VFX: Va'Ul VS. Boyd Metzger

Natacha wandered down the dimly lit hallway to one of the holding cells. She knocked on the reinforced steel door, and before her blushed knuckles struck metal the second time, the door slowly opened. The room was a dark, barely lit by the light coming from the corridor.

- Is anyone here ? Hellooh ?

In the eerie silence that suddenly quenched the echoed chatter in the hall, a few subtle clinks of a chain answered Natacha.

- What are you doing there ? I no like dark places !

Natacha wandered into the dark room in search of a light switch, but surely enough, the door slammed behind her just as soon a she cleared the doorway. There was a bit of cursing and panting and quite a bit of screaming before she managed to find the light switch that turned out to be the other left.

Casting light on what was in the stale-aired room brought Natacha little comfort. A rather large suit of armor was laid seated, by the wall opposite the door. The dark, shiny plate-mail was sitting on a slightly bent-in bench, next to a large pile of chain and a heap of rags. To Natacha's despair, the contender appeared not to be present in the room. However... The chain moved a little bit, rising one end slightly, in a snake-like fashion, as if trying to observe its whereabouts. Before Natacha could screech in terror, the chain had fixed its 'head' in her direction. Then the screaming started.

The noises appeared to have stopped the serpentine chain in its tracks, and just as tiniest bits of hope started to soothe her mind, her hand searching for the doorknob, her other hand had accidentally flipped the light switch back off.

- more screaming -
- chain noises -
- muffled screaming -

The lights came back on. The armor was now in a standing position, its left hand easily reaching across the room to the switch. More importantly, its right gauntlet was firmly grasping a rather fiercely moving axe, attached to the other end of the chain. The chain, unsurprisingly, was wrapped around the helpless interviewer, efficiently muffling all of her insults. As the gauntlet squeezed the axe handle a bit stronger, the chain became limp, releasing Natacha to the floor she was recently suspended over. She in turn released a series of noises and threats that would strike fear into even the bravest of hearts.

- Whyyyy you....! Come out now ! I'll find you and rip you to...UUuaaargh !

As natacha's frenzy progressed, her voice suddenly took on a bit lower pitch, her facial expression becoming unhealthily tense. A deep, calm voice spoke from within the armor.

- That's right, you know who did it, don't you ? Of course it was that Boyd person who must have arranged this. You won't let him get away with this, he cannot remain unpunished !

- Nooooo!!! Its youuu !!

- There's no one here Natacha. Clearly it was a trap set to capture and enslave you.

- Aarrrghh !! Yesss !!! I will find himmm !!!

As she cast off the chains and started panting heavily, Natacha pulled a little pink-chromed gun from under her skirt and ran out the door, in search of Metzger's quarters.

 

As the seemingly endless stream of ads comes interrupted by the flaming VFX logo, a camera pan of a cargo helicopter flying through the droning sky fades in.

-Here we see Va'Ul coming in, since the contender was too much for our normal transports we had to... Hey what is he... ?

The camera zooms in on the CH-47 as it starts to tilt slightly, something obviously bumping around on the inside. The back hatch swings open, camera switching to one currently flying behind the copter - the tall anorexic figure stands still as the interior depressurizes and the transporter starts being thrown around a bit. Va'Ul let go the opening lever and disappeared within the cargo hold, moments after that performing a running jump out of the vehicle, giving the pilots a very hard time keeping the bird in the air.

Cameras switch once again, showing the dark figure from the side, falling toward the ground, arms and legs spread wide, clearly outlining the contours of the weapons attached to the armor. As the camera starts panning down in anticipation of the impact, Va'Ul swings the axe forward, in a split second disappearing from the view. The camera twitches up, showing the outline of Va'Ul spinning around on a chain, which appears to be connected to one of the highest peaks above the city. An instant later the delayed sound reaches the camera, a sharp howl of the axe cutting the air and an ground-shaking thud of it embedding itself in the rock.

Va'Ul spins once around the peak, flying in and out of the forming cloud of dust and debris, finally stopping at the western side of the peak, in one skillful motion wrapping the chain around the waist. The dust engulfs the whole peak and starts slowly stretching into the wind.

