( MINGLE - WEEK 3 )

[abhoth]

SURVIVORS: 36 The sun is shining, the air conditioner units hum as they always do, and a gentle morning breeze blows against the windows. The scent of pine cones and evergreen follow you wherever you go in the motel, save for the parking lot and outdoor pool. It seems like someone was very generous with the detergent while moping the floors. The two grandfather clocks (one on each floor) will ring with each passing hour, indicating the time of day without fail. With this knowledge — they'll note the motel will continue to be surrounded by fog until 8:00 AM on the dot. It is at that hour that the fog will begin to recede. Not enough to reveal the whole city, but enough to allow residents to explore some of the buildings surrounding the motel. And speaking of the motel, it doesn't seem like there's anything out of the ordinary on this lovely Monday morning. How quaint. As a reminder, we are now accepting murder proposals for Week 3! If you're interested in having your character commit a murder this week, be sure to send in your proposal before Tuesday, 9:00 PM EST. Without any murders we can't have a murdergame, so go forth and let the bodies hit the floor! As always, feel free to PM us or send us a PP over plurk if you have any questions! ( quick navigation ) ic rulebook | locations | statuses | room assignments private conversations | ic profiles | graveyard | full navigation

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[lohengrins]

[ warily, he steps in. percival looks back, yet again, to ensure that the other two are still behind him.

thanks to the jrpg fantasyland he hails from, it's not all too difficult for him to have some vague idea as to what the pods are. ]

I'd peg them as creatures of some kind. Hopefully dormant.

[ hopefully. ]

[abhoth]

[ Quer will be able to see that this was in fact an office of some kind. There's burnt curtains, broken wood planks exposing to the foundation below, half the wall leading out is boarded up by plywood. The desk at the center point is the most curious — it has small decorative figurines like the statues outdoor. A lavish scroll behind the desk reads a language other than their own, but it seems to be some verse.

You thought they were dormant? That's cute. Hajime's humming isn't the only thing. There's a faint buzzing — a low vibration from the flesh pods. Almost comedically on cue, a sudden stab of the flesh pods rips the casing apart, from the inside a bug around 2 and a half feet tall emerges. It's wings clinging to its body, form shakily crawling out. Followed by another and another.

Before the trio can react, there's a total of six crawling from the flesh pod Percival was standing in front of. There's a few flicks of their wings — testing their flight ability and mobility. The bulbous abdomen of the bugs communicate with a vibration that pierces against the group's eardrums and upon realizing they were not alone... all of the bugs take flight, a stinger ready and catching aflame with a sudden eruption. The fire is immediately sent towards Percival in a roaring gust. ]

[lohengrins]

[ what did he expect? this, to some extent. he doesn't yelp -- but he does flinch as he shields himself with his arms, the fire gnawing at his skin as he begins to bolt towards the desk. ]

Get out of here! Both of you!

[ fire. something he's all too accustomed too -- he's admittedly more used to it being his weapon as opposed to his enemy. when he's reached the desk, he proceeds to stand atop of it using the sheer strength of his legs. seared arms are bit of a liability, right now.

and with all his might, he viciously reaches for one of the bugs' wings -- tearing them off in some attempt to immobilize it.

does it work? who knows. but he'll be damned if he doesn't try. DPS, motherfuckers. ]

[blacktailed]

[ the shriek that comes from here when the fire erupts is probably expected. but where can they go, other than back towards the exit where there are still more bugs that wield fire? there's only back, but in panic, her leg accidentally hits one of the pods, which is probably going to release more angry bugs.

anything that gives off fire is something not to attack with beak - or teeth as this is, and she swipes in front of her with her sharpened nails, desperately trying to ward them away as she's moving in reverse, trying to get out, out, out.]

[g101]

[ it's utter chaos in literally seconds. it's kind of hilarious, in a backwards way. later, she'll probably laugh about the fact they just stumbled into this.

the problem is, hajime is the type of person who does things without thinking. her actions aren't always thought through, and she's a hypocrite for it, but ---]

Hey!

