❧ Still Holding Out For A Hero

[luministimods]

[While people are battling with their new powers and those townspeople who've decided to go on crime sprees, there are two people watching everything play out from a safe place. One...has no choice. The other?

The other relishes and delights in what he sees.

A pleased smile naturally graces the other's features.] You have no idea how long I have waited for this moment. Finally, finally after observing them for so long and poking them in the right directions, they are perfect. There have been some who just couldn't quite make it, ones I had hopes for but ultimately have given up upon. I will not be recalling them ever again.

And I have you to thank for that, my dear Marshal. If it were not for your continual interference these past years, they all might have still been stuck in that fool's experiment to bring his loved ones back to life. The otherworlders learning of that experiment's truth only fueled the flames of my own. The young businessman's ideas of entertainment were far more useful than the drivel the scientist ever gave me.

Speaking of him, you were never able to locate him, were you? Your teams of otherworlders failed in their tasks and returned empty-handed. They were meant to, you know, and yet you were so certain you could use their skills and fame to help them in their hunt for him while you searched for me.

[Slowly] ...What did you do to Filippo Resarci?

He was hiding away but now...he is right where I need him to be. [The other's smile widens after a moment.] Ahhh, I see. You think he's my anchor here.

It's a possibility.

You think...if you got to my anchor, then you could have reeled me in? Shame the fish reeled in the fisherman and now, you have left your worms completely unattended. I do wonder who yours is.

[Lets out a dismissive noise.] Like I'm going to tell you.

It does not matter. They will blame you in the end. Once they have figured it all out, they will hold you accountable. Might take them a while to piece everything together, though. I even tried to share with them the truth, warn them of what was to come--and yet they thought I was merely taunting them. They did not understand--

--Weren't you?

[The other shrugs nonchalantly.] Eh, yes, but one can mock with the truth. It is one hell of a weapon, as you have seen.

[Somewhat victoriously] Yes, it is...isn't it? [There's a soft click from somewhere nearby.]

[The other's expression rapidly changes from smugness to suspicion because of that tone.] What have you done?

You'll see soon enough.

[And then the one seemingly without a choice uses his one trump card to escape--but the other doesn't yell or pitch a fit at this disappearing act. No, the other merely pulls out something, enters a sentence followed by a few keystrokes, then slips it back into his pocket.]

Two can play at this game.

[Seconds before the other's keystrokes were entered, Nathan suddenly appears somewhere in the vicinity of the town hall, but before he can even take a step forward or pull out his own CAT to call people to him, the town hall explodes, showering him and most of the town square in huge chunks and layers of debris. Rubble and shrapnel fly into air, crashing through store fronts, trees, the library, and crushing nearby townspeople. Not even the fountain is spared and the Sheriff's office has taken severe damage.

But what caused the explosion to begin with? Whatever it is, it's gone now, most likely lost in the blast.]


Plot Supplement Details: Still Holding Out For A Hero **Quick-time Event**

This one will be super easy and short. All you have to do is locate and find Nathan beneath all of that stuff (here's a handy map of the area)! And this is a quick-time that will last from now until Monday night.

How you go about rescuing him is up to you. All rescuing action will happen in this entry, but I wouldn't recommend going in groups any bigger than two, but you also have the option of going solo and I'll reply with the mod account. I'll do the same for those who do team up, so be sure to track your threads! When he is found, I'll comment to all threads with that fact and with where he was found. (There is a location in the effected area where he is, but I'm looking for a somewhat general spot. We'd be here forever if I was to be pedantic.)

Of course...you don't have to rescue him at all. Characters might not even know if he is there if they weren't in the area to see him for that moment before the town all blew up. Plus, there are townspeople to save and, well...the Sheriff's Office was damaged. All the criminals incarcerated there are all kinda free now and could hamper your search efforts.

So! Depending on what you'd like to do, go to the following comment:


• Rescue Nathan - "Here to rescue Nathan!"
  
• Rescue townspeople - "Townspeople rescue"
  
• Dealing with the criminals - "Jailbreak containment"
  
• OOC questions - er, "OOC questions"


This commenting system is a bit new, but hopefully, that'll make it easier for everyone to just tag in.

So....yes! Oh yeah... that conversation above... Characters won't have heard that. Yet. Yet...

Have fun! Hope you've brought your shovels~ (Which by the way can be found ICly in the non-destroyed general store!)

And if you missed the recent OOC post (and if you did, shame on you! no, not really), please read it! There's an important note relevant to those characters who lost their powers at the start of this plot.

EDIT: Made changes to the above regarding tagging into the entry as well as a note about shovels! o/

Comments

omg my hero

[manicurious]

[The aftermath of the explosion is like a buffet table set up just for Ichijou's monster, as it's incredibly easy to find people stuck under shrapnel who he can easily free with a swipe of his big paws. Which would be super helpful, if such an action wasn't immediately followed by him clamping his big jaws down on the helpless victims, tossing them up, crunching down on them again, and then sending them on a one-way trip down his throat.

