Cell (MM) vs. Gaius (PCZ)

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

Gaius shook his head violently, trying to sling away the blinding substance that covered his face, apparently secreted from one of the enemy monster's bulbous eyes. Was there no end to the disturbing biological mechanisms and weapons possessed by this abomination of science?

It was impossible to see, and difficult to even hear above the rain and thunder what his opponent was doing...but feeling the tremors in the ground beneath its feet, shaking and rattling through his ancient stone armor, he estimated that the enemy was fast approaching - no doubt to do something lethal. So, he clumsily lurched to the side in an effort to evade an unseen death--

--and was partially successful, as a powerful stab of pain pierced and radiated throughout his left arm. The Colossus rumbled loudly, stumbled and nearly fell as its balance was thrown off by the unexpected blow...but feeling that damnable wicked spear-limb stuck now in his arm, he didn't need to see or hear to take action. With a powerful roar, the giant hefted his sword high and brought it down hard upon the spindly pike. An awful CRACK sounded, followed quickly by the enemy's anguished howl, but Gaius didn't relent; he cocked his weapon back again and thrust right in from the side, damaging the limb further. He was just about to have at it yet again...

...When something reached through his moment of fury and took him: his sight was beginning to return. The rain was washing the blood-like substance from his face.

Holding his weapon aloft before him to ward off any surprise attacks, Gaius shook his head once again, successfully clearing his eyes. Uttering a low growl as his anger resurfaced, he sharply jerked his left arm backward, pulling the offending limb of his opponent's out. More dark blood trickled from the wound, but the giant paid little notice as he quickly came forward and snatched the wounded spear before the monster could retract it. Deciding to give this beast a taste of its own power, he gave a sharp yank on the extension to send its owner stumbling toward him, then roughly forced the limb around so its bloodied tip faced his enemy, and thrust right for the center of its chest...

[Monster Master]

Cell groaned and snarled as his own, spear-like leg was pushed into his front. The sharp ending broke a layer of skin, sending a squirt of red blood to spray. As it ventured deeper, Gaius found his own body getting closer to Cell's. The huge beast bellowed once more as he backed away a bit. Then, out of seemingly no where, the monster's front side seemed to explode. Large, pincer-like weapons erupted from his shoulders and chest. Their size mimicking Gaius' in sheer length, they clamped around his chest and began to squeeze.

At once, the giant released the spear and gripped the large pincers that were quickly growing tighter. His armor was starting to splinter, his flesh began to rip. Streams of blood fell like waterfalls, splashing on his feet and the ground below. With a snort, the abomination began to twist his upper body. The colossus' body began to tilt with it, but his sheer size and composition had limits.

CRACK! Layer after layer of rock fell to the ruined streets as the armor was crushed. A cloud of black powder drifted downward before the clamp-like pincer released and he fell back, his body smashing itself on the road. Blood and ooze coated his front size, a large portion of armor now off, his flesh was left in plain view. Cell, the bastard son of man's progress in biology, walked forward. Drool fell from his lower jaw as he turned around. All three of his tails lifted up as if one and then came down.. Ready to whip the guardian into tomorrow.

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

At that moment, time seemed to slow down from the perspective of the wounded and maimed Colossus, Gaius.....he could almost see the bolts of lightning snaking, tearing their way across the sky as they lit up the heavens above, silhouetting the gargantuan monster's imposing form as it stood above him, ready to deliver another punishing blow.

At his sides, all around him, a great deal more of his armor had been shattered...for ages it had guarded the Colossi, as the Colossi guarded the Forbidden Land. It was made to be as strong as the Earth from which it was hewn...and for the longest time, it was truly believed that the great beasts were invincible. No weapon could harm them. No army could challenge them.

Truly, they were never meant to fall to the hands of any mortal, man or beast.

...

The shrill cry of the grotesque beast responsible for this blasphemy pulled Gaius out of his torpor - and reminded him that the creature was about to strike him down unless he acted quickly!

