The Cat and The Fool

It was a very thin line. Between suicide and thrill-seeking. Deep in the guts of the abandoned city laid monsters and fools alike, both choking on the ever-present gas that seemed to line the underbelly. One had to know the place to avoid certain death. If not from the mutated creatures, the toxic fumes that have plagued the place. For as long as he has remembered, Dark had only known the place for its danger. And that was all the more the best part about it.

Tangoing with the local wildlife was a lot of the time more fun than chasing little people around. Most of whom couldn't put up a proper fight if they wanted to. That's the saddest part, really. It's why he prowled these chambers today. Smaller than the average warrior, this young 5'4" hybrid wore his black Saiyan armor proudly. Rather than using his little sniffer to really zone out the place he'd have to rely on his hearing. Ears twitching and moving to turn and catch every little sound he can. Dangerous to breathe the stuff directly. The guy also came down with a proper ventilator wrapped around his face like a muzzle.

"..."
Dark's eyes squint down on the long hall, his destination at its end. Leaving the torn-up walls aside, he could definitely sense some heavy footfall coming from around that T-section. Heavier than that of the last piece of meat he had to play with. Anyone nearby would be able to hear this too with enough effort. He'd confidently hunker down on his approach, trying to quieten his own noise to avoid detection. Whatever it was, it echoed far enough away to be heard from here. Near the intersecting hallways for which he stopped at a moment.

Deciding to keep his eyes also peeled, he'd turn and look down the opposite way of that large thudding. Catching a glimpse of that outsider while she made her way towards him. Stuck out quite a bit, that one. The Saiyan decided to slip back into his hall just a couple of feet to hide his form. If only for now, while Glori probably already saw him peaking. it was only a matter of time to see if she kept walking without acknowledging him, or if she stops and turns away. if not because of him, because of that strange presence further down.

Honestly, he wouldn't mind what she did. Might be pretty fun fighting the thing and her, or either. The danger of their tight and small playground here was what made it interesting!

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Thread PL: 6,000

WC: 434

So the outsider not only chose to step up and acknowledge him openly but did so brazenly loud. Speaking as if it was open-air and sea out in the catacombs. Either this off-worlder was strong and cocky, or stupid and suicidal. Once Glori started coming up close to the boy he straightened up, sound keying him in on when she'd get close to the corner. True enough, there was little point in hiding if this person could just sense them out. This close, regardless of what armor he had on, the Konats could definitely see the difference in outward appearance compared with the average saiyan. Those amber eyes narrow down at her.

"Tch."
He adjusted himself in front of her, eyeing down the hall that creature stirred once again. Ears twitching at the sound of both it and this woman's incessant talking. Sure had the mouth for a 'traveling performer'. But it made no sense for her to be down here alone. Those types don't last.

"You talk a lot for someone daring to come here. It's the place for fools and the weak to die off playing chicken with the world's aberrations. -"
The youth's voice had a cutting rasp to it, slightly changed by the respirator on his maw. The lack of being able to readily tell how strong she was isn't so much a liability down here as it was a mild nuisance. He'd just assume the worst.

"- And I'd say you're at least one of those for running in here alone. With stories and rumors, not even a lick of sense."
Leave it to the saiyan to point some fingers. What did that make him exactly? Well, he's more than handled himself down here. As low class as he was, he at least felt confident his skills of the past year have far outpaced what any of his siblings thought possible. He could throw his weight around much of the lower district now.

Since Glori seemed more down here for crude entertainment, there was a pinch of excitement growing in his brow. She couldn't see it, but he was giving a toothy grin at the idea of just facing the creature. Beat standing around and getting to listen to this. He stepped away from his hall and started down towards the now noisy buddy that seems to have started growling. Still, out of sight, it must be somewhere around a corner. Dark kept a modest pace on him. Didn't exactly need to rush everything.

"We'll see if you don't start running at the first real sign of trouble."
Dark half-mocked on his venture. It was more likely than not that Death would come to find them first.

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WC: 454
TWC: 888

Senses were the thing that made Dark strong. Be it a decent common sense, his heightened senses, or that sense of self that he held above most things. Despite it leading to the worst in pride and arrogance. Dark wasn't one to listen to the strange dotting of a punk alien with their strange instrument. Something so delicate as to never really been seen by the cat boy. Bringing that down there? Such an odd choice of equipment. The Braveheart was starting to question if this companion was even all there up in the head.

