[EVENT]

[soul_mods]

Characters: OPEN
Location: Death City
Rating: PG
Time: September 26, past noon
Description: The city is under attack; the Return of the Sand Muks; the return of something more auspicious; and Dude, why are our hands glued together?

Comments

[KANDA, YUURI, MIRANDA, WINRY][CLOSED]

[endthiscycle]

The alarm continued to ring, echoing throughout the streets of Death City. Accompanying it were the sounds of chaos as the Witch's spell began to take hold on its unknowing victims. Confusion gave way to panic and the sounds of battle as the Sand Muks of the previous days returned with the initiative to kill. Once again Shibusen had be thrust into an unexpected battle, but this time around there were two significant differences.

One, most obvious to those few gifted with the ability of Soul Perception would be the presence of two Witches who did nothing to hide themselves.

The second, which would likely be a surprise to all was the return of some people thought to have been long lost.

In the room formally occupied by Miranda Lotto, one of the first people to vanish in the long string of recent disappearances, something seemed to shift. It was quiet at first, but began to get louder a louder--a ticking noise. It grew in volume until at last a large clock face appeared in the center of the room, in a manner reminiscent of what had happened in this very place nearly a month ago. The face of the clock bulged out as if something were pushing from behind it, and then out came first a hand clutching tightly to a fob watch, then an arm clothed in a dark red jacket sleeve, and soon the rest of Winry Rockbell's body stumbled forth from the clock.

She nearly fell to the ground but she managed to keep on her feet even if she was bowed over and having to place her hands on her knees to steady herself. A quick cursory look around the room told her that this place was a mess--probably from when they left, but that was all she would allow herself since she had to help Miranda keep the gate open.

She turned around towards the gate doing all she could to keep it open till Kanda and Yuuri safely stepped through.

[a_r0yal_flush]

Yuuri came tumbling out of the portal next in a flurry of flailing limbs not long after Winry and Miranda. Stumbling forward, the rush of the moment only seemed to intensify as the loud sound of a siren echoed throughout the city.

Were they really back? The question ran through his mind as Yuuri's gaze darted around the room. The room didn't remind him of the damaged buildings in Death City, so maybe the time record work? He felt a glimmer of hope welling within at the thought. If they were back, then they'd be able to stop that future from happening!

"Winry! Are you alright?" He called out as he caught sight of the effort she was making to keep the gate open. After everything that they'd been through, he didn't want to see her or the others come to any harm. Both Winry and Miranda were here, but Kanda went through the gate after him. Glancing back towards the portal in worry, Yuuri felt his heart beating fast as he waited for Kanda to arrive.

[kandescence]

He wouldn't need to watch long. Kanda was certainly in no mood to dawdle, and compared to the last time they'd experienced this portal, being dragged unwillingly into it and waking up flung onto the ground in a mountain pass, this was a far easier passage. It still came with a sense of vertigo though, and it cost him a couple stumbling steps to steady himself once he came through.

He looked quickly to Yuuri, to Winry, to Miranda in her weapon form, and then around the room. From what he could see beyond the swirling clock face through which they'd come, it looked very much like the Communal and the room that they had left, he was not so quick to trust that they were back exactly were (and when) they started from though. How much time had passed since they'd been gone? And what the hell was that damn siren?

Scanning the room for something that would confirm just when they were, Kanda's eyes snapped to the digital display of a clock on the counter: 11:43 AM. But that didn't tell him nearly enough, and though he knew that there were all kinds of devices in this world that could inform one of the date, he wasn't adept enough with technology to call them to mind at once.

"How do we know what date it is?" he said a little breathlessly, looking sharply from Winry to Yuuri and clearly expecting one of them to know the answer better than he did.

[endthiscycle]

A surge of relief swept through her when she and Miranda were finally able to let go and allow the gate to dissipate. That had been much more strenuous than she had anticipated, but they had managed. Still it wasn't the time for celebration just yet. Kanda's question was a very important one, especially in lieu of all the noise outside.

Her eyes followed his gaze towards where the clock was and she hurried towards it, careful to not trip over anything on the ground.

"This should be able to tell us." Or so she hoped, it was a little different from the one in the clinic but they should have the same functions, shouldn't they? It didn't take long for her to find the right function. When she changed it, the clock read: SUN 26 SEPT.

[a_r0yal_flush]

Yuuri felt a moment of relief when Kanda came through the gate not long after him. If they weren't back in the right time it didn't matter. No, all that mattered was that they were all here and they were here together. He didn't want Mifune's sacrifice, or the sacrifices and efforts of everyone else to go to waste either. Everyone had worked so hard to get them back that Yuuri didn't want to disappoint any of them.

There was no sign of a calendar in the room as he glanced around. If they were lucky, maybe they would find a cell phone or something that might display the date? Yuuri didn't have to ponder for long as Winry made her way over to the clock.

"September twenty-sixth?" Yuuri muttered thoughtfully before his eyes widened in alarm. The siren made sense now! Were they too late?! Glancing over to Kanda, he felt his heart skip a beat as he asked, "Isn't that---? Spirit! We have to find him!"

[kandescence]

Kanda wouldn't have ever thought of pushing a button on the clock to display the date for them, but he certainly wasn't about to complain however they came by the knowledge.

His first thoughts were similar to the exclamation that Yuuri voiced, but in his way he was half a step ahead: he had read the clipped articles and garbled notes left behind in that chaotic archive which had been Badou Nail's cave--and finally, his de facto memorial. And after Mifune had come to tell them of the plan to send them home, he had gone and read the pertinent ones again, committing to memory the information he knew he might need: dates, times, places, names. It was the only briefing for the mission that he was going to get, and Kanda was an experienced enough soldier to study it well.

"His body is found at the Cabaret Host Club. It's in the entertainment district," he was already heading, not towards the hallway, but to the balcony door--the quickest way outside--and yanking it open so that the sound of the alarm blaring through the city spilled into the room with redoubled volume. "Records say he dies sometime around mid-day. We can make it if we run."

He glanced over his shoulder momentarily at Winry wondering in passing how much of her energy and Miranda's it had taken to keep the portal open for them. But there was no time to discuss it now, so all he said was simply, "Stay close if you're coming," and then vaulted over the railing and onto the sand, hitting the ground already at a run.

[endthiscycle]

Damnit. Well it certainly explained what the sirens were about and why so many shouts could be heard, but Winry had really been hoping that they would be able to make it well before this happened.

No point bemoaning it now, she supposed.

Winry just nodded in return to what Kanda said. The portal had taken a fair amount of energy from them but with the news that despite success in returning, that future they had come from could still happen, she felt adrenaline pulse through her.

She nodded at Yuuri too and followed right after Kanda, jumping the railing and sticking as close as she could.

[a_r0yal_flush]

The Cabaret Host Club? He wasn't quite sure where that was in the entertainment area, but it seemed that Kanda did and that was all that mattered.

Nodding his head to Winry in return, the young Maou didn't hesitate in running after the pair. His hand grabbed the top of the railing, and Yuuri was jumping over the it in the next moment. Yuuri would make sure that they'd save Spirit and change what the future had been. That was the least he could do for all of his friends in the future.