663/CS3. A Walk in the Park

CS3. A Walk in the Park
Date of Scene:	23 September 2014
Location:	Flying Island
Synopsis:	Our adventurers convince King to release Sue, then find Kazuma within the Bushlands. As they learn more about the Mimiga and what has happened in recent history, they begin to realize that there's a lot more involved than just a missing research team.
Cast of Characters:	Deelel, Staren, 151, 332, 403, 411, 541
Tinyplot:	Cave Story

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Staren has posed:
    The mimigas have done /what/? Oh dear.

    Staren shows up in his usual armor of course, though he's not actually brandishing any weapons. "What are they /thinking/? If the Doctor wants mimigas, he's not going to trade one away... all they're doing is /giving/ Sue to him! What moron thought this was a good idea?" As soon as he sees the cage, he begins approaching it.

Quote (403) has posed:
    In previous weeks after her rescue at the hands of our heroes, Sue has been hiding out inside Arthur's house. Hunted by the Mimiga and the Doctor alike, she's been keeping her head down. The sturdy home of Mimiga Village's greatest hero is a good haven, and it's protected by more than a simple lock. It's protected by the respect the Mimiga show for the one who died protecting them all from a recent invasion. All of the Mimiga would have died if it weren't for Arthur. Toroko's kidnapping was almost gentle compared to the earlier slaughter... but then, the Mimiga didn't have a powerful group of outsiders opposing the Doctor's minions when they'd fought off the invaders. All they'd had was a hero willing to give his life to protect his people.

    Sue has been patient however, spending her time in research and working on the computer systems in the hopes of hacking into some sort of data or video network. Sadly, her hacking skills are on par with her fighting skills. Not bad really, but she's only 12, and she's up against a system much bigger and tougher than she can handle.

    All that effort finally paid off however. Or rather, her constant returns to the computer paid off. Kazuma had sent an IM. At long last, he'd somehow managed to get enough freedom to get to a computer and send a message! Not just a message, but a code as well. One that Sue quickly entered into the local teleporter, opening up a passage to Grasstown within the Bushlands. She'd gone through, then realized this was also a Mimiga home and returned. Instead of exposing herself to discovery she snuck out, found Quote, and sent him to 'help her investigate'.

    The robot had no problem with this, of course. He's been exploring the caves for a while now, doing what little he can. His repairs are progressing well now, and he shows no particular signs of damage. Though the caves are dangerous, they're not too dangerous for him if he's careful. He went through, investigated Grasstown, and even managed to help one of the inhabitants out of a rather tricky spot.

    While not yet able to reach Kazuma, Quote had nonetheless been able to get through some of the Bushlands. He'd just been returning to check out an idea he'd had, when he learned that Sue had been captured. Quote's fault, if anyone's. Sue had been hiding for a while, but one of the Mimiga had noticed the activity at Arthur's house. By the time Quote returned from his investigations, she had been put in a cell.

    Not sure whether to try to free the girl or to carry out her request to free Kazuma, Quote quickly decided it was time for reinforcements. He could do things slowly, but now was not the time for caution. Now was the time for haste, and so he made the call. When heroes arrive, Quote will be there to meet them. He looks a little different now. Not fundamentally so, just ... different. Less beat-up, more armed. He's actually got several weapons now. In addition to the little blue lasergun he had previously, he's got another pair of bulky pistols, an orange one strapped to his waist opposite the Polar Star,a long-barreled lime green one in a shoulder holster. Slung over his back is a bright yellow rocket launcher. Yep, he's totally been busy.

    Also meeting them is a small and somewhat bookish Mimiga. This one wears green like Toroko, but also wears a cap and goggles that make his eyes look absolutely huge. He also looks rather flustered and out-of-breath, having run to get to the room with the warpgate before anyone could arrive. Quote, despite having all these new weapons, seems calm and unthreatening. Jack, the goggle-wearing Mimiga, seems nonetheless worried. Quote has been a friend to the Mimiga for weeks now, and has gotten to know several of them. The newcomers however seem much more dangerous, much more threatening.

Quote (403) has posed:
    "I-it's not what you think!" Jack, the glasses-wearing Mimiga, says defensively. "The Doctor wants her. Dozens of us have been killed by him coming here looking for her!" he explains. "Toroko's one of us, and she got kidnapped because they thought she was Sue. So next time they come, King's going to offer Sue in exchange for Toroko. We don't have a choice!" he claims, sounding wretched and very defensive.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"And," Marrik's voice chimed in as he heard Jack detail the hostage exchange, "Do you think a man willing to murder for one girl is going to stop when he gets her?" He used a rune covered staff to help pick his way through as he approached. On his shoulder rode a doll sized winged woman wearing biker leathers who merely scowled at Jack. "I am sorry for the loss of your people, and will do what I can to keep more from being lost, but giving a man like this... Doctor," the word was said as if he had doubts the man deserved the title, "what he wants. Do that and he'll know he can get anything from you."

Staren has posed:
    Staren is stopped by Jack and looks down at the mimiga. "...So he really /does/ particularly want her? Even so. You think his two minions can't just take her by force, like this?" He gestures at the cage. "Even if he wants Sue, what makes you think he'll give Toroko /back/? We need to stage a proper rescue. Do you really think, even if Toroko were returned, that you'll have safe lives as long as the Doctor's around?" He shakes his head.

    "We need to find him and fight him. But that gives me an idea... What if we came up with some kind of bait for him? A fake Mimiga? Then we could find out where he takes them..." Staren hmms, stroking his chin.

Quote (403) has posed:
    Jack nervously wrings his paws, not disagreeing with the sentiments. "L-look, I... WE just want Toroko back. I didn't make the call. Take it up with King... he's the one who decides!" he says, gesturing upwards towards the center of the village.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley arrived with pretty much everyone else, and found herself watching a panicked Jack as he tried to explain their reasoning for imprisoning Sue. Her eyes lid in such a way to suggest a mild impatience with what he's saying, not convinced in the slightest. But she doesn't make a lot of aggressive motions. When she speaks up at him, she speaks in a soft tone of voice, though with a pressing importance in her tone:

    "You are wasting your time."
    And then she'd approach the cage, not really heeding any warning or fussing from Jack. She wants to ask Sue, "Where is your brother?" Because she doesn't have time for this drama right now.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    It takes Dex a little longer than most to get to this place, but when he arrives and hears about what's going on, it's clear the cogs in his head are turning rapidly. He's armed with a simple metal bow and quiver of arrows, but anyone who knows Dex knows that this is pretty standard. What isn't standard, however, is the shortsword on his hip. Opposite a requestioned pistol. Both are marked with the telltale Union symbol, showing he has borrowed these armaments. Still trying to expand past his bow, though he immediately goes for it as a reflex. As everyone else speaks, Dex closes his eyes.

    "So if someone is coming to collect her, doesn't that mean we need to guard everyone remaining here?" he asks. "Dex Alruin, by the way," he adds after a moment, "Heard the call, thought maybe it'd be possible for me to help. I don't really understand everything that's going on, but it sounds bad."

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik merely leaned on his staff as he let Ainsley talk. Mostly this was due to the fact he was fighting down impulses to magic the cage into scrap. Instead he focused his attention on Quote. "I found a few things out from Igor before letting him go. Nice guy really but something, he couldn't articulate, made him. Pushed him. Knew about the corridor but... Look I'm sorry but I let him go so he could have his peace. Poor guy was a/mess, and hurting from what he'd done. A gentle soul made to do thins it never wanted."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel has remained interested in what was going onw ith Quote and well here she is again. So she ws here to join the meeting and was quirt for once like she was milling over something really.

