Monster Mash ((Finished.))

[SpokenSoftly]

Smith smiled thinly as he moved some of his quills underneath his hands, clinging to two of them as he used them as a horizontal flip-bar, years of gymnastics training paying well off. He'd hated it at the time, but in this situation his father's forced instruction came rather in handy. He landed on a half dozen other quills and sent the entire body of the remainder raining down on the shadow-duplicates with a thought, piercing and dissipating the projectiles along the way.

Smith's senses were not heightened above the human norm, as Orion's were, so he had balls-up zero idea where Amaya might really be, and she was better than most of her arena seniority at controlling her powers. Smith was top-notch, but only because Avondale had him constantly fighting in the Arena against the toughest Mutates they could find. Thankfully he had ample supply of knives and could recall any projectile he had thrown in a straight line to the hand that had last touched it, a trick that had twice saved his life in the Arena when opponents forgot about a long-ago quill. Obscure corners of the Arena were laced with quills that he threw during practice and saved as traps for later.

for now, he'd have to content himself with dodging her projectiles and recycling his own.

((bedtime. 'night.))  

[Maya Freana]

As soon as he had destroy the shadows thrown, more were sent up his way, though the replicas were now sending them in waves. It would be hard to get rid of them all. While some shadows flew at Smith like a volley of arrows, Amaya worked on getting another shadow out of the ground, though this one took the form of a very large snake. This took a lot of concentration for Amaya to accomplish successfully, but it began to move with fluidity once she had it constructed, the snake now curling back to strike at Smith while the volley of shadows still headed his way.  

[SpokenSoftly]

Smith could have called on all the quills he had embedded in the Arena floor and walls to obliterate the snake and owner, but deathmatches were the only place where it was proper to kill an opponent.

Instead he contented himself with flitting away from the point where the projectiles and snake were aimed and landing on one of the support pillars scattered about the arena. Flicking his wrist, Smith collected two quills and threw them in an arc perpendicular to the snake's trajectory, from which they curved around to aim at the shadowy construct's eyes.

A new arrival cowered on his thin bed, having just woken up. The poor thing was barely twelve years old, much younger than other Mons. He had probably hit puberty early. As he looked around, he noticed a nice-looking girl, not too much older than himself, with several oozing cuts on her arms and face, wearing a strange-looking collar around her neck. "w... where am I? I thought I would be cured, that I would stop hearing the silent words."

The boy had lost his voice when his power manifested, and his inhuman form had been as disturbing to him as it had been to his parents. He had quickly learned that his mind spoke for his voice, which was gone forever. The girl looked over at him and studied him for a moment when she heard his thoughts in her head before smiling warmly. "Scared, you are? Want to go home, be cured, mm? Don't know where, when, why you're lost? Lover, peacekeeper, pacifist, not a fighter then?"

Her words were disjointed and strange, but the point was gotten across. The boy nodded fervently. He wanted out so very badly. It was cold and strange in here, with the faint smell of blood that he recognized from when his Daddy was angry at his Mommy. "Please. I want to go home, I want to leave, this place is scary."

The girl nodded back at him and her smile widened very slightly. "Help, you want? Perhaps assistance, a friendly hand to speed your way?"

The boy nodded again, and barely felt it when the two-foot-long spike that sprouted from the girl's fingertip pierced his left eye and exited the back of his skull. He died instantly, no longer having to worry about fights or the smell of dried blood or his parents, dead three days prior after a botched burglary. "A helping hand, scared boy, for you. Fast now, fast is how you ought to run. To your home, fast and strong."

Shiva sat back on her bed as the spike retracted back into her ring finger, still smiling faintly. They had been stupid enough to place a new arrival next to her customary bed. She'd been here for almost a year, longer than anyone except Smith and a few others, and she absolutely loved it. Stress-relief whenever Cyrus scheduled it (which was whenever she wanted it, since he seemed more than a bit attached to her), little to no chance of permanent injury thanks to her iron-hard skin, and three steady meals every day. It was more than she'd had before the Mons mutations had hit her in Skalgrad, and certainly more than she'd had back in the bad times before she had started running. She knew the others wanted out, at any cost, but Orion Blackstream was as happy as could be. She'd gone to heaven, and she hadn't even had to die first.  

