04-16-2010, 09:37 AM
"So what do you suppose this is for?"
They were all gathered around in a circle as Kaden turned the strange object around in his grip, studying every completely identical plane without any true revelations. "Do you think the hearts do anything?" he asked them again, attempting to use his thumbs to push in on where each symbol adorned.
"It almost looks lonely," Ashe decided, drawing a look from each of the others.
"And how... the hell did you come to that conclusion?" Victoria finally asked, eliciting nothing more than a shrug from the other pink haired girl. Shaking her head, she took the cube back from the courier and gave it another look. "Maybe we're fighting some monster and this is to bash its head in. Or some kind of puzzle box that opens up for weapons."
"Well, I already tried to push different spots on it to see about a switch, but nothing," Kaden pointed out.
Off to the side, the only one of the group with a single eye seemed to have taken in more of the details about their surroundings than anyone else in the group had managed. They had awoken in a room that had been completely circular in structure, completely white, and completely empty, aside from two objects. "A large button... and a cube," he considered, turning the ideas around in his head without speaking out loud.
Belle, on the other hand, had been watching him, having seen absolutely no point in the rest of the group's obsession over the heart patterned box. "So spit it out already!" he finally snapped after having watched the Saiyan turn ideas over in his head. "I'm ready to get the fuck outta' here!"
The rest of the group turned and looked over to see what all the fuss was about, finally prompting the man to voice his thoughts. "Give me the box," he stated firmly, holding out one arm. Without actually waiting for the box to be handed over, he simply reached forward and took it, turning back from the group and walking over to the large button in the floor.
"I think I see where this is going," Lance spoke, but everyone had already realized it moments before. The large man stepped onto the button, inciting a panel of the wall nearby to suddenly slide directly up into the ceiling to reveal an opening. Before anyone could actually go through the exit, however, he stepped back off of it, causing the panel to seamlessly integrate back with the wall and return the state of the room to a doorless cell. "Button has to stay held down in order to open the door, so he's going to put the cube onto the button," he figured.
"Heh," Victoria acknowledged, turning to look at the door as it slid back open. "Well, I'm not going to waste any more time in the padded cell then," she decided, striding through it without another word.
Orion set the cube calmly down, allowing its weight to hold the keep the button pressed in, before turning to follow her through the passage. The rest followed his lead in a fairly cheery mood while looking around at the room just outside of the first one. It was almost the same as the first one, but this one involved a new and more obvious door sitting just atop a ledge. No stairway was in sight.
"Well," Kaden laughed as he gave the group a look. "This was a triumph. Anyone think they can jump high enough to grab onto that ledge?" His gaze fell on each member of the sextet as he gave a shrug. "Well, what about that box?"
Ashe jumped at the chance to help and raised her hand quickly. "I'll get it," she declared, rushing back through the previous doorway. As she reached the cube, she kneeled down quickly to pick it up, grinning from ear to ear as if she had found a treasure.
"Wait!" she heard from the other room, but it was late. As soon as she stepped off the button, the door slid shut, leaving her sealed within the room.
"Oh," she realized, turning and setting the box back onto the button before looking back out the reopened exit. "Hey guys!" she waved. "So I'm not sure this box thing is gonna work."
It was just a moment later when a shimmery circle seemed to appear on the wall nearby, the image of Lance walking towards it. "Guess what Belle found," Kaden laughed from the sliding door as Lance strolled through the open circle with his arms widespread. "Some kind of button that aims a beam at something and opens a hole in whatever its targeting."
"Uh, ok," she shrugged, not entirely getting it but connecting it to some video games she'd played in the past. She picked the cube back up from the button once more as Lance stepped back through the hole in the wall. Moments later, she went through the portal behind him, returning to the rest of the group with the heart adorned cube.
Kaden was right, in retrospect. It turned out to be the perfect stool to help the tallest members of the group be able to pull themselves up onto the ledge before turning to help the smaller members up by the arm. "So here we are," he had said after they all stood next to the door, watching Ashe cradle the cube she'd insisted on pulling up with her. "Four guys, two girls, and a cube."
"Would you rather two girls and a cup?" Ashe piped up from the back.
