A test run! And it's for Thousand Fates! EXCITING!

[blacklit]

-1-

[The Powers That Be, whoever they are, have cordoned off an entire city. No one has been in or out for months. But you had a very pressing need to get in. What you found was worse than you could have imagined. The few remaining humans are locked in battle against a seemingly endless horde of twisted monsters, from shambling zombies to ogre like beasts that run up walls like they were flat ground. You got in over your head, and were sure you were going to be killed, either by the mutants or by some overzealous soldier, when some...thing showed up and killed them all in an orgy of violence and blood. When the chaos ended, there was a man in a hood standing there. He gave you a strange look.]

Not many people are trying to break IN to the Red Zone. What are you doing here?

-2-

[Despite the official story that it's impossible for anything to leave the Red Zone, Mercer has found you in the outside world.]

I was hoping I'd run into you.

-3-

[After working at unraveling and generally ruining his unbelievably sinister plans, you're about to discover that Mercer doesn't do things the fair way. If you were lucky, you got a hint of wind rustling through fabric as a warning before he dropped on you like an anvil, leaving a goddamn impact crater.]

I warned you about meddling with me. Now we have to do things the hard way.

Comments

3

[time_is_precious]

[The target vanishes a split second before being struck, only to reappear a dozen meters away, now holding a sword shaped like an ornate clock hand.]

HahahahAHAHAHahaha! Very good, yes, very good indeed. I was starting to wonder just how much of your work I would have to undo to get your full attention. I'm on a tight schedule, you know.

[blacklit]

You're just as small minded as the rest. You can't even imagine what you're putting yourself in the way of.

[Mercer jumps at Nox, leaving a second, smaller crater from the force of his kick off. His hands grow two foot long claws as he makes another swipe at the Xelor wizard. If he's worried about the sword, he's not showing it.]

[time_is_precious]

[And stop.]




[Nox is quite surprised at how hard that was. He knew that stopping the time of a being as powerful as Mr. Mercer wasn't going to be easy, but even a few seconds of time is going to cost him more power than he'd prefer.]

You've consumed even more lives since I first saw you, have you not? I simply cannot ignore such a near-bottomless source of life force. If I can use you, then my energy concerns should be all but over.

However, it appears that you'll need some of that fight taken out of you first.

[The sword comes down on Alex's skull.]

[blacklit]

[It makes a sound like metal being torn, but Alex manages to lean his head out of the way, so the sword comes down on his collarbone and digs into his chest. Before Nox could dig his sword back out, though, he felt his time spell shatter from pure brute force. A split second later, A clawed hand was gripping his sword by the blade.]

Now that's a neat trick. You'll have to show me how it's done.

[By the look on his face, he PROBABLY doesn't intend to learn from practical lessons.]

[time_is_precious]

[Oh this won't do, this won't do at all. Nox teleports back out of Alex's range, although he has to leave the sword behind.]

I can see that dealing with you head-on is not going to be easy. However, I can rise above such crude methods if the need presents itself.

[Nox gestures and a swarm of blue glowing mechanical insects cluster around him, before launching in a stream of kamikaze exploding bugs towards the man-shaped virus. How long can he hold out against that?]

[blacklit]

[One of Alex's arms quickly morphs from a set of claws to a massive shield, which starts absorbing the explosions, but that won't hold them off very long, and the shield is cracking.]

Hrgh! Okay, I never thought this was going to be easy.

[time_is_precious]

[Not easy indeed! Nox can do this all day. Well, no, he can't, but he can do it for a good long time. With a lunatic cackle, here comes the second wave.]

[blacklit]

[In the brief respite between the two wave, Alex drops the shield and turns his fists into a pair of giant maces of flesh and bone and SLAMS them together with a roar, creating a shockwave that sends the insects tumbling through the air, creating a clear space with Alex at the center.]

[time_is_precious]

Ah.

[Nox is caught off guard by this new trick. He's twenty feet up in the air, but distracted.]

[blacklit]

[Mercer swung his arm up, which extended out like a whip directly at the big blue glowing target in Nox's chest.]

[time_is_precious]

[Nox reacted in time to raise a barrier in the path of the incoming arm, but it didn't stop him from being pushed backwards, slamming into a nearby building hard enough to leave yet another crater.]

2

[genderneutral]

[Crona and Ragnarok have been there. Not the worst place to collect souls without anyone too important noticing, Medusa had reasoned. Their skirmish with Mercer was probably inconclusive.]

Ragnarok, it's that really scary guy from the Red Zone. I don't like that look he's giving me, it's making me really uncomfortable, I don't know how to deal with that kind of facial expression!

Just shut up and let me do the talking, moron! HEY, HOODIE! Whaddya want, a rematch? I didn't think anybody was stupid enough to hunt us down for that!

No, I don't wanna fight this guy again! He's really strong and he hurts me a lot!

[blacklit]

[Oh yeah, that was why he was so hesitant to do this. These two are really weird.]

I'm not here to fight, this time. I need to get in contact with Medusa, she has something of mine. But she's also irritatingly good at not being found.

You two, on the other hand, stick out like a sore thumb.

[genderneutral]

Pfft. What, are you kidding? She'd skin stupid Crona alive if we led an enemy back home, and then what would I do for transportation?

It's true, Lady Medusa stays hidden for a reason and she gets really upset if I screw things up. I don't think taking you to her is a good idea at all.

[blacklit]

I figured that might be the case. And your blood makes consuming you impractical, so we'll have to do it the old fashioned way.

Pass this message to your master: She has stolen something from me. She is good at hiding, but I will find her eventually. If I have it back by then, things will go better for her when I do.