Chapter 2 - Monster In The Parasol

[BigRedRod]

May 7th 2003
13:34:51

With new orders and their monsters freshly healed the four members of team G.L.A.M stand outside the competitor tent. Occasionally a staff member of trainer walks by, although no one pays them a great deal of attention.

Up the stone steps, into the woods and after a long walk the team will emerge in the clearing around Olivebark. The village where the first of the seven sins has manifested. From their orders they aren't sure what to expect, but the general has seemingly absolute confidence in their abilties. And as they were told the previous day, the failed Seven Deadly Sins project was to be their group's duty. After months of training, and half of day of experiencing the world of popular monster-battling it is time to begin their duty...

"Well, well, if it isn't Team Glum!"
Hands on hips, the trainer who's MecKaki defeated Infini stands a few paces away. His blonde partner stands quietly behind as the taller trainer continues,
"Looks like we've got this in the bag."
The air fills with the annoying laughter of a fourteen year old boy

[itches]

Spearing only a glance for the offending child, Ami starts walking towards Olivebark.

"Come on," She says to her companions without looking back. "We have more important things to deal with."

[elpresidente]

Will ignores the gloater and speaks to the blonde trainer behind with a genuinely concerned tone "Hey Guy? Is your Vee alright?"

[BigRedRod]

"She'll be fine"
The boy nods,
"I thought she'd be fast enough to avoid any other attacks while Tron and Miguel took them out. When your Trian went scitz, it didn't have time to react-"
The taller member of the faction snorts and strides away inside the tent,
"He's like that. Wants to be the best, and he'll be a tosser to get there. But if you're leaving,"
He looks at the retreating Amicula,
"Then I'll let you get off. Seeya"
With a quick wave he rushes inside the tent

[elpresidente]

"Good luck!" dnd then Will follows the others
"anyone ever been to Olivebark?"

[itches]

Shaking her head when Will catches up and asks his question, Ami slows down a fraction to answer.

"Robyn and I are from different parts of the world. If anyone is likely to have been to it, it's either you or Sean."

[elpresidente]

"Wrong side of Jalis City for me."

[tyckspoon]

"Olivebark? I spent my time figuring out how to live in Jalis. We're going into the unknown again." Sean trudges along with the group, with the details of the last fight and Ordos Faction's goodbye still playing in his mind in near-perfect fidelity. "Did anyone else wanna give that Ordos guy a kick in the side of the head?"

[BrianL03]

"Not a kick," Robyn says, having been silent all this time, "More like a good old-fashioned talk-to... he definitely had some attitude problems, but that deserves more of a softer approach then going and kicking butt and taking names. I hope that Vee does get better, however. Wish I could have stopped that kind of thing from happening."

[elpresidente]

"Yeah I wasn't exactly planning for Infini to berzerk like that, but i think it was just an accident, the Vee didn't keep it's guard up but It's trainner said she'd be fine. As for the other guy... If he does become the best then he's gonna find himself sorely alone by the time he gets there. Thinks like that tend to sort themselves out, a learning curve as it where. But in the mean time yes I did wanna give him a beating but he isn't worth it. We can be safe in the knowledge that he's gonna continue being a prat, and make alot of other people dislike him, and that they'll probably give him all the kicking's he'll ever need." Will is clearly smiling at the prospect.

[itches]

"Yeah, but it would be more fun if we were the ones doing the kicking." Ami says half to herself.

[elpresidente]

Will laughs "Yeah but we'd be delayed, especially when the security people catch us. The best things in life are free, but unfortunately usually illegal"

[tyckspoon]

"Foundation employees, remember? We're not supposed to be that worried about illegal stuff.. wouldn't have done it where anyone would see. Wouldn't have hurt him that bad, either..just made him miss his next fight. He puts us out, we put him out." Sean reviews the message from HQ for a moment. "Pride? None of us know anything more than what they're telling us about these creatures, do we?"

[itches]

"And I'm sure the Foundation would love us taking time out from an urgent mission to pursue a personal vendetta. Besides the world is full of jerks like him, you can try but you'll never be able to beat the snot out of all of them."

"Pride? None of us know anything more than what they're telling us about these creatures, do we?"

Amicula shrugs, "Beside what little they told us? They said they don't know much themselves, and we'll know soon enough."

[BigRedRod]

Entering the woods and travelling roughly parallel to the road the group set off on their way to Olivebark. Light spills through the foliage but still the forest is gloomy and ill-lit.
The ground is maze-like, with pits hidden beneath large bushes, huge piles of leaves possibly older than most trainers, sprawling root networks, the trees themselves and fallen logs.

Time crawls by, giving the team plenty of time to reflect on the emptiness of the forest in terms of monsters. Although then again, possibly the comboned noise of four teenagers struggling through a forest is enough to drive even the least-alert away.

After a solid two hours of working the group emerge on a small ridge of earth between two vast trees. A trio of entirely black clad men carrying fully automatic weapons spring into view. Standing with their backs to the team one holds a radio to his ear, indistinct sections of speech and static float back to the four but it's impossible to work out what is being said. Taking a few steps backwards, to be out of sight of the men in case one should turn around, the team realise they musn't be more than a few minutes from the village

[elpresidente]

Keeping his voice down Will Wispers "We better stay under the cover of the trees and work our way round till we find a safe spot to get in. Preferably covered."

[BrianL03]

"And I'm taking a completely off the wall wild guess that anyone who's in uniform, we should avoid, until we're completely into the city, where we can act like we were separated from our evacuation group or something. That is, if those in uniform we run into in the city aren't already zombified."

[tyckspoon]

"Be worse if they were zombified, wouldn't it? I mean, wouldn't Pride be using them as eyes or something?" Sean shudders, the very idea of some being taking away his control like that anathema. "We should stay away from all the people in uniform, and as many other people as we can. Shouldn't draw attention to us from anyone if we can help it."

[itches]

Blinking and looking at Robyn and Sean shocked Ami sighs before whispering.

”Hey guys, remember those men with the machine guns? You know the ones who we just saw and just heard every word you saying to each other?”

[BigRedRod]

"Who us?"
As if the Gods themselves listened to the Goth's observation, two of the three black-clad men stand behind the team.
The man who spoke shoulder his machine gun and smirks,
"Looks to me like some children decided they'd do better than us at sorting out this situation."

His companion shakes his head and calls to the third member,
"Sarge, we've got some kids 'ere"

"Bloody Hell! What the bloody hell are you doing in the woods?"
The sarge emerges from around the ridge and attaches the radio to his belt,
"Don't tell me. Bloody kids collecting bloody monsters. Wedge!"

"Sir" The first replies

"Take them to the road block. Get the chief to deal with them. I'll radio in."
Without waiting for a reply "Sarge" turns around, unclips the radio and wanders a few steps away as he presses various buttons

"Better follow me then hadn't you?" Wedge states as his companion glances around the woods for any other intruders.

"It's blue squad, we've picked up some kids wandering through the forest towards the site. I'm sending them in to base-camp with Wedge. Over."
The patrol-leader gruffly states into his radio with his back to the group.

Wedge motions for the foursome to get moving

[itches]

Eyeing the man as he motions for them to get moving, Amicula doesn't budge.

"My mother always taught me not to go with strangers wielding automatic firearms. Who are you people?"

[BigRedRod]

His weapon still shouldered, Wedge laughs,
"Very thorough of her. Although you might want to rethink that lesson in light of the strangers having automatic firearms."
With his left hand the man pulls a black leather item from his belt and opens it. Inside sits a typical police badge and identity card, the man speaks with a practised authority
"Senior Constable J. A. Wedge, Special Police."
Replacing his ID on his belt, the officer continues,
"Currently we're keeping any- anyone from getting in or out of the village. You can ask the chief why. Now let's get going."

[elpresidente]

Will attempts to play the stupid little 13 year old card and breaks his silence "Where are we going? And who are the special police?"

[BigRedRod]

As the group start to slowly move, Wedge replies to Will in a slow friendly voice,

"To the main road, the base camp is there and we'll have your parents sent for so they can come pick you up,. Special police are just that, special. you can't expect your average officer to know how to deal with everything that can happen. So when something out of the ordinary happens, we get sent for and take control of the situation."

