans and panic in animals for nearly a mile in every direction.
Its effect was obvious. The normally calm and collected Traveler had already gone insane by the time he landed on Metal Man. Casting a Berserk spell on one's self was always risky, simply due to the caster's lack of control afterwards. But this was as good a time as there ever was, while Metal Man's senses were disabled.
The cracking sounds of Metal Man's bones were the only noise loud enough for him to hear over the constant banging of wood against his visor, along with the rapid impact of the Traveler's fists.
”RAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! AAHHH!!!! AAHHH!!! AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
Each punch was accompanied with an infuriated yell of rage and insanity, blended together to form a lethal force as the smaller warrior turned the tables and began beating the living tar out of the Man on Steel. Each punch was fueled by the Traveler's own mana power, transforming his ordinary fists into death dealing titanic stone arms. After the first two punches, Metal Man struck blindly at the air to throw him off, but hit nothing. He felt the two stone arms of his opponent wrap around his own steel arm after his missed punch before they rapidly applied pressure to his elbow, and Metal Man winced as stone broke steel and snapped his right arm.
His remaining good arm was pinned down, leaving him open to an uninterrupted beating.
Jaw broken. Skull nearly cracked. Visor completely shattered. Left knee broken. Virtually every rib shattered. Ear bitten off. Hip joint dislocated.
The fluid that served as Metal Man's blood seeped out of his numerous wounds, though he did not care. After some struggling, he maneuvered his leg around the Traveler's head and forced him off, and as they stood, the Traveler immediately tackled him again. The tackler's shoulder met the tacklee's already broken knee.
The previously broken knee now snapped completely and bent in the wrong direction as they fell, twisting against its natural direction as the axe blade twisted. The Traveler reached out and grabbed the weapon, attempting to swing it at Metal Man's neck, but found that the blade was a part of his opponent's body. The berserker rage filling him at moment dictated only one course of action: he planted his foot on Metal Man's weakened knee joint and yanked with all his might. Metal Man choked back a scream as his foot was sheared off, and the burning blade was immediately buried in his own chest.
The insane Traveler laughed hysterically as he carved a huge gash in his opponent's chest with said opponent's own foot. The huge hole in Metal Man's chest spewed forth lubricant and oil, as well as exposing the Man of Steel's innards.
The Traveler's laughing was loud enough for his opponent to get a fix on his position, and Metal Man also laughed hysterically as he jammed the jagged edge of his own severed foot through the Traveler's gut. The huge hole in the Traveler's gut bubbled forth his crimson lifeblood, bringing his berserk spell to an end as well as exposing the mysterious stranger's innards.
The Traveler's senses came back to him now as the severe injury to his gut jarred him back to reality. The steel titan just continued laughing, even as his own fluids poured out onto the ground. The Traveler watched in astonishment as Metal Man began spinning in circle, spraying his own mechanical blood everywhere. The embers and wood, once soaked with heavy oil, ceased their mosquito-like behavior and fell to the ground harmlessly.
With his vision now cleared, the Man of Steel turned to his opponent as rage and lunacy filled his eyes. He rose to his feet, though he was now standing on a jagged scrap of metal that used to be a leg, and faced the Traveler once again.
The Man of Steel was grinning.
Crap...
The Traveler was beginning to sense that this was a battle he could not win if he simply kept playing Metal Man's game of toe to toe melee; close quarters combat against a steel behemoth was a recipe for failure, and the hole that had been bored directly through his gut was evidence of it.
Needing to buy some time, he reactivated his swarm spell, but rather than burning pieces of rubble, Metal Man's axe blade came to life again and attacked. Despite being disconnected from its power source, the Traveler's magic kept the glowing blade functional as it harassed the larger warrior. Unlike the debris from earlier, the axe blade was capable of doing real damage to his steel skin.
The Traveler left him to deal with his own deranged foot and sprinted back to the house, ignoring the searing pain in his ankle that screamed at him to stop. He dove through the opening they had made earlier and snatched up his own satchel of goods that had been left on the table earlier. He quickly fished around inside, looking for some of his favorite toys, and then decided to simply take the whole bag with him. He snatched it up as he raced back towards the field, just in time to see Metal Man finally disable his own weapon.
Metal Man turned to face his opponent again, by now thoroughly annoyed with the hit and run tactic.
“Are you gonna fight me for real now?” his metallic voice inquired mockingly.
This attitude seemed out of place: The Man of Steel was standing on a twisted piece of shrapnel that used to be a leg; he was spewing fluid profusely now, spilling out of his chest all over the ground and seeping from the multiple gashes across his face, his head, his arms, shoulders. His left arm now dangled completely useless from his shoulder, held on by scraps of metal that looked as though they would give way at any moment. His face was no longer a face, but simply a twisted, smashed up pile of metal scrap.
Yet, he looked like he was enjoying this.
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Fairlight Excalibur
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The Return
It was clear that smashing Metal Man was not accomplishing anything.
“I brought something for you,” the Traveler mused as he reached into the sack. His hand quickly emerged with a bright red gem.
This particular gem glowed with a dark red crimson hue, a menacing blood red color that somehow sent a chill down even the maniacal Metal Man's spine. He stared at it, transfixed by its strange aura, and even his crazed bloodlust and maniacal lunacy were put on hold for a moment as he was hypnotized by the artifact.
“Say hello to the Soul Stone,” he said in a casual tone, despite his own injuries. His slimy entrails hung out of the hole in his stomach as blood bubbled out across his bare torso and soaked into his pants.
The Soul Stone landed with a clunk next to Metal Man's feet... or at least it would have if it had not stopped in mid air about seven feet in front of him. The stone stopped and hung there, refusing to heed the law of gravity, and began spinning. The red glow cast by the stone began pulsing, like the heartbeat of an earthen spirit.
Threw ground around the stone and Metal Man erupted as rocks broke loose, summoned from underneath by the stone to act as its body. Great slabs of stone, along with dirt, rock, and random debris raised from the ground with an explosion of soil as the Soul Stone golem formed again, for the first time in over two hundred years. The rocks began forming together into the shape of a man, albeit a deformed and massive man.
This moment of vulnerability would be an excellent time to strike, but this was impossible for Metal Man to do. His footing was lost as the ground underneath him gave way, surrendering its contents to the formation of his foe, and all he could do was scramble to regain his balance as the golem took shape. The larger pieces of earth compacted together around the stone itself, forming a torso of sorts, and the smaller pieces then attached onto the core and formed appendages. All in all, the new creature stood some twelve feet tall after its formation was completed.
An oily, mechanical smell filled the air. As Metal Man sized up his target, the rocks that encased the stone began to change color. Shifting from their earthy tones of gray and brown, the creature began to assume a silvery metallic color. Right in front of his eyes, the stone golem transformed into one of steel as the Traveler's magic took effect.
Metal Man simply laughed.
“You think I haven't killed dozens of these things before?” he laughed.
The Traveler remained silent. He was no longer paying attention to the conflict in front of him. He now sat crosslegged on the ground with his hands folded in front of him, recharging his own mana as the golem did his dirty work.
“Fifteen seconds,” Metal Man declared as his remaining good arm transformed into a massive drill bit.
The sounds of metal grinding against metal soon rang out for miles.
“Hey guys, look!” a voice exclaimed, “He's at it again!”
A crowd of onlookers ceased playing their Steal the Bacon tournament and ran to a translucent red wall that stretched on for miles. A crowd quickly formed as a flock of people ran to the wall, looking out at the world around them, perplexed by what they beheld. A seven foot tall steel giant stared back at them, seemingly in a trance.
“This one's gonna be good, I bet!” another man predicted, “Lookit the size of that guy!”
“Yeah right,” a woman countered, “the big guys always die quick-like. It's the little guys that move around who don't get smashed right away.”
“Whatever,” the man argued, “he's got iron skin. He'll get us out of here for sure!”
“Don't get your hopes up,” an older man interrupted, “I've seen stronger looking men fall before this stone's power.”
“Way to crap on my parade, geezer,” the first man said, now thoroughly annoyed at the opposition to his optimism.
Their conversations intermingled and grew undecipherable as the people shared their opinions, but the interest faded somewhat once the golem formed and the rocks blocked their view. One child separated from the crowd and took off running the opposite way, out into the seemingly endless fields. He ran as fast as his stubby legs could take him, flying over the grass away from the small establishment that served as civilization for these inmates, until he spotted a small dot in the distance.
The dot grew larger as the child approached, eventually taking the shape of a man sitting on the grass crosslegged. The man appeared to be in fine condition, but the weeds that had literally grown around him and into his clothing indicated that he had been sitting there for quite a long time. His sword was held horizontally aloft, perfectly level with the ground under him. More interestingly, said sword was glowing bright green now, with vibrant waves of power flowing off it in every direction and casting an odd green glow against the blood red walls that confined them.
“Hey mister, there's another fight. Is it time yet?” the child asked excitedly.
The swordsman did not move, nor did he even look up from the ground. His lips were all that moved as he whispered.
“No... not yet. It is not time.”
“Mister, you've been saying that for 650 years now. Won't you at least give it a shot?”
