[center][h2]Dredge[/h2] Edward, [color=BC8DBF]Therion[/color], [color=ec008c][b]Juri[/b][/color], Snake [b]Word Count:[/b] 2126 + 3[/center] When the seekers burst from the bloody walls of the tree, they found themselves in yet another hollow. This one was completely alien in [url=https://i.imgur.com/ZPt0Ak0.jpeg]appearance[/url]. Like the Qliphoth itself, it was hard to tell if the growths that pushed up from the ground and wounded around the area were plant or fleshy animal. Or if they were even part of the demon tree in the first place, and instead just something strange it had absorbed into itself. The fact that there were mundane objects scattered around like closets, wood boards, and busted machines suggested the latter. The area seemed to be larger than those below it, and instead of a nebulous energy surrounding the perimeter there was a massive wall. It was thick metal, integrated into the Qliphoth’s hardened inner skin. It would be very difficult, if not outright impossible, to break through – but the Seekers wouldn’t need to. A huge, ornate metal gate stood not far off, sealed shut by a massive circular door with the number [url=https://i.imgur.com/lJo2jUR.png]101[/url] painted on it. Beside it was a console and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/TFhY2kG.jpeg]switch[/url] that, presumably, would open it and grant access to their next way up. But the various faulty and flickering lights around the door, and on some of the lifeless machines strewn about, indicated that whatever this place was it was clearly operating under emergency power, and indeed, the controls for the great door at the front of the chamber lay dead as a result. An inspection of the rest of the room revealed not much else and most notably caused Edward to come to the conclusion that [color=ea590c]”there seems to be no other way out.”[/color] To which Therion replied with a simple, [color=BC8DBF]"so let’s get it open."[/color] Therion didn’t know or care how the blood flow determined where the Seekers ended up. With no way to choose where they were headed or who they arrived there with, as long as they were moving in the right direction that was the most important thing. If they ended up in a challenge none of those present could clear, then… they’d just have to find a different way forward. It was pure chance that he and Portsmith had ended up in the same hollow again. Or maybe not, since they’d squeezed into a vein one right after the other. But after fighting together with the man he’d come to the conclusion that the dreadnought was competent, so Therion figured he’d lucked out there in the teammates department. On the other hand, it seemed that they’d been joined by Juri and that mercenary - and even after spending a week cooped up in Mafia Town with them he still didn’t have a strong read on either one. Juri he knew was a violent wild card, but at the very least, her strength and raw combat ability would probably come in handy. And Snake seemed smart and capable, which was the reason the thief had initially avoided him in Mafia Town in the first place. First and foremost though the thief approached the door, inspecting it for any lock he’d be able to get through. Edward, meanwhile, set about forging more reinforcements, forming, at his own pace, a perimeter of spears and a cannon more or less identical to the one he’d set up for their previous encounter: spears forming a ring in front of the door, cannon facing away from it. However, he did have a suggestion, which was, [color=ea590c]”we could attempt to simply blast it open?”[/color] Juri was happily wielding some kind of gruesome new buzzsaw weapon. At Edward’s suggestion though, she frowned and looked at the door, and slung the weapon over her shoulder. [b][color=ec008c]”Are you stupid? That thing literally looks like it’s for a nuclear bunker.”[/color][/b] She said dismissively of Edward and his weird little army set up. [color=ea590c]”I have no context for what that is”[/color] Edward replied simply, and unfortunately for him he wasn’t going to get it right now. She walked up to the console and scanned it with her regular eye and her artificial eye. [b][color=ec008c]”It needs power. There’s probably a supply or something.”[/color][/b] She looked between the other three, and her eyes landed on Snake. [b][color=ec008c]”At least one of ya ain’t from Narnia or whatever and knows what to look for.”[/color][/b] She said. By pure luck or cosmic coincidence, the grizzled Mercenary had managed to find an unblocked blood vessel; traveling up through it and slicing his way out onto another level shortly after dealing with the hellish insectoids from earlier. Snake found himself in another chamber, this one a bizarre environment of biological growths that had at the very least seemed to absorb itself around a gigantic steel wall. His attention quickly snapped to the conversation up ahead, and relief washed over him. He was at least glad to find others from the group had made it to this new area, and soon made his way over. Just as he made his way over, holstering his pistol and sheathing his knife, the punk girl’s gaze settled on his bloodied form. Looking to the strange bunker door at her utterance, he spotted the breaker lever next to it, and a quick cursory glance at the flickering lights affirmed the deduction he’d overheard by the group. Blowing the door open [i]would[/i] be possible, yet nobody here, not even the summoner of the cannons, could hope to break through a nuclear blast door with their current firepower. Snake wasn’t an electrical engineer, but he was quick to surmise the obvious option available. [color=f9ad81]”External power is going to be the only way we’re getting past that door. We can either split in pairs of two or stay together as we search. I wouldn’t advise going this alone.”[/color] Snake said, moving over to the console and reading it. The flickering, stilted typeface almost looked like an old MS-DOS readout, tinted green as the diodes and circuits made tiny flicking chirps as the ancient terminal hummed. Emergency power was active, yet no reroute was available. A digital facsimile of a rectangular power bar was displayed off to the right of the screen; with a red-colored readout of 10% showing the total amount of power the system had. Taking the adjacent machines offline could provide a marginal boost to the power they needed, but it of course wouldn’t be enough. Turning away from the console, Snake un-holstered his handgun as he ejected the magazine and racked the slide; catching the bullet and thumbing the projectile back into the magazine as he tapped and shook the excess blood out of the interiors of the guns. Mentally noting he’d have to have his weapons turned into the armory for a cleaning after this deployment, Snake re-inserted, bumped, locked, and re-chambered his handgun as he holstered it again. [color=f9ad81]“Anyone else have other ideas?”