[center][h1]Stand[/h1][h3]Part 4[/h3] [b]Starring... [color=orange]Custos, Avatar of Kyre, 43 Might & 7 Free Points[/color] [color=Peru]Goliath, Avatar of Teknall, 5 Might & 2 Free Points[/color] Violence, Avatar of Vestec, 1 Might & 1 Free Point Surprise Guests[/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/S5D2gBA.png[/img][/center] [hider=After ten years of script rewrites and development hell.]Last time in Stand, Brown, the Vicegerent, and Yang'Ze left the scene. Only Goliath, Custos and Violence remain to fight. The three avatars fight for some time. Then Violence allows Custos to strike him. As Violence bleeds out, he lands near one of his hain, Tular. Violence's blood forces its way into Tular and turns him into the new Violence. In doing so, Tular became capable of using Destruction Magic. With this new magic at his disposal, Tular metaphorically wipes the floor with Custos and Goliath, who can do little to counter Tular's destruction magic. Majus and Minus make a dramatic entrance and turn the tide of battle. The five avatars fight, Majus, Minus, Goliath and Custos against Tular, until Minus thoroughly binds Tular in place. Nearly helpless, Tular tries to defend himself until Majus' polehammer caves Tular's skull in, killing him. Battle finally over, Teknall, Kyre and Toun talk, Toun and his Avatars finding it strange that Teknall and Kyre would try and fight Violence [/hider] [hider=Might Summary]Toun before: 13MP, 1FP Toun spent 2 Might through Minus to bind Tular so a killing blow could be dealt Toun after: 11MP, 1FP No other Might spent[/hider] With just him, Goliath, and Violence left here, Custos knew there wouldn't be any more interruptions to the fight. Sure, Astarte's choice in her involvement hurt him, but now was not the time to think about it. Readying his two swords, he rushed in to slash at Violence with one while guarding readily with the other. Violence sighed. [b]"Really, no one has formalities anymore!"[/b] A dome of shields appeared, blocking Violence from sight. His voice still echoed through, of course. [b]"You have to say something noble before attacking! [i]'This ends here, fiend!'[/i], or [i]'I will avenge those you have killed!'[/i]. You've got to make a show of it now, otherwise, the legend tellers will just embellish things you don't want later on."[/b] The shields forced Custos to stop. Goliath approached the shielded Violence, stepping around Custos. With another step forwards, Goliath bashed dome in and the shields aside with its two warhammers and thrust two swords and a spear at Violence. As the shield dome was destroyed a swarm of daggers burst out, all heading towards Custos. Violence himself darted out of the way of Goliath's assault, sliding to a stop a short distance away. [b]"You I'll forgive for your breach of protocol. Teknall didn't give you a 'talk' feature."[/b] Custos easily sidestepped the daggers, immediately moving around Violence. Another javelin appeared in Violence's hand before being launched at Goliath, followed quickly by two more. Goliath deflected the first with a buckler and strafed away from the second. The third javelin, however, managed to get past Goliaths defences and embedded itself a few centimeters into its armour plating. Violence himself leapt above the robot, a rather large warhammer coming down to smash into the robot. With a burst of its jetpack, Goliath darted out of the way of the crushing blow, and its two sword arms lashed back at Violence as he landed. From behind, Custos summoned a whip and swung it at Violence's hands, wrapping around them and giving a quick pull to both stop his strike and force him off balance. Violence dropped the warhammer and yanked forward on his restrained arms, attempting to throw Custos into Goliath, as another shield appeared to stop the two swords. [b]"No fair! I've had enough of being restrained. It's time we play all together!"[/b] Two axes appeared, trying to cut off Custos' legs. Custos jumped to avoid the axes, this allowed Violence to pull him through the air. However, he was thrown only a short distance and avoided hitting Goliath, landing on his feet before and growing a glaive in his hands. Goliath stepped aside from where Custos was thrown, then advanced upon Violence again, swinging its axe and two hammers and stabbing its two swords and spear at him. Violence darted backwards and to the side, drawing two greatswords and spinning them around as he faced the two other avatars. [b]"Come on now. Is this because I made you both realize you're hypocrites? It's hard not being the paragon's of justice you want to be, isn't it?"