04-02-2010, 12:55 AM
No matter how much Belle and Juno tried, the Collectors just kept coming.
Their supplies were endless. As Zaeed's ki rifle blasted the hammerhead off of the flaming alien, two more hovered in from the darkness to take its place. "Keep fighting," the fish-man urged the two half-saiyans, "Don't let him have a chance to use his biotics. Whatever you do, don't give in!" His words fell on deaf ears in regards to Juno; with a horde so endless, with power so great, how could anyone hope for victory?
The flaming Collector's head snapped violently from its neck as Zaeed's shot made its impact, flying through the air like a ragdoll before finally landing limply on the metallic flooring and rolling across it before being halted by a low wall of organic matter. It burst into flames upon contact, disappearing in a shower of bright yellow embers.
Juno watched in awe as the burning Collector's body also disintegrated into nothing more than miniscule sparks, floating away from the conglomeration of hexagonal platforms. His admiration of the spectacle was cut off by his Foresight, however, which prompted him to quickly turn on his heel to face the Collector that had charged him. He brought up his rifle and fired several shots, which pelted into the alien's body, knocking him back to the cold, steely floor of the arena.
"Assuming direct control."
Juno looked up, seeing another Collector ripped off the ground just like the first. It hovered briefly in mid-air before some unknown force telekinetically crucified it before their eyes.
Slowly, the air around him began to grow thick with heat as what little life energy remained in the organic matter this ship was constructed of began to float toward the flying creature, slowly encircling it before lighting aflame and blanketing it in a dazzling show of orange light. As it floated in the air, the flaming energy of its controller began to seep into its pores, and the light that signified the possession was complete slowly began to rise from its feet to the top of its oddly-shaped head. With a shrill screech, it let forth a burst of red-hot energy and was alive once more, slowly planted back onto the platform, its bright white eyes staring straight at Juno.
"I am the Harbinger of your destruction," it projected telepathically in a low, raspy voice. The words rung throughout the Collector Hive, and the Harbinger stalked forward, aiming a uniquely-crafted rifle at the black-haired half-saiyan. A consistent beam of pure pink energy fired from the end of the disfigured weapon, speeding toward Juno. The half-saiyan dove to the metallic floor of the platform, sliding along it as the energy beam sailed over him. Breathing heavily, the ex-fortuneteller looked at his adversary, whose throaty laugh echoed throughout the cavern.
"My attacks will tear you apart."
"What the hell is this thing?" Juno called, and Zaeed's voice was quick to answer.
"It's the damn Collector General," the fish-man yelled over the sound of his machine gun drilling another Collector with bullets, "He possesses the little guys and they become monsters called Harbingers. Don't let your guard down when he's close by, or else!"
Or else what? Juno thought, but he didn't argue with Zaeed's breakdown of the molten creature, mostly because he didn't have much time before the glowing Collector was upon him. Scrambling to his feet, he leapt behind cover as the Harbinger took slow, calculated steps, edging nearer to him with each passing second. Once more, it paused in its march, raising its rifle and aiming for the half-Saiyan. This time, however, there was no battle cry. There was no telepathic taunt. This was an execution.
"You think you're the only one who can possess your lackeys?" Juno called from below the creature's vision, and confident in his abilities, he stepped out from behind his low shield, and grasped onto the forehead of a nearby Collector. He focused all his ki into defeating the alien for control of its mind. Much to his surprise, there was no effect, and the Collector stared quizzically at him; the brief pause was long enough for the Harbinger to get Juno in his sights once again. Its eerie voice did not miss a chance for commentary.
"You will feel this."
The Harbinger fired off a ray of magenta energy, and the hybrid acted as quickly as he could manage, pulling the stunned Collector in front of him to take the brunt of the blast. The flaming alien's beam ripped through the hammerheaded organic, grazing the half-saiyan's abdomen, eliciting a hoarse cry of pain from the seer.
