open The Circulation

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Sayaa shivered, "Did you say God's Hand?" How did I get mixed up up in all this hunting nonsense. She shakes her head, "Yeah okay. Work together! An adventure!" Food, and protection in return for my services in finding some fictional artifact that may or may not exist. This is gunna be fun. She also changed the illusion to an empty tunnel, the edges of the illusion on the inside growing a little silvery.

[Samurshy 708]

Everyone started was readying themselves for an all out battle. Nay was setting runic traps, Monty was loading fully automatic weaponry, Jon sharpened his broadsword. October opened an 7-foot long rectangular green  military case that monty had brought. Inside were about 20 green, circular, MON-200 Mordenic landmines. October grabbed four at once used her power of intangibility to sink through the solid cave ground and began placing the landmines throughout the cave. Monty handed everyone of his teammates some silver, red lensed glasses. 

"The landmines October placed are slightly radioactive, these glasses are specifically tuned to the radioactivity of the mines, and will let you see where all of the mines placed." Monty said. 

Everyone put there glasses on, and sure enough, they were able to not only see the surrounding area like normal, but the ground where each landmine was placed also glowed a bright crimson as well.

"I am done placing the landmines, so I say we wait 15 more minutes, and if they don't come to us, I will personally lead them to us." October said, and everyone nodded.

Zeke breathed a sigh of relief as no one objected to his odd proposal. They didn't even know each other at all, and they were all after the same artifact. Under normal circumstances, they would be enemies, but they decided to work as a team for now. Zeke was happy that they could see eye to eye, at least for now.

"Okay then, lets go." Zeke said, as he started walking towards the way they met the broadsword man.

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari and the others were approaching the hunters. She swiped her hand diagonally and sent an invisible but razor-sharp slice of wind, cutting through the cave walls and leaving a line of broken stone and debris, but not only did it shatter the caves surface, it triggered an explosive hidden within it. Hikari quickly hopped backwards and away from the area. "What the hell was that?!" She said with a shocked look on her face. Hikari doesn't know anything about her enemies and approaching them any further wouldn't be a smart move. Hikari had no idea if her teammates were trustworthy enough to be putting her own life at risk so she aimed her hand at the ceiling of the cave and shot a huge sphere of pressurised air which blocked the path completely. "That should keep them occupied as of now." She said a bit nervously, unsure if that was the best idea.

[Samurshy 708]

Zeke heard the explosion and nearly jumped out of his skin. It was very clear that the other hunters had set up some booby traps in preparation for their arrival. Which probably meant that the entire area was trapped, and that definitely posed a problem or two.  

"Well, I don't know how we should go about this." Zeke said with uncertainty. "The cave is probably completely trapped in the are they are in. Does anyone have any ideas as to what we should do?" 

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari thought about sending these rocks flying straight at them by blasting immense amounts of wind power towards the debris and rocks which will send them flying towards the hunters but that might be a problem if the false wall was located within and it would be a pain trying to get all those rocks out of the way. "I doubt they'll be stuck in there for long. They are definitely going to try to blow their way out of there unless they teleport out of there with magic." She said in hopes that the hunters will make a move.

[Chickey 383]

Misha waited, looking towards the area where the hunters were suspected to be. He kept his magic at the ready as he watched out for anymore mines placed, and the hunters themselves. "With the mines in play, I'm not sure what to do either myself. I wouldn't expect them to have any way out of there however. If we could do something to flush them out it might work." He suggested.

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

When the explosions started, Sayaa jumped and hid behind Hikari. Her bubble flickered, but remained standing.

 

Her voice, however, went to Zeke; "Zeke, I'm scared..." came a small whisper. She shivered behind Hikari, glancing down the passage, "If they have... what ever those are, they probably have money for nice weapons and decent equipment. Which means they probably aren't very forgiving people." She swallowed and clutched her wood doll closer.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Nightwing

[FractalMoon 378]

Lily closes her eyes, lost in thought about how to flush out the seemingly hostile other group. Suddenly, she has an epiphany and her eyes snap open again, "Hikari, you can control air and wind currents right? Do you think that you could create a negative pressure zone outside of their hiding place, thus drawing all the air out of their hiding spot? I'm pretty sure they would be flushed out if they were choking."

