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

[theguideless]

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.

Comments

9/2, approx. 2AM [ROSLYN]

[theguideless]

EXTRA-UNLUCKY BASTARD #1 reporting for duty sir

[boughtabookstore]

[ 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. ]

9/2, daytime [CASTIEL + OTHERS]

[theguideless]

[NPC SCENE: THE SINGLE, DEAD MAN.]

9/2, approx. 8PM [THE WITNESS]

[theguideless]

oh look who's finally showing up for their appointment

[bearswitness]

[ It's one of those rare times he's actually gotten up to leave his bench (after checking to be sure that no one like Aileen is around to see him do it, of course). He's not terribly interested in this walk of his, with eyes downcast, scarf up, and firmly ignoring anyone he might happen to pass. They're probably all human, anyway. Uninteresting, loathed in some cases.

He kicks a rock as he goes, which skitters silently across the pavement until it gains some distance from him and begins to pick up noise again.

Maybe he'll walk to the sea tonight. There's nothing better to do. ]

9/3, approx. 3AM [IONAE]

[theguideless]

[has_a_cult]

Ionae trudged along at 3 in the morning. It was an odd time to be about, but she liked not having to deal with hundreds of people all around her all the time. And if someone gave her trouble, well, she wasn't exactly unarmed.

She had found an all night grocery store for getting food from, and was on her way now. It was a welcome change being able to consistently afford food rather than having to steal it or root through garbage, so overall, Ionae was actually in a pretty good mood.

9/3, approx. 6PM [ANORA]

[theguideless]

[selfloyalty]

[He's home.

She knows he's home, seeing as at one point the door to his room was ajar, and when she passed by it once again it was shut tight.

She hovers by the handle, curiosity tickling at the pit of her stomach, mixed with...concern? No, that would be silly. But the last she knew of him he was throwing a fit, and there had been teeth in the sink and...

well...

She knocks lightly at his door, her other hand on the handle.]

...Martin? Are you in there?

9/4, daytime [ADAM + BARNABY]

[theguideless]

[NPC SCENE: THE PIERCED CAR.]

actioning it up cause that's quicker!

[neveraskedforthis]

[ ~A RATHER QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE MORNING

So, after this little conversation Adam agreed to meet up with Barnaby for the purpose of some more information sharing, though he's not exactly sure yet how much he's willing to share. The general state of his world and what augmentation technology entails--sure. The personal hell he's been put through the past few months? Not so much. He wonders how often he'll have to do this in the coming weeks... months... years? Christ. He'd like to say that he has something better to do, but that isn't exactly true. He's supposed to be dead and gone from that world, so isn't it good he'd ended up in another?

Whatever. No use dwelling on things he can't change right now anyway, so he's on his way to the location they'd agreed to meet up at whatever that one might be you decide. His Wayfinder aug sometimes picks out rather odd routes, which is probably the only reason he even comes across this--

What is this? Not just a wrecked car, that's for sure. Even at first glance the damage can't be the result of a traffic accident. He wants to take a closer look to sate his own curiosity, but that means he'll be late.

So, calling Barnaby via Infolink again. He's so glad the Initiative dudes were able to make it work. ]

Hey, I might be late. Are you there yet?

9/5, approx. 1AM [ADAM + BARNABY]

[theguideless]

adam -> barnaby -> martin??

[neveraskedforthis]

[ So, some hours extreme roof jumping/parkour and network discussions later, it's already getting dark. A fact that Adam finds quite worrisome, depending on what they might find--if they find anything at all--at whatever place the trail is leading them to. Well, at least it's not a trail of corpses.

Finally, though, it seems to come to an end. It's getting hard to see, but with his augmented vision, Adam should be able to make out anything suspicious in the vicinity, and especially more of those 'footprints'.

No dice, though. Maybe it has left the roofs and continued on ground? Without so much as a word, Adam approaches the edge of the roof they're currently on, lowering himself into a crouch, trying to make out anything in the dark alleys. ]

9/5, approx. 7PM [BARIYAN + LANCE]

[theguideless]

[stonefaith]

Sixteen days since he'd last seen Martin. He could hardly even remember what had happened in all that time: just names and faces washing by in his memory. Distracted conversations cut short. He thought that most of his time had been spent searching the streets, but he could not be sure.

There'd been blood, at some point.

Seven months since they'd first met. Maybe more, maybe less. He'd spent the first few months failing to get Martin home, and drank the rest away. Maybe if he hadn't... after all, the signs had all been there. They'd always been there. What could he have done back then? What was he going to do now?

He kept searching. Staggering down alleys and slinking around the edges of plazas and ignoring vehicles coming straight at him as he ran intersections, chasing shadows and silences for weeks with nothing to show for it. Just this square, now, empty as far as he could see. Skeleton trees and twisted fences and pavement buckled under the stress of some old catastrophe that Bariyan knew and cared nothing about. He turned, still looking, now searching with an increasing sense of hopelessness.

He used to be patient. He used to be good. Now he was-- blinking in lamplight, stepping back, too far gone to do anything but imagine the worst.

Now he was only tired.

9/6, approx. 5AM [TONY STARK]

[theguideless]

9/7, approx. 9PM [LEA]

[theguideless]

[vestigiaflammae]

[Lea hasn't been out looking for Martin, not entirely. He's been exploring and buying a couple of sandwiches from a street stand, one of them a kind he knew Isa liked just in case Isa hasn't gotten around to dinner by the time he got home. But he also hasn't seen his new friend in kind of a long time now; and so when he catches a glimpse of someone about the right height disappearing into an alley, it's only natural to detour.

