When Schmoukens Attack (EVENT)

(OOC Tifa had been tipped off about a new find in the outskirts. Knowing that whatever it was was valuable enough to secure funds to help the rebuilding of Midgar, Tifa had set out on a scouting mission of her own, with the knowledge that she was not the only one informed about the find and the fact that the outskirts was filled with unknown surprises both good and bad.

General synopsis aside, there is a monster called a Schmouken which has a set HP (Hit Points) of 15 points. Before moving on with the event the beast must be eliminated using your various creations.)
Tifa stepped off the freight ship she had hitched a ride on, waving her goodbyes at the captain as she went. She fished a small, hand-drawn map out of her pocket and studied it for a second as she got her bearings. This was her first time one this world, but she was sure her contact was reliable. She quickly scanned the area looking for a signpost or something along those lines in order to find her position on the map. But there was nothing.

She decided to walk into the town a little way, figuring that maybe she would have more luck there. Along the way she spotted an elderly gentleman walking hurriedly along and called out to him "Excuse me, Sir? Could you tell me where the.... guess not." The old man looked over to her and picked up his pace and disappeared round a corner. Tifa shrugged her shoulders and carried on her way, looking for any signs of where she was.

A few moments later, as she rounded yet another corner, she became aware that she was incredibly lost. She screwed up the map and stuffed it back in her pocket, since it was evidently useless. Standing in the middle of the seemingly deserted street, Tifa looked around with a heavy sigh and spotted what looked to be a small store up ahead a fair way. It was something at least. She hurried towards it but was forced to stop suddenly when and enormous beast darted out of the side street she was passing. The beast initially looked as startled as Tifa was, neither of them had expected the sudden encounter. But its surprise didn't last long and seconds later it turned to face her, teeth bared and snarling.

Tifa took a few steps back to distance herself from the animal and quickly pulled her gloves on. "oh shi.....

Her desk was the usual chaotic mess of endless papers and stacks of files surrounding the three large monitor screens glowing with statistics, or lists of Garden finances, and unanswered messages from the other Gardens, as well as future project arrangements from Esthar city.  At the moment, Shade wasn't looking at any of it while rubbing the weariness from her eyes with the palms of her hands.  The hour was extremely late, or extremely early, which ever way one would consider two in the morning, and the Headmaster of Balamb Garden sat alone within her office now wondering when, exactly,  her life turned from sword battles into battles with the document shredder.  


Truth was, Shade knew when and why, and rather than dwelling in thoughts of regret, her hand reached out to turn off the desk lamp and call it a night when yet another message notification popped up on her monitor.  Normally, she would have shrugged it off until she came back later in the morning, but the sender's name caught her attention.  Squeaker.... Shade's left eyebrow came to a sudden arch.  If Tifa knew that damn squirrel got onto her computer again, fur was going to fly.  Quickly clicking on the icon, Shade's gaze quickly scanned through his message and shot out of her seat, grabbing her sword on the way to the nearest teleportation device in the Garden.

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With the coordinates Squeaker provided in his message, it wasn't long before Shade tracked Tifa down.    She rounded the corner and was about to say something so not to startle her friend when the creature revealed itself.  Giving pause to her step, Shade tilted her head with a studious look upon her face as her gloved hand slowly began to grip the hilt of her sword.   Damn Tifa... you're keeping some weird pets lately...”

"32...33...34..." A bead of sweat drips off the side of Zack's face as he arched his arms and crouched, bringing himself back up with a swing of his arms. Zack was up to his usual workout routine, well into his squats when a familiar buzz rattled against a wooden table. Picking himself up from his squat, Zack grabbed a nearby towel to wipe down his face. Eying his phone, Zack's eyebrow arched as he read the caller id.

"Haven't heard from you in a while" Zack thought as he picked up his phone, flipped it open and took a seat. "Fair here, why are the Turks phoning me at this hour?...or at all?" Zack asked as he placed the towel around his neck, it had been quite some time since he was contacted by Shinra or any of its affiliates.

"Sounds like there's a lot of competition then. No, no im interested, but 'Somewhere in the Outskirts' isn't exactly a set of reliable coordinates." A few minutes later and Zack flipped his phone closed, turning to face his bed and his sword leaning against its frame. "Im going to need a ship..."

                 

Puffs of heavy black smoke filled the air as the floating airship made contact with the ground below. Stepping off the platform Zack gave a thumbs up, unable to say much do to the heavy coughing. Fanning the smoke from his face, he took a few steps forward, the blown up dust and smoke clearing to reveal a wide landscape. "Whats the expression? a nail in a haystack?" Zack secured his sword strap before taking a good look at his surroundings, he could just make out a small town in the distance and decided to head its way. As he approached he noticed a familiar outline that only got clearer as he walked along. Tifa Lockhart, a pleasant surprise, no doubt she was here on similar business. "Hey cowgirl, good to see you..." It was then that he noticed the giant beast rushing towards her, as well as Shade who rounded the corner at the worst possible time.

Raising his hand to meet the hilt of his sword Zack couldn't help but smirk. "See a girl, monster to fight. Story of my life..."

Tifa quickly glanced around to get her bearings as she readied herself for the imminent attack. She saw her old friends Shade and Zack approach from different sides of the wide road and gave as cheery a wave as she could muster. "You guys picked one hell of a time for a reunion!"

As the beast began to gather its pace and rush towards her, tifa took a few steps back and noticed that all the nearby buildings were boarded up, cutting off any chance of escape via that route. She shrugged her shoulders and grinned at Shade, then glanced over to Zack and shot him the same grin as she planted her feet firmly in the dirt road and prepared to fight. She crouched slightly, placing one hand on the dirt and looked up at her target "GO FOR THE EYES! ALL SIX OF 'EM!" She yelled to her friends as she launched herself upwards towards the beast.

