Rescue Log - Closed

[recollecters]

EVENT 2.0

RESCUE MISSION As the party re-approaches the door under the direction of Zee, they will find several packs waiting for them filled with items such as guns and bullets, hand grenades, yarn, blades, etc. There are no food items or personal items since this seems to be a short and quick mission and most importantly there are several wireless headsets, one for each of the members of this operation. As soon as characters put the headset on, Zee’s voice cuts in. A man probably in his late twenties, he seems fairly confident in what he’s doing next. “Once you get through the door, you’ll have a few obstacles you need to tackle. I don’t care what order you take them in if you want to fight together or if you want to split up, but you will need to group up a little bit. Sorry for the slowdown. The mayor and the others are fine! But I wanted to get more intel before sending you all in. There’s a river, a labyrinth to navigate and at the center your figureheads are in detainment hidden by Justice. Be careful and good luck! I’ll be monitoring you as best as I can from here.” I. Immediately upon heading into the area behind the door the group will come to the edge of a river. This river shouldn’t be here and it runs quickly, acidic and black with a high energy reading of lost souls. Hand-like structures claw their way out of the water and try to pull the group members under. The party will have to figure out a way to get across the river safely. Falling into this river will have consequences! If a group member falls into the river, their memories and their mission will be erased from their mind temporarily and they will not remember why they are down here and they will not remember anything about their past memories/abilities! These effects will last until they are out of the area and back into the city. II. After crossing the river, the group stumbles into the mouth of what appears to be a large labyrinth made of those same metal panels allowing the moans and roars of animal-esque creatures to echo around them from all sides. As the group travels through the winding maze, they will also hear the sound of fingers tapping on the walls. As they draw closer, a creature will punch out some of the panels and restructure the labyrinth, knocking the group members off of their feet and hoping to crush them with the walls and stop them from getting closer. They will have to dodge the hand and the walls and keep finding their route toward the center. Also crawling from the space in the walls will be smaller flying monsters that will swoop and scratch from overhead. III. But finally at the end the group will be able to exit the labyrinth one way or another, all sixteen members in a large prison-like holding room. Locked behind bars are the mayor and all of the others who have been kidnapped since the beginning of the month and locked in a glass case are the keys to release them from their cells. As the party moves forward there’s a crash from the ceiling though as Justice drops down to block their way, cages swinging from its hands used to try and knock out the group and trap them. This creature can be fought by the combatants in the group while others can work on the rescue mission portion, breaking the glass case and unlocking the cells to lead the NPCs out of the prison and back to the surface world. For those who are able, they will need to defeat Justice with physical or elemental attacks, killing the creature and destroying the cages. Depending on the damage taken, the party can walk back or Zee will be able to teleport them out. At the end of the mission, the Mayor will profusely thank these citizens though he will appear a bit confused by these ongoings. He’ll commentate on a similar monster infestation from August and how strange it seems that the monsters came back, but he won’t mention anything else. He will also ask the rescue crew not to mention this to anyone else yet! City Hall will need to hold a meeting to decide on the state of affairs and it’s best not to worry anyone yet. They will be rewarded for your services to the city via a cash payment but beyond that it’s time to go back to their every day lives. However, as everyone is preparing to do just that, Zee will chime in one more time via their headsets. “Keep an eye on the city. We got the information we needed and can take it from here to stabilize everything else. I can explain once the data’s returned to me. Thank you for volunteering!” Hello and welcome to your Prompt II rescue log! This log is for those of you who ICly checked in about reaching the silver door on the city log and this is for you to play out the rescue shenanigans and learn what the wrap-up is! Information about this event will be distributed at a slightly later date (March) once the event wraps up in full. Please feel free to direct questions to the mod comment below. Thank you!

Comments

MOD QUESTIONS

[recollecters]

Please leave questions here. Thanks!

[strawberrypunch]

Hiya mods! Tatsuma has spirit senses in that he can see and understand spirits already - would he get anything additional from the spirits in the river if he were to stop a little bit to study them, or no?

[vendettastool]

Would the members of this team be able to bring their own supplies as well? Like if they had a bag of supplies like food, water, portable electronics, and a few small tools?

[thisloveisjustice]

How wide is the river? And what sort of materials are around that they can use? Or is there a boat and a ferryman somewhere :|

[toobigtohandle]

[Before the door]

[Well, that's new. Retrospec is actually giving them supplies.

