Tomb Raider (Kardus, Ask to join but limited to magical characters only)

Toji nods as Brave gives him orders. "Aye, sir! No worries there!" However, he frowns as his leader and 'big brother' fails to make much headway. Getting an idea, the halfling grins, grabbing his weapon and transforming it into it's sythe form. Whirling it around, Toji lets loose, streaking one sythe across the hall as the chain get's longer and longer, nodding as he hears a clink, only to growl as he jiggles the chain and feels the looseness."Dang it..... IT didn't catch...." He looks at the two females."Do you two wish me to carry you across? If I go full speed, I could get across, I bet."He looks at Kale. "Hey, Pack Leader, how about for you a...how do you say it...Fast Ball Special?!"

Annie watched as Kale devoured the energy Toji tossed him, bringing him back up to full strength.  He hadn't answered Annie's question and instead walked right by, approaching the next challenge.  Annie stood still, watching him go by.  Kasha poked his head out of the neck of her coat, and she lifted him out to hold him.  She held the kitten close to herself, just watching at this point.  Between being ignored just now, Toji's eagerness to take the statue from her, and Ingrid's behavior in general, Annie had gotten the message.  She wasn't wanted, she wasn't needed; even if no-one outright said it.  If anything she was getting in the way.  Toji and Kale were kind-hearted enough to still take the time to ensure her safety, but honestly that just confirmed the fact that she was getting in the way.  From this point, Annie stayed behind at a distance.  She followed, but not very closely.  

Toji offered to carry her and Ingrid across.  She looked up to him, then back forward at the tiles.  "You don't need to.." was all she said.  Was there any point?  She could probably get by on her own if Kasha shifted to a cheetah and leaped from black tile to black tile until he reached the other side, then used his reverse recall spell to teleport Annie over; assuming the tiles wouldn't block it.  She likely wouldn't bother trying unless the other three made it over without her.  Maybe she would just head back and forget even trying...

...

No..she had to.  As much as she felt ostracized, she had to continue.  Something was calling to her for help; she couldn't just ignore that.  Another pulse went by, almost as if to confirm this.  Annie sighed, waiting for the others to either taker her across or go without her; it didn't matter which.

There were two reasons why Ingrid made her previous declaration. The first was to prove her theory, and the second was to see why her unwanted companions chose to move forward despite being exhausted. The second was answered rather promptly. The Titan mage consumed what looked like a ball of energy and was almost immediately back to his full strength. Her first thought was how troublesome it would be to deal with. The Titan then stepped forward to fulfill her first reason and scouted ahead, stepping only on the black tiles. It seemed straightforward but she knew it wasn't going to be easy. Confirming her suspicions, part way through his advance, the Titan appeared to have a little trouble continuing forward.

In any other circumstance, Ingrid would have gladly taken advantage of any offer of free assistance. But at the prospect of being handled rather roughly, she preferred to decline this time around, raising her hand to indicate so. It surprised her however that the little girl declined the offer as well. It was strange since the girl didn't give off the impression of someone physically capable enough for this kind of challenge.

"Are you sure? If you are planning to rely on your familiar, I would advise against it. One wrong step and it's the end. A human like yourself might be able to barely crawl back to safety but familiars would be too drained to move if they touched those tiles."

Of her unwanted companions, it was the little girl that piqued Ingrid's interest the most. She was the only one whose goals for being in that cave were unclear. Was Ingrid concerned? Only because it would be uninteresting for the girl to drop out due to an elementary mistake. And as a fellow user of familiars, she was a walking source of information.

Ingrid addressed Toji. "Just take her with you. It's probably far safer than whatever alternative she has in mind."

Ingrid then stepped forward and jumped to the nearest black tile. As she leaped over the purple tiles, there was a sensation of pressure on her body. Even without directly touching them, it seemed the draining effect was still somewhat present. She could only infer that the effects might be even greater on pure magical beings like familiars. In that case, one of the options she considered of using a flying one to get across probably wouldn't have worked. It was likely to run out of power before it could get far and would be forced to land somewhere inconvenient.

She continued to follow the path the Titan took earlier but it soon became apparent that she couldn't follow it exactly. The black tiles were moving and shifting, increasing the difficulty of the obstacle.

Toji blinks, kneeling down."Are you sure? Hmm....it'll be dangerous for your familiar,yah know?" He grins."Don't think you're useless,by the way. I'm just dumb muscle, so you know more about this than me, I bet." standing up, he holds out his hand."C'mon, let's go! Hop on my back, and I'll give you two a lift. Better to save your strength so you can help us out on something I can't do,yah?" If the little girl, did so, the young halfling would streak across the floor, jumping on black tiles inhumanly fast. As they neared the other side,Toji grinned."YAAAHOOOO! THIS IS FUN!!!"

