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You And Me And Mr Skullface Makes 3 (Kouhei+Maia, H Sp Hunt]
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Mar 19, 2016 0:54:53 GMT
The Digivice beeps were infrequent and ominous as Elliot and Isaac stared into the mouth of the grotto. Any further and they wouldn't get any reception, so until their friends arrived they'd have to stand here and wait. Occasionally Isaac brought up the suggestion of scanning the cave and mapping out a first location for their search, but Elliot seemed far too petrified to enter. After seeing his brother completely freeze up at the entryway, Isaac figured it wouldn't be worth pressing the issue any further. Instead he stayed by his brother's side, occasionally giving his phone an impatient glance.
"Did you have to invite, you know, that guy?" he asked Elliot, voice low and dismissive. Of all the people Elliot could have asked to come along, he had to pick the creepy-ass skull knight that tried to kill them. He could have chosen Alicia, or Susu, or hell even someone like Hikari or Rei. Why that weirdo who greeted them with a spear aimed right at the sternum? " 'Cause I'll be damned if he doesn't give me the creeps. I'm still not half convinced he didn't plan on killing us right there."
"Aw, come on, bro," Elliot protested. "He's a little rough around the edges, but he can't be that bad! I bet he was just trying to help train us, that's all. Besides, I bet he knows a lot about dark places like this!" His voice was a little unsure and shaky, but Elliot was a big-hearted kid above all. He never wanted to think the worst of anybody, even if they were a little bit strange and offputting. And questionably murderous. Either way, he was sure if they gave Kouhei the chance, he'd a perfectly good member of the team.
Isaac wasn't so convinced. Don't know if I trust our backup. Could you help keep an eye on him? he hammered out quickly on his phone, shooting the text over to Maia. He tried to just shake the matter, but his gut wouldn't stop tying into knots over the worry. Elliot had been burned by people he trusted in the past thanks to his naivete. Isaac had to be the vigilant one, because if it wasn't for him who else would be? At least knowing Maia would be able to give him a hand would at least provide some peace of mind. Now all that was left was the waiting game.
In a way, it annoyed Isaac a little. He couldn't enter the cave on his own or Elliot would start getting nervous about the separation. He couldn't bring Elliot with him, or the boy would freeze up and shut down. In all the time they've been waiting, he could've easily mapped out a decent portion of the cave. Maybe he could've even spotted some Digimon, and had an idea of what kind of threats would have awaited him inside the cave. Instead he was out here, staring at a wall. It made him wonder when Elliot would get the point of the Digital World through his head. It was going to be strange. It was going to be scary. It was likely going to be full of people that wanted them hurt. That was why they had to steel themselves and get stronger. It was either that or get their heads bashed in. The sooner Elliot learned to just suck it up, the easier.
Of course, that didn't help much when Elliot had no idea how much longer he was even spending here. The Digital World almost felt like a fever dream, a strange haze layered over their vacation. If not for the promises he made to Kyaro, he'd be sure that he wouldn't even return there after leaving Japan. He didn't know why Isaac got so worked up over stuff like the ghost bio-emerging, or Kouhei attacking them. Those were all just isolated incidents, right? He was getting overly vigilant over nothing, and sometimes it wore on Elliot's nerves. Maybe he couldn't handle himself that well over here, but he didn't want to have to handle himself in the Digital World. He just wanted to go home. In fact, they'd been here for a whole week now. When would their mom give them the update on their return date?
Their own worries and grievances left unspoken, the two brothers instead turned their focus to the horizon by the cave. The others would have to be arriving soon, right? |
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627 
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Mar 19, 2016 6:16:56 GMT
It seemed like it was taking forever to get to the meetup point. Maybe, Maia should have just gone with the brothers when they had left, rather than on her own time. What had she been thinking? The train had taken forever, and making her way to this spooky cave was daunting, as well. The next 'what was she thinking' moment came with the thought of wandering around the Digital World without company. Well... aside from the pipe fox that sat across her shoulder's, pretending to be a scarf.
Okay, so the Kudamon wasn't actually doing a good job at pretending to be anything inanimate. Considering he hadn't stopped talking since the Trailmon's doors had closed. Good thing he didn't need to hide here! Are we there yet?" he started, only to receive silence. "Maia, Maia! Are we there yet?" If he was digital, shouldn't that mean that the creature had a mute button or something? The girl paused, poking the monster on the nose. "Bluh!" was his response, extending his tongue from his mouth. Nope. Not a mute button. Oh well, at least nobody could say that she didn't try.
