Zone E -- Highlands

[Tearen Wover]

"Hm. Fucked up."

Tearen caught the Synpad in mid-air with a telekinetic snag as Strazio tossed it back towards him. To pass the time, and fill the otherwise monumental silence between them, Tearen had shown the Defender the footage of his retelling of the Underverse. Strazio had dutifully watched and listened to the entire tale, and the elder Prime had no doubt that the mage was genuinely taking in every relevant detail. That's why his reserved response was all the more irksome. Tearen breathed through the feelings of frustration. Strazio didn't owe him anything; it had been Tearen's choice to seek him out, and it had been Tearen's choice to provide the rage mage with renewed life.

"So you understand what will happen if Dracula suc–"

"Yes I fucking understand. You think I didn't before now? I'm not stupid, Tearen." Strazio said, shooting the elder Prime a savage look. Tearen sighed. The boy's anger was contagious, and he would have to be careful not to give in to the heady vapors of emotional incontinence. Another gulf of silence opened between them, save for small exchanges where the two contestants compared opinions on the best ways to navigate these quiet mountains. As it stood, they were approaching a long, electronically lit tunnel. It was a passage for a road that meandered away from the city, and even now, random vehicles sat lifeless in the middle of the road. On a whim, Tearen extended his eldritch awareness into the machinery of one of these derelicts, and made an unsurprising discovery. They all had empty fuel tanks. As the pair passed into the tiled length of tunnel, Strazio made a rare concession towards the Shadow's efforts.

"I get what you're trying to do. That's the only reason I'm still here." he said, before falling silent again. Tearen nodded solemnly. It was about as close to an admission of respect he was liable to get out of the bellicose caster at the moment.

Tearen and Strazio move from E5 to E6
Tearen also consumes his 3 Elixers off-screen

[Tearen Wover]

Tearen decided he liked tunnels. Especially tunnels as grand and well-designed as the one they had just traveled through. For all the inhibiting nonsense of society, the elder Prime did feel like he was able to give mortals credit for their ingenuity. Nealaphh would not have felt so comfortable, admitting that such lowly grains of sand could produce something of serious merit, but thankfully, the Premier Enigma was no more. He found himself growing nostalgic within the brooding silence of his tenuous partnership, and the few attempts he had made to learn more about Strazio Rockwell had been refuted with barely-restrained venom.

Strazio's biographical information did not provide much more assistance. The elder Prime was beginning to suspect that the furious Prime's anger was not just a product of personal indiscretion, but an actual survival technique. A constant, percolating bolus of anger, held closely in one's mind. It could be siphoned and redirected for many purposes; summoning determination, refusing pain, fueling strength...his previous persona may have admired such ingenuity. As it stood, however, Tearen simply couldn't imagine how exhausting it must be. So he asked.

"How do you do it?" the eldritch human asked, peering at Strazio's backlit face. The sun was setting behind the mountain, and the lighting was causing glares to ricochet off of every slightly reflective surface. Given the recent rain, this was essentially every direction. Strazio rolled his eyes.

"Can we skip the vague shit?" he snapped, adding an exasperated sigh. Again, Tearen checked his own temper.

"Fine." Tearen said in a tone that was a little more sharp than he had been shooting for, "How do you sustain your constant anger? Does it not make you weary?"

Strazio fumed for a moment, but did his best to withhold punching his teammate in the face again.

"Pretty fuckin' easy with someone like you askin' dumbass questions like that."

Silence fell between them again, and they continued on the glistening road...

Tearen and Strazio move from E6 to E7

[Tearen Wover]

As Tearen and Strazio continued along the southbound highway, weaving among the mountain's sheer cliffs, the pair of Primes passed by the spot where he and Malon had fought Cell and Archer approximately one day ago. They didn't stop moving nor dwell on the fact, but the elder Prime could easily spot the stretch of beach where the exchange had taken place. Trees were splintered, rocks were scorched, and memories of pain shouted angrily up at him as the wended along the asphalt high above. It reminded the Shadow to check Malon's progress in the Colosseum, and so he willed his Synpad to float around to face him.

The fight had progressed significantly since he had last checked. It seemed as though the Sage was willing to help defend Malon against Victor Hendy, which produced mixed feelings in the ex-enigma. On one hand, he appreciated that the Sage was valiant enough to recognize the difference between depredation and competition. On the other hand, this was Malon's opportunity to learn how to fly, having been so rudely ejected from Tearen's metaphorical nest. It seemed as though she had gotten a grip over her initial panic, which warmed the eldritch human's heart; like watching a toddler's first steps.