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari was somewhat surprised that even she didn't think of flushing out all the oxygen. "Yeah, I could do that." She replied as she walked over to the blocked pathway covered in debris and placed her hand on it. She started pulling out all of air out of the cave as it escaped out of the tiny gaps between the rocks. A minute flew past and there was not much air left. "I have a bad feeling about this.." Hikari commented as she backed up in case they blew their way out of there.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Azura

[Samurshy 708]

October heard the explosion of one of the mines and immediately knew the rival hunters were close by. She gave the signal for everyone to lay low, all of them took hiding positions behind either rocks or stalagmites. They all waited for the assailants to enter the room so they could ambush them. And they continued waiting. Fifteen minutes went by since the explosion, and October's butt began to go numb in her hiding position.

What are they doing? October thought as she sat there waiting. October started to have short breaths as if she had been running a marathon, she was unable to draw in enough air in one breath to sustain her. Her mouth attempting to grasp as much air as possible but not finding the right amount. It was then that she realized what had been going on.

"Guys... D-don't freak... out, but some... some how, they are s-siphoning the... the air out of this room. I... am going... going to go see what I can... do. Please, take... as shallow.... shallow breaths as possible." October said, straining to find the oxygen to speak.

October activated her esper ability, doing the calculations in her mind from turning her body matter from solid to intangible. She quickly sank into the floor of the cave. Whenever she turned intangible, her lungs, and other bodily functions, ceased until she became tangible again. She could only maintain intangibility for 5 minutes at a time, but it felt relieving to not have to breath for a bit. At the esper academy that she grew up in, the teachers there described her ability as being able to send herself and other objects to a dimensional plane that is very close to the one that the earth is on. The dimensional plane that she sends herself to is one devoid of solid matter, all except her and whatever she brings along. The dimensional plane is so close, that even though there is nothing there, the only thing that reaches the plane is the light from the original plane of existence. Thus making it so she could still see everything that she passes through. Whenever October activated her ability, it felt as though she had plunged herself into the deep ocean and was now free to float completely weightless to wherever she wanted.

Being underground, no light from the earthly plane passed through here, so she couldn't see anything. But being an archeologist for so long, and excavating many burial sights, she learned how to perfectly read distance and know the distance she was floating through by how fast she was traveling. October knew that she had gone about 20 feet towards the opening of the room that she was just in.  Just another five feet and she would be right under the opening. She floated upwards and around the opening of the room until she was in the roof of the tunnel. She continued to float forwards, her body in a vertical position as she floated through the solid roof of the tunnel. She poaked just her face out so she was able to see in the tunnel. She spotted five people in the tunnel, as they conversed amongst each other. 

October noticed a male with red hair as he walked 10 feet away from the group, towards the opening of the cave where the oxygen syphon was being maintained. He turned back looking at one of the group.

October turned her head so her ear was poking out and made only her ear tangible so she could hear. 

-suffocate them" was all October caught from the red haired male. 

He's the esper. She immediately jumped to the conclusion as she made her ear untangible again, and floated through around the walls of the tunnel until she was directly under him.

She grabbed grenade from the belt she had strapped to her torso and put it in the ground directly underneath the red head. The grenade was tangible but she reached up and made the pin intangible taking it directly out of the grenade and the grenade made a click sound and subtle vibration. She didn't bother to move from her position right next to the grenade that was only a foot under the cave floor. When she was intangible, explosions from the normal plane of existence couldn't hurt her. 

Zeke walked forward about ten feet trying to see if he could spot anyone from where he was without completely giving off his position and getting suffocated in the process. 

Zeke turned towards Hikari

"Are you going to suffocate them?" Zeke asked in concern. It wasn't that he was completely opposed to killing people, but had circumstances been different, he may have been in the room teamed up with those other hunters instead of with these hunters, and he didn't quite like that idea. 

