World Tree MUSH

    Mars in the Olympus world is pretty... desolate, with most of the cities confined to domes because the outside isn't really liveable. Some areas are underground instead of domed, though... and it is in one of these undercities that anyone answering the call by either Athena or the Gardeners(who in truth just forwarded the call for their own reasons) will end up if they investigate. Or, perhaps, just a random Vine dropped someone nearby. It's a cramped, smelly place full of pipes and walls and rust, though the rust has worn through in places to show a kind of durable sealant in the tunnels behind it.

    Speaking of seals, a large circular opening has been sealed in the past by massive girders. In the past. This is where Athena is waiting for others to show up, next to a pallet full of crates and staring at where the girders are torn off. This leaves the door openable. She's wearing sealed power armor, though it's not the super fancy kind just motorized armor, and to anyone who shows up she notes, "If you have trouble with the cold or with lack of air, there are oxygen masks and heated suits in the crates. These tunnels are supposed to have been sealed a long time ago and there could be leaks, but the pressure below shouldn't be trouble for humans."

    It's not Tsuyu Asui's first rodeo on Mars.
    Though the desolate red sand atmosphere is not quite the amphibian girl's preferred environment. She's nice and happy to be in a dome with atmosphere and breathable air, and not being beaten down by the fact that the planet is generally not habitable at all in the universe she's from.
    The fact of the matter is that Athena has Tsuyu's cellphone number, so the hero student is already here, sitting in a crouch by the reborn goddess, wearing a black and green skinsuit that seems more suited to aquatic environments than... You know.
    Being on Mars.
    "So like. My suit is a little insulated. But I really don't do so hot in the cold." She admits point blank. "Also I like air." 
    Yeah she's already rummaging through the crates for something in her size.

    "DLN-002, Designation: Roll! I'm here to help!" A cheerful blonde girl is here, scooting into the passage and looking about. She scuffs a foot. "Actually I just got a little lost and was looking for someone, but I hear some kids need help, so do you mind if I tag along?" She fidgets and reaches for a container, despite being a robot. She's a household bot, and while very well made and durable, extreme cold is bad.

    While she waits for others or any objection, Roll nervously pulls out a cloth and some cleaning agent, fidgeting via wiping down a nearby pipe that has mold on it.

    It's a bit out of her way, but Lyona did hear about the trouble, and with the aid of her monsters she's managed to make it to where Athena's waiting. So the blonde with the missing eye is most certainly not alone. She's got her whole team with her! Which means maybe she's a little noisier than usual, but hey -- she's brought her best firepower!

    The most noise will be coming from what look like a giant rhinoceros beetle made of metal, with a 'mohawk' of red plumage atop its knight-helmet-shaped head. The metal beetle clanks a bit, but is trying to stay quiet.

    There's less difficulty for the purple vaguely-menacing bunny/beaver/plushie and the dark shroud with a spikey mask to stay quiet, since neither of them are on the ground. Though close to the shroud-thing there's a deep vibration that's more felt than heard, and the purple plushie makes 'poit poit poit' sounds when it moves.

    The mention of there being suits and air masks gets a nod. "Thanks. I'm not sure how cold it gets here, but... better safe than splattered, right?" So yeah, she's also going to look for something in there she can wear.

    It's a sad thing that even this Mars, for all its desolate landscape and enclosed cities, still looks better than the one that Cayde knows from his own solar system. For one thing, it's not overrun by space rhinos. Or, Cabal, if you want to be technical.

    The Hunter Vanguard arrives in style today, hunkered low over his Sparrow, a sleek hoverbike, old but well-cared for. The cold and potential lack of oxygen doesn't bother him, but then given that he's a robot, it's probably of no surprise that he's geared up the way he always is, leather armor with metal accents here and there, trusty knife at his side, gun on the other, and the hood and ragged cloak combo that no self-respecting Hunter would be without.

    Skidding to a halt, his Sparrow kicks up dust but remains hovering as Cayde brings it around, and he swings off of it with ease, not giving it a second glance as it vanishes in the light and magic of beautiful transmat. 

    "Hey all," he says as he saunters towards the already gathering group, noting faces both new and old. He gives Athena a salute before taking stock of current company and yet arriving, brow plate lifting at some, a nod given at others.

    Luke was glad to visit one of these domed cities again, his last time was... not the best to be fully honest!, so another chance to just see things was quite welcome!. He looks a bit out of place perhaps, wearing a simple, basic outfit, shorts and a shirt, and for once, he seems alone! at least for the time being.@emit 
    It's not long before he reaches the gathering near Athena, waving a hand happily and glancing at the gathered, "Hello!" he offers, greeting Tsuyu, Roll and the others as well, soem familiar faces!. The offer for help with the heat and air is welcome, "I think I'd like that... I do hope that I don't need to... use my pokemon on a place without air, might be in big trouble..."

    It doesn't matter that this is a trip all the way to Mars (well, *a* Mars). It doesn't matter that it's a school night. It doesn't matter that she's got no way other than a newly-acquired cricket bat to defend herself against what may well be some sort high-tech or alien threat.

    Yumi Tachibana has heard that kids are disappearing. So she's here.

