View source for 4838/MANDATORY BEACH EPISODE

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2016/12/03
|Location=Core Tellus <CT>
|Synopsis=Will invites some friends to a tropical island! Unfortunately they don't get much beach time.
|Cast of Characters=934, 571, 941, 942, 385, 7, 1051, 894, 774, 673
|Tinyplot=Code Chaser
|Tinyplot2=CODE Chaser: Shattered Judgement
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's a fine day to be exploring the open seas! The sun is shining, the extra-large seagulls are making their southwestern migration, and the ocean is approximately as smooth as glass. Not that tumultuous seas would pose a particularly large problem given your form of transit.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's not Will's little PT Boat, though that is definitely how you got from Meridian's shipyards to here. It's actually sitting at the far back of your current ride, dangling from a pair of cranes. No. He sailed that (relatively cramped, given all the people) ship far enough out to sea that the merchant shipping lanes were left far behind. Waiting for him was something that would probably conjure terrible memories in at least a couple of the present crew.<br><br>It was an enormous, black battleship. Shrouded in fog.<br><br>Yeah.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The captain of said warship would also have been somewhat familiar: an eight-foot-tall giant covered in jet black armor, though he appears to have recently added an admiral's cap and jacket to his uniform. A couple other crewmen, similar in design to the captain, are all that there is to this particular vessel's accompaniment. Not that there's much place to berth them; the ship is almost entirely automated. Humming machines take up much of the interior, hidden away behind sealed bulkheads and secret compartments.<br><br>Yes, it's THAT GUY. On one of THOSE SHIPS. Some might wonder how the blazes Will knows a guy who operates an Ancient naval battlecruiser.<br><br>CORAL.<br><br>CORAL IS HOW.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And the less that's said of that, the better. Regardless! The warship sails far out to sea. Further than the most distant shipping route, deep into the unexplored waters over the distant horizon. But it isn't long (Ancient Battleships move pretty fast) before the destination is in sight.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The island is vaguely circular in shape, with a vast cove on one end that resembles a crescent moon. Beyond that is a lush jungle entwining around a set of jagged, rocky hills. The green creeps up and over the huge, old mounds, tangling up around something vaguely... out of place. It's a boxy, regularly-shaped hulk of /something/ swallowed up by the trees. From the beach, it looks like it could be a decent hike in to reach it, but definitely not something out of the question for veteran adventurers!<br><br>But first.<br><br>The beach.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Reaching it from battleship is kind of difficult for reasons like 'minimum sailing depth' and 'not wanting to run aground.' But that is precisely why Will brought his boat! The Chorus humms happily through the crystal-blue water, weaving past an old rock formation before coming to a stop a few feet from the beach. Will rises from the wheel in one of those AWFUL OLD-TIMEY SWIMSUITS with a triumphant grin on his face, "Alright, this is the place! Looks like we made it in one piece, huh?"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With that, he hurls an anchor overboard and disembarks, wading his way to shore. There's a huge backpack on his shoulders, and a beeping disk in his hand, and a CONSPICUOUSLY HUGE GUN dangling from a holster at his hip. They're far enough in shore that it doesn't get wet. This is probably for the best.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Alright, so!" Will says to ALL YOU GATHERED HERE TODAY. "This here radar doohicky is telling me that the thing we're looking for is somewhere around these parts. So who wants to head into the jungle and take a look around?!" Because the first thing anyone does at the beach is immediately jump into a bunch of trees that are almost certainly FILLED WITH BUGS.<br><br>Will might have a single-track mind.<br><br>After all, there's all this beach all around, right? There are even some coconut trees! Or, what definitely look like coconut trees, at least. Maybe he intends to enjoy it all AFTER he finds what he's looking for?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maaka is here, with Kotone. They are wearing swimsuits, as revealed as the taller, buffer cyborg peels off her shirt and shorts to reveal a red bikini and a military belt. As she uses her matter manipulator to ditch her clothes, she also produces a harness with holster for a pistol and mag pouches, and an AK for this ADVENTURE!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She disembarks the ship, mentally grumbling about the lack of surfing. &lt;Really wish he'd tell us what we're looking for, here.&gt; She says over private cyber-comms to Kotone. &lt;I was looking forward for a chance to actually take us all surfing today, before we went treasure hunting.&gt;<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oh well, she advances with William, AK in hands.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Just so it's out there, Chief," Mel says as they sail, "You look a little ridiculous with that hat and jacket over the armor." This, from the woman wearing a smoke-grey longcoat with armored shoulder pauldrons over a blue-grey skintight space suit.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Firechaser (or Chaser, or Firestarter-C, whichever you prefer), is probably parked somewhere on the warship as well. Mel Brock is nothing if not practical. But she's quite happy to ride the ship in relative relaxation, all the way out to the stopping point where they transition to Will's boat, and from there right to the shoreline. "I think if we didn't want to go take a look, we're a little past the point of no return," she says simply. "So what /is/ this component we're looking for, anyway, Judgment?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> Kazuko's here, too! After hearing about more potential exploration being done near some beach out in the middle of nowhere, the martial artist wasted little time in finding her way on board William's boat. Now that they've reached their destination, though, she's looking both excited and disappointed. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Are we leaving the beach already? Aw... Well, it should be okay as long as we come back!" Not letting that detour dampen her spirits, Kazuko hurries along with her naginata in hand and... Wait. She's still dressed in her track jacket. That's not beach-appropriate clothing at all! <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It's easier to move through the forest without worrying about minor scrapes that way, at least. "So what's this Solano thing, anyway?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>Fortunately, Yuna isn't particularly susceptible to getting seasick; however, she's not exactly dressed for the beach. What she *is* wearing is her Hikari SDP uniform, which is sufficiently lightweight that the heat and humidity don't get to her too much, while being sufficiently water-resistant that she can handle a bit of wading without having to let her shoes and socks (or rather, tights) dry out before she goes anywhere else.<br><br>She *does* have a swimsuit with her, but no way she was going to actually put on a swimsuit while they were sailing on what might as well be a ghostly pirate ship from the way it looked at a distance. If there's time for swimming later, along with the desire to do so, she can find a private spot and change clothes later.<br><br>It's far more likely she'll need to be in her Light Suit before that, though - which is why Elner is flitting along next to her. The rest of the Matrix of Light are staying on the ship for now; they can fly across if Yuna needs any of them for her alternate armors ... or all of them, to summon El-Line, but that seems unlikely. Yuna's hardly going to rule it out, though.<br><br>"Elner, what's moving around that isn't us?" Yuna inquires, looking over the jungle. She can practically hear the insects lying in wait to snack on her warm, tender, maidenly blood ...<br><br>"... and do we REALLY have to go traipsing through that jungle to find the component we're after?" Yuna adds, edging back towards the water as her entomophobic imagination does rather too good a job of conjuring up a variety of insectoid horrors.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kotone Yamakawa didn't care for the imposing look for herself it was too far away from who she was honestly. Kotone likewise uses her maniplator to store her clothing as well. She's wearing a one piece swisuit with a zipped window up front which is currently open at the moment. Still all things considered it's fairly modest compared to many other swimsuits out there in the multiverse. She looks to Maaka for a moment. <br><br> "Alexis we're going to swim and the like, we're not here to hunt fish with guns?" <br><br> The Blue haired woman seems very amused. <br>% R&lt;&lt;Oh Surfing? That sounds fun!&gt;&gt; <br><br> Now Kotone isn't unarmed but her weapons are stored in the maniplaotr for the moment also in an odd way Kotone's not alone either..even more so than Maaka. Someone else is with her, as one mighgt see it a voice in her head.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"I could level us a path through the jungle." Mel offers Yuna, in a tone that suggests she knows exactly what the answer will be."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It's VACATION TIME, and that means, Millium is ONE THE CASE! It's been concert after concert, album signings, meet and greets, speeches, alongside minor dungeon crawls. And lordy, the girl was due for a nice break! ...Because this is totally a break, right? I mean, she's totally dressed for it! A white bikini, tied together at the front, with gold lining both pieces. She's got a blue towel tied around her waist and flowing down to one side to the thigh to make up her VACATION WEAR. And no, her glowing blue orbitals are nowhere to be seen. But they might just be turned off. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Yes, she can turn them off. Unlike a certain SOMEONE and his gun. Poor guy really should see a doctor for that. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But then WILL is telling them about a jungle thing! Millium arches a brow. "...Haaaa? Jungle?" Her head tilts, sending blonde locks fluttering aside a bit. "Will, Will, Will, Will, Will, Will..." She steps forward and puts her hands on his shoulders. "....I THOUGHT THIS WAS A VACATION!?" She yells at him, shaking the damn guy by his shoulders. "What part of vacation means dive into the forest!? I don't even have any equipment!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She points aside to Claire, who of course is here. "Claire didn't bring any equipment!" The girl in question arches a brow and glares. "Excuse you, you airhead. I /do/ have my equipment." There's a laptop in her lap. Even when she's on vacation in a one piece swimsuit. GUILD GONNA GUILD. Millium hangs her head. "I-I'm not an airhead!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Beat. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "...Also what're you looking for again?" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; SHE WASN'T THERE FOR ALL THAT STUFF OKAY?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"It ain't the fish, more like the wildlife on the ground that I'm worried about." Maaka asides. She is fully aware of how dumb she looks, wearing tactical gear over a swimsuit like some mute sniper with breathing skin or something stupid like that.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;I got a board just for you, too. You're welcome~&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''<br>August is also here, because he's roadtripping lately with Will. He is also in a swimsuit, but his is not in a one piece. It /does/ have horrible stripes. He does not look pleased. He has brought absolutely no gear except the swimsuit. "So, we're going into a jungle in swimwear. I have an important question, before we do: do you have your will and testaments anywhere that a survivor could get them?" He looks serious, but his humor is usually deadpan anyways.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Reasons like this are why Dorian trusts NO ONE!