The Glitch IV - Inversion (Ch. 1)

[Dark Silver]

The Dark Rogue watched as the flashing man rushed through his warriors, and towards him. There was still much room between them, and the ground became conjested with dozens of Errors that rose up, in Thog's path.

It had been along time since Sedin had a real challenge in a enemy, and the temporarily powered half-giant would be a good workout.

Fortunatly, Sedin also knew the power up was temporary. While Thog would have his invulnerability, speed and strength for a few minutes, Sedin only needed to wait it out, and strike him down.

Fireballs thrown by Matthew ripped apart Errors and smacked into a Wahammer as the wall of flames died out, but the hail of hammers continued once more. A moment later, a cloud of dust rose up with a thud, as Yuffie hit the ground, hard, her body bleeding in various places. The Dewmthrowa landed behind the Wahammers, adding his own weapon to the mix.

[Agent Fisher]

Jack swung his sword again, hitting another error. Damn things where everywhere.

He looked over for a second and saw Matthew throwing fireballs.

He paid for his lack of concentration when an error hit him. His shield took most of the hit but it knocked him back. Jack jabbed with his sword at the error.

[SirNitram]

Albert didn't even slow down for the errors, letting the star power.. However temporary.. Deal with them. He was focusing on the rider. There was enough distance that he simply needed to ride a little to get out of range before the star ran out. It was clear, from the summoned underlings, that was the plan.

Albert, of course, knew all this. This was why he hefted one of his own throwing hammers and hurled it. It carried a spark of the power coursing through him, and more importantly, a whole lot of momentum as it sailed through the air.

[Charon]

Matthew was still grinning as he released another wave of fireballs. He felt as though he were a god now. He jumped to the side as a hammer flew towards him and sent a barrage of fireballs at the Warhammer that had dared to attack this demi-god.

Then he saw it.

Yuffie, bleeding, suffering, unconscious.

Flames seemed to burst around Matthew, his eyes filled with fire as he turned to look back at the creatures, there, behind the warhammers was the creature that had done it. Matthew took a step forward, the grass around him dying and then bursting to flames under the heat, the cart itself began to smoke. An intrepid Warhammer took the opportunity to fire another hammer at Matthew, with a growl he launched his hand forward, the fireball released melting the hammer to sludge as it flew over his shoulder. He released another wave of fireballs, the errors themselves could no longer get close to Matthew, the heat of the fires pushing them away as a barrage of fireballs rained down on the Warhammers.

His target was behind them, they would not stand in his way.

[Dark Silver]

The hammer sailed through the air, straight and true. Unfortunatly, that is exactly what it did, fly straight.

Sedin's worg leaped into the air at the Rider's behest, even as the Dark Rogue leapt off it's back. The animal gave it's life for it's master, even as a throwing dagger flew from the Rogue's hand towards the glowing half-giant.



Elsewhere, in the battlefield, while the group was being bombarded, more and more Errors continued to rise up, leaping out at the humans, like a black wave of bodies..

One new group finally made it's appearence near Leah and auron, a multitude of them, far more than Leah and Sheik could hope to take out.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Justin called down another lighting bolt on the Dewmthrowa attacking ted, before turning his wrath to the other nasty foes. His fingers wove in intricate patterns, and out of nowhere, massive shards of ice began crashing down on the Warhammers and Dewmthrowa. Maye he would get lucky and Mario-kill one with a shard of ice

[LadyTevar]

Leandra barely had time to breathe, just trying to throw out as many spells as she could as fast as she could. The Refresh Rate for her spells was annoying at times.

She noticed a swarm of the little gremlin-type monsters heading for Auron and Sheik, and had to think of something fast to protect them or kill the gremlins. She had little time....

"Mother Goddess, show these vermin your wrath!" she chanted, twisting a spell of healing into damage and casting the Cause Wounds spell into the mob of BitErrors.