-Now that was an odd show of daredevil acrobatics, couldn't say I'd expect that from this big guy.

-You know reverend, when a man has to go, he has to go. Reminds me of that crazy recruit back in the 'Nam that tried to take a leak out of the landing...

-...We all know that story, thank you. Now what could he be trying to do, other then killing our pilots ?

As the dust cloud dissipates and rock fragments are done doing their destruction on the ground below, the camera zooms in and centers on the reappearing figure. Va'Ul stands still, connected to the peak with a visible bit of chain, holding the bow with one hand and two arrows in the other.

The noise of the other helicopter starts reaching the camera, as Va'ul slowly sets one of the arrows on the bow, rising it slightly to make up for the distance drop.

-well now this one just doesn't know how to play by the rules...

-we had rules ?

-...

The side camera zooms up on the armor, showing the unclear image of the mask through the distorting waves of hot air. Switching to a camera-pod that just flew by closer in, at a different angle the clear image of the mask fills the screen. Slowly, one eye on the daemon-mask appears to be opening. A slight ripple bursts from around Va'Ul, shaking up the camera-pod and dropping more rocks from the peak, then spreading throughout the desert surrounding the peak Va'Ul stands on top of. As the dust begins to fall throughout the desert, translucent phantom-like figures fade from underneath, great archers almost the size of Va'Ul.

He draws the bow, and like a wave the dozens of archers draw theirs, as He takes aim they follow. And the volley of heavy arrows is launched toward the incoming helicopter, which is supposed to be carrying Va'Ul's adversary. The archers silently release their arrows simultaneously with Va'Ul, casting a noticeable shadow and producing a dust-wave throughout the ridge overhanging the town. The first arrows to arrive simply pass through the helicopter like phantoms, converging on the main pilot's chest, while the latter ones sometimes bump off the chassis, crack the windshield or slightly scratch the pilot or whoever else might be in their way. And then Va'Ul's tree-trunk of an arrow arrives, shattering the windshield and nailing the pilot to his seat.

-Ouch...

The co-pilot struggles to maintain control and the helicopter starts tilting from side to side, as Va'Ul sets the second arrow on his bow. The undead platoon follows. As he was ready to release his arrow, some laser blasts start hitting the peak he was on. Va'Ul quickly lowers his bow and fires the arrow at something below. The camera catches up with the arrow, as it, in slow motion, tears through some unlucky fellow wielding a laser rifle. Apparently the city's population disapproves of the way he greeted them.

The archers stand ready, as Va'Ul lowers his bow and appears to use the moment between attacks to concentrate. His second eye slowly begins to open, red glow engulfing his figure. Archers start taking aim at civilian targets as the other helicopter struggles to remain in the air...

-Looks like Va'Ul lives up to his reputation, considering how eager he is to start another war !
-I'm certain I've seen someone take on a helicopter with a bow before...

 

The view fades to scene direct from a vicious battlefield, panning through dozens of corpses laying in tormented poses, most of them nailed to the bloodstained ground by groupings of arrows. As the view scrolls across the ground, a reflection appears in a particularly gruesome pool of blood. With a heavy stomp and an unsightly splash of gore, Va'Ul lands in the middle of the said pool, having jumped down from the ledge his archers stood upon. Smeared with bloody mud, he scans the city level with his glowing eyes, then proceeds to walk boldly toward the paved areas. The camera follows him for a while, focusing on the bloody footprints marking his path, then switches to a different perspective. The new angle shows the summoned warriors jump down the ledge, like a waterfall, running to catch up with their master.

As they catch up, marching in a perfect rectangular formation just behind Va'Ul, the camera tilts to show Beasts running from within the city, quite an impressive swarm of them, wielding mostly melee weapons. The welcoming party begins a charge to intercept the uninvited guest, accompanied by light hovercrafts pouring out from the entrance. As the wave of city defenders begins to close in on Va'Ul, the giant stops and throws up his axe, swinging it rightward then garbing the chain near it's length's end. Chain links cry, reaching their limits, when the giant swings the axe, at a staggering speed, into the charging beasts. The display of gore and dismemberment brings the native defenders' charge to a stop. Corpses, or torn parts of them, fall all over the place, bloody shower slowly turns into a red mist and the slow-motion moment of silence comes to a sudden end as Va'Ul sharply pulls the axe back in, painting the ground with a long blood splat following the blades.

