FFR: The Phantom Challenge

[MalReynolds]

Oh, hey. Even though it's no Hemingway (Alert - discard, he was a drunk. An eloquent drunk, but still) it's entertaining. And that, for me, is the priority as a writer. To entertain. The first draft is written to get the story out - that's for yourself. The second draft should be for everyone else, you know?

But I usually put my first drafts on here, because I enjoy criticism/praise. And I usually never get around to doing a second draft.

So... I don't know where I was going with this.

But keep it up.

[DarkManticoreX2]

I disagree, It looks more like some type of communist Sub-division.

Oh sure delete the post above mine to make me look like im talking to myself. Thanks

[GamerShadow]

I have started Chapter 15, but because I am suddenly finding myself waist deep in schoolwork, I will not be able to finish the Chapter for a while. I will work on it in bits and pieces, and will post it as soon as it is complete. =)

Edit: Due to being kicked off of the internet for 4 weeks, I am not able to update the story. However, I am still working on it, so do not even think for a second that this is dead. When I post the next chapter, please do not lock this topic.

Thank you. =)

[rshadow8888]

4 weeks?

someone failed a class

[GamerShadow]

Actually, a D+ in Algebra II. And it's midquarters, meaning that I have 4 weeks to raise my grade.
I'm probably already at a C. =P

[rshadow8888]

Nice one

also, lol Algebra II

[MrShasherax]

Oh, man. You're going to dread calculus.

[GamerShadow]

Update: I've had very little time to work on Chapter 15. I had about two pages written, but I cannot access the separate file that has that work. ;_;

I still have about half a page on the main PC file. However, it will be quite a while before Chapter 15 arrives. Sorry for the huge delay, everybody.

[GamerShadow]

Edit: Compiled all three parts into one to make reading easier.

Chapter 15:

Never in the thousands of days of their lives had they expected an army this massive to be possible to form. It was as if the world had come down upon the Garbage Bin in a swift measure of judgement. Those that had fought in wars past could not have fathomed that there were so many people in the world. Every soldier was thoroughly convinced that this war was the end of the end. Every soldier knew that this was TGB vs the World.

The Militia bravely stood their ground, waiting for the two masses to collide with one another. They knew their odds were bleak at best, and their mission seemed impossible now that they could visually perceive what they were fighting against.

The vast majority of the soldiers in the Militia served as the wall that blocked the only route that could get into The Garbage Bin. The most heavily armored barricaded the front line, and the strongest soldiers functioned as their backups. The front two lines alone were expected to hold back the opposing army. To back them up and to keep the mountains secure, units who's specialty lied in ranged attacks and weapons were placed on the monstrous teeth, and were expected to shoot down enemy soldiers from afar.

A few of the more skilled and specialized warriors were allowed to attack the enemy directly, but not by land. Windsurfer-sp had led a band of sky pirates who traveled through the air in the past. A few members from the original cult still remained to witness the fall of their group, but many had been apprehended and slaughtered in the name of great justice. Luckily, many of the survivors decided to settle in The Garbage Bin, and thus had heard the call to arms. Nostalgia had seared their minds with the desire to return to battle once again, and thanks to Omegitranos, the group was allowed to reform so long as they fought for TGB.

The means of the Militia’s seemingly imminent destruction could just be seen marching over the hills in the distance. The fine line that conjoined the ground with the vast horizon was suddenly broken through by two hundred thousand units of death and destruction. The entire world began to vibrate as each step from the opposing army sent out the apocalyptic subliminal message that virtually everybody feared. The march continued for quite some time, as the massive force inched its way towards The Proving Grounds, and the final frontier within.

Omegitranos and Squeek raised their arms into the sky and chanted the same familiar speech as the gods themselves had done before them. The same white light began to take shape in their right hands, and the weapon of choice for any experienced moderator sat in their grasp. On the front face of the silver banhammer read “PERMANENT” in bolded, crimson letters. The wooden handle resembled a tree trunk which had been sanded and crafted into perfection.

The enemy mass was now within a half-mile of the puny plug that stood alone against them. Everybody in the Militia was experiencing the most powerful and varied types of emotions all at once; the risk of putting everything on the line, the absolute gripping fear of death, and the incomparable rush from fighting an impossible war. The sensation made their heads spin, but it also granted them a focus made of steel; a focus that could not be broken.

Omegitranos shifted his banhammer forward, and just as the enemy was about to collide with the Militia soldiers, he projected his final orders from the mountaintop: “TGB, we stand together; and we fight as one!”

The soldiers in the front line braced themselves with all of their might as Windsurfer and his band of pirates shot into the air on their airsails. Windsurfer and a few others were armed with double sabers; they flew low to the ground and sliced through lines of noobs with their swords before returning to the sky to descend once again. The other pirates crafted bombs of displaced air, and dropped them on the unsuspecting enemies.

