DGS4 Phase 2-8 -- The Caverns

[The Man in Red]

Persons present:
Flak
Leonidas
Elise Guiscard
Elena Rosa
4 generic Carnivale staff

"This way!" Flak bellowed, marching resolutely up the mostly frozen trails and paths dotting the canyon walls. Heedless of the many times he very nearly slipped and went sliding or tumbling who knows which way into some embarrassing cheese grater situation, he plodded ever onward and ever upward. The other contestants with him were, mercifully, a bit more adept at picking out the safest paths up, in whatever sense anything in the frozen canyon could be called 'safe'.

Flak's particular brand of rowdy boisterousness had garnered the attention of a handful of the Carnivale's staff, who were doing their best now to trail along after the actual competitors of the group. Many a whisper of "The guy's completely freakin' nuts!" were met with "Yeah but he won last year, right?"

"He's not actually crazy," a child-like voice piped up. "He just doesn't do 'books' very well!" Elena giggled, from where she had taken perch via piggyback ride on one of the staff member's backs.

A few moments later, as a yawning cave mouth opened before the group, the small child spoke up louder, her red eyes shining with a mischievous light. "By the way, how does everyone feel about slides?"

"Wuh?" Flak whipped his head around to stare dumbfoundedly at the girl, just in time for his tromping boots to come down on a patch of fragile ice...and half the floor of the cave to give way, crashing down in a cascade of slush and icy powder that sent the entire group slipping and sliding and tumbling down into darkness to who knows where beneath, Elena laughing in sheer delight the whole way.

If nothing else, at least, it would be out of the cold and wind, right?

As before in the other cave, I will let you all steer wherever your questing leads to, for the most part. If you ever need/want more ideas and direction, though, just holler at me.

 

[Ridley]

Flak’s butt hurt.

This was not in and of itself that bad - Flak didn’t like to brag, but he’d fallen off more buildings and vehicles in his day than most people had even seen, so his butt was extra-durable, but it highlighted the fact that his butt only hurt a little bit.

If he’d had a flashlight, his butt would probably hurt a lot right now,

“Damn it! Why are things so dark in the fully enclosed cave!” Flak called out with a grumble. Stupid of him, he realized, to be setting out without a flashlight or something going, since right now he could hardly see a foot in front of him.

“Oh, don’t worry.” A small voice called out “one of the employees who followed you brought a flashlight.”

“Oh, Well - that’s good! Did it survive?” Flak asked aloud, “wait, why don’t we just-”

“No, neither I, nor Elise can breathe fire.” The same voice called out, as the Flashlight turned on, revealing the group. Elise had been staying close, opening her eyes by surprise as the light turned on. Flak figured she was probably doing like Trevor would and focusing her other senses in the dark. Leonidas, meanwhile, was using a pair of wooden sticks, one with a hole in it, to make some kinda fire - one that started to spark even as the light turned on, and his eyes winced.

The voice revealed itself to be that little girl that was following them from before - one Flak had just barely noticed as they’d been on the move, focused as he was on getting into a battle.

“Oh! Must be a recessive gene thing. Sorry to bring it up.” Flak replied with an apologetic look.

“Oh, so he can’t pronounce Vitallion but he knows genetics?!” one of the employees from behind muttered.

“Yer cruisin’ for a recessive spleen if ya keep up the attitude, soldier!” Flak called out, silencing the employee in question to at least a quieter tone.

“So does he have selectively bad hearing…?” One of them half-whispered.

“-I think he just tunes in and out.” the other replied.

Flak just shook his head at the staff behind him, missing the competence of his black hole soldiers… wait, no, they were incompetent too! And that was funny! He liked a good old-fashioned incompetent soldier sometimes! It kept things interesting!

As he was thinking this, a small giggle from behind caught Flak’s attention to the little girl again, his fragile attention span re-focused again.

“Something funny? Did someone fart?”

“No, Flak.” The girl replied. “...Oh, My name’s Elena! Pleasure to meet’cha! I saw what you got up to last deathgame!”

Flak gave a nod, looking a little concerned as he noticed the apparent age of this girl. Flak was kinda glad it got derailed suddenly - he knew in his heart that whatever kinda lengths he was willing to go in his murder game, he probably didn’t have the heart to punch a girl that small. At least not very hard.

“Well, welcome to the new Flavor… guess it can’t be called the flavor army, huh?” Flak replied, looking to the rest of them.

Flak-Leonidas-Elena-Elise… and then the rest didn’t get a part of the name. His Hands scratched his chin as he considered options.

“Hmm… Fleonalise! We’re the Fleonalise army ‘till further notice!” Flak called out, as a grin spread over his face, happy with his choice… before abruptly falling.

“Nah, It just doesn’t have the same heart!” Flak called out frustratedly. They needed something smart. Something tricky, since he had tricky types here. Soemthing that showed their strategy.

“...Got it!” Flak called out. “A name that’ll make sure no one’ll know how smart we are!” The Titan called out smugly, looking to the rest.

“From now on, We are the FLEE army! We all got that! ‘Cause no matter what, we’ll never Flee! It’s misdirection!” Flak called out, looking around to everyone with a grin, waiting for the cheers from his new army.

He was met with silence, except for the sound of wood rubbing against wood, as Leonidas finally set off a few sparks and met them with the wood of his makeshift torch.

“...I have made us another light source. With this, we should be safe to continue moving through the cave!”

Flak just gave a slight frown, as he looked around the cave area.

“...Alright. Let’s stay together, then. No splittin’ up! Right now our only strength is numbers and strength! We’re gonna move through these caverns so fast the other contestants’ll be eating our dust, and steal everything valuable before someone else comes along. If we see anyone suspicious, stab it till it can’t be suspicious anymore!”

PARTY MEMBERS: Flak, Leonidas, Elise, Elena, 4 Carnival employees
CURRENT LOCATION: Caves
ACTION: Explore caves!
Focus: 5/5
Inventory: Black Hole Belt
Makeshift spear

 

[The Man in Red]

Arriving Party:
Travis Touchdown
Majima
Buu
3 additional Carnivale survivors

"Think they went in here?" Travis stopped at the mouth of a yawning cave, raising his beam katana higher to try and illuminate some sign of anything. All he could really see was the ground giving way to a gaping void after only a few feet.

"Knowing the luck of helmet-head that was leadin' 'em, I wouldn't be surprised," Majima drawled as he sauntered up. He leaned down, picking up a chunk of ice and tossed it up and down in his hand. "Ground ain't been broken for long, look." And he held it up. "Edges are still nice and clean, sharp. Ain't been worn down any yet by the wind and snow."

"Hold up, hold up, hold up!" one of the Carnivale employees squeaked, as she rushed up. "Down there?!" And she pointed vaguely into the cave.

"Yeah. Down there." Majima said flatly, tossing the chunk of ice into the darkness, where it clattered noisily down and out of sight. "Got a problem with caves?"

"Buu not have problem with cave!" the mighty majin announced as he came tromping up, bringing up the rear of their little party. "Cave mean shelter! Shelter mean no wind! No wind mean less cold!" He grinned, slamming his gloved mitts together. "And less cold mean people get warm, and Buu get fight!"

"....well, you heard the man," Travis grumbled. "Last one down gets the check!" he shouted, before leaping forward and skidding down the slope on his heels.

"The check for what...?" one of the employees mumbled.

