Dissentities

  • Thread starter Dawn Bringer Invictus
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One Down, One To Go

Time seemed to decelerate as he pushed off the wall, having pressed against it to avoid the wave of fire. The woman, body charred, hair smoking, and face contorted in anger didn't stay down for long. Even in this damaged state, he could clearily see her though the smoke and floating ashes, mouth open and yelling some curse as she began to extract a weapon of some sort from her belt.

Every footstep sounded like an earthquak as he ran towards her. The air felt thick and like it slowed down his arms were brought upwards for a vertical, crescent-shaped slice. His sight seemed to almost distort and fade, with the world around him becoming a dull haze of nearly shapeless colour. Only the woman and the red blood, splattering unto the ceiling from two horrid wounds on her arms, seemed to be in focus. That, and her inhuman growl as she staggered back, Sadus' arms still raised. He thought he could see every individual drop falling to the ground.

Just as quickly as it happened, the illusion of slowed reality faded. With no time to spare, Sadus de-materialized his weapons and leapt forward, like some predatory beast. The woman attempted to move back beyond his grasp, but a long arm shot forward. A powerful hand gripped her head, lifting her off the ground. Limbs flailed and lashed at his arm, but he did not so much as even twitch his face as he held her in such an uncomfortable hold. Suddenly her body jolted, convulsed, and spasmed. A burst of energy seemed to surge through her skull, spilling out like an explsoin of white-purple light, and her limbs went slack. She dropped to the ground, eyes glazed, not dead, simply conscious.

Looking back at Talia, he nodded and spoke.

"C'mon, you head back and help the others, I'm going to inspect something up at the front."

Without another word, he walked forward, past terrified passengers, all the way to the front. Opening the door to the private passenger cabin, he found himself facing a room full of dead men, boarders and passengers, and a man simply gathering his personal belongings.
 
Howdy Partner

Belmonte had been gathering his things from around the cabin and replacing them into his duffel bag. The contents of which were mostly guns, ammunition, cash, and miscellaneous trinkets. Kicking over one of the men's bodies, Belmonte found his lighter. It was a square silver Zippo. He took this as an opportunity to light up another cigarette.

Belmonte was still cupping the lighter to his mouth when he sensed the GRAVE's presence at the door. He threw a cursory glance over his shoulder and managed a greeting that was confident, calm and strangely nonchalant, given the appearance of the room. "Howdy partner, what can I do ya for?"

Belmonte snapped the lid closed on the lighter, inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly with concentrated eyes focused on the GRAVE. All the while, Belmonte was making mental notes about the situation, especially the fact that the holster strap was undone on his hip mounted .357 magnum.

"Friends of yours?" Belmonte motioned to the dead men, "Reckon they thought they'd catch me in a bushwhack."
 
Friend Or Foe?

"I could ask the same of you," he spoke back, arms tensed slightly, "Looks like you're prepared for something."

He spoke the last bit with a not-so-obvious tone of distrust. Something about this man at once reminded him of the boarders they'd just taken out, yet something didn't. For one, there were no ritual scars across his face, his voice didn't remind of an escaped mental patient, and he had a feeling there was a disparity in the bullet hole sizes in both the dead civilians and boarders on this part of the train.

Another thing he could feel was that looming presence; something very large was approaching the train from behind. For all he knew, they might need this man's help. The rest of the occultists had been taken care of, save for the tall man, but that which was approaching was far from anything those savages could have summoned. The violence on-board the train and the damaging of its repulsor field had already laid open the way for this unseen abomination. It appeared that their attempts to actually draw these creatures as a distraction had worked perhaps a bit too well.
 
Belmonte's Iron Horse

Belmonte shrugged, cracked a devilish grin, and simply said, "Telling a man to go to hell and makin' him do it are two different propositions, I'm always prepared."

