Here's the first five chapters, written by Smith and Myself.
Been thinking of typing this up for a while, and so I have! This is only the first chapter of a medium-sized story. A little small, but I hope you enjoy it .
Chapter 1 - The Dream
The night sky was lit up by flashes of green and flares of red. It was as though Heaven was at war with the Earth. People screamed left and right as rays of pure energy evaporated them while they ran accompanied by the sound of stomach turning poofs as their powdered remains floated in the air. One of the rays struck a building, detonating it into flames and sending it toppling down onto hundreds of fleeing civilians. Loud, mechanical stomping and high-pitched zapping sounds could be heard in the distance followed closely by screaming.
Miles away, a giant, three-legged machine stood hundreds of feet tall over watching the chaos. Its long metallic head, shaped almost as though it was a horizontal tear-drop, contained three blinding lights which could be compared to eyes, each shining as stage lights down upon the deadly scene, and was held up by three skinny, but powerful-looking, segmented legs with three long finger-like structures at the end of each for support. Two long, skinny, tentacle-like arms protruded from under its head structure and attached to each was a thin, crescent shaped weapon. The weapons looked as though they were holding light in a stasis, ready to be released in an ultimately deadly attack. Behind it stood another one, bellowing a terrible bass roar as it unleashed its blinding weapons upon several people below it. When it fired, a stream of blueish-green shot from the crescent weapon and widened as it approached the ground, traveling almost instantly in a beam-like form. Everything it touched either poofed into powder or detonated in flame. Further behind it walked at least five more tripods, all of which were firing and killing hundreds of helpless civilians as they strode high above.
“Please help me!” begged a young woman, powdered gray by ash, to a taller, ominous-looking man. He turned his head and glared down at her, but said nothing and instead ignited a sabre of some sort. The blade was not solid, but pure energy. It glowed black on the inside and blood red on the outside and echoed a very eery, quiet scream. He raised the saber above his head and narrowed two black slits which could barely be called eye sockets. “Please, no!” screamed the woman, backing away. “Please, don't! Please! Ple-NO!” The man lunged at her, striking the phased saber through the woman's mid-section. She let out a little "Oh.." and her entire body spasmed from pain. Blood dribbled down from her mouth to her neck, which was paling at a rapid pace. With the last of her ailing strength, she stretched out her pale, shaking arm and felt the man's face. “Cucumba...” she whispered, falling limp.
Cucumba awoke in a deathly-cold sweat, his heart pounding in his chest at a very rapid rate. Images of his dream were still convulsing before his eyes and his fists were gripped so tightly that his knuckles were white. He sat up and turned so that his legs were off of his mattress. He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees followed by his face onto his hands. A nightmare...? And me the antagonist, the bad guy?
The sweaty ex-administrator slid off his knees and stood up, his feet stepping onto a fresh pair of leather pants and boots that a maid-bot had apparently placed while he slept. While he put them on, his conscious raced about what his mind had witnessed, but it was evaporating from his memory. I shouldn't worry about it, he thought. A dream is a dream is a dream, that's all it is. With his clean pants and boots on, he grabbed the black, leather duster to compliment the set and his dark, mirrored sunglasses to complete it.
“Lights on,” he muttered in a croaked, tired voice. As commanded, the ceiling lit up and his entire room came into view. His bed was the largest object in the room, containing black pillows and sheets, both of which were very rumpled up from his awakening. Next to it stood an older wooden cabinet, which was the usual resting place for his sunglasses. Also on it was an older book which didn't appear to have a title, but was very scathed and tattered. The floor was metal, but had a woody appearance applied to it, like the walls, for personal preference and was pretty clean. Following it from in front of the bed would reveal a picture hanging on a wall of an unnamed woman and child with a few finger prints on the glass covering, showing it had been handled often.
The compartment door was completely different from the room with bolts and iron; very sturdy and strong looking, but also very appearing very unfriendly. On the wall directly next to it was a small screen used for visitors and messages. This was the only technology shown in the room, sans the lights. As he walked passed the door the screen buzzed to life with static and then the clear face of a dear friend: Majin_You.
“Cucumba!” Majin_You said through the small screen. “Been trying to contact you for a while (Cucumba noticed the flashing sign below which said 'Missed messages: 4'), but I'd like to personally invite you to a moderator/administrator meeting. Care to come?”
“What time?” asked Cucumba, rubbing his head.
“Uhm... now?”
“I'll be there,” Cucumba yawned, “shortly.”
“Good, good. Oh and, when I am getting your head administration compartment?” Majin_You asked with a wink and a laugh. Cucumba only smiled and pushed the end conversation button below the bi-directional screen. He stepped towards the door, which slid horizontally open with a loud, mechanical thump. The narrow-eyed ex-admin looked out of his room and began his trek towards the Administration Tower.
Chapter 2 - The Surprise
As Cucumba strode out of his metallic door, he was greeted by rays of the mid day sun coming in through the overhead window. His boots made a slight, yet heavy, clunk as he walked towards the Administration Tower, the tallest structure in the entire forum. The hallway he was in seemed devoid of life, as it was the highest tier of the residential compartments: the staff section, and the majority of the moderators were already at the Tower. Only one remained behind, Arthos, who, unfortunately, was looking extremely pale; probably for forgetting about the meeting. He stood by the elevator, tapping his shoe on the glass floor.
