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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

[The yelp makes Sagi jump slightly in surprise, but it isn't another ambush, nor another unexpected nervous breakdown. He tries to relax once he realises they aren't being attacked again; he needs to at some point, if he's honest. It's admittedly difficult. The ominous silence doesn't help.]

I can't hear anything but us, either. [He keeps his voice a little hushed, just in case.] We definitely heard the sound in this lobby back when it was quieter. I wonder if whatever's controlling it - moved it out, somehow.

[Living things move all the time, of course. Creepy buzzing presences with some form of life hitching a ride on them, he wouldn't know so much about. No, really.

He tries to look around and see if anything is out of place in the lobby compared to a couple weeks ago, but he isn't sure whether he's allowed to move from where he's standing or not, so Hythlo's silhouette takes up most of what he can see no matter what angle he leans over at.

When Hythlo starts rubbing his hood against his head like a fluffpup with an itch to scratch, he ends up just awkwardly watching.]

Uh... what are you doing?

[Hythlo continues the rubbing as though it's completely normal.]

Pasithea cannot create electricity by herself. She simply stores it, but it must needs come from another source... I've naught on me that could be of use, but I can generate a passable amount with my hair. 'Tis poor fare, of course, but better than naught.

Huh. [Sagi scratches his chin, distracted.] I didn't think much of it, but you're right... None of the machines they use seem to make a lot of mushrooms.

[Mushrooms.]

[Hythlo pauses. Machines for making mushrooms?

Actually.]

... I am rather hungry.

Oh, um, not that kind... Sorry, I don't have anything on me.

[Except some berries for his Pokemon, but he's stuck just enough of those in his mouth over the past couple of months to appreciate that they aren't really an option.

Not for the first time this evening, his patience is wearing a little thinner than he'd like. Presently, he pulls his dagger out of the magnus in his pocket yet again and lights up the blade. The unfocused bright white glare casts curved shadows along the darkened lobby's floor and walls. Hythlo isn't looking this way anyway, so he figures it shouldn't dazzle him too much.]

[Hythlo looks up once he sees the light, then nods. That makes sense.]

... With your permission, I would search this floor.

[He's been in enough buildings. While it seems like a good idea to put important things at the top, ultimately whatever powers them will be found on a deeper level.]

[It's brief and hollow at best, but Sagi actually laughs.] We don't have anyone's permission. We just don't have a choice.

[He's not happy about it, despite their struggle just to make it here intact.]

But I do think breaking the machine up top should be our last resort. We don't want to make it go haywire. Just, uh - tell me if I'm in the way.

[To phrase it in the most dispassionate way he can think of for now. It's fine. Everything is still fine.

Maybe he can at least turn around to watch the doors or something. It is odd that nothing outside seems remotely interested in this building when the brainwashed Pokemon are so indiscriminate with their violence elsewhere. He can't imagine that the bright light in his hand could go totally unnoticed through the windows or whatever, under normal circumstances.]

[Hythlo nods again, awkwardly.]

... I shall.

[He paces around for a while, seemingly pointlessly - but his movements are too even and the steps too slow for someone just walking around. Once or twice he stops to knock on the floor with the toes of his shoe.]

... No hollow panels. There may be a door somewhere.

[He moves to the walls now, still keeping his back to Sagi. He feels wretched about it, but at the same time he is not certain at all what he could do here.

He trails his fingers over the wall, checking whether something is a simple panel or a possible door to another room or perhaps a staircase. But the anxiety in him keeps growing, and... well. Talk about it when you're ready, Hien had said, but at this point he feels like he will just keep overthinking things, and maybe it will be easier to deal with it in a straightforward manner.]

Sagi, before we move on... I wish to apologize for the distress I caused you. And I want you to know that I do not think differently of you. You are a good man and someone I should be glad to call a friend.

[Wanting to do something, anything productive, Sagi directs both of his Pokemon to keep an eye on the doors and starts to move along the opposite wall from Hythlo. The lit-up dagger goes with him, making it pretty obvious. He's approaching the elevator when Hythlo calls out to him, stopping him in his tracks.

But his sense of trepidation doesn't bear out. Just a straightforward apology... Thank goodness. Awkward or not, he looks relieved. He's had it up to here with cryptic for the next while.]

It's okay. I overreacted.

[He knew that part as soon as he snapped, really.]

I just... didn't know what to think. I still don't. But I'm not mad or anything. It's not your fault.

[Hythlo breathes out a sigh of relief. He wasn't aware just how much it has been weighing on him, but now that the weight has been lifted the difference is astounding. It is good to know that Sagi is not mad at him, and maybe now they can find some way to deal with it together.]

... Thank you. I cannot blame you--I've no idea what I would have done, had the same revelations been presented to me. [He sighs and continues his stroll.] And if there is any assistance I can offer, I should be glad to give it.

[His fingers finally brush against a doorframe. Hythlo squints at it, then tries the handle. Locked.]

... There is a door here. Let us see where it leads. If my suspicions are correct, it should be possible to deactivate the tower from somewhere. Power generators are oft placed close to the ground, for the ease of both installation and maintenance.

[Despite his own relief, Sagi hesitates for what feels to him like a while. Does he need help? Materially he's fine, and emotionally he's pretty certain Hythlo would like to put everything behind them. Also, they have a citywide murderous rampage to stop somehow; now is not the time for pointless introspection. But on a purely practical level, maybe...]

There was... something.

[What that something is, he doesn't remotely finish articulating to himself, let alone out loud - not that there's ever much distinction to him. It's more important to stay on task. When Hythlo finds the door, he dismisses the thought and hurries over, lit-up dagger in hand.]

Did they leave it open?!

[Hythlo tries the door and frowns. No such luck.]

Alas, no. We may need to use force if we are to enter.

[He eyes the door thoughtfully. Thankfully, the time at the Pokemon Center allowed him to recover, even if a little bit, so he could create another explosion, or perhaps a lockpick... but he would rather not spend his powers if it's possible to avoid it.]

Have you any ideas, Sagi? Or any skill with a lockpick?

[Imagine carrying a lockpick around. What does he look like, a criminal?

He shines the light on the door, then hazards a push, and finally raps on it with his knuckles. None of those things cause the door to conveniently remove itself. The knock was probably loud enough in the otherwise silent lobby to wake anything hiding behind it, but that seems like a problem for their future selves.]

Force it is. Stand back. ...No, wait. [He backs off first.] OK, I'm here.

[Out of Hythlo's field of vision again. Not that much more than his hand was likely to be in it.]

Hey, you two! Come help with this door.

[Marshtomp will take a while to waddle over, but it's pretty obvious what kind of force Sagi intends to employ. Maybe someday he'll come to regret giving these young, innocent, non-brainwashed Pokemon a taste for vandalism? That sounds like a problem for their future selves too.]

[Hythlo averts his eyes from Sagi for added security, feeling rather awful about it. Though it's neither his nor Sagi's fault, it feels cruel to demand that Sagi stay out of his sight because it's painful to look at him.

Once Hythlo realizes why Marshtomp is coming over, though, he backs away rather further. He's seen enough Pokemon-based destruction for the day not to be careful.

The door shakes under the impact, buckles once, twice... and the lock finally breaks, torn out of its frame under the fishy slams, and then clatters away down the short stairs leading into the basement proper. If Sagi knocking and Marshtomp slamming into the door wasn't loud enough, the ringing of metal on metal serves as a pretty good finisher to the breaking-and-entering symphony. The inside is almost completely dark, apart from some mysterious red lights. There is a hum, though, that gives Hythlo hope that the power source is here. He comes closer to peer into the revealed darkness.]

... I haven't a light. Would you be so kind, Sagi?

[Sagi steps forward, finally holding the dagger in front of him like the weapon it is. The basement is so much darker in contrast that he can't make out any details until he gets closer. When he peers in through the doorway, the blade of his dagger meets something unseen, unexpectedly solid in the dark...

...And no less than three Beedrills angrily buzz out through the door at them, with more gleaming red eyes emerging from the shadows behind them.]

Oh no. [That is a lot of bugs. He doesn't think twice before turning on his heel and bolting for the lobby doors, praying that the glare from the dagger will slow the bees down long enough for them to put some distance in.] There's too many to fight! Run!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OCTOBER EVENT PT2

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ THE BEGINNING

→ THE RAMPAGE

→ HELP...?

→ MOD NOTES

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