#martinatfacetroid

[thehandadmin]

Happy 5th Anniversary for Smashtroid :)

[martinatfacetroid]

*Martin quickly rolled as the rather hefty sword of the new entity crashed down where he had been but a short moment ago. Sparks of light and dark erupted at the point of impact, making Martin back peddle further. With a screech the monster swung the sword horizontally, the tip of the sword unleashed a focused beam of interwoven energy across the top of the tower, causing the party to avoid its erratic movement*

Arius: To hell with this!

*Arius unleashed a hail of energy blasts to the being’s upper body, a few shots met their marks before the remainder were absorbed into a freshly formed dark portal. A low growl emanated from the creature as it seemed to take a quick moment to assess the other targets on the platform as only just now they had caught their attention. His focus swapped back to Martin quite often, but his fixation also seemed to drift towards the pair of luminoth. With a swift uppercut, a wave of darkness was sent along the floor towards the couple, jutted spikes erupting from the crawling abyss as it encroached*

[dsatfacetroid]

*As the chaotic form emerges and roars into the sky, J-Mos tightens her grip on her hammer, holding it at the ready while U-Mos floats into the air, holding his hands out to form a sphere of golden light around him. His eyes are drawn to his hands, however, where he finds that, even over his light suit, veins of darkness linger on him, pulsing a deep, sickly purple. He clenches his hands into fists and looks back up at the abomination before him.*

U-Mos: I don't understand... How did they manage to summon this?

J-Mos: Does it matter?

*With that, J-Mos lifts herself off of the ground and charges forward, swinging the full weight of her hammer toward the being's head.*

[martinatfacetroid]

*Upon reaching the final staircase to the top of the tower, Martin noticed the ravaged body of Alice, most of her mechanical limbs had been severed as she laid motionless on her back, before Martin had time to analyze her body, a shadow pirate caught him off with a swift strike of a scythe, Martin rose his spear to block but the force threw him into the wall. It was at this moment that the pirate gave an uncharacteristic apology as the jovian transformed back into her usual self. Martin regained his composure and thankfully noted that no damage had been done. Araysia gave him a soft smile upon seeing that he was ok but Martin noticed her feigned strength as he could see the exhaustion in her eyes. On the prior level, all of the creatures had been killed by various attacks, he pulled a few of her jovian daggers that he had collected and moved to hand them back to her. Araysia batted his hand which caused them to fall to the ground, metallic noises chimed when they hit the floor. The jovian looked to be in a mix of anger and tears*

Martin: I’m sorry, I never wanted to drag you-

*Martin also looked back to the luminoths, Arius had already started checking and analyzing Alice’s vitals during the exchange*

Martin: Or any of you into this...

Araysia: Quit being so damn stoic! That psychotic witch is up there summoning demons, and she barely won without dying! Yet you insist upon us saving her! We both were doing this for you!

*Martin took a moment of consideration at the fuming jovian, her anger was merited*

Martin: I know, I don’t deserve it. You wouldn’t have that opportunity if it wasn’t for her, she saved my life, gave me another chance. I owe her at least the same. Thank you for saving Alice.

Arius: Martin, from a more level head. This realm was sealed for a reason. We don’t know what her or her sister are truly capable of. Even if we succeed in freeing her, we may be best to leave this realm as it is, and ours the same.

*Martin looked over at Arius, he noticed the scanner he had used read that Alice was in a stable condition. Elyria made no comment on the subject, yet seemed eager to climb the steps*

Martin: Well, standing here won’t solve anything. Araysia, please hang back. You’re not in any shape to fight.

*Araysia was ready to protest before Arius stepped between them with an extra pistol in his hand, which he promptly gave to her*

Arius: Hold out just a little longer, you can shoot him once it’s over.

*The joke helped ease the tension a bit, Araysia took the pistol and sat down next to Alice’s body as everyone else climbed the final steps leading to the top of the tower. The air above them moved with a swirling darkness, tendrils connected it to the unconscious Elira. Martin moved to help her but in that moment, Elyria crumpled to the ground screaming*

Martin: What’s happening!?

Arius: I don’t know! 

Martin: Elyria!

*Veins of light became visible in her body as she writhed on the floor, she struggled to talk to the others*

Elyria: A...sum..mon...ing. So...much....rage....

Arius: Martin!

*Martin was trying to think of solutions when the swirling darkness began to pull towards the center of the tower’s platform, causing a violent wind storm in the immediate vicinity. Martin magnetized his boots to maintain balance. He looked over to Elyria who had fallen into a similar trance as Elira. Light emitted from her body and began to fill in the core of the dark mass centered on the platform, clearly forming a portal as an entity began to emerge from it. A sizable sword began to protrude from the portal attached to armored hands.Then in one moment, all of the energy seem to center around the blade before exploding into a blinding light. Martin’s visor filtered for a few seconds before regaining vision. A humanoid being now stood in the center of the platform, veins of light and dark coursed through it’s armor. Hardened crystallizations of both energies made it hard to tell where armor or flesh was melded. It seemed to take in the the surroundings for a moment before letting out a scream of unbridled rage at the sight of Martin*

Arius: Does this thing know you?

