Take back the city (1-2)

psikeout · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 12:33 pm

The whole room held a queer feeling for Rock, and he looked into it with suspicion. Eggman was just a moderate sprint away, but he didn't seem too rushed to get there.

The primate instead shook it off for a moment and knelt, resting one of his arms on his knee, while the other dragged a finger across the ground. He examined the glittering, gravelly fragments on his glove.

"It's the same," he declared simply, then stood and dusted his hands. "The echidna said it emits a little energy... and, I'm no Master Emerald guardian or anything, but this place..."

He trailed off for a few seconds.

"... Something's off."

Contrary to the cautious evaluation such a statement might normally spur, Rock started forward immediately, and wasted no time breaking into a run toward the structure looming over the pit.

Sheff · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 12:40 pm

"What's off?" Sheffer asked the monkey as he ran off, but received no answer. What had he been talking about? Something concerning the crystals, that was for sure, but the hedgehog was still left in the dark.

Having nothing else to do, and truly wanting to see what Rock had concocting in that mind of his, he ran after the primate, his board tucked under his arm. He soon caught up with him, then kept pace, throwing the monkey a glance.

"So, what's the plan, Rock? Better be good, because I don't want this little spelunking adventure to go to waste."

David · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 12:50 pm

Toby was still contemplating the monkey's words when he absolutely bolted towards the tower. Green-bean took off after him too, leaving the kangaroo rat and monkey in the dust. "...And there they go."

Toby bent over to the ground beside him, eying a few crystals sticking out of the ground. He held on to them each, and with a powerful kick, snapped them from their resting place. "I've got no clue what these things do, but who knows..." He tossed one to the pink primate next to him.

"Maybe we can use 'em." With that, Toby gave a quick salute, and he was cruising along after the others.

Diluss · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:18 pm

Shortly after the arrival of the rest of the party, Tails propellored to a halt behind them at the bottom of the shaft. Detaching himself from Ace, he dropped to the ground with a relieved huff. He ran forward into the massive ante-chamber, slowing down as he reached the openings which looked out onto the hellish purple undercity.

"—" he said, and then stopped. He breathed out quietly as he took in the sight.

He looked up at the ceiling, where the magma moved in great, slow swirls, the trails of almost white-hot rock curling above like cream shifting through coffee.

"Eggman hasn't had a lot of time to work on this," he said, warily. "It looks like the roof is really unstable. Look." He pointed almost directly above them, where a line of gigantic staples bit into the crystal, keeping the sides of what seemed to be a huge stress fracture from breaking apart any further than they already had. Lumpy bubbles of rock crusted the seam, where magma had broken through and started dripping down to the floor below before hardening and sealing the crack shut again. He followed the crack as it crawled across the ceiling until it was over the pit in the middle of the cave, where Eggman's tower interrupted his line of sight.

Tails stared across the buildings at the tower, precariously perched as it was over the distant shaft.

He squinted at it lopsidely. The top of the tower leered back. There was a moment or two where the two of them stared down each other quietly, before Tails stuck his jaw out and, with intense deliberation, began marching to the edge of the room they were in. He hopped down the distance to the ground of the chasm, and began hurrying off after Rock and Sheff.

Mie · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 5:01 pm

With nary more than a shrug before pocketing the mysterious crystal of unknown origin/power/carcinogens, Jam quickly trotted after her advancing party with a grinned, "Who'm I t'turn down a free one-up?"

The "especially here" went without saying. Now, Jam wasn't normally the type of girl to fuss about or notice building code violations, but the little two-tailed surveyor's observations lingered at the forefront of the monkey's mind a little longer than they otherwise would have, making every possible hazard mentally jump out. If one could read her lips as she jogged along, they'd find that she was thinking delightful thoughts like, "Drowned in lava... Impaled by an avalanche of Chaos crystal s**t..." and all other manner of pleasantries.

None of it seemed to weigh too heavily on her, though, as every now and again, presumably upon considering a particularly "good" demise (if there was such a thing), she'd snicker conspicuously to herself before recalling that Eggman's narcissistic temper tantrums were serious business, and reapplying her game face.

psikeout · Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 5:12 pm

Rock glanced at Sheffer as he ran along. "Plan," he echoed aloud as he dodged around hazards, jumped over obstructions, and avoided chunks of rock and crystal debris that had long fallen from the ceiling. "I'letchu know when we get one'a those."

Probably not the answer the hedgehog wanted to hear, but given the circumstances, everything really was pure improvisation. They had no idea what they were about to go up against. Up ahead, nearer to that big structure straddling the great pit, there seemed to be at least some manner of open space, like a ring of mostly unobstructed metal floor. Crane buckets, large cargo containers, parked heavy-transport vessels, and other such vehicles, tools, and equipment seemed to be the only things nearby. Along the perimeter of this "clearing" were tanks of fuel, water, and various supply capsules of all sorts. None of it looked immediately useful to Rock, though, unfortunately.

