The Escapist Avatar Adventure: An Open RP (Now Re-Opened!)

[SereneMidnight]

The young idol stepped on one of the stages she used to sing at. It used to be filled with many adoring fans. Now it's filled with depression and hate. She looked down and took a deep breath. She remembers looking at that one other idol before she was killed in a car accident in Osaka.

"What was her name again...?" The idol said aloud. The car was meant for her, not that other idol. As the idol looked around, she pulled out a rather basic weapon: a simple handgun. It was her producer's weapon until he died in Washington D.C. by a riot. She'd rather forget that incident. She cleaned it and put it back into it's holster.

After a few more minutes, she walked out of the stage the way she came in, not before saying a simple "Adieu..." to her past.

Her next destination is Washington State, where she hopes to meet up with another ex-idol: Touma Amagase.

Spoiler: Character Information

Name: Chihaya Kisaragi
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Height: 162 cm
Weight: 41 kg
Blood Type: A
Hobbies: Listening to music
Measurements: 72-55-78
Ability: Very accurate with Pistols and Revolvers.
Bio: An ex-765Productions idol, Chihaya has been looking back at her past, and finding ways to cope with her depression. She has recently become a top target for an unknown group only known as the Shadow Legacy. On many occasions, fans and even other idols have sacrificed themselves to keep Chihaya safe. Her ultimate goal is to stop Shadow Legacy and realize her true potential.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

~snip~

Spoiler: Can you clarify something?

Is Alice using the nanosuit at the end? It'll affect what I end up saying. Also, would Alice (via the nanosuit or otherwise) understand (at least basic) Japanese?

Spoiler: Clarification

Yeah she is, and she can understand Japanese, but not speak it. The nanosuit has basic translation components but does not allow the user to speak or write in that language. Also, go ahead with my character.

Captcha: Soil Groinses

 

[Roamin11]

Ken, Glados, and Justin walked into the hangar and then out onto the airfield., vertibirds where scattered through the giant airfield.

"Whoa, so which one are we going in?"

"YOU are going in your own personal vertibird, you'll be dropped into Vernon Square area, when I send you the signal, you do what you do best. But remember we want the city intact, so I don't know how many megatons you'll have to use, we have a few other nukes to help deal damage through the city, but just enough energy to kill all the people and have a lot of buildings fall down and crumble." said Justin and then handed Ken a backpack.

"What's this?"

"Well, we've been monitoring your activity since you have gotten back to Aperture labs, and you seem to eat a lot, so we think it has something to do with your talent, so its a bag full of energy bars, Gatorade and water."

"Oh... Thanks, and what's the signal again?"

"I hired a flash mob to come into Vernon square and perform TNT by AC DC once they start performing, take your time on blowing up the city."

Ken nodded, seemed pretty straight forward, and luckily for him he wouldn't need to spend as much energy as he did when he blew up L.A.

"Oh yeah don't forget to get changed before you leave the vertibird, inside it has most of the fallout trade mark armours; T51-B power armour, Metal Armour, Leather Armour, and a Vault Suit." Ken nodded again, as he was now walking towards the vertibird with Justin and Glados escorting him. As Ken stepped onto the loading ramp he heard the propellers starting up, he saw Justin try to say something but the noise from the engine drowned it out. Justin gave Ken a thumb up and a smile and then the ramp raised and then shut him into the vertibird. The motors became unbearably loud and then Ken felt the vertibird in motion, next stop Washington DC.

Ken was off to destroy another major city. Two in one week wasn't bad... It was downright evil!

Spoiler: And off to the races!

I more or less have a few things to do when we get to DC and Ken detonates. Also on the topic of "Fallout 3 took place 300 years after the bombs fell so that is why the whole thing isn't irradiated ect" I don't care! We are having a instant fallout journey, this is AA if it made sense then why am I married? Then how come I got a 360 controller that shoots imaingary bullets that do real damage? how come there are so many god damn heroes? Exactly F- reality! Its more fun to not have to explain and justfify every act!

