06-20-2016, 07:27 AM
-BANG-
A shot rang out across the trees, sending up a flock of black birds that looked suspiciously like ravens cawing and clawing across the cloudy sky. Hiro craned his neck up and stared at the rush of avian omens, before squinting through the trees back at the plane. Flames looked like they were climbing higher from the twisted wreckage of the plane, and people either stood around stock still or wandered aimlessly, or ran back and forth carrying others from the crash site. On top of a pile of scrap stood a bulky figure that Hiro was pretty sure he knew, his gun held high and pointed up. Welp, didn't take long for things to get all Lord of the Flies on the island.
At least, Hiro assumed this was their intended destination. How many deserted islands could there be in this verse? Karl Jak had built the damn thing himself, hadn't he? Speaking of Karl Jak, one of his employees was currently stirring next to him. Probably be best to get the man back to the head honcho himself....but that could wait. Barry wasn't injured aside from a bump on the head, and Hiro figured he had a pretty good shot of getting a head start in mapping this island before the rest of the Primes started tromping around. The EPD had ordered him to gather intel about the Danteverse, and a full map of one of it's landmasses probably counted towards that goal.
The hacker got up off his butt and checked himself. Katanas and tanto were all sheathed in easily reached places, his goggles were restored to functionality (excepting communications), and he still had some jerky, energy drinks, and two bottles of top shelf liquor from the VIP bar. And one full box of cigarettes and his lighter, Omni be praised. He leaned over the prone bartender and lightly shook his shoulders.
"Barry. Hey, Barry. Wake up, man. You gotta wake up. We're gonna get eaten by a bunch of prepubescent cannibals if you don't wake up."
The man slowly opened his eyes, looking quite confused as he returned to a semblance of consciousness. "H-huh? Wha?!"
Hiro helped him to his feet and gestured around them to the misty trees and the flaming wreck of the plane. "Hello, Barry. Well, let me outline the situation. I have a throbbing headache, thanks in no small part to your superb bartending skills and my own fear of mortality, the plane crashed onto somewhere weird, the rest of the Primes appear to be organizing what is either a tribal society based on strength or an impromptu line dance, and we should probably find some way of calling for help. Got all that?"
Barry Sanderson, Corporate Bartender, blinked and slowly nodded at the leather clad hacker-samurai. Then, a flicker of recognition appeared on his face as the man's brain tried to impose a familiar reality on the situation. "Hey, you didn't pay for your last five dri-!" Hiro gently put his palm over the man's mouth. "Shhh, shhh....let's get out of here and try to find some shelter, then we can settle up." Barry frowned, but nodded, and Hiro removed his hand. The Prime and his booze slinging companion softly headed out into the treeline, moving slowly and quietly away from the wreck of the plane.
"You're lost, aren't you?"
"Shut up, Barry."
"No, you're completely lost. We passed that tree ten minutes ago! Look, it even has the same mushrooms growing on it!"
The hacker sighed. The Secondary was right. The trees and mists made it very hard to see, and they were probably wandering in circles. Every time Hiro thought he'd found a straight path through the trees, they had to detour around a fallen one, or a boulder, or travel another direction to avoid going into a ravine. This was getting them nowhere. But what other choice did they have?
The hacker and the bartender both continued onwards into the mists, checking over their shoulders as twigs snapped, birds cawed, and leaves rustled. Both completely out of their element.
A shot rang out across the trees, sending up a flock of black birds that looked suspiciously like ravens cawing and clawing across the cloudy sky. Hiro craned his neck up and stared at the rush of avian omens, before squinting through the trees back at the plane. Flames looked like they were climbing higher from the twisted wreckage of the plane, and people either stood around stock still or wandered aimlessly, or ran back and forth carrying others from the crash site. On top of a pile of scrap stood a bulky figure that Hiro was pretty sure he knew, his gun held high and pointed up. Welp, didn't take long for things to get all Lord of the Flies on the island.
At least, Hiro assumed this was their intended destination. How many deserted islands could there be in this verse? Karl Jak had built the damn thing himself, hadn't he? Speaking of Karl Jak, one of his employees was currently stirring next to him. Probably be best to get the man back to the head honcho himself....but that could wait. Barry wasn't injured aside from a bump on the head, and Hiro figured he had a pretty good shot of getting a head start in mapping this island before the rest of the Primes started tromping around. The EPD had ordered him to gather intel about the Danteverse, and a full map of one of it's landmasses probably counted towards that goal.
The hacker got up off his butt and checked himself. Katanas and tanto were all sheathed in easily reached places, his goggles were restored to functionality (excepting communications), and he still had some jerky, energy drinks, and two bottles of top shelf liquor from the VIP bar. And one full box of cigarettes and his lighter, Omni be praised. He leaned over the prone bartender and lightly shook his shoulders.
"Barry. Hey, Barry. Wake up, man. You gotta wake up. We're gonna get eaten by a bunch of prepubescent cannibals if you don't wake up."
The man slowly opened his eyes, looking quite confused as he returned to a semblance of consciousness. "H-huh? Wha?!"
Hiro helped him to his feet and gestured around them to the misty trees and the flaming wreck of the plane. "Hello, Barry. Well, let me outline the situation. I have a throbbing headache, thanks in no small part to your superb bartending skills and my own fear of mortality, the plane crashed onto somewhere weird, the rest of the Primes appear to be organizing what is either a tribal society based on strength or an impromptu line dance, and we should probably find some way of calling for help. Got all that?"
Barry Sanderson, Corporate Bartender, blinked and slowly nodded at the leather clad hacker-samurai. Then, a flicker of recognition appeared on his face as the man's brain tried to impose a familiar reality on the situation. "Hey, you didn't pay for your last five dri-!" Hiro gently put his palm over the man's mouth. "Shhh, shhh....let's get out of here and try to find some shelter, then we can settle up." Barry frowned, but nodded, and Hiro removed his hand. The Prime and his booze slinging companion softly headed out into the treeline, moving slowly and quietly away from the wreck of the plane.
"You're lost, aren't you?"
"Shut up, Barry."
"No, you're completely lost. We passed that tree ten minutes ago! Look, it even has the same mushrooms growing on it!"
The hacker sighed. The Secondary was right. The trees and mists made it very hard to see, and they were probably wandering in circles. Every time Hiro thought he'd found a straight path through the trees, they had to detour around a fallen one, or a boulder, or travel another direction to avoid going into a ravine. This was getting them nowhere. But what other choice did they have?
The hacker and the bartender both continued onwards into the mists, checking over their shoulders as twigs snapped, birds cawed, and leaves rustled. Both completely out of their element.
![[Image: MZSDl2O.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/MZSDl2O.jpg)