AngelSubzero - Douma's Adventures

Both Shinobu and Yushiro stood at the shore, watching the view and thinking about these recent events that surfaced at the most unexpected of times. Atlas' explanation being as clear as day didn't make any sense in some areas.

"I hope they'll be OK. This mission sounds dangerous." The violette was feeling a little lightheaded at the thought of Douma and Chachamaru scouting a desolated island for some mission that they wouldn't have considered if it weren't for the sake of everybody at Dice and Roll Valley.

It's thoughtful of them, but they didn't need to accept it, for it cost them this valuable time they planned ahead for.

Yushiro gulped feeling a bit of uncertainty for his two friends who were going to be away from them for a while. Not saying a word, he just stood there in silence trying to figure out what else Dice and Roll Valley could offer for the two of them.

There was nothing he could think of, this trip turned dull pretty quickly. "A strange island and bandits on the loose. Seems serious but our friends had to ditch us just like that."

Shinobu was taken aback by what the teen said. There was no denying that, but Douma and Chachamaru had no other choice.

"They had to go on this mission. Mr Oshiro knows what he's doing. The outcome would guarantee Dice and Roll Valley's breakthrough from the troubles that's been holding them back." The violette felt her heart skip a beat at the thought of the trust Douma had for her.

For a while, Yushiro looked at Shinobu and took a deep breath. He had nothing to say, the disappointment was immeasurable, but there was nothing he could do.

~~~ 

Chachamaru watched his trainer, Mr Fumio giving the two groups a stern warning before they proceeded with the investigations. The feline had a bad feeling about this, Mr Fumio wasn't the person to rely on if the worst happens. He didn't think twice about the bandits lurking around despite Akagi and Bunta warning him about it. The man still went on with splitting the group to conduct the investigations in two completely different locations.

Just because the locations were close to this assembly point that Mr Fumio and Ime and Banri had formed, doesn't mean their surroundings were free from danger.

At the same time, Chachamaru was boiling inside, when he realized Douma who knew better wasn't speaking up. The blonde wasn't taking this seriously was he? Shinobu had occupied a large portion of his mind and thoughts. Get over it already! Chachamaru couldn't stand the thought of working with such unreliable teammates in an isolated island away from civilization.

"Hey dork! Get off that log and say something already!" The feline yelled at the blonde who sat there with a poker face while Mr Fumio was rambling about the meteorite in the location that their team was assigned to.

Douma could tell Chachamaru was blurting out nonsense without even thinking. This hot-headed fool, everybody can hear what he's saying, including Mr Fumio who for some reason, ignored Chachamaru and went on about the next location assigned to Bunta and the other troops.

"Do you think I'm just going to sit here and let you assume I don't care about the consequences of this messy ordeal?" Douma challenged Chachamaru who was stumped by his sudden change of tone. "This is the problem with you Chachamaru, you always step on the bandwagon. Let go of that ego and think clearly for once because I am and you're not."

Chachamaru curled his hands into balls of fists. "Then why aren't you saying anything I don't wanna get stranded-"

"Someone's overthinking. If you planned all this yourself you wouldn't get stranded? Sure."

"Ugh it's not like I wanted to come here! Besides why is the group so dysfunctional, I thought Mr Oshiro had better recruits."

Mr Fumio raised his voice and told the groups to start preparing their things for the investigation. Akagi and Kurai snickered when they saw Douma and Chachamaru's mini argument. Perhaps they weren't the only ones who were questioning Mr Fumio's authority for this case.

Regardless, with Douma's unbearable attitude, this was the beginning of an upcoming disaster. The blonde with the iridescent eyes was not to be trusted.

"Listen up everyone you only have two hours to dig up clues and samples. The meteorite is said to have landed within this radius. Begin your search." Mr Fumio walked away from the assembled groups and rested near a spot under a tree. Ime and Banri went to their respective groups and led the team to their grounds.

Banri explained to Douma and Chachamaru about Dice and Roll Valley's call of action when they found out about the meteor that landed decades before its establishment. It took those who knew about it to start a short investigation on this island, only for it to come to an end months later.

Douma pitied those who were enthusiastic about the meteor all those years ago, they never got a conclusion to this mystery.

But it wasn't, and there was so much proof of that, Mr Oshiro was very convinced that the meteorite was still present on this island. It just takes a lot of effort to find it, but they will eventually.

"It's funny, nobody found the meteorite." The angel said, recalling Mr Oshiro and the public's speculations about what possibly happened to it.

"That's because it might have dissolved into the Earth or break down into the rocks that we pay little to no attention to." Banri replied, glancing at Chachamaru, Akagi and the others to make sure they were listening to his explanations about the phenomenon on the island.

Chachamaru snorted. "Yeah that sounds very believable. Maybe it grew legs and ran away." Both Akagi and Kurai narrowed their eyes at the feline, shaking their head in disapproval.

