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Post by Kuma on May 11, 2017 4:43:10 GMT
As Yuu displayed her leadership trying to organize the dolls the enemies had started increasing in speed, a couple of the humans had fallen apart as some of the corroded parts couldn’t take the strain of the climb up the slippery slope of the left pathway, that climbed from the innards of the Earth towards the exit. This reduced their numbers, but it only increased the eerie atmosphere as the scraping sound of the degraded metal sliding down echoed against the ruined walls, bouncing all over the place, sounding like chainsaws cutting through bones. Riku kept his guard, almost tempted to shake his head upon seeing the charging dolls.
Going headfirst was what got them into this difficult position and they kept doing it, still he wasn’t the kind of guy who would chastise them, if they wanted to die that was their choice, the only reason this vexed him was that the less Dolls survived this initial skirmishes the more difficult it would be for him to obtain his prize. Still he didn’t have time to think about that as the enemies were closing in ever faster. Yuu’s attack was marginally successful, as seemingly this batch was less damaged than the last, that was basically falling apart already. The mobility of the arm was quite diminished, but his other arm cut through the air directly aimed to bash the Kunai Wielding Doll in the head.
Martha was in an even worse situation, as her jumping kick was received with a highly irregular attack, as the wolf she was aiming her attack jumped towards her as well, curling into a wall and releasing some kind of jet exhaust from in-between the sections of its armor, to accelerate its rotation. Basically the Undead Predator was pulling a “Sonic” performing an aerial spin-dash tackle, aimed to steamroll the attacking doll. Riku allowed a couple of the Cyborgs to get closer and once again stood in between them, using his advanced reflexes to avoid their attacks with hair-length sways, always on his toes and always on the move. More human experiments were closing in, but the second wolf seemed to be more important.
Doing the same kind of move his brethren did, the Cyborg Wolf charged from behind spinning like a ball of metal and as it moved it leaned towards the wall, but instead of crashing the Dashing Wolf climbed up, leaving imprints of spikes used to gain traction. It was clear that its intended target was the escaping Marika, who surely climbed quite fast towards the ceiling. It matter of moments the Blitzing Wolf would reach the Seamstress and crash with strength enough to punch a hole through a brick wall, that wasn’t the kind of impact you want to receive if you’re hanging 20 mts off the ground. Meanwhile at ground level Jane would be about to find a very nasty surprise.
After melting at the very least 2 mts of ground she would find the power lines of the compound, they were electrical, but they were enclosed by layers of lead and other highly radiation-resistant materials, with many signs and warnings hinting at nuclear power being behind the surprising power in this abandoned facility. It would be wise not to cause a shortcircuit, at least wise if Jane understood what this meant.
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Post by HungryHunter on May 11, 2017 16:05:11 GMT
Yuu barely dodged the zombie's strike, rolling out of the way. She rushed from behind to attack its working arm and take it apart, igniting the rest of her body to amp her speed and strength further. Martha, having put herself in the air, was unable to move when the wolf shot up in its bizarre fashion. "Well that's new." She grumbled before it slammed right into her face and she went sliding across the floor, stopping just before the electric barrier. She felt her nose and her eyes watered. Broken. "And that's not." She stood and glanced behind her. Well, that was something. "Wanna try that again you stupid puppy!?" She yelled at the wolf, setting her feet to dodge when it rushed her, letting it fly into the fence.
Marika was surprised anything could follow her up here, among other emotions. "How dare you! Feel my wrath!" Marika pasted her sticky hairs on the wall before jumping away, hopefully leaving the wolf to crash into the threads and be caught. If it worked, she would pull scissors from her shirt and try to shove them into the gaps from which its jets came, a sure weak spot.
It took a great expenditure of foam to reach the generators. Jane paused to check her reserves before looking at them. She only had a general feel for how much she had, but it seemed like about half was left. "Hm. Radioactive." She looked at the symbol. "I think that would be fine. We don't have many organs to get cancer." She mused out loud. "Jane, do not melt that! Marika and Riku are not dolls and they do have organs!" Yuu yelled back. Jane nodded and shrugged. "Not sure what I can do then." She said before a huge cracking sound made her jump and spray foam all over the floor. Josefina walked past with a huge chunk of concrete in her hands and shoved it into the fence, attempting to block the electricity without directly touching it.
