Another Front Part 4 - Tales of the Parodyverse

    “I still think this is a bad idea,” complained D’ur as the trio picked their way through the rubble of the city of S’igl. He tried not to be distracted by the naked green assassin in front of him, but they had agreed to watch each other’s backs after all.

    “You think everything is a bad idea,” pointed out Gary from the rear. He continually played his sensors over the immediate area even though he had discovered the Avawarriors had adapted to his scans and were invisible to them.

    “No, I think scouting things out and returning with a bunch of Flashlight back-up is a great idea,” contradicted the red-skinned Yellow Flashlight. “I think my vote should count triple since I don’t have a death wish like you two.”

    “The only death wish I have is for the Parody Master,” said Gamona from the front. With D’ur masking his power signature and Gary’s inability to track the Avawarriors, Gamona’s keen eyesight and tracking skills meant she was the only one who could reliably spot an Avawarrior patrol before it was too late.

    “So the fact that the PM destroyed a planet full of the most physically powerful beings in the universe while waiting for his toast to pop doesn’t faze you two at all?” asked D’ur incredulously. He had forgotten how much he hated walking since he had gained his Power Bracelet and the ability to fly and he was starting to get irritable.

    Gamona glanced back at her partners. “There is no joy in an easy kill.”

    “See Gary!” complained D’ur. “That’s why it was a bad idea to bring her along! She’s a wanted assassin who delights in the death of others!”

    “Gamona is the last of her people, as am I. The Parody Master destroyed Dark Thugos, the only family she has known since. She understands my pain.” Gary directed his next comment to Gamona. “But there is no joy in killing. What we do we do for vengeance, not pleasure.”

    “Same difference pal,” snorted D’ur. “And besides, it was Dark Thugos who killed her people! I can’t say I’m shedding any tears over the PM wiping him out, but c’mon, her only family is the guy who killed her entire race? That’s twisted on an epic scale.”

    D’ur found himself pinned against a rock by the green-skinned assassin. “You know nothing of me or Thugos, worm,” she spat. “Speak not of things you do not understand.”

    “Unhand him Gamona,” Gary commanded. He reached between the two and pushed them apart, though he was pretty sure Gamona had let him. “D’ur may be young, but he has proved simply by being here that he deserves our respect. A lesser being would have fled by now.”

    “And as long as he keeps his tongue in his mouth he may continue to do so,” conceded Gamona. She motioned for Gary and D’ur to stop. She pointed at her eyes and then indicated what she was looking at.

    “Avawarriors,” hissed Gamma Ray Gary.

    D’ur Acell laid a restraining hand on the Equinites chest. “Easy big guy,” he whispered. “You won’t get your shot at the Parody Master if you keep on charging headlong into battle with every armoured goon you see.”

    “He is right Gamma Ray Gary,” agreed Gamona quietly. “We must use stealth.”

    Gary stood there a few moments, forcing his rage away. Finally he opened his eyes and spoke. “Lead on then Gamona. I shall keep my temper in check.”

    “If I had known a green naked chick would’ve calmed him down I woulda sent out for one a long time ago,” D’ur whispered to himself as Gamona led them forward. “Shame I can’t afford Caphan rates.”

    “D’ur,” said Gary softly as he ignored his comrade’s comments, “can you use your Power Bracelet to link us mentally, letting us communicate with our thoughts?”

    D’ur shook his head. “No can do buddy. This little baby doesn’t affect anything that starts with the letter ‘G’. So mind-linking with Gamona and Gamma Ray Gary? Not going to happen.”

    “You two wait here, I will dispatch them,” Gamona hissed before disappearing into the shadows.

    “I so don’t think so.” D’ur dove after her, and not just because he was worried if he lost sight of her she could sneak up on him at any time and rip his throat out. She never said she wouldn’t remove his tongue from his mouth herself.

    “D’ur, wait!” Gary reached out and tried to stop the Yellow Flashlight, but he was too late.

    As Gamona snuck up on the first Avawarrior, D’ur couldn’t help but notice the machine they were working on. It was massive, casting a large shadow across the land, and Avawarriors hovered about as bees would their nest. He tried to figure out what it was for but he was distracted by the Avawarrior orienting his blaster on Gamona.

    “Look out!” he cried as he powered up, a yellow energy aura sheathing his body. A simple power blast took out the assailant.

    Gamona snapped the neck of her prey before whirling about on D’ur. “You fool!” she cursed him. “I knew he was there, I was trying to draw him away from the rest!”

    “Oh,” said D’ur sheepishly. “Whoops?”

    “Behind you!” shouted Gary as he hurled a massive boulder on top of the next Avawarrior. D’ur ducked to avoid getting squished by it himself. “We have no choice, we must do battle!”

    “I’m sure you’re real torn up about that,” muttered D’ur to himself as he took to the sky. All the Avawarriors had abandoned the machine and were moving into attack formations.

    “For Equin!” Gamma Ray Gary bellowed as he charged into a throng of Avawarriors. D’ur quickly lost sight of him under the pile of red armour.

    “Gary!” called D’ur as he watched his friend disappear under the scrum. He tried to fly to his comrade’s aid but found himself occupied dodging the molecule-thick blades of their enemies. He willed a large yellow flyswatter into existence and began to swat the Avapests away.

    Sparks flew as an Avasword almost cut through his protective energy sheath. D’ur spun and fired a power blast into the Avawarrior, sending it spinning away. The Avawarriors kept coming, and D’ur Acell was forced to spin rapidly firing short bursts of energy to keep them back.

    On the ground Gamona had seized up two discarded Avaswords and lashed the handles to a long stick. With an Avasword on either end she leaped into a throng of Avawarriors, her staff slicing neatly through any Avawarrior it came into contact with.