Tifa soared through the dusty air and kicked out one foot to land squarely between the beasts first set of eyes, her aim to stun the beast to a halt. But the beasts skull was seemingly thicker than its hide and she merely bounced over its head to land behind an enormous ear. She grasped onto the thick hairs sprouting out of the orifice and gripped on with her thighs as the beasts momentum carried it on towards a rather solid looking building "this is going to sting" she muttered to herself and braced for impact

After a quick assessment of the beast, Shade expected the creature's thick exterior was going to pose a problem.  Her first guess at getting the upper hand was exactly as Tifa shouted.  As she unclipped her sword from her hip, her friend was already poised for attack and taking off into a full run.   Shade was quick behind her but came to a sliding halt when seeing Tifa's flying kick take an unexpected turn, sending the young woman somersaulting into the air and landing directly on top of her target instead.   “I gotta learn that move...”, she mumbled under her breath as her brain scrambled for a different approach.


The beast took on his own, charging for one of the buildings like a raving mad tank.  Instincts kicked in and Shade tore off after it in a full run with a rather desperate idea.  If she could at least drive her weapon into its side, it was the hope she could divert the creature's direction from crashing into the structure head on, and possibly giving Tifa the window to escape any broken limbs.   “I'm going for the ribs!”, she shouted over her shoulder at Zack so he would know she was nuts and calculate his own move.


With her aim predicted, her steel blade drove through the thick fur at its side, puncturing the leather thick skin, but not as deep as she would've liked.  It was enough to thrust the sword a third of the way of it's blade length and get stuck, yet the jolt of impact while the beast still ran sent Shade off her feet to roll and tumble hard onto the ground.  It's hind foot managed to kick her left shoulder blade, sending her body out of it's projected path before Shade could see if her attempt proved successful or not.

(OOC I'll be taking care of the damages done to the beast so that members can focus on just rping. On each of my posts a summary of damages inflicted upon the beast will be included so keep a look out for that.)


Zack watched as the beast charged forward, as well as Tifa's attempt to stun the beast, there weren't many beasts that could take one of her kicks, to the face no less and keep upright. "This may take a while" Zack muttered, preparing himself as droplets of water began to collect and drip down his arm and on to his blade. Shade had the right idea in attempting to maneuver the beast away from the buildings, potential ghost town or not, this thing could cause a ton of structural damage as well as endanger innocent lives.

Shades attempt seemed to have curbed the beast's stride as its body turned and dragged against the side of a building. Now facing forward, the beast dipped lower as it went in for a direct charge towards Shade. "Im not sure he enjoyed that" Zack yelled as he ran towards the beast, attempting to catch it on its side. Shade's blade had shown a weakness in its armor like hide, Zack only hoped it would be enough. Leaping towards a nearby building, Zack kicked off into a vault over the beast, using the same momentum to carefully aim a powerful slash forward with his blade. His blade swept across the ground as the collected water burst out and quickly formed a thin wave of water. The projected wave collided against the beast, water spraying violently as the wave cut into its side, hopefully enough to put a momentary stop to its rampage.

The beast snarled as its six eyes focused upwards at Tifa and then towards Zack, barely twinging from the water skill used against it. "We might have a bit of a problem" Zack thought as the beast began to shake violently, taking its time in an attempt to remove Tifa and Shade's blade off of its body. "We may have to regroup..." Zack said as he looked to his right, the town ended in an open space of barren land. "...and move this thing away from the buildings if possible" Tightening the grip on his blade, Zack held it up defensively as he awaited for another opportunity.

Crashing Wave skill used: 30mp - 20mp = 10mp.


(OOC Summary of damages:

Schmouken HP = 15 points

-1 point (Kicked in the face by Tifa)
-1 point (Stabbed in the ribs by Shade)
-2 points (Hit by Zack's 'Crashing Wave' skill)

Schmouken HP = 15 points - 4 points = 11 points.)

((OOC: I thought the beastie has tow pairs of eyes on either side of its butt ugly head and one pair up front facing forward. Writing that here saves me from having to rp it :p))

The beast flinched from Shades attack, in much the same way as one would from a mosquito bite. The motion caused Tifa to grip tighter to her unwilling ride. She saw a pair of its enormous eyes shift focus as it tried to find the source of this pain although it didn't slow the beast down. She managed to shoot a glance back at Shade and saw her roll to the ground. She hardly had time to react as Zack's attack sped towards them.

Tifa ducked her face behind the enormous ear as the water attack sprayed upwards and drenched her lower half making holding on a tad tricky. She would her left fist tighter around the thick hairs just in time as it began to shake like a wet dog, flinging her around violently as it did so. The momentum swung her downwards repeatedly within inches of Shades sword and with one kick, Tifa managed to connect with it and knock the sword lose. A second kick sent the weapon flying towards its owner, the action seemed to anger the beast further. She heard Zacks suggestion above the beasts grumblings and shouted in agreement "Gotcha, Zacky." Looking back to Shade briefly, she shouted "I'm going for the eyes, be ready!"

With that, she swung herself back up to the top of the beasts head and made sure her grip wouldn't fail her. Raising her right arm high in the air, she gathered her strength and brought her fist crashing down into the rearmost eye on the side of the beasts head. The force caused the eye to rupture with a sickening pop, its vitreous humour erupting onto her glove as she pulled her hand free. "Sweet Jenova's fanny, that is disgusting!" She yelled as the beast screamed in agony.

Tifa didn't give the beast a chance to recover and shook off the thick jelly from her glove and raised it once more. She dealt the same punishment to the middle eye on the same side, blinding it once again. While the beast was distracted by its agony, she unhooked her left hand and kicked herself off, landing a few feet away in front of the animal. She quickly wiped her gooey hand on the ground and stood up. She raised both arms in the air and began yelling at the beast to grab his attention "HEY! BUTTFACE! COME GET ME IF YOU CAN!"

