OC Apprentice Fourth Challenge Announcement · 11:09pm Feb 28th, 2016
Since this was a solo pre-challenge, I'll present each submission in no real order.
Coalstone's Submission:
Coalstone now found himself in what could best be described as a completely empty black void and was now wishing greatly he understood just what the hell the challenge was he was asked to perform.
“I’m really wishing somepony had atleast bothered to tell me what the exact hell we’re supposed to be doing in this challenge because I’m drawing a blank at this point.”
After regaining consciousness in response to his impromptu attack on GOBB, Coalstone was almost immediately flung into the next challenge, despite him otherwise being completely in the dark about what he was expected to do. And wouldn’t you know it, it appeared that fate wasn’t without a good sense of irony as now he wa both metaphorically and literally in the dark regarding the challenge….And that was not a good thing.
As his grey eyes scanned around the apparent void, he couldn’t help but feel a familiar chill slip down his spine, “It’s okay, this is only a temporary thing. Just gotta put up with the silence for a little while and then I’ll be back. Just gotta figure out what the hell I’m supposed to be doing.”
He continued to stare into the apparent void, until a rather strange voice entered his ear, turning around he spotted quite possibly the most unusual, anything he could have seen in his entire existence, and given what he’d gone through over the course of this and the previous competition that was saying something.
Standing roughly 20 yards away from him was a skeleton…..A skeleton that was currently grinning at him very creepily, with his eyes….Yes the skeleton had eyes or atleast a couple of small white dots in the vacant holes in his head. However, his scare factor was hindered by his roundtound appearance despite his bony form, and was decked out in a hooded jacket, undershirt, shorts and sneakers.
Coalstone honestly didn’t know what exactly to make of the rather unusual creature, feeling unnerved by his presence, though was also quick to remind himself that he was currently in an area where there was literally no place or anything to run to, so confronting this guy was something he, by all accounts, couldn’t avoid.
“I’m just gonna take a shot in the dark and wonder if you wouldn’t mind giving me your name or what the hell you are would you?”
The skeleton continued to smile and opened his mouth, with Coalstone expecting words to come out…..Only for it essentially sound like he was only saying “Bububububububububububububububububbubububububububububub.” Smiling all the time he was essentially talking like he was underwater.
“Well that was a fun little waste of my time. Any other help you could offer me?”
A paper airplane landing at the pony turned human’s feet was his response, quickly reaching down he picked up the note and read it to himself, thankful it was written in english.
“Dear Coalstone, I won’t bore you with a lot of unnecessary details and put it simply. The Bonehead standing in front of you is named Sans and your challenge is really simple. All you have to do is beat him in combat and you win. However, you don’t have to beat him in a violent manner, as he is possibly open to peaceful negotiations, but I leave that to you. Enjoy yourself.”
Giving the scroll another quick scan over and then looking at Sans, Coalstone’s frown sowly grew into a smirk of sorts as he proceeded to put the paper into his pocket while cracking his knuckles. “So basically this is just like a video game and all I gotta do to get out is kick your bony ass right?”
The smiling, spectral, skeleton nodded, his hands in his pockets while keeping a single eye open. Approaching him quickly Coalstone towered over his opponent by a good two feet and had considerable more weight and muscle on him, plus his prior experience in the last competition had made him a little wiser with regards to fighting dangerous opponents.
Of course Coalstone being essentially trapped in a silent, empty world, completely cut off from everypony else wasn’t exactly helping his mental state and thought process. Translation he wanted to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible and not helping was that he still had a little anger left over from the previous incident.
“So sorry about this Sans. Nothing personal and I’ll try not to hurt you too badly but well, I really wanna get out of here and back to my friends so…..” Reeling his fist back, he launched it directly towards the Skeleton’s face, continuing to smirk as it closed in on him like a missle.
In the fraction of a second it took before the strike made bone shattering contact, Sans quickly seemed to blur and moved several feet to the right with blinding speed, easily avoiding the strike, much to Coalstone’s anger and annoyance.
Quickly trying again, he tried letting out another punch only for his intended target to easily blur to the left this time and avoiding the attack again. This time Sans decided to add a little extra by actually slapping Coalstone across the face. It stung a little but more pissed him off than hurt, leading him to try and go with a haymaker, but Sans merely blurred several feet backwards.
“Oh wonderful, so you’re basically like Rainbow Dash with legs. Super fast and annoying as hell to boot.” Letting out a snort as he stared down the Skeleton, “Guess that means trying to bait you would be a waste of my time, and I doubt I could annoy you into attacking me.”
Quickly tighting his fist, “So instead, lets try…...THIS!” Quickly leaping forward he unleashed a fast and brutal barrage of punches with as much speed as he could muster, such that it appeared like he had ten arms all at once.
