Heaven's Damned - Time Before Eternal Crisis
Jun 16, 2007 9:33:50 GMT
Post by Gokan Bushino on Jun 16, 2007 9:33:50 GMT
Otherworld
Damascus Sector, Heaven
Damascus Sector, Heaven
"For once, you'd think they'd put these damned things closer to the ground!"
The solitary, robbed man stood hunched over, his left hand pressed firmly against the face of a rock as his hardened yellow eyes glanced upward. He felt as if he had been climbed for days, yet according to his watch, it had only been several hours. Unfortunately for him, it had been, in fact, several days since the Jenevan known as Hien Atsushi attempted to climb the forested mountain. Time moved at a significantly slower pace here in the Damascus sector than anywhere else within the Otherworld. Though all signs point to it being simply several hours, his body was reacting like he had been going on for days. All of that on top of the ridiculously high mountain chain, in fact. Brushing lavender hair from his tanned face, the warrior pressed on, shoving the massive stone to the side before using his leg muscles to launch himself forward as he ascended up the unnatural structure. A simple expression of Atsushi's telekinetic might would've easily made this trip a short one, but ever since the man came within inches of the base of the mountain, he felt his powerful psionic abilities leave him, soon after his heavily robbed guide left.
All signs would point to a setup, yet due to the fact that he was without his telepathy, Hien couldn't check for sure. Then again, this entire portion of the sector radiated some sort of energy, such an energy that the dead man felt he had to come, as if he were drawn to it. And that, of course, is half of the reason why he was here. About five years ago, in an attempt to reclaim what was lost to him, the blue gemstone of Gungnir, Hien had stumbled on a fractured an ancient artifact that resonated with a massive amount of power. It appeared to the man, and the four men he had partnered himself with, that the heptagonal item that damaged itself, breaking under its own stresses. Oddly enough, it was around the time of discovering that item that Hien and his group caught the attention of the Kaio's, and not soon after, was caught in the crosshairs of the Saiyan warrior monk known as Gokan Bushino, bringing about a conflict that not only damaged several residential areas in both Heaven and Hell, but also Snake Way and the check-in station that connects the various locations in Otherworld together.
With Tenkuro dead and a reformation of sorts, the Jenevan had given up his previous ambition that would've lead him to conquer the hellish portion of Otherworld in his quest for power. However, that didn't dispel the lingering curiosity he had over the object he found. It's as if he became an archaeologist of sorts, feeing the need to dig up the past. Whatever the object he found was, he wanted to find out more about it. Such curiosity lead him to find a tip. Hien was blessed with certain tidbits that lead him here, to this massive mountain, where he was told he could find more information on the strange object. Though he was suspicious about it at first, it was now apparent to him that there might've been some truth in it. The radiating energy from the mountain chain was faintly familiar to that coming from the heptagonal structure, and continued to get stronger the further he climbed. "I'm starting to hate this damn place!" The man cried, slamming his fist into the trunk of a tree, causing its bark to crack and splinter under the force.
Turning to face the steep face of the mountain once more, the Jenevan warrior let out a grumble. It simply appeared that there was no end in sight for his climb, and since the lack of his psionic ability keeps him from flying, there's no definite way to tell if he's even near the top or not due to the angle. Of course, if there is a temple up here, then this mountain was the perfect place for one due to that specific reason. The trees and the formation of the stone structure provided the perfect cover. The question was, of course, who was here and what were they doing that needed such protection? These simple, unanswered questions just compounded the curiosity of the purple haired man as he continued to leap from surface to surface, his light hooded cloak fluttering with his every move. Unexpectedly, Hien's foot disturbed the face of the mountain, knocking several rocks loose and causing the man to lose his footing.
