thisavrou_log | [player plot] Darkness cannot drive out darkness

[player plot] Darkness cannot drive out darkness

Who: Everyone who signed up for this part of the event
When: Forward-dated to the evening of the 15th
Where: All around Avagi
What: Baiting and capturing of the onryō
Warnings: Possible injury/blood

Tex's first encounter with the onryō was in her own bedroom, after dark, the soft glow of the nightlights illuminating their bed. Her boyfriend, Ryuuzaki, was coming to bed, and was suddenly dragged by an unseen hand underneath the bed. Tex had to act fast, jumping up out of bed to rescue him. The attempt to drag his assailant out into light led to the creature's disappearance, and Tex was left bereft of answers.

But she knows what is going on now that Elizabeth has posted on the network about her discovery. And Tex is a woman of action. She immediately coordinates three teams, and places herself at the head of the effort.

The method of capture will be simple enough on the face of it. Two teams will coordinate their efforts to shepherd the demon toward the Ingress Memorial, steadily illuminating the areas they've driven it from as they go. The third team will construct a box and a method of sealing it that is capable of keeping the demon from breaking out again.

Tex knows the plan is risky, but nothing worth gaining was ever done without risk. She calls a meeting to coordinate the efforts, making the following assignments:

Team 1 - Hiding in the darkness
Agent Texas
Soldier 76
Leia Organa
Diana Prince
Nova
Asriel Dreemurr
Luke Skywalker
Agent Washington
Tony Stark

Team 2 - Driving into the light
Natasha Romanoff
Liquid Snake
Shiro
Peter Parker
Chara
Rinzler
Commander Shepard
The Big Sister
Wanda Maximoff

Team 3 - Constructing and sealing the box
Erik Lehnsherr
Mei-Ling Zhou
Nihlus Kryik
Clara Oswald

After that, it's showtime; there's no time to waste.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The greatest threat from the onryō has been in the living areas all along, and this seems the most important area to ensure the demon has been driven from. This is where the bait teams begin, then, leaving only a small amount of light shining as they move from room to room, eliminating each area systematically whenever the demon is encountered.

Asriel follows team one into the residential area, a little nervous about acting as live bait for some kind of vicious shadow creature. However, after failing the Trial of Life... he needs to make up for it somehow. Has to prove that he can still be useful, that he can handle a task like this.

There's a round, glowing disk on Asriel's back that's hidden by his clothes. It's the only source of light he really has as he moves from room to room. If he's attacked, it's going to be difficult to grab it and fight back.

Anyone also exploring the residential area will find Asriel cautiously opening closets, and checking under beds while muttering to himself.

"Nothing under here... yet..."

The battle rages on as the teams work together, moving from the residential area, and ending up in the medical wing. This is a tricky place to be caught by the onryō, as there are so many dangerous implements to be found here.

Dangerous implements are double-edged swords. They really don't need any additional sharp or pointy items on their person, but when have a few extra scalpels ever hurt or hampered an effort? They haven't. There is nothing to be lost with a few scalpels, and everything to be gained.

They're slow, direct, methodical. They're not precise - despite the sparring they've come to look forward to with Rinzler, they are still a child trying to do the work of an adult. And so when this particular team ends up in the medical wing, they won't hesitate to take the position of "bait."

Place themself in harm's way, blades flashing, ready to make a clamor should the onryō come for them.

The onryō is not the only demon that comes when people call its name.

Chara is not alone in the medical wing. On the other side of the room, perched on an empty cryopod, the Big Sister lies in wait. The yellow circle of light from her faceplate sweeps back and forth, as methodical and steady as a security camera.

Under other circumstances, she might not have felt comfortable using an actual child as bait, but this child, in particular, has proven themself plenty capable of holding their own. Now all they must do is wait.

Not for long, either. On one of its sweeps across the room, that yellow light freezes on Chara—and begins to burn a bright, furious red. Sparks form in one of her hands but the resulting fireball goes un-thrown.

