yumemigaoka | Sachiko's June Schenanigans Open Post

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sachiko ishikawa

Sachiko's June Schenanigans Open Post

⭐ Who: Sachiko, possibly her Father, and YOU!
⭐ When: First Week of June
⭐ Where: Promised Morning Private Academy, Yumemigaoka City Hall and Randomly About the Dream Sphere
⭐ What: Sachiko being a menace, Sachiko fighting with her dad, then being a menace, and Dreamer Zeal fangirling over other Dreamer's fighting a Torment!
⭐ Warnings: Disrespect to Civil Servants and Parents, Spammy

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was an ordinary day in the Reverie Necropolis. 'Was' being the operative word.

Things had been relatively normal, which meant the resident Torments were mostly out of sight, but keeping keen eyes on those Dreamers that dared traverse the varying passageways and tunnels, the icy cold stone that opened up into wide caverns of graveyards not keeping a solemn quiet, but quietly reverberating with tiny sounds of clicks and clacks.

In what was today the nearest of the caverns was a Novice Dreamer who had come here alone, something which itself should already likely be the cause for alarm, given the relative danger of the area. This was Dreamer Zeal, who upon hearing that there was a graveyard in the Dream Sphere, had a single question pop into her head that simply wouldn't go away. 'What was there in a world of dreams that died and needed burying?'

As far as she knew people didn't dig graves for the Torments they destroyed, and so she was set upon with an intense curiosity that just wouldn't go away. So she had set out, making her way through the labyrinthine tunnels until actually finding some graves for herself! She'd walked through the large graveyard, looking at grave after grave, squinting her eyes and trying to make out anything that was on the gravestones to no success.

After some time she found what looked to her to be one of the most impressive monuments in the graveyard and looked it over, still unable to decipher anything. If she couldn't read what was interred, there was only one method left! To start digging.

As her name would suggest, she got to work with a considerable zeal, first digging with her hands at the hard dirt, but quickly giving up with this slow method and detaching one of her Sandglass shields, gripping it with both hands and slamming the point into the ground to tear out chunks. The sound of this made quite a racket, both echoing off the walls of the open cavern and traveling with little loss of volume through the first tunnels and passageways out of it.

Slam! Bash! Scrape!

The rhythmic sound of digging continued unabated for a long time, until suddenly the strike into the earth made a strange, hollow sound. "That's it!" she cried excitedly, "Just a little more and--"

The point of her shield hits again, and all at once everything seems to give way. The hole she'd dug wasn't even impressively large, but as if the mouth of some portal a yawning chasm suddenly opened up before her. This might have elicited excitement, had the method of this opening not have been caused by the sudden outpouring of an immense multitude of Torments. She let out a shriek, more out of surprise than fear, stumbling backwards and backpedaling as the Torments crawl over each other in ever increasing numbers to get out. Several take swipes at her as they exit, and the shield she'd been digging with shatters under the force.

"Oh crap! Um..! Retreat! Retreat!" She's got no one to shout at but herself for now but she's quickly running backwards as fast as she can, summoning another shield to her arm and trying to stay upright as more and more Torments keep pouring out. The normally calculating, skulking monsters of the Necropolis are not in the mood for their usual tactics, instead charging straight at the Dreamer in a frenzy, trying to surround and tear her to pieces.

What had once been sounds of quiet scrapes and falling rocks is now the raucous thundering not unlike that of a full on cavalry charge.

One would think the best place to sit and mope in the Dream Sphere would be the Vale of Sorrow-- after all, it was in it's name, and the dreary weather suited the mood perfectly. However... it was because of said weather that Hanako pointedly avoided it, not wishing to add "being soaked to the bone" onto the list of things he wasn't happy about right now. (Not to mention the thunder and lightning... sure, he was a Dreamer, but it still freaked him out a bit!) It was just a little ironic for him to choose the literal graveyard as the spot to isolate and stew over things, given everything that had happened, but... it was quiet, and it was familiar, and that's all he really wanted at the moment.

He had found himself a spot on top of one of the larger monuments towards the back of the cavern, head propped on one knee and his other leg swinging idly over the edge as he mused over what might have went wrong. Was it bad teamwork? Bad luck? Or did he bite off more then he could chew becoming a Mentor this soon after graduating...?