The swordsman did not reply, as usual. He never did. Every time the children asked if he would try, he would simply respond the same way and go back into his trance. While the children waited with anticipation, the adults had merely written him off as a lunatic and left him alone out there in the field, stuck in his meditative trance.
The kid gave up, walking away in disappointment, when the entire field shook and he was thrown to the ground. He glanced back at the swordsman, who appeared unaffected as he ignored the earthquake. He still did not move, and the child resumed his trek back to where the others were trying to get a view.
An endless void.
Nothingness.
A world of black that stretched forever in every direction.
In the middle of that nothingness, a man. Standing upright though his feet were planted on nothing, facing a blood red wall that was built atop nothing.
The man held his blade overhead, and his fingers tightened their grip as he charged at the wall. He let out a war cry as brought the sword down upon the wall, but the sword was repelled by the seemingly invincible wall.
“Why?!!” the man screamed, “why won't you break?!! I'm sick of this!!!”
He attacked the wall again, still to no avail.
”Because you are weak.”
The voice echoed from the wall, and only infuriated the swordsman further.
”You are drawing from a power that can never exceed mine.”
Whether the wall was actually speaking to him or he was imagining it was impossible to tell. Trance realms rarely heed the laws of reality.
“What else can I draw from?!” he demanded, “this is all my strength! All my mana, all my willpower! There is nothing left to pour into my sword!”
”Yes there is. You just have to find it.”
Perhaps it was his own subconscious mind that spoke to him rather than the wall - it was impossible to tell.
What else is there? I have nothing left in me save my own life...
He stood there, sweat pouring down his brow as he pondered the solution. After nearly seven hundred years of learning to focus the entirety of his mana into one single sword strike, he had now reached the end of his rope. There was nothing left to try.
But, he had sworn that if it took the rest of eternity, he would find a way out. Even if that meant his own death. He turned to face the wall again.
“Alright."
He held the sword in front of himself one more time. The bright green mana that flooded the sword reignited, spilling out of the blade in an uncontrollable flood. He hesitated for a second, but steeled his nerves as he jumped at the wall, bringing his blade overhead in preparation to swing. He tore through the air, wind whipping through his hair as struck.
He let out a scream moments before impact as he channeled all of his own life force into the blade, and the sword erupted in an explosion of power as the man released everything. No holding back. This suicide strike pierced forever in every direction as the bright green energy of his soul detonated, shattering the wall and trailing on for miles behind it as the swordsman collapsed lifelessly to the ground. The broken pieces of the wall fell down around him, burying him alive with the obstacle he swore to overcome.
Kryptonite awoke with a start as he snapped out of his trance. For the first time in seven hundred years, he moved. His eyes trailed along his own arms and down onto the Alastor, which he held in front of him. Looking down, he found that his unattended body had literally been grown over with weeds during the years his mind had been elsewhere.
“It's time.”
It was clear that smashing Metal Man was not accomplishing anything.
“I brought something for you,” the Traveler mused as he reached into the sack. His hand quickly emerged with a bright red gem.
This particular gem glowed with a dark red crimson hue, a menacing blood red color that somehow sent a chill down even the maniacal Metal Man's spine. He stared at it, transfixed by its strange aura, and even his crazed bloodlust and maniacal lunacy were put on hold for a moment as he was hypnotized by the artifact.
“Say hello to the Soul Stone,” he said in a casual tone, despite his own injuries. His slimy entrails hung out of the hole in his stomach as blood bubbled out across his bare torso and soaked into his pants.
The Soul Stone landed with a clunk next to Metal Man's feet... or at least it would have if it had not stopped in mid air about seven feet in front of him. The stone stopped and hung there, refusing to heed the law of gravity, and began spinning. The red glow cast by the stone began pulsing, like the heartbeat of an earthen spirit.
Threw ground around the stone and Metal Man erupted as rocks broke loose, summoned from underneath by the stone to act as its body. Great slabs of stone, along with dirt, rock, and random debris raised from the ground with an explosion of soil as the Soul Stone golem formed again, for the first time in over two hundred years. The rocks began forming together into the shape of a man, albeit a deformed and massive man.
This moment of vulnerability would be an excellent time to strike, but this was impossible for Metal Man to do. His footing was lost as the ground underneath him gave way, surrendering its contents to the formation of his foe, and all he could do was scramble to regain his balance as the golem took shape. The larger pieces of earth compacted together around the stone itself, forming a torso of sorts, and the smaller pieces then attached onto the core and formed appendages. All in all, the new creature stood some twelve feet tall after its formation was completed.
An oily, mechanical smell filled the air. As Metal Man sized up his target, the rocks that encased the stone began to change color. Shifting from their earthy tones of gray and brown, the creature began to assume a silvery metallic color. Right in front of his eyes, the stone golem transformed into one of steel as the Traveler's magic took effect.
Metal Man simply laughed.
“You think I haven't killed dozens of these things before?” he laughed.
The Traveler remained silent. He was no longer paying attention to the conflict in front of him. He now sat crosslegged on the ground with his hands folded in front of him, recharging his own mana as the golem did his dirty work.
“Fifteen seconds,” Metal Man declared as his remaining good arm transformed into a massive drill bit.
The sounds of metal grinding against metal soon rang out for miles.
“Hey guys, look!” a voice exclaimed, “He's at it again!”
A crowd of onlookers ceased playing their Steal the Bacon tournament and ran to a translucent red wall that stretched on for miles. A crowd quickly formed as a flock of people ran to the wall, looking out at the world around them, perplexed by what they beheld. A seven foot tall steel giant stared back at them, seemingly in a trance.
“This one's gonna be good, I bet!” another man predicted, “Lookit the size of that guy!”
“Yeah right,” a woman countered, “the big guys always die quick-like. It's the little guys that move around who don't get smashed right away.”
“Whatever,” the man argued, “he's got iron skin. He'll get us out of here for sure!”
“Don't get your hopes up,” an older man interrupted, “I've seen stronger looking men fall before this stone's power.”
“Way to crap on my parade, geezer,” the first man said, now thoroughly annoyed at the opposition to his optimism.
Their conversations intermingled and grew undecipherable as the people shared their opinions, but the interest faded somewhat once the golem formed and the rocks blocked their view. One child separated from the crowd and took off running the opposite way, out into the seemingly endless fields. He ran as fast as his stubby legs could take him, flying over the grass away from the small establishment that served as civilization for these inmates, until he spotted a small dot in the distance.
The dot grew larger as the child approached, eventually taking the shape of a man sitting on the grass crosslegged. The man appeared to be in fine condition, but the weeds that had literally grown around him and into his clothing indicated that he had been sitting there for quite a long time. His sword was held horizontally aloft, perfectly level with the ground under him. More interestingly, said sword was glowing bright green now, with vibrant waves of power flowing off it in every direction and casting an odd green glow against the blood red walls that confined them.
“Hey mister, there's another fight. Is it time yet?” the child asked excitedly.
The swordsman did not move, nor did he even look up from the ground. His lips were all that moved as he whispered.
“No... not yet. It is not time.”
“Mister, you've been saying that for 650 years now. Won't you at least give it a shot?”
The swordsman did not reply, as usual. He never did. Every time the children asked if he would try, he would simply respond the same way and go back into his trance. While the children waited with anticipation, the adults had merely written him off as a lunatic and left him alone out there in the field, stuck in his meditative trance.
The kid gave up, walking away in disappointment, when the entire field shook and he was thrown to the ground. He glanced back at the swordsman, who appeared unaffected as he ignored the earthquake. He still did not move, and the child resumed his trek back to where the others were trying to get a view.
An endless void.
Nothingness.
A world of black that stretched forever in every direction.
In the middle of that nothingness, a man. Standing upright though his feet were planted on nothing, facing a blood red wall that was built atop nothing.
The man held his blade overhead, and his fingers tightened their grip as he charged at the wall. He let out a war cry as brought the sword down upon the wall, but the sword was repelled by the seemingly invincible wall.
“Why?!!” the man screamed, “why won't you break?!! I'm sick of this!!!”
He attacked the wall again, still to no avail.
”Because you are weak.”
The voice echoed from the wall, and only infuriated the swordsman further.
”You are drawing from a power that can never exceed mine.”
Whether the wall was actually speaking to him or he was imagining it was impossible to tell. Trance realms rarely heed the laws of reality.
“What else can I draw from?!” he demanded, “this is all my strength! All my mana, all my willpower! There is nothing left to pour into my sword!”
”Yes there is. You just have to find it.”
Perhaps it was his own subconscious mind that spoke to him rather than the wall - it was impossible to tell.
What else is there? I have nothing left in me save my own life...
He stood there, sweat pouring down his brow as he pondered the solution. After nearly seven hundred years of learning to focus the entirety of his mana into one single sword strike, he had now reached the end of his rope. There was nothing left to try.
But, he had sworn that if it took the rest of eternity, he would find a way out. Even if that meant his own death. He turned to face the wall again.
“Alright."
He held the sword in front of himself one more time. The bright green mana that flooded the sword reignited, spilling out of the blade in an uncontrollable flood. He hesitated for a second, but steeled his nerves as he jumped at the wall, bringing his blade overhead in preparation to swing. He tore through the air, wind whipping through his hair as struck.