Unfortunately Sans easily proved his superior speed, evading each strike, seemingly phasing through the attacks like a ghost and with each dodge he proceeded to smack Coalstone across the face, further and further angering him. “DAMNIT NOTHING’S WORKING…...Wait a minute, the hell am I doing.”
Coalstone’s punches quickly ceased and Sans almost lost his balance mid blur and nearly fell flat on his face,looking up with an expression of shock.
The brawler’s mind quickly shifted back to what Sentinel had mentioned to him not to long ago, “Every time I get into a situation like this all I ever do is get mad and use violence even when it doesn’t help. And it’s pretty obvious that I’m not gonna make any kind of head way if I keep up like this.”
Lowering his fists Coalstone looked down at Sans, adopting a much less hostile expression, and mellowing out his overall posture.
“I don’t suppose saying I’m sorry for attacking you a few seconds ago would be enough to forgive me for those attacks would it?”
Sans quickly put his hand under his chin in a pondering posture, seemingly contemplating his response. A proverbial lightbulb seemed to go off in his head as he quickly pointed at Coalstone, then made a fist, which he then aimed at his gut.
THankfully it was clear enough for Coalstone to get the message, “Okay, so if I let you punch me in the gut once, we’re even and you’ll make peace with me.” A single nod was all the confirmation he needed.
“Alright, sure have at it.” Quickly spreading his arms out to keep himself from guarding, he prepared for the blow, “Hopefully this won’t hurt to badly, I mean he’s got no muscles so how hard can he possibly……”
The sound of his chest being smashed into and air leaving his lungs quickly drowned out his mental thought process, as Sans had buired his small fist into Coalstone’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him along with possibly rearranging his intestines.
His arms quickly clutched his injured stomach and he dropped to a knee, trying to gasp for air and suck as much down as possible while looking up at Sans, who was now giving him the thumbs up with a smile, indicating the completion of the task before offering out his hand in friendship, which Coalstone, albeit with some difficulty responded in kind.
Shaking the skeleton’s hand and watching as a gateway appeared nearby, getting a sigh of relief from the stone worker.
“I’m really hoping this competition ends soon, not sure how much more of this I can take.”
Thunderbolt Sentinel's Submission:
Right before Sentinel was transported to face his “boss”, Spark had a remark.
“Daaarling,” Spark said right before Sentinel teleported to a stage.
What a strange mare. What does that even mean?
Sentinel looked around, he was on a stage looking out. There was smoke and lights everywhere, and a really cool track playing.
He looked up to see what looked like a metallic human appearing through the fog.
In a rather “beepish” tone it spoke.
“Ladies and Gentlemen! Our newest contestant has arrived!”
The announcement was followed by applause and confetti falling. Sentinel trotted up to the robot.
“You’re Mettaton aren’t you?”
The robot looked shocked, almost appalled at the question. “Darling, everyone knows that! I’m the biggest star in the underground, and not just because I’m its only star.” The robot struck a pose….then several more. “Why don’t you introduce yourself?”
Sentinel always loved attention, not he was on TV about to duke it out with something? This couldn’t be better, unless he was pitted against an actual warrior. the thought of beating up a TV star didn’t appeal to him much.
With a puffed up chest and a heroic pose he exclaimed. “I am Thunderbolt Sentinel, Royal Guard and charity worker.”
Mettaton smiled. “Ohh, a Royal Guard on the show? This will be interesting folks! Now, enough introductions, it’s time for the main event!”
The stage rose high, the smoke cleared and what was apparently battle music started to play.
“The first move is yours darling.” Mettaton said starting to dance.
He’s giving me the first strike? Better make it a good one.
Sentinel flew forward striking the dancing star, who stumbled back.
“Right to the point eh? You’ve got the speed, but do you have the moves?”
A disco ball came down from the ceiling, a flurry of red lasers firing from it.
“If I were you I’d keep the moves going.” Mettaton monologued without skipping a beat in his groove.
“What are you talking about?” Sentinel questioned as one of the beams hit him, burning his fur and leaving a scorch mark. “Youch!” Sentinel jumped back, and once he did the burning stopped.
I can move through the red beams, but it I stop I get burnt, got it.
With that Mettaton’s attack ended. “Your move. Let’s get some real ratings!”
He’s doing this for the entertainment of others? Oh I’ll give him a show alright.
Sentinel flew forward, striking each of Mettaton’s arms with powerful kicks, blasting them off.
“Who need arms with legs like these?” Mettaton did a perfect split and flexed his legs to show them off.
Although Sentinel had to admit, they were fabulous legs, right now this robot was the enemy, and was about to attack.
