EVENT: Snowed In

[the_npcdo]

[Early Monday afternoon, the snow starts. At first, a charming novelty glimpsed through the classroom windows, but within minutes it becomes a veritable blizzard. Any classes being held outside are urged to bring themselves inside. Within half an hour, the power's cut out and the snow is piled high enough to make entry/exit from the buildings difficult. Within an hour, it's impossible. Snow is piled halfway up the first floor windows, and most of the doors have frozen shut. The second story windows seem to be working just fine, though, as are any rooftop access doors.]

[The blizzard finally calms down, but students and faculty are trapped inside--or outside, if they managed to be on the wrong side of the doors during the storm. The power's out and the cold is starting to seep in through the insulation. Worse, there seems to be some kind of unseen presence in the buildings, an eerie cackle echoing through the empty halls or an unsettling sense that you're not alone.]

[Someone's going to have to restart the generator before we end up with a school full of studentcicles. It wouldn't hurt to clear some pathways out of the buildings, either.]

Comments

[tsunderbolting]

[ Shit.

She has to prepare for that as well and grits her teeth. If she can't move then she'll just have to make the first move and at least stab him, transforming the sword into a whip and sending it towards his direction. It's at the same time as the burst, which causes her to fly backwards, her back slamming against the wall.

Thankfully it doesn't knock her unconscious, but it does cause a lot of damage. Hopefully the sword-slash-whip managed to hit him.

Just... as long as it's not in a vital spot. ]

S-- Shit.

[inchesofevil]

[oh. it did.]

Ow! Jesus fuckin' goddamn--

[injuries might hurt less in the duelscape BUT THEY STILL HURT. she managed to catch him in the side, right under the ribs, and the whip idea turned out to be tactically sound because that gave it enough force to go straight through his leather armour. he's got both hands pressed over the wound which is oozing a not-insignificant amount of blood.]

Alright--I deserved that, probably.

[a white glow appears under his hands and a couple seconds later he straightens, pulls his hands away from the injury, and shakes himself out to get back into the fight. It's healed, the whole thing pristine--leather restored, blood gone, like it never happened.]

[he can only fix things so thoroughly in the duelscape, sadly. in real life it's flesh and blood only.]

Please tell me you're ready to concede.

[thirdtenkaistar]

[Somehow he manages to catches onto the rail at the same time Celty grabbed at him, keeping himself balanced - awkwardly balanced, but balanced long enough to position himself in a way where he wasn't going to fall]

Ah - thanks! S-s-sorry for running into you...

[losingherhead]

[Oh, thank goodness. He seems relatively safe now, so she releases him. With that done, there's the helmet. Helmet secure? Helmet secure. Good, that's good.

With a flick of her wrist, her PDA comes out of wherever she puts it in her sleeve and she's hastily typing out a few words.]

Its my fault, I wasn't paying attention.

[ofsevenseas]

[He pauses at the question, frowning slightly]

Well, it's not like I really have much need for my paycheck - they could bill me for the door.

As for the generator... it should be a switch, or a pullcord, something like that, right? They shouldn't had made it so complicated that you can't operate it in the dark, that would defeat the purpose of one.

[inchesofevil]

Yeah, but it's in the...

[there is something here. he knows exactly what not being alone in the dark feels like. he will never forget it. there is something here, he can feel it.]

[he presses his back against the wall beside the door, his eyes and his flashlight darting across the hallway to try to find the source of that feeling. he can't see anything amiss, and that's even worse. he doesn't care if it's goddamn Cthulhu, anything is better than the terror that lurks unseen.]

[he finishes meekly:] ...it's in the basement, isn't it?

[hair_guitar]

[It might have been something of a relief to Ellen that Celty had come to the decision to not chop her head off after all. At another time, she might not even have been running like this... but, unfortunately, Celty had come across her at just the wrong time. And then made nothing but decisions that would only escalate things.

Take her decision to go for that grab, for instance.

As soon as the smoke catches Ellen's arm, her shrieks somehow get even more shrill and the fight part of her instincts kick in, now that flight is less successful.]

LET ME GO!

[... Celty will now find herself under bombardment by textbooks. Followed by whatever else Ellen can get her hands on. Is that a fire extinguisher? Yup. A painting off the wall? You'd better believe it!]

[tsunderbolting]

[ When she saw him in pain, Mikoto immediately froze in place, eyes widening as she took a step back instinctively. But when she notices that he's healing, that he's alright, it causes her to swallow down any haughty words that she tried to come with, instead trembling somewhat.

Not because he's serious, of course.

But because she could have seriously hurt him. She hadn't been paying close enough attention to aim properly. The sword's still there, of course -- it's like a chainsaw that can't break -- but soon enough, Mikoto just drops her hand, unclenching it as she allows the to dissipate back into dust.

Her gaze drops and she's staring at the floor beneath her feet, but she doesn't answer. Not at first.

She asks herself what's important. What's more important. She raises her head, rekindling her determination as she presses her lips together. ]

I won't give up. I plan on leaving the classroom and restoring power to the school as well as helping everyone else. [ At least she has her priorities set straight. ] Don't misunderstand me, though. I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart or because I want to play hero — I'm doing it because it's better than just sitting around doing nothing.

[losingherhead]

[Oh thank goodness! If she can just hold onto her long enough to calm her down, everything will work out fine.

And then several textbooks fly toward her. She barely dodges a Calculus book before Chemistry feels a need to wham straight into her arm. Is... she seriously throwing books at her? Doesn't she need those for homework? She directs another jet of smoke to pick up the books, which is exactly as difficult as it sounds. Just as she's prepared to try levitating it back to the student, the fire extinguisher slams into her stomach.