Quote (403) has posed:
    Outside the home appropriated for the warpgate lies Mimiga Village. High up in the middle of the chamber, a decent climb for anyone, sits the town's jail... a cage. Within the cage sits Sue, and just outside it stands King. The Mimiga leader seems unperturbed, though he too has had to rush to react to what must seem to the Mimiga to be another crisis. What's the difference, after all, between outsiders? With the power shown by the Doctor and by these others, what chance do the Mimiga have when it comes to battle? Caught in the middle, wanting nothing more than to be left alone, King knows his people have little chance of that. But nonetheless, here he decides to make his stand.

    "Let me out of here NOW!!!" cries Sue, leaping up and dramatically shaking the bars of her cage. King isn't distressed, though he's rather annoyed. "Shuddup! Toroko was kidnapped because of you! One way or another, I'm handing you over, and nothing you can say will change that." he says. That is, if the outsiders leave him that much choice in things.

    "I hate you!" cries the little girl turned Mimiga. King just shakes his head, glowering. "If Toroko isn't safe, I'll tear you apart myself." he threatens. Then he reconsiders. "No. Alive, you're still something we can use to bargain with the Doctor. You're no good to anyone dead."

    It's about then that he notices the new arrivals approaching him. His hand drifts to his sword hilt, hesitates, then he frowns and rests it on his hip instead, waiting for them to make the climb.

Staren has posed:
    Staren frowns at Jack. He heads up with Ainsley, confronting King and the cage. He frowns. "You think you can bargain with him? You're a fool, then." His argument was already made. He tries to step around King, then frowns as the mimiga stays in his way. "If you actually care about Toroko, then work with us to stage a rescue. Otherwise... stay out of our way. Now stand aside." He already tried diplomacy with Jack. His patience has run out, like Ainsley's.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex follows the rest of the group to the cage, drawing his bow as he does. This King character seems like he could be dangerous, but since he doesn't draw the blade he carries, Dex relaxes and lets his bow dip. "There's some flaws in your planning there, guy," he says, stepping forward. "If this 'Doctor' wants her, and he has any measure of power, what makes you think he's going to bargain with you? If I know anything about evil beings with power, it's that they'll take what they want and they're not going to ask or give you anything in return. Hell, you'll be lucky he doesn't kill you for daring to ask!" He slings his bow back across his shoulder. "Besides, do you know this Toroko is still safe?" He fixes King with a gaze. "You're in a strategically weak position if the answer is no."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley floated up and made her way to the cage, disregarding such obstacles as 'climbing' or 'jumping.'
    "King." Ainsley greets him with that neutral voice. "Tell me: Do you think this plan will actually get Toroko back to you? Because it is a very large risk to take for no guarantees. Did the Doctor happen to send any messages or promises that he would give you Sue back?" She does not seem interested in his answer, really, because she doesn't expect he has anything at all.
    "This just seems like you're using someone as a bargaining chip who doesn't deserve it." She points up at where the cage is. "We will deal with the Doctor. I promise."

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik frowned at King and raised his staff as if it were a spear pointed at him. "This path is stupid. You are acting stupid." And in a single decisive motion brought his staff down, using whispers of magic to decay to allow the staff to sink into the ground enough so he could leave it free standing. his left foot slid out and his arms moved in a series of quick gestures as if jabbing at the air while threads of magic sought to decay several of the cage's bars. His eyes flashed red briefly as more threads, life instead of death this time, wrapped around Sue to heal any hurts she had. "Try the bars again kid." With luck they'd simply fall away at a touch.

Quote (403) has posed:
    King glowers at the group, but doesn't reach for his blade. He may be willing to fight if there's no alternative, but he's not so foolish as to start something when it might not be necessary. "This is for the good of the village. You think she's not done anything to deserve it? She's done nothing but harm since she came here, leading the Doctor to us, getting so many of us killed or kidnapped!" he explains gruffly. "I'd let you have her and good riddance, but then where does that leave us the next time the Doctor shows up?" he says.

    King doesn't sound terribly confident however. It's true he's in a weak position. He doesn't know if Toroko's safe, he doesn't know if he can bargain for her... he doesn't know if there's anything he can do whatsoever. He has to do SOMETHING though, else he might as well give up. Even a weak option, a slim chance, is better than nothing.

    From inside the cage, sensing that things are going from bad to worse, Sue speaks up. "Toroko's the only one who treated me nice when I was getting used to being here. I... I feel bad she got taken. I didn't want that. But I don't want to be captured by the Doctor either!" she insists. "And what do you think you're doing?" she yells angrily at Marrik. "You want to get me out by force? So then I have to go with you? What about my FAMILY? I'm not just going to run away and abandon them!" she declares. "There's no point in me going anywhere, at least until Kazuma's safe. Say, I've got an idea! Why don't you all go save him in my place, THEN come back here and get me out? That's got to be better than getting in a fight here, right?"

    King glares at Sue, but he doesn't refute her suggestion. He seems to be thoughtful, actually. Still, he has other things to worry about. "We're caught between powerful outsiders." he says, trying to speak calmly. "You and this Doctor. If I do what you want, how is that different from letting the Doctor have whatever he wants? No, he doesn't know she's here right now, but he'll be back sometime... and when he is, he can do whatever he wants to us. Just like you can. Who will protect us? You?" he scoffs. "Not even rescuing Toroko will keep us safe. I'd kill this Doctor if I could, and anyone else who'd threaten us. That's the only thing that will protect this village." he says, orange eyes blazing with intensity.

Staren has posed:
    "Whether she deserves it is irrelevant. This won't get Toroko back." Staren folds his arms as Sue explains her plan. "I don't want to leave you in a cage... but we're rescuing everyone we can and taking this 'Doctor' /down/. Taking you and leaving forever isn't on the table and never was."

    Staren looks down at King. "Now you're talking." He smiles a bit. "Let's figure out how to kill this 'Doctor'. First, we need to /find/ him. We need to find out where his hideout is..." Staren looks over to Sue. "...If Kazuma's in immediate danger though, we'll rescue him first. Then, can we all work together?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
"We'll do what we can," Marrik's voice had a hard edge to it as a heat shimmer in the shape of a hand grabbed his staff and brought it to him. "King." He looked at the sword wielding Mimigas and signed, "I understand your duty is to your people, but this blind reaction plays right into this Doctor's hands. Igor was peaceful then turned to a mindless brute. That is what you are seen as to this monster, fodder. I will help how I can, but you must show more brains than this. We will go get Toroko back. It is a tall order, but is there any way you can make this place easier to defend?"

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex crosses his arms. "Let us help you. That's what I want to do at least, and I'm guessing the others as well. I'm not the greatest of warriors, but I can at least try to help." He steps closer to King, uncrossing his arms as he does. "It's not a sign of weakness to look for help outside of your comfort zone. And, while I can understand your hesitation, it's not a good idea to seal off a better possibility for getting Toroko back." He stops in front of the Mimiga, then turns to the rest of the group, glancing up at Sue as she speaks up. "It seems we have a mission, then," he says, "but what if the Doctor shows up while we're off saving Kazuma?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    There's a beat of pause from Ainsley as she considers King, and the points made by everyone else. She looks over at Dex as he speaks about the Doctor showing up. Her brow furrows. "We need to post someone here for King to direct," she points out, "Guards of some kind. This town is virtually defenseless without it." She holds up a hand in gentle urging toward King, "You are an excellent leader, but one soldier does not a defense make. Consider asking for some help. Maybe you can go with us, for some of this searching?" She shrugs her shoulders.