“Time for a heart to heart with our guest star!” Mettaton shouted as his chest opened up, revealing a white metal heart the flew out, firing what looked like energy blasts of some kind, and the disco ball of doom came back as well, red lasers and all.
Sentinel wasted no time starting to dodge, even making look like a dance. The problem was that the lasers moving constantly forcing him to move seemed like they were forcing him toward Mettaton’s heart blasts. It took effort, but he managed to dodge in style, not getting hit this time. Striking a pose when it ended.
“How’s that for moves robot?” Sentinel boasted after his dodging dance.
“Looking smooth darling, now keep up the pace.”
Sentinel moved in to attack, but this time Mettaton parried, with his fabulous legs.
Without missing a beat, Sentinel threw another attack into Mettaton’s leg joints, knocking them free from his body.
“Playing rough are we? I can play rough back, but it’s time for our union scheduled break.” With that the fog stopped and the music cut.
Sentinel stared at the torso and talking head. “A union scheduled break?” He noticed some small cube like robots with platters of various snacks. One handed him a cup of coffee. “Uhh, thanks, I guess.”
“You’re most certainly welcome darling, now be sure not to actually kill me please? It’s just a TV show.”
Sentinel had no response. This thing had burned him with lasers, shot blasts of energy from its heart, and it wants mercy because it’s TV? Well, he did have fabulous legs, and he did give him coffee.
“Alright.” Sentinel answered sipping the drink.
“Well, break time’s over. Time to reach the climax!”
Sentinel got back into position and the music started up again as the fog rolled in once more.
“And the show continues folks, and the end draws near!” Mettaton shouted as the cube robots from before turned from helper drones to little attack robots, swarming after Sentinel.
Sentinel charged the little pack of robots, knocking several flying and taking flight himself, it was time to finish off the “boss” once and for all.
He flew high and charged down at the robot, striking a heroic pose on the way, and slammed into the robot’s chassis sending it back off the stage. Sentinel, flew down and caught the falling star before he could hit the ground.
“You alright? Wasn’t too much was it?”
The robot remained silent for a moment, before answering. “No,no, that’ll do, I bet the people loved it.”
With that a flash of light blinded Sentinel for a moment and he reappeared in his room at the manor.
“Well, that was different….but it was fabulous.”
First Spark's Submission:
“Let’s just say it’ll rattle some bones...” The god smiled as he began to snap his fingers, sending each contestant off to who-knows-where. First Spark felt a tug at her own essence, if such a thing was possible to feel, when her own snap came, and she glanced over at Sentinel with a grin.
“Daaarling,” she winked, before the world went black around her.
...
It stayed black.
...
“What sort of monster are you?”
The words hung in the air...void? above Spark, though no one had spoken them.
She looked down to find herself in human form, dressed in an almost comically-oversized blue sweater, with two black horizontal stripes going across it, and white pants with a golden streak going down the middle. Her small, blue shoes matched the sweater down to the stitches. By her side, two simplistic, glowing wings kept her company, one matching her natural and the other matching her mechanical counterpart.
Below the white, blockish words, a giant, spectrum bar displayed, spanning almost the full length of her vision. The left side was darker, with more grays, twists, and even dark spikes sticking out of the furthest ends. The very edge of it was a pure black, and pieces were crumbling off, disappearing into the nothingness. Above it, a lone letter “G” hung in the empty space. It was a stark contrast to the opposite end, which was practically blasting rainbows all over the place. The right edge seemed to be pulsing steadily, too, with a life-giving musical beat that only it knew. Above its very edge shone a brilliant “P”.
In the middle of this bizarre spectrum pulsed a small red heart. Where it stood, the bar showed no signs of murdery death, but no signs of radiating life and love, either.
In amusement and wonder, Spark lifted her right arm and found the slider adjust to her fingertip’s relative position to the scale, edging it towards the right side. A swish later, and the heart was directly below the pulsing “P”, setting the current save file to Pacifist. Another wave of her arms, and the slider was dead set on the Genocide Run.
At her new-found ability, a small smile crept on Spark’s face, which grew slowly into a wild grin. And, without a doubt in her mind or a waver in her thoughts, she shot her arm to the right and set it to True Pacifist.
“Confirm?”
“Yes,” Spark said, proudly. And everything faded away.
The retro, 80’s graphics, with monotone blocks of color decorating the landscape showed a pretty good depiction of the Underground, once you got used to them. From the fabulousness of Mettaton to the squorching Moldsmal, everything had a simple wonder to them that was displayed in the simplest and purest of forms. ...Of course, this was NOTHING compared to seeing it in real life, before your own eyes.
Spark materialized in the Town of Snowdin, slightly dizzy. Multi-dimensional, fabric-bending travel was not her prefered choice of transportation, to say the least. She opened her eyes to a bright, golden sparkle, hovering a foot above the snow, about chest-level. Apparently, she was a little shorter than the other times she’d been humanized. The glow of the star reflected off of the white powder below it, making it shimmer as it pulsed softly.
