Post by Mr. C on Sept 15, 2011 18:15:45 GMT -5
With an army that's crumbling around him, with Gods that care not to fight but to politic their way to an answer, Cross has a tall order before him. At the Gods' pleading, Brett Cross has brought an army of nine to the upper realm of Asgaard, the last realm left standing during the All-War known as Ragnarok. He, armed with the mythical blade Brandrwulf, has slowly begun to lose his grip on both himself and his army, though.
Fed by lies from Loki who has disguised himself as the dragon-rider Rika, Cross has lost his way and has veiled himself from the others, taking to heart his title as The God of Midgaard and thinking his own success above the lives of those around him. He sees this war as being solved only by his might and the magic of the blade at his hand, and so far Baz and Viggo have fallen because of it. But one man knows true of Loki's treachery, as Garrik has a sneaking suspicion about who Rika really is...
[/color]Fed by lies from Loki who has disguised himself as the dragon-rider Rika, Cross has lost his way and has veiled himself from the others, taking to heart his title as The God of Midgaard and thinking his own success above the lives of those around him. He sees this war as being solved only by his might and the magic of the blade at his hand, and so far Baz and Viggo have fallen because of it. But one man knows true of Loki's treachery, as Garrik has a sneaking suspicion about who Rika really is...
The Tale of Loki: Part I
Disguises
[/color]Disguises
*
With my family dead, I disguised myself with magics. The Aesir had come to slaughter the Jotun in another foolish war and with Odin at the head, the victory was had with ease. I was young, I was a runt, I was never going to be given a chance in the life I was set to live in. So I made myself one of them, I made myself not an impish beast, but a man. And with my father, my mother, my brothers, my family gutted and bleeding out around me, the Gods surveyed the damage. I cried out to make sure I was found, and Odin pulled me up from among the corpses. A sad, helpless child was what I became, and I needed to be saved from these brutes. In my disguise, I became Loki, adopted son of Odin the All-Father and half-brother of the Asgaardian prince, the mighty Thor. Never did they know I was not one of them, never will they. I thought I could never hate them, for they gave me a chance at life.
But, disguises are only skin deep. You cannot change the inside, you cannot change who you are, no matter how hard you try. Odin dresses himself in kingly clothes, but he is a fool. With magics, I am a knight of the upper-realms, but inside I am still very much a beast. Brett Cross - he thinks himself a God, when he is nothing more than a tool for my revenge.
*
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"Wies! Have you a minute?"
Garrik trotted over to Wies, who had been hard at work doing all he could to keep the maimed and battered alive inside the ramparts of Asgaard. Wies was dressed in leathers and green cloth, with a bald head and a scraggly greying beard - of all of them, he looked the least like a warrior. He was old and frail, but he had stayed alive through this apocalypse through intellect and desire. He was a brilliant man, not just in terms of sorcery but in all aspects of his life. With a pale blue aura emanating from his outstretched palm over the body of a soldier whose throat was torn, Wies turned to look up at the archer.
He smiled at Garrik, a toothless smile where his old wrinkled face bunched at the corners of his eyes. Even in all of this carnage, he found something that brought him joy - even if it wasn't readily obvious to everyone else. The skin at the soldiers throat began to stretch and grow, until finally like two hands clasping together, the wound closed tight without any evidence of scarring. Amazed, the soldier sat up startled, clutching at his throat in disbelief. Garrik too, who watched the entire scene unfold could not believe what was going on before him, but Wies just kept his smile on.
"I have not many left, young bowman, but I can spare one for you."
Garrik nodded, and motioned for Wies to follow him, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was about that could hear what he had to said. When they were out of earshot, Garrik told the story of what he'd seen from the rooftops, what he'd noticed. He explained how he notices subtleties that others don't, how he tracks patterns and changes, and how Rika is not the same woman who had come with Cross on the back of Nidhogg from Nifleheim. He also explained he did not know where Rika flew off to as the others fought this war, and ended it by telling him how he is set to go on a mission to find the enemy's entrance portal with her, and he fears he may not make it back.
"I think Rika may be just another piece of Loki's deceptions, Wies. I do not trust her, and I come to you hoping you would know of a way to solve this mystery."
Pulling at his beard, Wies' brow furrowed and he looked down at the bloodstained ground. He hummed loudly in thought when Garrik's story had ended, and he stared at the red soil for a long while. But after a few moments, he looked back up to Garrik again and that gummy grin was painted back on.
"Why of course there is a way, Garrik. There is always a way. Come, if I can help you reveal the general, the battle is won, yes?"
Then without waiting for a response, Wies winked at Garrik and headed off, leaving the young bowman to follow. For an old man, Wies walked fast and many times Garrik had to quicken his pace to keep up. They meandered through the rows of gilded buildings, all of them crumbling and deserted, until Wies stopped short at the edge of one and turned to place a bony, shaky finger to Garrik's lips.
