robowest | [ WEEK FOUR ]

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game: mingle

[ WEEK FOUR ]

WEEK FOUR

CURRENT POPULATION: 28

It's a rather quaint town when you get down to it. At least, that's what the Sheriff would argue. Warm and dry in the mornings and afternoons with a brisk coolness in the evenings. The perfect type of weather to just sit out on your rocking chair and observe the comings and goings.

... Of course, there's not much in the way of comings and goings when there aren't any actual people here to watch. Nevertheless, don't let that get you down! The town is your oyster and those roosters won't stop crowing until everyone's out of bed. Up and at 'em, rise and shine, it's time to make the day yours!

After all, there's nothing wrong with the town today and you might just want to savor it while it lasts.

This post functions as the general mingle post for the week. Wanted Posters and other small events will be posted in top levels below. If there's any questions or requests, please send a PM or shoot a PP to

robowest.

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[NOPE??? NOPE. He's immediately shrugging Shinnosuke off, slapping his hand away and any possible subsequent attempts at grabbing him.]

Wait, cut it out! [Breathing in is probably a bad idea, but he's doing the best he can, pulling the collar of his shirt over his nose.] There's blood in there! The figure I shot, it—

[HE GLANCES BACK???]

It might have been a person. I might have shot someone! [So, bye bye chill.] If that's the case, we can't just leave them in there.

[Shinnosuke's covering his face with his sleeve, so his frown can't be seen, but the way his eyes are narrowed probably conveys his feelings well enough.]

It's a trap. It has to be. If you go in, I'm not bailing you out.

[Whiiiiiich is totally a lie, he'd jump in after Jason even though that's probably the stupidest move possible.]

I know! [Sharply.] Do you really think I don't know that? Even an moron who's both blind and deaf would know that.

[Which is, uh, why he's actually kind of scared shitless here. It's obviously a trap. Doesn't change the fact that two of their own are missing, that liquid looks a lot like blood, and if he shot a person and not a humanoid machine like he had assumed? Then he has to own up for it.]

But if there's even the slightest chance there's someone in there, and they're hurt because of me? I don't care if it's a trap. I'm not leaving them to die.

[So.

Yeah.

Bye, Shinnosuke. Armed with the shovel and the gun, Jason will take another look into the the building and make what is probably the second worst decision of his life, breaking whatever is left of the window in order to slip in. Time to die again by walking into certain doom to help someone(?) who might not deserve it.]

Idiot.

[Shinnosuke watches Jason make his second-worst decision ever with a stare of incredulity (stop this????), before pondering the pros and cons of following him in (the cons outweigh the pros) and then smiling because this is ridiculous. Jason, why are you being an idiot right now?? Shinnosuke is under absolutely no obligation to commit suicide via joining him, just because Jason is apparently a bleeding heart. None at all.

... Offering up a mental apology to his little sister, he moves to follow Jason inside.]

[ Well, good job, losers.

As they fall into the post office, and land on the floor, they will find the source of the hissing. And the skittering.

The floor is kind of, well, covered in a bunch of tiny little robotic scorpions. And snakes. And spiders. If it has venom, there is a tiny robot of it on the floor here.

They will also immediately begin to get covered in them. Yikes. ]

[oh

my god

REMEMBER THAT SHOVEL, GUYS? WELL. WELL. WELL. WELLY WELL WELL!!! IT'S TIME TO START TRYING TO KILL THOSE TINY ROBOTS DEAD WITH IT, HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Don't mind him as the first thing he does upon realizing what's happening is swing, trying to get the robots off both him and Shinnosuke. No time for talking here, everyone, just panicked noises and smashing things with a shovel.

These dumb fools.]

[DAMN IT HE KNEW SOMETHING LIKE THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN]

Shit!

[Shinnosuke, unfortunately, doesn't have a shovel because he didn't run back to pick it off the ground—but he does have a shard of glass in his coat pocket (just in case), which he's taking out to accompany Jason's heroic efforts.