Someone gagged as the door slid open before them, leading the entire group inside quickly. Immediately the room erupted in gunfire, all of them throwing themselves to the floor immediately as the bullets continued over their head. "Shit shit shit SHIT," Belle cried out, sliding across the floor until a nearby wall blocked the sentry turrets across from him.
Looking across the carnage, everyone had made it to a wall but one - Ashe was cowered behind her friendly companion cube. "Someone take out those turrets!" she screamed, curled into as tight of a ball as she could manage.
Every time one of the group attempted to lean around the corner to help her, however, the room erupted in gunfire once more, causing them to shrink back behind the walls. "We can't reach you!" Lance yelled back towards her, panicked.
"There's a button behind you on that wall," she realized, calling to the group. "Maybe someone can touch it?"
"Not with those guns firing."
Growling loudly, she twisted, kicking the cube as hard as she could across the room from her place on the floor, causing it to hurtle across the room to strike the turret directly, knocking it over. The room burst into bullets once more as it fell to its side, spraying the ceiling randomly in every direction before shutting down on its own, leaving Belle to dive for the nearby button.
His fingers brushed the tip as the human female rose to her feet, grabbing the cube once more before looking to the others. "I'm making a note here," she bragged, holding the cube up like a trophy before gesturing to the turret. "Huge succe-" she began before the floor beneath her suddenly opened, another portal appearing in the direct center of the room where she stood. Her words were swallowed quickly as she found herself in a freefall, the cube floating directly over her head before vanishing through the portal behind her.
Then silence.
"WHAT?" Belle demanded a moment later, his hand dropping from the button on the wall. "I just did what she told me!"
No one questioned the orange haired kid. The only words spoken were those of Orion, taking control of the situation once more. "I don't see any other way to go but after her," he finally stated, looking down into the shimmering black portal.
"What do you mean?" Lance questioned, looking around. "There's got to be somewhere to go other than the big black hole in the floor-"
"Whirlpool," someone quipped on Ashe's behalf.
"And no, I'm gonna have to agree with Orion," Kaden decided, approaching the rift. "Looks like nowhere to go but in. Maybe there will be another event on the other side?"
"Or a way out of this fucking place," Belle grumbled.
They were all gathered around in a circle as Kaden turned the strange object around in his grip, studying every completely identical plane without any true revelations. "Do you think the hearts do anything?" he asked them again, attempting to use his thumbs to push in on where each symbol adorned.
"It almost looks lonely," Ashe decided, drawing a look from each of the others.
"And how... the hell did you come to that conclusion?" Victoria finally asked, eliciting nothing more than a shrug from the other pink haired girl. Shaking her head, she took the cube back from the courier and gave it another look. "Maybe we're fighting some monster and this is to bash its head in. Or some kind of puzzle box that opens up for weapons."
"Well, I already tried to push different spots on it to see about a switch, but nothing," Kaden pointed out.
Off to the side, the only one of the group with a single eye seemed to have taken in more of the details about their surroundings than anyone else in the group had managed. They had awoken in a room that had been completely circular in structure, completely white, and completely empty, aside from two objects. "A large button... and a cube," he considered, turning the ideas around in his head without speaking out loud.
Belle, on the other hand, had been watching him, having seen absolutely no point in the rest of the group's obsession over the heart patterned box. "So spit it out already!" he finally snapped after having watched the Saiyan turn ideas over in his head. "I'm ready to get the fuck outta' here!"
The rest of the group turned and looked over to see what all the fuss was about, finally prompting the man to voice his thoughts. "Give me the box," he stated firmly, holding out one arm. Without actually waiting for the box to be handed over, he simply reached forward and took it, turning back from the group and walking over to the large button in the floor.
"I think I see where this is going," Lance spoke, but everyone had already realized it moments before. The large man stepped onto the button, inciting a panel of the wall nearby to suddenly slide directly up into the ceiling to reveal an opening. Before anyone could actually go through the exit, however, he stepped back off of it, causing the panel to seamlessly integrate back with the wall and return the state of the room to a doorless cell. "Button has to stay held down in order to open the door, so he's going to put the cube onto the button," he figured.
"Heh," Victoria acknowledged, turning to look at the door as it slid back open. "Well, I'm not going to waste any more time in the padded cell then," she decided, striding through it without another word.
