Side Story » World Ending re:[Construct] Syndrome «

[Gummi Bunnies]

Hinamizawa villege, huh? Of course. Before he could even ponder it more, a fee in their group was quickly being attacked, which included the Magician himself.

Saki didn't move immediately, mostly because Sunny was still behind him. Instead he sighed in annoyance and put a protective dome-like barrier around the child with his magic first, then from there he attempted to side step the villager attempting to skewer him and kick them away. If successful, he'd stick close to Sunny in case he needed the assistance.

"How annoying you humans are sometimes." He grumbled. Potentially being fatally stabbed a second time was more trouble than it was worth, and he didn't have the patience to try and heal such a wound in a place with people he barely trusted with his own safety right now.

Skrshhh

Glub

Letting Sunny's barrier cracked and dissolve into the air, the temperature dropped a second almost immediately after, followed by what appeared to be droplets of bubbling water floated in the air above the hostile villagers, quickly followed by it dropping to the ground as Saki attempted to use his magic to the increase gravity around their attackers to immobilize as many as possible for the time being. If at all successful he'd stick close to Sunny, in any case he'd likely still try to stick close to the boy if it wasn't successful.

"I have a guess that their Lady is the Construct. That, or the Bearer." He replied to Add, though given their current situation, these people may be the Bearers themselves.

While he likely didn't expect to use too much magic in this place given how many fighters were in their group, with their group nearly being surrounded there was the possibility that it could end badly. He didn't want to bother with such consequences admittedly, as it was going to give him a headache the more he thought about it. No one ever said most Magicians were the best of people, in all honesty.

@Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Crimson Spartan @Not a Writer @Jeremi @Everyone

Jackson noticing the multiple pair of eyes watching them thinks to himself that these folks may be lying to wait to see how the group responds to their leader. Jackson begins to form a plan in his mind about how to handle this. Just as he was working out how to handle this Add ends up accidently pissing them off. The leader's reaction was telling and Jackson raised his rifle initially hoping to deter them yet the charging villagers didn't seem to care one of which was charging at him.

* BANG *

A soldier is taught to stop any threat to their lives and Jackson goes to do just that aiming center mass at the villager looking to impale him on a pitchfork. He doesn't hesitate in firing hoping a round from his sniper would be enough to stop the threat on his life. He also was putting trust in his fellow soldiers alien or not to deal with the others as he left hand moves like a well oiled machine to work the bolt in order to eject the spent round and chamber the next. He had no idea what Saki was doing at the time as regardless of if his shot hit the villager or not he started backing up yelling "WEAPONS ON THE GROUND NOW!" at said villagers. The casual and even friendly southerner was now replaced by a cold almost emotionless soldier.

@Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Takumi @Not a Writer @Jeremi @Everyone ​

Well...this bastard would quite old by most standards, unless you asked an asari. Liara would probably like this guy. "Well, you see..."

Before Garrus could actually finish his sentence, they were all transported to the strange village. "...far enough. I'll explain later."

As the odd cultist approached, Garrus kept quiet, but had his hands on his assault rifle at all times. Shepard usually handled the talking, so he'd let the others do the same. But, talking didn't seem to do much. Hell, it might've been better to just say nothing and walk away. However, any chance of negotiation dropped the minute Jackson fired his weapon, a decision that Garrus supported. Following the shot, Garrus wasted no time taking aim at the villagers. "For your own safety please, put down your weapons now! My friend here and I won't ask again!"

Garrus didn't want a bloodbath, but if they wouldn't surrender their weapons, he was going to start disarming them himself.

@Crimson Spartan @dark @Gummi Bunnies @everyone

View attachment 10942

"Huh? ...I suppose that's true, but it's not guaranteed," the goddess offered nonchalantly to Saki, only to brighten when a seeming teenage boy popped out of the bushes. "Aha! See? Nothing to get all trigger-happy over~" Focusing her attention on the boy, now, she leaned in close to him; probably closer than was comfortable, especially considering the scare Death had given him. "Hiiii thereeee~ Say, what's your name, hmmm?" she wondered, tilting her head like a curious cat. His words did confuse her though, and her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. "Huh? Trouble-making woman...?"

Before she could get an answer, the boy had retreated back into the bush. She almost pursued him on pure instinct, but fortunately, the arrival of the townspeople distracted her before she could. Seemingly oblivious to their strange auras, she beamed, waving enthusiastically. "Ahh, helloooo!" she greeted, happily. Their question was met with her scratching the top of her head before shaking it slowly. "We don't know any Cecilia. But... enlightened, huh? Say, is this Cecilia another god, by chance...?" If so, maybe Kofuku could get some help from her regarding her... special, predicament. But honestly, the likelihood of such a thing was extremely small; even a ditz like the pinkette knew that much.

But, uh. She definitely hadn't anticipated a fight breaking out.

View attachment 10944

"H-huh???" Frantically, she waved her arms around. "Hey, Addy-kun didn't mean anything by that!" she protested, hoping that the villagers would pull themselves together. But of course, in truth, she fully recognized they weren't in the right state of mind. But... that didn't make this any easier. Honestly, their behavior was strikingly similar to individuals possessed by Phantoms, but Kofuku didn't see any indication of those malevolent creatures here. So maybe...-

Shoot. She hadn't gotten to teach Kugane about severing ties yet either. It seemed like a different solution would be required. She thought about trying to reason with them again, but the sound of a gunshot made her fear that neither side was about to back down easily. So, with features steeling with resolve, Kofuku leaped backwards. "Alright, that's it! Stop..." she began, landing firmly on her feet before swirling her staff to extend it and slamming it into the ground. "Fighting!!!"

...

The ground beneath her staff cracked. A small rift began to open, before suddenly swirling to life and erupting with what seemed like malevolence and evil incarnate. "...Oh, no." Kofuku fell silent as she glanced down at the first crack that formed before the force exploded outward, carrying her up and swirling her into the air like a tornado, likely doing the same to anyone that happened to be near her at the time. The split in the ground continued to erupt in what looked like pink and purple flames, a stream of negativity swirling high into the sky. "Th-this is awful! A Vent??? Why now?!?" the poor airborne god currently being whipped around hollered. Yeah she was gonna be totally useless here. But maybe the fountain of negativity she'd opened would at least carry up some of those crazy villagers too!

@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @errybody​

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @ShadowCoyote0 @Jeremi @Not a Writer @York @Minerva @Lucky

They were everywhere. The villagers… everyone. They were… everywhere.

He had to get out of here. He had to escape.

He immediately bolted off, only to be met by an invisible wall.

View attachment 10946

"BWUH…!"

He fell flat on his rear as he looked at everything, practically paralyzed as everyone yelled at each other and fought.

It wasn’t until the pink tornado that things really kicked into high gear for Sunny.

View attachment 10948

He ran. He ran away from everything, hoping to weave in between some cult members like the little slippery snake he is.

If he succeeded, he would aimlessly run through the woods, hoping to find something of value.​

It was an understatement to say that the villagers attacking the group were heavily at a disadvantage here. Almost like they've never been in any combat situation in their lives before. Armed with only basic farming tools and the like, it wasn't exactly hard for the group's efforts to defend themselves to succeed. One of the villagers shot by Jackson fell to the ground, expected as much. Others were immobilized by Saki's magic, and others were abruptly launched into the air by the Vent that Kofuku unintentionally spawned. After all, they were only regular villagers that didn't have a grip on reality.

❝ Most likely. And if not, she is still a lead for our real objective. ❞ Add agreed with Saki's assumptions. It was the only weird incidence in this rural village so far. It only made sense. Though, he sighed upon seeing Kofuku's... uh, work in action. For someone who knew him in the past somehow, she wasn't exactly a useful teammate at this very moment.

As Sunny made his attempt to escape the chaos, one of the villagers lingered close by him as if they were awaiting to grab him. Before that could happen...

THUNK!

The loud sound of a metal baseball bat could be heard as the teenager that was hiding in the bushes from earlier came out of hiding, soon followed by the villager collapsing to the ground unconscious. It was clear that the teen boy had swung the metal bat right at the villager's head, right before Sunny would've been grabbed. Without hesitation, the teenager started to slam the metal bat down on the unconscious villager's head with even more force. Again and again, blood oozing out.

❝ Not enough time to explain this, but... ❞ The teenager speaks up before slamming the metal bat down at the already cracked skull of the downed villager. ❝ Basically, go for the head and leave nothing left. ❞ The villager that was shot by Jackson slowly started to get back up, eyes dazed red. ❝ These villagers... they're just not human anymore... ❞

All of a sudden, the villager's head burst apart and came out... something vile...

A mess of flesh and tendrils foreign to the host body of the villager flailed around, wildly trying to swipe at anybody near it. Just as one villager seemingly mutated, the other villagers would mutate in the same way soon after, the fleshy parts of some kind of monster bursting out of their heads. For those that were either immobilized by Saki's magic or Kofuku's Vent, it seemed like the tendril-like monster would rip itself out of its human host bodies and force their way towards the group.

❝ C-crap, they already did the freaky transformation thing. You guys can handle this, right? Right?! ❞ The boy seemed to be familiar with this kind of threat, standing back with his metal bat ready to defend himself.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

 

[Jeremi]

"It would have perished," Death replied in a matter-of-fact tone to Kofuku. Luckily for her, it seemed to just be another run-of-the-mill human hiding away in the bushes.

Death went to pick up his scythe as the young boy started to ask some questions. "If what we have been told is true. Then we come as your liberators."

As the villagers started to amass Death knew they were in for a fight, and sure enough. The First horseman twirled his weapon and went into an offensive stance. Those that were familiar knew that the scythe was a very unruly weapon but Death seemed to handle it like a pro. Not bothering with the riff-raff his attention went towards the one who now had a mass of tentacles for a head.

Something that could possibly pose a modicum of a challenge. Charging forth Death aimed for a swift and clean strike at the tentacles to truly leave the villager with nothing above the shoulders.

@Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

 

[Takumi]

View attachment 10942

"Huh? ...I suppose that's true, but it's not guaranteed," the goddess offered nonchalantly to Saki, only to brighten when a seeming teenage boy popped out of the bushes. "Aha! See? Nothing to get all trigger-happy over~" Focusing her attention on the boy, now, she leaned in close to him; probably closer than was comfortable, especially considering the scare Death had given him. "Hiiii thereeee~ Say, what's your name, hmmm?" she wondered, tilting her head like a curious cat. His words did confuse her though, and her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. "Huh? Trouble-making woman...?"

Before she could get an answer, the boy had retreated back into the bush. She almost pursued him on pure instinct, but fortunately, the arrival of the townspeople distracted her before she could. Seemingly oblivious to their strange auras, she beamed, waving enthusiastically. "Ahh, helloooo!" she greeted, happily. Their question was met with her scratching the top of her head before shaking it slowly. "We don't know any Cecilia. But... enlightened, huh? Say, is this Cecilia another god, by chance...?" If so, maybe Kofuku could get some help from her regarding her... special, predicament. But honestly, the likelihood of such a thing was extremely small; even a ditz like the pinkette knew that much.

But, uh. She definitely hadn't anticipated a fight breaking out.

View attachment 10944

"H-huh???" Frantically, she waved her arms around. "Hey, Addy-kun didn't mean anything by that!" she protested, hoping that the villagers would pull themselves together. But of course, in truth, she fully recognized they weren't in the right state of mind. But... that didn't make this any easier. Honestly, their behavior was strikingly similar to individuals possessed by Phantoms, but Kofuku didn't see any indication of those malevolent creatures here. So maybe...-

Shoot. She hadn't gotten to teach Kugane about severing ties yet either. It seemed like a different solution would be required. She thought about trying to reason with them again, but the sound of a gunshot made her fear that neither side was about to back down easily. So, with features steeling with resolve, Kofuku leaped backwards. "Alright, that's it! Stop..." she began, landing firmly on her feet before swirling her staff to extend it and slamming it into the ground. "Fighting!!!"

...

The ground beneath her staff cracked. A small rift began to open, before suddenly swirling to life and erupting with what seemed like malevolence and evil incarnate. "...Oh, no." Kofuku fell silent as she glanced down at the first crack that formed before the force exploded outward, carrying her up and swirling her into the air like a tornado, likely doing the same to anyone that happened to be near her at the time. The split in the ground continued to erupt in what looked like pink and purple flames, a stream of negativity swirling high into the sky. "Th-this is awful! A Vent??? Why now?!?" the poor airborne god currently being whipped around hollered. Yeah she was gonna be totally useless here. But maybe the fountain of negativity she'd opened would at least carry up some of those crazy villagers too!

@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @errybody​

"?!" Saki blinked as a sudden tornado came about and then--oh.

