Realistic or Modern Hᴉdden

[Kal]

As many shenanigans were going on around them, it wasn't but a few minutes more before Leona was ready to get back on track.


11:59 P.M.



​

It all started with, "Oh right, the line post!" Leona hammering her fist into her hand. Bounding off with an unofficial goodbye, the others were free to leave. But Correy would have none of that shit, it was late and no way she was going to let a girl wander alone. So she followed. So then Wally followed. So then most everyone got the idea to follow, cuz why the hell not, or because they thought weren't officially dismissed from the club event.


"There it is!" Leona exclaimed, it was on the side of the circle, untouched.


"What's this writing say anyway...?" Correy, bored all the while prior, found it semi-intriguing. Her phone was dead otherwise she wouldn't looked up long enough to see a thing. Speaking of phones, "Walls, some light?"


There was enough intrigue, or such shift in positions that, everyone was standing around the circle. Well, but of course, why would you, in a friend group, be standing ten feet off? Anyway, as Wally obliged with light and Correy, and whoever else interested, tried to read the words going around the circle, and Leona stuffed the paper in her hoodie pocket and began to pick up the line-post, something caught the orange-haired girl's ankle.


"What the... Real funny, let go," Leona began, until she saw her foot. In fact, anyone who trying to read the words, in the light of Wally's phone, would have seen it too.


Where the key had been embossed, that was gone, that center was gone, melted away, and sticking out of the whole, a bony, white, inhuman hand. Wrapped tightly around Leona's ankle.


"OH SHIT NO. LET GO," the little girl demanded, a sudden and ferocious fire in her eyes. She raised her fist high, elbow bent to the sky, and that's when they all saw the next thing.


Forming around Leona's arm.


It's head as big as Leona's torso, no, bigger. Made of light, a brilliant, bold orange light.


The head of a dragon.


It's snarled teeth and indetailed eyes aimed straight at the ground.


Leona brought her fist down.

Midnight



​

The dragon's snout hit the circle first, a moment of silence, reverie, and then,


CRACK!


The entire circle crumbled downwards.


All eight kids with it.


Down to the dark hollow below.

[Yay powers time! PM me or I will PM you with several ways your powers will manifest, you choose which, and post with it.]

​

 

[storm3510]

It was as if the universe was just hell bent on throwing... or in the case of ulterior events, pulling, Christina into an endless onslaught of events, beginning with the random claiming of her weekend by this Leona person, who made it a point to address that they weren't entirely as welcome a group as she'd initially have been led to believe (at least that's what it seemed like in the email). The dessert to be had lter on was nice, but then the group took a small tour through the city, most of which Christina was already familiar with, seeing as she ran through many of these streets when she was running from wannabe gang members as a child. The group with which I'd find myself is a humble one indeed...


And as if that wasn't bad enough, there were more events to follow. Before long, the Leona girl had decided to head home, and, not even having looked at her phone's clock, Christina was ready to head home until the entire group suddenly decided to follow the girl. Unaware that this didn't necessarily mean a lack of dismissal, Christina followed behind the group, albeit silently. They were led to the large circle in the middle of town where they'd met. Here, Leona began acting... strangely. Christina, having been so distracted with her mental debate on whether or not she should've turned back and gone home, didn't see much of anything, much less have any clue so as to why they'd even gone back. She was a slight distance from everyone as she slowly began to dial the house phone... then questioned why it wasn't listed as a contact. Someone asked for a light, and then there was a scream... Leona's. Afterward, Christina, mid turn to see what exactly was happening, was met with the unfamiliar (and breathtakingly terrifying) feeling of a lack of ground support. The earth itself had collapsed beneath her, like something that she'd feel in a dream, only charged of an even greater panic than that which would normally be cleaved during a deep sleep. It came without warning, and Christina didn't even hear herself scream slightly before landing.


The pounding of her Heart was the only thing that seemed to make sense. Verbatim, it was what she mentally told herself to acknowledge over and over again as if for no other reason than to remind herself that she was still alive. There was something to be said about a state of mental shock. There wasn't that distinct, irritatingly high pitched ringing that characters hear in movies. It was more of a coalescence of thoughts that seemed to have no sense to be made, and so the only thing that the body could do was be still and allow itself to come together again while an eerie calm fell over it as common sense began to remind the self that impending danger still loomed about. Soon enough, Christina was able to notice that she was blinking; blinking and looking up. She'd landed on her back, a painful landing that honestly should've dislocated something, though by the time the shock value began to fade, she was thanking her stars that it hadn't. She wasn't in too much pain, thankfully, and was able to bring herself to her feet enough to look around. For the most part, it was dark... The lamps that lit the streets were too far above to be of any use where she was. For a moment, Christina remained still, contemplating how to gain some sight... and the idea came quickly. She reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone, pressing the home button as the screen lit up some. There was a large crack on the screen, indicative that it was one of the things that had broken her fall. She sighed for a moment, and then swiped up to bring up the Control Panel, turning on her flashlight... … flashlight...


"Walls, some light?" She'd quickly remembered Correy saying...


Correy! Wally! There were others here, somewhere! Quickly, she turned, carefully stepping above any of the debris within a few feet of her. “Hello?” She called out, silently. It'd be an understatement to say she was only frightened, but one would be lying to say that she didn't know how to keep a straight head during trying times... no matter how strange... “Everyone... still alive? … Anyone?” She would've continued to rotate her phone's light, trying to scope out anything moving amongst the fallen rocks... be it one of her shared associates or...


Okay. We're in a dark, cylindrical tunnel according to Kal. We are altogether in a group so feel free to reply. And if anyone's unsure of Christina's reaction to something... please just ask. I know I haven't done the best job of establishing characteristics other than appearance.

 

[CloudyBlueDay]

After dessert, Belle was getting a bit sleepy, but refused to let it stop her from hanging out with the group. With a dad that made her go to bed at 10:30pm every night 'till she was sixteen, well, the strict bedtime hadn't exactly worn off just yet. And all the sugar recently had caused her to be a bit under the weather, and she sneezed every now and then, the cutest, little kitten sneeze. Downtown, people were chit-chatting around her, and though she kinda wanted to catch on to the conversations, she was just too tired for it. She distracted herself by picking lint off her skirt. Belle jolted to look at Correy when she burst out laughing. "Huh? What's so funny?" Belle mumbled. But then, trying to play it cool, she giggled too.


"What writing? Someone tell me what's going on, uwahhhh." Belle whined, totally losing track of what was going around her. She glanced over Wally's shoulder. (She thought she was tall, but she had to stand on her tippy-toes and grab Wally's shoulder to actually see what was going on.) That's when she saw the.. the hand grasping Leona's foot.


Belle's heart got stuck in her throat. She froze, eyes wide. Belle tried to open her mouth, to cry out, but no sound came out. Something formed around Leona.. a dragon. Things blurred. She was scared, her heart was beating so loud. But the crack was louder.


Down, she fell. And everything began to slow. She saw all her friends falling, the look of surprise, some terror on their face. She could skip on the rocks as they fell on slow-mo. Colors burst into existence around her. Emerald, purple. She thought she caught a glimpse of something small flitting around. For some reason, she didn't.. want to stop and ask questions. She just marveled, as she skipped down on the rocks, watching everything in suspended beauty.


And then she reached the ground, and everything resumed like normal.


Belle stood, a good few feet away from the majority of the wreckage, her eyes sparkling. "Incredible.." She whispered, as a small hummingbird flew to her, leaving the same trail of colors, emerald and purple. The hummingbird touched it's cheek to hers, and Belle gasped, before letting out a soft giggle.

 

[TerraBooma]

Reaction to the insults and Correy's response to Wally's response!

Spoiler

Wally had been walking with the group no problem. He had been taking up the rear. Wally knew the shortcuts himself, even if he chose not to use them. He had decided to make it so that he'd bring up the back of the pack. This way if anyone lost sight of Leona, Wally could point them in the right direction. His plan was...admittedly unneeded, but it was the thought that counts.


As they walked up to the stairs of the theater, Wally listened to the murmurs of the crowd. He didn't mean to evesdrop, it was just a habit he fell into when things were silent and things were catching their breath. Had conversation started sooner, he would have missed the kids behind him, whispering about the rumours he knew existed.


"--beat up a kid, and stored him in a locker--"


"--size of a mountain, what does he eat?"


"The dignity of his prey, of course."