    "Regardless..." she pauses. "Sue! Where's your brother?" she shouts over toward the cage.

Quote (403) has posed:
    King considers, folding his arms across his chest. "I can't come with you." he says. Not if he doesn't know where the Doctor is anyways. "That would be leaving my people defenseless. But yes, there are things we can do here. We can hide. If we're found, I can fight. I may even have a surprise in store if there's no other choice." he says, voice rough with menace.

    King unfolds his arms to reach into his robe. He withdraws a key. "Not like keeping her had much chance." he mutters. Still, he's quick enough to admit when he's been wrong, and fast to agree to a possibility, however slim, that offers real hope.

    "I can guide you partway to where Kazuma is." Quote suggests, from where he'd been silently observing. "I've been through to Bushlands, after Sue found me. I haven't found a way past this one area. I would've tried again, but..." he looks at Sue, shrugs. He came back, and then all this happened.

    King unlocks the door of the cage, which promptly falls off its hinges. He stares at the cage, stupefied. Jack, bounding up to the ledge now that things seem somewhat less likely to become violent, stares in fascination. "Wow. You've gotten really strong, King. Since--" he pauses, shrinking back from the leader's baleful glare. "Er... o-okay. So that's it then? We're letting Sue go?" he asks. Sue looks properly grateful, and more than a little subdued. "I could help you defend the village?" she offers in a soft voice. "After Toroko... well, it's kind of the least I could do..." she says. Besides, the idea of charging headlong into the Bushlands, even with these heroes to help her, is a bit scary.

    Quote gestures towards Arthur's house, down in the lower section of the village. "The teleport pad's active and locked in to the Bushlands now. Anyone coming to find Kazuma, there's no time to waste!" King nods. "Don't worry about us, outsiders. If all else fails... we'll manage, that's all." he says, looking grim. They HAVE a defense. It's not a great option. It's certain to mean death... but better he dies than that everyone dies.

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods. Glad to see King seeing reason. "Thanks. We'll get the Doc, eventually. ...I'll have some help brought here, just in case." He heads through the teleporter.

    A few minutes later, an android in a simple black dress walks out of the warpgate accompanied by a dozen of Staren's unicorn golems. Really, in this environment? They won't be much help. Their job is to make the enemy /think/ they're a threat and attract some hits to buy time. The android unpacks a couple of saddlebags from one of the golems, offering laser pistols and missile launchers to the mimigas. It's something, hopefully.

    Plus, the golems have cameras and radios built in. Staren will know the moment something goes down.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik looked over at Sparks and nodded. The pixie nodded back and flew off then... vanished. It would take a keen eye to spot her and that's even if one knew where to look. "Look," He took his coat off and motioned for king to come over to him. "Look I don't keep many weapons on me, but I have supplies, tools, things that might help." And with that he reached into a pocket up to his elbow before pulling a small bag out, then after letting it drop another, then another, and finally after a dozen or so are deposited at King's feet he put his coat back on. "I've left a way for us to know if you need backup. Won't even know she's here, promise."
    That done he walked to Arthur's house and it's teleporter. Briefly he considered staying, acting as defense himself, but then disregarded. He also put down the idea of summoning the dead. Even if things weren't strained that meant leaving zombies unattended. That was never a good idea.
    Then he pulled out a soviet era pistol and several clips to lay at King's feet. "Both hands, pull trigger. Sparks can give you directions and help coordinate. Worst case she might be able to distract enough for your people to make for the warp gate."
    Then he shrugged his coat on and went through the teleporter.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex smiles softly. "I'm glad that you are the leader that the Mimiga need right now," he says, "You can figure out what is necessary and are able to make the tough calls." He draws his bow, pulling an arrow from his quiver. "I don't know what lies in the Bushlands, but I feel like I might be better utilized here. Besides, I'd like to be filled in on the situation in relative calm. Would you accept me staying here to help you, King?"

    He offers a small smile, looking around the village. "Besides, I think I would just slow you all down. Here, if we're attacked, I might be able to use my mind to make things a bit easier."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley looks at King in a sad way, as someone who is wholly familiar of historical events where a smaller force is vastly overwhelmed by a far superior enemy. She smiles at him, or at least tries to, but she can't help but worry about him. He's obviously the leader, the confident one, even if he's a little surly. "Good luck, then," she says to him, softly, and then she turns to leave with Quote.
    Ainsley goes to Bushland with the others.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is here and listneing she's been oddly quite for the last bit she's clealry taken note of things. She will try to respect what the locals want after all. She hummms at King's words and the commnets abotu protecting the villiage eithe rewya that's going to have to wait she's got some ideas that might help a bit. However they need to head out right?

"King take care."

She follows Quote Ainsley and the rest.

Quote (403) has posed:
    There's not much King can do to protect his people, but whatever is necessary, he's willing to do. He nods solemnly to those saying he's made the right decision, accepts Marrik's weapon dubiously then passes it on to Jack, who all but fumbles the weapon. Then he nods to Dex. "There's no need. If this Kazuma is in Bushlands, and if there's a fast route there, we won't be without you long. You can go with your... your friends. But if you would rather stay here, your aid is most welcome."

    Meanwhile, as the group goes through the transport to Bushlands...

    The teleport pad leads to a dark narrow cave, a path leading sharply upwards towards what almost appears to be the outdoors. Bushlands is, as the name suggests, a very green place. The light is bright, almost as good as sunlight. A couple of Mimiga burrows line the area around the transporter cave. This, then, is Grasstown.

    Quote shrugs. "Most of the Mimiga have left. Or... well, you know." he says, a bit awkwardly. The Doctor may well have come through, capturing or killing Mimiga around this area. "Only one still lives here. His name's Santa, and he said the wildlife is over-excited recently." The robot gestures beyond the buildings, out into a section of rolling green hills. The terrain is somewhat rough, but nowhere near as difficult to traverse as the leaps and climbs of Mimiga Village or the partially-collapsed sections of the Egg Chamber. The rolling hills conceal movement however. Wind might account for the movement of the grasses, but there's no wind to be felt.

    Within the grasses, critters lie in wait. They're like the familiar hoppers but with a small but significant difference. They still bounce into the air and try to squish intruders, but their small wings allow them to hover a few seconds and guide their falls more accurately than the simpler hoppers. Somewhat further down the cave there are also giant critters, almost as bulky as Balrog, who can nonetheless hover and fly for quite some distance before dropping to the ground with an earthshaking thud.

    If that's not enough, there are also bats. Bats are rather pathetic menaces, but these are fairly large and hostile. When approached, they'll swoop and bite if possible. There's not many of them, but the bats tend to swarm and swoop in large numbers. And if THAT'S not freaky enough, there's giant floating jellyfish. Well okay, not really jellyfish, but that's what they look like. They don't move very fast, but anyone who happens to run into them when climbing or flying is in for a world of stinging hurt. Yes, everything in the zone seems to fly or float, even if some of them remain grounded until it's time to attack.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight was following after the others as well. She wasn't sure about going into some kind of deep cave, but she could see that the people here needed help, and she wasn't about to turn her back on such people. So, the purple pony trots along, staying close to Staren and looking around a bit fearfully. She seems more or less okay until...bats. Bats? BATS!!

