09-06-2015, 10:31 PM
Crickets chirped and a campfire roared. The three young monsters slept soundly, clearly exhausted by the trials they'd faced on this hell of an island. Matrix sat calmly on a log, watching the fire roar and keeping his eyes and ears alert. It was his shift on watch, which he didn't mind. On the dirt beside him AndrAIa slept as well, leaning against both the log and his leg. The hours passed somewhat slowly, but Matrix had found ways to pass the time. In his left hand he casually played with a red yo-yo. Long ago he'd given it to a young Sprite, and he felt like in doing so he'd given away the last bit of his childhood. But now he was in the Omniverse, where he could summon anything he desired, so long as he had the Omnilium. It wasn't much, but he'd summoned this trinket back to him. Not only did it remind him of home, but it was a nice time waster.
Just the same, he'd managed to summon up a bit more functionality for his cyborg eye. He now had it linked to something called the Dataverse, and had been casually browsing through sites and messageboards. It had helped him learn a lot about this strange world, but it also invited many more questions.
Matrix gently reached over AndrAIa's sleeping form and picked up a log. He tossed it in the fire, making note of their three sleeping friends at the same time. They obviously hadn't gone anywhere, but he was simply on high alert in these woods. He wasn't exactly sure a fire was the best idea for deterring any flesh eating dinosaurs out there, but it's uses outweighed the risk at this moment.
So he let out a bored sigh and continued to flick his yo-yo, while scrolling through any available information on Cinnabar Island on his right eye. There wasn't much to read, which was good news to him. Not only did it mean that these people were serious about staying off the radar, but they were also good at it.
The Charmander's tail twitched in it's sleep, and Matrix's eyes snapped over to it, making sure that was all he'd heard. He then looked back to the fire, pondering the trek in the morning. In a little while he would wake AndrAIa up and try to get some sleep, himself. They'd decided quickly that the two of them would be the only ones taking shifts, as they didn't quite trust the kids to do a good job of it. They'd been talkative and energetic while setting up camp, and it was obvious they had the heart to be the warriors and adventurers they desired, just not the experience yet. They'd shared their names, and Matrix had committed them to memory. Coal the Charmander, Kero the Tonberry, and Zlick the Jawa.
As he mused that over, he suddenly spotted a pair of eyes staring at him from the darkness. Matrix's own right eye immediately turned red, and the pair of eyes disappeared just as fast as he'd noticed them.
"Scan modes, cycle," Matrix ordered his eye aloud, paying no mind to the volume of his voice. He did gently reach down and use his left hand to guide AndrAIa's sleeping body to the log he'd been sitting on, while he stood up.
His cybernetic eye scrolled through various forms of imaging technology, trying to catch a silhouette that he could use to identify whatever had just been watching them.
"Mmm?" AndrAIa began stirring, having sensed in her sleep that she had been moved. She slept lightly, knowing they were in a dangerous jungle. "Enzo?"
Finally, Matrix caught a glimpse on his scanning mode. For a brief second he caught the faint outline of an unmistakable dinosaur. The kids were worried they were being chased by velociraptors. In that moment, Matrix knew that they were right.
"Raptors," Matrix announced, the word alone causing AndrAIa to shake off her grogginess. She jumped up and was beside him in an instant. "Wake them up."
Matrix looked around, carefully looking at all angles they could be coming from. Unfortunately, the answer to that was "everywhere." Meanwhile, AndrAIa was instantly at the sides of the monsters, shaking them in a hurry to get them moving.
"What...it's still dark," Kero mumbled as he sat up. The Tonberry let out a loud yawn as he slowly climbed to his feet.
"The fire..." AndrAIa said as she glanced to their large campfire. "Matrix, we attracted them here."
"I think so, too," Matrix agreed, drawing Gun in his right hand. "We're going to have to escape in the dark."
"But they're out there!" Zlick shouted in panic at that suggestion. At least here it was light, and they could somewhat see.