Now, many of the people in the group who hadn't known Wally would assume he'd turn and attack, even Wally wouldn't take that sitting down right? Well, he acted liek he hadn't heard it. His fists clenched momentarily but...that was it.


At least to the normal viewer. Correy would notice something else. There was a slump in his shoulders, a change in his gait. Things were just...off. Correy would have noticed something Wally was trying to hide, something not too different from her own:


Hurt.


---


Correy had gotten quite a kick out of Belle's two admirers, it was even funnier with Belle not noticing the whole thing. The seated blonde was quite enjoying herself, despite all the, what she saw as, pointless walking. This event, thought, it definitely seemed like something Wally was probably enjoying. The blonde shifted her glance, spotting the boy of her thoughts... Only, he didn't look like he was enjoying it. No, his expression, the way he held his shoulders... Wally hadn't changed in all these years, oh he'd grown a hellava' lot, but Correy saw the boy in that demoralized pose.


But... why? This wasn't the face of not enjoying, in fact, there were few things Wally didn't get hyped for. No, this, this was what he looked like when...


And that's when Correy head them.


And it infuriated her.


But, short of her hand tightening its grip around her thigh, she didn't show it. Especially not on her face, save the slightest downward twitch on the side of her lip. But Correy caught herself, released the grip on her thigh, and dusted off her pants like there had been something on them...


She could still hear them. The little shits who wouldn't stop talking about Wally. Leaning forward, she reached into her back pocket. Huh. A receipt. Better than nothing.


Balling it up in her hand, "Where's the nearest trashbin?" she asked pleasantly, standing up a'sudden. Without waiting for a reply, she quickly followed it up with, "Ah, there it is~!" she made a vague notion at the trashbin located a few steps behind a different group. Coincidentally, it was the group that was whispering the rumors about "Warin' Wally". Heh. Stupid. That as creative as you can get? she scoffed inwardly, externally wearing a casual smile as she drew closer, eyes on the trashbin.


She had almost passed the group when she stopped in her tracks and turned her head just slightly, so that they could see her face, but not her own group, who were much behind her.


In a voice only loud enough for the group a'front her to hear, "Hey, dumbshits, you know he can hear you, right?" she remarked snidely, wearing a half-lidded, unamused expression. It was everything she could do not to bare her teeth and snarl and beat them up-- Like back when they were kids. But they weren't anymore, kids, that was. This, though, she could do. Easily.


"Huh?" one looked at her. Is it taking you that long, stupid? she thought, almost wanting to knock that one's head in, preferably into the head of the other who went, "Uh..."


When it finally dawned on them, which, by Correy's account, took retardedly long, the false-faced girl turned her head back forward, towards the trashbin, and practiced the fake, pleasant smile she had on when she'd left her group. Continuing her trek to the trashbin, only a few feet away, she fake threw away the receipt. Turning back, she subtly put the balled piece of paper back in her pocket, stealing the quickest of glances at the gossiping group. Not that she had needed to, they were talking loudly about a BOGO sale at the sneaker store, slowly heading away as if it was the most casual thing ever. Heh. Idiotic. Either way, it had worked.


It was funny, she thought as she walked back. As much as she hated them, she could almost hear Wally's voice telling her that it wasn't worth it, to just let it go. He was always so quick to forgive. Herself? Not so much.


Returning to the seat on the steps where she had just moments ago left from, she sat, just in time to see something funny again: A girl coming up to Flynn. Shit, she knew Belle and Flynn were popular, but this was just gold.

Fast forward to the circle collapsing.


Wally had provided the light obediently., his cellphone a shining beacon in the midnight darkness. He had also follow'd correy's idea of trying to read the words. "What's it say Cords?"


Whatever they were....they were really weird, but Wally couldn't quite make them out. When the weird hand spectral thing grapped Leona's leg. Wally's reaction was twofold:


First, the tall boy stepped back in surprise, that wasn't something he had seen before. Hobos? Check. Old Man Berfinkle? Check. Creepy spectral hand? That one....admittedly unchecked. Even the gentle giant Wally had to be surprised at ghosty mc arm.


Wally's second reaction was to lean forward to punch it in the face...er....arm? Fortunately Leona seemed to have him beat in the punching stuff department. Unfortunately this somehow resulted in the Urban Exploration taking an unforeseen expedition into the depths of Springpine. Wally was temporarily impressed before gravity took over and he followed the rest of hte club down into the ground.


Wally couldn't see much on the way down. He saw glimpses of the others. Some faces were terrified, others grim, his own had an odd mixture of the two. He heard shouting and screaming, before realizing that it was partially his own. Forcing himself silence, he peered into the darkness ahead of him. Wally gasped when he saw Correy just a few feet in front of him. Whatever they were going to hit...she would hit first. Wally had to do something! He tried to drop faster, but Wally wasn't exactly the best at science, and he wasn't sure how to get ahead of her.


However, as he thought to himself, something shot past, he couldn't quite see. But Correy's fall would...actually be quite relaxed. She'd land on a cushion of sorts.


Wally's landing however....wasn't. The boy hit the ground shoulder first as he rolled along, getting into position to do so at the last second. He ached, but he was alive. Pulling himself up to his knees, he looked about. "I'm...I'm okay CJ! mostly... I'll be fine, just a bruise...I think. How's everyone else?"


The Cusion that surrounded Correy would begin to stir as Wally rose. "Hey Cords, you o-" Wally froze, a look of surprise and shock on his face. Surrounding Correy almost defensively was a Brown Grizzly Bear. Wally gulped, that was bad. "T-That's a bear." The boy said with a slight stutter before trying to steel himself. "Just...don't freak out. Ok Cords? We'll think of something." No matter what Correy did, the bear would Lazily follow her around, adopting the same stance whenever it could if she stood still agani.


Wally had become so intent on the sudden bear problem, that he hadn't noticed the crack in the earth where he landed. Although for anyone who did observe this: It would be impossible to tell if this phenomenon had existed before Wally's fall....


or after.

 

[Kal]

Downtown


The circle.
​

Leona realized her mistake. "MOTHERF--"


Too late. The ground was broken, the hollow underneath revealed. "SHI--"


For a nano of a precious second, the pressure from the dragon's hit was rising up, keeping everyone afloat. Then it withdrew.

- - -



​

Correy shook her head, "Not sure," she responded to Wally, "It's written in some way fancy font." Squinting, as if that would help, her eyebrows lifted briefly. "There, actually, I think that says, 'That,'... And I think the next word is 'beneath,'--"


"What the... Real funny, let go."


Correy looked away to see what that was about-- And felt the blood drain from her face. No way that was real. It looked like white skin, so stretched over bone it was... it was... not real.


But Correy was staring right at it.


Staring right at it as it was encompassed in a orange light... shaped like a dragon's head.

The Fall.

Panic. Flynn would have felt it starching his system. The ground gave way, into the depths below.

But something odd happened.

He could feel it coming to him, something, from all around him. Heat? No, it was more... comfortable. Safe. Warmth that wasn't warm.

He saw the ground below, but the closer he got, the more he could feel the... whatever it was, gather within him, the slower his descent became.

The ones who had fallen directly around him, Christina and Leona, so much of heat had he taken that they were in a stasis.

It was what saved them.

Not that either of them knew. Leona was blinking, looking around.

Christina would find that she didn't need the phone's light to see.

- - -

Like Belle, Imogen instinctively did something she had never done. Only, instead of stepping from rock to rock at blurring speed, like Belle, she was rather... performing 'acrobatics'.

Grabbing the edge of one, launching to another when it got too close, kicking off that for another. She wasn't any stronger, or faster. But her coordination, and ability to time, was so on point. The last rock she stepped on, she jumped off seconds before it crashed, allowing her to land on the ground all well and good.

- - -

​

This was the end.


This was death.


This was it.


"OOF!" It was like she'd landed on a giant pillow. She bounced up, lightly landing back on... a cushion? Rolling off and catching herself, Correy gently pushed off the ground, slowly moving her legs to stand. H-how...?


Words were being spoken around her.





"Hey Cords, you o-"


...Cords. Correy. That was her. He was asking her, "U-uh," she started shakily, "I-I think--"


"T-That's a bear."


Correy snapped her neck to the direction Wally was looking. Right behind her-- Holy hell!


"Just...don't freak out. Ok Cords? We'll think of something."


The blonde would have paled, only, there was no more blood left in her face for it to leave. "Don't have to tell me twice... What's a bear doing here anyway?!" she strained through her teeth, trying to be quiet.


