Round Table Rival

Flash fiction challenge.

So yet again Chuck has issued out a challenge. This time we have to write a story using the title of a song. Here’s the link: http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/12/19/flash-fiction-challenge-random-song-title-story-challenge/

I have chosen one of my favourites called round table rival by Lindsey Stirling. Here’s another link it is Christmas after all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQJf0TwDjlg

Now this piece of music is very vs battle like or a western fight out. So I wanted to have an action scene, now if your reading this then chances are you also did this challenge or about to. And would like to consider yourself a writer. If you’re like me then we have lots of stories wanting to get on paper but no, one at a time. So I was going to use one of my other stories or other characters, then I thought, screw it lets use all of them.

So you may recognise some characters I have used before, or characters I will use in the future. So consider this a mash up.

Hope you enjoy and please feel free to give criticism.

And Merry Christmas to each and all.

Round table rival

AMIL was sitting at the bar observing the scene, as he always did. Humans fascinated him and his observations always helped his AI adapt to act more like them but today was a strange one.

It wasn’t just the number of people, the weather was below freezing and snow was falling outside, people wanted to be warm and it is a good excuse to go to the inn. It was the people themselves that were here.

By the fire sat a group of men who look like they came from some medieval fantasy realm, one was wearing a green hooded tunic and hung a quiver of arrows on his chair, another Wore chainmail and sat a shield and sword beside him, one hung a great sword and another wore hide and leather with a spear. The spearman in question wasn’t even a human, he had the head of a wolf and think black hair covering his body.

AMIL was never one to judge b appearance, he wasn’t human himself, not even considered a living being to some but it was new and strange to him.

In the other corner a group of teens were doing cocktails. They looked completely ordinary, a boy wearing a black and yellow rain jacket, a thick set guy with a heavy leather coat a girl with a red hoodie and another with a big coat playing on her phone. The red one must have been cold coming in yet it didn’t seem to bother her.

Then there was another group of ten kids no older than 17 sitting at the long table, an exact number of boys to girls all sitting up straight and keeping good posture, unlike any teenager he had observed before.

“Quit staring its rude.” His friend said to him

His friend in question was Commander Andrew. They also made for strange customers considering. AIML was considered a highly advanced machine, hence his name (Artificial, Intelligence, mechanised, life-form) and the Commander was nearly killed in a jet fighter crash and now composed of half machine. Including the left side of his face making him look like some futuristic phantom of the opera.

“I apologies commander” AIML replied

“Could you cut the commander out, it’s Christmas for god’s sake. Call me Andrew already”

AIML pondered on this, an officer telling you to call him by his first name requires a lot of respect.

“Thank you, Andrew” he said slowly.

“You robots have a long way to come, you know that.” His words were becoming slurred after drinking a few beers. “Sorry, that was rude”

“Andrew, I am still trying to process offence, so I was unable to be offended.”

Andrew shake his head and gave a sigh “Find anything useful on your ‘observations’”

“Negative, however I do find some of the patron’s here-“Cooling fans could be heard inside his head as he tried to process a suitable word.

“Odd?” Andrew suggested

“Affirmative”

“Well this inn is actually were a lot of stories come to chew the fat, enjoy a little luxury before we need to go back and deal with our troubles.”

“Stories?”

“Yeah, I guess, that’s how it was described to me anyway, beats the scientists explanation with some different universe crap.”

A girl from the table of ten moved in beside Andrew to order a drink. It wasn’t until she came up that AIML noticed she had thin surgical scars on the back of her neck and hands and that her eyes had a silver circle around the iris. It was almost as if she went under surgical modification.

“Hello, can we get another two pitchers and a beer.” She turned to Andrew and AIML “you guys want anything while I am up”

“Are you not too young to be ordering fermented beverages?” AIML asked

“What my friend means to say is that I would love another beer and he doesn’t drink.”

“O-Ok sorry, do you mind if I ask where you’re from?”

“Year 3196, mainly some random point of space. You?”

“Wow that’s, that’s interesting”

“Your heart rate has increased and you seem to be playing with your hands, are you nervous?” AIML asked.

“you know you could just cut out the analysing bit and just ask” Andrew whispered to back.