Doing the only thing he could do in his disadvantageous position, the Earth Knight raised his sword and tried to block the combined blow from the monster's three tails...but the strength behind the appendages was considerable, and he was very nearly overpowered. Thinking quickly, the giant lurched up and seized all three of the enemy's tails in the crook of his left arm, then used his weapon as a crutch to quickly climb back to his feet.

Now, gripping each of the monstrosity's tails as best as he could with his arm and the hilt of his blade, Gaius stepped back and yanked hard, pulling the creature's legs out from under it and sending it sprawling. Before it could recover from this, he shifted his stance for all the leverage he could gain, then yanked again and swung the enemy's body for all he was worth--

SMASH!!

--Sending it smashing into a building right behind them. The structure virtually exploded apart under the colossal impact, sending dust and debris and bits of blood flying hither and yon. Knowing that one such blow wasn't likely to put this creature down, Gaius braced himself and swung his foe around again, demolishing another luckless establishment with its body. He turned, yanked the monster up and over and down with terrific force upon a third structure, then turned right back and yanked it up out of the pile of rubble to bring it smashing into the cold and unforgiving ground in front of him, and finally finished the brutal assault by swinging the beaten and bloodied creature in circles, then letting it fly right into the base of a particularly tall monument, watching with some satisfaction as the entire thing came crashing down and burying the abomination.

Now...Gaius simply got down on one knee, holding his sword before him, to take a moment of rest and wait to see whether his foe would rise again to continue the attack.

[Monster Master]

Minutes passed and the people, even miles away, held their breath. Of the two evils, the giant easily was the more forgiving of the two, even their stupid-little minds knew this. The rubble continued to shift as smaller pieces broke under the load, but beneath it, Cell stirred. He hurt. He hurt more than he had ever in the past! He's faced Swamp, Hessian, and Chimera, and none of them were able to throw the juggernaut around like that.

His freakish maw let out a groan as blood seeped between his teeth. Slowly he stood up. The mountain of debris rose up with it. Like a wave does, it then came back down, pooling around his trunk-like feet. His wings were torn to shreds, entire sections of the exoskeleton-ed bird wing was gone. Blood seeped from gashes and literal craters in his body, from his alligator hide and insectoid exoskeleton. The two locked eyes again, both knowing full well that the other was stronger than anything they had faced in the past.

Pink-colored ooze dripped from the corners of its maw. The fluid itself being a mixture of his saliva and precious blood. The colossus stood up, his chest heaving with every breath. Blood seeped from his own wounds, but this war was far from over.

As the two watched one another, the mutant had already figured out his weapons and powers acted much faster than his gigantic opponent. With speed rivaling the crackling lightning above, Cell's maw shot open and his tentacle like, forked tongue shot outward. It wrapped around the guardian's throat like a possessed anaconda.

The being's gigantic hand quickly grasped the slimy, wet appendage and his large weapon already began to move upward. The disturbingly insect-like arm of the freak lashed out, the two tentacles that rested around its fingers lashed out, each coiling around the giant's arm and blade.

The arm was pulled forward, held at an angle in witch he couldn't use it to hurt his tongue like he had his tails prior in the battle. A thunderous bellow came from the juggernaut as he began to run forward, wrapping his own tentacles around his hand to keep his weapon at bay. Gaining speed, Cell's feet picked up off of the ground. What had happened was simple.. He used his own tentacles to slingshot himself!

The massive feet of the beast smashed into the giant, making him topple over. Blood, at once, exploded from his mouth as Cell's heavy body stood on top of his near-bare chest. The tentacle around his throat released him, but the ones around his arm continued to hold it in place. With a grunt, he lifted a leg and softly placed it on Gaius' face. The foot then began to grind..

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

The great giant winced and moaned weakly as the monster standing atop him ruthlessly pressed his head into the ground with its foot. Blood oozed from the corners of his mouth, staining his gray fur and splashing the ground at his sides, and he nearly choked on the ichor bubbling up as his wind was knocked out from the enemy's last vicious blow...

...but the will of Dormin still pulsed powerfully through the Colossus' ancient veins, and as long as it did, the giant would not retreat nor surrender. As long as both titans still lived, it was the duty of Gaius' stone sword to bring end to this war...even if the cost would be his own life.