“Woah, so that’s what a save point looks like...” Spark said, looking at the star, slowly turning her head right to look at the rest of Snowdin. “It’s so much more magical here than it is in gaa....aaAAAAAAAAAAA-”
Spark hung slack-jawed before the white-blanketed town, glowing with all of the radiance of a thousand year-round Christmas lights. The town was arranged linearly, with all building lined up to the side, leaving a great, open courtyard for the residents of the town to go about their business. Said residents were pure fluffballs, as Spark liked to see them, and that came from a world where the main species was literally covered in fuzz. Rabbit-humans lulled about, and bear people gave presents under trees or hung by “Grillby’s,” everyone in general reminating with the same peaceful calm that stayed about this town. Snowfall fluttered down on everything, adding all the more magic to the world. It was beautiful.
“I wonder how equipt I am for this...” Spark said, managing to tear her eyes away from the sight and into her pockets. There, she found no gold pieces, but there was a cell phone, a few cinnamon rolls shaped like little rabbits, and some wrapped ice cream treats. There were no jokes on the wrappers, but little words of positivity and encouragement.
It seemed that everything was in order, and that the only thing left to do was to go past the skeleton brothers’ house and try to get to Waterfall, with Papyrus in the way, of course. ...Well, that wasn’t true.
“If the cinnamon bunnies look like this, and save points are little sparkles...” Spark said, starting her trek down the wide road, her speed increasing with her excitement, “then I wonder how big Ice Wolf is? What’s the shopper interface like? Ooh, is Grillby really made of fire? That would be so cool if he was...” She stopped her brisk walk and shook her head.
“No! I can’t do that, I’m on a time limit, I need to get to Paps as fast as possible! Then...maybe later. But now!” she said, jumping into a nearby igloo-shaped rabbit tunnel entrance, and popping out between a two-story, wooden house, with giant Christmas bulbs strung along the walls, and a rather insecure-looking shed. All too familiar, that shed had been, in Spark’s initial run-through of this game.
“Not today, shed of failure...” she said, passing the building by, heading down the increasingly-hazy road ahead of her. It was strange, the air was like a gradient. The farther you went, the less transparent the air became. She kept walking, until the land was completely white, and there was nothing visible, save for her own human body and the dark blob in the distance. Th- wh...wait, what?
“HUMAN.”
“ALLOW ME TO TELL ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS.”
Oh, boy... Spark thought, as she let the skeleton’s silhouette carry on with his pre-battle speech.
“FEELINGS LIKE...”
“THE JOY OF FINDING AN EXTREMELY COOL ROBOT!!”
...what?
“WELL. I MEAN. YOU AREN’T REALLY A ROBOT, BUT YOU ARE PRETTY CLOSE.”
“AND THE FEELING OF FINDING SOMEONE WHO MATCHES YOUR STRENGTH AND ENTHUSIASM...”
“AND FINDING SOMEONE WHO WOULDN’T HURT A SOUL.”
What’s...with the dialogue...
“THESE FEELINGS...THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU WOULD’VE FELT, IF YOU COULD ONLY GET PAST ME!!”
Spark breathed an inward sigh of relief. If her replacement of Frisk had changed the game, it wasn’t too much. Papyrus was still Papyrus.
“POOR LONELY HUMAN, DOOMED TO NEVER, EVER BE ABLE TO EXPERIENCE SUCH WONDERFUL FEELINGS! BUT WORRY NOT!”
“I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE YOUR...”
“NO...NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG! I CAN’T BE YOUR FRIEND! YOU ARE A HUMAN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU!!”
“THEN, I CAN FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM!!! POWERFUL! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS! THAT’S PAPYRUS!!! THE NEWEST MEMBER...”
“OF THE ROYAL GUARD!”
At his final decree, an all-encompassing darkness closed around Spark and the silhouette both, preparing them for battle. The silhouette, now finally illuminated, revealed itself to be a tall, human skeleton, dressed in some form of superhero’s armor, from the badge on his chest, to the red gloves he had, to the crimson scarf that bellowed in the cold snowstorm and acted as a cape. The Great Papyrus was ready to battle.
Again, the red heart appeared, as it did in the route selection screen. Only, this time...Spark felt a much closer tie to it than before. Four buttons, all orangish in color, hovered before her, displaying “FIGHT,” “ACT,” “ITEM,” and “MERCY.” The battle system didn’t seem too different, but would her options be the same, if Papyrus’s opening dialogue wasn’t?
