Hello all Storm here with a new chapter! And showing more of the Scan Quest, with it now being close to the end of the first day of the Scan Quest part of the Scavenger Scan Tournament, with all the participants moving to get as many scans as they can. So, without further ado.
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"Hey H'earring, glad I caught you." Tom said at seeing the small UnderWorlder, with H'earring turning to the OverWorld Player.
"Tom, it seems like everyone is showing up looking for new scans." Stated H'earring, wondering what's going on that Kaz, Naruto and now Tom are showing up to get scans.
"Yeah, it's this tournament happening in Chaotic, the first part is a three day long Scan Quest for competitors to get as many scans as they can. And I was hoping if you could help me get some good UnderWorld scans, preferably Creatures. But if you know about any Mugic and BattleGear, those'll help too." Tom replied, willing to take any scans that H'earring manages to find for him.
"Huh, sounds pretty interesting. As for your scans, I'll have to check around and see what I can find, but it'll cost you." H'earring said with an eager grin, wanting to get some snacks in exchange for his help.
"Sure, if you want me to get you something to eat I can go collect whatever you want. And if it helps I scan you too." Said Tom before scanning H'earring, making the UnderWorlder squeal happily.
"Woohoo! That really helps! In fact since you're going to use me in this tournament, you can get a discount on what you bring me. And I'll throw this in for you to scan too." Said H'earring, happy that Tom scanned him, before pulling out the Deconstructor much to Tom's surprise.
"Wait, you're the one that Naruto got that BattleGear scan from?" Tom asked while eagerly scanning the Deconstructor.
"Yep! I let him scan it back in Everrain when you guys asked me about Borth-Majar, since he wanted to scan me. It's certainly a surprise when I use it." Said H'earring, snickering at the times he hit someone with the Deconstructor since no one ever thinks such a small BattleGear could be so dangerous.
"This is awesome! Thanks H'earring, I'll be sure to stop by again later." Said Tom before porting back to Chaotic.
*Chaotic*
Arriving back in the Port Court, Tom noticed dozens of other players running around, either coming or going to the docking tables or transporters. With the OverWorld Player quickly running over to a free table to upload his scans.
'Everyone's really working hard to get all the scans they can get before the first day of the Scavenger Scan Quest ends. And I get the feeling once the second day begins, things will really start going into high gear. I'm going to really need to up my game if I want to make sure I have plenty of scans once the finals begin. Luckily I've got OverWorld and UnderWorld scans covered with Bodal and H'earring.' Tom thought, having also asked Bodal to keep an eye out so he can get an idea of what OverWorld scans to get.
'I'll check on them let to see if they've found anything. Now it's time to head to Mount Pillar for some Danians.' Thought Tom before grabbing his Scanner once his scans were uploaded and ported back to Perim.
*Mount Pillar*
Once he appeared in Mount Pillar, Tom quickly found a spot to hide, looking around to make sure there weren't any guards around before he began looking around to try and find any Danians to scan.
'If I'm lucky maybe I could find Wamma, I'm sure he'd be able to help me get some good Danian scans.' Tom thought, knowing if he could find Wamma then getting Danian scans will be much easier.
Only for him to hear something, making Tom tense and look around before moving to hide at realizing the sound was insect wings flapping.
'Then that means…it's a flying Danian! Sweet!' Tom thought, eager at the chance to scan a flying Danian, before looking up into the air to see where the flapping was coming from.
Soon spotting a red Danian in the air with many long, spindly legs, and three sets of dragonfly or wasp wings, which were rapidly fluttering behind it.
Smiling at seeing the Danian, Tom pulled out his Scanner to scan them, only to frown when he saw the Danian was out of scanning range.
'No, come on! I can't miss the chance to scan him!' Tom thought, trying to get as close as he could without being spotted, before growing worried that the Danian was flying further away.
Trying to think of something to do to get the scan, Tom had an idea though knew it'd be risky and he'd need to time it right or else.
'I really hope this is worth it.' Thought Tom before stepping out into the open.
