[Event] Invasion!

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN to everyone!
Location: All over Death City
Rating: Various
Time: February 2nd
Description: Witches have invaded and are attacking the city!

The attack, when it comes, happens quickly enough that Death City would have been caught flat-footed had there been no prior warning, but it's not completely unexpected because of the city's heightened state of alarm the past day. Warning sirens start sounding to alert the citizens and guests the moment a dark, slow-moving mass out in the desert to the south-east of Death City is spotted by Shibusen sentries. There's even time for civilians to run and hide before the mass is identified as an army of what looks like decaying, shambling corpses. The city's defenders are slow to move, however; most of them are distracted and are having trouble dealing with the black blood in their bodies. While agents are gathering to head out to deal with the zombie threat, that's when the witches make their move.

Portals begin opening in the skies above the city, disgorging hideous familiars: bulbous spiders and leggy ants the size of dogs. They drop hundreds of feet down into the streets and alleyways of Death City, and scuttle off in search of victims. The spiders are poisonous and can spin copious amounts of web to capture their targets, the ants spit acid that cause agonizing, paralyzing pain. Their masters bear down on the city in a cloud of black shadows--massive ravens strong enough to carry off adult men. There are five witches, women on broomsticks, beautiful if not for their crazed grins and obvious glee at the chaos descending upon the city. At some unknown signal--maybe the cackling from a couple of them--they dive in concert and disappear into different areas of the city.

Their masterful plan has begun!



ooc: Feel free to make your own threads. Please follow the format: [Character][Location/Time][Open/Close]

- if you want your character to run into a witch, please comment here!

Comments

I've been staring at this longingly since it went up so this is me giving in...

[tauborn]

[Takuto jumps into Ling's territory, still beating on a zombie man that must have been enormous in life. He's still pretty gigantic in death--half bloated and stumbling forward with unnerving strength--but with one arm rotted off at the shoulder he's slightly less imposing.

But only slightly.

Takuto raises both his practice swords to block the zombie's heavy arm as it swings around towards him, but the blow is too strong and the streets too slick with decomposing bodily fluids and Takuto slides backwards at an alarming speed...

His back thuds against a body, and his eyes open wide as he spins around, ready to attack, but--]

L-ling!!

ooh baby you thudded against my body!

[forhispeople]

[Ling catches Takuto in one hand and lops off the zombie's forearm with his dao sword held in the other. He smiles like this is no big deal for him.]

Hi, Takuto! How's your morning? Mine's just peachy, as you can see.

i just can't resist!!

[tauborn]

[He is incredibly grateful to see his friend--it's a lot better than being snared by a zombie. And Ling's smile is returned with a short laugh.]

I've had better! [He's really wishing he had a sword with an edge but now is not the time for wishful thinking. Instead, he ducks under the rest of the zombie's upper arm, spinning around to give a powerful smack to the base of the creature's skull. There's a horrific crunching noise, and the zombie falls to the ground between them.

Takuto glances around, taking a defensive stance as more zombies close in on them. The weapons aren't really meant for this kind of warfare--much more suited to tapping people lightly and consistent knocking against similarly soft obejcts.]

How'd there get to be so many of them?

Re: i just can't resist!!

[forhispeople]

Clearly there's some kind of convention or festival going on, and you and I just missed the invite.

[Ling hands Takuto his own sword.]

Use this. It cuts a lot better.

[tauborn]

[Fortunately, he still has the bag he uses to carry the practice swords slung over a shoulder. He hadn't had time to get rid of it anywhere, and it might even come in handy now. But still, he hesitates, staring at Ling..]

I'm not going to take your only weapon!

[forhispeople]

[Ling laughs wholeheartedly and claps the other boy on the back in his amusement.]

'My only weapon?' Ohhhh, Takutoooo. [He sighs.] You know nothing about me, do you.

[Ling whips out a handful of kunai, some throwing needles and stars, and some smoke bombs from his pants pockets. He flashes Takuto a devious grin.]

First of all, I never, ever, ever have only one weapon on me. Not even in the bath. That's a good way to get assassinated~

[tauborn]

[Needless to say, Takuto takes the sword, tucking one of his wooden ones into the bag quickly. The myriad weapons his friend has pulled out of his pockets raises a lot of questions, as does the bit about assassination, but he knows he should be concentrating on the battle--on taking down zombies before either of them gets hurt (or worse, infected). Even so, there's still one thing he can't quite....]

Even in the bath?!

[He sends Ling an incredulous look over his shoulder just before stepping forward and slicing a zombie's head clean off. Well, at least it looks like Ling's sword is well suited for the task at hand.

But seriously, explosives or throwing knives in the bath?]

[forhispeople]

Who said I brought those into the bath?

[Ling pockets all of his projectiles and bombs, and holds up his two hands.]

My most dangerous weapons are these right here~

[To demonstrate, he punches the face of an ant that has snuck up right behind him. The insect's shell-like exoskeleton cracks in and it dies.]

[tauborn]

[Takuto is always impressed by a punch to the face well done, and he makes a mental note to never attempt a fist fight with Ling. He wouldn't want to ruin his pretty face, right?]

You know, you're a little different than my first impression of you.

