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+--- Thread: The Plague Logs (/showthread.php?tid=3112)
The Plague Logs - Marburg - 01-10-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XVI)
A robotic 'referee' stands in the center of the pit, & takes the mic from Marburg, as he passes & stands in one corner of the ring.
The ref sends a wireless signal to the Warrens evironmental controls, & the pit and spectator area surrounding it is enveloped with a type of shield that only has the ability to burn off the fog, to insure maximum visibility for the fighters AND the Blighters.
Caulobacter Phage enters his corner while removing his own coat & shirt sporting a large tattoo across his chest, that is a microscopic view of his namesake.
Regardless of his age & few vices, the old man is a clean-living Gaian, & therefore, appears extremely intimidating, as the two Dogs pace back and forth, while eyeballing each other from opposite sides of the ring.
"Attention Spectators:" announces the robot, "All bets are off...this is personal, & between the two combatants ONLY."
"Any violation of this stated rule will result in ejection from the Warrens, & all privliges of future attendance to the Festival revoked...This will not be repeated, & is non-negotiable"
"You have all been warned...Please enjoy yourselves"
The robot takes a momet to change protocols, & similtaniously motions for both men to approach their respective toe-lines.
standing between them, the familiar model robot states a number of conditions to the combatants, while turning it's head back & forth to meet their eyes to ensure comprehention & clarity to it's words.
Phage & Marburg continue to stare each other down over the referee's head, as the adrenaline levels of both Dogs build to critical mass........
The Plague Logs - Marburg - 01-12-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XVII)
"You don't just RESIGN Boy!" Phage says in a menacing whisper through gritted teeth."
Marburg gnashes his own teeth & replies: "Ah'm prepaired ta loose"
"THAT'S the problem innit?!" Phage barks back at him.
"You're pepaired to loose...which means your crazy a** is prepaired to DIE. THAT, LAD...tells me you're not prepaired to WIN, & why I NEED to put you DOWN.
I TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THIS!! He Roars.
Marburg has no idea how to reply to that, & for a split second, feels his stomach sink.
"This is not how I imagined our reunion Dimi..."
The Robot standing between the two men continues to recite fight rules & conditions that honestly, neither man is listening to, & would ignore anyway, even if they had.
Caul looks at the beast who has called him out, & doesn't see the rabid dog that now shows itself to him...he sees a boy of eight, washing glasses in a sink behind a bar somewhere here on Islay...all smiles, & pretending to run the place.
He remembers back further... four years further, when the feral freak was a toddler, & Caul became his Guardian.
Phage's memory continues to jump sporadically as he stares into eyes that reflect a creepy green light, like a mad dog caught in the headlights on a dark crossroads.
-----------------------------
Marburg has a headache.
The same type of headache when woke up somewhere in the bowels of Manhattan's Undercity.
He stares into the eyes of an old man that taught him how to tie his shoes, how to shoot a gun, fly a ship, respect the dead, recognize the Universe, & honor a little tradition here & there.
Finishing the rules, the robotic referee moves out from between the two combatants, & the fight begins; as both Plague Dogs toe the line, & simultainiuously throw the first punch....
The Plague Logs - Ophiuchi - 01-29-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XVIII)
Moira turned away in disgust from the spectacle in the ring below. She grabbed Silvy's shoulder roughly and shouted into her ear. "I have to leave!"
She ran from the main cavern of the Warrens, through the hidden doorway in the Green Hell, and upwards towards the docking bays of Islay. She ran until she was gasping, her breasts heaving from the exertion. "This is fookin' insane! It's all fallin' apart around me. Damn it to Hell!" She pounded her fists against the wall behind her, tears welling uncontrollably from her eyes.
Moira finally regained her breath, and again began striding purposely towards the berth where the Kentigearna was docked. She muttered under her breath as she walked, "That's it then. They can kill each other for all I care!"
She reached into a thigh pocket of her jumpsuit, withdrew and activated her communicator. She punched in the frequency of her XO. "Jock, get her ready to lift! I'll be there in five minutes. If she's not ready, I'll space the lot of ye!"
Moira's visage changed as she walked from one of pain and heartbreak, to one of purpose and resolve. She would fly to Canaria. She would look for Riley, and perhaps she would finally look for the dear man who helped her once, who showed her kindness and compassion rather than deceit and anger. She would find Reggie Waverly.
Moira Kentigearna boarded her Kusari gunboat, and gave the launch order before she was even belted into her command chair. "Bloody fools!"
She left Islay, the Plague Dogs, and the shambles of her previous life without a backwards glance.
The Plague Logs - Marburg - 03-02-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XIX)
...The moments continue to pass, & Marburg finds himself on his knees, & currently... the victim of a headlock.
Caul, also on his kness, leans forward & squeezes his locking arm, while hissing something unintelligable.
-----------------
Panic sets in as Phage's blood, & the sound of his voice spray across Damien's ear.
His blood pressure skyrockets, and the vessels in his eyes begin to burst as his own blood fills the whites.
Translucent wavy dots begin to flutter within his line of sight...they become black as they grow into spots...the lack of oxygen, coupled with the inability to eject the carbon dioxide that is now begining to poison his body, causes the spots to expand & connect...until the last thing Marburg sees...is nothing.