"Don't worry 'bout it!" the yakuza shouted with mad glee as he whirled around, grabbing two of the Carnivale staff by their hoods and proceeding to give them both an unceremonious shoving toss over the edge. His cyclopean stare turned to the last remaining one, as she raised her hands up and frantically made a 'please no' gesture, backing away...and right into Buu's rotund belly.

"C'mon now, missy! Yer actin' like I don't know how to treat a lady!" Majima hooted as he slunk forward, quite literally sweeping the woman off her feet as she recoiled instinctively from the majin's rotundity. She let out a startled, flailing squeak, her mask coming askew, and giving her an eye full of the Mad Dog of Shimano's dark brown eye hovering mere inches from her flustered face. "Hang on tight!" And before she could so much as react he likewise leapt forward into the void, a twirling kick knocking clear the point of a stalagmite that he landed on and rode down the unforgiving slope.

"Buu like slides!" the child-like majin proclaimed to the heavens as he lumbered forward and hopped off the edge, landing with an undignified crash on his immense behind and slid down the slope with reckless abandon and delight.

 

[John Connor]

The chaos brought about 4 more survivors, Majin Buu, Travis Touchdown and several other carnival employees. It was nice of Flak to try to lighten the mood as the pink creature named Majin Buu seemed cheery enough.

If this was another situation, The Spartan King rather would have been telling war stories next to a hot fire describing his latest tales of conquest with brethren.

A few carnival employees actually had a few extra supplies and nodded “Looks like you guys got lucky. We got some supplies we packed for the ride, including winter clothing for those who didn’t bring anything and some other supplies.

Flak looked over at the employees “What, you’ve been holding out on us all?”

The serious man shrugged, frowning, “ What,Nobody asked.”


The employee threw supplies, enough for the large group.

The Spartan king slipped the unfamiliar clothing over his body and suddenly started to feel a lot more warm and cozy than usual. “So this is what it’s like to be warm.”

Flak, making a playful jest himself, looked over at Leonidas “At least you ain’t Spartan kicking anyone to their deaths, yet, right?”

The Spartan king glared lightly, not sure what to think of the sudden fourth wall reference from another movie.

The Spartan King raised an eyebrow at Flak's fourth wall reference, his stern expression momentarily faltering. The line between their current chaotic situation and the familiar tales of conquest seemed to blur for a moment. Collecting himself, Leonidas chuckled in response to Flak's jest.

"Well, Flak, in this scenario, we'll save the Spartan kicks for the enemies we can actually see. No need to break the fourth wall just yet," he replied with a hint of amusement, acknowledging the unique circumstances they found themselves in.

With a gruff voice, Leonidas managed to regain his serious face again, avoiding any more joking until they got somewhere else safe.

Unfortunately for the group, nothing was safe in the caverns. A wolf interrupted the fun of the group just trying to survive and the first thing that came to the king’s mind was war, he was born and raised for this moment. Plus this could provide skins and fresh meat for the group at hand. He wasn’t sure how much the employees had packed in the packs for times like this.

Leonidas was going to have his fun taking down the wolf like all Spartans were trained as kids to do, but Travis literally stabbed the creature with his blade katana right away. With no mercy, he pulled the blade out of the wolf.

Flak stared at Travis “Whoa…..badass.”

Leonidas muttered, not appreciating the thrill of a traditional hunt taken from him “That was MY kill.”

Travis looked up “Thank you suffices.”

The Spartan simply carried the dead creature and sighed, now was the part he wasn’t sure of doing in front of others when they weren’t his own men. He had to strip and clean the kill.

One of the other employees sighed, he wasn’t sure how they were going to help strip and kill a fresh dead wolf in a cave.

“Anyone have a makeshift hunter knife or blade we can use to cut and divide the dead wolf?”

The Spartan King, while initially unhappy his kill was stolen, smiled slightly at Travis. The wolf slowly divided into meat chunks and given to everyone ahead.

“Eat hearty everyone, who knows what lies ahead.”

PARTY MEMBERS: Leonidas, Flak, Elise, Elena, 7 Carnival employees, Travis Touchdown, Buu, Majima
CURRENT LOCATION: Caves
ACTION: Explore caves!
Focus: 3/3
Inventory:
Makeshift Torch
Hunter's knife
Makeshift Torch
Winter Clothing

 

[Shinku]

As the group received the supplies from the carnival employees, Elise wasted no time in grabbing a set of winter clothing, her teeth chattering from the cold. She hastily pulled the warm garments over her shivering frame, a grateful sigh escaping her lips as she finally felt some relief from the biting chill of the cavern.

Meanwhile, as Flak still reeled from Travis's swift dispatch of the wolf, he turned to Leonidas with a questioning look. "Hey, King, you seemed pretty ticked off back there when Travis took down the wolf. What's up with that?"

Leonidas's expression darkened slightly, his eyes betraying a hint of frustration. "It was supposed to be my kill," he murmured, his voice barely audible above the din of conversation. "I had intended to hunt the wolf myself, as Spartans are trained to do. But Travis... he acted without hesitation, depriving me of the opportunity."

Elise, who had been listening quietly, interjected with a thoughtful expression. "I thinkTravis just did what he thought was necessary to protect us. Maybe we should focus on that instead of dwelling on who made the kill."

Leonidas sighed, acknowledging the wisdom in Elise's words. "You're right, of course. In the end, it matters little who struck the final blow. What matters is that we stand together as allies, facing whatever challenges may come our way."

Flak, ever the provocateur, chimed in with a smirk, "Well, at least it wasn't one of us getting Spartan kicked to our deaths, right?" He winked playfully at Leonidas, attempting to lighten the mood. “And hey, if it makes you feel any better, I'll make sure you get the next big kill. Deal?"

Leonidas smiled faintly, a sense of gratitude warming his heart. "Deal, Flak. Together, we'll face whatever comes our way, as allies and friends." After a sigh of frustration, he ripped off a chunk of his part of the meat with his teeth, tearing through sinew and muscle with the ease of a seasoned warrior. He savored the taste of the meat, his expression stoic yet focused. Each bite seemed to make him gradually forget about the kill he was so fervently disputing.

As the spartan king consumed his fill though, he couldn't help but notice that Elise was hesitating, her portion untouched. Concern flickered in his eyes as he glanced at her.

"Elise, you're not eating. Is something wrong?" Leonidas asked, his voice laced with worry.

Elise's gaze shifted nervously, a faint blush coloring her cheeks. "Oh, um, it's nothing, really. I'm just not... accustomed to eating raw meat," she admitted, her voice trailing off sheepishly.

“I can cook it if you wish.”

Leonidas then offered while seeing a few other looks on people’s faces, quickly realizing raw meat wasn’t their usual meal. “ Alright, Alright, how about some Spartan home cooking!”


Flak chuckled at Leonidas's offer, his boisterous demeanor lightening the mood despite their dire circumstances. "Spartan home cooking, huh? I'm all for it! I bet you can turn this raw wolf meat into something downright gourmet!"

Elise nodded in agreement, her expression grateful. "That would be wonderful, Leonidas.And I’m really sorry for the bother. I just wasn’t used to eating them raw."

Leonidas then started to scan the cave for anything that could serve as makeshift tools for cooking. Eventually, he spotted a flat rock that could potentially serve as a cooking surface, a few flints and a couple of dry twigs scattered on the mouth of the cavern.

"Right," he muttered to himself, determination etched on his face. "We'll make do with what we have."