He let out a scream moments before impact as he channeled all of his own life force into the blade, and the sword erupted in an explosion of power as the man released everything. No holding back. This suicide strike pierced forever in every direction as the bright green energy of his soul detonated, shattering the wall and trailing on for miles behind it as the swordsman collapsed lifelessly to the ground. The broken pieces of the wall fell down around him, burying him alive with the obstacle he swore to overcome.
Kryptonite awoke with a start as he snapped out of his trance. For the first time in seven hundred years, he moved. His eyes trailed along his own arms and down onto the Alastor, which he held in front of him. Looking down, he found that his unattended body had literally been grown over with weeds during the years his mind had been elsewhere.
“It's time.”
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Fairlight Excalibur
- Member
- Posts: 879
- Joined: Sat Nov 28, 2009 6:20 am
- Location: LA
Out with a Bang
Metal Man dove forward as the golem's fist yet again crashed down where he stood, creating a massive indent in the earth as dirt flew everywhere from the impact. He slid along the ground under the creature, and as he passed underneath he jammed his drill arm up into what would have been the creature's groin. The sound of grinding metal shrieked across the land as Metal Man rose from underneath with his uppercut, and as the golem recoiled back, the Man of Steel planted his foot on the creatures frontal plating and pried it loose.
The torso piece fell free under the weight of Metal Man's kick and the light of the Soul Stone became visible, no longer protected by the chest piece. The golem's arm lashed out sideways and caught nothing as Metal Man jumped up, bringing his sharpened foot spike down on the creature's shoulder and shearing it off, though doing immense damage to his own leg in the process.
The other arm swung around in a panic as the stone tried to protect itself, but this move had been predicted. The drill bit came up into the armpit, grinding away for a moment before the arm was torn loose, falling to the ground lifelessly.
The golem shrieked one last time, now standing with no arms and no chest plate to protect itself from the enraged Metal Man. He stared at the throbbing Soul Stone for split second, but there was no hesitation this time. He advanced on the damaged golem, readying his drill arm for one last strike.
The crowd stood around the wall, trying to keep their footing as repeated impacts between the steel behemoths kept shaking the stone. The occasional movement of the plating that covered the stone afforded occasional glimpses of the outside world, and during these moments the onlookers could see the condition of both the golem and its unknown opponent. The increased intensity of the earthquakes indicated that someone was landing powerful blows against the golem, and excitement increased with every tremor.
A murmur from the back of the crowd created a disturbance. Slowly, the crowd parted as Kryptonite approached. He carried the Alastor by his side, which was pulsing with a shimmering green light that hurt to look upon. He made his to the front of the crowd as people got out of his way, and he raised his blade in front of him.
A hush fell over the crowd, and a brief silence ensued as he gripped the Alastor with both hands. A child's voice broke the silence.
“Is it time now, mister?”
Kryptonite narrowed his eyes as he focused on his target.
“Yes, boy,” he affirmed, “It's time.”
The amazed silence gave way to a yell as Kryptonite's own life force flooded into the sword along with his mana power. The ground under them shook and the dirt began to fly outward from where he stood as the overflowing waves of immense power could not be entirely contained in the sword. The ground broke apart from the distortion and rocks literally began to hover in the air as the collection of sheer energy disrupted gravity, time, and all other laws of nature. The people themselves were launched backwards, now scrambling away from the ticking time bomb that was about to blow.
A piercing beam of light erupted from the tip of the Alastor and extended directly upward for as far as they could see. The wind around him kicked up and soon a tornado was formed, dragging great chunks of the soil beneath him into the air as Kryptonite stood in the center of the wind tunnel, with only the light from his sword visible from the outside. The noise of the chaos was so great that the people could no longer converse, but simply cover their ears and keep backing away from the maelstrom that formed around the swordsman as seven hundred year's worth of pent up determination and frustration became a physical reality right in front of them.
He grunted in the center of the tornado as the last of his power filled the sword. His fingers ran with blood as he gripped the sword so tightly that the blood vessels in his fingers began bursting, while his grip grew ever stronger just to keep the weapon in check.
Kryptonite could not even see the wall anymore, but he knew where it was.
As the last bit of his own aura finally soaked into the blade....
He charged.
Metal Man rapidly closed the distance to the nearly crippled golem, and avoided a weary headbutt as the creature made its final stand against him. He jumped forwards, jamming his knee into the creatures head as it lurched forward and literally decapitated the golem as it stumbled backwards. The titan lost its balance, collapsing onto its back as Metal Man rushed forward. He jumped into the air and aimed straight for the exposed stone as the golem flailed uselessly on the ground. It had no head, no arms, and no chest to protect itself as Metal Man descended from the sky.
“Checkmate.”
A faint green light suddenly became visible inside the stone as Metal Man's drill was about to connect.
Without warning, the green light exploded, erupting from inside the stone and shattering the gem into a thousand pieces. The shockwave blasted upward, directly into the airborne Metal Man.
“Oh sh...”
He barely had time to shift his good arm to a defensive position before he was hit. The overwhelming force of the shockwave caught Metal Man like an insect on a windshield, instantly reversing his descent and blasting him into the air while completely disintegrating his drill arm. The power of the blast was unrivaled; there was no defending against it as the planet shattering beam tore into him in a glorious fireworks display. The tornado that followed the beam never touched him, as he had been skyrocketed so quickly that the wind tunnel could not reach him.
High in the sky, the beam continued pushing outward, burning through his metal skin like a marshmallow and frying his body like bacon. His flailing was useless as his smaller organs reached the melting point. His metallic tongue literally melted and spewed out from between his teeth while his hair dripped down his back.
There was no end to the destruction this blast caused, and there were no words to describe the pain that he endured as he rode the ultimate sword technique into the dark skies of Hyrule.
From the Gerudo Desert to Death Mountain, the light was visible in the night sky. From Lake Hylia all the way to Hyrule Castle, people stared in awe as the light reached its apex high above the earth and exploded, showering brilliant sparks across the sky that illuminated the entire countryside brighter than daylight.
Yet, no one noticed that the speck that was Metal Man, miles above the earth, as he plummeted back to the earth.
No one save for the mysterious Traveler, who kept a watchful eye on his opponent as he returned to the earth. He fell straight through the center of the tornado as it died down, landing with a sonic boom in the middle of the field and digging a twenty foot hole in the middle of the pasture.
The Traveler rose from the pool of his own blood where he had been recuperating and hobbled over to the crater formed by Metal Man's landing.
A few feet away, the only thing that remained of the Soul Stone were a few fragments. Then, the Traveler noticed something else.
A sword.
A blade planted in the earth not far from where the tornado had originated. The Alastor was planted in the solid earth, its handle glowing faintly even after the end of its final attack. The stranger wrapped his fingers carefully around the sword and pulled it up, dislodging clods of dirt in the process.
He admired the sword for a moment, and while the Lion's Thorn was a finely crafted sword, the Alastor was a masterpiece.
He wielded the new weapon proudly as he waited for Metal Man to emerge from the crater.
Metal Man dove forward as the golem's fist yet again crashed down where he stood, creating a massive indent in the earth as dirt flew everywhere from the impact. He slid along the ground under the creature, and as he passed underneath he jammed his drill arm up into what would have been the creature's groin. The sound of grinding metal shrieked across the land as Metal Man rose from underneath with his uppercut, and as the golem recoiled back, the Man of Steel planted his foot on the creatures frontal plating and pried it loose.
The torso piece fell free under the weight of Metal Man's kick and the light of the Soul Stone became visible, no longer protected by the chest piece. The golem's arm lashed out sideways and caught nothing as Metal Man jumped up, bringing his sharpened foot spike down on the creature's shoulder and shearing it off, though doing immense damage to his own leg in the process.
The other arm swung around in a panic as the stone tried to protect itself, but this move had been predicted. The drill bit came up into the armpit, grinding away for a moment before the arm was torn loose, falling to the ground lifelessly.
The golem shrieked one last time, now standing with no arms and no chest plate to protect itself from the enraged Metal Man. He stared at the throbbing Soul Stone for split second, but there was no hesitation this time. He advanced on the damaged golem, readying his drill arm for one last strike.
The crowd stood around the wall, trying to keep their footing as repeated impacts between the steel behemoths kept shaking the stone. The occasional movement of the plating that covered the stone afforded occasional glimpses of the outside world, and during these moments the onlookers could see the condition of both the golem and its unknown opponent. The increased intensity of the earthquakes indicated that someone was landing powerful blows against the golem, and excitement increased with every tremor.
A murmur from the back of the crowd created a disturbance. Slowly, the crowd parted as Kryptonite approached. He carried the Alastor by his side, which was pulsing with a shimmering green light that hurt to look upon. He made his to the front of the crowd as people got out of his way, and he raised his blade in front of him.
A hush fell over the crowd, and a brief silence ensued as he gripped the Alastor with both hands. A child's voice broke the silence.
“Is it time now, mister?”
Kryptonite narrowed his eyes as he focused on his target.
“Yes, boy,” he affirmed, “It's time.”
