Bad Ends

[Bedwyr]

[]Well I've said this was coming for a long time, but I finally got around to it. Feel free to toss in your own bad ends, humourous or not. V I'm looking at you~ Even if no one else wants to post/work at posting these, I thought it was interesting. Bedwyr's moment of fail is highlighted in red, its not just Jack's text that is red. Now, read my fail attempt to write Jack! []

Bad Ends: Bedwyr #1: A Sudden Pang…

He heard a sickening tearing sound before he felt the pain in his leg. At the instant he felt the pain he stumbled and backhanded blindly with his blade, of course it hit nothing. Normally he wouldn’t waste a motion like that, but it seemed like he was not in a normal frame of mind. Something cold gripped his soul; it had been a long time since he felt like that, a very long time.

The thing was in his way as he rose. How does he move so quickly?[/color] At least he was not wielding anything along the lines of a noble phantasm, but his own were barely useful without anything to ride. And with injuries…

What would he do? If he continued chasing after his Master, his death would be a certainty. He could not escape. Blood dripped down his shoulder, poured down his shoulder, and the shadow taunted him.

"M'affraid runnin won't do you any good, my dear fellow."

The shadow was right.

I have to… I have to believe in her![/color]

Running would get him killed immediately. His only chance was to cut down this shadow quickly, and get it out of his way, praying that his Master could manage herself until then.

The knife was still in his bad shoulder, restricting his left side’s movement as he rushed the shade. His right foot nearly dragged, slowing his speed considerably, but it still had to be done!

A strike, and the shadow was no longer there at the last second. His sword whipped through the air with no technique, no finesse.
The darkness parted for a being just outside his sword reach. Accursed leg! I can’t even reach him![/color]

He rushed again, and this time his ragged efforts were rewarded with a laugh, and a burning slash down his already bad arm, parting the metal plates of his armour like they were water. He stumbled, and the tendons in his left leg were severed at the knee.

Darkness itself retreated as he struggled to stand. Pain, pain and fear flashed through his mind. He could not, would not lose to this creature!

”Ahahahaha! Ahaha! Oh, m’boy, you don’t seem up ta this!”

Spatharius gave him aid to his feet, lengthening to touch the ground as he rose unsteadily; any weapon instructor would have flayed him alive for seeing that. What a thought to come to mind now… heh Blood came unbidden out his mouth as he straightened.

Is this honour or…? The shade had not touched him, instead it continued its inane cackling.

He moved to take a step, plant an impossible foot, and he succeeded. Blood pooled as he moved, too much blood.

And then, a pang, a knife to the chest. He felt death, painful twisting death.

But the shade had never moved. No knife had come. But still he felt it twisting, fear and pain bubbling in his draining blood.

He had not died; he had not received the knife. She had. Two red rubies fell to the ground.

Failure.

Alone, again. Kingless. Leaderless. Hopeless.

His right knee hit the ground with a loud clang as the armour gave its last breath and faded away, leaving only torn cloth behind, barely attached to him, more red than its natural grey. Even the surcoat faded.

Once again, he attempted to rise. Spatharius… he could not even manage to shift the blade.

But the shadow was still in reach, still cackling.

And he swung.

That was the last of it for his left leg, which broke underneath the last effort, and followed the right leg to the ground with that last ragged swing.

There was no impact of flesh, no resistance. Perhaps the thing was the shadow. His vision blurred, he couldn’t even maintain Spatharius’ presence now, and it faded from his hand.

He couldn’t even maintain how he knelt, collapsing in his own blood. It ran freely from his mouth now. I.. if.. I can still. His good hand gripped blindly forward, searching for a loyal sword, a loyal sword now long gone. It had never failed him before, but now he failed it. No weapon had broken in his hands; he had broken.

Motionless, he let his eyes close. Master… I…[/i] There was no longer anything he could say. He had failed; she had died. It was over, his wish, this world was gone.
Desperately he tried to turn onto his back, to look at the stars once more with eyes that could no longer see. It was surprisingly easy, almost as if his body was being moved by an outside force. When he opened his eyes for the last time, there were no stars. Instead, only a face, darker than the sky he had hoped to see hovered over him.

You look like you need to say something friend, but it appears that your lungs are filling with blood and without air the miracle of sound cannot occur. Now, normally this would be fatal rather quickly, but I suspect you might wish to say something. I can help you with that, we only need to open a direct passage for you to breathe!

