towerofanimus | Jason's hoarde of angry nurses

Entry tags:

Jason's hoarde of angry nurses

Characters: You. Yes, you!
Setting: December 16th through 21st, all the places!
Format: Any!
Summary: Plague doctor ~~panic~~ shenanigans for the Into An Abyss event, day two and onwards until the pesky creatures stop annoying everyone. Or in the case of non-orange-collared people, maiming them.
Warnings: Monsters! Battles! Death! Orange collar badassery! The Tower! Too much to handle!!

[After a day of putting things into the strange portal on floor twenty-three, something finally comes out. Many somethings. And it seems they are not satisfied with only the stray finger to nibble on...]

PLAGUE DOCTOR BEHAVIOR GUIDELINES

- Plague doctors use physical attacks, ripping and tearing their victims to pieces with hands and teeth. They travel very quickly and, when slipping in and out of reality, can seem to teleport from one spot to the next unpredictably.
- Characters whose collars are yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet will be attacked if the plague doctors notice them.
- Characters whose collars are yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet cannot harm the plague doctors. They must hide or run.
- Plague doctors become more powerful the closer to violet the character they are attacking is. A plague doctor attacking a character with a yellow collar will be weaker than the same one attacking a character with an indigo collar.
- Characters whose collars are orange will be completely ignored by the plague doctors unless the character directly attacks one.
- Characters whose collars are orange are capable of injuring and killing plague doctors, provided the means by which they attack are entirely mundane. They cannot receive enchanted items from other characters, for example.
- Plague doctors can only be killed by completely destroying the head. It has to be crushed into pieces.
- Plague doctors will carry any retrieval unit they notice into the rift they came from.

Label the date/time/location in the header, basic mingle stuff. ~~DO NOT forward-date anything to Wednesday the 18th or later until further notice.~~ Edit: Open from the 16th through to the 21st! Go nuts!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ryoji had been one of the lucky ones who had been out of the way of the monsters when they appeared. Working with Xion to distribute the clothes and weapons had kept him busy, and so far, he hadn't even seen one.

He smiles when he spots Diarmuid, but his happy greeting dies on his lips. He doesn't even need that uncomfortable feeling in his gut from the aura around Diarmuid to know that he died recently. The disappearance of the ears and tail say enough.

He hurries forward and hugs his adoptive father, muttering into his shoulder.]

I'm sorry I couldn't protect you...

Son...

[Diarmuid returns the hug, despite being startled. How did Ryoji know?

Oh...that's right. Ryoji's powers aside, Diarmuid hadn't returned to his weapon distribution like he said he would. Not only that, his ears and tail are gone now. He had better brace himself for a lot of people being upset. This isn't a death he is going to be able to hide.]

It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself.

If only I had come with you… I should have been keeping an eye on you. You were so focused on everyone else that you forgot to protect yourself.

[Ryoji sounds a little bitter, but he isn’t too angry. He knows he likely would have done the same thing as Diarmuid. He just doesn’t want this to happen again, as foolish as that wish is in the Tower.]

What happened to you?

No, do not wish to have been with me. You would have died too.

[Diarmuid shakes his head.]

It wasn't that I was too focused on others for once. This...creature was just too strong. Remember when I told you what Jason really looks like? That is what this thing looked like and it was so strong that it might as well have been an Administrator. I had no chance.

Then something like Jason attacked you? I don't believe it... and these monsters sound like they're impossible to beat. I guess I should consider myself lucky I wasn't there but...

We should tell someone, right? Warn the others about those things?

[Diarmuid reaches out to place a hand on Ryoji's shoulder.]

Calm yourself. Word about them has been spreading from what I hear. It seems I was unfortunate enough to get caught in the first wave that was released. I guess that is what I get for having such bad luck.

[The joke is a weak one, but he is trying.]

I've heard that their power is also somewhat variable depending on the collar color of the person they are attacking. If the person is violet like you and me, then they are at their strongest. It would explain why I had so little chance against them.

I’m glad… As long as most people know about it now, no one else can be hurt. Still, I’m sorry you got caught up in this, especially if they were so powerful attacking you.

[He bites his lip.]

I can only imagine how painful it must have been. I wish there would have been a way to make you stay with me… I shouldn’t have said you could go.

Son, stop.

[Diarmuid reaches out to press his fingers against Ryoji's lips for a moment to quiet him, before letting his hand drop away.]

This is not your fault in any way. There is no way you could have known and nothing you could have done to prevent it. I was dead almost before I knew what was happening. To be truthful, there was very little pain.

[And he was too busy being shocked to feel much of what there was.]

There are some deaths in this place that just cannot be avoided. This was one.

[Ryoji takes a step back in surprise. He has been told to stop being so hard on himself, but never physically shushed. He covers his mouth, embarrassed, as he listens to Diarmuid. Of course there was nothing he could have done. Of course it happened too quickly for Diarmuid to call for help.

And as long as there wasn’t much pain, there isn’t anything to be guilty over, is there? Ryoji is being silly. As usual, of course.]

I-I’m sorry. I just don’t like to think that there are things here that we can’t anticipate or expect.