He remained there and caught some breath. There was a cool, unexpectedly fresh breeze blowing past from somewhere around there, almost like it was coming from beneath Eggman's little suspended fortress; it buffeted his white-turned-purpley-blue spiky head. The strange lighting actually had the funny effect of making his eyes look more like they matched than ever before.

On that note, it was kind of a sensory overload; the strange lighting, distant noise of diggers, rumble and gurgle of magma, hiss of pneumatic machinery, smell of pristine, fresh, ocean-like air, and that big, Eggman-faced building at the center of it all combined for a strange experience.

He looked up at that menacing, multi-legged mess of metal and machinery Eggman had retreated into, then down toward the utterly massive, glowing hole in the ground beneath it. He hadn't yet gotten a good look because he was hesitant to draw that near and position himself even remotely below a big, fortress-looking building Eggman was inside of—Not without knowing what threats it had to offer first. But, he slowly walked ever closer, anyway.

Greens · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 5:04 pm

"Woah..." added Ace, stating the obvious as he too, finally made it to the 'ground' floor. He arced his head up and around, taking in as much as he could. The whole place was beyond huge-- massive. People could legitimately live here. Even somebody as space-consuming as the doctor himself. "Crazy."

Following along, he came across one of those weird little crystals everyone was talking about. "Am I the only one wondering if these things are worth anything?" he asked, wrapping his hand around it. With a quick jerk, it was snapped it out of it's place, examined briefly, and subsequently pocketed. Even if they were worthless, hey, it's still one more thing to throw at the next shmuck standing in their way.

"I mean, Eggman doesn't care about money, right?"

Kazz · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 5:09 pm

Cliche as it may be to say, one of said tanks was more than it appeared to be, if only because one of them held, instead of simply water, something else entirely. Not that one could really tell from the outside; indeed, it looked as normal as the tanks flanking its sides. But no, this one held the terror, the fury, of... a mildly-put-out shark.

Couldn't I at least get a more interesting suite? the resident of the tank inquired in his head, laying his head back, forgetting the metal he was situated right next to, and thus whacked himself himself on the noggin. This produced a distinctive 'dwing!' noise, and the shark whined, rubbing the fin-like protrusion on the back of his head. This place was boring. Boooooring. ... boooooooooring. He exhaled, and for the first time since he had been in the tank (and indeed, it had been a while-- he wasn't sure, exactly, he was never good with time, and he had spent a lot of this time sleeping), he was suddenly very grateful for gills. They kept him from drowning!

The shark grumped a bit, and would look around, if his surroundings (read: tank) was not incredibly dark. Dark. Daaaark. He tried to remember how he got in here-- something about a large man with an incredibly large mustache? He'd like to say that it was some grand battle that ended in his tragic defeat, the truth was more akin to "he was sleeping in the wrong place at the wrong time", and at some point he had dumped him in here. Maybe it had something to do with the umpteenth request to turn up the air conditioning. Phooey.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably about 30 seconds after knocking his noggin, did Mako hear something outside the tank. People! That didn't sound like robots or Mister Mustache! He broke into a grin. Cool, maybe he'd get out of here. Or, alternatively, maybe they'd be particularly organic-sounding robots, and then they'd try to eat his spleen. After a moment of consideration, and upon deciding that that'd be an incredibly awesome way to die, Mako decided: worth a shot.

He took a moment to maneuver himself, and after that moment was taken, the shark thwacked his tail into the side of the tank with as much force as he could muster. This, much like his head, created a metallic, resonating sound, though much longer. He cupped his hands around his mouth for a second, realized it would do very little for him, and instead, Mako merely yelled:

"OI! OVER HERE!"

Subtlety!

Greens · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 5:37 pm

The cat's stroll onward was quickly put to a halt when he heard a muted sort of clannnnngggging noise echo through the cave not three yards away from him. He didn't pitch out a yelp of surprise (he was not scared, just surprised), but his casual stance very rapidly stiffened up, as did the lids of his eyes. He turned his head turned slowly towards the capsule, and with a bit of frustration, no doubt for being so suddenly... surprised.

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, then just puffed out a breath of air from his nose. "Uh, guys?" he called, inching towards the metal container making all sorts of odd noises. "I think we got a live one, here!"

Mie · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:22 pm

Not ordinarily the one to be throwing around phrases like, "This doesn't look safe," or "I have a very bad feeling about this," Jam continued marching toward the base of the tower, actually increasing her pace in direct correlation to Rock's proximity to the eerily glowing pit of mysterious unknown at its feet. It was particularly jarring, then, when she was shaken from her paranoid unease by something evidently important-looking that Ace had found.

After only the briefest of hesitations, she rerouted her path toward the liquid-filled tanks (which looked to be from a particularly low budget sci-fi horror flick). Coming to a gradual stop a cautious distance away, her anxiety seemed to bring out the devil's advocate in her, and she looked warily at the glass-encased captive, wondering if there was any possibility this could be some kind of set-up.

"We sure he's safe?"

