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Unexpected Detour (Razgriz x Wingshadow)

"I can try, but its sorta taxing on my body to do much more than just keep the lights on to be honest... Let me try anyway," Patty led them over to one of the central hubs and looked over the displays until she reached one particular computer module, "This should be it."

The fairy sat down on the top and concentrated, the lights around them flickering slightly before going out. The computer in front of Sam, sure enough, slowly flickered to life and started up. Patty seemed to be holding on fine, but if it dragged on for too long she might just pass out. This wasn't particularly surprising considering that she had been trapped in a vending machine with nothing but concentrated liquid rations to sustain herself with for many years.
 
Sam cracked his fingers, interlacing them together and pushing them out just like one might see in the old time cartoons as they got ready to do something important. It didn't matter that the lights went out around him; the screen would provide plenty of illumination. Not to mention his bodily adjustments due to his stay beneath the waves enabled him to see in relatively low light conditions anyway. He'd try to do this as fast as possible.

"OK here it goes" Sam said as his fingers hovered over the keys; his mind drew a blank before he brought up the command-line window. "So far, so good" he muttered as he began typing commands, the screen displaying the output with each one
>> SET TERMINAL/INQUIRE
RVX-3490B
>> SET FILE/PROTECTION - OWNER:RWED ACCOUNTS.F
>> SET HALT RESTART/MAINT

Initializing SecuroComp (TM) MicroBump Boot Agent v278.3.4
RETRO BIOS
RBIOS - 59.51.36.27 89EFF.Z2.Z9
Copyright 5292-5295 SecuroComp
Uppermen: 1023 PB
Root (5A8)
Maintenance Mode

>> RUN DEBUG/ACCOUNTS.F

This brought up a list of several accounts, each identified by name in descending order:

- Zeller, Gregory
- Xavier, Johnathon
- Wayne, Bruce
- Simmers, Diane
- Nixon, Richard
- Narken, Patricia
- Grayson, Richard
- Dunham, Jeffery
- Conrad, Hermes
- Clark, Kent
- Braun, Marcus

The last name in the last made him pause; that name he knew! "Seems like this guy was pretty important" Sam mused as he maneuvered the holopointer to click on the name, which brought up a another screen, glaring right in his face:

ENTER SIXTEEN CHARACTER ACCESS STRING: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sam froze here; damn it, if only he hadn't lost that friggin' holodisk and its case! He remembered most of it, all except the last four....

>> 0AS3EDTFGHRH_ _ _ _

He then paused here, fidgeting as he tried to recall what the last four characters were for this to work.......
 
"23QW," Gnome chimed in, still holding Terra in her arms but realizing why he was stuck, "Its a good thing I have access to your memory as well."

There wasn't much for her to do, considering that the room was pretty lifeless without power and she couldn't feel the presence of anything else around them... Granted, she had not been able to detect Patty very well either, so that did not completely rule out the possibility that there could be something sleeping dormant inside this previously sealed room. Patty seemed to be holding up fine so far, but she was conspicuously silent throughout all of this, perhaps too concentrated on channeling power through the systems to make any remarks.
 
Sam smiled as Gnome managed to fill the gap in his memory; he uttered his quiet thanks as he typed in the last four characters. Another screen popped up:

"Welcome, Dr. Braun! Please select a task from the menu below:"
- View system information
- Generate temporary login passcode (grants access for 30 minutes)
- Perform hard drive maintenance

Selecting the second option, a fourth screen popped up containing the temporary passcode: o!r5azUI56@x. "I hate it when computers do that" he thought as he exited out of maintenance mode. He was just thankful he remembered what he did; of course, he probably could have crossed a few wires and performed a hard reboot, but working from a terminal was much safer, if more tedious and time-consuming. He let the computer go through the main boot-sequence before it finally came online. Entering the required log-in information, he was taken to the main account. From there it was trivial to reset the permanent password to something more memorable: "Gnome".

He then went to work, looking through the various root folders until he found what he was looking for: Generator Room Status - Hermetically Sealed. "Just like Patty said" he muttered as he went to work trying to unseal it. Warning.....Lethal Radiation Levels. Activate Purge System? "That's the question it asks?" Sam said aloud in a slightly flustered tone; it was like this place was just deliberately screwing with him now. "The purge system must have its own generator that has to be remotely activated", was Sam's thought. Naturally, he chose to activate it; the message then transformed into: Carbon filters active, sinks empty, radiation pumps engaging...." About five minutes later, the screen then read Radiation levels within acceptable limits. Unsealing Generator Room "About time....." Sam mumbled; he then logged out of the computer, looked to Patty and said, "OK, Patty, I think we're good now. Let's go get those generators back online".
 
Patty slowly opened her eyes and nodded, floating up beside him in a weary manner without speaking a word. Gnome began to worry that she might just pass out from exhaustion, as the poor creature couldn't even seem to fly straight. For as long as she knew of the little fairy, she had always tried her hardest to be helpful to those who asked for her help. Despite her somewhat lazy and complaining demeanor, she was a great help to everyone at the research facility. Perhaps it was just in her nature, or it had something to do with the fact that due to being raised around humans she had absolutely no idea how to take care of herself out in the wild. Gnome even considered that she realized how physically weak she was and so complied with the human's requests even though she found their orders rather troublesome. If there was anything that all monster girls respected, it was strength. The weak should submit to the strong...

