soul_logs | Phase 3: Mission 153

Entry tags:

Phase 3: Mission 153

Characters: Grand Canyon mission goers, victims, medics
Location: Grand Canyon
Rating: R
Time: Feb 5, 2009, mission starts at dawn
Description: Event links list.

The scouts had done their jobs well and the mirror deposits its travelers just at the end of the area Shibusen has closed off as their mission target. It's still dawn, the sun barely visible over the horizon. The witches hasn't noticed them there yet, the scouts say, so it's still possible to take them by surprise.

This is what the agents are told: In the rock face of the Grand Canyon is a cavern system made up of many small caves and three large ones. The large caves contain a kishin egg pit, the kidnapped agents and civilians, and what appears to be a machine at one end. There are about five dozen zombies crawling the area, and an equal number of ants, spiders, and ravens on top of it.

Worst of all, the scouts report that they had sighted a few of the agents patrolling for the Witches. The scouts hadn't been certain if these ones had soul perception or other abilities, and had given the area as much space as they could in order to avoid an early confrontation. Still, it's bad news and it looks like a fight with some of the kidnappees themselves is inevitable.

Not much time is given to the agents after the briefing before they're being ushered into place. A few scouts are going to be causing a commotion some distance away to distract the familiars and zombies, clearing a path for the agents. After that, it's all up to them.

[ooc: Just put up your own threads with the subject line [Characters][Feeding Cave/MMM Cave/Kishin Egg Pit/Elsewhere][Open/Close]
Kidnappees can go thread in the caves while waiting for the rescuers, too.
For those who want to thread with a witch, please add it in the subject line so we know where to go!
This day change will be one week irl.
The mirror will stay open for anyone who needs to be rushed back to the medics.
For those handwaving, please put your summaries here for the meister points and soul tally record.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cracking his knuckles to finish things off, Kotetsu kept his gaze on Spirit, not exactly willing to let the whole issue go that easily but he knew that if he asked questions he'd just hear more disappointing things and he really couldn't handle dwelling on more than he already was.

"But usually doesn't mean always. I guess that just means we need to get better so we can put up more of a fight next time, big or small." He looked over his shoulder at Barnaby, offering him a tired smile. "Right, Bunny?"

With that all said and done, Kotetsu gave a long heavy sigh. "Ready! I need a shower, a drink and sleep. If I could do all three at the same time then that'd be perfect."

"Yeah. We didn't use to get these big operations until... well, lately. But I guess a lot has changed. Don't worry, I'm sure you have the time to adapt to here."

Still, Spirit's expression brightened at Tiger's declaration, and he got up himself. "You could drink while in the shower, and fall asleep there, yeah?" he suggested, warming to the idea.

"Your partner could always come in once in a while to make sure you haven't drowned. Right, Bunny?" He hadn't even meant to pick up the nickname, only Spirit had grown up in Shibusen, and in the academy, one got to pick any name they wanted upon joining. In some misguided hope that the guests were taking to local Shibusen culture, he thought that was just Barnaby's chosen alias. There were stranger names than Bunny, anyway. Like "Eternal Feather", for example.

Stein, in the meantime, took a long drag from his cigarette, watching the three. Drinking while in the shower...

"That's a stupid idea, Spirit."

Barnaby visibly twitches when Spirit uses the nickname. Was it subconsciously catching on? For as much as he had gotten used to it, he would punch Kotetsu in the face if that had become a new 'name' for him in this city. "Barnaby, please," he corrected the deathscythe.

"But I'm inclined to agree with your partner here. Drinking in the shower just sounds far too ridiculous for words." If Kotetsu tried it, Barnaby probably wouldn't think twice of letting him drown in there. But of course, those little quips weren't quite fitting of the 'hero' profession, so he held back that one fast.

Of course Kotetsu will never understand the agonized woes Barnaby has about being called a rabbit, let alone in public, so he doesn't even bat an eyelash when Spirit repeats the name. And when he's corrected, that certainly doesn't mean he's stopping anytime soon either.

