Fantasy The Underground

[Nobody Special]

JOB BOARD

EXTERMINATORS ARC ONE | JOB ONE
JOB NAME: LET’S SPLIT UP
JOB DATE: AUGUST 15, XXXX
JOB LOCATION: ABANDONED ANT NEST [BLACK ZONE]

"Marwa here. We’ve received a work order to assist with a recovery for a traveling merchant. She lost an important piece of cargo that was meant to be transported to The Capital when she was attacked by an Ant Gigapod. Normally, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but the cargo that was taken wasn’t some jewels or an artifact. A child with some… "abnormal variation of Alchemy" was taken away by the Gigapod.

We don’t know if The Capital’s actually paying merchants for people, or if this special alchemy is even real, but a life's at risk and it's something worth looking into. The merchant said she was camped outside of the Ant Nest, so meet up with her and get more details before heading in.

You all know how crazy Ant Nests can be. They split up into a bunch of different tunnels and it isn’t hard to get lost. So, I’m sending a large handful of our combatants on this job so that the nest can be efficiently searched.

Exterminate whatever you may find down there, but most importantly, find the kid. I’m guessing they have a means of defending themselves with their alchemy if the merchant even bothered calling us in. We’ll be the ones to determine if The Capital gets them or not.

...Oh, I forgot to mention. The Merchant's friends with a pretty important person in Haven, so you'll be accompanied by a few Shocktroops from their Sawyer Group. Be nice and treat them well, please.

Be safe."

ARC ONE

Spoiler: Post Code

Hey! Welcome! Happy to have you! How was your fall? Did it hurt? See any bugs yet?

...Anyway, feel free to use this code, or use a different code if you don't like this one!

Spoiler: Code

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[CENTER]

 

[Nobody Special]

MARS BARNETT

♫♪♫♪

Leading the makeshift convoy of Exterminator-themed Humvees was what had the potential to be the loudest vehicle in The Underground. With blaring speakers and an ear-shattering exhaust as he slammed his foot on the accelerator, Mars raced through the wide tunnel leading out of Skybound towards the job's destination. He screamed the lyrics of the song that was playing through the vehicle's rattling speakers rather obnoxiously as he merged into a separate tunnel, leading his fellow exterminators in the cars behind him in the right direction as he did so.

"When I first met you girl, you ain't have no shoes!
Now 'yer walkin' 'round like 'yer front page news!
You been awful careful 'bout the friends you choose!
But you won't find my name in 'yer book of who's who!!"

He'd always considered speeding justified, as long as he was doing it on the clock. He had to get there as fast as possible to make sure nobody died, right? Yeah... speeding was totally cool. Besides, it wasn't like there were any giant highways like the ones he would read about in old history books during his schoolboy days— anywhere you could drive was always either a straight road or a curve with zero traffic. In fact, he was always proud to reveal that his accident rate was a perfect zero percent, the same as... well, just about everyone else who lived in The Underground.

"I'm! Not your steppin' stOOOOooooOOOOoooone!!"

Completely taking his eyes off of the road, he shot a finger clad in his red gear glove at his co-pilot for the drive. With a wide grin, he took turns pointing as he traded lyrics with them.

"Hey!"
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
"Hey!"

"Not your steppin' stone!"

After slamming his palm into Vesper's in an explosive high-five, his hidden eyes shifted back to the road in front of him. "Woo! I told you guys this new mix was fuckin' good!" He reached in the car's backseat to get the attention of one of his team members, his hand grabbing onto Lautrec's knee before obnoxiously poking it. "You guys like it back there? Hmm? Hmmmm??"

Mars would be lying if he said he wasn't so eager to get to the nest quick solely to kill some ants. The group's secretary sounded just as confused when mentioning a kid with special alchemy. It was vague as hell, so he was hoping to learn more from the Merchant as extra pay once they got the little brat back. As unique as the technique that of Alchemy already was, calling someone else's abnormal must mean it was something seriously out of the ordinary.

And, right on cue, his eyes landed on the tent and extinguished campfire that sat directly outside the gaping hole in the wall to the right.

There you are...

He swiftly pulled to the side and parked, snatching the keys out of the ignition and hopping out of the car with a faint ringing reverberating in his ears. Maybe somebody else could be on music-duty on the way back to give his ears a breather.

He leaned on the side of his car as he watched the other teams file out of their cars and group up around the large entrance to the nest. He waited until he saw his fellow Team Leaders and cracked a prideful smirk as he looked at their equipment.

"Lanterns and flashlights, huh? So old-school. Gunnar doesn't need those..." He shot a finger-gun at Ananda, a bright flame quickly sheathing his index finger like a lighter. "'Cause they got me."

Once everyone was together, Mars' gaze shifted over to the setup the merchant had outside of the nest. Did they not hear all of these cars and people coming up to them? Maybe they were some sort of crazy heavy sleeper. He pushed himself off of the car and walked closer to the tent, making a failed attempt to knock on the canvas wall of the cheap tent.

