Phase 3: Mission 153

[soul_mods]

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.]

Comments

[want_the_world]

Mello was slower, clumsier, than he wanted to be, driven by fury verging on madness that, for all its strength, couldn't make his breath come any easier, or his body recover any faster from being slammed to the ground. L's partial transformation took him by surprise, and he kicked out with his unchained foot, backwards and mostly blindly, wanting only to hurt the one who'd hurt him, only dimly aware that his prey was scrambling out of his reach yet again.

Died for him? The twit, the cottonball, the little bastard? No. It was the only way I could beat him, the only way. I went where he could never take that away from me, except this goddamn place dragged me in, and now he's trying to steal my victory, and so are you.

"You're wrong! None of it was for him!"

He didn't expect the sharp tug on the chain at all, and went back down hard, onto his knees, and would have sprawled facefirst if he hadn't flung his hands out in time to catch himself.

[dead_black_eyes]

Near was still there. Why was Near still there, when he should have known that L was risking everything to give him a chance to escape?

As Mello attempted to get forward, he maintained his hold on the younger man's left ankle, essentially serving as a human anchor to slow Near's would-be murderer down. He hadn't had the opportunity to stand, knowing that letting go even for a moment was to risk Mello breaking away and reaching Near to carry out his terrible goal.

He saw Mello's right foot raising; despite the fact that the leather-clad blond could move like a pit viper, L felt like he was watching it in slow-motion. He knew, the way he so often did, what was going to happen. He had to let it, if it meant buying Near a couple of extra moments.

...Oh. Sollux. That was certainly a good reason to stay. L glimpsed him through Mello's legs, close to Near, and suddenly, those few moments seemed like a bargain for what he was about to experience. They could get out of this alive. They could leave, together, in one piece... his grip tightened on the chain, yanking hard as Mello's boot slammed into his face in an attempt to pull the leg supporting all of his weight out from under him.

The pain was blinding; for a second, he thought he'd been hit in the eye. He wasn't sure when it happened, or how, but his arm transformed back into flesh and bone. He was lying on the floor, staring glassily at Mello, Near and Sollux a blur in his peripheral vision.

His gaze moved to the pale hand still grasping Mello's ankle; though he hadn't been able to maintain his Weapon form, he had somehow managed not to let go.

He liked that.

At this moment, L could honestly say that he liked himself. That he was a good person... or at the very least, that he had behaved as a good person ought to. Kira really was wrong to kill him. It was a dire mistake, to kill someone who wouldn't let go of the malicious to protect the innocent...

Near's not innocent, and you're still looking out for your own interests. That's the only reason you're here in the first place.

All right. So maybe he wasn't a saint. But it was damn decent of him, and his lips curved into a soft smile through the pain.

"Everything you do is for him," he said quietly, bringing his free hand to touch the spot below his eye that was crawling with shimmering, bruising pain. "Christmas Eve? The night you got home from the hospital? That was all for him..."

[silicomb]

Sollux had no idea how to wield another Weapon. There was Matt and their method as familiar and easy as clockwork, and then there was everything else. Near was in that latter category, and when he grabbed Sollux's arm, hissed his intent with an urgency Sollux had never before known him capable of, for one brief, breathless moment Sollux wasn't certain he could really do it. Before, maybe, when he was still whole and unimpaired, he could have. As he is now, blind and blasted and a liability in too-large clothes, he's not sure, not the teeming and see-sawing well of alternating confidence when he wasn't crippling doubt and uncertainty. Thankfully, at the very least, Near doesn't give him a choice, and he has to lurch forward to catch the transformed cube before it could fall too far.

He hasn't felt this kind of terror in a sweep, it feels like. Hasn't felt it like this since forever, and that just makes it all the more terrifying. Taking this stance against someone like Mello somehow makes it even worse.

"Don't you fucking miss," he says, fingers closing around the smooth, hard edges of the little cube, and turns toward the sound of Mello's low, hard voice.

[cardfortress]

Unlike Sollux, Near had partnered-- temporarily or otherwise-- with other people, but that didn't make this any easier. No previous experience or partnership could have prepared him to be wielded by someone else just so he could direct an attack at Mello-- his partner, and the one person he trusted the most-- but he had no choice but to do it. And so, he tried to block everything out, from Sollux's nervousness to L's very distracting words (and what did he mean, the night they got home from the hospital? Surely he couldn't have seen them sharing the same bed?), and focused solely on his temporary Meister, their attempted resonance, and their target.

But it was easier said than done. His resonance with Sollux wasn't painful, but it felt too much like wearing a prickly sweater: it got the job done, but it was still damn uncomfortable, and the troll's nerves didn't make the task any easier.

Missing was entirely out of the question, and thankfully for Mello, so was hurting him. In his current state as a completely unsolved Rubik's cube, Near was only capable of one thing: a confusion attack, harmless enough to not have any lasting effects, but powerful enough to immobilize Mello simply by confusing him and making him unable to think coherently.

This won't hurt him, he said to Sollux through their resonance, hoping he would become slightly less nervous about this whole thing if he knew Mello wouldn't get hurt, thus making the attack more effective. And so, Near focused entirely on targeting Mello with mind-numbing levels of confusion, crossing his currently non-existent fingers for L to follow his cue and take the opportunity for all it was worth.