Once the beast had her in the remainder of his sights, she took off running towards the open space at the end of the street, hoping that her friends would get her plan and follow them

Shade grunted through the piercing pain consuming her shoulder as she came to a rolling stop across the ground and forced herself back on her feet.  She staggered for balance just for a second, but was grateful it wasn't her sword arm that was struck.  While running for her sword where it dropped onto the dirt, she snatching it up without hesitation to her pace and headed towards Zack to regroup as planned.

There was that odd comical pause, even when a situation was grave, that struck Shade as she witnessed Tifa power driving into the eye socket.  The sickening thunk could be heard even through the beast's screeching roar, and it was also one of those times Shade was glad it wasn't her own hand gushing eyeball juice everywhere.  Just as Shade muttered next to Zack, “Ya know... I think I heard somewhere that those eye balls may be a delicacy on Terra...”, Tifa's fist made its second blow to another eye socket, sending the creature into another violent fit of pain.

The trick successfully worked in redirecting the beast out of the street, as well as Tifa getting safely off of it, but now it was running full charge after her, leaving Shade and Zack to give chase.  Through heaving breath and running, Shade called over to Zack as her mind chased for any ideas. “You think.... if you saturate the street with all that water  of yours... we can make that ton of lard hydroplane.... like a big rig does....  and it looses its footing and falls? ...would expose his underside... if we can get that thing to topple over!” If Zack didn't already have a plan, at least Shade could throw out an idea.....

As Shade ran to grab her loosened sword, Zack stood and listened to the sickening pops followed by the writhing screams of the beast who had surely picked a dangerous foe in Tifa. "Im thinking its probably an acquired taste" Zack said in response to Shades comment, the very thought of eating any part of that beast put him off of his lunch. Zack gave a slight grin as the beast gave chase, Tifa definitely had the right idea, dangerous as it may be.

Moving into a jog Zack held his blade firmly to his side. "Its not a bad idea Shade" Zack said in response to Shade's question, before looking over to his blade for a brief moment. "Im afraid im running on fumes though, I didn't expect much trouble today" Shaking his head, Zack attempted to quickly come up with an alternate solution. "If we can get to its legs...maybe we can trip it up, either ways its underside is sure to be a weak point" Picking up the pace, Zack managed to catch up to the beast just as it prepared to ram into Tifa's side.

"Watch it cowgirl!" Zack said as he quickly dived under the beasts enormous legs with a painful slide. Seizing the moment, Zack thrust his blade upwards with as much strength as he could muster, driving the sword straight into its underbelly. "Come on..." Zack said as he continued to push until the blade sank in hilt deep, sending the beast into a stomping fit. Yanking the blade out in a couple of tugs Zack timed a roll out towards its blind side, the beast managing to catch his elbow before Zack could stand on his feet. "I suppose this could work too" Zack said with a laugh as he held on to his now painful arm.


(OOC Summary of damages:

Schmouken HP = 11 points

-2 points (Two strikes against its eyes by Tifa)
-2 points (Stabbed in the underbelly by Zack) (note: I added an extra point of damage to indicate that it is the beast's weak spot.)

Schmouken HP = 11 points - 4 points = 7 points.)

Just as Tifa neared the end of the street, the sudden wail from the beast caused her look back, skidding to a halt as she witnessed Zack stab the beast's underbelly. Just as she was about to speak, Tifa felt a growing burning sensation reach down her leg. "What the hell is this thing made of?" Tifa said as she began to hop and shake her leg vigorously in an attempt to rid herself of the burning eye goo. The burn sank in deep as Tifa wiped what remained of the goo off of her legs, light burns trailing down to her knee.

Looking up at the beast once more, she took its frantic flailing as an opportunity to rush behind it and join the others. "It can't hold out much longer, we should end this quickly" Tifa said, extending both arms and patting Zack and Shade on the shoulder before turning to face the writhing beast. With a deep breath, Tifa lifted her leg and slammed it down in a powerful stomp, the resulting kinetic energy shooting up towards her arm. Exhaling, Tifa let out a powerful punch forward, the kinetic energy shooting out as a powerful stream of water that then took the shape of a dolphin and sped towards the unassuming beast.

The spell connected, the beast's back legs taking some heavy damage as water gushed in all directions while the beast nearly fell on its side. Some of the remaining water dripped down Tifa's arm and unto her still burning leg, washing away any residual goo that might have clinged on. "It should be smooth sailing from now" Tifa said before a deafening roar caused the three to tremble slightly, facing the beast once more Tifa jumped to her left just as the beast's rather long tail came in for a powerful swipe. Colliding instead with the last building on the street, the tail tore through the exterior before coming to rest, the beast no doubt preparing another attempt. "I might have called it a bit early, this thing still has some fight to it." Tifa said as she stood up, wincing somewhat from the burn sustained from the beast's thick eye goo.

My Hand Is A Dolphin spell used: 30mp - 20mp = 10mp.

Seeing as the beast was quite preoccupied with Zack's and Tifa's attacks, Shade poised for the opportune moment to strike.  As its massive body turned to swing its tail, Shade ran to the creature's opposite side for a hopeful strike to one of its legs.  They had to get the cursed thing down in order to get another blow to its underside before someone got seriously hurt.


Although Shade was running in the beast's plain sight, she was hoping with two less eyeballs and searing pain, it just may not notice where the next attack would be coming from.  She got lucky with one of the rear hind legs, aiming her blade to stab lower at it's thick ankle where there was less muscle to protrude through.  Sure enough, it jerked the leg hard with another screeching roar when the weapon made contact, but Shade made sure to have a much firmer grip around the hilt this time, dislodging the blade and drop rolling to the ground to jab through the beast's front ankle  on the very same side.


The massive head swung about and delivered a blow to her side just as Shade yanked her sword free again.  Already crouched to ground, her fall wasn't so hard as last time, taking the blow to hip to save further damage to her throbbing shoulder.  While scrambling quickly out of the way, she turned to see the creature hobbling quite a bit, unable to support its weight so well upon it's left legs while mentally cursing the roaring thing to topple over already.

