subconmodo: (H - coffee. please.)
The Snatcher ([personal profile] subconmodo) wrote in [community profile] daybreakacademy2019-01-18 09:45 am

28 Bleach Vats Later

WHO: Avery Atchison ([personal profile] subconmodo), Imelda Rivera ([personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte), Héctor ([personal profile] unpocoloco), Peter Parker ([personal profile] made_up_names), Souji Seta ([personal profile] punches_fog), Shuuji Miwa ([personal profile] willnotbeyourneighbour), Ellie Williams ([personal profile] elliexir), Fakir Ansel ([personal profile] schwanenritter), Bumblebee ([personal profile] thebreakfastbug), Orihime Inoue ([personal profile] leekspins)
WHERE: North Dakota
WHEN: January 18th, 2019
WHAT: Obtaining funding for the Academy at the cost of one's dignity. Unless you're in the cleanup group.
WARNINGS: None atm. Will update as they pop up.
Note: Full mission details/plotting can be found Here

To Avery's credit, he had tried to prepare his students for this. The zombies had been the easy part. The corpses were slow and weak and as long as none of them did anything stupid they wouldn't be in danger. Wouldn't help the smell or the grossout factor, but such was life, death, and undeath.

Their clients were another matter entirely.

"It's not death that's going to be our enemy here," Avery had said during the briefing. "It's customer service." And if he wasn't allowed to rip into this bunch of stuck up jerks (literally as well as figuratively), neither was anyone else. He'd let minor acts of passive aggression slide, but that was it. And maybe, just maybe if they were lucky enough, Avery might be able to convince the bigwigs to let one or two of them fire off something or another.

---

The cleanup crew is much luckier. The smell may be worse (rot and burning flesh and whatever scents habe wafted up in the wake of Coldsteel's blow-shit-up-themed office party. Avery looks to be just Abbott on his last legs as he suits up alongside everyone and hands out holy water and runecasters, all the while grumbling about how he needs a pay raise.
made_up_names: (stricken)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ It all happens very quickly. One moment he's just standing here minding his own business, trying to figure out how best to deal with some zombies? And then bam, there's Héctor. He opens a mouth to protest - he's fine, geez, what is wrong with her - when he sees that. Oh shit. There sure was a zombie behind him. And before he can move to try to protect Héctor in turn, the zombie bites down.

Peter is expecting blood, maybe the crack of bone. What he doesn't expect is to see just the bone. Or the bony hand pushing him down and out of the way. His spider senses aren't perfect, but when there's a crack that blatant - when he can physically see the underlying reality - they sure can extrapolate a lot. Hector's like that all over, isn't he? Those marks under the skin - those were on bones, right? All this time he's been talking to a skeleton and didn't even know it.

He can only stumble wordlessly for a moment, his mouth dropping open. Hell, he won't even fuss about being kept out of the way while these ding dongs swoop in and overkill a zombie. It's not until they're a good distance away that his mouth and his brain finally start working together again. ]


Me? What were you thinking? What the hell--

[ His gaze snaps instantly to the arm that Héctor used to keep the zombies at bay. Where he'd seen literally just bone a moment before. Oh god. ]

What the hell are you?
unpocoloco: (Exclaiming)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's about to tell Peter exactly what he was thinking-- which is to say, lie that it wasn't him sneaking away until gripped by a pure panic that he was about to watch this kid die-- but Peter's eyes go to his arm where there's now a good solid chunk missing from the arm of his sleeves. He looks down to it and back up to Peter's face, afraid now for a very different reason. ]

Listen, Peter... When I showed you what I could do, before, I... maybe wasn't entirely telling you the truth.

[That much is an understatement.]

But please, you have to understand, these guys will kill me. If not dead for a second permanent time then they'll make me wish I was. Please, please don't say anything, I swear, whatever you want from me you got it.
made_up_names: (oh my god i got a date)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
No shit!

[ Understatement of the YEAR, Héctor. He wouldn't be so loud about this if he weren't like. A little distressed by all of this too? Why are you a skeleton. What the actual fuck. He can still see the bone peeking through, and it does not look like a normal wound. ]

When were you gonna tell me, huh? Just drop it into casual conversation? "Hey Pete, by the way I'm literally and metaphorically dead inside"?
unpocoloco: (Pleading)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
[He makes a panicked shushing noise at Peter as he shouts, glancing around like someone might be listening.

He manages at least to look at a little guilty at that.]


