11-15-2005, 03:56 AM
Three bursts of fire ripped through the air, painful to the saiyan?s augmented hearing.
?The false moon!? Jack hollered, pointing. Bardock?s giant hands clasped his ears against the gunshots, but looked towards his power sphere?or at least, where it was supposed to be. The ball of artificial brute waves had dissipated; its light fading to nothingness. Without the warm bath of ambience, the two saiyans could not maintain their state of Oozaru. Bardock could already feel himself reverting to his anthropoid form. The heavy blanket that had clouded his mind was slowly lifting, leaving no veil to the mental anguish he was feeling. A half-ape, half-saiyan voice growled in pure disgust. Raditzu?s fun was ending, and he wasn?t the least bit happy about it. Android 18 was startled, her enormous perch suddenly shrinking down to its normal size. She had little choice but to hop off and float back to the ground?where they were waiting.
The regression of the saiyans couldn?t have come at a worse time. The army of mindless minions was increasing in force, and threatened to overrun the quartet by force of number. Raditzu was still in mid-reversion, and unable to make the leap from normal form to ascended Super Saiyan in the narrowing window of opportunity they had to defend themselves against the thrall. Eighteen?s fists were covered gooey decay. She was being forced back into the fray, lacking the assistance of her beau until he was himself again, but the femme fatale was fierce. Jack, aside from having pointed out what must have been obvious now, was still nowhere to be seen, a disembodied voice that floated above the din of moans and tormented snarls the zombies wailed.
They were dead. The odds were stacked too high against them.
Just as all seemed lost, a brilliant white radiance flashed from the direction of the watchtowers, their structural silhouettes illuminated by the blinding light. The zombies began to shriek, an ear-splitting noise that made Bardock?s stomach drop. They didn?t like it. Not one bit. The horde began scattering like leaves in the wind, fleeing the blanket of light they so despised. The brightness was warm, inviting. The saiyan could feel a heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders as his body was washed in the alabaster glow. By now, he and Raditzu had fully returned to their normal everyday selves. Eighteen glided to her boyfriend?s side, while the pirate pushed his way to regroup with the others. The elder saiya-jin was on the floor, hands and knees touching the cold, ravaged metal. His whole body was shaking. With what, he didn?t know.
?Just when it was getting good,? Raditzu fumed, disappointed that his good time was at an end. His face screwed up with disgust. ?Where are my pants??
Momentarily distracted from the light, he stalked off to go retrieve his clothing, fully exposed to all those who cared to look. Just as the Spanish-tongued fighter had finally caught up with his companions, his flaming orange hair an unmistakable beacon over the rubble, Bardock was finally forcing himself to his feet. His face was set grimly. Things had not gone well. And they were about to get worse.
?What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have killed us!? an accusatory voice rang out. Bardock knew exactly who it belonged to, and exactly what was coming next. He turned to face the enraged android as she stormed up to him. It was his fault she?d suffered those rank wraiths. Channeling all of her anger into a single fist, she reared back her arm and swung with every last ounce of force she could muster. Had Bardock not turned his face into the punch at the last second to slight the blow, she would have likely broken his jaw. As much as he deserved it, he was going to need his face in one piece for the times to come. Nonetheless, it hurt like hell. He?d been the anvil to her hammer on one occasion before, and he had not forgotten how much stronger than he the android really was. The saiya-jin kept his face turned away for a moment, a large red welt swelling up where he?d been struck. After a moment, Bardock turned to face her. Eighteen?s face was flushed. Once more, the fighter was unable to interpret what she was thinking. He thought he might have sensed a hint of what might be betrayal, but his guesswork counted for little at the present.
He moved his lower jaw to ease some of the soreness. His black eyes stared hard into hers.
?I?m?sorry.?
The words were foreign to him in that context, much less having any sincerity whatsoever. He opened his mouth to say more, but nothing would come. That would have to be enough. Two simple words?they?d been hard enough to say, to admit his folly. The fighter harbored enough regrets without adding another to the pile. It almost seemed like a futile attempt. Any chance at friendship was likely ruined. Without waiting for her reply, he evenly sidestepped her. He did not want to fight her, and he suspected neither did she. Raditzu was coming back anyway, and his presence seemed to command all of her attention and rightfully so. Bardock was unsure about the inner workings of the relationship, but they genuinely seemed to need each other. He was happy for his son. Thinking about the two of them made Bar think about Katel?
