Event Log: End of Arc 2

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters
What: The event log for the End of Arc 2
Where: All over the city
When: November 25th-December 12th
Warnings: A full-scale battle, including character death, NPC death, and various other ways to suffer

It was bound to happen. The Null warned you, after all, and this has been building for awhile - and now it's here. First comes the initial attack, the agents of the Null attacking Hope's temple. Then, an SOS, warning the city of what's happened: a betrayal, and Hope being injured. Luckily for everyone, thanks to the actions of his guards Hope survives the attack. Unluckily, his attacker, the goddess Delight, escapes and lets the Null in.

Flooding into the cave, the Null will attack anyone who they believe is resisting them. They'll destroy buildings and deploy dangerous crowd control weapons, in addition to their sheer strength and speed. Confusion empties the monsters in the tunnels into the city, to help distract the Null. Some gods fight, others provide safe havens, but everyone is in danger.

After about a week and a half of the attack, Fear summons enough power to teleport the city. This stops any new Null from arriving through the tunnels, but the remaining Null must be hunted down and destroyed, or else they'll signal their location to the rest of their species. The danger will lessen as Null are taken out, but things won't really be safe until Fear moves the city again, so don't get too comfortable.

What will you do? Run and hide? Fight? Help the fighters? Turn on the gods yourself? Whatever you do, it's time to make a decision.

► This log covers November 25th-December 12th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you get taken out by the Null, please let us know here.

Comments

[evocation]

Yeah, yeah.

[She pulls back, patting his shoulder as she shakes her head.]

Just take the compliment. Say you're a badass with the spell and own it.

[Everyone around her is incapable of doing this!]

[lifetothefullest]

[He manages a small laugh at that.]

I can accept that.

[He likes the idea of being badass with magic. But he's also recovering a bit more, and realizes they probably shouldn't stay where they are; surely the gunshots could've been heard by any other Null in the area, so there might be more coming this way.]

We should probably get out of the open though; I think I've used up all my badassery for now.

[evocation]

Yeah, probably.

[Kyna stands up, offering Lance her hand.]

Want to go back to the clinic? You should take a nap or something.

[She knows from experience how much even the simplest spells can take out of you when you're first learning, and that's even without getting electrocuted by a crazy robot.]

[lifetothefullest]

[Lance picks up his gun and puts it back in its holster, but then accepts the offered help gratefully and gets to his feet; his head spins and he wavers a little unsteadily, but it thankfully passes. Still, the suggestion of a nap sounds incredibly appealing, even if the prospect of going back to the clinic--or one of the clinics, he supposes--is something he has no interest in.

But, fortunately enough, they're actually not that far from the spire he lives in. He could just go back home and rest for awhile, and there's a spare bedroom if Kyna wants to do the same. Plus he's pretty sure there's at least something edible in the cabinets.]

I think I'll just go back to my apartment; it isn't too far.

[Definitely closer than any of the clinic locations, at least.]

I have a spare room and I think some food... Somewhere... If you want to take a break too.

[evocation]

Oh, sure.

[A break sounds pretty awesome right now, she has to admit. She's not going to be able to keep blasting away at the Null for much longer without one.]

Can we cook the ramen before we eat it?

[lifetothefullest]

[He manages another small grin in response, taking a few cautious steps to make sure he doesn't suddenly get dizzy or fall down--the latter doesn't happen, and the former is manageable--before beginning to lead the way toward Spire Two.]

You can cook anything you want, but I'm not making any promises myself.

[evocation]

Oh my God, Lance. If you chew on a block of ramen in front of me I'm gonna turn you into a snail.

[She can actually totally do that.]

[lifetothefullest]

A cool snail, or...?

[Or a boring, tiny garden snail? These are the important questions.]

[evocation]

The lamest snail to ever exist.

[Obviously, this is a dire threat.]

[lifetothefullest]

[The direst. Fortunately this is exactly the level of conversation Lance can manage at the moment, and the silliness of it is reassuring.]

Okay, fine, no uncooked ramen.

[He makes no promises about uncooked anything else, though.]

[evocation]

Good.

[She looks pleased with herself, anyway.]

You're totally running yourself ragged, aren't you?

[lifetothefullest]

[Well that was an abrupt change in topic, and Lance gives her a look for it while he decides just to what extent he wants to deflect it.]

Everyone is.

