Rune
Junior Member
Posts: 186
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Post by Rune on May 2, 2005 16:02:23 GMT -5
As the figure grows closer, Thanatos is able to make out small details of the approaching human. The man has shoulder-length white hair, flowing behind him as he rides a motorcycle, one not as sophisticated as Thanatos' bike. He is dressed in a black cloak that is whisking around the bike as he increases speed.
The figure lifts a large object up, resting it on his shoulder. In a moment, the motorcycle is lifted up onto one wheel with the recoil of a shot being fired, and before Thanatos has a chance to react, a missile flies past his head, hitting the land beyond in a large explosion.
The figure reaches behind him, and from his back pulls a small shell, which he then loads into the missile launcher. He takes aim, using his one visible eye, and fires again...
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Post by Thanatos on May 2, 2005 18:30:20 GMT -5
Thanatos' motorcycle continues to accelerate, emitting a smooth pur as the engine leaps drastically in power: sixty, eighty, one-hundred, one-hundred fifty, two-hundred kilometers per hour. And rising.
A brilliant fireball blossoms several hundred meters behind Thanatos, the result of his assailant's near-miss. Pushing his vehicle even faster, Thanatos concentrates on the rapidly closing distance between himself and his opponent--he has now far exceeded the speed of his adversary's vehicle.
It is then that the second missile is released, spiraling unerringly towards the ground directly in front of Thanatos' barreling motorcycle. Wasting a precious half second on analysis of the projectile's velocity, Thanatos spins his elongated vehicle into a near-horizontal slide, massive acceleration and sudden change of position pushing the motorcycle in an entirely different direction.
And just in the nick of time. The rocket impacts the ground to Thanatos' immediate left, engulfing the android in stray smoke and flame even as he rights the motorbike's blazing course towards his opponent. Wisps of fire dissipate from Thanatos' vehicle as he bears down on his target, visor glinting menacingly as the distance between the two motorcycles becomes next to nothing...
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Rune
Junior Member
Posts: 186
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Post by Rune on May 2, 2005 19:08:59 GMT -5
As Rune nears his opponent, he loads the last shell into the launcher.
When the two motorcycles are only feet apart, he swerves to the right, passing only inches from Thanatos. He turns his bike immediately and aims straight at Thanatos' back, and releases the last shell.
Since Rune has yet to master the use of the strange machine he has found during his wanderings, the missile goes wide, impacting to the front left of Thanatos' bike. As Thanatos turns and the two again close distance, Rune throws the launcher to the ground. He swerves once again, immediately to the right of Thanatos, and leaps across the distance between the two vehicles. His motorcycle crashes into the ground without someone to steer.
Rune balances carefully on the back of Thanatos' motorcycle, drawing one of his twin scrapmetal blades and lashing out at his opponent's head.
He doesn't speak a word as to why he is attacking, and his eyes glow with determination...
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Post by Thanatos on May 2, 2005 19:38:34 GMT -5
This individual seems to possess far more prowess than was originally estimated. It is good he has not attempted to prey on the rest of the caravan...
Thanatos is momentarily thrown off guard by his opponent's wild jump onto the back of his own motorcycle. The manuever is, in every sense of the word, stupid--the sheer difference in speed between the two vehicles makes such an action suicide. And yet Thanatos' adversary has succeeded, and admirably at that.
But Thanatos' guard is not thrown off for long.
Even as his assailant's feet are making contact with the smooth metal of the several meter long motorcycle, Thanatos is readying himself. Reaching into the depths of his overcoat, the android withdraws a long, straight cane. Even as his black-gloved fingers make contact with the instrument's cold metallic surface, the cane is changing. Pieces seamlessly fold back and in on themselves, revealing a sharp and silverly blade.
Still in a seated position, Thanatos spins, parrying his opponent's initial strike in an impressive show of skill and finnesse. Rising now, the android pushes ruthlessly against the assassin's blade with his own, attempting to throw the man off balance. The results of this attack could prove to be decidedly deadly, for at that same moment the motorcycle suddenly goes into a wild spin, wind blowing fiercely as the platform the two combatants stand on turns sharply at more than two-hundred kilometers per hour.
There are no instruments or controls visible that might have affected the motorbike in the slightest. It appears that Thanatos is dictating the path of his vehicle with only his mind...
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Rune
Junior Member
Posts: 186
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Post by Rune on May 2, 2005 21:46:29 GMT -5
Rune doesn't take the time to wonder why the bike is able to spin so suddenly, without anyone at the controls. Although he was able to successfully land his mad-man's leap, and lash out with his sword, the friction of his feet against metal as he initiated the sudden change of inertia has literally worn the bottoms of his shoes off. Also, the wind whipping in his face as the bike is travelling at 200 kph has almost thrown him off. Trying to grip the metal with his bare feet, fight the attacking gales, and simultaneously fight Thanatos, coupled with the sudden turn of the motorcycle, is more than enough to throw Rune from the sophisticated machine. He instinctively releases his sword and grabs out with his hands as he falls from the bike, and is luckily able to grab hold of one of Thanatos' ankles.