Juno's rifle fell from his hands as he clutched the burning pain on his right side. The shot had ripped through his thin, form-fitting armor. His blood boiled from the laser's heat, slowly seeping through the breaks in the outer layers of his skin. He bit his lip, staggering backwards and falling behind cover as the sound of the Harbinger's meancing steps began to once again fill the void around the fighters.
He lay against the short wall of organic matter, groaning in pain as the wound began to throb. The blood flow was finally redirected, and as he closed his eyes and the pain numbed his mind, he felt the heat radiating off of the Harbinger's body getting closer. A hand touched his, and his eyes popped open to see Belle kneeling next to him. She lifted his hand from the scar and cringed at the sight.
"He got you good," she said, and Juno nodded. "You think you can still fight?"
"Oh, I can take him," Juno assured his partner, and Belle smiled in satisfaction. "Let's go, Belle." She nodded with a fleeting smile as their saiyan pride overtook them both slightly. When at first you seem outmatched, they knew, get up and try again.
The redhead was the first to stand, shakily aiming the rifle at the Collector General's puppet and squeezing hard on the trigger, not caring one way or another whether the shots she fired actually hit their target. Juno rose to his feet, stretching out his arm and flattening his palm as slowly, a soccerball-sized orb of violet ki materialized. A huge beam of purple light shot forth, and Juno's Pop hit the Harbinger squarely in his chest.
The creature's glow brightened as he flew back, the blast ripping him to shreds. Faintly, the Collector General's voice could be heard in the far reaches of the cavern.
"Releasing control."
With the second incarnation of the Harbinger wiped out, Belle and Juno finally got a second to breathe. "We make a good team," Belle remarked.
"Yeah," Juno nodded hesitantly. He'd forgotten during the battle how odd Belle was, but now that they had a moment to pause and catch their breath, he suddenly remembered the distinct weird vibe he'd gotten from her when they had met just a little while ago. Zaeed stood from his cover, walking over to the two half-saiyans.
"Hurry up and fire on the Reaper," he ordered, gesturing toward the huge metallic skeleton that hung limply before them. "Knowing these damn Collectors, it won't be long before those assholes send another friggin' horde at us, you know what I mean?" The aqueous man crossed his arms as he took a drag from his cigarette.
Juno and Belle focused their attention on the gargantuan invention. It was massive, taking up more than a small fraction of the cavern, and was hanging from the ceiling by similarly thick silver cords. The young redhead lifted her rifle and focused her scopes on one of the large rounded tubes of orange liquid, which the black-haired hybrid supposed was fueling the construction of the Human-Reaper. After a moment, Juno lifted his hand up, as well, concentrating his ki into his fingers and forming another Pop just in front of his open palm.
The raven-haired hybrid's chest heaved as he sucked in a deep breath, letting the ki orb in front of his hand brighten the room for a second. Belle stared through the scope at the macro-syringes that supplied the reaper with life, and steadied her aim - or tried to, at least. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble.
"Dammit," the redheaded girl mumbled, "I hate these friggin' things."
"Let me do it, then," Juno told her, "One concentrated shot of ki will take it down much quicker than an energy rifle will."
"I... guess you're right," Belle sighed, kind of disappointed that she wouldn't be getting to blast this thing simply because she didn't have quite the same affinity for ki that some of the others did. "Well, hurry up and do it."
"I clearly said concentrated ki blast, Belle," the black-haired hybrid reminded the impatient redhead, "It's going to take a minute for me to make sure I've got something that can take it out in one shot."
"So much for quick, then," the girl scoffed, stomping over to where Zaeed stood watching Juno's display. The hybrid closed his eyes and focused harder than before on channeling the energy into the Pop that hovered loosely in front of him, and felt the ki orb growing, slowly expanding until it was the size of a small yoga ball. When he felt the blast reach its peak, he brought up the other hand, supporting the sphere with both outstretched arms, and pushed forward with all of the control he could muster. A huge, expansive beam of purple light exploded outwards into the cavern, flying at epic speeds toward the cylinder above.
