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OCTOBER EVENT PT2

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→ THE BEGINNING

(click to expand - happy early Halloween)

It's on the evening of October 28th when everything quickly descends into madness.

It begins with faint static in the air, gradually becoming louder and louder until it's impossible to ignore, the pattern of cries that was once hidden now audible to everybody as it grows and grows until it culminates in an explosion. The walls of the local bookstore burst outwards, a rampaging Hydreigon within unleashing Hyper Beam after Hyper Beam without any rest in between. Its trainer, an old man, hobbles up to it in a panic in order to ask what's wrong, but the Pokemon knocks him to the ground, ignoring him and continuing to destroy everything in its path while its trainer lies motionless on the ground, blood pouring from his head.

Further down the street, another eruption shakes the city, a group of Galarian Rapidashes slamming themselves against walls and windows until they break through, careening and crashing through buildings with wild abandon. Occupants inside a cafe scream as they attempt to flee, crushed under rubble and trampled by merciless hooves. From the sky, Murkrows and Natus swoop down on residents on the streets, long talons outstretched to claw at any exposed skin and pluck out any staring eyes. All around the city, Pokeballs burst open on their own and the Pokemon rush madly at human and Pokemon alike, disregarding orders or pleads from their trainers and attacking anything within sight in a wild frenzy.

Fires blaze across the city as children wail and adults scream. All the while, the pattern of cries continues...

→ THE RAMPAGE

(click to expand - you're in for a bad time)

Throughout the night, dark, ghost, and psychic-type Pokemon rampage throughout Mango City. Wild Pokemon appear from the outskirts of town and attack anyone and anything on sight, while companion Pokemon force themselves out of their balls and turn upon their trainers. No other types seem to be affected, the other Pokemon just as confused and distraught as the humans as they're forced to run from, defend against, and fight the Pokemon they were once allied with.

While many of the mad Pokemon physically assault those around them, other use innate abilities to wreak havoc. Musharnas emit a dark mist that engulfs entire beings and brings their fears to reality, forcing all those within the fog to face the same delusions. At the same time, Shedinjas steal souls away in their shells and keep them captive in a shared endless nightmare of their worst experiences relived. Similarly, Beheeyems cause those nearby to reexperience their most feared and hated moments, erasing all memory after that moment in order to trap their victims in that vulnerable mindset of the past. Meanwhile, Zoroarks trap their targets within grand illusions that force them to undergo a series of deaths over and over again, causing them excruciating pain and suffering while their physical bodies continue to live. Haunters phase in and out of walls to surprise and lick their victims, sapping years off their life and causing a frigid shivering that won't stop until they wither away, and Gengars loom in the shadows, sapping heat away from its surroundings and causing the small and the weak to slowly freeze to death. Umbreons spray poisonous sweat all over the street, causing people to choke and convulse if they stay too long near the toxic areas, and Cofagriguses drag humans into their coffins and wrap them up as mummies, bound so tightly nobody can hear them scream. No amount of pleading nor bargaining will cause any of them to stop; the only option left is to defeat them in battle, either by killing them or knocking them out.

It'd be kinder to do the latter, but in the heat of the moment, it's difficult to hold back. It's desperate times, after all, as the city streets soon begin to fill with the cold and still bodies of both Pokemon and humans.

→ HELP...?

(click to expand - is anyone even sane enough left to help)

At the outskirts of town bordering the forest, herds of Stantler lead the unaffected and helpless deeper into the forest into an area where the trees are so densely packed that even the shine of the moon can't break through. The only source of light are the small Litwicks that scurry towards the humans, smiling and holding out their little hands. Follow them. They'll keep you safe(?).

Perhaps it's time to abandon the city, where the fires continue to grow and rage throughout the streets, threatening to engulf entire neighborhood blocks. The hospital and Pokemon Center get repurposed to disaster zones as the doctors and nurses struggle to treat their patients while fending off rampaging Pokemon at the same time. Mari's large Steelixes wrap themselves around the buildings to become iron walls keeping the wild Pokemon out, but even their great defense struggles against the never ending attacks.