Atta girl, Mal.

Tearen felt Strazio's eyes peering curiously at the hovering screen. The elder Prime turned around and glanced at the rage mage, who was unabashed by his own snooping.

"That was the girl you were teamed up with before, right?"

"Yes."

"Nice."

Tearen sighed. He couldn't be absolutely sure that Strazio was indicating an approval of some perceived sexual interest; the man's miasma of brooding ire was as impervious as ever. Still, this was a train of thought that was better left at the crossroads.

"She was like daughter to me."

Strazio raised an eyebrow. His tone was not entirely chiding.

"Oh. You two have known each other a while then?"

Tearen's gaze shifted slightly. It was an uncharacteristic moment of self-conscious thinking, and it did not escape the battlemage's notice.

"Oh so...it's like a...complex or something?" Strazio said in a tone that seemed a little too loud, despite the fact that there wasn't so much as a single buzz-cam nearby. Tearen's face adopted a soft scowl, but he breathed and accepted the reality.

"Something, yeah. In my homeworld I had a daughter...I..." Tearen trailed off, not sure how much he should simplify this story. Strazio nodded quietly and held up his remaining hand in a halting manner.

"I got ya." the Avatar of Rage said softly. He wasn't really one to be judging other people's coping mechanisms, and he was aware of this. Despite the fact that Strazio seemed to accept the behavior he had been hiding, Tearen was still reticent to confront it directly. It conjured memories of a few too many messes that he would he was reluctant to dwell on.

The pair continued on in silence once again.

Tearen and Strazio moved from E7 to E10

[Strazio Rockwell]

So many damn questions. And Strazio was sure Tearen knew the answer to most of them, or at least had a damn good idea. The mage had finally pinpointed that subconscious unease that he felt when they had first met. It went far beyond just a healthy portion of paranoia, no, it had the trappings of something far more insidious. That subdermal scratching was not an internal creation, but rather the external machinations of his companion. While he wasn’t convinced that Tearen’s probing was malicious he was irked by the wanton disregard for another’s thinkpan. As an act of passive-aggressive defiance Strazio opened the floodgates. Every negative thought, emotion, and feeling was stirred up and brought front and center for the intruder to glut himself upon.

“Well now, that was unnecessary,” Tearen noted.

Strazio growled, the sudden surge of ill thoughts had soured his stomach, he stopped walking and answered, “you shouldn’t be poking around in other’s heads without permission motherfucker.”

“I…” Tearen began, his eyes scanning Strazio’s scowl, “I apologize, I’m just trying to understand you better, if we’re to be allies it would behoove us to work as a team rather than enemies.”

Sparks cascaded across the boy’s skin, leaving burns in their collective wakes. Once again he had lost his temper and things had turned sideways on him. Strazio took a deep breath and averted his gaze.

“Just,” Strazio began, trying to decide on what he wanted to say, “what even are you? You’re like a hierophant or something like that right?”

“Hierophant?”

“Yeah, well, if you have to ask you aren’t one,” Strazio answered, “a hierophant is a rare form of magus from my homeworld, they can read minds and do all that telekinesis shit that you can do, I’m a thaumaturge, well kind of a thaumaturge, it’s complicated really, hard to have any common language when there is so few of us in the first place, anyways if you aren’t a magick user then what are you?”

Tearen thought for a moment and answered, “I’m a man by necessity, a god by habit.”

“Oh well that clears things right up doesn’t it,” Strazio said, injecting as much sarcasm into his voice as was possible.

“We should keep moving,” Tearen stated.

“Yeah.”

Moving Tearen and Strazio from E10 to E12

[Tearen Wover]

The far southern end of the island's micro mountain range was Tearen's favorite terrain he had encountered so far. Large, towering limestone pillars rose and fell, blending into the sea as columns of basalt hexagons slowly crumbled from white cliffs into the churning froth. The eldritch human peered fearlessly over the lip of one such cliff, admiring the play of waning sunlight on the surf far below. Yes, the view was nice, but they had also discovered that the Syntech item drop had landed quite perilously among the branches of a stalwart tree, jutting out from the side of the cliff.

As much Strazio had been eager to retrieve the package himself, Tearen insisted on performing the free climb...least of all because he actually did possess two working hands. The rage mage did not have a readily available counterpoint to this observation, and so relented in his persistence. Thus, Tearen gingerly lowered himself over the crumbling edge, finding purchase with his feet and clasping tightly to sharp facets in the curious formations. Oh, would that he could have simply...flown himself down and snatched the package, but, as it was, his daring retrieval had garnered the attention of one, lonely little buzz-cam.

