Titan sat in his chair, gazing out into a beautiful sunset from the porch of his cabin. He sighed, resting his head on his fist, feeling the side of his helmet push against his face. Off-topic had been much too quiet lately. Sure, a few small things popped up here and there, but they were few and far between. It bored him out of his mind. In the first month, he had carved and built three more chairs out of different woods. After that, he just sat staring at the horizon. He stood up and stretched, a large yawn escaping his mouth. As he stretched, he accidentally knocked his forearm into one of the poles holding the overhang up. He jumped a little when a portal appeared in front of him with a ripping sound. He looked at it, then looked at his forearm, remembering the system that he had placed within his armor. He scratched the bottom of his helmet, contemplating what the dimensions had to offer to keep him from being bored. He shrugged, and stepped through the portal. [i]After all[/i], he thought, [i]what could go wrong?[/i] -------- Titan hid behind a rock as a huge barrage of blue lasers flew at where he was. [i]Why does this always happen to me?[/i] he thought as a fresh barrage flew past, some chipping bits off of the edge of the rock. He shook his head, then pulled out a thermal detonator. Placing one hand on an odd green rock on his belt, he tossed the detonator over his head and waited. When the explosion happened, he pulled out his trusty EE-3 and popped his head up over the rock as he started a withering barrage of his own, killing the last of the remaining beings. Satisfied that they were all dead, he brushed off his shoulder and walked over to the bodies, looking over the beings that had tried to kill him. They were odd looking, blue skinned with flat faces and white armor. He would've labeled them fish people, but they had hooves. He shrugged, then created another portal and stepped through it. -------- A huge explosion rocked the ground as Titan dove around the corner of a small wooden building, sending shrapnel splintering through the small mob of skeletons chasing him. Titan peeked around the corner in time to see a javelin hurtling towards him. He spun backwards just in time to dodge it, letting it fly past him and embed itself in the next building, sending a small spray of wood chips into the air. He shook his head as he turned the corner again and unloaded a barrage of laser-fire into the skeletons, sending a few of them tumbling to the dry, barren ground in scorched pieces. Just over the skeleton heads he could see the pale face of the necromancer he had stumbled upon, smirking at him in a belief that Titan was trapped. Titan went back behind the corner, a smug look behind his visor. He tapped a few buttons on his forearm and jetted into the air. He waited a moment, savoring the look of shock on the necromancer's face as he carefully placed a burst of fire from his gun between the mage's eyes. He landed as the last of the skeletons fell apart, crushing one of the skulls beneath his boot. His mouth turned up in a small smile of satisfaction at the crunch as well as at the dead necromancer down the road. He shook his head, remembering old times and old fights. He chuckled as he typed in the commands to make a portal back to Off-topic, then grunted as the device gave off a small jolt of electricity through his armor. The portal opened, but it had something odd on the other side. Titan leaned forward, curious at the scene before him. He peered into the portal, trying to make sense of this pitch black world that greeted him. He thought for a little, then shrugged and walked through. The portal snapped closed behind him, shutting him into this dark place. He peered around, then turned on the flashlight on his helmet, trying to find something, anything. He looked down and saw what looked like a oily black fluid with small red streaks throughout. Looking back up to the sky, he realized that he could see those same streaks, albeit fainter. He placed a hand on his belt, reaching again for his green stone. He looked around in surprise. According to the stone, there was a living being all around him. He shook his head, wondering if the rock was broken. As if in answer to his question, a deep, resonating voice echoed through his head. [b][i]Little thing, you have no idea what you behold.[/i][/b] Titan spun, looking for a target, for something to show him where the voice came from. [b][i]Is it afraid? Or is it preparing? Little thing, what do you do?[/i][/b] Titan kept looking for something, shouting back to the voice. "Preparing. Never afraid. And stop calling me little." The voice chuckled, a deep, gravelly rumble that echoed on. [b][i]But you are so little. And now... now you are ours.[/i][/b] Titan spun as figures formed behind him. He blasted them with his rifle, but instead of dying they just dissolved. He spun as another wave rose, unleashing a torrent of flame from his wrist flamethrower. He started as he realized that they looked like warped versions of people and creatures, made of the same oily black and red liquid the ground and sky were made of. He fought on, unleashing most of his arsenal into wave after wave, but they kept coming. He kept fighting for hours, tiring but determined to survive. He stepped forward to confront what seemed like the hundredth wave, grim and determined. Suddenly his feet came out from underneath him, sending him sprawling over the ground. The hordes of figures that had accumulated seized their opening, leaping onto him. He braced for the oncoming attacks, but they just melted onto him. He paused for a moment, then realized what they were doing. He scraped frantically at the liquid as it flowed all across his armor. He stared in fear at the stuff that covered him, and a deep chuckle came from behind him. He turned to see the silhouette of an enormous figure, shaped like a dragon, outlined by the faint glow the sky had taken on. In its center, he could see a faint change in color and shape. The figure chuckled again. [b][i]Fitting, isn't it. You worked so hard to fight becoming a mindless servant to an eldritch horror, and yet you fell to us. You are ours little thing. And no one will remember you.[/i][/b] Titan stopped struggling, standing very still, his fear replaced with a white hot rage. He clenched his fists and seemed to swell, and his neck twitched to the side and back. He growled in a very different voice. "You picked a fight with the wrong guy mister. And now you get to meet me." The figure flinched backwards slightly at the shift in voice. [b][i]What is this trickery? Either way, you still belong to us.[/i][/b] Titan chuckled. "Oh no, I think it's the other way." Suddenly, Titan fell to his knees, swelling rapidly. The liquid flew off of him, splattering into the distance. Titan stopped growing suddenly, having swelled to a size almost as large as the figure. A dragon now stood in his place, enormous and angry. The dragon lunged at the figure, sending a large tongue of fire spinning towards it. The figure reared back at the flames, and then fell backwards when the dragon slammed into it. Ripping and tearing, the dragon shredded through the protective layer over the odd part on the figure's chest. The figure snapped back, batting the dragon away with its massive tail as it quickly got to its feet. The two eyed each other for what seemed like an eternity, until the dragon lunged again. As the figure moved to counter, the dragon shrank back into Titan, dodging the blow. Titan slammed his fist into the odd part of the creature's chest, smashing it to a pulp. The figure reared back before collapsing into a heap. Titan gave a tired smile, adrenaline still rushing from the fight. He looked down at his fist and tried to shake the liquid off of it, then started frantically scratching at it as it spread up his arm. As it enveloped him, he heard the voice of the figure echo through his head. [b][i]We were wrong. You are not ours. You are us.[/i][/b] -------- The Legion opened their eyes. Blinked once, twice, three times. They sat up, feeling the ground beneath them, the armor around them and within them. Standing up, they tested each muscle methodically. They looked over their new form, the armor matching almost perfectly with their coating, which dripped off of them, pooling around them. Long webways of sinuous muscles made of the black and red liquid crossed over it, mostly on the host's left side, although some strands crossed to the right side. They chuckled, the sounds echoing through the empty dimension. They looked at the machine on their arm, remembering how to work the device they could feel pulsing throughout their armor. Typing in the needed command, they smiled widely behind the visor. An old world with new opportunities... and new things to see. One name remained at the forefront of their mind, holding their attention and focusing their anger as they stepped through the portal. [i][b]Polycephalon[/b][/i] [spoiler]also, bonus points to anyone who can guess what inspired the Legion's ability to create the warped copies of people[/spoiler]