But as they do that, he's attempting to head towards whatever Jason shot, because damn it, if this is all going to go wrong, they might as well achieve what they came here for. Screw everything.]

[ Unfortunately, the shovel doesn't do much. When one is crushed, another scratches. When one scratches, another crawls. It's a mess of tiny little limbs, crawling under clothes and over faces. Jason's face in particular, they seem to be focusing on, crawling up and up and up. He should probably stop yelling, keep his mouth closed, be more careful --

But he isn't. Because of this, one of the snakes dives in and attaches it's fangs deeply into his tongue, pulling back and tearing the organ halfway out of his mouth. The paralyzing agent will kick in then, starting to make his whole face numb soon.

Shinnosuke, on the other hand, does make it over the teller booth, but he too is covered in skittering venom robots. With the light, he'll be able to see who Jason shot. The corpse of Bruce Wayne lays in the teller booth, eyes open and expression shocked and his shirt and stomach is torn apart as the venom robots spill forth from it.

He'll also be able to see the person in the booth next to him. Saki Arisu sits there, also caught in a perpetual scream and her body buzzing with creatures. They move under the skin, clawing and poking at the flesh in a struggle to get out.

Oh, won't you free them?

Fortunately for the two of them, the other two booths are too dark to tell who sits there. ]

Edited 2017-02-07 01:34 (UTC)

[i spent like 20 minutes googling for nothing so y'ALL BETTER APPRECIATE IT

Because, yeah, his tongue sure is getting ripped out. And he sure is going to start gagging on his own blood, the paralyzing agent only serving to make this whole experience worse. If he thought this was going to be the second worst choice of his life, he was horribly mistaken. How nice! With no medical supplies and shitload of panic, all he can do is tip his head so the blood goes out through his teeth as opposed to down his throat.

Meanwhile, the shovel will be abandoned in favor of ripping the robots off with his bare hands. This may or may not be effective at all. It may even be a worse idea than trying to smash them with the shovel, actually. But either way, he tries to move towards Shinnosuke, reaching to take a hold of his shirt and prompt him to grab whoever is stuck here and get the hell out. After all, he doesn't want to drown in his own blood for a whole lot of nothing.

Except, you know, if he gets close enough he'll be able to see Bruce's corpse in the teller booth — and that's enough to bring every single thought in his mind to a screeching halt. Such a pity he can't scream, so much as he can gurgle through the blood in his mouth.

... Seems like it's all up to Shinnosuke now.

Probably.]

[There's one little problem with the "leave it to Shinnosuke" plan.

He doesn't recognize the person Jason shot, and it doesn't matter (sorry, Jason), despite the horrific scene. That's namely because when he sees who's next to the corpse, the world, likewise, comes to a halt for him. He freezes, his mind blanking out and his breath catching in his throat. There's no way.

It's been ten, long years since he's seen that face, but he'd recognize it no matter where or when.]

Sa... ki...?

[There's no way. There's no way. It's impossible—he knows that. Saki caught the 《disease》. How could they bring her here? (But he knows that to be foolish as well—the powers of the people running the game are beyond his comprehension.) It's an illusion. It has to be. (But—)

He stumbles forward with a broken step. Hesitate, and you die. He's aware of that too, and so he shouldn't be wavering here. He should just grab Jason (Jason—is Jason okay? That's the only thought that breaks through his haze of shock) and get out of here. That's not his sister. It can't be.

... But how is he supposed to walk away when faced with the sole reason he's been living for?]

[ You know, there's something poetic about what happens next.

Shinnosuke is so busy staring, so busy focused, eyes wide and open, that he doesn't really quite see, does he? He doesn't see the spider, the one slowly inching down from the ceiling bit by bit, many eyes fixed right on Shinnosuke. He doesn't see as it slowly gets closer and closer until it'll drop quickly into his face.

Then, it shoots it's web.

The problem with all these creatures being mechanical means that they all have sense. They all have purpose. The web is contained and careful and lands right across Shinnosuke's wide, open, fixed on Saki eyes.