Honestly, a four-piece suit was not the proper attire for such an attempt, but at least the elder Prime had deigned to doff his polished shoes. The cold, rough rock felt weighty and real beneath his muscled toes, and a steady drip of adrenaline kept an incorrigible grin on his face. Chastising winds caused his braided hair to whip and whirl in front of his face, but that was okay. Tearen could feel everything within a dozen yards of himself, and the Syntech package certainly went out of its way to be conspicuous.

"Just...tele-grab it and come back up." Strazio yawned. There was a note of concern in his voice, but Tearen grokked that it was mostly out of a sense of urgency to return to the tumult of Zone C. Tearen breathed out a pang of disappointment through his nose as he willed the package to wriggle free from its drop chute and fly to his clutches. Just when he had been about to have some much needed fun, business still demanded his full attention.

No matter. They had what they came for.

When Tearen hoisted himself back over the grey stone face of the sea-cliff, Strazio was looking at the island's map.

"People are converging on Zone C again." he said in a calm but assertive voice. Tearen let out a soft wheeze as he bent over to put his shoes back on.

"Ah...what's Stormrage doing?"

"Milling around the Safehouse like a little bitch. I swear, if he gets culled before I get my hands on him..."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Hopefuly Karl will see the merit of a grudge match, though. In the mean time, we should get back on the road." Tearen said, donning his backpack once more and heading back towards the looping road that had carried them here. Honestly, Tearen didn't know why more of the contestants didn't use the roads on the island. They were very easy to traverse, and it wasn't like they could hide from one another...

Tearen acquires/gives Strazio the dropped item at E12
Tearen and Strazio move to E13

[Tearen Wover]

Tearen and Strazio rounded the long, looping highway that traced the southern tip of the mountains. They had happened upon a derelict gas station, and found a decent amount of supplies within. Yes, the food was preserved and dry, but there was an abundance of fresh water tanks within, and it also made for a decent place to rest for some time. Curious about the fuel station, Tearen walked around the parking lot, plumbing the depths beneath the pumps to see if his hypothesis was correct. It was, and as he suspected, this gas station was also completely out of fuel. The eldritch human was beginning to suspect that there might not actually be a great deal of meaning behind the odd absence of the island's inhabitants.

It was likely that they had never existed at all; that this entire battleground used these trappings of 21st human living strictly as a means of convenience and ornamentation. Summoned a la carte to serve the purpose of whatever setting Karl Jak thought fitting for that year's proceedings. After all, say what you would about the foppish overseer, but Karl was a flawless showman. It stood to reason he would put an inordinate amount of work into creating only the most lavish arena for his contestants to bleed on.

That really only left the question of how he did it, but this was so irrelevant to Tearen's current conundrums as to be entirely irrelevant. Strazio compounded this outlook when he came strolling out of the gas station's concession section, wiping the last few dregs of a fresh drink from his chin.

"Let's try to get back to the city before nightfall. Not all of us have the perception of a bat." Strazio said, brushing past the strolling Shadow. Tearen hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders and followed suit. The tension between them was starting to become appreciably slackened. He was sure that their first foray into combat would cement their bond.

...not that Tearen was desperate for Strazio's approval, or anything.

Tearen and Strazio moved from E12 to E13

[Tearen Wover]

Sorry, forgot where we were for a second. I meant E13 to E11

[Karl Jak]

As of yesterday, it is now Day 5, for the purposes of safehouses and posting requirements.

Day 5 will run until July 4th at 430 PM CDT

[Tearen Wover]

As Tearen and Strazio moved north, the sky had turned a solid violet color as the last rays of sun struggled to stretch above the horizon. Despite the fact that Tearen could track the movements of every single Prime on the island, the encroaching darkness still conjured the latent chords of fight or flight embedded in his human brain. When he had still lived in his eldritch body, such survival instincts as these simply did not exist. So, now that he had the capacity to feel them again, they felt quite strong indeed. Anticipation grew as they neared each lonely building on the highway. Whispering phantasms of dangerous possibility lurked in the ubiquitous trees that encroached on the cracked pavement.

Strazio noticed that his teammate seemed a little more jumpy, but made no comment. He had come to understand that Tearen was full of puzzling idiosyncrasies, but when it came down to it, the elder Prime would deliver. At least, that's what his recorded fights indicated.

Tearen himself was staying occupied by trying to notice all the little details Karl had missed when creating the island. The most glaring thing was that there were absolutely no road signs. Traffic lights? Yes. Billboards? Yes. But for th life of him, Tearen would not have been able to tell anyone the name of the road they were on.

