WHO PUT THE CHARIZARD IN CHARGE OF SCUBA DIVING

[rivalkidneypunch]

Who: Zero, Knuckles, Char, Riwane, Jolt, Connor (possibly Melia? Chiyo?? If I've missed someone, let me know!)
What: LAKE EXPLORATION. Why's the water rising? What's down there?!
Where: The lake, of course
When: Late afternoon, July 9
Warnings: Mysterious watery bullshit, probably

It had taken a little looking to get his hands on some Devon Co. scuba gear, but Char, being Char, had of course come through in the end. Char was much more familiar with Silph Co.'s stuff, but he had to admit, this would work nicely enough: a pair of goggles and a small, portable breathing apparatus, not bad. He couldn't say that he felt all that much more at easy about this idea, though -- Charizards, water, still not great friends.

Even so, he arrived at the lake, a messenger bag full of the scuba gear he'd promised hanging off one shoulder. Jolt and Riwane should have been arriving any second now, and considering how much attention the rising water levels had gotten, they probably wouldn't be the only ones.

Comments

[awakeningwill]

"That move where you create an explosion with your fist... can you do it underwater?" Explosions generally needed oxygen and the like, but considering Knuckles managed to dig through the earth itself while keeping a water bubble intact, the rules might not apply quite the same to him.

Because throwing a boulder was pretty good... but throwing something that could punch as hard as Knuckles was way stronger. Not to mention there was way more reckless endangerment.

"I can throw you at that dragon once there's a lull in his attacks. It's dangerous, but you could do a lot of damage."

[monotreme_101]

"Buddy... I like the way you think." Knuckles replied with a grin.

If that didn't knock this thing out, or at least have it seeing stars, then nothing would so far as the Echidna was concerned.

[awakeningwill]

Glad to know there was another red dude around who was almost as reckless as Zero.

Just in case: "If your bubble pops, swim and get one of those fire dragons to safety," the reploid told him before picking Knuckles up. Sorry if he wasn't too gentle, but the (now appropriately named) Z-Knuckle wasn't an implement for handling fragile objects. The moment he saw an opening in the debris, he activated his dash boots and leapt as high and as far as he could towards the sea monster. And being underwater, that was considerably further than normal.

Aiming for Aquaticus's face, Zero hurled Knuckles as hard as he could. Hopefully the monster would be too distracted by the Charizard beating on its tail to laser breath the echidna before he got to punching its face in.

[birdlady]

MEANWHILE ON THE SHORE, Melia was staring, mouth agape at the sight of the giant, Deinos-like beast that crested the surface of the water, then dived down as quickly as it appeared. What in the world had they found down there?

...Were they all right? That thing certainly did not look friendly.

She was broken out of her stupor at the sight of some of the divers coming to the surface. Fearing the worst, she ran the length of the shore until she was close enough to call to them.

"Quickly! Before it comes back!" She cried out as she waded into the water towards Jolt, reaching out to him to help him ashore.

[rivalthunderbolts]

When Jolt was close enough, he grabbed on to Melia's hand, letting her help him up out of the water. At least the rest of the group was safe from him now. As for the monster... He could fry it himself with one shot if everybody else were on land.

"Thanks," he said to her, flopping back on the beach, arm and leg throbbing where they had been struck.

[birdlady]

"Right, right, there you go, lay back and relax," Melia helped him as much as she could as he collapsed on the ground. She straightened up and clasped her hands together to call forth a spirit. "Summon Aqua!"

A glowing blue orb manifested before her, its power regenerating hers and Jolt's health. It wasn't much, but it would hopefully ease his pain.

"Is there anyone else hurt?" She asked... despite that she couldn't exactly go down there and check.

[rivalthunderbolts]

As the orb appeared, Jolt felt the pain diminish, and soon he was able to sit up. Should he have been? He didn't care. He was too worried about those left behind in the water.

"I don't know," he said. "But there's something big and dangerous down there, and if it gets its way, then yeah, everyone's gonna get hurt."

