Event Log: Flu Season

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters
What: The event log for the Flu Season event
Where: All over the city
When: March 20th-March 30th
Warnings: Gross sneezing, sick people, and paranoia

It starts with a cough, a sneeze, a sore throat - something small and simple, easily ignored. But then your symptoms get worse. It's probably been awhile since you've been sick, that sort of thing doesn't usually happen here. You might be able to raid the shops for some tissues and tea before it gets too bad, and hopefully you've got a friend to help out until you get better. Surely it'll be over soon, right?

Until the fever sets in, and you start to understand why your friend is really there. They don't want to take care of you. They want to make sure this is the last anyone will ever see of you. They want to learn all your secrets. They want to steal your most precious possession. You know they're plotting against you, you know they're keeping something from you. What will you do to find out what it is?

Then, as the sickness fades, you realize it was all in your mind. Let's hope you didn't do or say anything too awful. But that friend of yours... they seem to have picked up your cough. Maybe you should help them out?

► This log covers March 20th-March 30th.
► 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 your paranoia ends in murder, please let us know here.

Comments

03/26-03/29

[jocoeur]

( if you happen to spy him somewhere on the streets, akira is looking rather dishevelled. his shirt is buttoned haphazardly, one missing, one lopsided... either he didn't have the good sense on how to dress himself today, or something else is going on... at any rate, he certainly doesn't look well.

as the days drag on, it's obvious that he hasn't been having a very good time. his hair is messier than usual, greasy, unkempt. he's pressing himself against buildings, crouching behind any objects he can find... his grey eyes wild and unfocused. surely... no one would dare to approach a cornered cat. )

[doublecrowss]

[ No one except for Akechi, possibly.

He had been lucky for a little while, mostly avoiding the flu by virtue of avoiding people altogether. But eventually, it caught up to him. And the problem with isolating yourself is that, at times like these, there is absolutely no one to take care of you; you just have to bundle up, and push through on your own.

(It's fine, it's fine... This isn't anything new. He's always taken care of himself, always been alone. That would never change.)

But fate is a bitch, and of course it would put him on Akira's path right as he's at his worst, weak and flushed and vulnerable. By all means, Akechi should ignore him, should run from him-- their last meeting had bordered on passive hostility, and maybe now he would take his chance to have his (rightful) revenge.

But he doesn't. Against his best survival instincts, he engages. ]

The hell is up with you? [ He drawls out, glaring at Akira as though expecting him to pounce on him without warning. ] You look like death.

[ Not that Akechi didn't feel like death, but at least he could keep up proper appearances! ]

[jocoeur]

( no. no, no, no! at the sound of the voice, THAT voice, akira's blood runs cold. the very person he had been trying to escape for the past... how many days? three? four? a week...?

just like akechi, time was the enemy.
his heart was rapid-firing in his chest, and he spun on his heel, wide-eyed and drenched with sweat. one drop, then another, slipped from uncharacteristic, nearly flattened hair... )

You— you found me. ( he'd been trying to hard... to outrun you.
death... he looked like death? was that... a threat?! )

[doublecrowss]

You think I would seek you out?

[ Hah, as if. If there was anything clear from their last meeting - and it wasn't much, considering neither had seemed willing to divulge information - it's that whatever bond they had died long ago, with Akira's attempted murder or Akechi's would-be death. No amount of self-sacrifice could ever mend that bridge.

This is fine. It doesn't bother him. It never bothered him. ]

Don't waste my time, Akira. Just get out of my way.

[ Because he doesn't want his own flu getting worse, but there's something else slipping through the cracks of gritted teeth. Something ugly.

(This isn't fine. It does bother him. It would always bother him.) ]

[jocoeur]

( the sting of betrayal was alive and burning in akira's chest too. how could he sit there and act like he hadn't been staking his place out for the past week?! every brush at the window, every tap on the floor... it had all been akechi— watching him, stalking him, waiting for... some kind of opportunity to—!

justice had been the name of that bond. but there was no justice in this game cat and mouse they've always played. and by going after the place that he lived, where yusuke also resided... that had crossed the line.

akira's thoughts were a dark, muddled place. the greys of his eyes were barely visible, his pupils wide enough to drown it out. this was another trick. a game. act like he had no intentions, and now that he knew where they lived... yusuke!

his tone is low and dangerous. don't... don't make him do this, akechi. ) I won't let you have them... Not a single one.

[doublecrowss]

[ Akechi's eyes narrow to a pair of thin slits, baring his teeth just that little bit more. What is this guy even going on about? He hasn't said anything that could lead Akira to suspicion, or even done anything other than simply crossing his path by chance-- hell, all he has been trying to do since his arrival is to stay away from him and his precious teammate, to give them their space and maybe get some breathing room to figure out this new life of his.