Curiously, Spark put her hand over the ACT button and pressed it, bringing up a white outline, with various options inside. ...While Check and Flirt were still there, the option to Insult was nowhere to be found. Instead, there were options that she felt she could do at the moment, like Hug, Shiver, and Make Spaghetti. Strange. What would happen if she picked one of the new ones?
*You run up and give Papyrus a hug. He seems startled.
“N-NYEH! HUMAN! WHILE I ENJOY SUCH SIGNS OF AFFECTION... I BELIEVE THIS PARTICULAR KIND OF AFFECTION WOULD NOT SIT WELL WITH SOME PEOPLE YOU KNOW. I CAN’T PUT MY FINGER ON IT, BUT...I CANNOT ACCEPT THIS! I...I HAVE TO CAPTURE YOU!! NYEH...”
Papyrus’s turn came to attack, and Spark found herself hovering in the middle of a more squarish white outline, with a red heart in front of her. A few bones came from the bottom, sliding from right to left, but they couldn’t quite reach her. It was strange, they weren’t as fast as she remembered...it seemed he was reluctant to fight..?
Spark’s turn came again, and she chose Shiver, this time, exchanging curious looks with the skeleton. She pressed her hand on the option, and on cue, a brisk wind came at her, promptly ignoring any warm clothing she had on her and chilling her...to the bone :D
*You feel a sharp wind, your DEF lowers! Papyrus seems even more reluctant to fight, his ATK lowers!
“HUMAN...YOU ARE LOOKING PARTICULARLY UNFIT TO FIGHT THIS BATTLE. PERHAPS I CAN END THIS NOW, AND WE’LL FIGHT AGAIN WHEN YOU’RE WARMER. WHAT DO YOU SAY?”
The bones came at her again, and yet, they were still too low to reach her. They were almost impossible to hit now, as they slid into the ground when Spark tried to fly at them.
“Papyrus is sparing you,” Spark read from the dialogue box. “Then, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt, if he’s just going to spare me, to try out the last option..?” Hesitantly, her hand rose to the final new option and pressed.
*In spite of everything, you whip out a portable stove and make a perfect batch of spaghetti. Your HP was maxed out! Papyrus seems extremely impressed with you. So impressed, in fact...
“HUMAN!” Papyrus called, watching as Spark cooked the spaghetti according to the game’s command. “YOU TRULY ARE AMAZING! ABLE TO MAKE SPAGHETTI, WHILE FREEZING TO DEATH IN A SNOWDIN BLIZZARD...IF YOU REALLY ARE THAT POWERFUL, THEN YOU REALLY ARE A WORTHY MATCH FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” he called out triumphantly. “AND...BY EXTENSION...FOR MY FABLED BLUE ATTACK!!”
Spark silently cursed herself as a flurry of blue bones came at her, each going at the full speed that it would’ve gone at in game, and maybe even a bit faster. At least Papyrus seemed happy as he did so. They were...really easy to dodge, as all you had to do to not get hit was stay still. The “attack” left as soon as it started, but the white box didn’t disappear...
In an instant, Spark had lost her ability to levitate, as the full weight of gravity came crashing back down on her. She fell into the snow, glowing a dark blue, and shook the ground with her impact. And to top it off, a tiny, white bone flew right at her, almost knocking over the spaghetti pot next to her, but hitting her directly. Ouch. So that’s what the blue attack was...right...damnit, she should’ve just spared.
Her turn came, and she noticed that her heart selector was now blue as well. She hit Spare, but Papyrus paid it no mind.
“I REALLY AM GLAD THAT YOU’RE STEPPING UP, HUMAN.”
Another flurry of bone attacks came, like before, except that she’d lost her ability to hover. She was going to have to jump these. There were only three, of course, but there would be more. Spark hit the Spare button again, but it was brushed away.
“AFTER ALL, I WOULD’VE FELT TERRIBLE IF YOU’D GONE ON TO ASGORE DEFENSELESS AND COLD.”
More attacks. A bit harder. Spare.
“ALTHOUGH, HOTLAND WOULD’VE WARMED YOU UP, BUT STILL. I WOULDN’T HAVE DESERVED MY PLACE IN THE ROYAL GUARD!”
Even more. They looked like step-ladders, and she slipped on one of them. The spaghetti pot just let the bone attacks phase through it, lucky. There had to be a way to escalate this battle, without letting him run through all of his dialogue... Spared, again.
“MY POPULARITY WOULD’VE COME AT MY OWN GUILT, AND I WOULDN’T HAVE FELT THAT I DESERVED AN AWESOME FAN LIKE YOU.”
She should’ve spared, she should’ve spared! More bone attacks, these...hurt... Spare again.
“AFTER ALL, YOU’RE VERY GREAT. ALMOST GREAT ENOUGH TO MAKE METTATON JEALOUS! NYEH...”