Not even 5 seconds after the words left his mouth Zeke's birthmark jumped to life, the light so bright that everyone could see his right upper arm/shoulder partially illuminated through his wind jacket. This was new, never before had Zeke's Limit Evolution activated before any danger was apparent, and yet, here it was, activated as clear as day. Zeke's senses were heightened to levels he hadn't even had before. Sure he had extra strength and agility, and the occasional eyesight enhancement, but this was different. Every nerve in his body felt awakened, he could feel the subtle change in air current, as well as- he felt a small click-like vibration through the cave floor. Zeke wasn't sure exactly what it was, but he knew that his power didn't ever activate without a reason. Instinctively he used his agility to jump 8 feet backwards back towards the group. In the next second a large explosion burst forth from the ground that Zeke had previously been standing on. The explosion was loud enough, even though it was muffled from being under the floor, to make Zeke's ears ring. Zeke grabbed his earlobe as he tried to jostle his ears around as if it would help his hearing come back faster. 

"Are you guys alright?" Zeke said loudly, his birthmark still glowing through his jacket.

Edited April 25, 2014 by Samurshy

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari ignored what Zeke said, but she did think about whether or not she'll take them out or escape from them. 'I didn't come all the way here just to flee from a bunch of hunters..' She thought to herself. A sudden glow of light came from Zeke followed by an explosion, which within the short period of time seemed to appear out of nowhere from within the ground. Hikari shielded her eyes with her arms as the explosion blew dust all over the place. She looked over at Zeke, curious on why he was glowing. "I-I'm fine.." She replied, knowing that there are more important things to worry about.

[FractalMoon 378]

Lily shields her face from the explosion, and shakes her head, "Looks like they're not surrendering... Keep suffocating them, I'm going to try something." Closing her eyes again, she taps into the complex web of technology she feels more comfortable with. Seizing the frequency of the other group's walkie talkies, "Um... Hello there... I promise we won't hurt you if you come out and promise not to hurt us."

However, her intentions were distractionary rather than peaceful. While probing the area, she had found something much more useful than walkie talkies. The land mines the seemingly hostile group had placed we're wireless, but they still had electronic fuses. Tapping into these fuses, she ignites them, and lets her message be heard, hoping to keep the hunters in one place while her appropriated trap triggers itself. Subconsciously, she moves behind a large rock in case she underestimated the yield of the mines.

[Chickey 383]

Misha stood watching the area where the Hunters were quietly until he heard a click he was all to familiar with. He immediately shielded his head with his arms until the blast subsided. Thankfull he was out of the range of the grenade, however he did hear a piece of shrapnel fly by his head. Thankfully he was still alright. He quickly pulled out his pistol and scanned the area, his free hand ready to use a spell in the meantime. "I'm alright." He replied to Zeke as he aimed.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Pumkin

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Sayaa squeaks and hugs Hikari from behind. Her hands clench into the fabrics of Hikari's clothes, her face firmly hidden in Hikari's sides. She burries herself more into Hikari as the mines go off. When the explosions stop she asks, "Is it over yet?" She looks around scaredly.

[Samurshy 708]

October saw everything that had happened and was not amused in the slightest. It wasn't the redhead that was the esper, the glow from his shoulder and the quick reaction cinched that. So if that was the case, than who was? That was when she heard all the landmines detonate at once. Now not only were her friends and family suffocating, all of their traps were gone too. 

All of them are grouped together, all I need to do is break the concentration of the esper that is sucking the air out of that room. October thought. She quickly pulled the pin off another grenade and tossed it in the middle of the group from the ceiling in which she was hovering in again.. Even if it didn't kill any of them, it was sure to break their concentration enough for her friends to gain their oxygen back. 

Zeke was standing at the front of the group looking around to see if he could spot anyone. That was when he heard the metallic cling of a frag grenade landing behind him in the middle of the group. Zeke didn't have time to run and grab the grenade and throw it somewhere else instead he just jumped forward and ducked, covering his head with an exclamation of:

"OH SHIT!" 