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Post by Kuma on May 14, 2017 14:46:03 GMT
The wolf didn’t respond to Martha’s taunt as it repositioned, still in ball mode aiming to crash against her. The creature was like the humans, a dead organic component being carried by its suit. Once again it charged against the Doll, but this time around she easily avoided the predictable attack allowing the enemy to keep going into the electrical barrier. Her plan was successful, but the result might not have been what she was looking for. The curved armor and the lack of a live organic component allowed the creature, that was moving a quite the speed, to pierce through the electrical barrier, the curved plates working as a makeshift Faraday Cage to protect the circuits inside, not to mention that the rudimentary nature of the implants made them a bit less affected by the electromagnetic waves. The Blitz Wolf ended up landing with a shower of sparks in the other side of the fence, where the rest of the dolls were.
Marika first step of the plan worked, avoiding the charge of the wolf, but unluckily she didn’t consider something, the jet exhausts of the Blitz Wolf were hot as hell, surely putting her hand and scissors nearby it would hurt her. As this happened Josefina tried out placing concrete on the fence. The large piece of floor seemed to be working at first, creating a momentary hole through the fence underneath it, but it didn’t last, as the energy coursing through the fence first scorched the slab of concrete and then pierced through it, melting it and leaving gooey pieces falling into the floor, some of them slowly dripped into the holes in the floor and suddenly part of the fence noticeably lowered its output. Still quite deadly but maybe Josefina stumbled onto something, still this might be just temporary until the energy burn all the goop away.
Meanwhile the Zombie Cyborgs were encroaching on Yuu and Riku. The Vengeful Boxer managed to make one of them fall to the attacks of the others, but there wasn’t enough space to maneuver and deal with the rest, at least not in the same way. -Tsk… There must be a faster way than hitting their visors.- He talked to himself as he looked at the incoming enemies. Two of them had rushed towards Yuu, aiming their powerful swings towards her. Seeing them Riku realized something, as their movement revealed a mistaken point of view everyone had. The robotic articulation were too strong and hitting the organic articulations would do anything, but what about the link between man and machine, the parts were the exoskeletons were grafted into the bodies. With that in mind he stepped-in, avoiding an attack by a hair’s breath and performed the uppercut of his Winning Combination.
Kokindenju Yukihira
A read stream of fighting spirit trailed behind his fist, like a broad laser or the tail-lights of a motorcycle going at great speeds. His Fighting Spirit became sharper and sliced the point of connection between flesh and rusted iron. The arm he hit stopped working altogether. Seeing the strain between the body and machine when they attacked Yuu, added to second time being less shocking to fight against them, allowed him to properly counter this time around.
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Post by HungryHunter on May 16, 2017 1:08:57 GMT
"Hey! You get away from Jane!" Martha yelled at the wolf. Jane screamed and sprayed her foam at the landing hound as Chelsea passed by to jump through the weakened current to eye the wolf attacking Marika. The seamstress had just seared her hand and fallen hard on the tunnel floor and now bawled her eyes out as the wolf thrashed overhead. Chelsea instead looked to the organic sections of the wolf, unguarded by the power of steel. She lunged straight up the wall and swung her sword right at an undefended section with the hopes of crippling a sensitive system from another angle.
Yuu noticed the greater strength of these zombies at once and stepped back. She watched Riku at work, noting his techniques. She couldn't command ki like him, but luckily she didn't need to. She reached back and grabbed a handful of kunai, heating them up with the flames on her body before throwing them at the squishy organic bodies of the zombies. Her plan was slightly different than Riku's. She sought to make the organic components of the zombies go up in flames, reducing them to ashes with supernaturally hot flames and leaving the exoskeletons nothing to interface with.
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Post by Kuma on May 16, 2017 3:04:20 GMT
Yuu’s strategy was fruitful, as her unnatural flames ate through the dried up husk that once were human bodies like dry wood thrown into a raging bonfire. The lack of organic material to interface with made the Zombie Cyborgs (Zyborgs for short?) fall apart, becoming piles of scrap. Riku was also quite effective, performing a continuous onslaught of slashing punches, leaving trails of red behind him as he moved in an out of the enemy area avoiding every attack going his way by mere centimeters, not out of lack of speed but on purpose, to keep his tension up. Between the two of them they managed to knock 4 more down, leaving 5 working and the two wolves.
Chelsea managed to jump through the gap in the Lighting Fence, right before Josefina’s slab of concrete collapsed. The Elegant Doll’s lunge reached the enemy, piercing through the necrotic and dried up flesh as if it was sinking into water. It was clear that aiming to hit vitals wouldn’t be a good strategy. The Blitz Wolf, still entangled in Marika’s web and pierced by Chelsea’s rapier, initiated a new spin. If the Elegant Doll didn’t take her sword from the wolf’s dehydrated innards she might be meeting the ceiling at great speeds. As this happened Jane foam hit the second Blitz Wolf’s armor. For a moment it seemed like it wasn’t working, as the creature walked towards her, but soon the pieces of carapace got eaten through leaving the wolf with only it’s inner exoskeleton, supporting its weight as it staggered towards Jane.
