soul_logs | [Event Log] Mission #202

Entry tags:

[Event Log] Mission #202 - San José

Characters: OPEN to those who signed up for the mission here, assigned to San José
Location: San José, Costa Rica
Rating: Varies
Time: May 29th
Description: It's an evacuation! Get people out of there and keep the kishin eggs off of them!

They arrive to sirens, frantic car horns, and shouting voices. The local police are frantically trying to maintain some sort of order: Between soul-eating monsters, panicked people and worse - people who step forward and swear they can take them on - they have their hands full. They're awfully glad to see you, and are happy to point you in the direction of where they'd last seen monsters.

But there's no need to be pointed, they're everywhere, both old and new as they're attracted by the fear and the promise of a feast of souls. Combined with spiking madness making them inconsolable and the shadows passing overhead - witches here to catch a damn good show and 'help things along' - the people here are in dire straits.

It's your turn, agents! Get the civilians out of there, and give the kishin eggs hell, but don't let a witch spot you!

[Coordination post is right here! Make sure to head your threads with the following format: [CHARACTER(S) | LOCATION | OPEN/CLOSED] Don't forget to tag yourselves in!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Once a Kishin egg, there was no going back. The powers that come to consume and overwhelm an individual couldn't be handled by a human and twisted them. Yet, in desperation, this had been their decision.

Naoto came in contact with the egg, energy-laced sword cleaving through their body with little difficulty. She had gotten used to this and her soul pulsed slightly during the slice. This information she didn't exactly relay back; it was only out of curiosity, a small want to know how different a Kishin egg was internally. It was only quick though. The body was collapsing on itself, breaking down as most did before they turned into a corrupt soul.

To look into one's soul space was a dark expanse at first, but warm from the waves given off from the soul. The inside of a kishin egg was similar to a fault, but the waves given off were hunger, buzzing thoughts of killing and feeding, building in power until the metamorphosis to a full-blown demon god. The more souls it had eaten, the thicker the waves, the stronger the hunger, the stronger the bloodlust. As a beast made not a few days prior, the feedback of that pulse wasn't as strong as most before the body's ultimate breakdown into its burning red soul. The skin disintegrated, breaking into a black smoke and dissipating.

But with no relay Kanji wasn't aware of Naoto's want, and he reached out to take the egg, warm and airy yet squishy in his hand, before holding it to the blade.

"Yo! Anybody in here?" He called, searching the room. The window was broken, presumably how the beast got in, but maybe someone ran into the bathroom to hide, their signal blocked by the kishin egg.

Naoto took the corrupted soul and collected it as usual. She absorbed the energy from it before noticing it stocked in the usual place souls did once they were contained in a Weapon. The Madness drained from the room, but the level was still present. Either it was from outside or there was another source near.

Kanji's calling out prompted her to let her soul pulse and return. Focused on the information, again, she resumed relaying why lay in wake within the darkness. "... There's someone in the bathtub."

"Wait... seriously?" Of all the--

Kanji lowered the gunblade and moved immediately for the bathroom, trying to doorknob to get in and get the person.

Locked.

Well, fuck that shit. The Meister reared back and gave the space of the door next to the knob a solid kick. With a crunch the wood broke from the force, tearing the lock through the doorframe. Behind the door was a whimper and he frowned. He didn't blame the person for feeling like they did- they had a monster just outside the door.

"I ain't a monster! I'm here to getcha out! Let's go!" Kanji offered a hand and nodded for the door.

"How're you holdin' up?" He was getting the feeling this was an endurance run of sorts. They hadn't had anything like this in a while, and he still had to worry a little...

Made sense that it was locked. Counting that the Kishin egg had been distracted by an easier meal, interest would soon be lost on a locked door. However, nothing would have been stopping it from breaking it down once it had finished consuming its current food.

Naoto didn't comment on Kanji breaking down the door. This was a matter of urgency after all. Now no one could see though; would they so readily trust the two of them?

"... I'm fine. Examining the other room and the floor above us." There were a number of places still causing a considerable interruption to her abilities. They would be next unless they found more people lingering inside.

He'd trust her to that. One could only go so far until they started to feel that tug on the resonance, and he had to think of himself as well. Resonance took a little energy to maintain, much more while maneuvering in combat, and now more than ever they would have to keep frequent tabs on one another.

