- Issue #73 – Give Thanks
- Issue #74 – Bit Part Bad Guys
- Issue #75 – Kaiju for Christmas
- Issue #76 – Silicon Soul, Adamantine Will
- Issue #77 – Date Night
- Issue #78 – Delved Too Deep (Une Mascarade Brisée Part 1)
- Issue #79 – Tome of Secrets (Une Mascarade Brisée Part 2)
- Descendants Special #7 – The Curtain Rises
- Issue #80 – Bitter Work
- Issue #81 – Kin, Speed and Ducks
- Issue #82 – What To Do With Your Downtime
- Issue #83 – Avalon Rises
- Issue #84 – Darkness Falling
- Descendants Annual #7 – First Frost
Kaiju For Christmas (Part 4)
Majestrix was confident in her covering fire as the Queen’s Gambit finally set down on terra firma. The Live Metal robot and its unknown biological hitchhiker had predictably hunkered down in the crater in the face of withering fire.
Meanwhile, Zero Point had gone high, keeping out of the line of fire while surveying the situation from the sky. “Something weird’s going on down there.” He announced shortly. “Looks like it’s… melting.”
“Maybe its power source is running dry.” said Majestrix hopefully.
That hope died as Wrex rose from the crater, taking ponderous steps to pull itself out of the earthen trench. Black-red blisters had sprouted atop its head, shoulders and legs, clustering around every forward-facing bit of exposed flesh while still keeping the gun ports free. Where bullets struck blisters, they bounced off like they’d struck tank armor.
Zero Point said a few words he didn’t normally use around the house.
“It’s adapting to our attacks.” Majestrix said, then scowled at herself as she stopped firing. She sounded like an exposition character on television, saying what was clearly happening. More to sate her own intellect than anything else, she added, “I wish we had a biologist here, because engineering smarts aren’t going to tell us how to beat this.”
After a second’s thought, she remembered that she was still patched in to the ROCIC. “You wouldn’t happen to have a biologist around, would you, General?”
“The moment you said your scans picked up biological life, Majestrix.” General Pratt replied. “The Parks Service has rerouted three ecological survey drones to your location and as soon as their sensors are in range, we’re routing the data to three DARPA-participant universities. Just a warning though: we’re standing by to scramble fighters from Luke Air Force Base. Even if you’re unwilling to destroy it, we are if it moves to threaten populated areas.”
As if to punctuate the point, smoke trails belched out of the stuck missile pod on Wrex’s side as it fired the two missiles that still cleared the opening. Missile lock warnings began to sound inside the Queen’s Gambit‘s cockpit.
“I understand, General.” said Majestrix evenly. She didn’t flinch as a plane of blue force appeared ahead of the missiles just yards from Wrex, well within their arming distance. The weapons didn’t even explode, just smashed themselves into unhappy heaps against Zero Point’s wall.
Wrex let out a coughing grunt and opened fire with its own machine guns, peppering Zero Point, who had to move his wall to protect himself. Once the way was clear, it opened up on the Queen’s Gambit with its own machine guns.
Well protected by her mecha’s armor, Majestrix reached over and pulled over the cover to the missile fire controls, overlaying her center HUD with laser targeting reticules. Her fingers danced across the screen, laser-painting points all around Wrex. While she didn’t want to kill whatever it was, she wasn’t averse to injuring it until it was weakened enough to be captured. With one more tap of the screen, she confirmed her targets and fired.
The Queen’s Gambit rocked slightly backward while struts extended from the back of its legs to brace against the ground. While the walking tank’s gyroscopic balancing system could keep it standing while firing two or three missiles, a full salvo could still easily throw it to the ground without proper bracing.
As one, the missile hatches swung open, seconds before tails of smoke blew out the other end, sending eight missiles toward Wrex.
Wrex took a step back and the old flowbeast calculated how strong its hastily grown carapace was. The answer it came up with was ‘not that strong. “Terror!” It bellowed in threat, but it’s solution was, it might have admitted, cowardly. The jump jets emerged from its calves and thighs even as it turned. Four rocket engines powered up and lit, angled toward the ground so that the result was a long jump rather than a vertical takeoff.
The gigantic machine was hurled into the air amid a cloud of smoke and flame just as the missiles hammered down into the turf all around, exploding into balls of fire and concussive force.