"No no, it's not that bad! I don't think it'd really work though. I mean, I've had a drink in the tub before, and I've been so tired I've fallen asleep in the shower a couple of times but I've never done all three at once." His face wrinkles up in thought, scratching at his cheek.

"Probably not a good idea since I'd just end up walking outta there all wrinkly. And I don't need to be bugging Bunny about keeping me awake in there. That's a waste of water too."

Thankfully the more he rambled, the less and less tired he was starting to be and so sleeping seemed less likely. He'd crash at some point of course but for now, all he really wanted was a drink. Drinks. Just a couple, nothing too excessive.

"Then I guess taking a shower first, drinking, and then sleeping," Spirit persisted, going right through Stein and Barnaby's words because unfortunately for them, once Spirit latched onto an idea, it was hard to make him let go. Besides, Tiger certainly didn't seem to mind exploring this theory. One could even say they were both in their element!

And it was a good distraction as any, while they were making their way back.

"Because I mean, it's not nice to drink while you're all dirty and dusty, right?" And Canyon dust was a strange shade of red orange, really very visible on their clothes by now. Good thing Spirit was a redhead. "And if you drink after a shower, then you and Bunny can drink together and that sounds nice."

The look on Stein's face at that moment could have only been described as long suffering. His gaze briefly landed on Barnaby - a look of understanding - before he was walking off.

Part of him quietly resolved to never end up getting stuck between Kotetsu and Spirit at a bar unless he absolutely had to.

Barnaby caught Stein's look and nodded. At least he wasn't alone in this annoyed feeling.

"It's Barnaby," he corrected again, but he doubted either weapon was listening to him now. Crossing his arms, he just watched the two chatter ahead. Well, if they headed back first, Barnaby could lock himself in his room.

"Bunny, don't be so rude!" Kotetsu quipped over at his partner in an almost scolding manner. Stop trying to correct things and give yourself a good image, it's not going to happen with Kotetsu around. Never.

Completely content to let the other two stay out of this bizarre conversation, Kotetsu focused all of his attention on Spirit, feeling far more energetic than he was a few minutes ago.

"Are you kidding, Bunny almost never wants to drink with me now! It's not a big deal though since he's just kinda like that. He can't hold his liquor down very well either... I mean you can't blame him, he likes wine more." Spoken as if that was some sort of character flaw now.

"And he even drinks milk before he goes to bed! He's like a little kid, haha!"

And now the personal information is being whipped out. This is not going to turn out well at all.

Perhaps Spirit was really only hearing Bunny instead of Barnaby, but he didn't hear that, either, and continued to ramble on with the other father.

"Oh, I guess it's because of his age, right? Young ones always prefer the finer things in life than the old guys like us," he laughed, recalling all the beer he'd taken down. Then again, Spirit liked all sorts of alcohol. Being Deathscythe made him far less likely to succumb to any of them.

"Milk is good for the bones! I always tell Maka to drink more, but she gets mad at me!" And then Spirit turned around to sort of walk backwards, waving at Stein and Bunny behind them. "Stein likes milk these days, too. Right, Stein? I guess you and Bunny have a lot in common!" If 'a lot' amounted to drinking milk, then his logic wasn't entirely flawed, right?

What he and Barnaby seemed to have in common was the fact that they were saddled with idiots. Stein kept at pace with Barnaby, and his eyes on their surroundings.

"I distinctly recall that you forced me to drink milk, senpai."

Those little teasing remarks were enough to bring a bit of color to Barnaby's cheeks. Really, just being in Kotetsu's presence for long amounts of time was just enough to embarrass him sometimes, especially with the old man doing things like that. At least he could find some sort of solace walking closer to Stein, feeling a little closer to this man due to his calmness and... lack of stupidity, for lack of better description. Barnaby didn't like judging people right off the bat, but... He was. He judged so hard.

