Nightfall (IC)

[RacingeR]

Elora Griffin & Yuu Kurogami
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 1

Faced with the impossible horror, you ran.

The others were just a few meters ahead of you, with Osamu perhaps about a hundred meters away. The lead was small, and with Yuu dragging along Sakura and Ryou along, the four of you were the rearguard of the group.

As you moved through the alleyway, you risked taking a look behind you. The monster was, expectedly, chasing after you. It moved with inhuman celerity, although you noticed that despite the sheer fluidity and speed of its movements, it seemed somewhat uncoordinated, as if its body had some sort of trouble moving the same way a human could…

Ryou, who was getting dragged by Yuu, took the chance to rip his back from his back and threw it straight to the thing’s head. The Faceless One didn’t even seem to notice the impact on its head, and the bag disintegrated in a burst of tissue and paper.

“Well, there goes my math homework.” Ryou said tremblingly, mixed between fear and pure shock. “I’m so gonna get yelled at…”

“Tch,” Sakura clicked her tongue and freed her hand from Yuu’s grasp, although she continued her dash. “It’s gaining on us. We need to hit it somehow.” She kept speaking with that cold, almost creepy calmness, as if she was just facing a particularly stubborn math problem rather than a life or death fight.

Your path bended through another alley, where the rest of the group had already made their way in. Rather than following a set path to somewhere, they were running behind Osamu, who himself was simply mindlessly escaping in a random direction. In the alleyway, you could see a bunch of trashcans nearby, a big trash container further in to one side, an abandoned, half-rotted cupboard, and a broken microwave on top of the container.

The four of you could almost feel the sick, poisoned aura of the monster just behind you. It was almost about to reach you…

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways

Simply running away doesn't work when it's faster than you.

Flight is not always a simple matter of brute speed vs brute speed, there are a number of things a victim can do to gain an edge, such as knocking down surrounding objects in order to impede the pursuer's path...!

This is the sort of thinking that her panicked mind retreats too, a similar line of thought to that of a police officer. The urge to scream had disappeared with the exertion of running, and while she lacked the cold robotic tone of her counterpart, there's a certain sense of lucidity in Elora's movements that hint she's growing more rational rather than more panicked, as burnt in procedures start to take over for the blind panic that was instinct.

"It doesn't have eyes, how is it following us?!"

It's a simple observation, the answer could be many things, such as echolocation, still-

Hands grasp at one of the plastic trashcans, hurling it to the ground, scattering trash everywhere as her spinning body lines up a shot purely from muscle memory. She has to do it in one flow of motion, spin, rotate, force obstruction by emptying the trash can, and in that same movement-!

Hurling it straight into it's running legs.

Going for the head had already proved it wouldn't do any good, but even buildings fall when their foundation is destabilized, and since it was running in a manner similar to them...

It's own sense of momentum should put it down on the ground, giving them some much needed room, still-

Monsters were monsters.

There was no guarantee their abilities followed logic either.

[Vritra]

Yuu Kurogami
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 1

Adrenaline pumping, feet pounding, the toxic smell of rot hangs heavy on the air as we dance under this mocking moon. Oh, what a maddening night ~~~.

Now if only I had enough equipment to truly enjoy it… Tch whatever I’ll just deal with it for now, my revenge can wait.

Breath, breath, breath, the demon is right behind you, watching, waiting, judging. So, nothing less than flawless is acceptable. Lips pulled tight in a twisted mixture of a smile and a grimace I analyze everything around me. Opponent is fast but lacks finesse, opponent relies on other senses instead of sight, obstructions are an opportunity but… No fire, no noisemakers, no ability to stop making tremors, feh tomorrow I’m bringing stun grenades no matter what Kaede says.

Pushing Ryo and Sakura out in front of me I whirl around and act. Twisting I use my momentum and strength to wrench the dumpster from its position along the wall to the middle of the alley. Ha and for my next trick I’ll smash its kneecaps in with a shitty old microwave. If this shitty zombie wannabe thinks its invincible then I’ll crush that naivete and show it just how much of a prison the body truly is.

[RacingeR]

Elora Griffin & Yuu Kurogami
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 2

It is a strategy borne of desperation, but at the same time following the steps laid by rational thinking. Aiming for the only weakness you had detected in the monster, Elora jumped ahead towards the trashcans while Yuu lunged towards the nearby container.

Without losing any time, the blonde girl grabbed the plastic trashcan, and threw its contents in the direction of the monster. The faceless creature hesitated as it felt the debris impacting in front of it, but the unmistakable vibrations produced by the screams and the running was hard for it to miss, and it just kept going, crushing the trash underfoot as it went… only to receive a trashcan straight into its legs, mid-motion.

It tripped. It was not enough to make it fall, somehow it was able to react fast enough to prop itself back upwards, but it was delayed. It bought time. It, in fact, bought just enough time.

Adrenaline pumping through her veins, Yuu’s body went beyond its limits, pushed by adrenaline and the blood burning within her body. Somehow, she heaved the heavy metallic container, and with a single, powerful motion, she twisted her body around, and smashed it straight against the undead creature, just as it was recovering its equilibrium.