The Blitz Wolf inner support was even fused up with his mouth, having an almost fully mechanical jaw, clicking more like prop teeth than actual fangs, as it closed in towards Jane.
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Post by HungryHunter on May 16, 2017 21:18:46 GMT
Chelsea huffed as her sword failed to find anything important in the wolf. Looked like attacking from the other side was necessary. Before she could withdraw to properly attack, she was flung right for the ceiling. She made a groan in her throat as she approached the ceiling. She hated to do this here but it was necessary. Her coat bulged right between her shoulder blades, putting pressure on special seams hidden in the cloth. Very suddenly, it and the shirt underneath fell away, leaving her upper back bare to let the sprouting batlike wings free. The fingers and membranes were cherry red and dripped with slime that bubbled and hissed like a skillet after a flambe.
On the arm were feathers, such a dark red they were nearly black. The wings spreading acted as an air brake, slowing her until she gently tapped the ceiling with her feet. She closed her eyes and felt the souls of all around her. "My demonic soul demands that I take you to hell... sorry doggy." She kept a blank face as she shoved herself down at the monster, sword first. Her body was more resistant to heat than Marika's by far, helpful as she attempted to shove her blade into its engines up to the hilt.
Jane screamed and ran away from the wounded wolf. She was pretty much out of foam by now. She had been spending it like crazy today and now her bank account was empty. She found a wall swiftly in her escape path and stopped herself before slamming into it. Wait! She still had her gun! She quickly wiped her hands on the wall to rid them of excess foam, leaving little holes in the concrete. She grabbed her gun from its holster with her newly safe hands and spun to face the wolf. She aimed right for its clattering jaws and fired a blast of air to cut it in half. Above on the ceiling, Sidney just watched. If Jane failed to kill it maybe she'd give it a good gravity drop kick.
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Post by Kuma on May 23, 2017 0:44:32 GMT
Chelsea’s sudden transformation pushed the Blitz Wolf away and she intercepted it mid-fall, piercing through the jet exhausts with her sword. Thanks to having a longer weapon and a higher resistance to heat she managed to effectively attack, her blade blocking the exhaust in such a way that the heat, not having anywhere else to go doubled back and cause a small detonation of flames, like a miniature star collapsing on itself, surging from the engine. This small light then became a blazing explosion that scattered the biological and mechanical components of the Blitz Wolf around the battlefield and for a moment the blast of light caused heavy contrast between light and shadows. When that light died out there were still some sparks of pieces that hit the electrical fence.
The blast of cutting wind shot by Jane was strong, powerful enough to lift her aggressor up into a swirling tornado. Lacking any kind of protection, as its carapace had been reduced to a mushy paste, the cutting wind slashed the dried up husk with brutal efficiency, chopping the remnants of the wolf into thin slices that became dust, losing its cohesion. This wouldn’t have any effect on the hard and reinforced plates of the implants, but it did wonders against their biological components. As this battle ended, another, at the other side of the fence, continued. The 5 remaining Zyborgs charged with robotic precision towards Riku, Yuu and the downed Marika. While the Vengeful Boxer and the Leader of the Dolls were attacked by two of them each with powerful hydraulic powered punches, the remaining one charged through the middle trying to hit Marika.
Seemingly this crop was in a better state than the others and the didn’t only show it through being less rusted and less damaged, but also through being able to pick targets. Their visors were lit up, with lines of light moving from side to side. [--Nayti i unichtozhit'--]
All of the proclaimed with a single robotic voice coming out from speakers placed on the flanks of their helmets.
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Post by HungryHunter on May 23, 2017 23:21:34 GMT
Chelsea was practically point blank in the wolf's explosion. She didn't have time to blink before the flash became an explosion and she was briefly invisible from the light of it. When it cleared, she still stood, but far the worst for wear. Even her heat resistance wasn't enough to prevent the burns across her face and arms, and a jagged piece of shrapnel stuck out her chest, sticking in one of her lungs. She looked down at the injury with a sort of dawning realization of her injury.
The pain dropped her to her hands and knees, gasping instinctively even though it just made the pain worse. "Don't breathe. Just hold your breath and don't ever let it go." She looked up to see Yuu kneeling near her, wreathed in flame. Little molten drips fell off her body onto the concrete. Chelsea stared at her and halted her breath. The shrapnel stopped its movement at once. It still felt like, well, a chunk of metal shoved into her lung, but it was vastly improved. Dolls didn't have to breathe outside of speech, but they often did just out of instinct.