[FractalMoon 378]

Lily's mind, still moving at the speed of thought, analyzes her options. Behind her pile of rock she would be safe from an anti-personnel weapon like a frag grenade, but she didn't like her chances against 4 hunters, at least two of whom would be far better in a combat situation than she would be. She was too far away to reposition the grenade, and the fuse was already burning so she couldn't stop it. With a shake of her head, she tosses in her last trump card and commands her nano-robots to blanket the grenade, acting as a shield for everyone. The detonation is muffled, but she holds her head as the robots are blown to smithereens while still linked to her mind. She looks around for the source of the intrusion, "Where are you? Show yourselves!"

[Azura 1,107]

Explosions started going off behind the blocked pathway. Hikari turned around and softly placed her hand on Sayaa's head and said "Don't worry, I'll protect you." with a smile. "It's not safe here, you should stand further away from the rubble." Hikari suggested to the little girl.

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Sayaa shakes and pulls her hood up. Clutching her doll white-knuckled, she made something very different play out. To people not privy to her illusion magic, it would appear as if they had all blown up in a rather loud explosion. Everyone in her party heard a whispered, "Stay quiet and hide," in their ears.

 

@@Samurshy, 

Edited April 26, 2014 by Nightwing

[Chickey 383]

Misha looked outside the illusion, hearing that they looked like that had all died. He pointed his hand towards the opening, preparing a spell. He figured that now that they looked like they had died. The hunters would leave their room for air. Giving them a prime opportunity to strike the band of espers and magicians. He sat and waited silently, keeping his breaths shallow in anticipation. 

[Samurshy 708]

October gazed down upon the dead bodies, but something didn't seem right. She floated back into the room and noticed that the oxygen was not returning to normal but instead was still degrading as before. Which meant that the esper wasn't dead, which probably also meant that none of them were dead. Was it some kind of trick? Was there an esper with them that could hypnotize her into thinking they all died? Or was it magic? Either way, October needed to come up with a plan and fast. October had an idea, she went over to Nay.

"Nay, can you perform magic?" October asked her sister who was in a weakened state due to oxygen derprivation. Nay nodded your head.

"Put a runic equation on the wall next to the entrance to this room. Make the equation spell out that cave should block their exist which is about 20 yards from the entrance to this room. Also, make the wall that blocks their entrance out of solid limestone, like this cave. It should be about 10 feet thick. After their escape is blocked, make the runic equation also spell out that the limestone blocking their escape should slowly start pushing forward until it completely encloses us all in this room. The esper will have to fill this room with air again if all her friends are in here with us. And it should give us plenty of room to fight them as well." October finished

Nay nodded, not waisting the breath to say anything further. She walked over to the wall next to the entrance and created a grand runic circle that spelled out all the instructions that October gave. As soon as Nay was finished, she placed her hand over the runic equation pouring mana into it and activating it.

Zeke stood with the group waiting for the group to be flushed out into the tunnel with them. All of the sudden, a loud rumbling sound could be heard from behind and above them. The ceiling dropped a cube of limestone blocking their exit, making a solid limestone wall behind them. If that wasn't enough the limestone appeared to be moving forward slightly pushing them ever so slowly into the room in front of them. Zeke pulled out his Beretta  and aimed it at the entrance as he walked slowly forward towards the room.

"Well it doesn't look like we have much choice." Zeke said to the group. 

Edited April 28, 2014 by Samurshy

[Azura 1,107]

Hikari looked behind her and realized that the hunters decided to trap them in. "Those hunters made a wrong move.." She commented before she stopped relocating all the oxygen out of the cave since there was no where for the air to escape. "She tried knocking down the wall with the air left inside the cave but to no extent. Hikari couldn't break through it, at least not with the entrance blocked. Hikari started to lose her patience so she used all the air left inside the cave and blasted all the rocks that were blocking the pathway flying towards the person who drew the rune on the wall. Hikari brought along all the air she can get with her as it swirled around her like a tornado with a frustrated look on her face.