In the midst of the ongoing disaster, the radio tower remains undamaged and completely abandoned, untouched by the rampaging Pokemon outside. The receptionist has fled long ago, leaving the front doors open but the door to the stairs and the elevator up remaining locked. The tower stands empty and silent, completely free of the static and pattern of cries playing outside, the one place of reprieve from the hell that has descended upon Mango City.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Welcome to the Halloween event! Due to the nature of the prompts, please properly warn for any potentially disturbing content in your threads/tags for all players.
⬥ This event is forward dated to the evening and night of the 28th and may last past the 28th if no proper IC measures are taken to stop the rampaging Pokemon. The OOC deadline to solve and fix the disaster will be October 29.
⬥ Please comment to the mod question & investigation thread to report any actions that characters may take to stop the events of the log.
⬥ Have fun! :)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sagi pauses on a railing, looking down at her.]

They're hurting people. If that isn't a good reason to hurry, what is?

Yes, and I promise you I am running as fast as I can, but it won't do you a damn bit of good to get up there and get at a door or whatever.

We'll just break it down like the last one. I've seen that door.

[He really doesn't understand why there's an issue.]

Why are you here, anyway? If not to take out the antenna.

[That decidedly ambiguous phrasing again.]

The last door? You mean the one you needed help with?

[Boys.]

It's oddly untouched. Obviously I'd come here to investigate.

["Needed" help is kind of strong a phrasing, Sagi thinks...]

...We're wasting time.

[Despite saying that, he waits for her to catch up. He even hops down from the railing to wait in the stairwell like a normal person.]

Unless you can safely carry me up these Twelve-damned stairs, "walking" is the only option.

[But at least he's sensible enough to wait for her, once they get there.]

Gods, that sound...

If it's anything like before, it'll be loudest at the top.

[The static sound and the incessantly repeating blips inside it are indeed getting louder as they ascend. Every time Rhel catches up to him, Sagi hops up to the next flight of stairs to wait again. They're making decent progress, but the tower is pretty tall...]

... Do you only have ice magic, or other kinds too? Machina usually break easier when you overheat them.

I've fire as well. Unfortunately I seem to be missing my Thunder spells, but melting works just as well.

[But this is getting painful.]

Do you have a knife, and do you have a problem if I were to use it to cut this top into shreds for ear protection?

[Since. It would leave her rather topless.]

[In the darkness of the stairwell, it's difficult to see Sagi's eyes widen. The abrupt change in his tone of voice tells most of the story, though.]

I... um, I have a knife, but...

A bit too bothered if I were to shred it?

[Look, she gets it.]

I mean... it's your top.

[After an agonising moment or two, he flutters down to the stair she's on and hands his knife over. The curved blade is oddly ornamental looking, but it's just a combat knife to him.]

...I won't look.

[He won't. He kind of wants to, though.]

Yes, and if I had a problem with taking it off and running about without it, I wouldn't have suggested it. That's why I asked if you would have a problem, after all.

[Body shyness is for other people. But Rhel will take her shirt off, glad it's just one she bought from Mango, and proceeds to cut a few strips of it to make into a headband to muffle the sound as they get closer. And then she cuts a few smaller squares to hand to Sagi. There is just enough shirt left to put on and not leave poor Sagi running up the stairs with a Miqo'te in her bralette.]

Here, if you need them.

[Sagi looks vaguely disappointed as he takes his knife back, along with the... cloth. Regular cloth. He'll just pocket it; the static is loud and harsh on his ears, but bearable for now. In fact, some of his tension from earlier seems to have lessened.]

Better? Then let's hurry.

[A few more flights of stairs, and they'll be at that locked door to the roof.]

[Along the way, Rhel eventually wraps the makeshift earmuffs around her head to muffle some of the noise. It's not perfect, but it's working.

She also doesn't waste time before attacking the hinges with fire magic this time, hoping to melt them.]

[By the time they reach the door at the top, the pulsing squiggly noise is unmistakable, the static more a screech than a buzz. Sagi is finally beginning to flag after using his wings so much, but he finds the horrendous sound a good motivator for now, before a headache actually sets in. The sooner they remove that antenna, the better.

He tosses a Pokeball up as he hops the last railing, deploys his Marshtomp onto the highest flight of stairs, then catches the empty ball mid-air as he lands.] One more time!

[Marshtomp charges forward. There's a metallic crash, the noise overpowered by the static, as the weakened hinges give way completely - hopefully whoever owns this tower has insurance. They're through.