Yuu stood back up, facing the new zombies. "Keep back if you can't fight. We'll patch up after this fight." She said, walking towards the five remnants. She sidestepped the first zombie's punch, but doing so put her in the path of the other. She raised her sword, one hand holding the blade to steady it. The fist struck it and the sword bent sharply at the force, so far Yuu feared it would snap. Instead she was thrown back hard, slamming through reinforced concrete. She pulled herself up from the dust and rubble, looking down at her sword. It had partially sprung back, leaving it with just a slight bend. Her sigh of relief would have to wait, as one of the horrid cyborgs was already making headway for Marika. "Martha, Jane is fine! Protect Marika!"
Martha perked at the yell, turning to see the zombie bearing down on Marika, missing teeth in withered jaws forming a mad grin under the bright visor. Its moving lines kind of reminded her of the displays on the speakers Haven had in her room. She ran and jumped, seeking to carry her full weight into its visor knee first. She figured she might as well destroy its senses first before she tried to work on the sturdier parts. Yuu ran back at the zombies who drove her off, slowing down to study them. Their simultaneous speech intrigued her. It suggested some form of communication between the individuals. If she could cut that off, surely it would weaken them. She crouched and pushed off, flipping over their heads. In midair, she threw more kunai, seeking to strike the tops and backs of their skulls. If they had communication devices, this seemed like a reasonable place for them.
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Post by Kuma on May 26, 2017 20:57:02 GMT
Riku replied to the enemy attacks by swaying off their path while stepping forward towards them. One hit didn’t even graze him, but the second one, because he had to modify his trajectory to avoid a small pothole, managed to give him a glancing blow on the head. His temple started bleeding profusely, the warm liquid dripping down his face as he advanced. That sensation flipped the Vengeful Boxer’s switch as he uncharacteristically lowered his guard and speed up, dancing around the enemies clumsy attempts at an offensive while launching a flurry of hooks at them, each blow cutting deep into the bodies as if he was wielding a sword instead of using his fists. His eyes were locked on his enemies, ignoring everything around him, becoming more like a vortex of sharp fists slashing through the enemies organic component while also leaving scratches over their tough armor. This was Riku fighting by instinct alone, without thinking or overanalyzing the situation around him.
Martha’s attack was more successful than she expected, as her knee connected cleanly against the visor, but carried enough force to actually rip the dried up body’s head off. The Zyborg that was charging directly at Marika suddenly veered off target and went directly into the Electrical Fence. Even with a lowered output it was more than enough to turn the creature from a dried up husk into a crispy one, black spots appearing over the armor getting hit by the powerful electrical current surging from hidden coils. The charred exoskeleton fell into the floor, blocking more of the coils, lowering the output even more. Still highly dangerous, but less than before. Finally, Yuu’s offensive, was also fruitful, as her expertly aimed kunai hit on the broadcasting devices, less armored than the rest of the helmet. The short circuit was quick and flashy, as sparks of electricity bursted from the places she attacked and they dropped down like puppets with their strings cut.
Riku’s opponents also fell down, lacking any kind of defense against his swift offensive. His tense face relaxed once they dropped down and he took a small handkerchief from his pocket and started stopping the bleeding on his temple. Their communicators started to activate and the voice of Shikishima reached them. -Bzzzt… Status….Report….bzzzt….?- He asked through the interference.
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Post by HungryHunter on May 27, 2017 1:10:58 GMT
As withered flesh and rusted steel collapsed, the dolls scanned the battlefield for any further threats. There was nothing. Everything that had been attacking them was dead. Or rather, more dead. The shattered husks lay still as Yuu snuffed her flames and ran to Chelsea and Marika. "We have a few wounded, but it doesn't look too serious. Riku, come over here please. I want to check for a concussion. Josefina, do what you did to block the stream again so everybody can cross over." Yuu said as she examined Chelsea and Marika. Josefina nodded and began ripping up more concrete.
Marika whimpered and hugged herself to Yuu. She seemed intact besides her burnt hand, already forming a few blisters. Light injuries like that prompted shedding, so she'd no doubt start in a few minutes. The replacement of skin would heal the damage. Chelsea she was more worried about. The shrapnel was embedded in her ribs. It would have to be removed for her to fight properly. Potentially even her lung would have to be removed. "We might have to stay here for a while." She warned everyone as she reached for her flashlight. She shined it right in Riku's eyes and looked for proper dilation.