“Any time, now...” He whispered under his breath, glancing down at his watch. He stood at ~5'10” and held a body weight of ~180-200 pounds. His brown eyes, while dark, stood nothing compared to his hair and clothes, both of which were pitch black. They seemed to oppose his slightly tanned skin, paled by anxiety, which held its own battle scars. A package of important looking papers were gripped tightly in his left hand and his right was near his face, as it contained his watch. “I swear to fu--”
“Hello,” interrupted Cucumba, smirking slightly. “Don't worry, I'll be your alibi. Say I slipped or something.” Cucumba laughed, but Arthos only gave a wiry smile.
“What? Oh, thanks.” said Arthos, finally lowering his watch hand. “I was supposed to be there --” He raised his hand and looked at his watch once again, “ -- 10 minutes ago. They are so going to fire me.”
“Do you really think that?” Asked Cucumba.
“Well... I... They...”
“Look, don't worry. You're acting as though they're going to cut off your balls. Just calm down. I've been late a few times myself, and I still have mine.” Cucumba laughed again, but Arthos didn't. Instead he only sighed and looked to his feet .
“Finally,” Arthos said, looking through the glass floor. “Took it God damned long enough!” The elevator was moving at a rapid pace up through its metal surrounding. As it slid up to their floor, it made no sound at all, almost as though it was gliding through butter. The only thing you could hear was the “Ping!”, meaning it had reached their floor.
Both Arthos and Cucumba stepped on and waited. The doors remained open for a few seconds for any stray passengers. Then finally, they closed and the computer's female voice came from the speakers.
“Welcome, Cucumba and Arthos. Please either push the button or say the floor or location that you wi-”
“Administration Tower,” interrupted Cucumba.
There was a slight pause and then, “I'm sorry, but the path to the Administration Tower has been temporarily removed from transit. Would you like to be brought in the General sector, where you may walk to the Administration Tower? It is only a few minutes from the elevator. Please either push the button of your answer or say it out loud.”
“Of course,” said Cucumba in an overly cheery voice. The elevator slid up slightly and then fell at a comfortable rate towards the ground. While on the outside you could hear nothing, on the inside you heard a comforting, light humming sound. The elevator came to a stop 12 stories down from where they were previously, and then began to slide to their right.
“Twenty seconds until the General sector,” said the computer woman.
The humming continued, dulling on and on. Cucumba's eyes began to defocus as he stared out of the glass sides onto the forum around him. Signs passed extremely fast, almost in a blur, buildings the same, and people also. Soon, he began to hear a voice that resonated with the humming of the elevator.
Your forums will fall before the power of the trip--
“Cucumba?” asked Arthos. “Cucumba?!”
Cucumba came back to life, his senses becoming sharp once again, and the voice fading as fast as it had come. The elevator was stopped. How long he had been phased away, he did not know.
“CUCUMBA?!”
“Yes, I'm fine. Just dosed off.”
“You didn't look like you were sleeping to me. Had your eyes open and were whispering something, but looked... dead,” said Arthos, still with a slight trace of panic.
“I'm fine. Let's go.”
Cucumba stepped out of the elevator, followed closely by Arthos. The crowd was extremely immense today for some reason. Around them stood massive structures with gigantic displays, showing hundreds of messages every few minutes with one major point displayed at the top, most likely the most popular of the bunch. Each building was slightly different in both color and structural form. The building labeled “Off-Topic” was circular in formation, but massively tall, with hundreds of people entering and exiting every minute or two. A triangular building labeled “ESF Chat” was almost as popular, but with about a third less visitors. A spectacular building with shining lights and models on display seemed to be ignored by the vast majority of the forum base with only 2-3 people entering or exiting at any given time. Closer inspection showed it to be the “Force Pit”, a building only visible to those who have paid the due.
Looking straight along this lane of buildings would lead straight to an incredibly massive structure that pierced the clouds. The bottom starting as the base of a pyramid, ascending into a long rectangular shape, and then finally at the top, an extremely sharp point, complemented by a holographic diamond above it, swiveling around without stopping. The tower itself was no one color and the sides were made up of thousands upon thousands of displays, each working together to create massive images of moderators, people wanted for crimes they committed, special birthdays, and other events.
Today, however, the tower was flashing pictures of a strange machine along with text. “Today! The future is NOW! Witness the next line of security and strength as we bring you the Tripods© of tomorrow!” Under this was an enormous animated picture of one of the Tripods©, standing erect and menacing, hundreds of feet tall. Further under this image was yet more text, “This image is actual size! Prepare to witness the ultimate in technology!”.
A crowd of thousands of people stood below the tower, all talking amongst themselves and glancing up at the sign, as though hoping for further information on the surprise. The crowd was divided up into two groups, separated by a cemented passage to in front of the tower.
“Thanks, Cucumba,” said Arthos, checking his watch one last time before setting off into the crowd and disapeering. Cucumba merely waved and rolled his eyes, and then set off into the dividing passage.
“This is amazing!” said one onlooker to Cucumba's left whose name tag revealed to be Fire Pheonix. “I've never seen anything like it!”
“It's nothing too incredible. If it's like 1.2.3, it'll be flawed,” said another.
“el-oh-el,” said a third on Cucumba's right. “Technology of the future here today? Overkill!”
Cucumba continued to walk up the path, eavesdropping into conversations as he went, trying to get an idea of what was happening. He wasn't used to being left in the dark. But then, a great roar of excitement occurred.
“WELCOME!” shouted the familiar voice of Majin_You through an extremely amplified microphone, accompanied by live feed of him on the whole tower. “Welcome and be wary, for this may 'rock your socks', as some people put it. We're very excited to bring you this incredible improvement to the forum, but I'm not the one who should talk about it. Instead, I give you the creator of the Tripods: Smith!”