It was hurt. It didn’t emit any sound of pain, but the sickening crunch of flesh being torn and crushed was telling. It was smacked straight backwards, being unable to avoid it. And then…

“Haaah!”

Ryou turned around, and with a single slick motion, he jumped towards the container, and kicked the old microwave on top of it while in mid-air. The old microwave, with all of its weight, was launched against the midsection of the Faceless One, and made a direct bead on it, finally, finally causing it to fall against the ground, with the microwave on top of it.

You had finally done it, you had finally delayed the monster, now, you had to turn around and run away…!

“CAREFUL!”

Suddenly, Sakura’s cold voice shouted out as the monster’s aura of rot flashed. The girl, who had been standing to Elora’s side, suddenly kicked her president in the side, separating them just in time, as a blast of sickly grey passed between them.

Elora felt a sudden, stinging pain on her side, and noticed that the blast had grazed her. The part of the clothing that had been covering her side had straight up disappeared, and below, the flesh was actively rotting, in a nauseating sight. The pain she felt was incredibly intense despite the actual size of the wound, enough to make anyone scream in pain.

Although downed, this monstrosity was far from defeated…

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Turn 2

She tried not to scream, really, she did, and the choked whimper that it turns into becomes proof of that in it's own way.

She had only looked at the wound a single time, just once; there was no need to look at it more than that, or rather, the instant she sees it is the instant that her mind has already started to wish away such a disturbing sight as being merely an illusion. It's probably like the initial shock one would feel from losing a limb, or breaking a leg, except instead of rational injuries her flesh was rotting off of her body-!

Nevertheless...

"I'm okay...!"

She says it automatically.

A part of her doesn't really believe it, but dwelling on it too much will make her sick, and make everything they had just done pointless.

"We gotta go, keep moving, don't worry about this-!"

They don't have to kill it.

She wasn't even sure they could, they had gotten it down, and that was a miracle enough for now...

[Vritra]

Yuu Kurogami
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 1

!

So now comes the magic bullshit huh.

Dashing over I glance at the damage and curse as I throw Elora’s arm over my shoulder and haul her up. Without magic bullshit of my own this was about all I could do. Keep focused, keep waiting for chances to hurt and hinder it. A vague plan but it beat running like a headless chicken.

“Unless anyone suddenly has the ability to shit fire keep running everyone.”

Keep focused and wait for the chance to tear its head off, I rather wish that if I had to dance with death it could at least put some effort into looking pretty.

“Hang in there Elora we’ll stick to the plan. Keep running and keep looking for opportunities. Although I think its best to decide now if we want to aim for a public space which would maybe allow for help and if nothing else stores would have shit to throw. Or if we avoid them. I’m sure I don’t need to say the drawbacks of both but regardless let’s decide just where we want to run.

Haaaa, you sure know a day’s gone sour when you can’t even enjoy coping a feel huh.”

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Turn 2

"I knew it, the innocence was a game-!"

There are a lot of things to complain about about that last line, but her body hurt like hell, and even this little bit of pressure off of that wound is a miracle in and of itself, so-

"I'd prefer public to be honest, police officers with guns would be nice when fighting monsters, but I don't think we're gonna get the luxury of just choosing-!"

Of course, she'd rather just escape it completely.

But there was a possibility that they might just have to beat it down themselves, bit by bit... So...

Anywhere but here really, there would be opportunities no matter where they wound up-!

[RacingeR]

Elora Griffin & Yuu Kurogami
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 3

It was angry now. It was a force that could be felt in the atmosphere, an almost electrifying intensity that came forth from the downed creature.

You had managed to buy enough time for the others to get away, at least. But, in exchange, you had pissed it off, and you four weren’t out of the danger zone yet.

From Elora’s position on Yuu’s arms, she could see a burst of sparks as, suddenly, the old microwave was torn apart in a furious blur of speed. The creature jumped back up while releasing a furious roar that reverberated in the empty alley, before its aura amped up in a furious crescendo. The creature took a pose, extending its arms forwards, like a pianist about to start a concerto.

There was a massive blast of gray.

The last thing she saw before they took another turn was the metallic container getting disintegrated into dust as the Faceless One restarted its chase.

You were almost out of the alleyways. You had lost sight of the others, but you were fairly sure they had taken this route, and it led to a main street ahead, you didn’t know which one, nor did it matter at the moment. The idea that getting to the street was the best way to get rid of the monster was the only thing you could think of. Maybe you’d be able to find people, a police officer, anyone, anything that could help you…

But it was gaining on you again, and you didn’t see anything that you could throw over. There was a fire exit ahead, but the stairs were closed, and hanging out of your reach, and…

There was simply no time to think anymore. The creature arrived like a tsunami, shrouded in an aura of gray that seemed to be corroding everything, even the air itself. It nearly crashed against Yuu, who managed to barely twist her body out of the way, the claws scything near her head and ripping away a hair or two.

Releasing a savage youth, Ryou turned around and released a strong punch against the chest of the creature. However, the gray aura quickly afflicted him, and he screamed in pain as he grabbed his hand, the corroded flesh taking on a gray tone as it started to rot.