Alas, as his sword was being held fast by more of the beast's innumerable gripping appendages, Gaius was forced to rely on his other arm to free himself. His stubby hand tightened into a solid fist, braced and swung upward in a powerful arc - smashing satisfyingly against the calf of the enemy's leg. Almost immediately he felt the crushing pressure against his face weaken, and in his foe's moment of vulnerability, he pushed its foot off his head to the side, spreading its legs apart and forcing it to wobble and wallow in a rather compromising position.

Seeing the promising vulnerability presented to him, Gaius set about exploiting it: he tucked both legs up as far as they would go, and shot up with a powerful double kick right into the monster's exposed crotch. Even though there appeared to be no visible genitalia, and the being's torso appeared to be armored and well-protected, the beast still roared in obvious agony and reactively clenched up to protect its sensitive region - and was forced again to fumble for footing on top of Gaius' body, or risk falling over again--and losing its hold of the Colossus' weapon.

Which was exactly why Gaius made that move, and just the opening he was looking for: his arm tensed again, and his fist lurched and plowed right into the elbow joint of the arm holding his weapon at bay, weakening the monster's grip enough for the guardian to begin forcing it up, and ultimately push the enemy down off of his prone form.

Quickly getting his feet back under him but not yet standing upright, Gaius sat upon one knee as he brought back the hilt of his sword and attempted to bring a powerful blow down on his foe's left kneecap, hoping to hamper its considerable mobility.

[Monster Master]

Cell snarled in rage as he churned on the ground, both of his hands cupping his crotch as it sent wave after wave of paid through his body, especially through his gut. Drool dripped from the corners of his maw, but then he saw what his foe was up to. Just as the weapon came down, Cell's lower end arched off the ground and began to.. what witness would later call.. hump the air.

At once, Gaius stumbled back, his hand clutching his face and upper region. What had happened couldn't be seen by the naked eye, but Cell had used an age old trick to make the giant pull back. Given to him by spiders, he launched his poison hairs. The damage may not last that long, but the giant had been blinded once again, giving the juggernaut enough time to roll to the side and stand.

His insect-like arm clutching his crotch, the beast charged forward. His long, spear-like weapon was ready to return that favor.

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

The ground beneath the titans rumbled and tremored, the buildings around them shaking in sympathy, as Gaius bellowed his pain and fury. Yet another underhanded trick up this fell monster's sleeve left him blinded and unable to take effective action. Sickening pain radiated from the innumerable pinpricks that had been launched into his exposed body, nearly making the Colossus lose its concentration...

...But the sound of the enemy's rapidly approaching footfalls, and the accompanying quakes in the ground, spurred him back to attention. It sounded too close for him to get out of the way quickly enough by this point, so Gaius simply drew back his sword arm, then lurched in the direction of the sound and thrust with all his might, hoping to at least trade mortal blows with his foe.....

Lightning flashed. Thunder roared.

Two powerful blows landed.

...

Silence reigned as the rumble of the heavens faded. Gaius hardly noticed the spear-limb of his enemy piercing deep somewhere between his shoulder and his pectoral, amidst the pain of every other wound suffered in this war.....and Cell could not muster the breath to snarl or shriek after the ancient guardian's sword nearly buried itself in his gut.

Pain throbbed through most of the Colossus' body, flowing as the river of his own black blood through fur and flesh and broken armor...but hot, burning anger pulsed more strongly than his own beating heart, giving him the strength to push physical discomfort aside and return every favor given him by his enemy. This anger drove him to thrust his sword up through the crook of his foe's left arm and across its back in order to hold it close, while his own left arm, oblivious of the spear still stuck in his shoulder, prepared to deliver a series of punches into the monster's abused face.

[Monster Master]

Cell snarled and groaned, but his complaints were quickly shorted by the first punch. THUMP! It came, snapping the points of his fangs off. Then the second came, nearly breaking his nose and sending a squirt of blood out of his nostrils. The arm pulled back, but the genetic freak has quickly had enough of this. His maw opened up and tentacle-like tongue lashed out, wrapping around the giant's throat. The punching, like his groans, were halted as he began to struggle against the tongue.