 

[Moros]

Ken did not like riding in this damn vertibird thing or whatever it was. The thing was so loud that he couldn't hear himself think. Ignoring the sound as best he could, he went through the armor that he was supposed to wear in DC. Not really liking the weaker armors, he quickly chose the power armor. After putting on the armor and powering it up, Ken began thinking about the mission. He knew that actually going into DC airspace with an unregistered aircraft was practically suicide considering that the military would be on high alert after his little stunt in LA. He decided to land just outside of DC, and fly in with his own powers since he would be relatively invisible on radar. Landing on a roof just across from Mount Vernon Square and waited for the signal.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Spoiler: And off to the races!

NERD RAGE!!!!!

Spoiler: Dude.

Chill. Please.

I guess I was being a bit close-minded, even though I've played more than enough Touhou. I'll try not to bring it up again...

~~~~~

Time: Morning
Location: VR Training Room, Ryan's Airship​

Zero had been beating up on Mavericks for the past ten minutes when the simulation suddenly ended. Someone had come into the room behind him, and clearly they wanted his attention for something. Slowly, he turned around. "Ah, come to practice your swordplay?" he asked, trying to sound casual. "Wanna just take over from me?"

"(Not...exactly,)" Youmu replied, hiding a smile. "(You see, I don't think I know anyone else here with a sword... I'd love to see how you handle it. First-hand.)"

"...Listen. I'm a robot. My sword is made of pure energy. It could cleave yours in half without a hitch. Not to mention, it's unlikely you could hurt me with just a normal katana. Are you sure about this?"

"(I think you'll find my blade is hardly...)" She searched for a word. "(...normal. And it's not fragile, either. I'll manage.)"

Zero smiled. "Huh, so maybe your sword can put up a fight against mine." Unsheathing the glowing green sabre, he motioned for Youmu to stand opposite. "But can you keep up with me?"

Taking out only Roukan, Youmu finished the banter. "(I guess there's only one way to know!)" A battlefield formed out of the ether, and from where the duelists used to stand, two blurs shot forward--
~~~

Spoiler: @everyone, particularly 13's Number 14

If any of you want to continue this, go right ahead. Just remember that neither blade can be broken by just the other, and one direct hit from either will bring down the other... Also, try not to play favourites, and for goodness sake, don't make it an anticlimax.

 

[XIII's Number XIV]

--and met each other with a force that whipped up pseudo-wind around the fighters. The two broke the sword lock and leapt back to their respective sides, Zero taunting by swinging his sword in elegant green arcs around him, and Youmu twirled her blade like a helicopter in front of her without using her hands, which caused momentary confusion in the red bot before he remembered that she wasn't entirely of this world. A pause, and Zero guestured politely for Youmu to start her attack first, which she gladly took as she rushed him.

Zero's smile widened with each blow. This new girl had some skill, he saw that, but she proved to be way more entertaining than those fake Mavericks he could halve in one slice. He hadn't had this much fun since he crashed X's birthday party (drunk - much to the impossibility of it all and X's lame excuse that he was the guest of honor so he was supposed to come), back on his world...

"Woop!" his thought was interrupted as he ducked under a wide slash from Youmu, nearly missing his giant ponytail. He twisted and parried upwards to catch her off guard and hopped back, his smile calming to neutral as he saw her fumble to catch her sword. As she caught it he dashed around her, dodging another slash at his side. Youmu twisted just in time to meet his sword charge, locking blades for a moment. Both fighters smirked at each other, and Zero broke the lock and dashed around her again, only to skid to a halt when Youmu aimed the point of her sword where he should have dashed. Zero leaned back and put hands and sword to the ground behind him, kicking his leg out and knocking Youmu face-first to the floor with a startled yelp.

"(Hey, no fair! You can't kick people in a sword fight!)" Youmu rubbed her nose as she lectured.

"Your stance..." he said as he got up, "...is weak. There are no traditional sword fighters anymore, who knows what people'll try to pull on you, especially on this world."

"(Pssh, I knew that.)" Youmu dismissed the thought. "(You just surprised me with that dirty trick of yours is all.)"