Marika turned slightly and looked at the shard in Chelsea's chest. "Chelsea, sleep." She ordered. Chelsea immediately collapsed like a ragdoll. She would have to operate. Jane hopped thorough the gap Josefina made in the fence and was tackled by Martha. "Jane! I'm so proud of you!" She yelled, pulling her small sister right off the ground. "I was so scared! Don't let me do that ever again!" Jane wailed, hugging Martha tight. Sidney slouched through after Josefina stomped across. She dropped to sit against the wall and grabbed the head Martha had kicked off. "These things are pretty fancy, huh?" She mused out loud, slowly rolling the object in her hands.
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Post by Kuma on May 30, 2017 2:03:35 GMT
For a moment Riku doubted about getting close to the Dolls, even as cold as he was they unnerved him and also produced a faint flicker of rage, he disliked those who were born with natural powers, maybe there was a hint of jealously fanning that wrathful ember inside him, as he constantly suffered to push his limits, risking blood and limb, while the Dolls clearly were made to take a lot more of damage than a regular human and keep working. Finally he dispelled those useless thoughts from his head, returning to his stoic self and he moved closer. He dropped on his knees with quiet dignity, allowing Yuu total access to his wound. It was quite the nasty gash and it was still bleeding, not as much as it should as Riku was using his Fighting Spirit to control his blood flow, an advanced Durability/Guts application of it, to allow the fighter to keep exchanging blows without fearing the blood loss. -Please make it fast, I don’t like sitting down when I’m wounded.- He coldy asked.
Once again the communicator sounded asking for answers. -Bzzzt… Status report?...Bzzt- Shikishima sounded more annoyed than concerned. As he talked the electric fence suddenly stopped, being just a prologue to Urnas arrival, once again, like ribbons of darkness carried by a powerful wind, spiralling into the ground until they formed the Sinister Scout’s body. -Next time don't be stupid and learn to distinguish a trap before you run forward.- He glared at Marika. - I have only a small windown of activity and I can’t waste them saving your skin or the skins of your meddlesome toys.- After saying that line he focused a glare, with actual burning eyes, on Yuu, Martha and Jane. Plus with him speaking a bit more it was clear he had an Eastern European accent. -I’ll keep scouting but try to avoid the extremely obvious traps or I won’t be able…- He made a pause and his tone became more sinister. -Or I won’t care to inform you about the ones that are truly hidden.- And with that he vanished again before hearing any replies, clearly he was more interested in doing the job fast than hearing Marika’s retorts.
Riku overheard Martha and shared a bit of her opinion, this creatures were clearly from at least 30 years in the past or even more, but still they dwarfed modern robotics. The Vengeful Boxer keep thinking in silence about how strange the Hidden World was slowly becoming to him, the deeper he went in the less comfortable he felt on his own skin.
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Post by HungryHunter on May 30, 2017 6:57:57 GMT
"We have some down time here regardless. Chelsea needs surgery." Yuu gently cleaned the wound with alcohol and put a bandage over it. "It looks like you don't have a concussion. Just sit tight until Marika's done." Yuu reflexively patted Riku on his shoulder to send him on his way. "Don't start anything or I'll throw you in the fence! Clearly we're fine! And stay on your side of the curtain!" Marika yelled from behind the curtain she had set up for privacy. She tossed a twisted hunk of metal over the curtain, a few coats and emergency blankets draped over a thread she had attached to the walls.
On the other side, Yuu turned to Urnas. "We will try to be more careful in the future. My apologies." She gave a low bow to the scout. Martha looked at her in disgust and sneered at Urnas. She balanced her hatred of Marika and loathing of Yuu's kowtowing. He hatred of Marika and her stupidity won and she turned away. Urnas was right of course. Marika was nothing but a constant detriment. She just couldn't stand Yuu's lack of spine. Martha walked to an unoccupied wall and leaned against it, hands in her pocket. "Heheheheh. I could do things with these guys." Sidney was bristling with movement, the first energy she had shown all day. "I could plant these things in everybody's heads. We'd have perfect communication like them! Ahehehehehehe!" Sidney waved one of the communication devices, pried from the skull of the zombie she had been holding, scattering mummified brains across the floor. "No thank you, Sidney." Yuu waved her off and ducked into Marika's curtain to check on her progress.