    She's here, and she's hastily putting on one of the heated suits Athena has indicated. "You have any idea what we're going to find in there?" she asks, directed at Athena. "Even broad guesses is fine, it'll give us an idea what kind of things to expect." Some of them don't know what kind of threats this world has, after all.

Olivia had been caught up in tribal matters for some time, yet when word came to her about children missing? She had come, she had not come alone either, with her as ever was Clever Girl and Wing Tooth. Olivia was also armed an 1800s style shotgun was over her back and a pistol was at her hip, she also had a sword hanging from her belt, even more, interesting she was wearing flak armour, she was expecting trouble this much was clear. Her dinos seme unhappy and she asks. 

 "How can anyone live in a place like this it smells dead." 

 There are markings on the flak it almost mimics 20th century NYPD swat colours oddly. 

 "If you have anything of the children We can use Clever Girl to track it. She's not a Direwolf but she's good." 

 She smiles a little glad to see not only Athena's here but Tsuyu. Also with her armour, if anyone is paying attention there's a hole in the left gauntlet where her implant can be clearly seen glowing a faint orange. 

 "I'll change out then." She'll move to pull off her flak armour and looks sadly to her two animal companions she's going to have to leave them it looks like. 

 She's wearing very simple fabric undergarments and she moves to quickly change into the suit, as well as getting herself a mask, for a Tribal? She does have somewhat of a grasp of technology more so than one might expect. She also rummages around to see if there's anything she can do to kitbash a mask for either of her companions. She's busy as well getting her weapons fitted back on over the suit. She make sure to fit her ammo belt and webbing over the new suit.

Desolate or otherwise. This mars was home for Maui. Amusingly before his current lot in life Maui wore much the same sort of 'beach bom' attire he did now. Why? WHy not really. He looked, frankly, like a tourist from some tropical wherever that took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. However the rather large pistol like device at his hip along with a backpack full of other exploritory sundries would point that he was exactly where he wanted to be.

"Alright," He noticed Athena, yet was unaware of her own divinity. He just followed his own leads on a few disappearnaces which happened to lead him here. "So what's your game here?" He surveyed the area as others started trickling in. "You're obviously not security so lemme guess. It isn't just one or two kids going missing and the cops are acting like they've got more important things to deal with all 'round ya?" 

Then Athena spok. No-nonsense woman there. Something Maui could appreciate. THen a worried glance downward. "Down there huh?" A tone of concern as he pulled an oxygen mask from his backpack and made various checks on seals, air flow, and whatnot before slipping the mask over his head and pulling what looked like a jacket two sizes too small out before slipping it on and zipping up. It wouldn't offer as much protection as what Athena wore, but Maui valued traveling light. "I... should be OK." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. Deep breath. His eyes closed. 

Why this bothered him he couldn't say. Before his accident he did tunnel dives all the time since the best way in and around without getting noticed or cardd about was look like you're a mantinance worker or inspector and bluff through. Now? He was taking deep breaths to try steadying his nerves. "OK... you." He looked to Athena. "You're running this barbique. What's the plan?"

    In the end, Tsuyu decides to take the risk. She only goes for an oxygen mask, and she has a reason for that as she slips it into place and gives it a test. Seems to be in working order. She'll just hope her scuba suit will be insulating enough.
    That can be a problem for future Tsuyu to deal with, she decides.
    Then there's Yumi. The frog girl's vacant stare turns on the cream-haired girl and lingers *way too long*.
    "Oh. Hey. It's you again. Hi."
    But then her attention is snagged, by the little blonde Light-bot. ... That starts cleaning out of what appears to be nervous habit. Tsuyu, still in her low crouch, hops on over to Roll.
    "Hey. Look. It's gonna probably be really nasty in there, and I don't mean in the dirty sense. Are you sure you're up for this?" She asks, while on the Light-bot's eye level.

    The suits in the crates are very stretchy... Lyona's companion might be a little tough for the suit, but can have their own mask easily enough for air. It's just thermal insulation. "You won't be hiking forty kilometers in these things, but they'll keep you alive long enough to get back to shelter," she warns. "Don't forget to grab a light if you don't have one of your own." She taps her helmet. "And try to keep radio silence until we need it." Lyona's creature doesn't startle her, but Roll gets her looking at her curiously for a moment. Then she nods, "Athena, glad to see so many came by. I don't normally pay much attention to this stuff - humans should solve human problems - but something about this stinks and not in the olfactory way."

    Cayde gets a nod of relief. With him, Tsuyu, and Luke here, she has a few people she knows she can rely on. Olivia and Yumi are two more familiar faces, but she hasn't spoken to the former lately. "You two... we'll need you if we run into the kids. Get them home. A tracker could be useful..."

    Well... everyone seems eager to move. Maui gets a shrug, "Something like that. Not normally something I'd stick my nose into but... this smells of something offworld or supernatural, and the locals can't really do something about that." She twists the door open to let out a hiss, and the scent that escapes is somehow BETTER than what's up here, though a bit stale. The air is colder, but no more than a chilly home in winter that set the thermostat too low. "So there SHOULD be nothing. But if there is something it will probably not be human. Let's just hope it isn't one of the man-eating type, you know? I'd rather see these kids alive."