Gathering dry twigs and sticks from the cave floor, Leonidas arranged them in a small pile. With the precision of a seasoned warrior, he struck a flint and another stone together, creating sparks that ignited the kindling. Soon, a small fire crackled to life, casting a warm glow in the dim cave.

Using the flat rock as a cooking surface, Leonidas carefully placed the raw wolf meat over the flames, rotating it occasionally to ensure even cooking. Without seasoning or herbs, he relied on the natural flavors of the meat to satisfy their hunger.

As the meat sizzled and cooked, the aroma wafted through the cave, tantalizing their senses. Flak, Elise and the rest of the survivors watched in awe as Leonidas demonstrated his cooking skills.

"It may not be a feast fit for kings," Leonidas remarked modestly, "but it will sustain us for the journey ahead."

PARTY MEMBERS: Leonidas, Flak, Elise, Elena, 7 Carnival employees, Travis Touchdown, Buu, Majima
CURRENT LOCATION: Caves
ACTION: Explore caves!
Focus: 5/5
Inventory:
Winter Clothing

 

[Travis Touchdown]

Wait, they’re actually to cook and eat the wolf that he killed? He just killed that wolf because it was about to attack. He heard of people in other countries eating dogs, but never before had he heard of anyone eating wolf meat. Is that a thing Spartans did back in the day? He was never good in history class but then again Santa Destroy High School is very infamous for its lack of education.

Still, he was impressed with Leonidas's skill with cooking and it sure as Hell smelled good. His stomach started to growl. Leonidas took notice of this.

“Hungry already eh? Alright, you can have a piece,” the Spartan said.

And handed Travis some wolf meat. Which Travis reluctantly took. He was so hungry he could eat a horse but he’d rather have a horse than eat a wolf. Leonidas took notice of Travis’s reluctance to eat the meat. And had a smug look on his face.

“Come on what you’re waiting for, you’re the one who killed it, aren’t you going to have a bit or let it go to waste?” Leonidas asked.

“Shut up, I’ll take a bite already,” Travis said.

He then takes a bite out of the meat and chews slowly. Tasted salty and waxy, but wasn’t all that bad. He just hoped that he wouldn’t get any diseases or anything or if the thing had rabies. Then again it didn’t look like it had rabies—no foaming at the mouth or anything.

Still, the meat was much better than most slop that was served in Santa Destroy. After finishing his meal he started picking some pieces of the meat that were still stuck to his teeth. He then starts getting a good look at everyone in the caves. He did a headcount and noticed that there were still a lot of people missing.

“Hey anybody seen a southern belle with brown hair and a white streak?” Travis asked.

“No, haven’t seen her,” Flak said.

“So either we got separated when the ground fell or she went to an entirely different cave, does anyone here know the Hell we are going?” Travis said.

After a few seconds of silence, Travis sighs exasperatedly and then rummages through his survival gear to get out the map. Yet now he’s even more confused. The map doesn’t seem to correlate with anything they have seen so far. He tried rotating it, turning it upside down, looking at the back, but nothing. And then he checks his compass and sees that the darn thing isn’t working and even tries shaking it a little to see if that somehow solves the problem but it doesn’t.

“Yep some damn good survival gear this is,” he sarcastically says before putting them back in the pack.

He then uses his Beam Katana as a light source once more as he begins walking off.

“I dunno about you all but I’ve had my fill of dog and I think we should continue finding a way out of here if we hope to make any progress in this Death Game,” Travis said.

As he ventured further into the caverns, he is still shocked that they haven’t ran into any danger yet besides the wolf. Though he has a feeling just thinking that he probably just jinxed himself and the entire team. Can thinking of something even classify as jinxing? Or is it only if you say it out loud? Hopefully the latter.

Party: Travis Touchdown, Majima, Buu, Leonidas, Flak, Elise, Elena, 7 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Eating wolf meat and moving further to get out of the damn cave.
Focus: 1/1
Inventory: Survival Gear, Full Green Mode 1/1 use

 

[Ridley]

“Hey, Wolves ain’t dogs!” Flak snapped. “I had a friend what was a wolf once… oh. That… that kinda makes things weird… when I think about it.” Flak snapped back, holding a haunch of wolf meat in his hands that was now left to drip it’s juices on the cavern floor a moment.

Travis just gave Flak a look like he was bothered, probably, Flak assumed, by the fact he had a half-wolf friend.

Flak just gave a grunt as they kept walking, as he looked across the room. It had definitely grown less cold as they walked, the cavern floor slowly shifting from absolutely freezing to kinda chilly… to the point Flak had actually loosened the zipper on the winter Gear Leonidas had brought. Still, he was starting to think he’d seen that stalactite before, which was obnoxious as they continued into the dark caverns.

“Alright, chumps!” Flak yelled, “You nerds, specifically!” he added, pointing to the closest two carnivale employees - the hecklers from earlier.

“I’m Carl. he’s Caville.” the taller of the two spoke up, an indignant beanpole who’s dark hair had started off the day slicked back.

“Pencil. Paper. Or your next best bet!” Flak insisted, holding two meaty hands up to the two of them. “I’m not about to be going in circles now that we’ve got a good light source!”

“You can write?” the other asked, a larger, dark-skinned man that would’ve looked like an absolute giant next to a normal man, but who’s more realistic bulk still left him thin next to Flak’s gorilla Physique.

“I can do better, little man. I can draw a map. Just need something hard and flat!” Flak noted.

“What is map? Is it tasty?!” The pink bubblegum from before called out, as Flak just shook his head.

“Not unless you get the edible kind, and I ain’t got a mixin’ bowl!” Flak called out.”nah, it lets you find out where ya are, and where you’re gonna be. So let’s see here…” the titan added, looking around for a moment before Elise handed him a small, black pad.

“Eyy, where’d you get that?”

“My survival supplies, actually. I think it’s meant as a tray to eat on, but I believe it will do.”

Leonidas looked up appraisingly. “So you’re a Cartographer, then? I can respect the profession.”

Flak just gave a laugh. “It’s good stuffs to know as a commander. Plus it’s basic. Maps’re easy to understand.” The big guy added with a slight blush, as he took out the weird, useless map from before and shifted it onto it’s blank side, adding a slight autograph of ‘Flax map’ in the corner before he started scribbling, working on adding every painstaking detail as they walked further down the caverns.

As they kept walking, the big ox hardly noticed the steadily increasing heat under his toes, as the yawning cave began to grow warm, and then… hot…

He took a great big bite of wolf meat in celebration with a silly grin.

Party: Travis Touchdown, Majima, Buu, Leonidas, Flak, Elise, Elena, 7 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Eating wolf meat and drawing a map as they go to ensure they don't get lost later.
Focus: 5/5
inventory: survival gear, Makeshift spear, steadily growing map, Haunch of wolf meat, Black Hole Belt.

 

[The Man in Red]

The cave soon enough left the biting chill of outside long behind, trading it in for another extreme. The air began to shimmer faintly with heat, and after rounding a bend in the tunnels, a nearly solid wall of sweltering heat met them. Dry and almost suffocatingly hot, the air wavered and shimmered like one giant mirage, the deep orange-red glow of molten earth visible from further down the tunnel.

"Oooo, looks warm in there! ♥" Kamilla's voice spoke up from the group's assorted limiters, a cheery little heart fluttering out courtesy of the holo-projectors. "Don't you all worry none, though. ♥ Long as you don't actually dive in or go for a lava bath or something, there's some shielding built into these things to keep you from roasting alive in there. ♥"

"Yeah, thanks. Real fantastic, clown," Travis grumbled, slowly lowering his beam katana. "Is it gonna stop us from getting fuckin' heat stroke or sweating to death in here, though?!"

