Zone D -- The Foam

[Enel]

The only thing I can guess is that these premonitions are a warning. A warning of a future that has not yet come to pass.

I wasn’t weakened in those visions. I had my full power. And yet … I was getting beaten. Beaten by a little boy with rubber-arms. No taller or more imposing than young Graowr.

Since coming to the Omniverse, I’ve suffered setback after setback. First it was getting grazed by one of those soldiers when I arrived. Then I fought Ganondorf, and nearly lost. Then I fought Jhen Mohran …

And just a few hours ago, I nearly died again. To that … troll.

Am I … am I overconfident?

Not a fuckin’ chance. I’m God. These losers just paid their way to victory. Those bombs? And those elixirs? Hell, he was even drinking one at the end. That bastard was doping, else he would never have beaten me.

Still. It should never have happened.

I clutch the bronze egg in my right hand. Next time, there’s no taking chances.

Something flickers across the edge of my senses. It’s faint.

“Stop.” I say calmly. I look over my shoulder at the group. Graowr, Bug-man and Agent Average. “There’s someone ahead.”

I could hear Graowr whispering to the others. “God Enel can see everything with his mind!”

I shut out the voices behind me and reach out with my senses and my powers. A faint trickle of energy travels from my fingertips through the airwaves. I can hear them.

“So y… ocus … en … t… is …”

Tch. It’s too far, and my powers are too weak. It’s been a long time since I’ve done this.

As we close in, their words make more sense. It’s a man and a woman. Or a girl. She sounds young … ish. Can’t tell with these wide-eyed types. I step forward, spin my staff, and charge up my energy.

“Drop the shit,” I order. “Or die.”

The reaction is immediate. The man grabs the woman, and he bolts round the resort buildings, out of my line of fire. I let loose my stream of lightning, while Graowr and chums go in hot pursuit.

“It’s her!” I hear the man cry. “That goddamn freak!”

Hm? Graowr and him have met before? My disciple has been busy.

“What are you doing?!” the girl cries.

“Saving our lives!” he responds.

I jump round the corner to see what’s happened. Graowr crouches over something on the ground. “Stop,” I say. “We got what we needed. Let’s move on.”

No disagreement. Everyone here is too injured to want to get into another fight.

I pull out my tablet to check the state of things.

And that’s when I notice my tweet has hit over ten thousand retweets. Fuck ten thousand, it’s at nearly twenty. The bloodthirsty bastards only saw the aftermath of that fight, and after seeing me pull myself back from the brink of death, they want to see me really kill someone. No wonder. That clown left me aching to kill someone too.

Tch. This is no good.

“Graowr,” I say.

“God?”

I reach into my backpack. They stare wide-eyed as I pull out several items, then hand them over to Graowr.

“Hold these for me.”

I look up.

“Karl Jak. I hereby volunteer to fight in the colosseum. Take me to the bloodbath.”

I look back at Graowr. “Take these and run. Keep them safe for me. If I should die, you’d better win this.”

She nods, tears welling up in her eyes.

“GO!” I bark.

She bolts, leaving me with the two patsies.

Tch. Why’d they have to be so ugly?

God and Pals™ let Dane and Clownpiece go free, in return for an item.

Graowr leaves the party.

Enel, Archer and Cell then move from D3 to D2.

[The Future Warrior]

Graowr didn't argue. She couldn't, really. Just took the items that God Enel handed to her and quickly turned away, stumbling into a dash and heading in a random direction. It's a few dozen paces before she can collect herself enough to actually think. When she does, she slows her frantic pace, taking a few breaths she doesn't need. Breathing. It took effort, when you didn't need to do it. It helped calm her thoughts. The items went from her hands into her body, stored alongside the other things she had. A deep breath in...and then exhaled. Okay. She needed to get somewhere safe. God Enel was going to the Colosseum, and he seemed to think he might actually die up there. He was leaving winning this to her.

She'd been determined to win before, but now determination was not any where near a strong enough word. She narrowed her eyes, bringing up her hands to slap at her cheeks, shaking off the daze. "Focus! Get to the safehouse!" she told herself. "It's not far, and you'll be safe there!" She nodded to herself and crouched down, lowering herself into a sprinter's crouch and took off, rocketing down the beach in a blur, toward the water.