Said force caught Wrex on the tail end, sending it wobbling off its planned path. Where it intended to leap away toward the city, it found its trajectory flattening out until it wound up being propelled almost sideways into a wall of cold it didn’t know was there.
For the first time in a long time, it found itself gripped by fear. It wasn’t from the confusion of the crash, or how it found itself tumbling end-over-end in first dirt and then across asphalt. No, it feared things from its memories. There were things back where it came from that even a five hundred year old flowbeast would never want to meet, that even Wrex, with his powerful host, could not hope to match in battle.
Cold was their element. They came from the Air and Darkness. Their Queen descended from the sky, every seven-and-seven years out of three hundred and settled in a castle of ice and snow and utter dark.
Both confusion and fear retreated, evaporating along with the rapidly-subliming dry ice that fell from Wrex’s body as it stirred. They were replaced with a cacophony of screeching, metallic crunching and a high, nasally blare like the call of some huge bird.
Wrex looked around to find itself in the middle of a field of smashed and gouged black rock, surrounded by creatures that were much like its host, only smaller that seemed to creep along the ground on four rubbery feet. They were strewn around it, some having collided with it and each other, probably when Wrex crashed into their path. The cry was coming from some of the more stricken beasts. Farther back in the herd, a large creature, this one with more feet than the others, had come to a stop sidelong, its front segment turned away and smoke rising from its paws.
On closer inspection, Wrex spotted Mankinds climbing out of the bodies of the downed creatures and running way. Not creatures then: conveyances. And the Mankinds within, while poor meals alone, were plentiful and would give it much needed nourishment to continue its battle.
Looking around, it found a Mankind trapped inside his conveyance, frantically trying to open the door while staring up at the terrible majesty that was Wrex. One of its smaller fore-claws reached down to take hold of the conveyance roof.
A waterfall of blue rushed down from above to slam into Wrex, driving it back from its intended meal.
Zero Point dropped down from the sky, pouring on the power. “Are you going to fight, big guy, or are you going to eat?” He shouted, “Here’s a hint: I’m only going to let you pick one of those.”
Miniature comets of blue powers began to slam Wrex from the side as Zero also joined the scene. “Sorry,” she told her father over the comm, “I was getting some information.”
“Anything we can use?” Zero Point asked. His energy reserves were starting to bottom out and not only was his blast of power ebbing, but he was starting to sink lower to the ground. “Please say yes.”
Topped off from all of the energy she’d stripped out of the air to create the wall of cold earlier, Zero easily stepped in to take over keeping the pressure on Wrex from Zero Point with her own raw burst of power. “I think so. The creature controlling Rex is called a flowbeast. Both good and bad news: they’re pretty much unkillable while bound to a host. But the good news is, they go into shock and go dormant for a while if you kill their host—which in this case, is a robot, so that’s okay. Also, Rex itself has power outage problems.”
“I was thinking about that earlier.” Zero Point admitted. “So we run down its batteries, then let your moth…” He remembered just in time that more than just his family and the General might be patched into the comm. “…Majestrix blow the ‘bot apart.”
“Oh, I think I can handle that, ZP.” Majestrix said as she plodded toward the highway. “Why don’t you handle getting the people in the cars clear while Zero and I deal with Rex?”
Zero Point looked down at the chaos on the road and heard the sounds of approaching ambulances that wouldn’t be able to get close without help. “Good idea. How’s your heat? I would definitely use a boost if you’re able.”
“I could go a while longer without venting coolant, but it’s running hot enough to give you that boost, ZP.” Majestrix said fondly. Then another thought struck her. “Zero? These flowbeast things, are they sentient?”
“Yes, why?”
“Oh. That’s unfortunate then.”
“Why so?”
Majestrix was setting up her coolant systems for the venting procedure, but her mind as on the start of the fight. “I can’t help but think this could have been avoided. If we hadn’t thought it was just a criminal taking a robot for a remote joyride, we might have tried communication instead of coming in guns blazing.”
Just then, Wrex extended and fired both plasma lances, matching their fire against Zero’s torrent of psychokinetic force. To that assault, it added a PSM blast from its mouth, finally overcoming the pressure of Zero’s attack and forcing her to dodge by flying up.
