[ closed ] The boys are back in town

[swordfucker]

Who: Dave, Dextera, Guren, John, Okuyasu, Ryo
Where: All around town
When: 6/26, mega forward dated
What: Bogeyman take down! This goes throughout the town ending at either the well or the harbor, depending on how things go, but they'll be working to keep it out of the line of people.
Warnings: Violence, gore, horrible monsters, death

[They've gathered together, they have a plan, and now the Boys™ are ready to take the monster down before anyone else gets hurt! Guren has made it clear that his group is going to draw it out first with Dextera's magic and immediately fling it at Dave's group, continuing in a ping pong sort of pattern until they end at the well, or the worst case scenario, all the way past it to the harbor, the second "ideal" open area decided on.

That's the gist of it!! Separate top levels below for each group and the aftermath.]

Comments

GUREN GROUP

[swordfucker]

[Boy is he Tense about this. He's confident, of course, and he thinks they have a good team. Dextera is perfect for dealing with a monster like this, with his abilities, and Ryo gives him a steadiness that's important to have. Guren has his own abilities, as well. Then, on Dave's side, he and John compliment each other well in their strange fancy abilities, and he's heard from Dave that Okuyasu has a reliable one that works, as well. It might even be a key way to finish this thing off.

It all depends on how well this plan actually goes. What they need to make sure of, though, is that no one in the town gets hurt. They have to stop this now.]

Alright. You remember the points, right? Asuka, if you can't keep up with us, start heading to our first point now. Dextera, you just draw it out of hiding and aim it straight for Dave and the others, and then we're heading to the first point to hit it off, as well.

We're aiming for the well, but if that doesn't work out, we'll continue to the harbor. Whatever happens, stay in our formation unless I say otherwise.

[Just a rehash, because he's like that.] Do it now!

[passio]

[ honestly, completely honestly, dextera is already scared, even if the bogeyman hasn’t done anything yet—he’s quick to fright, and it is largely because ryo and guren are here that he’s able to keep a level head at all.

this isn’t like fighting harpies or attacking the jorogumo. he’s powerful, and he’s long since proven himself difficult, if not impossible, to kill. even if dextera can chase them away, he can’t purify shadow creatures. all he can do is hope that their strikes, in whatever form they come, are enough to fell this thing for good.

dextera squeezes his sword, and it illuminates with a light brighter than anything he’s used yet, and he attacks out in a clean cut that almost looks like a flare. immediately, they see results, and the horrible shadow creature trundles out of hiding.

he still looks so friendly, though, like this is a fun game that he’s confident he’s going to win. dextera swallows, taking a few steps back to prepare for a second swing. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo doesn't get scared easily — dealing with the demon threat back home taught him to dismiss what fear he has and push it down where it can be ignored — but even he feels his pulse hasten in his chest as their group moves to draw the bogeyman out of hiding. This definitely isn't like dealing with the harpies or the spider lady. The harpies were violent and attacked in groups, but at least they were relatively easy to deal with; stabbing a major artery with a knife was all you needed to fell a harpy.

Speaking of knives, Ryo no longer sees the need to keep so many under his coat now that he has a rifle in his possession. He didn't think he would actually get anything when he tossed the coin into the well, so he was pleasantly surprised to find one of his weapons in his room after. Now he can actually participate in battles properly instead of leaving most of the work to Guren and Dextera.

As usual, Ryo keeps to the back, maintaining a careful distance between himself and the others; close enough to get a good view of what's happening while avoiding getting caught up in close-range battle. He has no intention of trying to fight the bogeyman with a knife unless he has no other option.

He rests his rifle against his shoulder, steadying the handgrip with his non-firing hand as he observes the situation. The shadowy creature leers at Dextera, mouth set in a deranged grin with far too many teeth as it slashes at him with its claws. ]

that ryo icon is killing me

[swordfucker]

[Guren is quick to follow up. For this fight, he's got his doping pills close, just in case, but he hasn't decided to use them just yet. Emergency only.

Right now, they don't need to try to harm it. They need to use its desire to run when attacked to ping pong it back into an open area where they can harm it, properly, by surrounding it. So, he launches himself forward, off of a building like an anime freak, and swings his sword out to keep it back before it can get too close to Dextera.

The force behind his attack, with Mahiru, is something that should combine hopefully with another one of Dextera's light filled attacks to send it fleeing towards where Dave's group should be located.

Now, the second position is one they're already heading to, and they'll be ready when it comes back. It's a brief break, all things considered, and Guren has to keep his eyes on things, but he can still talk to the others.]

