Tag Archives: Neil Sloan

Arc 5.6: Enter the Larry

Enter the Larry: Part 21

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A thud came from over the radio, followed by the sound of rushing wind.

Through the haze of the explosions’ smoke, the elemental’s tentacles swung upward. They’d hit something in the air. Larry had a good guess as to what.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Alexis’ said, “Give me a second.”

He gasped for breath, then seemed to catch it. A series of popping noises followed, and the earth elemental turned toward the jungle, standing and flailing its arms at something it couldn’t seem to catch.

Alexis said, “Your companions, they can escape now!” A strong wind blew in the background.

He had a point. Larry turned back toward the hangar. This wasn’t a good place for them to be. They didn’t have armor. They shouldn’t be in the middle of all this, and a hangar wasn’t the place to hide. The creature could crush it without thinking. Continue reading Enter the Larry: Part 21 →

Arc 5.6: Enter the Larry

Enter the Larry: Part 19

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Armory met them in front of the hangar. He had Lim and Cheryl with him, each one guarded by a security guard in armor.

More armored security guards stood around Armory, all of them in silver except for a couple whose armor had referee stripes on the top. Larry wondered what it would be like to be those guys—dealing with a real security problem while dressed to manage a game.

Standing behind all of them, Neil Sloan stood just to the side of the hangar. Larry mentally marked the spot, and checked his helmet’s panoramic vision of his surroundings. The earth elemental had followed him and stood behind him on the runway. It wasn’t close, but it was close enough to strike if it came to that.

So basically Armory had taken hostages to encourage his good behavior—except he didn’t realize that all Larry had to do to even the odds was wait. He had six minutes before the Rocket showed up. He could figure out a way to kill six minutes. Continue reading Enter the Larry: Part 19 →

Arc 5.6: Enter the Larry

Enter the Larry: Part 17

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Before he could move out of the way, it pummeled the armor again.

Warning messages rolled across the bottom of the HUD while the armor slid down the runway. Larry decided he didn’t want to get hit like that again—not when he knew Armory and half of Metafight Games’ security team was on its way. He set the suit to stand upright and jump backwards, further down the runway.

It did, moving too quickly for the elemental to hit.

The creature’s punch plowed into the tarmac, and lost its balance. That at least was the same as last time. It was strong and fast, but not light on its feet. Continue reading Enter the Larry: Part 17 →

Arc 5.6: Enter the Larry

Enter the Larry: Part 16

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Larry zoomed in on Lim’s feet, and realized why Lim and Cheryl hadn’t run away. Their feet were surrounded by the concrete.

He supposed that qualified as earth somehow. Could be elementals weren’t fussy about the difference. He shook his head. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Lim and Cheryl were hostages until he took Sloan down.

He was about to tell Alexis more when a deep voice from behind them said, “Rhino. Come down to the hangar, and bring your friend.”

Larry checked the helmet screen. The creature behind him appeared to be made of concrete, and vaguely human-shaped.

As he watched, it sank into the sidewalk next to the hangar, leaving an odd indentation that reminded him of a face. Continue reading Enter the Larry: Part 16 →

Arc 5.6: Enter the Larry

Enter the Larry: Part 15

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The beauty of the panoramic view in his helmet was that he didn’t have to turn around to check—just let his eyes dart to the edges of the screen. He didn’t see anyone, and decided not to wait. Having your enemies too far behind you to see them was a good thing.

At the moment he stepped inside the hall, he did see them—a security guy followed by one of the black and white striped referees.

He’d suspected that the ref models were more than just protection, and hoped that Armory hadn’t put as much work into them as he had in his own suit. Otherwise this might be a short fight.

He took a few steps down the hall, Alexis close behind him.

“Turn!” Alexis said, and whipped around, assisted by the jets built into his armor’s arms and legs. The Frog suit didn’t let Larry turn as quickly, but he came around as the person in security armor stepped through the door.

Each of Alexis armor’s arms made popping noises, and the security armor fell backward into the ref. Larry hit them both with the black goo, covering them and sticking them to the armor, and the doorway. Continue reading Enter the Larry: Part 15 →