The tongue began to pull back in and forced the weapon out of his body. Cell retracted the spear-like leg and groaned again as his longer, hand-ed tentacles lashed out, wrapping around the giant's abdomen.

The monster's arms wrapped around Gaius' chest, holding him tight.. And that's when the pain came. Cell had the giant in a modified bear hug! The being gasped and moaned aloud, but no oxygen was allowed to enter or leave his mouth. Instead he could only gasp and choke as Cell crushed him with all his might. Pieces of armor fell from his form as he was squashed, the weapon, his own hand, began to feel heavier. The tentacle around his throat squeezed, the pressure nearly making his eyes pop out of socket.

Minutes passed and the rain that had been stirring finally began to pour. Blood and dried saliva washed off of both kaiju before Cell released the giant. He fell back with barely any movement and laid still, the only sign of live being the occasional twitch and the gasps. The centipede like tail clicked and screeched it lifted up. Cold black eyes looked at the still-gasping giant before it began to spray that damned webbing again.

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

Still, the beast endured and counterattacked. Still, Gaius found himself ruthlessly beaten back.

Still, that damnable silk-spitting worm lived to do its work, as the living tail began to enshroud and entomb the fallen Colossus. Gaius knew he needed to recover, and quickly...but his mind was so disrupted by the pain and the lack of breath visited upon him by this monster, he hadn't the faintest idea of what he would do even if this abomination wasn't busy mummifying him. No attack of his seemed to have impeded this creature in the least...it bruised and bled, to be certain; but its strength never waned, and its rage only grew with every blow it took.

A brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the sky for a split-second, shining through the webbing that already coated his body...but it was a meaningless display. The Earth Knight had not the strength to continue the fight. It was over...

Already, in his pain-induced torpor, Gaius could begin to see the light of eternity reaching for him...but instead of feeling soothed and eased as one dying should have, he only felt blinded by heaven's immortal brilliance, unable to even look away.

'The light! Use the light, Gaius! It be your only chance!'

...Of course! The light of heaven! Why did he not think to return the favor of being blinded by his foe earlier??

Quickly but carefully, the Colossus focused...then, his eyes came alight once more: only now, instead of placid blue or angry orange pentagonal irises, his orbs flashed and shone with the light of the sun--

--and the menacing storm clouds parted as a beam of pure brilliance shot down from heaven, right into Cell's eyes. The deformation suddenly screamed in pain and reeled back from its enemy, clutching violently at its face. To Gaius' satisfaction, its worm-tail stopped enshrouding him in silk and now writhed and shrieked in sympathy with its blinded master.

Perhaps that lightning hadn't been so meaningless after all.

Willing the pain aside, the Earth Knight breathed deeply, feeling his strength slowly return, and then set about ripping away the irritating netting that held him to the ground. With it discarded, he was able to stand straight and tall once again. The beast before him still snarled and shook its head as its eyes tried to regain their mortal sight. He shook his head, in a curious mix of condescension and pity, as he brought his sword back far, then gave all of his strength into a mighty overhand swing that left waves of rain droplets flying in the wake of his blade.

CRACK!!

The tip of his sword struck the monster's skull with such terrific power that it was driven down into the asphalt with near as much force as Gaius put behind his thrust - and it never lost its feet. Its head actually bounced back up from the street, and the creature hung doubled over for a good long second, blood beginning to ooze from its mouth and its one mammalian eye rolling up into its head...before, almost in slow motion, its weight and uneven balance sent it toppling to its knees, and finally to the ground.

The Colossus heaved a weary sigh...so much he wanted to believe that this last blow would be the end of this terrible war; but, somewhere deep in his gut, he knew that it was not over - perhaps not even close. So, he stepped up to Cell's fallen form, raised his sword high, and then thrust the tip straight down in an attempt to piledrive it into the back of the monster's neck.

[Monster Master]

(OOC: No big thing here or warrant to edit, but Cell doesn't have a mammalian eye. He has one chameleon eye and his other is composed of two Battra-like eyes.)

