Meanwhile...
During the time Johnny had been busy setting things up with his personal ‘tower’ the stragglers that have heard of the mushroom’s plea for help would find themselves crossing the border from Waterfall and onto Masteria.
Paul
Once you had exited through this, strange portal that you will arrive to an unfamiliar area, trees that stretched upwards to the sky almost blocks out the sun with only a few rays bleeding through the leaves that had adorned the branches. It's easy to tell that this place has been abandoned due to the construction and rubble littering the area. Save for an ominous and broken forestry that had been recently created. Through here, you'll see a certain mushroom having chosen a resting spot via a pile of bricks stacked neatly. To their delight, he'd hop off it posthaste once they noticed you all.
"H-Hey guys! Uh...Fancy meetin' you all here..."
Sela
Sela barely had time to step out and take in any surroundings when she jumps in surprise at Paul's sudden voice. "Shit! Oh-- Hi Paul..."
Revak
[Revak nodded, a tilt of his head denoting a measure of worry as he looked around. Seemed he was only slightly surprised by Paul's seemingly sudden arrival.] * Nice to see ya again. I just wish it was under happier circumstances.
Mina
Out she steps, hands on her hips as she glances around, squinting near angrily. She jumps seeing paul. "....." "Where is he?" Stright to the point as always, Mina.
Lilith
[* In steps a edgy skele. Lilith's eyes widen in amazement. It's.. honestly been a whole year since she'd seen vegetation similar to this before. It never ceased to amaze her. Her attention immedietely switches to Paul once he speaks. Oh hi again mushroom guy.]
Sela
Sela is looking around. She looks... unnerved.
Frisk
Into the wild, here's the bird stepping into the wilderness. Conquering it isn't their goal, though, as they're in a foreign land and... oh!October 15, 2017
Samga
Samga winds up FALLING OUT OF THE SKY! What an odd habit this Rabbit seems to possess. Thankfully, he winds up landing on the soft head of the giant, talking mushroom.
He lands with an audible Booooing!
Happy
Happy came through the portal, not living up to his name at the moment. He seems quite ticked off, actually... far from "happy" * Alright! I'm not here to play games or whatever, pals. Where the hell is Johnny so we can fix whatever problem he has so I can go back to trying to have a peaceful date with my boyfriend. Cause obviously, this is such a big deal if you're gonna leave a potentially dangerous portal in waterfall to get my attention. He crosses his vines like arms, and his attitude is pretty clear.
Paul
Much to Paul's surprise, he inadvertantly cries out in response from the abrupt landing of the bun crashing on top of him. "A-Aah!!" Though, with everyone arriving to the scene that he realized Johnny had...Made more friends than he thought originally. Taking a moment to compose himself, he'd point towards the opening in the jungle. "H-He uh...Went that way but...I kinda saw a weird purple light in the distance." It was a comforting thought that the flora had the confidence to have these people in his regard but knowing that they wanted to get this over with was nonetheless warranted, the mushroom wanted things to revert back to a quiet life after all.
Samga
The Rabbit rubs the back of his head before turning to look to Paul, "Ohey Mushman, didn't think I'd see you on the other side!.. uh.. sorry for dropping in, heh.."
Paul
"I-It's fine..."
AlphaJohnny
...The ground shakes violently underneath the ground you stood on. An intrusive volume of what was considerably an explosion in the distance echoes through the ambient and idle jungle.
Revak
[Revak stumbles, a startled squawk blurting from the dragon as he stuggles to regain footing... But planting his boots in the soft ground with his arms, tail, and wings spread, he managed it.] [Looking around in disbelief, only one question came to his mind in response.] * W-what the hell what that?!(edited)
Happy
The flower went wide eyed at the sound and movement. * Probably the problem, pal.
Lilith
[* Lilith her self has to summon a bone from the ground to keep herself steady as the 'earthquake' ensues. Yeaaaah that's not very good whatever it is.]
Paul
For Paul, to having felt that would make him stumble and fall face first into the ground. That was...Rather inconvenient for the most part. Making sure to push himself up and off the ground, the mushroom leans up, trying to make sense of what in the world that was. "I-...Uh...Okay uhm...I've tried tellin' him it wasn't this bad but uh- ...Oh no...Aster." That moment of realization made his face pale with immediate dread.
Happy
* Who?
Revak
[Revak's brow simply furrowed in confusion.]
Paul
"T-The doc! He came here earlier than you guys but-! Oh no no no, Johnny must've done something but..." He trails off, now beginning to whine slightly in distress while rubbing the sides of his head. "He went to go find him..."