“I kind of think that ship has sailed,” she admitted to her mother, “If it was ever there. Flowbeasts are apparently pretty vicious and only learn to work with other sentient if they bond to their first host while really young and barely sentient themselves.”
Of all the skills she’d learned from growing up with adventurous superheros as parents, Zero was most thankful for ‘speed reading’ at the moment. Advanced first aid, wilderness survival and knife throwing (just in case her powers stopped working) were all useful, but right then, none of them would have helped her reassure her mother’s conscience with some authority.
Below, Wrex targeted Zero with its machine guns, retreating backward across the highway and toward the city behind. The buildings, it reasoned, would give it cover and possibly afford a place to hide and regroup against its foes.
Zero defended herself easily with a shield. “It might not matter thought if it keeps heading for the city: the Air Force will just blow it to bits.”
“Then we have to stop him from retreating.” Majestrix reasoned.
“But how do we do that?” asked Zero.
Inside the cabin of the Queen’s Gambit, Majestrix was busy rerouting power and changing her ammunition loading protocols. “By making him think he’s doing better in this fight than he is. Follow my lead, okay?”
With that, the Queen’s Gambit trundled back into the battle, firing a burst of machine gun fire. That burst only lasted a few seconds, however, before the ammo clips ran out, leaving the guns chattering away without anything happening.
The mecha raised the arm on which the guns were mounted in front of it, pantomiming someone checking a watch that seemed to stop ticking.
Wrex deduced what had happened instantly based on its own ammunition usage: the enemy had run out of firepower, or at least one type. Being an ambush predator, it couldn’t resist capitalizing on that moment of weakness.
“Terror!” It shouted what was swiftly becoming its war cry and barged toward the Queen’s Gambit, arming both plasma lances as it came.
Its focus, however, caused it to miss the field of ice that had formed on the road in front of it. At first, its heavy footsteps crushed the ice underfoot, but even then, the footing was trick at best. Wrex slipped and stumbled, now unable to check its forward momentum.
Majestrix stood her ground inside her mecha, raising the machine gun bearing arm ahead of her. With a few commands, she decoupled the magnetic bolts that kept the gun in place, allowing the weapons to drop from the arm with a pair of dull clanks. And with another, she started the conversion of the arm itself.
The barely articulated fist folded down, revealing a barrel while panels slip open to reveal vents or folded out into cooling fins that serviced the Queen’s Gambit’s anti-tank pulse cannon. Every watt of available power in the mecha’s circuits dumped into the cannon, as the same struts that dropped down to steady it for missile fire did so again.
Wrex tried to stop. It tried to bring its plasma lances to bear, but the bursts of red energy went wide, burning swathes out of the field instead. When it was clear nothing was going to keep it from being hit by the newly revealed weapon, it changed tactics and plunged forward, opening its maw wide.
It was less than ten feet away when the pulse cannon reached full charge and Majestrix fired.
The cannon unleashed a bolt of force that ripped off Wrex’s right plasma lance and tore out the missile rack on the same side. Wrex bellowed in mixed pain and rage, clamping its jaws down around the cannon’s housing and twisting. Its size advantage easily ripped the robotic appendage free of the chassis in a shower of sparks and hydraulic fluid.
Inside the Queen’s Gambit, Majestrix ignored the warning lights and klaxons going on all around her and focused on the task at hand: as far as she was concerned, she had Wrex right where she wanted it.
“This flowbeast as ancient among its kind…”
Was.
According to my new headcanon, flowbeasts are so named for their tendency to drop mad rhymes with formidable cadence.
I doubt it can compare to your imagination, but I offer some flowbeast-related rhyming in honor of your awesome idea.
CG
That is some sublime flow you just put down, my friend.
Mighty Wrexus has many gifts; one of them is the power to inspire lesser beings such as myself.
I confess when I saw the name I did think of Urdnot Wrex from the Mass Effect games. Imagining a kaiju-sized version of him was pretty intimidating, even with the stubby arms.
O_O
I am speechless.
The moment I read your comment, I had to take it as a challenge. I had too much fun in the attempt to pass it up. I’m glad my peasant rhymes did not offend (unless you’re speechless because they did offend, I suppose, but I think you meant it in a good way).