     Thanks to her fear of such things, Twilight cries out and starts galloping around in a panic when the bats start swarming around them. No doubt provoking attacks from the giant bug things, which only panics the pony more. It's like all the things she doesn't like rolled into one cave! "W-why did it have to be bats?!?!"

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex opts to stay behind, taking up arms with Jack and King. He lets his bow relax, but only slightly as his eyes scan the area. "I don't mean to seem insensitive," he starts, "but exactly... how many Mimigas have been lost because of the Doctor?" His combat armor, a red fedora and red leather duster snap into existence with a small noise. "Why did this happen? And... just how strong is this Doctor? What is capable of?" He rattles off the question, noting the relative silence of the village. "It... reminds me of a similar struggle I'm facing. That's why I ask. That, and I want to see this place saved. No one should have to face the death of their friends and family..."

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Twilight Wait!" marrik shouted before moving. Each motion was quick, decisive, and flowed from the previous as he sent hair fine threads of magic to yank the life from the creatures attacking. With any luck they would get the point that getting near would mean dying. As he continued forward, trying to cover Twilight's panicked gallop he looked around casting a net out. "<Hello, is anyone there?> Soft voice, and the magic intended merely to get any of the slain to come out of hiding. <We're not with the Doctor. King sent us to try rescuing Toroko, but we need help.> It was relatively simple, but he was doing double duty between covering fire and trying to see if the locals were in a helpful mood plus make it so any ghosts that did show would be visible to everyone else.

Staren has posed:
    Twilight gets a hug when she arrives, and Staren... tries to focus on less-lethal methods for the moment. He uses a phaser on stun setting to try and keep critters and jellyfish and bats from getting close, and tries to stun or throw them with the power armor's unarmed strength. Although, the giant critters are more of a problem... hopefully they can be avoided, for now.

    And then Twilight turns out to be afraid of bats. "Twilight!" he activates wings and dashes after her, trying to grab her and hold her still instead of running around wildly. "Stop! W-what's wrong with bats?"

Quote (403) has posed:
    King gestures Dex to follow him, bounding over a gap to a nearby ledge and over to the cemetery. Sue follows, apparently thinking nothing of bounding over the gap herself. Once there, he gestures over it wordlessly. The fresh graves are fairly obvious, and there's several of them. "Many more kidnapped." he says. "We don't know why. It all happened within the last few weeks." he notes. "Not the first time we were attacked by Outsiders, just the first time this Doctor person came. Before that, the last time was a generation ago."

    King sighs, shrugging. "I don't know how strong he is. But he commands Balrog and Misery, and they're figures out of legend. He's not so strong he can't be hurt. Arthur drove him off, nearly killed him, but he's got more power than we can deal with. Powers we don't understand."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    The lizard girl named Ainsley spares a smile to Twilight Sparkle, but she seems to be all business once everyone is in Bushland proper. She doesn't stop to go to Santa's house -- she ignores the name, figuring it just a quirk of Mimiga naming conventions -- and instead decides to follow Quote further into the cavern. As the group starts to encounter small creatures again trying to murder them in their faces, Ainsley falls into the rhythm. She floats along, hovering gently off the ground... and as critters flutter up into her personal space, she whips around and gives them taser punches right in their adorable faces.
    She carefully avoids any 'jellyfish' by staying out of the throng. The larger critters? She just avoids those completely, moving over or under them as appropriate. They aren't very fast, and won't present much of a threat if she keeps moving.

    If a bat comes at her, she just tries to swat it out of her face, not really interested in killing it. Like the other area, she isn't really here to disrupt the wildlife any more than it already is. If she's attacked, she defends herself, but that's about all she does.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex watches as King and Sue head across a gap, then leaps with all of his might across it as well. He follows them into the graveyard, and the freshness of some of the grave causes a choke to rise from his throat. As King explains the situation, a sort of heat seems to radiate from the Undefined Champion. His arrow flashes with silver, holy light, and his eyes seem full of fervor. "I will make sure he pays for these lives," he says, his voice steady. "No one has any reason to initiate genocide. It's not right, and it's not something I want to see happen." The fact that the Doctor can be hurt, was nearly killed, gives Dex a little bit of hope. "Arthur... is he still around, or is he... in one of those graves?" he asks. He would guess anyone willing to stand up to the Doctor would be present already, but he needs to ask to sate his curiousity.

    His mind kicks into overdrive. 'The Realm War really is only one of many terrible things. I've been so selfish,' he thinks.

Quote (403) has posed:
    Quote's response to the various critters is to pull out one of his new weapons. The electric-green pistol fires... bubbles. A horde of large bubbles. Each bubble carries an electric charge. He doesn't much care about the lives of bats, jellyfish, or the other monstrosities of the cave... but fitting in is part of his code. Others are using mostly nonlethal weaponry, and he has no particular qualms following suit. As a plus, the bubbline puts out a massive cloud of such bubbles overhead, effectively shielding him from bat attack and anyone else who sticks close. It wouldn't stop the descent of a monstrous critter perhaps, but others can handle those beasts.

    As the Bushlands roll on farther away from Grasstown, Quote gestures ahead to a region of high thick grass. "There's a pit there." he warns. "And the bottom of the pit is filled with spikes. Red crystal of some kind. I've seen a sign warning about it, and I've been scratched by some of the smaller crystals. It's really dangerous stuff... best to not even touch it." he says.

    This might cause a problem however. The pit is fairly wide. Maybe not olympic long jump level, but still something most people would think twice before hurling themselves over. And of course there's bats. There's ALWAYS bats. In this case the bats are hanging out above the pit, just waiting to ruin someone's day if they are trying to fly or even jump really high above the chasm.

Quote (403) has posed:
    King gestures upwards within the cemetery. Elevation means little to a Mimiga, and the higher ledge is just a place with a better view rather than an inconvenience. Up there stands a full-size tombstone, not just a set of crossed sticks, marking a single fresh grave. "Arthur was the strongest of us. The best of us." King admits. "He would not have even considered turning someone over to the Doctor. He died saving us." the Mimiga leader says solemnly.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight yelps as she is caught by Staren, and thrashes a bit before collecting herself enough to not run away thanks to Staren's grip. "I-I-I-they..they are bats! They are creepy and scary and...and did you see those bug creatures?! I..I can't do this! I'll just slow you guys down!" She tries to return Ainsley's smile, but it doesn't come off as a smile so much as a scared expression before she falls to all four of her knees, shivering. Marrik's help is completely unnoticed in her current state. The poor purple pony is barely holding herself together enough to keep from stampeding.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik never stopped moving even when faced with the jump. In fact he sped into a run as his magic wrapped around to form a shell that would turn anything it touched into dust. Add to that the small shove of kinetic force he added to his jump so what would normally be a flailing mad grab for the ledge would turn into him rolling shoulder first forward and into a low crouch as he scanned for threats.

