exsiliumlogs | monsters and the kids who become them and the people who fight them

monsters and the kids who become them and the people who fight them

Date & Time: 9/2 – 9/12, various times
Location: All throughout the city
Characters: See tags
Summary: A lot of people have to put up with an increasingly unstable kid
Warnings: Fightytimes violence, body horror, dead things

IN THE FAR-REACHING FUTURE OF AN ALT-EARTH, MONSTER-BASED ATTACKS ARE CONSIDERED ESPECIALLY RIDICULOUS. IN EXSILIUM, THE DEDICATED TRANSPORTS WHO ENDURE AND INVESTIGATE THESE VICIOUS HAPPENINGS ARE MEMBERS OF AN ELITE SQUAD KNOWN AS EXTRA-UNLUCKY BASTARDS.

THESE ARE THEIR STORIES.

The following threads coincide with the established timeline posted here and are arranged chronologically for participants' use if need/want be.

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[another grunt, stopped up by a wheeze. whumph.

hh. there...but–what? his voice is distracted, sharp:] Goh–! Jus–! [a hissing sound. man. this was...supposed to be safe it was...it's...not why did he even think–]

He was ready this time. He met Martin with his shield and his feet dug into the ground. Using his free hand, he grasped for Martin’s hand while keeping him at bay with his shield. With a glance, Ico could see they were not hands anymore, but claws. However, he still held the hope that under those claws and teeth, his friend was still there, somewhere.

“Martin!” Ico shouted and shook him. “Wake up!”

Lance had been wandering the city for a few hours now and was bored. Aside from the new technology and strange machines, the city didn't differ much from the ones he'd been to back home. Having seen enough for one day he had started heading back to the Hold, keeping to the lighted streets.

Lance walked out into the square, paying more attention to the street names and where he was going rather than to the shape that had just leapt off the building across the way.

[Okay the noises coming from inside the room are, frankly, disturbing.

There's another knock, this time it's with more of a purpose, and her hand is at the door handle again, this time turning it.]

Martin, open the door.

And just like that, there was something else drumming in Martin's throbbing ears. Aside from the rhythm of his pace, somehow, he could hear it – practically feel it.

Beating heart. Pumping blood. Instinctively, Martin was veering toward it, the cause of his flight evaporating from his mind. There was no voice in his head asking him why? Where? What for?

There was just drumming.

The hand in Ico's custody clenched and flexed out its fingers, exposing the palm. The flesh split, and bone and metal exploded out of something and nothing, whizzing past the boy's cheek and ear and lodging into the alley wall. What remained unable to propel forward pushed him – and the clinging boy – backward in a tumble, with Martin snarling and kicking to get atop and get hold of something with his teeth.

[after a few loud and heavy huffs, the room behind the door was quiet. Martin, curled up on the floor with his forehead pressed hard against his knees, gritted his jagged new teeth so tight he could feel them slicing into the gums above and below.

talking? just sounds. his ears are full of a drumming sound. heart rhythms. his? or...someone's.

he cracks an eye open and twists his head just enough to peer at the door with it. the annoying shred of light from the base of the thing. go away.]

[ She wasn't drunk. Surprising, a little, given that she'd been out in bars most of the night, but she'd mostly sat around and watched tonight, drinking only enough to cloud things a little.

And now she was on her way home, already regretting having stayed up this late doing nothing when she intended to be up as early as ever tomorrow for her morning run. Tomorrow night, perhaps, she would get more sleep. Tomorrow. ]

Time seemed to stop when the felt the weapon fly by him. It was a blur and before he could identify what it was, the both of them were thrown to the ground. He struggled to break free but claws cut into his arm and teeth bit into his shoulder. He cried out and swiped his arm up to loosen Martin’s grip. His shield came under Martin’s chin and he kicked and pushed with all his strength to throw him off.

Should he break free, Ico was quick to stand on his feet again. He had to watch out for Martin’s hands.

Bariyan was too focused on Martin to notice Lance until the boy suddenly turned. Bariyan's eyes widened, and he grimaced. Damn, damn.

"Lance!" Bariyan shouted, his voice still a wreck, but now loud enough to carry over the square. He said no more. The sight of Martin hurtling forwards would have to serve as the rest of his warning.

At the same time, Bariyan finally made his lunge. Hoping to get at Martin before the boy reached Lance. Gods, he should have just put Martin to sleep when he had the chance....

[Those strange attacks are escalating it seemed, which had pushed Naoto into stepping up in her investigation. It's dangerous, yes, but with all that was going on, she cant very well leave the situation alone, because things like this did not solve themselves.

Her revolver isn't out, but she does have one hand near her holster, just in case she gets jumped. It's dangerous to be out at night, this is a well-known fact, but she's gone through far worse before, some even in broad daylight. She's a detective after all-- danger comes with the job. Besides, she'd been trained for anything, and her Persona was a buzz in her mind. She's not defenseless.

Despite it being a while, Naoto visits the area where the first known attack happened. As with all cases, she assumes that it may not be the first, but it's the one that led to people being alerted to that particular danger.]