[/b] He threw both greatswords at Custos, called down a hail of a dozen javelins upon Goliath from above, and drew two great axes, waiting for the two of them with a smile. Goliath raised its shields over its head and tried to evade the swarm, but its shields were quite small so quite a few of the javelins got past and stuck themselves a couple of centimeters into its armour, and one even struck its head. The injuries were all superficial to Goliath, though. As it plucked out the javelins, Teknall's voice came out from Goliath commenting, [color=Peru][b]"We've been wanting to kill you for the past few weeks, for reasons already mentioned, which predate Vowzra's intrusion. Courtesies have never been high on our priorities."[/b][/color] Goliath's head turned to look at Custos, as though waiting for some kind of signal. Custos waited for the two to finish speaking, then immediately rushed at Violence, loosing an upward slash with his glaive that spat up dirt and grass from the ground. Simultaneously Goliath also rushed at Violence, its path curving around to Violence's flank before attacking with two swords and an axe. Violence glanced off to the side briefly, head tilted in interest, before smiling. As the two avatars attacked him, Violence merely held open his arms to receive the blows. Custos' glaive hit him like a freight train, multi-colored blood splattering the ground as he zoomed backwards, lacerated and a leg missing from Goliath's axe. As he flew through a tree and into the brush, a flash of white could be seen as he smacked into a hain, the two of them falling in a heap. The Hain took a breath as if to scream. All of Violence's blood rose and poured into the open mouth, silencing his screams as he thrashed on the ground. When the last drop of blood had been drunk by the Hain, he stilled, as if dead. A moment later he sprang to his feet, eyes now multicolored whirlpools. [b]"Ooooh."[/b] He cooed, holding up a hand. [b]"A new toooy."[/b] A ball of what appeared to be compressed air formed in it, before being thrown towards a tree. The tree exploded into thousands of splinters, flying through the air. [b]"What do they call this magic...destruction magic? Simple, but apt."[/b] He threw out a hand, a beam of compressed air appearing and eradicating the trees and rocks around him. He giggled. [b]"I am Tular. Herald of Violence! Well, technically I, Violence, am in control right now, but Tular can be in control too! At some point. When he's done freaking out!"[/b] Tular threw a dozen balls of destruction magic at the two Avatars in front of him, intent upon seeing how well it'd do. With a burst of its jetpack, Goliath burst high into the air above the explosion. As it ascended, it aimed and fired two crossbow bolts at Tular. [color=Peru][i]This is quite the turn of events,[/i][/color] Teknall thought to himself. [color=Peru][i]Next time I get the chance, I need to give Goliath some better armour.[/i][/color] Custos summoned an ethereal bubble, shielding him and shrugging off the explosions. He drove his glaive into the ground and a split second later, roots with sharpened stone tips erupted under and around Tular's feet. Tular darted away, cartwheeling to the side as crossbow bolts slammed into the roots. [b]"Tsk, tsk! Didn't you learn from beating me up? The same tactics over and over again don't work!"[/b] He threw eight more balls of destruction at Goliath, two on each side and two above and below it, before firing a beam at Custos. Already flying, a quick burst of Goliath's jetpack was enough to get clear of the flurry of destruction balls. As Tular aimed and fired a beam at Custos, Goliath swapped its spear and axe for two more swords and took the opportunity to charge. Its jetpack at full power, Goliath cleared the distance between itself and Tular at supersonic speeds. Goliath crashed down on top of him, then attacked, pressing forwards and stabbing out with its swords repeatedly. [b]"Really now. I heard that from a mile away!"[/b] Tular rolled under Goliath, dodging the crashing limbs and swords. Quickly, he gathered destruction magic and released it in a sudden dome of magic, the bubble of seemingly clear air going a good 100 feet and destroying almost everything in its path. The explosion hurled Goliath away from Tular, and Goliath tumbled across the ground until it came to a stop, where it pushed itself back to its feet. Goliath's strong armour and frame prevented the blast from destroying it like it did to the hillside, but it was clearly battered. The breastplate was buckled, a crack ran across one eye, and its right shield arm had suffered a misalignment and now only moved jerkily. Despite the damage, Goliath was far from disabled. [color=Peru][b]"Come on, Custos, we need to work together on this one!"