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

"...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."

"Oh, I see!" he said in some vague sort of understanding. "What do you mean, hero name?" Like actual heroes? That sounded much like Shibusen, right? They all picked their names at the start of their school year, too. (Gave you an idea about people who chose silly names like Franken Stein and Black*Star, right?)

But wait. So that was why Bunny kept on saying Barnaby. Slowly, Spirit began to see the light. There's hope for you yet, Barnaby!

"Let's hope that no other alternate versions of them come in. My world might not be able to handle the strain."

Granted, it was probably best if guests stopped coming in, period. But that went without saying, didn't it?

"How long have you and Kotetsu been working together?"

"Oh, certainly. I don't think this world would be capable of dealing with whatever sort of havoc a third would do."

Barnaby glanced back at the two weapons and just shook his head. He had long stopped paying proper attention to their conversation, but he had a feeling it wasn't anything pleasant. Well, Stein's cool. He preferred him, screw and all.

"Just for a few months," he replied. "I'm still fairly new to the job back in Stern Bild, actually. And you and Spirit? I have a feeling you two go a lot further back than my partner and I."

"I mean hero name like, hero name. What it says. In our city we're heroes! There's a few others like us too but Bunny's the only one that always goes by his real name." Kotetsu scratched at his cheek, glancing over his shoulder to check up on the other two for the moment. Just what exactly were they talking about?

Then, he sneezed. Hopefully no one was talking about him, and if they were it at least better be something nice. After he rubbed away at his nose he looked back over at Spirit with a small grin.

"Basically, our hero name is what everyone else in our city knows us by. We normally keep our personal name and lives private, but since things are a whole lot different here I don't really worry about that anymore. It's kinda hard buuut I'm getting used to it. Though, if you ever feel like calling me Wild Tiger then I'd say go ahead! It'll make things seem a little more like home."

So Barnaby's real name was Bunny? Spirit supposed that made some sense, but he was beginning to get confused at it. Well, if Tiger was calling him Bunny, then there was no reason for Spirit not to, right? He was getting a hang of this cross-cultural exchange, all right!

"Oh, I understand, I understand! Spirit is actually my Shibusen name as well," he laughed, and pointed at himself. He was being so cheerful about it that he nearly tripped on some loose rocks, too. "I guess here, you'd say that Shibusen are the heroes, since we run an academy and all to fight the enemies of humanity and all that. So actually, you're still a hero!"

Stein didn't answer Barnaby immediately. It wasn't because it was a difficult question. It was more because of the nature of the response. He had to at least try to be normal, right... normal meant not saying things like oh Shibusen didn't like me murdering small animals so they gave me over to Spirit or See I'm kind of crazy and Spirit's kind of sane so...

"Yes, we've been partnered since our school days. It's been a very, very long time."

He did not need to wonder how different things would have been if that had never happened. For one, he'd likely be dead already.

"Ahh, so you've been around him for a while."

He nodded. Completely oblivious to any sort of history, Stein struck Barnaby as the saner of the two (mostly because if you were like Kotetsu, something had to be wrong with you). "It's interesting to see that two different individuals like you could stay partners for so long..."

It made him wonder if he and Kotetsu could ever become that close.

...probably not.

Edited 2012-04-24 19:02 (UTC)

Kotetsu's walking pace slowed down just a tad as he watched Spirit curiously, thinking over his words for a moment. He couldn't quite make the parallels between how things were in Death City and how they were back in Stern Bild but with the explanation he'd been given, they certainly could seem a little similar. The whole 'meister and weapon' thing was meant as some sort of protection for the people here, right? And that's what heroes were for back in his and Barnaby's world. ...so maybe there reasoning for having been brought to this world wasn't completely at a loss. Not that he could call the place home anytime soon but, as long as it made sense.

He'd been about to reply back until an odd tickle reached his nose and he quickly reached up a hand to rub it away, but it was no good as eventually he let out a quick sneeze. "Ah, sorry! Startin' to think that's my sign that I've worn myself out enough the last few days." And that someone could possibly be talking about him, or thinking about him. Certainly wouldn't be his partner that was mere feet away from him who was assuming things about their partnership. Not at all.

"But yeah, I gotta agree with you on that! Though you guys don't seem to have the same set-up we've got back home. We don't really go around fighting witches and doing anything with souls over there. That whole, uh, death theme. Definitely not the same."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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 ?_?