She hit the briny not so deep like a rocket, skipping across it like a stone once...twice...then under the waves with a splash. And she surged along underneath, grasping at the floor and pulling herself along hand over fist. No slowing down. Nothing less than all-out. Not even any rest, even for a moment, until she was in the safehouse and out of danger. She couldn't be attacked when she was in there, and all she had to worry about was going up to the colosseum. She'd already been up there once...and going again would mean she'd probably get matched with God Enel. She didn't want to fight him. Didn't really want to fight ANYONE right now.

This entire competition sucked.

Graowr moving from D3 to D6

[The Future Warrior]

It was dark. Of course it was, but... It was darker than usual. Probably helped by it being night, and the water beginning to wash off Zedd's blood, adding an extra staining of red and black to the water. It was ugly, and it didn't do anything to lift her spirits, recalling the abruptness of Zedd's death, via that explosive collar, but... Well. It did give her the drive to keep moving. The longer this dragged out, the more likely it was for more people to get blown up like that, without any warning. And that thought was immensely distressing to her. This wasn't supposed to go down like this. She didn't know how it was supposed to go down, but... It wasn't like this, she knew that much.

Blinking her eyes to try and re-focus herself, she shook off that line of thought in favor of another one. Even after she'd run away, at God Enel's request, there was still the chance that she could get sent to the colosseum again. She hadn't really been keeping track of things, so she couldn't even guess at whether the same person could get sent more than once. She was fairly certain not everyone in this competition had been sent up yet, though...so she could hope. Hope that someone else would get sent up and not her. She needed to rest for a bit. Catch her breath, so to speak, recover her strength. And then go find the last of these items to finish this thing. She didn't know how many there were, or who had the rest, but...she would find them. If it was the last thing she did, she would find them!

Although she really, really hoped it wouldn't be the last thing she did.

Graowr moving from D6 to D10

[The Future Warrior]

She had to be getting close to her destination by now. The safehouse wasn't that far out, she knew that. She just kept tugging herself along, swimming in brief bursts and spurts of movement, before finally planting her boots against the ground and hopping up. Her head broke the water, and she shook it vigorously, sending a shower of salty water droplets in all directions. She blinked, standing up on her toes to peer around and try to get some glimpse of where she was. Slowly turning about in place, eyes squinting against the salty spray, she caught sight of the squatting bulk of the safehouse in the distance. She'd started to drift off course a little on her swim. If she hadn't popped up to check, she might have missed it entirely!

Or, at the least...run right into those rocks bordering the tiny island-bordering-island that the big concrete bunker sat on. She floated there on the surface, sucking in a big breath to make herself as buoyant as she could, and tried to paddle along on the surface for a while, working with the waves as best she could to keep moving toward the bunker. It wasn't easy going, and not just because she was still pretty bad at this whole 'swimming' thing. It just... It was just hard. Maybe it was her mood, how down she was, but it just didn't feel right.

...maybe it was the running away part that was getting her. The prospect of someone as strong as the people she'd been hanging around with dying, and her not being there to help. It was mitigated by primes not dying for good, here in the Omniverse, but it still didn't make her feel any better. The only real solace she had in this instance was the prospect of winning this thing for God Enel.

Graowr moving from D10 to D14

[The Future Warrior]

The swimming was short lived. Something interrupted her, with quite the forceful impact. Huge, silvery-gray, and stronger than an angry ox. It plowed into her from the side, driving out all the air she'd sucked in and taking her down under the waves. She earned a mouth full of muddy, salty water from the scream of surprise and pain as she went down. Thrashed about under the water, she hit the bottom (quite hard, in fact) and bounced comically off, tumbling and rolling along the submerged ground for a goodly distance.

She righted herself in time to stop from getting swept up too badly in the currents, grasping hold of a chunk of coral. It cracked almost right away, though held long enough to get her feet under her and stand back up. She could see it clearly now, rushing toward her again: the great, looming fin of a shark, slicing through the water right at her, "Oh...I am so not in the mood for this..." Both hands curled into fists and she let out a roar of challenge, her aura flaring up around her. Steam erupted from the holes in her arms in a thick, opaque cloud. Around her, the water was briefly through back, leaving her standing on very wet, but solid ground. "You picked a bad time to come back!" she growled at the shark.