"Wh-" He mumbled in confusion as Kofuku ended up sucked up in the thing. Alright then.

A spherical barrier formed around the pinkette to protect her in case she needed it, at least. Saki decided that his focus was going to be on the current threat against them for now.

It was an understatement to say that the villagers attacking the group were heavily at a disadvantage here. Almost like they've never been in any combat situation in their lives before. Armed with only basic farming tools and the like, it wasn't exactly hard for the group's efforts to defend themselves to succeed. One of the villagers shot by Jackson fell to the ground, expected as much. Others were immobilized by Saki's magic, and others were abruptly launched into the air by the Vent that Kofuku unintentionally spawned. After all, they were only regular villagers that didn't have a grip on reality.

❝ Most likely. And if not, she is still a lead for our real objective. ❞ Add agreed with Saki's assumptions. It was the only weird incidence in this rural village so far. It only made sense. Though, he sighed upon seeing Kofuku's... uh, work in action. For someone who knew him in the past somehow, she wasn't exactly a useful teammate at this very moment.

As Sunny made his attempt to escape the chaos, one of the villagers lingered close by him as if they were awaiting to grab him. Before that could happen...

THUNK!

The loud sound of a metal baseball bat could be heard as the teenager that was hiding in the bushes from earlier came out of hiding, soon followed by the villager collapsing to the ground unconscious. It was clear that the teen boy had swung the metal bat right at the villager's head, right before Sunny would've been grabbed. Without hesitation, the teenager started to slam the metal bat down on the unconscious villager's head with even more force. Again and again, blood oozing out.

❝ Not enough time to explain this, but... ❞ The teenager speaks up before slamming the metal bat down at the already cracked skull of the downed villager. ❝ Basically, go for the head and leave nothing left. ❞ The villager that was shot by Jackson slowly started to get back up, eyes dazed red. ❝ These villagers... they're just not human anymore... ❞

All of a sudden, the villager's head burst apart and came out... something vile...

A mess of flesh and tendrils foreign to the host body of the villager flailed around, wildly trying to swipe at anybody near it. Just as one villager seemingly mutated, the other villagers would mutate in the same way soon after, the fleshy parts of some kind of monster bursting out of their heads. For those that were either immobilized by Saki's magic or Kofuku's Vent, it seemed like the tendril-like monster would rip itself out of its human host bodies and force their way towards the group.

❝ C-crap, they already did the freaky transformation thing. You guys can handle this, right? Right?! ❞ The boy seemed to be familiar with this kind of threat, standing back with his metal bat ready to defend himself.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

"Right, then-" He started to reply to Add, only for his gaze to snap to the teen when he spoke after he took down one of the villagers and the aftermath was a little surprising.

"Ah." Was the only vocal response he had for a moment, forgetting what he was going to say to Add temporarily as he watched Death move to dispatch the monstrosity that came from one of the villager's head. Well, if this was how things were going to go...

Water coated the ground around the group and the teen as the temperature dropped further, before Saki released a breath and-

Skrrrrrshh!!

Crystalline ice rose from the ground, with every intent of impaling the villagers through the head that were unable to get up from his earlier attack as well as some of the tentacle abominations that tried to get too close to their rag tag party, if successful.

@Gummi Bunnies @Jeremi @Crimson Spartan @Not a Writer @Capri @Everyone

 

[York]

Spoiler: Replies

As a gift delivered right on the spot a trip to this observatory could be an interesting opportunity. "Very well," Death held his scythe towards Cassum. "The First Horseman of Death offers his services to you."


@Gummi Bunnies @ShadowCoyote0 @Crimson Spartan @Takumi @dark @GatheringHall

"....Guess some things never change..." Jackson comments as he hears Sev mention that his verse was also at war at this time. The comment about how far in the past he was got Jackson thinking about just how far back he really was compared to these two. So looking at both Sev and Garrus Jackson decides to ask " Just how far back is 'June 1944' from y'all". Jackson had to admit he was now curious not only meeting an alien but meeting folks apparently far after of him when it came to time.

@Gummi Bunnies @ShadowCoyote0 @dark @GatheringHallPeeps
​

Mimi could only blink at his response. It must've been the norm for her to induce happiness to others so easily, such that Sunny not exactly perking up right away surprised her.

❝ Huh... well I do hope you feel better later on... and stuff! It wouldn't be too nice as someone like me to force you to feel happy. ❞ She says as she decides to give the boy some space. For a moment, she goes silent, before making another comment.

❝ Oh, I think it's almost time for the Game to start! ❞


Every word that came out of this girl's mouth only raised more questions in his head. He chose not to voice some of them, considering it must seem obvious to Kofuku on what his responses would be. So he focused on the more important terms...

❝ Hm, it's true that I used to go by the codename of 'Mastermind' a few years back... I don't recall anything related to an esper, or anything related to you in particular. I would assume you were mistaking me for someone else, but you also got some details correct about me and not by sheer coincidence at that... ❞ Add thought out loud, idly checking his database via Dynamos to see that he didn't have anything recorded related to her. There must be a reason for it, considering that his thoughts of the multiverse had only expanded a mere few minutes ago.

Before he could try and ask for her name at least, it was now their Gamemaster's turn to be lost.

❝ C-Cas-chan? ❞ The Sorcerer of Nothing was not expecting to be called that, but he didn't dare question that any further once Kofuku wondered why she couldn't revert her regalia back.

❝ I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be able to do so. Maybe there's some underlying rules that even I don't have the knowledge on, apologies if I cannot assist with your problem right away. ❞ Cassum scratched the back of his head. It definitely didn't make any sense, considering the very diverse participants that were gathered here in the first place. It wasn't exactly a matter that was capable of being solved at this moment, anyways.

...

Without warning, those that were in the cafeteria would be teleported straight back into the gathering hall, and a white light began to engulf everyone.

❝ I guess it's finally time to begin. I was wondering how much longer we would be waiting here for... ❞ Cassum deduces that everything was prepared, set, and ready to go. He raises a hand to generate a similar aura of white light, much like the light surrounded each and every individual in the room.

❝ Ahead of you, there will be seven illusionary worlds to go through, and seven Calamity Constructs and corresponding Bearers to defeat. I'm afraid I can't describe how everything will appear and look once you depart to the first illusionary world, but I am sure that you will catch on quickly. So with everything prepared at last... ❞ The light begins to become brighter, almost blinding... ❝ All that is left to do on my part, is to send all of you in. ❞ Cassum snaps his fingers to disperse the white light around his hand.

Then everything went dark.

---

-1st Construct-
Lost Under Sick Trickery

Feeling like mere moments passing by since they were at the gathering hall, the group would find themselves smack dab in the middle of a rural village during the night. Just like before, everyone would see their belongings and equipment still on their person, and whatever special tricks up their sleeve were still around.

Nearby them, there was a few prying eyes peering at them from one of the houses, a local resident peeking from the window's blinds before moving away from the window upon making some eye contact with the group.

❝ Judging from that, I suppose this isn't the most welcoming community to us outsiders. ❞ Add comments with a hushed voice, having a feeling that they were already on thin ice. With all that talk about the Calamity Constructs earlier, it made Add skeptical that there was even a problem in a place like this.

❝ Unless somebody here wants to try asking the locals, I suggest that we get a good scope on the area, assuming no one else has any other good ideas? ❞ The scientist crosses his arms, hoping to at least get a clear consensus from the group he'd be working together with.

Off to the side, a large bush was rustling about despite the fact that there was no hint of a breeze...

» Cast List

@Minerva as Aaron Keener (The Division)
@Gummi Bunnies as Add (Elsword)
@York as Aliceviel Von Einzbern (OC)
@Crimson Spartan as Daniel Jackson (Saving Private Ryan)
@Jeremi as Death (Marvel Comics)
@ShadowCoyote0 as Garrus Vakarian (Mass Effect)
@Not a Writer as Kofuku Ebisu (Noragami)
@Lucky as Peter Parker (The Amazing Spiderman)
@Takumi as Saki Hajima (When a Magician's Pupil Smiles)
@Capri as Sunny (Omori)
@dark as Thomas "Sev" Sevchenko (Killzone Series)​

Death noticed the prying eyes from one of the houses. Was it really surprising with this group suddenly materialized at their doorstep? Even so, questions had to be answered.

Suddenly a rustling from one of the bushes! On instinct Death's scythe left his hand landing blade first into the ground a few inches away from the bush. "Reveal yourself. Lest you'll be judged a coward."

@Gummi Bunnies @Everyone

View attachment 10915
​

Sev seemed a little awkward as he raised a eyebrow "You sure you want to know how far my timeline is from yours, Jackson?" Well I come from the year 2357 only 413 years away from yours in the future. The Earth is mostly known as UCN or United Colonel Nations now anyway.

Sev didn't have time to respond anymore as the group suddenly appeared and reappeared in another area, this time a strange village. A bush rustled and before Sev could say anything or go to check it out, the strange Death figure moved his scythe toward the bush.


@Gummi Bunnies @ShadowCoyote0 @dark @Jeremi @Crimson Spartan

​

View attachment 10928

"...Mm." It was the only response Kofuku gave at first, a soft hum that carried the weight of discontentment and resignation all at once. Her features fell slightly as her gaze drifted downward, amethyst eyes clouded with something akin to sorrow. "I see. I was afraid that that'd happen..." Truth be told, she should've seen it coming. In fact, she imagined the others had likely forgotten her by now as well; Shizuo was one thing, since he did his best to see her frequently to help him retain her memory, but she wondered if Esper or Toboe would know her face if they saw her again. If even Mastermind- who had spent the entirety of their time together recording her presence- had forgotten, then...--

She perked up suddenly, clasping her hands in front of her eagerly as she met his gaze with urgency. "Ah, wait, that's right; you took notes, didn't you? Would that help jog your memory?" she wondered, letting herself get her hopes up. He'd sworn he wouldn't forget. She knew it was a childish thing to cling to, but... she didn't know how she could accept losing yet another person she cared about. Even if it might've been better for him that way. "And... are you sure you don't remember Addy-chan? You're not pulling my leg?" It made sense he'd forget her, but this just seemed weird. Or maybe he had... amnesia? Or some sort of mental shutdown, the mortal mind's last ditch effort to forget things best left forgotten? "Do you remember anyone from the war? Shizuo-kun, Tobi-chan... anything?"

View attachment 10929

Her quandaries would have to wait, though. Paying absolutely no mind to Cassum's clear confusion with the nickname she'd given, the goddess of poverty instead looked surprised by his eventual answer. "H-huh? Really???" she squeaked, glancing frantically between the man and her staff. "Ahh, sorry, Kiki... you'll just have to hold out a while longer. Can you do that for me?" She was definitely worried about her Regalia, especially given that they'd not had the opportunity to engage in combat or review her abilities more than once or twice... nor had Kofuku gotten to tell her about how important it was to keep her emotions in check. But even so, she sensed her weapon's trust in her; a mountain of faith that eased her worries just slightly. "...Good. We'll get through this just fine!" she assured for good measure, steeling herself and straightening her back. If Kugane could be tough in the face of this adversity, then damn it, so could she!

Except, uh. She had a kinda bad feeling about this. And she'd had several questions she'd actually wanted to ask Cassum still, but apparently, their time was up. Frantically, she flailed, as though this would magically slow the flow of time. "A-ah, w-wait! Cas-chan, when you said this was a game--"

Everything went black. So much for her questions. Both had been pressing, but the biggest of the two was definitely the one regarding what would happen if a god that embodied misfortune itself found her way to a calamity construct... she was admittedly feeling less than great about what the answer was.

View attachment 10930

This is bad!!! Th-this is really, really bad!

Play it cool, Kofuku. With a deep breath, she let her moderate concern about whether or not her being involved in this situation was really okay slip away, instead focusing on peering around her surroundings. At which point, she cradled her staff just a little closer, looking around with a faint pout. "This place is scary... Such an ominous air..." And then, her eyes landed on Death. A beat passed. She stared at him, blankly.

...

Finally, realization set in. She blinked away the confusion and lightly poked Death's side with the tip of her staff. "What're you doing that for? You shouldn't just point your weapons at anything that moves, y'know... What if there's a cute little animal in there?" she lamented, raising her chin and shaking her head with disapproval. She was definitely, uh, on the carefree side. Or at least, that's how it seemed.

@Gummi Bunnies @Jeremi @everybodyyyy (rock your bodyyyy)​

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @Everyone

"…wh…"

The boy was confused, distressed, and didn’t know how he got here. With a labored breath he drew his knife, aiming it at anybody, a panicked look in his eye. He even swung it, thankfully not hitting anybody.​

❝ G-gah! ❞ A brief yelp came from the bush right as the scythe landed way too close for comfort. It didn't take long for a teenage boy to pop out from the bushes, obviously spooked by the group.