The Plague Logs - Marburg - 03-02-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XX)
Damien opens his eyes, & finds his knees resting on the bank of a small isolated loch, nestled somewhere in one of the mountian ranges on the surface of Gaia.
"Hurry up & come'ere!" his inner voice loudly echoes in his mind...
He jerks his head up with a start, & spys himself off in the distance, sitting beside a small, healthy-burning campfire.
He picks himself up, & casualy begins to close the distance between himself, &...well frankly, himself.
--------------------------
"Alright! I'm comin'!!
Damien turns his eyes away from the warm & hypnotic fire with a start, as his inner voice loudly echoes in his mind.
He picks himself up, & casualy begins to close the distance between himself, &...well frankly, a long string tied to a number of beer bottles, anchored just under the surface of the water.
He reaches into the cold water, & pulls off 2 of them & makes his way back.
He passes a beer to himself, as they both take a seat beside the fire in unison.
They uncork their bottles, & share a drink in deafening silence.
The Plague Logs - Marburg - 03-02-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XXI)
Damien begins to feel lightheaded as he continues to drink his beer.
He stares up into the sky to his left, past the mountians, & towards the ice cloud that hides Islay station.
So...what do you want to do? Damien's inner voice asks him.
Ah dunnknow yet. he replies to himself as he turns to face the twin suns of Edinburgh...the binary stars changing the color of their light, right before his eyes.
One now radiating black, the other, white.
::sigh::...me either. he again replies to himself, while never looking away from the fire he's built.
I ain't breathin' am I.
...No...not at all.
I'm not prepaired fer this.
...I agree. his inner voice whispers back.
Marburg has no idea how to reply to that, & for a split second, they both feel their stomach sink.
The Plague Logs - The Banger Grim - 03-03-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XXII)
Colin Murphy relaxes his choke hold as Damien's body goes limp.
The crowd, stunned into utter silence, cause Colin's ears to ring with the very audible sound of nothing.
A large portion of the spectators turn on their heels & leave...others quietly turn their back...some respectfully, others not...& a fair number sprinkled here & there that, so far, don't even know how to react.
"as of now..." Colin addresses the people without looking up, "...the festival is over." His words echoing off of the walls of the gigantic & silent chamber, their volume amplified by...nothing.
"get out."
Still on his knees, & Marburg still in his grasp facing opposite, Colin shifts his weight, & his headlock becomes an embrace.
As people continue to file out of the ampitheatre & exit the Warrens, the old man drops his head onto Dimi's shoulder, & quietly begins to cry...
...The tumblers of cause & effect click into place with a sound so low on the register that it's felt more than it's heard...
The Plague Logs - Marburg - 03-03-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XXIII)
The two Damiens' continue to stand beside the warm campfire, their heads aimed upward, staring in awe, at the pair of lights that were only a moment ago, the twin suns of Edinburgh.
So, ya reckon we just flip a coin? Marburg asks himself...while never taking his eyes off of one of the lights.
"I call black." he replies...while never taking his eyes off the other.
...??...Whaddaya mean 'I call black' ya can't just...'call black'...Fer all you know I could've already picked black, & was just psychin' myself up!"
"You want it, be my guest!
Well, no, I DON'T want it...BUT THATS not the point!!
I don't want it either!!
But if YOU wanted white, you'd already BE THERE by now!!
Quit splitting heirs you b*stard! FINE! take white for all I care!!
What's so great about white?!...You know somthin' I don't?!
No!...but that's not the point!!........
The two Damiens' begin to throw punches, & continue to argue...
...The Tumblers of cause & effect click into place with a sound so low on the register, that it shakes them right through to their core...& straight to the ground.
They imediately look up towards the source of the sound, & just as imediately turn back & make eye contact, both wearing an identical expression of suprisesd shock...
Without a second thought, they pick themselves up in unison, & quickly race over themselves towards the ice cloud that hides Islay station...& a dim, creepy green light...
The Plague Logs - The Banger Grim - 03-03-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XXIV)
Colin Murphy's quiet sobs intensify, as he feels the pit of his stomach sink in response to a sound so low on the register, that it goes beyond his hearing.
He lifts his head & looks up into the spotlight shining above the fight-pit, & his eyes reflect a creepy green light through the tears.
He begins to rock back & forth, & his sobs again intensify as he hears a death rattle escape from the man he's...almost always, considered a Son.
,,,Spectators still continue to quietly exit the caverous ampitheatre, as the tumblers of cause & effect click again, & echo off the walls as loud, uncontrollable wails of greif from a man knelt in the center of a dark crossroad...
The Plague Logs - Marburg - 03-03-2008
"The Festival of Blights" (Part XXV)
...Damien slams into a tree as his other self violently shoves him aside as he passes...running at top speed towards a dim, creepy green light.
He scrambles up, & tears after himself...fueled by the type of adrenaline that only comes from the unfiltered human base-instinct.
The tumblers of cause & effect click into place, with a sound so low on the register, that it crashes into Marburg, & carries him forward with the force of a tsunami...
...Damien looks over his shoulder, & panic sets in as the wave envelops him as well, & carries them both towards the ice cloud that hides Islay Station...