Majin_You stepped down and nodded cheerfully to Smith, who stood up, and with no sort of doubt at all, walked up to the podium and turned to look at the tower. His face was magnified a thousand times on the thousands of displays behind him. He turned back to the crowd and smiled, his eyes hidden by his black sunglasses. He stood at a formidable 6” tall, and while he didn't look too powerful, his strength doesn't come from muscle mass, but by code and formulii. His black hair matched his sunglasses as well as his suit and boots. His stride was very powerful, almost purposeful with every step one of many in a never ending serious of thought out events. If there was one thing he feared, it was unpredictability.
“The creator or the Tripods, indeed,” said Smith, turning his head to look at all of the crowd, his smile widening. “It's nice to get some attention for once instead of my colleagues. Ah, well. Let's get down to business.” He turned his attention to a building next to the tower, standing a few hundred feet tall, but looking abandoned. Smith's face wrinkled slightly, as though he was concentrating slightly.
Only a few heads turned with Smith's at first, but almost immediately following the final word, an enormous, deep roar bellowed from behind the building, and every head in the audience turned to look at the source. The roar was extremely deep, sounding as though it came from a gigantic tuba. It played a very deep note and slurred up to a higher one. The ground rumbled slightly from the incredible bass produced from this mysterious instrument. Finally, it peaked off at a high note and stopped.
The entire crowd, including Cucumba, who was still only about half way along the road, had their mouths open. They stared at the source of the sound, but saw only the building. Then another roar occurred behind the first, and another, and another, further and further behind the previous. Then suddenly, the building detonated in flame, toppling down onto an empty, marked-off space. It exploded with debris and smoke, particles of its previous self tumbling, flaming, to the ground. As it fell, it made a terrible crashing noise. A bright stream of light pierced through the smoke and hit the falling building again, pushing it down even faster and causing even more fire to break out, followed by more smoke and explosions. As the beams were fired, a loud buzzing sound was created with a deep resonation. At least 4 beams were fired, completely incinerating the building and demolishing it into crumbled, flaming, piles of metal and dust.
A great three pronged structure stomped onto the debris. It was connected to a longer segmented, black metallic leg, only one of three, of some sort, leading to a great tear-shaped head with three circular lights, dimmed down because of day light, but still on because of the thick dust of the fallen building. The long head was black but decorated with orangish, thin stripes that were lit from the inside and pulsating. Under the head were two smaller, extremely thin tentacle like structures and at each end was a crescent shaped formation. Inside the crescent, from the top tip to the bottom tip, was a pulsing stream of electrical light, looking ready to be shot as a very devastating weapon. Further under these two tentacles was a bunch of longer, but skinnier, tentacles with different shaped endings, probably for different purposes, such as gathering, scouting, studying. This only described the one Tripod. There were at least 10 behind it, each looking just as menacing and evil.
“I present to you,” said Smith, his smile widened considerably, “the Tripods...”
Chapter 3 – The Beginning of the End
The crowd roared into applauds, screams, and whistles and encouraging music played over the hundreds of speakers that encompassed the forums. Almost everybody seemed to be pleased at this new development that was the Tripods. A couple moderators, SaiyanPrideXIX and Pain, looked to be very uncomfortable in their seats and didn't have very pleased expressions. Cucumba also looked very displeased, and had a trace of anxiety in his face. Majin_You, on the other side of the spectrum, was clapping his hands furiously and had a smile rivaled, and beaten, only by Smith's. While he clapped, the other moderators followed suit and began clapping as well, even the two who weren't too happy.
Majin_You stood up and walked to the podium, gesturing Smith aside. Smith's smile instantly died, but he obliged, stepping away and bowing very strangely.
“Thank you, Smith. Your efforts with the Tripods will not go unnoticed,” Majin_You turned his head to Smith and smiled, then back to the crowd. “Now, we have prepared several treats for the community, one of which is--”
“-- I'm... not done yet, Majin_You,” Smith interrupted, his smile slowly returning. His voice was still magnified a hundred times, yet he was not in front of the microphone. “No... I'm not done by a long shot. There is still much, much to do, I'm afraid. Although, I have no use for you or the other moderators any longer, only...” He turned his head towards the crowd, and within a split second he found his target. “Cucumba.”
A Tripod took one step forward, creating an ominous thump that echoed through the crowd. The others followed this motion, each one taking one step forward, their weapons poised for attack. Smith's eyes narrowed and he turned to Majin_You. “As I said, my friend, I have no use for you or your moderators. Surrender this forum, or watch as your entire staff and user base... perish.” His words sounded set in stone, as though nothing could resolve or dispose of them. His face was contorted into what some may consider a smile, while others may see it as a face of unrivaled hate.
Majin_You didn't respond at once, he merely looked at Smith. No emotion was present at all, only a single wrinkle was on his forehead. He was busy with an argument in his mind as to if Smith was serious or not. If he was, Smith would probably get into some trouble over it. If he wasn't, the entire forum could get into a lot of trouble. What would his answer be? He then opened his mouth and spoke, “We do not deal with terrorists, Smith. You know this; you've been a moderator for quite a while. Your threats may have some merit, but the moderators of this forum are nothing to spit at. If you strike at us, you will be punished, no matter who,” He paused, “or what you are.”
Smith dropped his facial expression and turned towards the crowd. He, too, opened his mouth, and with a voice magnified a hundred times, spoke as well. “Do you wish for your moderators to condemn you to death? Do you want to die? I have the power here, not them. The Tripods will not harm those who are faithful to me. Bow down, and you will be spared...”
