OCTOBER EVENT PT2

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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! :)

Comments

[regression]

[ Quiet, Joonghyuk muses a bit more. It's a bit weird for Laurent to talk about Hyunjung like he's stuck in a pitiful cycle, then Hien acts like whatever he went through was in the past, an inconvenience. ]

... You're not the same Hyunjung he's thinking about, are you.

[ With seeing the Musharna, Joonghyuk gives Minji a command to follow after it. Her ears twitch and her eyes draw away from the spheal. She trails off to go stab it. ]

[selfconcept]

I don't know.

[ Musharna is stabbed and falls to the ground. That's quite the final blow... Hien can't tell if it's just knocked out or dead. ]

I don't know which Laurent you're talking about either. There will always be seemingly infinite versions of people, but only one of me.

[regression]

You say that, but that doesn't make you any less Hyunjung.

[ Taking a different path, becoming someone new, and gaining a new name (would you even consider it new) doesn't change who that person used to be. The essence, the story, is about that person. ]

The Laurent Heath I spoke to said he was a "Concept," but that might not mean much when it comes to narrowing down world-lines.

[ ... ]

He wants to at least save one of you.

[selfconcept]

That narrows it down to ten.

[ Because that particular story wasn't originally supposed to have split paths. ]

... He doesn't have a hand in saving Hyunjung Kang in any of them.

[ Either Laurent failed or he had nothing to do with Hyunjung being alive. Hien quietly breathes in. ]

Because of that, there will only ever be a single Hien Callias.

[regression]

He doesn't have a hand in it yet.

[ Yet is the keyword here. Joonghyuk doesn't seem to believe in absolutes. Now that the Musharna has been taken out, there's not much to do. Despite that, he approaches the pink Pokemon and checks its state. It's been knocked out... And bleeding, but Pokemon are resilient.

Overall, he doesn't feel as terrible anymore. ]

Do you consider yourself the end of Kang Hyunjung's story?

[selfconcept]

[ Yeah, Joonghyuk. The pokemon isn't dead so you can feel better about yourself. Hien doesn't look like he particularly cares all too much about the Musharna's state as long as it's subdued one way or another.

He doesn't say anything to what Joonghyuk says at first, because he already knows it's a done deal. It's not his job to correct his thoughts, and it feels troublesome if Joonghyuk believes in it so much. ]

Just one of them. You sure talk funny...

[regression]

[ Hien is right to choose not to say anything at all. Joonghyuk will believe that there will be a way for Laurent to save at least one person. Usually, he doesn't entertain annoying afterthoughts, but he's in a weird mood...

Thinking about someone from another world, how they are doing, then also having to traverse his own hardships to get to wherever Sooyoung is where she can be calm looking at Dokja. He can entertain some stupid things right now. ]

How is it funny?

[selfconcept]

You have a dramatic way of talking.

[ Might be the protag blood in you, yjh. ]

Though I guess it's better than screaming constantly...

[ Ugh. Either way, he looks ahead. His Spheal looks like she locked onto another target and is using max power Rollout to flatten the hell out of a Haunter in the distance. ]

[regression]

[ Well, it seems like this is the end of their journey together. Joonghyuk looks to the towers that hovers above all the buildings, easy to spot from where they are. ]

There are many endings to a story, many worlds where events diverge... Things can be different.

[ Joonghyuk doesn't say specifically that one Laurent and save his Hyunjung, but it's meant to be more hopeful. Happiness exists somewhere. An ideal world... ]

I'll act on my own now.

[ Which means he will depart. Goodbye—super dramatic despite the little Eevee that follows him. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien gives a short wave as Joonghyuk leaves. He's crushed the possibility of alternate worlds just by existing, so honestly... it's hard being hopeful when you know the outcome is already decided. Not like Hien hasn't tried anyway.

Goodbye batman. ]