Megaxatron
02-21-2011, 04:12 AM
Prequel.
Bored.
Sitting in his white throne above the mortal world, he was bored. Prayers come and go, a million every time he blinks. He had given up answering them long ago, now he stopped even listening.
Some of his more perceptive creations would notice the fissure in the clouds. He didn't care, he just felt like watching for the moment, giving them one last chance to amuse him. They failed.
He killed one of their leaders, The mortals' essence returned to him. He watched war erupt across his planet, might as well make their end entertaining. Three were left, they were the winners.
But his arena was broken.
He started a new game.
Games.
He woke up with dirt in his mouth, the metallic flavour welcome after so much......nothing. What was his name? Hercules? That didn't seem right, like someone had renamed him, but that was all that would come to him, so it would do.
Hercules saw two others in the ground around him, both naked, both male, for some reason this perplexed him, it seemed morally wrong that these were the only people he could find, it seemed..... like this meant soon there would be nothing.
The others awoke, and the three of them introduced themselves all looking unsure as they did. Eventually the three decided it was time to find out where they were, this place was familiar to none of them, and so it was seen as a neccessity that the trio of Hercules, Aristotle and Icarus travel together until they find out what happened.
He looked down on his champions, renamed after those who had come close to impressing him before, even with the outlook divine power brought, Dave, Joe and James wern't acceptable names for the winners of his game.
Wandering through the woods had done nothing to answer any questions they had, but there was nothing else to do, so they kept on walking, on and on hoping to find something to help them.
It hadn't occurred to Hercules until now, but they needed clothes, sure, it was hot at the moment but surely when night came it would be cold.
He was wrong, they had failed to find clothes but it didn't matter, night was reluctant to rear its' familiar head, something was very wrong. Hercules remembered having night and day come in cycles according to the sun, whose existence he now doubted, in the sky was not the orange orb he remembered, light came from everywhere, like they were in the middle of some giant furnace. All of this should be distressing him, causing him to panic, cry, shout, or feel something other than a sense of change. He thought he wanted to feel, but didn't know what it felt like to want.
Their progress was painfully slow, how they had survived the last game was starting to become a mystery. Still too much of their human mind was left, they were trying to feel. This was unexpected.
Finally they cleared the seemingly impregnable tree line and emerged into a world now very obviously different from the one in the fading memories that still remained. All of them had memories of great, green expanses ,of what, they had forgotten, but what lay before them was red, red all around. The lack of trees in this area combined with the fact that light came from everywhere meant there were no shadows, and the landscape was two dimensional as far as any of them could tell.
Out of the ground rose great hulking humanoids, but only in the vaguest sense of the word. The trio looked on without emotion, only curiosity at the humongous beings that had the same lack of depth as their surroundings, slowly the creatures realised they were being watched, they turned their bodies to the creatures a quarter of their size, the human's' eyes couldn't handle the thought of something with no apparent sides turning, and so the bulbous muscles of the monster's' blue backs changed instantly to the smooth green of their chests, The humans' eyes had refused to even try to see the process that resulted in this, and had chosen instead to blind their owners while it happened.
All Hercules knew right now was to run, Aristotle and Icarus were next to him, but he had no time to think of their fate, he had only time to know he had to keep running. In it's self this was a challenge, everytime he took a step his brain would block out every blade of the red plant underneath him, because nothing without a shadow should move like that. It was like this he made his way across the maroon plane, black and red filling his view, replacing eachother with a steady rhythm. Behind him was the reason he ran, the creatures had instantly filled with bloodlust at the sight of the humans, more had appeared behind the group, blocking their escape back into the jungle, so their only option was to head for where the trees began again, all the way across this red, two dimensional, wasteland.
He looked down at his new arena with joy, the game was starting to get interesting. He wondered if his champions could see the irony of their sight. The shadows, which all of humankind had seemed to be afraid were hiding unimaginable horrors, were in fact what they needed to see. His new creations had no such problem, and should prove to be a vast improvement over his last invention.