The few convenience stores that they raided had no receipts in the ledgers, no pay stubs in the management offices, or any indication that anyone had used any of these facilities ever. Strazio wasn't sure why Tearen was always peering into the cash registers and gently sniffing the air in the restrooms, but again, he let it go.

They continued north, and the lights of Megacity One came into view over the crest of the next hill. Even from their remote position, Tearen could feel memories of pain and blood carried on the wind...

Tearen and Strazio moved from E11 to E9

[Handsome Jack]

For now, I'm perfectly fine with letting Anal Seepage lead the way in our trio. I didn't really trust the guy to be behind me. Not just because the thought of a guy named 'Anal' being behind me is concerning, but he also hasn't exactly been friendly to myself nor Archer since we joined up with the guy. Hell, he was Blueberry's... friend? Hell, I dunno. Probably lover with how often she's yelled out 'God' when he's around. I didn't even know she HAD an anus, but apparently she's a freaky bitch.

Aaaaanyway, yeah. Don't want the angry lightning guy behind me. So, let him have his ego and be the leader. S'all good in the hood, bruh. I'll just hang back with Sterling and chill. Gotta say though, I miss our little ball of energy. She'd been in a pissy mood before we ran across her boyfriend (wait... whatever happened to Captain Space Pants? Did they have a lovers' quarrel? Is Anal a revenge fuck?!) but ever since she got around the dude, she was practically back to her usual, annoying self. But for all her irritating qualities, she had a way of putting a pep in your step that Anal... well, the dude was basically a wall of brooding angst and god-complex.

Guess it's up to me to get shit kicking again. Except... how the hell do you liven up a mood like this? I ain't exactly in a super mood either. Then it hits me.

“Hey? Uh... Anaaaaaaal? You like to drink? There'ss a placc-”

Archer immediately perks up at my words, his eyes scanning the area. “FUCK YEAH! We're back here? Let's get fucking toasted!”

The guy who was barely limping along until this point, practically sprints past Enel, making a beeline through the waterlogged forest toward his home away from home. I pick up the pace to follow afterward. Honestly? I don't bother to look back to see if Butt Joke is following us. But... he probably is.

A few hours later, and it seems the tension has been thoroughly dissolved. It took some doing (the guy spouted something about his body being a temple or some bullshit), but a little light-hearted ribbing and the suggestion of a contest later, and BAM! Guy was practically one of the boys. The three of us enjoy our little break in the cabana, safe from the worries of Death Island within our haze of alcohol and fraternity.

Team ACE moving from D2 to E9

[Enel]

We stumble out of the bar, laughing. Who knew the bug man and Captain Average were such a laugh? If I’d have known, I probably would have teamed up with Bugman earlier rather than take his shit. I feel kinda bad. Especially because he can’t swear.

“C’mon,” I slur, taunting. “Say asshole.”

“Fffu … I mean … get lost, asshol-RRRRARARARA!” he screams as electric shocks jolt through his body.

Me and Archer are losing our shit. As drunk as he is, it’s impossible for him not to slip up.

“You guys,” I manage to say. “Seriously now, this is … serious. We need to win.”

“Win,” Archer snorts. “Come on, man, we’re half dead! LOOK AT HIS FUCKIN’ EYE!”

The polar bear sticking out is too much. We lose it, even Cell howls with laughter. Then he points at me.

“And look at your fuckin’-AGH SHIT SON OF A-COCKSUCKAAA!”

The fact that he was about to make fun of my teeth is lost amidst the hilarity of his electrocution. I don’t even care that they keep calling me ‘Anal’.

My head spins. “Guys I gadda-”

Puke. I drop to my knees and vomit, heaving out fresh juice and rum. My brain is too numb to feel the pain.

“Lightweight,” mumbles Archer.

I stand up, turning around. “You’re just a fuckin’ … alcoholic.”

He sways. “And?”

I turn and vomit again. Even I’m laughing, in between heaves. I’m going to regret this so much in the morning.

What were we even doing?

“C’mon, Cell, this guy’s too drunk to even walk. Let’s get to the safehouse.”

I turn and raise a finger. “How ffar izzat?”

Each of them hoists me up on a shoulder. Somehow, even despite the one’s injured leg. They’re carrying me.

“Up a … mountain,” hisses Cell. I can tell he managed to censor himself, which means it’s not going to be an easy climb.

I stagger forward. “I’m fine! I’m fine! God Enel needs no …” I stop, holding a finger up. Vomit averted. “Enel needs no … support. I can walk fine on my … own!”

