[OPEN] Mission 155

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open to those who signed up here.
Location: An unmarked cavern system outside Death City.
Rating: Various.
Time: March 18th, sunrise.
Description: Shibusen agents brave underwater caverns to take out the first of three Madness emitters.

Missiongoers pile out of the mirrors early in the morning, just as the first hints of sun start to color the walls of the sandstone canyon red and purple; it'll be the last bits of real light they'll see for at least a few hours. The atmosphere is electric -- there're quite a few new (and old) arrivals who're eager to see some action, but just as many people who're feeling rather more apprehensive… And for good reason.

The only way to their destination is blocked by a few hundred yards of sunken tunnels. Luckily they've been provided with mouthpieces, breathing apparatuses with enough oxygen to last about ten minutes: more than enough time, provided that the guests don't lose their way in the dimly-lit, twisted caverns. It's as easy as following the person in front of them, right?

Upon emerging safely from the pool onto mostly-dry land, they'll find themselves in an immense cavern, illuminated by countless, blue fungi clinging to the walls and ceiling, looking like stars dotting a night sky. Already the first signs of the way Madness has been corrupting the wildlife are evident: the mushrooms exude strange spores that make some people's head pound the same way the increasingly noticeable Madness wavelength does.

As they travel further into the watery caves and explore its many branches, they'll begin to encounter creatures twisted by Madness: moles, snakes, beetles, centipedes, all grown to monstrous proportions, some with a venomous bite that quickly turns their victim feverish and delirious. The more daring fighters can easily dispatch those and delve even deeper, and it's near the source of the Madness, in the chamber housing the emitter itself, that they'll encounter the kishin eggs.

There're dozens of them-- eyeless, white, vaguely human-shaped things, but despite their blindness they have no problem finding their quarry, fighting with claws and exuding their own Madness wavelength. If the missiongoers can stand strong against the kishin eggs and the ever-present wavelength given off by the Madness emitter, Shibusen's specialists will have enough time to shut the machine down for good.


OOC NOTES.
- The event summary post containing all relevant links is located here.
- Make your own threads, but please indicate in your subject line [CHARACTER(S) | LOCATION | OPEN/CLOSED] and, if applicable, if you need a kishin egg NPC!
- The locations are the sunken tunnels, the medics area, the cave system, and the emitter chamber, but only the medics will have their designated sub-thread.
- If you have any further questions, the mod thread on the coordination post is here!

Comments

[shiromadoushi]

"Consider it the only thing we have in common, then!" Bakura returned, glaring.

No matter what anyone said, he wasn't going to acknowledge any similarities.

"I'll find a way to drive you out of it."

[feelsgoodinyou]

He scoffed an backed off. He was once again eying the water now.

"Ha! You'd have to find a way to make me rest in peace because I sure as hell aren't going to die anytime soon."

...Although he now wondered about what would happen if that ever were to happen. Would he just become part of Zorc at that time? That'd be unpleasant. Or would he find another thing to possess? Bah, not like there was any way to separate him from the blood and bones that made up the Millennium Item!

[shiromadoushi]

That had gotten him, hadn't it? Bakura's back straightened slightly as his double backed off. "I'll find a way if the other Yuugi-kun doesn't first," he insisted.

[feelsgoodinyou]

He snorted again as he started to get the diving gear on. "If he does he will also lose his own spirit. Do you think he'd pay a price like that just so that you can feel better?"

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura blinked. "Why would he lose that by defeating you?" he asked, genuinely clueless.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Because my fate and that of the spirit in th puzzle hang together." That was a lie and it wasn't. The entity that he had a connection to and which was also sealed within the puzzle was Zorc Necrophades, not that puny no-name pharaoh. But that was a truth he would never reveal. "What do you think how I got into the Ring to begin with?"

Alright, all set. Now all he had to do was to place the mouthpiece between his lips and brave the cold water.

[shiromadoushi]

"I... had just figured it was because you didn't want to die... or leave the Ring behind..." Bakura admitted a touch awkwardly. "Like any other resentment spirit..."

[feelsgoodinyou]

The sheer stupidity of that statement was enough to make him turn back around and make a face at him.

"If that were true then there'd be a lot more spirits around than you could count."

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura blinked. "...why do you say that?"

[feelsgoodinyou]

He rolled his eyes. Could anybody really be that dense without intentionally trying to grate on his nerves?