She sure liked talking in near-riddles.

But before he could directly rebut, that nasty creature up ahead started making its move. A large ramming harsh enough to crack most of the hallway left in front of them and throw up the ceiling's dust down below. The cat boy's tail hunkered down back to the ground as he tensed some, eyes darting at the details of the crash. Seemed to be hauling ass now as soon stumpy footfalls are heard near the edge of the hall. It probably smelled them past the dank air the place had.

"Is that so? Sounds like you were both lucky and a fool."
He had to pick at that before bringing up his pace. Cut off mid-run by another crashing beat. This time into a wall they could see. From the looks of it, this creature was some sort of mound of meat. Green and purple flesh held a slight cloud of fumes around it as it moved. It was hard to make out much more, but many beefy appendages seem to come off the mass at various angles. Some look broken without a care as the mass barreled into the fall wall at the end of their hall now. Forming more cracks and tossing more debris around with its force.

It forced the Saiyan to keep his ground and stare it down a moment.

"Now, that's an UGLY mug! Let's go!"
Two blue ki balls quickly form in the palms of his hands as he brings himself into a combat stance. Hucking them down at the beast as there was snow little point of not being loud and proud. They'd start them off as they blazed through the big hall. Quickly finding purchase. It wouldn't be long before the creature situated itself and started throwing its mass down the hall at them though!

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WC: 409
TWC: 1297

It Seemed Gloriosa wanted a piece of the action. Starting up with that strange instrument. Dark quickly picked apart the strange effect this sound started having around them though. She was somehow playing multiple instruments out of that flimsy thing. Not only that but a third party made their appearance at his side. He'd frown at the use of a proxy warrior like this, jumping back to gain more distance between this mutant creature and the attacking konatsian warrior.

"The heck's that trick!?"
He questioned the companion of his as the visage of the swordsman vanished against the weight thrown around. The thing oozing sizzling acidic blood that it just ignored while slamming around the walls and at them. Glori would back up with plenty of time to spare. Dark, on the other hand, had plans to get close.

Realizing the thing wouldn't really stop to feel any pain they inflicted, he had to be quick. That mass of limbs eventually gets thrown his way, but the boy jumps over the swing. Spinning between the sets of arms as they pass over and under him. All the while coating his hands in yellow ki. The cat spins as the arms pass him and cut deep gashes into them. Severing them as they are sent flying to the wall next to him. He'd get a few specks of bad juice on his armor before he pulled away from the creature.

"KEEEEEEEEEEEEHEEEE!"
It's a distorted cacophony of voices, one that shook the walls of their narrowing hall as they were forced back to the T-section of the underground here. The thing wasn't so much slowed down by the cat's cutting strikes but pissed off.

"Hyip!"
That lingering ki on his hands transfers to a set of ki blasts, returning to a standard blue glow as he planned to distract it some with more lighter shots. Those auburn eyes then shoot back to the Konatsian.

"Split up, whoever it doesn't follow can start pestering it from behind. It's having it too easy being able to run us down the same hall."
Well, he wasn't dumb. Any warrior worth his salt would know how to best deal with a number advantage. He'd shoot a thumb to the side, seeming to call dibs on the right of the T-section he came from. Just before breaking off. Hopefully, she'd be wise enough to at least trust the judgment. Was hard to ever tell if foreigners underestimated Saiyan intuition.

Seems the creature took the bait and followed him down there as well. Ready to lunge at him with the force of several saibamen and the mass of a dozen. but for some strange reason... it stopped. Suddenly, over a short hangup in the hallways he ran down. Between it and him were now a large cut of pipes that seemed to stop it in its tracks. Was it its territory? Was it not pissed off that a few limbs were cut off? Who knows.

"Screw it..."
The saiyan hissed at the strange mutant and darted off. If it was just going to bug off and leave him alone he'd rather just go. This fool he had met along the way wasn't worth all the sudden effort. He was looking for a god challenge, not to play hero for some random offworlder.

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Exit!

WC: 559
TWC: 1856