Waves of revulsion and dismay wash over them. Could he feel all the cells in his body warp and writhe in unison?[break][break]

“Aw.” His tone is noted. “If you make the soup personally, it’ll be worth it.”[break][break]

Her goggles swirl blue in the multifaceted light in place of her eyes. They also hide the strain of the assault, and the only tell-tale sign so far is the tired twist of her mouth.[break][break]

The sounds of their pokemon occupy the starry cavern. If nothing else, Yujin carried several industrial creatures at any given time. The excadrill in particular was made for this, almost literally owing to previous exposure to Eternatus’ cores.[break][break]

“I feel great.” Not exactly, but she was a good liar and aided by the SAFEGUARD. He wouldn’t have known that she routinely came into contact with materials of dangerous emissions for work. “I was being serious, you know. You can’t always use emotion in situations like these.”[break][break]

---

[break]
whichever choice u want

She only briefly contemplated the evidence as to whether Navy was brawny or not—jobs take precedence over faded fantasies (usually).[break][break]

As the arcanine and rider played catch with the ultra beasts, Yujin worked efficiently, albeit in a way that would make OSHA aghast.[break][break]

The small device in her hands was peculiar and non-commercial. She would put her foot on a wall, attach it to a tera crystal and wait for the rising tone of its humm before pulling the entire mineral out from the ‘earth’ with a cartoony, suctioning sound.[break][break]

The drilbur, meanwhile, tore around chaotically, flinging crystals into a heaping pile on the floor. [break][break]

Radiation laps against the mining duo in the periphery, mostly blocked by the gym leader's efforts.[break][break]

“It’s going wonderfully. Would you like my assistance now?”[break][break]

---

[break]
she went mining, so rolled for result, focus on mining

[attr="class","bottom"]Michael Navidson [break]

The lights of the city wink in and out behind her, half-hidden by the ascending canopy curtain.[break][break]

Even out here, the stars began to shine.[break][break]

The memories of the festival still sat in her bones, loud bass and warm liquor. But a certain dead-eyed, trapcore DJ also refused to be left behind.[break][break]

Yujin’s startle reflex was cute (jumping a foot in the air with a curt intake of breath). The way her fist whipped out towards him (a full body swing, picture-perfect military form)... was not.[break][break]

And unfortunately or fortunately, the commotion brings with it another rustle in the bush directly opposite of them.

Her only response was to melodramatically put a hand up to her lips, as if to say, oops.[break][break]

Their foray into the first trench is cautious. The thousand blistering eyes of the deep track their every movement, and soon a voice profoundly lacking in paternal instinct slithers in the dark.[break][break]

She blinked upon hearing the contemptuous name—Michael—and the dots of that fresh mystery connect themselves into an illuminating constellation. Throwing a glance at Navy, she felt contrite over their previous conversation.[break][break]

As the illusions begin to take the form of personal demons, one thing becomes clear: though the party of four may all return to the same shore, they swim in different oceans.[break][break]

The marine snow that lazily drifted down soon becomes thick and suffocating. Before long it roared into a blizzard several feet thick in all directions.[break][break]

Yujin pulled her jacket closer to herself, feeling a chill that she knew with certainty was from her own past. [break][break]

Hazy jewels of pink sprinkled across the white-out, blooming from strange objects buried in the snow. Closer inspection revealed plum blossoms sprouting from frozen eyes and other human orifices.[break][break]

Now and then a corpse-like hand would twitch and whisper, ”Ah-yu.”[break][break]

“This way, Callan,” Yujin said, tapping said mounted partner on the shoulder with an expression devoid of its usual warmth. She’d point in a new direction, having recognized an exit from her klefki and abstractor.[break][break]

---

[break]
transitioning out of 20, lead towards 32

[attr="class","bottom"]Callan Young Michael Navidson DEREK HOFFMAN [break]

His Amigo profile had kept its promise. It was worth it for the arcanine.[break][break]