Not ruffled enough to pass up the chance to be a smart alec, she cast a weak, but still cheeky grin to Rock for a barely noticeable fraction of a second. "'Mean, guys're usually locked up in tubes for a reason. Might be a rampagin' psycho."

David · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:57 pm

Following right behind Rock, Toby actually slightly passed the monkey as he slowed down, and had to circle back around. He skidded to a halt just in time to catch the cat's call, and the pink primate's response. Toby lifted his goggles from his face. Combined with the heat of the magma earlier and their various activities, the kangaroo rat was definitely sweating, and those things were starting to chafe something awful. "...Friggin' off-brands..." He rubbed his head where the band had been, trying to replace the sensation. Toby shook his head back and forth much like a dog's, and finally turned to Jam.

"Yeah, but this is Eggman, right? He 's probably locked up for a reason, but I'm willing to bet the dude hasn't done anything wrong."

While Toby was talking, Kyle had already flowing himself over to the tank, and had his ear pressed up to the side. "Ju biju re?" The gelatinous ball floating above the munchkin's head shifted into its question mark form.

Toby's eyes rolled as he fought back a smile. "Seriously, I can't take you anywhere." Toby reached up and began playing with his ear, subsequently jamming his other hand deep down in his pocket. "...If he's the doc's prisoner, we gotta get 'im out." The boy's hand released his ear, and instead cupped around his mouth to form a makeshift megaphone. "Hey, who are you, and why are you in that thing?!"

psikeout · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 7:06 pm

Rock turned away from his original objective, but not before getting a glimpse into the pit—One that lasted several seconds, and distracted him such that he barely caught Jam's little inside joke. The hole contained a... strange sight—The portal Eggman had been bragging about. But on the other side was an odd, blue-looking environment Rock found completely unfamiliar.

"Uh huh," he eventually muttered in response, but with a hint of a smirk, as he moved hastily toward the tank. While Toby was still trying to communicate with the guy, Rock was giving the tank a quick look-over. There was unfortunately no big yellow button to smash, but he did notice a valve handle on top that seemed to be connected to a hatch. A quick hop up top, and the primate was impatiently cranking the lid open with no real concern for the danger his friends and acquaintances were on edge about.

*Squeeeeak* went the hatch, before dropping and hanging off the side with a loud, crashing clank.

Kazz · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 7:18 pm

"Well, yeah, I killed an ate a robot-spleen on the street," Mako joked, regarding Jam with his voice dripping with sarcasm as his eyelids drooped to a halfway point, though a smile was on his face. He had grinned, and was preparing to say something when Rock unceremoniously opened the tank. His eyes brightened up and he grinned a grin with far too many sharp teeth in it.

Deciding not to showboat, Mako swam to the top and slung his arms around the edge of the tank, grinning at Rock. "Much obliged, Monkey Man," he said, before he looked around at the others. "Name's Mako!" he said with little to no concern for what was going on around him, likely because he had no idea where he was at the moment. He paused, looking as though he were searching for words, looking between each of those gathered around in turn.

"So I've got three questions. One: where am I and what's with all the pretty lights? Two: Who are you, dudes and dudette? And three: are any of you guys evil robots that are going to eat my vital organs?"
It was hard to tell if he was kidding on that last one or not.

Mie · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 7:46 pm

In light of the ... decidedly buoyant shark Rock had so decisively released, it was incredibly difficult for Jam to maintain that same unshakable feeling of dread the ominous environment had done so well to force on her. Actually, from the moment Mako's mouth opened, she couldn't help but allow the smallest tinge of amusement to coat her otherwise confused demeanor. Frankly, it felt like the guy jumped out of his tank, and utterly destroyed any sense of gravity the room had once held.

"Er, working backwards, no," began the purple-tinted primate. As she continued, she jerked a nonchalant thumb towards the tower, before setting both sets of knuckles on her waist.

"But we can do introductions when we're not knee-deep in Eggman BS, 'cause that's where we are. An' all these 'pretty lights'? More s**t. Evil, CE-emitting, zombifying s**t. And lava. 'Cause we're also in a volcano."

David · Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2010 8:01 pm

Toby chuckled a bit as the shark pulled himself from his watery prison. "I'm Toby, it's nice to meetcha, but she's right." Toby jutted his thumb umpire-style at Jam. After donning his uncomfortable goggles once again, Toby snapped his finger, and Kyle quickly returned to his side. "We've got some business to take care of.

Kyle happily flitted about Toby's person, seemingly entertaining himself. It would seem hard to believe that a chao in such an environment would be having a good time, but the purple glow and the new company had Kyle almost hyperactive. He began to dig around in Toby's pack while the boy was talking, curiously investigating it's contents.

"Hey, get outta' there..." Toby reached behind him and pulled Kyle out of his pack. He scratched the chao's head, and the little guy started to calm down a bit. "...But yeah, we don't have a lot of time to waste. Glad to see you're okay, though, dude."

Take back the city (1-2)

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