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;More seriously, it's a good thing Dorian has brought his staff with him, despite the bathing suit. Balance is definitely a thing he's going to need to secure, because ugh, boats. Dorian has a problem with seasickness, particularly when ghost ships are concerned. He can't get onto the beach and off of all sea-going transports fast enough.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He pauses, though, as William notes there is a thingie he's looking for here. Dorian raises an eyebrow at his words. "I wish you'd told me we were supposed to go traipsing through a jungle. I would have brought more appropriate gear." Because a blue and green swimsuit, retro stylings or not -- note, stylings only; it doesn't look particularly old, and the pair of sunglasses he's got are clearly a pair of modern sunglasses -- just isn't appropriate adventuring gear.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''<br>Rory White is not here. But that fact isn't so obvious to anyone here but the one in the know: Kotone.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rory White is not here. Rory White is actually in Eryl Fairfax's Alaska, fighting an awful super robot from bloody nowhere. Rory White Beta-1 is here, and her presence is largely confined to something that looks... well, the robot looks kind of like a person-sized beetle, but with eight legs. The legs are also capable of flipping out for wheel-components. And the Arachnoid has proven extra-flexible. Though it doesn't move with Rory White's typical fluidity. It's trawled around the deck like a robot largely depending on AI pathfinding.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Rory White isn't in it. She's hidden in a ghostrider module in Kotone's shell!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;&lt;Hunting fish with guns? Is that a thing?&gt;&gt;<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Her voice comes across to Kotone and anyone with local radios like Maaka.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But it's distracted. Because...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Arachnoid has hit the beach and is scuttling along with William. "This plan of action surprises me, Mr. Pauwel. My experience tells me males your age would rather observe the females in swimsuits given the opportunity." This is not an appropriate comment, and she totally does not understand how or why, to be sure. But it doesn't slow her progress off to the side, the arachnoid's many optics sweeping across the jungle and a few Saucers flying overhead to provide birds-eye-views and radio relays.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Arachnoid is operating under some lag, but Rory hopes that won't prove too troublesome. They're just here to get a part, right?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sadly, every time she's told herself she's 'just' here to do something simple, the multiverse has proven her wrong.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;THAT MIGHT EXPLAIN WHY THE ARACHNOID IS BRISTLING WITH WEAPON BARRELS.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Okay, look, just because there are a bunch of ladies here wearing very little other than bikinis, doesn't instantaneously mean that Will's going to drop everything he's doing to stare! No sir. That is precisely why he's walking at the front of the group, with eyes ALL THE WAY IN FRONT. "What're you talking about," he says to Rory, COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS. TOTALLY. "I've got explorin' to do! I'll... I'll think about swimsuits later!"<br><br>When it's safe to do that.<br><br>And not end up being eaten alive by some kind of bugs.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Yeah, sorry, this is a bit of a surprise for me, too," he admits to all these people bothered about ADVERTISED JUNGLE ADVENTURES. "I didn't really have the chance to take a look to see where we were going, on account of, you know... The trip." In other words, he got excited in that vaguely puppy-like way that he gets, and immediately made plans without scouting ahead first.<br><br>GOOD JOB WILL.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"A-anyway! We're here lookin' for a piece to my gun," he says, turning, though his eyes are conspicuously fixed on the horizon WAY OVER THERE. "I dunno exactly what kind of piece it'll be, or what it'll do, but according to a TRUSTED SOURCE, it's probably in here somewhere." He thumbs vaguely in the direction of the woods. "So let's get this started, hu-waugh!?"<br><br>MILLY.<br><br>MILLY STOP SHAKING HIM.<br><br>HE'S TRYING SO HARD NOT TO LOOK ANYWHERE HE SHOULDN'T, MILLY. AAAAH.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Waaaugh!" Will flails, cartwheeling his arms so fast that they almost look like they've multiplied. Somewhere in there, he bats Milly's arms away and falls flat on his back end. On a twig. A twig that goes /SNAP/ very, very loudly.<br><br>Loud enough to startle a bunch of birds, apparently. They flit up from the canopy and immediately sweep to a totally different part of the island. Huh.<br><br>His eyes, notably, are staring STRAIGHT UP.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"T-that wasn't very nice, Milly! Y'all could have broken my neck, or something!" Will harrumphs in protest, pushing himself back up and around so that he doesn't have to strain his neck to avert his eyes anymore. "A-anyway, forward march, y'all!"<br><br>He points boldly into the woods.<br><br>The woods that smell vaguely of rain, decaying ground-cover, and which buzz with a symphony of all kinds of insects.<br><br>Also there's some weird, bassy buzzing coming from somewhere in there. But that's probably nothing, right?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>Will has an idea.<br><br>He unholsters his gun and points it vaguely into the air.<br><br>It starts glowing all blue and white. A bug buzzes out from nearby, meanders vaguely in its general direction, and then immediately disintegrates as it flutters into the plasma cloud.<br><br>"Ha-ha! It works!"<br><br>There's a vague sense of displeasure from the gun. Almost like it just had a speech-bubble pop up, and it was full of dots.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>"Do we have to ..." begins Yuna.<br><br>"Yes," Elner replies, without letting Yuna finish what she was going to ask. And then Elner takes further initiative, triggering Yuna's transformation. When it ends, she at least looks a LITTLE better-suited for the beach - inasmuch as she's now wearing a snug-fitting armored bodysuit that could be a one-piece swimsuit (albeit with more of a back than most swimsuits not issued by schools), plus boots and gloves.<br><br>Yuna just sighs, wills the Matrix Divider to materialize, and takes a step forward - although the vote being called about whether Mel should clear a road for them is a good reason to halt.<br><br>So is the reason that William Pauwel, who's ostensibly in charge of this expedition AND has the gadget that's tracking the component they're looking for, ISN'T advancing into the woods yet.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Maaka just frowns SO HARD at Rory. "Not the time."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&lt;I might need to rethink the surfing thing if interest outnumbers inventory, I didn't exactly bring enough for everyone.&gt;<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She doesn't even try to pull Millium off of WIlliam, instead hiding a smirk as she keeps going into the jungle. She doesn't need to worry about bugs biting her, she tastes HORRIBLE to insects, so she just jogs through the pathway William points out. The cyborg only stops when WIll fires a plasma ball to use as a makeshift bug zapper, and she tilts her head. "Well, that's effective." She says, stopping in her tracks.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;By now Dorian has about gotten used to the weirdness of the Multiverse. So when a large beetle bristling with weapons speaks with Rory's voice? He's not surprised. He does however, stifle a snicker at Rory-bug's response. "Not all males his age," he responds. "But I live in a glass house... far be it from me to judge~." This is also not an appropriate comment, but Dorian stopped being 'appropriate' when he was about nine years old.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He laughs at the display between Millium and William. Ah, so he's not the only one a little worried about not bringing proper battle gear? "Fortunately I'm a self-contained weapon of mass destruction." Beat. "At least that's the way the southerners treat me back home." There's a bitter edge to his smirk. But yes. He's brought the triple-headed dragon staff that he usually carries, so that's about all he needs in the way of weaponry.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There will be roasting of bugs that try to bite him. And he is totally not ignoring that much, much, MUCH deeper buzzing coming from Maker knows where. Genre savviness has made him paranoid. But remember, it's not paranoia if something really IS out to get you. And in Dorian's experience, there usually is! But yes. He's also not going to advance into the jungle before their 'leader' does.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;...Mel's joking suggestion has, apparently, been taken seriously. To an extent, anyway. A brief group powwow results in a compromise that still allows her to just take the convenience approach for once - pulling out trees that are directly in their way. Alright, she can do that. She can even set them aside relatively gently, to avoid smashing or disturbing anything else. So the psychic steps up to the head of the group, hands in her pockets, and starts to walk.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The first time they run into a tree or trees that are more trouble to navigate around than they're worth, the psychic just sort of... tilts her head. And with a great shifting of earth and ripping noise, the offending plantlife rips itself out of the ground, floats over to one side, and then is allowed to drop (relatively) lightly to the ground.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> "That just means it can be a bigger surprise for everyone!" Kazuko offers helpfully, hurrying over to give Will a light pat on the back after that clumsy branch-breaking fall. Getting cut up by the brush isn't comfortable, though, and she's got the perfect tool for making sure that doesn't happen too much! "We can go swimming and eating and looking at... Swimsuits? Or whatever stuff after we're done." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Kazuko doesn't seem to really get what the appeal of swimsuits on their own is, does she? Swimming's the more fun part, anyway. That, and carving a path through the jungle. Thankfully, Mel is on the case, and she lets out an impressed "oooh" at the lifting and shunting of trees away. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The stench from up ahead hits her rather quickly, though, and the brunette wrinkles her nose before gesturing in the direction of the odd buzzing. "Eugh... Hey, does anyone hear that? I think it's coming from over... There?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br>&lt;&lt;Giventhe multiverse it might not be over kill needing to do such Rory.&gt;&gt; So She has a voice in her head and it's clearly talking back also the drone's here too still she's ready for trouble and seems to overall be in a very chipper mood. The Holidays were comming and next year looked like it was going to be amazing. She was in very good spirits and her Grandmother had actually noted she wanted to meet some of her multiveral friends as well. So who was she to argue, she had no idea just what her grand mother was planning however. <br><br> "Come on Will let's have some fun darn it!. <br><br> &lt;&lt;Hey don't leave me behind!&gt;&gt; <br><br> Kotone jog right after Maaka bouncing along as she goes.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Millium sighs and lets Will go. They've got JUNGLING to do apparently. And so, with nothing but a bikini and a towel at her waist, the blonde huffs and crosses her arms, striding on with the group. ...Well, that's a lie. She doesn't have nothing. There's a wave of her wrists, and then suddenly, blue light flashes, revealing orbital bits revolving around her wrists and ankles. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Millium frowns at the vote of whether or not to destroy wildlife, and scoffs. "Are we really voting about this? C'mon!" She then STRIDES RIGHT TO THE FRONT OF THE GROUP, and takes point! And she starts walking right in the direction of the buzzing. "You guys are wimps! How bad could it possibly be! Come on!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ...But then Mel makes a path. "...Oh. ...Ohhhhhh.... Huh. ..." Beat. "...I still don't think that was necessary, you guys!" No use crying over spilt milk though. She's made her opinion known. NOW FOR THE GREAT UNKNOWN.