Roval Arms

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Considering Tech was going for speed rather than accuracy, her shot went wide and bounced off of the wall behind Evan instead. Evan, who had his finger hovering over the button to activate the trap, reflexively pressed it due to the surprise.

And before Giichi could move, the floor gave way beneath him. He tried to reach out to grab one of the sides of the new hole, but it was in vain. Suddenly he found himself plunging deep into darkness.

For a couple seconds he fell, before landing in some noxious sewer water somewhere beneath the Roval Arms building. Before he knew it he was under, with his clothes quickly taking on water and turning very heavy in the process. And it's not like he was that adept a swimmer since he was a cat too. Needless to say he suddenly found himself struggling to stay above the water, as he thrashed and thrashed to get a breath of fresh air.

---

Upstairs, one of Am's fire bolts instead struck Evan square in the chest, setting his shirt on fire. This caused him to drop the remote, which clattered onto the floor next to him. Meanwhile, Evan screamed as he frantically rolled over and over again to try to put the fire out.

[Tech Rathgen]

I know this is my duty as a police officer. Yes, I want Evan in jail, yet I don't want him dead. There is also Giichi who is in deep trouble. I just hope that there will be someone who saves the cat, because my mind is on Evan. This may be my only chance to gain control of this situation.

I keep my handcuffs at the ready. I rush to Evan and help him put out the fire. I have to pat him like crazy to bat out the fire. I don't know whether or whether not I will succeed. I know I need to save him and - if someone doesn't help the cat - the cat will be dead. I advise someone to help the cat in the water as I make sure to save Evan, even if this means that he may retaliate at me when this is over. I can only hope for the best.

[Terrador Bellator]

Terrador reacted quickly when Evan pushed the button, but not fast enough. The echidna had dropped to the ground and reached down into the abyss in an attempt to grab the cat before he fell. This was futile and he heard a splash echo through the hole. A splash meant water and Terrador would only hinder his comrade if he leapt in after him.

He got to his feet and glanced over to Tech as she strived to help the dog with the flames. He than looked over at Am and wondered if he could be of assisstance to the sand cat if it wasn't too late already. The Geomancer decided to help Evan out than demand answers. He grabbed the cinderblock and knelt beside the dog, holding the stone above his flaming body. His markings glowed green as the thing was reduced to sand, which he spread across the flames with the intent of suffocating them.

[Echo]

Watching Terra use his powers brought Am to a realization as how to take control of the situation. Am hopped to his feet and ran to Terra and took the echidna by the arm.

"hold still, I know how to save the cat. I need your powers for a second. K, thanks."

As am spoke something peculiar began to happen. Am's eyes rapidly changed from his human form's natural eye color to Terra's vibrant green and green markings began to appear on Am's hands and feet identical to Terra's.

"no time to explain" Am said racing back the hole Gichii was drowning in.

"hang on there Gichii I got this"

Am stood still and concentrated a moment before adjusting to his new found powers. suddenly Am disappeared from sight into the hole after Gichii. Am latched onto the stone wall of the hole and disappeared into the darkness. A few moments passed and a splash was heard as Am jumped into the waist deep sewage.

"Aw man, it's like walking around in lumpy maple syrup that's just fantastic. This is exactly what I pictured myself doing today when I got up this morning. swimming around in a tube full of alien fecal juice" Am's voice sarcastically echoed to the surface.

Am waded through the filth till he reached Gichii and pulled him up over his shoulder above the sewage.

"well one things for sure Gichii, Smelling this bad we're not gonna be doing anything social for a while. This is a kind of stink that just doesn't wash off, it has to shed off."

Am looked up and called to Terra.

"yo Terra, climb your furry butt down here and help me climb Gichii back up to the top. A warning it smells like mildewy underwear and throw up down here so hold you nose little dude"

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Giichi continued to tread water, frantically trying to stay up above it. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed him round the waist. It was Am! The cat beamed a large smile at him, even through all the goo and muck covering him through his sewer bath.

"Th-thank you...how did you get down here so fast?"

He wasn't sure...(he thought it was just being too dark to see right) but did Am seem to have Terrador's markings? What was the meaning of that?

When he called out for Terrador to help though, a familiar voice down in the sewer with them joined in.

"No need for that..." Lizzie's voice echoed in the tunnel. On a small ledge next to the water, she held out her hand to pull them out, with a little smile on her face. Her echidna-style dress was just as filthy from the water as Giichi's clothes were too, but she sounded uncharacteristically happy compared to how she'd been treating Giichi and everybody else all day long. "This isn't the first time I've been down here. I know a way back upstairs. Come on... Just follow me."

"Thank you!" Giichi said, returning her smile and accepting the hand. Before long he was on the ledge, and holding out his own to get Am out of the water.

---

With everyone's help, the fire on Evan's chest was out in no time. But of course, since he'd proven himself to be a selfish bastard, he did not offer any thanks at all. Instead, he immediately tried to jump up and reach for his precious statue, where he'd dropped it on the floor. If anyone would try to hold him down, they'd find him like a man possessed and it would pretty much take two or three people to hold him down. He still desperately wanted that statue.

[Tech Rathgen]

No thank yous from Evan? I'm used to it.

