[EVENT] LUCERNE ATTACK

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN to Lucerne agents and the agents coming in from Liechtenstein
Location: Lucerne, Switzerland
Rating: PG
Time: December 20
Description: Shibusen Lucerne gets attacked and its agents attempt to defend it. Event Summary Here

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[alastinglight]

And that was all it took, wasn't it? After holding back for so long, after fighting off the frustration and the fear and the sadness, after cutting loose just a fraction during training and missions yet still waking up at night feeling like the air could choke him with too many possibilities/too little knowledge of the future, now that they were surrounded by foes and without a friendly face in sight, it was simply too easy.

Within the small space created by their resonance, Takasugi let everything that he was meld with his Meister's will, feeding power into the older samurai's limbs and spirit, siphoning just enough for himself.

In that little underground corridor, the black blade in Okita Souji's hand instantaneously grew, both in length and width, until the segment closest to the end looked almost like a serrated butcher's knife. All of the power it had gathered from drinking the blood and life force of their enemies exploded outward, in what looked like tendrils of living shadow.

Some of it snaked down, sinking into the ground and washing the floor beneath their feet and beneath that of their enemies in black. The tendrils then launched themselves upward, impaling anything in its path.

The rest of it swirled around the blade, static and restless, tearing through the air with a sound that was remarkably like a shriek. It did not stay with the sword, however: a lot of the energy transferred to Souji, bolstering the boost that the two of them naturally had as a team to an impossible degree.

That power had to go somewhere. Now it was up to his Meister to direct it, to see just how strong and fast it might make him in the face of their foes.

[mumyo_ken]

It had been worth the risk. Takasugi had placed everything into his hands, and now it was up to him and take this power they had created together, and use it.

Okita Souji used it to kill.

Suddenly, he was not sick. He was not even tired. He did not have to think or worry or calculate at all. He simply moved, faster than he ever had across a dojo floor or on the field of battle. The blade in his hand weighed nothing, felt like nothing, slipped through their maimed foes like a shadow. A horrible, vengeful shadow that tore apart everything in its path, leaving a trail of violence and darkness in its wake.

A few of the kishin tried to back off. That was a mistake.

[alastinglight]

And perhaps someone else might have found it horrific, how the creatures seemed to melt away the moment the shadows touched them, filling the air with a terrible stench. If they did not die from the blade Okita wielded, they were killed by the spikes of energy that lanced out from the pool of shadows below their feet.

Few of the kishin had time to scream: as such, the only sounds in the corridor was the eerie hum of the power the pair suddenly had at their disposal, the strange whisper of the shadows, and the simultaneous collapse of too many decapitated limbs hitting the walls, the ground.

Another wave of enemies approached them, attacking without any sense of order or anger. The kishin were scared now, frightened by the human-looking foe with a wicked sword.

Takasugi knew this. It only made him smile.

[mumyo_ken]

How long could they keep this up? It was a question that should have been worrying him, but instead it flitted across his consciousness and was gone again and instant later.

There were more enemies, waiting to be taken apart.

The shadows were their vanguard, moving out ahead of the pair in a wave, maiming as they went, making easy targets for that blade. Souji moved between them with a deceptive grace, taking them apart like so much meat, refusing to be trapped. The tables had turned, and what had seemed like a simple victory for the aggressors had become slaughter.

[alastinglight]

Interestingly enough, in the hands of another Meister the attack should have been over a long time ago. As things were, however, Takasugi's Weapon form continued to gather up energy from the blood it spilled, powering the shadows.

Takasugi himself hardly noticed. He was riding on the crest of it, letting the energy wipe away all of the pesky feelings that had been holding him back ever since he had arrived in Death City. Still, neither he nor Okita were aware of the fact that both of them were tiring, that it wouldn't be too long before they had nothing left to give.

Fortunately, there were only a few more kishin to take care of. They had effectively wiped their little corner of the base clean. Now they only needed to eliminate the stragglers.

[mumyo_ken]

Theoretically, they could have gotten away now without bothering with the last of the kishin in that section of the base. Souji's single-minded focus would not allow for such thoughts, however.

They were the enemy, and he would cut them down. Every last one.

If his movements were not as swift as before, he made no note of it as he chased the last few kishin through the tunnels. And if his breathing had turned loud and ragged at some point, he seemed not to care. The shadows still advanced, and the blade still hummed, so he kept moving, taking off a limb here, cutting through a torso there, until one by one the last of the threat was eliminated.