Cold steel met the flesh of his throat, and true to the darkness’ words, he felt one last rush of air as his blood spilled out. But there were no words.

Not even thoughts.

The knight’s body broke, and looked filmy and distant, his face only showing regret. His body had died before, but in valliance, taking many beneath his blade.

Now it was pointless. Only his own blood had been spilled onto his blade, his master had fallen, never having accepted him. So many mistakes.

Failure. And with that last thought his body broke into mist and faded from this world.

[Bedwyr]

[] Pink is Emiliana, Lime Green is Eusenia, Light Blue is Gawy, Gold is Lancelot, and Red is the Bad End causing choices. This one is not meant to be serious. Not in character and all that, and blah blah. Thread it is based off of is here[]

“Sister, I think a game of Monopoly between the two of them should suffice. Would it satiate your lust for competition?”

Eusenia picked Monopoly. Well… Emiliana wasn’t one to back down from a challenge!

”You’re on, sis!”

Even if it was completely inane and insane, she wasn’t going to let Eusenia have the victory via forfeit!

“Let’s do this, Gawain!” She said with fire burning in her eyes, and cheered him on as they walked down the hallway in search of the game. Lancelot had removed his helmet and Eusenia was tapping her fingers on the oak table as she finally arrived.

“P-purple hair!?” Emiliana exclaimed as soon as she opened the door, dropping the Monopoly box, which Gawain, with the speed only a Servant could claim, kept it from smashing against the ground.

“Thanks for stating the obvious, Sister. As always, your intelligence continues to absolutely astound me” Eusenia replied dryly to Emiliana as her and Gawain took a seat at the polished table.

Emiliana could only growl at that comment. “Lets just start the game and hurry up your loss, Eusi.” With that, they removed the lid, and scrambled to set up the basic pieces. Gawain took the Iron playing piece “It looks like a shield, my Lady, and with it I shall protect your honour!” and Lancelot the cannon “A weapon with which to smite my allies!”

And so they began play, with heavy echoing rolls of the dice, Gawain’s luck holding up against Lancelot’s phantasmal Dice.

Until the canon was Twelve Spaces away from boardwalk, after the third circle of the board. Still no one had bought that ever so important piece of property, that which held it held the game. And Eusenia realized that. She could not, she would not, let her sister obtain it. Gawain could get it on the next go, and with his luck, he would have it this time!

“Lancelot!” He turned to look at her, and she stared right into his eyes “Roll double sixes!” To that, she raised her right hand, and with a red flash that momentarily lit up the room, a command seal was spent. If Emiliana had told him to roll Nine-thousand and one with two dice and that command seal, with one roll he would do so!

With a guttural roar he shook the dice in his hand and contemptuously hurled them at the table like a meteor, both of them smashing a flaming hole into the table, and remaining stuck within. Both sides were facing up, flat in the cratered wood.

And they were both sixes.

Both Emiliana and Gawain were shocked, and looked with both dread and awe at Lancelot and his Master.

“Master!” Gawain shouted, leaping to his feet, his sword materializing in his hand. “She used a command seal! That’s –“

“Ohohoho~ That’s what, Gawain, cheating? All I did was encourage him a little, I don’t know what you are talking about~ Put away your sword, if you don’t want to disqualify your precious master”

“Wh-what!? But Sister what are yo-“ Emiliana stuttered out, still taken aback by the display from the smiling pair.

Gawain interrupted her, however “My Lady! I shall protect your honour, and do whatever it takes to win! I will not lose to this… this… foul miscreant! I shall have my honour on his defeat. If he had a sheathe, he would have slammed the weapon home in it for emphasis, but he had to settle for letting it fade into the air.

“Your move, Shiny.” Lancelot growled. Gawain so pried the dice out of the table and began to shake them in his hand.

Emiliana wondered what her sister’s next move would be, what it had to be. That smile… that laugh… At the very least I can’t let her have Park Place…

That would be her next move! And Gawain was only one space away from the second best property on the board… only one space, he couldn’t roll a 1! Well, she had to take these matters into her own hands.

Just as Gawain was about to release the dice, she shouted “Gawain! Roll a single one!” Her own pose matched her sisters as just the roll before, and the red light once again filled the room as Gawain’s eyes lit up.

“Yes! My Lady!” He opened his hands and the dice were caught between his fingers, and with a toss of his hair, and some flair, he flicked them at the table with the refinement of a knight, instead of the fury of a berserker.