With a very resounding boom, the Pop slammed mightily into one of the Reaper's life support systems, shattering it and sending shards of glass flying in a spectacular vision of the little power that Juno had regained throughout Kill Town. He flashed a toothy grin to Belle and Zaeed; the fishman offered a thumbs-up, and Belle just rolled her eyes. Juno chuckled. Women, he thought absentmindedly.
"Uh," a nasally voice said, and the trio looked up to the sky, "I... uh... apologize for the interruption." Belle and Juno shot each other a knowing glance; the voice was that of Gamer, the mastermind who held them captive. Zaeed, meanwhile, stared cluelessly upward, amazed. "I think that I've sort of... mixed up my files here... uh, lemme see if I can fix this, guys..."
The wait was terribly long. Whoever this Gamer kid was, he was obviously quite inept with making sure his games were polished before sending them to the players, and to be terribly honest, Juno didn't think that was a very good quality. The way he'd always done it, it was best to be efficient, and not mess things up. Get things done right the first time, or don't get them done at all. That was a credo of sorts he lived by, and Gamer seemed to be blissfully ignorant on the subject.
"One second," the nerdy teenager said. "Ah, yes. Here we are."
Suddenly, Zaeed's feet left the ground. He struggled like a true hero as he was lifted up in the air, screaming expletives at the telekinetic force that held him trapped as he was lifted up into the air in a fashion similar to that of a Collector that was soon to be possessed by the Collector General; his arms were even pulled into a crucifix-like position. However, he was not met with a splash of molten energy - rather, he found himself enraptured by a great white light, soon becoming little more than a silhouette. Slowly, however, the silhouette was altered; as opposed to an amphibian fishman who wore a trench coat and carried a deceptively accurate rifle, another man stood before them.
Cigarette cocked sideways in his mouth, hand on the hilt of his pistol, the human man slowly drifted to the floor. His hair was greyed and his face chiseled, and his eyes looked over the two rookies with an utter contempt that the old Zaeed had never before shown. One eye seemed to be permanently squinted, while the other was opened almost abnormally wide. His tan battle armor was covered with dust. "So," the new Zaeed spoke gruffly, "Where's this damn Collector horde at?"
A puff of smoke flew from the end of his cigarette, and Juno and Belle looked at one another in confusion. "Well, that will be all, ladies and gentlemen," Gamer said, and Belle's eyes narrowed, but Juno placed a hand on her shoulder to signal that this was not the time to incite Gamer's anger.
"So... I guess we shoot the Reaper again?" Belle offered, and Juno nodded, turning back to the huge, hulking metallic skeleton and stretching his arm out in front of him. Slowly but surely, another globe of violet ki began to form in his hand. Belle looked around cautiously; she wanted to make sure nothing would interrupt them, so that hopefully they could be out of there quickly.
There was a loud creaking, and Juno faltered.
"What the hell?" the black-haired halfling muttered as his eyes focused on the Reaper's left arm, which had been hanging limply at its side since being shot by Juno's last Pop. There was a low rumbling from inside the Reaper, and slowly, as if the destruction of part of its life force had activated something inside it, it began to move.
"Huh?" the ginger girl whispered, walking up next to the hybrid boy and gazing musingly at the Human-Reaper. The disconnected left arm gradually lifted from the abyss where it hung and slammed into one of the platforms that had transported the Collectors over, and Belle, Juno, and Zaeed were knocked off their feet. The hexagon that had taken the brunt of the Reaper's blow slowly was knocked off balance, losing its antigravity force and disconnecting from the surface that the trio sat on. As quickly as it had come, it slipped from sight, falling into the abyss, the focus of their attention no more. The three men - or two guys and a girl, however you looked at it - let their eyes slowly rise to the Reaper's, which glowed a furious red.