Around this time, a text came through. Why was there phone service in the Digital World, anyway? The best that the teen could figure was that, well, everything was digital. Maybe that would mean that they'd always have cell phone reception? Probably not, though, knowing the girl's luck. "Oooh! Who is it?" Kuu squealed, wrapping his body around her a little more closely, to try to read the screen. Yellow eyes glazed over, as ears fell flat. "Oh. Just Isaac." Who did he think would text her?
For some reason, this response didn't bode well with the tamer. "What, do you have a problem with him?" She asked this while sending a response of, Can do. Along with a couple of trial-and-error texts, which were deleted before she had even finished them. The fox watched, dully, as she struggled to find decent wording for the text that ended up being a whole two words.
"I just like Elliot better," Kuu sniffed. The two did seem to get along pretty well. If it weren't for Elliot agreeing with the Digimon, chances are, she wouldn't be in the Digital World right now. "If I had a phone, would you text me back first?" That was a silly question. Why would Kudamon need a phone? These thoughts made for too long of a response for the Digimon, who let out a distressed groan. "Maia, you gotta like me most, okay?"
What? "Are... You jealous that I have friends?" the girl posed, but Kuu just scrunched his face and puffed his cheeks in response. She'd take that as a yes. Reaching up, she used a finger to rub the little weasel's nose. "Don't worry, Kuu. You came first." Good thing she wasn't an overly outgoing person, otherwise the envious pet could make for a problem. But, this response seemed sufficient, as he settled down again, resting his head on his paws. "They're your friends, too, you know." To this, the monster's ears perked up again. Had he forgotten that the two of them kind of came as a package? Maia wouldn't be too keen on someone that couldn't tolerate the little fox. After all, if she had to, so did everyone else!
Finally, in the distance, the girl could see the grotto and two people. Oh, so the other person hadn't arrived yet? Kudamon had noticed the company, too, and lifted himself onto his feet, still on the tamer's shoulder. "I see them! Maia! I see them there!" Immediately after this came a gasp from the tiny monster, "oh! Maia!" Giant eyes glimmered at her. Oh no, what was he thinking now? "Did... did you tell them? Did you tell them that I digivolved?"
Letting out a breath of air that Maia didn't even know she was holding, a smile came to her face. That was all? Thank goodness! Usually, he didn't have such a tame thought! "Oh, uh, no. I don't... actually think I ever told them." Sure, she texted them, but somehow that had slipped her mind! To this, the monster let out a 'squee!' while bouncing on her shoulder. As soon as the two made it to the brothers, the Kudamon bounded off of Maia's shoulder, to weave up Elliot's body and hopefully perch onto the boy's shoulder instead. Good thing his tamer didn't have the same jealous mindset as her partner.
"Elliot! Isaac! I got long! Look!"
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Post by Kouhei on Mar 20, 2016 2:07:22 GMT
"Why...." A voice moaned from the shadows gathering in the open mouth of the Grotto's entrance, slithering out to caress the assembled party's backbones like the nervous chill of being watched in the dark. It was a dead, monotone voice backed with a solemn metallic echo. It was most definitely not human, and its source or motivations were anyone's guess. Probably it wanted to eat them all, or something.
"Why are you here," the voice demanded, a little louder. A little closer. It was accompanied by the clank of metal on stone- perhaps the stride of an armored something on approach? A chill breeze whispered at the backs of Elliot, Isaac and Maia and totally had nothing to do with the creepy atmosphere and likely hostile speaker. Yeah. Keep telling yourselves you're not in a horror movie, kids. What's the worst that could happen?
"In fact..." The voice was closer now, the vague metallic background echo almost gone entirely. As if it was speaking from the mouth of the cave, where sound could escape freely without bouncing off of rocks. It was clearer to hear the hard metallic tone to the way it spoke, and something about the voice would be familiar to the two boys. Could it be? There was a flash of shimmering light that briefly lit the dreary ground outside the Grotto and banished the shadows from its entrance. As the coruscating ribbons of digicode faded, Kouhei Kanemoto strode from the mouth of the cave with a scowl on his face looking supremely uncomfortable. Or perhaps hostile. It was... hard to tell, with that one.
"Why are we here at all? What are you doing here? Do you realize where you are, right now? You kids need to leave. It's not safe here."
