The Terrarian OLD VERSION (There's a Rewrite)
- Thread starter Dawnk41
- Start date
-
- Tags
- terraria worm greg veder
- Location
- Just hanging
I can imagine that part of the reason she sounds so dead aside from being suicidally depressed is because she off loading her emotions into ber bugs.
Twei
I have a face!
- Location
- the land where they write things
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Well, her reactions/tells/bodylanguage, anyways.
A small but meaningful distinction.
Grey Rook
Genuine Nerd
- Location
- The Quantum Foam
Oh, quite, but the opposite - where the protagonist always wins easily - is just as bad. Now, Dawnk has said that he intends to change things up over the next few chapters, so we'll see how that works out.
VoiceoftheAbyss
May or may not stare back.
- Location
- The Depths of the Eternal Abyss
Downstreamer
The Architect
- Location
- The Manifold
2.7
Dawnk41
Comatose Grizzly
- Location
- America
2.7
I jumped off the roof and joined up with Weld and Swarm, who were already speaking quietly. My mind was blank for a few seconds before it kicked back into gear. "What's Contingency 7, and which way was Eden street again?" The big question came first, but the second wasn't exactly irrelevant.
Weld waved us in a direction and started moving there. "Contingency 7, while there is a bit more to it than this, it basically boils down to; 'Everybody come and try to beat up the bad guy.' We're gonna stay smart about things, try and avoid getting anyone else cloned, but it's kinda important that Echidna goes down. If she manages to get away from everything today... well, she could become a massive threat." I nodded in response, and Swarm remained silent. I was a bit torn. On the one hand, I could just fly ahead like I had the last time. However... that would probably reflect badly on me seeing as I had been assigned to this cell. Also, it might mess up the logistics of the upcoming fight a little. This was going to be a coordinated battle, and that meant going along with the plan.
As much as I didn't like it, I decided to stay with them. Which didn't mean that I wasn't hoping that we could get a move on. Setting a brisk pace, we were heading towards Eden street as quickly as Swarm could manage. She wasn't exactly slow, per se, but she definitely wasn't used to this much physical activity in such a short amount of time. Which made sense, for a Master. Most capes with minions of some sort tended to stay put and direct a fight from a distance.
After what felt like far too long, we managed to reach Eden street. What we found there... it could only be described as chaos. There were at least a dozen different fights going on, and those were probably just the ones that I could see from here. The big question was, however, where is Echidna? After looking around for a few seconds, I decided that she would probably turn up sometime soon, and that I couldn't afford to waste time looking if I could be spending that same time helping some of the capes in the alliance finish their fights quickly. Now... where should we put ourselves?
Almost as if in answer to my silent question, Weld spoke to me. "Terrarian, does your suit protect you from Radiation?" I blinked back at him for a moment, and considered the question. Radiation... how would that register to my power? A debuff? Damage over time? Would it even affect me? All in all, I decided that my power would probably blunt the effects at least, and I could always just rely on potions to keep me alive long enough for someone else to help me out, if worse came to worst.
"Yeah. It protects me from almost anything like that." Of course, it wasn't exactly my armor that did that, but that didn't really matter right now.
"Good, good, alright, can you help out with that Harmonic clone over there?" He pointed at a portion of the battlefield where someone that I recognized was fighting. Shielder, one of New Wave's younger members, was wrapped up in one of his namesakes, while being attacked by the clone, who seemed to be using some sort of energy projection from her hands to try and cut away at the shield, to no avail. I assumed that those energy fields on her hands were the cause of the aforementioned radiation. Alright, seemed simple enough. I began to move towards the fight while pulling out my Harpoon Gun. It had been what finished off the last clone of Harmonic that I had dealt with, and thus seemed like one of the better choices for a repeat of that task. I carefully took aim at the clone's torso, the part of her that moved the least, and let loose with the harpoon. It hurtled through the air towards her and-
-Clang! Bounced off of a suddenly appearing energy field that sprang up around her midsection. Her head spun towards me and she snarled. She began to move towards me and rose her arms, forming a new pair of energy blades from her hands. However, in so doing, she had taken her eyes off of the other combatant in this fight. After taking a few steps away from him, Shielder dropped the bubble for a moment and let loose with a beam of light. It struck the clone in the legs and she screamed as she fell to the ground. Wrapping himself in a new bubble, he pulled out a radio and stood over the clone while speaking into it.
I guess he had to report in to command or whatever, but since he was busy, I'd finish this for him. I walked towards him, and put away the Harpoon. I spent the few seconds reaching them deciding which weapon would best suit this task. Quickly coming to the conclusion that the Blade of Grass would be the most precise tool for the job, I pulled it out, and in one swift motion, decapitated the clone.