Then, the Faceless One attacked once again, releasing a powerful kick that impacted on the chest of the boy. You could almost hear the sound of ribs breaking as he was launched about fifty meters straight ahead, bouncing against the ground a few times before stopping.

It had reached you. Escape was impossible. You could feel death in the air. This monstrosity was unstoppable, invincible, nothing of what you had thrown against it had done anything but slightly delay it. It was the end…

Then, the both of you noticed Sakura making a strange expression as she raised her arm and pointed her open palm at the Faceless One.

“This might not be shitting fire, Kurogami… but I bet it will be more than enough!”

There was a flash of light that blinded you momentarily.

It was impossible to know what Sakura had done. Whatever it was, however, had worked.

Because the monster had been launched from its former position straight against the wall with enough force to break through it and unleash a wave of debris that had temporarily buried it.

Oogami Sakura allowed herself an uncharacteristic smirk. You almost thought she had laughed. Then, slowly at first, and then quickly, blood came pouring out of her mouth… and her ears, and her eyes. She started trembling as if repressing an enormous pain, and then, her body lost strength and she fell on her knees, her black hair covering her face entirely.

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Turn 3

"Ryou-!"

The moment she had seen the strike, her own wound had become newly categorized in her mind as something 'irrelevant.' Being caught had ended just as poorly as she had assumed it would, had known automatically would be the result of challenging this thing as a pure human being, and the horrific moments that follow had led to the incapacitation of not one, but two people, even so-

---Unlike Sakura, Ryou hadn't moved since he had struck the ground; it is that automatic sense of worry, of seeing a friend suffer a terrible blow that absolutely could have killed them, that sends her scrambling with a pure desperation towards the fallen boy.

"Yuu, grab Sakura!"

-Even so, her mind does acknowledge the plight of her other friend as well, even as her heart continues it's relentless drive towards fight or flight, instincts screaming that they needed to go now because this chance would not present itself to them again...!

Is he conscious?

The brain screams for that answer even as the body automatically moves to pick him up in spite of that, gingerly attempting to drag him onto her back in order to avoid agitating her own wound; normally, one would not carry someone who could potentially have spinal injuries but...

Leaving him here was unacceptable, as was staying here, so...

They'd have to risk it.

[Vritra]

Yuu Kurogami
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 3

“What do you think…”

Glaring at Sakura I curse whatever ‘genius’ idea she seems thought up. RUN I D I O T-

“Wha…”

-Yet everything is thrown off as she pulls off, uh, …something?

A flash, a monster sent sailing backwards and…

Blood, to much goddamn blood. “Elora get that shitty princess I’ll take this one.”

Rushing forward as fast as I can I snatch Sakura and as carefully as I can under these circumstances. “Your magic trick gets a failing grade Sakura so don’t bother trying it again.”

Idiot, idiot, idiot, fucking bleeding idiot.

“Don’t you know that if you’re not a main character trying to pull fancy bullshit just get’s you in trouble so save your dumb heroics for when you’re as cool and amazing as me. Also, for this I’m going to have my way with you after this. Now keep your head down so the blood doesn’t choke you.

Stupid, fucking idiot, there’s no point to dying like this…”

Come on, come on stupid legs I have places to be, damsels in distress to recue and idiotic friends to stash so I can fight a monster without worrying about them.

[RacingeR]

Elora Griffin & Yuu Kurogami
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 4

“Hahaha… that was fucking cool, Elora. Damn thing launched me like this was some anime… hahaha…” He was either in shock, or he was a complete idiot. Or both. You scooped him up gingerly, and he didn’t protest. He seemed to be in pain, but not quite as wounded as one would expect. But he definitely needed a hospital.

In exchange, Sakura seemed to be in a much worse state. She was conscious, but bleeding heavily, and didn’t seem capable of talking. Her eyes were, however, staring defiantly at the sundered sky. Above, the sun had almost set completely.

Without bothering to exchange anymore words, the two of you started running again. Sakura had bought you precious minutes, and you employed them to get away as much as possible. Another explosion shook the street, as the gray aura flashed by once again, melting apart the debris that covered the monster.

It didn’t give up. Its hunger was too strong, and the fresh meat near it was too tempting. And now it was too furious to stop. It would keep going, and going, and going, until it was able to feast on your innards.

It wouldn’t stop.

As it rose once again, as it restarted its chase once again, it felt as if the Faceless One would keep chasing you until the end of the world.

It was coming again. It was covered in blackish, rotten blood, a crater could be seen on its horrid parody of flesh, its limbs were hanging limply. It was hurt.

And it. Wouldn’t. Stop.

The main street was just a stone’s throw away, but you could feel the presence of death approaching once again.

This was the decisive moment.

A person appeared in front of you, unexpectedly.

“Yuu!” Kaede roared, as she launched the knife in her hand straight into the chest of the Faceless One, where it got stuck. It accomplished nothing, merely delaying the creature for a second.

The maid’s eyes flashed with determination. It was plain to see, that if needed, she would throw herself between the creature and her lady, laying down her life so Kurogami Yuu could live another day.

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Turn 4

"...Fuck it."