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Mar 20, 2016 5:21:43 GMT
Elliot and Isaac's heads turned to look as they saw Maia coming over the horizon. Elliot waved eagerly, while Isaac tried to look like he was playing it cool. Of course, judging by the big grin across his face, he was just as happy to see the two as his brother was. Elliot giggled a little as Kyaro wove around him, curious as to how much the little fox-weasel Digimon had changed. "You got so big! That's awesome!" Elliot squealed. Would he change that much when he finally got to Digivolve? It looked really fun! "When'd it happen? You gotta tell me everything, Kyaro!
Oh, should I still call you that?" Elliot knew sometimes Digimon got new names when they changed, and he was sure the Digimon was no exception.
Isaac, meanwhile, walked to Maia's side. He dropped his voice a little so past concerns wouldn't necessarily be overheard by the two sillier members of the group. "See what I mean?" he asked, nodding towards the two. "Knew you guys could pull it off. Once you get over your nerves, there's nothing to worry about." In a way he kind of envied Elliot and Kyaro in that regard. The two seemed to be really low in the ways of worries. They just went with the flow, taking life as it came and always pushing through with a smile. Maybe it was because of people like him and Maia doing the worrying for them. Maybe they just didn't need to worry so much. Either way, it was an admirable trait. The idea of his brother losing his innocent spark frankly terrified Isaac. "So how's it been going, Mai?"
Before the question could necessarily be answered, the grotto moaned. Isaac had heard of a yawning chasm before, but this was just ridiculous! Metallic reverberation penetrated the voice, making it all the more ominous. A cold wind coiled around the boys. Fog poured from the cave as hellfire flickered. The Undertaker's gong was sounding in the background. Okay, maybe only half of that was actually happening, but it still left Elliot and Isaac with great unease. Isaac hunkered down into a fighting stance, and Elliot promptly hid right behind him. Seemed the cave wanted to start shit early, and Isaac wasn't about to let it get away with that. As he raised his Digivice to transform, however, he noticed the figure who was coming out. False alarm, it was just Kouhei. "Could you not do that next time?" he asked, irritably, but his worries were quickly swept to the side by Elliot's eager approach.
"Thank goodness you made it," he said, smiling at the strange boy. "Yes, I know it is not safe. But that is why we had to let you know we were showing up. You are a lot tougher than us, after all, so I figured you'd be able to help keep us safe. The Digivice told us to go here, so we had to, There might be another Spirit for us." That was a lot more Japanese than Elliot was used to, but he managed to string it together a bit less clumsily than usual. It seemed he had been hitting the books for the past few nights.
"Well, that's all of us, then. Let's do this." Isaac moved toward the cavernous mouth, checking over his shoulder to make sure Maia, Kyaro, and Elliot were safely following behind.
Thankfully, the mouth of the cave was fairly uneventful, but it wasn't long before the beeping Digivice started to go haywire. It began picking up incredibly strong signals aimed at a nearby wall. It was shrouded in darkness for the most part, but the glowing screens of the Digivice helped to illuminate it. About 3 feet in height sat a rusted-over trap door, made of solid steel and embedded haphazardly into the middle of the wall. It looked rock-solid, and Isaac didn't even want to try touching the thing. Moving past the door simply left the beeping behind, making it clear this was where they were supposed to go next. "Can't be that easy," Isaac muttered to himself, eventually giving the door a hesitant knock. Nope, not hollow in the least.
"You guys think we could pull it open?" Elliot asked, a little concerned. They could always blast it open too, but that would create a lot of noise and maybe a cave-in. On the other hand, if it was too heavy there's no way they could make progress on it. He looked worriedly at his friends, hoping they'd be able to come up with an idea. |
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Mar 20, 2016 7:35:58 GMT
The fox happily sniffed toward Elliot's face, black tipped ears twitching from the excitement. Yes! His digivolution was noticed and complimented! Sure, he had been the one to point it out, but that wasn't the point! "Like, a day or two after we met you!" the Digimon puffed, proudly. "We went to the park, and Shiro told me he'd help me digivolve! So he beat me up 'til I did!" Wait, that wasn't how that had worked! Why was he so proud about this? Shiro had only actually attacked him once!
Maia twitched a little, trying to contain the Digimon's excitement. "It was a controlled situation, and he was not getting beaten up," she hastily added. "Shiro's one of my neighbor's digimon. He... he wasn't actually going to hurt him." At least, Kai and Maia had both hoped that nobody was really going to get hurt. Whatever Shiro's plans were, on the other hand, were a little questionable. The white digimon was able to match the energy of her own, so it was a worrying concept to consider how far either of them would have let the mock-battle go. In a worst case, they would have found a way to stop the fight.
