The Deadland

[At precisely noon, while the roaming monsters once again go on the attack, Mami leaves her apartment. It's only the second time, outside of trips out to find food, that she's left the safety of the room, and though she doesn't know it, she's not exactly doing it willingly.

Before she leaves the apartment complex, she manages to break into a nearby apartment - Lightning's - and steal the rifle and ammunition the woman had managed to take from the station. She left the empty apartment, headed downstairs, and outside. In a flash of light, her clothes were replaced with her puella magi costume, and without another moment's hesitation, she headed down the road. Just far enough so that people wouldn't immediately come running.

The first few monsters are taken down no problem. Mami is careful to conserve her ammunition; she was supposed to destroy all of them, after all. But the longer she fights, the more appear, attracted to the carnage. The ribbon around her neck comes alive as she unties it, using the magical item to bind several creatures at once to make targeting them easier.

On and on she fights, nonstop. She's aware of the burn of fatigue beginning to set in, aware of the monster blood splattered over her face and clothes from the occasional close call, but she continues. She's compelled to fight, and fight she will.

It doesn't take long for everything to go wrong. Her Soul Gem was already moderately low when she arrived. It only dimmed faster and faster as the days passed, as she found out about her own failure and lost herself further to despair. It only takes an hour or two of fighting for that despair to finally sink its claws in all the way, and she snaps.

Normal people might notice the ear-piercing shriek coming from somewhere on Market Street. The supernaturally sensitive might notice something showing up in that direction as well. The Puella (and Puer) Magi will definitely feel a chill roll down their spines, and their Soul Gems flair to life.

Witch.]

((OOC: A few quick notes! This is a free, open post for anyone who wants to get their character stuck in a crazy alternate dimension, though I will not be tagging unless someone makes it to the center. If you're not one of the magi, you may, but remember the witch is extremely dangerous, and as there are plans for the magi (Homura, Sora, and Suzaku) to bring it down, your character will be killed. Otherwise, they're free to roam around, comment on the creepy surroundings, and wait for someone else to find them. The barrier will disappear when the witch is defeated, so unless a magi helps them out, they're stuck until it's gone.

Subthreads up. Go for it!))

So, 'people of Asper'. It sounds like you're all getting the hang of fighting, and I'm sure you can be proud of yourselves for that. [ or whatever. He's hidden his sarcasm well, and mostly just sounds affable and amused. ] But we're not a pack of savages. There's more to civilisation than killing things. The theatre, for example. How many of you have even heard of Shakespeare?

[ and a brief pause later ]

What I'm saying is, who'd be interested in putting on a performance with me.

So... how long is it supposed to be until this universe, um, revitalizes itself? Did anyone ever say?

A child, a wish, a dream. Her head spins with the might of a promised single wish and she wanders as though in a daze. There are many things that wish to hurt her. But hell's hands, shadow made tangible, help her along. She directs them toward one of the monsters and they cradle her as they eventually rip it limb from limb. And it goes on like this until there's a lot of them strewn about, the smell of blood is thick on the air and the sweltering heat of Market Park feels as though it may cook them and her both.

Oichi sinks to the ground next to the small body of a monster. A baby one, she thinks, even though it's fully grown. A great sadness grips her then and she picks the creature up, cradles its mangled body to her chest, and cries. She doesn't notice the flask by her knees.

[ ooc: Though this starter is in prose, will switch to action! ]

Lightning was indeed up and about early, as promised, leaving Day to her vaguely incomprehensible water project and Fang to sleep. Both had made off-hand promises to drop by, whether to learn, help out, or in both of their cases, needle Light incessantly, but that didn't mean they needed to be there at some goddess-forsaken time in the morning.

She did, because she needed to hunt down a few feasible weapon types first. The conversations over the radio had driven it home that as far as weapon stocks went, they were in serious trouble. So she had made a few rounds, moving through the city with antigrav-enhanced speed, and had returned to the courtyard with a variety of poles, sticks, knives and sporting equipment. These she stashed in the corner. She'd eaten during the search, so with nothing else to do, she picked a 'weapon' at random and started to try out a standard GC warm-up. The others would arrive soon, if anyone did actually arrive.

When that failed - the pole she'd chosen was too long and heavy for some of the higher flips - she switched to one she'd seen Kain use. Maybe it'd be easier to pretend the thing was a spear.

[It doesn't really matter who he was talking to. Or even what the conversation was about. Just that it was interrupted. Any individual or combination of people can be the other party on the radio.]

Dammit, these monsters are out already! [Shooting can be heard across the radio. After a couple shots, his voice can be heard again. He sounds pretty winded, and he's shooting again with one hand while talking into the radio with the other.] Zero, I'm pinned down at the co- [A screech of a monster, and silence.]

Hey! This is Sora Himoto. I don't know your name, but-- um, the person who told me about where witches come from? Are you listening? I wanted to talk to you. I thought of something important.

[Mami spent the entire time the monsters were on the prowl boarded up in the apartment she's been staying in. It's cowardly, pathetic, and she wholeheartedly agrees on that. But she isn't stupid; she still can't summon a gun that works, and without any other form of defense, she'd be easy pickings for those monsters in no time.

But now that things have calmed down, she's going to try to fix that little problem.]

Is there anyone here capable of teaching others how to fight? With melee weapons, specifically. I'm unable to use my regular means of defending myself, so I need a backup plan.

[RADIO]

The monsters are attacking. If you can't fight [WHAT IS THAT RATTLING SOUND], stay safe inside. If you can, we should fight them off and gather the Energy.

[ACTION]
[Minato is near the entrance of Mercy Street Apartment, a metal bat in hand and a 'gun' in his other hand. When one of the monsters come in to attack, he points the gun at his head and fire.]

Orpheus!

[Instead of certain death, a blue aura surrounds him and a strange, mechanical man appears to attack the monster.]

That morning, Lightning and Golbez were standing guard outside the front doors to the Mercy Street Apartments, making sure nothing dangerous tried to get in. No monsters would be getting past them.

Visitors might also have a hard time of it. But as long as you don't mean any harm, you'll be let through. Probably.

[ Static, then across all channels a voice chimes in. He's very chipper and cheerful! It's probably irritating to some. ]

Hey, Asper! How are you, how's your stay been, hope the food's been good, nice weather we're having. Now that pleasantries are out of the way, let's get to business: everyone's favorite kid has let us know something to pass onto you guys.

Expect a period of time-- an hour at least-- any time during the day for these lil critters to get especially aggressive. There's some weird mumbo jumbo involved apparently, so it said "when something weird happens, that might be the time"! Keep your eyes and ears open.

During the time that weird stuff goes down, you'll find the wildlife drops a little flask when it's destroyed. It's called Energy, and it's just a drink. You'll need this to live on here-- unless you want to be sucked bone dry, anyways! So drink some every day. That's what it told me to tell you all.

That's all!

Uh... Where did that little kid go? He was saying something about a wish and helping this universe?

I was in the middle of something really important. I mean, I'd really like to help! But I need to finish what I was doing back home first. Can I just leave for a little while and then come back after that's done?