For the girl that had done her best to keep her cool up until now, who normally didn't swear at all, and who had even chuckled in a grim way to Ryou's assertion that his half-murder was cool because it was just like something in an anime, there's a certain sense of calm -or rather frenzy masquerading as calm- that takes over her psyche as she recognizes the look in the distant maid's eyes.

Sacrifice.

How many idiots were going to go on ahead and just do bullshit like that?!

---She had thought they could run, but it was clear now that they would never actually outrun it to any sufficient degree; it had caught up after minutes of absence, after being blasted away by what the blonde could only describe as "magic," and...

"Stupid-ass fucking STUBBORN UNDEAD FREAK!"

Anger burns through everything else. It's not just that her friends have been repeatedly harmed by this thing, any prey that is sufficiently hounded will eventually start to fight back, and the feeling of an approaching death that she was only just managing to drive off each time...

It's caught them again, this time, someone will die if something isn't done.

Her heart races.

---Like an anime huh?

She can hear it's beat in her ears, the rush of her life in her veins.

---It won't stop till it's dead, so-

-Kill it.

"Watch me Ryou! One way or another this is gonna be some BULLSHIT-!"

By the time the boy hears those words, he's likely already on the ground; it's a toss, there's no other way to approach it, a gentle toss, but a toss made for his own sake as the council president pulls an immediate 180-turn, heading back towards a nightmare of her own volition, focusing only a accomplishing a single task.

She would slide tackle right through it, knocking out it's legs. It's the equivalent of using herself as a bullet because there's nothing else around to accomplish the task, but by that same token, it's also the most comfortable possible motion for her to perform, one that she could easily recover from in order to make another more or less insane strike on it's back, or rather the spine, maybe even kick it's damn head in if Yuu couldn't do it fast enough...!

“Elora that idiot thinks it can score a point on our goal, get ‘em.”

---Calm down Elora.

---It's no different from a game, intercept and defy, force it to fall, to land on that knife, and do it this time without bothering to pretend like she wasn't kind of okay with the idea of fouling the other players. A full force strike made with all of her momentum; there was a possibility that grey mist would appear to counter her, but to be frank the time for 'other options' had long since passed, and if she could just kill it, then-!

---Even if she got wounded to the point of dying soon after, at least Rika wouldn't get hurt by this thing... In the end, that thought, that she could be protecting her family -even if only in a distant future- is what sets her on a path -or rather gives her the strength to follow through with it- that might just end her life.

[Vritra]

Yuu Kurogami
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 4

“KAEDE TAKE THIS IDIOT”

Roaring an order at the idiot with acceptable timing but unacceptable intentions I stop them her self-sacrificing idiocy in its tracks by unloading the bleeding mess on my back into her arms.

“Keep her safe no matter what that’s an order.”

It wasn’t a particularly nice thing to do but Kaede, the maid of many talents might stand a better chance of stabilizing the idiot who was now bleeding over everything and in the end… Rank was my privilege. I dictated directions, priorities and actions so regardless of her feelings I would be the one to decide who assumed the risks. You think this great disciple of darkness will let you just throw yourself into danger idiot. To many damn idiots today.

Free of the bleeding weight on my shoulders I glance at Elora and notice the fact that we seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion. Its annoying that we got so close but it doesn’t seem like we have that luxury. Whatever we’ll just solve the problem here and now.

“Elora that idiot thinks it can score a point on our goal, get ‘em.”

Cheap and vague code but one that should get my intent across. It would be unwise to disregard the possibility that this thing could understand us. Five minutes of over time, a striker charging the goal, it was a crude code but one that Elora would easily be able to understand if she put some thought into it. After all it was a situation she had been in a million times.

Leaving Elora to her task I prepare for mine.

So what if this thing is some kind of superhuman monster? So what if one hit could kill me? So what if I only get one chance? YOU THINK YOUR SPECIAL YOU SHITTY ZOMBIE!? LET ME TELL YOU! I HAVE A DAD WHO COULD PUT DEMON LORDS TO SHAME, I HAVE SIBLINGS WHO MAKE THE BEST ATHLETES LOOK LIKE CHILDREN AND THOSE VERY SAME SIBLINGS ARE A BUNCH OF JACKASSES WHO LOVE SPARING MATCHES AND BULLYING THEIR YOUNGER SIBLINGS IN THOSE AFOREMENTIONED FIGHTS.

A superhuman opponent, a nonexistent opening window, a single mistake away from death? Please try harder you horror movie wannabie, I’ve had to deal with this shit for the past twelve years. Inhaling a quick breath, I take a stance as I stare down the charging monster. Since its all come down to this I might as well I just end it all in a single attack and what better way then my oh so loved move.

Counter attacks ~~~!

The perfect way to crush someone’s pride, the perfect way to watch their face as it distorts in pain, the perfect way to end a fight!

Now give me your best shot with all that shitty strength behind it I’m gonna use it to smash your face in so hard you won’t even know you’ve been rekilled.

