GuyYouMetOnline

[color=seagreen]As the team walked across the bridge, Liquid, Malinoe, and Tetros kept their eyes open for any dangers that might be hidden in the darkness. As the only three on the team who were able to see in the dark, they were the ones best suited for that particular task. The others wouldn't be able to see anything until it was too late.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Eventually, the team reached the far wall of the giant cave they were in. The bridge widened into a large platforrm that ran right to the cave wall, in which another huge door sat. There were markings and inscriptions on the platform, and in the center was what looked like an altar of some kind. It had crumbled with age, but it was still standing. Small grooves ran from the altar to the sides of the platform.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"This platform has a slight slope," Tetros observed as the group went to inspect the object at its center. "It's probably not noticable to any of you, but it's there. The object in the middle is at the highest point, and the platform slopes downwards at a very slight angle from that point. It's a uniform slope, no variance. It has to be deliberate. I don't know what the purpose is, though."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"It's a sacrificial altar," Melinoe said. "That object in the middle is the altar itself. If it were in better condition, you'd be able to see it more clearly. The sacrifice was placed on the altar and killed. Some of the sacrifice's blood would pool in depressions on the altar. This blood was collected for use in the conclusion of the ritual. The rest of the sacrifice's blood would flow off the sides of the altar and into the grooves you can see on this platform. The slope would cause the blood to flow through the grooves to the edge of the platform and off the side."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"You sure this is a sacrificial altar?" Arachnid asked.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Yes," Melinoe replied. "And though it's suffered the damage of age, enough of the altar still stands for me to tell what its original shape was. And that tells me that this altar was most likely intended for human sacrifices. And yes, Arachnid, I'm sure."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Kaida was the first to reply. "Okay, then. Human sacrifices. But sacrifices to whom?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I don't know," Melinoe told her. "[color=seagreen]Sacrificial altars usually have carvings representing the one in whose name the sacrifices were made, but I see no such carvings here. None that I'm familiar with, at least. This roughly spider-shaped carving here may be such a representation. Perhaps the one[/color] for whom the sacrifices were made had a spiderlike form."[/color] [color=darkslategray][b]Sheba exited the alcove where she had slept for so long and approached the unknowing humans below. She could see them, clustered around the altar on which countless sacrifices had once been offered to her, the altar which was still there despite its age. They would be easy prey.[/b][/color] [b][color=#2f4f4f]Sheba reached inward with her mind, reconnecting with the power she possessed. It had been many centuries since she'd last used the power she commanded, but she had no trouble reconnecting wiith it. It had lain dormant within her while she'd slept. Now awake once more, Sheba let the power flow through her, returning her strength to her.[/color][/b] [b][color=#2f4f4f]Sheba was impressed that the humans had managed to survive for so long. Clearly these were not ordinary humans. To reachthis point, they'd need power of their own. Perhaps they'd be enjoyable prey after all. But they would not defeat her. Sheba's power was too great for any human to match. They would try to fight her, but they would lose.[/color][/b] [color=seagreen]Tetros had been keeping watch while Melinoe explained the altar, a decision which had just paid off. "Sorry to interrupt," he said, "but something's coming."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"What's coming?" Kaida asked.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I don't know," Tetros replied. "It's descending along the wall towards us. It looks vaguely spiderlike, but it's not a spider. It's- it just leapt off the wall!" [/color][color=#2e8b57]Tetros had barely gotten the warning out when the creature landed, fortunately doing no damage to the obviously sturdy platform.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]The team quickly turned to face the creature, and they were all startled by what they saw. It had the body of a spider, but not the head. What looked like the upper half of a female human body rose up in place of the head. But even that human half looked unhuman, with strange symbols and markings on its skin. The thing was big, too, maybe four of five times as tall as a human and proportioned accordingly.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I don't know what this thing is," Kaida said, "but I don't think it's friendly. Everyone, let's take it out."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Kaida's guess was quickly prooven correct. She'd barely given the order when the creature attacked.[/color]

Well, I have no idea who or what this Sheba is. Could somebody tell me?

OOC: If I've forgotten anyone who could see in the dark, please tell me. ---------------------------------------------------------- [color=seagreen]The sudden darkness may have blinded the others, but Liquid could still see just fine. Her ability to see water in any form wasn't affected by light, and water was everywhere. She was able to see objects and people by seeing the water in and/or on them, or if they were completely dry, the absence of water.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Can anyone else see right now?" Liquid asked. "Or am I the only one?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"My infrared vision is working fine," Tetros replied. "I can see. Is anyone else able to see?" [/color][color=#2e8b57]Nobody replied. "Apparently not."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"All right," Kaida said. "Tetros, you take the lead. Liquid, you take the rear. Keep an eye out for any surprises. Let's keep moving."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]The team advanced forward, with Tetros leading the way and Liquid making sure that nobody got seperated from the group. Eventually, they emerged from the bloody passage into some kind of chamber. The light came back, and the team examined the room they were in. There didn't seem to be anything in it. but then, suddenly, there was. There was to Liquid's eyes, at least. All the others saw was her falling to the ground. To Liquid's eyes, they werent even there. It was just her and someone else.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Liquid couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the woman walking towards her. She recognized the woman in an instant. And that was the problem. Selna was dead. She'd died ten years ago. And yet there she was, standing in front of Liquid. "Hello," she said. "It's been a long tine, hasn't it, Laqara?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Um, well... yes," Liquid managed to reply. "You... you died, mom."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Did I? If so, then how can I be here?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I- I don't know. I saw your body, Mom. You were dead. [i]Dead[/i], mom."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"You were clearly mistaken," Selna replied. "If I'm dead, how can I be standing here?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I don't know," Liquid said. "I just don't know. Mom, I- I'm sorry. I thought you'd died."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"It's all right, dear," Selna told her. "It's all right. I probably did look dead. Well, that's in the past, I guess. I'm here for you now. I can't imagine what it was like for you, thinking that I'd died. You didn't have anywhere to go, or a job, or anything."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Oh, I had somewhere to go, mom," Liquid replied. "I had somewhere to go. Remember Kajo? Yeah, I went to live with him. And do you know what he did? He tried to f$^#ing rape me!"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I'm so sorry," Selna said. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Suddenly, Liquid knew what was going on. "You're not," she told Selna. "You're not sorry. I can see what this is now. Do you want to know what happened to me recently, 'mom'? I saw Kajo kill Branit. That's right. Branit. My father. The one who died before I [/color][color=seagreen]was born. And I saw Kajo kill him. And do you know why? Because a sick b#$tard wanted to me to be dead inside before he actually killed me. But guess what? It didn't work. And it won't work this time, either."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"What are you saying, Laqara?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I'm saying that you're not my mother," Liquid replied. "My mother died ten years ago. You're not her. I don't know what the f%$k you are, but you're not my mother." She aimed her gun at 'Selna' and fired.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]The next thing Liquid knew, she was on the ground with the rest of the team around her. "What happened?" she asked as she got to her feet.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"You just fell," Kaida told her. "Are you all right?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Liquid nodded. "Yes. I think so, at least. I... well, you've had your painful moment here. I just had mine."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]'What happened?" Arachnid asked.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"It's personal," Liquid replied, "so I'm going to keep it to myself. But don't worry. I'm fine. It was... unsettling. Frightening, really. But it's over now."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Well," Kaida said, "if you're all right, then let's get moving."[/color] [color=#2e8b57][/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I'm fine," Liquid assured Kaida. "I just want to get moving so we can finish this and get the hell out of here."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Kaida nodded. "Sounds like a good idea to me."[/color] -------------------------------------------------- OOC: Again, tell me if I screwed anything up.