    Unaware of uncaring of her contradictory statement of not caring about the missing children clashing with her concern, the goddess drops down into the tunnel below. A thin layer of water runs along the edges, but it looks relatively clean, and plunges both toward and away from the center of the city. "Everyone up for this?"

Maui grunted at Athena before swapping board shorts for pants simialr to his seemingly too small jacket, which left him wearing what looked as best could be described as a mesh of spandex kamen rider outfit and motorcycle armor. %rThen the door opened and Maui frowned before grabbing a pistol from is bag and strapping it along with the bulker pistol to his suit's waist belt. Then, grabbing his backpack, he followed along, focusing on Athena rather than the walls. His landing was an experianced one, bent joints and ready to roll as soon as he landed. Fine this was Mars so a couplemeter drop was, well, nothing. However he had not-so-fond memories of a turf war that he wandered into because he literally dropped in on a supposedly secret meeting.

    Oh hey there's a Froppy here. "Tsuyu-chan~," Yumi greets playfully, offering a warm smile and a wave. She's just about suited up when Athena turns attention to her again, and the woman receives a serious-faced nod of reply. "I can't do any tracking, but I can help get the kids out of here, at least." And the prognosis is 'probably not human', which means it's probably something that fully outclasses her in a straight fight. And the gravity here will make swinging her cricket bat even more awkward, for that matter. But it's fine, she'll deal with it. "I'm set, let's go."

It's a good thing Clever is used to saddle and the beidal as she works to jusy rig the mask for it. The Raptor makes several sounds that seme uncertain about it. Wingtooth takes some raw meat to get to accept it but they catch on quick they cna breath easier with this. She puts he flak back on and is soon to follow the others she'll look at Maui for a moment. Wingtooth perches on her shoulder as she now heads out with the rest of the group. 

 "Glad to be of service, lets see what we can do. Even the worst raider would leave a child alone, they are so rare...its murdiner the entire land's future if you do..."

    Luke gratefully takes the air mask, and asks for at least one more for his pokemon, "Actually, might be best if I prepare before going outside." he says, smiling to the gathered and glancing curiously at Maui, "Impressive." he muses, even as he clicks one of the pokeballs in his belt and releases what seems to be one of his most used pokemon. It kind of looks like a tiger, except very round, and with a clear lighting bolt mark on it's chest. He quickly tries to apply the mask to the electric type, which finally accepts it, after a bit of a struggle." "I'd offer to help but... I am not very good at tracking, beyond some very obvious stuff." he says, "I'd be glad to help with the kids of course.". The big feline meanwhile is intrigued about the gathered, unable to quite sniff around with the mask on it, so it resorts to pad closer to Tsuu and Roll, and the others, before returning to Luke's side, seemingly satisfied. The pair follows Athena

    With only a few people present that Cayde's aware of by way of capabilities, his feelings are probably mutual alongside Athena's, but he's not going to be too dubious about anyone who's answered the call for help that had been put forth. ...okay, he might be having -some- doubts about the maid. Cleaning pipes, really?

    He watches as people get their gear together and more information is shared of the situation, at least what's known, but altogether it seems there's a lot they aren't too sure of. Totally fine by him. Just so long as it's clear who and what to shoot when it comes down to it. Mention of the possibility of offworld interference has the old Exo's optics narrow, and as the door is opened and everyone starts towards it, he nods and starts along, not hesitating in hopping down. It's been a while since he's been on Mars, but it's just like riding a bicycle. Or something.

    Granted there aren't any objections, he starts to move ahead to scout out things in typical Hunter fashion.

    Not to worry. The shroud-and-mask is clearly not living, and the giant metal beetle looks like it's an empty suit of beetle-shaped armor. Lyona will, however, fit a mask onto the purple thing, because it's living. And she will do this despite its flailing and loud, squeaky protests of 'DYAAAAAUUU!'

    If there's a drop, the shroudmonster and the purple not-bunny monster will make it easily. However, the metal beetle will carefully collect Lyona with its oversized front feet and carry her down, trying not to CRASH down. The beetle can somehow fly.

    Once she's on her feet again, she nods to Athena. "Ready when you are," she says quietly.

>> SUMMARY[Cayde-6] >> Scouting ahead!

    Athena might not be startled, but Roll hasn't seen anything like what Lyona has with her. "What is this? And is that a dinosaur? And..." Okay, now Luke pops out another weird creature and this is just making her stare. "S-sorry, I'm a little new to this hero business! My brothers are the ones who do it normally, but they're both missing." She rubs at the pipe more quickly.

    Tsu asking if she's ready for it soothes her. "Oh, I'm fine with doing this! Really! Lightbots are supposed to help humans." She tugs on the suit while she talks, and then watches Cayde drop in. "It looks like robots aren't a big deal here..." she admits as she heads for the entrance.

