epidemiology | EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

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EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

BENDED TIME

As outlined in the OOC post, things start to slow down and grow quiet in Oska for a few days as the bugs crawl away and slowly disappear. But then the cocoons hatch. Fully grown temporal insects claw their way out of them, each about the size and temperament of raging bulls.

They come out far more aggressive and eager to fight, are are willing to take on anything that moves with jaws and claws alike. Except, of course, another insect — when two of them encounter each other, they enter into a mating dance and then slip away into another dimension, leaving behind only the temporary ghosts of years gone by. If you can’t find a way to pierce that thick shell to take one down, better find another one to pair it off with instead. Just try not to get bit while leading them around and find yourself suddenly 5 years old again.

The insects aren’t the only thing going on in Oska, though. As it turns out, unicorns really hate this adult form of the temporal insects, and will start kicking their way out of their stalls in the stables to get at the insects in an attempt to impale or trample them. According to Uruz they’re gallant warriors, but not always quite cut out to take on a bug, and can easily get themselves hurt or killed. She would really appreciate recruits taking a moment to recapture any stray unicorns they may come across and leading them back to the stables. Try to avoid any insects on the way, or you’ll find yourself suddenly fighting insect and irate unicorn, which is no one’s idea of a good time.

The lake is getting more active, too. All the fighting has woken up something in the depths of it. Dark red tentacles sometimes creep up onto shore — and don’t worry, this time they don’t belong to a sea goddess. The tentacles don’t attack unless attacked, and can in fact be quite agreeable. Nodes along the length of them act as primitive eyes, which see well enough to interact with anyone nearby. They’re also all a little peckish. Toss a tentacle a bit of food and watch it curl around and ingest it using tiny mouths on the underside. It might even be willing to play a few rounds of fetch or slap a bug into the sky for you if you put it in a good mood with a morsel of food.

The senior ALASTAIR members can be seen out and about and doing their part, too. Uruz and Dagny fight as a team, centaur and elf, sometimes fighting back to back and sometimes as mount and rider. They’ll stop and lend a hand, but the cats are a little less generous. Cherenkov and Crowley fight inseparably and use magic and science in deadly combination to ward off and destroy the bugs, but can usually only be seen darting on their way from one place to another. They have a lot of magitek to repair in the destructive wake of the insects. Pomarr, neither as senior nor as invested in actively picking off the bugs, offers shelter near a tentacle-free portion of the lake, calling down storms to toss away bugs for her and anyone in the vicinity.

OOC NOTES

This log spans a week ICly. Characters will find themselves beginning to understand each other again as the bugs first vanish, as the effects of the cats’ work on the magitek pays off. The translation problem will be completely fixed by the time the cocoons hatch. All of the bugs will have been killed or shipped off by the sixth day, leaving the last day before their departure to the next mission blissfully relaxing. Any temporally misplaced recruits will be back to normal by the last day, as well.

A reminder to anyone still texting: the texting feature of magitek jewelry operates based on thought! There are no physical keyboards, recruits merely think the message that they’d like to send to another recruit.

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[ well, he can wing it. he's been winging it ever since he got here.

luckily for Robin, Loki's fairly good at being someone who needs to be saved. while he had his own agenda in ridding the parameters of insects, it doesn't mean that he hasn't gotten himself into trouble. readily ducking beneath his cape as it's raised, he balks a little. ]

I do hate to break this to you, but don't mortal exterminators exterminate bugs, not collect hoards of them?

[ but really, it's only half sincere. Loki's already put on his thinking face, his green eyes darting to the nearest door. ]

I think I've got a plan. Er—one that isn't just running.

[He actually looks a little struck by the sudden semantic interjection. Wow, everyone's a critic. Don't give him a bigger complex about filling in these pixie boots than he already has, bud, now is not the time. To his credit, he rallies quick.]

"Bug bait" just doesn't have the same kinda ring to it.