[itches]

Looking the man over from head to toe, Amicula comments.

"Special hmm? Well you certainly look impressive enough."

[tyckspoon]

Sean turns his head and coughs as he tries to figure out what purpose Ami's chatter could have. Trying to slow him down? Maybe she's impressed by uniforms. ...Is she trying to flirt with him? That thought turns the cough into a full blown fit as Sean tries desperately to quell the laughs that come from the image. We'd be better off jumping him, but we can't even talk to each other.

[itches]

Rasing an eyebrow at Sean's coughing fit, Amicula none the less walks in silence untill they are out of sight of the rest of Special Police. Once they are, and making a quick glance around to determine that no one else is nearby, the girl speaks to Wedge again.

"Look mister, do you really have to take us to the base camp? If it turns out that we were found by the police, we're going to get into a hell of a lot of trouble."

Looking at Sean and Will for a moment, Ami shifts her attention back to the man escorting them.

"Couldn't you just say that we ran off or something?"

[BigRedRod]

Wedge laughs as he pauses his walk through the woods,
"Say I let you run off? The Sarge would have my ass!"
In a quieter, friendler voice he responds to Ami's fears of punishment,
"Coming in through the woods you couldn't have known we had a perimeter set up. It's just lucky we caught you. You've been radioed in though, the base-camp is expecting you. Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong, they aren't going to shout and make your parents ground you or anything..."

[tyckspoon]

Sean edges closer to Wedge to be in a position to act if Ami's plan should include any sort of signal. "Why take us in, then? You could've just turned us back from the woods. Don't have to take us to your headquarters if we're not in trouble, do you?"

[BrianL03]

At this point, Robyn finally speaks up, albeit it's in a whimpering and near-tears tone that almost masks what she's saying.

"I don't want to be in trouble I'm nervous I just wanted to find another 'mon to take care of and the gun scares me!" Robyn says, quite a bit of truth in what she just said. The idea of someone being armed as the officer is, with a fatal weapon, rather than with a 'mon, disconcerts her greatly, and she takes hold of Ami's arm, clinging to it tightly, and about to start crying.

I don't know what to do... I don't want to get in a fight with this guy, he's obviously only just doing his job, but I also don't want to get into a worse situation than we are now! Why couldn't I just be quiet? Why'd I have to go and yammer and not shut my big mouth?

[BigRedRod]

Wedge shakes his head at Sean,
"And let you get lost and wander through a few minutes later? No. We have our orders, keep everyone out and send them to base if anyone shows up."

He rolls his eyes as Robyn starts wimpering,
"I'm not going to shoot you, see-"
He pulls the clip from his weapon and stores it in his belt,
"-no bullets. I keep telling you aren't in trouble, now let's carry on moving"
With his gun strapped over his shoulder, Wedge attempts to march the children on

[itches]

Holding Robyn closely, Ami sends a quick thought her way.

Keep crying, I have a plan.

Glaring at Wedge with a look composed of equal parts despair of being understood and contempt, that only a teenage girl can produce.

"You think telling them will make a difference? Having cops call them? You just don't get it do you."

[BigRedRod]

Wedge looks confused and then concerned,
"You don't want your parents phoned? Why not?"

[itches]

"Foster parents," Ami shoots back, stressing the first world, then softly as an after thought. "They're not our real parents."

"Look we know the score. We keep our heads down, don't bring any attention to us, and they don't don't give a damn. But if we bring attention to ourselves, they don't like that, and then they take it out on us."

Slowing down and coming to a stop, Amicula looks over at the guys and shakes her head as if saying no to herself, and hoping that they get the message.

"I'm not going to let that happen again."

[BigRedRod]

There's a long silence as Wedge stares past Ami blankly, before he opens his mouth and quickly reconsiders. Tapping his radio he nods to himself and then to Ami.

The special police officer reinserts the clip into his gun and makes a sweeping gesture with his free hand before taking a deep breath and reajusting his grip on the weapon,
"Sweet Mary Jesus! What is that?"
Wedge opens fire, clearly aiming at nothing more than the canopy of the forest. The sound of the weapon forcing out bullets is deafening. The forest comes to life with creatures of all kinds fleeing from the noise. After the short burst he looks back at the group of children and nods behind him, away from where he's shooting and the village behind.

Hoping his message has been understood, he ignores the children and fires another burst of lethal destruction at the upper parts of the trees

[itches]

Seeing the nod, and understanding the message, Ami grabs hold of Robyn's hand, and starts to pull her away from the man into the forest as she screams at Will and Sean over the gun fire.

"GO! RUN!"

Before taking her own advice.

[tyckspoon]

Sean wastes a moment being startled by the noise of the gun before the sense of Ami's yells and the opportunity Wedge is giving them penetrate his head. He sprints for a couple of seconds before settling into a slower, sustainable pace. The boy's small body holds a surprisingly fast rate, and he easily paces Ami and Robyn.

[elpresidente]

Will Just runs into the forest after the others managing to catch up to Sean and the others. "We need to turn -pant- and go along the forest -pant- edge soon"

We don't want to get too far away, and they'll be expecting us to keep running away from town.

[BigRedRod]

Fleeing through the forest the group begin to move in a wide circle. The sounds of Wedge's machine-gun fire stop after a few bursts. Pausing for a moment the group scan the forest, but no there is no sign of any of the Special Police squads lurking in wait for no-good kids.

A few steps forward and the group break into a run once again. Heading straight through the forest towards Olivebark. Bursting out of the trees the group are greeted by the sight of a quaint little village.

Leaving the forest behind, Team GLAM sneak forth towards the ring of buildings. The tiny village seems to be arranged in a circle, with a single main road penetrating from one direction.

From a concealed position between two wooden homes, the group have a clear line of sight to the very centre of the village. The scene is one of franatic industry and stillness. A dozen or so adults, scramble around a raised wooden platform. The remaining population of another dozen children and eldery people kneel on the grass around he platform with their heads touching the floor.

The centre of the platform contains a wooden framework holding brightly coloured curtains of material in place which hide whatever lurks within the small chamber. The adults carry materials to and fro, building more and more of the platform. The air if full of gentle the murmurs of the builders and the kneeling, although it's far too difficult to understand what they are about without drawing closer. The faces of the builders carry expressions of deep passion.

The builders seem unaware of the Foundation team hiding tens of metres away, and the kneeling don't seem aware of anything

[BrianL03]

Robyn stares at the sight of the hypnotized population in both wonder and distraught. Her lip quivering slightly still from the loud bursts of gunfire not more than a minute ago, she slowly regains her composure, taking slow, deep breaths, and makes sure she's calm and not going to crack as soon as she starts talking.

Her voice low, she whispers to the rest of the team, urgency apparent in her voice, "I'll take the hazard of a guess that that's Pride behind the platform's curtains, so that needs to be our first objective. We need to have a plan when we confront it, however. As it has mind control powers, that probably means it's a psychic type, but we don't know if it has any other abilities. None of our mon should be weak against Pride, but we need some sort of tactics."

"The buildings provide cover, that we could use as hit and run locations if we wanted to try ranged attacks. However, doing so, we would probably run into a lot of the hypnotized locals. We have no sleep abilites in our mon, so we can't remove them that way... anyone have any good plans?"

[tyckspoon]

Sean carefully monitors the volume of his voice to avoid giving away the group again, with a light flush on his face from the memory of the last time. "Good plan? All I can think of right now is marching out there and challenging Pride directly." He shrugs as he resigns himself to another stretch of sneaking and plotting before any straightforward action happens. "It thinks a lot of itself. Maybe we can use that."

[itches]

With a flick of her wrist, Amicular summons Lio and sets the doll on her shoulder before whispering to the others.

"Let's circle around the town before we come up with another plan."

[BigRedRod]

The team set off around the outer edge of the buildings, moving between areas of cover, occasionally making worried glances into the woods in case a member of the special police should spot them.
The circuit reveals little except a view of the roadblock further down the rad that seems to be doubling up as the special police base-camp.

The buildings continue the contruction of the platform, around the central small curtained chamber, and the rest of the villagers remain on their knees in mummering worship

[elpresidente]

Will turns to the others before whispering "Look at the villagers, their all busy doing something else, I doubt they'll even notice us."
He hesitates a moment "Im going to go scout the tent from closer up you guys wait here, if anything happens to me at leastyou know what to expect."
With that he simply gets up and starts walking casually towards the tent.