There's something behind them. Something the Big Sister does not like at all.

The abrupt flick of lighting from gold to scarlet can mean one of two things.

Either the great tin can has decided upon some arbitrary standard that Chara is inexplicably a threat, or the threat in question is something very close by, and they've not yet sensed it. Regardless, the crimson cast tints their hair, deepens the red of their eyes, and throws a dark shape just behind them into sharp relief.

They whirl, blade sharp. Something with long, straggling hair, too many limbs, a trailing streamer of bone, scuttles for them with a spiderlike alacrity.

They won't be getting the Knife up nearly fast enough for it to matter.

It’s not ideal. As close as the two are, there’s no way for the Big Sister to hit just one of them with a plasmid. Her only option is to switch to something that at least won’t kill the child.

Not that the alternative is particularly pleasant. Just as the monster lashes out at Chara, a blast of telekinetic force goes off between them with another strength to send them flying in opposite directions. It’s a graceless solution, but there isn’t time for precision. The Big Sister follows up with a leap into the space between them, needles splayed by her sides. With the creature already on the move again, she doesn’t have time to turn around and see if Chara is unharmed.

It's like a gust of particularly strong wind, or worse - and they're hurled roughly backward, clumsily and without warning, sent ragdolling out across the medical ward in a protracted skid of body across the metallic sheen of the tables. Dozens of tiny, pointed instruments to which they cannot put a name rattle and hiss as they're sent scattering across the floor.

They manage to halt their flight before they end up on the floor again, catching the edge of the table with white-knuckled hands, but their heart still thunders a rapid tattoo in their chest and the breath has been all but evacuated from their lungs.

The familiar metallic-and-mesh of a diving suit vaults into the fray without further warning. Chara rolls to their side.

"Take its right."

Chara is a child who has no right to be giving orders, no matter how authoritative they try and make the words sound.

Honestly, they had expected the child to be knocked unconscious—or at least shaken enough to keep a low profile for the rest of the fight. Therefore, the command from behind them comes as a surprise. It’s enough that the Big Sister finds herself shifting to the right to make room for a fellow combatant, though a low growl of misgiving rises in her throat as she does so.

If Chara does have a plan they want to execute, they’ll have to act fast. The darkness around the creature thickens as it clambers closer, looking to drag a new victim into its domain. Forceful swipes of the Big Sister’s needles keep it at a distance, but it doesn’t bleed. It doesn’t weaken. She wants to leap back to give herself space to spark up a plasmid, but she isn’t willing to give it an opening at Chara—no matter how irksome the child had proved themself to be in the past.

Without a doubt, they shouldn't be trying to claw themself upright, wrenching the embedded tip of something thin and spindly out from the cloth and skin of their arm and letting it rattle carelessly aside, but Chara does a great deal of things they shouldn't. That's just sort of their state of being.

Worse, the Sister isn't complying with the directive. Which is understandable, because she would have no reason to listen to a child, but that does not make it any less irritating.

If she needs to be bought some time, they will buy her it. They bullrush the demon with several wild slashes of the Knife, leaving scarlet arcs with every wide cut. The blade passes harmlessly through its shadowed flesh as though it were little more than mist, but they will at least prove a distraction.

The Big Sister does not want Chara throwing themself into the fray, but it seems she has little choice in the matter. The child leaps in, slashing at the creature with a knife to as little effect as the Big Sister with her needles. Still, if Chara insists on “helping,” the Big Sister has little choice but to let them help.

She takes the opportunity to disengage from the creature, leaping back as it seethes with disappointment. With distance, the Big Sister can now light a bolt of Incinerate in her hands, though she has the same problem as before: the risk of letting Chara be caught in the blaze.

Coordination is difficult when one person doesn’t have a voice, but perhaps Chara will still understand the urgent snarl of sound from behind them: MOVE.