Insectoid mandibles snapped at the feet of Icarus before finally getting a hold of his torso and eviscerating the naked mans' body. Hercules and Aristotle saw this happen in just three pictures, as this was all their minds would allow while they ran. Icarus' death occupied the monsters long enough for the last two humans to make it into the trees, their sanctuary.
The peace they experienced was shortlived, they had moved further into the forest and could see clearly again, but at the edge of the forest, where the depth removing light began the creatures could be seen, stalking the threshold, talking in clicks, that despite all logic managed to find their way to Hercules and Icarus' ears. They seemed to be unsure as to what to do, debating with eachother. Hercules couldn't tell if these creatures were feeling anything, as it was hard for the multifaceted eyes of a fly and the mandibles of a grasshopper to convey any kind of emotion. They seemed to have reached a decision.
Limbs clicked to impossible angles and grew in reverse, blue skin cracked and then sprayed green blood and bone into the air, only to have the affected body part knit itself back together at a more pleasing degree of discomfort, then in one last burst of metamorphisis all of the creatures in sight had their entire head save the mandibles turn liquid , and shrink down to a size of better proportion to their new bodies, they chased their prizes.
Hercules watched their predators disappear as they entered the lightless part of the forest. This time he had no desire to run, just an overwhelming urge to fight, and win. Apparently Aristotle was of the same inclination, so together they prepared, make shift spears were created out of wood and rock, tied together with some unknown form of vine, now they waited, silent except for their shallow breaths.
They were beneath bushes where the little light left in the forest would not betray their presence. A snap, they froze, not breathing anymore. A conversation of clicks, more steps continuing past their hiding place, they pounced. Hercules drove the point of his spear up through the chin of the blue and green beast which had become roughly his size. Adrenaline took over, together Hercules and Aristotle decimated the alien force, soon the fight was a blur of turquoise blood and insect jaws flying through the air. Breathing heavily Hercules waited for the next round, after several minutes he realised it wasn't coming. Where was Aristotle?
On the ground lay the second to last human alive, the same as when Hercules had first seen him, the only difference was the excess red covering his body.... and the lack of breathing.
He cheered for Hercules, who had won back his memories, and knowledge of his remaining challenge.
Images flooded Hercules mind, names of people he used to know returned, pictures of the blue and green planet he knew as Earth. And a voice.
Hercules, you have won the first part of this game, there is only one more thing you must do. First, know this, You will never require food or water, time will not age you or cause you death, however, the inhabitants of this planet can and will try, at every opportunity.
Hercules realised why it had felt so wrong when he had seen Aristotle and Icarus on the ground around him when he first woke up, how was the human race meant to survive with no woman. This question had been answered, and still he puzzled over why he couldn't feel anything.
Your lack of emotion is a gift from me, without emotion you are better equppied to survive this place, which brings me to your final challenge, if you can outlast the inhabitants of this planet you will be rewarded with a throne next to mine, and power to match.
It dawned on Hercules who he must be talking to, and mysteries of his past life were answered. Sasquatch, The Loch Ness Monster, Vampires, Werewolves, all the winners of the first part of this higher powers' game, driven into hiding by the bloodlust humanity felt towards them, another challenge this god had put down for them. Some of them had tried to dominate the human race, while others had attempted to wait them out. Now Hercules understood what had driven those creatures to attack him.
I offer you one more piece of knowledge. This is the greatest disadvantage I have ever put on the challenger of one of my games. Do with that what you will.
Hercules knew he would live the rest of this planets' life out alone, lest he be destroyed and lose the game. This was not an option. He wanted his emotions back, somehow he knew this was what it was like to want.
He was puzzled that his last champion had managed to regain emotion, oh well, if he insisted on feeling his loneliness, it would be all the more entertaining. He spoke to Hercules once more.