Any headway he'd make in those thoughts swirling in his mind, however, are largely interrupted by a persistent cacophony coming from somewhere in the middle of the graveyard, the noise on the verge of giving him a headache. Just what was that? Someone fighting a Torment or some sort of Nightmare? He hadn't seen anyone in this particular cavern when he arrived, but he also wasn't paying much attention to who may have come in afterwards, either. Grumbling, he pushes himself off the monument, summoning his Sandglass knife as he does so, and floats on over towards the source of the noise. If there was a battle happening, it was his duty to back them up-- but if someone was just causing a racket for the hell of it, there were going to be words.

After about five or ten minutes of searching (MAN this place was huge!), the scene he comes across... it's sure something! A girl about his age, on her knees in front of one of the monuments, using her shield to... to...

His eyes nearly bulges out of his head at the sheer audacity on display before him, and he scrambles towards, raising his voice in order to be heard over the noise.

"Hey!! Hey girlie, what're you--?!"

But before he can get the words out in it's entirety, a few things happen in quick succession:

She hits something.
The ground opens up.
And all hell lets loose.

Hanako's not an Experienced Dreamer for nothing-- he's seen his fair share of Torment fights in the past year-- but the size and scope of this was far beyond anything he'd seen prior. He almost wants to gawk at it, because this girl quite literally dug her own grave with this, but... fortunately, his sense of duty was stronger than watching her get her just desserts. Zipping forward (thank goodness for Striker speed!), he snatches her up by the collar, practically dragging her away in mid-air as he attempts to get her to safety. He spares a glance behind him, to keep an eye on the advancing hoard, before shooting her an incredibly peevish look.

"Just what possessed you to think that was a good idea?!!!"

Unfortunately, rescuing this squirt and keeping her in tow had now put a rather large target upon Hanako's back, the mass of Torments changing course to charge after the two of them. Unless another Dreamer or two were lurking nearby, they were undeniably screwed.

Zeke isn't exactly nearby, but that sound -- the sort of sound you should hear in the darker depths of the Dream Sphere, not the Necropolis no matter how spooky it sounds, is enough to bring him running with all the speed he can squeeze out of his Mobility and his Dreamer form. It isn't enough to get there in time to get the others to safety, or lure the Torments off the trail... so, only one thing to do!

"BRINGER OF CHAOS!"

A crackling meteor of electricity slams into the front line of the Torments as Dreamer Chaosbringer throws himself into the middle with an enhanced jump. As the lightning rushes out, he rises from his landing crouch, sword at the ready, to stare down the Torments with a smirk.

Dreamer Sudo is navigating the catacombs with no specific goal in mind...at least, until the persistent sound of digging starts. It's most definitely not the sound of a Torment; it's too organic, too calculated. Once they hear the sound, it's been a casual, curious trek to find the source. That casual trek turns into an all-out sprint once the cacophony breaks out.

By the time they get there, two other Dreamers are here to help with the fight, up against a Torment-spilling portal. Great. Looks like someone was looking for trouble.

Sudo keeps their distance from immediate melee range of either Dreamers or Torments. Their major concern, considering the firepower they already have, is this noise attracting bigger, uglier problems. It's still a vulnerable place to be, halfway between where the danger is and where the danger could be, but the others have too much on their hands to be concerned about both. But with one eye on their back, Sudo occasionally lets out a pelt of Ping to chip-damage with some pot-shots while the Torments are primarily focused on the others.

"Ahhh! They've got me, I'm being kidnapped!" Dreamer Zeal shouts and flails as she's picked up by the scruff, making Hanako's levitation more annoying and difficult until she realizes it's not a Torment, but rather a fellow Dreamer that has her by the collar. "Oh, thanks!"

Completely ignoring the look he gives her she responds to the question, "I didn't know whether it was a good idea or not. But you can't say you've never been curious about what was inside a grave inside the Dream Sphere, right?"

As the massive horde of Torments chase them she intercepts several incoming blows with her shields, jarred each time from the impact. As a larger one threatens to simply charge the two Dreamer's down and bowl them over she lets out a shout of, "Terra Shield!" and her shields glow with green energy. The Torment slams into the shields... and has a noticeably smaller effect than the other attackers, despite the greater force. "Haha! It works!"

