//------------------------------// // A Perfect Machine... // Story: My Little Planeswalker: Glimmering Oil // by Zennistrad //------------------------------// Standing before the monster in front of her, Sunset couldn’t help but feel woefully insignificant. The very same being that activated the contagion was now standing right before her eyes, like she was staring the apocalypse directly in the face. Yet even still, something about the creature seemed oddly... majestic. It may have been an angel once, or a being of similar divine power. Its porcelain skin was pristine, unblemished, reflecting far more radiance than should have been possible from the dull florescent lights. Yet the ethereal glow was not warm and inviting but sickly and harsh, its merest gleam making Sunset’s skin crawl. Starlight approached the beast, her grin dripping with oily saliva and self-satisfaction. “Lady Atraxa. I’m happy you could grace us once again with your presence.” Atraxa’s long, spindly fingers drummed against the pole of her spear. Though the porcelain face held no eyes, Sunset could feel them bearing down on her with pure contempt. With a disinterested turn of her head, Atraxa faced Starlight, her mouth held tightly in a pencil-thin frown. “This being is one of the uncompleat giving you trouble?” For a split-second, Starlight winced, but quickly managed to regain her ever-present composure. “Yes, well... things have been just a tad more complicated than we anticipated. That is why I called you here.” Raising a single hand above her head, Starlight snapped her fingers. “Take care of her. When you’re done, find her friends and kill them.” The corners of Atraxa’s mouth turned ever-so-slightly downward. “And who are you that would command me?” There was a momentary pause. Starlight’s left eye began to twitch, almost too subtly to notice. She gave a bitter, humorless laugh, more emotion than Sunset would have ever expected her to be capable of. “Ha. That’s funny. Because if I recall correctly, and I’m sure I do, the Praetors of Phyrexia put me in charge here. So as long as you’re here on my world, you’ll be answering to me.” Atraxa stepped forward, her motion cold, deliberate, and menacing. “You exist only by the Praetors’ will. You would do best to remember your place.” “My place is right here!” Starlight said with a scowl. “And right now, I am here to tell you to get rid of these interlopers! Did you forget which side of the portal you’re on? Your Phyrexia can’t reach you here, so as long you’re in my Phyrexia, you’ll be answering to me!” What happened next had happened almost too fast to describe. Atraxa’s grip on her weapon shifted, almost imperceptibly. Then, the very next moment, there was an intense, all-consuming flash of light. Sunset instinctively dove to the floor as overwhelming magic surged across all of her senses. And as her vision was engulfed by white, Sunset could hear a blood-curdling scream, silenced just as quickly as it had cried out. When her sight returned, Sunset looked up, and Starlight was gone. In the far wall behind her, facing the center stage, was a massive, smoking hole, a place where a blast of power had torn through the wall like wet paper. Sunset’s heart skipped a beat as she realized that she, too, had only barely avoided being in its path. And as she remained prone on her stomach, she could only feel a hundred times smaller as Atraxa stepped forward, without so much as a word. She raised her spear, swiftly and precisely... ...and Sunset rolled out of the way as its tip impacted the ground where she had been lying, not even second earlier. She scrambled to the feet as the monster charged her again, intent on plunging a deadly spears straight through her abdomen. Acting in a blind panic, Sunset’s body flickered out of existence in a flash of light, and reappeared a dozen feet away. The impromptu teleport did not keep Atraxa’s attention off her for long, but it did grant her just enough time to channel her magic into her body. Bright wings sprouted from her shoulders — even brighter than they were the last time, no longer made of flesh and feathers, but from brilliant orange flame. The light continued to flow through every inch of her body, yearning to be set free, begging for release, demanding that it be unleashed upon the horror that had brought Phyrexia to her world. It was a power that engulfed her from within, guiding her with a voice beyond her hearing, whispering of an ageless, incorruptible purity. But whatever the source of her strength, Sunset did not have the time to question it. Atraxa’s body pulsed with sickly, oozing magic. With a point of her spear, a mass of oily black tendrils burst from the ground, lashing out at Sunset with glistening putrescence. Sunset’s body pulsed with light, and the tendrils disintegrated as they approached her body. Yet this had only proven a small respite from the assault, as Atraxa charged forward once more, her spear brandished with deadly intent. The spear’s whiff came much too close for comfort, the displaced air blowing strands of hair across Sunset’s face as the spear tip just barely passed by her head. She responded swiftly thrusting both her hands outward, and launching a burst of intense plasma from her palms. The assault sent Atraxa reeling backwards, but it otherwise left no visible injury on her body. Sunset was left with barely an instant to respond as Atraxa redoubled her assault, rushing down with a flurry of precision strikes. Each missed thrust of her spear was only inches away from a lethal blow, and no distance she made between herself and her opponent lasted for long. The spear whiffed by her head once again, and Sunset was able to channel her magic just fast enough to manage a teleport. As she