He pulled up the woman hiding in the bathtub and grunted in surprise, face bright red when a very sudden, tight hug and a murmured "Gracias a Dios, gracias a Dios!" followed.

"O-oi, a'right a'right--" But he managed to squirm away and take the lead. They had to meet up with the other civilian and start moving onward to the next few floors. Just three more in this one, and judging by the snarling sounds coming from outside, they were gradually being pressed for time.

Naoto soon returned, halting her search when things became too muddled by Madness. With the amount she had, it was annoying that she still had this problem. A small sigh and her attention was forward, listening to the woman Kanji had helped out of the bathtub. Abrupt hug, but it was time for her to be on her way.

When they returned, the man seemed puzzled, but his eyes widened at the woman. Could they by change know each other? Naoto shook her head of such trivial matters; they had to get back to ridding Kishin eggs.

It slipped Kanji's notice for the moment, but he would in retrospect appreciate having reunited some lost connections during the evacuations. God knows he'd be fretting trying to keep track of where everyone was, and all ready hew knew quite a few of his friends were out fighting here and in that Teguci... blah-blah place. Hopefully, they'd come back in one piece.

As he raced up the stairs, the two following close behind, he pushed those thoughts out of his head. He had to focus on the task at hand, and who knew what else was hiding in the last upper floors.

When he reached the next floor, he heard... nothing. And felt unsettled. Pausing briefly to take the surroundings in, he prepared himself to knock on another row of doors.

"Sheesh, this ain't creepy at--" The door practically exploded into splinters. Everything happened at once; some thin, spindly humanoid erupting from the room with a shriek, mingled with the screams of the two rescued in surprise. A long-fingered hand, bones jutting from the fingertips almost like claws, wrapped around his neck and pushing him back, pinning him against the adjacent wall. The wind was knocked from his lungs, and for a moment he was disoriented from the force.

Things became somewhat clearer as they rose between floors, but not enough in some places they neared. This floor especially was giving her a difficult time for some inexplicable reason. It's as though everything was suspended on this landing; she couldn't get a reading of anything normal like the room beyond the door.

Her eyes widened when it burst open and the egg made its appearance. Of course the couple with them screamed, but that wasn't her priority. Kanji was backed into a wall and their resonance was momentarily distorted as he lost breath. She took control and push the muzzle of the gun directly against the egg's torso and relinquished energy to Kanji.

"Fire!"

The sound he'd made wasn't the most classy thing, a half-choke and half-expletive in taunting this stupid thing for pulling this shit in the first place.

Naoto reacted far better than he, and his arm moved of its own accord, pressing the muzzle against the torso. As the corners of his vision grew fuzzy from the fingers tightening around his neck, threatening to black him out, he heard 'fire' and pulled the trigger- basic call and response being all he could manage the longer he remained like this.

The fingers locked briefly and then released as an explosion of inky blood splattered on the opposite wall, accompanied by a barely-human scream of pain in his face.

Kanji replied in kind, soul sparking in a cleaner manner than he did while they fought Camazotz... with a roar he curled his fingers inward and slammed that fist just above the hole Naoto'd made. That followed was the vague cry of Takeji Zaiten sealed away, a thrum, and thin threads of lightning as he withdrew that hand that flickered out quickly.

It dropped bonelessly.

The Meister coughed once and pointed the gun again for a face shot, other hand shaking off a residual spark or two.

Naoto couldn't sigh with relief just yet. As Kanji's soul assaulted the Kishin egg and sent it to the ground, she prepared another bullet to finish it off. Her eyes locked when Kanji pointed her directly at its head, narrowing them as the trigger was pulled.

It was only after the fact that she could look towards him with a small frown.

"Are you alright, Kanji?"

It had tightened its hold briefly on his throat. Had it scratched him when it let go?

The weapon lowered, he looked to the two civilians who seem to have hidden around a corner. With a nod of his head, he signaled that it was safe again and stooped to pick up the red orb left in this kishin egg's place.

"Yeah. I'll live." He ignored the press marks, the thin scratches that were an angry, dark pink against his skin that had all ready started to burn. He had all four limbs and his life. That was more important right now.

