Risen: Shatterverse

Shit, I Forgot to Mention ...

I glanced in the direction of the door I had used to arrive here. And felt a smirk twist my lips to find the Collector standing there in the god avatar it favored the most, arms folded as it surveyed the chaos I was causing in its pocket universe of torture.

- I underestimated you, dead man. - This time my passenger definitely sounded impressed. A heartbeat later we were forced to duck behind cover as, with a bolt of artificial lightning, the Collector pushed back a knot of nostrum that had turned and charged it upon its arrival.

- You pulled Garolan physically here. Not just its avatar. -

- Good, - I said. - I was hoping it learning I was still alive and in one piece would be enough. - Damn! This crazy ass plan of mine might just work!

Taking the lull in pursuit by the nostrum the Collector's arrival granted me, I slithered along the last few tables on this side of the chamber to send another thirty odd Risen to safety. After the last one disappeared, I hazarded a look back towards the entrance.

Almost as if it were part of my hare-brained plan, the rest of the nostrum that had been engaged in pursuing me, had turned and were now helping their fellows in attacking the Collector. Which, in turn, left me completely to my lonesome. Not knowing how long I had before either the Collector overwhelmed its own guards, or left, frustrated by its inability to destroy a long-dead opponent, I took a second to push aside my feelings of relief and again quickly plot a path along the opposite wall. There the rest of the Risen imprisoned here anxiously waited for me to free them. Then once more I was bolting forward.

This time I had my rifle stowed along the back of my armor so I could focus on throwing actuators and running as fast as physically possible, not necessarily in that order. I needed to cover as much territory before I A) recaptured the nostrum's attention. Or B) had the Collector on my ass.

"I see what you're trying to do, Two," the Collector said in an almost conversational tone, its voice somehow piercing not only the sound of rushing water that was swiftly filling the chamber. But the snarls and hisses of the nostrum as well. I guess B) it is.

"And it won't work. I've traced your quantum tunnel to that little hideout of yours and have already dispatched soldiers to recapture those you've managed to temporarily snatch out of my grasp."

- Except I hid the tunnel's actual path, - my passenger said in an almost conspiratorial tone into my mind even as I began snapping out the Risen closest to me with quick, tight throws of prepared actuators. - Garolan will trace them, and find its soldiers in a location that is physically the furthest from the refuge! -

I almost laughed out loud at that. This was starting to shape up into a very fun game, with two almost equally equipped god-like entities maneuvering and countering each other. Except, as far as I could tell, the Collector was yet to discover the presence of my passenger.

Then I was grunting as an all-too-familiar pressure coiled around my body. A heartbeat later it brought me to a skidding halt despite my every effort to stay moving. Desperately I took the actuators I still had in my hand and sent them on their way with quick throws. A good thing I did; a heartbeat later I was being hoisted into the air.

"You see, Two, I'm even more of a god in here than I am outside," the Collector pointed out as I dangled. Of its golden form, there was no sign through the mass of nostrum that now swarmed where it had been standing. That didn't seem to deter the mad t'sang from speaking, however.

"I control everything about this place. The air, the gravity, the very laws of physics. To think you could best me here is not only madness incarnate but blasphemous." Then I was being pulled into the nostrum scrum, tentacles quickly reaching out to slash and grab at my armored body like I was in some sort of bad anime movie.