Belmonte was sizing the GRAVE up. He was, after all, a bounty hunter specializing in GRAVEs. In the past, Belmonte used to be part of a special government task force dedicated to the capture and, if necessary, decommissioning of non-sanctioned and escaped GRAVE units. The world government views GRAVEs as valuable but dangerous assets, and diligently seeks to control the GRAVE population. Belmonte exited the task force after one fateful operation in South America. He is now a man, alone, on a mission to find "That Person."

Belmonte drew another breath of his cigarette and exhaled slowly. "Do you feel it? I reckon we's got a grunter sniffin' at our hell rousers" He nodded towards the rear of the train. At the same time, something made the earth beneath their feet jump, and a ruckus outside the cabin seemed to indicate approaching company.

Given the situation, Belmonte decided that the GRAVE was not part of the rowdy rascal crew, "Alright Jackeroo, my name's Belmonte, you ready to take back this here Iron Horse?"

(I'm changing his name. Rufus Alexander Belmonte, aka Belmonte, aka the Belmonte Beast.)
 
The Tall Man screamed. Ganz dug his clawed fingers deep into the Tall Man's body, and more. There was a sickening light glowing out around Ganz's fingers as he drained the energy out of him. Ah, this energy was much more stable and strong. The tall man's skin lost color, his screams became dry and brittle like his flesh. Soon there was nothing left of him but a gray husk wrapped around a skeleton. Ganz let the former imposing man fall to the ground with a muffled clatter. As for Ganz himself, green vapor was rising off his back and arms, the white's of his eyes glowing slightly and vapor coming from his eyes, nose, and mouth. Vaporizing some people, Ganz made his way to where Leetch had been knocked unconscious. On the way he slapped a hand on Talia's shoulder, giving her a nod and moving on, vaporizing a few more people as he went. Reaching Leetch he kneeled down and examined him. Alive. He had an idea. He dabbed his tongue with a black claw, the tip covered in glowing green. Holding Leetch's flesh covered arm and began using the green substance on his claw like ink and drew a circle and around that a network of symbols. The circle filled with bright green. A limited amount of powerful energy would now at Leetch's disposal. Ganz gave his face a light slap to wake him up. "Hey, Leetch. Wake up, I gave you a little something, you should be feeling it about now. The symbols will tell you how much you have left, you can use it for mostly direct use. Attack, healing, small barriers, enhance your strength a bit, what ever. There's a big critter comin-" For a second his feet left the ground and he fell back on his ass as the train shook. "Never mind, it's already here."
 
Talia had remained in the back cabin a moment after Sadus had left. She watched the woman, steam rising from her body as she laid there unconscious. Taking a few steps toward her, the illusion of burning finally ceased as she stood over the woman. She was defenseless, vulnerable, and something deep within Talia was urging her to finish her off. The woman was infected with evil, right? Shouldn't she be killed for the better good of all. Unknown to Talia, her body began to change itself, her nails extending into talons as she poised herself to kill the woman. Voices began to whisper in her mind as her hand faltered. A sharp pain shot through her arm as she took a few steps back, "No..." she whispered as her arm began to revert back to normal.

Breathing heavily she left the woman be as she went back up front to assist the others as Sadus had instructed. While up there she found herself once more on the sidelines as she watched everyone fighting. By the end, Leetch was knocked back, and Ganz had giving her a pat on her shoulder. Blinking she turned and watched whatever had transpired between Ganz and Leetch.

"There's a big critter comin--Never mind, it's already here" Ganz spoke as the train once more shook. This time Talia remained on her feet as her eyes glanced toward the outside of the train. "what...is it" she said softly, an ominous feeling overcoming her. Planting her feet, she prepared herself, wondering what Sadus was up to at the moment. Hopefully he'd be okay.
 
Beast With A Thousand Limbs

Before his could answer the man's question, the sound of shuddering metal filled the air. He could the fizzing noise of the train's fields flaring up again. There was the distinct feeling that something was forcing itself unto the train, something very large.

"I think it's-"

Interrupted again, this time, Sadus stumbled to the right, grabbing unto a seat's head for balance. The sound of the fields fizzing was now replaced by a harsh electrical crack, hissing and blaring out near-white noise. The train itself was now shaking rigorously in short bursts; something was hammering it repeatedly.