I'm probably not going to do it that way anyways. I've decided that it'd be better if I put Liquid in a situation out of her nightmares and have her get herself through it. Not resistance, really. Experience. She's been through painful and frightening events before, so perhaps she knows how to deal with such things.

[quote name='DeathKnight][color=crimson]Man, originally I was going to have the temple take to the air and chase after the HQ to rid itself of the rest of the Legionnaires [I sense a crisis!'][/color][/quote] That's the worst idea I've heard in a long time. I'm glad you decided not to go with it. Anyways, I've been thinking about [spoiler]this whole 'worst nightmare' thing, and I'm thinking that Liquid would perhaps have an advantage over the rest of the team. Remember, she's already been through some pretty nasty stuff in her life. Kajo's rape attempt, for example. She's already had to face her nightmares. I'm not saying that she should be immune from this whole manifestation thing; I'm just saying that perhaps she'd be a bit more resistant to it that some of the others.[/spoiler] I wanted to check with you other Body Bags people before posting anything to that effect. So, what are your oppinions on that particular subject?

[color=seagreen]Liquid hadn't expeted another mission quite so soon after the last one. So she'd been surprised when she'd been notified that she was to be a part of a new mission. She'd grabbed her gun and some extra ammo, then headed for the airplane where the team was to gather. She got there at the same time as Kaida, who would once again be her mission leader.[/color] [color=seagreen]"Hello, [/color][color=seagreen]Kaida," Liquid said. "Had to drag me along on this one, hm?"[/color] [color=seagreen]"May as well," Kaida replied. "You seem the easily-bored type." She turned her llittle computer off and put it in her pocket. "Prepared to leave?"[/color] [color=seagreen]"Of course." Liquid raised her gun. "Armed and dangerous."[/color] [color=seagreen]"Good woman." Kaida said. "I suppose that's all of it then. Onto the plane, we're in something of a rush."[/color] [color=seagreen]"This mission that important?" Liquid asked[/color] [color=seagreen]"Possibly," Kaida replied. She and Liquid entered the plane.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]There wasn't much to do durring the flight except talk, which most of the team did. Liquid quickly became impatient with a certain couple [/color][color=seagreen]individuals. "Why'd you bring these inexperienced guys anyway?" she asked Kaida.[/color] [color=seagreen]"We needed numbers, they need experience," Kaida explained. Speedy and Face have a bright future ahead of them in our organization. They just need to learn the ropes a bit more." Kaida scratched her cheek a bit and shrugged, "They are capable of handling themselves. I am sure they will be fine."[/color] [color=seagreen]"Whatever you say."[/color] [color=seagreen]Kaida muttered something to herself. She seemed to be thinking about something. After a little while, she turned back to Liquid. "You know, I don't think the Arbiter was too impressed with your little stunt on the last mission," she said. "And neither was I. You could have easily gotten yourself killed. You pulled it off somehow, but it was not something you should have done, and I don't want you doing it again. Is that understood?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Liquid nodded. "Yes, I understand. And though this may surprise you, I agree with what you just said."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"You're right; that is a bit surprising. Why did you pull that distraction stunt of yours if you know you shouldn't have?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Because I didn't realize that at the time," Liquid explained. "I saw an opportunity, and I took it. In normal conditions I wouldn't even have considered trying it. I went for it because I thought that the wet conditions on the island would give me enough of an edge. Looking back, I can see that I was wrong. I survived for only one reason: the rouge wanted me to."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]That one took Kaida by surprise. "The rouge [i]wanted[/i] you to survive?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Liquid nodded. "Yes. I never did tell you what happened between my departure and when I entered the fortress, did I? Well, I don't plan to. It was, um, personal, and not something I'm comfortable talking about. Anyways, the only reason my stunt didn't result in my death was because it wasn't supposed to. I was presented with bait, an opportunity I decided to take. I took it, and I survived only because I was supposed to. I survived the events following the personal part through skilled deception, but my survival up to the personal part was intended by the rouge."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"So," Kaida said, "what you're saying is basically that you survived your stunt only because the rouge wanted you to, and that's what convinced you that you shouldn't have done it?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"That's right. So, yeah, I won't be running off on my own again."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Good, because this mission looks like a nasty one. That's why we have such a large team. The last thing we'll need is to lose someone because of a stupid decision. So no stupid decisions, all right?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Liquid nodded. "All right. No stupid decisions. I got it."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Good," Kaida said.[/color] [color=seagreen]After the plane landed and the group entered the temple, things quickly got bad, and went from bad to worse even faster. First, there was the shaking an a voice saying that it had awakened. Next, Face had seen things on the wall, and apparently so had Unhate. Then, Unhate had suddenly become wounded. After that had been the heat wave and Speedy's death. Then Melinoe's whip had gone crazy, and Face had died. [i]What's next? [/i]Liquid wondered.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]As the group continued on through the temple, Liquid began to feel... something. She didn't know what it was, but it was definitely something. She felt it as an odd presence in the air, a disturbance among the evaporated water which she'd been attuned to since her change eight years ago. She probably wasn't the only one to feel it; some of the other team members should be able to sense it in their own ways. But not everyone had powers that would allow that.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Something's not right," Liquid stated.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Yeah, what was your first clue?" Arachnid replied.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Now's not the time for sarcasm, Arachnid," Kaida said. She turned to Liquid. "What is it?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"I can feel something," Liquid told her. "I'm not sure what it is. It's close, I can tell that. And it's coming closer."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]It wasn't long before Liquid was proven right. Some... [i]thing[/i] came charging at the team. The entire team hit the thing, with any ranged abilities if they had them and with guns if they did not.The thing didn't last long. It wasn't even able to reach them before it took too much damage and literally blew apart."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Tetros was the first to speak. "What was[i]that[/i]?"[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"It's not dead," Melinoe said. "It's still here."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"She's right," Liquid confirmed."I can still feel it among the water in the air."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Can it do anything to us?" Tetros wondered. "Even if it is still alive somehow we destroyed its body."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]"Don't be too sure," Pandora said, pointing. "Look."[/color] [color=#2e8b57]Everyone looked. The creature's body was reforming at the exact location where it had been destroyed. "Well, s#^t," Arachnid said.[/color] [color=#2e8b57]In a couple seconds, the creature had completely reformed its body. The thing stood, looked at the team, and attacked.[/color] --------------------------------------------------- OOC: Well, I'll say the same thing everyone else has said: please tell me if I screwed anything up.

OOC: Nice reference there, DeathKnight. Good to know that someone remembers that RPG. -------------------------------------------------------------[color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo]"We can deal with that," Kaia told Astaroth. "I mean, it sounds to me like the previous groups lost because they weren't expecting the object of worship to start kicking them around. That particular problem can be solved by taking out the effigy thingy before we take out its worshippers."[/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo]"I don't know if it will be that easy," Astaroth replied. "For one thing, the cult won't just let you destroy the effigy."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Who gives a shit? I'll just blast the thing from a distance. They won't be able to do a thing about it. And if they have spellcasters that can counter my spells, well, then we'll have to fight our way to it. Besides, we can always pull out if it's not working."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"That may not be possible. I'm sure the other groups tried to run when the effigy attacked them."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Well," Kiva replied, "if we can't kill it and can't run run, then we'll just have to use the secret weapon of all relatively inexperienced players: doing something extremely stupid, something that a really good player would never even consider doing, but something that people like us are too dumb to know not to do. Something so stupid that no opponent would never worry about having to counter it."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"That sounds to me like inviting Death over for a visit," Astaroth remarked.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Hey, stupidity's saved my ass more than once," Kiva said. "Anyways, I can't speak for the rest of the group, but I'm all for takeing these nutjobs and their effigy thingamabober out." She turned to face the rest of her group. "Anybody else want to give it a shot?"[/color]