Oh! Names! Kuu had almost forgotten to tell him that part! "My name is Kuu, now! Like, I actually got a name! Maia gave it to me!" The white and purple fox nodded rapidly, looking at his tamer and the two boys. "I'm a Kudamon, though. Not a Kyaromon." He definitely had to clarify this. This was important information! Maia had gotten tired of trying to remember all of the name changes the Digimon would have, so it was just easier to give him a static one, though. Also, it seemed like all of the actual names were a bit too long for her liking.
Amber eyes turned to Isaac, a small smile forming on her lips. "I... don't think we could have, if you hadn't talked to me about it," she admitted, quietly. After all, the entire problem seemed to have been entirely caused by the tamer. Maybe, she had just needed a bit of confidence from someone else to make her see it. Hearing the next question, Maia wasn't even sure how to answer. A lot of things had gone on since they'd last seen the brothers.
But, the answer was never even formed, as the cave began to make terrifying sounds. Kuu unraveled himself from Elliot, leaping to his tamer in case of a worst case situation, while she took a couple steps back from the sounds. Once a boy had walked out, instead, Maia put a hand to her heart, trying to settle herself down. What the heck was with this guy? Was this why Isaac was so concerned about him? Then again, Elliot seemed excited to see the stranger. Maybe, Elliot was a touch too trusting of other people. It would only make sense if the other boy was, in fact, much stronger than any of the others present.
Maia looked over the new company, only nodding to him. She wasn't going to deny that it seemed like a crazy idea to be here, but she also wasn't just going to leave without the brothers. The other person, though, she didn't really mind leaving behind. He had already successfully given her the creeps to the point that she wasn't entirely sure if she should even say hello to him. Instead, since Isaac had found that the perfect time to take the lead, Maia followed closely after him.
The blonde had to admit, she was pretty happy at how boring the beginning of the grotto was. It meant that there wasn't anything particularly horrible happening yet! Once they had reached the door, Maia seemed a bit more hesitant. "That looks kind of sketchy," she mumbled, watching Isaac knock on it, and hearing Elliot's suggestion. "We could... try to pull it," she agreed, trying to figure how heavy the door might be, or what could be concealed by it. Surely, it wouldn't be as easy as just pulling opening the door, right? Unfortunately, she was coming up with nothing!
"Can we eat it open?" the Rookie suggested, unhelpfully. Of course he was thinking with his stomach this early on! There was truly no help for the little monster.
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Post by Kouhei on Mar 20, 2016 18:23:05 GMT
Kouhei did not share the boys' enthusiasm for this adventure, to put it lightly. Walking behind them with hands in his pockets (one never leaving his D-tector), shoulders hunched and scowling a little he was the very image of reluctance. Or, again, hostility. Hard to tell. He followed them back into the cave- when had he gotten here anyway? Had he heard the Sunderland boys' conversation while they were waiting? Boy, wouldn't that be embarrassing. Or life threatening. He watched quietly while the trio of humans tried to come up with ways to open the door. So far their options were 'pull on it,' or 'eat it.' Sighing with impatience, the boy yanked his D-tector from his pocket. "Submit: Fraction Evolution," he muttered as a glowing band of digicode appeared around his hand. He scanned it with the device, expanding it into a cocoon of code that lit their little section of tunnel in stark, blue-white tones. The digicode cocoon collapsed, revealing a very different Kouhei- all black metal armor, menacing presence and dramatic flair.  SkullKnightmon wasted no time. Dismissing his crimson lances to save space, he eyed the humans (and digimon) for a moment, then announced "Black to the Beginning!" and disappeared in a flourish of his cloak, falling back into it and out of existence. There was a moment of quiet, and then- THUNK! The rusty metal door in the tunnel wall shook ominously, casting flakes of rust from its surface and dust from the surrounding walls and ceiling. CLANG! BANG! THUD. Crrrreeeeeaaak. The metal door swung open hesitantly, smashed open from the other side- where SkullKnightmon hunched, his shoulder forward from ramming the door. "Let's make this quick," he demanded in his metallic drone. "We shouldn't be here." |
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Mar 20, 2016 19:07:38 GMT
Elliot got a little worried upon hearing that Kyaro-, sorry, Kuu, had gotten beat up, but thankfully Maia was there to help clarify the situation. Elliot was always thankful for Maia being around. She was so smart! "I love the name, Kuu," Elliot said excitedly. "You guys are so lucky to have each other." Sometimes Elliot wished he had a Digimon. It'd be fun having something so different from him to share his journey with. Then again, he might not have needed a partner for his journey. He already had an Isaac! It was always the two of them sticking together, and Elliot saw no real reason for that to change anytime soon.