[/b][/color] Teknall shouted. [color=orange]"I will shield you while you move in, I will hold it until the last moment,"[/color] Custos responded, the shielding around himself dropping and instead forming a full bubble around Goliath. At the same time, he started charging at Violence, one hand towards Goliath and a summoned sword towards their opponent. Goliath charged as well, the shield following him as he closed in on Tular. Tular cracked his knuckles. He gestured and the sword was shattered by a ball of destruction. [b]"My, my. This is rather brute forced! You didn't even try to flank me!"[/b] He gathered a mass amount of destruction magic and sent it in a stream towards the charging Avatars. The shield Custos had cast around Goliath served its purpose, and the stream of destruction did not touch Goliath as it approached, pushing through the magic. When Goliath was a meter away from Tular, it sidestepped as the shield disappeared then struck at Tular with its swords. Tular dodged backwards, letting out another dome of destruction magic. [b]"You seem to like doing nothing while others die or fight for you, don't you Custos!"[/b] He taunted. [b]"For an Avatar of War, you seem awfully content letting Goliath do all the work."[/b] This time, Goliath was able to brace for the dome of destruction magic, countering the knockback with its jetpack such that Goliath only skidded backwards a few meters with just a few extra dents. Custos hadn't, in fact, been doing nothing. It was just that Goliath got to him sooner than he did. It was right when he finished talking that Custos' blade would be slashing at him, inches from Tular's form and about to make contact. The blade smashed into a shield, protecting Tular's side from most of the damage. Immediately, the hain avatar's arm came down, hand gripping the blade, trapping the weapon. A dome of destruction magic burst off of him again. The dome of magic forced him to let go of the sword and let it crumble as he was forced back, his feet making deep lines on the ground. Tular angled his beak upwards slightly, one palm open. [b]"Nowhere to run now Custos...and no time to hide."[/b] He followed up his words with a ball of destruction magic. Custos looked up in time to see the ball coming at him and raised his arms, crossing them in an 'X' shape as strong shields formed. Then impact. The ball exploded, cracking the shield and in other spots chipping away at it. He was sent into a hillside, a small cave being driven in by him. Tular giggled. [b]"What? Can't do much now that you aren't the only ones with magic? Everything is equalized now and you're getting thrown around like rag dolls! I'll be sure to show your followers the severed heads of the champions their Gods sent, just to demoralize them before their lives are brutally ended and their villages destroyed!"[/b] He threw three more balls of destruction into the cave Custos had made, before turning his attention to Goliath. [b]"Run, run as fast as you can. It won't matter in the end, tin man!"[/b] He sang, creating a disc of destruction magic and throwing it at Goliath, adjusting its path with gestures of his hand. Custos erupted out the top of the hill, the balls of destruction impacting inside and creating a large cave inside. He landed on the top, only for a moment. The disk followed Goliath as the robot strafed to the side. It braced for the blow and brought up a shield, but the disk flew around to Goliath's right side with its damaged shield arm and Goliath could only parry with a sword. It was an ineffective defence, and Goliath was hurled across the ground, tumbling and sliding. The sword was thrown even further and embedded itself in the ground fifty meters from Goliath. The giggling from Tular erupted into a hysterical cackle. He paced forward with both palms upturned, only for his hain fingers to claw and gather another pair of destructive disks. The disarmed and stunned avatars before him prepared to meet a coup de grace. [color=PaleGoldenrod][b][i]"[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HstFLGTL_lg]THE TIDE PEAKS![/url]"[/i][/b][/color] The unnaturally low and booming voice cut through the entire fight. Nearby, a thin, porcelain, humanoid stood straight and tall as a giant, holding a pole-hammer as tall himself in one hand, shaft end against the ground. The giant's body was covered in thick white plates of armour, leaving no features for muscle tone or a face. A tapering red circle containing two more red circles within it broke the pattern at the centre of the giant's chest. The red insignia's origin could be processed in the time it took for Tular to react to the ringing of chains from behind himself; not long enough. Wickedly barbed, mace-like weights spun around each of Tular's wrists, wrapping them in equally vicious porcelain links. An incredible tug from both chains shunted the hain's body around like a puppet. His eyes found the second challenger. Tular tsked. [b]"Toun, it's not your turn yet! You'll have to wait in line. I've got to deal with this village first!"