[Despite being a little more accurate, right now. It's a process. He's working on the exterminating part, probably. Step one is not getting chewed on, because the both of them are extra bite-sized at the moment, and he doesn't have the firepower to breach the carapace on that thing on his own. The bug in question scrabbles clumsily on the hardwood floor for a second, struggling to get its footing through the scattered shards of debris. Reaching for something at his belt, he takes the chance to look away and follow Loki's line of sight out the door. Whoever this guy is, he says he's got a plan—maybe. Not the best kind of odds to play, but what's life without a little adventure?]

In there?

[That's going to involve at least a little running.]

[ okay, while exterminator sounds like some kind of early 90s direct-to-video kung-fu thriller, bug bait takes the cake as a made-for-TV early adolescent coming of age. Loki ponders it over, decides he wants to settle somewhere in between for both their sake, before he looks at the bug, keeping his crouch in case he needs to dart straight to his feet.

even when he's not getting into trouble, it's trouble that seems to find him. ]

We need more bugs! [ not exactly the first thing anyone expects him to say, so he backs up as the insect gathers itself, his voice getting a little more desperate. ] Er, trust me on this.

[ now they both have to get out of here unscathed. Loki takes a few shuffling steps back, kicks an abandoned crate into the bug and makes a sudden sprint for the door, pulling his hood down so it doesn't fly off. ]

[What the hell. First he complains about the bug, now he wants more of them. Make up your mind, guy.]

Are you pulling my leg?

[Because it sure sounds like it. Not even in a "that's just crazy enough to work" kind of way. But the emphatic argument (trust me on this) seems to have been enough to start. Despite the bitching, he bolts out on Loki's heels posthaste, and he keeps on them after they're clear of the room.

Well, mostly on them. Loki bought them some time, so he takes the extra seconds to shoulder the door shut behind them, swiping a sturdy battleaxe off a nearby suit of armor so he can jam it under the doorknob. (The suit of armor seems to take great offense to this, but they're long gone before it really matters.) It won't hold for long, but it's something. Catching up, he calls out—]

The dungeons were full of 'em waiting to hatch.

[Maybe a few got loose since he was down there.]

Nope! No leg pulling! Not even figurative legs meant to be pulled!

[ despite having a sour taste for it, Loki's good at running. he runs while getting out of trouble, he runs while getting into trouble, and he runs when the inevitable shit hits the fan. thus he is long, gangly, and made for it. they reach the other side of the door, and Loki gets a good look at him.

a costume? mortal heroes wore costumes. ]

To the dungeons! [ he announces it like there's a giant insect pounding on the door where they had left. there doesn't seem much that gets into his way as they run, leaping easily over chairs and taking the long way down tables to create the maximum amount of disturbance. ]

You have a cape—I heard that capes are cliche!

[ just casual convos as they run, k. ]

[Mortal heroes wear costumes. This would make sense, because he's definitely both of those. (Mortal, and a hero.) Robin is a legacy thing—the design of it wasn't his doing. But hey, he worked hard to inherit this cape fair and square. He shoots an incredulous glance over his shoulder as he vaults a fallen chair. Despite learning the ropes fast to fill in where Dick Grayson left off, Jason's no born trapeze artist. He's even better on the ground than he is in the air.]

Says who, the vigilante issue of Vogue?

[It's got some utility to it. But mostly it's a drama thing. Nothing says Dark Knight like an oppressive blot of black coming down from the sky. And if it works for Batman—]

Edited (words.) 2016-09-11 21:47 (UTC)

Do they make those? I bet they make those!

[ kicking a table lengthwise to hinder whatever may eventually come through that door, Loki's trusting Jason's sense of direction on this. dungeons didn't scare him, he'd been down in the bowels of Asgard plenty of times. he's seen those in crazed despair, along with those who stared at him in steady satisfaction in what they've done; these dungeons can't be anymore horrifying than what he's already come across. (not to mention the rise of the Serpent, but hey, no one's keeping track.) ]

No, but—[ he stumbles down the first stair as they enter the hallway, his hood whooshing as he turns his head to check behind him. ]—I heard the mortal heroes talking when they were in Asgard. They were all a little inebriated, but I suppose as long as you don't trip, it's a matter of preference.