Few people can sway them from a course of action once they are set upon it, truth be told, no matter how feral or resolute they may seem in their dismissal of that. From the corner of their eye, sparks spit out across the gap of space between themself and the Sister - she’s armed.

Their diversion has done its work. Chara skips back, ignoring the protesting pull of muscle and needle-pricked skin, to allow her the opening desired.

Despite the intensity of the situation, they can still manage to throw her a look of warning mingled with, of all things, disdain: this better be worth it.

Edited 2017-12-21 23:28 (UTC)

The Big Sister catches that haughty look, though her helmet and voicelessness don’t allow her to respond. She knows what she’d say if she could, however: ”Like you could do any better?”

But right now is not the time for argument. Obstacle gone, the creature sets its sights back on the Big Sister and starts to lope towards her on its long arms. The Big Sister doesn’t hesitate once Chara is out of the way, throwing a volley of three fireballs in the monster’s path. It shrieks in pain as the flames scorch its mangled body and its long hair becomes a halo of fiery light.

It’s still not giving up though, desperate to reach its prey before its forced to flee. It uses its arms to launch itself at the Big Sister, hitting her as a burning blow to the chest. The Big Sister staggers backwards with a screech of anger, before drawing back one of her arms and plunging the needle into the thing’s torso again and again.

Finally, it gives up the ghost. The creature and the fire with it seem to evaporate into smoke, leaving nothing but a singed Big Sister and the smell of burnt leather armor.

She throws fire. This should not be surprising, and it is not, but it brings with it a slew of memory washed in gray and sepia: the scent of butterscotch and cinnamon and lightly flaked piecrust, the warmth of white fur when you buried your face in the front of those violet robes, the crackle of flame between two clawed fingertips used to light the stove beneath the kettle and warm the steeping tealeaves, the roar of a blaze swirling in the center of a padded paw with a challenge to prove yourself!

The breath snags like static in their throat, dislodged with a ripcord of shrill memory.

They'd really like to say something, at this moment. Comment on the events as they transpired, pursue the creature further as is their command. They'd really like to.

The heat, the smoke, the scent, the orange tongues that seared across the dark -

It has them on the floor.

Why has it become so hard to breathe?

The Big Sister knows it isn’t over. They have to continue the hunt, pursue the creature and drive it exhausted into the light. Chara hadn’t looked too worse for wear when they had attacked the creature and she expects they will be just as keen to keep up the pursuit.

She isn’t expecting the child to fall to the ground with a thud behind her.

The Big Sister’s helmet whips around, faceplate already fading from red to yellow. There is some blood—the result of cuts left by the little blades and instruments now scattered across the floor—but not enough to bleed Chara to unconsciousness, certainly not so suddenly.

She’s crouched over them in an instant, searching for some hidden injury. She doesn’t particularly like Chara, but right now, they’re on the same side and at least part of the Big Sister’s duty here had been to protect them. What had gone wrong? Why are they making those noises like they can’t breathe? Why don’t they look as if they can see the Big Sister at all? In Rapture, the only aid a wounded Sister needed was more ADAM. Their genetically-altered bodies would handle the rest. Here, the Big Sister has no idea what to do with an injured child. All she can think to do is to shake them as if trying to wake them from slumber, her growing alarm hidden behind her faceplate as she tries to bring awareness back into Chara's unfocused eyes.

Edited (accidentally bracketed) 2017-12-27 00:15 (UTC)

"Don't touch me."

The words snap out fiercely with more force than they really feel is requisite or capable of emerging from them at the present moment. Her fingers - they should be charred, but they look fine, they look as whole and untouched as her paws had been when she'd ignited her clawtips in front of them for the first time and their eyes had gone wide as dinner plates in shock, much as they'd strained to tamp the immediacy of the reaction down.

And then when she barred their way and stared right through them and let the red swirl at her side in roaring waves of orange until it burned skin and shirt and hair and Frisk cried out and that was only the twentieth time they had died -

Don't touch me.