So focused is she on her successful defense that she fails to realize that even with Hanako's help the Torments are gaining on them, continuing to give chase and starting to partially surround them. That's when a meteor of a man clad in electricity arrives right in the nick of time, crashing into the horde and giving them something to think about, several Torments blasted away by the electricity unleashed.

"Woah, woah! Hey, let's help him!" she calls to Hanako, trying to dig her heels in as she's dragged away from the front line. As the Ping comes in and gives further Torments something to think about other than the three short-ranged Dreamers right in front of them she further notes, "See! We have even more back up. I don't have any awesome attacks yet, but I can totally help hold them off while you guys attack!"

Whether it's a good idea or not she seems intent on pleading to Hanako that they turn around and at least attempt to fight off the horde in direct combat alongside Chaosbringer.

Oh, he had definitely bitten off more than he could chew when he decided to rescue this girl, her constant flailing and wiggling wrenching his shoulder something awful and causing him to dip and dive drunkenly away from the stampeding hoards. He's about to snap at her to stay still so they could actually try to make it out alive, but then she poses that question of her own, and... dang it, he's actually considering it for a second.

"I mean... sure, but I'm not about to go digging up dead people to find out!"

You heard it here first, folks-- Hanako's fine with trying to eat a Torment, but grave robbing is where he draws the line!!

That pause is enough to give the monsters some leverage on them, and Hanako does his best to swipe them back, his Striker advantage managing to give them just enough damage to stagger them in their tracks. Granted, it was a difficult task to do one handed and dragging an extra body behind him, so there was only so much he could do-- but then he hears the girl shout out her attack, and... WELL. Okay, maybe she was going to be of some use, after all, if she was going to be able to defend them from the back like that--

But before they know it, they're almost surrounded, and too many things seem to happen at once: the massive ball of electricity crashing in, Chaosbringer jumping dramatically into the fray (Hanako never thought he'd be relieved to hear someone bellow "BRINGER OF CHAOS" until now), the mysterious attacks coming from beyond that were tripping up some of the Torments from advancing further... nothing about this situation was neat to begin with, but things were bound to devolve into a chaotic (ha) mess if they didn't coordinate somehow. So Zeal's pleading and literal heel digging came at just the right time, though he wasn't exactly keen on letting a newbie get stuck in the middle of all of this and get hurt (even if it was her own damn fault to begin with). He lets out a long sigh before releasing her collar, fixing her with a irritable stare before he speaks.

"Hah... okay, fine. But we get some sort of Mega Nightmare on our hands thanks to this..."

And he pauses for dramatic effect, the dim light glinting off the edge of his glass blade and a menacing lilt creeping into his voice as he leers--

"I'm gonna offer you up first as it's main dish. So you better not mess up, okay, girlie?"

Not that he'd actually do it-- he knew first hand what a Nightmare attack could do to a person-- but a healthy scare for motivation never hurt anybody, right? Right??

With a shout of "Hakujoudai!", two semi-transparent orbs of light swirl into existence, looking very much like will o' wisps here in this dreary setting, and Hanako sends them careening towards the closest advancing Torments to knock them into Chaosbringer's attack zone.

"Chaosbringer! I'll cover this side, you cover that one! The girl will try to keep them off of our backs!"

He peers over the best he can through the fray, wondering if he could spot who the mysterious fourth Dreamer was. All he could make out was a figure in iridescent white, but...

Edited 2023-06-15 03:00 (UTC)

Zeke runs a quick strategic assessment in his head. With four Dreamers on the scene, they still had very little chance of vanquishing all these Torments -- it'd take a proper Unit working in familiar sync to handle this many smoothly. That being said, they could make a proper defense and, with luck, retreat in orderly fashion instead of a desperate rout.

This is actually pretty good, he decides! Rarely do opportunities come up to teach others when discretion is the better part of valor. Instilling in younger Dreamers, or even experienced ones, the notion that even if you're not going to get hurt in the waking world, it's still okay to withdraw, is a lesson that'll pay off in the long run for sure!

And if things go roughly to hell, he can always Unleash Shining Justice.

"With this many Torments, a Nightmare could arise. Watch out for any of them gathering! If you see that, direct any long range attacks into that cluster while melee pulls back, and put up any shields between the melee and it. Anyone getting overwhelmed pull back behind me, I can take hits! STRATOSPHERIC THUNDEEER!"