[/b] The chains faced a thin, porcelain armoured figure with a red insignia on its chest, similar to the giant. Unlike the giant, this one was petite and almost feminine, shorter than any avatar present. It was standing braced with feet spread wide, back hunched and arms forward and back. In either gauntleted fist were the other ends of the taut chains that bound Tular's arms. A wispy white cape drifted with the wind behind it like a cloud of fog and its voice touched with similar gentleness. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"But my wall yet stands..."[/i][/color] The lesser one scraped her foot in a quarter-circle on the ground while it turned to its side and whirled its arms up and away from Tular. The dust rose as it followed through, whirling its arms low and up in front. For a blink, the chains had slackened. Then, it threw its hands as low as it could, bending its knees. [i]Tchchchchchchchchch![/i] The chains' slack was tightened by kinks that ran from the figure to Tular. Every link was being thrown up and dragged down. Tular was the last link. He was whipped into the air as the chains let him go. [color=PaleGoldenrod][b][i]"WRAH!"[/i][/b][/color] The greater figure had already leapt up after the possessed Tular, bent back and the polehammer wound up to strike him back into the ground. Tular looked up at the hammer about to smash him into the ground. [b]"Us damn it."[/b] A shield quickly formed in front of the hammer, taking the brunt of the blow. The kinetic force still sent him smashing into the ground, however, and he left a dent in the ground from where he hit. [b]"This is all rather abrupt. Toun I told you I'd visit you later! But here you are, interrupting a session not even belonging to you. Tsk tsk my good man, bad form."[/b] He threw a dozen balls of destruction at the big one and darted towards the little one with two axes. The destruction flung at the greater figure prompted its defence for long enough for Tular to escape. One end of its hammer blossomed out into perpendicular spokes as a shield. Each impact of the exploding destructive spheres ground its feet back along the dirt. Meanwhile, Goliath had gotten back onto its feet. Any emotions Teknall may have had about the arrival of the porcelain figures were not conveyed through Goliath. Goliath did not go to retrieve the dropped sword, for that would take too long and it had three more. Instead, it advanced back into the battlefield. Custos in the meantime had been watching the proceedings, he had known for a while that the two porcelain figures had been nearby thanks to Kyre's sense, but had not seen fit to do anything about it due to no hostile intent being detected. At least not enough intent to be truly worried. However, now that they've made their goals clear, this fight would be over that much quicker. Summoning an ethereal katana to his hands, Custos moved back towards the battle. The lesser figure raised its arms either side of its shoulders, curling the chains up to hover loosely in the air while Tular closed the distance. The last instant before Tular struck saw the figure dip around such that its body was obscured by its floating cloak. Tular's axes pushed the ethereal fabric aside, but did not chop into anything more than air. The lesser, one obscured by the cloak, had already flipped over Tular's head. [i]Tchchchch-kn![/i] The barbed chains bit into Tular's ankles. The lesser figure twisted its upper body and the chains were thrown to the side away from Tular. They took him with them in an instant. Goliath moved in to intercept. As Tular swung past, Goliath thrust its spear forwards to impale the hurtling hain. Tular summoned shields erratically to block the spear, and the weapons that followed them. One slipped through, smashing into his shoulder. Tular screamed in pain and rage. A bigger dome of destruction magic erupted free of him, forcing back Goliath and going as far as the little one was with its chains. The lesser one braced and held its chains taut to remain standing. "Enough games!" Tular snarled. He grasped the chains bitten into his ankles and heaved, yanking the little one towards him, a ball of destruction magic already ready to meet its face. The ragdoll-like tumble of the little one appeared at first to be uncontrolled. However, halfway through its flight, it pointed its feet together towards Tular and flew straight. From off to the side, the greater one held out its