Zack watched as the beast writhed in pain, followed by Tifa's reassuring words. "Agreed, its running on fumes but even so this thing packs a punch" As if on cue, Tifa unleashed her spell, nearly tipping the beast over as the water splashed in all directions. Zack suddenly looked to Tifa's leg, as the remaining water washed away the last of the eye goo. "You should get that checked..." Before he could finish his line, Shade took off and Tifa jumped left, avoiding what Zack would only realize a moment later was a powerful tail swipe towards the three.

"This will hurt" Zack thought as he quickly brought his blade down on his side, taking the initial impact before the tail launched both it and him towards a nearby wooden building. Zack landed back first against the wooden wall, nearly caving in an entrance before he slumped to the ground. "Need to watch out for those" Zack said in between coughs as he attempted to regain his breath.

As it happened, Shade provided him with the opportunity as she went after the beast's ankles. A few moments and Zack was on his feet, ignoring the searing pain in his lower back as he witnessed the beast staggering across the ground. Picking up his blade, Zack went into a sprint towards the beast's blind side, avoiding the returning tail with a quick leap forward. Digging his sword into it's side, Zack used his weight and momentum to topple the giant beast over, it's ankles unable to take the extra strain. Pulling out his blade, Zack aimed for a strike at its underbelly before the roar of the beast and the flick of its tail from the corner of his eye caused Zack to leap backwards. "Not this time" Ending his leap sword first, Zack impaled the beasts tail, driving the blade into the ground and holding on for dear life. "Tifa finish it off, I can only keep it pinned for so long" Zack said, struggling against the massive strength of the beast, his blade shaking as he kept up the pressure.


(OOC Summary of damages:

Schmouken HP = 7 points

-2 points (Hit by Tifa's spell)
-2 points (Stabbed in two of it's ankles by Shade)
-2 points (Stabbed on it's side and impaled through the tail)

Schmouken HP = 7 points - 6 points = 1 point remaining.)

Tifa bent over to catch her breath as Shade took off to attack its ankles and she stole a glance towards Zack as he peeled himself out of the wall he had become embedded in. She took in the scene as Shade scrambled out of the way and Zack began his attack, carefully watching as she gathered her wits. Within minutes her friends combined efforts had toppled the beast who was now frantically thrashing around as he tried to right himself once more.

She watched for a few seconds and saw the pattern in its movements that she was looking for and, while the beasts priorities shifted from them to its own predicament, she took the opportunity and began running towards it. As she neared the beast, she raised her right arm and clenched her fist as she launched herself to land a well aimed punch to its exposed throat as its head tilted back in frustration. And just as quickly as she connected, she sprang back out of the way of its jaws just in case her plan didn't work.

She needn't have bothered as her blow crushed his windpipe and the beast gargled its last few breaths. With a sigh of relief, she flopped down onto the dusty ground and rolled over to lay on her back "Are you guys... ok?" She panted as she lay there looking up at the sky. She was acutely aware of the burning on her leg as her adrenaline began to drop "I don't recommend the eyeballs. And I would give my left nut for a shower right now. If I had one..."

After watching Tifa deliver the final blow to the beast, Shade slowly rose back up onto her feet and switched her weapon to her left hand so she could slap off the dirt and dust from her clothing.  It was then she noticed the creature's horrible odor and practically winced from the stench.  After calming the racing pace of her heart and her breathing went back to normal, she gave a nod to Tifa's question while giving her sore shoulder a testing roll.   “No worse for wear here that a little ice can't take care of...”


Glancing at the putrid blood on her blade led to a bit of a sigh though.  Cleaning the weapon was going to prove quite a chore.  Now walking up to the corpse, Shade was able to get a closer look while holding her breath. It reminded her of a handful beasts from her own world she'd rather not get tangled up with as well. She gave its front leg a nudge with with her foot as a confirmation to herself that the thing was actually dead before backing away from it.   “Well, that's on less nuisance this place has to deal with.”

Zack could feel the strength in his arms starting to wear as the beast's frantic thrashing nearly heaved him and his blade once more. "Stay put you" Zack thought, noticing Tifa rush pass him in a blur before a terrible gargle filled the air. Zack kept his blade securely tucked into the ground for the beast's final death throes before yanking it out of the ground and sliding it through the beasts heavy tail. His arms felt like dead weights, a few long and silent breathes preceding his response. "Yeah, im alright, just a sore back and arms mostly" Looking up and around, Zack caught Tifa laying flat on her back and smiled. "A little tuckered out?" Zack asked as he walked over and put out a hand to help her up.

"Shower would be nice and you should get that cleaned cowgirl" As he waited for Tifa to stand, Zack looked back at Shade who had checked to see if the beast had truly been put down. "I can't help but feel that nuisance is the least of our worries." Noticing the blood on her blade, Zack looked back to his, only to see a thick, almost tar like substance run down off of it. Zack sighed, he had just finished polishing the blade the day before. "We should probably find somewhere to rest" Zack thought, wincing momentarily, the back pain had started to sink in. Looking off towards the wall he had been knocked into, Zack smiled. "That should do" Pointing off towards the knocked down wall of the wooden building, Zack hoped to rest his back and rinse off the grime and blood before continuing his pursuit. "Lets rest up and trade notes, hell of a coincidence we're all in the middle of nowhere anyhow." Zack said, his doubts on the mission had started to become more apparent.


(OOC Summary of damages:

Schmouken HP = 1 point

-1 point (Punched in the throat by Tifa)

Schmouken HP = 1 point - 1 point = 0 points. Schmouken has been defeated!)

Tifa tilted her head to the side and watched Shade nudge the beast, the last thing she wanted was for the thing to get a second wind. "I don't know what this place has to offer in the way of ice. I only saw one person on the way here and he didn't look like much help."

