The coils of electricity around Gil's arms slowly died down, reducing themselves to intermittent sparks that would flicker around his body for a split-second at a time with an almost silent 'pop'. The three humanoid drones in front of him were all face-down on top of a pile of rubble from a nearby leveled building. Like every drone before them they were completely drained and deactivated without so much as a fight. Gil paused a moment to look down at the fallen robots, bringing his arms back to his sides.
These ones were a bit more clever than the last. I didn't expect them to hide behind a simple pile of rocks. But it didn't really matter either way. The wolf drones are still sneakier than these types. Not that it helps them that much... With a resigned sigh, Gil continued walking down the desolated street.
He had been stopping at every intact building and car, inspecting as much as he could for any of the tarot cards. Either he wasn't very fortunate so far or they were hidden quite well. As the brown-haired gunslinger stopped to look inside a broken-down car he was met with the sudden appearance of another wolf drone. As the mechanical beast leaped at him from inside the vehicle, Gil leaned backwards as arcs of lightning connected the two briefly with a loud buzzing sound. By the time the drone crashed into the street it was apparent it wasn't getting back up. Gil turned his upper body to look back at the robot canine.
More robots. Still no card. The sparks continued to faintly pop as Gil moved on from the car. It was a subtle sound that Gil practically couldn't hear anymore after so many years of it, but it was a nice touch when compared to the occasional sounds of battle that would echo across the ruined city. If he had to judge by sounds alone it would seem that practically nobody else was having a good time in this scavenger hunt.
As Gil continued his trek into the city he spotted someone up ahead. This was a surprise to him, considering how long it had been. He had figured that most everyone that had run ahead instead of walked casually would remain ahead of him. But clearly this person, a girl judging from afar, must've slowed down or something. Maybe she even got turned around after a fight. As Gil began to approach her he realized something.
There were never any rules established, he concluded, narrowing his eyes towards her but maintaining his path.
If she thinks I have a card she may try to fight me if she's as desperate as some of these other kids. Or perhaps she might just see me as a threat if she already has a card. Gil kept his left hand resting on his holstered hand cannon and kept his right hand in his jeans' pocket, but internally he prepared himself for a possible confrontation. As he approached the girl, who seemed to be tired or perhaps exhausted, he cleared his throat loudly to get her attention.
"Hey, you seem to be a little tired," he spoke up as he approached. He didn't care if she noticed his posture or the occasional spark, if it was going to be a fight then so be it. But his tone of voice suggested no hostility at least. The easier things had to be, the better.
"Most everyone else is probably way ahead of us by now. Could've sworn I saw you get a good head start on me before." The black-haired girl clearly had a sword but that didn't stop Gil from approaching her. He raised his left hand from the gun on his hip to hold it out towards her.
"Name's Gil." Before she could even try to meet his handshake and introduce herself there was the sound of shifting rocks from behind the Lightning Cowboy. Another wolf drone appeared out of thin air, already mid-leap towards Gil's exposed back. The young man tilted his head to the side slightly and glanced backwards, bringing the robot into his peripheral view. In much the same fashion as the robots he had faced before, arcs of lightning danced between Gil and the drone in a split-second, leaving the robot with no power. The lights deactivated and it stopped moving completely, though it was still airborne. Gil simply leaned his entire body to the side and let it fly past him, narrowly missing both he and the girl he just met. And this entire time he had kept his arm out as if nothing had happened. Coils of electricity from the drone wrapped around Gil for a second before being properly stored within. As he stood back upright it appeared as if nothing had even happened over the past few seconds.
"Seems I wasn't the only one who found you," he joked, though his expression remained rather deadpan.
@Jay Kalton"Wow, that was a lot harder than it had to be," Erisa commented to herself, placing a foot against the hull of the humanoid drone and gripping the steel arrow that was sticking out of its chest.
