- 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 3)
For a moment, green warred with blue before a teal meteorite burst from Wrex’s mouth. It streaked out over the stables, ricocheted off the roof of the resort’s main building, and bounded skyward in a graceful arc toward the highway.
Zero Point forgot all about the giant monster as he took off the save his daughter, unsure of whether she was hurt of not within the bubble of psychokinetic energy she’d thrown up. He caught up to her quickly and extended his own powers into a flexible sheet to catch her before both she and the drivers on the road could endanger each other.
Contact was all it took for Zero’s own field to collapse, sending her and a dizzy, panicked and goo-covered horse tumbling out onto Zero Point’s screen.
“Are you alright?”
Zero shook her head, scrambling clear of the horse as the terrified beast found its feet and tried to kick free of the black ooze covering it. “Just a little dizzy. I don’t think that’s just Rex the Wrecker anymore.”
“You’re right about that.” reported Majestrix. “I’m running scans while the Queen’s Gambit‘s launch checks are being made. There’s some unidentified organic matter covering it and seeping into its casing. Whatever it is, it has an EM field like a living thing.”
Zero Point sat the screen down in the grass field between the resort and the highway and let it dissipate. The horse immediately ran off, dregs of the ooze still clinging to it. “So the robot is infected with something?”
“I’m not sure if a machine can be ‘infected’, dear, but ‘infested’ might be about right.” She paused, then amended. “Actually, if that’s what’s controlling it, maybe ‘infected’ is the right word. Like a living computer virus.”
With her father’s help, Zero got to her feet. “So…it’s a robot with living parts? Like a reverse cyborg?”
“Giant cyborg dinosaur.” Zero Point mumbled, “That’s a new one. Any idea where something like this might have come from?”
“No,” Majestrix’s voice took on a worried edge, “But I know where it’s going: It just came around the main building and plowed through the stable. It’s on its way toward you right now! Hold on as long as you can, I’m setting the launch sequence now.”
Zero looked toward the resort to see Wrex lumbering toward them, picking up speed. The sun did nothing to hide the cloying awfulness of it’s leathery, slightly rotten looking hide and orange-red eyes. Where had she heard that description before?
Beside her, Zero Point was looking around them, stopping once he took notice of what was on the other side of the road. An exit ramp led directly onto the commercial drag of one of Winy Mesa’s suburbs. Beyond that were closely crowded subdivisions and housing towers. Thousands of people, right in the monster’s path.
“It’s not coming for us.” He declared. Zero looked at him askance. “It was hunting here. We stopped it and now all the horses have run off, so it’s heading for a better hunting ground—the city.”
At this, Zero looked behind her and had the same realization as her father. “Oh…oh no.” After a quick calculation, she said. “So the highway’s the line then, right? We don’t let him past it.”
Zero Point smiled. “Good girl. I’ll go distract him while you do what you can to keep him away from there.”
“You’ve got it.” She replied as he lifted off. Then she focused, letting her heat sense take over for sight. It wasn’t a warm day, but the heat of the sun was still everywhere: in the air, the grass on the field, and especially in the ground. She took it all in, then with her hungry powers… she took it all in.
Frost started spreading out in a circle around her feet and grass actually shattered against the sudden cool breeze. More dramatically, however, was that as the temperature plummeted, a space in the air just in front of Zero started to shimmer—as if the air itself as moving slower in that spot.
***
For a moment, Majestrix considered ordering a refit for the Queen’s Gambit. When she thought she was going up against a robot, she’d loaded her mecha out with all of her most powerful and destructive weaponry. The news that there was something living possibly in control of Rex the Wrecker changed her entire game plan.
As much as she loved building dangerous toys and blowing stuff up, Majestrix wasn’t a fan of mayhem in which lives were snuffed out. She and Zero Point had been in a few situations in their time on the job that couldn’t have been solved any other way, but It never got easier or more palatable. Truth be told, she was glad it didn’t, otherwise she’d have to retire of the public good.
