MOD LOG #3

[bequiet]

MOD LOG #3

Arriving in style
Content Warnings: Fighting, death, violence
Themes: Survival, plot

It's early in the day when it happens. The red dust that seems to be everywhere sweeps through the city streets, mixing with the steady patter of rain and making it hard to see and breathe. All red and leaving the taste of copper if inhaled, what could have been an easy day without any trouble quickly becomes anything but. While those in the community are heading for cover or finding ways to continue on through it, the new arrivals begin waking up in different cities all over the world. There won't be anyone to greet them, and leaving the room through the door is their choice - after doing so, they'll immediately step out into the city they were assigned. The streets are empty, houses abandoned, everything crumbling and in ruins. There will be signs noting their location, which they'll catch a glimpse of before a sharp push forward causes darkness to engulf them.

Waking up for the second time, in Reims but not in the Reset Room, they'll come to inside the red dust as it whips through the streets of the community. They won't be alone for long. Another person will be waking up beside them, and after a few moments of disorientation, try to attack. They might have weapons or use their hands, and they will not stop until they've taken a fatal blow. Their blood is dust, and they, along with their weapons, disintegrate after they've died. Can you stop them on your own? Will someone come to your aid?

The Sight of Lightning
Content Warnings: Poison, sex
Themes: Survival, plot

The day after the storm, the same red dust will find its way through Reims and come into contact with every person. Since the dust is everywhere, some might not notice that it's floating through the community and know that something is off. The effects don't begin until night fall, where everyone will feel the desire to seek out companionship of many different kinds. Though it is not always the case, the people that saw each other in color will "want" to be with that person more strongly than they might already, and will be more likely to confess or do something about it. Some might feel an intense need to be around another person, though not necessarily sexually - almost as if they need that person around them to be happy or content. For some, it might be a desire that can only be fulfilled by more than one person.

The effects wear off the next time the person gets wet. This can be a splash of water across the face or fully submerged. Or even drinking something.

OOC
From your mods:

Please be mindful of content - if something triggery comes up or if it goes up a rating to say, something sexy, mark your threads in the subject line. We're very flexible and allow any material; we just want our players to be respectful of each other. If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment to the appropriate post below. Have fun! The OOC Plotting Post.

NAVIGATION

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Comments

Kurama | Yu Yu Hakusho CRAU | OTA

[byanyother_name]

Arriving in style I; Closed to Akira

[Where- They'd closed the nearest Fissure, shouldn't that have made things safer? But this wasn't any of the rooms of the research station... Kurama makes his way outside carefully, tense and cautious, only to find a crumbling, ruined city. It's almost eerily quiet.

As he looks around, he catches sight of a sign identifying this place as Alexandria, Egypt. He barely has time to register that he is on Earth, let alone begin to question which one, before he feels a sharp, sudden push from behind and falls into blackness.

He coughs as he takes a breath out of habit as he wakes up. Kurama stops breathing entirely as he realizes he's in a dust storm. He doesn't need to, after all. There's someone else nearby, and he's moving to help them when the other person abruptly lashes out at him with a long knife.

Kurama jumps back out of the way, reaching for his hair, for his rose whip, but hesitating. They might just be attacking out of disorientation...

But the man with the knife is already chasing after him, swinging again.]


Arriving in style II; Open

[Now that Kurama knows that the attackers crumble into dust and so probably aren't actually human, it frees him of a few restrictions. He doesn't have to wait to be attacked. So he roams the city, trying to make sure as few people as possible are being hurt or killed by whatever these things are.

If he encounters a fight, he'll wait to see which one bleeds dust before attacking, usually with his thorned whip but sometimes with bullets of dark magic or beams of pale green light.

Sometimes he is attacked, and he defends himself fiercely from the dust-people. It's a useful way to vent his emotions, anyway.

But he is going to get tired out eventually.]


Clean-up on Team Five; Closed to Poe

[Kurama doesn't really mind being put to work so quickly. At the bare minimum, it's a distraction, and at least it's a distraction that's useful to someone. Using brooms to clear the dust from the paths is probably going to be dull, repetitive work, but on the other hand, he's not doing it alone.

He glances at the other man assigned to the task and holds up his device with its neatly typed message.]

I hope it's going to be nice to meet you. My name is Kurama.


Wildcard; Open
[Kurama will be exploring the city when he has time! So your character is welcome to run into him just about anywhere. And I do mean just about anywhere, since he can fly. Hit me up!]

you know the one

[beguiledcard]

[ Naturally, Akira's (well... Joker, given the outfit, even if he's not wearing the mask) out in this mess. On the one hand, he learned about one person being randomly attacked; who knows what else could wind up happening. What an introduction to this already terrible world, too.