I waddle towards the mountains, ahead of them. I’m the best at walking fast!

Team ACE heading from E9 to E7.

[Sterling Archer]

For all his brash outbursts and ego-centricities, I had to admit that the ‘Lightning God’ wasn’t that bad of a guy. Kinda rough around the edges, but then again I’ve heard worse things said about me in the past. After a few cocktails, the boys and I were thick as thieves. Of course we were also falling-down drunk, but I was no stranger to that. With our livers diligently working to undo the damage we’d caused ourselves, we set off through the mountains.

“Man, I wish I’d grabbed a change of clothes back there,” I muttered, wobbling slightly as I followed the narrow trail between Enel and Cell. “This Zedd blood is like, congealing on me.” I paused. “Then again, some of this could be mine…”

“Better hope you don’t get Sspace Aidss or ssome sh-IIIT,” Cell cackled, jabbing me in the back with his tail. “Who knowss what that guy could have had. He didn’t even have sskin.”

“Eugh, man, don’t even joke about that,” I cringed as peeled off my sticky turtleneck and tossed it and my undershirt sloppily into the woods. Despite the cool rainfall that hadn’t ceased for what felt like days at this point, the bottle of tequila I’d downed back at the bar had left me pleasantly warm and tingly. I sighed as the cool rainwater began to loosen up some of the caked-on blood and dirt.

“Dicky?” the insectoid rasped incredulously, nearly tripping over his feet. “Hey, Anal, come check thiss out!”

“Hey man,” I said, turning my back toward the woods. “I don’t want any of what you’re selling. I know that we’re like blood brothers at this point, but I don’t swing that way.”

“I’m talking about your tattooss, geniuss.” I felt his tail reach up and tap me on my bare shoulder. “Seamuss and Dicky. Butt buddiess of yours?”

“Oh,” I laughed, “no, long story. Let’s just say this isn’t the first time I’ve been blackout drunk.” I leaned heavily on Zedd’s staff as I walked, the alcohol numbing the pain of my bad knee just enough to allow me to put weight on it.

“Yer not drunk…” the Lightning God slurred, tripping over his feet and landing on his hands and knees. He broke into a fit of giggles, twirling his fingers in the dirt. “I am drunk.”

“No one’s contesting that one, buddy,” I snickered, grabbing him around the waist and lifting the towering deity to his feet. “C’mon big guy, we’re almost there.”

“All of thiss shirtlesss male hugging,” Cell cackled, looking up toward the cloudy sky. “Definitely gonna be ssome ssmutty art on the Dataversse. Thosse people are depraved, and that'ss coming from ME.”

ACE moving from E7 to Safehouse E

[The Future Warrior]

She was all but sprinting along the muddy treeline. Along the ground for a stretch, leaping and hopping through the trees, swinging from branch to vine to outcropping of roots with her rubbery arms. It wasn't graceful, it wasn't easy, and it was tiring, but it was quick. Leaping from up high to down low, kicking off of trees and rocks, flipping and twisting through precarious and narrow gaps. If she had lungs, she just knew they'd be burning by now. And if she was any less tough than she was, the constant impact of vines, leaves, whipping branches and stinging nettles as she crashed through the plant growth would have seriously stung and hurt. It wouldn't have slowed her down at this point, as she was running on just as much desperation as actual sense.

She was delighted, however, when she burst out of the jungle and onto the beach. The open ground let her really put on the speed, breaking into a sprint. That resort Cell and Archer kept going to was ahead, and she dashed into it, cutting through the grounds. Past one hotel building, smashing through the doors of the other and rolling through the ensuing wreckage. And onward, through hallways and passages, and out the other side. Looming ahead, the beach started to taper off, giving way to wooded and grassy areas again, and the mountains rising up against the skyline. By her count she was about halfway there now. Maybe more. "Almost there..." she huffed to herself, slowing her pace just a little as she started uphill, into the mountainous area. "...almost there!" It was mostly just a simple statement of fact; a confirmation to keep her going. She needed it, even if it was from herself. Simple goals, from now on, that were easy to focus on. That was what she needed.

Graowr moving from D2 to E9

[Handsome Jack]

Just as our trio made it to the bunker in the mountains, POP goes the Enel. Well... not in the same way that skinless popped. He just got raptured on out to the Colosseum. Well, fuck. I was JUST starting to like the guy. Oh well. Sterling and I kinda just shrug it off and lay down to wait out the alcohol and take a nap.

