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Ashers to Ashers, Dust to Dust (Gee I wonder who this is)
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Post by Asher on Jan 5, 2017 6:20:22 GMT
It really wasn't much of a surprise when Isaac snaked himself out from underneath his 'opponent' the second that she was imbalanced. In a quick movement, Kinkakumon had recollected her bat, and rose to her feet. Holding the weapon up, the spirit user seemed intent on using it the second that Isaac got too close, but neither found themselves able to continue the fight, considering their guests had finally arrived.
Poor weird rock monsters. They looked more like slaves, than anything else. And, really, that was probably what they were. How did one acquire that many of them, though?
"J--ump?" This sounded so stupid! What what Isaac even thinking? Regardless, Asher did as he was told. Because, well, the repercussions sounded far less enjoyable.
Not that jumping like this was enjoyable at all, either. And, they totally looked like dancers. Kinkakumon appreciated this, while Asher definitely did not. The dilemma of having someone with sway over emotions in his head. We get it, Kinkakumon. You like weird, wispy, blue guys. Asher, on the other hand, most certainly does not. Stop planting thoughts!
Looking at the options, now that they had some, the golden oni wasn't entirely sure what seemed like a good idea. But, there really wasn't time for debate. "Left?" Not that there was much time to debate, so he already started moving in the direction.
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Jan 5, 2017 6:36:32 GMT
"Got it," Isaac said, wheeling around to fire a Cross Slash in the direction of the incoming Gotsumon. They went flying away, a few Vemmon scrambling over their bodies to fire small balls of plasma in the direction of the fleeing duo. However, Vemmon were quite terrible shots, and Asher and Isaac made a pretty fast duo. Soon they were little more than dots on the horizon, leaving the Vemmon in the dust as they radioed for backup.
The left hallway seemed to lead to some sort of cafeteria area. Vemmon were pleasantly standing on conveyor belts, holding out trays as they went under a giant, pistonlike machine. Each one to go under the piston had their tray bathed in a grey nutrient slop, which they joyfully started slurping up through their mouthpieces. It was quite gross. A few floating chairs and tables littered the room, Vemmon at each sitting down for meals and softly beeping at one another. All of them looked identical, but Asher would realize none of them were the ones from earlier. After all, they weren't being shot at!
Well, most of the Vemmon weren't, at least. A familiar looking Vemmon with a notepad swiveled in its chair upon noticing Asher. It immediately hopped up to its feet, waving with both hands to try and usher Asher over. It even offered its plate of nutrient slop! How . . . sweet?
Isaac shot Asher a quizzical look as he glanced between Vemmon and spirit user. "Friend of yours?" he asked. "Sure hope my 'friend' doesn't show up here. 'Cause let me tell you, his stun baton hurt." Regardless of how any party felt about the aliens, however, it was clear these ones were either off duty or just ignorant about the alert going out. Why fight when they could eat instead?
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Post by Asher on Jan 5, 2017 6:57:53 GMT
Jeez, Digimon were creepily persistent. Why did Asher think it was a good idea to go exploring, again? This was just stupid! But, it wasn't like it was plausible to go back in time. And, that wouldn't mean that Isaac wouldn't be trapped. Ugh. People were hassles, too! He knew there was a reason why he always stayed in his bedroom!
But, it seemed that the teen's choice led them to a cafeteria. Weird. Eyes shifted around, noticing that nobody seemed to be caring about what was going on. "Well, okay then," he mumbled to himself, before catching sight of waving arms. Oh!
Walking over, the spirit user looked at the offered, uh, whatever-that-was, flashing a smile and shaking his head. "No thanks! I'm really not hungry." And, even if he was? He really didn't want to eat that.
Eyes shifted to Isaac, shrugging. "Well, maybe if you weren't aggressive, you'd have gotten nicer friends," he teased, checking to make sure that their pursuers hadn't caught up yet. "I don't really know where we're going from here, though. I don't want any proof about the stun baton hurting." Darn it! He really wanted to make a joke about it only being okay if the demonstration was on the Yasyamon, but that wasn't even in his heart right now.
Stupid sentimental discussions.