“Is this a joke?” One onlooker said.
“I don't think so,” said another whose name tag revealed to be Scruffie. “But I also don't think we should surrender to him.”
“Whatever, the staff can handle him.” A third said.
“SMITH,” said a fourth roaring from the middle lane in a furious, and slightly tired, voice. The man's black overcoat trailed behind him as he ran and his bansaber was out, but not ignited. “Smith, what in the hell do you think you are doing?”
Smith laughed and bowed once again. “Cucumba! It's a treat to see you up close. I'm sorry to say we'll be cutting this short.”
“We'll be cutting, or banning, something, indeed, Smith.” Cucumba replied, raising his saber hilt above his waist line. Smith's right hand came to his face and he removed his sunglasses, placing them in his shirt pocket. His eyes were directed at the raised bansaber hilt.
“Ah yes, Cucumba. I'm afraid that won't have any use there, though.”
“And why is that?” Asked Cucumba, still fuming from rage.
“Because... it is not there.” Smith reached into his suit and pulled out another hilt with an extravagant S engraved into the side. “It is... here.” He ignited the saber and it roared of power. A dark green beam erupted from the end of hilt and extended three feet outward. Sparks of flame shot from the end and a darkness seemed to ripple from it.
Cucumba stopped dead and looked at his saber. He then noticed the slight imperfections in it; a crack, a few smeared finger prints, and no power... He pushed the ignite button, but nothing happened. He clicked it again, but nothing.
“The crystal and power source are both gone, Cucumba,” said Smith, his face grinning with glee. “I asked the maid bot to burrow your saber while you slept. Once I had gotten what I wanted, the shell was returned. So now, not only does the core of your saber power my ban saber, but it powers the Tripods' weaponry as well. Imagine the complications now. Not only do you have to deal with an administrator with equal, or higher, authority than your own, but ten Tripods that have the devastating power of a hundred fold that of your ban saber.” His eyes darted around the crowd. “For they do not ban, oh no, they do much worse,” he found his mark. “They eradicate!”
Smith lifted his free hand, raised one finger, and pointed at an average forum citizen whose name badge revealed to be Saiyan Overlord. The terrified member opened his mouth and beggingly screamed for mercy, but in vain, for almost instantly, a Tripod responded, unleashing a ray of green light, striking the forum member, causing him to explode into flames and ashes, and his clothes to drift to the ground.
The entire forum populous was at a stand still. No one moved for what seemed to be minutes, but was really only seconds. Then, finally, someone screamed and, like dominoes, the others did as well. The entire crowd of citizens began to run away from the still smoldering ashes of the member that was Saiyan Overlord.
The Tripods all roared their death horns in unison and began to step towards the crowd. Each one took aim, and fired at buildings that were close to any exit out of the immediate area. Building after building crumbled, crashed, and fell. One, two, four, six, eight buildings fell one after another from the Tripods' fire. As they strode, their rhythmic thumping echoed through the screams and explosions. One fired towards a larger green structure with “Artwork” written in very luxurious handwriting all over the side. Once struck, every light in the building went out and it exploded in flame, sending debris and flaming chunks of its previous self everywhere within twenty feet, and toppling over onto thirty fleeing forum citizens. The damage was catastrophic and smoke began to plague the air from the sun like a disease of the sky.
One Tripod, however, came at the staff, all of whom had their sabers ignited. As it reached the raised ground where the moderators stood, it became motionless for a moment and then shot. Both of its weapons let leash the most powerful of its attacks, creating such an incredibly loud buzzing that the floor vibrated. Judge thrusted his ban dagger up in an attempt to deflect the beam, but the Tripod's shots overcame it within a split second, striking the super moderator head on, causing his body to explode into flames. The others, after seeing this, immediately began to scatter as to give the group a better chance of survival. Pain and SaiyanPrideXIX ran towards the Administration Tower, but in half-vain. A shot from the Tripod hit Pain square in the back. Instead of evaporating his entire body, it merely pierced his torso, leaving a gaping hole where his heart and lungs would be. He fell to the ground, but didn't bleed, as the wound had been cauterized by the immense heat from the blast. He spasmed in pain and then moved no more. SaiyanPrideXIX, however, managed to get to the tower's entrance and escaped inside to safety.
Majin_You, who had been temporarily frozen with horror froms the scenes of intense destruction and death, came to his senses and grabbed his ban saber, igniting its blue blade once the hilt was above his waist. He lept from his position, screaming in anger, at Smith extremely uncharacteristically and speared through the virus's chest with his saber. He then pulled it out and made a swing at Smith's head, completely decapitating it. The headless body, however, didn't fall to the ground. Instead, the hand holding the screaming, dark green bansaber came at Majin_You and struck his saber with such a tremendous force that Majin_You couldn't hold up against it and fell back onto the ground.
“Hahg!” Screamed Majin_You as Smith's body made a lunge at him while he laid sprawled on the ground. He rolled to his side and then jumped up, making another stab at Smith's core with his saber. Smith's body dodged it with easy and then spun around with saber in hand to strike at Majin_You, who bent down to avoid the hit and then thrusted his blade in between Smith's legs and raised it up with the utmost of his strength, completely dividing Smith's body, causing it to fall in two halves to the ground.