"Hey! Bug boy, down here! A human got into Mount Pillar without any of you noticing!" Tom shouted to get the Danian's attention, tensing when the Danian stopped mid-flight and turned towards him with a glare.
"Human intruder!" The Danian yelled before diving down straight towards Tom, making him quickly get his Scanner ready.
'Come on, just a little closer.' Tom thought as his Scanner began locking onto the Danian.
"You won't be leaving here alive, human! Hail Storm!" Said the Danian, unleashing a large stream of hail at the OverWorld Player, much to Tom's shock at seeing a Danian use an attack like that.
'Hail Storm?! That's a Water and Air Attack!' Thought Tom, before seeing his Scanner locked on and was scanning the Danian.
"Thanks for the scan! See ya!' Tom quickly said the moment the Scanner finished before quickly porting out, doing so just in time to avoid being hit by the hail.
*Chaotic*
Tom sighed in relief the moment he appeared back on the Port Court, knowing that had been a close call, only to smile at his new scan.
'Mhein. Woah, he has the Water, Air and Earth Elements! And his ability, gaining 5 Energy for each Creature that's been coded. Awesome!' Tom thought, pleased at getting a scan of Mhein, even better that his ability didn't require Hive, so he could have him on any kind of team.
Going over to upload his new scan, Tom wondered what other Danians he could scan, hoping to get even more rare ones.
*With Sarah*
Meanwhile, Sarah had ported back to the OverWorld and headed for Rock River Canyon to get a scan of the Location. Knowing it'll be a good place for Creatures with the Earth Element to gain some extra energy.
'And if I'm lucky then hopefully I can also find some Creatures here.' Sarah thought as she explored Rock River Canyon, checking her Scanner to see if it's picking up any Creatures nearby.
Though before it could pick up a signal, Sarah froze when she heard the sound of rocks being shattered, seeing that there was a Creature here. Moving more quietly, the Danian Player headed towards the sound to see who it was.
With her soon stopping and hiding behind some rocks, before peeking out and saw it was Arias who was breaking rocks.
"Power Pulse!" Arias said launching a barrage of green fists at a boulder, causing it to explode into rubble once it was hit, much to Sarah's surprise at the sight.
'Wow, Arias looks like he's really pumped up while training. And since we're in Rock River Canyon, he'll already have a boost in energy too. Definitely a good Creature to scan. I just need to…' Sarah thought moving slightly to get a better angle to scan the OverWorlder, only to tense when she ended up knocking some rocks over.
Causing Arias to stop and turn towards the sound, scowling in when he saw Sarah behind the rocks.
"You, Chaotic player!" Arias said before giving a shout as he charged at Sarah, much to her panic at seeing him barreling towards her.
Not risking trying to scan him while he's charging, Sarah jumped out of the way of Arias, barely managing to dodge him as he got close. Only to cry out when he stopped and turned around, backhanding her by slamming his forearm as it slammed into the left side of her abdomen. Sending Sarah crashing into the ground, groaning as she skidded back, with her Scanner being knocked out of her hand in the process.
"Did that hurt human? Good! I never liked you Chaotic players, and it's the least you deserve after your interferences ruined our chance to get information on the M'arrillians and now they know what to expect from us!" Said Arias with an angry scowl.
"I-I'm s-so-so-sorry." Sarah stuttered while quickly looking around for her Scanner, soon spotting it nearby before slowly crawling towards it, not wanting to risk Arias simply attacking again before she reached it.
"Sorry?! Sorry doesn't fix anything! But this will, by finally letting you Chaotic players know that our lives aren't a game for you to play with! Rock Wave!" Arias said slamming his fist into the ground, causing a wave of rocks to shoot up and descend towards Sarah, much to her panic.
Before she quickly lunged for her Scanner, grabbing it and quickly scanning Arias before porting out once she got it, barely avoiding being crushed by the rocks.
*Chaotic*
The moment she appeared back in the Port Court, Sarah collapsed while breathing heavily at how close that was, before grimacing as she held where Arias struck her. Though before she could hit the ground, someone caught her, making Sarah look to see Naruto giving her a concerned look.