"Well what do you want me to do, warn you?"

"(No...)" Youmu grinned as she stood up on her sword. "(I just want payback for almost breaking my nose!)" Zero's grin barred on almost sadistic-looking as Youmu charged at his backside for another flurry of attacks.

Spoiler: Theeeerrre ya go~

For some reason my iPad wants to spell Youmu as Youngers. WTF?

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Spoiler: Something else to keep in mind...

Youmu's ghost half is separate from the rest of her. Can you say 'convenient distraction'?

~~
Zero easily pushed back Youmu's aggressive advance. "Didn't anyone ever teach you never to try and fight under the influence of anger?" He jumped back a good ways, throwing Youmu's off-balance from a failed overhead slash. "Well, let me be the first: Acting based only on anger never got anyone anywhere!" Throwing the Z-Saber into his other hand, he switched his dominant hand into the Buster and started taking shots.

To her credit, after calming down a little, Youmu defended surprisingly well against this onslaught, slicing the shots in two as they came. But the gunfire was just a distraction... She was so busy blocking the bullets that she couldn't focus on Zero. Taking advantage, he suddenly stopped shooting, throwing her off again and taking the opportunity to jump behind her.

But Zero had also forgotten one thing: the orb floating around Youmu's head was part of her as well.

Consequently, knowing his position, she'd immediately spun around to hack at Zero's landing spot. The only thing keeping him from falling to the move was his robotic reflexes; any human would probably be missing a limb. He jumped backwards again, followed closely by a red wave that seemed to come out of Youmu's latest over-aggressive slash.

Trying to switch back to his Buster, he hadn't counted on Youmu's becoming so wise to the tactic; he had to block her charge using his off hand. Must be self-taught... he figured, while trying to keep moving around her. It's time to finish this! He started trying to jump over her again, but this time it was a feint. By the time she'd worked it out, Zero had pushed the Z-Saber under her sword and leveraged it out of her hand. As she used her other sword to power-dash to the one she'd lost, Zero took aim again with his Buster.

Even Youmu's ghost half seeing the attack beforehand wasn't enough. The plasma cut straight through her body, and if the fight hadn't been a simulation, she wouldn't be getting back up.

As the battlefield faded back around him, and his opponent slowly picked herself up, Zero hoped she was still willing to listen: "I told you not to let your anger cloud your judgement. And I believe you Japanese have a saying, something on the lines of 'Good medicine leaves a bitter taste.' Just think about it." With that, he left the suite, leaving a fuming Youmu staring at his back.
~~

Spoiler: OOC

I'm planning to use this as some character development. Whether or not Youmu takes the advice, though, is something I'll decide later.

 

[Sgt_Jakeman214]

<spoiler=Personal Apology>Hey guys, I?m sorry I haven?t posted in a few days. Like Isaac, my internet is a bit crappy at times. I have changed carrier/company AGAIN, and this one seems to be doing pretty good so far. But, I?m back now, so let?s get into it!

Guys, the whole point of the Avatar Adventure is to make shit up and roll with it, having fun along the way.
@Leet- You don?t have to ask for permission to do stuff and explain yourself. NOBODY MINDS!!! Your posts are of high quality stuff, so just go ahead. Its even in the rules on page one!
@StormShaun- Just a small thing mate, sometimes you begin to speak/type in the third person in a first person sentence. Also, you?re free to make up whatever you want about your trip to the Mayan temple to get the Stone of Light. PM me if you want/need ideas.
ONWARDS WITH THE SHOW!

Farrago sat in Youmu?s room, writing a long letter for the strange girl. ?Thank Heavens Ryan had that tape recorder handy. All Youmu had to do was dictate into it and now I?m just listening and writing. And talking to myself!? she laughed as she rewound a bit to write the part she had talked over. Farrago wondered what Youmu was up to now. The girl had left the angel blabbering about Farrago being so nice and lovely to her.

