Story/Battle Requests

[Akralon]

In order to further the entertainment here at heroscapers - I thought I'd try something new. While I still plan to finish my other two threads/stories, I thought this might be fun.

This thread will be comprised of battles or quests you the requester propose. Tell me who you want to see clash in battle - be it opposing armies or simply two enemy heroes - and I'll write it to the best of my ability. I will try to be as creative and unpredictable (in so far as that is possible) as I can. These will not, of course, be anything but stand alone fiction - meaning even though a chosen hero might be a main protagonist in the official heroscape scenarios - he/she could still die gruesomely here.

You can be as general or specific as you want. I will try to keep everything relatively short, so keep that in mind.

In case you are wondering what my writing is like - here is a link to each of my other threads.

Legends of Valhalla

Darkness Surrounds

[Einar's puppy]

Syvaris and some aubriens VS Krug.

[Onacara]

Interesting idea and while I do not normally read the fan fiction I would imagine that it may be even more entertaining to have real historical figures summoned to Valhalla to battle established figures.

[Akralon]

Elves and Trolls - (first half)
---------------------------

"We are scouts, not warriors," Belinos frowned, drawing his cloak tight. Like the other elves, he was camouflaged in woodland browns. His raven black hair fell shaggily about his dirt-smeared face. "What are we doing in Upper Bleakewood?"

To his left, Cocidius shifted his quiver and slung his bow over his shoulder. His reddish hair matched the falling leaves. "We are protectors of nature - gladewatchers. We are warriors if nature wills it."

"That is all very poetic," Syvarris uttered moodily, his keen elvish eyes narrowing as he scanned the dark forest ahead. The tall trees rose like pillars, packed densely so that the thick canopy overhead blotted out nearly all light - leaving the forest floor covered in shadow. "But it is not this wood we protect. We, as always, are merely carrying out orders like good little soldiers."

Behind him, Rendalin, the fourth scout grinned. Among wielders of the bow, there were none to match Syvarris. His speed and precision were amazing - even to the elves, who were themselves masters of archery. But this was a fact well known to the elf hero, one he often, if not always, let go to his head.

Cocidius was second only to Syvarris, though the elder archer was a near opposite in personality - calm, cautious, patient and, as Syvarris had put it, 'poetic' in his purpose as an Aubrien.

Belinos grumbled. "We have roved the border of this territory for days, and the only thing we have come across is a few stray gruts. And these were felled by our arrows before I could enjoy the hunt."

"If your point is that this mission is a seeming waste of time," Syvarris put in, "You needn't convince me. I argued against it in from the moment Lord Ullar presented it." He turned his golden-haired head with a wry but unhappy smile, "As it is, only Saylind has his ear." He scowled, "They place too much faith in our alliance with Jandar."

"They aided us against Utgar's marauding grut and swog riders," Cocidius reminded. "We were far outnumbered then, and when the fleshless creatures flanked us - we may well have perished. We must admit to owing the metal wearing men our lives."

Syvarris scoffed. "Where were they when Vydar's infernal machines ravaged our outposts? Where were they when the agents set fire to our wood? Where were they-" The elf hero stopped abruptly, tense and silent.

"I felt it, too," Rendalin whispered. "Tremors in the earth." He looked to the other two scouts. "Some great beast approaches."

Pounding footsteps thundered across the forest floor, rapidly growing louder. A deep angry bellow echoed through the trees.

Syvarris's eyes widened with sudden realization. "I know that sound." He turned to the archers, "Quickly! To the trees! You cannot engage this monster."

Rendalin and Cocidius drifted backward, quietly scanning for a good tree to post in. Belinos frowned. "A beast that large cannot match our speed. If we stand together we can drop it before it comes within forty feet of us."

"Do not argue with me," Syvarris snapped. He was about to tell the Aubrien never to question him in the midst of an iminent battle - but before he could say another word there was an ear-splitting CRACK!

A small tree snapped and fell, revealing a massive bulk emerging from the darkness. The creature, whatever it was, was colossal, smashing its way through the foliage.

The first thing Belinos saw was a squat green monstrous face. Small beady yellow eyes stared stupidly forward, the flat nose and large jowls soon identifying it as a troll of Feylund. And not just any troll. The elf paled. This juggernaught of destruction was known by all Aubriens. This was Krug, elf-slayer.

[Akralon]

The swampy monstrosity rampaging through the trees as if they were dry weeds drowned out all sound in the scout's ears.

Belinos was mesmerized by the shear brute force before him. He could faintly make out voices somewhere in the distance. It sounded like they were shouting - he thought he even heard his name, but he was too distracted by the terrifying beast to pay the voices any attention.