Then the web will burn. Burn right into his skin, covering his eyes and start melting into his flesh. The web is literally melting right into his eyes. Shame, that. ]

[Shinnosuke reacts quickly.

... Not necessarily usefully, but he reacts, letting out a cry of pain and swinging his shard of glass in the direction that the web came from. That said (shitshitshit), he's ultimately not concerned with killing whatever attacked him.

His vision flashes, burning, before it goes dark. Even as a part of him is rendered blank with shock, another is analyzing the situation: damage to his eyes. It hurts like hell, but screw it, he can deal with pain. His eyes—damn it, his eyes. But he can survive without vision. Saki—no.

It's easier when he can't see her anymore. It's not easy, and it's a war with himself, because she's right there; still, he reminds himself. If there's any chance that she's a fake, then he has to live for the sake of the real one. He can't afford to die here.

(I'm so sorry.)

Gritting his teeth and resisting the urge to bring his hand to his face, he whirls around to face where he thinks Jason is. For obvious reasons, he can't be too sure.]

Jason! We're leaving—now.

[He's definitely going to need some help, though.]

[Luckily(?) for both of them, it's Shinnosuke's screaming that snaps him out of his shock and horror. In a moment, he convinces himself of a theory he had been casually considering for a while now. That corpse— It's not the real Bruce. It can't be the real Bruce. He refuses to believe it's the real Bruce. Perhaps a copy of a copy of a copy, but the real Bruce Wayne would never meet such a terrible fate.

And with that, he grabs Shinnosuke's arm and sharply pulls him in direction of the front door. He can't speak. He can't tell him what he's planning to do, but he squeezes his arm and hopes he understands that means yes. They're getting the hell out of here, one way or another. Grabbing the shovel he dropped as quickly as he can, he leads Shinnosuke towards the door and starts attempting to bash it in.

Or bash it out, in any case. The window's a little out of reach for both of them right now; Shinnosuke's blind and Jason's beginning to feel the effects of blood loss. Guess they really should have gone in through the front door, huh?

What a gosh darned shame.]

["Checking out the Post Office with Shinnosuke. Stop by if we aren't back in the hotel by noon." she finds the note after the designated time, and immediately does a quick search of the hotel for any signs of Jason or Shinnosuke.]

[nothing]

[her actions are based on her expecting the worse. she tracks down Hannibal, the surgeon who saved Natalie and Seizaburo's lives (and any guilt she feels for interrupting his peaceful Monday will have to wait until later). with the good doctor in tow, she bolts for the post office. and as she nears it, she hears the sounds of banging and bashing against the boarded up front door]

Jason? Shinnosuke? It's Milla! I have Hannibal with me, please hang on!

[and then with a nod to her doctor companion, she reaches out and grabs one of the boards nailed to the front door with both hands and does her darnedest to rip it off. she has no idea what's inside besides the two boys whose name she just yelled, but. . . right now, that doesn't matter]

[ Jesus christ, children. Stop fucking breaking into the spooky shops when has this gone well in the past ]

[ Though luckily, whatever Hannibal may feel about the situation he doesn't outwardly express. He runs along with Milla to the post office with a look of worried concern clear on his face. He'd had his time with Will interrupted, which is ordinarily something he'd find quite rude, but considering the apparent circumstances, he can't be too upset about it.

Though once he hears the banging, he stops, uncertain. Milla starts to pry at the boards almost immediately, but Hannibal is more hesitant. He's unfortunately just not as shonen as some people to feel like tackling a door with his bare hands, so hopefully Milla has it? Otherwise, he'll run to go get some other tool to help.

Though even so, he stands at the door to yell through it. ]

This is Dr. Lecter— Jason, Shinnosuke, are you- [ Well, asking if they're all right seems a bit non-specific, so considering the track record, he changes his mind: ] Are you in one piece?

[Shinnosuke joins in Jason's efforts in an attempt to bash the door open (or in his case, kick it down). Hence, once Milla gets all the boards off, that door's coming flying open.