In any case, Patty led them down a dark corridor leading to a staircase which wound downward toward the lowest basement level. The air smelled somewhat fresher down here, as the flushing pumps had likely drawn in outside air to help clear out the system. Even in her weakened state, Patty began to look uneasy the deeper that they went, but voiced no protest to what they were doing, of course. The sooner they got the generators online the sooner she could take a nap.
 
Sam followed Patty down the stairs to the generator room; even without saying it, he really did appreciate the fairy's help. Upon reaching the generators, he found them to be like Patty said: Perfect condition. "You might want to wait out here" Sam said to Patty, remembering her words about anti-monster barriers activating if she were the one to turn on the power. The residual radiation must have been just the normal leaks that occurred; the radiation flush was a simple enough solution to that problem. He went over to the panels nearest the generators and ran the manual discharge for the primary power capacitors; it was essential these fusion pulse generators ran from a zero stored-energy configuration, lest an overload occur and have high-velocity shrapnel embed itself in Sam's flesh. The energy was instead directed into the charge banks for the reactor lasers, which Sam could only hope weren't degraded.

That having finished, he then went through the power-up cycle of the generators; they creaked and groaned as the tritium-deuterium mix was hit from all directions with ultrahigh-frequency lasers, initiating the proton-proton change that would bleed from the tertiary generator into the secondary generator. Sam worked like crazy, letting his scientific expertise do the work and giving Patty a much-deserved rest; heat exchangers were active, liquid sodium tanks were emptied and refilled continuously to help dispel the heat from the fusion reactors, liquid helium gave its only run over the yttrium-eezo superconductors before finally the lights in the generator room came on, the data towers coming online soon afterwards. Within minutes, the entire data server room was fully operational from top to bottom. He wiped some sweat from his forehead, saying "Yeesh, now I remember why I hated reactor maintenance duty".

Just then, as if to confirm his suspicions, a small sphere jutted out of the wall and ran a triangle-shaped energy wave over him; this occurred for several passes before a robotic voice sounded: "Species: Human. Identity: Dr. Marcus Stanislaus Braun. Threat level: Negligible. Have a nice day" The strange sphere then retracted back into its little cubby-hole, its job having been done. Poor Sam just stood there, a bit stupefied at what just happened. "That's....I've got no comment" he said as he breathed out a sigh; this planet just got more and more strange.

He then walked out of the generator room, closing the door behind him. He then turned to Patty and said with a genuine smile, "Thanks......Seriously. Couldn't have done it without you. But you look like you could use some rest...So go ahead, I got this covered". He then led them back upstairs to a large array of blinking lights and whirring noises; the hyper-dense memory cubes were being opened and the primary cycles were taking over, bringing the isolated network up to capacity. "Alright let's see what we can find out...." Sam said as he went to the first terminal.

However, Sam then felt something slip under his foot; he looked down to see that one of the tiles had moved. Something glinted from beneath its surface, it looked like another box. Picking up the tile, he found it to be just that. Another box like the holoreader was found in, only bigger. "What in the world....?" he said as he tried to find a way to open it; this would come with the push of a red button on the front, revealing something rather surprising: A WristComp 2500, Alpha Series Omni-tool. "Well, I'll be damned....." Sam mumbled, seeing the pristine condition it was on. It even had a micro-fusion cell, no bigger than a table tennis ball, in a separate compartment; Sam was beginning to wonder if people knew that someone would come back to this planet for whatever reason.

He decided to try it on, placing the multi-tool on his wrist; it was a bit tight, but it definitely fit on him. The locking mechanism clicked into place and Sam inserted the MF cell into its receptor. The screen flashed to life, various displays coming to life. He played through with the options, initially distracted by its complexity; this one seemed to be custom-designed. There were several modules that he didn't see on other makes of the same model: An extensible plug-in DTC, ports for additional memchips, an LED flashlight, and other things that he didn't readily recognize. Eventually he remembered why he was here, forgetting about the multi-tool in the process as he made his way to a terminal and began looking through. As soon as he logged in under Braun's credentials, he almost immediately found a rather sizable database file, titled Mamono Log: Mon-Musume Encyclopedia Project

"What is this now?" Sam muttered as he began scrolling through the entries; his eyes widened in surprise at what he found.....They were monster girls! "So he wasn't lying...." Sam said as he realized he just found the database Braun's holodisk had mentioned.
 
"You're welcome, I guess..." Patty blinked, somewhat flustered at his display of gratitude as she wasn't used to being thanked for her work, "I'll just take a nap in my usual spot... I haven't gotten proper rest for years."

The small creature floated up on top of one of the terminals, practically vanishing from sight as she curled up into a ball and began to doze off despite the sounds of the electrical circuits and machinery all around her. Since she had grown up in this very place, it wasn't that strange that she could sleep soundly despite the low, droning hum. In fact, she could probably sleep better since she was used to the place being filled with all sorts of sounds and voices, rather than lying empty and desolate as it did that day.

When the list of monster girl entries ran across the screen, Gnome quickly ran her gaze across the alphabetized list, searching for a few entries in particular. They had information concerning appearance, habitat, temperament, preferred foods, and danger level among other details, with species such as scorpion girls and minotaurus ranking among some of the more dangerous while fairies and alrune listed among the most harmless. Gnome wasn't interested in any of these, however...

"There, open the files about Gnome, Undie, Sylph, Ignus, Succubus, and Pharaoh," Gnome pointed at the screen. Normally she wouldn't have been able to read the human lettering, but given that she had access to Sam's knowledge it was quite simple for her to translate it for herself.
 