"These things are almost like living things. They don't just stand there and shoot like they do in the old movies. They run and hide and use cover and stuff." The arrow had gone entirely through the robot and pinned it to the ground, which required Erisa to huff and puff for a brief moment before she could build up the strength to retrieve her arrow. With one final yank it came out, tearing out a few electronic bits and bobs in the process.
"My Zetsu isn't strong enough to get through that armor. I suppose I should just be ready for more of these. Good thing there was only one. I spent way too much time in this fight..." The flower spirit gently placed the arrow back in her quiver before stepping off the defeated robot. After looking both ways for a moment she turned to face the direction she naturally felt was east and continued walking again.
As Erisa searched around she quickly became bored. She could hear sounds of battle occasionally but it seemed that only that one drone was the only thing she found. Nothing else. Nothing interesting to look at, definitely no drones, and most certainly no tarot cards. After a long silence she began talking to herself again.
"I wish I could find a tarot card just so I could know what that is. This is getting so dull. But what if I can't find one of the cards? Will they kick me out? What would I do then? I haven't fulfilled my purpose yet. That would certainly make things harder for me. I don't even know what I'd do, honestly. Should I come up with a back-up plan? Hmmm, I suppose I should. Just in case." As Erisa began rambling to herself to stay occupied she had completely neglected to notice the sounds of incoming enemies.
A new drone appeared hardly a meter away from her to the right side, one of the canine types. Erisa only barely saw it out of the corner of her eye and was able to react out of sheer panic rather than controlled will. Despite her reflexes it wasn't quite enough, as the sharp claws of the drone cut a gash through her right midsection. Her blood splattered against the ground, mostly red but having a notable shade of green within due to her natural chlorophyll within her blood cells. The surge of pain surely got her attention as she whipped around to face the wolf drone as it landed.
"Twin Dragons!" Cliche as it was of her, as soon as she called the name of her manifestation it began to appear. Plant matter rapidly expanded in two columns from her upper back, forming the massive limbs that were her Dragons. As the drone turned back to face Erisa it would see one of these jaws was already lunging toward in an attempt to swallow it whole. While the drone was able to turn invisible again in time it was too late to actually move completely out of the way. The Dragon's jaws clamped shut, taking the left half of the robot with them.
As brief as it was invisible, the remaining half reappeared and collapsed on the ground, sparking profusely from the cut wires. Despite the fact it was 'bitten' through by a plant with jaws and very corrosive acid, it appeared as if it was cleanly cut. As the Dragon shrunk back in length to become symmetrical with its twin, Erisa put a hand over her wound.
"Ow, ow, ow. If only I had some water..." She didn't get to lament long, as another two wolf drones lunged at her from behind. She had managed to encounter a small pack. Fortunately for Erisa she was much more wary and actually noticed their approach this time. The Twin Dragons both lunged out at the incoming drones, biting through them as if they were paper and leaving hardly anything behind. They were almost completely 'swallowed' whole. Sure, they weren't actually swallowed, but the acid within the Twin Dragons broke them down nigh instantaneously. There was no getting them back.
"Why are there so many of them? How many of these things are in this city?"After glancing around for a moment and determining that there were no more drones in the immediate vicinity, Erisa withdrew her Twin Dragons, returning her to a rather normal appearance. She continued to keep her hand over the deep cut in her side while she held her bow in the other.
"That really hurt..." As Erisa continued her search into the city she was notably more quiet now. It seemed that she learned from this experience. She would have to not only be searching for cards but stay on her toes for enemies. There were more than she thought there were, after all. It wasn't long before Erisa heard a scream nearby. It didn't sound like one of pain or fear, but instead something like one would let out to psych themselves up. Perhaps 'yell' would be the proper term, but it sounded feminine so it didn't quite come off that way. Regardless it gave the flower spirit something to investigate. She walked into the building she heard it come from but there was no more sounds now. It was a particularly large building, seeming to have multiple smaller buildings inside it. Surely quite the area to cover and it didn't narrow anything down by much.
"H-h-hello!?" she called out, hoping to get a response from a human or fellow Youkai. Erisa had already decided that she didn't like the drones.
@Double Capybara
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