My brother wears a cape, after all.

[They...probably make those. What a world.

He'd quickly cased the castle from top to bottom to get the lay of the land, and the basement had been one of the first places he'd ducked into. (Lets be real, people always hide things underground.) He doesn't know the layout of this place well enough to learn every hall, but it's enough to make some pretty good guesses from here. He zigs, then zags, skidding around a corner and ducking through an imposing-looking arch. And downward.

The story has him giving Loki a closer look in the process. Asgard sounds a little familiar. Where does he know that from?]

Your brother?

[Someone he ought to know? The cape and cowl crowd isn't that big.]

[ that was the point.

there were countless Midgardian heroes, and while a vault of former experience might've dug up a memory about who this was, he was not so lucky as to have access to it. (damn that Ikol, where was he?) Thor was famous enough among just about everyone that even the scrubs had heard of him. ]

Thor. You can't miss him! Large, carries a hammer, calls down bolts of lightning to smite his enemies!

...

Cracka-boom!

[ even when he was running for his life, he sounded wistful when he was talking about Thor.

the stairs get attacked two, three, four at a time, and down, down into depths with necessity chasing the fear out of him. he was no hero like Thor, but he could find ways to help. ]

[Are you implying that he's a scrub, Loki, that's pretty rude.

The cracka-boom is punctuated by a timely crash of collapsing door and a rattle of a displaced suit of armor. They definitely have a tail. He tackles the stairs in a series of rapid leaps, bright yellow cape trailing after him. It's a long way to the dungeons. But not that long.

Some guy naming himself after the God of Thunder. Not the most creative of monikers, but whatever works.]

Can't say I've had the pleasure! Tell him to come around Gotham sometime and say hi.

[B doesn't like to suffer other capes on his turf too long, but he'd like to see that cracka-boom.]

So what does that make you?

[His Norse Mythology isn't super great, but he's pretty sure Thor has lots of brothers to choose from, if there's a theme going here. And a little lightning sounds like it would come in handy right about now.]

That makes me Loki, but—for real? Where in the Nine Realms is Gotham?

[ everyone was a scrub once. except Thor, of course. Thor's always been a hero, and it looks like Loki may interject with something else (look who can't stop talking) before the crash becomes to close for comfort, and he scales the last five stairs with a leap. ]

Ah, Hel!

[ the hallway is long, and it's dark, and while Loki gets the heebie-jeebies just looking down it, it doesn't slow his speed. he can he the click click click of giant gross bug legs somewhere, and decidedly makes quite the clamor. ]

Here, bugs bugs bugs! I've got—um, some bug food for you? Some delicious meaty little creatures!

[ how appetizing. ]

Gotham City.

[As if this should explain anything at all. Who's never heard of Gotham?

Jason's used to working in low light, but there's only so much they can do to find these things. Luckily, the dinner bell seems to do the trick. The clacking noises of the gross giant bug legs are all they have to go on, right up until it appears on top of them. A big spiky silhouette, blocking off the cramped stone corridor above.

Which is great, since that's what they were looking for. Except now it means they have one angry bug in front of them, and one angry bug behind them. Set to charge on either side like a pair of colliding freight trains.

Jason skids to a stop, looking up and then around for an exit strategy. Spotting the cracked-open door of a dungeon cell, he bolts, dragging Loki with him and slamming the door shut just in time for the pursuing bug-monster to rattle off the bars, hissing angrily.]

[ the City does nothing but confirm his suspicions, but even so, there's no time to think on them. he's faced with something large and hungry and possibly angry (do bugs have certain complex emotions?) with two very convenient outlets in front of it.

Loki opens his mouth like he's about to try and reason with the thing—or at least slow it down to some extent—when Jason grabs him by the hood. ]

—Hey!