Without a word, he simply looked at the man, giving the simple order to follow him. And with that, he ran through the train, all the way to the back. As he did so, he yelled at the civilians, urging them to move to the upper-most parts of the vehicle. They fell and bumped here and there, voices panicked and nervous, as the train shook and shuddered hard with each successive impact. Forbiding *thunks* rang from the back, accompanied by what could only be described as a bestial roar being filtered through a blender filled with chainsaws.

Regrouping with his comrades, he explained he explained the gunman's presence quickly, walking past them to the next car down the train.

"He has an arsenal and he's on our side for now."

Just as he finished saying that, he picked up a sudden spike in energy. Hopping back, he was just able to catch the top of the car being torn off like a sardine can, and with that, he saw the creature they were up against.

Its body was long, at its core, a variety of thick and lengthy tree-trunk like bodies. They were interconnected at seemingly odd angles to other bodies, and from high above, it must have looked like a hastily jumbled together collection of wavy lines. Many of these doubled as gigantic limbs and ended in massive tendrils, sticking out like eerily twisting gnarled tree roots. The bodies themselves though, were a sort of pasty dough-white. Black organelles could be seen travelling across their bodies through their transparent skin. There was one main body though, which in itself was shaped almost like a giant cucumber in structure, and the rest of the trunks seemed to jut and burst out of it like maggots from a carcass. Hair like structures seemed to wiggle across its body, most likely how it propelled itself.

It felt as immense as it looked; it was as if a great force was pressing down on him, although the creature hadn't even touched any of them yet.

Of course, that would change as a massive root-limb with a variety of smaller tendrils wiggling out of it smashed into where he was just standing a few minutes ago. Chunks of the floor and chairs were sent flying like deadly projectiles as the entire thing thrashed around, attempting to slaughter the humanoids. Falling back, he looked to the gunman.

"You got any heavy weapons on hand?"
 
Leetch was knocked out. Stuck in that weird neither here nor there place where everything has a white glow surrounding it. In the land of confusion and at the same time recollection, in a place that shows the truth, but always behind that damned white blanket of tired weight. Tired weight was the only way Leetch could describe it in his mind, and as he lay, oblivious to how close he had some to being killed, or how Ganz had saved him, he recalled something. Something that was truth. What brought it on, other than the simple act of being knocked out? Leetch didn't know. But he did know what it was, it was a flash a hazy memory from his past.

About the Spirtoid with whom deals were made. Years ago, or as it seemed to Leetch, a lifetime ago.

In return for his boys - HIS SONS - life, he was given this hell to live with with. This blackness. He was cursed with endless wandering and with the poison that would forever fill his veins.

As quick as it hit, the flash was gone. Blurred light and noise began to fill Leetch's senses once again as he sat up , and not a moment too soon. It seemed that things were heating up - literally - as the girl in their group, with an awesome display of power, had lit up an enemy like the fourth of july.

Leetch realized something, his arm -the good one - was in the hands of Ganz, and he was drawing something on it. Before he could ask what or why he felt a light slap across his face.

"I'm awake I'm awake!" He said trying to focus through blurred senses. Whatever Ganz was doing, it felt good. Like something empowering him, giving him something to work with other than the blackness or the raw surge of carnal force he had displayed just before getting knocked out. This was good.

Leetch thanked Ganz with a nod, about the only way he knew how to in his present state. Then he heard the clawed man, Ganz, say that something was apon them. And for the first time noticed that another was now with them, someone who was heavily armed. Sadus, The GRAVE, was asking him for heavy weapons and as Leetch looked out the window he saw why.
 