Analyze the opponent’s movements, anchor oneself, let the opponent commit their full strength to maximize the backlash, grasp the opening when they attack and pre-empt it in that moment. Betting myself on my ability to grasp that moment. O’ endless dust, O’ radiant and smiling moon, O’ thundering storm on despair reside within this vessel and become unshakable might. Aaaaahahaha I am the greatest, I am invincible you shit!

Come!

Come!

I got a demon king watching over my shoulder so-

“I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS, SO COME ON AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-~!”

-I’m going to send your fucking head flying off like a goddamn screw with a perfect cross counter.

[RacingeR]

Elora Griffin & Yuu Kurogami
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 5

In common agreement, you both turn around. Leaving your burdens under another’s care, you both head to a possible death, with the full intention of stopping this thing or die trying. It is the only way you both see out of this pinch, because this thing just doesn’t give up, and it keeps getting up again and again.

You know you probably cannot kill, not without dying yourselves first. That gray aura of death that surrounds it means that fighting head on is nothing but suicide. But you see no alternative but to face this monster and fight it out with him, to seek a way to delay it even further.

It bears down on you with all the momentum of a speeding truck, and probably even more strength. The asphalt under its feet cracks as it is corroded by the gray aura. But, having made her determination, Elora rushes out first, as fast as a speeding bullet, not intending to dodge at all, and going straight towards it, only to suddenly crotch down and slide through the floor, impacting against the legs of the monster.

Once again, this motion proves to be quite effective, targeting the creature’s weakest point. It is like crashing against a wall of stone, and Elora’s right leg goes numb, accompanied with a burst of searing pain caused by the gray aura feasting on her flesh. But the move accomplishes its objective, and the Faceless One trips and starts falling…

Right into Yuu’s incoming fist.

It is a tremendous impact, akin to a train crashing against a brick wall. No, it feels exactly as if Yuu had just punched a brick wall with all of her strength. The crack she hears signifies that a few of her fingers just broke on impact, not that she can feel it at first, when her hand goes completely numb, only to be replaced by a horrible, searing pain as the flesh of her fingers starts to rot. Furthermore, as it fell, the Faceless One had clawed forwards, the sharp extremities raking across her right shoulder, filling it with a stinging pain.

But once again, your objective is accomplished. Combined with its whole weight and momentum, plus Yuu’s strength, has been enough to damage it a bit, and launch it backwards and against the floor once again, this time rolling away a bit before stopping.

A terrible truth makes itself clear.

You can barely hurt it. The creature is too strong, too fast and too hardy. Your attacks just now, it could probably have dodged them, given the fluidity of its movements, but it simply didn’t bother to. Because it didn’t need to dodge them. And it is more than clear that it is completely incapable of feeling pain.

This thing doesn’t play by your rules. You can only chip at it. Slaying it is nothing but a pipe dream.

“Let’s get out of here!” Kaede screamed at you as she held Sakura with one arm, and one-handedly lifted Ryou.

“OW- damn… you’re right, Elora… that was some right bullshit…” The boy commented as he was carried up.

That’s right. Despite your aches, and your pain, you’re almost there, a few steps away from the street. You leave the downed monster behind, and follow Kaede, finally, at long last reaching the street…

Which, is completely devoid of people. Empty cars line up its sides. Trash and debris remain in the pavement, but there’s simply no people. Nobody to extend you a helping hand.

You see the others have stopped a few meters away from the exit of the alleyways. Osamu had completely burned out his stamina in this short burst of movement, and the others seemed like they didn’t want to just escape leaving their president and vice-president behind.

“Damnit, you idiots! Why didn’t you keep going?!” Kaede cursed out loud, but her voice was drowned by the others.

“Oh my god! Elora! What happened?!”
“Sakura! Hey! She’s covered in blood! Shit, did the monster get her?”
“We need to get them to a hospital!”

They were trying to convince themselves.

After all, anyone who saw these empty streets would know that something deeply wrong was going on. Anyone who saw the sky breaking apart would know it meant that the world was being changed irrevocably, and they were trapped in an unending nightmare.

As if to reinforce that notion, a loud noise interrupted the questioning of the girls, as they screamed and stepped backwards, eyes wide with horror. Osamu let out yet another loud scream as he scampered away on the floor, wetting himself out of pure fright.

It hadn’t even bothered to go around the corner, merely bursting through the cement as if it was a mere bother, sending debris flying out everywhere. It was here once again, dirty and faceless, an undead monstrosity clad in an unholy shroud of gray death. An unstoppable juggernaut, the monster of this nightmare.

End of the chase.

End of the game.

It was the last fight of the cornered prey.

It charged over.

“Sorry. I know you’re hungry, but…”

White hair danced in the air. A white figure calmly stepped between you and the monster.

“You have no right to touch even a hair on the head of my nieces!”

A declaration is issued.


And then…

A slash that seems to split apart everything.

The rapier in the hand of the woman standing before you traces a simple vertical line. The monster is stopped in mid motion, and you can almost see as a line appears on its body, all the way from below his neck to its crotch.

Black blood bursts out. The Faceless One is almost split in half. Its rotten organs spill over as all strength abandons its undead corpse. It falls on its knees, torn apart, almost as if surrendering in front of this pure white figure.

“I’d tell you to rest in peace… but honestly… just go STRAIGHT TO HELL!”

