Bad Company [Rayne & Death]

The naga summon lashed back at the metal titan, but the thing didn't seem at all phased by the creature's clawed attack, or by its coils wrapping around its leg. Instead it simply dug it's metal-clad fingers into the naga's flesh and started pulling the summon apart like a child pulling at taffy. The image in her mind made Rayne sick to her stomach. Mostly because she was imagining what that thing might do to her if it got a hold on her. It wouldn't be pretty.

Her shot went off, the sound ricocheting loudly in such a small confined space. Even as she winced from the sound Rayne frowned at the tiny dent that her effort had left dead on where the metal man's eye should have been. It was a perfect shot, but one that did her absolutely no good. "Shit." This time she said it with real feeling.

Unwilling to give up and call herself beaten she activated a skill that she could only use once per foe. She knew before she fired that this one would hit, and it did... in the exact same spot. This time though, the metal cracked slightly, revealing blackness inside the armor. It was hollow inside. No man or skeleton, just a metal man who could tear them limb from limb.

"Death! Get inside the room he was just in! See if there's an off switch for him or something." The doorway to the other room was still open, and as far as she was concerned it contained their only hope. Her bullets wouldn't do much damage against something that was made totally of metal, and her little knife would do even less.

Watching the Dark Naga, which had given them trouble before, getting ripped apart like a child playing with term papers was terrifying.  Death looked down at his armour and realized that this wasn't going to do ANYTHING against something like this. Death was wondering who was gonna show who at this point, when it came to running back here past the people calling him a n00b.  

Drake's jaw dropped as he watched his new Master Summon get shredded like mini wheats before his eyes. "I spent HOW much time leveling my summoning... to summon something that didn't do ANYTHING for us??" Well, it had prevented one of them from being the golem's object of affection.  But now all of Death Incarnate's Mana was gone and wasn't coming back as quickly as he wished it would.  That summon took almost every bit of mana he had.  But at least he knew he could actually use that Dark Naga as a summon now.

*BAM*

The sound of Rayne's gun going off in the confined space was deafening.  Even after the ringing had started to diminish, Scarn was still screaming in his ear.  This didn't help things.  Thanks Scarn. Apparently she didn't approve of the shot in the confined space either.

"SHIT."

Death looked up to see what she had cursed at but had moved to a vantage point that didn't allow him to see the front of the golem anymore. Right as Death started to part his lips to ask what was wrong:


*BAM*

Death blinked hard twice while his ears started ringing with renewed fervor; the 'bells' anxious to drown out any other sounds that might be made around him as Scarn dug her nails into his shoulder again.

"Death! Get...side the.. .oom he ..as jus....n! See f ....re's a  ....f switch for ..im or ..omething."

What did she say?  Get side... the oom? OH!  Death started running towards the other room where the golem had come from and into the thick mist that was still issuing forth.  Good idea. One of these times he would do something that was good for them, and not just trigger traps.  Please oh please don't die.

Once inside the room, the mist was less dense.  Upon quick inspection of his surroundings, Death could see that he was in a chamber with 2 Sarcophagus' on either side.  The room was filled with all of the same writing that had been on the walls on their way down here.  Something about this writing was different though.  He couldn't put his finger on it right away.  Continuing to scan the room, there was a series of 3 levers on the wall shared with the room Rayne was still in. The left one was up, the middle was down and the right was up.  He opened his mouth to inform Rayne what he saw and thought better of it as the golem might hear him.

C'mon Death... anything else in here?  The floor was smooth, polished to a reflective surface that mirrored the writings on the walls...and the ceiling.  What was that?  An inscription?  Ugh... not in any language Death had studied, nor was it the same language as the ones on the walls.

"Oh man... I hope she appreciates me for this..." Drake said as he turned Death around, hit Auto-Run and started typing while running into the room, through the mist, toward the golem.

Death knew this wasn't going to work.  He had no idea what to do with all of these levers, or the inscription.  Maybe it triggered spikes to come out of the walls?  Maybe darts?  Imagining Rayne looking like a pincushion filled with darts wasn't a comforting thought.  He ran back into the room where his summon was still in three pieces, about to be a fourth.  Hoping this would work, he called out to Rayne while charging the golem from behind, cane out to jab into any spot he could find.

"3 levers in there, an inscription on ceiling and 2 coffins, maybe traps, figure it out, go!" Short. Sweet. Straight to the point. "Please don't let me die." Death thought as he imagined himself being impaled with those same darts he'd imagined Rayne pierced by.

Quick as a bunny Death took off into the room, and Rayne sighed a bit of relief that he actually listened to her. He was safe for now, or at least as safe as she could make him. Which wasn't going to be safe for very long if the fight she was watching was any indication.

It was a good thing that the naga was undead, because no mortal creature could have taken the sort of damage that was being dealt to it. Thankfully she could tell that the naga was doing slightly more than just distracting the metal man. The sound of grinding metal creaking filled the small space as the naga's coils tightened around the golem. It didn't feel pain, didn't care that its flesh was being pulled from its bones, all it cared about was crushing the champion and likewise the metal man only cared about tearing the dead naga apart. In a weird way they were a perfectly paired set.