OOC: That's fine, Frankie. -------------------------------------------------------------- [color=indigo]HerculeseKabuterimon's force had been the first to Astralis. They'd busted the door down and entered. The faster Digimon from Maelen's force, mainly flyers, arrived next. Kiva' come it with that wave on Garudamon, and Maelen herself had hitched a ride.And now, the rest of the force was arriving. These were land-based Digimon who hadn't been able to keep up with the flyers. They hadn't arrived as quuickly as the flyers, but they were there now.[/color] [color=indigo]With everyone in Astralis, the attackers advanced into the depths of the castle. The force did, of course, seperate and advance down multiple corridors, but there were enough connecting paths that no one group was ever cut off from the rest of the force. The attackers did meet with some resistance, especially in the larger rooms. The defends were mainly wild Digimon living in the castle, though there were some human players defending as well.[/color] [color=#4b0082]Eventually, Maelen and HerculeseKabuterimon led a branch of the attack force into the largest chamber yet. It was circular, and much of it was filled with water. There was a very wide path around the edge of the room, large enough that the largest Digimon could easily fit on it. It circled the entire chamber except for a wide gap that allowed for a water passage out of the room. On either side of the gap, at the places where the dry path ended, two corridors extended parallel to the water one.[/color] [color=#4b0082]"This place looks like the biggest toilet in the universe," Kiva remarked.[/color] [color=#4b0082]Maelen laughed. "It does sort of remind you of a toilet, doesn't it? Well, we should check it out, anyways. Hey, David, over here!"[/color] [color=#4b0082]The boy David approached Maelen, his partner following behind him. Said partner was currently in his mega-level form of MarineAngemon. "Yes? What is it?"[/color] [color=#4b0082]"Have MarineAngemon check the water," Maelen told David. "He's probably strong enough to handle anything that's in there, or at least to survive long enough to get out of the water and away from anything he can't handle."[/color] [color=#4b0082]David nodded and told MarineAngemon to do it. About ten seconds after the little Digimon entered the watter, he came zooming back out. Two MetalSeadramon surfaced behind him and were instantly hammered with ranged attacks from the Digimon on the dry path. They didn't last long.[/color] [color=#4b0082]"They came up from below," MarineAngemon explained. "Both of them did. That's no small pool of water. It's deep, and I could see several corridors down there. It looks like a good portion of this castle is underwater. I don't know how many Digimon are down there, but it's sure to be a lot."[/color] [color=#4b0082]"Certainly," Maelen replied. "Well, I think it'd be a bad idea to send anyone down there. Only certain Digimon could go, and they'd be completely cut off from the rest of us."[/color] [color=#4b0082]Just then, multiple Digimon surfaced in the water. At the same time, land Digimon came out of the two dry corridors flanking the water one. The chamber, which had been calm until a moment ago, was now a battleground. Water Digimon jumped into the water and ingaged the swimming enemies while the other Digimon focused on the land ones.[/color] [color=#4b0082]was quick to notice something odd. There was an Angemon in the chamber, but he wasn't attacking the Astralis defenders as would be expected. Instead, he seemed to be on their side. He was fighting for the evid Digimon in Astralis, not against them. The only possible explination was that this Angemon was a human's partner. No wild or even befriended Angemon would ever fight on the side of evil Digimon.[/color] [color=#4b0082]Kiva had to admire the person whose partner that Angemon was. The attackers would naturally assume that an Angemon was on their side. This particular Angemon was using that to his advantage. Obviously, the defenders knew that the Angemon was on their side, or else they too would assume that he was with the attackers.[/color] [color=#4b0082]"That Angemon's with the enemy," Kiva told Maelen. "Are there any on our side in this battle?"[/color] [color=#4b0082]"Not that I know of," Maelen replied.[/color] [color=#4b0082]"Good. Tell people that there's an Angemon with the enemy."[/color] [color=#4b0082]Maelen nodded and began passing the word. Kiva started trying to find the human whose partner the Angemon was. She saw a female shouting something to it, and guessed that the Angemon was her partner. Then the woman turned and Kiva got a clear view of her for an instant before she retreated back into the corridor from which she'd emerged. Kiva was able to identify the woman, and then she knew that she was right about the Angemon being her partner. It fit perfectly with the woman's style, especially if she was hpeing that a certain other player would show up.[/color] [color=#4b0082]"Garudamon! Machinedramon!" Kiva called to her Digimon. "I need a path to that corridor!"[/color] [color=#4b0082]Kiva located and picked up a piece of debris knocked off the wall that made a decent weapon. As her Digimon cleared a path for her, she ran through it. [i]Time to go hunting[/i].[/color] ---------------------------------------------------- OOC: Note that anyone arriving late does not know that the Angemon is with the evil Digimon defending Astralis. They're likely to assume that he's with the attackers. Oh, and don't kill the Angemon, please.

As Charizard flew over Navel Island, Katrina kept her eyes open. After all, she was in a potentially dangerous area, and she didn't want to be taken by surprise. So she remained on alert as Charizard flew. It wasn't long before Katrina spotted what looked like a lab of some kind. "Let's take a look at at that lab," she said to Charizard. Charizard landed, and Katrina jumped to the ground. She returned Charizard and released Tyranitar again, just in case. She followed Tyranitar into the lab. What she saw was a bit startling, despite the fact that she'd kind of expected it. Just like the gym, the lab was completely empty. Katrina conducted a thurough search of the lab, but didn't find anyone. Just like at the gym, there were no people or Pokemon, alive or dead, and there were no signs of a struggle. Katrina just couldn't figure out what was going on. So far, the only person she'd found on the island had been that man in the gym. Aside from him, the island seemed completely deserted. Katrina returned to the entrance of the lab and noticed that one of the phones had an incomming call. Katrina pushed the 'answer' button, and a man's face appeared on the screen. Katrina recognised him as the same man she'd spoken to in the gym. "Hello," she said. The man was a bit startled. "You again? I thought you were bringing thay guy from the gym here." "Issac's on his way with the survivor," Katrina told the man. "I decided to stay and take a look around the rest of the island." "Have you found anything?" the man asked. "No," Katrina replied. "This lab is just like the gym, only without the survivor. There's nobody here, and no bodies, and no signs of a struggle. Everyone's just gone." "And there's no clue as to what happened?" "Not that I've found," Katrina said. "I think my next move'll be to examine the lab's computers and records and see if there's anything there that might point to an answer. I'll call you back when I'm done. Pokemon Center, right?" The man nodded. "Correct. I may not be the one to answer, though. Just ask for Sako; that's my name." "All right. I'm Katrina, by the way." "Katrina. Got it. Good luck over there." "Thanks," Katrina replied. "I'll call when I'm done with my search." Katrina pushed the 'end call' button. Katrina walked into what seemed to be one of the main rooms of the lab and took a seat at a computer. With Tyranitar standing guard, Katrina began to search through the electronic records and computer database of the lab, looking for any clues about whatever had hapened on Navel Island. ------------------------------------------------------------------- OOC: Lady Katana and ^.^, you can have your characters encounter Katrina if you want to. In fact, I'd like an encounter. A battle would liven this RPG up a bit. Oh, and don't be afraid to have your characters double-team her. She'll just use two Pokemon while your characters use one each. Just be sure to remember how good a trainer she is (she's been Pokemon Leauge Champion twice, remember).