They came again, ruthless as ever. But...and it was almost unnoticeable...they slowed down, lowered their height, just a tiiiiny bit. Was there a way to end this without getting to the special attack?
“HUMAN...I HOPE YOU DO WELL, WHEN YOU’RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY. IT SEEMS YOU’D DO WELL, CONSIDERING WHAT A GREAT FRIEND YOU ARE...”
What if...what if? A few more bones hit her, not for much, though, and she could thank her shivering for that. Papyrus’s face grew more and more worried, and he made eye-contact with Spark less and less.
Instead of putting the blue heart over Mercy, she let it fall under Act one final time. Just to check. Just to see. Just to make sure. And...Spark let a smile grow. She was right. And, with a push, she selected the Share Spaghetti option.
“SH-SHARING?? THIS...THIS IS...THE BEST SPAGHETTI I’VE EVER HAD!! WOWIE, YOU’RE AMAZING AT COOKING! AND SHARING...ISN’T THAT WHAT BEST FRIENDS DO? NYEH...”
“WHAT KIND OF FRIEND WOULD I BE TO LET YOU BE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY?? WHAT’S POPULARITY WORTH WITHOUT BEING A GOOD FRIEND FIRST? I WON’T ACCEPT THIS! I’M THE GREATEST AT FRIENDSHIP, AND THEREFOR, I REFUSE TO FIGHT YOU!”
*Papyrus is sparing you. ...Again.
Spark breathed a huge sigh of relief and a “Thank Gob.” She looked Papyrus in the eye, nodded, and slammed the Spare button one final time. Her choice confirmed and the battle finally over, every joint in her body went slack and she fell backwards into the snow.
“I’m...going to Grillby’s...”
Reneigah's Submission:
Reneighah smiled as she whipped together the last few items into the backpack she was given, watching as her competitors did the same. She had tried to grab healthier snacks, such as the apples and carrots provided (even in human form she had her horse habits!). Still, it had seemed like the Mountain Dew and Doritos simply called to her, even though she had only seen them at the snack concession where her team had sold hot dogs.
Her sight shifted as she looked around the room. “So, are we gonna get teleported again?” She said to herself. The girl looked across the room before her gaze connected with Candle Spark, who looked both serious and grim. Candle walked towards her, grabbing Reneighah's shoulder and pulling her aside.
“Reneighah.” She whispered harshly, “I respect you as a competitor and as an acquaintance, and understand that you are working to support a charity for the good of the ponies. “ The zebra gave her a confused look, and Candle continued. “However.” She breathed, barely audible with the clatter around them. “If you hurt goat mama I swear to Luna they will hunt you, and then you will regret the day we even had to have this conversation.” Candle stood a little taller, looking into the distance. “Just trust me on this okay?” She turned away as GOB began to speak.
“Everyone ready?” Reneighah gulped and nodded, now more unsure than ever. They nodded. “Fantastic! Good luck! I do warn you, Coalstone… Your fight… Let’s just say it’ll rattle some bones…” GOB smiled a toothy grin as he snapped each contestant away.
In a flash of light, Reneighah stumbled into her new surroundings, mildly disappointed that she had remained a human. To her surprise, instead of more light and open air she found herself in a dark, cavernous room, dim purple light echoing throughout. In front of her was a woman who at first Reneighah thought to be some sort of anthro pony. She could see the differences though, a different build for one, plus the varying shape of the ears and horns. Her heart began to pound, as the woman turned to face her.
“Prove to me that your strong enough.” A gentle, motherly voice, layered with bitterness and the clear intention of harm. Heart pounding, a panic spun through the girl.
“Wait!” She mumbled. “Are you-”
Her thoughts were cut off as pillars of fire and dark magic sprung forth from the Goat creature Toriel. In swirling patterns all instincts kicked in and Reneighah began to dance pass the flames, each attack blazing around her.
Reneighah gasped as pain shot through her back. Part of her tail began to smolder and in a feat of luck and desperation she rolled below the flames, attempting to both dodge and snuff the fire. Her breathing was heavy, but she was safe for a moment, around the corner here she had but a few spare moments to search her bag for anything that could help her. Sure, she wasn't on fire, but there would still be burns, and she needed something right then and there.
Sifting through her bag, she pulled out a glass bottle that had caught her attention. It was cider, but that must have something in it right? Perhaps with alcohol the flames could be used against Toriel, a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.
A wave of heat spread passed her once again, and Candle’s words stuck out to her. “Maybe there's another way to win this.” She frowned, and in a last ditch effort to calm herself, Reneighah took a swig of the drink. The bottle smashed as she too see it aside, continuing to dodge the flames. It had a weird flavor, but she assumed it was a human brand. They certainly didn't have ‘spider cider’ back in Equestria.
