Buzzster Hooperham
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The Quizmaster
Player Character
Posts: 132
Trainer Class: 
Player Name: Buzzster Hooperham
OOC Username: D-Bug
Arena Points: 70
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Post by Buzzster Hooperham on Apr 7, 2023 1:54:05 GMT 9
Sneaking around in abandoned caves was always a bit of a risk. You could step on rusty nails, fall down abandoned mineshafts, become stuck underneath a hibernating grizzly, or stuck when you accidentally set off a complex puzzle!
Thankfully, Buzzster was a seasoned expeditionaire, so he didn't panic when he set off a complex puzzle and the steel door slammed shut behind the pair, leaving them in darkness.
"No worries mate, I've got this one nappin," Buzzster said, sending out La Trixxia. The Vulpix delicately ignited the braziers set into the room's alcoves, and in the thick, smoky light of the torches they observed what was stopping them walking right back out of the cave: a puzzle.
The room had two doors: the now sealed entrance, and a second, smaller door leading further into the carved cliffside.
The entrance door had been triggered when he had picked up a gleaming metal ball from the pedestal in the center of the room. It was one of nine metal balls, each nestled in a hole in the pedestal. Buzzster dropped the ball back in the hole and it snapped back into place, drawn in by the natural magnetism of the iron-rich stone that the mountain cave was carved from.
"Well it's simple, right? We just have to solve the puzzle and then we can go!" |
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Verai
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You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class: 
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on Apr 7, 2023 10:38:58 GMT 9
Verai didn't answer Zac immediately. He hadn't said much the entire encounter- The most, maybe, he'd given the other trainer was a grunt of disapproval when he realized he was stuck in the same location as... whatever his name was. He didn't remember. All he could remember about the man was that he grabbed a sea urchin with his bare hands, and that even that hadn't stopped the incessant chatter.
And now they were both stuck in a cave- Perhaps that wasn't fair. Caves were more natural, while this seemed more man0made. Bria had said something about this, but he... couldn't remember what she had said. The word for it probably didn't matter much. Verai was just... really tired of getting stuck in weird places with rather interesting people.
Verai had withdrawn his pokemon the instant it had gone dark- the only quick interaction he was ever going to learn with the ui- and kept them away even as light now filled the room. "What kind of puzzle is it?" Whatever kind it was, it wasn't very clear. Usually, when Bria was playing one of these games there were... literal little signs everywhere. Even at the river he'd been able to see what his goal was. Here? There was nothing. Just the metal orb in the center that What's-his-name had trapped them with, and the eight around it.
He reached for one of the outlying ones, taking hold of it- and it resisted, far more than a little metal orb should. But not enough regardless, and he pulled it free from the socket. And... nothing happened. He looked around, and... nothing seemed changed. The room was the same, the eight other orbs, nothing indicating what anyone should be doing-
Save for a strange flickering of light in the center of the room, then. Verai stared at it, trying to study the movements. It looked almost like water, light filtering through a stream or pond. But there wasn't any extra light- Just the torches the other's vulpix had already lit. So, where...
Something splashed on his hand, Verai pausing to stare at it, and then look up. He was anticipating a stalactite, or a lurking pokemon, not... a lake, wide and crystalline, reflecting the room from the ceiling. There was a lake in the ceiling. "... hey." He called, half uselessly, still staring up at the ceiling. With the lake.
That wasn't how games worked, right? |
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Buzzster Hooperham
•
The Quizmaster
Player Character
Posts: 132
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Buzzster Hooperham
OOC Username: D-Bug
Arena Points: 70
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Post by Buzzster Hooperham on Apr 10, 2023 14:05:29 GMT 9
"What sort of puzzle?" Buzzster chuckled. "Well they're all the same, right? Every puzzle is made by some bloody nerd boy who thinks he's the best thing since Peppermint Schnapps." He rearranged a few of the balls, mixing them up terribly in the process. "Huh." He rearranged them again and, completely by chance, returned them all to their starting spots. "So we've got to get into the mind of the designer, you see, puzzle making is just applied philosophy." He finally heard Verai's voice, and trailed off as he noticed his adventuring buddy was staring at the ceiling. Buzzster followed the man's gaze, and his eyes widened as he rook in the picturesque aquatic landscape that seemed to live and swell in the roof of the cave.
