[OPEN] Mission 157

[soul_mods]

Characters: Open to participants who signed up here.
Location: Nocturne Bazaar
Rating: Gen.
Time: April 5th.
Description: The battle to destroy the last of the three Madness Emitters is upon us.

It happens early in the morning: a strange and lingering air of disquiet, almost imperceptible even to those trained to recognize it for what it is, quickly rising to a mind-shattering crescendo. On the floating island above the city, black liquid bubbles up from the cracks in the cobblestone streets and materializes into tall, thin, clown-shaped creatures. Oversized carrion birds take wing from the rafters of buildings, trailing dust from their dirty wings. The screams of civilians are clearly heard even from Death City so far down below, waking its citizens up from fitful, nightmare-filled slumbers.

The Witches are here!

It doesn't take long for the defenders to rally: Kid sends out the call to arms and, after admonishing all but the most skilled pairs to stay off the island, instructs those attending Mission 157 to prepare to get on the gondolas which still remain the only way to and from the Bazaar.

The streets are not as packed as they were the past two days, but there is no less commotion. The carnival workers and residents, fleeing from the marauding monsters, clearly have no hand in this deception. In between trying to save their lives, striking down the Black Blood-formed clowns and avoiding the talons of swooping bird familiars, the pairs certainly have their hands full.

At the epicenter of the battle is the yellow-bricked fortune-telling building. Waves of Madness emanate from it with an almost physical force. If you aren't careful, you may run into the black-feathered Witch guarding it…

By the end of the conflict, the island is incapable of supporting its own weight. With the help of volunteers shuttling civilians and fighters alike from the Bazaar to the ground, everyone must race back to the gondolas before the entire rock crashes in the sands.

OOC NOTES.
- The event summary post containing all relevant links is located here.
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- If you have any further questions, the mod thread on the coordination post is here!

Comments

[tauborn]

Takuto turned as soon as Yuugi warned him, spinning on the deck of the gondola and rolling Bakura across his left palm. Attack. He wasn't about to let the die out of his hand after promising to keep both his weapons close.

[shiromadoushi]

The red thread clinging to Takuto's palm wouldn't let Bakura go far even if he had. He was staying close, doing everything he could to keep their connection strong.

Just a crow, nothing as strong as a kishin would be and to conserve energy for when they would need it most, he aimed for a 1, the smaller burst. With a mental yell, he let loose, beam of white blasting out to slam into the approaching bird, knocking it out of the air.

[mieru_mienai]

So that was how the d10 worked... Yuugi couldn't help being a little surprised, and quite a bit more impressed. He'd also considered Bakura to be a healer-type and not a fighter-type--and with good reason, considering how they had met--but it was becoming clear that he should rethink a few more of the assumptions he'd made about his friend. Bakura could fight too, when it was important.

'We're almost to the top. I think there are a lot more up here!'

[tauborn]

Takuto took a deep breath, readying himself for whatever they might find at the carnival, knowing the place was much more like something out of a horror movie than real life. The strong presences of his weapons were definitely helping to keep the bubble of panic within him contained, but it was still a struggle. The desire to viciously kill every crow in sight kept popping into his mind.

As the gondola rose, they finally could see their playing field. Nearby, other Shibusen agents were racing to the scene and ushering terrified civilians into the gondolas, and the entire effect was just short of complete chaos.

It was clear there was no turning back now. They just had to go at it with all their might. Takuto wasn't sure if the decision was Madness-induced or just the result of the way he had been raised, but it didn't matter because what he wanted to do was what he should be doing.

With a slightly hysterical laugh, Takuto leaped off the their gondola before it was properly anchored, skidding to a halt in the street. "Dazzling the stage!" he shouted, and then started running in the direction of the loudest screams.

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura couldn't help but smile just a touch at Takuto's exclamation. As long as he could help keep the Meister in balance...

Maybe it was because of the doubled resonance, or maybe he was just focused enough, but there was almost no interference from the Madness in his mind, just solid determination and the need to protect his friends. There was no way he could allow anything else... not when it was Yuugi's first time dealing with it.

He remained silent, focusing on increasing his support to the other two, keeping alert for any signs of Madness affecting either of them.

[mieru_mienai]

Yuugi felt himself slipping again when the absolute chaos on the island was revealed; the panic and the violence and the disorder would have been bad enough on their own but the Madness was a good deal stronger up here as well. He had to be strong--they all had to be strong--if they didn't want it seeping in through the cracks and pulling them apart.

Like Bakura, he kept silent and tried to focus, firmly grasping the presence of his partners and keeping alert for any danger that his Meister might not immediately notice in all the pandemonium. An eerie, skittish feeling quickly appeared, the Madness pressing closer and heavier as they grew nearer to the screams.