Sam didn't hear Gnome at first; he was too busy looking at some of the entries that had been made. Minotaurus, Lamia, Fairy, Red Slime, Centaur, and so many others were here; though he noticed that there were several entries that were missing as well. Or rather, it seemed there was space where more profiles could be added if they were discovered; even if he didn't initially focus on categorizing the monster girls, or Mamono as this encyclopedia called it, it owuld be a good way to keep tabs on which ones to avoid. The entries themselves contained detailed information as well as pictures depicting example specimens of each race.

"Hmmm? Oh right...." Sam uttered, finally processing Gnome's words; though perhaps when he was done he would see if he could download it to his new WristComp. He looked over the profile description for Gnome first; weird thing was, it didn't look like the Gnome that stood next to him. Instead of long purple hair, this one had short brown hair. Not only that, her eyes were a different color; Sam wondered if maybe this was Gnome's mother. But, he would save that question for another time; he didnt want to upset her anymore than he could help. The information however, was nothing new that he already didn't know: Kind and devoted, yet firm and resolved. "Seems like they went heavy on the compliments.....Good" Sam commented; he would have changed it right away if they didn't.

The next one was Undine; Ruby did say she was a type of Slime, but she didn't look like a slime at all. Her body seemed to be made out of water, all water......How did she keep her form? Then again, he could ask the same about Ruby and Rose and all Slimes, really. But he chose not to; all he needed to know was that she was to be his next contract. But still, may as well get some new information while he was here. According to the description here, it was said that she had a fondness for a romantic relationship, same as Gnome apparently; though the tales he heard recently suggested that now romance seemed to be the furthest thing from her mind, as she was quite easily irritable. Though according to this, it would change drastically once a contract was formed; perhaps no one came for her in the first place, causing her to grow bitter over time? Sam could only speculate why she was apparently so different from her profile description, but he would find out when he got there....IF he got there.

Putting that particularly dark thought of his head, he went to Sylph; she seemed to be the most playful of the Elementals, but also the most dodgy. From her description, it seemed like finding her would be based on almost pure luck. "Great...." Sam uttered; though he had to appreciate someone who could enjoy the freedom of the skies and planet without any burden. He remembered as a child how he wished he could fly about like a bird, no need for jetpacks or IPVs or anything like that, just the innate ability to spread one's wings and soar. "Well, at least she enjoys herself" he then commented, noting how she seemed to smile perpetually; he wondered if she was one of those types that just smiled no matter what. Her description did note that she was capricious and free-spirited, so it didn't seem TOO unlikely.

Though the scariest one he'd seen yet was that of Ignus; Sam felt a drop of sweat trickle down his neck as he read her (admittedly scant) profile. Seems like the researchers couldn't get anywhere near her; if he were honest with himself, he wouldn't be surprised if some of them went to the burn ward after trying to get information about her. All he could gather from her profile was that she loved HOT, HOT places, was incredibly violent, and loved fire; Sam gulped nervously as he said, his hands shaking slightly, "I have to form a contract....with her?" Of course, these were just researcher speculations based on their observations, so there could obviously be bias here.

He ignored the Succubus profile for now; the Pharaoh one had a place, but no information or picture. Figures....the one person he REALLY had to worry about and there was nothing on her other than that she defeated someone many times more powerful than Sam himself. No pressure; he'd probably just raped into oblivion, right? He then looked to Gnome after calming himself down and asked, "So...Gnome, are these profiles accurate? Or are there changes do you think that need to be made?"

(I included this last bit because I figured their personalities might be different from what the Kenkou Cross profiles dictated, which is what I used for the database entries, so I leave it up to you to make their profiles your own, since they'll be your characters)
 
"Admittedly, I don't know a lot about Ignus," she replied with a sigh, "Judging from the stories I heard my mother tell me about her, she probably attacked the researchers without realizing that she was hurting them. She has such vast amounts of raw power that no man has even survived long enough in her presence to form a contract with her. She's very energetic and passionate about the things she cares about, but for things that she lacks any interest in... it might as well not even exist."

"Sylph hardly takes anything seriously... She acts like a spoiled schoolgirl on steroids. Simply peak her interest in something and it will suddenly become an obsession for her. She gets along well with Ignus and some say that they are able to amplify each other's powers when used alongside each other. However, I find her antics to be rather irritating at times. If it wasn't for her lack of anything even closely resembling an attention span, she would probably be the most powerful of us all," Gnome shrugged.

"Other than that, they seem fairly accurate to me," Gnome nodded, "Yet what I find most mysterious about all this is how there is an open space for the Pharaoh, the Goddess of the Air, and Poseidon, the three goddesses that ruled this planet for generations. You would think there would be some information about them, or at least more than simply a list of their names... Is it possible that someone could have accessed the database and deleted information?"

She reached up and carefully scrolled down to the Succubus entry, surprised to see that it actually contained some information on her. It lacked a picture of her, but it stated that she was a very powerful monster girl who feeds off life force energy as her source of magical power. She is extremely lustful and deceptive, her true intentions often remaining hidden behind soft and noble words. Other than vague generalities, however, it didn't list what sort of abilities that she actually possessed. Clearly she could charm men both with her looks as well as her words, but exactly how they could defend themselves from such attacks was beyond Gnome's imagining. Clearly, even with the power of the four elemental it wasn't like they could simply waltz up to her and blast her away.

"Where do we go from here, Sam?" Gnome looked up at her contractor.
 
Sam sweat-dropped as Gnome confirmed his worst fears about Ignus; she was insanely powerful after all, and judging from Gnome's words, she knew it. That would make her twice as dangerous to deal with. Though hearing that she was passionate and energetic about certain things was a bit of a surprise; that was admittedly the last thing he thought he would hear about a girl like Ignus.

