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victory_road2019-07-21 02:30 am
indigo_events) wrote in victory_road2019-07-21 02:30 am
Camp Alpha: or camp alphaaAAAAAAAAAAAA
Who: Everyone who came to Camp Alph
Where: The Ruins of Alph
When: July 21st
Summary: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA check out the info post over here!
Rating: PG-13
Log:
Night has fallen for the last time over the little sea of tents surrounding the Ruins.
But for the first time since the event started, there’s a considerable lack of people clustered around their campfires. Oh, there’s still a few, but most of the crowd is somewhere else.
Somewhere... spooky.
Somewhere... underground beneath the crumbling stone structures and in a place that maybe was not designed to hold massive crowds of people.
In the middle of the chamber dubbed “the Ho-Oh Chamber”, founding Legend Seeker Jackson stands with a flashlight aimed upwards under his chin for maximum dramatic effect. Beams of other flashlights and lanterns fill the room with tall shadows and in the still, underground air, it honestly is very unnerving down here. Beneath Jackson’s feet is the elaborate circle he’d finished chalking onto the stone just minutes before, the edge of the circle lined with words written in the ancient Unown text.
Along the far walls of the chamber, some of the Rangers have tiredly lined up to keep an eye on things and ensure that nothing is damaged, and to keep the exits clear in case of emergency. Who knows what might happen down here, and the last thing they need is for a bunch of people to get trampled.
Morty and Eusine are in the audience as well, right up front for the best view. Morty is looking just as tired as the Rangers, but this is a little more elaborate than the rest of the rituals that have gone on this weekend and he’s watching intently. Eusine looks a lot more taken in by the drama than his friend, but... well, this isn’t a Suicune chamber, so...
Jackson clears his throat and begins to speak, voice pitched low and grave.
“Welcome, my fellow Seekers... and park rangers, and archaeologists, and gym leaders. And... miscellaneous. TONIGHT, on our final, glorious night, is the big one. The most important ritual of all! Why did we all come down to this particular chamber, you might be asking yourselves? WELL, friends... That would be because of the legend my brothers and I dug up about what's down here. The truth!"
He flourishes his cloak, because of course he's wearing a cloak. What do you mean, it's the middle of July?
"As you can see, there are runes, ancient, MYSTICAL runes carved into the wall behind me... spelling out a phrase that has sent chills-- chills, I say!-- down my spine since I was just a little boy! “WE HUMANS NEED TO WALK WITH THEM. WE LEAVE HERE FOR THE SAKE OF THEM”... very interesting, wouldn’t you say?”
Somewhere in the middle of the crowd, an archaeologist coughs and timidly speaks up, “That’s actually not the most accepted translation of the writings, you see--”
He doesn’t get farther, shushed by several nearby audience members who are watching Jackson with rapt attention.
Jackson doesn’t seem too bothered by the interruption, continuing on with exactly the same amount of campfire story enthusiasm, “And who IS this ‘them’? Why, none other than a mysterious, multitudinal fiend who has slumbered within this chamber for centuries, a conglomeration of souls feared by all who behold it-- an enormous Spiritomb!! As the legend goes, it lived within these ancient ruins before they became ruins, and in a fit of greed, it absorbed all the souls of the people who once called it home! And tonight, we’re going to see if we can’t wake this... this... tomb of spirits up and kick this archeology stuff forward a few decades! So silence, please! SILENCE! We will now... commence with the ceremony.”
This time, the protesting archaeologist simply sighs and mutters something that nobody can really make out. Especially as Jackson steps back out of the circle and several Mediums, accompanied by a Gengar and several Haunters, step forward in his place. Together they begin to chant, lighting the candles that had been set around the edges.
It lasts what feels like forever... The flickering lights and the steady voices, the fluid movements of the mediums, the way it feels like everyone in the chamber and even the stone itself seems to be holding its breath... when it all stops with a loud, synchronized shout as the mediums raise their arms to clap their hands once in the air, making a number of people in the audience jump.
But then there's silence.
There’s no glow, no rising Spiritomb, nothing.
Just silence.
Nobody moves except to shuffle in place. Jackson, looking disappointed, makes a motion as though to step forward and begin speaking again.
And that's when the still air of the chamber stirs, making the candles gutter, as though somehow a breeze had managed to find its way all the way down here.
But it doesn’t feel refreshing at all--it feels... wrong.
Another gust, and this time, the candles around the circle blow out completely. There's still plenty of flashlights and lanterns to see by, but a loud wail disturbs the quiet. A ghost?! ... Oh, no, it's... someone's Sobble, struggling frantically to get out of its trainer's arms as they shush and comfort it.
Not unusual, everyone knows that breed is a total crybaby at this point.
... But then there's more cries, as more Pokemon seemingly start wiggling loose and frantically skittering for the stairwell out of the chamber.
