Ace of Swords: OPEN TO ALL

[rotafortunae]

WHO: Luxord, people who happen upon him
WHERE: The Junkyard
WHEN: First day of the monsters attacking
WHAT: KILLIN BEASTIES BEIN BADASS
WARNINGS: violence and verbosity?

When the warning goes out, he simply smiles.

"A challenge, is it?"

As for Trion's request, well, he never minded doing recon. Always an important part of keeping everything running smoothly.

Ever a pawn, eh? Never a knight, nor bishop.

He was at peace with this.

He stepped into shadow and out again into the strange not-light of the junkyard wasteland, shuffling his cards. There below were the seething masses of beasts. It amused him that so many of the others here instantly assumed that he was helpless, simply because of his size, or the species they assumed he belonged to. He did not answer any of their calls, or choose to work with them; when it came to war, he preferred to fight it solitaire.

He spread his cards, fanning them out, a set in each hand, and then dove into the fray, flinging them like throwing knives. As they flew through the air, they changed size, becoming nearly as large as he was and gaining a razor-sharp edge, neatly splintering a few of the weaker monsters into confetti. He spun, and with another card trapped one of the larger nasties in a Stop spell before turning his attention back to the mooks.

"Clear out the pawns, then take the Queen," he murmured.

Comments

[mccrane]

McCrane had his own orders, of a sort--monsters needed to be directed toward the coordinates where they could set up the Max Cannon, and fire it. They'd be able to take out multiple targets, at once.

That made his job difficult, but he liked when it was difficult. He got to think. He got to fulfill his function. In the midst of combat, his strengths could shine.

It was what he'd been made for, after all.

He'd always wondered on it, especially with the more recent prohibitions regarding military robots possessing SUPER AI as he did. When other robots with the programming were built to fight, they became aggressive. He had not.

Granted, he preferred to consider every option before he acted, and he knew that doing so curbed some of his darker desires, but he still thought on them, nonetheless.

He thought on them, now, as he took aim to scare a monster, and found the human with the trenchcoat showing up inside his crosshairs.

Luxord?

Luxord was here?

Luxord was fighting.

More curious than not, McCrane switched his tactics, and shot off in another direction instead, moving to approach. "This can't be normal, where you're from," he stated, simply, and pumped the barrel of his shotgun to set in the next slug.

[rotafortunae]

He'd actually started to get a little fanciful, at one point setting up a guillotine made of cards with a snap, at another a dragon. For the most part though, he was all business. Quickly, he raised a shield to push back one group, while sending out another card to attack one assaulting him from behind.

"I'll be honest," he said, snapping the shield back and putting it into offensive mode. "It's not. There's only thirteen as talented as I, and even I'm unique among that bunch. Not the most powerful, to be certain, but, I like to think..."

He spread his hands, then brought them together. As he did, his deck cut, slid together, and then executed a 'waterfall' shuffle... as the monsters were tangled inside it.

"... one of the more creative."

[mccrane]

The question that was answered hadn't been expected, but it had been informative. This man was one of a small group of people, and that small group of people were capable of defeating large numbers of monsters. So capable, in fact, that Luxord seemed to be enjoying himself.

"And you do this on a regular basis?" he wondered, out loud, noting the almost elegant sweep of the human's wrist motions. If these attacks were normal on his world, then it was no wonder he'd seemed confident at their first meeting.

That, or there was something else to it. "Are you biologically modified?"

He changed his targeting, letting Luxord take care of one group of monsters while he continue 'herding' another, using his shots to distract.

[rotafortunae]

"I am what I am," he said, cryptically. Luxord was almost done with his own group of beasties, shredding one and clipping the claws and teeth of another. "Or, more precisely, I am not as I was."

"I did have to do this regularly though, yes," he said. "My world was fraught with shadows, and it was my place to fight them off."

No need to say why. No need to explain. Let the other assume he's a hero.