There was nothing wrong with milk, but he was losing all wish to argue with them. With a small roll of the eyes, he leaned in a little closer to Stein. "Perhaps when we return to the city, we should just leave them to their own devices," he whispered. "You don't think they'd wreak havoc on the city, do you?"

"Well you say that but then Bunny ends up liking things like opera and even that's not for me. He's like a little bit of both sometimes, it's weird." Before he continues with embarrassing his partner, Kotetsu takes a few seconds to glance over in Stein's direction to see if there's any resemblance. He squints, tilts his head, stares at the screw in his head... keeps staring... starts to feel a little creeped out and decides that there is most definitely not any kind of similarity between the two at all, aside from the milk. There's no way Stein is as cute as Barnaby.

"Ah, I had that problem with Kaede before too. But she's getting so big already that the last thing I want is for her to get even bigger, y'know? Imagining her getting as tall as me one day is just too much!" Kotetsu laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck... and then suddenly paused as an idea hit him.

"Oi, so you drink right? And I'm not talkin' about a little nightcap before bed." Asked with a bit of a glint in his eye. Operation Get a Back-Up Drinking Buddy For When Barnaby Is a Joy-Kill is underway.

"The opera," Spirit echoed, not certain what to do with that information because it seemed so odd and out of nowhere for him. "He's very refined, yeah?" he said insted, because that was the exact word that he had been looking for before, when they were talking about wine and beer.

He was about to say more, but then Tiger mentioned his daughter and that brought up Maka in his own vision, and, well. He and Tiger had a lot in common, what could he say? "It's a good thing I'm super tall to start with." Being over six feet tall, anyway. "So I bet Maka won't get to be as tall as me! But she won't be small forever, either..."

What was that? "I do, when I have the time. Used to drink over at the Chupa♥Cabra, but I've stopped..." After a couple of witches tried to kill him, and anyway, Spirit promised Maka that he would try to play it straight from now on, and that meant no flirting around with the hostesses. "Bitch's Brew is the place to go these days, though!"

Stein glanced over at Barnaby the moment the younger man addressed him. He was worth talking to, perhaps. Not a bad fighter at all, as well.

"It'd be best for your sanity and mine, I imagine." Excuse him a moment: he needed to adjust the crank in his head. "As for potential damage... I suppose that whatever they do manage to do won't be nearly as bad as what has already happened so far."

He really didn't see what enjoying opera had to do with anything, nor why Kotetsu had brought up any of this. Barnaby was sure that, by the end of the night, Spirit would know everything his fangirls from Sternbild did about him, and then some.

Well, at least Stein was sane.

"Then I guess it would be perfectly alright to just abandon the two and disappear to our respective homes, yes?"

"...refined! That's perfect! Yeah, he's like that!" Of course at this point most of the things Kotetsu was saying were bound to not make much sense but then, that was just a normal thing for him.

However even as he continued to try and find things to share about his partner (and possibly expand on his vocabulary more. Seriously, 'refined' fit perfectly. Why hadn't he thought of it before?), Kotetsu's thoughts immediately fell back onto Kaede and he let out a heavy sigh. Thinking about Kaede growing up was always a depressing thought but thinking about it when she wasn't even here? Worst feeling ever. Forget homesickness, he was having daughtersickness. "I should start measuring her again, when I'm back..."

He scratched at his nose, staring down at the ground while trying not to get overwhelmed by his melancholy... which didn't last long, because that second bar name had him wincing. "I'll, keep that in mind. This place really needs to work on naming things." Mental note: call that bar B-Brew.

Spirit walked closer to Tiger for a moment, just enough to bump shoulders with him in a display of camaraderie. "Hey, don't be sad. Well, it is sad, but at least she's safe where she is. You can bring her all sorts of things from where when you go home, I bet!" When, and not if. Spirit was often given to optimism like this.

"Haha, I guess there is something a bit strange with the way we name things. I can't really tell, though, we only noticed it when you guys pointed it out. If you don't use death themes in your place, what do you name your places after?" But that sounded like an opportunity for drinking with a new friend. After the day they'd just had, everyone probably needed it. Even if some of them had to drink milk instead.