The tower roof is a flat, plainly tiled affair with scuffed dirt and debris scattered around, indicating recent-ish activity. A single raised ledge separates it from a ten-storey fall. Remember, fall damage while aggroed is lethal! The aggro in this case being the silhouetted Natus and Murkrows that can be seen circling the tower lower down, though never landing on it.

In the centre is the radio antenna, impossible to ignore. The sound, practically a roar here, pulses from it in almost physically overwhelming waves.

Sagi has to stick the cloth Rhel gave him in his ears at this point. He'd rather be embarrassed later than go deaf now. He has to shout just to hear himself; it remains to be discovered whether he can hear Rhel at all.]

So how are we breaking this thing?! Before the birds notice us!

[...Maybe "without shouting" would be a start, but that doesn't occur to him.]

Just turn the power off! We don't need to break it!

[This noise is ungodly and Rhel has to cover her ears even with the earmuffs on.]

Breaking it might set everyone off more!

There's no panel...! We looked! Must be... inside!

[It's a struggle just to move. The makeshift earplugs might be the only reason he can. Clumsily, he reaches for the card his dagger was in, now blank.]

I'm taking it with us!

[No time to explain what he means. It's this or he runs back inside. His head feels like it's about to burst.]

That's the same as breaking it! If we can't shut it off outside, we need to go back inside and look!

[Teenagers.]

[Unfortunately for Rhel, it only takes an instant for Sagi to use a magnus, and he's already holding it up. The card shines brightly, giving off the sensation of tugging at the air around it. The antenna glows in turn...

... and disappears. The roof is empty, dark - quiet.

At the edge of hearing, even fainter than it was earlier in the month, a trace of white noise continues. Sagi doesn't hear it. He's checking the card in his hand.]

Sagi--

[Well. At least the noise stops. Rhel starts to tug the muffs off, though she's not terribly amused.]

I hope you didn't vanish it into another dimension and can retrieve it when the authorities inevitably ask where the bloody hells it went, Sagi.

[It takes a moment for Sagi to realise she's talking to him again. The sudden void where the static used to be is... overwhelming. Did they do it? Is that it?]

Huh? Yeah, that's what... oh. [He takes the cloth out of his ears first. Now is the time to begin to feel embarrassed about that, apparently.] It's just in here.

[He shows the card to Rhel. It probably looks like nothing more or less than a Triple Triad card without numbers to her. The picture on it is the radio antenna that stood in front of them a second ago, completely innocuous in every way.]

But if we put it back, the noise would just start up again... right? [That's how machina tend to work, right?] It might not be safe to just hand it back to them.

Not necessarily, though since we can't actually inspect anything now to try and determine if it was perhaps a loose wire or something similar, there's no real way of knowing anymore.

[Rhel rubs at her ears, trying to stop the ringing.]

But it isn't our machina to keep, and until we're given reason to distrust those in charge of the tower or the authorities, it's best to at least play at cooperation. They'll likely forgive us for this as it was an emergency. Refusing to return it, however, might be seen as theft.

It wasn't just a wire! It was alive.

[And now that he's not caught up in the moment... he notices it's not quite as silent up here as he was hoping. Welp.]

...I think it's still here. Can you hear it too?

Alive...?

[What. But after a moment of listening, Rhel nods.]

Fainter, but still here. What's this about it being alive?

I...

[Maybe he did forget to explain himself, just a little. He pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales, the magnus card still between his fingers. It's been a long night. He knows they should go back downstairs and check if the noise has truly abated, but all he really wants to do is go to bed.]

Okay. I came here because Atsushi and I already climbed up this tower once before. We trapped the essence of the sound down below, then up here. Both times, the sound wasn't just a sound. It had eyes. And when we got close to the antenna, the eyes were bigger, and looking straight at us.

[Deep breath. It feels like he's talking about a previous lifetime. Maybe he kind of is.]

So if it's still here, even now? I don't doubt it'll seize the antenna again as soon as we put it back. We're just buying time to figure out how to deal with it for real. I know we can't just steal it...

[But what are their other options? He can't think of any. Ugh, he's so tired.]

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ THE BEGINNING

→ THE RAMPAGE

→ HELP...?

→ MOD NOTES

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