    Gary struggled beneath the scrum of Avawarriors. When he had his Ausgardian powers he could have handled such a number with relative ease, but his Equinite strength, even enhanced cybernetically, was proving lacking. In a pile up of this nature his warrior skill could not hope to match the Avawarriors brute strength.

    Gary fired his leg rockets, the Avawarrior clutching his leg falling away screeching at the sudden pain in his melted face. While he could not take to the air, the additional force was enough to work himself free to gain some small distance on the Avawarriors.

    “Come then creatures, and feel the wrath of Gamma Ray Gary!” cried the last son of Equin. He pulled Ljouis from its home against his thigh and brandished it at the swarm. Even without his powers Ljouis was still an indestructible weapon. With a nail in the end.

    The Avawarriors charged, and Gary fended their blows with Ljouis as best he could. He ignored the pain in his arm, then his side, then his leg, as his assailants scored blow after blow. He battled on.

    “Gary, duck!” shouted D’ur as he swooped down, forming a large yellow ram in front of him. Gary obeyed as D’ur slammed into the Avawarrior trying to take Gary from behind. The Yellow Flashlight touched down with his back to the Equinite’s.

    “We’re getting creamed here!” he shouted as he formed a forcefield around the two.

    “I hate to admit it, but he is right,” said Gamona from beside him.

    “Gah!” cried D’ur. “I don’t remember letting you in here!”

    “I am very sneaky,” she replied simply, checking the lashes still held on her staff while the Avawarriors pounded at the shield.

    “I can’t hold this for long,” warned D’ur, sweat forming on his brow. “Any time either of you comes up with a plan, I’m all ears.”

    “They have the superior numbers,” said Gamona, assessing their position.

    “Not necessarily,” said Gary. “Here is what we must do.” Gary quickly explained his plan to his partners.

    “Agreed,” said Gamona curtly after Gary finished his explanation.

    “If I die cause of this plan I’m so gonna haunt you,” warned the Yellow Flashlight.

    “On my mark!” commanded Gamma Ray Gary. “Now!”

    D’ur dispersed the field in a powerful explosion, knocking away the throng. Gary took off running as fast as he could towards the machine the Avawarriors were protecting. Gamona stood silently and waited for the enemy to come.

    “Here goes!” cried out D’ur as he focused his will. A full dozen energy constructs formed, all in the shape of a large, angry horse man. “Charge!”

    The Gary Constructs surged forward, engaging the Avawarriors. D’ur clutched his Bracelet hand with the other, struggling to direct the small army he had created. Whenever an Avawarrior got through, Gamona dispatched it before it could reach the Yellow Flashlight.

    “I…I can’t keep up! There…there’s too many!” D’ur said fearfully to Gamona. “I can’t control this many individual constructs!”

    “Then give control to me,” she said simply.

    “I can’t! My Power Bracelet won’t affect you.” Two of D’ur’s Gary constructs winked out of existence as they were overwhelmed.

    “Then create a physical control mechanism rather than a mental one, a remote control,” Gamona instructed him. “These are the specification I require.” Gamona quickly told D’ur what she needed.

    D’ur concentrated, and the wire mesh embedded in Gamona’s flesh glowed yellow. D’ur couldn’t affect Gamona herself, but he could affect the metal in her skin. The Gary constructs shrunk and slimmed until they took on the form of Gamona, though the assassin took note of the pants and halter top her duplicates were wearing. She shot D’ur a look.

    “What?” he replied. “Just take them out fast, I can’t keep this up for long.”

    “Very well,” she agreed. Gamona suddenly was a blur of motion. D’ur watched awestruck as Gamona focused on a specific duplicate, which mimicked her every move, before she chose another and directed that one. She was single-handedly fighting ten battles at once.

    D’ur gasped and fell to one knee, two more of his constructs blinking out. He hadn’t been kidding when he said he couldn’t hold on for long.

    Meanwhile, when Gary had charged the machine, a third of the Avawarrior force had followed him, as planned. Gary reached his goal and then turned to face the hordes of the Parody Master. “Come and have a go then,” he grinned evilly, a look made even more frightening when on the face of a large horse man, “if you aren’t worried about damaging your precious machine.”

    The Avawarriors hesitated, as Gary’s hunch had proven correct. The Avawarriors around Gary then all cocked their heads simultaneously as if listening to the same voice. They then turned and charged at D’ur Acell and Gamona.

    “No, stand and fight, cowards!” cried Gary. He was about to pursue them when a sonic boom knocked him back. Gary scrambled to his feet to see the cause of the shockwave, a powerful looking figure clad in yellow and red armour, a scarlet cloak trailing behind him as he landed on the uneven ground.

    “I rather think you will find yourself suitably occupied,” the new arrival informed Gamma Ray Gary.

    The Equinite hefted Ljouis and pointed it at the being. “I have dispatched the very Avatar of the Parody Master himself, how can you hope to defeat me in single combat?”

    “Yes, I heard about that,” admitted the being. “Very impressive. If I hadn’t been asked to slaughter you without mercy I would even consider taking you on as an apprentice.”

    “I have nothing to learn from one such as you,” spat Gary, trying not to be put off by the nonchalance of his enemy.

    “Oh, there might be a thing or two. Allow me to introduce myself.” Gary’s armoured foe gave a sweeping bow, taking up his cape in his hand. “I am Lord War, the interstellar god of, yup, you guessed it. The Parody Master has asked me to devote my personal attention to you, little one. It’s a great honour, really.”

    Lord War unsheathed the sword at his hip. “Now then, would you like me to kill you left handed or right?”

To be continued…

Post By Hatman Wed Nov 22, 2006 at 07:25:59 pm EST	Subject Another Front Part 4

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