"Whoa! Trippy!" Buzzster said, as a drop from the ceiling splattered onto his suit. "That's some real graphics up there. It's like one of those M.C. Hammer paintings!" He grabbed one of the metal balls and, logically, hurled it right into the lake on the ceiling. The splash from the orb sprayed the room in liquid, which beaded in silver droplets on every surface, flickering and wriggling. The beads pulled together in tiny puddles, and Zac, curious, licked a droplet off his hand. "Huh. Tastes just like those old thermometers." |
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Verai
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You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on Apr 16, 2023 3:07:29 GMT 9
Was it responsible to stare upwards at an impossibly suspended body of water? No. Was it responsible to, in lieu of staring wondrously at it, simply chuck a fist-sized metal ball and hurl it up at the ceiling, with the suspended water, directly above them?
Hell no.
Verai twisted away as the ball hit, ducking to try and keep his face from being sprayed by the liquid. He looked balefully at Zac, only to see the man... eat some. "Like mercury?" He asked, voice decidedly reproachful all of a sudden. "That kills people." Not even in an entertaining way. Slowly, locked away in a bedroom, forgotten. And now it was all over them, and soaking into his hair. So they were both going to die. Wonderful.
Regardless, he needed to find a way out. Stepping around the writhing puddles as much as he could. The walls offered little, save for the flickering torchlight- and a small plaque, just before the door they were trying to open.
Verai, naturally, looked up, only seeing the roof of the cave, a few beads of mercury still clinging grimly. That... was less than helpful. He was getting a headache. He looked back towards Zac. "Any other bright ideas?" |
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Buzzster Hooperham
•
The Quizmaster
Player Character
Posts: 132
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Buzzster Hooperham
OOC Username: D-Bug
Arena Points: 70
|
Post by Buzzster Hooperham on Apr 22, 2023 10:36:06 GMT 9
"Mercury? Like the planet? Mate I don't know what sort of space juice they fill thermometers with where you're from, but we just use regular old apple-cider vinegar, extracted straight from the seeds." The metallic liquid seeped straight into Zac's skin, but he didn't seem to notice.
Zac looked around the cave, absentmindedly scratching his arm where the mercury had been absorbed. He noticed the plaque, and read it aloud. "Look to the stars for guidance. The constellations are the key." He looked around for stars, but just saw his Pokemon, La Trixxia, Petal, and-- "Charlie Sheen!" he shouted, holding up the terrified Surskit. "You're a star, right? They even put your name on Hollywood Boulevard!" He put the Pokemon down on the raised pedestal. "Charlie! What do you know about astrology?"
"Me? I only hatched last week," squeaked the little bug.
"An Aquarius, huh? That explains a lot." Buzzster arranged the metal balls to resemble the constellation of the water carrier. Nothing happened. "Verai! Quick, when's your birthday!" |
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on Apr 22, 2023 11:07:28 GMT 9
Verai took a slow breath in, and out, which did nothing to abate the migraine. Probably because he was now dying of mercury toxicity. When he turned back, Buzzster had put some bug up on the pedestal, and was asking about... astrology. His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what, the hell, Buzzster was talking about.
How was his- Oh, to fuck with it. "Fire snake," He said, simultaneously answering and not even remotely answering the question. He finally, finally, pulled out a pokeball, letting it loose. "Kitten- We're trying to find stars. Do you see any?" The litten shook herself out mightily, as if she'd been sleeping in the dusty back corner of a pantry. <Stars?? Okay! Yeah! I'll find 'em!!> She chirped, bounding over to smell at Zac's shoes first, before circling the room once, and returning to Verai.
<Um... but we can't see the sky underground...?> |
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Buzzster Hooperham
•
The Quizmaster
Player Character
Posts: 132
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Buzzster Hooperham
OOC Username: D-Bug
Arena Points: 70
|
Post by Buzzster Hooperham on Apr 22, 2023 21:47:52 GMT 9
"Fire snake ay?" Buzzster said, trying to remember which one that was. Was it Scorpio? No, that's the bloody scorpion. Gemini? No, that was the twins. Virgo? Nobody really knew what Virgo was, so it was probably the fire snake. Sure. Why not.
