Steel Sky (Adelle/Mind Flayer)

[Guan Yu]

"No thanks... I think I can clear just fine with what I have..." Rose would respectfully disagree with the notion of arming her with some sort of blaster. Even with her now normal-sized hands, it would likely be difficult for her to use a normal-sized gun as her hands were still rather big even in their reduced state. It would likely require silly things like removing the trigger guard to make her easily able to use one and that would bring it's own share of risks. They would get dressed up before moving, Taio not thinking too much about her clothing as she just went with what she had worn before, and Rose too would stick to her usual instead of one of the three alternate getups she had, the sleeves looking a bit out of place now with her normal hands instead of the big ones.

Again, Rose would take the seat on the back of the trike instead of Adelle's bike to spare the suspension on the latter. The trike was built for more cargo, so it was the more obvious choice. The trip was easy and uneventful, the late morning still not too crowded in the areas they moved past to reach the Santa-like man's store. While they were early, it was on good timing as they just saw the man flip his door sign and unlock the doors to let the first customers in, a woman who Adelle had seen there before once again visiting with her twin custom Berettas. "Nothing too big, I have to carry it on this set of clothing and I'm not too proficient with bigger guns. I do have some practice done with handguns, so it's going to be one of those."

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Alright then, it's no biggie, Rose," Adelle told Rose as they left out, driving along towards the gun store, and when she spotted the twin Beretta carrying woman whom she recognized from before, she realized she must be a regular customer.

"Maybe... hmm, could go with a smaller hand shotgun for close range clearing, or some pistols like mine maybe. I got a bit of money on me too, so maybe I'll get me another gun of some sort," Adelle would comment as they pulled in to park, where she turned her bike off and headed on inside to find herself a gun that she liked, and to help Taio pick one out for her too.

While they browsed, Adelle would look at some of the shotguns, specifically a 12 gauge of some sort, probably a Spaz 12, Benelli M1014, or even a Remington Model 870, to see if the man had any of those, and if she had the money to get one and some ammunition for it. She was leaning more towards the Benelli, but if the Spaz was cheaper she'd get it instead, and she wouldn't worry about slug ammo, and would instead prefer buckshot over that, since she knew it would help rend the flesh of the monstrous creatures they would be potentially fighting.

 

[Guan Yu]

"It's your money silly, you do with it what you want."

Inside the store, there would be some decisions to be made, and it looked like Adelle would end up with a Benelli if she wanted to keep her balance of cash in a good position as that very prominent SPAZ behind the counter was rather steeply prized. It was probably one of Santa guy's prize guns. The Benelli she could get away with, or a somewhat customized M870 with a pistol grip if she wanted to use less than that.

Taio was not quite as sure what she would be getting, but she sure spent time in the handgun section after looking at bigger guns with a somewhat distasteful look. But, eventually, there seemed to be a moment of destiny. Just like she had done with the jacket currently on her, there was a gun that had her full and complete attention. Adelle could catch sight of it too, it was a somewhat familiar-looking design, but the markings on it were in what looked like Japanese aside from the fairly obvious 10mm marking. Santa too would catch this moment of revelation, and would be over with Taio as soon as he saw it happen, leaving his counter to come and let her feel the thing out. After a brief exchange of words, he would lead the visibly excited girl behind his counter and through a door, a few shots sounding off soon after that none of the other shoppers seemed particularly bothered about. It looked like there was a test-firing range in this shop.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle decided to take the Benelli, and would haggle a bit until she would hopefully at least manage to get some shells to go with it for a reasonable price to try and save a Tiny bit more and whatnot. Adelle would glance behind the counter and through the door after seeing Taio go back and hearing a few rounds being popped off. She chose her Benelli though, making sure it was one with the proper collapsible stock, so she could whip the thing over her shoulder at a moment's notice if she ever needed to, as well as a pistol grip of course. "This is gonna be my new baby... after you my sweetie pie," Adelle would whisper softly, gently pulling the alien blaster gun out of her backpack and giving it a gentle pat on its... head she thought.