Shielder jumped back a little and spluttered. "What the- What the hell are you doing!? She was disabled, we were going to bring her to command, try to find out more about these things, what on earth is driving them to fight us!"
I looked at him in confusion. "What is there to understand?" Did he not see this? These things were monsters, killing them was the only option. "They're driven to fight us in their very being, they were literally made to turn on us. This isn't over until all of them are dead."
He took another step back, and began trying to muster a response. However, a notification popped up in the back of my mind.
Irradiated - Physical capabilities reduced by 20%, taking minor damage over time. 60 seconds remaining.
My eyes widened. "Get back! She's growing more radioactive!" He froze for a moment before taking to the air. Meanwhile, I looked down at the corpse, noticing that the energy fields she had been controlling earlier were now running rampant through her body, which was withering away as I watched. Was she breaking apart and releasing the radiation? Cursing to myself, I wracked my brain, wondering if I had some way to make this better. Absently consuming a Health Potion and, for good measure, a Regeneration Potion to help stave off the health loss from Irradiation, an idea came to mind.
They might be temporary, but a quick stone casing around the body should, at the very least, limit the spread. Thus decided, I moved a stack of stone from my inventory to the list of 'Active' items in the back of my head, mentally selecting it. Then, I rose my hands, and began to gesture around the corpse.
Almost as though through magic, stone began to materialize around the body, quickly obscuring it from sight. For good measure, I added another two layers. Hopefully, this didn't somehow poison the water supply. I checked my status again, and grimaced.
Irradiated - Physical capabilities reduced by 45%, taking moderate damage over time. 173 seconds remaining.
I actually felt the effects of the debuff, my arms feeling heavier, and when I began to hurry away from the stone tomb, my steps were a little unsteady. I hadn't made it more than ten steps when a massive crash came from the other side of the street. Looking up, I saw her. Echidna. It couldn't possibly have been anyone else, but I couldn't understand how she had appeared out of nowhere. I tried to look around and see how some of the fights around me were going, but my vision was swimming. Stumbling a little, I fell to a knee. People were saying things, but I could barely make out the words.
"-ickster swapped Myrddin away, he lost his hold on the Banishment. At least he didn't manage to get Myrddin captured, the last thing we need are clones with dimensional shenanigans." Someone was talking about something really important, but when I focused on that voice, it slipped away. I gritted my teeth, and thought about my health. It was dropping steadily, though Regeneration was alleviating it a little. I quickly drained another health potion, and did a little bit of mental math. I couldn't be certain that I had calculated it right, seeing as the numbers were wavering a little as I tried to gauge things, but I was pretty sure that I shouldn't run out of health before the debuff ran its' course.
Which is when, of course, I abruptly found myself somewhere else.
I swung my head around, blearily and frantically trying to figure out what had just happened. I must have been delirious or something, because I found myself face to face with a horse's head. It screamed at me, and I'm not entirely sure I didn't scream back at it. Then, I either fell towards it or it leaped towards me, because the next thing I knew I was swimming in darkness. Was I hallucinating? I hadn't thought I was still capable of that, but I guess that I was. I looked back to the debuff to see how much longer I'd have to deal with this, when I found something that made my blood run cold.
Ingested - Movement arrested. Combat disabled. Ongoing.
No. No no no, how had Echidna gotten me? I had been a block away! This, this didn't make any sense-
xX_Space_Cowboy_Xx has joined the world of Earth Bet.
What? What did that mean? I began to feel myself drift off...
xX_Dune_Cowboy_Xx has joined the world of Earth Bet.
There was that message again... or was it different? I couldn't quite tell...
xX_Blood_Cowboy_Xx has joined the world of Earth Bet.
That was probably important, I should do something about that...
Terraria claimed me once more.
OoOoO
Author's Note: You guys have no idea how impatient I've been to release this chapter. It's been planned for months, I just had to work out how to get here.
SparraNova
Dead Account Walking
- Location
- Some Wasteland
In before they're powergaming jackasses and are all carrying endgame gear.
NexysDhyArchen
Throne Breaker
Looks like a meteor, desert, and corruption based clone respectively.
Hammerheadcruiser
Eagle-1 my beloved
- Location
- Anaxes
Ha! Oh man, that's a great way to do the clones
serra2
Himouto! Sylvanas-chan
More like a crimson clone
- Location
- Море песка, солнце огня и множество злых сарацин
I think I should clarify my rant about "being MC is suffering" stories.
Because, that thing where the world is burning and the only reason the MC is not suffering is because they're not in a position to notice?
