R.D. kept the armor on him as he sat in the front passenger seat; somehow, the armor did not affect the car with its weight. The visor slid back down, and R.D. readied its scanning interface to look for X.

===In Japan===

Alasea brushed her hair back over her shoulder. "Oh no," she said, "I insist you go first. You are the challenger, after all."

Edited by RisingDragon on July 31, 2007 at 19:27:01.

They all piled into the Firebird and drove forth.

"So...what, you want me to drive in a big circle or something?" Matt asked.

"No, that'd just be stupid," R.D. said, "We need out of here. Driving around in a circle is just asking for trouble."

Looking out the side window, his visor occasionally scanning nearby objects, he sighed. "With or without X, we need to find the next portal. This place is way too dangerous."

===In Japan===

Alasea's sword flashed out as each fire horse neared, using her Reverser Strike to turn flame to harmless water. She leapt backwards from one particularly large chunk of magma, and with a short gesture, magical zephyrs of wind began swirling around her body, enhancing her defense against the elements. Swirls of AngelWater appeared around the Megami Tsurugi's blade, and Alasea thrust the blade forward towards Cora, launching several tendrils of AngelWater that streaked forward in a spiral at the demoness.

"Well, I figured you wanted to look for him some more," Matt said.

"But...but we can't just leave him!" Helena protested, gripping the back of the driver seat. "He may be in trouble!"

Matt glanced up at the rearview mirror at the brown-haired girl. "Look, we searched for his lifesign, and we can't find in the immediate area. R.D.'s right, our asses are in danger out here. We need to regroup, and think about what to do next."

Helena plopped back in her seat. "All right..."

"X seemed tough," R.D. continued, "He should be able to handle things on his own."

Another object was scanned by his visor, but it came up inconclusive; it was probably some animal running around.

"Besides, I'm still looking for him," he continued, "If I get a lock on him, we'll find him."

===In Japan==

"But it's not the only one I have," Alasea said, unconcerned about the Gouka, deflecting it with a gust of powerful wind emanating from her sword. She tapped her foot once, and a spike of GodlyIce burst from the ground beneath Cora as Alasea sent bolts of lightning through the sword to shock her, and hopefully keep her in place.

Edited by RisingDragon on August 1, 2007 at 1:28:50.

(OOC: I suppose I'll just continue from here. >___> )


Meta turned around, and the small orb-bat flew up with a shriek and flapped it's wings, flying around her for a bit. "The good guys have a camp about half a mile from here. You can reach it if you'll just walk along the edge of this crater towards the west. Awai may be there, or otherwise you'll at least find some friends of his." She said to Riul. She then turned back to face the girl. "You might wanna go there. I am not going to. At least, not for a while." She added. She casted a look into the darkness and saw a tiny flicker in the far distance with her enhanced sight, something had heated up for a moment, perhaps someone had thrown some extra wood on the campfires. She then turned and proceeded to walk along the edge of the crater in the opposite direction, towards the east. "See ya later." She muttered to Riul without really looking at her.

Edited by Morphman on August 1, 2007 at 16:44:42.

OOC: Oh noes and I was about to post today, forgive me Morph, for I have failed.

Riul stood up as well and a question popped into her mind. However, looking at Meta proceeding in the opposite direction, perhaps it would be best to simply let it be. Putting a leg above the ground, she turned and said to Meta, "So long then, for now." A golden eagle materialized beneath her foot and she stepped onto it. Immediately it took flight and she flying towards the campsite.

Kalmar nodded and landed, walking toward the dark tunnel after Blazen. "Yes, I would rather be done with this than get eaten by some over sized insect."

The dark tunnel stretched on as the pair continued to walk, the energy source getting closer with every step Kalmar took.

"It should be right ahead," the Demon Hunter said, rounding a corner and was surprised a cold rush of wind. The early morning sky was showing hints of gray as the sun contemplated rising soon.

A large plateau expanded before them, the mountainside forming a small bowl before them, the rock rising behind them into the dark clouds.

Kalmar scanned the area and saw nothing, and the Perfect Weapon's energy signature seemed to have disappeared. The lack of anything in the immediate area, coupled with the loss of direction irritated him. "What the.."

Edited by Fallen on August 2, 2007 at 15:38:16.

"Man, I'm hungry." The wheel of the car began moving by itself, keeping the car steady as Matt dug into his bag, pulling out a chocolate chip granola bar, which had been further dipped into chocolate. "Anyone want anything?"

"I'll take a granola bar," Helena said, and Matt handed one to her.

R.D. shook his head, more concerned with finding X's signature than he was at eating, despite being rather hungry since breakfast. Besides, eating involved turning off the scanner so he could open his helmet. "I'm good for now," he said. After a moment, he asked, "Anyone know of what continent we should go to next in search for the Gateway?"

===At Japan===

Alasea gasped, seeing Cora swoop in in the Gouka body form, and dove off to the side, rolling out of harm's way. As she turned and got up, she gestured at Cora. Flows of shimmering water appeared in the air, becoming a large bubble of AngelWater that surrounded the flaming demoness. With another gesture, the sphere contracted rapidly to drown out the Gouka, and as it closed in, a bolt of DivineLightning fell from the sky right at it. Alasea leapt forward into the sky and caught the holy lightning bolt on her blade, absorbing all of it, and she plummeted downwards to slash at the shrinking orb of AngelWater.