[SirNitram]

Damn. That was his last ranged weapon. No chance to count on star power; time to take this the normal way. At least he'd taken out the majority of the creatures. His warhammer was in his hands as he charged into battle, preparing to knock the opposition on his ass, using superior reach and strength.

"Surrender and maybe I don't kill you." Bellowed the half-giant, riding the tail of the star to increased speed and strength. "Cause you're clearly no more native to this game than they were, and the rules are in my favour."

[Charon]

Matthew continued to burn through errors and Warhammers alike as he slowly advanced upon the dewmthrowa that attempted to use them as a shield. Any Warhammer that got too close was barraged with fireballs until almost nothing but a shell remained, which then bounced up and dissappeared. He spoke no words, made no war cry, he simply stepped forward, destroying everything in his path.

[Dark Silver]

Sedin landed lightly on his feet, and drew his second saber as Thog rushed him. He remembered the big blue behemoth from when he spied on Darek, and from the battle in the clearing.

And now, he could get his chance to deal with him personally.

"That's were your wrong Thog..." Sedin said just loud enough for the half-giant to hear him, the saber coming down hard on the warhammer.

"I belong here just as much as you and Leandra....and Darek."

The steel plated boot came up at Thog's stomach as the Dark Rogue danced out of the way...

------ ------ ------

Leandra's spell caused the Error's to seem to scream in pain, thier black mass undualting in pain, before they righted themselves, and swarmed over the cleric, pushing her down, suffocating her.

Elsewhere, other Errors were doing the same rushing over the members of the group, far more than any could hope to handle on thier owns. Thier claws slashed armor and flesh, and pressed the group to the ground, till only Matthew and Albert were left unmolested.

[Agent Fisher]

Jack bashed an Error in the face with his shield as he hit another Error with his sword. He screamed in pain as an Error's claws ripped into his armor and into his arm. Another hit his leg.

[Rukia]

Rory was helping Ted fight of their own horde of Errors. The damn things were fast, but she was making headway. They bit and clawed into her flesh, but the adriniline was running high and for now she couldn't take time to deal with them. She just swung her sword and knocked the errors off.

[SirNitram]

"Thanks." Albert smirked as he took the blow, the fading power dampening it. "Too easy to get you idiots to cough up information." The half giant was fighting in a radically different manner than from the clearing; sweeping swings of his hammer used his reach in ways Thog would never have come up with.

[LadyTevar]

Leah screamed as she was pulled down, trying to break free, trying to hold enough concentration to speak another spell. It was no use, the sheer weight bore her to the ground, knocking the air from her lungs as she fell face-first into the grass and dirt.

Darek... you promised.... she thought, before a blow to the back of her head drove her into darkness.

[Agent Fisher]

Jack saw Leah go down. He took a step towards her, when his legs gave out from the claw slashes. He fell to his knees. He struggled to get back to his feet when he was tackled by an Error. He tried to get back up but he was basicly pinned under the weight of the Errors.

His last thoughts before falling into darkness was, 'If I live, I'm saying I told you so.'

[Charon]

Matthew heard yells behind him. He quickly looked back to see the others being swarmed by the small creatures. Reason flickered across his mind again. The group was being taken down, but Yuffie's assailant was almost in front of him now. Matthew yelled out and turned, firing a ball of fire towards the blackrider who was engaging Albert.

"Al! Get the others!"

Matthew turned back to face his opponents. Six more of the hammer weilders, four things weilding large boomerangs, and a black rider.

He'd faced worse odds.

Matthew burned the face off of a warhammer as it charged, the creature popped into the air and disappeared and Matthew ducked low as a hammer flew over his head.

[Rukia]

Rory looked over just as Leah was being attacked. "Nnnooooooooo!!" She screamed as Errors swarmed her as well, any chance she had of fighting them off to help her friend was being consumed by darkness "GOD DAMNIT DEREK! YOU FUCKING PROMISED HER!" She screamed at the top of her lungs knowing that he was around somewhere, watching. She fought till she couldn't move anymore they had her pinned and were slowly ripping her apart.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Justin fought vallantly. Desperatly trying to stay on his feet. His staff a whirling club of death, his lips and hands malestroms of fire, ice and lightning. The ground around him was soon erupting in fire, but it was not enough. They just kept coming, crawling over the bodies of their fallen comrades

His last spell, as they swarmed over him was one which made his skin as stone. They may not be able to penetrate it, but they were too many, and they pinned him to the ground and held fast his hands. He was done.

"Derek lied to her. Plain and simple" he said in response to Rory's scream

[Shark Bait]

Ted began focusing his energies carefully on the creatures attacking him and siv over several seconds he cast Iron maden on them as he was overwhelmed he hoped to bring some down with him.

[Dark Silver]

Matthew was distracted for a brief moment, and that was all that was needed.

With a speed thier mass and build would have left unthinkable, the Wahammers decided on the fire-flower powered paladin, hammers swinging. Matthew somehow managed to avoid two of them, before the other four smacked him. Armor buckled, groaned and shattered from the four blows, as the power of the flower left him.

One final blow from the hammer cracked Matthew in the face, knocking him back as Error's rushed to cover him in a sheet of blackness.


------ ------ ------

The Dark Rogue lifted a hand to the fireball, even as it struck him. The power was not of Zion, was greater than Zion, and thus it hurt him, alot. His armor melted slightly, as he staggered away from Albert's reach.

"I know Darek was your friend Thog. He told us all about you and Leandra when he finaly saw the light and joined us. He told us how he dreamed of taking her away from you, of founding a new settlement with her on the Southern Continent. Take her away from you. He said he loved her...."

The Rogue was still shaky from the fireball, but still dodged Albert's great swings, using his sabers to parry some of the blows.

"He was the one who decided to bring both of you here...your going to that tower because he called for you, didn't he? I can tell you Thog, he's only bringing all of you there so he can take Leandra for himself, and kill the rest of you. Your walking into a trap....and you've already lost everything."

Sedin ducked beneath one of Albert's swings, rushing in close to the man with a burst of speed, and let his dirk slide across the meat of the half-giant's right thigh. Blood welled up and spurted upwards, as the Rogue moved behind him.


"Stop fighting me, Thog, and I promise I won't let that happen. I'll help you gain the power you need to kill Darek...to keep Leandra for yourself. I can give you everything you desire...if you cooperate. I know you love Leandra...don't you big man?"

Sedin had moved out of Thog's range, standing with his dirk and saber pointed outward. Depending on the half-giant's next move, or his words, Sedin was ready to finish the battle. One way or another.

[Charon]

Matthew was amazed that he'd dodged the first attack, he'd considered it a miracle he'd dodged the second. Then the rest hit him. The white armor shattered, fading back to black as it scattered across the field that was teeming with bit errors. Coughing up blood the last thing Matthew saw was a giant hammer in his face. They hadn't needed the errors to cover him, Matthew was likely to be out for quite some time.

[SirNitram]

Albert was bleeding, but that, he realized, was okay. He was standing, the others weren't. He had to.. had to.. find a way to turn this around. He kept his hammer in one hand as the other snagged a potion. "You're forgetting something.." He said, very softly, as he uncorked it. "I've got the power of Gork and Mork."

It was insane. It was stupid. It depended on the battlecry earlier being indicative of a relation to 'Rules' that weren't Zions. Of course, he was now surrounded and outgunned. And the Wahammers were the right size, if not the colour...

Albert grew huge. He towered up, his rapidly increasing reach allowing him to hold Sedan for the precious seconds he needed. He bellowed a cry. "Hamma-Boyz! Smash dem Grotz and folla me! We'z gonna have ourselvez a WAAAAAAAGH!"

Hell, the Errors looked like Grots..

On the other hand, they made terrible last words.

[Dark Silver]

All at once, the Wahammer's looked towards the sounds of "Waaagh".

They hefted each a mammoth hammer, and hefted it on thier shoulders, and without ceremony, the hammers came down, hard, on the Error coated forms of Auron, Vash, Justin, Ted and Jack.

The blows were repeatedly, hard, resounding in the valley of the foothills, the entire time, the Wahammer's were picking up the waaagh cry.

After three minutes of the beating the five immobile forms to a bloody pulp, they hefted thier hammers, and rushed towards the Dark Rogue and the half-giant.

Sedin was backed away from Thog during all this, the half giant's superior reach kept them seperate. The ground was rumbling, as the six Wahammer's rushed and surronded Sedin from behind, thier stance and look in their eyes seemed to be utter malevolence.

The Dewmthrowas were nowhere to be seen in the group, but Sedin could feel the Wahammer's up behind him, when he looked straight at Thog, smirked beneath the dark cowl, and hefted to his full height.

"You know..." he said, bringing his saber and dirk up, "Their not Orks....thier Nulls...which means Mork...and Gork...mean exactly two things to them....Jack and Shit. And Jack just left Zion...."

At the same time, all six Wahammers looked from Sedin, directly to Thog, raised their hammers, and hurled them with full force, as the Half Giant.

[SirNitram]

The colossus looked down at the horde before him. That was it. They had been terrible last words.

"Well," He said aloud. "At least no one heard me fuck up that badly." Was all he got out before the rain of hammers smashed into him.

[Dark Silver]

The half-giant dropped like a rock, and the hammers fell in a semi-circle around him.

The Dark Rogue smirked, as the other Rider approached, "That was to easy Sedin...." the Rider said softly.

"Much easier, Thalian, than disposing the threat. Darek."

Thalian smirked, looking down at the half giant, and over to the battlefield, where the Errors were swarming over the various bodies. Two they left alone completely, so damaged, with no vital signs, they were assuredly dead. The Errors were very good at telling dead from living.

"You are a fool Sedin....once we bring these prisoners to the tower, and contact our Mistress....then we will dispose of Darek, permanantly..."


"NULL!" Sedin called out, turning from Thog, as one of the Wahammers picked the half-giant up, and tossing him over the shoulder, "Gather up our prizes. We will teleport to the fort."

The Errors lifted the now bound forms of Yuffie, Sheik, Ted, Justin, Matthew, Jack, Leah and Rory up above them, as Thalian opened a black portal. They filed into the portal, and disappeared.

------ ------ ------ ------

Hours had passed, when Vash finally sat up, looking over towards the prone form of Auron.

"Man...that was rough...Auron, you ok?"

The samuri's eye opened a crack, and he stared at the late afternoon sky, "Yes, I am fine. We must get to that tower."

------ ------ ------ ------

They were settled in a room, high in the north western tower. Stripped of thier weapons and armor, thier abilities locked by spells which would take a supremely powerful archmagus to strip, the entire group was laid out on mats.

Most of thier wounds were healed, though the dirt of the road, and blood from the battle still marred their clothing and flesh. Darek stood by the door, quietly, watching every one of them.

The Goblin woman was unexpected, he didn't know who it was. Must have been one of Adena's additions to the list. Darek didn't like it, what happened, but he was powerless to stop it. He had ordered the others away, so the group would have a clear path. They disobeyed, and now...

He was only glad Sedin and Thalian had not caused any irrepairable harm.

He strode through the cots, which he knew were designed for comfort, as he looked over each of them. He recognized some of them from the battle in the grove, others from the town. He recognized each one from the clearing when Vash had chased him off.

He stopped when he came to Leandra, his fingrs barely brushing over her forehead. He had a look of sadness on his face the entire time, he hoped she didn't blame him for this.

But at the same time, he knew it was a foolish hope. They came here because he told them it was safe.

He leaned down, and placed a soft kiss to her forehead, his thumb stroking her right cheek lightly, as he whispered to her, "Time to wake up beautiful..."