polehammer and it stretched forth until it was shot into the lesser one's path. The lesser one's feet landed upon it and its knees bent into a deep squat against the haft of the porcelain weapon. It was slowed to a stop, held up by the chains. With Tular looking ahead, one chain had wrapped up between his legs, behind his torso and up around his wrist. There was a loud crack and the lesser one bent back. The chains flew from Tular, broken. The lesser backflipped onto its feet on the ground, one foot just behind the other and cape floating down behind it. The chains curled back, broken from the barbed chains that now partially bound Tular with his pulled backwards towards his ankle. With Tular distracted by the new arrivals, Custos flew in from the side. Readying a downward diagonal slash at his arm. The greater one shot its head around to Tular as its polehammer slid and snapped to its natural length. It broke into a run for the hain, polehammer held forward in both hands. Tular snarled in annoyance. He ignored the multiple chains around him, instead focusing on the charging porcelain figure, and Custos who was closing in with a slash. He threw a couple destruction balls at them, sending a swarm of daggers right after. The greater figure spun to dodge one of the balls. The other projectiles it met with a stop to brace and a thrust of its hammer, detonating the destructive force with a paraboloid of creative energies that casting the greater figure in a shadow of safety. The daggers ricocheted away in turn, casting off in different directions. Custos' slash was instead used to cleave the destruction balls in halves, detonating then and enveloping him in a cloud of dust. Instinctively a wing swung around and covered his front, thunks sounding as the daggers hit immediately after. The lesser one had repositioned already. It stood a short distance away, legs slightly apart in a strong posture. Its chains were suspended and curled in the air either side as it slowly raised its splayed fingers. A low thrum sounded. Tiny beads of red ink formed on its fingertips. The thrumming stopped. The beads of red, like tiny red flies, ran up the two chains until they reached the ends. The last links of the broken chains expanded into another pair of barbed white weights, these ones inscribed with tiny red glyphs. The weights shot forward towards Tular. The chains whipped in waves behind them. At the last second, the weights diverged and curled around either side of Tular, homing in on his torso in a blistering orbit. They spun around and wrapped him in the chains fully, constraining his legs. They then pulled to the ground and forced Tular to his knees. Finally Tular was immobilised, and Custos finally caught up with the fight. Taking the katana in a reverse hand style, he swung it horizontally at Tular's midsection, using his elbow against the back of the blade for more force. Goliath wasted no time in seizing the opportunity as well. It fired two crossbow bolts at the hain and advanced into arms reach, where it struck out with weapons from each of its six hands. A dome of shields appeared around Tular to block the attacks from Custos and Goliath, but they did not stop for a moment. Each frenzied strike tore away a shield, such that Tular was fully focused on replacing the broken shields that were his barrier between himself and the other avatars. Yet Goliath and Tular were doggedly persistent, and between each of its blows there was an opening it Tular's defence. There was nowhere to run. So distracted, Tular could not halt the advance of the greater porcelain figure. It banked in its renewed charge, peeling away from Tular and Goliath until it looped around. It had its hammer raised to one side, poised to strike at Tular's back. The last pace had the giant skid to a stop, bend its knees, and see all of its remaining momentum flung through its arms into the arc of its polehammer. The tip of the hammer strike tapered into a hooked point in the last instant. The Avatar of Vestec could only scream in frustration, abruptly silenced with a vicious crunch as the point slammed into his head. Multicolored blood and porcelain spikes exploded out of the body in a bright spray. Tular was limp and lifeless. The blood rapidly drained into the ground, disappearing all to quickly from sight. At once, the cacophony of the raging divine battle had given way to the wind and the pattering of blood. The chains that bound Tular's corpse uncoiled and lazily snaked away, their red symbols having evaporated. The white spikes that had violently ruptured Tular's shell receded and allowed the body to slide off the point of the polehammer it hung upon. The greater twin stood up straight and dug the haft of its weapon into the ground. The blood beaded into rivulets and dripped from the hammer point. The giant's voice reverberated over the new peace. [b][i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"The tide recedes."