Gnome's description of Sylph actually managed to reverse the fear in Sam's expression, turning it into outright humor and an ear-to-ear grin; he actually had to clap a hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing too loudly. He knew he shouldn't, but the way Gnome just blasted Sylph was too funny to ignore. "Spoiled schoolgirl on steroids.....I need to write that one down" he replied, the grin soon fading from his face as Gnome explained that she and Ignus got along, to be replaced with a look of puzzlement. "Those two? Get along? They seem the least....Aw, forget it, nothing's likely on this planet anymore." "Except sex, that's almost a damn guarantee" he continued as an afterthought.

His mind then drifted to all the sexual encounters he'd had during his stay on this planet; as much as he hated to admit it, he was becoming - in his promiscuous friend's terms - a 'player', a 'pimp'. He wondered how the horny old bastard was doing; hell, his mind soon drifted to wondering if anyone actually missed him. He knew he was an important man, being likely the now-former CEO and President of UniTravel Industries, but he wondered if there was anyone actually looking for him.

Gnome's comment about someone deleting the database entries, however, snapped him out of his slightly perverted and dark thoughts. "Hmmm.....Could be; then again, perhaps the humans only interacted with emissaries sent by them?" He had a feeling in the Pharaoh's case that she abducted whatever males dared trespass into her tomb, or perhaps some of her guards captured them and had some fun with them. As for the Goddess of the Air and Poseidon.....he had no idea; maybe they just didn't interact with humans.

"Well, it looks like our only course of action now is find and somehow get Undine to form a contract with me" Sam replied to her question before pulling the transfer cable out of its slot in the WristComp, "But first......" He then plugged it into a port and after futzing with some of the controls and prompts, he first checked the integrity of the data itself. "79% data integrity....That's good, largely uncorrupted" he said before compiling every bit of data from the servers and downloading the entire database into the wrist-mounted supercomputer. The cable then popped free from the data terminal after a few minutes, zipping back into its protective housing and closing up. "Download Complete" the screen read; Sam then noticed something else: This thing had a Geo-mapper module, a device that could read a map and integrate it into its databanks, allowing the wearer to track wherever he went and even set way-points. He only noticed this because the display showed what appeared to be a world map, then maps of each continent, then what looked like a roadway schematic; he looked on the bottom of it to see a dark-red hemisphere, the reader for the Geo-mapper itself. He only used these things a few times, when he went hiking on Rwethra to gather the rose seeds to have a buddy of his grow the roses he had planned on giving Rachel.

He then got an excellent idea, unrolled Poseidon's map that she gave him - surprisingly detailed of the above-ground terrain from someone who spent their life beneath the sea and laid it out in front of him; he then held the small red hemisphere over the map itself and watched as a red light formed a rectangle. After getting the dimensions just right, he then hit 'Scan' and let the red sweeping triangle read the map, placing it into the database and increasing the resolution of his new guide even further. "Well, this thing will come in handy" he commented as he exited out of the screens, feeling a bit more secure now that he had a means of tracking his progress.

As he turned to leave, he noticed Patty still sleeping on top of the terminal opposite of what he was just using; he kind of felt bad for her. Everyone she knew seemed to be gone, with the exception of Gnome. Still, she probably didn't get thanked enough or shown a lot of appreciation for her work. And she did help him a lot; he sacrificed a bit of his robe, cutting a sizable square from a relatively untouched portion of the bottom and draping it over her gently like a blanket.

"Just in case it gets cold" he muttered as he turned to leave, the door to the still-active data server room being closed up behind him as he used the keypad. Patty could still get out if she wanted to; he made sure of that. He then turned and began his journey once more, exiting the town of Nexus for good.
 
Patty gently turned in her sleep, grasping the make-shift blanket in her small hand and whispering a gentle word of thanks and placed a silent blessing upon him as he departed... The gratefulness of a fairy such as her was a rare thing indeed, given that she blamed a lot of her troubles on them out of convenience rather than out of true malice or dislike. Sam was one man who had shown her, even in their brief time together, that humans really could be kind and caring toward monster girls such as herself... She could see it in the look in Gnome's face, which lit up every time she gazed upon her contractor. She didn't speak a word about it... But she was thankful that her old friend had such a person in her life. Perhaps... In time she could find someone like that as well to care for her. In the time being, of course, she had more important things to consider... Like where her next meal was coming from.

Gnome and Sam had their own worries, of course. The journey up through the mountains was gradual and slow, yet steady. Thankfully, it wasn't the harpies mating season at the time so they were only met on occasion by one or two of the winged creatures who politely kept their distance and minded their own business. They were under the strict orders from the Harpy Queen, of course, and wouldn't bother traveling humans unless it was mating season. Granted, they were in as much of a bind as the other monster girls, but unlike many of them they had managed to retain a sense of order and civility despite their close proximity to Undie's magical springs. Just as the map depicted, there were three springs tucked away in the mountains... The name of the spring that they needed, the Cleansing Embrace, was the largest of the three. Spreading out like a large hot-spring, it was surrounded by a thick bamboo forest which obstructed the rocky crags all around them, forming something of a bowl-like shape. A thick haze hung over the tepid waters, like a blanket of silence which surrounded everything and gave a slightly eerie feel to the air. Gnome could feel Undie's presence, and the earth spirit quickly appeared beside him to help guide him in their first encounter. She carefully and cautiously approached the water's edge and dipped the tip of her foot into the water, a thin green ripple of her energy flowing over the surface which was answered by a larger, blue pulse of energy....