The size and mass of Zeke's ridiculous sword count for a heck of a lot in a fight like this, as the lightning-charged blade sweeps through several of the Torments to send them flying. More rush in to take their place, though, leaving Chaosbringer to parry and exchange blows with them as they scrabble in to try to take him down. The only people who think he's only a chuuni idiot have never seen him fight. (Though he totally is a chuuni idiot. Let's not mince words here.)

Sudo is starting to pick up the pieces of what happened from the words that they can hear whenever it's quiet enough to do so.

"This is all because of mere curiosity?" they ask, incredulous yet delivered with an eerie level tone. They can't exactly claim to not have robbed any graves, but that was in the waking world and the only one at risk was themselves. "I hope you have found the answers you were looking for," they say in that disappointed parent kind of tone, regardless if Zeal can hear them or not.

One particular bulky Torment tries to come up at Sudo's blind side while they're talking, and right before it tries to swipe at them, Sudo turns to look at them.

"Right on time," they comment, and the faceplate of their headdress opens up. A white hand-sized creature several eyes and legs leaps out from the opened faceplate and latches onto the Torment's forehead, shifting its palette to the same iridescent white of Sudo. There's a brief pause as Sudo's faceplate closes, and once it does, the white Torment throws itself into the fray, duking it out amongst the small fry with a reckless violence.

"Let us keep a distance from each other," Sudo adds to Chaosbringer's declaration. "They seem interested only in us right now. We must not make it easy for them to change strategy on a dime."

"But if people die here they just wake up! So if it's not people in there, what is?" Apparently the answer to that is either 'don't ask' or 'a giant horde of Torments'.

At the mention of possibly having to fight something especially terrifying she gives him a tiny glare back, mostly because she's too busy fending off Torments to offer a more accurate gesture, "That's fine with me! While it's busy trying to gnaw on my leg you can stick it in the eye with your knife." After a brief pause she adds half under her breath, "Thanks for the save earlier." Zeal would be more enthusiastic about it if it wasn't for the menacing gleam on that knife.

When Chaosbringer offers up a contingency plan in case a nightmare shows up she calls out, "I have shields! ...though they're attached to me!" She doesn't have any problems interposing herself between something dangerous and someone providing fire support though. In fact, that's what she'd prefer to be doing!

As the giant electric sword sends a swath of Torments flying she notices the Torments starting to shift their focus from her, the cause of this giant mess and the one that enraged them in the first place, to Chaosbringer, who so far seems to be the greatest direct cause of their inability to reach her. He's successfully parrying and holding them off, but the swarm is so great that one torment inevitably gets on his flank. With another cry of, "Terra Shield!" Zeal rushes in, the glow of her shields leaving a streak of green as she intercepts an attack by bashing the swing directly with her shield on the windup. A few more blocking parries of her own and some bashes with her shield and it's clear that while she can clearly hold her own, she's not making much progress in damaging or driving off the attacker.

"Hey Chaos dude, batter up!" she cries, abruptly changing tactics and diving between the legs of the Torment as it attacks her and twisting around on the ground so she can spring up with a full powered jump to smash her shield into the side of it, not harming it so much as sending it flying towards Chaosbringer and his huge, powerful sword.

Hearing Sudo's suggestion to move apart she calls, "Got it!" and backpedals, trying to form a wider front with Hanako and Chaosbringer, doing her best to hold off the advance of the Torments while the two Strikers can deal some damage. Of course she gets very distracted after seeing the Torment get attacked by Sudo's creepy creature.

"Woah, cool!" Her eyes go wide as saucers, "What'd happen if you did that to me!?" To the likely dismay of everyone, there's not a hint of fear in her voice.

"Bold of you to assume I'm gonna stab that thing before it's done with you," he counters back easily, his tone deceptively light. Of course, that's a lie-- even if no one really died in the Dream Sphere, there could still be repercussions in the Waking World, especially when it involved Nightmare attacks. At her muttered thanks, however, he merely turns away, barely acknowledging it aside from a small huff. He may have saved her, but that didn't mean he wasn't still annoyed at this shrimp for causing all of this trouble in the first place! ~~Don't mind him, though, he's just being a brat~~

Besides, this wasn't the time for begrudging thanks or heartfelt moments or anything of the sort-- they were in the thick of things now, and thankfully Chaosbringer had a (surprisingly) better head for strategy and planning than Hanako did. And not only was he a better commander, he was a better fighter too... though it was hard to focus much on what he was doing when a lot of his attacks involved throwing around thunder and lightning like it was going out of style. Logically, Hanako knew there were much more dangerous things afoot here than electricity and booming noises, but... it still left him a little more on edge, regardless. Maybe if he stuck to focusing on his side the best he could without needing to go to Chaosbringer for cover, he could avoid the worst of it...