I... well, no, but I wasn't telling anybody! Nobody knows, except for the some of the faculty. [Like that makes it better.]

It was just better for me if people didn't know I was dead! If everyone knew I'd have hunters on me trying to keep me back thinking I'm dangerous or for the sake of some stupid supernatural secrecy! I had to, I... [Did he really have to? It felt like it at the time, but now he's got this freaked out kid.] I'm sorry I didn't tell you. And that you found out like this.
made_up_names: (terrified)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh. Right. Well - okay, he still has enough of a head on his shoulders to keep it down. And having to think for a second about Héctor's safety is grounding. That gets him to sort of snap back into vigilante mode a little, which definitely does not include yelling at his protector for daring to be a skeleton-sempai.

Deeeep breaths, Parker. He's still upset but. Less freaked out, maybe. ]


You could've told me anyway. I'd have kept it, I swear! I swear on my life.
unpocoloco: (Pleading)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
Peter, you're a hunter too! It was one of the first things I knew about you! [Just going to point that out.] You also can't keep a secret to save your life, I really don't know why I keep telling you things! [And that too.

He takes a minute to cover his face with his hands, take a deep breath, collect himself. His hands drop to rub anxiously at his arm instead.]


I was trying to get home, I got sick, and when I woke up I was dead. I think my friend, or... something or someone buried me out there, in the outlands. Maybe that caused it, I really, really don't know, but I was still... here. And I found a few others like me and I figured out this magic thing a little bit more so I could look... alive... ish. But I'm dead. Very definitely dead.
made_up_names: (hurmph)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 12:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Well. Uh. Both of these things are very true. He really doesn't know why Héctor tells him anything at this point. So he shuts his mouth for a moment, head bowed. ]

I don't hunt undead people. [ He says, in the middle of a mission where he wandered of specifically to fight the undead. Uh. His shoulders sag a little. ] Not like you anyway.

... How long have you been like this?
unpocoloco: (Unhappy)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 12:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[It probably has something to do with the fact that, while Peter can't keep his mouth shut, he's also a good and earnest person who understands most of what he has to say and still likes him, he supposes.

Even if he's still going to give a deadpanned look for that initial comment.]


Most undead aren't like me. That's why everyone attacks first and asks never.

[But he appreciates the sentiment, Peter. Which is why his expression softens.]

Ten years. I've been dead for ten years. [And if Peter does the math on that, he'll quickly see that lines up perfectly well with his being lost and homeless and gone from his family. Needless to say, it was a short tour.]
made_up_names: (hallway)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Look. Peter Parker tries very hard, even when that means he also fails very hard.

He swallows thickly at that, looking a bit stricken. He hasn't known Héctor for long, but - he likes the guy well enough that him being dead at all is an unpleasant shock? Couple that with having been dead ten years apparently, and doing the math on how that lines up ... oh. Oh, he gets it now. ]


That's why Imelda hates you so much. She hadn't seen you in a decade.

[ He can't imagine the pain of being dead that long, only to return and find that the person you loved most has flipped out enough to be angry at you on sight. (Except, y'know, that's literally what's going to happen to him with Gwen.) ]
unpocoloco: (Worn Out)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 12:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah. Pretty much.

[He answers rueful because otherwise he'll just sound crushed.]

When I finally made out of the outlands, I tried to call on a payphone-- got some guy named Ricardo who'd never heard of her before. I tried to write letters but I got a hunter on my case for it about secrecy and if any got through nobody responded back anyway. I've been trying to get to México but obviously I can't keep this up all the time, let alone afford plane ticket after plane ticket. And I hate waking up in morgues, it's worse than getting buried, you got the screaming and the mess...

[Roughly he shakes himself out.]

I'm getting off topic. The point is. Yes, nobody has seen me and nobody knows I'm dead. I thought maybe my friend would say something but obviously he didn't. And Imelda... well, I still left. It's still my fault. So, at this point, I'm just trying to get home.
made_up_names: (stricken)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 12:49 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Good god. Peter's eyes go wide at all of that. Things he never had to consider before now? ... How well would he do if he were dead and trying to get from Europe to Mexico despite being a skeleton? The thought is horrifying even before Héctor starts talking about waking up in in a morgue half-autopsied or whatever.

But okay, he doesn't need more details. That's. Bad enough. ]


You need to tell her though. Like - okay, even if she doesn't forgive you, doesn't she at least have the right to know?
unpocoloco: (Dead // Hold)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 12:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[His shoulders slump.]