And with a loud, mechanized roar, the battle began again.
Their supplies were endless. As Zaeed's ki rifle blasted the hammerhead off of the flaming alien, two more hovered in from the darkness to take its place. "Keep fighting," the fish-man urged the two half-saiyans, "Don't let him have a chance to use his biotics. Whatever you do, don't give in!" His words fell on deaf ears in regards to Juno; with a horde so endless, with power so great, how could anyone hope for victory?
The flaming Collector's head snapped violently from its neck as Zaeed's shot made its impact, flying through the air like a ragdoll before finally landing limply on the metallic flooring and rolling across it before being halted by a low wall of organic matter. It burst into flames upon contact, disappearing in a shower of bright yellow embers.
Juno watched in awe as the burning Collector's body also disintegrated into nothing more than miniscule sparks, floating away from the conglomeration of hexagonal platforms. His admiration of the spectacle was cut off by his Foresight, however, which prompted him to quickly turn on his heel to face the Collector that had charged him. He brought up his rifle and fired several shots, which pelted into the alien's body, knocking him back to the cold, steely floor of the arena.
"Assuming direct control."
Juno looked up, seeing another Collector ripped off the ground just like the first. It hovered briefly in mid-air before some unknown force telekinetically crucified it before their eyes.
Slowly, the air around him began to grow thick with heat as what little life energy remained in the organic matter this ship was constructed of began to float toward the flying creature, slowly encircling it before lighting aflame and blanketing it in a dazzling show of orange light. As it floated in the air, the flaming energy of its controller began to seep into its pores, and the light that signified the possession was complete slowly began to rise from its feet to the top of its oddly-shaped head. With a shrill screech, it let forth a burst of red-hot energy and was alive once more, slowly planted back onto the platform, its bright white eyes staring straight at Juno.
"I am the Harbinger of your destruction," it projected telepathically in a low, raspy voice. The words rung throughout the Collector Hive, and the Harbinger stalked forward, aiming a uniquely-crafted rifle at the black-haired half-saiyan. A consistent beam of pure pink energy fired from the end of the disfigured weapon, speeding toward Juno. The half-saiyan dove to the metallic floor of the platform, sliding along it as the energy beam sailed over him. Breathing heavily, the ex-fortuneteller looked at his adversary, whose throaty laugh echoed throughout the cavern.
"My attacks will tear you apart."
"What the hell is this thing?" Juno called, and Zaeed's voice was quick to answer.
"It's the damn Collector General," the fish-man yelled over the sound of his machine gun drilling another Collector with bullets, "He possesses the little guys and they become monsters called Harbingers. Don't let your guard down when he's close by, or else!"
Or else what? Juno thought, but he didn't argue with Zaeed's breakdown of the molten creature, mostly because he didn't have much time before the glowing Collector was upon him. Scrambling to his feet, he leapt behind cover as the Harbinger took slow, calculated steps, edging nearer to him with each passing second. Once more, it paused in its march, raising its rifle and aiming for the half-Saiyan. This time, however, there was no battle cry. There was no telepathic taunt. This was an execution.
"You think you're the only one who can possess your lackeys?" Juno called from below the creature's vision, and confident in his abilities, he stepped out from behind his low shield, and grasped onto the forehead of a nearby Collector. He focused all his ki into defeating the alien for control of its mind. Much to his surprise, there was no effect, and the Collector stared quizzically at him; the brief pause was long enough for the Harbinger to get Juno in his sights once again. Its eerie voice did not miss a chance for commentary.
"You will feel this."
The Harbinger fired off a ray of magenta energy, and the hybrid acted as quickly as he could manage, pulling the stunned Collector in front of him to take the brunt of the blast. The flaming alien's beam ripped through the hammerheaded organic, grazing the half-saiyan's abdomen, eliciting a hoarse cry of pain from the seer.
