Shipping VIII: Yes, Eight. No, really. We are THAT insane.

[RabbitHoleLost]

I've been on Giant for two years (my first account was registered 07/07/07...crazy), and only a year of it has been in shipping.
And I'm perfectly fine, wouldn't you say, Alice?

[Fredthefighter]

I've been on Giant for two years (my first account was registered 07/07/07...crazy), and only a year of it has been in shipping.
And I'm perfectly fine, wouldn't you say, Alice?

Rabbit make crazy talk that make no sense to simple Fighter. This make Fighter feel suddenly condescending to the surrounding area.


*Twitches slightly as sparks erupt from Fred's noggin*
This T-1000 Freddyfoo unit has encountered a problem and needs to close. Do you wish to send an error report?

[Thufir]

"You may think me insane, you may think me quite mad,
But one day you know I'll show you all!"
In third person cried the great mentat, whose mind
Had been broken by Shipping's dark call.

[mangosta71]

Since I reminded myself of this, and the story was so close to completion, I have wrapped up my little prelude miniseries.

Life and Death - the thrilling conclusion to the IStLY prequel!

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Rabbit continued to see things in death. As she cleaned carcasses while preparing meals, she glimpsed things that she somehow knew would be true. The knowledge frightened her. The blood scattered around a deer that she had brought down told her of coming shifts in the weather. But every time she saw herself, she was alone.

She was able to hide the knowledge from her mentor and lover, but her feelings were clear. She brushed off all attempts to probe, and the relationship gradually began deteriorating. After a month had passed, there was very little nonphysical feeling expressed between the two. Rabbit still loved Ego dearly, but couldn’t bear to share her horrific secret.

As Rabbit’s power grew, she found herself not only able to see things in the passing of other creatures, but able to speak with those on the other side as well. She even found the strength to command them. She remembered her vow to avenge her first mentor, and envisioned hordes or rotting corpses smothering the little town. She was disturbed by the seeming pleasantness of the thought, but continued to entertain it.

Finally, Rabbit felt powerful enough to act. She wrote a note to explain her absence, kissed her lover on the cheek as she slept, and slipped out of their home. A skeletal horse bore her toward the city on hooves of smoke and flame. She dismounted, dismissing the steed, and approached the decrepit tower on foot. It stood as she had seen it in her dreams. The windows were dark, the glass shattered. Sections of wall had collapsed as the townspeople scavenged stone. Splintered wood lay around the piles of rubble. She climbed through a rent in the outer wall, knowing the path she must follow. Knowing that the door she sought would be intact, the chamber behind it sealed by the master’s magics, everything within perfectly preserved. She stepped over rotting bodies as she ascended the stairs and the skeletal remains of those who had attempted to assault the door into the stronghold. It opened at her touch eagerly, as if it had been waiting for her.

A staff of dark wood stood unsupported in the center of the room, an onyx crystal in a setting shaped like a claw glistening atop it in the light of five candles set in the points of a pentagram surrounding it. The flames danced in the wind caused by her passage, but she knew that they would never burn out. The staff seemed to hum as her fingers closed around the smooth wooden shaft. Everything was as it should be. As it must be.

A burst of power sundered the protections gathered around the master’s workroom and blew the walls outward. Rabbit strode to the remains of a window in the outer wall overlooking the municipal cemetery, one hand raised, the other firmly planting the staff on the stone beneath her feet. The light in her aura had been completely recast into shadow. Dark tendrils swept out from her, ripping into the ground. The ancestors of the town’s current inhabitants rose from their graves, fueled by Rabbit’s lust for vengeance.

She turned as a warbling cry rose behind her. A dove descended into the wreckage of the tower, its cry becoming a human scream as it transformed into Rabbit’s lover. “What are you doing?”

“What must be done.”

The tendrils of shadow thickened into a pall that blotted out the moon and stars. The townspeople’s panicked screams drifted through the air. Every citizen that fell to Rabbit’s creations rose of its own volition, joining the throngs running rampant through the streets. In one neighborhood, flames began licking the thatched roofs of the houses. It was the only light for miles, but Rabbit could clearly see everything in her mind.

“Please, stop this.”

For no reason that she understood, knowing only that it was right, Rabbit spun the staff and smashed the crystal head into the floor. The gem shattered. Rabbit gasped as a black shard pierced her heart. The world turned gray as she fell forward. Her last thought was that the ground seemed oddly soft.

