Board Thread:Roleplay/@comment-25218347-20180604010109/@comment-26892768-20180610003951

Meanwhile, Stalk Narrator thinks for a moment. "...so, where is Grimdark Rose, then? Might be a good idea to know..."

He heads out into the halls. "Oi, Mother Ranconteur! I require your assistance in finding the Rosoidae that has become particularly amoral and violent!"

Becky nods. "Thank you. This information will be most helpful. Now...I believe we're ready to move on to business."

Bec Noir's sword does nothing to the tablet, but when it hits, a series of white sparks flies from the impact. If Bec Noir has an internal "space shit" alarm, it may be going off around now.

He maaaaaaaay want to stop before he opens up a rift or something.

"Well..." Eliza sighs. "Admittingly, all the pieces aren't in place for the plan yet; we still need a way to get back here after we're done, and I haven't taken you two into account yet. That said, I have most of the plan laid out, so if you wish to hear what I have, I'll freely tell you."

And conveniently enough, Zakaku happens to be in the forest, and is currently walking towards the parasite.

Meanwhile, in another universe, a certain two adventurers are in a dark forest, walking deep into the thick of it as the short, blue-armored one of the two looks at a ma-it's Shovel Knight and Shield Knight, you all know it's Shovel Knight and Shield Knight I mean ''come on. ''Anyway, they're approaching their end to their long, three-day journey. For what, you ask? Simple - an odd purple rock that, according to a particularly panicked explorer, was capable of tearing open a hole in the air and letting out a group of particularly nasty monsters that quickly attacked his entire party while he managed to get away.

So, omniversal shenanigans, obviously.

Shovel Knight ponders a bit as he looks at the map, then looks at the surroundings. "We should be getting close...and yet, I don't see any sign of the creatures. Perhaps they moved?"

Shield Knight shakes her head. "I would say not; there's enough large wildlife here to sustain the beasts. Remember when we camped here for the night and a man-eating bear attacked us in the middle of the night?"

Shovel Knight lets out a hearty laugh. "I certainly remember the meal we had afterwards!"

Shield Knight joins Shovel Knight in his laughter for a moment before they both go quiet again, continuing to walk forward. After a moment, Shovel Knight starts talking again. "'tis a shame that we couldn't contact any of those other heroes. I'm sure a few of them would've gotten a kick out of this."

"Well, I'm certainly not tormented over it." Shield Knight remarks. "I like it when it's just the two of us. It's like a look back into our younger years...not to mention, we don't have to stop ourselves from getting into more...intimate moments."

"I certainly can't argue with that." Shovel Knight admits, now holding the map with one hand as his other hand, as an extension of his other arm, has now been entwined with Shield Knight's arm. "But, to be fair, it does keep us more battle-ready-"

And then the two notice a slight change to their environment.

"By the gods..." Shovel Knight looks at a skeletal corpse hanging from a web.

Shield Knight looks further down their path, her face turning grim. "Spiders."

She looks at Shovel Knight. "Perhaps this would be a good time to test our updated crusher strategy?"

Shovel Knight nods, pulling out the Dust Knuckles...before handing them to Shield Knight, who then proceeds to equip them as the two walk further down into the forest.

And then they see their monsters, unlike anything they've seen before.

"What manner of creature is this!?" Shovel Knight grips his shovel tight as both he and Shield Knight look on at the creatures. They're spider-like for certain, but each leg ends with a hand, their mouth, rather than being a mess of mandibles, is disturbingly human, and they have three eyes each, each one extended on an eyestalk at some sort.

The Level 3 Netherstalkers look up in surprise, before hissing at the knights, gathering together and guarding the corpses in the back of their "nest" - and the stone near them, next to an extinguished campfire.

Shield Knight grips her shield. "I do not know - but they are about to taste the the wrath of justice!"

And with that, the two knights charge.