After Taio would finish up, Adelle would look over to her. "Like what you found, love?" Adelle asked curiously, making sure to point out the Benelli M1014 that she wanted, the specific one she chose being a dark raven black colored one, rather than the normal grayish color, getting the money out to pay for the shotgun and the shells to go with it, and also grabbing a strap to carry it over her shoulder with ease.

 

[Guan Yu]

Even as he was a business guy doing what he needed to maintain his store and livelihood, Santa was not too stingy with his dealings. He wouldn't go down on his price for the gun, but did offer a box of 24 shells to go if Adelle wanted it. And before they even managed to make the deal properly, he would add in a shell holder that went to the side of the gun or the stock that would hold another 6 shots for the optimal reload. "Just because you buy from me and not some unmentionables." he would remark off-hand, a few ideas as to who he was talking about rolling inside the busty girl's head.

For her part, Taio was looking satisfied after the test shots, and would only answer with a quick "Yes" before turning over her gun for Santa to check out, and as he did there would be another show of generosity from him as he handed her a box of 10mm and a rather bulky black holster that had two slots for spare mags. And the things were already there, as well as a third slot having a suppressor for the gun. After attaching the holster to her lone left leg thigh strap, Taio would slide her new gun in, enabling Adelle to see the grip decoration it had, a relatively simple red outline of a bird in a badge, the only real color on an otherwise black gun. "Looks a bit big in your hands, but somehow I doubt that's going to keep you apart from it. That moment back there looked like something special." Santa would comment as he dealt with the transaction, pretty much all of Taio's money going to this particular buy.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle did happily take those extra shells, and was very happy with the shell holder. "Aw thanks a bunch. You're my Santa Claus, sir," Adelle would tell him with a bright and happy smile, and gave a nod at his words about not buying from some "unmentionables", but not saying anything aloud on the matter.

Adelle would get a strap for her new shotgun too, and admired Taio's new pistol too. "That looks Really nice, Taio. Not Quite as nice as you do, love. But nice nonetheless," Adelle would comment where the Santa guy could hear, not really caring if he did overhear her or not.

After they had finished up, Adelle would head back out with Taio and Rose, and broke down the stock on her new shotgun, fixed the strap over her shoulder in a diagonal angle with the barrel over her left shoulder, and the butt around her right hip. She would then climb onto her bike, letting Taio and Rose get on the other, and then she'd lead the way to the adventuring guild bar hall to see if they could find out about another one of those fleshy dungeons to take on.

 

[Guan Yu]

With their gun investments made, the girls could leave the shop, the girl with the duals going right after them and predictably buying more ammo to feed her guns.

As the girls were loading up on their bikes, there was a strange scene to be had as a person of questionable age and gender would stop by near them, their features covered by makeshift hooded robe and simple half-mask. Before Adelle or the other two could flag them down, they would drop an envelope on the busty girl's bike, the thing neatly landing on the middle of her handlebars were the speedometer and other things were. While it was maybe a bit concerning, there was a familiar logo on it, the very same one Shizu had shown them when she talked of her group. The letter inside was short and to the point, telling them to come to a specific place if it was of interest.

"Come to the shop. The one you can see from your living room window."

This was an easy tell but maybe not so obvious to anyone else as the letter was not specifically directed at her. But there was only one business outside her house, the one they had just recently discovered. The small ramen restaurant.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle paused and looked at the envelope curiously for a few moments before looking back to Taio and Rose. "Huh... interesting. The ramen shop outside our place I think is... owned by one of Shizu's people. Or something. Look," Adelle would tell Taio and Rose, showing them the letter, and deciding to head there with her friends in tow, instead of to the guild hall.

Adelle would take her bike in and park it inside the garage, and headed over to the ramen shop, curious what they might find there. "Um... hello sir. We uh... I think we were told to come here," Adelle would tell the man that ran the thing, showing the symbol on the letter to him.