I do so hope you win. It's lonely up here.
Bored.
Sitting in his white throne above the mortal world, he was bored. Prayers come and go, a million every time he blinks. He had given up answering them long ago, now he stopped even listening.
Some of his more perceptive creations would notice the fissure in the clouds. He didn't care, he just felt like watching for the moment, giving them one last chance to amuse him. They failed.
He killed one of their leaders, The mortals' essence returned to him. He watched war erupt across his planet, might as well make their end entertaining. Three were left, they were the winners.
But his arena was broken.
He started a new game.
Games.
He woke up with dirt in his mouth, the metallic flavour welcome after so much......nothing. What was his name? Hercules? That didn't seem right, like someone had renamed him, but that was all that would come to him, so it would do.
Hercules saw two others in the ground around him, both naked, both male, for some reason this perplexed him, it seemed morally wrong that these were the only people he could find, it seemed..... like this meant soon there would be nothing.
The others awoke, and the three of them introduced themselves all looking unsure as they did. Eventually the three decided it was time to find out where they were, this place was familiar to none of them, and so it was seen as a neccessity that the trio of Hercules, Aristotle and Icarus travel together until they find out what happened.
He looked down on his champions, renamed after those who had come close to impressing him before, even with the outlook divine power brought, Dave, Joe and James wern't acceptable names for the winners of his game.
Wandering through the woods had done nothing to answer any questions they had, but there was nothing else to do, so they kept on walking, on and on hoping to find something to help them.
It hadn't occurred to Hercules until now, but they needed clothes, sure, it was hot at the moment but surely when night came it would be cold.
He was wrong, they had failed to find clothes but it didn't matter, night was reluctant to rear its' familiar head, something was very wrong. Hercules remembered having night and day come in cycles according to the sun, whose existence he now doubted, in the sky was not the orange orb he remembered, light came from everywhere, like they were in the middle of some giant furnace. All of this should be distressing him, causing him to panic, cry, shout, or feel something other than a sense of change. He thought he wanted to feel, but didn't know what it felt like to want.
Their progress was painfully slow, how they had survived the last game was starting to become a mystery. Still too much of their human mind was left, they were trying to feel. This was unexpected.
Finally they cleared the seemingly impregnable tree line and emerged into a world now very obviously different from the one in the fading memories that still remained. All of them had memories of great, green expanses ,of what, they had forgotten, but what lay before them was red, red all around. The lack of trees in this area combined with the fact that light came from everywhere meant there were no shadows, and the landscape was two dimensional as far as any of them could tell.
Out of the ground rose great hulking humanoids, but only in the vaguest sense of the word. The trio looked on without emotion, only curiosity at the humongous beings that had the same lack of depth as their surroundings, slowly the creatures realised they were being watched, they turned their bodies to the creatures a quarter of their size, the human's' eyes couldn't handle the thought of something with no apparent sides turning, and so the bulbous muscles of the monster's' blue backs changed instantly to the smooth green of their chests, The humans' eyes had refused to even try to see the process that resulted in this, and had chosen instead to blind their owners while it happened.
All Hercules knew right now was to run, Aristotle and Icarus were next to him, but he had no time to think of their fate, he had only time to know he had to keep running. In it's self this was a challenge, everytime he took a step his brain would block out every blade of the red plant underneath him, because nothing without a shadow should move like that. It was like this he made his way across the maroon plane, black and red filling his view, replacing eachother with a steady rhythm. Behind him was the reason he ran, the creatures had instantly filled with bloodlust at the sight of the humans, more had appeared behind the group, blocking their escape back into the jungle, so their only option was to head for where the trees began again, all the way across this red, two dimensional, wasteland.
He looked down at his new arena with joy, the game was starting to get interesting. He wondered if his champions could see the irony of their sight. The shadows, which all of humankind had seemed to be afraid were hiding unimaginable horrors, were in fact what they needed to see. His new creations had no such problem, and should prove to be a vast improvement over his last invention.