CG
Mighty Wrexus is going to stomp into town
He’ll huff and he’ll puff and he’ll bring this house down
When he cuts loose in this world
and the people gather ’round
Faeries and humans best recognize his crown
He’s the king of the beat,
the sultan of smooth
this flowbeast’s sweet
lyrics make ladies go “oooh”
Mighty Wrexus steps up
and climbs right to the top
with his plasma lances
he’s a bio-tech cop
on patrol in his kingdom
looking out for competition
He will be the strongest
That’s his number one mission
Won’t bond with no punks
or serve any demon
Don’t give him no lip
He’ll crash through that glass ceilin’
That keeps flowbeasts in check
serving Faeries and daoine
So step back and look out
Mighty Rexus is out
he’s loose in your dimension
Can you feel the tension?
When he strikes you will learn
Just what it takes to earn
Freedom when you’re from Faerie
So listen close and hail he
who has merged with the machine
Took a name and stole the scene
Mighty Wrexus is here to stay
Say goodbye to yesterday
cause your world is forever changed.
note: Mighty Wrexus doesn’t drop microphones. He drops Best Buys.
Corrections:
more reminiscent of the Fourth of July then Yuletide.
“then” should be “than” (the first concerns time, the second is comparative)
nearby Greenlee where Juniper’s father, Pete used to work.
comma is unnecessary. Alternatively, another comma after “Pete” might also be correct
She didn’t have as good a sense for all things mechanical like her mother,
“as” should replace “like”
“…but none of the others don’t really say much one way or the other about their sex.”
This is dialogue, so incorrect phrasing/word use may be what you wanted. If not, then there’s a double-negative in need of fixing, and “others” doesn’t have a clear referent. Try “…but none of the others’ names really says much one way or the other about their sex.”
No one saw the green haze staring to form in a far corner.
“staring” is meant to be “starting”, I suspect.
It squelched wetly as if hit the concrete floor,
wrote “if” instead of “it” here.
Preying on fish and plants and the occasional hapless foll who became separated from a larger group and became lost,
Repetition of “become” is unnecessary. “foll” was probably supposed to be “foal”, which is a young horse, unless “foll” was defined previously and I forgot.
Other flowbeasts were usually tamed and forced to bond with other creatures
Again, unnecessary repetition. “other”.
Instinct compelled it to bond with those sentient being it caught,
“being” should be “beings”.
No servant of Maeve of her rivals would stand against it,
second “of” should be “or” here.
interfacing a CPU.
should be “interfacing with a CPU”.
It also flowed into an integrated with the optical sensors,
“an” should be “and”
The creature; a fusion of flesh and steel,
semicolon here should be a comma.
Alarmed has started going off in the building,
“Alarmed” should be “alarms”.
Mighty Wrexus was free to roam the strange new world it tumbled into
should be “the strange new world it had tumbled into” for the appropriate tense.
Eww. Didn’t mommy-flowbeast teach not to stuff your food where your gun is?
First off, I have to say that I absolutely love the phrase: “which looked like the bastard child of a disco ball and a war crime”. It made me happy to read that. This whole storyline makes me happy, really.
Second, this:
Mighty Wrexus is back and he’s stalking the streets
He’s the one mighty flowbeast who cannot be beat
He’s never lost a battle or tasted defeat
Among rhyming combatants he’s considered elite
Bonded to the awesome, a mecha machine
It’s a pure wondrous terror that has to be seen
It’s stride is colossal, it’s metallic sheen
Warns idle bystanders to run and to scream
A walking arsenal holding two plasma lances
With machine guns and missiles, the crowds it entrances
Paired diamond buzzsaws and a railgun tail
So supreme that it’s just too up-gunned to fail
Wielding destruction spectacular and ordnance amazing
Bringing high-tech fury with all weapons blazing
Jump jets for mobility and more tech besides
It’s hard to hold the complete specs in your mind
The automaton serves as a mold for the flesh
And combining their strengths, synergizing they mesh
The powers of Faerie with technological design
Form a being whose greatness is hard to define
Shapeshifter and titan, one amorphous and one forged
Look upon them and let your imagination gorge
The possibilities are endless, the future uncertain
The enemies of Wrexus are soon to be hurtin’
That’s the only real guarantee movin’ forward
But know that whatever goal it’s proceedin’ toward
The behemoth’s relentless, a land-bound leviathan
Just to keep it in sight, you’d have to run a marathon
Now it tastes newfound freedom
The choices of the mighty
Wrexus will feed on the prey
And he’ll frighten the flighty
Experts don’t even know what they’re in for
Unable to see through the flesh to the core
The reactor is charging like a furnace that’s stoked
Unless she moves fast Zero might just get smoked
For the time has come and the battle’s beginning
We’ll have to wait and see who ends up winning
You cannot believe how happy that made me,Curious George.