I... tried to tell her. But she'd doesn't want to hear it. And what would it do anyway? Make her feel guilty? For a man she thinks who knows what terrible things of?

[He shakes his head.]

There's something more important than all that anyway. Someone else I have to see. For whom it is important to know.

[He looks down, staring at his own bony fingers.]

Which is why I'm going to try and leave... during this mission... while I'm finally across the ocean.
made_up_names: (sad peter)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 01:03 pm (UTC)(link)
If she's still a dick after all that then she deserves to feel a little guilty. [ Though. Uh. Not quite that much maybe. ] She still oughta know.

[ But he won't tell her, or at least he won't intentionally tell her. There's a distinct possibility that he'll jsut blurt it out or lie so poorly that she'll figure it out anyway, but. Them's the breaks when you decide to tell Peter literally anything.

His expression softens a bit at that last part, though. Looking at the ground, not meeting Héctor's gaze. ]


Who is it?
unpocoloco: (Papá)

(MAJOR COCO SPOILERS)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 01:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[It's because he thinks he's leaving, getting out of here and probably never seeing Peter again, that he's willing to say this. He feels guilty for that. He likes Peter. And it still hurts to leave, even knowing that he must. It's hard to say this as it was before, but this time, looking at Peter, he manages to get it out.]

My daughter.
Edited 2019-01-19 13:10 (UTC)
made_up_names: (detention)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Of course. A daughter. That explains everything, doesn't it? Imelda's anger, Héctor's profound grief, all of it. Peter's too young to understand what having a kid might feel like, but he knows how it is to lose a parent at a young age. What a huge difference it makes - how much you need the remaining adults in your life. He's not sure how he'd feel his if own parents turned up after all these years, but he sure as hell knows how it would feel if Ben did.

Deep breaths. He looks back up again, determination in his face. ]


I'll help you get back there. You just gotta, like, get past all these zombies and stuff, right? Then you're at least on the right continent.
unpocoloco: (Relief)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 01:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[He wasn't sure what he was going to get from that, but that determination, that promise to help... his heart aches and he smiles in a way that looks as though he's trying not to cry with gratitude.

He knew you were a good kid, Peter.

But he should focus for now. He shakes his head.]


I'm not worried about the dead. It's the living I've got to worry about.

[He glances back, where the clients move about with the destruction and Imelda and Avery stand nearby.]

I'm hoping to make it to one of those trees without anyone noticing. I'll shift back to a skeleton behind one and after that I'm sure I can make it to the forest. Even if I've got to split myself apart to do it. If you could, maybe, try and direct those guys to shooting at the undead on the opposite side, that would help.

[A breath rushes out. This is happening. This is really happening. He's almost there.]

Oh, and one more thing.

[With only a short and uncertain pause, he reaches forward and hugs Peter tight. Then he steps back.]

Thank you. And don't forget what I said, Peter, take it easy on yourself. Also there's a guitar in my room back at Daybreak. If this all goes well, it's yours.
made_up_names: (paternal affection)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Yeah, okay, legit. That's way harder. Peter follows Héctor's gaze, kind of sizing up the actors at play. Unfortunately he's also on a shit list by now, so any help he could give isn't going to be subtle? Like. If he wanders off, he feels like either responsible adult will go after him instantly.

So, a distraction then. As stupid as possible, to make sure the undead hunters are shooting in the opposite direction, and also Imelda and Avery get madder at him without noticing that Héctor's slipped off. ]


You got it. Just start running when you hear people yelling "Peter no," okay?

[ He turns back - and. Pauses. Hug? Hug okay. He turns it, short but firm. Trying not to crack any of his dumb skeleton uncle's bones. Dammit, Héctor, you don't get to just leave after making Pete get attached like this. ]

You too, okay? You gotta like - find a way to tell me you made it. Snapchat or something.

[ Because that's so much safer than literally any other kind of communication?? ]
unpocoloco: (Siete)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-19 01:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[He winces a little when the kid says that. He really, really hopes that he and nobody else gets hurt. But this might be his one chance.]

I don't know what that is, niño. [And he can't help but laugh a little.] But I'll try.

Maybe my girl knows about it.

[Because once he reaches her, he's sure nothing in the world will ever drag him away unless she tells him to go herself.]

Don't get hurt. And don't get detention forever.