Down in the Hanger, Jack and Ryan were fixing their own transports, both covered in oil. ?Ryan, you got a 5/8 wrench lying around anywhere?? Jack called out from under the bike.
?Here you go!? Ryan called out from his steam tank as he threw the wrench across the hanger. Jack raised a hand and caught it without even looking. ?Good throw Ryan. A little higher next time.?
?Higher? I didn?t even look that time!?
?We?ve been down here way to long then. There! I?m done!? Jack said triumphantly. Ryan pulled his head out from the tank?s engine bay and walked over. He passed Jack a rag to wipe his hands with and whistled. ?Daaaang. That is a nice mod. Why the twin engines on the rear though??
Jack smiled. ?Those are small jet engines. I push this button here,? he pointed to a big red button on the dash, ?and two small wings pop out and the jets ignite. I?m going to call it the Skyride, and it?ll allow me to fly away from the airship. By the way, are we at Iceland yet? I am getting impatient and I want to go after the Fire Stone.?

Ryan looked at a small watch in his coat. He smiled at Jack and walked over to the PA system on the wall. The PA dinged across the airship, getting everyone?s attention. ?Good news everyone! We?re now in Iceland! Jack will be departing as soon as we find the entrance to wherever the Stone is kept. Anyone who wants to join Jack, please head to the hanger with all your equipment ready! That is all.?

 

[NerfedFalcon]

A few minutes before Jakeman's last post
Youmu's room​

If Farrago had been confused by Youmu's sudden departure earlier, the way she came back in was probably just as bad; aside from being incredibly defensive about what she'd been doing for twenty minutes, she seemed to have something else beside that on her mind. Eventually, Farrago just came right out: "(What do you want, Youmu? Stop avoiding it.)"

She sighed, trying to summon the courage to ask, and look stupid in the process. "(I...Can you tell me just who we're up against here? I mean, we're looking for these rocks to help fight bad guys, right? Well, who are the bad guys?)"

"(Oh, is that all?)" Farrago replied. "(Well, there's really three people we're somewhat seriously fighting. I believe you've met a guy named Justin?)"

"(Aside from being the reason I understand English at all...What, did he change sides sometime?)"

"(I wasn't there when it happened...)" Eventually, she explained Justin's two allies, neither of which Youmu had met. "(But...I almost hate to ask, but why don't you know this already?)"

"(Some time ago...Remember the thing with the zombies in that bar?)"

"(Oh, yeah...)"

The PA announcement threw both of them off balance, more out of being sudden than being loud or shrill. "Good news, everyone!" Ryan's voice boomed out of a speaker. "We're now in Iceland!" He went on to remind everyone what they were doing there, and offered to let others join in. Youmu turned to Farrago.

"(Well, nothing else exciting is going on...)" Youmu mumbled, blushing as she remembered losing so badly to Zero. She looked up and spoke a little louder, so Farrago could catch it. "(I might as well go help him out. Are you coming as well?)"

