[EVENT POST] I FEEL STUPID, AND CONTAGIOUS.

[dishearten]

CHARACTERS: Open to all!
DATE: 3/11-3/12, ICly
WARNINGS: Zombie attacks? Violence? Shopping???
SUMMARY: Lockdown at the mall! Grab your CDs and your soft pretzel, it's about to get bad.

LET'S GO TO THE MALL LOCKDOWN Business has been rough for Woodhurst Shopping Center ever since riots and unrest about the Bristol Virus have shunned most to their homes. Perhaps ill-advisedly, in attempts to draw a few more customers back into the polished halls of the grandest shopping experience Woodhurst has to offer, a weekend of big sales, great bargains, and fun family activities was widely advertised in the Woodhurst Watch. There was even a scheduled public concert, performed by the University Choir. The turnout was smaller than hoped, yet the air was quite optimistic. Shoppers enjoyed the day of activities and fun, and the sense of security was bolstered by the increased security detail. There was even some members of the press on hand to document this return to normality in a troubled time. Everything was going well, until a scene broke out in the food court. Security tried to quietly remove members of the choir that suddenly seemed to snap, plowing into one of the food stands and starting to feed on raw meat. However, a good handful of them escaped instant confinement, and while many of the visitors fled the mall as soon as they could, soon Police Detail arrived and put the entire building on lockdown. Nobody in and nobody out until the situation was resolved. 18:00 TO 23:00 HOURS Anyone unlucky enough to be trapped in the mall is left to their own devices, with very little knowledge to go on. This includes many civilians, as well as a small number of Audentes agents. This also includes a small number of infected, more than just the university choir. There's a voice over the loudspeaker imploring people to hide in stores, barricade doors, and stay put until help arrives. The majority of the infected seem to linger in the Food Court especially. Bad news for anyone trapped and starting to get hungry as the hours pass by, without any obvious assistance from the outside. The members of ALASTAIR have a choice, help protect or just do their best to avoid the infected themselves. Characters can get into the Security Office for a camera feed on what is happening in the mall, and potentially use it as a base of operations to work from. 00:00 TO 02:00 HOURS It becomes apparent that the number of infected in the mall are somehow increasing, despite the lockdown. It means that those that have squirreled away into stores and outlets are growing less and less safe as infected numbers multiply and they begin attacking barricades. To make matters worse, anyone that hasn't found cover will find the infected extremely reactive, and willing to give chase around the mall. The security feed indicates the infected seem to be coming in from the Parking Garage. Investigation will reveal a sewer outlet on the bottom floor. Characters will have to decide whether they should utilize the tunnel as a means of escape, or if sealing it off would ultimately leave the remaining hours of lockdown a little less violent. 04:00 TO 09:00 HOURS It's been an agonizing 12 hours, and with surprisingly little aide from the outside. With time to make preparations and put plans in place, now it's time to end this lockdown once and for all. Audentes is tasked with neutralizing the remaining infected as well as escorting any remaining civilians to safety, by any means they decide on. It is up to Audentes to decide how the end of this event plays out, be it removing or otherwise drawing away the lingering infected, or putting them down once and for all. There are plenty of civilians that have been bitten and attacked, leaving the question in the air as to whether they are infected as well. What should be done with those that could be bringing the virus back to their families? The team is going to have to decide on the answer to that.

Comments

[ex_mettacrusher33]

Ha! Fugo. Sweetheart. [Mettaton retracts his hand, but not before shaking some of the excess glitter off into Fugo's direction.] My timing is never off. That's just the anticipation that's killing you.

[Wait, rewind.

Gasp! He's hoping onto the counter his new friend is standing at, kicking his legs to and fro.]

You know Gio-darling? WELL, any friend of his is a friend of mine! And any friend of MINE tells me what my other friends are saying about me. At length.

[unholey]

[Fugo's in the midst of patiently brushing glitter off the front of his hoodie (he is only marginally successful: while he gets most of it off, there's now a distinctly sparkly patch on his left) when Mettaton perches nearby.]

There's really not much to say. He likes your taste in music and clothes. He thinks you're fun. [Briefly, the stern set of of his features slides towards wistfulness; Giorno could use more fun in his life. Letting Giorno have some fun is what brought Fugo here today. And he doesn't regret coming, even though shopping has never been something he enjoys and things have gone entirely to hell. He just wishes the day could have stayed that way. He stubbornly sets his jaw and, rather than letting himself get stuck in the feeling, translates it into bending down to stash his stolen cash into a bag.] He didn't say anything bad.

[unholey]

I could use a lot of things. [Pain relievers that actually worked. Actually restful sleep. More cash, a gun, and he wouldn't say no to even a shitty cup of American coffee at this particular moment in time.] I'm working with what I've got.