Ego laid Rabbit on the ground gently and turned her over. She bathed the wound with her tears. She felt her own power rising within her and directed it into the still form. Rabbit shuddered and spluttered blood over Ego’s face. The skin that the blood touched began to crack and smoke. Ego collapsed next to Rabbit, convulsing wildly as her flesh burned.

Rabbit bolted upright. Her eyes watered as she realized that the body lying next to her was her best friend, mentor, and lover. The crystal shard had been sealed inside her – she could feel it pulsing in the rhythm of her heart. In the growing light of predawn, she saw that the destruction of the town was complete. The undead legion now surrounded the tower, those able to do so kneeling to her. She turned away from them, and saw that Ego had brought Rabbit’s old stuffed bear with her. The dam that had held her tears back broke.

After she had cried herself hoarse and dry, Rabbit picked up Ego’s body and carried it through the streets of the demolished town. She dug a grave in what had been the main plaza and laid the body inside wrapped in her cloak, her bear snuggled against the breast. She then fetched a censer of holy water from the remains of the local temple and consecrated the resting spot, ignoring the pain of her scalded hands. The undead army watched, bearing silent witness to the only words Rabbit would utter for many days to come.

“I will never love again.”

[Thufir]

Damn, now I'ma have to read the rest of that prequel again, aren't I. And maybe some more of IStLY.
Well written, Mango.

[Reinholdt]

Ouch. Poor Rabbit.
Nicely done Mangosta.

[RabbitHoleLost]

Beautiful, Mango. I had really been hoping you would finish this sometime.
I wish Ego were around to read it v.v

[Thufir]

And not for the first time, a fic has split itself into more parts than I anticipated.
Interesting though.

Part 1

Repercussions, pt. 2

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Not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa not a playa…
Why bother anymore? Life's a joke. It's all a joke and the world is going to burn. BURN! There! No shouting… No alarms…
Set it set it set it set it…
BANG!
Fire… pretty…
It’s all fake anyway, nothing’s real, no worth, no feeling, no pain, no love-
Rabbit?
Everything went dark.

And in the dark was nothing. Nothing but the thoughts, and the pain. And occasionally, a voice, murmuring words Reinholdt probably wouldn’t have understood even if he could hear them. The voice was somehow soothing – when he could hear it, the pain seemed to ebb away a little. And the timbre of the voice was familiar, he was sure. But he couldn’t put a name to it. Or to anything else. The darkness took his memories, took everything but the thoughts, and the pain, and it was only with difficulty he recalled his own name.
There were flashes of emotion in his mind, unconnected to their causes or resolutions. He was aware there had been something before the darkness, that he had been something before the darkness, but he didn’t know what. Indeed he knew that before the darkness, he had been something with a male pronoun attached – but outside the physical world, these things became merely abstract concepts, with no more value or realism than a parade of pink elephants.
Not that Reinholdt could remember what an elephant was. Or pink.
For a moment he seethed with rage, then felt sad, then happy… all without knowing why. He tried to draw emotion from his present experiences, instead. No cares in the world – no world to have cares in. Here, for want of a better word, he was free. He was practically nothing, but so was everything else. And unconstrained by flesh and blood and life, he could be anything and everything. Anything, nothing and everything.
He was… happy? No, not happy, but content, if perhaps lonely.
He perceived a light. It seemed far off, but rapidly getting closer, insofar as such terms had any meaning in this oblivious void. The voice came again, louder now, and sure enough he couldn’t understand the words. But again it caused the pain to lessen. Perhaps when the light reached him the pain would be gone altogether? The light approached, and flew through him, dragging him back. On the contrary, now he was back in the world, in the light, the pain was more, and worse, he had a body to properly feel it with.
As his mind resurfaced, the return to the physical dragged all his memories back with it. His life flashed before his eyes, too fast to really understand. Only one thing stuck.
“..Rabbit…”
I sound like death…
The voice again, through quiet tears.
“Get- Get some rest, Rein. I’m here…”

[Reinholdt]

I am so incredibly proud and happy to be in a ship by such a high caliber writer. Thufir, somehow you managed to switch so dramatically from the zaniness of the first one to the wretched misery of the second. Bravo sir. I love it.

*hugs Rabbit close*

[mangosta71]

Beautiful, Mango. I had really been hoping you would finish this sometime.