[machomonotreme]

"HRRRAAAAAAAAAAAA----!"

Knuckles flew towards Aquaticus' big, blue face. His fist started to glow white hot and he drew it back, feeling the heat inside it build. It was time to show this Dragon was it was like to be punched by an Echidna when he wasn't holding back!

[aquaticus]

Aquaticus, plagued by the smaller reptile tearing and rending his flank turned around, about to shoot his Water Laser at Riwane. Then, he was hit by a boulder, preventing him from unleashing his attack.

"You tiny wretches....!"

He swung his head, powering up for a full-bore attack. This would be the Water Laser to end all Water Lasers, he'd decimate his foes! Rip them apart with water pressure, sink them to the lake bottom and bury them in mud! He was going to get an Echidna's fist directly in the eye!

....oh.

Zero's Z-Knuckle Knuckles Fastball Special was one hell of a thing to suddenly have in your face. The Echidna's fist exploded on impact, causing Aquaticus to scream and thrash.

"GYAH! Give up! You have no hope of beating ME!"

If you guys thought the prior torrent of lake-borne garbage and debris and magically transmuted ice boulders was bad, this was on a whole other level. It was all traveling in one direction, and wasn't even remotely aimed. Trees that had been buried for years, rocks that hadn't seen the light of day in centuries, pieces of Eggman's handiwork and the accumulated thrown away ephemera of Smash Academy's student body flew upward and outward towards his attackers. Aquaticus was on the warpath.

But if you looked closely, there was nothing behind his defiance at this point. He was spent and he knew it. That didn't prevent him from lashing out and offering up a little bluster to try and intimidate his teensy weensy foes into thinking otherwise.

[awakeningwill]

That didn't sound like the scream of someone who was winning. More like the scream of someone petulant and desperate and full of hot air.

But the lakebed was becoming a very bad place to be. Even if the beast was no longer aiming he debris in his rage, the sheer size of the deluge was overwhelming. Even for a seasoned veteran like Zero, it was impossible to dodge them all. If he hadn't equipped an Absorber chip, he would've been stunlocked after the first chunk crashed into him.

He couldn't let himself get lost in the enemy's attacks now. The only real way to escape the on-coming jetsam seemed to be getting close to the monster itself - he wasn't going to be pelting himself with that garbage.

Bracing himself for the damage he was about to take, Zero dashed through the maelstrom, cutting through what he could and being battered by the chunks he missed. Taking away his body's recoil reflex didn't numb the pain, but so long as he was still functional, he was determined to break through.

Finally, when Aquaticus's thrashing brought his fin just within reach, Zero leapt and shot the Plasma Whip at the appendage, latching onto it like a grappling hook. He swung himself towards the dragon's massive body and, with the Z-Sabre still in hand, slashed as deep as he could.

[hometownchargal]

Such an awesome sis, she'll have to thank her when she gets out of this. IF might have been a better word, but Riwane wasn't one to just give up on things or think the worse! With Jolt safely ashore and her sister looking strong, she looked to the others to see if they were okay. She couldn't see Char which worried her a great deal, she just saw the red feller smash right into the creature's face not long ago and she swears she saw the shining beacon from the robot just now...

For all it was worth, they were giving this thing hell, but man was it swinging it back. She was tired, having excerted much of her energy just trying to survive, let alone using up even more to try and put a dent in this overgrown lizard. The next barrage of debris, minimal as it was at close range, still managed to lay it hard on the unwieldly Charizard. She couldn't dodge the ones that came at her, not with trying to stay on to keep attacking the thing and trying to avoid getting swept away again. One, two, three large barrages collided with her until she finally lost her grip as the world faded.

Welp, can't say she didn't try... This was it for this firetail, flame dimming dangerouly, but man she wasn't going down like a chump! She wouldn't be able to look anyone in the face! So as she drifted away and upwards, she blasted one full Dragon Rage right at it before everything went dark and the hefty dragoness floated to the surface. Unconcious but alive and well aside from all the deep cuts and bruises. She'd need some major r&r after this... Again, if they made it out.