[BigRedRod]

The villagers kneeling around the platform don't seem to notice anything and neither do the builders. Who continue to scurry around the platform, slowly building an outer framework some distance away from the small cloth-walled room at the centre. As the materials are gathered, the labour becomes a little more intensive with sounds of sawing and hammering echoing around the possessed village.

Will wanders towards the platform, hesitating as he reaches the edge of the wooden platform. He's a few steps away from the tent at it's centre, it's opening faces the road leading out of town. Looking down the road the team-member can make out the scurrying form of police-officers, although whether they are about to move or simply waiting for orders is far too hard to guess from this distance.
Stood at the edge of the wooden stage, Will looks back at his three teams mates.

[ooc: so, they've all ignored you so far. Want to try your luck with stepping onto the platform, which is quickly developing into a largerstructure, and onwards toward the tent?]

[elpresidente]

Well... im seemingly ok.
Will gestures to the others to indicate he is ok, looks to see that nobody is actually monitoring the platform and steps up towards the tent.

[tyckspoon]

"..I'm going with him. Throw a rock at us or something if we act strange, ok?" Sean breaks cover and strolls out after Will, making some effort not to bump into any of the villagers but otherwise behaving as if he was perfectly at home.

[BrianL03]

Robyn watches nervously as the two boys scamper down the hill and into the village, mingling among the zombified villagers. Her teeth chatter slightly from the apprehension she feels about the group already being separated. They were rather far, respectively, from the stage, and if there was to be trouble, they were in a weakened state.

"Just be careful," she whispers to Sean as he goes down after Will, and she looks towards Ami, "They'll be alright, won't they? Right?"

[itches]

Looking back over at Robyn, Ami gives her a quick one armed hug.

”I don’t know,” Ami says, her eyes tracking the boys as they make their way to the pavilion. “But if they come to harm, it won’t be due to lack of trying.” Looking back at her girl, she adds as an after note. “You better call Tripper out in case we need to act quickly”

[BigRedRod]

Sean saunters towards Will, and then the pair step up onto the wooden platform at the centre of the small village. Still, the villagers ignore them entirely.

Walking around to the face of the cloth-room at it's centre, the pair dissapear from Robyn's and Ami's view. Drawing close, the two pieces of cloth suddenly move open reavealing the interior of the small room to Will and Sean.

The tiny tent-like stucture contains room for little more than it contains. A large chair draped in various fabrics and a small draped table containing a bowl of fruit. In the chair sits an extraordinarily attractive figure, the woman must be somewhere in the region of twenty but exuding an air of total confidence.

Sitting in the chair, her shoulder-length dark brown falls in a random but intolerably stylish manner. Her garb is simple, a pair of pastel pink linen trousers ending with slight flares above her bare feet and a fitted lighter coloured pink t-shirt. Her eyes are a deep searching blue, and the smile on her face is perfection itself.

After a moment's hesitant pause were neither Will or Sean could find words, the figure speaks,
"Hello. And why are two such young strapping lads here? To see me?"

Back in their hidden location, the girl's can see or hear nothing of their companion's or the figure inside the tent

[tyckspoon]

Sean's fight reflexes pick up as he approaches the tent entrance, then dive sharply at the dissonance between the tent's contents and what he had expected to see. In the moments before the woman speaks, Sean's body rapidly tenses and relaxes while his trained approach to a potentially dangerous situation wars with the input of his senses. The training loses out when the woman speaks, and a gentle fuzzy sensation lays itself over Sean's mind. The boy's fight reflexes continue to murmer warnings of danger, but fail to get involved in the decision making process, and Sean is left adrift in a situation for which he has practically no references. "...uh..yes, I think we are." The inanity of the words triggers a brief alarm in Sean's mind before both the feeling and the alarm join the desire to fight beneath the fuzz.

[BigRedRod]

Her smile widens further and looks directly at Sean,
"Well then, as you've come all this way just to me, maybe you can tell me what I can do for you"
The random stresses on the words that she purrs are almost too much for the young male mind to take,

[tyckspoon]

Sean's mind almost completely shuts down as the simplest of automatic functions seem to become tasks requiring full concentration. "We'd like..information? That's right, isn't it, Will?" We..there's..me..and Will..and..we? There's more to we, isn't there?

[itches]

"Well there have been no explosions," Ami says. "Which is always a good thing. Come on; let's try to get a closer look."

With that, Ami duplicated Sean and Will's earlier move.

[BrianL03]

"I really hope they're okay... I don't want anything bad to be happening to them while we're up here," Robyn says, pulling out Tipper's token and releasing the hydrotort. Giving her a silent hand signal, Robyn beckons Tipper to follow her, and she begins to follow Ami closer to the tent, her eyes looking nervously around for any sign of danger.

[BigRedRod]

Crossing to the platform the two girls head towards the tent where they can hear voices.

...

"And what would you like me to tell you then?"
Once again the voice overpowers the young boys leaving them dazed and confused. Robyn and Ami round the side of the small cloth structure and appear behind their two male team-members.
The girl raises an eye-brow at the two new additions to her audience

[itches]

Walking up casually, Ami looks over the boy's shoulders at the indistinct figure sitting in a chair. Seeing only a blur, the girl blinks several times in rapid succession, attempting to clear her vision. When it stays a blur, Ami concludes that it isn't her eyes that are at fault.

"Let me guess, you're Pride?"

[tyckspoon]

Sean's mind clears slightly as Ami's words and the look on her face penetrate the fuzz, with the naming of Pride reaching deep to remind the youthful martial artist of the group's mission. The boy turns back to look at the girl in the chair again, this time with his mind bearing down hard on his body and doing its best to see what Ami sees.

[BigRedRod]

The girl shrugs,
"It's something I may have been addressed by. Not a name I enjoy"

After briefly looking back as the remainer of his companions arrive and noticing the look on Ami's face, Sean returns to staring at the definition of beauty before him. Squinting, he tries to shut out the parts of his brain which chide him for such actions and demand he go back to happily staring. Pride wavers for a moment, the image of the girl before Sean darkens and shifts becoming blurred and much less pleasant to view.

To Robyn and Will's eyes, the girl tilts her head and asks Sean,
"Is everything ok, honey?"
Ami and Sean find it rather difficult to judge exact motion of the blurred figure, but it could have tilted it's head.

[itches]

Ignoring the creature’s comment to Sean, Ami sighs and looks from the creature, to her friends and back again.

"I don't suppose you want to make this easy on all of us, and just get back in your bottle?"

[tyckspoon]

Sean turns away from the discomforting sight of Pride's form to grab Will's dumb-struck body and forcibly march him out of the tent, out of line of sight of Pride. He leaves the other boy to recover his senses on his own while Sean re-centers himself, using the forms of practice kata to steel himself against Pride's illusions. The miniature martial artist then goes back into the tent, to offer support for whatever Ami has in mind.

[BrianL03]

"Ehhhh?"

Robyn's mind feels all warm and fuzzy at the sight of seeing the beautiful woman. Obviously this couldn't be their target. They were looking for something that was definitely the opposite of what she was. Perhaps she was just the town's mayor?

"What's going on... This isn't our target... is it?"

Robyn grows both wearied and confused, both from Ami's conversation with the woman, as well as Sean and Will's dumbfounded looks... with Sean starting to get a lot more serious-looking.

Her eyes blink a few times, but she only half-walks, half-stumbles over towards Ami, and leans on the other girl's shoulder for support. She couldn't remember being this tired.

[BigRedRod]

Facing the now-three members of team GLAM the figure sighs,
"Children these days have no sense of fun. Bottle? Bah!"
With a dismissive wave of her hand she indicates the world outside the tiny tent-room,
"You can run away cowering with fear now. I have no desire for you to aid my devout legion"

[elpresidente]

"And why would we want to join you anyway?" Says Will with a clear head wandering back into the tent with Infini at his side.

"And Is that honestly what you think we came here to do? Your opinion of yourself is obviously overshooting reality just a smidgen." Will starts to laugh at pride before turning deadly serious.
"Now you can either stop this nonsense and come with us quietly, or we can drag you off kicking and screaming. Choose now or we'll choose for you."