    "You can trust her. She's a little reckless, but she's got a good head on her shoulders." Tsuyu instantly pipes up when Athena's attention turns to Yumi. Though she largely falls silent to listen to the reborn goddess detail exactly what they're all possibly in for.
    Luke is shot a peace sign in silence via way of acknowledging the young trainer while she listens. But then the Student Hero raises her hand.
    She speaks before being actually called on. This isn't a classroom environment, the rules can be damned when she has something to say.
    "For someone who thinks humans should solve human problems, you're pretty obviously concerned about the children." She points out point blank, before her attention shifts. Just for the fraction of a second, and without even turning that soulless-eyed stare away from Athena.
    "Oh hey, Cayde."
    The greeting comes out-- and Roll says something. Tsuyu's body language shifts in demeanor in such a way that the highschooler looks like she just swallowed a fly. A shiver slides down her spine while she looks like an eel just slid up her belly, and she goes tense, head swivelling stiffly to stare back at the daughter of Light.
    "Lightbot. Oh. Awkward. Uh. You wouldn't happen to know someone called Blues, would you?"

    "If you're all convinced," Athena says, switching on her helmet light and... well, there are only two ways to go, and she already seems to expect to be moving away from the city. "Hm. Air here is breathable, but with the seal up top broken I expected that... everyone stay on your guard. If we're lucky it's just some hoodlums trying some human trafficking. Illegal but eventually they'd get caught."

    She glances over her shoulder. "What IS that thing by the way?" To Lyona that is. She really wanted to talk to Olivia and Cayde. "These tunnels will split soon, so Cayde, why don't you join me for fire support while the dino tracks? The rest of you fall in as you think your combat capabilities can handle. They might have guns or something, but if it's just locals it should be fine. If not, well... nobody likes seeing a kid hurt, so we can do this favor, right? Just clean up a few criminals, call it a d-"

    As she says that, turning for the upcoming junction, there's a very LOUD scream, as if a child just down the tunnel to the right is just out of range of the lights, screaming in pain.

Very belatedly Maui decided to comment on Tsu's assertion of Humanty's problems being their own. "Let's be fair. Chances are even this isn't just some run of the mill gang grabbing kids, yanking their stacks, and resleeving whoever was the highest bidder and is instead some supernatural wackadoo going on, which would make it her perview... apparently." He then looked from Athena , "Don't think I got a name on the invite sorry. Hi I'm Maui." He offered a weak smile behind his mask without bothering to take his attention away from where Athena was headed. Sure the tunnel had plenty of room but there was this deep unease he had to continually fight down.

Then a loud scream from ahead. Maui's hand went to the large pistol with the claw-like protrusion. His jaw set and fear of the tunnels vanished, at least for the moment. He wasn't blind running, instead keeping a crouched compact profile as he ran, hugging one of the walls of the tunnel rather than sticking to the middle. He started swearing in a pigdin of polynesian lannguages. HE thought he recognized that scream, or maybe it was just imagination and fear. He made a promise. He was going to bring those kids home.

    Lyona nods to Athena's warning. "One can hope," she notes. And then she blinks. "Huh?" Lyona seems surprised by the question from Athena. "What's what thing?" Then she remembers. "Oh. Right. Forgot. Meet Mayhem, Demon, and Knight." She indicates the shroud-thing, the purple notbunny plushie thing, and the metal beetle, in that order.

    The cry of pain gets her attention, though, and the giant metal beetle squeaks! It sounds like chitin squeaking rather than a small animal, but still... a squeak! Lyona soothes him, "It's OK, Knight. We'll get them back. We can't just go running in though, or we'll be next."

    So she and the three monsters start to creep through the hall, in the direction of the scream. They're not super-silent, particularly not Lyona and Knight, but they're at least not stomping full-speed and making a bunch of noise.

    Tsuyu's praise leaves Yumi looking a little embarrassed. "Eheh..." She falls into step pretty quickly, though, looking the rest of the group over here and there as she gets a chance; her pace ends up taking her near Roll, and there's a nod for Athena. As much as Yumi wants to be a frontline fighter, she knows she'd just be in the way and have nothing to legitimately offer in return. So she'll stick to the middle, where she can-

    That's a child's scream of pain.

    Yumi is already at full speed and charging down the hallway by the time it even registers on her that her feet are moving. The orange-haired girl ends up right behind Maui, but while she's sticking close to a wall like he is, she's *not* moving tactically.

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> Yeah I'll just stick to the middle where I'm not in the wa- HERO MODE ACTIVATED

    Luke seems intrigued about Roll, and the mention of 'bot' but he is polite enough to avoid poking much for info, instead, he decides to get clsoe to the other monster trainer, intrigued like Athena was, even after that quick visit he did to Lyona's place not that long ago. "Well, I am unsure where I can help... my pokemon are goood on either distance... but getting shot might not be the best idea..." he mumbles.

    Then the scream happens, Dynamo (the big round cat) perking his ears and hissing, fur on end, facing the tunnel and starting to rush that way, followed by Luke, "Dynamo!, wait!" he calls, barely catching the eager feline as it tried to follow Maui's example, "LEt's try and see what is going on.". He seems to share Lyona's mindset, the two of them moving quietly.

    Roll trudges forward, thanking herself that this place isn't as dirty as she expected. "I'll be fine! The doctor upgraded me before I went looking." Looking for who? That's answered quickly! "Oh... Blues is who I'm looking for! He's my brother! The prototype Lightbot." She jumps happily... and bonks her head, in the lower gravity. "Ow! Um, have you seen him?"