[Maya Freana]

Sikes strolled into Adrian's room, Calista on his heels as the man looked about in an irritated manner. "Since her mother doesn't seem to be here yet, you watch her. I've got business to take care of elsewhere." Sikes told Adrian before nudging Calista forward into the room and then leaving himself.

Calista stared at Adrian with her bunny eyes for a few moments before darting behind the door, just barely peeking out at him. The nearly three year old was terribly shy and she didn't know anyone other than her mother, Sikes, and Sikes' bodyguards, much less had she been left alone with anyone other than the previously mentioned.

The snake twisted and rolled violently when its eyes had been hit, smashing into the walls of the arena and causing them to crumble slightly before it sank back into the earth. It was only a shadow though, so it was not like it actually felt pain, Amaya merely let it do that for fun.

Still, Amaya was beginning to lose interest in this fight. Smith's speed was no fun for her, nor did she see much mastery in it. As long as he could move fast, he was fine and he could move about without getting hurt unless you somehow set up traps during the entire fight until he was bound to fall into one. Didn't take much skill at that point to win a death match, which annoyed her. Even if Amaya was in a death match with an easy opponent, unless they asked otherwise, she gave them some chance so they didn't just fall dead.

Due to her waning interest, Amaya let two of the replicas drop, the final one still standing as shadows began to rise around it like dark tentacles.  

[Zelly-fangirl]

((What is it about having my teeth cleaned that makes my mouth feel like I've been sucking on a balloon?))

Adrian sat up with an expression of surprise and confusion when Sikes walked in, followed by the little girl darting behind his door, causing him to chuckle a bit. "Don't worry, I won't bite." he said setting his notebook and pencil aside. "You're Calista, right? My name's Adrian, I'm friends with your mom." he said with a friendly smile.

 

[Maya Freana]

((?.....I don't know?....))

"You know mommy?..." Calista asked timidly, peeking out from behind the door as she slowly looked over Adrian. She was used to seeing monsters and had seen her mother in her own monster form, so his appearance didn't scare her, but she was just wary around strangers. Still, she slowly crept out from behind the door, gripping the front of her shirt nervously as she looked at Adrian.  

[Zelly-fangirl]

((Sorry, I'm a little tired and loopy at the moment. Waiting rooms can do that to me.))

"Yep. I probably wouldn't be alive right now if she hadn't shown me the ropes when I first got here." Adrian told her as he scooted over and patted a spot on the bed next to him, offering her a seat if she wanted rather than stand around the whole time.

 

[Maya Freana]

"That's because mommy is like a superhero. She's so strong!" Calista giggled as she ran over, almost immediately seeming to light up. Hopping up on the bed, Calista tugged at his horns. "Are these real?" She asked.  

[Zelly-fangirl]

"Yes, yes they are." Adrian said with a laugh as he bent down a bit so Calista could get a better feel. Since they were kind of attached to his skull, it hardly hurt him. He was just glad she seemed to be taking such a liking to him so quickly. "And because I have the distinct feeling you're going to ask, so are the wings." he said spreading his wings out a bit for show.

 

[Maya Freana]

"Cool! So you can fly!?" Calista asked excitedly. "My mommy can't fly, she just hides in the dark. But that's okay because then when it's dark, I know I'm safe. Are you like a bull? Do you fight people with your horns?" She asked, already beginning to just go on and on.  

[Zelly-fangirl]

"Yep! Just like a birdy!...A horned birdy." Adrian said with a laugh at the very idea of a bird with horns. "And sometimes, but that's usually reserved for the other people that can fly when we're charging at each other all over the place." he said moving his arms around, but keeping them very stiff and straight, rather like a Power Ranger in an attempt to demonstrate his usual aerial fights. "So yeah, I guess I am like a flying bull." When he put it like that, his situation wasn't so terrible as it was silly.

((Feel free to make your own 'buffalo wings' and 'Red Bull gives you wings' jokes.))

 

[Maya Freana]

((Lol she's like 3, I don't think she knows what that is))

"Neat! I dunno that I have any powers. I know mommy does and she said daddy did. I don't remember daddy, I was little when he died but mommy said he was really strong." Calista told him as she continued tugging on his horns. "I want powers so I can be strong too. Then I could be down here with mommy and I don't have to follow Sikes around. He's boring." She said as she finally sat down, though now she tugged at his wings.  