“I-I’m sorry we don’t see too many people, or anyone at all where I’m from. We are from 2096, Ruins of old Scotland.”

“Oh project omega? I understand, I’ll let you get back to your friends.”

“Thanks”

She walked back to her table a rested the drinks tray in the middle. She let out a sigh of relief.

“That was harder than I expected” she said

“What’s that Zulu the drinks or talking.” A dark skinned guy asked teasing her.

“Shut up Romeo you dared me to do it.”

He raised his hands up in apology.

“You did good Zulu”

“Thanks Alpha”

“Lonely bunch,” Andrew said in a way of explanation “they live in a vault all their lives while the rest of the world was blown to pieces. Hard to socialise with but their good kids.” He took a pull from his fresh bottle.

“What about the other-“AIML started but was interrupted when six people entered the inn.  “-DANGER DETECTED” he said rising from his stool.

The new group of people consisted of a large giant of a man wielding a hammer, a thin pale man holding a cane, a large thing in heavy plated and mechanised armour, two robots less advanced but armed with two sub machine guns and another creature that AIML recognised, an alien in black armour and a skull mask with bright glowing eyes.

“At last we have found you” the Alien said.

Everyone who was now upstanding, recognising at least one from the new group. Guns were pulled, swords drawn, and bows notched ad ready.

“Really Cretan it’s Christmas, just piss off for once.” Andrew complained

“It’s our Christmas too you know and we all want your heads.” The Alien named Cretan replied. He pointed to Andrew and the armour around his arm detached and formed a large de-material hand cannon.

“Well I doubt you’re on the good guy list. NOW!” Andrew fired his own hand cannon causing Cretan to deploy a yellow holographic shield over his team blocking the blast.

The archer released a drawn arrow hitting home into the giants chest. It staggered and then charged at the knights.

The robots locked onto the group of ten and opened fired onto them. They effortlessly flipped the table and used it as cover.

The mechanised knight honed in on the four doing cocktails and drew an oversized long sword and charged.

“Oh not again” leather jacket moaned. He grasped the table and launched it at the knight, drink and all. It cut it clean in half before it hit him.

The red hoods eyes went aflame as she conjured two fire balls from her hands and started tossing them at the knight. Yellow jackets screamed as his body became an electric pylon and fired lightning at the charging knight.

Meanwhile behind the table, Alpha was shouting orders.

“We have two patrol droids firing on us, bravo you flank left, Romeo right. The rest of us will provide cover fire. Don’t waste time, get behind the bar and make them some cocktails. On my mark.

“MARK!” they acted at once Romeo jumped out to the right while Bravo ran faster than an Olympic sprinter and dove behind the bar.

The giant started singing his hammer left and right as the wolf effortlessly ducked and weaved past him, the wolf ducked under a heavy swing and used his claws to tear into his opponents flesh before rolling out of the way.

The archer back three arrows and let loss onto its chest again. Only staggering the beast.

A man who sat closer to the wolf used a shield to knock the giant off balance and slashed at it with the sword.

“It’s going to take more than that to put me down Alistair!” it roared.

AIML and Andrew fought against Cretan mercilessly. Andrew fired a barrage of lasers from his hand cannon but Cretan caught each one with his shields as he used his superheated blade to slash at AIML.

“Come on you bastard JUST DIE.”

“No you!” a laser blast hit Andrew square in the chest throwing him across the inn and through a wall containing a selection of bottles.

“YOU’LL PAY!” AIML screamed.

Cretan was caught off guard by the sudden eruption of anger and took a metal fist to the face. His mask broke into pieces revealing his sickly white colour. AIML pushed him onto the ground with a kick and drew the rifle secured to his back.

White lights grew brighter as the rifle hummed, charging its shot.

Alistair barley dodged the hammer as the giant swung it down onto the floor, a large shook wave flung him across the room, smacking him onto the wall.

AIML was knocked off Cretan by the blast and into the mechanised knight.

Behind the bar Bravo started putting towels and napkins into bottles. He looked around for a match or a lighter.

The red hooded girl jumped over. Taking cover as bullets flew by in her wake.

“Hey” she said casually “need a light” he opened her hand procuring a flame.

Bravo, without speaking light his Molotov’s and started loping them at the patrol bots.