Ooooh there it was, tearing up the train. Looked like there was a new guy that used guns and things like that, wasn't hard to tell with Ganz's eyes and nose. He picked himself up, hauling Leetch up unto his feet and looking around at the giant squiggly looking thing. One of it's bigger tendrils was thrashing their way. Ganz slid through everyone and blasted the tendril with green flashes of energy until it was shriveled and burned. There was an instant reaction in the rest of the tendrils, they writhed and lashed about faster. Ganz glared at the thrashing things. He looked back at every one and gestured with a thumb. "I'm going to distract these things, call me if you have a plan." With that he smashed a piece of metal out of the floor of the train and pulled it up, using it as a jagged make shift sword. With his improvised weapon he dove into the primary area of the invading beast.

The first thing Ganz found out was that this thing smelled bad. The second thing he found out was that it's skin is extremely tough, the jagged piece of metal he used for a sword barely lacerated the tendrils, it took a few swings to chop a piece off. Occasionally he shot some energy at it and that seemed to work better but he decided to save the stuff in case he really needed it. Chop, swing, jump, dive. While he distracted the thing so the others could establish some kind of tactical attack or what ever, Ganz scanned and studied the things body.
 
Buzzard and the Beast

Belmonte took another deep drag of his cigarette as the train fought to hold together. The very walls shuddered with cataclysmic force as the platform beneath their feet began jumping up, off the tracks, as if the earth itself was trying to buck itself free. The air was filled with a thunderous rattling and the screams of terrified passengers. Belmonte expelled the velvet-smooth smoke in a steady stream. This train won't last long.

The GRAVE motioned for Belmonte to follow him to the back of the train. So, quickly shouldering his duffel bag, Belmonte did just that.

Belmonte exited the cabin and found himself fighting against the rushing current of passengers. Their faces were those of confusion, terror, and fear. They had no idea what was happening; or what horror was about to befall them. Yet, at some deep and individually varying level, they could all sense that being anywhere near the back of the train was a bad idea. However, in the long run, it wouldn't matter. They've only succeeded in delaying the inevitable. They're the beasts prey, and they don't know it.

Belmonte reached the last rail car in time to see the roof and back end disappear. It was, instead, replaced with a bestial howl and the disfigured form to which it belonged. Upon first glance, Belmonte instantly thought, 'centipede.'

"He has an arsenal and he's on our side for now."

Speaking with his hands,"It's just an oversized buzzard," Belmonte laughed. Almost in response, the Centipede attacked the car with a sweeping tendril.

"You got any heavy weapons on hand?"

With an apologetic shrug, Belmonte dropped the duffel in the middle of the group. "I like to travel light," he sighed half-jokingly.

Inside the bag, along with several bundles of cash, was an M-16 styled assault rifle, an MP5 styled sub-machine gun, and a handful of grenades. He also tossed his shotgun into the mix. "Help y'selfs to the guns but leave the cash," he grinned.

All the while, the air surrounding Belmonte gradually became heavier as a lightning blue aura began to emanate from his body. He was still grinning.
 
Talia stood her ground watching as the other's fought this strange tentacled creature. Her eyes scanned over it and an almost hunger seemed to stir within her. She watched as the life energy swam through its every fiber like candy held behind nothing more than a glass, but there was a parent holding her back from obtaining said sugary coma bliss. Sighing softly, she glanced down at her hands then back up as a spiked tentacle came crashing down toward her from the creature. She jumped out of the way and landed in a roll. Getting herself righted, she remained crouched a moment as she turned and her eyes scanned toward Saddus and the new man then back to the problem at hand.

Attacking an appendage would do little more than to upset the thing. They needed to find its core, its command, the cucumber body far removed from its thrashing limbs seemed best bed. The new recruit seemed reluctant to give any large weapons, or he was telling the truth and really had none. This could prove a problem, but perhaps now. The weight of the energy the creature gave off constricted Talia's breathing and she wanted to almost just rip off her clothing and skin to release the uncomfortable pressure. However, she restrained herself as she got back into a standing position.