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Post by Kuma on Jun 5, 2017 2:18:08 GMT
-Bzzzt… You know what, if I’m not getting a site rep in the next 5 seconds I’m going to leave all you trapped in there! Bzzzzt.- Shikishima roared through the communicators he himself devised. -Bzzt I couldn’t care less what happens to your crazy cadaveric cavalcade of fuck-ups or to you own scissor wielding psychopathic ass!...Bzzzzzt- The Mad Scientist was clearly pissed off as he attempted to talk to the dolls or Marika but nobody replied. It was easy to see that Shikishima wasn’t the best to keep his cool, maybe his temperament was too similar to his creations, exploding without prior notice and creating massive damages. He shut the communication off, legitimately pissed about being ignored, to him a greater insult that actually being insulted, leaving the Marika, her Dolls, Urnas and Riku cut off from communication with the outside world.
Riku stood up after getting healed and walked around checking the enemies, maybe there was something he was missing about them, why there is a difference in degradation among them. He kneeled to investigate them further. He wasn’t familiar at all with this level of technology, in fact he wasn’t familiar with almost any tech, he barely used computers or anything more complex than a TV and an old VCR, as he recorded matches to watch them and analyze them, keeping the tapes on his department. Still he could feel it on his bones, something was wrong here, why the patrols? They were dead… Are they working like abandoned wind-up toys? Or is something else? Why did the first group was so shoddy and damaged while the second included better maintained soldiers? This escaped him, but hopefully finding more patrols would shed some light on the situation, he would share this findings with time, at least with the one the Dolls called Yuu, she seemed to be the only one with a working brain.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 5, 2017 3:05:00 GMT
"Alright Chelsea, wake up." The blonde doll's eyes popped open to see Marika overhead, looking more purple than normal and strangely damp. Chelsea looked down to see a new stitch across her chest, right below her right breast. "I had to toss one of your lungs, but that shouldn't be a problem. You're combat ready now, so get dressed and let's go. Chelsea sat up, wincing at the pain in her chest. Certainly better than before, but getting pulled apart and put back together wasn't something to be shrugged off.
"Fucking hell, you could have been gentler." She grumbled as she pulled her dress back over her head. "Fuck off, we're on a time limit." Marika kicked aside her shed skin and pushed aside her makeshift curtain. Chelsea followed her out, rubbing her chest absentmindedly. Outside, Sidney was looking at the uncorrupted skull with great detail. If only she had brought some tools! "Hey Yuu, I think there might be some pockets with no oxygen in here. These things are doing great. That, or somebody's still making them in here." She opened her door into the kaspa and threw the skull in. It would keep there until she could get a real look at it. "We'll keep that in mind. Martha, lead with me. Riku, Marika, stay in back. If we walk into a vacuum, I want you two out of it." Yuu ordered as the group got into motion. "Shikishima, can you hear me? We're moving again." Yuu attempted to give the mad scientist a head's up, feeling a twinge of guilt. It had simply slipped her mind to respond earlier, what with everything else on her plate.
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Post by Kuma on Jun 8, 2017 20:45:59 GMT
Radio Silence. That was what Yuu got from Shikishima, he had blocked his communicator and wouldn’t pick it up. Riku, not discussing their logic, moved to the back, focusing his Fighting Spirit around the wound to close it a bit faster. The silence continued for a moment, Shikishima wasn’t talking to them, he might be a bit old to do a tantrum, but Mad Scientists like being paid attention once in awhile. The silence was interrupted by a single sound, the dripping of a humidity stain above them. The area was cracked, after Chelsea’s destroyed the Blitz Wolf, and water was slowly leaking from above, dripping through the cracks. Soon those drips turned into lines of water. Riku, from his position behind the line noticed the water behind them. -I think we have a problem.- Speaking out loud for the first time, as the lines of water became proper waterfalls and the puddle underneath looked less like shallow water and more like a torrent moving towards them as they were moving on the ramp going into the complex.
The water roared down the ever widening hole, as if it was draining the swamp above them directly into the tunnels. The cold and disgusting water was already getting close to them, still it wasn’t a large enough quantity to hurt them, just inconvene them. The hallway was too large to be flooded, but the running water would make the dusty ramp they were walking turn into a muddy and slippery mess, not the perfect terrain to fight enemies if they happened to appear.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 9, 2017 4:56:45 GMT
Chelsea had just found and donned her coat when the first drops of water were pushing their ways through the cracks. She whipped her coat back off and lunged into the air with her wings, avoiding the sludgy wave that hit the other dolls. Marika also avoided getting soaked by jumping up onto the wall and clinging there with her spidery hands and feet. The others were not so lucky, getting soaked in icy cold water. Instantly, the cold blooded dolls reeled, ducking deep inside their electronically warmed coats for what warmth they could get before they began to soak through. "Josefina! Make us some solid ground!" Yuu yelled to the towering golem.
