Rufioh opened his eyes and found a pair of lips grazing his cheek. You probably know whose these were.
"oh...hey, Horuss," Rufioh said weakly.
"8===D Oh, thank g00dness, you're alive, Rufioh!" Horuss gave him a STRONG hug and squeezed his matesprit's bishonen bones.
"hey, how long was 1..."
"8===D You seemed to be e%hibiting signs of death, and for a moment I thought you had been put out to pasture. Thank goodness I have you to serve as my steed-fiddlesti%, I meant matesprit!" he cried jubilantly.
"uh, yeah, great. look, 1 th1nk 1 was just knocked out for a moment there. 1've got an awful bru1se on my head. d1d you manage w1thout me?"
"8==D It was no trouble carrying your dainty, pony-like body around. There were a few occasions in which the imps provided trouble, but our respective sprites handled the situtaion gallantly. A few times I had to use the power of the Void-I told you about that before, did I not?-to grant us an escape, but I can assure that you were well defended by the three of us!"
Fidusprite appeared and nuzzled Rufioh's cheek. "d*mn-"
"8=D Cease your 100d language, Rufioh!"
"bangarang, th1s place 1s tough...normally 1'd just try and commune w1th the enem1es 1n rough spots, but down here 1 can hardly see anyth1ng, and 1f 1t a1n't an 1mp were fac1ng 1t's some k1nd of mach1ne!"
"8==D Insteed. I am afraid that such is the curse of my world; the game knew of my love of machinery and STRENGTH, and gave me one where both knew no fences. I am sorry for making you come here. Perhaps we would be better off in your-?"
"naw, man, we're not leav1n' t1ll we beat the boss! that's how games work, dude! what's your guy's name, aga1n?"
"8==D I believe it is Ferrus."
"well then, we're gonna bangarang Ferrus up unt1l he's just a heap of scrap metal!"
"8==D I was not aware that 'bangarang' could be used as a verb as well as interjac-I mean interjectionally."
The two wandered down the dark corridor, Rufioh flying no more than a few inches off the floor, and Horuss' boots making tiny clinking sounds behind him. Just then, Rufioh heard a voice that made him shudder:
Ferrus is tough unless you can outnumber him! one of you is rotten, but a dozen of you is Grade A!
"you say someth1n, Horuss?" Rufioh asked.
"8==D Not I."
no, you dangerous moron, i did!
"Who are you, though?" Rufioh asked aloud.
"8==D To whom are you speaking?" Horuss asked.
"1 dunno, really. m1ght be a vo1ce 1ns1de my head."
"8==D Answer him. Every player has an e%ile, as I believe they are called. He wishes to help you."
yeah, listen to the metal one! eggs is gonna set you up right with another of his egg timers. go the left way to get it! the right is where Ferrus is!
Rufioh followed Eggs' advice and found a purple egg timer waiting for him. He picked it up and turned the dial back a few seconds. Sure enough, another Rufioh appeared shortly afterward. "bangarang!" both Rufiohs cried, hi-fiving.
"8====D Oh, jegus, there's two of you!" Horuss cried. After briefly considered what sort of benefits 2 Rufiohs had, he nearly fainted. Both Rufiohs stooped to help him up.
make as many as you need to scramble Ferrus! with my juju the fight'll be overeasy!
Just then Sawbuck spoke to Horuss:
I concur with Eggs. I've modified your badge so that it'll only take you around the room if he hurts you, but otherwise you'll have to buck up! Good luck, lad; if I could give you some, I would, but that isn't my specialty!
Silently thanking their exiles, Rufioh and Horuss took the right path and found themselves face to face with Horuss' Denizen: Ferrus.
"SO, YOU'VE ARRIVED AT LAST! I AM Ferrus, DENIZEN OF LOTAS. DEFEAT ME AND CLAIM VICTORY IN THIS WORLD! OR BE CRUSHED AND DIE WHERE YOU STAND!"
"br1ng 1t on, hotshot!" Rufioh challenged. Fidusprite hid in Rufioh's coat pocket, and E%tinguisprite vanished.
"VERY WELL, THEN. I ENJOY A CHALLENGE. COME AT ME, YOU PUNY ANTS!" And with this awesome yet cheesy dialogue, the battle began.