❝ I-I would very much like NOT have a heart attack right now! ❞ He says while trying to regain his composure, glancing around to see if anything else would happen. After nothing else seemed to come up, the boy takes a good look at the group, and feeling puzzled over their overall appearance.

❝ A-anyways... uh, ❞ The boy now takes a more hushed tone, somewhat retreating back to the same bush he was hiding in but still having his head peek out as he kept talking to them, ❝ You guys... are not from around here, are you? You're not here to get involved with... erm, that lady causing trouble in the village, r-right? ❞

Add figured that this would be the best lead they'll have to start out with. He walks up to ask him, ❝ What do you mean by a trouble-making woman? ❞ The boy attempts to answer, but immediately shuts himself up and hides in the bushes without much warning.

The group would then see a couple of the local residents starting to approach them with the lantern's light to navigate the nighttime paths. There were three of them, appearing like the village's farmers and for some reason carrying pitchforks and rakes. Unlike the boy's initial reaction to the group, these villagers didn't seem all too concerned about how outlandish some people of the group would appear, aside from the obvious fact that they still weren't too welcoming to outsiders.

❝ Have you come here to be enlightened by our fair lady Cecilia? ❞ The lantern-holding villager asks in a blunt voice, his eyes giving off a distant look. The question more sounded like a forced interrogation rather than an offer. For a moment, it was almost like the villagers locked eye contact with Sunny before awaiting the rest of the group's answer.

@Jeremi @dark @Not a Writer @Capri @York @Everyone​

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @Jeremi @dark @Not a Writer @York @Crimson Spartan @ShadowCoyote0 @Takumi @Minerva @Lucky

"...guh!"

Sunny could feel their stares. In his heightened panic state, the fact they focused on him made it all the more terrifying.

He pointed his knife at the lantern-holding visitor, shaking his head violently to adamantly say no. He backed up, knife still pointed at the villager, held up with trembling hands.​

To Kofuku, Saki gave a soft sigh.

"It could also be a threat, but I'm sure they'll keep your words in mind next time." He reassured her, before his attention was taken by a teen that happened to be in the bush. Okay then.

"Why are you hiding out in a bush, kid? Are you hiding from the woman you mentioned?" Saki asked, just before a group of villagers arrived with lanterns and pitchforks, causing the Magician to raise his guard.

Saki moved between Sunny and the lantern weilding villagers upon noticing that they put the boy in a panicked state. This is the second child he's met who was swinging a knife around and the last thing he wanted was to have to stop the kid from hurting someone in their group or himself.

From the teen in the bushes reaction, it seemed that this Lady Cecilia might have been who he was referring to. Though...could it be that it was the same Cecilia as last time? Or maybe the similarities stopped at the name.

"We're just passing through." He answered rather nonchalantly.

@Gummi Bunnies @York @Capri @Not a Writer @Jeremi @dark @Everyone

For the one moment before being sent into the game Sev would see Jackson look absolutely dumbfounded at what Sev had told him.



Jackson took time to process what was happening. He knew for sure he wanted to get to higher ground feeling very exposed just in the middle of a village so suddenly. The folks he did spot gave him distrusting vibe which made sense considering they all just appeared out of nowhere. He spotted the bushes rustle but the big Egypt monster looking creature was handling that so he focused on keeping an eye out.



....Seems they were being approached by some of the villagers though Jackson noticing they had pitchforks caused his grip to tighten on his rifle. This guy speaking was a bit unnerving but Jackson outwardly managed to keep his cool. Them all locking eyes on to Sunny made Jackson raise his rifle just a bit before Saki stepped in and spoke.

"Like he said...we'll be out of ya hair shortly if y'all let us by..." Jackson spoke after Saki staying outwardly calm though he occasionally glances to right or left of the group to make sure they weren't being flanked. Truth be told he wanted to get out of this town and to a vantage point where he would be most effective if this village did indeed have what they were looking for. He briefly wondered if giving his rank and profession might help but given the look of these folks it was likely they didn't know much about the military....let alone to U.S. Army.
​

@Minerva @Gummi Bunnies @York @Jeremi @ShadowCoyote0 @Not a Writer @Lucky @Takumi @Capri @dark @AllY'all

The villagers didn't express too much emotion upon being told that the group was only passing by, almost like that kind of answer wasn't ever in these people's minds at any given moment.

❝ We wholeheartedly insist that you come with us to experience enlightenment from Lady Cecilia. Our village has been blessed by her presence, and it is a must for outsiders that come to Hinamizawa to experience this blessing. ❞ The leading villager of the patrolling bunch heavily emphasized the strange need to go see Lady Cecilia with them. During this conversation, Jackson would notice that there wasn't any immediate signs of more villagers out in the open, but there were more eavesdropping eyes that signified that some of the locals in their homes were watching the exchange a bit too closely.

❝ Tch, look, we've already said that we have no business with this Cecilia you keep bringing up. If this is benevolent enlightenment as you claim it to be, it sounds like you won't take no as an answer. We'll be out of here soon anyways, so go on back to your acclaimed fair lady now. ❞ Add was slowly losing his patience over how these villagers were putting them in circles within conversation. In actuality, he was extremely annoyed that they were being pestered by obvious signs of a village cult when he was this close to getting some clear answers from the teenager hiding in the bushes, presumably from these village folk.

However, the scientist's choice of words struck a chord in the villagers. The nearby house's front door opened, and four more villagers that were holding pitchforks like the initial three slowly joined them.

❝ What do you know about our Lady Cecilia? How dare you speak of her with this disrespect?! ❞ The lantern-holding villager's voice was full of sudden rage and anger, going from emotionless to rabidly upset. The next words out of his mouth didn't even remotely sound like real words. A gargling mess. Only one word could be made out from the collective voices of the deranged villagers slowly approaching and attempting to surround the group with their pitchforks raised.

Purge. Purge. Purge. Purge. Purge.

That's all they were saying besides making incomprehensible speech. At this point, it was clear that talking with them wasn't an option anymore.

❝ Ugh... why did our first stop have to be dealing with the cult lunatics? ❞ Add groaned at how things quite literally fell apart the moment he decided to voice his annoyances, guiding his Dynamo drones to simply shove away the nearest villager away from him before he would've been skewered by a pitchfork. Saki and Jackson were also targeted by two of the villagers, who aimed to impale them with pitchforks.

@Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Not a Writer @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everyone​

Hinamizawa villege, huh? Of course. Before he could even ponder it more, a fee in their group was quickly being attacked, which included the Magician himself.

Saki didn't move immediately, mostly because Sunny was still behind him. Instead he sighed in annoyance and put a protective dome-like barrier around the child with his magic first, then from there he attempted to side step the villager attempting to skewer him and kick them away. If successful, he'd stick close to Sunny in case he needed the assistance.

"How annoying you humans are sometimes." He grumbled. Potentially being fatally stabbed a second time was more trouble than it was worth, and he didn't have the patience to try and heal such a wound in a place with people he barely trusted with his own safety right now.

Skrshhh

Glub

Letting Sunny's barrier cracked and dissolve into the air, the temperature dropped a second almost immediately after, followed by what appeared to be droplets of bubbling water floated in the air above the hostile villagers, quickly followed by it dropping to the ground as Saki attempted to use his magic to the increase gravity around their attackers to immobilize as many as possible for the time being. If at all successful he'd stick close to Sunny, in any case he'd likely still try to stick close to the boy if it wasn't successful.

"I have a guess that their Lady is the Construct. That, or the Bearer." He replied to Add, though given their current situation, these people may be the Bearers themselves.

While he likely didn't expect to use too much magic in this place given how many fighters were in their group, with their group nearly being surrounded there was the possibility that it could end badly. He didn't want to bother with such consequences admittedly, as it was going to give him a headache the more he thought about it. No one ever said most Magicians were the best of people, in all honesty.

@Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Crimson Spartan @Not a Writer @Jeremi @Everyone

Jackson noticing the multiple pair of eyes watching them thinks to himself that these folks may be lying to wait to see how the group responds to their leader. Jackson begins to form a plan in his mind about how to handle this. Just as he was working out how to handle this Add ends up accidently pissing them off. The leader's reaction was telling and Jackson raised his rifle initially hoping to deter them yet the charging villagers didn't seem to care one of which was charging at him.

* BANG *

A soldier is taught to stop any threat to their lives and Jackson goes to do just that aiming center mass at the villager looking to impale him on a pitchfork. He doesn't hesitate in firing hoping a round from his sniper would be enough to stop the threat on his life. He also was putting trust in his fellow soldiers alien or not to deal with the others as he left hand moves like a well oiled machine to work the bolt in order to eject the spent round and chamber the next. He had no idea what Saki was doing at the time as regardless of if his shot hit the villager or not he started backing up yelling "WEAPONS ON THE GROUND NOW!" at said villagers. The casual and even friendly southerner was now replaced by a cold almost emotionless soldier.

@Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Takumi @Not a Writer @Jeremi @Everyone ​

Well...this bastard would quite old by most standards, unless you asked an asari. Liara would probably like this guy. "Well, you see..."

Before Garrus could actually finish his sentence, they were all transported to the strange village. "...far enough. I'll explain later."

As the odd cultist approached, Garrus kept quiet, but had his hands on his assault rifle at all times. Shepard usually handled the talking, so he'd let the others do the same. But, talking didn't seem to do much. Hell, it might've been better to just say nothing and walk away. However, any chance of negotiation dropped the minute Jackson fired his weapon, a decision that Garrus supported. Following the shot, Garrus wasted no time taking aim at the villagers. "For your own safety please, put down your weapons now! My friend here and I won't ask again!"

Garrus didn't want a bloodbath, but if they wouldn't surrender their weapons, he was going to start disarming them himself.

@Crimson Spartan @dark @Gummi Bunnies @everyone

View attachment 10942

"Huh? ...I suppose that's true, but it's not guaranteed," the goddess offered nonchalantly to Saki, only to brighten when a seeming teenage boy popped out of the bushes. "Aha! See? Nothing to get all trigger-happy over~" Focusing her attention on the boy, now, she leaned in close to him; probably closer than was comfortable, especially considering the scare Death had given him. "Hiiii thereeee~ Say, what's your name, hmmm?" she wondered, tilting her head like a curious cat. His words did confuse her though, and her eyebrows furrowed in contemplation. "Huh? Trouble-making woman...?"

Before she could get an answer, the boy had retreated back into the bush. She almost pursued him on pure instinct, but fortunately, the arrival of the townspeople distracted her before she could. Seemingly oblivious to their strange auras, she beamed, waving enthusiastically. "Ahh, helloooo!" she greeted, happily. Their question was met with her scratching the top of her head before shaking it slowly. "We don't know any Cecilia. But... enlightened, huh? Say, is this Cecilia another god, by chance...?" If so, maybe Kofuku could get some help from her regarding her... special, predicament. But honestly, the likelihood of such a thing was extremely small; even a ditz like the pinkette knew that much.

But, uh. She definitely hadn't anticipated a fight breaking out.

View attachment 10944

"H-huh???" Frantically, she waved her arms around. "Hey, Addy-kun didn't mean anything by that!" she protested, hoping that the villagers would pull themselves together. But of course, in truth, she fully recognized they weren't in the right state of mind. But... that didn't make this any easier. Honestly, their behavior was strikingly similar to individuals possessed by Phantoms, but Kofuku didn't see any indication of those malevolent creatures here. So maybe...-

Shoot. She hadn't gotten to teach Kugane about severing ties yet either. It seemed like a different solution would be required. She thought about trying to reason with them again, but the sound of a gunshot made her fear that neither side was about to back down easily. So, with features steeling with resolve, Kofuku leaped backwards. "Alright, that's it! Stop..." she began, landing firmly on her feet before swirling her staff to extend it and slamming it into the ground. "Fighting!!!"

...

The ground beneath her staff cracked. A small rift began to open, before suddenly swirling to life and erupting with what seemed like malevolence and evil incarnate. "...Oh, no." Kofuku fell silent as she glanced down at the first crack that formed before the force exploded outward, carrying her up and swirling her into the air like a tornado, likely doing the same to anyone that happened to be near her at the time. The split in the ground continued to erupt in what looked like pink and purple flames, a stream of negativity swirling high into the sky. "Th-this is awful! A Vent??? Why now?!?" the poor airborne god currently being whipped around hollered. Yeah she was gonna be totally useless here. But maybe the fountain of negativity she'd opened would at least carry up some of those crazy villagers too!

@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @errybody​

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @ShadowCoyote0 @Jeremi @Not a Writer @York @Minerva @Lucky

They were everywhere. The villagers… everyone. They were… everywhere.