reappeared to the side of her enemy, her hands glowed with the radiant heat of a solar corona, already prepared to strike once again. Plasma erupted from Sunset’s palms, bursting in an explosion of orange and yellow. Smoke billowed out from the impact site of the blast, obscuring the battlefield in a cloud of thick gray fumes. As the smoke assaulted her sinuses, Sunset gave a ragged cough, forcing the lingering soot out of her lungs. With watered eyes, she peered through the smoke. She wasn’t sure whether to be horrified or completely unsurprised. Atraxa had survived the assault — but not at all undamaged. The right half of her face, neck, and shoulder were all completely burned away, revealing a ragged mass of charred bone and sinew. Further cracks in her bodily armor spread out from the wound, oozing viscous, oily blood out of every crevasse. There was a sickening crack of bone as Atraxa’s head swiveled to face Sunset, little spurts of oily blood spraying out from her exposed muscle. She reached over with one of her opposite hands, grasping at the edge of the wound, digging her fingers beneath the opening in her exoskeleton. Sunset turned her eyes away, but the ear-splitting, wet crack that followed did not leave much to the imagination. The sounds of splitting bone, spurting blood, and twisting flesh tied her stomach into knots. When the noise halted, she turned again to face Atraxa. The creature’s former exoskeleton now lay on the ground in pieces, torn and stained with oil — and on her body it was replaced by a new layer of shining porcelain, still soft, wet, and glistening with beads of thick fluid. But above all else, Sunset noticed that all of Atraxa’s wounds had completely vanished. “That’s disgusting! ...And also totally unfair. Crap.” Atraxa did not speak. As she stood tall, her body let out dozens of pops and cracks and her chitinous porcelain hardened into a coat unnatural armor. She readjusted the grip on her spear, and thrust it forward, its tip glowing with a pale, sickly light. Sunset had barely enough time to duck out of the way as a massive blast pierced the air, a beam of concentrated light that seared its way through the air, burning with destructive potential. In its wake it left another massive hole in the wall, just behind the space she had previously occupied. I think we're gonna need some better ideas on how to not die. We could let her almost kill us, and have that trigger our awakening. What!? No! I'm just saying, we could. Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when Atraxa relentlessly charged forward, brandishing her spear. Sunset teleported out of the way just in time to avoid being impaled, but she could already feel her mana lines drawing thin. Her lungs and muscles had begun to ache. She did need to find a way to avoid getting killed, and she needed to find it fast. Running away was likely not an option, but neither was winning through brute force. As her teleport completed and she blinked back into existence, Sunset hoped to the stars that she would find something, anything, that would help her. Her answer came, as something that she never expected to see with her own eyes. Embedded in Atraxa's back, right between both of her shoulder blades, was a silver object of a striking design, one that Sunset had seen before, but not through eyes of her own. That's... Twilight's Planar Amulet! What's it doing here!? The answer came to her quickly enough, but she could only wish that she hadn't. She'd glimpsed the Amulet, briefly, within Princess Twilight memories. The artifact was lost in the Blind Eternities, left to hurdle through the multiverse and wash ashore of any plane it happened upon. And the Phyrexians have it. They have something that can protect them from interplanar space. Twilight, you idiot, you've doomed us all! Any anger she might have felt at that moment was quickly forgotten, as Atraxa turned around and redoubled her efforts. But as Sunset dodged the renewed assault of spear strikes and claws, she remembered something that Starlight had said earlier. Your Phyrexia can’t reach you here, so as long you’re in my Phyrexia, you’ll be answering to me! Sunset could practically feel the epiphany twinkling within her eyes. That was it. Atraxa could reach her, but the Phyrexia on the other end of the portal couldn't. She knew exactly what that meant. And, more importantly, she knew exactly how to win. Her next move was calculated and deliberate, more so than anything she'd done in the fight so far. A series of rapid teleports, blinking rapidly in and out of existence, too fast for Atraxa to keep up. With each subsequent teleport, she felt her mana lines stretch thinner and thinner — until she could practically feel them cracking from the strain. But she didn't need to keep it up forever. As fast as Atraxa was, Sunset was certain that she couldn't follow her. Then, just as her body and mind screamed for a break from the constant exertion, Sunset made her move. She blinked into existence just behind Atraxa, and in the split second before the porcelain angel could respond, launched a precise blast of plasma towards the center of her shoulders. The effect was almost instantaneous. There was a sound akin to glass shattering as the blast struck Atraxa in the back. The monster let out an ear-splitting shriek, her body twisting and writhing as it plummeted toward the ground. As Atraxa dragged herself to her feet, Sunset carefully descended to the floor, her wings retracting into her back. “You!” Atraxa hissed. “What have you done?” "I’ve figured it out,” Sunset replied firmly. “Phyrexia doesn't know how to reproduce the Planar Amulet yet. That’s why you alone were sent to activate the contagion. But now the Amulet’s gone, and you have