With a yelp, he instinctively reached out and snatched on to a jutting mass of stone, gripping with his dear life as he looked down at the nigh-vertical wall he had just spent the better part of fifteen minutes climbing, sighing. Powering himself up would've made sure that he would've survived the fall, but there was a chance of him being knocked unconscious, and even worse, there was a chance of him falling all the way to the bottom! That's not something you want when you spend five entire days with little sleep, moving at a good three hundred miles per hour, just to get up anything. Expelling a mild groan, the man pulled himself up, launching his body through the air several feet, allowing him to grab onto the cliff face. And from there, he pulled his body up once more. Climbing to his feet, the dead warrior looked forward, his eyes rising from a cobblestone pathway towards a massive Ziggurat that gleaned in the sun as if it were constructed out of some precious stone and metal.
As Hien took in the sights, there was a slight tingling feeling at the base of his spine, which eventually shot through his body, sending a cold chill throughout him. With a shiver, he blinked a bit, oddly feeling less restricted. Confused for a bit, he motioned with his left hand, hoisting a stone ornament from its millennia old resting place before setting it back down. In a surprising turn of events, it appeared that Hien's psionic abilities returned. Not bothering the mull over this revelation, he proceeded forward. But, within three steps, the ground beneath his feet began to buckle and crumble under his weight. With a light gasp, the Jenevan dove forward and glanced back as a massive chunk of the mountain broke off and began a quick descent, smashing against the face of the mountain as it rolled down, breaking apart as it went. Oh boy, Hien was glad he had his telekinesis right now, or that mass of rock could've easily been him if he hadn't reacted quickly. Picking himself up, the hooded man continued on, reaching the massive doors to the temple and forcing them open with a thought.
One would expect a wide, open room upon gazing into the facility. Here, there was nothing but a crammed corridor. Years ago, Hien would've called this place the Meat Grinder. Any soldier would tell you that fighting a Meat Grinder was a horrible place to fight. And that thought was coursing through Hien's mind at that moment. He simply hoped nothing came out of nowhere with the intent to fight while he was in here. The lack of space just made it easier to die. Then again, he was already dead, so that point was moot. Coming to the end of the long tunnel, Hien could feel himself lowering into the floor. Given his history the ground, he was well aware it was unnatural for it to lower, and instinctively, jumped out of the way. As soon as his feet were brought into the air, a good twelve arrows launch into the air, followed by a good thirty spikes, which smash into the ceiling and remain. Staring at the trap, Hien let out another sigh. "Yeah, that would've sucked."
Hien was blessed with the ability to rapidly recover from just about anything, from wounds to illnesses. He even had the ability to regrow lost limbs. But, being stabbed to hell by a bunch of spikes would've been one horrible experience seeing as, even if he were alive, there would be no death involved, just excruciating pain. And then there was the fact that injuries wouldn't fully heal until he removed his presence from the dangerous instruments, and to do so would mean he'd have to tear his body even more than it would've been. Yeah, that would've sucked, and he was lucky the situation was avoided altogether.
Soon enough, the man excited the long hallway, walking into a massive, open area. The man barely had any time to take in the sights before three massive stones came rolling his way. Sighing, the Jenevan simply held up his right hand, catching the massive rocks in his psionic grip while he effortlessly walked past them and towards a massive, highly decorated door. As he drew closer, the feeling, whatever it was, was growing stronger by the second. It was almost addicting how it appeased ones senses. This thing had to have some sort of great power to afflict someone such as it was Hien. Pushing the doors open, the man arrived in a small room, with a small decorative pillar dead center. The ceiling was opened, allowing a beam of light to fall over the pillar. Moving closer, Hien glanced over the stone rest, noticing it was covered in dust and debris from the ancient roofing. With a swipe of his hands, he cleared the mess, revealing a small stone tablet, with scriptures carved in some ancient language with various drawings on it. "Well, ain't that great......" Despite his excitement over finding the item, it was impossible to read, and many of the drawings had been damaged over time. He was no archaeologist, so it would be damn near impossible for him to uncover the meaning of this thing.
