[center][img]https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/290977655627448341/292171024986800128/coollogo_com-163531103.png[/img] AND [img]https://68.media.tumblr.com/731ef762daf08e329ebb3fca3e6137e6/tumblr_osfhdueJcp1u8l1i9o1_1280.png[/img] IN [h2]MOLE MONEY, MOLE PROBLEMS PART 1[/h2][/center] Uskriss was down in Little Chinatown when he felt it. Deep below his feet, there was… a rumbling. Almost like an earthquake… No wait, that was Alex Wang’s Teriyaki noodles getting to Dathan’s gut. Wincing, Uskriss waved a hand in front of his face, guiding a breeze past his nose, making sure the fart was disprersed. [color=Tan]”Sweet Mother Sky, Day, what in the hell? That’s rancid!”[/color] Grinning wickedly, Dathan slurped up the last of the cheap noodles and fish, and tossed the empty paper cup, plastic fork, and used napkin into a nearby trash can. “What, Uskri, it had to come out sometime, and besides, it’s natural! Us Renores are protectors of nature and all, right?” Calling upon Yarheg Rockmantle, his earth spirit, Uskri fixed the foundation of a dangerously-tilting apartment building, setting it straight, causing nearby pedestrians to stare at the structure in awe. [color=Tan]”Cow shit’s natural too, little brother, yet I still cleaned it off my boots whenever I stepped in it.”[/color] Dathan shrugged, and was about to say something, when there was an [i]actual[/i] earthquake, or at least, what felt like it, to Uskri and his younger brother. Nearby, pedestrians started to run in terror in every direction. It was chaos. Grabbing his brother, and simultaneously drawing upon his astral sense, Uskri looked at his brother in the eyes, making sure he understood everything. [color=Tan]”I don’t know if this is a Meta attack or a magical one, but I know one thing for sure: that was most certainly [b]not[/b] natural. Go, get these people to safety.”[/color] Nodding, Dathan ran off, shouting for people to follow him, that he’d keep them safe. Meanwhile, Uskri went to an empty lot, and stepping into the loose dirt, started burrowing down, using his astral sense to guide him to the…. tubes(?) that were causing the disturbance. ---------------------------------------- After the Earth’s visions faded away David was left in a confused and drowsy state. His mind felt clouded and his vision blurred, but reality gave him a literal slap in the face when the windows in Carmine’s car shattered, the glass popped the airbag in front of him, along with cutting him across his cheek, causing him to flinch in pain. David cursed slightly as he felt for his wound, wet, but probably not serious. After a few more collisions the dirt from the surrounding tunnel walls began to kick into the car, sparing a quick look at Carmine, David could see he was out cold, and with the airbag in the way David’s secret would be protected. [color=Red]“Then it’s time.”[/color] David mumbled as he summoned the Earth’s power and a blinding light surrounded him, in an instant his body had been switched out with the one the Earth had granted him, becoming Terra Firma once again. After clicking off his and Carmine’s seatbelt, he gently held him, positioned his back against the roof, and kicked off. The sound of metal tearing echoed throughout the tunnel, as he flew up he spared a glance at the car, it’s ruined chassis began to catch flame as it fell past his view. [color=Red]“Sorry.”[/color] David whispered as he flew upwards, turning and twisted as the tunnel did. He finally reached the point where they apparently fell and David felt mostly relieved, especially after seeing the crowd of people that had gathered by the hole, staring at him as he floated up. [color=Red]“This is actually a really dumb idea, what if whatever did this came back up?”[/color] David said as he stared back at them. “Well, we wanted to see what did.” A couple of them replied. [i]Speaking of which, it would be incredibly irresponsible not to investigate. Not to mention I’m actually personally curious as well.[/i] “Did you do this?” Someone spoke up accusingly, looks like someone had just seen the HOH announcement. [color=Red]”No. But I’m going to find who or what did.”[/color] David said as he brought himself closer to the crowd, towards ground level. [color=Red]”Take this man to a hospital, please.”[/color] David asked, gesturing towards anyone in the area. “A-alright.” A slightly overweight man said as he nervously walked up, accepting Carmine’s body. “G-g-good luck down there.” And with that the man ran off, David could only trust that the other man was a good samaritan. After casting a glance at the hole, and the crowd, David jumped down. This time his journey was much smoother. -------------------------------- Uskriss’ time as a mole was, thankfully, quite short, as he dug himself to a tunnel rather quickly, and popped out from the dirt wall, taking a deep breath, filling his lungs with sweet, sweet oxygen.. He had air while digging, he just didn’t want to breathe in dirt, so he kept his mouth shut. Shaking his head, and flinging dirt everywhere, Uskriss looked up, and then down. There was nothing but sky overhead, so, he supposed, he must go down. Sliding down the (oddly smooth,) tube, feet kicking up dirt and gravel, Uskriss was on high alert for anything, keeping his astral senses ready. But when he exited the tunnel, he wasn’t exactly sure what he was facing, only that it was quite… weird. Several giant wormlike creatures were crawling away into tunnels, further into the ground, and from the brief glimpse he got, Uskri didn’t like what he saw. They couldn’t possibly be natural. Something did this. [color=Tan]“So… What exactly am I looking at here?”