She backed away, but... it didn't seem to be looking at her. Or on alert. It just... was looking around warily, and followed her to surround her again.


...Wait a minute... was she seeing things or... Was the bear see through?

Underground.



​

Leona blinked. "Whoa... there's a hellava lotta powers going on right now," she thought aloud, going from one to one to one.


A hummingbird. Already bonding with Belle. A coyote, curiously peeking and stepping towards Belle. A red panda, sitting on Imogen's shoulder. A bear, around Correy. A... was that a butterfly? It was odd looking, inorganic, a metal body and stainglass wings. That wasn't natural, but Leona knew it had something to do with the power it owned.


"Okay..." she said more to herself than anyone, "So... I'm guessing I'm gonna be the one explaining this..."


"WHHHHEEEOOOOOOOOO"


It sounded like the wind being squeezed through rafters, with an inhuman ring underneath it. The noise, albeit not painful, scratched at the ears.


"OH SHIT. RIGHT. IT'S COMING BACK!"


From the tunnel that lead from the area that they had fallen in, it came. Flying in with a vengeance, almost angrily, like it hadn't taken to well to being shoved back. Around Leona and the others, the fallen rocks clattered. Or, more preciously, the bits of fallen rock with the metal engraving on it. It began to... melt off of the metal and rise.


"OH HELL NAH."


Raising her fist, the dragon appeared. But unlike moments before, it appeared with its full, serpentine body, surrounding Leona with its tail, rising up to half the length of the tunnel. Large and imposing, a creature of orange light, it snarled. The melted metal began to fly, aiming for Leona first. Leona brought her fist down, grounding the metal.


"YEAH, THAT AIN'T WORKIN'," she practically yelled at the creature. "LOOK!" Now, she was addressing everyone, the club members, "CONSIDER THIS A LEARN-ON-THE-SPOT EXPERIENCE." With the arm that wasn't fist-down, she pointed at the creature "THIS IS THE SPOT! YOU'RE ON IT! LEARN!"

[You can throw your questions OOC and I can edit add them, or in a post if you feel you have enough for a post~]



​

 

[Flabbysaurus]

For the rest of the day Flynn followed the group after having stuffed himself with a chocolate cheesecake. He was glad he wasn't presented with another. Given the option he might've taken another one even though he would most likely regret it for the rest of the day. When they finally stopped to take a rest, Flynn could only let out a sigh of relief as he sat down to express his appreciation for the stop. He could finally sit down again and resist the feeling of wanting to throw up. Hopefully next time he visited Pots & Pies he wouldn't overdo it as much as he already had.


"H-hey," Flynn looked up to the girl talking to him. Maybe if he wasn't tackling the beast of a cheesecake in his stomach he might've have been able to give a better response.





"Uh...yo."


"Y-you're that guy from the soccer team, right? Uh, I'm Charlie."





"Yeah. My name's Flynn..." Flynn trailed off as the group of girls nearby burst into laughter. Flynn gave a questioning glance their way. What was so funny?


"OH SHUT UP GUYS! Uh, uh, I'm sorry! This was dumb! I'll see you at school!"





"See ya." Flynn replied as Charlie hurried off. "Weird..." He mumbled as he stood up as the group came together again and made its way...back to the line post. Flynn got the feeling he could maybe leave at this point but he might as well see if anything else needed to be said or shown.


Flynn walked around the group to get a better look of the commotion. Seeing something holding onto Leona's leg. She punched the bony white hand, then suddenly there was a crack. And before Flynn could understand what was happening, the ground beneath them crumbled. As he plummeted, Flynn felt his throat go dry and his stomach tighten as he and the others went tumbling into the darkness below. Flynn couldn't say or do much in his fear. The only thing the teen was saying as plummeted was an elaborate string of curses. But as he fell to what seemed to be his death, he slowly felt a strange feeling around him. Heat, warmth. He had no idea how to describe it. It felt like heat, but it wasn't. The first thought that sprung to mind was if this was how it felt before death. Like his body was comfortably accepting his fate, the rest of him wasn't so co-operative on that thought though. But as he stared at the ground which came ever closer, Flynn realised it was coming slower and slower.


A small thump was made as Flynn hit the ground. How the hell did that happen? Flynn was clueless as to what had happened. How was he not dead. Looking around it seemed everyone else had managed to fall without dying as well. However Flynn had been a bit invested in his demise at the time so was unaware of how the others had managed to land here with minimal damage. Now, finally snapping back into reality Flynn looked at all the animals that seemed to surround them. All of the different colours, shapes and sizes but all of them looked otherworldly.


"WHHHHEEEOOOOOOOOO"


Flynn immediately ducked when he heard the unnatural scream. Despite Leona's instructions, which weren't all that great to begin with, Flynn crouched on the floor, vision blurry, and fear still a very prominent feeling in his mind right now. What the hell kind of ungodly monster was he looking at right now? And what was Leona expecting them to do. No way in hell was Flynn going near that thing.

 

[TerraBooma]

"WHHHHEEEOOOOOOOOO"


"CONSIDER THIS A LEARN-ON-THE-SPOT EXPERIENCE." With the arm that wasn't fist-down, she pointed at the creature "THIS IS THE SPOT! YOU'RE ON IT! LEARN!"


"RIGHT!"





Wally, if he had to be honest. Had no idea what was going on. He wasn't sure what this thing was. Why it was attacking them...how everyone had....powers? Now? It was confusing. The bear wasn't Mauling Correy, which was good! Wally...also didn't understand the bear thing much at all, or...really any of the sudden animals. Wally didn't understand what was attacking them...the weird mummy thing that was really, REALLY pissed off. Wally also didn't understand why Leona seemed to know about all of this.


But Wally....Wally didn't understand a lot of things in his life. Politics, science....math. Especially math. He hated math. Was he getting off topic? Probably.


Where others stepped back, avoiding conflict for various reasons. Those reasons being things like fear, reluctance, or the general knowledge that the spooky flying thing wasn't going to really care about a punch from a normal person. Others would say it would be good to step back and wait for orders from Leona. Typical smart things. But Wally did not do any of these things.


Because while Wally did not understand science, or English, or even Math, he really knew how to punch the ever living shit out of stuff. Letting out a roar sounding not unlike a bear. Wally rushed forward, directly into the path of the....thing. And he gave a vicious right hook, using the pent up frustration at the rumours as a sort of fuel to power his fist.

 

[CloudyBlueDay]

Belle put out her hand, allowing the hummingbird to sit and rest. Belle had always admired the small yet stunning creatures, and considered them to be good luck if she ever saw one, cause of how fast they were. She'd always dreamed of this Disney Princess moment, where all the cute little woodland creatures would come to her if she sang. The colors that swirled around her new friend, the colors that Belle realized she'd left behind. Sometimes, her hummingbird would poof into just color, then turn into a hummingbird again. Stunning. Absolutely stunning. And weird. But still absolutely stunning.


That was when she turned around and saw another creature. A wolf, or something close to that. A coyote? It was glancing at her curiously, surrounded in brilliant colors just like her hummingbird. "Oh.. Uh.. Hi.." She whispered. Belle wasn't sure if the coyote had vicious intent, but she took a couple steps back just to be sure. And then Belle remembered she was actually with her friends.


"OH OHMYGOD GUYS ARE YOU O-" "WHHHHEEEOOOOOOOOO" Belle yelped. Leona started swearing again, and then Belle realized what about. There was...a...a creature. And it made things fly at Leona. Sharp pointy things. Metal? Oh. Oh no. No, this wasn't good. Looked like her magical moment was over.


She saw the other boy, uhh, Flynn, yes, that was it. She saw him duck. Was he okay? She felt so bad for forgetting that her friends must've fell down too, and by the looks of it, not everyone had gotten speed like she. She zipped to him, suddenly appearing at his side out of nowhere. "Are you okay?" She asked quickly. "We, er. Might need to go. But I can get you away fast." Her eyes sparkled as her mouth curved into a big grin. Even a mischievous grin.


(@Flabbysaurus

 

[Kal]

The Tunnel.

​

"...You're kinda ugly up-close, aren'tcha?" Correy whispered to the butterfly. The odd, almost mechanical looking thing had been sitting on her shoulder. She'd almost smacked it, stopping midway because, one, it looked like hitting it would hurt with all its sharp edges, and two, with all the strange animals around that weren't acting like animals, was this one of them?


No, more than that, there was something... she couldn't put it into words...