However, that didn't mean he couldn't find someone with such a talent. Afterwards, he began to make his exit from the tomb before noticing that things were becoming fairly darker inside of the building, despite, withall of the various cracks and such making it fairly obvious, it was still daylight outside, with not a cloud in sight. At first, Hien thought nothing of it. But as he came to the massive hallway, he came to a stop as his nose began to burn from a powerful odor. "What the hell?" He cried, using the side of his hood to cover his nose as if to filter the smell with it. "What's that smell?" Though it took a few moments to register, he knew what it was. The pungent odor of death. The place lingered of spoiled, rotting flesh that had been left out in the sun for days. One would surmise that an old temple would house such smells, but this place simply reeked of old rock until moments earlier, and of course, Hien became suspicious, shifting his gaze all around as he went on his way. As he drew closer to the main doors, his body was struck from behind. Sizzling energy engulfed his being, propelling his body through the opening and into a tree, snapping it in half.
"Ssssss...." The hissing sound was all that could be heard by Hien as he shrugged the trunk off of his body as he groaned, shaking his head in pain.
"Hhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeennnnnnnn....."
Snapping his head around, the Jenevan stared forward as the hazy black cloud began to roll from the confines of the temple. And then, three opaque creatures jumped forth. Their black bodies glistened in the sunlight as if they had rose from an ocean. Hien glared at the possibly slimy creatures with disgust until he locked onto their facial features, or lack thereof. No eyes, mouth, nose, or ears. Nothing but faceless, obsidian creatures. It was creepy. However, there wasn't enough time for Hien to be creeped out by this, he was too busy getting angry. "Who the hell are you!?" He shouted, rising to his feet slowly as he pulled his hood back from around his face, "And what do you want?"
"Fffffffoooorrrrrrrr yyyyooouuuu tttttooooo dddddiiiiiieeeee." The three creatures spoke in unison, another creepy overtone, yet Hien couldn't do anything but chuckle.
"Heh, too bad," The man exclaimed, "I'm already dead."
"Nnnnnooooo........... yyyyyyoooouuuu aaaarrrrrreeeeee nnnnnooootttttttt......" As he cocked an eyebrow in confusion, the three Faceless being charged forward, their bodies appearing to slither unnaturally as they ran. Extending his left arm out, the Jenevan fired off a blast of ki towards the trio. Unfortunately, the attack hit a force field and fizzled into nothing. Scoffing, the man did it once more, with a blast several times more powerful than the previous, and once again, it did nothing. This time, however, the field flickered, revealing three different, overlapping force fields protecting the Faceless. Before he could launch another, the things were on him, preparing to attack. One threw a punch towards the man's face, but Hien ducked and slammed his shoulder into the creature's midsection and flipped it over his back, down the face of the mountain. Due to him being distracted, the fact that the obsidian monster was seemingly swallowed hole by a cloud of blackness as it entered a freefall went unnoticed by the Jenevan warrior.
It was then one of the remaining two drove a knee in the crouched man's face, causing him to stumble backwards and wince. Hien was never one who could fight a multitude of enemies simultaneously. That was task left up to Gokan. Hell, Hien has never seen anyone in his life fight several people circling him all at once with such a skill as Gokan possessed. Sure, lots of people could fight groups alone, but very few could do it like that man. As those thoughts entered his head, the two creatures in front of him began to multiply. The two became four, and oddly enough, the four jumped to twenty in the span of a second. Then, before he knew it, there were well over three hundred of these things all around. "Son of a bitch!" The warrior cried out as he hopped to his feet moments before being swarmed. Growling, streams of ki radiated from his body and coiled through the air as he powered himself up. Tossing his arms out to his sides, the Jenevan released a powerful telekinetic burst which rippled through the ranks of the Faceless and tossed them through the air. The creatures rose and fell like a rippling wave, allowing Hien some time to take to the air in effort to get away. Unfortunately, one of the things appeared above him, and with ease, sent the being crashing back into the mountain with a powerful axehandle.