You should have harassed me until I finished it. Or promised to harass me if I did.

Looks like Thufir's not the only one who'll be going through the archives to catch up on a story. I wish I could write insanity as well as you do. Bravo.

[Destro_Yersul]

Well, here we go. Part 6. Moving right along with this.

In Space, No One Can Run
A Sci-Fi Epic, Part 6
Starring Rabbit, Destro, Reinholdt, Twobit and DeeRee

Spoiler

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The door to the bridge opened almost silently, and DeeRee stepped inside, Magtok following closely behind her. In here it was almost normal, crewmembers sitting by consoles, keeping an eye on the running of the ship. It was a lot busier than it usually was, though. People scurried across the bridge, running between stations, to check different things. Bridge security had doubled since she left, uniformed guards standing every fifteen feet around the room.

Twobit stood with his back to the door. He was on a raised platform at the front of the bridge, staring at a viewscreen and trying not to worry. At the foot of the viewscreen was a long glass case, holding a model of the ship and a sabre with the ships name stamped on its blade: The Mason's Blade. Twobit sighed at it and turned away. For the first time in a long time, he was no longer sure that he would be captain of this ship after a week went by.

DeeRee! The captains attention fastened on the one person on the bridge he had been most hoping to see alive. I thought... Relief flooded through him and he laughed, leaning against a railing for support.

DeeRee smiled and ran over to her father, hugging him tightly. I'm sorry it took me so long to get back.

Twobit hugged her back. I was... so worried about you. He looked up at her. I want you to stay here, on the bridge. It's the safest part of the ship right now. Here, I can keep an eye on you.

Don't worry. She looked around at all the guards. Right now, I don't think I'd want to be anywhere else.

[hr]

Another one! Dallas called into surgery as the door opened and a guard stumbled in, supported by two nurses. The man was bleeding from a slash across the chest. One that had sliced clean through his combat armour. Dallas retrieved his medical records and ran them to Rabbit.

Name, Recaiden. No allergies, not being treated for anything.. this is an easy one. Get him prepped and into the recovery ward.

Medbay was slowly filling up. Reports were flying in from across the ship as the things spread out from the mining deck. There were scattered reports of people who had managed to kill one, but there were so many of them. The ship was losing combat ready security personnel faster than it was taking the things down.

Still, it was something. Rabbit frowned at the cots and turned to walk over to ICU. These people still had some hope of coming out alive, which was more than could be said for most of the men who first encountered the things.

She reached the door and flipped on the comm. Rabbit to bridge, come in. The comm was silent for a moment, then crackled.

Captain speaking.

Good. Then I don't have to tell you to get him. She glanced over her shoulder. Just reporting in. We're at about one quarter capacity right now. This deck was only built to take 100 patients, plus the ICU. Which, by the way, is filling up fastest.

Understood.

I hope your damn security teams know what they're doing, Twobit. I don't have the resources or personnel to spare for idiots who can't tell which end of their gun is which. Rabbit frowned at the comm. There were too many people on this ship that had no idea what they were doing, and it irked her. Medbay out.

[hr]

Destro pulled a lever and hit a few buttons. Clamps opened, tethers disengaged, and the asteroid fell free of the ship. It wasn't much, but at least now they could be sure no more would get onto the ship. That's it. Dunno how much it'll help. He turned to look at Reinholdt. Let's go find some of the others. Strength in numbers.

The catman nodded and smiled. Alright. Where do you think they'd have gone?

Hell if I know. Destro went back to the damaged computers, accessing what files he could. Half of the ones stored here were corrupted or missing, thanks to whatever had put the hole in the big computer in the corner. There's nothing her but routine stuff right up until first contact. Then there's a couple of our comm logs and... He stopped

Hold up, what's this? Destro called up a file, displaying it on the screen for Reinholdt to see.

Looks like standard lockdown protocols... but they're for everywhere, not just here. Why would mining admin have lockdown protocols for the whole ship?

I don't know. But I don't like it. Someone high up is getting nervous or sloppy. Still... Destro flipped through the file until he found what he wanted. Here we go. We're supposed to go to the crew barracks and hole up there.

What about medbay?

Hang on... After another few moments of searching, Destro shook his head. They're all on duty. Not a bad idea. In an emergency, the one place in the ship you'd want working is medbay.

Alright, let's go there. Reinholdt reached over and shut off the computer.