Omegitranos and Squeek began to descend the mountain with great haste as they prepared themselves for the fight of their lives. The gravel and sand that they slid on rose into the air in a decent sized cloud, and clearly mapped their path of descent as they went. Their banhammers felt dense and cumbersome in their hands, and balancing the massive weapons as they cascaded down the mountain was an arduous task. However, both Squeek and Omega soon reached the base of the mountain, and they both charged directly into the noob army, smacking the faces and torsos of noobs that they happened to sprint past with their banhammers. A fine line of enemies collapsed to the ground, but as soon as they fell, even more noobs were there to replace them.

Fido opened his arrow satchel and tossed a number of arrows into the air. He applied some of his telekinetic powers, and shot the arrows with a huge force at a rank of soldiers a few lines from the front. The entire row fell to the ground in a wave, and their replacements marched a few steps to fill the gap just seconds after it had been made. He repeated the process, and received identical results.

The ranks and files of the enemy spanned for as far as the eye could see. The living ocean of bodies that stood against the Militia was indeed intimidating. However, if the barricade of Militia soldiers did not fall or break rank, the figure of numbers did not matter. The Militia’s goals were merely to survive, and to hold the opposing army back until the main forces of the Garbage Bin could return. With their expertise and the increase of numbers, the noob army would surely fall.

Omegitranos roared as he violently swung his banhammer, and sent a group of enemies sailing as if they were golf balls. The banhammer reached the apex of its forward swing, and Omega shifted the momentum of his hammer and spun in a complete circle, which collided with a huge circle of noobs and caused them to collapse. As expected, the hole was healed as soon as the wound had been inflicted; the enemy soldiers simply walked a few steps forward and made feeble attempts to touch their opponents.

Squeek was also making the valiant effort to run down the numbers of those laying siege to the Garbage Bin. As the bodies began to pile up on each other, the sun traveled its familiar path across the lonely, cloudless sky. However, the nonstop fighting was taking a toll on Squeek’s body, and he had to ascend the mountain in order to evade the noobs who clawed at him, and rest for a few minutes or so before returning to the fray. To his surprise, Omega was resting just a few feet away. Keeping half an eye on the main lines of soldiers, who had done a spectacular job of preventing the opposing army’s entry, Squeek turned to Omega and discussed their plans for the time to come.

“Omega,” Squeek called as Omega lifted his head to see who was addressing him, “It’s only been half a day, and I am exhausted.”

“They just keep coming. I know.” Omega agreed as he monitored the enemy army, watching to see if any surprise moves would be thrown their way. Fido had just launched a set of arrows coated in explosive, silver material into the ocean of bodies about a quarter mile away, and had awesome results. At least two-hundred bodies fragmented and scattered everywhere in a bloody, gory mess.

“How are we going to last the entire day? Our men are slaughtering their ranks by the dozen, but there are always replacements. I want to take them all out at once.” Squeek pounded his fists on the ground in frustration as he strained his mind to try to think of a plan.

Omega had been watching fido fire off arrows at an incredible rate for the past few minutes while catching his breath. He didn’t even appear to be slowing down in the slightest. The explosive arrows that had hit their marks had created quite the disruption within the enemy army, at least for a short time. “If only there was some way to… that’s it!” An idea popped up into Omega’s head as he stood up straight. “Squeek,” he wore a grin on his face that signaled the birth of an awesome idea, “I know how we can kill close to half of the remaining numbers with one shot.”

“Seriously?” Squeek first replied with a shocked look on his face, but after the true magnitude of what Omega had said sunk in, he felt ecstatic. “What’s the plan? How are we going to take them down?”

Omega smirked as soon as Squeek’s grin revealed itself. “It’s simple. I’m going to get some of Fido’s explosive arrows, and I will do my little trick on them. Then we give all but one back to Fido, and you can use your copypasta powers on the arrow we keep.”
Squeek didn’t enjoy it when Omega called his powers by their crude, noobish name, but the plan was foolproof nonetheless, and he couldn’t be happier. Their day’s work was about to come to a surprisingly short end. “Alright then,” Squeek formally stated, “let us begin our mission.”

Omega nodded as he leapt up on a series of rocks that created a rough pathway to the spot where Fido was still firing off arrows at amazing speeds. Just before he loaded up another set of crimson arrows, Omega called out to him, “Fido! Hold up a second!”
Fido immediately lowered his arrows to the ground, where the bounced once on the tough rock before coming to a resting point, and slowly turned around. “Yes?” He responded while showing he was clearly awaiting orders.

“Squeek and I would like to see some of your explosive arrows, if you have any left. We think we can make your work a bit more… fun.”