OOc: Um, Kayin, your post makes it sound like this is our characters' first experience with [i]Third Edge[/i], but in the sign-up thread, Sakura clearly stated that our characters have been playing for two months. Just thought I'd point that out to you. -------------------------------------------------- "Okay, I've got a question," Kiva said as the group walked rom the shrine to the VR facility. "Let me guess," Sakura replied. "Your question is: 'why do we meet at the shrine instead of at the VR facility?'" "Yes, though you didn't get the exact wording. How'd you guess?" Sakura laughed. "Because you ask that question every week. Yes, we all know that it takes extra time the way we do it. But we're not as impatient as you are. You're the only one of us who seems to mind." "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kiva said. "Let's just hurry up, okay?" Eventually, they reached the VR facility. As usual, there was an empty room with enough VR units for all of them. Kiva chose one and slid herself into it. She swiped her ID card through the slot, then put it back in her pocket. A few seconds later, there was a brief moment of disorientation, and then [color=indigo]Kiva was in the world of [i]Third Edge[/i].[/color] [color=#4b0082]Kiva, known as Kaia while in-game, walked towards the town with the rest of her group. They were currently without a mission. The others generaly didn't like these occasions, because finding a good mission could sometimes be difficult. Kaiaa, however, enjoyed every minute of the game. Well, 'game' was really the wrong word. [i]Thirs Edge[/i] was more than a game; it was an experience.[/color] [color=#4b0082]Kaia enjoyed the missions, of course, but she also enjoyed just wandering through the incredibly real-seeming world of the game. Even after two months, the whole thing still seemed impossible to her, more like something out of science fiction than something that actually existed. In fact, she'd just finished reading a very good book about a virtual world. It was an excellent story, but it was just a story, a product of an author's imagination. [i]Third Edge[/i], however, was not just part of a story. It actually existed, no matter how impossible this seemed.[/color] [color=#4b0082]Kaia knew that it was just a game, but she didn't act like it. Well, Kiva did act like it when she wasn't in-game, but when she was in-game, Kaia fully immersed herself in the world, treating it as reality even though she knew it wasn't. She loved the game. It was the perfect form of entertainment, in her opinion. She just couldn't get enough. The others would stop sometime, and even Kaia might tire of it eventually. But she didn't think that that would ever happen.[/color] [color=#4b0082]As the group neared the town, Kaia enjoyed the fully realized world of the game. She did enjoy just wandering throughout the game's world, but she did occasionally feel a need to do something. She was definitely looking forward to the next mission.She didn't know what it was, but she knew that she'd enjoy it.[/color]

[color=indigo]A Searchmon dropped out of the sky and hovered in front of HerculeseKabuterimon. Searchmon had been observing the castle from high in the sky, gathering what information he could. It was now close enough to attack time that Searchmon had returned to report what he'd seen.[/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo]"Several humans entered the castle," Searchmon told HerculeseKabuterimon. "A couple had nothing more than their partners, though most had at least one befriended Digimon. Two of them had easy-access items, some were with Digimon who are probably familiar faces here and were let in without a problem, and a couple got in the hard way by solving a door puzzle. My guess is that they know we're coming."[/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo]"We expected that," HK replied. "Maelen wasn't exactly secretive about this. Some bad humans were bound to hear about it and come to aid in the defense of the castle. Don't worry; we're ready for them. Now, it's amost time. Go tell Maelen to move out."[/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo]The Searchmon flew in the direction of Maelen and the gathered humans. HerculeseKabuterimon watched Searchmon fly off, then turned his gaze towards Astralis. It was indeed almost time to begin the attack. HK knew this, as did all the other Digimon. Digimon had an unerring sense of time. Humans remarked about them accessing some kind of 'system clock'. HK wasn't quite sure why they used that particular term, but he knew what they were talking about. Digimon had an exact sense of time. So HK knew precisely how long it'd been since he took his force and began waiting. And now, he knew that it was time to begin the attack.[/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo]HerculeseKabuterimon looked at the Digimon assembled to open the way into Astralis. "It's time," he said.[/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo][/color] [color=indigo]After Searchmon had arrived, Maelen told the gathered players that it was time to move out. Just as the group started to move, there was an easily visible explosion at the front of the castle. "Go!" Maelen shouted. "Forget order, just get there as fast as you can and back up the other Digimon!" She turned to Kiva. "Kiva, I'll ride with you."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Kiva nodded, then told [/color][color=indigo]Garudamon to carry Maelen as well as herself and Hawkmon. Garudamon nodded, picked up all three of them, and flew towards Astralis, accompanied by the attacking force's other flying Digimon and their parters/the humans they'd befriended.[/color] [color=indigo]Astralis's main entrance was now no more than a pile of rubble, leaving a very large hole where it used to be. The Digimon responsible for this hole had already passed through it. The battle was not outside, but in the very, very big entrance hall and a couple of the corridors leading away from it. Astralis was a very big place, which it needed to be, given the size of some Digimon. there wasn't enough space for any real flight, but almost any Digimon would be ableto fit inside without a probelm.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Garudamon landed outside the entry hole. She put Kiva, Maelen, and Hawkmon on the ground, then entered the castle. Kiva triggered Hawkmon's digivolution to Machinedramon, and the two of them entered with Maelen. The batle was already underway. The attackers would undoubtably have little trouble taking the entry area, but the rest of the attack wouldn't be so easy. But Kiva didn't like easy. She found it boring. Fortunately for her, this would be far from easy. It would be hard, and the attackers might lose. But win or lose, she knew that it would be one hell of a battle.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] --------------------------------------------------- OOC: Defenders (that's all you 'bad' players at Astralis), you're in the castle fighting the attackers. I don't thin any of you with 'good' characters are currently participating in the attack, but you still can if you want to. Your character just arrives late ('bad' players can arrive late too, if you want them to). Now, please don't have the attackers get their asses kicked, please. They're a well-prepared force, and have a good chance for a succssful attack. Also, please don't bring Armageddemon into this. I'll introduce him at the proper time. All right, the battle's on!

[color=indigo]The gathering point was easy to find, as several people and their Digimon were already there. The location was a short distance away from Astralis, distant enough to be safe yet close enough that they could all reach the place very quickly. As Garudamon landed, Kiva looked over at the castle. It looked pretty imposing, though perhaps a bit smaller than one would expect. This appearence was quite misleading. Due to some kind of... well, some kind of something, Astralis was not fully in phase with the rest of the world. Basically, it was bigger on the inside than it was on the outside. Of course, Kiva knew that the real reason for that was because that was how Astralis had been programed, but the whole 'out of phase' thing used to explain it in the context of the game did add to the overall feel of the place.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Garudamon placed Kiva and Hawkmon on the ground. Looking around, Kiva spotted a few players she recognized, including Treana, Selekres, Azufe, and Kamos. There were, of course, many players whom she did not recognize. She anticipated learning a couple new names during this event.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Kiva did see Maelen in the group. Obviously, Maelen had cumpleted any last-minute preperation and was now awaiting the arrival of all those participating in the attack. She saw Kiva and walked over to her. "Hello, Kiva. Glad you could make it."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"There's no way I'd miss this," Kiva replied. "I've never missed any of your events before, and I'm not about to start now. They're all way too much fun. Where's your partner? And while I'm at it, where's that Zudomon you befriended?"[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Tentomon's off over yonder somewhere. Well, it's HerculeseKabuterimon right now, I guess. He's waiting with Zudomon and a few other Digimon. Most of them were befriended by players who are participating in the attack, though there are a couple humans with their partners. HK's got the Digimon that can make the biggest bangs. I would have sent you and Hawkmon with them had you arrived earlier. Machinedramon would be useful for their job."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"And what is their job?" Kiva asked, already forming a guess.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"To open the doors," Maelen replied. "I don't have any of those easy-access items that'll open the doors for us, and I don't want to waste time solving he puzzles to get it open, so we're going to blow it to pieces. HK, as my partner, is the leader. Zudomon's there because there's not much that can stop that hammer of his. The other Digimon there all, like Zudomon, hve some weapon or attack that's capable of some major property damage. They're going to... remove the door for us. In about five real-time minutes, there are going to be some explosions at the entrance to Astralis. That's the signal to move in."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Sounds good to me,"' Kiva said. "You think that'll give everyone else enough time to arrive?"[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Certainly. Look over there, and you can see a couple players approaching on flying Digimon, and one over there riding a Triceramon. They're with us. After them, there'll probably be three or four others. They should have more than enough time to get here."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Kiva nodded. Five minutes didn't sound like a lot, but that was five real-time minutes, which equaled about fifteen in-game minutes. The VR equipment was able to speed up the processing speed of a human mind in VR. Computers could 'think' many, many times faster than humans, but though a human mind's processing speed could be increased while in VR, it couldn't be boosted to anything close to the speed computers could work at. The human mind simply couldn't take the stress that came with that degree of compression. The 3X compression used by [i]Digimon[/i], however, was well within the tolerance of the human mind, and therefore quite safe. [i]Digimon[/i] sped up time in-game by a factor of 3 so that players could use the game for three hours in one hour of real time. With a game world as massive and complex as [i]Digimon[/i]'s, that feature was very nice.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Well," Kiva said to Maelen, "I guess I can wait for that long. But you know how impatient I am. It better not be any longer than you say."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"It won't be," Maelen assured her. "The attack will commence on schedule."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Good," Kiva replied. "Personally, I can hardly wait."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] ------------------------------------------------- OOC: To all you 'good' players out there: it's not too late to join the fun. Just have your character show up where Maelen and the others are. 'Bad' players will, of course, proceed directly to Astralis.