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Jan 5, 2017 7:04:34 GMT
The Vemmon shrugged, shooting Asher a look that suggested 'your loss!' It then proceeded to greedily slurp up the plate of nutrient slop, Isaac recoiling at Vemmon really not leaving anything to the imagination. "Maybe if they didn't treat me like a damn cow, I would've been less aggressive," Isaac responded. "Speaking of, goddamn, I am glad that testing stopped for a bit. A straight day of that's so exhausting, I think even my human form got a workout!" If humans could get banged up by sufficiently bad spirit injuries, who was to say they couldn't get buff from sufficiently intense spirit exercises, hm?
Nevertheless, Isaac stopped down to look at the little Vemmon. "There was a mixup. We really aren't supposed to be here," he explained, the Vemmon tilting its head as it stared at him. "Do you know how we could get out of here? Like, is there a door or something? A key? A window not too high off the ground?"
The Vemmon merely kept staring at Isaac, not even dignifying him with a response before turning back to its plate. Isaac sighed in response, turning back to Asher. "You're the one he likes. Do you think he'd answer you? 'Cause I gotta admit, I'm at a loss for what else we can do here." Going back into the hallways would also bring them back to the active party of aliens trying to hunt them down. Maybe they wouldn't think to check the cafeteria, but surely they'd still be hot on the duo's heels. "I do not want to go back to my old plan of slamming into walls, okay? That shit is not happening."
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Post by Asher on Jan 5, 2017 7:11:46 GMT
"Did you try threatening to punch them in the face?" Asher suggested, lightly, "I mean, it worked for me." Knowing Isaac, he had taken it a step further and legitimately hit someone. But, whatever. One of them had to deal with ridiculous training, while the other got to read a notepad. Who had really won out of that?
But, apparently, Vemmon wasn't interested in talking to Isaac. Yep, it totally had to be because Isaac didn't threaten his friends. And, because as far as everyone here was concerned, the younger of the two happened to be named Piss Off. Asher was a far more respectable name! "Oh, come on. You're saying you weren't having fun when you bounced off the walls? I thought you were having a blast."
Leaning toward the strange creature, while ignoring how absolutely disgusting it was while eating, the spirit user hummed, "you're really smart, right?" Of course, this one had a notebook! It had to mean it was smart! "You wouldn't happen to know where the exit is, would you?"
Surely, it couldn't be that easy, right?
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Jan 6, 2017 4:48:04 GMT
Vemmon nodded eagerly, reaching down to his wrist and punching in a simple keycode. The numbers would be unreadable to Asher and Isaac, on account of being glyphs, but if peeked at their positions would correspond to 7-4-5-1 on a human phone. After hitting the code the device beeped pleasantly, bathing the ground below Vemmon in a soothing green light. He took this green light and aimed it at a nearby wall, revealing it to be a simple projection of a map.
The monolith's structure was actually fairly simple, if one could wrap their head around the sheer amount of overlaying passages and hallways. At the base of the monolith was a large room with jet engines at its bottommost layer, presumably for taking the monolith back into space. At the top of the monolith was the sigil that Asher was sucked into, present on each of the monolith's four facets and labeled with an outward arrow. Vemmon made a point of poking at this area, as if showing Asher that was where the exit was. Between the engine room and the egress were a series of crew rooms, including the cafeteria that the group was currently occupying, an armory to its left, a training facility to its right, a spa above it, and a market below it. The final room of substance was at the very tip of the obelisk, just above the egress. It was marked with a crown, and Vemmon glanced at it warily.
Beyond that, the rest of the obelisk was basically a labyrinth of hallways. Some paths bypassed rooms entirely, while others painstakingly went through every single room. Some twisted around each other like spiral staircases. Some seemed to lead to total dead ends. Between these hallways, various test chambers seemed to materialize in and out of existence. They were more like pockets of space than actual physical rooms, and any time Isaac got a good look at one it vanished shortly thereafter.
"Hey, thanks a lo-" Suddenly, klaxons. "Aw, I didn't even do anything that time!" Isaac protested, quickly turning to Asher. "Alright, we gotta move fast. Looks like there's exits all over the place, too. Its almost like we're in the center of the monolith. Where are we going?" Of course, it wasn't like speed was the group's only concern here. Whether it was tables lovingly piled with plates of nutrient slop, a table full of rowdy looking Gotsumon, or a merry catering droid drifting around the room, there were all sorts of potential distractions to have fun with. Would Asher pick some toys to play with, or was a clean escape his main concern?
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Post by Asher on Jan 6, 2017 6:15:31 GMT
Asher watched the creature, surprised that, yes, asking was actually that simple. What the heck? This world really was a mess. Or Vemmon just weren't particularly bright. Really, the teen was starting to think it was a combination. Did anything in the Digital World make sense?