Juno's rifle fell from his hands as he clutched the burning pain on his right side. The shot had ripped through his thin, form-fitting armor. His blood boiled from the laser's heat, slowly seeping through the breaks in the outer layers of his skin. He bit his lip, staggering backwards and falling behind cover as the sound of the Harbinger's meancing steps began to once again fill the void around the fighters.
He lay against the short wall of organic matter, groaning in pain as the wound began to throb. The blood flow was finally redirected, and as he closed his eyes and the pain numbed his mind, he felt the heat radiating off of the Harbinger's body getting closer. A hand touched his, and his eyes popped open to see Belle kneeling next to him. She lifted his hand from the scar and cringed at the sight.
"He got you good," she said, and Juno nodded. "You think you can still fight?"
"Oh, I can take him," Juno assured his partner, and Belle smiled in satisfaction. "Let's go, Belle." She nodded with a fleeting smile as their saiyan pride overtook them both slightly. When at first you seem outmatched, they knew, get up and try again.
The redhead was the first to stand, shakily aiming the rifle at the Collector General's puppet and squeezing hard on the trigger, not caring one way or another whether the shots she fired actually hit their target. Juno rose to his feet, stretching out his arm and flattening his palm as slowly, a soccerball-sized orb of violet ki materialized. A huge beam of purple light shot forth, and Juno's Pop hit the Harbinger squarely in his chest.
The creature's glow brightened as he flew back, the blast ripping him to shreds. Faintly, the Collector General's voice could be heard in the far reaches of the cavern.
"Releasing control."
With the second incarnation of the Harbinger wiped out, Belle and Juno finally got a second to breathe. "We make a good team," Belle remarked.
"Yeah," Juno nodded hesitantly. He'd forgotten during the battle how odd Belle was, but now that they had a moment to pause and catch their breath, he suddenly remembered the distinct weird vibe he'd gotten from her when they had met just a little while ago. Zaeed stood from his cover, walking over to the two half-saiyans.
"Hurry up and fire on the Reaper," he ordered, gesturing toward the huge metallic skeleton that hung limply before them. "Knowing these damn Collectors, it won't be long before those assholes send another friggin' horde at us, you know what I mean?" The aqueous man crossed his arms as he took a drag from his cigarette.
Juno and Belle focused their attention on the gargantuan invention. It was massive, taking up more than a small fraction of the cavern, and was hanging from the ceiling by similarly thick silver cords. The young redhead lifted her rifle and focused her scopes on one of the large rounded tubes of orange liquid, which the black-haired hybrid supposed was fueling the construction of the Human-Reaper. After a moment, Juno lifted his hand up, as well, concentrating his ki into his fingers and forming another Pop just in front of his open palm.
The raven-haired hybrid's chest heaved as he sucked in a deep breath, letting the ki orb in front of his hand brighten the room for a second. Belle stared through the scope at the macro-syringes that supplied the reaper with life, and steadied her aim - or tried to, at least. She seemed to be having a bit of trouble.
"Dammit," the redheaded girl mumbled, "I hate these friggin' things."
"Let me do it, then," Juno told her, "One concentrated shot of ki will take it down much quicker than an energy rifle will."
"I... guess you're right," Belle sighed, kind of disappointed that she wouldn't be getting to blast this thing simply because she didn't have quite the same affinity for ki that some of the others did. "Well, hurry up and do it."
"I clearly said concentrated ki blast, Belle," the black-haired hybrid reminded the impatient redhead, "It's going to take a minute for me to make sure I've got something that can take it out in one shot."
"So much for quick, then," the girl scoffed, stomping over to where Zaeed stood watching Juno's display. The hybrid closed his eyes and focused harder than before on channeling the energy into the Pop that hovered loosely in front of him, and felt the ki orb growing, slowly expanding until it was the size of a small yoga ball. When he felt the blast reach its peak, he brought up the other hand, supporting the sphere with both outstretched arms, and pushed forward with all of the control he could muster. A huge, expansive beam of purple light exploded outwards into the cavern, flying at epic speeds toward the cylinder above.