He's not sure what triggered the association. He couldn't even see the guy's face in the shadows, and it's even darker away from the street. Shifting the sandwich bag from one hand to the other, he squints against the gathering gloom.]

Martin? Hey, Martin? Is that you?

What are you doing out here, anyway?

9/8, approx. 2AM [RAVEN]

[theguideless]

Sorry! Let's pretend this is not late...

[feel_nevermore]

Raven was out for several different reasons. First she coudn't sleep. They still hadn't found a way to 'steal' one of the existing time machines or built a new one and they still stuck here. Some people had returned but none of her teammates. So she had decided to fly a bit, see if it would help her find a new strategy.

Second she'd heard of people getting attacked on the streets. And since she was stil a superhero, even if this wasn't Jump City nor her time, she could try and prevent people from getting attacked.

That's when she spotted Martin in a deserted alley. She knew Martin was kind of a knight owl. Still something in his demeanor was off, as if he wasn't himself. So she decided to go check on him. She landed a few feet away from him.

"Martin?"

9/8, approx. 8PM [THRALL + KOLTIRA]

[theguideless]

[NPC SCENE: A BUILDING EVACUATED.]

[deadelfwalking]

At this point, Koltira knows that if he simply keeps looking, he will come across Martin--or something Martin has done, at the very least. He has witnessed more than he's intervened, being aware of the boy's likely reaction to him, and being interested mainly in the relative safety of all parties. But when he finds the throng of frightened people crowded around one of the city's buildings, he quickly realizes that mere observation is not an option. Taking Byfrost from his back, Koltira approaches.

9/9, approx. 9PM [KATNISS]

[theguideless]

[effective]

[Katniss hasn't been dealing with things well since the memory event. Every time she closes her her eyes she sees her sister's blank face as she kicks her, over and over. The situation with Peeta hasn't helped either, and Katniss has found herself escaping to the forest to hunt more and more often lately.

It's simple. It takes her mind off what her life has become.

Sounds that definitely aren't made by any kind of animal make her freeze. Setting an arrow to the string, she holds her bow ready, cautiously peering around the area for the source]

9/10, approx. 12AM [NAOTO]

[theguideless]

[rota]

[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.]

9/10, approx. 8PM [BARIYAN + ROSLYN + ASHRAF + KOLTIRA]

[theguideless]

[stonefaith]

There was a tower here, ruined and crumbling, but still rising far above its surrounding buildings. Bariyan kicked the door in and climbed his way up. Over rotting stairs, through debris, all the way to the top and out onto the flat roof. He stepped to the edge to look at Exsilium.

He'd been so close. Twice, now. And Martin had gotten away both times. Bariyan was tired, sick with distress and self-loathing, and still searching. He no longer had a plan -- never had much of one at all -- except to catch Martin, somehow, as if that would be enough of a fix to all this.

He ran a hand through his hair as he scanned the buildings and the streets below. He waited.

9/11, approx. 3AM [ERIDAN]

[theguideless]

9/11, approx. 8PM [TONY STARK + PHIL COULSON]

[theguideless]

9/12, approx. 2AM [ICO]

[theguideless]

[hornedomen]

It all seemed like a nightmare, indescribable and terrifying. Martin was strange, but Ico never imagined him capable of such violence. However, the assertions of so many people could not be wrong. Do they know he’s sick? Ico wondered. The fever must have gone to his head; that was the only explanation.

Ico ran through the city with his shield ready. Despite the mess of thoughts on his mind, he was watching for signs of Martin to follow and he was quickly coming closer. He had to find him soon. If someone else found him first, someone who did not know he was sick, he may get hurt. Those thoughts scared him more than anything else did in this city and he ran quickly, like a frightened rabbit.

This was it. Martin was close and he knew it. His heart raced in his chest and he inhaled deeply. He anticipated for Martin to attack, like he did to others and he held his shield arm up. He took another deep breath, held his hand to his mouth, and shouted.

“Huueh!”

9/12, ?? PM [BARIYAN + ERIDAN + KOLTIRA + NAOTO]

[theguideless]

[rota]

[Naoto, of course, doesn't know what happened next after she left the scene days ago (stupid rookie mistake, and not even a lick of information as to what exactly is going on). No hide nor hair from the man with the red eyes, nor that boy despite her patrols.

She's still determined though, as someone who refuses to admit defeat so easily. Never mind that her current trouble with her abilities-- making sure that this place was safe was her biggest priority.

One hand is on her holster, ready to draw her gun, as she moves through the streets once again.]

9/12, approx. 4AM [FIONA]

[theguideless]

[technically second to last YEAH OUT OF ORDER WHAT]

[uncalled_for]

[Messin' up them timelines. Ooooh yes. Sorry dude.

Fiona will have had her tracking spell on for sometime. Even after Bariyan's warnings for her not to interfere, she couldn't simply wait and hope someone would stumble upon Martin and be able to fend for themselves at the same time.

Her intention isn't to hurt Martin though. Perhaps it's more to see if she could subdue him until others could come. But if magic irritates him so, she'd have to be more careful, magic was all she had.

When she feels that she's close she'll end the spell and tread lightly with her staff out, though she's not putting any mana into it yet. It may be best to wait and see.]