[ better quer and percival get out than all of them fall here. ]

Hey, hey! [ the buzz of bugs is terrifying in a way, but it's invigorating in another. flight or fight kicks in and hajime chooses flight while quer and percival engage in their own terrible personal battles. deeper into the room, clamoring up on top of a chair or desk, anything to be taller. ]

This way, I'm right here! Yoohoo! I'm all fleshy and good!

[ percival can yell about how they need to get out as much as he wants, but hajime's willing to be the distraction. ]

[abhoth]

[ One of the bugs go down, squealing at a high pitch. It's gone, leaving five more to contend with. The wall are set aflame once more, the wood that isn't burned to a crisp now beginning to spread across the opposite side of our main trio. Luckily for them, two of the bugs immediately try and exit the room and escape in a fluttering way. Three left who seem to frantically try and find a way out. They buzz around Perc, then around. He's scratched by a stinger once, leaving his back feeling hot — burning if he doesn't stop drop and roll.

Quer is unfortunate, disturbing the sleepy bugs. For the most part, she actually managed to step on two of them, squishing them against her foot like dropped Jello on the floor. The kerosene-like goo is good... so long as it doesn't catch flame. She however, awakens a fourth, one that immediately begins to flap it's wings and send embers of hot red flakes right onto Quer's chest and neck. The flakes embed against her skin, burning into her flesh like pellets. She better use those nails to claw them out.

And who can forget about the loudest? She gets a chair, one that is utterly shaky. Hajime can't react in time - not when one bug shoots an enflamed stinger towards her. It hits, directly impaling her right into the muscle of her bicep. The force sends her flying back, directly into the wall. A second stinger pins her other arm, crucifying her in a way that was only fitting for this sinful endeavor. Hajime feels heat burn through her muscles, but most importantly, as the final bug flutters close, it lands onto her forehead, it's abdomen ready to impale Hajime right between the eyes until — ]

[lohengrins]

[ it's wildfire across his back -- it bites into him, unrelenting and raw. it's a pain he's dealt upon others more than he's dealt with himself. is this what his enemies feel on a day to day basis?

he must have more power than he thought.

percival grits his teeth, leaps off the desk and cradles his own head as his back hits the floor. his back kneads against the floor, just enough to buffer the flames. hastily, he brings his legs up and rebounds back onto his feet with the aid of his flexibility. he fights the urge to scream as the skin on his freshly wounded back stretches out -- there are more important things to tend to.

it's a tough call; two people struggling, not enough time to defend both at once. he jerks the drawer out of the desk and hurls it at the bug currently assaulting quer. panic now racing through his veins, he darts towards hajime -- and then does he lunge towards the bug lingering near her forehead. fingers grasp at their wings, and he wastes no time yanking them out with his teeth bared. ]

Quer, take cover underneath the desk! Now!

[blacktailed]

[her chest, her neck is burning, and she can feel the flakes sinking deeper. there's no choice, she can't bat them off while this is happening, and Percival's words reach her in the haze as she's choking down yelling about this.

Hajime. Hajime. the bug burns like the exorcist's blood and she has to trust that he'll pull Jiji free, throwing herself under the desk and twisting so she can scratch at her own flesh to get the burning parts out, out, out -

but there's also something she has, and she rips it out of her sash with the adrenaline in her veins, throwing it his direction.]

Percival!

[it's a long metal nail file, and while it's not much, it has a bit of weight and one sharp end on it.]

[g101]

[ this is a horrifyingly familiar sensation.

being burned alive, from the inside out, is not new to her; it'd happened back in tachikawa when joe set her on fire multiple times until her skin felt like crispy pork. this is different, kept to one place -- two places, as the second embeds in her bicep. it isn't that this isn't painful, it's that she thinks, "oh, this is nostalgic," and barely has time to react to the third going for her forehead.

welp.

hopefully percival and quer are smarter enough to use this as a means to get out, she thinks.

but hajime's not really a quitter and she's been cut in half, lost an arm, and knows what being on the brink of death is like. fight or flight kicks in and she spreads her wings. hajime's biceps are pinned but it's-- ]

That's... all you got?