    The answer might have to wait, because that scream is... pretty bad! Like many she has no hesitation in just dashing forward as fast as the odd gravity will allow, but at least she's heavier than a human so can just turn down her motor output. It's kind of in her programming. "Come on!"

    "Hey there," Cayde reciprocates, nodding over at Tsuyu. It's been a while since he'd crossed her path, but she's one of those people you don't particularly forget. At least she probably can't pop anything into her mouth if she's got it covered.

    As they look around further, his steps slow, his gun having found its way into hand somewhere in between. Better to be prepared. As Athena said, could be trouble, could be nothing big, but everything feels better when you've got yourself armed. He wanders closer to Athena as she addresses him, his blue gaze shifting between her and Olivia along with the latter's companions. 

    "All right, fine by me," he says, giving a twirl of his Ace of Spades. 

    His head jerks up at the scream, his mouth opening and closing a few times as Maui heads off, thankful that Luke's got his creature pals under control, although he can understand the eagerness to be on the move. The only reason he's not doing so himself is because Athena'd asked a favor of him, and he'll make good on being support, even if he might be wanting to champ at the reins.

    "Okay. So maybe we won't have to track too much, but um, I think we'd better pick up the pace."

    "Uh."
    Tsuyu is faced with a problem as she stares at Roll, who only seems to happy to hear the name Blues. "Uhhhhh." This really is awkward. "Well. About that. You see... The last time I saw him he--..."
    She doesn't get to finish that sentence. A scream sounds out. There goes Yumi- and ... There goes Roll to boot. Actually it looks like most everyone is storming off. The student hero heaves a sigh and slinks herself into the nearest shadow. There's a brief flicker as both the girl and her suit seem to shimmer and ripple, before Tsuyu us the color of the stone and pipes surrounding her. Just like that she takes a mighty leap right up to the ceiling- and begins spider-man crawling along the path as fast as she can to keep up with the others.

>> SUMMARY[Tsuyu Asui] >> Saved from awkwardly having to tell Roll her brother is dead, I guess I'm becoming the Predator again.

Olivia Montag looks to Athena for a moment listening. "Right." She looks to Clever whose looks kinda silly with the air units, but hey it's helping right? She gives a few quick whistles and a command the Raptor gets it's time to track the group heads out and then comes the sound of a child screaming. "Forward." She doesn't rush, no that's how you get killed she has her pistol out now and the old six-shooter is ready. She presses on expecting there to be trouble and Clever is now in the lead, Wingtooth also senses it's about time for face eating.

    Several people are rushing, and a few are going more cautiously. That's fine with Athena, who is moving at a more brisk pace but not rushing. "Something's not right, though," she mumbles. Roll rushing past her gets a pained look too... she can't really look forward to telling her that her brother is dead.

    Good thing there's a kid that needs rescuing... or is there? Rushing ahead with the lights reveals that the tunnel is... empty? It branches more in a crisscross pattern that seems to make no sense for an actual grid of a city though... even if the air is a little more chilly here as the group is rushing away from the dome. No sign of any threat, no sign of any kids. Just three passages to choose from...

    And another cry of distress, this one less pained and more upset, but seeming farther away toward the left passage...

    Lyona pauses as she reaches the place that the scream sounded like it had come from... and finds nothing there. She looks around, her remaining eye narrowed with suspicion. It sounded closer than this, didn't it? Could the sound just be bouncing around the tunnels? But would it have been that loud, if that was the case...?

    "Be careful," she warns. "I think we're being baited. Someone may be luring us with that sound." For herself, Knight takes up a position in front of her, Mayhem behind her, and Demon levitating slightly above her. They're making a familiar formation, if the ease with which they took it is any indication.

>> SUMMARY[Lyona Airaldi] >> Lyona has a premonition...

Somthing's definitely wrong. Maui felt fear settling in his gut as he looked about the next set of branching paths. Behind his mask he frowned at the layout. It didn't have the same sort of planned out then gone to seed feel most tunnels and connections had. this felt like it was something that had been dug out and expanded in stages.

"This was done in stages, dig tunnels out, stop, dig more, stop. Keep an eye out for cross connectors or seemingly out of place doors. Even odds someone's using kids to draw people, maybe us maybe someone else, in." Live bait attracts the biggest fish after all." All this as he pulled something from his bag. It wasn't high tech, in fact it was just a weighted spool of fishing line. He added another weight to the end and dropped it on the ground before running off int oa seperate tunnel. Instinct was telling him to try the middle tunnel. Risky, claustrophobic. He was runing n fear and adrenaline rather than rational thought.

    Luke remaisn near the other monster trainer, and near Athena as well just to be cautious. He seems to be hesitant as he sees the cave just gets more complicated, while Dynamo sniffs the air, searching for scents, "Yeah this might be a trap... but we still should see if we can find the kids." he muses. He watches Maui make a very smart thing, "Wish I had something like that to mark the path."

    The lack of anyone in the tunnel ahead is both a relief and troubling. The screams are still continuing, but the source seems to have moved ahead. Cayde narrows his eyes as though he could make out anything in the passages that lay ahead. <<See anything, Ghost?>> he asks internally, waiting to see if his hidden partner has anything to report.

    He glances over at Maui once they've caught up. "A trap? Well, that's fun," he sighs. "Keep a sharp eye out people." Not like they can just turn back. They've still got kiddies to free.