Isaac grinned reassuringly at Maia. On one hand, he was glad to help, but he was also quite certain that his presence was a lot less essential than Maia made it sound like it was. "Nah, no way. You and Kuu are a great team. 'Sides, you helped motivate me to keep on going. Who's to say you didn't do the same for Kuu?" It was true. Bumping into Maia had helped turn around Isaac's day from terrible to great last time around. It helped that she was one of the few things that day that didn't try to kill him or enslave him, of course, but it was also a sign that she was pretty darn great. There wasn't much reason for her to doubt herself that much.
The Door was proving to be an insurmountable adversary. It seemed the lame solution of Pull It was working up a lot of steam, and thankfully nobody paid any mind to Kuu's solution of Eat It. Was the little Digimon just asking for tetanus? Isaac gave the door a few tugs, as if to test their point, but sadly it refused to budge. "Yep. Knew it," he muttered. He sure as heck wasn't about to try tasting it for Kuu's sake, either, so unless he lost his patience and started trying to blow it up that left them at a total impasse. Thankfully, at least one of them was on the ball, although his way of handling things was a little eyebrow-raising. "Submit?" He never had to say anything like that when using his spirits. The word choice left a bit of a bad feeling in his stomach.
No time to dwell on it, though. With a warp and a shoulder bash, the door was smashed right open. Elliot let out a little cheer, even if the SkullKnightmon form left him heavily unnerved. "Thanks a ton, Kouhei!" Elliot chirped. He seemed almost oblivious to the demanding tone in the lurching knight's voice. Maybe at some point he'd ask him what seemed to specifically be weighing on his mind, but for now they had a spirit to grab. The group was just lucky they bumped into Kouhei in Shibuya and were able to bring him along! He seemed to know this place way better than they did.
As the group went through the crawlspace, they would be treated to cages lining the walls of the tunnel. As it expanded in size, so did the number of cages piled atop each other. Some had sears of acid scarring the bars, while others looked gnawed on and broken down. Glowing eyes were the only things visible in the darkness, and low growls seemed to form a constant white noise as they bounced back and forth between the cages. One cage had completely rusted over, the door creaking ominously as it swung outwards. When Elliot sidestepped to the right to avoid it, he found a scaly hand reaching through the bars of another cage and trying to wrap around his neck. Needless to say, the boy broke into a full-speed run to try and get through this hall of horrors.
When the rest of the group caught up to Elliot, they would find a trio of split paths. One was a stairway upwards, half of the steps made of rotting wood and the other half reinforced with rusted metal. Another was a hallway that, only five steps forward, took a sharp right turn. The last was a hole in the floor leading straight downwards. Elliot wasn't sure what was down there, but it looked like a noxious shade of green. The poor boy moved his Digivice from side to side, trying to find which path would lead to the spirit, but the screen was starting to fuzz over with static. How was he supposed to find where to go now? |
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Mar 20, 2016 19:59:05 GMT
Kuu was still on his high of pride, hearing the compliment to his name, and nodding at how lucky they were. Oh, yes, this was all totally luck. The digimon wasn't even going to try to explain all the effort that it probably took to ship his own egg to a human's house from the Digital World. Then again, he probably didn't even know how that had happened! Honestly, Maia didn't want to know. She just wanted to know if there was a return address that he knew of and she didn't. At least, part of the time. The other part, they had actually started getting along pretty well, and she was starting to have a hard time seeing how life would have been without the obnoxious creature.
Still, Maia let out a small laugh of disbelief. Isaac had no idea how strongly Maia had been keeping Kuu a Kyaromon, not entirely even realizing it would make an impact. But, still, she'd accept the positivity by not responding. Maybe it was better to let him think that the tamer and Digimon actually did make a good team. Even if they might not.
Well, it looked like pulling the door wasn't going to work, and nobody even paid much mind to Kuu's horrible suggestion. In fact, Maia wasn't even sure if he was serious about it. She certainly knew that the little Digimon couldn't eat a door, and nobody else was going to even attempt it. Oh well, the Kudamon didn't look like this hurt his feelings at all. Especially when the alternative meant that someone was turning into a Digimon! Ignoring the fact that 'submit' was an awfully odd word to say when one was becoming a digimon, the little fox opened his mouth wide, to just shout an "oooh!" before the stranger vanished. Maia, on the other hand, found the entire thing to be slightly discomforting.