“What are you doing?” Toriel shouted. “Attack or run away! You're proving nothing!” More flames, now in a curving motion. Reneighah frowned and slid away before jumping to the side, dangerously close to her attacker. She scrambled backward, just out of reach from the boss at hand.Back and forth she slipped through the attacks, while taking out the second bottle of Spider Cider and sipping it as she went. Never had she thought to see such patterns in combat, for in her profession it always seemed unpredictable and crazy. To Toriel’s annoyance she laughed. “Of course.” She whispered. “It's not easy, but it's still just a game. And every game has patterns.”
“Stop it!” Toriel hissed. Her face showed a certain pity before being replaced with anger. “Fight me or leave!” The girl grinned, now preparing each movement, barely wincing from the sudden rushes of heat. Distress cast its shadow on her opponent's face. Clearly this was not expected.
The flames dwindled, then we're snuffed. Toriel’s arms fell to her sides, her face drifting between sadness and regret. “I… I know you want to go home. Just… Please go back upstairs. “ Reneighah glanced backwards, curiosity tugging at her. You idiot! You have to stay here remember?! She mentally face hooved and turned to face her boss. Shoulders squared she said nothing.
She tried to tune out the woman’s conversation. “We can have a good life here… We can be happy…” Reneighah felt tears pricking at her eyes, a feeling she could not explain. It was as if the words simply did not come to her, and all she could do was shake her head. Silence was the fiercest battle, at least for now. Toriel gave a weak laugh.
“Pathetic.” She whispered. “I cannot save even a single child.” Reneighah blinked, wiping her eyes. Toriel… Was not an enemy. Not in the same way she expected. “You don't…” Reneighah began, her voice trailing off.
“No, I understand.” The woman sighed. Reneighah looked up, what was this? “You would not be happy here, underground. “It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations, my loneliness, my fear…” The woman swallowed, stillness ringing. “For you. My child, I will put that aside.
After that things were a little bit unclear, as things were from the start. “Are you… Are you supposed to be hurt?” What had she accomplished by not attacking?
“No, it doesn't matter now. There will be more… Right?” Toriel looked hopeful. Reneighah gulped.
“Maybe.” She said softly. “What will… What will you do? “
A soft smile had appeared on Toriel’s face. “Perhaps I will bake another pie.” With that she smiled and stepped aside, quietly conversing with a dog that had joined her. Reneighah then walked toward the gates, following into a warm light.
“Aaaand we’re back!” Reneighah exclaimed happily. She walked into the well lit room where some of the other players were waiting. She had a brisk confidence to her walk, and spoke directly to the GOB as soon as she saw him.
“Hey!” She called. “Does it count as winning if I didn't attack? Hypothetical question.”
He looked at her, not skipping a beat. “Well, did you DIE?” He mused, his tone clearly sarcastic.
She rolled her eyes. “I'm gonna take that as a yes and hope for the best. Oh, and Mr. BBQ?”
She said, walking away to her teammates. “Give my regards to that ‘Gaben’ God. He seems to know what he's doing.”
Nova Blaze's Submission:
Nova walked into a large room filled with spider webs, the scales on his back shivered slightly.
“Okay, Blaze….you're a master at Halo, you can beat this boss like you beaten the didact…Even if this a creepy…..eight legged creepy crawly.” *he shivered again and looked around. “UHH…..H...hello?”
“Who do we have here... A dragon….interesting. Why have you come here little one?” *Muffet asked curiously as she had come down to the floor and circled him. “W-well i was hoping ti uhh...chat with you…. If it's alright with you.” the blue and white dragon gulped nervously.
“As you wish, but after, i shall feed you to my babies.” Nova gulped and tensed slightly. “So uhh….how was your day today.”
“It's been miserable as ever.” She grumbled and sighed.
“That uhh….sucks…so...do you like music?”
“On occasion. Are we almost done cause I'm getting hungry.” she licked her fangs and stared at him.
He gulped and slowly backed away from her. ‘Come on, blazy...gotta think of something…’ He looked around for some way to stop her.
Muffet smirked and lunged at him, making Nova to dive out of the way, “It just had to be a spider, of all things, it had to be a damn spider.”
Nova got back up and turned towards her, blowing neon blue flame at the arachnid. She then screeched loudly and backed away, giving Nova time to catch his breath.
The tired dragon wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead before looking back at Muffet, seeing her coming at him again. He took a deep breath and waited till she got close enough, before breathing fire at her one more time. After a few minutes, he stopped and charged at her, before tackling her to the ground, as webs covered his scales and hung off of him, as he stared down at the winded figure.
Seeing her winded, he slowly got off.