A fountain of gore rose up as the weapon parted both the fur and exoskeleton of the behemoth. Cell, even blinded and weakened, shouted out in total agony before being silenced as his throat was nearly torn out. The freak's powerful legs and arms planted themselves firmly in the ground as he tried to fight back against the giant that continued to try and decapitate him. He would pay! Oh would he pay!

The favor the giant gave to him earlier, smashing his loins in, was soon to be repaid. He may have some armor left down there, but even through the blurred vision, Cell saw the opportunity. His teeth grinded together before his large, almost ape-like arm thrust up at an angle...

The giant didn't move. His jaw dropped and eyes bulged outward. His mouth closed, bitting his lower lip before pulling the weapon away from the beast to tend to his now pulverized man-hood. What damage had been done.. Couldn't be seen by the naked eye, but between the flesh and the stone armor that was slammed... It can be assured he'll never have kids..

Gaius stumbled back before falling, his hand clutching his groin as he moaned aloud. Cell snorted, drool dripping from his cat-like head as he shuck his head from side to side, attempting to clear his vision. It wasn't perfect, but it'll have to do. His head hurt like nothing he had ever felt, but as long as his heart is beating.. The abandoned kaiju will keep on trucking.

Blood trickled down his back as he looked at the giant, he snarled in utter hatred now before lifting his insectoid arm. He lashed out with both tentacles.. aiming to whip the guardian.

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

Ah...my mistake.

Anyway...I know I've often dawdled for several days between moves, and I apologize; but please pardon me this time if I am gone for too long, as tomorrow I am going to have a fair amount of dental surgery done(likely including, but not limited to, the removal of my wisdom teeth).

---

Gaius moaned and rolled in helpless agony, vainly clutching at his groin even as he knew that if the armor there could not protect it from damage, covering it with his hands would do no better. The fell beast responsible for this pain stood above him, its drooling lips twisted in what appeared to be a sadistic smile as it no doubt enjoyed its foe's suffering. Then, it raised one arm on high, and let fly with a pair of wicked tentacles...

--which were all of the sudden met not by exposed fur and flesh, but by the cold, unyielding stone club that was the Colossus' right hand. And just as quickly, Gaius' left arm came up and grasped the fleshy appendages, wound them around itself for good purchase as he pulled his sword back, then yanked the hapless Cell toward him and thrust his weapon square into the shoulder joint of the arm that tried to attack him.

The beast could only shriek in rage, and then pain as it felt its arm nearly dislocated from its torso, as it realized that it had been duped. The Colossi were made, not born: created not within a mother's womb, but hewn from the bosom of the Earth itself. They were not made to give birth, and so they had no means to do so.....meaning Cell's revenge was wasted.

The tentacles jerked and spasmed in response to the blow, and Gaius allowed them to fall away from his arm in order to push himself up to a kneeling position, then twisted his torso around to ready his sword for the next attack, and made with a powerful swinging strike aimed to clip the creature at its knees, to take its legs right out from under it.

[Monster Master]

The weapon smacked into the aberration's knees, the blow itself sending the towering juggernaut to the ruined Earth that lay bleeding beneath it. With a snarl, drool dripping from his over-sized fangs, Cell crawled back, gasping and coughing as fluid came up from his bowels.

With a shriek, the large centipede that doubled as tail for the tyrant shot up, quickly acting like it was lashing out. The sudden movement pulled off what was needed and made the colossus back away, thinking the webbing was coming, with a loud, vicious cry of pain, Cell stood up, blood dripping from his knee caps.

With his knees still aching, Cell managed to throw his body forward, smashing full-weight into the guardian. The two fell back and Cell's head lashed forward, clamping around Gaius' throat. The chimera squeezed, ripping the flesh apart before pulling back, holding in his maw a raw chunk of black flesh that soon vanished down his throat.

The giant fell back, gasping as his throat was filled with fluid. Cell screamed in rage again, his head leaning down, ready to take a chunk out of his chest.