- Weren't these guys wearing armor ?
- They were.
- Oh.

Having cut a perfect arc of killed and incapacitated enemies, again braking the muffled silence, Va'Ul unsheathes his sword and rises it in the gesture to attack. Some Beasts stand their ground, while others choose to live instead, as the now 100% physical platoon of ironclad giants rushes their line. The camera pans across the battlefield, catching up with Va'Ul, who is boldly marching forward, wielding his over sized sword in the left hand and flailing his axe with the other. The size advantage was now clearly visible, as the giant strode throughout the battlefield, cleaving enraged Beasts with his sword and massacring others within his axe's reach. Not fighting to the full potential however, Va'Ul appears to be concentrating on something distant, mechanically slaying anything that comes close enough.

Again, the red glow surrounds his figure, and the air becomes filled with unsettling tension, making the ongoing massacre seem irrelevantly small. A powerful thud shakes the ground around the caster, emitting another wave of energy, this one engulfing the entire city, along with a large part of the desert. An intense sandstorm immediately begins, accompanied with blackening skies and suddenly appearing raindrops. Within seconds of the blast, the whole city became covered with an intense lighting storm, the desert sand growing twisted strands of alien grass, rocky peaks around the city collapsing into piles of rock that become grassy heaps in mere seconds. The sun became occluded, with the only remaining natural light source being the lightnings striking the city streets.

The battle rages on, despite the terrible confusion among the natives. A series of thunderbolts highlight a rising spaceship that's been sent to aid in deflecting the attack. Before it attained an acceptable altitude, phantoms of heavy stone walls started appearing around it, instantly encircling the whole city with an ancient stone fortress... complete with defenders on the walls and a wave of green skinned, orc-like creatures pouring out from where the contours of the main gate appear to be. In the distant desert, within the radius of this strange miracle, squares of giant troops begin to appear, translucent phantoms, legions of them, steadily walking to assist in the ongoing siege.

Further to the back, huge war machines of iron and wood appear, ready to hurl smoldering projectiles onto the fathom fortress. The skirmish between Va'Ul and the natives becomes engulfed in the clashing waves of phantoms, battling it out with each other. Despite the chaos of a heated battle, it is quite clear that within two dozen or so meters from Va'Ul, the conflict is very real and physical in nature, while further away it becomes more of a blur, echoes mixed with with slight drafts shifting the sand.

- Did someone change the channel ?

[screen turns blue, with a large NO SIGNAL message in the middle]
[a couple of cable channels switch by, ads, 90's action movies, porn, more ads]
[broadcast from the battle comes back]

Camera pans over the spaceship rising above the city, charging its cannons, suddenly hit a couple of times by huge smoldering projectiles. The ship tilts a little, firing its lasers into the desert, effectively carving two impressive valleys. The artillery attacks keep coming, easily breaching the ships' shields and visibly damaging the hull, at the same time raining fire and destruction onto the city. The camera pans down, showing the phantom armies recreating their long forgotten battle with very little native involvement surviving to take part in the conflict.

Using the confusion, Va'Ul fights his way into the city, as the crippled spaceship becomes covered with explosions and starts falling back down. Walking through the rain of fire and debris, the giant enters the city streets, only to see a group of GUARDIANS trying to contain the panic and fend of some of the phantom attackers spawned on the city streets.

A huge spaceship explosion within the city walls, accompanied by a huge ongoing medieval battle, is generally an reliable way of averting attention from a 2-story tall metal giant - making use of that knowledge, Va'Ul walks calmly through the firestorm, looking for his true opponent.

- I hope they're insured.

 

After the short commercial break, a bloody VFX logo splats on the screen then fades to a view of the faces of our two hosts. They both look rather pale and watch the live transmission from the battlefield on a small screen. Even though the screen isn't facing the camera directly the contents must be quite gruesome - their faces are often lit by flashes of light from the screen, furthering the 'ouch, that's gotta hurt' expressions on their faces. Some studio tech walks to the side of Musashi, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention.

