The Demon Plot: DEATH OF GRINDING MADNESS [July Player Event]

[pillz]

Who: Ensemble production, all individuals who opted in to the plot
When: July 9-21
Where: Two inhabited planets around the Ingress
What: The demon plot kicks off, in which malevolent shadow beings, copies of existing characters, begin to materialize and harass the PCs across the worlds. Plotting post is here, and a network post will go up within the next 2 days from several PCs advising on how to end the plot.
Warnings: Violence, psychological themes, possibly past trauma, etc.

Death of Grinding Madness
The Demon Plot
(mild spoilers for The Raven Cycle)

On July 9, a demon begins to make its way through the Ingress, summoned through by a shitty teenager.

July 9-12
Harrying

It's innocuous in the beginning. A movement in the corner of your eye, a shadow through a curtain-- merely a tree. But then the shadow figures begin to emerge into full being. Black-eyed wraiths that look like enemies, friends with whom you've had past conflict, or even you yourself. At first, it's merely harrying, minor harassment. Threatening gestures, broken gestures, jump scares.

Pursue them, and they disappear-- you might even catch a glimpse of how. They melt down into black slime, racing away across floors, through sewer grates, up walls, impossible to follow. By now, the worst of the climate freeze is over, but residual ice does pose a needles extra obstacle.

July 12-15
The Violence Escalates

In the days that follow, the situation only gets worse.

Sporadic harassment turns into outright attacks. The targeting is unmistakable. The shadow beings who can speak tell cruel tales of animosity, spite, even hatred. They are as deadly with their hands or strange powers as their doppelgangers are, and worse, they're functionally indestructible. Rip off one's head and it merely reforms out of sticky black ink. Limbs regenerate just as easily. The being might dispell for a few hours, but no doubt— it'll be back, if not to hurt you then someone you know.

The Savrii begin to notice. It's hard not to. While there is hardly an epidemic of panic, the disruptions are hard to miss-- broken windows, screams, random violence. Soon, the authorities begin to open safehouse facilities at which characters can seek shelter.

July 15-18
The Golem

On July 17, something horrific begins to happen— several shadow beings merge to form a massive golem in Kauto R1. It is a grotesque, horrifying spectacle, of limbs and eyes and pulsating flesh. It reaches almost sixty feet in height. Combined together, this shadow creature is considerably less intelligent than the individual beings were. However, it is also immensely strong and regenerates just like the smaller ones did.

Within the mall, hundreds of daytime shoppers are trapped within. Luckily, they have food and climate control. Perhaps you're one of them-- or perhaps you're trying to get in to provide medical care.

In the meantime, the attacks from the individual shadow beings don't stop. Despite the intelligence exhibited by some, all of them seem mindlessly bent on tormenting their targets until they are killed.

July 18-21
The Sacrifice

On the 9th day, a network post goes up (link pending, will be OOCly forward-dated to July 10th latest) revealing how to remove the invincibility of the attackers.

And by the 21st, the remaining beings utterly vanish without explanation— unless you happen to bear witness to the events that take place at St. Monmouth.

Comments

[squadgoals]

[He jumps up, and out — which leads to a fresh volley of shots — and a terrible shadowy figure sprinting after him.

Except this time, glowing a pleasant shade of blue. Odd.

No hesitation as they round outside, and no cessation of bullets, either. In fact, her aim is getting better, zeroing in on any spots where bullets haven't ricocheted quite as much.]

[redshitlord]

[What the heck.]

[That's not something he's seen before. And it's almost more frightening than anything that's happening here. If his face could go pale, it would. Instead, he's going to powerslide into an alleyway and hope it wasn't noticed.]

[squadgoals]

[Not only is it noticed, it's copied. The shadow Shepard cuts her action just as Sideswipe moves, sliding into the alley after him, twice as quickly.

Still glowing blue, still firing shots, the glow intensifies briefly — and suddenly she's there, in Sideswipe's face, firing off round after round.

Surprise.

Die.]

[redshitlord]

[That's not fair.]

[He doesn't really have a chance to think anything more eloquent than that. Just that. Something hits him before he has a chance to duck, and, at a loss for more options than that, he hits the ground and...]

[Curls up. Like a shrimp. Because that's going to help.]

[squadgoals]

[Shepard's shadow goes down with him, jumping off as he curls into a ball. Pacing around his form, she pauses for a moment--

--and flips out a sizzling, flickering, orange blade. With her quarry now fully entrenched, she can take her time. Take him apart.

Piece by piece, if necessary.

The first jab into a joint is not gentle.]

[redshitlord]

[Run.]

[The word sparks through his head a fraction of a second before the blow strikes. Before it feels like his shoulder just explodes. And burns.]

[He can't help but jerk wildly, limbs thrashing. Before instinct kicks in and sends him crawling, then trying to run.]

[This can't really be happening. Right? This is some kind of awful, crazy nonsense hallucination. Right?]

[squadgoals]

[The shadow takes a flailing limb head on, slamming her backwards, and into a wall. She's sliding down it, when a Savrii, alerted by the commotion taking place in the alley, walks out — and freezes at the sight of a terrified Cybertronian, and the furious Spectre.

Within seconds, Shepard's shade is on its feet again, attention focused solely on the interloper. The omni-blade slashes once, running the innocent rubbernecker through stem to stern, flicking bits of viscera on the streets, the walls.

When the corpse falls, the shadow's attention is back on Sideswipe, and his retreat — and she's on him at a sprint.]

[redshitlord]

[If there were any lingering doubts as to whether or not this is a nightmare, that seals it. That means this is all a dream. And if he runs fast enough, he can ... run to a better dream.]

[Right?]

[System warnings say he can't transform like this, but that doesn't mean he can't sprint.]

[He wasn't kidding when he'd told her he was fast. He's just running. As fast and as hard as he possibly can. Not crying. He's totally not crying.]

[squadgoals]

[Inexhaustible, the shadow dashes on — but he really is faster than her.

The obvious answer, then, is to biotic charge him on the head to catch up.

So it does.

With zero warning, the Shepard shade is on him, slamming into the back of his head, gun shooting anything that looks likely.]

[redshitlord]

[WELLP.]

[The problem with being built like a noodle, while it means he's capable of incredible speed, also means if something hits him too hard, he's down. Like now.]

[Hitting the pavement and skidding hard across it. Bullets and all, right into a storefront. Laying in a daze amid the dust and falling debris.]

[squadgoals]

[They smash through the storefront, glass, cinder, blocks and — apparently, this was an antique store — ancient alien gewgaws and trinkets flying everywhere.

The roll is sudden, the effect of the charge admittedly unplanned for. The shadow, such as it is, rolls with Sideswipe, and ends up solidly underneath the Cybertronian.

The weight is dreadful, limbs creaking, cracking under the weight of the bot's body. It cannot move. It is pinned, unable to shift, attack, or defend.

And so it changes — breaking down, features disappearing — into a pool of black acid.

Disappear.]