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

[theguideless]

[if she's heard? it's not apparent. not right away, anyhow. Martin is turning his back to the streetlight, hunched forward as he stops to get his balance. some sense of bearing. why...?

raspy and slurred, coming out of a throat too raw and warped for proper words:] Oohghadyi... [a rattled breath.] Hhhostyavh– [slowly turning, the anger rising in his voice.

mixed in a roar as he throws his arm forward:] MhenyhrarghBFHOQUEYE–!

[the lance, not so bulky and unruly as times before this encounter, is released from his hand and caught before it could fly completely free. both hands around it, he swung it heavily horizontally, whether aiming to slide through the girl or the streetlamp is unclear, but the latter is going to certainly go down with a great deal of noise.]

[rota]

[Naoto draws her gun and shoots, but the bullet ricochets off the man's weapon (is it even a man?) and embeds itself in a nearby wall and she doesn't have time to be annoyed at her sloppy aiming.

Not when she's dashing to the side and trying to summon that tarot card for her Persona to come.

Nothing happens.]

What in...? [There's no flash of blue light or the shape of a card anywhere, as if she hadn't even tried to summon her Persona in the first place. However, she knows he's still there, because Yamato Takeru is still buzzing around in her mind.

She tries again, gripping her gun tightly in both hands and willing for something to happen, but nothing.

She cant understand why she's suddenly incapable of releasing Yamato Takeru out into the world when it was so easy before in the TV world.]

[theguideless]

OOSTAVHYAH–! [the swing is long because the weapon dictates it, and it takes a good heave to get it rolling up into the air. high, over his head.

he brings it down heavily toward the ground, nearly lifting himself up off it with the force.]

[rota]

[The battle cry makes her start and she rolls to the side to avoid that blow. It's still a near thing though, and Naoto knows she's in deep trouble.

Forgetting all about her summoning problems, she fires a warning shot at the person's feet. Probably useless, but she'd rather avoid a fight.]

[theguideless]

[it's dust after the heavy impact, forgotten. the bullet, barely noticed until seconds later. his eyes widen, turning his head to the source of the shot.

his blood burns.

he swings his arm hurling another lance through the air, screaming something slurred and muddled.]

[rota]

[Again she has to duck to the side, but it's a little too late-- her hat drops to the ground, knocked off as the lance knicks her cheek.

Getting hurt in a fight isn't new to her. However, it's the first time she's been in this amount of danger without a healer or any sort of healing items on her person.

(Stupid.)

Naoto backs up as much as she can to keep out of range (or so she hopes) as she reloads her gun.]

[theguideless]

[Martin's having none of this retreat, furious and driven by the sight and scent of blood. with the previous dust, the next weapon manifests, thrown her way with little time wasted while he doubled his effort to advance against the force of it.]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan hears the noise from three blocks away.

He runs towards it, across streets, cutting over fences, a non-stop sprint until he skids into the scene. He sees the destroyed streetlamp first: then Martin, and Naoto further away. He sees the lance emerging as Martin starts to conjure. ]

No!

[ Shouted, as he lunges forwards, crashing into the boy's back before he can release the lance entirely.

Maybe Martin's aim will be knocked off-target. But Bariyan had been looking at Naoto's gun -- and his only thought was to get himself between Martin and her line of fire. ]

[rota]

[She'd been preparing for that attack the moment the body language changed, but Naoto hadn't been prepared for another person to arrive and join in on the skirmish. Shocked, she doesn't squeeze the trigger, but she still keeps her gun trained on the crazed boy.]

Sir, it's not safe for you to be here.

[She doesn't know what this man is trying to do, really-- but the way he shouted and acted makes her think that he knows the boy somehow.]

[theguideless]

[the bone splinters off mid-conjure and is dust, the remainder a blazing burn in the boy's arm as he goes down, howling. the weight of a body pressing down on him as he falls only incites more panic and fury, blindly thrashing and flailing to be freed of it.]

NrrROH–!

[stonefaith]

It's a lot less safe for you--

[ Bariyan was distracted by Naoto's words. So he'd hesitated in trying to put Martin to sleep -- a second too long. Martin's flailing breaks him free of Bariyan's grip and the boy rolls away from him. Bariyan swears at that -- but instinct pushes him to circle around Martin instead of going back after him. In order to place himself square between Martin and Naoto.

He looks at the latter, eyes flashing with panic. ]

Don't shoot him!

[rota]

[Red eyes--

Naoto starts at the sight, and her Persona buzzing in her head, because there's something different about this man too. So she doesn't lower her gun even a bit.]

Do you know him?

[In order to fully understand the situation and find out what to do from here, she needs to ask him questions. Crazy and they're pressed for time and space, because it's dangerous, but she has to.]

[theguideless]

[freed, Martin has chance to glance over the escalated scene. the shooter's out of sight, what with...this shape in his way. scentless. no drumming.

a voice–

he wavers, eyes straining and widening and straining again.] Whrogh... [what...?]

[stonefaith]

[ Bariyan only has eyes for the gun, and where it's aimed. All the same, he starts to back away from Naoto, back towards Martin, knowing that he still has to catch the boy before it's too late. So he answers Naoto quickly, concisely, whatever she wants to keep her back. ]

Yes. He's mine. Go.

[ And then he whirls back around, bent at the knees, beckoning to Martin with one hand. Come on. Patient, tense, waiting for conjuration, for that moment when Martin has to freeze.... ]