    Like many of the others rushing to the aid of the kids, Roll slows to a stop when they get to the intersection. Her arm has reconfigured into a cannon, which anyone familiar with Blues should recognize as similar tech. The blonde looks confused though, scanning the area with a mild frown. "I wish I had the sensors Blues does," she complains, "But I don't see anything at all... it's dark..." She can worry about finding her brother when kids aren't in danger.

    Slowly she edges toward Luke and Lyona and Cayde. "You guys have fought before, right? I don't have a lot of experience with this yet..."

    When there turns out to be no one at the crossroads, Yumi skids to a stop, nearly toppling over. Both Maui and Lyona give voice to the thought that goes through her head - this is some obvious bait. "You're right. Let's..." She pauses to consider for a moment. "Let's keep following the bait, but do it carefully. We know we're going into a trap, so it's a chance to lure out whoever or whatever set it. That gives us an advantage." The chill in the air doesn't go unnoticed, but there's not much to do now.

    For the most part, Tsuyu's scuba suit has been keeping her warm. But the drop in temperature so far has been uncomfortable. There's a slight shiver, but the frog girl pushes herself on, crawling along the ceiling as a vague flickering shadow.
    Then it's something Lyona says that halts her entirely. And when she goes still, the student hero is nearly impossible to see.
    That... Actually makes sense. But at the same time, it's a hero's duty to go look for mmissing or possibly injured children... Tsuyu doesn't have her hero license yet. And while this doesn't allow her to get involved in confrontations, it does allow her to think from another angle much more easily.
    "Think we can bait whoever or whatever it is back, somehow?" The invisible frog whispers idly from the ceiling.
    Hopefully her voice doesn't spook anyone too badly.

>> SUMMARY[Tsuyu Asui] >> HI I AM SEMI-INVISIBLE AND ON THE CEILING PLEASE DO NOT BE SCARED BY MY PRESENCE AND OR ATTACK THE DARKNESS IN MY GENERAL DIRECTION.

    At Roll's inquiry, Cayde glances back at her, seeming to smile lopsidedly somehow despite his metal-plated face. "For a looong time now. You stick close and stay back. If you're not up for fighting, no harm in sayin' so. Besides, if there's kiddies that need some help, we'll be having our hands full if there's something lurking with them."

    The idea of bait isn't one that Athena likes, but when she and the others who didn't rush in catch up, she has to agree. "That could have gone really bad," she notes... but doesn't seem to object. "And if they were this close I should have sensed them. I think something is suspicious too." She is looking around and frowning too.

    She can finally answer Maui, "Athena, by the way. Another Reborn. I recognize your name but it's from an area of the world I'm not familiar with." Roll's cannon gets a look and a nod, and then she readies her pistol. "Let's stick together as much as we can, then. You be careful, Maui." She can already see he's running off, but with a plan. She mutters something like, "At least it probably isn't a minotaur..."

    Probably.

    It's only a few moments later that another squeal comes from the left tunnel. This one sounds... slightly louder? Also still upset like crying, but not in pain this time either.

    Maui hears it too. It's VERY LOUD to Maui... and coming from behind him. Toward where the others were left.

    Unfortunately, those on guard do get to test their skills... if only against a few skittering shadowlike creatures that swarm forward. Most retreat immediately when they see how many people are here, but a few of the blurry shadow-creatures decide to go after... oddly Lyona and Luke's creatures, rather than the humans or robots.

Olivia Montag is keeping a good pace with Clever, she's not rushing there and ther eis a child there or it looks like one? Something isn't right here. Something isn't very right. Wingtooth hisses while Clever lets out a low growl. While Olivia's eyes dart about for a moment. 

 She'll gesture to Clever. 

 "Find the childrten Clever..." 

 She'll follow her Raptor dpening which way she goes. Oh it totally feels like bauit to her, it really does. 

 They don't go after Clever oddly enough, Olivia react her pistol is out and she'll fire at the nearest of the shadow things. 

 "What are these things?!"

    Luke is glad to have someone to talk, glancing back at Roll, still surprised to hear she was a robot, "I am a pokemon trainer, been in fights for a while now." he says, "But... mostly pokemon fights." he says, "They obey my commands in battle." he adds. "So, what kind of fighter are you?" he asks, hoping the question was not rude. The mention of 'being careful' but pushing on gets a nod, "I'm certainly not going to let the kids get hurt.". 

    Dynamo seems to be the one to spot the weird shadow things, growling loudly in response to the approach, electricity visibly building around it, small arcs and sparks flying from the tiger. "What are those... Dynamo, thundershock!" he calls, the tiger glaring at the thing closest to it, before a large bolt of electricity shoots from the sparking tiger ot the shadowlike thing.

    Lyona smiles, and offers a space at her side to Roll. She's well-protected by monsters, so it's pretty safe. "My monsters generally do the fighting," she notes. "Let one of us know if you need help. Knight especially is a good hiding place." Being a giant metal beetle, that might make sense.

    And then something comes after the monsters. They are ready, though. Demon is in the air, so hopefully that will give him the high ground.