He had to get out of here. He had to escape.

He immediately bolted off, only to be met by an invisible wall.

View attachment 10946

"BWUH…!"

He fell flat on his rear as he looked at everything, practically paralyzed as everyone yelled at each other and fought.

It wasn’t until the pink tornado that things really kicked into high gear for Sunny.

View attachment 10948

He ran. He ran away from everything, hoping to weave in between some cult members like the little slippery snake he is.

If he succeeded, he would aimlessly run through the woods, hoping to find something of value.​

It was an understatement to say that the villagers attacking the group were heavily at a disadvantage here. Almost like they've never been in any combat situation in their lives before. Armed with only basic farming tools and the like, it wasn't exactly hard for the group's efforts to defend themselves to succeed. One of the villagers shot by Jackson fell to the ground, expected as much. Others were immobilized by Saki's magic, and others were abruptly launched into the air by the Vent that Kofuku unintentionally spawned. After all, they were only regular villagers that didn't have a grip on reality.

❝ Most likely. And if not, she is still a lead for our real objective. ❞ Add agreed with Saki's assumptions. It was the only weird incidence in this rural village so far. It only made sense. Though, he sighed upon seeing Kofuku's... uh, work in action. For someone who knew him in the past somehow, she wasn't exactly a useful teammate at this very moment.

As Sunny made his attempt to escape the chaos, one of the villagers lingered close by him as if they were awaiting to grab him. Before that could happen...

THUNK!

The loud sound of a metal baseball bat could be heard as the teenager that was hiding in the bushes from earlier came out of hiding, soon followed by the villager collapsing to the ground unconscious. It was clear that the teen boy had swung the metal bat right at the villager's head, right before Sunny would've been grabbed. Without hesitation, the teenager started to slam the metal bat down on the unconscious villager's head with even more force. Again and again, blood oozing out.

❝ Not enough time to explain this, but... ❞ The teenager speaks up before slamming the metal bat down at the already cracked skull of the downed villager. ❝ Basically, go for the head and leave nothing left. ❞ The villager that was shot by Jackson slowly started to get back up, eyes dazed red. ❝ These villagers... they're just not human anymore... ❞

All of a sudden, the villager's head burst apart and came out... something vile...

A mess of flesh and tendrils foreign to the host body of the villager flailed around, wildly trying to swipe at anybody near it. Just as one villager seemingly mutated, the other villagers would mutate in the same way soon after, the fleshy parts of some kind of monster bursting out of their heads. For those that were either immobilized by Saki's magic or Kofuku's Vent, it seemed like the tendril-like monster would rip itself out of its human host bodies and force their way towards the group.

❝ C-crap, they already did the freaky transformation thing. You guys can handle this, right? Right?! ❞ The boy seemed to be familiar with this kind of threat, standing back with his metal bat ready to defend himself.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

"It would have perished," Death replied in a matter-of-fact tone to Kofuku. Luckily for her, it seemed to just be another run-of-the-mill human hiding away in the bushes.

Death went to pick up his scythe as the young boy started to ask some questions. "If what we have been told is true. Then we come as your liberators."

As the villagers started to amass Death knew they were in for a fight, and sure enough. The First horseman twirled his weapon and went into an offensive stance. Those that were familiar knew that the scythe was a very unruly weapon but Death seemed to handle it like a pro. Not bothering with the riff-raff his attention went towards the one who now had a mass of tentacles for a head.

Something that could possibly pose a modicum of a challenge. Charging forth Death aimed for a swift and clean strike at the tentacles to truly leave the villager with nothing above the shoulders.

@Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

"?!" Saki blinked as a sudden tornado came about and then--oh.

"Wh-" He mumbled in confusion as Kofuku ended up sucked up in the thing. Alright then.

A spherical barrier formed around the pinkette to protect her in case she needed it, at least. Saki decided that his focus was going to be on the current threat against them for now.



"Right, then-" He started to reply to Add, only for his gaze to snap to the teen when he spoke after he took down one of the villagers and the aftermath was a little surprising.

"Ah." Was the only vocal response he had for a moment, forgetting what he was going to say to Add temporarily as he watched Death move to dispatch the monstrosity that came from one of the villager's head. Well, if this was how things were going to go...

Water coated the ground around the group and the teen as the temperature dropped further, before Saki released a breath and-

Skrrrrrshh!!

Crystalline ice rose from the ground, with every intent of impaling the villagers through the head that were unable to get up from his earlier attack as well as some of the tentacle abominations that tried to get too close to their rag tag party, if successful.

@Gummi Bunnies @Jeremi @Crimson Spartan @Not a Writer @Capri @Everyone

Alice
@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

June 1944. To Alice, that was a date that preceded her time in the world she had come from.

"The last year I remember, while I was... Alive in my world, was 1984. It was there that I fought my first, and... Last battle. But as I am right now, I believe I know of that date you speak of, Jackson. It's... Complicated to explain, but, you could say I'm used to answering calls for help. Back then, there was a great war... And... I was sent to put an end to a terrible experiment." She shuddered a little, remembering the details.

It had been a product of twisted ingenuity, and yet... At the same time, an ancient force older than mankind itself.

A beast of calamity had emerged amidst the war, one that threatened the safety of the entire world.

And as a result, Alice had been summoned by the world to eliminate it before it could bring about its destructive rampage.

Once she was gone... The details of that battle were buried in history, never to resurface again.

Such was the fate of a counterforce guardian like herself.

...

Eventually though, once she arrived she seemed to get a rather serious look on her face.

"I don't know exactly what we're getting into. Whether it's a game, or... Something else. But, there's something I must tell you all, while I still have the chance; I'm here to save someone. That is my purpose for being summoned here. Right now, it's important that we find them, as soon as we can-..." She was unable to finish her explanation, as there was a disturbance in the nearby bushes.

At first, she was relieved to see it wasn't anyone that meant her any harm, but... Then the villagers came.

There was something strange about them, she could already tell, but... As she was about to try and make peace with them too, 'Mastermind' seemed to agitate them. Though his choice of words wasn't something she herself agreed with, the sheer level of fanaticism the villagers displayed disturbed her.

And soon, the villagers became hostile.

She leaped into action, quickly grasping Sunny by the hand as she tried to obstruct the villagers from getting to him, a determined look on her face.

"We can't let them surround us!" She shouted.

And then, she saw that downed villager rise again, in spite of receiving what should have been a fatal injury to the head. A wriggling, unnatural creature surging from the wound, causing her to react quickly.

"Real or not... I... Can't let this continue. These villagers... They are taken by some kind of calamity. I'll help take them down, but... We need to get to safety, now!" She shouted.

Strands of her hair begin to flow through the air, glowing blue with a distinct, magical property as they began to weave themselves into constructs. Some bird-like familiars, acting as her eyes, others... Into blade-like constructs, soaring through the air in an effort to fend off the villagers in tandem with the rest of the group.

"A formation! I... Think we need a formation! Those who know how to form one... Lead the others, okay? Once we're ready, we'll move together!" She shouted, her voice sounded strained, but... So far, Alice was managing to get by.

The notion that she had fought in a war sounded almost absurd before, but now... It was clear she was telling the truth. Whoever, or whatever she truly was, she was a seasoned fighter.​

 

[Capri]

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @York @Takumi @Jeremi @ShadowCoyote0 @Crimson Spartan @Minerva @Lucky

View attachment 10950

"…haah…haah…"

Sunny was nothing short of mortified. A teenager bashing a guy’s head in? They all became horrendous tentacle monstrosities?

He had to get out of here, he had to get out of here.

Sunny felt his hand get grabbed by Aliceviel, but he didn’t feel protected. This total stranger grabbing him by the hand actually made him even worse.

In fact, it seemed to make him angry.

View attachment 10951

"…haah…haah…"

Sunny would take his knife and slash at Aliceviel’s hand to free him from her grasp, before trying his best to stay away from both the villagers and Aliceviel.

In his eyes, she was just another villager, for he had never seen her before.​

 

[dark]

View attachment 10953

Sev looked over at Jackson and frowned, shaking his head "Hard to believe." But before he could say anything more, the villagers around them started to spout something about a very important lady before suddenly the villagers were more than just normal people but insane tentacle waving zombies that suddenly got up as everyone shot at them.

Sev was concentrated about using his own rifle to keep the village zombies away from the group, including everyone including Garrus and Jackson. A strange pink tornado came up as well, hoping that helped push back.

"A FORMATION? LET'S MOVE IT! ONE AFTER EACH OTHER! WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING!

@Crimson Spartan @Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

​

 

[Crimson Spartan]

It was an understatement to say that the villagers attacking the group were heavily at a disadvantage here. Almost like they've never been in any combat situation in their lives before. Armed with only basic farming tools and the like, it wasn't exactly hard for the group's efforts to defend themselves to succeed. One of the villagers shot by Jackson fell to the ground, expected as much. Others were immobilized by Saki's magic, and others were abruptly launched into the air by the Vent that Kofuku unintentionally spawned. After all, they were only regular villagers that didn't have a grip on reality.

❝ Most likely. And if not, she is still a lead for our real objective. ❞ Add agreed with Saki's assumptions. It was the only weird incidence in this rural village so far. It only made sense. Though, he sighed upon seeing Kofuku's... uh, work in action. For someone who knew him in the past somehow, she wasn't exactly a useful teammate at this very moment.

As Sunny made his attempt to escape the chaos, one of the villagers lingered close by him as if they were awaiting to grab him. Before that could happen...

THUNK!

The loud sound of a metal baseball bat could be heard as the teenager that was hiding in the bushes from earlier came out of hiding, soon followed by the villager collapsing to the ground unconscious. It was clear that the teen boy had swung the metal bat right at the villager's head, right before Sunny would've been grabbed. Without hesitation, the teenager started to slam the metal bat down on the unconscious villager's head with even more force. Again and again, blood oozing out.

❝ Not enough time to explain this, but... ❞ The teenager speaks up before slamming the metal bat down at the already cracked skull of the downed villager. ❝ Basically, go for the head and leave nothing left. ❞ The villager that was shot by Jackson slowly started to get back up, eyes dazed red. ❝ These villagers... they're just not human anymore... ❞

All of a sudden, the villager's head burst apart and came out... something vile...

A mess of flesh and tendrils foreign to the host body of the villager flailed around, wildly trying to swipe at anybody near it. Just as one villager seemingly mutated, the other villagers would mutate in the same way soon after, the fleshy parts of some kind of monster bursting out of their heads. For those that were either immobilized by Saki's magic or Kofuku's Vent, it seemed like the tendril-like monster would rip itself out of its human host bodies and force their way towards the group.

❝ C-crap, they already did the freaky transformation thing. You guys can handle this, right? Right?! ❞ The boy seemed to be familiar with this kind of threat, standing back with his metal bat ready to defend himself.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

Jackson's eyes widen as he suddenly sees Kofuku land within his vision yelling to stop the fighting......only to be sucked up by a sudden pink tornado. That was....strange but just as he was processing that the villager he'd just shot was getting back up with most of the other villagers just freezing in place. Not only that but said villager...along with all the other villager's heads suddenly exploding into a mess of tentacles.

"...What in God's name...?" that was all he had to say as Jackson aimed again only for Death to step in.. This was not a good day for him but he couldn't think about all of that now. Seeing Saki and this sudden ice rose appear not exactly able to connect the two Jackson aims his sniper firing at one of these tendril-like creatures. This wouldn't last though and he knew it they'd need to move soon as the sound was likely bringing a lot of attention to this one spot. Jackson started to think wondering what Miller would do in this situation.

Alice
@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

June 1944. To Alice, that was a date that preceded her time in the world she had come from.

"The last year I remember, while I was... Alive in my world, was 1984. It was there that I fought my first, and... Last battle. But as I am right now, I believe I know of that date you speak of, Jackson. It's... Complicated to explain, but, you could say I'm used to answering calls for help. Back then, there was a great war... And... I was sent to put an end to a terrible experiment." She shuddered a little, remembering the details.

It had been a product of twisted ingenuity, and yet... At the same time, an ancient force older than mankind itself.

A beast of calamity had emerged amidst the war, one that threatened the safety of the entire world.

And as a result, Alice had been summoned by the world to eliminate it before it could bring about its destructive rampage.

Once she was gone... The details of that battle were buried in history, never to resurface again.

Such was the fate of a counterforce guardian like herself.

...

Eventually though, once she arrived she seemed to get a rather serious look on her face.

"I don't know exactly what we're getting into. Whether it's a game, or... Something else. But, there's something I must tell you all, while I still have the chance; I'm here to save someone. That is my purpose for being summoned here. Right now, it's important that we find them, as soon as we can-..." She was unable to finish her explanation, as there was a disturbance in the nearby bushes.