Kenta doesn't touch any of the weapons. He has his own sword, and his own gun so he'll leave the rest to people who may not have their own. He'll take a headset for himself, testing it out before securing it.

When he sees you grab a weapon though, he will ask.]

Do you know how to use this?


[I] - RIVER

[Whatever is in there, it doesn't sound like wading in is a good idea at all. but there doesn't seem to be another way to get to the other side except...]

Maybe we should have a few people jump over and secure a rope on the other side so we can go over?


[II] - LABYRINTH

[The labyrinth is not the right place for swinging a sword as big as Taroutachi, so Kenta will be keeping it in the sheath and rely on the gun instead.

He's really big, so if you need someone to hide behind, he's your man. However, he's not very fast. he will do his best to make sure you don't get squished if you end up in the path of a wall hurtling towards you, but he might get hurt in the process.]


[III] - JUSTICE

[Okay, now it's definitely time for the sword.

Kenta will leave the sneaking past the creature to people who are smaller and more agile, and try to take it on instead. Don't get too close, because that sword is enormous and he's going to be swinging it.]

before the door

[vendettastool]

[ It was unsurprising at how familiar it felt to look at a pile of weapons and figure out what would and would not work with his skills. Yoon-sung knew that he could handle everything laid out but knowing and actually being able to were two different things. It was hard to remind himself that he was the CEO of a computer game company and not a mercenary cum assassin commando. So while he reluctantly picked up a couple grenades 'just in case', he left the guns and ammo in favor of the kind of knives he was far more comfortable with. ]

Hmm? [ He looked up at that question and then shrugged, sliding one knife into a free loop on his belt and palming the other, weighing it for a second. Then he went through several test flips and spins, shifting his grip as he tested different attack and guard positions, and ending with a roll over the back of his hand, a flip and catching it with his other hand. ]

Oh, I know how to use them. Unfortunately. I'm just hoping there is nothing human-like in there.

i - river

[thisloveisjustice]

Jump over?

[Tatsuo eyeballs the river a second time, just to make sure he isn't overestimating the distance.]

That is a good ten feet.

[He looks up at Kenta (b/c let's be real, Kenta is probably the tallest one there)]

You probably could make it.

OTA!

[strawberrypunch]

[I. The River]

[Though it stops the entire party, Tatsuma in particular looks especially distressed at the sight of the spirits within the river. He actually ventures quite close to the edge, not enough to fall in, but enough to hear their voices, enough to understand.

Maybe it's just the lighting, but he looks somewhat pale, staring wide-eyed at the river as he is.]

...They're trapped here.

[It's a horrific understatement. They've been trapped here, and for far, far too long.]

[III. Justice]

[He proves himself a capable fighter all along the way. He doesn't bother taking up a gun; he hardly needs to, when his punches alone are enough to crush bones, when he can leap absurd heights and lengths. When Justice makes its appearance, he doesn't look to it with fear, but rather determination.]

--Cages first. [Taking out the head is a good idea, but might take too long, especially when they have others who can't defend themselves as easily.] I'll take the one on the right.

I.

[drydrown]

[...You know, he wasn't quite sure what to expect from the River Styx over here, but that's...it probably should have been exactly that, shouldn't it.]

Did they tell you as much...?

[Honestly, he wouldn't have entertained the idea a few weeks ago, but right now everything seems to be on the table.]

iii

[embearass]

[ frederick has taken note of tatsuma's skills, stopping himself from stopping the young man from fighting after the first demonstration. which is why when he brings up the plan, he's quick to nod, hefting his ax up into a fighting stance. ]

I can provide a distraction, to make it easier if you'd like.

[digthefuzz]

[During his mission, Kurt has become less recognizeable as ever! He now looks - and is dressed - pretty much exactly like this, plus wearing a domino mask for good measure. Throughout the mission, he'll be throwing off his voice as well and answering to the name of Wild Blue Yonder Boy! Or Wild Blue for short.]

[Closed to Eleanor]

[As they were preparing to enter, he couldn't help but notice Eleanor among those going in. That's one person he's been willing to talk to about what's been happening to him... and it seems better to get it over with before taking on the mission.