Ki glowed in both of her hands, and a swift one-two shot of the glowing energy vanished under the water with a sizzling hiss. An explosion a fair distance away, a plume of smoke and water erupting over the surface, and the shark turning away told her she'd been successful. A quick leap out of the momentarily water-free area saw her ho sailing through the air, curling into a flip and landing in the (relative) shallows just off the coast of the bunker's small mini-island.

She clambered up the shore, to the dock, and shook herself off, jogging up to the doors and letting her aura fade away. "Okay...inside, and then some rest, maybe..."

Graowr moving from D14 to Safehouse D

[The Future Warrior]

Graowr had rushed into the safehouse, into a room far from the entrance, and sat down to rest. Though she didn't need to sleep, per se, she had dozed off and lapsed into a much-needed nap. She wasn't sure how long she was out, but when she came to, the first thing she did was groggily hop back to her feet, rushing out toward the main door to stare outside. Standing on the doorway, she fished out her tablet to check up on the status of things. No more item drops, that was old news... But there was one thing which caught her attention handily, and made her stomach plummet. "Safehouses aren't safe anymore..." she repeated, slowly reading the update aloud. For what felt like a long, long time she just stood there, staring at the message before she started acting in a burst of frantic energy.

Checking other things about the island. Updates. The broadcasts and live feeds. Where people were, what they were up to, anything she could get her hands on. God Enel was in the Colosseum. Cell and Archer were...in the safehouse up in the mountains. In the safehouse in the city, there were...a lot of people. There was that crazy girl who'd challenged her before God Enel showed up and scared her off, and the guy she'd talked to on Omnitwitter...Gildarts? And a bunch of others. Some of them looked like they were joining forces.

They were still a ways off, but...she was also alone down here. If it was just one of them, maybe two of them, to come down here after her...

"No, no! That's dumb!" She smacked her forehead, shaking her head vigorously. "Everyone who's lasted this long is either really strong, or really lucky! Both are dangerous! Can't fight them! Can't risk losing the items!"

She put her tablet away and ran out away from the safehouse. It was a good distance, and a heck of a run and climb, but Cell and Archer would be good to have around. They weren't in the best of shape, but they were tough. They could help.

Graowr moving from SHD to D14

[The Future Warrior]

Graowr exploded out of the doors of the safehouse. Down the rocky shore, to the dock. Boots pounded across the water-warped boards to the end, and at the last second she put on a burst of speed, flickering briefly in a blur of color and leaped forward. She dearly missed her flying, when she only went a few dozen feet before losing momentum and starting to drop back toward the water. She curled forward, turning her inevitable feet-first plunge into a headfirst dive, and under the waves she went with barely a splash.

Into the (relatively) shallow water, right down to the bottom. And she pulled herself along, tugging and kicking for all she was worth. She was making a beeline straight for the shoreline, not even really caring at what point she reached it. She was faster on land than in the water, so it would be easy to make up for lost time when she got to dry land. She could literally hit the ground running, and head west, for the mountains. There was a super-secret agent man and a giant artificial terror-bug there, who she would really like to meet up with again. God Enel had told her to run, and split up from them, but...right now she needed the help. She needed the strength in numbers, in case anyone came after her. She'd rather have them there, even if they were kind of beaten up and not in the best of shape, than to face anyone on her own at this juncture.

The thrill of the fight and of a good competition had left. Now she was just trying to win, so she wouldn't let down God Enel, or let anyone else get blown up by those damn collars everyone in this game was wearing. Ugh! She really wanted to just rip hers off right there, but she vaguely recalled something about doing that being instant elimination from the game. So she left it, for now.

Graowr moving from D14 to D10

[The Future Warrior]

She couldn't tell how long it was, really. Especially not with her constantly getting a face full of mud dislodged from the bottom in her frantic pace. All she knew was that eventually, the water started to get more shallow. Only slightly, at first, but then more noticeably as she went on. That was enough to lift her spirits, just slightly. She popped back up to the surface, shaking her head to clear the water from her eyes. A glob of salty mud was spat out, with a "BLEGCH!" as she turned to survey the scenery. "Aha! Yes!" Not that much farther off, there it was. Trees. Dry land (relatively speaking, given the environment) was a hop, skip and a jump away.