With that goal in mind, he charges directly into the thick of things, using his Hakujoudai to knock back any Torments in Sudo's or Chaosbringer's direction, and parrying the blows of those looking to attack him head on. His mere knife had nowhere near the range nor weight to compare with Chaosbringer's hefty sword, but what it lacked in size, it made up in precision. Deftly, he dodges and weaves around the creatures, almost like a dance, keeping his eyes peeled for just the right opening before he plunges in his blade for the kill. For some, it's an easy enough stab and swipe, cleaving them neatly in half, but for the others, he can only lop off an arm or leg, their stronger hides making it more difficult to get the knife all the way through. Dimly, he can hear some commotion from behind him-- it sounds like that girl was bringing some chaos over to Chaosbringer-- but he doesn't bother to go and look, so absorbed in his own one-on-one battles that the only thing that gives him pause is... a freaky spider possessed Torment coming into the fray???

If this was less of a fraught time, he would have probably flippantly followed up Zeal's question with a suggestion that she should try it herself and see-- but instead, he whirls his head towards her, a small smile on his face that very clearly did not reach his eyes, as he held up his Torment-gooey knife and bit out: "Girl. Nightmare chow. Don't make me repeat myself again, okay? ♥︎ Now's not the time." Seriously, the last thing they needed was a Dreamer going into Berserker Mode on top of anything else!! Not that the weird possessed creature wasn't cool, but the less extra variables they added into this battle, the better.

But unfortunately, some of the Torments were deciding to fight smarter and not harder, and a small cluster of them start to congregate near the front. Gritting his teeth, he pivots his Hakujoudai from his peripherals and aims them square into the knot of critters, hoping to knock them apart like so many bowling pins as per Chaosbringer's suggestion. It only does so much, however, and he yells out over the din.

"We need some more fire power over here, guys!"

Chaosbringer impales the Zeal-launched Torment on a lightning-sheathed blade, then flips it aside so it slings off into the distance with a rather unpleasant noise.

A call for more firepower is a bad sign, though. By his estimation, they have none to spare, and that means the Torment horde is winning by dint of numbers.

"Collapse!" he calls out, putting good his command by sidling backwards to put himself between Zea and Hanako. " Back to back, three direction defense, keep them from closing in on our rear. We're going to need to break free of this battle."

Let's start with commands he thinks might actually be obeyed. The others might not realize the situation is worse than it looks yet, in which case they'll need some more objective evidence. He isn't complaining about Zeal's lack of fear, mind -- he has none either, despite his assessment of the battle. Fear isn't necessary if you're actually good enough to understand your situation and act accordingly!

"Focus, little one," Sudo chastises Zeal with a firm but even tone. "You can ask me about this when we are not under threat of a swarm."

Despite Sudo's own advice, their attempt to stay a healthy distance from the swarm has resulted in being backed up against the other three Dreamers. They have no choice but to collapse. This might have been manageable if they had eventually stopped, but not enough are being felled to keep up with the ones still coming. Without knowing where the end is, it's a blind war of attrition, and Sudo doesn't like those odds.

"They are spawning faster than we can slay them. We need to carve out an exit," Sudo commands. After a quick scan, they point in the southwest direction, mostly based on the thickness of the crowd. "That way! Chaosbringer, lead the charge. Little one, protect the rear with your shield. Hakujoudai--" --you'll have to forgive them, Sudo still hasn't picked up Hanako's name yet-- "--and I will take care of the flanks."

Sudo's controlled Torment is already headed in that direction, shouldering smaller Torment out of the way to get trampled by their own kind.

From two different directions Dreamer Zeal hears that this isn't the time to be impressed or inquisitive about the strange powers of one of her allies. It's actually this more than the enormity of the swarm that has her first realizing just how bad of a position she's still in, even with three other Dreamers having come to her aid. "Okay, okay. I'm focusing! I'm focusing!"