"Why do we need large weapons? Are we not all weapons of our own?" Talia called back to Sadus, the creature gave a noise similar to a scream but not quite. It radiated through the air and her hair blew about her as if a great gust had come "Is one of us strong enough to catapult another toward the main body while the others keep it busy? Perhaps that projectile could work to destroy the heart of the body?" she suggested dodging another crashing tendril as she almost fell into Saddus and the new man. Righting herself once more she stood firm, "just a theory that is" she added with a tilt of her head. once more I'm still a wild card...I've only managed to unlock two of the four spirits abilities...and I don't know what the triggers are she sighed at this thought.
 
Order of Battle

He had barely any time to answer her as a massive trunk-like tentacle smashed into the side of the train. He had leapt fortunately, propelling himself forward past a mess of metal fragmentation and glass. Dive-rolling and returning to his feat, he turned to her exasperedly and yelled.

"Any extra help will do really!"

He'd manage to snag a grenade and an assault rifle from the bag, the latter of which he was now firing at some ungodly mass of flesh that was blocking the way to the next car. The massive tendril shuddered and even seemed to screech before withdrawing, loosening the creature's grip on the train. He turned back to shout to his comrades.

"We can't simply blast the thing apart; at the rate it's attacking, there's simply not enough time to mount a fearsome enough counter-attack!"

Quickly moving to the side, pressing his body against a wall, a he nearly dodged a blast of bright-pink spheres, detonating all around him and kicking up smoke. A few coughs later, he advanced forth. A few spiritoids had broken in from the breaches the creature had made, but he destroyed their disoriented bodies with a few quick bursts.

"Some of you need to protect the civilians! It's those that it's after! The rest of you come with me! We're heading to the generator!"
 
Civilians? Ganz thought as he shrugged off a barrage of blasts from one of the hooligans that first tried to take over the train. He dispatched the little freak with a bolt of green energy. "These-" Interrupted by some flailing tentacles, he chopped at them and jumped away. "These people are of no concern to me, Sadus." With a sharp slice he cut the ends off two tentacles. "But I suppose I am well qualified to handle distracting this-"-slashes at some tentacles and zaps another hijacker-"beast. Shout if you need me." With that he jumped back into the thick of fray of beasties and tentacles.
 
Decisions, Decisions

Sadus swore as he stumbled to the right. A swinging tendril lashed through the open roof and ripped through the floor, leaving only thin strips and metal frameworks seperating him from the rails below. He looked off to Gantz, not before quickly firing a burst at some horrid creeping shape peering over the edge of the wall.

"Well, someone has to take care of them! Maybe they're not your concern, but I'll be damned if I turned tail on them just so save my own skin!" he shouted, not even looking at Gantz as he was forced to repel a particularily larger root-tentacle. The bullets were surprisingly powerful, likely engineered to be used against these creatures. He didn't show it, but behind his frantic mask, he was grateful that they were goring out massive chunks of the beast's limbs, causing it to groan ominously.

Now if only he had some way to slow down how fast it regenerated those damn things.
 
Talia sighed faintly as she listened to the exchange between the two men. Glancing at her hands a moment she quietly moved toward where the civilian's were being attacked. They watched her with petrified eyes, "I'm not going to hurt you....I'm here to help. Please...help move the passengers to a safer car" She said with a kind smile. The ones she spoke to stared a moment, but she kept the smile on and they slowly nodded their heads as they began to gather the healthy and strong to move the injured to a bit safer of an area. "Good" She said softly. At that exact moment the walls shook as another tentacle came crashing through the side, scattering people.

Talia was caught in the attack as the tentacle first slammed into her knocking her back and then lashed back around wrapping itself about her. She gave a soft gasp as she felt what was like small teeth digging into her from the tentacle. Great, would this nightmare ever end? For a brief moment her perception of reality became skewed as she saw flashes of her past fly before her eyes...