Aside from occasionally smacking them away with a paw or a tail in irritation, he ignores anyone who looks healthy. There's really no reason to go after the difficult ones when he's got a low-effort feast right in front of him!]

come into my arms it's going to be okay. also 1/2

[worldsapart]

[He... Is h...]

Ich...

[Crunch.

Xion very narrowly avoids being sick.]

2/2

[worldsapart]

What are you doing?!

[She can't, however, help from shouting. Almost screaming. He, Ichijou, why -- He would never...]

[bonnypiperlad]

Terezi! I found someone. Don't think it's Nathan, though... [He moves towards where the thought he heard the voice and tries again.]

Yes, I'm here! Can ye hear me?

[wind_of_reason]

[It takes her a moment to realize it, but she does come to recognize that voice. She at once moves closer to it, then gives Sophie an apologetic look.]

I- I'm sorry, but I can't leave her- [But she hesitates, freezing in place as a realization hits. Is the woman she knows from the library even... real? The way the townspeople behave, the way they had turned from zombies to normal, the fake panels in the Lab...

The cries for help are so real!

And so had been the pain when Fuu's illusion-self had shot her with arrows in the Spring of Eterna.

The look on her face is now deeply pained as she looks at Sophie with tears in her eyes. She can barely bring herself to ask in a faint voice,]

Is this another test?

open/general rescue

[fireflyheir]

[The explosion startles John, and he leaves behind the umbrellas he was looking at- you never know- to head out and see what happened- and when he spots the rubble, he breaks into a faster run, only slowing down when he gets to the edge of the rubble closest to the shops.]

Hey! Is anyone there? Can you hear me? [regardless, he's going to start trying to shove some of the rubble to one side, listening for voices]

[desertdaggers]

They couldn't keep us chained up forever after all!

[He grins fiercely, showing his teeth.] Mm. Let's show them exactly why we're the wrong people to mess with.

[terezi_pyrope]

Hmm, alright. There's something I smell in the air, and I think it might have something to do with Nathan.

[Terezi caught the odd scent in the air--the one that was different than just the dust and the dirk--and began to move towards it.]

Nathan! Are you there?

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie is brought up short by the cry for help as well. she turns to Fuu, staring back at her as Sophie inwardly works through thoughts while Fuu works through them outwardly. she swallows hard] It probably is. The townspeople are golems, but... [she shakes her head. she can't stand the thought of leaving a person crying for help either. even if the scarecrow was a golem, didn't it still feel?]

Fuu, you help her. I'll keep searching. Call me if you need my help as well.

[it's the best answer she can think of. with a deep breath, she turns and moves away from the library and closer to the town hall, onto the path leading to the Mayor's House]

i think we're going for a record

[luke_triton]

[At last, Luke has mastered flying to the extent that he no longer uses stationary objects as his landing pads. The explosion brings him running, so to speak, through the air. He lands at a run too. Recognizing John even at a distance, it's one quick sprint to be there next to him, using the bizarre increased strength that arrived along with the flying to help him move rubble out of the way.]

awesomesauce!

[fireflyheir]

[John spares a moment to grin at Luke.] Thanks. [after all, well- two kids with increased strength is better than one, especially when one's not sure he's quite up to scratch. Hopefully they'll be able to find people in time.]

[luministimods]

[The older gentleman hears Jamie, a hopeful tone slipping into his voice, which is louder now that he's closer.] Yes! Yes I can hear you! Please help, my leg is stuck!

[Meanwhile, the smell continues to grow stronger. Terezi is, indeed, wise to follow her nose as it leads her towards where the front of the town hall building used to be. She won't hear a worded response to her question; merely a loud groan of pain and the sounds of an attempt to move stuff. In fact, a second later, a pile in front of her shifts and parts of it collapse in, followed by a indistinguishable cry, the tone of which definitely belongs to a guy.]

[manicurious]

[What was that? What was that?? Ichijou's monster gives pause for a moment and shoots a piercing glare at Xion, accompanied by an irritated roar. If he could articulate words in this form he may have yelled something along the lines of "Don't get in my way!" which could have been sound advice, really, since this was one hell of a tantrum that he was throwing.

Aside from that short outburst, he entirely disregards Xion to continue going about his business.]

[bonnypiperlad]

[Jamie frowns, but he can't very well leave this other man trapped, now can he?] All right. I can manage this on my own, but be careful, aye?

((OOC: Not sure when I'll be able to tag again today so skip Jamie as needed?))

[luministimods]

[The library worker can sort of hear the voices and calls to them again, her voice a little louder now.] Can someone hear me? Miss Fuu, is that you?