She looked up at Zack as he extended his hand to help her up and smiled "Let me get these gloves off first." she said as she sat up slowly, groaning from the effort. She knew she would have to get back into some kind of training, her body ached already, she had spent too much time behind a bar and it showed. She rested her forearms on her knees and slowly peeled the gloves from her hands, the sticky fluid that coated them had seeped through them seams and was beginning to burn her flesh. She sucked air through her clenched teeth as she gently pulled the last few inches from her hand "What the hell is this thing made of?"

She accepted Zacks help and slowly rose to her feet. She nodded as he suggested they take shelter in the old building and made her way to the opening. She gingerly poked her head around the corner as she scoped the dusty interior "HELLO? ANYONE... ANYTHING HOME?" She waited a few seconds and listened for signs of life and when she was met with no response, she slipped inside and looked around. The place looked like it hadn't been used in years, cobwebs and thick dust covered every surface. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, she made out what seemed to be a kitchen area, a table and chairs and filing cabinets along one wall.

Tifa turned back, poked her head outside and called to her friends "It looks safe, you guys". She walked over to the kitchen area and forced the rusty taps open, and miraculously, clear water began pouring from them. She scooped up handfuls of the cold water and doused her burned leg. The relief was almost instant. She gave her gloves a quick rinse too, but this was more of a token gesture as it was going to take more than water to get them clean. She splashed her face and plopped her gloves on the side of the counter to dry out then walked over to the table. She dragged one of the old wooden chairs over to a filling cabinet and sat down as she pulled out a pile of dusty paperwork and began reading.

"I heard there was this thing here. Someone said it could give an unlimited power supply to the orphanage for free. We could do with something like that. Only problem is... they didn't know what it looked like or what it was. Only that it was here and it is valuable. Maybe we can find something in here that will help? Or go drag that old fart out of his hiding place and make him talk"

Shade returned her sword to her hip while quietly following the others to the abandoned building.  Her right hand carefully massaged her left shoulder, mainly to test out the extent of the injury.  While Tifa's voice echoed throughout the building to see if anything living was still inside, Shade took a moment to observe the street more carefully.  If anything did live here, it probably wasn't human, and if one was, it certainly didn't live like one in these conditions.


Their footsteps crunched over the debris and dirt within the structure, echoing throughout the dilapidated rooms and hallways.  Although abandoned, there was still a sense of caution with every step.  Now within what looked to be once a kitchen, Shade gratefully found a simple chair covered in dirt and sat down without a care that her clothing took on more filth.  As Tifa used the water, Shade took the time to pick out chunks of gravel out of her hair before giving her head a good shake to send dust flying out.  With Tifa now at the table, Shade took a turn at the sink, ridding her hands from her own gloves as well to cup the flowing water into her hand for a few desperate drinks.


Hearing Tifa talk of the strange creature, Shade paused from taking another drink and peered over her shoulder.  "What old fart?"  She even added a chuckle with her following question.  "Did you come all the way here after some old guy's drunken ramblings from your bar?"

Zack watched as the two slowly entered the building, before swiping his blade to the right, sending some of the monster's tar like blood off before entering inside the wooden structure himself. Grabbing an old wooden chair, Zack sat and relaxed his back for a moment, sighing at the sudden relief. "It's been a while since Ive fought something as wily as that thing" Turning his head, he watched as Tifa headed towards a sink, his eyes focused on her hands. Shifting his look ahead, Zack caught Shade shaking her head as a puff of dust shook off along with a few pieces of gravel. "Then again, im probably not the only one here who's had to face much. Times have been relatively peaceful."

Zack relaxed himself a bit more as he shifted his weight and placed his legs upon the end of the table in front of him. He figured he would deal with his blade's condition later as he watched Tifa take out a stack of files from the cabinet and begin speaking about her reasoning for being here. "Unlimited power supply...figures why the Turks contacted me then. Still, I can't help but think that whatever this thing is, it may serve more than one purpose. The Turks seem very keen on getting it secured, whatever it is." Zack chuckled at the mention of the old fart, and looked towards Shade who as usual was being somewhat silent on the matter. "Whats a huntress like you doing here then Shade? I can't help but think you're probably after the same thing we are. If so, we probably have more to worry about than a few beasties." Zack's look had changed from relaxed to somewhat perturbed. Whatever they had been sent to look for obviously has many backers and buyers in play, usually meaning that the item is either very valuable or extremely dangerous. As he contemplated on the situation, Zack couldn't help but think it was more of the latter.

Tifa shuffled the pile of papers in her hands, scanning the contents for anything useful. She looked up at Shade and giggled "The old fart I saw when I first got here, silly! I came all the way here on the ramblings of an idiot with a big mouth coming out of AVALANCHE. Then I gave him free beer until he spilled what he knew" She riffled through a few more pages before throwing the whole pile into the air in frustration "Nothing useful here. Just crop rotation records and fertilizer invoices. Looks like we will have to track down that old fart after all." Tifa slumped in her chair, letting her arms dangle by her sides and her head flop backwards as the flimsy sheets of paper fluttered back down to earth around her.

At the mention of the Turks, Tifa lifted her head to look at Zack "Turks, huh? Did they give you any more information about where to find this... thing?" Before she could press him for any more information, they were disturbed by a very nervous sounding voice "E-e-excuse m-me? Y-you people n-need to come with me. Quickly. Th-the mother of that Schmouken has b-been spotted looking for her baby. And she's going to be pissed when she see's you killed it." Tifa sprang back out of the chair to face the intruder. She saw it was the old man from earlier and he looked more than worried. "That thing was a BABY? Are you freaking kidding me?" She sensed the gravity of the situation and resigned to argue about it later, choosing instead to grab her gloves and follow the old man out of the building.