It was now on her finger, as she examined its unmoving eye. Her own words dawned on the blonde. "I guess that makes two of us, doesn't it?" she silently laughed to herself, or with the butterfly. She wasn't quite sure.





"So... I'm guessing I'm gonna be the one explaining this..."


Don't even worry, club-leadz, I know what's happening. It's one big, giant fucking acid trip.


That would explain all the lights, and animals, and why the bear didn't maul her but was rather lazily sitting around her like a hired guard, and that full-sensory hallucination that made them believe they'd fallen through the ground after Leona had broken through it with her fist. Correction: Dragon-head covered fist--





"WHHHHEEEOOOOOOOOO"

Backline.

CJ backed up, pressing against the wall.

Imogen, too, made up the backline. The red panda upon Imogen's shoulder, though sporting an impassive expression, was on all fours, fur spined up, tail curled up.

The last to make up the backline was Leona, exactly where she had been since she had grounded the metal.

Mid-line.

"Oh.. Uh.. Hi.."

Flynn's coyote made one swift wag of its tail, ears perking up and twitching excitably.

​

"

​

WHHHHEEEOOOOOOOOO"

The coyote leaped into Flynn's shadow, staying low to the ground, its eyes on the monochrome creature, teeth bared back, a low, almost unhearable growl coming from deep within its abdomen. It looked like it was readying itself, waiting to strike at an opportunity.

In a flash, Belle appeared beside him.

As she proclaimed her will, her hummingbird began to flit about her excitedly, even faster, zip-zipping all around her. Emerald and purple burst about her, and emerged over Belle's eyes. A radius of the vibrant colors formed around Belle's feet, its perimeter jaggedly stabbing out and in. Once it grew to about a foot, the jagged dance continued, but it did not grow nor shrink.

Frontline.

​

Correy backed away, terrified, her fingers and thighs growing numb. Panic. This was panic. Shallow breathed, bloodless faced, she was out of her mind in panic.


She stumbled. Nearly screaming. Only it caught in her throat as she--


Caught her fall on the bear.


Gripping its soft fur with an iron grasp, she was surprised it neither bit nor looked angry, or pained. Rather, it looked concerned as she lowered herself to her knees.


"Th-thanks..." bear? That seemed rude. You wouldn't call a human, 'human'... "Fluffy."


...What did she just nickname the bea--


The thought was cut short, her peripherals reminding her of the charging creature. Oh sh--! Correy was in the front, the creature had to pass her in order to get to Leona, which it seemed hellbent on. It had to pass her... and the bear...


Frantic eyes shifted between bear and impending doom. Shoo, you idiot! I can't run, but you got four working legs! It wouldn't move, it had its eyes trained on the creature. Damnit! You're gonna die cuz--


The creature was a foot away.


"S-stay back!" she cried in sheer fear, raising up her arms as the creature closed in.


A brilliant, large, ugly head appeared. Razor-teethed and made of light, it silently screeched at the monochrome creature's face.


Correy watched wide-eyed as the creature was completely unphased, passing right by her.


And in her peripherals, Wally appeared, raising his fist back.
​

- - -




Wally charged.

Yes, he was simply following an ordinance, or his interpretation of it. But it was more than that. Deep down it all, Wally wanted to protect. Wally wanted to be the frontline, before it could hurt anything else.

Around him, almost protectively, something formed. Surrounding him like a second skin... the form of a bear. It was see-through, not even the tiniest obscuring the sight of Wally, but everyone could see it. Made of light of a brown shade, its claws extended and its paw open as Wally threw his punch in.

Crackcrackrack!




Taller than him, the monochrome creature, Wally's punch hit its abdomen. A group of the white, bony 'ribs' caved under Wally's fist, and the spirit's claws sunk into the creature. It roared. Not what sounded like pain, but fury. It was being delayed, again.

It gripped its bony hand, the same hand that had grabbed Leona's ankle, around Wally's arm, but the fingers never made it past the bear aura. Still, the creature pulled Wally's hand out of its abdomen, only then making inhuman grunts: pain.

The Trail.

Belle watched as it threw Wally's hand back, and with a burst of speed, flew around him to get further.

And then roared again as it back up.

At the wrong angle, it would have seemed like something invisible had stopped it. But, no, Belle saw it. It had crossed her trail mark. The that had been made when she had crossed to where she'd been to group up with Flynn.

The trails from before, above where she'd come down from, had faded. The one she'd made hadn't barely even begun to fade, but where the creature had touched, it had blackened and was fizzling out, only a small, thin line of emerald and purple where it had backed up before crossing.

Leona.

​

"I HOPE YOU HAVE A PLA--" Leona yelled when the Bear Aura surrounded Wally, "THAT WORKS!"


Sweat began to form at her temples. The grounded metal sluggishly moved left and right. "TRYING SO HARD, AREN'TCHA?" she yelled/taunted the monochrome creature, her teeth grit and her fist down in the same position it had been this whole while.


She saw Correy, shivering fearfully, but clearly not in danger as the creature had kept its sights on Leona, and then been falcon-blocked by Wally and then... something... the orange-haired girl couldn't see from here. "BLONDE GIRL, not you, sparkles," Leona quickly specified, "IT'S BLIND, probably, DON'T FRET. DO BACK UP SOME, YEAH?"

​

 

[Flabbysaurus]

As the violet-blue coloured coyote leaped behind Flynn, laying low within his shadow, Flynn cursed again assuming that the coyote was going after him at first. However, after quickly following the strange creatures line of sight it was in fact aiming its hostility towards the terrifying flying...thing. "Glad to see we're on the sa-" Flynn stopped as he turned to look back the coyote. Flynn squinted his eyes towards where the coyote as it...blended in where is shadow was? Flynn would've investigated more on the strange sight if it weren't for the fact that Belle had suddenly appeared in front of Flynn.





"Are you okay?"


He stumbled back slightly at the sudden appearance, not having expected her great speed all the way over to where he was. Especially since he had more pressing matters such as the flying skeleton mummy thing which...Wally was now punching. Well shit.


"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."


"We, er. Might need to go. But I can get you away fast."


Flynn wasn't sure how to feel as Belle looked at him with an almost mischievous looking grin.





"Er..." For a moment he almost agreed before turning back to the others that had also fell down here, one of whom was Wally who had just cracked and broken the ribs of the creature attacking them. Flynn glanced at his own hands for his second. Maybe? Nah...no way in hell is that gonna work for me as well.


"Yeah but...we should help the others. Somehow." Flynn replied as he turned back to look at Belle. So much was going on the teens head he wasn't really sure what to think at this point and couldn't do so clearly anyway. His whole thought process was a bit of a mess really. He hoped Belle had an idea. Although it seemed like Wally had already found his own solution to the whole problem. Flynn looked towards his new coyote friend who was still difficult to see in Flynn's shadow and still looking towards the creature menacingly.





C'mon Flynn. You gotta think of something you can do. No point in standing here being useless. Flynn racked his brain for how to tackle the problem that was the creature attacking them all. Maybe if he done the thing that happened when he fell down here. That seemed to help. Problem was he had no idea how he did it, and how it could possibly effect the enemy. At best, maybe if he tried to get that comfortable warm safety net feeling he could cower in fear a little less. But how to go about doing it, Flynn wondered. Do I just...want it?


Flynn let out a frustrated sigh as he continued to attempt doing what he had done previously when he had fallen down into this hellhole. All the while waiting to see if Belle had anything else to say or if anything serious transpired with the creature. I really don't belong in these types of situations...

 

[CloudyBlueDay]

"Yeah but...we should help the others. Somehow." Oh. Oh yeah. That was important. Her mischievous grin turned into one of embarrassment, as her cheeks reddened. "Sorry. I'll.. I'll do something." Her hummingbird started to flit around her, it seemed excited. At first, Belle raised an eyebrow. But as colors exploded around her, another look of wonder was on her face. "Heehee! Look at my feet!" Belle squealed as the colors swirled around at her feet. "Thank you," She told her hummingbird, who chirped in response and touched her cheek to Belle's once more.


She seemed like she was just about to run somewhere else, when Belle paused. "Oh - I like your coyote." She chirped, then, in a flash of purple and emerald, was gone. The way things slowed down when she ran - how her friends blinked in slow-motion, how her hair stayed suspended in the air before tingling her neck again. It was magical. She was magical now. Wally had a giant bear aura. She could see him in slow-mo, his teeth bared as he punched the creature fearlessly. Wow.