She slowly nodded her stone head and stomped her foot. Any doll that wasn't already soaked through was now when she splashed up water all over them and cracked through the concrete. Directly contacting the earth below, she commanded it to raise. Slowly a long line of earth pushed through concrete and water before them until there was a reasonably dry patch for the team to walk upon leading ahead. Sidney slowly drifted away on the currents, making no effort to swim until picked up by Josefina and placed on land. Martha pushed herself on first with her strong legs before helping Jane up behind herself. Chelsea continued to circle overhead.
"I think I'll keep my boots cleaner than that... even if they're ugly." She grumbled, diving ahead to check out the hallway. Hopefully this water issue would be a problem for the monsters around here as well. Marika glared at Chelsea for her comments and jumped over to the land. "Why do I even make you people clothes when all you do is bitch about them?" She grumbled, wall clinging abilities helping her footing somewhat in the slick mud of Josefina's land bridge.
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Post by Kuma on Jun 10, 2017 15:04:26 GMT
The elevated terrain in the center of the ramp served to keep them over the level of the water, but this only made the water falling through the sides, in the moats formed between Josefina’s raised floor and the walls, like a raging current, moving faster than then towards the depths of the complex. The angled hallway was deep, there were evidence of once having rails, allowing carts to move up and down faster, but somebody or something had removed them, quite poorly, excavating around the supports and taking them out from the ground with brute force alone. The lights grew dimmer the lower they went until they reached the end of the ramp and the next hallway that continued directly in front of them. It seemed the large corridor had once been the proper entrance to the lab, the part they just traversed being the entrance and loading bays.
A massive double door, 3 mt thick on each door, was half opened allowing them to pass through to the next area, the door was buckled from the inside out, as if something deeper in the lab crashed against it with such force that the extremely durable looking reinforced doors had a large bump in the middle, half on each side. The door inscription read something in the lines of “Warning, Dangerous Materials Ahead” in Russian. Riku stopped walking as they reached the door. -Should we explore this area or should we continue.- He clearly was talking to Yuu, who seemed to be, in his eyes, the only Doll with common sense. The Vengeful Boxer wanted to do this job as fast as he could, so the best would be, as much as he didn’t care, to collaborate with whoever seemed to be in control of this weird group.
Not too far away from them, down the hall after the large broken door, something was moving in the shadows, stirred back to activity by the water reaching them.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 10, 2017 22:27:17 GMT
The beams of the doll's flashlights roved around in the darkness, finding the walls and door. Jane immediately reeled back when she saw the dented door. "Oh noooooooo." She lowly wailed, stepping back away from it. "Yes, we should explore. We need to make sure there's nothing that will follow us in there when we enter the door. That's a clear danger zone." Yuu looked through the gap in the door, watching for movement. "Josefina, I could use an island." Yuu asked. With a great rumble, her request manifested itself from the water, spilling icy cold rivers as it peaked the surface.
"Thank you Josefina. Please help Chelsea and Sidney scout." Yuu whistled for the others. "We all need to get warmed up." She sat in the center of the muddy island, feeling the unpleasant squish of the mud beneath her. Her whole body ignited, creating a makeshift campfire for the others. Marika, Martha, and Jane sat around her, being the only ones caught in the water. Josefina and Chelsea moved to opposite ends of the clearing they gathered in to investigate what was there while Sidney ambled through the great doors to see what was beyond. "Hey blockhead, join us. You're soaked too." Martha yelled to Riku, patting the ground beside her and Jane.
Yuu's dry heat made the clothing steam and hiss, slowly drying them. It wasn't perfect, but it was as good as they would get warming up down here. "So Jane, did you get the job you were looking for?" Yuu asked, handing her pack over to Marika to check on the food. "No..." Jane looked out over the water, away from Yuu's eyes. "Oh, that's too bad. Well, maybe next time." She nodded sympathetically, drawing a gag from Martha. She didn't say anything this time, but the mood immediately turned. Yuu sighed deeply. Just like dinner every night. It seemed their family's tensions ran deeper than just Miles. Couldn't they all just get along?
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Post by Kuma on Jun 13, 2017 5:31:26 GMT
Riku got closer to the fire, trying to hide how off putting this was. He knew they had strange abilities, he even saw a few, but this was something else. When she set herself in fire the Vengeful Boxer had to contain his natural instinct to grab water to douse the Doll with. Even as emotionless as he seemed on the surface Riku was still a human being, something he slowly started to consider a hindrance the more he delved into the Hidden World. The Vengeful Boxer always searched ways to become stronger but he feared the day he wouldn’t be able to gain anything else from training or even worse if he reached an age where his body started to fail. His goal was always to defeat Mulligan but no matter how much he trained he never seemed to advance further in the rankings, something was missing.