As for these red crystals? A series of gestures sent threads of power onto one to see what would happen if he nudged it with the same sort of decay he used on the critters.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is going to do what she can she really is hopefully more useful out here she move through the cave and into the green place known as Bushland she seems content for the moment and she keeps moving at the warning of wildlife she nods and summon her staff to make ready for things. The alien life does make Deelel stare but organic life tends to do that to her really, she morphs her stff into her fire mode and she take shots at the creatures that are hostile and getitng to close to her. She however does not stop moving.

"Thank you for the warning Quote."

She keeps moving and eyes the pit for a moment hter'es no real way she could use a light jet fown here she does have a grapple but that might not be an good idea either.

"hummm."

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex steps back and looks up, seeing the tombstone and nodding solemnly. "A hero's grave for one who died a hero's death. Truly, I can see you all honored and respected him." Dex brushes his eye, then settles back on the task at hand. "We need to be ready for an attack. The others will be back with Kazuma soon I'll bet. In the meantime, you mentioned that the Doctor has two subordinates from legend. Balrog and Misery?" He raises his bow, putting the weapon away. "If they're legends, you must know a bit more about their powers, right? Is it one of them who will show up next, do you think?"

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley stops at the spike pits, looking down at them. She frowns at the sight for a few beats, and looks at the others. She crosses her arms, floating there... and she floats to hover over one of the pits. She swats at a bat that flutters at her, frowning at the cutesy creature as it flaps away in pain from her strike.
    "I can carry people across," she overs, holding out her hands, "One at a time." She'll take anyone who accepts her offer, happy to help anyone who needs it. And Twilight being all panicked gets a gentle smile from her. "Twilight... You will be fine. You have friends here. Okay? No one will let you get hurt."

Staren has posed:
    Staren is... well, surprised! Twilight is a hero, whose fought far worse enemies... But fear isn't logical, is it? Those skeletons...

    Staren hugs her around the neck and holds her close. "It's alright. It's alright." He's quiet for a moment as he tries to figure out how to approach this. Usually, Twilight's the one helping him with his problems.

    But he's not alone for helping Twilight. The others are here too. "Okay... we can't just leave you here... I can stay with you, if you want. Or you can come with us. We can stun the bats and try to keep them away, maybe... Just... tell me what we need to do for you to feel safe."

Quote (403) has posed:
    Quote simply leaps the chasm, floating over it with plenty of room to spare. A bat, buzzing him, flies into the smallish cloud of bubbles released by the bubbline, falling towards the pit, only to be swatted to one side by the robot's hand. It lands hard, quite possibly mangling itself, but nothing deserves impalement on those poisonous red crystal spikes.

    Once past the crystal-filled chasm, Quote gestures. "This is as far as I've been." he says. Ahead, a home lies carved into a rock wall, which seems to be the end of a cavern. A long ways up however, smoke drifts upwards from the top of the home. A chimney, it seems. And past the chimney, the cavern continues.

    There's also a pool out front of the Mimiga home, though it's hardly difficult to spot. There's aerial jellyfish hovering above the water, and a small set of bats by the cozy-looking home. "Chaco lives there." informs Quote. "She seems awfully lonely, and... well, we could keep her company if we weren't busy." he says, sounding a little sorrowed. Both for Chaco and for the urgency of their mission. "I can't get past this part of the cave alone. Thought about climbing inside the chimney, but I don't think we have time to let it cool. The rock's too high and overhangs too far for me to jump up... but I suppose it won't be much of a problem?" he asks, looking around at the capable adventurers present, smiling slightly.

    A keen observer might notice one more thing around here. A large circular fan, presumably for airflow, lies beneath a grate cunningly worked into the bare stone beside the pool of water. This is the first bare stone of the Grasslands, it seems, flat and smooth with no free soil to hold the everpresent growth. The fan isn't running though, and there's no sign it's run in a very long time.

    As for the overhang of rock? It's about thirty feet up and goes almost horizontally backwards. Flight could manage it easily enough, but jumping and climbing's right out unless ropes and similar gear are involved.

Quote (403) has posed:
    King looks at Dex, shrugs slightly under his robes. "Being legends, I don't know what to tell you about their power. How much of it is myth, how much real." he says. "Balrog is a brute. I don't think he has any power, but he's supposed to be immortal." he says. "Legends have him in a different form than he's in now, so perhaps he's a shapeshifter. Like Sue." he says, not quite grinning at the little Mimiga.

    "Misery is the dangerous one. She can do anything, according to legend. What I've seen myself is bad enough. Flight, teleportation, calling thunder and lightning. Not to mention those shielding bubbles." he explains. "Of them all, the one I most fear is Misery. Enemies like the Doctor come and go, but Misery serves every one of them... according to the legends."

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight shakes her head vigorously when asked how she can be persuaded to proceed. "I...I don't know..." she says, then takes a few deep breaths to try and calm herself. "I...I..." She looks up at Staren, then sighs. "I'll just have to push through...just make sure I don't run into any pits or ravines or anything." she says. She takes a few more deep breaths, then gets back to her hooves and looks toward where the others have already run ahead. "...and stay close." she adds to Staren before smiling weakly to Ainsley.

     Twilight starts toward the pit after that, flinching whenever a bat flies nearby or a hopper lands somewhere. She has to pause every now and then to gather herself. But, when she finally reaches the pit, a simple twinkling of magic on her horn brings her to the other side in a flash of purple-white light. She makes it over to where Quote is, then looks up at the ledge. "I could teleport up, then lower a rope or something down." the pony says in a shaky tone.

Marrik (541) has posed:
When the thread of magic latched on Marrik instantly tried to pull away and let out a startled yelp. A curse later and he was hastily chalking a circle around him while fumbling for a fist sized chunk of quartz he pulled from his coat. He never noticed Twilight's panic or Staren's hug therapy because he was chanting softly while making a series of motions with his free hand. The corruption he had been exposed to flowed from his body into the quartz causing it to turn first dull grey then black. As he stood the quartz was put into a black bag, presumably to keep its tainted nature from contaminating anything else. Housekeeping done he rejoined Quote and frowned, first looking at the fan then the ledge before walking over to see if there was anything he could find on the other side. A headshake and frown later had him instead looking up while pulling a long line of rope from his coat along with a grapple before holding it for Twilight to see. Spidersilk rope and a five hook grappling end. "Should be long enough if you're up to trying."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel Says "I see so beyond here is unmapped terratory I see."

She listens as Quote talks about thier friend. She looks at the whole mess and ties to see what might be useful. Wait what's that.

"Humm I have a grapple but my light jet's too big to use here."

Quote (403) has posed:
    "Wow." blinks Quote, impressed by Twilight's ability. That's a very convenient power. When she suggests a solution to the overhang, he shrugs and nods. Marrik's hook and rope should be more than enough to assist him, with Twilight's setting the hook somewhere secure up above the ledge.

Staren has posed:
    Staren is concerned, and hopes he's correctly coming across as supportive rather than patronizing. "You don't /have/ to do this..." he reminds, but stands up with her, sticking close by and trying to stun the beasts and keep them away. He nods at the suggestion of teleporting. "Sounds like a plan." He pulls a bundle of synthetic rope from his bag.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    "So Misery is the more dangerous of the pair, and perhaps moreso than even the Doctor, huh?" Dex asks in response. "Brute strength is one thing, but Misery's abilities sound... yeah, terrifying. I kind of hope it won't be her to show up, but if she does, at least I have an idea of what to watch for." He fingers his other armaments lightly, glancing toward Sue. "You said your name is Sue, right? And that you have a last name? Do all Mimiga have last names?"