The wind picked up slightly, stirring the leaves of the bamboo grass as the water, of its own accord, seemed to flow upward and soundlessly formed into what appeared to be the shape of a nude woman with long, flowing hair and glistening eyes, "I... I'm surprised to see you here, Gnome. To what purpose are you and your contractor here? Can't you see I was taking a nap just now?"
 
As they traveled from Nexus to the Cleansing Embrace, Sam continuously tinkered with his new trinket; he'd had a Beta Series version, preferring them for their stability and reliability in lieu of their lack of backwards-compatibility. But then again, the Alpha model was more suited for frivolities regardless, so he never really had a need for one; however, this particular Alpha model was far from frivolous: Whoever was the previous owner made some serious software, wetware and hardware upgrades to this thing. Nothing that could prevent physical attacks from landing or anything like that, but in terms of data processing and the like, he quickly found that this beat out anything he'd ever encountered before.

And if Sam was being honest, he found the lack of encounters a bit unnerving; he thought maybe that leather-skinned freak Silus had wiped everything out in the area. That made the sight of the Harpy scouts - something that the new-found portable database came in very handy for, species identification - that much more of a relief. Thankfully, they didn't read his relief as a willingness to mate; he had somewhere he had to be. He followed the way-point he set on his map towards Undine's spring; by the time he got there, his feet were hurting miraculously little despite having walked so much in such a short amount of time. He figured it had something to do with the physiological changes his body was undergoing as the stay on Deseus was drawn out. He managed to find push his way into the forest itself; soon enough, he arrived at the spring.

He felt his spine shiver at the eerie feel of the place; the way the mist hung over the water, partially obscuring his vision reminded him of old horror movies he used to watch with Rachel. Ones where a creature from a body of water such as this emerged to try and capture the unsuspecting victims for whatever nefarious purpose it might have had. Only when he looked around did he see just how trapped he way; the bamboo had been thick going in, and there wasn't a whole lot of room for him to maneuver in case this did devolve into a fight. He then saw Gnome appear next to him, his head tilting in curiosity as she stuck her toes into the water and seeing the energy pulses light up before him.

He watched with widening eyes as the water in the spring seemed to coalesce into the form of a strikingly beautiful female; her words are just what the others had described them as: Annoyed and frustrated. Sam swallowed slightly, trying to suppress the fear of what it was she could do to him if he wasn't careful, remembering what Sasha and Gnome told him of her powers. He would try to be as non-threatening as possible; though given her abilities, it was more likely she already saw him as a joke anyway. Perhaps honesty and politeness would win her over? Didn't do him any harm in the past, so he would give it a try. Giving her a slight, respectful bow of his head, he then spoke, "I'm sorry for disturbing your rest, Undine; but I have come seeking to form a contract with you. I request your assistance in taking down the Pharaoh....." Sam then trailed off, not really of what else to say, but decided to shut up and hope that his words would at least delay any hostility from Undine herself.
 
"I see...So, you wish to challenge the Pharaoh, do you? It appears humans have become even more reckless since the last time I met one of your kind. At least you are somewhat better prepared than the last fool that tried to forage a contract with me. You have already foraged quite a strong bond with Gnome, if the strength of her presence is anything to judge by," Undie nodded, "but it will take more than simply your love and tenderness to a single elemental spirit to win my allegiance as well. Come, show me the fruits of your labor... Earn my respect."

Gnome could sense the concentration of her power near the edge of the spring and quickly formed a wall of earth between them, just as a burst of steam erupted from the water. Not a moment too soon, so it seemed, and Gnome let out a sigh of relief. In the ensuing time, however, Undie had managed to sink back into the water and vanish from sight... Just how were they supposed to win against such an opponent?
 
"Dammit" Sam grumbled as she replied to him; he could sense this was going downhill very fast. Then, as if to confirm his fears, Sam jumped back as both a steam burst and an earth wall jumped up in front of him. He fell on his butt, his eyes wide with shock at what just happened, his mind considering the very same question that Gnome was asking herself. She disappeared back into the water; that was two of her abilities confirmed, which meant the others were very likely true as well. Her words also indirectly confirmed another ability: She said 'last fool that tried'....That likely meant she dissolved him. His chest rose and fell quickly, his breathing a bit heavy for a short while before he finally said, "Whew...Thanks, Gnome...That was too close"

He managed to stand back up on his feet, brushing himself as his eyes scanned the surface of the water and the surrounding mist; he know she could absorb herself into any water surrounding them. This would make it impossible to track her, not to mention her body was liquid "Come on, Sam.....Think.....Think....." he said to himself; he knew further diplomacy was not an option. That meant his only option was to fight.....But how? They were in her domain; trying to drain the spring wouldn't work, as much as the idea appealed to him. He tried to think back to anything Sasha, Gnome, anyone might have said about her that could help him.

He then said something that might potentially land him in even more trouble; the truth was, he didn't want to fight if he didn't have to. But regardless, it would serve the purpose of drawing her out and revealing her location to him. "Come on, Undine.....Are you sure there's no way we can talk this out?" he called out to her, keeping a wary eye in case she tried to attack again. He realized it was a bit of a desperation move, especially with the fight so early on, but he honestly had no idea how to win against her.....yet.
 
"You need to learn to feel the presence of your opponent... Read the flow of his movements, not with your eyes but with the soul of your mind," the water spirit's voice seemed to emanate from everywhere at once, confusing Gnome and doubtless putting Sam ill at ease as well, "Only then will you be well-suited to accept my power... Otherwise, I would simply overwhelm you and end up absorbing you."