"Three levers in there, an inscription on ceiling and two coffins, maybe traps, figure it out, go!" Out came Death again, running as quickly as his legs could carry him, yelling about the room he'd found. Rather than figuring out the problem like she'd hoped however, he'd gone in and assessed the situation and come right back out. Even more amazing - and dangerous to his health - the man jumped on the back of the golem and started stabbing away at it with his cane. As if the cane was going to be able to do anything.

Well.

"Try for the hole in its eye!" Rayne offered that helpful bit of information and broke off her attack. It was too risky that the bullet might ricochet and hit Death if she missed. One did not fire where there were civilians.

Instead she ran for the room, and was stymied by what she found there. It was exactly as Death had described it. A room with strange symbols written on the ceiling and walls. Right away she could tell it wasn't the same symbols as before, but rather different ones entirely. They reflected off of the floor which was polished so clean and neatly that it shone. That was a definite clue. One didn't just find a clean floor in a dungeon like this, which mean that this was a puzzle of some kind. There were also three levers. Two were pointed up, and the middle one was pulled down.

Damn it all, she didn't have time for a riddle! Rather than try and figure it out, and possibly get Death killed she took the risk that one of the levers was a trap, and flipped the one in the middle. It made sense really, that the one in the middle had been flipped when the golem was released. And she was right, it closed the door that had opened. Now though there was no way of telling if the golem had been stopped with the closing of the door.

Making a quick decision, she flipped it again, opening the door and yelling out. "Did that do anything?"

"NOOPPPPE!! DEFINITELY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!!!"

Rayne cursed under her breath something that would have made a sailor blush, and glared at the symbols on the ground. She didn't have time for this! Any minute now that naga was going to go down and all that would be left was them. She didn't hold out much hope that either of them would be able to do much against the blasted thing.

Which left the weird symbols reflected on the ground. They meant nothing to her; they may as well have been pure gibberish. In fact... what if they were? What if they were less a language to be read and more a clue to what she was supposed to do? Looking more carefully at the symbols Rayne tried to tune out the sound of combat behind her.

There! There were some triangles that were pointing in various directions, each one leading to the next one if you looked at them as a whole. Quickly she followed the trail and it led not to one of the switches but to one of the sarcophagi. "Sorry about this." She muttered the words under her breath to the coffin as she grabbed a hold of it, and pulled with all her strength.

It resisted her efforts, and it took several efforts to slide the lid free. Inside the sarcophagus there was not a mummy, but another switch. Quickly, Rayne pulled it, hoping against hope that this would stop the metal man in the other room. Immediately she heard the sounds of metal moving grind to a stop, and hesitantly she poked her head around the corner.

"Still alive in here?"

The golem freed it's other arm from the coils of the Naga and grabbed her by the throat with one hand and her waist with the other.  The sound that followed was one that Death could happily go without ever having had to hear again.  The Naga writhing uselessly in the grip of the golem, was stretched to full length and then a little more. The bone armour that had just started finishing up the materialization snapped with a loud crack.  The sound didn't muffle the sound of the spine being ripped apart, or the insides of the Naga being ripped from their space inside to pour out all over the ground.  

"Hah, that isn't gonna stop her!", thought Death.


Both ends of the Naga went limp and disintegrated into the dust from whence it came.  


Death couldn't believe what he was seeing.  My summon... dead... He planted his feet squarely on the golem's shoulders and used every last ounce of strength he had to pry this thing's head off.  He was dead, maybe he could save her by stalling this thing with his demise.  

The Champion no longer had a target and moved attention to the closest one.  The one on it's head.  Both arms reach up and grab him in a vice grip before he can react.  The sound of the bone armour cracking, sounds like popcorn.  The edges of Death's vision start blurring as he gives his last well wishes to Rayne, hoping she lives through this.  

The golem stops moving, Death still inside of it's hands, pressure still on and slowly loosening with gravity as his body starts to fall  "Still alive in here?" out of the golem's grip and to the floor.

There's no sign of the naga at all. It was gone, as if it had never been in the room at all. It seemed that the champion had defeated the summon, or its time had simply run out. Either way... Rayne furiously searched the room for some sign of Death, moving into the huge space where the golem stood still. It didn't take her long to find him; held up in the metal monstrosities arms. He was limp and immobile, his body slowly sliding out of the golem's hands and down onto the floor.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit." Rayne's voice rang out oddly loud now that there was no other sound in here. Her feet carried her quickly to Death's side and she crouched down beside him. There was no sign of pixilation that suggested that he was actually dying, but he wasn't moving either. Quickly she pulled a potion out of her inventory, hoping that it wasn't too late for it to be of use. Healing potions were expensive, but he'd done his able best to keep her alive. He deserved to live through all this too.