[As Sophie proceeds on the path, the amount of rubble varies from huge chunks to small shards of glass from the broken windows. Thankfully, the dust is starting to settle. If she's looking, she might catch a glowing light peeking out from under a small pile of broken bricks and filing cabinets.]

[wind_of_reason]

[Her expression relaxing at Sophie's answer, Fuu nods and makes her way over to the woman.]

Yes, I'm here. Please hold on a bit longer!

[She carefully shovels around where she can hear the voice, hoping to not hit her with the shovel or more rubble as she shifts it.
Once she gets the woman out she'll try to use her winds of healing magic- it probably won't do much, but even a little relief until more help comes should be enough.]

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie does notice that light, and she makes a beeline for the spot] Hello? Is someone there?

[she leans down, groaning with the effort as she shifts one of the angled filing cabinets just enough that she can start to carefully use the shovel to clear the bricks beneath it] Can you hear me?

[luministimods]

[The woman isn't buried too far under, thankfully! She's got some scraps and a broken arm from holding it up to protect her head, as well as some bruising, but she's alive. And coughing a bit because of dust being released into the air, but alive.]

You dear thing! It really was you who did this. Thank you so much.

[Meanwhile in Sophie's area of things, she does get a reply--but it's a different voice. It's not like one any of them have heard before. There's a roughness to the otherwise sophisticated intonation of words. The voice is definitely male:]

"--hey will blame you in the end. Once they have figured it all out, they will hold you accountable. Might take them a while to piece everything together, though. I even tried to share with them the truth, warn them of what was to come..."

[The recorded voice continues while Sophie moves things, but all she'll find is a CAT device.]

[wind_of_reason]

You're welcome. It's... the least I can do.

[It really is.
Relieved that she'll be okay, Fuu helps her co-worker out of the rubble to await doctors from the clinic.

By the time she's done and come back over to Sophie, it looks like she's found something. But Fuu's surprised that it doesn't seem to be a person she's digging up.]

What have you found?

[fortune_sought]

[Sophie is digging rather desperately for the source of that recording--while trying to listen to it at the same time] Speak up, will you? I can barely make you out!

[she isn't sure if the spell will work, but it's worth a try. regardless, very shortly afterwards, she comes up with a CAT--at which point Fuu comes over to her. Sophie holds out the still-playing CAT] Shh! There's a message on this.

[terezi_pyrope]

[She knew she could count on you to be a good partner!]

I will! Same to you.

[Terezi stops abruptly at the sudden shift.]

Hold on, I'm going to move this stuff right away!

[Now she brandishes her trusty shovel given to her by Jamie and goes at it.]

[luministimods]

[The more Terezi shifts things, the more she can hear Nathan grunting and groaning and out right complaining to no one in particular.]

That bastard! Crush me beneath all this shit, will you?! [He grunts as he tries to move a large rock--but then he falls silent as he hears the scrapes of the shovel.] Wait--hey! Hey! Keep going!

[He starts coughing as more and more dust is shaken loose and falls down on him. Terezi doesn't have that much farther to go.]

[terezi_pyrope]

[Terezi's efforts become doubled in that case.]

I think I'm almost there! It looks like our criminal got cocky and thought he'd be able to get rid of you straight away, huh?

[luministimods]

[Surprisingly, the spell does work--but it's not the CAT's doing. The surrounding area quiets down for her to hear better. The CAT itself is quite stubborn. One can never tell a CAT what to do.]

[Now that Sophie has the CAT, she can see a bit of video attached to it (hence the glowing from earlier.) For the most part, it's pretty dark since the device was mostly obscured from where it sat while recording, but there's a small opening where a figure can be seen moving about. The room beyond is simple, but there's still a sense of otherworldliness to it.]

--and yet they thought I was merely taunting them. They did not understand--

--Weren't you?

[In the video, the figure stops and shrugs nonchalantly, his face annoyingly still obscured by the hat pulled low upon his head. If the sight of that man is at all familiar in a deja-vu kind of sense, that may be because...it is. Yet he is unaware that this is happening.]

Eh, yes, but one can mock with the truth. It is one hell of a weapon, as you have seen.

Yes, it is...isn't it?

[Unfortunately, there recording ends there, but Sophie and Fuu should be able to recognize one of the voices as belonging to Nathan.]

[luministimods]

[He coughs a bit more, but he hears most of what she says.] N-no, he knows better. He just didn't want me thinking I'd gotten away scot-free.

[Hurriedly, he clears away the smaller bits of everything that's within his grasp, and between her efforts and his own, he finally gets a bit of light peeking in. The earlier collapse actually had some benefit.]

There you are! [He's smiling despite himself, happy at the prospect of not being buried for much longer.]