[2] Group XTREME - Underground

[Android-18]

?What the?? The sound of rocks grinding against each other ricocheted through her skull, which added to the throbbing sensation burning against her left temple. The android found herself against a pile of loose rocks, obviously it concealed their entrance. What had happened? She recalled the bomb, and how Raditzu and the green creature had gone to disable it. Their assumption of it being a dud had been wrong, and it had gone off. It had actually been rather weak. It was all coming back to her; she had leapt to save the long haired warrior, and had picked up the boy as she went. Now they were within some hole that had been covered by the falling rocks. Things seemed to be settling, but an uneasy feeling sat within her gut. Where were the others? Even as pain flared within her head, the blond turned to face the wall of stones and searched frantically for some source of light, some way to get through. There was none, they were separated. A sigh escaped her lips and she sat on her haunches. It was then that she heard a noise behind her. She was not alone! She turned to the other two, thankful at least for their company. The thought of the others being dead was also in her thoughts, but she had to hope they had made it.

?Are you alright?? She moved to the elder Saiya-Jin. Goten was up, rubbing his head and making a sound of pain. It was then that they both watched as Raditzu?s hand took on the shape of a few odd things. ?Uh?? 18 could not speak, what was wrong with him? His hand soon returned to normal, and they all stared at each other.?

?Well,? He started, ?that was odd.? Indeed it was. Something had happened to him down in that bomb, or when it had exploded. She hoped it was nothing serious. Aside from the strange happenings of his hand, and a few scrapes and bruises, he and the others were fine.

?We?re separated from the others.? The android took in their surroundings. The crack she had slipped into had laid them within a stout passage. She could see pure darkness ahead, which could mean a number of things. ?I think there?s a larger cavity ahead, should we move?? She glanced at her two companions. ?We?ll need to find our way out of here?I have no idea where ?here? is either, just that we?re deep below the surface but above that lava.? The thought of dying within that pit of lava was not nice, she hoped that they did not mix up their up from down. ?I?ll scout ahead, I should be safe considering no one can really sense me?but just in case, I?ll have my Q-Wave on Raditzu.? She gave him a look, which lingered. She noticed that he looked slightly pale, but maybe it was just the darkness.

On hands and knees, Android 18 slowly crawled through the arrow tunnel. It was big enough to move around in on her knees, but too short to walk. It continued in this fashion for a few moments, the darkness consuming her every sound. She smelt the earth around her; it was stale, and cold. There was also a metallic taste to the air. She had hoped she would feel a stray waft of air, perhaps from some hole leading to the surface, but all she found was the open area she had predicted. ?Well, at least I got this right.? She said to herself and stretched out her legs. The sound of water dripped echoed throughout the barren hole. The darkness made things difficult, and a slight fear edged against her nerves. What could be down here? Maybe whatever had killed the men in the base was here, maybe it was smart. She had not moved from the tunnel, her eyes scanned the room but of course nothing could be seen.

Timidly she stepped forward. The dripping continued. Plink, plink, pink?It was a little soothing, but her body was still on edge. She took another step. The dripping carried on; obviously there was some source of water. She took a gulp. Perhaps scouting alone had been a bad idea, but she was not that far. Another step and she noticed a change. Tap, tap, tap. It was close?Too close. 18 grew suddenly aware of her own breathing; the way it came in, and then escaped passed her lips. Her heart quickened, her eyes widened. She wasn?t along. A series of droplets sounded and a warm feeling enveloped her face. Spittle landed upon her cheek, but she was frozen where she stood. Within the darkness, she could see large white stalagmites inches from her face?no, they were not stalagmites, they were teeth. A puff of breath issued before her, the grinning maw before her like that of some keen monster.

?R-r-r-r?? She started, and the teeth separated. Fear gripped her heart like a fist, and her own mouth opened. ?RADITZU!!? She screamed, her body now no-longer frozen. Her aura flared to life as she fled to the small tunnel. The monster was a hulking beast. It rose from the depth of a lake, its body as black as tar. Water slid from its skin as if it were made of wax, the droplets did not cling, perhaps afraid to stay upon the flesh. The beast had a long neck, its face oval and serpentine, with beady black eyes that matched its grin of white razor teeth. The android had no where to run, that thing had a neck long enough to snatch her legs in before she could crawl into the tunnel. Why didn?t she simply bonk it on the snout? Fear was deadly, like that, she was stunned. The creature?s hulking body, like that of some prehistoric monstrosity, was now completely out of the water. Soon he would be upon her, that gruesome grin would be covered with blood and gore from her own flesh. A sound emitted from its throat, it was thrumming, touching right to her core. Her hands flew to her ears, and she cried out. Was this the end for her?

For Christ sake, get a back bone. The noise ceased and a glob of saliva touched upon her face and grossly slid down to her neck. ?UGH!? She said, and for a moment the sound halted her foe. ?How dare you!?? The android scooped the sticky substance from her throat and tossed it back. She rose from her hunched position against the wall, her aura flaring to new heights. A noise came from behind, but she no longer cared for sounds. ?NO one spits on me and gets away with it!? Frankly, that was one thing the girl could not stand, spitting. She raised her fists and let her power soar. ?Bring it on you ugly son of a bitch.? Perhaps it was stunned, for it had simply watched as the pathetic human (which it thought she was) transformed from a scared morsel into something that bit back. Now, however, it seemed to get into a fighting position of its own, even given its size. One bite from its mouth and her limbs would be gone. It arched its neck and let its face come close, but the android would fight the obscene beast until she could fight no more.