Roaming Storm

S1E9: Now Then ...Where Were We?

ACT I [EXT. / CAMEROON RAINFOREST / AFTERNOON]

After having their Nightmare hunt halted abruptly by Anansi, the cheetah and peregrine pick up where they left off as they speed through the Cameroon rainforest. Radi, currently holding the Nightmare radar, takes the lead and sees that he and the moving energy signature are almost within seeing distance of each other. With that, he creates a sphere of electricity and chucks the sucker fastball style. As soon as it hits the ground, it causes an explosion that -- while small -- was strong enough to get their quarry's attention. Drilling its way out the ground is the Meerkat Nightmare, only this time, something's different. The Nightmare is shown radiating in purple energy from head to tail. Completely irritated after everything it went through, the beast is not hesitant in lashing out at the first thing it sees -- lo and behold -- make that two things.

With Umeme and Radi in its sights, the Meerkat Nightmare unleashes numerous drill projectiles, this time in rapid fire succession akin to a machine gun. Even when the speedy duo is forced to split, the meerkat makes sure to switch its focus from one speedster to the other every few seconds -- vise-versa. The cheetah and peregrine try their best to shake off said focus -- zig-zags, loop de loops, ricochets, the works -- but the Nightmare persists regardless.

As the battle rages on, the surrounding vegetation becomes decimated by the skewering drills (shrubs, vines, trees, fruits, etc.) making it much easier for the Nightmare to see its moving targets. Umeme, within the brief seconds he's given before focus is on him, tries dishing out his own projectile in the form of an electrical energy beam. Catching wind of this, however, the Meerkat Nightmare shoots out rapid-fire drills towards the blast. Where one drill would be destroyed, another would take its place, and so on.

Glancing back, Radi turns to see that Umeme has the beast distracted. With that, he uses the ample opportunity to ascend into the sky at rocketing speeds.

Umeme: [glances at Radi, struggling to keep his beam afloat](via thoughts) Any... time now, dude.

As time progresses, Umeme's beam of electricity starts to become weaker, giving the Nightmare an overpowering advantage. Getting pushed back inch by inch, the cheetah is less than a minute away from becoming drill kill. As for Radi, he has now reached the edge of Immobi's troposphere, gaining more than enough height to perform his trademark diving stoop. Descending towards the earth like a meteor"ite", the peregrine's momentum increases with each second. As he dials down the gap between him and the ground, he curves straight past the meerkat, delivering a missile dropkick to the side of its facial area. The force of the dropkick was strong enough to completely jam the Nightmare's "muzzle", preventing it from not only shooting out another drill, but rotating the one it's stuck with as well.

With the meerkat finally ceasing fire, albeit unwillingly, Umeme's beam rushes over to it in a direct hit. Having some of its upper body (head and neck) caught within a concussive stream of voltage, the Nightmare's brimming purple radiance begins to fade amidst all the rushing yellow. It desperately tries to escape into the ground, to the point where it's using its own claws to scrape into the dirt, but to no avail. With a jammed muzzle, the beast is essentially rendered a sitting duck. And after a few more seconds of receiving a facefull of volts, it's rendered a roasted duck.

Now ceasing fire, willingly, Umeme slouches down and takes a long breather. Continuing to do so, he lifts his head forward to see the large husk pieces and rising smoke of his defeated prey. Radi floats down over to him soon after, but seeing that the cheetah's worn out, he stops to look around for any fruits or berries to help replenish some of his stamina. He then spots something not too far away, and in the blink of an eye, takes it over to Umeme.

Radi: [one-hand juggles a surviving safou fruit] Now that's what I call a game of tag. [tosses it over to Umeme] Wouldn't you agree?