While Evan occupies himself with the statue, I reach for the trap door remote. I need to destroy that remote at all costs. If it gets back into Evan's hands, I don't know what I'd do with myself. I don't know what the importance is for the statue, yet I do know that there is plenty of squabble earlier about the statue. I want that remote and I know that I can reach it.

[Terrador Bellator]

"My powers...?" Terrador questioned Am as he llaced a.hand on the echidna's arm. He glanced over at the alien and watched astounded as Am's physucal appearance changed. His wknder increased more as he watched him plunge into the abyss. It appeared he was cling onto the stone wall.

"Did he just..." Terrador asked nobody in paticular. He was a bit dumfounded at the moment, and Am's request for the Geomancer to go in after him confused him even more. Terrador would have just got down there in the first place, but hiz aquaphobia prevented such a thing. After second thought, if Am borrowed his Geokinesis, he borrowed the super strength as well wbich would prove useful if things went wrong.

"Okay, here I come!" He shouted back as he left Evan's side to approched the trap door. He appeared to be bracing himself as his toes dangled off. He bent his legs and made final preperations for his leap.

Lizze's voice echoed through the tunnel the second he outstretched his legs to jump, cuasing him to stumble forward. Thankfully he regained his footing and took a couple steps back. He had been so cuaght up woth this dilemma, Evan temporarily left his mind. He turned to see the dog attempting to get to his feet. Tech appeared to be gping after the remote, which left Terrador to handle Evan. The echidna quickly dashed for the staue amd try and snatch it up from the dog.

[Echo]

" Haha, I climbed down the wall using Terra's powers. It's no problem man. Did you think I'd just let you drown? Especially in this stuff. Dude I wouldn't wish that sort of demise on my worst enemy. literally drowning in a river of people filth."

Am took Gichii's hand and pulled himself out of the filth rather surprised the cat could support his body weight. Today had been one of those days. No doubt Sarah would want samples of the mess he was covered in.

"you ever have one of those moments right in the middle of the day where you're like dude, how did I get here? I was just in bed an hour ago. Now I'm in a sewer covered in what could only be described as the pure manifestation of horror" ?

Am shivered in disgust as he looked down at the filth that covered his disguise body.

"Alright, lets get out of here. I need a shower" Am said while examining his new found markings.
"pretty cool. I'll have to ask Terra about these markings. I don't usually take on physical changes when I copy someone's abilities."

[Giichi Twinkieland]

Unfortunately for Terrador, he'd spent so long at the hole that Evan already had the statue in his grubby arms. By the time the echidna turned around, the dog was already at the metallic basement door. Evan practically crashed right through it, pushing it aside with his shoulder. The door let off a loud bang as it smashed into the stone wall on the other side, while Evan's footsteps began echoing back up into the lobby.

"Terrador!" Bruce called from the other end of the lobby. He'd been practically forgotten before. "You better catch him fast! I bet he's running for his control room! If he makes it in there, he'll have control over the entire building and all the traps!"

If Terrador wanted to catch Evan and the statue, he'd better get a move on. Despite being a little scrawny guy, wanting to keep that statue seemed to have given Evan speed and strength he didn't know he had.

---

Tech would have no problems retrieving the remote, as Evan had prioritized the statue over it.

---

Giichi blinked in surprise when Am mentioned using Terrador's powers. It WASN'T his imagination. Those were Terrador's markings.

"You...you can copy powers?" Letting out a slightly annoyed groan, Giichi continued on. "Man! How come I'm like the only guy around here who doesn't have superpowers?"

With Lizzie holding onto his arm for support, the cat was able to pull Am out of the water without much trouble. As he did so, he listened to Am ramble on and on about how the rest of his day had been going. But the sand cat couldn't help but agree.

"I guess I feel for you. Me and Terrador only came here to look at the murals and frescoes in the building, and then all this crazy crap with this statue started happening."

"Come now..."

Lizzie said, her silhouette in the dark waving for them to follow. She appeared to be walking towards an opening in the wall. Aside from some dim yellow light seeping through the passageway, no light was provided. They started winding down the mucky, bricked corridor, with a caged yellow bulb at regular intervals giving illumination. As they walked Lizzie gave some more insight into Evan's actions.

"I think I know what Evan's trying to do with the statue. Like he mentioned before, it's a key to treasure. My father has his fortune in this building somewhere in a hidden vault. If I remember right from what my dad said, you need to put the statue on a special pedestal around here somewhere to open the vault. Since his grandfather died, Evan is the one person who knows the most about this building. He must have found out about the statue, and where the pedestal is. He's trying to make off with all of the money..."

Giichi couldn't help but make a little grin.

"This sounds like something out of a Kansas Smith movie. You know...the guy who goes on all those crazy archaeological adventures with the fedora and--"

"Yes, yes, I know," Lizzie giggled. "I used to have pictures of Jackson Chevy all over my walls when I was a younger girl. Thought my dad was like a real life version of him."

The smile faded from Lizzie's face as they kept walking.

"Anyway, I still love my son like any good mother should, but what he's done is unforgivable. I'll help you stop him, so that I can teach him a lesson."

[Tech Rathgen]

I put the remote in my holster and I don't think of anything else. I hear something about a control room and that is enough for me. I race after Evan and I'm in pursuit.