Maybe he'd have to ask about that later. Mostly because they couldn't stay still much longer!
"I'm going to get us really lost if we follow my instructions," the teen mumbled, trying to figure out what to do. He had a bad enough time reading maps when they were simple! Either way, Asher flashed a smile at the helpful digimon-thing, "thank you! You've helped a ton!" After all, it was rude to not sound grateful for the assistance. And, at least they had some idea of the layout of this place, now!
Too new to this to really think about distractions, the spirit user shrugged. Kinkakumon wasn't giving any input, at all! "Aren't you supposed to be used to things like this? You tell me."
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Jan 6, 2017 6:26:18 GMT
"Yeah, I guess. I was busy looking for distractions, honestly." The table full of nutrient slop was looking especially tempting, a phrase Isaac never considered he'd say in his life. It may not have been great for eating, but it certainly was great for slinging around. If he could just subtly edge his way over to the table, maybe he could get this party started. "But if you ask me, up's the way to go. I mean, we need to make our way upwards one way or another, right? And if we go straight up we'll hit the . . . spa? Seriously? This place is weird. But spa sounds way better than more test chambers to me."
The whole craft was slanted upwards, other than one ramp leading downwards, but one upward slope seemed more steep than the others. Isaac motioned towards that one with his head, hoping Kinkakumon could take the lead so he could keep tabs on the mob trailing them. "Go on ahead. Just tweaking a few things," he muttered, edging closely to the table. Once he had a plate of food in hand, he scanned the area to get a sense of what his ideal targets were.
Those grumpy Gotsumon looked perfect. He sneaked a plate over to the hallway and waited for Snatchmon and his pack to arrive.
As soon as the klaxons intensified and the telltale hum of a stun baton crackled through the air, Isaac snapped into action. He flung the plate full of slop at the Gotsumon, calling at the top of his lungs "Food fight!" Once that was done Isaac ducked into the hall, not even needing to see the final result. The wet sloshing sound of slop hitting the walls, the impassioned war cries of the Gotsumon, and Snatchmon's confused warbling were more than enough confirmation that he had made a successful plan.
"So. Still prefer diagnostics to hanging out with me?" Isaac asked, teasing.
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Post by Asher on Jan 6, 2017 6:47:28 GMT
"Distractions?" Of course that was Isaac's only focus. Asher should have known. At least some sort of input was given, but to the spa? At least Asher wasn't the only one finding the layout of this place to be more than a little strange. But, hey, at least it was a spa and not 'pit of lions' or something.
Starting toward the chosen direction, the spirit user paused, mumbling, "just don't take long." Seriously? Why was Isaac so focused on-- oh God, was he about to start a food fi-- Yep. Yep, he was. Okay, Kinkakumon didn't want to be associated with this at all, and was very glad to be making distance from the cafeteria now.
Once Isaac had caught up to him, the teen mulled over what he wanted to answer with. "Nah. You're taking me to a spa now. That's way better than diagnostics," he teased back. "And, I mean, it looked like you were having so much fun with those tests earlier! You must hate me for prying you away from them."
Then again, at this point, Asher couldn't honestly say that he wanted to make Isaac hate him. It kind of sucked! The older teen wasn't just going to make friends that easily, right? Life couldn't work that way. Not that it would matter, if neither of them could successfully escape this place.
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Jan 6, 2017 6:57:27 GMT
"I could still give you an example of what you're missing out on, if you want," Isaac teased back. "Who needs fancy conveyor belt floors and gravity beams? The threat of a good thwacking, and I bet I can get you running twice as fast as I ever could." Did he even still have the heart to chase Asher down, though? Maybe for some proper training later, but any urge of violence or malice he may have had for the older teen was quickly fading.
Blue, circuit-lined walls quickly gave way to a blinding white room, so shiny and chrome that it was forcing Isaac to squint. Surely enough, they had reached the spa. Vemmon were drifting around in a great yellow pool, occasionally bobbing beneath the surface or splashing each other if they were feeling cheeky. Whatever they were bathing in didn't smell much like water, however. In fact, the smell was strong enough that Isaac could practically feel his entire face scrunching up. It wasn't quite smelly, moreso just overpowering. Hesitantly, Isaac edged his way over to one of the pools and dipped his sword in.