Taking advantage of the informal setting he decided to ask something to Martha. - By the condition of your knuckles and your overall skill I guess you enter many fights, so I wanted to ask you something.- He was still speaking on his low and raspy voice. -Who is the strongest hand to hand fighter you’ve faced or seen? Surely you must have meet really strong fighters...- Riku decided that learning from the Hidden World would be easier from denizens who had been part of it for a longer period and reached even greater depths. -I extend the question to all of you.- He glanced at the rest of the Dolls. -Who is the strongest close quarters fighter you've met?- As he asked, still too far away for any of them to hear, sound in the tunnels beyond the bent doors, slowly crept towards them. The splashing of water after something really heavy waded across it. Many footsteps, some heavier than anything they meet in the Complex before, maybe a new kind of abominations.
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Post by HungryHunter on Jun 13, 2017 6:59:27 GMT
Martha looked at her own hands contemplatively."Well-" She began, but Marika scoffed. "The state of them is from the woman they're from. Not anything she's done. She can't tell you anything about fighting, it's all for looks. I have to fix her nose every time she gets herself beaten to a pulp." Martha glared at Marika, a million responses stirring, none of them any good. "Fuck off. I've fought better than you. Or does getting yourself lit on fire count as victory?" Martha sneered and Marika snarled, hand going for her scissors.
"That's enough. We're stuck with each other for hours now, so you two apologize to each other and move on." Yuu fixed both with a glare. But mostly me, of course, thought Martha. "Fine. I'm sorry, Marika." "You must be kidding me. Jump in the water, Martha. And never insult me again." Marika fixed Martha dead with her eyes and Martha felt an insuppressible tug backwards. She tumbled back into the water, leading to mad cackling from Marika. "Piss me off again and I'll have Jane foam you! Now sit down and shut up!" She yelled as Martha trudged he way back out, coughing up water. Martha looked to Yuu, but Yuu's eyes were fixed at the far off horizon behind the walls and earth of this subterranean lair, nowhere near close enough to help. Fucking enabler. "I'm not as experienced as I might look. This is all stolen muscle memory." Martha threw a few quick jabs, aimed away from all others. The electric gauntlets on her arms glinted in Yuu's light. They came as easily as breathing, but there was little actual connection. The person who they belonged to threw hundreds of punches to get her arms to do that, but apparently it was of little help when Marika came for them.
Her legs were different. She had actually worked those. They were hers, shaped how she wanted. All the thickness they had once had was whittled into the marble white muscle of the rest of her. Their owner used them as mighty pillars of support, not budging when struck, but Martha was always on the move. She needed sails, not anchors. "But I have fought people... Like that earth guy. Don't remember his name." Martha scratched her head until she heard Josefina splashing around in the corner. "Right, Jose. But he's backing it up with earth shit. Sid's fast. He nearly matched me in speed and outdid me in skill. But the strongest I've ever fought..."
Martha's breath caught in her throat as she thought of that monster, wreathed in fire, casting bolts of darkness that ripped right through dolls. "She beat me, Ash, and Haven... tortured me. All of it like it was nothing. We couldn't lay a finger on her. She uses a whip, but she doesn't need it to rip you up. Alexis Primrose. I don't care how tough you think you are, or how much you need a good fight, if you ever hear that name you run away." Martha's voice was dead serious. There was something in her eyes. The blankness of shock? Or the despair of somebody realizing their lack of power?
"Well I don't fight, so I wouldn't know!" Jane piped up. "Same." Marika grumbled, chewing on an energy bar. Yuu seemed to come back to reality, realizing the tension was gone. "Hm? Me?" She glanced about and closed her eyes. "He's a swordsman. He calls himself Callis Nomene. He fights in ways I didn't know possible with swords made of light." Yuu felt something strange speaking of this. She normally had only the barest of interest in her sword skills, but this was bringing to light something new and unknown in her. She had recently fought three separate swordsmen to obtain their swords for the new dolls in the kaspa and enjoyed training for the excursion to do so. It wasn't for the sake of blood she had enjoyed it. She had managed to leave the swordsmen unharmed for the most part in battle and preferred it that way. But there was something to the discipline in it, the focusing of her mind. It was comparable to sewing. "It's not important, though. I'm sure you meant unarmed fighters, given your own style." Yuu politely smiled, but her mind was now far away.
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