"Exterminators! Hellooooo? Anybody there?" He called, to no avail. It didn't take long for him to impulsively push one of the tent's flaps to the side to peer into it.

It was empty. Ransacked of everything but the sleeping bag that lay on the ground beneath it.

"Maaan, what?" He sighed, stepping further into the tent. Where the hell was the merchant? He reached down to grab the pillow on top of the sleeping bag, only to notice a pale white corner underneath it. When he lifted the pillow, a note sat under it. He grabbed it and poked his head out of the tent to face the others, pushing it through the tent's doors to show his fellow exterminators what he found. Then, he cleared his throat and read it out loud for everybody to hear.

"You Exterminators take too long.
I'm going in there to see if I can find her.
If she's dead, at least The Capital won't be able to kill me. The ants will get me first! :-)

...- Unnati"

Annoyed, the champion crumpled the paper up with a grimace plastered onto his face. Idiot... why would she go in there alone?

He hopped out of the tent, landing on his feet directly in front of the nest's giant entrance. There weren't any of those Shocktroopers Marwa mentioned, either...

He realized there was no more time to waste messing around as he pointed his thumb back at the mouth of the cave.

"...Guess we're goin' in there, huh guys?"
________

angel doe simj26 Defender of Stories gxxberkit xulosxv Roda the Red miki BriiAngelic The One Eyed Bandit BluEndings coolgamer96 Flatwoods Elenion Aura Lucem The Regal Rper FabulousTrash AriAriAbabwa Doctor Llamabean Beann WhiskeyMarten .sol. M Meowijuana

Let's Split Up

 

[angel doe]

Vesper D'Angelo

Vesper was completely into the music, singing with Mars without a care. "You weren't kiddin', Mars, this shit rocks." She kicked her feet excitedly, giggling. She slid up the seat and arched herself over the top, making upside-down eye contact with whoever was behind her, "What's not to like about this, yeah?" Vesper grinned, sliding back into her seat with a thud just as Mars pulled up to the site and parked. Slinking out the vehicle's window, Ves landed silently on her feet and spun around gracefully, long braids swinging behind her.

Walking up alongside Mars, they looked at everything he did, tapping their chin thoughtfully in an attempt to appear interested. The flame that engulfed Mars' finger, however, immediately distracted them and they stared with wide eyes, leaning toward it until their nose almost touched the tip of the flame. It was only when Mars moved seconds later that Vesper went back to normal, scampering around and looking at everything they could.

"I wonder what happened..." She hummed softly, though her musing was answered shortly after by Mars reading the note left behind, "She went in alone? That's kind of stupid." Vesper rolled her eyes as she approached the entrance of the nest and peered in, hands on her hips.

"...Guess we're goin' in there, huh guys?"

"Fuckin' duh, dude," Vesper gave Mars a look like he'd asked the dumbest question in the world, "Obviously we're goin' in there."

Let's Split Up

 

[Elenion Aura]

ENOCH - SHEPHERD OF THE CHOSEN PATH

What a pity. This was what desperation hath wrought—rashness, chaos, grasping senselessly for any illusion of control. The merchant choosing to face death on her own terms, rather than submit to The Capital’s leash. It was foolish. But was it not also brave?

It was likely she saw no good options—either die at the hands of ants or face punishment from The Capital for her failure. To him, this desperation rang all too familiar, reminding of the countless humans he had witnessed lose hope and succumb to fear and fragility.

As the Exterminators flocked, a flurry of preparations, arguments, and bravado, he found himself drifting towards the mouth of the cave, Solace clutched in both hands. So much impatience. So much dissonant noise... While force may win them this day, he feared their lack of perspective would always blind them to the broader picture.

“Desperation makes fools of us all. May she find strength in her fear, as we all must.”

He did not fault the merchant for her choice. Human error was inevitable, particularly in a place such as this. The very depths themselves sunder the human mind and bend the spirit unto breaking.

Not so for the ants... Their unity, their efficiency... He admired them. They, and others, formed part of the archetype he sought to fashion for the future of all humanity. From their hive, to his Chosen Path.

Beyond all of this, there was one final curiosity... The Child. Enoch could not lie to himself, this child's "abnormal alchemy" had stoked in his heart a keen interest in this mission. What nature of thing was this?

At last, before they departed, he spared a word to the boisterous Mars.

“It is not light alone that guides us, but wisdom in how we wield it. You burn brightly. But even the brightest flames are swallowed by the dark, if they stray too far.”

LET'S SPLIT UP

​

 

[The Regal Rper]

Matt | Arc 1: Abandoned Ant Nest

Let me please introduce myself (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
I'm a man of wealth and taste (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
​

The car lurched on an unpaved, uneven, bumpy dirt road, chasing after the sounds of Mars hollering. There was a moment, seconds of air time before their designated driver hit the gas again after the car landed, bounced, and the shock absorbers slowed the rocking. Peeling off in a slight screech of rubber.