"Shhh, bowman. I suspected just as much as you. But in war, you cannot reveal all from the beginning. If you charge in blind, without thinking, you die. The great warrior, he fights not with sword, but with heart, and with mind. Now, I show you the answer. I cannot best Loki, I am far too old. And you cannot best him either. Only Brandrwulf can. All of us, we were brought here to die. But you, you must help Cross to the answer before you fall. And I will show you what the answer is. Goodbye, bowman. Stay here, stay quiet."
Then with that said, Wies spun around the corner with speed no one could have expected. Garrik tried to reach out from him, to pull him back in and explain to him they should talk to Cross together, to explain to him he didn't have to die, that none of them had to, but the old man's mind was made up. In the clearing, Rika stood with the dragon Nidhogg, preparing him for the ride she was about to set out on. But, as the old mage spun around the corner, he yelled out an incantation that sent a shockwave resonating from his extended finger towards Rika. Before she could even turn, her face was morphing and transforming.
No longer was there the petite womanly features of the Midgaardian dragon rider. The face had been morphed from that in to a chiseled yet chaotic mesh of both Jotun and human - with molted, icey blue flesh and piercing green eyes. Patches of long black hair clung to the skull of the beast in random patterns. His figure went from womanly curves to being meek and streamlined. His clothing was tattered, disastrous. In all, the demon looked pitiful, as if the magic of his guise as Loki had been going on for too long, the disguise seeping in to his actual persona. No longer was he a beast in human's clothing - he was a mixture of both and no better off for it. He was disgusting, but at the same time lamentable. Not the womanly Rika, nor the shining Asgaardian Loki - he was some lesser being, a brute, a beast, a bastard.
And Garrik looked on throughout the entire scene, poking his head from around the corner but out of view of Loki. He could see all, but Loki could not have known Garrik was watching. Wies yanked a knife from the belt at his side as he ran forward, but as soon as Loki found out what had occured he yelled out in a booming, panicked cry. His voice was a mixture of the deep, gutteral Jotun and the conniving, underhanded Loki. Then, before Wies could advance a step further, the dragon Nidhogg stood and crushed the frail old man with the flick of his tail. With his torso folding over in a sickeningly unnatural way, Wies smashed in to the far wall and crumpled down in to a heap. Nidhogg padded over and pressed a paw on to the mage's broken body as Loki, still in his demented, convoluted form marched over. Practically spitting out his words, he berated Wies.
"You fool! You will ruin everything! Do you not know what you're destroying for me?! All you've done now is bring about your fate sooner than before, you stupid old man! Nidhogg, dispose of him. I need to go tell Garrik we're ready, this frail old fool will not ruin my plan."
Turning, still seething, Loki's flesh began to grow back in, back to his old form as Rika. Checking over himself to make sure all was in order, he let out a loud sigh and went to walk off, but as he did, Wies began to laugh. At first, his laughter was merely him choking up blood, but as the blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, following all of his wrinkles, the laugh became hearty and full. And right before Nidhogg snapped its jaws shut around the upper half of the old mage, he had only one thing to say to death.
"No Loki, you are the fool. Your disguise does not change who you are. Remember this."
*
For his entire life, Brett Cross has lived in disguise. He has never been the man he truly is, never shown the talent he truly has. He's held titles, he's won matches, and he's done better than most - but not better than all. That is where the disguise hangs. Cross for his whole career has been a second tier talent.
The "almost" guy and not the "always" guy. He's been the stepping stone for people rising to the top, the one who falls to give others a big win. He at one time only had the second longest Pure Title reign, soon to fall to an even lower ranking. The handful of times the EUW has done massive elimination matches, for example the Asylum vs. EUW Tag-Match, Brett Cross was the second to last remaining, in Brawl for It All, Brett Cross was close as well. Always the best of all, save for one. When last he tried for the World Title, he was not pinned, but he did not win. Coming in second again. It's been a mask and stigma branded to him for his entire time in the EUW - and it took a severe swing in mindset for him to throw it aside.
At Scars N Stripes, the entire notion of Brett Cross being the second best was thrown clear out the window. He beat Danny Tenfold, the ever-present thorn in his side both handedly and once and for all. But not only did he demolish Danny Tenfold to retain the Lionheart Title, he beat every other competitor that stood before him, becoming the winner of the first ever EUW Royal Rumble and getting a shot at the World Title at the premiere PPV Prestige. And all he had to do to get there was stop pandering to the fans, stop playing the good guy, stop being the locker room hero and just start kicking some ass.
All he had to do to no longer live as a failure was take hold of his future. To stop the politics and start the fighting. His whole career has been a struggle, his entire life a warzone. But when he took it for what it was, and took control of it, he owned it. He became the man he always could be. He went from being second best, to the EUW's greatest success. No longer is Brett Cross a simple warrior, top-tier but not tip-top. He's now seen for what he truly is - the best, the king.
But the opposite? Why, that would be Maynard Hetfield. A man who too, has tried to throw off the guise he wields. With one small difference - he thinks himself a great warrior, when he is not but a failure. He is trying to lead a new life, trying to change both name and identity, but it changes not who he is on the outside.