[monotreme_101]

Knuckles was swept away with the rest of the flotsam and jetsam of Aquaticus' final attack. A tree slammed into him and smashed his bubble shield open. He tried reaching for the scuba mouthpiece strapped to his side but everything was so turbulent there was no way he'd be able to figure it out in time.

He struggled against the current, holding his breath and heading in the direction he thought was up based on the amount of visible light. There was a teeny little bright dot up there... if he swam for that...

He finally broke the surface near Riwane's tail. Zero had asked him to help the fire lizards if he could and this one seemed to be totally out cold. He swam over, placing an arm around her shoulders and started swimming for shore.

I'll do like you wanted me to, Zero. Show that big blue bully we mean business while I'm taking care of things up here.

[rivalkidneypunch]

It really could have been expected that a Charizard was about as much use underwater as an Avalugg in a volcano. As unpracticed a swimmer as he was, Char had no chance of avoiding all the crusty lake chunks coming at them. So instead, he opted to smash: the precious few Focus Blasts he could manage to create went into blasting the crud heading his way, and the pieces that made it through, he took an even more direct route: he channelled his inner down+B and rammed his skull right into them.

This, at least, kept him from being pinned down to the lakebed by the stuff Aquaticus was hurling in his death throes, but smacking his face against a bunch of rocks didn't exactly do a lot of good for the big picture. Especially since his face happened to be where his scuba breathing apparatus was located. The last blast he attempted went awry: two large chunks of rock broke free, one hitting him right between the horns and another cracking the precious breather. He drifted in the cold water, head ringing, until a jolt of panic let him know that he had just taken down a gulp of water, not air.

Char was no coward, but there was one thing that could get him bolting from a fight like his life depended on it, and that was a deep and very very rational fear of DROWNING HORRIBLY. Trusting that Red Blond Guy's sword would be enough to finish the job, he shot for the surface with everything his aching body could muster.

[aquaticus]

...

THOOM.

There was a bright flash as the dragon reeled from those attacks, his last ditch effort ceasing almost immediately. The water was far from calm, but it was no longer raining trees and boulders.

THOOM!

Another explosion rocked the water near Zero.

THOOM! THOOM!

THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM! THOOM!



And then it was over. Where Aquaticus had been, there was nothing but swirling, muddy water.

....well. Not entirely nothing. There might be something there. Sitting in the mud. An item of some kind, visible against the sediment.

[awakeningwill]

With explosions going off all around him, Zero's weapons lost their grip and he was forcibly thrown against ground. He couldn't say he was lucky enough to avoid every blast, though. Sediment kicked up all around him, washing over his prone body like an underwater sandstorm as he waited out the death throes of that beast.

Crud. Zero had wanted to question him, too. There was no doing that anymore. Whether the monster was actually the cause of the rising water levels, or simply a symptom, he couldn't say for certain. But now there was no way to find out.

Eventually, when the water settled down again, Zero raised his head to look for the other investigators. Even with all the mud swirling around the lake's bottom, he could still make out faint silhouettes. He could only hope all of them got away safely - as much as Zero still wanted to explore more of the lake, he had to make sure they were okay first. His own injuries were nothing to shrug off, either.

Clutching his shoulder, the reploid staggered to his feet, fighting against the pain in every joint. As he did so, a mystery item caught his eye, lying where Aquaticus had been moments before...

Well, he wasn't coming back from the mission empty-handed. But he was far too exhausted to analyze what it was he was picking up. Zero grabbed it and began slowly trudging back to shore. "Mission... complete."

[aquaticus]

Whenever Zero got to checking his inventory the item, he'd see that it was really rather odd...

[machomonotreme]

Knuckles struggled his way back into the still settling water, looking for his robotic friend as he swam back towards the bottom.

The red metal of Zero's armor caught Knuckles' eye and he gave the reploid a thumbs up and a puffy-cheeked grin as he continued to hold his breath.

Now all that remained to do was make sure everyone else made it out of the water alive...