It sizzled audibly, Isaac jumping back a bit in surprise as he quickly pulled the blade out. The wood had been burned, and in some parts almost looked eaten away. "Of course they take baths in acid," Isaac hissed. "Why did I expect anything different? I know they make it look really satisfying, but no jumping in, okay?"
Or at least, that was Isaac's assessment of one pool. The one adjacent to the acid bath was a bright, almost cherry colored red. One behind it was a soothing minty green. There was another that was deep blue, and another still that was inky black. Pools of every color seemed to be lining the spa room, and Isaac had no clue as to what their usage and function was. Instead he kept himself to the thin rim between pools, holding out his arms to keep balance and avoid falling in.
Right now Isaac was focusing on the hallway at the other side of the spa room. However, in his haste to keep his balance, he didn't notice the nozzle-like devices at the top of the ceiling. They all seemed laser focused on the spot he was trying to cross, and it likely wouldn't be pleasant for him if it activated. Another thing he missed was the small, doorlike panel on the rightmost wall, half-submerged beneath an icy looking pool of teal liquid. Finally, there seemed to be boxes upon boxes of bath toys lining the left wall. Or at least, whatever the Vemmon considered bath toys. They mostly looked like UFOs and toy blasters, but some of the devices in there looked noticeably heftier.
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Post by Asher on Jan 6, 2017 7:28:35 GMT
"Your diagnostic test does not sound nearly as fun," the teen huffed, trying to think about the entire idea. No, that really didn't sound enjoyable in the slightest. With any luck, this wasn't going to turn into another 'training' episode like the one with Elliot. That was just awful, no offense to the younger of the brothers.
Once within the new room, Kinkakumon blinked a few times, processing the bright walls and the colorful pools. This didn't look like a particularly fun spa, honestly. Especially not upon Isaac's realization that at least one of the pools contained acid. "You mean, you don't want to go for a swim in that?" But, it looked so great! "I'm sure you'll get used to the water after a little bit," he teased. Yes. Just like one would get used to sticking their hand into a tank full of piranhas.
Unlike Yasyamon, Kinkakumon didn't suspect that it would be quite as graceful when it came to not falling into the pools. So, he took a moment to look around the room. While taking a step to follow his partner, the teen let out a hum of concern, as the nozzles on the ceiling caught his attention. "Hey, Isaac? Not trying to distract you, but, uh," the spirit user started, slowly, scanning the room to see if anything particular was attached to the item. "What're those things on the ceiling?"
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Jan 6, 2017 7:42:44 GMT
"Hey, I can be way more fun than a stun baton," Isaac protested. "My attacks are way prettier to look at than Snatchmon's, for one. Besides, I can be really gentle when I need to be." Okay, Isaac had to know how his wording was messing with Asher. Wasn't he supposed to be super blushy over innuendos, not the one making them to torment? Then again, when the shoe was on the other foot, Isaac seemed more than happy to capitalize.
Of course, just because he was messing with Asher didn't make the older teen any less genuinely helpful. At mention of the nozzles Isaac turned and looked up, confused. "Wait, what, distract?" he asked, only for his foot to aimlessly slide onto a pressure-sensitive tile. Immediately the nozzles focused down on Isaac, sparking dangerously before firing shimmering silver streams at him. When the streams hit Isaac he went down for the count, too, falling on his side and sliding dangerously close to the minty green pool.
Not that the beams themselves were particularly powerful. The floor under Isaac was the real threat there, dangerously slick from layer upon layer of soap coating it. Judging by the pool of bubbles forming around the fallen Yasyamon, the giant nozzles were just bubble bath dispensers that Isaac happened to be on the wrong end of. He let out a groan as he stood up, using a sword to brace himself. "You didn't see anything," he insisted, only to slip and fall right into the green pool. Several Vemmon scattered out of the way as Isaac landed, kicking up a small whirl of bubbles in his wake.
Thankfully, it didn't take long for Isaac to surface. "I feel all tingly," he muttered. "Its like I'm in a giant pool of aloe. Weird. Anyway, I'd watch your step, if I were you, 'cause we've got like 5 more of these things to walk past." He looked around, as if making sure nobody was watching, and then leaned to shoot Asher some more information. "You know they've got tunnels running between these pools? Who knows what the heck kind of stuff could be under here?"