"Nope! ♥ Good luck! ♥"

"Well, you heard the lady!" Flak piped up, pointedly unzipping his jacket the rest of the way. "No swimming!"

 

[Travis Touchdown]

Well, there is no other way but forward it seems. Even if that forward seems to be in a cave filled with lava. Not that he isn’t unfamiliar with lava. He did a job once mining for minerals and had to deal with molten magma. He has done a lot of odd jobs in his life to pay for ranking battle fees.

No use dwelling on that now. He takes his leather jacket off and puts it in his backpack with the rest of his survival gear. He is contemplating whether or not to take his shirt off. He is still determining if this group is ready for that type of fanservice yet. Surprisingly he has abs underneath that shirt, you wouldn’t tell from a glance.

He then proceeds forward making sure not to be too close to the lava. He turned off his Beam Katana and put it on his belt. Though making sure to draw it just in case something jumps out of the lava. He is not sure what exactly. He just has an ominous feeling.

And the heat was more arid than California. Already he was trying to miss the snow outside. He is starting to wish he went to the lights down south as his gut instinct told him instead of following these clowns. Can’t let himself look like a fool to the folks watching at home. He just hopes that this is the way out of the caves and that they’re not just going deeper into the planet.

Otherwise, this would have been a huge waste of everyone’s time and they’re all probably going to end up disqualified for meandering in these caverns. Three more have already been disqualified including Leonidas surprisingly. Already contestants were dropping like flies. Just got to make it through to the end.

The heat is certainly making him parched. He gets out one of the eight bottled waters that he has to wet his whistle. He is contemplating pouring some of it over himself, but that will just waste water. He also contemplates just throwing the plastic bottle into the lava, but then again if they run into more water he can just reuse it so better to not waste it just in case as he pockets it back into his backpack.

He’s been through Hell already in the past but it feels like at the moment they’re literally walking through Hell.

“Some cave you picked Flak, couldn’t have gone through the one the southern girl went to?” Travis said.

“Hey, I didn’t know there’d be any lava down here,” Flak.

“Well guess what dumbass, now we do know,” Travis said.

“Don’t call me a dumbass!” Flak said.

Travis then gets into Flak’s face.

“You gonna do something about it huh, champ?” Travis asked.

“Break it up you two, you’re both acting like children, I may be disqualified but I want to get the Hell out of here as much as anyone else and it’s already too soon for things to fall apart so quit your bitching and keep moving,” Leonidas barked.

Travis finally cooling off, figuratively at least, then scratches the back of his head.

“Look I am sorry for that dumbass comment the heat is getting to me,” Travis said.

“Thanks for apologizing, if you haven’t I’d probably would have dunked you in the lava,” Flak said.

And after that morbid comment, Flak just casually walks forward.

“Yeah that’s definitely not a terrifying image,” Travis said.

After possibly briefly dodging death Travis makes his way forward as well. This time trailing behind Flak and letting him lead the way.

Party: Travis Touchdown, Majima, Buu, Leonidas, Flak, Elise, Elena, 7 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Moving through the vast lava filled caverns as fast as possible.
Focus: 1/1
Inventory: Survival Gear, Full Green Mode 1/1 use

 

[John Connor]

Travis took a deep breath, trying to steady his nerves as he trudged forward. The heat was stifling, making every step feel like a struggle. He wiped the sweat from his brow, wishing he had brought more water with him. The thought of running out of supplies in this inferno was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

As they continued their journey, the group fell into a tense silence, each lost in their own thoughts and fears. The only sound was the steady drip of sweat hitting the rocky ground and the distant rumble of molten lava.


Things just went alright to plain strange.

There was a point where the Spartan king simply unzipped the zipper on his winter clothing, yet kept it on hearing that the clothing was shielded.

“Whatever it was Xerxes or a volcano, nothing scares a Spartan.” The king explained, proudly.

Strangely enough, the soldier also had his armor on under his coat. Nothing said the Spartan wasn’t always prepared for every situation too.


Flak blinked “You guys are totally fearless, aren’t you?”

Leonidas looked back “We were trained for this, Spartan children were trained at the young, tender age of seven. “

Some of the employees upon hearing this were shocked even as sweat beaded down their faces. “W…. What… SEVEN?!”

Flak, seemingly unbothered by the situation Leonidas told them about, turned back to the King “What, extreme weather changes?”

Leonidas frowned “Well, not that but the usual about our Spartan training.”

The soldier sighed “The method worked.”

Elise, feeling the sudden change in temperature, quickly shed her winter clothing, showing her sleek black combat suit underneath one again. Despite the heat, she remained composed, her training kicking in as she adjusted to the new environment.

As they pressed on, navigating the treacherous terrain, Elise remained vigilant, her senses attuned to any potential threats. Despite the unfamiliarity of their surroundings, she trusted in her training and the camaraderie of her companions to see them through whatever challenges lay ahead.

“At least I don’t think we were ever trained for extreme heat conditions, maybe rain or cold but never this. But this could be a first.”

Travis muttered “I thought Spartans covered everything there was. You are saying there’s a weak point in your armor?”

Leonidas at least was a patient guy and his anger didn’t take over at that moment.He simply glanced over at Travis, his brow furrowed in thought. "Our armor is designed to withstand a variety of conditions, but extreme heat like this? That's not something we typically encounter," he admitted. "And even the most well-prepared soldier can face unexpected challenges."

Travis nodded, his expression thoughtful. "Fair enough. Guess nobody's perfect, not even Spartans."

There was a brief silence as they continued onward, the weight of their surroundings pressing down upon them. Despite the heat and the unfamiliarity of their situation, they remained resolute, their determination unwavering as they forged ahead into the unknown depths of the cavern.

The Spartan looked back, trying to observe the volcano’s landscape, looking for somewhere that would take them toward somewhere not so hot and maybe to others.

“To be honest, that comment I made earlier was sarcastic.” Travis said

The King sighed a brief sigh of relief. “Thank you at least for admitting it.”

Meanwhile, as the group continued their journey through the oppressive heat of the volcanic caverns, Flak couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of his stomach. He glanced over at Elise, who was walking silently beside him, her expression unreadable behind her mask.

"Hey, Elise," Flak began, his voice low to avoid drawing unnecessary attention from their surroundings. "You've been pretty quiet since we entered this place. Everything alright?"

Elise hesitated for a moment before responding, her voice barely audible over the rumble of distant magma flows. "It's just... This environment reminds me of something from my past," she admitted, her tone tinged with a hint of melancholy.

Flak frowned, his curiosity piqued. "Your past? What do you mean?"

Elise paused, seemingly lost in thought for a moment before she spoke again. "I grew up in a place not too different from this," she explained. "A city above an ocean of molten slag. The heat, the danger... it all feels strangely familiar."

Flak's expression softened with understanding. "I see," he murmured, offering her a reassuring smile. "Well, you're not alone in this. We're all in it together, right?"

Elise returned his smile gratefully, her eyes reflecting a glimmer of gratitude. "Thank you, Flak," she replied softly. "It means a lot."

The King’s eyes moved over toward the light moment between Elise and Flak “Keep that up, we need teamwork to stick it out through these tough times.”

A employee named Alta looked up and blinked "How much longer, Leonidas?"