My pleasure. If you missed it, you can catch part one in the comments of Kaiju for Christmas, chapter 1 as well. I have to pass credit for the inspiration to Vaal (for creating Wrexus) and Mazzon (who suggested that flowbeasts might have a gift for such things). It just kind of clicked in my brain after that.
CG
You’re welcome. It started in part 1 of Descendants 75, if you missed it.
CG
Have I told you recently that you’re amazing, CG? Because you? You’re amazing.
His enjoyment was swiftly crushed when he heard what the party on the other end of the line.
what the party… said?
as the wandered the aisles
as she
All in all, she’s wasted
she’d
on on the back
one on
control schemes The receiver
schemes.
but ‘ranch meant
‘ranch’
a real sick on
sick one
“Didn’t call—why did you call me first?! Did you honestly think that a six story robot T-rex is something you could cover up? Call the police, Terry! Call the FBI—hell, call the army—call anyone that can stop it!”
Haha 😛
Additional typos:
that wouldn’t immediately give away that they older man
“they” should be “the”
Zero Point reported over is comm.
“is” should be “his”
if they lose contract with a beacon
“contract” should be “contact”
Dude had no meaning, but ‘ranch
“ranch” needs a close-quote, and if it’s in quotations “Dude” probably should be too
After a dozen step, Wrex
“step” should be “steps”
What do you gain for terrorizing a bunch of poor,
“for” should probably be “from” here
CG
“Giant cyborg dinosaur.” Zero Point mumbled, “That’s a new one.”
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, 1991.
I own it :p
Part 3:
Mighty Wrexus is here and he’s revving up fast
He’s prepared and he’s going to let off a blast
Anyone who gets hit by him could breathe their last
They’ll be nothing but memory, stuck in the past
To face Wrexus in battle takes bravery and skill
Few have ever fought it, let alone to a standstill
But when great challenges rise, heroes can be born
Or if they’re there already, they make themselves known
Facing the danger without looking back
They head to the future, no stopping to pack
Bear witness to their fitness to lead in the fight
To never stop or give up on what is right
It’s the will to face down even cyber-beast giants
To confront the unknown but stay strong and defiant
Wrexus isn’t quite creature; not just a machine
He’s a merging of two that has yet to be seen
Shifting flesh coats the armor and the two move as one
Guided by a single will and immovable as stone
A family of heroes has flown off to battle
And this is the thing they’ve committed to fight
A two-in-one being armies fear to tackle
With weapons that burn and cast searing death-light
Now they’re battling a creature
that stretches into the sky
If they win there’s no treasure
If they lose they could die
This is what sets the Descendants apart
To go into a battle and make it look like art
Despite the fact that any one fray
Could be their last one if it’s an unlucky day
Wrexus is armed to the teeth and beyond
It devours whole horses and could drink a pond
It’s not truly malicious, just acting on instinct
But to the unlucky victims the two seem indistinct
They’re running and hiding and fleeing in terror
If you think that you’re safe from Wrexus you’re in error
His collateral damage may be quite severe
So you’d be better off runnin’ from here
It’s a creature from Faerie that’s lived in the wild
Always hiding and scavenging, fearful as a child
For its kind’s been used to assist others and serve them
An abuse that has gotten many hurt or killed
But this flowbeast’s unique, it escaped and lived free
Now it’s in our world seeking new destiny
A fate that will let it live life for itself
Instead of taking orders from some demon or elf
Alloy and Occult come back quick with advice
Pinpointing the weaknesses of flowbeast and device
It might just be enough to give Zero an edge
That she needs to hit Wrex the Wrecker like a sledge-
hammer, and maybe she’ll stop him cold
In his tracks, though this flowbeast is pretty old
He’s a survivor, a shapeshifter wily and clever
If they win, then Zero and her parents can brag forever
That they stopped a foe who could go toe-to-toe with Godzilla
This fight will be bigger than the Thriller in Manila
Cause Wrex supersizes every punch and kick
Delivering force in the tons to make it stick
He’s a fully-armed giant and he came here to eat
And maybe drop some rhymes while he’s shuffling his feet
Along the road, heading to grab some food
Interrupting him makes Zero look a little rude
From Wrex’s perspective he was just sitting down
To eat dinner and get to know his new hometown
I want you to know that I’ve decided Wrex will return after this issue solely thanks to these posts.