[Chickey 383]

Misha gave a sigh once he saw the limestone wall behind him. "Rather persistent insects aren't they." He commented, mostly to himself as he walked not too far behind Zeke. He holstered his gun, figuring at this point magic would be the superior method of fighting now. He wondered what he would be up against once they reached the room with the hunters in it. 

[FractalMoon 378]

Lily flinches, "Shit... There goes plan C..." She gets as close to the block as she can, trying to stay as far away from the other hunters as possible, "I-I'll just stay back here and try to keep you guys informed... As far as we know, there's at least 2 mages and an esper. That leaves one other person, but odds are they're at least as dangerous as the others...." She fiddles with a few switches on her sonic pistol, "I figure it'll be better if I get a real gun, so I'm going to set this thing as a grenade... I'll build a better slug thrower later..." She decides caution isn't getting anyone anywhere and throws the reconfigured weapon into what is hopefully the enemy hunters, at least based on the signatures of their walkie talkies. "Cover your ears." She hisses before doing the same.

[Octavia's Bow 2,035]

Sayaa closed her eyes and sat cross-legged a safe distance from the moving wall. She began to chant and mumble under her breath. Her doll floated in front of her, posed as if thinking carefully. Then, it extended a hand, as if asking for payment. A steady trickle of magic fled from her into a ball in it's hand. It changed into what looked like a scroll contract, then dispersed in a purpley cloud of light. (I'm colorblind.... it could've been navy...) Akira formed slowly around the block, seemingly more solid, and more grim. And, strangely, with a small gender change. She hissed, "Gah, I hated this life..." Akira turns and readies herself for battle, traditional samurai armor forming around her as collecting from a mist. A flowing circle of words of multiple languages, most forgotten, sprand from around Sayaa, a wall shimmering. Such is the way with ritual summoning...

[Samurshy 708]

Nay attempted to retreat back to her group but before she could, the debris that blocked the entrance burst forth with wind power, sending rocks in her direction. If she had not dove to the left she might have been torn to shreds. Nay it the ground with a a solid, "oomph", and picked herself up. But as she picked herself up, a piece of technology that roughly resembled a gun landed 10 feet from her. It made a loud digital whine as if it was being primed. Nay's eyes grew wide as she quickly tried to inscribe a rune for a protection barrier. Alas, Nay wasn't fast enough to complete an advanced protection rune, and thus the barrier wasn't strong enough to stop the full force of the sonic explosion. Nay was sent flying into the wall to the right of her knocking her head upon the wall and falling unconscious. The rest of the group was far enough away from the explosion that it wasn't damaging. October and Jon both saw Nay take a bit of the explosion and they cried out for her.

Monty started to lay some suppressive fire from his AK-47 towards the opening of cave. He was still unable to see the rival hunters but hoped his suppressive fire would at least buy them some time. October floated over to Nay and picked her up, bringing her behind Monty's suppressive fire. October turned them tangible again as she felt Nay's pulse, noting that Nay was still alive and just unconscious.

Now only a few feet from the entrance to the room, due to the block of limestone behind them, Zeke could hear shots fired from an AK-47. The bullets whizzed by him. Zeke tried to crouch down trying to make himself as small as possible so that he didn't get hit by any bullets. Unforturnately he wasn't able to avoid every bullet. One 7.62x39 bullet lodged itself in his top left shoulder. Zeke let out a cry of pain is the bullet tore into his flesh. But he didn't let that stop him. Zeke ran forward into the room, but as he crossed the precipice from the tunnel to the room he stepped on a runic trap that had been set prior to them entering the room. As soon as he stepped on it, chains made from pure light burst forth from the rune, ensnaring Zeke briefly. Zeke tripped due to his legs and his arms being restrained by the chains of light.

Zeke grew angry, his birth mark glowing more brightly now. The light chains began to become absorbed into Zeke's birthmark until the magic was dissipated. Zeke stood back up and brushed himself off. He drew his pistol and began to fire potshots at the rival hunters.