Insectoid mandibles snapped at the feet of Icarus before finally getting a hold of his torso and eviscerating the naked mans' body. Hercules and Aristotle saw this happen in just three pictures, as this was all their minds would allow while they ran. Icarus' death occupied the monsters long enough for the last two humans to make it into the trees, their sanctuary.
The peace they experienced was shortlived, they had moved further into the forest and could see clearly again, but at the edge of the forest, where the depth removing light began the creatures could be seen, stalking the threshold, talking in clicks, that despite all logic managed to find their way to Hercules and Icarus' ears. They seemed to be unsure as to what to do, debating with eachother. Hercules couldn't tell if these creatures were feeling anything, as it was hard for the multifaceted eyes of a fly and the mandibles of a grasshopper to convey any kind of emotion. They seemed to have reached a decision.
Limbs clicked to impossible angles and grew in reverse, blue skin cracked and then sprayed green blood and bone into the air, only to have the affected body part knit itself back together at a more pleasing degree of discomfort, then in one last burst of metamorphisis all of the creatures in sight had their entire head save the mandibles turn liquid , and shrink down to a size of better proportion to their new bodies, they chased their prizes.
Hercules watched their predators disappear as they entered the lightless part of the forest. This time he had no desire to run, just an overwhelming urge to fight, and win. Apparently Aristotle was of the same inclination, so together they prepared, make shift spears were created out of wood and rock, tied together with some unknown form of vine, now they waited, silent except for their shallow breaths.
They were beneath bushes where the little light left in the forest would not betray their presence. A snap, they froze, not breathing anymore. A conversation of clicks, more steps continuing past their hiding place, they pounced. Hercules drove the point of his spear up through the chin of the blue and green beast which had become roughly his size. Adrenaline took over, together Hercules and Aristotle decimated the alien force, soon the fight was a blur of turquoise blood and insect jaws flying through the air. Breathing heavily Hercules waited for the next round, after several minutes he realised it wasn't coming. Where was Aristotle?
On the ground lay the second to last human alive, the same as when Hercules had first seen him, the only difference was the excess red covering his body.... and the lack of breathing.
He cheered for Hercules, who had won back his memories, and knowledge of his remaining challenge.
Images flooded Hercules mind, names of people he used to know returned, pictures of the blue and green planet he knew as Earth. And a voice.
Hercules, you have won the first part of this game, there is only one more thing you must do. First, know this, You will never require food or water, time will not age you or cause you death, however, the inhabitants of this planet can and will try, at every opportunity.
Hercules realised why it had felt so wrong when he had seen Aristotle and Icarus on the ground around him when he first woke up, how was the human race meant to survive with no woman. This question had been answered, and still he puzzled over why he couldn't feel anything.
Your lack of emotion is a gift from me, without emotion you are better equppied to survive this place, which brings me to your final challenge, if you can outlast the inhabitants of this planet you will be rewarded with a throne next to mine, and power to match.
It dawned on Hercules who he must be talking to, and mysteries of his past life were answered. Sasquatch, The Loch Ness Monster, Vampires, Werewolves, all the winners of the first part of this higher powers' game, driven into hiding by the bloodlust humanity felt towards them, another challenge this god had put down for them. Some of them had tried to dominate the human race, while others had attempted to wait them out. Now Hercules understood what had driven those creatures to attack him.
I offer you one more piece of knowledge. This is the greatest disadvantage I have ever put on the challenger of one of my games. Do with that what you will.
Hercules knew he would live the rest of this planets' life out alone, lest he be destroyed and lose the game. This was not an option. He wanted his emotions back, somehow he knew this was what it was like to want.
He was puzzled that his last champion had managed to regain emotion, oh well, if he insisted on feeling his loneliness, it would be all the more entertaining. He spoke to Hercules once more.
I do so hope you win. It's lonely up here.