She's going to have to think of a way to get back at Hanako for suggesting he'd leave a fellow Dreamer in need, but now isn't the time for that either. As to his yelling? "Um, sorry. I've got a distinct lack of firepower!"

She can't help grinning just a little as Chaosbringer runs through the Torment she sent his way with his sword, only to look surprised when he tells everyone to get closer rather than farther apart. Being a Dreamer sure seems to require the ability to adapt quickly! She follows his orders though, stepping back until she's close to him, letting out another shout of, "Terra Shield!" to reenergize her shields, gritting her teeth as successive Torments attack her and batter them as she interposes them between herself and their attacks.

"I can hold them off on my end if you can beat a path through them," she shouts above the din of the battle at Chaosbringer's continued orders. Sudo's quick instructions follow quickly after and she adds, "I think we should listen! Go! I've got the rear." The fact that people clearly more experienced than her that seem to have a decent grasp of tactics are mutually calling for a retreat is starting to give her an idea of just how big a mistake she probably made. Even if she can't effectively do damage she redoubles her efforts to hold off the oncoming tide of Torments, gritting her teeth with the thought of trying to keep any of the people that came in to rescue her from getting hurt themselves.

Okay, so the fact that they were strategizing a retreat in response to his call for more firepower was... not good. Hanako already figured the squirt wouldn't be able to help due to the defensive nature of her abilities, but if even Chaosbringer and this other Dreamer were tapping out...

Still, if his last Excursion had taught him anything, it was that it was better to throw in the towel the moment things got out of hand, as opposed to riding it out and getting others killed for his trouble. Gritting his teeth, he follows Chaosbringer's command, sidling up against the other three to help form a pocket of defense. If Hanako's a bit ill at ease for being so close to his thunder powers, he doesn't let it show on his face, trying to keep his focus on the ever changing tactics and commands happening amidst the chaos.

"It's Hanako," he supplies quickly to Sudo's misnomer, opting to side-step any faux indignation he'd usually give at people not knowing his name, because... well, this wasn't the time. He wasn't even sure of this other Dreamer's name himself (even though, now that he got a better look at them, they were actually pretty cool looking, in a creepy, horror-movie-esque way), but hopefully there would be time for better introductions once they got out of here... if they got out of here, anyway. He nods sharply at their instructions, however, gesturing for his Hakujoudai to return to his side and eyeing the Torments already looking to take advantage of their brief lull of action.

"Got it, though."

Now that they were all collectively in agreement, he resumes his attack, though their limited stations made things just a bit trickier to maneuver. Instead of bringing the offense towards the creatures themselves, he had to wait until they came close enough to stab or strike, a terrifying prospect when he didn't have as much room as usual to dodge. Still, he uses his Hakujoudai to their full capabilities when he can, urging them to pummel back the creatures until they either fell in Chaosbringer's line of damage or were far enough away that they couldn't be an immediate threat. The Torments were much too strong for him to take out in a single hit with them, so this was the best he could do to protect their flanks as they managed to make their retreat.

Edited (oop typo) 2023-06-22 01:56 (UTC)

Oh, Zeke does NOT like this. Chaosbringer should be the one battling in the rear while the others escape, not leading the charge of retreat. But dislike it though he might, now is not the time to argue or quibble about the marching orders.

"All right. Get ready."

Tongues of lightning flow, not just around his sword but flickering around his entire body as he draws on the full power of his Electricity. After everything he's been through lately, the power's gotten that much stronger. Add in Mobility, and --

How to tell Zeke is taking this seriously: he does not yell 'Bringer of Chaos!' as he strikes. Instead he lunges forward, not instantly but defiantly quick, sending Torments scattering every which way as he explodes past them. On the far side of the horde he skids to a stop, boots cutting furrows in the ground as he twists to come to a stop facing the rest, sword coming to rest on his shoulder.

"Now boarding, Chaosbringer line A to escape and freedom! Everyone this way!"

While it is impossible to make actual eye contact with Sudo, they turn their head in Hanako's direction, even if for a split second, to give them an acknowledging single nod of the head in response to being corrected.

"I am Sudo," they respond, as they turn their attention back to the Torments. "I hope we are fortuitous enough to have the chance to remember each other's names."

Which is just a weird way of saying I hope we make it out of here alive.