The soldier eyed the employee "As long as it takes. Onwards.".

Party: Leonidas, Travis Touchdown, Majima, Buu, Leonidas, Flak, Elise, Elena, 7 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Trying to find a way through the caves.
Focus: 3/3
Inventory: Survival Gear,
Winter clothes (with shielding)
Astis Shield
Makeshift Shield
Other stuff

 

[The Man in Red]

The path through the molten chamber was already perilous enough. Trying to account for which sections of rock were stable, which were merely unsteady, and which ones might give out completely under too much weight was a never-ending puzzle, and one that promised a very unpleasant reward for failure.

It was only complicated when, after what seemed like only a short while, the entire cavern began to rumble. Tremors shook every surface, chunks of rock rattling loose and tumbling into the magma below. All at once, a section of ground ahead cracked and splintered, the rock buckling upward. Alight with angry red-orange veins, spewing and sputtering with magma under pressure....it finally burst.

Erupting up through the molten rock came a strange object. Shaped not entirely unlike an overly large refrigerator, a uniform black in color currently superheated to a burning red color, and positively hissing steam from every square inch of its surface. A small screen on the surface facing the party of flabbergasted contestants slowly flickered to life.

Hello, contestants and sundry personnel. I have something for you.



The dripping magma down the sides of the container flowed over the screen, the image on it warping and distorting before going out altogether. Several jets of steam and pressurized air erupted around the edges of the container, as it rattled ominously.

 

[Ridley]

Flak’s first instinct was to hoof it, and most of his companions had the same idea, with comparative amounts of screaming as they did.

One person in particular wasn’t, as Flak watched, and Elena looked almost curious at him.

It…

Huh.

She looked like one of his sisters, back in the day.

Something locked into position in Flak’s head as he looked at the tyke, and with a determined expression, put out a hand. “Come on! I’ll give ya a piggy-back ride outta hell!”

Elena gave an appreciative giggle as she ran up Flak’s tree trunks he called arms and placed herself on his shoulders, just before Flak took the stance of a charging bull and dashed forwards, throwing himself from the rear of the pack to the front as they rounded the nearest cavern corner.

The lava followed the group of terrified soldiers as the FLEE army ran from the swirling rush of Death behind them, and it followed with all the enthusiasm and grace of a dog chasing a frisbee. A few of the death-game employees were near the top of the line-up, but a couple of the assholes, Flak could hear from behind, were falling behind as they kept going.

Even spouting lines like “Help! I don’t wanna die” and “This isn’t what I signed up for!”

Flak briefly lost steam, pulling back to the point the lava was only a few feet away as he saw two carnival employees to either side of him - one with spiky black hair and what looked like a monkey tail to compliment his short, slight build, and the other a beautiful blonde that he might’ve asked out on a better day, tall as heck and wearing heels that weren’t helping.

“C’mere!” Flak yelled, as he stuffed the two under his arms, before speeding up again, ignoring their protests and Elena’s giggling as he did so before picking up speed like a human bulldozer.

Everyone in the group knew they couldn’t keep this up - the Lava was tireless and they were certainly not - but it was Travis who pointed the solution out to them.

“Yo! There’s some kinda steel gate up ahead! And a button!”

Flak gave a grunt in response. “Then get behind the gate!”

The group hurried, Flak eventually noticing with his nose to the floor the bit of steel flooring beneath the group as they ran, and the divot he assumed a gate was going to fall into.

“Where’s the button, Travis?!” Flak demanded, as the assassin pointed forward, and Flak briefly stood up to see the button clearly connected to the gates ahead by a wire… about eighty feet ahead.

He was certain they weren’t going to make it, and was trying to figure out how to just manually bust the damn gate down… until a spear whistled by his head in dramatic fashion. Leonidas’s spear flew past the group, slamming into the button with unerring accuracy.

“A simple task for a spartan!” Leonidas called out, as Flak gave a thumbs up to the king, and the steel door crashed down, stopping the lava… at least, for a moment.

“Phew… looks like we got past the worst of it.” Flak noted, looking around the unfamiliar area. Statues adorned corridors as the cave stopped looking so damn natural and started looking a lot more carved… even had what he could swear were lit torches, though how they’d survived down here, not even he knew.

He wanted to inspect the stone carvings to see if any of them had a way to an exit, but all thoughts left Flak’s brain as the ground began to shake. A tremendous, unearthly noise filled the chamber - A massive machine, Flak was sure, because no earthly beast could have made such a tremendous howl, but it sounded like whatever ate tyrannosauruses fro breakfast - and the ground quaked at just the noise.

“Uhh… let’s not go towards what’s makin’ that noise!” Flak called out to the rest of the group.

Then, another sound filled the chamber, the sound of moving rocks and *something* gushing - and Flak immediately got to running.

“Nevermind! Let’s go towards that noise! It ain’t under lava yet!” Flak called out as he kept moving.

“Are you going to put us down?” the blonde Carnivaler underneath his right shoulder asked.

“No!”

 

[The Man in Red]

The earth trembled and shook, the grinding of stone and rock sliding against each other leaving a reverberating noise in the bizarre ruins much different than the slow, quiet rumbling and oozing of molten earth behind them. It was unsettling in the extreme, not the least of which because trying to figure out what it was seemed to be proving all but impossible.

Ahead of the motley crew, a doorway loomed out of the persisting heat haze, oddly technological looking compared to the ruins around them. A dim glow of blue emanated from it, and as they reached it it firmly refused to budge.

"Come on, already! Open!" Flak demanded, delivering a sharp kick to it, but the portal remained stubbornly closed.

"I think I recognize that thing," one of the carnivale staff wheezed as he caught up, trailing somewhat behind. "It's...it's a pressure-sensitive door. If you don't have normal clearance, it'll still open if you pr—" His attempted explanation was cut off mid-word. In the blink of an eye, there was a blurred whirling silhouette, and he was just...gone. From right about the knees up, he seemed to practically disappear, leaving only shreds of his trousers and bloody, meat-filled boots which slowly toppled over, oozing their contents across the floor.

"What the fuck?!" Travis ignited his beam katana, wiping his forehead with the back of a free hand as he frantically looked around. "What just happened? What was that?!"

"I dunno!" Flak grunted. "But that guy knew how to get these doors open, right? What was he tryin' to say?!"

"Something about pressure on the door," Leonidas grumbled, squinting into the hazy gloom behind them.

"If you hit the door hard enough," Elena spoke up cheerfully. "It will disable the energy locks, and you can open it manually, even without access credentials. It's an emergency feature!"

Majima, having by how shimmied out of his stuffy carnivale uniform, rolled one shoulder before pulling out a knife from under his signature snakeskin jacket. "Well, some of y'all should get on that, then!" he snarled, sliding into a ready stance and looking around warily. "Rest of us can keep a lookout for whatever the fuck just played UFO catcher on us."

Between the remaining members, it didn't take long at all for them to come to a conclusion of how to hit the door really hard, and force it open. As they stumbled through the doorway amid a rush of the superheated outside air meeting with the relatively chilly air on the other side...something moved behind them.

"Oi, what the fuck are you?!" Majima bellowed, before the Mad Dog of Shimano let out a very undignified yowl and sent sailing through the door, tumbling ass over elbows. Next second, there was a screeching of tortured metal as part of the doorframe practically exploded in a hail of shredding fragments.

