W2 🛸 PLAYER CYOA: BUP SQUAD (TEEJ) 🚀 BAIKEN, ICHIBAN, THRONÉ

[dropoffs]

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[frotag]

...Nice to meet you both.

[ like, he's still wary of the two, but again, he's the nice and charismatic one of the group... ]

The ride to get here was... a lot. [ YEAH??? ] No offense, really, but we kinda just want to make this quick.

[verminous]

Hopkins

What do you mean, you-

[Luckily, she cuts him off.]

Aya

Hehe, you're all business~ No problem, no problem. The facility we're exploring is over here, but we haven't been in yet...

Hopkins

We had a former L Corp employee who was supposed to be helping with the potential risks in here, but we're just going to have to work with what we know. They used to keep all types of monsters down there, from what we heard, so just try to be careful once we're in.

[With that warning delivered, the pair lead them all down into an underground facility, clearly abandoned for a while... it's mainly dark, dimly lit hallways, up until a space ahead of them opens up.

The facility is lit with red emergency lighting, still, and it reeks of death and decay in this entryway. Bugs scatter as their footsteps draw closer.]

[naeddre]

[they had one. that one probably exploded.

throné immediately unsheathes her dagger. this is not a fun and friendly corridor. but that's fine, she just will be careful like they said. she steps in, and holds her breath. gross. gross gross gross.]

... What type of monsters? [she can probably deal with that. it's not feeding humans to a bus.]

[kabari]

[ hm. gross indeed. ]

And just what is it that you know?

[ because this isn't lookin good fam. baiken's weapon is sheathed for now - she can do her quick draw if need be - but her hand rests on the hilt, stupid sleeves be damned. ]

[frotag]

[ okay, yes, ichiban has seen some shit, but this is some next level shit, because underneath it all he still does come from a relatively normal world. the minutiae of the scene aren't what get to him, but the overall vibes are absolutely rancid.

he says nothing as they proceed, keeping his focus on anything that may dart out of the shadows so that he stands a better chance at intercept an ambush. ]

[verminous]

[Guys we established we're at D*sn*yl*nd don't worry about it.

The vibes and smell are both rancid, honestly, and as Ichiban looks around at the shadows... he'll probably notice that the few bodies laying around this area are all mutated in some way. They've got antennae growing from an arm here, insect legs on the head there, and occasional whole limbs that are insectoid like the men they saw on the way here.]

Hopkins

Abnormalities. We don't know much about them, seeing as L Corp buried all their facilities when they fell... frankly, they could be anything. What we do know is they haven't died out since the fall.

Hopkins

The good news is that these places are still worth the risk, if you can get your hands on any of the Enkephalin they used to produce here.

[naeddre]

[my brain tried to translate that to dasaniland and was like huh. okay.

she keeps walking, and does her best to not look at the bodies. she doesn't exactly have a sensitive stomach but even the most desensitized people can't handle rancid decaying bodies and bugs who are also men and dead. just wants to crawl out of her skin, thanks. she's on such high alert, trying to make sure nothing sneaks up on them.]

Enkephalin...? [what.]

[kabari]

[ dasaniland: party of hydro homies. ]

Why's it so important that we do it?

[ like? these two blue people can do it. this is stupid. this whole thing is stupid. it's just courier-ception, and that thought makes baiken scowl even harder, as she sidesteps a mutant corpse. cool. great. loving this so far. ]

[frotag]

We're— not from here. We're freelancers, so we're not totally up to speed on all the details or technical terms. But, yeah, having that context might help us get the job done without too many hiccups.

[ quick thinking on his part from his days as an actual freelancer, in case their guides start to wonder why they're asking so many questions. he can only hope it's believable. ]

[verminous]

[Hopkins looks like he is quickly approaching critical mass of disbelief, so Aya steps in.]

Aya

Weeellll...~ We don't know! We're here to escort you to the lower levels, though, so I'm pretty sure our job actually stops there...?

[He can no longer be contained, however.]

Hopkins

You mean to say you work for one of the Colors, and you don't even know how valuable a resource Enkephalin is?! It used to supply energy to the entire City! It-

[There's a sound from further down the hall, and they both go quiet, hands to their weapons.]

[naeddre]

[listen dude we just woke up on a vore bus and were told to go into the sewers to grind rats for xp, i don't know what you want from us

anyway. there's a sound, and throné vanishes. not literally, but she immediately tries to slip into the shadows of the hallway so nothing can see her. goodbye.]

[kabari]

Y'don't really listen, do ya? [ hopkins read between the lines ichiban already explained.

alas, it's not time to be snappy when there is a mysterious sound. baiken draws her sword, her stance ready. bring it on, whatever it is. ]

[frotag]

Is this the part where we roll for initiative?

[ he needed to get one quip in ok... but yeah, ichiban also readies up. this time, he does not immediately make himself big target #1 by yelling and drawing attention; instead, he holds his breath as he takes a tentative step forward. ]

(body horror in link)

[verminous]

??? 1

Hey! Someone there?

??? 2

Someone get past our boys at the entrance...?