Don't touch me.

Don't touch me.

They roll onto their side, one hand across the smooth coolness of the floor, pressing themself to their knees.

"After it," hisses Chara. "Pursue the objective."

Since when has their well-being taken precedence?

[The Big Sister obliges with their first request, quickly lifting her hand from Chara’s shoulder. Given the uncertainty of the situation, she’s more willing to listen to orders, even from a child.

Except that one. She stills as Chara struggles to their feet, her expression behind her helmet disbelieving. Chara must know that they can’t risk collapsing like that again in the presence of the creature.

In full armor and without much patience, she doesn’t bother reaching for her ACE. Instead, she communicates her response with two simple gestures: a finger pointed at Chara and a sharp shake of her head.

She might continue pursuing the creature. Chara is not coming with her.]

Oh, she thinks she gets to make that call, does she?

They've had worse. Bleeding from Frisk's body, hands clasped around the swelling heat at their middle as it all came crimsoning out, only for the gauntlet of ulnas to come slamming down atop them mid-leap. The faint, wordless sound jarred from a shared throat, too quiet to be heard over the squelch of vines pinioning flesh. The crack of a summoned energy spear flung with devastating accuracy and shearing at their collarbone. The smell of their own vomit, their own blood, as they'd forced another disgusting mouthful of toxic flowers down their throat -

They've had worse.

They're breathing too heavily, standing too unsteadily, but their ability to glower remains mercifully untouched.

"We have an objective. I'll not rest until it is done."

It’s not an argument. For all their bravado, Chara is not a Protector. If they sacrifice themself, it will be for nobody; a waste. The Big Sister can’t allow it.

She shakes her head again, reaching out to give Chara a push against their shoulder to highlight just how unsteady they are. If Chara is struggling now, it will be even worse when they face the creature again.

This will be the Big Sister’s last attempt at reasoning with them. Chara is lucky she’s even gone this far without enforcing her will more forcefully.

It certainly unbalances them, to the point where one hand must snap out to seize at the corner of the nearest table to keep them from sinking to their knees. The red flush tontheir cheeks colors deeper, but their lips press together firmly and their glower simply grows more pronounced.

“You are not my authority,” the child hisses. “And I am not under yours. And I suggest that you do not touch me again.”

This is a great plan.

That yellow light stays fixed on the child for a long moment after that warning, armor rising and falling slowly like a sigh.

And then, all at once, the Big Sister lunges for them, both armored hands blazing violet as they latch onto Chara’s shoulders. But there’s no pain, no damage to this attack. Instead, that same violet light immediately suffuses the world around them, brighter and brighter until it’s almost blinding.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, the violet light fades away. The Big Sister shoves Chara backwards onto the floor, but now, it isn’t the floor of the gym. Instead, they’re on a well-lit residential deck—Chara’s deck, to be exact. Her gaze remains locked on Chara a moment longer. Then, she steps back and shakes her head once more.

They’re done here.

They reel backwards with a muffled, subdued cry, fully prepared to slash wildly at the grasping hands. She is old enough to count as an adult, as far as they are concerned, and they know - they know that this is their predisposition. Violence, the only language that children like them can truly grasp, and so she tries to grasp them right back.

There is, instead, a pulse of light that waylays their attack and leaves them defenseless, shoved roughly to the ground of a residential deck.

She did this.

She took them, and moved them, and transported them both - without their consent.

She did this.

Their gaze fixes on the Big Sister with a glower so superheated that it may as well melt lead.

"You did not hear me before," the child hisses as they straighten, wrenching themself to their feet. Their fists have balled at their sides. Their shoulders tremble, the muscles drawn taut. Their jaw has tightened to the point where it feels that their molars might crack.

When they speak again, the words feel...wrong. Warped, bleeding into the edges of the world, distorted in the way that words never should be.

"Do not touch me again."