Yeah, I don't really like that either. (At least, outside of obvious comedy.)
(I'm somewhat hopeful that, like that one Minecraft crossover, this eventually does get back up from grimdark into something relatively reasonable, but so far I'm not seeing how, unfortunately.)
Because, that thing where the world is burning and the only reason the MC is not suffering is because they're not in a position to notice?
Yeah, I don't really like that either. (At least, outside of obvious comedy.)
(I'm somewhat hopeful that, like that one Minecraft crossover, this eventually does get back up from grimdark into something relatively reasonable, but so far I'm not seeing how, unfortunately.)
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
You damn me with faint praise. (Maybe. If you meant Maincraft.)
Being a teenager is all about ignoring how the world is burning and only seeing the local flames. Hurray, we saved the school. Oops, New York is a pile of ashes, oh well that is somebody else's problem. Once the MC opens up to the hurt elsewhere, they can't close it off again. Echidna clones are like having group therapy with all the variations of yourself... oh wait I did that in 'Nine Lives of the Calico' --course with Echidna they all come with 'self hate' turned all the way up and a hate boner for everything you do like.
For this story. Enjoying it a lot. I don't know enough about Terrarian the game to get some juicy details ahead of time (my kids play but I just catch enough to go 'hmph' at times) and I like how you've managed to throw the lost folks (like me) a bit of lore without bringing out the 'explain-hammer'. Very nice work that. The sledge-o-matic on 'explain-mode' can be so easily grabbed --guilty!
SparraNova
Dead Account Walking
- Location
- Some Wasteland
Are you guys sure you're in the right thread?
ScottotheUnwise
Verified Crack (fic) Dealer
- Location
- Mulberry, Fl
Hmmm Commented about an ongoing comment relating to the story. Check.
Acknowledged (Squee!) an offhand reference to another thread, hoping it was Mine. (See what I did there?) Check.
Made a actual comment about the actual story congratulating the OP on a balancing act in lore spew vs story. Checkerino.
Annoyed someone else on the internet. Checkism.
Yep. Seems to be hitting all the key points.
Have I mentioned that I applaud the use of color text? It's a skill. Nuff said.
Dawnk41
Comatose Grizzly
- Location
- America
I try to avoid it except when I want something to feel jarring to read, some stories (I'm looking at you, Exalted crosses) just use it to death.
Interlude 2.A
Dawnk41
Comatose Grizzly
- Location
- America
Interlude 2.A
Pharaoh
The second clone came to his senses moments before he erupted from the side of a mountain of flesh, feeling an odd stretching sensation as he fell to the ground. Coughing and wheezing he dragged himself to his feet. Clumsily swaying back and forth, he glanced around to a vaguely familiar sight. People were fighting in the street next to the alley he was in. Near him were his... brothers? Fellow clones, at least. They too were tottering unsteadily as they rose. He reached out with an arm that felt slightly too long, in an attempt to help one of them up. When he noticed the oddity of his limb, his motion stilled for a moment, and he examined it in more detail. He was tall. Too tall, and he noticed that he was at least a full foot taller than either of the other clones.Pharaoh
What was going on? The last thing he remembered, he had been fighting that radioactive Harmonic clone- Wait, no, that was the old him. He hadn't done that. The old him had been taken down in a fit of weakness, succumbing to the aftereffects of that battle. He still wasn't sure what had happened to the original right before he had been captured. Regardless, that didn't have anything to do with the current situation.
His mental ramblings ended in a snap as battle instincts arose, hard won throughout a great deal of effort in... some place? There was some place that he went, at night, to get stronger. But he couldn't remember where that was. What did he do there? He remembered returning from that place with things, equipment, potions, weapons. The Inventory! Did he still have that? Focusing his attention on that familiar place in the back of his mind, he saw that he did indeed still have access to the Inventory.
It didn't have any of the things he had expected to find in it... but it wasn't empty. He equipped the armor that he found in there, finally covering himself. Being naked wasn't comfortable, though not for the same reasons the old him would have considered such. Nakedness meant weakness, being unprepared. Without his armor, he was nigh defenseless.
But not anymore. He stood, covered in bone like plates, much thicker than the bones of a human, which were held together by an amber coating. The armor didn't look like any of the armor he remembered wearing before, but all the same, it was... familiar. He could see himself making this, going through the process in his head. But the armor, while very important, wasn't the only thing he found in the inventory. There were a few stacks of knives, and one of spears, both of which were made of bones, like his armor.