"Drink this. It'll heal you right up." She checked the label on the bottle just to be sure that this particular potion wouldn't kill something that was undead, and offered it to Death. Ready to pour it down his throat if she had to.

Drake threw his hands up in the air.  "We made it!!!  I think...  C'mon Rayne don't let me die!!!" Drake laughed jovially.

Death Incarnate awoke to his nose smashed against the floor and Rayne crouched next to him.  Scarn was nowhere in sight. He started moving around, trying to catch sight of her when his body screamed "STOP!"

Uh-oh... is something broken? "Drink this, It'll heal you right up."

Blinking his eyes to clear the cobwebs, Death rolled over onto his back and tried to take stock of the situation.  Naga died.  Golem grabbed me.  I wake up on the floor with Rayne next to me. Did we...
"WE WON!?!?"  The exclamation is a mixture of surprise and questioning.
"Where is Scarn?  Where is my little friend!?" Death again tried to sit up only to be reminded that he really shouldn't and fell back down , still wheezing.

Scarn, enjoying her perch on the golem's head lets out a "SCREEEEEEE" and flies over to Death and lands on his chest to stare at him.  Death closed his eyes and laid his head on the floor.  Rayne's words echoed in his head. "Drink this.  It'll heal you right up." Drink this... Looking directly at Rayne, he can see she has a healing potion on her hand, offering it to him.

Death weakly and feebly attempts to push the potion away, muttering something about "too expensive to use on me" while continuously failing miserably on trying to sit up. "I just need... a summon..." Death smiled up at Rayne as he trailed off while his eyes rolled into the back of his head and the world went black.

Completely prepared to shove the potion down Death's throat, Rayne was pleasantly surprised to find that he was actually conscious. Though... she wasn't pleased for very long. He thrashed in her arms, unable to actually move. He'd clearly broken something very serious, and was somewhat out of it. Stubbornly he kept trying to get up, and though she couldn't blame him for the effort, it irritated her that he was ignoring the potion right there that would help him.

"Where is Scarn?  Where is my little friend!?" Scarn? The little dragon atop the golem's head gave a little screech at the name and she had to assume that this then was Scarn. The little thing gave up its perch to fly over and land on its master's chest and Rayne waggled the potion meaningfully at Death.

This seemed to bring his attention back to it, but rather than drinking it like a reasonable person would, he turned his nose up at it. He muttered something about it being 'too expensive', and then something else about a summon before promptly going limp. "You stupid, son of a..." She cursed him soundly while he lay there, and pried his mouth open enough for her to pour the potion down his throat. "You don't have to be a stubborn ass about this. Just drink the potion, but no."

He wasn't even awake yet, but she was giving him a piece of her mind anyways. After a few moments he started to rouse, and out of pure irritation she gave him a good shake and growled at him. "What do you think you're doing? You could have died just now! For what? Being too stubborn to drink a potion?" With a disgusted noise she shoved herself to her feet and moved away from him before she gave into the urge to punch him for good measure.

Death awoke to his mouth being slightly open and the last remnants of the potion sliding down his throat.

Now his body was being shaken about by Rayne before letting him drop back down to the floor with a soft thud. "What do you think you're doing?  You could have died just now! For what? Being too stubborn to drink a potion?" Rayne growled while pushing herself to her feet and moving away from him.

As the potion finished going down, Death could feel himself growing stronger.  He slowly got to his feet, testing each joint to ensure it wouldn't give out on him before putting full weight on it.  Everything seemed well enough.  That healing potion must have been a really good one.  Death looked down at his hand and took off the glove that covered his self-injured hand to see that it was completely healed.  His face turns to Rayne with a disapproving look.  

"You know, you didn't have to do that. I could have..." Death looks over at the golem and has the memory of popcorn sounds while he looks down at his Bone Armour that was decimated and starting to fall off of him and Rayne.  How long had he been out that the spell was wearing off already?

Death sighs, "I could have died." he finishes between gritted teeth. "Next time, maybe don't use such a good one.  I can summon a small summon and drain it's lifeforce to fuel my own.  I just have to wait a little while after doing that, because the energy it takes from me is heavy."

Realizing that he hadn't even thanked her for possibly saving his life, he looked up from his decaying bone armour and into her face.  "Thank you."

The words were concise, meaningful and said with feeling.  Not wanting to make the situation wierd, Death followed up with nary a moment's pause, "So, what did you find in that room?"  

Death rubbed his sore nose which may have been broken from the first fall, or this fall, but was mended to full from the potion.  Unfortunately potions don't take away how angry your nerves are about the whole sitatuion.

Turning his attention from Rayne, he nonchalantly strolled over to the other room, glancing back at the golem and shuddering.  "You comin?" he asked as turning his back to walk towards the Lever Room while a grin spread over his face.

"Someone I can trust.." thought Death.

"YAY! I made a friend!!" Drake points of Jar Jar Binx and laughs.  "Who needs YOU now?!" exclaimed Drake while doing a little victory dance in his chair.