"We opened the door to the shadows...

[nightbeyondfire]

The man sat alone, back slumped against a wall as he stared down at the pistol in his hand, unloading and reloading it in silence. Over and over again. How long had he been here, ignoring the sounds of life around him and the chatter and racket from the communication device on the ground along with the discarded necklace? Days? Weeks? Months?

It didn't really matter. None of it did anymore.

Load. Unload. Reload.

"You look like crap."

The man looked up, staring upwards at his only companion for what felt like an eternity. Himself... only different, like seeing a photo negative version. The colors were all wrong and there were a few things off.

It had no eyes. He'd found that strange once before the feeling had been bled out of him.

Load. Unload.

It was this thing that had shown him the truth. It had started with whispers in his mind when he was alone and had grown from there, appearing in shadows, taking the place of his reflection and finally standing right there beside him exposing the plain, hopeless reality of where he'd found himself.

An ugly grin split the negative version's face.

"So, what's the hold up, jackass? You know what you have to do now."

Load.

Yeah, he did.

-------------------


In the early morning, it happened without warning. A shudder ran through the entire city and for just a moment it was almost as if reality itself... bent for a moment, warping out of shape before snapping out of place and one of the buildings of Genessia's skyline vanished into a rising cloud of smoke and dust.

The thing rose up out of the cloud, standing over the buildings around it. Misshapen, grotesque, it could only be called humanoid in the most generous of terms. Its body was colored in splotches of red and black, its limbs twisted with the right arm many times larger than the spindly left and it stood on legs that should have been bent and twisted too awkwardly to support it at all.

The head swiveled from side to side on a too-long twiglike neck, wide, blanket white eyes that seemed painted on searched the city and a toothless mouth opened wide in a low, groaning howl that rumbled over the city.

The creature’s body convulsed and with a chorus of sickening splits and cracks its body bristled with weapons, and they all fired as one, shearing the top floors off of the next several blocks and covering the rest of the town in burning debris.




Through the city, every communicator screamed out a deafening alert, which was followed by the voice of the AI.

“CORRUPTED ELEMENTS DETECTED. PLEASE ASSIST IN PURGING IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE CONTINUED SURVIVAL OF THE CITY AND ITS INHABITANTS”


[OOC: Subthreads are up. Post in them for combat, or go nuts with planning/reactions through the rest of the comments.]

Comments

[short_n_sweet]

Whew! Jaune, you're a leg up in the world today. That's what he's thinking as the creature falls to its death no doubt down below. It's scary how happy he is that something's dead... Then again, if it wasn't dead, he'd be dead, and then maybe Raye would be dead too...

Raye!

Jaune grunts and groans as he pulls himself up, crawling onto the more level flooring. "Raye... Raye?" As he gets onto level ground, he makes his way back to her, crawling a few steps, standing a couple, and checking to see if she was all right. Jaune himself is a little beat up - with all the slamming, his armour's even a little dented. He's got some bruises, and given that it hurts to breathe, probably a rib or two that's at the very least bruised. He's understandably on shaky feet, and as he reaches Raye he practically drops to his knees to check up on her.

"R-Raye, are you okay...?"

[flamescout]

"Ugh..." Raye groaned, opening her eyes. Had she passed out again? The room was still spinning, and Jaune's face was zigzagging all over. She remembered something black spilling into the room, but beyond that...

She was a little disgusted with herself. Even if she was pinned down, she might have been able to contribute somehow, even if just to shout moral support or fling debris. But noooooooo, she had to go bleed and be unconscious. Lame.

"Sh...shouldn't I be asking you that...?" Her dazed smile was brief as she took in the sight of Jaune and how battered he looked.

[short_n_sweet]

"What, me? Nah... It just hurts to breathe. Here, I'll get you out of there," Jaune answers her. So, she missed his whole fight - everyone did. No one's gonna know what he did lest they take him at his word... Kinda lame, but hey, what can you do?

It's a while before Jaune can really get Raye out from under... what, half her bathroom? Shoving debris off her, it's several long minutes before he can finally haul her out of that mess.

The giant monster, in the meantime, seemed to have been effectively halted by the others. And Ruby was likely due to crash into it at any second. [Which we all know OOC at this point ends the whole dang thing.]

"Okay... Ooookay... this might hurt a little...!" Jaune says as he's rolled Raye onto her back, then he slips his arms under the girl and lifts her up off the floor. He carries her, yeah, but he's huffing and clumsy. He manages to carry her as far as leaving the apartment, but once out into the hallway, he ends up just slumping against a wall and sliding to a seat with her more or less in his lap.

"You're not heavy!" He insists, "I just hurt. Everywhere."

[flamescout]

"I know."

There was no bite in her voice. She'd grunted with pain as they both collapsed, but she didn't try to shove herself off of his lap, or make a sharp or teasing retort. That thing had seen her, and as far as she knew, it was still coming. When it found them, it would tear the building down, and they would likely fall with it and die.

It happened. Death wasn't permanent, so that offered some small comfort, but not enough that she could find a reason to smile, or let embarrassment ruin what might be their last moments together. If he died, he might choose to give up his memories of her as a price to pay for his continued life. She'd have to give up something too. This might be the last time they were truly themselves, whole and complete.

"...I know," she said again, looking at his shoulder instead of his face. It was too painful to look into his eyes right now, so she just held to him, finding a dent in his armor to fix her gaze on. "You were super brave, Jaune. You risked everything to save me." It was difficult for her to put her tender feelings into words, but he deserved at least the attempt.

"...Thank you. It means a lot to me."