[ kind of a problem, yeah. she's overcome it though. ]

Come on, you look so scary but... You could do more--

[ her hand struggles and it hurts like hell but her fingers grip the stinger with enough strength and she finds it in her to scream, and pull. ]

You can do better than that!

[ the stinger comes undone and she dangles, pinned by one stinger.

there's no blood but holy shit does being jerked like that not feel good - hajime shrieks again, but it's a howl of pain this time. ]

[abhoth]

[ By the time that they tend to their wounds, be it of the physical kind or mental strain, the room was half aflame. An inferno of heat begins to tickle at their skin and the bugs are becoming more furious with their motions. They dip and dive around, trying to latch onto Quer before she secures herself safely away. She's successful in throwing her file to Percival, if he's so keen on finishing them.

She won't need to for long — the back wall begins to crumble, showing the obvious exit for this trio. Some of the pods hatch more bugs that fly outwards after a minute or so, out into the unknown of Yuggoth.

Percival is successful in stopping the bug that threatens Hajime's life, leaving it as a poor smushed bug in his burly grasp. The wings become limp in his hands and the body falls at Hajime's dangling feet. Hajime's successful in ripping out one of the stingers — muscle damage for the next few weeks will affect her grasp and mobility, but she's living. The heat from her wound will subside in 3-5 days but if left untreated, her wounds can become infected. For now, there's no blood — not yet. If she applies more pressure getting the other stinger out, she will definitely fever up a wound that will risk blood loss. It's too deeply rooted into her flesh.

But, a solid three bugs remain in the flesh pod room and their exit is secured. Our trio can choose their own adventure for now.

After it's all said and done, the church will be burnt to the ground, leaving only bits of glass, wood, and half-revealed marble statues available after Tuesday when the fire goes out. ]

[lohengrins]

[ the nail file is promptly caught, and the bugs fall limp. hajime is free from their grasp -- percival rushes to support her with one of his arms.

that is, until another bug draws nears him. ]

Shit -- stay under the desk!

[ he can hear his own heartbeat -- he breathes, dragging hajime and himself forwards. the sharpened edge of the file ferociously slashes through one of the remaining bugs, and he ducks with hajime still in his grip so that sizzling blood of theirs doesn't spray against the two of them. ]

Not a bad [ he pants. ] weapon. [ and yet he smirks nonetheless. ]

We're leaving, now.

[blacktailed]

[he says it, and she nods, scurrying out from the desk - though one of the two remaining bugs sees a chance, and flies at her. no time. no time to really think except for how easily she'd crushed them under her feet, and she snatches it from the air, grabbing each end to rip the bug in half. the blood splatters and burns, but she wipes her hands on her clothes, letting the burning liquid eat through fabric instead of her hands too deeply. this outfit is a ruin anyway, ]

Clinic. It's this way!

[it's like she can't hear anything save the fire and the words of the other two, her mind tuning out anything that can't help her keep going even though her body wants to curl up and hide. she'll lead the way she remembers, trusting that the other two won't fall behind.]

[g101]

[ hajime hears percival but her body acts differently. that's kind of how it always is with her; in one ear, out the other. it takes a painful amount of exertion just to look up and her vision is blurring but she's sure she can hear that there's a fire coming for them. there's a lot of things happening at once and her body's getting hotter from the heat and pain but her vision's narrowing.

they say it goes cold before you die, so she supposes it's not death knocking on her door, at least.

hajime falls and she feels something, someone, scooping her up. it hurts, it hurts, it hurts but she hears buzzing somewhere around her so she raises an arm and slashes down, over percival's shoulder; she's not in her robotic suit, but she's still an old hand with a pair of small, sharp things. she can shank if it's necessary. there's blood from the creature, but she just hisses. moving is like her entire body set aflame and every muscle in her arm is burning. it's almost impossible but the adrenaline is good. ]

You should have gone.

[ as they leave the room behind, (she hears quer's footsteps but the pain is so, so, so much, percival is strong but she can feel a kind of numbness settling into her body) the receding image is too much for her stomach: nausea settles in. hajime vomits, and then

everything goes black. ]