"(...Why not? Someone needs to make sure he doesn't get himself killed...or worse.)"
~~~~~~

Spoiler: My plans for Youmu's sub-quest

As always, if you want to, feel free to derail this whenever, but I'd rather you didn't.

The most natural place for anything special in Australia to be would, of course, be Ayers Rock/Uluru. I was thinking that perhaps the civilisation who made the Stones would have made that the temple, and the local Aboriginal tribe must have been guarding it for a while. So, I've decided to drop Youmu (and anyone else who's coming too) right on top of them.

Naturally, they don't trust her specifically, but an anthropologist has been staying with them for a while, and eventually he convinces the chief to have his son take the outsiders to the temple, for whatever reason. The problem is, he's been told to call Justin when he sees any of the heroes, and he recognises at least one of them, so he should make the call about when they set out.

So, he betrays everyone just inside Uluru, there's a short battle, and if any of the villains want to follow up on the call, go right ahead, just please don't teleport on top of us.

Sound good?

 

[StormShaun]

5 minutes after Tomoya left the ship

Tomoya got dropped out of the airship on his bike, but their is one big problem, as Tomoya tried to realese the parachute, it got stuck, Tomoya tried to pull it harder but it wouldnt budge and Tomoya then screamed inside his drop helmet "FUUUUCK!" and then Tomoya jumps off the bike still hovering near it and starts to pull the parachute's string, Tomoya then noticed that he was nearing the ground, he then suddenly pulls out his boot knife and then get back on the bike which was pointing towards the ground, when Tomoya got onto the bike he then cut the parachute bag to realese it, as Tomoya realesed it the bike pounded into Tomoya and he then started to dangle off his bike, after a few seconds Tomoya then noticed that the trees where starting to come in fast, so Tomoya did the only thing he could do, Tomoya then let go off the bike and started to hit the trees hoping that they would stop him from hitting the ground with enough force to kill him, then Tomoya hit the ground and then the incoming darkness was swirling around his mind as he passes out.

Tomoya got up around 4 pm, as he got up he mutterd to himself "Damn it, im gonna sue the company that makes those parachutes" he then chuckled to himself. Tomoya then looked at his watch and then thought about making a shelter, he picked up his NOW banged up bike and starts walking to a sutible location for a camp.

Tomoya sighs as he lays down by the campfire he just made, it was night, he was walking but not for long until he found a cornered cave that goes deep into the cliff face but Tomoya decided to stick near the entrence so he wouldnt get lost, he sighed again and thought about what the others where doing now, as he was thinking that he drifts into deep sleep.

In the dark night Tomoya was woken up by a noise, he doesnt know what the noise was but he knew it was wasnt good, as Tomoya got up he felt a drip on his nape as he was picking up his stuff, Tomoya then looks outside and noticed it was raining heavily then Tomoya spoke to himself "Thank god I parked the bike outside on that hill near the cliff, and that tarp Farrago gave me has came in great use to keep it dry, guess she definitely is an angel" then suddenley Tomoya spots a flash flood and he spoke quickly "Aww, craaaaaaa...!" he was then picked up by the flash flood that was supernaturaly fast and it takes him off his feet and drags him deeper into the cave, as he was being dragged he screamed "AHHHHHHHHHH!".

Spoiler: Tomoya's Sidestory

In this part basicly Tomoya will travel to the Mayan temple but gets dropped far off so he has to walk there, camps and then finds the temple, enters it, I dont wanna ruin it so enjoy!
Also after the story I shall return to the airship or wherever the heroes are with the stone and mabey some other new things, also sorry about the first person, third person swiching, I will try to use third person the most so please bear with it

 

[Moros]

Ken only had to wait about an hour before he saw the flash mob started to perform TNT by ACDC. He had to say, Justin's choice of music was truly awesome considering what it was a signal for. He decided to nuke the city after about an hour after the flash mob was done. To pass the time away, Ken decided to mess around with his armor. After about 15 minutes, he found out that it could send a text directly to Justin. He sent a text to him saying that the explosion was happening in about 45 minutes.

When that was done, he decided to check out the rest of the city before he destroyed it. He was glad it was daylight out, otherwise he would have been easily spotted when he was flying around. Of course he still stayed away from the White House since he knew there was snipers guarding it from the neighboring buildings.

When the time came to do his thing, he decided to do it from the spot where he originally landed in Mount Vernon Square. When he got there, he decided to use a 50 megaton blast to start off the destruction. Gathering the required amount of energy, he quickly concentrated on starting nuclear fission in his body. When it was done, he let the energy explode out from him and destroyed DC.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

THREAT DETECTED
THREAT DETECTED

EM FIELD DETECTED RADIATING FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

EM SIGNATURE RECOGNIZED

NUCLEAR DETONATION DETECTED

BROADCASTING WARNING SIGNAL ON ALL CHANNELS TO ALL PERSONNEL

Spoiler: OOC

Giving a reason for the heroes to notice the blast, the nanosuit sent the warning signal to all electronic devices, hero, villian, or neutral. No one is not aware of the blast.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Spoiler: Assumption time!

Alice, Zero and Ryan are on the airship, above South America. Tomoya is in Incan territory, of course. Jack, Youmu and Farrago are looking for the Fire Stone. Other than that--you know what? F**k it, let's just get going.

