[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

[snarkymorale]

Hmm...something about monsters that looked like overgrown animals. The more there are, the closer we are to the kishin eggs. [ He caught a glimpse of the monster that was ahead of them. If he had a sword, he could probably take it down single handedly. It looked no tougher than any monster he's fought back home. ]

It looks pretty slow. If we wait, we could be able to attack it without it even noticing us, and finish it off fast. Go for the head.

[entreats]

That's easy for you to say. [ She mumbled it under her breath. It was the whole situation slowly getting to her, really - while she wasn't afraid of the monster, she was slightly worried about her own performance here. She had never really used a sword in a battle before, only in practice, so.. ]

.. No stupid comments while I'm busy with this, though, got it?

[snarkymorale]

Got it. [ His voice was serious. He wasn't in a joking mood anymore, now that the mission was about to truly begin. ]

[entreats]

[ At least if he would keep quiet she could focus, despite her own nervosity. There was no time to think about that right now either way, all she had to focus on was trying to make sure she did this whole sword fighting thing the right way.

Sneaking, luckily, was something that wasn't too difficult for Ange after having to hide and run from the Sumaderas from so long. So practically soundlessly she managed to take a few more steps towards the monster, trying to control her breath.

She stopped only a little distance away from it, still unnoticed, and her grip on the sword tightened a little. ]

You're ready, right?

[snarkymorale]

Yeah. Don't worry about it. Give it your all. [ Encouraging words. She wasn't like him, used to close ranged combat. ]

[entreats]

[ A small nod to herself. Come on, all she had to do was swing the sword, hit that thing in a good spot and it'd be down for the count.. how much more difficult could it be than firing a gun?

She didn't do anything to announce their presence to the monster, didn't say anything-- all Ange did was run the last distance over to the giant centipede, swinging the sword at the neck. She was sure she couldn't cut all the way through, no way she was strong or skilled enough for that yet, but she manages to plunge it in quite a way either way before quickly pulling it out again. (Mostly because of the thought that, in the end, the sword was Yuri and the idea of being stuck inside some monster just seemed.. gross to her.)

The centipede let out a loud cry as it seemed to crumble to the ground. ]

[snarkymorale]

[ If swords had hands, he'd be clapping now. Not bad, really. ]

Down in one shot. Good job aiming for the neck. [ Yuri said, as if he hadn't been plunged face first into a monster, entirely unfazed. He would have been able to slice through it completely, but, he was gonna give her a break. They were completely different, after all. ] You've been practicing a lot, huh, Ange?

[entreats]

[ She just scoffed at that, staring at the centipede's corpse. At least him being like this meant she didn't have to directly look at him, it made replying to this kind of stuff - stuff that embarassed her, since yes, she had been practicing a lot since she didn't want him to make fun of her or look like a total idiot in front of him, but that in itself was just embarassing in every sense. At least without eye contact she could keep her face lineface for the most part. ]

Maybe I'm just a quick student.

[snarkymorale]

Yeah, you're not bad. [ He really meant that. But back to the mission. ] Come on, let's see what else we can find. Man, I'm gonna need a nap when we get home, for this headache.

[entreats]

We just got started and you're already thinking of a nap? [ Honestly, she did understand why he was saying that, even if she couldn't feel it.. the Madness would probably be heavily presen, and it didn't sound good from what she had heard. ]

Just focus for a little while more. It shouldn't be too difficult for you.

[ Ange had already started walking on as she was speaking, glancing over her shoulder one last time at the monster's remains. ]

[snarkymorale]

I'm trying, I'm trying. Just focus on fighting, alright? I'll be fine. [ A bit of a lie. It really was starting to get to him. But...being weapon form helped a little. Besides, this was their first mission. He couldn't let this get to him. ]

...Stay alert. There's more ahead... [ He could hear the sounds of growling, and footsteps. They didn't sound human. ]

[entreats]

[ .. Geez.. with that kind of answer it almost sounded like she was worrying about him, huh? Well, she was worrying, but.. at the same time, she didn't want to admit it, she figured he would just make fun of her over it one way or another. Especially for doing that in the middle of a mission.

Instead she focused, trying to pay more attention to the sound as she took the next steps carefully, peering around the corner of a tunnel. ]

.. There's a few up there. I think there's at least two, maybe three.

[snarkymorale]

[ Two or three? She was able to take down one fine, but...would she be alright fighting more than one enemy at once? Again, it would be no problem for him, he was used to it. He couldn't help but worry a little. ]

...We're gonna need to take them on one by one. I don't think you're ready for multiple enemies at once. Put on your sneaky shoes, Ange.

[entreats]

What, don't you believe in me? [ She scoffed, but it's more meant as a deadpan kind of joke. Even Ange herself realised that she wasn't exactly ready for this yet. ]

So.. what? Should I try to take out one of them first as the surprise attack and then try to deal with the second even though it'll have noticed us?