The force generated by the impact nearly split the plateau of the mountain in half. Had he struck the ground any harder, the entire surface would've broke away and slid down the mountain, falling for days before hitting the ground. Hien couldn't even pick himself up before the things swarmed like hornets, stomping, punching, and kicking the man while he remained embedded into the ground. The mass then jumped backwards, throwing their hands out in front of them, prepared to unleash a blast of significant size down on the Jenevan. And it was then he reached out with his telekinetic power once more, . The feat was practically invisible, but Hien could see the trailing blue psionic energy clearly. As their waves were released, they struck Hien's erected telekinetic field, ricocheting off in various directions, eventually striking each other. Due to their close proximity, their overlapping force field technique was fruitless, and the bulk of the group was destroyed by their own blasts.
Unfortunately for Hien, the airborne faceless remained, and quickly slithered to the ground. Frustrated by the sudden attack, the Jenevan continued to power up. The emotionless black creature extended its left arm out and held its hand open, revealing a crimson gem in its palm. Bolts of ki sparked around this gem for a moment until the creature snapped its hand closed. The sparks then cracked through the hand as if it were squeezed out, eventually forming a solid blade of ki. Charging foward, the Faceless aimed to decapitate the Jenevan, but its own blade was met with Hien's own dazzling blue blade of ki, generating sparks from the impact. "I'm going to ask one more time! Who the hell are you!?"
Three more faceless soon emerge from the solitary body, all of which quickly form ki blades of their own. Cuss words roll off of Hien's tongue as he quickly breaks away to block another strike aimed at his head. He is then forced to drip low to block two strikes aimed at his legs and then flips sideways through the air as three blades attempt to cut him in half. Slamming his free left hand into the ground, Hien slides away from the creatures, looking up as they charge forward once more. The first goes for a multitude of slashes aimed at Hien's chest, all of which are blocked and parried in amazing fashion, ending with a firm boot to the creature's chest. Two others flip over their flying companion, coming with downward slashes. With no time to dodge, Hien encases his arm in a telekinetic field, holding it up to block the strikes, and winces in pain under the force of the blows.
His field flickers a faint blue with obvious "cracks" in his field. The creatures strike three more times, with each blow more powerful than the last, forcing the Jenevan to drop to one knee. Eventually, they shatter his telekinetic barrier, creating enough psionic backlash to stun the Jenevan for a moment. And of course, a moment was all they needed to sever his forearm in two places, spraying blood everywhere. Hien cried out in pain as he stumbled backwards, only to have two more blades slam in a criss-cross pattern into his chest. The faceless then cut an X into the man in a dramatic fashion before dissipating their ki swords as they look on at their injured opponent, whom was losing power rapidly. This entire fight could've occurred earlier, but if it had, they would've been facing a fully powered warrior. These obsidian creatures, or whatever was ordering them around, waited for this, letting Hien tire himself out climbing the mountain before attacking in his fatigued state.
One of the four grabbed the bloody man by his robes and slithered towards the edge of the mountain plateau before hoisting Hien up by the throat. If the beings possessed eyes, they would be staring into the quivering, angry eyes of Hien Atsushi as the stench of death and his own blood quickly filled his nose once more. "Aaaannnnndddddd nnnnoooowwwww.........yyyyyyoooouuuuu dddddiiiieeeeee." Slamming its fist into the man's ribs, red energy crackling about as the Faceless shattered the bones in the man's mid-section, causing him to scream out in pain. At the same moment, Hien could feel his power draining at an alarming rate. Under normal conditions, the Jenevan's wounds would heal long before he even touched the ground, and they weren't going to let that happen. His abilities were dampened thanks to the red gem on the hand of the Faceless. And as soon as that was done, Hien was pushed off of the mountain. Things weren't all bad, however.
The time it will take for Hien to hit the ground will be a lot less than what it took him to climb up.
~End Thread~