And a hop, skip and a jump was what she did, springing clumsily through the water and toward the treeline. Breathless from the prospect of actually getting clear of this mess, regrouping with her allies and having some help to hold out until she could track down whoever had the rest of the items she needed to win this. Once she did that...she'd just have to beat the ever-living snot out of them and take it. It wouldn't be easy; whoever had them (however many more there were) wasn't going to be a pushover. She wasn't sure if she could take them on her own, but... Her hand reached up, brushing gently at the hairpiece God Enel had given to her before they parted ways. And her free hand clenched into a fist. No, none of that. If it came to it, she'd take down whoever she had to. It wasn't going to be pretty, or fun, but... She had to. She couldn't fail again, twice in the same competition.

That would start to feel like a recurring theme, and that would suck.

Graowr moving from D10 to D6

[The Future Warrior]

She slogged through the damp earth and swampy landscape, up the shore and toward the trees. From a coastal floodplain, merging the jungle and the ocean, into the jungle itself. Muddy, swampy terrain dominated the first few dozen yards, before it gave way into drier, firmer earth, letting her pick up speed. It was familiar territory by now (quite annoyingly so, really) but she never went through exactly the same area twice. Or maybe she'd just never really been paying attention before to notice things. Now, though...now she was wide-eyed, staring around, jumping at every little sound. Paranoia and fear of having some unknown prime come crashing through the trees, or some group she couldn't hope to fight off. She knew there weren't many left by now. She hadn't been keeping track, really, and wasn't good at math...but maybe a third of the entrants had been eliminated in one way or another, after her last quick check of the goings-on.

She really should do a more thorough check at some point. Maybe when she caught up with her teammates and could slow down. Three sets of senses could share the load, take the edge off her paranoia. The biggest worry when she rejoined them would be one (or both, maybe) of them betraying her. That thought alone was enough to send a shudder through her. They'd been kind of weird, but good and reliable so far. If they turned on her...especially after heading off with God Enel? That would be rough. She wasn't entirely sure she could handle both of them, even in the shape they were in.

Just have to hold onto hope for now. They'd seemed to like her. Kind of. If not appreciate her company. So they probably wouldn't turn on her. Yeah...probably.

Graowr moving from D6 to D2

[Dust]

Things were getting complicated, and quick. Just as he was starting to get help, or potentially because Yuki hadn't said yes or no yet, the same spine-tingles came over him and in the faded background Gildarts hunched over, but stood. He was relieved to see him again, if he had a tail it would beat the sides of his hips.

Right until he saw the man's face; smelt the scent of blood that hung loosely in the air around him; saw the dread in the crash mage's face; and heard the stutter in his voice. Dust dropped everything he was doing to move to his side and shoulder any burden the older mage needed help with. He offered to be a crutch in quiet whispers, but they were both proud men. So he just helped usher the girls into the safehouse.

The moment they walked in, Dust recoiled at the soiled air full of fresh blood. And then a moment later he heard a familiar sound of a gun being unholstered and pointed. He was ready to shove Gildarts out of the way, just the same as he did Illidan, but just as he saw the same quiet little elf man from the bar his friend in red pushed the gun out of the air. And just like that, they were among comrades.



On the streets again, Dust was tailing behind Gildarts and Deadpool with the other three. He offered Jak the same room warming grin he'd done at the table. At that point, the eco-warrior remembered exactly who the shirtless man was. He wasn't really in a smiling mood, but he offered Dust a half-hearted laugh when the taller man said, "So we get to work with each other after all!" Dust then offered his hand and they shook. "I never got your name, by the way."

"Jak." He said with a grunt. And also a little bit of a smile as he realized he never told the table his name.

The biggest in the group and still apparently unaffected by the world around him, Dust was smiles and full of joy. But on the inside, his headache was blooming. It felt like his own clawed fingers sliding through the wrinkles of his brain and reaching for the core of his life. He did the only thing he could think of at that moment... Ignore it. Everything around him was tense.  He kept looking over at the blonde who was in front of him, but she seemed to all but forgotten his request.  He wanted to reach out and just take what he wanted, but he was reminded of her threat even in his grin as the bruise on his cheek stung with the smile. He would have to power through this until he got a hold of his enemy.. Or he would finally find out what happens when you don't pay the price of the satellite.

He looked up suddenly, catching the familiar scent of the sea in the wind. There was a small pause in his pain as he remembered his love of the beach.