~~~~

Time: Dark o'clock
Location: Fire Temple, Death Mountain Iceland​

A short ways into the temple, a loud beeping noise was heard, not unlike a cell phone receiving a text message. Nobody was alert at all, partly because of the lack of any security in the rooms they'd been through, so the noise surprised the three crusaders. It echoed off all the icicles in the area, making it even louder and more chaotic. Youmu and Farrago had covered their ears, but Jack didn't seem too fazed at all. Eventually, he pulled a pager out of his pocket and read the message.

THREAT DETECTED
THREAT DETECTED
EM FIELD DETECTED RADIATING FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
EM SIGNATURE RECOGNIZED
NUCLEAR DETONATION DETECTED
BROADCASTING WARNING SIGNAL ON ALL CHANNELS TO ALL PERSONNEL

Putting away the pager, Jack grimaced - or at least, did something that equated to a grimace. "Well, that makes everything more difficult...First Los Angeles, now Washington DC. And I don't have time to deal with all those who died in the blasts..."

Youmu cocked her head sideways. "(What happened? What was the message?)"

"Those bad guys just destroyed another city. At this rate, I doubt we'll be able to take them on without the stones...but I have another duty to attend to..."

None of them realised it, but that antechamber's security was sonar-based. And the beeping of the pager had set off an icicle just above Farrago's head. It wasn't very big, but it would certainly have broken, if not punctured, her skull. The cracking noise it made was so silent that she couldn't have predicted it that way...

...but there was an eye in the sky that nobody had been watching. Somewhat inspired by her own technique in the duel with Zero, Youmu had been using her ghost half to scout around. As soon as she saw the icicle falling, she immediately lunged forward, dive-tackling Farrago out of its path - a little bit too late.

Farrago was shocked but otherwise fine.

The icicle had smashed through Youmu's leg instead.

All at once, the other icicles in the cavern started falling. Jack motioned for Farrago to follow him forward, but she protested that Youmu was in more danger. Without saying a word, he threw his pager back and forcibly pulled Farrago further into the temple.
~~~
About ten minutes later

Outside the now-caved in antechamber, Youmu started at Jack's gift. What was this box that he'd given her before running off? It beeped again, and she started, dropping it to the ground. It fell on its button, and she saw the message as she picked it up.

Use this to contact Ryan.
Push the green button on the left. He'll come find you.
Try not to bleed out before then.
~~Jack

Smiling a little at the macabre joke, Youmu pushed the button, heard a series of sonar-style beeps, and slowly started to drag herself back to the entrance.
~~~~

Spoiler: OOC

Seems I misread the memo about where, exactly, the Stone was. But hey - icicles in a volcano temple dedicated to fire; what's not to like?

 

[Roamin11]

Justin sat outside the blast radius of all four nuclear blasts.

"Why hasn't he blown it already!" Justin sat impatiently in a lawn chair with a bottle of beer open in the cup holder.

"Maybe he's having second thoughts?"

"He better not!" Justin growled getting up to grab a bag of popcorn.

"Well can you really expect him to kill off another city full of people? That would really weight down on a persons conscious."

"Pssshhh, maybe if this was serious, then maybe that might be a plausible thought, but this isn't all that serious" Justin shrugged as he handed a small bag of popcorn to his wife, and sat back down. "Any minute now, he should blow it any minute now" he said running his finger over a big red button that would detonate the other three nukes.

Spoiler: Yneck

JUst blow it, the ball is in your court! Do it! Do EET!

Spoiler: Leet

Aren't we all nerds here? So wouldn't it be easier to just say "Rage"?

 

[Moros]

Spoiler: @Roamin11

I edited the last sentence of my previous post to make it easier to notice.