The rapier sinks on its forehead. And the head of the monster shatters apart, finally slain, and the body falls backwards, with a prosaic thud against the pavement.

Thus perished the first monster you had ever seen.

The woman turned around. It was easy for Elora to notice it was the same woman she had briefly witnessed when this ill-fated day had started. Despite the grotesque sight laying behind her, her clothes remain unstained, and she shakes the rotten blood out of her rapier with an elegant motion before sheathing it and stepping towards the shocked group.

Her resemblance with Rika is more than remarkable…

And talking about Rika…

“Elora!” Apparently having broken from whatever had caused her strange mutism before, Rika quickly struggles her way out of Kiyoko’s arms, and practically tackles her cousin in a hug. Seeing the wounds covering Elora’s body, she seems to be wordless, and, extremely rare on her, about to cry.

[palad1n]

Shiratori Kaguya
April 3^rd – Evening
Minato, Tokyo Tower – Sei Kyonatsu’s Ramen Stop

While she lets out a silent breath of relief at the fact that her ignorance didn't cost her or her friends anything, her mind immediately starts to turn at Reign's answer. She doesn't understand anything about her being a 'Maiden,' nor could she correctly decipher the expression of those around her at this revelation (except for Sherry's, who's disgusted and for a second seemed to give her a look of pity), but...

Shiratori Kaguya understood one thing.

She had always been curious on why her family imposes such a strict rules and policy for her to follow, one that ensures her to remain as sheltered from the outside world as possible, but never voiced nor question it; after all, what right does she have to question her family who have given her so much?

So she had always followed them faithfully, believing that they had a good reason to do so.

But if what Reign said is true...

If she is the only Shiratori worth something in many generations, a 'Maiden' that must be kept pure and ignorant...

Then the reason for her sheltered life was for supernatural reasons.

'N-no, calm down Kaguya. Even if it is for a supernatural reason, there is no reason to suspect that it's for something bad... They're still my family, and Reign is the one who is clearly not human here... I should put my faith more to them-'

“Wait a moment, what is this Maiden thing about? What are you saying about Kaguya?”

“Nothing you have to worry about at this point. Hell, you can ask your own parents, since the Leonhardt are involved with Izanami as well. Dunno how the hell they accomplished that, since it’s full of racist fucks, but…”

And yet, hearing those statements and seeing her best friend went pale and silent was enough to once again put doubts in her mind.

'Right, Izanami is a group of families, not just the Shiratori...' Kaguya berated herself in her mind. 'Laura-chan is a half-Japanese. If the Izanami are racist, and the Leonhardt somehow managed to get in...'

Then the possibility that Laura was subjected to racism isn't zero.

If anything, Laura's reactions convinced her that something bad is definitely going on. Automatically and without even thinking about it, Kaguya had hugged Laura's arms back, trying to comfort her no matter how little.

So many questions, and yet so little answers...

Her head hurts from all this thinking and doubting, of these questions and doubts weighing on her conscience.

Perhaps that's why when Reign grabbed her by the arm she didn't resist, letting go of Laura and following the eldritch being to escape from all these troubled thoughts.

And upon setting her foot outside, finally seeing clearly with her own eyes of the sundering sky, the phenomenon that she and Laura had been searching for and the one that triggered today's chain of events...

Kaguya felt a small tinge of relief on her mind.

At the very least, their original objective had been met.

She would have normally asked more questions, such as what Cinque meant by the whole thing breaking down, or what Reign meant when she said all four of them are going to awaken today...

But Shiratori Kaguya stayed silent, gazing at the surreal sight of a shattered sky as if in a daze.

Or perhaps, entranced by the wrongness of it all.

[Airen]

Elora Griffin
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Turn 5

"Nieces...?"

A questioning word made without real conscious thought.

Having fundamentally damaged her right leg with that last strike, an irrefutable haze of pain had settled over the surface of her thoughts, and everything had truly begun to take on the overarching tone of both a nightmare and a dream. It didn't really feel real anymore, the appearance of the woman from earlier who seemed to be implying she was family, and who had crushed that monster in a flow of graceful movement that even her hazy self acknowledges as 'beautiful,' but also 'surreal,' hard to accept because she had overpowered a monster so easily without seeming to be one, or...

Maybe judging by appearances was flawed...?

Her instincts however... They say this is okay.

It might just be because she looks like Rika, but the sense of threat doesn't exist in the same way for this woman as for against that monster; that is why she merely questions the assertion as if asking for confirmation, more details perhaps, but-

"Elora!"

This is also a bit of a distraction, but not a bad one.

"Hiya Ri..."

Ah...

The blonde reads the silverette's face easily enough, she's staring at the wounds... In that regard, the silverette is probably the braver of the two of them, as Elora herself is determinedly refusing to put the image of that rotting flesh back in the forefront of her mind, because that overwhelming sense of nausea, when combined with everything else, just might ruin her image as "mostly unshakeable"...

"You didn't run into anything dangerous did you?"