At first, she was relieved to see it wasn't anyone that meant her any harm, but... Then the villagers came.

There was something strange about them, she could already tell, but... As she was about to try and make peace with them too, 'Mastermind' seemed to agitate them. Though his choice of words wasn't something she herself agreed with, the sheer level of fanaticism the villagers displayed disturbed her.

And soon, the villagers became hostile.

She leaped into action, quickly grasping Sunny by the hand as she tried to obstruct the villagers from getting to him, a determined look on her face.

"We can't let them surround us!" She shouted.

And then, she saw that downed villager rise again, in spite of receiving what should have been a fatal injury to the head. A wriggling, unnatural creature surging from the wound, causing her to react quickly.

"Real or not... I... Can't let this continue. These villagers... They are taken by some kind of calamity. I'll help take them down, but... We need to get to safety, now!" She shouted.

Strands of her hair begin to flow through the air, glowing blue with a distinct, magical property as they began to weave themselves into constructs. Some bird-like familiars, acting as her eyes, others... Into blade-like constructs, soaring through the air in an effort to fend off the villagers in tandem with the rest of the group.

"A formation! I... Think we need a formation! Those who know how to form one... Lead the others, okay? Once we're ready, we'll move together!" She shouted, her voice sounded strained, but... So far, Alice was managing to get by.

The notion that she had fought in a war sounded almost absurd before, but now... It was clear she was telling the truth. Whoever, or whatever she truly was, she was a seasoned fighter.

View attachment 10953

Sev looked over at Jackson and frowned, shaking his head "Hard to believe." But before he could say anything more, the villagers around them started to spout something about a very important lady before suddenly the villagers were more than just normal people but insane tentacle waving zombies that suddenly got up as everyone shot at them.

Sev was concentrated about using his own rifle to keep the village zombies away from the group, including everyone including Garrus and Jackson. A strange pink tornado came up as well, hoping that helped push back.

"A FORMATION? LET'S MOVE IT! ONE AFTER EACH OTHER! WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING!

@Crimson Spartan @Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

A formation? That's it! Jackson had an idea but not knowing the lay of the land made it difficult to determine where to go. Looking to the houses as he worked the bolt on his rifle Jackson figured it was a start at least.

"I suggest we get most of the group out of here while a few of us cover them! Try going through the houses!" They needed out of such an exposed area as quickly as possible and assuming these houses had a way out back it would give them an out. He wasn't sure what to do about Kofuku or the pink tornado but right now those on the ground were his priority. He was also unaware of what was going on between Sunny and Alice.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @York @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @ShitHasGoneSouth​

 

[ShadowCoyote0]

View attachment 10954

Garrus was fully prepared to disarm the villagers, but upon seeing the creatures they really were inside, he no longer hesitated. He held up his omni-tool to his rifle, applying incendiary rounds, and began opening fire at their heads.

"Jackson! With me! Take out any targets you can from afar and cover the group! Sev, I've got the rear covered; keep that group moving! You magic users need to keep the enemy at bay!"

Garrus immediately began barking orders, not knowing if anyone would listen. He would try to make sure the enemy couldn't get behind them, nor flank them, but he wasn't looking out in front of the group.


@Crimson Spartan @dark @Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Takumi @York @Capri @Jeremi @Minerva @ohgodthisaintgood @Lucky

 

[Gummi Bunnies]

While still much more durable than the human bodies of the villagers, the tentacle monstrosities were dealt with easily. Whether it was from Death's slicing, Saki's ice magic, and the combined open fire from the group, it wasn't exactly too threatening yet. The real problem was the sheer numbers the group would see face. Due to all the commotion they were making, it was bound to lure in more villagers, who were slowly approaching the group. With no real bearing and place to catch their breath, it was a literal no-brainer that they should retreat to somewhere safe.

Running towards them, a teenage girl could be seen swinging a hatchet at the transformed villagers going after her, and making her way to the group. It was evident that she had an injured arm.

❝ Out of my way! ❞ The girl yells as she slices another tentacle monster with her hatchet, approaching the group and more specifically towards the teenage boy. ❝ Keiichi-kun! Thank goodness you're still okay! ❞ She smiles happily, a stark contrast to how she was ready to fight back against the monstrous threat with no hesitation. However, she tilts her head once she realizes that the boy, Keiichi, had help. ❝ Um, who are these people, by the way? ❞

❝ I-I'm pretty sure they're friendly, and besides, we need to go. Especially when you're hurt, Rena. ❞ Keiichi reassured her that they weren't threats, though he had a feeling that it would be a bit to be able to calm down Sunny. Given how the group wanted to retreat from the overwhelming masses, Keiichi supposed they could give them a hand.

❝ We have a safehouse that's not far from here, so you gotta follow us if you don't want to be monster food! ❞ He says as Rena went ahead to guide the way, running past the trees and into the forest.

❝ Hm... well, let's get going, shall we? We surely can't investigate this village while being chased by the inhumane locals. ❞ Add muses at the situation. A truly hectic start to their mission in this calamity-stricken world. ❝ And can someone please calm down the child before he actually hurts someone useful in our group. ❞ They really didn't need this extra problem to deal with, and the scientist wasn't exactly good with kids.

Add then commands his Dynamos to focus down on several of the monstrous heads of the villagers, exploding them with focused lasers. At the front of the group, Rena didn't notice that there was a stray monstrous villager in reach of attacking her with its tendrils.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

 

[dark]

View attachment 10971
=================================================
Sev eyed the group in question and nodded, letting Rena take the lead as the ISA solider pulled back, still trying to keep the group in somewhat of a formation so at least for now until Sev noticed the stray monster villager in front of the group.

"Rena, Heads up!"

Sev took his gun and aimed it right at the tendrils and took several headshots at the creature, hoping to take it down before it reached Rena.
@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0​

 

[Takumi]

Alice
@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

June 1944. To Alice, that was a date that preceded her time in the world she had come from.

"The last year I remember, while I was... Alive in my world, was 1984. It was there that I fought my first, and... Last battle. But as I am right now, I believe I know of that date you speak of, Jackson. It's... Complicated to explain, but, you could say I'm used to answering calls for help. Back then, there was a great war... And... I was sent to put an end to a terrible experiment." She shuddered a little, remembering the details.

It had been a product of twisted ingenuity, and yet... At the same time, an ancient force older than mankind itself.

A beast of calamity had emerged amidst the war, one that threatened the safety of the entire world.

And as a result, Alice had been summoned by the world to eliminate it before it could bring about its destructive rampage.

Once she was gone... The details of that battle were buried in history, never to resurface again.

Such was the fate of a counterforce guardian like herself.

...

Eventually though, once she arrived she seemed to get a rather serious look on her face.

"I don't know exactly what we're getting into. Whether it's a game, or... Something else. But, there's something I must tell you all, while I still have the chance; I'm here to save someone. That is my purpose for being summoned here. Right now, it's important that we find them, as soon as we can-..." She was unable to finish her explanation, as there was a disturbance in the nearby bushes.

At first, she was relieved to see it wasn't anyone that meant her any harm, but... Then the villagers came.

There was something strange about them, she could already tell, but... As she was about to try and make peace with them too, 'Mastermind' seemed to agitate them. Though his choice of words wasn't something she herself agreed with, the sheer level of fanaticism the villagers displayed disturbed her.

And soon, the villagers became hostile.

She leaped into action, quickly grasping Sunny by the hand as she tried to obstruct the villagers from getting to him, a determined look on her face.

"We can't let them surround us!" She shouted.

And then, she saw that downed villager rise again, in spite of receiving what should have been a fatal injury to the head. A wriggling, unnatural creature surging from the wound, causing her to react quickly.

"Real or not... I... Can't let this continue. These villagers... They are taken by some kind of calamity. I'll help take them down, but... We need to get to safety, now!" She shouted.

Strands of her hair begin to flow through the air, glowing blue with a distinct, magical property as they began to weave themselves into constructs. Some bird-like familiars, acting as her eyes, others... Into blade-like constructs, soaring through the air in an effort to fend off the villagers in tandem with the rest of the group.

"A formation! I... Think we need a formation! Those who know how to form one... Lead the others, okay? Once we're ready, we'll move together!" She shouted, her voice sounded strained, but... So far, Alice was managing to get by.

The notion that she had fought in a war sounded almost absurd before, but now... It was clear she was telling the truth. Whoever, or whatever she truly was, she was a seasoned fighter.​

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @York @Takumi @Jeremi @ShadowCoyote0 @Crimson Spartan @Minerva @Lucky

View attachment 10950

"…haah…haah…"

Sunny was nothing short of mortified. A teenager bashing a guy’s head in? They all became horrendous tentacle monstrosities?

He had to get out of here, he had to get out of here.

Sunny felt his hand get grabbed by Aliceviel, but he didn’t feel protected. This total stranger grabbing him by the hand actually made him even worse.

In fact, it seemed to make him angry.

View attachment 10951

"…haah…haah…"

Sunny would take his knife and slash at Aliceviel’s hand to free him from her grasp, before trying his best to stay away from both the villagers and Aliceviel.

In his eyes, she was just another villager, for he had never seen her before.​

While still much more durable than the human bodies of the villagers, the tentacle monstrosities were dealt with easily. Whether it was from Death's slicing, Saki's ice magic, and the combined open fire from the group, it wasn't exactly too threatening yet. The real problem was the sheer numbers the group would see face. Due to all the commotion they were making, it was bound to lure in more villagers, who were slowly approaching the group. With no real bearing and place to catch their breath, it was a literal no-brainer that they should retreat to somewhere safe.

Running towards them, a teenage girl could be seen swinging a hatchet at the transformed villagers going after her, and making her way to the group. It was evident that she had an injured arm.

❝ Out of my way! ❞ The girl yells as she slices another tentacle monster with her hatchet, approaching the group and more specifically towards the teenage boy. ❝ Keiichi-kun! Thank goodness you're still okay! ❞ She smiles happily, a stark contrast to how she was ready to fight back against the monstrous threat with no hesitation. However, she tilts her head once she realizes that the boy, Keiichi, had help. ❝ Um, who are these people, by the way? ❞

❝ I-I'm pretty sure they're friendly, and besides, we need to go. Especially when you're hurt, Rena. ❞ Keiichi reassured her that they weren't threats, though he had a feeling that it would be a bit to be able to calm down Sunny. Given how the group wanted to retreat from the overwhelming masses, Keiichi supposed they could give them a hand.

❝ We have a safehouse that's not far from here, so you gotta follow us if you don't want to be monster food! ❞ He says as Rena went ahead to guide the way, running past the trees and into the forest.

❝ Hm... well, let's get going, shall we? We surely can't investigate this village while being chased by the inhumane locals. ❞ Add muses at the situation. A truly hectic start to their mission in this calamity-stricken world. ❝ And can someone please calm down the child before he actually hurts someone useful in our group. ❞ They really didn't need this extra problem to deal with, and the scientist wasn't exactly good with kids.

Add then commands his Dynamos to focus down on several of the monstrous heads of the villagers, exploding them with focused lasers. At the front of the group, Rena didn't notice that there was a stray monstrous villager in reach of attacking her with its tendrils.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

With their resident soldiers shouting out orders, Saki almost missed what was going on with Sunny and Aliceviel, but with Add pointing it out after the arrival of Rena, Saki decided to try and stop that situatiin before it got any worse before the group began moving. He wasn't all that good with children but he lived with Ouka, who was almost as knife happy. Although for different reasons.

"Kid, she's an ally." He called, moving to both Aliceviel and Sunny. He glanced briefly to the woman in question before looking to Sunny.

"C'mon, we're leaving this area and the group needs to stick together. You can stick with me or with someone else if you want but we can't get separated at this point, unless you want to get swarmed." He spoke. He wasn't the best at comfort, though he also didn't really know the kid well enough.

Speaking of the group moving along, with a flick of his finger, hopefully the protective barrier was still around Kofuku long enough for him to get her out of the tornado and back onto the ground. If successful the barrier would quickly dissolve into water to let her come along with the rest of them once they got moving.

With the numbers of villagers growing, Saki attempted to throw up a sharp ice wall between their group and hopefully most of their assailants to buy them enough time.

@Gummi Bunnies @Capri @York @Not a Writer @dark @Crimson Spartan @ShadowCoyote0 @Jeremi @Everyone

 

[Crimson Spartan]

View attachment 10954

Garrus was fully prepared to disarm the villagers, but upon seeing the creatures they really were inside, he no longer hesitated. He held up his omni-tool to his rifle, applying incendiary rounds, and began opening fire at their heads.