Simple mathematics precluded her from switching out armaments though. Even with the constant upgrades to the automated systems for switching out her armaments, a full conversion to non-lethal weaponry would take fifteen minutes. And Rex the Wrecker would start clashing with her husband and daughter in less than five.
She’d just have to make do with what she had and a bit of creativity.
“Rook, launch status?” She asked politely even though the ship’s AI wasn’t sophisticated enough to appreciate it.
Her own voice, with slight digital distortion, replied. “Queen’s Gambit secured to launch gantry. Magnetic rails one through three operational. Descender rockets one through five are reporting as nominal. Ventral cargo doors standing by to deploy. Launch condition: Green.”
Majestrix nodded. “Thank you Rook. Launch on my mark.”
“Acknowledged. Standing by.”
Adjusting the ship’s position using a touch screen positioned above her head, Majestrix checked the external camera, which showed Zero Point already streaking toward the infected robot as if to meet it halfway. No time left. “Rook, launch now.”
The sound of hydraulic actuators opening the cargo doors overhead reached Majestrix even deep inside the armored core of her mecha, as did the surging sound of the magnetic rails. The launch system was essentially a huge, low-powered rail gun with the Queen’s Gambit as ammunition.
A few seconds of frenetic acceleration later, the walking tank was airborne, clearing the cargo doors and hurtling into the sky at a steep angle. That didn’t last long, as the force of gravity asserted itself. Majestrix, however, had other ideas: while the Majestrix with full weapons was too heavy for its free-lev system, she still had access to descender rockets like those used to land mobile laboratories on other planets.
All five lit at the touch of her control panel, slowing the Queen’s Gambit’s fall to earth while also driving it forward toward the battle. On the way down, Majestrix switched to her fire control system and armed the tank cannon housed in her mecha’s right arm.
***
One moment, Wrex was charging the blue-sheathed dot approaching it, the next, something blurred past it, earthing itself in the soft ground just before exploding. Smoke, dirt and grass erupted, riding a shockwave that slammed into Wrex like a giant’s hammer.
It skidded to a stop, scant inches from stumbling into a newly formed crater. When it turned to move around the obstruction, a second object came down, this time even closer, and blew another crater into the turf, newly knocking Wrex over.
Frustration took over and it pivoted to look for what was attacking it.
There, in the sky was the strangest creature Wrex had ever beheld. It was shaped vaguely like most sapient creatures Wrex knew of: two arms and two legs connected to a central torso with a smaller head on top. There was where the similarities ended. The thing was bigger than an ogre and, like Wrex’s host component, made of metal and composite materials. One of its arms had been replaced with a long cylinder that resembled by wasn’t a complete match for its plasma lances while the other had two large machine guns mounted to the wrist. There were missile pods on the shoulders, and a large brace on the back held pods Wrex likened to its host’s own jump jets, which lowered it to earth on fire pillars of flame.
Definitely a threat.
The leathery flowbeast flesh peeled back from where, on a real T-rex, Wrex’s ribs would be, and it deployed its missile pods.
Before it could get a lock, the world was washed in blue light and something hit it sidelong in the shoulder. This time, Wrex really did tip over, crashing down into the second shell crater. Damage indicators filled the computerized host-brain—missile pod one was jammed open and some of the missiles there were obstructed.
“Why don’t you stay down and save us both a lot of trouble?” A voice boomed down from above.
Wrex rolled its eye and spotted the thing that knocked it down: the flying Mankind from earlier.
Its knowledge of the Mankind language was limited and it had only heard a few phrases, but the annoyance made it want to respond in kind. Tapping into the speakers that usually let Rex the Wrecker make roaring and other assorted ‘dinosaur’ noises, it spoke.
“You…will… stay… down… buddy. Or… you…will… have… trouble.” The voice from the speaker was stilted and lacked proper threat. Wrex augmented it by firing its PSM at the blue man.
“What the—” Zero Point was so taken off guard that he was barely able to dodge the attack. “It can talk? I thought it wasn’t piloted.”