 

[Guan Yu]

The ramen shop looked like it had not been open too long that day as Adelle and crew slipped in, the owner telling them to flip the sign back to closed as soon as the envelope was brought out. Whatever they were going to talk about, he did not want to let other people hear. Letting the girls sit down on the other side as if they were there in a customer capacity, he would pour out some ice water for them before getting to the matter at hand.

"So, I heard from some of my people that you had been out there with one of my former colleagues. I used to be one... not much of a hunter these days, with my age." he would start up on the matter at hand as he was making his early kitchen preparations. "I meant to ask this from Shizu, but she has apparently left town already, on a new job somewhere else. So... now I have to ask you ladies since it is urgent. My granddaughter, despite my best attempts to turn her away from this, also does this work to test the various mechanical gadgets and weapons she builds. I haven't heard from her since she left on her most recent field test run almost two days ago, and I'm starting to be a bit worried. It could be nothing and I just might be a bit paranoid about it, but..." he would turn to look at a portrait on the shelf, showing what looked like a younger versions of himself and two ladies, one younger and one older but very samey-looking. "These places took my wife and daughter from me already... I don't want to lose Kei too..."

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle did as told and flipped the sign back closed after giving the general area the once over to make sure nobody was really watching. She took a seat and looked over at the man and sipped the ice water given to her. "Oh she does? Wow that sounds... both interesting, and... worrying. And hey, it's okay to be a bit paranoid. A little paranoia is what keeps us alive against things like this," Adelle told him and glanced over to Taio and Rose to give them a nod, as if to ask if they were up for looking for his granddaughter.

"What all else can you tell us? Like, where she was last seen, who she was with if anyone, things like that. Anything that you think might be useful in finding her, might be able to help us do just that," Adelle would ask him after a few moments with her gentle cheerful smile she almost always wore unless both pissed off, or fighting for her life.

 

[Guan Yu]

"That's the simple part, she told me where she was going. It's not too far from here, in an abandoned building. It'll be similar to what you went into yesterday, a good bit smaller though as this seems to be a recent invasion spot." the owner would draw a map with some directions and the address on some squared paper, the simplicity of it all suggesting that it was indeed rather close, maybe some 15-20 minutes away on foot, even less on vehicles if they insisted on going that route.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Alright sir. Don't worry, we'll find her and save her if she's in danger. I hope she isn't though. But if so... well, we'll handle it," Adelle told him reassuringly and looked to the others as she finished her glass of water and stood up.

"You girls want to ride over there, or walk? It's pretty close by the looks of it," Adelle asked them, not minding either way really, though she also didn't seem too keen on leaving her bike parked outside for any long period of time if she could help it... just in case, so if they left it to her she'd opt to walk after parking their bikes back in the garage at home, and lead the way towards the place in question to find Kei, the noodle shop owner's granddaughter.

 

[Guan Yu]

The elderly man would see the girls out, flipping his sign back to open as soon as they had left, not that it looked like there were any people coming at that relatively early hour.

"I mean, save gas? That stuff does cost money after all. And I hear it's not as plentiful as we might think in this current age of ours." Taio would speak for walking, the whole buying of guns earlier probably giving this reply plenty of validity even in Adelle's mind. Taking the walk was good exercise too, and soon they were there, the few people they came across mostly being wary as soon as they saw Rose towering behind the two other ladies. Even without her previous claw size, the rest of her stature and look was more than enough to catch all attention in the street.

A slight turn and walk into an alley between some buildings would lead the girls to a maintenance door that was wedged into an open position, and inside was a maintenance room with double basement doors, those too secured into an open position with various tools and things from the vicinity stacked on each door to keep them open. Downstairs was a generator room, a busted wall on the other side having that familiar fleshy tunnel leading down into the main area of the nest.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Yeah that's what I was thinking too. And it isn't too far. So... let's head on out," Adelle told the others and parked their bikes in the garage and heading out towards the place in question.

Adelle led the way towards the building, and looked over at the alley between the buildings that led to the maintenance door on the side of the building. "Well I'd wager down here, and... yep... right into another one of these things. Jeez this stuff is weird as hell. Watch your head girls," Adelle told the others as she eased into the opened wall section that was broken in, to climb through into the tunnel.