[/color] Snake questioned the group. After confirming that yes, the lock was completely electronic with no way to get past it without fiddling around with the power source, Therion turned back to the other three. His tail twitched, but otherwise he didn't appear affected by Juri's comment. Even an idiot could follow the cables running from the console out around the area, and given he'd learned to drive and operate some high tech railway gun already, he could figure this out too. [color=BC8DBF]"That's fine with me. We can split up to cover more ground,"[/color] the thief said to Snake. They could go in pairs; as always, the sooner they could leave the better. [color=ea590c]”This is acceptable. Signal if you encounter any hostiles”[/color] Edward agreed, far too intrigued in this opportunity to tinker with some of this magicless power technology to let Juri get to him. [b][color=ec008c]”Whaaatever. Rather get cozy with some ugly freak than stay stuck with all you stiffs.”[/color][/b] Juri said, turning out her upper lip and blowing some air at her bangs. But whether the group stuck together or split up, they would have to come to the decision quickly. An eerie feeling came over them, alerting them to the presence of someone else nearby... or [url=https://i.imgur.com/1aSkjKb.png]some[i]thing[/i][/url] else. It lurked in the fringes of their vision, observing for a moment. But this was no ambush predator; it was a killer, and it drifted on a carpet of shadows as it moved directly towards the group. It raised its hooked, knotted appendage high, trailing terrible noises as it went. Shrieks. Cries. Whimpers. Pops. Cracks. Feasting sounds. Dark sounds. The sounds of death. [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSZearaaE48[/youtube][/center] Edward’s cannon immediately pivoted round and fired a round at it, but the resulting thunderous detonation seemed to have zero impact whatsoever on the entity, a fact he described with forced calm as [color=ea590c]”Concerning”[/color] If this thing had some sort of invincibility like the tar lion outside had been, they were all in a lot of trouble - and Therion wasn't about to press his luck. The thief turned and ran, his eyes tracking one of the many cables along the ground. [color=BC8DBF]"Pick a direction and let's go!"[/color] he called over his shoulder. No way that guy’s cannon was packing candy floss rounds, Juri thought. That blast shoulda done something, but it didn’t. Ever since Carnival Town Juri had gotten the idea that some places just played by their own rules. [b][color=ec008c]”That is one ugly freak. Even uglier than the last freak.”[/color][/b] Juri said with a frown, backing up as it…slithered? Walked? Towards her. Juri put a stack of crates in between herself in the creature. It was faster than it looked, but, the stupid thing had to go around them. Immediately some of its scariness was lost- this was no different than playing tag or hide and seek. [b][color=ec008c][i]”Tchuh,”[/i][/color][/b] Juri chuckled to herself, and took off running. Though fixing that gate while that thing was after them might be pretty damn annoying. The Dredge gooped after her at a heightened pace, ready to catch up and gore her with that hook arm. Juri kept ahead of it, and spotted what looked like a busted generator, but she wouldn’t stop to repair it with this thing on her ass. Behind her, Edward did two things. He took off running as well, flames forming around him as he sprinted in what was, frankly, a very unhelpful manner when it came to avoiding notice. The other was he sent the squads of constructs he’d summoned out looking for generators as well. They weren't going to hurt it, of course, and it didn’t seem interested in wasting time killing the lifeless beings, but it would certainly help him keep track of it, and give the others a barrier that would let them pass through that would block the creep itself. Juri was light on her feet, jogging backwards. She rolled her eyes as Edward set himself alight with power, but the little constructs were helpful. The monster was bogged down and way too slow. She gave it a quick scan with her Feng Shui engine and found it was about as strong as she was. Something about that didn’t add up- if she had taken that cannon shot head on she would have at least flinched. [b][color=ec008c]”See ya, loser,”[/color][/b] She taunted, before going low and vanishing from sight. Now the Seekers were scattered and hunted. Juri got to a generator and popped open the hatch. It was just some loose wiring. In a matter of moments it sparked to life as Juri put her often underutilized sharp intellect to use. When the generator rumbled to life, a light came on, and the light revealed the form of the Dredge bearing down on her. In front of her, even, like she hadn’t left it behind but had walked right into its clutches. Behind it was an open locker, the interior shrouded in darkness. [b][color=ec008c]”Fuck off!”[/color][/b] Juri cursed, scrambling backwards in surprise. It brought its hook down across her shoulder and chest. Juri couldn’t believe it as she saw red splatter everywhere. Was the hook wet already? She put her hand to her shoulder and it came away crimson with her own blood. That didn’t make any sense. Its power level was still only as high as hers; it shouldn’t have hurt her that much! Some other entity was giving it strength. The Dredge stared at her, like it was taking in its own handiwork. The pain remembered itself and promptly set her nerves on fire. Juri found herself hunching over, her knees weak. [b][color=ec008c]”Take a [i]picture,[/i] asshole!”[/color][/b] She spat, before mustering her composure and turning to run, leaving a trail of blood behind her. She went through a nearby doorway and slammed down a palette that was resting against it, only for the thing to blast through like it was nothing. [b][color=ec008c]”Somebody get this freak offa me!”[/color][/b] She yelled in alarm.