*Martin’s first thought brought Gorea  to mind but regardless this foe had seemed to have lost its sanity*

Martin: I’m not sure, but I’m gonna need help on this one...

Elira: You...came.

*With the ritual stopped, it seemed that she had regained control, Elira let out a faint smile before passing out from her body’s overburden*

*With another yell, the energy infused being charged Martin*

[martinatfacetroid]

*At the top of the tower, Araysia wiped sweat from her forehead as she reached the final door alongside Alice. The sniper’s blue eyes turned to meet Araysia’s fatigued state. The cybernetically infused woman certainly had an advantage on the jovian in regards to stamina. Araysia could tell that her condition was being evaluated. Araysia waved her hand in dismissal*

Araysia: I’m fine, if I wanted to quit, I would have done it half way up this freaking tower!

Alice: Yes, but up ahead isn’t a simple beast or over zealous darkling. Elira is much stronger. Those luminoth should have let me kill her when I had the chance. Guard this door, I have a feeling she won’t be held by restraints. It will be better if the both of us could focus on her with our full potential. Worrying about one another will give her an advantage.

*Araysia bit her lip in frustration, she didn’t like leaving Alice alone to battle Elira. Though she was bluffing about her fatigue, the countless transformations that she had used throughout the climb had taken their toll on her body, she knew bravado wasn’t going to get her far. Araysia slumped against the wall and tossed one of her daggers to Alice*

Araysia: Don’t make me open that door. 

*Alice nodded and stood in front of the door. It parted, revealing a short staircase that led up to an opening to the roof of the tower. She stepped out into the dark atmosphere once more and froze. Elira’s body hung, only being lifted up by the chains that were attached to her wrists. A swirling darkness floated above her, and the corpses of her captors littered the floor around her. Despite the grizzly scene, Elira looked unharmed despite being lifeless*

(Does her power have a will of its own?)

*Alice wasn’t going to take chances, she loaded a round of light crystal into her wrist cannon, and aimed it directly towards Elira’s drooping head. She fired, and the sound of screeching metal was heard as her arm was severed from her body. Alice went spiraling towards the edge of tower. She quickly looked up as she had lost her firing arm along with her light crystal rounds. An expression of irritation crossed her face but soon turned to surprise as she recognized the frame of the dark warrior standing in defense of Elira*

Elira: My paladin...my paladin...has come to save me from the nightmare...

*Her word were distant, as if she weren’t in the room, the Paladin held a sizable sword and shield. It moved methodically in an almost mechanical motion towards Alice. She knew it wasn’t Martin. At least, it wasn’t their Martin. Alice wondered if somehow in her distress was summoning a full apparition of Martin unconsciously. Alice activated her scythe on her left arm. She now was at a huge disadvantage with her range gone, the Paladin had melee superiority. With an unyielding run, the Paladin charged. Alice slid under the brutish being as it had lunged for a horizontal strike. She still could outmaneuver the being but one wrong move would end it all. The Paladin simply turned around with no sign of irritation, as if everything that had occurred was natural. It seemed to size down Alice as she examined her opponent*

(If she is recreating Martin in her twisted head, he should still have that chest wound in this state.)

*True enough, the center of the Paladin’s chest armor was fractured. If she could plunge her light scythe into that spot, the beast would hopefully go down. It charged once more. This time, Alice stood her ground,she dodged the diagonal swing of its blade and then moved in to plunge her scythe into its chest. The blade struck against the Paladin’s shield as it pushed her back with it. Alice was faced with yet another charge, she jumped over and past the Paladin. As she turned to face it, she let out a gasp of surprise as she was struck in the center of her body with the Paladin’s thrown shield. Her body got sent hurtling back, metal scraped on metal until she reached a grinding halt next to the edge. She coughed and blood came out of her mouth. Her senses had grown dull. Without a doubt that blow had caused major damage to her mechanical and biological internals. Fortunately, she could still feel her legs do she shakily stood to her feet. The Sniper knew she was outmatched indefinitely as the beast gave her little time to recover, it sprinted towards her with unrelenting ferocity. An idea came to Alice in the moment, as she stood on the edge of the tower, a fatal drop to her back. As the Paladin got close it moved to slow its pace as it moved in for the killing blow. Alice carefully spun, the beast turned with her to avoid falling, leaving the chest exposed to her scythe into the Paladin’s fractured armor as its blade cleaved through her legs. Both of the combatants fell to the ground. The armored apparition writhed as the light energy coursed through it until finally it dissipated. Fragments of the beings dark energy floated back into the dark energy floating above Elira. Alice’s senses dulled as she laid upon the ground, the Paladin had nearly killed her. She struggled but managed to use her only remaining limb, her left arm, to roll herself over. Elira still hung motionlessly as she was suspended in the chains, a newly formed tear had run down her face, perhaps in recognition of the fallen warrior. Alice then began to pull herself towards the witch with her arm. Her metal body screeched as she made her way. With each pull, she could feel her strength fading her body, her senses had all but dulled to numbness. One pull followed by another, and one after that. Everything seemed distant*

(Just...a little...farther.)