But, at least he had a solution. The tamer took a small step back when the door was opened, not really wanting to find out what was past where they stood. This Kouhei person seemed to be very adamant about the area being a horrible place to be. It was certainly creepy enough! On top of that, once in the crawlspace, Maia found it notably worse than she imagined. Kuu wrapped himself tightly to her shoulders, watching all of the cages. What kind of place was this?! To say that all of the eyes and the overall atmosphere of this place was scary was an understatement. "Why did your digivices choose this place?" she mumbled, most likely to Isaac, considering Elliot had already fled from the hall.
Once they had finally made it to the split paths, Maia threw a glance to her partner, before looking over the options. Kuu unwound himself from his tamer, going to peer into the hole in the ground, before backing up rapidly, "nope, nope, nope," he rapidly announced, scrunching his nose. "That doesn't look fun. Not that one, nope," he insisted, before bounding back to Maia's side.
Maia certainly didn't feel right taking the lead in this situation, considering she probably had the least idea of where the group was even supposed to go! "So, what's our plan?"
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Post by Kouhei on Mar 20, 2016 23:19:15 GMT
SkullKnightmon silently took up the rear, pulling the hatch mostly closed behind them and creeping along, hunched over almost double in the small space. He did his best to ignore the eyes in the cages, their owners falling back silently in his wake. He was ready with a gauntleted fist as he passed the cage with the grasping claw and brought it down with a meaty thump that elicited a pained hiss as the claw was hastily retracted. He was relieved to find the tunnel widen as he came upon the rest of the group inspecting their three paths. They were discussing the route.
"Since we are obviously committed to this foolish course, I could transport myself to the top of those stairs and investigate. I think it best if we are to split up that no one go alone however," he suggested, his voice echoing flatly off the chamber. He stepped forward to peer down the hole in the ground, his body language just oozing with grimace. Clearly that route did not meet approval.
"I suggest we skip this route entirely," he said dryly.
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Mar 21, 2016 3:09:15 GMT
"Heck if I know," Isaac replied. It wasn't like he wanted to be in this dump either. He was pretty unnerved, but he was refusing to let himself show it. The rule of Be Strong For Elliot, as always, applied in full force. However, with how often he talked to Maia, maybe she'd notice the slight tremble in his voice that wasn't always there. Or maybe Kouhei would be able to smell his fear, like a dog or a Tyrannosaurus Rex. With how weird and dark the guy was, Isaac wouldn't put anything semi-supernatural like that past him.
Speaking of things not going past him, splitting up the party was completely off the table. For starters, there were only two of them to split up. That meant either he was going alone with Kouhei, a possibility that made his skin crawl, or Elliot or Maia was going alone with Kouhei, situations Isaac couldn't trust less if it was offered by one of the demon princes in his Monster Manual. At least if Maia split up Isaac trusted her to take care of herself. Elliot? He would trust the knight too much and then, oh, who knows, maybe get used as monster bait or something?
"We're not splitting this one up," Isaac concluded. "It's easy enough to get lost when we're not bouncing around an abandoned lab trying to find each other. We might as well keep the full group together so we don't have to worry about that."
"Let's check the stairs, then" Elliot advised. "At least we can see up there. Kind of. Kouhei, you still up for checking ahead, or should we all go at once?"
Upon climbing the stairs, the group would find themselves facing another locked door. On each side of the door was a curved tunnel, forming what looked like a giant donut surrounding the locked door. If Kouhei was to go Black to the Beginning, he would notice a purple arm dribbling stuffing as it slowly disappeared into the rightmost tunnel. Otherwise, the group would only see the pile of decayed, yellow stuffing, the source of the arm long gone. What sounded like the moan of a whale mixed in with a spell of wet coughing erupted through the circular hallways, bouncing between the walls of the not-so-empty lab. Beyond the moaning and the stuffing, the room was otherwise quite typical. Signs pointing out each maintenance tunnel, as well as the locked door, were present, albeit with heavily eroded text.
<---- _ O X _ _ || _ _ N _ _ X
^ S _ C _ _ I _ _
----> _ _ E _ T _ _ _ _ T _
How curious. |
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Mar 21, 2016 3:52:23 GMT
Maia tensed at the idea of splitting up. It was fairly obvious that Isaac and Elliot would have to be together, which would leave her with the guy who she hadn't even spoken to, yet! Arms crossed, pulling them close to her body in some attempt to find self comfort in this situation. Isaac couldn't help her at all if it came down to separating, and she honestly had no idea how to feel about Kouhei! What if he was the type that if trouble came, he just left her behind to deal with it?