 

[Orinon]

high in the Air
Ryan was sitting in the lounge his eyes closed, every now and then bright white light would appear from the crack in his eyelids. however Youmu's distress signal came to him no one else heard it, the signal was designed so only he could hear it in case of enemy spies.
upon hearing it Ryan's eyes snapped open.
The ship was on auto pilot, so he recorded a simple message, if anyone noticed he was gone his voice would announce he had to leave urgently.
in only a minute Ryan was in the hangar, he had fully charged his Air cycle, with a simple command the drop door opened, Ryan kicked the accelerator into gear. Ryan was flying towards Youmu's distressing body at full speed.
he just hoped he could get there in time.

 

[Sgt_Jakeman214]

?What was that for? I should?ve taken Youmu back to the Airship, she is in no condition to be left alone!? Farrago shouted. Jack grimaced and looked at Farrago as he spoke.
?I didn?t like doing that, but she needs medical attention, and Ryan is right above us. That was the first chamber. A dangerous trap system is no place for an injured person. As it is, you owe her your afterlife...?

Farrago hung her head and motioned to Jack to lead on. They moved into the next chamber and found a small hallway. Jack stepped into it and onto a small pressure pad in the floor, activating a wall of flame that cut the hallway clean in half. Jack stepped back, and the flamewall stopped. On the other side was a lever, just out of reach for a person standing behind the pressure pad. Jack smiled and simply reached over with his scythe and pulled the lever. With a loud THUD, the holes that the flamewall erupted through closed, and Jack and Farrago walked through. They turned left, into the second chamber and walked down a set of stairs with two channels in their sides.

?What are those for, I wonder?? Farrago mused.
?Those, are lava channels. This is a reverse trap room, designed to stop invaders from escaping. Note how these stairs are slightly inward slanted? When we grab the Fire Stone, it will trigger the lava, which will build up in the channels and flow over, into the middle and covering the steps, burning away our feet. Then, we fall and burn horribly, and fall down the stairs, and look, into that hole at the bottom and our doom. The trick to this trap is to be incredibly fast, or to be able to fly.? Jack explained.
?And how do you know this?? Farrago asked.
?I once had to get the soul of an adventurer who had beaten one of these. He got through, but his companion didn?t, then he went back. He sacrificed himself for his friend. It was a pain, because he went to the centre of the trap system too.? Jack said as they finished walking down the stairs, taking care to jump the pit at the bottom. They walked through the last doorway and into the final chamber.

Farrago gasped at the size of it. A huge cavern, larger than a football stadium, filled with lava. A single column of flat platforms stretched one hundred metres out into the centre of the cavern, where the Fire Stone clearly shone on its pedestal. ?Crap. A time trap. Farrago, please wait here. I will have to run across and grab the Fire Stone, then run back before the platforms sink. I fear it will also trigger the stair lava trap behind us. Be ready to fly!? Jack said as he sprinted off across the platforms.

As soon as Jack?s foot hit the first platform, they began to sink. Farrago turned back and saw lava flowing down the sides of the stairs, just as Jack predicted. ?Hurry Jack!? she shouted.

DAMN! OUT OF TIME! I?ll post the rest when I get back from work in a few hours. Besides, cliffhangers are awesome! Will Jack get the Fire Stone? Will he make it back before the platforms sink? Will they make it up the stairs? TUNE IN NEXT TIME TO FIND OUT!

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Spoiler: @Jakeman:

I see you're quite familiar with Reilly's works. Not that that's bad; it was just an observation. Might have to use a few of his influences in the Air Temple as well...

...except that there's an Aboriginal tribe nearby who often go there for spiritual guidance, and their leader (or his son) might be able to help reach the stone. Well, that's my plan.

 

[XIII's Number XIV]

Zero's head snapped up at the loud beeps coming in through his comm. He reached up to his ear to access the message and raised an eyebrow at the transmission's vague tone as he listened.

"THREAT DETECTED
THREAT DETECTED
EM FIELD DETECTED RADIATING FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
EM SIGNATURE RECOGNIZED
NUCLEAR DETONATION DETECTED
BROADCASTING WARNING SIGNAL ON ALL CHANNELS TO ALL PERSONNEL"

Zero commanded his logic chip to explore the signal and found that not only was it sent by Alice, and to everyone, everywhere, but a small video popped up, covering his display.