- Oh, we're live ! Well, I must confess I've been joking about the collateral damage back then, but the show Va'Ul is putting on hasn't come short of reminding me of these last weeks in the 'nam when me and the boys...
- And that's a whole lot, coming from Zeke here, now while our crews are still on a lookout for Boyd Merzger, who has unfortunately gone missing a few moments ago, I've got a direct call from the planet Mo-A.. Planet Moatoob.

[a moment of silence, some telephone noise is put through the speakers, in the meantime another flash of light illuminates the hosts' faces again. Musashi's expression takes a slight turn for the worse]

- Gooood evening, this is Reverend "Dropkick" McMurphy speaking !
- Good day to you sir, I'm speaking on behalf of the late interplanetary ambassador of the rogue city of Dagora.
- ...Late ambassador ?
- Yes, I'm afraid he has been critically injured by one of the blasts. The blast, if I've been informed correctly, was a direct consequence of the VFX tournament, still ongoing in the city area.
- I'm sure our agreement has taken into account limited casualties, with a clause involving VIPs as well, so...
- Yes, however due to the nature of the legal process involved in legislating...

[ mcMurphy takes along yawn as the caller continues to flood the airwaves with legal blabber ]

- ...with the death of the party which agreed to enter the city of Dagora into the tournament, before the scheduled fight came to an end, our agreement is to be nullified within... exactly three minutes and eighteen seconds, standard time.
- You can't do that ! We've scheduled...
- Yes we can. Also, you will be held financially responsible for whatever damages your tournament will cause the city after the agreement is no longer valid. The identities of involved parties will be disclosed to the authorities of Dagora city, to aid in the extradition process.
- For the love of God Almighty, you can't possibly do that ! Don't you have any ide what they'll do to...
- It has already been decided, mr. McMurphy, we will send you the invo...

[ Zeke grabs the headset off of McMurphy and takes a quick, deep breath ]

- Now listen you interstellar maggot, we don't giva flyin' fuck about your laws or...

[ The broadcast is cut, with a short blink of the familiar blue 'no signal' screen, another series of ads flicks on. After a minute or so the VFX logo STABS its way into the screen and the transmission from the studio continues. Musashi is sitting sideways on a set chair, forehead covered with drops of sweat, chugging a water bottle.]

- Loooooks like the tournament is going to become a whole lot more interesting folks, since a third fighter has come into play, so to speak. The whole of Dagora city has officially become the enemy of our competitors, as within minutes their identities will be revealed and a bounty hunt will begin !

The view switches to a transmission from a running camera man, in the shaky image showing the tall silhouette of Va'Ul, walking tall through the dark passageway, small and large fires everywhere. The area is empty with the exception of a small police crew, next to a body bag surrounded by a typical crime-scene setup, along with yellow tape and high-brightness light pointed at the center of the scene. A thin streak of blood runs from the body bag, along with the pouring rain and drips down the cliff. The cameraman runs closer to the scene as Va'Ul walks through the yellow tape, ignoring the police who are already calling him to stand down. The giant crouches and picks up a half-smoked cigar from the ground.

- Where's Metzger ?

- Drop your weapons now and lay flat on the ground ! NOW !

- I've asked you a question officer. Do you know where Boyd Metzger is ?

The squad prepares to apprehend the intruder, but before the first of them managed to draw his weapon, his body parts were spread all over the place. Va'Ul pulled the axe back in, grazing another guard and beginning to charge him. A few blasts from the pistol left scorch marks on the armour, and the guard was brutally disembowelled with one vicious cut. The places where Va'Ul was hit remained to glow in the darkness for a good 30 seconds, as he headed off to the closest alcove housing a door. As soon as he was within the line of fire, some plasma projectiles started hitting the giant along with everything around him, causing quite serious destruction to the environment and lighting up the scene quite nicely.

Rather then fall flat on the ground and crawl to a safe location, Va'Ul raised the left arm to cover his face and ran toward the small barricade. As he ran, bursts of plasma hit all over his armour, easily melting off more protruding decorations, and burning deep groves in the chest plate.

In the meantime, in the Gawik's Pub, two shady individuals were holding a calm conversation, accompanied by barely noticeable sounds of the battle, effectively muffled by the soundproof coating.

