The Great Belligerency [Round 4: Static]

Originally posted on MSPA by Dragon Fogel.

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"I presume you aren't interested in fighting a god just yet," Reinhardt commented as Cole searched around the basement. The firefly's light was of limited use to him, being on the opposite side from his eyes; he had to compensate by mimicking the eyes of a moth.

The room was a mess, but there was no sign of a struggle. Nothing was actually broken.

"It does not appear that they were attacked by another competitor," Cole said, his attention turning to the puddle of water on the floor. "Phil Girnham is armed, and all our opponents save the girl have clear capacity for collateral damage. I see no sign of that."

"Then where did they go?" Reinhardt asked, eyeing the stairs cautiously.

Cole said nothing. The puddle seemed unusual, somehow. He wasn't certain of why.

There was a loud noise at the top of the stairs. The sound distrupted Cole's concentration.

Reinhardt looked at his ally. "Perhaps we should investigate that instead, hmm? Whatever happened to Girnham and the girl, they clearly aren't here any more. And unless you can find another exit, I'd rather know if there's a threat up there than wait in here for it to come after us."

"One moment." Cole carefully stretched an arm over the puddle. Selecting a relatively useless dung beetle, he plucked it from his arm, and then dropped it in the water.

The water formed a crude and tiny hand, grabbing the beetle and pulling it in. It vanished.

"I think we may have discovered what happened to Girnham and 'Amy'," Cole commented. "Perhaps we can use this to our advantage? It would be inadvisable to enter the water ourselves, as we cannot be certain we would survive. But, we need not hold that same concern about our opponents..."