2/3rds of Karl's Chippendales, Jakpool, Silver Fox(Tamsin), and Goldilocks(Erika) move from C2 to D3

[Gildarts]

Forrest Gump?

Gildarts I'm pretty sure that was a dig at you. said queen obvious from inside the echoing chasms of his mind. She sat perched on her ivory throne, enjoying the view from the crash mage's tall perspective.

Deadpool delivered awkward silences just as good as he delivered obscene jokes that no one usually understood.

Other than that though, the group marched on. Gildarts was as aloof as ever. His wounds weighing him down more and more with every step.

Gross, this zone smells worse than the leftover hooker smell from the last one! Deadpool complained as the marshland filled the space around them.

Pfft, I'm surprised he can hear anything with his head covered in that plastic bag he calls a mask. Malefactor snarked back from the safety and solitude of Gildarts' mind. The stoic crash mage cracked a grin.

Deadpool narrowed his eyes through the mask, curious at what could possibly be more amusing than him to the old man "What, you're just now getting the joke?" he stated in bold.

Gildarts tosses a solemn look toward the superhero's way. The man was definitely off in some way, more than Gildarts, dare the mage think.

The group they had amassed was large but filling the air around them was a hollow silence. As though paying vigil for what would come next. Silence before the storm. A cool wind rustled the stout bushes of the marsh. Every man and woman behind Gildarts had a reason to fight, only enhancing their collective thirst to win.

This place looked vaguely familiar, then again, so did everything in zone D. Gildarts was brought back with wonderful memories of Lulu, the hungry squid that had stolen him away. Now they were partners and yet he'd released her like a wolf to the wild. She was back and free. The thought was an oasis for the suspense that was building the closer Gildarts and his army were lead into zone D.

Gil and co move from D3 to D1

[Sterling Archer]

“SON...OF...A...BITCH,” I grunted, half-running, half-tumbling down the rocky mountainside. I hadn’t really thought my movement through well enough, my bum leg making it basically impossible to stay on my feet as I ventured down. After nearly a full minute of flailing and faceplanting I came to a more or less level area and got shakily to my feet. “I hope they cut that part out of the final airing. Really don’t want to end up on the gag reel.”

Leaning shakily on the my chrome support, I pulled my tablet out and double-checked my bearings. Fucksquad looked to be rolling down from the north, and hopefully Cell had taken Graw in the opposite direction. With any luck, my smart mouth could waylay their pursuit to some extent.

“Alright,” I began, shuffling toward the sextet of blinking dots on my map. “Now to just not get immediately ground into a fine paste. Should be...easy,” I paused on the last word. No, it definitely wouldn’t be.

Ignoring the nagging feeling that this was a horrible idea, I continued to hazard through the uneven terrain, still thoroughly soaked from the incessant downpour. Though I had JUST consumed an ungodly amount of alcohol with the boys not long ago at all, I could feel my buzz wearing off. Stupid adrenaline, robbing me of my good time. Just one more threat I’d have to beat into submission with sheer stupidity.

“Fuck you, headache,” I murmured, pulling the last pair of airline-sized bottles of whiskey from my cargo pocket. I glugged back the contents, savoring the earthy burn at the back of my throat. “Nothing like a little liquid courage.”

A notable ping shook me from my Action Movie-esque musings as my tablet signaled an update. My mouth fell open as I observed the group of six blips suddenly shift eastward.

“Oh no you don’t, you slippery fucks.”

E9 → D1

[Handsome Jack]

Ol' Blueberry and I are zipping through caverns like we got the literal devil on our heels. In a lot of ways, we do. Groawr has her tablet out, guiding me along our way in the darkness. I can't see shit... every other step my feet are skidding on loose gravel or I'm kicking a stalagmite. But every time I stumble, every time I fall, I bolt back to my feet and keep running. The alternative is to let Sterling's sacrifice go to waste.

I think back to my friend and if I could cry, tears would be streaming over my beak. We'd been through a lot on this island. From our initial meeting in the Colosseum, where he handed me my carapaced, green ass, to our time spent traveling together on the island, to our ill-fated battle against the girl and her black dad, to our time spent drinking together... we'd gathered a life-time of memories in only a few short days. And even though I know he'll revive, I'm gonna miss the guy. Aside from Blue on my back, he was pretty much the only friend I had.