Both halves began to liquify and form into a puddle of black, metalic goo. After a second of pause, it started to solidify into Smith's correct form, including his head. Majin_You's eyes were staring in shock at Smith's seemingly immortality. Knowing that his options were limited, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small handheld computer, the screen of which lit up with light to his touch. He keyed in his authentication code and then spoke clearly with what was left of his voice. “Activate emergency transportation for entire forum staff.” Within the very second that he had said this, a bright white light surrounded him and every one of the moderators and administrators and a light hum ensued. When this had dissipated, none of the staff were present any longer, as they had been instantaneously teleported to the safety of the tower.
Smith's refreshed body raised up from the ground, placing one hand forward and leaning on one knee. He then stood up and stretched, cracking several of his coded bones in his false back. As he looked over the cityscape, he saw all ten Tripods standing completely still; their order was finished, they had blocked off all of the exits. Bodies were littered around the fallen buildings, the cause of death not from the beams themselves, but from the falling debris.
The sky had become black from the smoke and the day was now dark as night. The only light came from the buildings that had not yet been destroyed and was dimmed from the incredible thickness of dust. The only sound was that of the remaining, panicked citizens of the forum. All of the Tripods seemed immobilized for the moment, as though standing back to admire their artwork of death and destruction. The downed buildings still released large chunks of themselves every few seconds and flames still burned all around.
“No one ****s with my forum or its members,” said a powerful voice from inside a crater of flame and debris. Smith reered around and stared at the fire. A man in a black overcoat walked out, seeming to be immune to the incredible heat of the fire. As he took his steps, all of the surrounding flames recoiled away from him, as though meaning to escape his presence. The man spoke again, “No one.”
Chapter 4
Smoke and Revelation
Ash fell like snow over forumscant, and fires licked the bottoms of the clouds of ash overhead. Metal groaned in protest as building supports gave way to their wounds and fell to the incessant pull of the earth. Ruined vehicles lay scattered about, some with clothing remains, most with just coatings of ash . . . the sad remains of yet another user not fast enough to escape the Tripods.
From their vantage point in the few remaining buildings, the refugees of Forumscant huddled together and watched the instruments of destruction that Smith had brought down upon them. They seemed to stop now, but there was little doubt amongst them that it would not start again. There were many who wanted to flee, but not many who wanted to die first running from the tripods.
Within the administration tower, the staff quickly divided . . .
Pride paced back and forth furiously, stalking the windows like a caged lion.
"Send me the **** back out there NOW."
"I cannot do that Pride," Said KarrdeKNR in measured tones.
"The hell you can't, those things are ripping up the place and we're just going to sit in here and let it happen? What the hell happened to this place," screamed Pride angrily.
"Sensibility happened," retorted Sonic Boyster.
"Bull****."
"ENOUGH!" Majin You was shaking with fury, both at his shortsightedness concerning Smith, and his inability to affect the situation despite his considerable power. "We can not go out there without a plan."
"Apparently you can if your Cucumba," said LiteNET bemusedly. "He's still out there."
looked out at the carnage, and quipped, "Yeah, he's Cucumba, but can he do anything against those things . . ."
Admin and Moderator alike rushed to the window . . . all except for Sonic Boyster who cast a weary eye at Majin_You.
"SMITH," roared Cucumba, "Did you hear me?!"
"There you are," Smith smiled in triumph. "I am so glad you decided to stay. This way I can destroy you infront of all the cowards hiding in that tower, or in those sky scrapers around us still standing. Your execution will serve to break their wills."
Smith stood at the precipice of a ruined dais above the Jade Behemoth with his hand outreached to grasp the warped future he had in store for it all. Cucumba stared up with his teeth gritting and his jaw muscles working furiously. He knew that this fight would be hard to start with, but he had no bansaber, and smith had used his to fuel these monstrosities. The cards were finally stacked against him, but cards were for those who could not forge their own fate, and this would not be his first up-hill battle.
I will defeat them, I have no choice.
Cucumba clasped his hands together rapidly, and began focusing his power, sending tremors throughout the plaza.
"Oh, and what is it you intend to do with this?"
Cucumba didn't answer. Instead, the skies grew dark, and the earth tremored in protest as flames of green energy began to erupt from Cucumba's body. Smith smirked, and pointed his deadly finger of command at the mighty admin. As before, the violence came quickly at the beckoning of the finger, and it was heralded by the death trumpets. The green energy beams streamed from every tripod, converging on the spot that was once Cucumba. Smith soon waved off the attack, the barrage had kicked up too much dust to see what had happened.
Within the administration tower, the moderators began to cheer . . . Cucumba was still standing there.
Smith snarled and pointed again, as the tremors only grew in intensity from before. The Tripods obeyed as before, and began their assault again. Cucumba stayed in the same position, duster flapping in the torrents of energy.
Smith called off the attack again, only to see his quarry quite impossibly alive. As he attempted to assimilate what he knew to be impossible, he felt the earth erupt around him, and felt the vice like grip of the ancient horror grab his ankles. Smith looked down in absolute shock, and then looked up to see the fake Cucumba dissipate as if it had never existed. Cucumba had somehow burrowed through the ground while Smith was distracted! The real Green Machine capitalized on the confusion and threw the dazed Smith high into the sky. The Tripods began turning towards the Admin, realizing what had happened. Cucumba summoned a huge amount of power in almost no time at all, the giant green ball searing his duster jacket and blinding all but the most powerful observers. To the layman, it appeared as if a second sun had appeared in the streets below. Smith tumbled upwards, only catching glimpses of the second sun as he struggled to right himself. As he reached his apex, he looked down to see that the entire mass of the second sun had compressed into a tiny ball in Cucumba's palm.