I was assuming that she came with us, as it'd previously been stated that we'd be taking her with us. I was actually contemplating having her aid the weakened Era (she is Era's daughter, remember) in the jump through time, but decided against it. But yes, I was assuming that she'd come with us. Oh, and just a note: remember the guns Liquid tok from dead men in the fortress? She still has them, though they're all out of ammo. Shy, if you do an aftermath post in Arbiter like you did with Red Team, have her hand over those guns. She'll keep her own gun, but have her hand over the ones she took from the dead men, please.

I'm sorry, but sign-ups are closed. Maybe next time.

All right, it took us a while, but we in Green Team are finally done with our mission. Somebody please finish Blue Team's mission so we can get on with the show.

Liquid's battle with the boss began in that one isolated room in the fortress.The boss was clearly quite skilled, and very powerful. He probably had more experience with his powers than Liquid had with hers. But Liquid had her own advantages. While the boss was powerful, his power was seperate from him. He had it, but that was it. He had to concentrate, draw on the energy he needed to perform his magic. The energy was there, he had it, but it wasn't a part of him. Liquid's abilities, however, were a part of her. Her power was a part of her. She used not spells, but the natural abilities of the half-water elemental being she was. A couple minutes into the battle, the fortress began to shake. An alarm began to sound, warning off multiple system faliures. [color=darkred][b]"Damn,"[/b][/color] the boss said to himself. [b][color=#8b0000]"Time to go." [/color][/b]The next thing Liquid knew, she and the boss were back on Easter Island. Their battle paused, they both watched as the floating fortress fell into the water. It hit right next to the island, and did not sink. [b][color=darkred]"So I needn't have teleported away after all,"[/color][/b] the boss said. He and Liquid turned to face one another. [b][color=darkred]"Well, I already did that. Now then, Ms. Liquid, shall we finish our battle? Oh, and don't worry. I'm not able to teleport away from you. You're probably wondering why I brought you with me in the first place."[/color][/b] "I'm curious, yes," Liquid replied. [b][color=darkred]"The reason is simple. Confining a teleport spell to a small effect radius-say, smal enough to contain only one person-takes time. A quick teleport spell cannot be confined to a single person. Such a spell has a significant base effect range, a range which you were inside of. I couldn't leave without taking you along, because if I'd taken the time to confine my spell to myself only, you'd have easily killed me. And the base effect range is great enough that I'll be unable to escape from you by teleporting away. So, our battle will end only with the death of one of us."[/color][/b] [b][color=#8b0000][/color][/b] "Sounds good," Liquid replied, and their batle resumed. Now Liquid had one more advantage. Her power was greatly augmented by the pouring rain, as well as by the nearby ocean. She was in her element. Her power was greater, she would be able to move and react a bit more quickly, and she'd tire out at a much slower rate. She was confident that she would win, though her opponent was definitely putting up a fight. The boss's situation became even worse when Era, Sakura, and Arachnid showed up and joined the battle. But the boss still refused to quit. [b][color=darkred]"You have reinforcements,"[/color][/b] he said, [color=darkred][b]"but that won't change the fact that you'll all die here."[/b][/color] [color=darkred][/color] Now that the battle was no longer between him and Liquid, the boss no longer confined himself to water magic. He beganusing everything at his disposal against Liquid and the others. While the others provided a distraction, Liquid reached out to the ocean. When she was ready, she gestured to Sakura, who understood and warned the others. When they were ready, Liquid brought a large wave crashing down. When the water subsided, teh boss was nowhere to be seen. The boss had performed a magic-aided jump over the wave. [b][color=darkred]"Surprise!"[/color][/b] he shouted as he came down. Sakura, in creature form, leapt up to meet him. After exchangeing a few blows, the boss hit Sakura with an orb of daarkness, blasting her to the ground. She changed back to human, formed her hands into blades, then noticed that Era was out of bullets and allowed the time witch to take her extra clips. Sakura reentered the battle as Era reloaded and resumed firing. She didn't fire wildly, as she didn't want to hit her teammates. Her shots were infrequent and timed for minimal risk of friendly fire. She didn't land a hit on the evasive target that was the boss, though she tried her best. Arachnid entered the battle, trying to web up the wizard. He wasn't successul. Neither was Sakura, who attempted to hit the guy with a tree. Liquid quickly identified the problems that the two of them were having. Arachnid's webbing was easily countered by one with the magical abilities of the boss, and Sakura's attacks were such that the boss had enough time to react and counter her projectiles. And when either of them attempted to close to fist range, he easily blasted them back. Liquid, who could fight at a range just like to boss, was having better luck, but she didn't want just 'better luck' She wanted the man dead, and she figured out how to do it. Liquid condensed some of the water in the air, pushing it together behind Era. She shot it forward, coliding it with one of Era's guns. The water carried the gun with it, carried the gun right to Liquid's hand. Liquid spun and fired before the boss could do any thing. Her shot hit him in the head, and he was finished. Liquid tossed Era her gun, then looked around at the others, noticing Kaida's absence. "Okay," she said, "who screwed up the fortress's levitation system?" "That was Kaida," Arachnid explained. "One of her shots missed her target, went through the wall, and hit something important. Next thing we know, the dude we were fighting had killed himself and we were frantically trying to get out of the fortress, a task made more difficult by the fact that someone had sealed most of the doors." "That was me," Liquid replied. "I'd gained access to a control room and located you all on the fortress's survailence system. As I knew I was about to engage our now deceased friend, I decided to seal some doors, making your only directional option a path straight to me. Obviously, that turned out to be unnecessary. Now, where's Kaida?" "Back on that fortress's island," Sakura told her. "We came to help you while Kaida fought a bunch of creatures. We should go back and find her." Everyone agreed, so they began walking towards the fortress. "Is there any chance that somebody could give be a brief rundown of everything that happened after I split off from you?" Liquid asked as they walked. Arachnid summarized the events that had occured since Liquid's departure. "I was wrong, then," Liquid remarked when Arachnid was through. "I thought you were fighting the rouge. I was referring to the guy I was fighting, the one we just killed, as 'the boss'. Well, my mistake. Not that it matters." When they reached the island, Kaida noticed them and waved. Arachnid jumped up to her, then jumped back down with her in tow. "Hi, Kaida," Liquid said. "Nice to see you made it." "Same to you," Kaida replied. "I take it we're done here?" "We're done here," Era told her, "but we're not done. This whole thing was a decoy, meant to draw us away. Something else is happening at some point in time, but I don't know when, where, or what it is." "That's not good," Kaida said. "You're sure about this?" Era nodded. "I'm sure." "Then we need to get home quickly. You up to it?" Era hesitated for a second before replying. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I am." "Good. In that case, let's go home." As Green Team prepared for the trip back to their time, Laqara had something on her mind. [i]What was the point of this decoy business?[/i] she wondered. [i]I mean, we're talking about time travel here. A distraction doesn't really mean anything in time travel. We can take as much time as we want, and Era could still drop us at the real trouble site mere seconds after the enemy gets there. So why bother with a decoy?[/i] Liquid didn't know why the enemy had gone through the trouble of setting up this decoy business. She did know one thing, however. She knew that she wanted her shot at whoever was behind all this. All of Green Team had been led on a wild goose chase through time, but Liquid had been through more. She'd seen her father die, and though she'd accepted his death long before she'd seen it happen, she still wanted to be on the team that took out the man who was really responsible. She wanted to kill him herself. Era finished preparing for the journey. As she bagan using her power, the area around her began to glow. There was a flach, and Green Team was gone, its five members returned to their own time.