"Yes. We've done our duty."

The mock solemnity in Stein's voice was probably hard to miss. He looked over at Barnaby again with a small, crooked smile.

"We tried, didn't we?"

But it sure seemed like those two idiots were on a roll...

It was odd how quick the fathers had turned their conversation to their children, but perhaps that was just a parenting thing. And he was starting to have a feeling that he seriously was The Only One taking this more serious than necessary.

With a sigh, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Seems so."

They were all going to end up drunk, weren't they?

As much as Spirit's optimism and words were appreciated it was a little hard for him to bounce back to his normal self, sighing heavily as he looked off toward the distance. If only this place could some up with some kind of otherwordly long-distance calling system so he could at least talk to her. Settle her worries that her papa was doing well and that he'd be perfectly fine and bring her back a stuffed animal when he was home again, and that she needed to do all her homework and not talk to any suspicious people or boys at school and to maybe make a journal to write down what she did every day while he was gone so he could read it.

Another sigh, turning his head to look at Spirit with a reluctant but still somewhat understanding smile. "You're right, she's safe. That's what matters the most." Crossing his hands behind his head, Kotetsu looked up, making a thoughtful noise.

"We name 'em things that don't have to do with death, for one? Let's see, our city's name is Sternbild. The city's in three layers, so there's a Bronze Stage, a Silver Stage and a Gold Stage. ...I grew up in a town called Oriental Town. Uh, the company Bunny and I work for is called Apollon Media, and some of the other companies around the city are called Helios Energy, Titan Industry, Poseidon Line... the other ones are kinda complicated to say so we'll just leave it at those, but there's seven of them altogether."

It was hard to ignore the plight of a fellow father, and despite himself, Spirit clapped a hand on the other man's shoulder in a show of camaraderie. He couldn't really imagine not being able to see Maka at all (though she'd been gone on mission for maybe a week now), and his own troubles were more related to his baby running off into danger all the time. At least, he reflected, Maka had mama's tenacity. She would sooner cut down a witch than be taken by it.

"But then you name it after metals and mythical gods," he laughed, amused at all the strange names, although it didn't sound half as weird as he expected. Certainly, he'd seen some of those words as street names somewhere. Bet it would look better with something like Graveyard Stage and Soul Stage, though. "Is it common to have animal nicknames for everyone, too? Tiger for you and Bunny for Bunny, right?"

The serious sort, eh, Barnaby? Well, Stein had no complaints about that.

"I admit, I am a little disturbed at how our partners seem to have so much in common."

It was almost like they were alternate versions of each other, really...

Barnaby tried so hard not to visibly wince, but his eye did twitch over in Spirit's direction. The man was calling him that infernal nickname and completely ignoring any sort of correction given.

...Their partners really were like alternate versions of each other.

He nodded to Stein. "And here I thought one was bad enough," he said with a frown. "They're far too alike."

The gesture was accepted simply enough and once again Kotetsu's uneasiness about being an unknown world's distance away from his daughter slowly began to fade. Slowly though. Very slowly. Even a snail could out-run it. There was a small shrug as he contemplated the names himself, not even knowing much about how they'd come about. Then again facts were never his specialty. A lot of things weren't actually.

"No offense or anything but, even if everything was named after bugs and cleaning supplies, I'd still take it over what some of the things here have got going on. Just kind of a person thing, ahah..." A bit of an awkward smile for reassurance, but then he's caught by surprise at Spirit's mentions of their names and he holds back a laugh.

"Nah, it's not like that! My hero name is Wild Tiger 'cause... well, it just sounds cool! But obviously it's not my real name. And Bunny is Bunny because he's just like a bunny. I've called him that ever since I met him. No one else really calls him that though, 'cept me."

Phase 3: Mission 153

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...How did I never get the notif... sorry guys! ;;

welcome back! :D

notifs are very elusive things sometimes ?_?