She followed the old man a short way back into the main street and into a run down shed. She raised her eyebrow to her friends, mentally questioning the safety of their new surroundings. As it happened, she needn't have worried as a large hatch opened up in the floor and the old man led them down into what could only be described as a bunker. Once inside, the hatch was firmly closed behind them and the very large and well equipped facility became apparent. It seemed that this ghost town was surprisingly well populated, and everyone was down here. A small crowd of the younger population gathered around them, curious of the strangers. Tifa smiled and nodded a greeting at them as she walked further into the complex. She turned to the oldest looking person in the crowd and asked "Do you know if there's an object that we would find interesting around here? Some kind of power supply? And please tell me there is an easier way to kill those butt-ugly creatures out there..."

When hearing about the Turk's involvement from Zack, Shade wasn't all that surprised. A limitless power supply of any kind would attract the likes of ShrinRa as flies were to a pile of crap. After using the sink, she turned around and leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms while trying to think when Zack's question grabbed her attention. Her left eyebrow arched as she sighed from exhaustion. “I pretty much show up wherever and whenever I may be needed....” Her eyes glanced at Tifa who was still shuffling through the papers for some answers. “In this case, let's just say our mutual friend here has an overly paranoid rodent who sent me an e-mail telling me the bartender was off on a wild goose chase... So here I am.”


Tifa's voice piped up announcing the stacks of papers were useless, but they still had another plan for answers. Chasing down an old drunkard couldn't be all that hard for the three of them. But when a foreign voice spoke up from the shadows, Shade jerked upright and had her sword unhitched in hand within the span of a breath. What the stranger had said about the slain creature being a baby left Shade a bit dumbstruck and her gaze darting from Tifa to Zack with the hopes that this was some joke or prank. But seeing as Tifa began to follow the old man, they were apparently taking his word as truth. As usual, Shade was skeptical and fully expected a trap to be sprung at any moment as the trio followed the old coot back out into the streets.


With her sword still calmly clutched in her grasp, each step was cautious. Her instincts were hesitant when approaching the shed, but Shade figured if they could handle a smelly mammoth like beast, the three of them could handle whatever might come at them from a run down shed. But going underground wasn't expected, so Shade kept to the rear of the group, ever watchful behind them as they trudged on forward. Even more unbelievable was finding a colony of homeless people to greet them. Shade didn't feel secure enough to relinquish her sword to her hip just yet, but kept the blade relaxed behind her so not to unsettle the eyes now surrounding them with obvious curiosity.


As Tifa questioned them, Shade expected these people may very well keep the identity of the power supply a secret from them. If it was as valuable as they expected, be it for power or money, these poor sots looked like they needed it far more than unknown outsiders did. For now, Shade kept the attention of her hearing above them as the conversation continued. If that beast's mother showed up, Shade was concerned the parent would sniff them out and they would find themselves trapped within the bunker should she choose to attack them all while they were down there.

(OOC I used the same color Tifa did for the old man to represent people from the bunker talking. Let me know if it should be changed.)


Zack listened on as Tifa spoke about the man she had overhead and retrieved information from. "Whoever he was, he was surprisingly well informed. The Turks had only just managed to get info on the object's whereabouts when they called me." Zack attempted to give this man's identity more thought until he heard Shade's voice pick up. Zack chuckled, probably finding it humorous that Shade had simply come to aid Tifa and not some secret mission. "Well its good you're great friends with the cowgirl then, taking down the beast would have been a much tougher time." Letting his head lay back against the chair, Zack shifted his eyes towards Tifa after hearing the disgruntled toss of files and papers. This however only caused Zack to smile, he too was somewhat annoyed by the lack of information. This was starting to exceed the limitations of the scouting mission he was promised.

Zack stared at the falling pages for a while before turning his gaze to Tifa once more as she questioned him about the object. "Im just as uninformed as the lot of you. Although im starting to get the impression that the Turks aren't exactly looking to power light bulbs from it, unless we're supposed to take Shinra boy's change of heart seriously." Just as Zack finished, an unfamiliar voice began to pick up near the entrance, causing Zack to reach for his blade and bring it around the other side of the table. Zack listened intently before nearly dropping his blade at the mention that the beast had been nothing more than a baby, likely echoing the same expression shared by his companions. It wasn't until Tifa and Shade made their way out that Zack holstered his blade and ran out to catch up to them, letting Shade take the rear as he passed her. The underground settlement caused Zack to smile, not so much out of surprise but from the sheer ingenuity of it all. "Brave of you to risk a scrape with the beasties" Zack said as he walked down with the others, feeling a small jab at his leg that caused him to turn. A little boy, hat on backwards and a stick in his right hand seemed to take offense at his comment. "We won't run from our home, beasts or no beasts." With that the little boy stuck out his tongue, causing Zack to chuckle as he placed his palm over the boy's head. "Nor should you, besides with a tough man like you to watch over them the beasts don't stand a chance." Zack could see a tiny smile curl on the boy's face before he ran off.

Zack had kept up with the conversation happening apart from him, now listening more intently before chiming in himself. "Any pointers on these things would be appreciated." Zack said, hoping they could get some useful information. The last thing they needed was to dive into another fight blindly. The townspeople seemed somewhat uncertain on how to respond to Tifa's question of the power source, either because they had no information, or because they were unsure whether to trust the three of them. However, a voice rang out from within the crowd, providing some information that caused Zack to sigh in relief. "From what information we've gathered on them, it seems like adults have some exposed nerve sections near their ankles, almost like a swelling that is easily visible" Zack attempted to find a face to fit the voice amongst the crowd, until his eyes settled on an old man walking to the front of the crowd.