He watched in awe, petrified, as the giant troll lifted its massive weapon, which was meant to be a butcher blade, but looked more like a sharpened wall of iron with a handle. His eyes blankly took in the sight of the great sword as it fell like a castle portcullis. Only too late did it dawn on him that the blade was falling over him.

His heart skipped a beat, and before he could react, the world was spinning, the trees and grass spiraled about him in a dizzying blur, a sharp tightening in his throat prevented him from breathing. Then, in the edge of his still spinning peripheral vision, he caught a glimpse of his own headless body tumbling awkwardly forward, blood geysering out of the stump where his head used to sit.

Rendalin blinked in disbelief as his comrade's lifeless, headless, corpse hit the earth, the arrows spilling out of the end of the quiver. Belinos's head thumped into a tree and wobbled to a halt, a small pool of blood turning dirt to mud.

"Stay back!" Syvarris was shouting, "Keep your distance! Shoot his legs! Aim for the knee!" The archer pulled back the bowstring and released, a streaking arrow of light pierced the troll's left thigh, inciting an angry roar. With blinding speed, the elf fired a second time. Once again, the arrow materialized and blazed forward.

The troll lumbered forward, head and shoulders down, and the arrow glanced off his shoulder plate with a scraping Ttchiiiing!

As Syvarris fled backward, the whistling of two more arrows pierced the air. One struck the troll's right bicep, the other its left shin.

Krug snarled in rage, his eyes darkening from yellow to amber and his speed increased. He snatched a large tree bough and tore it cracking from the tree, then flung it furiously at Syvarris - who sidestepped just enough to catch the edge in the shoulder, sending him spinning to the ground.

Rendalin leapt from his perch as the troll's mighty swing lodged its blade into the side of the elm, shaking the entire tree. The Aubrien's outstretched hands caught the outstretched bough of a neighboring elm and he swung himself forward first, then brought his legs backward, the momentum allowing him to pull forward and land his stomach over the bough.

The first elm groaned and cracked as Krug wrenched its massive weapon free. Another arrow from Cocidius struck the beast in the right side of its thick neck. The troll belched a bubble of black oily blood. Then turned its attention to the red-haired elf, its eyes darkening from amber to burning red.

Cocidius shifted his weight to leap from his branch, but the troll's speed was impossible. The thick blade hacked through the branch with a splitting SNAP! and jarred the elf off his feet, sending him sprawling downward.

As the elder elf struck the earth and the wind was blasted from his lungs, he gasped painfully. He raised his bow, knowing he hadn't time to get to his feet and run, as even now the blade was poised to fall. Instead he grimaced, nocked his arrow and took aim. Blessed Mother of Nature, I have served you with all my spirit. Now guide my arrow. He fired. The blade fell.

Syvarris grimaced as he watched the head of Cocidius explode like a watermelon, spattering the grass, trees and attacking troll in blood. The arrow struck the troll in the right eye and Krug staggered back a step, roaring in outrage, its deep voice resounding like a rumbling earthquake.

Rendalin could get no clear shot from his place in the tree, and was forced to drop down, deftly pulling and arrow and taking aim. The troll tore the arrow from its face, a reddish yellow glob that was once its eyeball hung from the arrowhead, a bridge of goo trailing to its now gaping eye socket. The elf shot. The arrow clacked off its bulky armor.

Krug lashed out wildly, and Rendalin was caught off guard. The blade barely missed, the edge slicing across his chest, snapping the quiver strap. He fell backward.

Two more gleaming shots from the bow of Syvarris blasted Krug. The troll teetered forward, two new wounds running black blood down its wobbly legs.

Then Krug swung its weapon with both hands. The flat of the blade collided with Syvarris, slamming into the frail elf like a brick wall. A series of dull cracks sounded as his left shoulder, collarbone, several ribs, and hip shattered. The elf was flung across the forest, his limbs flapping loosely like a rag doll.

Syvarris bounced off a gnarled oak trunk and collapsed in a defeated heap. He groaned in agony, wincing as his body was wracked with searing pain. His left arm was broken and useless. He rolled to his back, grabbing the bowstring with his right hand. His left leg was twisted at an unnatural angle underneath him. He choked blood as he used his right foot, shaking uncontrollably to brace the bow.

He pulled the string, lifted the bow with crook of his boot, took wobbly aim and released. He collapsed, dropping the bow as his foot fell to the ground. He lay gasping in haggard raspy breaths. His vision began to darken. He didn't see if his last arrow hit or not.