The amazed silence gave way to a yell as Kryptonite's own life force flooded into the sword along with his mana power. The ground under them shook and the dirt began to fly outward from where he stood as the overflowing waves of immense power could not be entirely contained in the sword. The ground broke apart from the distortion and rocks literally began to hover in the air as the collection of sheer energy disrupted gravity, time, and all other laws of nature. The people themselves were launched backwards, now scrambling away from the ticking time bomb that was about to blow.
A piercing beam of light erupted from the tip of the Alastor and extended directly upward for as far as they could see. The wind around him kicked up and soon a tornado was formed, dragging great chunks of the soil beneath him into the air as Kryptonite stood in the center of the wind tunnel, with only the light from his sword visible from the outside. The noise of the chaos was so great that the people could no longer converse, but simply cover their ears and keep backing away from the maelstrom that formed around the swordsman as seven hundred year's worth of pent up determination and frustration became a physical reality right in front of them.
He grunted in the center of the tornado as the last of his power filled the sword. His fingers ran with blood as he gripped the sword so tightly that the blood vessels in his fingers began bursting, while his grip grew ever stronger just to keep the weapon in check.
Kryptonite could not even see the wall anymore, but he knew where it was.
As the last bit of his own aura finally soaked into the blade....
He charged.
Metal Man rapidly closed the distance to the nearly crippled golem, and avoided a weary headbutt as the creature made its final stand against him. He jumped forwards, jamming his knee into the creatures head as it lurched forward and literally decapitated the golem as it stumbled backwards. The titan lost its balance, collapsing onto its back as Metal Man rushed forward. He jumped into the air and aimed straight for the exposed stone as the golem flailed uselessly on the ground. It had no head, no arms, and no chest to protect itself as Metal Man descended from the sky.
“Checkmate.”
A faint green light suddenly became visible inside the stone as Metal Man's drill was about to connect.
Without warning, the green light exploded, erupting from inside the stone and shattering the gem into a thousand pieces. The shockwave blasted upward, directly into the airborne Metal Man.
“Oh sh...”
He barely had time to shift his good arm to a defensive position before he was hit. The overwhelming force of the shockwave caught Metal Man like an insect on a windshield, instantly reversing his descent and blasting him into the air while completely disintegrating his drill arm. The power of the blast was unrivaled; there was no defending against it as the planet shattering beam tore into him in a glorious fireworks display. The tornado that followed the beam never touched him, as he had been skyrocketed so quickly that the wind tunnel could not reach him.
High in the sky, the beam continued pushing outward, burning through his metal skin like a marshmallow and frying his body like bacon. His flailing was useless as his smaller organs reached the melting point. His metallic tongue literally melted and spewed out from between his teeth while his hair dripped down his back.
There was no end to the destruction this blast caused, and there were no words to describe the pain that he endured as he rode the ultimate sword technique into the dark skies of Hyrule.
From the Gerudo Desert to Death Mountain, the light was visible in the night sky. From Lake Hylia all the way to Hyrule Castle, people stared in awe as the light reached its apex high above the earth and exploded, showering brilliant sparks across the sky that illuminated the entire countryside brighter than daylight.
Yet, no one noticed that the speck that was Metal Man, miles above the earth, as he plummeted back to the earth.
No one save for the mysterious Traveler, who kept a watchful eye on his opponent as he returned to the earth. He fell straight through the center of the tornado as it died down, landing with a sonic boom in the middle of the field and digging a twenty foot hole in the middle of the pasture.
The Traveler rose from the pool of his own blood where he had been recuperating and hobbled over to the crater formed by Metal Man's landing.
A few feet away, the only thing that remained of the Soul Stone were a few fragments. Then, the Traveler noticed something else.
A sword.
A blade planted in the earth not far from where the tornado had originated. The Alastor was planted in the solid earth, its handle glowing faintly even after the end of its final attack. The stranger wrapped his fingers carefully around the sword and pulled it up, dislodging clods of dirt in the process.
He admired the sword for a moment, and while the Lion's Thorn was a finely crafted sword, the Alastor was a masterpiece.
He wielded the new weapon proudly as he waited for Metal Man to emerge from the crater.
-
Metal Man
- Member
- Posts: 17964
- Joined: Sun Apr 23, 2000 1:00 am
- Location: 1592 Miles Away From Here
- Contact:
OOC: Posting this much is difficult, to say the least, but after spending 6 hours, I think I got it down. Also, I pity the judges. Seriously. Also, I think I took off my gloves, then burned them, then crushed the ashes in a black hole. Hope it's bloody enough ;)
The power of the epic sword technique, alongside the other horrendous wounds, had all but atomized Metal Man. His bulk, dense as it was, could not ignore physics like Superman or certain Dragon Saiyans.
So needless to say, little more than a pile of armor smashed into the ground before the Traveler. Traveler had a new wondrous weapon; Metal Man didn't even have a head. What kind of battle was this? There was no way a disembodied suit of armor could win in any rational universe. Still, the Traveler stood, facing the pit. He had already witnessed Metal Man rise from his grave one time too many to just turn his back. Besides, that crater was smoking something fierce...
Still, nothing came out of that pit. The wind blew slowly on the newly quiet field, as if something terrible and great had silenced all the nearby wildlife. People as far as Hyrule Castle stared at the area, which had just moments ago been host to one of the most spectacular beams of light seen since the Hero of Time's era. Gorons stood atop their mighty mountain, wondering if a new volcano had been created. Even the newly regrown Deku Sprout stared, with his mystical vision.
While these were both strangers who had irrelevant pasts and irrelevant plans, their macabre dance could not but compel others to watch. However, just as it seemed everything had come to a head, nothing happened. The extreme destruction had left there to be no recognizable opponent for the Traveler to fight with his sword. All of the great procedure... had been total overkill.
The sun continued to move in the sky, as the Traveler's arm would slacken some. It had been fifteen minutes now, and the smoke had cleared. The image of a smashed, disembodied suit of armor was all that he could see in that crater. The fire had burnt all the fluids off, and the remaining armor was cracked and tarnished. One of Metal's robotic hands lay to the side, broken and embedded into the ground. On the other side, his axe-foot lay embedded in a chunk of destroyed door. The smell of rot and decay presided over the wreckage, like a graveyard had just been executed.
The Traveler shrugged, for it was natural to destroy something as horrible as Metal Man. He had been traveling countless realms and killing countless people. His death was meaningless at the very worst; at the very best, many lives had just been saved. Saved from that maddeningly twisted metal-and-human-and-glass face, that still mocked the sword that killed it. That still sat in that crater. Traveler's hatred for the man and his all-too-similar story resonated in his frame.
That man... had dared to claim he was similar. To overpower his melee tactics. In the end, even a summoned golem could not kill him; it took the most overpowered death ray imaginable. And even then, he had not gotten what he had wanted; the nearly-headless wreckage STILL haunted the Traveler. The Traveler's heads would shake, almost uncontrollably... that corpse angered him, even though few things did. It was unnatural... unusual... illogical.
No, this was madness; the corpse couldn't do anything to him. Traveler held his arm, breathing heavily, even as he felt suddenly cold. The skies, which were once so warm, were now frigid and hateful. The debris became sharper in his vision; it all appeared to want to stab him. To take his vulnerable flesh... it was opposition to his narrative. And that body... it still existed. It had to be obliterated!
The Traveler powered up, sure that this time, he would launch the body directly into the sun. Then... THEN he could be free of whatever bizarre energy field it was projecting. That hideous thing... he almost swore he saw the after-image of a vampire haunting that corpse. Images flashed in his mind; a crazed android hurling a barrel of caustic acid, a sith lord Bowser nuking an entire city, a master of fire violently burning Metal Man, robotic velociraptors corroded by a dark vampire's curse... the visions made no sense to him. He clutched his head, as the power for his own attack began to become unstable; the sword of mysterious might had become a problem!
And then, to his horror, he saw what it was; the after-image of Metal Man's shape began to take shape in the air, shaking his fist. No... his fist was absorbing the energy. Not thinking, the Traveler went to cleave him in two; the blade hit, but the wrong results occurred. His attack's energy was absorbed wholly, as disembodied laughter echoed from all sides of him.
The area became dark without warning; thunder boomed and lightning struck what remained of the ranch. A horse ran by and then fled; and an owl's screech was heard. These supernatural events only further overwhelmed the Traveler's sense of place and time; he could no longer be sure as to either, as he began seeing ghostly subway cars, stargates, wrecked skyscrapers, and the ARK's control room, all floating through the once simple Hyrule Field and Lon Lon Ranch.
The outside observers stared again, but this time, it was not a massive beam; the residents of Hyrule would see a strange orb consume their fair field. A brave knight ran from the castle, trying to save that piece of land, but when he touched the black sphere of alienation... he simply disintegrated. The drawbridge of Hyrule Castle was abruptly raised, as residents hid from the scourge of the darkness. Fortuitously, it stopped before hitting anything outside the great field.
Within the field, the Traveler regained his sense, if temporarily; he saw that some sort of dead-man's switch had trapped him within a sphere of chaos. No matter; he had faced these before. All he had to do was...
...