And that's when the ceiling above them rips open.
Not the rock-- the air. A jagged line glowing bright blue, and inside it is a swirling nebula. Those who were there at Resort Gorgeous one year before and witnessed the appearance of the bizarre creatures then would recognize it right away. But whether you've seen it before or not, it sends a jolt right down the spine. It's a thing that shouldn't be there.
And from it, they emerge. Just a few at first, that pull their way out of the portal and into the room, hovering near the rift like confused wasps that have found their way into a building.
And then they start to pour from it like angry wasps whose nest just got punted across the room.
Someone screams, and that sets everything in motion real fast. The chamber fills with shouts that range from astonished to panicked, and the crowd begins to flow towards the tunnel back to the surface. Jackson is shouting for everyone to remain calm and not scare the mysterious beings, the rangers and Morty are trying to make themselves heard to direct people and stop this from turning into a dangerous stampede, and meanwhile more and more of the little paperlike creatures emerge.
They're here, and they're not happy about it.
After what’s probably felt like hours of fighting back against the massive swarm of creatures that have been pouring from the still open portal within the ruins, there’s been little progress on actually stemming the tide zipping out from the ruin’s entrance. Is it that those herded back inside are just coming right back out again? Are they really just continuously coming through the portal? Is the portal still even open? At this point in the fight, it’s impossible to get back inside to find out. The swarm at the entrance is simply too thick to even hope to get past safely.
But with so many kept occupied around the doorway of the ruin, so many being harried and kept out of the sky, the Unown are finally able to keep their entire formation steady. Dozens of individuals of each variety hover close together, forming much larger characters that would be visible from far off. There’s enough bright light coming from the campsite to illuminate them, even against the night sky.
They hold formation as best they can, moving in the air like a school of fish whenever a Kartana is able to fly at them, dodging as a group and reforming the letter almost right away. They got the help they needed-- in the form of FIRE (and the razor-sharp observational skills to notice in the chaos that fiery attacks were more effective than others), clever applications of status effects, and even, in a move as dangerous as it was effective, a Whirlwind unleashed on the swarm within the chamber-- and they’re not about to let that go to waste.
And it doesn’t.
It isn’t long before a chill breeze begins to pick up, one that carries the smell of clean, rushing water with it. Within minutes, it’s become strong enough to whip at the treetops and buffet the small paperlike attackers this way and that. To those who’ve been fighting so hard, it feels refreshing, like they’re being given a second wind.
The source of the wind soon catches up with it, a large form that bounds from the trees and up the ancient structures to the roof of the tallest one. Suicune is clearly visible even in the dark and the confusion, each hair on its body seeming to give off a shining glow of its own, the crystal diamond on its head beaming especially brightly. From his hiding place behind a tree, Eusine sheds a single tear. Suicune lifts its head and howls.
Suicune has joined the fight!
Wasting no more time, the legendary leaps into the fray alongside the battling trainers, working alongside them to force the creatures back towards the ruin. The wind in the sky knocks them off balance and keeps them from scattering high, and icy barriers raised from the ground force the much easier targets backwards in large numbers. Even those that were knocked out or put to sleep are blown along with the rest.
With the help of a legendary Pokemon, the edge is now firmly with the defending campers, and pushing the swarm back into the ruins is only a matter of time.
[OOC Note: CONGRATULATIONS, the win condition was unlocked and then some! Feel free to now include Suicune in threads, or toplevels if you still need/want to make one, from here on. A wrapup/aftermath post will be posted tomorrow afternoon!]
no subject
[He doesn't sound all that annoyed by it. Another Kartana comes for his face and Venkman reflexively smacks it out of the air with his already-bleeding hand-]
God, why do I keep doing that-
[While Venkman curses at his own idiocy, Kirby throws Charm and Spite around, trying to make it harder for the Kartana to do any real damage. Kildarby, meanwhile, is still focused on keeping Ko safe- until Egon cries out. She glances up and makes a soft, resigned sound. As much as she hates Egon, she's pretty sure her trainer will be upset if she just lets him get demolished. She sends a reluctant Heat Wave his way.
She's... not bothering to make sure it doesn't completely engulf him. Egon might want to take a step back.]
no subject
They need to draw the Kartanas' attention without being sliced to ribbons. Egon glances around, desperately looking for a place to direct them, to drive them away from the Unown--]
Over there!
[Egon points out a small tunnel, leading deeper into the ruins. He darts over to Venkman, grabbing his hand and wincing--he hadn't realized how many cuts his hands had accumulated while swatting away the Kartanas. He begins tugging him along, briefly kneeling down to grab Fuckel and tuck him under his free arm. Faraday and Kölliker remain, trying to cover their trainers.]
no subject
Venkman flinches when Egon takes his hand- it hurts, damnit- but doesn't pull away, instead letting Egon drag him wherever he needs to go.]