Quote (403) has posed:
    King nods, then shakes his head, ears flopping slightly. "It's hard to say. The Doctor isn't in our legends at all. He's a human, come from the human world only recently. He has the power to command Misery, apparently, which means he's probably stronger than her." he explains. "We just don't know anything about his power beyond that he can order them around."

    Sue glowers at Dex. "I'm a HUMAN!" she glowers. "Misery captured my family and the others. I ... I ran away. She laughed, and said if I was going to run like a rabbit then..." she shrugs. "Then I was like this." she finishes sheepishly. "I got away, but I'm a Mimiga now."

Quote (403) has posed:
    Once the group makes it up past the overhanging ledge, the cavern rolls on again gently downward. Beyond Chaco's home, there's more of the mechanical fans and a couple of wide chasms with the deadly red crystal spikes at the bottom. It's not exactly clear whether the spikes grew within the chasms, or if perhaps the crystals are somehow the cause of the tears in the caverns. These pits are even wider than the previous one, though a small blessing of that is they're too broad to suffer concealing overgrowth. The gaps are wide enough to require gear, flight, or superhuman leaps. And yes, of course there's bats. Lots of bats. They might be the weakest of the cave denizens, but a swarm of them in the wrong place is a nightmare... and this probably counts as the wrong place. In addition there's also mold-ghosts. They're stationary things, fungi that vaguely resemble ghosts or perhaps tombstones, and they react to the slightest touch with a blast of toxic spores.

    Shortly past Chaco's home, past a number of inactive fans and innumerable bats, there stands a huge warehouse. From within, a male voice calls out weakly for help. Not a panicked shriek, but pleading nonetheless. It's a hoarse voice, probably from someone who's been shouting for a while. Or perhaps someone desperately thirsty who just heard the commotion caused by the passing of a small horde of adventurers. Oh, and the door is stuck. Not just locked, rusted shut. It'll take a wrecking ball to get in there past that barrier. Or a bomb. Or maybe just an annoyed elite.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex nods. "Then they're all just really dangerous. Alright. That makes it a little less of a surprise should they turn up at all." At Sue's outburst, Dex recoils as though he had been struck. "Whoa, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," he says softly, "I... huh. I guess we can add transformation magic to Misery's arsenal, then." He paces back and forth, his muscles tense. "That could make things bad. She can turn humans into Mimiga. I wonder if that's the extent, or if she can turn anything into any other thing..." He shakes his head.

    "So we need to add getting Sue back to normal to our list of things to be done. Defeating the trio of evil, saving the Mimigas, and returning everything and everyone back to normal. Those seem to be the overarcing goals here." He nods slightly. "Did any of the Mimiga know that you are a human transformed?" he asks, looking between King, Jack, and Sue?

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik grunted as he saw the gauntlet, "Staren you want me to clear a way through so everyone else can go see who's up there and how bad they're hurt?" Even as Marrik spoke he started flinging magic about to wither the fungus, attempt to kill off any bats that were in the likely lane of traffic. If twilight were watching she'd see scraps of energy flowing from each creature Marrik's magic strick flowing back to rest in his hands before slowly spreading through the rest of his body. Deep breaths as he worked. "I'll cover everyone."

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    As the group reaches the warehouse, Ainsley briefly considers the door. She had been only a token help to Twilight -- she cannot grant much comfort to someone besides a sense of confidence she doesn't really have -- so she keeps an eye out for more bats and other nonsense in the way. She can't really hold a conversation, seeming awkward and quiet along the way. The warehouse, though, is something she /understands/. A practical problem.

    "Hmm." She holds out her hand to touch at the rusted door, tracing along the frame in order to seek out where the rust might be jamming it. "I think I can get this open. It'll take a minute, though, and don't count on me being energetic enough to fight anything scary afterwards."

    She then applies a thorough electrical spell as a sort of welding torch to /burn/ through the rust, and steps back... pointing her hand to emit a huge blast of wind at the door, hoping to jar it open with the force of the spell.

Quote (403) has posed:
    King has no clue what to add to Misery's arsenal. Shapeshifting magic is part of the legend, but that's just a confirmation and says nothing about her further powers. He remains silent about that, stoic as always.

    Sue frowns, looking sheepish. "Er... it kind of didn't come up?" she claims, scuffing her foot. "The Doctor knows, and of course Misery knows since she did it. But only Toroko knew I wasn't always..." she frowns, trying not to cry over the mention of her friend. She's only 12 after all, and this has been a wrenching day. First she found her brother, sort of. Then she was captured, imprisoned, freed... And now she's finding out that King's not a total asshole after all. That he's probably almost as scared as she is.

Quote (403) has posed:
    And if King should happen to look at Sue in a slightly new light? To understand a bit about why she's been so hateful and hostile to everyone? Well... that would be between him and Sue, really.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight appreciates Ainsley's help, nonetheless, and when the unicorn finally makes it to the warehouse, shivering with fright and adrenaline. "D-don't worry...Ainsley..." she pants. "...you can do it..." she says, smiling shakily and practically clinging to Staren. She blinks when she sees Marrik's magic sapping the strength from the creatures. She can't tell just what kind of magic is being used, but she is impressed by the multi-vector nature of the magic. It must take a lot of energy and concentration to attack so many at once.

Staren has posed:
    Staren smiles a bit once they've finally got Twilight through to what he presumes is Kazuma. Twilight gets an extra hug before Staren turns to deal with this. "Hey in there. Stay back from the door, okay? ...Are you hurt?" When Ainsley starts burning through magic to improvise an arc welder, he gently places a hand on her shoulder to get her attention, holds out his beam saber, and activates it. *FWOOMMMM* He loosens his grip, allowing her to take it if she wishes.

Marrik (541) has posed:
Yea ok several jumps. Can do this. Marrik had a running start, His magic turned from activly hurting things again to shell around himself as he did the mario thing. After he got to the other end he frowned at the door and just waited. He could rust his way through but that'd take ages, and Staren seemed to have a faster idea in mind. So he stood there, watching the ceiling in case anything new decided to drop in. Deep breaths. Calm. Let his mind drift.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex isn't sure how to react to Sue. He can't imagine being transformed into a whole new species. She sounds young, too. "Misery is cruel. Perhaps sadistic. This is another good piece of information. It tells us about her character, and how we might be able to exploit it. Thanks, Sue." He offers her a small smile. "Thanks for filling me in on what's going on around here, King, Sue. I understand there's a bit of a gulf between you because of prior actions, but I think right now you both, and we as well, have the same goals in mind. If a gulf must remain, let's not let it keep us from focusing on what's important. At least, that's what I'd like to think." He stretches out a bit. "I'd imagine this village was quite lively before all this. When we're done, I'd like to come back and see if it is again."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel sees other have ideas and she's going hang back today seems to be her day to just be musel and that' fin with her. She does however keep with the group moving to keep up with them. She's keeping an eye on the fans and also taking shots at the various bats. she's glad to be past that little problme but it seems there's something else with the door. Humm she keeps back now to watch just what the others have planned, she's going to need to bring photon charges next time she comes she thinks.

Quote (403) has posed:
    From within the warehouse, Kazuma's voice calls out. There's a small crack in one of the walls, and he presses an eye to it, trying to see what's going on. "I'm dyiiiing." he complains. "Of starvation. Please hurry!" he says. Nope, doesn't sound like he's hurt, and while he's at the crack he's probably in no danger from anything done to the door. Anything reasonable, that is. And the door indeed falls quickly to the combination of Ainsley's energy and Staren's beam saber. Wind wasn't enough to free up the rust and damage, but the combined efforts open it easily.