Fourth Challenge Announcement:
GOB was impressed with the competitors. They had all beaten their opponents, some with peace and others with violence. Nevertheless, they did it, however only one contestant finished before all else.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I congratulate you all on your winnings. But as you all know there can only be one true winner. Sentinel, Reneigah, and Nova Blaze... Please step forward." GOB ordered. The three obliged and stepped before the others. A long pause fell over GOB's office before he spoke once more. "Congratulations, you three were the first three to beat your bosses. But only one of you beat them before anybody else." GOB said with a pointed finger. Nova, Reneigah, and Sentinel gulped with nervousness.
"Reneigah and Nova... Please, step back." GOB ordered. The two did so leaving Sentinel standing alone. "Congratulations, Sentinel, you were the first to beat your boss; Mettaton. Please, come here." GOB said. Sentinel, now in his pony form, approached the deity and his desk. There he was shown five different pictures of certain locations. "You are allowed to pick your location along with the other contestants locations..." GOB informed. The pictures were of various locations such as Disneyland California, the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, A bus station in New Jersey, a megamall in New York, and what looked like a busy highway. Deep down, Sentinel felt a little evil. He knew he'd have to assign somebody the highway, and he knew he had to pick a location for himself. But which should he pick? What would benefit him? Who would he hurt if he assigned them the bad locations? More and more thoughts clouded his mind as he struggled to choose a location for himself.
This was bad...
As Sentinel struggled, GOB kicked his feet up on the desk and glanced at all the other players.
"Here... Treat yourselves to some Butterscotch Cinnamon pie..." GOB said as he poofed a small table with a pie in the middle of the table with plates and forks to the sides. Each player got a slice and happily ate each of their respective slices. Except Coalstone who had a confused look on his face. Suddenly, his face turned red, lava red. His pie didn't taste like cinnamon or butterscotch. "Oh dear... I may or may not have slipped a Carolina Reaper in the pie... Sorry, Mr. Coalstone. Would you like some milk?" GOB asked as he conjured a tall glass of milk that hovered over Coalstone's beat red head. The stone cutter tried desperately to grasp the milk with his hooves but was instead met with the milk pouring on his head.
"Oops, looks like I lost control of my magic. Now you gotta be cleaned! It's office policy to stay tidy and clean!" GOB informed as he conjured up a garden hose in his hands. He aimed and pointed it at Coalstone while the other contestants watched and ate their pies. Their pies were delicious by the way. With the power of a fireman's hose, GOB sprayed down Coalstone as the stone cutter glubbled and gagged as the water hit his face. GOB smiled an evil smile as he summoned a large blue towel with eyes and a mouth. It's eyes were bloodshot and the towel seemed to have a chill look on his face.
"Towely, go over there and... Dry the sculptor up." GOB ordered as he pointed to the floored Coalstone.
"Then can we get high?" Towely asked.
"Yes, then we can get high. But do your job first." GOB said. The towel then approached Coalstone and rubbed himself all over the stone cutter. Seconds later Towely's job was complete and he left the stone cutter alone. Coalstone looked ridiculous. He resembled a cat that had been dried from its bath. His fur stood on their ends, giving him a more fluffy appearance. The other players gasped and laughed at Coalstone who was still trying to mentally recover from the hose.
"Don't you ever touch me again you fluffy animal..." GOB grumbled as he watched Coalstone comprehend his predicament.
I just want to mention this. When I get Centurion's response in a PM, I'll make the second part to the challenge announcement. For now, enjoy GOB's sweet, sweet, revenge.
.........You do realize that this WAR!
suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/28196792/images/1384397573740.jpg
Ahah...well, worth a shot. The battle was fun to write, in any case ^-^
3782721
(Just kidding, you're beautiful.)
3782713 I'll get right to it.
3782721
3782730 Where do you two want? Coalstone, I'm thinking the Highway.
3782790
I don't get it?
3782796 Well, I get to choose where everyone is for the next challenge, and that's selling something.
3782799
....THe highway seriously? Come on dude I thought we were friends.
3782860 Where else to put you? It's not you, it's coalstone. I was going to take the highway, but I don't know what else to do. Coalstone and Sentinel have had the most friction, and Coalstone is violent. I don't know where else to put him? The bus Station? I guess I could have you and nova switch places. I don't know nova
3782862 *Whispers evilly*
Let your choice stay final, young one. Drama is very important.
3782862
Sorry didn't mean to cause a conflict.
3782866
3782869 Well, I don't know Nova well, so giving him the highway doesn't affect me at all.
3782866
....Don't make me headbutt you.
3782862 I got a bad feeling about this, and when you mean by switch places?
3782871 lol what about Sparky though
3782873 Fight me. Behind the school, three o'clock!
3782889 The position I put them at.
3782891 She's got the mall if I remember my choice right.
3782897
Bring it.