Travis's eyes suddenly went wide, as what exactly was going on dawned on him "This thing's trying to fuck with us intentionally!" he shouted, lunging forward to grab two more of the carnivale staff by their shirt and yank them forward, just in time for the ground where they were standing to be absolutely shattered with the swipe of some kind of immense blade. "Stick together and stay calm. Damn thing is trying to pick off any stragglers one by one and make us panic, run into a dead end!"

"If that's the case..." Elise spoke up, clearly trying to think through the situation. "...then all we need to do is not leave any blind spots and we ca—"

Her words cut short with a violent suddenness. Something struck, hard, cleaving her messily in two. Her body from pelvis to sternum simply ceased to be, exploding in a gory shower of bloody and meat and splinters of bone all across the chamber and the rest of the group, as the remaining two thirds of her toppled messily to the ground, rolling and flopping along for several meters before coming to a halt.

Flak and Leonidas reached the same conclusion after only a glance, each one with a different perspective but enough experience to make the call. "Dead..." they both said, nearly in unison.

"Buu not like mean thing trying to be scary!" the mighty majin suddenly shouted, steam billowing and puffing from his head. "Come out now, and face Buu!" he demanded, stomping one foot in a child-like tantrum that nonetheless made the chamber tremble slightly.

"We don't have time for this right now!" Travis groaned. "Come on, we have to go, now! Before this thing—"

"You shut up now!" Buu snarled, his eyes slowly cracking partially open. "Buu had enough. We out of snow now, it warm in here, and someone strong here! Buu waited long enough, Buu fight now!"

"You aren't going to get through to him," Elena spoke up, resting her crossed arms on top of Flak's head. She seemed remarkably unbothered by the sheer amount of blood that had splattered over her, smiling cheerfully all the same. "We can just leave him here. He's tough enough to buy us a little time and stall our new friend!"

Leonidas scowled grimly. "....I'm inclined to agree," he finally grunted. "Running from an opponent sickens me to my core...but trying to fight someone who won't even reveal themselves is a fool's errand."

"So we running, then? That's all I needed to hear!" Flak grinned, casting a glance at Buu. "Give 'em hell, bub!" And then the burly general kicked it into high gear, lumbering forward as the Flak Express left the station again, bound for parts unknown but hopefully less ambush-y.

Buu grinned maliciously, slamming his fists together. "Buu been waiting for this...." he sneered joyously, as he saw a large shape drop down before him. Yellow-orange eyes burned vividly in its silhouette, and the flickering light gleamed brightly off a maw of jagged, crooked teeth.

The impact of the two as they collided shook the entire cavern, sending plumes of dust and heavy chunks of rock crashing down to chase after the rest of the motley group long after the fight itself had been left behind.

RIP Elise and Buu.
And that one carnivale worker, I guess.

 

[Travis Touchdown]

Travis had yet to learn what it was they were running from. He couldn’t see what had just cleaved that lady in half. Not that he wasn’t used or hasn’t done that in the past to people. Yet he has never seen something do it that fast. He isn’t entirely sure what it was, a monster, a robot?

He then got a notification on his limiter from that clown bitch again. Elise was confirmed dead, the Man in Red, and apparently whatever that creature was that Buu was fighting just managed to kill him. However, who he saw next was eliminated and stopped him in his tracks. It was himself eliminated.

“What the fuck?! No no no no. Why, how I didn’t do anything wrong goddamn it!” Travis said.

He then tried to pull the limiter band on his Death Glove off as Leonidas tried to stop Travis.

“Don’t touch me damn it I am fed up with this stupid Death Games!” Travis said.

And then he found himself grabbed by Flak and put onto the pile of people Flak was carrying. Now helpless among the others. Quietly sulking while he is being dragged.

“So…why ya tryin' to blow yourself up here?” Flak asked.

Travis sighed, no point in hiding it now.

“I just wanted to go back to my home damn it, where my wife is, where my kids are at, I thought by winning this Death Game I could be able to go back,” Travis said.

“Aww that’s sweet, but there is no way back,” Flak said.

“What do you mean?” Travis asked.

“Once you come to the Crossroads there’s no going back, I checked,” Flak said.

“You mean I joined these murder games for nothing?!” Travis said.

“Yep!” Flak bluntly blurted out.

Leonidas then proceeds to run by Travis and Flak.

“Even so you’re a warrior aren’t you an assassin, one who keeps fighting to stay alive, I get you are troubled about not being able to return home but don’t let that stop you from keeping on living not just for your sake, but for your family’s sake as well,” Leonidas said.

Leonidas was right, in case there was a way back no one has found it yet. He can’t let himself die here in the middle of nowhere. After struggling from Flak’s grasp he manages to wriggle his way out and faces towards where their assailant is.

“That thing is a killer, well I am a killer too, and I am not going to go down without fighting as one.” Travis said.

He saved this for emergencies, hoping to use it to help him win this game, but he’s already eliminated so might as well use it now. He yells out “Henshin!” as he strokes his shades as they change into a robotic helmet and visor. As in a green light he begins being covered in a suit of robotic armor. Even his Beam Katana has changed into a large sword. Activating Full Green Mode.

“I’ll go and face this thing off by myself. This armor should protect me and it has a few tricks up it’s sleeve. Just go on without me,” Travis said.

He then pulls out his cell phone and proceeds to put on some music while he’s fighting this thing. His Multi-Missile and Tiger Attack each takes a minute to reload and recharge in this form. He needs to make sure he doesn’t blow it when using them. He’s not going to let anyone else die if he can help it. If he is going to go down fighting it’s not going to be like a bitch.

Party: Travis Touchdown, Majima, Leonidas, Flak, Elena, 6 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: About to fight the strange thing chasing them and trying to kill them
Focus: 1/1
Inventory: Survival Gear, Full Green Mode 0/1 use

 

[John Connor]

The blood of Sparta ran through the Spartan Kings blood yet his strange silver chest on his neck only made it weaker.

A silent prayer to the previous descendants of Hercules and he hoped the God of war, Ares was watching over him, for even though he thought it weak to depend on the gods, he felt a sense of desperation in this moment.

Leonidas gritted his teeth, lightly watching Travis Touchdown go off to fight near impossible odds, nearly sacrificing himself for the sake of their escape.

“MALAKA! (Greek slang) What are you –”

The ex-Spartan King took a long deep breath. Like his son, he felt a pang of pride and fear wash over his heart.

He was no coward, but this blurred the lines of valor and foolishness.

That’s two deaths he couldn’t prevent… now maybe three graves on his consciousness. “Elise, Buu, and now Travis.”

With a heavy heart, he muttered “anathematisménos” (meaning cursed or excommunicated) and turned to face his troops.

He had to survive. Not only for the sake of his Spartan brothers still living here, but for those who would give up their lives so everyone else could survive.

The employees who remained, exchanged worried glances “Did you send Travis to his death? Why?!”

The Spartan King bit his lip and frowned “It was his choice, not mine.”

Faced with a hard situation, he gritted his teeth and looked over at Flak

“We march now.” Determined to keep the rest of the group alive, King Leonidas commanded with all the authority of a Spartan King “We march now.”

Flak stared back, worried for Travis and now feeling bad for the loss of Elise in his eyes. He hesitated for a moment.

Leonidas gritted his teeth “Did I stutter? MOVE IT!”

At this moment, he truly felt like a commander leading his loyal Spartans into Battle. He refused to have another loss on his watch.

It felt like the gods were watching over the group at the moment.

Whatever the thing that killed two of the members of the party, he could only hope Travis could stop it.

