PLOT: WISE SNAKE'S EMERGENCE

[theearth]

Who: OPEN.
When: March 9th, Sunday, daylight hours.
Where: The business district of Locke City.
What: An enormous snake monster is pissed.
Warnings: Violence.

[The alien explodes silently - but it explodes.

First in a small cloud of hot (rose-scented) gas - those there to watch its final moments will want to step back.

A ripple in the air pulses - heavily - from where it once was, with absolutely no sound and color, but penetrating force. Anyone standing within two miles of the point of origin will feel a push, with those closest guaranteed to be knocked off their feet and temporarily dazed. Cars swerve and crash. Staff in the nearest office buildings launch into disarray. There’s no shielding from the blast - it can be felt through walls, through structures, in the air, and underground.

And it is felt underground.

The entire business district starts to shake, abruptly, jarred to a stir by some movement. It rises over the span of a long half-a-minute to the magnitude of December’s earthquake.

Tuning Towers experiences the worst of it - windows are smashing and objects are shaking loose and falling from the upper floors.

It finally ends - with screaming - as the head of an enormous pink snake breaks the lobby floor.

It flows its way quickly out of the hole it’s made, breaks itself another hole ever so politely through the main entrance doors, which were not meant to accommodate a twenty-foot-tall-and-wide exitor, and as it draws the last of its tail out after it, the quaking dies down.

It’s now roaring its way through the streets of Locke City’s business district - all several hundred meters of Wise Snake, emerged in the flesh (or stone?).

No regard for the walls of buildings, streetlamps, civilians, stopped and blindly pulled-over vehicles, anything else on its course - in a frantically-awakened, unrestricted rampage.]



[ OOC: This is part two of the Season 1's finale. The first - the assault on the farmhouse - is here; pertinent plot posts one and two. ]

Comments

[enchants]

[ There's a disheveled fifteen year old who looks like he's been thrown through a wall, with a bloody hand wrapped up in his jacket using the wall to keep himself up as he veers around the corner. At the first sight of rescue operations, he weakly lifts his non dominate hand up and flags the detective down. He couldn't make it all the way to the hospital, but he progressed another block of utter chaos in the streets until the drain on him was too much. He's confused, but can manage some coherent sentences. ]

Here Over here!

[ He's going to beeline for him at a snail's pace. Leaving the support of the wall is probably a bad idea. A silver medical bracelet on his left wrist might catch some of the light. ]

Have you seen a lady with red hair?

[sassymaru]

[Shouts like these have become suddenly, sadly, common. But that doesn't mean it doesn't make his head snap around, looking for the source. The wave gets his attention, and he starts jogging over.]

Hold on, don't move too much --

[He's a detective, not a doctor, but even he can see something's really wrong here. Not to mention that flashing light at the wrist...]

You're going to have to give a better description than that. Here -- [He offers him an arm.] Sit down. Are you injured?

[enchants]

[ He slowly lowers back down, but it's awkward to reach across himself to use his other hand. In the year's biggest understatement looks from the man, quickly down. ]

Kind of.. I'm dizzy, ..but, [ Cat's careful to peel back part of his jacket where he has it wrapped tight around his hand. It's got two large lacerations across it and has fiercely swollen. The sight of it makes his pale skin drain of all color and he sharply looks away. The bracelet on his left wrist is clearly labeled: Anemia. Running around is a terrible idea for this kid. ]

I got kicked by a giant robot... My h-hand I think.. it's broken? I'm trying to get to the hospital. My mom should be there.

[sassymaru]

Sit.

[He keeps guiding the kid, until he's sure he's actually seated and all right, instead of wobbling around on his feet. That hand... really doesn't look good, to say the least. And the bracelet's information makes things worse.]

Focus. Stay with me. Focus on what I'm saying. What you're saying.

[He speaks slowly and carefully. Enunciating every word. The better to make them more obvious a thing to focus on.]

Kicked by -- [Okay weirder things have happened.] It might be. Try not to move it. We'll get you to the paramedics, all right?

What's your name?

[enchants]

[ His shoulders slump forward. Sitting is a much better idea. Laying down wouldn't hurt either. Cat's smart enough to try wrapping his hand back up to avoid losing more blood. Nodding dully to everything he says until his name is asked. There's the internal cringe, and his nickname comes popping out instead: ]

"Cat" Baker.

...What's yours?

[sassymaru]

I'm Detective Takenaka.

[He tries to keep his tone light, despite the fatigue threatening to creep into his voice. Despite the panic threatening to overtake him. He offers a vague smile.]

The paramedics aren't far. If you lean on me, I think we can get you there.