nothing left to protect you. That means I win.” Atraxa gave a viscious snarl, and lunged forward with her spear in tow. Yet in the face of the assault, Sunset’s eyes remained focus not on Atraxa, but on the open portal just behind her. Within its metal frame, the energies of the Blind Eternities swirled and crackled with the raw energy of uncreation. Despite the pain of exhaustion that enveloped her body, Sunset forced one last burst of plasma from her palms. The blast struck Atraxa in her abdomen with powerful concussive force, sending her flying backwards — straight into the swirling vortex of energy within the portal’s aperture. An ear-splitting screech struck the auditorium, loud enough to to reverberate through the entire auditorium. Sunset plugged her ears on instinct, but even then, the shrill cry of the abomination tore through her insides, sending a wave of nausea through her stomach. Though she closed her eyes, the monsters’ cry of agony left little to the imagination, her gurgling wails becoming more warped and distorted, before finally fading away. When Sunset opened her eyes again, Atraxa was gone, leaving only the portal still standing. But even as she stood victorious, Sunset was faced with another problem. The portal still stood, an its presence was still a threat to the entire world. In truth, she had only guessed that the Phyrexians had not yet understood the Planar Amulet, and leaving the portal open would allow them to stage a full invasion if they ever managed to reproduce its magic. She couldn’t get rid of the portal in her current state. Not only was her magic utterly exhausted, something about the black machine told her that she couldn’t destroy it even if she tried. For longer that she would care to admit, Sunset stood in silence, her eyes locked onto the portal’s opening. She was at a loss for words, and a loss for options. Soon enough, however, an idea began to form in the corner of her mind. She might not be able to destroy the portal, but the energies of the Blind Eternities were another story. She’d glimpsed just enough of Princess Twilight’s memories to know that interplanar space was hostile to all forms of matter. Those without the proper protection would find the whole of their existence unraveled by the unending tides of chaos. Not merely destroyed, but unmade. And within the portal’s opening was a vortex of that very same energy, waiting for the first person foolish enough to step through it. Tentatively, Sunset reached a hand towards the portal. Her mana was exhausted, depleted beyond use — but if she could connect to the chaotic energy within the portal nexus, and use it as mana, then perhaps she would be able to accomplish something. Her skin tingled as she felt her magic connect to portal, reach into it, and draw from the chaotic energy of the Blind Eternities... This is a bad idea. I disagree. This is a very bad idea. “Shut up, both of you! I’m trying to focus!” The voices in her head quieted down just enough for Sunset to focus on the task at hand. She could feel her mind latch onto the energies within the portal. She grit her teeth and concentrated, guiding the energy within the portal outwards, towards the metal that made up its body. The results of her efforts were made apparent almost right away, when the portal itself began to melt at the energy’s touch. Except no, that wasn’t it. The portal was not melting, she realized. Its shape was warping, twisting, and flowing inwards, and yet it had appeared no less solid to the naked eye. The portal was not melting, the very fact of its existence was being dissolved. A chill ran down Sunset’s spine. The crackling of the portal steadily grew louder, the glow within its nexus shining every more harshly, a blistering light that sent a tingle across the entire surface of Sunset’s skin. It grew brighter and brighter, louder and louder, like it was building up towards something massive... ...Sunset decided then that it was a good time to leave. Trusting her best instincts, she immediately let go of her focus, and poured all of her remaining energy into running away. She didn’t look back for even a split second as she sprinted out the auditorium and through the hallways, not even questioning that there were no students to be seen, or that she had somehow forgotten that she was tired. As she made her way through the industrial corridors, she burst out of the school’s front entrance, her body doubled over, gasping for breath. “Adagio! We... We have to get out of...” Sunset cut herself off when she took at good look at just what was before her. First, the Dazzlings performed their song atop an impromptu stage built from metal scrap and Phyrexian machinery, one that Sunset was sure hadn’t been there before. Second, the entire school population stood entranced before them, cheering endlessly as the sirens sang their song, accompanied by what looked to be magical pyrotechnics. “...Of freaking course.” ———————— “Thank you, Canterlot High! It’s great to be back!” “Um, Dagi?” “What’s that I hear? Do you want an encore?” “Hey, Adagio! Sonata’s trying to tell you something!” “You’re gonna have to be louder than that! I can’t hear you!” “Adagio!” “Er, sorry everyone, I’ve got to take care of something. What? What do you two want? This had better be good!” “...It’s Sunset. She’s running towards us.” “And the auditorium building is glowing. I can see it all the way from here.” “Yeah, and so what? What’s that got to do with—” BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM ———————— Critical Meltdown 3RR Sorcery Exile target artifact. Critical Meltdown deals 5 damage to each creature. ”To destroy the indestructible is not without consequence, for darksteel never dies alone.” — Koth, the Last Vulshok