So he quickly sends her a text asking for her to hang back for a moment. When there's no one else nearby, Kurt nervously starts to approach her. It's time he told someone...]

I

[Kurt just teleports to the other side of the river. Bam, he's done!

Well, not completely. He'll go back the other side to ferry anyone across who needs it! Or he'll hurry over to try and help anyone he spots being grabbed by those spooky-ass hands.

People are free to alternately handwave Kurt teleporting them across if they'd like, and/or let me know if his services are wanted in existing threads!]

II

[Things aren't going too amaze-ing.

"Wild Blue" attempts to navigate the labyrinth with whoever might be nearby. This time he doesn't try abusing his teleportation, because who knows what lies on the other side of each wall?

There are other problems to deal with before long. He tries his best to fend off attacking cockatrices! And is that the sound of one of those giant monsters lumbering near? Some walls might be flying this way soon!]

III

[Justice is blind...ingly horrifying!

As they arrive in the final area, Kurt will try to make his way to the keys while also generally trying to play damage control. He teleports around to avoid being stepped on by Justice - and he'll keep an eye to see if anyone else, either trying to fight or avoid the monster - needs a hand to escape one of its attacks!]

Don't worry, Mister Mayer. We're coming!

[notyourutopian]

[Eleanor tugged out her phone at the text, glancing at it, then frowning faintly and looking up and around. Hm.]

Hey, give me a moment, I'll catch up.

[She said to the others, before stepping out the way. Once they were inside, she took a few steps from the entrance, peering around again.]

...Kurt? You here?

I

[strawberrypunch]

[Tatsuma's been watching Kurt curiously, but that can most likely be attributed to - well, the blue. However, it's when everyone's safely across and beginning to move again that he hangs back a bit from the others.]

...Wild Blue?

I

[long_live_the_queen]

[Lucy had been debating whether or not she could jump over the river or not when there was a flash of motion out of the corner of her eye, that bamf noise again, and—Kurt was across the river, just like that. Or...whatever his nickname was supposed to be.

Lucy huffed.]

Cheater.

[Her heart stone is unsurprisingly disgruntled and also a bit envious.]

OTA

[long_live_the_queen]

Pre-Door.

[As usual, Lucy was lurking at the edges of things. The only things she'd picked up was a bundle of yarn and a headset before skittering away as more people arrived.

Mainly though, she was scowling at the device. It had two curves in the headband, exactly where her horns would have gone. It'd fit perfectly if she just took off her hat. But there were witnesses. She glares at the nearest innocent passerby, and snaps:]

Turn around.

II.

[Of course Lucy was going to follow directions and navigate the maze as expected.

Meaning she's going to vault clean over the walls with her vectors. Fuck that turning left advice.

She's very easy to spot, with that bright pink hair and all. Flag her down? Call her out for cheating? Mention the giant hand coming down to squish them?]

III.

[Until this moment, Lucy had been assuming "detained by Justice" was some elaborate, unnecessarily convoluted Retrospec metaphor.

Said metaphor was now crashing through the ceiling at them.

Lucy wasn't the slightest bit afraid, though. She was just a bit busy trying not to get hit with a cage. The creature seemed to be paying attention to her right now—a good and bad thing. Her hat had fallen off at some point, and the horned girl had time to shout at the nearest person before the nearest cage came down.]

Get the key!

Pre-door

[sakeplz]

[Said witness is standing there taking a drink from a great big sake jug. He pauses as he hears her speak to him, lowering it with a blink before smiling at her.]

Why?

[What? He's curious.]

[elevelvetor]

「0.」

[ Oh... my, these are a lot of supplies. Elizabeth is good enough dressed as she is, armed with just a large, leatherbound book—though she's still checking out what's all in the packs. None of these she's used to, except maybe a knife, and really, there's no need for any of it for her...

Regardless, she's still holding up a hand grenade like it's the Best Thing She's Ever Seen. ]

Whatever it is that's decided to be the villain in this questline must be quite hardy, if we're being sent in with such materials... Not to mention our own prowess. [ Or powers, as is the case with her. ] "Justice"... What a regal name as well. I wonder, though, is it a personification of such a thing, or is it merely a name...?

[ ...She's allowed to ask this as seriously as she is, okay. ]

「I.」

[ Well.