Majestrix opened up with her machine guns, laying down covering fire to pin the robot into the crater. “I think it’s mimicking you. But it still managed to put the words together into complete thoughts. The more I learn about it, the less I really understand.”
***
Standing behind what was now a wall of ice ten feet tall and two feet thick and growing in all directions, Zero also heard the conversation and things fell into place. Leather skin, symbiotic relationship with other beings… or in this case, robots; and almost impossible to understand with modern science. She’d been thinking about things from the wrong perspective: it wasn’t something she’d fought, it was something she’d heard others talking about fighting. “That’s it!” She said to no one in particular.”
Abandoning her ice wall, Zero reached into her cloak to retrieve her ‘Zero’ palmtop, which ran her comm system, among other things she might need to use while being a superhero. She switched opened up communications on the Descendants’ network. Knowing it was close to Christmas and many of the others would be otherwise occupied, she sent her call to ‘All’.
It took a few moments before someone answered.
“Yo.”
“Alloy?”
“Uh, yeah. What’s up?”
“Merry Christmas… um, you might want to check the news.” said Zero, suddenly feeling awkward. “We’ve… well we’ve got a giant monster here that might be a giant robot, but I think more than just a regular monster. Remember Occult and Codex telling us about this guy they fought one time… Anus, I think his name was.”
In spite of himself, Alloy snorted. “Don’t think that was it, but yeah. I think she said he was allergic to iron if that helps.”
“Not what I’m thinking of.” said Zero. Beyond her wall, she heard a monotone, robotic voice bellow ‘Terror!’. “The coat thing he had. They said it was a faerie too, right? I need to know about that part.”
“Flowbeasts.” a new voice entered the conversation; Occult’s. “Sorry it took me so long to answer you, but I’m at the mall with mom and had to make up an excuse to get away. Why do you need to know about flowbeasts?”
Zero cringed at the sound of two different machine guns exchanging fire. “Because there might be a really, really big one in Arizona right now and it might have taken over Rex the Wrecker?”
“Who?”
“That’s not good.” said Alloy. “Rex is pretty much a huge gunboat. Give him magic mojo and… well yeah, not good.”
Occult cleared her throat. “Can one of you tell me what we’re talking about here.”
“Sorry.” said Alloy. “Rex is one of the Live Metal mecha: a gant robot designed to fight other giant robots.”
“A robot? Well I guess there’s no way the Books would know about Faerie interactions with robotics.” Occult allowed. “I’m going to copy and send you everything they have to say on flowbeats, Z—not sure if any of it can help in this situation.”
Zero nodded. “Anything would be appreciated, thanks.”
“It’s too far for me to teleport us in.” said Occult, “But do you want us there? I could hit the panic button and everyone still here in Mayfield can use the jet.”
A shell explosion made the ground shake under Zero’s feet. “It might be a good idea. Though I hope we won’t need you.”
“I might be able to help.” said Alloy. “I may not know the magical world, but I know Live Metal. Ti… Renaissance and I have watched all four seasons so far together. Rex is super-dangerous at range, but he sucks at the chase: bad cornering, slow acceleration and he’s so top-heavy that he can’t corner for shit. That top-heaviness also means a stiff breeze can knock him over. He can get back up pretty quickly because of his jump jets, but those only have limited fuel.”
Zero smiled. “That really is helpful.”
“Glad to be of service.” said Alloy. “But this part might be even better: Only three mecha have lost by power loss: Kong-Go 5.0, Triceradrops, and Rex the Wrecker. In the match where Rex lost that way, his operator got too trigger happy with the PSMs and plasma lances. Those heavy weapons eat up the power like crazy.”
The smile on Zero’s face grew larger. “And if it runs out of power, it doesn’t matter if the flowbeast is in control because even if it can move, it won’t be able to power up its weapons. Thanks so much, both of you!”
“Good luck.” said Occult. “I’ll see you when I can. I don’t even know who’s still in the city that can fly us there.”
It was at that point that the wall of ice exploded.
“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.