"Bastard made a lotta noise, though. Nothin' else is bumpin' around on this floor, is it?"

Now she felt a sigh escape, but her eyes still lingered on his neck. Faintly, from this distance, she could make out the markings. Kanji didn't often vocally express pain, but she certainly hoped he wasn't covering up right now.

"... I don't see anything. They're probably biding their time like this egg."

She gritted her teeth. Really, the last thing they needed were more Kishin eggs springing out before she could sense their presence. More training was obviously required on her part again.

"Tch... makes sense. I'll keep these guys close." With that, he turned and gestured for them to follow, but a point to the floor near him should be enough to let them know to stay close no matter what. He offered the soul before he moved on.

"Least there's this and the next floor. Then we can get the hell outta here and regroup with the others. I overheard from some'a the comms here that there are witches around." But it was strange. He didn't feel nervous like he would before. He was getting the inkling that maybe, -just maybe-, they were about ready to go toe to toe with one.

...Even if, as much as he wanted to hunt one down right now, it would cause nothing but problems on all fronts. Naoto wasn't ready for a witch soul yet, and there were way too many things that could go wrong. Sigh.

Again, she collected the soul, taking away the corruption and adding it with the others. The new energy would take time getting used to; she let her soul resume its scan.

"It figures they would be. Considering how they poisoned the water in a similar manner to the time they infected Death City, they're continuing to experiment." She wasn't even considering fighting one. If they did, that would just be another problem.

When her soul actually reverberated back, she was surprised. "... We have a few Kishin eggs on the next floor."

"They're always experimenting. If it ain't black blood, it's that triple-M thing they had down in the canyon," he replied bitterly. Though a horrific memory, it was one he wouldn't allow himself to forget.

He took to the stairs, but wasn't racing up the flight like before. "A few, huh? Good. I was gettin' bored."

Which was why he halted the two civilians at the stairwell instead. If there were multiple, he would need as much open space as possible. May as well be the hotel hallway. Once in, he blinked and realized...

"Wait, did I just use Soul Menace and not mess it up!?" Priorities.

"Yes... the Madness Manipulation Machine." She remembered that episode very well. A number of their friends had been affected by it and for a while, Raidou had avoided contact with many of them.

Naoto glanced back at the two civilians, watching as they ducked into a janitor's closet before turning ahead again. The Kishin egg were indeed waiting in the darkness, anticipating their arrival a few feet away from the landing...

"... What?" Naoto raised an eyebrow, but then the other shot up. "Oh. Yes, you did."

"Badass." Well, that was another one for the books. All he needed to do later was report his progress to Dr. Stein and fine-tune his practice. If he could perform the ability while under attack, he was well on his way.

But for now, a few kishin eggs were waiting for him, weren't they? Kanji rolled his shoulders and took off into the dark hallway. He'll just have to make himself bait for these last few, he could take 'em all on: That Soul Descent was channeled into the ground, trembling the wooden floors. But, more importantly, it released the signal of his soul. Hopefully, that wave was appetizing.

If there was one thing he could rely on, it was the mindless hunger of demons.

Kanji was making progress which was expected after all his work. If she didn't keep working, he would eventually surpass her.

Naoto remained silent, letting Kanji make the first move and effectively rattling the ground and the eggs. Her soul followed the wave, getting a better and much faster reading of the floor. Three figures regaining their footing and now scrambling towards the Meister who unveiled his powerful soul. Any soul that desired more strength faster would go after it.

Her eyes flickered and the next round of ammunition was prepared. Just in case, she set aside some energy to encase her blade if he drew it out. "Let's clean up."

Hook, line and sinker. He didn't need any senses to know that they'd taken the bait. Their footsteps were thunderous against the floor, and in the dark he could hear wooden doors being slashed open, and animalistic cries of unending bloodlust.

Kanji listened for that telltale click, and with a spark of energy through their link, more ammunition was prepared. His lips twitched into a grin.

"Yes, ma'am!"

With a whirl of the gunblade, bracing it in both hands afterward for balance, he saw no need to keep them waiting. He charged, and wasted no time in getting started.

These bastards had no idea what they were in for.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Event Log] Mission #202 - San José

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject