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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

[Hythlo nods, puts a hand in the folds of his hood... and brings out a small furry spider.]

Pasithea. She is... the only one left. I've no idea where the others are, and I could not approach them safely even if I did.

[His shoulders sag.]

... I can only hope they will be alright after all this is dealt with.

[But, right, they have a tower to scale. He doesn't want to think of more bad things today.]

My stride is definitely wider than yours. Would you like to make it a competition? Last one to the top gets eaten alive by the vengeful spirits.

[ The way Hythlo treats this as a game as Hien wanting to do the same. He should be the voice of reason here, but he is thoroughly mentally exhausted today from everything. Yeah, they're going to speedrun through this. ]

There will be obstacles like cutting off your air supply, so let's try not to die before we get to the top.

[ Anyway, he hands Hythlo an Escape Rope. ]

It's like a teleporter. If you're in danger, use it to get out of the tower. I have one too, so don't toss it over to me.

[Hythlo winces at the news of obstacles, and rubs his throat. The lines left by the grip of Cofagrigus are yet to fully fade.

Hien handing him the rope makes him remember something, though, as he weighs the length in his hands.]

Oh--Hien, I have not told you yet... But another of my powers came back. Rather painfully, I must admit, but so it goes.

[He pauses for a second, wondering how to frame it.]

... I can create--or recreate--objects that I know the structure of, and the way they work. We... call them concepts, but I appreciate that the word means aught else to you.

[ Yeah, that word really means something entirely different, but Hien seems to understand how it works for Hythlo. He'd instantly request something like a roll of piano wires, but he figures that would be largely ineffective against ghosts. ]

That could really come in handy. I don't have anything I need though--

[ Wait. ]

Can you make a pokemon plush doll?

[ Pokedolls at the mart. 100% guarantee on escape rate... or at least from how he remembers it. ]

[The request is... unexpected.]

... Simply a doll? I suppose I am glad to see you are still young at heart.

[That's just a friendly jab and a way to keep the atmosphere more upbeat, of course. Hythlo knows Hien would not simply request something like this with no practical use.]

I'm forever a young 21-year old, Hythlodaeus. Of course that would be expected of me.

[ But seriously. ]

All pokemon have hearts of children too if you put it that way.

... Then is this madness because someone did not buy them a toy they desired? Sent them to bedchambers without supper? Critiqued their concept?

[He actually finds solace in joking about things. He can almost forget everything else from today! It's behind him still, of course, but now he has strength not to look.]

Any particular Pokemon, then?

[ Hien almost snorts. But let's see... what would be a good shape to throw and is irresistible? Let's see... ]

How about Rowlett? It's a grassy round owl.

Ah. Lord Puff-Feathers IV, Esquire.

[It's the name of the lady next door's Rowlett.

Hythlo closes his eyes behind his mask, raises a hand, imagines the structure, the materials, how the thread weaves itself into inconspicuous stitches... There's a glow to his fingers that rises, spins like a vortex, and then... resolves itself into a plush Rowlett. It looks extremely round, extremely soft, and extremely squishable. Kids would fight over this, and that may or may not have been part of his thought process while creating it.]

There we go.

[ What?? Though when Hien looks at the final product, he feels like he'd be one of those people fighting over it. Why does he have to fling this over to the pokemon as a distraction--this was not as planned.

Steel your resolve. You got this. This is fine. ]

Okay, this will probably save us for one of the floors. I'd like more, but I'm assuming there's a limit?

[Hythlo shrugs.]

I assume there must be. In my homeworld we wove things out of aether--the energy around us... but it is much weaker here. I suspect it may be my own energy that I spend.

[He's thinking this not the least because in the few times he's had to experiment with this regained power, there has always been a level of physical discomfort, greater or smaller depending on the complexity and speed of creation.]

But I believe it is safe to have a few more. 'Tis a simple thing, after all.

Edited 2020-10-19 02:23 (UTC)

[ Hm. Even so, Hien wouldn't want Hythlo to use up his energy making dolls right before they have to raid, so-- ]

If you could make them slightly smaller, it should be fine.

[Hythlo nods, raises both his hands to speed up the process, concentrates like before. Two more dolls... and then one more. He winces slightly at the third one, but it's nothing serious - more like a twinge in his hand than anything else.]

Two for each one of us might be good.

[He hands two of them to Hien, and hides his own dolls in the pocket of his hoodie. That's... honestly the extent of his preparations: he didn't have anything else on him when this hell started, and then items started getting spent fast.

Oh, but the only other thing...]

Ah, yes. I've this as well.

[He pulls his hand out of the pocket. Hythlodaeus, what do you have? A knife.]

[ God. That would be useful for like... things that aren't ghosts, but it's better than nothing, he guesses. He takes out a knife from his cloak too courtesy of when Fluffy the Terror (his second Eevee) came at him with a knife. ]

Alright. Let's try sneaking past them as much as we can. We need to save energy for what actually matters.

[He nods.]

I shall warn you if I notice aught strange. Are you ready?

[ Hien nods and puts the knife away for now. He also puts the other things relegated to him, like the dolls, inside his cloak.

The first floor seems relatively easy, with a few ghost pokemon. They're not looking this way, so Hien starts by ducking behind the tombstones and being quiet about sneaking to the next set of stairs on the other side. ]

[Strangely enough, Hythlo feels calmer inside the tower itself. Maybe because it's a closed space, easier to understand than the chaos outside, easier to focus on what they need to do. Since he's bigger, it's harder for him to move as quietly as Hien, but the outside noise still filters in here, so it's much easier for them to remain unnoticed.

They make their way to the stairs, and Hythlo just about has the time to hope that they don't creak. A little too late it also occurs to him that maybe they should have agreed on some sort of silent communication. Signs, perhaps.

He peers up at the stairwell, above Hien's head. It looks clear...]

[ Getting to the stairwell is easy so far, and Hien stops while he's inside it to look back at Hythlo, making sure that he's arrived safely too. Communications don't really occur to Hien, so Hythlo would probably have to bring that up. ]

... The second floor will probably be stupider, so let's keep being careful.

[There's something about using the comparative of stupid to describe a situation that is really hilarious to Hythlo right now, and he has to bring up a hand to his mouth to avoid laughing out loud.

The stairwell seems safe enough, and Hythlo decides to take the opportunity.]

Hien, it may be prudent to come up with some form of signs to communicate silently. In case we have to split up or the Pokemon are too close for us to speak without drawing attention...

[ Hien looks over at Hythlo, wondering what got him to hold back his laughter. Did he say something funny? He'll look past that, since there are more urgent matters.Can't believe Hythlo thought Hien was smart. It doesn't look like he's the type to plan thoroughly, or make backup plans upon backups. ]

[Hythlo is not bad at backup plans, but he is normally too lazy to think them through. Normally, the philosophy of "it'll work out somehow" gets him through anything. On the other hand, a tower full of bloodthirsty ghosts is not normal.

He tries to think quickly about what signals they might need... Directions and such are easy enough to handle, and for situations where they have to use the dolls or the rope... Well, he assumes those would be drastic enough that they won't need to worry about being quiet.

Hmmm.]

This, [he makes a triangle with his hands] for "distract the enemy". Thumbs up for "I shall follow your lead". This one, [the "OK" sign--he has seen it, but has no idea what it's called] for "follow my lead". [His next gesture is putting his hands into the shape of the letter T, similar to the "time out" gesture.] This for "knock enemy out". Had I known we would be going here, I would have given it more thought... but these are the more obvious ones I can think of.

[ Hien nods in agreement. Those are the only ones that they should probably know that doesn't concern themselves if being busted and having to attack. ]

That's good enough. It looks like the next floor is pretty dense with fog, so it should be easier to get to the stairs.

[ Good thing Hien was here so often that he memorized where things are. Maybe Hythlo is the same, considering he slept here. ]

Edited 2020-10-19 16:10 (UTC)

[Luckily, Hythlo has been a frequent visitor to the tower as well, although his knowledge isn't perfect for every floor - some he spent more time in, some less. But it's certainly better than going in blind.]

... Agreed. Let us hope the fog is not dangerous.

[ Hien would have thrown a remark about setting this tower on fire to get rid of Musharnas, but. Graves. That probably wouldn't be a good joke to Hythlo, so he won't say it. Anyway, Hien nods and then jumps into the fray--sneaking behind tombstones despite the fog giving enough cover. Just in case. There seems to be some odd colors near the staircase that lead to the next floor though... ]

[To Hythlo's relief, the fog is neither poisonous nor hallucination-inducing. He creeps behind the tombstones after Hien, but...

He's had to strain his sight so much today it's developed into quite a nasty migraine, but with everything else that's been happening the feeling is almost immaterial, and anyway the adrenaline has been taking care of it so far.

He does notice the difference in colour, though... and the distortions in the aether that suggest there may be something living in there.

Hythlo places a hand on Hien's shoulder, urgently, then nods towards the staircase. There doesn't seem to be many ghosts around yet, so he feels safe enough to speak, even if in a low whisper.]

Something there. Might be the illusion-makers.

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ THE BEGINNING

→ THE RAMPAGE

→ HELP...?

→ MOD NOTES

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it's ok hien he can make you plushies later

Thanks hythlo you're the best

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