When she ran over, closer to the monster, Belle saw it - she saw the monster step over her trail of colors. At first, it didn't click in her brain why the monster changed. But some part of her understood that it was helping. "Wally," She said quietly, since he was closest. "It fizzled when it stepped on my colors." Her eyes widened. "I KNOW HOW TO MAKE MORE COLORS!"


Taking a deep breath, Belle started to run around the monster, leaving flashes of color everywhere. Once Belle felt she'd done enough, she stopped at about a good teen feet away from the monster, examining her work proudly.


"BLONDE GIRL, not you, sparkles," Belle glanced over at Leona, eyes narrowed. "IT'S BLIND, probably, DON'T FRET. DO BACK UP SOME, YEAH?" Then she glanced at Correy, the only other blonde. She seemed scared out of her mind. And right next to her, the big, fluffy bear. Wally's..? Probably. Belle zipped over, closer to Correy, standing beside her almost defensively as she glanced at the monster, waiting for her colors, her trail, to do it's work.

 

[storm3510]

Christina had taken a significantly longer time to recover than that of her associated that had also made their entrances into the cylindrical cavern. Albeit, they'd done so with a bit more style, dare one say “finesse”. Of course, the cerebration underlying Christina's limited actions wasn't the only thing that made this event seem to appear as if it was happening in slow motion... It hadn't taken long for the already strange events to become even stranger. The others that seemed to enter the cavernous cylinder that was the cave recovered at a significantly more stable pace than that of Christina as per the influence of external forces... Belle was somehow significantly faster acting than normal... in a literal sense. She was literally scattering about as if to defy the very limits of momentum capable with the frame of the average teen girl... much less the average human being period. Apparently there wasn't any need for a light as soon enough there was enough glowing in the area from what appeared to be ethereal animal like beings surrounding them. Of course this brief moment of disquiet reprieve was tersely cut to an end by the arrival of a much more unwelcome occurrence than the previous fall.


There was a sudden loud, hollow noise that seemed to pass straight to the bones of whomever was unfortunate enough to hear it without notice... which was Christina especially. As if on instinct, she brought her hands up to her ears, trying her hardest to block out the noise. It was strange that the sound, amongst others, seemed slightly louder to her, suddenly... and in this case it was almost painful enough for her hands to be rendered unable to stop the sounds from seeping through. The only thing to seemingly block out the noise...


"OH SHIT. RIGHT. IT'S COMING BACK!"


“W-what--” Christina would've attempted to question, not having any prior knowledge of the events preceding their descent into this hellish void.


Before long came the appearance of an opaque apparition of bone and satanic inhumanity, carrying with it a fell wind that seemed to pervade every corner of the chasm in which they stood, and yet oddly enough, this presence didn't seem like it entirely belonged strictly to it alone. The disquiet somehow seemed to amplify its presence, only making it all the more terrifying to Christina. So much so that she was locked in place, unable to move from her stance before falling back some as the... “demon” of sorts seemed to be controlling the pieces of stone that still contained metal within them. The girl didn't even have time to react to the phenomenon that was occurring before her eyes, granted in retrospect she wasn't given much time to react to anything for a bit of awhile, as Leona stood up to the beast in an effort to protect the others from it, and with her came what appeared to be a serpentine, glowing dragon that permeated the residual dark atmosphere into which she seemed to step. The dragon's hazy glow was what Christina remained locked on for a matter of moments... “What... the hell am I looking at...?” She'd have spoken aloud. Her attention was retained only by the sound of metallic objects, striking against the walls of the cave, most if not all of which Leona managed to deflect.


"YEAH, THAT AIN'T WORKIN'," she practically yelled at the creature. "LOOK!" Now, she was addressing everyone, the club members, "CONSIDER THIS A LEARN-ON-THE-SPOT EXPERIENCE." With the arm that wasn't fist-down, she pointed at the creature "THIS IS THE SPOT! YOU'RE ON IT! LEARN!"


If there was one thing Christina hated more than not understanding things, it was when people tried to simplify them in incredibly vague ways as if they'd intended for her to mindlessly act on them... and yelled while doing so. Christina glared at the girl with a completely thunderstruck expression, despite that this girl very likely just saved her life. “What the hell are you saying!? What in God's name is that thing!?” Realizing her words, she quickly looked back to the demon as a loud...


"RIGHT!" Another voice cried out, and her attention was drawn to Wally, who was doing the complete opposite of what she'd have expected anyone with an iota of common sense to do. As if on another instinctual act, Christina rose back to her feet, her eyes widening in fear of the boy's safety. Despite his bravery, there should've been no way in hell he would be able to deal with something... like that.


Well she was completely wrong.


Wally, similar to Leona, took on punching at the demon, and much like before, only this time with a brown aura gleaming from the hand he used to strike the thing, it proved effective. The impact looked like it hurt. There was a distinct cracking noise, like that of bones...


Looking over, she also took notice to the other recovering students. One of whom landed on a bear, another who seemed to be giggling while a hummingbird fluttered about her, and yet another who seemed to be remaining distant from the fight, just as she was. The girl with the hummingbird quickly ran to him, presumably to check to see if he was okay. And the girl near the bear now had a butterfly near her. Christina's thoughts continued to ramble on... that is until the demon's grunts broke her concentration. Sometime after this, Belle seemed to enter the fray, running over just as before at a rapid pace, this time leaving a trail of... something... behind her. It appeared to be a type of aura that followed her trail, this also seemed to harm the demon before them. Oddly, Leona had taken on the position of part time cheerleader in this situation, despite being locked in the same position ever since her deflection move.


"TRYING SO HARD, AREN'TCHA?"


Christina, for the most part, was still confused on the situation, but was gaining somewhat of an understanding of what was going on. Slowly, she began to tie what little pieces together that she could as she slowly began to back herself to the wall. Each time one of them did something in this strange cave that honestly felt colder to her than the outside area, there was some sort of power behind it. And somehow that power was related to these animals that spontaneously appeared as if from nowhere. And speaking of things appearing from nowhere...


She suddenly felt a slight brush of something under her right palm, slowly lifting it up in space... It was a familiar feeling... Something similar to the same thing Sparky would do when he was trying to imitate a cat caressing its master's hand by randomly brushing underneath the palm... Only this wasn't Sparky. It most definitely wasn't Sparky It was furrier... furrier and bigger... much bigger... it almost felt identical to Christina's own hair when she woke up in the morning. She looked down for a moment and saw a glowing, crimson bundle of what looked like a radioactive troll doll slowly forming from out of the nothingness of the air around her. But upon closer inspection, Christina's was met with the glowing eyes of a full grown lion that seemed to stand, looking back at her with one foot poised toward the forefront of the battlefield.


“W-what?” She spoke, hardly audible. “No... no way... it's a--” The lion remained in place and looked onward to the fight, as still and calm as an unmoved mountain. It was almost unnerving, the amount of coy sort of content this beast had, combined with how it seemed to, unlike the other spirit animals, fade in and out of existence each time it seemed to move against the air, its paws being the least visible things as they interacted with the earth beneath it, like even though it didn't act like it, its frame was struggling to maintain its presence before her. “He doesn't seem to want to harm me. No, I think he wants--”


"BLONDE GIRL, not you, sparkles," Leona quickly specified, "IT'S BLIND, probably, DON'T FRET. DO BACK UP SOME, YEAH?"


The lion seemed to almost become enlightened by the girl's enthused orders, looking back to Christina one final time as the girl stood. “I must be out of my mind.” Quickly, she stood and ran toward the demon, oddly enough, feeling a sudden kick in her feet. With each step she took, she could feel the urge to jump becoming a more and more tantalizing one. Before long, she made a mighty (or at least as mighty as a previously frightened girl could manage) leap into the air as the hood of her jacket slowly flew off at the peak of her flight. Quickly, she was brought down and, with her foot, slowly beginning to become surrounded by a weak crimson aura that resembled a lion's paw, she aimed directly for the head of the demon beast, trying to ignore that chill bearing in on her each half a second she drew closer to the demon who's head she was trying to cave in.

 

[TerraBooma]

Wally grinned as his fist destroyed the ribs of the beast with a satisfying crack. Punching things actually worked! That was great! Mostly because...Wally wasn't sure what else he would do if it hadn't. Tactics were not exactly his forte after all.


"Wally," Oh hey Belle! Wally was glad to see he wasn't fighting alone. "It fizzled when it stepped on my colors." So...force it over the trail...and hurt it more? Sounded good to Wa- "I KNOW HOW TO MAKE MORE COLORS!" And then she vanished in a blink.