[It’s like remembering Nyx all over again. He feels fine, and then suddenly, his whole life comes crumbling around him, and it’s hard to find the energy to build it back up.]

It's okay. I know. It's not easy to be so forcefully reminded of just how little control we have over things, but that is the truth and ignoring it really doesn't help. It just makes you more vulnerable the next time something unexpected happens.

[Diarmuid motions out around them.]

Even if we weren't here, life would find a way to throw the unexpected at us. You know this just as well as I do. Perhaps not in such extreme ways...

[Or, considering Nyx, perhaps they would still be extreme ways...]

...but it is how we learn and grow stronger. All we can do is try to learn to expect the unexpected so that when it does inevitably happen, we don't break under the pressure.

That’s true. I should be strong enough to handle that by now, but some things I’m just still not used to.

...It’s just too similar to what happened back home. I don’t like not being in control.

[Ryoji falls silent, looking down at the ground and hugging himself. He’s lucky his new blue scarf is as wide as his original one was; it hides his face perfectly and doesn’t reveal a fragment of his frown.

Though Diarmuid should be able to tell regardless…]

[Indeed, Ryoji could have been wearing a bag on his head and Diarmuid would have been able to tell. He reaches out to hook the top of the scarf and pull it down some.]

None of us like being out of control. Believe me, I know your frustration, at least in some degree, but give yourself time. Even though you have learned a lot and experienced a lot over the last months, there is still much you have to learn.

And before you even say it, yes I know we don't have much time, but we have had this talk before. Some things just cannot be rushed.

[Ryoji lets out a gasp of surprise as his hiding spot is tugged away from him. No one’s ever done that before, and he doesn’t know what to think. He shrugs and looks away while he attempts to figure it out.]

I know… I just wish I could learn faster. I wish I wouldn’t get into this vicious cycle. I always beat myself up for the same things…

And now I feel bad for wasting your time with this again. I can’t even control what comes out of my own mouth sometimes, and I feel horrible.

Stop.

[The word is still a command, though a softer one this time.]

You recognize the cycle, so stop yourself from sliding deeper into it. Don't get upset you fell into it, don't worry about the wasted time, just stop and climb out of it. If you do it enough, eventually you will learn to recognize and stop it before it happens. It will take a long time, but that time will come.

Do you understand what I'm saying?

...I-I understand. I’m sorry.

[It’s just taking him some time to get out of that repetitive cycle of guilt. Even after all these months.]

It's all right. Why don't we do something to distract you from all this?

Do you remember getting a letter asking about heroes from a boy named Romeo?

Sure… I remember that. I was going to reply, but I’m pretty sure everyone I thought of nominating was already mentioned. Why?

You were nominated.

[Diarmuid grins at him.]

Twice in fact. As a result, there is a young man by the name of Zett who is looking for you. He's drawing pictures of all the people who were nominated to go with their nominations.

T-Twice? But who else nominated me?

[He knew as soon as Diarmuid said it that he was responsible for one of them, but who else really thought Ryoji was a hero?]

I'm not even close to the heroes that should be in that book! I-I'm not even sure what to think... I guess I should just be thankful, though, shouldn't I? I'll look for this Zett around.

[He still looks very flustered, though.]

[Diarmuid shrugs, amusement twinkling in his eyes.]

I am afraid I don't know who else nominated you, though I am sure you can guess where one of them came from. Just like you can guess that I am about to scold you for saying that you don't belong in there when you most certainly do.

Zett isn't too hard to miss. He has bright green hair and red eyes. Oh...

[Suddenly, he laughs softly.]

Zett has a kind of monstrous fly form too. Don't be too shocked if you happen to notice a fly following you at some point. I don't know how often he uses the form, but he does use it sometimes.

Well… I can at least thank you for nominating me. And for thinking I belong in there…. I wanted to be able to say that I could follow in your footsteps one day and I guess maybe that happened. I’m… glad you’re proud of me.

[The heartwarming moment gets a slight damper put on him when Ryoji’s imagination kicks in. Monstrous fly form? Sounds like something out of a nightmare… not that Ryoji doesn’t have a form like that himself. He laughs a little.]

I’ll try not to be, though I haven’t ever run into a giant fly before. Hopefully it isn’t too surprising.

It's...different.

[Diarmuid thinks back to the first time he saw Zett like that and shakes his head.]

Yes, I think I am just going to stick with saying it's different. I can't really think of another way to describe it. Don't worry, though. I am pretty sure he probably won't be using that form much. He won't be able to get much work done if people are attacking him thinking he's a monster...

That makes sense. I wouldn’t attack him either way though… I at least try to make sure the monster’s going to attack me before I assume it’s an enemy.

A wise course of action. There have been quite a few odd...people who have been brought here. Not all are always as humanoid in form as you and I are. It would be terrible to attack and hurt them on accident.

I understand. I could have been brought back from the Seal in an entirely different form as well. I’m very lucky I was able to regain a human appearance. I wouldn’t want anyone to attack me if I took on Thanatos’ form, so I won’t attack anyone either.

Jason's hoarde of angry nurses

Dorm floors!

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