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''<br>August just glances at Will and Millie killing each other and waits for them to finish so that they can keep going. He looks pretty disinterested in jungle adventures. He also doesn't have his Persona because he didn't bring a mirror because it wouldn't fit in his swimsuit. So, he just follows the rest, smiling briefly to himself at Dorian's comments.<br><br>"Guys, it's a jungle, I'm pretty sure we can just tear through it. This part we want can't be that fragile." For now, he keeps going...and keeps an ear and an eye out. Be perceptive, don't get ambushed.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>ONWARD, INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately, the unknown is not so great when you have someone like Mel Brock just straight up pulling in-the-way trees out of the ground and tossing them aside. But that's the thing about the rainforest; there are so many trees that losing a couple here and there won't hurt it too much. In fact, it'll just give more room for new trees to grow! So don't feel too bad.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Will walks roughly side-by-side to Mel, stepping back whenever she feels the need to uproot decades-old timber. He does, after all, need to serve as their guide to where it is they're going. Fortunately, it seems to be a relatively straight shot. Or at least, that's what the thing Will's carrying around is telling him. Meanwhile, his improvised bug-zapper is working like a charm! The bright blue light is drawing in all manner of insects to *pop* and carbonize in the cloud of plasma contained within.<br><br>Unfortunately, he's not the only one here carrying around blue light.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Milly's arms and legs are both radiating the stuff, too! And even more of it than Will's putting out! She becomes something of a magnet for insects: mosquitos the size of human heads and HORRIBLE CRAWLING CENTIPEDES and all kinds of flies.<br><br>But those are just plain old bugs, right? Nothing to be worried about.<br><br>...There's a /whud/ from somewhere nearby.<br><br>Followed by approximately twelve other /WHUDS/ from all around.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Will swallows hard as he looks up along the tree-line, only to see something around fifteen ENORMOUS BEETLES chittering curiously down at them. They're approximately the size of a human torso, and menace with enormous horns and razor-sharp pincers.<br><br>But for now, they're docile. False alarm, right? "Uhhh," Will hisses, "Okay guys, easy. We don't mean no--"<br><br>Mel uproots a particularly large tree and tosses it aside.<br><br>...The thing falls apart mid-toss as its rotted interior gives way.<br><br>Suddenly the air comes alive with the sound of terrible buzzing. A black-and-yellow flying bug around the size of a fist bursts from the rotted wood that actually seems to resemble greying old paper, now that they look at it. Another joins it. Then another. THEN DOZENS, THEN DOZENS MORE.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;They swarm up out of the tree in a great cloud of stinging bug. This somehow agitates the beetles, who start sweeping down with wings that sound like helicopters, and horns that apparently crackle with some kind of bioelectric field!<br><br><span class="bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">ENCOUNTER:</span><br><span class="bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc">--STORM BEETLES X15</span><br><span class="bold_fg_y bg_n ++ hy">--WOODROT BEE SWARM</span><br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"AAAAH, BEES!" Will shrieks like some kind of twelve year old girl. His improvised bug-zapper turns right back into the plasma shooter in was meant to be! HE STARTS SHOOTING THE SWARM. THE TERRIBLE BEE-FILLED SWARM. They lose several of their number, but THERE ARE STILL SO MANY BEES.<br><br>And then a beetle sideswipes his ankle and sends him face-first into the jungle floor.<br><br>WHAT DO.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mel Brock is quite happy to just walk along, stepping around trees and, occasionally, yanking them out of the ground to toss aside. The huge beetles are... slightly concerning, but not a terrible issue. No, the issue comes when she uproots what happens to be a hive filled with /fucking huge bees/.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Oh, the /hell/ with this. EVERYONE GET CLOSE!"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The moment the bees start coming around, to attack, Mel pushes her hands out to either side. Around the entire group, there's a sudden flicker-shimmer, streamers of shimmering purple light like reflections off a nonexistent lake. They're only occasional, and very short lived, but they show up in the rough shape of a dome; when the bees come their way, it'll be like slamming into a solid wall. "Open fire! The bubble's one-way!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> At the sight of the massive swarm of GODDAMN BEES, Kazuko springs into action near where William's gone face-down with her naginata at the ready. Finally, she can show off the skills she's honed over years and years of constant training b fighting overgrown bees. At least she might look cool doing it! Channeling her ki into her weapon and her arms, Kazuko swings her weapon up with a broad flourish and a trail of yellow energy trailing behind it before... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ...A giant reflective barrier appears around the exploring group. She's not deterred too much, though, since she can't know for sure how far it's going to reach until the bees approach and trigger said reflective barrier, and Will's on the ground anyway. Thus, Kazuko keeps spinning her weapon not unlike a one-girl helicopter blade, threatening to batter or slash apart anything that gets too close!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;BEEEEEEEEES<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Alexis doesn't waste time opening up with her assault rifle. Shouldering it, she ignores the mosquitos and centipedes she'd otherwise be stomping with her boots, opening fire upon the hostile bees as if that'll do anything.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mel might have the right idea, and Alexis drags Kotone to go get close to the Psi-Marshal, "Make it fast, Brock!" She calls out, before firing another burst at the bees when the bubble comes up.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"...Wonderful," Dorian notes as they're suddenly set upon by giant bugs. "This is a sort of 'birds and bees' talk that I did not need." Though it's not like his armor would have been much protection anyway. Leather doesn't do much against stingers the length of a finger. Or electric beetles. William's suddenly assaulted and Dorian moves to act.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's not fire, though. No, the more important thing here is to keep the swarms contained as much as possible. That way the others can pick them off without having to get into the main thick of them. He raises his hand up into the air, where it too crackles with electricity. It emits an orb that flies over the warm, still connected to his hand by a thin electric line. Once it's where he wants it, he pulls his hand down quickly, breaking the connecting electricity.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As he does this, a clear line of a boundary, a large circle, appears on the ground, outlined in electricity. It does nothing to the bugs initially. So long as they stay INSIDE the perimeter. If they try to leave the marked area? Shocks. So many shocks. And the farther away from the border they go, the stronger those shocks will be.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This may not actually work on the beetles; they're using electricity as-is. But the bees, hopefully, will be corralled. With any luck, one less bit of trouble.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As soon as he's done this, he will get nearer to Mel for bubbling. "Thank you," he says to Mel. He's got further assists in mind, but he wants to see how this turns out first.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>She knew there were going to be bugs.<br><br>She didn't know they were going to be *THIS BIG* let alone quite this numerous.<br><br>Needless to say, Yuna needs no encouragement at all to get in close to Mel so that she can benefit from the telekinetic sheriff's shield; the fact that William seems just as terrified of the bugs as Yuna herself is comes as a small note of relief in the midst of the entomological chaos.<br><br>Also, Yuna is putting out a surprisingly intense volume of fire from the Matrix Divider, given that she has to consciously focus her energy into it for bigger blasts and she's packing roughly a shotgun shell's worth of destructive force into each shot - and she's actually squeezing off a couple of shots per second. Her *accuracy* is nothing to write home about, but hey - with that many bugs, she has to hit something more often than she doesn't, right?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kotone Yamakawa came for a party and now there's a freaking random group of very large beetles coming for them.. THen there are bees and not the sort of bees that give cryptic bits of lore. the swimsuit clad Kotone zips up her suit for the little protection it will give her and the bees are more of a concerne now. she's not made of flesh and right now she's very happy about this. She's dragged without any complaint as she gets close to Mel Brock thanks to Maaka. <br><br> "Bees did it seriously have to be bees?!" <br><br> &lt;&lt;Maaka? Rory this isn't GOING WELL AT ALL!&gt;&gt;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''<br>Rory White would frown if she could. The Arachnoid Morph is incapable of this though, and her Beta isn't quite as good at managing expressions and inflection anyways!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeees.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And ELECTRIC BEETLES.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fascinating. Rory White's momentarily frozen with interest, sensors on overdrive recording every detail of the things' movements. She's gained a recent fascination with Biomimicry, so... "Samples of these creatures would be appreciated!" The Arachnoid chimes simply...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;... Then all of those weapon systems it sports engage. The weapon barrels swivel and track, and the air's suddenly full of railgun fire! Howling projectiles, just shards of metal. Nothing lasery, because Rory White does NOT wish to start a forest fire on top of what's ALREADY going on...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Adding 'bee swarms' to reasons against uprooting wildlife unnecessarily in the future!" She adds a moment later amidst the gunfire.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The singsong, dismissive tone... might be her way of saying 'told you so...'<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; How bad could it be huh? <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Millium screams like a little girl and immediately dives aside as a vicious beetle horn bursts through the space in air that her head was occupying only moments previously. She hits the ground, and THEN had to roll aside to avoid the BEE SWARM. "This is not cool! I knew we shouldn't have messed with the jungle! I knew it! And I said so! My CHASER'S INSTINCTS were telling me! But noooo-ACK!" And then Millium dives aside again to avoid another oversized beetle horn. "Damn it!" The Chaser rolls to her feet and spreads her arms out. The blue glow around her wrists radiates even more, which probably draws attention even more to her person. But then her wrist orbitals merge together, forming into a... tachi? Yes, that's a sheathed katana of some sort. "SERAPH Blade Mode: Browsing technique archives...searching...searching...technique found." She mutters almost robotically before she grabs the weapon and holds it to one side, while spreading her feet to take a stance. Her hand hovers over the handle of the glowing blue blade of hardlight, and she closes her eyes. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "......." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And she does nothing else. She just stands there, hand hovering over the handle of a sheathed tachi, waiting for the perfect moment as her enemies draw nearer and nearer.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''<br>Bugs. Many bugs. Bees. They're coming. There is a solution to insects, though. Fire.