Revak
* D-Doc...?! [No... it couldn't be the same one... after all, there could be so many alternates out there other than the Doctor Gaster he knew... But... all things considered, he wanted to at least check it out.] [The boss monster crouched just a bit, just to be able to see Paul's face, his own heavily marked with concern and worry.] * ...W-well... which way did he go...? Surely we'll find Johnny if we follow the same path, right...?
Samga
Samga's ears twitch as he looks in the direction where the explosion came from. His eyes narrow. "..Sounds like you and Johnny've got yourselves into a fine mess, who's Doc?"(edited)
Paul
Paul, after having a moment to dust himself would nod in hesitation. "Y-Yeah. I think we just need to be careful." With a quick exhale, he briefly looks to Samga for a moment. "...It kind've is...And, doc is pretty much the one who was...The answer to getting back home but Johnny...He wanted to take it into his own hands."
Sela
She put her hand on her hip and sighed. The longer she stood here, the more inclined she felt to turn around and just say NOPE to whatever mess was about to obviously unfold. especially with that explosion.
Happy
* Ok....? What did Johnny even do to start.... whatever is happening right now? Like what did he do to "take it into his own hands" pal? Happy raised an eyebrow.
Revak
[Revak nodded, seemingly asking himself the same question. His tail flicked anxiously, as if he were getting just as antsy as Sela.]
Lilith
[* Lilith dispelled her 'cane' and her hands returned to her hips, looking to the mushroom for answers. Story time?]
Mina
Mina walks over and places a hand on Sela's shoulder, there's a look of slight unease on her features.
Sela
Sela glances a her. She shares the sentiment, giving a slight nod before turning back to Paul.
Paul
"W-Well...It's not easy to say honestly. He took us to a...Weird place, and it was kinda spooky. And he seemed to know where he was going so I just put all my trust in him for what he asked." He hesitates once again, biting at his lip to discern the next piece of information that his gut told him that would somehow surprise them all. "...He, took these heart shaped things, called 'em souls and stuff. I kinda thought they were decorations for valentines day even though we're months ahead."
Sela
Her brows visibly rise, before furrowing very hard. "And, how many were there?"
Revak
[Revak's hand subconciously moved to his chest.] [...He... didn't like the sound of this.]
Happy
Happy gave Paul a dead stare. The attitude stopped, and all he's doing now is giving him a cold deadpan stare. * ................
Paul
"I remember there were specifically five...Why?"
Sela
"F-Five?!"
Lilith
[* And Lilith's own hand goes over her mouth. He.. He wouldn't! Not after... Not after he'd seen what ONE soul did to her! Why on earth?..] ".. Those souls.. they..."(edited)
Paul
Paul blinks, squaring his shoulders up in the immediate yell of the demon. "I- Is that a bad thing...?"
Sela
"...." She feels it. In her chest... there it's coming.... She puffs up a bit. "Are you fucking kidding me?"
That's anger in her chest.
Happy
* ...... For the love of- He facepalmed in annoyance
* YES THAT'S A BAD THING
Revak
[His eyes widened in shock... Revak had seen creatures that'd absorbed multiple... If Johnny had taken five...] * ...This is gonna be a loooong day...
Paul
"...Ah dang it I should've said something..." It was apparent that Paul somehow felt that this was his fault, as he drooped his head down.
Sela
"Okay, okay, fuck this." She throws a hand up. "It's one thing to knock sense into him, but I know some of us--myself included--have had a brush with just ONE soul, but five on top of his already yellow one?" She drags her hand over her face with a groan.
Happy
* For fucks sake I had though Johnny was reasonable. That's the last time I have faith in someone not being a dumbass and.... Okay I'm leaving. I can't stay here and clean up whatever mess he's making. I have a DATE to get to. A date that I've been holding off for a reasonably long time. I can't deal with this right now, pal. I just CAN'T.
Sela
"I was warned about trusting small talking yellow flowers, but I think this one has the right idea." She lightly gestures towards Happy. "Paul, what Johnny did-- He didn't just become a monster."
Mina
"....." Mina holds up her hand, oddly calmed.She waits to be noticed by others around her.
Paul
"I- I'm just at a loss on what to do here..."
Mina
"Hey. Shroom." Her voice is firm.
Revak
[Revak looks over to Mina... seemed she was taking charge. And who was he to argue?]
Paul
The sound of their voice would jog his attention to look up, watching her in question while his expression showed the pain look in his eyes.