Graying hair and a rusted sword that had noticeably found more use as a cane, the old man took a seat near a wooden stool and continued. "Their underbellies are a little more protected, but still serves as an excellent target if you can topple the beast over. Blinding them is also great, and if you have the chance, a strike behind the neck can disorientate or paralyze them momentarily, despite the heavy armor covering its body." The old man sighed, tapping his sword against the floor. "However, this won't be a walk in the park, ive lost enough friends, highly trained guards taking these beasts on over the years. Their numbers have grown, and these adult versions are fast, resourceful and far larger and stronger than the babe you managed to put down." Zack leaned against a wall as he listened on to the old man, there was something oddly familiar to his voice, it reminded him of Angeal. "I don't know much about this "power source" you're looking for, but if you're dead set on taking this beast on, we may just be willing to part with what little information we may have." Getting up, the old man walked up to the nervous man who lead the three down here and pat him on the shoulder before sticking out his blade and poking Tifa's stomach. "But only if you can stomach it" Walking back to his usual spot, the old man blended in once more with the crowd. Zack only looked to Shade and then Tifa as he wondered what their response would be.

Tifa looked at the small crowd as they seemed to grow in numbers, the adults sticking to the back of the room eyed them cautiously. She didn't blame them, if she were in their shoes, she would be cautious too. She caught the eye of a particularly inquisitive looking young boy and asked "Where did all of you come from? Do you live down here?" The boy shuffled his feet and suddenly looked bashful, a shy smile spread across his face as he looked at the dirt on his shoes. With a nervous giggle he responded "Well there's kinda lots of us, we got a school and everything" He leaned in closer and whispered proudly "I'm in 3rd grade now" Tifa smiled at him and urged him to carry on.

The little boy took a deep breath and began again "Well my house is number 156 and I live with my mom, my dad, my sister and her dolls... They got creepy eyes... so I guess that means there's more than 156 of us here. We been down here a long time now, I was born in the hopsickle here. And we got trains that take us to the other towns too. When I get bigger I'm going to go on one and go see the fountains in Narabadala. They're famous y'know." A slender woman came forward and put her arm around the young boys shoulder and took over the conversation as he blustered and shuffled his feet. "Forgive him, he gets easily excited. We moved the town underground when the beasts came about 9 years ago. There were only a few to begin with but they kept coming. We lost so many good men that the council voted and we built this place. We have trade with other towns that went underground because of the Schmoukens too. In fact, you and your friends just made us about 4000 Gil from the hide from that juvenile. That should earn your keep while you're here."

It was a lot to take in at once. Tifa raised her hand to her head and exhaled sharply as she tried to wrap her head around it all. She looked to her friends to emphasize her surprise "Yeah, wasn't expecting that." She turned back to the woman "So how do you get food and water and power down here?" The little boy piped up before his mother could get a word out "Is that the big glowy crystals in the cave? I'm not supposed to go down there, but this one time, i was sneaky and..." He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before an old man came and shooshed him abruptly.  She filed that away in her mind and resolved to probe about the crystal cave later when all the hullabaloo had died down.

The old man stepped forward and answered her previous question about the beasts weak points, information that Tifa was glad to hear. She could still feel the burning from the previous battle and had no wish to repeat it any time soon. The old man gently poked her stomach with the tip of his blade, a gesture Tifa took to mean for her to follow. She turned to seek her friends consensus on this  and motioned for them to come too. By the time she turned back to the old man, he had disappeared into the crowd. Tifa frantically looked around and caught sight of him as he disappeared down the corridor and hurried after him

Shade wasn't fond of crowds,  just as she was out of her element when it came to casual conversation.  The children of the colony seem to take to Tifa and Zack immediately, but if any of them glanced at Shade, they quickly turned away, or hid behind an adult or a nearby object.  That suited Shade better than having to struggle for what to properly say to a child.  Her past experience with her own young nieces proved the sword fighter lacked the maternal instincts of just being their Aunt when she sent the girls sensible survival kits for their birthdays.  


Still, Shade listened intently to what information was volunteered by the underground citizens until her mood turned foul when the elder used the tip of his sword to poke Tifa.  Not quite the friendly gesture to a person who just helped the struggling colony make a bountiful heap of gil for previously killing that beast on the streets.  But she knew if the gesture upset Tifa, the man would have found her boot lodged in his rear end, so with her jaw clamped shut, Shade refrained from snapping at the elder and kept her grip clenching still around the hilt of her weapon.  


Her attention caught the abrupt action of another elder silencing the young boy as he piped about crystals.  This only added to Shade's skepticism.  The whole secrecy attitude topped off with the old man's “if you can stomach it” comment just rubbed Shade's nerves the wrong way.  If they could stomach it? Really?  After they were just told how the colony already lost lives to these beasts, yet Shade and her companions took one down in fifteen minutes flat... even if the creature was a young one.  Heck, the guy didn't even thank them for it.  But rather than voicing her opinions, Shade knew she needed more time to observe the situation and these people.  It was obvious they needed help, and sometimes when people were desperate, they would do almost anything in order to survive.  


Shade could understand that, even if she found this older guy to be rude.  For now, she quietly muddled over her own questions while continuing to follow Tifa and Zack with her piercing hues and instincts alert for anything.

As the old man spoke to Tifa, Zack replayed the young boy's messages in his head. The mention of a train and the crystals in particular caught his interest. "Fountains in Narabadala, sounds fun" Zack thought, the fact that a working train station was available meant that further travel around the outskirts would be much quicker and safer if allowed to pass though. "Crystal cave...what would the Turks want with something like that." Zack attempted to keep himself alert, but his mind seemed to focus on other subjects every now and again. Even as Tifa set off before them, something kept Zack preoccupied, nearly missing Tifa's motion for them to follow. Zack shook his thoughts away for the moment as he followed Tifa down the corridor. "Shade, this is a big place. Best we set out before we get separated." Zack said, calling out behind him for Shade to hear.

