Chapter 1292 1292 Broken by Thunder
--- Green ---
Green couldn't pinpoint the moment it happened. The barrier that was (probably) tied to her heartbeat had dropped and she was just a moment away from leaping to the next platform when things changed. If Green was pulled aside and forced to answer, she would say that it was when Burnice stepped onto the next checkpoint that things changed… but truthfully Green didn't know.
There was this wave of pressure that rocked through her body. In that moment, years of instincts honed for combat and scouting kicked into gear. All those times she was sprinting through her parents' obstacle courses. Those little moments in the wild, just before a predator caught you. Something big was just moments away from happening and though Green couldn't tell what it was, she dropped to the ground, kneeling on the platform she was standing on and trying to keep herself as low to the ground as possible while holding onto some mobility.
Through her connection to the winds, Green felt the air itself crack before everything started to shake. In front of her Burnice had jumped forward one platform after the checkpoint just as the platform ahead of her exploded sending her plummeting downwards. She'd return to the checkpoint, soon so it wasn't a big loss for her, but it was still a shock to see.
That was when the rest of the platforms started to explode. Green grit her teeth and prayed that the one she was on would remain intact. Her own previous checkpoint quite a way back. Nearby platforms shattered into small pieces, split in half and generally just started to move. Green wanted to dig into the stone when her own platform started moving.
Behind her, she heard a scream of rage. As she looked back she saw that all of the previous platforms further back were already moving at great speed. Those that remained intact anyway. Nell was sent flying off the platform she'd been standing on, smashing through a second platform along the way as she fell downwards. Burgandy was holding on tightly to her platform but she was quite far back.
Green turned her attention away and tried to focus as the sky turned dark. The white fluffy clouds around them gathering into a grey mass that surrounded the area blocking out the light. Green pressed a bit of mana into her earrings and her eyes lit up with the power of night vision. It wasn't strictly necessary but she didn't want to miss anything. Though she did feel like it was a mistake a few moments later.
A bolt of lightning struck through the checkpoint nearby, leaving it intact but glowing with heat. Green didn't see anything but white for a few moments as her night vision enchantment was forcibly shut down to protect her eyes. Even then, the bright flash of lightning was leaving her blinking tears and black spots from her eyes for a few moments.
When sight eventually returned to her, Green could see that the checkpoint had been targeted. It wasn't destroyed, no, instead it was glowing bright red and radiating such heat that before everything started moving Green would've been able to feel the heat. And thought it was quite a distance away Green could still see some indicators. The soft spattering of rain that had started falling sizzled on contact with the gold, hissing and sputtering every time a drop landed on top of the glowing platform. *That's not going to be fun for Burnice when she gets back.*
No platform was unchanged after the strike. All were either moving or destroyed. In the middle of it all, one platform rose slowly. It was transforming before her eyes into… a white and black checkered platform the gold on the top melting into the beginnings of a trophy. It was only identifiable at this point because of context. It was more of a vaguely gold shaped hill at the moment, but it was getting there.
Burnice appeared on the checkpoint… for just a second before yelping and jumping again. Apparently, the few bits of water that had rained down upon the platform hadn't been enough to cool it just yet. Thought he glow gave that away. Burnice had tried aiming for one of the platforms nearby but she hadn't taken the time to notice they were moving before her jump and missed the targe platform by a large margin, if only it wasn't moving, she'd have been dead on.
It gave Green a very good reason to stay in place though. As much as she wanted to get to climbing up towards the trophy, especially before it got too high up. She might even be able to jump down and grab it before the apex… though that was all just theory. In reality the awkward circular movements of the platforms that remained intact were a bit too hard to track. The problem was their slight upward curve, and their propensity to just… change the speed at which they were moving occasionally.
That wasn't even getting into the ones that just exploded occasionally. It wasn't often anymore. Most of the platforms had been destroyed already, but a few that had stuck around ended up in pieces for no reason that Green could see. It made her even more reluctant to leave her current bastion of safety. Looking down at the cup though… Green couldn't help but make a few crazy plans.
*It's definitely time to really start leveraging my boots. I've got enough jumps to make it all the way to the top… theoretically. I can't use them so rapidly in quick succession so it's not like I can just jet up there… but I shouldn't skimp out on their use either. The problem is these platforms are still moving quite quickly, and occasionally erratically so I don't dare move.
What I also want to know is if they still have challenges on them. Obviously I cleared the one on this platform… but was that before or after everything started to change? If it was before then I've got no further data… but if it was after then the challenges are still up. Unless it broke as the change activated?
I'm fairly certain that I finished it beforehand… but it all happened so fast. My body moved before my brain. Dammit, I trained myself to watch for those sorts of details even when I'm in a panic. Then again, I didn't realise that space was going to shatter and platforms were going to start exploding. I'll just have to wait till things calm down I guess… but what if they don't? What if this hellscape is what I need to make it through to win?*
Green grit her teeth as she glared at the glowing checkpoint. It was only getting further away now. It hadn't settled into a similar orbit to her own platform at all and it was annoyingly, one of only three checkpoints that she could see on the way to the top. One of them was inside the conical 'tower' she needed to climb, and would be easy to get to… but a pain to leave. It was the closest, and its place near the centre made its position relatively fixed.
The next closest was Burnice's glowing platform. It was too hot to land on, and getting further away as things continued to spin making it a… non-ideal target. The final checkpoint was perhaps the easiest to grab… but also the riskiest. It was just a few steps below the finish line, and wouldn't be too hard to grab on her way up…
But that was just the thing. It was near the top, right before the cup, or at least the place Green was sure the cup would end up. There was a convenient hole for the rising cup to settle into after all. That last checkpoint was just so close to the end that wasting any time going for it would hurt, and worse that it was so high up, where the platforms returned to something closer to their previous density.
It meant that all the difficult jumps she might have to make would already be behind her, a straight shot for the end… and the checkpoint would be there. *Dammit. Why couldn't this be easy! Why couldn't Burnice's platform not got struck by lightning!* Green almost laughed as Burnice appeared again and tried to take a moment to line up her jump only for the heat to get to her as she boosted upwards, looking for somewhere to land, anywhere to land. She didn't find one, and fell back down, again.
*I almost feel bad for her. No that's a lie, I DO feel bad for her. That's gotta suck. I mean, I don't feel bad enough for her to wait and help, but man am I glad I'm not in her position. I guess that still leaves me with what to do though. Should I risk it and go for the top? Risk it a little then go for the one in the centre even if it sets me back a little? Perhaps I'll get lucky and Burnice's checkpoint will make its way back around so that it's nearby again by the time I feel safe to move. Things seem to be slowing so I might find out… soon.*
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