Great. You've got a plan, which is either a good sign or a really, really bad one, and I can't figure out which one it is yet.
[While Kildarby is doing a fine job at holding her own- and is honestly probably one of the MVPs amongst the Ghostbusters' Pokemon in this fight- Kirby is beginning to struggle. Her weakness to Steel types is starting to be exploited, and unlike Kildarby, she's not yet at the highest level- she definitely can't keep up forever. The Kartana are beginning to slash away at her costume, and her tendrils are desperately holding onto the tattered cloth, no longer fighting back. A loud crack rings out as whatever holds up the head of her costume is snapped in two, and the Mimikyu hisses in clear distress, desperately trying to keep her "head" on.
Something stirs in Venkman's bag, which is still lying on the ground- Venkman never bothered to put it back on once the seance went to shit. More wriggling. A rock rolls out of the bag and onto the ground in front of Kirby. A purple mist begins to take form, surrounding Kirby, attempting to shield her.
They're not strong. They're not even officially captured. They're a completely wild Pokemon, and absolutely terrified out of their collective one-hundred-and-eight minds. But the Spiritomb that's been living in Venkman's bag for exactly four months, to the day, born and raised in these very same ruins, is here to try to protect their partner. They use Confuse Ray, Curse, and Hypnosis in turn, switching from target to target with obvious panic trying to incapacitate the surrounding Kartana. Any Kartana hit by Hypnosis and put to sleep will immediately be sapped by a Dream Eater- it barely does any damage, but it's enough to hopefully keep the poor ghost from getting knocked out cold.]
no subject
Listen--we already know that we don't have the resources to send these organisms back into the rift. Simply attacking them will result in us quickly losing control of the situation.
[He peers back out, taking a moment to wipe his bloody hands on his jacket. Kölliker is starting to retreat, trying to buy herself some time to recover again.]
They seem to be swarming, as opposed to acting individually. If we can somehow herd a group of them into a confined space such as this one, we could attempt to keep them there for a prolonged period of time using various special moves--at least until the Unown have time to assemble.
[A pause.]
Of course, that means we'd have to draw them towards us somehow.
no subject
[Still...]
Y'know, with Bassingame, those Russian house spirits went wild because of him chanting and performing his seance. And when we were getting their attention off of him and Ray's Aunt Lois, we wound up chanting ourselves, got them all riled up at us.
So if these guys were brought here 'cause of the chanting at the seance... Maybe the same'll work for them?
[99 bottles of beer on the wall- the reprise.]
no subject
[He frowns, pressing his back against the stone wall. The foundations seem to tremble as attacks fly by and more Kartana advance upon the screaming crowd.]
Just a question--what do these creatures consider "chanting", exactly?
no subject
no subject
[Here goes nothing! He puts down Fuckel, steps out of his hiding place for a moment, and loudly repeats the following:]
A equals negative B, plus or minus the square root of B-squared minus four times A times C, divided by two times A!
[He repeats it a couple of times as loudly as possible. Faraday and Kölliker glance over in concern, probably wondering if their trainer has lost his mind. Hopefully, with Venkman's help, they can get the attention of the swarm....]
vr mods: all responses to the kartana are valid!; Us: [does this]; vr mods: ... SOME responses to th
... Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality...
[Ok.
It probably says something about Venkman when absolutely none of his Pokemon seem surprised by their idiot trainer starting to hum Bohemian Rhapsody at a swarm of aliens.]
no subject
The bad news? See the above. There's the sound of thousands of papers shuffling together, like a swarm of angry cicadas as a hundred, a thousand little origami Pokémon fly through the air, heading straight towards the alcove Egon and Venkman are hiding in.
Were hiding in.]
Kölliker! Over here!
[Kölliker flies towards her trainer, trying to keep up with the Kartana swarm. Egon darts out, trying to get out of the way before they skice his face apart.]
Venkman! Have your Pokémon herd the Kartana closer together!
no subject
Venkman follows Egon's example, scrambling desperately to get out of the way.
He whistles sharply, getting the attention of all his Pokemon still in the fray. Kildarby's got a good enough control of her Heat Waves to generally move the swarm however she wants them, bunching them together as they all try to escape the fire. Roach, finally looking up from the swarm he's been handling with Georgie, smacks down any stray Kartana with a Rock Smash and bodily shoves them back into the herd. Georgie follows his example with Drain Punches and Fire Punches.
Unfortunately, those are the only ones helping. Kirby is pretty much out of the fight, and so is the Spiritomb. The two are doing their best to keep Kirby's costume from falling apart now that the Kartanas' attentions are off them. Sigourney is similarly down for the count, not able to keep up with the swarm despite numerous uses of Recover and attempts to lower the enemy's attack and defense.
Plunderbird is taking a nap on Venkman's wrist.]