On the other, he... might be a bit restless, anyway. Feeling useful from being one of few healers only goes so far. Doing random tasks for natives only does so much.

It seems he doesn't have to wait long to come across someone being attacked (it's hell trying to figure out what's going on in this weather, from his distance). Without his glasses, it's... a little easier to see than it would be.

There are no words as he quickly moves to place himself between the two, positioned so he can see both of them, hands lifted just enough. He's not even concerning himself with the fact that he's visibly unarmed, though it seems the guy with the blade doesn't remotely care about that. In other words, the blade-wielding one is swinging that blade in Akira's direction (who does well to easily move out of range) without a moment's hesitation.

And there's barely a pause between that attack and Myriad Slashes - it's medium damage, at least. Besides, if this guy is attacking out of confusion, Akira can heal him? ]

This will go so well.

[byanyother_name]

[While seeing Akira is a huge relief, having him get between Kurama and the attacker is not. Alright, fine, some of Akira's Personae make him nearly as hard to hurt as Kurama himself is, but he is never going to like Akira risking himself this way.

The attack leaves several gashes on the man, and Kurama's jaw tightens as they bleed red dust instead of blood. Technically that could be normal here, but he doubts it. Especially since those gashes don't even seem to faze....it? as it lunges for Akira again.

Kurama's hand snaps up without hesitation to fire a dark bullet into the arm holding the knife. He takes a breath now, just so that he can speak.]

Joker, I don't think it's a real person! Just use Satanael and finish it!

laughtrack.wav

[beguiledcard]

[ It's not too much later than his supposed comrade does, that he notices the lack of... actual blood. Yet, there's hesitation. He's met several non-humans, so what if this is a case of that?

... But, then there's another attack coming his way; he's quick to jump back, preparing to switch to a stronger Persona when-- ]

!?

[ He's far enough away from the enemy to chance shooting the redhead a surprised stare. It's only because they're in the heat of battle, he quickly returns his focus to the one who's going right back to wildly slashing at the pair. Pain stalled the guy, but there's now even more obvious determination to hurt them...

In... any case, Satanael is a good idea, but HE DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM NOBODY that one isn't his highest leveled Persona, yet...

So, time to issue a command: ]

I have an idea. [ you want a one shot, right...? ] Hold him off.

[ Time for Concentrate, and then...... ]

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama catches the surprised stare, but he doesn't have much time to consider what it means. They are, after all, in the heat of battle.

He nods sharply at Akira's command and his hand goes to his hair, pulling out a rose. It changes to a thorned whip, shed petals whipping away on the wind as Kurama lashes out with it. It catches the enemy's leg and Kurama jerks hard, pulling it out from under him and gashing it badly.

Hopefully that should keep their opponent on the ground long enough for whatever Akira has in mind.]

[beguiledcard]

[ ... Okay, that is a pretty awesome skill, and Joker does take a moment to appreciate it. There's a dim reminder of Panther and Fox, but he has to shove thoughts of them aside in favor of his next move. The lack of blood helps him in this-- ]

Satan!

[ The massive explosion from Ice Age does, in fact, finish this being - this... thing? - off. In a burst of red dust, it and the weapon vanish...

It's almost... like a Shadow, in some ways. So, no guilt or concern for that enemy's life appears on his face. Only confusion on top of a swell of relief; the the battle ended with no casualties, sans that of the obvious enemy. Not to say he isn't glancing around for a moment, making sure no more of them will show up.

And this means Sound Eaters aren't the only thing to worry about, now...

He turns to properly face the redhead. ]

Were you hurt?

team five

[gotyourselfapilot]

[ Being part of the clean up crew wasn't bad. Poe didn't mind it since it's his assigned job. Lately though he's been thinking of adding other jobs along with it but at the same time, he seemed at a routine with this already. He's glad that he's not going to be the only one using a broom to fix the sandpaths. When he tests out the broom the red dust brushes off the sand part with no issue. That seemed a bit weird. He sweeps again to make sure he did see right.

Poe stops to look up at Kurama while looking at the message before pulling out his own device in return. ]

It's nice to meet you too, Kurama. I'm Poe. Poe Dameron. The red dust seems to brush easily away from the sand. It's a little bit strange.

[byanyother_name]

I was noticing that, too. It's good to have it confirmed that this isn't normal here. You would think the dust and the sand would start to mix, wouldn't you?

[It seems like 'normal' is something different everywhere he finds himself. Kurama brushes a bit more of the dust aside himself, frowning down at it thoughtfully for a moment before shaking his head. He kneels down and dips a finger into the dust, rubbing it thoughtfully between his finger and thumb, testing the texture.]