Ferrus's mighty hammer came crashing down on the seemingly helpless trolls. Horuss performed a STRONG ROLL to get out of the way, and Rufioh merely strafed to the left on the fly. But he didn't see Ferrus's fist come shooting out at him from a chain. Rufioh received the full force of the blow and was slammed against the wall. He slumped to the ground when Ferrus released his grip, reaching for the egg timer before he collapsed. Another Rufioh appeared, seconds in the past, this time dodging the fist and catching up with the alt-timeline one that didn't. Ferrus was confused, but he didn't bother to think too much about it. He's made of solid metal, do you honestly expect him to get time travel? But his confusion was just enough time for Horuss to slam his steel-plated fist into Ferrus's side. The metal tyrant spun around with surprising agility and sent his hammer onto Horuss. Horuss found himself in the opposite corner of the room, wounded somewhat. Clad in his armor, Ferrus would have to hit him many times to do a major amount of damage, whereas Rufioh would fall in just a single hit. Turning his attention back to said troll, Ferrus tore off the horn of the dead Rufioh and stabbed it at the second, killing him. A third Rufioh appeared, only to be subsequently destroyed by Ferrus once more. And a fourth, and a fifth, and a sixth, and a seventh, until there were about 10 or so Rufiohs fluttering around, all prime targets too nimble to all get hit at once. Ferrus swung his hammer and his fist in the air, only to crash into the walls of the room. Horuss took the opportunity to leap up and punch Ferrus in the face. Horuss jumped off Ferrus's head and threw a chunk of debris straight at him as he tried to turn around. Ferrus groaned in pain, but swatted Horuss away with one when he tried to lunge at him again. Horuss crashed into one wall and found himself propped against the opposite one. Ferrus had already turned to face him.
"TRICKERY WON'T KEEP YOU ALIVE FOREVER! I HAVEN'T EVEN USED ALL OF MY POWER YET!" he cried. At this, Ferrus's face transformed into the gun of a tank, and the tank head fired a massive blast at Horuss. It Horuss at full force, sending him reeling from one wall to another. Ferrus continued to strike at him in every way he could, and each time Horuss found himself being flung every which way, growing weaker and weaker with each blow.
The Rufiohs acted fast and swamed Ferrus's eyes. To try and kill them, Ferrus fired another shot from his tankface, but the combined strength of the Rufiohs caused it to miss Horuss. Horuss recovered from his wounds and delivered an uppercut to the tank gun of the blinded Ferrus. This caused him to fall backwards to the ground, dropping his hammer. Horuss picked it up easily and smashed it into Ferrus's face multiple times. Ferrus groaned in pain, but Horuss silenced him by approaching his hand and broke the chain it was held on. He then took the hand and flung it aside, finishing Ferrus off with a final punch to each eye. The Rufiohs, vanishing as the timelines caught up with each other, merged into one in awe.
"that was awesome! now let's get the h*ll out of here! can't wa1t to see the sun aga1n, even though 1t 1s pretty dull and almost blocked out by the clouds!"
"8==D Indeed. Help me pick up the grist," Horuss said. After they had done this, part of the wall opened, revealing a passageway that went upwards with a light at the end. They went out of it and found themselves out in the middle of nowhere. There were no enemies to be seen whatsoever. Their sprites reappeared as they scanned the metallic wilderness, wondering what to do next. The exiles, meanwhile, congratulated them.
no one can stand up to you when there's a dozen of you! what did i tell you?
Well done, lad. You've made me as happy as a...oh bloody hell, I'm just very pleased with you, son! Wait, you won't know what that means...
"8==D That was quite an e%travagant pursuit, wouldn't you say?" Horuss declared. But before Rufioh could respond, Horuss suddenly winced in pain.
"what's the matter?" Rufioh asked. Horuss responded after clutching his arm.
"8=D I don't know, but I feel like I am lossing b100d!" he cried. He suddenly found himself in some place far away, where Rufioh couldn't hear his cries of pain as the wounds grew worse.
"D==8 Sawbuck, help me!" Horuss cried, panic in his voice. He began to sweat, and it wasn't because he was excited.
I'll try, Horuss! I swear up and down I'm not doing anything to cause this! Someone is exploiting my system to harm without actually doing so! And I think I know who it is...hang on, lad! Just do what you can to keep a stiff upper lip, and I'll make the man who's responsible pay for this!
As Horuss warped around uncontrollably, seeing nothing at first, the face of an ogre, then Rufioh, then the sprites, then back again, he could have sworn he heard a sound that sounded like frustration and someone rising from his chair in anger...which is just what Sawbuck was doing. He had a mission to help this kid, and by George he would do it!
End of ACT 2...PART 1!