[There's a stiff, awkward silence before Fugo offers:] Thanks. For stopping them.

text; un: OHNO

[nextlineis]

i can't help with the door, but i can help finding some place safe for the injured

any idea where most of the infected are hanging about?

[sheriffing]

We can carry more together.

[ She's looking every bit as exhausted as she feels, dark circles under her eyes and a few bruises from having to pull civilians away from the infected, but food is a necessity here and she's been hungry since before the lockdown. Getting it to others means there's a chance she'll get something to eat, too.]

Our best bet is stores with snacks up at the front.

[Video stores? Literally any sort of candy shop. Maybe the sporting goods store on the next level, there are options.]

18.00 - 23.00

[nextlineis]

[She might be small, but it doesn't go without notice that she's wandering on out of the store. Or more accurately: it's hard to miss the adults trying to get her to stay put. Joseph decides not to get in the middle of it. At least at first. But the more he thinks on it, the more he's not exactly really keen on the idea of a kid wandering out there by herself, even if it's by her choice.]

[So, it's only a few seconds after she manages to break away from the crowd and get out of the store that Joseph goes after her.]

Hey! Wait up!

[It's a harsh whisper. He's a little too tall and big to really sneak around, but he's not stupid enough to start yelling with the situation what it is.]

C

[nextlineis]

[Joseph spares a look in Peridot's direction at her entrance, an eyebrow immediately raising in confusion over . . . Well. Everything puts it fairly succinctly. Joseph thwacks the nearby infected hard in the ankles with a hockey stick he procured from a sporting goods store before turning in her direction.]

And your plan is what exactly?

[sheriffing]

We can't bank on their hated of Jingle Bell Rock, we need a real way to restrain them.

[the problem with locking them in one store is what it'd take to keep them from getting out of it.]

And a location we're certain is secure enough to hold them.

[sheriffing]

None of those people asked for this. We need to do what we can to protect everyone.

[ Even on instinct alone, a kid deserves more protection than any of the infected, yet she can't bring herself to acknowledge that yet - maybe she hasn't been through what he has, in her mind all of this is still preventable.]

Do you need any help?

[Any backup from someone with a talent for hitting things?]

[keystaff]

Y-yes!

[Sakura holds back, ushering the civilians back behind her, trying to keep them out of this and herd them a little closer towards the exit. As close as is safe just yet while Aqua tries to hold off the infected, anyway.

It was probably a little hopeful to think one could manage this alone. So, Sakura hopes Shield holds, but tells the civilians to turn away, as she activates Windy in an attempt to at least restrain the stray that approaches, figuring that could at least help Aqua to put that one to sleep once she deals with the ones currently more in her face.]

Aqua!

[keystaff]

Like a video store, that sort of thing? You think they have a smaller supermarket or something to check too?

[She'd been to the mall before, but these were huge, and she hasn't explored it all yet to know what of all of the stores are quite yet. But for all she knows, there might be something like it, or some sort of food or snack specialty store around.]

[keystaff]

[She pauses, hearing someone tell her to wait, turning to see who it was even if he wasn't that loud about it. She doesn't know if the voice is a familiar one, not immediately at least, but Sakura figures it was probably her they wanted to wait.

Her hair shifts with the movement as she stops and turns, hand holding to her necklace that isn't the jewelry communicator around her neck.]

Hm?

[perma_banned]

Steal? [Ban followed Naruto's eyes to his shoulder, to the little girl. He hadn't asked her name, yet. If anything, he probably wouldn't. The second they were out of the mall and she was in somebody else's custody--he could be rid of another weight around his neck in that mall.]

Well, sorta.

[He looked to the barricade, speaking up again after a short pause. There wasn't too much to say in that situation that would be new or ground-breaking.]

I don't listen to the network, much. What about you?

[perma_banned]

Our bosses. [With little pause, Ban stiffened one finger and gestured towards an empty bench. He wasn't going to toss the armor on himself since it would be as conspicuous as anything in the world could get for him to suddenly be wearing full plate mail but leaving it around without connecting it to himself would be fine. A glossy light shimmered on the bench and, under thirty seconds, there was a radiant set of full armor seated on the bench as if someone were inside it. The armor itself was stiff enough that it looked like it already bore an inhabitant.

For all of Loki's curiosity, Ban looked as if he were bored. In truth, even in their dire situation, he felt restless.]

As for me... Nah, I'm not human anymore.

[headlining]

[This is really embarrassing, and Mettaton's attitude is not helping one bit. Keats shoots a scowl back at him, though he's kicking himself internally for messing up as much as he did.]

The ice might have spread farther than I intended to. I don't know how to explain how a door suddenly iced itself completely over.