<br><br>But Augut doesn't have a reflective surface. And he can't actually use eyes yet, or hasn't tried. So, there's a solution: use Rory. He glances into her chassis, looking until he sees 'himself'. The self he'll bring out.<br><br>"PERSONA!"<br><br>The Tin Soldier rises, miming a roar as August ducks under the shield. And it moves forward, towards the swarm and the beetles, rushing at them. It's pretty tanky! And then, it begins spraying fire out of its gun leg, trying to engulf the insects.<br><br>It might grab the trees, too, but that's fine, right?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>BEEEEES<br><br>And beetles.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fortunately for EVERYONE INVOLVED, Mel Brock is some kind of walking psychic miracle woman. The swarm of bees, not knowing any better, flies right into the psychic shell like birds might fly into the windows of a house. They don't splatter there, but only because they've got some kind of amazing exoskeleton and also they're small enough and moving slowly enough that their own momentum doesn instantly kill them, but Mel achieves the desired effect. She effectively insulates the crew from being stung to death.<br><br>Unfortunately, the beetles are both substantially larger and significantly faster. She feels the impact when they plough their horns into her barrier. It's approximately enough to skewer right through something the size of an average oxen. Worryingly, the beetles themselves don't seem to bothered by it. Apparently their shells are made out of something pretty powerful.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That doesn't save one from being straight up skewered by Kazuko's naginata. It catches one in its relatively more fragile underbelly, cleaving it into a messy husk of bisected bug. Another few go down when Rory, Maaka and Yuna all open fire. Their shells are tough, but apparently not tough enough to stop /bullets./ After all, electrically charged and bizarrely fast though they may be, they are still just beetles.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That same charge protects them from Dorian's spell, however. The things' shells crackle and pop as the current sweeps harmlessly around them, and STRAIGHT INTO THE BEE SWARM. Those poor suckers are then set on fire by August's terrible fire-starting ways. Between the lightning and the fire, the bees are all but decimated. No longer a swarm, the survivors start buzzing off into the woods, presumably in the hopes of finding another hive somewhere.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;There are still beetles, however! One sweeps by just in front of Milly's guard. ITS FATE IS ALMOST CERTAINLY SEALED. But the others seems to be drawing away, and falling into... some kind of formation. A hexagonal pattern. One that somehow starts CRACKLING WITH ELECTRICITY. Electricity that coalesces into an arc, that leaps down and SLAMS into Mel's shield! CAN IT BLOCK LIGHTNING!?<br><br>If it can't, then the people inside had BETTER LOOK OUT.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Meanwhile, Will groans from his place on the forest floor. He makes his wobbly legs stand up, suddenly glad that his FULL BODY SWIMSUIT provided ADEQUATE PROTECTION against the creepy-crawlies down there. He's about to aim when ~something~ beeps nearby.<br><br>Will blinks. It beeps again.<br><br>He stares down at his little radar device, and cocks his head when he realizes the dot they're chasing has begun... shaking.<br><br>And so is the ground.<br><br>There's the sound of bird-wings flapping away all around as the earth starts trembling even more.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Somewhere in the middle of the island, that vaguely regularly-shaped structure appears to be... moving. Vines snap and split as the thing lifts up off the ground. Far below, an enormous, pale-pink appendage snakes out from a crevasse in the hull. Another moves out to join it, then another, then another, until eight in all squirm through the jungle and force the structure /UP./<br><br>A couple eyestalks poke out from two more cracks. Beady black eyes blink at the forest fire just starting to rage in front of it.<br><br>Huge claws snap frantically at the air.<br><br>Massive tentacle-y legs scramble forward, stirring up dust and shattering trees and doing ALL KINDS OF TERRIBLE THINGS as what looks like an ENORMOUS HERMIT CRAB-SLASH-OCTOPUS starts beelining down the shortest path towards the sea.<br><br>The shortest path, incidentally, is 'where everyone else is at.'<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">--==ENEMY ADDED==--</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">COLOSSAL HERMIT CRABPTOPUS</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">STRIKE ITS WEAKPOINT FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="bold_fg_r bg_n ++ hr">BUT FIRST YOU SHOULD PROBABLY GET OUT OF ITS WAY</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A COLOSSAL HERMIT CRABTOPUS<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Fuck the bonus. Maaka wordlessly pulls out her Matter Manipulator the second she hears that thing come, and begins to frantically equip and unequip things. In the blink of an eye, she has her armor equip and form onto her body, like some sort of magical girl transformation with cyborgs. Her helmet isn't even on when she has to fucking BAIL before the hermit crab thing hits her, and she grabs Kotone by the waist.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She fires her grapple gun, and aims for the branches to get them out of the line of fire. Sorry everyone else, Kotone's her highest priority!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As she and Kotone grapple onto the branches, Maaka pulls her rifle and opens fire upon it, mostly a token effort to see if bullets even affect this thing.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Dorian isn't going to chance that Mel's shield can't block the electricity of the beetles' team-up attack. No, he's taking some proactive measures! He casts a Barrier over as many people as he can. It's not just a quick casting, either. He's sustaining the Barrier as long as the electricity continues. Or until he runs out of immediate mana and has to draw more, whichever comes first.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Unfortunately it leaves him little ability to do much else except feed that Barrier. Even when the giant hermit crabtopus comes their way. Oh, he notices it. But he's feeding mana into a Barrier, he can't really stop to look at the moment.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One poor beetle dives right into Millium's zone of control... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; SCHWING <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It flies by either side of her, sliced into two with surgical precision. Once it hit the ground, deader than dead could be, the blonde girl opens her blue eyes and sighs. "...Sorry." And then her weapon is sheathed and dispersed. ...JUST IN TIME FOR SOMETHING ELSE TO HAPPEN. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "............" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "........" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "...." <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Tick...tock....tick....tock. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "THIS IS THE WORST VACATION EVEEEEEEEER!" Millium cries dramatically, her orbital bracelets flaring to life once again as she took straight to the air in flight. "I JUST WANTED TO LOUNGE ON THE BEACH AND BE FED MANGO SLICES BY HOT GUYS IN SPEEDOS!" She's got her priorities straight, okay? <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well. She can't cut that. Not efficiently. SO THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR LASERS! Millium sighs and flies up...up...uppppp. And then thrusts an arm downward. Her two wrist orbitals break off and then reconfigure into a number of bits. All of them glow brightly before letting loose swarms of curving, weaving, azure laser beams onto the thing. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "SOMEBODY DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS GIANT ENEMY CRAB! MY VACATION'S IN JEOPARDY!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kotone Yamakawa has some gear in her maniplator but she didn't come with a full combat load she came expecting a beach party and a bit of a silly treasure hunt. She forgot this is this multiverse and there tends to be actual treasure nad monsters involved. She's grabbed by maaka with a cry of suprise as she's pulled away from Mel anf the other. "Maaka what are you doing!?" IT will take the cyborg a moment to get her maniplator out and summon her SMG from it, she's had what would be a funn day ruined by monsters. She is not a happy camper at all and she too opens fire on the grab thing. <br><br> "THIS WAS SUPOSED TO BE A FUN DAY OFF YOU RENAGADE SEA FOOD BUFFET!"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>Wait, the swarm of bugs is organizing into --<br><br>"SHUGOSEIHEKI!!!" Yuna yells at the top of her lungs, and probably at a higher pitch than she really needs to. The Matrix Divider vanishes - she needs both hands for it - and a large kite shield materializes on her left arm; she quickly does the best she can to drive the point of her shield into the ground, so that when the lightning presumably hits the Wall of the Guardian Star (instead of, say, herself or Mel), it'll be conducted into the ground instead of going through either of them.<br><br>Meanwhile, COLOSSAL HERMIT CRABTOPUS has come out of hiding and is closing in rapidly on the group. Apart from whatever bombardment the ship is about to deliver upon it, Jiina, Marina, and Erina take to the air, letting the cannonfire outrun them - but not by much. If that thing is as big as sensors and other evidence say, then it's going to take something bigger than human-size to stop it - or at least to hold it still long enough for surgical assaults on the monster's weak points (assuming of course that it has those).<br><br>And once the bugs' lightning attack has subsided, Yuna dismisses her shield and bolts in the vague direction of the shore, only so that she and Elner can rendezvous with the rest of the Matrix of Light that much sooner. "This should do," Elner states at a certain point. Yuna just nods, tries to take a deep breath, and yells,<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"<span class="bold_fg_y bg_n ++ hy">LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT *UP*!!! EL-LINE!!</span>"<br><br>Cue a massive pillar of light engulfing Yuna, Elner, and the three flying androids; their silhouettes are visible only briefly before the light intensifies to the point that even their shadows are obscured. Then the light starts to subside again, and the Matrix Figure, El-Line is revealed, not standing but hovering over the forest.<br><br>Give Yuna a moment before she opens fire, though. The bombardment *she* was dishing out to the swarming bugs, combined with a desperation-rush invocation of her kite shield, punctuated by summoning the Matrix Figure, has left her energies at pretty low ebb. She's not out of the fight, just needs a few moments to get herself back together.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Oh shit, the beetles are coming through. ...wait, but now the bees are dead, that's goo- oh shit, lightning.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;OH SHIT, THE GROUND IS SHAKING AND THERE'S A MASSIVE CRAB COMING.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mel could conceivably deal with it... if she pulled off her limiter and went to town. Or maybe if this entire group were to focus exclusively on it. But the former is a last resort, and the latter is just not possible at the moment. All the PsiMarshal can really do is maintain the bubble in case anything ELSE comes after them... as they get the hell out of the way of a crab that's about to become the target of future artillery.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> One down, too many more to go! At least, that's what Kazuko thinks until she notices there's a lot of hole-filled and charred husks surrounding that protective bubble. Before she can celebrate, though, there's a new problem rearing its ugly head! <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Or many heads, in the case of the electricity-shooting beetles. Or a figurative head, in the form of the ground suddenly shaking like crazy. She can't really do much about either without some sort of crazy training or superweapons, though. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What she can, do, however, is get August out of the way through the tried and true technique of LIFT WITH THE LEGS, NOT THE BACK. "Hold on tight!" She warns, and then Kazuko books it! She darts around the forest expertly as if she was a natural, using both the cleared path and weaving between still-standing trees. Just in time, too, as that bigass crabtopus pops out of the ground, threatening to tear everyone a new everything in its path! <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Gyah! How are we supposed to even fight that thing?!" Kazuko's brave, sure, but even she's not so stupid as to try hitting something /that/ size with her bladed spear. She continue runing, trying to tail it and look for weak points along its flanks as she runs alongside the beast in case August can spot a weak point to direct them towards.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:673|Rory White (673)}} has posed:'''<br>THOSE BEETLES ARE TAKING FORMATION TO CONJURE HUGE ARCS?! Rory White's stunned. Not from the electricity, because her systems are all optical. The insanely ionized air poses no threat to the Arachnoid, but it DOES interfere with her radio link. Signal quality drops and the Arachnoid briefly falls into autonomous mode...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Which means that it continues shooting while circle-strifing, and ends up taking a BOLT TO THE FACE! ... Well..... thorax? Whatever, the center of mass is struck and sizzles. The Arachnoid staggers and stumbles. But in about five seconds the connection's re-established!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The machine wobbles to its feet on straining servos, self-repair nanites already hard at work to diagnose and repair damage to the higher-priority systems.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The machine's smoking weirdly and throwing off sparks, but Rory's jammed robot continues shooting the beetles with abandon!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''<br>Luckily, the bugs all die pretty easily. Unluckily, the ground is shaking. August immediately moves to stable his feet...and then moves to stare at the giant enemy crabtopus. And then, he glances at Will. There is /hate/ in his eyes. "Fuck you, Will."<br><br>And then he's absconded with by Kazuko! This causes him to go 'wait what' for a moment before he focuses everything on the Tin Soldier...which rushes forward to set the Crabtopus on fire. Over. And over. And over. And over. Just burn it to death.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The COLOSSAL HERMIT CRABTOPUS is on the run! It skitters across the ground like... Well, like some kind of enormous betentacled crab-octopus-thing that's wearing half of what looks to be a cargo ship for a shell. It has good reason to be on the run, though, because there are THINGS SHOOTING AT IT. Many, many things. The thing lets out a tremendous shriek as bullets smash into its fleshy, tendrilly mass. Blue, coppery blood drips from the thing's flesh. Apparently it's cold-blooded!<br><br>AND, mercifully, that blood isn't also acid, judging by how nothing seems to be burning in its wake.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;But it is a very large crabtopus, after all, and a few bullets aren't going to do much to dissuade it from GETTING THE HECK BACK TO SEA. What might, however, are the scything blue beams raking across its path from above. One slices clean through a tentacle-tip, sending the severed, sucker-puckered thing writhing and flopping around somewhere deep in the woods. The thing writhes briefly, as if terribly confused and not at all willing to brave that network of lasers again.<br><br>This leaves August and Kazuko plenty of time to go for its flanks. The tentacles are enormous in size, as is normal for a creature that wears a boat for a mobile-home. But that also means there's plenty of room to stab. Kazuko's glaive rams hard into its tendrils, severing one almost right at its midpoint. August sets the rest on fire, which... Has predictable effects. The world suddenly smells delicious to him. He is, after all, basically cooking an octopus alive.<br><br>Which is approximately when -something- makes a tremendous THOOM-like noise from offshore.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Yuna would get a close-up look as they race by. Four enormous, vermilion bolts sail through the air, followed closely by dozens of thin, /bending/ laser-beam arcs. The crabtopus shrieks again, lifting its shell-armored claws to protect its delicate underbody. Briefly immobilized by Millium's display, the bombardment strikes it dead-on. The beast screams as its flesh is flash-cooked, turning a bright, delectable orange-pink.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It flails around, evidently in TREMENDOUS pain from being shot and burnt and stabbed at by all these awful people. Between a wayward tentacle (that slaps right into Mel's shield!) and Rory's continued gunfire, however, the beetles are again halfed in number, leaving just three left to try and continue the fight. They're a little more intelligent than that, though, and quickly vanish into the woods after their apoid fellows. At least that's one threat dealt with!<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A curious thing seems to happen, then. The enormous crabtopus looks up and sees Yuna's tremendous, glowing form and somehow interprets this... strangely. Very strangely. The crabtopus squirms and skitters, pressing its tentacles up against its own shell before suddenly SHUCKING itself free. It... It looks like a crab up top, but then entirely tentacular at the bottom. The massive half-ship it was carrying sloughs off and smashes into the forest below as the crabtopus skitters behind it and sort of... nudges it forward.<br><br>...<br><br>It might think Yuna is some kind of bigger crab.<br><br>Because it's apparently cowering behind its shell-slash-peace-offering.<br><br>...Huh.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;A tentacle slams into Mel's barrier.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That was way, way more than she was braced for.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The barrier almost instantly winks out of existence, as most of the force in it somehow transfers over directly to Mel herself. The blow knocks her flying off to one side, going a good long way before slamming right into a tree. WHAM. A second later, she slides down to land on the ground, uttering a groan of pain... that soon transforms into quiet, muttered profanity.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She does manage to look up just in time to see the peace offering, though. A few seconds of uncomprehending silence are followed by a short, sharp snort of amusement - that turns almost immediately into another groan of pain. "Ohhh, fuck I'm gonna be feeling that in the morning."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''<br>Well, the thing retreats, and the Tin Soldier stops firing, for two reasons. One, it's a retreating beast. The other, both it AND August are being flailed at. August is whumped and bruised around and possibly knocked out of Kazuko's grasp if she's not strong or fast enough, and the Tin Soldier mimes (completely silently) a wumph backwards into a tree, pretending to be beaten and bruised and unconscious. And then it fades away.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Alexis watches the CRABTOPUS run...toward the sea.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"...huh." She leaps down from the branches, before she goes off to help Mel up. "You okay, Marshal?" She offers a hand, before she tries to check over Mel while dusting the cop off.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As she sees the peace offering, she tilts her head, looking confused before she realizes it's afraid. "...huh, I actually feel bad for that thing now." she says, frowning.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"''Kaffas''," Dorian finally swears, once he can concentrate on more than keeping up a Barrier. When the remainder of the beetles skitter away, finally he turns to face this new threat. His tone full of false lightness, he notes, "Well, ''I'' won't be eating seafood for a while after this..." He seems to share Kotone's opinion about this situation, from the sound of it.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;However, he is smart enough not to attack it himself when... it cowers? He blinks. "...Well, that's the last thing I expected," he admits. Mind, he's not depending solely on this sudden show of altruism by an animal that apparently wanted to EAT THEM just a moment ago. So he casts his Barrier again, trying to encompass as many of them in it as possible. This isn't a sustained Barrier, but it should keep whoever managed to get the benefit of it reasonably safe long enough to figure out what in Andraste's name is going on.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He winces in Mel's direction as she's slapped aside, and nods as Maaka moves to go and try to tend to her. A second too late with the Barrier, it seems. Unfortunately there's little Dorian himself can actually do, because he's not exactly a spirit mage.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Oh. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ohhhhh. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ...Oops. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Millium suddenly feels awfully bad now. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After surveying the battlefield, she starts descending down to land atop the peace offering, peering down at the cowering crab thing. "Um....Excuse me? Hello!" She smiles sweetly and waves down at it. "We're...We're really sorry for messing up your home and everything! We just kinda wanted to have a simple vacation and there was this thing one of us-" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Will is glanced at pointedly. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "-wanted to find in the jungle... We didn't mean to cause all this trouble!" And she holds out a hand, not expecting it to be taken, because GIANT ENEMY CRAB, but it's a gesture of trust nonetheless. "So you don't have to leave or run away. We'll just look for what we need, and leave you alone...okay?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>And just as suddenly as the Colossal Crabtopus emerged, it ... surrenders.<br><br>Apparently.<br><br>At least, that's the only explanation Yuna can come up with for what just happened. She carefully maneuvers El-Line back down to the ground - not standing, but on one knee, as if to accept the peace offering. "We don't need to take all of your shell-home," Yuna comments as gently as she can. "We need one thing from inside it, and then you can have it back; we just didn't want to get eaten or trampled or anything when you came out of hiding like that."<br><br>She has a distinct doubt that the crabtopus can understand what she's saying, but sometimes it's the thought that counts. For now, she's hoping somebody who didn't summon a giant robot can get into the ship, find the thing they're looking for, and get out so that they can all return to the ship and then go home.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kotone Yamakawa will darn well be having sea food after this, she's not going to let this thing ruin one of her loves after all. Kotone however does stop shooting as she looks at the thing as it's trying to make a peace offering to Yuna? Okay this thing is smarter than she though and now she's feeling some level of remorse for opening fire she lowers her weapon and banishes it into the manilator and now she looks a bit concerned about tthe whole thing. She really went off and It seems she intend sto spare the thing as well. The thing's lost a tentacle maybe they should help heal the thing. <br><br> "Err what are we going to do now?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> Success! Sort of. At first, anyway, as Kazuko's delicate balancing act keeps August and herself mostly safe while she still somehow finds opportunities to lash out at the tendrils. After nearly taking out one of the tendrils, though, her confidence gets the better of her, and some of those remaining tendrils catch both her and her passenger in its wild swings! <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The best Kazuko can do at that point is try to minimize the damage to the Persona-user, at least, twisting and turning to keep him from getting too banged up even as she gets sent skidding out from under him herself in a rather undignified position. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Luckily, the giant beast doesn't seem too willing to continue the fight by the time she actually snaps out of her daze, and the martial artist squints slightly at what appears to be the ship-shell the craptopus had been using. "Ergh... D-did we get it? Is that the Solano... Thingy we're looking for then?" She asks with a pained wince while rubbing the bruises on her arms and sides.