It was a home recording of, what appeared to be, a huge group of people dancing in front of what appeared to be a rural town, with a large park in the middle. Silhouettes around the camera pointed and laughed at the sudden startup, their voices drowned out by the music blaring from hidden speakers. The video grained and faded in and out of focus, the audio following close behind.

"...NT! I'm dynamite!
T...! And I'll win...ght!
TNT! ...a power loa...!
...! Watch me explooooooooo...!!

The music abruptly cut as the group parted away from a single entity - a man holding a bright light that Zero could barely make out. But he already knew who it was. The camera shook, then, Zero assumed, the cameraman must have panicked and taken the camera with him, as the scene changed to blurry steps and frantic yelling as the camera's owner ran down a flight or so of stairs before the camera itself hit a wall and stopped recording. The video stopped and Zero regained his eyesight, which he used to glance at his semi-repaired hand and clench it before making his decision. He stormed out of his room and almost hit Ryan in the hallway. Zero double-taked and tried to ask Ryan about the signal, but he was already shutting the door to the hangar before Zero could form his question. Turning back, he headed to Alice's room and knocked on the door.

Knock knock. "Alice. You in there?"

No response.

Knock knock again. "Alice?"

Still nothing. He waited a few moments, then opened the door anyway. Alice was there, sitting on her chair and sporting a look that mixed between spaced out and horrified. He had a gut feeling she wasn't petrified of the ceiling.

"Alice." he started, "I know you sent that signal. I just need to know when this was taken and exactly how did you find it so fast?"

Alice, again, didn't reply. Her eyes wavered a bit, but her mouth never moved. Zero waited for her reply, but to no avail. His eyes narrowed as he shook his head and turned to the door. "Alright then..."

Zero went to the lounge to leave something in case the others wondered where he went. He saw that Ryan had left a recording, so he made a new one under his:

"This is Zero. I also left to get my stone..." and/or check out DC, he would have added, but didn't. "...and I took one of the remaining ships in the hangar bay. If I'm still not back by the time you hear this...then something probably happened to me. But don't worry. I'm used to it."

With that he turned and ran the same direction Ryan did and found the hangar, where on entering he spotted just what he needed; a small cruiser built for covering long distances quickly. He searched the wall across from it until he found the key, then opened it and started it up. The cruiser came to life and he excitedly pushed at the controls, setting the coordinates for Bermuda and opening the drop door. Finally he turned the wheel so that it moved to launch position and gassed it, blasting off towards the Devil's Triangle.

Spoiler

Argh, sorry for such a long post, but I had to do something. Also sorry to TheMehK if I didn't portray Alice right or if she didn't really send a video, I guess Zero has some encoding skills after all. Also also, cheers to Ryan and his magically convenient hangar! XD

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Spoiler: @13's 14

I tend to make long posts as well. Don't be ashamed of it, but try not to be excessive.

~~~~~~

Time (local): Daybreak
Location: Icelandic airspace​

Following the distress beacon using his radar, Ryan veered slightly northeast. Since it was such a basic signal, he had no idea how much trouble 'Jack' was in, so he decided he'd better go even faster. I mean, he reasoned to himself, last time I checked, Iceland had no air force to shoot me down, even if they could spot me!

He started circling above the dot on the radar, looking down at a volcano directly underneath. Seeing nobody outside and no way into that volcano except through the top, he looked back at his radar, and noticed that the dot had moved a short way south. Looking back down, he suddenly spotted a hand reaching up out of a hidden entrance - and it certainly didn't look like Jack.

Wondering what everyone had gotten themselves into, he swept down to pick up the distressed character - specifically, as it turned out, Youmu.

He asked her what had happened down there, but then remembered that he didn't speak Japanese - which was all she spoke. At one point, though, she pointed down at her leg, and the meaning wasn't lost on Ryan. Gritting his teeth, he gunned the accelerator, hoping his airship was where he expected it to be. And that nobody else knows where *that* is, he added.