Wow. That was weird. Friends? Did I really just think that? How the fuck does Cell, the perfect being, become friends with a human and a wad of bubblegum? It boggles my mind. Yet, there it is. Me, a creature designed to destroy and consume, is now friends with those he was meant to defeat.

My foot crashes into another darkness-shrouded stone, bringing me back to reality. I can think about this strange turn of events later. For now, I have to keep moving. To slow is to lose. To stop is to die. If I want to live, if I want to win, I have to rush forward. That is the only way.

Team GC moving from E9 to D1

[The Future Warrior]

For a time, Graowr was mostly silent, only offering some words of guidance to keep Cell moving along the right path. After a goodly number of stumbles and trips over rocks and other detritus hidden in the shadows, she snapped out of her daze. "Ah, hang on..." Her teeth clenched and with a dull flickering her aura sprang up. Her poor, downtrodden mood made it hard to get it really going, but all it took was a single thought: that every moment they spent here, stumbling around and losing time (even a few seconds) was more time they were wasting from Archer's sacrifice. That was all it took to get her eyes to flash red and her aura to flare up brightly, like a huge pink torch. The entire tunnel was cast into stark relief, revealing the obstacles in Cell's path to the single eye of the bio-android.

"Well...thankss for that. Should make it a little easier!" the great giant bug rasped, and picked up his pace just a little. There was nothing to be done about slipping on the gravel, but that was the way of things. At least now all the bigger rocks and hidden stalagmites in the way could be seen and avoided, keeping full steam ahead.

"So...where are we going?" Graowr finally asked as the came rocketing out of the tunnel.

"No idea. Jusst...away from that mess," he hissed in return. "If you've got any ideas, I'm open to lisstening."

The little majin didn't respond, just letting her aura die down to nothing again and looking over the tablet and its map. She checked it over, seeing where people were going, and her mood fell sharply. But she also saw something else, which lifted her mood again. "Cell. Up in the Colosseum. A fight just ended, and...I think the winner got the last item we need to win." She fished out one of the capsules containing the main quest items. "One of these. I'm pretty sure I saw him take it from one of the losers."

Cell just gave a nod of affirmation. "Where iss he? We've got to get to him before that ffFFFFFUCKING ganksquad gets to him!"

"The city. Safehouse there."

"Hang on tight!" Cell snapped and put on a burst of speed, rocketing ahead over the sandy shoreline.

Team GC moving from D1 to D3

[Dust]

The metal bats swooped past him, clattering towards the ground upon empty impact. Dust fell to the earth once more when he heard the deep voice mock him. Was it this man that was making his blood boil? He stared deep into the slits of the mask at the man behind it. Drake came to mind. A man who's height was smaller than his, but dared to come between him and his goal. The bat motif didn't stop him from thinking about the supposed vampire contractor in the least.

'Hey there, Mutt.' Drake's sneer flashed across Batman's stiff lips. 'Where do you think you are going?'

A ghost of the wolf appeared in his mind, towering over the already strong looking figure that stood where he stood. In a city much like this, in a time long ago. 'Got a hot date.' He feinted a cocky grin.

'Don't worry, Pup. I brought you someone else to kiss.' Drake mocked him once more, before the constant war between ice and wolf continued again.

Shock and him had claimed to be after him last time they fought, but now he wondered if they were ever after anything else. Every turn had lead to them. Nevermind the constant power struggle between the two countries and the world.

In their silence were volumes of threats. The man before him was scar covered, sweat covered, and high on some pretty girl's kiss. Challenging him had taken nerves of steel at this point, Dust gathered right away that that's exactly what this man was about. He grinned hard, like he was going to accept the challenge this cloaked man had to offer. But this was not what called out to him in the least. "Sorry friend, I have somewhere else to be." He claimed, and crouched down.

Using everything in his natural power to escape the dark knight. Faster than the eye could see, Dust burst into the sky, higher than a normal man could manage for his size, and then darts through a stray alley way. Cutting off the hero's sight, even briefly, may give him the advantage he needs to leave this guy.

Freedom was given it would seem, and he made his way further south where his instincts told him there was one hell of a fight waiting for him.