OOC: Okay, I confess to having no clue about the layout or names of the Orange Islands (aside from Shamouti, which lise in the center of the Orange Islands and near the islands of Fire, Ice, and Lightning). So I'm going to try and get by without using names. If someone could at least give me a basic idea of the names and positions of islands near Navel, I'd appreciate it. ---------------------------------------------- "Well," Katrina said, "I'm in the Orange Islands to train for this year's Pokemon Leauge Championships. As to why I'm on Navel Island specifically, well, I want to know just what the hell is going on. And since all contact had been lost with Navel, the only way to find out was to come here." "Well, we may be too late," Issac remarked. "Whatever it was seems to have stopped." "Conditions have indeed returned to normal," Katrina agreed. "However, that doesn't necessarily mean that whatever caused it is over. And even if it is, tere's still the mystery of what it was. Plus, it's likely that Navel will still be unable to contact the rest of the world. I'm betting that communications were not blocked, but removed. I'll be very surprised if there's a properly functioning phone left on this island. So somebody has to find the people on Navel. Since the two of us are already here, we might as well do it. Besides, one of them might know what happened." "Makes sense to me," Issac said. "Where should we start?" "Pokemon Centers and Gyms are common gathering points during deadly or potentailly deadly events," Katrina replied. "We should check those first. I don't suppose you know where to find them on this island? Because I have no idea." "Neither do I," Issac told her. "Let's just check the first one we come across." "Good enough for me." Katrina returned Tyranitar and released Charizard. She climbed onto Charizard's back as Issac got on Latios's back. The two Pokemon took off and flew across the island, looking for a Gym or Pokemon Center. Though Katrina believed that Issac was telling the truth, she still kept her mental smokescreen up. After all, one could never be sure. Besides, there was no telling what they'd find. There may very well have been psychics involved in whatever it was that had happened, and Katrina didn't want to risk allowing unfriendly humans or Pokemon to read her mind. It wasn't long before Katrina and Issac found the Navel Island Gym. After flying around it and seeing that there was nobody outside the Gym, Charizard and Latios landed. Katrina and Issac jumped to the ground and returned their Pokemon. Katrina released Tyranitar just in case there were any nasty surprises, then entered the Gym behind her Pokemon. Issac followed her in. The first oddity was immediatly noticable. "There's nobody here," Issac observed. "Nobody in the main part of the Gym," Katrina agreed. "There may be someone in the back. You go take a look. I'll check out the status of communications." She indicated a pair of videophones she'd just spotted. Issac nodded his agreement and headed to the rear area of the Gym. Katrina walked over to the phones. The first phone was completly inoperable. The second one, however, was in perfect condition, and 'incoming call' was flashing on the screed. Katrina pushed the 'answer' button, and the face of a man she did not recognise appeared on the screen. "Someone is alive!" the man exclaimed. "We were beginning to wonder. What happened over there?" "I wish I knew," Katrina replied. "I just got here. I don't know any more than you. I came to the gym in the hope that someone here would know. After all, gyms are common gathering points during dangerous or potentially dangerous events. But so far there's been no sign of anyone. The whole place is deserted. No signs of life anywhere." The man drew the wrong conclusion. "They're all dead?!" "No, not dead. At least, there are no bodies. But there's nobody here. Issac, a breeder who followed me to Navel, is checking the back rooms, but I doubt he'll find anyone." "Any damage to the building?" the man asked. "No, no damage to the building. No signs of a struggle, either. It's as though everyone just vanished." "Do you know anything about the status of the rest of the island?" "No," Katrina told the man. "Issac and I came straight here after arriving on Navel. We don't now anything about the rest of the island." At that moment, Issac came walking into the main room. "Found someone!" And he had. He was half-carrying a man who looked, well, not exactly in peak condition. Katrina waved Issac over, and he brought the man to the phone. "I found him in the back," Issac said. "I don't think he needs immediate medical attention, but he's definitely injured. He doesn't have mental clarity, either. He was babbling when I found him, though he's quieted down now." "Did you try a psychic scan?" Katrina asked. Issac nodded. "Yeah. My Pokemon," he said, meaning Latios, though the man on the other end of the phone connection didn't know that, "scanned this guy's mind and couldn't make out anything coherent. He's definitely still alive, though. And he's the only person I found. No other survivors, and no bodies. No signs of a struggle, either." "Then what hapened?" the man wondered. "Well, bring the survivor here and we'll see if we can do anything for him." "Where are you?" Katrina asked. "And don't name the island, please. That wouldn't tell me anything. I'm new to the area. Show me on a map, please." It took a minute for the man to find a map. When he did, Katrina compared the island he indicated with her own map, and realized that it was the one she'd taken the ship to. "Okay, I've got the island," she said. "Where on it are you?" "At the Pokemon Center," the man replied. "Got it." Katrina pushed the 'end call' button, then turned to Issac, who was still holding the survivor. "Do you think you can get him back on your own? I'd like to take a look around the rest of the island." Issac nodded. "Sure." He stepped outside and released Latios. Katrina helped him get the survivor on Latios's back. Iissac then climbed on himself, and Latios took off, heading for the island from which they'd come. Katrina watched them go, then returned Tyranitar and released Charizard. She climbed on Charizard's back. "Let's take a look around the rest of the island," she said. "Take off and fly over it. We'll land if there's anthng worth checking out." Charizard nodded and took off. ----------------------------------------- OOC: Hope I did that right, Solo. PM me if you need me to make any changes.