His paranoia stems from nothing more than a failing idea of self-worth. Whether he is Mr. Luck or Maynard Hetfield, the name and the vision matter not. He is still a loser. He's a one time tag-team champion, that is all he has to show for his career in EUW. He has not been here long, and compared to Cross he's a veritable new comer. There is perhaps two competitors in the whole of EUW that have been in the ring longer than he, and one of them was side-lined quite recently, and the other just came out of retirement.
Hetfield is a character who fights the big dogs to try and prove his worth. He picks on those bigger than him to make himself seem more powerful, more accomplished, but it does nothing. In reality, if you pay attention to what transpires week in and week out, he loses. He loses hard against those that are far better than him. He plays with the big kids, but he can't keep up. He's exactly where Cross was before, and exactly where Cross climbed out of.
Hetfield struggles to prove himself, he tries his best to do all he can to show how tough he is - but in honest, does not prove a damn thing. While Hetfield loses week in and week out against has beens, Cross has been destroying the competition with reckless abandon for months.
See, what it comes down to is simple. You are what is on the inside, not the outside. You can live the life you wish to for a while, but it does not change who you are. And in the end? It will all be revealed. Cross has lived his whole life under the foolish distinction of being second best - but his true colors began to shine and he rose above it. Maynard Hetfield lives his life trying to show people he is better than he really is - and his true colors shine each and every week as he's laid out for the count-out. This week, Brett Cross has no worries, no fears, no apprehension.
Facing a "madman" such as Hetfield means nothing. Beccause Cross can see right through the disguise. He's just a chump trying to fight outside of his league. And who better than The King of EUW to show him his place.
[/color]For his entire life, Brett Cross has lived in disguise. He has never been the man he truly is, never shown the talent he truly has. He's held titles, he's won matches, and he's done better than most - but not better than all. That is where the disguise hangs. Cross for his whole career has been a second tier talent.
The "almost" guy and not the "always" guy. He's been the stepping stone for people rising to the top, the one who falls to give others a big win. He at one time only had the second longest Pure Title reign, soon to fall to an even lower ranking. The handful of times the EUW has done massive elimination matches, for example the Asylum vs. EUW Tag-Match, Brett Cross was the second to last remaining, in Brawl for It All, Brett Cross was close as well. Always the best of all, save for one. When last he tried for the World Title, he was not pinned, but he did not win. Coming in second again. It's been a mask and stigma branded to him for his entire time in the EUW - and it took a severe swing in mindset for him to throw it aside.
At Scars N Stripes, the entire notion of Brett Cross being the second best was thrown clear out the window. He beat Danny Tenfold, the ever-present thorn in his side both handedly and once and for all. But not only did he demolish Danny Tenfold to retain the Lionheart Title, he beat every other competitor that stood before him, becoming the winner of the first ever EUW Royal Rumble and getting a shot at the World Title at the premiere PPV Prestige. And all he had to do to get there was stop pandering to the fans, stop playing the good guy, stop being the locker room hero and just start kicking some ass.
All he had to do to no longer live as a failure was take hold of his future. To stop the politics and start the fighting. His whole career has been a struggle, his entire life a warzone. But when he took it for what it was, and took control of it, he owned it. He became the man he always could be. He went from being second best, to the EUW's greatest success. No longer is Brett Cross a simple warrior, top-tier but not tip-top. He's now seen for what he truly is - the best, the king.
But the opposite? Why, that would be Maynard Hetfield. A man who too, has tried to throw off the guise he wields. With one small difference - he thinks himself a great warrior, when he is not but a failure. He is trying to lead a new life, trying to change both name and identity, but it changes not who he is on the outside.
His paranoia stems from nothing more than a failing idea of self-worth. Whether he is Mr. Luck or Maynard Hetfield, the name and the vision matter not. He is still a loser. He's a one time tag-team champion, that is all he has to show for his career in EUW. He has not been here long, and compared to Cross he's a veritable new comer. There is perhaps two competitors in the whole of EUW that have been in the ring longer than he, and one of them was side-lined quite recently, and the other just came out of retirement.
Hetfield is a character who fights the big dogs to try and prove his worth. He picks on those bigger than him to make himself seem more powerful, more accomplished, but it does nothing. In reality, if you pay attention to what transpires week in and week out, he loses. He loses hard against those that are far better than him. He plays with the big kids, but he can't keep up. He's exactly where Cross was before, and exactly where Cross climbed out of.
Hetfield struggles to prove himself, he tries his best to do all he can to show how tough he is - but in honest, does not prove a damn thing. While Hetfield loses week in and week out against has beens, Cross has been destroying the competition with reckless abandon for months.
See, what it comes down to is simple. You are what is on the inside, not the outside. You can live the life you wish to for a while, but it does not change who you are. And in the end? It will all be revealed. Cross has lived his whole life under the foolish distinction of being second best - but his true colors began to shine and he rose above it. Maynard Hetfield lives his life trying to show people he is better than he really is - and his true colors shine each and every week as he's laid out for the count-out. This week, Brett Cross has no worries, no fears, no apprehension.
Facing a "madman" such as Hetfield means nothing. Beccause Cross can see right through the disguise. He's just a chump trying to fight outside of his league. And who better than The King of EUW to show him his place.