[want_the_world]

Mello felt the quality of L's hold on him change, but, goddamn it, he was still keeping him from gaining his feet. There was nothing Mello could do but watch the twit transform and drop into Sollux's hand, and where the fuck had the troll come from--

And.

And L's last words seemed to echo back, resonating oddly, but resonate, that wasn't the right word, that meant something else now.

"Everything I do...?" His voice went soft, hesitant.

It wasn't true, it couldn't be. Mello had to win, and Near had to die, but he couldn't remember why he'd been so sure of it only moments ago. He looked up at Gemini, and he was supposed to be mad at him, right? Coming out of nowhere like that, wielding Near...

His thoughts had circled back around, somehow, to the question he'd asked and didn't have an answer to, and he should get the hell up, do something. But what? He felt as if his head were thick with cotton wool.

"But it's not," he said, almost to himself, knowing the denial was important, but unsure of exactly why.

[dead_black_eyes]

"You're wrong," L said quietly, taking advantage of Mello's sudden confusion to pull himself up to his knees. His ears still rang, his cheek stung something fierce, but it could have been so much worse. He could have lost an eye. He could have lost one, or both, of his successors.

"You're wrong, but that's OK. You're just going to have to try to trust me on that... because for all the times I wasn't there, for all the times I couldn't be there, I'm here now."

He embraced Mello, pressing his chest against the other man's back and very, very strategically holding down Mello's arms with his own. He squeezed tightly, a firm, solid, reassuring hug, even as his arms became chains, wrapping Mello up safely in a makeshift straight jacket. Complete with cuffs at the wrists.

[silicomb]

This was not Sollux's place. This was not Sollux's business, not the time for him to be there and listening in on their own personal dirt. It's shameful. It's embarrassing. It's mortifying that when the attack unleashes, he actually breaths that stupid sigh of relief that it isn't a direct offensive. He came to save Mello and Near, not beat the former senseless with the broad side of the latter.

"Is that it?" His question could be for Near, just as it could be for any one of the assembled; he's not really certain himself.

Yet despite the situation, he's stepping forward, cubic Weapon held out like a ward even if he could do without the unpleasant prickle and scratch of resonation. L had it in control, right? Mello wouldn't pull shit now, right? He could let go of this resonation and its accompanying discomfort like it never happened, couldn't he?

[cardfortress]

He could tell it was working, but they weren't out of danger just yet: they had to restrain Mello in a way that would really work in the long term.

We aren't done yet, Near replied, doing his best to remain focused on his attack while gradually becoming more aware of their surroundings. His confused state will only last while I keep this up. The moment I end it or turn back into my body, he will be back to what he was before we interfered.

He had to keep this up as long as his own strength allowed him to; their lives were at risk but so was Mello's, and Near didn't want to hurt him despite everything that had happened in the past few days.

If he snaps out of his confusion, he will lash out and be just as destructive as before, he kept on explaining, needing Sollux to understand just how important their temporary resonance was. We need to keep him under control for now.

[want_the_world]

Mello was shocked into immobility at the embrace, but the moment he realized what L's true purpose was, he tried to fight, despite the confusion still engulfing him. He tested the strength of the cuffs with a vicious tug that threatened to dislocate his shoulders, to no avail.

Sollux was using Near as his Weapon, and that was wrong, he was Mello's, and no one else's, Mello's to play with, to use, as Near had tried to use him in their world. His to kill, when the time was right, because that meant winning, once and for all, the final end to their rivalry.

"Stop it!" he snarled at Sollux and Near, not sure what he was doing, only that it was clearly their fault that Mello was suddenly unable to hold onto his thoughts, that they ran away from him like the tide going out.

"They'll kill us all anyway, don't you know?" Quieter now, more resigned. He couldn't formulate an argument as to why they should let him go, but he could say why it didn't matter in the long run. The witches, they'd done something-- he reached for the thought and lost it almost immediately. And it didn't matter. If he was dead twice over already, he sure as fuck wasn't going down without a fight. He began to try to stand, to drag L with him, slow and laborious and probably futile.

[dead_black_eyes]

L winced slightly at the sudden jerk; it was always very strange, the way the metal pulled against the place where it became comparatively fragile flesh and bone. But he'd gotten used to his Weapon form enough to know his limits, and he was well within his ability to restrain Mello. His successor wasn't weak, but L's advantages were in height and in leverage. While Mello probably could have lifted him easily, if he'd been willing or even unconscious, L was actively working to keep him from getting to his feet, holding him down, using his legs as well as his arms. The whole process was strenuous and tiring, but Near was aiding by keeping that attack going strong, Sollux was helping by wielding him. He could maintain this for... well, hopefully as long as it needed to be maintained.

Unfortunately, it meant leaving Mello and himself vulnerable to attacks from others in the Kishin Chamber.

A shrill laugh sounded just over L's shoulder. Someone had left the main battle... he couldn't tell whether it was a witch or not, but she certainly wasn't going to do anything nice to them, with that curved blade.