OOC: Um, you do realize that, as a 'bad' character, you'll be defending Astralis, right? Also let me state that that egg thing that was the prize from the battle does not have any special power. It's just an object. Some may think it has power, but it actually does not (okay, so I'll allow it to be used as a key to unsealing barrier of some kind or something like that, but nothing else). Got it? Good. Oh, and to those of you who haven't posted logging off yet, don't worry about it tooo much. Just say your characters logs of, and then mention that your character logs back in after school/work the next day. ----------------------------------------------------- The VR facility at which Kiva worked, a facility owned by NovelWorlds, Inc. (OOC: Hope you don't mind, Circeus), opened at 8:00 in the morning. Kiva, however, had to be there earlier. The two shifts at this particular facility were 7:00am to 4:00pm and 4:00 pm to midnight. And yes, there were some people who came in that late. Not many, but enough to justify keeping the facility open and a few units turned on. Kiva didn't have to worry about that night-shift stuff, because she had the day shift. Thought the place didn't actually open until eight, getting the place up and running took the better part of an hour, which was why the day shift began at seven. And because it took time to shut the place down, the evening/night shift ended at midnight even though the facility closed at 11:30. And though Kiva didn't really like having to get up in time to be at work by seven, she knew it was much better to do that than to stay until midnight. Kiva was the first to arrive at the facility. She unlocked it and began starting up the VR units in rooms 1 and 2. She was soon joined by her co-workers. After turning on every unit in rooms 1 and 2, they leff the machines to themselves, knowing that the units would go through the appropriate start-up procedures automatically. And the employees had other work to do. There were some reports of cheaters that had to be dealt with, and it seemed that another unit in room 4 was on the fritz. And it looked like someone had thrown up in room 1. After all the routine tasks were completed, Kiva and her co-workers ran through the checklist again before opening the doors at eight. There were just a few people in the morning. There was a brief increase around lunchtime, usually one large enough to require room 3's units, meaning that those units had to be turned on in advance so that they'd be ready for use by the time they were needed. Then it was back to just a few people. As the day wore on, more people would begin to come in. After five pm was when the lace really got crowded. It was common for every unit through room 6's to be turned on and ready for use. Kiva, however, didn't need to worrry about that. After all, her shift ended at four. When her shift was up, Kiva made way for her late-shift counterpart, who took her place at the front desk. Kiva made her way to an unused VR unit and logged in to the world of [i]Digimon[/i]. [color=indigo]She was, of course, exactly where she'd been when she'd logged out yesterday. She was in Serenity with Garudamon and Hawkmon. Kiva knew that Mealen wouldn't be in-game quite yet, if only because Maelen didn't work at a VR facility. Maelen's job, like so many these days, was a 7:00 to 4:00 job, so she'd be in-game shortly. But just because she wasn't in-game et didn't mean that there would be no new info. After all, Kiva'd loggged out before her yeaterday.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Nay new information?" Kiva asked her Digimon.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"The gathering point has been set," Garudamon replied. "Predictably, we're meeting a short distance away from Astralis, and we'll proceed to the castle as soon as Maelen gives the word or, knowing her, a rather obvious signal involving some kind of explosion."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"All right, then," Kiva said. "Let's get moving. I don't want to be late."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Garudamon nodded, picked up Kiva and Hawkmon, and took off.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=black]---------------------------------------------[/color] [color=black][/color] [color=black]OOC: Okay, just a reminder. This RPG takes place in the year 2023, so things will be a bit different than they are now, though not drastically different. Small things, like an increased percentage of 7:00 to 4:00 jobs. Oh, and no teleporters or flying cars or anything like that. Keep it realistic, please.[/color] Oh, and if you're planning to participate in the Astralis attack, the participants are meeting at the base of a small mountain. 'Good' players should head there. 'Bad' players will meet at Astralis itself as they prepare to aid in its defense.

Katrina was not afraid as Charizard approached Navel Island. Dark clouds didn't scare her, rough seas were irrelevant when approaching by air, Charizard could handle fierce winds, and she didn't plan to be anywhere near the central mountain and its rockslides. No, the conditions on and around the island wouldn't be any problem. There would be danger, of course, but not from those things. As if to reinforce this, conditions around Navel Island returned to normal as Charizard approached. And they normalized very rapidly, too rapidly to be natural. Whatever had been creating those conditions seemed to have stopped. But that didn't mean the mystery was gone. There was still the question of what the hell had happened. Besides, someone had to be the first to land on Navel and reestablish contact with the people on the island. Katrina, who'd been heading for Navel anyways, figured that she might as well be that person. But first, there was the matter of her unknown pursuer to take care of. Charizard reached the shores of Navel and landed. Katrina jumped to the ground and returned Charizard to his pokeball. Taking another look at the pursuer, she confirmed that, yes, it was probably either Latias or Latios. So she released Tyranitar. Tyranitar's Dark type would protect it from any psychic abilities and attacks, and if he went down, there was always Absol to finish the pursuer off. But Katrina didn't want a battle. She was hoping that the pursuer would be friendly or at least neutral, but she would be ready just in case. [i]All right,[/i] she thought behind the safety of her mental smokescreen, [i]I'm ready for you. Whatever you want, I'm ready for you. Whatever you want with me, come and get it. Hopefully your intentions are peaceful, but if they're not, I'm ready to kick your ass from here to Hoenn. So come on, let's get this over with.[/i] -------------------------------------------- OOC: Raze_3103, I'd just like to make sure you know that Katrina's not assuming either friendly or hostile intentions on your character's part. She'll fight only if your character attacks first. Oh, and please don't have her misinterpret peaceful intentions as hostile. She's smarter than that.

Okay, you're in. Sign-ups are now closed. If you still want to join, PM me.

OOC: You sure you're allowed to have Latios? People usually aren't allowed to have legendaries in these RPGs. Well, not my decision, I guess. -------------------------------------------- Katrina didn't really have anything to do while Charizard flew to the island, so she just relaxed. She took a look around, seeing how much of the Orange islands she could see. There were a couple islands she could clearly make out, and a couple more off in the distance, but Katrina couldn't identify them. She was, after all, new to the area. While looking around, Katrina noticed something behind her and Charizard. It appeared to be following them. Looking carefully, Katrina was able to get a general idea of just what Pokemon it was. She couldn't be certain at this distance, but it looked like either Latias or Latios. Katrina didn't think that was too likely, but then, she knew about a lot of 'unlikely' things, including most of what happened to her brother, Rorohiko. So she wasn't going to rule out the possibility that there was a legendary Pokemon behind her. Katrina didn't know this Pokemon's intentions, and she wasn't going to make assumptions. She wouldn't initiate any action, but she'd respond to any action taken against her. For the time being, she'd simply work to prevent a psychic Pokemon from accessing her mind. Well, she couldn't really do that. What she could do was prevent it from getting anything useful from her mind. Many people didn't take psychic powers seriously. Most trainers understood the combat abilities of psychic Pokemon, but even some of them didn't fully grasp the reality of psychic powers. Katrina was not one of them. She'd grown up aroundnot psychic Pokemon, but humans with psychic abilities. She didn't have any herself, nor did her brother or their parents. But her father's sister, Hope, did, as well as Hope's husband Shinobi and their two children. So Katrina was fully aware of the reality of psychic powers, and she knew how to defend against telepathy. As Katrina had no psychic powers of her own, she could not block other people from her mind, but she could influence what they found. She used a sort of mental smokescreen that was simple in concept, hard to learn, and very effective. What she did was cover her thoughts with a smokescreen of sorts, thoughts that were nothing more than random junk. Repeating a mantra worked very well. Anyone reading her mind would get the smokescreen, but not the thoughts it concealed. It wasn't perfect, but when done correctly, it could be very effective. And Katrina knew how to do it correctly. She began using the technique, just in case her unknown follower tried to enter her mind. Katrina told Charizard to stay on course for Navel Island,and to fly as fast as he could. In the event that the follower was hostile and attacked, Katrina wanted to be on solid ground. It would be safer for her, and it would allow her flying Pokemon to fight without having to worry about accidentally shakeing her off. And if it was a Latias or Latios that was following her, and if it did attack, she couldn't afford to have any of her Pokemon worrrying about anything other than battle.