The mist around them seemed to grow thicker and more filled with aggression, Undie's blatant refusal to talk things out revealed the gradual increase of her attacks. Gnome's eyes darted to and fro about herself, soon realizing that the haze had become so thick that she couldn't even see three inches in front of her own face. She reached out and searched about for Sam, unable to find him or even read his presence since all that she could feel around herself was Undie's deadly aura.

"Sam!" Gnome called out, "Watch out!"

A wet grasp took hold of Sam's shoulder, and a chilling giggle echoed throughout the mist, "I found you..."
 
"Feel my opponent's presence.......With the soul of my mind?" Sam repeated, obviously befuddled by her words and at the same time growing more uneasy as the mist seemed to thicken into an impenetrable blanket around him. It also didn't help that his optional hope of discerning her location had fallen through as well; he shouldn't have been surprised, but the way her voice seemed to come from a thousand different directions at once definitely overwhelmed him.

He then backed up a few steps, unknowing distancing himself further and further from Gnome; his head turned this way and that as he tried to find where Undine was, clearly ignoring her advice, but only by habit. Humans were so adapted to using their eyes to locate everything that it was practically beaten into their heads it was the only sense next to hearing worth using. He did hear Gnome's voice; however, her warning would come too late. Sam's body froze momentarily as he felt a wet hand grab his shoulder; he then reflexively formed an earthen fist and swung it wildly, hoping that it would hit Undine, if only to shake her loose for the moment.
 
"Sam, stop! Don't do that!" Gnome realized only too late that it had been Undie's plan all along to get him to actually try to land a hit on her... In this fog, she was just as blind as them except for being able to read their positions. Their minds and the full extent of their abilities, of course, were still a complete mystery to the water spirit... All she needed to do, however, was to get Sam to loose his cool and lash out at her, giving her the opening she needed to end this fight quickly.

His fist impacted something soft, wet, and malleable, which was doubtless Undie's body. However, the force of his impact hardly even disrupted her form, merely sending out ripples across her form which absorbed and practically nullified the damage. Almost instantly, her body latched onto the earthen fist and surrounded it, her liquid form piercing it and breaking the earth apart before reaching out to surround his body in her own. Gnome instinctively knew that if she accomplished this, there would be no hope for Sam. She quickly returned to spirit form, going back inside Sam then appearing beside him. She took hold of his clothes and gave him a rough tug to try to dislodge him from the water spirit's death grasp, at the same time sending a surge of energy through the ground. A blade of rock jutted up behind Undie, cutting off her connection with the spring's water.

"Oh, what's wrong? Don't you want to become part of me? If you fear me so much... You can't possibly accept me as a contracted spirit. Let go of your anger, your fear, your worries and cares," Undie whispered into Sam's ear, "Become one with the flow of the world around you... Let it take you up into its arms but remember who you are, lest it consume you... I will show you the pleasures of becoming one with a spirit of the waters."

Gnome's eyes widened, realizing that all this time Undie was simply trying to give him clues and hints as to how to form a proper contract with herself... It was as if she wanted him to figure it out on his own, and save her from this self-induced cycle of dissolving her would-be contractors. While it was true that she would likely dissolve him if the process failed, but it was the only way for the two of them to become bound to each other. Fighting her was not the answer, and quite frankly it was obvious at this point that nothing they could do would harm her. Instead, the battle was one of the mind, not of the body... If he couldn't overcome this obstacle, his journey would end here, at the Cleansing Embrace.
 
Sam felt his Earth Fist connect; however, before he could have a chance to even think about gloating for managing to hit her, Sam felt his rocky extension be surrounded and dissolved right in front of him. This only worsened his fear-frozen state of mind; he could see Undine's form expand and start to envelop him. "Damn!" was all he thought, thinking this was over before it had hardly even begun. Before it could close completely, he then felt a rather strong tug as Gnome pulled him away from Undine's deathly embrace.

Sam was breathing heavily as he found himself on his ass again, his breathing heavy and erratic and his golden-cobalt hues wide with fear and anxiety. He froze up even more as Undine whispered into his ear, strangely giving him hints on how to defeat her. Why was she doing this? His eyes then widened again, not in fear but in realization: She wanted to be contracted. But they had to be strong; Sam was strong. Her words made sense; he'd let his fear cloud his judgment, but he was only human. Even if he managed to contract Gnome, he was still just a mortal man. Even still, he thought back to his two previous battles: Silus and the Minotaurus. Both had in the name of protection, and now was no different. He'd faced them down before without fear, without concern for his own safety, but only after they'd attacked him first and those he cared about.

And if there was one department where Sam was strongest, it wasn't in body......It was in his mind. Sam usually didn't like to boast, but he was an intelligent man, even if he did feel incredibly stupid at the moment. He'd overcome insurmountable odds before, and hell, he'd walked across the threshold of death and back. Sam finally started to calm down, standing upright as his breathing evened out. "I see now......You don't want to dissolve me; you want me to contract you. But I need to prove myself" he said aloud, making sure Undine would hear him. "I will admit, this is certainly new, trying to feel flow of the world, as you put it....But I think I know what I can do to help me" He then said, "Gnome, I need you to go into spirit form" before closing his eyes. He wanted to make sure she was safe, first and foremost.