[He scratches the back of his head with a grimace, before sending out another message.]

And NO, I don't need help, I just need to fix this somehow. Without your smug input, thank you.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

Oh! Alright, then. Have fun figuring that out. <3

[Can you tell what game we're playing, Keats-darling?

Mettaton's since turned his back to the other again, seemingly gone to comforting the rest of the group. There's a muffled discussion for a moment, peppered with the usual, sad encouragement, before the crowd seems to get settled into staring at him.

And now he's singing.]

Nothing's gonna harm you
Not while I'm around
Nothing's gonna harm you
No sir, not while I'm around
Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays
I'll send them howling, I don't care, I've got ways

[thinhammer]

[ Naruto has no recognition or idea about any of the subtleties going on between the two in all of their unsaid intentions, because Naruto is very upfront about what he feels and requires things to be upfront in order to understand them.. and honestly he's still struggling with the fact that Sai has made a friend at all. Don't get him wrong, he's happy -- even if just for the assurance that Sai is capable of making friends as well as the knowledge that Sai hasn't been totally alone here -- but it's still weird.

He leaves this awkward pause after Giorno's response because he genuinely can't process an answer. ]

U-Uh.. Yeah. I mean-- Yeah, of course!

[ He looks at Sai, maybe a bit awkwardly. Is that why Sai checked up on him today? ]

[headlining]

[Keats is expecting a whole lot of things, but Mettaton singing out of the blue isn't one of them.]

[He stares over at the group, confused. This isn't helping. This is the opposite of helping. (Then again, he specifically did the opposite of asking for help...)]

[Keats blinks, unsure what to even say. Mettaton's singing is...nice, to say the least, but he's going to try his best to ignore that and move to address the problem here.]

What are you doing? This isn't the time for singing!!

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Hm? What's that?? It's not the time for singing?]

Nothing's gonna hurt you
No one's gonna dare
Others can desert you
Not to worry; whistle, I'll be there

[He's still singing. The group is enraptured and gaining a sort of calm, as they should be. He has the voice of a goddamn angel.]

You said to be the distraction, honeysuckle. Why? Do you need me to come over there?

[ex_mettacrusher33]

[Oh yes!! This is SO GREAT!! You know, he was just thinking to himself: HOW COULD MY DAY GET ANY BETTER?? He wasn't counting on it to! It was just a flight of fancy!! How could someone so wonderful be singularly blessed with such AWESOME luck???!

Sigh. Okay. It's fine. Everything's fine. This is not the end of his day... It's fine. It's fine.

He reaches for her hand to pull it to the back of his neck. With the cloak on, visually there doesn't seem to be anything there. Touching... There's an obvious circular indentation where nothing but skin should be.]

[headlining]

Shut up.

[His mind races through what possibilities he has. He could try to heat up the ice using his fire, but he could just burn down the door and they'd all be in trouble. Everything else he has at his disposal is frankly destructive and would only make things worse. Mettaton could distract them for ages but that wouldn't just make the ice magically (ha) disappear into thin air.]

[He's at a loss at what to do. And he's being thoroughly distracted by Mettaton's singing because it's good and it has no right to be.]

If you have an idea for making people simply not noticed a door covered in ice (besides SINGING), I'm all ears.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

Demons will charm you with a smile
For a while
But in time...

[He's letting that last high note linger. Honestly, he just enjoys hearing his own voice ringing through the air.]

Nothing can harm you
Not while I'm around...

[Another message:]

Well now you're just giving me mixed signals!! You said you didn't want any of my input! Which one is it??

[headlining]

I said your SMUG input. I didn't say no input in general.

[He pinches the bridge of his nose, clearly exasperated.]

You can't solve every problem by just singing at it.

[ex_mettacrusher33]

Why else do you think I taught myself how to dance?

Not to worry, not to worry
I may not be smart, but I ain't dumb

You DID say you didn't need any help...

I can do it, put me to it
Show me something I can overcome

I don't know, Keatsy. I just need to be SURE. I'd hate to give you something you didn't want...

[skelepun]

[No kidding. Lucky for her, Sans has a certain fondness for those with a thrill for showmanship and heroism. He looks downright fond as he tosses the bag jerky in the air, letting it twirl a few moments.

At first, it seems like it'll simply drop back down at his feet. Even the infected seem confused. That is, until Sans -- languidly as always -- chokes up on an imaginary bat and follows through on a fake swing. Despite the complete lack of contact with anything real, the poor, innocent jerky goes flying back towards the store with impressive speed.

The infected aren't far behind, reacting like dogs in the middle of a heated game of fetch. They come in one mass, slobbering for food. Where ever Peridot is when the chaos is triggered, she'll find Sans' voice right beside her in the same moment.]

You're up, leader.