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Post by Asher on Jan 6, 2017 8:07:06 GMT
"Stun and Fun rhyme, you know," the spirit user pointed out with a click of his tongue, "I'm sure it's for a reason." Stop being difficult, Asher! And, don't try to explain any way a stun baton could be brought into play! But that gentle line, the spirit puffed his cheeks, trying to conceal the blush growing on his face again. "Y-you're doing that on purpose now, aren't you?" Asher found himself stammering.
Seriously? Isaac was going to take advantage of whatever influence Kinkakumon played on Asher, wasn't he? He had better be enjoying himself, because these opportunities weren't going to last forever. Such as, say, at work the next time?
Asher was already planning revenge.
"I said not to distract you! You were supposed to watch what you were doing," the teen was quick to chide, as Yasyamon had triggered the bubble bath sprayers. That was really weird, too. And so not safe. What kind of place sprayed soap everywhere? It had to be violating some sort of safety laws!
But, now that it seemed to be relatively harmless, Asher found himself bursting into laughter. And, it was only furthered into almost doubling over, watching Isaac fall into the aloe pool. "I wish I had recorded that!" Oh, he saw it, Isaac. He saw every second of that!
Shuffling closer to the pool that Isaac had fallen in, the teen leaned to listen to Isaac's new bit of info, while trying not to trigger any similar fate of soapy-doom. "Tunnels? You sure they're not just full of more acid?" Isaac had gotten pretty lucky on where he had fallen, in all fairness!
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Jan 6, 2017 8:17:26 GMT
"On purpose?" Isaac asked, dialing the conversation back to before he fell into a giant tub of green goo. "Maybe a little. But hey, when you teasing me is basically my entire job? Its fun taking what few chances I can get." Turnabout was fair play, especially in Isaac's books. Especially when it came to Asher. "Why do you ask? Want me to show you a bit of mercy next time?" Yasyamon was equal parts puppet and puppetmaster. Right now, Isaac was having way too much fun with the latter role. If Devidramon made him want to destroy, Yasyamon made him want to poke, prod, and test his boundaries.
Maybe that was why he was still drifting in the pool, instead of getting back out and walking with Asher across the boundary. "This one isn't, at least," Isaac pointed out. "I wonder if I could get lucky with the next few, too. It'd sure beat trying to tightrope my way across." That platform was hazardously slippery, after all, and there were only two more pools on each side to navigate. The green pool Isaac was currently in was succeeded by a cloudy grey pool and a neon looking pink pool. On the other side, the deep blue pool was followed by the inky black pool and a thick looking purple pool.
Slowly, a mischievous grin formed behind Isaac's mask as he splashed at Asher. "See? No acid!" he confirmed as green droplets flew at the other spirit user. Isaac, focus! You guys are trying to escape!
That said, Asher was doing a far better job avoiding soapy doom than Isaac was. He had made it mostly past the green pool by now, and the platform was much more stable now that he was building up some good distance from the soap dispenser. That said, there were still the occasional raised tiles indicating some sort of trap was waiting to be sprung. As the platform grew more and more narrow, those might start requiring some serious agility to avoid.
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Post by Asher on Jan 6, 2017 8:49:55 GMT
Asher really couldn't argue that his job basically revolved around teasing Isaac. At least, aside from recently, when it was more involved with the statement of not letting Isaac see him again. Hey, he'd like to think that he had done a pretty good job at it. Even if he really hadn't. It was harder to do at work, okay? "Nah," Kinkakumon hummed, resisting some sort of smile, "mercy's no fun."
More than anything, now, he was really regretting leaning anywhere near Isaac in that green pool. Trying not to slip backwards, or into the pool itself, the Spirit User let out a ridiculously feminine squeak, recoiling as Isaac splashed him. Oh, seriously, Kinkakumon? You even scream like a girl? Asher was never going to like this form, was he? Either way, he was trying to brush the green liquid off of himself. It was so weird! "I'm trying not to get wet!"
Slipping past the green pool, the teen let out a curious hum. What would the other pools have in store? Not wanting to test it with his own skin, the oni leaned over the pink pool, debating on if he wanted to try to touch it with his bat or not. Not that it would really indicate anything, if it was a more subtle substance than, say, acid. But, would it be dangerous to fall in any of these?
"So, how many of these do you think will actually hurt if you fall into them?" Yes, he said 'you.' As in, the Yasyamon that had once been covered in bubbles. The faith in Isaac's ability to not trigger every trap in the room was outstanding!
Thinking of, he really needed to be paying better attention to where he stepped.
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