A branch snapped, and leaves could be heard rustling. Matrix spun and dropped to a single knee, firing a single shot from his weapon at a leaping velociraptor. The dinosaur roared in agony as it's chest was blasted, and it collapsed right into the fire. Logs scattered and the fire spread, but the main thing they all noticed was the immediate scent of thick, burning flesh. Black smoke billowed from the center, where the flames were suffocated by the large mass on top of it. The monsters shouted in surprise, but Matrix quickly got back to his feet.
"Time to go," AndrAIa announced, looking to her boyfriend.
Matrix nodded, and while looking around he spat out a quick battle plan. "Take them and move towards the boat, use the night as cover. I'll deal with these things and catch up."
"You're going to take on these murderous dinosaurs by yourself?" AndrAIa was in disbelief. She didn't like that plan, in fact she outright hated it, but she didn't dare say she couldn't come up with a better one.
"Worst case...I'll come back," Matrix suggested, remembering Omni's vague words about a Prime's ability to reincarnate. His voice was confident enough for the three would be superheroes to buy it, but AndrAIa could sense the subtleties in his voice.
"You don't know that," AndrAIa was quick to shoot down that suggestion.
"No, I don't," Matrix admitted. "But we do know that the four of you won't. We have to chance it, AndrAIa."
AndrAIa looked hard at Matrix, and bit her lip. There was no good way out of this. She would have to do her part and trust him. After all, if there was anyone she knew that could take on a pack of carnivores, it was Matrix.
"Just come back to me," she relented, then looked to the kids.
"Of course," Matrix nodded seriously. He then looked to the Charmander, all business. "Coal, if they like fire so much, let's let them have it."
The Charmander hesitated, but then gave a determined nod. It was just happy to be a part of the team. So he took a deep breath before bellowing out a large wave of fire that immediately caught the jungle ablaze. Matrix stepped towards the center, firing a few shots into the darkness while his eye glowed a bright red.
AndrAIa recognized the purpose of the distraction, so she scooped up Kero in her arms, knowing that the slow moving Tonberry wouldn't be able to cover any distance in a hurry. She then moved into the darkness of the jungle, with her Charmander and Jawa companions close behind. As she ran, she looked around, doing her best to watch for the raptors or any other unseen predators.
Matrix, meanwhile, watched as the flames grew. With it, the roars of the dinosaurs also slowly increased in volume. His eye locked onto a raptor as it circled him, and he just missed locking onto another. He caught glimpses of eyes and heard the rapid movement of heavy feet around him. They were circling faster and faster, and would soon be moving in. Matrix simply raised his gun and waited for the first opportunity to fire.
Just the same, he'd managed to summon up a bit more functionality for his cyborg eye. He now had it linked to something called the Dataverse, and had been casually browsing through sites and messageboards. It had helped him learn a lot about this strange world, but it also invited many more questions.
Matrix gently reached over AndrAIa's sleeping form and picked up a log. He tossed it in the fire, making note of their three sleeping friends at the same time. They obviously hadn't gone anywhere, but he was simply on high alert in these woods. He wasn't exactly sure a fire was the best idea for deterring any flesh eating dinosaurs out there, but it's uses outweighed the risk at this moment.
So he let out a bored sigh and continued to flick his yo-yo, while scrolling through any available information on Cinnabar Island on his right eye. There wasn't much to read, which was good news to him. Not only did it mean that these people were serious about staying off the radar, but they were also good at it.
The Charmander's tail twitched in it's sleep, and Matrix's eyes snapped over to it, making sure that was all he'd heard. He then looked back to the fire, pondering the trek in the morning. In a little while he would wake AndrAIa up and try to get some sleep, himself. They'd decided quickly that the two of them would be the only ones taking shifts, as they didn't quite trust the kids to do a good job of it. They'd been talkative and energetic while setting up camp, and it was obvious they had the heart to be the warriors and adventurers they desired, just not the experience yet. They'd shared their names, and Matrix had committed them to memory. Coal the Charmander, Kero the Tonberry, and Zlick the Jawa.
As he mused that over, he suddenly spotted a pair of eyes staring at him from the darkness. Matrix's own right eye immediately turned red, and the pair of eyes disappeared just as fast as he'd noticed them.