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Colossal Crabtopi are apparently either smarter than they look, or have some very... interesting survival instincts. The thing stares in parallel at both Yuna and Millium- an eyestalk each- as they try to communicate with it. Communicate. With a giant crab octopus thing.<br><br>...<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Right, well. The Crabtopus seems to at least understand that it's not being shot at anymore and produces massive, gurgling noise. It sort of squats in place and begins sweeping its tentacles against the forest floor. Maybe it's trying to soothe its burns with the local mud?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Will stares long and hard at the enormous thing as it wriggles something fierce. Already its wounds seem to be closing, if the lack of blood is any indication. He glances back at Mel and winces-- but her shield managed to protect him, at least, so that's good, right? RIGHT!?<br><br>...<br><br>...She and August will probably be fine.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Chaser heaves his backpack over his shoulder and removes what looks like a grappling hook from inside. He points it at the top-end of the boat-home and rappels up towards its top-end "Uh, well," he coughs into his radio, "I'll start from the top if you guys want to look down below. This thing's pretty big though, so... Be careful, I guess? Heaven only knows what else is in here."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mel takes a step or two forward with a quiet grunt of pain, then gives herself a little shake - and grunts again. "Nnh. Okay. Okay, I'm. I should be fine. As long as I don't have to do anything too strenuous. Get back to the ship, hop in the Chaser, take a ride out to Njorun. I'll be fine." Is she trying to convince everyone else, or just herself?<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Either way, the Marshal takes her longcoat off and tosses it towards the ground; it stops just above, fluttering and flattening out, and then she... /almost/ steps onto it.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;That stops when she realizes how muddy her boots are. "...damn."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So instead, she takes a look around, spots a felled tree from all that octoflailing, and uses that instead. Right up into the ship, to somewhere she can just step off casually and get walking.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:571|Alexis Maaka (571)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Fair enough." Alexis says, before she slips Mel some sort of nanomed capsule. "Pop that, should help speed up the healing process a bit while you're on the way home." She says, throwing a thumbs up before she heads closer to the beach. She'll pass on going inside the big shell house thing, instead opting to matter manipulate herself a beach towel, a cooler with drinks (and lunch), a beach umbrella, and some sunglasses, going back to her swimsuit finally as she lays down her rifle.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Then...she flops unceremoniously onto the towel. By god has she needed a chance to kick back, and she's taking it.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>El-Line just stays 'parked' right where it is. Yuna's not sure if she'll need to be ready to react to anything else, and she'd rather keep the Matrix Figure on standby for now, just in case.<br><br>Plus, once the others are done looking around inside the 'ship,' she kind of wants to give it back to the Crabtopus. Ships this size are probably hard to come by - and she'd rather let the beast keep using this same shipwreck for a shell, rather than wrecking an entirely DIFFERENT ship to use as its new 'mobile home'.<br><br>She's also still kind of rattled about the giant insects that attacked them. They won't be getting at her inside El-Line's cockpit, though.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It is indeed pretty big in here! Mel (and anyone else who'd care to go up and look) would find that the Crabtopus had actually done quite a bit of damage to the thing's interior in the years since it's moved in and migrated to this particular island. Where the crab's own softer shell had squeezed in, the metal has curled and twisted in such a way that would make just climbing in just a bit hazardous. Fortunately, Mel avoids this by dint of 'flying.'<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She lands in what appears to be an enormous cargo hold. Containers are strewn about and torn open, their contents all but spilling out all over the deck. Several are held quite firmly in place, however, by enormous latches. Much of what litters the floor is trash, by this point. Broken glass and broken machines that, in their present state, are completely unidentifiable. The contents of the upright and not-wrecked containers may, however, be salvagable if an enterprising explorer wants to give that a pry. But there's something at the far back of the vessel that might catch someone's eye. A jet black case outright bolted to the ship's superstructure. Something that someone definitely didn't want moved.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Millium does not enter the ship. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She stays outside to keep GIANT ENEMY CRAB company. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She may or may not be trying to get it to wiggle it's tentacles to some kind of dance routine. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Maybe.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> After a few more moments of resting and getting the stars out of her vision, Kazuko's back on her feet and moving along with the grounded group to explore the interior of the boat-shell. She still has her naginata on her, but she's a little more wary of poking anything with it while her head still feels like it's half-swimming. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Well, unless she needs to push stuff aside with it to get through without risking tetanus or some other horrible metal-cut-based disease. Sadly, she doesn't get to fly like her more lucky companions, but that just means she can focus on poking around from below! She's just probably not going to get to that case before anyone else does.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>MEANWHILE, MILLY IS TRYING TO MAKE A CRABTOPUS DANCE.<br><br>It sort of stares at her with an eyestalk, though the other is quite firmly fixed on the El Line.<br><br>Its tentacles wiggle. Whether that's at all rhythmic is completely up to Milly's tremendous imagination.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:774|Dorian Pavus (774)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Not being able to fly either, Dorian figures it's wiser to stay outside the ship. Besides that, he's got fire and electricity, two of the things that water-based creatures should REALLY BLOODY HATE, in great supply in case the thing decides to get salty at them again for whatever reason.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He can't help but snort a long, ridiculous laugh at Millium's attempt to get the octopus to do a little dance. "I don't think it's classically trained in the arts, my dear," he cautions. He may or may not be serious. Knowing Dorian, probably not.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; OKAY. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That's a start! <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Millium brings up a blue HUD from one of her wrist orbitals and then hits a few buttons... What follows is some kind of happy, upbeat music track that starts playing. And she floats in the air and spins and swerves, wiggling her arms and legs as if trying to show the thing what to do. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ...Welp.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mel Brock is presented with a solidly bolted-on (or possibly even welded on, she's not sure) case that she wants to take with her.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;So Mel Brock employs the solution she always uses in times like these.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;She reaches out with her mind and rips away with the kind of telekinetic force that even something like this is probably not designed to deal with.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>Kazuko risks the deadly tetanus fields down below. This far down, amongst all the shattered and broken bits of Ancient technology, she gets an up-close and personal look at just what this ship was carrying. Machines, yes, but also what look like scientific samples, each one marked with a different label. It looks like this vessel might have been transporting /something/ under study from labs in this neck of the woods to... somewhere else? Most of the intact vials are filled with what is now almost assuredly dead sea-life. The rest contain some kind of strange, quiescent black dust and are contained in /especially/ sealed cases.<br><br>Still transparent. Someone wanted to keep an eye on the contents, apparently.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Near the back of the vessel, Mel does exactly what Mel does. She reaches her mind around the secured container and gives it a tug strong enough to displace a pickup truck. The metal screams, buckles and comes away, leaving her with a levitating, but still very much sealed black case... Though it's not like she can't get /that/ off either.<br><br>MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE.<br><br>Milly is... Playing an upbeat, pop-y dance number at a colossal crabtopus. It continues to stare at her with that big, black eye.<br><br>Nothing seems to happen.<br><br>...At first.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And then its skin starts to change color. But not in a particularly threatening manner. No, it's darkened its undamaged sections of skin to a near-black hue, and sends streaks and patterns of color dancing across its body.<br><br>Apparently to the rhythm of the music.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's not /DANCE/ per se, but music does have a way of soothing the savage beast! Or at least teaching it interesting new camoflage patterns. It's as if Milly has her very own audio visualizer, in COLOSSAL CRABTOPUS FORM.<br><br>Will rappels down the side of the ship just in time to see it. He stares long and hard and then shakes his head at the wonder of it all. "Golly. Only you'd be able to pull something like that off, huh?"<br><br>(Yes, Will says golly. He's old fashioned like that.)<br><br>MEANWHILE^2, out at the beach, Maaka is enjoying some well-deserved time off.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;It's nice out here. The waves provide soothing background noise to the stirring wind and warm, late-afternoon sunlight. Will wasn't lying, at the very least. This is the kind of island that you could happily spend your summers on.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:894|August Kohler (894)}} has posed:'''<br>August has been, for the past few minutes, sitting somewhere nearby. Suffering. He's not climbing up a ship right now.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:941|Mel Brock (941)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Mel steps out to the edge of the half-ship, the box floating with her... then realizes that she's let the tree she used to get here, drop all the way to the ground. Crap.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Approximately five seconds later, Mel is riding the black box down like an elevator.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> Damn tetanus fields and their bountiful harvests. Kazuko wades through them bravely, cursing her decision to wear shorts almost all the goddamn time and relieved at her decision to wear higher socks most of the time in turn. Spotting those machines and oddly-labeled samples, the martial artist pores through these things without touching them directly, although she does give one of the machines a light nudge with her weapon's flat end. She doesn't leave the relative safety of the immediate area, though, opting to stay there instead of wading through the tetanus fields once more. Not until she knows what to do with these things first!<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Hey, guild lady. Bunch of broken stuff in here that's probably ancient super-tech. Figure you'd want this. Also think I found what we're looking for."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "I found uh... A thing too."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent has music filtering in from her radio...