With a very resounding boom, the Pop slammed mightily into one of the Reaper's life support systems, shattering it and sending shards of glass flying in a spectacular vision of the little power that Juno had regained throughout Kill Town. He flashed a toothy grin to Belle and Zaeed; the fishman offered a thumbs-up, and Belle just rolled her eyes. Juno chuckled. Women, he thought absentmindedly.
"Uh," a nasally voice said, and the trio looked up to the sky, "I... uh... apologize for the interruption." Belle and Juno shot each other a knowing glance; the voice was that of Gamer, the mastermind who held them captive. Zaeed, meanwhile, stared cluelessly upward, amazed. "I think that I've sort of... mixed up my files here... uh, lemme see if I can fix this, guys..."
The wait was terribly long. Whoever this Gamer kid was, he was obviously quite inept with making sure his games were polished before sending them to the players, and to be terribly honest, Juno didn't think that was a very good quality. The way he'd always done it, it was best to be efficient, and not mess things up. Get things done right the first time, or don't get them done at all. That was a credo of sorts he lived by, and Gamer seemed to be blissfully ignorant on the subject.
"One second," the nerdy teenager said. "Ah, yes. Here we are."
Suddenly, Zaeed's feet left the ground. He struggled like a true hero as he was lifted up in the air, screaming expletives at the telekinetic force that held him trapped as he was lifted up into the air in a fashion similar to that of a Collector that was soon to be possessed by the Collector General; his arms were even pulled into a crucifix-like position. However, he was not met with a splash of molten energy - rather, he found himself enraptured by a great white light, soon becoming little more than a silhouette. Slowly, however, the silhouette was altered; as opposed to an amphibian fishman who wore a trench coat and carried a deceptively accurate rifle, another man stood before them.
Cigarette cocked sideways in his mouth, hand on the hilt of his pistol, the human man slowly drifted to the floor. His hair was greyed and his face chiseled, and his eyes looked over the two rookies with an utter contempt that the old Zaeed had never before shown. One eye seemed to be permanently squinted, while the other was opened almost abnormally wide. His tan battle armor was covered with dust. "So," the new Zaeed spoke gruffly, "Where's this damn Collector horde at?"
A puff of smoke flew from the end of his cigarette, and Juno and Belle looked at one another in confusion. "Well, that will be all, ladies and gentlemen," Gamer said, and Belle's eyes narrowed, but Juno placed a hand on her shoulder to signal that this was not the time to incite Gamer's anger.
"So... I guess we shoot the Reaper again?" Belle offered, and Juno nodded, turning back to the huge, hulking metallic skeleton and stretching his arm out in front of him. Slowly but surely, another globe of violet ki began to form in his hand. Belle looked around cautiously; she wanted to make sure nothing would interrupt them, so that hopefully they could be out of there quickly.
There was a loud creaking, and Juno faltered.
"What the hell?" the black-haired halfling muttered as his eyes focused on the Reaper's left arm, which had been hanging limply at its side since being shot by Juno's last Pop. There was a low rumbling from inside the Reaper, and slowly, as if the destruction of part of its life force had activated something inside it, it began to move.
"Huh?" the ginger girl whispered, walking up next to the hybrid boy and gazing musingly at the Human-Reaper. The disconnected left arm gradually lifted from the abyss where it hung and slammed into one of the platforms that had transported the Collectors over, and Belle, Juno, and Zaeed were knocked off their feet. The hexagon that had taken the brunt of the Reaper's blow slowly was knocked off balance, losing its antigravity force and disconnecting from the surface that the trio sat on. As quickly as it had come, it slipped from sight, falling into the abyss, the focus of their attention no more. The three men - or two guys and a girl, however you looked at it - let their eyes slowly rise to the Reaper's, which glowed a furious red.
And with a loud, mechanized roar, the battle began again.