What he thought of next was probably one of the most convoluted visual metaphors ever imagined - especially given that he somehow managed to think of it on the spot - but he felt it appropriate given what Undine said: He imagined himself as a cube of ice in a glass of water. Slowly, the ice would begin to melt, retaining its true identity as water but mixing with the liquid water at the same time. The ice was there but at the same time it wasn't; the ice already was what it was, it just.....took on a new shape. Soon enough, Sam's body began to emit pulses of energy - not able to be seen by by him - the nature of it becoming more like that around him. He then began to feel energy flow through him, cover him completely, move around him like an endless ocean. He could feel Gnome's energy within him; a warm and familiar sensation, one that he could bask in forever and never get tired of. Terra's energy was there within him as well, slightly unstable but also warm and pleasant. His eyes then opened, the uncertainty significantly diminished and the fear gone; he didn't know one hundred percent if he was doing it right, but he needed to believe he was.

It was all dim and fairly fuzzy, what with him being new to this and all, but he could see the energy around him; from the plants, from himself, from the water and most notably from Undine. "I see you" Sam then said, letting her know that he was ready to continue.
 
Undie held herself back from him, watching him carefully as he closed his eyes and calmed his spirit. She could feel his energy, which was at one time wild, unrestrained, and unrefined, become smooth, flowing, and controlled. She hardly even noticed it when Gnome's presence once again fused with that of her contractor, as their bond had already become quite intricate and fundamental to both of their existences. As his eyes opened, irises filled not with fear and dread but of confidence and peace, Undie then approached him, her form quickly wrapping around his body from the soles of his feet to the tops of his shoulders. Her body felt like a bubble of water had surrounded him, slowly flowing and swirling around him. If he concentrated, he could feel her hands pressing against his back, holding him to herself. She did not seem to be absorbing him at all, as his clothes remained perfectly in-tact... Rather, she flowed around them and seeped into every crevice.

"And I see you," she returned, a pleased smile spreading across her fair lips, which she then pressed against his. He would feel a sharp pricking sensation as she pushed herself into every pore on the surface of his skin, as if he had been simultaneously jabbed with acupuncture needles at all of his nerve bundles. She gently eased his body to the ground, straddling him while she kissed him. The mist around them faded, the light of the sun slicing through the thick haze and shining through her translucent form, causing her to glisten and shine. Her entire body glowed dimly, showing that the contract between them was beginning to form.

"Y-yes... That feels nice," Undie cooed softly into his ear, "Through this contract, I bind my soul and will to yours... Do with it as you wish-"

At just that moment, a surge of energy flowed into Sam, mixing with his own and joining with him rather than overpowering and dissolving him. He had successfully accepted her power, although it would be some time before he could fully utilize it. Of course, the strength of their contract was rather weak as they had merely formed it with a kiss... and Undie seemed ready and willing to continue.

"Yay!" Undie's demeanor made a rather abrupt change while a watery rune was carved into her back, appearing as a slightly darkened area on her body, "I was hoping you would be able to do it... Say, what's your name? I'm Undie... but I guess you already know that, don't you? I'm sorry about earlier, its just that so many people were trying to make contracts with me but I kept ending up absorbing them instead... They just didn't have it in them. So, I had to find someone strong enough to bond with me. I figured the best way to do that would be to make a name for myself as somewhat mean and aggressive, that way only someone truly determined and powerful would even try it... So, what do you think?"

The water spirit giggled, but this time it was devoid of any sort of ill-intent. Gnome smacked herself in the head while in spirit form and rolled her eyes. So... Both views of Undie were correct. She was acting aggressive and dangerous, but she really was an idiot after all... Great in power and in some ways wisdom, the water spirit was as fickle and simple as some would expect while complex and somewhat ominous in other ways. Sam would have quite a hard time fully grasping her personality and powers, that much was certain.
 
Sam, in all honesty, wasn't expecting her to do what she did next; he at first panicked as she wrapped her water body around him, thinking that she was going to dissolve him and that he'd reacted too slowly, which made him close his eyes and wait for what he thought was the inevitable. However, after a few moments, he found that she'd surrounded him, but rather seemed to gently cover his entire body in the enchanted fluid. He was even more surprised when she seemed to kiss him, feeling her form lift his own off the ground as her energy began to pour into his body.

He let out a somewhat pained groan as he felt every major nerve bundle get poked at once before being laid back on the ground, her human-like form straddling his hips while her wet, full lips maintained contact with his own. His eyes opened to watch the mist fade, the sunlight finally breaking through the heavy shroud and making Undine's form glisten and sparkle like a fresh-cut diamond. Her next words as she broke the kiss would surprise him the most of all; this was her forming the contract? She accepted him? "But......" was all he could say before she let out an as-of-now uncharacteristically joyous shout.

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing....or seeing for that matter. What the hell happened to the bitter elemental? What the hell was going on here? "But...you...wha..." he stuttered out, clearly confused as to what the hell was going on. Even after she explained it, how she had to absorb those people that tried to contract her, how they hadn't been strong enough, it still didn't make sense. Her logic made sense in terms of logic itself, but it still made him think. "What do I think?" he repeated before adding, feeling the sense of relief wash over him, "I think.....I think this planet's going to drive me up the wall, that's what I think".

However, he did look up at her, as she still had him straddled, her hips straddling his own and added with a pleasant smile, "But I am glad you chose to accept me as your contractor, Undine...." He then asked, "So.....where do we go from here?" Of course, given his past experiences, usually being in this position meant one thing, but he just wanted to be absolutely certain so as to not potentially offend her.
 