We're rudely awakened not long after by a beeping from our tablets. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I give it a quick perusal and take a shock to the system when I can't contain an expletive. The damn Safehouses, the one place we knew we could rest, were no longer safe. Well fuck me sideways. Figures Karl would throw another wrench into things. Still, it wasn't ALL bad. No one was really... near... uuuuss....

“FU-U-U-U-UCK!!!” I scream, bolting to my feet. Instantly, Archer is on his feet as well. His eyes are wide with panic and he scans the area as though we're under attack. I try to quickly reassure him before I explain.

“Nonononono! We're fine, pal. For now. But look at THIS shiiiieeeet!”

Panic has numbed my pain response a bit from all the shocks and I hurriedly show him the tablet. Not far from us, seven little lights blink, one a bit closer than the other six. In fact, the other six are right on top of each other. And are obviously trailing the one in the front, from the minute movements they're making. Archer raises a quizzical brow until I tap the foremost light and the contestant name pops up.

Graowr. The little bundle of sunshine and energy is being hounded by a group of other contestants. No. Not her. I quickly snatch up my bag and head out of the Safehouse, Archer on my heels. Ain't nobody gonna hurt our Blueberry. Not while WE can help it.

[Moving from SHE to E7[/quote]

[The Future Warrior]

Up into the mountains. She still didn't like them. The heights had ceased to bother her, but it was just the thought of the uneven ground forcing her to slow down and manage her pace. The thought of needing to focus on what was ahead, to keep from losing her path or stumbling and falling into a slide back down, and not being able to watch her six. Someone could be following her right now, and she wouldn't be able to notice, without stopping her ascent altogether or bringing it to a crawl to keep checking her wake and surroundings. It was enough to drive her to push even harder, eyes narrowed in focus. Whenever she could spare it, she would clamber up onto a flat space of ground — some stretch of even grassy slope or a shelf of rock or some large boulder-like chunk — and hop clean from one to the other as quick as she could. Anything to speed her along and keep moving. She recognized the area, though, at least a little: the safehouse was close. Or getting close, at least.

The bunker was high up the mountain, near the summit in fact. It was still more than a little bit of climbing ahead of her to get all the way up there, but given the very simple and very worrying goal in her mind? It wasn't even an obstacle. Climb, climb, climb, as fast as you can! If you fail God Enel again you won't even have time to wish you ran! She shivered, pausing in a crouch for just a moment to catch her figurative breath and take a look around. Safehouse, safehouse...where was it?! It should be...there! Just a little further now, and she could rejoin Cell and Archer. The company would go a long way to alleviating her fears, if nothing else.

And that would make a world of difference, right now.

Graowr moving from E9 to E7

[Dust]

When was the last time that Dust slept? Or eaten? He could recall the bear steaks, he remembered his pit stop in the woods, but he couldn't' recall the last time he slept for a few hours.

As the amusement park fell into the background Dust compared it's skeletal remains to the Pripyat Amusement Park back in Russia, and this provoked a few thoughts.

He had never gone near the place, but the rumors were it was haunted by the souls of lost children of Russia. In reality, it was heavily radiated by some source or another. With the gates, anything was possible.

Then he thought about the most recent updates in the power ranking and curiously wondered if there was a kissing booth in the park that he could use as a gag and a way to get that much-needed kiss. It already was consuming his thoughts...

Dust shook his head, the stingy locks shifting as he did. He just needed something to put his attention to. Like Deadpool.

"Ohhh, no you don't. You can't handle this~!" The merc with the mouth said, but it was unclear as to who he was talking to. The shirtless man, the thing he was fiddling with in his hands, or the current writer.

Soul: Wha-! But I..

"Just go back to what you were doing." He waved his hand at some unseen thing and went back to playing with a 3D puzzle like thing in his hands.

Soul: Fucking.. I have to eventually write for you, you know.

Dust was mildly confused by this and looked around to see who the mystery man in the red suit might be talking to otherwise, only to feel the tug on his hand again. Tamsin.

He wanted to cry... He also wanted to pull her in and set one on her lips. He tried to clear his mind before dealing with the hardest fight he's had to go through in this whole competition. Fighting the urge to make out with a gorgeous woman. "Yes?" He forced a smile.

"You looked troubled." She had no idea. "Is there anything I can do to ensure your comfort?" SHE HAD NO IDEA WHAT SHE WAS DOING AND HE COULDN'T HANDLE IT!!

As a contractor in the past, he would have been able to fake it, do something. Of course, back then he wouldn't have dreamed of trying to fight the natural order of things. Here he was, unable to respond and barely holding himself on a leash he thought he'd never need. Then his nose caught wind of something. "Blueberry?"