In a fraction of a second, too quick to determine individual movements, the small fray is momentarily halted as the two are whisked from the motorcycle and thrown towards the ground at 200 kilometers-per-hour...
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Post by Thanatos on May 3, 2005 18:53:17 GMT -5
Within microseconds of Rune's desperate grab at Thanatos' ankles, the assassin has determined the most suitable course of action. Instead of fighting gravity and attempting to remain on the speeding vehicle, Thanatos instead opts to leap from the motorcycle, instantly buffetted and battered by the combined force of two-hundred kph's air resistance as he leaves the constant speed of the moving platform.
Suffice to say, it is not a smooth descent.
Incredibly fierce currents of air stab at Thanatos' face, veritable gales of force slamming into his chest as the rest of the world struggles to catch up with the unreal momentum of his body. His assailant has long since lost his grip--despite his opponent's incredible potency and level of skill, to maintain any sort of grip in such a situation is a physical impossibility. It is not immediately clear how the would-be assassin is handling the fall--it is almost certain, however, that any body of flesh and bone will suffer considerable damage.
And finally Thanatos reaches the ground. Still traveling at ridiculously high speeds, the android lands on his feet, sliding for meter after meter as the intense friction of the soil causes smoke to rise from his boots. Before his momentum has even ceased, Thanatos is scanning for his opponent, sword held at the ready as he directs his motorcycle to turn in a lazy circle and begin speeding back in the direction of the two combatants. The wrath of the Mark XIII is fierce indeed...
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Rune
Junior Member
Posts: 186
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Post by Rune on May 4, 2005 15:05:37 GMT -5
Rune's grab maneuver saved his life, but purely out of luck. As Thanatos leaped off of the vehicle, Rune was again thrown in a spin, and he landed back on top of the motorcycle he was just thrown from, painfully. He situates himself in the seat, holding on with all of his strength, ignoring the pain that is coursing through his contact with the motorcycle. The bike turns around in a lazy circle, and Rune finds himself in an interesting position. He is racing in the general direction of his foe, who is facing away from him, searching for his would-be torn body. Rune draws his remaining sword, the other one having fallen to the ground in the insane spin, and, as he approaches Thanatos, hurls it at his back like a javelin. With the speed of the bike and the added speed of the sword, it seems impossible that any person, machine or human, could evade the attack. Rune only hoped that his aim was accurate...
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Post by Thanatos on May 4, 2005 16:36:11 GMT -5
Thanatos searches the whole of the barren landscape in front of him for his opponent, sword still held lazily at the ready. The scan itself is over in an instant, but it takes an additional nearly two seconds for Thanatos' brain to produce any logical explanation as to why his opponent is not now lying in front of him. By the time the answer comes, it is nearly too late.
Improbable!
Thanatos whirls just in time to spot the sword, its tip reddened by heat as it slices through the air at almost three-hundred kilometers per hour. With the briefest of instances to react, the android desperately slides his sword in an attempt to parry, at the same time throwing his body to the side.
Blade meets blade in a flurry of sparks, the trajectory of the 'javelin' slowed considerably by Thanatos' swinging counterattack. Nevertheless, the weapon breaks through the android's guard, burying itself about six inches into Thanatos' side before its course is finally halted by the immensely strong alloys that comprise his frame. It is only thanks to these last split-second manuevers that the projectile does not stab completely through the android's back, as the attack appears to have been hauntingly accurate.
An instantaneous systems analysis confirms that his partial evasion has caused the attack to lose considerable strength, only causing a few isolated joint failures due to the relative unimportance of the area hit. The possibilities of what could have been, however, are frightening indeed...
Scrapmetal blade still quivering in his side, Thanatos rushes to the counterattack. In an instant he has directed his vehicle to begin to attempt to unseat its passenger. With the sheer mobility and range of speeds available to the motorcycle, it would seem that Rune is in for a terminally short ride.
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Rune
Junior Member
Posts: 186
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Post by Rune on May 4, 2005 20:34:04 GMT -5
Rune removes his cloak as the bike wildly maneuvers, and folds it up in his hand. As the motorcycle makes an unexpected turn, he is thrown from it. Flying towards the ground, Rune places the cloak under his knees, and tucks his chin into his chest. He hits the ground on his knees, the cloak fairly protecting them from the impact, and is then thrown into subsequent rolls. As he finally comes to a stop, he jumps up. He stands there, eyeing Thanatos. His resilient suit is tattered in a few places, and there is evidence of blood showing through it on his chest and legs. His right, unprotected arm is a long mess of ground and scrapes, but he is, altogether, lucky.
Rune rushes Thanatos, listening intently for the sound of the enemy's motorcycle, making sure to be aware so as not to meet an instant mechanical demise.
As he approaches his adversary, Rune leaps from the ground, spinning horizontally as he delivers what should be a devestating drop-kick, even to the android...