As luck would have it, Isaac refused the idea before Maia could dwell too heavily on it. Thank goodness! "I agree. We shouldn't split up," the tamer breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe, it wouldn't have been such a problem if she had known the third spirit user for more than a few minutes. And, known was a very debatable term, in this case. Sure, she was probably worried over nothing, or the text earlier from Isaac was putting her on edge. Who knew? Either way, it was nerve-wracking. Maybe, she shouldn't have been so interested in coming along.
Kuu was just glad that everyone was on the same page of not wanting to go into the mystery hole in the ground. It didn't necessarily look like a fun time for anyone involved! But, the little Digimon still seemed more quiet than usual, being picked up by his tamer, and placed on his rightful location on her shoulder. Ah, the height was good. That way, he could see things!
The tamer would follow the group up the stairs, remaining rather quiet. Why did everything have to be so creepy? Also, what if they ended up in some horrible maze and couldn't figure out how to go home? All of these problems were not helped by the sound of... well. Something. Something creepy enough to make the girl reflexively reach up to check on Kudamon, whose ears were twitching rapidly. Ugh. This was not fun!
On top of that, the text on whatever sign was there seemed horribly illegible. This was like someone was playing a game with them!
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Post by Kouhei on Mar 21, 2016 4:03:13 GMT
SkullKnightmon nodded in approval. Kouhei was secretly pleased Isaac didn't want to separate, and offered no resistance. He did indeed warp Black to the Beginning to the top of the dangerous-looking staircase, and stood tensely watching the right-hand tunnel as the group followed him up. At some point, his right fist had become covered with his lance again. Maybe he was expecting trouble? He waited patiently for them all to catch up, waving them forward cautiously. "Someone is playing games with us," he murmured, flatly echoing Maia's thoughts. "Something went down that way. Small. I didn't see it clearly."
His voice was strangely calm, he'd lost the frustration that had been burbling beneath the surface since he first showed himself. There was a stillness to him now, and as the group approached he subtly positioned his armored body between that side of the tunnel and the other humans and digimon. SkullKnightmon.
"I dislike the thought of leaving something unknown at our backs."
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Post by Elliot and Isaac Sunderland on Mar 21, 2016 4:40:45 GMT
Isaac hated to say it, but he agreed with Kouhei. Hidden threats were the worst kind of threats, and if the SkullKnightmon had spotted danger it'd be a terrible idea to ignore it. He could only shudder to imagine what had made that heart-shattering moan sound, which left Elliot a quivering mess behind him. The boy shuffled protectively closer to Maia and Elliot, turning to try and give them reassuring looks, and then held his Digivice aloft. "Well, if we're not leaving it at our backs, then we're not facing it unarmed either," he concluded. "Get your Digivice, Elliot. I'll be damned if we let this thing get the drop on us."
Elliot nodded shakily. At least, now the sound of his trembling walking stick hitting the ground wouldn't be so annoying. He took out his Digivice as well, the two boys enveloping themselves in light and shifting into their rookie forms. Unfortunately, in the darkness of this abandoned facility, their transformation looked especially bright. Both Isaac and Elliot were left covering their eyes in a daze as they returned to the world, and it couldn't have been a fun experience for Maia and Kouhei either. "Ugh, sorry guys," Elliot said. "We didn't realize it'd be that bad." However, perhaps it wasn't their friends they should be apologizing to here. Perhaps they had disturbed something else, something that they really shouldn't have.
Another moan echoed through the hallway, this one sharper and less deep. It was as if the sound of a sudden violin screech was added to the noise from before, echoing as it faded away. Heavy footsteps began pounding down the hall, staggered as if suggesting a limping gate. THUD-thud. Elliot's heart skipped a beat. THUD-thud. Isaac grit his teeth in concentration, wondering if he should keep holding his nerve. THUD-thud. The smell of decay began to waft through the air, as if a festering wound had been left untreated. A bit of nervous sweat formed on the back of Isaac's head, and soon the Impmon broke ranks. He dashed beneath Kouhei's arm, whipping up a fireball in his hand and flinging it in the direction of the sound. "Imp-losion!"
The fireball exploded, and the sound of tearing cloth was met with a satisfying sizzle. Isaac stepped back, contented and blowing some smoke out of the palm of his hand. Nobody was going to threaten his friends on his watch! However, a shadow began to make itself visible in the cloud of smoke, and it was clear to Isaac that this fight wasn't done yet. Out of the darkness staggered a Porcupamon, arms extended like a zombie as it lurched toward the group, Upon seeing its attacker it stopped short, making an unnerving amount of eye contact for a creature with no visible eyes. The pause was still and heavily disconcerting, only the sound of heavy breathing and a charred stench punctuating it.