?So?? the long-haired saiya-jin began, doing a weird little hop as he slipped his pants on, the armor already donned. The pre-clothed jiggle, if nothing else, was a sure sign of total indiscretion. Bardock mentally shrugged. He didn?t see what the big deal was. ?What?s the plan, boys and girls?? the son continued, shaking his ebony mane from his face.
?You?re pretty good at running the show. You figure it out,? his father said simply. ?As long as I get my fight with Kao.?
There it was again, the woman noted. That name. ?Kao.? Was that what had made the black-haired fighter go crazy?
At that very moment, a sharp sheeww sound hissed, and Jack?s form staggered before falling over, lifeless. Bardock?s eyes followed a quick movement, completely missing the trajectory and only seeing the final destination. A bullet had buried itself in the steel, the remains steaming. It had passed cleanly through the pirate?s head, the entry point a neat little hole, while the exit had a chunk of skull and brain matter missing. They had little time to ponder their comrade?s fate before his body began to shimmer and fade, the ?corpse? no use in the game now that its owner had been eliminated. Bardock couldn?t summon more than an ounce of pity for him. He?d barely known him, but it was dirty to be felled by a sniper. Still, none of them had been on guard.
The sight reminded Bardock of Kakarotto. Unfortunately, his youngest had surely suffered far worse and slow a fate than that of the vampire. He tightened his fist against the anger, resolving to keep his head clear this time, now and forever until the game was over. No more people would suffer his mistakes. Katel, Burter Junior, Goten?he wouldn?t let them down. Nearby the body, a glint of metal glimmered, instantly occupying his fickle attention span. The saiyan knelt to pick it up, becoming completely ignorant of the presence of a nearby killer and the recent death of Jack. The three gunshots had undoubtedly come from the sniper, a calculated move. Maybe Brim was not so steel-faced after all.
It looked like a scouter, only there was no screen. Since his own battle device was safely secured in its capsule, the roughneck fitted the little machine to his ear and pressed the button. A red light flashed across his line of vision, immediately beeping with scrolling data and blips. It was a holographic battle visor. Sweet. He clicked the button again, and the light withdrew back into its projector. This would come in handy. Bardock once more focused his attention on his two remaining group members?team XTREME.
OOC: One. I hope I didn't overstep my bounds, 18.
?The false moon!? Jack hollered, pointing. Bardock?s giant hands clasped his ears against the gunshots, but looked towards his power sphere?or at least, where it was supposed to be. The ball of artificial brute waves had dissipated; its light fading to nothingness. Without the warm bath of ambience, the two saiyans could not maintain their state of Oozaru. Bardock could already feel himself reverting to his anthropoid form. The heavy blanket that had clouded his mind was slowly lifting, leaving no veil to the mental anguish he was feeling. A half-ape, half-saiyan voice growled in pure disgust. Raditzu?s fun was ending, and he wasn?t the least bit happy about it. Android 18 was startled, her enormous perch suddenly shrinking down to its normal size. She had little choice but to hop off and float back to the ground?where they were waiting.
The regression of the saiyans couldn?t have come at a worse time. The army of mindless minions was increasing in force, and threatened to overrun the quartet by force of number. Raditzu was still in mid-reversion, and unable to make the leap from normal form to ascended Super Saiyan in the narrowing window of opportunity they had to defend themselves against the thrall. Eighteen?s fists were covered gooey decay. She was being forced back into the fray, lacking the assistance of her beau until he was himself again, but the femme fatale was fierce. Jack, aside from having pointed out what must have been obvious now, was still nowhere to be seen, a disembodied voice that floated above the din of moans and tormented snarls the zombies wailed.
They were dead. The odds were stacked too high against them.
Just as all seemed lost, a brilliant white radiance flashed from the direction of the watchtowers, their structural silhouettes illuminated by the blinding light. The zombies began to shriek, an ear-splitting noise that made Bardock?s stomach drop. They didn?t like it. Not one bit. The horde began scattering like leaves in the wind, fleeing the blanket of light they so despised. The brightness was warm, inviting. The saiyan could feel a heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders as his body was washed in the alabaster glow. By now, he and Raditzu had fully returned to their normal everyday selves. Eighteen glided to her boyfriend?s side, while the pirate pushed his way to regroup with the others. The elder saiya-jin was on the floor, hands and knees touching the cold, ravaged metal. His whole body was shaking. With what, he didn?t know.
?Just when it was getting good,? Raditzu fumed, disappointed that his good time was at an end. His face screwed up with disgust. ?Where are my pants??