Orion set the cube calmly down, allowing its weight to hold the keep the button pressed in, before turning to follow her through the passage. The rest followed his lead in a fairly cheery mood while looking around at the room just outside of the first one. It was almost the same as the first one, but this one involved a new and more obvious door sitting just atop a ledge. No stairway was in sight.
"Well," Kaden laughed as he gave the group a look. "This was a triumph. Anyone think they can jump high enough to grab onto that ledge?" His gaze fell on each member of the sextet as he gave a shrug. "Well, what about that box?"
Ashe jumped at the chance to help and raised her hand quickly. "I'll get it," she declared, rushing back through the previous doorway. As she reached the cube, she kneeled down quickly to pick it up, grinning from ear to ear as if she had found a treasure.
"Wait!" she heard from the other room, but it was late. As soon as she stepped off the button, the door slid shut, leaving her sealed within the room.
"Oh," she realized, turning and setting the box back onto the button before looking back out the reopened exit. "Hey guys!" she waved. "So I'm not sure this box thing is gonna work."
It was just a moment later when a shimmery circle seemed to appear on the wall nearby, the image of Lance walking towards it. "Guess what Belle found," Kaden laughed from the sliding door as Lance strolled through the open circle with his arms widespread. "Some kind of button that aims a beam at something and opens a hole in whatever its targeting."
"Uh, ok," she shrugged, not entirely getting it but connecting it to some video games she'd played in the past. She picked the cube back up from the button once more as Lance stepped back through the hole in the wall. Moments later, she went through the portal behind him, returning to the rest of the group with the heart adorned cube.
Kaden was right, in retrospect. It turned out to be the perfect stool to help the tallest members of the group be able to pull themselves up onto the ledge before turning to help the smaller members up by the arm. "So here we are," he had said after they all stood next to the door, watching Ashe cradle the cube she'd insisted on pulling up with her. "Four guys, two girls, and a cube."
"Would you rather two girls and a cup?" Ashe piped up from the back.
Someone gagged as the door slid open before them, leading the entire group inside quickly. Immediately the room erupted in gunfire, all of them throwing themselves to the floor immediately as the bullets continued over their head. "Shit shit shit SHIT," Belle cried out, sliding across the floor until a nearby wall blocked the sentry turrets across from him.
Looking across the carnage, everyone had made it to a wall but one - Ashe was cowered behind her friendly companion cube. "Someone take out those turrets!" she screamed, curled into as tight of a ball as she could manage.
Every time one of the group attempted to lean around the corner to help her, however, the room erupted in gunfire once more, causing them to shrink back behind the walls. "We can't reach you!" Lance yelled back towards her, panicked.
"There's a button behind you on that wall," she realized, calling to the group. "Maybe someone can touch it?"
"Not with those guns firing."
Growling loudly, she twisted, kicking the cube as hard as she could across the room from her place on the floor, causing it to hurtle across the room to strike the turret directly, knocking it over. The room burst into bullets once more as it fell to its side, spraying the ceiling randomly in every direction before shutting down on its own, leaving Belle to dive for the nearby button.
His fingers brushed the tip as the human female rose to her feet, grabbing the cube once more before looking to the others. "I'm making a note here," she bragged, holding the cube up like a trophy before gesturing to the turret. "Huge succe-" she began before the floor beneath her suddenly opened, another portal appearing in the direct center of the room where she stood. Her words were swallowed quickly as she found herself in a freefall, the cube floating directly over her head before vanishing through the portal behind her.
Then silence.
"WHAT?" Belle demanded a moment later, his hand dropping from the button on the wall. "I just did what she told me!"
No one questioned the orange haired kid. The only words spoken were those of Orion, taking control of the situation once more. "I don't see any other way to go but after her," he finally stated, looking down into the shimmering black portal.
"What do you mean?" Lance questioned, looking around. "There's got to be somewhere to go other than the big black hole in the floor-"
"Whirlpool," someone quipped on Ashe's behalf.
"And no, I'm gonna have to agree with Orion," Kaden decided, approaching the rift. "Looks like nowhere to go but in. Maybe there will be another event on the other side?"
"Or a way out of this fucking place," Belle grumbled.
![[Image: Ashe.jpg]](http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af298/symbiosychotic/Ashe.jpg)