Well ok. Bye Belle. Wally would just keep punching away then, he supposed.


Fortunately, CJ also entered the fight just then, delivering a kick to the monster's head, and as she dropped to the ground, Wally saw the opening he needed. Running forward again, Wally delivered an uppercut to the monster as it reeled back from the kick, hoping to stagger it further, then the teen kept up the assault, transitioning into a viscous punch to the gut intent on pushing the demon back and onto Belle's trail of rainbow sparkles and, for the monster, doom.


After the combo, Wally grinned. He hadn't fought in a long time...he'd promised his Grandma not to get in anymore trouble...but he figured now was an acceptable time to break the rule just the tiniest bit. "We got this guys!" He called out, trying to keep up morale. "Let's kick this thing's ass!"

 

[Kal]

Frontline.

​

CJ's kick, following momentum, trailed down the front of the monster-- right at its center. Crack crack crack crack! From head to abdomen, where the white 'ribs' ended and a spectral 'skirt' formed. Where the aura touched, that rib seemed to glow momentarily, blackening as the aura passed, leaving a line of broken, blackened 'ribs'.

As CJ's foot was halfway down the creature's body, Wally sprung to action, delivering two blows, one landing on the exposed neck, and one to the gut, crack! a few more 'ribs' splintering with the hit, its force bringing the creature to its knees. The bear claws of the aura, whenever they sunk into the creature, a white sort of glow would appear around where ethereal nails touched inhuman flesh. When they were drawn out, the glow was gone.

The creature roared, one of fury. Its face and body, the parts where the ribs had been shattered off, they were exposed. Its face could be seen now. It looked around with sockets for eyes, following with its head the trail of emerald and purple, and screeched in shrill unpleasantness. The cry, it was ... desperate?

CJ's foot was just about to touch ground, just as Wally cried in triumph. The creature reached out with both arms. Grabbing CJ's ankle in one and Wally's ankle in the other. CJ's aura caused the claw-like hands to begin to glow amber, even as it tightly gripped her flesh. Wally's aura, like before, prevented the grip from touching his skin.

Screaming through its wretched mouth, it spun up without warning, like a dancer playing the role of a top, it threw them to opposite sides.

Wally's resisted, sending him falling backwards rather than flying. He fell onto his back, cushioned by the aura. Just for a moment, the aura blinked out, but as he recovered his footing, it would return. All around him, on the ground, were Belle's trails. Thick lines of color that, as he noticed, the creature didn't dare cross despite his prone, vulnerable position.

Christina went flying to the wall, only to be stopped by a soft poff! She dropped to the ground, hardly more painful than a half-hearted slap. When she looked behind her, to see what had stopped her back-breaking impact, the brown bear would be standing, looking at her curiously.

From fluffy physical, CJ would notice it faded fast to see-through. Very see-through.

The lion roared silently, retaliating, launching to the spinning creature and swiping its extended claws. Though the lion itself was of red light, waving in and out like fire, its claws were black as sin, and looked as solid as the consequence of such. Crack crack crack! Swiping the back, leaving more skin exposed. it landed majestically in front of CJ, and turned to face the screeching creature.​

Side-Front.

​

Like flying joy, Belle ran circles around the monster. Her trail was as large as the radius of color that had formed underneath her feet, making the colorful lines she left behind that much more robust.


"Belle," Correy almost breathed. Is she... here to...? The speed-girl was standing beside her almost protectively... Blood began to return back to Correy's face. She forced herself to stand up, eyes drawn almost unwittingly to the vibrant colors that formed circles around the creature. "How did..." 'Hoods' was landing an astounding kick, a red glow around her foot. "How are any of you..." Wally was punching the thing, a brown aura surrounding him... a brown aura the shape of the... "Doing this...?"


Bear. Correy looked behind her. Odd. It was see-through now. Before, she had to struggle to notice. Now, it was obvious. Its eyes watching intently the two frontliners attacking the white monster.


And then the creature grabbed them.

Backline.

​

Leona saw it. As it recovered from the lion's blow, turning around, a desperateness about it as it looked with its sockets at the large lines of emerald and purple, vibrating with color. Turn. More lines. Turn. More lines. They were circles. It was probably realizing them. Several circles of brilliant color that kept its only safespot in the middle. Lest it wished traverse for a price.


Leona saw it. As it lifted its head at Belle, and screamed.


Leona saw it. As it then turn around and look at her.


The girl faltered. What the shit kind of fac--

Center.

Leona lost her grip on the metal, if only a moment. But the creature felt it, felt its metal. The gold came flying to the creature, forming into a large ball. For once where it had only one goal, only one prey, now there around it were seven. How quickly they had come up. It felt them. Worse now, it could see them. The thing howled, launching the gold ball from a'front it to the girl surrounded by the dragon's tail.​

Side-Front.

​

It can see now? Correy had heeded Leona's words, but, the thing... It seemed fixated on the trail, Belle's trail. "Ain't too happy about that, is it-- Oh shi--!!" Correy saw the metal gathering, saw how it flew on the command of the enemy. She wanted to stop it, stop the ball, stop the creature. It could see, if only she could make it not see--


A light brilliantly shined in front of the creature's eyes. Just for a moment, before disappearing. The mosnter roared, shielding its eyes with its rib-covered arms, but ball had already been sent, its trajectory unaffected.

Mid-line.

The coyote seemed to almost nod at Flynn, acknowledging his acknowledgement. It seemed to be doing the same as him, watching the battlefield, looking for a cue, or an opening. When the metal came flying overhead, towards the creature, it showed its gums in a silent snarl.

"Grrr...." Flynn suddenly heard, just before the gold ball was sent, like a bullet, towards Leona. The violet-blue coyote jumped from the shadow, catching the ball in its teeth, white as heaven, and unlike the rest of it, solid-looking. Dropping down to the ground, back in Flynn's shadow, it gave Flynn a single look, then trained its eyes on the monster, growling.

The ball in the coyote's mouth, Flynn would see, was frosting over. Also, it wiggled, as if trying to move. As before, it looked like the creature was trying to take it back. The bony white monster still had its eyes shielded, its lack of sight not hindering its control over the metal. Yet again, it was going to be no easy task, as the metal in the coyote's teeth lethargically moved, not finding enough momentum to escape.​

Backline.

​

Imogen had seen the ball flying, and launched herself at Leona, whom she was more-or-less right next to. Both warm-haired girls dropped, Imogen rolling and then getting up, ready again to move if need be, the red-panda on her shoulder looking just as alert and on stand-by.


"T-thanks," Leona said, shaky from the whole damn thing, but trying to shake it off, frown, and not show it. The tackle hadn't been necessary in the end, but it didn't seem to phase Imogen from readying herself for the next threat, nor did it make Leona any less gracious to the redhead and the boy who'd stopped the gold bullet.

 

[TerraBooma]

Wally grunted as he hit the ground. The bear-boy slid back a few inches before coming to a stop, still protected by his aura. Wally wasn't about to consider the how's or the why's as to what was going on. That had...pretty much never been his job. Getting up, the boy chuckled. This was starting to get interesting. He took a quick second to scan the room. He could throw the monsters into Belle's trails. It wouldn't be hard at this point. Even if it could see.


But Then Wally's eyes flashed over to CJ, still unsteady after getting thrown back into the bear, who seemed to nod to Wally with...almost a grin. Within seconds, he knew what to do. Falling back slightly, Wally positioned so that he was in front of even the Tiger. Attacks weren't about to get by him to CJ while she was on the ground, unable to defend herself. "Hey! Christina!" He shouted as he called back. Remaining one of the few people to call CJ by her true name. "You alright back there? C'mon get up! We still gotta kick this thing's ass!"


Wally's attitude was almost infectious, and Fluffy would help CJ as she started to get to her fight, standing lazily at her side when she was standing.


"I gotta plan!" He called to CJ as she stood up. "I'll run forward and make it unsteady, when it does, kick that thing over one of Belle's trails!" If CJ agreed to the plan Wally would dash forward again, blocking the monster's view of CJ with his Aura. Wally then leapt into the air for a crushing punch to the face. It'd hurt enough on it's own, but the true purpose was to make it unsteady for CJ's follow up attack. He'd roll when he hit the ground and spin as he stood to keep the monster facing him, breathing hard. After a moment, he'd put himself between the monster and wherever CJ was, effectively stopping-or at least intercepting- a counter attack on the girl.