Mina
"How many o' you actually know what happens when someone gets all th' SOULS? I research it with GhostMan, and I've got a pretty firm stack of research under my belt on that kinda shit." She bares her fangs. "Case in point. We gotta find that overgrown cactus boy before he starts tearin' a hole through the multiverse."
Paul
"...I didn't know all that stuff would just, jack him up or whatever, I...Ugh..."
Happy
* ....... Just fantastic. Happy groaned. He knew if they probably didn't do something now, it WILL become a problem later for him.
Mina
"He probbaly didn't either! That's why th-dumbass fuckin' touched 'em in the first place! jesus christ when will people realize that those fuckin' things are *DANGEROUS and people shouldn't fuckin PLAY WITH 'EM!? They're not JUST a one way ticket outta the Underground! They're also a fuckin pass to MASSIVE DESTRUCTION AND ERADICATION OF EVERYONE."Mina inhales."What fuckin' part of this are people not gettin' yet we have people playin' grabby hands at them things left and right!? everyone can't be that fuckin' stupid! BUT I stand corrected. INHALE."AGAIN."
Revak
[Revak nodded. Sounded reasonable to him.] * I mean, I already did damage with just my own by accident once. SOULs aren't to be toyed with, at all.
Sela
Sela kinda just, side steps a bit to give Mina some shouting space.
Mina
"Shut. Up. Revak." Sharp.
Sela
She frowns... maybe if she hadn't slapped him silly he wouldn't have acted so recklessly. Her hand comes up and rubs the back of her neck, mind wandering in thought.
Revak
[The dragon winces, backing up. Guess his two sense wasn't wanted.]
Lilith
[* Lilith held her own metaphorical tongue. Don't speak over the demon girl. Check.]
Mina
Mina exhales, seems she isn't too keen on saying much else anymore with her burst of anger. Honestly she's just salty that her friends are still not smart enough to do things that, you know, won't kill them. but, eh, To each their own.
AlphaJohnny
...The sound of what appeared to be something dropping whistles through the air.
Happy
* ....... Let's just find the dumb ass already. All this shit is giving me a headache and I wanted a movie night, not dealing with this crap todaaayyy... what the hell? Happy looks up in confusion
Revak
[Revak looks up, squinting to see what that noise might be.]
Lilith
[* Hey what what's up in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It's.... well Lilith's still not sure yet.]
Mina
Mina just.. pinches the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Right whate--" She looks up.
Paul
"...Wh- ...Uhm!? I'm not sure..."
Frisk
That sounded out of place, odd. Possibly not good, they're gazing up as well and scoffs.
AlphaJohnny
Suddenly, the whistle escalates to a sharp pitch, closing in to where they're located that urged everyone to move away. With a shattering boom, a massive figure crashes through the branches as loud snaps and cracking was heard and on top of that, the impact alone from being close to the blast zone would knock back the unlucky ones away from the portal. An eerie silence soon settles in, should everyone choose to look at what happened, they'd see someone towering over the portal, ignoring those around them.
Paul
The mushroom scrambles up to his feet and stands up, absolutely surprised and baffled in disbelief. It would seem that Aster hadn't convinced them at all...In fact, where were they?
Sela
She hadn't quite thought to move until last second, but managed to put a good short distance between her and the launched figure before the force promptly knocked her off her feet, sending her briefly through the air before landing on her feet, hand falling to the ground and claws digging to slow her sliding momentum. ... SHe coughs briefly from the dust in the air.
Revak
[Revak instantly threw his hands forward, blasting fire to propelling himself backwards out of the way and skidding to a halt, feet and claws digging into the dirt.] [He looked up, eyes squinting at the shadow through the dust that'd been kicked up.] * ...What in multiple worlds...?
Lilith
[* OK LARGE INCOMING. Lilith is quick to move away from the landing point and summons another bone from the earth in order to keep herself from being blown away(also having to hold onto her hat during the shockwave). Slowly, she would open her eyesockets, looking up at... oh hello tall being who may or may not be friendly.]
Frisk
Leaping away, Frisk makes a swift landing on their toes and shut their eyes to halt excess dirt and debris from moving into their eyes. Their feathers moved to veil their entire face, protecting it as a whole.
Samga
Samga rubbed the bridge of his snoot in annoyance. He remembered being around someone who had held 7 Souls before.. a Chara, specifically. It was a wonder he was on their good side. Though hearing the fact that Johnny had absorbed 5 souls, meaning he had 6 souls jam-packed inside his flowery body... He growls softly and then winces at the yelling Demon nearby. Then came the whistling, and the commotion followed soon after. His attention turned to the source, the figure towering over the portal. "... I'm guessing this is a one-way trip..?"