She collapses to the ground, releasing Ellen, and the books go flying in whatever direction pleases them. She grips her stomach in pain and a ginormous fog of smoke jets from the stump into the hallway. Its almost akin to screaming.]

[ofsevenseas]

Probably. It'd be the safest place in the building.

[He lets out a quiet little sigh as he could see how Duncan as responding as he steps back - no need for magic for something this trivial - Sinbad turns on heel and leans forward, leg curling in before he slams his heel below the knob, then once more. It took four kicks for the door to be knocked out of it's frame, swinging open]

Faster we get this up, the quicker we can get warmed up.

[infinitejustice]

[He catches Athrun's eye. Did someone just get in from outside? How?]

The power failed. The snow probably brought down a power pole or something.

[infinitejustice]

You heard something? Like what?

[Athrun didn't hear anything. It's entirely possible the source of those sounds was only audible to her. Or maybe she was losing it in the dark.]

[hair_guitar]

It... it almost sounded like somebody laughing, but not a normal person. It sounded, like....

[And that's when the unnatural cackling sounds out again, echoing down the halls from the direction she just came from. Giving a yelp, Ellen dashes forward and reaching out to grab hold of Athrun's sleeve and hide behind him out of sheer reflex.]

Th-there it is again!

[infinitejustice]

[Oh, good grief. Sure, it's creepy, but that's overreacting.]

OK, that time I heard it. I'm willing to bet it's someone playing a prank. We should probably check it out.

[hair_guitar]

[Studying?! How can she be worried about studying when there's some headless going trying to chop her head off and wear it around like an Ellen-hat?!

And she's free! She stumbles a few steps when that smoke limb releases her, looking up just in time to see the ghost fall and... release... a... huge cloud of smoke into the air.]

....

[Which only makes Ellen scream ever louder than before because NOW SHE MADE IT MAD and turn and dash around the corner, running just as fast as she can.

And that's pretty fast.]

[hair_guitar]

Ah.... ahaha.

[Okay, recovery mode! Ellen stands up straight, folding her arms as she gives a little laugh. Okay, time to be cool.]

D-don't be ridiculous. I-it's just a blackout, there's no reason to be s-scared about it.

[hair_guitar]

[This is clearly the exactly correct level of reacting.]

What? [That may have come out sounding a little squeaky.] Ch-check it out? But what if it's a....?

[She doesn't even want to finish that sentence. There are no words for the ghoulish terrors Ellen can only imagine awaits them down that hall]

[inchesofevil]

[Duncan knows it's coming but he still flinches at the sound with each kick. Once Sinbad's got it open Duncan peeks around the edge of the doorframe into the space beyond.]

[well that sure is completely pitch-fucking-black. there is no way he's going in there.]

[he looks back to Sinbad] This may shock you, but the heat is actually the least of my concerns right now.

I'm not crazy, right? You can feel that too? Like there's something watching us.

[inchesofevil]

[She could have, it's true. But luckily for her, anything that isn't immediately fatal is something he can shrug off.]

[HEAVY SIGH]

Mikoto, listen.

I'm not asking you to do nothing. I'm asking you to sit tight and wait until we have more information about what's going on and what needs to happen. It's about patience, not inaction, okay?

[tsunderbolting]

So you're basically saying that I can't just get the information myself? If that's the plan, then you're going to have to defeat me for it!

[ Sparks trickle yet again from the tips of her fingers. The power generated in it is a lot more powerful than it was before, if only because of her frustration.

Maybe she's being reckless, but she'll charge in, attacking with all she's got. ]

[losingherhead]

[Celty's just gonna lie here for a long moment.

Wonder if this is what "getting the wind knocked out of you" feels like. Her stomach in a strange state of emptiness. Judging by the ceiling above her, maybe getting the smoke knocked out of you is the better phrase for her.

Why is this her life.

Maybe she could get back to the room, put on different clothes, and try to look as normal as possible. Or just lie here. Oh sweet ground, you're the only one that doesn't hurt her. Almost as nice as beds.]

[infinitejustice]

We won't know until we find out. And I'd like to get to the bottom of this whole thing so we know how to deal with it.

[He's not the type of person to just leave things to other people and hope that somebody else sees to it. he wants to take action.]

[hair_guitar]

[Neither is Ellen! ... Usually. Most of the time. Under normal circumstances, she'd probably be at the front lines of trying to solve this thing but. This is different. She just wants to be out of here, but... what if he goes off and something happens?]

O-okay... [Gulp.] I'll go with you.

[Internal screaming intensifies.]

[inchesofevil]

[He's going to take that hit. His magic shield is still up, so the bulk of her electricity will fizzle when it hits his armour. Not all of it, but enough that he can weather it and just focus on the physical portion of her attacks.]

Yes! I am saying that!

[he's going to try to hit her with another holy pulse, to knock her back and put some distance between them again. unfortunately, it's very easy to dodge just by getting inside his arm's reach.]

Because there are people here who are paid to do that and letting you go out on your own is a liability!

[tsunderbolting]

[ Jumping back to avoid the hit, she grits her teeth, sliding to a stop as it hits her. At the very least, it hasn't drawn blood, which is somewhat of a relief as she wipes her brow. ]

Just because they're paid to do things doesn't mean they're good at it!

[ Mikoto can definitely talk as someone who gets near perfect grades and can literally hack into any system in the school with a simple cellphone device.

WHAT A CHEATER.

She lets a few sparks fly in his direction before taking a leap in the air; she needs to close the distance between the two of them and make sure that she reaches him. If she can get within a distance so she can touch him, it should be game, set, and match. In the meanwhile, she'll get to rebuilding the sword (more like a whip at this point) with the iron sand so she can use it to potentially deflect blows while she's still in midair.

Mikoto has the advantage while she's not on the ground, after all. ]