Then the creature lifted an arm and heavily slashed at it's own stomach, cotton spilling out from the wound as the cloth began to unravel. Elliot hid behind Kouhei like his life depended on it, while Isaac took a heavily disturbed step back. What the heck was this thing doing? Upon suddenly feeling tight pressure on all of his limbs, the answer became clear. Clusters of red threads, woven together into thick cords, had snared around his arms and legs. The Porcupamon began pulling on the cords, each pull dragging the Impmon closer and closer.
Isaac really didn't want to know what would happen when it reached the end of the line. |
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Maia
Better Mod
Might Actually Be A Cat.
Posts: 627
OOC Name: Cheshire/Mai™
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Post by Maia on Mar 21, 2016 5:57:05 GMT
Well, at least everyone seemed to be agreeing that someone was playing games. Were they expecting the company or something? But, the fact that Kouhei seemed to have lost some of his tense air somehow settled some of Maia's nerves. Not nearly as much as it could have if, maybe, she was a spirit user as well, but it was better than nothing. On top of that, Isaac seemed to be trying to keep both her and Elliot safe.
The downfall to this is that being so close was quite blinding when the digivices were used. Maia rose her arm to try to cover both her and Kuu, but it was still pretty harsh! So much so that Kuu seemed a little dazed during Elliot's apology! "Woah," the little Digi muttered, "is that what it looks like when I use that attack-thing?" To this, his tamer just shrugged. The Kudamon had never used that one in a dark room, so she didn't want to think about how much that would hurt anyone's eyes. Hopefully, he wouldn't attempt it as a test run.
"You do what you have to. It's fine," Maia dismissed with a small wave of her hand. She was still shaken by the sound, but she certainly didn't want to make Elliot feel bad over some temporary blindness! The sounds that had decided to alert the group to a potential threat caused the girl to tense up again, and her Digimon to become notably less comfortable. As far as Maia was concerned, this was like a warning that a video game was about to spawn something terrible. Except, the problem was, this wasn't a game. The thought was furthered with the zombie-esque sound of something staggering its way toward them, and the pungent smell that hit both tamer and partner's noses. "What is that?" the girl commented.
"Death," was the morbid answer of her Digimon, who felt the need to deepen his voice to sound spooky. Not helping!
But, now Isaac had rushed into things, trying to be a hero. At first, it seemed like he had settled things before they began, but that was just too easy. Wow, this Digimon was creepy! It wasted no time in causing damage to itself, and Maia only found herself covering her mouth, trying to stay out of the way, on the safer side of the SkullKnightmon.
Still, as the situation became worse, Kuu began climbing down Maia's clothing, only to pause a few steps in. Ears flattened. Realization was setting in. Under the circumstances, there was nothing that the little fox could do. If he tried to blind it to be a distraction, it would likely fail. The X'ed out eyes surely didn't work, right? He'd only end up giving everyone else a disadvantage! And his only other useful attack wouldn't save the situation, it would only put him far too close to the Porcupamon for comfort.
On top of that, there was no way he was going to leave Maia's side when Isaac wasn't positively able to guarantee her protection if something bad happened. No offense to the other two present, he didn't know if they would be able to keep her safe! Hopefully, Kouhei could save the day with one of his nifty lance-things, or something!
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Post by Kouhei on Mar 23, 2016 3:56:27 GMT
Well, it was time to save the day. "Lance Rocket!" SkullKnightmon fired off the lance (and the lower part of his right arm) on a thin digizoid line, the weapon snapping the thin threads between Isaac and the Porcupamon before embedding in the floor nearby. He took a few heavy steps forward until he was standing at Isaac's side and began retracting the cable attached to his lance. "Get everyone back and to safety," he recommended to Isaac in his hollow, metallic voice. "I'll handle this-urgh," a sudden pulled knocked SkullKnightmon off balance. He found his lance arm had stopped retracting, pulled taught by a thick snarl of red threads wrapped around the cable.
He felt the tension steadily increasing as the little Porcupamon tightened its pull. "It's... rather strong," the black knight digimon admitted. "I can't teleport away." SkullKnightmon yanked his arm hard against the threads but they just seemed to tangle on his cable-arm further, and his heels even slid an inch or so down the hallway. "Hit me with one of those fireballs. In the arm here," he suggested over his shoulder, pointing at the part of the lance-arm that was wrapped with knots of thread.
"Quickly, please."
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