Edited by RisingDragon on August 2, 2007 at 17:31:44.

Alasea growled softly as her attack missed, but was able to control the attack and deflect Cora's strike by shoving her wrist away, using the momentum to spin around behind Cora. The young Daughter of Dawn aimed her sword forward as she fell, firing the bolt of DivineLightning back up at Gouki's second.

Alasea quickly fell back to the ground, using a gust of air to prevent injury from the fall. As she touched down, a tendril of AngelWater emanated from her divine sword, and she spun in a circle, the holy water extending with the attack. Each time the tendril touched one of the fire pillars, it became harmless water and gave her more room to maneuver.

Meta kept walking east alongside the crater's edge for a while, until she started to feel a bit colder. She rubbed her upper arms with her hands, and cast a glance around, wondering where she was now. She had not walked far enough to really be at the easternmost side of the crater, and it was also a bit weird, rather, that she started to feel colder whilst the sun was rising higher up into the sky.

"Show yourself." She commanded, knowing of a presence nearby. And indeed, a dark figure came to her, rising up from the slopes of a sandy desert hill, blackened because it was the shadowy side of it at this time of day. It had long pointed ears that pointed straight upwards and were very much unlike a human's, unlike most of it's body, which moreso resembled that of a muscular human male. It's face was even more inhumane than it's ears, dog-like would better describe it, and it's eyes were surrounded by thin golden lines, the eyes itself dark, yet shining with an inner light as if they were miniscule suns placed within the being's skull. A broad golden necklace hung around the beast's neck and covered part of it's shoulders and chest, and barely decorated piece of dirty-white coloured clothing was wrapped around it's waist. Golden armlets covered it's wrists as if meant to protect them, rather contrasting with it's strong hands, ending in clawlike nails. It's feet were somewhat human-like, but bigger, broader, and claw-tipped, although the being also had anklets on its ankles.

"Good day, milady." Said Anubis.

Alasea's eyes widened in shock as the DemiBomb came in, and braced herself. The girl drew in the Pillar's might, and a powerful gale began to blow around her. The HolyWind swirled in around the DemiBomb, slowing its descent rapidly. It finally stopped only a couple feet away from Alasea, who shot forward and slashed it with the Megami Tsurugi.

There was a blinding flash, and as the substance changed, Alasea spun and kicked it with her shin as hard as she could, putting her old soccer skills to good use. The giant sphere, now made of AngelWater, tore through the air back at Cora.

Alasea grinned, and spun the Megami Tsurugi around, holding it up with both hands near her head, blade pointed forward. "I'd like nothing better," she replied, her weapon's blade shining faintly.

Taking a bite of his bar, Matt pointed to the left of him. "Signal's that way," he said. "I dunno where it'll lead, but it's there."

"It's probably over the ocean or something," Hugo remarked. "You can make this into a boat without killing us all, right?"

"Well...I can make it kill selectively, if that's what you're wondering."

The Mettaur groaned. "Whatever."

"We already have a boat," R.D. said, reaching over into the satchel Alasea provided him and pulled out a small cube, "Remember when Diablo and Re-Tuul attacked us at Kattelox and Bahamut gave us the boat?"

===In Japan===

Alasea sidestepped and slashed upwards with the Megami Tsurugi as Cora neared, slashing twice in a cross-pattern while readying herself to parry and counter the demoness' arm blades.

Edited by RisingDragon on September 6, 2007 at 19:59:56.

"Oh, yeah, I remember now." Hugo eased himself back into Helena's lap. "Well, at least we have something we can trust."

"I would not recommend you diss my ride," Matt remarked. "My ride's power is infinite."

"I just hope we don't run into anything else for a while," Helena said, glancing out the window.

"We can try some small jumps with the Chaos Emerald," R.D. suggested, throwing the boat-cube back into his pack. "Now that I know how to do, I should be able to master some control over it and get us elsewhere safely."

"Eh...maybe you should practice with things that aren't us," Matt said. "Personally, I'm too tired to do any hoppin' today. I say we just get far and rest."

"Well, it's either that or Radical Good Speed to leave in a hurry. I can stand that, but I don't know about those two," R.D. replied, pointing a thumb back at Helena and Hugo. As he did, a demon's signature appeared on his scanner, but it was quickly eradicated when R.D. aimed his arm out, locked on, and fired a large beam of energy into the distance.

"Otherwise we'll have to have some good luck for once."

"What the fuck was that?!" Matt demanded. "What the fuck did you shoot for?!"

"It was probably an enemy he picked up, Matt," Hugo said. "Look, just keep driving, and find us a good place to rest."

With a "humph", Matt turned back to driving. "Firin' random energy beams, scared the shit outta me..." he muttered.

"Sorry," R.D. apologized, retracting his arm back into the car. "Any idea how far the signal is?" he asked.

Blazen looked around the new area, but with a sigh of disappointment quickly escaped his lips. He looked around the area within his view once more, but more lazily.

"Guess it's not here then?" Blazen asked, rhetorically. Figures, they seem so close, but then it just disappears.