"Jackson! With me! Take out any targets you can from afar and cover the group! Sev, I've got the rear covered; keep that group moving! You magic users need to keep the enemy at bay!"

Garrus immediately began barking orders, not knowing if anyone would listen. He would try to make sure the enemy couldn't get behind them, nor flank them, but he wasn't looking out in front of the group.


@Crimson Spartan @dark @Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Takumi @York @Capri @Jeremi @Minerva @ohgodthisaintgood @Lucky

While still much more durable than the human bodies of the villagers, the tentacle monstrosities were dealt with easily. Whether it was from Death's slicing, Saki's ice magic, and the combined open fire from the group, it wasn't exactly too threatening yet. The real problem was the sheer numbers the group would see face. Due to all the commotion they were making, it was bound to lure in more villagers, who were slowly approaching the group. With no real bearing and place to catch their breath, it was a literal no-brainer that they should retreat to somewhere safe.

Running towards them, a teenage girl could be seen swinging a hatchet at the transformed villagers going after her, and making her way to the group. It was evident that she had an injured arm.

❝ Out of my way! ❞ The girl yells as she slices another tentacle monster with her hatchet, approaching the group and more specifically towards the teenage boy. ❝ Keiichi-kun! Thank goodness you're still okay! ❞ She smiles happily, a stark contrast to how she was ready to fight back against the monstrous threat with no hesitation. However, she tilts her head once she realizes that the boy, Keiichi, had help. ❝ Um, who are these people, by the way? ❞

❝ I-I'm pretty sure they're friendly, and besides, we need to go. Especially when you're hurt, Rena. ❞ Keiichi reassured her that they weren't threats, though he had a feeling that it would be a bit to be able to calm down Sunny. Given how the group wanted to retreat from the overwhelming masses, Keiichi supposed they could give them a hand.

❝ We have a safehouse that's not far from here, so you gotta follow us if you don't want to be monster food! ❞ He says as Rena went ahead to guide the way, running past the trees and into the forest.

❝ Hm... well, let's get going, shall we? We surely can't investigate this village while being chased by the inhumane locals. ❞ Add muses at the situation. A truly hectic start to their mission in this calamity-stricken world. ❝ And can someone please calm down the child before he actually hurts someone useful in our group. ❞ They really didn't need this extra problem to deal with, and the scientist wasn't exactly good with kids.

Add then commands his Dynamos to focus down on several of the monstrous heads of the villagers, exploding them with focused lasers. At the front of the group, Rena didn't notice that there was a stray monstrous villager in reach of attacking her with its tendrils.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

"Yes sir!" In all of his life Jackson never thought he'd be taking orders from an alien but Garrus seemed like a good guy. The order was a sound one and it was time to pick these bastards off. Choosing to stick near Garrus as ordered Jackson raised his rifle aiming for the head of an approaching villager before he softly muttered a verse to calm himself.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

* BANG *

His left hand moves to work the bolt once again. He glances down as he does this noticing he only had two shots left. He'd need to reload soon but for now he was alright as he raised his rifle once again likely to fire again unless the ice wall appeared.

@ShadowCoyote0 @dark @Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Takumi @York @Capri @Jeremi @Minerva @Lucky @Everyone​

 

[Capri]

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @York @Crimson Spartan @EveryoneElse

Sunny looked at Saki, and with those words, he seemed to have been brought back to his senses.

He took some deep breaths and pocketed his knife before turning to Alice.

"..."

He wordlessly bowed his head in apology, before sticking with Saki and heading with the group.​

 

[Minerva]

While still much more durable than the human bodies of the villagers, the tentacle monstrosities were dealt with easily. Whether it was from Death's slicing, Saki's ice magic, and the combined open fire from the group, it wasn't exactly too threatening yet. The real problem was the sheer numbers the group would see face. Due to all the commotion they were making, it was bound to lure in more villagers, who were slowly approaching the group. With no real bearing and place to catch their breath, it was a literal no-brainer that they should retreat to somewhere safe.

Running towards them, a teenage girl could be seen swinging a hatchet at the transformed villagers going after her, and making her way to the group. It was evident that she had an injured arm.

❝ Out of my way! ❞ The girl yells as she slices another tentacle monster with her hatchet, approaching the group and more specifically towards the teenage boy. ❝ Keiichi-kun! Thank goodness you're still okay! ❞ She smiles happily, a stark contrast to how she was ready to fight back against the monstrous threat with no hesitation. However, she tilts her head once she realizes that the boy, Keiichi, had help. ❝ Um, who are these people, by the way? ❞

❝ I-I'm pretty sure they're friendly, and besides, we need to go. Especially when you're hurt, Rena. ❞ Keiichi reassured her that they weren't threats, though he had a feeling that it would be a bit to be able to calm down Sunny. Given how the group wanted to retreat from the overwhelming masses, Keiichi supposed they could give them a hand.

❝ We have a safehouse that's not far from here, so you gotta follow us if you don't want to be monster food! ❞ He says as Rena went ahead to guide the way, running past the trees and into the forest.

❝ Hm... well, let's get going, shall we? We surely can't investigate this village while being chased by the inhumane locals. ❞ Add muses at the situation. A truly hectic start to their mission in this calamity-stricken world. ❝ And can someone please calm down the child before he actually hurts someone useful in our group. ❞ They really didn't need this extra problem to deal with, and the scientist wasn't exactly good with kids.

Add then commands his Dynamos to focus down on several of the monstrous heads of the villagers, exploding them with focused lasers. At the front of the group, Rena didn't notice that there was a stray monstrous villager in reach of attacking her with its tendrils.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

Keener looked through the sights on his Banshee, and fired off a few shots towards the villagers. This was followed by a toss of a frag grenade into the crowd.

"Good thinking. Doesn't hurt to be prepared with a safehouse." Keener said, his face forming a smirk. "Let's hope these bastards didn't happen to find out where that exactly is and decide to attack. Happened to me several times before." He opened fire again, firing three rounds at a time. He turned to see Add's dynamos with lasers. Similar technology had been adopted by Black Tusk and The Division before his parting from both.

"You SHADE?" He asked Add as they continued their movement.​

 

[Not a Writer]

View attachment 10985

Although Kofuku hadn't had the greatest initial reaction to being pulled into her own vortex of doom, it definitely wasn't something that was new to the goddess. After getting over the initial surprise of her unintentional opening of a portal to the underworld, she scrambled to gather her bearings and figure out a way to safely escape the storm-- or, uh, maybe not? All of her careful thinking went out the window upon realizing that she'd been encased in a bubble of some sort, prompting her to blink wildly and look around confusedly for the source. But in doing so, she realized a bigger problem. The villagers-turned-monsters were swarming more and more intensely, and it seemed they'd injured a new arrival and irreparably spooked Sunny. Likewise, she could feel uncertainty and horror from Kugane, threatening to boil over and sting her again. She needed to stop fooling around.

Setting aside her confusion with the bubble for now, she threw herself against it with all her might, hoping that this would either break the barrier or at least budge her out of the vortex. Unfortunately, it was a little hard to accomplish when the sphere was still being whipped around, making it hard for her to even get on her feet. But after several attempts, the entrapped god was finally sent flying, looking like a hamster frantically skedaddling within its ball before she came crashing to the ground.... and landed right on top of one of the approaching villagers.

Well. Maybe the misfortune of others was fortunate for them, or something.

View attachment 10984

Ultimately, she was relieved to have landed, but unfortunately had zero awareness of how to get the brakes on this thing. So after the sphere not-so-gracefully bounced off the villager, Kofuku continued to be tossed along inside it, only to tumble to a stop in a less than picturesque manner when Saki finally dismissed the barrier out of existence. Dizzy and disoriented in a heap on the ground near the rest of the fleeing group, Kofuku was in a bit of a daze, the world swimming around her. "Owieee..." she mumbled, inaudibly. So much for her intention to get serious.

Still. She couldn't let herself become even more of a burden now. After a moment of swaying in place and tumbling back down after her first attempt to stand, she managed to stumble to her feet. Mostly with the help of her weapon. It definitely wasn't a graceful display, but she at least did her best to stagger and keep up with the others. If she ended up faceplanting, at least she could say she tried.

@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everyone​

 

[Jeremi]

A retreat from this worthless foe was disrespectful, but at the same time they weren't the vision. Death swiped into the air to clean his weapon of any blood and viscera. "Lead the way."

Following after the teenagers he looked over the monsters still coming after them. For a moment he considered to remove his mask to help the others, but if they can't survive creatures like these they will continue to be a liability.

@Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

 

[York]

Spoiler: Replies

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @York @Takumi @Jeremi @ShadowCoyote0 @Crimson Spartan @Minerva @Lucky

View attachment 10950

"…haah…haah…"

Sunny was nothing short of mortified. A teenager bashing a guy’s head in? They all became horrendous tentacle monstrosities?

He had to get out of here, he had to get out of here.

Sunny felt his hand get grabbed by Aliceviel, but he didn’t feel protected. This total stranger grabbing him by the hand actually made him even worse.

In fact, it seemed to make him angry.

View attachment 10951

"…haah…haah…"

Sunny would take his knife and slash at Aliceviel’s hand to free him from her grasp, before trying his best to stay away from both the villagers and Aliceviel.

In his eyes, she was just another villager, for he had never seen her before.​

View attachment 10953

Sev looked over at Jackson and frowned, shaking his head "Hard to believe." But before he could say anything more, the villagers around them started to spout something about a very important lady before suddenly the villagers were more than just normal people but insane tentacle waving zombies that suddenly got up as everyone shot at them.

Sev was concentrated about using his own rifle to keep the village zombies away from the group, including everyone including Garrus and Jackson. A strange pink tornado came up as well, hoping that helped push back.

"A FORMATION? LET'S MOVE IT! ONE AFTER EACH OTHER! WE NEED TO KEEP MOVING!

@Crimson Spartan @Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

​

Jackson's eyes widen as he suddenly sees Kofuku land within his vision yelling to stop the fighting......only to be sucked up by a sudden pink tornado. That was....strange but just as he was processing that the villager he'd just shot was getting back up with most of the other villagers just freezing in place. Not only that but said villager...along with all the other villager's heads suddenly exploding into a mess of tentacles.

"...What in God's name...?" that was all he had to say as Jackson aimed again only for Death to step in.. This was not a good day for him but he couldn't think about all of that now. Seeing Saki and this sudden ice rose appear not exactly able to connect the two Jackson aims his sniper firing at one of these tendril-like creatures. This wouldn't last though and he knew it they'd need to move soon as the sound was likely bringing a lot of attention to this one spot. Jackson started to think wondering what Miller would do in this situation.





A formation? That's it! Jackson had an idea but not knowing the lay of the land made it difficult to determine where to go. Looking to the houses as he worked the bolt on his rifle Jackson figured it was a start at least.

"I suggest we get most of the group out of here while a few of us cover them! Try going through the houses!" They needed out of such an exposed area as quickly as possible and assuming these houses had a way out back it would give them an out. He wasn't sure what to do about Kofuku or the pink tornado but right now those on the ground were his priority. He was also unaware of what was going on between Sunny and Alice.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @York @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @ShitHasGoneSouth​

View attachment 10954

Garrus was fully prepared to disarm the villagers, but upon seeing the creatures they really were inside, he no longer hesitated. He held up his omni-tool to his rifle, applying incendiary rounds, and began opening fire at their heads.

"Jackson! With me! Take out any targets you can from afar and cover the group! Sev, I've got the rear covered; keep that group moving! You magic users need to keep the enemy at bay!"

Garrus immediately began barking orders, not knowing if anyone would listen. He would try to make sure the enemy couldn't get behind them, nor flank them, but he wasn't looking out in front of the group.


@Crimson Spartan @dark @Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Takumi @York @Capri @Jeremi @Minerva @ohgodthisaintgood @Lucky

While still much more durable than the human bodies of the villagers, the tentacle monstrosities were dealt with easily. Whether it was from Death's slicing, Saki's ice magic, and the combined open fire from the group, it wasn't exactly too threatening yet. The real problem was the sheer numbers the group would see face. Due to all the commotion they were making, it was bound to lure in more villagers, who were slowly approaching the group. With no real bearing and place to catch their breath, it was a literal no-brainer that they should retreat to somewhere safe.

Running towards them, a teenage girl could be seen swinging a hatchet at the transformed villagers going after her, and making her way to the group. It was evident that she had an injured arm.