"Scan modes, cycle," Matrix ordered his eye aloud, paying no mind to the volume of his voice. He did gently reach down and use his left hand to guide AndrAIa's sleeping body to the log he'd been sitting on, while he stood up.
His cybernetic eye scrolled through various forms of imaging technology, trying to catch a silhouette that he could use to identify whatever had just been watching them.
"Mmm?" AndrAIa began stirring, having sensed in her sleep that she had been moved. She slept lightly, knowing they were in a dangerous jungle. "Enzo?"
Finally, Matrix caught a glimpse on his scanning mode. For a brief second he caught the faint outline of an unmistakable dinosaur. The kids were worried they were being chased by velociraptors. In that moment, Matrix knew that they were right.
"Raptors," Matrix announced, the word alone causing AndrAIa to shake off her grogginess. She jumped up and was beside him in an instant. "Wake them up."
Matrix looked around, carefully looking at all angles they could be coming from. Unfortunately, the answer to that was "everywhere." Meanwhile, AndrAIa was instantly at the sides of the monsters, shaking them in a hurry to get them moving.
"What...it's still dark," Kero mumbled as he sat up. The Tonberry let out a loud yawn as he slowly climbed to his feet.
"The fire..." AndrAIa said as she glanced to their large campfire. "Matrix, we attracted them here."
"I think so, too," Matrix agreed, drawing Gun in his right hand. "We're going to have to escape in the dark."
"But they're out there!" Zlick shouted in panic at that suggestion. At least here it was light, and they could somewhat see.
A branch snapped, and leaves could be heard rustling. Matrix spun and dropped to a single knee, firing a single shot from his weapon at a leaping velociraptor. The dinosaur roared in agony as it's chest was blasted, and it collapsed right into the fire. Logs scattered and the fire spread, but the main thing they all noticed was the immediate scent of thick, burning flesh. Black smoke billowed from the center, where the flames were suffocated by the large mass on top of it. The monsters shouted in surprise, but Matrix quickly got back to his feet.
"Time to go," AndrAIa announced, looking to her boyfriend.
Matrix nodded, and while looking around he spat out a quick battle plan. "Take them and move towards the boat, use the night as cover. I'll deal with these things and catch up."
"You're going to take on these murderous dinosaurs by yourself?" AndrAIa was in disbelief. She didn't like that plan, in fact she outright hated it, but she didn't dare say she couldn't come up with a better one.
"Worst case...I'll come back," Matrix suggested, remembering Omni's vague words about a Prime's ability to reincarnate. His voice was confident enough for the three would be superheroes to buy it, but AndrAIa could sense the subtleties in his voice.
"You don't know that," AndrAIa was quick to shoot down that suggestion.
"No, I don't," Matrix admitted. "But we do know that the four of you won't. We have to chance it, AndrAIa."
AndrAIa looked hard at Matrix, and bit her lip. There was no good way out of this. She would have to do her part and trust him. After all, if there was anyone she knew that could take on a pack of carnivores, it was Matrix.
"Just come back to me," she relented, then looked to the kids.
"Of course," Matrix nodded seriously. He then looked to the Charmander, all business. "Coal, if they like fire so much, let's let them have it."
The Charmander hesitated, but then gave a determined nod. It was just happy to be a part of the team. So he took a deep breath before bellowing out a large wave of fire that immediately caught the jungle ablaze. Matrix stepped towards the center, firing a few shots into the darkness while his eye glowed a bright red.
AndrAIa recognized the purpose of the distraction, so she scooped up Kero in her arms, knowing that the slow moving Tonberry wouldn't be able to cover any distance in a hurry. She then moved into the darkness of the jungle, with her Charmander and Jawa companions close behind. As she ran, she looked around, doing her best to watch for the raptors or any other unseen predators.
Matrix, meanwhile, watched as the flames grew. With it, the roars of the dinosaurs also slowly increased in volume. His eye locked onto a raptor as it circled him, and he just missed locking onto another. He caught glimpses of eyes and heard the rapid movement of heavy feet around him. They were circling faster and faster, and would soon be moving in. Matrix simply raised his gun and waited for the first opportunity to fire.