Why Medbay? Destro's eyebrows creased in a frown. We're not hurt, we don't have any skills they'd need, and the barracks is a lot closer.

I know. But there's someone in Medbay I'd really like to see.

Alright. Destro shrugged. At least we know for sure there'll be people there...

[hr]

Cristo ran down a corridor and turned sharply. He pounded on a door for a few seconds before it opened, then ducked through and continued running. His breath was coming in ragged gasps, and his side had started to hurt two hallways ago. Something big slammed into the bulkhead on the other side of the door. It was still after him.

Cristo ran into processing and looked around. Clear. He tossed some gear out from under a workbench and crawled under it. Scrabbling sounds had started coming from the cargo elevator nearby. Cristo pulled a bag over himself and tried to slow his breathing, watching the elevator for any signs of movement.

A pair of claws appeared on the rim of the elevator shaft. Then another, and another. The first of the things pulled itself up and looked around, swinging its head from side to side. More came up after it. The scrabbling sounds from the shaft were getting louder as more of the things appeared, following the first one off towards the end of the room. An automated door slid open and they squeezed themselves through, stalking off to some other part of the ship. Cristo didn't care where, as long as the didn't stay here.

There must have been dozens of them. The miner's breath caught in his throat as he watched them go by. He didn't notice that the last pair of claws to grip the elevator shaft were much bigger than the others. They dug deep into the steel, as if supporting some great weight. The thing pulled itself up slowly, and Cristo nearly choked when he looked back and saw it.

It was massive, easily twice as big as the others. It crawled along on its four claws, legs bent to touch the deck, head held low, like a spider's. It crossed the floor slowly, chitin scraping against benches and supports as it passed them. As it neared the door it reached forward with its front two claws, taking hold of each side and pulling. Slowly, with the horrible sound of tortured metal, the doorframe bent to accommodate its bulk. It bent itself to get through, maneuvering its claws around the space that was still almost too small.

When it was gone, Cristo pulled himself out from under the bench. He watched the door it had gone through, hoping he'd have enough time to run if it decided to come back.

His footsteps seemed impossibly loud as he crossed the floor towards the other door. The one he had entered through. If he was lucky, the thing would be gone by. His boot caught a wrench that someone had dropped when they fled the room, and it skittered across the metal floor. Cristo froze.

Had it heard that? He threw caution to the wind and ran for the door, just as the thing re-appeared. It screeched at him and squeezed back through, eating up the distance between them. With prey in sight, it was no longer slow and ponderous. Cristo reached the door and slammed his fist into it, willing it to open faster. He was caught from behind by a swipe from the thing's claw, and crashed into a wall. He felt his shoulder dislocate and fell to the ground, willing himself to stand and make a run for it. The thing was on top of him in a flash, and its screeching filled his mind. It punched a claw through his torso and flicked it, sending him across the room. He rolled a few feet and tumbled into the elevator shaft, landing with a crunch at the bottom. Ribs snapped with the impact, and the last thing Cristo saw before blacking out from the pain was the huge alien swinging itself over the lip of the shaft and starting to climb down towards him.

hmm. Not sure I like that first part. Too much? Just wrong? I wrote it as best I could, but that's a tough thing to do properly. Also, Cristo, this is for being a smartass

[Cristo Meyers]

Also, Cristo, this is for being a smartass

You expected anything else?

[Destro_Yersul]

You expected anything else?

Not at all. It's you, why would I? Doesn't mean I can't gain amusement from writing stories in which you get killed in horrible ways.

[Reinholdt]

There's a always a wrench in the works, huh?

Nice Destro. Then again any ship in which Cristo dies horribly is a good ship.

[Lord Magtok]

In Space, No One Can Run
A Sci-Fi Epic, Part 6

Spoiler

Show

Awesome ship goes here

Whoa, I'm still alive. Woo, go red shirt Mag!

[Cristo Meyers]

There's a always a wrench in the works, huh?

Nice Destro. Then again any ship in which Cristo dies horribly is a good ship.

Love you too...

[Dallas-Dakota]

Whoa, I'm still alive. Woo, go red shirt [S]Mag[/S DD]!

Then again, I am bribing Destro with more pieces of Destro's tale.

Which is stuff that piles onto my list. >.>
Well my excuse is that I'm gone on college introduction week.

>.>

Now my mind has been pondering a Gotham shipping series.
<,<
I imagined Rabbit as Harley.