[He quirks a smile towards Ling, but then gets caught up in the fight again. Ants are crawling over the fallen corpses, presumably looking for fresher meat, and Takuto isn't about to offer them any. He uses his blunt weapon to crack legs and carapaces, mortally wounding the ants, while he uses Ling's sword to cut into zombie spinal cords.]

[forhispeople]

Oh yeah? What was your first impression of me?

[Ling hops over the monster carcasses and reaches back to extend a helping hand to Takuto.]

Let's get to higher ground, we'll fight better with them coming uphill to us.

[tauborn]

[He takes the hand--not because he needs to, but because it's being offered--and steps over the carcasses as well, looking up a twisting road that would be easy to defend if they just made it up another block.]

I didn't peg you as the kind of person who'd worry about being assassinated in the bath. [He hadn't thought Ling such a talented fighter, either, but he'd never had the opportunity to see him in action before. And he would have never expected Ling to be so versatile.]

[forhispeople]

It's not a "worry" about being assassinated in the bath. It's a very real danger where I'm from. Everyone will do anything to get on the Imperial Throne. Heirs can be killed most easily when their guard is down and they have no bodyguards about. The bath, the toilet, sleeping in bed. I have half-brothers and sisters that've been offed that way.

[Ling turns abruptly, probably to change the mood after revealing such a dark fact. There's a huge flight of stairs to their right, leading up to the next elevel of the city's cake-like structure. Ling's already running before he says:]

Race you to the top! 1-2-3-Go!

lol have you *seen* the Star Driver opening? Racing Takuto up stairs? That's some guts, Ling.

[tauborn]

[This is definitely news to Takuto. But he swallows his surprise--and his sympathy as well--and races after Ling up the stairs.]

Cheater! You started before 'go!' [Though really, Takuto doesn't mind the lightened mood. He'd much rather be caught laughing with Ling in the fight than crying for him. Takuto catches up halfway to the top, keeping his eyes peeled for spiders and the like that might jump down on them from a rooftop or something.]

[forhispeople]

[Ling lets out a giddy, carefree laugh, despite the events going on around him. Somehow, with another boy to run around and be stupid with, everything feels lighter on his shoulders. He's likewise watching for enemies, but hiding it well.]

Nahahahahaha! Shouldn't be much of a problem for you, you already caught up! But can you keep up like this?

[Ling does a standing front flip up the stairwell, clearing a few stairs higher.]

[tauborn]

[The atmosphere surrounding them is eerily incongruent with the peril that the city is in. On one hand, Takuto feels a bit more confident with Ling making games and laughing, but on the other hand... this kind of invasion isn't something they can play around with.

He charges faster up the stairs anyway, using only every third step until he reaches the top.] I can do better than keep up!

[He skids to a stop, sliding into a balanced pose with both his practice sword and Ling's sword at the ready. And it's good that he is ready, because their high ground is going to have to be defended. He flashes Ling a grin. If he wants a contest....]

I bet I can take down more of them than you can. [He points with the practice sword at several lines of ants marching towards them.]

[forhispeople]

Ahhh, now it's just like fighting with Ran Fan. [He chuckles fondly, a wistful sort of expression coming over his features. Hard to read, but if Takuto's looking... he'll see it.]

You two should meet.

[tauborn]

Is that someone from your world?

[And yes, he definitely noticed something peculiar about Ling when he mentioned this fighting companion. But he's not sure what to make of it, and now doesn't feel like the time to be asking personal questions.]

If Ran Fan is in Death City, then I'm looking forward to introductions already! But I think we've got a little cleaning up here to do first.

[He slices open the closest ant, and continues charging through their line, counting loudly as each one falls.]

[forhispeople]

I've told you about her before actually! She's my bodyguard, from Xing.

[Ling is punching and kicking the heck out of these here ants in a line, all superfast and flashy moves]

You've probably seen her following me around and trying to keep me out of trouble. She's about this tall-- [He gestures to his shoulder, then uses the hand to punch through an ant head with a loud grunt] Always wearing black armor and a mask.

[tauborn]

[He doesn't think he's seen anyone following Ling around--he'd probably have mentioned it to his friend, especially if he thought Ling was being stalked by a person in a mask. But that's okay. He can get properly introduced later, anyway.]

A mask? What for?

[He has to call out pretty loudly over the sound of ants being dismembered. The cracks of their exoskeletons are especially loud when he breaks them with his practice sword.]

[forhispeople]

[Ling rolls underneath an ant and kicks upward, his foot cracking through its belly]

It's tradition. The bodyguards of the royal family all wear them. It shows how good they are!

[Ling rolls back out and jumps onto the back of the ant that was beside the last one. He takes a moment to give Takuto a friendly little smile.]

But if you ask me, Ran Fan probably likes using it to hide her emotions. Heh. She's a little shy.

[tauborn]

[In Takuto's opinion, masks are certainly used for hiding. And he's never really liked that about masks.]

Sounds like a weird tradition if you ask me. But I guess most traditions are pretty weird.

[He smiles back, shrugging a little before he returns to counting how many insects he's defeated, falling into a rhythm knocking the insects off balance with his blunt sword and then cutting them in a vital area with the sharp one.]

[forhispeople]

It is. I hope... someday. She'll feel okay to let it go...

[Takuto may or may not have overheard a wistful little sigh as Ling finishes two more ants, counting along with how many he's offed.]