Logic stood on its head, as Metal Man's corpse floated up out of its grave, now wearing a cheery British Top hat. Traveler's mouth stood agape, not out of fear... but pure confusion.
"Top o' the day, guv! My my, that was a scary foight, wasn't dat? Well don't worry, I got sum--NEED A DISPENSER HERE! NEED A DISPENSER HERE! NEED A DISPENSER HERE! TRTRTRTRTRTRTRTR KRRZZZZZZZZZ YOU HAVE MAIL!"
The Traveler ducked as, out of nowhere, the Metal Man's nigh-headless body summoned a lamp and hurled it at him. The stock prop-lamp shattered on the ground behind him, as the floating abomination began walking on its hands and singing camp tunes while advancing on him.
The Traveler was not one for these jokes. He drew his sword, and prepared to nuke this monstrosity into oblivion. He reared back and slashed at the upside-down Metal Man's floating-arm-walking-elbows. *SLICE* They came clean off. The armored abomination fell to the ground like a cheap christmas tree.
"Phew." The Traveler sighed, and rubbed his brow; it had become caked with sweat. Between having his guts sitting out for quite some time now, and that, he was beginning to get worried. It would be all right now. All he had to do was...
"STOP! HAMMER TIME! IT'S THE PAUSE WHICH REFRESHES! GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!"
...
The thing did not agree with him. It floated up again, and this time it procured... a rubber hammer. The Traveler again slashed at it... but had no success this time. The vile red-and-yellow striped hammer blocked his sword with a loud SQUEGEEE! noise. Then the Metal Man bopped him in the face so hard he fell onto the floor. It made no sense--he wasn't even holding it with his hands, because he didn't have any anymore!
The Traveler tried to get up, clutching his broken nose, but instead his mystical sword of power got b#tchslapped right out of his hand with another humiliated SQUEEGEE! noise. He balled his fists, only for one of them to be bounced right into his friggin' face, followed by ghoulish laughter from the armored man spirit-thing.
"THE ANTS MARCH DOWN, TWO BY TWO, DUCK AND COVER, THEY'RE COMING FOR YOUR DR. PEPPER®" The robotic, annoying voice echoed painfully in the Traveler's ears. Then things became red and painful, as out of nowhere, the thing summoned a red can of paint and broke it upside the Traveler's face, and also threw him back a ways in the process.
The Traveler was now quite enraged; what had been a great and honorable battle had turned into a slapstick menagerie. He willed his sword back at him, and as the drunken Metal Patriarch took another swing at him (with non-existent arms past the elbow, I must add) he cut the paint bucket off at the handle and expertly batted it into the rubber hammer. A comedic slipping noise was heard, and again, the Metal Thing had been knocked over.
Not wanting another reprise of the comedy routine, the Traveler pushed through the barrier and into the area near Kakariko town--nay, inside the town. He fell to his knees there, for it had taken much of his effort to escape that hideous black sphere of madness. The townspeople stared, aghast; the triumphant hero was now covered in red paint and hideous welts which had the words 'METAL ROCKZ' on them.
The Traveler's pride had come to haunt him; his new weapon seemed much dimmer and less important, now that it was covered in red paint. He clenched his jaw, ready to rip that Metallic Something a new one. He turned to face the black sphere, powering up the sword so much, it melted off that red paint. And just in time, too... the matte black energy disturbance rippled, indicating it was about ready to disgorge the madness it had once contained.
*SHLUNK* The Metal Corpse floated out, a smug grin on its face. Its neck had been dislocated, and its face was now half skull, half-machine, but it still smiled at the Traveler, its metal teeth mocking the effort the beam had made to melt them. Teal energy radiated from the core of the body, as the armor continued operating. The Metal Man smoothly reattached the fractured shambles of his helmet with his invisible nonexistent energy hands, and its GUI again clicked into place. It targeted Traveler without trouble, as the Metal Man merely crossed his arms. "You think your brute force can surpass m--"
"Yes." The Traveler interrupted Metal Man in a rude fashion, blasting him right back into the black sphere with another sword-based megabeam. This way, the madness would be over. This way... what?
More evil laughter filled the area, as Metal Man floated in, opposing the immense eons of mystical energy... ...with his time device. The Traveler's eyes widened as the time device, despite not being attached to Metal Man (just floating where his left arm was), managed to oppose his saintly super-sword.
Metal Man clenched his teeth, as he advanced on the Traveler, grinning madly. He spoke, though the voice sounded like it was underwater. The hideous echoing atonal notes caused the Traveler's ears to bleed, as nearby windows broke and Cuccoos fled in terror.
"You took half this battle to obtain what I ALWAYS had, Traveler! Try as you might... no shiny stick will surpass millenia of experience. Fall... and perish, fool!"
The Traveler increased his focus; the blade's mega-beam intensified. Metal Man grunted; but still, he came closer. The Traveler tried to stab Metal Man, to make the attack stop being blocked and go in... but that was the worst mistake he could make.
"Here, let ME show you how it's done, buffoon!"
The power of the epic sword technique, alongside the other horrendous wounds, had all but atomized Metal Man. His bulk, dense as it was, could not ignore physics like Superman or certain Dragon Saiyans.
So needless to say, little more than a pile of armor smashed into the ground before the Traveler. Traveler had a new wondrous weapon; Metal Man didn't even have a head. What kind of battle was this? There was no way a disembodied suit of armor could win in any rational universe. Still, the Traveler stood, facing the pit. He had already witnessed Metal Man rise from his grave one time too many to just turn his back. Besides, that crater was smoking something fierce...
Still, nothing came out of that pit. The wind blew slowly on the newly quiet field, as if something terrible and great had silenced all the nearby wildlife. People as far as Hyrule Castle stared at the area, which had just moments ago been host to one of the most spectacular beams of light seen since the Hero of Time's era. Gorons stood atop their mighty mountain, wondering if a new volcano had been created. Even the newly regrown Deku Sprout stared, with his mystical vision.
While these were both strangers who had irrelevant pasts and irrelevant plans, their macabre dance could not but compel others to watch. However, just as it seemed everything had come to a head, nothing happened. The extreme destruction had left there to be no recognizable opponent for the Traveler to fight with his sword. All of the great procedure... had been total overkill.
The sun continued to move in the sky, as the Traveler's arm would slacken some. It had been fifteen minutes now, and the smoke had cleared. The image of a smashed, disembodied suit of armor was all that he could see in that crater. The fire had burnt all the fluids off, and the remaining armor was cracked and tarnished. One of Metal's robotic hands lay to the side, broken and embedded into the ground. On the other side, his axe-foot lay embedded in a chunk of destroyed door. The smell of rot and decay presided over the wreckage, like a graveyard had just been executed.
The Traveler shrugged, for it was natural to destroy something as horrible as Metal Man. He had been traveling countless realms and killing countless people. His death was meaningless at the very worst; at the very best, many lives had just been saved. Saved from that maddeningly twisted metal-and-human-and-glass face, that still mocked the sword that killed it. That still sat in that crater. Traveler's hatred for the man and his all-too-similar story resonated in his frame.
That man... had dared to claim he was similar. To overpower his melee tactics. In the end, even a summoned golem could not kill him; it took the most overpowered death ray imaginable. And even then, he had not gotten what he had wanted; the nearly-headless wreckage STILL haunted the Traveler. The Traveler's heads would shake, almost uncontrollably... that corpse angered him, even though few things did. It was unnatural... unusual... illogical.
No, this was madness; the corpse couldn't do anything to him. Traveler held his arm, breathing heavily, even as he felt suddenly cold. The skies, which were once so warm, were now frigid and hateful. The debris became sharper in his vision; it all appeared to want to stab him. To take his vulnerable flesh... it was opposition to his narrative. And that body... it still existed. It had to be obliterated!
The Traveler powered up, sure that this time, he would launch the body directly into the sun. Then... THEN he could be free of whatever bizarre energy field it was projecting. That hideous thing... he almost swore he saw the after-image of a vampire haunting that corpse. Images flashed in his mind; a crazed android hurling a barrel of caustic acid, a sith lord Bowser nuking an entire city, a master of fire violently burning Metal Man, robotic velociraptors corroded by a dark vampire's curse... the visions made no sense to him. He clutched his head, as the power for his own attack began to become unstable; the sword of mysterious might had become a problem!
And then, to his horror, he saw what it was; the after-image of Metal Man's shape began to take shape in the air, shaking his fist. No... his fist was absorbing the energy. Not thinking, the Traveler went to cleave him in two; the blade hit, but the wrong results occurred. His attack's energy was absorbed wholly, as disembodied laughter echoed from all sides of him.
The area became dark without warning; thunder boomed and lightning struck what remained of the ranch. A horse ran by and then fled; and an owl's screech was heard. These supernatural events only further overwhelmed the Traveler's sense of place and time; he could no longer be sure as to either, as he began seeing ghostly subway cars, stargates, wrecked skyscrapers, and the ARK's control room, all floating through the once simple Hyrule Field and Lon Lon Ranch.