[BigRedRod]

Pride laughs, and even to Robyn's tired eyes the beautiful girl is replaced by a blurred shade. The figure looks like a photograph which has been badly taken, allowing Pride to be seen as nothing more than a series of blurred colours connected together into a roughly humanoid shape. Her voice remains identical, however,
"I so often forget that worms such as yourselves have hopes and desires of your own. Whether you wanted to join me does not matter, the decision was not in your hands. As you seem intent on such pathetic posturing..."

There is a sound of splintering wood and then the tent is ripped away. Four columns of darkness extend from beneath the platform, each reaching ten metres into the air, flailing around like the tentalces of a gigantic octopus buried beneath the village.
The workers who had previously ignored the party sudden turn their sights upon them, grasping their tools as weapons, they slowly approach.

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4z 4b rs 0 *s b 8d 72 rs 0 *s 8 5q
@5o rs 0 *s 5 31 2d rs 0 *s 5 2b 9n rs 0 *s 5 10 6c rs 0 *s 5 bp
@6y rs 0 *s 5 9r 2c rs 0 *s 5 9r ab rs 0 *s 5 5r ab rs 0 *s 5 3q
@7m rs 0 *s 5 6e 2z rs 0 *s 5 7q 9p rs 0 *s 5 ec 1m rs 0 *s -3 88
@56 rs 0 Am *s -3 7g 58 rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 88 6f rs
@0 Ro *s -3 7i 6i rs 0 *s -3 7f 6k rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s
@-3 6v 6h rs 0 Se *s -3 65 6i rs 0 Kit *s -3 6t 5s rs 0 Wi *s -3
@64 56 rs 0 Inf
*END fp20jp


[ooc: Rough map to show what's going on, should be self explanatory]

[itches]

Looking first at the tentacles of darkness, then at the approaching villagers, Ami verbalises her command in her haste.

"Lio, attack Pride!"

Quickly looking around, the girl attempts to find something to use as a makeshift weapon.

[BrianL03]

Her mind finally clearing, Robyn takes a good look at the shifting form of Pride, completely convinced now that it is not your regular human they were threatening. Her eyes glance around at the advancing zombie people, and her worries rise. These people aren't asking to be injured... and if she did end up injuring them, she'd definitely feel more than guilty about it. The only way that they could possibly keep harm from occuring to the villagers was if they attacked Pride, and defeated it.

"Tipper, doubleteam Pride with Lio! We need to take her down!" Robyn says, glaring at Pride as best she can.

Reaching into her sack, she pulls out the heavy waterproof flashlight she always carries with her, ready to use it as a makeshift club, should the need arise.

[tyckspoon]

Sean levels his glove at Pride and releases Kito. "Kito! First kata, third step." The rabbit steps forward with a stiff, open-hand jab.

[BigRedRod]

Lio floats emotionless i nthe air and graps a pointed splinter of wood with her mind. Like a dart, the thick tapered splinter flies towards the blurred shape of Pride. It's difficult to make out whether the attack was successful, the blurred figure makes no sign of pain in any case. Where the tentacles burst through the platform small heaps of broken wood have formed. Some of these would serve Amicula well as a club to ward off the approaching villagers

Tipper eagerly pushes between Will and Sean, and with a short leap the hydrotort's jaws snap on what is most likely Pride's leg. However, the cute little monster is unable to maintain a grip on the experiment, the mouthful of "leg" it caught in it's snapping jaw comes away easily and fades away like pure black smoke.

The form of Pride blurs and shifts and Kito fails to land a blow within the outline, each strike lands on a fringe of the figure which bends around the Kihare's out-stretched limbs

Pride's blurred photograph of a visible body, the zombie-villagers closing in and the four huge smoky-black tentacles, paying attention to everything would be impossible. Ami falls to the ground landing painfully on the platform. As insubstantial as the columns of darkness had seemed, they carry at least some force and Ami now felt this as the tentacle snaked off into the air. The rest of the tentacles weave and dance as Pride begins to laugh once again. One continues it's idle dance in the air while the other two sweep downwards to the three monsters below. One strikes at Tipper but her shell offers ample protection while Kito leaps over the other.

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4z 4b rs 0 *s b 8d 72 rs 0 *s 8 5q
@5o rs 0 *s 5 31 2d rs 0 *s 5 2b 9n rs 0 *s 5 10 6c rs 0 *s 5 bp
@6y rs 0 *s 5 9r 2c rs 0 *s 5 9r ab rs 0 *s 5 5r ab rs 0 *s 5 3q
@7m rs 0 *s 5 6e 2z rs 0 *s 5 7q 9p rs 0 *s 5 ec 1m rs 0 *s -3 88
@56 rs 0 Am *s -3 7g 58 rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 88 6f rs
@0 Ro *s -3 7i 6i rs 0 *s -3 64 5u rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s
@-3 6v 6h rs 0 Se *s -3 5g 6g rs 0 Kit *s -3 6t 5s rs 0 Wi *s -3
@64 56 rs 0 Inf
*END a2o6ek

[elpresidente]

Noticing the evident lack of injury too the girl and the fact that she herself seems to have little interaction with anything around her will looks to the tentacles which are obviously real due to the fact that they broke through the floor.
The floor! The girl is a personification of pride's will the real pride must be these tentacles, which means...Will grins widely. "She's under the stage! Infini attack the tentacles" Will himself looks for a way under the stage or if there isn't one trys to make one. he shouts to the others "I think the platform is raised for a reason and that the real body of pride is beneath us!"

[BigRedRod]

At Will's command Infini pounces forward toward the nearest flailing tentacle. He strikes it firmly grabbing hold with his body and biting deeply. The column of darkness begins to writhe as if in pain and finally it collapses into a cloud of black smoke. The smoke clears and reveals Infini crouched awkwardly on the other side of the a hole in the wooden decking. If will was looking for a way down the tentacle-free tentacle hole seems a sound idea.

The ring of Pride's labour force tightens on the party, with four well-muscled men arriving on the wooden platform. They move slowly but with determination. One clasps a large hammer and swings at Infini, but the monster easily dodges

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4z 4b rs 0 *s b 8d 72 rs 0 *s 8 5q
@5o rs 0 *s 5 3p 3o rs 0 *s 5 30 8b rs 0 *s 5 2c 6b rs 0 *s 5 ae
@71 rs 0 *s 5 90 3t rs 0 *s 5 9p 8v rs 0 *s 5 5o 92 rs 0 *s 5 4a
@68 rs 0 *s 5 5r 3o rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 d1 2z rs 0 *s -3 88
@56 rs 0 Am *s -3 7g 58 rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 88 6f rs
@0 Ro *s -3 7i 6i rs 0 *s -3 64 5u rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s
@-3 6v 6h rs 0 Se *s -3 5g 6g rs 0 Kit *s -3 6t 5s rs 0 Wi *s -3
@4t 3v rs 0 Inf *s -1 2o 2c rs 0 9y6tc 20 1o 2o 2c *s -1 2o 2c rs
@0 9y6tc 20 2c 2o 1o
*END hnewta

[itches]

Gasping for breath knocked out of her from the unexpected blow, Amicula pulls herself to her feet, grasping a makeshift club on her way. Hearing Will's call, Ami telepathically echo's it to Lio.

Focus on the tentacles!

[BrianL03]

"Tipper! Come get this tentacle near me!" Robyn says, pointing to the writhing mass near her, "If we're to keep these villagers from getting injured, we need to take out Pride!"

[tyckspoon]

Sean glances around at the approaching zombie-folk and grins. "Me and Kito will keep the people busy. Kito! Teamwork, fight to stun." Sean hurls himself at one of the workers with a punch, intending to take the man out of the fight by smacking him square in the solar plexus; Kito does similar things nearby, using his jumping ability to reach any number of soft areas. The two warriors cover each other's backs as best they can, considering the lack of anything really solid in the area.

[BigRedRod]

The villagers draw closer and Ami gets back to her feet, hefts a sturdy piece of shattered platform in both hands and awaits something to draw close enough to take a swing at. Lio grasps at another large splinter with her telekinetic prowess and flings it toward one of the grasping tentacles, the shot goes wide and misses any hostile target.