"Are you alright, Sarah? Did something happen?" Naruto asked, having seen her port back and quickly ran over when he saw her about to fall.
"Yeah, something did. I had some bad luck and ran into one of the more hotheaded OverWorlders, Arias really hits hard." Sarah said as he helped her over to a table to sit down, while Naruto winced at hearing what happened before frowning.
"Where is he?" Said Naruto, refusing to let Arias get away with attacking his friend, if the ram-like OverWorlder has a problem then he can deal with him.
"No, no, it's fine, really. I don't want you picking a fight with him or anyone else, since it could make things worse. Besides, I still managed to get a scan of him, so that makes seven Creatures. I can just go scan the rest of my Locations, along with any BattleGear and Mugic I find." Said Sarah, not wanting Naruto to go around picking fights with every Creature that has a problem with her.
"…Fine but don't think I won't prank him to hell and back, no one hurts my friends and gets away with it. Though are you sure you want to keep going after that, Sarah?" Naruto asked, not wanting her to end up getting attacked again, with it potentially being even worse than what Arias did.
"Well I can't exactly back out now after the progress I made, nor after you and the guys peer pressured me into joining the tournament." Sarah retorted, causing the Uzumaki to wince at the accusation, making the female blonde sigh.
"You don't need to feel guilty, Naruto. I know it was just you all trying to help me, and…it does feel pretty exhilarating to be back in the Scan Quest game after being out of it for so long." Added Sarah, not wanting Naruto to feel guilty for just trying to help her.
"Still…we shouldn't have pressured you into joining and understood that you still weren't at your best, as well as the fact that there are still plenty of Creatures that don't like you." Said Naruto, while knowing even some of the Creatures he's befriended, like Takinom for example, still have some disdain for Sarah.
They only really tolerate her because she's his friend and they don't want to upset the whiskered blonde by being openly hostile to her.
"Though…I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that I ran into Aszil while at Mount Pillar and she's actually been crowned as Queen of the Danians, as a means to make sure if the M'arrillians attack Mount Pillar she'll be able to escape so the Danians aren't destroyed by losing their Queen. She's also invited us to her official coronation after the M'arrillians are defeated." Revealed Naruto, much to Sarah's shock before she smiled happily.
"That's amazing! I'm guessing you also scanned her, so you're now the first Chaotic player who's managed to get a scan of a Danian Queen! And I'd love the chance to see her coronated." Sarah said, happy that Aszil is at least willing to tolerate her, not wanting to miss a chance like seeing a Danian Queen's coronation.
But thinking about going to the coronation with Naruto, it caused another train of thought to appear in her head, making Sarah look at Naruto.
"Naruto, why haven't you asked me out?" Questioned Sarah, causing the Uzumaki's eyes to widen and blush in surprise.
"Wh-what?" Naruto said, not expecting her to suddenly ask that.
"Why haven't you asked me, Takinom, Intress or Aivenna out? I know you were completely dense before, but now Intress and Takinom have both kissed you, and then when you called out me, Aivenna and Intress before the…you know what." Sarah said, wondering why Naruto hasn't asked any of them out, since he clearly knows how they feel about him now.
"I…honestly I have been thinking about it a lot and…I'm sure that I like all of you too since each of you are amazing, strong and unique in your own ways. And I'll admit I've even thought about asking you out, I just don't know how I'm supposed to do that without hurting the others by asking out one of you. So I've just…been trying to avoid it, sorry." Said Naruto, having had enough time to think about it and he'll admit that what he feels for Sarah, Intress, Takinom and Aivenna is stronger than just friendship.
But he refused to do anything that'd hurt the others by making it seem like he's picking one of them, even though not giving them an answer probably hurts just as much. He simply didn't know what to do and just hoped to think of something.
"Oh…" Said Sarah, feeling happy to know Naruto felt the same, but also understanding his hesitation to go further.
"It's fine Naruto, I understand. I…think I actually have some stuff to think about now, after all that." Sarah said, knowing she'll have some stuff to think about as well, and probably stuff to talk about with Intress, Aivenna and Takinom.