[ he starts, before stumbling backward on legs more adept to fumbling than doing much gracefully. he's quick, and he's used to running away, plotting for clever schemes and using all sorts of helpful trickery, he was not built for fighting. while he's a lot heavier than he looks, he follows after Jason enough that it doesn't hinder them too much.

a few steps back to avoid some slimey bug mouth bits and Loki sticks his tongue out at them. the gesture, mortal enough, doesn't seem either enrage them further or sedate them, instead they're ever bit as infuriated. that is, until they catch wind of one another. the bugs from the dungeon and the one at the rear meet with diminished interest in the two boys, and more at one another.

Loki puffs up a big, exaggerated sigh of relief. ]

Love conquers all, I suppose. Or lust? Ah, well ... details.

[Who tries to reason with monster bugs. They're bugs, they can't even appreciate a good quip, let alone a measured argument. This is why you need yanking around by the hood. Which is...surprisingly difficult, at first. Jeez. Someone's been eating his Wheaties. But Loki takes a hint, and that's enough to get them out of the danger zone before things get—

...well. Awkward, mostly.]

Guess there really is someone for everyone. [Bug romance. Gross. They're safe from the crossfire, on the sidelines—they're also locked in, but surely between the two of them that'll be a non-issue. Once the coast is clear—so they're also...stuck. Jason gives the bars a rattle to be sure they're secure before letting go of the door to rake his hair away from his eyes.] Now what?

[This was your plan, bud. Surely you were going somewhere with this.]

Once they find each other satisfactory for rutting, they'll disappear into some other place to fulfill their lusts. [ he says it so easily, so straight-forward, that it's hardly embarrassing at all, least of all for him. being an Asgardian, and with the help of the mortal inter-webs, he's seen his share of those lusts fulfilled. ] After that, we'll be free to escape, and this little pocket universe will be down two horrifyingly fugly bug beasts. Huzzah and all appropriate exclamations.

[ the bugs are circling one another, testing the air with a click click click of hooked feet. they turn this way, then that way, then this way again, as if in the beginnings of an elaborate dance. Loki watches with mild interest, but more so because he's seen it before, and less because he's actually interested.

he leans against one of the nearest walls, sliding down to his butt with a huff and tugging at his hood. ]

... Only hundreds and hundreds to go.

So we go matchmaking?

[As if he's already committed himself to weeding out the hundreds and hundreds. It's...a method. Slow and not necessarily foolproof, but at least it seems to work. Until they find something that works better. Hundreds and hundreds aren't going to thin out on their own.

They sure are taking their time, though. Jason's hardly a sheltered kid. But, y'know, there's Gotham backstreets and then there's playing voyeur to new and exciting methods of alien insect courtship. He rocks on his bootheels and huffs a breath out impatiently while the bugs circle each other, watching the display intently as if expecting a catch. When it doesn't seem to come—and when the intricate insect courtship procedures don't look like they're going to finish any time soon—he paces back through the narrow confines of the cell to check for another way out.

He raps his knuckles against the solid stone of the wall.]

Seems like a lot of trouble to snatch a bunch of people up for blind date bait.

[ he's fiddling with his hood, and he pulls it forward over his eyes, the fabric pinched between his gloved fingers before he releases it. it bounces back, and Loki puffs.

it would be a long time before he tires. plus there's still the whole account of how and why he was here that he's been pointedly ignoring for the simpler, less stressful (in comparison only) option. Loki's been tossed around plenty, so while this isn't exactly a surprise, it's not expected, either.

Jason brings it up, and Loki's forced to recognize it for what it is. ]

Aye, I'd be inclined to agree. We're not exactly the exterminators that they need, and yet ...

[ there's the translucent glimmer as reality begins to bend, and Loki looks up as he feels the awkward tension applied to the fabric of the cosmos. while he's resisted learning magic, he's still attuned to the affects of it. ]

There are people in need, it's a difficult predicament to ignore. I may not be hero material, but I can help.

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EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

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ugh I'm sorry, work was killer this week

that's ok, me too buddy

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