His options were scarce and appalling. If he and Mello died here, Near could still escape. He drew what he fully expected to be his last breath.

*slides on in here*

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura's worry over the fate of his friend had only deepened as he, Vash and Light had gone in circles in the cave system, winding ultimately back at the mirror; a mixed blessing that had allowed them to send Light back to Death City before the partnered duo hurried back into the caves once more.

It was only by chance that Bakura had heard the scraps of yelling and the soft echoes of a familiar voice. But the relief at having found his friend was cut short as they arrived at the same time as the attacking monster.

"Look out!"

Bakura only spared the brief seconds needed to yell the warning before transforming into his die form, Vash aiming as he rolled to send out the wave of white energy that would harmlessly wash through the Guests in the room if they happened to be in its path to slam into the cackling monstrosity.

It let out a pained and indignant shriek as it was knocked back, but not defeated.

"Hurry up and get back to the mirror, we'll cover you!" Vash called to the group as he and Bakura readied for another shot.

[silicomb]

Keep it up or risk all their lives, of course. No pressure whatsoever. A perigree ago, Sollux might have buckled under the weight of possibility alone, but here and now, sightless and desperate, he hasn't felt as alive since his last, blinding fight.

"He needs out of it is what he needs," he says, in between the screeches of the thing and the shouts of someone new, someone strange. Too much going on but he couldn't turn away just yet. Mello needed this. Hell, they all did, this temporary and shitty little resonance, and Sollux holds it as best he can even when his shoulders hunch up, defensive against the rush of energy at his back and the unseen danger lurking in the chamber they were in.

"Mirror, that's right. We need the fucking mirror." But how could he transport three fully fucking grown humans on his own?

This was stupid.

[cardfortress]

No no no, this shouldn't be happening, Mello should be too confused to even be able to speak properly, much less snarl and struggle against L! Near didn't know if it was his resonance with Sollux, his own exhaustion, the fact that he was attacking his own Meister or perhaps something else, but his confusion attack wasn't as effective as it usually was. Mello was still too coherent and thus dangerous, given the current circumstances, when the only guarantee of safety was to have him completely restrained.

And then that shrill laughter echoed inside the cave, and Near felt the all too familiar coldness of fear-- But then someone came along and helped them, told them to make their way back to the mirror, and Near dared to hope that they would make it out of this alive.

We will need another way to restrain him soon, he finally said to Sollux through their resonance, his tone firm. They had to hold their ground, no matter how much they cared about Mello's well-being. The confusion attack isn't enough to hold him back, and I don't know for how long I will manage to keep it working.

[want_the_world]

Someone new was yelling about the mirror, and no, damn it, Mello wasn't going to lose. But time was running out, the opportunity was slipping through his fingers.

Rage scythed cleanly through the confusion, leaving him stunned by the clarity of his thoughts. The white-haired bastard's resonance with the troll was slipping. Reinforcements of some sort had arrived.

Sollux was using Mello's own Weapon against him.

If he didn't act on impulse, right now, they'd realize he'd come back to his senses, and the moment would be lost.

He threw his head back hard, staggered with L at the impact. But L's hold on him was failing, and Mello wrenched himself free, lunged for Sollux and Near. He didn't give a shit how he did it, he was determined to knock the cube out of the troll's hand.

[dead_black_eyes]

Their position was a compromised one, and though L's hold on Mello was firm, he couldn't exercise that same straight jacket-like effect on every part of his successor.

Without warning, the back of Mello's head (thick, hard bone) smashed into L's temple (thin bone, artery near the surface of the skin, weakest part of the skull). Taking a blow to the face would have been preferable. Had L known it was coming, had L not turned his face toward Bakura, the blow would probably have broken his nose. But he didn't even have time to register fully what had happened as sparks shot off behind his eyes, and just like that he'd slipped to the floor as Mello broke free, cheek against the dusty ground and eyes half-closed.

His arms were definitely not chains anymore. One was under him, the other limp at his side. That one, especially, felt alarmingly strengthless. And then there was nothing, just a period of thick darkness that L couldn't stave off.

[shiromadoushi]

There was nothing Bakura could do but focus on his and Vash's own battle. He was already tired and low on energy, he couldn't spare the focus to pay attention to what was going on behind them until the... thing, they were fighting suddenly changed direction, lurching for the freshly KOed Weapon for the easy kill.

Vash lunged, Bakura's attack blasting out again to knock the creature back and hopefully out for good. Thankfully, L was light and Vash was easily able to sling him over his shoulder.

[silicomb]

Something is wrong. Something is wrong wrong wrong. The attack wasn't working. Mello wasn't calming down or stopping his vendetta to kick all their asses into next week and they were still all there in that shitty fucking chamber and nowhere near getting closer to the fucking mirror. Something's wrong and he's about to ask Near about it, encourage him or yell at him or fucking plead with him not to drop the goddamn resonance when he hears it; a crack and the telltale crash of a body hitting the ground at top speed.

Well, shit.

"What's going on?!" Alarm, it isn't a pretty thing when he's on the receiving end of it and when he can feel his resonance cracking the way it is. Too jittery, too dubious. Shit shit shit that noise, was that--

"Fuck--!"