Hopefully, if she's able to find them in good enough moods where they'd be willing to listen to her and not attack her on sight.
"Okay, take as long as you need. How are you feeling now, though?" Naruto asked, with Sarah standing up and touching her side.
"I'm feeling better now, it's still sore but nothing dangerous. If I need to I can just port my code back home and then come back." Replied Sarah, making the Ninja nod in response as he stood up.
"If you're feeling better than I'll see you later since we're still in a competition and on a time limit. See you Sarah, and good luck on any other scans you'll be going for." Naruto said, waving to the Danian Player as he headed to the transporters.
"See you Naruto, and good luck on your own Scan Quest." Said Sarah, returning the wave and watching as Naruto ported to Perim.
*Later-With Tom*
'Man, I wasn't expecting to find a Creature like Makanaz but I'm glad I did, he's a serious powerhouse. He's even stronger than Odu-Bathax.' Tom thought as he ported back to Mount Pillar after uploading his newest scan of Makanaz.
At first when he saw Makanaz, he thought it was Odu-Bathax after being powered up by Mugic given how similar the two looked. The only difference being the color, with Odu-Bathax being blue and Makanaz being red.
With it surprising Tom when he saw it wasn't Odu-Bathax after scanning him, only to be really glad he got it after seeing how powerful Makanaz is, along with being able to do Fire Attacks.
'I wonder if I could find out where Odu-Bathax is to scan him too.' Tom thought, knowing Odu-Bathax would be another good scan to get.
Though as he walked through Mount Pillar, Tom missed seeing something crawling along the ceiling above him, with the Creature narrowing its eyes at the human.
"Vine Snare!" Said the Creature before Tom cried out when vines shot down from above and wrapped around his body, yanking him up to the ceiling, his eyes widening at seeing the Creature that grabbed him.
Seeing it was a female Creature with her upper body being humanoid with blue skin while her lower body was a very long purple and red centipede body with dozens of red legs. With her also glaring at Tom with red eyes filled with wrath and rage.
"What're you doing here, human?!" Demanded the Creature, while Tom was freaking out at being held captive by a clearly dangerous Creature, only being relieved at feeling his Scanner still on his hand.
"I'm uh…just trying to get some scans. Uh…what kind of Danian are you supposed to be?" Tom asked, having never seen or heard of a Danian that looked even a little human like she did.
"I am no Danian! I am Kamangareth, an UnderWorlder! Call me a Danian again and I'll feast on your bones!" Kamangareth hissed, with Tom nodding frantically.
"Right, yeah, of course! Not a Danian! But…what exactly are you doing in Mount Pillar then?" Said Tom, wondering why an UnderWorlder was in Mount Pillar.
"It was my home long before the Danians took it! I would happily crush every one of these insects to take it back!" Said Kamangareth with a smile filled with bloodlust, making Tom gulp, only for her to growl in annoyance.
"However…because of the Tribal Alliance, Chaor wants me to work with the Danians, so I have…restrained myself from continuing to hunt them for the time being." Kamangareth said, willing to set aside her grudge against the Danians and work together to combat the M'arrillians when they arrive.
"O-o-oh, that's…that's good." Tom said, glad to see even if she seems to hate the Danians, she's still willing to work with them.
Only to gulp when Kamangareth smiled wickedly at him and held up her clawed hand.
"Yes, good. Unfortunately for you, you're just a human and I need to kill something. Nothing personal." Said Kamangareth, making Tom pale.
"U-u-uh-uh-u-uh! W-w-wa-wa-wa-wait, b-be-be-before you d-do anything uh…what's that over there?!" Said Tom, looking at something behind her, making the UnderWorlder quickly turn to see what was there.
With Tom taking the chance to move his Scanner and aim it at her, managing to press the button to scan Kamangareth, which she noticed and scowled at being tricked.
"Later!" Tom said before quickly porting himself out of there, doing so just in time as he barely avoided Kamangareth's claws impaling him.