[snarkymorale]

Yeah. [ That was probably their best bet that wasn't retreating. ] If things get messy, I won't wait to jump into half weapon form and take them out, alright?

[entreats]

... Don't do that.

[ Suddenly Ange seemed almost.. well, surprisingly insistent. And a little frowny, moreso than usually when it was just an annoyed frown. ]

I'll be just fine, so don't try to help me out, okay? I need to learn how to do this. It isn't like I haven't fought before, so I'll be fine.

[snarkymorale]

[ He was going to say that he wasn't going to let her get hurt needlessly, but...he could hear the determination in her voice. He didn't want to get in the way of that. ]

Just a last resort, alright? Come ooon, don't pout like that, I'm weak to that. [ It was surprisingly cute, on her. ]

[entreats]

Don't be a kid. I'm not even pouting. [ Ange Ushiromiya, fearlessly calling people older than her childish. She turned her head to peek around the corner again, but.. ugh, she should just get it on with already, right? Waiting here forever wasn't going to help anyone. ] I'll be just fine, you'll see. You won't have to do a thing.

So let's just go already, okay?

[second_star]

Alright, alright, as the madam requests. Break them good, Ange. [ He was just full of encouragement today. He really was proud of her improvement, though. He could remember before when they had first met, and she had first held him as a sword. Man, that was still funny to him, even now.

But she learned fast. If things got out of hand, he'd always be here to help. ]

[entreats]

You don't have to tell me that twice.

[ At least sneaking and running were specialities of hers by now, so sneaking up to the monsters wasn't the problem. As soon as she got close enough - without them noticing her - she quickly slashed the one that was the closest by, it was another centipede. At least that one went down well enough after it, but once she headed for the second one and slashed it didn't work out as well as she hoped. The gigantic beetle's shield was hard (even harder than she expected), so the sword didn't quite manage to get through it, instead just bouncing off and flying out of her hands from the force. (Sorry, Yuri, I hope you like flying.) ]

Shi-- [ For a moment she actually did look surprised (although not fully panicked just yet, maybe just slightly) and tried to run over to grab it again, but the beetle was quicker. It practically headbutted her, pushing her to the ground. ]

[second_star]

[ So this is what flying felt like...The soaring sensation engulfed his body, as he watched the air cut around his shape. It was strange. He didn't feel like he was moving. But he felt...free...like a bird. It was a blissful feeling. It was a wonderful, once in a life time moment. It was a

Who is he kidding, it was boring.

He landed on the ground (not surprisingly) with a clank, just watching as the beetle rammed into Ange. She didn't look to hurt but...this couldn't be good. He yelled out to her. ]

Uh. Ange? I think this would be a good time for me to help. Just a friendly suggestion. Wouldn't want to pressure you.

[entreats]

[ She let out a slight groan in response. ] Shut up.

[ She had worse, honestly, even though it did hurt where the thing hit her, she could handle this much. At least, she liked to think that stubbornly, even if the situation was pretty bad, huh? But right now she didn't want to give up when she was still proving to him that she could take care of herself. If he came to help her now, it'd be like a sign of weakness, right?

Ange quickly moved up her leg, kicking the beetle's belly hard - a few times in a row even. It helped that his lower side was actually soft, so the kicks at least served for making the beetle back off just a little, enough to allow her to crawl out from under it and move over to where Yuri was lying, picking up the sword again. She was obviously putting a lot of effort into this though, Ange was already panting just slightly. ]

Quick. How do I hurt that thing.

[second_star]

It's possible to cut through it's armor, but...we shouldn't chance it right now. We need a way to hit under it, like you did to get out. [ Easier said than done...again, if it was him, he could cut through. Hmm...even if it was over-sized, it wasn't like it was made of metal. ]

It's head should have a weak point too. That'd be easier to reach than the underside. Go for that.

[entreats]

The head.. [ Her eyes immediately darted to the creature's head. She honestly just wanted to get it over with before it'd be ready to push her over or something again - and more importantly, if she took any longer, he might decide to do it himself instead and intervene. And that was the thing she wanted to avoid the most, even moreso than getting beaten up or anything.

Ange nodded briefly before charging at the thing again, having to avoid its head as it moved in for a headbutt again (at least dodging always went well with her) but exactly that give her the chance to stick the sword right where the head was connected to the body under the shell. The gigantic beetle collapsed to the ground, leaving just Ange with Yuri in his Weapon form there. ]

... Geez. That thing was a pain.

[second_star]

Yeah. [ He could imagine, with the lack of experience. ] You just gotta find the weak point when your enemy has a shell or armor. THey're always there.

Of course, unless you're fighting a golem, but, that's another story. [ For another time. His headache still remaining, Yuri shot another question towards her. ]

Shall we go deeper?