The air popped back into the sudden lack of object, and many of the observers grabbed their ears in pain as the pressures equalized.
As Cucumba reared back, the ball annihilated the concrete behind him, as if the energies bound to it reached further than the ball itself seemed to emit light. Cucumba took aim, and wound up like a major league baseball pitcher.
"PIKKA FLASH!"
Smith saw the ball leave Cucumba's arm and tear towards him at unbelievable speeds. Smith pulled his limbs in front of him, and readied for the worst as the nearest Tripod moved into the way of the shot.
At first there was no sound, utter dead silence and blinding white light. But then the sky was alive and angry, and gusts of wind generated by the explosion raced through the glass and steel valleys, blowing away the people unwisely there like matchsticks in a hurricane.
Smith stood on a nearby building top, his glasses broken in his pocket from the impact. One of his Tripods had an enormous hole in it's armor, but the damage seemed to be limited. Smith looked back and forth for any sign of the slippery Admin. The tripods reacted first, shooting in random direction at empty ruins, and sometimes empty space. Smith looked on in annoyance, he had to figure out this new game before Cucumba mounted another offensive. That was precisely when he realized he was too late. A green wisp of smoke with a smiling face appeared directly in front of him, not for long, but long enough to earn a disintegration ray from the damaged Tripod. Smith only narrowly avoided being hit by the beam as Cucumba disappeared once again. The Virus became enraged over this new tactic, and began to order the Tripods to stop. Their last salvo was all fired to one place, directly overhead. Smith looked up and saw the Verdant Leviathan holding out his outstretched hands against the beams. And much to his unpleasant surprise, they disappeared just before hitting his hands, sucked into an invisible whirlpool. Smith leapt at Cucumba, drawing his ban saber as he did, his eyes nearly popping out in rage. Cucumba turned his head to Smith and grimaced . . . there weren't options, this was the only way. A shimmer in the air appeared in front of the damaged Tripod, and from that disturbance erupted the beams that had been fired at the Green Devil. All of them, and each only a microsecond long, but there were thousands of them. Cucumba's mastery of space time was being used to transport the beams through time and space to a place of his choosing. The beams ruined the tripod, causing it to erupt from within, and bulge out into a blossom of firey death.
The crowds roared in support of their admin, until he was run through with Smith's ban saber.
"You didn't keep your eyes on the prize, Mr. Pickle."
Cucumba lurched forward on the bansaber as it was held by Smith, green fluid surging forth from his mouth. He coughed as Smith withdrew his weapon and gazed on with sinister intent. The entirety of the forum populace that remained inhaled and held their breath. Time seemed to hang forever, untill Pride shouted out once again, "Let me get back in there, he needs help damnit."
Cucumba snarled at smith through the hacking cough induced by his run-through lung and rammed his knee into Smith's temple, causing them both to tumble away. Smith, of course, tried his best to tear the saber out sideways, but he was met with considerable resistance from Cucumba that must have come from his mastery of the force.
Majin You shook his head at Pride, "If he was foolish enough to override the retreat order, then he can stand alone untill we find a suitable tactic to defeat the Tripods."
The moderators looked on in shock; Cucumba was to be fed to the wolves.
"What kind of bull**** is that," roared Pride. "We've all had him throw it on the line for us, and we can't return the favor."
"I can not tollerate rouge moderation," spoke Majin_You quietly. "Cucumba is a pioneer of law in this land, he should know that better than anyone."
Cucumba landed on a nearby building clutching his severly wounded chest. Smith regained his arial footing and looked down on the Admin, his suit flapping in the breeze. Smith stared at the Admin, Still standing eh?
Smith smiled and pointed at Cucumba once again and the Jade Behemoth only grimaced.
Cucumba dodged as one tripod slammed it's foot where Cucumba once was, and narrowly avoided a second hit from his flank. Cucumba jumped off the arm of the second attacker and launched himself at a third Tripod, fist reared back for a titanic strike. Smith appeared in front of him in a flicker of movement, grinning as he looked down at his wounded foe. Cucumba simply deformed into a cloud of faceless black demons, and flew around Smith as the death rays poured in to strike the tiny targets. Smith turned around to see a good number of the cloud incinerated, and laughed.
The cloud began to dissapear in it's entirety, and Smith could only knit his eyebrows. Cucumba reappeared just behind smith, his back blasted and burning, and grabbed him by the throat, interlocking his fingers. Smith grunted in surprise as the Verdant Leviathan's knees slammed repeatedly into his kidneys, then he recoiled from the sheer amount of damage, and finally he coughed up some black, tarry, blood.
Smith swung his Ban Saber backwards, but felt the admin's fingers peirce his shoulderblade and tear through his chest.
"One for one."
Smith began to fall, clutching to his wounded shoulder as it slowly reformed. Cucumba on the other hand, was swatted away by a tripod. He fell for a time, then he violently stopped on the side of a building, leaving a crater where his shoulder hit.
The moderators looked at Majin_You in fury, but none could refute his authority, he was the Head Administrator, and Cucumba was retired.
Smith fully reformed, and marveled at the damage Cucumba had caused this new form. I cannot wait to add that power to my own.
Chapter 5
Insurrection
“**** regulation and your rules, Majin_You. I’m going out there now,” roared SaiyanPrideXIX, his face darkened from anger.
“I won’t allow you to go out there, Pride,” peacefully responded Majin_You with his hand raised towards the moderator, neutral to SaiyanPrideXIX’s raging. He continued to watch outside, avoiding the stare of the entire staff. “You will remain in here either until we deem it safe enough to leave the protection of the Tower’s shielding, or until we find a countermeasure against the Tripods. Do you understand?”