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Kimato
Full Member
the greatest thing you will ever learn is just to love and be loved in return
Posts: 276
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Post by Kimato on May 4, 2005 21:28:06 GMT -5
Kimato twists almost fully around in her seat behind Dimitri, watching in horror as Thanatos is attacked by a stranger who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Staring wide-eyed, Kimato gasps as the man leaps from his vehicle onto Thanatos'...and is horrified when he actually survives the jump. Moments later, she bites her lip to keep from crying out as she sees the attacker aim a devastating kick at Thanatos.
Turning back to Dimitri, she yells to be heard over the racket of the cycle.
"Do you think we should assist our...leader?"
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Post by Thanatos on May 5, 2005 17:44:59 GMT -5
Thanatos impassively watches his opponent's drop from the motorcycle, one hand almost absently pulling the scrapmetal blade from his side. As Thanatos' adversary begins his lightning run, the android idly casts the strange blade high into the air, evidently to be reclaimed by Rune. It is this type of combat above all else that Thanatos relishes; a fight between two warriors on an equal playing field in which more than enough seconds are allotted to allow for a detailed analysis of the opposition's strengths and weaknesses.
As his antagonist begins the deadly dropkick, Thanatos moves seamlessly into a defensive position, cane sword readied in one hand while the other hand guards his head and torso. Last-instant calculations flash through the android's head as the distance between combatants grows smaller and smaller, taking even this dangerous space of time to search for possible weaknesses to exploit.
And then there is impact. The would-be assassin's foot slams into Thanatos' guarding hand with a force comparable to a fully loaded truck. Despite the strength of the alloy that Thanatos' body consists of, sensors still register a truly immense amount of strain placed on the hand as the power of the kick pushes the android's heavy body backwards. Thanatos makes one quick slash at his opponent's raised leg before he is pushed entirely out of range, the fury behind the attack he has fallen victim to almost knocking him over.
Even after the momentum of the kick has ceased, Thanatos continues to move backwards at a rapid pace. His visor concentrates on his enemy as his free hand stealthily reaches into the depths of his overcoat, locating and throwing a razor-edged dagger in the same graceful movement. At the same time he directs his vehicle to turn about and accelerate towards his adversary's back. The speed of these two attacks makes their effects quite potent, especially for a human opponent that already seems considerably battered.
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Dimitri
Full Member
Listen to the wind blow, Down comes the night. Break the silence, d**n the dark, d**n the light...
Posts: 235
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Post by Dimitri on May 5, 2005 21:54:51 GMT -5
As Dimitri hears Kimato's faint words, he fights a strong impulse to help the stranger.
But If I help him kill the Tinman, He'll come after the others...
Dimitri quickly revs the bike"s engine and heads off full speed at the attacker. As he get's closer to him, Dimitri takes both hands off the the handelbars and draws his gun. He quickly draws a target on Thanatos's opponent andbegins to fires a shot toward his head, but the bike's front wheel hits a unforseen pothole in the ground. Dimitri's gun fires wildly, while he and Kimato are thrown from the bike.
Spit and hades! Dimitri thinks angrily as he hits the hard ground. Quickly getting up, he calls to his former passenger.
"Kimato, are you okay?!"
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Rune
Junior Member
Posts: 186
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Post by Rune on May 6, 2005 15:00:11 GMT -5
As Rune's devestating drop-kick hurls Thanatos backwards, Thanatos issues a wildly thrown attack, which leaves a thin trail of blood on Rune's leg. Rune falls to the ground, unable to land his technique. As he hits the ground, he rolls to the side, expecting an attack from Thanatos. A dagger buries itself in his arm, and Thanatos' bike passess mere feet by his head. He rolls backwards and stands up. A gunshot is heard, and, looking around, he notices that two others have joined the fray.
He curses.
Lifting both hands into the air in the sign of surrender, he watches as Thanatos' bike heads straight towards him. The dagger is still buried in his arm as the approaching machination bears down on him, growing closer and closer. He closes his eyes and waits for the inevitable, hands still held in the air.
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Post by Thanatos on May 6, 2005 17:44:07 GMT -5
As Rune raises his hands in a universal gesture of surrender, Thanatos gradually lowers the third throwing dagger that had been poised and ready. At the same time the android directs his vehicle to cease its attempts at manslaughter, causing the motorcycle to quite literally stop on a dime less than a meter from his resigned adversary.
This done, Thanatos begins a purposeful stride in the direction of his recent foe, speaking as he does so. The voice that issues forth from his colorless lips is cold and quiet, yet nevertheless heard in crystal clarity.
"Explain your purpose immediately. It would not be intelligent to slay you--you show a mastery of advanced combat technique, one which can be analyzed and benefited from with time."
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Rune
Junior Member
Posts: 186
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Post by Rune on May 6, 2005 18:24:12 GMT -5
Rune looks up, calmly staring down the man who had just 'defeated' him.
"You have a price on your head, Thanatos, and it's worth more than money. I lose something if I let you live; however, I see that I cannot kill you... now. It seems I am between a rock and... an android." Rune's face shows no contempt, only cynicism, and biting sarcasm.
"Considering you most likely won't give me your head on a silver platter, and I can't go back without that morsel... I have no options left. Tell me, Machine, what should I do?" Still that look of sarcastic expectation.
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