Neither Toji nor Ingrid thought it was a good idea for Annie to go it alone, saying it was dangerous for her familiar. Annie knew he'd be fine but rather than argue just decided to go with it. She looked at Toji, then back at the tiles and nodded. "Alright..."

Putting Kasha back under her coat, she climbed into Toji's arms and held on as he took them to the other side. She didn't exactly have as much fun as he did, though... The feeling of having so many tiles waiting to suck her dry wasn't exactly fun either. She didn't even have to touch them to feel the tiles pulling at her strength. She was glad when they finally got to the other side, shuddering as she touched the ground again.

Taking a deep breath to recollect herself, Annie took Kasha back out again to hold. She was quite now, kissing his head as she turned to look and see what the next challenge was.

It did not go unnoticed. That would have been impossible. As Ingrid was making her way through the puzzle, the Titan who had gone ahead of her suddenly vanished. It was a blink-and-you-missed-it moment. Right as he had taken a step onto the next tile, a portal appeared below him and promptly fell through. But rather than make a big fuss about it, she decided to just avoid that tricky tile and managed to get to the other side following a slightly different route. The other Titan and the girl made it fine as well. She decided to to preemptively address the issue rather than be bothered by it later.

"It seems your friend took a wrong step and is no longer with us. To clarify, I have no intention of stalling my progress to find him. Feel free to turn back and look for him if you wish, but I shall move forward."

Ingrid turned around and came upon another large stone door with runic writing. It was similar to the bridge over the chasm that she encountered earlier. The door demanded a blood payment. She took out a pin from her pocket and pricked her finger, letting a few drops of blood trickle onto the stone carving protruding from the door. Moments later, the ground beneath them began to shake violently and the ceiling over the area behind them began to cave in. Returning that way was suicidal.

Meanwhile, the door finally opened revealing what looked like a stone slide as the next path. Predictably, it was too dark to see further ahead of it and there was no way of knowing if what waited at the end was "safe". It was still more preferable than staying put and being crushed by rocks. Ingrid took the lead this time and got on the slide first.

Toji blinks, hearing the news."Ah man....Alpha......" His communicator beeps. Grabbing it and flipping, he listens as Kale speak."Toji, I fell through to the entrance. I'd make my way back, but there's an emergancy. Carry on, alright? And be careful, okay?" Toji nods, grinning."Aight, sir. I'll do as you ask. Lighhtning Wolf, out!!" He closes it, putting it back on his belt beside the tanto. As the roof begins to cave in, sending rock shards flying out, Toji steps behind Annie, blocking the shards."Alright, go ahead and get on. I'll follow in a sec!"

Kale fell back and had to deal with an emergency? Huh... Well, maybe the party need Annie again.

Thought more likely Kasha would be the useful one of the two. When the cave behind them started collapsing, Kasha's shield went up instantly to block any oncoming debris. Toji or Ingrid would be under the shield as well if they were close enough to him, though Ingrid probably wouldn't be if she went to far ahead. Toji on the other hand would be inside of it, allowing Annie to grab his hand and pull him along. "No! We have to stay together!" She attempted to pull him down the slide with her, but if he resisted too much she would shrink the shield to let him and and end up going down alone.

The journey down was... curiously long. About five minutes had passed in the darkness and there was still no sign of an ending. At the speed she was sliding, Ingrid was sure she had traveled at least a couple of kilometers. Surprisingly, she felt no discomfort as though the cave was magically making the trip down as smooth as possible. Speaking of magic, the thought that the caves actually stretched on for several kilometers felt dubious to the silver-haired witch. It was more likely that space itself was being twisted somehow, making it feel as though the place was far larger than it really was. That didn't answer the need for an overly long slide though. Perhaps it was to delay them somehow?

After about another minute, a source of light could finally be seen up ahead. It seemed the end was finally there. At the bottom of the slide was a shiny crystal floor where her "ride" came to a skidding halt. The new room was well-lit but it wasn't clear where the light source was coming from. As Ingrid took her first few steps inside, she suddenly realized that something was very very amiss. She walked over to a nearby crystal structure, only to find a younger version of herself staring back as her reflection. Five or six years younger perhaps? Apparently she was magically regressed back to her preteen years. The obvious culprit was the slide. She turned around to look at how her 'convenient helpers' were doing. Hopefully their youngest companion didn't get turned into a baby or something. That would have been amusing but also rather troublesome.

(Note: The exact effect of the magic slide is to regress you by 1/3rd of your current age)

Toji blinks as a sheild pops up over him. The halfling lets himself get tugged along, grinning at the little girl."Hahaha, what a cool power! Wish I could do that!" Then they start down the slide. Though it was curiously long, Toji could care less. He holds his arms up, whooping."Wooohhhooooooo! This is so exciting!" When he gets to the end, the halfling looks around."Whoa....everything seems bigger....."  Then, he notices that the witch seemed much younger, and his eyes widen in shock. He rushes over besides her, staring at the crystal."OH NOO! NOT FAIR, CAVE SPIRITS!!" His voice squeks out, as Toji finally notices that he's regressed,becoming around 12.