Remember, it could end up changing forms when it comes back towards us. We'll have to deal with it longer that time, so don't get distracted.

he's got hella guns

[passio]

[ dextera has never fought anything like this before—effortlessly able to change forms, to disguise itself, or just to play a prank on the citizens of the town. horror isn't the worst thing all of them could be forced to deal with, but with the unpredictable nature of the town and the bogeyman himself, letting it run free isn't a good idea either.

people who have tried to attack it before have found trouble, and so it's best to let people who are comfortably equipped to fight monsters take this on. even if ryo has just a gun, he, too, has plenty of demon-battling experience. ]

...

[ what is dextera afraid of? so many things, but are any of them tangible enough to become? he doesn't know, and he doesn't want to find out. he wishes the angelic rifle had bullets, even if the poor littles don't deserve this... ]

Illusions. [ a helpful, if obvious, reminder. maybe he's trying to tell himself. ] Fake visions.

[apocalypticist]

I won't let it distract me with cheap tricks.

[ Ryo does have a few fears, like Akira getting seriously injured, but he's seen enough injured Akiras during his punishment week earlier in the month that it no longer would affect him—or so he'd like to believe, anyway. And he's kind of afraid of the possible extinction of mankind but shapeshifting into something abstract and vague is a tall order.

The weight of his rifle in his hands feels comfortable; here's a certain sense of security that comes with being properly armed again. Rifles are familiar and far better than those knives. He liked those knives too, but they just don't compare to a loaded gun. The only thing that doesn't sit well with him is how few bullets he has. Back home, he'd always have plenty of ammo and could easily reduce a demon to a paste of gore and yellow ichor with a hail of bullets.

Here, every bullet is important. He cannot afford to waste them, especially not now. ]

[swordfucker]

[Guren comes to a stop with a leap onto a new roof, his steps taking him to the tallest part of it. (Why is he anime jumping and trying to be tall? I hate him.) He doesn't have binoculars or anything close, so all he can do is squint across the space they've formed between themselves and Dave's group.

This was going to go fast and messy. They were going to get hurt, and if they're not careful...

Guren curls his fingers around his drawn sword, but his tension stays out of the rest of his body. He's ready, he's waiting, and it'll be coming back any minute now.]

Good. Get ready, it's fast. [For himself, he holds his sword up defensively, waiting.] It'll slam back into us.

[passio]

[ let the anime man do his anime jumps.

dextera nods. they'll have to do as much damage to it now as they can, before sending it back over to dave's group—the faster they can get rid of it, without causing too much trouble for the civilians that have thankfully cleared out, the better. he's got his bones ready in his pocket, whether or not they can actually deal any pain, and guren's heart potions should help him keep up his vitality long enough to let his purification do some heavy lifting.

he's not made to fight one enemy for a long time, so even if that drug trial felt like a disaster, these actually have come in handy.

dextera can hear it before he sees it—being made of darkness and shadow doesn't stop it from having an apparently physical body, which is as good for them as it is a little dangerous. if it's real, it can hit them, and dextera is sure it can hit hard. it doesn't like being chased, that much is obvious, but it doesn't seem scared. that's the bogeyman's forte, after all. ]

[apocalypticist]

[ As soon as Ryo hears the sound of something large approaching them, he poises his rifle again, ready to take aim and fire. A part of him wishes he had wings like Akira's Devilman form so he could spray the creature with bullets from above; alas, he's but a simple human with a rifle, a handful of bullets, and a strength-enhancing potion tucked away in his pocket. He hopes he doesn't have to use that one.

The sound comes closer and closer until the shadowy darkness breaks into view, sprinting towards them with unnatural movements befitting of such a creature. Its body is shifting like dark smoke, like bones deforming, like wax melting—Ryo doesn't wait to find out what it's trying to turn into before aiming his weapon and pulling the trigger.

The bullet hits it in the face, making it stagger for a few seconds before recovering. ]

DAVE GROUP

[swordfucker]

[Go forth cool kids group]

[parodeity]

[ it's a familiar sort of situation, at least. there's a monster that needs to be taken down and there's someone calling the shots. guren isn't really the sort of person dave usually has his orders from - rose and terezi and jade all coordinated shit more often - but he trusts guren despite the whole drug and demon thing. guren had left them last month but he's here this month and he's always given out plans that sound like, you know. plans. he dealt with the kamui issue as far as dave cared and he's the one most of them agreed to place in charge of the defense force.

so. like. okay, pincer ping pong. it sounds super doable anyway. caledfwlch is comfortable in his hand and dave's automatically angling himself off john's side, figuring they'll be on the frontlines instead of okuyasu.

although, like. the hand will join them. right. that's how that works? he's so hazy on it since all they did with it mostly was erase parts of benches and signs...

he's eyeing the direction guren's group went in to try to draw the thing out. presumably the light magic will be kind of notable - there. ]

Go ti - oh fuckin' christ. [ let's start off with our shadowy friend that may be shapechanging sometime soon. isn't he lovely. dave stops looking like they're off for a casual walk and pulls his sword up. ] I'll go left.