Gnome let a poorly-subdued giggle escape upon hearing his response to her question. Of course, this was not at all what she had expected herself, yet at the same time she had grown accustomed to the rather strange and unexpected turns that Sam's adventures often took. It made her wonder if any of the other elemental spirits were putting up a facade in place of their true intentions... Granted, only Undie was enough of an idiot to think of something quite this unusual.

"Ohhh... You're being mean to me already?" Undie pouted, puffing her cheeks out slightly and clearly not understanding what he meant, "You won't even tell me your name, master? I want to be spoiled like you do with Gnome! Is that too much to ask? Would you like me to give you a massage first, or perhaps something to eat? I'm afraid I really don't have much to offer you... Other than myself, of course."

A popped vein appeared on Gnome's forehead as she tried hard to restrain her growing desire to attempt to smack some sense into Undie, and repeat the process until she showed results. Was this the way she acted around Sam, too? She was practically throwing herself at him, her repeated questions and requests were driving her mad.

"Put a cap on it..." Gnome grumbled while still in spirit form, which Undie was able to hear as well due to her link via Sam.

"Oh, hello again Gnome," Undie began to swirl her body around Sam's soft member, trying to tease an erection out of him as she chatted, "How are you?"

"That's not something you say while trying to have sex with Sam," Gnome huffed, clearly irritated.

"So, your name is Sam, hm?" Undie turned her full attention back to her contractor, ignoring whatever words or remarks Gnome would make toward her from then on.
 
Sam was confused by Gnome's rather prominent giggling; was it something he said? Or was it because of his reaction to Undine's sudden change in personality. Regardless, the water spirit's next comment made his heart sink a little; that wasn't what he was trying to convey! "Ah...N..No! I wasn't trying to be mean....." Sam stuttered out; damn, he needed to learn to be more careful. "P..please don't call me that...." he then replied to her comment for , feeling a bit flustered.

Of course he wanted her to feel welcome, to feel loved, but it seemed he certainly wasn't making things any easier with his apparent speech blunders, unaware of her incorrect perception of his previous comment. She didn't understand; he was a mortal man being asked to essentially bend spirits many times more powerful than he to take on deities even stronger than them. Not an easy thing to wrap one's head around. But if there was one thing he didn't want either one of them calling him, it was 'master'. He hated that word, even now with two elemental spirits under his belt. He wanted them to be team-mates, lovers, friends....not slaves.

Even if they viewed him as their master, he just wanted to be Sam; though he realized that that little wish went right out the window the moment he decided to take on the Pharaoh, then the Succubus. Sam's tidal wave of thoughts was interrupted as he felt Undine's form start teasing his manhood, trying to get it erect; upon hearing her rhetorically ask if his name was Sam, the slightly flustered man nodded and replied, "Yes, I am Sam".

Needless to say, her efforts were soon rewarded; the fold in his robes parted, revealing the impressive shaft that slowly rose as her teasings made him hotter and hotter. Her translucent form made it visible as it grew within her body, its enhanced length and stiffness reaching. He could feel the channel between her legs still swirling around him, the bulbous head of his cock reaching where her womb would be. "U...Undine" Sam groaned out, beginning to enjoy how she felt wrapped around him.
 
It would soon become clear why Ruby had claimed Undie was similar in make-up to a slime, as she could move and manipulate her body at will, utilizing this ability to please her partners to the fullest. Of course, it was also somewhat awkward to see every aspect of their lovemaking through her translucent body. Some people might even enjoy it more, as Sam was able to see every moment of her body as she began to work and tease his length.

At first, she merely continued to swirl and experiment with his hardened member, testing his sensitivity before starting to slide her body back and forth across him, making sloshing sounds as she rode him in short, slow strokes. Then, her watery womanhood began to do something that no other woman, other than perhaps other monster girls with liquid-like bodies, could do. Her channel began to pull him into herself continuously, the fluid around him circling back around to flow over his entire length over and over again in the same direction. It had the same intensity of a strong suction, combined with the unending sensation of pulling out of a woman as her slick walls rubbed his flared head directly as they slid across him.
 
Sam groaned, his head thrown back as Undine's body continued to pleasure him; the wet smacks resounded as the Elemental of the Water and her new contractor made love, slowly but surely sealing the first full stage of their contract. The contracted spirit mark on Undine's back would darken as their session progressed, the matching contractor symbol of water slowly becoming more apparent in the process. "Undine....Your body.....Is incredible" he groaned out as his hands rested on her wet hips.

He then let out a rather loud gasp as she started to circulate the water that made up her form; he felt his length swell within her as her actions drove him to new heights of pleasure. Suddenly, he a bit on the aggressive side - though he wouldn't know why for the life of him - and soon flipped them over, letting her legs be spread around his hips as he picked up the pace, driving his turgid manhood in and out of her as her wet pussy continued to suck on him. "Undine.......I don't know....If I can hold out...." he said as he felt himself start to succumb to the pleasure her body gave him, his cock pulsing within her as his end drew ever nearer.
 
Undie cried out in surprise and excitement when he took hold of her and pushed her down onto her back, his stiff member never leaving her wet sex as he began to drill into her body with desire. She could feel him pulse and twitch within her body, seeking to plant his thick seed deep inside her body. Instinctively, her legs wrapped around his hips and pulled him deeper within herself with each thrust, trying to hold him in place lest any of his release, for whatever reason, were to escape from her. She reached up to her chest and began to massage her breasts, trying to bring herself closer to orgasm as she was nowhere near as close to cumming as Sam. Undie's breaths were gradually deepening and her entire body began to grow warmer in response to his attentions.

"G-go ahead... Cum inside of my womb," Undie giggled sweetly.
 
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