[They're all overdoing it, probably including Kyna; he's not any different. And they're already getting close to the spire, thankfully.]

[evocation]

Yeah, I know, and we're all supposed to give each other shit for it.

[lifetothefullest]

As the resident psychologist in the cave, I think I get... I don't know. Priority rights on that.

[Words are still a little difficult. But the idea is he totally gets to call other people out on overdoing it, but no one's allowed to do the same to him.]

[evocation]

Okay, so who gets to keep an eye on you?

[lifetothefullest]

Side bonus of being a psychologist; I can keep an eye on myself.

[That is so not how it works, but hey, worth a shot.

And okay, they're to the spire, thankfully; not that Lance is looking forward to the stairs, but it'll be worth it. Hopefully.]

Mine is 501.

[evocation]

Ugh, of course it is.

[She sighs a little and starts up the stairs.]

Look, I'm not gonna be a dick about it. It's just... This whole thing is really fucked up.

[lifetothefullest]

[He can't help but give a hint of a grin at the complaint, and tries to focus on the conversation instead of the stairs. The mix of concern without being overbearing is appreciated, and he's quiet a moment as he decides how to respond; concentrating on walking and talking at the same time is still a bit difficult, because although the mental haziness is fading physical weakness is setting in a bit instead.]

Yeah. And there's a lot to it.

[The situation, he means; there are so many layers to it, and he imagines even the people who get out of it relatively physically unscathed are going to have difficulty with the psychological aspects of it. The whole thing is somewhat traumatizing in some many ways.]

It'll be easier and more effective to sort it all out after it's over, though.

[Assuming, of course, that it ends and they're all still here to deal with the aftermath.]

[evocation]

I guess so.

[But there's no telling when it'll be over, and that's what's got Kyna so on edge. She's dealt with awful things before, but there was always a set goal—kill the monster, get the job done, get paid, go home. This is different. She's not sure how to deal.]

Do you think it's going to get worse?

[lifetothefullest]

[Lance, unfortunately, is more used to this than he ever wanted to be; it wasn't killer robots or anything, but dealing with a situation in which every day is uncertain and dangerous--and there's no end in sight--was a reality for him for a long time. But as much as he hates it, it means he does have an advantage some others might not have in that he knows for certain how quickly things can turn around.

So although he's realistic as he answers, the reassurance he adds is not hollow.]

Yes. I think it will get worse, but if everyone continues working together as they have been, we have a chance. We just have to keep going.

[People are getting injured and exhausted--he and Kyna are great examples right now--but they're also learning more and more effective ways of handling the Null. There's reason to be hopeful.]

[evocation]

That's pretty optimistic.

[Nice to hear, though.]

Uh... is there anything else I can do at the clinic? Or for you, or... whatever?

[lifetothefullest]

Might as well be, right?

[Since being pessimistic isn't going to do any good, and optimism won't do any harm. And thankfully they're on the right floor now, and Lance moves to unlock the door--easier said than done with his hands trembling a bit--but gets it open quickly enough.]

I don't know about the clinics. I haven't been to the new locations.

[And he's not really interested in doing so anyway, for a few reasons. At least not right now anyway.

But he offers a small smile at her for the sentiment, especially the last part, letting her go in first if she wants; the apartment is tidy, although not particularly decorated. He hasn't spent a lot of time here lately, and for a long time after arriving he just wasn't physically feeling up to finding and bringing unnecessary things to his apartment just for looks.

And as far as Kyna's last question--]

Don't turn me into a snail?

[That'll help him out for sure.]

[evocation]

[She grins at that.]

No promises. Go sit down. I'm gonna raid your kitchen.

[lifetothefullest]

[Excellent, mission accomplished.

It's more reassuring than he expected to be here in his own apartment, which is just as normal and calm as it always is and it's almost possible to forget all the chaos outside. Almost.

He sinks down on his couch as instructed, but offers another light comment in response.]

I apologize in advance for what you might or might not find.

[He has no idea what's in his kitchen, but the actual answer is... Not a lot. A few cans of edible but not too healthy food, a package of ramen, a few different fruits from the orchard, and a bottle of some sort of tea along with several bottles of water. Not a lot worth eating, but at least something.]

[evocation]

[Kyna digs up the fruit and ramen and returns to toss him an apple, keeping one for himself.]

Do you actually want the ramen?