[martinatfacetroid]

*Martin and the other had continued their trek through the forest. Sticking close to J-Mos, even more so after her display of combat prowess against the dark beasts. Each member of the group would occasionally look back to see if that pack of predators were in pursuit, but it seemed they had learned to keep their distance from the luminoth. Since the initial attack, there had been no sign of the creatures. Time passed and they found themselves at the base of the large tower*

Elyria: We better be on guard, they must know tha-

*Martin held up a hand as he looked at the entrance to the blackened tower. Corpses of what seemed to be the same shadowy bipedal creatures that had ambushed them on Aether littered the ground. Martin held his light spear out as he went to inspect the bodies. Each seemed to have been brought down by precise shots. Light crystal infused rounds. Arius and Martin already knew who’s handy work this was*

Martin: She’s already here.

*Martin then spotted a jovian dagger potruding from an adjacent corpse, the being had fallen flat in what must’ve been an attempt to escape*

Martin: Araysia and Alice have beaten us here.

Elyria: So that’s good right? Your friends may have already rescued Elira.

Arius: We’re friends yes, but they’re probably attempting the opposite of a rescue.

*Elyria’s cheerful expression turned grim as she hear his words. Martin simply stood as he held onto the jovian dagger. The lightweight blades were well balanced and therefore made great throwing knives. Martin kept his spear at the ready as he moved to enter the tower*

Martin: There’s no time to wait, we have to hurry.

[dsatfacetroid]

*J-Mos stands with her hammer ready, her small visor hiding the nervousness in her eyes. When the beast finally charges, she swings her hammer, successfully bashing the weighted end into the side of the beast just as it latches onto her arm, knocking her over. The creature lets out a pained yelp, but continues to sink its teeth into J-Mos’s metal armor. Just as another of the creatures starts to lunge forward, U-Mos flies forward, holding both hands toward the collection of beasts. From his hands, a blinding light erupts forth, not only revealing the presence of several other creatures they hadn’t seen, but causing them to shriek in pain as the light begins to sear their flesh. Wisps of black smoke rise off of their bodies, and they start to back away, growling in frustration.

However, J-Mos manages to pin down the beast that attacked her, pressing the full weight of her armor down on top of it. She reaches for her hammer, which had been resting beside her, and the light crystal in its end begins to hum as it glows gold. Using both hands, she brings the hammer down onto the beast’s head, and almost instantaneously, the creature dissolves away into golden dust that blows away with the gentle breeze. J-Mos gets to her feet, looking at the multiple scratches on her armor, then off into the direction where the other beasts fled.*

J-Mos: I don’t like this place...

[martinatfacetroid]

*As they began the trek through the darkness. Martin remembered that he still had the light crystal that Araysia had thrown him before she was lost to this dimension. He kept hold of it as a spare while he stayed close to J-Mos. Martin couldn’t disregard how valuable of an ally the luminoth sentinel had been. Martin wondered why she had been in stasis during Aether’s plight with Dark Samus. Not a word was spoken among the party as they traveled through the uninviting environment. Shadows loomed all around them and there was an uneasy stillness that seemed to linger in the atmosphere. It didn’t help that the light crystal that encircled them gave made their position obvious but sadly it was the only safe environment they could trust. If anything was driven to attack from the dark tainted foliage, they would be forced to fight in close quarters around J-Mos. Martin knew it would only be inevitable. Elyria seemed to notice Martin evaluating the situation and made a short comment to temporarily break the silence*

Elyria: I can generate a light shield around us as well if we need it.

*In the distance, a large tower stood on the surface of a rocky cliff, looming over the edge of the forest. Spires jutted out of the top like spikes*

Arius: Let me guess, that’s it...

*Elyria gave a nod as they made their way through the forest in the direction of the tower. As they continued, a very audible snap came from behind them akin to a breaking branch. Martin immediately took up guard as he turned to look behind them. Beyond the light well, it seemed that only darkness stared back at them. Within that darkness, two menacing crimson eyes glowed, Elyria shot a glowing orb to reveal the creature. Large fangs lined its maw as it looked ravenously towards the group within their light bubble. It might have been the size of a large bear but it seemed more built like a wolf. A jagged black mane lined the back of its neck along to the upper back. Martin readied the light spear. One beast couldn’t be that bad. Then a similar pair of eyes lit up to the left, followed by one to the right. Martin clutched his spear tighter as more of the beast appeared from the shadows. Elyria nervously shifted her hands as she silently watched. Arius remained still and aimed his rifle towards the closest beasts eyes. Two of the monsters began to move to encircle them. Then the front beast let out a snarl and lunged with its jaws aimed at J-Mos*