[gotyourselfapilot]

I was hoping it wasn't just me. I kind of want to know why that seems to be the case. It should have been mixing together regardless. We should be moving both things but it sort of makes it easier to sweep.

[ Poe though takes out a rag, crouching down towards the sand. He collects them both together enough to make into a small pouch tying the ends of the cloth so he could show someone else later. Maybe just keep it in case someone else needed it for research. He would be careful that it would be in one of his bigger pockets. ]

I think for now I'll start with sweeping part of the red dust off before pushing it off where it can get blown away later. Unless you have a better idea.

[byanyother_name]

Agreed. There's definitely something odd about this red dust. Unfortunately, I'm not really beyond high school chemistry for anything but plant compounds. Do you know if there's anyone here who might be able to analyze it?

[Kurama didn't really bring anything with him that would suitably contain it; at the moment, he doesn't really have much, period. He brushes the dust off his hand as he stands up again.]

That seems reasonable. I could anchor the sand but given how easily it's brushing away, it doesn't seem to be necessary.

[gotyourselfapilot]

I could try asking around if someone could study it or if they tried. If there's tool or equipment they might be able to analyze the red dust. If they get a ready it would be interesting to know. Considering that it was used as an attack and made everyone colorblind.

[ He didn't want that happening again or something worse. Poe wasn't even sure if the red dust could be used for any other means. ]

Anchor? It's a good thing that it does. Less work just more repetitive.

wildcard

[gimmesometassel]

[Finally, by the time night falls, it seems that the dust attackers have finally been cleared out--either all of them have been killed, or those that remain have all slunk back into the storm from whence they came. Even the rain has petered out, leaving Reims wrapped in silence once more.

Carpet is honestly a rather pathetic sight at the moment, wet and bedraggled and filthy, brilliant colors covered with sticky, half-dried smears of red mud. Now that the chaos has finally settled down, he's making his way towards the building housing the Reset Room; it'll be tough trying to scrub out all this mud by himself, but he intends to try.

He pauses for a moment, though, confused to see a human silhouette this high in the air. It's a little hard to tell who the figure is, given the quickly fading light, but he only knows one "human" who can fly. Is that Supergirl? Can it be her? Something about the shape seems wrong, somehow.....]

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's- no actually it's a flying fox.

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama actually isn't intending to stay up here much longer, given that quickly fading light. There isn't much use exploring when you can't really see much.

Except he catches the edge of a familiar feeling as he scans the skyline. It's not a thought, yet; he isn't focused on it. But it's the presence of a thought, which he hadn't been expecting this high up, this late.

So he drifts towards it curiously, pulling out his phone and flicking the screen unlocked for the light from it.

Wait, is that a carpet?]

Hello?

[Usually he tries not to read people's thoughts at random but how does a thinking carpet communicate? Kurama lets himself focus in on the thought-presence to scan it.]

flying foxes are SO CUTE THO

[gimmesometassel]

[?!!

It's not the light from the phone that surprises him--it's the greeting. Focused on scanning him as he is, there's absolutely nothing keeping Kurama from gleaning the whole of his thought process, jumbled and non-verbal as it is, little more than a rapid-fire flood of impressions and feelings.

(Sound. Voice. Stranger. Shock. Fear. Worry. Danger. Rain? No rain. A fleeting, momentary memory-image of young, volatile, aggressive Sound Eaters massacring people at the Eiffel Tower. No. Protect.)

It all passes through in an instant, though there's no way to glean any of Carpet's racing thoughts just by looking at him. He shakes his "head" and waves his tassels frantically instead, one tassel curling into the shape of a hand with a raised finger, and brings it up to his top edge. It's the best he can do for that gesture, without having lips or a face to make it clearer: Shhhh. ]

This is true.

[byanyother_name]

[The frantic flood of it is enough to make Kurama pause and shake his head to clear it. Those images... The basic concept is very clear, though.

Kurama frowns and moves into his phone's text app, typing quickly.]

I'm sorry. I just appeared here earlier today and it's been...hectic. Thank you for the warning.

[gimmesometassel]

[(Relief. A few fragmented memories of the chaos of the day, a mental montage of people screaming and struggling and fighting in the churning muddy rain-and-dust storm. Sympathy. Concern. Is he hurt? Does he need help?)

The thoughts are slower and calmer now, as Carpet reads the message and looks Kurama over as well as he can in the darkness for injuries. He starts signing, trusting Kurama's phone will scan and translate the gestures.]

I'm sorry it was so scary when you showed up. Usually it's a lot calmer! Are you okay?