The fur was soft and warm. It was almost enough to distract from the mission—almost. As usual, Yujin’s company did most of the fighting while she and this time her little drilbur navigated in record time using a combination of technology and twitchy noses.[break][break]

The engineer had placed her drilbur’s goggles on and was part-way through setting up her own when Navy made his remark.[break][break]

Sitting in front, Yujin turned in her seat to scrutinize his face mere inches away. After a few moments, her expression settled into something unhappy. “Is that self-deprecation I hear?”[break][break]

She’d pat him reassuringly on the shoulder before hopping off the dog, the mining duo immediately setting towards the nearby walls.[break][break]

---

ooc: i'll probably have the drilbur evolve in thread.

[attr="class","bottom"]Michael Navidson [break]

The early reports were true.[break][break]

As they approached the core, Yujin adjusted her collar. The black suit underneath her clothes dwelled in matte black.[break][break]

“I’ll go first,” she said with a winsome smile. “Sometimes you have to take a bullet for Mr. President. Also, you’re the one with the fancy pokemon.”[break][break]

Ironically, he had more tools for the job. Having Callan be debilitated from the get-go would be an unmitigated disaster.[break][break]

So she walked forward without him, snapping her trusty goggles onto her face.

Everyone proceeded apace.[break][break]

Some were stealthier and more delicate than others. The golem scrutinized the tyrantrum most, one hamfisted claw curling through his sagely Alolan mustache as he watched said dinosaur shake the bowels of the earth with a roar.[break][break]

Al-Andalus opted for a less intrusive option. Situated halfway through the working procession, he temporarily sealed some passageways the glimmora had fled with a small net of floating rocks, dissuading them from returning.[break][break]

Somewhere in the distance he daydreamed of the feminine 'lovely work, Al!' and continued along, looking pleased with himself.

[attr="class","bottom"]Mateo Cortés Selena Desmarais Jack Napier Josh Devlin Eris Halla Callan Young noah faber [break]

Credit had to be given where it was due, this game had a lot of zombie variants.[break][break]

The humans were basic. The pokemon were the ones with special gimmicks. Totodiles die in the swamp and mankeys die from the trees. [break][break]

“You’ve warmed up, but don’t get cocky.” She squinted down imaginary sights, a little frown set on her face. He was doing better, but his score couldn’t be better than hers. It wouldn’t![break][break]

The next level was underwater. After clearing out the gyarados they head down into a sunken ship of all things, and the jumpscares start to get to her: feebas linger at the corner of the screen and sharpedos dart around corners with the sudden boom of their jet propulsion.
“Ugh,” she muttered very softly to herself, after the fourth time the gun lightly jostled in her grip.[break][break]

Finally, the underwater level is over. The last boss was a swarm-type of disassembling and reforming wishiwashi chasing them through waterlogged rooms.[break][break]

The credits came in hot with a retro electric beat.[break][break]

She chuckled nervously—probably from the residual alcohol. “Do we have enough points? Lie to me if you have to, tell me we have enough!”

It wasn’t his fault; her chest occupied the vast majority of her torso. Still, Yujin was allowed to gasp in indignation even as he slammed into her face-to-titty first, knocking the two of them against the railing and then tumbling off of it.[break][break]

One hand snapped onto the metal rail. The other caught Gunner by his forearm.[break][break]

Yujin was, pound for pound, strong for her size. But she was also a woman, and one not much over five feet at that.[break][break]

“UFF—”[break][break]

Her feet scrabbled against the sideways surface of the deck while her fingers were seconds away from losing grip. Her porygon-z bounced over in concern, ineffectually offering a smooth little arm. [break][break]

All around them, people screamed and fell into the water like ants being swept off a table.[break][break]

And was that a sharpedo glinting in the water just below them? Say it ain’t so.[break][break]

[attr="class","bottom"]Gunner Graves [break]