Raten groaned, soothing a headache. "No... Not again...!" He cursed at the solid floor beneath his head of hair, getting up from the ground. Please don't tell me waking up in the middle of nowhere is gonna be a recurring theme in my life, he thought but then paid closer attention to the surface beneath him. "Wait, this doesn't feel like rock."
"That's because it's not." Now that he had completely recovered from his blackout, he realized three things: One, he was floating on a cloud made from a grey semi solid which he could only assume was smoke as it was releasing offensive fumes. Secondly, his partner, Sara was here as well and she seemingly piloted the smoke cloud and thirdly, below them was a large, slimy, frog-like beast throwing it's elastic tongue at them.
"Shit!" He cursed at no one in particular at the third thing which was a Taikon Beast with a brown, blob-like exterior standing on four stubby feet. It fired it's tongue offensively but the girl swerved them to the side.
"Aren't you gonna do something about this Grimander?" She asked. He composed himself, leaping off the cloud several metres in the air.
The Grimander didn't just wait idly by but fired off it's tongue yet again whilst Raten was still in mid-air. However, he formed a full-body shield, causing it to clank against the metal. He landed safely before hitting the ground with his hammers, generating a tremor that disoriented the beast, giving him the opportunity to slash through it's neck with the clear blade of the White Devil, slaughtering it in seconds.
The black blood of the Beast spewed from the wounded spot, staining the ground before it finally died of blood loss.
Sara dispelled the Smoke Cloud after drifting closer to the ground. "What happened to me? Why did I blackout?" Raten asked urgently after she landed.
Sara narrated, "Well, we were meant to hook-and-line to the higher level to get past the gulf when I assume is around the time you were influenced by a Fluttercry." Hearing that, he internally facepalmed himself.
"I can't believe I fell for that," Raten said, recalling the particular Taikon Beast that took the form of a butterfly with hypnotic abilities.
She continued, "Good news; it was killed before it tried shifting to it's caterpillar form and eat you." He blushed in embarrassment, simultaneously cringing at the thought of dying such a ridiculous death. "Bad news is, it was the Grimander that killed it and well, here we are."
The two didn't need to agree on the fact that they needed to get back to the group. Sara walked a feet ahead of him, leading them both to the direction they came from. But Raten sighted her playing with her beach sand-colored hair in a restless manner. He surveyed the area, looking for a sign of another Beast but found nothing which left him stuck wondering why she was acting so nervous.
"So..." She trailed off, prompting him to raise an eyebrow as she still refrained from eye contact and just kept moving forward.
"'So' what?" He asked, tilting his head. Her lips quivered for a moment but she gathered herself and formed an audible statement.
Sara exhaled. "You wanna hear a joke?"
'Huh.' Now he was really confused but he decided to reply anyway. "Um, sure."
"Why did the baker go to the bank?"
"Um, I don't know. Why?"
She abruptly turned to him, her face as deadpan as ever. "Because he needed dough." He took a moment to process what she said, searching for a double meaning but found nothing. Was she really just cracking a joke to break the ice, he thought.
"Ha-ha." He let out a lame chuckle, going along with her and he had no idea but it made her smile on the inside. "You got any more."
She told him more and more along the way and although it wasn't the typical way of telling a joke, the quips themselves were nevertheless humorous and Raten found himself smiling from ear to ear. "Want some feedback? You could try telling them with a little more energy."
For a second, he saw her lips curve up and he was astonished. "I'll remember that."
Raten stopped in his tracks and so did Sara as before them was a wall of rock. "Where are we going? This place is a dead end."
"There was a passage here."
"Really?" He asked to which she nodded, feeling something sinister in the air. "Did the cave collapse on itself then?"
"No. I would have heard it," she replied with affirmation. "More specifically, the crystals would have alerted me." The reason they were able to see all this time was because of the luminous crystals embedded and spread across the surrounding walls.
"That can only mean one thing- A Geomander!" They exclaimed simultaneously. A Geomander, one of the most powerful type of Taikons that weren't found any lower than the Blue Level. They were rare, underground creatures that disguised themselves within the earth and used their special ability to manipulate it, trapping its victims with it's wide-ranged ability.
"Blue Level. Can I take on something like that?" Raten stared at his fists, unsure. If he were to grade his power, he would place it at High Red. Ace was also around the same rank while Annie was a bit below them at the Mid-Red level. "Well, we can't pass this way now. Let's look for another exit."
They decided to look for another way out but of course, it wasn't going to be so easy for them. There were a few more Grimanders along the way but none of them were past the High White Stage so they were no match for him.
"I think I see an opening up ahead." He pointed but upon squinting his eyes, he could see more. A humanoid figure.
* *
Earth fragments built around Ally's left arm, forming a large, menacing boulder fist. She lunged back before smashing it against the wall. Cracks formed at first but it was as if they were patched up before completely forming.
'That's my eighth punch. It's not gonna work.' She concluded as the fragments crumbled at her feet. "The Geomander must be at the High-Blue Stage. We'll have to look for a different path."
"Hm." Kent agreed.
Commanding the group, Ally and Kent searched for another path to take but their real goal was to find the main body of the Geomander. "I hope they're alright." Florian worried but he was quickly met with an assuring reply from a very confident Ace.
"Of course they'll be. Sara's got Raten and she's smart enough to get them out of any tricky situation in an underground cave."
"What I'm more concerned about is the surprising fact that I didn't even know you were walking behind me," Sky said to Florian. "Seriously, it's like you have no presence and you just naturally fade into the background and-" He stopped when he felt something cold crawl up his spine.
"Sky, you okay?" Annie asked, bringing it to the attention of the Ivy Squad. "Oh, no, Florian. Your lack of aura is killing him."
The Torrich Prince's mouth fell open and he verbalized something barely audible as slow as a turtle. "Some... thing is... coming." He didn't know what came over him but he felt like a bug caught in a web, about to get eaten by a terrifying spider.
The group came to a halt as Ally ordered because something was coming their way. Although nobody could see anything, the Vice-Captains could sense a Taikon Beast approaching. They readied themselves, drawing out their weapons.
Without warning, numerous tiny black bugs swarmed before them, coming together to form a humanoid being. A seven foot, black figure with a cone-shaped structure on it's head with small slitted red eyes, yellow striped arms and ankles assembled. The most notable feature was a hoop that rested floating around it's waist.
"I knew it!" Pillars angled diagonally formed below the Vice-Captain's feet, propelling her towards the mysterious creature. She aimed for the face immediately, slamming her stacked hammer forward but like how it had manifested, it scattered into tiny bugs barely visible to the naked eye. Only the Captains acted as they knew this particular Taikon Beast was above them.
"Now I know why Sky's so afraid." Nalia as well as the other Researchers could recognize the infamous Beast before them. She shared their knowledge with him. "Sky's Taikon, The Blue Lion's natural predator is the beast right in front of us. The Ravewasp!"