Suddenly a strong pungent smell struck the group. It had a strong presence of smoke and acid clouding the atmosphere. Dark specks of clouds began floating in the air the closer the group got to this specific location.

The smell irritated Chachamaru's nostrils, he sniffed the air to figure out where it was coming from but there was no source.

"Don't breathe in the smell! It's poisonous!" Banri scurried to the front of the group warning everyone to cover their nostrils frantically.

Akagi and the others panicked. Where's the source? How long has the smell been here. So many questions, none of this was adding up. The group awaited Banri's answer since he was more familiar with the island.

"Whatever you do, don't touch anything around here." Akagi warned Chachamaru who shivered when he felt the tall man's presence beside him.

"Uh yeah." The feline squeaked.

Banri scouted the area, which gave Douma and the others the impression that there was indeed a source. They just had to find it, which marked the next part of their investigation.

Douma unleashed a cold wind that blew away the poisonous gas which perished eventually. Everybody else lowered the hands finally able to breathe in the fresh air again, even though it was not so pleasing due to the aftermath of the pollution.

"The poisonous gas surfaced years after the meteor disappeared," Banri spoke as he stared at an empty plot in the middle of the lumpy ground. "We believe the meteor landed right here but dissolved after a longtime."

Both Douma and Chachamaru were puzzled by this. There doesn't seem to be any traces of the meteorite so where could it have gone? The gas wasn't enough proof.

"Any idea where the meteorite went? If it did dissolve, there'd be substrate. In this case, it's just soil and moss." The angel asked Banri who shook his head. Maybe something bizarre might have really happened to it, but a dissolving meteorite was out of the question now, there were no traces of its remains or presence anywhere.

"Nobody knows, there's a lot of theories but the meteorite dissolving makes the most sense out of all of them."

"Alright let's not ponder about that for too long. The meteor might not have landed in this spot specifically, we'll check other areas." Akagi took out his equipment and weapon with him, the shades he wore made the situation seem casual. But everybody else was too concern to even think about taking their time with this mission.

The rest of the team began installing their machinery and kits into the ground to dig up for clues and determine the state of the soil should there be anything significant.

Strange... the meteor couldn't have just disappeared. The blonde looked around and saw the machinery getting activated and digging the ground. This can't be some hoax can it? Atlas is convinced that the reports were true, even the government is aware about it so what happened to the meteor?

"Banri, how do you know the gas is poisonous? I already guessed from the numb feeling it gives even from the slightest contact, but could this mean that the meteor itself is poisonous too?" Douma asked, he was very much aware there was something peculiar going on with the state of things here.

"Well you just answered your own question about the gas and maybe we don't know for sure because we've never seen it. So we have to be careful now." Banri responded, he too was bewildered by this phenomenon. This is the closest he's ever been to finding out more about the meteorite.

Chachamaru dragged his feet to the large boulder. He didn't know what to do here, no matter how much he searched the place he'd find nothing.

"This is such a drag. What's the point of investigating this place."

Glancing to his left, Chachamaru noticed something strange. "That's funny I swear that rock shifted from its spot just now-"

Suddenly a large worm-like creature emerged from the ground throwing rocks and soil in every direction. Chachamaru leaped away and ran to Douma and Banri who were staring at the giant monster in shock.

"WHAT IS THAT THING?!" Chachamaru yelled, getting the attention of Akagi and the others who spun around in alarm at the commotion behind them.

"Everyone don't move! It'll only chase you if do, stop what you're doing now!" Banri shouted.

"Are you kidding me? This crazy worm is right behind me!" Chachamaru caught up to Douma and Banri, nearly running into them. He adjusted his balance and stopped in his tracks, hoping what Banri said was true because the monster was closing in on them now.

The three of them froze in their tracks, watching the giant worm stop a few feet away from them and then change direction, slithering around looking for its prey. Chachamaru was about to question about this sudden change in its behavior when Banri spoke again.

"He has good hearing but his vision isn't very good." The man whispered, which made sense, the worm could barely see them standing right in front of it. Even Akagi and the others were out of its radar.

"The Mongolian death worm relies more on its hearing when hunting. So if you see Slasher, don't move until he leaves."

"Yeah thanks for the information but why didn't you tell us about this giant worm earlier? I was about to become his meal." Chachamaru tiptoed closer to Banri while keeping his eyes on the slithering worm in the area.

Douma noticed this worm was just as huge as Carium the crab kaiju. During their encounter with Carium, he mentioned about the resurrection and status of the kaiju roaming the Earth. It's no surprise if people were bound to stumble upon a kaiju in the most obscure areas. But this worm has been hiding somewhere, most likely underground.

And the machinery had awoken him from his slumber.

The giant worm slithered away into the depths of the forest. A bad sign, if Slasher continues lurking around, the group will be in constant danger, they had to plan the next course of action carefully from here.