Something bad... Something really bad was over there, worse than the crows. Yuugi steeled himself again, the blade of his weapon form glinting sharply as if in response to his emotions.

'Takuto-kun,' he said quickly, sensing the effects of the Madness on the other boy and hoping the use of his name would draw his full attention. 'Go left and around the dunking booth; it'll take longer but there's a better vantage point on the other side!'

black clowns are scaaaaaary D:

[tauborn]

Takuto altered his course according to Yuugi's advice, all the hair on his body standing on end in response to the heavy feeling of the Madness in the air. He kept running at full speed, though, dodging around panicked people that were fleeing the area, and once dodging a few falling chunks of wood falling from the edge of a sign belonging to an equally rickety-looking food stall.

Turning the corner on the other side of the dunking booth, he slid to a stop on the cracked pavement. Something... something black was sprouting--no, oozing?--something was climbing up out of the ground, forming the perfect lines of black arrows that Takuto knew to associate with everyone's worst enemy. Witches.

Again, a stab of hate so violent it surprised even Takuto shot through him, but a second later it was gone as he could feel Madness pressing in around him, his resonance feeling suddenly superficial as the black mass of arrows coiled into a creepy, vaguely humanoid figure.

And it was at that moment that Takuto saw the skin on the back of his hands starting to bubble and, to his horror, beginning to melt towards the ground. Bakura slipped from his fingers, dropping to the ground with only the tiny red thread remaining to connect them.

[shiromadoushi]

Oh shi--

This-- this was something more than they could handle. This-- this was...

Had to get them out of there, had to--!!!

Bakura startled as he suddenly felt himself falling. Not good, not good! He needed to stay with them, he need to--

Wait. No, no he could use this. Even if he had just been dropped, as long as he was in motion, it counted as a roll, if he could just....!

The die bounced once against the ground as Bakura pushed up against the side he wanted to land on. Come on, come on....!

2.

Seconds later he was flying back up to Takuto's hand, string short and tight so he couldn't be dropped again as the near invisible shield shimmered into existence around
them.

'Takuto-kun, RUN!'

Even if the shield held out the Madness just a little-- even if it just protected them a little...! Even if it took all but one of his HP...

There was a strange sort of strength in the mess of flashbacks and memories that the Madness brought up out of him. The memories of the time he had died, of shattering his soul, of facing the monster who had been in his body trying to destroy him...

His friends were with him. He wasn't afraid. He would do whatever it too to save and protect them.

Even if my soul should shatter....

[mieru_mienai]

Once the Madness gripped Takuto so utterly, Yuugi could do nothing but try to hang on to his wavelength, to grip back with just as much ferocity and hope he could provide his Meister with something, anything to hold on to.

'But...!' Bakura's command made him recoil, a shudder of indecisiveness passing through him.

If they ran away, people could die! If they didn't run away...

If it were the other me, he wouldn't run! he thought blindly, assaulted by the strength of Bakura's wavelength, the onslaught of memories (the same as his own, but the perspective was all different) and the desperation of their situation.

He wasn't ready for this. Everything was spinning, spinning out of control and he didn't know if he was any help at all. In a duel, working with his other self, he knew where he stood and what he needed to do. But there were so many variables here...

'We'd never let you die, Bakura-kun!' he promised, but even as he spoke the words it terrified him to consider how, how he could hope to fulfill such a promise when everything seemed so grim and beyond control.

All the while he continued to reach out to Takuto, fighting as hard as he could to maintain some level of balance between them because if he failed to support him, his own almost-partner, then he really was useless.

1/2

[tauborn]

When Ryou's shield went up, the pressure of the Madness wavelength diminished, but it was still enough of its parasitic presence to worm its way into Takuto. He realized immediately and with immense relief that his skin wasn't actually dripping from his bones--at least Ryou's shield could block that.

But he held his ground despite Ryou's silent shout and the mess of confusing emotions that followed it. He was dimly aware that the emotions were associated with memories--memories strong enough that Yuugi seemed to share them--but Takuto's soul was in such a tangle that he couldn't quite figure out what was really going on.

It was like they were all made of layer upon layer, and each layer contradicted the one that covered it. Ryou wanted to run away, but wanted it with the same strength it took to punch an angry witch in the face. Yuugi was making life-and-death promises while drenched with indecision. And Takuto...

Was he the hero...? Or the villain?

2/2 I am sorry for the novel....

[tauborn]

He would have to be a little of both. It was as Aion always said, but maybe, for the first time he actually understood what the demon had been talking about. He lifted his eyes and pointed Yuugi's tip directly at the clown-like black creature in front of them, just centimeters behind the glass-like barrier Ryou had given them. His grip tightened on the d10.