"What did you say!?" Yuki heard his words and pounced. She was ready to beat the information out of him, which wasn't that far of a temptation when he pointed towards the mountains. "WHAT THE HELL!!" Erika's was like a fire that someone just sprayed liter fluid on. With more spark to her step, she leads the others into the caverns and coves of E-Zone.

Erika leads Dust, Gil, Jakpool, and Tamsin from D1 to E9

[Handsome Jack]

Thank Kami! We caught up with her. And none too soon, because the tablet is showing the gank squad right on her fucking tail. Not that she HAS a tail... but you get what I'm saying, right? Long story short, the crew is together again.

Poor Blueberry is looking like she just ran a fucking marathon to get to us. I ain't surprised, really. I'd have done the same thing if six jokers were looking to bum-rush me. The fact she was able to even keep this much distance between her and them is a damn miracle. I mean, I'm hella impressed.

We ain't got long for catching up. We all know it and no one wastes any time. Archer is already moving away from the six blips, the tablet in his hand his guide. Blue-... no Graowr is quick to follow after. I don't move. I watch them for a moment, my remaining eye taking in their condition. Sterling is trying to pick up the pace, a grim look of determination on his face... but his knee... and Graowr is exhausted from having sprinted all the way here. They won't be able to keep the distance from their pursuers. Not without help.

I quickly trot over to them, closing the gap between us easily. Matching Groawr's pace, I look her over more closely. She's been through a lot. Maybe more than Ling and me. Gently, I lift her up, and throw her onto my back, my tail wrapping tightly to keep her still. She struggles and complains, but I ignore it. Archer stifles a chuckle, eliciting a glare from me. Soooo... I snatch HIS happy ass up too, carrying him like a big fat baby. And like Blueberry, he bitches about it too. Whatever. They deserve a rest. I might not be too strong, but I'm still the fastest one in this crew. Even carrying a couple sacks of shit. And yeah, sure... they're heavy as fuck. But you know what ain't heavy? FRIENDSHIP!

Colosseum Bros moving from E7 to E6

[Deadpool]

The mercenary entered more unchartered territory as his motley crew extended their travels deeper into the marshlands. The farther they went, the more lush the greenery became. Then the tropical scenery stopped, and ceded to the arrival of dark-green vegetation.

”Any of you been through these parts?” he asked, turning to the group; a few of them raised their hands. ”What should we expect?”

“Lots of mountains!” someone chirped up.

”Good! So we have a tour guide amongst us. Very reassuring.”

Gildarts stayed at the mercenary's flank. His twisting visage declared a battle going on inside of his head. Deadpool knew this because he too suffered from voices; by the paladin's expressions, he hadn't come to accept whatever demons circulated in his mind. Perhaps, these voices he experienced were fresh to him.

”Hey,” Deadpool said as he grabbed his shoulder, ”if you're struggling with some sort of mental hindrance, its ok—I am too.”

Gildarts looked at the mercenary.

”Sometimes you gotta embrace the voices. If I didn't embrace mine, I'd probably be doing all types of crazy shit.” He began to chuckle. ”I'd be causing so much shit, Omni would probably come down from whatever high place he calls paradise, and personally kick my ass out of existence.”

He hoped those words soothed the paladin some. Despite all of the mercenary's antics, he had a soft-spot for mental problems. And kids—DP loves the kids.

The ground beneath them started to incline—Deadpool felt the rise in the surface with every step. Foliage became more sparse, and gradually replaced with rocky terrain; the air slowly thinned. Over the horizon, he saw frosted mountaintops. A flock of birds soared passed it, in formation of a 'V” while headed south to warmer weather.

Please, not another Bob Ross reference. It's been forever since the last one, so let's keep it that way.

Gildarts&Company moving from E9 to E8  The next movement we have available is at 11:20pm Eastern time, since I posted slightly early.

[Dust]

Dust moved to the front with Erika. Who knows why he did? Be it so because he needed to get away from Tamsin before she was pinned to the wall and swept away in the waves of passion - yeah right - or maybe it was to talk to Erika pprivately? Sure the conversation with Takezo went rather well, but he was a different kind of person than Gildarts, Deadpool, or any of the other people they were in the company of.

Part of him really just wanted to be with someone he knew a bit better. She was familiar.. And despite the talk about how bitter she could end up being, or how it all came close to being true, he liked snow.

"If you aren't here to help, get your ass back there." She shot at him.