Lance looked up when he heard his name shouted from across the square to see some kid running at him followed by and upset looking Bariyan. He'd never seen the kid before and hadn't a clue who he was but, there was something....off about him. Whatever it was, Lance wasn't interested in finding out and quickly glanced around the square for an escape route. Seeing nothing close enough to be worth trying for he settled into a fighting stance, his silver sliding down his arm, forming into a long pole.

If he could cripple the kid, Lance could escape and leave Bariyan to take care of....whatever was going on.

She stopped when she saw someone stagger out of an alley and into a pool of light. Frankly, the fellow looked to have too many problems of his own to worry about causing trouble for anyone else, but Ionae wasn't one to trust in luck.

She didn't reach for her rifle yet, but she backed up a bit, into the light of the previous streelamp a little bit behind.

"What are you doing? Don't try anything, I'm armed."

[Martin's walk was a stagger and a shuffle: He might as well be the drinker in this situation, though it's not alcohol clouding this brain...it won't go away.

in an alley, moving past discarded scrap and other such things. something aluminum is struck, bouncing out into the open, giving him a start; he hugs himself, shrinking back a pace.]

Grhuhh...

[you know those days where you just know you'll feel better if only you throw up, but you just can't?]

No amount of patience was getting his eyes to adjust to the glow piercing past gaps in his arms; he could feel it through his eyelids. It was awful. Why was everything just so awful now? He just...All he wanted was just...

Martin swayed, making a frustrated sound. All that pent-up energy was demanding action; he shot a fast and painful glare at the light ahead, barely making out the silhouetted shape below it before swinging his arm forward and launching the over-sized lance high over head. Poorly aimed, it but scraped the metal close to the light before evaporating into a rain of dust, while the force of its escape sent Martin reeling back. Unsuccessful, he gave another cry, angry.

Again, another lance, lower.

I came across something. It's a little out of place.

[ Even for this shithole. ]

Maybe you can come here instead. [ And he's sending the coordinates; they're pretty precise. ]

[He's not responding, and this both worries Anora and agitates her.

The door's somewhat difficult to push open, what, with the chair lying right in front of it and all, but she braces her shoulder and it opens just enough for her to look in.

Maker it's dark in his room. She squints, making out a shape of a figure curled up on the floor. She sounds exasperated.]

Honestly Martin...are you ill? Or is this another of your tantrums?

[ "A little out of place." ]

Understood. I'll be there as soon as I can.

[ He turns on his heel as he changes direction, glad that he'd taken the time out in his first weeks here to learn the lay of the city, get a good enough understanding of where things are that he doesn't have to hesitate now - and of course, that's why he did.

He'll be along in a few minutes. ]

[ Okay, awesome. In the meantime, Adam will be taking a closer look at the car wreck... and the corpse.

There's actually a corpse in the drivers seat. Well that's just. Nice. ]

[ He doesn't run in on the scene; if he ran even part of the way at all, he's slowed by now to a brisk walk that takes him to the car, stopping a few feet short of it. He's not visibly surprised or appalled or anything like that, just gives the scene a measured look before speaking.]

Tell me. [ Calmly. ] How long after finding this did you call me?

[ A first step, at least, to begin to get a rough estimate of how long it's been there. ]

[ Oh, hey. He gets up from his crouch--he was looking at something--and gives Barnaby a nod, acknowledging. It's a pretty gruesome scene, but hey he's sure they've both seen worse. ]

Almost immediately. Maybe a minute.

[ A beat. ]

I've been asking around. No direct witnesses.

I see.

[ He can't help but think, wryly, that it'd be too easy if there were witnesses. ]

What did they notice?

[ Because - well. This is far too nasty a scene to have happened quietly, so there must've been something. ]

Ionae flinched at the first lance, then threw herself at the ground (smashing her groceries) as the second lance flew right through the space she had just been in. That settled it. This man was dangerous and violent.

When she stood back up she had her rifle out and was aiming. "Try that again, I dare you."

Heard wheels squeeling and a shriek of metal, that's all. Few hours ago. Didn't dare to go near the scene.

[ Another pause, as he considers what he knows so far. ]

I don't think it was a traffic accident-- [ he circles the car until he reaches the driver's door ] It's more like it's been actively torn apart by something. Or someone.

[ Barnaby takes all of that in, circling the car as well (a rip like that really doesn't look like it could've possibly happened by mundane means), although he walks past Adam and looks out at the street behind as well. It's quiet now, maybe because it doesn't usually see much traffic or maybe because word has spread among the locals and they're avoiding the scene, but what that amounts to is that he gets a clear, unobstructed view of the area behind them.

As well as the lampposts. That they're rent and out of shape isn't all that unexpected, but they bother him. A minute later, it clicks why. ]

Something or someone who had an appetite for destruction. [ He turns back to Adam, gesturing at them. ] Or couldn't control themselves.

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monsters and the kids who become them and the people who fight them

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EXTRA-UNLUCKY BASTARD #1 reporting for duty sir

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SUCH A GOOD SOLDIERBASTARD

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