Matt had, after all, apologized to Rav and Sav ahead of time before commanding they both get in the back seat and buckle up tight when they had been mobilized to move out. Warning ahead this would be a bumpy and rough ride.

His foresight was living up to the call.

And I laid traps for troubadours (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)
Who get killed before they reach Bombay (whoo-hoo, whoo-hoo)​

With all the noise they were making Matt wouldn't have been surprised if the ants knew what was coming long before they got there as he drove, chasing after Mars and the other leads. Truth be told he hadn't intended on playing a thing but when nudged by the others had allowed them to play something, the old music of the Rolling Stones had been an interesting choice. Not quite what he honestly had expected.

Then again he had hardly been listening to half the music, even if he knew this song from the way his dad geeked out about music on a whole. He probably would have loved this song. Though in all honesty it was an ironic choice given their duty right now, picking a song about humanity's oldest friend being some spirit of malicious intent.

‘what's my name, I'll tell ya one last time’ echoed as Matt took a separate tunnel to Mars, Anada, and whoever Nyk had designated as her team's driver. The lights on the Humvees made them an illuminated crawling firefly in this tunnel of darkness where voices of a long dead band sang a funky song. Voices humming in a way that not even the engine could drown.

whoo-hoo-hoo, whoo-hoo-hoo​

The echo followed his team's vehicle out their tunnel path as Matt cut it sharp spotting Mars vehicle up ahead, hitting the breaks, tires closing in a curve, perhaps jostling a few.

Emily riding shotgun, Sav, Esther, and Rav in the back, all felt the Humvee stop with a smooth hiss and rise of dust behind them. Music cutting off as the engine was switched off.

Seatbelt was off, armored boots tapped to the ground, and without haste he was jogging up to where Mars and Vesper were headed, decided to leave it to them when they got first.

He listened as Mars moved towards the tent where the Merchant's post had been while he skimmed the surrounding area before the entrance. No sign of the Sawyers. He wondered who specifically from that group would be there. Spending time in Haven when he was 23 had him familiar with those Shock troopers.

Mars return and the subsequent message left for them was, if anything, just plain irritating. It was hard to see his expression given his helmet but the head shake and exasperated sigh was sign enough he wasn't even remotely pleased.

“If she went in there then it must mean the Sawyers went with her.” Faint hint of an accent, some vowels slightly stressed, the deepness in his voice adding a heavy timbre. Matt, again, sighed. Spoke in some foreign tongue or maybe his curse was just lowly said.

Spat on the ground in annoyance. Kicked the dirt over it.

“Guess it's better she left us something at all than nothing.” Sarcastic. He'd been in jobs where the ones they'd sent to help just made things more difficult and already, the job seemed like it was turning that way.

Bad enough his last job had started similar, leaving him without a team, without an escape in a trap, and bitter. As much as his interest might have been piqued in the ‘weird’ alchemy of this kid the capital had it's eye on, he hardly cares about that enough to ignore the likely safety hazards being raised here if they had to rescue a kid, the Merchant, and her help along with eradicating Gigapods.

In a way he was also stating his opinion on the subject of how idiotic it was to dive in alone in this situation, and how he doubted that was the truth to what everyone else was speculating. Weirdly enough his hand rose and scratched at his helmet to alleviate an itch he couldn't reach, stopping with a shake of his head from side to side.

“If Marwa said there's Shock troopers and they ain't round here, assume they went with her. I've worked with plenni groups like em, Sawyers included. It's rare you find dat kindah braindead that make it this long on the job. If anyone I know from dat group is with her, then, she's fine.” Leaving the ‘for now’ out of it. Not bothering to add anything to Vesper’s remarks to Mars, save a click from his helmet as it shifted and something covered his lower mouth and the shades slid into place, completely hiding his face.

Said nothing to what Enoch said to Mars too. Nuffin there worth saying, even if the advice was sage. Instead he turned his attention to his unit.

“My team, get yourselves ready before we move out, we wastin time now dat we know whats-what.” Steps making hardly a sound as heavy as he looked, metal man stalking back to his unit with barely a clunk or clank. Hollering out: “Aye Em! Keep the heavy stuff out until we really need it. I want to see what kind of Ants we fightin. Lest y'all know what type of Ants we fightin?” his last line directed to the other leads

Mentions: Nobody Special

Interactions: angel doe simj26 Defender of Stories gxxberkit xulosxv Roda the Red miki BriiAngelic The One Eyed Bandit BluEndings coolgamer96 Flatwoods Elenion Aura Lucem FabulousTrash AriAriAbabwa Doctor Llamabean Beann WhiskeyMarten .sol. M Meowijuana