She flipped on her flashlight and would slowly and cautiously make her way further in, constantly keeping her head on a swivel to watch for any threats, and to check back with the others to make sure nothing was wrong with them. "I dunno what might be in here... so be careful," Adelle said as she slowly made her way down the tunnel.

 

[Guan Yu]

Rose would have to crouch slightly as they entered the tube going downwards, the tip of her horn occasionally making gashes on the flesh ceiling as it hit it here and there. The downward slope went on for a minute or so before they made it to what was the entry chamber of the nest. It was a familiar feeling place, the same hot and wet air with the flesh walls and the scent of questionable liquids in the air. The only thing missing was the pulsing of flesh, maybe Kei had already gotten rid of the heart? But it seemed a bit more orderly, as there were three other tunnels going to the left, right and forward across the room, and the things were very symmetrical in positioning and size.

"Look at that, she might be packing some heavy gear, our girl." Taio would point out the dead monster pair in the room, two ropers that looked very similar to what Adelle had fought that one time in the warehouse. They had been neatly cleaved in two, very little blood present as it looked like they had been seared right after the cuts had split them in two. This was looking like some sort of heat weapon being tested on these creatures.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle continued on down the tunnel for a minute or two until she came into a larger fleshy room. "Mmm... yeah this is another one of those dungeon places alright," Adelle told Taio and Rose as she entered and got a good whiff of the air in here.

"This one's... different though. Too neat... these creatures are mostly mindless... or rather a hive mind mentality almost, and act on instinct. This all seems... deliberately made to me," Adelle told Taio and Rose as she saw the room first, and then looked over to the Ropers and saw the damage done to them, looking impressed. "Well which way girls? Left, right, or center?" Adelle asked the others, wanting to check the left path first as it'd be the first in line.

 

[Guan Yu]

"Sure, probably not that different from the other paths I'm thinking." Taio would be the one to verbally agree, with Rose maintaining her usual quiet demeanor, but nonetheless agreeing that they could go there.

The meat tunnel on the left would take them forward, soon turning from the usual flesh corridor to one with that previously encountered white liquid making up the entire floor as the floor lowered down a bit. There was a turn in the corridor some distance ahead taking them to the right, and the liquid looked like it was only calf-high or so, so it wouldn't be that bad to travel through.

 

[Mind Flayer]

"Yeah... probably," Adelle agreed and led the way down slowly but surely, always sticking to the inner wall of any turn so that she wouldn't be seen as easily.

She kept a few feet ahead of Taio and Rose, to stay on point, so neither of them would get grabbed if she did. As the turn began to curve to the right just ahead, Adelle glanced down at the cum soaking the floor and grumbled. "Ugh... stupid stuff. Always making things difficult and making me get drenched in cum. It's a bukkake lover's dream, these places," Adelle mumbled to Taio with a wry smirk as she continued on.

 

[Guan Yu]

"I know someone who would love this." Taio would comment on it, probably having seen some people with this particular interest back in her old career.

Going forward in the pool was just as unpleasant as it had been before with the stuff getting everywhere, but it could have been far worse too. Closer to the turn, Adelle would bump something under the surface with the tip of her boot, previous experience telling one possibility of what could be hiding under the cloudy liquid. How aware this potential attacker was of them was not sure, at least it had not sprung up from just that tip contact with the edge of it.

 

[Mind Flayer]

Adelle was moving slowly and cautiously still in the pool, and she knew that there was something lurking beneath the surface, especially when her boot thumped against something. "Mmm... my foot... just hit something," Adelle told the others and knew she had to find out what it was, pausing still in fear that whatever it was would leap out at them.

She slowly squatted down and would reach down with her left hand, pulling her pistol out and slinging the shotgun back over her shoulder, where she slowly dipped it into the cum pool and would reach just in front of her foot for what she had bumped into, and would try and quickly grasp it before it could jump out, figuring it was small as they'd seen nothing above the surface yet, her plan being to yank it up and either shoot it, or have Taio slice through it if it was small enough.