That is deeply unsettling, and nerves skitter across her; anyone too close will feel it pulsing off her heartstone too, despite the passive expression she wears. Slightly pensive, when she considers the river. ]

It's like the river Styx... Are we Orpheus now, off to find our Eurydice? My, but I'd be upset if someone turned at the end and ruined it all... [ Lightly said, even as she flips to the blue marker in her book and glances between the picture there and the river. It's a little fast, but maybe... No, it'd work better if there was somewhere slower. Jack Frost joins her with the briefest shattering of light over the page anyway, and she glances aside. ] If you see a coin, don't take it. They're important for the dead to pay the ferryman... Though, we're attempting to cross, so perhaps we should gather the money we can.

「II.A」

[ Ah yes, the labyrinth.

...She will hold her tongue on finding a minotaur here. It doesn't sound like they would anyway. Are those fingers tapping on the walls...? Elizabeth will experimentally tap right back, her grimoire at her side and her finger placed between the pages to keep her place. ]

How queer. I hope this isn't what happened to all of those poor creatures from the lab... Their existences were already pitiful. [ There's an undercurrent of sadness to her words, thinking about the experiments, and a small shiver of fear from her stone. She really, really did hate that place. ] Being trapped down here, used as guards for some silly maze, sounds even worse...

[ There's another call from far off her lips twist at, and she continues, almost to herself: ] Would it be merciful to knock them out, or to kill them...? I don't want to them, they were ordinary at one point... There's no proof they're the same, but what else would they create them for? Mythology hasn't failed me quite yet...

「II.B」

[ Later, as they make their way through the labyrinth, Elizabeth summons Jack Frost once again as one of the flying menaces soars at them— its wings are easy enough to freeze, but the very handsy monster that comes crashing after it isn't, and she tosses herself in the way of a wall that's brought down—mostly to save whoever's by it. Watch it, she's stronger than she looks. Standing out of the rubble is... hard, but she wipes blood from her forehead with irritation and a flicker of worry.

No, no, she'll be fine, she can't focus on herself right now... ]

Are you alright? We should go before that thing decides to drop another wall on us. [ A brief smile. ] If you're hurt, my little snow fairy here can heal... We'll just have to get somewhere a little less, well, destroyed first.

[ "Lizzie, shouldn't you worry about yourself, hee-ho?" said snow fairy asks, brushing himself off, and Elizabeth blinks before she shakes her head. ]

No, no, it's fine... It's more important to take care of everyone else first, Jack.

「III.」

[ Justice is nothing like she pictured it to be.

No, it's... worse. Not as bad as the—thing in the labyrinth, but worse. She doesn't bother making a show out of summoning Thanatos this time, stepping closer to him to set her hand on one of his coffins, and purses her lips. There's hostages, and there's that thing, and... and if her friends find out she's about to be this reckless, just because she can, because of what she is now, they'll be so mad.

They'd have to figure out she's not human anymore though. Well, she's never been very good at hiding things... She'll address whoever's closest, turning to them with a small smile. She can almost feel her heartstone cracking bit by by. ]

If you're willing and able, then we can play distraction for our unlucky opponent... Or successfully stop it, I suppose. Thanatos is powerful, it's likely he can put quite a bit of force behind it. If you'd rather help our unfortunate hostages— [ Elizabeth glances past Justice ] then we can provide cover. [ ... ] I'm sturdier than I appear, I promise.

[ Not unkillable! But sturdier. ]

II.A

[long_live_the_queen]

[...ah. That place. Lucy had been trying to forget those labs. Lucy shook her head like she was clearing out cobwebs, but her heart stone gave her away with an undercurrent of anxious dread. She didn't mention Elizabeth's behavior as being...strange, though it was. She had other things to think about.]

Wouldn't it be a mercy to kill them? End the suffering they're in—

[Lucy stopped suddenly, turning her head over her shoulder.]

I hear footsteps.

[At least, she assumed they were footsteps. Albeit very, very large ones, and coming closer.]

0.

[onemillion]

[Rossiu looks so done already. He's carrying a metal baseball bat with him and he's picking through the bags for anything that might be useful, but he looks up when Elizabeth speaks.]

I don't know. It would have helped if we'd been given more information on what exactly we'll be facing in there, but I suppose these indicate we're in for a tough battle.