The outside observers stared again, but this time, it was not a massive beam; the residents of Hyrule would see a strange orb consume their fair field. A brave knight ran from the castle, trying to save that piece of land, but when he touched the black sphere of alienation... he simply disintegrated. The drawbridge of Hyrule Castle was abruptly raised, as residents hid from the scourge of the darkness. Fortuitously, it stopped before hitting anything outside the great field.
Within the field, the Traveler regained his sense, if temporarily; he saw that some sort of dead-man's switch had trapped him within a sphere of chaos. No matter; he had faced these before. All he had to do was...
...
Logic stood on its head, as Metal Man's corpse floated up out of its grave, now wearing a cheery British Top hat. Traveler's mouth stood agape, not out of fear... but pure confusion.
"Top o' the day, guv! My my, that was a scary foight, wasn't dat? Well don't worry, I got sum--NEED A DISPENSER HERE! NEED A DISPENSER HERE! NEED A DISPENSER HERE! TRTRTRTRTRTRTRTR KRRZZZZZZZZZ YOU HAVE MAIL!"
The Traveler ducked as, out of nowhere, the Metal Man's nigh-headless body summoned a lamp and hurled it at him. The stock prop-lamp shattered on the ground behind him, as the floating abomination began walking on its hands and singing camp tunes while advancing on him.
The Traveler was not one for these jokes. He drew his sword, and prepared to nuke this monstrosity into oblivion. He reared back and slashed at the upside-down Metal Man's floating-arm-walking-elbows. *SLICE* They came clean off. The armored abomination fell to the ground like a cheap christmas tree.
"Phew." The Traveler sighed, and rubbed his brow; it had become caked with sweat. Between having his guts sitting out for quite some time now, and that, he was beginning to get worried. It would be all right now. All he had to do was...
"STOP! HAMMER TIME! IT'S THE PAUSE WHICH REFRESHES! GOTTA CATCH 'EM ALL!"
...
The thing did not agree with him. It floated up again, and this time it procured... a rubber hammer. The Traveler again slashed at it... but had no success this time. The vile red-and-yellow striped hammer blocked his sword with a loud SQUEGEEE! noise. Then the Metal Man bopped him in the face so hard he fell onto the floor. It made no sense--he wasn't even holding it with his hands, because he didn't have any anymore!
The Traveler tried to get up, clutching his broken nose, but instead his mystical sword of power got b#tchslapped right out of his hand with another humiliated SQUEEGEE! noise. He balled his fists, only for one of them to be bounced right into his friggin' face, followed by ghoulish laughter from the armored man spirit-thing.
"THE ANTS MARCH DOWN, TWO BY TWO, DUCK AND COVER, THEY'RE COMING FOR YOUR DR. PEPPER®" The robotic, annoying voice echoed painfully in the Traveler's ears. Then things became red and painful, as out of nowhere, the thing summoned a red can of paint and broke it upside the Traveler's face, and also threw him back a ways in the process.
The Traveler was now quite enraged; what had been a great and honorable battle had turned into a slapstick menagerie. He willed his sword back at him, and as the drunken Metal Patriarch took another swing at him (with non-existent arms past the elbow, I must add) he cut the paint bucket off at the handle and expertly batted it into the rubber hammer. A comedic slipping noise was heard, and again, the Metal Thing had been knocked over.
Not wanting another reprise of the comedy routine, the Traveler pushed through the barrier and into the area near Kakariko town--nay, inside the town. He fell to his knees there, for it had taken much of his effort to escape that hideous black sphere of madness. The townspeople stared, aghast; the triumphant hero was now covered in red paint and hideous welts which had the words 'METAL ROCKZ' on them.
The Traveler's pride had come to haunt him; his new weapon seemed much dimmer and less important, now that it was covered in red paint. He clenched his jaw, ready to rip that Metallic Something a new one. He turned to face the black sphere, powering up the sword so much, it melted off that red paint. And just in time, too... the matte black energy disturbance rippled, indicating it was about ready to disgorge the madness it had once contained.
*SHLUNK* The Metal Corpse floated out, a smug grin on its face. Its neck had been dislocated, and its face was now half skull, half-machine, but it still smiled at the Traveler, its metal teeth mocking the effort the beam had made to melt them. Teal energy radiated from the core of the body, as the armor continued operating. The Metal Man smoothly reattached the fractured shambles of his helmet with his invisible nonexistent energy hands, and its GUI again clicked into place. It targeted Traveler without trouble, as the Metal Man merely crossed his arms. "You think your brute force can surpass m--"
"Yes." The Traveler interrupted Metal Man in a rude fashion, blasting him right back into the black sphere with another sword-based megabeam. This way, the madness would be over. This way... what?
More evil laughter filled the area, as Metal Man floated in, opposing the immense eons of mystical energy... ...with his time device. The Traveler's eyes widened as the time device, despite not being attached to Metal Man (just floating where his left arm was), managed to oppose his saintly super-sword.
Metal Man clenched his teeth, as he advanced on the Traveler, grinning madly. He spoke, though the voice sounded like it was underwater. The hideous echoing atonal notes caused the Traveler's ears to bleed, as nearby windows broke and Cuccoos fled in terror.
"You took half this battle to obtain what I ALWAYS had, Traveler! Try as you might... no shiny stick will surpass millenia of experience. Fall... and perish, fool!"
The Traveler increased his focus; the blade's mega-beam intensified. Metal Man grunted; but still, he came closer. The Traveler tried to stab Metal Man, to make the attack stop being blocked and go in... but that was the worst mistake he could make.
"Here, let ME show you how it's done, buffoon!"
Super Smash Quest: Fighting evil since 2002.
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Metal Man
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In a ballsy move, Metal Man lunged forward and grabbed the sword himself. He yelled out in pain as its energy burned his hideous form; but eventually he managed to get a grip with it, with his disembodied soul-energy hands. Before the Traveler could say "What the #$%^", he was then smashed over the left temple with the hilt of his sword; the vein there was ruptured instantly, and then he was propelled all the way back and into the tree in the middle of the entry area of Kakariko town.
"GUAAAH... now... you... DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
The remaining windows of the area shattered. Both of the Traveler's eardrums ruptured; one or two natives of Kakariko spontaneously died of heart attacks. Metal Man then flew down into the ground...
SCHWOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A violent seismic shock shattered the ground, launching the tree and the Traveler into the house behind them both; the house then immediately collapsed atop him.
"You send golems after me... you use unholy super-spells... you use great magical powers... but are you prepared...
FOR A COCA COLA MACHIIIINEEEEE???"
The Metal Man held up his half-arms, which both burst into flames. A portal appeared, and suddenly, a 1950's Coca Cola machine flew out, slamming into the debris where the Traveler and the debris were. It exploded, hurling glass shrapnel into the Traveler, then soaking his wounds with delicious Coca Cola®.
"And I'M NOT DONE YET, YOU WORTHLESS SPELL SLINGING BUM! You... you... HAAAAAAAAH!"
Metal Man advanced on the burning, deliciously sugary disaster zone. He picked up a cola-barbecued Cuccoo with the Alastor; it was a finely crafted cuccoo masterpiece, so an eldritch super sword was the perfect kabob for it. He ate the Cuccoo with relish, even as it literally lit his skull on fire. He laughed as he stood over the Traveler, who had been impaled by the inner workings of the Cola Machine, set on fire, covered in cola, buried in bricks, and stabbed through and through with rocks, bushes, inexplicable arrows that could be found in the bushes, barbecued Cuccoo pieces, and glass.
The Traveler did not wait; he moved with great fury, recapturing the power of his Berserker move; he punched Metal Man's right shoulder entirely off, freeing the fine sword from its garbage-worthy captor.
"HA HA... ...no fair. Ye shall burn in a fire of turpentine for that! I was just getting used to my new toothpick! Graaaaaaaaah!"
The Traveler swung again at Metal Man, but Metal Man parried with his arm made of time machine. "I know your game all ready. We all know your game already. Your little toothpick ain't fine enough to change that it's BORING! Here, feast upon something else!"
The Metal Man reached into his horrendous interdimensional bag of tricks again, and pulled out... an antimatter flower. He grinned and then smacked the super-sword with his limp daisy that glowed eerily.
*KABOOOOM!*
The wild explosion hurled them apart, throwing the Traveler into an earthen embankment. Metal Man bounced off a higher up house, then again floated on down. He took out a glowing Knight chesspiece and chucked it into the Traveler's bleeding head injury while he was trying to get up, knocking him back down.
"Is that all you've got? Swords, golems, and death rays? Real fighters... fight with GARBAGE!"
The Mad Man floated over to the inexplicable tower in the center of the town. He ripped it free of its foundations with his hands, and towered over the Traveler.
"Look ma, no hands!"
The Traveler muttered a curse, then fired a spell. Metal Man sank to the ground and grimaced. ...But he just floated back up again. The glowing machine eye mocked the Traveler as he smashed the entire weight of the 50 foot tower....
...Directly into the Traveler's pinky toe???
"...What?" The Traveler's left pinky toe was no more; but destroying an entire tower for that... why?
"You don't yet appreciate the subtleties... of playing with your foe."