Those are glad tidings indeed. It’s been pretty fun to try to keep this going without it getting stale. I think I’ll try to make it through the whole issue that way, but it’s more challenging each time, so we’ll see how it goes. I’m glad I can give at least a little entertainment back in repayment for the fun I’ve had reading the story.
As for Wrex, well…it’s his fault for being awesome. And for putting me in the mood to watch Godzilla movies and play MechWarrior games, some of which are awesome.
CG
Note: If “Queen’s Gambit” is italicized, “Rook” probably should be too, right? They’re both named vehicles, essentially.
typo thread:
unsure of whether she was hurt of not within the bubble
“of” should be “or”
Zero Point sat the screen down
“sat” should be “set”
Winy Mesa’s suburbs
Pretty sure it was “Windy Mesa”…although the idea of calling a town “Whiny Mesa” is kind of funny
as if the air itself as moving slower
“as” should be “was”
otherwise she’d have to retire of the public good.
“of” should be “for
while the Majestrix with full weapons was too heavy
I think “Majestrix” is meant to be “Queen’s Gambit” here
newly knocking Wrex over
“newly” is meant to be “nearly”, I think?
There, in the sky was
Either the comma should be removed, or there should be another one after “sky”
There was where the similarities ended
“There” should be “That”
a long cylinder that resembled by wasn’t
“by” should be “but”
to earth on fire pillars of flame.
“fire” seems unnecessary here
beings… or in this case, robots; and
If you lead in with ellipses, you should follow “robots” with one as well. Either way, following a semicolon with “and” is pretty much always incorrect, so at the very least the semicolon should be changed to a comma to fit the list format for the sentence
Very nice. Love to see our heroes thinking about what, why, and how they’re fighting, instead of just punching away blindly.
Wrex is facing Zero Point, Majestrix and Zero
A family who spend their time off as heroes
Now they’re engaged in a battle of gigantic proportion
Against a flowbeast that came through a magical distortion
A newcomer and stranger, semi-sentient but feral
It thinks like a scavenger, not like a general
Its weaknesses known can now be exploited
And if it’s not quick, Wrexus will be deported
Back to Faerie, or if it is even less lucky
It might just get kicked from here to Kentucky
Or wiped out completely and turned into rubble
The enemy’s waiting to pop its bubble
That feeling of power that once it enjoyed
Now seems fleeting, and the flies which annoyed
it as it tried to feed seem a genuine threat
A foe the likes of which it hasn’t faced yet
With powers strange and abilities uncommon
Flying, forming ice, many fights have they won
Cause while battling something like Wrexus is new
To ZP and Majestrix, the reverse is true too
In a fight like this information could win the day
And given what Occult and Alloy had to say
Zero and her parents are pretty well informed
While Wrexus relies on what its guessed and observed
Which gives the humans a decided advantage
No matter how many weapons and appendages
Wrex may use or grow, its still fighting alone
With no backup, no allies, no buddies, no home
And if it meets with success and starts killing
Then it may find the results far too thrilling
Its fighting good guys who are showing restraint
But if it ever eats a human, they ain’t
Gonna keep playing nice, or so I’d imagine
A Zero done holding back could be frightenin’
Now the Queen’s made a gambit and taken a risk
Suckering Wrexus in close with a trick
But it cost her an arm and a mighty pulse gun
If her follow-up fails then she might need to run
But then again no battle is won without taking chances
And a good tactical mind is worth twelve plasma lances
Majestrix has experience fighting odd things
Striving and improvising and pulling the strings
Weaving the plan to outfox her opponents
Rather than relying on some fancy components
She’s a junkyard queen, used to making do
And with will and determination, powering through
Obstacles unexpected and challenges dangerous
So betting against her is financially hazardous
The battle’s well underway and it’s almost time
To find out who’s the victor and who’s doin’ time
Will we see incarceration or will we see death?
Will one of these fighters exhale that last breath?