Sudo's possessed Torment is the first to throw itself into the vacancies that Chaosbringer cuts through the crowd, shoving any opposition out of the way so that it can't fill back in with the opposition before the Dreamers are able to file their way into it. As soon as Chaosbringer goes for another swing, the Torment moves out of the way, even though it itself isn't looking at Chaosbringer. Sudo themselves keeps close to Zeal, to keep a corner of their vision focused on any openings that a stray Torment might find its way into their makeshift phalanx formation.

With enough of this cleave-and-shoulder-in technique, the group should be able to get to the outer edge of the mass with only close calls and near misses.

The one sad thing about bringing up the rear is that she's so focused on what's behind the group and at their sides that she completely misses the strike of Chaosbringer that allows them to move forward. If not for Hanako and Sudo she might have a hard time even knowing when it's time to take another step or two back.

"I'm Zeal!" she adds to the chorus of introductions, still struggling to hold off the repeated attacks of torments with her shields, every now and again taking an opportune chance to duck under something she can actually avoid. "My arms are going to feel like jelly by the end of this," she comments to herself, even as she steps up to bash her shield into an oncoming limb. Then in a more cheerful tone she notes, "At least they aren't clumping up!" The thought of having to fight a Nightmare and a Swarm at the same time doesn't sound like a very fun time, if the swarm alone has them on the retreat.

She considers looking over her shoulder to see how much further they have to go but thinks better of it. Everyone is relying on her to bring up the rear, so she has to focus!

'Have the chance to remember each other's names', indeed. Hanako already dealt with a week being locked out of the Dream Sphere thanks to being poisoned and ambushed after his last Excursion attempt, and he wasn't keen on doing it again after he had just gotten back. He didn't even want to think of the possible consequences of falling here today, especially if a Nightmare decided to form, though it looks like their efforts were discouraging the latter from happening... for now, at least. Filing away each of their names mentally (not that he was ever going to use them properly, of course, but they were still good to know), he continues on the attack-- that is, until Chaosbringer's sweep clears a large swath of Torments out of the way for their escape. Now was probably the best time as any, so he chances a fast glance at the others to make sure they were still close by, before shouting:

"Hurry! Before they start to regroup again!"

He was going to have to trust they were quick enough to start following him, because there didn't seem to be a way to grab onto either of them without leaving someone defenseless or unable to attack the hoard. It's enough of a distraction from the battle, however, that one of the creatures takes advantage of it and makes a swipe for Hanako's head-- thankfully his reflexes help him avoid potential injury in the moment, but it does knock off his hat into the swarm, much to his horror. Of course, he'd get it back the next time he returned to the Dream Sphere (gotta love mahou costume logic), but it was much too close of a call for his comfort.

"C'mon, let's GO!"

"--What?! How dare you!"

Chaosbringer immediately scrambles back into the middle of the pack with almost alarming speed, stopping in front of the Torment that had grabbed Hanako's hat. Quick as lightning, he snatches it back, with a sneer of "Handling a Dreamer's uniform!" in the Torment's direction, before zipping right back into position like he'd never left.

"Stratospheric THUNDER!" Another few Torments go flying. Never mind the comic interlude, chums, there's escaping to do!

Even though Sudo's eyes are completely obscured, you can tell they're rolling their eyes from the nod of their head when Chaosbringer hops out of -- then back into -- formation, just for a hat that, for all intents and purposes, will have forgotten that it was lost once Hanako returns here.

"Your flashy antics put the group at risk," Sudo chides. "Do not leave the formation again," they say, in that I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed kind of tone.

The mob starts to thin out. It's easier to move forward with a little bit more speed, but Sudo declares "Stay in formation!" to keep them together until the hoard is thin enough for them to break. "Ready...and--RUN!" they command, pointing a hand towards the clearest path.

The possessed Torment stops, turns on heel to face the opposing force, and holds out its arms to taunt the remaining Torment and slow them down, buying a bit of a delay for the rest of the group to put some space between them and the mob. As they descend upon it, the spider attached to the Torment's face leaps out of the pile of attacking Torments and clears the entire space between it and Sudo in a single bound, landing on top of Sudo's head.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Sachiko's June Schenanigans Open Post

Reverie Necropolis - Gravedigging Gone Wrong - (Closed to Zeke, Amane and Larry)

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cw: (toony) spiders

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