Zac rearranged the balls into what he remembered as the constellation for Virgo. Predictably, nothing happened, but Zac was feeling his fortune-telling bone tingling again. His fingers tingled, and with a deep and mystic voice he spoke the language of the stars, filling the darkness of the cave with the whispered secrets from far above.
"Listen closely, Virgo, for your Pokemon partners are whispering secrets of victory to you. Trust your instincts and carefully calculate your moves to outwit your opponents. Beware of those who try to sabotage your journey, but do not fear for your trusty Scyther will come to your defense. Remember to stay organized and plan ahead, for chaos may ensue otherwise. The stars predict a fateful encounter with a wild Ditto, be ready for whatever transformations it may bring."
It was a fine fortune, only thrown off by its incorrect astrological information, Buzzster's inexperience, and the onset of mercury poisoning. |
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Verai
•
You Can't Take Me
The Creed
Posts: 877
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Miyagawa Tarou
OOC Username: spibe
Arena Points: 38
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Post by Verai on Apr 24, 2023 12:34:55 GMT 9
Verai listened closely. Unfortunately, nothing that came out of Zac's mouth made any sense. "I'm not a Virgo." He said, eyes narrowed. "I don't have a scyther, and there aren't wild ditto here." He knew that one specific fact vividly. Bria had looked up the game, and had gone on and on about how there weren't ditto released yet, because then you couldn't ivy-something breed pokemon. And then she had gone on further because there wasn't breeding at all in the game.
Why was she so concerned about a breeding line? He had no idea. Probably the ivy-something.
Verai shook his head, looking over towards Kitten- only to find her staring straight upwards at the roof of the cave. "Kitten-" He walked over (trying to ignore the mild distress Zac's bug thing was in), scooping Kitten into his arms. "Be careful. You don't want that falling onto your face."
<Purrai->
"C'mon," He coaxed, moving to the side of the room opposite Zac, and his... fortunes. "Let's look over here." Kitten wiggled in his arms, clearly trying to get free. She looked over at the big guy- the one with the bear- for some form of help. <Pumme down!!! I can fix it!!!> |
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Buzzster Hooperham
•
The Quizmaster
Player Character
Posts: 132
Trainer Class:
Player Name: Buzzster Hooperham
OOC Username: D-Bug
Arena Points: 70
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Post by Buzzster Hooperham on May 28, 2023 8:56:25 GMT 9
"Huh. Must be for someone else," Buzzster said, shrugging off the complaints about his otherwise perfect prophecy.
They searched the room a second time, and Zac tripped over a rock that was half-buried in the packed, sandy ground. "Gah! Careful everyone, someone's put this bloody rock here!" Zac rubbed his bruised shin, and his words tumbled through his head like dropped marbles. "Put it here..." How did he know that? Was it his latent psychic abilities finally awakening? His immense geographical knowledge? Or was it the fact that the rock has made a hollow, plastic sound when he'd kicked it.
The group excavated the rock, and Zac turned it over. Something clattered around inside. "You hear that?" Could it be the secret to all of this? The mercury ceiling, the metal balls, the door of stone?
Zac punched a hole in the plastic rock, and out fell a key. It was longer than any key he'd seen before. Even larger than the novelty 'key to the city' that he'd stolen from the Mayor's office on his trip to Alberta. He handed it to Verai. "And where there's a key, there's bound to be a lock." He grinned. This mystery was as good as solved.
The door was as inscrutable as before. A plate of cold stone without mark, handle, or even keyhole. "There's gotta be a hole here somewhere," Buzzster complained, brushing down the dusty surface with his huge hands. "Or a crack, or something!"
He leaned against the door as he picked off a chunk of flaky stone, and the simple weight of his body made the slab swing open.
Blessed fresh air and blinding sunlight filled the darkened room, and Zac covered his eyes. "Ah! Bloody hell! It's like a flashbang at a nightclub!" he shouted, pawing his way forward to freedom.
They were OUT. The trap had been simpler than they'd imagined. but there was much left unknown. What was the purpose of the metallic ceiling? What did the balls mean? What about that cryptic plaque that had told them the stars would offer them guidance?
And what door fit that giant key? |
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