His scarlet eyes never left the witch-made creature as he addressed his weapons with a slow smile. "Do you know what happens when what you want to do is also what you ought to do?"

He felt ready to do what had to be done. Ryou's barrier probably wouldn't last long, but Takuto wasn't going to let himself be afraid of the Madness anymore. He wasn't going to run away. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Ryou, and Yuugi was more likely to wish he had been useless.

Something dangerous was curling through Takuto's wavelength, twining around the sparkling thread of hope that he always had. There won't be anything left of this creature when Takuto's through with it.

Never apologize for that!

[shiromadoushi]

Oh shi--

Bakura mentally reached out to try and calm Yuugi's panic while trying to keep his own in check. This felt like--

He cut the thought off before it could finish, refocusing on the situation before them.

'The shield won't hold long, whatever you're planning, do it NOW!' he shouted, doing his best to try and keep the shield going as long as he could. It never lasted long, but his sense of time was skewed with the intensity of the situation. Would there be--

No. No there would be time, he would make there be time...! There was no room for doubt... The strength of their friendship-- they would make the miracle they needed to win this!

[mieru_mienai]

When what you wanted to do and what you ought to do were one and the same... Somehow, Yuugi hadn't expected 'the voice of the world' to sound like so much screaming and Madness-induced chaos.

Either way, he understood that Takuto wasn't about to run away. They were going to stay and fight--and it would not be pretty.

'I'm with you,' he promised, desperately attempting to brace himself for whatever this fight would bring. Bakura's support drew him in and calmed him somewhat, but that dangerous tint to his Meister's wavelength still made him feel as though he was about to be in far over his head.

[tauborn]

Takuto was grateful for the consent of his weapons, even though at this point any dissent would only mean getting thrown in the general direction of the gondolas.

He ran forward as Bakura's shield started fading, his fighting grin plastered to his face. Even if his skin started melting again, he was going to take down the creepy clown thing. Even if the Madness took hold of him, he was going to make sure his energy was still focused on the black Witch-created monster.

His first move as the shield broke was a slash with Yuugi towards the clown's midsection. He tossed Ryou lightly to the ground between his feet, ready to yo-yo him back as soon as the roll was clean. "Ryou, attack!"

*passes damage calculation to someone else*

[shiromadoushi]

Bakura pulled together all of his concentration, holding the side of the die upright as he fell.

0

Super Critical.

Even as he flew back up to Takuto's hand he started to glow, pouring as much energy and focus as he could into the building blast before letting it lose with a yell.

[mieru_mienai]

Takuto was fast, but his strike with Yuugi was not quite fast enough; only the very tip if the sword caught flesh, but even that small contact struck Yuugi with the impression that something about their enemy's body was very wrong.

The bright light of Bakura's attack obscured any view of their opponent for a moment and then--

The clown staggered back somewhat as the attack faded, injured but nowhere near taken down, an eerie laugh bubbling from its throat in response to the damage. Heavy drops of blood splattered to the ground, black as midnight, only to rise up again and somehow form needles, long and deadly, in the air.

With its blood...?! is the first thought that seizes him, though the horror is quickly overridden by the urgency of the situation; it's not even been a full five seconds since his own attack had all but missed and it certainly won't be another five before the bloody needles find their target in his meister unless they do something.

'Move!' Yuugi shouts, and though the command is obvious and unnecessary, what's important is the strong shove he gives Takuto through their resonance, focusing his every effort on somehow giving his meister the boost he needs to dodge the counter-attack and survive.

[tauborn]

Takuto nimbly and instantly obeys Yuugi's command, dancing back out of range and ducking behind an overturned hotdog stand as the bloody needles sliced through the air in every direction. But the reprieve is only for a moment--Takuto peers over the edge of their hiding place and charges out again as soon as the needles begin to retract.

"Ryou, again!" he shouts, tossing the die in front as he sprints towards the clown. It's spotted him, of course, raising its arms for some kind of defense or maybe offense, but Takuto doesn't really care. The madness is pretty heavy again, but at the very least he has a target.

He's hoping to lop off an arm while Ryou's attack blinds it and wounds it some more.

[shiromadoushi]

Oh shi--

Bakura clings tightly, as Takuto dodges, keeping tight control of his emotions and focusing on his friend, terror balanced by the need to keep them all safe and the underlining detached fascination with the creature they were fighting.

Black blood. That was what they were calling what had gotten into the water... The Madness that had leached into every corner of Death City...

There was a sort of furry that bubbled inside at that realization. This monster, or one like it had thrown his friends into chaos. Had allowed for his friends to be kidnapped.

There was no way he was going to let it harm anyone else...!

His attack is even stronger than before, glowing brightly through the cracks in his Weapon form like anger in his veins before slamming into the clown, knocking it back as it burns into it, searing away what it could and burning away the blood.