❝ Out of my way! ❞ The girl yells as she slices another tentacle monster with her hatchet, approaching the group and more specifically towards the teenage boy. ❝ Keiichi-kun! Thank goodness you're still okay! ❞ She smiles happily, a stark contrast to how she was ready to fight back against the monstrous threat with no hesitation. However, she tilts her head once she realizes that the boy, Keiichi, had help. ❝ Um, who are these people, by the way? ❞

❝ I-I'm pretty sure they're friendly, and besides, we need to go. Especially when you're hurt, Rena. ❞ Keiichi reassured her that they weren't threats, though he had a feeling that it would be a bit to be able to calm down Sunny. Given how the group wanted to retreat from the overwhelming masses, Keiichi supposed they could give them a hand.

❝ We have a safehouse that's not far from here, so you gotta follow us if you don't want to be monster food! ❞ He says as Rena went ahead to guide the way, running past the trees and into the forest.

❝ Hm... well, let's get going, shall we? We surely can't investigate this village while being chased by the inhumane locals. ❞ Add muses at the situation. A truly hectic start to their mission in this calamity-stricken world. ❝ And can someone please calm down the child before he actually hurts someone useful in our group. ❞ They really didn't need this extra problem to deal with, and the scientist wasn't exactly good with kids.

Add then commands his Dynamos to focus down on several of the monstrous heads of the villagers, exploding them with focused lasers. At the front of the group, Rena didn't notice that there was a stray monstrous villager in reach of attacking her with its tendrils.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

While still much more durable than the human bodies of the villagers, the tentacle monstrosities were dealt with easily. Whether it was from Death's slicing, Saki's ice magic, and the combined open fire from the group, it wasn't exactly too threatening yet. The real problem was the sheer numbers the group would see face. Due to all the commotion they were making, it was bound to lure in more villagers, who were slowly approaching the group. With no real bearing and place to catch their breath, it was a literal no-brainer that they should retreat to somewhere safe.

Running towards them, a teenage girl could be seen swinging a hatchet at the transformed villagers going after her, and making her way to the group. It was evident that she had an injured arm.

❝ Out of my way! ❞ The girl yells as she slices another tentacle monster with her hatchet, approaching the group and more specifically towards the teenage boy. ❝ Keiichi-kun! Thank goodness you're still okay! ❞ She smiles happily, a stark contrast to how she was ready to fight back against the monstrous threat with no hesitation. However, she tilts her head once she realizes that the boy, Keiichi, had help. ❝ Um, who are these people, by the way? ❞

❝ I-I'm pretty sure they're friendly, and besides, we need to go. Especially when you're hurt, Rena. ❞ Keiichi reassured her that they weren't threats, though he had a feeling that it would be a bit to be able to calm down Sunny. Given how the group wanted to retreat from the overwhelming masses, Keiichi supposed they could give them a hand.

❝ We have a safehouse that's not far from here, so you gotta follow us if you don't want to be monster food! ❞ He says as Rena went ahead to guide the way, running past the trees and into the forest.

❝ Hm... well, let's get going, shall we? We surely can't investigate this village while being chased by the inhumane locals. ❞ Add muses at the situation. A truly hectic start to their mission in this calamity-stricken world. ❝ And can someone please calm down the child before he actually hurts someone useful in our group. ❞ They really didn't need this extra problem to deal with, and the scientist wasn't exactly good with kids.

Add then commands his Dynamos to focus down on several of the monstrous heads of the villagers, exploding them with focused lasers. At the front of the group, Rena didn't notice that there was a stray monstrous villager in reach of attacking her with its tendrils.

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

View attachment 10971
=================================================
Sev eyed the group in question and nodded, letting Rena take the lead as the ISA solider pulled back, still trying to keep the group in somewhat of a formation so at least for now until Sev noticed the stray monster villager in front of the group.

"Rena, Heads up!"

Sev took his gun and aimed it right at the tendrils and took several headshots at the creature, hoping to take it down before it reached Rena.
@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0​

With their resident soldiers shouting out orders, Saki almost missed what was going on with Sunny and Aliceviel, but with Add pointing it out after the arrival of Rena, Saki decided to try and stop that situatiin before it got any worse before the group began moving. He wasn't all that good with children but he lived with Ouka, who was almost as knife happy. Although for different reasons.

"Kid, she's an ally." He called, moving to both Aliceviel and Sunny. He glanced briefly to the woman in question before looking to Sunny.

"C'mon, we're leaving this area and the group needs to stick together. You can stick with me or with someone else if you want but we can't get separated at this point, unless you want to get swarmed." He spoke. He wasn't the best at comfort, though he also didn't really know the kid well enough.

Speaking of the group moving along, with a flick of his finger, hopefully the protective barrier was still around Kofuku long enough for him to get her out of the tornado and back onto the ground. If successful the barrier would quickly dissolve into water to let her come along with the rest of them once they got moving.

With the numbers of villagers growing, Saki attempted to throw up a sharp ice wall between their group and hopefully most of their assailants to buy them enough time.

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"Yes sir!" In all of his life Jackson never thought he'd be taking orders from an alien but Garrus seemed like a good guy. The order was a sound one and it was time to pick these bastards off. Choosing to stick near Garrus as ordered Jackson raised his rifle aiming for the head of an approaching villager before he softly muttered a verse to calm himself.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."

* BANG *

His left hand moves to work the bolt once again. He glances down as he does this noticing he only had two shots left. He'd need to reload soon but for now he was alright as he raised his rifle once again likely to fire again unless the ice wall appeared.

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SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @York @Crimson Spartan @EveryoneElse

Sunny looked at Saki, and with those words, he seemed to have been brought back to his senses.

He took some deep breaths and pocketed his knife before turning to Alice.

"..."

He wordlessly bowed his head in apology, before sticking with Saki and heading with the group.​

Keener looked through the sights on his Banshee, and fired off a few shots towards the villagers. This was followed by a toss of a frag grenade into the crowd.

"Good thinking. Doesn't hurt to be prepared with a safehouse." Keener said, his face forming a smirk. "Let's hope these bastards didn't happen to find out where that exactly is and decide to attack. Happened to me several times before." He opened fire again, firing three rounds at a time. He turned to see Add's dynamos with lasers. Similar technology had been adopted by Black Tusk and The Division before his parting from both.

"You SHADE?" He asked Add as they continued their movement.​

View attachment 10985

Although Kofuku hadn't had the greatest initial reaction to being pulled into her own vortex of doom, it definitely wasn't something that was new to the goddess. After getting over the initial surprise of her unintentional opening of a portal to the underworld, she scrambled to gather her bearings and figure out a way to safely escape the storm-- or, uh, maybe not? All of her careful thinking went out the window upon realizing that she'd been encased in a bubble of some sort, prompting her to blink wildly and look around confusedly for the source. But in doing so, she realized a bigger problem. The villagers-turned-monsters were swarming more and more intensely, and it seemed they'd injured a new arrival and irreparably spooked Sunny. Likewise, she could feel uncertainty and horror from Kugane, threatening to boil over and sting her again. She needed to stop fooling around.

Setting aside her confusion with the bubble for now, she threw herself against it with all her might, hoping that this would either break the barrier or at least budge her out of the vortex. Unfortunately, it was a little hard to accomplish when the sphere was still being whipped around, making it hard for her to even get on her feet. But after several attempts, the entrapped god was finally sent flying, looking like a hamster frantically skedaddling within its ball before she came crashing to the ground.... and landed right on top of one of the approaching villagers.

Well. Maybe the misfortune of others was fortunate for them, or something.

View attachment 10984

Ultimately, she was relieved to have landed, but unfortunately had zero awareness of how to get the brakes on this thing. So after the sphere not-so-gracefully bounced off the villager, Kofuku continued to be tossed along inside it, only to tumble to a stop in a less than picturesque manner when Saki finally dismissed the barrier out of existence. Dizzy and disoriented in a heap on the ground near the rest of the fleeing group, Kofuku was in a bit of a daze, the world swimming around her. "Owieee..." she mumbled, inaudibly. So much for her intention to get serious.

Still. She couldn't let herself become even more of a burden now. After a moment of swaying in place and tumbling back down after her first attempt to stand, she managed to stumble to her feet. Mostly with the help of her weapon. It definitely wasn't a graceful display, but she at least did her best to stagger and keep up with the others. If she ended up faceplanting, at least she could say she tried.

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A retreat from this worthless foe was disrespectful, but at the same time they weren't the vision. Death swiped into the air to clean his weapon of any blood and viscera. "Lead the way."

Following after the teenagers he looked over the monsters still coming after them. For a moment he considered to remove his mask to help the others, but if they can't survive creatures like these they will continue to be a liability.

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Alice
@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @Gummi Bunnies @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody

Alice was so heavily focused on directing her constructs to defend the group that she failed to notice the knife going for her until she felt a familiar sting of pain on her hand, and flinched, turning in surprise to see what happened.

Wincing as she tried to maintain her constructs, she moved to say something, but fortunately... Saki, who was less occupied managed it first, and much to Alice's relief, Sunny seemed to calm down.

"It's... It's alright! I've had worse! Just... Stay safe, okay?" She said.

By now, the wound had already stopped bleeding as fibers similar to the wires making up her constructs slowly began to weave it together.

As long as she didn't let herself be swarmed, she seemed capable of protecting herself and others.

What helped was that everyone began to assemble into a formation, and ontop of this, it seemed Keichi had found who he was looking for. And better yet, they had a safe house.

Seeing the teen pair already begin to rush forwards, she concentrated a little, sending a pair of familiars to help clear a path. Rather than focusing on attacking them, they began to duplicate themselves, the duplicates unraveling into wires which attempted to tangle them to help clear the path of any villagers moving to obstruct them.

In the middle of the commotion though, a stray familiar caught wind of Kofuku caught in a bit of a daze. Alice was a bit further back in the formation than her, but... Should she still be in danger by the time she made it to her, she was prepared to help her up.

Though... Considering the connection Kofuku seemed to have towards Add, perhaps due to a prior experience the two had, she thought it best to give Add an opportunity to help. He too was controlling constructs, but... They seemed to take less of a mental strain on him.

She decided to keep defending the group for now, with her blade constructs and familiars, opting to conserve her focus in case anything stronger came up as she began to monitor the group for other troubles.

These villagers gave off a presence similar to beasts of calamity after all, and... In her mind, there was no doubt that they were merely spawn, or some kind of lesser version of the main 'calamity construct' that they were supposed to contend with here.​

 

[Gummi Bunnies]

Rena yelped in surprise once Sev shot down the monstrous villager that was close on grabbing her. That was... really really close. ❝ Thanks, sir! ❞ She quickly thanks him before going back to leading the way with Keiichi.

The more the group went and followed the pair towards the direction of the safehouse, the more it seemed like the horde of monstrous villagers was beginning to thin out. There were still a few villagers on their trail, even with the combined efforts to keep them from catching up and swarming them.

If the others were putting in the effort to defend the group, Add felt more inclined to save his Dynamo drones the energy of assisting. He did install a self-charging core and all that, but in a place like this, it would still take too long in-between skirmishes to be fully charged. He blinked at Keener's inquiry, must've been asking if he was associated with some group called SHADE or something.

❝ I never heard of it before, so I'm going to assume no on that. ❞ The inventor shook his head, answering bluntly. Looking over, he saw that Kofuku was having trouble keeping up the pace with everyone else. He still felt unsure about his connection to her, but even if she didn't do anything productive, he didn't want to lose the potential help she could give with her powers. Groaning in annoyance, he signals his Dynamos to get into a rectangular formation around her, forming a projected hardlight rectangular container that would carry Kofuku for now. The Particle Prism formation was simple enough, so he didn't need to worry about wasted energy resources at the moment.

Just further through the forest, then there was finally an open clearing.

Given that it was the only building in their vicinity, this school was most definitely the safehouse that Keiichi and Rena were talking about. Passing through the stony playground field in front of the school, something that would stand out was the strange chalky marks on the ground that seemed to circle around the school building completely.

Without a moment wasted, Keiichi urgently knocked at the front doors, calling out, ❝ Mion! Mion, it's us! Keiichi and Rena, we're back! ❞ During this, Add looked back to make sure that there weren't any more stranglers of that earlier horde following them. To his surprise, the scientist tilted his head at how the few remaining villagers that were following them earlier... were now aimlessly walking away as if it just... lost interest?

Soon, the doors open after a few more moments of Keiichi knocking the door. Though, the door only cracks open a bit once whoever was inside realizes that there were more people with the two teenagers.

❝ Oh! Don't worry about them, Mion, they're actually really nice and protected us on her way back here! ❞ Rena quickly explains for the group, not wanting to leave them outside. There was a bit of silence before the door finally opened up wide. A green-haired girl, who seemed to be slightly older than Keiichi and Rena, holstered the pistol that she had at the ready just in case. This was probably the "Mion" that the two teens were talking to.