*Chaotic*
Appearing back in the Port Court, Tom checked himself over, sighing in relief to see he hadn't been stabbed by the UnderWorlders.
'Oh man, if she's like that with a human, I almost feel sorry for the M'arrillians that end up encountering her.' Tom thought, not wanting to imagine what Kamangareth will do to actual enemies.
'I think I'm gonna avoid Mount Pillar for a while. I could probably check in with H'earring to see if he's found anything, then I'll get some rest before getting some more OverWorlder scans.' Thought Tom as he went and uploaded his new scan, before porting back to UnderWorld City.
*With Peyton*
"Sweet! I'm sure battling in the Lava Pond will really turn up the heat, even more once I find Magmon!" Peyton said as he got a scan of the Lava Pond, having ported here next to scan the Location and scan Magmon, knowing the two together will give him some serious firepower.
"Now then, if I was a big scary lava Creature, where would I be? Possibly chillin' in some burning lava, or I guess he'd be heating up rather than cooling off." Said Peyton, moving through the Lava Pond while looking for any sign of Magmon.
Only for the Mipedian Player to not get far when he was thrown back when an eruption of lava shot up in front of him. Making Peyton's eyes widen when it began taking shape until soon there was a Creature made of lava and stone in front of him.
"Kreaal?!" Peyton said, recognizing the UnderWorlder as one of the other residents of the Lava Pond.
"Uh I mean…Yo Kreaal! How's it hanging my guy, you enjoying the he-" Said Peyton, only for Kreaal to roar loudly causing multiple pillars of lava to shoot up around him.
"All intruders will burn! Lavalanche!" Kreaal said, directing the lava towards Peyton, making him pale as he quickly scanned the UnderWorlder.
"Understood, no more visits! Later!" Peyton said, porting out once he got the scan just as the lava crashed down where he was standing.
*Chaotic*
Letting out a relieved breath at escaping before he was cooked, Peyton went over and uploaded his new Kreaal scan.
'Not the fiery friend I was hoping for, but Kreaal will still help big time with my UnderWorlders. In fact…' Peyton thought, getting an idea as he grabbed his Scanner.
'I'll head back to Everrain, here's hoping that Ilx will be floating around somewhere around there. Even better that the Mipedian Fulgurite I scanned will help him really blow away the competition.' Thought Peyton with a smirk as he ported away to Everrain.
So, what did you think, good. Yep we see Tom meeting up with H'earring for help on gathering UnderWorld scans, while also scanning H'earring which lets him get the chance to scan the Deconstructor as well, much to his gratitude. Before Tom then heads to Mount Pillar and manages to get a scan of Mhein, knowing how useful it'll be to have a flying Danian.
Then we see Sarah in Rock River Canyon, where she has an unlucky encounter with Arias who doesn't hide his contempt for Chaotic players, especially Sarah for messing up the mission to get information on the M'arrillians. Luckily she manages to still scan him and escape before being crushed by his Rock Wave.
With her then encountering Naruto back in Chaotic, with him not being happy to learn what happened though promises not to pick a fight with Arias, but does plan to prank him. Before telling Sarah about Aszil now being the Danian Queen and inviting them to her official coronation, much to Sarah's excitement.
Before Sarah then asked Naruto why he hasn't asked out her, Intress, Takinom or Aivenna, with Naruto admitting after thinking about he does have feelings for them, but he just isn't sure how to approach one without hurting the others. Something that now gives Sarah something to think about, before they go their separate ways.
We then go back to Tom in Mount Pillar after getting a scan of Makanaz, only to be attacked by Kamangareth, barely managing to get a scan of her and port out before she tries attacking.
Finally we see Peyton getting a scan of the Lava Pond and trying to find Magmon, only to end up encountering Kreaal who's been ordered to attack any intruders. Forcing Peyton to quickly escape after managing to get a scan of him. While now planning to go to Everrain to try and scan Ilx. So, for those that like the story, thanks for your support. For those that don't or at least don't like the direction taken, you're more than welcomed to drop the story. But thanks for giving the story a chance anyway.
Storm out