And it'd have hawt HarleyxIvy.

[Destro_Yersul]

Whoa, I'm still alive. Woo, go red shirt Mag!

Don't worry, Mag. I have... plans... for you.

hehe
hehehe
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Nameless]

Then again, I am bribing Destro with more pieces of Destro's tale.

Which is stuff that piles onto my list. >.>
Well my excuse is that I'm gone on college introduction week.

>.>

Now my mind has been pondering a Gotham shipping series.
<,<
I imagined Rabbit as Harley.

And it'd have hawt HarleyxIvy.

I never liked Harley to be honest. I've always found her rather annoying.

[Reinholdt]

I never liked Harley to be honest. I've always found her rather annoying.

...
...
...

Nameless just fell off the cool list.
*snubs*

[Nameless]

...
...
...

Nameless just fell off the cool list.
*snubs*

*Sniff sniff*
I smell pretentiousness. O_e

[RabbitHoleLost]

I never liked Harley to be honest. I've always found her rather annoying.

I don't think I love you anymore

[Fredthefighter]

I don't think I love you anymore

DUN DUN DUN!

And I've just my reminded myself that I need to write Good Friends Part 2, the sequels to a series I left heavily unfinished (I have about 3 left to do) and a Vampire Hunter ship I concocted in my head while I was Ireland.



And school starts in less than a week.

[Helgraf]

Then again, I am bribing Destro with more pieces of Destro's tale.

Which is stuff that piles onto my list. >.>
Well my excuse is that I'm gone on college introduction week.

>.>

Now my mind has been pondering a Gotham shipping series.
<,<
I imagined Rabbit as Harley.

And it'd have hawt HarleyxIvy.

:grins: Oh, something like this was done ... but I doubt you'd hear any objections for doing it again.
GB Helgraf as Ivy/Rabbit?

[Nameless]

I just don't like her as a character or a villain. In the comics I used to collect she wasn't so bad, but in the cartoon I just wanted to shoot her. I think it was her voice.
I've always liked Catwomen or even Poison Ivy more.

I don't think I love you anymore

._. *Shuffles away*

[Thanatos 51-50]

Woo, random bad ship time.

Not Anymore
Rabbit/Thanatos (Kinda)

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Thanatos slid the key into the lock, a normal, automatic set of actions which somehow registered in his memory, hearing the click as metal struck metal, the faint metallic scrapping, and feeling the tight, machined fit.
For some reason, today, unlike most days, it almost felt like there was effort involved in turning over the deadbolt. The knob turned just slightly differently than before.
As he stepped inside the apartment and began removing his boots, he called softly across the dark entry hallway.
"Honey, I'm home."

There was no response. This in and of itself was not unusual. He worked late and often arrived in the dead of night after she was asleep. Thanatos paid special attention to his feet as he crept across the wooden floor. and stepped soundlessly onto the tatami mat outside their bedroom. She had insisted on the thing. It was hard to care for, but that be damned, the thing had flavour. Thanatos set down his pack when something caught his eye. A single, neatly folded sheet of paper illuminated by a desk lamp she kept on for an unexplained reason.
Thanatos slid into the chair and unfolded it.

Exactly one-half of the monthly rent payment fell out.

The note read thus:

Thanatos,
I'm Sorry I couldn't do this to your face, but I can't stand it, anymore. I've been trying to fight it, to examine it, and to see why, but it just comes down to this:
I don't love you. I don't think I ever did.
life has been great between us - except for theparts where I stay up all night for you to come home, stressed from things you can't talk about. I do care about you, but it's nt love, and we've been treating it like it is.

Not anymore.

It's near the end of the month, hence my half of the rent spilling into your lap when you opened this. You'll have to front next month's, yourself. We can't live this lie any more.
Don't bother calling, I've changed my number.
~Rabbit

Thanatos sat.
Thanatos read.

And he went back to work in the morning. There was nothing in between except the crying.

[Reinholdt]

...
Ouch Thanatos. Ouch.

Well made.

*continues snubbing Nameless*

[Nameless]

...
Ouch Thanatos. Ouch.

Well made.

*continues snubbing Nameless*

Stop with the snubbing! ._.

[Reinholdt]

Stop with the snubbing! ._.

Hmmm...
*SNUUUUUUUUUUUB*

[Nameless]

Hmmm...
*SNUUUUUUUUUUUB*

You're a mean kitty.