[Chara’s anger—perhaps their enmity—is not unexpected. It was a price the Big Sister had chosen, to get them out of that situation. Still, it causes something to squirm unpleasantly in her gut. Chara is not her enemy. She doesn’t relish upsetting them.

The words get a slow nod of assent. The Big Sister would rather not do it again. Not that she won’t, if she finds Chara hunting for the creature again in their current state.

She backs away a few paces, assesses Chara for another beat, and then turns to leave. She has a monster to hunt.]

They let her go. Only time will tell regarding whether the warning was truly heard. If it was not - well, they've every intention and every means of responding in a considerably firmer sense, if required.

Until then, they'll bide their time; waiting for her to disperse, before they depart in kind, despite the way they must clutch at the section of their ribs that feels bruised, or pricked with something sharp and dangerous.

[ They've both been tracking this thing for a while now — first with the entire team, and then splitting off into a group of two. Natasha's always been under the impression that less people can get more done without being seen (a product of her upbringing, no doubt, though personal experience plays into it as well). She heads down to the Medbay with Wanda, flexing her fingers as they go.

She doesn't like being empty handed when it comes to this thing. She doesn't even have her Widow's bites, and as they walk she rubs the wrist of her left hand with the fingers of her right, feeling their loss physically as well as mentally. With luck, she'll find something in the Medbay she can use as a weapon. If weapons will even do anything to this thing. The image of it ripping off it's own arm to come after her in the bartering bay remains vivid and clear. ]

Are you getting anything from this thing?

[ She looks at Wanda briefly as they walk. ]

Edited 2017-12-18 17:40 (UTC)

[An eerie red glow illuminates the hallways as they walk, and whether Wanda's keeping the scarlet close at hand for light or some shred of security or both is anyone's guess.]

Cold, hate, anger. I can feel it searching for us. [She shudders, though it isn't physically cold in Avagi right now.] I don't want to look closer than that. I think maybe it could follow the link to find us.

[She'll be fine, unless it's been holding back some sort of psychic assault, but Natasha has no weapon and this isn't the kind of enemy you want to face empty-handed.]

Be careful. It isn't close but it is near.

[ She's not going to ask Wanda to look closer than that — it's enough, and Wanda's been through enough in her life. They reach the medical wing soon enough, and Natasha opens the door, watching Wanda as she does so. ]

If we can just buy a little more time for us to get into position—

[ She's cut off by a pale, ghostly, white hand wrapping it's fingers around her throat and pulling her into the darkness. Natasha chokes, one hand shooting up to grab at the wrist, the other trying to grab onto the doorway to hold on. ] —Nngh--!!

[Maybe it's Wanda's probing. Maybe it's the door opening. Or maybe the demon's been stalking them from afar as much as they've been tracking it. Regardless of why, Wanda feels the cold's nexus shift - but it's all too fast and she can't even get a breath to call out a warning. It's already too late.]

Nat--!

[The scarlet energy blazes brighter as Wanda rushes forward. She's moving entirely on instinct, and since the demon's using Nat as a human shield, there's only one thing she can do. Wisps of energy surrounds the thing's fingers and Wanda pulls away, anything to try to loosen its grip.]

Get away from her!

Into the next area as the onryō keeps ahead of the teams, the workshops are also dangerous places to be caught in with the demon.

This thing's caused Liquid trouble in the past, even if he hadn't necessarily been aware of it at the time. But everything adds up and checks out and this time he'll have his revenge.

With the assistance of others, of course.

The workshops are big, and if caught in the right place, a nice diversion can be had by wrecking something, even if those who might be using the places won't appreciate it. Oh well, they'll learn to deal with it, being better to not have a ghostly demonic presence messing everything up.

"C'mon, then, I've got things to do!" he yells deliberately, trying to draw attention to himself. Running it through various workspaces, maybe even with other distractions involved, should definitely confuse the thing, right?

She isn't terribly familiar with this area of the ship; she'd come here in her self guided tour, but left it alone after that. It's probably not the smartest of places for her to go to look for this thing, especially when it's gunning for her as strongly as it has been.