Arrival 2

[lilithsoul]

[There was a petite little thing out there in the midst of the fighting, fending off someone probably a good foot taller than her, using a club she'd gotten from someone else in one hand, and what looked like half of a pair of scissors in the other. She wasn't new to this place, but she'd been hunting down people, much as Kurama had been, for a little bit. Troublemakers like these dust people were just going to cause problems.

A slash of the blade in one hand left open a wound on the attacker that bled dust, though it simply enraged them and caused them to knock her hand away, sending the blade skittering a short distance from her and leaving her dropped to a knee, blocking his next attack with a grimace on her face.]

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama knew far better than to assume size meant anything in terms of power and ability. Being disarmed, on the other hand, was often cause for concern. So when he arrived just in time to see her blade go skittering away, and her attacker bleeding dust, his choice was easy.

A dark magic bullet knocked her attacker back enough to throw off his next strike and put another wound on him. That gave him enough time to get into range with his whip, the thorned length of it lashing out with a vicious strike to the enemy's chest.]

[lilithsoul]

[Rei was on her feet almost as soon as she saw the bolt sending the man flying back. Her hands reached down to collect the blade from the ground and she glared daggers at the dust-bleeding creature. She was about to lunge again, when the thorn whip moved in and thought better of it. There were too many ways that she could injure herself unnecessarily in the process.

Instead, as that piercing strike hit home, she watched the man starting to crumble into nothing more than dust. Face stilling, she turned towards Kurama and nodded in thanks wordlessly, putting a finger to her lips to motion for silence.]

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama nodded back to her, his free hand pushing clinging wet hair back from his face. He didn't bother retracting his whip; he'd been running into enough of these dust-people that it seemed almost pointless. So he just pulled it in and looped it, holding it in one hand.

He used the other to gesture to her in a silent question, unwilling to pull his phone out when it was so wet but wanting to check that she wasn't injured too badly.]

[lilithsoul]

[She wasn't immediately sure why he had gestured, but in a moment it became clearer. She walked up closer and shook her head. No, she was fine and safe at least for the moment. It wasn't as if she was defenseless, though she really was better at fighting when she was piloting a giant robot. Specialists...

Looking around, she didn't see anyone present, but at least he seemed aware to be quiet. She mouthed the words 'are you new' with some over-enunciation to make sure it was easier to follow what she said.]

Arriving in Style II

[comesaround]

[ Where there was chaos, it was only a matter of time that had Karma throwing himself into the midst of it. This meant he could practice his fighting against those who weren't really human to start with and he didn't have to hold back.

Shortly into going through this storm rife with people fighting these 'dust' people, he'd come across someone seeming to face off against one of them and seeming kind of weary. Tired out, even. Careful eyes took in the attacker's posture and he moved in fast, sweeping out his foot which caught the guy off-guard and gave Karma the opening he needed to grab the guy's shirt collar and toss him backward.

Turning to face the red-head with a grin afterward, as if he hadn't done such a feat in a matter of seconds. ]

Looked like you needed a hand. Hope you didn't mind me stepping in.

[byanyother_name]

[A very familiar grin, on a very familiar face, and it startled Kurama despite being the second one, green eyes wide for a second. Karma. He hadn't seen him since they left the mall.

Except... Akira hadn't known him.

And if Karma did know him, he probably would have been teasing Kurama about needing someone to step in instead of that casual comment.

So. Either not the same Karma, or just without those memories. Kurama did his best to hide his reactions behind a practiced smile.]

Not at all. It's appreciated, since apparently I'm finally hitting my limits.

[comesaround]

[ It was subtle and for just a second, but he'd caught the way the other red-head's eyes had widened like that. Perhaps it was him reading into it but there was something about that look that implied it wasn't a reaction borne out of what he'd just done.

Then there was that smile. He knew to tell the difference between real ones and those that were just put up as a cover, after all. Did this guy somehow know him? ]

Everyone hits them sooner or later. How about we finish this up and maybe get you inside to rest for a bit, hmm?

[ Not that he was doubting the other's abilities any, but everyone needed rest inbetween all the action or they'd wear themselves down. He raised a hand to wipe away some of the damned red dust off his cheek, despite it being somewhat of a futile action in itself. ]

Especially seeing as there is something i'd like to ask you about.

[byanyother_name]

[Of course there was. The problem with letting your guard down was when you suddenly found yourself needing it again. Karma was anything but stupid and unobservant.

Kurama was fairly sure he'd noticed.

He sighed quietly and nodded, letting the thorned whip in his hand revert back into a rose. In his pocket, his free hand clutched his phone tightly as he gathered power.]

A short rest is probably the best thing for me right now, it's true. But you did buy me enough time undisturbed to finish this quickly.

[Pale green beams of light crashed down on the enemy Karma had thrown aside with devastating force.]