<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "There's a bunch of old print-out maps in here-- Milly what're you doing"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "Teaching Mr. Crab how to dance!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "...Uh. Huh."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "W-well, uh. Do you know any dances that involve eight... TEN limbs?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "I can improvise!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "I can't believe I'm hearing this conversation."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "What? Giant Enemy Crabs can dance too!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "...Is this really happening right now?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Ma'am, you have no idea how often I ask myself that question."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Will. Got something for you."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Huh? Oh, right! I'm outside."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Sorry, the Crabtopus is doing... things."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami says, "Whoa... There's some weird stuff down here. Hmm."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami says, "Lots of tiny glass bottles, too... Should I bring any of this stuff out?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Uh."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "What... Kind of stuff?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Hey Guild Girl, y'all want any glass vials full of... stuff?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "The name's Claire, asshole. And yes, hand them over."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "Heeeeey, don't be rude!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami says, "Mm... There's some machines, some labeled things, some... Other closed up things with black stuff in them."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "..."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock suddenly very tense. "What kind of black stuff."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami says, "Dunno! I can try to open one up, but... That's not a good idea, is it?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Is it powder."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Yuna Kagurazaka says, "Think it might be gunpowder or something?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Because if it is powder."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "We are taking this black box, we are getting off this island, we are reporting our findings to the Chief and we are asking him if he has any way to /erase it from the map/."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "We are not, under any circumstances, at any time, giving any of the powder to anyone. Ever."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Alexis Maaka suddenly upright, "Is this what I think it is?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "So /is it powder/?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "What the fuck is powder?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami confused noise "I don't get it. Um..." Clink "It's powdery."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Kohler."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "The mountain."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "What are you people so on edge about?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Powder... That black stuff. The stuff in the mountain, with the zombies."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Alexis Maaka says, "Oh /fuck/."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "...Nanozombie powder?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Yuna Kagurazaka says, "Mel is asking about the contents of the vials Kazuko found. I'm ..."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Jesus christ."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Yeah, we're leaving."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Yuna Kagurazaka says, "..... Do you need me to blow things up with El-Line?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "No. I want to see if Chief knows a way to sterilize this shit."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "So, what are we doing with the crab? Is Argent adopting it?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "...Nanozombies?" Taktaktaktaktak. "...Hm. I see."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Blowing it up might just scatter it."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Yuna Kagurazaka says, "Good point"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Bury it at sea?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Though the crab isn't a nano-zombie."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel &#124;Chief transmits, "...Nanomachines? I see."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Yuna Kagurazaka says, "The crab also isn't human."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "Can I keep it? Can I? Can I? It's so cute!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "...what the hell am I even- CHIEF. Chief, do you know how we safely dispose of this stuff?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Argent, do you even know how to fucking take care of a crabtopus?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "Uhhhhhhhh...."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, ".....No?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "But still!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel &#124;Chief transmits, "...Mmn. It's possible, but as you've all said, just blowing it up would scatter it."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent says, "I'll just put it in a pool!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel &#124;Chief transmits, "Is it active?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Alexis Maaka says, "No, otherwise there would be a LOT of screaming."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Alexis Maaka says, "i'm outside, and I'm packing my stuff up as we speak."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Negative. From what Kawakami said, it's sealed."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami says, "Yeah, it's super closed up. I think. Er... I shouldn't test it, should I?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "No. No no no no /no/."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Alexis Maaka says, "Kazuko, /get out of there./"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "...Can Rory examine it?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel &#124;Chief transmits, "Alright, good. If it's not active, we can move it onto shore and glass it with the plasma artillery.<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel &#124;Chief transmits, "As you'd expect, I'm not letting that stuff get anywhere near my ship."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "I want a sample."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami says, "Okay, I'm coming out! Just give me a sec... There's a lot of these machines and glass th-eh? Oh, a sample..."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "What will you do with it?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Refused."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Vetoed."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Hold on. What will you do with it?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "The guild will analyze it."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "For?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "What are you going to do after you analyze it?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "For? I don't know what the R&amp;D Division does with all of our finds. Most of the time they reverse engineer discovered tech."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Alexis Maaka says, "Not this tech. We can't let anybody touch this shit."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "No, hold up."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Could they discover a cure?"<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "I'm sorry, but I don't know you or your guild. I'm sure you're a nice person yourself, I'm sure there are people in your guild that are perfectly good and trustworthy. But if there's even one person in there who might think 'Hmm, I can make a weapon out of this', that's one too many."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "It's possible."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Well, we can't just glass it, if there's someone who can discover a cure. If all we do is reactionary destroy it, we don't fucking stop it from killing people."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Claire, this is kind of... This stuff isn't good. It gets into people."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Rory White speaks up. "The safe way to dispose of inactive nanite swarms is... to use a disassembler swarm. Assuming that it remains inactive the entire time."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "But without a sample, whatever this nanozombie thing is; is going to remain a total mystery. Is that okay with you people?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "......Nn."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "We saw this shit bring dead bodies back to life to attack us. We have strong indications that it can infect living people."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "...I feel we might want to see what this is."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "And see if we can cure it."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock growls. "You- I-" Deep breath.<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- August Kohler says, "Otherwise no one's going to get saved!"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Mel-- if there's a chance for a cure..."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kazuko Kawakami sitting noise<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Claire. I don't know your last name but pretend I said your last name too, because this is serious."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Claire."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Can you give me your word. You, personally, as a person. That you will do WHATEVER YOU CAN to make sure this doesn't turn into a horrifying tragedy six months from now?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Rory White says, "Nanites can also be held at bay with magnetic containments used for antimatter. It would be an endeavor, but not infeasible. However I am EXTREMELY wary of this. If it is the 'zombie' swarm, then it is self-replicating and adaptive. That makes it BEYOND dangerous."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "I'll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "...one sample. One, /very small/, sample."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "And if six months from now, we have to blast apart reanimated corpses? I'm making you tell their families what happened."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Rory White says, "And twenty times an amount of a guardian swarm to stop it in an emergency."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Claire, I trust you, but... Look. This stuff-- it... it got my mom."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "That's good enough."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "So please, be careful with it."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- William Pauwel says, "Okay?"<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "Pauwel. It's not in my job description to mishandle these things."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "As for you, Brock, was your name? If, and I say /if/ that happens? I'll personally inform all of those families. But that's not going to happen."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Marshal Mel Brock. Officer of the law. Protect and serve, all that shit. I'm sorry if I ruffled any feathers, but I take that pretty seriously."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Rory White says, "I shall provide the resources to avert and contain it. As is i said before, the best defense against a nanite outbreak is a much larger swarm of guardian nanites. Though another layer of defense would be needed. Studies must take place in a chamber that can be magnetically sealed and... preferably have nowhere to spread to."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Rory White says, "Except maybe the sun."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "Your seriousness is noted. I'm not taking this lightly either. I still want a sample."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kotone Yamakawa says, "If I get one hint of it being weaponized I'm coming for the guild."