[short_n_sweet]

Yeah... that whole dying in a pile of rubble thing was really possible. Could've happened at any second, really. That monster had missiles - one stray one and the two of them probably wouldn't even feel too much pain before they died. Not-hurting was comforting a little, at least... But you know what?

Jaune couldn't imagine not being himself. Maybe he could give up his memories of her so he could live. Maybe he could give them up so SHE could live. And he probably would, too. Raye could sense evil coming a mile away - she was useful, and there way longer than him. She should have her chance to go home way before he even gets to think about leaving.

So there they sat, Raye talking like his actions were noble, but ultimately useless. Jaune rests his head back against the wall and closes his eyes before simply giving a shake of it.

"Yeah... But just you wait," He said calmly, "Everyone out there is fighting that thing. Any second now, Ruby, Harry, everyone way better than me, they're going to take that thing out. Then we'll be safe and..."

Its hard being that optimistic, but Jaune shrugs. Lifting his arms he hugs her, gently, to him. "We'll totally see those cherry blossoms you wanted to check out. When everything's all better."

[flamescout]

That was enough to get Raye to lift her head, heavy as it felt, and to lock her dark eyes onto his deep blues. It was time she let him know exactly how she felt about his words, and how they affected her.

"You idiot."

...So much for romantic sap. She held to him just as tightly as he held to her, but that bit about people being better than him? Raye wasn't happy about that at all.

"Why do you say things like that? I picked you. Not because I feel sorry for you, but because I really care! That monster would have killed me if you hadn't shown up, and there wouldn't be any hope at all!"

Her eyes were starting to burn, but she didn't try to stop her tears. She was angry, and upset, and the last thing in the world she wanted was for him to die feeling like he wasn't worthy.

"So don't say stupid things like you're not good enough, or that other people are better than you. It's insulting! And I really care about you, because to me, you are the best! So get that into your thick head, all right?!"

[short_n_sweet]

Jaune blinks a few times and looks back into Raye's eyes not in some sappy sense but... he's confused! Did he say something wrong? Well, he doesn't need to wonder for long, because Raye, in typical Raye fashion, lays it all out plain and simple. He gets it. Supposedly after all that talk about wanting to protect people, he was kind of sticking his foot in his mouth with talk like that.

"N-No, I'm not saying you don't care-- Wait, I didn't mean--"

Whew. And now he's an idiot for sure. There's a moment where he closes his eyes, raises his eyebrows, and shakes his head like he just got smacked in the face.

Alright, so... it's weird, because Ruby? Way better fighter than he is. His team? Way better. It's not even an opinion, rather it's statistic... But Raye still thinks he's the best? It throws him entirely through a loop. He's never been the best at... at... anything before.

"Okay. Alright." He smiles a little and even laughs a bit, "I'm sorry. I know you care and... well that's why I try my best. So... feel up for getting carried some more?" He lifts his arms and shakes them out a bit, "I think I can even make the end of the hall now."

[mewhobelievesinyou]

Alright, that's enough of this sappy bullcrap out of you two.

Before Jaune can make another attempt at the heroic carry the worst happens, and one of the rockets from the big monster's furious barrage slams into the building.

The explosion makes the whole place shake and there's another rumble as the roof begins to sag downward. It seems all is lost when it... suddenly stops, the rumbling replaced by the sound of burning thrusters.

"Yo. Found your girl, huh?" Kamina's voice booms over the loudspeaker of Gurren Mark-II. One giant metal hand reaching inside to hold up the ceiling while the other reaches in. "Hurry it up! The whole thing's comin' down!"

[flamescout]

Yeah, well, love isn't about 'stats,' it was about being with someone you respected, and admired. Jaune had courage, and even if he wasn't at the same fighting level as some of his friends, it didn't stop him from giving it his all. As long as he was trying his hardest, that's all that mattered in Raye's view. She wouldn't let him slack off, or use some poor excuse about how he wasn't as good. He could get better, but as a person, she loved his goodness and patience.

"It's fine...you can rest." She didn't want to give up, but she also didn't want to put any more burdens on his shoulders. He'd done everything he possibly could. "Just be here with me."

Her words were drowned out by the thunderous explosion as the missile collided with the apartment building. Raye clung to Jaune instinctively, almost protectively, as if she might shield him with her own body as the hallway began to shudder and groan. The roof was caving in.

'We'll see each other again,' she thought, knowing he wouldn't be able to hear her if she said it. But until then...

...Oh, hey, they were still alive. And sunlight was stabbing her in the face. Raye winced, raising her head as the roof above them cracked open to reveal lots of blue sky and a giant robot face. What in the world...?

[short_n_sweet]

Jaune's shoulders slumped as she allowed him to rest. Being with her was something he could certainly do. In fact, he couldn't think of anything better at this point.

When the building begins to buckle under its own weight and collapse, Jaune stares up at the ceiling as he holds close to Raye. It's hard to believe it's even happening - he doesn't want to believe he'd die like that, no matter how death even worked in Genessia... But then a giant robotic hand grabbed hold to keep the ceiling from caving on them, and Jaune nearly jumped out of his skin. Holy crap!

But when he heard the voice, his face lit up. "Oh man...! This guy!!" He couldn't help but be excited. Kamina was gonna save his bacon again! Hurriedly, Jaune moves to pick Raye up again. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

Jaune lifted and carried her, and he stepped onto that outstretched robotic hand where he'd settle in again and just let Kamina carry them... that was his plan, right? It seemed that way. God he hopes he hasn't misjudged this. But this guy? Well, Kamina's his new best friend.