Rather disgruntled at being torn away from the shifting form of Pride, Tipper charges at the tentacles beside Robyn. Semi-vanishing into the gloom Tipper destroys the tentacle, leaving it's essence to fall like ash from the sky. The entire platform is covered in a low level cloud of murk from the two destroyed columns of black.
Leaping in to position at one edge of the platform, Sean strikes downwards with a flat-palmed strike. The boy hits the fully grown man with suprising force and in a single blow sends him into the world of the unconcious. Kito has slightly less success with the labourer nearest pride, jumping toward his target the Kihare extends a leg and strikes his target in the stomach. Aside from a slight moan, the villager fails to react.

In the centre of the platform, amid the tatters of the tent which now lie strewn across the wooden decking, the shadowy Pride extends her arms upwards in silence. The darkness across the platform flows towards Infini and into the hole beside him. A fraction of a second later another of the dark tentacles bursts through the pre-existing hole.
Lurching backwards to avoid being struck as the fresh column extends, Infini is struck solidly by the neighbouring tentacles. The fourth flails at Kito, but the disciplined monster easily avoids the blow


Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s b 8d 72 rs 0 *s 8 5q
@5o rs 0 *s 5 3p 3o rs 0 *s 5 30 8b rs 0 *s 5 2c 6b rs 0 *s 5 ae
@71 rs 0 *s 5 90 3t rs 0 *s 5 9p 8v rs 0 *s 5 5o 92 rs 0 *s 5 4a
@68 rs 0 *s 5 5r 3o rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 d1 2z rs 0 *s -3 88
@56 rs 0 Am *s -3 7g 58 rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 88 6f rs
@0 Ro *s -3 7i 6i rs 0 *s -3 7g 76 rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s
@-3 7g 7v rs 0 Se *s -3 4r 6h rs 0 Kit *s -3 6t 5s rs 0 Wi *s -3
@4t 3v rs 0 Inf *s -1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 4c 30 3o 3o *s -1 4c 3o rs
@0 9y6tc 4c 3o 3o 30 *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c *s -1 40
@4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 4c 40 3o
*END 2zuq8x

[elpresidente]

Seeking to prove his theory Will and Infini run to the hole not occupied by a tentacle and climb down to face whats there

[BigRedRod]

With one of the possessed workers on one side and a huge column of blackness on the other, Infini has to take a more indirect route to avoid being struck. The monster is far behind Will, when his master drops through the hole in the platform. Landing in a pool of soft mud, the trainer scambles deeper into the earth, along a tunnel forged by the tentacle. The darkness is almost complete here, and Will has no idea how much further he must travel.

The workers close in further and team G.L.A.M. find themselves in an ever-tightening circle. One lunges at Ami, it's hands full of some elbaroate metal measuring device. The blow connects solidly with her arm and for a moment her vision flashes white as agony races through her body. The tool bends slightly, most liekly making it useless for it's intended purpose. Kito's target strikes back with his heavy stake-driving mallet, but the swing is slow and the Kihare easily dodges.

[ooc: Infini couldn't move far enough into the hole. Will is in the dark earth a little way beneath the platfom]

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s b 8d 72 rs 0 *s 8 5q
@5o rs 0 *s 5 4e 4c rs 0 *s 5 3s 7o rs 0 *s 5 33 5q rs 0 *s 5 9q
@6b rs 0 *s 5 8e 4b rs 0 *s 5 93 89 rs 0 *s 5 6b 8f rs 0 *s 5 4a
@68 rs 0 *s 5 6d 4b rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 cd 3p rs 0 *s -3 88
@56 rs 0 Am *s -3 7g 58 rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 88 6f rs
@0 Ro *s -3 7i 6i rs 0 *s -3 7g 76 rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s
@-3 7g 7v rs 0 Se *s -3 4r 6h rs 0 Kit *s -3 6u 5v rs 0 Inf *s -1
@4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 4c 30 3o 3o *s -1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 4c 3o 3o 30 *s
@-1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 4c 40
@3o
*END -l0l83r

[itches]

Crying out in pain at the blow, Amicula nearly drops her club as her arm first flares up in pain, and then settles down to throbbing angrily. Gritting her teeth angry at the pain, the girl takes a step back and raises the makeshift weapon before her. Ready to dodge or counter any further attacks from the villager, she snakes a thought out to Lio.

Keep after the tentacle; don't worry about me.

(OOC: Ami is going total defence)

[BrianL03]

Seeing Ami get struck by the zombie, Robyn momentarily forgets her unwillingness to hurt the civilians around the village. Her eyes filled with anger from the thought that someone would try and hurt her Ami. Wielding her flashlight madly like a caveperson with rabies, she charges the person that just struck Ami, using her powerful leg muscles from swimming to launch into a flying tackle.

[tyckspoon]

Sean takes a couple steps to meet his next victim, with his motions getting smoother as he settles into the rythms of combat. Ami's pained shout calls up his protective-aggressive side, and he smashes down at the controlled worker, seeing in the man a surrogate for the one who hit Ami, Pride, and every deserving jerk who ever got a beating at Sean's hands.

[BigRedRod]

With Amicula fending off one of thviallgers, Lio hurls a rather large chunk of sundered wood into the nearest tentacle. The debris hits firmly and the tentacle collapses, spreading a cloud of low-lying thin black mistover the platform.

Rushing forward blinded by rage Robyn herself nearly strikes Ami with her flashlight as she charges past and leaps at the possessed villager. The man bats her away with hardly a second though, leaving Robyn lying on the ground and the target still very much unhampered. Tipper follows Robyn's lead rushing forward to meet the man who struck Ami. Running beneath the hovering Lio, Tipper bites the leg of the metal instrument wielding man. Despite how much pain the Hydrotort must be causing the man hardly flinches and continues to stare at Amicula with his empty eyes.

Striding along the edge of the platform, Sean grips his right fist in his left hand and brings down a two handed strike upon the head of the villager attempting to climb up toward him. With a lurch the villager dodges slightly and Sean strikes the collar bone of the man with full force, there is a loud crack, the sound of a bone snapping, but the man continues on. Kito takes half a step backwards and jumps at his target, in mid-air he turns and connects his foot with the jaw of the labourer. Another of Pride's minions falls to the ground in an unconcious heap.

A tentacle drops from the sky and sweeps at Sean as he battles another of the controlled villagers. He moves forward half a step, balancing on the edge of the platform, and the huge column of blackness strikes where he had stood leaving a long wooden impact across the platform. His trained reactions had saved him once again.

The shade of Pride reaches to the sky and turns on the spot, the black mist rolls down back into the hole Will dissapeared into. Deep in the darkness Will fails to notice the mist reforming into a tentacle and screams in agony as he is forced out of it's way. His body is pressed backwards in the earth, and the air is knocked from him as stones dig rather too deeply into his body. To the viewers on the platform, the hole is sealed by the emergence of a fresh tentacle.

Another tentacle swats at Infini, and even with his attention fixed upon how he is going to find his master, the bug doges the lazy sweep.


Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s 8 5q 5o rs 0 *s 5 4e
@4c rs 0 *s 5 3s 7o rs 0 *s 5 33 5q rs 0 *s 5 9q 6b rs 0 *s 5 8e
@4b rs 0 *s 5 93 89 rs 0 *s 5 6b 8f rs 0 *s 5 4g 6c rs 0 *s 5 6d
@4b rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 cd 3p rs 0 *s -3 88 56 rs 0 Am *s
@-3 7g 58 rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 8s 54 rs 0 Ro *s -3 7i
@6i rs 0 *s -3 7e 4h rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s -3 65 7s rs 0
@Se *s -3 4r 6h rs 0 Kit *s -3 6u 5v rs 0 Inf *s -1 40 4c rs 0
@9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 4c 40 3o *s -1 50 2c
@rs 0 9y6tc 4c 1o 50 2c *s -1 50 2c rs 0 9y6tc 4c 2c 50 1o *s -1
@2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 2o 2c 3c *s -1 2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 3c 2c 2o *s
@b 8e 70 rs 0
*END ngthnw

[elpresidente]

Will sees the light behind is all but bocked out by the tentacle and not able to get out or take another brush with the stones he drags himself on down the passage hoping inifini gets rid of the tentacle

[BigRedRod]

Prying himself out of the soft mud and sharp stones, the young Will continues his solitary underground adventure. Pushing past the unsurpassed strength of the dark tentacle, the seperated member of team G.L.A.M. suddenly falls. The fall can't have been more than a few feet bt without light it is difficult to tell. Light... One of the first things Will noices is that the darkness has faded slightly. Instead he can clearly see the small chamber he is currently lying in. Spitting away a mouthful of dirt he climbs to his feet and the light source becomes clear.