[Zelly-fangirl]

((I know, I meant OOC, lol.))

Adrian's wings twitched a little when Calista started tugging at them, but he was fine for now, so long as she didn't start yanking on him and pulling out feathers. "Yeah, Sikes is kind of a stick-in-the-mud, isn't he?" he said looking at her over his shoulder. "And you may be closer to your mother, but it's still pretty rough down here. I don't think Amaya would want to see you getting beat up down here."

 

[SpokenSoftly]

Maya Freana

Sikes strolled into Adrian's room, Calista on his heels as the man looked about in an irritated manner. "Since her mother doesn't seem to be here yet, you watch her. I've got business to take care of elsewhere." Sikes told Adrian before nudging Calista forward into the room and then leaving himself.

Calista stared at Adrian with her bunny eyes for a few moments before darting behind the door, just barely peeking out at him. The nearly three year old was terribly shy and she didn't know anyone other than her mother, Sikes, and Sikes' bodyguards, much less had she been left alone with anyone other than the previously mentioned.

The snake twisted and rolled violently when its eyes had been hit, smashing into the walls of the arena and causing them to crumble slightly before it sank back into the earth. It was only a shadow though, so it was not like it actually felt pain, Amaya merely let it do that for fun.

Still, Amaya was beginning to lose interest in this fight. Smith's speed was no fun for her, nor did she see much mastery in it. As long as he could move fast, he was fine and he could move about without getting hurt unless you somehow set up traps during the entire fight until he was bound to fall into one. Didn't take much skill at that point to win a death match, which annoyed her. Even if Amaya was in a death match with an easy opponent, unless they asked otherwise, she gave them some chance so they didn't just fall dead.

Due to her waning interest, Amaya let two of the replicas drop, the final one still standing as shadows began to rise around it like dark tentacles.

Smith raised an eyebrow from his perch as the snake dissolved in a rather showy display and two of the three shadows likewise disappeared, the third gaining some sort of obscene tentacular display. Smith laughed quietly as he looked around for a moment, searching quickly for Amaya's most probable location. He saw nothing.

Pity. If this were a deathmatch he would have ended it in less than a second, two quills straight for the eyes the moment they entered the arena, perhaps one aimed for the throat just in case. Sparring was, by nature, more of a challenge. After all, in actual matches it was a duel to the death, and Smith had no reason to hold back or use showy or flashy moves when it was his life on the line. It was the reason he'd been scheduled almost every day in the Arena for the past two years. He was simply too efficient and brutal to be enjoyable as a spectator's doll, but as a study in efficiency he was worthy of worship.

He sparred regularly to increase his ability to manipulate his quills, and managed a bit more every time. Arena matches were useless to him. His longest match had been twelve seconds when he'd faced an iron-skinned opponent about six months ago. That had been when he'd stopped going for the throat and focused on the eyes.  

[Maya Freana]

"Well that's only if I'm like mommy and daddy. If I'm not, then Sikes just keeps me and I work for him. He said I could be his secretary or something." Calista said absentmindedly as she continued tugging on his wings, pulling them to extend a little and then closed them again.

The shadows dropped, seeing Smith was doing nothing and the replica dropped as well. "Frankly I got bored." A voice called from up in the stands, revealing Amaya, whom was comfortably lounging in one of the seats. "Also I'm late meeting someone, so I'm leaving." She told him as she stood up and then left the arena, leaving Smith down in the arena by himself.

When she got back to the house she heard Calista's constant chatter, following the voice until she found her with Adrian, a smirk rising to her face as she leaned in the doorway. "Calista, sweetheart, stop terrorizing Adrian. I'd imagine playing with his wings like that isn't comfortable." She said, kneeling down as the little girl immediately began running for her mother.

"Mommy! I was talking to Adrian and his horns and real and so are his wings! And he can fly with them too!" Calista shouted excitedly as her mother scooped her up.

"Really? I didn't know that. That's really cool." Amaya laughed before looking over to Adrian. "Thanks, I hope she didn't terrorize you for too long." She murmured.