    "Knight. Defend," she instructs, and the large beetle crosses its oversized arms in front of it and stands strong before her. Mayhem, hit 'em low with Slash. Demon, hit 'em high with Fire Breath." As one, the Joker and the Gitan attack -- the Joker throws its scythe in a boomerang-like path near the ground... while the purple thing breathes fire at the beasts from above.

>> SUMMARY[Lyona Airaldi] >> Knight: Defend - Mayhem & Demon: Dual Tech "High 'n Low" (Mayhem throws his scythe low and Demon breathes fire high)

    Oh hey, there's another cry... and this time some weird shadow things. Immediately, Yumi drops into a guarded stance, holding her cricket bat in a two-handed grip; she relaxes a little when most of them veer off, but a couple are still attacking. If she lunges in now, she'll probably just bowl over the others who're more qualified for a sudden frontline brawl - so instead, the schoolgirl starts to carefully step to one side, watching the floors and ceiling for any more incoming, and waiting for a chance to dive in and score a hit if she needs to.

>> SUMMARY[Yumi Tachibana] >> I'm just gonna wait for an opening rather than trip up the real fighters.

    Shadowy... Things...
    Not quite what Tsuyu had expected. But when several of them skitter out- retreat- and several still keep coming, she remains right where she is watching for an opportunity. She watches Olivia send her raptor off.
    "Clever girl..." Muttered under her breath as she observes the situation for a moment to inject herself or support someone else. Before she takes a breath.
    What comes out when she exhales is the mother of all loogies. Her spit is low level mix of frog venom and toxic secretions, and she aims it at one of the things in the shadows. It'll be a horridly stinging annoyance at best, but it'll be an annoyance that hopefully no one will be able to tell where it came from.

>> SUMMARY[Tsuyu Asui] >> My super power is 'frog' what do you expect?

    Roll nods to Lyona, "I'm pretty sturdy but I haven't done this before. Rock's really good at it though... it can't be that hard, right?" She hopes not anyway. Except that now the creatures are crawling and making her squeak! "What are those? Are they dangerous?" She... isn't shooting. Maybe because she can't really do anything until she knows they're hostile toward the humans.

    Which means she doesn't open fire.

>> SUMMARY[Roll] >> Kinda sorta Three Laws here.

    Shadowy creatures? They may not be attacking them directly, but they still seem to be attracted to the big critters, and that's as much as an invitation to shoot at it than anything. ...well no, Cayde would've shot at them on the basis of them being shadowy and creepy, and headed in their general direction. 

    With a spin of his hand cannon, he holds it out to take more careful aim than with his usual quick shots, not wanting to hit any of the friendlies by accident.

Maui frowned at the noise, cringingin spite of himself. Child-noises coming from the group's last location now. His grip on the grappling-hook pistol tightened. "We're being made fools of..." His voice low. as he shook the device, causing it to fold in on itself and twist until it as a teardrop shaped club etched with what could have been a fish hook design curlng along one side. His other hand reached in his pack for a stick-light. Take those old chemical lights kids would sometimes twirl on the end of a chain durning parties and make it the size of your forearm. He slapped it against histhigh before throwing it forcefully back the way he came before shouting in Maori, <We have no time for your tricks! Be gone from this place so we may find what we seek.>

Why throw the others a light? They were obviously what grabbed the attention of the things that were making the noise. He saw no tracks, no signsof recent passage. For all he knew it might have been some jerk with a hover drone having bit of fun, but he didnt' believe it. So throw a bit of added light from an unexpected direction to maybe distract whatever it was, and if it decided to follow him? Well you wanna see how fast Maui can run when he's in a tunnel he dosn't wanna be in? Good luck catching the guy on foot.

    There aren't a lot of these shadowy things, but they skitter in and meet some real dangerous stuff! Hissing spittle, a shot from Cayde's hand cannon, fire breath and electricity. Knight gets one of them leaping at him, but it is very weak as it turns out. More like vermin than a real monster... which leaves the question of the kids up in the air. The shadowy things do seem to be made of actual shadow, but weapons and energy harm them and scatter them into dark little 'splatters' of shadow that fade away.

    Athena draws a pistol as well, but it turns out she isn't needed. "Hm." That's because Clever takes off down the tunnel without hesitation. Athena gets on the radio, "Maui, we're heading down the tunnel, did you find any..."

    She understands Maori, but what she didn't expect is that there's a response. A start of a screech - again loud for Maui but quieter for the others - which suddenly cuts off. There's a rapid response in Maori, for anyone who understands it, and it's relatively close to the group but not so much to Maui. <<You're no fun... fine, but the children are yours to take care of then.>>

    Everyone can tell the tunnel it's going down though!

Mauri heard the voice, turning to wherei t came from with its club raised <A game you want spirit? Why not come out of this place? It is dark and not suited for sport.> Maui kept tight grip of his club as his pace slowed. <Or are you prisoner to these tunnels? If it is company you seek I can come another day. Just...> He took a deep breath. <We would be very angry if you hurt the children.> No rage or anger in his voice, and his offer to return had a note of sincerity to it. He understood all too well what it felt like to be stuck in place, moments of the body he was resleeved into after the accident flashed through his mind causing him to shudder.