Mina
Mina is just standing there, waving her hand in her face from getting the dust outta her face. Fuckin'...
Paul
"...J-Johnny...?"
AlphaJohnny
The dust soon clears, revealing their whole appearance in detail. There wasn't an ilk of a response to Paul's question however as the titan abruptly darts his right arm to snatch the portal, with little to no regard to check his surroundings. The opening in question starts to writhe in his grasp, with only a brief word from Johnny to utter, "...Disgusting." before suddenly crouching back down to his knees then takes off, the exhaust expelling a massive amount of smoke as their exit had all but been too noticeable by now.
Revak
[Revak's expression could be compared to a blank slate, deadpan being the barest minimum description for his current state of mind.] * ...So I'm gonna assume going home isn't an option now.
Lilith
"Not in the slightest.." [* The bone is dispelled once more as she regains her composure.](edited)
Samga
Samga's eyes stared up at the towering titan grabbing at the portal that had dropped everyone off into this new world. He took the entire portal in his grip and absconded back to the top of the tower that he had emerged from. Samga's eyes hood halfway in half annoyance and half dismay. "... HEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Samga shouts out, trying to call out to the giant. Yet try as he might, the attempt would fall on deaf ears. ".... Rgghh..." he groaned and turns to Paul, "Who's the Big Boy?"
Paul
"I...I don't believe it. He just-..." Paul huffs in disbelief, shaking his head before looking back to Samga, growing ever so worried. "...That was Johnny."
Revak
[...That... was......?] [Revak now wore a strained smile, one that screamed "i have completely lost control of my life".] * ........why.
Samga
"...." Samga took in Paul's words carefully. *That's Johnny? How did he get so beastly? He was hardly recognizeable, but the TV face seems like it'd only be worth it if he had unlimited access to TV channels. He takes in a deep breath, looks like another day of adventure for him.."Looks like he had one helluva growth spurt."(edited)
Frisk
"Ah man." Uncovering their eyesight, Frisk becomes stunned, standing back up and tightening their grip. Their least concern was the mess left around, it's settled that Johnny's definitely a threat; with how gigantic and powerful he seemed at first glance. They stared around, gawking and gritting their teeth afterwards. "Was it really? As in, batta' swing? I'm... not sure what to think." At a loss for words, really.
Lilith
[* Oh yeah. This day. Was going to be HELL. Should their friend make it so which was.. quite likely. Lilith sighed and rubbed a gloved hand down her cracked muzzle. What was this day becoming anymore?..] "....Anyone here have any bright ideas to go about this yet? [* Wow straight to tactics already Lilith sheesh.]
Happy
Happy stood mouth wide open at the sight of what just happened. And then he yelled in a burst absolute anger. * DID HE HAVE TO FUCKING DO THAT OUT OF ALL THINGS!? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN TO CORRUT WHAT HAPPENED!? He put his vines on his head in an exaggeratedly irritated manner.
Paul
"Hmm...I...Guess we should go talk to him? I just wanna figure out why he's bein' so sudden about this. One second we're just settling into our normal lives, the next he gets Avarice's help and does...Something."(edited)"...Ughh...This is gonna be a hard time to explain to Mr. and Mrs. Rajotte...."
Revak
* ...Yyyyeah... I think at least a few of us have at least a few words we wanna say to him... [Three, in fact... they happen to be "what", "the" and "fuck".] * We should go find him... wherever the hell he went...
Lilith
"If that's what we're going for, I'd say getting into small groups and spreading out would probably get us to that point faster. Assuming everyone else agrees with that idea?" [* She would wait for any ageements and rejections, fixing her ribboned fedora.]
Revak
[His horned head turned to face the skeleton, his mouth drawn back taut in a look of discomfort.] * With all due rescpect, I'm not sure we have a method to keep in contact. That's a surefire way to end up lost and separated.
Lilith
[* She nodded, acknowledging the small error.] "It was mostly an idea to be placed on the pedestal, but you are correct.""Anyone else?"
Sela
Sela comes back to the group, brushing her hand off on the side of her thigh. She looks pissed. "This is why I was so damn hesitant in the first place, now we're trapped in some foreign world and have to probably somehow kick the ass of our souls-roided friend to even hope of getting back. Peachy. I'm glad I ate before falling into this fucking mess."(edited)She's bitching mostly to herself.
Revak
[His claws pinched the bridge of his snout. Sela... had a point. Revak had gotten his ass handed to him in every fight he's been in since he came here, and somehow, if they for some reason needed to fight Johnny, he'd need to win against someone jacked to the nines on SOULs?] [It... didn't feel all too reassuring to him... But considering the portal was... elsewhere, there was no going back.] * ...If anyone has some kind of method to potentially be able to navigate this place, we could do that... * Like, we follow the gigantic path of felled trees, then if the trail stops, we could start marking where we've been?