A small humanoid figure sits in the chamber. Perhaps sit isn't the correct word as it doesn't seem to be sat on anything but the stale air in the small cavern beneath the wooden platform of the tiny village. It's limbs are stunted and useless looking, the legs are folded beneath the portly belly. Atop the greenish-tan, flabby torso sits a head which looks slightly too large. The features are too small for the head, the tiny eyes are close, the nose and mouth are nearly non-existant and ears seem entirely neglected. Above the head floats an orb of white light, the source of illumination in the earthern hollow and from the orb reach a trio of thin strands of blackness.

Before Will can react ,the eyes of the disgusting creature quickly open and the high-pitched wet voice pleads,
"No! Stop! We can make a deal! Yes?"


Back on the surface Infini is left to think for himself. With Will gone and the way forward blocked, it's first thought is to run, then to panic, but finally it settles on charging at the tentacle which is blocking it from following its master's path. The leaping bite goes rather awry and one can only assume the tentacle is unharmed
The battle continues with the villagers drawing ever ever closer and striking back at the three surface-dwelling G.L.A.M. members. After narrowly avoiding a tentacle strike, Sean has to step back from a swift punch as the villager manages a firm hold footing on the edge of the platform. Weidling the dented instrument the posessed villager at the centre of Ami and Robyn's world lunges out again. Amicula ducks and the heavy metal object misses her entirely. Tipper is equally fortunate, the shell of the hydrotort absorbing all of the the shovel's impact as the crazed workman bears down upon her with his tool of the trade.

Robyn is far from as lucky as her fellows, afer her own failed attack she is lying open to assault from the village labourer who approaches from behind, large wooden mallet in hand. The weapon collides firmly with the swimmer's protectively raised arm. Her arm lurches at an odd angle with the force of the blow but remains unbroken and working, just heavily bruised and painful to move. The pumping adrenaline begins to drown out the pain, but robyn is fully aware that when the battle is over anything involving her left arm will cause plenty of pain for days to come.

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s 8 5q 5o rs 0 *s 5 4e
@4c rs 0 *s 5 4f 7o rs 0 *s 5 3q 5o rs 0 *s 5 92 5n rs 0 *s 5 8e
@4b rs 0 *s 5 8d 7m rs 0 *s 5 6b 8f rs 0 *s 5 4g 6c rs 0 *s 5 6z
@4b rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 bp 4e rs 0 *s -3 88 56 rs 0 Am *s
@-3 7g 58 rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 8s 54 rs 0 Ro *s -3 7i
@6i rs 0 *s -3 7e 4h rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s -3 65 7s rs 0
@Se *s -3 4r 6h rs 0 Kit *s -3 7j 6j rs 0 Inf *s -1 40 4c rs 0
@9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 4c 40 3o *s -1 50 2c
@rs 0 9y6tc 4c 1o 50 2c *s -1 50 2c rs 0 9y6tc 4c 2c 50 1o *s -1
@2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 2o 2c 3c *s -1 2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 3c 2c 2o *s
@b 8e 70 rs 0
*END twg6xl

[itches]

"Keep after the tentacles!" Ami yells out to Lio, and anyone else who might be paying attention. Will's down there.

Ignoring her own advice, Ami turns on the spot, and with a cry, swings her makeshift club as hard as she can at the zombie-villager attacking Robyn.

[BrianL03]

"Arg!" Robyn screams in pain as the villager hits her, and relfexively, she gives the villager a sharp kick to the groin.

"Tipper, go after the tentacles, too!"

[tyckspoon]

Sean takes a step back from the edge and, spinning on a heel, whips a kick through the tentacle behind him. The boy allows the spin's momentum to carry him through the full circle, so that he ends up facing the workers again.

[BigRedRod]

Lio drifts sideways and hurls a broken plank of wood with her telekinetic powers. As it spins through the air, Lio loses control and the shot barely clips the tentacle blcoking the hole through which Will ventured. Amicula manages a solid strike against the arm of mallet-wielding villager who stands over Robyn, although it is not enough to stop his relentless attack.

Springing up from her prone position, Robyn lashes out with a weak kick. It lands on the thigh of the mallet bearer and deals no measurable amount of damage. Commanded to leave her master to deal with the possessed labourers, Tipper charges off toward one of the tentacles. The heavy hydrotort ploughs directly into one of the columns of inky blackness and sends it tumbling to the ground in a great black mist.

With a spinning charge Sean strikes at one of the tentacles, the bloe would have normally struck firm but the dark mass seems to shift and fails to provide a solid target. Kito springs forward and lashes at another of the townspeople with a powerful flying kick, the unarmed man raises his arms in defense and manages to deflect the worst of the blow.

The blurred vision of Pride extends her reach toward the two girls battling with the mindless workmen. With an audible Fwum a quickly moving partially substantial tenctacle pushes out of the hole and immeditaly crashes downwards forming a "U" shape with itself and aiming to strike down directly on top of Amicula. With a swift movement she dodges left, the tentacle lands with a crunch and swiftly withfraws leaving a rounded impact ofmpartially-snapped wood below. The diagonally opposite tentacle sweeps the ground near Kito and catches the Kihare, the blow was minor and the skilled monster easily recovered it's footing

Beneath the surface of the earth Will shuns off the pain from him scratches and draws himself up before the creature trying to show no weakness,
"Well that all depends. The first thing is that I'll call a truce with you. Stop your attack and my friends will stop theirs"
On the platform above Infini rushes toward the tentacle in his path, the same one that Lio hurled the plank of wood toward just seconds ago and reduces it to a faint black mist on the platform via a leaping attack.

Kito finds himself battling against two of the workmen, one armed and one wielding a wooden stake as a club. The first lashes out with a swift kick to the Kihare but misses entirely, the second strikes downwards with the wooden club and catches Kito's foot.

With a villager one either side of him, Sean finds himself in a slightly worse situation than his monster. The man before him clutches a heavy lead pipe and manages a clumsy swing that is all too easy to avoid, however the focus on the hevaily armed man allows his former target, an umarmed man to land a solid punch in the small of his back.

Amicula, Robyn and Lio find themselves in the centre of an ever shrinking circle of crazed villagers armed with various building tools. Amicula turn her attention from the man with the mallet to confrnt her old foe, the villager with the unknown but now broken metal instrument and his new ally a man clutching a wooden stake in both of his hands. The instrument man lunges forward and Ami manages to bat away his attack with her own improvised weapon, the shifting target provides too much trouble for the double-handed stake wielder and his own attack just sweeps through empty air.

A mallet swings down at Robyn once more, but she pushes both of her hands forward to grasp at the wrist of the labourer which stops the arc of the swing and prevents another powerful strike with the stake-driving implement.

Infini's is occupied entirely by the tunnel before him and fails to notice the large man holding a large wrench close in for an attack. The heavy metal spanner strikes him on the side of his head, and makes a sick snapping sound

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s 8 5q 5o rs 0 *s 5 4f
@4z rs 0 *s 5 4f 7o rs 0 *s 5 3q 5o rs 0 *s 5 92 5n rs 0 *s 5 8e
@4b rs 0 *s 5 7u 6z rs 0 *s 5 5p 7k rs 0 *s 5 4g 6c rs 0 *s 5 7s
@50 rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 b3 54 rs 0 *s -3 88 56 rs 0 Am *s
@-3 7g 5u rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 8s 54 rs 0 Ro *s -3 7i
@6i rs 0 *s -3 5e 4f rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s -3 4v 7q rs 0
@Se *s -3 43 5r rs 0 Kit *s -3 7j 6j rs 0 Inf *s -1 40 4c rs 0
@9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 4c 40 3o *s -1 2c 3c
@rs 0 9y6tc 1o 2o 2c 3c *s -1 2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 3c 2c 2o *s b
@8e 70 rs 0 *s -1 2o 2c rs 0 9y6tc 20 1o 2o 2c *s -1 2o 2c rs 0
@9y6tc 20 2c 2o 1o *s -1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 4c 3o 3o 30 *s -1 4c 3o
@rs 0 9y6tc 3o 3o 4c 30
*END -2jp678

[itches]

Time seems to slow down for Amicula as she watches the tentacle of darkness descends on the spot she was standing moments ago. Tiny splinters of wood fly into the air, and a low thud echoes up through her feet. As the tentacle withdraws, revealing the broken and mangled wood, the girl suddenly sees her broken and bloody body where indentation is - a fate only avoided due to her quick dodge.

