The Rope God🌳
Torch God
FluxxationZinque lowers his arm as the beam flickers out, curling his hand. He's positive than his counterpart has seen the beam, he knows she's coming, head on a swivel.
She dives from the treeline, legs extended in a drill-like kick.
Zinque pivots to the side, and she flies past.
The two remain facing each other in a small clearing, a good fifty feet apart.
"... Mobile Collection Agent r~nko.. you mean to contest me for the solitary Collection position upon this planet..."
He sinks into a combative stance, legs locking, head lowering, arms coiling as they brace against the ground.
"... and I do not intend to give it to you. I have found a higher purpose here. You do not understand this purpose, and never will."
She draws her kurambit and revolver in a separate hand each, bending at the bladed knees, flicking the cylinder of the revolver shut.
"I understand that you've gone astray, made yourself an enemy. What else is there to worry about, друг?"
"There are.. many people to worry about, here. Companionship, this is not something found in the collective."
"I.. want you to understand. I don't want to do what I intend to do... but you are not leaving me with a choice."
With a bang like a gunshot, he pushes off from the ground, arms curling as he breaks into a sprint, red lights streaking as he builds speed, fast.
"Finally. I thought you were here to talk me down!"
She breaks into her own sprint, bladed legs hardly touching the ground as she lets her dagger flow behind her, raising the revolver to meet Zinque.
They meet in a clash of black and red.
View attachment 501341
Three bullets rip through the air, two whizzing past, as the third finds purchase in Zinque's chest.
The gap is closed, r~nko bolts to the side with a diagonal slash from her kurambit, though it's too slow, Zinque's raised fist curls into her chest, sending her sprawling, revolver flung from her grip, the metal dents violently.
Zinque wastes no time advancing again after grinding to a halt, feet carving gashes into the ground, r~nko flips gracefully to her feet.
She hooks a back-spin kick at his head, clipping and severing one of his horns, and he ducks low elbowing at her hip, which cracks loudly.
r~nko swings her kurambit down at his head, which he grasps in his unbandaged hand, the molten blade burning steadily through his fingers. She raises her free hand, claws extending and igniting as she claws at Zinque's face.
Her fingers connect, his visor is slit, and he thrusts up to his feet, the hand not clashing with r~nko's blade hurled up in a brutal uppercut, giving r~nko some air time, causing her to let go of her dagger. Zinque curls back a leg and kicks straight out, sending the now falling machine flying, skidding across the clearning, dribbling coral from some impact wounds.
Zinque crushes the dagger in his hand, dropping the ruined hilt as the blade flickers out, his hand mutilated, two blocky metal fingers falling off, the hand steams and glows a radiant red from the injuries.
With a bit of a limp, he starts to close the gap again, r~nko scrambling for her revolver as she bolts to her feet, firing again.
With an audible boom, Zinque's palm extends, his hand ripping apart as it bursts forth a beam of Coral, cracks reaching up to his elbow. The beam engulfs r~nko's revolver and arm, along with two of her wing extensions on the corresponding side, all obliterated.
Lens growing to a small dot in shot, r~nko regains her composure, letting her now half of an arm dangle as she bends her knees, leaping up to meet Zinque, metal front of her leg giving a devastating side kick against his head, cracking his lens further, then followed up with a midair front kick from her other leg, sending him stumbling back.
She weaves in, clawing at his torso, ripping open damaged plating as coral spills rapidly from his torso, raising a leg to slash across his knees, dropping him down to one. She hefts up a leg, bringing it down on his damaged arm's shoulder in an axe kick, cutting halfway through it, slowly ripping further.
Looking up at her with a burning, dripping lens, Zinque raises and curls a fist, slamming it down across the cutting leg's knee, snapping it down, breaking it backwards, and fully severing his arm. She stumbles back, the bladed leg's coral edge flickering out as she can scarcely walk. Zinque staggers to his feet, favoring his butchered side.
Remaining hand's claws curled, r~nko gives a staggering glide forwards, using her good leg in a spear kick, stabbing into Zinque's neck, his lens flickering.
He wastes no time, ripping back his fist to slam it in a devastating punch between her raised legs, his deforming and audibly shattering, the other bladed leg flickers for a moment as she falls back, struggling, and near failing, to remain on her feet.
Zinque lunges in, and she defends herself with a coral-tinged clawing to his visor, which he swats away, grabbing the back of her head in his hand, slamming her visor into his knee and shattering it, then punching her head, sending her flat into the dirt.
He limps over to her form, battered and bleeding, in the dirt, though r~nko still has fight in her yet, using her gimp leg to push her lower half up, sweeping her good, now glowing red bladed leg up across his front half, a molten slash cleaving up from the top of his chest through his head, splitting it all open.
He freezes, staggering back, coral pouring from his entire body profusely. r~nko, dragging one leg, hops towards him. She curls her arm back, claws extending further.
There's a whistle from the force with which Zinque draws his head forwards, bashing it against r~nko's, both denting and malforming, coral spreading in violently splashes across the ground. They get some distance again.
They stagger closer, no words still exchanged. r~nko tries to hike up her still working leg, only for Zinque to raise his foot, ripping it apart against the blade, but stomping down, holding it there.
r~nko's pupil goes small again as Zinque raises back his arm, fist clenched, delivering a backhand so hard that hard that her leg is ripped off at the damaged hip, sending her heavily to the ground.
Zinque shakes her leg from his ruined stump of a foot. He trudges over. r~nko remains on the ground, decimated remaining leg slowly pushing her away. She opens her remaining palm, a small red rift splitting the air.. only for Zinque to bolt forwards, raising knee high, slamming his ruined foot down on her forearm, damn near splitting it from her body, crooked and broken. Her fingers, go limp, the Coral claws cease to glow.
r~nko waits, laying in a now forming puddle of her own Coral, ruined leg flopping down as she gives up.
"Do --t-t youUuing -g g BBRute."
Zinque looks down at her, his remaining hand uncurled now.
He slowly turns, beginning to limp away, a thick trail of burning red coral accompanying his exit.
"KILL--L ME Y--YyyOU COW--RD! YOU PATh--THTHETIC EX-CUUse FOR a W--WEAPON!!"
She continues to scream expletives as Zinque staggers to the edge of the clearing.
He bends down, one knee near snapping as it lets out a burst of steam and smoke.. he lets out a quiet grunt.
Beautiful wildflowers.. he raises his huge hand, coral dribbling from it onto the flowers.
A small, white flower catches his attention. He reaches down, plucking it at the stem, bits of coral staining the petals a rich, mottled red and pink. Pushing himself to his feet and staggering away, he begins trudging back to the camp, flower held delicately in between his index finger and thumb.
r~nko has stopped her screaming, lights now flickering as she continues to lose her Coral, her life-blood, her head snaps to the side.
"n-no.. noNnononoo.no-n..."
"Most disappointing, collection agent."
A white dot pierces out from the surrounding tree-line.
Holy
You've outdone yourself