[ that was to john, and dave does so immediately in a blur of red. ]

[windeity]

[If he's honest with himself, he's a little nervous. Guren had laid out the plan for all of them and he at least knew what most of the group was capable of. He doesn't bother to walk and he's floating a few inches off the ground just to be ready. Just in case. It was easier to move and disappear when he needed to if he wasn't attached to the earth and Vrillyhoo is gripped tightly in his hands.

He doesn't say anything which is a little unusual. But he's quiet and waiting for their signal...

...now. There's a nod and he doesn't even bother replying to Dave because he knows how he functions. Dave goes left and John looks back to Okuyasu before he draws up the hammer.]

Go right! [Because he's immediately heading forward and up to swing right at one of the creature's eyes, hoping to land a hit and blind it on the spot.]

[pursestrings]

[These guys and their ridiculous weapons. Okuyasu has, well, nothing at all, although not for any reasons of plucky overconfidence (maybe a little plucky overconfidence), but because he has The Hand and isn't any good with a weapon in his hand, anyway. The last thing he needs is to trip and cut his own hand off, or something.

For the most part he's following everyone else's leads, here. Handy (ha) in a fight? Sure, but strategy is not his strong suit, so he's on edge, but leaving it to the military guy and the pajama buddies with weapons seems like a good call.

Then there's a big shadowy fuck-off-given-physical-form, and Dave and John just go, and it's The Hand- already summoned- that physically grabs Okuyasu and goes right. Cool, yeah, that's a big fucking monster—]

Bounce it at me!

[He's got a one-way void ticket ready to go, pass that bogeyball.]

[parodeity]

John, he's takin' to you.

[ a hammer is better for hitting. dave's the sword guy, better for darting in and out to cut the thing. at least the sword seems to penetrate the shadow, the thing solid and real and tangible unlike the shadow bullshit he and keith had come up against in the woods. the roiling bogeyman darkness seems to be kind of condensing into something though as dave slams to the other side, eyeing the top-black blood on his blade. ]

[windeity]

[Its form is shifting but John can't tell into what and he doesn't bother giving it a chance to manifest. As it is, he disappears into the wind and reappears behind the bogeyman, moving forward to swing Vrillyhoo again and knock the monster forward toward Okuyasu.]

Head's up! I hope you know what you're doing with this thing!

[pursestrings]

[Oh, he definitely kinda sorta has this under control. Surely, having a literal void hand is useful against any kind of monster, so his plan will definitely accomplish something.

The plan, of course, is to punch it, and then slap it with the void. That's it; The Hand surges forward to meet the creature's momentum from John's swing and punches with one hand, swiping at its rapidly- kind of- bubbling? limbs with the other— and that should take care of that, but what it appears to do is scrape off a few layers of transforming bogey-bits, leaving a chunk missing from the creature's arm.

So that's gross, and Okuyasu is bothered that it didn't get the arm clean off—] The hell? Come on!

[parodeity]

[ roll the die: that leaves the thing a black dog with a half-formed arm or an evil puppet or something else entirely, right now. ]

Is it not solid enough? [ for void shit. dave doesn't know. his sword slices fine, but it's true he didn't manage to sever any limbs like he'd usually expect to be able to do. ]

LAST HITS & AFTERMATH

[swordfucker]

[They're at the well now. Guren's group had gotten the last hit at the bogeyman, but it was their job to keep it there while Dave's group gets closer. That's the idea, at least, but Guren has no idea what's taking so long, and it's increasingly worrying.

Or, it had been, before he passed out from a wound straight through the heart, along with his others at his side and across his front. Now, it wasn't really Guren who was there. His human personality was completely asleep, and something too powerful is controlling him. There's no physical differences, though, so it looks like he's just an extra serious no-feelings guy, not caring about the dead body of Dextera lying on the ground nearby, or the way that Ryo looks like he should be dead, as well.

By now, the bogeyman has returned to his natural form, incredibly weaker, but Guren knows that he can't do this alone. That other group, or whoever's left from it, better get here soon so they can attack it at once. He'll decide how once he sees who's left.]

[pursestrings]

[Well. Okuyasu is left, as it so happens. Okuyasu is left, and more than a little bloody, pale and wild-eyed by the time he comes into sight of the well from where his group had been. He's standing, which is more than can be said for the two he left behind-- a fact that makes him feel sick, but time is of the essence and they have none left, so it's up to Okuyasu to make the executive decision to follow the monster back to the well.