Quickly taking in the state of her friends conditions, all at the centre of an ever tightening circle of the mindless villagers bent of attacking them, a realisation grows in the girls mind.

If we stay here much longer, one of us is going to get seriously injured.

Possible options swiftly sprint across the surface of Amicula's thoughts, each leaving a trail of doubt and hesitation until they are discarded by the next one's approach. All this happens between two fleeting moments, and as time speeds up to normal, the girl seizes upon a desperate plan.

Turning her attention to the mallet wielding oaf, Amicula throws herself bodily at the man in an attempt to free Robyn. Focusing almost totally on the task, she spares only a moment to scream at her girlfriend.

"Follow Will!"

[tyckspoon]

Surrounded. Crap. Sean abandons his attempts to fight his nearby opponents and sprints for the other side of the platform in an attempt to reach the girls and make some kind of defensive position. "Kito, with me!" Will..faster, man, faster.

[BigRedRod]

Lio glides backward and attempts to fling another of the large wooden pieces of debris caused by the thrashing tentacles. The stake wielding man bats away the incoming target with a crude but effective swing

Leaping forward, Ami manages to steal the attentions of all the members of the ever-tightening circle and buys her companion the time to run across the wooden decking and dive into the soft earthern tunnel forged by a now extinct tentacle. With practised precision the girl glides downwards. The landing, however, is not so smooth as she impacts with earth rather than the easily broken water her subconcious seemed to expect.
Tipper attempts to follow but is blocked by the wrench bearer, the heavy hydrotort barges in to the shins of the man. He stumbles slightly but does not fall.

Sean races away from his own problems to face the man gripping a lrge stake like a baseball bat. Pushing forward he lashes out with a flat-palmed jab, but the man twists away and the blow lands weakly.
Kito follows the commands of his master and falls upon the sametarget as Sean with a flying kick. Both of the Kihare's large feet strike the throat of the posssessed villager and he collapses in a heap. For a moment he gasps for air ad then fades into the realm of the unconcious.

The shadowy figure of Pride stands motionless above ground while the creature beneath stares at Will, not speaking. After what seems like an enternity but which is more likely to be only a handful of seconds it closes its eyes. When they reopen the tiny mouth begins to move once more,
"It is done for now. Do not worry for your friends"
More dirt spills out from the tunnel which Will himself fell from and the chamber becomes ever slightly darker,
"Now then. A deal, yes? A deal which will have you leave this place."
Despite the blow to its head, Will's Trian ignores the man who struck him and takes the distraction by Tipper as an oppotunity to dealve into the earthern tunnel after Robyn



Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s 8 5q 5o rs 0 *s 5 4f
@4z rs 0 *s 5 4f 7o rs 0 *s 5 3q 5o rs 0 *s 5 92 5n rs 0 *s 5 8e
@4b rs 0 *s 5 7u 6z rs 0 *s 5 5p 7k rs 0 *s 5 4g 6c rs 0 *s 5 7s
@50 rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 b3 54 rs 0 *s -3 88 56 rs 0 Am *s
@-3 6t 6j rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 8s 54 rs 0 Ro *s -3 7i
@6i rs 0 *s -3 6t 74 rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s -3 6t 5s rs 0
@Se *s -3 6s 55 rs 0 Kit *s -3 7j 6j rs 0 Inf *s -1 40 4c rs 0
@9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 4c 40 3o *s -1 2c 3c
@rs 0 9y6tc 1o 2o 2c 3c *s -1 2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 3c 2c 2o *s b
@8e 70 rs 0 *s -1 2o 2c rs 0 9y6tc 20 1o 2o 2c *s -1 2o 2c rs 0
@9y6tc 20 2c 2o 1o *s -1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 4c 3o 3o 30 *s -1 4c 3o
@rs 0 9y6tc 3o 3o 4c 30 *s -1 40 2o rs 0 9y6tc 40 2o 3c 20 *s -1
@40 2o rs 0 9y6tc 3c 2o 40 20
*END -xhyd9m

[elpresidente]

Will relaxes slightly willing to belive the creature has stopped it's aggression "Yes a deal can be made, if you come with me you will not be destroyed."

[BigRedRod]

While Will continues his negotiations the situation above ground becomes ever more bleak for the members of team GLAM. With two members beneath Pride's great stage and the circle of armed villagers shuffling ever closer, it becomes apparant that the battle above ground is one which is unlikely to have any winners.

The mallet-bearer who Amicula entangled herself with to allow Robyn's escape beneath drops his weapon and focuses on standing back up. The girl wrestles valiantly but the labourer has cleary superior strength. Not deterred, Ami uses the man's recover for her own aid and allows him to pull her back to a standing position. A quick smile of triumph flashes across her face and is nearly removed but for a swift dodge. Her old nemesis the unknown-and-now-heavily-damaged-metal-instrument-wielder performs a wide vertical swing with the device against the girl as she regains her composure. The object must have passed within a dozen microns of her face, a blow which would have most likely been fatal

Standing before the tentacle-hole which Infini and Robyn vanished in to moments ago, the slightly overweight man clutching the huge wrench berings it downwards in a terrible blow against Tipper's shell. There is a snapping noise and the hydrotort cries out in a howl of pain. Landing at the meeting of two of the hexagons which make up her shell, the force of the blow was enough to split the shell

Without fate taking pity on the poor creature it may have been removed from the battle with the strike from the labourer behind. His length of lead piping could have easily widened the crack and caused more servere damage to Tipper. However, the man instead caths his foot on a slightly raised section of decking, drops the pipe to the ground and falls forward.

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper
Sean & Kito
Pride
Will & Infini
Workers

Map
The blue stripe marks the man who fell over. I'll try and remember to stick to that convention as it makes things much clearer
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s 8 5n 5m rs 0 *s 5 55
@50 rs 0 *s 5 53 6w rs 0 *s 5 4e 5p rs 0 *s 5 92 5n rs 0 *s 5 8e
@4b rs 0 *s 5 7u 6z rs 0 *s 5 6e 70 rs 0 *s 5 4g 6c rs 0 *s 5 7s
@50 rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 ab 4y rs 0 *s -3 88 56 rs 0 Am *s
@-3 6t 6j rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 7i 6i rs 0 *s -3 6t
@74 rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s -3 6t 5s rs 0 Se *s -3 6s 55 rs
@0 Kit *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc
@3c 4c 40 3o *s -1 2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 2o 2c 3c *s -1 2c 3c rs 0
@9y6tc 1o 3c 2c 2o *s b 8e 70 rs 0 *s -1 2o 2c rs 0 9y6tc 20 1o
@2o 2c *s -1 2o 2c rs 0 9y6tc 20 2c 2o 1o *s -1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc
@4c 3o 3o 30 *s -1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 3o 3o 4c 30 *s -1 40 2o rs 0
@9y6tc 40 2o 3c 20 *s -1 40 2o rs 0 9y6tc 3c 2o 40 20 *s -1 3c 3o
@rs 0 73 2o 3o 3c 30
*END pga5q5

[itches]

The smile drops from Amicula's face as she feels the metal device scrap the top layer of her skin from her face. They are slowly getting beaten, and with almost half their group underground their chances of beating the zombie villagers had dropped dramatically. Falling back to Sean and the monsters trying to keep an eye on all of the villagers at the same time.

"Want to lead them away?"

[tyckspoon]

Sean winces in sympathy with Tipper's cry and moves to protect the belabored mon. He points a finger at the fallen pipe-wielder while sizing up the wrenchman standing in front of a tentacle pit. "Kito, don't let him stand up."