That’s when the Spartan King yelled with every ounce of his strength as a purplish aura surrounded him:

Valkyrie Powerup

With a burst of energy and power, Leonidas' body glowed with a purplish aura as he tapped into the strength of his Valkyrie lineage. The descendants of Apollo may have been known for their power, but Leonidas had something even greater - the strength of 300 Spartans behind him.

"Eat your heart out, Apollo. I have your strength. “FOR SPARTA!”

Flak had to smirk through his sudden sadness "Huh, Ironic."

"MOVE IT, SPARTANS!" He didn't care if this ragtag group wasn't his own men, but it sure the hell felt like it now.

With the force of the 300 running through him, the group looked between Flak and Leonidas now looking upon them to follow them to glory or certain other things.

His own renewed strength would guide them through the troubles upcoming.

(Using Consumable: Valkyrie Powerup)

Party: Leonidas, Travis Touchdown, Majima,, Flak, Elena, 6 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Getting the remaining group to move forward/ running with the group
Focus: 3/3
Inventory: Survival Gear, Valkyrie Power up(Using) (1/1)
Winter gear with shielding in coat

 

[The Man in Red]

As Travis stood his ground, staring back down the passage from whence he had just come....the ground rumbled again. With a sound like metal scraping across stone, a shower of sparks flashed in the haze. A wicked gleam of jagged, uneven teeth glimmered beneath molten yellow-orange pools of light as a humanoid shape came lumbering into view.

Inhumanly massive, standing well over eight feet even in her somewhat crouched posture to stomp through the tunnels, and bearing a grin that was positively manic and bloodthirsty. Alarmingly pale skin, somewhere between stark white and a sickly pale gray, and covered in a nauseating profusion of scars and old wounds, spattered nearly head to toe in blood and gore and ash and grime from stalking the molten tunnels. The axe in her hands — if it could even be called an axe anymore, as cracked and worn down and blunted as it was — was almost oversized even for someone of her towering size, though she hefted and carried it as if it were light as a feather.

"What....the fuck?" was all Travis could muster before she was on him, thundering forward with a speed that belied her massive frame.

The blunt axe ripped right through stone and metal alike, as if they were made of wet paper, sending showers of sparks and explosions of shrapnel and rubble flying. She shrieked and hollered, wordless and meaningless beyond one simple fact: she was enjoying the bloodshed she had wrought so far, and didn't seem of any inclination to slow down any time soon.

Travis has encountered Subject E!

She is an almost mindless, bloodthirsty berserker. She is inhumanly and supernaturally strong, fast and resilient, seems able to virtually ignore and completely shrug off almost any amount of pain or apparent injury that doesn't immediately bring her down, and is extremely at home in the tunnels and caverns she stalks, able to move about with deceptive grace given her size. Aside from her axe, terrifying implement of death and destruction that it is, she doesn't have many special tricks otherwise.

You get one chance to throw hands as best you can. Good luck!

 

[Travis Touchdown]

It was then that their blades clashed. Getting a good look at the heavily altered being that laid before you. He couldn’t help but feel pity for her. Even if she was trying to kill him.

“You know I swore I’d never kill another woman again, but you’re not a woman anymore, are you? Just another sick product of this sick and twisted game like me. Well, don’t fret because I am here to put you out of your misery,” Travis said.

He is surrounded by a tiger-shaped aura as he charges forward knocking her off balance before slashing at her midsection. Only causing a small gash along her torso. Upon her blood being spilled Subject E touches it before looking at Travis with her grin growing wider. Before preparing to charge forward.

“Yeah I can feel it, your bloodlust, I know that feeling all too well. Well, I have it too bitch! Let’s get real crazy with it!” Travis shouted.

The two begin clashing blow for blow with their blades. The increased flight speed of Travis’ Full Green Mode armor helped him to keep up with Subject E. If he were not using it he’d pretty much be screwed. She goes for an overhead swing but he manages to dodge out of the way just in time. He just barely grazes her leg as she manages to get a successful hit and break some of his armor off and even cuts into his skin.

That is certainly not good. This armor is not cheap or low quality so for her ax to chip some of it off might mean that not only the ax is high quality but her strength matches her size. Her deceptive speed is a problem. As Travis dodges another axe swing Subject E proceeds to kick Travis sending him hurtling several feet back with the boosters of his armmor stopping him in midair from further going back. Subject E charges forward on her legs and free arm like a wild animal dragging her ax along the ground with her fourth limb.

Travis was not an idiot, but he can’t back down now and endanger the others. He needed to think of something and quick. He still has Multi Missile and she is indeed a big target but he has no idea if that will be able to even damage or kill her. Then he looked at the cavern walls and got an idea.

He began to lock onto his target, not just on Subject E, but on the walls of the cavern itself as well to create a cave-in to bury her in rubble. It might not kill her, but it should at least subdue her and trap her long enough for them all to make their escape. Before she can reach him a flurry of missiles shoots out in a burst of a blue energy explosion, causing the cave to collapse in on itself around. At least, that is what he hopes it does.

Before the smoke clears he already begins flying off to join the others. Not bother to wait around cause he already wasted enough time using Full Green Mode. And he knows he stands no chance without it. Hopefully, at the very least he severely wounded/weakened it if that thing returns to chase them.

Party: Travis Touchdown
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Fighting off Subject E as much as he could before blasting her and the cavern walls with missiles in an attempt to trap her in a cave in and making a tactical retreat.
Focus: 1/1
Inventory: Survival Gear, Full Green Mode 0/1 use

 

[Ridley]

Flak didn’t know what kind of god-juice song Leonidas had laced through his voice but it was some potent stuff - The Spartan king opened the way forward like a hurricane on Legs, charging through the mWhatever that freak had been doing had really left the path in front of them a devastated wreck, and on top of that some sort of defense system was activating - laser turrets and explosive mines were laid in the natural stone, which made Flak pretty sure this weren’t no natural cave anymore.

A searing blast of energy grazed Flak’s leg as he ran, causing the brute to grunt as he kept running through the corridors, eating Leonidas’s dust.

It was not for nothing, as the king charged Flak’s attacker, a steel turret with a long barrel, and smashed it aside with his bare hands. The Exposed machinery fired out a spray of sparks that blinded another carnivale member, causing him to shirk - and miss the Large rock falling from a crumbling ceiling.

Flak wasn’t about to see someone else in his army die, though, so he threw the monkey man down for a moment to regain the use of his right arm and wound up for a hell of a haymaker, pounding the rock away right before it took the employee’s head.

The woman in question, brown curly hair falling across terrified blue eyes, looked up to Flak with shock.

“Th-thank… youuuuu!!”

“Noooo!!”

Flak promptly stuffed her under his armpit, along with the monkey-boy. “Less complainin’ and more running!”

“I can’t you’re picking me up!!”

“I was free for a moment!!”

“Oi! Stop talkin’ while I’m Flyin’!” Flak yelled, more of a growl than usual as he started moving again, bulldozing through as many problems as he actually dodged. Inside of the Brute, a fire raged.

Elise’s loss hurt - not because of how much he knew about Elise. She was a great girl, sure, but Flak wouldn’t pretend like he’d known her very well at all. They’d practically just met, same as the rest of them. Even Leonidas, as he charged ahead and fought through an array of automated defenses with his new glam, was still more of an acquaintance, though a pretty damn awesome one.