Krug looked down at the fallen elf hero with ravenous delight. He remembered this one - this insect! Yes - this one! Stinging and buzzing away. Stinging and buzzing away again. So aggravating. So annoying. But he had finally swatted this bothersome fly. Now he would squish the fly, like all bugs deserved. Not with his weapon, but with his boot. He advanced slowly, relishing the thought, like a child creeping up to squash a spider.

From the brush, Rendalin exploded, one arrow in his bow, two clenched between his teeth. The first arrow tore through the back of Krug's knee, nearly dropping him. The troll was forced to slam the end of its weapon into the dirt, holding it firmly for support. When it limped back to its feet, turning in annoyance, it saw the second arrow whistling forward, sliding sharply into its right breast with a painful thud.

Krug grunted, slimy laces of blood-mixed saliva swinging from his jowls. This new elf was moving too fast, firing too quickly. He swung out furiously, hoping to break the gnat in half.

Sprinting forward, frenzy burning in his emerald eyes, Rendalin ducked as the massive blade whooshed over his back, tearing through his fluttering cloak and sending it whirling away like a fallen leaf.

Still running, Rendalin dropped his bow, gripped the last arrow firmly in his hand, and lunged forward. He darted to the side, placed one foot on the troll's fat bloody knee and vaulted upward, jamming the arrow up through the bottom of the troll's chin and throat.

The arrow punctured the thick green flesh and lodged itself in the roof of Krug's mouth. The troll staggered backward.

Still holding the bottom of the arrow in his right hand, Rendalin reached into Krug's open mouth with his other hand and grabbed the top half. Bracing his feet squarely against the troll's meaty chest, gripping the arrow tightly, the elf shoved outward with his legs with all his strength. He tore the arrow, and the troll's lower jaw, ripping from Krug's face with a cracking pop and spray of blood.

The Aubrien fell backward, crashing to the earth hard, the arrow gouged jaw tumbling from his grasp.

Krug's crimson eyes rolled back in his head, blood draining from his upper jaw in long string, teetered for a moment precariously, then rocked forward and crashed to the forest floor with a thunderous Boom!

For long moments the Aubrien lay gasping for breath, staring in an exhausted daze at the sea of leaves above, the sound of the wind rustling through like waves on the shore. Belinos dead. Cocidius dead. Syvarris... He tried to move, to catch glimpse of the elf hero, but his strength gave out. Blackness clouded his vision. Consciousness slipped away.

[one_day_remains]

Enjoyed that. I could envision the scenes vividly through your words. You know how to tell a story well.

How do you feel about recounting the aftermath of a mission in which 2 Microcorp squads, after taking out a Hive, went MIA after encountering Wo-Sa-Ga in the deep water of the swamp?

[keetacongoo]

Okay, do Truth vs. rev. i could see that, couldn't you? Like, some kind of Rep-off. If you can make elves vs. Krug that good, you could do this. And that's coming from me.

[Pumpkin_King]

[keetacongoo]

That is somewhat beautiful...

[The Silver Surfer]

Agent Carr vs Sgt. Drake for.... Raelin!! Or at least something that makes Agent Carr look cool.

[Akralon]

"Tell me why we're out here, again, Carr?" Jackson muttered dismally, sweat glistening on his brown skin. He adjusted the gamma filtering on his shades. "This place smells like steaming crap."

Carr did not answer. He merely scanned the edge of the marsh silently. He held out a small device in his left hand, thumbing a few touch-buttons and watching several red bleeps in the corner of the digital screen.

"Our suits might've done wonders in the big city... Melding into back alley shadows, balancing freedom of movement with bullet catching micromesh," Adams commented, "But out here... we could really use-"

"Sshhh!" Jade snapped, glancing at Carr to see if he, too, had noticed the sound. He had.

"We're on course," Carr said at last, deciding the noise was nothing. "Let's move."

"Son-of-a," Jackson groaned, following into the murky swamp waters with a grimace. "Now we're all gonna smell like-"

"Can it, Jackson," Carr said bluntly. "Those agents weren't just sent to take out a hive. They were gathering intel. We need to find them."

"The microcorps went MIA weeks ago," Adams remarked. "There's no way they're still alive. Those guys are ex-SEALs. If they didn't come back, they're dead, and you know it."

Carr kept his gaze forward as they trudged knee-deep through the muck. "What I know is that they were carrying sensitive material. Micro-cameras with tracking beacons. The beacons were set to go off when pictures were taken. Dead or alive, they completed their mission. Ours is to recover those cameras."

Clouds of gnats swirled about them. Jade slapped her neck. "What I wouldn't do for an old-fashioned can of bug spray."

"Tell me about it," Jackson flinched as a bug dipped under his shades and flew into his eye. "Stupid things keep getting in my eyes and ears."

"And up the nose," Adams snorted. He tapped the edge of his shades and switched visual filtering to infrared. "Good God."