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Alexis Maaka says, "Makes two of us."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Kotone Yamakawa says, "I seen what out of control nanotech can do to a world. Ask rory about her earth."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "And this is the part where I hope to god that my usual luck doesn't strike."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "I once had a routine bust at a spaceport. Routine bust. Perfectly normal. Guy smuggling drugs across sector borders."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "End of the day, half the spaceport was leveled."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Rory White very simply, "Nanite swarms are designed with severe limitations for a very good reason."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Please don't let this turn out like that."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire says, "That smuggler was a fool then. Proper procedure and quarantine will be followed. The Chaser Guild takes things like this very seriously."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "It wasn't the smuggler being a fool, it- well alright, that's what /started/ it."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "But then it turned into this great big cascading storm of bad going to worse with the most ridiculous strokes of bad luck possible."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "That's my luck."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Yuna Kagurazaka says, "Nanotech isn't inherently bad, but nanomachines designed to turn people into zombies ...."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Yuna Kagurazaka says, "... Is."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Rory White says, "Transhuman nanotechnology... cannot self-replicate, cannot be organized beyond certain quantities thresholds and are incapable of autonomous behavior of any sort. The first of these limitations we have NO desire to overcome, after what the TITANS did with them..."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Millium Argent &#124; Claire scoffs, "Your luck is a fascinating thing then."<br>-&lt;RADIO: Chasers&gt;- Mel Brock says, "Yeah, and I have to live with it."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:385|Yuna Kagurazaka (385)}} has posed:'''<br>Meanwhile, Yuna is kind of bobbing her head along with Millium's song ... up until Kazuko mentions finding some vials of 'black stuff' which is later described, under Mel's careful questioning, as 'powdery'. The word 'zombies' comes up later.<br><br>Yuna stops bobbing her head, or in fact doing much of anything, when the connection is made. Zombies of any kind are terrifyingly bad news, and if she could be sure of El-Line's firepower obliterating the nanomachines (if that's what they are) without scattering the stuff instead, she'd definitely be happy to do that once everyone else is out of harm's way. Other than that, though, this suddenly seems like a really bad place to relax, swim, and soak up some sun. She'd rather get off the island (or whatever it is) again, as soon as possible, and make sure that the threats they've uncovered stay a long, long distance away from anything remotely this creepy.<br><br>0/10, would not return if there's any choice about it.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> Kazuko's eventually seating herself by the vials of black dust, sweating nervously at the notion of being so close to something that may or may not be responsible for creating... What was it her companions called it? Nanozombies? It's hard enough knowing not to even attempt to open the things with whatever that risk is, but to have to keep waiting on whether or not she should actually bring one of those back... <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At least the floor's easy enough to sit on. A little wet and uncomfortable, but at least she's not feeling sick yet.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:7|Kotone Yamakawa (7)}} has posed:'''<br>Kotone Yamakawa was having fun time now with Maaka on the beach but the radio converstion leaves her very troubled, oh god does it leave her trouble. Finding a cure could be godo but she also knows how this could be amused and weaponized. God help the Guild if they do try to weaponize it, she tries to relax and clam downa bit they made ther choice. Yet memories of Rory's earth comes to mind notably the poor bastard with the cancer tree...growing out of his chest.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>All that talk about black dust...<br><br>Well. To say that it's got Will looking a little downcast is a bit of an understatement. It makes the memories flood back in. Unpleasant memories. When Will makes his way over to Mel, he looks... Anxious. Downcast. "Hey. Sorry if I'm a little... You know."<br><br>He shakes his head. "A-anyway, the box, right? Let me--"<br><br>"<span class="bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc">Plasma Confinement Disk Recognized</span>"<br><br>The thing in his hand is glowing again. Judgment is speaking, and its light pours across the box. "<span class="bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc">Releasing security locks. Clearance: J-002. Engage.</span>"<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The box slides open. It's... literally just a solid brick of black metamaterial, solid enough to survive an apocalypse. But at its center is a curious looking apparatus. It's something that looks like a stitched-together fusion of solid-light and stark white circuitry, arranged in a vaguely octagonal pattern. Will frowns and reaches for the small, apparently insignificant component.<br><br>The Solano hinges open, popping a copper disk out of place. Will removes it, and slides the replacement part inside.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Suddenly the weapon seems to sputter. Its flame winks out, and then suddenly reignites more vigorously before. Electricity no longer arcs across its barrel when it does so. The whole thing seems to have become... more stable. Like it's NOT about to spontaneously explode just 'cause.<br><br>"...Huh."<br><br>"<span class="bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc">Offensive versitility restored to 40%</span>," Judgment says. "<span class="bold_fg_c bg_n ++ hc">Variable energy-forms available: Plasma, Photonic, Impact, EMP, Thermal.</span>."<br><br>...Well. That was a thing, at least.<br><br>MEANWHILE<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Inside the ship, Kazuko is faced with a choice. A terrible, awful choice. The choice to take those samples with her, or to leave them be. Fortunately, the vials and their contents don't seem to move or respond at all when she picks them up. So they're.. Probably quiescent.<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"You'll need to bring those to shore," a voice calls in her ear. The captain of that ship in the harbor, apparently. "I don't want to fire from this far away, or with all that vessel in the way. It may mean we might miss the vials. Or damage containment enough for the stuff to get loose."<br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;"Of course," the captain- Chief- sighs, "If that girl wants a sample... We might need to wait and get the case open first. In either case, you need to get that thing out of there. Just... Whatever you do, do NOT drop it. Do you understand? Breaking containment might doom us all."<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>Meanwhile, Milly is presumably still dancing at the crabtopus.<br><br>The crabtopus is responding with ever more extravagant displays of color.<br><br>THINGS ARE GOING JUST FINE IN MILLYWORLD.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Milly does a dumb thing. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She claps her hands and then makes 'come here' motions to the GIANT ENEMY CRAB while she drifts backwards. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Because why the hell not!?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> The good news: Kazuko's received directions on how to proceed! The bad news: It involves not only bringing Claire a sample, but taking ALL OF THE VIALS. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; No pressure, Kazuko. The Chief just warned her that everyone might die if she makes a single mistake. No pressure at all. &lt;&lt;"R-really? Uh... Okay! I.. I can do this. Just wait for me, alright everyone? I've got this!"&gt;&gt; <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She sounds a lot more confident than she actually is, but... Well, no time like the present than to start gathering everything up. The martial artist can't quite trust the various chunks of ship and garbage lying around to safely transfer everything out safely. At the same time, she can't just stuff them all in her pockets and hope they don't fall out. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It's a good thing she kept the jacket on this whole time, then. Taking off her track jacket (and still wearing a swimsuit underneath), she sets it down before gathering up all the vials and sealed containers into it, then ties the whole thing up into a makeshift bindle. She makes sure the whole thing is snug without making it so tight as to break anything, and then it's time to come on back out through the tetanus fields! <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; And desperately hoping her sneakers don't catch onto something on the way out.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>Kazuko, to the great fortune of EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THIS ADVENTURE, does not trip. Because tripping would be awful. Tripping would mean that everything in the surrounding area would suddenly be horribly overcome by angry black dust. The containment seems to hold, the vials don't suddenly explode and swallow her up to turn her into Zombie Wanko. NOTHING BAD HAPPENS.<br><br>yet<br><br>So she can make her way outside, with her makeshift rucksack full of horribly dangerous ~STUFF.~<br><br>Meanwhile, outside, Milly dares to... TO SEDUCE AN CRABTOPUS. Contrary to popular belief, this isn't actually particularly dangerous in this situation. The naked crabtopus considers the girl dancing in front of it and... Slithers vaguely forward?<br><br>But then as Kazuko leaves the ship, it pauses to reclaim its shell, sliding its massive form back into the place that was home for so many dozens of years.<br><br>It considers Milly for a moment, then, and slowly wanders towards her again.<br><br>HAS MILLIUM SUCCESSFULLY BEFRIENDED A CRABTOPUS!?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:1051|Millium Argent (1051)}} has posed:'''<br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; HAS SHE!? <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Millium seems to think so, because she flies onto it's shell and then points into the distance. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Onward!" <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ...All while sickeningly upbeat idol music blares from her terminal. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Onwards. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To adventure. <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This is a terrible idea.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:942|Kazuko Kawakami (942)}} has posed:'''<br> And she's out! Kazuko breathes a heavy sigh of relief while cradling that jacket-bundle, barely managing a response through the radio. &lt;&lt;"I'm out of the ship now! It-gyah!"&gt;&gt; She has to jump forward some just to avoid getting caught up in the ship's movement as the crabtopus reclaims it, nearly having a heart attack just from that before settling down onto her butt and knees with the bundle still cradled. &lt;&lt;"N-nah, I still.. It's still here! Uh. Can we just.. Take care of this and do the beach thing now?"&gt;&gt; <br><br>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It's just about time for a vacation, anyway.<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>ONWARD, TO ADVENTURE!<br><br>Miraculously, the Crabtopus appears to... understand? Or maybe it's just following the vague direction that the music is coming from. In any case, it seems to be following Milly's orders.<br><br>Maybe.<br><br>...How is she getting it /home/ though?<br> <br>

:'''{{#var:934|William Pauwel (934)}} has posed:'''<br>Meanwhile.<br><br>Somewhere deep beneath the sea. Somewhere, derelict in a place long abandoned by the currents of the world, one half of a ship lies silent and still.<br><br>In its hold, two vials.<br><br><span class="bold_fg_x bg_n ++ hx">Black</span> and <span style="color:pink">Coral Pink.</span><br> <br>}}