<Tell us your name.>

    Roll's question of whether they're dangerous? Lyona notes, "Unfortunately for them, they attacked my monsters. So I kinda have to hit back." And whatever one of these jumping at Knight might end up getting squished, when the beetle slams its oversized hands down on the ground.

    Now, Lyona can't understand what's being said, and neither can any of her entourage. But Demon, the purple notbunny thing, does hear the speaking. Those ears are probably pretty good. So it points in the direction it hears the speaking coming from. "Dau! Dau!"

    Lyona nods. "Right. Knight, take point." The metal beetle squeaks, and almost as one, the human and the three monsters head in that direction. They're not running, quite (mainly because Knight's a little too slow for a full-on run), but they're making their way towards where the speech is coming from.

    They're talking. They're talking in a language Yumi doesn't understand, and the shadows have been driven off and aren't coming back. Slowly, Yumi straightens up, still on her guard - and then looks between Maui, and the source of the other voice. "Hey, what's going on? Is it actually willing to negotiate?"

Olivia Montag does seem to be able to understand the thing thanks to her implants functions. She paues for a moment listening now Maui seems to know what this is, so she sure as heckl isn't butting in, she also moves to reign in Clever Girl and Wingtooth who seem very unhappy right now they don't like this at all, they don't like it at all. Still she holds back lowering her weapon now. She looks to Maui for a moment then to the thing just what is going on, also if anyone is paying attention it's clear she understands it.

    Wow, rude, talking in a different language! Roll blinks becaue that one isn't in her databanks... not common enough. The robot girl nods, "I guess, but I'm programmed not to resort to violence without good reasons!" Since the creatures seem to be scattering easily, she doesn't open fire yet. And doesn't need to at all.

    "Oh... I guess we can find the kids?" She looks hopeful as she follows after Lyona's monsters. "You've all been really helpful!"

    "...seems like," Cayde says as Roll voices the question he asks himself, as the turn of events come unexpected. "I'd still be careful though. We don't know what we're dealing with." Or do they? He casts a glance at Athena to see if she has any ideas, even as he follows the others, his gun still in hand, ready in case they come across another trap.

Not that it wouldn't be nice if they could just take the kids and go. He's not so starved for confrontation that he'd wish some poor kids stuck in this place any longer than they need to be.

    Athena helpfully translates, "It sounds like it was toying with us and resents being interfered with, but will give us the children." She starts heading down the passage. "Maui is trying to negotiate more..."

    Which isn't going so well. <<I have no name...>> with a kind of hiss, then a fading away of the presence. It doesn't seem to want to stick around, though.

    Athena motions, "Looks like it didn't want to hang around here. I'm not sure what it was, but it said it didn't have a name," she says to the others. She signals Maui so he doesn't get lost, moving forward.

    Roll does get one comment, though. "Your brother is a lot more... quick to violence, isn't he? Not a bad sort though..." She doens't want to break the news of his death to her here. "I actually met him here on Mars, hunting down a rogue Siren."

    The tunnel leads to a place that looks like an unfinished excavation though, which is... very cold. Several pale, anemic-looking children are huddled around a sputtering heater, and all of them are looking sickly. In the corner, one is actually dead! This... isn't as big a deal as it seems, because Athena quickly rushes over to check his back. "Stack is still intact... we can get him a new body if we can find one. Maybe a clone, with this one so well-preserved."

    Looks like the lost children were being... fed upon somehow, though not intentionally lethally.

Maui looked to Athena when she followed the line he left. "I wasn't sure which variant we were dealing with. I'd wager money I don't have a woman with child died not too terribly long ago aroundh ere. That is the child's spirit." He then looked around at anyone else that was following. "Right now we focus on getting the kids I'll come back later see if I can't get ghost-kid here some peace."

Then he fell in line to the end of the tunnels. The dead child caught Maui's attention, but with Athena confirming the stack was still in place he nodded. "Her's hoping they don't shove the poor kid into an elderly body." His comment was low as he pulled blankets out of his bag and passed around to differing children before picking up one of the weaker looking ones. "Yea ok that settles what we're dealing with. He'll be back at some point likely near here. Besides, I did promise the kid i'd be back." he then looked to Athen and smiled, "Wouldn't wanna be a lier now would I?"

    The Exo finally holsters his gun once the kids are in sight, stopping at first as he has a better look. Death isn't anything strange for him, but seeing kids like this...even if they're apparently not your average kids as Athena's words so imply, it's still jarring in a way. Shaking his head, he moves towards them as Athena and Maui start to check them over, stooping down and extending a gloved hand to another of the kiddies.

    "Come on. Let's say we get you guys home."

Olivia Montag will move to help the living kids, it's goods she knows about how this world works. Or she's be seething over the dead child. Their soul as far as she understands? Is on that little bit of tech Athena recovered. So they can get them a new body, she has no idea just how on the money it is for her.

    A few lucky children may get carried out on the shoulders of a giant metal beetle! Not to be outdone, Demon will try to pick up a child... aaaaaaand probably end up just flopping forward on its head. Lyona herself will also help in getting the kids out, possibly picking up a few if necessary. Hopefully they can be saved. Though even if the dead child can be brought back, seeing it is... more than a little harrowing.

One of the kids gets to ride on Clever Girl out, they can totally say I have ridden a dinosaur.