The Traveler got his sword, and again slashed at the Metallic Madness; it held up its right side, allowing the sword to become stuck in gristle and metallic plate, then with a clean movement, blasted off the traveler's right hand with time-powered plasma.
"Wha???"
"A true warrior... does not kill his prey too early. Now that I am dead, there is nothing more you can get out of me; I am an animated ghoul who defies the rules of sanity. You, on the other hand... have both a soul and a life. My life is but a cheap token to be lost and regained; but yours... I can sense it. Taking it shall be much sweeter for me than knocking down just one of my many chess pieces. Ha ha ha ha ha ha."
The Traveler merely furrowed his brow; it would be another set of magical incantations, and this abomination would once again sleep beneath the ground. He began to concentrate...
...Then got slammed straight in the face with the thing's round left metal arm-plate. His face was hideously dented inwards, as it had basically imploded. He should be dead, but he wasn't.
"...See, I could just kill you, but..."
The monster retracted its arm. Just as painfully as his face had imploded, it then was... ripped back into place.
"...This is much better!"
Then, an unseen force ripped the Traveler's face right off. But before what remained of his face could scream... it was slammed back into place.
Then punched back in again.
The Metal Man then ripped the Traveler's left arm back with the unseen force, and then stuck it into place, ripped it forwards, then ripped it off, bashed the Traveler in the face with it, then re-attached it and spun in around in the socket for 10 complete circles, then took it out again and smashed it back into the socket so hard half of the Traveler's ribs exploded out of his chest and his body fell sidelong onto the ground, his right leg reduced to mush.
"That didn't feel so good, did it? Well... I wouldn't know. I'm dead, so I don't feel pain anymore. Whoops."
The Traveler desperately reached for his sword... ...and instead, his left hand was bitten by the flaming skull's gnarled teeth. As he cringed and recoiled, the Metal Man's left foot kicked his fingers out of joint, then stomped them back in... then kicked them so hard they went INSIDE his palm, like bullets!
Again the Metal Ghoul laughed, as blood and screams came from the target. "Holy this... holy that... super sword this... I've destroyed entire planets! You do not impress me. You've just walked outside your ken, your knowledge! And now I'm going to teach you HOW. IT'S. DONE!"
After all this time, the Metal Man finally went into gear; an eerie humming sound could be heard, as he levitated over the Traveler. Ancient unholy runes surrounded the Metal Man as he raised the Traveler's body to face him... with the will of his soul alone. Then... the masterpiece, the Alastor... hovered out of Metal Man's side.
The Dark sphere dissipated in the background, and in its place, a smaller one surrounded the Metal Man and the Traveler. The Metal Man's missing body parts lit up; they had been filled in with the teal energy of Metal Man's infernal soul. Where the normal energy of a person would be was instead a hideous monstrosity--a soul made up of runic curses, technological energy grafts, and a spot that looked like it had ripped itself free of the grim reaper itself. And it was there, facing the Traveler, fearless... and clutching his mighty sword.
It stared into his own, less evil soul, with an unholy menace. Then... a hideous high-pitched shriek began to emit from the sword, as Metal Man's tainted soul... cracked it. The Traveler twitched, trying to get it... but Metal Man held it just inches away from him, laughing.
"You cheated. You brought someone else to your side. Even an eldritch abomination like me knows that you're gonna pay if you cheat. I lost two-thirds of my soul that way once."
He then looked at the sword. "...But this time I think I'll just have some more fun."
The Traveler's blood turned to ice as he saw... some sort of person was being drawn from the sword. A very concentrated, empowered person... Kyptonite.
...And the Man of Steel produced a Soviet Magnum and rudely shoved it in this person's face.
"Sorry, dude, but you're not MY Kyptonite. As I like to say... DIEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
*BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM*
After what was a bad Spaghetti Western's worth of shots... the interloper fell on the floor, probably not dead, but probably not useful anymore, either. The Metal Man tossed the gun behind himself idly--yet with such force it decapitated a poor onlooker with its speed alone. He chuckled coldly as he then crudely bit the sword in half with his teeth and discarded it to the side.
"Now that we've gotten that straight, it's time for the real fight. Wait, you thought that earlier was it? No..." *He shook his ghoulish skull.* "I was just playin'. Now you're gonna die, bucko."
The Metal Man balled up his teal energy-fists and roared, then hurled a punch at the Traveler. The Traveler, however, roared back, punching him with enough force to dissipate his right arm for a moment. Metal Man wasn't stunned, however; he spun like a whirling dervice and threw the momentum right back at the Traveler with a left-handed ethereal clothesline, which threw several of the Traveler's teeth into another unfortunate onlooker's eyes.
The second hit from the spinning clothesline only dented the Traveler's right elbow; the Traveler continued using his strength, now kicking the Metal Man with what remained of his right leg, hard enough that the Metal Man's lower right mangled stump flew off. Metal Man responded by stabbing the Traveler in the stomach with his razor-sharp right-hip-piece and punched him down into a wall of the high stone arch near the entrance to the graveyard.
The battle moved into there as the Traveler headbutted out a chunk of Metal's techno-skull; Metal hissed savagely and ripped off his own skull with his left teal-hand, then slapped the Traveler silly with it; while the Traveler was dazed, holding his face, he then hammer-smashed the Traveler through Dampe's shack, then into a gravestone.
Then as the Traveler tried to get up, he gave him a wicked indian burn on his left leg, then the disembodied skull spat acidic soul-spit into the Traveler's already messed up eyes. Then out of nowhere the axe-foot flew in and sliced a big gash in the Traveler's thigh. The Metal Man kept up the pressure, as he took out a spare bottle of Coca-Cola and explodi-smashed it into the Traveler's belly button, then picked him up and threw him such that he spun and bounced off several graves before being smashed into a tree so fast it caught in fire and exploded into him.
The Metal spirit landed on the ground and caught its breath, while the Traveler slowly burned and was still covered in boiling coca-cola. To the spirit's surprise, the Traveler stood again, dusting himself off, and picking up the damaged sword. The Metal Man shook his head, slowly.
"You still resist me? To what end? You have nothing but swords and death rays!"
"I will not fall to you; I have traveled too much to fail now."
"So have I, you boggart! Just shut up and smoulder in peace!"
"Why don't you?"
"I can't if I tried. I tried it once! It failed. I can't die, you idiot!"
"I'll make you die, then."
"You tried. It failed. That creepy sword guy couldn't do it, and you can't without him either. BAH! Making me want to use my smash powers... look what you've done."
"Smash powers?" The Traveler shook his head, amused. "Are you going to start hitting me with plastic dishes too? I have not mastered the arts of magic to just be killed by you."
"You... you... I'll make you pay..."
"Yes. You will." The Traveler did not seem remotely bothered by the injuries he had taken. He strode over and slashed another part of the Metal Man's left armor off. "I've just been waiting for you to run low on steam. You're very tough, but ultimately, I can out-last you."
The Metal Man knew it to possibly be true. His energy was low; he had blasted tons of it on wacky warping shenanigans, and he was running out of armor. He couldn't afford to be 100% energy being, as much as he had basically stolen most of The Void's powers one time, long ago.
He looked down and sighed. "I guess you're right..."
The Traveler leveled his damaged but not destroyed sword, ready to slash Metal Man in half.
"...But I'm not giving up anyway!"
"Whatever you want to do. I'm not going to just let you get away with what you've done."
The Traveler swung down his mighty sword, straight into Metal Man's skull, down the middle--Metal Man had foolishly put it back on his neck just in time for this to happen. He moved to slash the rest of Metal Man in twain, ending this useless squabble.
"GUAAAH... now... you... DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"
The remaining windows of the area shattered. Both of the Traveler's eardrums ruptured; one or two natives of Kakariko spontaneously died of heart attacks. Metal Man then flew down into the ground...
SCHWOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
A violent seismic shock shattered the ground, launching the tree and the Traveler into the house behind them both; the house then immediately collapsed atop him.
"You send golems after me... you use unholy super-spells... you use great magical powers... but are you prepared...
FOR A COCA COLA MACHIIIINEEEEE???"
The Metal Man held up his half-arms, which both burst into flames. A portal appeared, and suddenly, a 1950's Coca Cola machine flew out, slamming into the debris where the Traveler and the debris were. It exploded, hurling glass shrapnel into the Traveler, then soaking his wounds with delicious Coca Cola®.
"And I'M NOT DONE YET, YOU WORTHLESS SPELL SLINGING BUM! You... you... HAAAAAAAAH!"
Metal Man advanced on the burning, deliciously sugary disaster zone. He picked up a cola-barbecued Cuccoo with the Alastor; it was a finely crafted cuccoo masterpiece, so an eldritch super sword was the perfect kabob for it. He ate the Cuccoo with relish, even as it literally lit his skull on fire. He laughed as he stood over the Traveler, who had been impaled by the inner workings of the Cola Machine, set on fire, covered in cola, buried in bricks, and stabbed through and through with rocks, bushes, inexplicable arrows that could be found in the bushes, barbecued Cuccoo pieces, and glass.
The Traveler did not wait; he moved with great fury, recapturing the power of his Berserker move; he punched Metal Man's right shoulder entirely off, freeing the fine sword from its garbage-worthy captor.