[Hopkins and Aya will just kind of follow y'all on this one. As Ichiban steps forward and they move toward the sound and the voices... they'll come across a small group of new friends in this gross ass facility. Much like the bugmen outside, they're all mutated, but these all wear similar military uniforms to each other, bandaged here and there; they're hunched over a monstrous-looking dead creature leaking green fluid, with a vial or two of the same substance nearby. The first voice speaks again:]

Veteran 1

This floor's ours. But... heh. You move on along and go hit up the floor below us for the Enkephalin there, and we'll just let ya head riiight down.

[naeddre]

[hm. bad.

throné is still hidden as well as she can be! she doesn't like these things, or trust them at all. she won't attack them if they don't attack the group, but. she's ready to, if they're going to try anything.]

[kabari]

Hm. Generous.

[ baiken doesn't mind making it known that she has a sword and she isn't afraid to use it :) but since they're just kinda hunched over being gross, that's... fine. for now. ]

No way you're lettin' us off that easy.

[frotag]

[ the green substance is very hard to miss in this light; ichiban stares at the nearby vials more than whatever the dead abomination they're crowded around is. looks like the question of what enkephalin is has been answered for them... ]

Yeah—it if was that simple, why aren't you guys down there yourselves?

[verminous]

Veteran 2

What, you don't believe us? Tch. Too high and mighty to think anything of us?

[She glowers at them as she says it, before turning her attention back to a vial.]

Veteran 1

We didn't come down here just to die. There's enough of you to handle that next floor... we're fine not taking the risk.

[naeddre]

[... okay, she's going to try and get around them, then. she doesn't have a lot of interest in the green stuff "you're supposed to collect it" doesn't have a lot of interest in the

goodbye! next floor.]

[kabari]

So it's like that. [ sending them to their demise for whatever this green stuff is. sure.

baiken isn't quick to move to the next floor though (sorry throné) - she takes a good hard look at the mutants. not to intimidate just... observing. ]

[frotag]

[ ok so he's not going to IMMEDIATELY try to grab a vial and possibly incur death #2, but he will start to move closer to one. like. it's right there? ]

[verminous]

[When Baiken takes a good, hard look... the military uniforms look like they belong to these bug people. They all fit them, they don't seem stolen. They're old, though, worn and torn, and the people themselves-- they all have that desperate sort of glint to their eyes as they observe the party. They're all too thin. Whatever kind of living they're trying to eke out down here, it's not going well, and they might not be lying about preferring to stay up here; they look like they might genuinely lack the strength to deal with anything worse than the monster they're hovering over.

Ichiban inches closer to a vial, and their eyes narrow... but fortunately, there's a distraction.

Unfortunately, it's because a bugman they might not have seen crawling on the ceiling spots Throné trying to swipe a vial as she slips past.]

Ceiling Veteran

H-hey! Hey, we already said this is ours...! You can't take it from us!

[The others turn to look, and the first one, evidently the leader of this small group, growls-]

Veteran 1

Fine. No playing nice, then. Get 'em!

[Ceiling bugman drops down to try to attack Throné, while two each make a move on Baiken and Ichiban. I'm rolling this shit just once for the pairs because we're not going too deep here.

Ceiling bug, with the nat 20, drops on Throné with his scythelike bug arm aimed to pierce her. Baiken's pair, with their 11, hop to their feet and advance; Ichiban's pair had the nat 1, so they start to stand and find the dead monstrosity's limbs tangled around them. They scream, crashing back down as they fumble to slice the limbs away.]

ICHIBAN

THRONÉ

BAIKEN

[naeddre]

[she did in fact try to swip the vial and teej didn't just make this up for later readers and also for me if i go back to read this in the future

anyway, throné is very confident about her ability to steal! she had a like 80% success rate with her 18. however, ceiling bugman was a surprise, and for whatever reason she didn't expect to be jumped on like that. usually when she fights things they are directly in front of her on a 2D grid, okay, she's from a pixel game. with a nat twenty i don't really see throné getting away without being absolutely pierced through, so the scythe just slips right through her torso and she collapses.

she doesn't make a sound, though. not even a gasp, even though that really had to hurt.

is she dead? not yet! probably! i don't know. she's scrabbling for both the vial (that's her PRIZE) and also for something else.]

[kabari]

[ out of the corner of her eye, she sees it: throné getting skewered and collapsing. this would spur her into action even more if she weren't face to face with a bugman.

the other slips, so just in case he didn't see it: ] Ichiban! Go get Throné!

[ THEN I GUESS SHE SLIPS BECAUSE I ROLLED A 5 SO THAT'S COOL. her stance is ruined. that 5 is not doing SHIT to this bugman. ]

[frotag]

[ baiken doesn't need to finish her sentence; even if the guys going after him didn't eat absolute shit with their roll, throné was the only thing on his mind as soon as she fell.

despite everything, he is still only human, so he isn't fast enough to stop her from getting stabbed, but he can sure as hell retaliate and make sure it hurts. he doesn't even take the katana off his back to attack, because he's not really thinking so much as just doing right now. no, it's his own fist connecting with the bugman's nose thanks to his 18, the sickening crunch of breaking bone drowned out by his roar.

it's that same hand that cradles throné's head as he kneels down. ]

Necchan, hey, Necchan! Stay with me, okay? Me and Baiken-san, we're right here with you!