Rather, she question's her cousin's health instead; it's a somewhat natural reaction, as well as a self-imposed distraction on herself, but there is a bit of her that can't really ignore her own wounds for what they are, and-

"Sorry, got a little beat up myself... But it's okay... Might lean on you a bit... If that's alright with you..."

How much weight could that leg even hold?

She had hobbled this far on it after that kick, but...

Trying to put weight on it now that someone else is holding onto her body...

Whatever happens happens.

[Vritra]

Yuu Kurogami
April 3rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways
Faceless Terror
Turn 5

Hmph, I would have been just fine, damn glory hogs.

Bracing myself against I pain I haul myself over to Kaede and our currently critically injured princesses. The lady said an interesting thing but that can wait. “Kaede have you been able to get an ambulance or is the line as dead as the rest of this pocket dimension or whatever.” One idiot with smashed ribs, the other with some sort of internal bleeding, both of them beyond the level that any first aid we could perform. “Ryou lie down and don’t move much we don’t want one of your ribs puncturing something important. Kaede can you tell what’s wrong with Sakura?” Gently but forcibly pushing Ryou down to keep the idiot from making his injuries I begin to run through a basic test to see if he has injuries beyond the most obvious.

Tch, goddamn hand hurts. I’m totally bringing gauntlets next time.

[RacingeR]

Elora Griffin & Yuu Kurogami
April 3^rd – Evening
Nakano, Streets - Alleyways

“The lines are completely dead, yes.” Kaede said, having quickly warped back to her cool and efficient maid persona. “I tried calling both the police and the nearest hospital, as well as our home and various… emergency contacts, but I couldn’t get through in any of them.”

She knelt by Sakura’s side, and started trying to determine what was happening to Sakura. The girl weakly raised her head and stared straight at the maid. “I-it’s nothing… I’ll be fine.”

Kaede rolled her eyes, then after a few seconds, she shook her head. “I got no idea of what’s going on with her.” She shrugged. If Kaede didn’t know, you doubted anyone but a trained specialist would be able to tell what was going on. Although she wasn’t anything like a doctor, she had quite a lot of medical knowledge and training, in order to attend to any accident you may suffer. Or to fix the consequences you left behind, if needed.

She then moved towards Ryou, who seemed to be in quite a lot of pain. “I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, you know?” He joked as he winced and lied down on the street. Kaede helped you run a basic check-up, and then examined his chest, which caused a few howls of pain from part of the boy.

“Four ribs broken, at the very least. It is a miracle you didn’t puncture something. I don’t think there’s any internal bleeding, but we cannot be sure. In any case, you won’t be able to walk without killing yourself, so we’d need to improvise some sort of stretcher to carry you.” She concluded clinically. “How did this hap- whatever, you probably were doing something incredibly stupid.”

Having said that, she proceeded to rip off a piece of her shirt. You stared at her, raising your eyebrows. “Your hand, milady.” Was the only answer she gave you, before she started to work on the mess of broken bones and rotten flesh that was your broken hand.

Meanwhile…

“Idiot… idiot. You, big, idiot…” Rika doesn’t answer you, instead hugging you once again, and letting you lean on her when your leg causes you to wince in pain. Now that the adrenaline is leaving your body, you feel tremendous amounts of pain from all over, as well as a crippling exhaustion. “We need to take care of you, somehow, get you to a hospital…”

At that moment, she looked up towards the woman that had saved you, and suddenly, she became paralyzed, her eyes widening in surprise. After all, the family resemblance was quite obvious once you could make the comparison. In fact, this mysterious stranger looks quite a lot like she was Rika’s older sister, more than her aunt as she had just implied.

“Who… are you?” Rika asked, hesitatingly, more surprised and shocked than scared. After all, this stranger somehow seems to emit a calming aura around her, and you almost feel protected, safe amidst this nightmare, when you are with her.

“… My name is Matsumoto Mika.” The woman laconically replied. She was looking at the both of you with a mix of affection and worry.

“I… I… know you…” Rika mumbled. “I remember you… vaguely…” She grabbed her head with her free hand. “Why does it hurt… when I try to remember you…?”

“Don’t try, please. Now is not the time.” Mika sighed, and walked towards the both of you. With a familiar gesture, she extended both of her hands, and slowly pet your heads. Her expression indicated quite clearly that she had been wishing to do this for a long while.

You didn’t feel any instinctive rejection from this action. It was almost as if this was the way things should be… a wave of warmth descended through your body, and suddenly your wounds didn’t hurt that much anymore.

Mika released another sigh, and let you go. She stared at you, wistfully and sadly at the same time.

“I wish I could’ve protected you from this… but I’ve arrived too late. Lost too much time searching for you.” She gazed up towards the surreal cracks in the sky. “If I were to have my way, you would never have been out here at this hour… and you would never experience an Ascension… you’d never would get involved in this whole thing.”

“All I can do now, is to ease your transit to the Other Side.”

And with that statement, that was overheard by the whole group… she pointed upwards, to the shattered sky.

At the same moment the sun disappeared from view.

And the cracks shattered the heavens themselves. Beyond them, rose a green, eldritch moon, and it cast its horrifying light to everything under the broken skies. And that light devastated everything as it passed through. It irreversibly changed everything.

