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| Inner Warfare | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 2 2010, 11:51 PM (175 Views) | |
| BurningBright | Jun 2 2010, 11:51 PM Post #1 |
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Charlie was hiding-over his shoulder, he could hear the figure approaching, but he didn't dare look-seeing him just once was terrible enough. This...thing...he was obviously not human. And he seemed to radiate evil. Vessel was that figure. The landscape was...frightening. Vessel had made this place his own-they were in Charlie's own thoughts. And there was a battle going on in here, while the "real" Charlie/Vessel hovered above the city in the clouds. Charlie made a mad dash for the nearest structure, which may have been a building once-now it was just a blackened wall. As he got nearer the wall, it turned pitch black and melted. Yes, melted. Charlie looked back, letting loose a pathetic sounding whimper as he ran on ahead, terrified of the figure slowly approaching. Vessel only walked. |
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| BurningBright | Jun 4 2010, 12:37 AM Post #2 |
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"Please let me out!" "Out? Silly boy...you can't get out. You're stuck with me til I say otherwise." Charlie could do nothing but sob. He hadn't managed to escape Vessel. Even though all the terrifying entity ever did was walk, he always seemed to be just a few steps away. And then...well...Vessel made it quite clear who was in charge here in Charlie's mind. Poor Charlie was weak. There was absolutely no willpower to the boy-unfortunate, for him. He was in a dungeon now. On his wrists, there were chains made of-and it made Charlie gag to think about it-flesh. The shadows near him seemed to move and dance and sway with his breathing, and with his choked cries. He couldn't help but wonder what exactly he'd done to deserve this. The answer would be spoken to him as Vessel melted out from the shadows. "It was fate, boy." |
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| BurningBright | Jun 5 2010, 12:01 PM Post #3 |
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How long had it been? Days? Weeks? Years? Minutes? It was impossible to tell. Time didn't seem to have meaning here. Charlie just hung there, seemingly forever. Occasionally, he would try to fight his way out of his flesh chains...but it was like he was trying to rip someone's arm in half with his bare hands. There was no escape. And Vessel...he was always there. Watching, waiting...waiting for what? For something. He was waiting for something. Charlie just didn't know. How could he know, he had been stuck here forever and ever. No...that's not true. I used to be happy. Out in the real world. "There is no "real" world, Charlie. This is your world now." Charlie looked past Vessel, into the shadows-they seemed so inviting...so kind. Strange, that shadows would be kind, but these were, and without even using words. Vessel looked over his shoulder, following Charlie's line of sight. "This whole experience will probably go by easier if you just...wait...stop that!" The shadows underneath Charlie expanded, and a few solid tendrils of shadow wrapped themselves around him. There was a burst of black smoke, and then Charlie was behind Vessel. He ran. But he didn't just run, he teleported too-Vessel still walked. |
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| BurningBright | Jun 5 2010, 12:08 PM Post #4 |
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The wall over Charlie's head exploded. This fight had been going on for days. Ever since Charlie escaped his prison, he had been running, sometimes fighting. The fights were never short. Neither he nor Vessel ever seemed to get tired. They both just kept throwing things at each other. Charlie would try to choke Vessel with shadows-Vessel would respond by pointing at an object and making it detonate. He never tried it on Charlie, for some strange reason, but regardless, it hurt when he got some good hits in. He once hit the wall behind Charlie and Charlie got caught in the blast-fortunately, wounds didn't seem to mean the same here. When hurt, his shadows would get weaker. When Vessel got hurt, his detonations got weaker. This particular fight had been extraordinarily long. Charlie had taken refuge in the remains of a gutted house, and kept the fight going by teleporting to adjoining houses when he needed a safe place. The small ghost town he had discovered here was wrecked. For Charlie, it was unbearable. He didn't get a chance to rest-ever. Vessel, however, didn't seem to mind not resting. No matter how Charlie looked at it, Vessel always held the advantage. Charlie had been crying without even noticing. He shot two sharpened tendrils of shadow at Vessel, striking him in either side of the chest-and then the wall next to Charlie exploded, and his shadows faded. Charlie ran. |
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| BurningBright | Jun 5 2010, 12:13 PM Post #5 |
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Charlie had learned some tricks. He could surround his lower portion in shadow, then push the mass of shadow along, like some kind of tank-except this was much faster than a tank. This was his preferred method of movement by now-teleporting worked, but it was unpredictable, as Charlie had discovered when he accidentally teleported twelve feet above where he meant to. The result was a painful crash to the ground as Vessel continued to walk towards him. He had learned some new offensive strategies as well. He could hold someone still with his shadows, skewer them with shadow, he had even crushed Vessel with shadow. Not that Charlie could actually win in this place-every victory just meant he had earned the right to run again. Even so, the fact that he COULD fight back was comforting to him, even though he had long ago accepted the futility of his actions. "Yet you still fight. Why?" |
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| BurningBright | Jun 5 2010, 12:22 PM Post #6 |
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| BurningBright | Jun 5 2010, 12:27 PM Post #7 |
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| BurningBright | Jun 5 2010, 12:35 PM Post #8 |
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This place seemed familiar. Horribly familiar. It was Charlie's old home. But it was wrong. It wasn't made out of wood and bricks and stone and metal. It was made out of flesh and bone and skin and viscera. The building seemed to pulsate, as if it were alive. That was silly. Charlie climbed into his old bed, and pulled the blanket of skin up to his chin. The maggots in the rotting flesh beneath him felt nice against his skin. Maybe he could actually sleep. He closed his eyes-and when he opened them, Vessel was standing over him, looking down. Charlie shot his shadows out, pierced Vessel through both eyes, shot a shadow down his throat, pulled on his arms and legs, and lifted Vessel into the air. Charlie held him there for a second, and then pulled. He ripped Vessel apart. Charlie cheered and whooped and hollered-this was his best win yet! He closed his eyes-and when he opened them, Vessel was standing over him, looking down. Charlie cried out and turned to run, but the skin blanket of the bed constricted him and held him down. Vessel reached down with his grotesque hand and touched Charlie's head- And suddenly, Charlie was falling through the clouds. He screamed on his way down, both from the fall and the sudden realization that he was out-the sky was blue here. There was a sun. He was home. The shadows would reach up to catch Charlie, and would lower him to the ground gently. He stood up, finally free of the chase from Vessel, and looked around. Things were green and blue and alive. He finally had escaped. |
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9:34 AM Jul 11