Paul
"I...I guess but..." Then, as if a lightbulb had suddenly blinked over his head that inspiration would strike him as he looked up to Revak. "H-Hey! Can you fly and stuff?"
Revak
[Revak tilted his head a bit.] * Only for short periods.... It tends to really drain my energy. Why do ya... [The dragon's eyes widened.] * Oh... OH! Ya may be on to something! * If I can get to the canopy, I can guide us from the treetops! * Is that what you're getting at? [Huh... Paul may have come off as a one track mind at first, but the mushroom man seemed to have come up with a pretty brilliant plan...!]
Paul
"Wait just...I think you can be our eye in the sky. See if you can like get on top of a branch and point us there!"
Revak
[Revak nodded, a rather determined glint in his eye.] * I've got this... Just stand back. [Crouching low, the hybrid spread his wings wide, the leathery folds pulsing with magical energy. Looking up above, he fixated his gaze on a perfect landing point... There!] * I'll be right back. [Springing back up, Revak launched himself off the ground with a powerful gust from empowered wingflaps, the manuever hurling him high into the forest canopy... Before using the momentum presented to fire a burst of flame from his hands, propelling him further with minimal magic usage until he finally managed to grab hold of a branch, swinging around and upwards and perching carefully atop it, not unlike a gargoyle.] [Once secure, golden eyes would scour the area for any indication of there Johnny could be...]
Lilith
[* Lilith would watch the dragon hybrid ascend, holding onto her hat so it wouldn't fly away with the gust. This wasn't a bad idea either. Cool respect points for the mushroom guy. Now all they had to was just sit back and wait for a little more insight.]
Paul
What tipped off Revak's insightful vision would be the fact he could now definitely see a tall...Tree of all things, with a building smack dabbed on top of it, as if itself was serving as a tower. "Hey! What do you see up there?!" Paul would call out, having decided to cup both hands to his mouth in an imatation of a megaphone.
Revak
[....Now that was certainly something that stuck out... Taking note of the location of the nigh colossal tower in the distance, he'd look down at the others and try to listen.... to what felt like an inquiry of what he saw...?] [...He took a deep breath... bellowing as a dragon could, could certainly let himself be heard, but it always hurt his throat to do anything but roar... but this was more important. Loud and clear, a booming voice burst from Revak's throat, sounding maybe as loud as a slightly raised voice by the time it reached the ground.] * There seems to be a gigantic tower overrrr... that way! [A small bolt of flame shot out from his hand in the direction of the tower before fizzling out.] * It's like a gigantic tree but with a really old building on top of it! Was that always there?
Paul
"...Wait, what?! No that..." The mushroom tilts his head down in thought, trying to piece together of what he assumed was linked to the quake they had felt. It was only for that moment was it now began to dawn on him. Johnny himself had created that. And that was where their destination lied. He needed to help these people, as he felt obligated for getting them involved in such a mess. "No! I...I don't think so! I think that's where he's holding himself up!"
Revak
[Uh-huh... so that was it.] * Got it! So we have a general direction! Or at least somewhere to start looking! I'll make my way back down! [Revak was filled with BRAVERY... and tilted back, falling from the branch into a dive before righting himself and blasting the air in front of him to rocket himself to the trunk of the tree whose branch he'd perched. He'd dig in his heels, slowing his descent to a crawl before hopping off the tree and spreading his wings to keep his descent slow before tucking and rolling into a landing, and standing back upright.] * ...There we are... [He coughed a bit, voice a bit hoarse from his bellowing.] * ...we all set...?October 17, 2017
Samga
Samga had listened to Revak and Paul, while Sela started blasting out over the situation which then made him realize... He was starting to get hungry again. His stomach gives off a loud growl and he places a hand onto his gut, groaning. "UUuugghhh.. I should've picked something up on the way here, didn't think we'd have to start traveling.." With a raising of his arms and arching of his back, the small Rabbit would stretch himself... It's then he realized, this was a new world.. does that mean he.. He quickly looks down at his hand and clenches it tightly, trying to ignite it as he would back in the Underground.
Mina
Mina's just been completely dejected this entire time. She's just glaring at everything around her. hearing Sela bitch herself out for slapping Johnny. Please, wait until SHE got her hands on him, she was going to do more than slap him. "I'm going to knock that kid's fuckin' block off." She states firmply.