"HA HA... ...no fair. Ye shall burn in a fire of turpentine for that! I was just getting used to my new toothpick! Graaaaaaaaah!"
The Traveler swung again at Metal Man, but Metal Man parried with his arm made of time machine. "I know your game all ready. We all know your game already. Your little toothpick ain't fine enough to change that it's BORING! Here, feast upon something else!"
The Metal Man reached into his horrendous interdimensional bag of tricks again, and pulled out... an antimatter flower. He grinned and then smacked the super-sword with his limp daisy that glowed eerily.
*KABOOOOM!*
The wild explosion hurled them apart, throwing the Traveler into an earthen embankment. Metal Man bounced off a higher up house, then again floated on down. He took out a glowing Knight chesspiece and chucked it into the Traveler's bleeding head injury while he was trying to get up, knocking him back down.
"Is that all you've got? Swords, golems, and death rays? Real fighters... fight with GARBAGE!"
The Mad Man floated over to the inexplicable tower in the center of the town. He ripped it free of its foundations with his hands, and towered over the Traveler.
"Look ma, no hands!"
The Traveler muttered a curse, then fired a spell. Metal Man sank to the ground and grimaced. ...But he just floated back up again. The glowing machine eye mocked the Traveler as he smashed the entire weight of the 50 foot tower....
...Directly into the Traveler's pinky toe???
"...What?" The Traveler's left pinky toe was no more; but destroying an entire tower for that... why?
"You don't yet appreciate the subtleties... of playing with your foe."
The Traveler got his sword, and again slashed at the Metallic Madness; it held up its right side, allowing the sword to become stuck in gristle and metallic plate, then with a clean movement, blasted off the traveler's right hand with time-powered plasma.
"Wha???"
"A true warrior... does not kill his prey too early. Now that I am dead, there is nothing more you can get out of me; I am an animated ghoul who defies the rules of sanity. You, on the other hand... have both a soul and a life. My life is but a cheap token to be lost and regained; but yours... I can sense it. Taking it shall be much sweeter for me than knocking down just one of my many chess pieces. Ha ha ha ha ha ha."
The Traveler merely furrowed his brow; it would be another set of magical incantations, and this abomination would once again sleep beneath the ground. He began to concentrate...
...Then got slammed straight in the face with the thing's round left metal arm-plate. His face was hideously dented inwards, as it had basically imploded. He should be dead, but he wasn't.
"...See, I could just kill you, but..."
The monster retracted its arm. Just as painfully as his face had imploded, it then was... ripped back into place.
"...This is much better!"
Then, an unseen force ripped the Traveler's face right off. But before what remained of his face could scream... it was slammed back into place.
Then punched back in again.
The Metal Man then ripped the Traveler's left arm back with the unseen force, and then stuck it into place, ripped it forwards, then ripped it off, bashed the Traveler in the face with it, then re-attached it and spun in around in the socket for 10 complete circles, then took it out again and smashed it back into the socket so hard half of the Traveler's ribs exploded out of his chest and his body fell sidelong onto the ground, his right leg reduced to mush.
"That didn't feel so good, did it? Well... I wouldn't know. I'm dead, so I don't feel pain anymore. Whoops."
The Traveler desperately reached for his sword... ...and instead, his left hand was bitten by the flaming skull's gnarled teeth. As he cringed and recoiled, the Metal Man's left foot kicked his fingers out of joint, then stomped them back in... then kicked them so hard they went INSIDE his palm, like bullets!
Again the Metal Ghoul laughed, as blood and screams came from the target. "Holy this... holy that... super sword this... I've destroyed entire planets! You do not impress me. You've just walked outside your ken, your knowledge! And now I'm going to teach you HOW. IT'S. DONE!"
After all this time, the Metal Man finally went into gear; an eerie humming sound could be heard, as he levitated over the Traveler. Ancient unholy runes surrounded the Metal Man as he raised the Traveler's body to face him... with the will of his soul alone. Then... the masterpiece, the Alastor... hovered out of Metal Man's side.
The Dark sphere dissipated in the background, and in its place, a smaller one surrounded the Metal Man and the Traveler. The Metal Man's missing body parts lit up; they had been filled in with the teal energy of Metal Man's infernal soul. Where the normal energy of a person would be was instead a hideous monstrosity--a soul made up of runic curses, technological energy grafts, and a spot that looked like it had ripped itself free of the grim reaper itself. And it was there, facing the Traveler, fearless... and clutching his mighty sword.
It stared into his own, less evil soul, with an unholy menace. Then... a hideous high-pitched shriek began to emit from the sword, as Metal Man's tainted soul... cracked it. The Traveler twitched, trying to get it... but Metal Man held it just inches away from him, laughing.
"You cheated. You brought someone else to your side. Even an eldritch abomination like me knows that you're gonna pay if you cheat. I lost two-thirds of my soul that way once."
He then looked at the sword. "...But this time I think I'll just have some more fun."
The Traveler's blood turned to ice as he saw... some sort of person was being drawn from the sword. A very concentrated, empowered person... Kyptonite.
...And the Man of Steel produced a Soviet Magnum and rudely shoved it in this person's face.
"Sorry, dude, but you're not MY Kyptonite. As I like to say... DIEEEEEEE!!!!!!"
*BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM*
After what was a bad Spaghetti Western's worth of shots... the interloper fell on the floor, probably not dead, but probably not useful anymore, either. The Metal Man tossed the gun behind himself idly--yet with such force it decapitated a poor onlooker with its speed alone. He chuckled coldly as he then crudely bit the sword in half with his teeth and discarded it to the side.
"Now that we've gotten that straight, it's time for the real fight. Wait, you thought that earlier was it? No..." *He shook his ghoulish skull.* "I was just playin'. Now you're gonna die, bucko."
The Metal Man balled up his teal energy-fists and roared, then hurled a punch at the Traveler. The Traveler, however, roared back, punching him with enough force to dissipate his right arm for a moment. Metal Man wasn't stunned, however; he spun like a whirling dervice and threw the momentum right back at the Traveler with a left-handed ethereal clothesline, which threw several of the Traveler's teeth into another unfortunate onlooker's eyes.
The second hit from the spinning clothesline only dented the Traveler's right elbow; the Traveler continued using his strength, now kicking the Metal Man with what remained of his right leg, hard enough that the Metal Man's lower right mangled stump flew off. Metal Man responded by stabbing the Traveler in the stomach with his razor-sharp right-hip-piece and punched him down into a wall of the high stone arch near the entrance to the graveyard.
The battle moved into there as the Traveler headbutted out a chunk of Metal's techno-skull; Metal hissed savagely and ripped off his own skull with his left teal-hand, then slapped the Traveler silly with it; while the Traveler was dazed, holding his face, he then hammer-smashed the Traveler through Dampe's shack, then into a gravestone.
Then as the Traveler tried to get up, he gave him a wicked indian burn on his left leg, then the disembodied skull spat acidic soul-spit into the Traveler's already messed up eyes. Then out of nowhere the axe-foot flew in and sliced a big gash in the Traveler's thigh. The Metal Man kept up the pressure, as he took out a spare bottle of Coca-Cola and explodi-smashed it into the Traveler's belly button, then picked him up and threw him such that he spun and bounced off several graves before being smashed into a tree so fast it caught in fire and exploded into him.
The Metal spirit landed on the ground and caught its breath, while the Traveler slowly burned and was still covered in boiling coca-cola. To the spirit's surprise, the Traveler stood again, dusting himself off, and picking up the damaged sword. The Metal Man shook his head, slowly.
"You still resist me? To what end? You have nothing but swords and death rays!"
"I will not fall to you; I have traveled too much to fail now."
"So have I, you boggart! Just shut up and smoulder in peace!"
"Why don't you?"
"I can't if I tried. I tried it once! It failed. I can't die, you idiot!"
"I'll make you die, then."
"You tried. It failed. That creepy sword guy couldn't do it, and you can't without him either. BAH! Making me want to use my smash powers... look what you've done."
"Smash powers?" The Traveler shook his head, amused. "Are you going to start hitting me with plastic dishes too? I have not mastered the arts of magic to just be killed by you."
"You... you... I'll make you pay..."
"Yes. You will." The Traveler did not seem remotely bothered by the injuries he had taken. He strode over and slashed another part of the Metal Man's left armor off. "I've just been waiting for you to run low on steam. You're very tough, but ultimately, I can out-last you."
The Metal Man knew it to possibly be true. His energy was low; he had blasted tons of it on wacky warping shenanigans, and he was running out of armor. He couldn't afford to be 100% energy being, as much as he had basically stolen most of The Void's powers one time, long ago.
He looked down and sighed. "I guess you're right..."
The Traveler leveled his damaged but not destroyed sword, ready to slash Metal Man in half.
"...But I'm not giving up anyway!"
"Whatever you want to do. I'm not going to just let you get away with what you've done."
The Traveler swung down his mighty sword, straight into Metal Man's skull, down the middle--Metal Man had foolishly put it back on his neck just in time for this to happen. He moved to slash the rest of Metal Man in twain, ending this useless squabble.
Super Smash Quest: Fighting evil since 2002.