If CJ disagreed and substituted her own plan of attack, Wally would follow along with whatever she needed him to do.

 

[Kal]

As Wally ran to the monster, it recovering its eyesight (as the teens may have noticed, much of the ribs that had originally been covering the monster had been broken off by hits, and because of that, its skin and such were showing, including the skin of its face. It seemed it itself had covered its own eyesight by its ribs. But why?), it stood, floating, a rock clattering by Leona.


"OH SHIT!" she pointed, but for some reason, didn't do anything(did it have something to do with her dragon? Her power? Her lack of enthu- Yeah, there was nothing wrong with her enthusiasm, but what was it that was keeping her from helping with her power? Earlier, wasn't she helping by keeping down the rocks?). Imogen turned her head, but the melted piece of gold was already flying at Flynn. Imogen launched herself, an orange burst of energy launching her to her directive: the boy teen. She tackled him, altogether flattening him as she rolled back onto her feet. The miniscule gold ball missed Flynn, but pinged its second target-- the gold ball in the coyote's teeth.


As this was happening, Wally's oncoming self was keeping the creature off-kilter, it swiped its claws at him, its control over the gold ball shoddy. Still, its previous movements managed to dislodge the ball from the coyote's mouth (it whimpered), and the mini gold orbited around the larger gold ball, pinging painfully off the coyote's teeth before it could get the ball again. The ball gained momentum. Now, it split into two gold spheres, but they quickly formed into the shape of a fat bullet.


And they both aimed at Wally.

 

[CloudyBlueDay]

"Belle," "Hi!" "How did..." A shrug. "How are any of you..." Belle lifted up the sole of her shoe to see if there were colors on it. Not exactly on the shoe. Just swirling around. Hmn. "Doing this...?" "Oh, I don't have the slightest idea. But I got a hummingbird friend." Belle grinned.


"Ain't too happy about that, is it-- Oh shi--!!" Belle blinked. So many places to zip about but she wasn't sure where to start. The monster could see now? Gold balls were flying - Imogen was knocking people to the gorund, Belle was suddenly overwhelmed.


"I gotta plan!" Even though Wally had been talking to CJ, Belle glanced over, listening, making sure she was there to help if something went awry. "I'll run forward and make it unsteady, when it does, kick that thing over one of Belle's trails!" She beamed, knowing her trails were a crucial part in winning the battle over this monster. It made her feel good. Part of a team. She was part of a team.


Wally was fighting hard. He had really cool bear-shaped aura, and the monster didn't like it. But it kept avoiding her trails, and Belle gnawed on her lip nervously. Should she make more? Her colors were everywhere, how was the monster avoiding it so expertly? She watched the gold ping all around the room, off of Flynn's coyote's teeth (poor guy..) and then.. straight towards Wally.


She zipped over to him, grabbed his hand tightly, and zipped him away, back near Correy where she had stood before. Belle smiled at him. "I don't think gold bullets would've been pleasant." She looked back at the monster, frowning. "Do you want me to make more trails?"

 

[Kal]

The creature roared as its prey was taken from it. It turned around like a ballet dancer, the smoothness of its motion allowed by its lack of feet, its eyes sweeping the trails that kept it prisoner within this circle. Its socketless eyes lifted and trained on Belle, the bullets flying after her in an act of fury. Desperate, it tried to push past the trail that it was on the edge of. "GRRRAWWWWWW" it screamed, the piercing voice hitting the wall and bouncing back. The part where it had tried to cross the trail had blackened. The emerald and purple were on its spectral skirt, swirling, almost trying to climb it. When it looked down and saw, it tried to beat the colors off. The colors jumped onto its hands, swirling jubilee onto monochrome claws. The creature screamed again.


"Oh shut up you whiny b--" Correy covered her ears.


"I get it... I see... it can only aim at spirits without its sight..." Imogen began to say, glancing at Flynn, "It was aiming for the coyote spirit, you were just in the trajectory."


"GUYS HOLD OUT. I'M RECHARGING," came a familiar, notable voice from the back.

 

[storm3510]

The attack was as successful as she'd hoped it'd be. Of course the moment of reprieve wasn't to last nearly as long as she'd wanted. The monster before her had regained its senses enough to snatch Christina by the ankle and toss her, almost hell bent on breaking her leg into the nearby wall, Wally having been through in the opposite direction. Approaching the wall at a rapid speed, the girl had no time to even ponder how to slow herself down, and was proceeding at such a fast trajectory that it seemed impossible to prepare herself for the imminent impact... which oddly came much softer than she'd initially belived it would. Standing, she saw the bear nearby, and was able to take a sigh of relief.


“You know, you'd be an excellent catcher in baseball...” She spoke aloud, suddenly realizing that the bear may have protected her... however...


Looking over to Wally, as clearly as she could see down the tunnel, he'd landed on the ground and almost skid to a stop, but he wasn't as harmed as he should've been. Somehow the aura that he held protected him, which was more than Christina could say for her own. Suddenly, Wally made his move, running over and appearing to be defending not only her, but the lion as well, who stood proudly alongside him, growling at the demon that stood before them.


"Hey! Christina!" He called out to her. "You alright back there? C'mon get up! We still gotta kick this thing's ass!" From the looks of it, he was just fine, and thanks to his companion, the bear, so was she. Quickly, the girl stood to her feet, hands clenched in a fist. It was enough that this beast was attempting to harm her, but now because of its hijinks, she owed this kid a favor, thereby giving him the motive to refer to her by her actual name. While she didn't mind it in the least, her forethought definitely made it a point to use what would normally anger her to fuel her attack regimen.


"I gotta plan!" He called to Christina. "I'll run forward and make it unsteady, when it does, kick that thing over one of Belle's trails!" The plan sounded simple enough, and she was ready to make her move as soon as Wally made his... however...


The moment that he attempted it, the demon acted first, releasing its attack which hit the glowing coyote nearby, and was then aiming toward Wally. Christina exclaimed shortly, but then saw that he was saved by Belle, stopping herself. For a moment, Christina examined the disgruntled demon, trapped within the glowing essence that came from Belle's powers.


“At the very least, I can make sure myself and the others are safe until this thing finds a way to get out of that trap it's in...” She thought, running over to the group, but standing near her lion, a hand placed on its mane as it stood, ready to attack. She then looked back to the group. While there, she'd have taken part in the prevailing discussion.


"I get it... I see... it can only aim at spirits without its sight..." Imogen began to say, glancing at Flynn, "It was aiming for the coyote spirit, you were just in the trajectory."


While Christina hadn't been paying much attention to the aesthetics of the battle, Imogen made a valid point. The beast's loss of sight had limited it greatly, but it still bothered Christina that this thing could still sense the essences of the group's newfound companions. “Well even if it can't see us,” Christina began, referring to everyone behind her, but still keeping her eyes locked on the demon ahead, trapped by the assortment of colors... “It doesn't seem like it's having much trouble attacking us. Wally, that plan of yours might work if we're careful about it. It seems preoccupied with the magic left behind by Belle. If we watch each others' backs, we should be able to get it.”


"GUYS HOLD OUT. I'M RECHARGING," came a familiar, notable voice from the back.


Christina looked back, now, raising an eyebrow. “If this thing can only see the spirits, then, for the time being, that may ben advantageous to us...”

 

[TerraBooma]

Wally breathed hard and nodded to belle. "Thanks for the assist." He grinned and turned to look at his friends


The group that had formed around him. They were all in a defensive position, a tense but brief stop in the action. His mind was going a mile a minute as he tried to come up with a plan. There had to be someway they could take this thing down. Direct attacks were annoying it, but they were slow. As this thing got more exposed, it's attacks got more accurate...that was bad. So he had to come up with some other way through...But Then Cj spoke


“It doesn't seem like it's having much trouble attacking us. Wally, that plan of yours might work if we're careful about it. It seems preoccupied with the magic left behind by Belle. If we watch each others' backs, we should be able to get it.”


Wally snapped his fingers. "Perfect!" He said, before spinning to Correy. "Earlier, you did a thing and it just ignored you, I need you to do that again. But like, for everyone. Make it look like there's a big part of the wall in front of us. It's important that this thing can't see most of us."


Wally then turned to CJ, a confident look on his face. "We'll wait for the distraction, then burst out of Cords'...thing. We might even be able to sneak up a bit depending on how far forward it is. Same plan, I make it get all crazy, knock it around and try and unsteady it. You kick that thing to kingdom come, over Belle's pixie dust." He motioned the liens all around the monster.