Annie slid to a stop behind the two others after the slide FINALLY came to a stop. That took entirely too long, and the curiosity of the situation increased as Ingrid and Toji both found themselves much younger than before. "..What..what happened?" Annie's own voice changed, and when Kasha looked up at her he found that she too had become much younger. They all were. "Why did that happen?" Why would the cavern do this to them, indeed? Kasha's first thought was that it would weaken younger, more foolish explorers and allow them to easily be killed by the next test. An older explorer, more likely to be trustworthy with whatever was at the end of this, would be brought back to a fit age and would actually benefit from the effect.

But theorizing wasn't going to do much; they needed to move forward. Not wanting to walk anymore, Annie set Kasha on the ground. "Daya-sen." Unaffected by the age spell, Kasha then morphed into an adult wolf, allowed Annie to mount on him and ride for a while.

Why indeed. Was there any meaning to making them younger other than a cruel prank? Had they been older, the change would have been meaningless if they were to go under the assumption that the cave intended to make things more difficult for them. Ingrid had two guesses.

First, it was possible that the cave possessed a level of awareness and this new trap was laid out in consideration that it would be specifically detrimental to their party. Her basis was the repulsive feeling she got whenever the cave let out a pulse. From her observations thus far, the exact sensation she felt was quite different from the sensation the others felt. Thus the cave was capable of distinguishing between its trespassers.

Second, it really could just be some sort of prank, indicative of the kind of power awaiting them at the end of this "dungeon" of sorts. A power that controlled time perhaps? Of course she might as well throw in the third option that it could be both. The only way to find out for sure was to press on. As she began to walk, the cave let loose a magic pulse once more, causing her to briefly pause.

"I don't suppose either of you are aware of any convenient spells to undo this state? I have a feeling we will find something to help with that soon enough, but I'm open to any more immediate solutions to the issue. No?"

She never did get the impression that the two who remained were more learned than her in magic. The one who had gone back had potential but since he was no longer here, there was no point in thinking about it. Going back to their current situation, the crystal passage was surprisingly peaceful. Ingrid had expected a more hostile welcome that would take advantage of their age regression. Maybe it really was just a prank.

Or not. As she was moving ahead, Ingrid was the first to spot it. There were remnants of a battle of some sort. There were traces of blood on the floor and walls as well as bullet holes on shattered crystals. The Russians? The last time they saw them, they were behind their party. Did they take another route and somehow got ahead of them?

As she pondered this, she heard the sound of skittering from somewhere in front of them. Something rather big was coming. It was translucent like the crystals around them. She would go as far as saying it was made from crystals itself. A very large crystal centipede had appeared before them, and it did not look friendly. Blood was dripping from its jaws. That probably answers the question of what the Russians were shooting at.

Toji sees the crystal centipede, and grins, hodling his hands together and making multible boomers."Ahhahahahaha, I'll take care of this!!" His hands blur as the halfling unleashes a Boomer Blitz, creating electrity based explosions all over the monsters face. As it rears back, Toi pulls out his tanto, transforming it into the shuriken."Aaahaha, I'll slice and dice ya!" Staggering, the halfling throws his weapon, his jaw dropping as it bounces off."Eh?"

Annie suddenly felt something drip onto her hair, and reached up to feel it. When she brought it back down, she saw red. It was..blood...ew. Looking up brought on and even more unsettling concern as she saw a giant crystal centipede. Her eyes went side, Kasha's shield went up, and she slid off of him to duck and hide underneath her guardian. Kasha stood firm, waiting and watching the beast as it would fight (or not fight?) the others. His main objective was to protect her, but he would look for a safe opening to get involved.

The electrical explosions caused the centipede to start clicking its jaws vigorously as it was pushed back, staggering from the shocks. It seemed it was made of the kind of crystals that were good conductors. Luck was on their side in terms of powers. The Titan attempted to mix it up by attacking with his weapon as well bout found this to be less effective. Strange, as Ingrid was certain he possessed enhanced strength. It was likely the side-effect of age regression lowering his physical power.

"You should keep up the pressure with electricity. It does not seem to be fond of getting shocked. Artificial magical creatures like this often have a core that once destroyed, causes it to cease its movements. It appears we are going to have to finish this off to advance safely."

It was unusual for Ingrid to be so "accepting" of allies, but there was no time to be picky and they conveniently had the right abilities for the job. She did not show it but she was feeling very uncomfortable with her regressed state. In reminded her too much of the days when she was unwittingly suppressed and controlled. The sooner they found a way to undo it, the better.

She pulled out her revolver from her pocket dimension and shot at a portal with the exits located near the centipede's eyes. This would be her support contribution as she scanned the beast for the core they needed to break. The creature clicked its jaws vigorously once more and flailed around, send crystal shards flying all over the place.