As the last head rolled off across the stone floor, the shadows finally dropped. And so did Souji.

[alastinglight]

Of course, in the wake of expending way too much energy and feeling the last of the power bleed off into the night air, there was very little to protect him against the sudden surge of madness and the exhaustion.

Before he could contend with that, though, Takasugi had to deal with the fact that he had been rather unceremoniously dropped to the ground, and the bond between him and his Meister slipped away. He shifted out immediately, and found himself crouched at Okita's side, staring down at the latter's prone form.

For a second, between the skittering voices pounding against his skull and the sight of the Okita, Takasugi forgot how to breathe. He grit his teeth against the former, though, and focused his energies on moving, reaching out for his Meister, helping.

"Okita-san!"

[mumyo_ken]

He wasn't sure what had happened. He'd been fighting, and then...

Nothing. Just the darkness, skittering around inside his mind, playing havoc, trying to...

He heard his name, and tried to remember how to breathe. The first inhalation was like fire, tearing through his abused lungs, forcing its way back out as a barking cough that caused him to double-up, trying to steal a breath between them. He'd used up all the energy he had and more, left himself defenseless and shaking on the floor when he needed to get to his feet and fight again. There were more kishin out there. He was supposed to kill them. That's all there was to it. He forced himself to uncurl, trying to stagger to his feet again.

[alastinglight]

There it was again, that pesky cough, and it sounded far worse than it used to. Takasugi fought off that sharp spike of panic that he felt at the sound of it' and reached out to support Okita with his own body.

"It's over for the moment. You should rest."

They both needed to, actually. That attack had taken a lot out of him.

[mumyo_ken]

"No, we need to--" A pause, a gasp for breath. "keep going, Takasugi-san. There are still more. We need to--"

He'd given up some part of himself when he'd made their risky gamble, and now, without his partner to help combat the Madness wavelength, he couldn't get it back. Not that he cared, or was even aware of it, anymore. All he knew was that there were more kishin somewhere that he had to get.

"Transform. We need to--" He needed to find them and kill them, the moment he managed to stop coughing.

[alastinglight]

That made Takasugi frown. Okita was acting strangely, and it was probably because of the madness wavelength.

Not a good thing at all, this.

"I don't think it's a good idea. Not with you like this."

[mumyo_ken]

He ignored the refusal, instead trying to force himself to his feet again. It took three tries, but he made it, swaying slightly on his feet.

"Takasugi-san. There are more of them. We have to fight."

Until this base was empty of threat. Until they'd defeated them all. He coughed again, staggering a little, tasting blood in the back of his throat.

"Transform. We have to go."

It was so simple. Why wouldn't his partner understand?

[alastinglight]

And Takasugi stood up right along with Okita, hovering close, worried that his Meister would keel over at any given moment. It DID appear to be a valid concern.

"There are others. Let them handle it first."

He was already charting out a good path to the infirmary from where they were. He still had his bearings.

[mumyo_ken]

"Takasugi-san. You're not listening. We have to go." His voice was hoarse now, and empty, devoid of any of the distress one might have expected in his situation.

He wasn't going to give up now. He couldn't do that. He would be weak if he did that, and he didn't want to be weak anymore. He wanted to be strong--the Madness would make him strong, not weak. He'd been doing the wrong thing all along, hadn't he? Fighting it. Embracing it would solve everything.

He took a few lurching steps forward. It was so dirty here, and they needed to be somewhere else now. Somewhere the kishin were. "You are my weapon. We're supposed to fight together." He coughed again, catching himself with one hand against the wall. "You wanted to be stronger. Come fight. We'll be strong together."

[alastinglight]

And now it started to make sense: Okita's persistence, the things he was saying, the look in his eyes. Something, somewhere, started laughing. Takasugi pointedly ignored it.

He set his jaw, and moved to stand in front of the other, folding his arms across his chest, digging his heels in.

"No."

He was still thinking clearly, by some miracle, and while he could, he wanted to make sure that he'd pull them both of out this mess properly.

[mumyo_ken]

Okita stopped and stared at the younger man for a moment, and then moved to push past him. He'd recovered a little of his strength--enough to walk on his own power--though he was still struggling to catch his breath properly.

"I'll go by myself."

He didn't have a weapon. But he couldn't force Takasugi to transform. If he wasn't going to see what they had to do, then he had no choice but to leave him behind. He'd find something or someone else to use. He was wasting time here, waiting for his partner to understand. Time he couldn't waste.