[And with that he turns, moving towards those distant trees.]
made_up_names: (makin my way downtown)

[personal profile] made_up_names 2019-01-19 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[ No promises on either front. But - he manages a watery smile before zipping off to go do something colossally stupid. There is, in fact a distant shout of PETER NO as he barrels towards a patch of zombies on the opposite side of the area. But it draws some anti-undead fire, and Héctor is free and clear.

For the moment. ]
no_dejare_de_quererte: (Default)

sliding this in here to drag hector back...

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte 2019-01-20 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
[It's thanks to Peter's distraction that no one notices Héctor's disappearance for a solid few minutes. But when they do, Imelda immediately climbs onto Pepita's back, taking to the sky for an aerial search.

It doesn't take long to hunt him down. A person can only get so far on foot, and it's not nearly far enough to outdistance Pepita. The large chimera circles in the air overhead, descending only when Imelda spots the runaway and gives the order to land.

There's more than enough time for Héctor to prepare himself for this confrontation--and yet, maybe not enough time at all. The chimera lands on the ground, each paw making a soft thud and an indentation in the ground. Imelda slides off her familiar back with her jaw set tight and fire in her eyes.]


And where is it that you think you're going?
Edited 2019-01-20 06:44 (UTC)
unpocoloco: (Oh no)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-20 07:12 am (UTC)(link)
[He doesn't know what Peter's doing and he's not looking back to see. The moment he starts ahead his thoughts are on Coco and what it's going to take to survive this and see her. He's already been drawn back before, by Avery, but this time he's going to make it. This time--

His heart, the one that is decidedly not in his chest at the moment, gives a lurch then, the sight of a chimera's shadow flying over him. He whirls fast, looking up to the sky just in time to see it descending upon him. He stumbles back, landing upon the ground, and his body flickers with light. He's human again, just in time, but in time to run.

His arm raises to shield himself, like it might protect him from a giant jaguar.]


Imelda...!

[He crawls back, dragging his bad leg, still glancing about for an escape.]

I... I...
no_dejare_de_quererte: (10)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte 2019-01-20 11:56 pm (UTC)(link)
You what, Héctor?

[Her anger is palpable, much like their first meeting in that banquet hall. She all but stalks over to him, coming to a stop just a few feet away and crossing her arms over her chest.]

You didn't think I was going to keep my eye on you? You thought you could just run off in the middle of our mission like we wouldn't notice? Is that what you're trying to say? When I signed up for this mission, I hoped you would at least take this seriously. But I guess some things don't change, do they?
unpocoloco: (Worry)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-21 06:11 am (UTC)(link)
[Her words swing down on him merciless and he cringes from each one, trying to make himself smaller, like that could possibly help. Only when she's done do his hands go out.]

Imelda, wait, you don't understand--
no_dejare_de_quererte: (01)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte 2019-01-22 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
I am tired of you telling me what I do and do not understand, Héctor!

[She cuts him off again. He's so pathetic, cowering on the ground like that. The urge to yank him to his feet is intense, but at the same time, she doesn't want to move closer.]

This mission is important. What we do at the Academy is important. This is not some field trip that you can take for a joyride. Do you understand that?
unpocoloco: (What No I Didn't Say That)

[personal profile] unpocoloco 2019-01-22 06:57 am (UTC)(link)
This mission? [He frowns, the first bit of incredulity working into his voice. At last, however slow and shaky, bracing on his knees, he rises to his feet.]

Imelda, we are serving drinks to a bunch of rich bastardos while they blow up the dead! They're leering at you and they're sneering at kids every moment they aren't shooting things five times more than necessary! This isn't important, it's disgusting!

[He steps back, head shaking.]

The mission is just about over anyway. They don't need me here and they certainly don't need me at the Academy. I can't do anything for them! They probably wouldn't even notice I'm gone!
Edited 2019-01-22 14:18 (UTC)

(no subject)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte - 2019-01-22 14:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] unpocoloco - 2019-01-22 14:54 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte - 2019-01-23 03:34 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] unpocoloco - 2019-01-23 03:55 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte - 2019-01-23 04:17 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] unpocoloco - 2019-01-23 04:34 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte - 2019-01-23 04:41 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] unpocoloco - 2019-01-23 04:52 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte - 2019-01-23 05:01 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] unpocoloco - 2019-01-23 06:29 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] no_dejare_de_quererte - 2019-01-23 22:17 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] unpocoloco - 2019-01-24 04:29 (UTC) - Expand