[He eyes a hand grenade warily before picking it up. Yep. He's just going to take that. He certainly doesn't want to use it, but it's probably best to take the supplies they've been given and he certainly doesn't know how to use a gun, so. Here we are.]

III

[burningblossoms]

[Thanatos is familiar, thanks to Ryoji. Yukiko's dealt with it before, and she's come out on top in a fight with the thing at least once before. But knowing Elizabeth has it is weird.]

How about we work together?

[Behind her, Sumeo-Okami appears, sword raised up and set in a guard position. Her heartstone pulses softly, a positive emotion, her desire to be able to support her friends reinforcing it.]

We can do this.

II.B

[toobigtohandle]

I'm fine. Those scratches will heal on their own soon enough. Let's conserve our strength in case someone gets more seriously injured.

[Kenta has taken a few scratches and bruises from not always being able to move out of the way fast enough, but nothing too serious, and since he seems to be healing on his own pretty well right now, he'll chance it like this for now.]

ota

[thisloveisjustice]

II

Luckily, Tatsuo had dropped a couple of those balls of yarn in his bag earlier. He has absolutely no desire to get completely turned around in this maze, so being able to backtrack the way they've come is essential.

Until Handsy starts punching down the walls, changing the paths of the labyrinth, and trying to flatten them. And as if that isn't enough trouble for the rescue party, half-chicken half-snake creatures start dive bombing them.

Dropping the ball of yarn he'd been trailing behind them, Tatsuo unholsters his gun and starts shooting down the cockatrices.

"I can keep those flying things off us, but we have to keep moving!"

Otherwise Giant Handsy will squash them.

III

Tatsuo takes one look at 'Justice' and makes a beeline for the glass case containing the keys. He knows his limits, and that thing, just like the large handsy monster from the labyrinth is past his limit. If he had super strength like a few of his friends, then sure, he'd be happy to try to stuff a hand grenade down Justice's mouth.

But he doesn't. All he's got is his guns and his brains. And his brains will do him no good if he gets them splattered across the ground. Though if someone wants to try the grenade trick, he still has one left.

"Quick! We need to get them out of here!"

Either help him break into the case or cover his back.

III

[sakeplz]

It was actually Jirou who moved to cover his back with that sword over six feet long. Though he was smiling he somehow looked deadly serious as he took advantage of his height to cover for Tatsuo. He wasn't going to let him be hurt under any circumstances.

"Take care of getting to the keys. I'll keep it distracted over here."

There was clearly more to this silly man than the drunken fool he tended to show the world. Jirou flashed that smile to him then held his sword ready.

"Swords are made for fighting, after all."

[sakeplz]

II

[Jirou's learned something recently about himself and his new abilities. He can take a hit. For that reason, he is moving himself between flying debris and people trying to get through. He smiles as he does and one might think this is a drunken hero but really he does know what he's doing here.]

Don't worry about me! I just need a few drinks and I won't feel anything!

[He laughs...well, giggles really.]


III

[Oh dear. This is the real fight now. Jirou has his sword unsheathed, that sword over six feet tall. It's long and deadly looking and it seems like no one should be able to wield it. Yet here he is and here he also is dashing forward towards the giant monster.]

All of you monsters are going to sober me at this rate. So rude...

[Does he sound a little pissed? He probably is.]

III

[toobigtohandle]

[and Kenta is right by his side, aiming for the creatures other side so they can take it in a pincer attack.

Neither of them are very fast, but their blows are heavy and they can block a lot. Hopefully, this will be enough for anyone more agile to step through and get to the keys while they keep the beast occupied.]

Jirou! Left!

[drydrown]

I.

[Cumore, as always, doesn't seem properly dressed for this; the suit he's got on is a bit too nice, though the jacket is open and he's got the belt on that he usually wears on things like this - he has heavy-duty mace and lighters, and...well, now he has fucking grenades because someone thought it was a good idea to let him have access to explosives. Beyond that, though, he has his broadsword with him again, and his long hair is cleanly brushed back and braided, and he doesn't have one of those heartstones to worry about breaking anymore.

He's generally fine until confronted with the goddamn river Styx beyond that door; he'll just kind of look at it before looking over at the rocks like he's seriously considering trying to make his way across, because...well, what the hell other choice do we have.]

This is going to be so inconvenient...