With that, Fido smiled, and his hand scurried through the nearly empty satchel of arrows before finding what he was looking for. He pulled out three black arrows, and handed them to Omega. Immediately, the arrows were laid on the ground, and with a half-joyous, half-mischievous smirk, Omega bestowed the arrows with some of his strength. The result was arrows which bore the official Omegitranos symbol; an inverted arc with two supporting feet at each end that nearly met, but not quite. He laughed as he picked up the arrows with extreme caution, and handed two of them back to Fido.

Fido’s eyes glowed with new life, his dull work had made into top-quality laughs and fun for all, except the noobs of course. After a few seconds of gazing at the blood red Omega symbols, Fido shot off one of the arrows into a part of the noob army, way in the back. Squeek and Omega watched with interest to see how much better the arrows had become, and if Omega still had the magic tough with him.

Nothing was said as the arrow silently flew to its exact target, and without warning, detonated with the force of a thousand Specforces all yelling at the top of their lungs. With megaphones. A moment separated the sight of the enormous spherical vacuum consuming a gigantic portion of the ground from the terrible, eerie cacophony of thousands of demented souls screaming as the force of the vacuum tore them apart and obliterated them without so much as a thought.

Engler cackled with delight as the debris from the now destroyed mansion finished falling. He took a survey of the change in landscape. Aside from the fact that the building had now completely collapsed in on itself, there was nothing to note. His opponent had mysteriously disappeared from the scene of the battle after his great explosion of energy. Thunder flashed as Engler turned around, and shrugged. “Oh well,” he reflected on the battle while slowly pacing away from the mansion, “the boy was fun while he lasted. But somehow, I don’t feel satiated. I want to have a little more fun before I finish my job. Perhaps I can kill whatever my minions leave behind in that persistent little gathering of ants that they call The Garbage Bin.” Engler continued to walk, and was about to begin his flight over to TGB when a gigantic sharp pain made itself known in his arm. In horror, Engler wheeled around and with widened eyes, and frantically looked around for the source of the pain.

He didn’t have to search for very long, as an elongated line of shadows ran through his right arm. Engler’s eyes traced the path of the shadow back to its source, which threw Engler for yet another spin. Barely standing above the pile of rubble from the Mansion was GamerShadow, who had launched a shadow tendril as a surprise attack. Battle scars and open wounds littered his body, and rivulets of blood merged into rivers, while his left arm hanged limp from the shoulder which had also been quite roughened up. He was consumed with nothing but rage at this point; the drive to finish the job that he had started was the only thing keeping him going. “Engler!” He drew out a ferocious roar and whipped back the tendril that was still attaching the two.

As Engler was pulled forward towards the young boy, he felt a monstrous power being released. The pupils in GamerShadow’s eyes were engulfed by the white that surrounded them. His teeth clenched one another as indigo smoke exited his mouth and rose into the stormy sky, and his veins began to rise and reveal themselves on multiple spots on his body. Without warning, a fist met Engler’s face as the tendril held Engler to his spot. Droplets of spit flew from Engler’s mouth as GamerShadow continued to whail away at his helpless opponent as if they were a punching bag. Finally, a gigantic concussive force to the stomach sent Engler sprawling on the ground as GamerShadow began to slowly rise into the air.

“And now,” his voice boomed, deepened, echoed, and transformed at the same time as he began to summon the dark clouds down from the sky, “you are coming with me to rot in the pits of hell! ENGLERRRR!”

Engler could do nothing but stare. The power that GamerShadow was displaying was not entirely his own, but it was so enormous that it overwhelmed that of Engler’s multiple times over. He no longer appeared like the boy that had come searching for revenge just minutes before. However, just as the finishing blow was about to be executed, the power snapped, and GamerShadow froze in midair, as if he had just been turned to stone, and fell to the ground with a thump without so much as a word. The veins disappeared, his pupils returned and dilated, and the clouds gradually floated back up to their original position.

Silence once again reigned as the boy merely lay on the ground. “He’s unconscious,” Engler thought, “I felt his concentration break and his power shrink to nothing. He’s finished, he has to be.” Still, Engler did not attempt to finish the boy for fear that he might reawaken the monster which had nearly obliterated him. Instead, he breathed heavily as he stared into empty space, stunned, paralyzed, and unable to think or act.

Squeek let out a gasp and covered his mouth with his right hand as Omega’s jaw plummeted with sheer disbelief. Most of the pirates who were under Windsurfer’s command were forced to steer clear of the explosion, and quite a few were almost swallowed by the blast’s overwhelming power. Both the Militia and the noobs watched on in amazement, confusion, and terror as the blast finally decided that enough was enough, shrunk, and eventually disappeared altogether in silence, taking with it the souls of thousands of helpless creatures who had never expected their method of death to be this destructively violent.