"You wound me.." Dust teased, with a simple smirk on his face. The tension released from the bruise did very little to the pain he felt in his face. He was sure the bone was broken.. How he didn't loose a tooth was beyond him, but maybe it was just a matter of time before it fell out. "I figured you could use some help." He said, as honestly as he could.

"Bite me." She said, sick of conversation at this point. She needed something to punch.

"I could if you'd just kiss me." He tried, giving her his biggest and most playful grin. It was the only thing close to a flirt, and it wasn't a terrible attempt at all. 

She looked back over her shoulder, with dead eyes and a face that dared him to say that again. Rejected!! "You're hitting on me, now?" He wasn't serious, was he?

"What? No. I told you in the safe house it wasn't like that.." He groaned, and pouted his lips. He looked close to a model, but model's tended to take better care of their faces.

"Oh.. I guess you did.." Erika said, as if she'd forgotten that part as if it were some traumatic part of Dante's Abyss that she'd rather forget, but with a listlessness that matched his eyes when he had kissed her. "I had forgotten all about that." She said, turning her back on him. She decided to climb up a wall for a better look; one moment her butt was in his face, the next it wasn't. (For the record it wasn't too bad.) "Why don't you get them to kiss you, Pecs?"

Dust glanced back as the rest of the group, they weren't that far behind. Out of ear shot but within eyesight. "I could, but they are all dudes."

"Not all of them." The blonde sang. The words brought the image of Tamsin back to him. Blood rushed to his face and he looked back at her. Before he had the chance to even think about arguing it was too late, she was already dangling half way off the rocky side of a cavern and cupped her free hand so that the sound would carry better. "Hey all of you fuckers! Dust here's feeling nervous, and needs a good luck kiss! Can anyone spare three seconds of your time!?" 

Her voice pierced the silence, and echoed off the rest of the walls about five times. Dust had to relive that moment about five times.. To match the 5 stages of grief to be sure: Denial, Anxiety, Helpless, Begging it to stop, and finally Acceptance. He wondered if she was still sore at him, but if there was anything he could say about Yuki it was that she gets shit done. "Six seconds would be be-"

"Correction, six seconds!?" Erika's voice shot off again, and again it returned five more times.

"..Thanks.."

"Anytime, big guy. I love to help." Erika had a smug look on her face before she disappeared long enough to get a lay of the land again.

At least she wasn't foaming at the mouth anymore.

"Wait, I think I see something." Erika called out. Her hand raised over her brow as she was looking over the gaps in the earth. 

Erika and Dust lead the other four(Deadpool, Jak, Tamsin, and Gildarts) from E8 to E5;
Dust's pride takes half damage - can't heal that, son.

[The Future Warrior]

Graowr was surprised. "W-Wait! Hold on!" she said, trying to get the giant bio-bug to put her down. He did not, however, hold on, nor did he put her down. He just kept right along, moving at a frantic pace. He was slowed down by the weight of carrying his allies, even Graowr could tell that, but his sheer size and long legs, loping along in great big hopping strides, let him eat up the ground remarkably quickly regardless. If they were going anywhere in a hurry, this was probably the best bet, for however long the bio-android's strength could hold out.

"C'mon, man!" Archer complained, doing his best to not fall out of the rough hold of the great green grasshopper. "What's up with the sudden pick up and run?!"

"We got a sserious problem on our tail, and I'm the fasstesst one here, that'ss what!" Cell snapped with a sharp hiss of breath. His own injuries and wear and tear were evidently paining him. "Sso shut up and enjoy the ride!"

Graowr didn't like this whole mess. Not one bit. But though she pouted and whined, the giant bug wouldn't let her go. After a few minutes she resigned herself to it, just settling in. "How'd you know I was going to be coming, though...?" she finally asked. "Or that there were people chasing me?"

"Tablet," the terror-bug rasped.

Archer elaborated. "You can check the positions of participants, on top of getting a live broadcast of where they are. We saw you running ahead of a big group of six, so we came out to meet you."

Graowr nodded, and quickly fumbled out her tablet, checking the map. "Wait, wait, wait! Stop! Cell, STOP! They got ahead of us somehow, we're headed right for them!

With an almost comical skidding on the rocky mountain path the bug screeched to a stop. "WHAT?!"

"All these tunnels and shit, probably," Archer offered, looking around. "Maybe we can head back, get around 'em while they're looking for us up ahead?"

"....yeah, maybe sso," Cell hissed, and turend around to start loping back up the path.

"I'm sorry, guys..." the little majin mumbled, hanging her head.

"Don't be. We gotcha, blue," Archer said. "We got you."

Colossem Bros moving from E6 to E7