[Event Log] Mission #202 - San José

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN to those who signed up for the mission here, assigned to San José
Location: San José, Costa Rica
Rating: Varies
Time: May 29th
Description: It's an evacuation! Get people out of there and keep the kishin eggs off of them!



They arrive to sirens, frantic car horns, and shouting voices. The local police are frantically trying to maintain some sort of order: Between soul-eating monsters, panicked people and worse - people who step forward and swear they can take them on - they have their hands full. They're awfully glad to see you, and are happy to point you in the direction of where they'd last seen monsters.

But there's no need to be pointed, they're everywhere, both old and new as they're attracted by the fear and the promise of a feast of souls. Combined with spiking madness making them inconsolable and the shadows passing overhead - witches here to catch a damn good show and 'help things along' - the people here are in dire straits.

It's your turn, agents! Get the civilians out of there, and give the kishin eggs hell, but don't let a witch spot you!


[Coordination post is right here! Make sure to head your threads with the following format: [CHARACTER(S) | LOCATION | OPEN/CLOSED] Don't forget to tag yourselves in!]

Comments

[Mello + Near, in the streets | Closed]

[want_the_world]

Mello stepped through the mirror with Near, already changed to his Rubik's cube form, in hand; he'd even already solved four of the cube's sides, expecting the chaos that would result from a city being mid-evacuation.

He wasn't prepared for this, though. Arriving Shibusen agents were getting mobbed by people wanting help, and he was no exception, a young man seeming to appear out of nowhere to clutch his arm and rattle off a breathless story about monsters, and they were right down that street, and his sister was missing, come on!

Mello shook him off. "Over there," he snapped, pointing to the evacuation route, which was nicer than the guy deserved. He couldn't even estimate how many kishin eggs were between them and the street the guy had pointed out. As if that wasn't bad enough, the madness was already beating a steady pulse against Mello's mind, the sound of flames coming with it as always, and he couldn't be certain they weren't real. He gritted his teeth mentally and physically, reached for Near's mind, and stepped into the battle.

About a dozen, trying to get into that building, see them? Hit them hard.

[cardfortress]

[They knew it was going to be bad, of course. They had been informed of what they would find as soon as they stepped into San José, of how dangerous the mission would be, and of how powerful the kishin eggs-- and the madness wavelength radiating off of them-- would surely be, as well. Despite every warning, and despite Near’s own realistic (and frequently pessimistic) expectations of what they would find, the Weapon can tell that his partner is just as unprepared for this as he is.

It’s as if a strong gust of wind wooshes past them as soon as Mello steps through the mirror: their senses are bombarded with everything this world’s war zones have to offer, from panicked civilians trying to flee for their lives to staggeringly strong levels of madness. Near has never been a sympathetic or empathetic person, and it’s a good thing that Mello is similar to him in that regard; he feels a flicker of annoyance as a stranger tries to get his Meister to help him and his sister, but then his mind clears up again when Mello shakes him off.

His partner isn’t the only one who can feel the madness wavelength: Near feels it too, trying to taint both of their minds, starting with Mello’s. He reaches for Mello’s mind in return and holds on, letting his mental walls come down completely so he can anchor him to sanity as best as he can, keeping the flames-- and whatever else comes with them-- at bay.]

Got it.

[They can’t afford running out of power this early into the battle, but there is only so much lasers can do, so Near tries something out: he uses their resonance attack to hit a few of those kishin eggs with small explosions, trying to fool them into thinking another kishin egg has attacked them. It works, but not as well as Near wanted it to: only three of the creatures are tricked into attacking each other, but it’s still better than nothing.

They can’t rely on subtlety and manipulation alone, though, so Near tries something different: when the other kishin eggs get closer to each other, he directs a different, much more powerful blastwave to the middle of them, successfully exploding a smaller kishin egg to bits.]

That’s better.

[want_the_world]

[Mello can feel that Near is affected by the madness, too, but it's never hit the Weapon as hard, and the warmth of their resonance is as steadying as ever. He holds onto it tightly all the same, all too aware that madness can flare up suddenly, and that they're witnessing the perfect conditions for it to do just that. He can feel it trying to gain a foothold in his mind. The witches are here, yes, swooping and menacing, but there's no reason on earth for him to feel as if he can't draw a full breath.

Near's trick isn't something they've been able to practice, and Mello wonders if they could use it to get the smaller eggs to turn on a larger one. This isn't the time to test that possibility, though.

Holding his aim on the group Near's attacking, Mello scans their surroundings, and finds what he's looking for: a lot of kishin eggs seem to be spilling out of one street into this area, probably drawn by the panicking humans. If they could make sure the area's clear...]

Let's find where they're coming from down that way, cut 'em off at the source.

[cardfortress]

[Well aware that a sudden spike in madness wavelength could be their downfall, Near tries to keep his and Mello’s minds shielded as strongly as is possible for him to do; he’s sure that they’ve never had to fight such strong levels of madness before.

When Near is done with the kishin eggs they were targeting, he glances at where Mello is looking at, but he isn’t as enthusiastic about that course of action as his Meister apparently is, even though he knows it could be a good idea.]

There may be too many for us to handle,[He begins, clearly not feeling very comfortable with Mello’s idea even though he likes it.] It wouldn’t be a good idea to draw unwanted attention towards us. If we try to cut them off like that and show just how powerful we can be…

[He knows he doesn’t have to finish that train of thought for Mello to get it: if they show just how powerful they are, their chances of being spotted by a Witch increase significantly, and they aren’t strong enough to take on one. Yet, because Near knows it’s only a matter of time and leveling up until he’s one Witch soul short of becoming a Deathscythe.]

[want_the_world]

[Mello immediately understands: they'd be showing how much of a threat they are, and making themselves an obvious target.

They're going to be one anyway before long, with the civilians emptying out and leaving this part of the city to the fighters, but maybe they can take advantage of their relative stealth for a bit longer.]

We could use that corner building for cover, catch 'em as they come out into the square.

[The Kishins are bottlenecking right there at the mouth of the alley; it would be almost as good as stopping them before they get that far. Mello knows the Madness will get stronger, but he can handle it.]

[cardfortress]

[Mello’s right-- they’re going to become a target eventually, when there are no more civilians left-- but Near hopes they won’t run out of firepower before those battles come along. After all, their mission in Ljubljana wasn’t that long ago, and Near was so exhausted by the time they were done that he couldn’t even keep his Weapon form up.

He knows he doesn’t have to remind his partner of it, though, so he doesn’t bring that up, and focuses instead on their surroundings and the madness wavelength, to keep an eye out on sudden changes or even slight shifts in intensity, as well as any Witches that may be close by.]

Okay.

[want_the_world]

[Mello's well aware that their ability to attack isn't infinite, and that they have to be efficient as well as deadly.

He makes his way over to the building, darting across empty spaces, sticking close to walls where he can, checking the sky for any sign of witches--their shadows sweep over the cobbles of the square, but they don't descend yet, not here. It makes Mello slightly nervous. What are they waiting for?

He puts his back to the door of the corner shop, and trains the cube on the eggs still tumbling over each other in their hurry to get into the open and attack.]

Give me a good, sustained blast, then we can take a breather.