Within a few moments, Windsurfer located Omegitranos and made it a priority to question his intents. He gathered a burst of wind energy, and used it to shoot over to the jagged mountain on which Omega was standing. Upon reaching his commander, Windsurfer carefully lowered his airsail onto the resilient rocks and hopped off onto solid ground when he considered himself low enough. He gripped the airsail in his right hand to prevent it from flying away, and with a horrified expression painted on his face, he cried, “The Dead Zone, Omega?! You’re sending them to The Dead Zone? Are you crazy?”

Omega shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts and return to reality before answering, “It’s the only way we can finish this war. There’s too many of them to not send them there. We would be slaughtered if we didn’t resort to the Dead Zone, and you know it as well as I do.”

Windsurfer concealed nothing from his commander as his tone of voice continued to intensify, which became evident to all nearby from the veins appearing on his neck, and his ever tightening fists, which appeared to be attempting to constrict some sort of intangible creature and kill it. “We were doing just fine!” He screamed as droplets of saliva scattered out from his mouth and littered the ground, “Our objective is not to annihilate the noobs; it’s simply to hold them off until the TGB Army returns. Why are you attempting to destroy them all now?”

The moon had begun to reveal itself as the skies and the heavens calmed themselves, and began to weep a violet cascade which showered the battle scarred soil. Engler stood and stared through the wasted sentiments of the doomed, musing at the grand portrait of the ruined earth and sky which had been painted with the blood and souls of those who had fallen in needless struggle against him. The borders between the adjacent dimensions and the current one began to decay and rot in a process which could never be undone even by the most omnipotent of figures as the last of Engler’s unexpected challengers made himself known.

Guido rocketed downward towards the destroyed battlefield, which had shattered his previous vision of Engler’s power, and had replaced it with a truly terrifying figure whos momentum could not be broken. Only duty and a lust for revenge kept him from embracing insanity now. Nothing would save him from making the futile effort to fulfill his purpose. Nothing.

The brave keeper of the light pressed on, as his jet boots exploded with flame and wind, and his metallic chamber that encased his true emotions and strength gently kissed the sickened ground as if it were on its deathbed. His destination had been reached. His only goal rested silently in front of him like a toy that resided on the top shelf in the store.

“Engler,” Guido commanded the English language like never before as he pointed his laser pistol towards the unmoving monster, “this madness ends here and now. Your stay here has been rather… costly, but I think it’s time you made your leave. This time, for good.”

Omega’s expression turned somber as he began to emanate a melancholy aura from within. His body drooped slightly, his arms and hands relaxed as they fell back to their resting position, and his head began to lower towards the rock below. His eyes clearly communicated with those who made contact that something was wrong, and he had only known about it for a short time. After a moment of silence, Omega raised his head once again and delivered the final prediction in such a depressed and defeated voice that would have made any normal being burst into tears.

“The final frontier remains for only a moment longer as the light falls and rises for the penultimate cycle. Hope will appear before the heroes of this world to numb the senses as the blaze of injustice shall conquer a torn soul. Many defenders of the light shall sacrifice themselves to no avail, as the entity of mass extinction descends. Only then shall the true end be realized, when the two halves of death itself unite to form the whole. The second moon shall at last eclipse the light, and there shall be no more.”

[DarkManticoreX2]

Yay, the story is back up and going.

I missed this.

[buizel8888]

I almost thought this was abandoned (more than 4 weeks). Glad it wasn't though. Can't wait till the end of chapter 15

[SethSquall]

Glad to see it's going. Ya still got it.

[Tibs]

ctrl f tibs

0 results oh no did i die? :<

[GamerShadow]

Originally Posted by Tibs

ctrl f tibs

0 results oh no did i die? :<

You're in the TGB Army

This is the TGB Militia at the moment. =P

TGB Army comes in a few chapters, don't worry.

[Xception704]

Wow I just read this whole thing. I love it.

Rating it all 5/5 ... which I suppose doesn't really do anything for validity, but hey, I enjoyed it just that much.

p.s. I know what happens.

possible spoiler alert XD

fido shoots the banhammer

[DarkManticoreX2]

Originally Posted by Tibs

ctrl f tibs

0 results oh no did i die? :<

TGB army is lost in the woods somewhere thanks to CBR -.-

[GamerShadow]

Edit: Chapter 15, Part 2 used to be here. However, I decided to compile the chapters split into parts so that readers would have less trouble.

[buizel8888]

Not as good as some of the other chapters, but not bad.

Hopefully part 3 will have some epic action in it

[GamerShadow]

A note to anybody who keeps up with the story:

If you can find anything that needs to be improved with the story at all, from plot to verb usage, please post with what you think can be done better. I can only fix up so much by self-editing my story, and if you point things out now, then the final draft of the story will only be that much better.

I once again thank everybody who has been keeping up to date with the story up until this point. I wouldn't be writing this if you guys didn't comment on it. =)

[igotrhythm]

Is this story to the point that you can definitively say that you're not going to include any more forumites?