Victory is mine!?
Dust from C2 to D3

[Dust]

The cityscape started to spread open into the urban islands of beach intention. The buildings got smaller the attractions got bigger, and the posters planted in his view reminded him of the amusement park left unattended. Dust would have liked a fight there. Perhaps it would even be, amusing.

Good thing there was no one around to hear his lame jokes.

The posters promised fun for the whole family, snacks and other refreshments, rides of all kinds, including a dangerously high roller-coaster that sits behind all the words of the flyer. It told the reader a time and a place, but Dust's future wasn't so black and white. Well neither was the flyer, but Dust wasn't able to see the gorgeous coloring of the magenta and golds, the reds, the pinks, the beautifully drawn images in like colors were all lost on him. The sad truth was, he was color blind. Heaven help him if he ever has to cut a red wire..

He found another empty road, and then another. Another and even one more. The area was much sadder than the flamboyant streets of Costa Del Sol, which saddened him if only because he figured Karl had a sense of pleasure and this was almost boring. At that point he thought about the message attached to his placement in the power rankings, the part where he had a place he could stay.  It hadn't occurred to the beach bum until now that he might have meant this island. All around him were empty buildings, shops, and houses. In fact, the only problem with this being a place to stay is, he'd be lonely. Surely the island had inhabitant, but they all were moved out to keep casualties down.

"Crap..." Dust said to himself, thinking about the several cars he destroyed.. He wondered if the people of the island dreaded the seemingly annual event that was Dante's Abyss. The damages to property, personal or otherwise, probably made any common man want to cry. This was the first he's heard of it, and felt like he was suckered into it more or less.

Except, he gained so much from the event that he couldn't be mad. Shinmen Takezo could be his very first friend, one that knew about his powers and joked about it instead of shuddering in disgust. Yuki.. He wanted to get to know her more, get to see her again. Gildarts, and all his glory. And ghosts.. He seemed experienced and even willing to teach a kid like him. Illidan had been silent and judgmental, but in the end there they seemed to have some kind of likeness for another. And Jak!

His thoughts were abruptly interrupted with images of Tamsin.

His heart raced harder than before and his face felt sun burned. He wanted to see her again, or at least he did before he went and made a fool of himself. He could still feel the softness of her lips. She might not want to see him after this, given how he had been reacting. It didn't help that he had been distracted. She seemed nice enough, and while quiet, didn't seemed bother by him as much as most girls were. He remembers back in his world, people looked at him with great suspicion. Maybe it was the cold eyes, the dead face expression, and the lack of impression that being a contractor came with. 

It really was like erasing yourself..

Dust is making his way down from D3 to D6

[Dust]

The sand under his feet felt heavenly. Soft and lingering warmth. The water that lapped at his feet washed way the mud, the slime, and the gravel from the city's floor. He found himself enjoying the simple things. But with each lap of the ocean his wounds were licked with salt water, and his appetite burned for this fight. He could see just the faintest shadows of life out in the water. There. Surely it would be there that he would meet this mysterious figure that howls out to his inner animal.

He took a deep breath, and then grinned harder than he ever has. He was about to face something huge, and it made his whole body tingle with anticipation. Where the Golden Alliance had been a disappointment, the ice fairy had been taxing on his health, this was calling for his best. He paused to steel himself in resolve, unwilling to run away after coming this far. He took a steady step into the ocean, ignoring the stinging sensation in the soles of his feet. He was ankle deep a moment later, waist deep the next, and a second later with perfect form Dust dove in bravely.

Silence was his own heartbeat as his senses were cut off. He could still feel the creature beyond him beckoning, at that moment they were alone. It and him.

Surfacing a moment later he couldn't be happier.

The bag on his back was relatively light compared to what he was able to do with weight. But it dragged behind him, and he was much slower than he normally was when diving and swimming. Water rolled off him like nothing, but the fabric and the bulk of air in the bag make it less aero-dynamic. But he still took to the water as well as dog to water having a grand ole time. Chasing after a duck, no less...

Dust dives from D6 into D10

[Dust]

Arm straight, swing up, twist, and then push. Kick. Repeat twice, and then breath. Long strokes of his strong arms carry Dust through the water, his  head down for three swipes of his paws before he lifts his head from the water and breaths. Kicking his powerful legs push him forward. Silence was his friend, and his thoughts were the only company he had. He wondered how the people he walked away from were doing, the group had been massive and the people in it powerful. But he'd been a witness a lot of fighting even before all this. Never was he allowed to form opinions beyond the tactics the enemy had made.