“Any idea on how they got here?” he asked the girl.

“No idea.” Her eyes and hands went ablaze again as she stood up from her cover and started throwing.

AIML wasted no time to regain his stance. Only narrowly dodging the long sword. He grabbed a submachine gun from his hip and fired onto its glass helmet.

It merely gave a gargled growl before back slapping him off his feet. It was about to finish AIML with a downward slash when the leather jacketed man tackled him.

The wolf now armed with his spear was attacking the pale man. The pale man pivoted on his hips to avoid the spear thrusts, sometimes he used the cane to parry it away and all the while he wore a grin on his face.

“You know we really ought not to meet like this Amin.”

The wolf spun the spear in his hand and over his head before smacking the butt on the pale man’s face.

“You ought not to talk so much” he thrust the spear at him again but the cane met and parried it away.

Now it was the pale man’s turn. He waked the wolf in the face, spun round and jammed it in his gut. The wolf doubled over. He pulled at his cane, unsheathing a thin blade which glowed a blue ghastly colour. He brought the blade down on him but the spear was brought up just in time.

Snap

Now with only two halves of a spear the wolf furiously attacked the man. The butt snapped across his face turning the man around before the spear tip stabbed into the man’s back and out his front. He went down like a sack.

Now the wolf turned his attention to the giant attacking his friends.

Andrew crawled out of the back and behind the bar, resting there for a second he saw the pyromancer and the vault kid.

“Report!”

The kid acted quicker.

“Pale dudes down. Your bot is against the mechanised armour guy. The giants just thrown everyone off using the hammer and the two patrol bots are scrap.”

“At least there’s some progress. Where did Cretan go?”

His answer came quickly as Cretan jumped and landed behind the bar. He pulled his gun and aimed at Bravo. Bravo slapped the gun away before the shot was fired and punched his face.

“HERE HE IS!”

The red hooded pyro launched a ball of flame right into his chest throwing him away burning.

“Remind me never to piss you off” Andrew said

“You’re welcome.” She snapped back at him.

The mechanised knight was launched through the stone walls and outside. Leather jacket walked out of the same hole, hands balled into fists.

“You know, you are some piece of work.”

He planted himself onto his chest and started laying into the glass helmet.

One

Two

Crack

A hairline fracture cracked on the black glass. The creature inside gargled and threw its attacker off. Rolled onto him and pulled back a fist and

The back of its helmet sparked as if a bulb had burst.

The girl who was previously playing with her phone had two fingers on her head and was staring at the knight. It fell with a heavy thump.

“You couldn’t have done that sooner?”

“Hey he didn’t get a chance to hit you and I was dealing with those other robots.”

“Right well thanks.”

“Come on its cold out here and we have work to do.”

The pale man staggered through the bar, the spear still impaling his back.

“Hey, big guy help me out a second.”

The giant grunted and pulled out the spear with a sharp tug.”

“Agh a little gentler next time. But thanks.”

He turned his attention to the burned alien corpse on the ground.

“Now where was I?”

He closed his eyes, upon opening them they glowed the same ghastly colour as his sword. He drew it and it glowed brighter, mist pouring out of it. He grabbed the mist and threw it onto the burned corpse.

It twitched and then coughed and drew in a sharp breath.

“Welcome back to the land of the living my friend.”

“This plan isn’t working is it?”

“I wouldn’t say so no.”

AIML spied his rifle and then the giant hitting the archer knocking him to the ground. The giant was readying his final blow. AIML rolled over and grabbed the gun. Charging it hummed and glowed and then fired.

The bolt of energy hit the giant in the chest throwing him through the wall and outside.

“Thanks” the archer said clutching his side

“Do not mention it” AIML replied cocking another round into his gun.

Andrew jumped over the bar and pointer his gun at Cretan.

“You guys couldn’t even give us Christmas off can you?”

Everyone backed behind him, Alistair and his team pointed their weapons at the pale man. The red hood summoned a ball of fire while he friends stood behind her. The ten teens backed up behind the commander and AIML lined a shot at Cretan.

“Now, I have no doubt that you will try this again, but this is our watering hole. And we don’t appreciate this kind of drama. So piss off. And have a merry Christmas.”