But she was Trevor’s apprentice. His buddy, his friend, his literal other half last year. Living through a deathgame together was the sort of experience that counted for years of friendship in just hours. Winning one required an unbreakable bond.

He still recalled his fusion as Flavor, giving up his individuality, letting his mind work with the assassin’s - all because he decided he’d rather do that than have to see his friend die.

That loyalty had been repaid in full by Shinku, every step of the way. And yet…

Flak gave a frown, even as he ran through the corridors. “Sorry, Trev…” The big brute grumbled, as the brute ran forward, ready to headbutt.

“There’s a lot more going on in your head than anyone thinks, huh?” He heard from his head-top passenger.

Flak just jumped at that. “What are ya, a mind reader?”

“Yep!”

Flak sputtered a bit, hearing that, before after a few seconds finally replying.

“...What number-”

“3.”

“What color-”

“Grey.”

“Favorite Vegeta-”

“‘The only good vegetable is the one used to feed my food’... or so you were going to answer.”

“...Can you tell me my horoscope when we get through this corridor?”

Elena’s response to that was a laugh that cut nicely over the flaming wreckage and screaming spartan.

“...Sure, why not!”

Party: Leonidas, Majima, Flak, Elena, 6 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Running!
Focus: 5/5
Inventory: survival gear, Makeshift spear, steadily growing map, Haunch of wolf meat, Black Hole Belt

 

[The Man in Red]

The missiles struck in a chaotic blast across the entire tunnel. Explosions rocked the earth, splintering the stone and causing a deep-seated rumble to shake the entire vicinity. Shifting and grinding stone drowned out almost all other sound, but Subject E seemed undaunted. The missiles that had struck her directly clearly did some damage, leaving bloody and charred wounds of blown out skin and flesh, but it didn't seem to slow her down in the slightest.

She plowed forward, giving heedless pursuit of Travis in his retreat. Shrieking and screaming a battle cry, she leaped forward in a mad pounce, whirling into a vicious swing that absolutely shattered the tunnel and sent countless tons of rock and metal flying in a crude, deadly avalanche after the assassin. Shortly after, the cave-in behind her caught up, hitting her with enough force to nearly take her down.

"Fuck!" Travis had to whirl around and defend himself, beam katana flashing in dizzying arcs to cut apart and deflect the worst of the storm of debris hurled his way. But what came at him next left him speechless.

In a last, defiant roar before the tunnel's collapse completely buried her, Subject E surged forward, cocking one arm back — the one holding her massive axe as if it were a mere hatched — and flung it forward. The massive weapon spun end over end in a blurring arc, the jagged and blunted head smashing and shearing through stone in its way as if it weren't even there.

With a sickening crunch and wet, meaty squelching sound, the flying weapon struck Travis. Only his armor, which proceeded to practically disintegrate and burst asunder under the impact, kept him from being reduced to a fine red mist like the last unfortunate few. But it didn't save him completely. His left arm ceased to exist entirely, completely ripped off and reduced to a faint memory as it spattered over the walls, floor and ceiling. His left leg fared only slightly better, receiving enough impact that something (probably a lot of somethings) were almost assuredly broken, though starkly numb and cold from a rush of survival instinct-induced adrenaline.

The axe buried itself in a wall as Subject E let out a noise somewhere between a bloodthirsty shriek and a wail of despair at not getting to finish her hunt as she was buried in the collapsing tunnel, leaving Travis to struggle away and catch up with the rest of the group.

Subject E has been injured and temporarily subdued.

Travis has lost his left arm and suffered severe mangling to his left leg, but he'll live. -10 Stamina, -4 Reason

 

[John Connor]

Leonidas couldn’t help but wonder if Travis survived the attempt on whatever the hell that thing was after all.

Whatever freak thing that was earlier must have been damn strong to cause that much damage to Travis.

Silence filled the King’s words as memories filled his mind.

What did his inner child feel? He had just seen Travis being pulled into a system just like the one Sparta offered but there was a different path, the one of cold-handed killing. Maybe he and Travis were two sides of that same coin.

Travis dragged himself toward the King “What the hell?! You could do that the whole time?”

Leonidas frowned as he felt every ounce of that energy flow out of his body and he was back to normal. With every ounce of patience and courage the King worked up, he gritted his teeth and grabbed Travis’s shoulder where it was gone.

“That monster’s a real pain in the ass ,isn’t it? Messing with our group like that.” The normally serious Spartan held Travis’s shoulder and helped run him toward the group.

Even if Travis didn’t want his help, he would give his help if he had to.

Leonidas would drag Travis out of that hellhole if it came to it.

Travis gritted his teeth “Oh, now you’re helping me? Great just great. If you used that power-up mode and came to help me with it maybe I would still have an arm” he would say sarcastically.

Leonidas stared forward and kept Travis from falling over.

“Whatever you do, don’t carry me in both arms like some kind of bridesmaid. I don’t want anyone to get any funny-”

“-ideas.” Travis groaned in pain, trying to use humor to distract himself from the painful situation he was in. But the King's grip on his shoulder remained firm, unwavering. “I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own two feet.”

Leonidas shot him a sideways glance, a flicker of amusement dancing in his eyes. “You may be stubborn as a mule, but even mules need a helping hand sometimes,” he replied, his voice gruff yet tinged with a hint of camaraderie.

Majima and Flak suddenly noticed Leonidas holding Travis up.

The Spartan frowned “He got injured badly. Someone needs to carry him, I don’t think he wants it to be me.” Leonidas, used to cold bravado, was finally showing the one spot he wanted to shove down his throat and keep it there.

But maybe for once, he did care about the wellbeing of his comrades showing through his actions, not always through his own words.

Majima smirked, “Oh my, is the Spartan actually giving a shit?”

Leonidas muttered, he rather ignore the bruise on his pride. He hadn’t felt soft in years.

Maybe War had truly sucked what humor he had to laugh about the situation.

He tried a jest “There are bigger things at play here, Majima. Try to focus.”

Majima grinned, “Huh, maybe the Spartan isn’t as heartless as he appears!.”

Leonidas ignored him for the sake of not choking someone in the group or Spartan kicking them somewhere too.

Maybe for once, he shouldn’t have gotten rid of his cigar after all.

Leonidas ignored him for the sake of not jamming a spear through someone’s mouth in the group or Spartan kicking them somewhere else.

“Hey Leonidas, can you carry me too?” Elena giggled lightly.”

He mutters “Why do I bother?!”

Elena muttered, “Oh come on, my feet hurt..”

He smiled, lightly grunting “Fine. Come on. I got ya.”

Elena smiled as she cheered “Yay!”

For the time being, the group was in an unexpected bout of awkwardness, tension and ready for anything.

After a small piggyback ride, Leonidas looked back.

The group in general was getting a lot closer to him mostly as acquaintances and over these 7 days, the more he spent with the others felt like they were battle brothers.

After all, he had to trust his instincts even though they were sometimes wrong.

He’d hoped things would get better before they got worse and standing around was probably going to attract more trouble.

He gritted his teeth “We shouldn’t keep standing here guys.”

Flak turns back “It’s all going to be fine, right?”

If war could bring up a keen sense of Paranoia in the Spartan king, then anything could happen.

Leonidas stood guard and watched for any sudden movement.

Party: Leonidas, majima, Flak, Elena, 6 Carnival employees
Current Location: Caverns
Action: Waiting for group and helping Travis then running with the group.
Focus: 3/3
Inventory: survival gear, Astis Shield
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