"Which brings me to the distraction:" Wally looked Belle in the eye. He only had one other order. He didn't know the rest of the group's abilities well enough to incorporate them, but he wasn't about to stop if someone decided to help somehow.


"Belle. Make Colours. Lots."


As he gave the order, he realized it was a dangerous part of the mission, and Fluffy slowly ambled over to Belle, away from CJ' side. When Belle started on the distraction job, darting all over the place, Fluffy would...surprisingly be able to keep up.


"Right guys! Let's kill this thing seven ways to sunday and be back in time for Chocolate Sundae's at my Grandma's!"


As the plan started to go into action, Wally remembered Leona as a sort of afterthought. "Whatever your charging... Uhh...Do that!

 

[Flabbysaurus]

"Look o-" Flynn couldn't even get all of his words out to warn Leona before his new coyote friend managed to...catch the bullet? Flynn looked at the coyote, slightly in awe that he (she, it?) had managed to catch the projectile in its mouth.





"Uh. Good boy." Flynn didn't seem to sure with himself as he praised the ethereal creature. Not that he didn't believe what he was saying, more-so because he wasn't sure how to address the strange spirit looking animal. At this point, Flynn had ditched his previous idea of how he could whatever he had previously so he could try and help the group not die. And just as he began to follow that train of thought, his attention was quickly directed elsewhere.


"OH SHIT!"


Flynn didn't even manage to turn his head to see where Leona was pointing in time. It was lucky Imogen was there to knock him out of the way, Of course, Flynn wasn't as graceful as Imogen who, unlike her, simply smacked into the ground. It hurt, but he would much rather take some bruises over a gold ball piercing him. Looking up, the teen noticed the golden ball hit the coyote's mouth. Dislodging the one it had caught. Now it had control over two of them. Great.


"It was aiming for the coyote spirit, you were just in the trajectory."


"Oh. All is forgiven then. I'm sure this absolutely horrifying monster wasn't trying to kill me, or any of us in the first place. Sorry for beating you up, PAL!" Flynn replied, not directing his obvious anger towards Correy, it seemed like the boy was venting stress as he stood on the sidelines, scared and confused as to how he or any of them would get out of this situation alive. Unnecessary? Yes. Did Flynn care whether it did? No, not in the slightest.

 

[CloudyBlueDay]

"Eep!" Belle squealed as she saw the bullets flying her way. Belle never was a dodgeball star, but with her speed she managed to zip around them and reach safety. One of the bullets ever so lightly grazed her arm, a small little cut, a reminder that even with her new powers she wasn't invincible. In no time she'd returned to her spot with Wally and Correy.


"Thanks for the assist." "Uh, yup. No problem."


“Well even if it can't see us,” Christina began, referring to everyone behind her, but still keeping her eyes locked on the demon ahead, trapped by the assortment of colors... “It doesn't seem like it's having much trouble attacking us. Wally, that plan of yours might work if we're careful about it. It seems preoccupied with the magic left behind by Belle. If we watch each others' backs, we should be able to get it.”


"GUYS HOLD OUT. I'M RECHARGING," Belle flinched, slightly startled by the yell. “If this thing can only see the spirits, then, for the time being, that may ben advantageous to us...” "Perfect!" Wally's plan, she had to admit, made Belle excited.


"Which brings me to the distraction:" Another big grin spread across Belle's face, as she knew it was her turn to have a part in Wally's plan. Sure, Belle was constantly fought over by the numerous clubs at school. But was she really part of a team? Not there. Not really. But in just 20 minutes, her life had completely changed. She was really fast. She had a hummingbird friend. And she was part of a team.


"Belle. Make Colours. Lots."


Belle saluted Wally, glancing at the bear that stalked it's way over to her. She patted it on the head, smiling, before she poofed into a burst of colors, creating even more than the last round. It was strange to see Wally's bear running, or at least attempting to run beside her. She'd understood that the bear made it's way to anyone who seemed to be in danger, or was about to be. Belle gulped. She hoped it wouldn't end badly.

 

[Kal]

"What?" Correy eyebrows furrowing in question. Flynn was for some reason was venting her way. "Beat it up all you want!"


"It means us harm nevertheless," Imogen said, following up. "No-- uh, girl in hood, no. It can see us so as long as--"


"Perfect!"


Now this was a new side of Wally that Correy hadn't seen. He seemed so... enthused.


"Earlier, you did a thing and it just ignored you, I need you to do that again. But like, for everyone. Make it look like there's a big part of the wall in front of us. It's important that this thing can't see most of us."


Huh? Oh, wait, yeah. The beast of light. Then the shining light. Correy wasn't sure why, but the way it was adding up. Was that what she could do? Make a bloody light show? Reds was saying the creature could see... so... wait... "Wall. Got it. Make it looks solid." Alright you little, ugly, shitty creature. Let's make this that much more difficult on you.


"Throw your spirits to the other side of the wall! It can sense them!" Imogen followed up.


Wall. Solid. Wall. Couldn't see through it. Wall. Right in front of-- "Oh shit. That worked," Correy looked wide-eyed at her handywork. Correy could see right through the wall, she wondered if her friends could.


But the monster looked confused, the bullets swirling around trying to find a target. Belle moved at dizzying speeds, all the monster noticed were the colors on the ground, not the whirlwind making them. (The monster is now trying to get past the purple and emerald trail, getting attacked by said colors, roaring, backing up, and repeat until something new happens)


"The spirits! Send them out!" Imogen repeated, her own red panda jumping from her shoulder.


"I guess that means you, huh..." Correy took the butterfly from her shoulder onto her finger, then gave it a boost, it flying mechanically, heavily, off past the wall. "...Oh shit, you're hurt." Correy remarked upon noticing when the Speed Queen returned to safety, her hummingbird happily flitting around the creature, as if taunting it. "Belle, your arm."

 

[TerraBooma]

Wall grinned as his plan went into action. Belle was making colors, the spirits were shifting out and Correy had managed to make an illusion, or so Wally thought. Everything was, for once. Falling into place for the teen. At least you know, his monster-killing plans started out right 50% of the time.


"Right! Now!" He said, calling out after a few moments as the spirit had it truly distracted. He burst forth from the cover, Aura flaring wild as he ran toward the monster. Even if the monster fired a gold ball at Wally, he'd let out another bear-roar and keep charging, attempting to bash it aside out of the air before it hit his body.


When he reached the monster, he darted to the side before coming back with a wicked right hook, attempting to unsteady it with all his might. He had put his trust on CJ, as the attack left him out in the open for whatever the monster could do if it wasn't pushed back. Wally had only two words to say as he finished his attack.


"CHRISTINA! NOW! HIT IT!"

 

[storm3510]

Christina heard loud and clear. “Time to challenge myself!” She thought, as the frenzy began. Belle almost looked like a shooting star she was zipping about so quick, and Correy was doing her best to keep the beast ahead at bay. The other spirits nearby had fled to the other half of the area, drawing the fire of the demon that was becoming visibly enraged by the activity that would hinder its successful act of murdering the young ones. And in its dismay, it would have yet another problem to deal with. Wally; as soon as the plan had been set into motion, the boy charged steadfast, toward the demon. Christina, form the other side of the wall that Correy had created, swiftly followed behind him, building as much rage as she could manage within her fists. The glowing crimson aura quickly took on its flame like semblance that radiated from her hands and feet as she proceeded onward. She'd timed herself as perfectly as she could so that she could run at her highest speed while not impeding on Wally's progress. Soon enough, the boy had reached the demon and jabbed it right in the sweet spot (wherever those may be on a demon.) Wally's quick melee attack, regardless of its effectiveness, gave Christina just enough confidence to trigger yet another jump. She could feel it building in her feet, that insatiable desire to pounce as high as she could.


"CHRISTINA! NOW! HIT IT!"


And so she did.


She leapt into the air with greater finesse than before, and this time, homing in on her target, began to flip into a sort of vertical, head to toe frontward spin so that the crimson aura, following the movement of her limbs, began to surround her. With haste, she braced for impact on the last possible spin, turning herself a bit and, with both feet, drop kicked the demon clean into where its face was supposed to be, hoping to throw it back as far as possible into the trail left by Belle's star dance. Regardless of the impact, she'd have dropped to her feet on the ground afterward and then jumped back a bit to wherever Wally was.