The walk seemed to go on for quite a while, and everywhere they went, piercing stares followed them. Zack supposed it was safer to be cautious, especially since the three of them showed to be capable of taking down a beast as quickly, albeit difficultly as they did. It was odd however, no matter how far or deep they seemed to go, the expected darkness never seemed to come. The city followed a set up similar to an ant colony in Zack's mind, with quite a number of interconnected passages and likely multiple access points. The lighting setup was just as astounding, not a dark corner in sight. Monumental arrays of beams of solid and if Zack was correct, nearly shimmering columns of metal shot up and supported the weight effectively. Pausing to touch a beam, it was as cold as ice. "Interesting" Zack only thought, taking a moment to look left and right, a series of moderately sized houses lining certain sections of every connected area.

Zack took his sights off the scenery and caught up to Tifa while waving behind him for Shade to catch up. As the three caught up together, Zack nudged Tifa's arm while looking ahead towards the old man. "This city is pretty impressive, the scale and quality of the build is astounding, they must have traded resources for some materials further out in the outskirts, ive never seen metals like these." The thoughts began to flood back into Zack's head as he paused a moment to see the well lit environment once more. "The sheer power they must need to keep this place lit and running, its far more effective than anything ive seen from Shinra, and oddly enough I haven't seen any cables, any power stations, nothing." Zack continued to think of what was off to him, not necessarily anything malicious but something had to surely be off. A city this well maintained and frankly thriving, surely they could have better secured the town above the surface.

The answers eluded him now, however Zack pushed his thoughts aside, they weren't a priority now. The old man finally stopped, a good ways away from where the group had originally entered the city from. "Sorry I brought you out this far, I thought it would be best to talk away from piercing stares and paranoid faces." The old man chuckled and lead the three to a rather wide and ornately decorated building at the end of a rather long street. Zack caught a few words on a plaque outside its walls, simple stating 'City Council.' The four of them eventually found themselves on the second floor, around a round metal table, the old man letting out a relaxing sigh as he sat, dropping his antique of a sword and placing his hands on the table. "We aren't too keen about newcomers around these parts, I was hoping to clarify why and hopefully afterwards you would also understand our hesitance to speak about this "power source" openly." Sliding his fingers across the table's surface, the old man seem to search for something before letting his thumb settle and press down, suddenly causing the table's surface to light up and project an image of what seemed like the city.

"Now then" Began the old man as he coughed and cleared his throat. "The town above wasn't always the ghost town you know today. Truth be told we were once a successful trading town and one of the few thriving towns located in the outskirts region. We specialized mainly in farming, fur and hide trading, the Schmoukens being one of our more rare commodities. As part of the town guard, we took down quite a number of them, never more than one or two arriving near the area every couple of weeks." The old man shuffled in his seat and let out a tired yawn before continuing. "However, before the city here was little more than a concept, the Schmouken attacks began to increase. Soon we were hit dozens of times a month by much more feral versions and the strain soon took its toll on the town guards. Within the first two years we had been driven down to less than a handful, all the while the attacks continued to escalate. You can imagine for yourself how the idea of an underground city could grow in popularity after that, and so the city was built and the town eventually abandoned." Zack raised his hand, poised to ask a question. However, the old man simply waved the gesture away and continued.

"That power source that you and a growing number of people are on about was at first nothing more than a small sample used to supplement the town's power consumption and a well guarded secret. However as with most well guarded secrets, the temptation seemed too much for one of our own and as word spread we found ourselves the host of several expeditions, some in search of ancient artifacts, others for some sort of scientific breakthrough. They found nothing of course, however the continued rise in attacks seemed to indicate that not all parties were so ready to give up on the idea." Tapping the table once more, the image zoomed out, showing the various routes and entryways of the city. "The location of the power source is underground, safe from any form of surveillance, while the city's structure is designed to keep out and confuse intruders. As selfish as it may seem, the council took action and declared soon after the city's approval that the power source was to be kept here, less it fall into the hands of those willing to use it for... ulterior purposes, which I suppose explains why we're all still here and still under assault by growing waves of feral Schmoukens." The old man looked up to view the faces of the three young heroes, his nervous smile indicating his embarrassment for having spoken for so long. Gesturing with his hand, the old man allowed the three a chance to digest and respond to everything they had just heard.

Tifa had to jog through the crowd to catch up with the elusive old man. She noted that he was remarkably sprightly for his age. When she caught up to him, she subconsciously skipped along for a few steps to fall in time with his. Glancing to her side, she noticed Zack become preoccupied by a metal beam. She turned to Shade and grinned "Look at him. Distracted by shiny objects. He hasn't changed, has he? I swear I never met anyone with such a lack of concentration in all my li... Would you look at that?!" Behind an unassuming archway lay an enormous cavern supported here and there by the metal beams Zack had become so fascinated with. Standing upon large platforms near the roof were teams of people all busy harvesting root vegetables of some kind from underneath, pulling them through the earth above into large baskets woven from the tough stalks on top of the large bulbous roots. As soon as one person pulled out the vegetable, another person packed the hole with fresh earth and planted a seed in it before pinning it up with some kind of fine wire mesh.

Tifa stood open mouthed for a few moments as she took it all in. "I thought it was gophers all this time..." She shook her head in disbelief and turned to ask the old man a question only to find that he had carried on without her. With a squeak she began jogging after him yet again. As she passed Zack, Tifa gave him a quick swipe across the arm "That was your fault" she said quietly.

The old man lead them into some sort of conference room. It was large and sparsely decorated with a large oval table surrounded by chairs. Tifa pulled out a chair and sat down, poured herself a glass of water from one of the carafes in the middle of the table and sipped it slowly as the old man spoke. His speech brought with it so many unanswered questions, she hardly knew where to begin. The one thing that did intrigue her most of all, above even the power source they had come to this place for, was the increase in schmouken activity in the area.

"Are you thinking that someone is engineering these things to be more ferocious and then sending them your way? Who would do that? And we could make some kind of deal here... We find them and stop them in return for one of those crystals? Just a thought, we're pretty good at taking down bad guys"