    Kazuma looks a lot like Sue. Oh, not the Mimiga girl... the one from Pixel's data files. He's got the same green hair, the same skin, and from the looks of things the same tendency towards facial injury. Might have something to do with the way he's always squinting, though that could have something to do with the darkness of the room he'd been trapped in versus the brightness of the caves outside it.

    He also seems different. Mellower, certainly. Older as well. Easily five years older, perhaps ten or more. He seems to suit the lab coat he's wearing. His enthusiasm, such as it is, is quite muted. "You did well." he says. "I knew you could do it! Um... my name is Kazuma Sakamoto. Please call me Kazuma." he adds. Then he gestures around him. A computer, a teleporter pad... a huge empty warehouse. "Luckily I was able to escape from the Doctor, but then... I came here. It felt like I was about to die of total starvation. Before you came along, I was almost ready to eat cockroaches! You... you saved my life!"

    This, he says with an almost cool detachment, with only the hint of personal involvement. Quite the contrast to Sue's boisterous rage. "By the way." he adds. "Have you heard of a place called Mimiga Village?"

Marrik (541) has posed:
Marrik merely hung back to keep an eye out for anything outside. Let someone else handle the kid while he just kinda hung out by the door. It's almost like he expected trouble. Paranoia?

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    After Ainsley lets Kazuma speak, she smiles at him.

    "Yes. We just came from Mimiga Village, in fact. Sue is there, and she's the one who sent us." She gestures to the doorway, "We should be headed back there, now that we've found you. I'm sure your sister will be happy to see you're okay." She looks over toward the teleport pad for a second, a little surprised. "Huh." She rubs her chin a few times. "So you got here by teleportation, but you couldn't get out, then?"

    She puffs a sigh. "Alright... time to slog through the wildlife on the way back," she complains, not really super bothered by it, and in fact relieved that something is going right without some big monster falling on their heads. It's surprisingly common to encounter spontaneous monster attacks, in her experience.

Staren has posed:
    Staren smiles. Not only have they rescued a guy, it's a guy wearing a labcoat!

    If Twilight is still clinging, he puts an arm around her. He nods as Ainsley explains. "Yeah... actually... how did you get here? What all happened... if you feel up to explaining." He offers a bottle of water from his bag.

Quote (403) has posed:
    Cruel and sadistic, yes. That seems to be Misery all right. Murderous... perhaps not. But definitely sadistic. Sue's eyes are downcast at Dex's words, but she can't help but agree. Reluctantly, but she agrees. She nods, and without looking offers a small paw in King's direction.

    King doesn't notice at first, what with the quiet body language of Sue. He's also looking at Dex. "Like I could stop you from coming." he says gruffly. Then he shakes his head. "No, that's not fair. If there is a Mimiga Village when this is over, you will be most welcome. It may well be that we'll owe our village to you." he admits gruffly.

    Looking away, he notices Sue's outstretched hand. Startled, he freezes, trying to decide what to do about it. It's almost as if she's holding out a weapon rather than a hand. Finally though, he takes Sue's hand and shakes it. "... Right. That's in the past. Let's look to the future instead." he says, almost gently.

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight was starting to relax. But, Ainsley mentioning the coming journey back through the trecherous landscape and scary creatures brings a heavy groan from the pony. "...I...don't suppose you could carry me...?" she asks Staren in embarrassment. She is looking a bit pale, even through her fur.

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Peace across such a divide. It's certainly a heartwarming moment, and Dex smiles brightly at them. "That's what I'm talking about. We'll succeed together. And, I mean, if you really would rather outsiders don't visit after this, King, I can respect that. You are the Mimiga's leader, after all. If that's your call, I'll honor it." He offers another smile, then runs his hand along the hilt of the sword at his waist. "I hope the others didn't run into too much trouble where they were headed. And hopefully they've found Kazuma." He stretches again. "Oh, right. I have one more question." Always one more question. "How many Mimiga does the Doctor have captured?"

Quote (403) has posed:
    "You know Sue?!" Finally, Ainsley seems to get a reaction from Kazuma with this news. He smiles. "I see. I know she'd be here if she could. Come on then, we'd best go back to her."

    No sooner does he say this than the teleport pad lights up, shimmering with a blue light. Kazuma turns around, puzzled and concerned. The air shimmers, and a small older man pops out. White-haired and wrinkled, wearing red-tinted spectacles and a labcoat similar to Kazuma's, the figure hardly seems any kind of threat. "Is that you, Kazuma?!" "Professor Booster! You're safe!"

    "Yes, somehow. I saw you'd gone missing, and I finally managed to convince our guards that I was you and belonged in your cell." the old man says. The two look nothing alike, of course, but this doesn't seem to matter. "We all look alike to them, I suppose. Anyways I found your passage and came through the teleporter. Hello, introduce me to your friends..."

    "Sue's in Mimiga village. These fine people came from there, and ... well, I suppose they can get us both there." replies Kazuma, looking to his rescuers. "Well, unless you have food with you? I'll go anywhere if it means getting fed!" he says, not quite grinning. "We should save introductions and such for now. Come on, let's find Sue, and then we need to all discuss this. I promise, I'll answer all of your questions when we get there."

Dex Alruin (332) has posed:
    Dex taps his ear, smiling and nodding as he hears the recovery effort has succeeded. "Good news!" he says, "They've found Kazuma. Also someone named Professor Booster. Do you know him, Sue?" he asks, beaming.

Staren has posed:
    Staren hugs Twilight and pats the back of her neck. "I think with the armor I can, but how to get Kazuma and Booster over all those pits?" That's when he notices the hoverbike. "Hey, do you think that still works?" He squeezes Twilight gently, then lets go, pulling a tablet out of his bag and handing it to Kazuma. "Here. Quote shouldn't be the only one of you guys with a radio, and maybe you want to talk to Sue?" Indeed, the pad displays a camera feed from inside Mimiga Village, centered on Sue. Two-way voice communication is possible.

    Inside the Mimiga Village, the nearest unicorn golem turns towards Sue and approaches. There is a speaker inside it, so...

    Staren, meanwhile, strides over to the bike to inspect its condition.

Marrik (541) has posed:
"Anything I need to worry about in there?" Marrik briefly poked his head inside the warehouse and quirked an eyebrow at not one but two people new to the party. Nothing threatening looking so he shrugged and started sending feelers out. Maybe he could try getting a feel for the island, or at least maybe figure out what the deal was with those red things. Something about that felt important, Well it felt Bad Wrong mostly, but it was important. He was just a farmboy, let the eggheads talk to eachother and maybe find answers faster that way.

Quote (403) has posed:
    "Gr... Professor Booster?!" Sue says, excited. Kazuma's recovery is great news, but 'grandpa' is an entirely unexpected bonus. Not that they're really related, but she's known the old rocket scientist all her life. He's close enough to family to count.