[He's not interested in leaving the sword here, but the fact of the matter is that he's going to be off-balance if he keeps it on his person; he'll set about removing it, fiddling with the straps on it and unfastening it while trying to figure out what the hell he should do with it.]

Keep an eye on this for me until we've figured out a way across that won't get everyone killed, will you?


II.

[The labyrinth doesn't seem to be too bad at first, just...unsettling? All things considered, though, it's a maze, it's not like it requires a doctorate to figure out, mazes are easily defeated using one's left hand and a lot of patience.

Right?

...Yeah, that line of thought is fair game until the damn hand starts doing its thing, but for the time being he seems confident enough. His sense of direction is good and somewhere in there, it occurs to him that this is sort of like Caer Bocram, and he hates how that thought calms him down a bit, actually.

So just...come with him and hopefully we'll hit the center of this place eventually, shall we? Sure, the odd sound of fingers tapping on the walls is unsettling, but surely it'll be fine...]


III.

[...His first thought here probably shouldn't be "well, I suppose this is why the grenades were necessary," but here we are. There's probably an irony in everyone here facing off against Justice, but you know what, there's a time for contemplating irony and now isn't really it.

That said, all of this looks like a job for...somebody else? That absolutely looks like a job for somebody else and he's going to be making his way toward the glass case, though if that thing gets too close for his liking his first instinct is not toward the grenades, but rather the mace - there's a reason he doesn't bother with the non-flammable bullshit and just goes right for the damn bear mace when he buys these things, you can get an impressive burst of flame between that and the lighters, and that's going to be what he's using to simultaneously keep the thing's attention off the case and keep it from getting entirely too close.]

Do hurry up with whatever it is you're doing over there, I'm not interested in playing decoy for any longer than I have to -

[...Not like he isn't going to be irritated about it, but you know what, he's doing. Something, at least.]

[toobigtohandle]

[Kenta blinks as he takes the sword.

The reason he looks puzzled, mostly, is because he has a seven-foot-blade strapped to his back, so he's not quite sure why the other man needs it off.

Also, he's probably taller than you.]

... are you sure you want to be on the other side of this without a weapon?

[imaginex]

I. River

[It's her second time dealing with spirits, and maybe that's why everything happens the way it does.

Because Sakura still remembers being down in the subway, surrounded by the goodnatured bemusement of ghosts more interested in shopping and waiting for the train, and Sakura had felt... safe in their presence. They'd been stuck in time, but had meant nobody harm.

Yet once she's a few steps in front of the river, she can feel the animosity -- the distress and vengeance that pollutes the water. And it's stupid, she knows, to get any closer when they might attack in their madness, but... but she's just so tired of doing nothing to help.]

Maybe... we can help you... [Another step. One more. She doesn't touch the water, merely stands close, leaned forward with a hand to her chest.

Close enough that a hand snakes its way out of the murkiness, grabs at her ankle, leaving her barely enough time to scream as it yanks her off-balance and into the river]

III. Justice

[She tries to stay out of the way.

Without her memories and equally lacking in abilities (her bow remains strapped to her back, useless weight for all that she can use it), Sakura knows her role is to make sure no one has to rescue her from trouble. She barely knows what's going on, and so when Justice tumbles from the ceiling, a creature of towering silver, the girl darts for safety and keeps away from the cages that would trap her forever.

-- But there are people to save, right? That's what her friends told her. Upon spotting the keys that will unlock the the cages, Sakura's stubborn streak rears its head with a vengeance, urging her to change trajectory. If she can do something, then she will.

Just someone keep an eye on her regardless, to make sure the creature doesn't snap her into a cage when she isn't looking]

I

[onemillion]

[Rossiu recognizes Sakura from the app, but he's a few steps behind her and hasn't really worked out a way to say "hi, I recognize you, it's nice to meet you in person even though this situation really sucks" so for the time being he's quiet, not even voicing his thoughts when Sakura speaks aloud.

For the record those thoughts are "no, we probably can't help them, we should be focusing on the mayor and everyone else first" but that's not really important because Sakura's yanked into the river.

He rushes forward immediately, dropping to the ground and throwing an arm out to reach for her hand.]

Quick, grab on! Pull yourself up!

[It's not like he has any powers to help her or anything, but he's trying his best and surely that counts for something.]