Will Wrexus escape to go wander the blue?
Or be sent packing to go hide and lick his wounds?
Or maybe he’ll win this and go on a tear
Until someone else inspires in him some fear
“Love to see our heroes thinking about what, WHY, and how they’re fighting…”
Agreed. The usual plot is for the monster to laugh off all attempts by mundanes to stop it, so they bring in the superheroes to kill it.
Here, the military is perfectly able to nuke the monster from orbit, but the superheroes want to see if they can stop it without any death because life is valuable.
Oh, and awesome work on the rapping.
My god, they keep getting more epic!
I’m trying not to settle for juts repeating myself, which is proving to be a bit of a challenge. Glad to hear the results are entertaining.
typo thread:
Wrex let out a coughing grunt and opened fire with its own machine guns, peppering Zero Point, who had to move his wall to protect himself. Once the way was clear, it opened up on the Queen’s Gambit with its own machine guns.
Repetition of “with its own machine guns” seems odd. Second instance should probably be changed to clarify whether fire is being redirected, or additional guns are beginning to fire.
reached over and pulled over the cover
Should be either “pulled off” or “pulled open”
nasally blare
Should just be “nasal”, I think
surrounded by creatures that were much like its host, only smaller that seemed to creep along the ground on four rubbery feet.
Second “that” is problematic here. Maybe “only smaller, and creeping along the ground on four rubber feet.”
her mind as on the start of
“as” instead of “was”
work with other sentient if they
“sentient” should be plural “sentients” I think
while panels slip open to reveal vents
“slip” should be “slipped”
typo thread:
the later of which was t
“later”->”latter”
Seeing and opening
“and”->”an”
where she hang in air
“hang”->”hung”
The end:
The chronicle of Wrexus now concludes
Gather ’round and listen close all you ladies and dudes
To hear tell of the mighty unstoppable giant
Who refused to lie down placid and compliant
He’s a rebel, an icon, inspiring awe
Harbinger of change with a gigantic craw
He cannot be contained, can rarely be thwarted
It’s a testament to Zero that she and her cohort did
Mighty Wrexus is going, his tale now ends
The machine and flowbeast that were closer than friends
Are permanently parted, sundered forever
This is a sad day, for they’ll reunite never
The glory and majesty of the magic-merged mech
And subtle shapeshifter wrapped around the tech
Fueled by an ambition and powerful reactor
Are beaten, defeated, no longer a factor
They were dangerous, large and in charge in their day
But when you come to a new world there’s a price to pay
Cause you don’t know the rules or understand the dangers
You can like Wrexus’ style but you wouldn’t have wagered
That he’d last in the long haul trapped on an Earth
With superheroes waiting, and a definite dearth
Of magic and things a flowbeast understands
Or recognizes, and no helping hands
To be found among humans, no matter how nice
They might be, from the start Wrexus was on thin ice
The Chronicle of Wrexus is a tale melancholy
How an epic battled spawned from a single flowbeast’s folly
All he wanted was a place that he could roam in freedom
What he found was a new world that didn’t really want or need him
We can only hope and pray that one day Wrexus will return
A little wiser to the rules and regulations we all learn
Living in a world of humans, maybe he’ll become a rapper
If he can twist words like his body then he’d be the best, most dapper
Perhaps go on to an eminently successful career
And send word back home that for flowbeasts who come here
There’s opportunity to be had and no enslaving Faeries
The details are uncertain but I guarantee he’s
Going down in history as a creature unique
The first solo flowbeast to come to earth and seek
His fortune and future and find a new type of host
A synthetic creature inspired by the most
Terrifying predator of a bygone age
A dinosaur too mighty to be securely caged
The relentless king, a mechanical tyrant
The mighty thunder lizard, reborn as a tech giant
One of a kind, the top of the food chain
Now more dangerous than ever, with ordnance to rain
Amalgamating into something as if forged by a wordsmith
A combination of poet and a creature out of myth
This story is over but possibilities remain
Wrexus could one day return, once more bringing the pain
Delivering rhyme and rhythm with its own unique zest
Proving once again that he’s unquestionably the best
Hold your breath and say your prayers to hasten the time
When we’ll witness the return of the flowbeast so sublime
*Applause*
*Standing Ovation*
You sir, are an officer and a gentleman. Just…yes.