Carr stopped, half turning. "What?"

"Switch to infrared."

The other Krav Maga followed suit.

"The marsh is teaming with something..." Adams added. "The water's too dirty for regular gamma filtering to make anything out. But there's definitely movement all over the place."

"There!" Jade pointed. "That heat signature..."

Carr followed her finger. The shape was definitely humanoid. A body, floating just under the surface.

Carr waded closer. The other agents hung back, watching in anxious anticipation.

Drawing out his shimmering sword, Carr dipped the edge into the waters and prodded the body. Besides a slight bobbing, it remained still. He then used the blade's tip to overturn the body. With a bubbling slurp, it was freed from whatever weeds entangled it, emerging from the surface.

Carr tapped his shades twice, returning to normal gamma filter levels. He nearly stepped back, but instead used all his will to remain still. The body was covered in festering boils, some still pulsating, ready to burst. Lime green liquid mixed with puss seeped from the scores of open wounds. The face was half eaten away. There would be no recognizing it. But what remained of the suit was undeniably microcorps...

(end part I of II)

[Akralon]

Jade and Adams moved in closer. Adams grimaced. Jade knelt closer.

"What could've done this?" she asked, mostly to herself.

"I hate to say it," Adams muttered, "But looks a lot like Braxas's breath weapon."

"Similar, but not the same. This... it's a bio-toxin," Carr replied. "Severely acidic, but the acid wasn't what killed him."

"How do you know that?" Adams asked warily.

Agent Carr passed around the gently bobbing corpse. "Keep moving. There were six microcorps sent out. Only two cameras are signaling." He paused, "Jade, take point. Adams and Jackson, fan out and search the perimeter."

"Man," Jackson shook his head as he brought up the rear, "I should've gone with the Nakita agents."

Jade moved past them, wading deftly ahead. Adams caught a whiff of her perfume and immediately wished they were back at Vydar's underground city. What he wouldn't do to get her alone for a nice relaxing evening. Not that he hadn't tried many times. Jade, however, was a true career woman. She might as well be a soulborg for all the emotion she displayed. But for some reason, that only attracted him to her more. She was a bit mysterious in her detached solitude.

Adams moved out to a denser clustering of marshweed. Then again, there was always the Nakitas... Ah, the Nakitas. The redhead really got his heart pumping. Jackson was obsessed with the black woman, whom he called his 'sun princess'. But she seemed unmoved by this, and almost equally obsessed with Agent Carr. Jackson grinned, much to Jackson's dismay.

Then there was the Asian. He pushed his way through some reeds. She was slim, eloquent, deadly. Deadly beautiful. He'd settle for any of them actually. Heck, after long months of trudging through stinking marshlands, he'd almost settle for a well done-up soulborg. Almost.

Then he noticed a shape, looming on the misty horizon. Touching his shades, a translucent box appeared around the blurred image and zoomed in. The lenses cleared the zoomed image and he saw the smoldering ruin of what once had been a Marro Hive.

"I've located the hive."

"And we've found more bodies," Jade's voice uttered from his earpiece.

Over where Jade and Carr had discovered three mangled corpses, Agent Carr distinguished what was left of a microcamera. He snatched it and immediately prodded around, until he found the disc ejector. It was melted in place, so he pried it off and removed the disc manually. He brought it before his eyes, his shades automatically locking on and zooming in as he examined it for any signs of damage.

"The camera's shot," he muttered, "But the disc is intact." He handed it to Jade. "Use your imaging device to scan it. See if you can't get a look at whatever caused this. I'm going to look for the other microcamera." He moved onward.

Back near the steaming hive ruins, Adams watched in mild disgust as bubbling blisters of ooze pulsated and burst. Thick dull-yellow mucus was spattered over it like a giant's sneeze of phlegm and snot. He saw a hand bobbing in the water.

"Found another," he uttered. He nudged it with his boot. The upper torso bubbled to the surface and he almost gagged. Covering his face with the sleeve of one arm, he tried not to inhale the rotting stench of the bloated body. Narrowing his eyes, he had his shades zoom and gamma filter as necessary as he reluctantly examined the corpse.

The body had been severed at the lower abdomen, entrails floating out like dead tendrils. As he looked closer, he saw giant puncture wounds trailing up the stomach and back. Something big had done this.

There was a crude belching sound, as a cloud of gas erupted from the top of the hive ruins. He glanced, shaking now, back to the hive, which was beginning to bulge and stretch, like a cocoon ready to hatch.

"Carr," he said softly.

The voice came back in his earpiece, "What is it?"

"It's time to go."

(...to be continued in Darkness Surrounds)