As usual, Kiva was the first to arrive at the shrine. She was always there before any of the others arrived. She liked to be 100% certain that she wouldn't be late, so she was always early. She didn't mind, though. She usually had a book she could read, or schoolwork she could do. Rarely was she without something to occupy herself with. Kiva sat down and waited for the others to arrive. As she waited, she let her mind wander. Her thoughts settled on her mother. Nothing ever seemed to bother Selna, though Kiva knew this wasn't true. Selna was good at hiding it, but Kiva could tell when something was bothering her. And recently, something had been bothering Selna. She didn't seem to want to talk about it, so Kiva hadn't said anything, but it was definitely there. Kiva pushed her mother's potential troubles from her mind. Selna could take care of whatever it was, and she wouldn't want Kiva's help anyways. So Kiva tried not to think about it. Instead, she turned her thoughts towards the game. She wanted to get started right away, but she give the others time to arrive. She wouldn't wait for anyone who was late, though. She wanted to get started. --------------------------------------- OOC: Yes, weak post, I know, but there wasn't much to work with.

[color=indigo]After arriving in Serenity, Kiva quickly located and approached Maelen. "Thought I'd find you here," she said. "It still on?"[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Nice to see you, Kiva," Maelen replied. "Yes, of course it's still on. I'm having to delay it, though. I got held up at work and couldn't log in as early as I'd hoped. And there are still last-minute preperations to be made. Well, not so last-minute, I guess. Everything'll take long enough that it'll be too late in the day. No, we'll go in tomorrow. I'll see you there."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Kiva nodded. "You certainly will. Tomorrow it is. You'll be logging in as soon as possible, I assume."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Yep. As soon as I get off work, I'm going to head to the nearest VR facility and log in. I'll see you then."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"I'm looking forward to it," Kiva replied.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]Maelen walked off, and Kiva turned to her Digimon. "Well," she said, "if we're not goinng in until tomorrow, I might as well log off. I'll see you tomorrow." She selected 'Log Off' on her digivice, and was pulled out of VR and back to reality.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] Kiva got out of the VR unit. Walking through the hallways of the VR facility, she passed a man named David, a co-worker of hers. "Any more problems with that unit in room 4?" she asked. David nodded. "Yeah, it's still acting up. I'm on my way to take a look at it. Hopefully, I'll be able to fix it." "Well, good luck. I'm on my way out, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." "Bye," David said as he continued down the hall. Kiva walked out into the lobby and waved to the receptionist as she walked out the door. She got in her car, pulled out of the parking lot, and headed for home. Kiva often joked about her family's inability to understand how someone could keep having fun with the same game for two years without any breaks. She had to admit, however, that in her case it was a bit surprising. Kiva worked at a VR facility; the one she'd just left, in fact. Many people wondered how she could stand the same thing not only for the eight hours a day, five days a week of her job, but in her free time as well. Kiva's answer to that question was simple: her job really didn't have much to do with the game. She wasn't a moderator or system administrater or anything like thet. She was the person who sat behind the front desk. She signed people in and things like that. She was also the one to whom people would report bugs, or players that broke or bent the rules, or just generally made problems out of themselves; she'd then get these reports to the prober individuals. She was basically a coordinater, the person who was in the middle of everything, listening and reporting but not really doing much. The act of playing the game didn't have too much to do with her job. Kiva was looking forward to the next day's events. She loved large battles, and Maelen's attack on Astralis would definatly be one. Kiva wouldn't be surprised if some 'bad' players joined the fun on Armegeddemon's side. In fact, she was expecting it. But even if no 'bad' players showed up, it would still be one hell of a ride. ----------------------------------------- OOC: In your next posts, please have your character log out (note: you can still meet with Maelen if you want to. Just log out after that) and go home for the evening. The next day, they'll come back and log in after school/work (you can do this in the same post if you want to).

[color=indigo]Kiva was tired of just standing around. Eiffel would come out of it eventually, and her presence was obviously not making any difference. And she didn't want to spend her recreational time trying to comfort some random guy she'd met in VR. So she left him, Gabumon, and Guilmon by themselves. Garudamon grabbed her and Hawkmon, then flew to where they'd left the uncouncious Haku when Kalika had shown herself.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]When Garudamon landed, Kiva saw that he was awake. She'd expected that he would be. There was only one reason that a player would lose conciousness when in-game. Although no pysical damage could be sustained by the player's avatar, the in-game representation of the player, pain was still felt. Things didn't hurt as much as they would in real life, but there was still some pain. And the more serious the injury that would have aoccured, the greater the pain tended to be. Severe 'injury' sustained by the avatar, injury that would likely be fatal if it were real, usually had severe mental consequences to the player. For that reason, if a player's avatar has sustained such 'injury', the VR unit rendered the player temporarily unconcious. That way, there was no risk of mental consequences. The player would regain conciousness in a couple minutes.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"You all right?" Kiva asked Haku.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"I'm fine," Haku replied. "You must be Kiva. Agumon told me what happened. Thank you for helping."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"No problem. Just be careful, okay?"[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"I will."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Good," Kiva said. Garudamon grabbed her and Hawkmon again, and took off.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Where to?" Garudamon asked.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Back to Serenity," Kiva told her. "Maelen should be in-game by now, and she told me yesterday that she's trying to get players together to enter Astralis. It'll be one hell of a ride, and I don't want to miss it. So let's go, and fast."[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] [color=#4b0082]"Got it," Garudamon said, "though I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to Astralis. That place is nasty as hell. Nastier, probably, and that's just getting through it. Fighting Armegeddemon at the end will be even worse. But I'll go if you want me to." She flew towards Serenity at top speed.[/color] [color=#4b0082][/color] --------------------------------------------- OOC: 'Good' players, this'll be another opportunity to get together for an event (and I'm hooping that more of you will come this time). Meet Maelen in Serenity City if you're interested. 'Bad' players, please read my PM (if you didn't get a PM, you should be a 'good' player. If you think you should be a 'bad' player and you didn't get a PM, then please PM me).

[color=indigo]Eiffel was about the last person Kiva'd expected to change patners. So she'd wondered why he had a Gabumon now instead of the Patamon he used to have. And now she knew. Kalika'd killed Patamon, amd she'd done it personally. This also explained Eiffel's actions against Monodramon. Kalika'd done it to him, so he'd done it to her. But now that he'd done what Kalika did, was he any different from her? Kiva knew the answer to that question. Yes, Eiffel was different from Kalika. The difference could be clearly seen in the reasons for their actions. Kalika's reason was simple: she wanted to make her partner stronger as fast as possible. Eiffel'd only done it because Kalika had done it. Maybe his wasn't a good reason, but it was a different reason. Kiva had to assume that Eiffel could see this completly obvious difference. but maybe he also saw additional problems. No matter what the reason, he had killed Monodramon. Digimon were nothing more than some very good programs, but they certainly seemed real. She could undersand the moral delemma over killing one. She herself didn't think twice about it, though she didn't get pleasure from the act like Kalika did. Despite her own beliefs about the act, she could understand why some found killing Digimon morally questionable. "Eiffel, listen to me," Kiva said. "I won't pretend to understand what you're going through, because I don't. That's probably why it seems ridiculous to me. I don't understand. I've seen it before, but I don't get it. You do, but I don't. You may call it murder, but I don't agree. You can't kill what isn't alive, Eiffel. You don't seem to see it that way, but that's how it is. So snap out of it, okay? You've already done the act, you can't change that. Just do whatever you have to do to deal with it. There's nothing else you can do, except stop playing if you can't handle it." Eiffel didn't respond. He may hav been paying attention, or he may not have been. Kiva didn't know. What she did know is that saying anything else wouldn't do any good. So she didn't say anything more. She just stood and watched Eiffel, waiting for whatever came next to come.[/color]