[/color][/i][/b] An unusual breeze counteracted the field and the lesser twin's cape settled low. The cape's movement was the first sign that it had taken up position next to the giant, standing with one foot slightly forward. Seeing them side-by-side only increased the difference in their statures. [i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"Brothers,"[/color][/i] the wispy voice cooed from the lesser twin, addressing Goliath and Custos. [i][color=PaleGoldenrod]"What business had you in stopping Vestec's avatar if his horde was made to claw at Cornerstone?"[/color][/i] Goliath sheathed its weapons and returned to a neutral stance. If Goliath had been capable of emotion, it may have been relieved that the battle was over, or possibly joyous that victory had been achieved, but instead it just stood there. Teknall's voice came from Goliath in reply in a matter-of-fact manner. [color=Peru][b]"Many, many villages stand between here and Cornerstone, all threatened by the horde. Without Vestec's Avatar, those mortals have the opportunity to win a victory over the horde. Preparations had already been made to battle the horde before Vestec created his Avatar, and that Avatar jeopardised those plans. "I should thank you for your intercession, though, regardless of your motives. It made a significant difference. Send Toun my gratitude."[/b][/color] The twins were still. The lesser one's cape billowed loosely in the wind for a few seconds and its faceless head angled itself. [color=PaleGoldenrod][i]"They are...your servants?"[/i][/color] The soft words of the lesser twin were interrupted by an oppression in the atmosphere. From the smooth face of the greater twin, a horizontal split formed and bulged. The slit widened to reveal a bloodshot blue eye. A voice they all recognised spoke with its signaturen quivering temper. [color=PaleGoldenrod][b]"You would do well not to depend on my incidental actions to protect your feral hain. Majus the greater and Minus the lesser will not always be there to slay Vestec's agents of chaos."[/b][/color] The lesser twin, Minus, turned its head around to Majus' new eye through which Toun was projecting. It had a pace of curiosity. Majus twisted its head to the still-bleeding corpse below him, and then up to Custos. The blue eye did not blink. [color=PaleGoldenrod][b]"And what of you, creature of Kyre? What is your hand in this affair?"[/b][/color] The avatar of war was silent for a few moments, looking down upon the hain corpse. His weapon dissipated into the air as he looked to his equal, in size. [color=orange][b]"It was my actions...,"[/b][/color] Kyre spoke from the mouthless face, [color=orange][b]"My actions gave Vestec reason enough to send out his hordes, and I aim to fix that mistake. This fight was part of it."[/b][/color] He looked in the direction of the future battlefield that was the hain village, [color=orange][b]"And now there is one last event to oversee to finish it."[/b][/color] [color=PaleGoldenrod][b]"So it was [i]your[/i] actions that sent the horde and that abomination this way?"[/b][/color] Majus was still, but the eye on his face quivered as the words were spat into the air. [color=PaleGoldenrod][b]"Do better next time, brother. You are not to lower yourself to Vestec's behaviour. I will be seeing you both again, in time."[/b][/color] Both Majus and Minus turned on one foot. Minus turned its head and gave the avatars another blank look over its shoulder before they both lifted into the air. A boom rang out as they shot back east, towards Cornerstone. The wind lifted a sigh of sand in their wake. There was quiet for a few moments. Then Goliath's head turned to face Custos and Teknall said, [color=Peru][b]"Don't worry too much about him. All of us make mistakes some times. I'm sure you'll have ample opportunity to make up for those mistakes."[/b][/color] Goliath took a few strides across the churned and cratered earth until it came to its dropped sword. It reached down, picked it up, and sheathed it like the others. [color=Peru][b]"Today was one such opportunity. When the horde marches upon the village, that is another. And there will be many more wars in the future, I'm sure, where you'll be able to do more good than bad. Goodbye for now, Kyre."[/b][/color] Goliath's jets flared and it rocketed skywards, heading to low orbit. Custos watched Goliath depart, then turned and walked away, disappearing amongst the trees, leaving the scarred earth and the corpses of Violence and Tular behind.