One die landed… No, it didn’t land! It was spinning on the table like a top, not even slowing, as the other die bounced, and landed perfectly atop the dancing die, with a single pip showing towards the heavens.

With two dice, Gawain rolled only one. An impossibility, achieved by the magic of the Command Seals. Truly with these… any miracle can be achieved!

[/color] Eusenia was as flabbergasted as Emiliana had been, and even after a minute of waiting, the spinning die still rotated ever strong, not showing any sign of slowing.

It was the Saber and his Master’s turn to smile now.

“So that’s how you want to play it then, Sister dear. Well… I can let you have the second best, because that is all you are! To me and Lancelot, you two are only Second place! The younger sister, and the second knight!”

“Please, Sister, your age only makes you more feeble, and Gawain is the knight of the sun! There is no greater than he! No brighter star in the sky!

Their glares could have melted the polar ice, had it been placed between them, made it evaporate into the air. This was the competition to end all competitions. The victor of this one would be the final victor. It was already decide, this path was set in stone, and now it was only up to the Fates.

The game continued a short while longer, till the final properties were bought up. It was almost exactly even. The gods who watched the game by some whim had decreed that they should end up with the same amount of money, and the same worth in properties. Somehow.

It was the trading phase. As long as Gawain kept Park Place away from Lancelot, they could win! Or… even better…

“Gawain, make Lancelot trade Boardwalk!” Another flash of light beamed out of her hand, another ring on the buckler faded, as Gawain was given the perfect words to tame Lancelot, and make him accept any deal.

“Lancelot! If you give me Boardwalk, I will forgive you! For everything, my brother knight!” The passion in his voice, the tone, and the sincerity was incredible. He even believed it! There was no way Lancelot could resist an attack like this one.

And he couldn’t. His cruel metal hand tremblingly reached for Boardwalk from the pile of his properties. His fingers slowly closed around it, and he lifted it into the air, a single tear splashing on the wooden table. I can… I can be forgiven! My quest, my chance, this God ordained chance at forgiveness, and all I have to do is give him the card!

He reached, slowly extending his hand to Gawain’s outstretched palm. He would give the card in a handshake from the only man he sought forgiveness from… if he had his, hers would surely follow!

An inch more to go, he could taste it, and more tears fell.

“Lancelot! Lancelot! No! Resist it! He’s lying! Resist!”

Another flash of light, another seal burned, and Lancelot slammed his hand down on the table, millimeters away from giving it to Gawain.

“Forgiveness so easily given is surely fake!” He snarled, sitting back in his chair, and snatching his hand away from Gawain.

Eusenia put her hand on her chest, breathing heavily, to calm herself. Crisis… averted[/color]

“Come on Sister, you will have to wake up earlier to put one like that over on me!”

And with that, the game continued, and hotels were placed on every area except Park Place and Boardwalk. Each knight narrowly evaded the perilous jaws of defeat countless times as minutes stretched into hours. The echo of the dice accompanied the furrowed brow of concentration as the table began to get word down with the fury of the rolling, and the sheer presence of the two knights.

It was going nowhere fast. And neither sister would accept a draw.

It was Gawain’s roll, and he was approaching Lancelot’s hotels. Landing on just one of them would end the game for him, and the same was true of Lancelot’s path, which was laid with mines of hotels.

There was a brief lull, a respite as each knight stretched their arms, never taking their glares from each other.

Well I still have a command seal left.
Well I still have a command seal left
I wonder what she is planning.
I wonder what she is planning.
She might use her seal this roll, it looks like she is plotting.
I should use my seal to change Gawain’s roll using Lancelot’s phantasmal dice.
Whatever she tries, I’ll stop her!
I have this competition wrapped up!

The respite was over. It was Gawain’s roll. The dice shook, and time seemed to slow in between each toss of his hands. Lancelot watched with concentration, and then Eusenia raised her hand!

Now! I’ll stop her now!
”Lancelot!”
“Gawain!”
”Make Gawain land on your hotels!”
”Defend your roll, Gawain!”

Lancelot’s hand crashed into Gawain’s dice rolling hand, but Gawain met his hand with his own. The sound when they met was like thunder, and the shockwave made both the sisters step back and turn their heads.

When they finally looked back, command seal less, neither knight was at the table or standing. They were simply gone, and the board overturned, the table split in half. They were gone.

”Your fault” They said simultaneously.
[/justify]