Avoiding the thoughts of Tamsin that tried to burrow through his concentration, he turned to his thoughts about Jak. Back to Jak. He had been an interesting fellow, a lot of attitude and anger bubbling around inside him. He briefly wondered if Jak knew those skinny jeans he'd been wearing were about as bad as his own trunks in leaving details to the imagination of the women around them. Or.. Men. Slowly Dust was coming to terms with the subject of sexuality. But he didn't want to think about that now, so he sets his thoughts back on the new members of the group.

Deadpool - that was his name, right? He'd been an interesting person. Bright red and black outfit, a fast talker, someone who seemed to have a million thoughts going though his head..

Speaking of heads. Gildarts.. Noble, strong, a serious man with a comically excitable side. He was a man of words, whose words were failing him at the time. A man of ghosts, of a past unread. A strong independent worrier who enjoyed friends. Gildarts was so much of what Dust like to think he could be, except so different to what he really was. It was crazy, but he kinda liked the idea of being able to be the man he might want to be instead of some robot like human turned into a killing machine. 

The public had feared him as a contractor, but here he can laugh and smile with everyone.

Dust swims from D10 to D14

[Harlan Higgs]

Harlan woke up in a damp, cluttered building. His head ached from the ringing blow he'd been dealt, the last thing he remembered being draining the pretty elf girl of all her blood. Ahhhh.....wonderful. He'd been wanting to do that for more than a while. Now she'd experience the sensation of death, falling forward into a pit of bleakness. It tended to change people. He'd have to keep an eye on her, groom her, nudge her in the right direction. Just like Jimmy had all those years ago.

Standing up, his shoulder hung painfully from his body, dislocated from the finishing attack. A snarl curved to his lips as the Beast rose again, ashamed and furious at having been beaten, but the rage was gone. Harlan the man sent it back to it's cage. Just like everything, this whole contest had been a gamble. And sometimes, you lost a big one. At least he wasn't dead yet, although he might as well be.

The hulking wolfbeast walked out of the broken doors and out onto a boardwalk veranda, gazing at the sky and the vast swathes of ocean before him. He had the feeling that he was the only soul around for a fair distance, and he didn't relish the swim back to the mainland. 

Heh. It was funny, really. He'd ended up exactly back where Karl Jak had dropped him those few days ago, although greatly changed. And now that he didn't appreciate the powerful feeling this form gave him, his aesthetic sense was crying out for a tailored suit, a glass of blooded wine, and a cigar. Hopefully this charm would wear off after the competition was over.

And then, out in the waves, he spotted something. Or rather, someone. Paddling towards him. A constestant, caught out in the flooded lands, desperately trying to make it to a safehouse before their collar went kaboom.

Harlan grinned. 

He had one last fight in him.

[Dust]

Whatever it was it lurked just outside his reach. With hands slicing into the choppy water and legs kicking behind him, he grew more and more desperate to reach whatever it was he was seeking. Inside he never considered himself as blood thirsty, but he liked the idea of a good fight. This never was a thing he needed to think about before, but now that he had time to spare it wasn't above him to go over the less important things. He has had quit a few fights that meant nothing to him, if he was really honest. Even now, even here.

Hokori was always just someone's attack dog. Even in his other world his first kill was the only kill he had control over. If killing your own step-mother defined you as anything, he hoped no one would think that particular title for him. Decapitating a woman was probably the lowest point of the story, next to kissing her lifeless lips upon discovering his payment, but he had been so consumed with the feeling of being insulted that she would rather torture and kill him and his father than live another day in a lie. He was not proud of that moment, but he neither felt regret or remorse for it. It was just another thing that happened. Even now, he hoped she found her actions justified. Not like she could say anything now, she was super dead.

The power that leaked into the air from whatever it was he was about to come face to face sent shivers through him. It shook him to the core, but he did not feel fear. He felt encouraged to take a big bit of whatever it was. SW-808 moved through the water with pure focus and a deep hunger for a fight worth dying for. At this point he finally realized he was right to come to DA. He wanted to be awakened again, and he was wide awake now.

Dust reaches SAFE HOUSE D (From D14)