Sure, they're both in... pretty shitty shape, what with Jason's bloody mouth and the web burning into Shinnosuke's eyes, but they're both alive?? That counts for something??? Also, there's probably a bunch of those robot scorpions/snakes/etc. skittering around behind them.

But Shinnosuke will be stumbling out, at least, and immediately, he begins rambling, his voice pained.]

G-Get my bag—there's some stuff in it and we need to burn what's in the building. Not everything—just the stupid robots or whatever, and burn the bodies in there too. Whatever you see, tell yourself it's not real and just get rid of them. They're infested.

[He still doesn't know quite what he saw, but for the sake of his sanity, he has to cling to it being a trap. If it's one, then he can take a guess as to what the other booths contain.

He didn't want to say that. He doesn't want to burn what might be his sister (and he can hear voices of a memory past, screaming: She won't make it! Kill her!) but he has to tell himself that it's not real.]

... But other than that, we checked out the post office for you guys. You're welcome.

[... At least he's alive enough to snark? (He needs this in order to stay calm, okay.)]

[Of course, habit is damned thing. Jason immediately opens his mouth to offer additional information, hoping to urge the two adults to act, but nothing comes out of it. Only a wet, gurgling sound and a grisly view of his now empty mouth, the tongue long gone. He snaps his mouth shut as soon as he realizes what he's lost, teeth audibly clicking together, and then he wildly gesticulates towards the bag Shinnosuke had brought with him.

There is it, he means to say.

A moment later, he gestures towards the unlit bonfire in the middle of the town. They have to get that going, guys. The urgency of all of this would be more apparent if his face wasn't numb as fuck, but. There they go.

Once that's done, he takes a hold of Shinnosuke's arm again. Here's your seeing eye teen, bro. Please don't keel over before Jason does, though he's super duper close to doing that at this rate.]

[even without the power of Maxwell and the Four, Milla is strong enough to yank the boards from the building and toss them aside. it's not a quick process, but bit by bit the front door opens enough for Shinnosuke and Jason to spill outside]

[she barely registers both teenagers' conditions before her eyes are drawn towards the skittering robots. her gaze narrows, and she instinctively jumps back, reaching for Higekiri's sword strapped at her waist. when Shinnosuke mentions burning, she instinctively lifts an arm in front of her and begins the incantation-- Flames, come forth-- before she remembers the spell won't work]

Dr. Lecter, please look after them! I'll burn what needs to be burned!

[she bolts for Shinnosuke's bag and digs through it to grab what she needs-- matches, a lighter, some ignition fluid. she still isn't completely familiar with this sort of fire-producing technology (spirit artes are SO MUCH EASIER), but it's all surprisingly intuitive. she can do this!! she has to kick a few robots out of the way in the process, but whatever!!]

[and once she has what she needs, she back the fuck away from the building and starts dropping lighter fluid and lit matches on the approaching robots in quick succession, slowly leading them towards the bonfire in the middle of town]

[ As soon as Shinnosuke and Jason stumble out, Hannibal is quick to evaluate them both. Considering the pattern that had been set so far, he's almost surprised that they have all of their limbs intact, but technically speaking, this is better. If they had both lost a limb, even as good of a surgeon as he was, he doubts he could save both of them. He was only one person, after all.

And as such, he gives their injuries a quick look, and he has to make a judgement call on who to tend to first. In his mind, he can see the detailed picture of veins, arteries, the flow of blood, and from his other hobbies, he knows how long it would take for them to bleed out. So he pulls on the latex gloves that he had brought with him (in fact, he had started carrying around a pair at all times, along with painkillers), and he heads to Jason first. With one hand, he grips Jason's jaw, and with the other, he encourages Jason to open his mouth. He needs to see the injury better, but as he inspects it, he speaks to Shinnosuke. ]

Shinnosuke, I'm going to have to treat Jason first. Are you still able to follow my instructions? I can walk you through cleaning up the area while I work.

[ And if he can't, that's totally find and fair... But unfortunately (no, fuck y'all, it's fortunately) there aren't two Hannibals. ]

[Thanks, Jason, you're a pal. He'll do his best not to keel over.