But it looks like that had been too much to hope. Their words of sympathy back in Shido's cruiser, the offer to have them join their ranks again... Lies, all of them. They could never forgive him. They wouldn't even let him try.

Well. If that's how they're going to play. ]

If there's anything I want, then I'll go ahead and take it. [ There wasn't, but he'll say it out of spite-- and anger, resentment, hurt. ] So I will say it just one more time: get out of my way.

[jocoeur]

( so this was how it was going to be... maybe it had been a foolish hope to believe that akechi could have been on their side. he supposed it had all just been a game for the detective, a means to an end... akira had been a fool. the word sounded in his mind over and over, more accusatory as the loop went on.

Fool... fool, fool, FOOL, FOOL!!

he doubles over, almost as though he's in pain. it's like he can physically feel something grinding in his chest, the horrific sensation of a bond twisting and contorting from within... reversing...

shaking hands reach up to pull at a mask that had manifested from nowhere— ripping, tearing it off of his face as he threw his head back with a yowl mixed with the words— ) I said I won't!

( there's blood dripping from his face as he stands there, chest heaving with the effort to breathe... dressed fully in his phantom gear. )

[doublecrowss]

[ There's an instinctive step back at the howl, and an arch of eyebrows when the familiar mask manifests, only to be brusquely ripped off Akira's-- no, Joker's face. Is that really what they have come down to? A neverending battle?

There was still a part of him, tiny and fragmented as it was, that had believed Akira's words back then-- that it wasn't too late, that they could still fight together against their real enemy. The part of him that trusted Akira with one last wish, a binding promise he paid for with his life. But in the end, the master liar was surpassed, blind to the painful truth he had always known: no one would ever want him around, not even the Phantom Thieves. Especially the Phantom Thieves.

He is alone. Alone. Alone. There's no one for him to rely on. Nothing to count on, but his own strength. ]

Bastard...! [ The word barely has the time to make it out there, before Akechi's entire form is engulfed in red flames; once raw energy and anger dissipate, his own Metaverse gear has taken over, but one that is nothing like the princely suit Joker might be expecting.

Neither is the black-and white horned Persona hovering above him. ]

You think you can stop me? Fine! I'll show you what I can do! And I'll start by taking your head...!

[ Akechi has already died for his lies once; it is time for Joker to do the same. ]

[jocoeur]

( wide eyes seem to go even wider as akechi takes on a shape he had never seen before, yet what was unmistakably the black mask. there's an audible— ) Uwa—

( as he takes a moment to drink it in.
it's what he had suspected of course but seeing it, well... hammered everything home. like the way his heart beat in his chest, thick and painfully... the way his head pulsed with every worst case scenario he could imagine.

his blade appeared in a quick blue flame, shaking in an unsteady hand.
for the sake of the phantom thieves, for the sake of everyone he had formed a bond with... this was the only way to make sure they were protected! ) Haa—!

( he leaps forward, the blood on his face drying by now, starting to flake away with the rush of air from his sprint, highlighting the red of his bloodshot eyes as he closes in, trying to make a quick swipe of his knife... )

[doublecrowss]

[ Had Akechi had the time to pay attention to Akira-- no, Joker's reaction, he might have found his surprise strange; this is hardly the first time he has seen him dressed like this, though that had also been his last. It looks like it hadn't been enough to make an impression - or maybe he had just forgotten. The same way he had forgotten their promise. Their tentative bond.

He hates that it stings, more so than the dagger cutting through his skin from a blow he couldn't completely dodge. Careless, reckless-- not in combat, but in life. How foolish he was, to have placed his trust in another, his faith on a lie. But no more. He only has himself.

I am thou. Thou art I.

The motion towards his sword is quick, and withdrawn in a split second; there is no need for formalities in this duel. So his hand is splayed on his mask, lingers for a second, as he calls out to his soul: ]

Come, Loki!

[ The black and white, horned figure materializes in a flash, hovers over him and waits for a command. But Akechi takes his time, stares down his enemy, though hardly out of mercy. He's filled with hatred, and he needs to let that fire build, and fuel his next attack. ]

[jocoeur]

( the slice causes a rush through joker's veins. the adrenaline was loud in his ears as an unfamiliar, menacing persona took shape in front of him. he jumped back with a flip, stumbling slightly as he did so.

how unlike him... the usual flourish in his moves was also lost, unhinged, clunky steps taking their place as he caught himself with another half-step.
this is how it was— how i had to be. to protect everyone... he'd have to unleash his true power!

his shoulders heaved with his breath, arms limp as he throws his head back, desperation bubbling up in his cry for— ) Arsèneeeeeeee!