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

Well, I'm back, sooner than I figured. Wisdom teeth are apparently still too deep to get at without an oral surgeon, but I did have a few pulled that were just God-awful decayed and infected, and they filled a few others that could still be saved. Was under anesthesia for damn near six hours, and I'm still kinda weary and sore, but I'm here.

---

Wonderful. The damned beast was learning from tactics used against it...and in the heat of battle, Gaius had fallen for his own trick.

The Colossus choked and spluttered as more dark ichor bubbled up from its mouth and the new wound in its neck, and it was helpless to stop the monster from lunging down and biting into him again, this time taking his exposed chest and sending new tearing waves of pain radiating through his battered body...but with one last powerful cough, he spewed the rest of the blood free of his mouth, all over Cell's head. The creature merely shook its head in annoyance and continued gnawing at his flesh, clearly too absorbed in its task to heed any outside happenings...

So much the better, the Earth Knight thought, as he hefted his sword-arm once again in desperation and anger, and slammed the gorging monster in the side of the head. A muffled scream of pain issued from its mouth, but Gaius kept up the pressure with a heavy punch from his left hand right into its crown, and then finished by bringing both arms back as far as possible and then brutally crushing Cell's head between his stubby fist and the hilt of his sword.

Lifting its mouth away from his wounded chest, still holding it in both hands, the living statue threw it off to the side and set about extricating himself from beneath its body, then himself climbed astride its back, and clutched his left arm tightly around its neck. Slamming his sword into the ground for leverage, he gripped the beast's neck as tightly as he could, hoping to choke the life out of it before it could recover and throw him off...

[Monster Master]

Luckily for Cell, the huge juggernaut he was fighting seemed to be 100% oblivious to the wings on his back. While not fit for light, and they were usually used for nothing but looks, he can move them. The wings moved.. More like flapped.. Or spasmed. The giant was forced off as one of the wings bopped him on the side, and as he pulled away, Cell's head turned, its chameleon eye releasing another squirt of blood.

Like before, the blood entered the giant's eyes before spraying across his face. The blindness coming with the intruding fluid made the guardian grab his face in rage once again, giving Cell enough time to get up and go for the throat bite once more.

[Perfect Chaos Zero]

Anger beyond all rational thought screamed through every fiber of the Colossus' being.....anger at both this wretched monster for wreaking such extensive damage upon him, and at himself for allowing it to happen. He had not survived the countless centuries since his creation by being foolish and careless; what in Dormin's name was happening to him now to lead his sense astray??

'Stem your ire, Gaius...do not allow your rage to blind you.'

...

Gaius ceased struggling against the blood that blinded him, taking a deep breath to calm himself down and regain his focus. As his anger simmered back under control and his good sense restored itself, one of the first things his senses became aware of was the guttural drooling cry of the beast, no doubt preparing to have at him again while he was blinded. Somehow, he felt that it would try to go for his wounded throat again as well.

With not enough time to raise his sword in defense or offense, the Earth Knight raised his left arm instead - and successfully caught Cell's own neck as it lunged for him. Teeth snapped and gnashed dreadfully close to his face, and he could smell its hot, sour breath as it snarled its anger and defiance at him. Slowly, his eyes came alight once more, pale blue pentagons shining with purpose through the foul crimson blood...

At once he leaned back, then came forward while yanking the enemy's head forth to deliver a vicious headbutt. The monster's skull almost bounced upon its neck as it reeled from the blow, before Gaius laid into it with another head smash. Blood began to well from the unsightly bruise in its cranium, and the Colossus sensed its resistance weakening...so he delivered the coup de grace one more time, for good measure.

He shook his great head, to clear away both the effects of the multiple headbutts and the sticky secreted blood of his enemy, washed and loosened by the rain falling from heaven. Seeing the heavily beaten monster before him, and taking stock of his own abused condition, he knew the time for arrogant bravado was past. No more mistakes could be afforded.

He wrapped his hand around the back of the mutant's neck, placed the corner edge of his club up against the front of its neck...and began to stroke the weapon back and forth. Little if anything would happen at first, but as friction built up between the monster's tough skin and the rough stone edge of Gaius' sword, some damage was bound to be done.

---

So...just curious, when do you think Inferno is gonna judge this?