Momentarily distracted from the light, he stalked off to go retrieve his clothing, fully exposed to all those who cared to look. Just as the Spanish-tongued fighter had finally caught up with his companions, his flaming orange hair an unmistakable beacon over the rubble, Bardock was finally forcing himself to his feet. His face was set grimly. Things had not gone well. And they were about to get worse.
?What the hell did you think you were doing? You could have killed us!? an accusatory voice rang out. Bardock knew exactly who it belonged to, and exactly what was coming next. He turned to face the enraged android as she stormed up to him. It was his fault she?d suffered those rank wraiths. Channeling all of her anger into a single fist, she reared back her arm and swung with every last ounce of force she could muster. Had Bardock not turned his face into the punch at the last second to slight the blow, she would have likely broken his jaw. As much as he deserved it, he was going to need his face in one piece for the times to come. Nonetheless, it hurt like hell. He?d been the anvil to her hammer on one occasion before, and he had not forgotten how much stronger than he the android really was. The saiya-jin kept his face turned away for a moment, a large red welt swelling up where he?d been struck. After a moment, Bardock turned to face her. Eighteen?s face was flushed. Once more, the fighter was unable to interpret what she was thinking. He thought he might have sensed a hint of what might be betrayal, but his guesswork counted for little at the present.
He moved his lower jaw to ease some of the soreness. His black eyes stared hard into hers.
?I?m?sorry.?
The words were foreign to him in that context, much less having any sincerity whatsoever. He opened his mouth to say more, but nothing would come. That would have to be enough. Two simple words?they?d been hard enough to say, to admit his folly. The fighter harbored enough regrets without adding another to the pile. It almost seemed like a futile attempt. Any chance at friendship was likely ruined. Without waiting for her reply, he evenly sidestepped her. He did not want to fight her, and he suspected neither did she. Raditzu was coming back anyway, and his presence seemed to command all of her attention and rightfully so. Bardock was unsure about the inner workings of the relationship, but they genuinely seemed to need each other. He was happy for his son. Thinking about the two of them made Bar think about Katel?
?So?? the long-haired saiya-jin began, doing a weird little hop as he slipped his pants on, the armor already donned. The pre-clothed jiggle, if nothing else, was a sure sign of total indiscretion. Bardock mentally shrugged. He didn?t see what the big deal was. ?What?s the plan, boys and girls?? the son continued, shaking his ebony mane from his face.
?You?re pretty good at running the show. You figure it out,? his father said simply. ?As long as I get my fight with Kao.?
There it was again, the woman noted. That name. ?Kao.? Was that what had made the black-haired fighter go crazy?
At that very moment, a sharp sheeww sound hissed, and Jack?s form staggered before falling over, lifeless. Bardock?s eyes followed a quick movement, completely missing the trajectory and only seeing the final destination. A bullet had buried itself in the steel, the remains steaming. It had passed cleanly through the pirate?s head, the entry point a neat little hole, while the exit had a chunk of skull and brain matter missing. They had little time to ponder their comrade?s fate before his body began to shimmer and fade, the ?corpse? no use in the game now that its owner had been eliminated. Bardock couldn?t summon more than an ounce of pity for him. He?d barely known him, but it was dirty to be felled by a sniper. Still, none of them had been on guard.
The sight reminded Bardock of Kakarotto. Unfortunately, his youngest had surely suffered far worse and slow a fate than that of the vampire. He tightened his fist against the anger, resolving to keep his head clear this time, now and forever until the game was over. No more people would suffer his mistakes. Katel, Burter Junior, Goten?he wouldn?t let them down. Nearby the body, a glint of metal glimmered, instantly occupying his fickle attention span. The saiyan knelt to pick it up, becoming completely ignorant of the presence of a nearby killer and the recent death of Jack. The three gunshots had undoubtedly come from the sniper, a calculated move. Maybe Brim was not so steel-faced after all.
It looked like a scouter, only there was no screen. Since his own battle device was safely secured in its capsule, the roughneck fitted the little machine to his ear and pressed the button. A red light flashed across his line of vision, immediately beeping with scrolling data and blips. It was a holographic battle visor. Sweet. He clicked the button again, and the light withdrew back into its projector. This would come in handy. Bardock once more focused his attention on his two remaining group members?team XTREME.
OOC: One. I hope I didn't overstep my bounds, 18.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
_=Pass you by, it's all in this life you have
Pass you by, good-bye to you=_
Pass you by, good-bye to you=_