"Want to lead them away?"
He spared a moment to wave at the unprotected edge of the platform, where the only potential problem is tripping over the body of the worker who never made it onto the wood. "Try that way. I've got..business!" On the last word, the boy flexed his legs and hurled himself at the wrench-holder's center of gravity in an attempt to bull the man into the currently tentacle-free hole.

[BigRedRod]

Amicula moves with a twirl toward her companion, her arms raised in a defensive posture that lacks style but has a decent measure of effectiveness. Lio grips hold of a stout block of wood with her mind and swings it brutally against the villager lying on the ground beneath her. The impact is sound and the man immediately stops moving in response lying unconscious on the wooden platform.

Suffering from such a powerful blow and with her master nowhere in sight, Tipper simply squeals and remains stationary attempting to pull her exposed areas inside the now-fractured shell. Robyn meanwhile pulls herself through the earth and falls into the chamber occupied by her companion and the controlling mind dominating the village of Olivebark. The small disgusting humanoid figure seems to withdraw slightly at the extra presence in the hidden chamber.

Before the words have even finished leaving his mouth, Sean knows that Lio has already completed Kito's task. Wordlessly they converge on a single target as one. Sean dashes in a straight line with head lowered while the Kihare jumps with suprising speed, both attacks land in the same instant and the three find themselves falling downwards in a rough circle through the cold wet earth. The tunnel narrows after less than a metre and the writhing mass stops with bruising all round

The image of herself which pride projected above ground fades and flickers for a breath moment, but for now each of the two remaining tentacles simply waves in the air. Below ground the suprised humanoid takes a chance,
"Destruction or Slavery..."
The sentence ends with a swift and powerful action. The concentration of black mist, the stuff of tentacles in the space above pride condenses. For a moment Robyn and Will can see the snaking tendrils leading up to the surface through two tunnels in the walls. A third much thinner column of blackness juts outward from the mass with astonishing speed, before Robyn can even attempt to dodge it strikes her forehead and she collapses into the dark world of unconsciousness

Further adding to the confusion in the cavern, Will's Trian finally emerges from one of the upper tunnels, bringing a large section of earth with him which smashes around him and most likely makes the cavern slightly more unstable

Initiative
Amicula & Lio
Robyn & Tipper (Robyn is down)
Sean & Kito (currently entangled with a villager inside a tentacle hole)
Pride
Will & Infini (Infini has arrived at Will's location although his arrival was his action)
Workers

Map
Drop this text at http://www.irony.com/java/mmee
*BEGIN 0 0 rs 0
*s -1 5c 40 rs 0 9zabk -2o -o 5c -o 5c 40 -2o 40 -2o -o *s b 9m
@4c rs 0 *s b 4d 72 rs 0 *s b 4y 4c rs 0 *s 8 5n 5m rs 0 *s 5 55
@50 rs 0 *s 5 53 6w rs 0 *s 5 4e 5p rs 0 *s 5 92 5n rs 0 *s 5 8e
@4b rs 0 *s 5 7u 6z rs 0 *s 5 6d 70 rs 0 *s 5 4g 6c rs 0 *s 5 7s
@50 rs 0 *s 5 7u 8b rs 0 *s 5 ab 4y rs 0 *s -3 7e 5t rs 0 Am *s
@-3 6r 6i rs 0 Lio *s -3 86 5u rs 0 *s -3 7i 6i rs 0 *s -3 6t
@74 rs 0 Tip *s -3 73 6i rs 0 *s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 3o 40 4c
@*s -1 40 4c rs 0 9y6tc 3c 4c 40 3o *s -1 2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 2o
@2c 3c *s -1 2c 3c rs 0 9y6tc 1o 3c 2c 2o *s b 8e 70 rs 0 *s -1
@2o 2c rs 0 9y6tc 20 1o 2o 2c *s -1 2o 2c rs 0 9y6tc 20 2c 2o 1o *s
@-1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 4c 3o 3o 30 *s -1 4c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 3o 3o 4c
@30 *s -1 40 2o rs 0 9y6tc 40 2o 3c 20 *s -1 40 2o rs 0 9y6tc 3c
@2o 40 20 *s -1 3c 3o rs 0 9y6tc 3c 3o 2o 30 *s -1 3c 3o rs 0
@9y6tc 2o 3o 3c 30
*END upsgse

[elpresidente]

"Bastard!" he shouts as he runs at pride before beating the powermad little freak to the ground.

[BigRedRod]

The first blow, a solid punch, impacts on the side of the creature's squat head. It snaps sideways as Will's second fist slams in from the other direction. The frail form of the creature comes apart under the physical attack with the head separating from it's body, and it's torso tearing open. Thick black ichor oozes out of the creature, splattering mainly across Will. Some lands in his open mouth as he screams in anger, the taste is bitter and unpleasant but still manages to tug at memories past without allowing itself to be identified.

Above ground the remaining villagers slump into heaps around Amicula and the remaining tentacles of darkness explode into nothing more than dark smoke which fades in seconds. Her companions had been successful and for now they were all safe. The air is quiet and it becomes clear that perhaps this mission was intended to have occured with a little more stealth and subtlety. Bodies lie all around the village centre, the wooden platform on which Ami stands is mostly destroyed and a glance to the side reveals that the Olivebark blockade headquaters constructed acorss the main road, have witnessed all of the events. The distance is a hive of activity and it becomes clear that in a minute or so various officials will be arriving in the village itself and questions will start being asked. Being caught in this line of questioning is something which members of the Foundation would do best to avoid. Especially members who were briefly caught by a border guard who may well recognise them during the process.

Nearby Lio silently floats, the face of the doll stares out over the scene of devastation. Tipper, however, is nowhere to be seen.

Back below ground, Will sinks to his knees in the remains of the creature. The creature which he killed with his bare hands. Behind him Infini clambers to it's feet and leans it's head against his arm in a rare display of affection. The dark mist has departed the cavern now, and shafts of sunlight manage to break through from the surface. A particular ray of sunshine manages to catch something a dull metallic silver in the midst of Pride's remains.

Sean lands on his feet in the cavern with a dull sound. Kito lands swiftly behind. Both managed to free themselves from the limp villager without further injury. The martial artist and his companion are greeted to the sight of one of their number slumped in the mud while the other kneels in a pool of dark filth with his monster at his side

[elpresidente]

I had no choice...

"I had no choice" sobs Will. His head collapses into his hands the heavy breathing becoming a torrent of tears. He overcomes his distress and crawls over to Robyn to ensure she's alright.

[tyckspoon]

Sean spares a second to blink at the scene and fight down his gag reflex before moving to take charge of it. On his way to Robyn's body, he grabs the metal object out of Pride's ichor and jams it in a pocket for later inspection. "Come on, Will. We've overstayed our welcome here. Help me get her out of this place. Pick up her legs." He lifts up Robyn's torso and begins trying to work out the problem of how to get her dead weight back up one of the entry shafts, preferably without damaging her body any more.

[itches]

Looking over the village that used to be Olivebark, Amicula can only shake her head at the destruction. A quick look around reveals that Lio is still alive and amazingly unscathed after the prolonged free-for-all. Tripper, however seemed to have disappeared when the shadow-tentacles did. It was the second look around that revealed the newest problem for team GLAM. The police were swiftly on their way toward the sight, and were likely to take into custody any of the survive participants.

"Fuck."

Making her way over to the nearest tentacle-hole, Ami calls down it to where she hopes her friends are.

"Ah, guys. If any of you are still alive we need to get out of here now, we have incoming!"

[BigRedRod]

Memories tend to blur in times of stress. With their monsters back in their tokens Team GLAM, caked in mud, sweat and filled with adrenalin, drag their fallen member across the wooden platform and rush toward the trees.

Everything else was irrelevant, for now they simply needed to leave the scene of devastation that the tiny village of Olivebark had become. Time slows and the colour drains from the world as the children run on instinct alone...

-=Chapter End=-

[BigRedRod]

Will
CP : 0
SP : 2
Infini
CP : 5
SP : 2

Sean
CP : 0
SP : 2
Kito
CP : 6
SP : 3
? (Arachmon)
CP : 0
SP : 0

Ami
CP : 0
SP : 3
Lio
CP : 5
SP : 2