- So I've heard there's some war going on again.

- Yes, the the Karak-Dor orcbreeds are fighting their uprising slave giants again, at the Ghor-Kash fortress.

- Haven't they done that 1 300 000 years ago ?

- Yes, but I've heard they came here for some reason and are doing it again.

- Sometimes I feel like I'm never going to understand the times I came to live in.

Just as the bearded fellow was going to respond wittingly, the bottles all over the place started rattling and a ground shaking cry of bent metal pierced the sound proof barriers, ending with an audible thud on the door. A few bursts from a heavy plasma machine gun were heard through the door, just a moment before a flaming axe pierced the heavy bulkhead, with an impact strong enough to force most of the clientèle to cower beneath their barstools. The axe was engulfed with a hot barrier that was slowly melting and vaporising the metal of the bent-in door. With a decisive pull, the axe was ripped out of the hole, along with a large part of the door that simply shattered to glowing, red hot pieces all over the hallway. In the otherwise devastated hallway, a tall figure appeared out of the smoke and debris, covered with tiny, blinding plasma fires slowly extinguishing all over the armor. Still just a silhouette in the smoke, he sheathed the sword and picked something up from the rubble.

Va'Ul entered the pub holding a blood-covered plasma gun, barrel still smoking and a hand torn off above the writs still squeezing the trigger. He looked at his left gauntlet, two fingers melted off, and placed it upon the bodypart. It started sizzling disturbingly, quickly catching fire from the plasma-heated metal. In the temporary silence, everyone watched as the severed limb turned into charred bones and eventually fell of. Va'Ul cycled the overheated gun, some lights along the barrel came back on.

- Where's Metzger ?

He pulled some handles on the machine gun and the mangled tripod fell to the floor.


- I think making the enemy of the whole city won't change much for this guy. I'm quite sure the people in this pub were the last.

 

The camera pans across the pub, a mix of enraged and terrified stares answers Va'Ul in a way clearer then any words could transcend - they've no fucking idea.

- I've come here for one, unconditional reason - to kill Metzger. I won't stop at killing every living soul on this planet if that's what it takes to...

- Over here you ugly fuck !

Va'Ul turned around just to witness Metzger fire the first rocket at him. Holding a 4-pack of high-agility, guided rockets, Metzger meant business. The very moment the rocket went half-out of the launcher, the cameras went into the super slow-motion mode, slowly showing the back blasts from the following three rockets, and as they leave the 4pack and flew down the tunnel. A shot from the bar showed Va'Ul slowly rising the plasma gun, squeezing the trigger and aiming the weapon as it built up energy. Another flyby slow-mo shot went by Gawik, as he shouted something that passed as a local obscenity, at the same time hitting the panic button. A series of small but powerful explosions began thrusting super-durable shutters along the counter, as Gawik threw himself on the floor.

By the time the shutters were half-way there, Va'Ul's gun started spitting fire and destruction, which the giant directed at the doorway and the celling surrounding it. The first rocket failed to outmaneuver a piece of debris, hitting a large piece of reinforced concrete head-on, going off instantly. The following three rockets passed the unfortunate piece of rock as the explosion had already pierced through, highlighting the steel mesh within it and slowly propagating a cloud of debris. Va'Ul managed to dodge one of the oncoming rockets, which made a drifting roundabout through the pub, split second later the detonator of the third rocket was being sliced off by one precise sword attack. The fourth rocket, having flown through the explosion in the doorway, has failed to acquire a target and simply hit the opposite wall. All the while, Metzger was sitting on his hovercraft, holding the discarted launcher and staring down the hall with a maniacal smile.

The pub was already filled with fire from the two explosions, and the second rocket was regaining speed, flying past nicely arranged lines of bottles and glassware, both of which automatically shattered when passed by. The blast shields on the counter were deployed now, yet clearly stretched to their limits already, forming visible ripples where debris hit. The rocket set course for Va'Ul, who was standing prepared, wielding the sword in both hands. The views cycled a few times between the faces (or masks) of Va'Ul, Metzger and Gawik as the rocket's tracking orb was nearing the strangely shining, slightly vibrating sword.