[enchants]

A detective. ... that's cool. [ With all the warnings on the network, Cat becomes a little more rigid with the news about police. He shakes his head slightly and rubs at his burning eyes:] My legs are jello.

[ Cat smiles a bit to compensate for the amount of panic at not being able to find his mom, being injured, and giant robots. After a moment, he relents his position of staying where he is and pushes off the debris to stand. Where to, detective?]

[sassymaru]

[He's never been cautious about who he is -- in any capacity. Before or after the network. Besides, there's no flashing warning sign to say this kid is from the network, so why hide who he is?]

Don't worry. Mine are fantastic. We'll be fine.

[When in doubt, act confident. It usually helps. He shifts to try and slide an arm under the boy's shoulders, to support him.]

[enchants]

[Aside from the wobble and the smashed hand, he seems well enough, just tired and blearily watching other people hobble away from the chaos.]

My mom's going to flip out. A giant snake... she'll probably move us to Alaska.

( ooc: terribly sorry for the extremely late replies! )

[sassymaru]

In all honesty, that hardly seems like a bad idea.

[Good, because this guy's been digging people out for hours now. He just steadily plods on forward, heading for the last known location of the paramedics.]


((ooc: No problem!))

[enchants]

[ Cat's starting to notice that his guide and support is looking a little exhausted and haggard himself. At least paramedics are in sight now, but before he shuffles over, he's pausing to look up at the older man. ]

You know... my mom's single.

[ For a moment he seems absolutely serious, then he smiles tiredly.]

.. I'm kidding. Thanks, Detective.

[sassymaru]

[Well, if the Giant Snake Monster hadn't been enough to make him look completely poleaxed, that comment does.]

[He just stares. For once there are literally no words. His mouth opens and closes a few times.]

[And then he clears his throat, starting the shuffling again.]

Well. Good you're only joking. It wouldn't work out unless your mother were actually a man.

And I didn't already have a boyfriend.

[hattersdaughter]

[Speak of the devil! A woman with red hair messily thrown into a bun is running down the street toward you two.

She'd been waiting with the tents, having been told that was the best place to find her son- leave it to her to go off and try and find him herself.]

Cat!

[Nothing is going to stop her from grabbing him and hugging him tight.] Are you okay? Where have you been?

[enchants]

Oh, well.. [ Well that's awkwar—

— now that's just ironic timing! His mother's voice does pique his immediate interest, but he's way too exhausted and rained to lift his head anything higher than an inch or two. A few emotions dart across his quite pale face in quick succession: surprise, relief, and then, THUD, definitely pain. ]

Mom! [ How does he explain without her going into a frenzy? ] Uh, kinda... The detective was taking me to the paramedics. My hand is...

[ Well, he's just going try to lift his arm and show you the jacket wrapped around it. Enough blood to worry a mom, and she hasn't even seen it yet. ]

[sassymaru]

[He almost starts to step in front of the kid, but his cry of "mom" relaxes him. He doesn't do anything to stop their meeting, either, just stepping to one side.]

Yes, ma'am, your son needs to be treated by a doctor, soon as possible.

[This is super awkward all around.]

[hattersdaughter]

[Thank god she didn't hear the cause for the awkwardness, so right now she's going to focus on the fact her son is bleeding!]

What happened?! [She wants to grab at the injured hand, but she's calm enough it seems to know not to. Her hands hover over the injury before she has to frame of mind to realize this person was helping him]

I'm sorry, thank you. Thank you so much for helping him.

[enchants]

[ Not even two seconds to answer there... Cat's just going to uncomfortably shift the wrapped up hand closer to his stomach. He's been doing his best to focus on just walking, but now that they're stopped, he has a little energy to spare, muttering: ]

You wouldn't believe me if I told you...

[ For a moment it seems like Cat can't make up his mind whether to continue or not as he looks between them. To talk about his Echoes in front of a stranger would be bad, a detective, even worse. Cat lowers his voice to whisper to his mother apprehensively: ]

I'll tell you in a bit. [He's not looking to insult the man who helped carry him this far, so he does nod in his direction, in appreciation:] Thank you, Detective Takenaka.

[sassymaru]

It's nothing. Both of you. I'm happy to assist.

[There's a slight bow of his head, to them both. He has no way of knowing whether or not either of them would be Numbers Club, but that hardly matters right now.]

[Though he does pat at his jacket pockets, looking for something. After a moment, he holds out a crumpled card.]

If you need anything else, this is my personal number. I'll be here the rest of the... a while.

[Another little bow. You gotta take care of civilians, yep.]

Take care of yourselves.

[hattersdaughter]

Thank you again. [She's wrapped an arm around Cat, holding him close to her side. She'd been worried since the snake appeared and only at this exact moment has she finally spared a smile.]

Please be careful!