“I am part of this Goddamned ‘we’, and I deem it safe enough to go out there and help our Goddamned friend.” Pride’s face seared with anger and hate at Majin_You. His eyes looked up and down his past-friend, who was quickly becoming his new enemy.
Majin_You’s bulk was mainly from an outer covering of light, silver, metallic plating that projected a look of muscles and strength and served no real purpose at all except to be aesthetic. It showed a heavy polish and was very clean, almost obsessively so. It curved around his body to make a nice fit. His hands, unclenched, were covered by black, leather gloves that appeared to have never been used in a manner of struggle or difficulty; peace was his primary method of ‘offense’ and defense. His collar, which folded a couple of inches over the top of his plating, was the top end of a deep-blue undershirt that fit in under his protective plating. A dark blue cloak was sprawled out on a large seat in the back of the room, which faced the windows. He stood at a healthy 5’11” and held a good stature of weight, 170lbs. His skin, which was only exposed on his face, was slightly tanned and his hair and eyes both were of very handsome brown.
“You are not senior staff,” calmly spoke Majin_You, still avoiding the staff’s stares, while SaiyanPrideXIX walked next to him, staring at the side of Majin_You’s face.
“Then you can go to hell!” Pride roared. He threw his fist in full fury at Majin_You. There was a flash and then a crash and Pride was thrown into the wall opposite of Majin_You. He slid to the floor, leaving a full-body dent above him. Majin_You’s feet and head had not moved, only his right arm, which was now fully horizontal, and for the first time in many a moon, clenched completely shut after delivering a cold, calculated strike. The staff all looked in unison from SaiyanPrideXIX’s breathless self to Majin_You, all eyes wide open.
“Majin… Majin_You,” spoke SonicBoyster, awestruck.
“You are not senior staff, Pride,” repeated Majin_You, but with a slightly fowl tone. “The purpose of ranks is to guide and command. I’m keeping you safe from a pointless death, even if it requires some… tough love.”
SaiyanPrideXIX regained his breath, and within only a few moments, had healed with the help of his nanobots. “Damn you, Majin_You,” Pride spoke softly. “Damn you…”
-----------------
Cucumba remained attached to the building, his left arm acting as an unwanted wedge. He easily ripped himself out with the aid of adrenaline and turned towards Smith. He narrowed his eyelids and then raised his right fist to his mouth. The old, green One began to whisper into his closed hand, enchanting it with a language unknown to anyone but himself. His words were of such abnormality that only the base of his voice could be heard. After a moment of continuous murmuring, he brought his fist from his mouth to his side, ****ing it back for attack. Cucumba swiveled his body to his right, pulling his shoulder and arm back as far as he could, and then shot upward, streaking towards Smith in such a quick fashion that an after image of green trailed behind him, making him seem uncannily similar to the beam weaponry fired by the Tripods. It took only nanoseconds for him to reach his mark.
“rrrraaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH”
His fist struck Smith’s growling face and then stopped. The universe in all of its creation froze and focused only on the collision as though calculating and rendering the unbelievably destructive power behind this blow. Then finally, slowly, Smith’s face disintegrated into particles of black and glass, and as though in slow motion, his body fell to the ground motionless, creating an echoed, dull thump as it fell on the hard, concrete ground, motionless for the moment. Cucumba remained in the air, stunned by his own power, and breathed heavily. His fist was rose red from the incredible heat and pieces of Smith’s face were crystallized on his skin, never to be used by the Virus again.
Below, Smith’s body stirred and sat up, headless. It reached towards its neck and felt the stump of neck where his head used to sit. As he felt the stump, it began to melt and liquefy back into its black, gooey core form. It swelled out and took an oval shape. A nose formed in the center of the front, and directly below it lips and teeth. Eye sockets began to form and then filled with the eyes themselves. Hair grew all in unison back to its previous style and then the black mesh receded, leaving the color of his skin, hair, and eyes, which were glaring with hate directly towards Cucumba.
Smith blinked over his fresh, new eyes, releasing lubricant and giving comfort to his vision. He then instantly narrowed down upon the still stunned Cucumba and wordlessly ordered the Tripods to fire narrow, focused beams directly on Cucumba. Six of the ten Tripods responded as though they had been anxiously awaiting the order and took aim. Their crescent weapons adjusted for a more acute angle of fire and then ignited with electricity. Within nanoseconds, twelve thin and extremely bright streams of blue and green shot out from the Tripods’ weaponry, instantly converging on Cucumba. The force of the beams propelled him straight back towards the building he had just wretched free of and through the wall, into the heart of the abandoned and beaten building. Smith’s lip flinched and again he sent the command to fire. The Tripods all began attacking the foundation of the structure, and within seconds, it fell to the ground, bellowing flames and smoke in all directions. The beams were so potent that the Tripods’ shielding reacted in localized areas near the beam’s exits from the extreme heat. Smith noiselessly worded “More” and the Tripods continued their onslaught, tearing at the debris, and destroying any sign that anything more than a pile of flaming debris had ever been where the previous building had stood.
Flames were ignited and put out in the blink of an eye as wind rushed in and out from the incredible fluctuations of heat. Whatever had been knocked to relative safety from the initial blasts was now vibrating on the ground from the buzzing caused by the beams of blue and green. After only a few seconds of firing, which seemed to last hours, the Tripods stopped firing and air imploded back into the annihilated and liquidated area, causing an enormous mushroom cloud of dust and ash to erupt from the site.