"As shocking as it is, many people don't want to die or leave something behind that's important to them."

[shiromadoushi]

"But there's a difference between just not wanting to let go and having a strong enough attachment that you can't," Bakura pointed out.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"So there's a few hundred less. It'd have to still be way more than just two by those qualifiers."

[shiromadoushi]

"You had a goal, right? Something that you didn't get to finish... Something to do with the Ring and the other Yuugi-kun. Magical items being involved of course would make it all the much more than it would have been. You might have even sealed yourself into the Ring so you wouldn't lose..." Bakura pointed out with a small shrug.

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Ch.." He gave him a strange look. "If I could have done that I would have used the Items to live, not to end up locked into one of them for eternity."

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura awkwardly fidgeted with the diving gear he had been given. "Isn't that a bit what you're doing now?"

[feelsgoodinyou]

He glowered at him. "I'm borrowing your body, idiot! That's nowhere near the same as having my own or still being alive!"

Shit! Was that bastard trying to make him angry or what?!

[shiromadoushi]

"It's not being stuck in the Ring, is it?" Bakura glared in return. "You're using it to borrow my life until you can get your own back, aren't you?!"

[feelsgoodinyou]

"Now you caught me. Just wait a bit, then I'll rise the Ancient Hight Culture of Egypt again, just for you. Oh, wait, it's been a little over two thousand years since it stopped existing, my bad."

His voice was dripping with dislike.

[shiromadoushi]

"Go back to sleep another 2,000 years, they should have invented time travel by then," Bakura half sighed.

[feelsgoodinyou]

He twitched. Literally twitched because right now he wanted nothing more but to wrap his hands around Ryou's little neck and shake him until it either snapped or he quit saying such unbearable nonsense.

This was sadly no option because people kept passing them and he still had unfinished business in the city, but he didn't put into any effort of keeping it from showing on his face.

"Sadly that doesn't change the fact that my body is long gone and so is everything I knew and cared about!!"

[shiromadoushi]

"Then why are you still here? Why cling to the Items if you don't care? Why bother pretending, messing around with wishes and games?"

[feelsgoodinyou]

Because there was no choice. Because he didn't want to let go of his resentment, didn't want to let something rest after a lifetime and more had been based on it and yet nothing had truly come out of it. Because he wasn't done with this world yet and because he didn't want to die again or pass on.

"......" He gave him a cold look. That bastard didn't deserve an answer. Should he rot in his own juices while he tried figuring out what was going on. He turned around and started wading into the water.

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura sighed, turning away. "You never answer any time I ask...." he half muttered. And the Voice wondered why he didn't know anything? Jerk... Why on Earth had he thought there'd be even a chance of...

His thoughts fell quiet as the stolen memory of the Voice watching him like he was trapped behind a glass wall surfaced.

... Obviously, it was too late. The past couldn't be changed, and that specter was in the past.

Like everything else.

Fists curling and shoulders tensing, he walked away.

~Later~

[shiromadoushi]

Belatedly, Bakura realized that this had been a dumb idea.

It was a shame that the thought only came while he was running for his life from something he didn't want to get too close of a look at, unable to reload his gun for shaking hands from the pressures of the Madness even before he had started running.

He just needed to find some place he could get out of range from the thing chasing him so that he could pull himself together and reload...!

[feelsgoodinyou]

Bakura, on the other end, wasn't running. He had made his way through the enemies just fine at first, but as he kept passing deeper into the cave system the monsters kept repairing themselves more and more - as soon as he cut one down another was standing up!

In the end the thief had had no other choice but to recall upon his skill of sneaking around stealthily if he had wanted to keep moving without risking his life. It had been going well for a while, but then a sudden ruckus came his way that had him quickly duck into a crack between the rocky walls that was narrow enough that no monster would be able to follow him and deep enough that they wouldn't be able to reach or see him if he remained put.

Right now his curiosity was getting the best of him, though, and he kept close to the entry of the crack because he wanted to see which poor fool was going to end as monster food soon. Spying a quickly closer coming mop of pale, his eyes widened. "That brainless idiot-!!"

Without thinking he reached out and dragged his host inside his hiding place the moment he was within his reach. Shoving him behind him and them both as deep inside as was possible, he hissed "Not a word! And give me that!!" as he moved to snag the gun out of his hands.