    Sue eagerly accepts the radio, beginning to chatter with Kazuma. The older Sakamoto replies cheerfully, inviting his little sister to be sure to have food waiting. Booster stares at Quote, meanwhile, studying him with a rude sort of intensity. Quote doesn't really know how to handle it, shuffling back half a step involuntarily. Booster shakes his head. "No. I don't know you." he mutters. "We just met. Right..." he says, and turns to head outside and investigate the hoverbike. It's rusted and somewhat decrepit, but it appears to be charged and functional. Before long, Booster and Kazuma are ready to head off. The only thing is... well, "How do you controooooool this thiiiiiiiing?!!?"

    The two of them go rocketing off towards the transport to Mimiga Village, the hoverbike hurtling along too fast to be threatened by any of the critters. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that it might well go too fast to stop in any sort of reasonably safe manner.

Staren has posed:
    "...Oh, shoot. Somebody check on them!" Staren runs to Twilight's side, hugs, and teleports with her back to the entrance to the Bushlands. Where there is probably a crashed hoverbike by the time he finishes teleporting.. "Are you two okay?!"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is now following uit to get a look in the warehouse once they can get in. She gets over and pauses seeing the bike and looking about for nyhing of use. She has been oddly quite for most of the trip today.

Quote (403) has posed:
    Kazuma and Booster are nowhere to be seen at the site of the hoverbike crash. Well, at least there's no blood or mangled corpses either. A little looking around finds them tumbled into the cave entrance leading to the transporter, sprawled in a pile. Kazuma waves weakly, while Booster fumbles around for his glasses. Looks like they're alive.

    Quote comes bounding through not long after Staren. He's not superfast, but he's pretty quick and the path back involved no obstacles that stopped or even slowed him. Pits were easy to leap across. The 30 foot rope climb descent, well, he just jumped clear over that, letting anti-grav slow his fall. And the critters... they know better now, having been stunned or killed or just convinced to stay the hell out of the way for their own sakes.

Staren has posed:
    'There, we're safe now.' Staren whispers. 'We're past the bats.' He turns to Kazuma, keeping an arm around Twilight. "So, what's going on here? I mean... We were sent here to find out what happened to the local human expedition to this place... we ran into Misery, and the Mimigas told us their side of what happened, but... what happened to you guys?"

Staren has posed:
    "Also, Twilight..." Staren suddenly thinks of something to get her mind off bats, "Do you think you might be able to transform Sue back into a human?"

Twilight Sparkle (411) has posed:
     Twilight relaxes considerably when they are safely in a cave away from the bats. It dons on her that being inside a cave to get -away- from bats is ironic, and she can't help but chuckle a bit. She blinks at the question, then hmms. "I...suppose I could, but...my transformations are not usually permanent. It would be quite hard to permanently alter someone's form, especially if they were already under the effects of another spell. Even if my spell does work, without knowing how she was changed in the first place it is hard to know if it would stick."

Quote (403) has posed:
As things settle down, Kazuma starts answering. "Well, let's see." he says, calmly folding his fingers. "We came here to investigate the island. My mother, Professor Booster, Itoh, and Sue. Itoh's worked with us for a while now, and the Professor's been with us forever. Doctor Date though, he must've pulled strings. Our research trip was only allowed if he could come with us and do his own research." He shrugs delicately. "I really don't know him. None of us do. But he got assigned to our group. And when he got here, the first thing he did was wander off on his own." Kazuma explains. "No idea what he wanted, or why."

    "I know a bit more now." Professor Booster interjects. "I still don't know how or why, but he showed up with that crown and with Misery and Balrog in tow. He was only gone a few hours, and then that happened." he explains.

    Kazuma shrugs. "Yes, well, it seems obvious he was up to something in hindsight. When we first came here though, it just seemed the usual. Funding, politics... you know." he says. "Nothing we haven't seen before. But he captured us. My mother's working for him now. Itoh... I don't know. I think he ran away. The Professor and I were thrown in prison." he says. Sue frowns but remains silent for now. "After a while, I don't know how many days, I found an escape tunnel. It let to a teleport pad. I was able to get through, but I couldn't get back. Without the far side's code, there's no chance... and no point either, not unless you want to teleport to a locked cell! I could have gone back there and avoided starving if I had the code I suppose, or if I cracked the computer to allow it, but... that would have probably meant my death. So it's all best that I was trapped, right?" he grins.

    "And I managed to get put in your cell, and followed you." says Booster. "That's really all our story. But as for what the Doctor wants, he's after the Red Flowers."

    "What?" Kazuma asks. "Would they work on Sue, do you think? Just like the others?"

    "Kazuma. He's kidnapping Mimigas. Do you understand what this means? It's not just Sue that's in danger now." says Booster, frowning. Somehow, it doesn't sound like he's meaning the six remaining Mimiga of the village.

Staren has posed:
    Staren listens to Kazuma's story. Frowning when it's explained that The Doctor came with them. And more when the red flowers are mentioned. "Red flowers?" He asks, then holds up a hand and shakes his head. "Hang on. We're gonna go to the Mimiga village and compare notes. One more question before we do: Are you saying that with a little computer hacking, that teleporter could get us into the Doctor's base?"

    Once that question's adressed, he leads the rescuees back to Arthur's house, seeking out King and Sue. "Alright. Now that we can compare notes with the Mimigas, tell me about 'that crown' and the Red Flowers."

Quote (403) has posed:
    "Not his base." Kazuma replies. "He only went there occasionally, to work on a prisoner." he explains. Booster nods. "That's how we know what the flowers do. They do terrible things to Mimigas." he says.

    King glowers, but doesn't refute the statement. It's clear he knows much the same. "They make us strong. And fill us with uncontrollable rage. And whoever eats the red flower dies." he says bluntly. "It's been our last defense for ... well, since time of legend. Every child knows never to touch the red flowers, to destroy them on sight. But still, every fighter knows where some petals are kept. Just in case. But I don't understand. Why would he be after the flowers? Why would he want to make us strong, or to kill us? He can kill us any time he tries... what good would strengthening us do?"

    "Because..." Sue says, answering. "Because he's going to use you. As weapons of death." she says, frowning sadly. Booster nods, and even Kazuma seems to agree. "He's probably going to use the red flower on all of you and turn you against the humans of the surface."

    "Why would he do that?" asks Jack, appalled. "Because he's the devil." answers Sue, annoyed and opinionated.

    "You mean... if he finds the red flowers, he's going to feed them to Toroko?" asks Jack, somewhat left-behind in the conversation and a little one-track besides. "Probably." answers Kazuma. "But he hasn't found them yet. Not enough of them. We have to stop him before he finds more."

    "I won't let that happen." says King, hand on his blade's hilt, glowering.

    "You don't understand." says Booster, breaking in. "He's going after the flowers. He *knows* where they are." he growls. "I heard this just before I got free. They're in the Sand Zone." he says.

Staren has posed:
    "He may have some way to control mimigas." Staren plays the video of Igor for them at that point.

    Then:

    "The Sand Zone? Where is it? How do we get there?!"

Quote (403) has posed:
    Kazuma stirs, and goes into action. He moves almost leisurely over to the computer, but there's nothing leisurely about his fingers as they fly across the keys. "Let's see..." he says. "Transport network. Yes, hacked this before. This computer's on the same network. It's..." taptaptaptaptap. "Ah yes. Here it is. Code... there. Serial comms..." a few more taps, a pause, then a few more keystrokes. Kazuma may be a bit of an idiot about a lot of things, but he clearly knows his way around computers.

    The teleport pad goes out, then immediately lights up again. "Activated. This pad's now linked to the Sand Zone." he says.