❝ Alright, everyone get in. Quickly! ❞ Mion ushers the group to come in with a commanding voice. Once everyone was accounted for and inside, Mion wasted no time on closing the front doors shut, immediately bolting the entrance and barricading it with a wooden bookcase. As they were now inside, Add releases Kofuku from the moving hardlight containment cube that he used to safely transport her with the group.

The hallway appeared like a mess, which isn't a surprise considering that this was a makeshift safehouse with the villager overrun by a monstrous horde. One of the classroom doors peered open, and a good handful of children peeked out to see what was going on at the entrance before retreating away from the door.

❝ There's a vacant classroom directly to your right. I guess a couple of you are tired after dealing with... all that shit outside. ❞ Mion points out a classroom that the group could use for the time being. It was only then that Mion notices Rena's arm injury.

❝ I got Rena covered, we should still have some first aid supplies in the infirmary. ❞ Keiichi reassures Mion before he takes Rena over to the infirmary on the far side of the hallway. Left alone with the group, Mion sighs before leading the group to the vacant classroom, where all the windows were boarded up and all they had to light the room was a camping lantern. There, she takes a seat on one of the chairs.

❝ I can tell you're not from around the area, Hinamizawa village and Okinomiya town in particular. I'm going to take an educated guess and say all of you have no idea what's happening here at all. Am I right? ❞

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

 

[Takumi]

SUNNY
@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @York @Crimson Spartan @EveryoneElse

Sunny looked at Saki, and with those words, he seemed to have been brought back to his senses.

He took some deep breaths and pocketed his knife before turning to Alice.

"..."

He wordlessly bowed his head in apology, before sticking with Saki and heading with the group.​

View attachment 10985

Although Kofuku hadn't had the greatest initial reaction to being pulled into her own vortex of doom, it definitely wasn't something that was new to the goddess. After getting over the initial surprise of her unintentional opening of a portal to the underworld, she scrambled to gather her bearings and figure out a way to safely escape the storm-- or, uh, maybe not? All of her careful thinking went out the window upon realizing that she'd been encased in a bubble of some sort, prompting her to blink wildly and look around confusedly for the source. But in doing so, she realized a bigger problem. The villagers-turned-monsters were swarming more and more intensely, and it seemed they'd injured a new arrival and irreparably spooked Sunny. Likewise, she could feel uncertainty and horror from Kugane, threatening to boil over and sting her again. She needed to stop fooling around.

Setting aside her confusion with the bubble for now, she threw herself against it with all her might, hoping that this would either break the barrier or at least budge her out of the vortex. Unfortunately, it was a little hard to accomplish when the sphere was still being whipped around, making it hard for her to even get on her feet. But after several attempts, the entrapped god was finally sent flying, looking like a hamster frantically skedaddling within its ball before she came crashing to the ground.... and landed right on top of one of the approaching villagers.

Well. Maybe the misfortune of others was fortunate for them, or something.

View attachment 10984

Ultimately, she was relieved to have landed, but unfortunately had zero awareness of how to get the brakes on this thing. So after the sphere not-so-gracefully bounced off the villager, Kofuku continued to be tossed along inside it, only to tumble to a stop in a less than picturesque manner when Saki finally dismissed the barrier out of existence. Dizzy and disoriented in a heap on the ground near the rest of the fleeing group, Kofuku was in a bit of a daze, the world swimming around her. "Owieee..." she mumbled, inaudibly. So much for her intention to get serious.

Still. She couldn't let herself become even more of a burden now. After a moment of swaying in place and tumbling back down after her first attempt to stand, she managed to stumble to her feet. Mostly with the help of her weapon. It definitely wasn't a graceful display, but she at least did her best to stagger and keep up with the others. If she ended up faceplanting, at least she could say she tried.

@Gummi Bunnies @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everyone​

Alice
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Alice was so heavily focused on directing her constructs to defend the group that she failed to notice the knife going for her until she felt a familiar sting of pain on her hand, and flinched, turning in surprise to see what happened.

Wincing as she tried to maintain her constructs, she moved to say something, but fortunately... Saki, who was less occupied managed it first, and much to Alice's relief, Sunny seemed to calm down.

"It's... It's alright! I've had worse! Just... Stay safe, okay?" She said.

By now, the wound had already stopped bleeding as fibers similar to the wires making up her constructs slowly began to weave it together.

As long as she didn't let herself be swarmed, she seemed capable of protecting herself and others.

What helped was that everyone began to assemble into a formation, and ontop of this, it seemed Keichi had found who he was looking for. And better yet, they had a safe house.

Seeing the teen pair already begin to rush forwards, she concentrated a little, sending a pair of familiars to help clear a path. Rather than focusing on attacking them, they began to duplicate themselves, the duplicates unraveling into wires which attempted to tangle them to help clear the path of any villagers moving to obstruct them.

In the middle of the commotion though, a stray familiar caught wind of Kofuku caught in a bit of a daze. Alice was a bit further back in the formation than her, but... Should she still be in danger by the time she made it to her, she was prepared to help her up.

Though... Considering the connection Kofuku seemed to have towards Add, perhaps due to a prior experience the two had, she thought it best to give Add an opportunity to help. He too was controlling constructs, but... They seemed to take less of a mental strain on him.

She decided to keep defending the group for now, with her blade constructs and familiars, opting to conserve her focus in case anything stronger came up as she began to monitor the group for other troubles.

These villagers gave off a presence similar to beasts of calamity after all, and... In her mind, there was no doubt that they were merely spawn, or some kind of lesser version of the main 'calamity construct' that they were supposed to contend with here.​

Saki was glad that Sunny seemed to have calmed down, and that his words even had any effect on the boy.

In regards to Alice he studied her a moment before nodding and replying with, "Don't overdo it." Even though he didn't quite know her limits, it wouldn't benefit them if any of them exhausted themselves before this was all over.

Rena yelped in surprise once Sev shot down the monstrous villager that was close on grabbing her. That was... really really close. ❝ Thanks, sir! ❞ She quickly thanks him before going back to leading the way with Keiichi.

The more the group went and followed the pair towards the direction of the safehouse, the more it seemed like the horde of monstrous villagers was beginning to thin out. There were still a few villagers on their trail, even with the combined efforts to keep them from catching up and swarming them.

If the others were putting in the effort to defend the group, Add felt more inclined to save his Dynamo drones the energy of assisting. He did install a self-charging core and all that, but in a place like this, it would still take too long in-between skirmishes to be fully charged. He blinked at Keener's inquiry, must've been asking if he was associated with some group called SHADE or something.

❝ I never heard of it before, so I'm going to assume no on that. ❞ The inventor shook his head, answering bluntly. Looking over, he saw that Kofuku was having trouble keeping up the pace with everyone else. He still felt unsure about his connection to her, but even if she didn't do anything productive, he didn't want to lose the potential help she could give with her powers. Groaning in annoyance, he signals his Dynamos to get into a rectangular formation around her, forming a projected hardlight rectangular container that would carry Kofuku for now. The Particle Prism formation was simple enough, so he didn't need to worry about wasted energy resources at the moment.

Just further through the forest, then there was finally an open clearing.

Given that it was the only building in their vicinity, this school was most definitely the safehouse that Keiichi and Rena were talking about. Passing through the stony playground field in front of the school, something that would stand out was the strange chalky marks on the ground that seemed to circle around the school building completely.

Without a moment wasted, Keiichi urgently knocked at the front doors, calling out, ❝ Mion! Mion, it's us! Keiichi and Rena, we're back! ❞ During this, Add looked back to make sure that there weren't any more stranglers of that earlier horde following them. To his surprise, the scientist tilted his head at how the few remaining villagers that were following them earlier... were now aimlessly walking away as if it just... lost interest?

Soon, the doors open after a few more moments of Keiichi knocking the door. Though, the door only cracks open a bit once whoever was inside realizes that there were more people with the two teenagers.

❝ Oh! Don't worry about them, Mion, they're actually really nice and protected us on her way back here! ❞ Rena quickly explains for the group, not wanting to leave them outside. There was a bit of silence before the door finally opened up wide. A green-haired girl, who seemed to be slightly older than Keiichi and Rena, holstered the pistol that she had at the ready just in case. This was probably the "Mion" that the two teens were talking to.

❝ Alright, everyone get in. Quickly! ❞ Mion ushers the group to come in with a commanding voice. Once everyone was accounted for and inside, Mion wasted no time on closing the front doors shut, immediately bolting the entrance and barricading it with a wooden bookcase. As they were now inside, Add releases Kofuku from the moving hardlight containment cube that he used to safely transport her with the group.

The hallway appeared like a mess, which isn't a surprise considering that this was a makeshift safehouse with the villager overrun by a monstrous horde. One of the classroom doors peered open, and a good handful of children peeked out to see what was going on at the entrance before retreating away from the door.

❝ There's a vacant classroom directly to your right. I guess a couple of you are tired after dealing with... all that shit outside. ❞ Mion points out a classroom that the group could use for the time being. It was only then that Mion notices Rena's arm injury.

❝ I got Rena covered, we should still have some first aid supplies in the infirmary. ❞ Keiichi reassures Mion before he takes Rena over to the infirmary on the far side of the hallway. Left alone with the group, Mion sighs before leading the group to the vacant classroom, where all the windows were boarded up and all they had to light the room was a camping lantern. There, she takes a seat on one of the chairs.

❝ I can tell you're not from around the area, Hinamizawa village and Okinomiya town in particular. I'm going to take an educated guess and say all of you have no idea what's happening here at all. Am I right? ❞

@Not a Writer @Takumi @Crimson Spartan @York @Capri @Jeremi @dark @Minerva @Lucky @ShadowCoyote0 @Everybody​

When it came to Kofuku's condition, it at least seemed that she wasn't seriously injured. Slightly unsteady, sure, but still able to move for the most part at least. Add had her covered, so that was one less thing to worry about.

Saki had stuck close to Sunny throughout the walk, making sure there weren't any stragglers trying to whisk the boy away or something. Once they were at the safe house, which was really just a school, the man had a few questions in mind about the situation with the village.

Though, upon entering the place he took a sweeping glance at what little he could see, as well as taking in the classroom they were led to.

"Not really, but Keiichi mentioned a woman causing trouble before we ran into some villagers. I'm assuming their Lady Cecilia had some means of turning them into those monsters?" He asked.

@Gummi Bunnies @Not a Writer @Capri @dark @Jeremi @Minerva @York @ShadowCoyote0 @Crimson Spartan @Everyone

 

[Not a Writer]

Man. This totally sucked.

Being babysat by Daikoku was one thing. The two of them had been together for a lifetime, and he was more like a worried best friend to her. Someone who always watched over her and those around her alike, weighing both her safety and her curse equally when dealing with other people. But the man she had cared for and who had cared for her for so many millennia was gone, and all she felt now was that she was burdening both her allies and her shinki. How was she going to get out of this? To make things right again? And even if she did... she could feel that her time was growing limited. Would she really be able to make things right before it ran out altogether?

Caught up in her slew of concerns, she almost didn't realize just how dizzy she still was from the terrible tumble she'd taken. If it weren't for the intervention of the Dynamos, she would've stumbled and fallen flat on her face within a mere few seconds more. She was both relieved and disappointed to be assisted, though she did her best not to let the latter show, forcing a dorky grin onto her face as she took the time to regain her bearings. The brief respite helped immensely, and she felt capable of running a marathon by the time they made it to the safehouse.

View attachment 10997

Sheepishly, she half-laughed. "Ah, thank you, Addy-kun-" Wait. Safehouse. Safehouse. She'd been too out of it before to realize where they were going, but it hit her like a semi now that they were here. "A-actually, wait! You might want to, um, leave me... out... here." Too late. She was already in the building. "Or... not. Aha hah..." Normally, she detested being treated like a harbinger of misfortune, but now she almost longed for it. The idea that she'd been brought into a place that already held another source of misfortune en masse sounded bad enough on its own, but the fact that she'd been taken to that place's safe haven seemed like it was begging for something bad to happen. As the group was lead further in by Mion, Kofuku grew visibly restless, wrapping her arms around herself and rubbing them lightly for her own comfort. She made sure not to actually step into the classroom, doing her best to keep as much distance between herself and the group as she could. She half entertained the idea of asking them if they happened to have salt before dismissing the idea. She dealt with enough of that from Ebi-chan.

Doing her best to at least stay tuned in with the conversation despite her choice to stand as far away from everyone as physically possible, Kofuku chimed in as well. "...That's right. All we really know is that there's some lady named Cecilia those townsfolk were raving about before they turned into those monsters. What exactly were those things, anyway?" Corpses of human beings, now inhabited by something new? Or something that simply looked human to lure you in, up 'til the last second? It was hard to say, and Kofuku wasn't sure even this girl would know. But it was worth a shot asking.

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