“Bring him before me,” whispered Smith. “I know he’s alive. I can feel him.”
The Tripod nearest the extirpation shot a tentacle into the center of the cloud of dust. It curved and extended, searching the debris and liquefied building for any signs of Cucumba, and as though it caught a fish, instantly tightened and pulled a limp, green body out. The Tripod turned and began to stride over to Smith, who was slowly lowering himself to the ground in a godlike manner. Smith then turned and walked to another damaged building, that looked to have been abandoned years ago, but was brimming with life only hours before. He stopped by the dead body of Pain for a moment and then continued on as a second Tripod picked up Pain’s corpse and followed its master. Cucumba struggled to open his eyes and then peered at the menacing Tripod above him, which was carrying him like a child. He then fell limp and into unconsciousness.
-----------------
The entire forum staff watched from their towering safety as Cucumba was dragged away unconscious. Their eyes slowly followed the melodic walking of the Tripods, all led by their former companion, Smith. Majin_You’s lips quivered and he finally stirred from his spot of spectatorship, breathing heavily.
“Majin_You?” asked Karrde, his eyebrow raised.
“It’s time to go,” responded the head of staff irritated, his lips very narrow as he walked to the exiting shaft, followed immediately by an eager, yet furious SaiyanPrideXIX, a smug, yet intelligent LiteNET, and a powerful, articulate SonicBoyster. Majin_You turned around and spoke in a shaky voice to the remaining staff members: “Do what you want for now, I won’t try to stop you. I do warn you that I am after only one thing and I don’t want anyone in my way.” He sighed and then continued out of the room with the three others following.
They made their way through an elaborately decorated hallway with streaks of black and silver forming complex shapes and arrangements all over the pearl-white floor and walls. The ceiling was tiled with crystal and gold. All of this added together in an orgasmic visual scene that made anyone who saw it for the first time gasp at the beauty and complexity. As they approached the end, an elevator opened its clamp and allowed them in. Once the doors had been closed, a familiar voice sounded.
“Welcome, Majin_You et al. Please state where you would like to travel or type it out on the screen to the right of the doors.”
“Forum – Ground – Floor,” Majin_You said very crisply, sounding out each word with his heavy voice. Immediately, the elevator shot down. Inside, you’d feel no movement as inertial dampeners had been built into the contraption, giving an even more intense illusion of perfection. This was broken immediately following their stop as the doors opened, revealing death, destruction, and chaos. As though angels from heaven, Majin_You, LiteNET, SaiyanPrideXIX, and SonicBoyster walked out from the white light and into the black of death and smoke.
Majin_You looked over at the screaming members of the forum. All of them had been herded, like cattle, into a small, controlled section of the forum with two Tripods watching them all, like statues. Every once and a while, one member would try to flee, only to be lifted by a Tripod’s tentacle and thrown violently back into the herd, causing great damage and unrest. A few smoldering ashes were lying around the exterior of the group, each one with ruined clothing laying somewhere in the vicinity.
Majin_You placed his wrist near his mouth and spoke, which caused a loud *click* to echo throughout the area. The speakers of the forum had been reactivated. “SMITH,” Majin_You said, amplified over a thousand times by the speakers. Smith turned around and squinted, then smiled. “Time is up,” Majin_You said, igniting his blue ban saber. “You know what must happen, now.” He walked faster towards Smith and the two following Tripods, both of which had stopped and turned towards Majin_You as Smith had previously done. The other three staff members followed behind, their own sabers ignited.
Both of the Tripods following Smith activated their weapons and directed them towards the approaching staff. “Destroy them,” spoke Smith, showing his pearly-whites. The beams of blue and green shot from the Tripods’ arms, barely missing Majin_You, and landed straight on LiteNET, killing him instantly. Majin_You continued to walk straight towards Smith, seeming not to care about the deadly, vaporizing beams that were just only missing him. SaiyanPrideXIX roared and ran at the motionless Virus that was Smith, his saber raised. Majin_You merely flicked his hand and SaiyanPrideXIX was thrown aside by an unseen force into a pile of debris, where he remained. “DON’T INTERFERE!” shouted Majin_You. He continued to walk as the Tripods fired, immortal in his own sense as nothing was touching him. Karrde was struck and thrown back hundreds of feet, saved only by his administrative power. SonicBoyster deflected a shot from a Tripod into the back of Majin_You, by accident, who stumbled forward, his silver plating scarred black. Majin_You said nothing, but threw his hand into the general direction of SonicBoyster who, like SaiyanPrideXIX, was thrown back against their will by an unseen force.
“HE MUST DIE,” shouted Majin_You, bleeding spit from his mouth. “HE MUST DIE NOW. NOTHING WILL STOP ME!” He leapt from his lying position on the ground into a stabbing position, both hands on the grip of the saber, the beam pointing downward. His face was completely transformed into hatred and ruin, wrinkles present where none would’ve thought possible, his eyes veiny and red, his nostrils snaring with breath, his teeth clenched so tightly his gum bled profusely.
“NO!” shouted Smith. The Tripod carrying Cucumba came forward and swiped at Majin_You with its tentacle, knocking him to the ground and his saber to the side.
“YOU PROMISED ME, SMITH.” Majin_You said, almost crying from hatred of what he had become and what he so wanted to accomplish. “YOU PROMISED THAT CUCUMBA WOULD DIE!”
Smith didn’t smile, nor did he frown; he only opened his mouth to speak two words: “I lied.” Both Tripods immediately fired onto the defenseless Majin_You.