That's all he's got, now: follow it to the well and pray that someone from the other group is still alive and functional enough to help, because he probably can't do this on his own. He can see two of them standing, which is enough, and the bogeyman between him and them— so, fuck this. He doesn't care about being seen by it or not anymore, and calls out as soon as he's in earshot-]

It's- it's just me! Now what?

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo definitely looks like he should be dead, or at the very least not standing right now—he's got plenty of nasty-looking cuts and bruises and his left arm looks particularly fucked up thanks to the bogeyman sinking its sharp claws into it. But he's ignoring the pain to the best of his ability, determined to see this fight through. There's no time to rest right now, they have to make sure they kill the damn thing.

He flicks his gaze over to Okuyasu when he comes into view, noticing that the other two from his group aren't with him. Presumably, they met the same fate as Dextera, or they're too injured to keep fighting; either way, it's not good, but there's nothing they can do about it. ]

We finish it off. [ He responds, gaze shifting back to the bogeyman. It looks much weaker now, its movements becoming more sluggish. ] Are you still able to fight?

[swordfucker]

There's no time to ask questions.

[Sharp and serious, Guren is locked into trying to keep this damn mass of shadows in place. Even if his sword hits something solid each time, the power behind it isn't enough to make it disappear.]

Hey, Okuyasu! Get over here and help me with that ability of yours. One of us on each side, keep up with me.

Asuka, find a way to stun it, now! [They're all bleeding out, and even if demon Guren would love to just slaughter this himself, he can't. But he's not going to let them waste time, or show any concern for the fallen right now. He's not himself...

In this case, it's for the better. Efficiency, yay!]

[pursestrings]

Uh— okay.

[He doesn't have it in him to argue; he's about ready to drop where he stands and, you know, cry or something— but if he's going to be pushed to keep acting, keep moving, get rid of this piece of shit monster, then that's better than his own plan. He can turn off the despair for the next ten minutes to get it done.

But keeping up is another story, because he's dragging one foot and one of his arms looks completely useless now. Thankfully The Hand is comparatively unharmed, and no one has to stop and learn about Stand-user relationships right now, because the Stand is darting a little ways ahead of Okuyasu to get into position.]

This is the best you're getting from me right now, man!

[apocalypticist]

[ Ryo's eyes follow The Hand for a split-second glance before his attention is on the bogeyman again. He has questions he'd like answered, but there's plenty of time for those later, provided they survive this. He quickly moves into position and brings up his rifle, not even daring to breathe as he aims the barrel at the enemy before squeezing the trigger with a steady, even pull.

The bullet hits the creature in the eye, sending a spray of inky blood through the air. It hisses sharply, back arching to such a misshapen degree that for a brief second it looks like it might snap like a twig. It still has plenty of vision left but the bullet lodged in its eyeball hurts and instead of trying to slash at them with its claws it wastes several seconds trying to get the blood and the bullet out of its eye. ]

[swordfucker]

That's all I need.

[To Okuyasu, quickly, and he's yanking his sword back as the creature struggles with the bullet. Amazing, what a good old gun can do even to a shadow monster. Well, but it's a shadow monster in physical form!

Anyway. Guren is just familiar enough with Okuyasu's power from Dave's summary, so he thinks this can work.]

Now! Try to erase it completely from your side!

[Even if that clearly wasn't working, since the thing was still there, it was adding up damage. He knows it, because his sword almost does the same thing. Swallows up the force of the attack, tears the enemy to shreds and puts a curse in them—

As it struggles, he comes at it too quickly from one side, leaving Okuyasu's stand to come from the other. It has nowhere to run, this time, but it sure is struggling. Just enough push from both of them, and maybe extra help from Ryo, and they'll have this finished.]

[pursestrings]

[One touch ought to do it, but Okuyasu knows by now just how much this thing is messing with his Stand, so when Guren surges forward and shouts for him, he's ready to push The Hand up to the monster with all the effort he has left. It's not much from Okuyasu himself, seemingly, as he stumbles and nearly drops with the effort it takes to keep The Hand charging at the monster, right hand raised to scrape down the monster's side—

And that's gross, bits of shadow and spurts of blood coming off of it in bursts where at least some of it is vanished to some void beyond any of their knowledge, but it's something. Working better, now that Okuyasu knows the trick is just putting in that extra push, trying a little harder than usual to get it done.

It's pinned, and losing blood and parts fairly quickly now. The Hand shoves it slowly but surely closer to Guren, further skewering it while messy sections of it disappear.

Any day now, someone who is actually armed—]