She's not going to let this demon go without a fight.

So she sits cross-legged on one of the worktables in one of the labs, a long pipe lain across her lap, her flashlight in her pocket.

And Natasha waits.

Tex is stealthy, but not silent, as she moves from the medical wing here to the workshops. It's not important to be quiet, not when you're acting as bait. The demon had seemed keenly interested in coming after her during previous encounters, so she has no doubt that it'll find its way here soon.

The lights are low, but not off, so Tex sees the form of a person sitting on the table. She's wearing her armor, as it doesn't seem to make much difference to the demon in targeting her, she's found. Which is why she organized things so that she's on this team. Having been the one to give the assignments, she knows Natasha is here to drive the demon into the next area once the bait is offered. She nods to the other woman.

"I'm going to turn the light off closer to the door and wait there. Don't worry if you end up hitting me with that pipe. It won't hurt me."

Natasha nods in return, lips twitching up into a smile. Honestly, the armor reminds her of Tony's, a little, and whatever nerves she has are subdued a little by the familiarity. Even though it's not exactly the same.

"You don't trust my aim?"

She's teasing, mostly.

"Whether I do or not, I don't trust that thing not to get right in the middle," she says, shrugging. She moves to do as she'd said, turning the light out right before the exit and standing there.

It's not too long before the ruse works. The creature tends to move in silently, so Tex calls out right away when she realizes she's being tugged on.

"Now!"

The trickiest places are among the most innocuous sometimes. The onryō can easily get away from the teams in a large space like this, so they will have to rely on flashlights and carefully herding it in the correct direction.

After having her meal interrupted by Elizabeth getting attacked by this... spirit, of course Nova's eager to hunt something that attacked a human. And hey, she can understand aiming for perfection, being angry. It was only her life before her death brought her to the Moira.

She sticks to the outskirts of the gym, keeping the wall behind her so the demon has one fewer way to sneak up on her. Her omni-tool lights her way, the interface glowing orange above her left arm and reflecting off the distinctive white and red stripe on her black armor, and she has her right hand just above it, ready to hit the shortcut for a combat program if the demon shows herself.

"Come and get me," she challenges the darkness.

Armed, literally and figuratively, with light, he's headed to a familiar place. The gym. He knows it fairly well by this point, after all the training he's done. There's a spare light hanging off one hip, but for the most part, he's making use of his right hand.

After all, maybe it can do some good against this thing. With whatever power it has in it, there's something mystical about it. Maybe the same power in his fingertips can damage the monster.

He'll worry about that when the time comes. For the most part, he'll worry about trying to illuminate the space as best he can.

Meanwhile, in the Ingress memorial, the team that has been selected to capture of the onryō is making its preparations for the final confrontation.

Mei doesn't hesitate to bring up the images on her A.C.E. from the book Elizabeth showed the network earlier. She holds out her wrist, just in case the others have yet to see the Japanese characters written on the box.

"Here is the box from the story. I don't know what it says, though. Can anyone read Japanese?" She shakes her head a little. "If not, I think copying it all down exactly as it looks here should work as a seal."

Tex had been in the previous area before driving the creature into the Ingress Memorial, and she sees the commotion ahead as it enters the well-lit room.

"Go, go, go!" she urges those with her, rushing in herself.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[player plot] Darkness cannot drive out darkness

Residential area

Asriel Dreemurr | Team One

Medical wing

chara dreemurr | team 2

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is chara obsessive enough that the creature would continue to target them instead of big sis?

probably not as obsessive as sis tbh

gotcha

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cw: panic

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1/2

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natasha romanoff | closed to wanda maximoff

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Laboratories/workshops

Liquid Snake | Team 2

natasha romanoff | team 2

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Gym

Nova Barnett | Team One

shiro | team 2

Preparations for capture/box construction

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Final capture (free-for-all)