[/color] A worm dropped down a few meters away, but it continued onward by diving into another tunnel closer to the other worms. [color=Red]”That’s what I want to know too.” [/color] David said as he dropped in from the same tunnel the previous worm had dropped in from. As the worms began to clear out or move more further away, several smaller creatures revealed themselves. They angrily chittered between each other before shouting in their strange language and rushing at their two new intruders, each creature carrying some sort of spear or bladed weapon. As they closed the distance they seemed comically short, almost in the four foot range, but they all decorated themselves in some kind of bone armor, all dirtied by the dirt they seemingly lived in. Uskri, somewhat surprised by the sudden voice, looked to the source, and saw some… flaming… fire guy. Could he have been behind this? However, Uskri wasn’t about to point any fingers, and the man DID say he wanted to know what was going on as well, so he supposed he could trust him. While the mole people came out, Uskri studied them carefully, making sure to memorize their astral signature, which was, to be quite honest, pathetically small. Although, Uskri realized, that could work for their advantage underground. They’d be practically invisible. [color=Tan]”Hey there. M’name’s Uskri, you some fire spirit or something?” [/color] As he said this, a mole man, chittering, threw a spear at the Shaman, and it flew past his head harmlessly, clattering on the rocks and gravel behind him. Cracking his knuckles, Uskriss smiled broadly, as he rushed into battle. [color=Tan]”So it’s gonna be like that, huh? Works for me!”[/color] Dashing forward, almost quicker than the eye could follow, Uskri dropkicked the offending mole man, sending him flying back over his fellows, and slamming him into the wall. Leaping to his feet in one fluid motion, he started to strike at the moles around him, grinning and laughing as he dodged and parried their attacks with ease. [color=Tan]”Is that all you got?”[/color] [color=Red]”Names Da, I mean, Terra Firma! As for the fire spirit part, heh, not quite.”[/color] David said, trying to play off his mistake with a cough. He shot his gaze at Uskri to see if he was alright as the Moloids began to rush them, he had given half a step in his direction to try to protect him. But seeing in the man in action stopped him short, if he had a mouth right now it would be wide open. [i]Holy shit. I need to learn how to fight like that too. Something about fire spirits too?[/i] David thought as he stared as other man continued to effortlessly toss around the moloids, but a spear whizzing past his head drew his attention back to the creatures. [color=Red]”So you’re trying to be a hero too? Small city huh.”[/color] David spoke as he threw his fist into one of the many creatures swarming them, the skull helmet shattered as the creature’s body slid across the cavern. David’s own attacks weren’t anywhere near as smooth as Uskri’s own moves, but the classic one-two wasn’t failing him here. A few of the moloids apparently gave up on the idea of fighting David and Uskri as they took a position behind their more aggressive comrades, and blew into small whistles or flutes around their necks. Several odd tunes, if you could call them that, sounded and the ground began to rumble.[color=Red]” Well Uskri, you asked if that was all! I think we’re about to get an encore from those worms!”[/color] As if on cue the ground underneath David ruptured and a nightmarish maw of a hundred teeth swallowed David before he could get over the image. David managed a loud curse as he was quickly swallowed, he could feel as the teeth scratched and clawed against his new inhuman skin, but it was over quickly as he was swallowed. He tried to get a grasp on the inside of it’s ‘throat’ only to slip and fall further into it, the chunks of rock it was swallowing didn’t help either, causing him to tumble deeper in. [color=Red]”No way I’m getting eaten, by some overgrown earthworm!”[/color] His body crackled with electricity and he drove his fist into any part of the worm he could, but the rocks coming in absorbed it and shattered under his hands, or the worms own contractions threw him off balance to much to affect it. David shouted again, his body responded by this burst of emotion by surrounding itself in fire, and his body shot through the ‘top’ of the worm’s ‘throat’. It’s blood and pieces of it’s spiked carapace shot off it’s body before him, as his body dove through the air in an arc, leaving a trail of dying fire behind him as he calmed down again. The worm hadn’t made it to it’s intended exit in time, it contorted and spazzed while David was inside, and it collapsed to the ground with a violent thud as David bursted through it’s side. As a mole man leaped at him, shouting some chittering war cry, Uskriss punched him in the chest, sending him flying up in the air, and laughed. [color=Tan]”An encore, eh? Wonder who the maestro is, then!”[/color] Punting another mole man into a group of his compatriots, Uskriss noticed the creatures pulling back, and blow on some sort of whistle. That’s when he felt the trembling below his feet. Wait, is it going for Terra Firma- When the worm ate his firey companion, Uskriss was worried, but he couldn’t take any steps to assist him, as he was presently occupied with another one, quite similar to the one that had gobbled up his flaming friend, dropping from the ceiling, mouth-first. Dodging to the side, Uskriss let the worm slam into the ground, and as it started to burrow through the earth quickly, he grabbed it, his broad arms barely wide enough to get a grip on it, if it wasn’t for his strength, he would’ve had no choice but to let it slip away. As it stood, though, that wasn’t going to happen. Ripping the worm out of the earth, Uskriss, with a feral smile, began spinning it around, slamming it into the other worms that had begun to come out of the walls, ceiling, and floor, using the worm’s great bulk as a weapon. It worked pretty well, actually. The first few ranks of mole men were completely squashed, and those that weren’t defeated, scattered, running down tunnels new and old, simply hoping to get away. The worms, however, suffered a worse fate. Imagine a train being spun around, and being used as a weapon. Now imagine that the worms in question were made of tissue paper and jelly. That’s an apt description of what happened. With his weapon battered, bloody, and the host around him decimated, Uskriss turned his attention to Terra Firma, just in time to see the fire man explode out of the worm’s mass, covering him with worm goop. Laughing, and smiling broadly, the shaman gave two big thumbs up, and said, [color=Tan] “THAT WAS AMAZING, MY FRIEND! COME, LET’S FIND OUT WHO’S BEHIND THIS!”[/color] David was slightly shaken from from being swallowed, but hearing Uskriss’s enthusiastic voice centered him again. He felt like it’d be a while before he got used to how crazy having powers would be. [color=Red]”Oh yeah!”[/color] David shouted back with the same amount of fervor his new ally had.