The rain poured down, mixing mud and blood together as the girl stood there sobbing. Her parents stood before her, but the priests insisted, "this is for the good of us all! The chosen has been awakened, let her come forward to her fate! You knew this day would arise upon us! And it has come" the deep voice of the instigator stated as he raised his gnarled staff. The girl's parents looked besides themselves, holding onto the frightened girl who simply cried and called to her parents asking what was going on. "She is for the greater calling! Let the transformation happen! You cannot stop it!" the instigator insisted. There was a flash of lightning through the air as fire began in the distance and a soft chanting reached the girl's ears. A scream. Then...nothing. Next thing the little girl knew she was chained down to the alter in a white dress, blood spattering the front and the severed heads of familiar faces propped on the edge of two spears watching her. Crying out she fought against the chains, but the chanting continued and her world began to collapse. She could see the entities approaching her, so cold. She closed her eyes...'Do not fear child...we are here to help you' a soft voice said and then silence and darkness...

Talia gasped as she suddenly came back to reality. She wasn't sure how long she'd been spaced, but really it was only a few moments. Shaking her head she frowned as the tentacles continued to thrash trying to take out the humans. Pulling her arms free with some effort, small cuts bleeding, she took hold of the tentacle around her. Her eyes flashed a moment and her body began to painfully spasm. Letting out a soft cry fangs appeared in her mouth and her nails began to once more sharpen into talons as she took on a more beastly appearance. Smirking a moment she turned and lashed at the tentacle around her slicing through it with her new claws. The creature let out a cry as she was dropped to the ground, the severed tentacle flopping like a fish. She threw it out the car and hissed a moment at the creature before turning to the civilians. They stopped short but she shook her head, "Find safety...I will protect you" she said in a deepened voice as she prepared for another incoming tentacle, slicing through that too as she attempted to keep the civilian's blocked for the time being.

She was only one, though, and couldn't protect them all for long. Need she not forget she was also bleeding openly now from wounds.
 
Show No Mercy

Looking back, he swore as he saw one big meaty chunk swinging towards Talia's position. He couldn't go back though; the damned thing would simply block his way and he'd be forced to fight tooth and claw through the jungle of limbs once more.

"Gantz, on me, lets move!"

Wasting no time, he advanced, leaping over the gaping hole. Sticking the gun forth, he didn't bother aiming, spraying at the squirming tendrils as he ran past. They seemed to squeal and quiver, almost creating white noise as he ran across the shaking train. He didn't destroy them, but their gaping wounds damaged its grip. Throwing away the spent gun, he shot his hand forth as he approached a massive trunk-like tendril blocking the way into another train. As if by command, a funnel-shaped energy-construct, spinning bright white-pink, formed in an instant, burning with unearthly intensity.

A pained cry that sounded like a beluga whale crashing into the world's largest chainsaw echoed across the countryside. In the train, a wave of multicoloured fluids and stringy storms of thread-like flesh-fragments were sprayed into the next room. They were on the car just before the generator right now. And unfortunately, under the red glaring eyes of the creature's underbelly.
 
Ganz turned around when he heard Sadus's shout and noticed beyond him that Talia may be in a situation she couldn't handle. With a sigh Ganz ripped a support bar from a seat and breathed on it, his breath tinged green with magic. He threw it like a javelin as Sadus ran passed and turned, following him. The bar impaled the floor next to Talia, green energy surging from through it and after a second it zapped volatile green electricity at spiritoids and tendrils making their flesh bubble and melt. The green vapor rising from Ganz's body ceased once the bar left his hand.

Before him there was a very large and thick tendril blocking their path, Ganz leaped over the hole in the floor and slashed with his make-shift sword at some smaller beasties trying to grab at him. Just ahead Sadus blasted away with his gun and tossed it aside when it was done, instead jutting his hand forward and a cone of energy was conjured up, spinning, burrowing through the thick flesh. Ganz heard a terribly huge screech of pain. Gnashing his teeth Ganz dove forward and used a different form of power, fluctuating until it became a hot wave that burned through the meat of the creature and made the fluids sizzle. The wave of burning force also lined the edge of the big metal shard Ganz was slashing with, slashing at where the funnel of energy made contact.

Until Ganz noticed a presence, tilting his head back and looking challengingly into the eyes of the beast. And then, you know, moved on and stuff.
 
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