But the thing that made up the majority of his inventory was sand. Stacks upon stacks of it, at least hundreds- no, thousands- of tons of it. With this, he could... what should he do with it? What should he do at all? He felt a sudden impulse to go and find the creature that had spawned him, him and his brothers, and defend her from the... heroes? No, not heroes. What were the people that were trying to kill his mother? He struggled to remember the word, a word with a definition that had grown more and more vague... Oh, yes, now he remembered.
Monsters. He needed to go protect her from the monsters that wanted her dead. She was important, not from an emotional standpoint, but on a more primal level. He wasn't quite sure why, but as long as she was alive, his own prospects were a great deal better. She was halfway down the block. How was she that far away? Hadn't they been born but a minute before? As confusing as that was, though, it would have to wait. Fight! Yes, he had to fight. Why couldn't he focus? His mind kept on wandering. One of the others, however, had a bit of a firmer grasp on things, apparently. He looked up in surprise as the stockier of his fellow clones, now garbed in a purple bodysuit and helmet with a metallic sheen, took to the air using jets on his feet. He really needed something to call them other than 'Brother' or 'Other Clones'. For now, he'd go with the name Pharaoh, for his obvious Desert theme. Which was pretty sweet, honestly.
But seriously, Rocket Boots? That was so unfair. Taking another glance into the Inventory, he noticed some things that he had passed over in his search for weapons. A bottle of- surprise surprise- SAND, and a carpet. What the hell. He mentally went to hold them, and discovered that they were both accessories. Not at all sure how they could measure up to rocket propelled flight, he slotted them into place, and plotted out how to get to mother. He jumped towards the wall of one of the buildings adjacent to the alley, and felt a strange feeling in his feet, like there was a possibility of solid ground in mid air.
That feeling was familiar, and it came from the Cloud in a Bottle. Perhaps the bottle of sand wasn't as bad as he had assumed. Jumping yet again, he was slightly afraid when he abruptly found himself at least thirty feet in the air- and still rising. Panicking, he braced himself in the air and froze up. Which is when his expected descent didn't happen. Creaking open one eye, he saw that he was suspended in the sky atop the carpet from his accessories.
A magic carpet. Just when he thought his power couldn't get any more ridiculous... Still, he grinned, and angled himself towards mother. His brothers were already engaged in fights, the purple suit clone wielding an honest-to-god laser rifle, and damn was he jealous, while the other, sporting blood-red armor and attempting to use a wicked looking pike to stab- was that Chevalier?
A feeling of calm washed over him. These people were trying to kill mother, and by extension, them as well. With sudden determination, he decided to support his brothers from above. Taking careful aim, he threw a javelin of bone directly at Red's opponent. He readied another and was taking aim with that one as well. Suddenly, something exploded against him and he found himself falling to the ground. Instinctively, he reached out with the Ivy Whip and-
With a sickeningly dry crack he impacted the street. After a few moments of stunned surprise, he rushed to his feet, whirling to search for the one that had attacked him. Then he looked down, at his body.
"Oh." The ghost of Pharaoh rasped, though none could hear him. What was he supposed to do now? Haunt the enemy? Then, he felt a pull. Glancing in the direction that was calling to him, he saw Mother. As the pull grew stronger, he floated towards her. As he got within arms reach of her, the pull was almost too strong to resist. He felt his spirit get sucked into Mother, and then, he felt sensation again. This time, when he stepped back onto the street from the fleshy confines, he grinned.
OoOoO
Author's Note: I wanted to write a chapter from a clone's perspective, though I had to write it again in something other than first person's perspective, because that was really confusing when taken with the other chapters. Please, tell me what you think, I might not be averse to rewriting this chapter, in fact, I might wonder what the hell I was thinking when I wake up in about five hours. Maybe writing on sleep deprivation isn't the greatest idea.
SparraNova
Dead Account Walking
- Location
- Some Wasteland
Well, they didn't have endgame gear at least?
Mandabar
Waifu of choice is Rem. Give that girl some hugs!
- Location
- Florida, USA [Yes. Florida *FacePalm*]
Well... yes they do respawn, but other clones do as well as long as the original is still digested. In a way anyways. The difference here is it seems that as long as Greg is stuck inside her, the same clone will continue to live with a continous chain of consciousness instead of a series of new clones.
Which yeah is going to be a bitch with a learning reviver(s).
Hotdog Vendor
Author of 'Sisters of Rail'
- Location
- (5 + 3 * sqrt(5)) / 8
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I couldn't see the black text and only found it because someone mentioned there were three clones.
- Location
- Море песка, солнце огня и множество злых сарацин
It's not invisitext, though. It's just black, i.e. low-contrast.
I personally noticed it immediately, but I can see how to someone else it could have been harder.
(BTW, did you see my post on the A Matter of Worth thread?)