Shinnosuke hates not being able to see what's going on, but when Hannibal speaks, he nods. Good—he better be treating Jason first (not that Shinnosuke has any idea what's wrong with him, beyond him having been oddly silent, but still).]

Yeah, I'll do my best. What's the damage to Jason?

[HE'S FINE (he's not fine at all) but really, he knows that his eyes are beyond saving and it doesn't seem like the web is doing any further damage, so he can wait.]

[Yeah. No. Hannibal isn't going to have any trouble inspecting Jason's injury, as Jason will open his mouth without much of a fuss. There's, uh, a lot of blood in there. And lacerations. And other gross things that come as a result of having a robot snake literally chomp down on your mouth. What isn't there, however, is his tongue. All that's really left is a little stump near the end, just enough to make sure he doesn't accidentally choke every time he tries to drink water.

So, that's a thing. He's fine. Everyone is fine. Not much for him to do here besides stare at Hannibal, grunting in displeasure because please do your thing as quickly as possible??? Looks like someone would have preferred to keel over, as long as Shinnosuke gets proper treatment.

Idiot.]

[while Hannibal checks on these dumb teenage boys, Milla continues her streak of arson. she yells, hoots, hollers, anything to get the robots' attention on her and not the injured parties and their doctor. some bots get scorched on the way to the bonfire, while others follow her there]

[once she reaches said bonfire, she tosses the last of the ignition fluid onto it, followed by at least three lit matches. when the fire is really roaring, she darts to the other side of it, hoping that the robots will try to take a straight line to her and wind up leaping straight into the fire instead. the plan works well enough-- let's hope people like barbecue robots for dinner tonight!!]

[she hasn't completed her mission just yet, but this takes care of the tiny bots that spilled out of the post office first. she'll have to run inside to burn whatever is left in the building once she's done out here]

[ At least Hannibal isn't at all squeamish, clearly, because though the amount of blood is obscuring the view slightly, he does stick his fingers in Jason's mouth to feel out the damage that he can't clearly see. At least he's wearing gloves and definitely being careful, though it's not like this is going to be comfortable. ]

His tongue is missing. Nearly completely.

[ He draws his hand back, since that doesn't make this simple, but it makes what he'll need to do fairly decisive, albeit gruesome. Considering how heavily the tongue bleeds and that there's not really much in the way of flesh for Hannibal to swab and stitch closed... It'll need to be cauterized. He looks to where Milla is at work, and he considers asking her to grab a piece of metal, but he decides it's not quite that dire. But they will need to move for that.

For now, he starts to take off his tie, because much to his own displeasure here, he does need to do what he can to at least slow the bleeding. The knot is undone, and as he speaks to Shinnosuke, he grabs opposite ends and starts to rip at the fabric, though it's difficult. Ties aren't exactly made to be ripped, but the alternative here is his shirt, and I'm not making Jason put pieces of Hannibal's shirt in his mouth. ]

As best you can, start to clear the— debris from around your eyes. [ He's not sure what to call it... ] Don't put pressure on the socket if you can help it. I'll take care of that myself.

[ With the tie at least ripped up enough, he'll offer a piece of it to Jason. ]

Use this as a bandage for the moment. Press it firmly against the injury, since I won't be able to close it for at least a few minutes. We need to go to the hotel's kitchen. I'm going to have to cauterize it.

[While hearing has always been a large part of Shinnosuke's life, considering that music is literally life or death for him, it's an odd sensation to have to rely on it like this. Listening to the fire, listening to Milla do her thing, listening to Hannibal (sucks to be Jason)—this is what he's going to have to use from now on, huh?

He knows how to adapt, at least.]

Well, that explains why he's been suspiciously quiet... [A pause, to catch his breath, because fuck, everything hurts.] Hey, if this has shut him up, maybe one good thing's come out of all this...

[Sorry, Jason, gotta throw shade on you.]

Got a glove I can borrow?

[He doesn't exactly feel like touching a potentially corrosive spider web with his bare hand.]

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[ WEEK FOUR ]

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