It irreversibly changed you.

You could feel your organs pumping as they started to work on their own, your blood started to flow differently. Your every muscle started to twitch. You lost all regularity, and your whole self was thrown into absolute chaos.

And then, a tremendous, sharp pain from your forehead. From the forehead of all the twelve persons in this group. And from that same spot, a burst of blood came as a crystalline third eye was born, one eye that allowed you to see beyond the normal bounds. And thus you ceased to be human to become something else.

The last thing you saw before you lost consciousness was a pure white light that was being emitted from Mika’s body, covering the whole group…

And then,

Night fell.

The skies shattered.

And mercifully, your consciousness was cut.

[Tobias]

Taka Nishi
April 3^rd – Evening
Shinjuku street

Oh good fucking lord...I just got pinched by a couple wet behind the ears amateurs.

Taka was disgusted. One of the things that had most precluded him from taking more overt action during his capture was his ironclad assumption, nay certainty, that he was just looking at the warm up squad while another pack of goons was hidden waiting to leap in and provide support If Taka or his crew had gotten feisty. As they walked out to the street however, upon realizing that the entirety of the escape plan of the men currently in possession of his freedom rested on some shitty 10 year old van that probably belonged to chicken head's mother...

...well, it took every last bit of Taka's legendary poker face not to sigh or roll his eyes.

They hadnt even bothered binding his wrists. Damn kids.

At any rate the relative lack of actual ability to talent didn't change the fact that these punks were all much more used to fighting and certainly better armed then he was. Taka had a sneaking suspicion being smarter wouldn't help him to much after the second or third crack of that bat across his brow. Not to mention, chicken head would clearly enjoy that way to much. Nah, the play here was just to wait until these hicks made some kind of bone headed move and got distracted. Taka just needed the...right....distraction...?

“T-the sky… look… at the sky!”

And it's not even my birthday.

No sooner then Taka had the thought, one of chicken head's yahoos gift wrapped and hand delivered a beautiful distraction. Taka forced his eyes away from the sky and surveyed his captors. Reasonably grouped up, loosely spread to prevent flight in any direction, lightly fingering their weapons of choice. Taka could easily see the play. In the moment of distraction it would be child's play to elbow the one bringing up the rear aside and flee back into the parlor with his mother and their escort. Pop the door lock and by the time they broke it down he and his company would be stashed in a safe room.

After that, cash in a few chips and enjoy watching what happens when a half odd dozen yokels with bats and pistols tried playing urban commando with a couple dozen trained gang members armed with military grade assault rifles. Taka might even microwave some popcorn!

Only problem was...

Taka's body didn't seem to be cooperating.....no, it was listening...just not to him.

Entirely against his will, Taka found his eyes forced back skyward, to view the escalating destruction of reality. As if something primal and dark was forcing him to witness the death of this world. A splitting headache forced a tangled yelp from his throat. Taka would have been mad at himself for drawing attention, but his thoughts were elsewhere. In response to the pain centered on his forehead, Taka reflexively pressed a hand to his suddenly sweat covered eyes.

...It came away dark and shiny with blood.

[RacingeR]

Shiratori Kaguya
April 3^rd – Evening
Minato, Tokyo Tower – Sei Kyonatsu’s Ramen Stop

“Wait… are you saying that the reason why I… exist is…” Laura mumbled somewhat absentmindedly as she gazed up to the broken sky.

Then…

“It is starting.” Reign suddenly announced, at the time she took a step and positioned herself in front of you. You noticed Sette had also taken a position in front of Laura, Six in front of Rei, and Cinque in front of Rinko.

At the same time that the sun died…

A dark golden shine started to rise out of Reign’s body as she suddenly raised her arm and closed her hand on your shoulder, grasping it tightly. The golden light intensified its shine before it started moving on its own, pouring into your body.

You saw a similar phenomenon happening with the others. Cinque was emanating a pink light, while Six’s was of a dark purple, and Sette’s a deep, dark gray.

“This is going to hurt a lot. Try to resist it, or you’ll be wishing for death.” Reign’s cold voice suddenly launched this warning, and then…

The sky exploded in a spectacular display of destruction, as reality itself shuddered. From beyond the deep wound in the heavens, appeared a mocking green moon, whose light distorted everything it touched. You saw as the buildings to your sides distorted, growing into gigantic mockeries of human civilization, you saw as the Tokyo Tower transformed, into a behemoth of steel and concrete that pierced beyond the clouds.

And then, the pain. You almost could feel as the dark golden aura fought it off, trying to stabilize your body as your organs started to work on their own, and your blood started to pump in reverse. Your heart stopped, then started, then stopped again. Your whole body was going completely crazy, as you were paralyzed, looking straight at the green eldritch moon.

Another sharp pain assaulted you, this time more intense, blood rained out of your forehead as a third eye opened and blinked for the first time, staring straight at the sky.

“Welcome, then, Shiratori Kaguya. To the Other Side. Now, we’re the same ‘thing’! Doesn’t that make you happy?” You heard Reign’s laughing voice by your ear.

And then,

Night fell.

The skies shattered.

And mercifully, your consciousness was cut.