Hitting it with the very tip of the sword, Va'Ul parried the rocket, forcing it to fly over him as it exploded into the corner of the pub. The blastwave finally blew the giant off his feet, also, from Gawik's perspective, finally breached the curtains. Streaks of fire began to penetrate between the segments, their force shattering the bottles on the shelves, filling the inside with flaming alcohols and building up the pressure. Gawik didn't stand a chance.

Metzger threw down the 4pack and spit on the ground.

- Go finish up boys.

He said while pulling a fresh cigar from a vest pocket. The two abominations rushed down the hallway, disregarding the firestorm that hasn't yet subsided. Metzger lit the cigar, taking a joyful puff and waited for the head of his opponent to be delivered. And waited. His confidence had started to fade by the end of the second puff, shattered completely at the sound of a dying plasma gun spittng its last rounds. Soon after, from the thick smoke emerged a tall figure, in the left hand holding a sword and over the right shoulder brandishing a smoldering skeleton of the plasma cannon. This wasn't good.

Va'Ul was pretty messed up at this point, most of his armor covered in cracks or molten beyond recognition. His movements were clearly impaired, his left leg melted stiff. And he wasn't the one on a hovercraft. Metzger wanted to run, but his path has been blocked by a suddenly descending spaceship. Looking up he saw it was obviously just a lander sent by a greater mothership. An EMP blast fried his vehicle before he managed to turn tail and run, and a few blasts from a webgun nailed him to the cracked sidewalk a step away from his craft. By the time Va'Ul managed to limp to the street level, rogues had already surrounded his target.

- how's that, mr slaver ? Aren't you happy to taste a bit of your own medicine ?
- Incompetent idiots, get me out of here NOW !
- oh, you can be sure we will, for the price that's on your hea...

A bolt of heavy duty plasma EXPLODED the loudmouth rogue, continued burst taking care of two more from the group sent to reclaim Metzger. Va'Ul aimed at his opponent and squeezed down the trigger. The gun puffed up some magic smoke and cought on fire. Metzger was getting loose. It wasn't a split second that Va'Ul discarded the gun and reached for his axe, casting it into the air and whipping it down, with enormous force, at Metzger. While the axe was falling to do its justice, one, then another load of buckshot hit it, causing it to hit mere inches from the target.

The shockwave going through the ground threw Metzger up into the air, visibly hurting him, and landing next to the dropship. Metzger climbed aboard, closed the hatch just before the giant managed to slash it with his sword. A few leaps further and the slaver was at the cockpit, looking at the controls.

- Shit...

Lacking the strength to destroy ships with his weapons alone, Va'Ul could only watch metzger taking his time and learning the autopilot controlls and taking off. Then he noticed the mothership wasn't moving at all, despite the failure of the ground troops. As Metzger was taking off, Va'Ul used his axe to climb the 30ft that separated him from the hovering ship, in the process damaging a few buildings. The ship was indeed uncrewewd, also appeared to be brand new. Rising up to initiate pursuit, Va'Ul left behind the breathtaking scenery of giants winning the battle over orcbreeds, engulfing the whole quadrant of Dagora in flames and decorating the desert with impaled phantoms.

Metzger's ship was set on auto-pilot, in fully-autonomous evasive mode. There was nothing for him to do, or that he could do for that matter. It wasn't mush of a dogfight either, as Va'Ul piloted a greatly superior craft, getting a lock-on within minutes and annihilating the craft with beam-cannons. There was no trace of Metzger left, as if he vaporised in the blast or...

---

A few hours later, Va'Ul taking his stolen ship back to the VFX HQ, on the surface of the planet the thunderstorm had already gone away, along with legions of phantoms or the ghost fortress. Some things however, didn't just disappear in a puff of smoke.

In the rays of the setting sun, the emergency extradition forces had just finished handcuffing the third batch of orcs and sent them off to the ship supposed to take them back to VFX HQ, the expense of the show, of course. Along with the live cargo, the trade ship was also being loaded with leftovers from the show, damaged gear and mementos to be auctioned once the show became famous. Among the people loading the goods, there was one looking strangely familiar, wearing a cautiously tied bandana over his forehead, a stolen VFX crew ID and chewing on a cigar.